Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Illinois Budget Spends Money on Churches: Politicians Don't Care There's a Crisis or a Constitution
The Chicago Daily Observer reports on the lack of separation of church and state in Illinois:
You may have missed it, but Illinois is in a budget crisis. No really, Governor Quinn was campaigning to raise taxes, release 6,000 prisoners, and cut 2,600 state employees. Governor Quinn already has cut $50 Million from the Illinois Department of Human Services, laying off 1,075 employees and slashing care to more than 17,000 low-income children and teens struggling with mental illness, homelessness or both.Illinois Review reports on the money for churches from Illinois taxpayers:
So it may come as some surprise to you that, lo and behold, the State of Illinois has $31 Billion available for “capital” projects. Yes, that is $31 Billion, in some sort of found money, or $2,384 for every man, woman and child in Illinois. Gov. Quinn signed the spending bill yesterday claiming “This is jobs. This is Illinois recovery. We’ve got to get our economy back on track”. The Republicans generally concurred, with the bill easily passing the Illinois Senate. with bipartisan support.
there's lots of churches who will be given hundreds of thousands of dollars to make improvements on their facilities. Christian Love Missionary Baptist Church will get $250,000, Bethel Lutheran Church will get $200,000, Haven of Rest Missionary Baptist Church will get $400,000, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church will get $200,000 to upgrade its kitchen and Our Lady of Peace in Chicago will get $45,000 to improve accessibility.You say how can that be constitutional? Here's the Illinois Constitution on giving money to churches:
SECTION 3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOMWhen Rod Blagojevich can make it to the top, anything is possible in the state of Illinois. Will these people follow the law or any constitution? Don't bet on it. Could you imagine what the MSM would say: if these churches getting money where white , evangelical churches with registered Republicans?
The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession
and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be
guaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil or
political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his
religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby
secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or
affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify
practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State.
No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry
or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any
preference be given by law to any religious denomination or
mode of worship.
U. of I. trustee: I passed along requests from Blagojevich
The Chicago Tribune reports:
One of the University of Illinois' longest-serving trustees today denied he served as former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's intermediary for admissions requests, contrary to public documents and earlier testimony before a state commission.With Blago comes money:
When pressed, however, Trustee Lawrence Eppley acknowledged he passed along up to four admissions requests per year from Blagojevich or the governor's inner circle.
In one case, Eppley passed along a 2005 letter in which Blagojevich sought admission for a relative of convicted influence-peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko. The applicant was admitted and his initial denial overturned.Here was a warning that everything would be for sale.
Eppley, whose law firm donated $105,000 to Blagojevich's campaigns, often appears in the former governor's phone logs. There is at least one reference to a dental school candidate, according to records from Blagojevich's office.
Obama's Green Czar Proud Communist With Arrest Record
Who's Obama's "Green Czar"? Van Jones. Truthout quotes from The East Bay Express
Wednesday 02 November 2005 :
Wednesday 02 November 2005 :
Jones had planned to move to Washington, DC, and had already landed a job and an apartment there. But in jail, he said, "I met all these young radical people of color - I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.'" Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. "I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary." In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. "I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th," he said. "By August, I was a communist."Hat tip The Collins Report
Where's Alderman Burke Amid Chicago's Financial Crisis?
Crain's Chicago Business has a front page story on Alderman Burke:
As chairman of the City Council's powerful finance committee, Alderman Edward Burke (14th) has distinguished himself in recent years as the fiscal watchdog that doesn't bark.For more on Alderman Burke. For a look at Alderman Burke's introducing a resolution honoring the life of a "made member" of the Chicago Mob.
Supposedly the resident financial expert after four decades on the council, he has acquiesced as Mayor Richard M. Daley has piled up budget deficits and rammed through controversial deals like the parking-meter privatization.
"Burke is in a position, inherently, to lead on this, to be a legislative check and balance on these measures," says Martin Oberman, a former independent alderman. "But he hasn't used the finance committee to do that."
House Health Care Bill all 1018 Pages in PDF
Here's the House of Representatives Health Care Bill. 1018(PDF File). Just a reminder, a bigger bill doesn't mean better health care. A bigger bill means more tyrannical controls that most Congressmen will not read before voting.
Texas or California: America's Future
The Economist reports:
America’s recent history has been a relentless tilt to the West—of people, ideas, commerce and even political power. California and Texas, the nation’s two biggest states, are the twin poles of the West, but very different ones. For most of the 20th century the home of Silicon Valley and Hollywood has been the brainier, sexier, trendier of the two: its suburbs and freeways, its fads and foibles, its marvellous miscegenation have spread around the world. Texas, once a part of the Confederacy, has trailed behind: its cliché has been a conservative Christian in cowboy boots, much like a certain recent president. But twins can change places. Is that happening now?Can America afford to be like California?
Bond Funds Top Stocks With Highest Quarterly Sales Since 1998
Bloomberg reports:
Bond mutual funds attracted more money than equity funds for the seventh straight quarter, posting their highest sales in at least 11 years, according to Morningstar Inc.
Bonds funds had net inflows of $81.2 billion in the second quarter, compared with $16.4 billion for stock funds, data compiled by the Chicago-based research firm show. It was the biggest quarter for bond-fund sales since Morningstar began tracking the figures in the first three months of 1998.
Mounting bills force condo associations into bankruptcy
The Miami Herald reports:
At least seven Florida condo associations have filed for bankruptcy since the real estate market took a nose dive -- and there may be more on the way.The risks of communal living. We suggest everyone read this one.
For a growing number of strapped condo associations, bankruptcy could be the last defense against their hallways going dark and their spigots running dry.
In one of the most recent Chapter 11 filings, the creditors of Maison Grande in Miami Beach are planning to meet Tuesday to discuss the bankruptcy.
A rare occurrence in better days, such filings now are seen as a last-ditch bid by associations to shield themselves from bill collectors and find a way out of mounting financial problems.
Chicago Democrats, Chicago Mob, and Politics
Flashback, a look at Chicago Democrats and the Chicago Mob. Was Blago a mobbed up bookie? What did the FBI know about Blago's alleged bookmaking past? Here's a documentary by National Geography on how the Chicago Mob's political arm got attacked. Here's a look at when Blago put a friend with Chicago Mob ties on the Illinois state payroll. Here's Obama's pal Alexi Giannoulias and those large bank loans to Chicago Mob bookmakers. A look at when Blago brought Eric Holder in to make the Chicago Mob town of Rosemont look "normal".
Average Wedding Cost Down 33% over last Two Years
The Sacramento Bee reports:
Nationally, the average wedding cost has fallen by 33 percent to $19,219 over the last two years, according to the Wedding Report, based in Tucson, Ariz.You can't say that about college tuition.
Illinois Red-Light Camaras Law Born With the Help of Political Insiders
The Chicago Tribune reports:
RedSpeed also has become something of a gathering spot for associates of Zito and his longtime friend Al Ronan, another former Illinois lawmaker and a lobbyist for RedSpeed since 2007. Ronan -- who lobbied for the red-light camera legislation on behalf of Melrose Park -- was a name partner in a lobbying firm that pleaded guilty to federal bid-rigging charges in 2004, though Ronan personally was not charged. He also was a major fundraiser for both former Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.Al Ronan sure is special.
According to minutes of meetings in several municipalities, the sales force pitching RedSpeed in Illinois has included Scott Okun, who once ran the Illinois Toll Highway Authority's I-Pass program but quit after being suspended in 2006 amid questions about a printing contract. Ronan's name appeared as political sponsor for Okun on a 2003 list of state job-seekers kept by Blagojevich's office. Another past Ronan political operative from Berwyn also has served as a RedSpeed salesman, according to village board minutes and interviews.
Tracking Business Services: Best And Worst Cities For High-Paying Jobs
New Geography has some tables you should look at.
Porn king's son held on murder charge
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
The Mitchell Brothers family, which pushed all things X-rated into San Francisco's social consciousness and was later rocked by fratricide, has recorded a tragic new chapter with the arrest of the son of one of the porn kings on charges of bludgeoning to death the mother of his young daughter.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Obama Pal's Chicago Mob Linked Loans Make News Again
Crain's Chicago Business reports on Chicago Mob linked Obama pal Alexi Giannoulias:
Broadway Bank is trying to recoup $12.9 million from two Chicago crime figures, rekindling a controversy as the bank's former chief loan officer, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, gears up to run for the U.S. Senate.Blago's father in law, Chicago Alderman Dick Mell is supporting Alexi. Can you guess where Tony Rezko did his banking at? None other than Broadway Bank.
In recently filed foreclosure suits, the Giannoulias family-owned North Side bank alleges loan defaults by four companies whose owners include two convicted Chicago bookmakers — one also convicted of promoting a nationwide prostitution ring.
The statistics that colleges hate to share
CNN Money reports:
When you start searching for that perfect college for your child, you might think there’s plenty of information to help you with your decision. Just for starters, every college has a website that will give you all the essentials.Can you say bubble?
Take Stephens College, a private, four-year women’s school in Columbia, Missouri. A quick tour of its website will tell you that the college offers more than 50 major and minors, everything from English to event planning to equestrian science. Class sizes average just 13 students. Annual costs total $32,250, but nearly all students get some kind of financial aid. And the campus looks nice.
But what you won’t see without diligent searching is that half of Stephens students fail to graduate, even after six years. Not to pick on Stephens, which does mention that statistic deep in its website.
N.J. law could shave off hurdles to the barber profession
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
When Joe Perchetti sits in the sturdy porcelain-and-red-vinyl chair at Caravelli's Barber Shop in Haddonfield, he doesn't need to tell owner Anthony Fiore what to do.Licensure is another name for being pro-unemployment.
"He gets it short, and then he likes his mustache according to military standards," Fiore said as he took electric clippers to the hair on the sides and back of the former soldier's head.
It's the ease of a quick haircut in the comfort of a familiar place, with a touch of warm shaving cream around the ears, that draws a faithful, almost entirely male crowd to Caravelli's, the nearly 110-year-old Haddonfield institution that Fiore describes as "a throwback."
But maintaining the business is not quite so simple.
State law requires everyone who cuts hair, from new barbers to high-fashion stylists, to get a cosmetology license.
Appeal of the outdoors tough sell to video game generation
Kansas City Star reports:
Look around next time you’re out fishing. Chances are that a lot of your fellow anglers will remember where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot.The green movement has their work cut out for them.
It turns out adults in their 20s or 30s just aren’t going outside that much. One author even calls it “nature deficit disorder.”
That means that they’re not gardening, hunting, fishing or even playing softball as much as older generations.
“They’re staying indoors more, spending more time with electronics,” said Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods.”
The $750,000 Government-Employee Pampering Scandal: Social Security Scandal
Austin Hill reports:
How quickly can 700 government employees spend three-quarters of a million taxpayer dollars at a resort hotel?Here's a good example of a monopoly organization driving up costs.
Last week the Social Security Administration flew approximately 700 of its managers from across the U.S. and Guam to Phoenix, Arizona’s posh Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort, for “organizational training.” The event, which included musical entertainment and dancing, skits, catered food, cocktails, and a “casino night” featuring “door prizes,” cost us lowly taxpayers approximately $750,000.
Cal. Activists push ballot initiative to end state benefits for illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children
Admission experts surprised at U. of I. clouting
The Chicago Tribune reports:
Two college admissions experts who testified before a special commission this morning expressed surprise at the University of Illinois' elaborate clouting system.Should you be surprised when Blago views everything for sale?
They acknowledged that all colleges and universities receive inquiries from powerful donors and trustees, but they said they knew of none which gave requests such special care and consideration.
"The magnitude at the University of Illinois is what shocks me," said Joyce Smith, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Smith spoke during the fifth day of testimony before a state commission charged with unraveling the U. of I. admissions probe.
In other testimony, Stephen Portch, former senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin, said the "sheer volume" and "formalized process" distinguished Illinois' system for handling requests from elected officials, university trustees or powerful patrons on behalf of student applicants.
Young Media Analyst Warns Old Media
The Financial Times reports:
A research note written by a 15-year-old, who was not born when former UK chancellor Nigel Lawson dismissed London analysts as “teenage scribblers”, has become the talk of middle-aged media executives and investors.You'll want to read the whole article.
Morgan Stanley’s European media analysts asked Matthew Robson, one of the bank’s interns from a London school, to describe his friends’ media habits. His report proved to be “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen. So we published it,” said Edward Hill-Wood, head of the team.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sarah Palin Runner's World Interview
Runner's World has a good interview with Sarah Palin.Click on the picture above, and also check out the all pictures on the magazine's website. Sarah Palin doesn't look like she could get tenure at any Women's Studies department at any American university.
As the Hollywood machine abandons L.A., its supporting workers struggle
The L.A. Times reports:
California's share of U.S. feature film production dropped to 31% in 2008 from 66% in 2003, according to the California Film Commission. That largely reflects a falloff in the Los Angeles area, where feature filming activity in 2008 was nearly half what it was at its peak in 1996.You'll want to read the whole article. Those high California taxes can't help much.
Television production, which recently has been a more reliable source of jobs in the region, is also declining. A recent survey from FilmL.A. Inc. found that 44 of 103 TV pilots this year were shot in such disparate locations as Canada, Illinois, Georgia, New York, Louisiana and New Mexico.
More than 30 states have sought to outbid one another with tax credits and rebates aimed at luring productions away from California. Sacramento has responded with its first-ever film-tax credit program, but most analysts think the credits are too small and restrictive to have much effect.
"L.A. is at risk of losing a good part of one of its signature industries, just like it did with the aerospace industry in the early 1990s," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Why ABC TV Chicago Did the Blagojevich Chicago Mob Bookmaker Story: Robert Cooley's Credibility
Why did ABC TV Chicago do 4 stories concerning allegations that Rod Blagojevich was a bookmaker for the Chicago Mob , years ago, paying a street tax to operate? Elizabeth Bracket in her book on Blago quotes ABC TV Chicago Chuck Goudie (page 56):
So, was Rod Blagojevich a small time bookie in 1985? Chuck Goudie of WLS-TV says, "Well, this is one of those situations where I wasn't there. I'm depending on a federal witness named Cooley, whom they put their trust in with federal cases that resulted in lots of people going to jail. If I wasn't comfortable with what Cooley said being true, I wouldn't have put it on the air."Here's the story ABC TV Chicago did on the FBI confirming they were told of Blago bookmaking allegations, over 20 years ago.
Is that cellulite on Elle Macpherson's thighs? Even 'The Body' can't escape the ageing process
The Daily Mail has a picture you should see.
Tight Mortgage Rules Exclude Even Good Risks According to the NYT
Here's a New York Times example of overly tight lending standards:
Raghbir Singh, a real estate investor who owns a gas station in Dover, N.H. Mr. Singh tried to buy a $301,000 house for himself and his family with 10 percent down and excellent credit, but was rejected. “It was unfair,” Mr. Singh said. “I’m a good risk, but I’m forced to rent.”10 to 1 leverage and the NYT is holding this out as some example!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Socialists Fight Milwaukee's Plan to Privatize Water System
In These Times reports:
Public water, one of the most important legacies of Milwaukee’s Socialist Party, which led the city almost continuously from 1910 to 1960, is now under attack from those who see a chance to convert this fundamental resource into a profit stream via privatization.We remind people that privatization only happens when property is owned by the private sector. Handing a company a monopoly that the government still owns is not privatization.
In the name of coping with rising deficits, privatization advocates led by City Comptroller Wally Morics have proposed leasing the water system to private operators for 75 to 99 years.
Geithner warns on looser European regulation
The Financial Times reports:
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Friday expressed concern that any move by Europe to allow looser rules on derivatives trading could prompt a shift overseas by traders eager to evade a US clampdown.You'll want to read this one, it appears Barney Frank is making threats to countries that provide a better deal.
The Obama administration is proposing to force greater transparency in the often opaque world of derivatives trading by forcing more of the financial instruments to be traded via standardised contracts and through central clearing houses.
House Dems want to tax the rich for health care
The L.A. Times reports:
Rangel said the new surtax would be graduated, starting with households at $350,000 and then rising at $500,000 and again at $1 million. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid would raise about $500 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Fees paid by companies who don't provide insurance to their employees would push the amount of the bill even higher.More pain for Blue state high earners.
"Instead of putting pieces of different revenue raisers together the best we can do is a graduated surtax," Rangel said.
Rangel didn't describe details, but one official said the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross incomes over $280,000 a year, and couples over $350,000. A senior House aide said the surtax would be 1 percent for the first group of high earners, those households making $350,000 or more. The levels for the other two groups, those above $500,000 and $1 million in annual income are still being determined, said the aide.
Barney Frank : "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are very important public utilities. They are not now contributing to the crisis"
Reuters reports:
Almost a year after market confidence in Fannie and Freddie eroded rapidly, leading to their seizure by the U.S. Treasury, Frank said a restructuring of the housing finance behemoths was not high on his agenda for this year. It would be a top priority for next year.I guess anyone who's given Barney Frank that much money in campaign contributions can be expected to be defended.
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are very important public utilities. They are not now contributing to the crisis," he said.
Flashback: Jan Schakowsky's Husband Gets Paid $541,654 to Elect Blago
Friends Of Blago has this gem from the Chicago Sun-Times:
"Over time, the husband of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky assembled A-list clients that included Gov. Blagojevich... By far, Creamer's largest client was Blagojevich, who extensively used Strategic Consulting Group leading up to the 2002 gubernatorial primary. The governor's campaign fund paid the firm $541,654 in 2001 and 2002 for consulting, phone-banking and field work, state campaign records show." - Chicago Sun Times, Activist went on to woo A-list pols as political consultant, March 12, 2004.Great moments is the Chicago Democratic Machine.
Chicago Mob Linked Giannoulias takes lead in fund-raising for a Senate bid
The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has raised $1.8 million for his Senate bid, while his likely Democratic rivals have zero dollars in their war chests.Who could forget this quote from the New York Post?:
Giannoulias is so tainted by reputed mob links that several top Illinois Dems, including the state's speaker of the House and party chairman, refused to endorse him even after he won the Democratic nomination with Obama's help.Heh, it's Illinois. Who could forget Blago's alleged ties to the Chicago Mob?
Giannoulias was the bank's vice president and chief loan officer for most of the more than $15 million in loans.
Efforts at Regulation Have Yoga Teachers Bent Out of Shape
The New York Times reports:
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Ten years ago, with yoga transforming itself into a ubiquitous pop culture phenomenon from a niche pursuit, yoga teachers banded together to create a voluntary online registry of schools meeting new minimum standards for training instructors in the discipline.Regulation is the enemy of employment. Remember that.
But that list — which now includes nearly 1,000 yoga schools nationwide, many of them tiny — is being put to a use for which it was never intended. It is the key document in a nationwide crackdown on yoga schools that pits free-spirited yogis against lumbering state governments, which, unlike those they are trying to regulate, are not always known for their flexibility.
Citing laws that govern vocational schools, like those for hairdressers, chiropractors and truck drivers, regulators have begun to require licenses for yoga schools that train instructors, with all the fees, inspections and paperwork that entails. While confrontations have played out differently in different states, threats of shutdowns and fines have, in some cases, been met with accusations of power grabs and religious infringement — disputes that seem far removed from the meditative world yoga calls to mind.
In April, New York State sent letters to about 80 schools to warn them to suspend teacher training programs immediately or risk fines of up to $50,000 — prompting yogis around the state to join in opposition, and, apparently, persuading the state to back down.
Fiorina failed to register business, foundation
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, one of the world's leading businesswomen and a possible 2010 opponent to Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, tells the public she's the CEO of her own business and the chairwoman of her own charitable foundation.Fiorina is now eligible to be an Obama administration official.
Housing and Banking Deception: 23,000 to 28,000 Foreclosed Homes kept off the MLS or Public View in California each Month.
S. F. Columnist Misses Palin
Left wing columnist Mark Morford has this to say in the S.F. Chronicle:
You know, for the longest time, Sarah, I and millions of liberals like me have dreamed that the truth would finally come out about many leading members in the savage, homophobic right-wing party, that we'd finally hear about, say, Rush Limbaugh's massive kiddie porn collection, or Bill O'Reilly's sex tapes with numerous gay prostitutes, or Newt Gingrich's multiple wives. Oh wait.Amazing what they'll print in the S.F. Chronicle. We wonder if any editor there worries about legal action.
Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez says Orlando is her 'home, too,' a Florida newspaper says
The Star-Ledger reports:
Less than 24 hours after casting her vote on the Jersey City Municipal Council, Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez was back in Florida, trying to convince an Orlando reporter that the Sunshine state is her "home, too."Can you name that party?
"Up until March of 2008, Orlando has been my real home," she told Rich McKay of the Orlando Sentinel, who caught up with her yesterday at about noon at her four-bedroom home there. "Then I had two operations, and I couldn't keep going back and forth all the time," she said ... And I got a new husband [Hudson County Director of Family Services Ben Lopez], so I live up there now."
"But this is my home too. All my clothes are here," she added, according to the Sentinel.
Lopez denied making these statements.
"I was misquoted," she said.
Death taxes in Maryland can apply to those still alive
The Examiner reports:
Who knows the true intentions of the dead? The taxman does, according to Maryland's Court of Special Appeals.Your estate is their salary increase. I think you know who "they" is.
The court recently upheld earlier decisions that required a Montgomery County family to pay $138,518.53 in state inheritance taxes on gifts a rich uncle started giving a year and half before he died of a heart attack.
The case highlighted an unusual law in Maryland — and a few other states — that allows officials to determine that a gift from the dead was made to avoid taxes, even if made as much as two years before death.
The family of Dr. Edwin Cohn said he was "a vigorous man who had no thoughts of death when he made the gifts," according to court records.
Why We'll Leave L.A. : The business climate is worse than the air quality
The Wall Street Journal reports:
If New Yorkers fantasize that doing business here in Los Angeles would be less of a headache, forget about it. This city is fast becoming a job-killing machine. It's no accident the unemployment rate is a frightening 11.4% and climbing.L.A. bureaucrats could care less, they don't pay taxes because their salaries come from taxpayers.
I never could have imagined that, after living here for more than three decades, I would be filing a lawsuit against my beloved Los Angeles and making plans for my company, Creators Syndicate, to move elsewhere.
But we have no choice. The city's bureaucrats rival Stalin's apparatchiks in issuing decrees, rescinding them, and then punishing citizens for having followed them in the first place.
Obama campaign vow of public debate on health care fading
McClatchy reports:
Campaigning for president, Barack Obama said repeatedly that any overhaul of the health care system should be negotiated publicly and televised for all to see. Throughout this year's negotiations, however, the big deals have been struck in secret.Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat on "transparency" in government.
With tax increases and limits on what's covered among the possible ways of offsetting perhaps $1 trillion over a decade in expenses, neither the administration nor Congress is willing to give up its right to do the most sensitive talking in private, as it's always been done.
"It's unrealistic to think every aspect of the negotiations is going to be public," said Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
John Mellencamp: No Freedom Of Speech For Mean Bloggers
Perfunction reports on John Cougar Mellencamp:
“I don’t think people fought and gave their lives so that some guy can sit in his bedroom and be mean. I don’t think that’s what freedom of speech is,” he continued. “Freedom of speech is really about assembly — for us to collectively have an idea. We want to get our point of view out so we can assemble and I can appoint you to be the spokesman. That’s freedom of speech — to be able to collectively speak for a sector of people. But somehow it’s turned into ‘I can be an asshole whenever I feel like, say whatever I like, be disrespectful to people and not be courteous.’ It’s not good for our society. Not being courteous is not really freedom of speech.When words loses their meaning people will lose their freedom: a concept not too popular with Mr. Mellencamp. You'll want to read the whole thing.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Fewer calories equals a longer life -- At least in monkeys
CNN reports:
Cutting daily calorie intake by 30 percent may put the brakes on the aging process, have beneficial effects on the brain, and result in a longer life span, according to a new 20-year study of monkeys published in the journal Science.An interesting article.
Colleges won't accept some kids' ACT tests: Those who used Spanish-language DVD are affected
The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Some Spanish-speaking kids and other immigrants enjoyed new versions of state achievement tests this year, including a DVD video version of the ACT college-admission test, officials revealed Wednesday.Great moments in education.
The problem for kids is that colleges will not accept the ACT scores of juniors who, for the first time this spring, got to listen to the ACT math and science questions in Spanish while reading them on a computer screen in English.
Poll: MLB fans feel priced out at ballpark
San Diego Union Tribune reports:
MLB attendance is down more than 6 percent this season. The average ticket price is $26.64, up 5 percent over last season, according to the Team Marketing Report.An article well worth your time.
S.F. Mayor Newsom's Mandates on What and How You Eat
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Mayor Newsom's plan for your diet:
effective immediately, no more runs to the doughnut shop before meetings and conferences held by city workers. Instead, city employees must use guidelines created by the Health Department when ordering food for meetings.Some Americans don't believe in freedom of choice. As you can see, there's nothing Newsom thinks he can't regulate. He really is creepy.
Examples include cutting bagels into halves or quarters so people can take smaller portions and serving vegetables instead of potato chips.
The Real Mob at Stonewall
The New York Times reports:
The owner of the Stonewall, Tony Lauria, was reputed to be a front man for Matty Ianniello (known as “Matty the Horse”), a capo in the Genovese crime family who oversaw a string of clubs in the city. New York’s gay-bar scene at the time was a corrupt system apparently designed to benefit mobster owners, who served watered-down drinks at inflated prices, often made with ill-gotten liquor from truck hijackings.
It worked like this: citing disorderly behavior laws, the State Liquor Authority ruled that bars catering to openly homosexual patrons were not entitled to liquor licenses. Gay bars were thus made effectively illegal, which left them to the mob, which happily ran clubs without liquor licenses and paid the police to look the other way. Several more years would pass before the first clubs with openly gay owners would be licensed — places like the Ballroom on West Broadway and Reno Sweeney on West 13th Street — and the mob lost its stranglehold, an early legacy of Stonewall.
Rasmussen Poll: Obama Posts Record Negatives
Rasmussen reports:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –8. The President’s Approval Index rating has fallen six points since release of a disappointing jobs report last week.
Billions in aid go to areas that backed Obama in '08
USA Today reports:
Counties that supported Obama last year have reaped twice as much money per person from the administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package as those that voted for his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, a USA TODAY analysis of government disclosure and accounting records shows. That money includes aid to repair military bases, improve public housing and help students pay for college.That's the Chicago Way. Bribe people with other people's money.
The reports show the 872 counties that supported Obama received about $69 per person, on average. The 2,234 that supported McCain received about $34.