Thursday, June 13, 2013

Family Relations Between Media, Obama Officials Does Not Affect Coverage

Washington Post: Family Relations Between Media, Obama Officials Does Not Affect Coverage

Let's start by going through the Post's article to create a list of journalists married to or closely related to officials within the Obama administration. The size and scope of this is bad enough. But what is most troubling is how high up this incest occurs in the worlds of both the media and the Obama administration:

  • ABC News President Ben Sherwood, who is the brother of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a top national-security adviser to President Obama.
  • His counterpart at CBS, news division president David Rhodes, is the brother of Benjamin Rhodes, a key foreign-policy specialist.
  • CNN’s deputy Washington bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is married to Tom Nides, who until earlier this year was deputy secretary of state under Hillary Rodham Clinton.
  • White House press secretary Jay Carney’s wife is Claire Shipman, a veteran reporter for ABC.
  • NPR’s White House correspondent, Ari Shapiro, is married to a lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, who joined the White House counsel’s office in April.
  • The Post’s Justice Department reporter, Sari Horwitz, is married to William B. Schultz, the general counsel of the Department of Human Services.
  • [VP] Biden’s current communications director, Shailagh Murray (a former Post congressional reporter), is married to Neil King, one of the Wall Street Journal’s top political reporters.
This list doesn't even include those dating and sleeping together. And if you've seen "House of Cards," you know it's Caligula up there.
Naturally, the Post, and those in media interviewed for the article, all claim that none of this in any way affects their coverage of the Obama administration.
And you know what -- I believe them.
As someone who has been watching the media closely for twenty-years, I can tell you that even without all this incest, the media would still be guarding Obama's palace just as aggressively as it does now. Family relations have nothing to do with it.
Our media would be just as corrupt, just as unwilling to dig into scandals, just as obsessed with The War On The WomanParts and gay marriage; just as dishonest, partisan, and lazy were no one in any way related to top officials within the Obama administration.
These relations are not the cause of the media's corruption; they are a symptom of it.

St. Louis police commander survives ambush while on special patrol

St. Louis police commander survives ambush while on special patrol : News:
“He looks me dead in the eye, lifts his pistol and starts shooting at me,” Spiess said Wednesday.
“The first round sounded like a shotgun went off in my car.
Then I heard a high-pitched whine go through the (open) driver’s side window and out the passenger window.
“He looked at me square in the face, I’m in an Impala, wearing a police shirt, and he was looking me right in the eye. 
He knew who he was shooting at. 
He absolutely knew I was a policeman.”
Obama's America......

If There Is A "Housing Recovery" Then This Chart Can't Be Right

If There Is A "Housing Recovery" Then This Chart Can't Be Right | Zero Hedge:
"Let's start with the oldest economics joke in the book: "assume there is a housing recovery."
Ok, let's assume that.
So, applying logic, wouldn't consumers be actively buying furniture for their brand new homes, instead of furniture sales not only declining for the past year but posting the first negative print since January 2011"

Franz Statement on Medicaid Expansion

RightMichigan.com || Franz Statement on Medicaid Expansion:
"Representative Ray Franz (Genuine R-101) issued a statement on Medicaid expansion:

I apologize in advance for the length of this piece, but this is a big and complex issue.
I find it somewhat amusing that some of the people who were worried that I would vote in lockstep with the Governor, now want me to rubberstamp his Medicaid Expansion plan.
I cannot and here's why:
First, this subsidized health coverage (benefit) is going to include a very large portion of our population - some say as many as 600,000.  
I believe it may be more.  
The benefit will go to those over 133% of the Federal Poverty Line.  
But that is based on adjusted gross income which takes 5% off the bottom and adjusts.  
So the 133% could be 140% of actual earnings - or more.  
When you consider that ObamaCare is forcing many in the service and retail industry to cut employee hours to under 29 - this has the potential of including far more than 600,000 people."

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Why hasn’t the left tried to exploit the Santa Monica shootings?

Why hasn’t the left tried to exploit the Santa Monica shootings? | The D.C. Clothesline

BLACKFIVE: First verified lie from Ed Snowden

BLACKFIVE: First verified lie from Ed Snowden
The 18 X-ray program is a way to go directly from the street to the Special Forces course. You first would attend basic and advanced individual training and then airborne school. Upon successful conclusion of those you head to Bragg for some prep training and the Special Forces Assessment and Selection course. If you pass all of those, then and only then do you start Special Forces training.
Mr. Snowden wasn't even eligible for this program as he didn't even graduate from High School. So the claim that he broke his legs in Special Forces training is BS and that makes him a poseur. Well actually not even a poseur, he claimed to be training to be SF, so that makes him a poseur wannabe, or a wannabe poseur. I'm not real sure how the semantics of that work out. But either way, not really a great way to build credibility. He also made this claim that never rang true when I first read it.
 He recounted how his beliefs about the war's purpose were quickly dispelled. "Most of the people training us seemed pumped up about killing Arabs, not helping anyone," he said.
Right, so the people who weren't training you for Special Forces also happened to be knuckle-dragging troglodytes who were simply looking for a chance to go smoke some A-Rabs. Well I'm not buying it Eddie. I ran into plenty of your types in the military, disaffected losers who never actually finish anything but always have a bucket-load of excuses and who were always whining about how the system sucks. They were never responsible for their own failures, it was always oppression by the man. They were just too smart for the fools running things to recognize their brilliance. Sound familiar? They were also all varying flavors of bats**t as well.
- See more at: http://www.blackfive.net/main/2013/06/first-verified-lie-from-ed-snowden.html#sthash.FBclJwh0.dpuf

New transgender rules at BPD

New transgender rules at BPD | Boston Herald:
"Transgender criminal suspects can demand that cops call them by their adopted names, choose whether male or female officers frisk them and get a personal, private ride to court under new policies unveiled by Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis yesterday.

...The policies require cops to:
• “address transgender individuals by the individual’s adopted name ... even if the individual has not 
received legal recognition of the adopted name”
• “respectfully ask the individual” when they are “uncertain about which pronouns are appropriate”
• ask transgender suspects whether they prefer a frisk by male or female officers.- 

Jeff Duncan questions IRS rifle usage

Jeff Duncan questions IRS rifle usage - Tal Kopan - POLITICO.com:
"As chairman of the House Homeland Security oversight subcommittee, Duncan (R-S.C.) toured a federal law enforcement facility in late May and noticed agents training with the semi-automatic weapons at a firing range. They identified themselves as IRS, he said.
“When I left there, it’s been bugging me for weeks now, why IRS agents are training with a semi-automatic rifle AR-15, which has stand-off capability,” Duncan told POLITICO.
“Are Americans that much of a target that you need that kind of capability?”"

What is a derecho? Meteorologist explains

What is a derecho? Meteorologist explains | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com:
"A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm associated with a band or shelf of rapidly moving thunderstorms.
By definition, a derecho has to be at least 240 miles long and have winds of at least 58 miles per hour or greater."

Ex-Ficano aide, 41, to get $96k pension

WXYZ News: Ex-Ficano aide, 41, to get $96k pension:
"Matt Schenk isn't your average retiree.
He's 41, works full-time and collects $196,000 a year at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

But as soon as next month, he'll start collecting an estimated $96,000 annual pension, courtesy of an early retirement incentive offered to Wayne County appointees.
 It had no age restriction.

Before moving to the water department, Schenk was Robert Ficano's former chief of staff.
He admits he doesn't need the cash, and said he wanted to wait another five years before drawing his lucrative pension.

But last month, he says, the retirement board notified him that he needed to enroll now or lose out on the benefit."

If the GOP is this stupid, it deserves to die

If the GOP is this stupid, it deserves to die | The Daily Caller
If the GOP is this stupid, it deserves to die
Posted By Ann Coulter On 6:27 PM 06/12/2013 In Opinion | No Comments
Democrats terrify Hispanics into thinking they’ll be lynched if they vote for Republicans, and then turn around and taunt Republicans for not winning a majority of the Hispanic vote.
This line of attack has real resonance with our stupidest Republicans. (Proposed Republican primary targets: Sens. Kelly Ayotte, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio.) Which explains why Republicans are devoting all their energy to slightly increasing their share of the Hispanic vote while alienating everyone else in America.
It must be fun for liberals to manipulate Republicans into focusing on hopeless causes. Why don’t Democrats waste their time trying to win the votes of gun owners?
As journalist Steve Sailer recently pointed out, the Hispanic vote terrifying Republicans isn’t that big. It actually declined in 2012. The Census Bureau finally released the real voter turnout numbers from the last election, and the Hispanic vote came in at only 8.4 percent of the electorate — not the 10 percent claimed by the pro-amnesty crowd.
The sleeping giant of the last election wasn’t Hispanics; it was elderly black women, terrified of media claims that Republicans were trying to suppress the black vote and determined to keep the first African-American president in the White House.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, 10 percent more blacks voted in 2012 compared to 2008, even beating white voters, the usual turnout champions. Eligible black voters turned out at rate of 66.2 percent, compared to 64.1 percent of eligible white voters. Only 48 percent of all eligible Hispanic voters went to the polls.
No one saw this coming, which is probably why Gallup had Romney up by 5 points before Hurricane Sandy hit, and up by 1 point in its last pre-election poll after the hurricane.
Only two groups voted in larger numbers in 2012 compared to 2008: blacks aged 45-64, and blacks over the age of 65 — mostly elderly black women.
In raw numbers, nearly twice as many blacks voted as Hispanics, and nine times as many whites voted as Hispanics. (Ninety-eight million whites, 18 million blacks and 11 million Hispanics.)
So, naturally, the Republican Party’s entire battle plan going forward is to win slightly more votes from 8.4 percent of the electorate by giving them something they don’t want.
As Byron York has shown, even if Mitt Romney had won 70 percent of the Hispanic vote, he still would have lost. No Republican presidential candidate in at least 50 years has won even half of the Hispanic vote.
In the presidential election immediately after Reagan signed an amnesty bill in 1986, the Republican share of the Hispanic vote actually declined from 37 percent to 30 percent — and that was in a landslide election for the GOP. Combined, the two Bush presidents averaged 32.5 percent of the Hispanic vote — and they have Hispanics in their family Christmas cards.
John McCain, the nation’s leading amnesty proponent, won only 31 percent of the Hispanic vote, not much more than anti-amnesty Romney’s 27 percent.
Amnesty is a gift to employers, not employees.
The (pro-amnesty) Pew Research Hispanic Center has produced poll after poll showing that Hispanics don’t care about amnesty. In a poll last fall, Hispanic voters said they cared more about education, jobs and health care than immigration. They even care more about the federal budget deficit than immigration! (To put that in perspective, the next item on their list of concerns was “scratchy towels.”)
Also, note that Pew asked about “immigration,” not “amnesty.” Those Hispanics who said they cared about immigration might care about it the way I care about it — by supporting a fence and E-Verify.
Who convinced Republicans that Hispanic wages aren’t low enough and what they really need is an influx of low-wage workers competing for their jobs?
Maybe the greedy businessmen now running the Republican Party should talk with their Hispanic maids sometime. Ask Juanita if she’d like to have seven new immigrants competing with her for the opportunity to clean other people’s houses, so that her wages can be dropped from $20 an hour to $10 an hour.
A wise Latina, A.J. Delgado, recently explained on Mediaite.com why amnesty won’t win Republicans the Hispanic vote — even if they get credit for it. Her very first argument was: “Latinos will resent the added competition for jobs.”
But rich businessmen don’t care. Big Republican donors — and their campaign consultants — just want to make money. They don’t care about Hispanics, and they certainly don’t care what happens to the country. If the country is hurt, I don’t care, as long as I am doing better! This is the very definition of treason.
Hispanic voters are a small portion of the electorate. They don’t want amnesty, and they’re hopeless Democrats. So Republicans have decided the path to victory is to flood the country with lots more of them!
It’s as if Republicans convinced Democrats to fixate on banning birth control to win more pro-life voters. This would be great for Republicans because Democrats will never win a majority of pro-life voters, and about as many pro-lifers care about birth control as Hispanics care about amnesty.
But that still wouldn’t be as idiotic as what Republicans are doing because, according to Gallup, pro-lifers are nearly half of the electorate. Hispanics are only 8.4 percent of the electorate.
And it still wouldn’t be as stupid as the GOP pushing amnesty, because banning birth control wouldn’t create millions more voters who consistently vote against the Democrats.
Listening to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus burble a few weeks ago on “Fox News Sunday” about how amnesty is going to push the Republicans to new electoral heights, one is reminded of Democratic pollster Pat Caddell’s reason for refusing to become a Republican: No matter how enraged he gets at Democratic corruption, he says he can’t bear to join such a stupid party as the GOP.
Ann Coulter is an author and political commentator.

Obama Restricts Spying In Mosques While Spying Everywhere Else

Obama Restricts Spying In Mosques While Spying Everywhere Else - Investors.com:
"Homeland Insecurity:
The White House assures that tracking our every phone call and keystroke is to stop terrorists, and yet it won't snoop in mosques, where the terrorists are.
That's right, the government's sweeping surveillance of our most private communications excludes the jihad factories where homegrown terrorists are radicalized.
Since October 2011, mosques have been off-limits to FBI agents. 
No more surveillance or undercover string operations without high-level approval from a special oversight body at the Justice Department dubbed the Sensitive Operations Review Committee.
Who makes up this body, and how do they decide requests?
Nobody knows; the names of the chairman, members and staff are kept secret."

High Diving Giraffes

Fake savings: The 2013 House farm bill

Fake savings: The 2013 House farm bill
As reported in the AEI paper, “Field of Schemes Mark II: The Taxpayer and Economic Welfare Costs of PriceLoss Coverage and Supplementary Insurance Coverage Programs,” authored by Bruce Babcock, Barry Goodwin, and myself, the PLC program would provide farmers raising major crops such as wheat, corn, peanuts, rice, barley, and soybeans with very substantial subsidies if crop prices move from their current record (or near record) levels towards relatively recent historical levels

Orr tells crowd: 'We have to break our addiction to debt'

Orr tells crowd: 'We have to break our addiction to debt' | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Leasing the park is just one step proposed by Orr to help the city deal with a budget deficit nearing $386 million and to restructure $9.4 billion in long-term debt. "

Foot doctor sentenced for videotaping naked wrestlers at Muskegon Community College

Foot doctor sentenced for videotaping naked wrestlers at Muskegon Community College | MLive.com:
Great headline!

What 'direct access' means

What 'direct access' means:
The term 'direct access' seems to be the central issue when it comes to the coordinated PR campaign from Silicon Valley, and a new article from The Washington Post seems to clarify it all quite a bit. "Intelligence community sources said that this description [i.e., direct access], although inaccurate from a technical perspective, matches the experience of analysts at the NSA. 
From their workstations anywhere in the world, government employees cleared for PRISM access may 'task' the system and receive results from an Internet company without further interaction with the company's staff." 
This seems to explain why the leaked official documents speak of 'direct access' even though the companies themselves deny it. 
The leaked documentation probably wasn't written by a technical expert, so he simply used a term that describes the end result (i.e., access whenever, wherever, whatever), but not the actual technical workings (i.e., the system does not directly tap into the companies' own servers). 
Update: The Guardian has released a new slide from the NSA slide deck: it speaks of "collection directly from the servers" of several US companies, like Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and so on. 
It also mentions directly tapping into the very cables that carry data to and from the US. 
I wonder how long Silicon Valley will continue to lie and/or legalese around the issue. 
Man up for once.

Schumer: 'Illegal Immigration Will Be a Thing of the Past'

Schumer: 'Illegal Immigration Will Be a Thing of the Past'

Dorothy Dugger, Ex-BART General Manager, Made $330,000 While No Longer Working For Agency

Dorothy Dugger, Ex-BART General Manager, Made $330,000 While No Longer Working For Agency:
"A top official for the agency that manages the San Francisco Bay Area's BART system earned more than $330,000 last year – even though she didn't work a single day for the public transit agency, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Bay Area Rapid Transit general manager Dorothy Dugger resigned under pressure in May 2011, but stayed on the payroll for another 19 months and was BART's highest-paid employee in 2012, the Bay Area News Group (http://bit.ly/102JORG) reported."

Muskegon County Jail architect: Planning process to ‘accelerate from this point forward’

Muskegon County Jail architect: Planning process to ‘accelerate from this point forward’ | MLive.com
"The total cost of the new jail and juvenile transition center is estimated to be $35 million to $41 million.
County officials have said construction could start before the end of 2013 if everything goes as scheduled and county commissioners give their approval."

Western Promises

Western Promises | National Review Online:
"And if all of America were absorbed by the Sacramento Commissariat, all of America would have A.B. 32, the Golden State’s ambitious carbon-curbing initiative, and all Americans would be wearing dumb smiles as we marched over the edge into an economic abyss."

The Education Bubble Has Burst

Articles: The Education Bubble Has Burst:
"Concurrently, Moody's in 2013 gave a negative financial outlook for all universities.
Recent studies have indicated that over 50% of all colleges and universities are projected to close, merge, or shut down in the next 50 years"

University of Chicago Removes Pews from 88 Year-Old Chapel to Accommodate Muslim Prayers

University of Chicago Removes Pews from 88 Year-Old Chapel to Accommodate Muslim Prayers | The Gateway Pundit:
“The pews were recently removed from the chapel in order to offer Muslim students a place to pray, a symbolic gesture of religious tolerance,” according to an official description of the exhibit which includes a “set of repurposed pews from the University of Chicago’s campus church.”

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Obama's EPA conducted Nazi-like experiments on human subjects

Lawsuit: Obama's EPA conducted Nazi-like experiments on human subjects:
"You have the story, documented by links to numerous credible sources, to fully document what is a shocking story.
I just found this story, and it's been out there a while and equally shocking is how the mainstream media have completely ignored this story and failed to report it to the public who clearly has a right to know that taxpayer dollars at the federal level are being spent to carry out sick Nazi-like experiments like this."

'Pasha' Dingell and the rise of Washington power

'Pasha' Dingell and the rise of Washington power | The Detroit News:
"Democrats like Dingell position themselves as populist protectors of the common man.
But in truth, the massive regulatory bills that they write inside the D.C. beltway have reduced consumer choice and marginalized small business — while favoring big corporations that can afford the lobbyists necessary to navigate the capital’s thicket of rules."

Allen West Responds to Cosby

Allen West Responds to Cosby: "Cosby had written this:
I’m a Christian. But Muslims are misunderstood. Intentionally misunderstood. We should all be more like them. They make sense, especially with their children. There is no other group like the Black Muslims, who put so much effort into teaching children the right things, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink or overindulge in alcohol, they protect their women, they command respect. And what do these other people do?
They complain about them, they criticize them. We’d be a better world if we emulated them. We don’t have to become black Muslims, but we can embrace the things that work."

Bridging the male education gap

Bridging the male education gap - latimes.com:
"The underinvestment in education by adolescent boys and young men stems in part from out-of-date masculine stereotypes.
Such things as a strong attachment to school, a feeling of closeness to teachers, an excessive interest in high academic achievement or a fondness for art or music are viewed by many young men as unmasculine."

Vitamins: Good or Bad?

Vitamins: Good or Bad? - James Hamblin - The Atlantic:
"Bottom line, we understand the majority of people to be best off without any vitamin supplements.
Just because they are non-prescription and still live inside a "health halo," vitamins are not harmless.
They could shorten or extend your life; at this point, taking vitamins randomly is metabolic roulette. "

Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic

Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
 "A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable."

"My Son Almost Drowned"

Weekend Pundit:
"My Son Almost Drowned"

1955 Le Mans Disaster

1955 Le Mans Disaster

Social Security and Medicare Programs Remain on Unsustainable Paths

Social Security and Medicare Programs Remain on Unsustainable Paths | Mercatus:

Clapper: I Gave 'The Least Untruthful Answer' To Wyden's 'Beating Your Wife' Question On Data Surveillance

Clapper: I Gave 'The Least Untruthful Answer' To Wyden's 'Beating Your Wife' Question On Data Surveillance | Techdirt:
AMES CLAPPER:

First-- as I said, I have great respect for Senator Wyden. I thought, though in retrospect, I was asked-- "When are you going to start-- stop beating your wife" kind of question, which is meaning not-- answerable necessarily by a simple yes or no. So I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful manner by saying no.
That's quite an answer. 
First, let's go with the big one: Least untruthful manner? 
In other words, it was a lie, but I could have told bigger lies. 
But he's still admitting that it was a lie. 
Lying to Congress is generally not a good idea. 
Second: in what possible way is "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" a loaded question of the "when did you stop beating your wife?" variety? 
There doesn't seem to be any unjustified assumption within the question at all. 
It's a pretty basic question, in which a truthful answer ("yes, we do") does not lead to a fallacious admission. 

So, now we have the Director of National Intelligence lying, admitting to lying, and then blaming the questioner by making two separate false claims about his question ("it was about email" and "it was a loaded question"). Why is he still in this job?

Oregon high school has 29 graduating valedictorians; Welcome to today’s ‘Lake Wobegon’ educational system

Oregon high school has 29 graduating valedictorians; Welcome to today’s ‘Lake Wobegon’ educational system | AEIdeas:

Timelapse: Landsat Satellite Images of Climate Change, via Google Earth Engine

Timelapse: Landsat Satellite Images of Climate Change, via Google Earth Engine

7 Ways to Ensure Your Loved Ones' PC Will Never Need Fixing

7 Ways to Ensure Your Loved Ones' PC Will Never Need Fixing:

State Dept. Inspector General: U.S. Ambassador to Belgium 'Solicited Prostitutes, Including Minors'

State Dept. Inspector General: U.S. Ambassador to Belgium 'Solicited Prostitutes, Including Minors' | The Weekly Standard:
"Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy ordered the investigation ceased, and the ambassador remains in place, according to the memo.
Gutman was a big Democratic donor before taking the post, having raised $500,000 for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and helping finance his inaugural."

Plan B: Obama allows morning-after pill for under-17s

Plan B: Obama allows morning-after pill for under-17s | World news | guardian.co.uk:
"Annie Tummino, lead plaintiff and co-ordinator of the National Women's Liberation, said: "This decision by the administration affirms what feminists have been fighting for all along: the morning-after pill should be available to females of all ages, on the shelf at any convenience store, just like aspirin or condoms."
Plan B has been a political lightning rod. In 2011, after the FDA decided to approve over-the-counter sales with no age limits, US health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius had ordered it to reverse course, barring girls under 17 from buying the pills without a prescription.
Barack Obama supported that restriction, invoking his daughters.
But the timing, 11 months ahead of the presidential election, sparked criticism that he was trying to placate social conservatives."

IRS to pro-life group (audio): 'Know your boundaries'

Politics: IRS to pro-life group (audio): 'Know your boundaries' | CainTV

Dallas CAIR Director: “Muslims Are Above the Law of the Land.”

Dallas CAIR Director: “Muslims Are Above the Law of the Land.” | FrontPage Magazine

Senate passes five-year, $500 billion farm bill

Senate passes five-year, $500 billion farm bill - Tea Party Command Center:
"Congress moved a step closer toward completing a sweeping five-year, $500 billion farm law Monday night, with the Senate approving legislation that would cut farm subsidies while expanding crop insurance."
$500 billion here, $500 billion there.......

MuskegonPundit: Handy U-Print-It Pocket Guide: Why S.744′s a Fraud

MuskegonPundit: Handy U-Print-It Pocket Guide: Why S.744′s a Fraud
Handy U-Print-It Pocket Guide: Why S.744′s a Fraud | The Daily Caller
“Multiple triggers”/Legalization is immediate. DHS just has to write border “plan.” The most any “triggers” can possibly do is delay green cards and citizenship.
“90 % effectiveness”/ If not reached, triggers only toothless commission
“Pay back taxes”/ Only if already “assessed” by IRS (unlikely). Newly legalized may instead get refunds.
“Learn English”/ Only need to sign up for English class.
“Clean record”/ Allows two free misdemeanors. Additional misdemeanors (including assaults) can be waived by DHS.
No “public charge.” Must earn 125% of poverty line / They’re going to deport people who earn only 124% or less? Ha.
“Pay a fine”/ Can be waived by DHS
“Back of the line”/ Get to wait out the line while living in the U.S (unlike suckers trying to come here legally).
Border fence/ Leaves it up to DHS, which decided not to complete fence in first place
“Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy”/ Only has to be “substantially” operational–whatever that means, as defined by DHS–before green cards are issued. (Legalization has already happened, remember!)
“E-verify” employment checks/ Replaces E-Verify with new system. Requires only that this system be “implemented” ( 30%? 70%? Who knows?). Subject to lawsuit. If still in court after 10 years, never mind!
Entry-exit system for visas/Has been required since 1996. DHS must only be “using” a system before green cards can be issued. (Using in 10% of airports? 50%? Again, who knows?)

The Jobs Report Covering May 2013: About As Good As It Is Going To Get And Still Too Insufficient By Far

The Jobs Report Covering May 2013: About As Good As It Is Going To Get And Still Too Insufficient By Far « naked capitalism: "The U-6
The BLS’ broader measure of un- and under employment, the U-6, decreased, seasonally adjusted 0.1% to 13.8%.
Unadjusted, it was unchanged at 13.4%.

Seasonally adjusted, the U-6 is composed of 11.760 million unemployed, 7.904 million involuntary part time workers, and 2.164 million of the marginally attached (those who have no job but looked for work in the last year but not the last month), or 21.828 million total, a decrease of 94,000 from April."

Hundreds in government had advance word of Medicare action at heart of trading-spike probe

Hundreds in government had advance word of Medicare action at heart of trading-spike probe - The Washington Post: Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Washington Post late last week that his office reviewed the e-mail records of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and found that 436 of them had early access to the Medicare decision as much as two weeks before it was made public."

Bill Clinton to be honored as 'Father of the Year'

Bill Clinton to be honored as 'Father of the Year' - TODAY.com:
"The non-profit National Father's Day Council plans to award him that honor at a New York fundraiser for Save the Children on Tuesday."

Monday, June 10, 2013

How Many Amnestied Illegals Will There Be in Your State?

How Many Amnestied Illegals Will There Be in Your State? | Center for Immigration Studies:
"Projected Size of Amnesty Population and Current Number of Unemployed
(By states and territories. See text for definitions, sources, and methodology)"

Outrage: Paris Museum Glorifies Palestinian Terrorists

Outrage: Paris Museum Glorifies Palestinian Terrorists | HonestReporting
 "An outrageous new “art” exhibit, which refers to Israel as a “colonial power” and Palestinian terrorists as “fighters” and “victims of the Israeli military,” has opened in a museum in Paris. 
Suicide bombers are referred to as “militants” who heroically set out to “assassinate Israelis.”
According to the JTA, the exhibition of 68 photos entitled “Death” by Ahlam Shibli opened on May 28 at the Jeu de Paume museum of contemporary art in Paris.
The museum is subsidized by the French government."

GM to lay off 560 at Romulus plant

GM to lay off 560 at Romulus plant | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"During the layoffs, about 430 full-time workers will get unemployment and supplemental pay worth about 75% of their wages. 
Another 130 temporary workers will lose their jobs."

Source -- USC Trojans extend offer to Nathan Tilford, 8th-grade wide receiver - ESPN Los Angeles

Source -- USC Trojans extend offer to Nathan Tilford, 8th-grade wide receiver - ESPN Los Angeles
"Class of 2017 receiver Nathan Tilford (Upland, Calif./Upland) has yet to play a down of high school football, but the spotlight already is shining brightly on him."
8th grader!

MORE THOUGHTS ON THAT DUMB TOY-GUN BUYBACK PROGRAM

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MORE THOUGHTS ON THAT DUMB TOY-GUN BUYBACK PROGRAM: 
Is there any evidence that all those kids with their Daniel Boone caps and play rifles in the 50s grew up to be mass murderers?
How about my generation with our cap guns?
Perhaps Mr. Hill and the gang at Strobridge Elementary should be focusing on academics and not the firearms bugaboo.
After all, a quick search of the California Department of Education web site shows Strobridge to be a 1/1 school. 
The first 1 means that, in terms of academic performance, their school is in the lowest decile of all schools in California. 
The second 1 means that if, instead of being compared to all schools in the state, they’re only compared to schools with similar demographics, they’re still in the bottom decile.
Actually, given this information, it’s now obvious why they’d rather focus on toy guns.

Yeah, whenever government focuses on stuff like this, it’s basically a tipoff that they’re failing at their actual jobs.
Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 8:03 am"

Handy U-Print-It Pocket Guide: Why S.744′s a Fraud

Handy U-Print-It Pocket Guide: Why S.744′s a Fraud | The Daily Caller
“Multiple triggers”/Legalization is immediate. DHS just has to write border “plan.”  The most any “triggers” can possibly do is delay green cards and citizenship.
“90 % effectiveness”/ If not reached, triggers only toothless commission
“Pay back taxes”/ Only if already “assessed” by IRS (unlikely). Newly legalized may instead get refunds.
“Learn English”/ Only need to sign up for English class.
“Clean record”/ Allows two free misdemeanors. Additional misdemeanors (including assaults) can be waived by DHS.
No “public charge.” Must earn 125% of poverty line / They’re going to deport people who earn only 124% or less? Ha.
“Pay a fine”/ Can be waived by DHS
“Back of the line”/ Get to wait out the line while living in the U.S (unlike suckers trying to come here legally).
Border fence/ Leaves it up to DHS, which decided not to complete fence in first place
“Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy”/ Only has to be “substantially” operational–whatever that means, as defined by DHS–before green cards are issued. (Legalization has already happened, remember!)
“E-verify” employment checks/ Replaces E-Verify with new system. Requires only that this system be “implemented” ( 30%? 70%? Who knows?).  Subject to lawsuit. If still in court after 10 years, never mind!
Entry-exit system for visas/Has been required since 1996. DHS must only be “using” a system before green cards can be issued. (Using in 10% of airports? 50%? Again, who knows?)

Obama Is Just Obama

Works and Days » Obama Is Just Obama:
"Suddenly, half the country is upset with Obama for the recent flurry of scandals.
Even some in the media are perplexed.
Why the sudden angst, given that Obama is simply being Obama? 
We, not he, changed the rules."

Keep Your Long Flannel Underwear: Climate Scientists Predict Hell To Freeze Over!

Keep Your Long Flannel Underwear: Climate Scientists Predict Hell To Freeze Over! - Forbes:
"If the notion of global warming has gotten you all hot and bothered, here’s something to really worry about. What if just the opposite is occurring and global temperatures not only continue to remain flat, but get much colder for a very long time?
In fact, that’s exactly what some highly-credentialed and well-informed scientists are predicting."

Detroit wades into uncharted territory with possibility of bankruptcy

Detroit wades into uncharted territory with possibility of bankruptcy | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"As Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr meets with creditors of the deeply indebted city this week, bankruptcy lawyers, credit analysts, lenders and government officials around the country are keeping a close eye on whether he can prevent a municipal bankruptcy and, if not, what legal precedents might be set for other cities in crisis."

Livonia officials' conduct scrutinized after council candidates drop out

Livonia officials' conduct scrutinized after council candidates drop out | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Livonia’s ethics committee will examine three elected officials’ conduct after they made phone calls to City Council candidates who subsequently dropped out of the race."

Romulus: 'A great little town' with big scandals

Romulus: 'A great little town' with big scandals | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Then came March — and a raid of Mayor Alan Lambert’s house on Mario Ann Court as part of a Michigan State Police investigation.
“We were just coming out of a cloud with the police department, some of the charges that were made there,” said Romulus Mayor Pro Tem LeRoy Burcroff.
“Trust is at an all-time low.
We’ve got some work to do to regain that.”
The raid, troubling on its own, further magnified the string of high-profile controversies and scandals the city of nearly 24,000 is facing.
In addition to its former police chief going on trial later this year, city officials are trying to keep a prominent businessman facing corruption allegations from reopening a pair of hazardous-waste deep-injecton wells in the community, and are still fighting to get a casino."

When everything is a crime, government data mining matters

When everything is a crime, government data mining matters - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
Prosecutors have become kings, with the ability to find a crime committed by just about anyone.  
Data mining and access to internet activity can help find terrorists, but it also can be used to find crimes which were not previously known to have been committed by political opponents.
A “find the target first, then find the crime” political approach requires access to information of an unprecedented level.  
Which is exactly what is happening.
The issue goes beyond the NSA programs.  
Obamacare is a form of data mining.
Obamacare will put into the hands of the IRS medical and health information of an unprecedented level.  As bad as leaks as to which websites you visit would be, the threat of leakage of your medical information could be equally devastating to freedom of speech and the political process.  
It would take a mere nod and a wink to convince someone that participation in the political process was not worth it if the result was the exposure of sensitive medical issues.
You can’t separate the data mining, the culture of intimidation, and criminalization of daily life.
......Obama’s response is that we should trust the government.
The Obama scandals tell us otherwise.  
From the phony Benghazi talking points, to IRS targeting, to deceptive measures to obtain journalist phone and email records, the Obama administration at multiple levels and in multiple agencies has proven that it is not worthy of our trust.  
Or of our information.

BOMBSHELL… Legendary Columbia University Professor Claims That None of His Colleagues Remember Obama

BOMBSHELL… Legendary Columbia University Professor Claims That None of His Colleagues Remember Obama | The D.C. Clothesline:
" Graff said, “I taught at Columbia for 46 years.
I taught every significant American politician that ever studied at Columbia.
I know them all.
I’m proud of them all.
Between American History and Diplomatic History, one way or another, they all had to come through my classes.
Not Obama.
I never had a student with that name in any of my classes.
I never met him, never saw him, never heard of him.”

Even more importantly, Professor Graff knew the other history and political science professors. 
“None of the other Columbia professors knew him either” said Graff."

Women's suffrage - Today in history

6-10-1920The Republican convention in Chicago endorsed woman suffrage.
Women's suffrage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The key vote came on June 4, 1920, when the Senate approved the amendment by 56 to 25 after four hours of debate, during which Democratic Senators opposed to the amendment filibustered to prevent a roll call until their absent Senators could be protected by pairs.
The Ayes included 36 (82%) Republicans and 20 (54%) Democrats.
The Nays comprised 8 (18%) Republicans and 17 (46%) Democrats.
It was ratified by sufficient states in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited state or federal sex-based restrictions on voting.[94]"

CALIFORNIA VOTES To Allow BOYS TO SHOWER WITH GIRLS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

CALIFORNIA VOTES To Allow BOYS TO SHOWER WITH GIRLS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS – Secrets of the Fed:
"But the kicker is this statement contained in the bill:
“SECTION 1.  Section 221.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:”

“(f) A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

In other words, any boy who claims he is a girl, even though he is anatomically still a boy, would be allowed to use the same locker rooms and showers that the girls use. 
On the opposite side, a girl claiming to be a boy but is still anatomically a girl would be allowed to shower with all the boys. 
They don’t even have to be undergoing any form of sex change therapy, just say they are the opposite sex from what they really are and they can parade around in all their glory in either locker room or shower."

Military told not to read Obama-scandal news

Military told not to read Obama-scandal news:
"The notice applies to users of the Air Force NIPRNET (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network), which is the only way that many troops stationed overseas and on bases in the U.S. are able to access the Internet.
The last line of the executive summary states:
“Users are not to use AF NIPRNET systems to access the Verizon phone records collection and other related news stories because the action could constitute a Classified Message Incident."

Young Star-Spangled Stunner Takes Sports World by Storm

Sunday, June 09, 2013

Even with the best models, warmest decades, most CO2: Models are proven failures « JoNova

He Treats Her Like an Equal and She Gets Enraged

Captain Capitalism: He Treats Her Like an Equal and She Gets Enraged:
"An "environmental" engineering major (and yes, the quotes were on purpose, because "environmental" engineering isn't a real degree - note "chemistry and calculus is tough!") asks a man for his opinion. 
And not only does he obey her, he tells her...

the truth."

Hitler's Teapot Stirs Up Strong Sales for JC Penney

Hitler's Teapot Stirs Up Strong Sales for JC Penney:
"But putting a bird on it doesn't make the same amount of noise on the Internet as an accidental trompe l'oeil when it involves a dead dictator who has already seen his share of Internet ridicule. (See "Hitler Finds Out …" and CatsThatLookLikeHitler.com.)"

I just got mine!

NSA Surveillance Heat Map: NSA Lied To Congress

NSA Surveillance Heat Map: NSA Lied To Congress - Slashdot:
"anagama writes
"NSA officials have repeatedly denied under oath to Congress that even producing an estimate of the number of Americans caught up in its surveillance is impossible.
Leaked screenshots of an NSA application that does exactly that, prove that the NSA flat out lied (surprise). Glenn Greenwald continues his relentless attacks with another bombshell this time exposing Boundless Informant. Interestingly, the NSA spies more on America than China according to the heat map.
Representative Wyden had sought amendments to FISA reauthorization bill that would have required the NSA to provide information like this (hence the NSA's lies), but Obama and Feinstein demanded a pure reauthorization of FISA, which they got at the end of 2012."
And if you don't mind that you might have your name on yet another special list, you might enjoy this Twitter-based take on the ongoing news."

Jay Leno Eviscerates 'Snoop Obama' in Monologue

Jay Leno Eviscerates 'Snoop Obama' in Monologue

Red light: Traffic cameras bring Ohio town to screeching halt

Red light: Traffic cameras bring Ohio town to screeching halt | Fox News:
"But not only do motorists hate the cameras, local merchants complain that they make potential customers steer clear of shopping districts - and even entire towns - where the cameras lurk, waiting to dispense costly citations."

IRS can’t find $4M in conference receipts

IRS can’t find $4M in conference receipts: Report - Washington Times:
"The Internal Revenue Service can’t find the receipts from a $4 million agency conference in 2010 — meaning, it can’t provide the same documentation for business-related travel it requires Americans to include on tax filings."

Brace Yourself for Stimulus' End

Brace Yourself for Stimulus' End - TheStreet:
"Now we have a socialized bond market.
As a result of its bond buying, the Fed today owns a record 30.5% of the U.S. bond market, including 30.32% of all outstanding 10-year equivalents, Zerohedge reports. This reduces the amount of bonds available to the private sector.
"America may or may not be becoming increasingly socialist and/or nationalized," Zerohedge concluded, "but there is no doubt about it: Its bond market most certainly is."

Philadelphia adopting 'doomsday' school-slashing plan despite $400 million prison project

Philadelphia adopting 'doomsday' school-slashing plan despite $400 million prison project — RT USA

Vegetable oil is good for you, experts say

Vegetable oil is good for you, experts say:
"In the study, "Effect of Dietary Linoleic Acid on Markers of Inflammation in Healthy Persons: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials," researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois found that no link exists between vegetable oil consumption and circulating indicators of inflammation that are often associated with diseases such as heart disease, cancer, asthma and arthritis.
While earlier animal studies have shown that a diet rich in LA can promote inflammation, MU animal sciences researcher Kevin Fritsche says that humans respond to LA differently."

'I Was Born This Way'

Articles: 'I Was Born This Way':
"There is pretty persuasive evidence that what determines sexual orientation, at least for some homosexuals, is environmental. 
At a minimum, the evidence of a connection between being sexually abused as a child and homosexual or bisexual orientation as an adult is so widespread that the refusal of the scientific community to seriously consider a causal connection suggests a willful blindness."
.......And the high suicide rate among gay young people is supposed to be because of our homophobic society?  Maybe there is another cause -- one that causes high suicide rates among young straight CSA victims, too?
There is a well-known connection between CSA and later aubstance abuse.
There is also a well-known and thoroughly studied connection between homosexuality and substance abuse.

How they voted: Hunting fees, vehicle sales taxes among issues tackled by Michigan Legislature

How they voted: Hunting fees, vehicle sales taxes among issues tackled by Michigan Legislature | MLive.com: "Hunting and fishing licenses: The Michigan House approved a bill that would raise hunting and fishing license fees in the state. The measure is expected to raise nearly $20 million in additional money to help hire more conservation officers and make other improvements.

House Bill 4668 was approved by a 77-32 vote in the House.
All Republicans voted ‘yes’ in favor of the bill. 

Saturday, June 08, 2013

Cats That Look Like Hitler!

Cats That Look Like Hitler!:

Horrible timing: National Security Agency lists 'Digital Network Exploitation Analyst' internship opening as controversy swirls over digital snooping scandal

Horrible timing: National Security Agency lists 'Digital Network Exploitation Analyst' internship opening as controversy swirls over digital snooping scandal | Mail Online:
"It's either a cruel joke or the world's worst timing:
An internship listing for a 'Digital Network Exploitation Analyst' appeared Thursday on the National Security Agency's job-opening Twitter feed, just as the cyber spy directorate was caught up in an international scandal involving snooping on millions of telephone, email and social networking accounts."

The All-Seeing State-Mark Steyn

The All-Seeing State | National Review Online:
It took Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina to get to the heart of the matter: “With all due respect, this is not a training issue,” he said. “This cannot be solved with another webinar. . . . We can adopt all the recommendations you can possibly conceive of. I just say it strikes me — and maybe it’s just me — but it strikes me as a cultural, systemic, character, moral issue.”
He’s right. 
If you don’t instinctively know it’s wrong to stay in $3,500-a-night hotel rooms at public expense, a revised conference-accommodations-guidelines manual isn’t going to fix the real problem.
So we know the IRS is corrupt. 
What happens then when an ambitious government understands it can yoke that corruption to its political needs? 
What’s striking as the revelations multiply and metastasize is that at no point does any IRS official appear to have raised objections
If any of them understood that what they were doing was wrong, they kept it to themselves. 
When Nixon tried to sic the IRS on a few powerful political enemies, the IRS told him to take a hike. 
When Obama’s courtiers tried to sic the IRS on thousands of ordinary American citizens, the agency went along, and very enthusiastically. 
This is a scale of depravity hitherto unknown to the tax authorities of the United States, and for that reason alone they should be disarmed and disbanded — and rebuilt from scratch with far more circumscribed powers.

UN climate delegates unaware global warming stopped 16 years ago

22 Maps That Show The Deepest Linguistic Conflicts In America

22 Maps That Show The Deepest Linguistic Conflicts In America - Business Insider
These exist?!

For Those Still Wondering If The Unemployment Situation Is Cyclical Or Structural

For Those Still Wondering If The Unemployment Situation Is Cyclical Or Structural | Zero Hedge:

Why we have to turn electronic devices off on planes

BBC - Future - Technology - Why we have to turn electronic devices off on planes:

Top Science Journal Rebukes Harvard's Top Nutritionist

Top Science Journal Rebukes Harvard's Top Nutritionist - Forbes:
"Willett was the co-author of a study published last fall that generated enormous controversy when its dramatic conclusions were retracted at the last minute by the publicity team at Harvard’s teaching hospital, Brigham and Women’s. The study had been promoted to the media as showing a link between aspartame and cancer: “The truth isn’t sweet when it comes to artificial sweeteners,” said the press release. But the truth was that the statistical findings were so weak and confusing that no such claim could be supported, especially given that many systematic reviews of the evidence on aspartame had not found any such link.

At the time, Dr. Steven Nissen, chair of the Cleveland Clinic’s cardiovascular medicine department told NBC News: “Promoting a study that its own authors agree is not definite, not conclusive and not useful for the public is not in the best interests of public health.” As NBC’s Robert Bazell put it, “the situation is a great example of why the public often finds science confusing and frustrating.”
....This is more than merely unsporting: Such a brazen double standard is a warning that what counts as “science” in public health is a mixture of data – good, bad and middling –, methodological limitations, and interpretation. The goal – to save the public either from themselves or external threats – influences what is researched and how that research is interpreted. Given the complexities of the problems and the challenges of measurement (think about how much “evidence” is generated in nutrition from people recalling what they eat), the political need for clear conclusions and recommendations, combined with the academic need for findings to be published in scholarly journals that want positive findings, means that public health messages are often scientifically weaker than they sound."

Friday, June 07, 2013

The Pervasive Myth That GMOs Pose a Threat

The Pervasive Myth That GMOs Pose a Threat | Debate Club | US News Opinion:
"GMOs are nutritionally indistinguishable from their non-GMO counterparts, and in fact, they can be used to enhance nutrition in poorer parts of the world.
(As a side note, anti-GMO activists routinely claim that organic food is healthier, but a systematic review in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which covered more than 30 years of data, concluded that this isn't true.)

Baby Names Reveal Parents' Political Ideology

Baby Names Reveal Parents' Political Ideology | LiveScience:
"The results revealed that overall, the less educated the parent, the more likely they were to give their child either an uncommon name (meaning fewer than 20 children got the same name that year in California), or a unique name (meaning only one child got that name in 2004 in California). When parents had less than a college education, there were no major ideological differences in naming choice.

However, among college-educated whites, politics made a difference. College-educated moms and dads in the most liberal neighborhoods were twice as likely as college-educated parents in the most conservative neighborhoods to give their kids an uncommon name. Educated conservatives were more likely to favor popular names, which were defined as names in the top 100 in California that year."

No Cop/Bad Cop

No Cop/Bad Cop | National Review Online
No Cop/Bad Cop

I was chugging along buying Jack Dunphy’s argument on the NSA business, “A Small Price To Pay“, until I got to this bit:
There are people living in the United States right now, many, many of them, who are no less committed to jihad than the Tsarnaev brothers or Nidal Hassan.
Well, how’d that happen? How did all these Tsarnaevs-in-waiting wind up living in the United States? They were let in by the Government, and many of them were let in in the years since 9/11, when we were supposedly on permanent “orange alert”. The same bureaucracy that takes the terror threat so seriously that it needs the phone and Internet records of hundreds of millions of law-abiding persons would never dream of doing a little more pre-screening in its immigration system – by, say, according a graduate of a Yemeni madrassah a little more scrutiny than a Slovene or Fijian. The President has unilaterally suspended the immigration laws of the United States, and his Attorney-General prosecutes those states such as Arizona who remain quaintly attached to them. The ID three of the 9/11 hijackers acquired in the 7-Eleven parking lot in Falls Church, Virginia and used to board the plane that day is part of a vast ongoing subversion of American sovereignty with which many states and so-called “sanctuary cities” actively collude.
As for Major Hasan, who needs surveillance? He put “Soldier of Allah” on his business card and gave a PowerPoint presentation to his military colleagues on what he’d like to do to infidels – and nobody said a word, lest they got tied up in sensitivity-training hell for six months.
Jack will forgive me when I say this is less good cop/bad cop than no cop/bad cop. Because the formal, visible state has been neutered by political correctness, the dark, furtive shadow state has to expand massively to make, in secret, the judgment calls that can no longer be made in public. That’s not an arrangement that is likely to end well.

20 Completely Ridiculous College Courses Being Offered At U.S. Universities

20 Completely Ridiculous College Courses Being Offered At U.S. Universities | Zero Hedge:
"16. "The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur" (University of Washington) - The UW is not the first college with a class dedicated to Shakur -- classes on the rapper have been offered at the University of California Berkeley and Harvard -- but it is the first to relate Shakur's work to literature."

Stealth Edit: The New York Times Has Lost all Credibility

Stealth Edit: The New York Times Has Lost all Credibility:
"But to do it on the sly and not even note that the article has been updated, is dishonest.
 And nowhere did the Times note that they had cooled some after learning of their lover's betrayal, and then went back to leave the door open for some sweaty make-up sex.
We are not talking about fixing a typo here, or even finding a better word to clarify a point. In the course of a few hours,
The New York Times went from claiming the administration had lost all credibility -- period -- to something less. That is a huge position shift.
And this is not the first time the Times has been caught backfilling with stealth edits, either."

Dishonor and Disrespect on D-Day

RIGHT SPEAK: Op-ed: Dishonor and Disrespect on D-Day:
"...on a day when our president should have been paying our nation's respect at the D-Day Memorial, we had a president who has NEVER visited that memorial nor made any mention anywhere in the past three years about this most solemn of days.
NO.. yesterday we had a president who jetted off to a photo-op in North Carolina and a fundraiser in California (http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete) for that was more important to him than honoring those who helped saved the world."

The Feds' 'Ultimate Solution' to Curb Distracted Driving

The Feds' 'Ultimate Solution' to Curb Distracted Driving | Autopia | Wired.com

Logan's Law would create animal abuser registry

Logan's Law would create animal abuser registry | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com:
"That gray and white husky has become the face of a proposed law that would force convicted animal abusers to register for a new database to be used by animal control and humane society shelters in adopting animals.
Under the law, the shelters could not adopt animals to those on the registry for five years.
“They can check this registry to find out if they are giving (the animal) to a monster,” said Falk, of Wales, Mich.
In a room packed with supporters of the proposed “Logan’s Law,” the House Judiciary Committee today began hearing testimony on whether Michigan should become the first state to create such a registry.
Proponents say it would be funded through $250 in annual fees paid by offenders and would prove a valuable resource for shelters and individuals who want to find out whether they are letting a convicted animal abuser adopt a pet."

Four Words to Watch in the Immigration Debate

Four Words to Watch in the Immigration Debate:

1. COST
2. BORDER
3. AMNESTY
4. COMPREHENSIVE