Current global development deemed unsustainable; Homeland Security and ID chips in driver's licenses; AZ woman who graduated high school and can't speak English now running for office; Non-citizens voting in Florida; 25% of Michigan education payroll goes to pensions; March 1 Arizona news conference on Obama's eligibility; American dependence on federal government goes up 23% in first two Obama years; Can Catholic confessions be admissable in court?; 5.4 million fewer Americans now employed; "Occupy" plans violence at CPAC; Con't you throw a football!; 20% of Republicans leaning toward Obama; If it walks like a duck....; Public advocate hired for illegals

Yahoo News writes: The world can no longer afford to ignore the environmental cost of economic growth and must redefine the very concept of national wealth, a UN panel of heads of state and environment ministers said Monday.

The panel challenged leaders to recognise that "current global development is unsustainable."

"We need to chart a new, more sustainable course for the future, one that strengthens equality and economic growth while protecting our planet," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Addis Ababa to mark the release of the panel's report, which outlines more than 50 policy recommendations.

By 2030, the report warned, the planet will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water.

The report called for:

-- a new nexus between food, water and energy. "All three need to be fully integrated, not treated separately, if we are to deal with the global food security crisis";

-- a stronger interface between science and policy. "We must define what scientists refer to as planetary boundaries" beyond which human activity could wreck the planet;

-- reducing social exclusion and closing the widening gap of social inequality. http://news.yahoo.com/un-panel-says-retool-world-economy-sustainability-164515165.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) website urged:  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano to reverse a new policy that requires some states to implant radio frequency identification (RFID) chips into the states’ driver’s licenses. The chips allow Customs and Border Protection officers to scan an entire vehicle from up to 30 feet away in order to identify the vehicle’s occupants. “The chips would give public and private entities an unprecedented ability to track Americans,” wrote Amash. “RFIDs can be read using widely available technology, including technology contained in mobile phones, which increases the risk of identity theft. Furthermore, if RFIDs were to become ubiquitous, there is little doubt that private entities would deploy new technology to capture the chips’ data.”
Michigan is one of the states subject to the DHS mandate. The Michigan state House and Senate each unanimously approved a resolution calling on DHS to address privacy concerns related to the mandate, and Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has asked the Department for the flexibility to issue secure driver’s licenses without RFIDs. Amash also is working closely with state Rep. Paul Opsommer on the issue. http://amash.house.gov/press-release/amash-no-tracking-chips-drivers-licenses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada Free Press writes: Our broken education system and the immigration without integration issues were brought to the forefront once more in the recent fight of a woman in Arizona who wishes to run for a city council seat. 

According to the Phoenix Sun, Cabrera does not speak proficient English and uses an interpreter to communicate, in spite of the fact that she is a graduate of Kofa High School in Yuma.  http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/44328

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Thinker writes: Judging by the ACLU's double standard, secrecy is warranted if exposure might reveal voter fraud.  On the other hand, if exposure puts marriage supporters at risk for harassment by radical activists...well, then, that's okay.
Unlike its apparent indifference to abuses of pro-marriage donors exposed in California in 2008, the ACLU pressured a Wisconsin agency not to create an online database to verify two million signatures for recalling Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and four Republican state senators.  The ACLU cites possible threats to victims of domestic violence.  This might wash, except that the ACLU is also suing Wisconsin over its photo ID law that curbs voter fraud.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/aclu_fights_sunshine_in_wisconsin_recall.html#ixzz1lKHRuwD0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABC writes: Poor record keeping is what's leading to potential fraud in the elections system. And election supervisors say registering non-citizens will continue until they get more help.

Officials we spoke to say non U.S. citizens are voting in Lee and Collier counties.

"If there is a change by one vote and somebody's voted that really has no right to be voting," said Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington.

Nearly 100 registered are now under investigation for possible voter fraud.

"It could change the whole complexion of an election," Harrington said.

We found those 100 people after reviewing jury excusal forms. We compared the names of those who said they couldn't serve because they were not U.S. citizens to those listed on Florida's voter registration rolls.http://www.abc-7.com/story/16666098/2012/02/02/nbc2-investigates-voter-fraud-part-2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michigan Capitol Confidential reports: The state’s teacher retirement system continues to increase burdens on taxpayers and local school districts. The costs exploded in the recent years, and without substantial reform there is no reason to expect that trend to change.
The explanation isn’t hard to find: Since 1988, the system has been close to “fully-funded” in just three years, all in the high-growth 1990s. Its unfunded liabilities are now $17.6 billion. To put this into perspective, it would take roughly all of the state’s annual tax revenue to fully fund the system.
The upward trend of these payments is striking: In 1984, they cost just 3.22 percent of school payroll expenses. Today they swallow nearly 25 percent of payroll.  http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/16387
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Net Daily reports: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told WND today his office has scheduled a news conference in Phoenix for March 1 to release findings of the Cold Case Posse that has been investigating Barack Obama’s birth certificate and eligibility to be president.
Arpaio declined to release to WND any of the posse’s conclusions in advance of the press conference, although he is on record saying the findings may be “shocking” to many.
The posse was constituted as a 501(c)3 organization, designed to cost the people of Maricopa County nothing, while enabling people from around the country to contribute to its mission.
In total, more than 3,000 volunteers participate in Arpaio’s posse program. The power to constitute posses is authorized to Arizona sheriffs under the state constitution. http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/d-day-set-for-sheriff-joe-on-obama-eligibility/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Investors writes: [This is not by accident.  It is the Cloward and Piven Strategy in action]: The American public's dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation. http://news.investors.com/Article/600452/201202080802/government-dependence-jumps-under-president-obama.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington Post covers Santorem speech: But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he [Obama] isn't listening. Why would you think he would be listening now? Has he ever listened to the voice of America before?
He's someone who -- well, let's just go look at the record. If you look at when it came to the -- the Wall Street bailouts, did the president of the United States listen to you when it came to bailing out the big banks?
Why? Because he thought he just knew better. He and his friends on Wall Street knew better than what was -- what was good for this country. When it came to the problems that were being confronted on Obamacare, when the health care system in this country, did President Obama, when he was pushing forward his radical health care ideas, listen to the American people?
Why? Because he thinks he knows better how to run your lives and manage your health care.
When it comes to the environment, did the president of the United States listen to the American people, or did he push a radical cap- and-trade agenda that would crush the energy and manufacturing sector of the economy? Did he listen to you? No, because he thinks he knows better.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/rick-santorums-missouri-victory-speech-full-transcript/2012/02/07/gIQAGcUwxQ_blog.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBS reports: In a case that could set national precedent, the three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel plans to hear arguments Thursday about whether a pastor’s testimony related to a possible confession in a child sexual assault case may be used in court. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/court-to-hear-arguments-about-pastors-testimony/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston.com reports: The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University found that there were 5.4 million fewer people in the workforce last year than projected by the Labor Department in 2008 - many the “hidden unemployed’’ who, no longer searching for work, are not counted in the official jobless rate. In Massachusetts, their numbers have more than doubled over the past decade to about 120,000. http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2012/02/08/more_than_5_million_people_missing_from_the_us_labor_force/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Government reports: The “Occupy DC” protest group is planning to disrupt the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference using a range of potentially illegal tactics that could even include violence against participants, Scribe has learned.

“Speakers will be physically assaulted, not just verbally confronted,” the source told Scribe in an email. Two Occupiers, who the source also identified as members of the New Black Panther Party, “said they would be disappointed if they didn’t get arrested and planned to ‘make it count.’”
The source quoted another protester as saying, “Mitt [Romney] has Secret Service now, but [Newt] Gingrich and [Andrew] Breitbart don’t,” seemingly suggesting that the latter two would not be as heavily guarded.
Protesters planned to conduct most of these activities on Saturday, the last day of the conference, so as not to overlap with the recently announced protests by labor groups on Thursday and Friday. http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2012/02/07/occupiers-are-targeting-andrew-breitbart-at-cpac-threaten-physical-violence/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CBS reports: When you head down to the beach for a little fun this summer, county officials want you to leave the pigskin at home.
The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to raise fines to up to $1,000 for anyone who throws a football or a Frisbee on any beach in Los Angeles County.
In passing the 37-page ordinance http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/la-county-oks-1000-fine-for-throwing-football-frisbee-on-beaches/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Net Daily writes: But the 2012 election is looking more like a replay of 2008 than a do-over.
The latest WND/Wenzel Poll shows none of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates has solidified the base of the party, with one in five GOP voters leaning toward support of Obama in November. http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/20-of-republicans-leaning-to-obama/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Thinker opines: Any doubt over presidential eligibility is unacceptable.  The American people shouldn't have to "believe" that Obama is constitutionally eligible. Trust is for gods; skepticism and verification is for politicians.

The recent development of the state ballot challenges represents the right of the people to remove the doubt.  Petitioners are demanding that evidence that meets the standard of courtroom admissibility, if it does exist, be produced to confirm Obama's eligibility.

If Obama is not willing to be completely transparent, then he should step down.  To the bewilderment of his sycophants, the cloud of skepticism hanging over Obama's head is commensurate to his unique background, not his skin color.  No one doubted the eligibility of Jesse Jackson, Alan Keyes, Al Sharpton, or Herman Cain.

Doubt remains because, legally speaking, Obama hasn't "released" anything.  To meet a basic legal standard of evidentiary competence and admissibility, certified paper copies must be produced, and the original document in Hawaii must be made available for the states.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/the_obama_ballot_challenges_a_crisis_of_confidence.html#ixzz1ltMWsmQ3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investors.com writes: If anything shows how ever-expanding government works at cross-purposes, it's the Obama administration's newly named post of "public advocate" for illegal aliens. What part of "illegal" don't they understand? It seems those who've broken the law by entering the U.S. illegally are now entitled to special U.S. government protection from — the U.S. government. At least, that's the logic of the phony new "public advocate" post created for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://news.investors.com/Article/600585/201202081901/illegal-aliens-get-taxpayer-funded-advocate.htm