Saturday, August 24, 2013

Churches changing bylaws after gay marriage ruling

Fear of lawsuits has laid a millstone on the back of American Culture.
AP  "Worried they could be sued by gay couples, some churches are changing their bylaws to reflect their view that the Bible allows only marriage between one man and one woman.
"Although there have been lawsuits against wedding industry businesses that refuse to serve gay couples, attorneys promoting the bylaw changes say they don't know of any lawsuits against churches."

Friday, August 23, 2013

Hasan guilty of, um, workplace violence incident

Major Nidal Hasan Guilty on All Counts in ‘Workplace Violence’ Incident 
"The prosecutor proved conclusively that the attack was premeditated. It’s hard to see how Hasan can avoid the death penalty.
"Don’t bet on the Army changing its designation of the attack as “workplace violence.” If they were to designate Hasan’s rampage as a terrorist attack, it would trigger a series of required actions by the military, including an increase in benefits to survivors. And it would also allow families to collect a lot more money in a civil suit that many survivors are planning to file now that the trial is over."

The choice in Egypt

Charles Krauthammer  "Egypt today is a zero-sum game. We’d have preferred there be a democratic alternative. Unfortunately, there is none. The choice is binary: the country will be ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood or by the military.
"Perhaps it didn’t have to be this way. Perhaps the military should have waited three years for the intensely unpopular Mohamed Morsi to be voted out of office. But Gen.Abdel Fatah al-Sissi seems to have calculated that he didn’t have three years, that by then there would be no elections — as in Gaza, where the Palestinian wing of the Brotherhood, Hamas, elected in 2006, established a one-man-one-vote-one-time dictatorship."
 
Krauthammer boils the issue down to this: 
And which alternative better helps secure U.S. strategic interests? The list of those interests is long: (1) a secure Suez Canal, (2) friendly relations with the United States, (3) continued alliance with the pro-American Gulf Arabs and Jordanians, (4) retention of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, (5) cooperation with the U.S. on terrorism, which in part involves (6) isolating Brotherhood-run Gaza.

Every one of which is jeopardized by Brotherhood rule.
But when has this administration ever safeguarded US interests?

Animals Jumping On Trampolines

Obama Takes Refuge on Campus

Michael Filozof   "Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that President Obama speaks almost exclusively at colleges and universities in Blue States?"
....
"Obama frequents universities because they are modern-day Potemkin Villages, presenting a façade of presidential popularity. Colleges and universities are guaranteed to produce a crowd consisting of left-wing enthusiasts fawning over Obama. They're entirely dependent on the government for their tax-exempt status, student loans, and massive amounts of grant monies from the government as well.  What's more, universities are secure environments for Obama...."

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

When I was a rich kid, we were all pro-communist

David Lawrence  "When I was a rich kid living in Great Neck, NY, I remember standing on the lawn of my girlfriend's house and listening to her parents talk about how my girlfriend's grandfather fought for the communists in Spain.  They were proud of him.  While the father puffed his pipe on the lawn of their estate, they pontificated on their sympathy for poor people and their desire to have a classless society."  More
 

The state of American culture

Disney brings lesbian moms to TV
“ 'Instead of becoming a leader in political correctness, we encourage Disney to hold on to their title as the leader in good, fun and wholesome,” the column said.
"TV Guide reports the lesbian characters will appear on an episode of “Good Luck Charlie.' ”
One-time Disney child star Miley Cyrus, who starred in the “Hannah Montana” franchise, and since has been active in her advocacy for same-sex marriage tweeted, “I commend Disney for making this step in the light of this generation.”
Media wrestles with how to refer to Manning
"The Associated Press’s widely used stylebook says reporters should use the name and pronouns preferred by a transgender person, even if the person has not changed his or her sexual identity yet. Thus, Manning would be referred to as “she” in AP articles."

Bradley Manning Is Not a Woman "Pronouns and delusions do not trump biology."

Is being gay the new Hollywood fad?

Long past time for that race conversation Eric Holder called for. Troubling Update

WW II vet survived Okinawa; beaten to death "Police, who have examined surveillance footage, say they are looking for two possible suspects between the ages of 16 and 19.
"A friend, Ted Denison, told The Spokesman-Review that Belton was shot in the leg during the fighting in Okinawa in 1945."

Blackfive
"Several of you have sent links and shared with me on Facebook, so I'm posting here to help get the word out.  These are photos of two suspects in the Spokane area who beat and killed a WWII veteran.  They apparently did so without provocation and without an obvious reason (which suggests one in and of itself) as robbery was (apparently) not involved. 
"Share these photos.  Spread them far and wide.  Leave them no place to hide. 
 "Here is the man they murdered:
 
Spokane, North Idaho News

From Hope n' Change: Just Killing Time

Ebony Magazine adds fuel to the fire   "The public needs to hold Ebony's owners and editors responsible for inciting violence. If we can blame hate-filled videos, the schools, poverty and rap for these crimes, why not add these race hustlers to the list." 

The ‘Race Conversation’ Network   "MSNBC has mastered the art of making unracial things racial. "

UPDATE from Debbie Schlussel "RACISM: Meijer Store Customer Assaults, Threatens to Murder Me “bc of Trayvon Martin;” Black Employees Laugh w Her, Mock Me"   ".... I’ve repeatedly been subject to the racism of one of the two most racist groups of people in the world: American Blacks. (The other group is Muslims.) Today, my life was threatened in the name of Trayvon Martin in a store, as I tried to check out. And it was done with the Black employees mocking me and laughing with the woman who threatened me that she would “beat yo’ ass and kill you.' ”

meijersharptonjackson
Racism Usually Doesn’t Come Cloaked in a White Hood

Alan Caruba: I am Tired of Being Called a White Racist

Warning Signs
 
"I don’t know when it occurred to me that I had gone from having shaken hands with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to being called a white racist, but apparently I was not paying attention.
"Neither were a lot of others of my generation who had welcomed and supported the Civil Rights movement only to discover we were not going to hear a word of thanks. Younger generations have suffered the same indignity."
More...

...."It needs to be said that racism cuts both ways, but too much black racism gets a pass. Whites are not to blame at this point. One hopes the Saturday march in D.C. will reflect Dr. King’s generous and hopeful speech of fifty years ago. I doubt that will happen."

Spouses and young people under ObamaCare

ObamaCare Kicks Wives Off Their Husbands’ Health Plans   "Employer health insurance must cover employees dependent children up to age 26, but there is nothing that says it has to cover spouses. The fees associated with the plan are causing employers to reconsider whether or not to included wives and/or husbands in their medical plans. When it comes down to it, ObamaCare could actually be considered a War On The Family Unit."
Many will be driven to the federal exchanges, as Democrats want.

Obamacare Is Really, Really Bad For You, Especially If You're Young  "Preventing health insurers from fully accounting for age will not change the reality that, in general, the older you are, the greater your medical expenses (six times greater, when you compare 64-year-olds to 18-year-olds). These are costs that someone has to pay. If insurers can’t charge those older according to their risk, they have to overcharge those younger to make up the cost."
Some younger people will see what they pay for insurance double.
Even though Brian judges this to be the best way to manage his medical expenses, under the health law, it’s illegal for insurers to offer him a policy geared to his actual risk. Instead, per government mandate, a portion of the income he earns and intends to use to build his life is channeled into the pockets of others.
Another way ObamaCare will stifle the American economy.

Study: Three million young Americans would save $1,000 by forgoing the Obamacare health exchanges
"The youngest candidate running for Congress, Ron Meyer (R-VA), says many younger Americans will follow the economic incentives Obamacare has created and skip signing up for the government health exchanges altogether."

Beware the wounded lame duck

Obama may be a lame duck, but -like a wounded bull- is still capable of causing much damage with his executive orders.

Hillary's early start produces unintended consequences, including for Obama   ...."Don’t get us wrong: The Democratic Party is still Obama’s party, and there is unity for most of his agenda. But some are beginning to cast a wayward glance at Hillary Clinton. That has an impact. The last thing the president needs is for HIS political arm (OFA) to be competing with Clinton for resources, and we’re not just talking about financial resources."....
Political Cartoons by Jerry Holbert

NBC's Chuck Todd thinks she may be intensifying Obama's lame duck status  by launching into her campaign so early, marginalizing Obama sooner than necessary. 
 
Is Obama Already a Lame Duck?  " It’s been a bad summer for the Obama administration. At home, the president’s negligible legislative agenda remains stalled as his incessant attempts to demonize Republicans have poisoned efforts to find common ground on even those areas where large elements of both parties might work together. Even Democrats consider the rollout of ObamaCare to be a “train wreck”.... A late spring of scandals ... has given way to a summer of paranoia about the National Security Agency that the president has proven incapable or unwilling to address."
Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

4 Problems with Federal College Scorecards


 
Heritage;   "Yesterday, President Obama announced his plan to make “college more affordable, tackle rising costs, and improve value for students and their families.”
But a big part of the President’s plan includes creating a college rating system—a federal scorecard—to evaluate colleges on measures such as graduation rates, the number of low-income students served (i.e., the percentage of Pell Grant recipients), graduate earnings, and affordability.
Scorecards are a seductive idea. But having the federal government issue scorecards to measure college output would be a mistake. Four problems with the President’s plan:"

....
"If the Obama Administration truly wants to “shake up” higher ed and bring down college costs, it would acknowledge that federal government intervention is the problem, not the solution."