President Barack Obama...Patriot Act extension signed at witching hour!

With a deadline ticking away, President Barack Obama gave the nod to lawmakers last night, when he signed a 4-year extension for the Patriot Act just before the stroke of midnight.

In essence, the Government's power to search records - and conduct wiretaps at whim in pursuit of terrorists - has been renewed with vigor.

"It's an important tool for us to continue dealing with an ongoing terrorist threat," Obama stressed, on the heels of affixing his John Henry with a flourish to the documents.

Presumably, the President dotted his i's and crossed his t's  when he signed the binding legal documents.

Because Mr. Obama was in France when the deadline for signing the document into law was looming on the horizon, the President facilitated - what is referred as an autopen machine - to carry out the administrative task.

The instrument is rarely used and requires proper authorization by the sitting President.

Americans are still reeling over revelations that Barack Obama entered an incorrect date next to his signature in the Official Registry at Westminster Abbey a few days ago. For some inexplicable reason, the President was under the impression the year was 2008!

How time flies when you're having fun.

Or, was Mr. Obama having a Senior moment?

The Senate - dispute a few hot debates on the issues - voted 72 - 23 for the legislation to renew three terrorism-fighting measures.

The House later passed the controversial authorities 250 - 153 on a vote that stretched into the night.

Without the three authorities, the Obama administration argued successfully, that the FBI might not be able to obtain information on terrorist plotting inside the U.S.

Even still, the vote was held up for several days because one hold-out Senator - Rand Paul (Kentucky) - was concerned that the tools Law Enforcement sought would result in an abuse of privacy rights.

In essence, Paul demanded changes to the bill to restrict the government's ability to monitor individual actions without proper checks and the balancing of applicable rights laws.

The  renewal action extends the Government's authority over the next four years, and allows for roving wiretaps for non-American suspects who may be "lone wolfs" working independently without any known ties to organized terrorist groups.

The wiretaps and Government authorized access to business records are small parts of the USA Patriot Act enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

But, unlike most of the act - which is permanent law - those provisions require periodic review because of concerns that they could be used to violate privacy rights.

The same set of principles apply to the "lone wolf" provision which was part of a 2004 intelligence law (some have accused was "rushed into" prematurely in the hysterical aftermath of the terrorist attack of 9/11 in New York.

Paul expressed his concerns that the some aspects of the Patriot Act trampled on individual liberties.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) fessed up that he voted for the act in 2001 "while ground zero was still burning."

"But, I soon realized it gave too much power to government without enough judicial and congressional oversight."

Mark Udall of Colorado was afraid that law-abiding citizens would be subject to unjust Government scrutiny.

"If we cannot limit investigations to terrorism or other nefarious activities, where do they end?"

"The Patriot Act has been used improperly again and again by law enforcement to invade Americans' privacy and violate their constitutional rights," added Laura W. Murphy, the director of the ACLU Washington legislative office, at one point during the heated debates on the controversial - but solemn - issues raised.

The provisions of the Patriot Act have kept us safe for nearly a decade and Americans today should be relieved and reassured to know that these programs will continue, added Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Intelligence officials at major U.S. Government agencies have denied improper use of surveillance tools, by the way.

FBI Director Robert Mueller warned in a letter to Congressional Leaders recently that there would be serious security consequences if the Patriot Act was not renewed.

"When the clock strikes midnight tomorrow, we would be giving terrorists the opportunity to plot attacks against our country, undetected," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

When President Obama signed the appropriate documents last night he sealed their fate in the final analysis.
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Paul agreed to let the bill go forward after he was given a vote on two amendments to rein in government surveillance powers.

Both were defeated, however.

Amen!

http://www.thetattler.biz


ht

Osama bin Laden...angry protesters cry "Barack Obama will die!" Muslim rally in front of Embassy!

A radical fragment of the Muslim world - who were staunch supporters of felled Al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden - caused an angry stir in front of the U.S. Embassy in London on Friday!

The high-spirited mob denounced the U.S. President and America as they blocked traffic and disrupted a calm that normally prevails in the staid neighborhood.

"America will die!"

"Barack Obama will die!"

Law Enforcement Officers were quickly dispatched to the scene to ensure the protests did not get out of hand or turn violent.

Political analysts are speculating that the threats are real and that it will just be a matter of time before anti-American terrorist entities act on their "promises".

Meanwhile, on this side of the big pond, controversies still fly over the terrorist's highly irregular "burial at sea" (which some allege is an elaborate hoax) as the Obama administration continues to struggle with a backlash and cries of foul in the wake of the President's refusal to release the gruesome photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse.

Stay posted for updates!

http://www.thetattler.biz

WordPress...illegal censure & rights violations! Site run by radical a**holes!



Last year, I posted an expose on WORDPRESS when webmasters at that site attempted to illegally censure me - with the aim of silencing my "voice" - which resulted in a violation of my rights.

Post: 12/28/2009

http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2009/12/wordpressadios-rinky-dink-blog-site.html

Consequently, I refrained from contributing posts to their web pages in the months that followed.

However, it came to my attention - that in spite of the fact I basically "abandoned" the site - WORDPRESS was continuing to publish my feature articles on the Internet without my permission.

In addition, e-mails I received daily, verified that a large number of surfers on the World Wide Web were still posting messages on the site expecting a response back from MOI!

For this reason, I elected to give WORDPRESS a second chance, with the sincere intention of healing old wounds, potential misunderstandings, and what-have-you.

For the past few months, I posted a number of articles at my pop culture blog, without problem.

Then, last night - out-of-the-blue - WORDPRESS archived the blog without notice or stating on what legitimate (legal) grounds the action was being taken against my feature articles.

Talk about unprofessional unethical (illegal) conduct on the Internet!

Curiously, the "black out" took place on the heels of a post I published on Egypt (and the uprising in the Middle East in recent days).

In retrospect, it is obvious to me now that WORDPRESS has tried to silence my thoughts on the conflicts.

In sum, WORDPRESS is not only being run by radicals these days - but outright a**holes!

I'd say - "string 'em up by the balls - but (the truth of the matter is) they don't have any!

Bottom line?

They know where they can put their rinky-dink blog site!

Avoid WORDPRESS like the plague.

To quote the bible:

Never throw pearls before swine!

Amen!

http://www.thetattler.biz



From Paris with Love...Travolta outstanding! Terrorist action-thriller an adrenalin rush!

I was skeptical about John Travolta & Jonathan Rhys Myers being paired in the action-adventure thriller:

"From Paris with Love"

In addition, a couple of Travolta's recent performances on screen left me cold.

The remake of - "The Taking of  Pelham 1 2 3" - for instance.

And - when I caught him in drag in the feature-film adaptation of "Hairspray" - my gut reaction?

John, whatever were you thinking!

Although a competent actor - and a big Hollywood gun - on occasion Travolta tends to overact, force a performance, even take leave of his artistic sensibilities now and then.

In contrast, I have generally found  that Jonathan Rhys Myers has a natural style that captivates an audience (The Tudors).

The foreign-born actor is also quite skilled at conveying emotions that reflect what is running through the mind of the character.

In his role as a high-level official  (a spy?) in the employ of the  U.S. Embassy in Paris, a couple of bad acting choices weakened his performance, though.

For some inexplicable reason, the respected actor chose a flat accent that grated on my nerves every time he opened his surly (but pretty) lips.

If I was forced to compare his vocal technique (!) to that of another?

Daffy Duck would spring to mind.

Surprisingly - "From Paris with Love" -  is  a vastly entertining action-adventure drama set in the high stakes labyrinths of the espionage "otherworld".

John Travolta - as a bad-ass undercover agent - is remarkable in this part.

For starters, I was knocked out by the complex character he breathed life into.

In fact, it was difficult to take my focus off of him, so mesmerizing was his acting style.

The dialogue - well-crafted and believable - was handled with ease despite the tricky script.

"From Paris with Love" is not unlike a diabolical puzzle - that once solved - completely satisfies.

To watch John in action - punching, kicking, levelling a posse of terrorists with a state-of-the-art machine-gun in one fell swoop - is a jolting adrenalin rush filmgoers won't soon forget.

If you missed it at the movie theatre - "From Paris with Love"  is currently playing on Pay TV.

http://www.thetattler.biz

Barack Obama...torture bill signed. Human Rights advocates applaud move...

Human Rights advocates are applauding three executive orders Barack Obama's signed into Law the first day in office.

On their face, the orders seek to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, end the CIA's use of interrogation techniques that many in the civilized world regard as outright torture - and ultimately - shut down a network of shadowy overseas prisons where the dirty work of the intelligence agency has been carried out since the war in Iraq began.

Many Americans may recall viewing a shocking expose about the issues on Sixty Minutes last year which established wrongdoing on the part of the CIA.

The in-depth probe established that sly government agents registered a plane to a P.O. Box under a fictitious business name - and under the guise of being a private enterprise - flew alleged terrorists overseas to allies of the U.S. who were ready able and willing to torture the suspects to extract information.

The feature film, Rendition (a thinly-veiled account of the scandal) stirred up a lot of controversy, too, when it was released in theatres nationwide and pointed an accusing finger at the wrongful (and potentially illegal) activities of the CIA.

In that feature, Meryl Streep's character - a U.S. Official - uttered a line that resonated with hundreds of thousands of filmgoers here and abroad.

"Americans do not torture people."

No, they just farm the work out, to keep their hands clean.

Post: 10/11/07

http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2007/10/renditionamericans-dont-torture-people.html

Although the executive orders ensure that the U.S. will break free from a Bush administration policy that has been highly criticized - and likewise brought a lot of scorn upon Americans - the new President has not addressed any of the particulars.

For example, no decisions have been made about what to do with the detainees when Guantanamo is shuttered for good.

In addition, sources note that in spite of the executive orders signed this week, the CIA appears to still have a bit of "wiggle room" in respect to methods used to extract highly-sensitive information from terrorists.

The surprisingly quick move on the part of Obama was based on his position that the "executive orders" reflected an understanding that dates back to the Founding Fathers.

"We are willing to observe core standards of conduct not just when it's easy, but also when it's hard."

As John Adams astutely noted:

"People and Nations are forged in the fires of adversity."

http://www.julianayrs.com

Barack Obama...a "house negroe" according to Al Qaeda! No Malcolm X!

The Al Qaeda camp fired a hateful missive across the bow of the State Department which the Agency quickly denounced as simply, "more despicable comments from terrorists."

In a first response to Obama's victory in the November 4th election, Al Queda's 2nd in command - Ayman Zawahiri - used a racial epithet in a ragged video recording to describe the role Barack Obama will allegedly play in the White House over the next four years.

On the 11-minute (23 second) tape - that was just released to the media - the known terrorist used the term "abeed-al-beit" to label Obama a "house slave", according to language scholars.

In English subtitles provided by Al Queda , the term was roughly translated as "house negroe", however.

I suppose he was unfamiliar with the term - Oreole - that "blacks" often use to describe one of their own who has turned their back on the community to reach for loftier climbs in the upper echelons of society.


Analysts theorize that the inflammatory propaganda was released to convince Muslims and Arabs that the 44th President of the U.S. does not represent change in U.S. Policies.

Zawahiri also sought to knock Obama down a peg by asserting that the president-elect was the "direct opposite of honorable Black Americans like Malcolm X" who was a Muslim leader back in the 60s.

Part of the footage includes an image of Barack Obama wearing a skullcap during a meeting with Jewish leaders in recent days.