08/20/15

NoisyRoom Article Recap – 08/17-20/15

08/20/15

They’re Joking, Right?

Arlene from Israel

Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the UN agency that normally carries out such work…”

This? Surely a joke.  But it is not!

The above is according to a document seen by the Associated Press (AP) and exposed on Wednesday.

This is how low the situation has sunk.  Beyond anything even remotely rational, and making a total mockery of everything that is decent and ethical.  See more, continuing (emphasis added)

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The agreement, for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is linked to persistent allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear-limits deal, the news agency said.

“The agreement was worked out between the IAEA and Iran. The United States and the five other world powers with whom Iran negotiated were not party to it but were briefed by the IAEA andendorsed it as part of the larger package, according to AP.

The agreement diverges from normal procedures by allowing Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence of activities it has consistently denied – trying to develop nuclear weapons.

“The While House has repeatedly denied claims of a secret side deal favorable to Tehran.  IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told Republican senators last week that he was obligated to keep the document confidential, and Iran has declared that the Senate must not be allowed to review the agreement due to its secret nature.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/199676#.VdXr65sVjIU

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Got it?  Iran has been accused of having worked on developing nuclear weapons at its secret military compound at Parchin.

And so, in a confidential side agreement worked out between the IAEA – which is responsible for monitoring possible nuclear weapons activity by Iran as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action –and Iran, Iran is going to be permitted to monitor itself.

The P5+1 nations were not privy to the negotiation of this agreement, but they were briefed on it, and and endorsed it.  This, in spite of the fact that the Obama administration has denied there are any secret side deals.

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So, maybe this is a joke.  A very very sick joke levied at all of us.  For sure the Iranians are collapsing with laughter at what they have accomplished.

Run, my friends, do not walk. Run to the nearest telephone.

Place a call to every single one of your Congresspersons and Senators who has not declared publicly against the Iran deal.  Share the above information and demand that they take a stand to stop the deal, which is a cruel farce that will bring no good.

For your Congresspersons:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

For your Senators:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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According to one of my readers (thank you!  Fred E.), this critical information did not even make it into the NY Times.

And so, clearly, if the news is being buried, it falls to all of us to get it out.  Share this posting with everyone you can. Put it up on Facebook and on your website.  Share it with discussion lists. Write letters to the editor. Talkbacks on the Internet.  No need for anything extensive.  Simply cite the information above.

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In a statement yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner referred to the briefings that have been provided as “totally insufficient.” “…it still isn’t clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents.” he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/iran-nuclear-deal-inspections-parchin/index.html

My best guess is that the White House has not seen the documents.  I ran a video recently of a hearing in the Senate with Kerry testifying.  When asked if he had read certain documents connected to the deal, he hemmed, and hawed, and said no, he had not, but maybe someone on the negotiating team had – he wasn’t sure, maybe it was just a summary.
He wasn’t sure?

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And in case the above is not enough, allow me to share more information about secret deals:
“Two leading U.S. senators are calling on the Obama administration to release secret letters to foreign governments assuring them that they will not be legally penalized for doing business with the Iranian government, according to a copy of a letter sent Wednesday to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

“Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) disclosed in the letter to the State Department that U.S. lawmakers have been shown copies of several letters sent by the Obama administration to the Chinese, German, French, and British governments assuring them that companies doing business with Iran will not come under penalty.”

‘The Obama administration is purportedly promising the foreign governments that if Iran violates the parameters of a recently [concluded] nuclear accord, European companies will not be penalized, according to the secret letters.”
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/senators-obama-admin-hiding-secret-iran-deal-letters/

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Guaranteed, we have not seen the end of this.  There’s a whole lot more that we do not know about yet, I am confident: Because it’s “secret.”

08/20/15

Nine Myths from the Convention of States Project

By Judi Caler

Rita Dunaway, staff counsel for the Convention of States Project (COS), wrote an article, Five Myths about Article Five, which turns the Constitution on its ear.  Ironically, her article challenges five premises that are true, while invoking at least 9 myths of her own.

In fact, the very name “convention of states,” is being used by Article V convention advocates to deceive state legislators into thinking an Article V convention can be controlled by state legislatures; it cannot.

Rita’s Myth #1:  A “convention of states” is the only “medicine that can cure the disease of federal overreach…”

False: What did our Founders really say we must do when the federal government usurps power? They never said, “When the federal government ignores the Constitution, amend the Constitution.” Instead, in addition to electing faithful representatives, they advised Nullification.

“Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.” – Thomas Jefferson; Kentucky Resolutions, 1798

According to the Tenth Amendment Center, “Nullification is any act, or set of actions, that results in a particular law being rendered null, void or even just unenforceable within a particular area.” Nullification applies only to unconstitutional acts of the federal government – to usurpations of powers not delegated.

States, local governments, your County Sheriff or even The People can follow the advice of James Madison and refuse to comply with unconstitutional federal laws right now, without risking our Constitution through a convention. In fact, there were over 200 bills introduced less than one month into the 2015 state legislative season to do just that.

Rita’s Myth #2:  The purpose of Article V is to protect The States and The People from an overreaching federal government.

False: Amendments are meant to correct errors, not to protect The People from an overreaching federal government. Alexander Hamilton at the constitutional convention on September 10, 1787 pointed out that amendments remedy defects in the Constitution. And he tells us in Federalist No. 85 (paragraph 13) that useful amendments would address the “organization of the government, not…the mass of its powers.”

You cannot “fix” federal usurpations of undelegated powers by amending the Constitution to say the federal government cannot do what the Constitution never gave it the power to do in the first place.

Rita’s Myth #3: The reason the drafters added the convention method of proposing amendments to Article V was to give the states a way to bypass Congress.

False: If Article V were meant for states to bypass Congress, it would have bypassed Congress! Article V gives Congress the power to “call” a convention; and Article I, Section 8, last Clause gives Congress the power to make whatever laws are “necessary and proper” to carry out the powers vested by the Constitution, e.g. Article V.

It’s true that George Mason wanted states to be able to make amendments without the assent of Congress and in a manner which did not depend on Congress. However Mason lost on this issue and refused to sign the Constitution.

Rita’s Myth #4:  A “convention of states” is different than a “constitutional convention” because of the source of authority of each. The former derives its authority from Article V itself and is limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution we have; whereas at the constitutional convention of 1787, The States gathered pursuant to their residual powers as individual sovereigns.

False: The only convention for proposing amendments is one called by Congress. And Congress has total power to organize and set it up. But once the delegates assemble, they are the sovereign representatives of The People, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence (paragraph 2) and have the right to alter or abolish our form of government and institute a new one.

Advocacy groups are using semantics to change the meaning of the term “constitutional convention.”  According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a “constitutional convention” is defined as “a duly constituted assembly of delegates or representatives of The People of a state or nation for the purpose of framing, revising, or amending its constitution.” 

COS cannot have it both ways. They cannot proclaim the enormous power of an Article V convention to take back our government; and, at the same time, rein in delegates and deny their sovereignty.

Rita’s Myth #5:  We know how an Article V convention would operate.

False: Neither COS nor anyone else can guarantee what will happen at an Article V Convention. There are no precedents.  With our Constitution at risk, are we to assume 200-year-old “customs” in conventions between a few states would prevail?

Proof that there are no rules for operating an Article V convention is that various organizations of state legislators, including the Assembly of State Legislatures (ASL) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are working furiously to hammer out rules. However, any finished product of such groups will have the “force” of a suggestion only.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report issued April 11, 2014[1] confirms that Congress most likely will claim authority over the power to organize and set up an Article V convention. Because of lack of precedent and so many unknowns, the CRS Report suggests on page 27 that they’ll have to call a convention to see what sort of convention they’ll get: general, limited or runaway!

Rita’s Myth #6: The reason we haven’t had an Article V convention yet is because there have never been 34 applications requesting a convention on the same topic.

False: This is speculation. Since Congress is given the power to “call” a convention, Congress decides how to count the applications. The hundreds of applications sent in thus far may not have met Congress’s criteria in terms of wording, timing, or any number of factors; or perhaps Congress has resisted calling a convention for reasons of its own.

Rita’s Myth #7:  A limitation on the topic is necessary in order for state legislatures to provide instructions to the delegates.

False: There is nothing in Article V that calls for instructions to delegates. Since delegates can do whatever they want once the convention is convened, delegate instructions serve only as a gimmick to secure legislators’ votes on applications by giving them a false sense of security in thinking they can control what is totally out of their hands.

Rita’s Myth #8:  Topics for an Article V convention can be limited so that convention delegates cannot re-write the entire Constitution once they assemble.

False: The delegates who represent “We the People” have the inherent right, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, to alter or abolish the Constitution and disregard any limitation placed on them by state legislatures, Congress, or anyone else. This is what happened at the constitutional convention of 1787 which was called by the Continental Congress for the sole purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. The result was a new Constitution with a new mode of ratification. There is nothing to prevent that from happening today.

Rita’s Myth #9: There are adequate safeguards in place to assure state legislators are in control of a convention, e.g. topic limitations, the ability to recall delegates, and the ultimate safeguard which requires 38 states to ratify any ill-conceived or illegitimately advocated proposal.

False: Delegates to an Article V convention would have more power than the federal or state governments and cannot be controlled by state laws.  Topic limitations and Delegate recalls may be ignored. Also, Delegates may make their proceedings secret, as they did at the “amendments” convention of 1787, and they may vote by secret ballot.  If this happens, States won’t know what is going on at the convention.   If the States don’t know what is going on at the convention, then how will they determine whether to recall their Delegates or criminally prosecute Delegates who “violate their oaths” to obey the instructions of their states?

Furthermore, the ratification process may be changed. The Articles of Confederation required all of The States and the Continental Congress to ratify amendments. Nevertheless, the framers wrote a new Constitution with a ratification requirement of only 9 states (3/4 of those present). One Constitution waiting in the wings for a convention to be called would establish a dictatorship and require ratification by a referendum called by the President!

The only guarantee of power state legislatures have in the Article V convention process is to apply for a convention. Legislators are being duped by Article V convention advocates into believing they can necessarily control the convention rules and the ratification process. Congress controls the “call” and after the convention convenes, the delegates can do whatever they want, including rewrite the Constitution. Does anyone really believe that radical factions with ill-intentions will politely sit on the sidelines and relinquish the opportunity to participate in the demise of our beloved Constitution?

Judi Caler lives in Nevada City, California and is Article V Issues Director for Eagle Forum of California. She is passionate about holding our public servants accountable to their oaths to support the Constitution we have.

[1] The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress, Thomas H. Neale, April 11, 2014.

08/20/15

The sinking of the USS America

By: Lyle Rapacki

Illegals streaming across the United States borders and then vanishing into our country is a huge, ugly truth the professional politicians do not want to talk about other than to point their fingers at the “other guy” and launch into a speech about how hard they work to secure our borders. Heck… Senator John McCain pulls this trick every election cycle here in Arizona! The professional politicians and their handlers are absolutely appalled and pissed-off that Donald Trump is talking about the carefully crafted agenda to re-colonize our country away from the America we have all known and into a third-world status nation dutifully taking our place in the New-World Order. We are purposefully being redesigned as Europe has with millions of illegals who absolutely have no intention to accept our culture, our values, our American principles and heritage. Heck… the professional politicians have no intention to make them accept our culture, values or American heritage.

This message is not an endorsement of Mr. Trump, or even political; it is a warning! Mr. Trump has pulled the lid back on a can of worms known as the “Rush the Border Campaign,” successfully being waged by Marxist countries to off-load their poor, their tired, their huddled masses of non-productive people from the alleys and jails within their countries and even helping to ship them to the southern border of our country so they may skillfully be led across to quickly disperse in the United States. Donald Trump has bluntly talked about this well-developed campaign and the professional politicians and their handlers along with the Elites have been stunned! You see… Donald Trump’s blunt talk has been heard by the “silent majority” of Americans who themselves do not have a platform, but have waited and prayed for someone to come along and lead. Trump is leading the conversation, he is exposing what the politicians have known, but have winked and agreed to politely disagree without promoting any significant change whatsoever! Trump is exposing just how much in collusion the professionals really are and just how much the political establishment does not want the American public to know. This is shameful!

We are well on the way to losing our country, but the Elites, their media cohorts along with the political handlers are counting on this truth being simply too difficult for Americans to accept. So… keep the Starbucks coffee flowing, Monday Night Football glowing and even stir some political intrigue and theater in for good measure; just do not let the American People wake-up to the reality that is flowing in all around them like the water on the Titanic did to those on board. “We won’t sink… we cannot sink… we are too big to sink!”  After all, we are the USS America and we are meant to stay afloat, no matter what iceberg we hit!!

Donald Trump may not be the right person to sit behind the Resolute Desk (made from the timbers of the British ship HMS Resolute and given by Queen Elizabeth to President Rutherford Hayes in 1880 as a gift of friendship between our countries) in the Oval Office. Yet from the moment of his announcement to run for the presidency, Donald Trump has talked straight, has not played the Washington game or by the rules of the belt-way crowd inside Washington – Georgetown for instance. Donald Trump like any successful businessman knows when a business is in trouble and unless direct and quick leadership steps are initiated, the business will fail – or worse! America is on the verge of failing and at least Donald Trump is saying this truth. The business of unchecked illegals streaming into America is promoting a disaster of epic proportions. Where are the leaders; where are those in positions of public trust willing to stand and do what is difficult, what is even ugly, but what is right? We have managers in public office, not leaders. We have professional politicians who make nice to their constituents back home and wring their hands and commiserate about how awful the political systems is, but then hop back on their planes and return to their position of power making sure no one really rocks the ship of state. After all, the decisions about America are not for the people to make or even know about, they are for the few who have captured their place on the first-class section of the Titanic from which they are sure they will remain safe and dry. The warning Donald Trump is sounding and daring to speak about in public does not apply to the Elites or their cohorts. They will shout, “USS America cannot sink no matter what iceberg is hit!” And if in some peculiar way America does sink, well, what they won’t shout is that the professionals have already taken care of themselves with an escape route not available to the masses. Trump is right. Look at the figures below:

$22 Billion spent on welfare yearly to illegals by state government across America; $22 Billion per year on food assistance; $30 Billion spent on illegal children in our elementary schools who cannot speak a word of English and do NOT need to learn! 30% of all Federal prisoners are illegals; well over $3 Million per DAY spent to incarcerate illegals in our local county jails. In 2006 alone, over $45 Billion sent to illegal’s home countries. And what is even worse, if you can imagine it, is that these figures are several years old!

Sound the Alarm!! We have hit an iceberg and we are taking on water below decks even though many are still enjoying another cup of coffee and entertainment on the upper decks. The Silent Majority are listening to Donald Trump and are beginning to find their own voices. The Silent Majority are angry and scared; they have a very good idea we have hit an iceberg and are taking on water. This is exactly what the Elites and professional politicians don’t want to have happen.


LYLE J. RAPACKI, Ph.D. is an Intelligence and Threat Assessment Specialist who has provided consultations and intelligence briefings to selected members of the Arizona State Legislature since June, 2010 as well as to elected and law enforcement officials across the nation.  He also regularly writes commentaries for The Olive Branch Report, an online Christian publication.

08/20/15

Our Watcher’s Council Nominations – Dog Days Edition

The Watcher’s Council

Ah, the sultry days leading up to the end of summer, when the warm weather brings out the torpor and laziness in all of us and little gets accomplished except by the determined and the desperate.

Of course, these days that group would include the members of the political class and their veritable army of servants, Praetorians, hangers on and staffers.

The Romans were the first to label this time of year the Dog Days (diēs caniculārēs), noting that the skies were ruled by Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky at this time of year. And Herodotus, Plutarch, Caesar and Thucydides all noted the effect this time of year has on men… the influence of the days of Dog Star giving rise to tempers, frustrations, gambles and many times, war and rumors of war. Some things never change. Or at least that’s what the smart money in Vegas, DC and other oracular venues where the entrails, the Dow or the polls get read for what the omens reveal. The mood can get ugly very quickly.

http://frigginloon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/dog-sleeping.gif

This week’s contest is dedicated to letting sleeping dogs lie… at least for the moment.

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:

After a decade on the Council, Greg of Rhymes With Right has decided to drop full time blogging to pursue other interests. The Watcher’s Council among other things is a community and while Greg may be leaving us as a full time voting member, like other former Council members he will remain connected with us and no doubt continue to contribute to features like the Forum and stay in touch. Happy trails, Greg… it’s certainly been quite a ride, hasn’t it?

Vacancies on the Council don’t come up often. If you’re interested in being considered to fill this one and want further details on what’s involved, please leave a comment and your contact information (which of course won’t be published) under any story on Joshuapundit and I’ll get back to you.

This week, Palestinian Media Watch, Maggie’s Notebook, and Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an email address (mandatory, but of course it won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6 PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning.

Simple, no?

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have for you this week…

Council Submissions:

Honorable Mentions:

Non-Council Submissions:

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that! And don’t forget to tune in Friday for the results!

08/20/15

Our Weasel Of The Week!! – 08/20/15

The Watcher’s Council

Yes, once again, It’s time to present this week’s statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week’s nominees were all particularly slimy and despicable, but the votes are in and we have our winner… the envelope please…


Secretary In A State, American Gigolo And Appeaser Extraordinaire John Kerry!

The Independent Sentinel: John Kerry is a weasel for raising the US flag over the embassy in Cuba during a much-publicized ceremony and not insisting on an invitation being extended to the dissidents. The ceremony was nothing more than a propaganda event for the communists.


Ah, yes… John Kerry, whom never saw a totalitarian regime he couldn’t make common cause with. Y’know, he never did sign that form 180 to release his service records, but we do know that aside from trying unsuccessfully to get his hands on Jane Fonda and her money, our secretary of state also met with North Vietnamese diplomats in Paris during the war to discuss ‘political strategy’ for undermining America’s war effort on the home front. We’ll never know, but it could very well be that the Navy dealt with this conduct and his infamous ‘winter soldiers’ scam in their own way.

This stuff with Iran and Cuba is just more of the same. It’s simply in his DNA.

Here’s someone who interviewed Kerry after the 2004 campaign and got him to open up in ways I don’t think anyone else has… character is indeed destiny.

For a lifetime of weaseldom, John Kerry richly deserves the statuette of shame.

Well, there it is.

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week’s nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won’t want to miss it… or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that, y’know?