Mark’s Soap Box

“Big Sis” just can not do anything right. First she says the system worked great, then she has to recant and admit she and her goons failed. Now “Big Sis” is backing off the Fascist behavior of attacking people covered by the First Amendment.

TSA backs down. No wonder we can’t protect our borders.

The administrative subpoena — a demand for information issued without a judge’s approval — is a civil, not a criminal document. If Elliott refuses to comply, the TSA could ask a judge to hold the writer in contempt.

The goons of course used the power of arrest to force compliance. Disgusting, but not unexpected consider the current Administration.

Exactly what we expected from Barry, his goons are now out in force. The TSA sent TSA “Special Agents” to threaten, berate, and use whatever means (I believe, legal OR illegal) to protect the Moron in Chief from … wait … travel bloggers. Yes, travel bloggers.

TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he was forced to hand over his lap top computer. Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn’t cooperate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo.

Yep, that’s right; the Constitution means nothing to a Harvard trained lawyer (Barry Obama, if you don’t know). It’s not even from a Judge!

YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, to produce and permit inspection and copying of the records described below to Special Agent Robert Flaherty, TSA Office of Inspection, Transportation Security Admininistration, 580 T G Lee Blvd, Suite 610, Orlando, Florida 32822 (Phone #: 407-563-4096), email: Robert.M.flaherty@dhs.gov, no later than COB December 31, 2009, in furtherance of an official investigation:

Our country is doomed. A vote for Obama was a vote to destroy our country. They can’t even keep their secrets, secret. They can’t even live up to their own propaganda.

I have always been opposed to the Dept of Homeland Security, and am even more so. It’s clear that the clowns in charge now, see it as a vehicle to deify Obama. At least Bush was concerned about the security of the U.S.

Funny how Obama and his minions DON’T have a problem with the NYT leaking confidential memos related to the war.

The Mayon Volcano (on the Island of Luzon) appears to be ready to erupt. There have been several earthquakes and 7 ash explosions.

View Larger Map

Here is an image from December 15, 2009.

Here is the most current image as of today (image taken on December 28, 2009 by NASA EO-1).

The White whisp to the left of the summit is a smoke plume.

The town of Legazpi is at the base of the Volcano. They have been alerted to the possibility of an eruption after several minor explosions and ash fell on December 14, 2009 causing an increase to Alert Level 3 for the Legazpi area. Close to 50,000 Filipinos have been moved away from Volcano.

It’s interesting and telling that the Reuters Foundation’s Alertnet site does not mention anything about this crisis. I figured they would at least be on the “global warming” bandwagon, so they could blame mankind. Even the WFP is on the scene, but no Reuters.

This is what happens when you lose your life’s work. When Obama was elected, Robbins and Sarandon lost the one thing they had in common, hatred of America.

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins Split — you have to wonder why this was not picked up by the media over the Summer when it happened. Sure makes you wonder if the liberal media was covering it up.

Tim Robbins is quite the financial Genius. His theater company is so badly managed that he did not even know they were in financial trouble. something tells me that he was too busy hating America to worry about his Theater company, and I bet his chick, as well.

Robbins and Sarandon were often cited by journalists and other celebrities as a rare example of an enduring Hollywood relationship. The couple has two sons together, Jack, 20, and Miles, 17. Sarandon has a daughter, the actress Eva Amurri, from a previous relationship.

By that they mean ‘living in sin’ and we don’t need no stinkin’ marriage.

The Actors’ Gang remains one of L.A.’s best-known theater companies. Its aggressive, in-your-face aesthetic tends to divide audiences and critics. But the company has garnered a number of local awards and has also toured internationally.

However they can’t make money. Which means that no one wants to see them

When he spoke to The Times in October about the “WTF?!” festival, Robbins said that the company was intentionally flying in the face of the recession.

How is that working out for you Tim?

WaPo has visual of the couple’s years together. Not as bad as it sounds.

Maine is proving why taxes are evil, and those that impose them are workers of evil.

Soak the Rich, Destroy Economy

If you take you Yacht (or other vessel, including planes, fishing vessel) and stay in Maine, even if you ARE NOT a resident of Maine, for more than 30 days; Maine will tax you as if you ARE a citizen. Yep you read that right, visit Maine get screwed. This is not surprising as Maine is a very liberal State.

PORTLAND, Maine – A retired Maine businessman thought he was helping the local economy in 2005 when he spent more than $100,000 in Portland on repairs to his 72-foot luxury yacht, newly purchased in Florida. Now he’s feeling cheated.

More than a year later, Tom Toye III received a $60,000 bill from Maine Revenue Services for so-called “use taxes” on the boat.

If he had the repairs done outside the State of Maine, he would have paid nothing in “use” taxes. That’s Gubment thinking for you.

Aircraft owners complain that Maine sends out similar tax bills — sometimes exceeding $100,000 — on their planes. The judge in Toye’s case also ruled in favor of the state on two cases involving aircraft owners.

You would think that the idiots who run States would remember how the “luxury tax” killed off the Yacht building business, much of it was in Maine. Not the past tense.

Killing Business

The taxes are now driving away tourists, which Maine relies upon for tax revenue.

Some out-of-state boaters are steering clear of Maine’s rocky coast and picturesque harbors, which in turn hurts local grocery stores, restaurants, repair yards and other businesses that benefit from boaters, said Micah Peabody, general manager of Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina in Southwest Harbor.

“Word is starting to spread that Maine is unfriendly to yachtsmen,” Peabody said.

they broke it, and now they want to destroy it

It’s clear this is nothing but targeting big ticket items for a quick fix to the failures of Government.

Maine Revenue Services says it’s simply doing its job: collecting taxes.

But critics claim the tax and the strict enforcement are having a chilling effect on boaters and discouraging tourism at a time when the state’s economy needs help.

Not only are they killing business, but it’s clearly illegal. The heavy-handed enforcement upon a small class of people is not only immoral, but illegal. Sadly it plays into the class warfare that Democrats (aka liberals) use to keep themselves in power. This time they are going to face the anger of th voters who are starting to wake up and realize they have been duped.

death throes of Government

It’s not really surprising that this is happening. When the powerful start to lose power, they do anything they can to keep it. This is a sign that we are entering a rough time. It’s when revolutions happen.