Union Leader “Outs” Himself; Was Applebaum One Of Obama’s Gay Party Participants At The White House On 6-29-09?

From the Communist Party of the United States, People’s Weekly World newspaper:

 

Labor big outs himself

 

Author: BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

 
People’s Weekly World Newspaper, 06/29/09

Original source: gaycitynews.com

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the New York City-based Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), in an exclusive interview, told Gay City News that his decision in May to openly affirm his gay identity within the American labor movement means, “I am defining myself publicly, and not just defining myself privately. That’s what makes a difference. I wanted to make my public role not just as a labor leader or Jewish labor leader, but as a gay Jewish labor leader.”

While other heavyweight US labor leaders, such as Randi Weingarten, president of New York’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and its parent, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and Nancy Wohlforth, secretary-treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), have come out publicly, Appelbaum is the first international labor president to publicly embrace his gay sexuality.

Appelbaum, 56, oversees an international union with 100,000 members in the US and Canada that serves diverse sectors, from department stores, such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue, to Canadian supermarkets and to poultry processing plants in the South, including Tyson Foods.

The ongoing legislative fight in New York for marriage rights for same-sex couples was critical in Appelbaum’s decision to come out. “Marriage equality is so important to me. I came out because of it,” he said. He discussed recent union struggles —for the rights of immigrant workers, for tough health and safety protections in manufacturing plants, for a paid holiday for Muslim workers celebrating Ramadan in a local union contract (the first such provision in a US labor contract), and for a statement by more than 40 US unions rejecting trade union boycotts of Israel — and asked, “How can I see justice and full acceptance denied to LGBT community, which I am part of, and do nothing? I wanted to be engaged.”

On June 20, Appelbaum spoke at the headquarters of Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) in Harlem about his “coming out and being gay,” and also urged an end to the political gridlock crippling the State Senate. It marked his first public speaking engagement in which he discussed his sexual orientation. The crowd at Sharpton’s House of Justice event included a dozen Democratic state senators, including conference leaders Malcolm Smith of Queens and John Sampson of Brooklyn, labor leaders, and hundreds of NAN supporters. Appelbaum argued it is “crucial for Senate Democrats to bring up marriage equality.” Sharpton, he said, “echoed my support for marriage equality.” In a moment of levity, Appelbaum told Gay City News, “If you told me a year ago that I would have done that, I would have had a heart attack.”

Appelbaum took the initiative in early June in drafting a letter to state senators on the marriage equality issue also signed by George Gresham, head of the massive health care workers’ union 1199, New York State AFL-CIO president Denis Hughes, Mike Fishman of Local 32BJ, which represents doormen, superintendents, and janitors, and Weingarten. The letter urged action in the current session of the Legislature.

Weingarten told Gay City News that it is “fantastic” that Stuart, as a labor leader, has outed himself. He is a” friend of mine and I am proud of him,” she said. “I hope for the labor movement that we are as understanding as we say we are.” Recalling her own public coming out two years ago, Weingarten said, “It weighed on my mind. What would the members think?” But the reaction, she said, has been “amazing,” adding that it is a “testament to the labor movement” that diversity is embraced. “Stuart is finding the same experience,” according to Weingarten.

Same-sex marriage legislation is also a crucial goal for Weingarten. She said the significance of the issue “hit me very hard” this year when her mother died. Weingarten’s sister and brother-in-law were with her in the hospital, and her mother’s impending death had them discussing “rights and responsibilities” in family relationships. She noted that the AFT and UFT have a powerful tradition of fighting for equality, and she is “very proud of my union” for embracing its minority group members and approving equal rights resolutions.

Asked about the significance of Appelbaum’s action, Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer, wrote in an e-mail, “When a leader of Stuart’s stature comes out, it sends a powerful message that LGBT people are a vital part of the labor movement. I think that makes it easier for other LGBT trade unionists to come out.” Trumka, considered a likely successor to John J. Sweeney as president of the Federation’s 56 local unions and 10 million members, said the AFL-CIO supports marriage equality, but also noted, “It’s important to remember that one of the most important contributions unions can make to marriage equality is by fighting for spousal benefits at the bargaining table. Every time we win a contract that eliminates distinctions between same-sex couples and straight couples we’re showing politicians, the media, and others that marriage equality is an idea whose time has come.”

Anna Burger, chair of the more than six-million member union coalition Change To Win, which split off from the AFL-CIO in 2005, wrote in an email, “Our unions represent working women and men from all different backgrounds, far too many of whom are denied equal rights and protection under the law simply because of who they love. RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum’s decision to come out and speak out for justice serves as another reminder to our LGBT friends, family, sisters and brothers that the labor movement stands at their side in the critical struggle for equality for every man, woman, and child in America.”

Trumka emphasized that “the labor movement is a natural ally of anyone fighting for human rights. Obviously, that includes the LGBT community. And it cuts both ways. For example, HRC, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Empire State Pride Agenda in New York are strong supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act. They recognize that LGBT workers need a strong voice at work and that unions ought to be that voice. The bottom line is that you can’t be pro-gay and anti-union, and you can’t be pro-union and anti-gay.” The Employee Free Choice Act is labor’s top legislative goal in Washington; it would make it easier for workers to form and join unions against the often determined efforts of employers to block organizing efforts.

Nancy Wohlforth, secretary-treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union a founder and co-president of Pride at Work (PAW), the AFL-CIO’s LGBT constituency group, said by e-mail that Appelbaum “has always been a solid supporter of PAW and lent help for rank and file member of RWDSU to serve on the PAW board for several years. I’m thrilled that he has come out after all these years and especially thrilled that he is lending his support to the struggle for equal rights and benefits through marriage equality.” Wohlforth was also frank about the distance labor still must travel, saying “Very few national labor leaders are on board with this fight, and I’m so happy to be joined by Stuart!”

Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU since 1998, has been at the forefront in offering domestic partnership benefits to the union’s staff, as well providing such benefits for tens of thousands of members enrolled in the union’s health and pension funds. Member unions of the RWDSU have won labor agreements that bar sexual orientation disagreements and offer equal partner benefits.

In May, Appelbaum joined the board of directors of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, the non-profit educational affiliate of ESPA, New York State’s LGBT lobbying group. ESPA executive director Alan Van Capelle, who previously worked in Local 32BJ’s political unit, said, “Stuart Appelbaum busts the myth that many people hold that union members, and especially union leaders, are not interested in LGBT rights. They are and they can have a big impact on moving our community’s agenda forward… As an out gay man, he has had an impact on his fellow union leaders at the New York State AFL-CIO, where he serves on the Executive Council. He helped get that statewide organization of 2.1 million union members to adopt resolutions in support of marriage equality, GENDA [the transgender civil rights bill], and the Dignity for All Students Act. And when New York labor leaders speak, New York elected officials listen.”

 

 

My end note:

I am not against the Gay Community.  I have several friends who are gay.  I am just taken aback by the big labor union bosses “outing” themselves. I guess you learn something new every day.

 

I noticed Andy Stern (SEIU union boss) likes pink Pashmina shawls…..?

BTW: Any truth to what I heard that Andy Stern has “weekly audiences” with Obama? Any other unions bothered by this?

 

 

 

 

 

Obama’s Lavish Lifestyle: Kobe Beef ($100/pound)and Champagne, now A Lavish Luau

 

June 30, 2009

Are the Obama’s paying for these expensive parties OR are American taxpayers paying for them?

What do you think will be the bill for the American taxpayer for THIS? WHAT is the carbon footprint left for flying the entertainers AND the food for this luau from Hawaii to Washington, D.C.?  Is there hypocrisy here?  Obama wanting to lessen our carbon footprint unless it is for the “goodies” for his parties?

 by: Derek Paiva
posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009

Obama Hosting First Ever Hawaiian Luau

Save those Chicago-style hot dogs for the next South Lawn picnic. The leader of the free world wants his Hawaii grinds.

In a nod to his first home state, President Barack Obama will host the first-ever Hawaii-style luau on the White House lawn, complete with real Island cuisine, hula and music. The Thursday luau is pretty much all the Hawaii-born-and-raised president’s idea—his revamping, of sorts, of the annual White House Congressional picnic for members of Congress and their families.

Award-winning Hawaii-based chef Alan Wong is crafting the luau’s menu of contemporary Hawaiian cuisine, making use of as much Island-grown produce as he can get to D.C. The chef’s Honolulu eatery, Alan Wong’s Restaurant, has been a favorite dinner choice of the Obama’s on recent visits to Oahu.

 
The South Lawn luau will also feature hula and music from Hawaii and the South Pacific by Honolulu-based entertainment company Tihati Productions. Daily newspaper The Honolulu Advertiser reported this morning that White House planners specifically requested Tihati add Samoan fire-knife dancers to the entertainment lineup. They’ll get six of ‘em—doing a fire-knife dance pyramid.

The fire-knife dancers will join a troupe of about 20 musicians and dancers, picked from Tihati luau shows throughout Hawaii.

No word was immediately available on luau dinner menu specifics or any Oval Office requests for specific Hawaii grinds. But we did get our hands on Alan Wong’s partial shopping list, which seemed well-stocked for feeding 2,200 hungry politicos and their kin.

Among the items on the shopping list:

• 160 lbs. of green onion, 240 lbs. of tomatoes, 170 lbs. round onion (we’re guessing lomi salmon here)

• 650 lbs. of pork butt (kalua pig, anyone?)

• 20 gallons of shoyu

• 20 gallons of sake

• 4,400 Manila clams

• 21 lbs. of Chinese black beans

• 200 lbs. of tilapia

• 100 lbs. of sugar snap peas

And flying up to D.C. with Wong, from Hawaii:

• 70 lbs. of hearts of palm, from Wailea Agricultural Group, Big Island of Hawaii

• 35 lbs. of chevre (goat cheese) from Hawaii Island Goat Dairy, Honokaa, Big Island of Hawaii

• 216 lbs. of mushrooms (50% eryngi, 50% hon-shimeji), from Hamakua Mushrooms, Big Island of Hawaii

• 44 lbs. of chocolate, from Waialua Estate Chocolate, Oahu

• 3 gallons of ko choo jang sauce, from Park’s Brand, Oahu

• 35 lbs. of white miso, from Maru-Hi, Oahu

• 84 lbs. of macadamia nuts

• 130 lbs. of salted salmon (now we’re all but confirming lomi salmon)

• 60 lbs. of pipi kaula

• 4 lbs. of Hawaii-grown chili peppers

Goat cheese? Manila clams? Tilapia? Sounds like one serious luau, and then some.

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/6/23/Barack_Obama_White_House_Hawaii_luau_food

 

Update, 3/25/2009: “A little luau with some great hula dancers and tiki torches and all that good stuff.”—Michelle Obama

My note here:

Think about that as you boil your “on sale” hot dogs and generic macaroni and cheese for dinner.

July 4th TEA Party Rallies; Find A Location And STAND UP

July 4th TEA Party Rallies

AFA Registered TEA Parties are being held on July 4th in 1,334 cities and towns. 

 Here is a list of TEA Party locations, maps, websites and contact information.

Contact the organizer in your city and ask how you can help — but do spend an hour.  Call a few of your friends and ask them to help you organize and invite others to participate.

Tell your friends, family, church members, co-workers and everyone else you know about the protest.  Invite them to attend with you.  Make signs with legible slogans that send a clear message to the public and the media to use at the rally.  You might want to bring some American flags as well.

Hat tip: Obama File.

http://www.theobamafile.com

 

Tea Parties

For the latest on Tea Parties past, present and future, we recommend these two sites:

http://www.teapartyday.com/ ||   http://teapartypatriots.org/

 

http://www.the912project.com/

 

“The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men.”

 -Samuel Adams”

Did Obama and Czarina Carol Browner Suppress EPA Report In Rebuttal of Global Warming To Push The Climate Change (Cap and Trade) Bill?

A top Republican Senator is demanding an investigation into the suppression of an EPA report that disproves Global Warming. 

Read this:

Sen. Inhofe Calls for Inquiry Into ‘Suppressed’ Climate Change Report

Republicans are raising questions about why the EPA apparently dismissed an analyst’s report questioning the science behind global warming. 

June 29, 2009

By Judson Berger

A top Republican senator has ordered an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s alleged suppression of a report that questioned the science behind global warming. 

The 98-page report, co-authored by EPA analyst Alan Carlin, pushed back on the prospect of regulating gases like carbon dioxide as a way to reduce global warming. Carlin’s report argued that the information the EPA was using was out of date, and that even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased, global temperatures have declined.

“He came out with the truth. They don’t want the truth at the EPA,” Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla, a global warming skeptic, told FOX News, saying he’s ordered an investigation. “We’re going to expose it.”  

The controversy comes after the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, one that Inhofe said will be “dead on arrival” in the Senate despite President Obama’s energy adviser [ Czarina Carol Browner] voicing confidence in the measure.

According to internal e-mails that have been made public by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Carlin’s boss told him in March that his material would not be incorporated into a broader EPA finding and ordered Carlin to stop working on the climate change issue. The draft EPA finding released in April lists six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, that the EPA says threaten public health and welfare.

[snip]

Despite the EPA official’s remarks, Carlin told FOXNews.com on Monday that his boss, National Center for Environmental Economics Director Al McGartland, appeared to be pressured into reassigning him. 

Carlin said he doesn’t know whether the White House intervened to suppress his report but claimed it’s clear “they would not be happy about it if they knew about it,” and that McGartland seemed to be feeling pressure from somewhere up the chain of command. 

Carlin said McGartland told him he had to pull him off the climate change issue. 

“It was reassigning you or losing my job, and I didn’t want to lose my job,” Carlin said, paraphrasing what he claimed were McGartland’s comments to him. “My inference (was) that he was receiving some sort of higher-level pressure.” 

Carlin said he personally does not think there is a need to regulate carbon dioxide, since “global temperatures are going down.” He said his report expressed a “good bit of doubt” on the connection between the two. 

Specifically, the report noted that global temperatures were on a downward trend over the past 11 years, that scientists do not necessarily believe that storms will become more frequent or more intense due to global warming, and that the theory that temperatures will cause Greenland ice to rapidly melt has been “greatly diminished.” 

Carlin, in a March 16 e-mail, argued that his comments are “valid, significant” and would be critical to the EPA finding. 

McGartland, though, wrote back the next day saying he had decided not to forward his comments. 

“The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision,” he wrote, according to the e-mails released by CEI. “I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.” 

He later wrote an e-mail urging Carlin to “move on to other issues and subjects.” 

“I don’t want you to spend any additional EPA time on climate change. No papers, no research, etc., at least until we see what EPA is going to do with climate,” McGartland wrote. 

The EPA said in a written statement that Carlin’s opinions were in fact considered, and that he was not even part of the working group dealing with climate change in the first place. 

“Claims that this individual’s opinions were not considered or studied are entirely false. This administration and this EPA administrator are fully committed to openness, transparency and science-based decision making,” the statement said. “The individual in question is not a scientist and was not part of the working group dealing with this issue. Nevertheless the document he submitted was reviewed by his peers and agency scientists, and information from that report was submitted by his manager to those responsible for developing the proposed endangerment finding. In fact, some ideas from that document are included and addressed in the endangerment finding.” 

The e-mail exchanges and suggestions of political interference sparked a backlash from Republicans in Congress. 

Reps. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also wrote a letter last week to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the agency to reopen its comment period on the finding. The EPA has since denied the request. 

Citing the internal e-mails, the Republican congressmen wrote that the EPA was exhibiting an “agency culture set in a predetermined course.” 

“It documents at least one instance in which the public was denied access to significant scientific literature and raises substantial questions about what additional evidence may have been suppressed,” they wrote. 

In a written statement, Issa said the administration is “actively seeking to withhold new data in order to justify a political conclusion.” 

“I’m sure it was very inconvenient for the EPA to consider a study that contradicted the findings it wanted to reach,” Sensenbrenner said in a statement, adding that the “repression” of Carlin’s report casts doubt on the entire finding. 

Carlin said he’s concerned that he’s seeing “science being decided at the presidential level.” 

 

Then add this:

Obama’s Science Czar Channels H.G. Wells on Climate Change

John Holdren dreams up some scathingly brilliant, super-gigantic-expialidocious projects to head off global warming.

April 13, 2009 – by James Lewis

Today we have our own official science czar in the White House. John Holdren is a true believer in the imaginary faith of global warming. We even have an office for the propagation of the faith, spearheaded by NASA’s James Hansen. It is Hansen who goes around saying that the oceans could rise by 20 feet and that heretics — like oil company execs — deserve to be put on trial for “high crimes against humanity and nature.” This witch-hunting talk apparently passes for normal scientific discourse in Dr. Hansen’s mind. Hansen has not yet proposed burning oil company execs at the stake, but he is no longer a scientist — he is a true believer, just like a Scientologist. Real scientists don’t know the answers before the evidence is in. Hansen and Holdren know the answers — their faith passeth mere human understanding.

Now John Holdren has spoken up in an interview with the Associated Press, itself a big propaganda outfit. AP tells us that “Holdren outlined several ‘tipping points’ involving global warming that could be fast approaching.” (Notice the weaseling here. Anything could be fast approaching, like maybe a screaming intergalactic turtle, all ready to crash into the earth. Prove to me it ain’t so!)

The AP continues: “Once such milestones are reached, such as complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of ‘really intolerable consequences,’ he [Holdren] said.” But wait! This just in from the excellent skeptical site Watt’s Up With That? Steven Goddard writes:

The WUWT Arctic Ice Thickness Survey … is collected from the US military web site. All of the active military buoys show significant thickening ice over the past six months to a year.

Hmmm. I wonder if Dr. Holdren knows that the Arctic ice is actually getting thicker? Or maybe he just doesn’t care? Well, whatever. Holdren is convinced that doom is about to come upon us. As the AP tells it, “Twice in a half-hour interview, Holdren compared global warming to being ‘in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog.’” He forgot to add, “with a hallucinating driver conjuring up imaginary dangers.” But that’s closer to the truth. Our real problem is not the earth or the CO2; it is the human beings who are now in power, fully prepared to scare the daylights out of us to squeeze out more power and more money for themselves.

Dr. Holdren knows he can’t just repeat the old cliches. If he wants big headlines around the world, he has to give the AP a new angle — the media beast demands to be fed.  So Dr. Holdren obliges by holding out the hope of geoengineering, super-gigantic-expialidocious projects to give the earth a kind of aluminum foil layer, able to reflect the sun’s rays and thereby cool the earth. In the AP’s fawning prose:

The president’s new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth’s air. … John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays. …

“It’s got to be looked at,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of taking any approach off the table.”

[snip]

“Global warming” is more Scientology than science. It is an act of pure imagination. The only thing climate models have in common with real science is the word “science.” All the climate prophets are playing on public ignorance. If you confuse Scientology with science, you can confuse climate modeling with real science.

The key is that the science establishment, like any power class, wants to control the media narrative. That is why our Galileos today are told to shut up by hype peddlers like James Hansen and John Holdren.

Political establishments haven’t changed since Galileo. They don’t care if they are defending theology or secular ideology; they just want more and more power. Obama didn’t appoint our new “science czar” to ensure honesty and integrity in the climate debate. On the contrary, this guy was appointed for political loyalty, exactly the reason why the pope appointed Galileo’s inquisitor.

The very idea of a science czar is Stalinist.

True science always respects the skeptics. Einstein disagreed profoundly with Nils Bohr about quantum mechanics, but can you imagine Albert Einstein demanding that Bohr be put on trial for his beliefs? Or vice versa? But that’s what James Hansen has been saying.

These people are totalitarians in spirit. But healthy science must stay open, because nature always comes up with big surprises — as Einstein found out about quantum mechanics. Skeptics are just as necessary to healthy science as passionate advocates; neither one can presume to know the truth before the evidence comes in. Look at Science or Nature magazine any week and you will find both confirmation and negation of leading-edge hypotheses. To close one’s mind prematurely is to attack science itself.

The only real sin in science is to apply totalitarian methods to punish free and open debate. That is a sure road to disaster. What’s alarming today is not hypothetical global warming, but a very real infiltration of Stalinist thinking into universities and research institutions.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obamas-science-czar-channels-hg-wells-on-climate-change/2/

 

My end note:

Suppression of the truth to pass a massive Climate Change faux bill hoping Congress and the American people are morons.

Obama, Carol Browner, John Holdren (with his H.G. Wells science buddy Dr. Hansen), Al Gore and Maurice Strong all pushing the hype of global warming in Stalinist fashion.

Ice is thickening in the arctic according to military buoys.

Al Gore and Maurice Strong (corruption at the United Nations; Saddam Hussein oil for food program) both stand to make oodles of money through the carbon credit exchange.

Carol Browner connected to the Socialist International AND on the committee for a Stable World Society.

Hmmm…….

Anyone else here think there ISN’T a political underhanded ploy to gain POWER and MONEY?

Read my additional blog on this:

http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/was-the-climate-bill-pushed-by-carol-browner-obamas-energy-czar-a-member-of-socialist-international-browner-also-has-ties-to-al-gore/

Obama Invites Homosexuals To Secret White House Function

 

From: http://www.theobamafile.com/ObamaLatest.htm

Obama has invited some gays and lesbian leaders to a secret East Room reception on Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement.

The White House has not publicized the reception.  But gay leaders from here and around the country said they had received either telephone calls from the White House or written invitations to the event, and were told Obama is expected to speak.

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said: “Next Monday’s event is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans.  Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders.  This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.”

One person who received the invitation said the White House was billing the event as a celebration, akin to the festive affairs the administration holds on St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo.  Another said the invitation included an offer to bring a guest.  “They want people to understand that their partners are welcome,” said this person, speaking anonymously because the White House has not announced the event.

“The accomplishments of gay leaders” –  no doubt referring to Barney Frank’s single-handed destruction of the mortgage banking  system. (Openly Gay Congressman)

 

My end note HERE:

Is this Obama’s way of trying to get out of the doghouse with the gay voting registry?

After all he supported gay rights during his run for the White House, but has been eerily silent up to now.

All this while Larry Sinclair’s books are being sold:

BARACK OBAMA & LARRY SINCLAIR:

Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder?

http://larrysinclair-0926.blogspot.com/

 

Will someone have a camera to document who was invited and who their guests are?

 

 

Honduras President Manuel Zelaya Arrested By Supreme Court Order: Not a Coup! So WHY is Obama Getting Involved?

From Fausta’s Blog with links to facts:

http://faustasblog.com/?p=13639

Coup in Honduras – Correction: This is NOT a coup

Please read the 1:50PM update. The Honduran Supreme Court of Justice has confirmed that Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was detained this morning by the military in compliance with an order of the courts of law.

AP reports

President Manuel Zelaya’s private secretary told the AP that Zelaya was arrested and brought to a base on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa. 

An AP reporter saw dozens of green-helmeted soldiers surround the president’s house Sunday morning and then later jump in trucks and drive away, according to the report. About 60 police continue to guard the house, it said, adding that the president did not appear.

Zelaya was arrested right before the voting on the referendum was scheduled to start. The referendum had been declared unlawful by the country’s courts.

Noticias24 reports that four units of 200 soldiers stormed the presidential residence at 6AM.

Electricity has been cut off in the capital, and it is rumored that Zelaya has been flown out of the country.

It’ll be interesting to watch what Hugo Chavez’s reaction will be, considering that he was saying

Hugo Chavez declared that “we are not going to watch with our arms crossed the goings-on in Honduras,” and insisted “we will do what we will have to do so the sovereignty of the Honduran people will be respected.” 

Unconfirmed rumors say that Zelaya was flown to Venezuela.

10:20AM
Chavez’s reaction:

“This coup will be defeated and it will be defeated by the people of Honduras and through its will.” 

10:35AM
Background on the referendum, which Zelaya insisted on in spite of it having been declared unlawful:

* When the armed forces refused to distribute the ballots, Zelaya fired the chief of the armed forces, Gen. Romeo Vásquez, and the defense minister, the head of the army and the air force resigned in protest.
* Yesterday the Supreme Court ordered by a 5-0 vote that Vásquez be reinstated.
* Honduras’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal ordered authorities to pick up all the ballots and electoral material, which were held by the country’s air force.
* The country’s Attorney General requested yesterday that Congress oust Zelaya.
* The courts have declared the referendum unlawful. Last Tuesday the Congress passed a law preventing the holding of referendums or plebiscites 180 days before or after general elections. Congress has also named a commission to investigate Zelaya. 

This is the first coup in Honduras since 1982 when a democratically elected civilian government came to power .

10:50AM
The Honduran Congress is holding an emergency session.

11:05AM
The OAS is also holding an emergency sessionat 3PM GMT.

11:10AM
Honduran daily La Prensa reports that Zelaya is now in Costa Rica.

11:40AM
Sky News

Police fired tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators protesting after Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was deposed ahead of a controversial referendum. 

11:50AM
Obama Appeals for Hondurans to Respect Democracy

President Barack Obama is calling for all sides in Honduras to respect democracy and the rule of law following the arrest of President Manuela Zelaya and his reported expulsion to Costa Rica. 

Obama says any disputes must be settled peacefully through negotiations that are free from outside interference.

White House officials say Obama spoke with his national security adviser, James Jones, about the situation on Sunday morning. Aides from several agencies are monitoring the situation and providing updates to Obama, Jones and Jones’ deputy.

Zelaya was detained shortly before voting was to begin on a constitutional referendum. He had insisted on holding the vote even though the Supreme Court ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it.

11:55
Noticias 24 has photos of a small group of Zelaya supporters protesting his removal and burning tires.

The EU criticized the overthrow.

Copy of the White House statement

12:10PM
Dan Collins sends a link to the Honduran Constitution:

Title VII, with two chapters, outlines the process of amending the constitution and sets forth the principle of constitutional inviolability. The constitution may be amended by the National Congress after a two-thirds vote of all its members in two consecutive regular annual sessions. 

That is what Zelaya tried to bypass.

12:15PM
The official Chavista news agency published Zelaya’s speech from Costa Rica, where he blames the “rich elite who wants to keep everybody else poor.” He spoke upon arriving at the airport in San Jose.

12:20PM
WSJ (emphasis added)

Giving voice to the deep fears that sparked the military’s action, retired Honduran general Daniel Lopez Carballo justified the move against the president, telling CNN en Espanol that Mr. Zelaya was a stooge for Mr. Chavez. He said if the military had not acted, Mr. Chavez would eventually be running Honduras by proxy. 

Chavez’s propaganda channel Telesur has been blocked from broadcasting in Honduras

12:30PM
Univision is broadcasting live from Tegucigalpa. They showed a few demonstrators, but the situation appears otherwise quiet.

12:30PM: Univision ceased its live coverage. While tanks are patrolling the streets, the city remains calm.

Nicaraguan paper La Prensa Gráfica reports that the Venezuelan ambassador to the Organization of American States claims that the ambassadors for Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in Honduras were kidnapped, hooded, and beaten. OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza announced he will travel to Honduras.

1:00PM
Welcome, Memeorandum readers.

1:20PM
Chavez warns Honduras with “war” if anything happens to the Venezuelan ambassador in Honduras. (My translation: Please credit me and link to this blog if you use it)

President Hugo Chavez has warned the Honduran military behind the coup today with “war” if anything happens to our ambassador in Tegucigalpa, or if the Venezuelan embassy is taken. 

Chavez said that it would be “a declaration of war” and Venezuela would be forced to send troops. “The Venezuelan Armed Forces are on alert.”

“The military junta would be entering on a de-facto state of war. We would have to act even militarily. I wouldn’t be able to remain with my arms crossed knowing they are assaulting our ambassador.”

He then went on to say he’d teach those gorillas a lesson, and concluded by saying he would overthrow the president designated to substitute Zelaya. Globovision quotes Chavez as saying that “If they swear in Roberto Micheletti (the head of the Honduran Congress), we’ll overthrow him.”

1:40PM
CNN en español mentioned that Zelaya was arrested by court order. This signals that all the Honduran institutions were behind this move, in which case the president was overthrown, but it would not be a coup d’etat.

1:50PM
Indeed, Honduras’ La Prensa states that (My translation: If you use this, please credit me and link to this post)

An official statement of the Supreme Court of Justice explained that the Armed Forces acted under lawful grounds when detaining the President of the Republic, and by decommissioning the materials to be used on the illegal poll which aimed to bring forth Executive Power against a judicial order. 

Other sources verified that the president of the Congress, Roberto Micheletti, will assume the presidency of the republic in a few hours.
…
Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was detained this morning by the military in compliance with an order of the courts of law.

2:20PM
Eight members of Zelaya’s cabinet are under arrest.

3:15PM
Clinton urges condemnation of Honduran action

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the action taken against Honduras’ president should be condemned by everyone. 

4:30PM
Constituciones Decreto 412-2002 has the constitutional provisions (in Spanish). The rest of the Constitution is here. If any constitutional scholars could do analysis, I would be much obliged.

5:00PM
Op-ed La hora de Honduras

5:20PM
Zelaya claims he did not resign. Noticias 24 has his letter of resignation

The Honduran Congress has officially ousted Zelaya “for repeated violations to the Constitution” and has now named the Congress President Roberto Micheletti as president of the country.

Honduras is scheduled to hold a presidential election next November.

 

Then add this:

From: http://www.theobamafile.com/ObamaLatest.htm

 

Obama Wants Communist Reinstated

 

Obama called on all actors in Honduras to respect the rule of law after military leaders there arrested President Manuel Zelaya to head off Zelaya’s attempt to hold a vote on constitutional changes deemed illegal by the country’s Supreme Court and Congress.

Zelaya, in a move similar to his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, had wanted to overturn the law that prohibited him from seeking another term in office.  He called the arrest a “coup” and a “kidnapping.”

“I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya,” Obama said in a written statement.

“I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.  Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference,” Obama said.

Two questions:

One — In their rush to drool all over themselves about “the rule of law,” do Obama and Hillary realize that it’s Zelaya who was flouting the rule of law here?  I know The One’s a big believer in executive power but even he’d acknowledge that defying an order from the Honduran Supreme Court crosses the line (I think).

Two — Why is Team Barry siding with Zelaya instead of simply staying out of it?  The White House proved with Iran that they’re capable of maintaining very tactful silences for excruciatingly long periods of time.  Yet today we’ve got not only the secretary of state but Obama himself rushing out statements.

These Marxists sure do stick together.

Continue reading here . . .

 

My end note:

Links are in brown/dark brown not the usual blue.

Iran’s elections and demonstrations: Obama mute. (Missed opportunity for Obama to use women’s freedoms; 40% of demonstrators in Iran were women as a promtion of individual freedoms.)

Honduran elections and arrest of Zelaya: Obama/Clinton et al. up in arms.

What gives?

 

 

The 8 Republicans In The American Dog House; the 44 Good Guys (Democrats)

 

The 2010 election campaigns have already started.  Republicans that fear their re-election; especially those surrounded by Democratic districts have “drank the Koolaid” and bought the Climate Faux Bill hook line and sinker.

Anyone that listens to a the propaganda of global warming and the far left leaning scientists promoting this deserve the taxation about to be inflicted on Americans.

By a vote of 219-212; the House passed the Climate bill.  Of the 219; 8 were Republicans.  In the opposition field 44 Democrats voted NO (Kudos to them).

IF the 8 Republicans had voted NO; we would no longer be facing the possibility of the LARGEST American tax hike in history.  Yes, Americans ALL of us will be affected by this atrocity.

The end vote would be NAYS 22o, Yeas 211; the bill would not have passed.

The 8 Republicans are:

Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385 (And he’s seriously considering running for Senate!)
Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765

The 44 Democrats that voted NO are:

Altmire
Arcuri
Barrow
Berry
Boren
Bright
Carney
Childers
Costa
Costello
Dahlkemper
Davis (AL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
Donnelly (IN)
Edwards (TX)
Ellsworth
Foster
Griffith
Herseth Sandlin
Holden
Kirkpatrick (AZ)
Kissell
Kucinich
Marshall
Massa
Matheson
McIntyre
Melancon
Minnick
Mitchell
Mollohan
Nye
Ortiz
Pomeroy
Rahall
Rodriguez
Ross
Salazar
Stark
Tanner
Taylor
Visclosky
Wilson (OH)

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/26/the-8-cap-and-tax-republicans/

The ONE name that blows me away is Rep. Dennis Kucinich.  What made him vote NO?  Someone should ask him.  He is a Congressional Progressive Caucus member (Democratic Socialists of America tie-in); against the wars, etc.

I can ONLY HOPE the Senate will read this bill; scrutinize and question the taxation included in this bill and think LONG and HARD before they cast their vote.

In a time of economic recession with unemployment nearing double digits (already there is some states); to incorporate this bill and the taxation attached is ludicrous!

India and China are the greatest polluters on the planet Earth.  They are not interested in a carbon tax plan.  Ratcheting down carbon emissions in the United States will only affect the amount of carbon the United States emits by less than 5%.  This Climate bill is only a step toward the United Nations goal of Global Socialism and redistributing money world wide.

The United Nations “Environmental goal” speaks of carbon credits given to ALL Nations involved in the United Nations.  This includes third world countries that don’t even have the technology the United States has. 

So the scenario goes like this: 1.  Country X does not have gasoline stations, the people ride camels, donkeys or walk.  They are given 100 carbon credits (of which they have NO use for) under the United Nations Global Carbon Tax program.  2.  The United States is given 100 carbon credits too.  But, the United States will use 175 carbon credits for the year.  So in order to NOT be penalized by the United Nations by a higher Global Tax, they BUY 75 carbon credits from Country X for say100 BILLION dollars.  3.  So now Country X that has no use for carbon credits has become 100 BILLION dollars richer at the expense of the United States.  It is called GLOBAL REDISTRIBUTION of WEALTH.  Got it?

Here are a couple of articles that you should read:

June 28, 2009

The Global Warmists refuse to hear evidence that is ‘unhelpful’

Thomas Lifson
If the evidence disproves alarmist cant from the Warmist cult, it is shunned. More stark evidence of the biggest con game in history.  Christopher Booker of the UK Telegraph has  the story:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/06/the_global_warmists_refuse_to.html

 

THIS:

Article

below on Cap and Trade, “Winners and losers emerge in climate bill.”

 

 

 

 

Owners of large tracts of forest land also will get a lot of interest from the business community. Like farmers, environmental experts see them as a huge player in the carbon economy because of their natural ability to absorb carbon.

 

 

Louis Blumberg, director of climate change for the Nature Conservancy’s California chapter, envisions a system in which forest owners could make money simply by signing an agreement to cut down fewer trees for lumber.

 

 

The Nature Conservancy did just that last year with the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit agency that owns about 24,000 acres of redwood and douglas fir forest northwest of San Francisco. The groups changed the logging schedule on the property, and the fund expects to receive about $2 million from Pacific Gas and Electric, which participates in a regional climate initiative similar to the one that the Waxman-Markey bill would create around the country.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/06/the_green_scam_and_the_ivy_lea.html

 

And my latest blog about the Climate Bill Taxation:

http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/was-the-climate-bill-pushed-by-carol-browner-obamas-energy-czar-a-member-of-socialist-international-browner-also-has-ties-to-al-gore/

Carol Browner, Al Gore, and MAURICE STRONG all as one “happy family” with this bill passing in the House.

Al Gore stands to make MILLIONS of the carbon credit exchange; under the guise of saving “Gaia”.  So does Maurice Strong (tied to corruption scandals at United Nations; “oil for food” program/Saddam Hussein ring a bell?)

 

We are headed to a nanny style of government; bankruptcy of America.  Americans will go back to living the “pioneer days” style of life; candles, open fires, etc. because you won’t be able to afford electricity (Oh wait; candles emit carbon as do open fires).

Remember these words from our faithful leader: “Electricity bills will skyrocket.”

Is this Obama and the Democratic Congress’ goal? The Cloward-Piven strategy is working like a charm.  Only a couple more goals to go……….

$2.7 billion in TARP money went to British Rum maker

 

From American Thinker:

June 28, 2009

Yep. We taxpayers now have “a little Captain in all of us.” Too bad it’s because our tax dollars went to the rum distiller who makes Captain Morgan rum.

Via Crooks and Liars we get the not surprising news that the $750 billion we shelled out in TARP to save American banks ended up lining the pockets of just about everyone else except our troubled financial institutions.

With that much free money floating around, it was bound to happen. Any idiot could have predicted it – which makes Paulson, Bush, Geithner, and Obama certifiable loons if they didn’t see this coming.

Ryan Donmoyer of Bloomberg has the incredible details:

 

In June 2008, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John deJongh Jr. agreed to give London-based Diageo Plc billions of dollars in tax incentives to move its production of Captain Morgan rum from one U.S. island — Puerto Rico — to another, namely St. Croix. DeJongh says he had no idea his deal would help make the world’s largest liquor distiller the most unlikely beneficiary of the emergency Troubled Asset Relief Program approved by Congress just four months later.

Today, as two 56-foot-high (17-meter-high) tanks for holding fermenting molasses will soon rise from the ground on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, the extent to which dozens of nonbank companies benefited from last October’s emergency financial rescue plan is just beginning to come to light.

The hurried legislation adopted by a Congress voting under the threat of sudden global economic collapse led to hidden tax breaks for firms in dozens of industries. They included builders of Nascar auto-racing tracks, restaurant chains such as Burger King Holdings Inc., movie and television producers — and London’s Diageo.

“It’s kind of like the magician’s sleight of hand,” says former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman William Thomas, a California Republican who ran the committee from 2001 to 2007 and oversaw all tax legislation. “They snuck these things in a bill that was focused on other things.”

And this is the tip of the iceberg. Anyone know where the stimulus money is really going? How about the trillions the Federal Reserve has paid out to keep banks in the business of lending short term to corporations so they could pay their employees (supposedly)?

The problem with truly eyepopping amounts of money – besides the fact that it adds to the deficit and the long term debt – is that it is virtually impossible to keep track of. Untold billions – perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars – has been handed out to people and companies who don’t deserve it and had no business getting it in the first place.

Read the rest of this article HERE

 

End note:

Isn’t it wonderful that we have the likes of Barnie Frank (claims he didn’t see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiasco coming) along with Joe Biden watching over the billions in bailout taxpayer money?

Has anyone in the Appropriations or The Ways and Means Committees even looked into the fact if ANYONE in the Obama Administration or Congress have any shares in Diageo Plc?

The Inspector General Scandal Getting More “Sunlight”? What Americans Need To Know.

 

Americans need to know about the “bully pulpit” tactics being used against Inspector Generals in America (the ones that do have accountibility to expose waste and fraud).

 

From  American Thinker:

June 27, 2009

Below the radar: IG scandal developing some legs

By Rick Moran

With all the other news of the last fortnight – Iran, cap and trade, Michael Jackson – the questions that are swirling around the treatment of several federal watchdogs who have been fired, resigned, or blocked in their efforts to keep the government honest continue to go unanswered.

The case of the AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin as well as the resignation of the Amtrak IG Fred Wiederhold have drawn the attention of Senator Charles Grassley who has fired off several letters asking for details and explanations why just as these two watchdogs were causing trouble for the Obama administration, they left their posts under less than ideal circumstances.

Robert Stacy McCain has been on top of this story for weeks and has the latest at the AmSpec blog:

Officials of Amtrak have “systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) charged Thursday, making public a 94-page legal report prepared at the request of the Amtrak inspector general who resigned suddenly a week ago.

Fred Wiederhold, a veteran IG, retired without notice or explanation June 18 after a meeting with Amtrak officials where he presented the report by the law firm of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher.

“The allegations are serious, including third parties being told to first send documents under subpoena by the Inspector General to Amtrak for review, and the Inspector General being chastised for communicating directly with congressional appropriations and authorizing committees,” Grassley said in a statement.

Grassley’s accusation of illegal actions by Amtrak, including failure to comply properly with subpoenas, is the most serious to date in an investigation that has expanded quickly since the IG for the AmeriCorps program was given an ultimatum two weeks ago to resign or be fired.

In a letter to Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper, Grassley said the legal report “suggests a long-term and unrelenting interference with the activities and operation” of the IG’s office. Grassley said his staff believes that members of the Amtrak IG office “be fearful of retaliation if they were to discuss the matters set forth in this letter with anyone, including Congress.”

Grassley wants to interview four top Amtrak officials to get to the bottom of this mess. And another question raised by McCain involves Amtrak VP and General Counsel Eleanor “Eldie” Acheson, Hillary Clinton’s college roommate and good friend, who was involved in several altercations with Wiederhold.

It must be pointed out that there is nothing to connect these incidents to the White House – at the moment, although Walpin was given an hour to resign by a White House lawyer, itself a violation of the law the prescribes a 30 day notice to Congress in order to terminate an IG. But the real problem here appears to be a culture created by the White House that not only is nervous about IG’s investigating fraud and abuse, but that the IG’s themselves have to go to make room for Obama’s people.

The case of the special watchdog at the Treasury Department who is assigned to ferret out corruption in the TARP bailout scheme is different still. Here, there is a dispute between Obama political appointees at Treasury and the Inspector General Neil Barofsky regarding just how much power the IG is granted to stick his nose into Geithner’s folly. With Barofsky saying there is “massive fraud” in the program and the FBI already opening 20 separate investigations into criminality connected to the program, this, I believe, is the story most worth watching.

Grassley is doing a good job holding Administration official’s feet to the fire on these IG firings. But outside of Stacy McCain and a few others (Byron York at the Examiner is doing excellent work on this), it is so far a non-issue with the media.

That may change as Stacy pointed out on my radio show last Tuesday night. There is nothing reporters like more – liberal or conservative – than a good story. And this IG mess isn’t going away any time soon.

 

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/06/below_the_radar_ig_scandal_dev.htm

 

My personal note here:

The article above is totally the work of Rick Moran.  I bolded certain sections myself for effect.

First it was Czars and Czarinas.  Now they are working on effectively muting anyone that exhibits any independent scrutinization of fraud and culpability in ineffective governing boards.

Obama is building his government in “layers”.  Each “circle” of confidants only accountable to the White House.  Where is the Congress in all of this? Why aren’t they backing Grassley’s investigation into this?  Will this investigation of threats and intimidation to the IG’s gain some legs and Americans  eventually be privy to this collusion?

Will Obama, in the end, make Congress an ineffectual branch of government?

 

 

 

Was The Climate Bill Pushed By Carol Browner? Obama’s Energy Czar; A Member Of Socialist International. Browner Also Has Ties To Al Gore!

 

The Obama Administration tried to scrub any information about Carol Browner, his Energy Czar.

Here is proof that she has participated avidly in the Socialist International and is a member of :

XXIII Congress of the Socialist International, Athens
Global Solidarity: The courage to make a difference

30 June-02 July 2008

ACTING NOW ON CLIMATE CHANGE

To achieve a sustainable world society 

 

PANEL TWO – How do we strengthen the multilateral architecture for a sustainable future?

• Carol Browner, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency under President Bill Clinton, Member of Socialist International Commission for a Sustainable World Society

 

 http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1915&ArticlePageID=1272&ModuleID=18

Carol Browner At Socialist International XXIII Congress International for Global Solidarity

 

http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1915&ArticleImageID=1743&ModuleID=18

 

Now For Carol Browner’s connections:

http://www.muckety.com/7EFB6B792780779BF9AAE832BB25726A.map

 

By Steve Milloy Friday, June 19, 2009

Waxman blocks climate czar investigation
House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Hollywood) has outsmarted House Republicans yet again.

As we reported last week, House Republicans accused Obama climate czar Carol Browner of deliberately violating the Presidential Records Act by ordering a shroud of secrecy around the development of Obama’s CAFE standards and the EPA’s CO2 endangerment finding.

To satisfy Republican demands for an investigation into Browner’s activities, Carbon Control News reports that Waxman…

…is pledging to “monitor” and potentially hold hearings on the decision-making process behind EPA’s proposed finding that carbon dioxide endangers public health…

Carbon Control News also reported that,

Democrats…may be willing to investigate the issue given their own interest in obtaining Bush-era EPA documents…

So chalk up another victory for the wily Waxman over dim-witted congressional Republicans.

Waxman has protected Carol Browner while giving up nothing except vague promises. And if Waxman is somehow forced into investigating the Obama-Browner endangerment finding, he’ll drag the Bush administration into the investigation—something he’s wanted to do for years and something he knows House Republicans wouldn’t want to happen.

Carol Browner, an acknowledged socialist, also continues her streak of Republican-trouncing.

She single-handedly defeated congressional Republican efforts at regulatory reform in 1995, thumbed her nose at the Republican-controlled Congress in issuing the infamous junk science-fueled 1997 air quality standards and, now in 2009, has twice dodged congressional scrutiny of her White House activities—earlier this year, she also ducked congressional confirmation hearings.

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12140

 

**Carol Browner HAPPENS to be a Director of the Alliance For Climate Protection.**

WHO else is in this Alliance?  AL GORE

Prior to her work at the EPA, Browner worked for Florida’s department of environmental regulation from 1991 to 1993. A close ally to former Vice President Al Gore, Browner worked as a legislative director for him while he was a senator.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/white_house/transition2008/browner_profile.html

 

Carol Browner, the Al Gore protégé who ran the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton years. This time she gets a promotion to “energy czar,” a new job that Mr. Obama envisions as akin to National Security Advisor but for climate. “Czar” is an apt title for Ms. Browner, who built a reputation as the most left-leaning of Bill Clinton’s advisers.

The EPA long ago became the government arm of the environment lobby, but Ms. Browner was especially political. During her EPA salad days, she put out air-pollution standards that even the agency itself said would have no measurable impact on public health, purely as antibusiness punishment. She forced GE to dredge the Hudson River of PCBs that posed no threat to the public. Ms. Browner also rewrote a law called New Source Review so that power plants, refineries and other industries were always breaking the particulate emissions rules.

But her most pernicious inspiration was the idea that the EPA could by itself classify carbon as a “dangerous pollutant” under current clean-air laws and thus impose new taxes and restrictions on all types of energy. Under Ms. Browner’s orders, EPA general counsel Jonathan Cannon prepared a 1998 memorandum concluding that “CO2 emissions are within the scope of the EPA’s authority to regulate,” even though Congress specifically declined to include carbon when it last amended the Clean Air Act in 1990. Now a law professor, Mr. Cannon serves on the Obama transition team.

Cue the lawsuits in 2003, when the adults in the Bush Administration rejected Ms. Browner’s scheme. The lead author of the opposition’s legal briefs was Georgetown professor Lisa Heinzerling, who is also a transition member. One of the most important decisions facing Mr. Obama is what to do with the Supreme Court’s 2007 order that the EPA consider regulating carbon on the Browner theory. The Bush Administration has resisted such regulation, but Mr. Obama’s selection of Ms. Browner betrays his answer.

The Obama Administration is “sitting on some authority,” Ms. Browner warned at the Center for American Progress recently. She says the White House is prepared to use that power “in the event that perhaps there can’t be some sort of agreement reached with Congress on how to move legislation.” In other words, Ms. Browner will use the threat of brute regulatory force as a political bludgeon if Capitol Hill declines to inflict some carbon tax on voters in the midst of a recession.

Not only will this incur colossal economic costs, but it bypasses normal democratic debate. In that sense it’s suggestive of the radicalism of Mr. Obama’s climate agenda. When Mr. Obama said during the campaign that he favored “nothing less than the complete transformation of our economy” in the name of global warming, we figured he couldn’t mean something so utopian. Maybe he does.

As for the “team of rivals” hype, the rest of Mr. Obama’s energy list is heavy with Ms. Browner’s acolytes. Lisa Jackson, for 16 years a top EPA enforcement officer, will now run that agency. At the White House Council on Environmental Quality will be Nancy Sutley, who was Ms. Browner’s special assistant at EPA. At a Congressional hearing last year, Ms. Browner declared that trying to eliminate carbon — a main input of industrial civilization — “need not bankrupt us.” As a standard for policy, that’s not exactly reassuring.

http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/usa/obamas-carbon-busters-3011.htm

 

Al Gore is tied to the Carbon Credit Exchange

Guess WHO else is tied to the CCX (Chicago Carbon Exchange)  MAURICE STRONG!

Why am I not surprised to see his name involved with cap-and-trade? Let’s see, he was involved in Oil for Food, and cash funneled via U.N. agencies to North Korea, and under Kofi Annan received a million dollar check bankrolled by Saddam Hussein’s U.N.-sanctioned regime that was delivered by Tongsun Park—Maurice Strong embodies all that is sinister and shady.

Today he is involved in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the only firm in the U.S. that trades carbon credits, no doubt because he cares about the environment.

Deborah Corey Barnes has revealed much about Al Gore and this industry in her exposé by the Capital Research Center, “Al Gore’s Carbon Crusade: The Money and Connections Behind It,” a stomach-turning read:

Al Gore is chairman and founder of a private equity firm called Generation Investment Management (GIM). According to Gore, the London-based firm invests money from institutions and wealthy investors in companies that are going green. “Generation Investment Management (GIM), purchases—but isn’t a provider of—carbon dioxide offsets,” notes spokesman Richard Campbell. (CNSNews.com, March 7, 2007)… Along with Gore, the co-founder of GIM is former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson, who is currently the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. Last September Goldman Sachs bought 10% of CCX shares for $23 million. CCX owns half of the European Climate Exchange (ECX), Europe’s largest carbon trading company… The World Bank now operates a Carbon Finance Unit that conducts research on how to develop and trade carbon credits. The Bank works with Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Spain to set up carbon credit funds in each country to purchase emission credits from firms for use in developing countries. In addition, it runs the Carbon Fund for Europe helping countries meet their Kyoto Protocol requirements. These funds are traded on the European Climate Exchange (half of which is owned by CCX, itself a creature of Al Gore’s firm, Generation Investment Management). Can we connect the dots?

Maurice Strong and Al Gore as partners in industry—Can you say “Oil for Carbon Credits?”

http://www.openmarket.org/2007/07/27/maurice-strong/

 

Gore buys his carbon off-sets from himself–the Generation Investment Management LLP, “an independent, private, owner-managed partnership established in 2004 with offices in London and Washington, D.C.” of which he is both chairman and founding partner.

To hear the saving-the-earth singsong of this dynamic duo, even the feather light petals of cherry blossoms in Washington leave a bigger carbon footprint.

It’s a strange global warming partnership that Strong and Gore have, but it’s one that’s working.

Strong is the silent partner, a man whose name often draws a blank in the Washington cocktail circuit. Even though a former Secretary General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the much hyped Rio Earth Summit) and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations in the days of a beleaguered Kofi Annan, the Canadian born Strong is little known in the Unites States. That’s because he spends most of his time in China where he works to make the communist country the world’s next superpower. The nondescript Strong, nonetheless is big cheese in the world of climate change, and is one of the main architects of the coming-your-way-soon Kyoto Protocol.

Gore is the glitzy, media approved front man in the partnership, the flashing neon lights on the global stage warning the masses of the end of Earth, as we know it, and Hollywood’s poster boy for greening the silver screen.

The skeptics of man-made global warming believe that Gore and Strong have made climate change “the new religion”. Climate change is not the first religion both parties have tried to make stick. Along with former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Strong, currently president of the Earth Council, has been boasting of replacing the Ten Commandments with the Earth Charter, a golden rule guide for how the masses should treat the environment.

Gore, who has given sermons at the United Nations sponsored Cathedral of St. John the Divine Church in New York City, is a promoter of the religion known as Gaia.

The two environmental gurus also share a belief in radical Malthusian population reduction. According to them, too many people, particularly in the U.S. are polluting the planet, emitting excessive Freon through their refrigerators and jacking up the air conditioning.

But the conduct of Al Gore and Maurice Strong in the capitalist world is one for the books. It’s a side of them that may have remained unknown had it not been for the investigative talent of the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR).

The tawdry tale of the top two global warming gurus in the business world goes all the way back to Earth Day, April 17, 1995 when the future author of An Inconvenient Truth traveled to Fall River, Massachusetts, to deliver a green sermon at the headquarters of Molten Metal Technology Inc. (MMTI). MMTI was a firm that proclaimed to have invented a process for recycling metals from waste.Gore praised the Molten Metal firm as a pioneer in the kind of innovative technology that can save the environment, and make money for investors at the same time.

“Gore left a few facts out of his speech that day. First, the firm was run by Strong and a group of Gore intimates, including Peter Knight, the firm’s registered lobbyist, and Gore’s former top Senate aide,” wrote EIR.

“Second, the company had received more than $25 million in U.S. Department of energy (DOE) research and development grants, but had failed to prove that the technology worked on a commercial scale. The company would go on to receive another $8 million in federal taxpayers’ cash, at that point, its only source of revenue.

“With Al Gore’s Earth Day as a Wall Street calling card, Molten Metal’s stock value soared to $35 a share, a range it maintained through October 1996. But along the way, DOE scientists had balked at further funding. When, in March 1996, corporate officers concluded that the federal cash cow was about to run dry, they took action: Between that date and October 1996, seven corporate officers–including Maurice Strong–sold off $15.3 million in personal shares in the company, at top market value. On Oct. 20, 1996–a Sunday–the company issued a press release, announcing for the first time, that DOE funding would be vastly scaled back, and reported the bad news on a conference call with stockbrokers.

“On Monday, the stock plunged by 49%, soon landing at $5 a share.By early 1997, furious stockholders had filed a class action suit against the company and its directors. Ironically, one of the class action lawyers had tangled with Maurice Strong in another insider trading case, involving a Swiss company called AZL Resources, chaired by Strong, who was also a lead shareholder. The AZL case closely mirrored Molten Metal, and in the end, Strong and the other AZL partners agreed to pay $5 million to dodge a jury verdict, when eyewitness evidence surfaced of Strong’s role in scamming the value of the company stock up into the stratosphere, before selling it off.

In 1997, Strong went on to accept from Tongsun Park, the Korean man found guilty of illegally acting as an Iraqi agent, $1 million from Saddam Hussein, which was invested in Cordex Petroleum Inc., a company he owned with his son, Fred.

 http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover031307.htm

 CCX Directors

Maurice Strong is a former Secretary General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio Earth Summit) and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He is currently the Chairman of the Earth Council, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the cause of sustainable development.In June of 1995, he was named Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank. From December 1992 until December 1995, Mr. Strong was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ontario Hydro, one of North America’s largest utilities. Mr. Strong is an advisor to the United Nations, and has been a director and/or officer of a number of Canadian, U.S. and international corporations.

 

Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat currently heads the international practice of Covington & Burling, a major international law firm. Ambassador Eizenstat has held a number of key positions at senior levels in the U.S. Government. During the Clinton Administration he served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union (1993-1996), Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade (1996-97); Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs (1997-99), and Special Representative of the President on Holocaust-Era Issues (1995-2001). Ambassador Eizenstat was also Chief Domestic Policy Adviser and Executive Director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff for President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981). Ambassador Eizenstat played a prominent role in the development of key international initiatives, including and the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, where he led the US delegation. Ambassador Eizenstat successfully negotiated major agreements with the Swiss, German, Austrian and French governments, and other European countries, covering restitution of property, payment for slave and forced laborers, recovery of looted art, bank accounts, and payment of insurance policies. His book “Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II” is an account of these events. Ambassador Eizenstat was educated in the public schools of Atlanta. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and received his B.A. cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was Phi Beta Kappa.

Richard L. Sandor is chairman and CEO of the Chicago Climate Exchange, the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding integrated greenhouse gas emissions reduction, registry and trading system. Dr. Sandor is also a research professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Member of the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. While on sabbatical from the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1970s he served as Vice President and chief economist of the Chicago Board of Trade. It was at that time that he earned the reputation as the principal architect of the interest-rate futures market. Richard L. Sandor was honored by the City of Chicago and the Chicago Board of Trade for his contribution to the creation of financial futures and his universal recognition as the “father of financial futures”. In October 2007, Dr. Sandor was honored as one of TIME Magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment” for his work as the “Father of Carbon of Trading.”

http://www.chicagoclimateexchange.com/content.jsf?id=67

 

Sandor launched the Chicago Climate Exchange, or CCX, in 2003 after getting two research grants from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation. The money went to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, for Sandor’s pilot program to trade carbon credits.

“Obama was on the foundation that gave us the grant,” Sandor said. “We know him well.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Sandor didn’t discuss provisions in the climate bill with Obama or other administration officials. The White House “has not weighed in on any specific policy details of the Waxman bill, including offset provisions,” Earnest wrote in an e-mail.

Obama has proposed auctioning pollution permits to raise at least $646 billion from 2012 to 2019. Sandor opposed that provision, saying that paying for the permits would wipe out utilities’ profits.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFlkGZGxrOEQ

 

 

 

Does anyone beside me feel “snookered”, “duped”, and “hoodwinked”?

ANY CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS THAT VOTE …..YES….ON THIS FAUX CLIMATE BILL SHOULD BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE!

 

Carol Browner feels she is “untouchable” ; after all she is a CZARINA.