Monthly Archives: April 2012

Changing Education In Louisiana

Posted on by
Baton Rouge, LA, September 3, 2008 -- Presiden...

Baton Rouge, LA, September 3, 2008 -- President George W. Bush and Governor Bobby Jindal greeting EOC employees, during disaster recovery efforts for Hurricane Gustav. Jacinta Quesada/FEMA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Governor Bobby Jindal took the oath of office as Governor of Louisiana on January 14, 2008. He has worked hard to bring ethical reform to the state and has now brought education reform to the state.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune posted an editorial on April 8 about the education reforms the governor has enacted and is enacting. Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, and as the people of the city returned, they had to find a way to educate their children. Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans schools were among the worst performing in the state. The state took over most of the New Orleans schools after the Hurricane.

The editorial reports:

Since the state took over most schools post-Katrina, that is changing. Recovery School District students, including charter and traditional campuses, posted their fourth consecutive year of improvement last year. The proportion of students scoring at grade level or above grew to 48 percent in 2011 ­– more than double the percentage in 2007.

That progress has come as most city schools became public charter schools, a concept that the governor’s legislation would expand statewide.

The new education reform legislation Governor Jindal would expand the program that was successful in New Orleans throughout the state.

The article concludes:

Gov. Jindal’s reforms are the most far-reaching since the Foster administration, when BESE crafted accountability standards that included high-stakes tests for students and performance scores for schools. This reform effort goes beyond that, though, by making teachers accountable for students’ progress and giving parents far more educational options for their children.

Some teachers went to Baton Rouge to protest the changes to tenure. But others have expressed an understanding that the current system isn’t working.

“If I were not doing a good job as a teacher, I should be fired,” Kaycee Eckhardt, who teaches ninth-graders at Sci Academy, a charter high school in eastern New Orleans, told a reporter. “We’re not building machine parts here. We’re talking about the lives of children. If you have an ineffective teacher in the classroom, you’re hurting kids.”

That is the bottom line.

Gov. Jindal is right to be bold. Despite those earlier reform efforts, Louisiana students still lag behind their counterparts in most other states. Implemented wisely, these reforms could make students more competitive — and improve their lives and the state’s economic future.

One of my daughters and her Marine husband were stationed in New Orleans during the time of Hurricane Katrina. They saw the devastation and they saw the road back. They still own a house there and are hoping to retire there, but one of their concerns was the school system. It sounds as if Governor Jindal is doing a fantastic job of addressing that concern.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Good News

Posted on by

On April 28, I will be in New York City doing the Parkinson’s Unity Walk (see NYC Upcoming Event on this website for more information and enjoy the video). With this in mind, I post the following information:

On Friday, CBS Pittsburgh posted a story about a new treatment for Parkinson’s Disease being tested in Britain.

The article reports:

Scientists create and inject a virus into the brain. The shot jump starts the production of dopamine, which is the chemical patients need to fight Parkinson’s.

Without dopamine, Parkinson’s sufferers often shake and can’t control their movements.

The article reports that other gene therapy experiments are taking place in the United States. Doctors are saying that more studies are needed to confirm that the treatment being used in Britain is safe and that it is effective long term.

This is good news for those who are suffering from the disease.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

A Good Idea On How To Shrink The Deficit

Posted on by

This is rather obvious–it wouldn’t solve the deficit problem entirely, but it would help. President Obama has been promoting the Buffett Rule to increase the amount of taxes that the wealthy pay. It won’t really put a dent in the deficit, but politically it sounds good. John Hinderaker at Power Line has a better idea–he calls it the Geithner Rule which is: everyone pays what he owes under existing laws. Wow, what a concept!

During the time that President Obama’a Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the IMF did not pay withholding taxes on his income.

The article at Power LIne reports:

When he worked for the International Monetary Fund, the fund did not pay withholding taxes on his income, but rather paid Geithner a specifically-designated additional amount which Geithner was supposed to use to pay self-employment taxes. Geithner kept that money, but didn’t pay the taxes.

When Secretary Geithner was later audited,  he paid what he owed for 2003 and 2004. But he didn’t pay what he owed for 2001 and 2002 because the statute of limitations had run on those years. Later, when he was nominated for Secretary of the Treasury, he paid 2001 and 2002 taxes.

The article reports:

Geithner is not the only tax cheat working in the Obama administration. As Glenn Reynolds has pointed out repeatedly, no fewer than 41 of Obama’s White House aides owe back taxes to the IRS, adding up to $831,000. But they aren’t alone: 638 Congressional staffers owe another $9.3 million, and federal employees, altogether, owe $1 billion in back taxes.

 How about we pass a law that prevents anyone who owes back taxes from working for the government until they pay their taxes?

Requiring high government officials to actually pay their taxes would not end the deficit, but it would help. Preventing tax delinquents from serving in government might also encourage them to be more conscientious in paying the government what they owe.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Crippling The American Energy Sector

Posted on by

One of the problems in the economy today is the price of gasoline at the pump. Two years ago it cost me $25 to fill up my car, now it costs $50+. I am sure my story is not unique, and the cost of gasoline has a negative impact on everyone’s budget. There are very obvious ways to bring down the cost of gasoline at the pump–build refineries, drill everywhere, and generally develop a sane energy policy for America. One example of the impact of developing energy resources in America is the fact that North Dakota has an unemployment rate of about 3%. Why? The Bakken Formation, a geological phenomenon covering parts of North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan, has an estimated 3 billion to 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil, only a tiny percentage of which has been tapped. As the state continues to recover the oil, employment grows and prosperity continues. However, even this prosperity is endangered by the Obama Administration. 

Erika Johnsen at Townhall.com reported that on Friday President Obama signed an executive order creating a a high-level task force to coordinate federal oversight of domestic natural gas development. What that means is that “the government is planning to regulate any energy industry we have not yet destroyed out of existence.”

The article reports:

The task force is charged with ensuring that rapidly growing efforts to tap vast natural gas supplies in the country’s shale formations, which require advanced drilling techniques including “fracking,” are “safe and responsible.”

The order seeks to find a balance between encouraging expanded domestic natural gas development, a position Obama has touted in a series of speeches in recent months, and ensuring that the administration protects the public. 

“[I]t is vital that we take full advantage of our natural gas resources, while giving American families and communities confidence that natural and cultural resources, air and water quality, and public health and safety will not be compromised,” the order says.

The Obama administration is taking new steps to increase federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling method that has helped usher in a natural gas boom but brought with it environmental concerns. 

The Environmental Protection Agency is slated to unveil final oil-and-gas air pollution regulations next week that would cut smog-forming and toxic emissions from wells developed with fracking. Separately, the Interior Department will soon float rules for fracking on public lands.

Unless we change the general regulation overload this administration has created, America will become a third-world country. If that appeals to you, vote for Democrats in November. If you love America and want your children to prosper, vote Republican. The future of our nation is truly at stake in 2012.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Latest News On The Vermont Euthanasia Law

Posted on by

The Republic (whose website lists its home as Columbus, Indiana) posted an article on Thursday saying that the Vermont state Senate has defeated an effort to add euthanasia to a tanning bed resolution that would have barred people under eighteen from using tanning beds.

The article reports:

The legislation was designed to set up a system allowing physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients in the last six months of life who repeatedly asked for it.

The bill had been bottled up in the Judiciary Committee. This week the Health and Welfare committee added it to a separate bill regulating tanning beds.

Lt. Gov. Phil Scott ruled the two measures not germane to one another, and a majority of senators concurred.

For the moment, euthanasia will not be legalized in Vermont, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this battle will continue.

Why do some legislators want to give doctors the right to kill people?

The Hippocratic Oath states:

I WILL FOLLOW that method of treatment which according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patient and abstain from whatever is harmful or mischievous. I will neither prescribe nor administer a lethal dose of medicine to any patient even if asked nor counsel any such thing nor perform the utmost respect for every human life from fertilization to natural death and reject abortion that deliberately takes a unique human life.

I realize that we have thrown out that oath in the area of abortion, but do we have to make it worse?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Running The White House By Chicago Rules

Posted on by

At the risk of sounding totally disrespectful, I fully believe that in 2008 we elected a Chicago thug to the White House. The list of reasons why I believe this is long–it includes disregard for the Constitution (attacking the Supreme Court), trying to undermine the right to bear arms (Fast and Furious), and just general tackiness (which I guess is not a serious crime, but sometimes it ought to be!).

As we approach the 2012 election, the press, possibly in an effort to regain some semblance of credibility before they begin to act as Obama campaign workers, are beginning to report things that we all knew, but they weren’t reporting.

The Weekly Standard posted an article today citing a rather lengthy New York Times article (is there any other kind?) entitled, “White House Opens Door to Big Donors, and Lobbyists Slip In.” Are we supposed to be surprised?

The article at the Weekly Standard reports:

Patrick J. Kennedy, the former representative from Rhode Island, who donated $35,800 to an Obama re-election fund last fall while seeking administration support for a nonprofit venture, said contributions were simply a part of “how this business works.”

“If you want to call it ‘quid pro quo,’ fine,” he said. “At the end of the day, I want to make sure I do my part.”

It seems to me that that shouldn’t be “simply a part of how this business works.” It really is time to clean house in Washington–and the house cleaning has to be the President, the Congress, and the bureaucrats who continue to spend taxpayer money recklessly–whether they are staffers or government employees. The taxpayers of America need to take our country back.

Enhanced by Zemanta

A Beautiful Afternoon

Posted on by

Today I attended the Worcester Tea Party April 15th Tax Day Tea Party. It was a fantastic event (and just as an added bonus, it was a beautiful day!).

I have a few observations on the growth of the Tea Party. Reports of the death of the Tea Party are highly exaggerated–it is alive and doing well. A lot of the Tea Party is over the age of 40, but there is a younger group getting involved–one of the speakers today was a high school student speaking about a new program in her high school that involves students wearing a bracelet and tracking everything they eat and exactly how much exercise they get. That really does not sound like life in a free country to me. I hope to post an article about this program in her own words in the coming week. There was also a student from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who spoke. I am very impressed with the reasoning abilities of both of these young people as I did not give up my liberal ways until I was well into my twenties.

The Tea Party is not a monolithic group. The basic areas of agreement are smaller government, the repeal of Obamacare, and lower taxes. There is a strain of Ayn Rand worship that can also be found in some Tea Party members, but when you consider Ayn Rand’s perspective based on her background, that is probably not a bad thing. I remember reading ATLAS SHRUGGED in high school because the group of kids I hung around with was reading it, and we all thought it was wonderful. It amazes me that most of those friends grew up to become liberals. I guess our college education system in the late 1960’s was pretty powerful.

Anyway, the Tea Party event in Worcester was a great event. All ages were represented and it was a nice, friendly, well-mannered crowd. I will be there again next year!

Enhanced by Zemanta

Today Is April 15th–Unless Congress Acts, The Taxes We Paid This Year Will Seem Miniscule Next Year

Posted on by
 On Friday CNS News posted a story about the coming ‘automatic’ tax increases that will begin on January 1, 2013. The tax burden of the average American family will increase by $3,800–in a single year. Congress will deny being responsible for the increase–they didn’t pass anything. So what happened–the “Bush tax cuts” are set to expire. Those “tax cuts for the rich” saved the average American family $3,800 every year they were in effect.

The article reports:

It’s a near-perfect fiscal storm — occurring just after a major national election, no less. Among the tax breaks that are expiring: the Bush tax cuts that occurred in 2001 and 2003, the payroll tax cut, and the tax cut from the 2009 stimulus.

That’s not all. The estate tax, known more accurately as the Death Tax, rises to 55 percent. The 100 percent exemption for business investment goes away. Also among the soon-to-be-missing: the patch that lawmakers passed to ensure that the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) doesn’t snare more and more middle-income earners (instead of the super-rich it was originally designed for).

This $494 billion increase is unprecedented in scope. To give you a better idea of how big it really is, consider that all of the tax hikes in Obamacare — a huge tax hike in and of itself — add up to $502 billion over a 10-year period. Taxmageddon will extract almost that much from Americans next year alone. Saddling a “jobless” recovery with this monster hike is spectacularly bad policy.

This disaster can be avoided in one of three ways–the present Congress can stop it by extending the Bush tax cuts, we can elect a new Congress that will stop it as soon as they are sworn in, or Congress could redo the tax code in a transparent manner that is fair to all taxpayers The first option is highly unlikely, the second option is extremely necessary, and the third option will happen right after pigs fly.

 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Not-So-Transparent Transparency

Posted on by

The Washington Examiner posted an article yesterday about the White House’s attempt to spin the “working wives vs non-working wives” dust-up. It seems that when President Obama took office, in a move toward historic transparency, he opened up the White House visitor logs to the public. That really is nice–I think Americans have a right to know who their President is talking to. However, there seems to be a slight snag in the process.

The article reports some dodging and weaving by Press Secretary Jay Carney:

“The point I was making yesterday is that often when we get inquiries about the visitor list, the WAVES list, just based on names, it turns out that people with common names appear  . . .  sometimes there are other people with the same names,” Carney told reporters today. “So all I was simply saying is that at that point, we had no way of verifying that this was one person.”

Carney was explaining why he responded, “I know three, personally, women named Hilary Rosen. So I’m not sure that those represent the person we’re talking about necessarily,” when he was asked about Rosen’s many trips to the White House. (Obama was exposed to embarrassment when Rosen, a Democratic strategist and familiar figure in the White House, said that Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life.”)

The article then asks, “If the White House visitor logs can’t be used for “verifying” the identity of White House visitors, are the logs “still providing the American people with an unprecedented amount of information about their government” as promised?” That is a very good question. 

Enhanced by Zemanta

The Sound Of Crickets Chirping

Posted on by

The sound of crickets chirping is what you hear when you ask President Obama what his plans for lowering the deficit are. Mark Steyn wrote a wonderful article in the National Review today encapsulating the current budget debate. He points out that the Buffett Rule the President keeps touting will balance the budget in 514 years. Wow! Fiscal responsibility at its best!

The article gives us some perspective on the amount of the federal debt and what the Buffett Rule would accomplish:

.,..For what Obama’s spending, there aren’t enough of them, or us, or “the rich” — and there never will be. There is only one Warren Buffett. He is the third-wealthiest person on the planet. The first is a Mexican, and beyond the reach of the U.S. Treasury. Mr. Buffett is worth $44 billion. If he donated the entire lot to the government of the United States, they would blow through it within four and a half days. Okay, so who’s the fourth-richest guy? He’s French. And the fifth guy’s a Spaniard. Number six is Larry Ellison. He’s American, but that loser is only worth $36 billion. So he and Buffett between them could keep the United States government going for a week. The next-richest American is Christy Walton of Walmart, and she’s barely a semi-Buffett. So her $25 billion will see you through a couple of days of the second week. There aren’t a lot of other semi-Buffetts, but, if you scrounge around, you can rustle up some hemi-demi-semi-Buffetts: If you confiscate the total wealth of the Forbes 400 richest Americans it comes to $1.5 trillion, which is just a little less than the Obama budget deficit for a year.

The article reminds us that President Obama has been saying horrible things about the Paul Ryan budget. The President’s budget was defeated in the House of Representatives by 414 to 0. Where is his alternative plan?

Please follow the link to the National Review to read the entire article. Mark Steyn has a very entertaining way of explaining where we are in terms of spending and taxing and what we need to do about it.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Adult Stem Cells And Heart Disease

Posted on by

On Wednesday, CBN News posted a story about the use of adult stem cells to treat heart disease. Dr. Roberto Bolli at the University of Louisville has completed an adult stem cell treatment on 16 heart failure patients — and the study was largely successful.

The article reports:

“It’s not hype, it is really hope,” he said. “I think that stem cells will likely become a routine part of the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the next few years.”

Bolli took cells from a healthy part of the patient and infused them into the patient’s heart, causing the regeneration of previously dead heart tissue.

Please note–these are adult stem cells from the patient’s own body, there were no embryonic stem cells involved. Since the cells were taken from the patient, there was no danger of rejection.

The article points out:

Other researchers have used adult stem cells to restore vision to patients whose eyes were damaged by chemicals.They have also been used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases, heal broken bones, and create skin grafts.

The article reports:

Because of the promise of Bolli’s work, the National Institutes of Health has awarded a $3.4 million grant for more research at the University of Louisville over the next seven years.

Hopefully Dr. Bolli’s research will mean longer, healthier lives for many people.

Enhanced by Zemanta

When Common Sense And Government Part Ways

Posted on by

I love flowers and shrubs. I don’t have a green thumb, but I keep planting, and the strong survive. I do try, however, to keep things in perspective. I think most of us do. But then, there is the government.

Yesterday CNS News posted a story about moving a bush as part of a highway renovation project. Doesn’t sound like much–all of us occasionally move plants around our yard, right? Well, when the government gets involved, strange things happen.

The article reports:

The bush—a Franciscan manzanita—was a specimen of a commercially cultivated species of shrub that can be purchased from nurseries for as little as $15.98 per plant. The particular plant in question, however, was discovered in the midst of the City of San Francisco, in the median strip of a highway, and was deemed to be the last example of the species in the “wild.”

Prior to the discovery of this “wild” Franciscan manzanita, the plant had been considered extinct for as long as 62 years–extinct, that is, outside of people’s yards and botanical gardens.

So I guess it doesn’t matter what the plant is–it matters where it grows. Since the plant was in the “wild,” various federal agencies needed to be consulted (not to mention scientists and other concerned organizations). Before this story was over, it involved comments by and information from the Department of Interior, Dr. Daniel Gluesenkamp, a botanist who was then the director of Habitat Protection and Restoration for Audubon Canyon Ranch, a  biologist from the Presidio Trust , the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish and Game. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was developed for saving this one bush from the highway project, for which ground had been broken in December 2009.

The article further reports:

While the MOA did not detail all the costs for moving the bush, it did state that in addition to funding removal and transportation of the Franciscan manzanita, Caltrans agreed to transfer $79,470 to the Presidio Trust “to fund the establishment, nurturing, and monitoring of the Mother Plant in its new location for a period not to exceed ten (10) years following relocation and two (2) years for salvaged rooted layers and cuttings according to the activities outlined in the Conservation Plan.”

Furthermore, Presidio Parkway Project spokesperson Molly Graham told CNSNews.com that the “hard removal”—n.b. actually digging up the plant, putting it on a truck, driving it somewhere else and replanting it–cost $100,000.

The MOA also stated that Caltrans agreed to “Transfer $25,605.00 to the Trust to fund the costs of reporting requirements of the initial 10-year period as outlined in the Conservation Plan.”

Please read the entire article to get the detailed picture of moving this plant. The article states that the cost of moving this plant was at least $205,075 in 2010. It was partially funded by the stimulus program. I’m glad to see that Vice-President Biden was keeping a close watch on how the stimulus money was spent.  

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Some Surprisingly Good Logic From The Left

Posted on by

Mediaite posted an article yesterday on the George Zimmerman arrest. The article was an interview that occurred on MSNBC’s hardball when guest host Michel Smerconish was interviewing Professor Alan Dershowitz on the arrest of George Zimmerman. I will admit I was rather surprised at the Professor’s comments.

The article reports Professor Dershowitz’s comments:

“Most affidavits of probable cause are very thin. This is so thin that it won’t make it past a judge on a second degree murder charge,” Dershowitz said. “There’s simply nothing in there that would justify second degree murder.”

Dershowitz said that the elements that would constitute that crime are non-existent in the affidavit. “It’s not only thin, it’s irresponsible,” said Dershowitz.

Dershowitz went on to strongly criticize Corey’s decision to move forward with the case against Zimmerman. “I think what you have here is an elected public official who made a campaign speech last night for reelection when she gave her presentation and overcharged. This case will not – if the evidence is no stronger than what appears in the probable cause affidavit – this case will result in an acquittal.”

I guess I have more than one question about this entire episode. If George Zimmerman followed Trayvon Martin after he was told not to, that was a mistake. I understand that. However, I have a few questions, “If George Zimmerman had not shot Trayvon Martin, would George Zimmerman still be alive? Would he have been beaten to death? Did he have reason to fear that that was a possibility? Does that not then make Florida’s law that says he had a right to defend himself apply?”

This is the modern equivalent of a gun battle at high noon. Regardless of who was right, someone was going to be killed that night.

 


Enhanced by Zemanta

Totally Stupid Career Moves

Posted on by

My award for totally stupid career move of the year goes to Joe Muto, a former producer on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” Yesterday Breitbart.com reported that Mr. Muto was fired less than twenty-four hours after Gawker revealed that it had placed a more within the organization of Fox News. Mr. Muto had worked for Fox News for eight years when he was recruited by Gawker to be a mole in that organization. He was paid $5000 for his services and worked for one day after Gawker announced that he was there.

This whole story seems to be on the level of the Darwin awards. Aside from the stupidity of throwing away an eight-year job and future career for a quick $5000 on the part of Mr. Muto, why in the world did Gawker announce that it had a mole in Fox News? It seems to me that one of the necessary traits of a mole would be secrecy. Why in the world would Gawker blow the cover on its own mole? I question the wisdom of everyone involved in this  scheme.

Enhanced by Zemanta

It May Not Have Been Very Funny, But I Believe It Was A Joke

Posted on by

Even as a retiree, I sometimes get too busy to pay attention to what the news is actually saying. And when I pay attention to the mainstream news media, I generally get confused. Recently I wondered why Allen West would make the remark he made recently about communists. It really doesn’t seem to fit with the entire picture of who he is.

Well, I got my answer this morning when I heard the full story on my local talk radio show (Helen Glover). It seems that the sound bite played by the media was not the entire sound bite. Why am I not surprised at this?

The Huffington Post reports:

West’s video is nearly 30 seconds longer but adds little in the way of content. Most of the added time is taken up by audience members murmuring after West states that “about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party that are members of the Communist Party,” which was the focus of the original video from the Democrats. After the reaction dies down, West identifies his alleged Communists.

“No, they actually don’t hide it. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” he tells the audience.

I think the video released by Allen West  totally changes the content–even if the Huffington Post doesn’t. I suspect the comment was made rather tongue in cheek. Unfortunately, a lot of the mainstream media and the left have lost their sense of humor. Maybe they should look for it the same place they lost their sense of fiscal responsibility!

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

About That Civility Thing…

Posted on by

Today’s Washington Examiner reported some comments made by a Maine state legislator on twitter.

The article reports:

“Cheney deserves same final end he gave Saddam,” Kruger tweeted, according to the Maine Wire. “Hope there are cell cams,” he added, indicating a desire to watch Cheney die.

Today, after local media noticed the comment, Krugertweeted, “Twitter is no place for lousy attempts at humor” along with the hashtag “#mepolitics,” in what seems to be an allusion to the Cheney/Saddam tweet.

I’m afraid I fail to see the humor in any of that. Comments like that deserve to have consequences. I doubt there will be any, but Mr. Kruger was totally out of line.

Enhanced by Zemanta

The North Korean Missile Test Was Unsuccessful

Posted on by

Hot Air posted an article tonight about the North Koreans’ unsuccessful missile test. The article reported the basic facts, but had some interesting theories about why the test took place and an interesting idea as to how it was reported.

One source cited in the article wondered if the test after the agreement signed on February 29 was an indication of miscommunication between the political and military branches of the government.

I think the conclusion of the article is very interesting:

Update: Let’s say the NorKs had managed to launch this thing without a hitch and that it completed its 10-minute flight path before landing in the ocean. What incentive would leaders in the west (or the east, for that matter) have to report a successful long-range missile test by NK? All it would do is heighten panic over North Korea’s intentions, and the greater the panic, the greater the risk that South Korean or Japanese leaders would be forced into some sort of brinksmanship with Pyongyang that would end in a catastrophic war. The international consensus on NK has typically been to avoid poking the hornet’s nest for fear of what might fly out if you do. Confirming a successful test would, almost necessarily, require subsequent poking. That’s not to say western officials or anyone else are lying about tonight’s launch having gone bust, but I am curious as to why they’d report it accurately if they could keep it quiet and in so doing keep the public off their back while they plot a strategic response. In the interest of avoiding greater bloodshed, the world already looks the other way at the concentration camps run by the Kim family. If they’re willing to grudgingly tolerate something as filthy as that in the name of “peace,” why wouldn’t they fib about a missile test?

Is it time for a new conspiracy theory?

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Why Is The Attorney General At A Rally That Encourages Civil (Or Uncivil) Disobedience ?

Posted on by

Today’s Washington Examiner reports that Eric Holder spoke at a rally held by Al Sharpton for Trayvon Martin.

The article reports:

“If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action,” Holder added. “And, at every step, the facts and the law will guide us forward,” he added.

Al Sharpton, Holder’s host, has called for an “escalation” in civil disobedience if George Zimmerman — the shooter in the Trayvon Martin case who said he acted in self-defense — is not arrested.

Why is the Attorney General taking part in a rally that has determined the verdict of a case that has not even been tried and encouraging civil disobedience? Isn’t it the Attorney General’s job to uphold the law? The law says that George Zimmerman is innocent until proven guilty. If the people closest to the crime have chosen not to arrest Mr. Zimmerman, why is the Attorney General attending a rally to encourage civil disobedience to change that?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Another Industry Suffering From Overregulation

Posted on by

The Washington Examiner posted an article today on the government-caused drug shortages America is experiencing. Yes, you read that right.

The article reports that prescription drug shortages tripled from 2005 to 2010 and reached record levels in 2011 as manufacturers ceased operations or ran into production problems.

The article reports:

Last year, nearly half of hospitals reported experiencing a drug shortage on a daily basis, according to a survey of 820 hospitals by the American Hospital Association. About 82 percent of hospitals said they delayed treatment because of a shortage, and 35 percent of hospitals said patients experienced “adverse outcomes.” The survey did not categorize those outcomes, a spokeswoman said.

So what is going on? The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased its enforcement efforts. The article explains:

…the FDA’s “zero tolerance” regime is forcing manufacturers to abide by rules that are rigid, inflexible and unforgiving. For example, a drug manufacturer must get approval for how much of a drug it plans to produce, as well as the timeframe. If a shortage develops (because, say, the FDA shuts down a competitor’s plant), a drug manufacturer cannot increase its output of that drug without another round of approvals. Nor can it alter its timetable production (producing a shortage drug earlier than planned) without FDA approval.

We elected this government. We are responsible. The only way to fix this is to unelect everyone who has worked toward bigger government and more regulation and elect people who want smaller government and less regulation. It’s up to us.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Some Clear Thinking In The Midst Of The Fog

Posted on by

Michael Ledeen posted an article at Pajamas Media yesterday dispelling three basic myths currently controlling America’s foreign policy. All three of the myths can be debunked by common sense, but somehow the mainstream media seems to have missed that.

The three myths:

The Syrian peace negotiations

The Iranian nuclear negotiations

“Resets” and other dreams

In reference to Syria, Mr. Ledeen points out that peace happens in war only after one side wins. He mentions that too many Syrians have been killed and there has been too much violence for both sides to sit down and simply talk peace. Until there is a winner, there will be no peace. He suggests that America support one side or the other in order to bring a quicker end to the war and to bring peace.

In reference to Iran, Mr. Ledeen points out that Iran has been at war with us since 1979, when they were in the streets yelling, “Death to America!”  They want a nuclear weapon because it will make them invulnerable to American and Israeli power.

Mr. Ledeen states:

…“Negotiations” are tactical moves to divide their enemies, gain more time to build their arsenal, and fend off further sanctions.

As the Washington Post‘s editorialists said, if you want to solve the nuke problem, you need regime change in Tehran.  But hardly anyone among the B & Bs cares to discuss how to bring down the Iranian regime, any more than they are doing the slightest thing to bring down the Assads’ tyranny in Damascus.

Forget about the nukes, it’s the war, stupid.

In reference to pushing the “reset button,” Mr. Ledeen points out that good relations with foreign countries are generally the result of shared cultural values. Since we do not have many shared cultural values with Comrade Putin, we can push the reset button all we want, but probably won’t get results.

Mr. Ledeen concludes:

Contrary to the rhetoric of the current secretary of state, the important “reset” is the one that has already occurred, the change in the Russians’ (and others’) evaluation of our willingness to fight for our position in the world.  The current crop of Russian leaders don’t respect us, and most assuredly do not fear the consequences of challenging us.

Those attitudes are very widely shared, from the Middle East to Latin America.  Lack of respect leads even such minor figures as Venezuela’s Chavez to dream of regional empire, and a deadly assault on the United States.

Forget about working things out around conference tables.  The war against us is on, and we won’t have anything approaching peace until that war is won.  By us, or by our enemies.

Common sense is a dangerous thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Confirmation Of Something I Heard In Passing

Posted on by

Yesterday I posted some audio from the Michael Savage radio show about a Spanish company that will be counting the votes in the 2012 election. I had no backup for the story, but also had no reason to doubt that it was true. Today I found the backup.

A website called the Western Center for Journalism posted a story about the counting of the election ballots in 2012.

The article reports:

When the Spanish online voting company SKYTL bought the largest vote processing corporation in the United States, it also acquired the means of manufacturing the outcome of the 2012 election. For SOE, the Tampa based corporation purchased by SKYTL in January, supplies the election software which records, counts, and reports the votes of Americans in 26 states–900 total jurisdictions–across the nation.

There are a few very obvious problems with this. The article points out:

Though much has been written about the threat of nationwide voting by illegals in November, it is still true that most election fraud is an “inside” job. And there now exists a purely electronic voting service which uses no physical ballots to which an electronic count can be matched should questions arise. Add to this the fact that the same company will have “first count” on all votes made in 14 US states and hundreds of jurisdictions in 12 others, and the stage is set for election fraud on a scale unimaginable just a decade ago.

It is scary to think that there will be no physical ballots if the results need to be recounted. This could throw the American election in 2012 into chaos.

Enhanced by Zemanta

What’s Tanning Got To Do With This ?

Posted on by

A website called the Vermont Press Bureau is reporting today that a “Death with dignity” amendment has been added to a tanning bed regulation that would bar people under the age of eighteen from using tanning beds.

The article reports:

With no discussion and no testimony, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 3-2 in favor of adding the death with dignity amendment to the tanning bed bill and then voted 3-2 to approve the overall tanning bed bill.

A battle will surely ensue in the Senate — which is closely divided  on death with dignity — over whether the physician-assisted suicide amendment is “germane” to the tanning bed legislation.

But Sen. Hinda Miller, a Chittenden County Democrat who sponsored the amendment, argued it is germane because both bills are related to cancer. The tanning bed bill is designed to prevent it, and physician-assisted suicide would be used by people dying from it, Miller said.

This is not a good direction to be moving in.

The article reports that the Vermont leadership is divided on the bill:

Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell is opposed to the physician-assisted suicide bill, but Gov. Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Shap Smith support it.

Stay tuned.

 

Enhanced by Zemanta