Friday, February 28, 2014
Government at Work - in Philadelphia
I suspect this has a lot to do with public service unions success in negotiating.
And I'm sure some private companies are in circumstances that many would call over-the-top.
For me, at least some benefits should be linked to success and profitability...
And I'm sure some private companies are in circumstances that many would call over-the-top.
For me, at least some benefits should be linked to success and profitability...
Sean Collins Walsh & Jenny DeHuff recently told this story at Philly.com:
"HOW WOULD YOU like to work at a place where most employees take about eight weeks off every year? Look no further than the city of Philadelphia, where the typical municipal worker gets almost 50 days of paid leave and uses an average 38 days per year - more than the average state or local government employee and far more than private-sector workers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data."
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The myth of ‘settled science’ - The Washington Post
Recently, Charles Krauthammer included these and more observations in the Washington Post:
"I repeat: I’m not a global warming believer. I’m not a global warming denier. I’ve long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I also believe that those scientists who pretend to know exactly what this will cause in 20, 30 or 50 years are white-coated propagandists. 'The debate is settled,' asserted propagandist in chief Barack Obama in his latest State of the Union address. 'Climate change is a fact.' Really?"
"EE, Britain's biggest mobile phone company, moving 1,000 jobs back to UK"
I hope this one does...
In the U.K. Daily Mail, Peter Campbell recently reported:
"Britain's biggest mobile phone company EE is moving 1,000 jobs back to the UK... because customers dislike overseas call centres"
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Streets are alive with the sound of children playing - Telegraph
Claire Duffin writes about this in the U.K. Telegraph:
"It is an image which appears to belong to a bygone era: young children playing together in streets free from traffic. But this is not the 1930s, this is modern Britain. Dozens of roads across the country are closing to cars to allow children to play safely in the street after school.
It is part of a nationwide drive to bring back 'play streets', once a common sight until their decline in the 1980s."
Liberty versus liberty: religious freedom bills trouble gay rights supporters
Here's an issue to ponder...
On the DeseretNews.com website, Mark A. Kellner has some background on an issue exemplified by this recent event:
"The bill comes in the wake of a number of cases across the country in which same-sex couples complained that business owners refused service on the grounds of religious belief. In one prominent example, a New Mexico court said last year that the refusal of wedding photographer Elaine Huguenin to take pictures of a same-sex wedding was not protected under that state's version of the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, since the state was not acting to force an action."
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
NRA's Chris Cox: Occasionally they get it | The Daily Caller
As is often said: "Facts are stubborn things"...
On the Daily Caller website, RE-LINK TEXT Chris Cox includes these in his recent article:
"A few months ago, a story by Paul Barrett was published in Businessweek entitled, 'Why Gun Control Is Basically Dead.' That story attempted to explain why gun control efforts have largely stalled, despite the fact that gun control proponents consider new restrictions 'inevitable.' Surprisingly, Barrett got it somewhat right.
We have been reporting for years that violent crime is down significantly over the past two decades. While most of the media fail to report this simple fact—or worse, give the impression that violent crime is on the rise—Barrett accurately reported that it is down 50 percent since 1993. Barrett also correctly pointed out one of the key fallacies of the anti-gun argument, 'Apart from politics, dispassionate observers must question the simplistic liberal slogan that more guns equals more crime. The U.S. has seen a two-decade period during which private gun ownership has continued to soar (some 300 million firearms are now in civilian hands), while crime has diminished.'"
"Coloradans fuming over deal to privatize highway toll lanes"
This is a two-parter.
Keeping everything secret is surely not right, and likely not lawful.
I'm not really sure about the privatization idea...
Keeping everything secret is surely not right, and likely not lawful.
I'm not really sure about the privatization idea...
Greg Campbell recently posted about this issue on the Daily Caller website:
"Department officials say the arrangement with Plenary Roads, an Australian-based business consortium, is secret and the details won’t be publicly disclosed until it’s finalized.
The deal involves allowing the private entity to pay the cost of widening U.S. Highway 36 between Boulder and Denver and collect revenue from new toll lanes for 50 years. Officials say the state can barely maintain the busy highway as is, and that partnerships with private entities are necessary."
Monday, February 24, 2014
The politics of Obamacare delays - POLITICO.com
In my opinion "just winging it" is more than a perception.
Obamacare was NOT not well thought out by a long shot.
One political party sees it as all wrong, while the other sees it as a great gift to all of us...
Obamacare was NOT not well thought out by a long shot.
One political party sees it as all wrong, while the other sees it as a great gift to all of us...
At Politico.com, David Natter gives his rundown on what's going on. He begins:
"By now, the pattern is pretty clear: Obamacare deadlines don’t stick. And they probably never will.
The unanswered question is, does the extra time create more hassles than benefits for those affected - and is the goalpost-moving worth the political headaches it creates for the Obama administration?
Because undeniably, every time the Obama administration bends a deadline for the Affordable Care Act — delaying the employer mandate for the second time, putting off parts of the enrollment launch, or giving customers just a little more time to sign up — it fuels the perception that the administration is just winging it, and gives Republicans new fodder to accuse the White House of rewriting laws too casually."
California farmers won't get federal water - Yahoo News
There are quite a few different views as to why water can't seem to get where it's needed.
That being said, the end result is we will pay more for produce or do without...
That being said, the end result is we will pay more for produce or do without...
On the Yahoo.com news site, Scott Smith reports on this:
"Without a lot more rain and snow, many California farmers caught in the state's drought can expect to receive no irrigation water this year from a vast system of rivers, canals and reservoirs interlacing the state, federal officials announced Friday."
Sunday, February 23, 2014
2014-02-23 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, February 22, 2014
"LifeNews Tells Girl Scouts: We Won't Stop Reporting Your Link to Planned Parenthood"
The issue of abortion "seems" to have entangled the Girl Scouts.
They say not so, but this website disagrees...
They say not so, but this website disagrees...
Steven Ertelt writes about it on the LifeNews.com website:
"During the last two weeks, LifeNews has brought international attention to the link between the Girl Scouts and the Planned Parenthood abortion business and the national boycott of Girl Scouts cookies sponsored by pro-life groups.
As we reported, after a series of LifeNews articles on the boycott and the Girl Scouts-Planned Parenthood link, that featured the Girl Scouts logo to identify the organization, Brian Crawford, an executive with Girl Scouts USA, wrote LifeNews a scathing letter attempting to intimidate us into stopping our reporting on their link and to no longer use their logo or image to identify them as we bring attention to their support for the nation’s biggest abortion business."
Friday, February 21, 2014
Financiers at Play?
What in the world is going on here?...
The link is to an article by Kevin Roose titled:
"One-Percent Jokes and Plutocrats in Drag: What I Saw When I Crashed a Wall Street Secret Society"
Note - Link only. I'm reluctant to post any content because of copyright protection.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
"...Anger at plan to deny treatment if you've had a 'fair innings'"
If not already, this is a certain future issue...
This is from an article by Jenny Hope and Daniel Martin in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"Patients who have had a ‘fair innings’ could be denied life-saving drugs under proposed health reforms.
The plans would mean experts taking into account whether there is a ‘wider societal benefit’ to giving a patient crucial medicines.
The NHS rationing body, Nice, fears the Department of Health proposals could see younger people deemed a higher priority for drug treatments because they have more years ahead of them – potentially contributing more to the economy – than the elderly.
Doctors, MPs and campaigners last night condemned the plans as ‘barking mad’.
The move will also fuel fears that the elderly are receiving a worse deal from the health service than the young."
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
"Solar Provides 0.2% of Electric Supply..."
It would seem that energy production would constantly be increasing.
Perhaps government policies have something to do with that...
Perhaps government policies have something to do with that...
AT CNSnews.com, Terence P. Jeffrey includes this in his discussion of energy production:
"In 2008, according to EIA, the U.S. generated a net of 4,119,388 million kilowatthours of electricity. In 2012, the last full calendar year for which data has been collected, the U.S. generated a net of 4,047,765 million kilowatthours of electricity.
From 2008 to 2012, U.S. electricity production declined by 1.7 percent.
In the first nine months of 2013, according to the latest data from EIA, U.S. electricity production continued to decline. In those nine months, the U.S. produced 3,078,460 million kilowatthours of electricity compared to 3,095,504 in the first nine months of 2012."
"Ninth Circuit: The Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry a gun in public"
This seems like quite a logical ruling.
Of course, it's not likely to be really settled until the Supreme Court rules...
Of course, it's not likely to be really settled until the Supreme Court rules...
At HotAir.com, "AllahPundit" reports on this recent ruling:
"With today’s ruling, the Ninth joins the Seventh in holding that the Second Amendment, just as it says, includes a right to 'bear' arms. States can regulate that right but they can’t ban it altogether. Three other federal appellate courts have ruled the other way, all but guaranteeing that SCOTUS will end up deciding this sooner rather than later."
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
"California's transgender law allows male high schooler to make girls' softball team"
Perry Chiaramonte reports on it at FoxNews.com:
"A California high school student who believes he is a girl trapped in a boy's body just made the girls' softball team. Pat Cordova-Goff, 17, a strapping senior at Azusa High School, in Azusa, an hour east of Los Angeles, can play with and against girls because of a September change in state law went into effect last month."
"Government adds 1,516 pages to the Federal Register"
And much more is coming.
Does anyone think that bigger government is really helping us?...
Does anyone think that bigger government is really helping us?...
On the Daily Caller website, Breanna Deutsch reports on this:
"Last week Mother Nature shut down Washington’s government offices for a day, but the extreme weather was no match for federal regulators. Over that time period, 1,516 new pages and 56 additional final regulations were published in the Federal Register, according to the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute. Broken down, that is the equivalent of a new regulation added about every three hours."
Monday, February 17, 2014
"Portland's Blacks Protest City’s Plans to Make Neighborhood More Desirable"
Do you see anything wrong here?...
On the GodfatherPolitics website, Dave Jolly has the story behind this:
"In today’s troubled economy, one would expect a low-income neighborhood would welcome a discount grocery store in their midst. Not only would it provide cheaper food closer to home, but it would also provide jobs for some of the area’s residents. But that’s just what the black residents of Portland, Oregon don’t want."
Christian Militia Could Wipe Out Central African Republic's Muslim Population, Says Human Rights Group
This one doesn't seem like one we would expect...
Morgan Lee writes about this at ChristianPost.com:
"Christian militia taking revenge on the Central African Republic's Muslim population could drive the entire Islamic group out of the country, a human rights group claimed earlier this week.
The anti-balaka ("anti-machete") has increasingly fought back against the country's minority Muslim population since the Muslim Seleka rebel group antagonized the country's Christians."
Sunday, February 16, 2014
2014-02-16 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Government at Work - on a wheelchair ramp
Could it really be possible that no one noticed this as it was unfolding?...
John Hall has the whole story on this in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"After two years campaigning for better access, officials eventually agreed to build a ramp. But Ms Lally was left shocked by their solution - a £40,000, 10-level eyesore which almost entirely fills her front garden"
Friday, February 14, 2014
"Why I'm Getting Sick of Defending Obamacare"
This writer is known and respected in Washington, D.C.
For the record he is an advocate of the Obamacare idea...
For the record he is an advocate of the Obamacare idea...
On the National Journal website, Ron Fournier explains his current feelings and tells us why:
"The win-at-all-cost mentality helped create a culture in which a partisan-line vote was deemed sufficient for passing transcendent legislation. It spurred advisers to develop a dishonest talking point—'If you like your health plan, you'll be able to keep your health plan.' And political expediency led Obama to repeat the line, over and over and over again, when he knew, or should have known, it was false.
Defending the ACA became painfully harder when online insurance markets were launched from a multi-million-dollar website that didn't work, when autopsies on the administration's actions revealed an epidemic of incompetence that began in the Oval Office and ended with no accountability.
Then officials started fudging numbers and massaging facts to promote implementation, nothing illegal or even extraordinary for this era of spin. But they did more damage to the credibility of ACA advocates."
Ex-director of Billings housing organization denies fraud charges
Access to taxpayers money is clearly a temptation.
As with all temptations, most of us can resist, and a few cannot...
As with all temptations, most of us can resist, and a few cannot...
On the Billings Gazette website, Clair Johnson recently reported on this person:
"U.S. Attorney Carl Rostad said in the indictment that McClure paid herself “significant sums” for consulting services even though she was a full-time employee and that she embezzled money to pay her family unauthorized salaries and bonuses, family bills and personal travel expenses.
McClure charged every homeowner $750 for a nonexistent “technical assistance warranty” and a $1,000 fee for leasing tools that were provided by the grant, the indictment said.
McClure also moved money from one account into another account over which she had more control, Rostad said.
McClure then used the account to steal money to buy a laptop computer for personal use and to pay herself for unused sick leave and annual leave “substantially exceeding” the hours to which she was entitled to receive compensation. She also wrote a $21,000 check to which she was not entitled, he said."
Thursday, February 13, 2014
On Campus - Don't call it what it is?
On Minnesota's CBS local, Edgar Linares reports on this:
"‘U’ Students Want Crime Alerts To Avoid Using Racial Descriptions"
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
NAACP: Bring Photo ID To Protest Photo ID Laws | Truth Revolt
Groups that protest laws requiring photo ID to vote require photo ID for their own events.
Say what?...
This example is posted byT Yehuda Remer on the TruthRevolt.org website:
"The most ironic recommendation on the list comes half way down, where march coordinators tell recipients:
“DO bring photo identification (driver's license, passport or other valid photo ID) with you and keep it on your persons at all times.”
So, bring a photo ID to an anti-photo ID protest. Perfect. The Associated Press, naturally, buried this revelation late in its story"
"Sorry Food Network...enough is enough"
That being said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, AND, they are entitled to "vote with their feet"....
On theBlacksSphere.net website, Tami Jackson makes her opinion very clear:
"I have long been a fan of the Food Network, especially the show “Chopped,” where 4 chefs compete to make a meal in a set amount of time with mystery ingredients in a basket.
But lately, with the new season, the channel has gone into full assault mode with a rabidly gay agenda."
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
How Federal Financial Student Aid Hurts Struggling Families - Julian Adorney
Unfortunately, it's unintended consequences are pushing college tuition higher, and that hurts those who don't finish and students who are poor...
At Townhall.com, Julian Adorney has statistics like these and much more:
"Pell grant awards have increased 118 percent over the last decade. Well-meaning as the aid may be, the two facts are inextricably linked. Government aid drives up college tuition. While aid undoubtedly has helped many families, it has hurt both the average family, and, paradoxically, many of those at the very bottom of the income scale.
The fact that federal student aid drives up college tuition is well-documented by both liberals and conservatives. Writing for the Cato Institute, Gary Wolfram points out, 'Private four-year colleges increased listed tuition prices by more than two dollars for each dollar increase in Pell grants.' Public universities also increased their tuition by $0.97 for each dollar increase in Pell grants. At the same time, the Christian Science Monitor published a report arguing that for every $1,000 of student aid, net tuition (college sticker price - financial aid) decreased by only $100 to $150. So when financial aid rises $1,000, tuition increases $850 to $900.
But while the link between federal aid and tuition hikes is clear, who it helps and hurts is not as cut-and-dried."
Global Warming / Climate Change / And The Sun
On the U.K. Daily Mail website, Mark Prigg writes:
"Is a mini ice age on the way? Scientists warn the Sun has 'gone to sleep' and say it could cause temperatures to plunge"
Monday, February 10, 2014
Casey Mulligan: The Economist Who Exposed ObamaCare - WSJ.com
Here's an economist who told our elected officals the negative effects that Obamacare would have on the nation's employment.
Unfortunately, he was ignored (perhaps willfully), and here we are...
Unfortunately, he was ignored (perhaps willfully), and here we are...
Joseph Rago recently wrote about it in the Wall Street Journal:
"For his part, Mr. Mulligan declines to take too much credit. 'I'm not an expert in that town, Washington," he says, "but I showed them my work and I know they listened, carefully.'
At a February 2013 hearing he pointed out several discrepancies between the CBO's marginal-tax-rate work and its health-care work, and, he says, 'That couldn't persist forever. There would have to be a time where they would reconcile those two approaches somehow.' More to the point, 'I knew eventually it would be acknowledged that when you pay people for being low income you are going to have more low-income people.'"
Sunday, February 09, 2014
2014-02-09 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Saturday Reading - "‘Kelo’ Revisited"
Governments seizing private property is a sad affair.
I don't know about them all; however, this one must be near the worst...
I don't know about them all; however, this one must be near the worst...
On the Weekly Standard website, Charlotte Allen reviews the history and tells what's happening now:
"Properties were seized and a neighborhood razed in the name of ‘economic development’ that never came"
Friday, February 07, 2014
"In U.S., 65% Dissatisfied With How Gov't System Works"
Perhaps you are here with me.
The number was 23 percent back in 2002...
On the Gallup.com website, Justin McCarthy Has the statistics:
"WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty-five percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation's system of government and how well it works, the highest percentage in Gallup's trend since 2001. Dissatisfaction is up five points since last year, and has edged above the previous high from 2012 (64%)."
Hafez Assad | Bashar Assad | Syria | Geneva 2 | John Kerry
Getting involved to prevent mass killings seems admirable; however, previous attempts have had only temporary and limited success...
At LegalInsurrection.com, David Gerstman gives some Syrian history and offers this:
"With no fear of failing to keep its chemical arms commitment, Syria has actually shipped out less then 5% of its stockpile, earning a stern (and meaningless) warning from Secretary of State Kerry.
In an escalation of U.S. threats, Kerry said that if Syria breached its commitment to hand over the deadly chemicals for destruction, the issue would be considered by the Security Council under the provision of the U.N. Charter that can authorize the use of force. …
But Russian officials rejected the suggestion that the Security Council would consider the use of force. They said they accepted Syria’s explanation that it had been unable to ship the chemicals to the Mediterranean port of Latakia for removal because of security threats from opposition forces in the country’s civil war. Russia won’t even support the United States on an agreement that it co-sponsored!
Assad, like his father, will keep killing. The biggest difference is that father was able to hide his crimes; the son benefits with the help of accomplices like Russia and Iran combined with the feckless diplomacy of the West."
Thursday, February 06, 2014
"Unreliable German Solar and Wind Forcing New Coal Boom"
At PJmedia.com, Stefan Frank recently reported (on what not to do):
"In his 'climate change speech' at Georgetown University in June 2013, President Obama said: 'Countries like China and Germany are going all in the race for clean energy. I want America to win that race, but we can’t win it if we’re not in it'.
If it were up to the majority of the German people, however, they would rather opt out and let someone else win. According to surveys, only 18 percent approve of the current energy policy. Sixty percent of Germans reject the push for so-called “green” energy if it leads to higher prices, and the same amount think it inevitably does.
They are correct: the electricity price in Germany has doubled between 2000 and 2013. It is now about three times pricier than electricity in the U.S. because staggering amounts of money were channeled into solar and windmill companies."
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
"UPDATE 2-Obamacare to cut work hours by equivalent of 2 million jobs -CBO"
"You can keep your doctor", "you can keep your healthcare" and "everyone's cost will go down by $2500.00", and now this.
Obamacare and the promises that came with it are very, very wrong...
Obamacare and the promises that came with it are very, very wrong...
AT Reuters.com, David Morgan and David Lawder have reported this:
"President Barack Obama's healthcare law will reduce the American workforce by the equivalent of 2 million full-time workers in 2017, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday, prompting Republicans to paint the law as bad medicine for the U.S. economy.
In its latest U.S. fiscal outlook, the nonpartisan CBO said the health law would lead some workers, particularly those with lower incomes, to limit their hours to avoid losing federal subsidies that Obamacare provides to help pay for health insurance and other healthcare costs."
The Belarusian Connection | Washington Free Beacon
At FreeBeacon.com, Bill Gertz has this story:
"U.S. intelligence agencies last week urged the Obama administration to check its new healthcare network for malicious software after learning that developers linked to the Belarus government helped produce the website, raising fresh concerns that private data posted by millions of Americans will be compromised.
The intelligence agencies notified the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in charge of the Healthcare.gov network, about their concerns last week. Specifically, officials warned that programmers in Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, were suspected of inserting malicious code that could be used for cyber attacks, according to U.S. officials familiar with the concerns."
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
"Morano rips claim that global warming causes cold weather"
If you've followed this global warming/climate change debacle over the years, you would be likely to agree with Mr. Morano...
On the Daily Caller website, Michael Bastasch presents this and more:
"'Basically, global warming causes less snow, except when global warming causes more snow,' Morano told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. 'And it causes less cold, except when it causes more cold.'
'Every heatwave is proof of global warming, but now we have record cold, record snow, the east coast may see one of the snowiest decades now since the 1960s — exceeding the 1960s,' Morano said. 'And the new theory is: bundle up, it’s global warming.'"
"Blimplike surveillance craft set to deploy over Maryland..."
As with all pervasive security ideas, there are advocates and detractors...
In a recent Washington Post article, Craig Timberg wrote about them:
"The aerostats planned for Maryland will have radar capable of detecting airborne objects from up to 340 miles away and vehicles on the surface from up to 140 miles away — as far south as Richmond, as far west as Cumberland, Md., and as far north as Staten Island. The Army declined to say what size vehicles can be sensed from those distances.
'If it’s able to track vehicles, that is problematic,' said Jennifer Lynch of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. 'You could imagine a scenario in which the location information can reveal where you go to church, what doctor you’re going to, whether you’re cheating on your wife, all those types of details. . . . Once a surveillance technology is put up, it’s very tempting for law enforcement or the military to use it for reasons they did not originally disclose.'"
Monday, February 03, 2014
"Colossal cost of Cover Oregon prompts lawmaker to call for end to spending"
Here's another healthcare website in trouble...
Reporter Chelsa Kopta recently had this story on Oregon's KATU website:
"PORTLAND, Ore. – The On Your Side Investigators revealed the colossal cost of Cover Oregon for the first time Monday and it shows how much of your tax money has been spent on the failed website.
KATU learned Cover Oregon and the Oregon Health Authority collectively spent just shy of $200 million on its Cover Oregon website, which has been plagued with problems for months and still hasn't enrolled a single Oregonian for health insurance since the site launched Oct. 1, 2013."
"Businessman on trial accused of using unreasonable force on thieves raiding his property"
Obviously, the property owner did more than was necessary to protect his property; however, he wasn't the one with the original intent to break the law...
James Rush recently reported on this one in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"Andrew Woodhouse, 44, was today on trial facing assault charges on the two raiders he found stealing diesel from his business. A jury heard how Woodhouse grabbed a fence post one was carrying as a weapon - and used it to fight back against them. The father-of-five - who says he has repeatedly been a victim of crime at his gardening company - kept hold of the two burglars until police arrived. But the court was told it was Woodhouse who was then arrested and accused of using excessive force."
Sunday, February 02, 2014
2014-02-02 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, February 01, 2014
"Why Pro-Amnesty Republicans Are So Desperate To Pass Immigration Reform This Year"
At Townhall.com, John Hawkins discusses the immigration issue as it relates to the Republican Party. This reasoning is only one of the points he makes:
"There are a lot of businesses out there that want an endless supply of cheap labor, which would be fine, except that they want everyone else to pay for it. An illegal alien with no car insurance, no health insurance, who claims he has 14 kids so he can get an earned income tax credit can work cheaper than a law abiding American. So, when the illegal crashes his car, you pay for it. When he gets sick, you pay for it. Your taxes put his kids through school. Your taxes pay the bills if he goes to jail. Your tax dollars go into his pocket when he cheats on his taxes -- meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce crowd makes so much money off of these illegals that they can afford to donate some of it to politicians like John Boehner, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham and John McCain in order to get them to keep the gravy train going."