Daily Archives: February 6, 2012

Feb 6 2012

FBI warns of threat from anti-government extremists

 

By Patrick Temple-West

WASHINGTON | Mon Feb 6, 2012 7:21pm EST

(Reuters) – Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.

These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.

The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.

Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

“We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement,” he said.

In May 2010, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were shot and killed in an argument that developed after they pulled over a “sovereign citizen” in traffic.

Last year, an extremist in Texas opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer was not hit.

Legal convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, have increased from 10 in 2009 to 18 each in 2010 and 2011, FBI agents said.

“We are being inundated right now with requests for training from state and local law enforcement on sovereign-related matters,” said Casey Carty, an FBI supervisory special agent.

FBI agents said they do not have a tally of people who consider themselves “sovereign citizens.”

J.J. MacNab, a former tax and insurance expert who is an analyst covering the sovereign movement, has estimated that it has about 100,000 members.

Sovereign members often express particular outrage at tax collection, putting Internal Revenue Service employees at risk.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-usa-fbi-extremists-idUSTRE81600V20120207
Feb 6 2012

Obama getting better with age

Or so he thinks.

Obama: I’m getting ‘better as time goes on’

By Justin Sink – 02/06/12 07:52 AM ET

During an interview that aired Monday on NBC’s “Today” show, President Obama said that he gets “better as time goes on” at his job and that he believes the grassroots movement that propelled him to victory in 2008 will help him win a second term.

“What’s frustrated people is that I’ve not been able to implement every aspect of what I said in 2008. Well, it turns out our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes. But what we have been able to do is move in the right direction,” Obama said.

“And you know what? One of the things about being president is you get better as time goes on,” he added.

The president defended his record, arguing that he has been successful despite his confrontations with Congress.

“We’ve been able to get a lot done. Not as fast as we want; sometimes it’s messy; the process is frustrating,” Obama said.

The president was asked to comment on Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, but he sidestepped any direct discussion of his presumptive general-election opponent. Nevertheless, Obama made subtle mention of Romney’s effective tax rate. Obama has suggested raising taxes on those who make their money through investments rather than simple income.

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“I do think the vast majority of the American people understand … we want everyone to be successful, and nobody begrudges people who have been successful because they’re making things, creating new products and services, that’s the American way — but what people also want to see is that everybody is doing their fair share, that we’re all pulling together, that we’re creating ladders of opportunity for all Americans,” Obama said.

“Whoever the Republican nominee is, I fundamentally disagree with the formula that would go back to the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.”

Obama also sidestepped a question by NBC host Matt Lauer about whether he would pledge to meet with his eventual opponent and work to remove negative ads.

“There’s going to be just a lot of money floating around, and a bunch of that is going to be negative. But it’s not going to be enough just to say the other guy’s a bum,” Obama said.

Obama also discussed growing tensions with Iran, insisting again that he preferred a diplomatic solution.

“I’m not going to discuss specific military programs or go into details in terms of what our planning is … we are prepared to exercise these options should the need arise. But my goal is to try to resolve this diplomatically mainly because the only way over the long them we can assure Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon is by getting them to not — understand that it’s not in their interest,” Obama said.

He also credited American intelligence with helping to keep tabs on the Iranian weapons program.

“I think we have a very good estimate of when they could potentially achieve breakout capacity, what stage they’re at in terms of processing uranium,” Obama said.

The president also described violence in Syria as “inexcusable” but said not every situation demanded American intervention, as Libya did.

http://thehill.com/video/administration/208775-obama-im-getting-better-as-time-goes-on-at-being-president

Feb 6 2012

RULE 5 The Most Desirable Women of 2012

You’ll be happy to know that Lady Gaga, or is that gag gag,  is on the list, beauty just isn’t what it used to be.  Sofia Vergara is #1, couldn’t have anything to do with the boobs, could it?   Although I must say, Sofia looks more like what women should look like, figure wise, nice to see curves on a modern day woman.  Click on the link to see the rest of the “beauties”.

I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out how they missed Adrienne and myself, just another case of voter fraud.

http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Entertainment/The-Most-Desirable-Women-of-2012/6219/18/?ref=ma