Snow closes road to Haleakala summit

Maui News
January 19, 2011

HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK -- The road to the summit of Haleakala was shut down Wednesday morning because of snow, slush and ice and the roadway, a park official said.

Visitors were being stopped at the park headquarters at 7,000 feet, which remained open as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, said Navnit Singh, public affairs officer at the park.

The road closure was being done as a temporary safety measure while park officials monitor the situation and will re-open the road when it is no longer hazardous.

The snow began appearing at the dormant volcano's 9,000-foot level, he said.

"It's not that deep. It's more like a dusting," he said.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu has issued a winter weather warning for the summit and upper slopes of Haleakala until 6 p.m. Wednesday.

White House Insider: Obama Celebrates Shortly After Delivering Tucson Memorial Speech

Published by Ulsterman on January 17, 2011 in World Politics

"I cannot reconcile with that kind of behavior in a leader. There really is something missing in him. Some basic element of humanity."

Author’s Note: These questions were emailed to our D.C. Insider, who then responded. Unfortunately, no follow-up was allowed. We hope to be able to do a follow-up soon. Some information was later edited per request prior to final publication.

Question: How would you rate the performance of President Obama’s Tucson Tragedy speech?

Insider: The speech itself was a remarkable display. Very powerful speech. Perhaps the president’s finest moment since taking office. The things happening outside the speech though left many of us wondering who was in charge of planning the event because that environment was almost a disaster. You were right to call into question the t-shirts. That was in very poor taste. The excuse that the Obama administration had nothing to do with those t-shirts is completely false. Every detail is run by the administration on this kind of event. Every last detail. Also, many who had attended were actually coached to be “very supportive” of President Obama. I don’t agree that this should have been “Obama’s Oklahoma”. The media is trying to make it just that, with the full support of the Obama White House/Jarrett. Tucson was a terrible tragedy. Oklahoma was something much-much bigger than that. I find it more than a bit troubling to hear all this comparison between the two events. And regarding Obama’s attitude on this tragedy. Here is something that you will never hear from the media but that some witnessed shortly after the memorial service had finished. Behind the staging area, Obama gave Michelle a “high five” and shared a laugh with her. So within minutes of seeing what is Obama’s finest moment as president it is followed by one of his worst. It is this easy and always there contradiction in the president that concerns me very very much. He was just thrilled at his performance. That was priority #1 for him. It always is. The motivation for his speech was not to heal following the tragedy, but to further appeal to the public and get their approval of him. It’s similar to that story I told you about Obama coming into the military meeting at the WH. He came in laughing and left early laughing. Maybe a photo of the high five will be released? I was told one was taken at any rate. I cannot reconcile with that kind of behavior in a leader. There really is something missing in him. Some basic element of humanity. Or humility??? Even by DC political standards the human element in Obama seems to be utterly absent. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it. And that scares the hell out of me. So that’s my assessment of the Tucson speech.  Read More

Preserving States' Rights and the Constitution

January 19, 2011
Preserving States' Rights and the Constitution
By Bruce Walker

The disintegration of states is the gravest problem we face. The omnipresent federal government means that Americans can no longer run from tyranny by leaving one state and moving to another. The transfer of power from state government to some nebulous "people" means that we have democracy, a very unhappy form of government.

What can be done? Well, states can propose constitutional amendments without going through Congress. Two-thirds of state legislatures may call a constitutional convention. Although many conservatives fear this approach to amendment, if the terms of the resolution provided that members of the various legislatures themselves were the members of any constitutional convention and limited the action of that convention to approval or disapproval of a single amendment, then the chances of true restoration of states' rights would be solid.  Read More

Our Choice: State Secession or Washington Debt Depression

Ron Holland
1/19/2011

Everyone with any intelligence in the US and around the world knows that there is no way for Washington to manage the tens of trillions in debt and unfunded liabilities short of ultimate repudiation or hyperinflation. Thanks to Wall Street bankers and the Anglo-American financial elite, our ruinous debt-financing Ponzi scheme has also been exported to most Western nations. These politicians have made a compact with the devil in delivering vote-buying programs and postponing the interest and debt reduction to future generations. Watch the cuts and subsequent riots in Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom and you’ll see just a little of the future for the United States with its faltering world reserve currency status.

The question is, should the citizens and the formerly sovereign states of the United States wait for Washington’s foreign creditors to seize the remaining government and private assets left after our politicians have finished with us?  Read More