Monday, March 31, 2014
"Conservatives slam rushed controversial House vote"
What in the world is this all about?...
On the Daily Caller website, Alexis Levinson posted about this:
"The bill passed in a 30-second voice vote with very few members on the House floor."
Sunday, March 30, 2014
2014-03-30 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, March 29, 2014
"Venice votes to split from Italy as 89% of the city's residents opt to form a new independent state"
I'm not sure how it all plays out; however, around the world, citizens have voted to secede...
In the U.K. Daily Mail, Hannah Roberts recently reported on this one:
"Venetians have voted overwhelmingly for their own sovereign state in a ‘referendum’ on independence from Italy. Inspired by Scotland’s separatist ambitions, 89 per cent of the residents of the lagoon city and its surrounding area, opted to break away from Italy in an unofficial ballot."
Poltticians - California state senator Leland Yee
Money and politics continue to be troublesome...
At BigStory.AP.org, Paul Elias reports on this:
"According to court documents, Yee performed 'official acts' in exchange for donations from undercover FBI agents, as he sought to dig himself out of a $70,000 debt incurred during a failed San Francisco mayoral bid.
Yee is also accused of accepting $10,000 in January 2013 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for making a call to the California Department of Public Health in support of a contract was considering."
Friday, March 28, 2014
Politicians - New York State Assemblyman William Scarborough
I doubt the FBI was doing this without cause...
Jill Colvin and Colin Campbell have reported this in the New York Observer:
"'The FBI conducted searches today of the Albany and New York City Offices of New York State Assemblyman William Scarborough,' FBI Albany spokesman Paul Holstein said in a statement. 'At this time, no further information is being released.'"
Politicians - Charlotte, NC Mayor Patrick Cannon
Another politician with questionable money dealings.
Update: the mayor has resigned...
Update: the mayor has resigned...
Mitch Weiss and Tom Foreman Jr. reported this on the WBT Charlotte News Talk website:
"Less than six months on the job, the mayor of Charlotte was arrested Wednesday and accused of accepting more than $48,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen who wanted to do work with North Carolina's largest city.
Mayor Patrick Cannon, a 47-year-old Democrat who rose from the city's public housing projects to become a successful businessman and politician, faces federal theft and bribery charges. Cannon accepted more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and the use of a luxury apartment as bribes and solicited more than $1 million more, according to a criminal complaint."
Thursday, March 27, 2014
"Massachusetts bill to ban divorcing couples from having 'make-up sex'"
Scarlett Russell reports on this in the U.K. Daily Mail:
"Nothing says ‘mood-killer’ like having to ask a judge for permission to sleep with your partner, even if it is a soon-to-be-divorced partner. But that is just what couples will have to do if the S787 legislation is passed in Massachusetts. The bizarre bill proposes that couples that are going through a divorce and have children must seek a judge’s permission before having sex in their marital home."
"78% Favor Proof of Citizenship Before Being Allowed to Vote"
Our constitution gives citizens the right to vote to select their leaders.
Considering that you must furnish ID (without dispute) for so many lesser things, why is this such a problem?...
Rasmussen Reports:
"A federal judge last week upheld the right of states to require proof of citizenship before allowing someone to register to vote. Voters continue to overwhelmingly support such a requirement.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of Likely U.S. Voters believe everyone should be required to prove his or her citizenship before being allowed to register to vote. That’s up from 71% a year ago. Just 19% oppose that requirement."
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
"Maine Supreme Court rules in favor of transgender girl in Orono school bathroom case"
Right or wrong. This is NOT our grandparents America.
See what you can make of this...
See what you can make of this...
This is from Judy Harrison on the BangorDailyNews website:
"PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday guaranteed the right of a transgender child to use the school bathroom designated for the gender with which he or she identifies.
It is the first time any court in the nation has ruled it is unlawful to force a transgender child to use the school bathroom designated for the sex he or she was born with rather than the one with which the child identifies, according to the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders of Boston, which represented the girl and her family."
"Philly and 'Nooga Remind Dangers of Ambush Union Elections"
"Does this seem right to you?...
On the Townhall.com website, Fred Wszolek elaborates on what's now enabling this:
"With that knowledge, the Obama Labor Board decided earlier this year to once again push for ambush elections, but this time, they seem intent on writing a policy that not only expedites workplace elections in such a fashion that employees are pressured into making a decision, but also providing union bosses with the private contact information of those they seek to organize.
To gain a better understanding of what this rule might mean to workers and small businesses, one only needs to travel north from the nation’s capital to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was recently reported in The [Philadelphia] Inquirer that a local union official, named Ed Sweeney, was charged with 'harassing, stalking, and making terroristic threats against a construction executive.' Labor thugs went as far as taking photos of the construction executive’s children, aged eight and eleven, at a bus stop and this was all brought on merely because the construction company chose to utilize a mix of union and non-union workers."
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
"NYT reporter: Obama administration the ‘greatest enemy of press freedom’ in a generation"
On the Daily Caller website, Brendan Bordelon posts about this:
"New York Times reporter James Risen called the Obama administration 'the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation' on Friday, explaining that the White House seeks to control the flow of information and those that refuse to play along 'will be punished.'"
Drudge Shines Light on Ignorant Media - The Rush Limbaugh Show
Rush Limbaugh posts on his own website:
"It's on the IRS website, and still the media is running around calling Drudge a liar. Drudge is abiding by the law. They are calling him a liar; they're accusing him of trying to damage Obama. He is now referring to them as 'The Obama Media.'
'Additionally,' ladies and gentlemen, 'the IRS form (1040-ES) for estimating quarterly taxes...' The ES there is for 'estimates,' for those of you in Rio Linda.
'Additionally, the IRS form (1040-ES) for estimating quarterly taxes specifically recommends adding the mandate penalty to line 12 for 'other taxes' -- to pay before the first quarterly deadline of April 15.
'It is true that thousands of small businesses will be forced to pay Obamacare taxes quarterly in 2014,' a Senate Budget Committee aide told Breitbart News on Friday afternoon.'
Breitbart tracked all this down. You would think mainstream journalists would."
Monday, March 24, 2014
"Media wrongly attack Drudge after he admits paying Obamacare penalty"
Obviously, there are still many who have no clue about the Obamacare law.
The media, the White House, and who knows how many other Kool Aid drinkers still probably haven't read the darn thing and are more than willing to fire from the hip, rather than investigate the truth...
The media, the White House, and who knows how many other Kool Aid drinkers still probably haven't read the darn thing and are more than willing to fire from the hip, rather than investigate the truth...
At WashingtonTimes.com, Kellan Howell has the story behind this:
"What each critical tweeter and pundit failed to realize was that Mr. Drudge, as the self-employed proprietor of The Drudge Report, files taxes as a small business on a quarterly basis.
The IRS requires self-employed business owners to file annual returns and pay estimated quarterly taxes. When entrepreneurs like Mr. Drudge file their 2014 first quarter taxes, they have to pay the individual health care mandate if they are not getting Obamacare coverage."
Sunday, March 23, 2014
2014-03-23 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, March 22, 2014
"Sharyl Attkisson: There Is Coordination Between Reporters And Politicians"
The idea that people want to control the media should not surprise us.
What may be surprising is the pervasiveness of those attempts...
What may be surprising is the pervasiveness of those attempts...
At CBSphilly, Chris Stigall weighs in with some Sharyl Attkisson coments:
"PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall talked to former CBS News Reporter Sharyl Attkisson this morning on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the trouble reporters have to deal with while covering politicians and the government, as well as the current state of investigative reporting."
Friday, March 21, 2014
"Michigan Township To Put Cameras ‘In Every Neighborhood’"
Elected officials all over the world are out of control.
I understand their desire to improve things; however, I don't agree with their doing so without taxpayer input and support...
I understand their desire to improve things; however, I don't agree with their doing so without taxpayer input and support...
On Alex Jones InfoWars website, Mikael Thalen reports on it:
"Not only has the township seemingly decided to go forward with the program without public input, residents will be required to pay a fee for the township’s venture.
'The township will invest in the infrastructure, actually put the cameras out and deploy them and there will be a special assessment on the homes in the neighborhood for the operating expense going forward, which will be a very nominal fee for this measure of public safety,' Radzik said.
Despite a clear attempt by WDIV to portray massive public support for the incoming cameras, a quick glance at comments from residents shows quite the opposite."
Thursday, March 20, 2014
"Top U.S. Scientific Misconduct Official Quits in Frustration With Bureaucracy"
Government bureaucracies are just that.
A significant amount of effort is devoted to self-preservation, and the remainder to accomplishing the mission.
The fact that this is part of Health and Human Services, which also oversees healthcare, makes it disconcerting to say the least...
A significant amount of effort is devoted to self-preservation, and the remainder to accomplishing the mission.
The fact that this is part of Health and Human Services, which also oversees healthcare, makes it disconcerting to say the least...
Jocelyn Kaiser-- reported on it on the ScienceMag.org website:
"The director of the U.S. government office that monitors scientific misconduct in biomedical research has resigned after 2 years out of frustration with the 'remarkably dysfunctional' federal bureaucracy. David Wright, director of the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), writes in a scathing resignation letter obtained by ScienceInsider that the huge amount of time he spent trying to get things done made much of his time at ORI 'the very worst job I have ever had.'
ORI, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), monitors alleged research misconduct by researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Public Health Service (PHS) agencies. It runs education programs and reviews institutions’ misconduct investigations, each year posting a dozen or so findings of misconduct, defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. It also recommends PHS sanctions, such as barring researchers from receiving grants. ORI’s visibility has grown recently along with a rise in retracted research papers, some involving misconduct."
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
"Blog: Florida TV station documents ineligible voters as DoJ sues to prevent state from purging rolls"
Americas's Department of Justice seems in favor of that...
At Townhall.com, Thomas Lifson reports:
"WBBH TV in Ft. Myers, Florida has performed a public service with its investigative reporting documenting non-US citizens voting regularly in local elections."
US cites security more to censor, deny records - AP
Why would anyone have believed the "Most transparent" claim anyway?...
From the Associated Press article by Ted Bridis and Jack Gillum:
"And five years after Obama directed agencies to less frequently invoke a 'deliberative process' exception to withhold materials describing decision-making behind the scenes, the government did it anyway, a record 81,752 times.
'I'm concerned the growing trend toward relying upon FOIA exemptions to withhold large swaths of government information is hindering the public's right to know," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 'It becomes too much of a temptation. If you screw up in government, just mark it `top secret.''"
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Peggy Noonan: Warnings From the Ukraine Crisis - WSJ.com
The thoughts presented here by Peggy Noonan seem spot on to me...
This is from Peggy Noonan's recent Wall Street Journal column:
"Mr. Putin doesn't move because of American presidents, he moves for his own reasons. But he does move when American presidents are weak. He moved on Georgia in August 2008 when George W. Bush was reeling from unwon wars, terrible polls and a looming economic catastrophe that all but children knew was coming. (It came the next month.) Mr. Bush was no longer formidable as a leader of the free world.
Mr. Putin moved on Ukraine when Barack Obama was no longer a charismatic character but a known quantity with low polls, failing support, a weak economy. He'd taken Mr. Obama's measure during the Syria crisis and surely judged him not a shrewd international chess player but a secretly anxious professor who makes himself feel safe with the sound of his voice.
Mr. Putin didn't go into Ukraine because of Mr. Obama. He just factored him in."
Monday, March 17, 2014
2014-03-17 - St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and a day of celebration for Irish people. It is celebrated on March 17 all over Ireland and everywhere in the world where Irish people or their descendants live...
Enjoy your "green stuff" !
Enjoy your "green stuff" !
Sunday, March 16, 2014
2014-03-16 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, March 15, 2014
"The Democrats' Worst Week Since the GOP's 2010 Landslide"
I'm sure it's often like this leading up to elections.
A lot can happen between now and then...
A lot can happen between now and then...
Donald Lambro discusses the current/futre political landscape at Townhall.com:
"'Democrats face a daunting electoral landscape, with almost no chance of winning the House and a high risk of losing the Senate,' the Post said.
In a remarkable misreading of the uppermost concerns of the American people, Obama has been running around the country peddling higher income taxes, more spending, early childhood education, expanding federal job-training programs, and boosting payroll costs on small businesses by raising the minimum wage.
In the Democratic Senate, 28 out of touch senators held on all- night "talkathon" Monday to focus public attention on what they perceive to be one of the nation's chief issues: 'climate change.'
But that's far from what most Americans are worrying about. In fact, climate change is near the bottom of a list of 15 issues."
Friday, March 14, 2014
Government at Work - the EPA's Credit Cards
In the U.K. Daily Mail, David Martosko gives details on this story:
"The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general found 75 of the 80 transactions it examined involved waste, fraud or abuse The agency's annual credit card bills are 67,000 transactions deep Some expenditures were reported in categories like 'child care' and 'dance hall,' while others were for untraceable American Express gift cards In a few cases, EPA employees bought gym memberships for their entire families"
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Planned Parenthood
At Townhall.com, Kevin McCullough is highly critical:
"When you average it out, we taxpayers for the last four years have more or less paid out $1600 per killed child to an organization that promises not one dime goes to the procedures from the tax-payer coffers.
They respond by saying, 'But we offer mammograms, and adoption, and other various medical/culturally needed resources.'
But they don't. Planned Parenthood has never done mammograms, even when their lying chief executive--Cecile Richards--went on national television to claim they did."
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
3 huge cities flirting with bankruptcy- MSN Money
This is from an article on the MSN Money website:
"If you think the three cities below are too big to fail, think again."
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
"Former ThinkProgress writer: White House censored us"
That being said, it does not and should not work that way.
In a perfect world, factual reporting would be honored, not discouraged.
Of course, we are well shy of that perfect world...
On the Daily Caller website, Brendan Bordelon writes about one person's experience:
"In a post titled, 'How Working in Washington Taught Me We’re All A Little Like RT America,' Jilani explained how the White House frequently played the part of the Kremlin — leaning on management to push their writers in a particular direction, and punishing them if they strayed from the party line.
'I’m writing this post to explain how working in Washington taught me we’re all a little bit like the good folks who work at RT America,' Jilani explained, 'struggling against editorial censors, doing our best to follow our conscience despite sometimes suffocating pressures from our publishers and sponsors.'"
Monday, March 10, 2014
"Sacramento's Subsidy Kings"
The priorities of elected officials often go against the grain.
In my opinion, the income generated by taxpayer funded sports complexes never comes to fruition as advertised...
On the Townhall.com website, Paul Jacob has a story about what going on in Sacramento, CA:
"Kevin Johnson, once a National Basketball Association all-star, now serves as the Mayor of Sacramento. Johnson garnered more than a thousand career steals mostly for the Phoenix Suns; he now plays a different game of plunder. He is assisting the Sacramento Kings by dishing out $258 million in tax dollars to build the team’s owners a brand new arena.
Actually, Mayor Johnson and city officials claim they’re splurging only $258 million, and most media outlets (including, absentmindedly, my own Common Sense e-letter) have repeated that “official” number. But the true amount of the subsidy must also count the 3,700 parking spaces handed over for free to the NBA franchise, and include various infrastructure subsidies, tax breaks and other bennies, too.
Thus, the total subsidy to the billionaire Kings’ owners amounts to nearly a third more, a whopping $334 million — roughly Sacramento’s yearly cost to provide all pay and benefits for the city’s entire workforce, including pensions and healthcare for all retired workers."
"Increasingly Euroskeptic..."
Interestingly, that group are the "workers"; the ones that pay the taxes.
Duh!...
Mike Shedlock writes about it on the Townhall.com website:
"Poll Shows 52% of Workers Want to Leave the Euro, Only 34% of Workers Believe EU is a Good Thing"
Sunday, March 09, 2014
2014-03-09 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, March 08, 2014
Brain Implant Lets One Monkey Control Another | LiveScience
Some scientific advances are pretty creepy...
Charles Q. Choi reports on this one at LiveScience.com:
"The monkey that served as the master had electrodes wired into his brain, while the monkey that served as the avatar had electrodes wired into his spine. The avatar's hand was placed onto a joystick that controlled a cursor displayed on the master's screen.
The avatar monkey was sedated so that he had no control over his own body. Computers decoded the brain activity of the master monkey and relayed those signals to the spinal cord and muscles of the avatar monkey. This allowed the master to control the cursor by moving the hand of the avatar. The master received a reward of juice if he successfully moved the cursor onto a target."
Friday, March 07, 2014
"Side-effects risk to rise as millions more take statins" - Telegraph
Then my brain kicked in and I realized tha taking a statin when you HAVE heart disease is different from when you are AT RISK.
At that point, changing the rules for "at risk" becomes worthy of a close look...
In the U.K. Telegraph, Padraic Flanagan recently reported on itT:
"Dr Malhotra said the drugs were unnecessary for many, whose problems could be controlled with simple lifestyle and dietary changes. He pointed to research showing that eating an apple a day is as effective as taking statins in preventing strokes and heart attacks.
The expert said patients with established heart disease can benefit from statins, but the 'mass medicalisation' of a healthier group is likely to do more harm than good and increase the cost to the taxpayer."
Thursday, March 06, 2014
"Yearly Climate Spending 10x More Than UN Estimate for Ending World Hunger"
I figure this is a calculated idea.
If climate spending were to be totally funded, money to relieve world hunger will still come from somewhere.
If the issues were reversed, I think the sentiment might be different...
On the PJmedia website, Taylor SMith writes about this:
"According to the Reuters analysis of the Summary for Policymakers of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report, due to be released this April, the UN is calling on the world to invest an extra $147 billion a year in wind, solar, and nuclear power from 2010 to 2029. If we add that figure to CPI’s measure, the UN wants us to spend approximately $506 billion a year to mitigate global warming, According to the UN, this amount would end world hunger for nearly 20 years."
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
"Mayor de Blasio Kicks 700 Kids Out of Over-Performing Schools"
The new mayor of New York City seems quite controversial...
In a recent Townhall.com post, Michael Schaus writes about his treatment of charter schools. He begins:
"Elite New York Democrats are waging a war on children. Well… At least that’s how it appears when the progressive Democrat mayor kicks 700 students out of high-performing schools, because… Well… He doesn’t really have a good reason. Ostensibly, it’s because he doesn’t want charter schools (public education facilities that govern their affairs with autonomy from New York public education directives) to share space with underperforming school districts. "
"Students may now hand out copies of the Constitution on this campus..."
What kind of educational institution doesn't allow Constitutional freedoms?...
On the Daily Caller website, Robby Soave updates this issue:
"A Modesto Junior College student has prevailed in his lawsuit against the administration, meaning that students will now be permitted to exercise their constitutional rights to distribute copies of the Constitution anywhere on campus.
Last year, student Robert Van Tuinen attempted to celebrate Constitution Day by handing out copies of the U.S. founding document, which codifies the rights against oppressive public institutions. A campus police officer forced him to cease his activities and hauled him before an administrator, who told Van Tuinen that he was in violation of school policy. He could only hand out flyers while standing in the campus 'free speech zone,' a tiny block of concrete that had been reserved by someone else on that day."
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
"CNN: Piers Morgan out – Sarah Brady in"
This article includes the history of name changes gun control groups have gone through in order to mask their true intention.
I think it's pretty interesting...
I think it's pretty interesting...
At DailyCaller.com, the National Rifle Association recently discussed some of their history, failures, and included this paragraph:
"In the piece she wrote for CNN, Mrs. Brady said “a lot has changed over the past two decades, and people who wouldn’t pass a background check have found other ways to procure guns easily through unlicensed sales at gun shows or on the Internet, where background checks are not required.”
Contradicting Mrs. Brady, federal studies show that criminals still tend to get guns like they always have: by stealing them, buying them on the black market, or getting friends and family members who can pass background checks to buy guns for them–reasons why expanding the background check requirement makes no sense from a crime prevention perspective."
"Top Christie Port Authority appointees devised toll-hike plan to bolster image of NJ, NY governors"
Wow! This is a really ugly story.
I have to give the writer a lot of credit because writing about people like this could get you in a bind...
I have to give the writer a lot of credit because writing about people like this could get you in a bind...
Shawn Boburg tells all about this story on the NewJersey.com website:
"Years before they resigned amid a scandal over politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie’s top two executives at the Port Authority led a secretive campaign to quickly push through controversial toll hikes on the Hudson River bridges and tunnels by drowning out criticism, limiting public input and portraying the governors of New York and New Jersey as fiscal hawks who reined in an out-of-control agency.
At its heart was a plan to have the Port Authority, an independent bi-state agency, propose an enormous toll hike — a $6 increase that would bring the E-ZPass toll to $14 by 2014 — so that the governors could then scale it back. The smaller increases that were ultimately approved in 2011 — $4.50 over four years — allowed both governors to claim credit while they set the stage for each state to claim hundreds of millions of dollars to fund pet projects not directly related to the Port Authority."
Monday, March 03, 2014
Showdown with Putin: who’s afraid of Obama?
Young idealistic presidents are vulnerable on the world's stage.
I guess that's why the smarter of them have experienced advisers.
SO where are we now?...
I guess that's why the smarter of them have experienced advisers.
SO where are we now?...
Neo-neocon posted about this, along with some history, on the LegalInsurrection website:
"The situation now is different than in the Cold War, but not all that different. And telegraphing weakness and naivete is never a good idea—especially when dealing with the Russians, but anywhere on the geopolitical stage."
Politicians - New York’s 23rd congressional Democrat hopeful Martha Robertson
In my youth, I assumed politicians were smart.
Now, with some measure of experience, I know otherwise...
Now, with some measure of experience, I know otherwise...
At HotAir.com, Jazz Shaw brings us up-to-date on this one:
"This is actually an update to a story which first broke last October and it takes place in upstate New York’s 23rd congressional district, currently represented by Republican Tom Reed. Democrat hopeful Martha Robertson is seeking to unseat Reed and has run into some tough sledding in terms of attracting donors and broad support. But last fall she appeared to have hit upon an idea to generate some sympathy (and cash) when she sent out the following fundraising e-mail. (Revealed by Professor Jacobson at Legal Insurrection.)"
Sunday, March 02, 2014
2014-03-02 - Words of Wisdom
Saturday, March 01, 2014
"Was vetoed Arizona bill misrepresented? Constitutional scholars weigh in"
In our sound bite society, with everyone shouting to make their point, it's really difficult to get the full unbiased story about almost anything.
Reading, and re-reading about an issue is an important and better method.
I think this is a good example of that...
Reading, and re-reading about an issue is an important and better method.
I think this is a good example of that...
In the Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey tries to explain in a calm balanced manner:
"In a four-page letter sent this week to Brewer, the scholars said the Arizona law had been 'egregiously misrepresented by many of its critics.'
'Some of us are Republicans; some of us are Democrats. Some of us are religious; some of us are not. Some of us oppose same-sex marriage; some of us support it,' the letter said.
Nine of the signers of the letter said they supported the legislation; two were not sure. 'But all of us believe that many criticisms of the Arizona law are deeply misleading,' the letter said."
