Police Officers Involved in Capital Shooting Are On Duty But Not Being Paid Due to Shutdown: This is WRONG!

The police officers involved in the shooting of a woman who used her car to attack them were on duty, but are not being paid either their wages or hazard pay due to the shutdown of the government.

Those officers are out there risking their lives to protect the Capitol, but that isn’t enough to get paid for their trouble??!   This insanity must end, and Congress owes these brave police officers an apology and back pay for the hours that they’re continuing to work.  And get shot at, and run over by insane people.

Those who refuse to negotiate to do the business of the American people are unfit to serve in Congress or as the President.  Shame on all our politicians, who are continuing to get paid to DO NOTHING!

Federal Treatment of World War II Veterans During Shutdown is DISGRACEFUL: WWII Monument is in Open Air and Should Be Accessible 24/7/365, Regardless of Whether the Government is Open or Not

The government should be ashamed of themselves, erecting barriers around open-air monuments in Washington during the shutdown, especially the World War II memorial. The government shouldn’t get in the way of our veterans paying what could be their final respects to their fallen comrades. 

Most of our surviving World War II veterans are in their 80s and 90s.  It is predicted that all of our veterans from that era will be gone by 2020.  This is no way to treat veterans who simply want to pay their respects at a memorial dedicated to their service, and to their fellow Americans who did not return.

If it was inside a building that required federal workers to be on site, that would be one thing.  But this is outside, where anyone can walk up to it.   It’s RIDICULOUS to erect barricades around them.

The federal government should remove the barricades immediately and welcome our veterans with open arms to a memorial dedicated to their courage and sacrifices, not arrest them for storming a barricade that shouldn’t be there in the first place.

Congressional Pay Should Be Cut Along With the Federal Workers They’ve Laid Off: This is Not Right

Congress is continuing to receive their pay, while many other federal workers are going without pay due to the shutdown of the Federal government.

This isn’t right.  

Congress should face the same financial pain that tens of thousands of others who work for the federal government are currently facing and have their own pay cut, with a possibility of not receiving back pay, like everybody else.

There’s a photo going around on Facebook that addresses this issue in the form of a proposed Constitutional amendment. 

It  reads: “Amendment 28—Congress shall pass no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives, and Congress shall pass no law that applies to the Senators or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.”

That’s a GREAT idea.  We’d get more laws that make sense, with no exemptions for Congress.  They wouldn’t be so gung-ho to pass idiotic laws that they are not subject to.  Perhaps we should consider it.

GOP Keeps Moving the Goal Post: One Year Delay of Obamacare is the Latest New Demand in Confusing Series of Twists and Turns

I’m really disappointed with the current Republican party strategy of trying to deal with Obamacare.

They do not have a consistent message about what their goals are.  Are they trying to delay it, overturn it, or something else?  They need to pick their spot, and fight for it, and make their message about their fight clear to the American public.

Now, on the debt ceiling, I wish Congress would just raise it and pay closer attention to the current funding bills which make the debt ceiling debates necessary.  If Congress has a problem with the debt ceiling, they should spend less on pork and make cuts above and beyond sequester levels to the next budget.  That will make future debt ceiling fights in the federal government unnecessary as they’ll have room to maneuver while continuing to pay for what they voted on already.

On the federal government shutdown, the Senate took 1,372 DAYS to pass a budget, so that tells you how quickly Congress moves on passing a budget of ANY kind.   The government should learn to do more with less.  And the possibility of not paying soldiers on time who are fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan?  SHAMEFUL!

Congress needs to get its act together and vote its way out of this mess, or we’ll vote them out of office.  And President Obama needs to start negotiating and compromising on stuff.  President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neal did.  So did President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich.   Why can’t our current President and current Speaker?  Both sides need to tone it down.

Less Blame on the Shotgun, and More on the Shooter

I came home to news that the madman who shot up the Navy Shipyard in Washington used a Remington Model 870 in his killing spree.

The media is treating the shotgun like it’s the most powerful shotgun ever created, and spent way too much time analyzing how many shells it holds.  I couldn’t help but notice that the media chose to run with pictures of the tactical model of the 870 because it’s scary looking.  Since the shotgun was introduced in 1951, there have been HUNDREDS of variations of this shotgun, in multiple configurations.  There are civilian, police and military models currently in use.

Knock it off, you media idiots!  I use a Remington Model 870 to hunt with.  It’s a nice  hunting shotgun.

The shooter at the Navy yard is 100% to blame, not the shotgun.  He turned it on his fellow human beings, then stole the guns of his victims to continue his killing spree against his former employers. 

We have to understand that if he didn’t have this particular model available, he could have legally bought another type of firearm to carry out his attack.   I’m following my customary rule and not naming the SOB.  He’ll get no free publicity and name recognition here.

Russian Leadership’s Self-Esteem is So Low That They Have to Attack Others to Make Themselves Feel Better: PATHETIC!

Vladimir Putin and one of his firebrand supporters have been attacking Americans over feelings of exceptionalism, and there’s a reason for it.

It’s because their self-esteem is so low that the only way that they can feel better about themselves is if they attack the good in others.  There’s a term to describe this bully behavior: PATHETIC!

What’s more, President Putin’s former bosses instilled the sense of low to no self esteem in Russians and Soviet citizens for decades.   If Russians want to feel better, they should vote his butt out of office, as well as his other KGB lackeys.

The main difference between us and Russia is that in the U.S., we send crooks and corrupt politicians to jail.  In Russia, the crooks and corrupt politicians come to power and lock up the innocent and anyone who disagrees with their government’s point of view. 

Compared to Russia in those terms, are we exceptional?  Heck yes! 

President Putin should keep his opinions to himself

When was the last time we had a president do the kind of RIDICULOUS publicity stunts like President Putin has?  That’s another point…by staging these stunts, President Putin appears to be setting himself up as an exceptional leader, doesn’t it?   That would make Putin a hypocrite too, which is old news to us. 

That’s all the attention that I’m paying to Russian remarks on exceptionalism.  They have no leg to stand on, thanks to people like Vladimir Putin.

Syrian Rebels Are Slaughtering Syrian Christians: President Obama Wants to Turn the Tide of Battle in the Favor of These People?

Syrian rebels are attacking Syrian Christians in a blatant attempt to wipe Christianity out in Syria, under the guise of fighting the Syrian government.  This is more proof that Islam IS fighting a war against Christianity, while they accuse Christians of waging war on helpless Islam.  Hypocrites!

Under no circumstances should we assist these rebels.   President Obama needs to stop trying to change the tide of battle in favor of the rebels; they’re even more undesirable than Assad staying in office.    This smells of al-Qaeda or of Hezbollah. 

I don’t know what we can do to protect Christian villages in Syria.  By the time a course of action is decided on, the body count will be even higher than it is now.   Very frustrating.

Obama Has 22 Likely “Yes” Votes on Military Action Against Syria in Senate: 16 Likely “Yes” Votes in House So Far

Based on early projections, CNN seems to think that President Obama will get a majority of “yes” votes in the U.S. Senate, but the House cannot be predicted as only sixteen Representatives have indicated that they’re likely to vote “yes” on a military authorization against Syria.

Congress is not back in session yet, but the leadership is back in town and already talking about the language in the bill that will be debated, in terms of guarantees that there will be no introduction of ground troops into Syria, the kind of military assets to be used, duration of the conflict, mission creep, etc.

Should be interesting to see what happens.

Should “Porn Revenge” Be Banned? You Mean It Isn’t Already?

“Porn Revenge” has been popping up in the news lately, and it deserves comment.

Porn revenge is where a vindictive person coming out of a breakup of a relationship posts videos of his or her ex having sex or nude photographs from the relationship online, in order to humiliate the ex.

The question has been asked if revenge porn should be illegal.  My question is this: it isn’t already?

People need to understand that when they make pornos, whether they’re public or private, can come back and bite them hard, especially if there’s a breakup of the relationship.  Making home porn just isn’t a good idea to begin with, but to answer the question, my answer is “YES!  Revenge porn should be illegal.”

This sounds like some kind of virtual rape, so there should probably be criminal consequences for posting porn without the consent of the other party.

UK Votes No on Syria Intervention: President Obama Should Back Off Too

The British Parliament put the kibosh on the British military joining in an attack on Syria. 

They seem to be the only country doing it right; Prime Minister Cameron called Parliament back from recess, they debated it after listening to what he had to say on live TV, and the Prime Minister told the British public that he would accept the results of  the vote.  Even though he suffered a political defeat, he still did the right thing.

President Obama doesn’t want to call back Congress for a vote and has indicated that America is willing to go it alone.  I am 100% opposed to this line of thinking.   Unless the Syrians attack the U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean with their Russian-built anti-ship missiles, or attack Israel, we have no cause to break international law and attack Syria.

So far, Assad is the only one who has committed war crimes.  I hope President Obama has enough sense not to join Assad on that platform by taking us into an illegal war.  As despicable as the use of chemical weapons are, we need to know who carried it out before we even consider attacking another nation.

Absurdity: A Driver Who Looks At a Text Message While Driving Is Responsible for Any Accident That Happens, Not Anyone Else

A court in New Jersey has ruled that someone who texts a driver can be held liable if the driver gets into an accident while reading or responding to it.  Here’s why I disagree with this ruling in principle:

The driver consciously makes a decision to take his/her eyes off the road to read/respond to a text message.   He/she can easily ignore the text messages until they safely reach their destination.  Speaking from personal experience, it’s very easy to ignore a text message or hand the phone to a passenger to read it and respond for you.  I’ve done this before.

In the New Jersey case, a couple of teens were volleying text messages back and forth while one of them was driving; he crossed the center line and hit someone one a motorcycle in the other lane while he was distracted.  The people on the bike received severe injuries, survived the accident and sued both texting teens.  They settled with the driver and lost the case against the other teen.

There was an appeal, and the other teen was found liable, but not sentenced to punishment as she was unaware that her texting boyfriend was driving.

The driver is ultimately responsible.   He caused a severe accident, two people lost their legs because of it and all because he couldn’t put his phone down.  This was a stupid mistake that had life-changing consequences for his victims.

The judges were right to not sentence the other teen, though the knowledge that her text conversation had devastating results on two people will be with her the rest of her life.

No winners in this case, just sadness.

Russia and China Have a Lot of Explaining to Do: They’ve Allowed The Syrian Civil War to Continue Unabated By Blocking Every Single Security Council Measure Designed to Bring the Parties to the Bargaining Table While At the Same Time Heavily Arming Assad’s Regime

A lot of blame should go to Russia and China for their unbridled support of President Assad’s side in the Syrian civil war. 

Russia has opposed Western nations sending arms to the rebels, while quietly arming the Syrian government to the teeth with Russian heavy weapons and advanced missiles and aircraft.

The missiles are particularly troublesome.  Syria has tried to transfer the Russian weapons to Hezbollah, and Israel has gone in and blown them up at least twice.  The first time it was Russian advanced anti-aircraft weapons and the second batch of missiles were Russian anti-ship missiles.  

For all the Russian talk of trying to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian problem, their irresponsible actions are destabilizing the region.    Israel’s already bombing Syrian territory to eliminate the Hezbollah-bound Russian weapons. 

China’s interest in Syria is financial and they’ve opposed sanctions against the Syrian government.  It is currently unclear if China’s been arming Assad.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they were.

All five permanent members of the UN Security Council need to be more flexible in finding a solution to the Syrian problem that they can agree to support and enforce.  If they can’t, or won’t, then shame on all of them!

We Don’t Like the Syrian Government, and We Don’t Like the Syrian Rebels and Their al-Qaeda Friends Either: So Why Are We Getting Involved in Syria?

We’re getting into a no-win situation with Syria and we need to stop. 

I don’t think we should be helping the al-Qaeda-backed rebels at all.  I think they’ve also used chemical weapons for their own advantage against the Assad regime.  We should be really concerned about these rebels AND Syrian regime soldiers picking up experience in using chemical weapons in or on heavily populated areas.   We can’t afford to trust either side.

There’s no doubt that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons too.  He’s used every weapon in his arsenal so far.  So far, he’s had no reason not to.  Consider: 

The ICC has no authority in Syria as it’s a non-signatory to the treaty, and Assad’s Russian and Chinese supporters won’t allow the UN Security Council to pass any kind of punitive measures.  The only thing that can be done against Assad is if his own people bring him to trial. I can’t see that happening at this stage.

We should NEVER ally ourselves to an al-Qaeda backed rebel group.   EVER.  They’ll turn on us.  So will Assad, for his own survival.   We should not support either side, arm either side or fight for either side.   

No more invasions, missile bombardments or drone strikes unless we’re attacked first.  It’s high time to return to traditional thinking about when to launch a military attack on another country.  Regime change?  Out the window.  Intervening on humanitarian grounds?  Out the window.  Imminent threat?  Possibly.  Defending a country we have a treaty with?  YES!  Supporting our allies, like Israel?  YES!

France, the UK, and the US need to back down from military action in Syria.  It’s a fight that the Syrians need to sort out themselves.   The West needs to stay out of there.

UTTER HYPOCRISY: If Missouri Clown Wore a George W. Bush Mask Instead of an Obama One, The People Griping and Complaining Right Now Would Have NOTHING TO SAY!

People really need to shut up about the Missouri clown who was banned for life for daring to wear a President Obama mask.

If he had been wearing a GW Bush mask while W was still in office, the complainers who are currently dominating the news cycles would be silent.  This is sheer hypocrisy that is playing out in front of our eyes.

Do us all a favor, complaining politicians and hypocrites, and GROW UP!

This is the biggest non-story of the year. Surely there are more worthy news stories rather than a clown in Missouri.

Media Reports on CBS “Big Brother” Series Ignore Fact That Companies Who Terminate Their Employees Because of Their Actions on the Show May Be Violating Labor Laws: Is CBS Also Vulnerable to Legal Action?

Season 15 of CBS’s “Big Brother” series is underway, and it’s got more issues this season than any of the prior seasons.   Racial comments seem to be in abundance, and it doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

According to published reports, two contestants have been fired from their jobs because of the stupid things they’ve said on the show.  Here’s the catch: the contestants don’t know they are unemployed and won’t until the end of the season because CBS isolates the participants from contact with the outside world until their work for the show is finished.

Last season, one of the participant’s houses burned down and CBS didn’t tell her until she was released from the show.   That was horrifying.  I’d be ready to throttle someone if my house burned down and I didn’t know about it until weeks or months later, or a family member died, or whatever happened and I didn’t know about it for weeks or months.

In the case of these two participants whose jobs were terminated by their companies, their companies have labor laws to contend with, with regards to final paychecks, etc.  For instance, when is the day of termination?  The day the company announced it publicly (also a possible legal problem for the company), or the day that the employee is formally notified that their employment has been terminated?   There will be a legal challenge there.

It would have been better for the companies to announce that they were conducting a review of the employee conduct on the show, and then leave it at that until the employee returned to work, instead of making a political statement and violating who knows how many state and company employee termination procedures.

Now, is CBS vulnerable to lawsuits claiming damages from their contestants for not notifying them of issues regarding home, family, work, etc?  I’m sure CBS requires all contestants to sign waivers up the wazoo, for everything and anything.

Interesting story.

Weiner’s Doing This on Purpose: Look at All the Free Publicity He’s Getting and Name Recognition

If disgraced politician Anthony Weiner wins his election for Mayor of New York, the joke’s going to be on all of us and here’s why: look at all the free publicity he’s getting from all the stupid sex jokes about him.  I’m pretty disgusted by some of the headlines over on Drudge this morning.

I may be off the wall on this, but I think there’s a possibility that this is a carefully crafted strategy by Weiner to defeat his other opponents for the Mayor’s office.  And his wife’s in on it.

Just an off the wall thought, probably wrong.

Department of Justice Should Not Surrender to Mob Mentality Like Florida Prosecutors Did When They Charged George Zimmerman: FBI Didn’t Find Any Evidence of Civil Rights Violations

The Department of Justice needs to stand its ground now, and refuse to knuckle under to political and mob pressure to bring doomed hate crimes charges against George Zimmerman. 

I say “doomed” hate crimes charges because the FBI investigation that they’ve already conducted found no evidence of civil rights violations.  No evidence=no case, unless the DOJ goes forward with an attempt to quell the mob.  

A federal charge would be a victory for mob rule, which is where we seemed to be headed.  

“Jury Delivers Bombshell Decision?” Only to You, CNN

Flipping through the news channels, I couldn’t help but notice the captions at the bottom of the screen.  CNN seems to be taking personal umbrage at the Zimmerman verdict, trumpeting their “Jury Delivers Bombshell Decision” headline with their panel of talking heads, before switching to the “George Zimmerman: Not Guilty” headline.

Truth be told, all the other networks were doing the same thing, but CNN was the only one who seemed to be “shocked” at the decision.   But then again, it’s CNN’s practice to engage in excessive race baiting to the point of rudeness, using labels to divide people and hyphenating to an extreme degree.  And then feigning surprise when their agenda fails in the face of lack of evidence.

And this is the news organization trumpeted as a “news organization” by members of the Obama Administration’s press secretary staff?

OJ Simpson Scenario Likely to Play Out with George Zimmerman: He Won the Criminal Court Case, But Will Likely Lose a Civil Case Against the Family

Assuming that the DOJ doesn’t file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman (which remains to be seen), the next development will likely be a civil suit filed by the Martin family.   I see an OJ Simpson-style scenario playing out, in which Zimmerman will likely be held civilly liable for the death of Trayvon Martin, despite being acquitted of murder and manslaughter.

The evidence needed to win in a civil case is considerably less, and the self-defense argument won’t hold as much weight in that court.

George Zimmerman didn’t do himself any favors in doing interviews with the media prior to his being arrested for the murder charge.

I can’t see how he will win another victory in court.  And that’s if the Department of Justice doesn’t get involved with the hate crimes charges first.  

This media circus isn’t over yet.

Zimmerman Found Not Guilty: Given the Lack of Evidence and the Supremacy of Stand Your Ground Law in Florida, This is Not a Surprise at All

George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter by his Florida jury, so that aspect of the situation is finally over.

Now the other side is screaming about Obama’s Department of Justice to file charges on whether the victim’s civil rights were violated.  Here’s a thought…whose rights exactly?  

I think there’s even less evidence of George Zimmerman violating Trayvon Martin’s civil rights than there was for this murder/manslaughter trial, but TONS of evidence to support a charge against the government of violating GEORGE ZIMMERMAN’S rights.  After all, it’s been revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request that the DOJ was in Sanford organizing anti-Zimmerman rallies.

This DOJ cannot be trusted to act impartially.  It’s impossible for them to do so now.

With regards to the jury decision in Florida, only a few incidents across the country have been reported by the media as protesters took to the street.   As people wake up this morning, and learn the news if they missed it last night, things may still get ugly. The LA riots in 1992 took place over six days, with 53 dead and 2,000+ injured. 

I hope things stay peaceful.

White House Lackeys Attack Fox News: Call CNN a “News Organization” While Calling Fox a “Wing of the Republican Party”: January 17, 2017, Cannot Come Fast Enough to Get Our Current President and His Minions Out of Washington

President Obama’s attack dogs went after Fox News again, calling it a “wing of the Republican Party” while calling CNN a “news organization.”  CNN is as much an extension of the Democratic Party (and much more than that) as Fox is perceived to be by the other side. 

Can we jump ahead to January 17th, 2017, please, so that this group of individuals goes home? 

Their foreign policy has failed.  Despite the Comrade Obama apology tour, our enemies have multiplied, our allies don’t trust us, certain government employees are committing treason and then running to Russia and China for protection, who then interrogate them for whatever information they have.   The Kremlin’s already announced that it’s going back over to typewriters to secure its secrets, thanks to whatever Snowden told them.

In response, all the government can do is launch blistering verbal attacks on their political enemies and the media, blaming others for their problems while ignoring their own failed policies which have lead them to this point.   That’s not the media’s doing, that’s the Administration’s responsibility.

Prosecution Uses More Force of Personality to Bang Home His Points With Zimmerman Jury: He May Have Hurt His Prosecution Even More By Overselling His Weak Case

He who talks less…wins.

That’s the message coming out of the Zimmerman trial today.  The general feeling that I had was upon watching the entire replay of the prosecution’s closing arguments and listening to the analysis is that he talked too long and bored the jury.  I was bored about halfway through.

I think the defense is going to power slam the prosecution in their closing arguments by pointing to the lack of evidence in the case.   And I think they’re not going to talk as long either. 

The jury will have the case by tomorrow, unless something goes unexpectedly askew.

I’m pretty sure that police departments across the country are going on alert tomorrow as well, if they haven’t already. 

BTW, since when was it racist for police departments to anticipate trouble from a trial, and make plans to deal with any riots that result?  I bet the LAPD wished they had done more planning prior to the Rodney King verdict.   It might have spared some neighborhoods and some people a lot of trouble and pain.

And what’s with the judge telling the attorneys to shut up while she questioned Zimmerman?  The role of the judge is to ensure that courtroom protocols are followed to the letter, and she violated those protocols.  Experts were stunned at what they witnessed.    Perhaps the judge should follow the instructions she gave to the jury and abstain from reading about the trial, watching TV about the trial, talking about the trial and abstaining from social media during the trial.

I hope the judge’s action doesn’t impact the outcome, whichever decision is rendered.

And what’s with the news that the DOJ was organizing anti-Zimmerman protests in Sanford earlier this year?  The DOJ needs to act more professionally than it has the last couple of years.

And CNN using the term “white Hispanic?”  CNN needs to apologize for using racial terms to describe people they don’t like.  For CNN to join the race baiters is disgraceful.

U.S. SHOULD Be Mulling a “Zero Option”: Karzai’s Attitude Suggests Afghanistan Can Go It Alone Without U.S. Backing: He’s Wrong of Course, But Pulling U.S. Troops Out is Good Policy

I’m hoping that the situation that developed in Iraq which lead to the complete U.S. pullout of troops from that country also happens in Afghanistan.  President Karzai seems to going down that path too, which is very good news.  

The situation I speak of is the breakdown of talks over the Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA) in Iraq, which lead to President Obama pulling the plug on the Iraq War, one of his few foreign policy achievements.

President Karzai is unhappy that the U.S. is negotiating with the Taliban and has postponed SoFA negotiations between the U.S. and Afghanistan for post-2014.  I’m liking this development.

The reason why I like this is that Karzai’s attitude has been rude and disrespectful toward the U.S. and coalition forces for a while, especially since there have been a lot of Western causalities in Afghanistan on behalf of his government.  And he’s using the SoFA negotiations as a bargaining chip to manipulate the U.S. into doing things his way.

If Afghanistan is as strong as Karzai says it is and can do the job better than U.S. troops, then by all means, go with the zero option and pull all troops out…at the end of 2013, not 2014.

The U.S. military needs time to retool, rebuild and rest, and see to the needs of the troops who have been wounded, physically or mentally, and to prepare for the next global hotspot, wherever that may be.   We’ve spent far too much time and effort and national treasure on Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Other countries like North Korea and Iran have taken advantage of our forces being tied up in Afghanistan and Iraq for far too long.  While we’ve had two wars going on, they’ve thumbed their noses at us, instead of worrying if they were next.   And there’s both the perception that we have a weak President, and that the U.S. doesn’t attack countries with nuclear weapons, which has lead directly to North Korea openly developing nuclear weapons, and Iran doing the same thing much more quietly.

So, by all means, pull the troops out.  Then we’ll see if Karzai can back up his rhetoric with results.

Zimmerman’s Going to Be Found Not Guilty: Cities Had Better Be Getting Ready for the Promised Mass Riots if the Prosecution Fails

George Zimmerman is going to be found not guilty within a matter of days or weeks, and when it does there will be race riots all over the country.

Some of the tweets that have been circulated in the media from people looking for a reason to start a riot are intensifying, now that experts (I’m not one of them) are predicting that Zimmerman will be found not guilty of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.  Inciting a riot is a crime, but it isn’t stopping people from wagging their tongues.

I’m glad I don’t live in Chicago, or Los Angeles, or other big cities.  If the experts are right, the idiots will be out in force.

They need to prosecute every single person who has said they’re going to start a riot, and get these fools off the streets.

European Countries Who Are Protesting the U.S. Spy Program Shouldn’t Be Protesting Too Loudly: They Have Their Own Spy Programs Too

EU countries have been making a lot of noise about the U.S. spying on them, while not mentioning their own spy programs. 

News of France’s program, called “vast” by the media, appeared in world press publications today.   French political hypocrites.

Britain has one, too.  The U.K. has been very quiet about their program.

Germany?  They may be planning a program, according to German news organizations.

I don’t side with President Obama on many issues, but he was right when he said that all nations spy on each other.   I wonder how many more European covert spy programs, all similar to the U.S. Prism system, will come to light in the coming days.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Was NOT Moderate, CNN: They Were Extremists and Represented a Minority of Egypt’s Citizens

CNN has an opinion piece out, quoting a prominent Egyptian professor that “moderates will not have a voice in the wake of the military takeover in Egypt.”

This intellectual is wrong.

The moderates were never represented in or by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is going to be forced back underground by the military action in Egypt.   There may be an opportunity for the moderates to come out of hiding from the Muslim Brotherhood, who were not open to opinions that were different from theirs.

CNN and the other networks need to quit calling the Muslim Brotherhood moderates, because they most certainly were not.  The non-Muslim Brotherhood members of the government were window dressings for the Brotherhood agenda.

Hopefully the Egyptian people don’t return the people who failed them to power in the next election.

If Snowden Had Simply Revealed Presence of NSA Programs, He’d Definitely Be A Whistleblower; But He Took Four Laptops With Top Secret Information to Chinese Territory, and Then Russia: He Went There to Sell the Information in Exchange for Money and Protection

I’ve gotten some feedback from my last post suggesting that we offer to return convicted arms dealer Victor Bout to Russia, in exchange for their turning Snowden over to the FBI, and I should probably clarify where I stand on his acts.

I’m glad he revealed the existence of the NSA monitoring program; that’s the first step in getting an under-the-radar program under some kind of positive control.  Yes, it’s probably caused irreversible damage to the efforts of our security agencies to monitor what groups like al-Qaeda are plotting next.

That damage aside, Snowden went from simple whistleblowing to something else when he went to Hong Kong with classified materials and began shopping around for a country to take him in.   We don’t know if he talked to China’s intelligence services while he was in Hong Kong.  We also don’t know if he talked to Russia’s intelligence service about the materials in his possession, or if he even has the material anymore.

We need to bring him in, with the stolen material he took, and question him to figure out if he deserves whistleblower protection, or if he needs to be charged with treason and similar kinds of crimes.  I think it falls into the “treason” column myself.  But we can’t do that until someone detains him and turns him over.

He needs to to return to the U.S., involuntarily if necessary, attorney up, and have his day in court.

The Russians Have Snowden, We Have Victor Bout: Offer the Russians a Trade

The Russians were not happy when the U.S. successfully extradited and prosecuted a Russian for selling weapons to whomever could meet his price.  Victor Bout’s story was portrayed in the movie “Lord of War” with Nicholas Cage a few years ago.

The U.S. is not happy with Russia over their allowing Edward Snowden, accused NSA leaker, onto their territory as he has fled Hong Kong and is in Moscow at the moment.

President Obama should call President Putin and offer him Victor Bout in a trade, provided that the Russians turn Snowden over to the FBI immediately, and before he is able to leave Russia.  Putin might go for it…it wouldn’t hurt to try.

New President of Iran is a Step Up From the Last One: Better a Cleric Than a Terrorist and Hostage Taker Like Ahmadinejad Allegedly Was

I’m no fan of Iran’s form of government, but the new Iranian President is a definite improvement over the last one.  This one’s an intellectual who wants to repair relations with the West, where Ahmadinejad wanted to wipe Israel off the map and confront the United States over his nuclear program.

I know the CIA said that Ahmadinejad wasn’t involved in storming the U.S. Embassy in 1979, but his words and actions against the West and against his own people spoke louder than his denials of being a terrorist.

Hopefully the new President is able to carry out his reforms, and his fellow clerics support his restoration of ties to the West, and a lessening of tensions with Israel.

If North Korea CAN Mount Nuclear Warheads on their Missiles, Shouldn’t We Know About It NOW, Instead of When They Nuke One of Our Overseas Bases?

A congressman may have revealed updated U.S. military information on North Korea, which suggests that they may already have the ability to mount nuclear warheads on their ballistic missiles, which goes against what the Obama Administration has been publicly saying about North Korea’s missile capability.

IF North Korea already has this capability, the American people should be informed of it sooner rather than later.   It may raise jitters among the American population for a while, but they’ll get used used to living under another nuclear threat, if they have to. 

But I don’t think North Korea’s nuclear threat will last that long, if things continue to progress as they have.  One of the North Korean generals is going to put a bullet in Kim Jong Un’s fat ugly head, as he doesn’t have their unanimous support, in spite of their shows of public admiration on North Korean media television.

Hopefully Kim Jong Un, his uncle and his aunt live long enough to be put on trial for crimes against humanity, in the name of North Korean political prisoners who are in their slave labor camps or are starving to death in the streets while the "fat pig” (a South Korean term of endearment, and one that brings a death sentence in North Korea) leader eats to his heart’s content, with not a care about his starving people.

He’s had plenty of time to get food to his people since taking charge of North Korea, but has instead sent U.N. food meant for the hungry to his military combat units instead.  Shame!!

Women’s Groups Give President Obama a Free Pass on His Comments About California’s Attorney General: If a Republican Had Said the Exact Same Thing, They’d Be DEMANDING His Resignation, Not Saying that He “Displayed Leadership”

Double standard in progress…

President Obama apologized for commenting on how attractive California’s attorney general was, after women’s groups started raising concerns, that the comment detracted from her professional accomplishments.  Some of the groups praised President Obama for “demonstrating great leadership” in apologizing and saying that there’s still a “cultural gap” in how women are professionally treated.

Now, if a Republican had said the same thing, these same groups would be leading the charge to have the offending politician resign.  “Demonstrating great leadership” my afterburner!

More double standards from the left. 

North Korean Generals Need to Get Rid of the Kid Running Their Country: He’s In WAY Over His Head

We really need to get in contact with the North Korean generals around Kim Jong Un and encourage them to get rid of the runt.   That kid has no business being in charge of nuclear weapons.

Venezuela’s President Passes Away: VP Blames U.S. For “Giving Chavez Cancer” and Expels Two U.S. Embassy Officials

Hugo Chavez passed away from cancer today, and his U.S. ultraliberal supporters have been paying tribute to him, Sean Penn among them.   Hearing them sing his praises is like listening to a dying mule moaning.

He may have been popular with the poor of his country, but he definitely didn’t do them any favors.  He stole $2 billion of their money, leaving their currency in free fall, their inflation rate extremely high, food shortages, electrical shortages and housing shortages throughout their country.

His vice president (and current acting president) is still repeating Chavez’s mantra that the United States gave him cancer, while ignoring the fact that it wasn’t the cancer that got him, it was a massive heart attack.  This is according to the head of Venezuela’s Presidential Guard. 

Where are the intellectuals in Venezuela?  They’re in the opposition, in jail, or outside the country where Chavez couldn’t make them disappear, like so many others who dared to speak out against Chavez’s reign.

Venezuela will be better off getting rid of the bus driver who is now their President and putting Chavez into the ground, instead of keeping his body on display like Lenin in a glass box.

Like my reaction to Arafat, I do not extend my sympathies to the people of Venezuela on the loss of their Dear Leader.   I mourn Chavez’s many victims and their families.  That’s more appropriate than the liberals in this country crying for the Mouth of the South.

The Word “Resigned” Isn’t the Right Word to Apply to Benedict XVI’s Actions; The Correct Term is “Abdicated” or “Retired”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI didn’t resign the throne of St. Peter; he abdicated, which is the correct term to use, or he retired. 

There are a couple of definitions that need to be looked at:

------------------------------------------------------------------
resign

1. To submit (oneself) passively; accept as inevitable: I resigned myself to a long wait in line.
2. To give up (a position, for example), especially by formal notification.
3. To relinquish (a privilege, right, or claim). See Synonyms at relinquish.

To give up one's job or office; quit, especially by formal notification:

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abdicate

to renounce (a throne, power, responsibility, rights, etc.), esp formally
[from the past participle of Latin abdicāre to proclaim away, disclaim]

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“Abdicated” is the more accurate term to describe Benedict’s actions.  He pledged his allegiance to his successor and vowed to stay out of high level Vatican politics.

There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there as to why the pope chose to go into retirement; I’m inclined to believe that the job was too much for him to handle, and that a younger back was needed to do the heavy lifting.  I’m hoping that they choose a pope young enough to have a decades-long reign, instead of someone who is already in his late 70s or 80s.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

France Enters Mali to Stop Islamists From Taking Over the Entire Country: America, Meet Our Next Battleground if Things Go Badly for the French-Lead Forces

<Sigh>

French special forces and elements of their Air Force are fighting in Mali, in an attempt to stop Islamist forces who have already seized the north of the country from advancing any further.

I hope the French are victorious. 

The EU and United States cannot afford to have the French Army be defeated by the Islamists, as has happened in the past.  If it looks like the French get in over their heads, I think it’s safe to say that the United States military will be unleashed in Mali to help the French.

The French have been acting like cowboys the last couple of years.  It’s nice to see, but not if the United States ends up invading another country to support another nation’s military adventures.  That’s the last thing we need.

We need time to rebuild and retool our own military, and we can’t do that while we’re locking horns in another country AND cutting the military budget at the same time.  That equation doesn’t work!

Lance Armstrong Admits Doping: Major Disappointment, Though Not an Entirely Unexpected Result

I didn’t want to believe the accusations that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency leveled against Lance Armstrong, but he’s admitted to Oprah that he used performance enhancers.

I read the USADA report on Armstrong when it was published last year, and the accusations contained within required a huge stretch of the imagination.  My impression was that the report read like a very bad book by a fourth-rate author attempting to get noticed by a publisher.  But outlandish claims of 40-50 people sharing in his cover-ups of his illegal activities turned out to be true.

Shame on Lance Armstrong.   He cheated his way to victory after victory.  I got the impression that he was sorry that he got caught but didn’t mind destroying others who were making true statements about his cheating and rampant drug use.

All of his foundation’s good works may come undone as the lawsuits start to pile up.  What a waste of goodwill; cancer will continue to haunt us for even longer if a powerful cancer treatment advocacy and fundraising powerhouse like Livestrong goes away. 

That’s the saddest part of this entire affair.   I hope Livestrong survives this and continues on its mission without Lance Armstrong poisoning the well any more than he already has.

I have to wonder if we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in the cycling world.  What else is going on behind the scenes?

Current TV Rejected Glenn Beck Network’s Attempts to Buy Struggling Network For “Not Being Aligned With Their Point of View,” But Allowed Itself to Be Prostituted to Enemy Propaganda Network Al Jazeera—Way to Go, Al Gore

Reports have emerged that Glenn Beck’s Blaze Network attempted to put Al Gore’s failed Current TV network out of its misery by buying it, but the liberal outlet rejected the offer, stating that "the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view."

So instead, they sold their souls to Al Jazeera, the enemy propaganda network, in a display of Al Gore’s true colors.

“Networks not aligned with our point of view” my afterburner. 

They actually believe their own lies and distortions to the point that they would rather provide aid and comfort to the enemy rather than have their failed network stay in the hands of people whose ultimate allegiance is to the United States.

I feel bad for the employees of Current TV, who are speaking out about Gore selling them out to the big oil interests behind Al Jazeera.

Debt Ceiling Language is Being Manipulated By Scare Mongers in Congress: What a Debt Ceiling Really Is

There are certain key phrases that Congress and President Obama will be throwing around in increasing frequency as the days and weeks go by.  And they will manipulate what each term means, in the hopes of confusing and scaring the public to pressure the other side to agree to something.

First, the debt ceiling is how much the United States government can borrow from the banks and other nations.  If the ceiling is not raised, we will be able to fund 60% of government operations at full strength with incoming federal taxes and other federal income.  This is critical to understand.

Next, being able to “service the debt” means to be able to pay the interest on the debt, plus some of the principle.  We CAN service the debt whether there is a debt ceiling or not using incoming federal taxes.  If we do default on being able to service the debt, it’s because the Obama Administration has diverted the money used to service the debt on a monthly basis into funding part of the government under the “obligations” discussion below.   They have 100% control over whether the monthly bill is paid or not.  We’ve never failed to pay this, even when the government was “shut down.” 

Finally, being able to meet our obligations.  This simply means running the government at 100% of what President Obama wants.   We will hear that we will “default on our obligations” if the debt ceiling is not raised.  This is not true.  We will have enough to fund 60% of current  government operations.

Seems to me if the government was operating at 60%, we’d be cutting deeply into the debt and reducing it, while living within our means instead of borrowing money and running up the debt like many Administrations have chosen to do.

If the government is shut down due to no action on the debt ceiling, it’s actually 40% of the government that is shut down, though President Obama could order 100% of the government to shut down as a political weapon to increase pressure on his political opponents to agree to his terms.

This is why the GOP will not knuckle under quite as easily as they did over the “financial cliff” stupidity.  The government could stand to get a haircut.

Al Gore’s Worthless “Current TV” Network Bought By Equally Worthless Al Jazeera TV: Gore Says He’s “Proud and Pleased” At Having His Network Bought Out By Enemy News Propagandists

How the mighty have fallen.

Al Gore’s failed Current TV network has been by bought by the useless Al Jazeera network, which is nothing more than an enemy propaganda network.  The buy will gain Al Jazeera a larger foothold in the U.S. market than it was able to achieve on its own.

Said the anti-American propagandist Al Gore: “We are proud and pleased that Al Jazeera, the award-winning international news organization, has bought Current TV.” 

Time-Warner cancelled their own contract with Current TV after the sale was announced, which reduced Current TV’s foothold in New York and LA. 

Al Jazeera announced that their new network offering in the U.S. would be called Al Jazeera America, as if that was going to help this unholy union.  I’m not going to wish them luck in their new endeavor.

Michigan Governor Snyder Signed Dozens of Bills in the Last Ten Days of 2012: What Was Enacted?

Here is the list of bills signed by Governor Snyder of Michigan in the last part of 2012, from the Governor’s web site.  I have been reading that he had signed all these bills, but couldn’t find out what they were.   The lame duck session has been anything but lame duck.   I wasn’t able to find PAs 499-501.  I think PA 499 was an abortion one.  Don’t know about the others.

If it was just one or two bills, I wouldn’t even mention them here, but there are tons of new laws.  I question how many of these bills our representatives in Lansing actually read. 

The new laws:

House Bills 5843 and 5902, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Graves, would make it a felony punishable by up to five years' imprisonment if a person is found guilty of knowingly committing organized retail crime. This includes the theft of retail merchandise with the intent or purpose of reselling, distributing, or transferring the stolen retail merchandise to another retail merchant or to any other person personally, through the mail, or through any electronic medium, including the internet, in exchange for anything of value. The measures are now Public Acts 455 and 456

HB 4725, sponsored by state Rep. Tom McMillin, prohibits certain governmental agencies from disclosing personally identifying information pertaining to minor victims of child abuse, criminal sexual conduct, sexual assaults or molestation, or similar crimes. It is now PA 457.

HB 4804, sponsored by state Rep. Roy Schmidt, revises the monthly payment-in-advance mandate for state use tax payments by large retailers or vendors who would also have to submit the money by electronic funds transfer. It is now PA 458.

HB 4838, sponsored by state Rep. Sharon Tyler, creates the "Interstate Mutual Emergency Aid Act" to authorize the state and local units of government to enter into mutual aid agreements with out-of-state units of government to provide for the coordination of communications, training, and response to planned events and emergencies. It is now PA 459.

HB 4856, sponsored by state Rep. Ben Glardon, prohibits the transfer of medicinal marijuana by vehicle unless the drug is enclosed in a case and placed in the vehicle's trunk or secured in a way that is not readily accessible from the interior of the vehicle. It is now PA 460.

HB 5047, sponsored by state Rep. Harold Haugh, allows local units of government to submit final tax settlement rolls in an electronic format provided the format is compatible with the computer system used by the corresponding county treasurer. It is now PA 461.

HB 5156, sponsored by state Rep. Joel Johnson, exempts insurance company employees and agents, lawyers and certain other professionals from needing an insurance adjuster license. It is now PA 462.

HB 5220, sponsored by state Rep. Marty Knollenberg, allows a petitioner or a local tax collecting unit to request an informal settlement conference after a petition was filed in the Residential Property and Small Claims Division of the Tax Tribunal. It is now PA 463.

HB 5261, sponsored by state Rep. Holly Hughes, allows teachers retired for more than one year an approximate one-year window to reenter the classroom (for up to 3 years) if they are on a critical shortage list as determined by the state superintendent. It is now PA 464.

HB 5267, sponsored by state Rep. Bob Genetski, provides for a school district to qualify for special pupil membership counting provisions, as well as a seat time exemption, if the district operated a dropout recovery program that met specified criteria. It is now PA 465.

HB 5301, sponsored by state Rep. Amanda Price, requires charter counties to certify their compensation, retirement and health plans for employees conform to certain standards as a condition of receiving state road funds beginning Sept. 30, 2014. It is now PA 466.

HB 5444, sponsored by state Rep. Jud Gilbert, allows Michigan-based trucking companies to receive sales and use tax exemptions for the post-purchase installation of equipment and parts. It is now PA 467.

HB 5466, sponsored by state Rep. Kurt Heisse, eliminates the requirement that a contractor, architect, professional engineer or professional survey indemnify a public entity from all claims in a construction contract. It is now PA 468.

HB 5852, sponsored by state Rep. Kevin Daley, ensures that the price of gasoline is clear and posted correctly for consumers while allowing retailers additional time to make changes to their signs. It is now PA 469.

HB 5873, sponsored by state Rep. Anthony Forlini, changes the Police and Fire Survivors Tuition Act to a tuition "grant" program, and raises the eligibility age from 21 to 26. It also moves the administrative responsibility for the program from the Michigan State Police to the Department of Treasury. It is now PA 470.

HB 5883, sponsored by state Rep. Joel Johnson, replaces specific restrictions and regulations on catching fish with a net with a general grant of authority by the Department of Natural Resources. It is now PA 471.

HB 5931, sponsored by state Rep. Matt Lori, allows the Department of Community Health to use email to notify of Medicaid policy changes to Medicaid enrolled providers. It is now PA 472.

HB 5936, sponsored by state Rep. Holly Hughes, provides a driving skills test waiver for qualified military veterans seeking a commercial driver license. It is now PA 473.

HB 5937, sponsored by state Rep. Peter MacGregor, creates a use tax exemption for general contractors and manufacturer-contractors for the affixation of tangible personal property to real estate located in another state. It prevents businesses that both manufacture and install tangible personal property in other states from being double taxed. It is now PA 474.

HB 5732, sponsored by state Rep. Jud Gilbert, allows a company or developer with historical resource rehabilitation tax credit to sell all or part of the credit to other firms. It is now PA 475.

SB 931, sponsored by state Sen. Roger Kahn, provides supplemental budget appropriations for the Department of Community Health to support behavioral health services for Medicaid-eligible children in foster care and child protective services. It also grants additional funds to Grand Rapids Community College for renovations to Cook Academic Hall. The bill also accounts for book closing on FY 12 so that the state's financial statements are balanced and accurate. It is now PA 476.

HB 5461, sponsored by state Rep. Deb Shaughnessy, amends sentencing guidelines to include an unemployment compensation fraud offense as a Class H felony against property subject to a statutory maximum of one year's imprisonment. This will apply to violations in which a person obtains or withholds an amount of unemployment benefits or payments exceeding $3,500 but less than $25,000 as a result of a knowingly false statement or representation or failing to disclose a material fact. It is now PA 477.

House Bill 5523, sponsored by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt protects the online privacy of Michiganders by prohibiting employers and educational institutions from asking applicants, employees and students for passwords and other account information used to access private internet and email accounts, including social networks like Facebook and Twitter.  HB 5523 is now PA 478.

Senate Bill 152, sponsored by state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, revises existing law to require that video recordings of interrogations be made in certain criminal investigations regarding major felonies. It is now PA 479.

SB 873, sponsored by state Sen. Jim Marleau, protects commercial truckers from unfair contracts that leave them open to damage to their equipment without being paid by those responsible. It is now PA 480.

SB 933, sponsored by state Sen. Rick Jones, allows employers to not be responsible for paying for employee medical marijuana treatment. It is now PA 481.

SB 972, sponsored by Hildenbrand, requires notification to a property owner when property is returned to the county treasurer because of delinquent taxes. It is now PA 482.

SB 978 and 979, sponsored by Schuitmaker, and SB 980, sponsored by Jones, allow for the practice of trust decanting, meaning assets held by an irrevocable trust may be moved into a different trust. The bills are now PAs 483-485.

SB 988, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Bieda, designates the walkway between the state Capitol and the Hall of Justice as the Frank J. Kelley Promenade. It is now PA 486.

SB 996, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Casperson, requires the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to make indemnity payments to livestock producers for the death, injury, or loss of their livestock due to wolves, coyotes, or cougars. It is now PA 487.

SB 1031, sponsored by Casperson, allows recreational activities as approved uses of municipal forest lands. It is now PA 488.

SB 1133, sponsored by state Sen. Rebekah Warren, allows the State Administrative Board to sell the vacated Ypsilanti State Police Post. It is now PA 489.

SB 1148, sponsored by state Sen. Bruce Caswell, allows certain exceptions to the requirements for an industrial facilities exemption certificate. It is now PA 490.

SB 1180, sponsored by state Sen. Goeff Hansen, allows the secretary of state to use the Pure Michigan branding as part of the standard issue vehicle license plate. It is now PA 491.

SB 1189, sponsored by state Sen. Mark Jansen, establishes pension oversight by requiring equal treatment of elected and appointed members of a public employee retirement system governing board. It is now PA 492.

SB 1272, sponsored by Jansen, requires employers' contribution payments and obligation assessment payments to be credited first to interest on the obligation assessment and then to the assessment, with the remainder credited as currently required to penalties and interest on contributions and contribution principal. It is now PA 493.

HB 4134, sponsored by Margaret O'Brien, provides tax exemption for new construction on development property from school operating taxes for up to three years or until the property is sold or used for commercial purposes. It is now PA 494.

HB 4496, sponsored by state Rep. John Walsh, allows community colleges to grant bachelor's degrees in cement technology, maritime technology, energy production technology, and culinary arts. It is now PA 495.

HB 4726, sponsored by state Rep. Al Pscholka, excludes wages earned by volunteer firefighters if less than $10,000 so it won't affect the amount of unemployment benefits they may receive. It is now PA 496.

HB 4753, sponsored by state Rep. Peter Pettalia, allows family members to transfer residential property to a parent or child without incurring a pop-up tax. It is now PA 497.

HB 5668, sponsored by state Rep. Brad Jacobsen, primarily allows used car dealers to voluntarily enter into an agreement with an inventory lender so the lender can retain physical possession of a used vehicle's certificate of title as long as the used vehicle dealer meets certain criteria. It is now PA 498.

SB 1210, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Kowall, streamlines and improves the effectiveness of the brownfield grants and loans program, providing a sustainable revenue stream. It is now PA 502.

HB 5835, sponsored by state Rep. Jeff Farrington, repeals the outdated Savings and Loan Act of 1980 and any reference to it is removed. The Savings and Loan Act of 1980 no longer serves any purpose and no institutions are chartered under the Act. It is now PA 503.

HB 4561, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Haveman, coincides with the national code cycle change and gives the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs the ability to determine if code changes are substantial enough to warrant updating the Michigan Residential Code more frequently. It is now PA 504.

HB 4975, sponsored by state Rep. Margaret O'Brien, provides a framework for the regulation of Appraisal Management Companies. It is now PA 505.

HB 5302, sponsored by state Rep. Roy Schmidt, brings financial accountability and transparency to local road agencies by requiring standards for employee pay and benefits as a condition for receiving state road funds beginning Sept. 30, 2014, ensuring that transportation funds are maximized for the building of roads. It is now PA 506.

HB 5313, sponsored by state Rep. Brad Jacobsen, requires counties under this act to certify their compensation, retirement and health plans for employees to conform to certain standards as a condition of receiving state road funds beginning Sept. 30, 2014. Oakland County is the only county impacted by this legislation. It is now PA 507.

HB 5315, sponsored by state Rep. Patrick Somerville, amends the Mental Health Code to improve the safety and security of both patients and mental health professionals by allowing video security cameras to be used in common areas in psychiatric hospitals. It is now PA 508.

HB 5817, sponsored by state Rep. Paul Opsommer, expands prepayment of sales tax to diesel fuel and reduces the per gallon variance between the prepayment and the final sales tax by using a one month averaging period instead of a quarterly period. It is now PA 509.

HB 5557, sponsored by state Rep. Margaret O'Brien, revises the 2011 deadline in the process whereby downtown development authorities (DDAs) apply to the Department of Treasury for approval to receive State Education Tax (SET) revenues to be used to meet certain debt obligations. By extending the deadline, the bill allows the City of Kalamazoo DDA to receive SET revenues it otherwise would have lost. It is now PA 510.

HB 5673, sponsored by state Rep. Al Pscholka, modifies grant and loan programs under the Strategic Water Quality Initiatives Fund (SWQIF). It is now PA 511.

HB 4851, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Cavanagh, amends the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act by creating a definition of a bona fide physician-patient relationship and further defines an enclosed, locked facility and provides clarification on the transporting of medical marihuana in a motor vehicle. It is now PA 512.

HB 4853, sponsored by state Rep. Ed McBroom, amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to include a violation of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) in the sentencing guidelines. The bill strengthens the MMMA by placing a penalty on registered qualifying patient's or registered qualifying caregivers who sell marihuana to an unauthorized person.  It is now PA 513.

HB 4834, sponsored by state Rep. Gail Haines, allows the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to contract for the processing and issuance of medical marihuana registry identification cards to help eliminate delays. The bill also extends the period in which a registry card is valid from one year to two years and requires the department to appoint a review panel to review petitions received for other medical conditions in addition to those conditions currently authorized under the Medical Marihuana Act. It is now PA 514.

HB 5801, sponsored by state Rep. Ray Franz, enables Michigan to enter into a state and province emergency management assistance agreement, allowing Michigan to enter into an international mutual aid agreement with Canada. It is now PA 515.

SB 969, sponsored by state Sen. John Proos, allows a school district to qualify for special pupil membership counting provisions, as well as a seat time exemption, if the district operated a dropout recovery program that met specified criteria. It is now PA 516.

SB 1024, sponsored by state Sen. Roger Kahn, prohibits individuals with economic relationships with Iran from submitting bids on requests for proposals with the state, school districts, community college districts, intermediate school districts, cities, villages, townships, counties, public authorities, or public airport authorities to take effect April 1, 2013. It is now PA 517.

HB 5367, sponsored by state Rep. Chuck Moss, provides supplemental appropriations for FY 13 for the departments of Human Services and Treasury. The appropriations are for the Indigent Burial program and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT). It is now PA 518.

HB 5830, sponsored by state Rep. Eileen Kowall, provides for capital outlay reforms that streamline the authorization process and ensure fiscal discipline by requiring that long-term debt obligations are accounted for in the budget when new projects are authorized. It is now PA 519.

SB 1350, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Casperson, allows the Natural Resource Commission (NRC) to create a gray wolf season in Michigan and establishes a wolf hunting license with associated fees. It removes the gray wolf from the furbearer list and adds it to the list of game species in Michigan. The bill establishes a wolf hunting license and sets fees for resident and non-resident licenses. It is now PA 520.

SB 1172, sponsored by state Sen. Darwin Booher, extends the mortgage foreclosure modification sunset until June 30, 2013. It is now PA 521.

SB 265, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Casperson, amends the Michigan Vehicle Code to create an exception to seasonal weight restrictions for vehicles transporting heating fuel, helping to resolve the problem of fuel haulers making multiple trips to service their customers. It is now PA 522.

SB 810, sponsored by state Sen. Goeff Hansen, amends the Michigan Election Law to allow cities more flexibility in scheduling voting dates to even year primary and general election dates, as well as putting into place a plan help ensure that overseas and military ballot deadlines are met. It also addresses previous concerns raised by the governor when he vetoed earlier legislation on this topic. The change now simply includes an opening U.S. citizen declarative statement on applications, alleviating voter confusion and removing the need for a separate citizenship checkbox while ensuring voters are properly qualified. It is now PA 523.

HB 4446, sponsored by state Rep. Margaret O'Brien, provides for the conditions under which a bank may retain the principal residence exemption (PRE) and to allow taxpayers to appeal to obtain the PRE at the July and December boards of review. It is now PA 524.

HB 5404, sponsored by state Rep. Dale Zorn, prohibits a land division or land plat that isolates a cemetery so that it is not accessible, and instead requires that cemeteries be served by easements that provide vehicular access. It is now PA 525.

HB 5422, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Haveman, enables colleges and community colleges to provide new employee training to new corrections officers, reducing costs that the Department of Corrections spends on training new recruits. Currently, all training of new recruits is held in Lansing. It provides for minimum standards and requirement that colleges and community colleges must follow. It is now PA 526.

HB 5600, sponsored by state Rep. Joe Haveman, permits a juvenile offender who has been adjudicated of not more than one felony or not more than three misdemeanors and who does not have an adult felony conviction to petition the adjudicating court(s) to set aside one felony adjudication and two misdemeanor adjudications, or up to three misdemeanor adjudications. This bill also provides a reduced timeframe of one year, instead of the current statutory timeframe of five years, in which the individual can petition the courts for the set-aside of adjudication(s). It is now PA 527.

HB 5459, sponsored by state Rep. Paul Opsommer, amends the Open Meetings Act to specify posting requirements for notices of special meetings or rescheduled meetings. It also establishes notice requirements for emergency public meetings and those meetings that fail to meet the 18-hour notice requirement. It is now PA 528.

HB 5487, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Potvin, allows authorized agents (weighmasters) of county road commissions to enforce activities related to the proper registration of commercial vehicles; and the height, weight, and width of vehicles and loads; and the safety of loads, among other things. It eliminates previous ambiguity regarding whether weighmasters are required to be certified as a police officer to enforce the code. It is now PA 529.

HB 5805, sponsored by state Rep. Lisa Lyons, creates the Health Care Sharing Ministries Freedom to Share Act and acknowledges these ministries are not subject to the Insurance Code of 1956 and are not engaged in the business of insurance in Michigan. It is now PA 530.

Congress Doesn’t Need to Pass Everything at Once on Fiscal Cliff Deal: They Need to Write Up a Bill Containing the Things That Have Already Been Agreed to and Send It to President Obama

Congress is acting like a group of political hostage takers.  “AGREE TO WHAT OUR SIDE WANTS, OR ELSE WE’LL STOP EVERYTHING ELSE!”  Instead of killing people, they’re killing legislation in order to get a political victory.  Is that political victory going to be worth the billions of dollars in damage that is done to the economy?

For crying out loud, both sides agree that they’re not going to get everything that they want in the time left before they drive us off the fiscal cliff. 

They should take the parts of this deal that they agree to, put it into a bill and send it to the President.  They can reset the clock on the stuff they don’t agree to.

Personally, I think sequestration is the way to go, but it didn’t go far enough.  They need to cut $2.2 trillion out in order to make a small dent.

If we don’t get a deal out of Washington, every politician currently in office needs to be turned out the next time they’re up for election.

New York Newspaper Publishes Interactive Map Showing Where Registered Gun Owners Are: Why Are They Going After People Who Are Obeying the Law? This is an Idiotic Move on the Part of the Newspaper

The knee-jerk reaction to the Sandy Hook massacre continues at full speed, with a local New York newspaper publishing an interactive map showing where gun owners live, and what the permit holder’s name is.

Why are they targeting people who are obeying the law and registering their firearms?

I agree with many of the comments against the Journal News/LoHud.com that it’s an invasion of privacy, but also a roadmap for criminals to attack houses that don’t have registered firearms in them.   Garnett Publishing needs to do a better job of policing their knee-jerk reporters and newspapers from publishing stuff like that.

It’s also highly insulting to have registered gun owners, people who are obeying the law, put on display like sex offenders or other convicted criminals.   The newspaper is engaging in scare tactics, reminiscent of yellow journalism.  If one house is robbed at gunpoint by criminals who looked at their interactive map, the Journal News will have deliberately shared in the execution of the crime and should be held accountable.

Journalism has taken another step backwards.

United States Government Did the Right Thing in Refusing to Sign the International Internet Treaty: 20 Other Nations Refused to Sign It as Well

The Dubai Conference is over and done with, with twenty nations refusing to sign the protocol that was proposed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and under the banner of the United Nations.  Nations that signed are in black, those who didn't are in red.

Nations that censor the Internet within their borders were pleased with the protocol, especially China, Iran, and 88 other nations.  Twenty-plus nations joined the refusal to sign it.  And I hope the U.S. government never signs it.

We can’t trust our free speech to totalitarian regimes.

I am not supportive of helping China to keep information from their people, nor Syria, or any of the other nations who suppress their own people.

Is The Ongoing “End of the World” Nonsense Connected to the Connecticut School Shooting?

I have a bad feeling that the current obsession over the doomsday nonsense on 12/21/12 is connected to the slaughter in Connecticut.

There’s no doubt that the lunatics are out in force.   Was the gunman one of them?

Hey CONGRESS and President Obama!! Don’t Leave Washington Until You Have a Fiscal Cliff Deal!

Congress needs to stay in Washington and so does President Obama until they fix THEIR fiscal mess.

And if they want to keep their jobs, they had better not kick this down the road again.  They’ve done that far too often, and we get deeper and deeper into the hole.  Unacceptable!

Quit screwing around and GET BUSY!

Suicide of London Nurse Who Was Pranked By Radio Shock Jocks is Tragic on So Many Levels: Who is to Blame?

A couple of radio shock jocks have expressed remorse at the death of a nurse who put their prank call through to Duchess of Cambridge after she was admitted with morning sickness, due to her pregnancy.

The radio station in Australia aired it, and the nurse who put the call through, believing she was talking to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, killed herself three days later after the story broke.

This is so tragic that it almost defies belief. 

I think there’s lots of blame to be spread around. 

First, the DJs for pranking the hospital.  Then, the radio station for airing the taped audio.  And the hospital, for not having some kind of protocol for filtering out calls like this, and the media for throwing such a HUGE spotlight on the Royal Family.

I’ve had family members in intensive care before, and before I could talk to my family member on the phone, I had to provide a verbal password to the nurse before my call was put through to the room.  This was done in accordance with the wishes of our family member, and set up by our family and the hospital.  That’s a common practice at hospitals, nursing homes and medical care facilities where I live.

Why in heaven’s name didn’t this hospital have a similar protocol in place to block unwanted calls getting through to the Prince and Princess?   The media coverage of the Duke and Duchess has been just as intense as the media coverage of Princess Diana was before the paparazzi hounded Diana to her death.

The radio station itself should also have its feet held to the fire.  They shouldn’t have aired this crap.   They had the audio recorded, and it wasn’t a live show.  Why did they air it?

Finally, the media.  They need to give the Royal Family a wide berth.  They Royals are human beings who make human mistakes, just like everybody else.  Most people don’t have a microscope trained on their every move and every word that they either make or utter.  WHO CARES!!

Sad.

Egypt and Hamas Pull a Screwjob on Israel and Washington: If This Truce Holds, Israel Will End Up Fighting This Battle Against Hamas Again in a Few Months

The Obama Administration hasn’t done Israel any favors with this cease-fire deal that was brokered by Egypt.

Hamas is still heavily armed, and they’re going to continue sending rockets into Israeli territory.  They haven’t agreed to recognize Israel, which is going to make Israel very reluctant to lift their blockade of Gaza.

All they’ve done is postpone the inevitable.  Here’s why:

Israel will attack Iran before the “red line” is reached, and then Israel will have Hezbollah firing their 40,000 rockets into northern Israel shortly thereafter, while Hamas resumes hitting southern Israel at Iran’s request.  

The best thing that could happen is for the cease-fire to fail and for Israel to flatten Hamas before getting into this thing with Iran and Hezbollah. 

Israel is doing its best to obey the truce, but if Hamas rockets continue to hit Israel, all bets are off.  I don’t see Hamas stopping its own forces from attacking Israel.  They lack the cohesive discipline that the Israeli military has.

Washington did the right thing in saying that Israel has a right to defend itself.  But they were wrong in playing a part in forcing this truce before the job was done.

If this truce is to hold, Hamas needs to act more responsibly on behalf of the people they are governing,   If they can’t do that, they should quit and let the Palestinian Authority take charge again.  Compared to Hamas, they’re much more preferable.

Hard times are ahead.

Hypocritical Turkey Calls Israel a “Terrorist State” for Firing Back at Hamas, But Won’t Apply the Same Label to Themselves for Firing Back at Syria Last Month

Turkey has decided that Israel shooting back at Hamas is terrorism, yet they had no problem doing the same thing to Syria when Syrian artillery shells landed in Turkish territory just last month.  They even enlisted international support in their “terrorist” action against Syria by convening a meeting of NATO ministers to tell Syria to stop.  In fact, they’re asking for U.S. Patriot missile batteries to be placed on their border with Syria. 

NATO should refuse this request if Turkey considers legitimate self defense “terrorism.”  After all, we don’t want to be a sponsor of Turkish “terrorism.”

This is the kind of hypocrisy that Turkey, above all other nations, needs to avoid.  If they’re not part of the solution, then they’re part of the problem.

I wonder how Egypt and Turkey would react if a faction opposed to their governments were firing rockets at their territory and killing their civilians?  Would they be tolerating it, as Israel’s neighbors seem to be insisting on, or would they be going in with maximum military force to put an end to it?

Oh, wait.  Egypt uses its army against its own people already.  So does Turkey.  So do most of the governments who are screaming about Israel defending itself against a terrorist organization.   And knowing these countries, they’d have already sent their armies in, long before now.

Israel’s neighbors need to quit the rhetoric and put pressure on Hamas to stop firing.  Or else Israel will bulldoze Gaza into the ground, and the Palestinian people will suffer for it, while what’s left of Hamas deserts them and flees to Egypt, like the cowards that they are.

And I’d be willing to bet that Egypt’s military will watch them go running by, instead of swiveling the tank turrets around and putting an end to Hamas before they get into Cairo.

This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Some Political Hack Deleted References to al-Qaeda’s Involvement in Libyan Attack in CIA Memo: That’s Who They Should Identify

I’ve been following this whole Benghazi mess with little surprise.   And I have a few theories.

It’s becoming clear that someone in one of the federal agencies who were reviewing the CIA report on the attack was some political hack, concerned about President Obama’s re-election bid, deleted the references to al-Qaeda’s involvement in the assault on the U.S. consulate, before the information went to President Obama.

I also think that there is a possibility this person or persons used their knowledge that CIA Director Petraeus was being investigated against him, to influence him into saying what he did in his earlier testimony to Congress.  It took the form of “support our version, or we’ll go to the media, ruin your marriage, and destroy your reputation.  AND you’ll go to jail!” 

They need to do a top-to-bottom review of all the relevant agencies, identify people who reviewed the CIA memo, and then determine which of them knew that the general was under FBI investigation before he went public and resigned.   I think the paper trail will lead to the same person or people.

They need to find out if the CIA Director was compromised, in the form of blackmail discussed above.

That’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.  It’s probably all wrong, but I also think we’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg on all of this.  People will be going to jail.

CNN Caught Faking Palestinian Footage: They Need to Quit Manipulating Stuff to Suit Their Agenda

The degenerates at CNN are at it again, faking footage of the poor rocket-firing Palestinians taking casualties from the evil Israeli warmongers.

Gag me with a spoon!

CNN keeps screwing up; they’ve become nothing more than a propaganda arm of Hamas.   They need to present a more balanced view and keep their opinions to themselves.  They’re siding against the ONLY democracy in that region against terrorists; what does that say about CNN? 

I use the term “degenerate” as they’ve de-evolved from a news agency to a propaganda outfit.   They need to get off their collective butts, report the news and then shut up with their opinions. 

If the Air Force is Unwilling to Spend Money to Fix the Over-Budget F-22 Raptor, They Should Retire Them

The Air Force has been dragging their feet in fixing the F-22 Raptor’s in-flight oxygen system, and it’s time to put an end to the issue.

They either need to spend more money on the already-over budget F-22, or they need to retire the aircraft.   The pilots don’t think the aircraft is safe. 

They only have two options: fix it or retire it.  It can’t continue to fly as-is. 

This has gone on long enough.  Another F22 crashed yesterday in Florida short of the runway.  At $190 million per copy, they ought to be able to diagnose and fix ANYTHING on that aircraft. 

Fix it or cancel it. 

If Egypt Really Wants to Broker Peace Between Israel and Hamas, Then They Need to Tell Hamas to Stop Firing Rockets at Israel BEFORE Telling Israel Not to Retaliate: S0 Far They’ve Been Telling Israel to Cease Fire While Ignoring Hamas’ Firing Rockets Into Israel, Which Started the Israeli Response

Egypt’s new leaders are proving to be more hypocritical than their former ruler when dealing with Israel and Hamas.

Egypt and the Muslim world have been screaming at Israel to stop fighting, while ignoring Hamas and their rocket strikes on Israeli cities, which provoked the Israelis into returning fire.

If one of these other countries were being fired upon by terrorist groups, they’d already have sent in ground troops.  Israel’s response has been very limited by comparison so far, targeting rocket launchers, Hamas commanders, rocket storage facilities and Hamas terrorists. 

Unfortunately, because Gaza is so small and so packed with people, everything Israel has attacked so far is amongst the Palestinian civilian population.  And Hamas doesn’t care where it puts its military equipment either.  There was an image of a rocket launcher next to a mosque yesterday on various web sites.

If the Muslims really want peace, they need to be more even-handed and realize that Hamas is the main cause of the problem.  If they were to stop firing, so would Israel.  It’s just that simple.

I think the Muslim world is sacrificing the Palestinians to Hamas militarism, just to get at Israel.  Otherwise they wouldn’t be arming a terrorist group and screaming at Israel to stop firing back while ignoring Hamas’s attacks on Israel.

Ridiculous White House Notion Sparks Independence Drive in Twenty States: What is President Obama Doing?

President Obama’s web site has an incredibly stupid petition promise: gather 25,000 signatures by December 7th, and the Administration will deliver “a response.” 

Someone from Louisiana started a secession petition to allow Louisiana to leave the United States peacefully.  Individuals in nineteen other states followed suit, and of those petitions, the Texas petition just hit 25,000 signatures.

Now the White House has to waste time addressing their dumb move on the petition drives.

I’m also wondering what kind of people signed the petitions to begin with, and I cannot help but think that there are a lot of civilian militias, and fringe characters, along with people who are unhappy with the direction of the country.   

President Obama needs to put a stop to this nonsense before the militia types pick up arms and start all kinds of trouble that we don’t need.

Internet Should Remain Under Western Oversight and Not Go to an International Authority: They’ll Kill Free Speech on the Internet

One month remains before control of internet addresses shifts over to an international organization under the control of the United Nations.

Given the fact that the U.N. is being lobbied by Muslim countries to ban forms of expression that insults their religion, the U.N. cannot be counted on  to safeguard free speech online.

Western countries should work to make sure that the Dubai conference next month, sponsored by the International Telecommunications Union and sanctioned by the U.N., that they do not get control of the Internet.  This idea needs to be permanently derailed.

The ITU says there are no motions on the table to ban free speech, but how long can it be before one is?

It’s better to have the U.N. keeps its hands off the Internet.  

The U.N. dedication to free speech is only as strong as the member states’ dedication to free speech is.  And with many nations on earth locking up their own citizens for expressing their views, that’s a highly dubious proposition.

The Dubai conference should be cancelled and the UN and ITU told where to go.  If they don’t like it, they can start their own Internet and censor that!

Texas Threatens to Arrest U.N. Observers at the Polls: We Don’t Need International Supervision of OUR Elections

Texas has threatened to arrest United Nations officials if they show up at any voting locations in the state of Texas.  Good!

We don’t need the U.N. to play any part in our elections.  If they do show up, it will give the militia types more reasons to scream about U.N. troops taking over the U.S.

I think the U.N. has bigger fish to fry and can be more useful elsewhere in the world on November 6th.

Romney Should Have Openly Questioned Candy Crawley’s Impartiality at the Debate When She Kept Cutting Him Off: Moderators Should Not Be Influencing the Debate to That Degree

“Sit down, Mr. Romney.” 

Crawley should have just said “STFU Mr. Romney!!” and gotten any image of impartiality off the table.  She was awful and was tiled toward President Obama all evening long.

Reporters should limited to asking questions during the debate, not moderating, or they shouldn’t be from openly biased news outfits.  This would exclude CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News from providing  moderators.  

What was the debate commission thinking, choosing a moderator who described Romney’s VP pick as a “ticket death wish”  in the days and weeks before the debate?  THAT’S IMPARTIAL?

Obama had to have help to fight off Romney in this debate, and he got it in the form of Candy Crowley, who managed to turn it into a three-way dance.

I was just watching one of the George HW Bush/Bill Clinton/Ross Perot debates on YouTube from 1992.  That was a well-run debate and looks like what a proper debate should look like, compared to last night’s train wreck of a debate.  She even got on CNN and admitted after the debate that she was incorrect about her Libya “fact check” and that Romney was “right in the main” but had chosen one wrong word.  Thanks for the clarification.

And what was she doing on CNN after the debate?  Spinning for Obama from the moderator’s chair?

Slate documented some of the problems with the train wrecked debate.  And this is coming from a liberal-leaning magazine, so there were huge issues with the debate last night that the left and right noticed.

Regardless of who won, there were major structural problems with how this debate was set up, how it was run, and how the candidates and audience acted during the course of the debate.

Can we get some independent news journalists and others in to moderate these debates? 

Obama Administration is Unbelievably Off Course on Libya: Are the President's Advisors Talking to Each Other, or to the President?

Judging from the badly bungled Libyan situation, evidently not. 

We have one guy from the Counter-Terrorism Center saying that it was an all-out September 11th terrorist attack to Congress. 

We have another embassy in Libya making apologies to the terrorists, without clearance from the White House. 

We have President Obama mumbling about the anti-Mohammed video being the cause.  His press secretary doesn’t have updated (or ANY) information. 

And the State Department is at war with CNN over some kind of journal that was recovered from one of the destroyed buildings in Benghazi belonging to our late Ambassador.  Secretary Clinton’s speech on the loss of Ambassador Stevens was the best speech I’ve ever seen out of her.  Yet she’s out there focused in on the video too.

A hundred terrorists wielding automatic weapons, RPGs and other heavy weapons  showed up at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and President Obama insists it was spontaneous, and in reaction to a video that was developed by an Israeli American?  NOT!

I trust the counter-terrorism guy more than President Obama, Secretary Clinton, or any political appointees who are making any noise in Washington.

I think Romney’s scored some points here, despite the media’s attempts to paint his remarks as “inappropriate.”  The White House remarks are the inappropriate ones as they have all the intelligence reports, yet are choosing to promote their own version of events.

The man in the White House has given all the wrong signals to the bad guys. 

Fact Checkers Aren’t Telling the Truth Either: Now The Fact Checkers Need to Be Fact Checked Too!

This is ridiculous!

I’ve long suspected that the “fact checkers” who are taken at their word by the media that their facts are correct actually weren’t.

Now a lot of web sites on both sides of the political spectrum have started cropping up, challenging the fact checkers.  

The “fact checkers” who had a field day with Romney and Ryan had major issues with some of their “facts,” including a GM plant that the Ryan mentioned had shut down during Obama’s term.  They started off by misquoting Ryan, then went off on their tangent.

Here’s the story on that “fact checking” issue, with video of what Ryan actually said.

Townhall.com did a piece on more “fact checking” as well.

The Townhall article above mentions that the “fact checking” are disguised OPINION pieces.  That isn’t right.  Do a Google search on “fact checking fact checkers”, and see what pops up.  Blows the credibility of the agency fact checkers right out of the water.

I wonder how many people believe the crap that the news networks are trying to shovel down our throats to get people to vote for their candidate.

USADA Needs to Obey U.S. Constitution: Suspects Are Innocent Until PROVEN Guilty

I've been following the Lance Armstrong story with a growing sense of anger.

To recap, Armstrong dropped his challenges against the U.S. taxpayer-funded USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), and the USADA took that to be an admission of guilt and stripped Armstrong of all his Tour de France achievements and recognitions.

That isn't right.

The USADA has to obey the U.S. Constitution, especially since they are U.S. taxpayer-funded, and they've targeted an American citizen.  All suspects are INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty, and they haven't proven anything.  They say they have evidence, but they haven't shown it to a judge.

Armstrong also doesn't have to incriminate himself, according to the Fifth Amendment.  And he hasn't said that he cheated, either.  He said he was tired of being tied up in court, with no end in sight.

If Armstrong had said that he couldn't afford really expensive lawyers to defend himself, would the USADA have said that it was an admission of guilt?  According to them, the answer is YES.  And that's also unconstitutional.

Also, if they had proof that Armstrong was using performance-enhancing drugs since the mid-1990s, why didn't they ban him then?  Why did they wait until after the guy won seven Tours, and retired from cycling to go after him?  That just smells of a political agenda.

Congress needs to reign in the USADA, and cut their funding if they're going to grandstand like this, and abuse their authority.

I'm not much of a cycling fan, but I'm less of a fan of witch hunts, which this definitely is.  Lance Armstrong has done a ton of good with his celebrity status and his Foundation., which the USADA can NEVER strip away.

There need to be some changes made to the way that this agency conducts business.

I don't care if Armstrong is a champion cyclist or not.  But proper procedures MUST be followed.

Politics 2012: Ho Hum

I'm waiting for President Obama and Governor Romney to start acting Presidential, and not like a pair of eighth graders engaged in a name-calling contest.  When they do, I'll start paying attention to their actual messages.  A few notes:

President Obama ran on nothing in 2008, and won, due to the fact that he was not running against John McCain; he was running against the highly unpopular President Bush and the tanking economy.  He's running on nothing in 2012, and since he has nothing constructive to say, he's throwing nothing but  mud in Romney's direction.

And Romney's been so busy dodging Obama's negative accusations that he hasn't gotten his own message out.  The addition of Representative Ryan to the Romney ticket will help Romney get his message out; I think this is good news for the overall Presidential campaign.

The sooner they start talking about issues, the better.

U.S. Government Owes China NO Apology for Attempted Defection of Chinese Dissident in Beijing, But It Does Owe the American People the Truth on WHY The Dissident Left the U.S. Embassy

China is demanding an apology from the United States government for the attempted defection of a blind Chinese dissident.

China can go jump in a lake, IF this is an official Chinese government demand.  I’m not certain if this is a Chinese media outlet making the demand, or if Chinese government officials are demanding it.  No U.S. apology is owed to China over this situation in either case.

Rather, China owes its own people an apology for treating its dissidents like this, to the point that they feel the need to flee to the safety of a foreign embassy to escape official Chinese government repression.  That’s just wrong.

The U.S. government needs to account for what happened, though.  Did a U.S. embassy official in China tell the dissident that Chinese officals were going to beat his wife to death if he didn’t leave the Embassy, as the dissident claims?  Or is he trying to generate sympathy?  What really happened?

This is a very troubling situation.   He should never have been talked into leaving the protection of the U.S. Embassy; I’m not sure we’ve done right by him.

Any apology from the U.S. to China on this issue is unacceptable.

Tax Masters Fined $195 Million for Deceptive Practices and Files Bankruptcy: Why Did So Many Advertisers Continue Running Their Ads Months After They Were Sued for Fraud?

Anyone seen this man on TV?

Anyone who watches CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or other media outlets are familiar with the Tax Masters commercials that are played almost incessantly on those channels.

Very few of these outlets were unaware that they had been sued by two states for fraud.  Question:

Why did so many advertisers continue to advertise for a company that had been sued for fraud, and after some of these media outlets had done stories putting the company in a very bad light?

Some of the advertisers want to be paid now, but with the $195 million judgment against Tax Masters, and $1.7 million in listed assets, what are the chances that they’ll see it?  Zip.  Nada.

Here is a partial list of major advertisers who have been left holding the bag, according to Tax Masters’ bankruptcy filing:

CNN ($2.6 million)
Maxximedia ($1.3 million)
Fox News Channel ($938,000)
Westwood One ($676,000)
History Channel ($653,000)
MSNBC ($259,000)
Yahoo ($196,000+)
Weather Channel ($137,000)
ESPN ($94,000)

Instead of accepting more money for advertising on their respective mediums, which helped Tax Masters rip more people off, by the way, they should have refunded the money and refused to run more ads until Tax Masters had been cleared of wrongdoing.  Instead they kept running the ads.  Sad.