Category: America

Is Obama Recruiting Citizen Spies

Can the unthinkable actually be happening? Is the Obama Administration employing Stalinist tactics of thuggery and intimidation against average Americans who oppose ObamaCare?

Consider the following incident.

When Barack Hussein Obama rolled into town for his – by invitation only – town hall meeting in Bristol Virginia, average citizens, desperate to make their voices heard, gathered on sidewalks and curbs along the route of Obama’s motorcade holding homemade signs opposing ObamaCare.

One of the peaceful citizen protesters sent this shocking eyewitness report to the Internet blog, TheGatewayPundit.com:

“There were several vehicles following the limo that contained the secret service. The vehicles had all the windows rolled down, and back hatches open on the SUVs with the men holding their, I assume assault rifles, machine guns, drawn on everyone lining the streets. Needless to say, it took my breath away at the sight of them, and made my friends and I dizzy with fear…. I turned on a local talk radio program as we were leaving and all the calls were about witnessing the guns being pointed at them.”

Of course, we don’t want to jump to any conclusions. There might have been a legitimate reason behind what appears to otherwise be an excessive show of force… we simply don’t know.

But even if the intent of the Obama Administration was not to oppressively stifle 1st Amendment rights… the message that was left is nonetheless chilling.

Rosslyn Smith with AmericanThinker.com put the incident in perspective:

“Whatever it was, the message was poison. Only handpicked supporters were going to get into the carefully orchestrated media event at a Kroger deli that had Obama jetting in and out of the community. That all those who were left to peacefully demonstrate outside had been held at gunpoint is not going to be forgotten anytime soon by those in attendance.”

Thuggery? … Veiled threat? … Paranoia on the part of Team Obama? … Legitimate and necessary safeguards to protect the life of the President against a real threat?

We may never know.

But there is one thing that we do know. Proponents of ObamaCare are showing a detestable contempt for the American people.

They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want to hear what you have to say when it comes to the government takeover of the health care system and they don’t care what you have to say.

Essentially, they are trying to tune you out.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can make them listen… right here and right now.

Use the hyperlink below and send Barack Obama and each and every member of the Republican and Democratic Leadership of the House and the Senate messages that have a powerful and real impact.

Flood their fax machines. Tell them that Americans want no part of ObamaCare and that attempts to ignore or ridicule or marginalize or dismiss the majority of Americans who oppose the government takeover of health care will only make a bad situation worse and place their political futures in peril.

Remind them that they work for the American people. Remind them that the American people are their employers, not their serfs. And finally, demand that they cease-and-desist their callous tactics and abandon ObamaCare once and for all.

Union Thuggery… Maoist Moms… Or Making Mountains Out Of Molehills?

On Thursday, the left-wing Huffington Post published an article, “Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Hall.”

“The nation’s largest federation of labor organizations has promised to directly engage with boisterous conservative protesters at Democratic town halls during the August recess.”

“In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate. … ‘The principal battleground in the campaign will be town hall meetings and other gatherings with members of Congress in their home districts,’ reads the memo.”

“Directly engage?” … “ground zero?” … “principal battleground?”

We can only hope that Sweeney is talking about pristine political activity.

But there’s something else.

A video posting by Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, on the White House blog on Tuesday has people wondering….

Is the Obama Administration recruiting Maoist Moms? Is Big Brother recruiting people to spy on their friends and neighbors?

“There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to [email protected].”

Of course, what really makes Douglass’ posting downright scary is the fact that no one is spreading any “disinformation” when it comes to Obama’s so called “health care reform.”

Douglass says: “For the record, the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them.”

But what Obama says and what is spelled out (in black-and-white) in the so-called “health care reform” legislation making its way through Congress are diametrically opposed.

To put it bluntly… Barack Hussein Obama is telling a whopper… a big one… and the response of the White House is to encourage their liberal shock-troops to report people who are telling the truth when it comes to ObamaCare?

That’s the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Are these incidents molehills or mountains… coincidences or well-thought-out attempts to suppress your 1st Amendment rights?

We can at least say this; the proponents of ObamaCare are showing extreme – almost surreal – contempt for the American people.

They don’t care what you want… they don’t care what you think.

But you can force them to listen. You can flood the fax machines of our elected officials… it’s a message they cannot ignore.

And now is the time to act because ObamaCare will radically change your live… it will radically change the lives of your children and grandchildren… speak up now or forever hold your peace.

Use the hyperlink below and send Barack Obama and each and every member of the Republican and Democratic Leadership of the House and the Senate messages that have a powerful and real impact.

Flood their fax machines. Tell them that Americans want no part of ObamaCare and that attempts to ignore or ridicule or marginalize or dismiss the majority of Americans who oppose the government takeover of health care will only make a bad situation worse and place their political futures in peril.

Remind them that they work for the American people. Remind them that the American people are their employers, not their serfs. And finally, demand that they cease-and-desist their callous tactics and abandon ObamaCare once and for all.

Extreme Malice Directed Against The American People Or Depraved Indifference…?

At this point there is no telling just how far the extreme-left will go in its quest to ram ObamaCare down the throats of the American people.

But there can be no doubt that Obama and Nancy Pelosi and their minions are willing to play dirty.

And we’re not talking about playing hard-ball with the political opposition… we’re talking about political hard-ball waged against average Americans… the people they are sworn to serve.

No lie is too great… no tactic is too under-handed.

In California, seven retirees who were deeply concerned about health care went to Senator Diane Feinstein’s West Los Angeles office wanting to speak with her.

Instead of welcoming the seniors, Feinstein’s office called the police.

Senior Citizens a threat? Right.

Nancy Pelosi recently had this to say of hard-working American taxpaying citizens who have actually taken the time to speak out against ObamaCare.

“They’re carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcare.”

Uh… Madame Speaker… we hate to break this to you… but if people were indeed carrying handmade signs with swastikas… it’s not because they were advocating the atrocities committed by the NAZIs… it’s because they were comparing the tactics of the proponents or ObamaCare to the tactics of the NAZIs.

Perhaps, the analogy goes too far, but average citizens do have the right to express an opinion.

Maybe this is one of those times that Pelosi should ask the question that good liberals typically ask when confronted by enemies of the United States… “What could we have done to make them so mad at us.”

Or does Pelosi consider enemies of the United States to be her friends and patriotic Americans to be her enemies?

But here’s the icing on the cake… elected officials are now actively attempting to cut the lines of communication with the American public.

According to CNS News, some Members of Congress, are now holding their town hall meetings by telephone in an attempt to avoid “angry and persistent questioners.”

And one Congressman, Brad Miller (D-NC), has cancelled town hall meetings altogether.

Expect more Members of Congress to follow suit.

They may not want to hear from you but you can do something to make them hear you loud and clear right now.

Use the hyperlink below and send Barack Obama and each and every member of the Republican and Democratic Leadership of the House and the Senate messages that have a powerful and real impact.

Flood their fax machines. Tell them that Americans want no part of ObamaCare and that attempts to ignore or ridicule or marginalize or dismiss the majority of Americans who oppose the government takeover of health care will only make a bad situation worse and place their political futures in peril.

Remind them that they work for the American people. Remind them that the American people are their employers, not their serfs. And finally, demand that they cease-and-desist their callous tactics and abandon ObamaCare once and for all.

Alice In Obamaland: Spontaneous Opposition Is “Manufactured” and Rent-A-Mob Protests Are Spontaneous.

Americans are starting to feel like Alice plummeting down the rabbit-hole.

For the first time in a good long while, average Americans, many who have never been politically involved before (small business owners… mothers… retirees), are taking part in the political process and are desperately trying to make their views known to our elected officials in Washington.

It’s a largely spontaneous movement – complete with homemade signs – and yet, some of these extremely liberal proponents of ObamaCare are actually pointing fingers at boogie men that don’t exist… claiming that public indignation has been “manufactured.”

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:

“[T]here are groups that spread out people across the country to get people to go [to] these things and to specifically generate videos that can be posted on the Internet so that people can watch.”

“Manufactured” opposition…. “Groups that spread out people across the country?” It’s a fairy-tale… the latest liberal talking point.

It’s also hugely ironic when you consider that the left has traditionally relied on “community activist groups” like ACORN, labor unions and “rent-a-mobs” for years.

Bussing in protesters is Standard Operating Procedure for leftist organizations. Leftist organizations employee people full-time for the express purpose of rounding-up warm bodies.

Liberal organizations (Greenpeace is just one example) maintain “training camps” for liberal activists.

And Obama knows that… he was a “community organizer” for years.

But now that average Americans are now taking part in the political process, liberals have the audacity to claim that these protests are being “manufactured” and “engineered?”

Who are they trying to fool?

The hypocrisy is staggering.

Of course the bottom line is that some of our elected officials just don’t want to listen.

You can make them listen… right now.

Unless, of course, you fear that exercising your 1st Amendment rights might be construed to be “manufactured opposition.”

Use the hyperlink below and send Barack Obama and each and every member of the Republican and Democratic Leadership of the House and the Senate messages that have a powerful and real impact.

Flood their fax machines. Tell them that Americans want no part of ObamaCare and that attempts to ignore or ridicule or marginalize or dismiss the majority of Americans who oppose the government takeover of health care will only make a bad situation worse and place their political futures in peril.

Remind them that they work for the American people. Remind them that the American people are their employers, not their serfs. And finally, demand that they cease-and-desist their callous tactics and abandon ObamaCare once and for all.

Liberal Denial-Of-Reality Is The Disease. You Are The Cure.

And just how far does liberal denial-of-reality on ObamaCare go? Just how deep is the rabbit-hole?

Speaking on ObamaCare, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered this delusion to CNS News:

“The American people favor what we’re doing by almost a 70 percent margin.”

Not reading legislation is bad enough but it’s obvious Reid isn’t reading polls either.

According to FOX News, a whopping 86% of Americans are satisfied with their current health care and according to Rasmussen, a majority of Americans now oppose ObamaCare and the number is rapidly climbing.

And while we’re on the subject of denying reality, let’s take another look at Douglass’ posting to the White House blog mentioned earlier?

“There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.”

“Rumors?” “Disinformation?”

“End of life care” … “control of your finances” … “the eradication of your private insurance” … Those issues are specifically addressed in the 1019 page monster of a bill… legislation that Obama has – by his own admission – not read.

Do you think that if Obama would actually read the legislation, the White House would change its tune?

Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

CNS News again:

“Asked if the president would read the 1,000-plus health care bill, [White House Press Secretary Robert] Gibbs said ‘I assume the president will study the details of the proposal, and will be – he’s a highly informed individual.’”

“The reporter followed, ‘But he won’t take time to read it front to back?’ Gibbs responded, ‘I don’t know what his vacation plans are currently.’”

It’s the epitome of arrogance. ObamaCare will radically change our lives and our future and Obama won’t even take the time to read the legislation.

Then to add insult to injury, the White House claims that provisions specifically addressed in the legislation – in black-and-white – aren’t actually there… just “rumors” and “disinformation.”

So why, in the name of all that is holy, is the White House sending our a directive soliciting others to report those who are speaking the truth about this legislation.

What does that sound like to you? I know what it sounds like to us.

And it must be stopped.

Use the hyperlink below and send Barack Obama and each and every member of the Republican and Democratic Leadership of the House and the Senate messages that have a powerful and real impact.

Flood their fax machines. Tell them that Americans want no part of ObamaCare and that attempts to ignore or ridicule or marginalize or dismiss the majority of Americans who oppose the government takeover of health care will only make a bad situation worse and place their political futures in peril.

Remind them that they work for the American people. Remind them that the American people are their employers, not their serfs. And finally, demand that they cease-and-desist their callous tactics and abandon ObamaCare once and for all.

Floyd Brown

ExposeObama.com

P.S. Even if you can not join us in this effort right now, you can still help us expose Barack Hussein Obama by sending this e-mail to at least 10 of your friends.

August 9, 2009
Geopolitical Diary: Shades of a Second War

August 6, 2009

One year on from the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia, events precipitating that conflict bear a striking resemblance to the situation today.
First, it must be said that things are never quiet in the Caucasus. Russo-Georgian relations are cold in the best of times, and they certainly are not going to warm while the pro-Western government that took power Georgia in the 2003 Rose Revolution remains in place. Under this “Rose” government, Tbilisi has courted the West politically, economically and militarily in order to solidify its independence of Russia, with the goal of joining the NATO alliance – something that Russia has resisted at every turn.
In 2008, the Russians shifted from resistance to invasion. The reasons are many, but one stands out: 2008 marked the final dissolution of Serbia, with Western institutions recognizing the independence of Kosovo. Serbia was Russia’s last ally in Europe, and the idea that Russia’s protests could not sway the West’s actions in the least was daunting for Moscow. Russia had to prove that not only was it still relevant, but that it could and would move militarily against an American and European ally. The target was Georgia, and the five-day war that followed was as decisive as it was swift.
Events appear to be moving along a similar track in the early days of August 2009.
Last month, following a trip to Georgia, U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden gave an interview in which he called Russia out not only for being weak but, to put it bluntly, doomed to collapse. Needless to say, the Russians might be feeling the urge to prove Biden wrong in the court of global opinion. Russian officials are loudly and regularly warning that they stand ready for war, while Vladislav Surkov – a Kremlinite arguably second in power only to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin himself – has spent some personal time of late in South Ossetia, the tiny (Russian-allied) breakaway province of Georgia that was the proximate cause for the 2008 war.
Biden’s comments are only one possible reason why the war drums are being beaten; there are others.
The United States appears to be sliding toward conflict with Iran, and Russia has invested no small amount of political capital in bolstering the Iranians against the Americans. In Moscow’s mind, a United States fixated on the Persian Gulf is one that cannot fixate on Russia, and a United States that is at war with Iran is one that cannot stop Russia from adjusting borders in places like Georgia.
And of course, there is Georgia itself. President Mikhail Saakashvili is no stranger to dramatic performances, and as the leader of a fractured country with next to no military capability (even before Georgia’s defeat in August 2008), he has few means of countering Russia at all. One option is to provoke a crisis with his northern neighbor in the hopes that the West will ride to the rescue. Considering what happened a year ago, this is perhaps not the wisest strategy, but it is not as though Saakashvili – personally or as Georgia’s president – has a wide array of options to peruse.
War is not a process that Russia would choose carelessly, even if it would be a very, very easy war to win. What simply doesn’t fit in current circumstances is the boldness with which the Russians are acting. They have all but stated that war is imminent, they are backing the Iranians to the hilt, sending top Kremlin strategists to the region to coordinate with allies, and have even resumed nuclear submarine patrols off the east coast of the United States. The Russians have a well-earned reputation for being far more circumspect than this in the shell game that is international relations. It is almost as if all of this is simply noise designed to keep the Americans off balance while something else, something no one is watching, is quietly put into play.
STRATFOR doesn’t have a good answer for this. All we can say is that the Russians are up to something – and if it is not a war, it is something big enough that a war would seem to make a good distraction. Now that bears some watching.

August 8, 2009
JOINT LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C., 205000

August 4, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Last year’s war between Georgia and Russia punctuated the continued threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus arising from unresolved territorial conflicts that have spanned more than two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union. Recently, several Iranian officials openly threatened Azerbaijan for hosting Israeli President Shimon Peres in Baku. Similarly, four UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenian forces withdraw and cease the occupation of Azerbaijani lands since 1993 have achieved little for the displaced one million refugees and IDPs. All of this adds to the urgency of reaching a sustainable peace based on the fundamentals of international law and human rights, or, as you have stated earlier, “a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.”

With stronger support from the United States and increasing involvement of the Russian Federation, the peace process has produced some momentum at the latest meetings of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. U.S. Mediator Matt Bryza emphasized the productive position and leadership demonstrated by Azerbaijan during the negotiations, particularly Azerbaijan’s many concessions to Armenia and the Armenian people despite Armenia’s aggression in and military occupation of western Azerbaijan. A peaceful settlement, which involves respect for territorial integrity of the states in the region, repatriation of the displaced communities, opening of all borders and communications, security guarantees for both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in occupied regions of Azerbaijan, and withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan, and nothing less, is necessary to achieve a lasting and durable settlement.

The South Caucasus, a strategic global juncture, holds great promise for regional and global peace and prosperity. Yet the region’s potential has been disrupted and disable by two decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia’s own development has been paralyzed as a result of its self-imposed isolation from major regional projects. More than one million Armenians have left Armenia due to poor government, poor economics, and poor services. While the Azerbaijani residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other Armenian-occupied regions of Azerbaijan have suffered ethnic cleansing, displacement, and destruction of personal and cultural property, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh continue to live in economic and political uncertainty. Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan has been costly in many ways.

A lasting and durable peace settlement would bring about a major positive change to the South Caucasus. The Azerbaijani-Georgian partnership has already shown what can be reached when the parties work towards regional cooperation. Should the Armenian leadership demonstrate productive pragmatism, it can help integrate the nation with the economic and democratic future of the region securing a peace and prosperity for its people. Such a future would include open communications and borders, including the Turkish-Armenian border, which was closed in response to Armenia’s invasion and occupation of the Azerbaijani region of Kelbajar, outside of NK region, in 1993. A lasting and durable peace would advance U.S. interests as it provides for lasting stability in a strategically important region where the United States requires solid friends. Significantly, as the value of the Caspian hydrocarbon resources increase for Europe’s energy security and the South Caucasus transport corridor serves as the key conduit for access to Afghanistan, a lasting and durable peace in this region becomes an even higher priority. In addition, helping Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a settlement would demonstrate the new Administration’s commitment to the new foreign policy of global engagement and provide a positive tangible result for U.S.-Russian cooperation.

Therefore, on behalf of the Azerbaijani-American and Turkish-American communities, we support and encourage your Good Office to intensify U.S. efforts towards reaching a just peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on United Nations Security Council resolutions and the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, and to seize this historic opportunity. While we recognize the significant pressures that bear from special interests opposed to peace for a variety of reasons, including nationalist and religious ones, who have previously succeeded to undermine peace efforts, we hope that America’s vision for the South Caucasus is informed by its national interests and its relationship with strategic partners in the region. Thank you.

Sincerely,

U.S. Azeris Network (USAN)
Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC)
Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA)
U.S.-Azerbaijan Council (USAC)
U.S. Turkic Network (USTN)
Cultural Center of Caucasus Jews (CCCJ)
Azerbaijan Turkey America Foundation (ATAF)
Houston Baku Sister City Association (HBSCA)

Cc: The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Vice-President of the United States of America
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State

www.USAzeris.org
www.FTAA.org
www.Azeris.org
www.ATAA.org
www.USTurkic.org
www.HoustonBaku.com
www.ATAF-Foundation.org

August 4, 2009
3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Oil in North Dakota and Montana
Senator Jeff Kruse
R-Roseburg, District 1
Phone: 503-986-1701 900 Court St. NE, S-211 Salem Oregon 97301
Email: [email protected] Website:
E-Newsletter Number 1, Volume 1

Working Hard For You
AMERICAN OIL

We continue to be driven by an agenda focused in part by alternative energy. We are told the purpose is two fold, to be more environmentally friendly and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I have written in past newsletters about the environmental side of this debate. For example how ethanol actually takes more energy to create than we save by using it and about how it makes no sense to take land out of food production for this purpose. We even had acknowledgement on the Senate floor about how corn based ethanol will never work. Unfortunately that statement was followed up with the claim that cellulosic ethanol, which has even less sugar than corn,might be the answer. We seem to be chasing the next, greatest, unproven solution. The fact is oil is more environmentally friendly than this alternative and will be for the foreseeable future.

This brings us to the issue of our dependence on foreign oil. I received an e-mail on the subject, complete with links to the USGS for verification. These are not my words, but I do agree with the points being made. I thought I would share this e-mail with you verbatim to hopefully give you a look into potential solutions to this problem that differ greatly from current US energy policy.

Sincerely,

Senator Jeff Kruse

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

WILL AN AMERICAN PUSH FOR IT!!!

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April (’08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn’t been updated since ’95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana ….. check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska ‘s Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable… at $107 a barrel, we’re looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

‘When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.’ says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature’s financial analyst.

‘This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.’ reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It’s a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the ‘Bakken.’ And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U.S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the ‘Big Oil’ companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken’s massive reserves….and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That’s enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.

2. And if THAT didn’t throw you on the floor, then this next one should – because it’s from TWO YEARS AGO!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online – 4/20/2006

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

– 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
– 18-times as much oil as Iraq
– 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
– 22-times as much oil as Iran
– 500-times as much oil as Yemen
– and it’s all right here in the Western United States …

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy……WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we’ve got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East-more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That’s more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don’t think ‘OPEC’ will drop its price – even with this find? Think again! It’s all about the competitive marketplace, – it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so! Now, while you’re thinking about it ……and hopefully P.O’d, do this:

3.. Pass this along. If you don’t take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you’ve forfeited your right to complain.
——–
Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.
By the way…this is all true.. Check it out at the link below!!!
GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind..
============================================================

3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation-25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate-

Contact Information:
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Communication
119 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
- Read FAQs about the Bakken Formation.
- Listen to a podcast with the lead scientist on this topic.
Reston, VA – North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.

A U.S. Geological Survey assessment, released April 10, shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency’s 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil.

Related Podcasts

3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Oil in North Dakota and Montana

Download directly | Details

or subscribe by e-mail.

Technically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices. USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources.

New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007.

The USGS Bakken study was undertaken as part of a nationwide project assessing domestic petroleum basins using standardized methodology and protocol as required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2000.

The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest “continuous” oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A “continuous” oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest “continuous” oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil.

“It is clear that the Bakken formation contains a significant amount of oil – the question is how much of that oil is recoverable using today’s technology?” said Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota. “To get an answer to this important question, I requested that the U.S. Geological Survey complete this study, which will provide an up-to-date estimate on the amount of technically recoverable oil resources in the Bakken Shale formation.”

The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels. Scientists conducted detailed studies in stratigraphy and structural geology and the modeling of petroleum geochemistry. They also combined their findings with historical exploration and production analyses to determine the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil estimates.

USGS worked with the North Dakota Geological Survey, a number of petroleum industry companies and independents, universities and other experts to develop a geological understanding of the Bakken Formation. These groups provided critical information and feedback on geological and engineering concepts important to building the geologic and production models used in the assessment.

Five continuous assessment units (AU) were identified and assessed in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana – the Elm Coulee-Billings Nose AU, the Central Basin-Poplar Dome AU, the Nesson-Little Knife Structural AU, the Eastern Expulsion Threshold AU, and the Northwest Expulsion Threshold AU.

At the time of the assessment, a limited number of wells have produced oil from three of the assessments units in Central Basin-Poplar Dome, Eastern Expulsion Threshold, and Northwest Expulsion Threshold.
The Elm Coulee oil field in Montana, discovered in 2000, has produced about 65 million barrels of the 105 million barrels of oil recovered from the Bakken Formation.

Results of the assessment can be found at .

For a podcast interview with scientists about the Bakken Formation, listen to episode 38 of CoreCast at .

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

Subscribe to USGS News Releases via our electronic mailing list or RSS feed.

**** www.usgs.gov ****

Links and contacts within this release are valid at the time of publication.

=========================================================
August 4, 2009
New Kurdish Leader Asserts Agenda

Joseph Sywenkyj for The New York Times
Last week, a Kurdistan Democratic Party building in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, displayed a poster of Massoud Barzani in his youth, right.

By SAM DAGHER
Published: July 28, 2009
ERBIL, Iraq – The president of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, on Tuesday rejected proposals by the United Nations to resolve Iraq’s explosive internal border disputes, and reiterated his determination to proceed with a contentious local constitution.

Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press
In Erbil, Iraq, supporters of Massoud Barzani, the Kurdish regional leader, on Sunday celebrated a projected election victory.

Mr. Barzani, newly empowered after winning an estimated 70 percent of the vote in the region’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, made the remarks in his first interview with the news media since the vote.

“Regrettably, the recommendations of the United Nations are unrealistic,” Mr. Barzani said, referring to a report by the United Nations in April outlining options for the settlement of territorial disputes that threaten Iraq’s fragile stability. They included making Kirkuk Province – including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk that is claimed by Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Turkmens – into an autonomous region.

American officials have repeatedly stated their support for a United Nations-brokered solution.

“We will not accept that the United Nations or anyone else present us with alternatives to Article 140,” he added, referring to the clause in Iraq’s national Constitution that calls for a census followed by a referendum to settle the fate of areas including Kirkuk.

Tensions have been aggravated by the presence of Kurdish troops in parts of the contested areas. The situation worsened in June when the region’s Parliament, overwhelmingly controlled by the two governing parties, including Mr. Barzani’s party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, approved a draft constitution that enshrined Kurdish rights to the disputed territories.

Although the document states that the final demarcation of the region’s boundaries is subject to Article 140, it is unequivocal in its assertion that the disputed territories are inseparable from the “geographic and historic entity” called Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Mr. Barzani said one reason he agreed to put off a referendum on the regional Constitution that was to have been held during Saturday’s elections was a request this month from Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other American officials.

“They asked if it was possible to postpone it because the timing was inappropriate,” he said.

Mr. Barzani said he was determined to put the constitution to a referendum this fall. Such a move would place him on a collision course not only with the central government, which opposes the document in its current form, but also with a new Kurdish political coalition that did surprisingly well on Saturday.

Shaho Saeed, a top official in the coalition, Gorran, said his movement filed a complaint this month with Iraq’s federal court in Baghdad that questioned the legitimacy of the process that the previous regional Parliament adopted to approve the constitution.

Mr. Saeed said Gorran opposed the document because it gave powers to Mr. Barzani “that exceed the powers of Parliament and the judiciary.” Gorran wants the proposed constitution redrafted, he said.

Although the region’s two governing parties, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, retain a comfortable majority to form the next government, Gorran appeared to have clinched at least 25 of the new Parliament’s 111 seats, according to preliminary results.

With the two parties expected to remain firmly in control of Parliament, Mr. Barzani said that no one has the two-thirds majority needed to redraft the document.

“The new Parliament has no right to redraft the constitution,” he said. “It is over.”

Mr. Barzani said he welcomed the emergence of an opposition movement like Gorran, but issued a warning to those who might interpret it as a loosening of the grip of the two parties that control the region’s security forces, economy and patronage network.

“If any regional country or even Baghdad interferes in an internal matter, or any individual inside the region conspires against the region’s security and well-being,” he said, “actions will be taken in accordance with the law against those who want to undermine the unity of the Kurdish house.”

July 30, 2009
Ex-Armenian consul among five arrested
in alleged deportation-blocking scheme

Norair Ghalumian and four others are accused of obtaining and selling letters from the consulate that allowed immigrants convicted of murder, robbery and other crimes to avoid deportation. By Anna Gorman and Alexandra Zavis
July 29, 2009 Five people, including a former Armenian consul, have been arrested in alleged schemes to block the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of murder and other serious crimes, federal immigration officials announced Tuesday.

The defendants allegedly obtained letters from the Armenian Consulate in Los Angeles and then sold them — for as much as $35,000 each — to at least two dozen convicted criminals facing deportation, officials said. The letters, which were sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the Armenian government could not verify that the immigrants were citizens and therefore could not let them back into the country.
- Counter-terrorism investigators find alleged identity theft ring
Unable to deport the immigrants, U.S. officials were forced to release them. By law, the immigration agency cannot keep criminals in detention for more than six months beyond their prison sentences if deportation is unlikely.

The immigrants who received the “letters of refusal” had been convicted of murder, attempted murder, robbery and other crimes, officials said.

“It’s a great scheme,” said Jennifer Silliman, deputy special agent in charge of the immigration agency’s Los Angeles office. “You have got these career criminals, many of whom are violent, circumventing the system and essentially buying themselves a place in the United States.”

Grigor Hovhannissian, Armenia’s consul general in Los Angeles, said he and others within the Armenian government were committed to cooperating with U.S. authorities in the ongoing investigation.

“It is in our vital interest to sort this out,” he said. “It does tremendous harm to the prestige of our country.”

Hovhannissian said his predecessor, Norair Ghalumian, had not been part of the government for several years but allegedly was handling consular duties on his own.

“Outside of his professional duties, he may have been offering services that were totally illegal,” he said.

Ghalumian, 52, was consul from 1999 to 2003, according to U.S. officials. The other defendants included Hakop Hovanesyan, 54, a former employee of the consulate; Margarita Mkrtchyan, 41, a Beverly Hills attorney; Oganes Nardos, 36, a substance abuse counselor; and Elvis Madatyan, 47, who owns an auto body business and a bakery.

All five appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to face federal charges of obstructing immigration proceedings. Four were ordered released on bonds ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 and told to return to court Aug. 17 for a preliminary hearing. Nardos’ detention hearing was continued until Aug. 7 because of questions about whether he entered the country fraudulently. If convicted, each could be sentenced to five years in federal prison.

“These defendants endangered the safety and security of United States residents,” U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O’Brien said in a statement.

The defendants’ family members, gathered at the courthouse in Los Angeles, expressed disbelief about the charges.

“I am shocked,” said Ghalumian’s wife, Katarine Simonian. “A lot of people know him as a very honest person.”

The immigration agency began its investigation about two years ago and used undercover agents to contact the defendants and obtain the illicit letters. All five people were allegedly carrying out the same scheme but were not part of a larger criminal organization, officials said.

Immigration authorities executed search warrants at various locations, including Mkrtchyan’s Glendale residence, Hovanesyan’s travel agency and Nardos’ residence, and left with refusal letters and official stationery from the consulate. Immigration officials have identified some of those who received the letters and said they could face federal criminal charges.

Although the letters in this case were allegedly obtained fraudulently, there are thousands of immigrants across the country with legitimate letters of refusal. They have served time for crimes and been ordered deported but are still here because the U.S. cannot get passports or visas for them. Among them are Armenians born in the former Soviet Union, Palestinians born in refugee camps and Africans from countries whose international borders have shifted.

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July 30, 2009