Friday, September 06, 2013

Iran threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obama family

Iran threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obama family | The Daily Caller:
"And in an unprecedented statement, a former Iranian official has warned of mass abductions and brutal killings of American citizens around the world and the rape and killing of one of Obama’s daughters should the United States attack Syria."

Ficano appointee to be sentenced for creating phony receipts

Ficano appointee to be sentenced for creating phony receipts | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy will decide today whether Zayd Allebban will become the first appointee of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano to face prison time in the corruption probe of county government."
The first of many....

Detroit Schools open Pre-K enrollment at 70 sites

Detroit Schools open Pre-K enrollment at 70 sites | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"The Detroit Public Schools is encouraging parents to enroll their children in pre-kindergarten programs at 70 sites across the district."
They gonna teech good......rite?

MSU professor pulled from classroom after rant against Republicans

MSU professor pulled from classroom after rant against Republicans | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Penn, a tenured professor, was pulled from all his classes Thursday in the wake of videotaped comments he made during a previous class attacking Republicans in general, and Mitt and Ann Romney in particular.
He said Republicans had “raped” the country."
Paid vacation for this bigot, courtesy of us taxpayers.......great!

Delayed Detroit police dispatch leads to a daughter's slaying, unanswered questions

Delayed Detroit police dispatch leads to a daughter's slaying, unanswered questions | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Mother’s Day will never be the same for Tracey Hightower.
That was the day her daughter was fatally stabbed at an apartment in Detroit.
The months since police officers arrived at her door with the tragic news have been hard, because of the killing of 32-year-old Stacey Hightower and because of the knowledge that it took a dispatcher 90 minutes to send officers to the scene."

ROBOCOP - Official Trailer (2014) [HQ]


Set in Detroit AGAIN!

Medical marijuana patients ask review panel to add post-traumatic stress disorder to Michigan law

Medical marijuana patients ask review panel to add post-traumatic stress disorder to Michigan law | MLive.com:
"Gwener was one of roughly 20 patients, activists and entrepreneurs who testified Thursday afternoon at a public meeting of the Michigan Marihuana Review Panel, which is considering a citizen petition to add PTSD to the list of debilitating conditions suitable for treatment under the state's voter-approved law.
The Holland resident is certified to use medical marijuana for chronic pain, but she said the medication also has proved effective for her PTSD and insomnia."
I've read it works wonders on bad breath and shortness of stature too!

Threats Shut Down Oregon Bakery That Refused to Make Gay Wedding Cake: “Bible-Thumping, Hypocritical B**ch”

Threats Shut Down Oregon Bakery That Refused to Make Gay Wedding Cake: “Bible-Thumping, Hypocritical B**ch”:
"The owners of an Oregon bakery are shutting down amid threats from the public after they refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple in January.
Aaron and Melissa Klein are shutting down Sweet Cakes by Melissa after receiving angry emails and phone calls.
“You stupid bible-thumping, hypocritical b**ch. I hope your kids get really, really, sick and you go out of business,” read one e-mail the couple received.
“Here’s hoping you go out of business, you bigot. Enjoy hell,” said another.
The Klein’s said wedding planners and venues were badgered and harassed until they dropped their bakery from their vendor’s list."
The very powerful "gay rights" movement showing their version of "compassion".

This County Had 124% More Registered Voters Than Eligible Voters – Counting Dead People and Felons

This County Had 124% More Registered Voters Than Eligible Voters – Counting Dead People and Felons | TheBlaze.com:
"In the midst of a national debate over voter integrity, a federal court decree is ordering a Mississippi county to purge its voter rolls of dead people, ineligible felons and people who have moved out of a voting area.
In April, the American Civil Rights Union, a conservative legal group, sued Walthall County, Miss., for having more than twice as many registered voters – 124 percent—than voting-age-eligible residents, based on U.S. Census data. "

Pressure on Mosaica to improve Muskegon Heights schools growing, documents show

Pressure on Mosaica to improve Muskegon Heights schools growing, documents show | MLive.com:
"MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI – If Mosaica Education Inc. wants to keep operating Muskegon Heights schools, it has a lot of work to do this year -- including significantly improving student achievement.

Muskegon Heights officials expressed concerns early last year about the for-profit charter school company that is operating the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System.
If a list of concerns isn't addressed, the contract to operate the charter school district could be revoked after this school year, documents obtained by MLive and the Muskegon Chronicle show."
The good news: Someone is looking at results.
The bad news: They wouldn't/didn't care when it was run by the unions

Coffee House in Norton Shores closes, citing business issues

Coffee House in Norton Shores closes, citing business issues | MLive.com:
"NORTON SHORES, MI – It turns out the rumors were right: The Coffee House and CafĂ©, located on the corner of Seminole Road and Seaway Drive, opened for the last time this week, according to a statement issued by Nick Mika and Matt Varley, who took over the popular coffee spot earlier this year."

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Journalism professor: NRA members deserve execution by firing squad

Journalism professor: NRA members deserve execution by firing squad - Spokane Conservative | Examiner.com:
"On Thursday, Christopher Swindell, a journalism professor at Marshall University in West Virginia, falsely claimed in an op-ed at the Charleston Gazette that the NRA "advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America" and deserves to be executed by a firing squad.
"That’s treason, and it’s worthy of the firing squad," Swindell wrote."

The pandemic of hate from the academy continues.

What It Was Like to Work at the Lusty Lady, a Unionized Strip Club

What It Was Like to Work at the Lusty Lady, a Unionized Strip Club - Lily Burana - The Atlantic:
"The nation’s only unionized (SEIU since 1997) and dancer-run adult entertainment business closes September 2 after almost forty years in business. "

Did Syrian rebels have sarin gas? Your questions on the crisis answered

Did Syrian rebels have sarin gas? Your questions on the crisis answered | World news | theguardian.com
Islamist groups have become stronger and tend to be better armed and financed than others. Two of the strongest are Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq, both of them linked to al-Qaida. JAN insists on a future Syria becoming an Islamic state under sharia law, and has openly pledged its allegiance to the al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Another important group is Ahrar al-Sham. Sectarianism is also becoming more pronounced, with foreign Arab Shia fighters (including Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah) arriving to fight Sunni extremists. Large numbers of liberal and secular opposition figures have left the country. Important work is still done on the ground by the Local Co-ordination Committees.

EbbTide64: Why is the media assuming that it was Assad who was responsible, when there are reports (herehere & here) of the rebels being caught with sarin?

It is not the media that is assuming that Assad is responsible. The Guardian and other media have reported claims and assessments by the US, UK, France and the Syrian rebels, and of course official Syrian denials. Only western governments have provided any evidence at all, however adequate or convincing it is judged. All three governments also state categorically that the rebels did not have the capacity to mount a CW attack on the scale of what occurred on 21 August. All have stated they are relying on classified sources as well as the precedent of earlier, smaller attacks. More detail is clearly needed to convince sceptics, given the experience of the Iraq WMD dossier.
It has previously been reported that members of the al-Nusra front were caught with sarin nerve gas in Turkey – and this has been echoed by Syrian state media. Dale Gavlak, an independent journalist, has reported a belief that nerve agents used in Ghouta were supplied by Saudi Arabia.

Average Marginal Labor Income Tax Rates under the Affordable Care Act

Average Marginal Labor Income Tax Rates under the Affordable Care Act:

Average Marginal Labor Income Tax Rates under the Affordable Care Act

by  on September 3, 2013 at 2:57 am in EconomicsMedicine | Permalink
That is a new paper by Casey Mulligan, here is the abstract:
The Affordable Care Act includes four significant, permanent, implicit unemployment assistance programs, plus various implicit subsidies for underemployment. Every sector of the economy, and about half of nonelderly adults, is directly affected by at least one of those provisions. This paper calculates the ACA’s impact on the average reward to working among nonelderly household heads and spouses. The law increases marginal tax rates by an average of five percentage points (of employee compensation), on top of the marginal tax rates that were already present before the it went into effect. The ACA’s addition to labor tax wedges is roughly equivalent to doubling both employer and employee payroll tax rates for half of the population.
Mulligan summarizes the paper here, with further detail.  In another new paper, Mulligan compares ACA with Romneycare.

AP Reporter to State Department: Did Everyone At The White House Have A 'Spine-Removal Procedure This Weekend?'

AP Reporter to State Department: Did Everyone At The White House Have A 'Spine-Removal Procedure This Weekend?' - Fox Nation:
"Associated Press reporter Matt Lee grilled State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Thursday, repeatedly asking her how Secretary of State John Kerry found it "courageous" for President Barack Obama to seek Congressional authorization of military force in Syria.

Lee's argument came from this premise: How is it "courageous" for Obama to ask for Congress to approve something that he believes he has the right to do, anyway?"

5 Reasons Congress Should Press Obama on Syria

5 Reasons Congress Should Press Obama on Syria:


Student: Michigan State professor's rant went beyond Republicans to Christians, athletes

Student: Michigan State professor's rant went beyond Republicans to Christians, athletes | MLive.com
EAST LANSING -- Sophomore Caroline Freeman was in disbelief as she sat in the front row of MSU professor William Penn's lecture last Thursday.

The 19-year-old kinesiology major from Macomb County was somewhat incredulous at her Michigan State University prof's disparaging remarks about Republicans. But she grew upset when his commentary veered onto other topics she's passionate about.

"He was talking about how Christians are dumb and don't know what what they're talking about and that they're all blind followers," said Freeman, a Christian high school graduate who was raised Lutheran. "He was just tearing down a whole institution of belief, and it had nothing to do with class."

Penn next took on athletes, Freeman said, which also offended her.

"He said athletes were wasting their time trying to throw a ball in a hoop and how we glorify them for no reason," said Freeman, herself a four-sport athlete in high school and a student liaison to MSU's women's basketball team. "He was calling people bad for playing football."

John Edwards, a cad to the end

John Edwards, a cad to the end |:
"Now, the Enquirer reports that 19 months after her death at age 61 from breast cancer, John Edwards still has not placed a proper headstone on Elizabeth’s grave, with the grave marked “with only a 5-by-7 card that could hardly be seen,” according to “an angry family insider.”

Another 1.8M People Just Ditched Cable TV

HARDOCP - Another 1.8M People Just Ditched Cable TV:
"Another 1.8M People Just Ditched Cable TV
When are cable companies going to get with the program?
Personally, I think lower prices and a la carte channels would go along way towards customer retention.

Another quarter, another dismal set of numbers for the TV business.
About 1.8 million people ended their cable TV subscriptions in Q2 2013, according to analysts at SNL Kagan:
There were 366,000 total net losses across all TV/broadband subs in Q2
Cable TV suppliers lost 1.8 millions subs."

Midlake, Ontario Eliminates Soccer Ball From Youth Soccer Programs

Midlake, Ontario Eliminates Soccer Ball From Youth Soccer Programs:
“The ball-less soccer this year as a challenge from a coaching perspective,” said Keith Schultz, head coach of a Midlake team called the Thundercats, a ball-less team for children under the age of 11.
“I have to do a lot of imagining.”

Michigan State investigates professor who tells students Republicans 'raped this country'

Michigan State investigates professor who tells students Republicans 'raped this country' | MLive.com:
"In 2003, Penn received MSU's Distinguished Faculty Award.
......In the video, Penn tells his class Republicans have a racist agenda and aim to disenfranchise African American voters."

from my "friends" at MoveOn.org

Dear MoveOn member, 
Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began debating whether to authorize the use of military force in Syria in response to reports of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government.1
Because this is such a big decision, we asked every MoveOn member to weigh in on whether MoveOn should support or oppose the congressional authorization to use military force in Syria.
The results are in, and they are unequivocal: 
73% said MoveOn should oppose the congressional Authorization to Use Military Force in Syria.
History has shown again and again that even a "limited" military engagement can quickly become a slippery slope to seemingly endless war. But stopping this war is within reach.

Consistent polling shows that the majority of Americans are opposed to this military intervention, and more than 147 members of Congress are on record as firmly opposed to or leaning against it.2 But mainstream media outlets and many elected officials are trying hard to make us think that strikes are inevitable.3
So we need to unleash the power of our more than 8 million member community right away to make it clear to Congress that we oppose military action in Syria. Congress will vote on the authorization to use military force as soon as next week, and members of Congress are making up their minds right now, so we need to act fact.

Can you call your Senators and Representative right now and tell them to 'Vote No' on the use of military force in Syria? Here are the numbers to call: 

Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria?

Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won’t let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria?

Of course.

Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe.

Why is Saudi Arabiaspending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been “jetting from covert commandcenters near the Syrian front lines to the ÉlysĂ©e Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime”?

Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia intends to install their own puppetgovernment in Syria which will allow the Saudis to control the flow of energy through the region.

On the other side, Russia very much prefers the Assad regime for a whole bunch of reasons. One of those reasons is that Assad is helping to block the flow of natural gas out of the Persian Gulf into Europe, thus ensuring higher profits for Gazprom.

Now the United States is getting directly involved in the conflict.

If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia.

This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Portland bar owner must pay $400,000 for kicking transgender patrons out of bar

Portland bar owner must pay $400,000 for kicking transgender patrons out of bar | LifeSiteNews.com:
"PORTLAND, OR, September 4, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Portland bar owner will have to pay a $400,000 fine for kicking out a group of cross-dressers whom he says were ruining his business.
Chris Penner, the owner of the Twilight Room Annex, has to pay 11 transgender patrons the hefty sum after asking them to stop coming to his bar."

Is This the Funniest Photo in Baseball History?

Is This the Funniest Photo in Baseball History? [PIC]:
"There are plenty of great foul ball shots out there, but this may just be best. In fact, it may well be the funniest baseball pic we've ever seen. It was shot by Jim Davis of The Boston Globe during a Red Sox-Orioles game in Boston last week. A moderate amount of Internet sleuthing yielded no results as to who came up with baseball in question, but we'll keep looking and let you know if anything turns up.

Meanwhile, tell us whose action face you like best in the comments."
Gettyfoulball

On Labor Day 2013, Welfare Pays More Than Minimum-Wage Work In 35 States

On Labor Day 2013, Welfare Pays More Than Minimum-Wage Work In 35 States - Forbes:
"Since 2009, the Fair Labor Standards Act has dictated that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
Some people think that’s too low; others think it’s too high.
But it turns out that, in 35 states, it’s a better deal not to work—and instead, to take advantage of federal welfare programs—than to take a minimum-wage job.
That’s the takeaway from a new study "

Top 100 Inspirational Quotes

Top 100 Inspirational Quotes - Forbes: "

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs"
Read 'em all!

George Will: Obama seeks an accomplice for Syria action

George Will: Obama seeks an accomplice for Syria action - The Washington Post:
"Because Syria’s convulsion has become as serious as Barack Obama has been careless in speaking about it, he is suddenly and uncharacteristically insisting that Congress participate in governance.
Regarding institutional derangements, he is the infection against which he pretends to be an immunization."

5 Reasons Congress Should Press Obama on Syria

5 Reasons Congress Should Press Obama on Syria: