Teachers as THOUGHT POLICE! Fascism="Private/Public Partnership"-A Step Toward Facebook.gov?

A Step Toward Facebook.gov? - Reason.com

Earlier this month Facebook launched a pilot program to give Maryland school officials their own complaint channel to flag content for takedown, with the stated aim of protecting teens from “cyber-bullying” whether in or out of school, a topic on which Maryland recently passed a new law. 

As Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler seems to envision things (listen here), the channel will empower Maryland officials to seek takedown of speech that they deem to constitute bullying even if it violates no law: “We’re not going to go after you, but we are going to take down the language off of Facebook, because there’s no redeeming societal value and it’s clearly hurting somebody.”

Libertarians and First Amendment advocates, myself included, have reacted with alarm. Criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield:

While Facebook may be a private enterprise, fully entitled to decide what content is acceptable on its platform and similarly entitled to decide that its users will no longer be allowed to write “Suzy is a poo poo head” on the wall, it’s not that simple when the censor is a state actor and the content at issue is deemed offensive not because it violates any law, but because someone is empowered to stifle speech that doesn’t comport with their vision of redeeming societal value, whatever that means.

Except Magadishu's got a nifty beach-CBS '60 Minutes' Bob Simon: Detroit reminds me of Mogadishu, Somalia

CBS '60 Minutes' Bob Simon: Detroit reminds me of Mogadishu, Somalia | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Speaking by phone Friday, Simon said that of all the places he has visited in more than four decades of reporting, much of it as a foreign correspondent, Detroit reminds him most of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

“And Mogadishu is the worst place I’ve ever been,” said Simon, 72.
“Not the worst place in terms of danger, but the worst place in terms of what it looks like.”"

Crew members: ‘Captain Phillips’ is one big lie

Crew members: ‘Captain Phillips’ is one big lie | New York Post:
"All of this is the basis for “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks as the titular, real-life hero.
The only problem, say some members of the real Capt. Phillips’ crew, is none of it is true.
Capt. Richard Phillips, they say, is no hero, and the film is one big lie.

“Phillips wasn’t the big leader like he is in the movie,” says one crew member, who, for legal reasons, spoke with The Post anonymously.
He worked very closely with Phillips on the Maersk Alabama and was alarmed by his behavior from the beginning.
Phillips, he says, had a bad reputation for at least 12 years prior, known as a sullen and self-righteous captain.
“No one wants to sail with him,” he says."

Dude, ya can't "Bill Clinton" it. Ya gotta inhale and swallow it.....Denver mulls outlawing drifting marijuana smoke

Denver mulls outlawing drifting marijuana smoke - Yahoo News Canada: "
DENVER (Reuters) - The use of recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado, but if a proposed ordinance becomes law in the state's largest city, pot smokers could face jail time and fines if smoke wafts onto a neighbor's property.
A measure under consideration by the Denver City Council would impose up to $999 in fines and a maximum one-year jail sentence for anyone caught smoking marijuana in city parks or other public venues.
But as written, the law would extend the same criminal sanctions to offenders on private property."

It's back with a vengeance: Private debt

It's back with a vengeance: Private debt:
"At $3.04 trillion, the total is up 22 percent over the past three years.
Student loans are up a whopping 61 percent.
Total household debt, according to the Fed's flow of funds report, is at $13 trillion, nearly back to its pre-crisis level in 2007 and a shade below government debt of $15 trillion.
"We have not solved (anything) when it comes to the deleveraging myth," said Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies.
"We have learned nothing.""

10 Things You Can Do On a PC Without Ever Touching the Mouse

10 Things You Can Do On a PC Without Ever Touching the Mouse

New career path-"Hit Kids" - School worker hires hit on 4th-grader

School worker hires hit on 4th-grader | WOOD TV8:
"The 9-year-old intended victim, also a fourth-grader, said something he shouldn't have to the woman. 
The school's investigation revealed the worker gave two other fourth-graders a total of $1 and told them to beat him up."

"DetroitThink" infects Europe-European mass car makers' luxury challenge looks doomed

European mass car makers' luxury challenge looks doomed | The Detroit News
Europe’s tentative recovery after reaching 20-year car sales lows ought to promise hope for ravaged bottom lines, but some mass manufacturers seem determined to jeopardize their already rocky finances by reverting to tried and tested ways of losing money.

Instead of just slashing excess capacity, cutting costs, and facing up to the threat from Korean manufacturers Kia and Hyundai by producing handsome cars which sell on their merits with cast-in-concrete guarantees, many of Europe’s loss makers are opting for a delusional and well-traveled dead-end street. They are trying to maximize profit margins by moving upmarket into German luxury territory now owned by the likes of BMW, VW’s Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

This is a well-documented direction if you seriously want to lose lots of money...

Moody’s Investors Service, in a recent report, said four of Europe’s biggest car makers — Ford Europe, GM Europe’s Opel Vauxhall, Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot-Citroen — are expected to lose a combined $6.6 billion this year, about the same as in 2012.

Too many nuts in America! Northwestern, Ryan Field Will Be Peanut Free on October 19

Northwestern, Ryan Field Will Be Peanut Free on October 19 - NUSPORTS.COM - The Northwestern Official Athletic Site:
""We're excited to host our first Peanut Free Day at Ryan Field," said Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald.
 "Nut allergies affect a sizable segment of the population and those people have to be very conscious of it at all times, in environments outside their control. "

Obamacare computer code riddled with typos, Latin filler text, desperate programmer comments and disastrous architecture

Obamacare computer code riddled with typos, Latin filler text, desperate programmer comments and disastrous architecture:
"If I had told you one month ago that ten days into the launch of Obamacare not a single person could be confirmed to have successfully enrolled, you would have called me a lunatic. 
And yet, here we are, tens days into the launch, and guess what?
The White House cannot produce a single person who has successfully enrolled through the federally-run exchange Healthcare.gov.
Not one."

Beautiful, smart Megan wallops snarky, alleged female Maddow and MSNBC President Wants 'Investigation' Into Fox News' 'Impossible' Ratings Gain

MSNBC President Wants 'Investigation' Into Fox News' 'Impossible' Ratings Gain - The Hollywood Reporter:
"Megyn Kelly blew out Rachel Maddow in the key demo on Tuesday after losing to her the night before.
"I have never seen it in all my years of cable," says Phil Griffin."






Yes, this is a female human.......

I'm from the government. I'm here to.....you know the rest....Application Status

Application Status:

Suppose they say ""¡Cállate, so' puta!"", what then? Secretary of State asks 600 noncitizens to get off voter rolls

Secretary of State asks 600 noncitizens to get off voter rolls | MLive.com:
"In 2012, the Secretary of State's office said there could be as many as 4,000 noncitizens who are signed up to vote."

Sup? LA run by republicans? 'Racist' LA police dogs only bite Latinos and African-Americans

'Racist' LA police dogs only bite Latinos and African-Americans - Americas - World - The Independent:
"During the 1980s, some Los Angeles police officers would allegedly refer to black youths as “dog biscuits”."

Detroit "leaders" find new ways to waste tax dollars-First look at The Z: It's not your typical Detroit parking deck

First look at The Z: It's not your typical Detroit parking deck | Crain's Detroit Business:
"When is a parking garage a destination?
When it is an art gallery, too.
A 10-story parking garage soon to open in Detroit's central business district will blend 1,300 parking spots with the work of 27 mural artists from across the globe."

Joke your way to prison? TSA Loudspeakers Threaten Travelers With Arrest For Joking About Security

TSA Loudspeakers Threaten Travelers With Arrest For Joking About Security Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!:
"While traveling through George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Matt Miller heard a security announcement repeatedly aired on the airport intercom that left him disturbed.
“You are also reminded that any inappropriate remarks or jokes concerning security may result in your arrest,” the loudspeaker message states."

15 Mind-Blowing Unsolved Mysteries - Ancient Stone Spheres

15 Mind-Blowing Unsolved Mysteries - Ancient Stone Spheres:
"Giant Stone Balls"

Obama Lied: 'I Lost My Health Insurance Plan Due to Obamacare'

Obama Lied: 'I Lost My Health Insurance Plan Due to Obamacare' - Peter Roff (usnews.com):
"Remember the presidential talking point?
If you like your current health plan, Barack Obama and his allies repeated over and over again, you would get to keep it.
There would be no change.
Things would go on as before even if Obamacare became the law of the land.
The letter that came Thursday put the truth to the president's lie. 
I would not be allowed to keep my current plan because it did not conform to the dictates of the new law and it was going away.
And there was nothing I could do about it save enroll in a new plan because, as the letter also said, "you will be required to select a new ACA-compliant plan in order to continue your coverage.""

Like Obama, Kim Jong Un sacking military chiefs-North Korea Replaces Hard-Line Military Chief

North Korea Replaces Hard-Line Military Chief - WSJ.com:
"Mr. Foster-Carter noted that the position of military general staff has been changed four times in the past 15 months."

Phoney baloney stats wrong about baloney and everything else! 40 Years of Government Nutrition Data May Be Flawed

40 Years of Government Nutrition Data May Be Flawed - Blog:
"According to an analysis conducted by exercise scientist Edward Archer at the University of South Carolina, NHANES is very likely invalid.
And it's for a simple reason that almost anybody could point out:
All of the data it collects on caloric intake is self-reported.

Try to remember precisely what you ate over the past twenty-four hours and you'll see why this is a problem. People aren't only inept at estimating how many calories are in the foods they eat, they're also bad at recalling what they consumed and when."

...With this in mind, Archer performed calculations merely to gauge if NHANES' data is physiologically plausible. 
In 1991, a team of physiologists determined that average, free-living individuals must consume at minimum at least 35% more calories than their basal metabolic rate (BMR) -- the amount of calories they expend resting -- in order to maintain their weight and health. 
This accounts for the energy people need to perform everyday activities, from just walking around, to playing sports, to gardening, etc. Archer used a well-established equation to estimate the BMR of individuals in the NHANES study, multiplied those values by 1.35, and compared them to the self-reported energy intakes in NHANES. 
What did that comparison yield? 
The majority of respondents, totaling 28,993 men and 34,369 women, reported eating less calories than even the bare minimum necessary to survive! 

Moron newspaper editor slapped upside the head-Lawsuit over paper comments thrown out

Lawsuit over paper comments thrown out | WOOD TV8: "IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) -
A lawsuit filed by the editor of a local paper against readers who were critical of a news story has been dismissed.
On Friday, Ionia County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Hoseth-Kreeger dismissed the lawsuit filed by Lori Kilchermann, the editor of the Ionia County Sentinel-Standard. "

Norwegian TV Station to Air Five Straight Hours of Competitive Knitting

Norwegian TV Station to Air Five Straight Hours of Competitive Knitting:
"Ah, Norway!
Land of my people!
A Norwegian television station has announced that they plan to broadcast the world knitting record for the fastest time from "sheep to actual finished sweater"—earmarking a full five contiguous hours for the purpose. That's five hours of shearing, spinning, and knitting (plus four hours of fleece-themed knitting pre-show). 
On TV.
I grew up eating a bastardized Norwegian dish that my mom called "milk mush," which is essentially just hot flour soup, so in terms of entertainment this sounds about right:"

[college] G.P.A.s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless — no correlation at all except for brand-new college grads, where there’s a slight correlation.

Quotation of the day | AEIdeas:
"…. is from Lazlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, in an interview that appeared in the New York Times on June 19, 2013:

One of the things we’ve seen from all our data crunching is that [college] G.P.A.s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless — no correlation at all except for brand-new college grads, where there’s a slight correlation.
Google famously used to ask everyone for a transcript and G.P.A.s and test scores, but we don’t anymore, unless you’re just a few years out of school.
We found that they don’t predict anything.

What’s interesting is the proportion of people without any college education at Google has increased over time as well. 
So we have teams where you have 14% of the team made up of people who’ve never gone to college."

Obama shuts parks, NPR blames republicans? Parks Shutdown Saps $750 Million In Visitor Spending

Report: Parks Shutdown Saps $750 Million In Visitor Spending : The Two-Way : NPR:
"An estimated 7 million people have been shut out at 12 of the busiest and biggest U.S. national parks, costing parks and nearby communities about $76 million in lost visitor spending for each day the partial government shutdown drags on."

Nuke plot? Admiral AND General in charge of USA nukes both fired?

General in charge of Air Force nukes is fired | HeraldNet.com - Nation/World:
"WASHINGTON -- Officials tell The Associated Press that the Air Force is firing the two-star general in charge of all of its nuclear missiles.
Maj. Gen. Michael Carey is being removed from command of the 20th Air Force, which is responsible for three wings of intercontinental ballistic missiles -- a total of 450 missiles at three bases across the country"

StratCom deputy chief fired as nation's No. 2 nuclear commander
http://www.omaha.com/article/20131009/NEWS/131008617
Vice Adm. Timothy Giardina has been reassigned to Navy staff at the Pentagon and will move to Washington, D.C., within the next three weeks, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Navy's top spokesman.

Follow the money......"How the government spent $634MILLION on the Obamacare website"

Obamacare website cost $634MILLION and it still doesn't work | Mail Online:
"How the government spent $634MILLION on the Obamacare website - more than it cost to build Facebook and Twitter - and it STILL doesn't work
-Price tag is six and a half times higher than original $94million contact
-Contractor CGI Federal built the site and demanded more money from the government as costs soared
-Only a handful of Americans have been able to sign up for the health insurance exchanges on Healthcare.gov
-Site still is issuing error messages when users try to sign in"

28 Detroit houses selling for $500 at county auction

28 Detroit houses selling for $500 at county auction | Motor City Muckraker | Independent journalism dedicated to improving life in Detroit

Union thuggery lives on and on and on and on......

Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Asks Court to Correct MERC's Mistake:
"The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation has filed an appeal at the Michigan Court of Appeals over the Michigan Employment Relations Commission’s April decision not to correct its own mistake for allowing some 40,000 people to be wrongly forced into a public-sector union."
This sad story is truly emblematic of destructive unionism here in Michigan.

Yes, he's a white democrat-Top Detroit official suspended with pay, apologizes for racial comments

Top Detroit official suspended with pay, apologizes for racial comments | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Detroit’s chief financial officer, under fire and the subject of an internal investigation over a racially tinged comment he made in a meeting with other city officials, issued an apology today.

Chief Financial Officer Jim Bonsall, in a statement issued through emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s office, expressed remorse for the comment in which he asked, apparently in jest, whether he’d be able to shoot anyone in a hoodie if he participated in the city’s annual Angels’ Night anti-arson patrols.

The remark was an apparent reference to the fatal shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, who died after a confrontation with neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman."

US Taxpayers Shelled Out $634 Million on Failed Obamacare Website

US Taxpayers Shelled Out $634 Million on Failed Obamacare Website | The Gateway Pundit:
"The Obama Administration blew $634 million their failed Obamacare website that can’t hold the traffic load of a major blog.
$634,320,919 — and that was just for the website!"