Report: FAA Moving Closer to Relaxing In-Flight Gadget Rules | News & Opinion | PCMag.com:
"A formal decision likely won't come until after the FAA receives the final version of the advisory panel's study, expected at the end of September."
Friday, June 21, 2013
Showing photos of terrorists is racism, says Jim McDermott
Showing photos of terrorists is racism, says Jim McDermott | The Daily Caller:
"McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state, voiced his “deep concern” about the ad, which shows mug shots of international terrorists, and asked the FBI chief to “reconsider publicizing” it.
According to McDermott, the “ad featuring sixteen photos of wanted terrorists is not only offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities, but it encourages racial and religious profiling.”
"McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state, voiced his “deep concern” about the ad, which shows mug shots of international terrorists, and asked the FBI chief to “reconsider publicizing” it.
According to McDermott, the “ad featuring sixteen photos of wanted terrorists is not only offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities, but it encourages racial and religious profiling.”
Number Seven: NBC News Caught Again Selectively Editing Video
Number Seven: NBC News Caught Again Selectively Editing Video:
"Deceptive journalistic practices at NBC News show no sign of slowing down.
This latest attempt to selectively edit audio/video in order to benefit Barack Obama represents the seventh such act of willful, intentional journalistic malpractice.
NBC News is already being sued over one instance involving George Zimmerman.
Via Newsbusters, here is the latest, which occurred Thursday at MSNBC:
"Deceptive journalistic practices at NBC News show no sign of slowing down.
This latest attempt to selectively edit audio/video in order to benefit Barack Obama represents the seventh such act of willful, intentional journalistic malpractice.
NBC News is already being sued over one instance involving George Zimmerman.
Via Newsbusters, here is the latest, which occurred Thursday at MSNBC:
Shoe Battles - Going Toe-to-Toe in Stilettos
Shoe Battles - Going Toe-to-Toe in Stilettos - NYTimes.com:
"The designer shoe industry, to some extent, relies on the willful suspension of rational thinking, the giving over to a more primal urge (to shop, that is) in order to move merchandise that common sense would suggest is patently, obscenely, even self-destructively overpriced."
"The designer shoe industry, to some extent, relies on the willful suspension of rational thinking, the giving over to a more primal urge (to shop, that is) in order to move merchandise that common sense would suggest is patently, obscenely, even self-destructively overpriced."
Amendment Would Give Legal Status To People Displaced By Climate Change
Amendment Would Give Legal Status To People Displaced By Climate Change | ThinkProgress:
"Senator Brian Schatz’s (D-HI) filed an amendment for the immigration bill Wednesday that would allow stateless people in the U.S. to seek conditional lawful status if their nations have been made uninhabitable by climate change."
"Senator Brian Schatz’s (D-HI) filed an amendment for the immigration bill Wednesday that would allow stateless people in the U.S. to seek conditional lawful status if their nations have been made uninhabitable by climate change."
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Detroit's Debt Crisis: Everything Must Go
Detroit's Debt Crisis: Everything Must Go | Politics News | Rolling Stone:
"Detroit's Debt Crisis: Everything Must GoThe city just suspended its payments to Wall Street.
But is this the beginning of a resurrection for the city – or an organ sale?"
"Detroit's Debt Crisis: Everything Must GoThe city just suspended its payments to Wall Street.
But is this the beginning of a resurrection for the city – or an organ sale?"
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings
The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings - NYTimes.com:
WASHINGTON — After contradictory stories emerged about anF.B.I. agent’s killing last month of a Chechen man in Orlando, Fla., who was being questioned over ties to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, the bureau reassured the public that it would clear up the murky episode.
“The F.B.I. takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents, and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally,” a bureau spokesman said.
But if such internal investigations are time-tested, their outcomes are also predictable: from 1993 to early 2011, F.B.I. agents fatally shot about 70 “subjects” and wounded about 80 others — and every one of those episodes was deemed justified, according to interviews and internal F.B.I. records obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The last two years have followed the same pattern: an F.B.I. spokesman said that since 2011, there had been no findings of improper intentional shootings.
In most of the shootings, the F.B.I.’s internal investigation was the only official inquiry.
Minnesota Author Vince Flynn Dies At 47
Minnesota Author Vince Flynn Dies At 47 « CBS Minnesota:
"Minnesota author Vince Flynn has died after a long battle with prostate cancer."
TOTAL BUMMER!
RIP Vince.
"Minnesota author Vince Flynn has died after a long battle with prostate cancer."
TOTAL BUMMER!
RIP Vince.
Living in Fear: Welcome to Fascist America
Roger L. Simon » Living in Fear: Welcome to Fascist America:
"Back in the ’80s when, on a couple of occasions, I visited the Soviet Union, I always wondered what was it really like to live in that godforsaken place.
But it didn’t much matter.
For all the creepy spying that was going on, I realized I’d be out of there in a week or two.
Now I know what it was like. It’s come home.
I live in fear.
I don’t want to admit it, but it’s true.
Every phone call I make, every email I send, every text I message, every article I write including this one, I imagine being bugged or recorded.
1984 is here and it’s not pretty.
It infects everything we do."
"Back in the ’80s when, on a couple of occasions, I visited the Soviet Union, I always wondered what was it really like to live in that godforsaken place.
But it didn’t much matter.
For all the creepy spying that was going on, I realized I’d be out of there in a week or two.
Now I know what it was like. It’s come home.
I live in fear.
I don’t want to admit it, but it’s true.
Every phone call I make, every email I send, every text I message, every article I write including this one, I imagine being bugged or recorded.
1984 is here and it’s not pretty.
It infects everything we do."
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Muskegon County not included in distribution of $100 million in blight-reduction funds
Muskegon County not included in distribution of $100 million in blight-reduction funds | MLive.com:
"As a whole, 10.8 percent of Muskegon County homes were vacant in the 2010 Census.
That compares to 12 percent in Genesee County (Flint) and 14.5 percent in Wayne County (Detroit), and just 8 percent in Kent County (Grand Rapids),"
"As a whole, 10.8 percent of Muskegon County homes were vacant in the 2010 Census.
That compares to 12 percent in Genesee County (Flint) and 14.5 percent in Wayne County (Detroit), and just 8 percent in Kent County (Grand Rapids),"
Court Decision Could Unplug Green Energy Mandate in Michigan
Commentary: Court Decision Could Unplug Green Energy Mandate in Michigan [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"Writing for the majority, Judge Richard Posner wrote: "Michigan cannot, without violating the commerce clause of Article I of the Constitution, discriminate against out-of-state renewable energy."
That single sentence may throw into jeopardy Michigan's entire renewable energy mandate, Public Act 295, which requires Michigan utilities to generate 10 percent of their electricity from in-state renewable sources by 2015."
"Writing for the majority, Judge Richard Posner wrote: "Michigan cannot, without violating the commerce clause of Article I of the Constitution, discriminate against out-of-state renewable energy."
That single sentence may throw into jeopardy Michigan's entire renewable energy mandate, Public Act 295, which requires Michigan utilities to generate 10 percent of their electricity from in-state renewable sources by 2015."
The Magic, Fairy Dust Naivete That Is Progressive Economics
The Magic, Fairy Dust Naivete That Is Progressive Economics | Somewhat Reasonable:
"Let’s proclaim the Good News: Government money is free.
No, not just to the beneficiaries of government programs.
To society as a whole.
Meaning there is no economic cost to government spending whatsoever.
The more the government spends, the richer we will all be.
Let the Good Times roll."
"Let’s proclaim the Good News: Government money is free.
No, not just to the beneficiaries of government programs.
To society as a whole.
Meaning there is no economic cost to government spending whatsoever.
The more the government spends, the richer we will all be.
Let the Good Times roll."
Russ Feingold Gets Government Placeholder Job Before 2016 Senate Rematch with Ron Johnson
Russ Feingold Gets Government Placeholder Job Before 2016 Senate Rematch with Ron Johnson - Right Wisconsin - Conservative politics and perspective powered by Charlie Sykes:
"John Kerry calls it a high level priority.
It's official. Russ Feingold's long 29-and-a-half month exile to the private sector is over.
He has just been named as the U.S. special envoy for Africa Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"John Kerry calls it a high level priority.
It's official. Russ Feingold's long 29-and-a-half month exile to the private sector is over.
He has just been named as the U.S. special envoy for Africa Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Rationale for Wind Power Won't Fly
Jay Lehr: The Rationale for Wind Power Won't Fly - WSJ.com
To understand the folly that drives too much of the nation's energy policies, consider these basic facts about wind energy.
After decades of federal subsidies—almost $24 billion according to a recent estimate by former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm—nowhere in the United States, or anywhere else, has an array of wind turbines replaced a single conventional power plant.
To understand the folly that drives too much of the nation's energy policies, consider these basic facts about wind energy.
After decades of federal subsidies—almost $24 billion according to a recent estimate by former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm—nowhere in the United States, or anywhere else, has an array of wind turbines replaced a single conventional power plant.
Nowhere.
But wind farms do take up space.
But wind farms do take up space.
The available data from wind-power companies, with which the Environmental Protection Agency agrees, show that the most effective of them can generate about five kilowatts per acre.
This means 300 square miles of land—192,000 acres—are necessary to generate the 1,000 megawatts (a billion watts) of electricity that a conventional power plant using coal, nuclear energy or natural gas can generate on a few hundred acres.
A billion watts fulfills the average annual power demand of a city of 700,000.
Amnesty bill will give every illegal alien a taxpayer-funded lawyer |
Amnesty bill will give every illegal alien a taxpayer-funded lawyer |:
"The attorney general could provide a taxpayer-funded defense attorney to any illegal alien or group of illegal aliens to help them fight deportation in court, a costly benefit to which they are not now entitled, and to which U.S. citizens are not entitled in administrative proceedings (deportation is an administrative, not a criminal, matter)"
"The attorney general could provide a taxpayer-funded defense attorney to any illegal alien or group of illegal aliens to help them fight deportation in court, a costly benefit to which they are not now entitled, and to which U.S. citizens are not entitled in administrative proceedings (deportation is an administrative, not a criminal, matter)"
Detroit's recovery plan dips into pensions to keep city afloat
Detroit's recovery plan dips into pensions to keep city afloat | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Orr's plan will test retirees' contention that Michigan's constitution protects vested pension benefits.
No such shield exists, the state-appointed manager's advisers said Friday when they unveiled his plan to restructure Michigan's largest city, a former auto-manufacturing powerhouse that lost one-quarter of its population since 2000.
Orr has said that if he doesn't get what he wants, Chapter 9 bankruptcy would be a last resort.
Detroit missed a $39.7 million payment on debt issued to bolster its pensions that was due Friday, its first failure to repay bondholders.
The city has about $1.5 billion of such obligations, which Fitch Ratings cut yesterday to D, its lowest credit grade."
"Orr's plan will test retirees' contention that Michigan's constitution protects vested pension benefits.
No such shield exists, the state-appointed manager's advisers said Friday when they unveiled his plan to restructure Michigan's largest city, a former auto-manufacturing powerhouse that lost one-quarter of its population since 2000.
Orr has said that if he doesn't get what he wants, Chapter 9 bankruptcy would be a last resort.
Detroit missed a $39.7 million payment on debt issued to bolster its pensions that was due Friday, its first failure to repay bondholders.
The city has about $1.5 billion of such obligations, which Fitch Ratings cut yesterday to D, its lowest credit grade."
Union Contract: Teachers Can Be Caught In School Drunk Five Times and On Drugs Three Times Before ...
Union Contract: Teachers Can Be Caught In School Drunk Five Times and On Drugs Three Times Before ... [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"Teachers in possession or under the influence of illegal drugs could be caught three times before they lost their job, and they got five strikes if they were drunk on school grounds before being fired.
A school district official said the language in the union contract that protects teachers for those instances "was incorporated into the teacher Master Agreement in 1997."
"Teachers in possession or under the influence of illegal drugs could be caught three times before they lost their job, and they got five strikes if they were drunk on school grounds before being fired.
A school district official said the language in the union contract that protects teachers for those instances "was incorporated into the teacher Master Agreement in 1997."
Whitehall Township Residents Should Say 'Yes' To Wal-Mart
Commentary: Whitehall Township Residents Should Say 'Yes' To Wal-Mart [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"Groups like BOW NOT claim to speak for the community, but they often represent a narrow slice of citizens, and those tend to be ones for whom the benefits of a more conveniently located Wal-Mart are not significant enough to matter.
For the struggling families who benefit most from Wal-Mart's low prices, greater variety and convenience, and the jobs they provide, having one even closer to home can be a big difference maker."
"Groups like BOW NOT claim to speak for the community, but they often represent a narrow slice of citizens, and those tend to be ones for whom the benefits of a more conveniently located Wal-Mart are not significant enough to matter.
For the struggling families who benefit most from Wal-Mart's low prices, greater variety and convenience, and the jobs they provide, having one even closer to home can be a big difference maker."
Experts say fraud rampant in federal worker disability program
Experts say fraud rampant in federal worker disability program | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"First of a three-part series
A postal worker who ran marathons found her race times improved after she began drawing federal disability checks for an alleged back injury.
Another disabled federal employee went scuba diving, skied in Switzerland and did flips on a trapeze. She spent part of her $193,000 in disability payments on a boat named "Free Ride" before she was caught.
A Justice Department lawyer collected $90,000 in annual disability checks after claiming the stress of his job kept him off the job. Apparently the cable TV show he began hosting while drawing disability pay wasn't so stressful."
"First of a three-part series
A postal worker who ran marathons found her race times improved after she began drawing federal disability checks for an alleged back injury.
Another disabled federal employee went scuba diving, skied in Switzerland and did flips on a trapeze. She spent part of her $193,000 in disability payments on a boat named "Free Ride" before she was caught.
A Justice Department lawyer collected $90,000 in annual disability checks after claiming the stress of his job kept him off the job. Apparently the cable TV show he began hosting while drawing disability pay wasn't so stressful."
James O’Keefe targets ‘Obamaphones’ in latest undercover investigation
James O’Keefe targets ‘Obamaphones’ in latest undercover investigation | WashingtonExaminer.com
"James O’Keefe is back – this time targeting cell phone stores participating in the government program to offer free phones to low income individuals – or ‘Obamaphones.’
O’Keefe’s latest video features his investigators getting free phones from a store in Philadelphia, explicitly telling the employees that they planned to sell them for cash to buy designer hand bags or heroin.
One employee responds, “Hey, I don’t judge.”
Another responds, “Just keep it to yourself.”
Another employee reminds an investigator that it’s illegal to sell the phone, but tells her to “plead the Fifth” if she is caught."
"James O’Keefe is back – this time targeting cell phone stores participating in the government program to offer free phones to low income individuals – or ‘Obamaphones.’
O’Keefe’s latest video features his investigators getting free phones from a store in Philadelphia, explicitly telling the employees that they planned to sell them for cash to buy designer hand bags or heroin.
One employee responds, “Hey, I don’t judge.”
Another responds, “Just keep it to yourself.”
Another employee reminds an investigator that it’s illegal to sell the phone, but tells her to “plead the Fifth” if she is caught."
3 Things You Should Know About the Supreme Court and Voter ID
3 Things You Should Know About the Supreme Court and Voter ID
1. This is not a voter ID decision.
2. Federal law already mandates that a person must be a U.S. citizen to vote.
3. States do determine the qualifications of their voters.
1. This is not a voter ID decision.
2. Federal law already mandates that a person must be a U.S. citizen to vote.
3. States do determine the qualifications of their voters.
Monday, June 17, 2013
AMA Considers Classifying Obesity As A Disease
AMA Considers Classifying Obesity As A Disease - Forbes:
"“More widespread recognition of obesity as a disease could result in greater investment by government and the private sector to develop and reimburse obesity treatments,” a 14-page report released by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health said."
"“More widespread recognition of obesity as a disease could result in greater investment by government and the private sector to develop and reimburse obesity treatments,” a 14-page report released by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health said."
Treasury’s ‘Extraordinary’ Accounting: Deficit UP $138.7B in May, Debt DOWN $90B
Treasury’s ‘Extraordinary’ Accounting: Deficit UP $138.7B in May, Debt DOWN $90B | CNS News
Where did that additional $49.574 billion come from?
CNSNews.com asked the Treasury Department. A department spokesman pointed to the letter Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent to House Speaker John Boehner on May 17, which explained that the Treasury was going to begin using “extraordinary measures” to avoid hitting the current legal limit on the federal government’s debt.
.....Among the “extraordinary measures” the Treasury can use during a “Debt Issuance Suspension Period,” Lew explained in the appendix to his letter, is to change the way it accounts for the pension funds of federal employees.
How duct tape patched up the world – and why we're still sticking with it
How duct tape patched up the world – and why we're still sticking with it - Cosmic Log:
"Is there anything duct tape can't do?
Well ... yes.
"What's ironic about duct tape is that it's really not the best product for sealing duct work," Malmer said."
"Is there anything duct tape can't do?
Well ... yes.
"What's ironic about duct tape is that it's really not the best product for sealing duct work," Malmer said."
Failte First Family: the Obamas touch down in Ireland
Failte First Family: the Obamas touch down in Ireland - Independent.ie:
"It is understood a total of 30 rooms in the five-star, 265-bedroom hotel, have been booked for the visit of Mrs Obama and her entou- rage."
"It is understood a total of 30 rooms in the five-star, 265-bedroom hotel, have been booked for the visit of Mrs Obama and her entou- rage."
MI Senate OKs changes to fireworks law
MI Senate OKs changes to fireworks law | WOOD TV8:
"Legislation approved 37-0 Wednesday by the Senate would let local governments regulate fireworks use during nighttime hours on national holidays and the day before and after.
The House is expected to send the bill to Gov. Rick Snyder in time for the July Fourth holiday. "
"Legislation approved 37-0 Wednesday by the Senate would let local governments regulate fireworks use during nighttime hours on national holidays and the day before and after.
The House is expected to send the bill to Gov. Rick Snyder in time for the July Fourth holiday. "
Detroit recovery plan threatens underpinnings of muni market
Detroit recovery plan threatens underpinnings of muni market | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Orr proposed a deal last week that included skipping a $39.7 million payment on pension-obligation debt.
The city is also set to default on unsecured unlimited-tax and limited-tax general-obligation bonds as it grapples with $17 billion in liabilities to avoid a record bankruptcy.
......It definitely sets a precedent, and there's definitely going to be a penalty going forward for the city and the state," said Dan Solender, director of munis at Lord Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The company oversees $19.5 billion of local debt.
Detroit, where officials struggle to provide public safety and even street lighting, joins California cities Stockton and San Bernardino in trying to stick bondholders with a loss.
With about 700,000 residents, it's the most-populous city in at least 35 years to default on debt."
"Orr proposed a deal last week that included skipping a $39.7 million payment on pension-obligation debt.
The city is also set to default on unsecured unlimited-tax and limited-tax general-obligation bonds as it grapples with $17 billion in liabilities to avoid a record bankruptcy.
......It definitely sets a precedent, and there's definitely going to be a penalty going forward for the city and the state," said Dan Solender, director of munis at Lord Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The company oversees $19.5 billion of local debt.
Detroit, where officials struggle to provide public safety and even street lighting, joins California cities Stockton and San Bernardino in trying to stick bondholders with a loss.
With about 700,000 residents, it's the most-populous city in at least 35 years to default on debt."
Heartwell expresses 'deep disappointment and anger' over Benteler's Grand Rapids plant-closing decision | MLive.com
Heartwell expresses 'deep disappointment and anger' over Benteler's Grand Rapids plant-closing decision | MLive.com:
"In Grand Rapids, the announcement was disappointing because the city helped Benteler to establish a Renaissance Zone that eliminated state and local property taxes for the factory for 10 years and then, handed out four tax abatements which halved the company’s taxes on new equipment.
Last October, the city approved two property tax abatements for $7.3 million worth of new equipment that was to be installed over the following two years.
Benteler requested a 12-year property tax abatement for a new “hot form line” and “laser cutting cell” and a five-year abatement for “weld cells” that will be used on its contracts with Ford and Nissan.
The most recent abatements have been partially granted, according to city Economic Development Director Kara Wood."
"In Grand Rapids, the announcement was disappointing because the city helped Benteler to establish a Renaissance Zone that eliminated state and local property taxes for the factory for 10 years and then, handed out four tax abatements which halved the company’s taxes on new equipment.
Last October, the city approved two property tax abatements for $7.3 million worth of new equipment that was to be installed over the following two years.
Benteler requested a 12-year property tax abatement for a new “hot form line” and “laser cutting cell” and a five-year abatement for “weld cells” that will be used on its contracts with Ford and Nissan.
The most recent abatements have been partially granted, according to city Economic Development Director Kara Wood."
Grand Rapids eyes plan to sell all tax-foreclosed properties to land bank before county auction
Grand Rapids eyes plan to sell all tax-foreclosed properties to land bank before county auction | MLive.com
"City officials are proposing that 163 tax-foreclosed properties be signed over to the Kent County Land Bank Authority rather go to a county auction where private investors can bid on them."
"City officials are proposing that 163 tax-foreclosed properties be signed over to the Kent County Land Bank Authority rather go to a county auction where private investors can bid on them."
How Michigan's budget impacts you
How Michigan's budget impacts you | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com:
"If you have a 4-year-old, he or she might be eligible for publicly funded preschool under an effort to give 16,000 more disadvantaged kids the chance to be better prepared for K-12 schooling.
The income cutoff is roughly $39,000 for a parent with one child, $59,000 for a family of four — with slots first going to the poorest children."
"If you have a 4-year-old, he or she might be eligible for publicly funded preschool under an effort to give 16,000 more disadvantaged kids the chance to be better prepared for K-12 schooling.
The income cutoff is roughly $39,000 for a parent with one child, $59,000 for a family of four — with slots first going to the poorest children."
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Concepts and implications of altruism bias and pathological altruism
Concepts and implications of altruism bias and
pathological altruism
pathological altruism
Distrust of Government Is What It's All About
Distrust of Government Is What It's All About | RealClearPolitics:
"President Obama, whose deeply held faith in government is unwavering, unintentionally provided that moment of clarity last week. In attempting to dismiss concerns about the NSA disclosures, he said,
"If people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here."
We have a problem.
Just 30 percent of voters nationwide have that much trust in government officials when it comes to these surveillance efforts.
Only 24 percent now are confident that the federal government does the right thing most of the time."
"President Obama, whose deeply held faith in government is unwavering, unintentionally provided that moment of clarity last week. In attempting to dismiss concerns about the NSA disclosures, he said,
"If people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here."
We have a problem.
Just 30 percent of voters nationwide have that much trust in government officials when it comes to these surveillance efforts.
Only 24 percent now are confident that the federal government does the right thing most of the time."
Detroit Chapter 9 bankruptcy: Answers to key questions
Chapter 9 bankruptcy: Answers to key questions | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Can union contracts be abandoned?
Yes. In fact, Chapter 9 bankruptcy makes it easier to slash labor deals than in Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy.
Can city retirees lose their pensions?
Probably not completely. But there’s a chance that their monthly pension payments could be reduced. Orr is pursuing “significant” cuts to pensions. This will invite legal challenges.
Can city retirees lose health care insurance?
Yes. Or benefits could be reduced. Orr wants to shift retirees to the federal government’s new health care exchanges or to Medicare.
What happens to general obligation bondholders?
They can expect a fraction in return for their original investments. In most cases, bond insurers incur these losses."
"Can union contracts be abandoned?
Yes. In fact, Chapter 9 bankruptcy makes it easier to slash labor deals than in Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy.
Can city retirees lose their pensions?
Probably not completely. But there’s a chance that their monthly pension payments could be reduced. Orr is pursuing “significant” cuts to pensions. This will invite legal challenges.
Can city retirees lose health care insurance?
Yes. Or benefits could be reduced. Orr wants to shift retirees to the federal government’s new health care exchanges or to Medicare.
What happens to general obligation bondholders?
They can expect a fraction in return for their original investments. In most cases, bond insurers incur these losses."
8th Grader Suspended Over NRA T-Shirt Could Get Jail Time
8th Grader Suspended Over NRA T-Shirt Could Get Jail Time"In April Breitbart News reported that West Virginia 8th grader Jared Marcum was suspended for refusing to take off an NRA t-shirt he wore to school.
And details now indicate the 8th grader could face a $500 fine and up to a year in jail for obstruction charges.
Fox News reports that on June 13 Marcum appeared before a judge "and was officially charged with obstructing an officer."
Moreover, the judge has allowed "the prosecution to move forward" with its case against Marcum.
Logan City Police officer James Adkins says that Marcum refused to quit talking when asked to remove the shirt.
The officer said this hindered his ability to do his job.
Marcum's father remains confident and stands by his son: "Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this.
I don't think it should have ever gone this far."
Marcum has to appear in court again on July 11 if his attorney can't get the charges dismissed before then. "
Superintendent: Muskegon school staff could face 7 percent pay cut, 70 job losses
Superintendent: Muskegon school staff could face 7 percent pay cut, 70 job losses | MLive.com:
"The district recently informed the state it will have a negative budget balance at the end of this year. Originally estimated at $2.6 million, the deficit at the end of this fiscal year is now expected to be between $2 million and $2.1 million, according to Superintendent Jon Felske."
"The district recently informed the state it will have a negative budget balance at the end of this year. Originally estimated at $2.6 million, the deficit at the end of this fiscal year is now expected to be between $2 million and $2.1 million, according to Superintendent Jon Felske."
Buena Vista Township Clerk Gloria Platko attends first board meeting since racial slur recording was released, says her life was destroyed
Buena Vista Township Clerk Gloria Platko attends first board meeting since racial slur recording was released, says her life was destroyed | MLive.com:
"Platko, who has been asked by numerous groups and citizens to step down from her position, said after the meeting,
”I’m here. That’s what the citizens put me here for. I’m not resigning and I’m not backing down.”
"Platko, who has been asked by numerous groups and citizens to step down from her position, said after the meeting,
”I’m here. That’s what the citizens put me here for. I’m not resigning and I’m not backing down.”
Emergency Manager: Detroit to Default on $2.5B Debt
Emergency Manager: Detroit to Default on $2.5B Debt:
"Kevyn Orr said Friday that Detroit is asking creditors to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what they're owed. Underfunded pension claims will get less."
"Kevyn Orr said Friday that Detroit is asking creditors to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what they're owed. Underfunded pension claims will get less."
White House Eyes $5.5 Billion Tax Hike on Airline Industry
White House Eyes $5.5 Billion Tax Hike on Airline Industry | Heartlander Magazine:
"The Obama administration is pushing for new taxes on the airline industry that would amount to an estimated hike of $14 per flight.
But that’s only a drop in the bucket of what the White House proposes, said one industry insider.
“Altogether, the White House budget proposal would increase taxes on airline customers and airlines by a whopping 29 percent, adding another $5.5 billion to their $19 billion annual tax burden,” said Vaughn Jennings, managing director for government and regulatory communications for Airlines for America."
"The Obama administration is pushing for new taxes on the airline industry that would amount to an estimated hike of $14 per flight.
But that’s only a drop in the bucket of what the White House proposes, said one industry insider.
“Altogether, the White House budget proposal would increase taxes on airline customers and airlines by a whopping 29 percent, adding another $5.5 billion to their $19 billion annual tax burden,” said Vaughn Jennings, managing director for government and regulatory communications for Airlines for America."
Chrysler completely freezes pension plan for salaried employees
Chrysler completely freezes pension plan for salaried employees | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Chrysler described the pension freeze as “consistent with industry trends.”
Last year, for example, General Motors Co. announced a complete freeze of pension plans offered to salaried employees.
Chrysler’s pension plans are significantly underfunded.
That includes those covering hourly employees, who are not affected by the freeze.
At the end of 2012, the automaker’s pension plans had $26 billion in assets and $34.8 billion in liabilities, according to the company’s 2012 Form 10-K report."
"Chrysler described the pension freeze as “consistent with industry trends.”
Last year, for example, General Motors Co. announced a complete freeze of pension plans offered to salaried employees.
Chrysler’s pension plans are significantly underfunded.
That includes those covering hourly employees, who are not affected by the freeze.
At the end of 2012, the automaker’s pension plans had $26 billion in assets and $34.8 billion in liabilities, according to the company’s 2012 Form 10-K report."
This is what happens when a plane is landing and the runway disappears
This is what happens when a plane is landing and the runway disappears | Technically Incorrect - CNET News:
"So I am always reassured when the voice from the cockpit is one of ineffable calm.
Sometimes, though, pilots must be suffering nervous conniptions when the weather turns on them and, say, the runway disappears as they are landing.
This quite pulsating footage was uploaded to YouTube this week.
It shows a Boeing Business Jet landing in rain.
The windshield wipers are working furiously.
Suddenly the runway seems to vanish."
"So I am always reassured when the voice from the cockpit is one of ineffable calm.
Sometimes, though, pilots must be suffering nervous conniptions when the weather turns on them and, say, the runway disappears as they are landing.
This quite pulsating footage was uploaded to YouTube this week.
It shows a Boeing Business Jet landing in rain.
The windshield wipers are working furiously.
Suddenly the runway seems to vanish."
Saturday, June 15, 2013
True cost of Britain's wind farm industry revealed
True cost of Britain's wind farm industry revealed - Telegraph:
"A new analysis of government and industry figures shows that wind turbine owners received £1.2billion in the form of a consumer subsidy, paid by a supplement on electricity bills last year.
They employed 12,000 people, to produce an effective £100,000 subsidy on each job."
"A new analysis of government and industry figures shows that wind turbine owners received £1.2billion in the form of a consumer subsidy, paid by a supplement on electricity bills last year.
They employed 12,000 people, to produce an effective £100,000 subsidy on each job."
RightMichigan.com || Benchmarks and Targets
RightMichigan.com || Benchmarks and Targets:
"Goeff Hansen (District 34, Hart): Eligible for re-election in 2014. Voted "yes" on 2011-SB-693, and is indicating that he will vote "yes" when 2013-HB-4714 comes up. I have it on good authority that the Michigan Campaign for Liberty has this guy flagged as a priority target for primary ouster, and this vote is just one aggravating factor amongst many."
"Goeff Hansen (District 34, Hart): Eligible for re-election in 2014. Voted "yes" on 2011-SB-693, and is indicating that he will vote "yes" when 2013-HB-4714 comes up. I have it on good authority that the Michigan Campaign for Liberty has this guy flagged as a priority target for primary ouster, and this vote is just one aggravating factor amongst many."
The Swedish riots: What really happened?
The Swedish riots: What really happened?:
"But over the past few decades, Sweden has also seen some of the fastest and largest growths in inequality among OECD countries (pdf).
Hardest hit have been poor, largely immigrant communities.
Consider that 23 per cent of young people within that demographic are not achieving good enough grades to enter upper secondary education, while around 46 per cent of non-European immigrants to Sweden are unemployed."
"But over the past few decades, Sweden has also seen some of the fastest and largest growths in inequality among OECD countries (pdf).
Hardest hit have been poor, largely immigrant communities.
Consider that 23 per cent of young people within that demographic are not achieving good enough grades to enter upper secondary education, while around 46 per cent of non-European immigrants to Sweden are unemployed."
MICHAEL WALSH ON NSA AND THE SCANDALANCHE:
Instapundit » Blog Archive » MICHAEL WALSH ON NSA AND THE SCANDALANCHE
MICHAEL WALSH ON NSA AND THE SCANDALANCHE:
As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy has pointed out, the courts have held that, while the contents of phone conversation are private, the records — who called whom, when, from where and for how long — of such calls are not.
What makes the news scary are the revelations of what else Team Obama’s been up to. Follow the bouncing scandal ball:
* On Benghazi, the administration has simply clammed up, keeping suspicions alive that there’s much more to this story. A handful of intrepid reporters have bucked the tide, but others have stopped asking why no help was sent and where President Obama was that night. Because . . .
* In clear violation of the First Amendment, the administration — allegedly angered about national-security leaks — seized phone records from the AP and Fox News in a what looks like a transparent attempt to put the fear of God into them and keep others incuriously toeing the party line, which mostly amount to: Trust us. But can we? Consider . . .
* The strange goings-on at the Environmental Protection Agency, where recently-departed chief Lisa Jackson was using a fictitious e-mail account in order to communicate privately without all those pesky “transparency” requirements. How widespread is this practice? What to make of word that Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was also using “secondary” e-mail accounts?
* Then came the IRS bombshell — something every taxpaying American can relate to. That a supposedly neutral collection agency with powers far beyond what we entrust to law enforcement would cheerfully target Tea Party and other righty groups for special scrutiny is the stuff of Orwellian nightmares. And although the IRS has tried to blame “rogue elements” in its Cincinnati office, whistleblowers are coming out of the woodwork to point the finger directly at the White House.
All this adds up to a perfect storm of mistrust, now exacerbated by the fears of the surveillance state that has mushroomed since the panicky post-9/11 “reforms.” Thus Americans now fear a culture of suspicion among top law-enforcement officials, who treat more than 300 million overwhelmingly law-abiding Americans as potential criminals, subject to snoops and pat-downs.
And when that leviathan falls down on the job — as it did in failing to spot the Tsarnaev brothers — then the trade-off between liberty and security becomes a very bad bargain indeed.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Pathological Altruism
Best of the Web Today: Pathological Altruism - WSJ.com
It also can produce bad public policy:
Ostensibly well-meaning governmental policy promoted home ownership, a beneficial goal that stabilizes families and communities. The government-sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae allowed less-than-qualified individuals to receive housing loans and encouraged more-qualified borrowers to overextend themselves. Typical risk–reward considerations were marginalized because of implicit government support. The government used these agencies to promote social goals without acknowledging the risk or cost. When economic conditions faltered, many lost their homes or found themselves with properties worth far less than they originally had paid. Government policy then shifted to the cost of this "altruism" to the public, to pay off the too-big-to-fail banks then holding securitized subprime loans. . . . Altruistic intentions played a critical role in the development and unfolding of the housing bubble in the United States.
The same is true of the higher-education bubble. As we've argued, college degrees became increasingly necessary for entry-level professional jobs as the result of a well-intentioned Supreme Court decision that restricted employers from using IQ tests because of their "disparate impact" on minorities.
Kentucky Wildcats offer scholarship to seventh grader Jairus Brents
Kentucky Wildcats offer scholarship to seventh grader Jairus Brents - ESPN:
"Kentucky offered a scholarship to seventh-grader Jairus Brents on Thursday after the 13-year-old participated in a football camp at the university this past weekend."
"Kentucky offered a scholarship to seventh-grader Jairus Brents on Thursday after the 13-year-old participated in a football camp at the university this past weekend."
Sen. Landrieu Says S. Dakota Borders Canada While Calling Border Fence 'Dumb'
Sen. Landrieu Says S. Dakota Borders Canada While Calling Border Fence 'Dumb':
“A smart fence, which is what Senator McCain and I want to build--since he’s from Arizona, I think he knows more about this than the Senator from South Dakota who only has a border with Canada and that is quite different,” Landrieu said.
South Dakota does not share a border with Canada. It does, however, share borders with North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.
Landrieu went on to argue that the 700-mile border double-fence that Congress passed into law a few years ago is a “dumb fence.”
“A smart fence, which is what Senator McCain and I want to build--since he’s from Arizona, I think he knows more about this than the Senator from South Dakota who only has a border with Canada and that is quite different,” Landrieu said.
South Dakota does not share a border with Canada. It does, however, share borders with North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.
Landrieu went on to argue that the 700-mile border double-fence that Congress passed into law a few years ago is a “dumb fence.”
Mike Rogers will not run for U.S. Senate | MLive.com
Mike Rogers will not run for U.S. Senate | MLive.com
Growing up in Brighton, my mom ran the local Chamber of Commerce and my dad was a high school teacher, football coach and local official. Their selfless actions ingrained in me the importance of and honor in public service, and the satisfaction of working with others to improve our community.
It has been such a privilege and honor to represent the people of Michigan's Eighth Congressional District. In recent years, and with my constituents' confidence, we have been able to work in a bipartisan way to make a difference and accomplish great things for our state and country. We eliminated federal taxes on education savings accounts and protected the sanctity of military funerals. Together we continue to fight the massive government takeover of health care, and work to provide real cost savings and preserve the doctor patient relationship. We've worked to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and led bipartisan efforts to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species like Asian Carp.
And now, as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, we've worked in a bipartisan way to dramatically improve the oversight of our national security programs and pass significant national security measures into law. We have also advanced important cyber security legislation and measures to crack down on cyber thieves like China who are stealing good-paying jobs from Michigan and around the nation.
I am truly humbled by the encouragement I have had to run for the United States Senate. After careful and thorough deliberation and long talks with my family, friends and supporters, I have determined that the best way for me to continue to have a direct impact for my constituents and the nation is to remain in the House of Representatives. For me, the significance and depth of the impact I can make on my constituent's behalf far outweighs the perceived importance of any title I might hold.
I believe that my constituents sent me to Washington to do something - to work to help improve the economy, crack down on wasteful Washington spending and keep America safe. With these marching orders, I believe that from my current position I am best able to have a real, positive impact on protecting our nation and her citizens. And with complex challenges in Syria, Iran, North Korea, North Africa, Afghanistan, and China - intelligence issues will continue to be at the forefront of American national security concerns in the coming years.
I am committed to doing my best on your behalf to work with Republicans and Democrats in a non-partisan way to advance America's national security interests in these areas, while conducting aggressive oversight of President Obama's new national security team and the policies this Administration is implementing. Of course, without strong national security, America cannot have a strong economy and good-paying jobs back home.
We in Michigan have the good fortune of having a deep bench of Republican leaders who would make great United States Senators. I have full confidence that Michigan's Republican primary voters will select a candidate who can win and who will represent what has united the Michigan Republican party for generations: support for the free market capitalism that has created the strongest economy and biggest middle class on earth, a limited government, a strong American foreign policy, and a robust defense of our nation's security.
Once the Senate primary has concluded, I look forward to doing everything I can to elect a Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan who will work to keep Michigan moving forward and help us get a handle on out-of-control Washington spending and debt.
Thank you again for your generous support, friendship and encouragement. I look forward to continuing to work together.
Sincerely,
Mike Rogers
Growing up in Brighton, my mom ran the local Chamber of Commerce and my dad was a high school teacher, football coach and local official. Their selfless actions ingrained in me the importance of and honor in public service, and the satisfaction of working with others to improve our community.
It has been such a privilege and honor to represent the people of Michigan's Eighth Congressional District. In recent years, and with my constituents' confidence, we have been able to work in a bipartisan way to make a difference and accomplish great things for our state and country. We eliminated federal taxes on education savings accounts and protected the sanctity of military funerals. Together we continue to fight the massive government takeover of health care, and work to provide real cost savings and preserve the doctor patient relationship. We've worked to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and led bipartisan efforts to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species like Asian Carp.
And now, as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, we've worked in a bipartisan way to dramatically improve the oversight of our national security programs and pass significant national security measures into law. We have also advanced important cyber security legislation and measures to crack down on cyber thieves like China who are stealing good-paying jobs from Michigan and around the nation.
I am truly humbled by the encouragement I have had to run for the United States Senate. After careful and thorough deliberation and long talks with my family, friends and supporters, I have determined that the best way for me to continue to have a direct impact for my constituents and the nation is to remain in the House of Representatives. For me, the significance and depth of the impact I can make on my constituent's behalf far outweighs the perceived importance of any title I might hold.
I believe that my constituents sent me to Washington to do something - to work to help improve the economy, crack down on wasteful Washington spending and keep America safe. With these marching orders, I believe that from my current position I am best able to have a real, positive impact on protecting our nation and her citizens. And with complex challenges in Syria, Iran, North Korea, North Africa, Afghanistan, and China - intelligence issues will continue to be at the forefront of American national security concerns in the coming years.
I am committed to doing my best on your behalf to work with Republicans and Democrats in a non-partisan way to advance America's national security interests in these areas, while conducting aggressive oversight of President Obama's new national security team and the policies this Administration is implementing. Of course, without strong national security, America cannot have a strong economy and good-paying jobs back home.
We in Michigan have the good fortune of having a deep bench of Republican leaders who would make great United States Senators. I have full confidence that Michigan's Republican primary voters will select a candidate who can win and who will represent what has united the Michigan Republican party for generations: support for the free market capitalism that has created the strongest economy and biggest middle class on earth, a limited government, a strong American foreign policy, and a robust defense of our nation's security.
Once the Senate primary has concluded, I look forward to doing everything I can to elect a Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan who will work to keep Michigan moving forward and help us get a handle on out-of-control Washington spending and debt.
Thank you again for your generous support, friendship and encouragement. I look forward to continuing to work together.
Sincerely,
Mike Rogers
WayPoint Academy shutting its doors, board cites achievement, financial problems
WayPoint Academy shutting its doors, board cites achievement, financial problems | MLive.com
Fisher said a series of controversies that hit the school recently didn’t enter into the decision to close. Last October, the school’s former director, Barbara Stellard, was charged with inflating student numbers to obtain more funding for the school. She subsequently pleaded guilty.
Last December, former staff member Eva Amaya sued the school, saying she lost her job because she had informed GVSU officials of Stellard’s student count inflation, triggering the state’s investigation. Her lawsuit is still pending.
In January, embattled Portage Public Schools official Patricia Koeze took over as superintendent of WayPoint. Koeze had been implicated in an “inappropriate relationship” with Portage’s superintendent who ended up resigning.
Portage Public Schools officials said they didn’t know Koeze had started a new job at Waypoint while she was still on the Portage payroll. Portage officials issued a statement saying Koeze submitted her “involuntary resignation” from Portage on Jan. 21 a week after she began at WayPoint. Koeze ended up resigning from WayPoint on Jan. 24 after just 10 days on the job.
Reedell Holmes, the man Koeze replaced as superintendent, ended up filing a breach of contract lawsuit against the school in late February. His claim that he’s owed more than $67,000 has not been settled.
California, Illinois on Brink of Pension Crisis; New Actuarial Rules Will Force States to Admit Problems
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: California, Illinois on Brink of Pension Crisis; New Actuarial Rules Will Force States to Admit Problems:
"Many states, especially California and Illinois, have had severe pension underfunding problems for many years.
However, new actuarial pension rules will finally force states to admit the problem. Thus, it should not be surprising that talk of "technical bankruptcy" and “service insolvency” is growing."
"Many states, especially California and Illinois, have had severe pension underfunding problems for many years.
However, new actuarial pension rules will finally force states to admit the problem. Thus, it should not be surprising that talk of "technical bankruptcy" and “service insolvency” is growing."
Funding for Common Core implementation ends with Gov. Snyder's signature on budget
Funding for Common Core implementation ends with Gov. Snyder's signature on budget | MLive.com
"Michigan joined Indiana as the only other state to halt implementating the Common Core State Standards for mathematics and language arts after Gov. Rick Snyder signed the state's budget Thursday."
"Michigan joined Indiana as the only other state to halt implementating the Common Core State Standards for mathematics and language arts after Gov. Rick Snyder signed the state's budget Thursday."
Muskegon church leader charged with alleged criminal sexual conduct involving multiple victims over 40-year span
Muskegon church leader charged with alleged criminal sexual conduct involving multiple victims over 40-year span | MLive.com:
"A 76-year-old Muskegon man who’s been an active church leader for decades has been charged with three felonies for alleged criminal sexual conduct with multiple victims that spanned over 40 years, authorities said.
Carlton Lindberg Johnson has been charged with three felonies in relation to criminal sexual conduct he allegedly committed with multiple victims, according to Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Tim Maat."
"A 76-year-old Muskegon man who’s been an active church leader for decades has been charged with three felonies for alleged criminal sexual conduct with multiple victims that spanned over 40 years, authorities said.
Carlton Lindberg Johnson has been charged with three felonies in relation to criminal sexual conduct he allegedly committed with multiple victims, according to Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Tim Maat."
Muskegon Farmers Market groundbreaking to reveal new Community Foundation matching grant
Muskegon Farmers Market groundbreaking to reveal new Community Foundation matching grant | MLive.com: ".......announce a matching grant from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.
.... The matching grant will help fund the $3 million project spearheaded by the Downtown Muskegon Development Corp., the nonprofit that spearheaded plans to move the market earlier this year."
.... The matching grant will help fund the $3 million project spearheaded by the Downtown Muskegon Development Corp., the nonprofit that spearheaded plans to move the market earlier this year."
U.S. Census: Muskegon County gets older; median age half a year older than in 2010
U.S. Census: Muskegon County gets older; median age half a year older than in 2010 | MLive.com:
"The median age of Muskegon County residents is 6 months older than it was two years ago, according to recently released U.S. Census estimates.
Muskegon’s median age in 2012 was 38.7 years old, up from 38.2 in 2010.
The statewide median age increased during the same time, 39.4 years old, up half a year from 38.9 in 2010.
Related: More young adults are staying in Michigan while number of school age kids decreases
Muskegon is still several years the senior of its south and southeast neighbors, Ottawa County (35 years old) and Kent County (34.6)."
"The median age of Muskegon County residents is 6 months older than it was two years ago, according to recently released U.S. Census estimates.
Muskegon’s median age in 2012 was 38.7 years old, up from 38.2 in 2010.
The statewide median age increased during the same time, 39.4 years old, up half a year from 38.9 in 2010.
Related: More young adults are staying in Michigan while number of school age kids decreases
Muskegon is still several years the senior of its south and southeast neighbors, Ottawa County (35 years old) and Kent County (34.6)."
Overcriminalization: The Government vs. YOU
Overcriminalization: The Government vs. YOU:
"A young girl was fined $535… for rescuing a wounded woodpecker.
A businessman was jailed for years… for shipping lobsters in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes.
A Maryland father and building engineer faced a years-long legal ordeal… after being unfairly targeted under the Clean Water Act."
"A young girl was fined $535… for rescuing a wounded woodpecker.
A businessman was jailed for years… for shipping lobsters in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes.
A Maryland father and building engineer faced a years-long legal ordeal… after being unfairly targeted under the Clean Water Act."
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Poof! Media drop coverage of IRS scandal
Poof! Media drop coverage of IRS scandal | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"That was fast--but not unexpected. The media frenzy over the IRS scandal, which dominated the Big Three networks for two weeks, has practically disappeared from the news, according to a new report."
"That was fast--but not unexpected. The media frenzy over the IRS scandal, which dominated the Big Three networks for two weeks, has practically disappeared from the news, according to a new report."
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......
“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"
"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."
"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
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.-
"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?”"
"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."
"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."
"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.
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."
"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."
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
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 levelsOrr 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. "
"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. "
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.
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.
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."
"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."
"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."
"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"
"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.”
“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."
"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."
"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."
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."
"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."
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