SOFTWARE: ABANDONWARE should be “free”

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/10/fighting-to-keep-abandoned-games-dead/?ncid=rss_truncated

Publishers are fighting to keep abandoned games dead
Jessica Conditt | @jessconditt | April 10th 2015 at 3:23 pm

*** begin quote ***

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group that defends civil liberties in the digital world, is facing off against the Entertainment Software Association, the organization that represents most major video game publishers in the US. The EFF wants to allow players to put abandoned games back online and has asked the US Copyright Office for an exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This would allow players to legally modify the code of online games that are no longer supported by publishers, in the hope of reconnecting these titles to new, third-party servers. This includes games like Battlefield 1942, Star Wars: Battlefront, SOCOM 4, Resistance: Fall of Man and Mario Kart Wii. Many modern games rely on servers to function; if Activision pulled the plug on Destiny, for example, even its single-player campaign would disappear, since the entire game needs an online connection.

*** end quote ***

I’ve often thought that ABANDONWARE and Out-of-print-books should be in the “public domain”.

When we, as a society, seek to encourage writing by means of the “copy right”, then it’s is incumbent on the writer to keep his copyrighted published work available. When a book is “out of print”, the copyright should lapse or suspend.

Argh!

It’s like the content creator reneges on their side of the bargain.

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RANT: Asking the government to solve your problems?

Monday, April 13, 2015

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/04/jack-perry/let-them-eat-cake/

Let Them Eat Cake!!
By Jack Perry
April 9, 2015

*** begin quote ***

Christian bakeries feared they’d be compelled by law to bake cakes for gay weddings. So, what’d they do? They lobbied the government to pass a law saying they don’t have to. Now everyone is in a lather about that. Hey, you guys, listen. Asking the government to solve your problems is like asking ISIS to measure your hat size: It’ll get done, but maybe not in the way you’d like. To the pro-gay wedding cake people, you stepped in it when you made a fuss over a frickin’ cake and wanted the government involved. All that did was rally the activists on the other side and they went to the government, too, and got a law passed you don’t like. Hey, just take your money elsewhere. That’s what I did when Starbucks wanted to turn my cup of coffee into a social engineering experiment. I got a cheaper cup of coffee, too, and that’s always a good thing. To the pro-religious freedom people, guess what you did? You just opened the door for Sharia law, which you said you were against and wanted laws passed to ban not long prior to this mess. See what I mean? Asking the government to solve your problems just creates problems. What is the government anyway, the yard duty on the playground?! Really, grow up, people. It’s food, ok? That’s what this is about. A flippin’ cake!

*** end quote ***

I can’t imagine a better way to INVOKE a disaster — getting the Gooferment involved in anything.

Pick anything that it “solves” and I think you’ll find: it created the problem AND managed to make it worse by the “fix”.

Just remember that the Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient!

And everything arises from its monopolyof force.

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RANT: Some reasonable questions and observations?

Sunday, April 12, 2015

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/04/06/two-days-after-sharing-this-open-letter-to-obama-on-facebook-veteran-coach-was-handing-in-his-resignation/

Two Days After Sharing This ‘Open Letter’ to Obama on Facebook, Veteran Coach Was Handing in His Resignation
Apr. 6, 2015 5:42pm
Jason Howerton

*** begin quote ***

Two days after posting a controversial open letter to President Barack Obama, written by “An American Citizen,” on his personal Facebook page, a lacrosse coach said he was forced to resign by school officials at Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine.

*** and ***

Dear Mr. Obama:

Have you ever seen a Muslim hospital?

Have you heard a Muslim orchestra?

Have you seen a Muslim band march in a parade?

Have you witnessed a Muslim charity?

Have you seen Muslims shak[ing] hands with Muslim Girl Scouts?

Have you seen a Muslim Candy Striper?

Have your seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life????

The answer is no, you have not.  Just ask yourself WHY???

Were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed?  Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.

Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.

Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution?  Declaration of Independence?  Bill of Rights?  Didn’t think so.

Did Muslims fight for this country’s freedom from England?  No.

Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America?  No, they did not.  In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery.  Your own half-brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as “pug nosed slaves.”  Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family’s “rich Islamic heritage,” doesn’t it Mr. Obama?

Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country?  Not present.  There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.

Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era?  Again, not present.  In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture.  So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband.  Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights, aren’t they?

Where were Muslims during World War II?  They were aligned with Adolf Hitler.  The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazis in killing Jews.
Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001?  If they weren’t flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East.

No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day.  Strangely, the very “moderate” Muslims who’s asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11.  To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.

And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the “rich heritage” Muslims have here in America…

Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates.  They were Muslims.

And now we can add November 5, 2009 – the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major, a doctor and a psychiatrist, who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That, Mr. Obama is the “Muslim heritage” in America!

P.S. Now, you can add the Boston Marathon bombings, too…

*** end quote ***

Seems like reasonable questions and observations?

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LIBERTARIAN: My little L libertarian “Litmus Tests”

Saturday, April 11, 2015

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/04/laurence-m-vance/gop-prevaricators/

The Drug War Litmus Test
By Laurence M. Vance
April 7, 2015

*** begin quote ***

The libertarian view on the drug war is simple and consistent: Since it is not the business of government at any level to prohibit, regulate, restrict, license, criminalize, limit, or otherwise control what someone wants to smoke, snort, sniff, inject, or swallow, then there should be no laws whatsoever regarding the buying, selling, possessing, trafficking, using, growing, cultivating, processing, or manufacturing of any drug for any reason.

Therefore, on both the federal and the state level, all drugs should be legalized, all drug laws and regulations should be repealed, all DEAs should be eliminated, all incarcerated drug offenders should be pardoned and released from jail or prison, and every facet of the drug war should be ended. And because the drug war is such a great injustice, this should all be done immediately.

The drug war is a great libertarian litmus test. No one who supports government at any level having any kind of a war on drugs is even remotely a libertarian. It doesn’t matter what else he believes about foreign policy, the welfare state, the warfare state, or the surveillance state. No one can “lean libertarian” and support such a gross violation of individual liberty, personal freedom, property rights, a free market, and a free society as the war on drugs.

*** end quote ***

Of course, the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” is an easy one.

Shut down the DEA and the FDA. Clear out the prisons of non-violent drug offenders. 

But moving on from that, I’d propose some other “litmus tests”.

(1) The “Crony Capitalist” test to rule out: subsidies, price supports, parity payments, price floors, and any other form of translation of privilege into “campaign contributions”.

(2) The “Welfare” test to rule out: Gooferment handouts of any type that trap people into a cycle of poverty and despair. 

(3) The “Warfare” test to rule out: Gooferment propping up it’s military – industrial complex by failing to MYOB overseas. (Bring all the girls and boys home NOW!)

(4) The “gun” test to rule out opponents of Constitution Carry. Roll back the thousands of laws that only the lawful gun owner obeys anyway. 

This will be my rating system for the next Presidential election — if there is one!

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POLITICAL: No subsidies for sports

Friday, April 10, 2015

http://gameto100.com/

Wild words on public subsidies for sports arenas
Posted on April 6, 2015 by Paul Clegg

*** begin quote ***

Far out, man!

That’s my throwback reaction to this morning’s editorial in the Sacramento Bee bearing this headline: “Ditch tax break for pro arenas/ Obama’s budget would end subsidy.”

The headline is so preposterous coming from the Bee that I thought it might be a late April Fools’ joke. This is the same newspaper that led the cheerleading for a huge public subsidy to help build a downtown arena for the Kings and their wealthy owners.

*** and ***

The Bee comes to several astounding realizations about public subsidies for sports arenas and stadiums: they reflect a transfer of money from the nation’s poorest citizens to some of the wealthiest, and they undermine the concept of a level-playing field because the benefits go to a few well-organized and well-funded interests that wield outsized influence with the decision-makers.

*** end quote ***

How did “We, The Sheeple” allow the Gooferment to subsidize “circuses”. 

Argh!

The Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient!

This just demonstrates that the immoral cycle. Tax breaks recycle into “campaign contributions” or graft.

Argh!

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RANT: Pro life and anti-death penalty

Thursday, April 9, 2015

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0403/Alabama-man-released-after-decades-on-death-row-Sign-of-a-flawed-system-video

USA USA UPDATE
Alabama man released after decades on death row: Sign of a flawed system? (+video)
As the number of death-row exonerees continues to grow, fundamental questions are being raised about potential flaws in the system.
By Cristina Maza, Staff writer APRIL 3, 2015

*** begin quote ***

Hinton is the third death-row inmate freed in the United States in less than a month. Since 1973, 151 people besides Hinton have been released from death row. And as the number of exonerees continues to grow, fundamental questions are being raised about potential flaws in the system.

“The fact that there’s innocent people in prison or death row has transformed people’s understanding of the death penalty,” University of North Carolina political scientist Frank Baumgartner, author of “The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence,” told Monitor reporter Patrik Jonsson.

“Your opinion about the death penalty in the abstract is one thing, but meeting exonerees changes the death penalty from an abstract principle to a very practical issue of: Can the government do it right every single time?

*** end quote ***

And, we don’t know exactly the extent of the “error rate”.

Now isn’t the saying better that 100 guilty go free than 1 innocent goes to jail?

No erasers on the “pencils” of the death penalty!

Given that a trial costs 4 times the cost of life in prison (read that somewhere; good enough for a swag!) seems like we should just eliminate it for the most part. (Maybe it’s retained for those felons convicted of killing a correction officer?)

Sorry, but being pro-life means being anti-death penalty.

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POLITICAL: Kerik Predicts a Criminal Justice ‘Implosion’

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/bernie-kerik-jailer-to-jailed-criminal-justice-prison/2015/03/31/id/635536/

Former Top Cop Kerik Predicts a Criminal Justice ‘Implosion’
Tuesday, 31 Mar 2015 12:31 PM
By David A. Patten

*** begin quote ***

Give us an example of an absurd law that should be taken off the books.

You have people who kill the wrong animal while hunting, use the wrong weapon, or kill some animal on the wrong day — there are a thousand of these things. Catch too many fish, catch the wrong type of fish, catch too big of a fish. They make these people felons. With some 2.3 million U.S. prisoners, what will happen in your view without serious criminal justice reform?

It is an economic catastrophe for this country. It’s unsustainable, and over time, the system will implode. … The states have budgets they have to adhere to. But the federal government just keeps printing money and throwing it into the system.

*** end quote ***

As a little L libertarian, I rant about the Gooferment being immoral, ineffective, and inefficient!

Here’s yet another convert to the “church” of anti-Gooferment!

There are just too many attempts to legislate the unlegislatable.

No one can follow all the rules, diktat, “laws”, and regulations.

Unless you’re a member of the political class (i.e., Bill and Hillary), then it doesn’t matter.

Argh!

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TINFOILHAT: The Pearl Harbor Myth and FDR’s role

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

2015-Apr-02

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/03/bionic-mosquito/the-pearl-harbor-myth/

The Pearl Harbor Myth: Rethinking the Unthinkable
By Bionic Mosquito
March 7, 2015

*** begin quote ***

To most Americans, manipulating one’s nation into war is something done by foreign tyrants – not our own leaders. Since 1942 U.S. history has been distorted by the idea that presidents simply do not do what Roosevelt’s enemies said he did.

*** end quote ***

I remember my Uncles always maintaining that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor. 

I don’t know what evidence they had for those beleifs but I just assumed everyone knew that.

Until I got to Skrule — and it wasn’t even a Gooferment Skrule — the good Nuns and some of the Brothers taught what was in the text book. Some of the good Brothers said that not everything in print was correct. 

Interesting.

If the Victors write the history and the politicians and bureaucrats pay for the textbooks, what do you think gets written?

Certainly not the truth!

Argh!

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POLITICAL: See “work requirements” shrink the welfare rolls

Monday, April 6, 2015

http://www.cato.org/blog/maines-recommitment-work-requirements

APRIL 1, 2015 12:52PM
Maine’s Recommitment to Work Requirements
By Charles Hughes

*** begin quote ***

Last week, the Associated Press reported that more than 9,000 food stamp recipients in Maine have been removed from the program because they failed to comply with the program’s work requirements. These requirements themselves are largely nothing new, but in the years since the recession, almost every state received a waiver exempting them from these provisions. By allowing the waiver to lapse, Maine will again enforce the requirement that able-bodied adults without dependents participate in some form of work activity. These rules only apply to a small fraction of beneficiaries, just 10 percent of Maine’s beneficiaries in 2013. A spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services revealed that the number of SNAP beneficiaries subject to the reinstated requirements has fallen from roughly 12,000 to 2,680. This is a steep reduction, but relatively small compared to the 250,000 people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) when the rule change went into effect.

*** and ***

Part of the motivation for this renewed enforcement is to provide a better path for beneficiaries to transition off  the program and back into the mainstream economy. Many beneficiaries are on the program for extended periods of time, and for too many, next to nothing is being done to help them improve their employment prospects during this time. A recent national study found that, over a 56 month period, a full quarter of beneficiaries participated for more than four years. Some of these people are exempt due to disability status or age, but those with the capacity for work are not really helped by a program that leads them to languish for years on the welfare rolls.

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient!

This just proves is. 

IT likes a “plantation of victims” that requires Gooferment bureaucrats to “care for them”.

I remember when Rudy required “welfare takers” to show up for their check. And, how many “ghosts” did that make disappear. The “work requirement” eliminated those working in either the underground or “above ground” economy.

While I think all charity should be private, if for no other reason that they Gooferment shouldn’t be doing it OR they do it so badly, I can “tolerate” if the takers are really not “moochers”.

It’s NOT so hard to tell the difference?

argh!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Ulbricht’s trials fatally flawed

Sunday, April 5, 2015

http://www.targetliberty.com/2015/03/ross-ulbrichts-lawyer-blows-up.html

Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Ross Ulbricht’s Lawyer Blows Up Following News of the Charges Against Government Agents That “Investigated” Ulbricht

*** begin quote ***

In addition, the government failed to disclose previously much of what is in the Complaint, including that two federal law enforcement agents involved in the Silk Road investigation were corrupt. It is clear from this Complaint that fundamentally the government’s investigation of Mr. Ulbricht lacked any integrity, and was wholly and fatally compromised from the inside.

Also, it is clear that Mr. Force and others within the government obtained access to the administrative platforms of the Silk Road site, where they were able to commandeer accounts and had the capacity to change PIN numbers and other aspects of the site – all without the government’s knowledge of what precisely they did with that access.

*** end quote ***

More evidence no justice in Gooferment courts!

More misconduct by the Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats!

Argh!

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RANT: Taxpayer Funds Ted Kennedy Shrine

Saturday, April 4, 2015

https://www.newsmax.com/US/kennedy-jfk-museum/2015/03/30/id/635196/

Taxpayer Funds Flow Into Ted Kennedy Shrine
Monday, 30 Mar 2015 07:16 AM
By John Fund
   
*** begin quote ***

The titans of American liberalism will gather in Boston today to dedicate a shrine to the late Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009. 

President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. Elizabeth Warren will all gather to praise the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. Much will be said about Kennedy’s 46-year record in the U.S. Senate, nothing about various scandals that ranged from Chappaquiddick to his attempts to have the Soviets intervene in the 1984 presidential election against Ronald Reagan. 

Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr points out that the Insititute “was supposed to be paid for exclusively with private donations.” But it should come as no surprise that the gorgeous 40,000-square-foot building that will house Kennedy’s papers and memorabilia as well as a recreation of his personal office and the Senate chamber was financed with a generous $38 million congressional earmark. The state of Massachusetts chipped in with another $5 million for education “infrastructure.”

*** end quote ***

Argh! 

And, what, if as a taxpayer, I don’t think that Ted Kennedy is “en-shrinable”?

Why do I have to pay for it?

It’s immoral, ineffective, and inefficient to rob me a penny to pay for stuff that is anathema to my beliefs.

Argh!

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TINFOILHAT: Preparing American civilians for death camps?

Friday, April 3, 2015

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/20540-military-drill-identifying-hostile-u-s-states-sparks-alarm

Friday, 27 March 2015
Military Drill Identifying “Hostile” U.S. States Sparks Alarm
Written by Alex Newman

*** begin quote ***

Citing other recently leaked U.S. military documents such as “FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations” about interning American civilians in camps, using “psyops” (psychological operations) on those detainees to affect their views, and more, David Hodges with the Common Sense Show said the drill is “undoubtedly the most frightening thing to occur on American soil since the Civil War.” In a widely re-published article about the training program, he said it could be “conclusively stated” that the drill was really about “preparing for a Red, White and Blue invasion.” “This is a massive rehearsal for martial law implementation as well as implementing the proverbial and much rumored Red and Blue List and the ‘snatch and grab’ extractions of key resistance figures from the Independent Media as well as uncooperative political figures,” Hodges added. “The various provisions of Jade Helm make it clear just how dangerous this drill truly is.”

Responding to widely expressed concerns that the scheme is “preparation for imposing martial law or subduing right-leaning groups and individuals,” as the military publication Stars and Stripes put it, U.S. Army Special Operations Command denied the accusation. “That notion was proposed by a few individuals who are unfamiliar with how and why USASOC conducts training exercises,” USASOC spokesman Army Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria was quoted as saying. “This exercise is routine training to maintain a high level of readiness for Army Special Operations Forces because they must be ready to support potential missions anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice.” He re-iterated those comments in other interviews as well. Despite being referred to as “routine,” it was not clear whether any similar drill identifying U.S. states as “hostile” had ever taken place — except perhaps amid the Civil War.

In comments quoted by the Houston Chronicle, which made its bias obvious in the first sentence by claiming that the drills had “stirred some ultra-right-wing fears of a government takeover in the Lone Star State,” local law enforcement officials also shed some light on what to expect. “They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community,” Chief Deputy Roy Boyd with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office was quoted as saying by the paper. “They’re testing their abilities to basically blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.” A former Army Intelligence officer was also quoted downplaying fears about the drill and suggesting that it was largely routine training.

*** end quote ***

Clearly, this is the Leviathan flexing its use of force against its “citizens”.

If they are trying to provoke a militia or TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) believers’ response, then they could not have done better.

I bet there are weapons caches being created all over the American Redoubt. Drug gangs — the closest thing we have to the Founding Fathers’ militia — aka “light infantry” — will be a serious resistance force. Throw in all the hunters, RKBA-er’s, and other serious thinkers and you’ll have a real mess.

“You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” — apocryphal unsourced quote attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

This applies to the American Gooferment as well.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Obamacare death spiral?

Thursday, April 2, 2015

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/26/susan-parnell-the-obamacare-death-spiral-may-have-/

*** begin quote ***

According to the Manhattan Institute, premiums climbed by 41 percent on average from 2013 to 2014, and premiums are likely to rise sharply again after two insurance company bailout programs included in Obamacare expire in 2017.
 
The other sign health insurance markets are in the early stages of a death spiral is the age mix of those buying policies through Obamacare. Originally it was estimated that around 40 percent of enrollees had to be in the relatively healthy 18 to 34-year-old age segment, so their premiums could be used to pay for the health expenses of older, less-healthy enrollees. So far it appears only some 28 percent of enrollees are in that coveted age group, which also comprises around half of the uninsured.
All of this means insurers are getting a risk pool that is less healthy than expected, and more premium hikes are around the corner. While subsidies hide some from the full impact, others in the middle class will not be shielded.
 
It will undoubtedly take a few years to know for sure, but for anybody concerned about setting off a death spiral or thinking Congress surely didn’t intend to do so, don’t worry. It looks like it’s already here, whether Congress intended it or not. 
 
*** end quote ***
 
Like Social Security, it’s fiscally unsound — in addition to being immoral, ineffective, and inefficient.
 
Why Statists — on both the left and right — think that they can ignore the “Laws of Economics” is a mystery to me. Like the time the Louisiana Legislature voted to repeal the “Law of Gravity”! Just because the “laws” of Economics are a little more subtle, doesn’t mean they exist. 
 
In this case, the invisible hand of the free market is going to slap the politicians and bureaucrats upside the head and say “fools”!
 
Where insurance is virtually unregulated — life insurance for example — it’s cheap, easy to get, and simple. (You die; you get paid!) Across the spectrum of “insurance”, the more regulation, the more expensive. Until you get to “health”, “health care”, “health care insurance”, or something else whatever this is. Most regulated; impossible.
 
And, this fluff about “pre-existing” conditions, is like being able to buy “fire insurance” after the fire!
 
Also, the routine heath care tests? That’s like “insuring” your cars oil changes. Makes no sense. Go to Jiffy lube for 30$ (but don’t buy the air filters); “insure” it and the paperwork alone will make it $100 at least.
 
Argh!
 
So, because there were some without “insurance”, the liberals decided to fool us into a USSR style system. Argh! 
 
Anyone figure out if “we” just took all the money spent on Obamacare, we could have give every uninsured a Congressional style plan.
 
But, then they wouldn’t have their power over a seventh of the economy.
 
Anyone think this is going to work out well?
 
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POLITICAL: Menendez gets political payback

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

http://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/reports-bob-menendez-indicted?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=police%20%26%20fire&utm_campaign=alert

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez Of New Jersey Indicted On Corruption ChargesDemocrat was indicted on federal corruption charges Wednesday, according to media reports.
By MICHELLE SAHN (Patch Staff)
April 1, 2015 

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I’m no Menendez fan, but “we all know” this is political payback from the Obama White House.

How fast will they indict Hillary or Harry?

Slow roll and crickets on that for sure!

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FUN: Boooo on the Princeton Review

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

New beef alert: Taylor Swift vs. the Princeton Review.

It seems the test preparation company misquoted Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” in their materials for an SAT practice test. Even worse, they misquoted Swift and then criticized her allegedly bad grammar — despite the fact that they screwed up her words in the first place.

A page in the practice test quotes Swift as singing, “Somebody tells you they love you, you got to believe ’em.” The actual line is, “Somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them.” The actual lyric is not grammatically incorrect, unless you’re concerned about “gonna” vs. “going to,” in which case you may want to relocate to the Victorian Era.

A fan called Taylor’s attention to the Princeton Review’s gaffe, and Swift’s response on Tumblr was tough but fair: “Not the right lyrics at all pssshhhh. You had one job, test people. One job.”

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Testing 1, 2, 3 … … …

Us swifties are always on the alert for this national treasure.

#tswift13 #tswift

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POLITICAL: DHS Brags; should be eliminated

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/03/dhs-brags-of-arresting-13-the-criminal-aliens-it-freed-from-detention

DHS Brags of Arresting 5% of Criminal Aliens It Freed From Detention — On the heels of releasing over 36,000 criminal aliens from detention, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the audacity to pat itself on the back for arresting a tiny fraction of the illegal immigrants—thousands convicted 

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Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient.

This just proves it.

Sorry, but it’s time for a reset!

Argh!

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RANT: Bernanke destroyed “savings”!

Monday, March 30, 2015

https://news.yahoo.com/bernanke-rejects-charge-fed-throwing-191719416.html;_ylt=AwrBEiKE3xlV6E4AVbnQtDMD

Bernanke rejects charge of Fed ‘throwing seniors under bus’

Bernanke, in first blog post, rejects accusation of Fed ‘throwing seniors under the bus’

Associated Press By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Bernanke no longer leads the Federal Reserve, but he’s hardly letting up in his defense of the ultra-low-rate policies he engineered — and his successor, Janet Yellen, has continued.

In his first post as a new blogger Monday, Bernanke struck back at critics who he said had charged the Bernanke Fed with, among other things, “throwing seniors under the bus” by keeping rates too low for too long.

He also disputed accusations that the Fed is still distorting financial markets and investment decisions by keeping rates “artificially low.”

Both criticisms, Bernanke wrote in “Ben Bernanke’s Blog,” reflect a misunderstanding of economic reality.

*** end quote ***

So, how does he explain the “zero interest rate” policy impact on the retirement savings of seniors?

I know for a fact at least one senior who earned nothing on her capital savings and had to use the capital for expenses.

Now she has NOTHING but charity from the family.

Sorry, but the Gooferment and Wall Street have done just fine; her, not so much.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: “Jury duty” is slavery

Monday, March 30, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/03/24/pennsylvania-man-arrested-in-courthouse-for-skipping-out-on-jury-duty-11-times/?intcmp=HPBucket

Pennsylvania man arrested in courthouse for skipping out on jury duty 11 times in 2 years
Published March 24, 2015
Associated Press

*** begin quote ***

SOMERSET, Pa. –  A Pennsylvania man who skipped out on jury duty 11 times in the last two years has been arrested inside a courthouse while seeking relief from a child support ruling.

*** end quote ***

I thought slavery was eliminated?

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RANT: DWI should be severely punished WHEN there is a victim

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Under current law, first-time offenders can lose their license for three months to a year, while second-time offenders can lose it for two years. A third offense can result in a license suspension of 10 years.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-rejects-dwi-penalty-changes-1.1294240

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IT would seem that everyone is pandering.

Many of the DWIs that I have heard about are more “technical violations” (i.e., fellow in his driveway not going anywhere or been anywhere; checkpoint stops; lost driver on the side of the road).

I’d suggest that DWI without damage or victim, isn’t a crime.

I’d suggest that in today’s economy, those convicted have to drive to work.

I’d suggest that this is more about a cash grab then safety or changing behavior.

If it was “SOOoooo dangerous”, my generation would have been dead a long time ago.

Too frequently, I read about multiple offenders getting arrested again.

Too frequently, I read about “police” in accidents with no penalty. (Unless they kill themselves) Where the thin bluw line protects them.

Too frequently, I read about the bereaved family members advocating draconian penalties. While I am sympathetic to their loss, that’s not how to make policy.

Drive drunk and kill some one, you go away forever. (I feel the same way about murderers. No death penalty.)

Hurt someone or damage property, severe penalties. Restitution!

All the other “technical violations” are victimless.

imho

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POLITICAL: Remember “the enemy of your enemy is your enemy”

Saturday, March 28, 2015

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2015/march/22/after-a-twelve-year-mistake-in-iraq-we-must-just-march-home/

After a Twelve Year Mistake in Iraq, We Must Just March Home
written by ron paul
sunday march 22, 2015

*** begin quote ***

Twelve years ago last week, the US launched its invasion of Iraq, an act the late General William Odom predicted would turn out to be “the greatest strategic disaster in US history.”

Before the attack I was accused of exaggerating the potential costs of the war when I warned that it could end up costing as much as $100 billion. One trillion dollars later, with not one but two “mission accomplished” moments, we are still not done intervening in Iraq.

President Obama last year ordered the US military back into Iraq for the third time. It seems the Iraq “surge” and the Sunni “Awakening,” for which General David Petraeus had been given much credit, were not as successful as was claimed at the time. From the sectarian violence unleashed by the US invasion of Iraq emerged al-Qaeda and then its more radical spin-off, ISIS. So Obama sent the US military back.

*** end quote ***

Remember “the enemy of your enemy is your enemy” — Netanyahu?

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GUNS: Wager on these fine upstanding misunderstood gentlemen

Friday, March 27, 2015

http://concealednation.org/2015/03/house-guest-to-the-rescue-shoots-and-kills-home-intruder-sends-other-three-running-for-their-lives/

That’s why you need to be armed. Because the bad guys aren’t scared of an occupied home.

Argh!

And, what do you bet that these fine upstanding misunderstood gentlemen have (1) a rap sheet; or (2) on “parole”?

Argh squared!

RECOMMENDATION: Shooter needs more range time; three got away.

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POLITICAL: ‘Mandatory Voting’ like “Jumbo Shrimp”

Thursday, March 26, 2015

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/03/robert-wenzel/coerced-voting-in-fixed-us-electionse280a8/

Obama Broaches the Idea of ‘Mandatory Voting’
By Robert Wenzel
Target Liberty
March 20, 2015

*** begin quote ***

While discussing money in politics on Wednesday, President Obama broached a topic normally confined to academic circles: A law requiring people to vote, reports David Jackson at USA Today.

*** end quote ***

Anyone else think, like I did when I first heard this asinine idea, of the old USSR / North Korea / Cuba style voting?

“If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” ― attributed to Mark Twain

I’ve been voting every since I could, and it’s mattered not.

And, the joke is: “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. if you vote and lose, you voted for it. if you vote and ‘win’, nothing changes.”

I’ve come to the conclusion that “voting” is a waste of time.

Secession is the only chance for freedom and liberty.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Nuke deal with Iran will not be written down?

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_IRAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-25-11-17-55

Mar 25, 11:17 AM EDT

KERRY FLIES TO SWITZERLAND FOR MAKE-OR-BREAK IRAN NUKE TALKS
BY MATTHEW LEE
AP DIPLOMATIC WRITER

WASHINGTON (AP) — With an end-of-March deadline days away, Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back into negotiations with Iran, hoping to seal a framework deal to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

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Now it appears that there is no written agreement?

This violates everything I learned from Judge Judy!

“I wouldn’t believe you, if your tongue came notarized.” … attributed to Judge Marilyn Milian, but may have an earlier history.

Argh!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Who decides what’s safe?

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/03/19/food-manufacturers-get-to-decide-if-their-own-additives-are-safe/

Home > Dr. Greger’s Medical Nutrition Blog > Food Manufacturers Get to Decide if Their Own Additives Are SafeFood Manufacturers Get to Decide if Their Own Additives Are SafeWritten by: Michael Greger M.D. on March 19th, 2015

*** begin quote ***

In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced their plans to all but eliminate trans fats from processed foods, citing a CDC statistic that the elimination of partially hydrogenated oils from the food supply could prevent more than 10,000 heart attacks and thousands of deaths every year. Up until that point, trans fats enjoyed their so-called “GRAS” status: “Generally Recognized As Safe.” How did these killer fats get labeled as safe?

Who decides what’s safe? Currently, a “generally recognized as safe” determination is made when the manufacturer of a food substance evaluates the safety of the substance themselves and concludes that the use of the substance is safe. In other words, the company that manufactures the substance gets to determine if it is safe or not. This approach is commonly referred to as ”GRAS self-determination.” To make matters worse, not only do companies not have to inform the public, they don’t even have to inform the FDA. A company may voluntarily tell the FDA they just came up with a new food additive that they’ve decided is safe, but are not required to do so.

The cumulative result is that there are an estimated 6,000 current affirmative safety decisions which allow for more than an estimated 10,000 substances to be used in food (See Who Determines if Food Additives are Safe?). In addition, an estimated 1,000 manufacturer safety decisions are never reported to FDA or the public. “Manufacturers and a trade association made the remaining decisions without FDA review by concluding on their own that the substances that they themselves were selling were safe.”

*** end quote ***

What could possibly go wrong?

Argh!

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POLITICAL: END “public” pensions

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/19/union-lobbyist-who-worked-one-day-as-teacher-suing-illinois-over-30000-pension/

CONTROVERSIES
Union lobbyist who worked one day as a teacher suing Illinois for $30,000 pension
By Eric BoehmPublished March 19, 2015watchdog.org

*** begin quote ***

After working one day as a substitute teacher in Illinois, David Piccioli could be entitled to an annual pension of more than $30,000.

And he’s suing the state to make sure he gets paid.

Piccioli is a retired union political activist who’s already pulling down a pair of state pensions from Illinois’ beleaguered public retirement system. But he’s taking the Teachers Retirement System to court to squeeze more money out of the state.

The Chicago Tribune reported Thursday that Piccioli is already collecting $31,000 annually from the Teacher Retirement System, but he could get an additional $36,000 annually if he wins his case. He’s also collecting a $30,000-pension from a different state retirement system for his time as a legislative aide in Springfield, according to the Tribune.

Piccioli is a retired lobbyist for the Illinois Federation of Teachers and never worked in a classroom, but he took advantage of a loophole in Illinois pension law to score his teaching pension.

In 2007, he worked one day as a substitute teacher at a Springfield school. Under Illinois pension law, that one day in the classroom allowed him to qualify for a pension that would pay him for all of his years of work as a member of the union.

*** end quote ***

Time to END “public” pensions, PERIOD!

401k 403b IRA

Just like the mundane peons!

No need to worry about “loopholes”, “double dipping” or any other form of corruption!

Sorry, that Taxpayer is broke and the politicians and bureaucrats have hocked the “family jewels”, “seed corn”, and “mortgaged the farm to the hilt”.

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Rubio on post-ObamaCare

Monday, March 23, 2015

2015-Mar-23

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/03/23/my-three-part-plan-for-post-obamacare-era/

HEALTH CARE
My three part plan for the post-ObamaCare era
By Sen. Marco Rubio
Published March 23, 2015
FoxNews.com

*** begin quote ***

First, we should provide an advanceable, refundable tax credit that all Americans can use to purchase health insurance. The value of these credits should increase every year, and we should set the tax preference for employer-sponsored insurance on a glide path to ensure that it will equal the level of the credits at the end of the decade. This will prevent large-scale disruptions and reform one of the most significant distortions in our tax system.

*** end quote ***

Sounds like a great idea!

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