next....

[DrLeftover]

July 29, 2013

Just two weeks after Janet Napolitano announced her resignation as Secretary of Homeland Security, the Congressional Black Caucus has suggested Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston fill her spot.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/29/cbc-recommends-sheila-jackson-lee-homeland-securit/


Ms Jackson Lee is perhaps most famous for the following incidents of remarkable lucidity:

in 2005, she asked the JPL Mars rover team if the vehicle could get a picture of the flag planted by Neil Armstrong.

And....

In July 2010 Jackson Lee said: "Today, we have two Vietnams, side by side, North and South, exchanging and working. We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing, but they are living in peace. I would look for a better human rights record for North Vietnam, but they are living side by side.”[28] It was noted that Vietnam had not been split for four decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson_Lee

 

[Evil Eye]

Well, I suppose the Vietnam war was what she grew up with... Though that shouldn't be an excuse.

 

[DrLeftover]

The Vietnam War is what I grew up with. And I knew better.

Hell, even these morons knew better...

“To most Vietnam is just a war, not a country”
-Jeremy Clarkson, 'Top Gear Vietnam Special'

http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-vietnam-special-season-12-episode-8-full-episode_part-1_2008597.htm

 

[DrLeftover]

ALBANY — A top development company donated $100,000 to Gov. Cuomo just days before he signed a bill that quietly showered the firm with lucrative tax breaks.

Two corporations tied to Extell Development each contributed $50,000 to Cuomo’s campaign, which recorded the checks on Jan. 28 — the same day the Assembly passed a housing bill that contained tax breaks for five developers, including Extell, records show.

Cuomo signed the legislation two days later.

The twin $50,000 donations were made by Elco Master LLC and 134 W 58 LLC. Each listed the same Louisville, Ky., address of Extell Financial Services, which is part of Extell Development. It was the first time either company contributed to Cuomo, state records show.

....

A Cuomo aide called it “beyond reckless” to suggest the governor is influenced by donations. Melissa DeRosa said the Extell checks were written Jan. 14 for a fund-raiser held a week earlier that yielded more than $3 million.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cuomo-100k-developer-signing-tax-break-law-article-1.1422003

 

[DrLeftover]

Should we call this "do as my wife says, not as I do?"

AUGUST 13, 2013

It's only been three days, but President Obama has quickly settled into the vacation diet on Martha's Vineyard. But don't tell the first lady.

During a rainy day on Tuesday, he traveled to Nancy's in scenic Oak Bluffs for a fried lunch. According to the pool report: "POTUS's food order at Nancy's was fried shrimp, fried oysters, onion rings and french fries."

Obviously not on the lunch trip was first lady Michelle Obama, the first family's fitness buff.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/burp-on-vineyard-obama-lunches-on-fried-shrimp-fried-oysters-onion-rings-french-fries/article/2534214

 

[DrLeftover]

August 14, 2013

Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico, CBS News has learned, as the toll from the controversial federal operation grows.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57598487/more-fast-and-furious-guns-surface-at-crimes-in-mexico/

 

[DrLeftover]

"Global Military"?????

Aug 14, 2013
Christchurch quake used as case study for global military

The deadly 2011 Christchurch earthquake is being used as a case study for China, the United States and Australia, who are all taking part in a unique military training exercise outside Christchurch this week.

Military officials from each country have teamed up with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to work through how they would respond if the South Island's Alpine Fault generated a large-scale tremor.

About 45 military personnel from the Australian Defence Force, the US Army, the Peoples Liberation Army and NZDF took a tour of the rubble-reduced Christchurch central business district yesterday.

Today, and for the rest of the week, they are at Burnham Military Camp on the outskirts of town talking about how each country would react to a similar humanitarian disaster as the February 22, 2011 quake, which claimed 185 lives.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502981&objectid=10912379

 

[DrLeftover]

And now this from His'onor the Nanny.

August 16, 2013

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest crime-fighting idea had a lot of people riled up on Friday.

The mayor wants to fingerprint more than 600,000 people who live in public housing. He said it would be done to make the projects safer.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/08/16/bloombergs-public-housing-fingerprinting-idea-stuns-infuriates-residents/

 

[DrLeftover]

And, not to be outdone, the NYC council wants to reach into your pocket.

August 20, 2013

New legislation that is aimed to dramatically reduce bag use in New York City would put a $.10 surcharge on plastic or paper carry out bags at grocery and retail stores.

The legislation was introduced by city council members Brad Lander and Margaret Chin.

They say the proposed charge would not be a tax and the stores would actually keep the money to cover the cost of providing bags.

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/23186866/proposal-would-slap-10-cent-surcharge-on-plastic-and-paper-bags

This is, of course, ignoring the fact that the cost of the bags are built into the overhead operating budget of the store, just like the cost of the electricity to keep the lights on.

 

[DrLeftover]

There's a reason YOU pay taxes:

“One of the single best ways to climb out of poverty is taking a job, but as long as welfare provides a better standard of living than an entry-level job, recipients will continue to choose it over work,” said Michael Tanner, senior policy analyst and co-author of the study.

The study is an updated version of one Tanner put out in 1995 that estimated the full value of welfare benefits packages across the states. The 1995 study found that such tax-free welfare benefits greatly exceeded the poverty level and “their dollar value was greater than the amount of take-home income a worker would receive from an entry-level job.”

Despite efforts to curb welfare spending, many welfare programs and benefits have continued to outpace the income that many workers can receive for working an entry-level job, which disincentivizes work, according to the study.

“The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” reads the study. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and in 13 states it pays more than $15 per hour.”

http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/20/study-welfare-pays-more-than-work-in-most-states/

 

[DrLeftover]

I was talking about tax payers paying businesses' water bills and property taxes, which is wrong and it's the same as them trying to make the tax payers pay for businesses to have plastic bags for their customers...

Understood.

But in my book, taxes is taxes.

If Uncle taxes a business for whatever reason, it will eventually come out of the consumer's pocket.

 

[DrLeftover]

Where does a business get the money it pays out in returns on shares, pays interest on capital loans, salaries and overhead, and taxes?

Even if the business sells to other businesses, such as the outfits that make shopping bags, EVENTUALLY that money has to come from a consumer. Walmart doesn't buy plastic grocery sacks just for the hell of it.

 

[DrLeftover]

And this is from a non-hating paper

8 Sept

The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material.

In addition, the court extended the length of time that the NSA is allowed to retain intercepted U.S. communications from five years to six years — and more under special circumstances, according to the documents, which include a recently released 2011 opinion by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, then chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Move allowed agency to search for Americans’ communications.

What had not been previously acknowledged is that the court in 2008 imposed an explicit ban — at the government’s request — on those kinds of searches, that officials in 2011 got the court to lift the bar and that the search authority has been used.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-administration-had-restrictions-on-nsa-reversed-in-2011/2013/09/07/c26ef658-0fe5-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html

 

[DrLeftover]

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging quick passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

The officials represent companies with a vast array of business interests: General Electric, The Walt Disney Company, Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, McDonald's Corporation, The Wendy's Company, Coca-Cola, The Cheesecake Factory, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications, Hewlett-Packard, General Mills, and many more. All want to see increases in immigration levels for low-skill as well as high-skill workers, in addition to a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants currently in the U.S. illegally.

A new immigration law, the corporate officers say, "would be a long overdue step toward aligning our nation's immigration policies with its workforce needs at all skill levels to ensure U.S. global competitiveness." The officials cite a publication of their trade group, the HR Policy Association, which calls for immigration reform to "address the reality that there is a global war for talent." The way for the United States to win that war for talent, they say, is more immigration.

Of course, the U.S. unemployment rate is at 7.3 percent, with millions of American workers at all skill levels out of work, and millions more so discouraged that they have left the work force altogether. In addition, at the same time the corporate officers seek higher numbers of immigrants, both low-skill and high-skill, many of their companies are laying off thousands of workers.

For example, Hewlett-Packard, whose Executive Vice President for Human Resources Tracy Keogh signed the letter, laid off 29,000 employees in 2012. In August of this year, Cisco Systems, whose Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Weslock signed the letter, announced plans to lay off 4,000 — in addition to 8,000 cut in the last two years. United Technologies, whose Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Elizabeth B. Amato signed the letter, announced layoffs of 3,000 this year. American Express, whose Chief Human Resources Officer L. Kevin Cox signed the letter, cut 5,400 jobs this year. Procter & Gamble, whose Chief Human Resources Officer Mark F. Biegger signed the letter, announced plans to cut 5,700 jobs in 2012.

...

more:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/companies-lay-off-thousands-then-demand-immigration-reform-for-new-labor/article/2535595

 

[DrLeftover]

September 19, 2013
SACRAMENTO — Genevieve Catlyn Williamson Heidenreich, wants her entire married name to go on her Social Security card.

But the Social Security Administration is saying no.
...

A Social Security representative explained that for the agency's purposes a legal name consists of a first and last name only.

"The first and middle name fields allow 16 characters each and the last name allows 21 characters," the statement added.

The agency also said the issue is governed by, "Public Law 100-235 when printing characters on SSN cards. This law requires all Federaldatabases to follow standards determined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/19/social-security-name-too-long/2835447/


but don't worry, they'll do much better with your health care information

 

[DrLeftover]

Sep 24, 2013 5:16pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its effort to regulate the tax return preparation business for the first time in U.S. history, basing its case largely on a 19th century law dealing with horses lost or killed in the Civil War.

At an appellate court hearing on a challenge brought by libertarian lawyers challenging the administration, Justice Department Tax Division lawyer Gilbert Rothenberg said: "I hate to beat a dead horse, especially one from the Civil War era."

But he explained that the administration sees the "Horse Act of 1884" as providing ample authority for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to regulate the tens of thousands of preparers who fill out millions of Americans' federal tax returns.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-usa-tax-preparers-idUSBRE98N17N20130924

 

[DrLeftover]

Tue Oct 1, 2013 8:22am EDT

(Reuters) - Pope Francis began landmark meetings on Tuesday to reform the Vatican, promising to do all he could to change the mentality of an institution he said was too focused on its own interests.

Francis and eight cardinals from around the world are holding three days of closed-door meetings to discuss the Vatican's troubled administration and to map out possible changes in the worldwide Church.

As the talks began, left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper published a long interview conducted by its atheist editor last week in which the Argentine pope spoke frankly about the problems facing the Vatican administration, known as the Curia.

He said too many previous popes in the Church's long history had been "narcissists" who let themselves be flattered by "courtier" aides in the Curia instead of concentrating on the wider mission of the universal Church.

"The (papal) court is the leprosy of the papacy," said Francis...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/01/us-pope-administration-idUSBRE9900B020131001

 

[Evil Eye]

The advantages of an absolute monarchy, I suppose. One man can actually get something done.
Well, we'll see about that...

 

[DrLeftover]

First they pushed homosexual marriage.

Now:

October 26, 2013

Polyamory: When three isn't a crowd

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/living/relationships-polyamory/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

 

[DrLeftover]

Egypt is now the worst country for women's rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of gender experts.

The study found sexual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking.

The Comoros islands came top in the survey, which was conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The poll surveyed more than 330 gender experts in 21 Arab League states as well as Syria.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24908109