By permission of our reader Janus, at secularconservative.net, a picture of the Houston tea party. We specially like the banner against Socialism. 

 The most cheering story that has come out of poor old Britain for a very long time – read more about it here:

LONDON – The British Intelligence agency MI5 used a range of astonishing new weapons in its all-out war against al-Qaida in the north of England, a campaign that succeeded in defusing an alleged terror plot, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

The Security Service operation – personally directed by its 50-year-old head, Jonathan Evans, from its newly opened regional headquarters in northwest England – tested for the first time a range of unusual weapons created by its A4 surveillance division.

Some women as old as 70 reportedly wore cameras in their hair, and young mothers with babies had recording equipment in prams.

Both groups underwent a crash course before they became members of the long investigation into the largest campaign plotted by al-Qaida since the London bombings…

(Lucky grannies to have enough hair!)

 From the Drudge Report, this encouraging news:

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.” 

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas." 

A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government. 

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

 The egotists and madmen who rule over us now have a cosmic scheme of destruction. 

This – at least accompanied by a beautiful picture – is from the Mail Online a few days ago: 

President Barack Obama is considering a radical plan to tackle global warming by firing  pollution particles into the stratosphere to deflect some of the sun’s heat.

The controversial experiment was touted yesterday as a possible last resort to help cool the Earth’s air by the president’s new science advisor John Holdren.

‘It’s got to be looked at. We don’t have the luxury of taking any approach off the table,’ said Mr Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology.

Sunscreen: Could its rays be deflected as a last resort to beat global warming?

Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, outlined the idea of shooting either sulphur dioxide particles, aluminium oxide dust or specially designed aerosols into the stratosphere – the upper level of the atmosphere between ten and 30 miles above the Earth’s surface.

It is hoped that this would cool the planet by artificially reflecting sunlight back into space before it can be absorbed.

Naval guns, rockets, high-flying aircraft and even hot air balloons have been put forward as possible ways of firing the agent into the air.

 

 

But he said he had raised the idea with the Obama administration and added: ‘We might get desperate enough to want to use it.’

Mr Holdren insisted that dramatic action is needed to halt climate change which he compared to being ‘in a car with bad brakes driving towards a cliff in a fog’.

There has been widespread resistance in the scientific community to attempts to deliberately modify the environment on such a large scale.

Opponents fear that tampering with the atmosphere’s delicate balance could have consequences that would be even worse than global warming.

Here is an extract from an article by Dr Tim Bell explaining the dangers of such an attempt:

 We receive this praise with pride:

Gov. Palin Gets Praise From Unusual Quarter

 

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has earned some praise from an unlikely quarter – a blog called The Atheist Conservative.

In a post titled "Who will defend us?", Jillian Becker contrasts the governor’s recent statement stressing the need for the U.S. to have a robust missile defense with what we’ve been hearing from the Obama Administration through Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a message of weakness spoken softly without a big stick to back it up.

Ms. Becker’s conclusion:

Plainly, America and the world would be safer if Palin were president and not Obama.

Now there’s something that conservative atheists and conservatives of faith can agree on! How refreshing to hear such from a non-believer. Atheists of the Left, it seems, can only mock Gov. Palin for her religious beliefs, while those on the Right are more interested in such critical issues as the defense of our nation.

Hats off to The Atheist Conservative for recognizing that conservatives of all stripes share much more common ground than the narrow strips with fences which stand between us.

– JP

From the (pretty far left) Guardian: 

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn’t the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.] Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er … pause [I HAVEN’T A CLUE] … if you look at … pause[WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] … the, the sources of this crisis … pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] … the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to … pause [I’M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] … a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system … pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that … pause[I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] … here in Great Britain …pause [SHIT, GORDY’S THE HOST, DON’T LAND HIM IN IT] … here in continental Europe … pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] … around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er … pause [I’VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] … the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged … pause [I’M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I’m less interested in … pause [YOU] … identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we’ve taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, n
ot just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er … pause [WHY DIDN’T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] … drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we’ve got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there’s a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what’s the risk involved, what’s the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think … pause[FANTASTIC. I’VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] … there’s enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er … pause [I’M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] … I’m a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

 According to USA Today,  a whole lot of nuclear power plants may be built. 

The nation’s nuclear power industry — stuck in a decades-long deep freeze — is thawing. Utilities are poised to build a new generation of nuclear plants 30 years after the Three Mile Island accident, whose anniversary was Saturday, halted new reactor applications. The momentum is being driven by growing public acceptance of relatively clean nuclear energy to combat global warming. Several companies have taken significant steps that will likely lead to completion of four reactors by 2015 to 2018 and up to eight by 2020. All would be built next to existing nuclear plants. Southern Co. (SO) says it will begin digging an 86-foot-deep crater this June in Vogtle, Ga., to make way for two reactors after recently winning state approval, though it won’t pour concrete until it gets a federal license, likely in 2011. At least five power companies have signed contracts with equipment vendors. And Florida and South Carolina residents this year began paying new utility fees to finance planned reactors. The steps signal that a nuclear renaissance anticipated for several years is finally taking shape. Seventeen companies have sought U.S. federal approval for 26 reactors since late 2007. 

 Not all the news is bad. Here and there is a glimmer of light.

According to ABC news:

A would-be suicide bomber accidentally blew himself up, killing six other militants as he was bidding them farewell to leave for his intended target, the Interior Ministry said.

"The terrorist was on his way to his destination and saying good-bye to his associates and then his suicide vest exploded," a statement from the ministry said.

Taliban-led attacks in Afghanistan have escalated in the past year with suicide and roadside bombings insurgents’ weapons of choice.

The incident happened in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan where mainly British troops are struggling against a growing Taliban-led insurgency.

 

Or who?