North Korea: The winner for every Earth Hour since 2003; Odds favor them to be the winner again this year | AEIdeas:
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Dana Loesch Eviscerates Harry Reid in Hilarious Tutorial Teaching You How to ‘Internet’
"Adopting an infomercial-style voice, Loesch continued, approaching an old-fashioned desktop computer: “I thought I would give you a quick tutorial on how to ‘Internet’ if you’re having trouble ‘Interneting’ and getting the Obamacare because – computer.”She demonstrated: “This keyboard allows you to type ignorant stuff on my Facebook wall, like, ‘Dana, you suck!’ and demonstrate your lack of understanding between ‘you’re’ – you are – and ‘your’ – possessive.”"
White House regulate cow flatulence climate agenda
White House regulate cow flatulence climate agenda | The Daily Caller:
"As part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations.
This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990.
The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it makes up a sizeable portion of methane emissions — which is a very potent greenhouse gas."
"As part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations.This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990.
The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it makes up a sizeable portion of methane emissions — which is a very potent greenhouse gas."
After seven years, exactly one person gets off the gov’t no-fly list
After seven years, exactly one person gets off the gov’t no-fly list | Ars Technica:
"A hearing in federal court Tuesday has apparently marked the conclusion of a drawn-out, costly, and, to use the judge’s own term, “Kafkaesque” legal battle over the government no-fly list.
Malaysian college professor Rahinah Ibrahim sued the government back in 2006, after Dr. Ibrahim’s name mistakenly ended up on a federal government no-fly list.
Last month, US District Judge William Alsup ruled that Ibrahim must be removed from the government's various watchlists.
At Tuesday's hearing, a Department of Justice lawyer said that the government did not intend to appeal the ruling. "
"A hearing in federal court Tuesday has apparently marked the conclusion of a drawn-out, costly, and, to use the judge’s own term, “Kafkaesque” legal battle over the government no-fly list.Malaysian college professor Rahinah Ibrahim sued the government back in 2006, after Dr. Ibrahim’s name mistakenly ended up on a federal government no-fly list.
Last month, US District Judge William Alsup ruled that Ibrahim must be removed from the government's various watchlists.
At Tuesday's hearing, a Department of Justice lawyer said that the government did not intend to appeal the ruling. "
Untruthful and Untrustworthy Government
Untruthful and Untrustworthy Government | National Review Online
The massaging of critical data undermines our society.
By Victor Davis Hanson
Transparency and truth are the fuels that run sophisticated civilizations.
Without them, the state grinds to a halt.
Lack of trust — not barbarians on the frontier, global warming or cooling, or even epidemics — doomed civilizations of the past, from imperial Rome to the former Soviet Union.
....What distinguishes democracies from tinhorn dictatorships and totalitarian monstrosities are our permanent meritocratic government bureaus that remain nonpartisan and honestly report the truth.
The Benghazi, Associated Press, and National Security Agency scandals are scary, but not as disturbing as growing doubts about the honesty of permanent government itself.
It is no longer crackpot to doubt the once impeccable and nonpartisan IRS.
When it assured the public that it was not making decisions about tax-exempt status based on politics, it lied. One of its top commissioners, Lois Lerner, resigned and invoked the Fifth Amendment.
....It was reported in November that the Census Bureau may have fabricated survey results during the 2012 presidential campaign, sending false data to the Labor Department that could have altered official employment statistics.
In the 1990s, the method of assessing the official unemployment rate was massaged to make it seem lower than it actually was.
Rules were changed to ignore millions who had been out of work longer than 52 weeks.
They were suddenly classified as permanent dropouts and not part of the idled workforce.
Does the government release an accurate report on quarterly Gross Domestic Product growth — another vital barometer of how the economy is doing?
Maybe not.
Last year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis for the first time factored research and development costs of businesses into statistics on investment growth.
Suddenly, a cost became proof of business output and thus was added into the business-investment contribution to GDP.
That new accounting gimmick may have added hundreds of billions of dollars into the equation of figuring GDP growth last year alone.
Not surprisingly, the government reported unexpectedly high 2.8 percent GDP growth after the changes.
Is inflation really as low as the government insists?
In recent times the government has not just counted the increase in the prices of goods, but also factored into its calculus theories about changing consumer-buying habits when prices increase.
The changes have resulted in officially lowered inflation rates.
No one knows how many Americans have now bought and paid for Affordable Care Act health-insurance policies.
There is no accurate information about how many young people have enrolled — critical to the success of Obamacare.
Nor do Americans know how many enrollees were previously uninsured.
Nor does the public know how many enrollees simply switched insurance from Medicaid to the Affordable Care Act.
There is no information about how many actually have paid their premiums.
No one knows how many foreign citizens who entered the U.S. illegally were apprehended inside the United States and returned to their country of origin last year — a figure vital for any compromise on passing comprehensive immigration reform.
The Obama administration claims near-record numbers of deportations.
In fact, once again a government agency – in this case the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — has mysteriously changed the way it compiles statistics.
The ICE now counts as deportations those foreign nationals whom the Border Patrol immediately stops or turns away at the border. Such detentions were not previously counted as deportations.
The result is that bureaucrats can report near-record numbers of deportations, while privately assuring the administration that immigration enforcement has been greatly relaxed.
There is a pattern here.
Changes in data collection seem to have a predictable result: Inflation and unemployment rates become lower.
Economic growth becomes greater.
The IRS focuses on government skeptics.
The Affordable Care Act is not in trouble.
Illegal immigration is not such a problem.
If the people increasingly believe that bureaucrats try to alter reality to reflect preconceived ideologies or the goals of the particular regime in power, then America as we know it is finished.
The massaging of critical data undermines our society.
By Victor Davis Hanson
Transparency and truth are the fuels that run sophisticated civilizations.
Without them, the state grinds to a halt.
Lack of trust — not barbarians on the frontier, global warming or cooling, or even epidemics — doomed civilizations of the past, from imperial Rome to the former Soviet Union.
....What distinguishes democracies from tinhorn dictatorships and totalitarian monstrosities are our permanent meritocratic government bureaus that remain nonpartisan and honestly report the truth.
The Benghazi, Associated Press, and National Security Agency scandals are scary, but not as disturbing as growing doubts about the honesty of permanent government itself.
It is no longer crackpot to doubt the once impeccable and nonpartisan IRS.
When it assured the public that it was not making decisions about tax-exempt status based on politics, it lied. One of its top commissioners, Lois Lerner, resigned and invoked the Fifth Amendment.....It was reported in November that the Census Bureau may have fabricated survey results during the 2012 presidential campaign, sending false data to the Labor Department that could have altered official employment statistics.
In the 1990s, the method of assessing the official unemployment rate was massaged to make it seem lower than it actually was.
Rules were changed to ignore millions who had been out of work longer than 52 weeks.
They were suddenly classified as permanent dropouts and not part of the idled workforce.
Does the government release an accurate report on quarterly Gross Domestic Product growth — another vital barometer of how the economy is doing?
Maybe not.
Last year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis for the first time factored research and development costs of businesses into statistics on investment growth.
Suddenly, a cost became proof of business output and thus was added into the business-investment contribution to GDP.
That new accounting gimmick may have added hundreds of billions of dollars into the equation of figuring GDP growth last year alone.
Not surprisingly, the government reported unexpectedly high 2.8 percent GDP growth after the changes.
Is inflation really as low as the government insists?
In recent times the government has not just counted the increase in the prices of goods, but also factored into its calculus theories about changing consumer-buying habits when prices increase.
The changes have resulted in officially lowered inflation rates.
No one knows how many Americans have now bought and paid for Affordable Care Act health-insurance policies.
There is no accurate information about how many young people have enrolled — critical to the success of Obamacare.
Nor do Americans know how many enrollees were previously uninsured.
Nor does the public know how many enrollees simply switched insurance from Medicaid to the Affordable Care Act.
There is no information about how many actually have paid their premiums.
No one knows how many foreign citizens who entered the U.S. illegally were apprehended inside the United States and returned to their country of origin last year — a figure vital for any compromise on passing comprehensive immigration reform.
The Obama administration claims near-record numbers of deportations.
In fact, once again a government agency – in this case the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — has mysteriously changed the way it compiles statistics.
The ICE now counts as deportations those foreign nationals whom the Border Patrol immediately stops or turns away at the border. Such detentions were not previously counted as deportations.
The result is that bureaucrats can report near-record numbers of deportations, while privately assuring the administration that immigration enforcement has been greatly relaxed.
There is a pattern here.
Changes in data collection seem to have a predictable result: Inflation and unemployment rates become lower.
Economic growth becomes greater.
The IRS focuses on government skeptics.
The Affordable Care Act is not in trouble.
Illegal immigration is not such a problem.
If the people increasingly believe that bureaucrats try to alter reality to reflect preconceived ideologies or the goals of the particular regime in power, then America as we know it is finished.
Ted Cruz’ ‘Stand on Principle’ is One of the Most Passionate Appeals to Liberty You’ll Ever See
Ted Cruz’ ‘Stand on Principle’ is One of the Most Passionate Appeals to Liberty You’ll Ever See:
Senator Ted Cruz’ fiery video “Stand on Principle” is one of the most passionate displays of sincere respect for Constitutional principles to hit Washington in a very long time."
Senator Ted Cruz’ fiery video “Stand on Principle” is one of the most passionate displays of sincere respect for Constitutional principles to hit Washington in a very long time."
Classified X-37B space plane breaks space longevity record
Classified X-37B space plane breaks space longevity record - Computerworld:
"A little-known space plane quietly broke its own space endurance record this week as its current unmanned mission surpassed 469 days in space.
Much of the information about the X-37B and its mission is classified, but the little that is public points to it being a development vehicle for new Air Force space capabilities while serving a secondary role for the U.S. military and intelligence community as a testbed for new space-based surveillance technologies.
The current mission, dubbed USA-240, is the third for the X-37B and began on Dec. 11, 2012, atop an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral.
The spacecraft is taken into orbit on a rocket but lands like the space shuttle by gliding down to Earth."
"A little-known space plane quietly broke its own space endurance record this week as its current unmanned mission surpassed 469 days in space.
Much of the information about the X-37B and its mission is classified, but the little that is public points to it being a development vehicle for new Air Force space capabilities while serving a secondary role for the U.S. military and intelligence community as a testbed for new space-based surveillance technologies.The current mission, dubbed USA-240, is the third for the X-37B and began on Dec. 11, 2012, atop an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral.
The spacecraft is taken into orbit on a rocket but lands like the space shuttle by gliding down to Earth."
Residents in This Longtime Liberal City Are Making the Case for the Second Amendment — Criminals Are Leaving Them No Choice
Residents in This Longtime Liberal City Are Making the Case for the Second Amendment — Criminals Are Leaving Them No Choice | TheBlaze.com:
"In what could be a future case study on firearms, fatal self-defense shootings are on the rise in Detroit. Instead of victims, criminals are increasingly facing armed citizens determined to defend themselves and their homes.
On Tuesday, a Detroit man reportedly shot and killed two men he said tried to break into his home. Assuming the shooting is ruled self-defense, that means there have been 10 fatal self-defense shootings in Detroit in 2014 so far.
“Detroit has traditionally had a large percentage of the nation’s justifiable homicides by citizens. In 2012, the last year for which national figures are available, there were 25 justifiable homicides in Detroit, which made up 8 percent of the 310 seen nationwide,” the Detroit News reports. “Last year, there were 15 justifiable homicides in the city.”"
Connecticut passes nation's highest minimum wage
Connecticut passes nation's highest minimum wage | The Daily Caller:"Connecticut raised its minimum wage $10.10 an hour from the previous $ 8.70 an hour over the next three years, surpassing Washington as the highest in the country, reports Reuters."
Walmart's Truck Of The Future
"Walmart, whose fleet includes 6,500 trucks, 55,000 trailers and employs 7,000 drivers, announced in 2005 that it intended to double fleet efficiency by 2015.According to the company, fleet efficiency has increased by 84% since that announcement."
US schools lose god-like powers over internet - Have to obey the constitution
US schools lose god-like powers over internet - Have to obey the constitution | TechEye
A US school is in shock after discovering that it did not have the power of God over its students' internet use.
Minnewaska Area Schools thought that all that stuff about human rights and the constitution did not apply to its staff when they forced a student to hand over her social media passwords to a school so they could snoop through her off-campus life.
It now looks like a US judge has reminded them of their status in society and told them clearly that forcing a student to give up their social media passwords is a violation of the First Amendment.
The school is coughing up $70,000 in damages and rewriting its policies to prevent further abuse.
However it seems that US schools really do not have a clue when it comes to thinking that they have the power of life and death over their students.
A Rogers High School senior Reid Sagehorn, a 17-year-old student and football captain, was suspended for seven weeks for a two word internet posting.
The Minnewaska case also really has not been resolved because the school still does not see that it has done anything wrong.
The appropriately named Greg Schmidt, Superintendent, who wasn't in that position when the snooping occurred but did work on the settlement was quoted as saying "we want to make kids aware that their actions outside school can be detrimental"
Actually, Schmidt, a judge just said that it is not your job, are you deaf boy?
Now write out 100 times "The US constitution says I should not invade by student's privacy".
A US school is in shock after discovering that it did not have the power of God over its students' internet use.Minnewaska Area Schools thought that all that stuff about human rights and the constitution did not apply to its staff when they forced a student to hand over her social media passwords to a school so they could snoop through her off-campus life.
It now looks like a US judge has reminded them of their status in society and told them clearly that forcing a student to give up their social media passwords is a violation of the First Amendment.
The school is coughing up $70,000 in damages and rewriting its policies to prevent further abuse.
However it seems that US schools really do not have a clue when it comes to thinking that they have the power of life and death over their students.
A Rogers High School senior Reid Sagehorn, a 17-year-old student and football captain, was suspended for seven weeks for a two word internet posting.
The Minnewaska case also really has not been resolved because the school still does not see that it has done anything wrong.
The appropriately named Greg Schmidt, Superintendent, who wasn't in that position when the snooping occurred but did work on the settlement was quoted as saying "we want to make kids aware that their actions outside school can be detrimental"
Actually, Schmidt, a judge just said that it is not your job, are you deaf boy?
Now write out 100 times "The US constitution says I should not invade by student's privacy".
6 years?!!!!--------------Ramiro Sanchez gets 6-plus years for rape of girl with Downs Syndrome that enraged southwest Detroit
Ramiro Sanchez gets 6-plus years for rape of girl with Downs Syndrome that enraged southwest Detroit | MLive.com:"Police interviewed Sanchez but he wasn't charged until October, after results of a DNA test were completed.
According to state police, it wasn't until 20 days after the rape kit evidence was collected that the kit was delivered to the forensic lab.
"We all feel that there is a disconnect, there is something wrong with the DPD Sex Crimes Unit," Deb Sumner, founder of the Clark Park Coalition, said weeks after the incident.
"Why would anyone sit on evidence like that?
Why wasn’t it sent within one to two days to the state police?"
Sanchez accepted a plea deal weeks before he was scheduled for trial."
Video: Veteran Teacher Reveals the Shocking Intimidation She’s Faced for Opposing Common Core in Tearful Testimony | Video | TheBlaze.com
Video: Veteran Teacher Reveals the Shocking Intimidation She’s Faced for Opposing Common Core in Tearful Testimony | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"Though she claims she has been intimidated and bullied for opposing Common Core, a Missouri kindergarten teacher reportedly testified Thursday in support of a bill that would prohibit the controversial state standards in the state’s public schools.
Speaking before the Missouri Senate Education Committee, Susan Kimball said she has been “strongly discouraged from saying anything negative about Common Core by my administration and some school board members.”
The 20-year veteran teacher also recalled a “professional development meeting” where she was allegedly told: “Be careful about what you post on Facebook, or talk about in the public regarding Common Core. Don’t say anything negative. It could affect your job.”"
Newt Gingrich's Plan to Stave Off the Apocalypse
Newt Gingrich's Plan to Stave Off the Apocalypse - NationalJournal.comWithin a year, nine out of 10 Americans could be dead.
And whatever causes the national apocalypse—be it North Korean malice or the whims of the sun—the downfall will ultimately be our own fault.
That's the fear of Newt Gingrich and other members of a high-profile coalition who are convinced that our fragile electrical grid could be wiped out at any moment.
Their concern?
Electromagnetic pulses, the short bursts of energy—caused by anything from a nuclear blast to a solar flare—that can wreak havoc on electrical systems on a massive scale.
And the coalition believes it's coming soon.
"I think we're running out of time," said Peter Pry, a former CIA officer and head of a congressional advisory board on national security.
And if the worst happens?
"This gets translated into mass fatalities, because our modern civilization can't feed, transport, or provide law and order without electricity," he said.
The coalition's members insist the scenario is a real threat, and not the plot of a Michael Bay movie or a Cormac McCarthy novel.
They believe a single nuclear blast at 300-400 kilometers in altitude—about the height of the International Space Station—could take down all power in the U.S.
Even an explosion just 30 kilometers up would take out the Eastern grid, which supplies three-quarters of the country's power.
What happens post-detonation is not a pretty picture, Pry says:
"You'd have massive industrial accidents.
One hundred four nuclear reactors going Fukushima, spreading toxic clouds everywhere.
Oil refineries burning down, oil pipelines exploding.… Airliners crashing down."
.....But it wouldn't necessarily take a hostile foreign power's nuclear trickery to spark the downfall:
The coalition claims American demise could come from the flares of a fickle sun.
A giant solar flare that triggers a geomagnetic storm could inflict the same damage as a high-altitude nuclear blast—but do it on a global scale.
The last such flare—known as the Carrington Event—happened in 1859, frying telegraph lines around the planet. According to Pry, such events happen about every 150 years, so we're already overdue for another.
Margaret Sanger Was a Racist Monster. So Why Did Nancy Pelosi Accept an Award Named After Sanger?
Named After Sanger?:
Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi just might be a racist monster who wants to murder live children for the sake of eliminating “undesirables.”
Why would I say such an outrageous thing?
Because Pelosi has accepted an award named for Margaret Sanger.
And Margaret Sanger was definitely a racist monster who advocated murdering live children for the sake of eliminating “undesirables.”
Quote:
"The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."
That’s advocating child murder.
It’s not racist, but we’re not done.
Sanger considered racial minorities to be “human weeds.”
In context, Sanger’s “weeds” quote carries a whiff of the Third Reich.
"If plants, and live stock as well, require space and air, sunlight and love, children need them even more.
The only real wealth of our country lies in the men and women of the next generation.
A farmer would rather produce a thousand thoroughbreds than a million runts.
How are we to breed a race of human thoroughbreds unless we follow the same plan?
We must make this country into a garden of children instead of a disorderly back lot overrun with human weeds."
These “human weeds” were, in Sanger’s mind, working-class people, and racial minorities.
History for March 29
History for March 29 - On-This-Day.com:
1867 - The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.
1913 - The Reichstag announced a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
1951 - In the United States, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were executed in June 19, 1953.
1961 - The 23rd amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment allowed residents of Washington, DC, to vote for president.
1971 - Lt. William Calley Jr., of the U.S. Army, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial was the result of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam on March 16, 1968.
1971 - A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders. The death sentences were later commuted to live in prison.
1973 - The last U.S. troops left South Vietnam.
1974 - Mariner 10, the U.S. space probe became the first spacecraft to reach the planet Mercury. It had been launched on November 3, 1973.
1974 - Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. All the guardsmen were later acquitted.
1992 - Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton said "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again" in reference to when he had experimented with marijuana.
1995 - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited terms to 12 years in the U.S.House and Senate.
1999 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time.
Birth anniversary of John Tyler (1790-1862), 10th president of the US (first president to marry while in office).
Birth anniversaries of Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005), Sam Walton (1918-92), Cy Young (1867-1955).
Happy Birthday! Jennifer Capriati, Lucy Lawless, Elle Macpherson
1867 - The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.
1913 - The Reichstag announced a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget.
1951 - In the United States, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were executed in June 19, 1953.
1961 - The 23rd amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment allowed residents of Washington, DC, to vote for president.
1971 - Lt. William Calley Jr., of the U.S. Army, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial was the result of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam on March 16, 1968.
1971 - A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders. The death sentences were later commuted to live in prison.
1973 - The last U.S. troops left South Vietnam.
1974 - Mariner 10, the U.S. space probe became the first spacecraft to reach the planet Mercury. It had been launched on November 3, 1973.
1974 - Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. All the guardsmen were later acquitted.
1992 - Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton said "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again" in reference to when he had experimented with marijuana.
1995 - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited terms to 12 years in the U.S.House and Senate.
1999 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time.
Friday, March 28, 2014
These U.S. Colleges and Majors Are the Biggest Waste of Money
These U.S. Colleges and Majors Are the Biggest Waste of Money - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic: "
It gets worse. The self-reported earnings of art majors from Murray State are so low that after two decades, a typical high school grad will have out-earned them by nearly $200,000.
Here are the degrees (i.e.: specific majors at specific schools) with the lowest 20-year net return, according to PayScale.
They are all public schools: Bold names are for in-state students.
It gets worse. The self-reported earnings of art majors from Murray State are so low that after two decades, a typical high school grad will have out-earned them by nearly $200,000.
Here are the degrees (i.e.: specific majors at specific schools) with the lowest 20-year net return, according to PayScale.
They are all public schools: Bold names are for in-state students.
Insult U of Virginia with a limerick, please
Insult Virginia with a limerick, please:
"Their jerseys all have a big "V"
And they say that they all play good "D"
When those letters are joined,
It's a pain in the groin.
And it burns when they have to go pee."
"Their jerseys all have a big "V"And they say that they all play good "D"
When those letters are joined,
It's a pain in the groin.
And it burns when they have to go pee."
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