Ask Me Help Desk - It's come to this

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Originally Posted by speechlesstx

One of Obama's green energy successes just went to....China.

Chinese company buys battery maker that got recovery funds

That's not Obama's fault.

Why is the Massachusetts company bankrupt?***

"Wanxiang's top executive and an Energy Department spokesman said last week that the point of the economic stimulus grant was to create jobs by building a Michigan manufacturing facility, which Wanxiang said it plans to keep open."

"Wanxiang would not acquire A123's Ann Arbor, Mich.-based government business, which includes all of its U.S. military contracts. Those would be acquired for $2.25 million by Navitas Systems, a Woodridge, Ill.-based [minutes from Wondergirl] provider of energy storage products for commercial, industrial and government agency customers."

***ADDED "[A123's] financial stability has been in question for more than a year. The company suffered a major setback when it had to recall defective batteries in Fisker cars. And despite orders from carmakers, A123 could not generate sufficient revenue or profit from the slowly growing market for electric vehicles." (10/16/2012, NYT)

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

That's not Obama's fault.

How much of that $133 million taxpayer dollars his administration gave them might we see returned?

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How much of that $133 million taxpayer dollars his administration gave them might we see returned?

Is that the standard procedure where a company receives grants and fails afterwards?

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Originally Posted by speechlesstx

How much of that $133 million taxpayer dollars his administration gave them might we see returned?

Why weren't you buying an electric car?

Just so you know I drove an electric car once, a very disconcerting experience

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republican states have a history of doing the same thing. I think it has something to do with concentration of power in the hands of one person

Nope it has more to do with Alexander Fraser Tytler's warning .

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"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness;
From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
~ Alexander Fraser Tytler

Then according to his timetable you have run your course, although you might just have one or two steps to go

Yup ;apparently we are on the' from apathy to dependence' step.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Why weren't you buying an electric car?

Why would I want to waste $30,000?

The National Counterterrorism Center now apparently has a "PreCrime" department, tasked with scouring data on you and me to prevent future crimes. They're even sharing it with foreign governments.

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Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

Not everyone was on board. "This is a sea change in the way that the government interacts with the general public," Mary Ellen Callahan, chief privacy officer of the Department of Homeland Security, argued in the meeting, according to people familiar with the discussions.

A week later, the attorney general signed the changes into effect.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews with officials at numerous agencies, The Wall Street Journal has reconstructed the clash over the counterterrorism program within the administration of President Barack Obama. The debate was a confrontation between some who viewed it as a matter of efficiency—how long to keep data, for instance, or where it should be stored—and others who saw it as granting authority for unprecedented government surveillance of U.S. citizens.

The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them. That is a departure from past practice, which barred the agency from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or related to an investigation.

Now, NCTC can copy entire government databases—flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and many others. The agency has new authority to keep data about innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited. Data about Americans "reasonably believed to constitute terrorism information" may be permanently retained.

The changes also allow databases of U.S. civilian information to be given to foreign governments for analysis of their own. In effect, U.S. and foreign governments would be using the information to look for clues that people might commit future crimes.

If only they had the Precogs. So now the Obama admin wants to track our every move. Is that a drone I hear?

Hello again, Steve:

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If only they had the Precogs. So now the Obama admin wants to track our every move. Is that a drone I hear?

If George W. Bush would have PRESERVED our Fourth Amendment rights, there would be NO Obama spies today.

You guys really DO suffer from memory loss. But, that's why I'm here.

Excon

PS> I suppose if he tortured somebody you'd come down on him hard, wouldn't you? Bwa, ha ha ha..

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now apparently has a "PreCrime" department

You've had that since 9/11. Your conversations and emails have been listened to since then.

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:

If George W. Bush would have PRESERVED our Fourth Amendment rights, there would be NO Obama spies today.

You guys really DO suffer from memory loss. But, that's why I'm here.

Nah, anyone could have predicted your response.

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

You've had that since 9/11. Your conversations and emails have been listened to since then.

This goes way, way, beyond scanning communications.

So does the Patriot Act.

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

So does the Patriot Act.

This goes way, way beyond the Patriot Act (passed by Congress). The administration bypassed congress and gave itself unilateral authority to mine the data of innocent Americans and share it with other countries. The Patriot Act at least has some safeguards in place. They can't just wiretap any ol' American citizen, they still have to go through the courts.

Wrong: Patriot Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also the organization charged with it is Counterterrorism Center enacted under Bush.

If you don't have anything to hide why are you worried?

And we all know that the biggest threat to the country is those right wing extremists in funny tri-cornered hats .

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(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization.

Homeland Security Report Warns Of Rising Right-Wing Extremism

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Wrong: Patriot Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also the organization charged with it is Counterterrorism Center enacted under Bush.

If you don't have anything to hide why are you worried?

a) You didn't even read the Wikipedia article. You really should do such things before counting on something to prove me wrong. Read the section on Title II. The courts are still involved.

b) "The National Counterterrorism Center" was the first four words of my post, which also noted "the attorney general signed the changes into effect." That would be Eric Holder, Obama's AG.

I wonder how that new law mandating black boxes in all new autos fits in with the new Precogs ?

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Horace Cooper, an analyst with the National Center for Public Policy Research, writes in a recently published analysis that privacy are inevitable because "once the law goes into effect, the DOT will then act to tell us exactly what data the EDRs will collect and what devices can be used to access the data."

Analyst worries auto black boxes invite privacy abuse by officials - National Cars | Examiner.com

So just like Obamacare . They have to pass the law so we can find out what is in it.

But is there a double standard here ? Well yes because while the adm is looking to know everything we do ;including how and where we drive ; they are still stonewalling on Benghazi .

Congressman Jason Chaffetz said that he has been 'thwarted' by the State Department from seeing any Americans who survived the attack in Benghazi .He is talking about the 30 or so survivors who have disappeared off the face of the planet.

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My understanding is that we still have some people in the hospital. I'd like to visit with them and wish them nothing but the best but the State Department has seen it unfit for me to know who those people are—or even how many there are. I don't know who they are. I don't know where they live. I don't know what state they're from. I don't even know how many there are. It doesn't seem right to me.

This is so patently different than any other experience I've had.

Chaffetz: State Dept Hiding Benghazi Survivors

Maybe the adm doesn't know what really happened in Benghazi (guffaw ) . Maybe if they used their data bases ,their black boxes ,their drones to keep tabs on our enemies instead of our driving habits...

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Originally Posted by tomder55

Maybe the adm doesn't know what really happened in Benghazi (guffaw ) . Maybe if they used their data bases ,their black boxes ,their drones to keep tabs on our enemies instead of our driving habits ........

Now there is a thought, but then since the major attack came from within, perhaps they have found the real enemy

Yep, got to love people who think blacks have to be a certain kind of black to actually be black. On ESPN, Rob Parker questioned RGIII's blackness. No, really.

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Robert Griffin III has been asked about his race repeatedly this season. He has not, to my knowledge, ever brought the subject up himself. Every time he’s been asked about it, he has managed to appear thoughtful and considerate without possibly offending anyone.

I’m not sure he’s ever handled the race question better than on last week’s Comcast SportsNet special, when Chick Hernandez talked about being a black quarterback in D.C.

“Whenever you can relate to the population of the team that you play for, I think it makes it that much more special,” Griffin said. “I don’t play too much into the color game, because I don’t want to be the best African American quarterback, I want to be the best quarterback."

...

Well. This led to a Thursday discussion on First Take, ESPN’s abysmal debate program. Panelist Rob Parker was asked, ‘What does this say about RGIII?”

“This is an interesting topic,” Parker said. “For me, personally, just me, this throws up a red flag, what I keep hearing. And I don’t know who’s asking the questions, but we’ve heard a couple of times now of a black guy kind of distancing himself away from black people.

“I understand the whole story of I just want to be the best,” Parker continued. “Nobody’s out on the field saying to themselves, I want to be the best black quarterback. You’re just playing football, right? You want to be the best, you want to throw the most touchdowns and have the most yards and win the most games. Nobody is [thinking] that.

“But time and time we keep hearing this, so it just makes me wonder deeper about him,” Parker went on. “And I’ve talked to some people down in Washington D.C. friends of mine, who are around and at some of the press conferences, people I’ve known for a long time. But my question, which is just a straight honest question. Is he a brother, or is he a cornball brother?”

What does that mean, Parker was asked.

“Well, [that] he’s black, he kind of does his thing, but he’s not really down with the cause, he’s not one of us,” Parker explained. “He’s kind of black, but he’s not really the guy you’d really want to hang out with, because he’s off to do something else.”

Why is that your question, Parker was asked.

“Well, because I want to find out about him,” Parker said. “I don’t know, because I keep hearing these things. We all know he has a white fiancée. There was all this talk about he’s a Republican, which, there’s no information [about that] at all. I’m just trying to dig deeper as to why he has an issue. Because we did find out with Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods was like I’ve got black skin but don’t call me black. So people got to wondering about Tiger Woods early on.”

Then Skip Bayless asked Parker about RGIII’s braids.

“Now that’s different,” Parker said. “To me, that’s very urban and makes you feel like…wearing braids, you’re a brother. You’re a brother if you’ve got braids on.”

Eeek! He may be a Republican? Oh my...

Yeah I have a problem with his skin color. He plays for the Redskins. Other than that he seems like a great guy . Parker's comments is further evidence where the real intolerance is in this country .

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Originally Posted by tomder55

Yeah I have a problem with his skin color. He plays for the Redskins. Other than that he seems like a great guy . Parker's comments is further evidence where the real intolerance is in this country .

We both have that same issue with color.

Then get out of the sun

A republican with braids and speed and a gun for an arm? Draft him!!

It's come to this. Tam's Burgers #6, an LA fixture for 30 years has been forced to close their doors. Apparently the family business was a "public nuisance", as in the police can't control crime in the neighborhood so the city has regulated and zoned him out of business.

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Located on the corner of Figueroa and 101st Street in South Central Los Angeles, Tam's Burgers has been a part of the neighborhood for almost thirty years. Nick Benetatos took over the restaurant in the late '80s after his father retired. Tam's has withstood multiple recessions and even the 1992 LA riots.

"When the markets were burned down, liquor stores were burned down, everything was burned down, people had nowhere to go, they came to us. We were handing out loaves of bread for free." says Benetatos. "We have much love for the community. And the community obviously has much love for us."

But Tam's is now facing its most daunting challenge yet: being deemed a "public nuisance" by the city of LA. The Los Angeles Police Department believes that Tam's is a magnet for drug dealers, prostitutes and violent criminals.

"It has a nexus and a connection to a disproportionate amount of criminal activity," says Detective Eric Moore, head of LAPD's Nuisance Abatement unit.

But Benetatos says that he is simply making the best of a tough situation. He's even tried to work with LAPD before, honoring their requests that he remove payphones on the property and remove tables for outdoor seating, which he says resulted in a 15 percent decline in revenues. The city's zoning board has since ordered him to comply with 22 separate conditions, such as hiring a full-time security guard, fencing in the entire property and installing a security camera that links directly to LAPD's electronic surveillance system. Benetatos says that the cost of compliance would put him out of business.

"The LAPD wants to control my business and run it in their view of how it should be run, and I'm trying to run it in the view that I've been here for 30 years and know how it should be run, and I'm successful," says Benetatos, who appealed the zoning board's conditions at a recent city council meeting.

You're welcome to open shop in Amarillo Mr. Benetatos, we can't have too many good burger places.

The Goracle and his partners have apparently agreed to sell his largely unwatched Current TV to Al Jazeera. No, really.

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Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news giant, has long tried to convince Americans that it is a legitimate news organization, not a parrot of Middle Eastern propaganda or something more sinister.

It just bought itself 40 million more chances to make its case.

Al Jazeera on Wednesday announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore, a former vice president, and his business partners seven years ago. Al Jazeera plans to shut Current and start an English-language channel, which will be available in more than 40 million homes, with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar.

For Al Jazeera, which is financed by the government of Qatar, the acquisition is a coming of age moment. A decade ago, Al Jazeera’s flagship Arabic-language channel was reviled by American politicians for showing videotapes from Al Qaeda members and sympathizers. Now the news operation is buying an American channel, having convinced Mr. Gore and the other owners of Current that it has the journalistic muscle and the money to compete head-to-head with CNN and other news channels in the United States.

Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But the deal was not signed until Wednesday.

The guru of global warming alarmism has just pocketed an estimated $100 million from selling to an outfit financed by a middle eastern government built on oil wealth. And of course they wanted to complete the deal by Dec 31st to avoid higher taxes.

You can't make this stuff up...

Score one for entrepreneurship!

Hello again, Steve:

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You can't make this stuff up...

So, the free market is GOOD, unless a Democrat engages in it...

Excon

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so, the free market is good, unless a democrat engages in it...

exactly!

Don't know why Al Jazeera would want to purchase it . Al Jazeera has a many more viewers.

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:

So, the free market is GOOD, unless a Democrat engages in it...

excon

As usual you reach the wrong conclusion. I have no problem with The Goracle wanting to make money. I have a problem with his blatant hypocrisy - kind of like all these people running around with armed guards wanting to take away our guns.

Hello again, Steve:

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As usual you reach the wrong conclusion.

I don't know. When I'm in the marketplace, the only factor I consider is whether the guy I'm selling stuff to, HAS the money to pay for it. MY decisions AREN'T based on morals.

I understand that it's easy for a worker bee like you, who has NEVER risked his own capital, to sit on the sidelines and criticize...

Excon

PS> (edited) As I think about it, if I considered the MORALS of the people I buy from, or sell to, I'd NEVER buy or sell ANYTHING... Most people are a$$holes.

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:

I don't know. When I'm in the marketplace, the only factor I consider is whether the guy I'm selling stuff to, HAS the money to pay for it. MY decisions AREN'T based on morals.

And I'm sure if some evangelical preacher dude in say, Colorado, that makes a name for himself preaching against things like sexual immorality was caught patronizing hookers you wouldn't chastise him would you?

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I understand that it's easy for a worker bee like you, who has NEVER risked his own capital, to sit on the sidelines and criticize...

You have no idea what I've done.

Hello again, Steve:

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And I'm sure if some evangelical preacher dude in say, Colorado, that makes a name for himself preaching against things like sexual immorality was caught patronizing hookers you wouldn't chastise him would you?

Of course, I'd chastise him... AND, if he built a good TV, I'd BUY me one.

Excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, Steve:

Of course, I'd chastise him...

Well there you go...

And the Goracle is tax savvy... he insisted that the sale be completed before Jan 1 to avoid the extra taxes .

Maybe he even has offshore tax havens.

He does ;and not only that ,he siphons off taxpayer dollars from subsidies to Fisker... a company in which he has ownership shares .