Venezuela AFFIRMS / DENIES Iran Is Helping It Look for Uranium

From the New York Times - September 25, 2009:

A senior aide to Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, said Friday that Iran was assisting Venezuela in the detection and testing of uranium deposits found in remote areas of Venezuela. The disclosure points to the importance Mr. Chávez has placed on the development of a nuclear energy program.

“Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analysis,” Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining, told reporters... "We could have important reserves of uranium..."

Mr. Chávez has denied that Venezuela wants to develop nuclear weapons... Still, Mr. Chávez has moved ahead in seeking the help of other countries. This month, he said he had reached an agreement with Russia, the top weapons supplier to Venezuela, for assistance in creating a nuclear energy program. Mr. Chávez also referred this month to a plan to create what he called a “nuclear village” in Venezuela with technological assistance from Iran...

From the New York Times - September 26, 2009:

Venezuela’s minister of science and technology denied Saturday that Iran was helping his country seek uranium, saying Venezuela was working only with Russia to detect deposits of the radioactive metal.

The official, Jesse Chacón, said Venezuela, which has vast deposits of various minerals and precious stones including gold, diamonds and nickel, was also seeking deposits of other natural resources and was taking aerial photos to determine what it should exploit...

The country’s minister of mining, Rodolfo Sanz, said Friday that Iran was helping Venezuela detect uranium deposits and that initial evaluations suggested reserves were significant...

Mr. Sanz declined to respond to reporters when questioned Saturday about the conflicting statements.

Related Post: Putin to help Venezuela develop "peaceful" nuclear technology

A Deal with Moscow? Don't Bet on It

From FP:

U.S. officials were practically giddy when they heard Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Wednesday indicate possible Russian support for new sanctions against Iran... Obama's chief Russia advisor, Michael McFaul, was "delighted," according to the New York Times. "I couldn't have said it any better myself," he said.

You could almost hear the champagne corks popping in the American delegation's suites.

But will Medvedev's words actually translate into Russian actions when it comes time to draft a tough resolution and vote?... Obama officials might want to recall that Russia has voted for U.N. resolutions against Iran in the past, but those texts were significantly watered down at Moscow's insistence.

Russia has also defied the spirit of those resolutions by continuing a business-as-usual approach to Tehran, including continued sales of arms and nuclear reactors. And Russian support for a sanctions resolution is far from a fait accompli. Just last week, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced their opposition to new sanctions...

Ultimately, Russia is the one responsible for facilitating and setting up Iran's nuclear program. Does anyone think for one moment that Russia is merely interested in helping the Iranians set up a nuclear energy program? Does anyone think for one moment that Putin's plans to deliver the S-300 anti-aircraft weapons system to Iran is based on his good samaritanism and his desire to protect Iran's peaceful nuclear energy quest? Or that Russia has been arming Iran and Venezuela to the teeth for the hell of it?

This is all about offsetting American power. It's about Putin's cold war mentality and his desire to weaken American interests and strengthen Russia's position on the World stage.

Anyone who thinks Russia's been expanding all that energy just to establish civilian nuclear plants in Iran is naive.... at best.

Documents reveal: ACORN misusing charitable contributions

From the Washington Post

Documents released by a Senate Republican on Thursday show that leaders of the ACORN community organizing network transferred several million dollars in charitable and government money meant for the poor to arms of the group that have political and sometimes profit-making missions.

ACORN's tax-exempt groups and allied organizations... used more than half their charitable and public money in 2006 to pay other ACORN affiliates, according to an analysis by the tax staff of Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).

On Thursday, Grassley called the transactions a "big shell game" and said ACORN donors may be surprised by how the liberal group known for helping the poor obtain housing and health care was spending their money. He urged the Internal Revenue Service to take a closer look.

According to the Grassley report, charities "are being used to raise monies which are then funneled to other charities or to other organizations for purposes other than what the donor may have intended. . . . Dollars raised for charitable [purposes] appear to be used for impermissible lobbing and political activity."...

Also on Thursday, Grassley requested that ACORN... be taken off a list of approved charities for federal employees to donate to in an annual giving campaign.

The senator's staff... finished much of their analysis in fall 2008, and it is based largely on 2006 financial transactions. The most recent data available cover transactions in 2007.

Project Vote, one of the most recognized organizations in the ACORN family, took in $8.6 million in 2006 but paid more than 60 percent of that -- $5.4 million -- to two groups then controlled by [former ACORN director Wade] Rathke. About $4.6 million went to ACORN for "contractual and campaign services" and $779,000 went to Citizens Consulting Inc., which charged ACORN affiliates on a percentage basis for bookkeeping services...

Incidentally, Barack Obama headed the Chicago branch of Project Vote in 1992. Additionally, the Obama campaign dolled out $832,598.29 to Citizens Services Inc. - in 2008 - for get-out-the-vote projects. Citizens Services Inc. and Citizens Consulting Inc. [which are perhaps one and the same] are both ACORN subsidiaries, and they both share the same New Orleans address as ACORN.

FEC disclosure reports initially filed by the obama campaign indicated that the payments to CSI went for "staging sound and lighting."

When it was later discovered that CSI doesn't perform stage, lighting or sound services, the Obama campaign apologized for the mislabeling error and announced it was amending its FEC filings to indicate it had hired CSI for "get out the vote" projects; which raised suspicions as to what the Obama campaign was trying to hide.

Blair Latoff, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee said at the time: "Barack Obama's failure to accurately report his campaign's financial records is an incredibly suspicious situation that appears to be an attempt to hide his campaign's interaction with a left-wing organization previously convicted of voter fraud. For a candidate who claims to be practicing 'new' politics, his FEC reports look an awful lot like the 'old-style' Chicago politics of yesterday."

Lavrov: G8 will not meddle in Iran's internal affairs

Echoing a statement issued by Barack Obama shortly after the Iranian presidential election, in which he asserted, "it is not productive... to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Thursday said - with regards to curtailing Iran's nuclear ambitions - the G8 will refrain from meddling in Iran's "internal affairs".

From Itar-Tass:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his G-8 counterparts on Thursday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program and the situation in Afghanistan.

“On Iran’s problem, Russia confirmed its commitment to solving the issue by political and diplomatic means. The minister called for continuing efforts to develop a constructive dialog with Iran...,” the Foreign Ministry reported.

“At the same time, the parties stressed the need to respect Iran’s sovereignty and not interfere in its internal affairs,” the ministry added.

Lavrov's remarks were consistent with statements he issued earlier this month.

From the Wall Street Journal - September 11, 2009:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear that Moscow wouldn't back any new rounds of tough sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council, and he dismissed a U.S. timetable for securing progress from Iran on ending its nuclear-fuel program...

Just a day after U.S. officials warned that Iran may already have enough enriched uranium to make a bomb if processed further, Mr. Lavrov said negotiations should begin without any imposed timetable... "I do not think those sanctions will be approved by the United Nations Security Council," Mr. Lavrov said.

Iran needs "an equal place in this regional dialog," he said. "Iran is a partner that has never harmed Russia in any way."...

Mr. Lavrov [also said] that an expected U.S. move to drop plans to station a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe wouldn't be seen as a concession to Russia; such a move would merely correct a previous U.S. mistake, he said.

China on Thursday also announced it will not support increased sanctions on Iran as a way to curb its nuclear program.

“We always believe that sanctions and pressure are not the way out,” said Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, during a news conference.

Nevertheless, even as Obama's efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear aspirations appear to be heading south, he has managed to make ammends with Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and other UN member states. And, for that alone, he is certain to go down in history as one of the greatest American diplomats of all time....

Analysis: Pakistan unlikely to cooperate with US

From the AP:

Pakistan's doubts about U.S. commitment to the Afghan war make it less likely to cooperate in targeting Taliban commanders said to be directing the insurgency across the border...

American officials and many analysts allege that Pakistan's powerful spy agency is either protecting, tolerating or actively supporting those groups because they do not pose a direct threat to the Pakistani state and may be useful allies in ensuring that a pro-Pakistan, anti-India regime takes power in Afghanistan when the Americans leave...

A senior Pakistani intelligence official, however, insisted the spy agencies of Pakistan were sharing intelligence with the CIA about militants operating both here and in Afghanistan, including the Haqqani network.

"The CIA knows about our role, but we don't want to highlight it through the media," said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the requirements of his job...

With talk of NATO pulling out of Afghanistan, an increasingly potent Taliban threat and rising questions in the U.S. [primarily within the Obama administration] about whether defeating the insurgency is possible, there is even less incentive for the Pakistani authorities to share intelligence on Haqqani and Omar, said Shaun Gregory, a professor at Bradford University's Pakistan Security Research Unit...

Sarkozy chides Obama over his naive and counterproductive Nuclear agenda

From the Telegraph UK:

World leaders have backed a... resolution calling for a world without nuclear weapons at a United Nations Security Council hosted by Barack Obama [on Thursday].

The President hailed the agreement as a landmark in halting the spread of nuclear weapons..., but forceful statements from other leaders on the need to act against Iran following the vote threatened to upstage the special meeting.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, came close to mocking his American counterpart for the good intentions, which Mr Obama had heralded as an "historic" step towards nuclear abolition, even though it set no specific targets or fresh mandates.

"We live in a real world not a virtual world," Sarkozy told the 15-member council.

"And the real world expects us to take decisions.

"President Obama dreams of a world without weapons ... but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite.

"Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993.

"I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map."...

The sharp-tongued French leader even implied that Mr Obama's resolution 1887 had used up valuable diplomatic energy.

"If we have courage to impose sanctions together it will lend viability to our commitment to reduce our own weapons and to making a world without nuke weapons," he said.

Mr Sarkozy has previously called the US president's disarmament crusade "naïve"...

Though [the new resolution] merely consolidated many elements previously endorsed in the Security Council..., bringing them together in a single document... should add momentum to efforts to achieve these goals.

Obama to hold detainees indefinitely

From the Washington Post:

The Obama administration has decided not to seek legislation to establish a new system of preventive detention to hold terrorism suspects and will instead rely on a 2001 congressional resolution authorizing military force against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to continue to detain people indefinitely and without charge, according to administration officials...

"It's time to show the world that.we are not a country that runs prisons which locks people away without ever telling them why they're there or what they' are charged with."
Barack Obama speaking at a presidential campaign rally - September 03, 2007

"What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated. And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world..."
Barack Obama in an interview with ABC News - June 16, 2008

"There should be no conflict between keeping America safe and secure and respecting our Constitution... Habeas corpus ... is the foundation of Anglo-American law, which says very simply, if the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, ‘Why was I grabbed?’ and say, ‘Maybe, you’ve got the wrong person.’ The reason we have that safeguard is we don’t always have the right person. We don’t always catch the right person. We may think this is Muhammad the terrorist. It might be Muhammad the cab driver. You may think it’s Barack the bomb-thrower. But it might be Barack, the guy running for president.’’
Barack Obama speaking at a presidential campaign rally - September 8, 2008

Zelaya comes to Honduras and violence ensues, thanks to Obama and the UN

From La Gringa's Blogicito:

After several weeks of relative peace and calm in Honduras － and no curfews, despite what the international media consistently misreports － former president Mel Zelaya returned to Honduras Monday and instigated violence again.

Virtually every private car in the area of the Brazilian Embassy where Zelaya is hiding was damaged by breaking out some or all of the windows and ruining the tires. Ironically, Mel Zelaya's own mother's car was parked on the street and was likewise vandalized.

Private homes in the area were broken into and robbed. Citizens were assaulted. Death threats were sprayed unto neighbors' walls...

At least one woman's house was completely ransacked, robbed, and her two employees were terrorized. The Zelayistas smoked marijuana as they destroyed and smashed everything in her house up to and including the ceilings, doors, and windows...

Other neighbors were terrorized, assaulted, threatened with rape, and forced to prepare food by the rioters while they were being robbed. Numerous citizens called the police about home invasions.

This video [click here - (the video is in Spanish)] shows the above mentioned woman's angry reaction to the violation. She holds Mel Zelaya, the Brazilian Embassy, and Brazilian President Lula directly responsible. She also demands that Human Rights organizations and Washington answer whether she has any human rights....

Banks, businesses, and government offices were similarly vandalized and robbed. Employees of one fast food restaurant were threatened by Zelayistas with burning the building down with them inside.

Stores were destroyed and robbed of everything, up to and including refrigerators, washers, dryers, and computers. A bank branch was robbed of L. 500,000...

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Hmmm, now that Obama and the UN are working multilaterally to create a new world order, it seems like things are starting to look up again! And, undoubtedly, Mel Zelaya and Hugo Chavez couldn't be any happier!

Praise the Messiah!

Michelle Paterson criticizes President Obama for meddling in gubernatorial election

New York's first lady, Michelle Paterson said it was wrong for President Obama to meddle in a local election and interfere with her husband's reelection campaign:

"I have never heard of a president asking a sitting governor not to run for reelection," Michelle Paterson told NBC New York in a recent interview. "I thought it was very unusual and very unfair."

Shortly after the Iranian Presidential election, President Obama issued a statement saying he wouldn't meddle in the Iranian elections.

"It is not productive...," he said, "to be seen as meddling - the U.S. president meddling - in Iranian elections."

Bill Clinton: Ahmadinejad is retaliating for all "the 'VICIOUS', or excuse me, 'vitriolic' criticism he received"

Former President Bill Clinton - in an interview on NBC's Today Show Tuesday - had this to say about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

"If you just look at what Hillary said in the last few days, as well as the consistent position of, not just the president, but the whole national security apparatus, I think we've got to trust [him/her/them?] right now. because for reasons that no one can clearly understand, Ahmadinejad is lashing out at the world, apparently in retaliation to all the 'VICIOUS', or excuse me, the 'vitriolic' criticism he received because of the way he acted in the election. So, it could mean that he's just playing his political cards at home. We just have to let them sort it out right now...."

The aforementioned statement can be heard 3 minutes and 8 seconds into the interview:



Was Clinton's "Vicious" gaffe a Freudian slip?

Truth be told, the word "vitriolic" was also inappropriate.

Secondly, did Clinton say "we've got to trust HIM [Ahmadinejad] right now"? Or did he say "we've got to trust HER/or THEM [President Obama and Hillary] right now? It's hard to tell, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was the latter - despite his earlier ["vicious"] gaffe.

In any case, Mr. Clinton - being the Obama & Hillary lackey that he is - was clearly espousing the administration's pacifist policy on Iran.

Administration Silencing 'Medicare Advantage' Critics — So AARP Can Collect More “Kickbacks”?

From the Washington Post:

The federal government has ordered health insurers to stop telling Medicare beneficiaries that proposed health reform legislation could hurt seniors and jeopardize their benefits.

The government might take enforcement action against insurers that have tried to mobilize opposition to the legislation by sending their enrollees "misleading and confusing" messages, a senior official of the Department of Health and Human Services said in a memo Monday...

The big insurer Humana triggered the HHS crackdown with a letter to Medicare enrollees claiming that health reform proposals could hurt "millions of seniors and disabled individuals" who "could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage plans so valuable."...

Humana spokesman Tom Noland said beneficiaries "deserve to know the impact that funding cuts of the magnitude being discussed would have on benefits and premiums."...

[Sen. Mitch] McConnell said it was a "common sense conclusion" that the proposed cuts in payments to Medicare health plans would lead those plans to reduce benefits.

The AP apparently agrees with McConnel's assessment:

From the AP:

The president's speech to Congress [on September 10] contained a variety of oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do about health insurance.

A look at some of Obama's claims and how they square with the facts or the fuller story...:

OBAMA: "Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut. ... That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."

THE FACTS: Obama and congressional Democrats want to pay for their health care plans in part by reducing Medicare payments to providers by more than $500 billion over 10 years. The cuts would largely hit hospitals and Medicare Advantage, the part of the Medicare program operated through private insurance companies.

Although wasteful spending in Medicare is widely acknowledged, many experts believe some seniors almost certainly would see reduced benefits from the cuts. That's particularly true for the 25 percent of Medicare users covered through Medicare Advantage.

Supporters contend that providers could absorb the cuts by improving how they operate and wouldn't have to reduce benefits or pass along costs. But there's certainly no guarantee they wouldn't...

And, here's an eye-opening revelation from the GOP.gov website:

Administration Silences Medicare Advantage Critics - So AARP Can Collect More "Kickbacks":

This week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it was investigating Humana for providing "misleading" information regarding the Administration's proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage policies-and prohibited other Medicare Advantage plans from providing similar information on how Democrat health "reform" could take away their current coverage.

Yet the Administration's edict prohibiting plans from communicating with their beneficiaries failed to include AARP, which sponsors a Medicare Advantage plan but has been a prime advocate of Democrats' government takeover of health care-quite possibly because AARP has been supporting a health care overhaul from which it stands to gain overall handsomely. Even as AARP advocates for cutting Medicare Advantage plans by more than $150 billion, an analysis of the organization's operations reveals that it stands to receive tens of millions of dollars at the expense of seniors' medical care-with Democrats' full approval:

The Congressional Budget Office has previously estimated that the cuts to Medicare Advantage plans proposed in Democrats' government takeover of health care (H.R. 3200) would cause millions of seniors to lose their current plan and enroll in government-run Medicare.

Because the government-run Medicare benefit is less generous than most private health plans, the independent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found in June that more than nine in ten seniors not in nursing home settings utilize some form of Medicare supplemental insurance. While many of these individuals currently rely on Medicare Advantage plans for the extra benefits they provide to seniors, many would be forced to purchase supplemental Medigap policies should their existing Medicare Advantage plans be taken away from them due to Democrats' government takeover of health care.

A review of its financial statements finds that in 2008, AARP received more than half a billion dollars in revenue from selling products like Medigap supplemental insurance policies-$652.7 million in direct "royalties and fees," and an increase of more than 31 percent from the $497.6 million in similar revenue AARP generated in 2007.

Royalty revenues now comprise more than half-60.3 percent-of all AARP revenues; a Bloomberg news analysis published in December found that in 1999, royalties comprised only 11 percent of the organization's total revenues.

The Bloomberg article - which highlighted what one observer called AARP's "dirty little secret" - profiled seniors who felt betrayed after paying hundreds of dollars above market price for AARP-branded coverage. One noted that "AARP has great buying power, and people should be able to get the best deal....This is unconscionable, what AARP has allowed to happen." Another disillusioned senior wrote to the organization's leadership asking whether AARP had a "‘special relationship' with [insurance carriers] by which it receives commissions, incentives, rebates, or dare I say ‘kickbacks?'"-and when he arrived at AARP headquarters for a tour, was promptly escorted out of the marble-covered atrium.

While H.R. 3200 would place strict price controls on Medicare Advantage plans-requiring them to pay out 85 percent of premium revenues in medical claims-Medigap policies face a far less strict 65 percent requirement. In other words, under the Democrat bill, seniors could pay as much as 20 cents more out of every premium dollar to fund "kickbacks" to AARP-sponsored Medigap plans than Medicare Advantage plans.

The higher prices charged by AARP plans, and the organization's increasing dependence upon revenue from "royalties," provide tangible evidence why AARP would support cuts to Medicare Advantage that would likely increase their "kickbacks" from Medigap plans. However, it does not answer several key questions:

Given the myriad new layers of insurance regulation included in Democrats' government takeover of health care, why does the legislation not include a single provision attempting to impose any new restrictions on Medigap policies?

Did Democrats "forget" to protect seniors-or were they informed that AARP could not support legislation that would limit its lucrative revenue source?

Similarly, did CMS "forget" to include AARP among the organizations whose First Amendment rights to inform seniors of harmful Medicare provisions were restricted-or did the Administration only wish to silence its critics, and not outside organizations using "kickbacks" to fund advertising in support of the Democrat agenda?...

Hmmm........

Baucus health plan would levy $4 billion-a-year in taxes on heart valves, power wheelchairs, insulin pumps etc.

From the AP:

Amid Republican ridicule, a Democratic chairman backed down Tuesday and exempted consumer items of $100 or less — from condoms to contact lenses — from a proposed tax on medical device manufacturers. It would help pay for health care coverage for the uninsured in comprehensive legislation.

But Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., left intact a $4 billion-a-year levy on the medical devices industry, which makes everything from heart valves to imaging machines to tongue depressors.

Baucus' last-minute switch means that contact lens solution... and home pregnancy tests — among many other items — will not be taxed... But more expensive consumer medical goods, from power wheelchairs to insulin pumps and hearing aids, would still get hit...

The medical devices industry says that eventually, the taxes will get passed on to consumers. Republicans say that amounts to a violation of President Barack Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class...

The companies say they can't just take a $4 billion hit and suck it in...

A UBS Investment Research study... estimated the tax equals about one-fifth of industry profits.

Video of the Humongous crowd at the Taxpayer March on Washington DC - 9/12

H/T - Moonbattery

ACORN May Cut Voter-Registration Work

From the Wall Street Journal:

Community-organizing group Acorn said Thursday it was considering quitting its voter-registration work amid a growing political storm over its activities, a move that could hurt Democrats at the polls...

Acorn spokesman Kevin Whelan said the group was now deciding whether to focus on such lower-profile election activities as persuading registered voters to head to the polls. Its stated mission has been to register low-income Americans to vote.

"If you do registration on a large scale, you open yourselves up to political attack...," Mr. Whelan said...

If, indeed, ACORN does decide to cease its voter-registration work, it could pose a serious threat to Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential campaign.

In 2008, ACORN volunteers worked tirelessly on behalf of Barack Obama to sign up voters who typically do not register on their own, voters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and even members of the Dallas Cowboys' starting line up.

Ultimately, ACORN will have little choice but to continue its voter registration work. For without the votes of his core constituency, namely the fictitious characters of the world, Obama may find himself out of work in 2012....

Obama shelves missile defense plan on the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland

TFN notes with irony that exactly 70 years from the day the Soviet Union invaded Poland, the Obama Administration announced it was abandoning plans to set up a missile defense shield in eastern Europe:

From TFN:

On the 70th anniversary of the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland — which occurred [on September 17], sixteen days after the beginning of Hitler’s attack on Poland — the Obama Administration announced it planned to scrap the missile defense system that was to be set up in the Czech Republic and in Poland.

Ostensibly, this shield was aimed at screening Europe against long-range missiles from rogue states like Iran. In reality, they were a symbolic commitment of the United States to the independence and sovereignty of Poland and other eastern European states — who are distrustful against the increasingly aggressive posturing of neighboring Russia.

Eastern Europeans have been sold out to the Russians by U.S. Democrats before — when FDR deemed it advantageous to cede them to the tender mercies of his ally Josef Stalin, costing millions of lives over the subsequent half-century.

Of course, you will argue that modern Russia isn’t the Soviet Union and Putin isn’t Stalin.

But I find the timing of the release too symbolic to be purely coincidental...

IAEA: Iran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb

From the AP:

Experts at the world's top atomic watchdog are in agreement that Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead, according to a secret report seen by The Associated Press...

The document says Iran has "sufficient information" to build a bomb. It says Iran is likely to "overcome problems" on developing a delivery system.

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov says Moscow firmly opposes any new sanctions against Iran:

Sergey Lavrov says new tougher sanctions would ruin hopes for solving the Iranian nuclear program through talks.

Lavrov's statement Thursday came shortly before President Barack Obama announced shelving a plan for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. Russia has strongly opposed the plan.

Obama's move comes as Washington badly needs Moscow's support to increase pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

But Lavrov's comments signal that Moscow won't back tougher sanctions against Iran, whom the U.S. and other Western nations suspect of developing nuclear weapons.

Jimmy Carter's racist campaign of 1970

From the Washington Examiner:

Former President Jimmy Carter has created a stir today by alleging that those protesting and opposing President Obama's health care bill -- by some measures, up to 55 percent of the country -- are doing so because they cannot accept the idea of a black man in the White House...

Setting aside the much greater disrespect shown by the Left at nearly every moment of former President George W. Bush's presidency, it is not unfair to suggest that Carter is attributing the same racial cynicism to others that he himself employed during his 1970 campaign for governor of Georgia.

Readers should refer to Stephen Hayward's The Real Jimmy Carter if they want a taste of the out-and-out racism that Carter employed in order to defeat moderate former Gov. Carl Sanders for the Democratic nomination that year. As Hayward's book points out:

Carter's top campaign staffers were spotted distributing grainy photographs of Sanders arm-in-arm celebrating with two black men. Sanders was a part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, and in the photograph he was celebrating a victory with two players who were pouring champagne over his head. Carter's leaflet was intended to depress Sanders's white vote.

"The Carter campaign also produced a leaflet noting that Sanders had paid tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr."

Carter criticized Sanders, a former governor, for preventing Alabama Gov. and notorious segregationist George Wallace from speaking on Georgia state property. "I don't think it was right for Governor Sanders to try to please a group of ultra-liberals, particularly those in Washington, when it means stifling communication with another state," said Carter.

Carter told a reporter... "I can win this election without a single black vote."

Upon receiving the endorsement of former Democratic Gov. Lester Maddox, Carter responded by praising the life-long segregationist: "He has brought a standard of forthright expression and personal honesty to the governor's office, and I hope to live up to his standard."

Maddox had not only refused to serve blacks in the restaurant he once owned, but he had also greeted civil rights protestors with a gun, and made sticks available to his white customers with which to intimidate them....

Then there was the radio commercial in which Carter said he would never be the tool of any 'block' vote, slurring over the word 'block' so that it could be mistaken for 'black.'...

Read full article

Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose Obamacare on Key Points

Fron Newsmax:

In the wake of President Barack Obama's recent address to Congress on healthcare, a new poll reveals he may not have the support of most Americans on his reform plans.

The Zogby International/O'Leary Report survey of more than 4,200 likely voters found that a large majority oppose key provisions of Obama and the Democrats' healthcare reform proposals, including plans to extend health insurance to as many as 50 million uninsured Americans and to incorporate a form of healthcare rationing in the reforms.

Zogby International and The O'Leary Report asked respondents several questions relating to the healthcare reform issue. Some results:

Asked if they agree or disagree that the federal government should require all Americans to purchase health insurance or face a fine — a provision favored by Democrats — 70.2 percent said they disagree, and only 18.5 percent agree. The rest are not sure.

A resounding 75 percent of respondents said that taxes should not be raised to fund a government-run health insurance program for Americans who do not have health insurance.

Nearly 59 percent said they oppose the creation of an 'Independent Medicare Advisory Council, and just 30.6 percent support it.

Some Republicans have called for provisions allowing Americans to purchase health insurance from providers outside their state as an alternative to Obama's proposed government-supported "public option" insurance plan. Respondents said they favor such provisions by an overwhelming margin, 82.8 percent to 6.9 percent.

Also, 78.5 percent of those polled believe tort reform is needed to lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance, an issue that Obama has not seriously addressed. And 77.3 percent oppose plans to tax employer-provided healthcare benefits.

"Tort reform and permitting Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines have near universal appeal with voters," said Brad O'Leary, a best-selling author and publisher of The O'Leary Report.

"New taxes, on the other hand, are almost universally opposed."

Putin to help Venezuela develop "peaceful" nuclear technology

From the Wall Street Journal - September 9, 2009:

According to a report published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in December of last year, Venezuela has an estimated 50,000 tons of unmined uranium. There is speculation in the Carnegie report that Venezuela could be mining uranium for Iran...

From the Washington Post - September 10, 2009:

DEBATES IN Washington about Hugo Chávez often end with the dismissive conclusion that the Venezuelan strongman poses no threat to the United States. If that's right, it's not because he isn't trying...

Mr. Chávez... endorsed Iran's nuclear program and declared that Venezuela would seek Iran's assistance to construct a nuclear complex of its own...

In the past several years Iran has opened banks in Caracas and factories in the South American countryside. Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau... says he believes Iran is using the Venezuelan banking system to evade U.S. and U.N. sanctions.

He also points out that Iranian factories have been located "in remote and undeveloped parts of Venezuela" that lack infrastructure but that could be "ideal . . . for the illicit production of weapons."

"The opening of Venezuela's banks to the Iranians guarantees the continued development of nuclear technology and long-range missiles," Mr. Morgenthau said.. "The mysterious manufacturing plants, controlled by Iran deep in the interior of Venezuela, give even greater concern."

From the Merco Press September 11, 2009:

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez revealed in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro that he has signed an agreement with his Iranian peer Mahmud Ahmadinejad to develop a nuclear program with the help of the Teheran regime...

Venezuela is working in a preliminary project for the construction of a “nuclear villa” with the help of Iran, so that “the people of Venezuela in the future can count with this marvelous resource for peaceful purposes”, Chavez was quoted by Le Figaro.

“Iran has a right to develop nuclear energy, and so can Venezuela”, said Chavez who added he was certain that “Iran is not involved in the manufacturing of nuclear weapons, nor do we want them”.

From Bloomberg News - September 13, 2009:

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb.

Chavez said that the country’s oil and gas reserves won’t last forever and the government will seek alternative energy sources. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to help Venezuela’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in Moscow last week, Chavez said.

“We’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t bother us like with Iran,” he said on state television. “We’re going to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes.”...

And, to show his appreciation for the Venezuelan leader's peaceful intentions, President Obama is backing Mr. Chavez' pal, Mel Zelaya.

It all makes sense now!

Micheletti: US revoked my visas

From the AP

Washington has revoked the visas of Honduras' interim president and 17 other top officials to pressure the Central American nation to reinstate ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, Honduras' government said Saturday.

The interim government expects the United States to revoke the visas of at least 1,000 more public officials "in the coming days," Information Minister Rene Zepeda told The Associated Press...

Micheletti said he was expecting the action and called it "a sign of the pressure that the U.S. government is exerting on our country."...

Washington on Friday revoked the diplomatic and tourist visas for 14 Supreme Court judges, the armed forces chief, the foreign relations secretary and Honduras' attorney general, presidential spokeswoman Marcia de Villeda said Saturday...

"It is not productive, given the history of US and Iranian relations to be seen as meddling."

James Pouillon was no George Tiller, nonetheless, the President should condemn his murderer

James Pouillon, the pro-life activist who was fatally gunned down Friday morning while expressing his contempt for abortion, was by no means as distinguished and magnanimous an individual as the late Dr. George Tiller, the renowned late-term abortionist who conducted more than 60,000 abortions during his lifetime and who, during the presidential campaign, magnanimously donated $20,000 to Barack Obama's fund-raising arm, the "Committee for Change". Nevertheless, it would behoove the president to express "shock" and "outrage" over the murder of James Pouillon as he did upon learning of the shooting death of his former [financial] benefactor, Dr. George Tiller.

For ultimately, very few of us are endowed with the unique brand of altruism which Dr. Tiller possessed or with the financial capability to donate $20,000 to Barack Obama and his fund-raising arm, the "Committee for Change". And while Mr. Pouillon may have shown a bit of insensitivity toward the needs of the pro-abortion community by siding with the enemy, namely, the unwanted fetuses of the world, killing him can not be justified. Mr. Pouillon's murderer, as well-intentioned and noble-hearted as he may be, should be condemned by both the president and the anti-life/anti-fetus community.

CIS: 6.6 million illegal immigrants could be covered by the health care bill

From the Center for Immigration Studies' website:

Based on our analysis of Census Bureau data, we estimate that there are 6.6 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the United States who could be covered by the new health care reform bill (HR 3200).

Even though HR 3200 states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for the proposed taxpayer-funded affordable premium credits, there is nothing in the bill to enforce this. An amendment was defeated in committee that would have required the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, used by almost all other means-tested programs of this kind...

On July 16, an amendment by Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) that would have required use of the SAVE program to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving the affordable premium credits was defeated by the House Ways and Means Committee.

At present, 71 other means-tested federal programs require use of the SAVE system to prevent illegal immigrants and other ineligible non-citizens from accessing them...

Likewise, Rep. Joe Wilson explained to reporters on Thursday why he believed the bill would cover illegal aliens: "There were two different amendments on the bill that would have provided verification of persons having citizenship...," he said, "and both of those were defeated overwhelmingly. There were almost party line votes...

"I will tell you this. It [the outburst during the president's speech on Wednesday] was spontaneous. It was when he stated, as he did about not covering illegal aliens when I knew we'd had those two amendments. And I say that respectfully, and we need to discuss the issues and I'm happy to do that..."

Glenn Beck Exposes Jeff Jones, Weather Underground Founder & National Apollo Alliance Adviser

The New York Post also covered the story yesterday: Jeff Jone's, NY's Tax-Funded Ex-Terrorist - h/t - Gateway Pundit

Iranian weapons targeting US troops in Afghanistan

President Obama has indicated on several occasions that he would work together with Iran and Syria to foster stability in Afghanistan and Iraq, based on both his and the left-wing media's ridiculous notion that Iran and Syria are vehemently opposed to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

From Fox News:

The discovery of a weapons cache in western Afghanistan has raised concerns that Iran is interfering in the war-torn country, much like it did in Iraq, by supplying weapons used to attack and kill U.S. and coalition troops, U.S. officials tell FOX News.

Afghan and NATO forces uncovered the weapons cache on Aug. 29 in Herat. It included a small number of Iranian-made "explosively formed penetrators," hyper-powerful roadside bombs similar to the weapons used to kill U.S. forces in Iraq, a senior U.S. Defense Official told FOX News.

Also seized during the raid were 107 Iranian-made BM-1 rockets and dozens of blocks of Iranian C4 plastic explosives...

A top U.S. military official tells FOX News that an Iranian rocket was recently fired at a base in Herat. Additional intelligence suggests that Iranians have been providing support directly to the Taliban...

The Iranians package the C-4 explosive to look like it is American-made, and the EFP's are machine made, suggesting that Iran is home to a lucrative industry for producing these weapons, sources said.

Several months ago, I cited the State Department's annual report on terrorism which states the following:

Iran’s IRGC Qods Force provided assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Qods Force provided training to the Taliban on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives....

Iran continues to rely primarily on its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force to clandestinely cultivate and support terrorist and Islamic militant groups abroad... The Qods Force continued to provide lethal support to select Iraqi militant groups that target U.S., Iraqi and Coalition forces. Iranian weapons transfers to select Taliban members in Afghanistan in 2008 continued to threaten Afghan and NATO troops operating under UN mandate and undermine stabilization efforts in that country...

Question: Why does the Left find solace in ignoring reality?

Beats me...

Related:

9/11 Commission Finds Ties Between al-Qaeda and Iran

Iranian-made rockets targeting US troops in Iraq

Al Qaeda terrorist says Syria trained him

Iran receives al Qaeda praise for role in terrorist attacks

US says Iran has enough uranium for a nuclear weapon

From the AP:

Glyn Davies, the chief US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the latest report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Tehran is either very near or already in possession of sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon if the decision were made to further enrich it to weapons-grade.

“This ongoing enrichment activity . . . moves Iran closer to a dangerous and destabilizing possible breakout capacity,’’ Davies told the agency’s 35-nation board of governors...

Illegal Immigrants, will they be covered?

Rep. Joe Wilson (RS.C.) shouted "you lie!" after President Obama stated that his health reform proposal would not cover illegal immigrants during his address before a joint session of Congress Wednesday night.

"There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants," Obama said. "This, too, is false – the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."

However, James Edwards, coauthor of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform says: "No where does the [health care] bill require verification of one’s eligibility on citizenship or immigrant status. Not in the Medicaid part. Not in the Health Insurance Exchange. Not in the government-run insurance option. Not in the taxpayer subsidy for health premium payment. Nowhere..."

Read the full article in Human Events.

The AP says that "the president's speech to Congress contained a variety of oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do about health insurance..."

Read the AP's Fact Check here

Barack Obama, Empathizer par excellence

"Ted Kennedy... was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to an aging parent, 'there is something that could make you better, but I just can’t afford it.' That large-heartedness – that concern and regard for the plight of others – is not a partisan feeling. It is... part of the American character."
Barack Obama in his speech to congress - September 9, 2009

"I actually think that the tougher issue around medical care... is what you do around things like end-of-life care.... That’s also a huge driver of cost, right? I mean, the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here!"
Barack Obama in an interview with the New York Times - April 2009

Barack Obama then, Barack Obama now: Mandatory Health Care

"Senator Clinton has a different approach. She believes that we have to force people who don't have health insurance to buy it."
Barack Obama - January 31, 2008

"That’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance – just as most states require you to carry auto insurance."
Barack Obama - September 9, 2009

Mike Malloy vs the US Forest Agency and LA Officials

Liberal radio host Mike Malloy inanely blamed Republicans, Tea baggers and conservative talk radio hosts for the California Station Fire that's burned 150,000 acres:

Malloy: "The incident commander, at the so-called Station Fire, the one that's burned 150,000 acres...; the incident commander, Mike Dietrich, says this is an act of domestic terrorism... I think this is exactly what the report from Department of Homeland Security four to five months ago was warning against.

These insane people, the neo-fascists on the right, the Republicans... are the ones responsible, in my opinion, for the fire... I would not be surprised to find out that... one of the tea baggers... decided 'hey, it's a perfect opportunity man, it is California, let's go get all the fruits and nuts out there - let's set a big ass fire'...

Now who usually commits these acts of domestic terrorism? Bill Ayers? No! Some hippie? No! Usually, it's a crazed right-winger that has been pushed beyond the limit of their little tiny lemur brains by people like Glenn Beck, or Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity... they are the ones that push people that commit acts of terror!

As I noted last week, US Forest officials and Los Angeles County authorities blamed left-wing environmental wackos - who refused to allow the Forest Service to clear away undergrowth and brush - for the California wildfires.

Update:

Here's another bizzare statement from Malloy, via Brian Maloney:

Malloy: "Ted Kennedy's death heralds the beginning of a very, very very dark period in this country. I remember feeling that way in 1963 and in 1968-when his two brothers were murdered by the right wing in this country..."

Maloney concludes: "Hey Mike, if Sirhan Sirhan was a right-winger, then why did left wing radical / Obama confidant Bill Ayers dedicate his book to RFK's assassin?"

Van Jones; The Red Guard

President Obama's Green Jobs Czar, Anthony Van Jones, who became embroiled in a controversy over past inflammatory statements, has resigned.

Among one of Van Jones' more controversial statements:

"The white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people of color communities."

It had also been reported that Van Jones signed a "9/11 Truth" petition in 2004. The petition called "for immediate public attention to unanswered questions that suggest that people within the [Bush] administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war."

Van Jones is the founder of both the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green For All.

Various bloggers had also recently noted that the Ella Baker Center had sponsored the release of a radical left-wing album in 2004 which was hosted by Mumia Abu Jamal, a Black Panther Party activist who was charged with murdering a Philadelphia police officer in 1981. Van Jones, whose advocacy on behalf of the vile and nefarious cop-killer has already been well-documented, was also featured on the album.

It should also be pointed out that the two individuals who co-founded the music company that released the album are Mr. Ying-Sun Ho and Mr. Jakada Imani.

Mr. Ho was previously a staff member at the Ella Baker Center and recently joined the 'Green for All' staff.

Mr. Imani is currently the Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center.

The East Bay Express wrote about the two in April of 2003:

"Imani and Ho sprinkle their explanations with plenty of 'isms' and neo-Marxist analysis, which is not surprising for two cats who also make up a rap group called the Red Guard. When asked if they are outright Maoists, the friends exchange quick glances and give a firm denial. "But we are explicitly aligning ourselves with third-world revolutionary movements," Imani offers. "The original Red Guard grew out of a sort of Chinese Black Panthers, so for us it's about leading a movement of change."

'A movement of change', hmmm....

Mr. President, thank you for securing Iraq!

From the Guardian UK:

This week walls were again being erected across [Baghdad] in areas where they had only just been removed. The symbolism was unmistakable: foreboding landmarks of Iraq's descent into chaos were once again necessary...

The government's attempts to win political gains as a result of increased security have been a central theme since 30 June, when US forces largely left the streets of Baghdad to the Iraqi counterparts they had mentored. The devastating blasts of two weeks ago have been a serious setback...

Faruq Omar, a guard from the Sons of Iraq group in Adhamiya, said: ..."The return of the concrete barriers is a nightmare for us. Shops had recently been staying open until 10pm at night, but now they'll have to start closing early again."

Another aggrieved Baghdad resident, artist Samir Saad, said: "The concrete barriers... leave us feeling desperate and sick. They are barriers to our hopes for the future. We had started to breathe freely, but when they started to return it was a shock for us all."...

Mr. President, your politically motivated push for a premature withdrawal from Iraq has clearly clearly payed off.

Thanks!

Pfleger: Terrorism is in "the very bloodstream of what we call America today"

"Yes, terrorism is old in America. Not only is terrorism old in America, it is seasoned, it is generational and it seems to have marinated in the very bloodstream of what we call America today."
Chicago pastor and former spiritual guide to President Obama, the Rev.Michael Pfleger - August 27, 2009

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004, Barack Obama identified Rev. Pfleger as a key source of spiritual guidance and as someone who helps him maintain his "moral compass":

"The biggest challenge, I think, is always maintaining your moral compass," Obama said.

Friends and advisers, such as the Rev. Michael Pfleger..., who has known Obama for the better part of 20 years, help him keep that compass set, he [Obama] says ...

Pfleger says of Obama. "Faith is key to his life, no question about it. It is central to who he is, and not just in his work in the political field, but as a man, as a black man, as a husband, as a father.... I don't think he could easily divorce his faith from who he is."

Pfleger was a member of the Catholics for Obama Committee, a voluntary advisory committee to the Obama campaign. Pfleger's endorsement of Obama was proudly displayed on the faith testimonials page of Obama's website during the presidential campaign:

Rev. Pfleger - testimonial: "Obama is calling back those who have given up and lost hope in the political system... He has the intellect for the job and I haven't heard anyone since Robert F. Kennedy who is causing such an emotional and spiritual awakening to the political possibilities."

Obama scrubbed Pfleger's testimonial from his website after Pfleger mocked then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a sermon at Chicago's Trinity Church.

Feds and environmental wackos to blame for California Wildfires?

From the AP:

Federal authorities failed to follow through on plans earlier this year to burn away highly flammable brush in a forest on the edge of Los Angeles to avoid the very kind of wildfire now raging there, The Associated Press has learned.

Months before the huge blaze erupted, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn away the undergrowth and brush on more than 1,700 acres of the Angeles National Forest. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out, Forest Service resource officer Steve Bear said.

The agency defended its efforts, saying... environmental rules tightly limit how often these "prescribed burns" can be conducted.

Bear said crews using machinery and hand tools managed to trim 5,000 acres in the forest this year before the money ran out. Ideally, "at least a couple thousand more acres" would have been cleared...

Some critics suggested that protests from environmentalists over prescribed burns contributed to the disaster, which came after the brush was allowed to build up for as much as 40 years.

"This brush was ready to explode," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district overlaps the forest. "The environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns, and as a result we have this catastrophe today."

Prescribed burns are intended to protect homes and lives by eliminating fuel that can cause explosive wildfires. The wildfire that has blackened 140,000 acres — or nearly 219 square miles — in the forest over the past week has been fed by the kind of tinder-dry vegetation that prescribed burns are designed to safely devour.

The blaze has destroyed more than five dozen homes, killed two firefighters and forced thousands of people to flee.

Obtaining the necessary permits [to conduct "controlled burns"] is a complicated process, and such efforts often draw protests from environmentalists.

Biologist Ileene Anderson with the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization, said burn permits should be difficult to get because of the potential damage to air quality. Clearing chaparral by hand or machine must be closely scrutinized because it can hurt native species.

"Our air quality, for a variety of factors, doesn't need to be further reduced by these controlled burns," she said.

Los Angeles fire Capt. Steve Ruda said that pre-emptive fires were used more frequently in the region in the 1980s. But... increasingly complicated environmental rules have made them less frequent...

Apparently, the environmental wackos wouldn't let the U.S. Forest Service conduct the necessary "controlled burns" that would have averted the catastrophe. Additionally, it seems that while Obama was pumping tax payer dollars into his stimulus package [pet projects, if you will], the U.S. Forest Service ran out of federal funds to conduct the necessary "prescribed burns".

Of course, I'm not blaming the Environmentalists for any of this. And I'm certainly not laying the blame on the president. He could ill afford to squander federal funds on "controlled burns" when he needed the money to fund his "green" projects.

It's just that, well, - for some reason or another, the word "Katrina" keeps popping into my head...

Gallup: Democratic Advantage in Party Affiliation Shrinks

From Gallup.com:

In August, an average of 45% of Americans identified as Democrats or leaned to the Democratic Party, while 40% identified as Republicans or leaned to the Republican Party. This 5 point advantage represents a decided narrowing of the gap between the parties from the 17 point Democratic advantage in January...

Americans show concern about rising federal spending and exploding budget deficits... The debate over healthcare reform is also putting party ideological differences into sharper focus, and Democratic Party leaders have been put on the defensive about some of the key elements for healthcare reform they favor, such as a public-option health insurance plan...

From Rasmussen Reports - September 1, 2009:

Overall, the number who Strongly Approve [of President Obama's jop performance] has fallen from 43% in January to 30% in August. During that same time frame, the number who Strongly Disapprove has grown from 20% to 39%. Those numbers translate to a Presidential Approval Index that has declined from +23 in January to -9 in August.

Also in August, the President’s total approval fell below 50% for the first time.

From Rasmussen's daily tracking poll - September 2, 2009:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking poll for Wednesday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -12...

Van Jones: White Polluters are 'steering poison into the people of color communities'

"The white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people of color communities."
President Obama's Green Jobs Czar, Anthony Van Jones