Sunday, February 13, 2011

House Republicans unveil new bill to ban resurrection of Fairness Doctrine

House Republicans unveil new bill to ban resurrection of Fairness Doctrine - The Hill's Hillicon Valley
"House Republicans have begun a new effort to make sure the Fairness Doctrine stays dead.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has introduced a bill to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reviving the policy, a controversial and defunct standard that required broadcast licensees to offer 'balanced' coverage."

This is BIG!

Shame of Britain's Muslim schools: Secret filming shows pupils beaten

Shame of Britain's Muslim schools: Secret filming shows pupils beaten Mail Online
"‘You’re not like the non-Muslims out there,’ the teacher says, gesturing towards the window.
‘All that evil you see in the streets, people not wearing the hijab properly, people smoking . . . you should hate it, you should hate walking down that street.’
He refers to the ‘non-Muslims’ as the ‘Kuffar’, an often derogatory term that means disbeliever or infidel."

Michigan Government Ranks Top Ten for Federal Money Dependency

Michigan Government Ranks Top Ten for Federal Money Dependency [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
"Michigan’s total budget was $45.7 billion in 2009, of which $16.5 billion came from the federal government, or about 36 percent.
By comparison, in 1996 federal funding accounted for $6.2 billion, or 22.6 percent of the $27.4 billion total budget."

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Wind Energy, Renewable Energy

Wind Energy, Renewable Energy [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
"A recent article in Slate by Robert Bryce describes how Texas has more wind generator capacity than any other state — around 9,700 megawatts.

But last August, when state electricity demand set a one-day record of 63,494 megawatts, all those windmills contributed just 500 megawatts, or about 5 percent of their rated capacity."

Unions and America’s Ills

Unions and America’s Ills « Union Watch


Here’s what’s really happening, Mr. Hoffa:

For over 20 years, with increasing influence and with worsening effect, public employee unions have used taxpayer’s money, confiscated from public worker paychecks, to buy our politicians and control our elections.

They have used this power to “negotiate” grossly over-market rates of compensation and benefits to unionized government workers, especially at the entry and mid-level jobs, and because employee compensation is by far the largest category of government expenditures, it is breaking budgets, leading to tax increases and service cuts.

Meanwhile, public employee unions, in their insatiable demand both for more revenues to pay their over-paid members, as well as to expand their memberships, are prevailing upon politicians to expand government and expand regulations – increasing the cost of living for everyone.

This translates into cost-of-living increases for the unionized government workers, and a lower standard of living for the rest of us whose taxes support the entire corrupt mess.

At the same time, Mr. Hoffa, your public sector union pension funds are the collection agent for the overbuilt Wall Street machine you claim to abho

James Clapper-Egypt Idiot

Mark Steyn James Clapper Egypt Idiot The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
"This guy has one of the most bloated, lavishly funded intelligence bureaucracies on the planet – the most bloated and lavishly funded and he’s an idiot.
He can’t be allowed out in public.
I mean, this is embarrassing for the superpower.”"

Walker calls for cuts or big layoffs

Walker calls for cuts or big layoffs - JSOnline
"Gov. Scott Walker said Friday that thousands of state workers would be laid off if the Legislature does not adopt his budget fix that cuts public worker benefits and takes away almost all union bargaining rights from public workers.
A Walker aide confirmed that the benefit reductions would cost the average state worker thousands of dollars a year, or roughly 8% of his or her salary.
Walker also signaled that in a larger budget plan coming later this month he would trim aid to municipalities and let local officials deal with those cuts at least in part through savings on public employee costs."

Speaking at a Capitol news conference, the governor also said the National Guard is ready to take control of state prisons if correctional officers illegally strike or obstruct work.
Union officials said they had no such plans.

But he said the state had no money or time to bargain with unions over the benefits changes.

"I don't have anything to negotiate," Walker said.
"We are broke in this state.
We have been broke for years.
People have ignored that for years, and it's about time somebody stood up and told the truth.
The truth is: We don't have money to offer.
We don't have finances to offer.
This is what we have to offer."

OUT OF CONTROL

OUT OF CONTROL Newsradio 620 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin News, Talk, Sports, Weather Charlie Sykes
"When wages and benefits are combined, an average teacher will make $101,091 next year, said Budget Manager Deborah Wegner."

Walmart fires Layton guards for disarming shoplifter

Walmart fires Layton guards for disarming shoplifter The Salt Lake Tribune
"Longton stood behind assistant manager Gabriel Stewart, holding his shoulder with one hand and the gun inside his pocket with the other.
Security workers Shawn Ray and Justin Richins each grabbed Longton by an arm and spun him around. Poulsen then took the gun away from the man.
'All of it takes places within about 23 seconds from the time we got him into the office from the time we put our hands on him to get control of the situation and removed the gun,' Poulsen said.
'It was absolutely terrifying.
We didn’t know what to do, but once he didn’t leave and felt that Gabe’s life was in danger and everybody else’s ...,' Ray said.
'We thought we had done the right thing.'"

Why you should always encrypt your smartphone

Why you should always encrypt your smartphone
"What's more, the US Supreme Court has held that police may arrest you for simple misdemeanors, such as driving without a seatbelt or having unpaid parking tickets.
While police don't typically arrest individuals for such trivial infractions, all it takes is one unlucky police encounter and you could end up behind bars.
If that happens, and your mobile phone is on your person, it may be subject to a warrantless search.
If police dig up an incriminating text message, e-mail, or errant image file on your mobile device, it might be enough to convince a judge to issue a search warrant of your property—or, worse, lead to criminal charges being filed against you."

The future?

Friday, February 11, 2011

In a State of Sticker Shock, Stores Try to Sell Public on a Radical Idea

In a State of Sticker Shock, Stores Try to Sell Public on a Radical Idea - WSJ.com
"Mr. Hansen of Hansen Foods dismisses the 9% figure.
'That's stupid,' he says.
But he estimates he could save 80 hours a week in labor, or about $40,000 a year, if the law changed—money he'd reinvest elsewhere in the store."

Fruitport hires Mona Shores finance director forced out after Ponzi scheme

Fruitport hires Mona Shores finance director forced out after Ponzi scheme MLive.com

emailSTRIPPER

emailSTRIPPER - Print management, quotas, control, monitoring and accounting - PaperCut
"emailSTRIPPER is a free program for cleaning the '>' and other formatting characters out of your emails.

It will restore 'forwarded' or 'replied' emails back to their original state so they're easier to read."

John Feinstein - Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo is learning how to lose, whether he likes it or not

John Feinstein - Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo is learning how to lose, whether he likes it or not
"I'm not saying I like losing on any level.
But it probably isn't a bad thing when you start to hear that you're God or you walk on water to be reminded that you're not and you don't."

What a great human being!
This excellent article explains most of how we got to where we currently are this season.

Wind Energy, Renewable Energy

Wind Energy, Renewable Energy [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
"all those spinning turbine blades are expected to contribute just 8.7 percent of their rated capacity.
Nevertheless, Texas families are now paying $4 more for electricity every month for a network of power lines connecting those distant rural wind turbines to where most people live."

Andrew Klavan: Stop the Hate!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

CBO Director Says Obamacare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers

CBO Director Says Obamacare Would Reduce Employment by 800,000 Workers The Weekly Standard
"Testifying today before the House Budget Committee, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Doug Elmendorf confirmed that Obamacare is expected to reduce the number of jobs in the labor market by an estimated 800,000."

Muskegon Heights DE has multiple offers

Muskegon Heights DE has multiple offers
"One of the top players in Michigan for the class of 2012 will be defensive end Evan Winston of Muskegon Heights High School.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound prospect already has several scholarship offers on the table and more are sure to come.
SpartanMag.com has the latest."

Poll: Residents say they prefer to be called Michiganders, not Michiganians

Poll: Residents say they prefer to be called Michiganders, not Michiganians MLive.com
"The result: 58 percent said Michigander with only 12 percent answering Michiganian."

Right to work!

Michigan Capitol Confidential
"GOP state Sen. John Proos has opened the right-to-work “can” that Gov. Rick Snyder said he would sign but would not push for as part of his agenda."

Video: Detroit denies permit to film story of 50,000 stray dogs, so filmakers puts it on YouTube, raises $7,000

theblogprof: Video: Detroit denies permit to film story of 50,000 stray dogs, so filmakers puts it on YouTube, raises $7,000
"Detroit has a stray dog problem that, just as in the case with its violence, it doesn't want to admit to.
So a filmmaker set out to shed light on the problem, and was promptly given the open palm by the ruling class in the D.
But this filmmaker with a soft spot for man's best friend didn't give up.
He put the video on YouTube and in a week he collected $7,000 in donations (content warning):"

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Tennessee bill would require photo ID to vote

Tennessee bill would require photo ID to vote The Tennessean tennessean.com
"Voters would be required to show photo identification before they can cast ballots under a proposal passed on to the full Senate on Tuesday."

Why, in any sane world, would this be controversial?

And why don't we have the same requirement to vote in our state?

And our country?

Cruise Critic Readers Pick Another Fight -- and Win It - Celebrity Cruises

Here They Go Again: Cruise Critic Readers Pick Another Fight -- and Win It - Celebrity Cruises
"In Celebrity's case, within 24 hours of the new ads launching, loyal Celebrity cruisers flocked to the boards to protest the campaign, saying it was sending the wrong message. Member PartyAllDaTyme summed up what hundreds of posters were articulating.

'I believe much of the consternation on the part of Cruise Critic members stems from the mistaken belief that Celebrity intends to relax or even eliminate many of the traditional 'rules,' such as the excellent smoking policy, any semblance of a dress code for formal nights, and worse, in favor of attracting a younger, more rebellious clientele,' he wrote.

One week later, Celebrity President and CEO Dan Hanrahan held a virtual Q&A in an effort to clarify the line's aim with 'X the Rules.'
And after some careful consideration, he returned a week later and posted the following:

'I want to thank you all again for the candid dialogue and questions on the boards last week about our new ad campaign. Your feedback encouraged us to do some additional research…[and] we have decided to move away from the 'X the rules' ads.'

Read the whole story of how Celebrity loyalists 'X'ed the marketing campaign."

This is only for cruise folks but coincidentally, our last cruise ended Jan. 17, the day before this new dictate was to be enforced.
If you cruise, you MUST get familiar with Cruise Critic.
You will save lots of moolah!
And learn other cool stuff.

60% Recognize That Government Spending Has Increased Every Year Since 1954

60% Recognize That Government Spending Has Increased Every Year Since 1954 - Rasmussen Reports™

The stark reality is that despite candidates who promised lower spending and taxes winning just about every election for the past half century, total government spending has kept going up every year since Bill Haley was topping the charts with Rock Around the Clock and a young singer named Elvis Presley made his first commercial recording.

That’s the same year the very first edition of Sports Illustrated was published, the Milwaukee Braves welcomed Hank Aaron as a rookie, and the shot clock was invented for the new National Basketball Association.

Union Boss John Gage Calls Those Who Believe in Cutting Spending "Mental...

New posts at MuskegonTaxpayersAlliance

http://muskegontaxpayers.blogspot.com/
Big union contract voted by commissioners
Searchable database: "waive hiring freeze"
City sidewalks not cleared-even near the Frauenthal!
and more!

Apple Is Most Valuable Company on Earth: Analysts - CNBC

CNBC's Fast Money: Apple Is Most Valuable Company on Earth: Analysts - CNBC
"at least five firms have raised their 12-month forecast on the stock to an average price of $467, or a 32 percent increase from here.
At that level, Apple’s market value would total $433.7 billion, flying past Exxon Mobil’s current market value of $423.2 billion."

AMAZING!

Robot Jet Fighter Takes First Flight – Aiming for Aircraft Carriers in 2013

Robot Jet Fighter Takes First Flight – Aiming for Aircraft Carriers in 2013 (video) Singularity Hub
"It’s not a spy, nor a single-target hunter-killer, it’s a complete jet fighter.
The 60 foot wingspan, 40,000 altitude, and 2100 nautical mile flight range, not to mention 4500 lb weapon bays, speak of an aircraft that would be a high end component of the military of the future.
It will have more range (though less firepower) than the F-18 Hornets"

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Obama’s Claim That He Did Not Raise Taxes Is Rejected As ‘Blatantly False’ by Taxpayer Watchdog

Obama’s Claim That He Did Not Raise Taxes Is Rejected As ‘Blatantly False’ by Taxpayer Watchdog CNSnews.com
"President Obama’s assertion on Sunday that he “didn’t raise taxes once” is “blatantly false,” a taxpayer watchdog group says.
Obama made the claim in his pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

According to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), President Obama has signed into law at least two dozen tax increases.
The first one – a federal tobacco tax hike – came just 16 days into his presidency."

The problem is that a liar who lies ALL the time eventually stops becoming news when he lies again....and again....and again.....

Stabenow Blowing More Taxpayers Coerced "Government Money"

RightMichigan.com Stabenow Blowing More Taxpayers Coerced "Government Money"
"In football lingo... Michigan's Senatorial Fullback of William 'Refrigerator' Perry proportions is running the alleged 'green jobs' ball up the middle for Team Obama and his Government Motors Volt."

Too funny...and real sad that Big Deb is our senator.