What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Trey Gowdy hammered the Obama admin from the House floor yesterday, in protest of the President refusing to enforce legally passed laws.
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2. John Kerry has issued a warning and deadline to the Russians.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Secretary of State John Kerry warned of serious repercussions for Russia on Monday if last-ditch talks over the weekend to resolve the crisis in Ukraine failed to persuade Moscow to soften its stance.
Kerry will travel to London for a Friday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of a Sunday referendum vote in the Crimea region to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.
U.S. and European officials argue that Moscow is orchestrating the referendum and waging an intimidation campaign with thousands of Russian troops controlling the region. If Russian-backed lawmakers in Crimea go through with the Sunday referendum, Kerry said the U.S. and its European allies will not recognize it as legitimate under international law.”
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3. I don’t think the Russians are intimidated.
From TheNYTimes “With a referendum on secession looming in Crimea, Russia massed troops and armored vehicles in at least three regions along Ukraine’s eastern border on Thursday, alarming the interim Ukraine government about a possible invasion and significantly escalating tensions in the crisis between the Kremlin and the West.
The announcement of the troop buildup by Russia’s Defense Ministry was met with an unusually sharp rebuke from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who warned that the Russian government must abandon what she called the politics of the 19th and 20th centuries or face diplomatic and economic retaliation from a united Europe.”
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4. Why am I not surprised?
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Make no mistake, there is always a deeper agenda whenever a seemingly innocent campaign pops up overnight.
On Sunday, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg launched a new campaign, known as ‘Ban Bossy,’ which would – as you can imagine – encourage people to ban the word “bossy.”
Is there some kind of epidemic of that word being used to keep girls from achieving? Many of the surveys cited by the Ban Bossy campaign are decades old, and a more recent survey by the Girl Scouts of America found that girls are more likely than boys to see themselves as a leader or have the desire to be a leader.
So, why start a national campaign? For starters, Sandberg is an ally of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.”
Astroturf sold as grassroots.
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5. Looks like it’s gonna be your typical Democrat/Clinton campaign.
From TheAmericanSpectator “Hillary Clinton has her own private NSA.
American Bridge PAC spent last week spying on the private conversations of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).”
“American Bridge was founded by Clinton ally David Brock and is funded by longtime Clinton supporter and billionaire George Soros. American Bridge PAC president Brad Woodhouse boasted that the group’s “trackers” at CPAC had been “in the hallways capturing conversations and that kind of thing.” Meaning? Meaning Hillary’s American Bridge is about invading privacy. CPAC’s today, someone else’s tomorrow. Yours.
“The group has been transformed from an ordinary political action committee into the political version of the NSA, its staffers working out of a room littered with computer monitors that will flash the latest privacy invasion for dissemination.”
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6. More illegal changes from the Obama admin, this time to the sequester deal, but for the benefit of ObamaCare.
From NationalJournal “The Obama administration has decided that the sequester’s mandatory spending cuts no longer apply to part of Obamacare.
The health care law provides subsidies to help low-income people cover some of their out-of-pocket costs. Last year, the administration said those subsidies were taking a 7 percent cut because of the sequester, which imposed across-the-board reductions in federal spending.
But now, the White House has changed its mind. It removed the cost-sharing subsidies from its list of programs that are subject to the sequester, eliminating the 7 percent cut for 2015.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which noticed the change, said the reversal would likely restore about $560 million to the subsidies—and require $560 million in cuts to other programs to make up for it.”
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7. Sure. Why not? After all, they’ve seen the type of access, influence, and policy writing capabilities this has gained them with this administration. So why not put all the money in one big pile and see what it can buy ya’? I guess terrorist funding groups and sympathizers need lobbyists too nowadays. 🙄
From CNSNews “Ten U.S. Islamic organizations have formed a new umbrella group to serve as a “representative voice” for American Muslims, and one of their first tasks will be to carry out a census of the community.
Other focus areas for the new U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), according to speakers at the body’s launch in Washington on Wednesday, include enhancing Muslim political engagement and participation in forthcoming elections, civil rights issues, combating “Islamophobia” and having an impact on U.S. foreign and domestic policy.
Participating organizations include high-profile groups that have been dogged by controversy, such as the Muslim American Society (MAS), founded by Muslim Brotherhood members, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named by the Justice Department in 2007 as “unindicted co-conspirators” in its case against the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, subsequently found guilty of raising money for Hamas.”
““The new national council’s first priority will be to build on Muslim citizenship rights by conducting a census of American Muslims to create a database that will be used to enhance civic and political participation in upcoming elections,” USCMO said in a statement.”
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8. And last for today, an interesting story. A judge in NJ has said fathers do not have the right to be present during the birth of their children. I could see why in some cases it might not be appropriate, but like with abortion, it’s not fair that the father has no say in the matter.
From Philadelphia/CBSLocal “A New Jersey court decision makes it clear, it may take two to tango but not to give birth. “It’s well established under federal and state law that there is a privacy right when a woman’s in labor.”
Rutgers professor and family law expert Sally Goldfarb says a Passaic County judge made the right call last November in his decision, which was published this week, when he sided with pregnant woman that her ex-fiancee had no legal right to be in the delivery room.
“What this man was seeking to do was really interfere with the woman’s ability to exercise her own choices about giving birth in privacy and that to me falls outside of the rights that a father is legitimately entitled to.”
In the decision, believed to be the first of its kind, the father was also told he didn’t have a right to know when the baby was born.”
So never mind his rights to visitation? Is he supposed to wait until the child support papers show up and that can be like a birth announcement? Even if he can’t be present, he should have the right to be notified, and to visit the child in the hospital. Thoughts?
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Wandering Views 
4. Any girl who is so thin-skinned and sensitive that she is bothered by the word “bossy” is not ready to be a boss. If you want to get things done ypu better be prepared to be called a lot worse. Also guys call each other way, way, way worse things than “bossy”.
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I like the word bossy. What’s next? What word will be ban? There is a whole list of words we can’t say right now. We are giving away our rights. I am ready to exercise some political un-correctness.
We really need to be careful of an organized muslim communtiy. If they want to live here fine, but they need to live by established rules.
I can see not allowing the father into the delivery room, but he should be notified when she goes into labor and should be allowed to see and hold the baby after it is born. Of course this would have all been solved if they had waited to have a baby until after they were married. I don’t know a woman alive that at some point in her pregnancy has decided she is married to the king of all idiots and he had served his purpose and should just go away and leave her alone. That lasts about a month and then the fear of how in the world will I do this by myself kicks in and you are over it. Being married helps solve this problem because if you kill him, you are the spouse and the first suspect the police will look at. It will take too long to divorce him, so you don’t bother right then because it is more important to take a nap.
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7. We need our own phobia words to describe people who disagree with us. There is Christophobia, heterophobia, Republaphobia, teapartiaphobia and maybe even redneckaphobia and chickfilaphobia.
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1. Process matters but so does discretion. The executive ie the police routinely exercise discretion when enforcing the law. For example you won’t receive a ticket for speeding if you are racing to the hospital with a medical emergency. During inclement weather and slippery roads, not coming to a full stop is routinely ignored as is running a red light. Police in Ontario will not issue a ticket unless you are doing 15 km/h over the speed limit and even then they will reduce the charge to 15 km/h over. The former is done to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic by focusing on the worse offenders and the latter to avoid court challenges.
As I understand it, one of the laws Obama no longer enforces is federal drug laws in Colorado and Washington. In this case, discretion means respecting lower jurisdictions rights to determine public policy. I would think the party that espouses state rights would understand this position. And I wonder where the Republican Representatives were during the Bush era of signing statements which was a far more egregious example of power abuse than simply respecting local democracy and not enforcing drug laws.
2.,3. I doubt the Russians are intimidated. Missing in much of the West’s response is a recognition of the boots on the ground. The so-called invasion was simply Russian troops moving out from their bases they already had in the Crimea. When western-oriented nationalist overthrew the elected president, this gave the local Crimean gov’t an opportunity to act and Russian troops (about 20,000) a chance to support them. The result is an accomplished fact.
In fact, its far cleaner and more orderly than NATO’s support of Kosovo independence from Serbia which the Russians, and rightly so, are citing as precedent. When the west draws parrallel to 20th century actions (ie Sudentland/Munich) they are conveniently omitting their own actions in Kosovo.
As the Crimea is an economic basket case (relying solely on military bases and tourism for income) and wholly dependent on Ukraine for electricity and water, I’m not sure why Ukraine is insistent on keeping the place especially given its ethnic composition and tendency to overwhelming vote for a pro-Russian candidate. It will be a drag on the Russian economy and will keep Putin occupied — thus let him have it. And if the Ukraine wants to be bitter about it; they can periodically shut off the electricity and water for “maintenance”
7. No different from any other ethnic or religious minority group.
8. Nobody should be allowed anywhere near an operating room, medical office, etc without the patient’s permission. Having had sex with the patient nine months prior is not a good enough reason to violate her privacy. As for notifying the father, its always been up to the woman to inform the man. Occasionally a woman will choose not to to inform the father — a break-up near the time of conception, rape, one night stand, etc; whatever the reason the man isn’t always informed. Biology sometimes gives us responsibilities and rights that differ according to gender.
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May I ask a question? If the president will not obey or enforce laws passed by Congress, do you think he will leave after two terms in office? Why is he amassing a campaign chest?
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Kim — its comments like the one you made today that make me wish we could grab a beer (or other beverage) and discuss the highs and lows of marriage and of raising a 15 year old daughter who thinks she is 19. ” It will take too long to divorce him, so you don’t bother right then because it is more important to take a nap.” — I can relate.
AJ — I’m often guilty of bad grammar on this site but once posted I can’t correct. However, you can and in post #7 you used “off” when you should have used “of”. A grammar error I list right up there with the confusion of their, they’re and there. As an elementary teacher who wants to desperately circle the error with his red pen, I beg of you to change it before I draw circles on my screen. Thanks 🙂
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HRW,
I’m gonna leave it up, just to torment you. 🙂
Kidding, I fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out. Spell check missed that because off was spelled correctly.
Now as to this…
“The executive ie the police routinely exercise discretion when enforcing the law. For example you won’t receive a ticket for speeding if you are racing to the hospital with a medical emergency.”
Maybe that’s true in Canada, but not so in the US, where no good deed goes unpunished.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/13/red-light-camera-at-florida-hospital-ticketing-those-seeking-emergency-help/
“Authorities installed red-light cameras near the emergency room entrance at University Hospital in Tamarac to nail traffic violators, but those rushing to the facility for medical attention are getting ensnared.”
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In the situation you link the problem is the judiciary — the judge should have accepted his medical excuse. We have a few red light cameras and generally speaking the crown attorney will excuse you even before trial if you have a legitimate excuse — weather and medical are obvious excuses. The city once cancelled my parking ticket on medical grounds: I parked my car legally and went to an optometrist to fix my glasses. While waiting longer than expected, my parking spot changed from free to no stopping during rush hour; a $100 fine. I went to city hall, spoke to the city attorney, explained it was illegal for me to drive without glasses and he cancelled it.
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3. Not surprised and not optimistic. Last time I looked at the map, the Crimea was not on Ukraine’s eastern border. This is an act of intimidation, if not downright aggression from Russia – a warning to the Ukrainian government not to interfere in the Crimea. Sadly, I highly doubt that even were the Crimean citizens to reject Russia’s advances in this referendum, that would stop Putin. As for the oft repeated canard that Crimea is primarily Russian, the ethnic Russians only have a slim majority, slightly over 50 percent. The rest are Ukrainian and Tatars, who have little reason to think well of Russia, after Stalin forcibly starved and relocated them. Also, I don’t see why we should assume all the ethnic Russians themselves should want to leave Ukraine. Was Crimea agitating for more independence before this crisis, or was all this manufactured by a certain political machine?
7. Isn’t the freedom to assemble and the freedom to practice one’s religion constitutionally protected? Are there not similar Christian political machines?
8. It is difficult to say on this case, not knowing all the details. I remember cases when I was in maternal/child care training where we were warned that a mother was under protection from the father. However, it was also as a warning sign if the father was not present for the delivery, yet wanted to come visit later. Often, a hospital gets women who walk in off the street to deliver, with no prior history; and careful inquiries have to be made about who wants to visit them. I can remember one woman who seemed completely controlled by her husband’s presence, and another whose boyfriend seemed to have abandoned her prior to the birth, but suddenly seemed interested in taking custody of the baby. You would not believe the messy situations I saw in the few short weeks I spent in the maternity wards.
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I would agree with Roscuro. Delivery is not a spectator sport, if a woman doesn’t want someone (anyone) in the room with them, let them be. They don’t need to be dealing with other people’s emotions while they’re trying to give birth.
We had a friend who adopted a child from the hospital. The birth father suddenly appeared, hung around, and badgered them for money, otherwise he would hold up the adoption. It was very sticky and unfair to everyone involved.
Of course, what about the father himself?
He had his chance to marry the woman, ask for custody or whatever long before the baby was born. The fact he was using his son’s birth as an attempt to extort money was, of course, the reason the birth mom didn’t want him there from the beginning.
Or, as Dr. Laura used ask women to consider:, “if he’s good enough to sleep with, shouldn’t he be good enough to be your child’s father?”
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Yes, there are.
BUT, not any with ties to known terrorists, terror groups, or with terrorists funding individuals running their group. I hope you can see the difference.
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I get what you all are saying.
BUT, what about the judge’s assertion that a father has no right to be notified when a child of his is born? That’s where I have a problem. Also, at least in our state, you cannot petition for visitation and custody until the birth of the child occurs. How can that be done if the judge says the father doesn’t even have to be notified of the birth?
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“H” if I ever make it to Paradise/Canada I will buy you a beer or other beverage and we will be friends. I only get snarky with you because I can.
Said 16 year old, just sent a message that she made a 97 on her English midterm. She is starting to show signs that I did have more to do with her DNA than birthing her.
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Putin is quietly responding behind the scenes as well.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/putin-deports-executives-for-speeding-as-sanctions-loom.html
“Even before the Ukraine standoff, foreign companies in Russia say they were alarmed by the number of executives being deported for minor infractions. Now with the West preparing sanctions, they’re bracing for more. ”
“Almost 1,000 people from countries outside the former Soviet Union have had their work visas revoked for committing two or more “administrative violations” since the end of last year, when the migration service and traffic police linked their databases, according to immigration authorities. Such offenses can be as minor as a parking ticket, smoking in prohibited areas or even jaywalking.”
“Lawmakers meanwhile are preparing legislation that would allow Russian authorities to seize assets of western companies in case of sanctions. Russian Deputy Economy Minister Sergei Belyakov, who’s in charge of luring foreign investment, said that he’s working with the migration service to resolve the visa difficulties.”
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And it just gets weirder. But it’s starting to look like maybe this is what happened.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314
“Military radar data suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, heightening suspicions of foul play among investigators, sources told Reuters on Friday.
Analysis of the Malaysia data suggests the plane, with 239 people on board, diverted from its intended northeast route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and flew west instead, using airline flight corridors normally employed for routes to the Middle East and Europe, said sources familiar with investigations into the Boeing 777’s disappearance.
Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints when it was last plotted on military radar off the country’s northwest coast.
This indicates that it was either being flown by the pilots or someone with knowledge of those waypoints, the sources said.”
But where is it? And could it have been landed somewhere?
It’s like a Bermuda Triangle story.
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I am with Roscuro and Michelle. I support every woman’s right to choose … who can be in the delivery room.
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roscuro — Crimea is about 60% Russian and linguistically 70% speak Russian as their first language. Many in the east self-identify as Ukrainian but speak Russian. The Crimea is separated by about 5 km of water from the Russian Federation. The Crimea has had special status within Ukraine as an autonomous region. And since the break-up of the Soviet Union there has been numerous attempts to expand autonomy even declaring independence in 1992 which was promptly rescinded. This is not new dispute nor is Russian involvement new — they have had military forces in the Crimea since the break up of the Soviet Union.
kim — congrats, my daughter only scores those types of marks in art classes.
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Here’s a good article on the perils of inequality;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-economic-inequality-kills
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HRW, Our poor do not live as long as our rich because our poor are fatter than our rich.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319224823.htm
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Here’s an interesting take on the subject of income inequality. (I may have shared this here before.)
“”The real issue is not inequality, per se, but mobility: What chance does a poor person have of moving up the economic ladder? What economic and social conditions are most likely to increase that upward mobility? The Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard and Berkeley—two institutions not known for their conservative ideas—suggests that income inequality plays almost no role in increasing or decreasing income mobility. …
“A series of new studies on the gentrification of neighborhoods further debunks the idea that rich people getting richer is the cause of poor people getting poorer.”
http://www.worldmag.com/2014/02/climbing_the_ladder
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Franklin Graham wrote this article for Decision Magazine. The Huffington Post is going nuts. I think many of you will recognize the arguments.
http://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/march-2014/putins-olympic-controversy/
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Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia tries a new technique to combat obesity:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/saudi-cleric-issues-fatwa-against-all-you-can-eat-buffets-1440275
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