Berman Post

It's Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes
Man Sues TSA Claiming 'Enhanced Screening' Violates His Constitutional Rights
Palin Responds to 'Controversy' Over North/South Korea Tong Slip
TSA 'Demonstration' of 'Enhanced Pat Down' Backfires in Congress
Houses Apparently Vandalized For Opting Out of Google's Street View
Ed Shultz (MSNBC) - 'Resisting TSA Groping is Racist'
Palin Drawing Criticism For North/South Korean 'Confusion'
Z Street Claims IRS is Targeting Pro-Israel Groups
Behar Show Panel on Bristol Palin – ‘This Chick is Such a Hooker’
The Daily Express Becomes The First National Newspaper to Call For Britain to Leave The European Union
China And Russia Renounce US Dollar, Resort to Their Own Currencies For Bilateral Trade
Land of The Free? (TSA Naked Body Scan Protest Image)
Angry Birds Peace Treaty
Menstruating Woman Receives 'Enhanced Pat Down' Because Her Panty-Liner Obscured Her 'Neither Region' on The Naked Body Scanner
The Pilgrims And Property Rights: How Our Ancestors Got Fat And Happy
Stephen Duckett (Alberta's Top Health Services Official) - 'I am to Busy Eating my Cookie to Answer Your Questions'

It's Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 03:54 PM PST

Video embedded below.

Man Sues TSA Claiming 'Enhanced Screening' Violates His Constitutional Rights

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 03:33 PM PST

Is there any legitimate chance of getting an injunction on the Naked Body Scanners of 'Enhanced Pat Downs' here? There is also a question as to if this would be counter productive. While I think groping people at random is foolish at best, that does not mean that there are no individuals based on various criteria that should be on the receiving end of a more intense search.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/robert-dean-sues-tsa-claims-pat-down-violates-his-rights/19732219

"An Arkansas man is taking the Transportation Security Administration to court, claiming new screening searches violate the Constitution.
...
On a recent trip to Chicago, Dean claims that being subjected to a full-body scan and being patted down by TSA personnel harmed his "emotional, psychological and mental well-being," The Associated Press reported.
...
"Filing for an injunction will stop these types of invasive measures until we can get a ruling on the constitutionality of this," Dean said, according to FOX 16 TV in Arkansas.

The invasive procedures violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, Dean says."

Palin Responds to 'Controversy' Over North/South Korea Tong Slip

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 03:19 PM PST

Palin responds brilliantly to the latest manufactured story of her 'foreign policy ignorance' through her Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/a-thanksgiving-message-to-all-57-states/463364218434

"My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI's 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. And let's face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don't know what the term is in Austrian for that…

Of course, the paragraph above is based on a series of misstatements and verbal gaffes made by Barack Obama (I didn't have enough time to do one for Joe Biden). YouTube links are provided just in case you doubt the accuracy of these all too human slips-of-the-tongue. If you can't remember hearing about them, that's because for the most part the media didn't consider them newsworthy. I have no complaint about that. Everybody makes the occasional verbal gaffe – even news anchors.

Obviously, I would have been even more impressed if the media showed some consistency on this issue. Unfortunately, it seems they couldn't resist the temptation to turn a simple one word slip-of-the-tongue of mine into a major political headline. The one word slip occurred yesterday during one of my seven back-to-back interviews wherein I was privileged to speak to the American public about the important, world-changing issues before us."

TSA 'Demonstration' of 'Enhanced Pat Down' Backfires in Congress

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:58 PM PST

If they were uncomfortable watching, I hope they realized how uncomfterable it would be to experience.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101124/13360812013/tsa-demonstration-gropings-backfires-congress.shtml

"Apparently the TSA went to Capitol Hill this week to "demonstrate" the new groping pat downs to prove to folks in Congress that they're really not so bad. The only problem? Those watching the gropings seemed to get exactly the opposite sense:

He said that several House staffers were uncomfortable and averted their eyes when the TSA demonstrated an enhanced pat-down in the room of 200 people.

"The dumbest part: they did two pat-down demonstrations -- male on male, and female on female," the House staffer said. And they used a young female TSA volunteer "and in front of a room of 200 people, they touched her breasts and her buttocks. People were averting their eyes. The TSA was trying to demonstrate 'this is not so bad,' but it made people so uncomfortable to watch, that people were averting their eyes."

"They shot themselves in the foot," the staffer continued.

Now, will those in Congress actually do anything about all this?"

I am hopeful but not holding my breath for any quick action.

Houses Apparently Vandalized For Opting Out of Google's Street View

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:31 PM PST

'Anti-privacy vandals'? I wonder how far they really want to take that concept...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11827862

"German home-owners who have chosen to opt out of Google's Street View service appear to have become the unsuspecting victims of anti-privacy vandals.

Local media report that homes in Essen, west Germany have been pelted with eggs and had 'Google's cool' notices pinned to their doors.

The properties involved have all chosen to be blurred on Google's Street View service.

The search giant distanced itself from the vandalism.

"We respect people's right to remove their house from Street View and by no means consider this to be acceptable behaviour," a Google spokesperson said."

Ed Shultz (MSNBC) - 'Resisting TSA Groping is Racist'

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:09 PM PST

Video embedded below.

Palin Drawing Criticism For North/South Korean 'Confusion'

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 09:00 PM PST

It seems pretty clear to me that Palin knew the difference between North and South Korea having correctly identified the sides moments before. Since this is Palin however, the mistake will now be used as 'evidence of her lack of knowledge on foreign affairs'.

Video embedded below.

"Palin's gaffe, made Wednesday during an interview on Glenn Beck's syndicated radio show, was quickly corrected by her host. But it drew immediate fire from liberal bloggers, who cited it as an example of the 2008 vice presidential candidate's lack of foreign policy expertise.
...
The conservative U.S. website The Weekly Standard came to Palin's defense, pointing out that "she correctly identified North Korea as our enemy literally eight seconds before the mix-up.""

Z Street Claims IRS is Targeting Pro-Israel Groups

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 08:46 PM PST

If true, this could be a sign of the administration trying to isolate Israel by putting pressure on US based support groups.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1110/IRS_to_Jewish_group_Does_your_organization_support_the_existence_of_the_land_of_Israel.html

"A Pennsylvania Jewish group that has claimed the Internal Revenue Service is targeting pro-Israel groups introduced in federal court today a letter from an IRS agent to another, unnamed organization that tax experts said was likely outside the usual or appropriate scope of an IRS inquiry.

"Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?" IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week's court filing, as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt status. "Describe your organization's religious belief sytem toward the land of Israel."
...
The IRS can deny tax exempt status to groups that work against "established public policy," a precedent established in its denial of a tax exemption to Bob Jones University over racial discrimination, and Z Street is suggesting that the IRS has begun applying some such policy to pro-Israel groups. The State Department has complained of tax exempt contributions to groups that fund weapons and equipment for West Bank settlers, which Z Street co-founder Lori Lowenthal Marcus said Z Street has never come close to doing.

"Given that we have fallen within this net, how big is the net?" she asked.
...
Several experts on non-profit tax law said the questions to the organization were unusual, at best, though they were also skeptical of the claim that the IRS is specifically targeting pro-Israel groups."

Behar Show Panel on Bristol Palin – ‘This Chick is Such a Hooker’

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 08:32 PM PST

Video embedded below.

The Daily Express Becomes The First National Newspaper to Call For Britain to Leave The European Union

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 08:22 PM PST

This could mark a significant turning point toward the downfall of the EU.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/213573/Get-Britain-out-of-Europe

"THE Daily Express today becomes the first national newspaper to call for Britain to leave the European Union.

From this day forth our energies will be directed to furthering the cause of those who believe Britain is Better Off Out.

The famous and symbolic Crusader who adorns our masthead will become the figurehead of the struggle to repatriate British sovereignty from a political project that has comprehensively failed.

After far too many years as the victims of Brussels larceny, bullying, over-regulation and all-round interference, the time has come for the British people to win back their country and restore legitimacy and accountability to their political process."

China And Russia Renounce US Dollar, Resort to Their Own Currencies For Bilateral Trade

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 08:10 PM PST

This looks like a pretty significant step toward dumping the dollar; regardless of what the two sides claim as the reason.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/24/content_11599087.htm

"St. Petersburg, Russia - China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade, Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced late on Tuesday.

Chinese experts said the move reflected closer relations between Beijing and Moscow and is not aimed at challenging the dollar, but to protect their domestic economies.

"About trade settlement, we have decided to use our own currencies," Putin said at a joint news conference with Wen in St. Petersburg.

The two countries were accustomed to using other currencies, especially the dollar, for bilateral trade. Since the financial crisis, however, high-ranking officials on both sides began to explore other possibilities."

Land of The Free? (TSA Naked Body Scan Protest Image)

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 07:59 PM PST

Video embedded below. (via)

http://assets.arlosites.com/stills/17587011/2a87999b00.jpg

If you like the image, there is a link at the source to purchase a shirt with it.

Angry Birds Peace Treaty

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 07:48 PM PST

Video embedded below.

Menstruating Woman Receives 'Enhanced Pat Down' Because Her Panty-Liner Obscured Her 'Neither Region' on The Naked Body Scanner

Posted: 25 Nov 2010 07:38 PM PST

Any chance this will get some women's groups supporting a policy change?

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/24/menstruating-woman-s.html

"A self-described "rule follower" went through an airport pornoscanner wearing a panty-liner (she was menstruating). Because the hygienic item obscured the screener's view of her ~~vagina~~ vulva, she was made to endure a humiliating fondling, "so invasive that I was left crying and dealing with memories that I thought had been dealt with years ago of prior sexual assaults."

These new scans are so horrible that if you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case - they were training in a new girl - awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in). I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up), I work full-time and go to graduate school full-time, I have a wonderful husband, and I don't take any nonsense from anyone. I don't dramatize, and I don't exaggerate. I'm trying to give you a sense of who I am so you won't think that this is a plea for attention, or a jumping on the bandwagon about the recent TSA proposed boycott. I just don't want another woman to have to go through the "patting down" because she didn't know that her glad-rag would be a matter of national security."

There are plenty of TSA apologists who say that objections to the TSA's invasive "pat-downs" are just whining from people don't want to go through the backscatter radiation machines -- we bring it on ourselves. But as we've seen, anything out of the ordinary -- wearing a fabric pad during menstruation, artificial limbs, medical prostheses, etc -- can send you off for a date with Doctor Jellyfinger, Junior G-Man extraordinaire."