OoooKaay. They "give" us free food and now they're gonna "nudge" us into eating what is healthy instead of tasty?------- USDA Creating $1.9 Million Research Center Devoted to Changing American’s Food Choices

What could possibly go wrong?
USDA Creating $1.9 Million Research Center Devoted to Changing American’s Food Choices | Washington Free Beacon:
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating a $2 million research center to study how the government can “nudge” Americans toward making healthier eating habits.
The agency is currently accepting grant applications to establish a “Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research,” which will facilitate studies such as how breaking up combo meals at fast food restaurants would influence customers.
....“With a total outlay of $108.9 billion in FY 2013, food and nutrition assistance accounted for 72 percent of USDA’s budget,” the announcement said.
“Approximately 1 in 4 Americans participated in at least 1 of the 15 food and nutrition assistance programs at some point during FY 2013, making these programs fundamental to the nutritional well-being of millions of Americans.”
“These diverse activities share the common goal of improving the nutrition, food security, and health of American consumers,” it said.
The USDA claims that food choices are not made in a “purely rational manner,” but are influenced by food manufacturers and retailers.
“The idea of complete rationality is challenged by repeated observance of cognitive biases such as hyperbolic discounting that can lead to decisions that seem to over-value short-term benefits such as the taste or convenience of foods versus long-run benefits such as health,” the grant announcement said."

Pentagon Bergdhal Deal Political Criminal Dangerous Taliban

Pentagon Bergdhal Deal Political Criminal Dangerous Taliban | The Daily Caller:
"Here is the truth:
The deal to trade five senior Taliban detainees to secure the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal was political.
It was publicly justified with lies, it breaks decades of U.S. policy, it breaks American law, it puts Americans at risk, it undermines the government of Afghanistan, and it passes responsibility on to the next administration.
But first of all, it was political.
But no, it was not to take the spot light off of the failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Simply stated, it was because so long as Bergdhal remained in Taliban captivity in Pakistan, the Obama administration would never be able to close the chapter of the failed Afghanistan campaign it has owned since approving — and then under-resourcing — a surge of U.S. forces in the country. "

Dealing with the devil-----Republican Push For Higher Minimum Wage Likely Has Anti-Taxpayer Strings Attached

Republican Push For Higher Minimum Wage Likely Has Anti-Taxpayer Strings Attached [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"Top Republican officials supported a higher minimum wage and tied it to inflation to get Democrats to support a measure to double the gas tax and secure Gov. Rick Snyder the extra money he wants for road funding, according to a widely accepted story out of Lansing."

Sudanese woman sentenced to die for Christian faith to be freed, report says | Fox News

Sudanese woman sentenced to die for Christian faith to be freed, report says | Fox News:
"The Sudanese woman sentenced to death earlier this month after refusing to renounce her Christian faith will reportedly be freed in the next few days.
A foreign ministry official told the BBC that Meriam Ibrahim, 27, is guaranteed religious freedom in the country, despite a judge's earlier ruling that she should be hanged for apostasy."

Muskegon "wind power" (at the water filtration plant) classic

We took this video yesterday at the Pere Marquette beach.
It was very windy.
Great day for all that free, dependable wind power.
Right?

It's coming, folks! They're coming for your hard earned money. Even those of you on "free" gov'ment moolah-------Federal Gas Tax Hikes Proposed by Senator Carper (democrat)

Federal Gas Tax Hikes Proposed by Senator Carper | Tax Foundation:
"The Federal Highway Trust Fund is due to go bust this summer, in part because the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon has not been raised since 1994.
In these 20 years, inflation has effectively reduced the tax rate by about one third.
Senator Carper of Delaware has recently proposed raising the gas tax “three or four cents a year for up to four years” and then indexing it to inflation.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says increasing the federal gas tax 35 cents from the current 18.4 cents to 53.4 cents, and indexing it to inflation would raise $30 billion in the first year and $40 to $50 billion a year after that due to inflation.
CBO is counting the reduction in income tax and payroll tax revenue resulting from the increase in business costs."

History for June 3

History for June 3 - On-This-Day.com:

150th birth anniversary of Ransom Olds (1864-1950), American automobile inventor and manufacturer.

Birth anniversaries of Josephine Baker (1906-1975), Tony Curtis (1925-2010), Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)

Happy Birthday! Raul Castro, Larry McMurtry, Rafael Nadal

1098 - Christian Crusaders of the First Crusade seized Antioch, Turkey. 


1539 - Hernando De Soto claimed Florida for Spain.
 

1784 - The U.S. Congress formally created the United States Army to replace the disbanded Continental Army. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress had created the Continental Army for purposes of common defense and this event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army.
 

1805 - A peace treaty between the U.S. and Tripoli was completed in the captain's cabin on board the USS Constitution. 


1851 - The New York Knickerbockers became the first baseball team to wear uniforms. 


1856 - Cullen Whipple patented the screw machine.
 

1923 - In Italy, Benito Mussolini granted women the right to vote. 


1937 - The Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson. 


1938 - The German Reich voted to confiscate so-called "degenerate art." 

Obama at West Point: 'Effort to Combat Climate Change...Will Help Shape Your Time in Uniform' | CNS News

Obama at West Point: 'Effort to Combat Climate Change...Will Help Shape Your Time in Uniform' | CNS News:
"President Barack Obama told the graduating Army officers at West Point on Wednesday that fighting "climate change" will "help shape your time in uniform.
"Keep in mind, not all international norms relate directly to armed conflict," Obama said at the commencement ceremony for the U.S. Military Academy. "

Is Teaching American History Racist? | TheBlaze.com

Is Teaching American History Racist? | TheBlaze.com:
"A white Michigan middle school teacher remains suspended two weeks after he was placed an administrative leave.
His crime?

Teaching history."

Dean and Frank

Captain Capitalism: Dean and Frank

Don't volunteers deserve a living wage?------A Modest Proposal to Ban Volunteering

A Modest Proposal to Ban Volunteering - Reason.com:
President Obama and congressional Democrats are hoping they can make political hay out of campaigning to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray wants to raise it to $15.
And social-justice activists there say even that falls far too short.
How right they are!
But if we are serious about addressing economic inequality and restoring social justice, then a minimum wage increase should be just the start. 
We also need to outlaw volunteering.
.....If Scouting asked somebody to do it for money, the organization would have to pay at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Even if somebody were willing to do the job for $5 an hour — for the experience or the résumé-padding or whatever — s/he couldn't.
It's against the law.
Well, then!
If we don't let someone work for $5 an hour, why do we let anybody work for $0 an hour?
We're a better country than that, people.
.....Look, it's really simple. 
If people aren't allowed to work for $7.24 an hour, even if they want to, then they darn well shouldn't be allowed to work for $0 an hour either. 
To quote America's greatest president, Barack Obama, "It's time to give America a raise."

Five Hard Questions Surrounding Obama’s Decision to Free Gitmo Prisoners | TheBlaze.com

Five Hard Questions Surrounding Obama’s Decision to Free Gitmo Prisoners | TheBlaze.com:

"Republican leaders blasted the Obama administration on Saturday, saying the President had broken the law by going forward with the exchange without giving Congress 30 days notice.

Why couldn’t the exchange have waited for another month to comply with the law?
“We had information that (Bergdahl’s) health could be deteriorating rapidly,” Defense Secretary Hagel said on Sunday. “We found an opportunity (to secure his release), we took that opportunity; I’ll stand by that decision.”

BACKFIRE! ‘Moms Demand Action’ Kicked Out of OK Restaurant for ‘THREATENING’ Gun Owners

BACKFIRE! ‘Moms Demand Action’ Kicked Out of OK Restaurant for ‘THREATENING’ Gun Owners | Progressives Today:

The anti-Second Amendment group “Moms Demand Action” has been running around the country demanding chain restaurants disallow weapons in their establishments – even when the carrier is obeying all laws.

So when activists from the group encountered a group of open carriers lunching a Tulsa Chipotle, the tables were turned.

David Risselada of Freedom Outpost reports:

......Moms Demand Action on the other hand, seemed to be demanding a little much on this Saturday afternoon as they approached management and asked them to throw OKOCA members out of the restaurant because they were “offended” by thepresence of guns.

.....The manager refused to kick out OKOCA and even gave them free drinks. MDA activists then proceeded to take pictures of the gun owners and attempted to portray them as intimidating and threatening. The management wasn’t having any of it; he threw Moms Demand Action out of his store!

Bergdahl’s victims : This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Bergdahl’s victims : This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

"Five years ago, I was getting emails from folks who knew what happened in the Bergdahl incident. 
Folks from around the US in positions that would have first hand knowledge as well as people who were in Afghanistan. 
I made the decision that I wouldn’t say a disparaging word about what folks were telling me. 
Unlike Bergdahl, apparently, I knew that once the Taliban or Haqqani thought that he had no value to them, he would be a headless body in a shallow grave, irrespective of the actions that led to his capture. 
So, for five years, I kept my mouth shut. 
Now some of the people who served with Bergdahl are coming out with their stories. 
Like Nathan Bradley Bethea in the pages of the Daily Beast;

"Our battalion suffered six fatalities in a three-week period.
On August 18, an IED killed Private First Class Morris Walker and Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen during a reconnaissance mission.
On August 26, while conducting a search for a Taliban shadow sub-governor supposedly affiliated with Bergdahl’s captors, Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss was shot in the face and killed.
On September 4, during a patrol to a village near the area in which Bergdahl vanished, an insurgent ambush killed Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews and gravely wounded Private First Class Matthew Martinek, who died of his wounds a week later.
On September 5, while conducting a foot movement toward a village also thought affiliated with Bergdahl’s captors, Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey stepped on an improvised land mine.
He died the next day."

It is important to name all these names.
For the veterans of the units that lost these men, Bergdahl’s capture and the subsequent hunt for him will forever tie to their memories, and to a time in their lives that will define them as people. He has finally returned.
Those men will never have the opportunity.
Now we read that the Taliban and Haqqani are doing their happy dance.
From AFP;

Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Sunday hailed the release of five senior insurgents in exchange for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl as a “big victory”.“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this big victory regarding the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo prison,” he said in a rare statement.

I can only hope that the folks who do that stuff put GPS trackers up each of their asses and as soon as they’re released, the GPS trackers are replaced by Hellfire missiles.

Bend over folks... and turn out those lights....and air conditioners ..... and factories.....!-------Obama To Unilaterally Impose New Carbon Emission Caps On America’s Power Plants

Obama To Unilaterally Impose New Carbon Emission Caps On America’s Power Plants:
In his latest and most sweeping effort to combat “climate change” (aka, “global warming,” “climate disruption,” “the end of the world as we know it”), President Barack Obama has directed the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new rules on carbon emissions by America’s power plants.
It’s not like he didn’t tell us from the beginning exactly what he planned to do. 
For those in need of a refresher, here’s Obama in 2009:
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity prices will necessarily skyrocket.”

...On Monday, Obama’s EPA will unveil a new rule limiting (by 30%!) the amount of carbon emissions from America’s coal power plants:
The rule will impose a cap on the level of emissions existing power plants are permitted and it will provide each state a series of options to implement the cap.

.....“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can;it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.”

WATCH as Reporters Actually Laugh at This Ridiculous Obama State Department Claim

WATCH as Reporters Actually Laugh at This Ridiculous Obama State Department Claim:
"State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, who worked as a spokesperson for John Kerry’s failed 2004 presential bid, thinks that Obama is being too modest in regards to taking credit for supposed foreign policy “successes,” like Ukraine and Iran. 
Ukraine and Iran?
It’s laughable and even the mainstream media chuckles with disbelief at the outrageous assertion "

Classic lib-thought. "We don't know if it will work (it probably won't), but spending someone else's money makes us feel better about ourselves!"-------Editorial: Muskegon community must implement a credible beach warning system as soon as possible

The editorial writer sorta forgot to mention the multiple warning signs on and around the beach.
Failed to mention the legal barriers involved in "assuring" beach safety.
And seems totally uninterested in what other communities are doing to mitigate the problem.
Libs simply wet their pants when they hear "cutting-edge" and "spend".
Classic.
And worthless.

Editorial: Muskegon community must implement a credible beach warning system as soon as possible | MLive.com:
.....a community group to plan for a beach warning system.
The group has suggested two, 30-foot towers with warning lights and audio alarms that can be activated with National Weather Service alerts for dangerous wind and wave conditions – something that might happen fewer than a dozen times a summer.
The $70,000 "cutting-edge" beach warning system – with a suggested $20,000 contribution from the city of Muskegon – has met resistance.
Critics claim the city should not spend the money, as the warning system would be ineffective and would disturb the park environs. 
They say people should be responsible for their own well-being.
We strongly disagree.
Let's go beyond the "you can't put a price tag on a human life" argument and face the practical issues.
No one wants to pay for expensive days-long search and rescue operations following a drowning or for a lawsuit from a victim's family.
.....We are not yet convinced the proposed beach warning system is the ultimate answer, but we give Lewis and the group credit for challenging us with an innovative approach.
The old flag warning systems don't seem to be effective and having life guards is not only expensive but creates its own set of liabilities for the city.
Make no mistake, the city's ultimate decision will be driven by insurance liabilities, risk management considerations and legal opinions.
We urge the Muskegon City Commission to give the proposed beach warning system a full and quick consideration with hopes that some solution can be implemented yet this summer season.

New Study: Is No Degree Better Than A Liberal Arts Degree?

New Study: Is No Degree Better Than A Liberal Arts Degree? - Forbes
A new study by Forbes contributor Dan Schawbel, who runs Millennial Branding, a one-man research and consulting firm in Boston that’s focused on millennials (born between the early ‘80s and the early 2000s), released a study today that comes to some conclusions I find startling. 
The most unsettling: 
If you are in the millennial generation and your goal is to find a job, it may be wiser to get no college degree at all than to spend four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars earning a humanities B.A. 
In a survey of nearly 3,000 job seekers and HR professionals, Schawbel, together with career website Beyond.com, found that a striking 64% of hiring managers said they would consider a candidate who hadn’t gone to a day of college. 
At the same time, fewer than 2% of hiring managers said they were actively recruiting liberal arts grads.

STUDY FINDS MEDICAL POT FARMS DRAINING STREAMS DRY

News from The Associated Press:
"STUDY FINDS MEDICAL POT FARMS DRAINING STREAMS DRY"
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Some drought-stricken rivers and streams in Northern California's coastal forests are being polluted and sucked dry by water-guzzling medical marijuana farms, wildlife officials say - an issue that has spurred at least one county to try to outlaw personal grows.
State fish and wildlife officials say much of the marijuana being grown in northern counties under the state's medical pot law is not being used for legal, personal use, but for sale both in California and states where pot is still illegal.
This demand is fueling backyard and larger-scale pot farming, especially in remote Lake, Humboldt and Mendocino counties on the densely forested North Coast, officials said.
"People are coming in, denuding the hillsides, damming the creeks and mixing in fertilizers that are not allowed in the U.S. into our watersheds," said Denise Rushing, a Lake County supervisor who supports an ordinance essentially banning outdoor grows in populated areas.