By: Bob McCarty
Bob McCarty Writes

Less than 24 hours after President Barack Obama extended Ecuador’s trade benefits for six months and, according to U.S. business groups cited in a Reuter’s report, “put Ecuador on notice that it could lose valuable U.S. trade benefits unless the Andean country improves its treatment of foreign investors,” word arrived from Ecuador that three key individuals representing the Amazon Defense Coalition in its $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron Corporation were meeting with Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa.

A reliable source, whose identity I cannot reveal for his own security, informed me today that at least three ADC principals — Steven R. Donziger, Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza, all attorneys — were in the South American nation’s capitol city of Quito Wednesday and met with tinpot dictator Correa at his presidential palace at 4 p.m. local time (same as U.S. Central time zone).

If true, I’d like to know what they discussed. In an attempt to find out, I contacted two people who should know: Donziger and his hired PR flak, Karen Hinton.

After reaching Donziger via his cell phone — which, by the way, I found on a copy of an Oct. 18, 2004, e-mail he sent to members of his “technical team” — I left a voice mail message telling him that, in lieu of reaching him, I would contact Hinton to find out details of the meeting.

When contacted by phone early this afternoon, Hinton said she knew nothing about a meeting and about whether or not the three attorneys were even in Ecuador. She did, however, leave the door cracked open just a bit regarding whether or not such a meeting took place (i.e., she said she would get back to me with answers).

I’m not, however, going to hold my breath while waiting for it. I would advise you against doing it as well. Nearly two hours have passed since my phone call with Hinton. Don’t really expect a reply anytime soon.

Developing…

By: Bob McCarty
Bob McCarty Writes

File this one under: “Thanks, Google.”

Yes, thanks to the capabilities of this well-known search engine, I was able to pinpoint the reason which New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo might be so interested in helping the Amazon Defense Coalition in its lawsuit against Chevron Corporation.

BACKGROUND

On June 2, I published a post in which I explained how I was putting the state of New York’s Freedom of Information Law to the test in an attempt to find out whether New York Attorney Andrew Cuomo (right) had less-than-pure motives when he penned an inflammatory and provocative letter (pdf) to Chevron Corporation’s David J. O’Reilly.

In his letter, Cuomo basically pronounced the chairman and chief executive officer of the nation’s second-largest oil company “guilty” for his part in contesting a $27 billion class-action lawsuit filed against his company some 16 years by the Amazon Defense Coalition.

On June 5, I reported that I had received a reply to my FOIL request. You can guess what the reply was by looking at the headline under which I explained the reply: “NY AG Cuomo Tries to ‘FOIL’ Blogger’s Efforts.”

Still not satisfied, I submitted another FOIL request the following day and received an answer virtually identical to the one I had received before (See my June 13 post, “Is Andrew Cuomo Liar, Incompetent or Both?” for details.)

TODAY

Today, however, a little bird whispered in my ear, advising me to run a Google Search for the terms, “Karen Hinton” and “Andrew Cuomo”. When I did, I found out that Hinton, the ADC’s hired-gun PR hack, had worked as Cuomo’s director of public affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development while Cuomo was serving as HUD secretary under President Bill Clinton. A May 17, 1999, article at The Weekly Standard — page 2, specifically — corroborates this tidbit of information.

In the aforementioned June 13 post, I wrote, “I, for one, don’t believe a power-hungry liberal Democrat like Cuomo would write a letter to O’Reilly without first having had some kind of contact with representatives of ADC…” and concluded that statement by listing the names of a Philadelphia law firm (Kohn Swift & Graf, P.C.) and the ADC’s lead attorney (Steven R. Donziger). In reality, I probably should have filed a FOIL request to see what kind of contact Cuomo has had with his former mouthpiece, Hinton. Now, maybe I will.

See also: To learn more about the ADC’s spurious lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador, read these BMW posts.

FDIC Seeks Deeper Pockets for Rising Bank Failures

Shiller, Buffett: Recovery Could Evaporate

Rosenberg: Up to Decade of Deflation Ahead

Mortgage Apps Collapse as Refi Market Dries Up

Sears: Jobless? Keep the Fridge

Broke and Desperate, Politicians Slash State Programs

Unpredictable Events Still Lurk in the Markets

BUTLER: Time for ‘real world’ health budgeting

467K jobs cut in June; jobless rate at 9.5 percent

California: The National Petri Dish

Ring Those Bells, America

Unemployment Spike Defies ‘Stimulus’ Claims

Obama’s Budget Is More Expensive Than Initially Thought

Paul Rahe: Obama’s tyrannical ambition

The Biggest Economic Mistake Since The Days Of Herbert Hoover

WHERE IS THE STIMULUS?

Congress’s Travel Tab Swells

‘We’re in the Middle of a Crash’: Black Swan

NY City Apartment Sales Down Over 50%

Senate Dems say health bill covers 97%

MORGAN STANLEY May Post Another Loss After Paying Back Bailout

GM Plans ‘Garage Sale’ for Plants, Golf Course, Michigan Parking Lot

WASHINGTON POST SELLS ‘OFF-THE-RECORD’ ACCESS TO OBAMA OFFICIALS, LAWMAKERS AND ITS OWN REPORTERS, EDITORS — $25,000 TO $250,000

IOU

Bank Fees Rise as Lenders Try to Offset Losses

NYSE Traders Forced Into Rare Extra Inning

Jobless Rate Hits Highest Yearly Loss in 4 Decades

SurvivalBlog:

Inflation: What You See and What You Don’t See

U.K. First-Quarter GDP Drops 2.4%, Most Since 1958

California Government Declares Fiscal Emergency Over Budget

US Congress Pushing for Federal Reserve Audit

Cap and Trade Bill Will Lead to Capital Flight Ron Paul calls out the “global warming” scam

The Great Bank Robbery: How The Fed is Destroying America

Britain Faces New Recession

Canada: Mint’s $15.3 Million Golden Dilemma: Was There a Heist?

Weiss: California Will Default On Its Debt

“The state has appealed to Washington for a federal bailout, but it got a cool response from the Obama Administration. The next step is draconian cuts in state services and payroll, but Weiss says that will only deepen the “depression” in California, where the unemployment rate is 11.5%, by further cutting into tax revenue. Asked to put odds on California defaulting on its $59 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds, Weiss doesn’t hedge. “It’s unavoidable.”

Credit Card Addicted Nation: How Americans Have Pushed Themselves Off Fiscal Cliff

Buchanan: Climate Bill Is Transfer of Wealth to World Government

“During an appearance on MSNBC, political commentator Pat Buchanan correctly defined the “Climate Bill” for what it really is, not just a new tax on the American people, but a complete transfer of power and wealth to a global government that is using the manufactured fear of global warming to grease the skids for total domination.”

China Allows Trade Settlement in Yuan In Hong Kong

Social Security Audit Finds Dead People Getting Checks

By: Eric Cantor - Republican Whip

“Republicans will continue to offer innovative solutions that put job creation first, and we hope that fair minded, centrist Democrats concerned about the direction this Congress
has taken will work together with us.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy lost nearly 467,000 jobs in June, continuing rampant job loss and bringing the unemployment rate to a whopping 9.5%:

“First and foremost, the American people are concerned about the economy, job creation and the unsustainable debt obligations incurred in the last six months. Beginning in January, House Republicans laid out a serious and substantive agenda that put jobs first. House Democrats, along with the White House, instead took an unfocused, ‘go it alone’ approach that has fallen well short of its goals and has failed to create jobs.

“Inexplicably, instead of focusing on jobs and restoring the financial security that has been lost by millions of struggling families, the President continues to push an agenda that the majority of Americans are uneasy with. The American people do not support a government healthcare plan that will increase costs, reduce patient choice and flexibility, and lower the quality of care available in our country. The American people do not support the radical Cap & Tax plan which will impose a hard-hitting tax upon families and small businesses costing our struggling economy thousands of jobs.

“As job losses continue to mount, families’ worries about losing their healthcare, paying their mortgage, and sending their children to college continues to intensify. Employment must be our focus, yet Speaker Pelosi and the unchecked Democrat majorities continue to increase Washington’s hand in the free market, at the expense of job creation. At some point, even the Speaker must realize that enough is enough. Republicans will continue to offer innovative solutions that put job creation first, and we hope that fair minded, centrist Democrats concerned about the direction this Congress has taken will work together with us.”

FISCAL TIMELINE, 2009

• February 13, 2009: Democrat House passes s$787 billion timulus without Republican input.

• February 17, 2009: $787 billion stimulus signed by President Obama.

• February 23, 2009: Bipartisan budget summit (Total debt outstanding: $10.839 trillion).

• March 11, 2009: $410 billion appropriations bill enacted, with over 8,500 earmarks.

• March 11, 2009: President announces earmark reforms after passage.

• March 24, 2009: Presidential prime time news conference (Total debt outstanding: $11.046
trillion).

• April 20, 2009: Presidential $100 million savings announcement (Total debt outstanding:
$11.189 trillion).

• April 29, 2009: House passes irresponsible $3.6 trillion budget.

• End of April, 2009: Administration bails out Chrysler.

• May 7, 2009: President submits savings proposal of .5% of the budget (Total debt outstanding: $11.256 trillion).

• End of May, 2009: Administration purchases GM (approx $50-$70 Billion).

• June 4, 2009: House Republican propose $375 billion in common-sense taxpayer savings ti Administration.

• June 9, 2009: President holds a PAYGO summit.

• June 15, 2009: CBO announces that the Kennedy-Dodd Govt. Healthcare bill would cost more
than $1.3 trillion over ten years.

• June 16, 2009: House Democrats pass $100.9 billion Supplemental spending bill, plus $108 billion in “loans” to the International Monetary Fund.

• June 23,24,25, 2009: U.S. Treasury forced to auction a record $104 billion in Treasury notes
to cope with America’s debt obligations.

• June 26: Speaker Pelosi brings cap & tax legislation - that will cost millions of jobs and impose a crippling energy tax upon working families - before House of Representatives.

• July 2: Unemployment rate in U.S. reaches 9.5% after 467,000 jobs lost in June.

By: Carolyn Cooke
Family Security Matters

Editor’s note: This is the next in a continuing series about the forgotten victims of illegal alien crime – weekly stories you do not see in the mainstream media.

America’s Most Forgotten is dedicated to the all of the innocent people and their families who have been victimized by illegal aliens as a result of the refusal of our elected officials to enforce United States immigration law and to secure our borders. Americans remain unprotected from this unwanted invasion of unidentified people from across the world. No region of the country has been spared and the citizens presented come from all walks of life. Crisscrossing the nation, we have a star athlete from a predominantly African-American neighborhood in LA, then we skip to an affluent, successful actress in New York City and then to a rural Mississippi family hoping to escape big city crime and then to a Native American in small town Idaho. And on, and on, and on…

Carl Epley and Amanda Thomas – Missouri

An illegal alien has been charged in the barbaric stabbing death of two residents of Hannibal, Missouri, the birthplace of Mark Twain.

Hannibal, Missouri is the birthplace of Mark Twain (1835-1910), the American author who chronicled and commented on the times of the era in which he lived. Most notably, he authored two classic American novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Hannibal is the essence of “small town U.S.A.,” has a population of 17,000 and is located on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Death at the hands of illegal aliens does not spare America’s heartland.

The residents of this small American community were shaken by the slaying of two young adults on February 28, 2009. Manuel G. Cazares, an illegal alien from Mexico, confessed to the murders. He was charged with second degree murder and armed criminal action in the double homicide. Cazares said jealousy was his motivation.

The bodies of 27-year-old Amanda R. Thomas and 25-year-old Carl Patrick Epley were found Saturday morning in Amanda’s apartment. A large kitchen knife was discovered in a wastebasket. Patrick was viciously stabbed seven times before Cazares unleashed his anger on Amanda, slicing her arms twice with the knife before delivering the fatal blow to her chest. There was no evidence of forced entry. A blood stained Cazeras turned himself into police hours afterward. He had been driving around in Amanda’s car and using her cell phone.

Amanda Thomas left behind two children, 7-year-old Skylie, and 1-year-old Taybryn, a child she had with Cazares. Cazares showed no compassion for his own son when he took the life of Taybryn’s mother. The two children were staying with relatives on the morning of the murder.

Members of Amanda’s family said she was a wonderful mother and wanted nothing more than a great life for her children. Neighbors remember Amanda playing with her kids in the front yard and describe the children as the “center of her life.” Family spoke of Amanda’s caring nature, exemplified by her desire to become a registered nurse. She was taking classes at John Wood Community College.

At Amanda’s funeral, Reverend Steve Goughnour said he was reminded of the words on a plaque, “live, love, laugh,” when he thought of her. He told mourners, “Amanda would want you to remember her and remember her laugh,”Both of her children attended the service for their mother.

Patrick Epley was friends with Amanda in school, but they had not seen each other in over a year when they met unexpectedly at a tavern in Hannibal. He worked as a chef after being laid off from Bowling Green Manufacturing. Patrick left behind a 3-year-old son, Logan.

Tyson Hubbard, Patrick’s brother, said the meeting with Amanda was a “chance encounter” and he believes Epley was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Tyson had declined to go out with Patrick that night. He very much regrets that decision.

“His main concern was his son,” Hubbard said. Patrick had a “deep love of family and his friends meant the world together.” The two hunted and fished together regularly.

Patrick was a math “whiz” – he placed 88th out of 300 in a state competition. He was also a sports fanatic.

The citizens of Hannibal are justifiably outraged by the murders, committed by illegal alien with no right to be in the United States. His immigration status was never questioned, despite several encounters with local law enforcement.

Jolene Schaubroeck, mother of Amanda Thomas, said her daughter was “scared to death” of Cazares. She stated, “He said he was going to kill her.” She had spoken on numerous occasions with public officials, pleading for help.

While police attempted to portray the homicide as simply the result of domestic violence, they cannot avoid the issue of never questioning Cazares’ immigration status, especially after it was brought to their attention by Amanda’s father. They had had plenty of opportunity.

Cazares had several prior arrests on traffic charges and a property damage conviction for “tearing up her [Thomas’] home.” He was arrested for striking Amanda with his fists. She had taken out three restraining orders against Cazaras and he was arrested again February 4, 2009 for allegedly violating the last restraining order. Before the court date, Amanda was murdered.

If the Hannibal police had requested the assistance of ICE during the many detainments of Cazares, the lives of two young people could have been spared. Instead they waited until the worst possible thing happened.

The New York Times did an exposé on Amanda’s story but not once did they mention Cazares’ illegal presence in America. Not once did they admit that the double murder was preventable.

Cazares is being held on bond of a million dollars. The venue of his trial has been moved to St. Charles County, Missouri. The attorneys for Cazares cited extensive local media coverage for the relocation of the trial.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Carolyn Cooke is an American citizen activist committed to the preservation of a sovereign United States.

Hat Tip: ConservativeGal

Hell may have just frozen over… Bravo Helen Thomas - media extremist! Also, check out The Anchoress: Obama hardest working man in show business – UPDATED and one of the best posts I have seen: Bookworm Room - Political theater *REVAMPED*.

Hat Tip: Brutally Honest

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

It means exactly what it says folks… Nothing more, nothing less.

The media is pushing the ‘BIG’ gun lie - that the US is responsible for most of the crime in Mexico because they are using our guns. Therefore, guns should be outlawed in the US and seized whenever possible. That is the fascist lie being fed to Americans daily - nothing could be further from the truth. Let me ask you this, if the guns aren’t accessible in the US, what makes you think they won’t get them somewhere else? Gun running is an international trade - not an American trade. What a great excuse to violate the Second Amendment and take guns away from the American public all in the name of reducing crime in Mexico, which has nothing to do with us or our laws. Take a look at this article concerning Houston and the BATF.

Key excerpt:

In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?

The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun.

By the way, this was predicted by Tom Gresham on Gun Talk last week (a great show you should never miss). What gives the government the right to randomly decide that you don’t have the money to buy one or more guns and therefore you have to prove to them why you have said gun? It is none of their business, period. If she broke the law or they had ’cause’ to serve her a warrant, fine, by all means, do so… Otherwise, they are violating her constitutional rights and they know it.

Next key excerpt:

The ATF recently dispatched 100 veteran agents to its Houston division, which reaches to the border.

The mission is especially challenging because, officials say, that while Houston is the number one point of origin for weapons traced back to the United States from Mexico, the government can’t compile databases on gun owners under federal law.

Agents instead review firearms dealers’ records in person.

People who are legally in the United States and have clean criminal records, but are facing economic problems are often recruited by traffickers to buy weapons on their behalf in order to shield themselves from scrutiny.

Knocks at the door of the shack that looked to be the definition of hard times went unanswered.

“I am out of here,” Sloan said a few moments later, as a pit bull lazily sauntered from the back yard. “I don’t like pit bulls walking up behind me.”

If you came looking for me because I bought a gun, I’d probably sick my dog on you too. What do you want to bet, this is being done under the auspices (at least partially) of the Patriot Act? Notice the sly reference to hard economic times? Another scenario the government has created for its manipulation of the American public and their rights.

And if they can’t find you, they’ll go talk to your neighbors and dig up anyone who will say something derogatory about you in nature. Yeah, that’s ‘probable cause!’ Issue a warrant right away!! And, there is something very sneaky about the way they are conducting this:

On this day, agents weren’t wearing raid jackets or combat boots and weren’t armed with warrants.

Guns were hidden under civilian shirts.

No need for those pesky warrants… They just slow things down. Stealth is the key folks - and a gun that only BATF agents should wear of course.

Not to be outdone, the SF Chronicle is still espousing their frantic nonsensical claim that 90% of Mexico’s guns come from the US. From NewsBusters:

But the bigger fact is that of all the guns collected by the Mexican government, only 17% were traced to the U.S.A. According to La Jeunesse and Lott between 2007 and 2008, Mexico took in over 29,000 illegal guns and of that number only 5,114 proved to be from the U.S.

The government needs to back off the gun issue. It is our constitutional right to be armed and the American people will not stand for the government taking away this inherent American right. To do so, would be to become Venezuela overnight (not that we aren’t partially there already). Criminals get their weapons on the black market - that will never change. The only reason to disarm Americans is to control them more efficiently and keep them from revolting. Seizing guns, ladies and gentlemen, would do just the opposite - it would ignite a revolt. Stop taking away our Second Amendment rights - one house at a time, this is still a free United States of America and Americans will still fight to keep it that way.

Update: Rush Limbaugh - Elections Have Consequences: Feds Go Door-to-Door Seizing Guns (Membership Required)

Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary

Kennedy Seeks Public Health-Care Plan That Finances Itself

Small businesses vital to economic recovery go bankrupt

Rep. Kaptur gets $3.5 billion sweetener in climate bill

Boehner Reads from 300-Page Amendment to National Energy Tax

Boehner Blasts National Energy Tax in Weekly Republican Address

Unemployment Claims Up as Dems Move to “Hike the Price of Electricity and Gas”

National Energy Tax: 1,200 Pages of Jobs-Killing Nonsense

Boehner: Friday’s National Energy Tax Debate “A Battle Over American Jobs”

Treasury Ready to Throw Away Billions

UK Liquor Co. Got $2.7B of U.S. Bailout

A Union Divided Against Itself: The UAW’s Conflict of Interest

There’s A Very Good Reason Wal-Mart Supports an Employer Mandate

Obama’s Public Health Plan: The Elephant in the Room

Treason Against the Planet or Treason Against the Economy?

How Did Waxman-Markey Pass the House? Bribes Like This

Tell the President What You Think of His Health Care Reform

Time vs. Truth When it Comes to Cap and Trade

Climate Change, Cap, Trade, and the End of the Industrial West

GM Bailout Could Be Cut Off In Days

FISHY: After Call From Senator’s Office, Small Hawaii Bank Got U.S. Aid

Fuel tax could be replaced with by-the-mile road tax

States work to stave off government shutdowns

Obama: U.S. must ’stop clinging to’ unworkable, costly health care system

Feds could seize Calif. parks if closed by budget

Mortgage applications fall to 7-month low

Private sector sheds another 473,000 jobs in June

‘Layoffs may be worsening’

Home prices post 18% annual drop

Construction Spending Falls More Than Expected

California, Other States Struggle to Pass Budgets

Ford Sales Down Just 11 Percent in June

Obama Disaster Update: 473,000 Jobs Lost In June

SurvivalBlog:

Is Foreign Demand as Solid as It Looks?

England: Benefit payouts will exceed income tax revenue.

U.S.’s debtor status worsens dramatically.

Why stagflation is coming.

Obama Calls For Cuts in Medicare and Medicaid

Celente: Cap and Trade and Other Handicaps to US Economy

Celente: Obamageddon - 2012

“The “green shoots” sighted by Field Marshall Bernanke this past Spring were a mirage. The 2010 economic “recovery” predicted by the same experts, authorities and financial boy scouts and cheerleaders who didn’t see the economic crisis coming is pure delusion. By 2012, even those in denial and still clinging to hope will be forced to face the truth. It will be called “Obamageddon” in America. The rest of the world will call it “The Greatest Depression.”

Dr. Housing Bubble 6/29/09: The Continued Crony Banking and Housing Industry Bailout: Foreclosure Scams, Japan Subprime Loans Coming Back, and Generally Bad Advice for American Consumers

What China’s Push For an Alternative World Reserve Currency Means

Up, Down, Out, and Doomed