News of the Week for October 27th, 2013
- Obama Scandals
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Obama Scandals
#MillionVetMarch assembles peacefully, pulls down Lincoln Memorial #barrycades.
The Lincoln Memorial is not the federal government’s prop.
Feds confiscate investigative reporter’s confidential files during raid
A veteran Washington D.C. investigative journalist says the Department of Homeland Security confiscated a stack of her confidential files during a raid of her home in August — leading her to fear that a number of her sources inside the federal government have now been exposed.
Gun Rights
CA Court of Appeals lays foundation for near total gun ban
On Monday October 21st 2013, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal held that the Second Amendment does not apply to semi-automatic firearms like “AK” platform rifles.
CA Court of Appeal Holds Second Amendment Doesn’t Protect Semi-Autos
The decision is below
After Westgate, Interpol Chief Ponders ‘Armed Citizenry’
Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.
Californians aim for Colorado-Style gun control Recalls
In response to the legislation that did garner Brown’s signature, a California Assemblyman is using Colorado’s recent recall elections as a model for sending a message to elected advocates of excessive gun restrictions.
Hide the Decline
Environment &
“Green Energy”
Australian Prime Minister: Carbon tax is ‘socialism’
Australia’s newly elected prime minister pulled no punches when giving his thoughts on the country’s carbon tax, which he says must be abolished as quickly as possible.
New film puts Al Gore’s ‘climate reality’ nonsense about climate and carbon tax into perspective
I received a copy of this film by mail, An Inconsistent Truth and despite my misgivings about the name of the production company “Extry Good” and it’s talk-radio pedigree, I’ll have to say its better than many other efforts I’ve seen. It has a number of themes familiar to WUWT readers, such as the Climategate issue, the hypocrisy of Gore, and Mann’s hockey stick nonsense, but misses the mark on the “hide the decline” issue when it talks about scientists hiding declining global temperatures, versus the real issue of hiding the declining tree ring proxy record.
A new record: the most sea ice in Antarctica in 30 years by extent and by volume
In light of global warming, it seems paradoxical that the sea ice cover of the Southern Ocean has covered a larger area in the past month than in the last decades. Only in the mid-70s was observed a similar expansion.
Epic Failure of the Canadian Climate Model
The Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis located at the University of Victoria in British Columbia submitted five runs of its climate model CanESM2 for use in the fifth assessment report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The climate model produces one of the most extreme warming projections of all the 30 models evaluated by the IPCC. (See Note 1.) The model badly fails to match the surface and atmosphere temperature observations, both globally, regionally, as presented in six graphs.
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
The Insurance ‘Death Spiral’ Looks Increasingly Inevitable
This coming year, the penalty for not having health insurance is $95 or $1 percent of your income, whichever is greater. Thus, unless you’re making less than $9,500, it’s going to be one percent of your income — $300 if you’re making $30,000, $400 if you’re making $40,000, and so on.
Obamacare Tech Fail May Do What the GOP Couldn’t
Republicans failed spectacularly in their plan to use the budget and debt ceiling crisis to derail the implementation of Obamacare.
Vaporcare
Obama delivers an infomercial when an accounting is due.
An NHS free at the point of use could soon be a thing of the past, officials warn
A National Health Service free at the point of use will soon be “unsustainable”, if the political parties do not come forward with radical plans for change before the 2015 election, top health officials have warned.
Revealed: How GPs are paid £50 bonus to put elderly on ‘death lists’
GPs paid to draw up ‘end-of-life advanced care plans’
Documents seen by Mail on Sunday say ‘key objective’ is ‘reducing healthcare costs’
Every death outside of hospital saves the NHS almost £1,000
Millions of Americans Are Losing Their Health Plans Because of Obamacare
While the Affordable Care Act was making its way through Congress in 2009 and 2010, President Obama famously promised the American people over and over again that if you like your health plan, you can keep it.
Obama’s War on Women: ObamaCare Takes Away Woman’s Health Care Choices
Democrat mascot Sandra Fluke was unavailable for comment
Obamacare watch: How the Democrats threw a pregnant woman off her insurance.
All in the name of “helping” her, of course.
Californians Are Finding Out What’s in #ObamaCare
A lot of people in California are finding out that it kind of sucks to be the egg that gets broken in order to make the omelette. I have no sympathy.
Some health insurance gets pricier as Obamacare rolls out
Many middle-class Californians with individual health plans are surprised they need policies that cover more — and cost more.
Want to Access All the Pricing and Navigator Info From Data.HealthCare.gov? Signing Up With a Bogus Email Is Quick and Easy
The easy accessibility was exposed here last night. So if you go to this site, you can sign up using a made up email address and create an account in seconds. You can’t get your healthcare plan, but accessing records is incredibly easy. And once you have an account, you can embed all the helpful pricing plans.
The Sargasso Sea of Federal IT projects
So the ObamaCare IT wildfire is still out of control.
California’s Obamacare program touts fluency in ‘Asian’
California’s Obamacare administrators don’t speak English particularly well, but they do have fluency in a language they call “Asian.”
Health insurance cancellation notices soar above Obamacare enrollment rates
Hundreds of thousands of Americans who purchase their own health insurance have received cancellation notices since August because the plans do not meet Obamacare’s requirements.
Howard Dean (D) Admits That “Single-Payer” Is Never Going to Work
Now, mind you, that isn’t what he MEANT to say, but in this interview on today’s “Morning Joe“, that is EXACTLY what he said – without realizing it
Time for Gloating Demagoguery on ObamaCare
Please, GOP. Give us something. Just a bone. First Health and Human Services creates a website that might as well have been designed by the Bulgarian Communist Party. Then the President gives a clunker of a speech using the three people the White House managed to find who made it all the way through Healthcare.gov. Fellas, this is what we call a goldmine, and you’re wasting it.
Credit report lock may hinder ability to sign up for MNsure
People who have locked their credit reports may have trouble creating an account on the state’s new insurance marketplace, MNsure officials said today.
Johnson to Introduce Act to Allow Americans to Keep Their Health Care
Senator Ron Johnson will file legislation next week titled the “If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep It Act.”
War & Terror
Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’ hats
A change to the Marine Corps’ uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street. Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps – known as “covers” — with a new version that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.
Adelson: US should drop atomic bomb on Iran
American-Jewish billionaire blasts Obama over negotiations with Tehran; says US should show Iran nuclear capabilities.
Does Army consider Christians, Tea Party, a terror threat?
Soldiers attending a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told that evangelical Christians and members of the Tea Party were a threat to the nation and that any soldier donating to those groups would be subjected to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Internet Privacy Company Ends Service To Avoid Government Surveillance
Remember Lavabit and Silent Circle, the encrypted email providers that closed their doors because they faced government pressure to enable government snooping on their customers (Silent Circle still offers other privacy services)? Well, you can add CryptoSeal to the mix. The company has ended its CryptoSeal Privacy virtual private network (VPN) service (it still offers enterprise-lever services), which was advertised as “keeps prying eyes off of your internet usage while you’re at home, in a coffee shop or even another country,” also over concerns about the legal environment and government snooping.
NSA Defender Argues That Too Much Transparency Defeats The Purpose Of Democracy
Paul Rosenzweig, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at Homeland Security, was supposed to testify for the House Intelligence Committee about NSA surveillance. The hearing was postponed and Rosenzweig can’t make the new date, but he’s posted the testimony he intended to give, in which he makes this incredible claim
Army Unreadiness: Catastrophic or Treasonous?
The most important responsibility of the federal government is, as the Constitution states, to “provide for the common defense.” However, based on a recent assessment from the Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Raymond Odierno, we have an Army that is woefully unprepared and unready to meet the nation’s call.
National
Chamber of Commerce, business groups looking to dislodge tea party candidates in 2014?
There have been several reports out over the past few days about an evidently riled business-lobby community in the wake of the government shutdown and Congress’s flirtation with default, and that — especially in the event of another fiscal showdown this January/February — several major business groups are apparently thinking about pulling on their extra-establishmenty boots and doin’ work on behalf of what they see as more moderate and “business-friendly” candidates in next year’s pre-midterm primaries.
The Case of the Racist PB&J < The latest in crazy courtesy of the Portland, Ore., government schools: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are sort of racist.
Feds try to eliminate housing for the deaf — at complex built for hearing-impaired
Arizona is defying a federal order to eliminate apartments for deaf seniors at a housing complex built specifically — for the deaf.
Dem Rep. Uses Burning KKK Cross to Depict Tea Party
Representative Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) sent the following e-mail to his supporters yesterday.
Sen. Paul Introduces Constitutional Amendment
Sen. Rand Paul last week introduced S.J. Res. 25, a Constitutional amendment that would hold government officials to the same standard as the American people. The amendment states that “Congress shall make no law applicable to a citizen of the United States that is not equally applicable to Congress.” The amendment also contains two provisions that apply that same principle to the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch of the federal government.
Darrell Issa to introduce immigration bill
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is planning to release legislation next week that would provide legal status for six years to undocumented immigrants in the United States, he said in an interview Wednesday.
Wisconsin mom shares her Common Core horror story
Marcia Alder of West Bend beams when she talks about her three school-aged children, calling them “brilliant.”
Teacher: One (maddening) day working with the Common Core
The high school English department in which I work recently spent a day looking at what is called an “exemplar” from the new Common Core State Standards, and then working together to create our own lessons linked to that curriculum. An exemplar is a prepackaged lesson which is supposed to align with the standards of the Common Core. The one we looked at was a lesson on “The Gettysburg Address.”
Race hustlers heckle libertarian event, lie to kids about affirmative action
A libertarian student event at the University of Michigan was interrupted by radical activists–including at least a dozen Detroit-area high schoolers who had been deliberately misled by leftist organizers about the facts of affirmative action.
DOJ Tries to Stop Parents from Defending Louisiana School Voucher Program
Injunction will prevent vouchers from being awarded in 2014
Famous Actor Calls for Socialist ‘Revolution’ and ‘Massive Redistribution of Wealth’ in Brutally Honest Sit-Down Interview
Actor and comedian Russell Brand is not shy about making his extreme far-left political views known. He doesn’t care if people disagree with them and he certainly doesn’t believe that he should keep his ideas to himself because he’s just an “actor.”
Bullying is not on the rise and it does not lead to suicide
Every other month or so a story about a child bullied until he or she commits suicide rises into our national consciousness.
What does Angela Davis know about freedom?
Tonight, a woman who supported the imprisonment of Soviet political dissidents (calling them common criminals), cheered on the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and was awarded the International Lenin Peace Prize (formerly the International Stalin Peace Prize) by communist East Germany, will give the Birkbeck-University of London Annual Law Lecture. Her title? ‘Freedom is a Constant Struggle.’
NYC Subways overrun with homeless
It’s an express train — to the bad old days.
Deputies shoot, kill 13-year-old boy in Santa Rosa
Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon during an encounter in a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood.
Coach Formally Accused of Bullying for Decisively Winning Football Game
The concept of bullying, like all things liberal, will extend ever further into absurdity for as long as moonbats dominate our society. Already it encompasses winning decisively
Why Hillary Clinton Isn’t The Inevitable 2016 Democratic Nominee, Let Alone Winner Of The General Election
There lots of talk out there about how Hillary Clinton is going to walk away with the Democrat nomination for President in 2016 and then sweep into over the charred remains of whatever sacrificial lamb the GOP offers up.
‘Creepy douchebag’: Md. AG busted for hanging out at party with underage drinkers
Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler may not know what BuzzFeed is, but he’s evidently very familiar with buzzed teens. And now he’s finding himself in some hot water after footage surfaced of him at a summer party in Delaware, surrounded by underage drinkers
Thanks for the ‘PERFECT description of liberalism,’ Jerry Brown
Hey, Dems. Need a slogan? California Gov. Jerry Brown is here for you.
Second-graders taught labor politics in Core Curriculum-aligned lesson plan
A textbook company contracted to produce materials under the Common Core State Standards is trying to teach students as young as second grade about economic fairness by praising unions, protests and labor leader Cesar Chavez, according to an education watchdog group.
‘Sexy Belly Dance Costumes for Children’ Among Top Online Halloween Costume Searches
Tada! We’re a screwed up country.
Universities Offer ‘Sex and Text’ Class and Others to Fulfill Gen-Ed Requirements
Ever since the abandonment of core curricula in higher education, academic standards have slipped or ceased to exist completely in many institutions. The embrace of a more “free” and unstructured approach to education has led schools to offer the most absurd and inane courses for basic requirements.
‘Offensive’ Halloween costumes banned by US university
University of Colorado Boulder tells students to avoid costumes including cowboys, indians, white trash or anything potentially deemed offensive
Economy
& Taxes
September Employment Situation Summary
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Welfare Recipients Outnumber Full-Time Year-Round Workers
Americans who were recipients of means-tested government benefits in 2011 outnumbered year-round full-time workers, according to data released this month by the Census Bureau. They also out-numbered the total population of the Philippines.
A soupçon of DOOM
This is just a little DOOM appetizer, my groovy babies, a few DOOM-y links to apologize for the lack of a bigger DOOM meal on Monday. Savor the flavor!
International
Khmer Rouge’s Bloodiest Murderers on Trial
Two of the masterminds behind the Cambodian genocide, one of last century’s most severe mass killings, are finally on trial. Michael Moynihan on why it’s time to convict the murderers.
South African Radio Station Fined for Unflattering Mention of Islam
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) fined in an August 29, 2013 judgment a South African radio broadcaster for making an “unjustifiable connection with Islam” during news reports.
Australia: Feds poised to challenge gay marriage laws
THE next battle over same-sex marriage will be in the High Court after a decision by the ACT parliament to enact its own laws.
Russia’s Demographic Revolution
The growth of an increasingly confident Muslim population is the source of major tension.
Venezuela government creates ‘happiness agency’
Americans may have the constitutional right to pursue happiness, but Venezuela now has a formal government agency in charge of enforcing it.
Opinion
Potemkin Parliament
Washington’s governing systems are in a bad way.
When Is A Baby Not A Baby?
When the media doesn’t want to discuss our treatment of the youngest humans
Study: Anti-Bullying Programs Backfire in Schools
When school administrators aren’t busy covering for teachers having sex with their students, sometimes they get bored and spend gobs of public money on social engineering programs. In the last few years anti-bullying has become the new DARE, SANE, BECOOL or whatever you had in school, and the results have been just as successful.
Obama the Avatar
He is all things to all people, and concerned about all of it.
It’s Not Fecundophobia, It’s Familyphobia
Mollie Hemingway’s interesting article at The Federalist gets it almost right. There is a fear of fertility, but it’s contextual.
Open letter to Russell Brand
I just finished watching your interview with Jeremy Paxman, aside from Mr. Paxman being a trite individual, it was fantastic exchange of new ideas vs. old. I’m sure you were expecting Sinead O’Conner, or Miley Cyrus to write you this open-air missive. Alas, I’m going to underwhelm you, because my fame and fortune are nonexistent. So, here it is, you get me, Michael, writing you in hopes to get your attention to some important issues, in which are pertinent to your revolutionary interview.
US, Canada should merge into one country
U-S-Eh! No two nations in the world are as integrated, economically and socially, as the United States and Canada. We share geography, values and a gigantic border.
Fecundophobia: The Growing Fear Of Children And Fertile Women
America’s embrace of low fertility rates is becoming a problem.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act: Another Assault On Liberty
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions there is a superhighway under construction in the Congress. Periodically, Congress, acting as the national scold, steps into the breach and attempts to make all the kids on the playground like each other. Rarely do these attempts work out as well in practice as they do on paper.
A Lesson on Marriage from a Polyamorist
The “born that way” argument is irrelevant if fulfillment is all that matters.
Polyamory and Same-Sex Marriage
Twenty years ago, you’d have been hard-pressed to find a mother endorsing same-sex marriage for her child. Twenty years from now, it’s possible that some number of mothers will come to believe that if multiple partners are what is required for their child, that’s what they should have.
