Damn right.

OTTUMWA, Iowa — Riding high in the polls, Gov. Rick Perry rode into Iowa on Saturday with tough talk on President Barack Obama and a declaration that Social Security is not only a Ponzi scheme but a “monstrous lie” for younger people.

“If you’re for the status quo in America, I’m not your guy,” Perry told an overflow crowd eager to see the presidential candidate at The Vine Coffeehouse.

Asked by a woman in the crowd about Social Security being viewed as an entitlement program, Perry reiterated the suggestion in his anti-Washington book “Fed Up!” that the program amounts to a Ponzi scheme.

“It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people The idea that they’re working and paying into Social Security today (and) the current program is going to be there for them is a lie,” Perry said. “It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can’t do that to them.”

Later, in Des Moines, when a reporter asked about the suggestion his campaign was backing off some positions in the staunch states-rights book, Perry said, “I haven’t backed off anything in my book. So read the book again and get it right.”

He told the Ottumwa crowd that for people who are drawing Social Security or “like me” near eligibility, he wasn’t proposing a change in the program. But he said there should be a national conversation about potential changes for others, including raising the age of eligibility and establishing a threshold based on a person’s means.

“Does Warren Buffett need to get Social Security? Maybe not,” he said.

On foreign policy, Perry was asked about Israel and cited a statement by Obama that Israel’s borders with a Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps — a position Perry called “throwing Israel under the bus.”

“I’m going to stand with Israel,” he said.

Asked whether he’d consider pre-emptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Perry said there are “a lot of different ways to deal with Iran,” including diplomatically and financially, But he added, “I’m never going to take off the table our ability to have a military solution to a country like Iran.”

How fitting.

Via Newsbusters:

On Friday’s Dylan Ratigan Show, MSNBC contributor Touré, who is also a 9/11 truther, wondered if Hurricane Irene is an example of global warming. He speculated, “When you talk about an unusual weather event happening in New York and this sort of thing, is this really evidence of global warming to see this sort of a massive storm happening here?”

Touré is routinely featured on MSNBC, despite his tendency to tweet in support of 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Keep reading…

Bachmann at her best.

(The Blaze/AP) — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann claimed Saturday that the United States has more fuel resources than any other country, but blamed what she termed “radical environmentalists” for bottling up American energy policy. . . .

“The United States is the number one country in the world for energy resources,” the Minnesota congresswoman told a central Florida town hall meeting, arguing that in shale deposits alone the U.S. easily outstrips the total oil supply of Saudi Arabia. “That doesn’t even include. . . all the oil in Alaska.”

But Bachmann said environmentalists were preventing resources from being exploited, leaving the U.S. dependent on energy imports.

“Instead of thinking we are beggars out here begging for oil and for energy, we are the king daddy dogs when it comes to energy,” she said.

“The radical environmentalists have demanded that we lock up all our energy resources,” she added. “President Bachmann will take that key out of the door. I will unlock it.”

Keep reading…

He is only one of many al-Qaeda operatives who are now leading Islamist rebel brigades and are well on their way to taking complete control of Libya thanks to Obama and NATO.

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) — A senior Islamist rebel reported to have helped depose Muammar Gaddafi is a skilled guerrilla leader and veteran dissident who led a failed revolt in Libya in the 1990s and once spent time with al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, security experts say.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj, reported by Arab media to have been prominent in the assault on Tripoli, helps lead an Islamist group that has fought in close cooperation with the main rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), analysts say.

The Libyan Islamic Movement for Change (Al-Haraka Al-Islamiya Al Libiya Lit-Tahghir), is made up of former members of the now defunct Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) that once plotted against Gaddafi from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Belhadj, in his late 40s and also known as Abu Abdullah al-Sadeq, is a highly skilled leader, said Noman Benotman, a former associate and fellow LIFG commander.

Jawa makes a bust!

(Philadelphia Enquirer) — The Maryland teenager secretly arrested by the FBI for allegedly conspiring with the woman from the Philadelphia suburbs known as Jihad Jane also spoke of a Columbine-style plot with a Pittsburgh-area friend in a jihadist chat room, according to sources and documents.

“I had a lot of thoughts about you today,” Mohammed K. wrote to his Western Pennsylvania pen pal late last year. “About us both doing martyrdom operations together in my school. . . . It was like we both were in a big truck and had guns and we were shooting randomly at a huge crowd of kids.”

The chats provide new insight into a boy who at age 15 allegedly began helping Colleen LaRose, aka “Jihad Jane,” the 48-year-old Pennsburg woman who U.S. officials say represents a disturbing new face of homegrown terrorism.

Mohammed K. was 17 and a high school senior in Ellicott City, Md., when he allegedly wrote those threatening words. The Inquirer is not publishing his last name because he is a juvenile.

Mohammed’s chat room friend was Emerson Begolly, a Pennsylvania State University student who was soon charged with soliciting unrelated terror attacks. Transcripts of the chats were publicly filed in that case.

During the Nov. 22, 2010, chat, Mohammed told Begolly he lived near National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Md.

“The place where I live is a HOTBED of NSA and all the security agencies of Amrika (sic),” Mohammed wrote. “And the kids who study in my school proudly state that their parents work in NSA and FBI, and even carry key chains — piss me off.”

“Like Columbine?” Begolly asked.

“Na’am, lol” Mohammed wrote, using the Arabic word for “yes” and Internet slang for “laughing out loud.”

It could not be determined Saturday whether the authorities took any immediate action based on the threatening remarks, which were reported to the FBI by the anti-jihadist group MyPetJawa.

More like a pathetic photo-op.

(AFP) — US President Barack Obama on Saturday personally led his government’s response to Hurricane Irene, marshalling top officials and visiting a disaster command center as the storm roared ashore.

Obama greeted officials at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) set up at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, and then held a video conference with federal and state officials.

“You guys are doing a great job obviously,” Obama told a group in the command center. “This is obviously going to be a touch and go.”

Officials said the NRCC brings together multiple government agencies and departments to coordinate disaster response with federal, state and local groups around the clock.

So 2003.

(NY Times) — WHY is it not a surprise to learn that Dick Cheney’s ancestor, Samuel Fletcher Cheney, was a Civil War soldier who marched with Sherman to the sea?

Scorched earth runs in the family.

Having lost the power to heedlessly bomb the world, Cheney has turned his attention to heedlessly bombing old colleagues.

Vice’s new memoir, “In My Time,” veers unpleasantly between spin, insisting he was always right, and score-settling, insisting that anyone who opposed him was wrong.

His knife-in-her-teeth daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, helped write the book. The second most famous Liz & Dick combo do such an excellent job of cherry-picking the facts, it makes the cherry-picking on the Iraq war intelligence seem picayune.

Cheney may no longer have a pulse, but his blood quickens at the thought of other countries he could have attacked. He salivates in his book about how Syria and Iran could have been punished.

Keep reading…

U.S. Army Spc. Charles Atkins instructs a man entering Afghanistan to open his eyes wide for a retina scan while recording biometric data at the border crossing with Pakistan August 27, 2011 at Torkham, Afghanistan. (John Moore/Getty Images)

You did what with a goat last night?

Why is freedom of religion such a difficult concept to grasp in the Islamic world?

SHAH ALAM, Aug 26 — Selangor religious councillor Datuk Hasan Ali has set up a “faith-rescue unit”, or Unit Selamat Aqidah, to look into problems faced by Muslims that could expose them to risks of losing their religious conviction amid allegations of proselytisation in the state.

The PAS leader said his office was concerned about the issue of proselytisation as troubled Muslims could resort to help from other groups that might lead them away from Islam.

“This office takes a serious view of the negative perceptions of the state agencies, bodies and voluntary organisations that appear not to help solve the problems of this group of people.

“This office has taken the initiative to set up the Unit Selamat Aqidah, which, among others, is a service centre to accept complaints and applications to help reduce the burden of life of these people,” Hasan said in a statement

He said the unit will work with the Selangor Zakat Board and voluntary organisations concerned about the issue, adding the board will name officials who will process applications for aid.

“It is hoped that Muslims who have received or are thinking of receiving aid from churches or Christian organisations can come to the Islamic Affairs, Malay Culture, Infrastructure and Public Amenities Exco to give their details so that help can be provided immediately,” Hasan said.

The Center for American Progress being run by John Podesta, who was co-chairmnan of Obama’s presidential transition team and helped form his initial cabinet after the 2008 elections.

(American Thinker) — The Obama-allied Center for American Progress has released a report that blames Islamophobia in America on a small group of Jews and Israel supporters in America, whose views are being backed by millions of dollars. This “network”, according to the news release, have “have worked hard to push narratives that Obama might be a Muslim, that mosques are incubators of radicalization, and that “radical Islam” has infiltrated all aspects of American society — including the conservative movement.

Who are the figures mentioned as the promoters of prejudice? Most of them are prominent Jews and supporters of Israel, such as David Horowitz, Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson (the founder of the Investigative Project on Terrorism). The eight foundations mentioned as funding this effort include are almost exclusively ones founded and funded by Jewish donors, and lest readers not be aware of this fact, the Center for American Progress lists not only the other beneficiaries of the charities and foundations (most of them having Jewish or Israel in the title) but also goes to the trouble of naming the individuals behind these charities — not just the donors but also those who serve on the boards.

Why include this additional information except to highlight that Jewish people are behind this effort to “defame” Muslims? By “outing” the people involved, the report puts endangers them. Furthermore, this “report” relies on the conspiracy and age-old anti-Semitic trope that Jews fan prejudice towards others and promotes divisions for their own nefarious purposes (to support Israel in this case). This mindset is straight out of Mein Kampf.

The report also stokes the view that rich Jews operate behind the scenes and use their wealth to control the media and government policy (politicians are also mentioned as being ensnared in this web).

The Center for American Progress was founded by Herbert and Marion Sandler (prominent mortgage bubble billionaires who partner with George Soros in his political activities). The Center for American Progress to a great extent is funded by George Soros and his Open Society Institute. George Soros is a fierce opponent of Israel and alleges that the Israel “lobby” all but controls American foreign policy. This view is echoed by Stephen Walt who flags this report in his column at the Foreign Policy website.

Mega-heartache.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whites and women are a re-election problem for President Barack Obama. Younger voters and liberals, too, but to a lesser extent.

All are important Democratic constituencies that helped him win the White House in 2008 and whose support he’ll need to keep it next year.

• Women no longer are a bright spot for Obama.

At the 100-day mark of his presidency, they gave him significantly higher approval ratings than did men, 68 percent to 60 percent. That’s since fallen dramatically.

In the latest AP-GfK survey, less than half of all women and less than half of all men approve of the job Obama is doing. Just 50 percent of women said Obama deserves re-election.

Still, women are more likely than men to see Obama as empathetic or a strong leader, and they give him sharply higher positive ratings on his handling of the economy. Forty-three3 percent of women approve, compared with 29 percent of men.

• Younger voters and liberals are showing doubts about him, too.

Obama won younger voters in 2008 by a bigger margin than Democrat Bill Clinton in his victories in 1992 and 1996. But younger Democrats are no more apt to say the president deserves re-election than are older Democrats. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats under age 45 say Obama is not a strong leader, compared with 11 percent in June.

While a majority of liberals continue to say they view Obama as a strong leader, the strength of those opinions dropped sharply this summer. The share of liberals who say “strong leader” describes Obama “very well” has fallen from 53 percent to 29 percent in the aftermath of the debt-ceiling debate.

“Sometimes he needs to put his foot down and not be the nice guy,” said Democrat Kathleen Salak, 44, of Omaha, Neb.

The most recent AP-GfK poll was conducted Aug. 18-22 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

24-hour rule in effect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, U.S. officials said Saturday.

The Libyan national had been the network’s operational leader before rising to al-Qaida’s No. 2 spot after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to summarize the government’s intelligence on al-Rahman, said al-Rahman’s death will make it harder for Zawahiri to oversee what is considered an increasingly weakened organization.

“Zawahiri needed Atiyah’s experience and connections to help manage al-Qaida,” the official said.

Al-Rahman was killed Aug. 22 in the lawless Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, according to a senior administration who also insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.

The official would not say how al-Rahman was killed. But his death came on the same day that a CIA drone strike was reported in Waziristan. Such strikes by unmanned aircraft are Washington’s weapon of choice for killing terrorists in the mountainous, hard-to-reach area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Elitist academia in all its glory.

HT: Jay

Or something.

TEHRAN (FNA) — The International Quds Days rallies mean crushed bones for the Zionist regime, Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi stressed.

Iranians across the country, including in the capital Tehran, alongside other people around the world held massive anti-Israel rallies on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in opposition to the continued occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.

Speaking to FNA about the Quds Day, Moslehi asserted that one of the manifestations of the Islamic Awakening is attention to the issue of Palestine and al-Quds.

“The Islamic communities should translate into practice the issue of Palestine and the rescue of the people of this country from Zionist hands,” the minister added.

(BBC) — A suicide bomb attack on a military academy in Algeria has killed 18 people, officials say.

The attack took place in the town of Cherchell, about 100km (60 miles) west of the capital Algiers.

One or two bombers set off their explosives just after the breaking of the Ramadan fast, reports said.

No group has said it carried out the attack. It comes 12 days after a suicide car bombing of a police station in Tizi Ouzu wounded 29 people.

That attack was claimed by the Islamist group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is active in the region.

It was not clear how many of those killed in the latest attack were military. A hospital source told Reuters news agency 16 soldiers had been killed and two civilians.

Political violence has subsided since the 1990s when more than 150,000 were killed after the 1992 election, won by an Islamist party, was annulled.

Going down in a blaze of glory.

(FOX News) — Not two weeks removed from cheers surrounding her momentous victory at the Iowa GOP’s Straw Poll, there is a growing chorus of criticism about the way Rep. Michele Bachmann has been conducting her campaign in the Hawkeye State.

Can the “Barack Obama rock star crap.”

That comes from Judd Saul, who helped organize the Blackhawk County Lincoln Day Dinner. The fundraiser, which was the day after the Straw Poll, was Texas Governor Rick Perry’s first presidential campaign event in Iowa.

It was held in Waterloo, a place where she is no stranger. Bachmann proudly states she is from Waterloo and It is also where she officially launched her White House bid.

But Saul says Bachmann’s behavior at the dinner left folks “kinda pissed.”

“(Perry) sat with people, talked with people. (Bachmann) acted like a rock star, refused to eat dinner with us,” he said. “If Michele Bachmann is the hometown girl, from Waterloo, she should dine with us.”

Instead, Saul points out Bachmann spent time on her campaign bus, only entering for her turn to speak at the event after she was introduced twice.

(more…)