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News/Politics 11-19-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. A better question is why hasn’t the White House done the same?

From CNSNews  “A State Department spokesman said Monday the administration was seeking clarity from the United Arab Emirates over its decision to list two American Muslim groups as terrorist organizations.

Spokesman Jeff Rathke seemed unaware that one of the two groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has long been engaged in outreach programs with the U.S. government.

He said the administration was “seeking to gain more information on why” the UAE had included include CAIR and the Muslim American Society (MAS) on the list. Others among the more than 80 groups listed ranged from the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda affiliates and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL).

CAIR and MAS have expressed shock at the move, with MAS saying it would look to the U.S. government to help.”

Which they will because they call them advisers instead of what they are.

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2. Here’s yet another example of Obama’s clueless foreign policy.

From TheFreeBeacon  “Last month in Juba, the capital of the relatively new nation of South Sudan, a small motorcade carrying the U.S. ambassador got entangled with a larger convoy ferrying a senior government official. Frustrated with the delay, a soldier in the South Sudanese convoy got out of his truck, fired two shots into the bulletproof glass of one of the embassy vehicles, and rejoined his own motorcade, which drove away.

So it goes in Juba. Since last December, when an coup allegedly perpetrated against the country’s Dinka president by his Nuer vice president led to Dinka troops going house-to-house in Juba, murdering men, women and children and trucking their bodies out to the bush, a civil war has been underway. The fighting calmed through much of the middle of 2014, but the dry season has arrived. Traditionally in South Sudan, negotiating is for the wet season, and fighting renews at its conclusion.

To get a sense of scale, consider that researchers at the International Crisis Group estimate that at least 50,000 men, women, and children have died in the hostilities thus far. That’s the minimum estimate. To get the flavor of the nightmarish, madcap nature of the conflict, take a look at this report from VICE News, where the correspondent accompanies government (Dinka) troops to the front lines as they mount an amateurish offensive against the Nuer rebels, who promptly rout them.”

“American policy towards South Sudan is a disaster—such that there is a policy at all. When decisions come, they come—as is the case in most conflicts where American diplomats and soldiers are involved today—from the very top, with policy micromanaged from the offices of Susan Rice and Samantha Power. In terms of meaningful action, the policy has involved the levying of travel and financial sanctions on mid-level commanders and suspected human rights abusers, who must have been devastated when word arrived at their swamp redoubts beside the upper Nile that they are no longer permitted to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to sanctions, much hope has been invested in the ability of a regional coalition of neighboring states, organized as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development—IGAD, inauspiciously pronounced as Egad!—to broker a deal between the Dinka and the Nuer, the two tribal networks doing the fighting. IGAD includes among its members Uganda, which has troops in South Sudan backing the government-aligned Dinka, and Sudan, which is widely believed to be backing the rebel Nuers in an effort to act as a spoiler in its recently surrendered territory.”

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3. How to stop Obama’s amnesty plan.

From Bloomberg  “There’s no evidence that any president, up to and including Barack Obama earlier in his tenure, ever thought that it would be proper to grant legal status to several million illegal immigrants unilaterally. Yet the president appears likely to do so very soon.

If that weren’t sufficiently outrageous as a constitutional matter, Obama’s stated rationale is worse. He is acting, he says, because Congress has not. It shouldn’t need to be explained that the refusal of Congress to pass legislation to the president’s liking isn’t a breakdown of the system that justifies an extraordinary presidential act.

The judgment that this diktat is improper doesn’t depend on the judgment that the policy Obama wants to impose is in itself wrong. I believe that the government should eventually grant legal status to most illegal immigrants — I’d even be happy to call it an “amnesty” — after it’s clear that immigration laws will be enforced at the border and the workplace going forward.”

“There could be a way out of this for Republicans. First, they should remember that in a democracy, even one that’s not working the way it should, argument and denunciation are never the same thing as “doing nothing.” Elected officials who disagree strongly with the president’s action should criticize it and try to make the president and his allies pay a political price for it.

But there may be more they can do. Why not try to pass a funding bill that pays for all of the operations of the federal government except for Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency in the Homeland Security Department that would carry out Obama’s order? They could then try to pass another bill that just funds that agency — but with a restriction saying no money can be used for the president’s amnesty.”

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4. Who’s the man? Well Gruber was, but not so much now….

From TheFreeBeacon  “Former Obama administration official Steve Rattner said Jonathan Gruber was “the man” putting together Obamacare, contradicting President Obama’s statement that Gruber was merely “some advisor who never worked on our staff.”

“If you go back and look at the Washington Post or the New York Times or anything from that period, you will find Jonathan Gruber’s name all over it,” Rattner said. “Someone who’s a leading expert on health care, quoted by everybody, as someone who the White House was using.””

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5. An “Innocence Project” that helps convict innocent men? Talk about false advertising.

From FoxNews  “Alstory Simon has always considered himself a forgiving person, but after being tricked into confessing to a double murder and spending 15 years in prison, he finds it hard to turn the other cheek.

In a case fraught with irony, Simon’s bitterness is directed at the Medill Innocence Project, an advocacy group dedicated to freeing innocent people. It was that group that he, and now prosecutors, accused of using threats, trickery and false promises to get a crack-addled Simon to say he killed two teens in a Chicago park in 1982. The confession of Simon led to his conviction and death sentence, but it also freed another man from death row and prompted Illinois to end capital punishment — ultimately sparing Simon himself from execution. “

“Members of the group, which was led by former Northwestern University Journalism Professor David Protess and included several students and a private investigator, confronted Simon in his home in 1999, telling him the mother of one of the victims had placed him with Porter at the scene and telling him they were working on a book about the murders.

“The Innocence Project had bum-rushed my house and accused me of murder,” recalled Simon, who was battling a drug problem at the time.

Simon denied any involvement in the murders, but the group persisted. Days later, it sent private investigator Paul Ciclino and another man to Simon’s home, with both flashing guns and Chicago Police Department badges. They urged Simon to confess if he wanted to avoid the death penalty, according to Simon.”

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6. And here I thought we didn’t negotiate with terrorists?

From TheWashingtonPost  “Following weeks of intense negotiations, local police officials and Ferguson protesters have agreed to a dozen policies for how any future protests will be policed — but have yet to reach consensus over whether tear gas and riot gear will be used or whether the protesters will get advance notice of when the grand jury will announce its decision regarding Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson.

The negotiations have centered on 19 “Rules of Engagement” proposed by a coalition of 50 community and civil rights groups in an effort to avoid the violent clashes that brought worldwide attention to Ferguson after the shooting of a black teenager in August.

The list is largely a docket of best police practices, such as “the first priority shall be preservation of human life” and “excessive force and other forms of police misconduct will not be tolerated.” In general, protesters have agreed to peaceful demonstrations if police don’t interfere, while police have agreed to respect demonstrators’ right to assemble as long as there is no violence. ​

Negotiations on Tuesday continued to stall, however, over seven of the proposals, including the coalition’s request to give protesters 48 hours’ notice prior to the grand jury announcement.”

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News/Politics 11-18-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Obama’s 10 point amnesty plan.

But hey, at least they’re gonna spend some on border security….allegedly. 🙄

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2. I wasn’t even aware we had a court like this. But like all the others, it’s govt. run, so delays and inefficiency are to be expected. And isn’t this kind of an admission that some of these might be unsafe for kids?

From TheAP  “While Jeffrey’s injuries were devastating, his parents were told they might not have to bear the costs alone. The doctor explained that Jeffrey could apply for lifelong care paid for by the federal government. The program’s premise is simple: quickly and generously support people in the rare cases when a shot to prevent a sickness such as flu or measles instead is the likely cause of serious health complications.

But 11 years would pass before the McCord family would receive its first check.”

“To investigate vaccine court in depth, the AP read hundreds of decisions, conducted more than 100 interviews, and analyzed a database of more than 14,500 cases. That database was current as of January 2013; the government has refused to release an updated version since. Among the AP’s findings:

-Private attorneys have been paid tens of millions of taxpayer dollars even as they clog the court with more cases than they can handle, some of which the court rejected as totally inadequate. The court offers a financial incentive to over-file – unlike typical civil court cases, attorneys are paid whether or not they win, as was the case with more than 5,000 losing claims that vaccines caused the developmental disability autism. Those who double-bill for their time or consistently submit questionable expenses are not disciplined.

– Prominent attorneys have enlisted expert witnesses whose own work has been widely discredited, including one who treated autism with a potent drug used to chemically castrate serial rapists. Another doctor cribbed his material from an anti-vaccine website. Some of the most prominent experts set up nonprofits questioning vaccine safety, further fueling public skepticism. Meanwhile, many doctors hired by the government to defend vaccine safety in court have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.”

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3. More waste, fraud, and abuse of the food stamp program.

From TheFreeBeacon  “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued over $2.4 billion in improper payments on food stamps in fiscal year 2014, according to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).”

“In addition, 15.25 percent of payments through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) were improper, totaling $1.748 billion. Thirty million children participate in the program, including 21 million who receive free or reduced price lunch from the federal government.

The school breakfast program accounted for $923 million in improper payments, with a rate of 25.61 percent, the highest reported. The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program issued $206 million improper payments, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides food and snacks to day cares, issued $10 million worth of improper payments.

In all, the OIG reported $5.325 billion in improper payments from these five programs, the vast majority of which were overpayments.”

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News/Politics 11-17-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The case against executive action amnesty, from President Obama’s own mouth.

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2. And yet…..

From CNSNews  “The Obama administration announced on Friday a plan to create a new refugee/parole program for children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras whose parents are legal residents of the United States.

“This program will allow certain parents who are lawfully present in the United States to request access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for their children still in one of these three countries,” the State Department said in a news release. The department added that “[c]hildren who are found ineligible for refugee admission but still at risk of harm may be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis.”

The State Department said the new, in-country program is a “safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are currently undertaking to the United States.””

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3. His plans are definitely taking a toll on ICE workers.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Morale among officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, already low, has reached a new bottom as illegal immigrants expecting amnesty from President Obama taunt and ridicule the overworked officers, according to a new report.

“Yes,” said one, “working for this agency is hell right now.”

That was the latest message to immigration policy critic Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. She has charted the woes of the officers who carry out the president’s orders.

In a new paper, she wrote:

“The president’s gradual, calculated dismantling of our immigration system has caused morale to plummet in the agencies of the Department of Homeland Security. Career immigration officials have courageously objected in public, and sometimes resorted to lawsuits to draw attention to the administration’s subversion of the law. In denial about their principled objections to his scheme, now the president is hoping to stifle their voices by offering them a pay increase as part of this outrageous plan. His assumption that they are motivated by money shows just how little respect he has for the men and women who have devoted their careers to public service in immigration.”

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4. Is your state fudging the numbers?

From FoxNews  “America’s red ink runs much deeper than you think. 

Aside from the nearly $18 trillion national debt, many state governments are looking at future budgets that are trillions of dollars in the red. And they’ve hidden the numbers by dramatically under-reporting that debt, according to a new report by the think tank State Budget Solutions. 

The group looked at what are known as “unfunded liabilities” — or debt states will owe down the road. It found a number of states are fudging their numbers — big-time — using tricks like assuming their stock investments will soar. 

The book-cooking could mean bad news for public pensions and other programs that rely on these budgets. The report finds that, nationwide, states have unfunded liabilities of nearly $5 trillion, or $15,000 per American (even though the states allegedly low-ball that number at $2.7 trillion).”

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5. More overreach from more govt. agencies under Obama.

From TheNYTimes  “The federal government has significantly expanded undercover operations in recent years, with officers from at least 40 agencies posing as business people, welfare recipients, political protesters and even doctors or ministers to ferret out wrongdoing, records and interviews show.

At the Supreme Court, small teams of undercover officers dress as students at large demonstrations outside the courthouse and join the protests to look for suspicious activity, according to officials familiar with the practice.

At the Internal Revenue Service, dozens of undercover agents chase suspected tax evaders worldwide, by posing as tax preparers, accountants drug dealers or yacht buyers and more, court records show.

At the Agriculture Department, more than 100 undercover agents pose as food stamp recipients at thousands of neighborhood stores to spot suspicious vendors and fraud, officials said.

Undercover work, inherently invasive and sometimes dangerous, was once largely the domain of the F.B.I. and a few other law enforcement agencies at the federal level. But outside public view, changes in policies and tactics over the last decade have resulted in undercover teams run by agencies in virtually every corner of the federal government, according to officials, former agents and documents.”

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News/Politics 11-14-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. You say veered left. I say returned to his comfort zone.

From TheHill  “President Obama has taken significant steps to the left since his party’s devastating losses in the midterm elections.

In a surprise, he announced a major deal on climate change with China during a trip to Beijing Tuesday. That followed another unanticipated move — a Monday statement pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new net neutrality rules for the Internet. 

The moves are helping to rally a dispirited Democratic base while re-establishing Obama’s political leadership after he was sidelined during the midterms.”

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2. The Army continues to purge middle management.

From TheNYTimes  “For all the insecurities of war, Capt. Elder Saintjuste always figured the one thing he could count on from the Army was job security.

A Haitian immigrant who enlisted as a teenager, he deployed three times to Iraq, missing so many birthdays and Christmases that he sometimes felt he barely knew his four children. He hid symptoms of post-traumatic stress so he could stay in the Army, because he loved his job and believed that after 20 years he could retire with a captain’s pension.

Then this summer, on the day Captain Saintjuste reached his 20 years, the Army told him that as part of the postwar downsizing of the force he would have to retire. And adding insult to injury, he would have to retire as a sergeant, earning $1,200 less per month, because he had not been a captain long enough to receive a captain’s pension.”

“The cuts have largely come through attrition and reductions in recruiting, and have, so far, mostly affected low-ranking enlisted soldiers who have served only a few years. But this summer, the cuts fell on officers as well, 1,188 captains and 550 majors, many who were clearly intending on making a career of the military. More are expected to lose their jobs next year.

And for reasons the Army has not explained, the largest group of officers being pushed out — nearly one in five — began as enlisted soldiers.”

They’re also the ones who make the best officers in my opinion. They seem to connect with their troops in a way that officers never in the enlisted ranks don’t, at least in my experiences.

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3. I hope he’s successful. But given the PC stupidity running wild in the military now, you never know.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “The Army is moving to discharge a decorated combat pilot who intervened to stop two lesbian officers from showing what he considered inappropriate affection on the dance floor during a full-dress formal ball at Fort Drum, New York, in 2012.

Lt. Col. Christopher Downey, who was once assigned to the White House and completed tours in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, ended up being convicted administratively of assaulting a soldier trying to videotape the kissing and grabbing. Col. Downey’s attorney, Richard Thompson, says his client merely pushed down the camera to prevent photos and video that could end up on social media. Mr. Thompson said Col. Downey’s commanding officer also convicted him of violating the directive that ended the ban on gays openly serving in the military.

Col. Downey won early battle with the Army last year. A special three-officer “show cause” board reviewed the punishment and unanimously ruled that the evidence showed he did not violate Army rules.

“The allegation of conduct unbecoming an officer … is not supported by the preponderance of the evidence,” the board wrote. “The findings do not warrant separation.””

“Yet Col. Downey still faces separation by an Army forced-retirement board that began meeting this week.”

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4. Huh. Yet the President keeps insisting illegals are not eligible for ObamaCare. 🙄 Yet another lie.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Immigrants and their U.S.-born children make up more than 40 percent of new Medicaid recipients at a cost of $4.6 billion, according to an analysis of government data.

The Center for Immigration Studies, a low-immigration advocacy group, released a report early Thursday that found both legal and illegal immigrants and their minor children made up 42 percent of Medicaid growth from 2011 to last year.

Part of the increased enrollment came as a result of the new healthcare law’s expansion of Medicaid to impoverished and low-income adults.”

““The high rate and significant growth in Medicaid associated with immigrants is mainly the result of a legal immigration system that admits large numbers of immigrants with relatively low-levels of education, many of whom end up poor and uninsured,” the report says. “This fact, coupled with the extensive supports we provide to low-income residents, unavoidably creates very significant costs for taxpayers.””

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5. Wow. Abuse your power for personal gain much Governor? 🙄

From HotAir  “Lame duck season is often seen as a boring, slow time for punditry, but there are lots of fun stories which crop up if you know where to look. For one thing, this is the season when Governors frequently take on the prickly problem of whether or not to issue rafts of pardons and sentence commutations before they head out the door. One of the first such stories to emerge comes out of Arkansas, where Governor Mike Beebe is packing his bags, being term limited out of office. But before he goes, he may have one special gift… for his own son.

Outgoing Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday he plans to pardon his son’s felony marijuana conviction, arguing he deserves the same second chance as hundreds of other nonviolent offenders.

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the two-term Democratic governor would pardon Kyle Beebe, 34, who was convicted in 2003 of felony marijuana possession with intent to deliver. DeCample said the governor planned to formally announce his intent to pardon his son in early December.

Bebee doesn’t look like he has any (realistic) national aspirations at this point, so he probably doesn’t have to worry too much about this. Further, this is one of those non-violent pot related crimes which are under scrutiny at a national level. (Though to be fair, this was an intent to deal bust, not just some kid with a couple of joints in his glove box.)”

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News/Politics 11-13-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Looks like the President is once again going to ignore the will of the American people.

From FoxNews  “President Obama is planning to unveil a 10-part plan for overhauling U.S. immigration policy via executive action — including suspending deportations for millions — as early as next Friday, a source close to the White House told Fox News. 

The president’s plans were contained in a draft proposal from a U.S. government agency. The source said the plan could be announced as early as Nov. 21, though the date might slip a few days pending final White House approval. 

Obama was briefed at the White House by Homeland Security officials before leaving on his Asia-Pacific trip last week, Fox News has learned.”

“The plan calls for expanding deferred action for illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — but also for the parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. The latter could allow upwards of 4.5 million illegal immigrant adults with U.S.-born children to stay, according to estimates.”

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2. Add another to the list of Democrat losses.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Dan Sullivan has defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the Alaska Senate race, the Associated Press reported late Tuesday evening.

The Republican challenger led by more than 8,000 votes with 100 percent of precincts reporting the day after last week’s midterm elections. The AP had been waiting on Alaska to begin counting more than 53,000 absentee, early-voting and questioned ballots.”

“But Alaska officials counted roughly 20,000 votes on Tuesday, and Sullivan’s lead remained at about 7,900 votes.”

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3. Oh look, ACORN is back (again) and instigating in Ferguson.

From AmericanThinker  “Ferguson’s Don’t Shoot Coalition members are supplemented by professional social activists, from in, and outside, Missouri.

Two such groups are profiled below – one that is a member of the coalition, and one from outside Missouri that saw the crisis in Ferguson as an opportunity to “accelerated the quest for social justice.”

“But Hands Up United has a vision that “means an end to state sponsored violence, including the excessive use of force by law enforcement. We are committed to an America that comes to terms with the trauma of its painful history and finds true reconciliation for it.  Mass incarceration and the criminalization of black and brown people must forever end, leaving in its place a culture that embraces our histories and stories.  This means an end to racial bias and white supremacy in all its forms.”

“MORE’s Form 990’s for 2010-2012 list annual gross revenues for those three years as $90,943, $127,308 and $333,896. On the 2012 Form 990, Jeffery Ordower is listed as the unpaid Executive Director and Secretary. A phone call to MORE confirms Ordower is still the group’s Executive Director.

On September 28, 2009, a 24thstate.com article, entitled “‘Show Me’ The ACORN CEO’s Rolodex,” identified Ordower as the Midwest Regional Director for ACORN, based in St Louis.”

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4. Why college isn’t for everyone.

“The funny thing is: Every time the federal government increases the amount of money that college students can borrow, college tuition goes up. But teaching isn’t a commodity like oil or wheat or steel whose actual value goes up and down due to market forces.

Standing in front of kids and twice a week and teaching them that America is responsible for everything bad that’s ever happened in the world—and anyone who has the audacity to disagree with a college professor is completely evil—pretty much costs the same year in and year out.”

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News/Politics 11-12-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. As the grand jury decision approaches, businesses and authorities are preparing for the worst.

From YahooNews  “Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said on Tuesday the National Guard would be on standby to respond to any violence after a grand jury decides whether or not to indict a white police officer for shooting dead an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson.

In addition to the National Guard, police officers from across the state could be called on to restore order if protests get out of hand, Nixon told a news conference.”

“”These measures are not being taken because we are convinced that violence will occur, but because we have a responsibility to prepare for any contingency,” he said.”

“Some businesses in Ferguson have boarded up windows and made plans for protecting themselves and their property if protests ignite into violence.”

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2. Political donations prove liberal bias dominates American culture.

From CapitalCityProject  “Conservatives have long believed American culture is entrenched with a liberal bias, only to be scoffed at and called paranoid. However, three new charts dealing with political donations from academia, media, and Hollywood prove this to be the case.

Business Insider was provided a data set of federal campaign contributions dating all the way back to 1980, making the sample size considerable. The data set confirms that media, academia, and the entertainment industry are some of the most liberal professions in America. The findings were provided by CROWDPAC, a non-partisan analytics firm based out of California.

“In compiling all this data, and building these tools, we have the opportunity to shine some light on the political system and reveal some interesting insights and trends,” Crowdpac CEO Steve Hilton said of the findings. “For example, our real data conforms with the claims that have been circulated about the extremely liberal profile of the entertainment and media sectors.””

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3. And Harry has the nerve to whine about the Koch brothers…..

From TheFreeBeacon  “The network of political and policy groups backed by the shadowy liberal donor club the Democracy Alliance was responsible for more than one of every three dollars spent by super PACs during the 2014 election cycle, public records show.

Members of the Democracy Alliance network that disclose political spending dropped more than $250 million on the midterms, according to data reported to the Federal Election Commission.

That included more than $180 million in expenditures by super PACs, more than a third of the $515 million spent by all such groups during the 2014 election cycle.

The groups’ extensive involvement in Democrats’ political efforts undercuts common media characterizations of the Democracy Alliance, which generally present the array of groups it supports as less involved in electioneering than those of similar collaborative donor networks on the right.

Such reports frequently downplay the scale of the Democracy Alliance network, commonly reported as consisting of fewer than two dozen organizations.”

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 4. This is getting out of hand. They’re abusing these laws for profit. Since when is law enforcement a for profit business?

From MSN.com  “The seminars offered police officers some useful tips on seizing property from suspected criminals. Don’t bother with jewelry (too hard to dispose of) and computers (“everybody’s got one already”), the experts counseled. Do go after flat screen TVs, cash and cars. Especially nice cars.

In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S. Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M., called them “little goodies.” And then Mr. Connelly described how officers in his jurisdiction could not wait to seize one man’s “exotic vehicle” outside a local bar.

“A guy drives up in a 2008 Mercedes, brand new,” he explained. “Just so beautiful, I mean, the cops were undercover and they were just like ‘Ahhhh.’ And he gets out and he’s just reeking of alcohol. And it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.’ ”

Mr. Connelly was talking about a practice known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows the government, without ever securing a conviction or even filing a criminal charge, to seize property suspected of having ties to crime. The practice, expanded during the war on drugs in the 1980s, has become a staple of law enforcement agencies because it helps finance their work. It is difficult to tell how much has been seized by state and local law enforcement, but under a Justice Department program, the value of assets seized has ballooned to $4.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year from $407 million in 2001. Much of that money is shared with local police forces.

The practice of civil forfeiture has come under fire in recent months, amid a spate of negative press reports and growing outrage among civil rights advocates, libertarians and members of Congress who have raised serious questions about the fairness of the practice, which critics say runs roughshod over due process rights. In one oft-cited case, a Philadelphia couple’s home was seized after their son made $40 worth of drug sales on the porch. Despite that opposition, many cities and states are moving to expand civil seizures of cars and other assets. The seminars, some of which were captured on video, raise a curtain on how law enforcement officials view the practice.”

They view it as a cash cow.

Is it just me, or does this DoJ seem to be run like an organized crime outfit?

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5. Why is it OK to be racist if you’re supposedly doing it to fight racism? Isn’t it bad all the time?

From TheDailyCaller  “Minneapolis Public Schools are implementing a new policy aimed at eliminating the gap between the races when it comes to suspensions. Nothing will change for white students, they will still be suspended at the discretion of each school’s principal. But for minority students, specifically black, Hispanic and Native American students, the Minneapolis Schools Superintendent’s office will personally review each case.

This new policy is part of an agreement with U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced last week after an investigation into why minority students made up such a high percentage suspended students in the past.

Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson told NPR, “I and all of my staff will start to review all non-violent suspensions of students of color, especially black boys, to understand why they’re being suspended so we can help intervene with teachers, student leaders and help give them the targeted support they need for these students.”

In a press release announcing the new policy, which begins Monday, Johnson’s office said, “Moving forward, every suspension of a black or brown student will be reviewed by the superintendent’s leadership team. The school district aims to more deeply understand the circumstances of suspensions with the goal of providing greater supports to the school, student or family in need. This team could choose to bring in additional resources for the student, family and school.””

The DoJ is doing this nationwide. Look for more to come.

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6. This isn’t surprising, and neither is the reaction to it within this “community.”

CONTENT WARNING!!! for adult subject matter.

From TheFederalist  “Our culture seems pretty much “to each his own” when it comes to elective bodily mutilation and the regret thereof. And there’s a lot of regret out there. According to a British poll, a whopping 65 percent of those who’ve had various cosmetic surgeries regret it. People who regret their tattoos, plastic surgery, or more extreme body modifications (here’s a sad Buzzfeed pictorial on the effects of ear gauges) can read up on the Internet and find an open array of remedies. Plastic surgeons make money both puttin’ it in and takin’ it out.

Hollywood stars can speak openly about misgivings over their boob jobs and whatnot. Regarding her lip enhancement surgery, Courtney Love said: “I just want the mouth God gave me back.”

But the difference between Love and the guy with phantom &%#@$ syndrome is that the guy isn’t allowed to talk about his regret. Not openly. The transgender lobby actively polices and suppresses discussion of sex-change regret, and claims it’s rare (no more than “5 percent.”) However, if you do decide to “de-transition” to once again identify with the sex in your DNA, talking about it will get you targeted by trans activists. So it’s a challenge to understand the scope of regret for sex change surgery. It’s out there, but…”

“Finch went on to sue the Australian gender identity clinic at Melbourne’s Monash Medical Center for misdiagnosis. He also was involved in starting an outreach to others called “Gender Menders.” The reaction from the transgender community was fast, furious, and abusive, particularly in the Susans.org discussion forum as described in Sheila Jeffrey’s book, “Gender Hurts.”

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News/Politics 11-11-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Great, just what we need. Now they will improve the internet like they did health insurance. I wonder if we’ll pay more too, so that others can have it for free?

From CNet  “President Obama urged the US government to adopt tighter regulations on broadband service in an effort to preserve “a free and open Internet.”

In a statement released Monday, Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to enforce the principle of treating all Internet traffic the same way, known in shorthand as Net neutrality. That means treating broadband services like utilities, the president said, so that Internet service providers would be unable “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.”

Obama wades into a contentious debate that has raged over how to treat Internet traffic, which has only heated up as the FCC works to prepare an official guideline. Those rules were expected to be made available later this year, though reports now claim they may be delayed until early 2015. The debate has centered on whether broadband should be placed under Title II regulation under the Telecommunications Act, which already tightly controls phone services.”

And of course they plan new taxes, because that’s what Democrats do.

More here from Forbes  “American politicians of all stripes clearly see and oppose the abuses of the Internet abroad. But our government officials are not aware that the Federal Communications Commission, without statutory authority, is proposing to expand its taxation and regulation of the Internet.

The relationship between the Internet and government has become a useful barometer of personal and economic freedom. Oppressive governments use the Internet to oppress political enemies, censor ideas, and spy on citizens.  The United Nations and other international organizations see the Internet as an untapped opportunity for tax revenues and regulations to support political favorites.

Of course Congress can and does pass symbolic laws to protect the Internet, such as the recent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act that prohibits new state and local taxes on broadband access. Congress is eager to block state and local tax collection on the Internet on the reasonable theory that taxes will harm the Internet, one of the few engines of growth in our otherwise recession-prone economy.

Yet Congress is oblivious to Federal Communications Commission efforts to undermine the spirit if not the letter of ITFA by extending substantial new federal fees on broadband access. These fees could be as harmful, if not more so, than any that state and local governments might imagine. Yet many in Congress, unaware of the fees that might be applied to the Internet, applaud the FCC.”

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2. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Well what did you expect when Sharpton made the pick?

From ABCNews  “President Obama has said he’s “confident” that his nominee to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder “will get confirmed by the Senate.”

But a look at where Loretta Lynch, the federal prosecutor out of Brooklyn, N.Y., has fallen on some of the more controversial issues dogging Holder for years suggests the confirmation process may be a bit bumpy. She and Holder seem to be eye-to-eye on many of the issues that made him such a lightning rod for Republican criticism.”

She’s obsessed with race too.

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3. Big Brother is watching…. your Tweets. And they’re using them to squash/suspend the rights of conservatives.

From TheFreeBeacon  “The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee sent a letter to the head of the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Monday, demanding answers about the origins of the nearly $1 million taxpayer-funded project to track “misinformation” on Twitter.

The Truthy project, being conducted by researchers at Indiana University, is under investigation for targeting political commentary on Twitter. The project monitors “suspicious memes,” “false and misleading ideas,” and “hate speech,” with a goal of one day being able to automatically detect false rumors on the social media platform.

The web service has been used to track tweets using hashtags such as #tcot (Top Conservatives on Twitter), and was successful in getting accounts associated with conservatives suspended, according to a 2012 book co-authored by the project’s lead researcher, Filippo Menczer, a professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University.

Menczer has also said that Truthy monitored tweets using #p2 (Progressive 2.0), but did not discuss any examples of getting liberal accounts suspended in his book.”

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4. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Also from TheFreeBeacon  “More than 80 wounded U.S. combat veterans and their families have filed suit against several of the world’s largest banks, which they accuse of facilitating financial transfers on behalf of Iran that directly led to the killing and wounding of U.S. troops in Iraq, according to court documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The suit filed early Monday accuses multiple banks of “committing acts of international terrorism” by helping Iran fund and arm Iraqi terrorists who have killed scores of U.S. troops, according to the complaint.

More than 200 plaintiffs have signed onto the suit, which targets some of the largest international banks, including: HSBC Bank USA, Barclays, London’s Standard Chartered Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse, and London-based Bank Saderat.

The veterans argue that the banks helped Iran illegally move “billions of dollars” to terrorist entities that later targeted U.S. troops in attacks.

The suit alleges these banks are knowingly acting as key cogs in Iran’s efforts to evade U.S. sanctions and provide “material support” to Hezbollah and other terror groups, which, at Tehran’s behest, have carried out attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq.”

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by

News/Politics 11-10-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. I was just thinkin’ this would be the perfect guy to invite to the White House to discuss how to work with the GOP. 🙄

From Mediaite  “There’s obvious and then there’s painfully obvious. And in the case of Al Sharpton declaring that Tuesday’s resounding defeat for his party was not the fault of an unpopular president nor inept candidates, but of Hillary and Bill Clinton, it’s painfully obvious where the activist/host/liaison is getting his marching orders are coming from:

Valerie Jarrett.

As he’s enjoyed mentioning in the past, Sharpton has a direct line to the White House. He’s visited numerous times, trades daily emails with Ms. Jarrett. So when the Democrats went down in flames three days ago, guess who President Obama met with the next day? Not Mitch McConnell, not John Boehner, not DNC Chairwoman (for now) Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Instead, it’s was MSNBC’s ratings — challenged 6:00 p.m. host (along with other civil rights leaders), a White House official had confirmed. On the docket–because Sharpton is obviously an expert in all of these things — was Obamacare implementation, education and criminal justice. Speaking of criminal (in)justice, just what is Tawana Brawley up to these days?

Per the White House communication team: “The President also highlighted how we are looking forward to working with the leaders over the next two years to advance these and other crucial issues facing the country.”

It appears Sharpton must have been in the bathroom during the whole working-with-other-leaders part, as he proceeded to stage an upside down protest (seen here) of Republicans on his show yesterday.”

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2. Also over at MSNBC they have decided that the reason Democrats lost so bad is because they didn’t dumb down their message enough for you stupid voters.

From NewsBusters  “Appearing as a panelist on the November 6 Hardball, liberal talk show host Joe Madison offered his assessment for why Democrats lost the 2014 midterms: Liberals, being the intellectuals they are, talk above the heads of the average voter, rather than communicating their ideas in an accessible manner for the layman to understand. They need to “put it where the goats can get it,” as Madison’s grandfather would say.

Madison made his comments as part of a panel discussion in which Hardball host Chris Matthews lamented how Democrats, including Barack Obama, have not sold the American public on the economic rebound happening under the president’s watch.”

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3. Stop me if you’ve heard this joke before…..

From TheDailyCaller  “Bassem Masri hates the police, or “pigs” as he calls them. He supports the terrorist group Hamas and he hoped for Joan Rivers to “burn in hell” after her recent death because of the opinions she expressed about the ongoing fight between Israel and the Palestinians.

This is the man that the Department of Justice invited to a meeting to provide input on police reforms following the police shooting death of Michael Brown on Aug. 9.”

“He does not make clear which DOJ meeting he attended, but the timing coincides with a two-day event being held by the agency’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) division.

The stated goal of that meeting, which was closed to the press, is to “build trust and strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve is the first of several regional collaborative reform trainings on law enforcement strategies and best practices.””

Was he Sharpton approved?

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4. Not surprising.

From DefenseOne  “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has just a 26 percent approval rating among individuals currently serving within the national security community, according to findings from a new survey commissioned by Defense One.

The findings come as scrutiny on the Obama administration’s handling of the war in Iraq and Syria grows. At the same time, a variety of media reports hint that President Barack Obama, himself trailing in the polls after a poor showing for the Democrats in Tuesday’s election, is considering a shake-up of his national security staff. That could include Hagel.

The “Defense One National Security Survey” released Friday found few individuals inside the national security government think highly of the Obama administration’s national security strategy. The survey found that only 4 percent of respondents “strongly agree” and 16 percent “agree” that the White House has “a clear national security strategy.” Conversely, 73 percent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement.”

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5. They haven’t learned a thing. They continue to use the IRS and DoJ against political enemies.

From Examiner.com  “In the midst of the ongoing investigation of the alleged Internal Revenue Services (IRS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) collusion in targeting conservative and Tea Party organizations for added scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status, a source in one of the DOJ’s law enforcement agencies claims the IRS and DOJ are both probing the finances of members of one of the nation’s wealthiest families. Their alleged crime? Financially supporting what are considered conservative causes and Republican organizations. 

To many Americans who follow the political scene in the U.S., not a day goes by without some Democrat or liberal-left pundit throwing out the name “Koch Brothers” as if it’s a proven fact that they are criminal conspirators of sorts. But according to a law enforcement source who contacted the Examiner, Democrat lawmakers – many of whom are the same Senators and House members who pushed for the IRS to target groups such as True the Vote – have secretly contacted both IRS and DOJ officials to scrutinize the philanthropic activities of the two multi-billionaires.

Thanks to soon-to-be-former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Democratic Party alone spent millions of dollars insinuating illegal ties between Republicans and the ultra-wealthy Charles and David Koch. The strategy of vilifying to two men is even starting to bother some Democrats especially when Sen. Reid told friendly news media outlets that even after his party’s drubbing he planned to continue his pursuit of exposing the evil Koch (pronounced coke) brothers, Charles and David.

In one of the most hypocritical moves, David Brock who runs the left-wing web site Media Matters, has openly said he was going to pursue the Koch’s spending into the 2016 election. This exercise in hypocrisy seems lost on the Democrats since Media Matters would cease to exist without the deep pockets of multi-billionaire and Republican-hater George Soros.”

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