Thursday, July 03, 2014

Yikes! Michigan and Illinois are the "Detroit" of the USA- jobs report card

Illinois’ jobs report card - Illinois Policy Institute:

report_map

Federal Gov’t Sues Wisconsin Company, Says English-Language Requirement is 'Discrimination'

Federal Gov’t Sues Wisconsin Company, Says English-Language Requirement is 'Discrimination' | CNS News:
"The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace discrimination laws, is suing a private American business for firing a group of Hispanic and Asian employees over their inability to speak English at work, claiming that the English-language requirement in a U.S. business constitutes  “discrimination.” 
 Judicial Watch reported Tuesday that the government is accusing Wisconsin Plastics, Inc. of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on “national origin.” 
The government argues this includes the “linguistic characteristics of a national origin group.”

Newspaper Apologizes for Endorsing Obama: ‘Far Worse Than Nixon’

Newspaper Apologizes for Endorsing Obama: ‘Far Worse Than Nixon’:
“Sometimes, you have to admit you’re wrong,” The Billings Gazette  said about its 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama. “And, we were wrong. We said that things couldn’t get much worse after the sub par presidency of George W. Bush,” the paper wrote in an apologetic editorial on Friday. "



From the same "leaders" who tell they're too broke to fix our roads------State commits $1.5M to Macomb Mall redevelopment

State commits $1.5M to Macomb Mall redevelopment | The Detroit News
Macomb Mall’s makeover is getting a $1.5 million lift from the state.
The board of the Michigan Strategic Fund approved allocating the money for the Roseville shopping center’s redevelopment as part of $15 million in entrepreneur assistance and company development projects it awarded Tuesday.
The money for the mall’s redevelopment will come from captured local and school taxes.
Michigan Economic Development Corp. officials estimate the project will create 295 full-time equivalent retail jobs with an average hourly wage of $11.
Lormax Stern Development Co., the mall’s owner, is based in Bloomfield Hills.
It owns more than 20 other shopping centers across the state, as well as ones in Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.

And benefits are on top of the salary!----------18,709 VA Employees Make $180,000 or More

18,709 VA Employees Make $180,000 or More | CNS News:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has 59,297 employees – 17.3 percent out of 342,089 workers total -- that make $100,000 or more in yearly salary, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Among those employees, 18,709 of them earn a salary of $180,000 or more.

Obama Taunts Republicans on Executive Orders: ‘So Sue Me!’

Obama Taunts Republicans on Executive Orders: ‘So Sue Me!’:
“So sue me.” That’s the message President Obama has for conservatives and Republicans who have taken issue with his continual executive overreaches via executive orders.

Don’t worry, Barack, we are…"




Danger, danger!----Muskegon, Michigan Local News

Muskegon, Michigan Local News - MLive.com




A good one!-----------------Bay area soldier's reunion is YouTube hit for the ages

Bay area soldier's reunion is YouTube hit for the ages - FOX 29 News Philadelphia | WTXF-TV:
"Tampa, FL -It's the moment a Bay area soldier had been dreaming of for years – and the moment that brought his longtime girlfriend to tears.
Today, their emotional reunion video is going viral on YouTube, and we spoke to the soldier behind it all.
Sgt. Clark Rahman of Lakeland wanted his return home to be special, especially for his girlfriend, Lexi Rhoden.
With a plan that literally took "years to put together," he got his fraternity brothers at Florida State to coordinate a surprise Lexi will never forget."

Tempting!

History for July 3

History for July 3 - On-This-Day.com:
Earth at aphelion.


Idaho: Admission Day (1890)


Death anniversary of rock singer Jim Morrison in 1971.


Happy Birthday! Julian Assange, Dave Barry, Betty Buckley, Tom Cruise


1608 - The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain. 


1775 - U.S. Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, MA


1844 - Ambassador Caleb Cushing successfully negotiated a commercial treaty with China that opened five Chinese ports to U.S. merchants and protected the rights of American citizens in China. 






1863 - The U.S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, PA, ended after three days. It was a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated. 


1890 - IDaho became the 43rd state to join the United States of America. 


1922 - "Fruit Garden and Home" magazine was introduced. It was later renamed "Better Homes and Gardens." 


1924 - Clarence Birdseye founded the General Seafood Corp. 


1930 - The U.S. Congress created the U.S. Veterans Administration. 






1940 - Bud Abbott and Lou Costello debuted on NBC radio. 


1986 - U.S. President Reagan presided over a ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty. 

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

LIBERTY REVIEW

LIBERTY REVIEW:

http://www.libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2014/07/we-are-americans-by-tammy-derouin.html

If you feel the American flag is a threat to you, why are you here?  If you’re not a citizen or you’re not here legally, what’s threatening about the symbol that is giving you a home?  Are you collecting assistancefrom the paychecks of those who are citizens? Have you fled an oppressive government and fear for your life?  If so, you may want to reconsider your destination.  If you’re a member of an organization or religion determined to destroy America with the assistance and apparent blessing of the federal government, I couldn’t care less if the American flag is a threat to you.  

EXCLUSIVE: Is Contraception an Inalienable Right? Fox News’ Judge Andrew Napolitano Weighs in…

EXCLUSIVE: Is Contraception an Inalienable Right? Fox News’ Judge Andrew Napolitano Weighs in…:
"Napolitano claimed on Tuesday’s show that the Supreme Court ruling serves as a victory for religious freedoms in America after the Court struck down a key Obamacare provision that previously did not allow for businesses to opt out of providing contraceptives to their employees, even if the owners of such businesses held religious beliefs against certain contraceptives.

Napolitano laid-out the perilous situation in which President Obama now finds himself, saying, "

Big Labor Has Some New Tricks Up Its Sleeves | TheBlaze.com

Big Labor Has Some New Tricks Up Its Sleeves | TheBlaze.com:
"As Steve Caldeira of the International Franchise Association explains in The Wall Street Journal, “If the courts and federal agencies go along with the change, unions can start organizing entire national chains.”
If they’re not stopped, union bosses could soon be collecting dues and dictating the collective bargaining decisions for millions of franchise workers across the country, whether they like it or not."

Donald Trump Tells Americans to Prepare for "Financial Ruins"

Donald Trump Tells Americans to Prepare for "Financial Ruins":
"The United States could soon become a large-scale Spain or Greece, teetering on the edge of financial ruin.
That’s according to Donald Trump, who painted a very ugly picture of where this country is headed. Trump made the comments during a recent appearance on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
According to Trump, the United States is no longer a rich country.
“When you’re not rich, you have to go out and borrow money.
We’re borrowing from the Chinese and others.
We’re up to $16 trillion in debt.”
He goes on to point out that the downgrade of U.S. debt is inevitable.
“We are going up to $16 trillion [in debt] very soon, and it’s going to be a lot higher than that before he gets finished.
When you have [debt] in the $21-$22 trillion, you are talking about a downgrade no matter how you cut it.”
Ballooning debt and a credit downgrade aren’t Trump’s only worries for this country.
He says that the official unemployment rate of 8.2 percent “isn’t a real number” and that the real figure is closer to 15 percent to 16 percent. 
He even mentioned that some believe the unemployment rate to be as high as 21 percent.
“Right now, frankly, the country isn’t doing well,” Trump added, “Recession may be a nice word.”"

Tom Steyer wants to 'penalize people' who add to 'climate risk'

Tom Steyer wants to 'penalize people' who add to 'climate risk':
"That points to a plan to allow insurance companies to begin assessing for “climate risk” in certain industries, a more market-focused approach to discourage industries from emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Some of the people who may be “penalized” for adding to climate risks, however, are workers in plants and factories all over the rust belt of the United States.
While they recognize the need to mitigate the effects of climate change, some believe this shouldn’t come to the detriment of industries and traditional blue-collar workers.
“It is a fact that global warming threatens our planet. 
Scientists are as certain of this as they are of the dangers of smoking or riding in a car without a seatbelt,” said Tony Montana, spokesman for the local United Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh.
“Declaring “war” on entire industries, such as coal, oil, or natural gas, however, is not the answer.
These industries created and supported a way of life for workers and their communities for generations.”"

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Labor Unions | TheBlaze.com

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Labor Unions | TheBlaze.com:
"The Supreme Court says public sector unions can’t collect fees from home health care workers who object to being affiliated with a union."

Oooooo, da libs gonna get their panties in a bunch over this--------Fox News Hits 50-Quarter Ratings Streak With Megyn Kelly on the Rise, Benghazi Still a Hot Topic

Fox News Hits 50-Quarter Ratings Streak With Megyn Kelly on the Rise, Benghazi Still a Hot Topic
Perennial ratings victor Fox News Channel celebrates a new milestone this week: 
It just wrapped its 50th consecutive quarter (and 150th consecutive month) as the most watched cable news network in both total day and primetime. 
It's a record only matched by ESPN, which has enjoyed a similar dominance in the sports category.

Is This the Next Big Headache for the White House? | TheBlaze.com

Is This the Next Big Headache for the White House? | TheBlaze.com:
"-The federal insurance exchange didn’t always verify Social Security numbers through the Social Security Administration, as required by its own internal safeguards. The California marketplace didn’t always verify citizenship and legal presence through Homeland Security."

They're not just liars, they're stupid liars!--------NOAA Reinstates July 1936 As Hottest Month On Record

But they're still getting rich on the backs of the American workers and the American unemployed.
NOAA Reinstates July 1936 As Hottest Month On Record | The Daily Caller:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, criticized for manipulating temperature records to create a warming trend, has now been caught warming the past and cooling the present.
July 2012 became the hottest month on record in the U.S. during a summer that was declared “too hot to handle” by NASA scientists.
That summer more than half the country was experiencing drought and wildfires had scorched more than 1.3 million acres of land, according to NASA.
According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in 2012, the “average temperature for the contiguous U.S. during July was 77.6°F, 3.3°F above the 20th century average, marking the warmest July and all-time warmest month on record for the nation in a period of record that dates back to 1895.”
“The previous warmest July for the nation was July 1936, when the average U.S. temperature was 77.4°F,” NOAA said in 2012.
This statement by NOAA was still available on their website when checked by The Daily Caller News Foundation. 
But when meteorologist and climate blogger Anthony Watts went to check the NOAA data on Sunday he found that the science agency had quietly reinstated July 1936 as the hottest month on record in the U.S.

Democrats vow to legislate around Hobby Lobby verdict | TheBlaze.com

Democrats vow to legislate around Hobby Lobby verdict | TheBlaze.com:
"Immediately after the decision was handed down, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hinted that he would press for a legislative fix to the ruling.
“If the Supreme Court will not protect women’s access to health care, then Democrats will,” he said. “We will continue to fight to preserve women’s access to contraceptive coverage and keep bosses out of the examination room.”

Well, our choice is between a big, reckless spender and a BIG Reckless spender-----Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, challenger Mark Schauer neck-and-neck in new statewide poll

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, challenger Mark Schauer neck-and-neck in new statewide poll | MLive.com: "LANSING, MI -- Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and Democratic challenger Mark Schauer are running even in Michigan, according to the results of a new statewide poll released Tuesday that appears to be something of an outlier.
Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm that earned high marks for accuracy in the 2012 election cycle but has faced some criticism for irregular methodology, surveyed 578 registered Michigan voters using landlines and the internet between Thursday and Sunday.
Forty-percent of respondents said they would vote to re-elect Snyder this fall, while another 40 percent said they would pick Schauer.
A full twenty percent of respondents were undecided. 
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points."

Don't forget, it's "for the children!"--------Muskegon Community College staff get pay increases while students get tuition increases

Muskegon Community College staff get pay increases while students get tuition increases | MLive.com:
MUSKEGON, MI -- Faculty and staff at Muskegon Community College will receive 2 percent pay increases, bringing top administrators' pay to more than $94,500.
The MCC trustees approved the salary increases at the same meeting where they increased tuition for next year. Trustee Ann Oakes voted against the increases for administrative, professional and support staff, saying she believes salaries should be frozen while the college works to correct its financial picture.
"When things really start improving, that's when the salaries should go up," Oakes said.
The board raised 2014-15 tuition for Muskegon County students by 7.26 percent and by around 11 percent for students from outside the area. Tuition was raised by 5 percent for 2013-14.
The two vice presidents at the college will see their pay increase from $92,728 to $94,583. Pay for the director of finance will increase from $84,486 to $86,176, which is well over the pay range for that employee classification. As a result, the board increased the pay range for that classification to between $54,000 and $87,000.
President Dale Nesbary didn't receive a salary increase, though the board will discuss increasing it from $155,000 to $169,000 when it meets for a retreat later this month.

It's the spending stupid!-------Taxpayer-funded job facility empty since 2011

Taxpayer-funded job facility empty since 2011 « Watchdog.org:
VACANT: Most of the $1 million grant to build a vocational facility was spent after the grant-school was no longer operational.
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A taxpayer-funded educational facility  in Miami-Dade County intended to teach at-risk teens job skills is sitting vacant and unused, which has been the case since 2011.
The building, in Cutler Bay, fails to benefit the public despite ample initial funding, according to a county inspector general’s audit.
It’s also doubtful a single student has benefitted from the project as designed.

As part of a community grant agreement between the county and Bay Point Schools Inc, a nonprofit alternative school for minors with criminal pasts, $1 million in taxpayer money went toward the construction of a 13,400-square-foot building for the purpose of vocational training programs.

‘No One Should Be Put Through That — No One’: Justina Pelletier Speaks Out on Her Treatment While Under Gov’t Care

‘No One Should Be Put Through That — No One’: Justina Pelletier Speaks Out on Her Treatment While Under Gov’t Care | Video | TheBlaze.com:
“This should never happen again to anybody,” the 16-year-old from Connecticut said in an interview with Mike Huckabee on Fox News. “They should never be put through what I’m put through. They were so mean and nasty to me and they were being mean and terrible to my family also and no one should be put through that — no one.”

Medical staff warned: Keep your mouths shut about illegal immigrants or face arrest

Medical staff warned: Keep your mouths shut about illegal immigrants or face arrest | Fox News:
A government-contracted security force threatened to arrest doctors and nurses if they divulged any information about the contagion threat at a refugee camp housing illegal alien children at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, sources say.
In spite of the threat, several former camp workers broke their confidentiality agreements and shared exclusive details with me about the dangerous conditions at the camp. They said taxpayers deserve to know about the contagious diseases and the risks the children pose to Americans. I have agreed to not to disclose their identities because they fear retaliation and prosecution.
My sources say Americans should be very concerned about the secrecy of the government camps.

Our nation-Gettysburg-July 2, 1863

July 2, 1863:
"Longstreet’s lead division under Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood advanced and encountered stubborn resistance from Union infantry holding a strong defensive position around the craggy rock formation known as Devil’s Den, even as elements of the force skirted this action and moved toward the Round Tops.
Col. Vincent had just arrived on Little Round Top when Texans and Alabamians assaulted the rocky height.
The resulting fight is one of the war’s most celebrated engagements, concluding in dramatic fashion when the regiment on the far left of the entire Union line, the 20th Maine, having expended its supply of ammunition, executed a precise and unexpected bayonet charge, sweeping the hillside clear of its equally exhausted foes. 
In the bloodiest fighting at Gettysburg, the combat spread to the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard and as far north as Cemetery Ridge, where a near-suicidal bayonet charge by the 1st Minnesota, bought time for reinforcements to arrive and push back some of the last of Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill’s Confederates.
Of the 262 men who made the charge, only 47 escaped unscathed — a staggering 82 percent casualty rate. While the Southerners captured Devil’s Den and the Peach Orchard, the Federal line on Little Round Top and Cemetery Ridge held firm."

It's your history. Educate yourself!----Ten Facts About Gettysburg


Ten Facts About Gettysburg:
"Fact #3: The Second Day’s Battle (July 2) was the largest and costliest of the three days.
 The second day’s fighting (at Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, Cemetery Ridge, Trostle’s Farm, Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill) involved at least 100,000 soldiers of which roughly 20,000 were killed, wounded, captured or missing.
The second day in itself ranks as the 10th bloodiest battle of the Civil War—with far more casualties than the much larger Battle of Fredericksburg."

$4.7 million to breed featherless chicken necks cuz it's gonna get hot?!!!-------Breeding Bald Poultry To Withstand Global Warming

Breeding Bald Poultry To Withstand Global Warming | Popular Science:
"Rising global temperatures pose a major risk to world food supplies.
When it comes to chickens, geneticist Carl Schmidt is working to prepare the most-dined-upon North American breeds to withstand greater heat stress in coming decades.
As Lauren Rothman reports for Modern Farmer, Schmidt and his University of Delaware team are collaborating with researchers from Iowa and North Carolina state universities to decode the DNA of chicken breeds in Brazil and Uganda that have featherless heads and necks.
These birds find baldness a virtue, not a curse, because the adaptation “allows the south-of-the-equator poultry to throw off additional body heat and stay cool in their scorching native climes,” writes Rothman.
They are generally found in small backyard flocks, Schmidt tells Rothman, rather than industrial agriculture complexes, and “are under constant selection pressure” to survive intense heat and other environmental challenges, traits he and others are eager to see introduced to North American breeds:
Schmidt’s team’s work is part of a five-year, $4.7 million climate change grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.