http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150825/OPINION02/150829657

Another View – Martin O’Malley: To ensure retirement security, let’s start by expanding Social Security
By MARTIN O’MALLEY

*** begin quote ***

This is not our American Dream. As a nation, we must act to ensure the retirement security of American families. And we should start by expanding Social Security benefits — not cutting them or merely “enhancing them” — to provide a foundation for a more secure retirement to all those who have worked hard to achieve it.

Social Security has worked so well for so long because it is fundamentally fair: Everyone pays in, and everyone receives a payout. The result? Social Security now provides a guaranteed retirement or insurance benefit to almost every worker in America — while keeping 300,000 Granite Staters out of poverty.

However, despite Social Security’s remarkable success, if you listened to Republicans and even some Democrats talk about the program today, you’d think the sky is falling. But let’s be clear: Social Security is not in crisis.

It’s not the sky that’s falling. It’s the floor that’s falling out from under our seniors.

As Democrats, it is time to stand up for our values and call for the expansion of Social Security for all beneficiaries. Increasing Social Security benefits remains the best and most straightforward way to provide greater retirement security for American families — not raising the retirement age, or cutting benefits for our seniors, or privatizing Social Security and putting the program in the hands of Wall Street.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but “Social Security Insurance” is a Ponzi scheme where the victims don’t get a choice.

If it’s such a great idea, why is it compulsory?

It’s hard to get into all it’s negatives in a short space and limited time, but let’s remember Bastiat’s “seen and unseen”. What could people have done with the “FICA taxes” stolen from them and their employer?

Even an index fund that mimiced the S&P, Dow Jones, or Total Stock Market would have returned 10% per year average over 30 years. What kind of retirement would people have versus the negative return that social security represents.

In 1977, Chile eliminated their “social security” plan in favor of a free choice one and they are better off for it.

Argh!

Stop socialism and trust the free market for a better life for all. 

# – # – # – # – # 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/22/tsa-reveals-master-baggage-keys/

TSA inadvertently shows the dangers of master baggage keys
blogger-avatarby Jon Fingas | @jonfingas | 22 hrs ago

*** begin quote ***

Security researchers have long warned of the dangers of using master-keyed locks — if thieves get their hands on just one key, they compromise all of the compatible locks at the same time. And unfortunately, the US’ Transportation Security Administration is learning this lesson the hard way. It briefly let the Washington Post show a photo (we’ve blurred the details) of the master baggage keys it uses for approved locks, giving crooks a crude guide to making duplicates. And you can’t just switch to a non-standard lock to get around this, since TSA agents will rip it off if they catch it during an inspection.

*** end quote ***

Can the Gooferment be any more immoral, ineffective, and inefficient?

The stupid bureaucrats allowed a picture of their “masters” to be published.

Maybe it’s deliberate?

Now that the picture’s out, you can’t automatically blame the TSA!

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

Disagree on principle — If one has a “positive right”, then who is required to pay for it. As distinguished from “negative rights”, that outline what human can’t be prohibited from doing — likfe liberty, and property. Hence self-defense, speech, and not to be hurt or have their stuff stolen. “Health care” is not a right and “charity care” has always been a hallmark of America. Hospitals were originally set up by religious group (i.e., Baylor Baptist, Jewish Memorial. Mother Cabrini Hospital).

Disagree on strategy — Healthcare is wonderful in Canada and England if you don’t die waiting for an MRI. And, look what is not covered or just not available. If single payer is so great then explain the VA healthcare fiasco or the Indian Health System’s half year disaster. And, Medicare / Medicaid ain’t great either. They make the mean old insurance companies look like saints.

Disagree on tactical — one size fits all healthcare is a national disaster. Obamacare / SCOTUS care make nuns have pregnancy insurance. Makes a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income pay for stuff they will never need.

Finally, the Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. Why would anyone in their right mind give them more to screw up?

# – # – # – # – # 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/08/10/dubai-police-say-man-stopped-lifeguards-from-saving-drowning-daughter-because-he-didnt-want-her-honor-violated/

Dubai Police Say Man Stopped Lifeguards From Saving Drowning Daughter Because He Didn’t Want Her Honor Violated
Aug. 10, 2015 2:03am Sharona Schwartz

*** begin quote ***

A father reportedly allowed his 20-year-old daughter to drown to death because he was concerned about her being touched by men outside her family, according to a Dubai news site.

Quoting a top police official, Emirates 24/77 reported Sunday that the man got in the way of lifeguard rescue attempts on a Dubai beach in order to prevent her modesty from being violated.

“The father was a tall and strong man. He started pulling and preventing the rescue men and got violent with them. He told them that he prefers his daughter being dead than being touched by a strange man,” Lt. Col Ahmed Burqibah, deputy director of the Dubai police’s Search and Rescue Department, told Emirates 24/7.

“She died unfortunately, at a time when she had a chance to live, especially that the rescue men were so close to her to pull her out of the water,” he said.

*** end quote ***

Guess they should have “rescue women”?

Personally, I am amazed at the attitude towards women.

These are not “delicate flowers” that will be ruined by a mere touch.

These are living breathing powerful people capable of “creating” life.

If I had a child, I wouldn’t let any religious notion prevent me from keeping my child alive. Even at risk or certainty of my dying.

From an economic pov, it’s really good that ⅔ of the world keep women and minorities “in their place”. Imagine how much wealth could be created if they were free to create in a truly free capitalist system.

Argh!

Requiescat In Pacem, poor girl. You were the victim of stupidity and ignorence. Not much can be done about that.

Argh squared!

Life’s tough enough as it is without adding to the difficulties.

# – # – # – # – # 

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150801/us–abortion_providers-videos-bd47d058d1.html

Judge blocks release of recordings by anti-abortion group
Jul 31, 8:37 PM (ET)
By SUDHIN THANAWALA

*** begin quote ***

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the release of any recordings made at meetings of an abortion providers’ association by an anti-abortion group that previously revealed secretly recorded videos of a Planned Parenthood leader.

Judge William Orrick in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order against the Center for Medical Progress hours after the order was requested by the National Abortion Federation.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, it sounds like “prior restraint”.

And, why is a federal judge enforcing a California “privacy” law?

Argh, and why are there “two party consent” laws anyway?

To coverup criminal conduct!

# – # – # – # – # 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/07/17/judge-kozinski-on-reforms-that-can-help-prevent-prosecutorial-misconduct/

The Volokh Conspiracy
Judge Kozinski on reforms that can help prevent prosecutorial misconduct
By Eugene Volokh July 17

*** begin quote ***

4. Video record all suspect interrogations. The surprising frequency of false confessions should make us deeply skeptical of any interrogation we cannot view from beginning to end. Suspects are frequently isolated and pressured in obvious and subtle ways, and when the process ends we often have very different accounts of what happened inside the interrogation room. In those circumstances, whom are we to believe? Most of the time, the judge and juries believe the police.

There may have been a time when we had to rely on such second-hand reports, but technology has now made this unnecessary: Video recording equipment is dirt cheap, and storage space for the resulting files is endless. No court should ever admit a confession unless the prosecution presents a video of the entire interrogation process from beginning to end. [Footnote: This practice has been adopted in England, Ireland and Australia, where the general rule is that all interrogations — and not just confessions — must be recorded on audio or video. However, Australia is the only country that explicitly provides that the consequence for failing to record is inadmissibility of the contents of the interrogation. In addition, a number of states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Minnesota, Montana and New Jersey, require all interrogations to be recorded and consider compliance with that requirement a factor in determining whether a statement made in an interrogation is admissible.]

It appears that change is underway. Just last year, the Justice Department reversed its century-old prohibition against recording interrogations and adopted a policy “establish[ing] a presumption that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) will electronically record statements made by individuals in their custody.”

[Footnote moved: In fact, why don’t police officers wear body cameras at all times? It would protect the suspect and the police officer. See Steve Tuttle, Cambridge University Study Shows On-Officer Video Reduces Use-of-Force Incidents by 59 percent, TASER Int’l (Apr. 8, 2013) (the use of “officer worn cameras reduced the rate of use-of-force incidents by 59 percent” and “utilization of cameras led to an 87.5 percent reduction in complaints” by citizens against police officers); see also U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned (2014).]

*** end quote ***

If I ever get on a jury — which is so very unlikely when they ask you what bumper stickers you have on your car —then I would n’t believe anything a Gooferment employee says. 

Show me the victim and the video tape, then I’ll convict.

Otherwise, you have an uphill trek to convince me.

Whatever happened to the ethos that better a 100 guilty men go free than one innocent man got to jail?

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #  

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/07/no_author/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/

Is Drinking Diet Soda Really Bad for Your Health?
The answer may surprise you
By Barbara Minton
Natural Society
July 18, 2015

*** begin quote ***

So why does this happen? To put it simply: artificial sweeteners. Zero-calorie sweeteners make drinks up to 600 times more sweet than regular sugar, setting the bar for satiation at a much higher level. Another consideration is that fake sugars can change the friendly bacteria living in the gut in ways that would increase susceptibility to the insulin resistance and glucose intolerance that precedes a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.

Women drinking two or more diet sodas a day experienced a 30% decline in their kidney function over the course of only a decade, says another study. Those researchers found that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose were to blame for the rapid degeneration of kidney filtration rates.

*** and ***

Renown Dr. Morando Soffritti recently confirmed what other scientists had observed as much as 30 years ago, documenting that consuming aspartame leads to a host of illness and disease that includes malignant tumors, lymphoma, leukemia, and premature death.

*** end quote ***

If I’d know this 30 years ago when it was a proven risk, then maybe I could have gotten my wife to stop drinking it.

Leukemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other side effects!

Someone should be hung.

Anyone care to tell me that the FDA is there to protect us?

Argh!

# – # – # – # – # 

2015-Jul-19

Today, a Mom, could have been any troubled young person’s Mom, unplug her child from life support.

The result of a drug overdose.

It wasn’t the first time, or the first warning signal, or the only time, but this was the last time.

When will “We, The Sheeple” wise up?

Just like during (alcohol) “Prohibition”, people were blinded, sickened, and killed by “moonshine”.

Making a prohibited substance “legal” MEANS clean known quantity of drugs.

It ALSO makes them so “less cool”.

Portugal demonstrates the way from criminalizing a basic human failing and turning it into a “medical” issue.

Unfortunately, the Drug Dealers, the “police”, and the politicians are all incentivized to keep the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” going regardless of the collateral damage — killing the youth, maiming those that survive, and scaring some with criminal records that they can never “outgrow” — allowing a flourishing “drug culture”, made “kool” by music, celebrities, and pop culture — and destroying our civil liberties in the process.

Now that I have time on my hands, I will never accept Drug Prohibition as a rational policy.

I hope that anyone who reads this NEVER votes for any politician who doesn’t promise on Day One of his term to eliminate the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs”! Maybe one politician can’t do it, but they could have the courage of Doctor Ron Paul, aka Doctor No, who never voted other than his conscience.

And, I mean this at every level of the Gooferment. I don’t care if you’re running for dog catcher; you have to tell me how you are going to end this national / global insanity.

I’ve always felt this way since the 60’s, but now in my old age, I see its futility and stupidity.

Requiescat In Pacem, young Anthony. 

And I hope your Mom finds peace.

Dona Nobis Pacem

# – # – # – # – # 

http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2015/07/16/outrage-over-espn-giving-bruce-jenner-courage-award-over-lauren-hill/

OUTRAGE OVER ESPN GIVING BRUCE JENNER ‘COURAGE’ AWARD OVER LAUREN HILL
by WILLIAM BIGELOW
16 Jul 2015 

*** begin quote ***

The Internet sears with outrage over ESPN’s bestowal of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on the Athlete Formerly Known as Bruce Jenner rather than giving it to Lauren Hill, the utterly courageous 19-year-old woman who battled inoperable brain cancer while playing basketball for Mount St. Joseph’s.

Before she died in April, Hill had achieved a dream of her own, scoring the first and last basket when Mount St. Joseph’s defeated Hiram College 66-55 on November 2014. The courageous young woman, knowing she wouldn’t survive, decided to use her notoriety to raise money for cancer research; by last November, she had raised $1 million for DIPC Cancer Research.

*** and ***

The Los Angeles Times reported that a possible reason for the honoring of Jenner derived from a deal between ABC and Jenner. ABC televised the ESPYs and Jenner had granted an exclusive interview to ABC’s Diane Sawyer in April regarding the gender transition Jenner was undergoing. The interview grabbed huge ratings.

*** end quote ***

This is a disgrace, and why TV is dying.

I mean no ill will to anyone.

“Bruce” Jenner is working through his issues. And, I really feel sorry for his troubles.

That being said, ESPN / ABC / DISNEY has disgraced themselves. I used to think a lot of Disney and ESPN. ABC not at all. 

This demonstrates that this entity is all about “political correctness” and money.

So, I’ve put ESPN on my personal “ESAD” (“eat <synonym for excrement> and die”) list.

True; they probably won’t notice, but I will. 

I used to like to watch “sports” and PTI was particularly “fun”. Not any more.

Maybe if everyone turns the ESPN / ABC / DISNEY products off, then they will get the message.

Argh!

(I used to like the view before Rosie became the wicked witch of the west. And there was some balance on the politics. Just how out of touch it’s become is evidence by Whoopie being taken to the management woodshed to stop defending Cosby. It’s all about PC and $.)

Sadly, I’ve realize that it IS the “vast wasteland”.

# – # – # – # – # 

OUTRAGE OVER ESPN GIVING BRUCE JENNER ‘COURAGE’ AWARD OVER LAUREN HILL