Thursday, May 31, 2012

“Tolerant” Dems Think It’s OK to Insult Black Republican Women


Townhall.com ^ | May 30, 2012 | Crystal Wright



Liberals have created an unspoken code of conduct that says it is condoned and encouraged for Democrats to insult black Republicans, particularly black female Republicans. Black Republicans must be effectively blowing up the stereotype all blacks are not liberals because I’ve noticed a rash of Twitter accounts have been created by Democrat operatives with the sole purposes of attacking me to silence me.


Unlike some blacks who call themselves independents in order to be more palatable to the mainstream media establishment, I don’t straddle the center. I call myself a Republican and this really BOTHERS Democrats because I’m not black like they want me to be.

Not a day goes that I’m not bombarded by an arsenal of crude names on Twitter or via email because I’m a black Republican and don’t worship Barack Obama or think his being elected as the first black president of America is the greatest thing he should be expected to achieve as president.

Because I refuse to bow to a grotesque stereotype, liberals think it’s permissible to say things to me on the Internet most would never have the guts to say to my face. Granted I have strong opinions, which I’m not afraid to express but when liberals can’t argue against my points or I refuse to agree with them, they generally resort to profanity or vulgar sexual references.

I wanted to share a string of ugly tweets from last to demonstrate the kind of ugliness I subjected to daily. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I tweeted about several topics: Mitt Romney having a black voter outreach strategy while Obama had none because he like Democrats take the black vote for granted and how ironic when his policies have disproportionately harmed blacks; and Obama’s 2008 race speech when he refused to denounce Rev. Wright’s racist sermons.

I also tweeted about Democrats flawed argument that voter ID laws harm minorities. If whites can manage to get proper ID to vote in states with photo ID laws and minorities can’t, Dems are saying one of two things. First, blacks and other ethnic groups are intellectually inferior and therefore incapable of acquiring Photo IDs to vote or second they believe more minorities, who vote Democrat, commit voter fraud and that’s the only way Democrats can win. This kind of rhetoric should be insulting to blacks or any minorities because it implies that we’re the lesser people. (By the way, when Georgia and Indiana passed voter ID laws, minority voter registration increased. The Brennan Center found majority of people, 89% of Americans have the proper ID to vote so perhaps the 11% who don’t need to get the proper ID.)

Who knows what set the liberals off May 26, 2012 but this is what ensued.

A man whose handle is Axle the Great launched a series of insulting tweets directed at me May 26, 2012:


@GOPBlackChick is hittable so I wouldn't care what comes out her mouth. Id just be thinking what could go in.

@GOPBlackChick I said I would **** her. Don't get me wrong, politics aside. Since when does a man cares what a women says

@GOPBlackChick okay. fine. you ****ing sally hemmings want to be. good bye

@GOPBlackChick so the **** what. go away you self loathing attention whore.

On Memorial Day @younggrumpy didn’t agree with my comments about some DC councilmembers and Mayor Vincent Gray so he jumped in my Twitter feed with these unsavory tweets:


Younggrumpy: “u self hating porch monkey,” and “you dumb c***.”

It’s ironic males who call themselves Democrats and belong to the so called “party of tolerance” don’t practice the tolerance they preach but rather daily wage a misogynistic war on Republican women. Equally outrageous is when Democrats can’t defend themselves against Republicans’ counter arguments, they immediately resort to name calling or profanity.

A good example is my appearance May 7th on CNN with liberal leaning political pundit Goldie Taylor. Taylor didn’t like my pointing out the holes in her comments about Biden’s support of gay marriage so she insulted me like a child on the playground, “I don’t respond to anything Crystal Wright says on TV or Twitter.” Then she told me on air to “Stuff it and hold it.” I don’t know what that means but it sounds unsavory like the Tweet she wrote May 26th:


”RT@Iluvbp @goldietaylor Would you spit on Crystal Wright if she were on fire? << I'd get a hose, put put the fire and smack her senseless.”

Liberals need to learn rules of civility rather than insults in debate with their political opponents; otherwise, they look like crude, unmannered bullies void of arguments and full of fear and loathing.

America Lost 129,000 Millionaires in 2011


CNBC Reporter & Editor
GSO Images | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images

America’s millionaire population declined last year for the first time since the financial crisis, according to a new report.
The population of U.S. millionaire households (households with investible assets of $1 million or more) fell to 5,134,000 from 5,263,000 in 2011, according to The Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth study.
Total private wealth in North America fell by 0.9 percent, to $38 trillion.
The ultra-rich were the largest losers in dollar terms. Households in North America with investible assets of more than $100 million saw their wealth decline 2.4 percent. Their population declined slightly to 2,928 from 2,989.
The main reason for all this wealth loss? Stocks.
Robert Frank
Robert Frank
CNBC Reporter
& Editor

With the wealthy today increasingly dependent on stocks for wealth, last year’s stalled stock market shrunk the population of millionaires and nicked the fortunes of existing millionaires. According to BCG, the amount of wealth held in equities declined 3.6 percent last year.
Globally, the picture looked a little brighter. Virtually all of the growth in global millionaires came from emerging markets last year. While the United States lost nearly 130,000 millionaires, the rest of the world added 175,000 millionaires. There are now 12.6 million millionaire households globally, according to BCG.


The country with the highest “millionaire density” – proportion of population who are millionaires – was Singapore. More than 17 percent of Singapore’s households are millionaires.
While 2011 saw declines in U.S. millionaires, the future looks brighter, BCG said. They expect wealth held by millionaires globally to grow at around six percent a year in Asia-Pacific. “We are in a two-speed world,” said the report. “All of the growth is being driven by developing markets.”
-By CNBC's Robert Frank

Teamsters, Coca-Cola Dispute Who's Paying For Health Insurance


Hartford Courant ^



Both the Teamsters and Coca-Cola agree that health insurance costs $14,898 a year per employee at the East Hartford bottling plant.

But the two sides don't agree how that cost is distributed, making it hard to see how they can reach a new contract where health insurance costs are a major sticking point.
About 350 union members have been striking for two weeks after about seven months of negotiating.
Teamsters, who work as drivers, in soda bottling operations and in the warehouse, make about $20 an hour, and their health insurance costs another $7.16 an hour.
In the last contract, Teamsters spokesman Chris Roos said, the company and the Teamsters agreed how much of the increase in compensation would go toward wages and how much toward medical and dental insurance.
But Coca-Cola is insisting that the company pays the whole cost of health insurance and that union members must now pick up part of the expense.
...
No new negotiating sessions have been scheduled since the strike began. The next meeting is on June 12.
The Teamsters union had also asked the National Labor Relations Board to insert itself into the contract dispute, arguing that the company is not revealing enough information about its new alternate distribution plans, which union members fear could eliminate jobs. Coca-Cola has said no jobs will be lost as a result of the changes.
Roos said under the new arrangements, some grocery chains could pick up their own Coca-Cola products instead of having them delivered.
The NLRB investigated the union's claim, and John Cotter, deputy regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Hartford, said that although "we believe there is a potential for merit finding," the agency is not issuing a complaint yet.

(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...

I saw a single Coke striker standing by a intersection in Massachusetts yesterday. No honks of support were heard. 

Romney & American Conservatism


Truth Based Logic Domain ^ | May 31, 2012 | William Flax



History is replete with examples: Politicians tend to follow popular trends, rather than lead. To the extent that segments of the public can be pushed in our direction, we increase constructive pressure on all candidates, who are not compulsion driven ideologues, to be more conservative.

The Reagan era is a case in point; the reverse was true in the leftward shift of many formerly conservative Democrats in the early "New Deal."

This does not imply lack of personal involvement. Our obvious interest has led to careful consideration of the merits, deficiencies & reasonable possibilities related to each candidate. While Governor Romney was never our first choice, he may prove, in fact, the one most likely to move in the right direction.

(Excerpt) Read more at truthbasedlogic.com ...

Detroit, North Korea, The City Of Broken Lights


IBD editorials ^ | May 31, 2012



Lost Cities: "Will the last one to leave please turn off the lights?" goes the old joke. In the socialist worker's paradise that was the Motor City, nearly half the streetlights are broken and the city can't afford to fix them.

Detroit, the buckle on the Rust Belt that as recently as the 1970s had 1.8 million people, now has only 713,000 in an area of 139 square miles.

It fell victim to one-party Democratic rule and labor unions that made its key industry — auto manufacturing — uncompetitive and financially unstable. Before there was Greece, there was General Motors.

Now Detroit has announced plans to reorganize that could have come right out of Pyongyang.
As Bloomberg reports, some 40% of the city's 88,000 streetlights are broken, and the city will try to "nudge" people into moving into a smaller, more compact area that can be better maintained.
Mayor Dave Bing proposes to decommission nearly half the city's lights, including all those in alleys, two-thirds of those in declining neighborhoods and a third of those in more stable neighborhoods.
"You have to identify those neighborhoods where you want to concentrate your population," said Chris Brown, Detroit's chief operating officer. "We're not going to light distressed areas like we light other areas."
So Detroit residents can continue to reside in sparsely populated unlit areas — or move where the government wants them to move.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...

Reported that GOP leaders succumb to race card, may end Fast and Furious investigation!


The Coach's Right ^ | May 31, 2012 | Doug Book,



“We want to let them know that there is a theological responsibility (emphasis added) to participate in the political process…” said House Congressional Black Caucus chair, Emanuel Cleaver of a meeting with hundreds of black Pastors representing various denominations in the U.S. Speaking to MSNBC, the congressman added “…we’re going to have the IRS administrator there, we’re going to have the Attorney General Eric Holder there, we’re going to have the lawyers’ organization from around the country, the ACLU — all giving Ministers guidance about what they can and cannot do.” (1)
Of course Cleaver was referring to “guidance” in the ways churches can participate in the 2012 election without violating IRS rules concerning their tax exempt status. Naturally this has always been of GREAT concern to black Pastors, especially nowadays given the sterling record of unbiased enforcement built by the scrupulously law abiding Attorney General.
Yet even while absorbed with their tax code responsibilities, the attending Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights found time to address a letter to House Speaker John Boehner concerning the harsh treatment of Attorney General Holder by some of the Speaker’s fellow Republicans. Consisting of labor unions, homosexual groups, black ministers, the NAACP and even an Arab anti-discrimination organization, the Conference believe citing Holder with contempt for his disregard of House subpoenas in the Fast and Furious affair is “unwarranted.” In fact, it’s a downright “partisan attempt to discredit the Attorney General,” a heinous example of “accusatory vitriol and malignant suspicion” and a “rush to judgment intended to create a stain on the office of the Attorney General.” (2)
But according the man who broke the “Gunwalker” story a year and a half ago, threatening letters to Speaker Boehner might no longer be necessary. Sources in Washington, DC have told blogger and citizen reporter Mike Vanderboegh that Republican leaders have already decided to close down the Fast and Furious investigation and halt contempt proceedings against Eric Holder, because “they (the GOP leadership) don’t think that they will suffer for [that] failure to follow through. They’re scared of Holder’s race card. . . they’re scared of Trayvon. They think if they let Issa fail, that it will only be a story in the blogosphere for a day . . . that they can weather it. . . .” Unfortunately, Vanderboegh makes it clear that he trusts the word of these sources “implicitly.” 3.
In short, John Boehner and other Republican big wigs are more afraid of the race card and its steady play by the Obama-owned national media than of the bitter –yet presumably brief—disappointment of conservatives, disgusted because the GOP has once again opted for the cowardly betrayal of justice and of the Party base.
If Vanderboegh’s sources are correct, hundreds of innocent people will have died, Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata will have been shot to death, the Obama Regime will have launched a brutal and deadly assault on the 2nd Amendment, yet all will be forgiven and forgotten in the name of political expedience.
Vanderboegh was certainly right about Boehner’s work to delay Representative Darrell Issa’s contempt proceedings against Holder. We should all hope his sources have gotten this one wrong.

To read more use these links:
(Holder to brief black pastors on campaign 2012)
(Attempt to Cite Attorney General Eric Holder for Contempt Seems to Be a Rush to Judgment)
"Run! Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gunwalker Man!"

US rejects proposal to put Internet under UN control


phys.org/news ^ | May 31, 2012 | na



At a congressional hearing, the comments were united in opposition to place the Internet under the jurisdiction of the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency which governs telecom systems.

"There's a strong, bipartisan consensus within the (US) administration and Congress that we must resist efforts from some countries to impose a top-down governance of the Internet," Representative Henry Waxman told the hearing.


Congresswoman Doris Matsui added that "any international authority over the Internet is troublesome, particularly if that effort is being led by countries where censorship is the norm."
A top State Department official, in prepared remarks, reaffirmed the opposition of the Obama administration to UN governance of the Internet.
"In all bilateral encounters and multilateral meetings, the United States consistently opposes the extension of intergovernmental controls over the Internet," said Philip Verveer, deputy assistant secretary of state and coordinator for IT policy, saying this would lead to "very bad outcomes."
"It inevitably would diminish the dynamism of the Internet," he said.
Verveer told lawmakers that UN control would possibly "aid in censorship and repression" in some countries.
The comments come ahead of a meeting in December of the ITU where some nations will be pressing for the agency to formally govern the Internet.
Some nations, including Russia and China, say the Internet is still controlled by the United States and that a UN effort would give a greater voice to the developing world.
"Father of the Internet" and Google scientist Vint Cerf in Hong Kong in 2011. Cerf said Thursday that proposals to bring the Internet under United Nations' control "holds profound -- and I believe potentially hazardous -- implications for the future of the Internet and all of its users". But many in the US fear a UN-governed Internet would give authoritarian nations the power to throttle free speech, and allow others to impose tariff or other restrictions.
The Internet is currently a loosely governed network, with an address system managed by a nonprofit association that was recently opened to include nongovernment groups and other organizations around the world.
A staff memo to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which called Thursday's hearing, said handing over the Internet to the UN "could jeopardize not only its vibrancy, but also the economic and social benefits it brings to the world."
Vint Cerf, a computer scientist often called the "father of the Internet," who is now Google's "chief Internet evangelist," also expressed concern about the proposal.
"The Internet's success has generated a worrying desire by some countries' governments to create new international rules that would jeopardize the network's innovative evolution and its multi-faceted success," he said in prepared remarks.
A move to UN control, he said, "holds profound -- and I believe potentially hazardous -- implications for the future of the Internet and all of its users. If all of us do not pay attention to what is going on, users worldwide will be at risk of losing the open and free Internet that has brought so much to so many."
Sally Shipman Wentworth of the Internet Society, an advisory panel, said the current system works well, and that UN governance "could lead to a more fragmented, less interoperable global network."
US Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell said the proposals represent threats to the Internet.
"For many years now, scores of countries led by China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and many others, have pushed for, as then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said almost a year ago, 'international control of the Internet' through the ITU," he told the panel.
"Such a scenario would be devastating to global economic activity, but it would hurt the developing world the most."

Holder's Chutzpah (Thomas Sowell on Eric Holder)


Creators Syndicate ^ | May 31, 2012 | Thomas Sowell





Attorney General Eric Holder recently told a group of black clergymen that the right to vote was being threatened by people who are seeking to block access to the ballot box by blacks and other minorities.
 
This is truly world-class chutzpah, by an Attorney General who stopped attorneys in his own Department of Justice from completing the prosecution of black thugs who stationed themselves outside a Philadelphia voting site to harass and intimidate white voters.

This may have seemed like a small episode to some at the time, but it was only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The U.S. Attorney who was prosecuting that case — J. Christian Adams — resigned from the Department of Justice in protest, and wrote a book about a whole array of similar race-based decisions on voting rights by Eric Holder and his subordinates at the Department of Justice.
The book is titled "Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department." It names names, dates and places around the country where the Department of Justice stopped its own attorneys from pursuing cases of voter fraud and intimidation, when it was blacks who were accused of these crimes.
If Mr. Adams is lying, he has taken a huge risk in citing individuals by name and quoting them directly. Yet, despite the fact that most of those he accuses are lawyers, apparently no one has sued him. Moreover, Adams has also testified under oath before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, on the racial double standard at the Department of Justice, when it comes to voting rights.
What Attorney General Holder has been complaining loudly about, and launching federal lawsuits about, are states that require photo identification to vote. Holder calls this blocking minority "access" to the voting booths.
Since millions of black Americans — like millions of white Americans — are confronted with demands for photo identification at airports, banks and innumerable other institutions, it is a little much to claim that requiring the same thing to vote is denying the right to vote. But Holder's chutzpah is up to the task.
Attorney General Holder claims that the states' requirement of photo identification for voting, in order to prevent voter fraud, is just a pretext for discriminating against blacks and other minorities. He apparently sees no voter fraud, hears no voter fraud and speaks no voter fraud.
Despite Holder's claim, a little experiment in his own home voting district showed how easy it is to commit voter fraud. An actor — a white actor, at that — went to a voting place where Eric Holder is registered to vote, and told them that he was Eric Holder.
The actor had no identification at all with him, either with or without a photo. He told the voting official that he had forgotten and left his identification in his car. Instead of telling him to go back to the car and get some identification, the official said that that was all right, and offered him the ballot.
The actor had the good sense not to actually take the ballot, which would have made him guilty of voter fraud — and, being white, he would undoubtedly have been prosecuted by Eric Holder's Department of Justice.
But the actor had made his point. When a white man with no identification can go to a voting site, impersonate a black man who lives in that district, and get his ballot offered to him, then it is far too easy to commit voter fraud.
Does not Attorney General Eric Holder understand that? Of course he understands it! The man is not stupid, despite his other failings.
Holder's pooh-poohing of voter fraud dangers, and hyping the "threat" of denying minorities "access" to the voting booth, are completely consistent with his drive to (1) maximize the number of votes by black Democrats and (2) spread as much fear as possible among minorities that they are under siege, and that the Democrats are their only protection and salvation.
It is a political protection racket, with payoffs in votes.
Nor can Holder's boss, Barack Obama, be unaware of voter fraud. After all, he comes from Chicago, where voting officials refuse to discriminate against dead people. 

Texas A&M Commencement Address


Neal Boortz



Texas A&M Commencement Address - The students gave a standing ovation; the faculty were deathly silent!


Neal Boortz is a Texan, a lawyer, a Texas Aggie (Texas A&M) graduate, and now a nationally syndicated talk show host from Atlanta . His commencement address to the graduates of a recent Texas A&M class is far different from what either the students or the faculty expected. Whether you agree or disagree, his views are certainly thought provoking.


"I am honored by the invitation to address you on this august occasion. It's about time. Be warned, however, that I am not here to impress you; you'll have enough smoke blown up your bloomers today. And you can bet your tassels I'm not here to impress the faculty and administration. You may not like much of what I have to say, and that's fine. You will remember it though. Especially after about 10 years out there in the real world. This, it goes without saying, does not apply to those of you who will seek your careers and your fortunes as government employees.


This gowned gaggle behind me is your faculty. You've heard the old saying that those who can - do. Those who can't - teach. That sounds deliciously insensitive. But there is often raw truth in insensitivity, just as you often find feel-good falsehoods and lies in compassion. Say good-bye to your faculty because now you are getting ready to go out there and do. These folks behind me are going to stay right here and teach.

By the way, just because you are leaving this place with a diploma doesn't mean the learning is over. When an FAA flight examiner handed me my private pilot's license many years ago, he said, “Here, this is your ticket to learn.” The same can be said for your diploma. Believe me, the learning has just begun.

Now, I realize that most of you consider yourselves Liberals. In fact, you are probably very proud of your liberal views. You care so much. You feel so much. You want to help so much. After all, you're a compassionate and caring person, aren't you now? Well, isn't that just so extraordinarily special. Now, at this age, is as good a time as any to be a liberal; as good a time as any to know absolutely everything. You have plenty of time, starting tomorrow, for the truth to set in.

Over the next few years, as you begin to feel the cold breath of reality down your neck, things are going to start changing pretty fast... Including your own assessment of just how much you really know.

So here are the first assignments for your initial class in reality: Pay attention to the news, read newspapers, and listen to the words and phrases that proud Liberals use to promote their causes. Then, compare the words of the left to the words and phrases you hear from those evil, heartless, greedy conservatives. From the Left you will hear "I feel." From the Right you will hear "I think." From the Liberals you will hear references to groups -- The Blacks, the Poor, the Rich, the Disadvantaged, the Less Fortunate. From the Right you will hear references to individuals. On the Left you hear talk of group rights; on the Right, individual rights.

That about sums it up, really: Liberals feel. Liberals care. They are pack animals whose identity is tied up in group dynamics. Conservatives think -- and, setting aside the theocracy crowd, their identity is centered on the individual.

Liberals feel that their favored groups have enforceable rights to the property and services of productive individuals. Conservatives, I among them I might add, think that individuals have the right to protect their lives and their property from the plunder of the masses.

In college you developed a group mentality, but if you look closely at your diplomas you will see that they have your individual names on them. Not the name of your school mascot, or of your fraternity or sorority, but your name. Your group identity is going away. Your recognition and appreciation of your individual identity starts now.

If, by the time you reach the age of 30, you do not consider yourself to be a conservative, rush right back here as quickly as you can and apply for a faculty position. These people will welcome you with open arms. They will welcome you, that is, so long as you haven't developed an individual identity. Once again you will have to be willing to sign on to the group mentality you embraced during the past four years.

Something is going to happen soon that is going to really open your eyes. You're going to actually get a full time job!

You're also going to get a lifelong work partner. This partner isn't going to help you do your job. This partner is just going to sit back and wait for payday. This partner doesn't want to share in your effort, but in your earnings.

Your new lifelong partner is actually an agent; an agent representing a strange and diverse group of people; an agent for every teenager with an illegitimate child; an agent for a research scientist who wanted to make some cash answering the age-old question of why monkeys grind their teeth. An agent for some poor demented hippie who considers herself to be a meaningful and talented artist, but who just can't manage to sell any of her artwork on the open market.

Your new partner is an agent for every person with limited, if any, job skills, but who wanted a job at City Hall. An agent for tin-horn dictators in fancy military uniforms grasping for American foreign aid. An agent for multi-million dollar companies who want someone else to pay for their overseas advertising. An agent for everybody who wants to use the unimaginable power of this agent's for their personal enrichment and benefit. That agent is our wonderful, caring, compassionate, oppressive government. Believe me, you will be awed by the unimaginable power this agent has. Power that you do not have. A power that no individual has, or will have. This agent has the legal power to use force, deadly force to accomplish its goals.

You have no choice here. Your new friend is just going to walk up to you, introduce itself rather gruffly, hand you a few forms to fill out, and move right on in. Say hello to your own personal one ton gorilla. It will sleep anywhere it wants to.

Now, let me tell you, this agent is not cheap. As you become successful it will seize about 40% of everything you earn. And no, I'm sorry, there just isn't any way you can fire this agent of plunder, and you can't decrease its share of your income. That power rests with him, not you.

So, here I am saying negative things to you about government. Well, be clear on this: It is not wrong to distrust government. It is not wrong to fear government. In certain cases it is not even wrong to despise government for government is inherently evil. Yes, a necessary evil, but dangerous nonetheless, somewhat like a drug. Just as a drug that in the proper dosage can save your life, an overdose of government can be fatal.

Now let's address a few things that have been crammed into your minds at this university. There are some ideas you need to expunge as soon as possible. These ideas may work well in academic environment, but they fail miserably out there in the real world. First is that favorite buzz word of the media and academia: Diversity! You have been taught that the real value of any group of people - be it a social group, an employee group, a management group, whatever - is based on diversity. This is a favored liberal ideal because diversity is based not on an individuals abilities or character, but on a person's identity and status as a member of a group. Yes, it's that liberal group identity thing again.

Within the great diversity movement group identification - be it racial, gender based, or some other minority status - means more than the individuals integrity, character or other qualifications.

Brace yourself. You are about to move from this academic atmosphere where diversity rules, to a workplace and a culture where individual achievement and excellence actually count. No matter what your professors have taught you over the last four years, you are about to learn that diversity is absolutely no replacement for excellence, ability, and individual hard work. From this day on every single time you hear the word "diversity" you can rest assured that there is someone close by who is determined to rob you of every vestige of individuality you possess.

We also need to address this thing you seem to have about "rights." We have witnessed an obscene explosion of so-called "rights" in the last few decades, usually emanating from college campuses.

You know the mantra: You have the right to a job. The right to a place to live. The right to a living wage. The right to health care. The right to an education. You probably even have your own pet right - the right to a Beemer for instance, or the right to have someone else provide for that child you plan on downloading in a year or so.

Forget it. Forget those rights! I'll tell you what your rights are. You have a right to live free, and to the results of 60% -75% of your labor. I'll also tell you have no right to any portion of the life or labor of another.

You may, for instance, think that you have a right to health care. After all, President Obama said so, didn't he? But you cannot receive health-care unless some doctor or health practitioner surrenders some of his time - his life - to you. He may be willing to do this for compensation, but that's his choice. You have no "right" to his time or property. You have no right to his or any other person's life or to any portion thereof.

You may also think you have some "right" to a job; a job with a living wage, whatever that is. Do you mean to tell me that you have a right to force your services on another person, and then the right to demand that this person compensate you with their money? Sorry, forget it. I am sure you would scream if some urban outdoors men (that would be "homeless person" for those of you who don't want to give these less fortunate people a romantic and adventurous title) came to you and demanded his job and your money.

The people who have been telling you about all the rights you have are simply exercising one of theirs - the right to be imbeciles. Their being imbeciles didn't cost anyone else either property or time. It's their right, and they exercise it brilliantly.

By the way, did you catch my use of the phrase "less fortunate" a bit ago when I was talking about the urban outdoors men? That phrase is a favorite of the Left. Think about it, and you'll understand why.

To imply that one person is homeless, destitute, dirty, drunk, spaced out on drugs, unemployable, and generally miserable because he is "less fortunate" is to imply that a successful person - one with a job, a home and a future - is in that position because he or she was "fortunate." The dictionary says that fortunate means "having derived good from an unexpected place." There is nothing unexpected about deriving good from hard work. There is also nothing unexpected about deriving misery from choosing drugs, alcohol, and the street.

If the Liberal Left can create the common perception that success and failure are simple matters of "fortune" or "luck," then it is easy to promote and justify their various income redistribution schemes. After all, we are just evening out the odds a little bit. This "success equals luck" idea the liberals like to push is seen everywhere. Former Democratic presidential candidate Richard Gephardt refers to high-achievers as "people who have won life's lottery." He wants you to believe they are making the big bucks because they are lucky. It's not luck, my friends. It's choice. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned was in a book by Og Mandino, entitled, "The Greatest Secret in the World." The lesson? Very simple: "Use wisely your power of choice."

That bum sitting on a heating grate, smelling like a wharf rat? He's there by choice. He is there because of the sum total of the choices he has made in his life. This truism is absolutely the hardest thing for some people to accept, especially those who consider themselves to be victims of something or other - victims of discrimination, bad luck, the system, capitalism, whatever. After all, nobody really wants to accept the blame for his or her position in life. Not when it is so much easier to point and say, "Look! He did this to me!" than it is to look into a mirror and say, "You S. O. B.! You did this to me!"

The key to accepting responsibility for your life is to accept the fact that your choices, every one of them, are leading you inexorably to either success or failure, however you define those terms.

Some of the choices are obvious: Whether or not to stay in school. Whether or not to get pregnant. Whether or not to hit the bottle. Whether or not to keep this job you hate until you get another better-paying job. Whether or not to save some of your money, or saddle yourself with huge payments for that new car.

Some of the choices are seemingly insignificant: Whom to go to the movies with. Whose car to ride home in. Whether to watch the tube tonight, or read a book on investing. But, and you can be sure of this, each choice counts. Each choice is a building block - some large, some small. But each one is a part of the structure of your life. If you make the right choices, or if you make more right choices than wrong ones, something absolutely terrible may happen to you. Something unthinkable. You, my friend, could become one of the hated, the evil, the ugly, the feared, the filthy, the successful, the rich.

The rich basically serve two purposes in this country. First, they provide the investments, the investment capital, and the brains for the formation of new businesses. Businesses that hire people. Businesses that send millions of paychecks home each week to the un-rich.

Second, the rich are a wonderful object of ridicule, distrust, and hatred. Few things are more valuable to a politician than the envy most Americans feel for the evil rich.

Envy is a powerful emotion. Even more powerful than the emotional minefield that surrounded Bill Clinton when he reviewed his last batch of White House interns. Politicians use envy to get votes and power. And they keep that power by promising the envious that the envied will be punished: "The rich will pay their fair share of taxes if I have anything to do with it." The truth is that the top 10% of income earners in this country pays almost 50% of all income taxes collected. I shudder to think what these job producers would be paying if our tax system were any more "fair."

You have heard, no doubt, that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Interestingly enough, our government's own numbers show that many of the poor actually get richer, and that quite a few of the rich actually get poorer. But for the rich who do actually get richer, and the poor who remain poor .. there's an explanation -- a reason. The rich, you see, keep doing the things that make them rich; while the poor keep doing the things that make them poor.

Speaking of the poor, during your adult life you are going to hear an endless string of politicians bemoaning the plight of the poor. So, you need to know that under our government's definition of "poor" you can have a $5 million net worth, a $300,000 home and a new $90,000 Mercedes, all completely paid for. You can also have a maid, cook, and valet, and a million in your checking account, and you can still be officially defined by our government as "living in poverty." Now there's something you haven't seen on the evening news.

How does the government pull this one off? Very simple, really. To determine whether or not some poor soul is "living in poverty," the government measures one thing -- just one thing. Income.

It doesn't matter one bit how much you have, how much you own, how many cars you drive or how big they are, whether or not your pool is heated, whether you winter in Aspen and spend the summers in the Bahamas, or how much is in your savings account. It only matters how much income you claim in that particular year. This means that if you take a one-year leave of absence from your high-paying job and decide to live off the money in your savings and checking accounts while you write the next great American novel, the government says you are living in poverty."

This isn't exactly what you had in mind when you heard these gloomy statistics, is it? Do you need more convincing? Try this. The government's own statistics show that people who are said to be "living in poverty" spend more than $1.50 for each dollar of income they claim. Something is a bit fishy here. Just remember all this the next time Charles Gibson tells you about some hideous new poverty statistics.

Why has the government concocted this phony poverty scam? Because the government needs an excuse to grow and to expand its social welfare programs, which translates into an expansion of its power. If the government can convince you, in all your compassion, that the number of "poor" is increasing, it will have all the excuse it needs to sway an electorate suffering from the advanced stages of Obsessive-Compulsive Compassion Disorder.

I'm about to be stoned by the faculty here. They've already changed their minds about that honorary degree I was going to get. That's OK, though. I still have my PhD. in Insensitivity from the Neal Boortz Institute for Insensitivity Training. I learned that, in short, sensitivity sucks. It's a trap. Think about it - the truth knows no sensitivity. Life can be insensitive. Wallow too much in sensitivity and you'll be unable to deal with life, or the truth, so get over it.

Now, before the dean has me shackled and hauled off, I have a few random thoughts.

* You need to register to vote, unless you are on welfare. If you are living off the efforts of others, please do us the favor of sitting down and shutting up until you are on your own again.

* When you do vote, your votes for the House and the Senate are more important than your vote for President. The House controls the purse strings, so concentrate your awareness there.

* Liars cannot be trusted, even when the liar is the President of the country. If someone can't deal honestly with you, send them packing.

* Don't bow to the temptation to use the government as an instrument of plunder. If it is wrong for you to take money from someone else who earned it -- to take their money by force for your own needs -- then it is certainly just as wrong for you to demand that the government step forward and do this dirty work for you.

* Don't look in other people's pockets. You have no business there. What they earn is theirs. What you earn is yours. Keep it that way. Nobody owes you anything, except to respect your privacy and your rights, and leave you the hell alone.

* Speaking of earning, the revered 40-hour workweek is for losers. Forty hours should be considered the minimum, not the maximum. You don't see highly successful people clocking out of the office every afternoon at five. The losers are the ones caught up in that afternoon rush hour. The winners drive home in the dark.

* Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.

* Finally (and aren't you glad to hear that word), as Og Mandino wrote,
1. Proclaim your rarity. Each of you is a rare and unique human being.
2. Use wisely your power of choice.
3. Go the extra mile, drive home in the dark.

Oh, and put off buying a television set as long as you can. Now, if you have any idea at all what's good for you, you will get out of here and never come back. Class dismissed"

Teacher and Spouse Make $140K Per Year, 'Adamant' That Their Children Will 'Never' Be Educators!


Capitol Confidential ^ | 5/30/2012 | Tom Gantert



As teachers in the same school district, Craig and Laura Beach have a combined 47 years at Rockford, IL, Public Schools.

According to the teachers’ union contract, the two would make a combined $140,000 a year working in a city where the median household income is $57,422.

Craig is a high school teacher with 23 years of experience and his wife Laura has 24 years of experience and is an elementary school teacher, according to what Craig Beach recently posted in his op-ed on MLive.

If the teaching couple retired with 25 years of experience, their combined pensions would be about $52,000 a year. The Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System will provide health care coverage into retirement as early as age 46 if they qualify.
Yet, Craig Beach is unhappy with the “scorn” his profession is allegedly feeling from the Republican Party as well as the compensation of teachers. He wrote that he and his wife are committed that their children not become teachers.
“... My wife and I are adamant that this will never be the heritage of our own three children,” he wrote. "For the first time in my service to our future leaders, I have come to the realization that I would never want my children to enter the education profession. My father, mother, sister, wife and I all have advanced college degrees. In total, the five of us have approximately 36 years of college. My children will use their college degrees for a profession that is not the target of scorn of the Republican Party.
"Would you encourage your son or daughter to devote an advanced college degree to this profession?" he wrote.
Tina Dupont, who has a Rockford mailing address and is a member of the Tea Party of West Michigan, said teachers are paid well and if they "love teaching, pay and benefits should be a secondary worry."
"Teachers today make more money than most of the parents who drop off their kids. They get many days off for Christmas, spring break, summer, etc. Most days they can leave with the children when the final bell rings and actually beat them home since they don’t have to ride the bus," DuPont said. "They‘ve not been paying much for the health care or retirement. … The rest of us have been doing this for years and paying for theirs. So now when the tax payer who pays his salary and benefits can no longer afford to be so generous, he has the gall to whine about it. What Mr. Beach does not realize [that] they ... also get more generous benefits than any I’ve ever seen in my or my husband’s career."
Rockford teachers were offered a health insurance plan with the school district paying 100 percent of the premium. That was changed in the latest contract that was effective Sept. 1, 2011 and teachers currently pay 18 percent of their health care premium.
A teacher with 24 years of service and a master's degree working at Rockford Public Schools earns $71,832 a year. A teacher at Rockford with 23 years of service with a master’s degree would make $70,189, according to the union contract. If a teacher worked 25 years and retired from Rockford, the annual pension would be an estimated $26,320. By contrast, in 2008, the median pension for the private sector was $7,584, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Beach didn’t respond to a request sent to his school email address seeking comment.

Pelosi: Obamacare Will Be Upheld 6-3, ‘Because I Know the Constitution’ (PUKE)!


CNSNews ^



By Elizabeth Harrington

(CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the Supreme Court will uphold the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health care law, predicting a 6-3 decision because, as she remarked, “I know the Constitution.”

At a Capitol Hill press conference on Thursday, a reporter asked Pelosi, “Madame Leader, the Supreme Court is getting ready to rule in the next month or so on the health care bill, and you’ve expressed pretty high confidence – I think you said 6-3 – but I’m just wondering if Democrats and the Democratic leadership have had any discussions or meetings to plan for any sort of contingency plan given the possibility that the court could strike provisions from the law or the whole law, I’m wondering if Democrats are having any meetings to discuss contingency plans?”

Pelosi, in reference to how the nine-judge court will rule, said, “6-3. That’s it. 6-3.”
She was then asked why she was so confident about her prediction.

“Because I know the Constitution,” Pelosi said. “This bill is ironclad. It is ironclad.”

“Nobody was frivolous with the Constitution and the health of the American people in writing the bill,” she said. “So, that’s where my confidence springs from, the merit of the bill and the nature of the Constitution.”

“The makeup of the court, well, we’ll see,” Pelosi said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...

Farrakhan Threatens US Cities!


Newsmax ^ | May 30, 2012



Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivered a blistering rant against America and Israel in an address this Sunday in San Diego. The minister declared that Allah will bring down skyscrapers and "take out cities" if America and Israel take action to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"So, America ... I tell you, you're on your way to war and if you declare war on Iran at the behest of Israel and you bomb Iran and some of you are saying we should invoke Hiroshima again on Iran, meaning drop an atomic bomb on Muslims - I have even heard that they're talking about even bombing Mecca ...," he said, according to The Blaze.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...

Missing its idiot?

Rasmussen: Romney now up in Ohio (also in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia)


Hotair ^ | 06/01/2012 | Ed Morrissey



Not just in Ohio, Rasmussen states, but also in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. In case you haven’t been keeping score, those are four states that Barack Obama won in 2008, and which Mitt Romney must take away to have a shot at the Presidency in November. According to the latest from Rasmussen, Romney’s on his way. After just one month of focusing all his efforts on Obama, Romney now has leads in all four swing states:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney with 46% of the vote to President Obama’s 45%. …
Romney has inched ahead of Obama in Ohio, taking the lead in the key battleground state after the president has led there for several months. This also marks a continuing shift in the critical Core Four states – Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia – with the Republican now leading in all four for the first time in Rasmussen Reports polling this year.
Only the Ohio numbers are fresh, actually, but they are critical. “Inched” is probably a good description for Ohio; Romney leads only by two, 46/44. The low level of support for Obama as an incumbent with Romney only now winning the GOP nomination is probably the bigger story. Rasmussen has a D/R/I sample in this survey of 34/31/35, which is much better for Democrats than the 36/37/28 that turned out in the 2010 midterms. If anything, this poll might undersample Republicans. Romney leads Obama among independents by a wide margin, 47/35, a disastrous outcome for Obama in Ohio. The gender gap actually tilts slightly in Romney’s favor, with a 51/39 lead among men and a 41/48 deficit among women. Romney wins majorities among the two older age demos, while losing younger voters by 21 points, 32/53. Obama loses or ties in all income demographics except the under-$20K demo, winning that 57/31.
Some of the questions on this survey produce rather amusing results. For instance, 55% of respondents say they’re choosing between the lesser of two evils rather than out of enthusiasm for Romney or Obama, with the majority of Democrats enthused and two-thirds of Republicans and independents resigned to their vote.
Two-thirds say that the process has not produced the best possible candidates, with that judgment more or less consistent across partisan lines. Among more traditional measures, Romney leads on the economy by nine points, and that will undoubtedly worsen if the jobs numbers slide tomorrow and the next couple of months, as it looks like they might. His favorability is low at 48/50, but Obama’s job approval is worse at 46/54. Among independents, it’s an absolutely horrid 35/65, with 45% of independents strongly disapproving of Obama’s performance.
Losing a grip on Ohio in and of itself isn’t a campaign-ender for Obama. The problem will be whether that trend spills over into Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as Wisconsin. If Obama loses those states as well as Florida and Virginia, the election will be over before the Central Time Zone states close their polls on Election Day.

Americans Have No Idea How Few QUEERS There Are!


The Atlantic ^ | May 31, 2012 | Garance Franke-Ruta



One in ten. It's the name of the group that puts on the Reel Affirmations gay and lesbian film festival in Washington, D.C., each year. It's the percent popularized by the Kinsey Report as the size of the gay male population. And it's among the most common figures pointed to in popular culture as an estimate of how many people are gay or lesbian.

What percentage of the population is actually gay or lesbian? A lower one than you might think -- and a much, much, much lower one than most Americans believe.

In surveys conducted in 2002 and 2011, pollsters at Gallup found that members of the American public massively overestimated how many people are gay or lesbian. In 2002, a quarter of those surveyed guessed upwards of a quarter of Americans were gay or lesbian (or "homosexual," the third option given). By 2011, that misperception had only grown, with more than a third of those surveyed now guessing that more than 25 percent of Americans are gay or lesbian.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...

Combative Romney Team Hits Obama Coast-to-Coast


The Washington Examiner ^ | Thursday, May 31, 2012 | Byron York



Mitt intends to fight the guerilla warfare of a presidential campaign with a new aggressiveness and combativeness.

The first signal came in Boston, where top Obama adviser David Axelrod organized an anti-Romney event on the steps of the Massachusetts state house. The event, which Team Obama wanted to keep under wraps until shortly before it happened, was to feature remarks from Axelrod and Democratic state officeholders who would attack Romney's record as governor from 2003 to 2007. But it didn't work out as planned.

First, word of the event leaked last night, and the Romney campaign quickly scheduled an event of its own at the state house about an hour before Axelrod's. Then, when Democrats began speaking, a crowd of about 100 Romney workers, supporters, and volunteers showed up to chant, shout, and heckle the speakers every step of the way. The protesters shouted "Solyndra!" and "Where are the jobs?" and "Mitt, Mitt, Mitt!" while Democrats gamely attacked Romney's tenure as governor.
"I get tweets from some of these folks, so I feel close to them," Axelrod lamented at one point. At another, he said simply, "Look, this is the great pageant of democracy." In the end, the Obama event was overshadowed by the loud, aggressive Romney forces.
It was the kind of tactic that is usually repaid in kind on the campaign trail, and it seems likely -- certain, actually -- that Romney surrogates, and perhaps Mitt Romney himself, will soon face similar actions at their events. But Romney aides aren't worried, saying what they did was both payback and a message.
(Excerpt) Read more at campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com ...

JCPenny's Goes Gay ( just signed its death warrant )

http://www.care2.com/causes/gay-dads-in-jc-penneys-june-catalog.html ^ | 5/31/2012 | Bridgette P. LaVictoire



I thought the new managment at JCPenny's might be able to turn the place around. They had experience, a proven track record.

The simple pricing structure, alas didn't go over as planned.. mistakes happened.

When they hired Ellen to be their pitch person, I really didn't care, she was an entertainer who happened to be gay... not my choice of lifestyle, but really didn't ruffle my feathers. I didn't view it as a social agenda thing.

However their june catalog has shown this wasn't the case and they are indeed engaging in a social agenda. And as such, they have just killed their brand. Trying to turn father's day into a gay thing was beyond stupid.

JCPenny's just ensured it will go the way of montomery wards at this point. Most folks don't give a damn if someone is personally gay or not, but trying to cram it down folks throats, sorry, what works for the perverts in hollywood and san fran, doesn't cut it in fly over.

JCPenny's just alienated a huge percentage of its customer base, to pander to less than 2% of the population. Not a smart move for a nationwide retailer.

Its clear at this point, that this is an agenda for them, and as such, they will continue to lose customers.
This executive team is done, sell.

They're Against Me

Late Night Lackey

Unpresidented

Reigning The Swamp

GET THE POSTER: Reigning the Swamp

It Gets Better

Obama's Stash

Get Him!

Canadian Free Press doing the investigation of Obama American media won’t do!


coachisright.com ^ | May 31, 2012 | George Splevin, staff writer



Upon his investigation a Canadian journalist has concluded that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi submitted TWO DIFFERENT DNC documents attesting and/or pertaining to the eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama in 2008.

The Canada Free Press’, JB WIlliams, obtained the two separate documents “prepared by Democrats to certify Barack Obama as their nominee for president in 2008 that suggest House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew there was an unresolved issue with his [Obama’] eligibility under the U.S. Constitution.

The first verification contains the legal language stating both Obama and Joe Biden “are legally qualified to serve under the provision of the U.S. Constitution.” Nevertheless, the second document which was submitted to all fifty states “was missing the text CONCERNING THE ELIGIBILITY of Barack Hussein Obama.”

While a same tell tale typo is in both of these official documents Pelosi signed off on, the actual legal language that Obama had eligibility is not in this second document Williams obtained!

Now, another very important notarized affidavit is surfacing in which senior election clerk Timothy Lee Adams on January 20, 2011, swore to the fact that his supervisor came to him and told him, using her Hawaiian dialect, that “Of course, there’s no birth certificate.
What?” He said she just said it to him and walked off. “She was quite a powerful lady.” Included in his affidavit, duly notarized, is the following: “Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division told me on multiple occasions that no Hawaii Long Form, hospital generated birth certificate existed for Senator Obama in the Hawaii Department of Health, and there was no record that any such document had ever been on file in Hawaii Department of Health or any other branch or department of the (HI) government.”……
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...

Obama: The Affirmative Action President


American Thinker ^ | May 31, 2012 | Matt Patterson



Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages. How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world's largest economy, direct the world's most powerful military, execute the world's most consequential job?

Imagine a future historian examining Obama's pre-presidential life: ushered into and through the Ivy League despite unremarkable grades and test scores along the way; a cushy non-job as a "community organizer"; a brief career as a state legislator devoid of legislative achievement (and in fact nearly devoid of his attention, so often did he vote "present"); and finally an unaccomplished single term in United States Senate, the entirety of which was devoted to his presidential ambitions. He left no academic legacy in academia, authored no signature legislation as legislator.

And then there is the matter of his troubling associations: the white-hating, America-loathing preacher who for decades served as Obama's "spiritual mentor"; a real-life, actual terrorist who served as Obama's colleague and political sponsor. It is easy to imagine a future historian looking at it all and asking: how on Earth was such a man elected president?

Not content to wait for history, the incomparable Norman Podhoretz addressed the question recently in

the ( Wall Street Journal
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...

Obama Expanding His Enemies List


FOX ^



Obama Expanding His Enemies List

Mega-donors: Quit picking on us By: Kenneth P. Vogel, Politico May 31, 2012 04:43 AM EDT
All they wanted was to get involved.

But to hear some of the biggest donors of 2012 tell it, their six- and seven-figure contributions have instead bought them nothing but grief.

Their personal lives are fodder for news stories. President Barack Obama and his allies have singled out conservative mega-donors as greedy tax cheats, or worse. And a conservative website has launched a counteroffensive targeting big-money liberals.
This is definitely not what they had in mind. In their view, cutting a million-dollar check to try to sway the presidential race should be just another way to do their part for democracy, not a fast-track to the front page.
And now some are pushing back hard against the attention, asking: Why us?
“This idea of giving public beatings has been around for a long time,” said Frank VanderSloot, a wealthy Idaho businessman who donated $1 million in corporate cash to the super PAC supporting Mitt Romney and says he’s raised between $2 million and $5 million for the Romney campaign.
VanderSloot, who is also a national finance co-chairman for Romney, was among eight major Romney donors singled out on an Obama campaign website last month as having “less-than-reputable records,” and he thinks the purpose is clear – intimidation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nation.foxnews.com ...

GM Makes Undisclosed $600K Deal with CFO’s Wife’s Ad Agency


Breitbart ^ | 5/30/12 | Seton Motley



The $50 billion General Motors (GM) bailout was a Democrat Crony Socialist nightmare. The Obama Administration illegally over-rewarded its union friendsand destroyed Republican-enemy auto dealers, to name but two facets of the titanic debacle.

We the Taxpayers are still out $30+ billion on the auto bailout. Meanwhile, GM is cutting even more Crony Socialist deals.

General Motors told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today that it failed to report a $600,000 deal given to an ad agency where the wife of GM's chief financial officer is a partner.


In a filing GM said it had "recently learned about" a contract awarded in 2011 to an agency where CFO Dan Ammann's wife, Pernilla Ammann, is also the chief operating officer.
It’s not just the crime - it’s the cover up.

“Recently learned about?” I know GM is a big company - even after the thousands and thousands of employee firings the Obama Administration ordered as a part of the bailout bankruptcy. But seriously, someone can write a $600,000 check - to the CFO’s wife’s company - and no one else notices?
The company has a detailed policy in potential conflicts of interest which says, in part: Deals of more than $120,000 in which a top executive's spouse has a financial interest must be approved by CEO Dan Akerson and Senior Vice President and general counsel Michael Millikin.
The arrangement must then be reported to the GM board of directors' Governance Committee, which annually reviews each top executive's independence.
Either GM CEO Dan Akerson knew about the deal and he’s complicit - or he didn’t and his inmates are running the asylum.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...

'POLICE ACADEMY' Star Rips Obama


FOX Nation ^ | 5/30/2012 | CreditCards.com



Steve_Guttenberg_361826a
Steve Guttenberg, star of the 1984 movie “Police Academy,” criticized President Obama in an interview with the website CreditCards.com published Wednesday...

CreditCards.com: Do you think Washington can rein in the misbehavior?

Guttenberg: It's hard to believe in the presidency anymore. I voted for Obama, I love Obama, but I don't want to see Obama on "The View," I don't want to see him playing Frisbee, I don't want to know that it's $40,000 a plate at George Clooney's house, and I adore George Clooney. Hey man, I've got a friend of mine who's got a $7 an hour job at Dunkin Donuts and he can't get a $9 an hour job over at the country club because there are so many people in front of him. I believe that the president should be his desk all day. I don't want to see him on vacation, I don't want to see him at Martha's Vineyard, I don't want to see Mrs. Obama in Spain. No, no, I do not want to see that because everybody's struggling. These CEOs shouldn't be taking all this money. No Rolls Royces. No private planes.
CreditCards.com: How would you change things?

Guttenberg: Here's my big point: The government should start allowing people to take their 401(k)s and invest in things other than the market. Let us invest our money in real estate, and instead of buying more shares of some inane stock, let me buy an apartment for my retirement and rent it out, and then when I'm 65, I can sell the apartment. What is this bulls--- that we're only allowed to invest in equities? It's ruining the country. Let us invest in other things instead of the market.
(Excerpt) Read more at nation.foxnews.com ...

Economy weaker than Democrats first thought!


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy is looking slightly weaker one day before a critical report on May job growth. 

Growth was a little slower in the first three months of the year than first estimated, largely because governments and consumers spent less and businesses restocked their supplies more slowly.
The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits rose to a five-week high last week. And a survey of private companies showed only modest hiring gains last month. 

Still, a softer job market hasn't caused Americans to scale back spending. Consumers spent more at retail stores in May than the same month last year, buying more clothes and Mother's Day gifts.
The mostly disappointing data sent stocks lower, keeping the Dow Jones Industrial Average on pace to record its first monthly loss since September. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank to 1.54 percent, a 66-year low.

The data showed that:
-- The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate of January-March growth. That's lower than its initial estimate of 2.2 percent.
-- Weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000, the Labor Department said.
-- Private businesses added 133,000 jobs last month, according to a survey by payroll provider ADP. That figure disappointed most economists, who had hoped to see job growth accelerate after ADP's survey found that just 113,000 jobs were added in April.
Peter Newland, an economist at Barclays Research, said he was discouraged by the slowdown in first-quarter growth.
"This report does little to change the perception of an economy ticking along at a moderate pace but failing to break out into a full-on recovery with consistently above-potential growth," Newland said.
When the government issues its report Friday on May employment, economists expect it to say that employers added 158,000 jobs. That would be better than in the past two months but far below the winter's pace. They also expect no change in the unemployment rate, which was 8.1 percent in April.
Surveys show the economy is the top issue on voters' minds. Weaker growth and only modest job gains could give momentum to Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential challenger. Romney has made President Barack Obama's handling of the economy the central theme in his campaign.
The government makes three estimates of quarterly economic growth, or gross domestic product. GDP measures the output of all goods and services in the United States, from haircuts and coffee to airplanes and appliances.
A big reason growth slowed in the January-March quarter was that government spending at all levels fell at a 3.9 percent annual rate. That's the biggest decline in a year and nearly a full percentage point more than estimated last month.
Spending by state and local governments fell at a 2.5 percent annual rate, double the initial estimate.
Government spending has declined for six straight quarters. Many economists had thought the worst was over at the state and local level. "This throws some cold water on the view that state and local governments have already bitten the bullet and are now likely to add to, rather than subtract from, growth in 2012," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.
Analysts think the economy is growing at a slightly faster rate this spring. Hiring has been steady and gas prices are lower, allowing consumers to spend more freely. Consumer spending drives 70 percent of economic activity. And more demand from consumers leads businesses to step up restocking, which also boosts growth.
Economists foresee growth at an annual rate of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent in the April-June quarter. Many expect the economy will maintain that pace for all of 2012, an improvement from last year's 1.7 percent growth.
Still, growth of 2.5 percent is typically enough just to keep pace with population changes. Most economists say it takes almost twice as much growth to lower the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point over a year.
The unemployment rate has fallen a full percentage point since August -- from 9.1 percent to 8.1 percent last month. Part of the season for the drop is that employers added 1.5 million jobs in that time. But another factor in the rate's decline is that some people have grown discouraged and given up looking for work. The government counts people as unemployed only if they're actively looking for a job.
In a more encouraging development, major retailers reported bigger-than-expected sales gains in May compared with a year ago. Consumers bought more clothing and took advantage of Mother's Day promotions. The modest but healthy gains followed a dismal showing in April.
During the January-March quarter, consumer spending grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent. While that was the fastest pace since the end of 2010, it was down from the initial estimate of 2.9 percent. A key reason for the revision was fewer auto purchases.
Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, pointed out that some components of GDP were revised higher. Among them was housing, which is beginning to show signs of a modest recovery.
Another positive development this month: Gas prices have fallen sharply.
A gallon of regular unleaded has dropped by 32 cents since peaking in the first week of April. U.S. retail gasoline prices fell Thursday to $3.62 a gallon, according to auto club AAA.
Experts see gas falling to at least $3.50 by July 4.

The 21 Absolute Worst Things In The World

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-absolute-worst-things-in-the-world


BE AFRAID. Be very afraid.

More Americans Living Abroad Turning In Passports!


Investor's Business Daily ^ | 05/29/2012 06:54 PM ET | TOM GRAY



Eduardo Saverin is not exactly your typical ex-American.

He's too rich to be that. But the newly minted Facebook billionaire, who renounced his U.S. citizenship last year in favor of Singapore, is part of a trend.

A small but growing number of Americans are turning in their passports.
Last year, the Treasury Department reported that 1,781 American citizens or long-time legal residents cut their ties with the U.S. This was up from 1,534 in 2010, 742 in 2009 and just 231 in 2008. There were 461 renunciations in the first quarter of 2012 alone. By comparison, the annual average for the 10 years from 1998 to 2007 was 497.
Why the increase? The timing points to at least two possible reasons. One is the fear of higher taxes on the wealthy under the Obama administration. Another was the government's shift to more aggressive enforcement of its reporting rules after 2008, when Swiss banks were found to be helping Americans evade taxes through offshore accounts.
In the wake of that scandal, says Connecticut-based international tax attorney Andrew Mitchel, Washington amped up the publicity about filing requirements and penalties.
For many citizens living abroad, this news came as an unpleasant surprise. In a typical case, says Mitchel, someone born in America to foreign parents may have been living overseas for years with dual citizenship, not intending to live in America and unaware of the need to file U.S. tax returns or financial-asset reports. Suddenly, they were told they could lose a large part of their wealth if they didn't comply. …
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...

GOP WHISTLING PAST THE END OF AMERICA


Ann Coulter Dot Com ^ | 30 May 2012 | Ann Coulter



An election almost as important as the presidential election will be held next Tuesday, and conservatives aren't making a big deal of it, just as they didn't make a fuss over the 2008 Minnesota Senate election as Al Franken stole it from under their noses. (Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "Minnesota has a reputation for clean and fair and good elections. We've got 4,100 precincts run by volunteers. They do a good job, and we thank them.")

The public sector unions are trying to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from office for impinging on their princely, taxpayer-supported lifestyles. If Walker goes down, no governor will ever again suggest that snowplow operators work when it snows. No governor will dare try to deprive public school teachers of their Viagra. Forget about ever firing self-paced, self-evaluated, unnecessary government employees.

Always leading the nation, California has already been bankrupted by the public sector unions. That's the country's future if Walker doesn't win, and it's not going to matter who's in the Oval Office.
Democrats know what's at stake. They're treating this election like the Normandy invasion. Meanwhile, Republicans are sitting back, complacently citing polls that show Walker with a slight lead.
Polls don't register passion.

(Excerpt) Read more at anncoulter.com ...

Elizabeth Warren challenged by Cherokee group (demand truth)


Politico ^ | 5/30/12 | MJ LEE




A group of Cherokees have organized and launched a website disputing Elizabeth Warren’s claims to Native American heritage.


Some 150 people purporting to be “concerned” members and descendants of three Cherokee tribes have put up a new website called “Cherokees Demand Truth From Elizabeth Warren.”


The group is demanding that the Massachusetts Senate candidate come clean about her heritage – a topic that has dominated media coverage of Warren’s bid again incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown ever since it was revealed that the Harvard law professor was previously listed as having ethnic minority status.


“You claim to be Cherokee. You forget, it isn’t who you claim, but instead, who claims you. We don’t claim you!” a banner splashed across the top of the group’s website reads. The group argues that Warren has made “false claims of Cherokee ancestry,” and that it is bothered by those who “fraudulently” claim Cherokee heritage.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...

RNC Says a Tuesday Walker Win Means ‘Lights Out for Barack Obama’


ABC NEWS ^ | May 31st 2012 | Shushannah Walsh



The Republican National Committee had some strong talk about their chances next week in the Wisconsin recall and what a victory for Gov. Scott Walker would mean for their state’s going red in November.
“Certainly [if] Wisconsin goes red, I think it’s lights out for Barack Obama,” said RNC Chairman and Wisconsinite Reince Priebus on Wednesday.

This is on the heels of a new Marquette University Law School poll showing Walker over Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett by 7 points, 52% to 45%.

Despite their tough talk, it’s not so cut and dry that a Walker win would automatically mean an Obama loss. The same survey also shows President Obama over Mitt Romney 51% to 43%.

The RNC said they have made “over two million voter contacts” and identified “nearly every Wisconsin voter” ahead of Tuesday’s vote, on a conference call the committee held Wednesday. That date will then in turn be quickly used for get-out-the-vote efforts ahead of November.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...

Obama campaign attacks Romney’s record as Mass. governor (Obama never ran even a lemonade stand)


WASHINGTON POST ^ | 5/31/2012 | By Amy Gardner



President Obama’s re-election campaign launched Part 2 of its strategy to discredit Republican Mitt Romney this week, pouncing on his record as Massachusetts governor after more than two weeks of attacks on his private-equity years.

The campaign released a five-page memo and a four-minute Web video Wednesday characterizing Romney’s leadership of Massachusetts as a failure, and senior adviser David Axelrod announced that he will host a news conference in front of the state house in Boston Thursday morning to drive home his criticism of Romney’s record.

“When it comes to Mitt Romney and his economic philosophy, the facts are clear,” wrote Axelrod in a memo distributed Wednesday. “It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

Obama the Gaffe Master Strikes Poland


scottfactor.com ^ | 05/31/12 | Gina Miller



How can we ever be surprised at anything that comes out of the mouth of Barack Obama (or whatever his name is)? Yet, his latest, gaffe almost leaves me speechless. Almost.
It was at a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday where Obama was awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the late Jan Karski, a Polish officer of the resistance during World War II who gave early eyewitness reports of Nazi Germany's genocide of European Jews.

Obama said this,

“For years, Jan Karski’s students at Georgetown University knew he was a great professor; what they didn't realize was he was also a hero. Fluent in four languages, possessed of a photographic memory, Jan served as a courier for the Polish resistance during the darkest days of World War II. Before one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that Jews were being murdered on a massive scale, and smuggled him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself. Jan took that information to President Franklin Roosevelt, giving one of the first accounts of the Holocaust and imploring to the world to take action. It was decades before Jan was ready to tell his story. By then, he said, ‘I don’t need courage anymore. So I teach compassion.’”
Although I am not used to hearing or reading it, apparently there are people who have incorrectly called some of the Nazi death camps “Polish” because of their physical location in German-occupied Poland, but for a sitting US President to do so is astonishing to me. Does he have a hard time saying “Nazi”? I notice that in the whole passage, not only does he not say “Nazi,” but he does not mention Germany at all. He says, “Jews were being murdered,” but he does not say by whom. Was he avoiding the use of the words Germany and Nazi in order to not offend the Polish people? If so, his substitute was a terrible choice that landed him in much hotter water than if he had just called the camps by their correct name.
Of course, we all know that almost everything Obama says in public is what he is reading off a teleprompted script, which he most likely did not write. What does this say about the intelligence level of his speech writers? Or, was that wording chosen deliberately? Either answer is not good.
Regardless of who writes what he says, the words belong to Obama; he owns them when they come out of his mouth. And, if this were an isolated gaffe, it might be written off as a bizarre aberration, but ever since Obama was first shoved in our faces, he has let out a steady, unrelenting stream of verbal and behavioral flubs that would have caused a Republican to be driven out of Washington on a rail of ridicule.
Newsbusters has a compilation of Obama’s word and deed blunders that is more than a year old, but it is still staggering to see dozens and dozens of the most outrageous statements and goofs by Obama. You will likely remember most of them as you see them, but here is a short list of Obama’s lowlights: He “confuses” his “Christianity” for his Muslim faith, he says ATMs cause unemployment, he referenced the “bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor,” he “saw” dead people at a Memorial Day ceremony, he called Europe a country, he claimed that his election would slow the rise of the oceans, he thinks “Austrian” is a language, he did not want his daughters to be “punished” with a baby, he called them Navy “corpsemen,” he said he had visited 57 US states, and that is only a fraction of his gaffes.
This latest Obama blunder has managed to outrage the people of an entire nation and Poles all around the world. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed his outrage on Wednesday as reported by Bloomberg,
“We can’t accept such words in Poland, even if they are spoken by a leader of an allied country. … Saying Polish concentration camps is as if there was no German responsibility, no Hitler.”
Prime Minister Tusk is right, and I wonder how anyone could call the death camps anything other than Nazi or German. Bloomberg also reported that Poland has been on a campaign to rid the media of the term “Polish concentration camps,” and has called on major newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to quit referring to the death camps as Polish. It is truly disgusting that so-called “reputable” news outlets like these would mischaracterize these Nazi death camps and defame Poland this way; it is nearly unimaginable that a US President would also do it.
Yet, in its typical, callous style, the Obama White House brushed off the outrage of the Polish leadership, and spokesmouth Jay Carney was trotted out to declare that Obama just “misspoke.” He misspoke?! No. That was an example of either stunning ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation, and considering Obama’s pathetic history in dealing with Poland, I will guess the latter.
As Nile Gardiner wrote in a column posted at the UK Telegraph,
“President Obama has a long track record of insulting the Poles. In 2010 he chose to play golf on the day of the funeral of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the Polish First Lady, and 94 senior officials who perished in the Smolensk air disaster. Eight months earlier he humiliated Warsaw by pulling out of the agreement over Third Site missile [defense] installations in Poland and the Czech Republic.”
So, once again Obama is treating one of our allies like trash, by wrongly tying Poland’s name to the Holocaust. He continues his track record of being a no-class, socialist, scourge on the US Presidency.
As I wrote back in August of 2010,
“Almost from the moment he was inaugurated, he began showing his contempt for the position and his disdain for our country, whether it was sending the bust of Churchill back to Britain, or snubbing some of our closest allies, or apologizing all over the world for our great nation, he has been nothing but a shameful worm infesting the Oval Office. I say this with anger and sadness at what Obama and his administration have visited upon our country to date—you know the laundry list; I don’t have to remind you of it all.

This man is not what most of the poor, wrong-thinking Democrats and Independents imagined they were getting when they stupidly cast their vote for him. He is now revealing himself to be the far left radical we warned you about before the election. He has surrounded himself with like-minded minions, all of whom wish to destroy the foundation of America and rebuild it on the shifting sands of socialism.

… Truly, our country is currently being run by a group of enemies of America; there can be no question about it to anyone with even one eye half-open. And at the head of the treacherous pack is Barack Obama, a man without an ounce of class.”

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