Monthly Archives: March 2011
Democrats Advance ‘Lesbians-As-Role Models’ Plan
Democrats Advance ‘Lesbians-As-Role Models’ Plan – WorldNetDaily
A band of six Democrats in the California state Senate voted today to advance a bill that has been described as “the worst school sexual indoctrination ever” and would require that school children be taught to admire “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual” role models.
S.B. 48 is sponsored by state Sen. Mark Leno, who boasts on his website of founding a business with his “life partner, Douglas Jackson,” who later died of AIDS complications.
Randy Thomasson of the family-promoting SaveCalifornia.com said parents “don’t want and children don’t need ‘LGBTIQ’ role models in school.”
“S.B. 48 micromanages public schools by forcing teachers, administrators, local school boards, textbooks, and instructional materials to promote a gaggle of sexual lifestyles that disturb parents and confuse kids,” Thomasson said. “This costly state mandate targets children for sexual brainwashing, behind the backs of parents, teaching boys and girls to admire those who engage in homosexual, bisexual or transsexual behavior.”
He explained that if S.B. 48 becomes law, children as young as 6 years old will be subjected to mandatory lessons about same-sex “marriage,” bisexuality and individuals who choose to undergo sex-change operations.
“Children will be taught to support the political activism of ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning’ (LGBTIQ) political groups, as the bill requires ‘particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society,’” he explained in a warning to parents about the dangers their children face in public schools.
“Teachers will be made to positively portray homosexuality, same-sex ‘marriages,’ bisexuality, and transsexuality (sex-changes operations), because to be silent can bring the charge of ‘reflecting adversely,’” he said.
And Thomasson warned school boards will be required to select textbooks and other instructional materials that positively portray sex-change operations, same-sex ‘marriages’ and more.
In a letter to Rep. Alan Lowenthall, chairman of the Senate Education Committee where the vote – six Democrats in favor and three Republicans opposed – was recorded, Thomasson’s organization had opposed the plan.
“On behalf of the millions of parents we serve and the children they love, please oppose S.B. 48, which is the most radical sexual indoctrination ever of children in California public schools, which are supposed to be about academics,” the letter said.
“S.B. 48 is intolerant. It would force – much more than recommend – all local school boards, public school teachers, and history textbooks to teach children as young as kindergarten to admire ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans’ as their personal role models,” he wrote.
“Fathers and mothers who love their children and want moral values for their children cannot trust Democrat legislators, homosexuals or teacher unions, all of which conspired to push forward this perverse bill,” he told WND.
Thomasson’s SaveCalifornia.com, which was a key player in the battle in the state in 2007 and 2008 over a variety of laws that now forbid any “adverse” portrayal of alternative sexual choices in school, class, curriculum and by teachers, now also promotes the RescueYourChild.com website, which advocates for parents to take their children out of government schools.
Equality California, an organization that advocates for homosexuality, said others sponsoring the plan include Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego; and Assembly members Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco; Toni Atkins, D-San Diego; Rich Gordon, D-San Mateo; and Ricardo Lara, D-East Los Angeles.
On his state website, Leno expressed his worry: “Most textbooks don’t include any historical information about the LGBT movement, which has great significance to both California and U.S. history.”
“Our collective silence on this issue perpetuates negative stereotypes of LGBT people and leads to increased bullying of young people. We can’t simultaneously tell youth that it’s OK to be yourself and live an honest, open life when we aren’t even teaching students about historical LGBT figures or the LGBT equal rights movement,” he said.
SaveCalifornia.com, however, says such a teaching plan “is radical, in-your-face sexual indoctrination that parents genuinely don’t want and children certainly don’t need.”
The California Legislative Counsel’s commentary on the bill affirms it would “require instruction in social sciences to also include a study of the role and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans … to the development of California and the United States.”
It also would require “alternative and charter schools” to “take notice of the provisions of this bill.”
The law itself requires that schools teach “particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.”
Thomasson told WND that this is the next progression following many earlier laws adopted in California that serve the dual purpose of cracking down on traditional families and promoting the “alternatives.”
“The California public schools are no longer safe places for boys and girls morally,” he told WND. “This new bill, S.B. 48, reflects the desire of the Democrat state legislators to recruit boys and girls to support the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda both personally and publicly.”
It was just two years ago when the organization launched the Rescue Your Child effort to encourage parents to withdraw their children from public schools because of such indoctrination.
That followed work by the legislature and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to establish Senate Bill 777 and Assembly Bill 394 as law. The measures institutionalized the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and other alternative lifestyle choices by banning any “adverse” references in schools.
At the time, officials said SB 777 “functionally requires public school instructional materials and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual ‘marriages,’ and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called ‘gay history.’”
The second bill, AB 394, “requires public schools to distribute controversial material to teachers, students, and parents which promotes transexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality, all under the guise of ‘anti-harassment’ training.”
Those laws ban in any school texts, events, class or activities any discriminatory bias against those who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles, according to Meredith Turney, legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Institute.
But there are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs. Offenders will face the wrath of the state Department of Education, up to and including lawsuits.
California also has mandated that public schools honor Harvey Milk – a homosexual activist and reported sexual predator, as well as an advocate for Jim Jones, leader of the massacred hundreds in Jonestown, Guyana.
SaveCalifornia.com led a statewide battle against “Harvey Milk Day” before California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the S.B. 572.
The bill designates May 22 – Milk’s birthday – a date of “special significance” and encourages all California public schools to “conduct suitable commemorative exercises … remembering the life of Harvey Milk and recognizing his accomplishments as well as the contributions he made to this state.”
Census: Detroit’s Population Plummets 25 Percent
Census: Detroit’s Population Plummets 25 Percent – Portland Press Herald
Hammered by the auto industry’s slump, Detroit saw its population plummet 25 percent over the past decade, according to census numbers released Tuesday that reflect the severity of an economic downturn in the only state where overall population declined.
The statistics show that the Motor City’s population fell from 951,270 in 2000 to 713,777 last year. Although a significant drop was expected, state demographer Ken Darga said the total is “considerably lower” than the Census Bureau’s estimate last year.
“That’s just incredible,” added Kurt Metzger, a demographer with a Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit that collects statistics used by area planners. “It’s certainly the largest population loss percentage-wise that we’ve ever had in this city.”
Detroit’s population peaked at 1.8 million in 1950, when it ranked fifth nationally. But the new numbers reflect a steady downsizing of the auto industry – the city’s economic lifeblood for a century – and an exodus of many residents to the suburbs.
Mayor Dave Bing disputed the new population data and plans to appeal. He said his city has at least 750,000 residents, which he called an important threshold for qualifying for some state and federal financial programs. He didn’t say how so many people may have been missed.
City Council President Charles Pugh suggested that thousands of people “who are skeptical, distrustful of the government” avoided the count, such as convicted felons, illegal immigrants and residents who list suburban addresses to get lower car insurance.
The drop-off of more than 237,000 people in Detroit helped Michigan become the only state that suffered an overall population decline between 2000 and 2010, slipping 0.6 percent to 9,883,640. But the city, the state’s largest, was not solely responsible for the dubious distinction.
The population fell 18 percent in Flint, another city heavily dependent on the auto industry and the birthplace of General Motors. Pontiac and Saginaw, which also lost jobs in auto and parts manufacturing, dropped 12 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Nearly half of the state’s 83 counties lost residents, underscoring the ripple effect from Michigan’s reliance on the ailing manufacturing sector. Michigan has lost nearly 860,000 jobs since 2000, and its unemployment rate has long been among the nation’s highest.
“The census figures clearly show how crucial it is to reinvent Michigan,” Gov. Rick Snyder said. “It is time for all of us to realign our expectations so that they reflect today’s realities. We cannot cling to the old ways of doing business.”
Metzger, the demographer, said Detroit’s population drop partially reflects the migration of middle-class blacks to suburban counties, a trend that the mayor acknowledged. The numbers also suggest that some blacks have given up on Michigan altogether: the state’s non-Hispanic black population fell 1.8 percent, from 1,408,522 to 1,383,756.
That marks Michigan’s first drop in black residents since statehood, and a historically significant change for a state that was long a magnet for blacks leaving the South to escape discrimination and find jobs, said William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer.
The recent housing crisis has accelerated foreclosures and driven down prices, which Metzger said has enabled more black families to buy houses in the suburbs.
“The next wave of ex-Detroiters with the same hopes and dreams has moved to the suburbs,” he said.
Altogether, Michigan’s cities lost 7 percent of their populations. Flint’s population now stands at 102,434 residents. The capital city of Lansing suffered a 4 percent drop to 114,297, and even Grand Rapids – Michigan’s second largest city, located in the less hard-hit western part of the state – was down 5 percent to 188,040.
Population increases were recorded in mostly suburban and some rural areas, the largest in counties on the fringe of metropolitan areas with large numbers of suburban commuters. Clinton County, north of Lansing, jumped 16.5 percent and Livingston County, between Detroit and Lansing, was up 15.3 percent.
Some rural areas fared badly. For example, the Upper Peninsula saw populations drop in 13 of its 15 counties, including a 13.3 percent drop – the worst statewide among counties – in far northwestern Ontonagon County.
Sharp increases were seen in Michigan’s Asian and Hispanic populations.
The non-Hispanic Asian population was 236,490, up 35 percent over the decade – Michigan’s fastest growing racial group – and now accounts for 2.4 percent of the state’s residents. The state’s Hispanic population grew by 34.7 percent, to 436,358, or 4.4 percent of the overall population.
The American Indian population inched up 1.3 percent to 54,665.
Washington Commie-Democrat Proposes Bill Capping Number of Customers Allowed At Certain Businesses
On Monday, Sandra Romero chaired an Agri-tourism work session at Thurston County and rolled out the first draft of her proposed Agri-tourism ordinance.
The ordinance is designed to overlay zones that don’t currently allow agriculture and loosen regulation in an effort to promote agriculture-related business and tourism in those areas – think pumpkin patches and you-cut-it tree farms.
I read the ordinance and I was stunned.
If you were considering starting your own business – just guessing here – more customers would be a good thing? Well guess what? This ordinance will place a cap on the number of customers allowed per day. Depending on the kind of business, your customer range will be limited to 20-39 customers per day.
I know, it’s unbelievable. You’re thinking, “This has to be a joke, right?” Nope. Sorry. This is no joke. Sandra Romero, Thurston County Commissioner, actually thinks this is a good thing and will “preserve and support the agricultural industry of Thurston County as a viable economic activity…” Really now? Just to prove it, you can read the draft yourself. [download it here].
Fortunately, the electorate of Thurston County are still literate – and watching.
This ordinance is planned failure.
One note that is interesting, is Scott Longanecker, planner with Thurston County, claimed authorship of the ordinance at the beginning of the meeting. After a few objections, Sandra Romero outed him and told the committee that the ordinance was simply copied from another state. You might ask, “Where?” – Mariposa County, CALIFORNIA.
I do have to give Scott Longanecker some credit. He did a complete copy and paste of Mariposa County’s ordinance and then did a few modifications. He made it even MORE RESTRICTIVE. Just in case you would like to read the California ordinance you can [download it here].
Mariposa County, California allows bed and breakfasts in their agri-tourism ordinance, but Longanecker conveniently deleted that paragraph. Mariposa County, California also allows (5) guest rooms in their agricultural homestay, Longanecker changed that to (3).
The Thurston County Economic Development Council was at the table participating in the work session. Michael Cade, Executive Director was there. I thought that he would weigh in and talk some common sense into the Thurston County staffer and Commissioner Romero. He could have talked about free-market principles and how less regulation is good for promoting business. Unfortunately, and to my great disappointment, he didn’t. Instead, he said that the ordinance was “progressive”. He thought that there was some work that needed to be done, but he thought it was a good start.
Most members, however, did object to the ordinance including Glen Morgan, the STOP Thurston County project manager. He offered a solution to Commissioner Romero. He said that Thurston County shouldn’t waste any more time writing ordinances and if they needed a good starting point they should contact the Farm Bureau. He thought the Farm Bureau could give them an ordinance that would be good for agriculture. Nice suggestion Captain Obvious.
Thurston County needs to keep to basics: Health, Safety and Roads. STOP your social engineering experiment, you’re embarrassing yourselves. Government need not be flashy or trendy. Just keep it to the basics. Find ways to reduce restrictions, STOP piling them on.
Maine Governor To Remove Pro-Labor Mural From Labor Department HQ
Maine Governor To Remove Pro-Labor Mural From Labor Department HQ – Bangor Daily News
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta.
In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt says the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals and some business owners complained.
The mural was erected in 2008. It depicts several moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston and “Rosie the Riveter” at the Bath Iron Works.
The Sun Journal newspaper says some communists feel the move is a “mean-spirited” provocation.
Daily Benefactor News – Lone Air Traffic Controller At Reagan National Falls Asleep As Planes Attempt To Land
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Two airliners carrying a total of 165 passengers and crew landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington without control-tower clearance because the air-traffic supervisor was asleep, safety and aviation officials said Wednesday.
The supervisor – the only controller scheduled for duty in the tower when the planes landed early Wednesday – had fallen asleep, said an aviation official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman Peter Knudson said the pilots of the two commercial planes, an American Airlines Boeing 737 and a United Airlines Airbus 320, were unable to reach the tower, but were in communication with a regional air-traffic-control facility. (Click here for audio)
The Reagan National tower did not respond to pilot requests for landing assistance or to phone calls from controllers elsewhere in the region, who also used a “shout line,” which pipes into a loudspeaker in the tower, internal records show.
The American Airlines jet flying in from Miami with 97 on board aborted its first landing attempt and circled the airport after receiving no response from the tower at midnight. The plane landed on its second attempt.
Minutes later, the United jet flying in from Chicago with 68 passengers and crew also received no answer from the tower.
Both planes eventually landed safely after their pilots took matters into their own hands, broadcasting their progress as they approached and landed.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident, agency spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
The incident, which is also being reviewed by the NTSB, is the second time in as many years that the tower at National has gone silent for some time, said a source who asked not to be named. The previous time, the lone controller on duty left his swipe-card pass key behind when he stepped outside the tower’s secure door and wasn’t able to get back in, the source said.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, responding to the incident, said he has directed the FAA to put two air traffic controllers on the midnight shift at National, which is in Northern Virginia just across the Potomac River from Washington.
LaHood also said he has directed FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to study tower staffing at other airports around the country.
Controlling the nation’s air traffic is a multilayered system, with a network of controllers directing planes when they are at or near cruising altitude. The airspace beneath that is controlled by Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities known as TRACONs. Takeoffs and the final miles of runway approach are handled by controllers in airport towers.
After midnight, when traffic slows, a single person is on duty at the National tower, a shift reserved for a controller supervisor rather than a regular controller. The two planes that landed without tower help were among the last three inbound commercial flights until 5 a.m.
The first two planes landed and used information from their airlines to find the correct gates. By the time the third plane touched down about a half-hour after the United flight landed, communication from the tower had been restored.
The greatest risk posed by silence from the tower was on the ground rather than in the air. Planes routinely land in smaller airports without guidance from a tower.
In a circumstance like the one that occurred at Reagan National, pilots use the control-tower radio frequency to relay their position, speed and distance to other pilots as they approach and land.
On the ground, however, the slow nighttime hours are when maintenance crews crisscross the tarmac – sometimes towing airplanes – as they prepare for morning flights.
Those maintenance workers contact the tower on a special frequency to obtain clearance before crossing a runway. Inbound pilots contact the tower on a different frequency.
At airports where the tower shuts down for the night, ground crews and incoming pilots are required to use the same radio frequency to coordinate their actions until the tower reopens.
Aviation experts emphasized the unusual nature of the incident.
“I’m not sure that in all the years I’ve been flying airplanes that I can recall coming into a major airport and I couldn’t get hold of a controller in the airport tower,” said aviation-safety consultant John Cox, who spent 35 years as an airline and corporate pilot.
However, planes, including smaller airliners, land all the time at small airports that don’t have control towers or controllers to clear landings.
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Top 10 Failures Of ObamaCare After One Year
Top 10 Failures Of ObamaCare After One Year – Human Events
President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010. In just the year since, the law known as ObamaCare has already severely crippled the nation’s economy and health care system.
Despite Obama’s continued pride in his signature health care legislation, a new CNN poll shows that 58% of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling health care.
The Republican House passed a repeal of ObamaCare in January, but the bill was blocked by the Democrat-controlled Senate. Four House committees are now drafting a replacement bill for ObamaCare. The House also passed legislation defunding ObamaCare in March, which was likewise blocked by the Senate Democrats. Republican leaders are committed, however, and say that they will be defunding the health care law through the appropriations process this year.
These are the top 10 failures of ObamaCare, starting with those that have had the most serious effect already on the economy, jobs, and the American people.
1. Explodes the Budget Deficit
One year ago, Obama said, “This legislation will also lower costs for … the federal government, reducing our deficit by over $1 trillion in the next two decades. It is paid for. It is fiscally responsible. “
Today: ObamaCare is projected to cost at least $2.4 trillion when it is fully implemented. Instead of Obama’s promise to reduce the deficit, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that ObamaCare will increase the federal deficit by $260 billion through 2019. The United States has more than $14 trillion in debt already, and will hit the current statutory debt ceiling ($14.3 trillion) in the next couple of months.
2. Kills Jobs
One year ago: Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said that the health care bill “will create 4 million jobs — 400,000 jobs almost immediately.”
Today: The only jobs that have been created from ObamaCare are the tens of thousands of new government bureaucrats who have been hired to deal with all the new regulations and taxes from ObamaCare.
Contrary to Pelosi’s prediction, the director of the CBO testified that 800,000 jobs will be lost over the next decade as a result of the law. Even the liberal Urban Institute released a report this week that said that the health care law will have “no noticeable effect on net levels of employment.” Employers are forced to either cut jobs or move workers into part-time slots that are not mandated to receive health insurance in order to meet the regulations, according to the CBO.
3. Lose Your Own Doctor and Health Plan
One year ago: Obama said, “If you like your current insurance, you will keep your current insurance. No government takeover. Nobody is changing what you’ve got if you’re happy with it. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you can keep it.”
Today: New regulations could force as many as 87 million Americans to lose their current health care plans and their own doctors.
As soon as the new ObamaCare regulations were announced, companies told their employees that they may not be able to keep their current health care plans because of the increased expense. So Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services started issuing one-year waivers that exempt companies and unions from complying with the law if it causes a significant increase in premium costs or decrease in access to coverage.
ObamaCare is so broken that the Obama administration has spent the last six months exempting its union friends and large companies from the law. In this one year, the Obama administration has already issued 1,040 waivers to unions and employers, which thereby exempt 2.6 million people from ObamaCare regulations.
But small businesses and non-union workers who do not have the resources or access to the administration’s waivers will be forced to drop their employees’ current health care plans.
4. States’ Budget Deficits Grow to Possible Bankruptcy
One year ago: Obama said, “It will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms, because we need to implement them responsibly. We need to get this right.”
Today: The states, which already have a collective $175 billion budget shortfall this year, are faced with such huge new mandatory costs from ObamaCare that some are on the verge of bankruptcy.
The main cost of the law’s plan to states is from expanding Medicare to add 20 million more people to the program. Medicare accounts for an average of 22% of state budgets. The Medicare expansion will cost the states $118 billion through 2023. States are cutting other programs such as education and law enforcement in order to make up for the shortfall in the new federal mandates.
Already, 28 of 50 states have challenged the constitutionality of the health care law’s individual mandate in court. Judges in Virginia and Florida have ruled that ObamaCare is unconstitutional. These and other cases are expected to be resolved in the U.S. Supreme Court.
5. Higher Insurance Premiums:
One year ago: Obama said that the law will “lower the cost of health care for our families.”
Today: Some Americans have already had a spike in the cost of their insurance premiums of an astounding 20% to 60%. Insurance companies have raised premiums in double-digit increases. For example, Blue Shield of California recently increased some of its individual plans by 59%, saying that 4% of the increase is a direct result of the new health care law.
Now, the CBO projects that the average American family will pay $2,100 more on health care premiums when the law is fully implemented (an increase of 10% to 13%).
6. Crushes Businesses
One year ago: Obama said that the law will “lower the cost of health care” for businesses.
Today: While the economy is barely growing at all, companies are facing a government mandate to provide health care for their employees. The law will cost at least $50 billion to employers because of these new mandates.
Even the CEO of Starbucks said this week that his company is struggling to meet the ObamaCare regulations. His company spent $250 million last year on health care benefits, and the costs are expected to rise by double-digit percentages. He said that if his big company is struggling, then he believes that “under the current guidelines, the pressure on small businesses, because of the mandate, is too great.”
7. Fewer Americans Have Access to Health Insurance
One year ago: Obama said, “And we have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.”
Today: Employers are facing huge increased costs or fines, and so will be forced to find ways to make fewer employees eligible for health benefits. Experts estimate that as many as 35 million American workers will lose health care benefits because of the higher cost put on companies from ObamaCare.
Also, an estimated half-million children will lose health care because of the new law. Big health insurance companies such as Anthem Blue Cross and Aetna have already dropped offering child-only policies in 19 states because they are too costly under the ObamaCare regulations.
8. Senior Citizens Lose Medicare Coverage:
One year ago: Obama said, “We’re not going to mess with Medicare”.
Today: The health care law cuts nearly $530 billion in Medicare over the next decade, with $200 billion coming from the Medicare Advantage. As one in four seniors is currently enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program, approximately 7 million of them will lose access to the popular program. Many seniors have already been cut off their plans.
There are 46 million seniors in the Medicare program, but the ObamaCare provisions could drive the program into bankruptcy and prevent doctors from accepting it. Physicians will have a nearly 30% cut in reimbursements next year from ObamaCare.
Even the Obama administration’s chief Medicare actuary reported, “Providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, might end their participation in the program (possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries).”
9. Overburdens Small Business
One year ago: Obama said, “This year, we’ll start offering tax credits to about 4 million small businessmen and women to help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees.”
Today: Obama has already conceded that a provision in his law is so onerous to small-business owners that he asked Congress to fix it. The provision mandates that small-business owners file a 1099 tax form for any business transaction over $600.
Congress is working to pass the 1099 fix now, but the effect on small businesses has already hurt the economy. Small businesses are the primary source of job creation in the U.S., so their burden this year with the 1099 provision and other mandates from health care has helped keep unemployment at almost 10%.
More than 40 million small businesses are subject to this new regulation. So the Internal Revenue Service requested to hire 1,270 new bureaucrats to help handle the paperwork for the flood of 1099 forms and other provisions in implementing the new taxes from ObamaCare.
10. Tax Hikes
One year ago: Obama said, “Millions of people will get tax breaks to help them afford coverage, which represents the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.”
Today: The ObamaCare law includes more than $813 billion in total tax hikes over the next decade, which include the penalty for not having health insurance, and taxes on health plans ($60 billion), medical devices ($20 billion), and prescription drugs ($27 billion).
After President Obama signed the health care law last March 23, he said this: “And now that this legislation is passed, you don’t have to take my word for it. You’ll be able to see it in your own lives. I heard one of the Republican leaders say this was going to be Armageddon. Well, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. We’ll look around and we’ll see. You don’t have to take my word for it.”
Mr. President, as you instructed, the American people have looked around the country and they have checked out ObamaCare. And, frankly, they still think it looks a lot like Armageddon.
Another Reporter Utters Gibberish On Live TV After Suffering ‘Medical Issue’
Another Reporter Utters Gibberish On Live TV After Suffering ‘Medical Issue’ – The Blaze
It’s a scene that shocked the world just a month ago. A Los Angeles-based reporter was stricken by a medical issue on live TV, leading to random gibberish and a flood of concern. Now, it’s happened again, this time to a reporter in Canada on Monday:
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The reporter is Mark McAllister who works for the network Global Toronto. McAllister acknowledged the incident via Twitter and said he will be seeing doctors:
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The news station released a statement about the scary moment, saying it immediately called paramedics:
While on the air during the 6:00 PM News Hour broadcast on Monday, March 21, Global Toronto reporter Mark McAllister suffered a minor medical issue causing him to experience a moment of disorientation. Paramedics were immediately called to the scene, where Mark was fully checked out and is feeling better. As a precaution, Mark will be pursuing this matter with his own doctor.
Mark would like to thank all Global Toronto viewers who have expressed concern for his well-being.
In February, CBS 2′s Serene Branson suffered through a similar incident during a live report on the Grammy Awards. It was determined she suffered a massive migraine:
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(H/T: Dan Collins at Powip.com)
13 Illegal Aliens Arrested In California Wearing U.S. Marine Uniforms
13 Illegal Aliens Arrested In California Wearing U.S. Marine Uniforms – Fox News
Border Patrol agents recently arrested 13 illegal immigrants disguised as U.S. Marines and riding in a fake military van, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday.
The illegal immigrants were clad in Marine uniforms when they were apprehended at the Campo Border Patrol Westbound I-8 checkpoint at 11 p.m. on March 14 near Pine Valley, Calif., border officials said. Two U.S. citizens in the van also were arrested.
After the suspicious white van was subjected to secondary inspection, it was determined that the driver of the vehicle and its front seat passenger were U.S. citizens who were attempting to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants into the United States. All of the vehicle’s occupants wore U.S. Marine uniforms, reportedly emblazoned with the name “Perez.”
“This effort is an example of the lengths smugglers will go to avoid detection, and the skilled and effective police work and vigilance displayed everyday by Customs and Border Protection personnel,” the agency said in a written statement.
The van used in the smuggling attempt, according to California’s El Centro Border Intelligence Center, was a privately owned vehicle registered out of Yucca Valley, Calif., and was bearing stolen government plates that had been defaced. The center digit — 0 — was altered to read as an 8. Further research through multiple government agencies determined that the plate belonged to a one-ton cargo van registered to the U.S. Marine Corps.
The military referred inquiries back to Customs and Border Protection.
The van entered into the United States via Mexicali, Mexico, and proceeded to Calexico, Calif., where the U.S. Marine uniforms were donned, according to Homeland Security Today.
The Campo Border Station was constructed in June 2008 and is located roughly 28 miles east of San Diego Sector Headquarters in rural East San Diego County. It is responsible for securing approximately 13.1 linear miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and 417 square miles of surrounding territory. An estimated 7,000 vehicles pass through its two checkpoints daily, according to its website.
Egypt Air Removes Israel From Map
Egypt Air Removes Israel From Map – Ynet News
Egypt Air, the largest airline in Egypt, has removed Israel from the map – literally. On its website, Ynet has learned, Jordan’s land reaches the Mediterranean Sea.
The airline’s subsidiary, Air Sinai, flies to Israel regularly, but customers seeking flights to Ben Gurion National Airport will have a hard time finding them. On the map are the names of the Mideast capitals – Amman, Beirut, and Damascus – but Israel is nowhere to be found.
Egypt Air is the first large airline to have omitted the state from its map of destinations. Other airlines based in Muslim countries, such as Turkish Airlines and Royal Jordanian, include Israel and Tel Aviv on its maps.
The omission is especially odd seeing as the company continues to fly to Israel four times a week. Cairo-Tel Aviv flights were temporarily halted following the recent uprising that overturned the government, but were then reinstated.
There has also been an increase in passengers on Air Sinai’s flights. According to the Airports Authority, the airline saw an increase of 27% in 2010 from the year previous.
Daily Benefactor News – Who’s In Charge? Germans Pull Forces Out Of NATO As Libyan Coalition Falls Apart
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Who’s In Charge? Germans Pull Forces Out Of NATO As Libyan Coalition Falls Apart – Daily Mail
Deep divisions between allied forces currently bombing Libya worsened today as the German military announced it was pulling forces out of NATO over continued disagreement on who will lead the campaign.
A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.
The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.
Yesterday a war of words erupted between the U.S. and Britain after the U.K. government claimed Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate target for assassination.
U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.
But U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be ‘unwise’ to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the ‘U.N. mandate’.
President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces within days, handing the reins over to NATO.
But Germany and European allies remain unwilling to have NATO take on a military operation that theoretically has nothing to do with the defence of Europe.
Today the German defence ministry announced Berlin had pulled out of any military operations in the Mediterranean.
A ministry spokesman said two frigates and two other ships with a crew of 550 would be reverted to German command.
Some 60 to 70 German troops participating in NATO-operated AWACS surveillance operations in the Mediterranean would also be withdrawn, according to the ministry.
Berlin isn’t participating in the operation to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and abstained on the U.N. resolution authorising it.
France, which launched the initial air strikes on Libya on Saturday, has argued against giving the U.S.-led NATO political control over an operation in an Arab country, while Turkey has called for limits to any alliance involvement.
In a bid to halt the embarrassing bickering, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe today proposed a new war committee to oversee operations.
The new body, Mr Juppe said, would bring together foreign ministers of participating states – such as Britain, France and the U.S. – as well as the Arab League.
Meanwhile the head of the Italian Senate’s defence affairs committee, Gianpiero Cantoni, said the original French anti-NATO stance was motivated by a desire to secure oil contracts with a future Libyan government.
Some allies are even questioning whether a no-fly zone is still necessary, given the damage already done by air strikes to Gaddafi’s military capabilities.
Speaking about yesterday’s hastily arranged meeting of NATO allies, one diplomat said: ‘The meeting became a little bit emotional,’ before adding that France had argued that the coalition led by Britain, the United States and France should retain political control of the mission, with NATO providing operational support, including command-and-control capabilities.
‘Others are saying NATO should have command or no role at all and that it doesn’t make sense for NATO to play a subsidiary role,’ the diplomat added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that air strikes launched after a meeting in Paris hosted by France on Saturday had gone beyond what had been sanctioned by a U.N. Security Council resolution.
‘There are U.N. decisions and these decisions clearly have a defined framework. A NATO operation which goes outside this framework cannot be legitimised,’ he told news channel CNN Turk.
Adding pressure to the already fractured alliance, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has also reiterated a warning that Italy would take back control of airbases it has authorised for use by allies for operations over Libya unless a NATO coordination structure was agreed.
In a shock admission, U.K. ministers have admitted the intervention in Libya could last for up to ’30 years’.
Asked for an estimate, British Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said: ‘How long is a piece of string? We don’t know how long this is going to go on.
‘We don’t know if this is going to result in a stalemate. We don’t know if his capabilities are going to be degraded quickly. Ask me again in a week.’
In the U.S., Obama has made it clear he wants no part of any leadership role in Libya.
The President has already been criticised for continuing with a tour of Latin America as the military operation over Libya began. And yesterday he insisted again that while Gaddafi must go, the U.S. is not prepared to remove him by force, but merely to enforce the no-fly zone.
Even that hesitant stance, which has already earned him the title of the Great Vacillator, left him criticised for not seeking proper approval from Congress before sending the American military in.
And after reports emerged that Gaddafi’s son had been killed in a kamikaze strike yesterday, fresh questions over what exactly the U.S. intends to achieve in Libya emerged.
With Turkey digging its heels in and the Arab League suspicious, it has been pointed out that Mr Obama has fewer coalition partners in Libya than George Bush did at the start of the Iraq war.
He was criticised by both Republicans and Democrats over his decision to commit the U.S. military before going to Congress.
Representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York, Barbara Lee of California, Michael Capuano of Massachusetts, Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland all complained that Mr Obama had exceeded his constitutional authority by authorizing the attack without Congressional permission.
The President hit back in a two-page letter to Congress and again reiterated his claim that while Gaddafi must go, the U.S. was only in Libya to enforce the no-fly zone for the protection of civilians.
France has already taken a leading role in the conflict, with President Nicolas Sarkozy hosting a summit in Paris over the weekend and French bombers being the first to enforce the no-fly zone.
Last night Britain’s top general was embroiled in an extraordinary clash with Downing Street over the legality of a strike to kill Gaddafi.
No 10 slapped down Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards after he flatly rejected ministers’ suggestions that the Libyan dictator was a legitimate target for assassination.
Downing Street and Foreign Office officials were quick to dispute that – saying assassinating Gaddafi would be legal because it would preserve civilian lives in Libya.
But U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates quickly dismissed the suggestion, describing the calls for Gaddafi’s killing ‘unwise’.
Desperately trying to keep the mission on track, he warned that it could undermine the cohesion of the international coalition supporting the no-fly zone.
‘If we start adding additional objectives then I think we create a problem in that respect,’ he said. ‘I also think it is unwise to set as specific goals things that you may or may not be able to achieve.’
Mr Obama has not directly discussed the military action with British Prime Minister David Cameron since it began on Saturday – an omission that would have been unthinkable under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The public spat just days into the operation highlighted growing tensions about ‘mission creep’ in the assault on Gaddafi.
Meanwhle, the coalition abandoned a further raid by Tornado bombers when SAS soldiers on the ground warned that civilians and journalists were being used as human shields.
And Russian premier Vladimir Putin provocatively likened the UN-backed mission to the medieval crusades.
On Saturday Gaddafi’s son was said to have been killed in a Tomahawk missile strike on the dictator’s compound carried out by the British submarine HMS Triumph.
And soon afterwards, it was reduced to rubble by a precision strike from the 1,000lb weapons. The block was about 150 yards from the tents which the Libyan leader uses as his official residence.
It is not known where the dictator was at the time of the bombing but he has not been seen or heard since the attack. He may have fled into the desert. Senior government sources described the hugely symbolic strike at the heart of his regime as a ‘shot across his bows’.
But there was outright condemnation from Russian premier Vladimir Putin, who gave fuel to Muslim critics of the attacks by branding the UN resolution backing the use of force – a resolution on which Russia abstained – a return to the Crusades.
‘The resolution is defective and flawed,’ said Mr Putin. ‘It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades.’
Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League said that while he supports a no-fly zone, ‘the Arab League was against aerial bombing in principle’.
The North Atlantic Council will meet today to thrash out the differences as every Nato country must agree the plans.
Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan called for air strikes to end ‘as soon as possible’.
‘If Nato is going into operation we have some conditions,’ Mr Erdogan said. ‘Nato should go in with the recognition and acknowledgement that Libya belongs to the Libyans, not for the distribution of its underground resources and wealth.’
Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said legal procedures for establishing a coalition ‘were not sufficiently respected’ by the West.
Mr Cameron responded: ‘There are millions in the Arab world who frankly want to know that the UN, the U.S., the UK, the French [and] the international community care about their suffering and their oppression.’
Defence officials say Qatari war planes are to join the no-fly zone operation and the United Arab Emirates is being pressured to help too.
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Judge Orders Use Of Sharia Law In Florida Case
Judge Orders Use of Sharia Law in Florida Case – Human Events
The Islamic Education Center of Tampa forced out several of its trustees back in 2002. The trustees contested their eviction, and claim they sat down with an Islamic scholar to arbitrate their complaints. The arbitrator ruled in their favor, but the mosque denied this arbitration was properly conducted, and did not accept the decision. The trustees took their case to the Florida courts, which suited the mosque just fine. Control of a substantial amount of funding is at stake.
On March 3, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Richard Nielsen announced that he would decide the case by consulting shari’a law to determine whether the arbitration was conducted properly, and should therefore be binding. Only if his adventure in Islamic scholarship determines the arbitration was invalid will he revert to using Florida civil law to determine the ultimate outcome of the case.
As reported by the St. Petersburg Times, the mosque contested this decision, stating through their attorney that they “believe wholeheartedly in the Koran and its teachings” and “follow Islamic law in connection with their spiritual endeavors,” but they also “believe Florida law should apply in Florida courts.”
It would be fair to note that the mosque evidently feels it has a better chance of winning its case under state law than shari’a, but that doesn’t make their assessment of the situation any less valid.
The Times quotes Neelofer Syed, a Tampa lawyer who gives lectures on Islamic law, who notes that the mosque is a corporation under Florida law, and makes the common-sense observation that “if you live in a country, you are subject to that country’s laws.”
Florida is already considering legislation to ban the use of foreign legal codes in state courts. There’s no question such legislation is urgently needed. This is not just about Islamic law. Judges who fancy themselves enlightened citizens of the world have often cited foreign laws to justify their decisions, all the way up to the Supreme Court. They should all be forbidden from doing so.
Americans don’t get to vote on shaping foreign laws. Their legal and cultural history had no role in defining shari’a. It has absolutely no place in a state or federal court. If two parties wish to voluntarily follow its prescriptions, through mutual consent, that is their business. As soon as it becomes a legal affair under a U.S. judge, Islamic law becomes irrelevant.
There is obviously no mutual consent here, as the mosque has requested judgment in a civil court. They should be obliged, as should any American citizen who makes such a request. There are other Muslim Americans who will seek relief from shari’a through federal and state jurisprudence. The stakes will not always be expressed in dollars.
American judges have no business imposing shari’a on anyone… not even a mosque.
7 Questions For Liberals About Obama’s Libyan War – John Hawkins
7 Questions For Liberals About Obama’s Libyan War – John Hawkins
It seems like it was just yesterday when we had an “imperialist warmonger” in the White House who was going to be replaced by a peace-loving Democrat who promised “hope” and “change” instead. It’s funny how that worked out, isn’t it? We still have troops in Iraq, we’ve escalated the war in Afghanistan, and now we’re bombing everything that moves in Libya. Yet, the same liberals who were protesting in the streets and calling George Bush a war criminal have mostly been meek and quiet about the fact that the President they supported has been following in George Bush’s footsteps.
So, the obvious question is, “Did you lefties believe ANY of the crap you were spewing about the war on terrorism before Obama got into office?” If so, maybe you could answer a few questions prompted by the things liberals were saying during the Bush years.
1) Isn’t this a rush to war? There were 17 UN resolutions regarding Iraq, Bush talked about going to war for a full year before we actually invaded, and he received Congressional approval first. After all that, liberals STILL shouted that it was a “rush to war.” Meanwhile, Obama decided to bomb Libya in between making his Final Four picks and planning out a vacation to Brazil, probably because Hillary yelled at him. How about applying the same standards to Obama that you applied to Bush?
2) Is Obama invading Libya because Gaddafi insulted him? Liberals claimed George Bush invaded Iraq because Saddam tried to assassinate his father. Using that same line of thinking, could the notoriously thin-skinned Obama be bombing Libya because he’s still angry that Gaddafi once said this about him?
We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites. This will be a tragedy. We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him because if he sticks to this inferiority complex he will have a worse foreign policy than the whites had in the past.
Obama doesn’t have much use for anyone who criticizes him. Even his spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright learned all about what the underside of a bus looks like after he dared to criticize Obama. Is that Obama’s real motivation? Hmmmmmmm, liberals?
3) Is this a war for oil? What was it liberals kept saying over and over about Iraq? Oh yeah, it was “No blood for oil!” What was the rationale for claiming the war in Iraq was about oil? Iraq had oil; we were going to war there; so obviously it just MUST be about oil. That was it. So, Libya has oil and unlike Hussein, Gaddafi has been cooperative of late; so there’s no compelling reason for America to invade….except perhaps, to safeguard all that Texas T. flowing beneath the sand. So, when do we have liberals in the streets shouting “No blood for oil?”
4) Where are the massive protests? Can’t you just see it? The Communist Party, Code Pink, the black bloc, and the free Mumia wackjobs all joining together with the Tea Party to protest Obama. Wouldn’t that be fun? I mean personally, I’ve been waiting for years to wear a “No Blood For Oil” sign while I carry around a giant puppet head. Someone call the commies and union members who organize all these hippie shindigs for the Left and let’s do this thing!
5) Shouldn’t we have tried to talk it out with Gaddafi instead? I thought that the Muslim world loves and respects America since Barack Obama became President? So, why not try to talk it out with Gaddafi? Perhaps Obama should have been humble, realized he didn’t have all the answers, and then he could have had a conversation with Gaddafi instead of threatening him? Maybe he should have considered the possibility that Libya’s culture is a little different than ours. Had he perhaps met with Gaddafi and bowed to him to show his respect, this could have probably been worked out without violence. Oh, why, why must we be so arrogant and so ignorant of other nations’ rich cultural traditions, which in Libya apparently consist of murdering everyone who opposes you?
6) Aren’t we just starting a cycle of violence by bombing Libya? You know what they say, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind!” We drop bombs on them, they get angry, and next thing you know, they turn into terrorists to get us back! That was what we heard from the Left over and over during the Bush years, wasn’t it? That we were creating terrorists?
That’s why liberals like Richard Gere suggested brilliant strategies like this to deal with Al-Qaeda:
In a situation like this, of course you identify with everyone who’s suffering. (But we must also think about) the terrorists who are creating such horrible future lives for themselves because of the negativity of this karma. It’s all of our jobs to keep our minds as expansive as possible. If you can see (the terrorists) as a relative who’s dangerously sick and we have to give them medicine, and the medicine is love and compassion. There’s nothing better.
Maybe instead of bombing Libya, Obama needs to engage in a little more love and compassion by hugging Gaddafi into submission!
7) Isn’t Barack Obama a chickenhawk? Barack Obama has never served in the military; yet he just decided to engage in a “war of choice” in Libya. Even if you chalk up Iraq and Afghanistan to Obama cleaning up after Bush, this one is all on him. If American soliders die, it’s because Obama chose to put them in harm’s way. If Libyan civilians are killed by American weapons, it’s because Barack Obama gave the order to attack. So, can we all agree that Barack Obama is a squawking, yellow bellied chickenhawk?
Gatordoug
darcprynce
Dave C
