Tag Archives: secret-service

What Is Wrong With This Picture?? Georgia Business Refuses To Hire Until Obama’s Out Of The Office

The U.S. economy is effed up, so messed up that business owners are making signs like these: A Georgia businessman has an ultimatum for America: Fire President Obama, or he will not hire any more workers. Bill Looman, owner of U.S. Cranes LLC, said he is fed up with the bad economy and D.C. politicians who do nothing to solve the problem. So until there is a change of leadership, his company trucks will bear the message: “New Company Policy: We Are Not Hiring Until Obama Is Gone.” “The message that I tried to put in there is that I cannot afford it,” Looman told ABC News. “I just cannot afford to hire anybody right now.” Looman, whose company operates cranes at construction sites, said he has had to lay off three of his nine employees because of the bad economy. He said overregulation and the cost of complying with federal mandates has caused many of his customers to shut their doors. “The buck stops [at Obama],” he said. “He is the leader of this nation and he needs to assume that postion and understand it is his fault, ultimately.” Although the signs went up about six months ago, photos of the “new company policy” went viral on the internet Monday, WXIA-TV first reported. “I didn’t intend for it to get to this level,” Looman said. “Maybe it will put a new perspective on what’s happening out here to middle America.” The reaction – partially positive but mostly negative – was so overwhelming that Looman said he had to temporarily shut down his website and disconnect his phone lines. “Verbally there were a lot of threats,” he said. ”People were running my technicians off the road. They were focused on trying to make that message something more than it was.” “To all my liberal friends … thank you for the two new customers that came on board today because you idiots are attacking me,” Looman wrote. “One new customer states … ’You got nerve, so you got my business.’ I may have to hire after all.” While the barrage of criticism did not hit until this week, the backlash began shortly after the photos were first posted. Looman said he got an unexpected visit from the Secret Service after someone reported to the FBI that he was a possible threat to national security. “They gave me the typical interview to see if I was a threat,” Looman said. “We actually had a good meeting and when they left, they were under the impression that they wasted their time.” With unemployment still stuck at around 9 percent, where it has been for more than two years, U.S. Crane LLC is not the only business that feels the drag of a sluggishly recovering economy. The GDP grew a mere 2 percent over the past quarter, even less than the 2.5 percent growth than the Bureau of Economic Analysis had originally estimated. Thoughts on this man’s gesture?? Out of pocket or right on point?? Source

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What Is Wrong With This Picture?? Georgia Business Refuses To Hire Until Obama’s Out Of The Office

Herman Cain Under Secret Service Protection After Threats

Herman Cain made history Thursday after becoming the first Republican Presidential candidate to be put under Secret Service protection. The Associated Press reports that Cain asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and congressional leaders to approve his request this week. Click Here To Read The Rest At HipHopWired.com

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Herman Cain Under Secret Service Protection After Threats

Checking In: President Obama Joins Foursquare

Major headache for the Secret Service? Probably. President Barack Obama upping his coolness quotient even as his popularity plummets? Definitely! As Obama embarks on a bus tour of the Midwest in an attempt to spur economic/poll number growth, updates will be posted on Foursquare! The White House said on its blog : “Barack is Now The President of the Oval Office.” “The White House is now on Foursquare, a location-based social networking website, which is the latest way for you to engage with the administration.” “There are over 10 million people already ‘checking in’ around the world, and now you will be able to discover ‘tips’ from the White House featuring places President Obama has visited, what he did there, historical information and more.” The White House will also be creating checkin locations for different presidential events, such as yesterday’s speech in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. The addition of the president to Foursquare’s 10 million-plus users will be a boon to the service, especially as the 2012 campaign kicks into gear.

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Checking In: President Obama Joins Foursquare

The National Elect Comedian President In New ‘Conversation 16’ Video

Kristen Schaal talks to MTV News about playing power-suited commander in chief in brand-new clip. By James Montgomery Kristen Schaal in the National’s “Conversation 16” video Photo: 4AD In the National’s brand-new video for “Conversation 16,” comedian Kristen Schaal drew perhaps the toughest assignment of her career: She had to play the president, a role that required not only exhaustive research, but an equally exhaustive hairstyle too. “Well, what I did is I went through several pictures and videos of all the presidents, even George Washington — I found a flipbook — and I studied their demeanors. And you know, you’ve got to play your cards close to your vest as president, so I’ve just got this serious look that I have throughout the video … it took me three weeks to master it,” Schaal told MTV News. “[And] I got my friend to do my hair, and she’s good at hair, so she put it up. I said I wanted it to be up like Janelle Mon

John F. Kennedy’s Secret Service Agents Re-Live the Tragic Loss of the President on November 22 1963 | Video

JFK's Secret Service agents reflect on loss of a president From Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd, CNN November 22, 2010 2:33 a.m. EST JFK and the Secret Service STORY HIGHLIGHTS * President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 * The Secret Service agents who were in Dallas that day have said little since then * Some of them are now offering their personal recollections of those tragic moments Arlington, Virginia (CNN) — After mostly avoiding the spotlight for decades, many of the former U.S. Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy are now offering their accounts of the day he was assassinated, 47 years ago Monday. After the first shot hit the president, former agent Clint Hill says, “I saw him grab at his throat and lean to his left. So I jumped and ran.” Hill is the man seen running toward the limousine in the famous film of the shooting, captured by a bystander named Abraham Zapruder. Hill jumped onto the back of the presidential car, in a desperate attempt to protect the president. “Just before I got to the car, the third shot hit him in the head.” Hill says.”It was too late.” First lady Jackie Kennedy had climbed onto the back hood of the car, but Hill moved her back into her seat, and attempted to shield the two of them from any further bullets, as the car sped to the hospital. As the president's head lay in her lap, Hill heard Mrs. Kennedy say, “Oh, Jack, what have they done to you?” We couldn't help, but we felt like we failed. It was a terrible feeling. –Jerry Blaine, former Secret Service agent A newly detailed account of the assassination is laid out in the new book “The Kennedy Detail,” by former agent Jerry Blaine, written with journalist Lisa McCubbin, based on interviews with many of the agents who covered Kennedy. Former agent Hill, who has rarely granted interviews about the shooting, wrote a foreword. Blaine and Hill say they are still burdened by the knowledge that they were unable to keep the president safe that day in Dallas, Texas. “We couldn't help, but we felt like we failed,” says Blaine. “It was a terrible feeling.” Hill was commended for the bravery he showed under fire, but even so, he says he holed up for years in his basement with alcohol and cigarettes, feeling guilty that he did not reach the limousine in time to take a bullet for the president. “I felt that there was something I should have been able to do,” he says. “Moved faster, reacted quicker, gotten there just moments quicker, could have made all the difference in the world.” Hill suffered nightmares, but post-traumatic counseling was not yet a common practice. Only with the passing of many years did he gradually recover, telling himself he did the best he could. “You just have to accept it and live with it, the best you can,” he says. Just days before the assassination, Blaine writes, Kennedy chafed at the close proximity of his protective detail. During a motorcade in Tampa, Florida, he asked them not to ride on his limousine. “Have the Ivy League charlatans drop back to the follow-up car,” the president told one of the agents. “We've got an election coming up. The whole point is for me to be accessible to the people.” But Hill and Blaine dismiss the notion that Kennedy's instructions in Tampa jeopardized his security in Dallas. Photos of the motorcade show, regardless of what the president said, Hill was riding on the back of the car during an earlier part of the route. By the time the motorcade reached the stretch of roadway where the assassination occurred, however, agents could no longer ride on the fenders, Blaine says. “We were going into a freeway, and that's where you take the speeds up to 60 and 70 miles an hour. So we would not have had any agents there anyway,” he said. Some of the agents see the book as a chance to counter some of the conspiracy theorists who have never accepted that it was Lee Harvey Oswald who shot the president, and that he acted alone. “There's no question in my mind he was the assassin,” Hill says. “I was there. I know what happened.” Blaine reveals for the first time that on the very same day that Kennedy was killed, newly sworn in President Lyndon Johnson was almost shot as well — accidentally. Just hours after Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One, Blaine was guarding his home, after going 40 hours without sleep. “It was about 2:15 in the morning at The Elms, which was Johnson's residence before he became president. I heard all of a sudden a person approaching,” Blaine says. He raised his gun and put his finger on the trigger — only to see Johnson round the corner. “He turned white, he turned around and walked in, and that was the last that was ever said of it,” Blaine says. added by: EthicalVegan

The War on Terror is a Hoax

Due to the recent national outrage against the allegations of abuses by the agents of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), it's time to remember what the so-called “War on Terror” really is. The War on Terror is a Hoax By Paul Craig Roberts According to US government propaganda, terrorist cells are spread throughout America, making it necessary for the government to spy on all Americans and violate most other constitutional protections. Among President Bush’s last words as he left office was the warning that America would soon be struck again by Muslim terrorists. If America were infected with terrorists, we would not need the government to tell us. We would know it from events. As there are no events, the US government substitutes warnings in order to keep alive the fear that causes the public to accept pointless wars, the infringement of civil liberty, national ID cards, and inconveniences and harassments when they fly. The most obvious indication that there are no terrorist cells is that not a single neocon has been assassinated. I do not approve of assassinations, and am ashamed of my country’s government for engaging in political assassination. The US and Israel have set a very bad example for al Qaeda to follow. The US deals with al Qaeda and Taliban by assassinating their leaders, and Israel deals with Hamas by assassinating its leaders. It is reasonable to assume that al Qaeda would deal with the instigators and leaders of America’s wars in the Middle East in the same way. Today every al Qaeda member is aware of the complicity of neoconservatives in the death and devastation inflicted on Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza. Moreover, neocons are highly visible and are soft targets compared to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Neocons have been identified in the media for years, and as everyone knows, multiple listings of their names are available online. Neocons do not have Secret Service protection. Dreadful to contemplate, but it would be child’s play for al Qaeda to assassinate any and every neocon. Yet, neocons move around freely, a good indication that the US does not have a terrorist problem. If, as neocons constantly allege, terrorists can smuggle nuclear weapons or dirty bombs into the US with which to wreak havoc upon our cities, terrorists can acquire weapons with which to assassinate any neocon or former government official. Yet, the neocons, who are the Americans most hated by Muslims, remain unscathed. The “war on terror” is a hoax that fronts for American control of oil pipelines, the profits of the military-security complex, the assault on civil liberty by fomenters of a police state, and Israel’s territorial expansion. added by: maasanova

President Obama and Sarah Palin Featured in New Archie Comic

Following this month’s introduction of its first openly gay character, Archie Comics will feature President Obama and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin in December. “No doubt a part of the long-running comic’s new push toward more real-world relevance, Obama and Palin’s appearance will mirror Riverdale High’s student council elections in two upcoming Archie issues,” reported Time magazine’s NewsFeed blog Tuesday. According to ArchieComics.com, the plot lines are riveting: Archie #616: “Campaign Pain” Part 1:   President Barack Obama and famed politician Sarah Palin get involved as Student Government campaigns spiral out of control at Riverdale High! The race between Archie and Reggie gets hot as campaign chaos reaches to the top, forcing an impromptu visit from these big-name politicos, who get pulled into the fray! Part 2:   When President Obama and famed politician Sarah Palin arrive, Riverdale becomes the center of a national crisis! Archie and Reggie have each claimed support from one of these political powerhouses, but they don’t! Now Riverdale is in chaos and when the Secret Service gets involved it only gets worse! Can’t you just feel the excitement?

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President Obama and Sarah Palin Featured in New Archie Comic

Fabolous Says He’s ‘Good’ After Having Tour Van Stolen

‘It was stripped down like a Magic City dancer,’ Fab tells MTV News of recovering the car in Washington, D.C. By Shaheem Reid Fabolous Photo: MTV News Some fun-loving criminals made traveling arrangements for some of Fabolous’ entourage a little more difficult this past weekend in Washington, D.C. The Brooklyn MC had a show in the area, and after his performance he discovered his crew’s transportation had been tampered with. “That was one of the few things on the Internet that was true,” Fab confirmed to MTV News on Thursday in the Bronx. “I had shows in D.C. this weekend. One of the turtle-top vans wound up getting stolen,” he continued. “I don’t know how, even the police were mind-boggled by it because it was parked right next to the Secret Service building. They found it though. It was stripped down like a Magic City dancer. It happens. I didn’t know people really go hard and steal cars like that. I think I tweeted , like, ‘Yo, do people really still steal cars?’ I thought that was something that kinda like fell off. What are you gonna do with a car after you steal it? Joyride? But I guess you can get some parts. But a turtle-top? You’re taking a big-ass van. Hopefully, it helped somebody out in their time of need. “I was good,” Fab laughed, correcting the record about his personal mode of transportation. “Let’s not get that mistaken. I had another ride. But my boys, they were in a little jam. We figured it out, made a police report. I thought it got towed at first. But we figured it out, made a police report, came back to New York. I don’t fault D.C. for it. Your van can get stolen anywhere I guess. I always have fun in D.C. [though]. D.C. shows me a lot of love.” Fabolous’ next project is The Grieving Music, an EP inspired by his DJ Drama-hosted mixtape There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service. The EP is due September 6. Are you excited for Fab to drop new music? Tell us in the comments! Related Artists Fabolous

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Fabolous Says He’s ‘Good’ After Having Tour Van Stolen

Spain Trip: Todd Senses ‘Something More’ Happening Behind Scenes With Michelle O

“Uncomfortable” was the word of the day at Morning Joe when it came to discussing Michelle Obama’s decision to go on a luxurious Spanish vacation in the midst of a recession—and to miss celebrating her husband’s birthday with him to boot. Chuck Todd didn’t go into details, but NBC’s clearly ill-at-ease political director suggested: that this was a “private decision” by the First Lady; that it wouldn’t have made any difference what Pres. Obama’s political advisors would have said; and that “you get the sense here that there was something more to this” than pure politics. Joe Scarborough reinforced Todd’s message: ” this is part of a bigger narrative, isn’t it, about Michelle Obama? ” In contrast, Mark Halperin seemed eager to get off the touchy topic.  When Scarborough asked him about it, Halperin parried with a question to Todd about the positive cards the White House has to play. This NewsBuster is in no position to speculate as to what that “bigger narrative” might be, or what that “something more” is.  But surely a story worth following . . . Note: Joe cited yesterday’s column by Maureen Dowd, which in the course of criticizing Mrs. Obama pointed out that the president’s birthday wasn’t the first important occasion the First Lady missed: When the BP oil spill stained the White House, making the president seem so impotent that he had to make his first national address from the Oval Office, the first lady was playing with her mother and daughters in Los Angeles, staying at the Beverly Wilshire. She was taking in a Lakers game the night of his address. When the BP oil spill stained the White House, making the president seem so impotent that he had to make his first national address from the Oval Office, the first lady was playing with her mother and daughters in Los Angeles, staying at the Beverly Wilshire. She was taking in a Lakers game the night of his address.  Note Dos: Morning Joe introduced the segment with a Late Night clip of Jimmy Fallon quipping that in light of Michelle’s Spanish extravagance, her new Secret Service code name is “Kanye.” Ouch. Note Tres: In my item about Pres. Obama’s appearance on The View, I noted that the prez had taken a gratuitous swipe at the First Lady, claiming she wasn’t interested in news shows. Note Quatro:  I understand that the First Couple has to deal with scheduling pressures far outside the normal realm.  Even so, as I observed to a friend yesterday: odds my mother would have gone on a vacation without my late father and missed his birthday = precisely 0 in 1,000 trillion.

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Spain Trip: Todd Senses ‘Something More’ Happening Behind Scenes With Michelle O

Michelle Obama Criticized as "Modern-day Marie Antoinette" Over Spain Vacation

Andrea Tantaros has penned a scorching editorial for the New York Daily News deeming First Lady Michelle Obama a “modern-day Marie Antoinette” for her vacation in Spain with her daughter. “The First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her 'closest friends,'” Tantaros writes, pointing to a CNN report that Michelle Obama and her group are expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms. “Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.” “CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports the C-32A (757) the First Lady used to fly to Spain – one of the planes that usually serves as Air Force Two, and sometimes Air Force One – operates at a Department of Defense reimbursement rate of $11,351 per hour. So a 6.5 hour flight to Spain would run $73,781.50 – double for the round trip. The White House says that as a policy, official trips by the first family are paid by the government but all personal elements paid are personally. Since this is a private trip, the White House seems to be suggesting that the Obamas are personally paying all costs associated with the vacation. But there appears to be some wiggle room there, in part because the Secret Service must protect the First Family, and the cost to taxpayers would presumably go up during travel. A few years ago, as Knoller notes, the Government Accountability Office did an analysis of presidential travel at the behest of Congress. The Secret Service refused to divulge how many personnel and costs are associated with safeguarding a protectee during a trip, citing its policy to not give up information that might be used to gauge a level of protection.” I have no qualms with Michell and her daughter taking a vacation. I DO, however have problems with them taking along “40 of their closest friends”, taking up 60 to 70 rooms in a luxury hotel that rent for $400 to $2500 per night, and expecting the American taxpayer to pay for it. We paid for their $70,000 'date night', and it cost us $250,000 for their Air Force One tour of Manhattan. With our economy in the toilet and unemployment sky high I'd like to see Washington's rich and famous pay for their OWN damned trips. added by: 2helenahandbasket