What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Consequences.
From ConservativeIntel “If Mozilla was hoping to avoid controversy by edging out former CEO Brendan Eich, the company has most certainly failed. The graph below comes from the feedback page on their site. This chart goes back to when the comment system was adopted, and the highest number of “sad” comments is today, by a factor of about two. The second highest number came yesterday.”
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2. How Comcast bought the Democratic party. And how the Democratic party got their own propaganda network. And both employ the same Rev/Snitch. Funny that. 🙄
From NationalReview “The communications giant Comcast announced in February that it would buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, creating the largest cable provider in America, with more than 33 million customers. That is about one third of the U.S. cable- and satellite-television market. FCC approval is required for the merger to go into effect. Critics of the deal say it would lessen competition and lead to even shoddier customer service. They are probably right, as all of us will soon find out, because there is little chance the merger will be stopped. Comcast, Time Warner, and their political fixers have spent years preparing for this moment — by buying off the Democratic party.
Comcast, which employs more than 100 lobbyists, spent almost $19 million last year on lobbying activities. Its president and CEO, Brian L. Roberts, is a golf buddy of President Obama’s, and a Democratic donor who has contributed thousands of dollars not only to the president’s campaigns, but also to the Democratic party of Pennsylvania, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the DNC Services Corporation, and to Steny Hoyer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Bob Casey. Roberts’s executive vice president, David Cohen, is a former aide to Democratic bigwig Ed Rendell. Cohen skirts lobbying regulations through loopholes, has raised more than $2 million for Obama since 2007, and in 2011 hosted a DNC fundraiser at which the president called him “friend.” Cohen has visited the White House 14 times since 2010, including two visits to the Oval Office. He attended the recent dinner for President Hollande of France.
Cohen plays a major role in the Comcast Foundation, which has disbursed more than $3 billion since 2001, primarily to “groups that serve African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians” and other segments of the Democratic coalition. You will be surprised to learn that many of the groups to whom the Comcast Foundation has donated now support the proposed merger. Of the $33 million Comcast has spent on political campaigns since 1989, more than half, or some $18 million, has gone to Democrats. Barack Obama is No. 1 on the list of the top ten recipients of Comcast’s largesse. There are four Republicans on the list.
Comcast’s in-kind contributions to the Democratic party are more difficult to calculate. In a media environment that already tilts leftward, the NBC networks, which Comcast owns, distinguish themselves as especially pro-Obama. Comcast has one channel, MSNBC, which is almost entirely devoted to furthering the president’s agenda and the broader priorities of the American progressive movement. How do you put a price on the contributions of the invaluable Ed, Al, Chris, Chris, Rachel, and Lawrence? Where would the Democratic party be today without The Reid Report? They give so much.”
Here’s one example of the way these relationships work.
From Politico “At 9:00 a.m., MSNBC.com publishes an “exclusive first look” at a new video from the Democratic National Committee, in which Vice President Joe Biden urges Dems to stand up for voting rights.
At 9:04 a.m., the Democratic National Committee’s communications director retweets MSNBC’s tweets about the article and, over the course of the next hour, tweets more links to the MSNBC article. Other DNC operatives do the same.
At 9:23 a.m., the Democratic National Committee sends a blast email to reporters promoting the piece. There’s no additional language here: just an embedded video and the text of the article, copy and pasted.
In other words, the DNC had a video it wanted to promote. But knowing how often reporters overlook or ignore press releases, the DNC likely figured the video would have more reach — and seem more legitimate — if a news organization was already reporting on it. In MSNBC, a liberal outlet, it found a receptive audience.”
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3. Obama’s magic pen is at it again. Once again though, it’s only on federal contracts, so mostly meaningless.
From Politico “At the White House on Tuesday, President Barack Obama will sign two executive actions on equal pay, as Senate Democrats move for a show vote this week on the Paycheck Fairness Act — launching Democrats’ first large-scale coordinated message effort ahead of this year’s midterms.
One of the new executive orders on Tuesday, Equal Pay Day, will prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their salaries — a move one White House official called “a critical tool to encourage pay transparency.”
“Obama will also sign a presidential memorandum instructing Labor Secretary Tom Perez to create new regulations requiring federal contractors to report salary summary data to the government, including sex and race breakdowns. The hope, according to the White House, is that this will encourage other employers to submit data voluntarily, enabling more targeted government enforcement.”
I’ll translate that last part for ya. It will enable them to use your company data to shake you down, with the threat of lawsuits, in order to change your racist and sexist ways, that you didn’t even know you had. A solution seeking a problem.
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4. Something to keep in mind as tax day approaches.
From TheDailyCaller “The day when the nation collectively has made enough money to pay its total tax burden for the year is three days later this year, according to a new report.
According to a report released Monday by the Tax Foundation, this year Tax Freedom Day falls 111 days into 2014, on April 21.
By April 21, to group says, Americans will have made enough to pay the $3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state taxes — more than they will spend on food clothing and housing combined.”
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5. Yet another reason to homeschool.
From Chicago/CBSLocal “An alarming number of instances of inappropriate sexual behavior among middle school students appear to be going unnoticed by teachers and other adults, a new study concludes.
The study, written by three University of Illinois researchers, found that 21 percent of the students in the survey experienced some form of physical sexual harassment.
The students reported instances like being slapped on the buttocks, being rubbed against their bodies sexually or being forced to kiss another student.
Much of the behavior happened in open areas, most commonly in the hallways, classrooms or gymnasiums.”
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Wandering Views 
Every year there are more reasons to homeschool.
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I know someone else mentioned something similar, but we got our tax stuff back from our accountant and see a $50 “Affordable Care Act Surcharge.” What the heck?
The fee was not included on our return but as part of what we paid the accountant, so I’m assuming it’s something he paid (for us) directly to someone. Does everyone have to pay this? Does everyone who filed their taxes know about it?
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Linda,
From what I’ve read, there’s not an official tax, but many rest. and other companies are adding them to their bills to cover additional costs that employers will have to pay.
The way I see it is it’s the responsibility of the company and employees to cover these costs, not the public. If you add it on to me, you just lost a customer.
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You know I admire many of Putin’s actions, but comparing him with the great Robert E. Lee is going too far.
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Ha. A bridge too far. Even rickyweaver’s drawn a line in the sand now. 🙂 🙂
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the real AJ
“The way I see it is it’s the responsibility of the company and employees to cover these costs, not the public. If you add it on to me, you just lost a customer.”
For me, putting this additional note on a bill is a plus. No matter whose responsibility it is to pay a bill the ultimate responsibility lies with Obama and those scoundrels in Congress who passed the bill before they could even read the bill.
It is good to let the goose know who the cooks are.
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A lady called Rush today. She was angry.
“if they nominate another Bush in 2016, I and lots of others like ma are staying home”.
That’s how we got Obama.
You think Romney would be as bad as Obama?
You think Jeb would be as bad as Hillary?
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Chas: Short term, not as bad. Long term, worse.
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If the US is the Titanic, New England and California are already underwater. However, Mississippi is the bow and she is still high above the sea and she isn’t going down without a fight.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/mississippi-sex-ed_n_5110538.html
Hurrah for Dixie!
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It couldn’t have been worse. Obama had done irreversible damage. Bush didn’t help because he didn’t veto any of the bills the Democrats passed, he didn’t initiate any of it.
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Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind. Little Bush had a Republican House for 6 years and a Republican Senate for 4 years. He turned conservatives into big spenders like himself. He was an unmitigated disaster and the worst President since LBJ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_policy_of_the_George_W._Bush_administration
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1. Internet comments are a horrible barometer. People are motivated by the negative so critical comments will dominate. Perhaps when activists are alerted that mozillia is getting negative feedback so they will alert their friends and then they will flood the comment boxes with positive feedback and then eventually someone will end the conversation with “Hitler” and hopefully people realize how meaningless it all is.
2. Comcast appears to be covering their basis — only 6 in the top 10 are Democrats and its an 18 to 15 million split. If the presidency was Republican the numbers would shift slightly the other way. Its a good indication of what counts in American government and its not the voter or the citizen but the corporate giants and you can thank the Supreme Court for ensuring that it will probably stay that way.
MSNBC deliberately tilts in the opposing direction. This is a business decision. The idea is simple with FOX obviously tilted to the Republican side and with CNN waffling why not establish a network obviously tilted to the Democrats. I seriously doubt Comcast cares one way or the other which way MSNBC leans as long as it brings home a profit. The Democratic/MSNBC playbook was copied from the Republican/FOX … its nothing new and as a business model it may have some success. But lets not pretend its anything more than a business model.
5. those numbers are not all that shocking. In fact, in reading the article only 19% claim to be the victims of verbal abuse or gossip. That number is actually lower than I would think. I’ve seen other surveys which cite 33% to 50%, it depends on how the question is phrased.
linda — I would find a new accountant. The tax act has been changed and he’s using public confusion and anger to add a new charge. Accountants shouldn’t charge extra for every time the tax act changes. If AJ and I actually agree then its probably a good idea.
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given bush jr and Reagan had many of the same persons in their administrations shouldn’t we say worst president since Reagan
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Why raising the minimum wage is a good idea.
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HRW, Here are the members of Reagan’s cabinet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Reagan_administration_cabinet_members
Tell me how many of them served under Little Bush.
What socialists don’t understand is that Reaganites and Bushies never liked or trusted each other. Bushies saw Reaganites as right-wing extremists. Reaganites saw Bushies as people who have your beliefs and values, but belonged to a country club.
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This is why SolarPancake and I believe the Republicans are worse than useless:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/feb/14/national-republican-congressional-committee/nrcc-says-obamacare-cuts-money-medicare-and-senior/
Included in all the socialism, regulation, restraint of freedom, welfare and idiocy that is Obamacare are a few good things: Medicare cuts. Medicare and Medicaid are what is bankrupting the country. They are why our healthcare costs are so high. However, Republicans see they can make political hay by attacking these cuts.
If the Rs nominate another Bush, a bunch of people will vote libertarian.
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