Private planes crash all the time.
Occassionally in Aspen, CO.
But this is ASPEN!
And ASPEN is where the mega-rich MSM royalty calls "winter home".
And the "Bamas too!
So it's a big story...... gimme a break....
1 reported dead in small plane crash in Aspen | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"ASPEN, COLORADO — A private plane crashed and burned Sunday at an airport in Aspen, Colo., the Federal Aviation Administration said."
Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!
Monday, January 06, 2014
But it's not "cool" to have that talk--------Enough Pot Happy Talk
Enough Pot Happy Talk | RealClearPolitics:
"The risks associated with pot use must be discussed frequently and soberly so that all can recognize the downside threats.
Of course, legalization will encourage greater use. In turn, that greater use increases the risk of addiction illness, a lack of growth as individuals and workers, and a more non-productive society.
Normally, I'm a free-choice guy.
And I realize that I'm not going to be able to stop the legalization of pot. I can't control that. But I can raise some of these important issues.
Alcohol and drug addiction are huge problems in our society.
And it's not easy to get clean and sober once the disease of addiction sets in. So many people search for that great initial high, and they keep searching until they get hooked.
And if and when they get hooked, the costs and consequences are frequently catastrophic.
So no, I'm not going to completely oppose the legal sale of pot.
But this experiment should be studied carefully before the rest of the country decides to go forward with it.
Most of all, the legalization of pot needs serious and sober discussion -- not simply giddy reporting. "
"The risks associated with pot use must be discussed frequently and soberly so that all can recognize the downside threats.
Of course, legalization will encourage greater use. In turn, that greater use increases the risk of addiction illness, a lack of growth as individuals and workers, and a more non-productive society.
Normally, I'm a free-choice guy.
And I realize that I'm not going to be able to stop the legalization of pot. I can't control that. But I can raise some of these important issues.
Alcohol and drug addiction are huge problems in our society.
And it's not easy to get clean and sober once the disease of addiction sets in. So many people search for that great initial high, and they keep searching until they get hooked.
And if and when they get hooked, the costs and consequences are frequently catastrophic.
So no, I'm not going to completely oppose the legal sale of pot.
But this experiment should be studied carefully before the rest of the country decides to go forward with it.
Most of all, the legalization of pot needs serious and sober discussion -- not simply giddy reporting. "
Detroit ain't gonna "come back" with this level of "service"------Road commissions work to clear snow, but worry about Monday commute
Road commissions work to clear snow, but worry about Monday commute | The Detroit News:
"Not everyone in Metro Detroit is happy about snow removal.
David Morin, who lives on Michigan Avenue in downtown Pontiac, said he is still waiting for the streets to be plowed from last week’s storm."
"Not everyone in Metro Detroit is happy about snow removal.
David Morin, who lives on Michigan Avenue in downtown Pontiac, said he is still waiting for the streets to be plowed from last week’s storm."
Detroit's Official Policy is to NOT PLOW residential streets until 6" or more------Detroit residential streets to get plowed Monday
Detroit residential streets to get plowed Monday | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"At 6 a.m. Monday, contractors will start plowing Detroit’s residential side streets.
This is the third time this winter public works has implemented its residential street clearing plan, which kicks in when 6 or more inches of snow have accumulated, according to a release.
Contractors have 24 hours to complete their work.
City crews continue to salt and plow major roads."
"At 6 a.m. Monday, contractors will start plowing Detroit’s residential side streets.
This is the third time this winter public works has implemented its residential street clearing plan, which kicks in when 6 or more inches of snow have accumulated, according to a release.
Contractors have 24 hours to complete their work.
City crews continue to salt and plow major roads."
History for January 6 - Joan, Hank, Sam, reality, American can-do, American grit, First Snoop Dog, Thunk, Scumbag
History for January 6 - On-This-Day.com
Joan of Arc: birth anniversary (1412-31).
1540 - King Henry VIII of England was married to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife.
1838 - Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time.
1900 - In India, it was reported that millions of people were dying from starvation.
1942 - The first commercial around-the-world airline flight took place. Pan American Airlines was the company that made history with the feat.
1945 - The Battle of the Bulge ended with 130,000 German and 77,000 Allied casualties.
1952 - "Peanuts" debuted in Sunday papers across the United States.
1994 - Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including Tonya Harding's ex-husband.
1999 - The 106th U.S. Congress opened. The first item on the agenda was the impeachment proceedings of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The trial was set to begin January 7, 1999.
1838 - Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time.
1900 - In India, it was reported that millions of people were dying from starvation.
1942 - The first commercial around-the-world airline flight took place. Pan American Airlines was the company that made history with the feat.
1945 - The Battle of the Bulge ended with 130,000 German and 77,000 Allied casualties.
1952 - "Peanuts" debuted in Sunday papers across the United States.
1994 - Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including Tonya Harding's ex-husband.
1999 - The 106th U.S. Congress opened. The first item on the agenda was the impeachment proceedings of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The trial was set to begin January 7, 1999.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
Aren't conservatives regularly branded "crazy" by government types?----------Obama Administration’s Two Quiet New Executive Actions on Who Can Buy a Gun
Obama Administration’s Two Quiet New Executive Actions on Who Can Buy a Gun | TheBlaze.com
After failing to strengthen background checks on gun buyers through Congress, the Obama administration on Friday announced pending executive action on the matter focused mainly on mental health issues that would allow the government to get around certain privacy laws on the books in order to obtain more information.
“Too many Americans have been severely injured or lost their lives as a result of gun violence,” a White House release said Friday. “
While the vast majority of Americans who experience a mental illness are not violent, in some cases when persons with a mental illness do not receive the treatment they need, the result can be tragedies such as homicide or suicide.”
The new restrictions would take the form of regulations from the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. One of the regulations would seek to gain information previously withheld because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, which protects medical privacy.
While the vast majority of Americans who experience a mental illness are not violent, in some cases when persons with a mental illness do not receive the treatment they need, the result can be tragedies such as homicide or suicide.”
The new restrictions would take the form of regulations from the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. One of the regulations would seek to gain information previously withheld because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, which protects medical privacy.
The administration’s Friday post-holiday announcement came while President Barack Obama was still on vacation in Hawaii, in stark contrast to Obama’s first executive actions on guns, which were announced in a White House ceremony. “Friday news dump” announcements have also traditionally been used to try to avoid media scrutiny.
Federal regulations do not require congressional authorization, but must go through a period of public comment and review before being enacted.
Is it 1914 all over again? We are in danger of repeating the mistakes that started WWI, says a leading historian
Is it 1914 all over again? We are in danger of repeating the mistakes that started WWI, says a leading historian - World Politics - World - The Independent:
"While history does not repeat itself precisely, the Middle East today bears a worrying resemblance to the Balkans then," she says.
"A similar mix of toxic nationalisms threatens to draw in outside powers as the US, Turkey, Russia, and Iran look to protect their interests and clients."
In the late 1920s, the US drew up plans for a war with the British Empire that would have seen the invasion of Canada, partly because it was assumed conflict would break out as America took over as the world's main superpower.
"While history does not repeat itself precisely, the Middle East today bears a worrying resemblance to the Balkans then," she says.
"A similar mix of toxic nationalisms threatens to draw in outside powers as the US, Turkey, Russia, and Iran look to protect their interests and clients."
Modern-day Islamist terrorists mirror the revolutionary communists and anarchists who carried out a string of assassinations in the name of a philosophy that sanctioned murder to achieve their vision of a better world.
And in 1914, Germany was a rising force that sought to challenge the pre-eminent power of the time, the UK.
Today, the growing power of China is perceived as a threat by some in the US.
Transitions from one world power to another are always seen as dangerous times. In the late 1920s, the US drew up plans for a war with the British Empire that would have seen the invasion of Canada, partly because it was assumed conflict would break out as America took over as the world's main superpower.
Burn oil-Plant trees...That's the ticket!-----Forest needed to cover carbon footprint of icy rescue
Forest needed to cover carbon footprint of icy rescue - National - NZ Herald News
The hapless Australasian Antarctic Expedition is finally homeward bound - and thousands of trees will have to be planted to offset the carbon footprint from the prolonged rescue effort.
The expedition had pledged to plant about 800 kauri trees in Northland to cover its carbon footprint. Environmentalists believe planting trees helps to offset the impact of burning fuels such as diesel.
But former Act Party leader and Herald on Sunday columnist Rodney Hide said that would have to increase to about 5000 trees to make up for the fossil fuels burned in the rescue. Expedition leader Chris Turney said more trees would be needed than earlier estimated but he was yet to work out how many.
In an interview with AFP yesterday director of the French Polar Institute Yves Frenot criticised the "pseudo-scientific expedition". Because it had run into difficulties, it had drained resources from the French, Chinese and Australian scientific missions in Antarctica, he said.
The hapless Australasian Antarctic Expedition is finally homeward bound - and thousands of trees will have to be planted to offset the carbon footprint from the prolonged rescue effort.
The expedition had pledged to plant about 800 kauri trees in Northland to cover its carbon footprint. Environmentalists believe planting trees helps to offset the impact of burning fuels such as diesel.
But former Act Party leader and Herald on Sunday columnist Rodney Hide said that would have to increase to about 5000 trees to make up for the fossil fuels burned in the rescue. Expedition leader Chris Turney said more trees would be needed than earlier estimated but he was yet to work out how many.
In an interview with AFP yesterday director of the French Polar Institute Yves Frenot criticised the "pseudo-scientific expedition". Because it had run into difficulties, it had drained resources from the French, Chinese and Australian scientific missions in Antarctica, he said.
State-sponsored extortion!
"You might be interested to know of the extortion racket
being conducted by the State of Michigan.
I got a speeding ticket recently,
about 150 yards from home!
My bad.
Not a big deal, I paid the fine and I
was done with it.
Then a couple weeks later, I receive a letter from the
State of Michigan.
They won’t report the incident to my insurance company if I
enroll and pass their online “Basic Driver Improvement Course” before Feb 5th.
The fee shall not exceed $100.
Pay them some money, and they are willing to keep this under
wraps.
Hmmmm… seems like extortion to me."
GMO Fight Exposes Green Hypocrisy
GMO Fight Exposes Green Hypocrisy - The American Interest:
GMO Fight Exposes Green Hypocrisy
GMO Fight Exposes Green Hypocrisy
Molecular biologist Henry Miller makes the case for GMOs over at Project Syndicate, and green science-haters are going to fight it tooth and nail.
Miller points out that not only are the global poor hurt by restrictions on research that could make crops more productive, but even at the most basic level the distinction between GMOs and “natural” foods doesn’t make sense:
Miller points out that not only are the global poor hurt by restrictions on research that could make crops more productive, but even at the most basic level the distinction between GMOs and “natural” foods doesn’t make sense:
A half-century of “wide cross” hybridizations, which involve the movement of genes from one species or genus to another, has given rise to plants – including everyday varieties of corn, oats, pumpkin, wheat, black currants, tomatoes, and potatoes – that do not and could not exist in nature. Indeed, with the exception of wild berries, wild game, wild mushrooms, and fish and shellfish, virtually everything in North American and European diets has been genetically improved in some way.
The important fact here is the blatant hypocrisy: when they’ve got scientific evidence on their side, green campaigners spew hate speech about the evil science deniers on the other side.
But the moment a scientific consensus attacks some cherished green myth (organic good, GMO bad, for example), they spew hate speech against scientists as corporate shills.
There is no intellectual honesty or consistency in this attitude; the one constant is anger and contempt for those who challenge the tenets of green faith.
But the moment a scientific consensus attacks some cherished green myth (organic good, GMO bad, for example), they spew hate speech against scientists as corporate shills.
There is no intellectual honesty or consistency in this attitude; the one constant is anger and contempt for those who challenge the tenets of green faith.
What the planet and the people who live on it badly need is a pro-environment, pro-people movement that actually cares about scientific evidence.
Unfortunately that’s not what we’ve got—and climate change activists again need to come to terms with the reality that cloudy green thinking and downright hypocrisy is a leading cause of climate skepticism.
Unfortunately that’s not what we’ve got—and climate change activists again need to come to terms with the reality that cloudy green thinking and downright hypocrisy is a leading cause of climate skepticism.
This isn't ovet yet. Nor should it be-----Obama's Other Big Lie
Articles: Obama's Other Big Lie:
"We will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your healthcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period." (Barack Obama, June 15, 2009, with variants repeated many times since).
Today, any American who isn't willfully blind knows this "promise" is a very big lie.
A lie which was deliberately told by fundamentally-dishonest pushers of Obamacare, because if the truth were widely known at that time the Affordable Care Act would never have become law.
A lie which was deliberately told by fundamentally-dishonest pushers of Obamacare, because if the truth were widely known at that time the Affordable Care Act would never have become law.
It's a lie that is so egregious, even the dinosaur media can't ignore it or cover it up.
In fact, the dinosaurs are increasingly upset that they're being continually abused be "the most transparent administration in history" and they now seem to be more willing to shed light not just on this lie, but also on some of Obama's other lies.
In fact, the dinosaurs are increasingly upset that they're being continually abused be "the most transparent administration in history" and they now seem to be more willing to shed light not just on this lie, but also on some of Obama's other lies.
Do you suppose we could get them to take another look at the big lie of April 27, 2011?
The lie that is central to Barack Obama's identity?
The lie the dinosaurs not only glossed over, but for which they excommunicated from the human race anybody who dared to point out it was a lie?
The lie that is central to Barack Obama's identity?
The lie the dinosaurs not only glossed over, but for which they excommunicated from the human race anybody who dared to point out it was a lie?
I refer, of course, to the long-form "birth certificate" forgery for Barack Obama released by the White House to the world as a digital image on April 27, 2011.
Before you say, "Oh no, here we go again -- the guys with the tinfoil hats are on the loose", let's dispense with the easy part.
Here is the irrefutable proof that the Obama long-form "birth certificate" is a forgery.
Here is the irrefutable proof that the Obama long-form "birth certificate" is a forgery.
Do people really watch Al Sharpton on TV?----------Al Sharpton — in Lab Coat, Behind Bubbling Test Tubes — Lectures On ‘Right-Wing Meltdown Over Global Warming’
Al Sharpton — in Lab Coat, Behind Bubbling Test Tubes — Lectures On ‘Right-Wing Meltdown Over Global Warming’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"It happened as part of Sharpton’s “Politics Nation: Science Lab” segment on MSNBC Friday, using the arctic winter freeze besetting much of America this weekend as a springboard.
“These right wingers are boiling over with denial,” he said. “Just because it snows in winter doesn’t mean the planet isn’t getting warmer. Remember a UN panel said there’s a 90 percent probability that humans are the primary cause of global warming.”
“It sure doesn’t take much for the folks at Fox to hit their melting point. The results of tonight’s experiments are in. And we’ve deduced the right wing could use a new talking point.”"
"It happened as part of Sharpton’s “Politics Nation: Science Lab” segment on MSNBC Friday, using the arctic winter freeze besetting much of America this weekend as a springboard.
“These right wingers are boiling over with denial,” he said. “Just because it snows in winter doesn’t mean the planet isn’t getting warmer. Remember a UN panel said there’s a 90 percent probability that humans are the primary cause of global warming.”
“It sure doesn’t take much for the folks at Fox to hit their melting point. The results of tonight’s experiments are in. And we’ve deduced the right wing could use a new talking point.”"
Lawyers gonna love this----Couple who are just friends allowed to adopt, judge says in landmark ruling
The first step to giving full "marriage" rights to those who don't want the responsibility of a marriage contract?
Or just another step in the left's War Against Marriage?
There's gotta be more to this.
Likely not good.
Couple who are just friends allowed to adopt, judge says in landmark ruling - NY Daily News:
"In a first of its kind ruling in New York, a Manhattan judge has given a couple who're just friends the green light to become legal co-parents to an adopted girl.
The pals identified, only as LEL and KAL, met in 2000 and have been close friends since, according to court papers.
Several years ago, KAL decided she wanted to become a mom, and LEL offered to be her sperm donor.
But when she couldn't get pregnant, they “decided to instead adopt a child together,” the court papers say.
“They spent years planning and hoping” for a child, and their dream came true in 2011, when KAL was able to adopt a child — identified as G. — from Ethiopia."
Or just another step in the left's War Against Marriage?
There's gotta be more to this.
Likely not good.
Couple who are just friends allowed to adopt, judge says in landmark ruling - NY Daily News:
"In a first of its kind ruling in New York, a Manhattan judge has given a couple who're just friends the green light to become legal co-parents to an adopted girl.
The pals identified, only as LEL and KAL, met in 2000 and have been close friends since, according to court papers.
Several years ago, KAL decided she wanted to become a mom, and LEL offered to be her sperm donor.
But when she couldn't get pregnant, they “decided to instead adopt a child together,” the court papers say.
“They spent years planning and hoping” for a child, and their dream came true in 2011, when KAL was able to adopt a child — identified as G. — from Ethiopia."
Yes, what kind of man........President Obama, While on Hawaii Vacation, Lambastes GOP Who ‘Went Home for the Holidays’ and Abandoned Less Fortunate
Lots of thoughts about this one but the "We don't abandon Americans..." is gotta be the Bengahzi Gaff of the month.
President Obama, While on Hawaii Vacation, Lambastes GOP Who
‘Went Home for the Holidays’ and Abandoned Less Fortunate | Video | TheBlaze.com:
We make this promise to one another because it makes a difference to a mother who needs help feeding her kids while she’s looking for work; to a father who needs help paying the rent while learning the skills to get a new and better job. And denying families that security is just plain cruel. We’re a better country than that. We don’t abandon our fellow Americans when times get tough – we keep the faith with them until they start that new job."
While the GOP was home for the holidays, how did Obama spend some of his two-week trip across the Pacific? The Times described a bit of it:
President Obama, While on Hawaii Vacation, Lambastes GOP Who
‘Went Home for the Holidays’ and Abandoned Less Fortunate | Video | TheBlaze.com:
While President Barack Obama continued what the New York Times called a “real and rare vacation in Hawaii,” he used his Weekly Address to accuse Republicans in Congress of going home for the holidays while less-fortunate Americans suffer.
"Just a few days after Christmas, more than one million of our fellow Americans lost a vital economic lifeline – the temporary insurance that helps folks make ends meet while they look for a job. Republicans in Congress went home for the holidays and let that lifeline expire. And for many of their constituents who are unemployed through no fault of their own, that decision will leave them with no income at all.We make this promise to one another because it makes a difference to a mother who needs help feeding her kids while she’s looking for work; to a father who needs help paying the rent while learning the skills to get a new and better job. And denying families that security is just plain cruel. We’re a better country than that. We don’t abandon our fellow Americans when times get tough – we keep the faith with them until they start that new job."
While the GOP was home for the holidays, how did Obama spend some of his two-week trip across the Pacific? The Times described a bit of it:
He played golf eight out of 14 days. And he and the first lady, Michelle Obama, stepped out for dinner at a few of their favorite restaurants: Alan Wong’s, Morimoto Waikiki (twice!) and Nobu Waikiki.Island Snow, the president’s favorite spot for shave ice — the island’s syrupy, brightly colored and refreshingly sweet version of the snow cone — even had a message board in its back room reminding its employees to “wear Island Snow T-shirts all week long while the president is here!!”
Didn't this city go broke a bit ago? ----------M-1 rail public hearing set for Jan. 22
M-1 rail public hearing set for Jan. 22 | Crain's Detroit Business
And isn't the Detroit "People Mover" a lemon on the scale of Obamacare?
And does anyone really believe the "11 stops" will only cost $137 million?
And didn't EVERY incumbent in Detroit get re-elected in the last election?
And Crain's thinks this will turn out ....how?
The city of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Transportation will host a joint public hearing on Jan. 22 to discuss their operating licenses for the $137 million streetcar line planned for Woodward Avenue.
And isn't the Detroit "People Mover" a lemon on the scale of Obamacare?
And does anyone really believe the "11 stops" will only cost $137 million?
And didn't EVERY incumbent in Detroit get re-elected in the last election?
And Crain's thinks this will turn out ....how?
The city of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Transportation will host a joint public hearing on Jan. 22 to discuss their operating licenses for the $137 million streetcar line planned for Woodward Avenue.
..The M-1 Rail streetcar project involves the construction of a mostly curbside-running, fixed streetcar circulation system, commingled with traffic, along a 3.3-mile grade-level loop on Woodward Avenue.
It will have 11 stops between Grand Boulevard and Congress Street and will run in the median at its north and south ends.
The system is expected to be in service by February 2016.
It will have 11 stops between Grand Boulevard and Congress Street and will run in the median at its north and south ends.
The system is expected to be in service by February 2016.
This is gonna work out great------How long until you can vote on your smartphone?
I'm thinkin' Bulgarian hackers are giddy.....
And democrat politicians.....
How long until you can vote on your smartphone? | The Daily Caller:
"A Clemson University professor is developing a new electronic voting system that will allow voters to cast their ballots from home computers, tablets and smartphones.
As Clemson’s chair of human-centered computing, Juan Gilbert has lead teams of students over the last 10 years to create an online voting system accessible at home or on the go that will be more accurate, have increased verification and make voting more accessible to people with disabilities by offering mobile and voice-command options.
The system will be downloadable via computer, tablet or smartphone, and be significantly cheaper and easier to use than conventional electronic voting machines, The Greenville News reports."
And democrat politicians.....
How long until you can vote on your smartphone? | The Daily Caller:
"A Clemson University professor is developing a new electronic voting system that will allow voters to cast their ballots from home computers, tablets and smartphones.
As Clemson’s chair of human-centered computing, Juan Gilbert has lead teams of students over the last 10 years to create an online voting system accessible at home or on the go that will be more accurate, have increased verification and make voting more accessible to people with disabilities by offering mobile and voice-command options.
The system will be downloadable via computer, tablet or smartphone, and be significantly cheaper and easier to use than conventional electronic voting machines, The Greenville News reports."
Bonefish Grill ........ set to open on Big Beaver in Troy
Headline of the day...... kinda.....
Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's set to open on Big Beaver in Troy | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's set to open on Big Beaver in Troy
Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's set to open on Big Beaver in Troy | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's set to open on Big Beaver in Troy
People believe this crap. Lots of 'em. Scary.....Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For
This magazine, Rolling Stone, is a powerful voice in "educating" young Americans about politics.
We know the past.
They have no clue.
It didn't work out too well when they called it communism.
Maybe a new name would make it better?
Easier to sell?
A makeover!
I'm thinkin' not 1 in a 100 Millennials could give a cogent description of communism.
After you've cleaned up the vomit, try Washington Monthly's take:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_01/jesse_myerson_throws_down_five048479.php
Keep the cleaning stuff handy....
Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For | Politics News | Rolling Stone
We know the past.
They have no clue.
It didn't work out too well when they called it communism.
Maybe a new name would make it better?
Easier to sell?
A makeover!
I'm thinkin' not 1 in a 100 Millennials could give a cogent description of communism.
After you've cleaned up the vomit, try Washington Monthly's take:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_01/jesse_myerson_throws_down_five048479.php
Keep the cleaning stuff handy....
Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For | Politics News | Rolling Stone
Here are a few things we might want to start fighting for, pronto, if we want to grow old in a just, fair society, rather than the economic hellhole our parents have handed us.
Unemployment blows. The easiest and most direct solution is for the government to guarantee that everyone who wants to contribute productively to society is able to earn a decent living in the public sector. There are millions of people who want to work, and there's tons of work that needs doing – it's a no-brainer. And this idea isn't as radical as it might sound: It's similar to what the federal Works Progress Administration made possible during Roosevelt's New Deal, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.vocally supported a public-sector job guarantee in the 1960s.
A job guarantee that paid a living wage would anchor prices, drive up conditions for workers at megacorporations like Walmart and McDonald's, and target employment for the poor and long-term unemployed – people to whom conventional stimulus money rarely trickles all the way down. The program would automatically expand during private-sector downturns and contract during private-sector upswings, balancing out the business cycle and sending people from job to job, rather than job to unemployment, when times got tough.
Some economists have proposed running a job guarantee through the non-profit sector, which would make it even easier to suit the job to the worker. Imagine a world where people could contribute the skills that inspire them – teaching, tutoring, urban farming, cleaning up the environment, painting murals – rather than telemarketing or whatever other stupid tasks bosses need done to supplement their millions. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
2. Social Security for All
But let's think even bigger. Because as much as unemployment blows, so do jobs. What if people didn't have to work to survive? Enter the jaw-droppingly simple idea of a universal basic income, in which the government would just add a sum sufficient for subsistence to everyone's bank account every month. A proposal along these lines has been gaining traction in Switzerland, and it's starting to get a lot of attention here, too.
We live in the age of 3D printers and self-replicating robots. Actual human workers are increasingly surplus to requirement – that's one major reason why we have such a big unemployment problem. A universal basic income would address this epidemic at the root and provide everyone, in the words of Duke professor Kathi Weeks, "time to cultivate new needs for pleasures, activities, senses, passions, affects, and socialities that exceed the options of working and saving, producing and accumulating."
Put another way: A universal basic income, combined with a job guarantee and other social programs, could make participation in the labor force truly voluntary, thereby enabling people to get a life.
3. Take Back The Land
Ever noticed how much landlords blow? They don't really do anything to earn their money. They just claim ownership of buildings and charge people who actually work for a living the majority of our incomes for the privilege of staying in boxes that these owners often didn't build and rarely if ever improve. In a few years, my landlord will probably sell my building to another landlord and make off with the appreciated value of the land s/he also claims to own – which won't even get taxed, as long as s/he ploughs it right back into more real estate.
Think about how stupid that is. The value of the land has nothing to do with my idle, remote landlord; it reflects the nearby parks and subways and shops, which I have access to thanks to the community and the public. So why don't the community and the public derive the value and put it toward uses that benefit everyone? Because capitalism, is why.
The most mainstream way of flipping the script is a simple land-value tax. By targeting wealthy real estate owners and their free rides, we can fight inequality and poverty directly, make disastrous asset price bubbles impossible and curb Wall Street's hideous bloat. There are cooler ideas out there, too: Municipalities themselves can be big-time landowners, and groups can even create large-scale community land trusts so that the land is held in common. In any case, we have to stop letting rich people pretend they privately own what nature provided everyone.
4. Make Everything Owned by Everybody
Hoarders blow. Take, for instance, the infamous one percent, whose ownership of the capital stock of this country leads to such horrific inequality. "Capital stock" refers to two things here: the buildings and equipment that workers use to produce goods and services, and the stocks and bonds that represent ownership over the former. The top 10 percent's ownership of the means of production is represented by the fact that they control 80 percent of all financial assets.
This detachment means that there's a way easier way to collectivize wealth ownership than having to stage uprisings that seize the actual airplanes and warehouses and whatnot: Just buy up their stocks and bonds. When the government does that, it's called a sovereign wealth fund. Think of it like a big investment fund that buys up assets from the private sector and pays dividends to all permanent U.S. residents in the form of a universal basic income. Alaska actually already has a fund like this in place. If it's good enough for Levi Johnston, it's good enough for you.
5. A Public Bank in Every State
You know what else really blows? Wall Street. The whole point of a finance sector is supposed to be collecting the surplus that the whole economy has worked to produce, and channeling that surplus wealth toward its most socially valuable uses. It is difficult to overstate how completely awful our finance sector has been at accomplishing that basic goal. Let's try to change that by allowing state governments into the banking game.
There is only one state that currently has a public option for banking: North Dakota. When North Dakotans pay state taxes, the money gets deposited in the state's bank, which in turn offers cheap loans to farmers, students and businesses. The Bank of North Dakota doesn't make seedy, destined-to-default loans, slice them up inscrutably and sell them on a secondary market. It doesn't play around with incomprehensible derivatives and allow its executives to extract billions of dollars. It just makes loans and works with debtors to pay them off. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
If that idea – or any of the others described in this piece – sounds good to you, there's a bitter political struggle to be waged. Let's get to work.
Tax cuts are nice.... but our roads are a disaster! Fix 'em!! ---------------------------GOP lawmakers, anticipating budget surplus, call for state income tax cut
Tryin' to placate fiscal conservatives the WRONG way.
Didn't the Gov. tell us, just a few months ago, that Michigan was too broke to fix the roads and we needed a NEW TAX or pot holes would devour us all?
GOP lawmakers, anticipating budget surplus, call for state income tax cut | Crain's Detroit Business:
Anticipating a sizable budget surplus, Republican lawmakers want to enact a broad-based tax cut for residents this election year — most likely a reduction in Michigan's income tax.
While talks continue and no deal is imminent, the top tax writer in the GOP-led Senate said he soon will propose cutting the personal income tax rate from 4.25 percent to 3.9 percent over four years, which would return the levy to where it was in 2007.
Republicans who control the House also hope to pass an income tax reduction.
Didn't the Gov. tell us, just a few months ago, that Michigan was too broke to fix the roads and we needed a NEW TAX or pot holes would devour us all?
GOP lawmakers, anticipating budget surplus, call for state income tax cut | Crain's Detroit Business:
Anticipating a sizable budget surplus, Republican lawmakers want to enact a broad-based tax cut for residents this election year — most likely a reduction in Michigan's income tax.
While talks continue and no deal is imminent, the top tax writer in the GOP-led Senate said he soon will propose cutting the personal income tax rate from 4.25 percent to 3.9 percent over four years, which would return the levy to where it was in 2007.
Republicans who control the House also hope to pass an income tax reduction.
Is this a trend we want to expand?------Al Jazeera America Among Top 10 Google News Sources in 2013
Al Jazeera America Among Top 10 Google News Sources in 2013 | CNS News:
"Al Jazeera America made the 10 top list of Google news sources for 2013, despite only being on the air for four months.
Meanwhile, Fox News was the second most searched news source."
"Al Jazeera America made the 10 top list of Google news sources for 2013, despite only being on the air for four months.
Meanwhile, Fox News was the second most searched news source."
Well, they never seemed to like "live" babies anyway------New Obamacare glitch
"Editorial: New Obamacare glitch | Boston Herald:
Another day, another Obamacare “glitch” destined to make life unbearable even for those who have been able to sign up.
...The Associated Press reported yesterday — and the White House confirmed — that the HealthCare.gov website can’t handle baby updates — or any other change in status for that matter.
Another day, another Obamacare “glitch” destined to make life unbearable even for those who have been able to sign up.
...The Associated Press reported yesterday — and the White House confirmed — that the HealthCare.gov website can’t handle baby updates — or any other change in status for that matter.
Marriage, divorce, change of address or a new job, even a death in the family, all of which would need to be reported — in part because those changes can affect eligibility for subsidized coverage — can’t be reported because the website is currently incapable of accepting the information.
That feature will be “available later” is all the system says about this latest lapse.
That feature will be “available later” is all the system says about this latest lapse.
How much later is anyone’s guess. Apparently the techies assigned to add that feature to HealthCare.gov were reassigned to deal with bigger issues — like getting people signed up in the first place.
WeMOG
January 8 -10, 13-17, 20-24,
27- 28
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM EST
"Live Feed" locations:
Whitehall Library at 3900 White Lake Drive
Beardsley Theater in Muskegon at 327 W Western Ave.
2nd Christian Reformed Church in Grand Haven at 2021 Sheldon
Road
This series of presentations has a very wide variety of
topics and interests,
a nice way to get in out of the cold and feed your brain at
the same time!
For more information and the lecture schedule go to : calvin.edu/January/2014
History for January 5 -Superman, Super Men, Super horse, Super "Doh" deaths
History for January 5 - On-This-Day.com
Late entry-
Silent Cal passes away-1933
Late entry-
Silent Cal passes away-1933
100th birth anniversary of actor George Reeves (1914-59).
George Washington Carver: death anniversary (1943)
Happy Birthday! Robert Duvall
1896 - It was reported by The Austrian newspaper that Wilhelm Roentgen had discovered the type of radiation that became known as X-rays.
1961 - "Mr. Ed" debuted. The show would run for six years.
1996 - Yahya Ayyash, a member of the Hamas in Israel, is killed by a booby-trapped cellular phone.
1998 - U.S. Representative Sonny Bono died in skiing accident.
2002 - A 15 year-old student pilot, Charles Bishop, crashed a small plane into a building in Tampa, FL. Bishop was about to begin a flying lesson when he took off without permission and without an instructor.
1961 - "Mr. Ed" debuted. The show would run for six years.
1996 - Yahya Ayyash, a member of the Hamas in Israel, is killed by a booby-trapped cellular phone.
1998 - U.S. Representative Sonny Bono died in skiing accident.
2002 - A 15 year-old student pilot, Charles Bishop, crashed a small plane into a building in Tampa, FL. Bishop was about to begin a flying lesson when he took off without permission and without an instructor.
Saturday, January 04, 2014
We give them the power to "RULE". Why?-----------------Feds list 141 new regulations in only three days
Feds list 141 new regulations in only three days | The Daily Caller:
"It’s a new year and you know what that means — new regulations.
The Obama administration has wasted no time in writing them.
The website Regulations.gov lists 141 regulations that have been posted by federal agencies in the last three days alone.
Of these regulations, 119 are “rulemaking,” meaning they establish a new rule.
Twenty-three are “non-rulemaking,” meaning the regulations does not establish a new rule.
The largest group of regulations have to do with energy and environmental issues, many of them issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
One new EPA regulation is an amendment to a rule on hazardous emissions from lead smelters."
"It’s a new year and you know what that means — new regulations.
The Obama administration has wasted no time in writing them.
The website Regulations.gov lists 141 regulations that have been posted by federal agencies in the last three days alone.
Of these regulations, 119 are “rulemaking,” meaning they establish a new rule.
Twenty-three are “non-rulemaking,” meaning the regulations does not establish a new rule.
The largest group of regulations have to do with energy and environmental issues, many of them issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
One new EPA regulation is an amendment to a rule on hazardous emissions from lead smelters."
RINO vs Conservative---Is Rep. Justin Amash’s challenger doomed?
LOTFI: Is Rep. Justin Amash’s challenger doomed? | Ben Swann Truth In Media:
In a recent interview with the Weekly Standard, Brian Ellis, who is GOP Rep. Justin Amash’s primary challenger, provided a statement that should put the final nail in the coffin of his own campaign.
Ellis told the Weekly Standard that Amash should stop voting against bills because he thinks they violate the Constitution. “If something is unconstitutional, we have a court system that looks at that,” Ellis said.
Ellis’ statement needs to be dissected in order to understand the strain of big-government neoconservativism he personifies.
First, it should be noted that the oath of office demands that federal representatives are obedient to the Constitution itself, and not to the Court.
By Ellis’ logic, African-Americans are property and not humans. Why? The Supreme Court said so in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
By Ellis’ logic, the federal government can force you into the insurance market. What will happen if you refuse to comply? You will be forced to pay a “fine.” Why? The Supreme Court said so in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.
By Ellis’ logic, a farmer can’t grow wheat for himself to feed his family and his animals during times of economic hardship. Why? The Supreme Court said so in Wickard v. Filburn.
By Ellis’ logic, the federal government can take all police powers away from the states. Why? The Supreme Court said so in Champion v. Ames.
By Ellis’ logic, the federal government can control essentially every ditch of rainwater, machine and employee, regardless of lines of commerce. Why? The Supreme Court said so in United States v. Darby.
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