Maine: Battle over female genital mutilation bill raging « Refugee Resettlement Watch

Maine: Battle over female genital mutilation bill raging « Refugee Resettlement Watch:
Diversity is beautiful alert!

"This is one of those great ‘fun’ political debates you will get to have once the population of Muslims, mostly from East Africa, ‘find their way’ to your state. 

Maine, especially Lewiston, is the Somali capital of the East!...
Here is a bit of the story from the Portland Press Herald just to give you the flavor:

AUGUSTA — There are parts of the world where it has long been common for adult women to slice away girls’ external genital tissue in a bid to dampen their sexual desires.

Though Maine is a long way from anywhere this has traditionally been a problem, a battle is raging among lawmakers about whether the state ought to have a law specifically barring female genital mutilation.

Safiya Khalid: “It is horrible.” But, here’s what I want to know: if the Somalis in Maine are truly refugees why are they going back to Africa for any reason? Isn’t that the place they claim they were “persecuted.”

...One provision in a bill legislators are considering also would make it a felony to take a girl outside Maine to have someone cut her genital tissue without a medical reason, which is already illegal under federal law.

Safiya Khalid, a Somali-American from Lewiston who serves on the city’s library board, said Friday that “old school” women in her community “wouldn’t risk” having the procedure done on a child in Maine, but some might take their daughters back to Africa for it. She doesn’t know anyone who’s had it done, she said, but she thinks it probably has occurred..."

Read on!

AM Fruitcake

History for March 4

History for March 4 - On-This-Day.com:
Prince Henry the Navigator 1394, Antonio Vivaldi 1678, Knute Rockne 1888


Jim Clark 1936 - Race car driver, Catherine O’Hara 1954 - Actress, Chastity Bono 1969 - Daughter of Sonny and Cher


1766 - The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, which had caused bitter and violent opposition in the U.S. colonies.


1861 - The Confederate States of America adopted the "Stars and Bars" flag.


1908 - The New York board of education banned the act of whipping students in school.


1914 - Doctor Fillatre successfully separated Siamese twins.


1933 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt gave his inauguration speech in which he said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."


1950 - Walt Disney’s "Cinderella" was released across the U.S.


1952 - Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were married.


1954 - In Boston, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital reported the first successful kidney transplant.

Why Did It Take Two Weeks To Reveal Parkland Students’ Astroturfing?

Why Did It Take Two Weeks To Reveal Parkland Students’ Astroturfing?:

"The president of the American Federation of Teachers told BuzzFeed they’re also behind the national school walkout, which journalists had previously assured the public was the sole work of a teenager. (I’d thought teachers were supposed to get kids into school, but maybe that’s just me.)

In other words, the response was professionalized."

The way we were-----Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water (Live)

Boob-tube-----TODAY's First Weather Forecast: Jan. 14, 1952 | Archives | TODAY

Three Times The Mainstream Media Has Denied The Existence of No-Go Zones In Europe

Three Times The Mainstream Media Has Denied The Existence of No-Go Zones In Europe: 
"For many years, the mainstream media has denied the existence of No Go Zones across various European countries. 
This is despite heavily migrant populated neighbourhoods turning into areas of high crime and danger for police and public alike.
This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel shocked the world by admitting that even Germany, which has taken in well over a million migrants since the 2015 migrant crisis, has no-go zones.
Merkel, who was described as the “leader of the free world” by left-wing publication the Independent after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, is only the latest European leader to recognize the problems within migrant enclaves.
Whether they are called no-go zones, vulnerable areas, as in Sweden, or sensitive urban areas (ZUS), as in France, their existence has become undeniable — as documented in an in-depth book by Breitbart London editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam recently.
Here are three times the mainstream media has denied the very existence of any no-go areas across Europe:
1. CNN Slammed Republican Bobby Jindal for Mentioning No-Go Zones in 2015..."
Read on!

Smashing The Myth Of America's "Stingy" Welfare State | Zero Hedge

Smashing The Myth Of America's "Stingy" Welfare State | Zero Hedge
"...According to the World Health Organization, only Luxembourg, Norway, and the Netherlands spend more government money on healthcare per capita. 

In the US, the sum is $4,153 per capita, and in Norway it is $5,154. In the United Kingdom, the total is $2,716. 

This presents a problem for advocates for more government control of the healthcare system, of course. Often, their line of argument is that Americans are too "stingy" with social health benefits. 
When confronted with the fact that government spending is quite high, however, they switch tactics, and then declare that if the US adopted a more government-regimented system, then spending would actually be lower. 
This was a tactic employed by Bernie Sanders. 

This latter claim may or may not be so, but the one thing we do know is that the US already spends more taxpayer money on healthcare than most everyone else. So, it seems hard to fathom that the "problem" — whatever that may be — is a product of too little government spending on health care. 

If advocates for reform want to argue over how the money is spent, let them do so, but the debate should hardly include any proposals to increase government spending. 

In the US, government spending on healthcare as a percentage of total government spending, is one of the highest among wealthy nations. Although, by this measure the US is equal with Japan and the Netherlands. 

I am not a defender of the US government's gargantuan military budget, but even considering that huge expense, government healthcare spending still takes up an unusually large amount of government spending in the US. 

There is no shortage of articles in publications like Slate and The Nation stating that "the American social safety net does not exist" and that the US has a "stingy social safety net."

Now, if by "stingy" one means, "poorly administered," "ineffective," or "counterproductive," then one would be on to something. 

But if by "stingy," one means "underfunded," well, there's little evidence of that. 

Even many advocates for a reduced federal budget are likely willing to consider ideas that would spend taxpayer dollars more effectively. 

After all, if it's a given that one is going to pay a large federal tax bill, one usually would rather see that money go to something like housing for a single mother and her children who are living in a car..."

Read all!

Trump Official Says 'Illegal Immigrants Have No Constitutional Right To Abortion' | Daily Wire

Trump Official Says 'Illegal Immigrants Have No Constitutional Right To Abortion' | Daily Wire:

"According to The Hill, the ACLU hit at Scott Lloyd for his comments regarding the constitutional basis for illegal immigrants obtaining abortions:
In a deposition Lloyd gave in December, he replied "yes" when asked if he believed undocumented minors have "no constitutional right to abortion."
The ACLU has battled the Trump administration over the policy, representing four pregnant undocumented minors who had been blocked from getting abortions.
In three cases, the girls were able to get abortions while the fourth was released to a sponsor."

The incredible Trump agenda -- What most Americans don't know about the war the president has waged | Fox News

The incredible Trump agenda -- What most Americans don't know about the war the president has waged | Fox News:
"President Trump’s style has dismayed many on the right as well as the left. 
But when it comes to actions, conservatives find much to delight them.
While the 2016 presidential elections were underway, policy analysts at The Heritage Foundation (my employer and one of the nation’s leading think tanks) compiled a six-volume series of conservative, research-based policy recommendations for the next president.
The recommendations were calculated to help the incoming president and Congress jumpstart the economy, strengthen national security and halt the increasing centralization of power in the federal government.
At the end of 2017, we reviewed all 334 recommendations presented in our “Mandate for Leadership” series and found that the Trump administration had embraced fully 64 percent of them. 
That’s nearly two out of three – and that’s very good indeed.
From pulling America out of the unaffordable and unworkable Paris Protocol on Climate Change to ending the damaging Obama era regulations on net neutrality, the Trump administration has advanced a broad conservative agenda on dozens more fronts in 2017.
Most Americans are already familiar with some of the conservative agenda items adopted in the last year.
...But relatively few Americans are aware that the president has waged his own war on over-regulation. 
...But make no mistake, 2017 was a banner year for conservative policy victories. 
On that score, President Trump can confidently stack his record right up there next to President Reagan’s first year..."
Read all!

Parkland Shooting: Did Obama-Era School Discipline Policies Enable It? | National Review

Parkland Shooting: Did Obama-Era School Discipline Policies Enable It? | National Review
"Broward County had adopted guidelines designed in part to limit law-enforcement involvement with students, even those who posed a threat.

The closer you look at the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., the more you realize that it might have been one of the most preventable significant crimes in recent American history. 

We’re familiar by now with the government’s sins of omission — how it failed to act time and again in the face of evidence that the shooter presented a clear and present danger to the public.

But how about a sin of commission? 

Did an Obama-era policy designed to reduce the “school-to-prison pipeline” prevent police from using available tools that could have stopped the shooting?
...The tragic experience in Broward County teaches us how not to fix the crisis. Stopping the “school-to-prison” pipeline by simply refusing to arrest violent students carries with it unacceptably high costs.

Yesterday Paul Sperry of RealClearInvestigations published a comprehensive report that reached an explosive conclusion:

Despite committing a string of arrestable offenses on campus before the Florida school shooting, Nikolas Cruz was able to escape the attention of law enforcement, pass a background check and purchase the weapon he used to slaughter three staff members and 14 fellow students because of Obama administration efforts to make school discipline more lenient.

...Sperry quoted Peter Kirsanow, a conservative member of the Commission on Civil Rights:

Broward County adopted a lenient disciplinary policy similar to those adopted by many other districts under pressure from the Obama administration to reduce racial “disparities” in suspensions and expulsions. . . . In many of these districts, the drive to “get our numbers right” has produced disastrous results, with startling increases in both the number and severity of disciplinary offenses, including assaults and beatings of teachers and students.

Sperry also wrote a comprehensive essay for the New York Post in December outlining how lax discipline policies where enabling a wave of violence against teachers and students. 
He detailed incidents across the country, including mass resignations of teachers after escalating assaults.

In local news reports at least one former Broward school-resource officer has spoken bluntly about the pressure not to arrest students and said that the number of resource officers was cut in half.

Brian Entin

✔@BrianEntin

"We are the laughing stock of the world right now."
Recently retired @browardsheriff school resource officer speaks out because he says current officers are afraid to. Says there is a shortage of SROs, and pressure not to arrest troubled students like Nikolas Cruz. @wsvn

10:27 PM - Feb 27, 2018

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Lunch video-----Stossel: The Stosscars!

Noon-toon

Anti-Christian Joy Behar Gets Disastrous Surprise From 30,000 Angry Viewers

Anti-Christian Joy Behar Gets Disastrous Surprise From 30,000 Angry Viewers:

"However, the Media Research Center and thousands of Christians weren’t laughing.
Shortly after Behar made her remarks, the MRC began a campaign calling on ABC to hold the show’s co-hosts accountable for spreading “anti-Christian bigotry.”"

Obama Skips Billy Graham Funeral | The Daily Caller

Obama Skips Billy Graham Funeral | The Daily Caller:
"Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Barack Obama notified the press that the former president would not be attending any of the memorial services for legendary evangelical minister Billy Graham.

There was no specific reason given for Obama’s absence.

...President Obama made one surprise public appearance this week. 

The former president attended a community meeting of southside neighborhood residents in Chicago to assure them that the Obama Presidential Library would not impede or “gentrify” their neighborhood, according to the Chicago Tribune.

...the former president tweeted this upon the news of Billy Graham’s death:

Barack Obama

✔@BarackObama

Billy Graham was a humble servant who prayed for so many - and who, with wisdom and grace, gave hope and guidance to generations of Americans.

11:33 AM - Feb 21, 2018

• 255K
• 43K people are talking about this

Obama was not the only former president who did not personally pay his respects to the Billy Graham family. 

Both Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush did not personally attend any of the memorial or funeral services. 

Both Carter and Bush Sr. are 93 years old and have been dealing with severe health issues over the past years."

Read on!

Prescription for Death

Prescription for Death:
"On New Year's Day 2006, I received an emergency call from my father's retirement community, where he had recently moved into assisted living after wandering into someone else's apartment.
He suffered from dementia
..The nurse at the retirement community told me he had been found in his room, unconscious, with little or no pulse. 

 The EMT crew shocked him back to life, and I met up with him at the hospital emergency room, where he was smiling and joking.
...His heart checked out fine.
Then I remembered a visit to his doctor a week before, where she recommended we have him take Namenda, an anti-dementia drug, along with the Aricept he had been taking for three years with some benefit. 

 I did an internet search and found that the side-effects of both drugs include bradycardia, a slowing of the heart rhythm. 

 Apparently, the Namenda had pushed him over the edge and stopped his heart. 

I had to vigorously insist to the cardiologist that his medication regimen be modified to prevent a recurrence.
After adjusting his medications, my father lived another nine months, and we were able to have some quality time together in spite of the dementia.
I realized from that incident how dangerous prescription drugs are, and how everyone taking them needs an informed, assertive advocate to monitor his use and check for side-effects. 
...The CDC publishes statistics on prescription drug use. 

 For the 2013-2014 period, 42.2% of people 65 and over take five or more drugs per day! 

 And 32.6% of people aged 18-44 take one to four drugs a day. 

 Of those, 8.8% are taking antidepressants (2011-2014).
To put this in perspective, the 2010 age 18-44 population was 112.8 million. 

 This means that 37 million or more people are taking one to four drugs a day, 3.3 million using antidepressants. 
...Take a look at a package insert for any prescription drug, and you will find a long list of side-effects, with everything from night sweats to "homicidal ideation." 

 That's a technical term meaning "you're gonna wanna kill somebody."...

Read all! 

#1 This day 1967-----the rolling stones - ruby tuesday

The NRA Doesn’t Kill People, It Saves Lives. Just Ask My Family

The NRA Doesn’t Kill People, It Saves Lives. Just Ask My Family
"Far from being monsters, or the new KKK, the National Rifle Association empowered my family to reclaim its sense of security. By Harry Kazianis
While the legacy media might have you believe otherwise, the National Rifle Association is not the bogeyman it has been made out to be.
...I can personally attest to the positive impact the NRA has on countless individuals, as it was NRA members and NRA instructors who helped my own family in a time of crisis.
The Day He Was Robbed at Gunpoint
In the early 1990s, a member of my family was robbed at knife and gunpoint while trying to earn a living at his small business.
The experience changed my family’s perception of our own safety and security forever.
After several days of reflection, this family member made a heartfelt decision: he needed to protect his life, property, and our family by purchasing a firearm.
...This is where the NRA came in. 
When he did make a firearms purchase, it was NRA-trained and -certified instructors who spent hours of their own time to teach him how to safely operate his preferred method of self-defense. 
They did not talk politics or try to indoctrinate him in any way, but did what they could to teach him how to safely and effectively defend himself if the moment ever came.
The NRA Helped Us Feel Safe Again
Far from being monsters, or the new KKK, as some have tried to label NRA members, they empowered my family to reclaim its sense of security. 
NRA members and instructors made sure my family was also trained on firearm safety, a story I have heard repeated countless times..."
Read all!