SHOCKING! Iconic Ground Zero photo was nearly excluded from the 9/11 Memorial Museum for being too ‘Rah-Rah America’

Michael Shulan, the museum’s creative director, was among staffers who considered the Tom Franklin photograph of firefighters raising the stars and stripes in the rubble of Ground Zero too kitschy and “rah-rah America,” according to “Battle for Ground Zero,” by Elizabeth Greenspan.

NY Post  “I really believe that the way America will look best, the way we can really do best, is to not be Americans so vigilantly and so vehemently,” Shulan said. 

 

Michael Shulan, leftist scumbag extraordinaire

 

Shulan had worked on a popular post-9/11 photography exhibit called “Here is New York” in Soho when he was hired by Alice Greenwald, director of the museum, for his “unique approach.” Eventually, chief curator Jan Ramirez proposed a compromise, Greenspan writes. The Franklin shot was minimized in favor of three different photos via three different angles of the flag-raising scene.

 

“Several images undercut the myth of ‘one iconic moment,’ Ramirez said, and suggest instead an event from multiple points of view, like the attacks more broadly,” the book says. “Shulan didn’t like three photographs more than he liked one, but he went along with it.”

 

I imagine this one didn’t make it either?

Shulan told The Post he didn’t know that the way Greenspan described the discussion about the photographs “is the way that I would have.” “My concern, as it always was, is that we not reduce [9/11] down to something that was too simple, and in its simplicity would actually distort the complexity of the event, the meaning of the event,” he said.

 

Shulan was living in Soho on Sept. 11, 2011. He helped organize the “Here is New York” exhibit shortly after the attack, and it grew to include thousands of photographs taken by professionals and ordinary New Yorkers. The collection was later donated to the New-York Historical Society.

 

The photograph wasn’t the only item officials and family members argued over. Early on, it was decided that no human remains or photos of body parts be included in the museum. Dust from the collapse of the Towers will be on display, “but only dust which has been tested and determined not to contain remains,” Greenspan writes.

 

Or this one?

However, it was nearly impossible to determine if one artifact — called “the composite” — followed that rule. Three feet tall and 15 tons, the composite contains about four or five building stories compressed by pressure and heat into one solid block, with bits of paper and the edges of filing cabinets poking out of the surface.

 

The museum tested the outside of the composite and found it negative for DNA. But they couldn’t test inside it without the risk of destroying it. Eventually, despite the uncertainty and over the objections of some 9/11 family members, the piece was included.

 

We need to follow their lead...

Australia: Illegals not welcome

Hardline immigration policy may be toughest in Western world

Nick Adams / WND

SYDNEY, Australia – Australia has announced a hardline illegal immigration policy – probably the toughest in the Western world – and by doing so has set up a showdown with international law and human rights groups, earned the ire of major world associations, and drawn out the naysayers from the United Nations.

Last week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement and none will be allowed to stay in the country.

That’s none, as in not one.

That contrasts with the U.S. policy of lax border enforcement and casual deporting standards. In fact, President Obama is lobbying for a strategy that would “legalize” millions of illegal aliens who already are living in the U.S. and taking advantage of its social programs.

Rudd’s pre-election message is that Australia’s borders are closed to illegal arrivals. The announcement was made at a joint press conference with the prime minister from Papua New Guinea.

“From now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee,” Rudd told reporters.

This would be the equivalent of America sending all just-caught arriving illegals from now on to Bolivia, and stating that because of the circumstances under which they originally came, they will never have a chance to be settled in America.

“I understand that this is a very hard line decision,” Rudd continued.

“But our responsibility as a government is to ensure that we have a robust system of border security and orderly migration…”

In response to this announcement, a riot broke out at the Nauru detention center which houses illegal detainees, causing millions of dollars damage, destroying buildings in chaotic scenes said to be a reaction to a “cruel and degrading policy.”

The Australian move met widespread condemnation from left-of-center political and human rights groups.

Greens Leader Christine Milne said the resettlement plan was “ruthless and … repugnant.” Milne accused the prime minister of the Labor Party (the Australian equivalent of the Democrats) of political desperation, lurching so far to the political right he had leapfrogged the conservative party’s position. 

“It is absolutely immoral for Australia, a rich country, to refuse to do the right thing and instead try and dump the problem, and to dump thousands of vulnerable people into an impoverished country,” Milne said.

There remain several questions about the PNG illegals deal’s compliance with international law. Rudd maintained he had spoken with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon , and that the deal did not contravene UN conventions.

“The convention requires us not to send genuine refugees back to the countries they have fled from, and in this arrangement we honor that undertaking,” Rudd said.

But a statement from the United Nations high commissioner on refugees, the UN’s refugee agency, said they had not been involved in the deal and were currently seeking more information from the Australian government. 

Meanwhile, Amnesty International Australia said the plan showed a complete disregard for asylum seekers and “absolute contempt” for Australia’s legal and moral obligations.

“This is beyond belief,” spokesman Graeme McGregor said in a statement.

“Mark this day in history as the day Australia decided to turn its back on the world’s most vulnerable people, closed the door and threw away the key.”

This was closely followed by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) , an auditing body, which said the deal “risks breaching Australia’s legal obligations.” There appears to be consensus among human right lawyers that the agreement will face strong legal challenge in the courts.

The conservative Opposition party, with a great tradition of secure Australian borders, and a proven record of stopping the boats, declared “there is a national emergency on our borders,” while launching their policy. At the moment, there are approximately 3,500 illegal arrivals by boat per month .

“A Coalition (conservative) government will establish a military-led response to combat people smuggling and to protect our borders – Operation Sovereign Borders,” said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Much of the reason for the current problem with Australian illegal arrivals rests with Rudd, after he dismantled the previous conservative government’s border protection policies in 2008, after coming to office. Since that time more than 1,000 people have perished at sea, and almost 50,000 people have arrived on almost 800 illegal boats, with a budget blowout of over $10.3 billion. His strong policy announcement concerning PNG is widely seen as an attempt to atone for his actions, which carried devastating consequences.

Australians are predicted to head to the polls in October.

Fewer Full-Time Jobs: More Class Warfare A'Comin'

Mike Shedlock / Townhall Finance Columnist

A Gallup Poll on US Payroll Employment for Age Group 18 to 29 shows Fewer Young Adults Holding Full-Time Jobs in 2013.

Fewer Americans aged 18 to 29 worked full time for an employer in June 2013 (43.6%) than did so in June 2012 (47.0%), according to Gallup's Payroll to Population employment rate. The P2P rate for young adults is also down from 45.8% in June 2011 and 46.3% in June 2010.

Younger Americans Less Likely to Have Full-Time Work Now, Regardless of Education

Older Americans More Likely to Hold Full-Time Jobs Now Than a Year Ago

The lack of new hiring over the past several years given a recovering economy seems to have disproportionately reduced younger Americans' ability to obtain full-time jobs. On the other hand, Americans aged 30 to 49 this June were, at 61.4%, about as likely to have a full-time job as they were in June of each of the prior three years.

The percentage of Americans aged 50 to 64 who have a full-time job increased in June 2013, to 48.2%, from 46.6% a year ago and 45.7% in June 2010. Similarly, 8.4% of Americans 65 or older had a full-time job in June 2013, compared with 7.2% in June 2012 and 6.2% in June 2010.

The slow economy of recent years has limited new hiring. This has likely increased the percentage of older Americans with jobs, as companies may be placing a greater value on their experience and productivity and as older workers decide to continue to work when given the opportunity to do so. It also may suggest that far fewer workers are retiring voluntarily. In turn, this may imply that the current labor participation rate will increase, as those who involuntarily left the workforce return in greater numbers than expected once the U.S. economy begins to grow significantly.

These results are not surprising. Here is a snip from my May 1, 2008 post on the Demographics Of Jobless Claims

Ironically, older part-time workers remaining in or reentering the labor force will be cheaper to hire in many cases than younger workers. The reason is Boomers 65 and older will be covered by Medicare (as long as it lasts) and will not require as many benefits as will younger workers, especially those with families. In effect, Boomers will be competing with their children and grandchildren for jobs that in many cases do not pay living wages.

Social Security Cliff in Sight

And so here we are. Boomers are competing with their children and grandkids for jobs. Demographics are awful. And the ramifications of an aging workforce with fewer workers than ever vs. retirees puts stress no only on public union pension plans, but also on Social Security.

For further discussion, please see Social Security Cliff in Sight; Retirees Will Outlive Trust Fund; Ramifications of Nonmarketable IOUs and Privatization
The migrant worker agricultural jobs that few legal US citizens are willing to do for the price farmers are willing to pay will vanish within a decade as robots will soon be able to perform even those tasks cheaper.

Welcome the "Lettuce Bot", the "Grape Bot", the "Strawberry Bot"

Time reports Robots to Revolutionize Farming and Ease Labor Woes.

On a windy morning in California’s Salinas Valley, a tractor pulled a wheeled, metal contraption over rows of budding iceberg lettuce plants. Engineers from Silicon Valley tinkered with the software on a laptop to ensure the machine was eliminating the right leafy buds.

The engineers were testing the Lettuce Bot, a machine that can “thin” a field of lettuce in the time it takes about 20 workers to do the job by hand.

The thinner is part of a new generation of machines that target the last frontier of agricultural mechanization – fruits and vegetables destined for the fresh market, not processing, which have thus far resisted mechanization because they’re sensitive to bruising.

Researchers are now designing robots for these most delicate crops by integrating advanced sensors, powerful computing, electronics, computer vision, robotic hardware and algorithms, as well as networking and high precision GPS localization technologies. Most ag robots won’t be commercially available for at least a few years.

On the Salinas Valley farm, entrepreneurs with Mountain View-based startup Blue River Technology are trying to show that the Lettuce Bot can not only replace two dozen workers, but also improve production.

“Using Lettuce Bot can produce more lettuce plants than doing it any other way,” said Jorge Heraud, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

The Lettuce Bot uses video cameras and visual-recognition software to identify which lettuce plants to eliminate with a squirt of concentrated fertilizer that kills the unwanted buds while enriching the soil.

Blue River, which has raised more than $3 million in venture capital, also plans to develop machines to automate weeding – and eventually harvesting – using many of the same technologies.

Another company, San Diego-based Vision Robotics, is developing a similar lettuce thinner as well as a pruner for wine grapes. The pruner uses robotic arms and cameras to photograph and create a computerized model of the vines, figure out the canes’ orientation and the location of buds – all to decide which canes to cut down.

In southern California, engineers with the Spanish company Agrobot are taking on the challenge by working with local growers to test a strawberry harvester.

The machine is equipped with 24 arms whose movement is directed through an optical sensor; it allows the robot to make a choice based on fruit color, quality and size. The berries are plucked and placed on a conveyor belt, where the fruit is packed by a worker.

End of the Migrant Worker

Natural News reports Farm robots to make human ag workers obsolete within a decade.

Technology is about to take over America's fruited plains - robots, it seems, are all the rage down on the farm, and their introduction and spread will make human farm work a thing of the past.

Right now hordes of migrant workers tend to "America's Salad Bowl," located in sunny California, as they have for the past 100 years. But the coming machines will usher in the end of an era.

And many farmers are welcoming the technological advances. They see bots as easing the illegal immigration problem, increasing productivity at less cost (which could be passed onto consumers even as farm profits are bolstered), boost quality and provide a more consistent product.

"Almost three-fourths of all U.S. hired farm workers are immigrants, most of them unauthorized. The U.S. food system - particularly fruit and vegetable production - depends on immigrants more than any other sector of the U.S. economy," says a report by the Bread for the World Institute.

Robots will cost plenty - for the largest farming operations, millions of dollars - but farm operators say the expense will be worth it.

Still, there is much research and development to be done. Right now, bots - machines in general - are clumsy and bulky. They are not always able to detect when fruit and vegetables are ready to be harvested or picked. They can't always detect between produce and leaves. And they don't have the dexterity of a seasoned farm worker.

Machinery and machine technology has made farming easier and more efficient for centuries. The development continues.

Two Predictions

1. Technology will improve much faster than currently estimated
2. By the time Congress addresses the illegal immigrant problem, the nature of the problem will have radically changed

CBO: Public Debt Will Hit 83 Percent of GDP
Newsmax

Many Democrats pointed to the Congressional Budget Office's revised deficit figures as proof that the national debt is not as large of a threat as previously feared.

But a closer look at America's debt reveals a much different — and alarming — reality. In mid-May, the CBO said the federal deficit in fiscal 2013, which ends in September, will be $642 billion, down from the

$1 trillion-plus of the previous four years.

"We don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt," President Obama said in an interview with ABC News. "In fact for the next 10 years it's going to be in a sustainable place."

But "after years of bipartisan overspending, public debt today — that's the money that the federal government owes to domestic and foreign investors — is almost 90 percent higher than at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008," according to Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. "It climbed by $1 trillion between December 2011 and December 2012 alone to its current level of $12.03 trillion."

Public debt is now 75 percent of GDP, the highest level since 1950 — and that doesn't include debt the government owes to Social Security and other accounts.

But the worst is yet to come. The CBO projects that the public debt is scheduled to grow to $19 trillion by 2023, or 73.6 percent of projected GDP — up from 36 percent as recently as the end of 2007.

But if Congress reverses the spending cuts forced through sequestration, the public debt will rise to 83 percent of GDP, the CBO projects.

By 2023, the federal government is expected to spend $823 billion a year on interest payments, up from $223 billion today. Interest payments plus entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will account for 75 percent of the federal budget, and other programs will "gradually be squeezed out," de Rugy writes for Reason magazine.

She concludes: "Congress should circumvent these scenarios by acting now to cut spending and reduce future entitlement obligations. No level of taxes can address the phenomenal fiscal imbalance that our country is facing now and into the future.

"History will not judge the debt-denialists kindly."

Morsi supporters' foes are America and Israel

From Jihad Watch / Posted by Robert Spencer

But they have a great friend in Barack Obama.

This is an effigy Morsi supporters displayed during their demonstrations yesterday (thanks to David).

Fort Hood jihad mass murderer repents of years in Army, says U.S. is at war with Islam

From Jihad Watch / Posted by Robert Spencer

“My complicity was on behalf of a government that openly acknowledges that it would hate for the law of Almighty Allah to be the supreme law of the land." He may be referring there to state anti-Sharia laws, but he must know that the U.S. was instrumental in implementing Sharia constitutions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that Obama insists at the drop of a hat that the U.S. is not and will never be at war with Islam.

In any case, his statement is Islam-drenched, constituting yet another embarrassment for an administration bent on denying that his murders were jihad terrorism, and a media obsessed with "Islamophobia." Watch for the moderate Muslim spokesmen in the U.S. to rush to explain now how Hasan is getting Islam all wrong, wrong, wrong. What's that? None of them will do that? And why not, exactly?

"Accused Fort Hood shooter releases statement to Fox News," by Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne for Fox News, July 26 (thanks to all who sent this in):

EXCLUSIVE: Acting as his own attorney, accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan has released a statement to Fox News claiming that the U.S. military is at war with his religion. 

However, he does not directly address the shooting at the Texas Army Base in November 2009 that killed 13 and injured more than 30 others.

“My complicity was on behalf of a government that openly acknowledges that it would hate for the law of Almighty Allah to be the supreme law of the land," the 42-year-old Army psychiatrist said. Hasan then apparently asked if this was a war on Islam. "You bet it is," he said. "I participated in it.”

The statement, which begins “In the name of Almighty Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, my name is Nidal Hasan, Major Nidal Hasan, and I would like to convey a message to the world,” runs more than six pages.

Hasan also says he regrets his years in the Army, claiming that his service was inconsistent with his religious beliefs. “I would like to begin by repenting to Almighty Allah and apologize to the (Mujahideen), the believers, and the innocent. I ask for their forgiveness and their prayers. I ask for their forgiveness for participating in the illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims, their religion and their lands,” he said.

Hasan also criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East toward the Palestinians.

While Hasan’s motivation for releasing the statement is unknown, Fox News has repeatedly requested an interview with him, with a specific focus on his alleged actions at the Fort Hood Readiness Center on Nov. 5, 2009.

It is believed to be the first lengthy statement by the Fort Hood suspect, whose court martial begins August 6. The judge in Hasan’s case recently ruled that he cannot argue as part of his defense that the shooting was an effort to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan – the so-called “defense of others” strategy.

George Stratton and his son -- who was wounded in the attack -- will both testify at the trial. Stratton told Fox News he is not surprised by the statement.

“I have all along believed Nidal Hasan to be a Muslim terrorist, so it confirms what I’ve always thought,” Stratton said. “I believe that’s exactly how he felt when he did what he did. We should take him at his word.”

Lawyer Neal Sher, who represents Fort Hood shooting victims and their families in a separate legal action, said “This is yet further confirmation of a fact that everyone knows except our government. That is, the Fort Hood shooting was a terrorist jihadi attack.”

If convicted, on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, Hasan faces execution or life in prison without parole.

An extended examination of his statement, and reaction to it, will be part of an upcoming Fox News special investigation scheduled to air in early August. "Fox Files: The Enemy Within," first broadcast in June 2012, was part of Fox's ongoing investigation into the Fort Hood shooting and the connection to the first American targeted for death by the CIA, Anwar al-Awalki [sic].

Obama's game plan in pictures and a few words...

Op-ed:
Egypt at a crossroads...and Obama needs to butt out
By: Diane Sori
 

My, my…looky at what Obama’s buddy, ousted Muslim Brotherhood puppet president is being accused of…murder.

Mohammed Morsi is being brought up on charges relating to the 2011 prison break and attacks on police stations during the revolution against Hosni Mubarak. Morsi’s gunmen attacked the Wadi el-Natroun Prison freeing prisoners, including Morsi and 30 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and prosecutors contend Morsi and the Brotherhood worked with the Palestinian terror group Hamas to carry out the attacks. In the prison break alone 14 guards were killed and prison records were destroyed.

In Judge Hassan Samir own words, ”Morsi conspired with Hamas to carry out aggressive acts in the country” including killing prisoners and officers “deliberately with prior intent” along with kidnapping officers and soldiers, and setting fire to the prison.

And this is who Barack HUSSEIN Obama supported and still supports.

These charges against Morsi have just recently been made public and they are serious indeed…so serious that they will most likely within the next few weeks lead to a formal indictment for conspiring with Hamas as well as for premeditated murder.

And Obama will NOT be able to do a damn thing about it as the Egyptian people are NOT too fond of him...to put it mildly.

And of course Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the accusations are ‘ridiculous’ and ‘politically motivated’. And Hamas spokespeople said there was NOT a shred of evidence of its involvement in the prison break, in fact, they condemned the judge’s allegations of Morsi’s connection to Hamas in full.

“Hamas condemns this move since it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. “This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties, first among them the Palestinian cause”.

Yeah, right…Hamas is peaceful and Obama is a Christian (said with much sarcasm and eyes rolling upward).

In fact, the military commander behind Morsi’s ouster has called for nationwide rallies to support military action against terrorism…against groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. And Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a graduation ceremony in Alexandria last week that Egyptians should “take to the streets…give me the army and police, a mandate to confront possible violence and terrorism so that in case there was a resort to violence and terrorism, the army would have a mandate to confront this,” he said…and hopefully the Egyptian people will give him just that.

And I believe they will for a huge banner across one entrance to Cairo’s Tahrir Square read, “The people, the source of all power, mandate the army and police to purge terrorism”.

The majority of the Egyptian people know the truth about the Muslim Brotherhood, islam, and sharia law and the vast majority want NO part of it…and thus another so-called ‘Arab Spring’ gone NOT according to Obama’s plans…and this one just might end up with some form of democracy in place…something Obama did NOT want under any circumstances NO matter how much he bloviates counter to that in public.

But why is this of any importance to us here in America…why…because Barack HUSSEIN Obama was sending his brethren…Muslim Brotherhood puppet president Mohammad Morsi…F-16 fighter jets and Abrams tanks paid for with our taxpayer dollars is why, and now he’s in a quandary about the $1.5 billion in mostly military aid the US gives to Egypt every year. And as the (Obama) State Department will NOT call Morsi’s removal a coup, because a coup would mean an automatic end to all aid (and saved we taxpayers millions of dollars), he has decided instead to withhold four F-16s that Egypt was expecting delivery of until the situation stabilizes.

BIG deal as Obama has already given the Muslim Brotherhood F-16s and Abrams tanks and we are NOT really sure who has control of them at this point.

Yes, this latest event must surely embarrass Obama because of his continued support for Morsi and the Brotherhood, but we know the in-the-pocket-for-Obama media will twist these events to take the heat off him and another possible scandal…as in ‘aiding and abetting the enemy'…yet again…can you say Benghazi.

And to add insult to injury Obama, just last Friday, had State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki issue this statement, “Well we, of course, are deeply concerned by reports that an Egyptian court has ordered the detention of Mr. Morsi…I can’t speak to the specific charges, but we do believe that it is important that there be a process to work towards his release”.

Of course the Obama administration wants Morsi released…thugs, especially thugs of the muslim variety, have to stick together you know.

And even worse, thanks to the policies of our miserable excuse of a president, the US is now immaterial to the Egyptian people and their leadership and has lost all credibility in the region. Egypt can do without us and the overthrow of Morsi proves just that, as the move by the military was in direct response to a mandate from the people to restore order and security…something that should give ‘We the People’ pause to think upon…and maybe…well…you know.