The U.S. had secret talks with North Korea last year?

If so, they were obviously a failure like the rest of Obama's foreign policy...

Via The Hill: 

Senior United States administration officials conducted secret discussions with North Korea following the death of Kim Jong Il, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

The report said U.S. military planes shuttled between Guam and Pyongyang on April 7, 2012, and then again from Aug. 18 through Aug. 20 last year. The purpose of the meeting with North Korean officials was to discuss policies in the leadership transition, according to the Japanese daily.

The Shimbun said it believed those aboard the aircraft included: Sydney Seiler, director of Korea at the U.S. National Security Council; and Joseph DeTrani, who formerly led the North Korea department at the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The U.S. did not keep Japan abreast of the talks, “Although the visits had potential implications for Japan,” the newspaper said.

State Department officials told Japan’s Foreign Ministry to stop asking about the meetings, saying such inquiries “would harm bilateral relations” between the U.S. and Japan, according to the Shimbun.

Keep on reading…

Rasmussen: 42% of Americans think U.S. Debt Default is Somewhat Likely

Did you know America’s per capita government debt is worse than Greece?

Via Rasmussen:

Looking overseas at the catastrophic economic problems plaguing Greece and other European nations, a sizable number of Americans still think the United States is also a candidate for default in the near future. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of American Adults believe it is at least somewhat likely that the U.S. government will default on its debt in the next five years. Forty-eight percent (48%) now rate a national debt default as unlikely. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Surveillance Drone shot down: In U.S.

A Surveillance Drone was reportedly shot down Sunday. The strange part was it wasn't in iran or Afghanistan. An animal rights group claims their Mikrokopter drone was shot down in South Carolina Sunday.

A remote-controlled aircraft owned by an animal rights group was reportedly shot down near Broxton Bridge Plantation Sunday near Ehrhardt, S.C.

Steve Hindi, president of SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness), said his group was preparing to launch its Mikrokopter drone to video what he called a live pigeon shoot on Sunday when law enforcement officers and an attorney claiming to represent the privately-owned plantation near Ehrhardt tried to stop the aircraft from flying.

"It didn't work; what SHARK was doing was perfectly legal," Hindi said in a news release. "Once they knew nothing was going to stop us, the shooting stopped and the cars lined up to leave."

He said the animal rights group decided to send the drone up anyway.

"Seconds after it hit the air, numerous shots rang out," Hindi said in the release. "As an act of revenge for us shutting down the pigeon slaughter, they had shot down our copter."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: U.S. has begun secret talks with Taliban

How do you negotiate with animals who shoot pregnant women on charges of adultery and execute small children for being spies?

KABUL –  The U.S. and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal, disclosing an important breakthrough in efforts to end the 10-year war.

Mr. Karzai, whose government had protested being left out of recent talks between Washington and the insurgents, added he believes most Taliban are "definitively" interested in a peace settlement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: 'People in Afghanistan want peace, including the Taliban. They're also people like we all are. They have families, they have relatives, they have children, they are suffering a tough time.

U.S. in Worse Financial Shape Than Greece

When you look at how much we are "on the hook" for, U.S. is in worse financial shape than Greece. We have liabilities of nearly $100 trillion!

(CNBC) – When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries, Pimco’s Bill Gross told CNBC Monday.

Much of the public focus is on the nation’s public debt, which is $14.3 trillion. But that doesn’t include money guaranteed for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which comes to close to $50 trillion, according to government figures.

The government also is on the hook for other debts such as the programs related to the bailout of the financial system following the crisis of 2008 and 2009, government figures show.

Taken together, Gross puts the total at “nearly $100 trillion,” that while perhaps a bit on the high side, places the country in a highly unenviable fiscal position that he said won’t find a solution overnight.

Obama's Plan to Try Terrorists in the U.S. is a Failure

The test case that President Obama hoped would pave the way for a U.S. trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Guantanamo terrorists has failed on all counts but one. Ahmed Ghailani, a native of Tanzania, was accused of 276 counts of murder, attempted murder and other conspiracy charges. He was acquitted on all charges except the relatively minor one of conspiracy to destroy US property. 224 people died in the attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.

The Washington Post reported:

The first former Guantanamo Bay detainee to be tried in federal criminal court was found not guilty on Wednesday on all but one of the 285 counts he faced for his role in the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings

How did this travesty of justice happen? Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York , a Clinton appointee, threw out key testimony because "enhanced interrogation" techniques were used. The testimony that was excluded wasn't obtained from enhanced interrogation of the defendant Ghailani. The government didn't even go down that rat hole. The testimony that was excluded was from key government witness Tanzania Hussein Abebe. Abebe was to testify that he gave Ahmed Ghailani explosives used in one of the bombings. Abebe's testimony was thrown out because the government may have learn of him through "coerced interrogation."

Today, Judge Kaplan ruled that Abebe’s testimony was fruit of a poisonous tree and could not be admitted into evidence. In reaching his decision, Judge Kaplan found that the existence of the would-be witness for the prosecution was learned through coercive interrogation of Ghailani carried out by the CIA at secret detention sites and Guantanamo, and was not convinced by the government’s arguments that it would have found the witness without the use of the coerced information or that the link between government coercion of Ghailani and the witness’ testimony was too remote to violate the Constitution. Ghailani had argued that the witness’ testimony should be excluded because the identity of the witness was obtained through coerced interrogation, in that Ghailani was denied the right to counsel and was subjected to “extremely harsh interrogation methods”. The defense classified the interrogation methods as torture.

After the failure of this trial to reach a guilty verdict on the major charges and the recent takeover of the House by Republicans, President Obama's dream of trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other terrorists in the U.S. is likely ended.

The U.S. Military is Haiti's Only Hope

Liberals hate the U.S. military, but they are they greatest force for good on the planet. They are Haiti's only hope and they are on the job and saving lives. Here is a video from MSNBC. Respect to all our servicemen and women.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ahmadinejad Claims U.S. is Blocking Return of Messiah

If you needed additional proof Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is crazy, here it is:

FOX News reported:

“We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” Ahmadinejad said during a speech on Monday, according to Al Arabiya.

"They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Iranian student protesters shout “Death to Dictators!”.

Swine flu arrives in the U.S.

The swine flu pandemic(outbreak) has crossed the border into the U.S. Twenty cases have been reported so far this month. According to the CDC,

Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in the United States. Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection also have been identified internationally. The current U.S. case count is provided below.

Google has a swine flu map.

President Obama denies our Christian roots

President Obama declared that the U.S. is no longer a Christian nation while in Turkey. This flies in the face of the fact that 75 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. A new Newsweek poll reveals that 62 percent still think the U.S. is a Christian nation. David Limbaugh at Townhall.com dissects this statement.

A Christian Nation?
by David Limbaugh

President Barack Obama said in Turkey: "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

Well, I don't know what "we" consider "ourselves," but I do think we ought to examine that statement and why Obama felt compelled to make it a part of his world apology tour.

Can you imagine the Saudi king coming to America and bragging that his nation is not Muslim? I assure you that he's not ashamed of the Islamic character of his nation, even though his nation is demonstrably less tolerant of other religions.

So is (or was) America a Christian nation? If by that we mean that America is a Christian theocracy, that our government should give Christians preferential treatment, or that members of other faiths aren't welcome, the answer is an emphatic "no."

But if we are talking about the ideals that led to the very colonization of this land, our declaration of independence from Britain, and the formulation of our Constitution, then the answer is certainly "yes." (excerpt) read more at townhall.com