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Fitzpatrick: Benghazi “Stand-Down” Order Could Have Come Only from Obama
Posted By Sharon Rondeau On Tuesday, March 19, 2013 @ 2:56 PM In National | 4 Comments
ESTABLISHED CONTINGENCY PLANS CAN BE CHANGED ONLY BY THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
by Sharon Rondeau
Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens was one of four people to have died at a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 after it was attacked by terrorists with firebombs in a seven-hour siege
(Mar. 19, 2013) — Six months after the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information from the Obama regime has been scant, leaving many unanswered questions.
After former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey and former Defense Secretary Leon Panettatestified to two congressional committees in January, no one in government has stated whether or not the lives lost on the night of September 11, 2012 could have been saved. However, emails exchanged among White House, State Department and FBI agents leaked to the media show that the regime knew about the attack shortly after it began.
Neither the State Department nor U.S. military commanders have been forthcoming about why Stevens and the approximately 36 other personnel serving the U.S. in Benghazi on September 11 could not have been saved by swift intervention from land, air or sea, or all three. Republican lawmakers are pressing for answers to why no military response was provided to the attack and where Obama was that evening; Panetta said that he “didn’t have enough time” to send reinforcements. The siege on the Benghazi outpost lasted approximately eight hours.
The State Department personnel who testified to the House Oversight Committee were aware that security was inadequate in the months leading up to the attack.
The resulting “upheaval” within the State Department reported by left-leaning CNN was actually the termination of one employee, with the other three shifted to other positions within State.
A Reuters report from Libya dated September 14, 2012 states that U.S. officials “believe could have been planned in advance,” but the Obama regime insisted the incident was “spontaneous” for several weeks until admitting that a terrorist attack was the cause. It has also been reported that the CIA was carrying out a mission in Benghazi close to where the four Americans were killed involving tracking missing weapons from the Gaddafi regime.
Two CIA employees, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, both former Navy SEALS, attempted to rescue Amb. Christopher Stevens and others within the building after it was firebombed on the evening ofSeptember 11, disobeying initial orders not to assist. Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods died serving the United States without any assistance from the U.S. military under former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
On October 26, 2012, Fox News reported that an order to “stand down” was given out “by the CIA chain of command” to preempt presumed military intervention against the attackers. However, former CIA Director David Petraeus has testified that he gave no such order, and a spokeswoman for the CIA said that no one “at any level” of the CIA issued the order.
Last Friday, Fox News reported that there are at least four survivors of the attack whose names have not been made available to Congress. Rep. Jason Chaffetz told Fox’s Martha McCallum that several survivors are recovering in Germany, but that information about their condition has been kept from members of the House. Chaffetz affirmed that he has been able to speak with one survivor’s father, who told Chaffetz of his son that “You won’t be able to find him because the State Department changed his name on all of his records.”
Reports have surfaced that the Benghazi outpost was not a consulate, but rather, a CIA operations location.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a Fox News interview that Benghazi survivors are “afraid” to tell of their experiences on September 11, 2012. Graham called the event “a debacle” which showcased a failed foreign policy. “They’ve been told to be quiet,” he added. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said that the Obama regime is “covering up something.”
The White House has denied intimidating any of the Benghazi survivors.
Of the Benghazi debacle, former U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral James (Ace) Lyons said, “This attack should not have come as a surprise to anybody.” He related several incidents leading up to the attack and that an Al Qaeda-affiliated group had set up “roadblocks and checkpoints” just prior to the attack. When anchor Megyn Kelly asked Lyons about the United States’ handling of the incident, Lyons said that “well-armed” military attaches “could have been…in Benghazi in a matter of hours.” Lyons said he found it “inconceivable” that the military “didn’t know what was going on.”
Title X of the U.S. Code outlines the chain of command of the U.S. military, beginning with the President and Commander-in-Chief. Several retired military officers have stated thatonly an order from Obama would have stopped an intervention on the part of the military that night. Col. David Hunt and former CIA operative Mike Baker told Fox News’s Jeannine Pirro that information about the attack was communicated “in real time” to Washington. “We knew…that the Libyans – our friends – were doing nothing…” Baker said. Hunt said that “the United States military and the intelligence community know how to react to a firefight in another country.”
Tyrone Woods received an honorable discharge after 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy, later becoming a security functionary for the U.S. State Department
“You’ve got the resources in the region,” Baker continued. “They are there to hold off the hostiles until the cavalry shows up…and they will show up.“ “The point is, the military is supposed to back ‘em up,” Hunt said.
Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III (Ret.), a 20-year Navy veteran and recipient of two National Defense Service Medals, the Navy Achievement Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, two Navy Expeditionary Medals, the Expert Pistol Medal and Expert Rifle Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal and other awards, spoke with The Post & Email on his knowledge of military protocol and the way in which it should have been applied to the Benghazi attack.
CDR FITZPATRICK: Obama is connected to the deaths of the four Americans who died, including a U.S. ambassador.
In the military, we have what are called “preplanned responses.” Before something happens, it is envisioned, and it is a contingency where a United States ambassador falls into distress. We have preplanned responses for those circumstances: “If this happens, this is your first reaction.”
When Chris Stevens came under physical assault and his life was at risk, men who were in the area of responsibility in command positions – two of them I can name specifically: Gen. Carter Ham and one-star Rear Adm. Charles Gaouette, the fleet commander of the battle force that was patrolling the Persian Gulf – these two men were involved in carrying out those preplanned responses, and they started to do that. Then they were told to stop by Obama, who was the only person who could have issued that order.
[Editor's Note: Adm. Gaouette's whereabouts are unknown after he was relieved of his command last fall, and the organization "Special Operations Speaks" (SOS) is seeking information on why he has not been called to testify to Congress on what happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.]
You’re not going to find this anywhere because it is at the top-secret level. I know that because I used to be a custodian of those kinds of operation plans, preplanned responses and contingency responses: “What do you do on the USS Marvin Shields,” for example, “if this happens?” “This is what you do.”
There were operational commanders who were reacting to the contingency plans in place to come to the assistance of the United States ambassador whose life was at risk. These kinds of events are foreseeable, and we have contingency plans to react to save the life of the embassy officials to include, certainly, the life of the U.S. ambassador. That’s one of the reasons you have U.S. Marines as the first line of defense – they call them “Embassy Marines.”
THE POST & EMAIL: And this place didn’t have any.
CDR FITZPATRICK: Exactly, and the U.S. Marine Corps is the only service that performs that function; they hold the fort down until reinforcements arrive. That’s how this works. Obama has Marines protecting him, for goodness’ sakes!
The point is that Adm. Gaouette and General Ham took those first steps to activate the contingency plans which had already been approved by the commander-in-chief, regardless of who that is. These kinds of things can escalate very quickly into international events of extraordinary proportions. The kinds of things that are in these contingency plans, depending on what is happening and what the political environment looks like, can lead to larger combat or even an act of war. These contingency plans, because of what’s in them and because of what might happen should they be put into operation, have to be approved by the commander-in-chief.
THE POST & EMAIL: Does each new president have to approve the plans?”
CDR FITZPATRICK: What happens is the contingency plans are put in place, and once the new president comes into office, he is briefed on them. After he’s in office he can do with them what he will; he can modify them or cancel them altogether.
THE POST & EMAIL: Would a new president normally take the advice of the military commanders who assembled the plans?
There are people who are in this work 24/7. These plans are under constant review and revision. You have military professionals put these plans together, and then they are presented to the White House for examination and scrutiny. It’s as if it’s a bill that’s in committee. They are reviewed, changed, and tailored to the commands of the commander-in-chief, the President of the United States.
Do you know what “the football” is?
THE POST & EMAIL: Yes.
CDR FITZPATRICK: It’s the briefcase that is carried anywhere the president goes which is handcuffed to a military officer which carries our nuclear weapons release codes.
THE POST & EMAIL: Is he there even when Obama goes on his vacations?
He or she is always within steps of the president. It’s common knowledge. We have contingency operations which call for the release of either tactical nuclear weapons or strategic nuclear weapons, and these contingency plans are in place because, other than the circumstances which are envisioned in these very difficult and serious kinds of military operations, they are happening with the speed of heat. You don’t have time to think about how you’re going to react to them; you just have to react. We have different levels of reaction and contingency plans. There are contingency plans that say that at certain moments in time, to save this country, this is what you do.
Right now, North Korea is threatening to launch a nuclear weapon against us. There are contingency plans in place to react to any kind of aggression from North Korea. It’s a measured response and meant not to escalate, but to defend. The complexion of the response depends on the initial act. So we have contingency plans for different levels of aggression. There are some contingency plans which call for the launch of nuclear weapons against a hostile force, and that’s why the president is never but a few steps away from the person who is carrying the code book for the release of a nuclear weapon.
Glen Doherty was a former Navy SEAL and a responder to the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, which killed 17 sailors
THE POST & EMAIL: And that person carrying it cannot make that decision?
CDR FITZPATRICK: No. They have several different kinds of codes in the briefcase. The person holding the codes changes daily, and they change the codes daily. It’s like changing a radio frequency to mix up the enemy. If something happens, the commander-in-chief authorizes a response, and the officer opens up the briefcase and randomly picks out one of the release codes which sends out an emergency action message – it’s called an “EAM” – to the operational forces in the field.
THE POST & EMAIL: In the case of Benghazi, what might have initially occurred militarily?
CDR FITZPATRICK: One of the first things that could have happened was to launch alert jet aircraft and deploy them into the area of combat, or responsibility (AOR). The first response was that there could have been a number of jet aircraft capable of supersonic flight coming in over the target, and instead of dropping any weaponry, what they would do is to fly over that area so fast that they create a sonic boom.
THE POST & EMAIL: “What effect would that have?”
Just imagine, if you will, that you’re somebody on the ground and you hear jets coming in on you, not one, but 20. If you expect it, that’s one thing, but if you’re unprepared, all of a sudden you hear these tremendous explosions, and you feel the over-pressurization if the aircraft is low enough. So they start launching sonic booms.
Another contingency response – and this is what the two SEALS did, Doherty and Woods – is calling in air strikes. They had illuminated a target with laser illumination, and they were calling in an air strike to actually put ordinance on target that was being lased…that’s an increased level of response. So you’re going from creating an environmental impact to actually putting ordinance on target. It would have been a point target, with low-level ordinance and not nuclear. At these low-level responses, you’re buying time. You’re trying to confuse and disorient your enemy in the first instance; in the second instance, you have a lased target and are calling in an air strikes, and then it escalates from there to the point where you can be sending in the 82nd Airborne and putting troops on the ground or bringing them by airborne assault with helicopter-deployed troops. That’s how these things escalate from contingency plans.
THE POST & EMAIL: Understanding that there is some speculation here, who would Doherty and Woods have called?
CDR FITZPATRICK: When you have this kind of an event taking place – and this is portrayed in books and movies – they send out what’s called a “flash critic.” “Flash” is the highest precedence for transmission, and this type of message is read upon receipt. They are received in super-secret command centers around the globe: the National Military Command Center (NMCC), which is in the basement of the Pentagon; they are received in Foggy Bottom; they are received in the Situation Room in the White House. This is the kind of message which Gen. Carter Ham would have received, and this would have triggered his first response. He took that response, which is a pre-approved plan, and then he was told, as was Adm. Gaouette, to “stand down.” The “stand-down” order could have come only from the commander-in-chief.
THE POST & EMAIL: Because there was already a contingency plan to effect a rescue?
CDR FITZPATRICK: Yes. And the only person who had the authority to stop that from going forward was the commander-in-chief. What officer below the president is going to take responsibility for standing that down? Somebody might try it, but they’d be a fool!
So there’s a contingency plan in place; a flash critic message goes out; two of the operational commanders receive the flash critic message and react to it instantly: Adm. Gaouette and Gen. Ham. Gen. Ham was actually in the National Military Command Center in the basement of the Pentagon when the flash critic message came in. He just happened to be in Washington. He was the commander for AFRICOM. From that post where he was, he issued the order to respond. Then he was told to “stand down.” That came from the president. And the next thing that happened, both in Gen. Ham’s and Adm. Gauoette’s circumstances, was they disregarded the order from the White House and they proceeded to go forward anyway. And that’s why both men were fired.
THE POST & EMAIL: The story was that Adm. Gaouette was returned to his home port pending an investigation into a decision he made and that Gen. Ham was going to retire.”
CDR FITZPATRICK: I’m telling you what happened. I don’t know what other operational commanders were actually involved in a response and then told to stand down and then obeyed the order. Two of the officers who were ordered to stand down and disobeyed the order got “cashiered.”
A former ground radio maintenance specialist in the Air force, Sean Smith was working as an information management officer with the U.S. Foreign Service when he was killed on September 11, 2012 in the attack on the Benghazi outpost
THE POST & EMAIL: They haven’t spoken out yet. Can they?
CDR FITZPATRICK: If they speak out at this point, the kinds of things that Obama can do to them are very, very nasty, very sinister, very draconian; very bad kinds of things. And then they run into getting cross-wired with revealing national secrets, which would be the contents, for example, of these contingency plans or any other kind of extremely sensitive, top-secret communiques or plans. If they start to get into that which they are duty-bound to maintain as secret, like the CIA agent who has recently been prosecuted, then they risk getting tied up in some more serious things.
I am telling you that there are several kinds of low-level responses which would have saved Chris Stevens’s life and the lives of the others. It would have saved the other embassy workers from being injured, which is another reason why the Benghazi survivors are being silenced.”
THE POST & EMAIL: Given what you’ve just said about contingency plans and emergency message systems, how could Panetta and Dempsey have said that they “didn’t have enough information” to act?
CDR FITZPATRICK: Panetta was lying through his teeth. Let’s say you are the ambassador to Libya, and all of a sudden, you and your employees come under attack. You send out a flash critic message that says, “Help, we’re under attack!” That’s all the information that a guy like Leon Panetta at the receiving end of that message needs.”
THE POST & EMAIL: How much more information would he need other than ‘SOS?’”
CDR FITZPATRICK: Correct: ‘Save Our Ship, we are under attack.’ When you send out a flash critic message, you don’t do that carelessly or recklessly; it was Panetta’s job to react to the message in real time. You don’t sit back after receiving a flash critic message and say, ‘Can you send us a little more information?’ If Panetta or Dempsey or anyone else in a position of command authority had reservations, then the first kinds of responses that we could have exercised would have been the ones such as the sonic booms: Launch planes, go over the target fast, let the enemy know that we have planes in the air and that we are prepared to take the next step. If Panetta felt he needed more information, he could have taken that first level of reaction and said, ‘OK, send in planes to create sonic booms’ and then could say to the people on the ground at the embassy, ‘Send us more information; we have planes in the air en route…’ No harm is inflicted by the creation of a sonic boom.
Let me example this in one other way. I used to be an operations officer, and what you do is role-play. You think about how these kinds of events can happen overseas or anyplace in the world, for that matter. You have to assume that “the first report is always wrong” because operational commanders on the ground are in “the fog of war.” Reports that come in after that are modified. This is what military officers are trained to do: you don’t send a flash critic unless you want somebody to come in right now and help you out. Even if that first report is wrong, you’re saying, ‘This is not a drill; lives are at risk; come in and help us.’”
THE POST & EMAIL: Is that the message which Woods and Doherty sent?
CDR FITZPATRICK: I don’t believe that they sent the flash critic message; I believe it was somebody in the embassy’s communications.
THE POST & EMAIL: So people who haven’t been in the military know how to do that?
CDR FITZPATRICK: Correct. And in the meantime, Woods and Doherty were doing what they were trained to do, which was to coordinate with each other. The SEALS went out and set up a counterattack to prevent the attack from advancing into that safehouse, which what is was determined it was, and other people are responsible for sending out the SOS. So Doherty and Woods would not have sent the flash critic message, but they would have known that it was being sent out.
A flash critic is like sending out a tweet, and it goes only to those people who are authorized to receive it: to embassies in other parts of the world, operational commanders in every part of the world. That’s why we have regional commanders: Commander of the Pacific, Commander of Northcom, Commander Central, Commander South…all these commanding officers were in receipt of the flash critic message; They all get it. You also have the Senior Executive Service; when you promote to the admiral or general level, you’re a member of the SES. So it would have gone to very senior persons within the State Department, the civilian part of the Pentagon; it would have gone to the White House Situation Room; it goes to hundreds of places around the world in seconds.
THE POST & EMAIL: When Panetta said he met with Obama at 5:00 that afternoon and told him of the attack at that time, could he have been telling the truth?
CDR FITZPATRICK: I’m telling you that Obama already knew. Another responsibility of that watch officer who is carrying the “football” is to be in receipt of a flash critic message and to walk up to the president and say, “Mr. President, we have a flash critic message and you need to know about this now.”
THE POST & EMAIL: So it could not have been delayed until Panetta’s scheduled meeting with Obama at 5:00?
CDR FITZPATRICK: No, no one would have delayed this. It went out to a whole bunch of people.
THE POST & EMAIL: Then why aren’t other retired military officers explaining this to news anchors all over the country?
CDR FITZPATRICK: Ace Lyons did exactly that. He knows; he is talking to other flag officers. When you read the reports of his statements, that is what he is saying. Everything that Ace Lyons is telling you happened. At one point, he was the Commander of the Pacific, which is the largest region, so he knows first-hand about it. He was in a position to react and cause triggers to be pulled.
————————-
Editor’s Note: The Post & Email requested an interview of Adm. Lyons which was declined.
Over the last four years, CDR Fitzpatrick has been exposing institutionalized corruption within the Tenth Judicial District of Tennessee which the legislature has made only token advances to correct. On March 17, 2013, The Post & Email reported that the deployment of more than 100 local, state and federal officers into Madisonville, the county seat of Monroe County, on April 20, 2010 has a White House connection.
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Explains alot about how we grew up way back when..
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to me the other day, that I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
I apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books. But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery storeand didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by handbecause we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we older folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish older person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.
We don't like being older in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off!
Afternoon SMILE for GOP friends.... Brain Transplant
Afternoon SMILE for GOP friends.... Brain Transplant
In the hospital where a family member lay gravely ill, the relatives gathered in the waiting room. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber.
"I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed the worried faces. "The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure, very risky, but it is the only hope. Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the BRAIN."The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a time, someone asked, "How much will a brain cost?"
The doctor quickly responded, "$5,000 for a Democrat's brain; $200 for a Republican's brain."
The moment turned awkward. Some of the Democrats actually had to try not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the Republicans. A man unable to control his curiosity, finally blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the Democrat's brain so much more than a Republican's brain?"
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to price the Republicans' brains a lot lower because they're used."
SEND THIS TO A SMART Republican WHO NEEDS A LAUGH, AND TO ANY Democrat WHOM YOU THINK CAN HANDLE IT!
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." Henry Ford
Think she is upset?
Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!☟
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight!!!
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and "your ilk" pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age, 67. NOW, you and your "shill commission" are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now "you morons" propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because "you idiots" mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you "incompetent bastards" spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" to your incompetence.
Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU:
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.
And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech.
That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
And you can take that to the bank, you miserable SOB.
P.S. And stop calling Social Security benefits "entitlements". WHAT AN INSULT!!!!
I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It's my money”-give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks .Patty Meyers
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Quotable quote
Burt really has a gift of words, says me!
Begin forwarded message:
From:Date: May 6, 2013 1:30:57 PM EDT"All vets are mentally ill and government should prevent them from owning firearms"
~ Dianne Feinstein
She really said it on Thursday in a meeting in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And the quote below from the LA Times is priceless.
Sometimes even the L.A. Times gets it right.
"Senator Feinstein insults all U.S. Veterans as she flays about in a vain attempt to save her bill."
~ Kurt NimmoQuote of the Day from the Los Angeles Times:
"Frankly, I don't know what it is about California, but we seem to have a strange urge to elect really obnoxious women to high office. I'm not bragging, you understand, but no other state, including Maine, even comes close. When it comes to sending left-wing dingbats to Washington, we're Number One. There's no getting around the fact that the last time anyone saw the likes of Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, and Nancy Pelosi, they were stirring a cauldron when the curtain went up on 'Macbeth'. The four of them are like jackasses who happen to possess the gift of blab. You don't know if you should condemn them for their stupidity or simply marvel at their ability to form words."
~Columnist Burt Prelutsky, Los Angeles Times
The man behind the Benghazi cover-up?
By Girls Just Wanna Have Guns / 6 May 2013 / 0 Comments
CIA career officials clearly and repeatedly identified Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-linked Islamic terrorists as the culprits behind the murder of four Americans.
Of course, this would cause embarrassment for the Obama team, especially in the few weeks before the election. They had been boasting for years that Al Qaeda had been decimated, the “tide of war” was receding; they had been on a mission to whitewash the prospect of Islamic terrorism as a threat to America (see Lauri Regan’s superb column (“Can a President who has promised to stand with Muslims protect America? ). Obama’s Cairo speech before an audience that included Muslim Brotherhood officials that he compelled Egypt to include, was a paean to Islam. It was also, to a great extent, a work of fiction that included grandiose and subsequently disproven claims about the positive contributions Islam has made to America and the world.
That speech was written by Obama’s foreign policy speechwriter and now National Security Council team member, Ben Rhodes.
That is the man who Hayes “outs” as a key person behind the Benghazi cover-up.
He reportedly altered the CIA talking points to delete references to Islamic terrorists, “attacks” (they became “demonstrations”) and other negative references to Islamism. Also, someone at the White House level apparently dreamt up the idea of blaming an inconsequential video for triggering a spontaneous protest, that in the frenzy of events, led to the murder of Americans. These CIA talking points were eviscerated to whitewash the role of Islamic terrorism.
There was a White House whitewash that should not be dismissed over events that occurred a ‘long time ago;” contrary to Hillary Clinton saying that responsibility for the deaths of Americans serving their nation does “matter.” And despite Secretary of State’s John Kerry’s dismissiveness towards the Benghazi murders – “we got a lot more important things to move on to” – justice for the America’s dead demands we find who is responsible.
READ MORE AT AMERICANTHINKER.COM
9 to 5 Mac - Mac All Day
Facebook adds ‘Stickers’ to Messenger iPhone app, brings back swipe-to-delete
Nike+ Fuel Band successor rumored with improved display, heart rate monitor, bolstered API
Fitbit now shipping its first-ever Bluetooth 4.0 wristband for $99
Adobe adds new features to Creative Cloud ‘CC’ web tools: Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Edge Animate & Edge Reflow
Adobe shows off Bluetooth ‘Project Mighty’ pen with customized settings stored in the Cloud & Napoleon digital ruler
Adobe CC pricing: $19.99/month for CS6 customers, $29.99/m for older customers, $49.99/after first year or new customers
Adobe shows off new features for Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Prelude, SpeedGrade, & Story Plus for Creative Cloud users
Adobe rolls out huge update to Creative Cloud ‘CC’ design tools: Illustrator, InDesign, Muse, InCopy, Kuler, Ideas
Google Drive sharing of files now ‘right-click easy’ on Mac
Adobe’s Creative Cloud now allows you to sync settings and fonts between multiple computers
Facebook adds ‘Stickers’ to Messenger iPhone app, brings back swipe-to-delete
Posted: 06 May 2013 03:57 PM PDT
Facebook has updated its Facebook Messenger for iPhone and iPod touch application to add the popular Stickers functionality. Stickers will roll out to users gradually and is already available in the standard Facebook for iOS app. Additionally, by popular request, the company has brought back swipe-to-delete functionality for conversations. The update also includes unspecified bug fixes. The app is available for free on the App Store.
Nike+ Fuel Band successor rumored with improved display, heart rate monitor, bolstered API
Posted: 06 May 2013 02:17 PM PDT
Following the launch of FitBit’s Bluetooth 4.0-powered wrist device, Andru Edwards at GearLive claims to have a series of details about Nike’s next-generation Nike+ Fuel Band.
Some of the notable rumored additions:
Heart rate/pulse monitor
More responsive, faster data display
Bluetooth 4.0 for improved battery life, syncing
Accelerometer data for developers via a more robust API
GearLive claims the new device is being actively tested in the wild, but details about a release timeframe are currently uncertain.
Nike’s Fuel Band is known for being an easy-to-use, easy to wear wearable health accessory. The device is also notable as Apple CEO Tim Cook wears one. Apple is rumored to be developing a wrist watch-like device that could include some of the features of the Fuel Band and FitBit products.
Fitbit now shipping its first-ever Bluetooth 4.0 wristband for $99
Posted: 06 May 2013 12:54 PM PDT
Fitbit announced today it is now shipping its latest fitness tracking device that pairs with its popular iPhone app and its first ever wristband design. First shown off at CES, the Fitbit Flex is a $99 wristband appears to compete directly with the slightly more expensive Nike FuelBand and Jawbone Up wearable fitness bracelets but also includes some unique features including NFC and real-time syncing. Fitbit says Flex is the first fitness and sleep tracking wristband on the market to automatically sync wirelessly via Bluetooth 4.0:
Like its sister products the Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One, the new Fitbit Flex tracks steps taken, distance travelled, and calories burned, as well as a brand new stat: active minutes. Active minutes track how many moderate-intensity cardio minutes you have a day (the Center for Disease Control recommends 150 of them each week). Flex’s bright LED indicator lights offer a visual display as you reach 20 percent increments of achieving your goal (such as walking 10K steps), while a vibrating notification celebrates with you as you hit your goals throughout the day. Flex also tracks how long and how well you sleep, allowing you to learn how to sleep better, and offers a Silent Wake alarm that gently vibrates to wake you without waking your sleep partner.
TechCrunch has a nice review after having some hands on time with the Fitbit Flex and a full list of features is below:
Know your stats: Tracks steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes, a new stat from Fitbit. The Center for Disease Control recommends achieving at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. Flex will encourage you to meet—and exceed—that goal, whether you are taking a brisk walk, running or working out at a cardio class.
Getting good ZZZs: Tracks quality of sleep (number of hours, how many times you wake up and offers a sleep efficiency index) and uses a silent alarm that vibrates to wake you up gently.
First and only wristband to: Sync to select mobile devices via Bluetooth 4.0 (the first all-day wristband tracker to offer this capability). It also syncs wirelessly and automatically to your computer. Syncs to iPhone 4S and 5, and now select Android devices, like the Samsung Galaxy S III and Note II.
With you all the time: Comfortable enough to wear all day. Water-resistant. Wear it in the shower or the rain.
Match your mood or personality: Flexible, interchangeable tracker with a variety of colorful wristbands (Black, Slate, Teal, Tangerine, Navy) that allow you to personalize your Flex. Flex trackers are sold with Black or Slate bands, and users can purchase accessory packs (Teal, Tangerine, Navy) for $29.95 for all three or $14.95 for one color.
Rich mobile and online offerings: iPhone and Android app and online tools show activity charts, leaderboards and more. Set goals, view progress and earn badges. Also log food, weight and more on Fitbit’s website and apps.
Social motivation: Connect with friends and family for support or friendly competition.
NFC and real-time syncing mean stats on-the-go: For select Android users, simply tap your Flex band on your NFC-enabled Android phone and it will automatically launch your Fitbit stats. For select iOS users, with real-time syncing, watch your steps increase on your Fitbit iPhone app right before your eyes!
Multiple partners: Fitbit also integrates with many popular health and fitness apps, including Endomondo, LoseIt, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and Sparkpeople, to enable users to share data from their favorite apps.
Adobe adds new features to Creative Cloud ‘CC’ web tools: Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Edge Animate & Edge Reflow
Posted: 06 May 2013 11:42 AM PDT
Adobe has officially dropped support for its CS6 suite today and made the announcement at its MAX 2013 conference today that it is moving to updates for Creative Cloud members only going forward. We have already detailed a ton of new features coming to Photoshop, video apps such as Premiere and After Effects, and its brand new CC design tools including updates to Illustrator, InDesign, and new Kuler, and Adobe Ideas iOS apps.
Adobe also announced today that it is rolling out big updates for its design tools starting June 17 including new features for Dreamweaver, Edge Animate, Flash Professional, and Edge Reflow. Head below for details on the new features:
Dreamweaver gets one of the biggest updates today with the addition of many features that have long been requested by users including PhoneGap Build support for building and packaging native apps for iOS and Android. Some of the other new features that Adobe is showing off at MAX include the new CSS designer, an enhanced Fluid Grid Layout, Sync settings to access files, settings, and preferences from anywhere, support for author projects using HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and brand new interface that Adobe notes has removed outdated features for a “lighter and faster application.”
Flash Professional Adobe is launching a completely rebuilt Flash Professional CC app that includes 64-bit architecture, HD export, improved HTML publishing, a new streamlined UI, real-time mobile teasing for iOS and Android devices, as well as a new ode editor, real-time drawing, an unlimited pasteboard size, and more.
Edge Animate gets updated alongside just about every other of the over 20 new Creative Cloud CC apps. New features include customizable, fine-grain motion paths, templates, and enhanced content delivery with “an option to host your Animate files on an Adobe con ten deliver network powered by Akamai” for free.
Edge Reflow Adobe’s new responsive design tool gets a few new features in the company’s move to its new Creative Cloud only suite of CC apps. Preview 3 of the app now includes asset management and Typekit integration.
Adobe announced today at its MAX conference that all new features will be coming to Creative Cloud users starting June 17 at which time Adobe will be ending support for CS6 with all new features coming to Creative Cloud users only.
You can currently get 40% off to upgrade from Creative Suite product to a Creative Cloud membership with special introductory pricing of $29.99/month and $20/month off for signing up for Creative Cloud for Teams.
Adobe shows off Bluetooth ‘Project Mighty’ pen with customized settings stored in the Cloud & Napoleon digital ruler
Posted: 06 May 2013 11:25 AM PDT
Today at Adobe’s MAX 2013 conference the company is showing off a piece of hardware in addition to the many software updates it announced for Creative Cloud members. ‘Project Mighty’ is a new Bluetooth LE enabled pen that Adobe is clearly gearing towards users of its collection of iPad apps by integrating a number of features that users can adjust through Adobe’s cloud sync settings feature. For instance, users can set preferences for double taps or pulling up tools using the button built into the pen.
Adobe made a point of noting that the Mighty pen is connected to the Cloud, allowing users to move from one device to another while keeping the settings specific to the user’s cloud settings.
Adobe also showed off another new hardware project called Napoleon which is essentially a digital ruler that works alongside the Project Mighty pen:
Adobe CC pricing: $19.99/month for CS6 customers, $29.99/m for older customers, $49.99/after first year or new customers
Posted: 06 May 2013 11:21 AM PDT
Adobe announced its new Creative Cloud pricing this afternoon and it is pretty much the same as it is currently. One big difference: Current Adobe customers get significant discounts and noting the big feature updates, this seems like a pretty good way to get current customers into the transition.
Adobe shows off new features for Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Prelude, SpeedGrade, & Story Plus for Creative Cloud users
Posted: 06 May 2013 11:11 AM PDT
Adobe isn’t just announcing big updates to Photoshop and its web & design products for Creative Cloud customers It’s also rolling out a ton of new features for its video products including Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Prelude, SpeedGrade, and Story Plus. Below the fold we have all the details on new features:
Premiere gets one of the most notable updates among all of Adobe’ brand new video Creative Cloud video apps that it showed off on stage at MAX 2013 today. Among the new features is “a redesigned Timeline, intuitive track targeting, and dozens of helpful new shortcuts. Dupe-detection markers, through-edit indicators, and clearer labels.” Adobe is also including a new “Link & Locate” feature to search for files that have been renamed, moved, or transcoded, Sync settings that most apps received today, Adobe Anywhere integration to work on files over shared servers, Lumetri deep color engine integration with SpeedGrade, an Audio Clip Mixer and Closed captioning.
After Effects New features for After Effects CC won’t disappoint with the addition of the new Refine Edge tool, 3D workflows with support for Cinema 4D integration, pixel motion blur, and a Warp Stabilizer VFX allowing users to Select stabilization points, edit and delete them throughout time, and preserve scale to fix tricky shots such as aerial fly-throughs.” Adobe Anywhere video integration will also be coming soon in a future update.
Create photo-real visual content fast with awesome new advancements, such as the Live 3D Pipeline between After Effects CC and CINEMA 4D, an enhanced 3D Camera Tracker, and layer and mask snapping for faster composition construction. Save hours of tedious rotoscoping work with the Refine Edge tool. Be more creative, thanks to advancements in stabilization and other refinements for a more responsive workflow. Plus, with upcoming support for Adobe Anywhere for video, broadcast and post-production professionals can collaborate on workflows across enterprises regardless of location.
Other updates to CC video apps today include new Multitrack editing, Sound Remove and Preview Editor features for Adobe Audition, Anywhere video integration and Hover Scrub thumbnails for Prelude, as well as a handful of new features for SpeedGrade and Story Plus.
Adobe announced today at its MAX conference that all new features will be coming to Creative Cloud users starting June 17 at which time Adobe will be ending support for CS6 with all new features coming to Creative Cloud users only.
Adobe is offering some big deals on Creative Cloud memberships just in time for today’s updates to Photoshop alongside tons of new features for all of its video, web, and design tools.
You can currently get 40% off to upgrade from Creative Suite product to a Creative Cloud membership with special introductory pricing of $29.99/month and $20/month off for signing up for Creative Cloud for Teams.
Adobe rolls out huge update to Creative Cloud ‘CC’ design tools: Illustrator, InDesign, Muse, InCopy, Kuler, Ideas
Posted: 06 May 2013 10:48 AM PDT
Adobe’s MAX 2013 keynotes are happening right now, and below we have the details on the brand new features added to its suite of Creative Cloud products that are now branded with “CC” and apparently replacing its CS6 offerings, which will no longer be supported going forward. We’ve already covered big updates rolling out today to Photoshop and Adobe’s video products such as Premiere and After Effects, but the company also just announced some of the biggest updates yet to its design tools including many highly requested features for apps such as Illustrator, InDesign, Muse, a new iPhone app for Kuler, and new features for the now free Adobe Ideas iOS app.
Head below for all the details:
Illustrator was a big focus at today’s MAX event with Adobe demoing new features including a Touch Type tool that allows characters to be “manipulated like individual objects” with support for multitouch devices and stylus, images in brushes, the ability import multiple files while defining location and scale, and CSS Extraction:
Hand-coding web elements such as icons and patterns can be frustrating. Now, create websites faster by letting Illustrator generate CSS code for you, even for a complete logo that includes gradients. Copy and paste the code right into your web editor.
It also gets new sync settings, sync colors, font search and sync fonts with Adobe Typekit fonts like most of the updated CC apps today.
InDesign gets an overhaul today that includes performance enhancements and new features including 64-bit support, a new modern UI, HiDPI and Retina Display support, a new QR Code Creator, and the other Sharing with Creative Cloud and Sync features that Adobe is rolling out for many other apps today.
Muse receives a smaller update that brings syncing features, parallax scrolling, and in-browser editing.
InCopy is now included for Creative Cloud members and at the same time gets a new UI, HiDPI and Retina display support.
Kuler for making color themes on the web gets a new iPhone application today with the ability to export to Illustrator CC, and access to the new Sync Color features to access the themes from anywhere. The iPhone app also includes new preset color modes:
Color presets make it easy to create great themes right off the bat. With your iPhone, you can choose among five presets such as Colorful and Muted. In the Kuler web app, you can pick presets that follow color theory, including Analogous, Triad, Compound, and more.
Adobe Ideas goes free today on the App Store and gets new color themes, Kuler integration, favorite brushes, increasing drawing accuracy, and social sharing.
Adobe announced today at its MAX conference that all new features will be coming to Creative Cloud users starting June 17 at which time Adobe will be ending support for CS6 with all new features coming to Creative Cloud users only.
Google Drive sharing of files now ‘right-click easy’ on Mac
Posted: 06 May 2013 10:47 AM PDT
Google just announced a nice little upgrade to Google Drive which allows you to share your Google Drive Files from your desktop on your Mac (or PC). Once you click, you get the following message screen:
.
Adobe’s Creative Cloud now allows you to sync settings and fonts between multiple computers
Posted: 06 May 2013 10:38 AM PDT
We are live at Adobe MAX where Adobe just announced that its Flagship CS suite of applications is now called Adobe CC for Creative Cloud (not ‘Commons’). One of the more interesting features of Adobe’s CC suite is that it now allows you to sync settings and fonts between multiple computers.
This is pretty cool if it works as advertised.
Guns Save Lives
Kansas Secretary of State to Eric Holder – You Don’t Understand the Constitution, Stay Out of Kansas
[Video] Letterman Attacks Pro Gun Senator, Calling Him “Stooge”
Texas House Passes a Dozen Pro Gun Laws on “Gun Day”
California Concealed Carrier Captures Suspected Murderer at Gunpoint, Holds Him for Police
War Veteran Chases Down, Captures Burglary Suspect, Holds Him at Gunpoint for Police
[Video] New Colion Noir Calls out Anti Gunners on Their Racism Towards His NRA Commentary
NY Senator Schumer Gets Butt Hurt Over 3D Printed Guns
Kansas Secretary of State to Eric Holder – You Don’t Understand the Constitution, Stay Out of Kansas
Posted: 06 May 2013 04:25 PM PDT
Well, this is getting interesting. First, a little background. Back in April Kansas passed the Second Amendment Protection Act (SB 102). This bill was meant to protect the Second Amendment rights of the Kansas citizens from new federal gun control laws and would actually make it illegal to enforce those laws within the state of [...]
[Video] Letterman Attacks Pro Gun Senator, Calling Him “Stooge”
Posted: 06 May 2013 02:43 PM PDT
Last week, David Letterman decided to make Senator James Inhofe the target of his “Stooge of the night bit”. Letterman said, “James Inhofe voted no on gun control. He said the families of the Newtown shootings had nothing to do with the debate on gun control, they only thought they did because they were told [...]
Texas House Passes a Dozen Pro Gun Laws on “Gun Day”
Posted: 06 May 2013 01:32 PM PDT
On Saturday, the Texas House approved a dozen pro gun bills that, if signed into law, will make Texas one of the most firearms friendly states in the country. Of note, the legislature decided to allow college students aged 21 years or older and who already have a concealed weapons permit, to carry firearms on [...]
California Concealed Carrier Captures Suspected Murderer at Gunpoint, Holds Him for Police
Posted: 06 May 2013 11:32 AM PDT
A man was fatally stabbed in Oceanside, CA outside of a motel. The incident was originally thought to have been a fight, but now it appears it may have been an assault turned murder. Several bystanders rushed to the aid of the victim, and one bystander, a legal concealed carrier, drew his firearm and held [...]
War Veteran Chases Down, Captures Burglary Suspect, Holds Him at Gunpoint for Police
Posted: 06 May 2013 10:14 AM PDT
Jared Martin, a National Guardsman who served in Iraq and Kuwait, and a concealed weapons holder wasn’t about to let a burglary suspect who was in the process of robbing him the second time, get away. When Martin awoke around 3am, he grabbed his gun and went to investigate a possible noise in his garage. [...]
[Video] New Colion Noir Calls out Anti Gunners on Their Racism Towards His NRA Commentary
Posted: 06 May 2013 08:58 AM PDT
Boom. Hard hitting video from Colion Noir. Noir really opens it up here and addresses the elephant in the room. Yes, Noir is black. Yes, he is very well educated. Yes, he, ::GASP:: is a spokesman for gun rights. Many media outlets have been saying Noir is just a mouthpiece for the NRA and was [...]
NY Senator Schumer Gets Butt Hurt Over 3D Printed Guns
Posted: 06 May 2013 06:58 AM PDT
I guess there are absolutely no other issues facing the state of New York right now, because Senator Schumer is using his valuable time as a lawmaker to give press conferences on why 3D gun printing is bad and why these guns needs to be banned. NY’s senators weren’t the only ones upset that apparently [...]
Bears Buzz Alaska Again
Bears Buzz Alaska Again. What's Obama Regime Doing About This Threat of Russian Long-range Bombers???
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