Thursday, May 21, 2009 2:25 PM

By: James H. Walsh

“The ‘TEA Party’ movement is an unhealthy mutation from public dissatisfaction with the Obama administration’s economic policies.”

— David Axelrod, Senior White House Adviser, April 2009

Since when is free speech, as personified by the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party grass-roots citizens movement, “unhealthy”? Since the leftward tilt of federal agencies accelerated during the first 100 days of the Barack Obama presidency.

Consider, for instance, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has moved far to the left on the political spectrum in record time under Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Consider also the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The once fabled and incorruptible FBI is showing signs of becoming a mere “yes man” for the Obama administration.

Evidence for the yes-man charge is found in a recent report by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis Assessment (I&A), entitled, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” The report names law-abiding U.S. citizens, who choose not to support the liberal agenda of the Obama administration, as prime subjects for FBI surveillance.

This Obama enemies list is a lengthy one, encompassing all “single-issue” advocates, including those who are pro-life, those who are gun owners, those who oppose illegal immigration, those who oppose “same -sex marriages” (such as Miss California), those who support third-party candidates, those who criticize free trade agreements, and, believe it or not, those military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and those veterans still around.

A citizen-taxpayer who falls into several of these categories is even more likely to be targeted. The FBI appears to be following, in lockstep, the DHS agenda, in complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the citizenry. Lest the DHS, A&I, DOJ, and FBI forget, the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, the right to peaceful assembly, and free speech.

A similar DHS report, also prepared by the I&A, was withdrawn within hours of its release. Dated March 26, 2009, and entitled, “Domestic Extremism Lexicon,” it was a dictionary of political incorrectness. Its senior author was transferred to the DHS Office of the Director of National Intelligence, perhaps to prepare more and more anti-citizen reports.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III has chosen to stand with those who would denigrate U.S. citizens by failing to denounce the DHS “Rightwing Extremism” report. Instead he actively supports the goals of this controversial DHS report as well as those of the withdrawn DHS “Lexicon.” The question arises, Who is left on the left to watch those foreign nationals who have sworn to destroy the United States?

No congressional investigation is underway regarding the origins of the DHS report or the withdrawn DHS “Lexicon.” Apparently the DHS guidelines for these reports were White House approved.

The worst aspect of this sad state of affairs is that the FBI historically has been a strong, disciplined, and effective bureau that lived up to its motto of “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.” For a century, countless books, articles, news accounts, movies, radio, and television shows have documented the Bureau as one of the world’s leading investigatory agencies. Now in 100 days, its proud history of crime fighting, spy-catching, civil-rights protecting, and domestic intelligence-gathering has been downgraded to political pandering and bureaucratic one-upmanship.

Extremists on the far left and on the far right have long found fault with the FBI for alleged privacy intrusions, especially when agents investigated wrong-doing by groups such as the U.S. Communist Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Ask any federal prosecutor, FBI agents were renowned for the quality of their background work in obtaining criminal convictions. But covering taxpayer protests? Come on.

The DHS “Rightwing Extremism” report admits that the I&A has no specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists (a term used in the report despite Napolitano’s new-think definition of terrorism as “man-caused disasters”) currently plan acts of violence. The report only suggests that “the election of the first African-American president presents unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.”

Armed with this baseless and biased assessment, the FBI under Mueller swung into action to place the Tax Day TEA Parties of April 15, 2009, under federal surveillance.

Mueller alerted FBI field offices throughout the United States to verify the date, time, location, and organizers of each TEA Party within their jurisdiction and to supply that information to seat of government, that is, FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. This request was issued two weeks before the DHS report was leaked to the California talk show.

Subsequently on April 6, 2009, FBI Headquarters advised its field offices to conduct cover surveillance and data collection of the protestors attending each TEA Party. The director’s advisory suggested that the surveillances were to be discreet and outside the purview of local law enforcement.

At the same time, the official FBI Web site carried the National Terror Suspect Watchlist, including the Most Wanted Terrorists, 24 of whom are foreign nationals, ranging from Osama bin Laden through Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed Al-Nasser. Each person on the Most Wanted List is under indictment by federal grand juries in the United States. Not one of them was a right-wing extremist, and not one of them would waste their time attending a TEA Party.

The FBI Web site also posts the Ten Most Wanted Domestic Terrorists, again all of them under indictment by federal grand juries. At the top of the list is Ronald Stanley Bridgeforth, a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) wanted for killing a police officer and may be traveling in Africa. The other Top Ten include two more BLA members, several Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF) members, a member of the May 19th Communist Organization, and several other domestic terrorists, among them Puerto Rican nationalists. All of them are to be considered armed and dangerous.

Note that the Ten Most Wanted domestic terrorists all lean left of center, with not a rightwing terrorist or TEA Party taxpayer among them.

The FBI, by carrying out the DHS directives regarding surveillance of each TEA Party held in March and April, 2009, diverted valuable resources, and more will be needed to cover each TEA Party being planned for the Fourth of July. The FBI owes U.S. taxpayers a detailed accounting of the human resources and monetary expenses required by TEA Party surveillances. President Obama has pledged transparency.

It is time to reassign FBI resources from TEA Party surveillances to updating the National Terror Suspect Watchlist. Mueller and his agency continue, however, to show signs of political correctness. Has the Obama administration so intimidated federal career officials that agencies, such as the FBI, have lost all sense of direction?

Federal resources needed to combat Islamist terrorists are being wasted spying on law-obeying, taxpaying citizens. Enemy list surveillances are the building stones of a dictatorship. U.S. citizens, awake! Do not let future historians say that this all happened while we slept.

James H. Walsh is a former federal prosecutor and former Associate General Counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice.

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Here are some quick ideas for nuclear (pronounced NEW-KLEE-ER – some of our Republican candidates and elected officials still can’t get that correct) energy that you could fight uphill about out there in beautiful Harrisburg. I am a proponent of many things, including conservative values (thank you for your voting record, by the way), but when energy is discussed I am wholeheartedly a fan of nuclear power.

PA could be a national leader in nuclear power, depending on the ability of our state leaders to be visionary. Most of the rest of the industrialized and G-8 world already relies very heavily on nuclear power. Brazil, France and a number of other nations are leaders. Nuclear energy is carbon free (the environmental crowd loves this fact), efficient, much safer than 20 years ago, and energy provided could far exceed the energy from coal, oil, and the absurd wind and solar ideas. I’m sure that you are already well-versed in the advantages of nuclear. However, what disadvantages exist?

PA is frightened of nuclear power after the 3-Mile-Island fiasco. This could be overcome easily by a marketing campaign. Nuclear energy could become a friend to PA in the minds of utility consumers. Second, the waste produced is dangerous and not accepted for disposal in many locations. Correct? Not really. Our current trend for recycling is advanced enough that even deadly nuclear waste can be recycled. PA could lead the nation in spent fuel recycling – creating a major new specialized employer right here in our own state. Spent fuel rods, waste water, and other by-products of fission could be sent here to be reprocessed by our own citizens. Such a reprocessing center could provide thousands of jobs for engineers, physicists, management, marketers, truck drivers, security officers, and other Pennsylvanians currently out of work. The potential for nuclear waste recycling is outlined in the following article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080821213606.htm.

Sir, please take a look at this program. It supports Sen. McCain’s ideas on energy and uses initiatives in his Lexington Plan. Also, it would aid our state in a dire economic time, provide jobs, taxes, and a new role of leadership for Pennsylvania. Could you bring this idea to other domestic energy minded Representatives in PA? I would love to be involved in the effort as well.

All the best in your next term as our Representative to the State House. Congratulations, but let’s get the ball rolling for domestic energy before OPEC gets their ball rolling for high oil prices again.

Respectfully,

Jay Burkos
Conservative Resistance
www.conservative-resistance.org

What You Should Think About

Where might you want to paddle?

The type of water you wish to paddle will help you decide what type of kayak to buy. Think about where you want to paddle not just now, but also in the future after taking some classes to expand and improve your skills. Choose all that apply:
gentle rivers and small lakes
e.g. the Charles River from our Newton Boathouse
large lakes or protected ocean
e.g. Essex Marsh; or Squam Lake, NH
open ocean
e.g. trips to the Boston Harbor Outer Islands
whitewater rivers
e.g. Zoar Gap on the Deerfield River
Do you want to paddle your own kayak, or share a boat with someone else?
single kayaks (for one person) allow the freedom of paddling your own boat and have more storage space per person, plus you don’t need to rely on a friend to go paddling
tandem kayaks (for two people) tend to be more stable and cost less per person, plus they’re a great way to paddle together if the two kayakers are of different abilities.
How much storage space might you need?
Think carefully about how you see yourself using your kayak in the future, like whether you will mainly do day-trips or might like to kayak-camp regularly. Your storage requirements will be determined by how you use the boat.
many kayaks have hatches — storage compartments that are more or less watertight
kayaks designed for longer trips, like overnights, have more and bigger hatches
hatches also provide flotation when capsized to prevent the boat from sinking
it is much easier to perform rescues on kayaks with both front and rear hatches than on kayaks with only a rear hatch or no watertight hatches
Will you use your kayak for any specialized activities?
fishing
surfing
scuba diving or snorkeling
photography
paddling with your dog
What You Should Know
How does a kayak’s hull shape affect boat performance?
The hull shape has many effects on a kayaks’s performance, both in flatwater and ocean conditions. Two effects of hull shape that a paddler can readily feel are:
initial stability — how stable does the boat feel when it is flat on the water?
secondary stability — how easy is it to lean the boat on its edge, and how stable does it feel when leaned?
How does kayak width (beam) affect boat performance?
wider boats generally have more initial stability than narrower boats
wider boats are generally slower and less efficient than narrower boats
How does the size of the cockpit opening affect my paddling?
The two main classes of cockpits are “closed” and “open,” based on how firmly your knees are braced inside the boat. This decision is largely one of personal preference.
in a closed cockpit, the paddler keeps the knees under thigh braces, allowing better transfer of movement from paddler to kayak. In a closed cockpit, the paddler might feel better balance and “connection” to the boat, which allows more control and better performance.
in an open cockpit, the paddlers knees are not constrained, allowing easier entry and exit from the boat from land and in the water. Open cockpits are ideal for someone who wants to fish, take pictures, or paddle with their dog, because of the increased freedom of movement and additional storage space right in front of you
in our experience, capsized paddlers not using spray skirts have little trouble exiting either type of cockpit.

What materials are used to make kayaks?

There are three principle materials used to construct most of today’s kayaks. Your choice of materials is, again, a trade-off between several factors described below.
polyethylene
Inexpensive and very resistant to impact, polyethylene is used for most plastic kayaks and by Old Town in their Discovery and Guide series of canoes. The material is heavy and scratches easily. Because it lacks the stiffness of other boatbuilding materials, the shape of a polyethylene boat can become deformed as it ages. Choose polyethylene if you want to save money and are looking for high impact resistance.
thermoformed plastic
Lighter and stiffer than polyethylene, thermoformed boats are more expensive but have a longer life span and are less likely to deform. These boats approach the weight, look, lines, and lively performance of composite boats at a lower price. You’ll hear different manufacturers calling their thermoformed material by different names, like Trylon (Hurricane Aqua Sports), Airalite (Perception), and TCS (Current Designs). Royalex is another thermoplastic primarily used in canoes that is lighter, stiffer, and more expensive than polyethylene.
composite: fiberglass, Kevlar, and/or carbon.

Made using cloth fibers impregnated with resin, these boats are the lightest, stiffest, longest-lasting, and easiest to repair, but at 1.5 to 2.5 times the price of polyethylene. The greatest advantage of composite materials is their liveliness and performance, which makes composite boats a real joy to paddle. Paddle a composite boat and you’ll feel the difference.Fiberglass is the least expensive but heaviest composite material.Kevlar is stronger, lighter, and has greater impact resistance than fiberglass.Carbon fiber is the stiffest and lightest composite material. It has less impact resistance than other composite materials, and so is usually used along with another composite material in a hybrid layup like Carbon/Kevlar.
Why would I want a lighter kayak?

faster
easier to maneuver
easier to load on and off a car
easier to transport to and from the water
easier to carry when loaded with gear

In our experience, customers who purchase lighter boats paddle more often, because it’s less of a chore to load and transport their kayak.

Why would I want a stiffer kayak?

Reduced flex for greater efficiency
If the power from your paddle stroke causes the boat to flex, that energy is being wasted. Therefore, stiffer materials that decrease flex are more efficient and, consequently, faster.
longer life span. When boats lose their shape, they lose performance. Therefore, a boat made from a stiffer material will have a longer life span. In fact, it is common for 20-year-old composite boats to paddle just as nicely as the day they were built!

better hull shapes

Stiffer materials can be molded into a wider variety of shapes, allowing kayak designers to create exactly the lines and curves they need to produce a high-performance kayak (see “How does a kayak’s hull shape affect boat performance?” above).

Do I want or need a rudder or skeg?

All boats tend to turn into the wind (some boats more than others). Rudders and skegs help prevent this tendency, allowing you to keep the boat travelling straight when paddling in wind. Unless you plan to paddle only on flat-calm days, a rudder or skeg will be beneficial. There are important differences, however, which are detailed in the information below.
Whichever you choose, it is critical that you can paddle your boat without the aid of the rudder or skeg, if necessary. Rudders and skegs should be thought of as conveniences that can make paddling more enjoyable. Both rudders and skegs are retractable, so you can choose when to use them
a rudder allows direct control over steering using foot pedals that turn the rudder when you push them. In contrast, a skeg is stationary and does not allow direct steering. However, tracking is easily controlled by adjusting the height of the skeg: with less skeg in the water the kayak turns into the wind, and with more skeg in the water the kayak turns away from the wind. Because the skeg does not steer, the paddler must learn to lean the boat to make it turn because a rudder helps to steer a boat, ruddered kayak designs often track very strongly but are more difficult to turn without the rudder. Skeg kayak designs, on the other hand, are made to be easily maneuverable when leaned on their edge, allowing quick course corrections
a skeg takes up storage space in the rear hatch, while a rudder is mounted on the exterior of the boat. With proper maintenance, rudders and skegs are both very reliable
having a rudder or skeg is no substitute for good boat-handling skills