Islamic Terrorist Groups Plan Attacks on U.S. From Mexico

Pulaski note: On May 5th we reported a story about Hezbollah setting up camp near the Mexican border.  The original article can be seen here.   The gatewaypundit.com -A new documentary by the Spanish Univision television channel titled “La Amenaza Irani” (The Iranian Threat) uses undercover, never-before-seen footage to illustrate how the Iranian regime’s growing ties to Latin America that threaten U.S. national security.  Documentaries Univision and Univision News investigative unit presents “The Iranian threat,” a revealing documentary that examines the growing political, economic and military of Iran in Latin America and the threat this attack mean for the region and the U.S. Production reveals exclusive findings, including audio recordings and video secret that provide a rare window to the alleged cyber attack perpetrated against the United States from Mexico. More News New Mexico
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NMSU Hosts Border Presentation

Las Cruces Sun-News - LAS CRUCES - A snapshot of the health and social needs of the U.S.- Mexico border was presented to New Mexico State University regents during a regular monthly meeting Friday at the Las Cruces campus. "The border is not the end of the country, but the middle of two countries interacting," said Hugo Vilchis, director of NMSU's College of Health and Social Services. His goal, he said, is to help position the university as a hub of interaction between the United States and Mexico so that health information and policies can be shared quickly to track and combat the spread of disease. "How do we do that with two different languages?" he asked, and said the answer was by continuing the university's progress of bringing together local resources with the backing of federal and state governments. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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NM's Alamosaurus: Largest Dinosaur on Continent

Alamosaurus bone
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Remember the Alamosaurus? Well, some new discoveries about the ancient sauropod dinosaur might make it tough to forget. A paper published on Tuesday by researchers from Montana State University and the State Museum of Pennsylvania identifies the Alamosaurus as the largest that ever roamed North America. MSU paleontologist Denver Fowler, one of the paper's authors, told KRQE the Alamosaurus weighed around 70 tons when it roamed the Earth near the end of the Cretaceous period more than 65 million years ago. The Alamosaurus isn't new to paleontologists. It was discovered in the Alamo Wash of the San Juan Basin in the 1920s, but previously discovered fossils were either very fragmented or from younger dinosaurs. But then researchers dug up a femur and two large vertebrae in New Mexico between 2003 and 2006. After analysis, paleontologists were able to compare those vertebrae to other gigantic sauropod dinosaurs. The Alamosaurus is now considered to have been comparably sized to the South American Argentinosaurus, known as the largest dinosaur on the planet. Fowler says the Alamosaurus was the largest dinosaur in North America, but not the longest. Another New Mexico dinosaur, the Seismosaurus, was far longer. Read full story here: New New Mexico

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Pearce: Accountability in Unemployment Act

Steve Pearce
Washington, DC (December 9, 2011) Yesterday, Congressman Steve Pearce introduced H.R. 3615, the Accountability in Unemployment Act. His bill will combat abuse of the federal unemployment compensation program and save taxpayers money. The legislation requires recipients of unemployment benefits to pass a drug screen. “For too long, our national government has been subsidizing a cycle of drug dependence and reliance on government funding,” said Pearce. “Many employers require employees to pass a drug test. However, since the government does not enforce this policy to receive taxpayer supported unemployment compensation, Washington is encouraging lives of dependence in those who continue illicit drug use while receiving benefits.
When the government allows individuals the opportunity to take advantage of our unemployment program, which is meant to be a safety net, the government is subsidizing drug use and discouraging Americans from seeking work. Our government cannot afford to continue taxing hard working Americans to pay the way for those in the program who choose to put illegal drug use ahead of working. Washington has allowed exploitation of government programs meant to help those who need it most,” Pearce continued. “Those who are down on their luck or cannot support themselves are the intended recipients of unemployment benefits. The unemployment compensation program was never meant to be a long-term support system; yet, we see cases where people are using it as just that. These are people who choose not to work because they cannot pass a drug screen. The government must stop paying for these illegal and unacceptable actions.” Congressman Pearce has held three job fairs across New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, and even with 8.6 national unemployment, companies are struggling to find workers. Additionally, Congressman Pearce’s office has heard from constituents and businesses who do not want to carry the burden for those abusing the system. Gary Beal, a businessman from Hobbs, New Mexico wrote in a letter to the Hobbs News Sun: “I, like many Americans, am tired of paying the way for those who choose not to work or who choose to do drugs...Through their drug use, they are not only abusing their bodies, homes and communities; they are also abusing the system while abusing me and every other taxpayer.” H.R. 3615 requires that applicants and beneficiaries pay for a drug screen, the cost of which will be reimbursed if the test shows no drug use. It also contains a three-strike policy which allows future or current recipients multiple opportunities to test negative before being unable to receive benefits for five years. The bill has support from constituents and business owners from across New Mexico’s Second Congressional District.

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Tax Man Cometh

Bill O'Reilly
Townhall - Obama is big on using "income inequality" as a campaign slogan. And it does exist in America. Folks without a good education or a technical micro-skill are not likely to earn good money. Unions are on the decline, and the public sector is collapsing economically. No longer can the taxpayers afford lavish pensions and overtime payments. The working class is getting hammered all over the place. So, the Democratic Party wants more of my take-home pay diverted to them so they can give it to those not earning very much. But the Obama administration, like others before it, refuses to watch how the money is dispatched. Therefore, billions of dollars are abused every year. Medicare waste alone costs the country $168 billion per annum. There comes a time when the truth must be told. The federal government is not built to run massive entitlement programs or health care or even the U.S. Postal Service, which is now going bankrupt. Washington simply cannot administrate to 300 million people no matter how much money pours in. I work hard and want to pay my fair share. But I don't want my hard-earned dollars wasted by lazy, incompetent politicians pandering for votes. Call me crazy. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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Spence: Confidence is Fragile, Great Businesses are Durable and Resilient

Jim Spence
Coach Gary Ward is in the College Baseball Hall of Fame for good reason. He once won 16 straight Big 8 baseball titles at Oklahoma State University. Ward once told me one of the hardest things for college coaches to do is to persuade the very best high school athletes to come to school in an obscure location. It seems the mild weather and slower pace of life that comes with living in New Mexico doesn’t always appeal to 18 year old athletes. Fortunately, portfolio managers don’t have to “persuade” the shares of the best publicly traded companies to come to their areas. In portfolio management, a relatively obscure business location isn’t an issue. In America, publicly traded shares are available to EVERYONE regardless of where they live. It is possession of the skills needed to identify and take timely ownership of resilient companies with durable competitive advantages that is the key to investment success.
For a portfolio manager, the ability to maintain emotional control during the decision-making process is also a critical skill. It takes confidence and patience to be successful when the fickle financial media mob is sounding the confidence-killing warning sirens and Wall Street’s computer-driven traders are stampeding to the trading windows.
In investing, appropriate emotional temperament can be defined as understanding the fragile and fickle nature of mob “confidence” rather than trying to forecast it. For the patient investor, the presence or absence of mob confidence must be viewed within the framework of history. In any era one can always identify the widely followed skeptics of the day who were ready to point to a fragile market environment and foist the “uncertain” label on it. We suspect times have been pretty much “uncertain” ever since the days when human beings started drawing pictures on the walls of caves. Accordingly, it is important to recognize it is the ebb and flow of “confidence,” that helps create opportunities for astute business analysts.
When confidence is particularly low it is actually helpful to observant buyers. In fact, over time, extraordinary investment results can be achieved by taking positions in shares of companies that feature “resilient” businesses when mob confidence is exceedingly low. The price actions we have seen in the financial markets in late 2011 are somewhat indicative of a mild rebound in overall “confidence.” And as a mild increase in confidence has returned, the markets have gradually reappraised the share values of resilient businesses. However, in the bigger scheme of things, any temporary renewal or lapse in confidence is irrelevant to the challenge of identifying durably resilient businesses.
As year end approaches, the stock market “forecasts” for 2012 should be rolling out. The accuracy of most stock market forecasts is almost as fragile as the confidence they attempt to predict. On the other hand, owning shares of resilient businesses, with superior financial characteristics and durable competitive advantages should continue to be a winning proposition. However, don’t look for a smooth ride. In a competitive world, winning propositions are rarely “smooth.”


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