Tuesday, May 3, 2011

More details on Bin Laden--subsidies for big oil

Details of the Bin Laden Raid

....a resident. The U.S. TROOPS GAVE OSAMA WHAT WAS DESCRIBED AS A BRIEF OPPORTUNITY TO SURRENDER before firing several times, at least once into the head. During the operation, a photo of his face was transmitted to analysts, who confirmed the identification.

According to Pentagon officials, photos of Bin Laden's dead face do exist but those widely distributed on the Internet are fake. At some point, if only to convince die-hard Bin Laden followers, officials are expected to release a corpse photo, as has been done in the past when famous villains such as Che Guevara and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were killed or captured. Additionally, such special ops are typically videotaped by mini-helmet cams to document a sensitive mission and assist in debriefing and future training.

THREE OTHER ADULT MALES DIED IN THE 40-MINUTE RAID, BELIEVED TO BE BIN LADEN'S ADULT SON AND THE TWO UNIDENTIFIED COURIERS. ONE UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN ALSO DIED AS SHE WAS BEING USED AS A HUMAN SHIELD BY ONE OF THE DEAD MEN....


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/05/osama-bin-laden-dead-al-qaeda-islamabad-navy-seals.html

Well done to the US Navy Seals.



Bin Laden Identified by DNA

U.S. officials have confirmed that they have identified Osama bin Laden's body in Afghanistan with DNA tests, and REPORTS SAY THAT THEY GOT THE MATCH FROM A GRISLY SOURCE: HIS DEAD SISTER’S BRAIN. WHEN BIN LADEN’S SISTER DIED FROM BRAIN CANCER A FEW YEARS BACK IN BOSTON, THE FBI IMMEDIATELY PUT A WARRANT CLAIM ON HER BODY SO THAT IT COULD LATER BE USED TO IDENTIFY THE AL QAEDA LEADER were he ever captured.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/bin-ladens-body-identified-by-dna/autopsy/?cid=cs:headline3


Enhance Interrogation techniques eventually led to UBL.


Officials say CIA interrogators in secret overseas prisons developed the first strands of information that ultimately led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

CURRENT AND FORMER U.S. OFFICIALS SAY THAT KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED, THE MASTERMIND OF THE SEPT. 11, 2001 TERRORIST ATTACKS, PROVIDED THE NOM DE GUERRE OF ONE OF BIN LADEN'S MOST TRUSTED AIDES. The CIA got similar information from Mohammed's successor, Abu Faraj al-Libi. Both were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics inside CIA prisons in Poland and Romania


http://www.startribune.com/nation/121089124.html


One of the favorite debating points of those opposed to waterboarding is that the information gleaned by these kinds of methods are inherently unreliable. Not so in this case. And consider this. According to sources, the objective of the mission was to kill UBL, not capture him (contrary to the first story). Now this is in line with President Obama’s direction since becoming president. We are not capturing the enemy, we are killing him. Does someone want to tell me again why this is superior to waterboarding captives?



Oil Companies and their “subsidies.”

Everyone wants to end subsidies to oil companies, from President Obama to John Boehner and Paul Ryan. MY QUESTION WAS "WHAT SUBSIDIES?" REMARKABLY ENOUGH, CNN MONEY PROVIDED THE ANSWER.

IT TURNS OUT THAT THEY ARE ALL TAX "BREAKS." I EVEN HESITATE TO CALL THEM "BREAKS" BECAUSE SOME OF THEM AMOUNT TO LITTLE MORE THAN CONGRESS DEFINING ACCOUNTING TERMS SUCH AS "CAPITAL EQUIPMENT." And the total amount of earnings not collected in taxes (which liberals define as a "subsidy") is about $4 billion per year. Here is how that breaks down.
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING TAX DEDUCTION -- $1.7 B. This is a tax deduction given to every manufacturer in the US. …
PERCENTAGE DEPLETION ALLOWANCE -- $1 B. Any industry can write down a portion of the cost of its capital equipment as part of the cost of doing business…..
FOREIGN TAX CREDIT -- $850 MILLION. Companies get credit for taxes they pay to other countries. ALL COMPANIES GET THIS "SUBSIDY….
INTANGIBLE DRILLING COSTS -- $780 MILLION. The OIL INDUSTRY GETS TO TAKE THE DRILLING CREDIT IN THE FIRST YEAR…."

The above tax "breaks" explain how much tax revenue is not collected from all oil companies. How much is collected?

Exxon recently released its first quarter results for 2011. The number grabbing the headlines was EXXON'S PROFIT: $10.65 BILLION IN A SINGLE QUARTER. THE NUMBER NOT GIVEN QUITE AS MUCH EXPOSURE WAS THE TAXES IT PAID IN THAT SAME QUARTER: $8 BILLION, OR 42% OF INCOME BEFORE TAXES.

And what does Exxon do with all that money it has left after paying $8 B in taxes? IT PUT $7.8 BILLION INTO CAPITAL AND EXPLORATION….
In any other industry, that would be called "research and development." Exxon is plowing 73% of its after-tax profits back into R&D. Who would be better at spending $4 billion of energy companies' earnings in an attempt to provide our energy in the future: the energy companies or Obama's energy czar?...
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/about_those_oil_subsidies.html

This seems to be a canard BHO started in his war on big business. It seems to me there really isn’t anything to it.



Obama and McJobs

MCDONALD'S ANNOUNCED THAT IT RECEIVED A MILLION APPLICATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR WHAT AMOUNTED TO 62,000 LOW-SKILL JOBS. What does that say about the state of job creation in this country?

For 62,000 Americans, the heavy weight of unemployment has been lifted by much-maligned McDonald's, the fast-food giant whose employment opportunities were once belittled by the left during the Reagan era as "McJobs."

As for the 938,000 others, the intolerable world of life without work remains. So let's get one thing straight: There is no such thing as undignified work.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/570704/201104291855/So-Where-Are-The-Jobs-Again-.htm

This is also a big message regarding illegal aliens. Do we today have jobs that Americans are unwilling to do?



Obama's angry comedy routine

SELF-DEPRECATION HAS LONG BEEN A HALLMARK OF PRESIDENTIAL APPEARANCES AT THE ANNUAL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION DINNER. Whether riding high or struggling in the polls, a president's surest way to score points with the press and the Washington political establishment is to make fun of himself. While he's also expected to get in a few digs at his opponents, over the years the THEME OF THE DINNER HAS USUALLY FOCUSED ON A PRESIDENT WHO'S BIG ENOUGH TO MAKE JOKES AT HIS OWN EXPENSE.

In his remarks to the correspondents association dinner Saturday night, Barack Obama came up with a new formula: CUT THE SELF-DEPRECATION TO A MINIMUM AND UNLEASH A SERIES OF ATTACKS ON HIS ADVERSARIES -- and start the performance in a way that seems to mock not just his enemies but the very idea of what it means to be an American.


http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/04/obamas-angry-comedy-routine-president-jabs-enemies-mocks-symbols-patriotism#ixzz1LCrxtObj


This was a sad demonstration by the President. It appears self-deprecating isn’t his strong suit. Meyers seemed to be just another sycophant trying to ingratiate himself with a thin skinned politician.



HHS demonstrates the awesome power over companies that disagree with them

CEOs are accountable for their actions, but it is simply UNJUST FOR A POWERFUL REGULATOR LIKE MRS. SEBELIUS TO THREATEN A COMPANY WITH RUIN IF IT DOESN'T DISMISS A CEO who has had no formal charges or proof of wrongdoing brought against him. It's another example of how this Administration views private companies as little more than agents of greed that must be made examples of when the political need arrives.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703655404576293232066996982.html?


Does this worry you? It should if you are in the least bit fair-minded.



Are Republicans getting heat like the Democrats did last summer?

REPUBLICANS GET GRILLED AT TOWN HALL MEETINGS OVER BUDGET PLAN,” read the headline on a page National Journal, an inside-the-beltway news source that put up with video clips of Republican lawmakers at town hall meetings during the April recess. Given the evidence provided, however, it’s not clear you could grill a PopTart on the alleged heat.

THE FIRST VIDEO FEATURES CONSERVATIVE CONGRESSMAN ALLAN WEST (R-FL) GETTING HECKLED BY TWO LIBERAL ACTIVISTS. After 11 seconds of their disruption, the crowd starts asking them to be quiet. 19 seconds later, the crowd erupts; not attacking Congressman West, but to silence the hecklers disrupting him. 30 seconds later, West says, “let me tell you this: you’re not going to intimidate me.”

http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeneedham/2011/05/02/whos_bringing_the_heat


This isn’t grassroots or even Astroturf heckling. This is the equivalent of a Chia Pet and we all know how small they are.

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