Mexican Drug Cartel Puts $1 Million Bounty on Sheriff Joe Arpaio

This is totally WTF territory.

Via MAinfo, "Juarez Cartel Offers 1 Million For Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Head":

Howard Zinn's 'The People Speak'

Well, perhaps I'll get some Google traffic today with another post on Howard Zinn's Marxist education project, "The People's Speak."

And don't miss all the earlier coverage at Michelle's, e.g., " “Social Justice” for grade-schoolers: The Howard Zinn Education Project." And previously, "FBI Releases 423 File on Communist Historian Howard Zinn."

RELATED: "FBI Files Reveal Historian Howard Zinn Lied to Hide CPUSA Membership."

Revving Up Weekend Rule 5

Mind Numbed Robot kicks off the weekend's Rule 5 festivities. And my friend Patrick at Political Byline runs a great blog, but I'm searching in vain for some beauties, LOL!

And as alway, look for some wonderful posting at MAinfo.

**********

And be sure to visit some of other friends of American Power:

* Another Black Conservative.

* Astute Bloggers (Honorary).

* Blazing Cat Fur.

* Bob Belvedere.

* Cold Fury.

* Classical Liberal.

* Daley Gator.

* Left Coast Rebel.

* Mind Numbed Robot.

* Not a Sheep.

* Paco Enterprises.

* Panhandle Perspective.

* Political Byline.

* POWIP.

* The Other McCain.

* Reaganite Republican (Honorary).

* Right Klik (Honorary).

* Saberpoint (Honorary).

* Serr8d (Honorary).

* Snooper's Report (Honorary).

* Stormbringer.

* Theo Spark.

* TrogloPundit.

* Washington Rebel.

* WyBlog.

BONUS: Don't forget Instapundit.

And drop your link in the comments to be added to the weekly roundups!

The Recession Hits Stogie at Saberpoint

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression when you lose yours, or at least that's what they say. All I know is it's a heartbreak when your friends are losing their home. Stogie at Saberpoint's been a blog buddy of mine for roughly four years. A good guy and great patriot, facing financial hardship:

It's just a matter of weeks before I lose my home. I never, ever thought I'd be in such a predicament. This happened to other people, sure, but not to me. I am a college graduate and a CPA. Accountants were supposed to be immune from unemployment. Not any more. The fact that I am well past 50 doesn't help. Seniors and new grads are the hardest hit.

I am not feeling sorry for myself. I am pissed, but have entered a phase of my life where nothing surprises me anymore. If one could get jaded to bad news, political malfeasance and power-grabbing, I am about there. No outrage now seems to surprise me. The neo-Marxists now running the country are capable of the most outrageous usurpations of the Constitution, which in effect, is no longer the law of the land. It is merely a quaint old parchment kept under glass in the museum of history, for people to gawk at. The economy is being destroyed by fools, mostly Democrat fools, but with the assistance of RINO Republicans who haven't the sense or the gonads to resist.

Hit Stogie's tip jar if you're able.

FBI Releases 423 Files on Communist Historian Howard Zinn

Great reading at Robert Stacy McCain's: "FBI Files Reveal Historian Howard Zinn Lied to Hide CPUSA Membership."

It's lengthy so just go over there and read the post. Leftists are denying that the files prove Zinn was an active member of the Communist Party USA (pointing to Zinn's own denials). But McCain's sifting through the files carefully. Lots of clues, but this is especially noteworthy:

This might end up being big on Memeorandum today. And self-identified CPUSA member or not, Zinn's left-wing extremism has worked havoc on young minds for decades, and continues with the school indoctrination programs he left in place. See Michell's entry, "Hollywood & Howard Zinn’s Marxist Education Project."

DISCLOSURE: I attended a Howard Zinn lecture at Fresno State in the early '90s. My copy of A People's History is at the office.

Outlook Dims on (Obama) the Economy

At NYT (FWIW), "With Recovery Slowing, the Jobs Outlook Dims":

There is no more disputing it: the economic recovery in the United States has indeed slowed.

The nation’s economy has been growing for a year, with few new jobs to show for it. Now, with the government reporting a growth rate of just 2.4 percent in the second quarter and federal stimulus measures fading, the jobs outlook appears even more discouraging.

“Given how weak the labor market is, how long we’ve been without real growth, the rest of this year is probably still going to feel like a recession,” said Prajakta Bhide, a research analyst for the United States economy at Roubini Global Economics. “It’s still positive growth — rather than contraction — but it’s going to be very, very protracted.”

A Commerce Department report on Friday showed that economic growth slipped sharply in the latest quarter from a much brisker pace earlier, an annual rate of 5 percent at the end of 2009 and 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Consumer spending, however, was weaker than initially indicated earlier in the recovery.

Many economists are forecasting a further slowdown in the second half of the year, perhaps to an annual rate as low as 1.5 percent. That is largely because businesses have refilled the stockroom shelves that were whittled down during the financial crisis, and there will not be much need for additional orders.

Additionally, the fiscal stimulus measures that have propped up growth are expiring. Proposals for individual programs like another expansion of unemployment benefits have been beaten back each time they have come up in Congress.

“We need 2.5 percent growth just to keep the unemployment rate where it is,” said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. “If you want to get it down quickly, you need substantially stronger growth than that. That’s what I’ve been saying for the last several quarters, and that’s why I’ve been hoping that we’ll please pass the jobs measures just sitting on the floor of Congress.”

The approaching midterm elections, however, may harden the political standoff after Congress returns from its August recess. As a result, pressure will probably increase on the Federal Reserve to use its available tools to prevent a double-dip recession. Recent reports from Fed policy makers suggest the central bank has become increasingly worried about where the economy is headed.

American businesses, if not American households, seem to be hanging on.

Image Credit: Blogmocracy.

Saturday FMJRA

Theo's fired up, that's for sure!

See also Blazing Cat Fur, "Veiled in secrecy: Religious observance or cultural apartheid?" Plus, Astute Bloggers, and Astute Bloggers, "A CORRUPTOCRATIC TWOFER: MAXINE WATERS TO GET CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS TRIAL, TOO - (ALONG WITH RANGEL)." And check Instapundit while you're at it!

Taliban to Hunt Down Informants Identified by WikiLeaks

At Telegraph UK, "Wikileaks Afghanistan: Taliban Hhunting Down Informants'":

The Taliban has issued a warning to Afghans whose names might appear on the leaked Afghanistan war logs as informers for the Nato-led coalition.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said they were studying and investigating the report, adding “If they are US spies, then we know how to punish them.”

The warning came as the US military's top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen said that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, may already have blood on his hands following the leak of 92,000 classified documents relating to the war in Afghanistan by his website.

Is White Privilege a Myth?

Terence Samuel, on Senator Jim Webb's call to abolish affirmative action, at The Root:

In last Friday's Wall Street Journal, Webb asserted that affirmative action programs, which he and most everyone else now refer to as ''diversity'' programs, have strayed from their original intent and today do more to hurt white Americans and harm the country than they do to redress past racial injustice.

''I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America's economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship,'' Webb writes. ''Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white.''

The piece is headlined, ''Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege.'' The notion that white privilege is a myth will surely ignite a backlash among many black Americans, who will say that there is nothing mythical about the advantages that being white bestows in America. Alternately, Webb will be hailed as a hero and a truth-teller among those who see the racial landscape in America so vastly altered in the last 50 years that the idea that whites continue to have any inherent advantage based on race is at least outdated and, more likely, a perverse, intentional corruption of the truth. People will argue that white privilege is a social conceit intended to gain political and economic advantage -- the race card, in common parlance.

So here we are, almost 150 years after monumental disagreements about race led to the outbreak on the Civil War, confronting monumental disagreements about how to deal with the consequences of the last 150 years. Racial injustice has been at the core of the national debate for the entire life of the republic; it has been a blunt-force instrument used to destroy the lives and aspirations of a whole race of people over many generations and with lasting consequences. The remedies, when they've been sought, have never been elegant, largely because the blunt force of racial injustice and discrimination has never allowed for elegant solutions. From the Dred Scott decision to the present-day diversity programs, we have argued consistently about the role of race in the American life. Black people have almost always come out on the losing end of that debate. The length of the debate alone is evidence of how difficult progress has been.

RTWT.

I could write a long rebuttal, but nah. Folks already know pretty much where I stand (or, Jim Webb's right).

Update on Billy Idol...

...Coming tomorrow.

Meanwhile, enjoy some Gen X:

The Only Exception

A little late-night change of pace, from Paramore, "The Only Exception":

I've got a tight grip on reality,
but I can't let go of whats part of me here.
I know you're leaving in the morning, when you wake up,
leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream.

Whooa..

You are the only exception (x8)
And I'm on my way to believing.. (x2)

Republicans React to Secret Democratic Amnesty Memorandum

At Politico:

Republicans are seizing on an internal memo they say is further evidence the Obama administration wants to bypass a gridlocked Congress and use its executive powers to grant “back-door amnesty” to thousands of illegal immigrants. But administration officials tried to downplay the significance of the draft memo Friday, reiterating that they have no plans to grant permanent residency to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.

Written by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials to the agency’s director, the memo discusses ways the administration – facing the reality that immigration reform is all but dead this year – could grant illegal immigrants permanent status, including indefinitely delaying deportation or issuing green cards.

“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth, achieve significant process improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” states the memo, which was addressed to Director Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations.”

The 11-page memo provides fresh ammunition to Republican lawmakers who have been questioning the administration for the past month about rumors of a plan allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

“The document provides an additional basis for our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a back-door amnesty plan,” Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a statement.

(Source.)

Communist ANSWER Coalition Spearheads Immigration Protests in Phoenix — Special Forum Edition, 'Moments With Fidel'

Griff Jenkins interviews Michael Prysner at the clip below. Folks will remember Prysner as the Iraq war veteran and "Winter Soldier" who leads a program of resistance and revolution against the United States. Turns out that A.N.S.W.E.R. cadres were out in full force for the Phoenix protests against SB 1070. See, "Statement from the ANSWER Coalition: SB 1070 Court Ruling: An 'Important But Partial Victory'":

The ANSWER Coalition has been deeply involved in the organization of today’s and tomorrow’s demonstrations protesting SB 1070 in Phoenix, Arizona, and in all of the earlier demonstrations in Arizona and around the country.

Without the mobilization of people in the streets throughout the country, the reactionary and racist forces that pushed this law through in Arizona would have succeeded. Moreover, state legislatures throughout the country are watching Arizona with an eye to the outcome of this battle. If this clearly unconstitutional law could take effect in Arizona, racist bigots will eagerly try to pass similar measures in states throughout the country.

And once again, MSM outlets miss the key ingredients to the story, while downplaying the threats. See, " The 'Dangerous' Border: Actually One of America's Safest Places" (via Memeorandum). (Also, Doug Mataconis has more.)

RELATED: "Protesters Raise Mexican Flag Outside Phoenix Jailhouse."

Update on The Post American Presidency

Did you get your copy?

Pamela Geller's in the midst of a whirlwind promotional tour. She works hard at what she does, and she's got unshakable convictions. I'm learning a lot from the book too!

Check it out: The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America.

The 'Moderates' at Ground Zero

The Anti-Defamation League is in the news for condemning bigotry while embracing it?

See Jeffrey Goldberg, "A Terrible Decision by the Anti-Defamation League":

1) The organization behind the project, the Cordoba Initiative, is a moderate group interested in advancing cross-cultural understanding. It is very far from being a Wahhabist organization;

2) This is a strange war we're fighting against Islamist terrorism. We must fight the terrorists with alacrity, but at the same time we must understand that what the terrorists seek is a clash of civilizations. We must do everything possible to avoid giving them propaganda victories in their attempt to create a cosmic war between Judeo-Christian civilization and Muslim civilization. The fight is not between the West and Islam; it is between modernists of all monotheist faiths, on the one hand, and the advocates of a specific strain of medievalist Islam, on the other. If we as a society punish Muslims of good faith, Muslims of good faith will join the other side. It's not that hard to understand. I'm disappointed that the ADL doesn't understand this.

I'm still not convinced that the Mega Mosque builders are all that moderate.

That said, who's stoking whose pain here? The political debate on this is getting ridiculous. It is not racist to oppose the mosque. I have a hard time believing that supporters of the mosque are that quick to dismiss opponents as "racist." It just plays into the left's meme. Whenever a conservative stands up for what they believe they're attacked as bigots. But, hmm ... no such a big outcry when The Divider in Chief slurs blacks as mongrels, etc., etc. It all relates friends. Where's the consistency?

See also, "Imam Feisal and the Ground Zero Mosque."

RELATED: "Anti-Defamation League Opposes Ground Zero Mosque."

RINO Watch — For Starters, Cross Gingrich Off List for 2012

I can see November from my house. (And November 2012's just over the horizon.)

At The Hill, "Gingrich expects Palin to run in 2012." (Via Memeorandum.)

And how many RINOs are among the bunch? ...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Friday that he expects former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to be among the crowd of GOP presidential candidates in 2012.

Gingrich, himself a potential candidate for president, sized up the field of would-be competitors, detailing which GOP politicians he expects to jump into the race.

The field Gingrich listed included: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), and Rep. Ron Paul (Texas).

"There are going to be lots of Republicans running — Gov. Romney clearly, Gov. Palin, Gov. Huckabee, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Gov. Haley Barbour, Gov. Tim Pawlenty. I think John Thune, the senator from South Dakota, is probably going to get in. Ron Paul's probably going to run again," Gingrich said in an interview with Newsmax, a conservative magazine. "I think it's going to be a lively campaign, there'll be a lot of good candidates."

How about Pawlenty? He's no RINO, right? I like Romney, and Mitch Daniels is intriguing. Other than that, I'm pulling for Sarah ...

Image Credit: American Weasel.

Colin Hay Plays Las Vegas Monte Carlo Tonight

I met Colin Hay in 1982 ('83?) at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. He was hanging out in the lobby before a Dexy's Midnight Runners performance. It was strange. He asked me where I lived. I asked him what he was doing here??!! I called a couple of my friends over to say hello and that was it. Just seemed like the funniest thing. It was the same time that Men at Work were going super big, and here's Hay just hanging out for a couple of drinks with the L.A. locals.

In any case, he's playing tonight at the Brew Pub at Vegas' Monte Carlo. Sounds fun. Turns out he's toured with Ringo Star's All Star Band, so what in the heck? (And I'm reminded of how enjoyable the flute is sometimes.) ...

Robert Stacy McCain to Slam GOP Congressional Candidate Rocky Raczkowski for Phyllis Schlafly Renunciation?

GOP congressional candiate Andrew (Rocky) Raczkowski backed away from comments made by Phyllis Schlafly over the weekend. The long-time leader of the Eagle Forum noted that:

"Do you know what the second-biggest demographic group that voted for Obama -- obviously the blacks were the biggest demographic group. But do you all know what was the second-biggest? ... "Unmarried women, 70% of unmarried women, voted for Obama, and this is because when you kick your husband out, you've got to have big brother government to be your provider."

This kind of commentary stirs the hackles among hard-lefties, for example, at Daily Kos:

Phyllis Schlafly bashing women is nothing new. After all, the woman made a career out of saying women shouldn't have careers. Or equal rights.

These are stupid allegations, of course. Schlafly's right on, as Robert Stacy McCain points out, "When Phyllis Schlafly Speaks the Truth, Democrats Call It ‘Extremism’" (via Memeorandum):

Phyllis Schlafly is one of conservatism’s great heroines. Both Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter acknowledge Schlafly’s influence as a role model. Forty-six years after her rallying cry for Goldwater, A Choice Not an Echo, and three decades after she led the crusade to stop ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, she’s still driving liberals nuts ...

Check the link. At the end there Robert announces:

I plan to renounce any Republican who renounces Phyllis Schlafly.

Okay, Robert. Your first target should be Rocky Raczkowski, who renounced Schlafly after she spoke at his own campaign event!

The comments caused a furor with Progress Michigan, a liberal activist group that obtained a tape of the event. They called on Raczkowski to denounce Schlafly's words. One of Raczkowski's Republican opponents in the GOP primary -- Paul Welday of Farmington Hills -- echoed the sentiment.

Raczkowski said he was taken aback by the comments, but noted that they didn't reflect his beliefs.

"I will fight vehemently for her to have her beliefs. That's what makes this country so great," he said. "I believe in equality for everyone. I'm color-blind and gender blind."

Hey Rocky ... Dede Scozzafava called. She's got some endorsements lined up from top GOP RINOs.

The Blog Prof, who's on the ground in Michigan, says Raczkowski's gettting worked over from the "feminazi" press. See, "Oakland Press launches liberal hatchet piece against Rocky Raczkowski days before the primary." Okay, but let's see a statement from Rocky clarifying his renunciation of Shlafly's remarks. (I don't see any sign of retraction, which according to The Blog Prof's reporting would be capitulation to the mob, "Women Want Apology from Candidate Rocky Raczkowski.")

RELATED: Taylor Marsh claims to know Phyllis Schlafly intimately: "Phyllis Schlafly, What the Republican Tea Party Really Thinks About Women."

Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Barack Obama

At Hannity's.

She says she separates personality and politics to get along with everyone. A classy lady all around:

Christiane Amanpour Debuts This Sunday at ABC's 'This Week'

I wasn't thrilled with the news last march of Christiane Amanpour's appointment as ABC News' 'This Week'. I like Amanpour. I had a crush on her in the 1990s, around the time of the Gulf War and she was doing hot satellite reports from hot spots around the world. But she's hopelessly leftist. She'll be just one more Democratic Party insider who's now going to report an unbalanced load of "news" on one of the remaining marquee network programs.

Note as well that's she's been criticized for compromising her objectivity in the past. As it notes at her Wikipedia entry:

Following Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990, Amanpour's reports of the Persian Gulf War brought her wide notice while also taking the network to a new level of news coverage. Thereafter, she reported from the Bosnian war and many other conflict zones. Her emotional delivery from Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo led some viewers and critics to question her professional objectivity, claiming that many of her reports were unjustified and favoured the Bosnian Muslims, to which she replied, "There are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice. Objectivity doesn't mean treating all sides equally. It means giving each side a hearing."

Amanpour is also married to top Democratic foreign policy insider Jamie Rubin, who was Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and is a current advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

No surprise then that Amanpour's first broadcast will give top Democrats a platform for their spin. See, "Coming up: TWO EXCLUSIVES: Christiane Amanpour interviews House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Defense Secretary Robert Gates."

Plus, "Christiane Amanpour's 'This Week' Preview":