Liberals don't know Geography

There's something about geography that really seems to elude liberals. How can people make rules that govern our lives when they don't even know where we or other people live. Yet, for some reason, they are considered to be wiser than the rest of us.

Small wonder everything is so screwed up.

Chef or Czar?

Original Post: WND

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass prepares winter citrus salad for tonight's Governors' Dinner at a preview in the White House kitchen in Washington on February 22, 2009.

You've seen the reports about Van Jones, President Obama's onetime "green jobs czar," and Cass Sunstein, his equally volatile "regulatory czar," and Fox News show host Glenn Beck has put together a list of dozens of such appointees.

Now here's the newest White House promotion: "Health food czar" Sam Kass.

"In a comical move even for a czar-happy president who has rewarded dozens of cronies with distinguished titles, the White House has named the Obamas' personal Chicago cook as 'Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives,'" reports the Washington government watchdog Judicial Watch.

"It's no joke, even though it sounds like a bad one. The Chicago chef's rapid ascension ... has been kept under the radar for the last month," Judicial Watch said.

"Sam Kass went from being a 20-something, Windy City gourmet cook – privately paid by the Obamas to feed them – to big-time White House adviser in a matter of months," the report said.

But it makes sense, the report said, since Michelle Obama has claimed that childhood obesity is a threat to "national security."

According to an earlier CNSNews.com report, Michelle Obama confirmed – in talking about her White House campaign against obesity – that the condition "impacts national security" because it is a "disqualifier for military service."

Judicial Watch said the situation is so dire, President Obama has been convinced to spend $400 million a year on "healthy foods" in low-income neighborhoods as well as revise – at a cost of $10 billion – a federal plan to provide food to poor children in school.

Such an assembly of programs "no doubt requires a trusted senior policy adviser – like Kass – who is an expert in healthy cuisine," Judicial Watch said.

"Makes you wonder what Kass … has been putting in the Obamas' food all these years," the report said.

WND previously has reported on the health-care rationing czar, Don Berwick, and Internet czar Susan P. Crawford.

Also, homosexual activist Kevin Jennings was named Obama's "safe schools" czar.

WND was the news agency that broke the first major story on Obama's "green" jobs czar Jones.

Also, WND exposed Sunstein, Obama's "regulatory czar," as an advocate of a "Fairness Doctrine" for the Internet.

Science czar John Holdren also was exposed and the subject was highlighted in WND's Top 10 stories of 2009.

The Obama appointees also were featured in a Whistleblower magazine edition called "SHADOW GOVERNMENT."

The magazine issue introduced people "like Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner nominee Chai Feldblum, who endorses polygamy, and AIDS czar Jeffrey S. Crowley – both openly homosexual."

"Then there's Patrick Gaspard, officially the 'director of the office of political affairs,' but whom critics call 'ACORN's man in the White House.' And defense policy adviser Rosa Brooks, a George-Soros-trained ideologue and antimilitary radical who urged the prosecution of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for 'war crimes,'" the report said. "And FCC diversity czar Mark Lloyd, who believes the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' – unanimously repealed by the FCC in 1987 – was never repealed, wants to destroy conservative talk radio, and described Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez's rise to power in Venezuela as 'an incredible revolution.'"

According to Beck's compilation, the list of czars includes:

* Richard Holbrooke, Afghanistan czar
* Jeffrey Crowley, AIDS czar
* Ed Montgomery, auto recovery czar
* Alan Bersin, border czar
* David J. Hayes, California water czar
* Ron Bloom, car czar
* Dennis Ross, central region czar
* Todd Stern, climate czar
* Lynn Rosenthal, domestic violence czar
* Gil Kerlikowske, drug czar
* Paul Volcker, economic czar
* Carol Browner, energy and environment czar
* Joshua DuBois, faith-based czar
* Jeffrey Zients, government performance czar
* Cameron Davis, Great Lakes czar
* Van Jones, green jobs czar
* Daniel Fried, Guantanamo closure czar
* Nancy-Ann DeParle, health czar
* Vivek Kundra, information czar
* Dennis Blair, intelligence czar
* George Mitchell, Mideast peace czar
* Kenneth R. Feinberg, pay czar
* Cass Sunstein, regulatory czar
* John Holdren, science czar
* Earl Devaney, stimulus accountability czar
* J. Scott Gration, Sudan czar
* Herb Allison, TARP czar
* Aneesh Chopra, technology czar
* John Brennan, terrorism czar
* Adolfa Carrion Jr., urban affairs czar
* Ashton Carter, weapons czar
* Gary Samore, WMD policy czar

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds

Original Post: Fox News

By Ed Barnes

Published July 12, 2010

A study finds that at least 341 convicted felons voted illegally in the election that made former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken a U.S. senator in 2008.

The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman.

The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted, according to Minnesota Majority's newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records.

Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal authorities to act on its findings have been "stonewalled."

"We aren't trying to change the result of the last election. That legally can't be done," said Dan McGrath, Minnesota Majority's executive director. "We are just trying to make sure the integrity of the next election isn't compromised."

He said his group was largely ignored when it turned over a list of hundreds of names to prosecutors in two of the state's largest counties, Ramsey and Hennepin, where fraud seemed to be the greatest.

A spokesman for both county attorneys' offices belittled the information, saying it was "just plain wrong" and full of errors, which prompted the group to go back and start an in-depth look at the records.

"What we did this time is irrefutable," McGrath said. "We took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went back to the records and found the roster lists, where voters sign in before walking to the voting booth, and matched them by hand.

"The only way we can be wrong is if someone with the same first, middle and last names, same year of birth as the felon, and living in the same community, has voted. And that isn't very likely."

The report said that in Hennepin County, which in includes Minneapolis, 899 suspected felons had been matched on the county's voting records, and the review showed 289 voters were conclusively matched to felon records. The report says only three people in the county have been charged with voter fraud so far.

A representative of the Hennepin County attorney's office, who declined to give her name, said "there was no one in the office today to talk about the charges."

But the report got a far different review in Ramsey County, which contains St. Paul. Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County attorney's office said his agency had taken the charges "very seriously" and found that the Minnesota Majority "had done a good job in their review."

The report says that in Ramsey, 460 names on voting records were matched with felon lists, and a further review found 52 were conclusive matches.

Carruthers attributed differences in the numbers to Minnesota Majority's lack of access to nonpublic information, such as exact birth dates and other court records. For example, he said, "public records might show a felon was given 10 years probation, but internal records the county attorney has might show that the probation period was cut to five and the felon was eligible to vote."

Carruthers said Ramsey County is still investigating all the names and has asked that more investigators be hired to complete the process. "So far we have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182 cases still open," he said. "And there is a good chance we may match or even exceed their numbers."

McGrath says the report shows that more still has to be done.

"Prosecutors have to act more swiftly in prosecuting cases from the 2008 election to deter fraud in the future," he said, "and the state has to make sure that existing system, that flags convicted felons so voting officials can challenge them at the ballot, is effective. In 90 percent of the cases we looked at, the felons weren't flagged."

"If the state had done that," he said, "things might be very different today."

Unemployment aid won't be enough to boost recovery (or Nancy Pelosi is a dolt)

Original Post: Yahoo News

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber, Ap Economics Writer – Tue Jul 20, 9:29 pm ET

WASHINGTON – For jobless Americans struggling to pay their bills and keep their homes, the restoration of unemployment benefits could keep their crisis from getting worse.

The same might be said of the broader economy.

The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to keep providing unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks to more than 5 million long-term unemployed. The injection of an estimated $33 billion into a $14.6 trillion economy over the next five months won't be enough to energize the recovery. But economists say it could at least help sustain it.

The vote comes as evidence mounts that growth is slowing. Consumers, facing lower home values and high unemployment, are saving more and spending cautiously. The housing market is slumping again after a tax credit expired in April. And the impact of last year's $787 billion stimulus package has begun to fade.

By extending the unemployment aid, Congress will remove one potential drag on the economy, analysts say.

"It reduces the likelihood of a double-dip recession," said Gus Faucher, an economist at Moody's Analytics.

During the recession, Congress provided up to 73 extra weeks of unemployment aid, paid for by the federal government. They came on top of the 26 weeks customarily provided by the states.

But the extra benefits expired in early June. They had been routinely extended during the worst parts of the recession. But Congress reached an impasse last month. Republicans demanded that the extension be paid for with leftover stimulus money. Democrats countered that unemployment benefits are normally considered an emergency need and paid for by adding to the deficit.

About 2.5 million people ran out of jobless aid during the political battle. They will now have the aid restored retroactively. That could create chaos if state unemployment offices are flooded with people seeking to reapply.

An additional 3 million people were still receiving aid under the extended benefits program. They will be able to keep doing so.

The legislation Congress is expected to approve will inject $33 billion into the economy by renewing the extra benefits through the end of November. That money will likely be spent quickly and generate extra economic activity, economists say. Jobless aid is widely seen as providing more "bang for the buck" than many other stimulus programs.

"It recycles very quickly into the economy," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "If that's your only source of money, you're going to spend it."

Moody's Analytics estimates that every dollar of unemployment aid generates $1.61 in economic activity. Still, that translates into a boost of only $54 billion — less than one-half of 1 percent of the overall economy.

"It's not going to make or break" the recovery, Faucher said.

Weekly unemployment checks average about $309, though they vary widely by state. Benefit levels also depend on how much a recipient earned while working. The checks are financed through a tax on employers.

Many of those out of work don't receive unemployment benefits. Only those who have lost jobs through no fault of their own are eligible. Applicants must also have earned certain minimum pay, set by the states.

Partly because of the extensions, about two-thirds of the nearly 15 million unemployed are receiving unemployment aid. That's a greater proportion than in previous downturns. The Obama administration's stimulus package encouraged many states to expand eligibility to part-time workers and other groups.

In recessions, Congress usually adds extra weeks as unemployment rises and hiring slows. The federal government also pays for the extensions to lessen the burden on states, which are required to balance their budgets. Many experts argue that the program, begun in the 1930s, is ill-equipped to handle extended downturns. One result is that the program has been extended in almost every recession and often gets tangled in political fights.

The current benefit extensions are the longest on record.

Of the 2.5 million people whose benefits will be restored, nearly 430,000 are in California, nearly 200,000 are in New York, 175,000 are in Florida and 174,000 are in Pennsylvania, the Labor Department estimates. Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Texas also have more than 100,000 recipients who were cut off.

Unlike with some previous extensions, Congress isn't adding extra weeks. It's just keeping the extended program going.

For those who have exhausted all their 99 weeks, the Senate's vote Tuesday provides little hope. They face the prospect of looking for work even as hiring remains slow, with the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent.

"There's a lot more people than jobs out there right now," Wyss said.

Texting and Walking: Dangerous Mix

Original Post: Time

You might call it an avocational hazard. A recent ITN News video in the U.K. shows that some London pedestrians have become so preoccupied with e-mailing and text messaging on their BlackBerrys and cell phones that they can't make it down a city block without crashing into lampposts or trash bins. One of the most hazardous streets for "walking while texting," according to the Monty Python–esque video clip, is East London's busy Brick Lane, lined with trendy boutiques and curry shops, where people have been filmed walking head down, ricocheting off various stationary sidewalk objects. The solution? Wrap Brick Lane's lampposts with fluffy, white rugby goalpost cushions.

The video hit the Internet in early March and was met with widespread media attention ("Britain's first safe text street has been created complete with padded lampposts to protect millions of mobile phone users from getting hurt in street accidents while walking and texting," the London Daily Mail proclaimed) along with much twittering in the blogosphere about the possible expansion of the Brick Lane pilot project. But it turned out that the lamppost-wrapping scheme was just a clever public-relations ploy mounted by 118118, a British directory assistance company, and Living Streets, a well-known charity dedicated to making cities more pedestrian-friendly. In tandem with the publicity stunt, Living Streets conducted an unscientific survey of 1,000 texting Brits and found that 1 in 10 — or, potentially, 6.5 million people nationwide — had suffered injuries while texting and walking.

In a world where billions of text messages move through the ether daily — Filipinos hold the national record, having sent a billion texts per day in 2007 — it's no surprise that news of texting-while-walking accidents piqued such global interest. Though the lamppost bumpers were removed from Brick Lane after only 24 hours, the debate over such "nanny government" maneuvers and the rampant dangers of walking while texting rages on. It's a debate that New Yorkers joined last year when State Senator Carl Kruger of Brooklyn introduced a bill in Albany to combat "iPod oblivion." His bill, which was prompted by the death of two constituents who were killed crossing the street while listening to their iPods, sought to ban pedestrians from using earphones in crosswalks in New York's large urban areas. The bill languished in committee last year, but the Senator has reintroduced it in 2008.

Intuitively, the perils of texting while walking make sense. But George Branyan, pedestrian coordinator for the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, says that in most pedestrian accidents, neither text messaging nor iPod oblivion are major factors. "I am not seeing it in the crash data," Branyan says.

Most pedestrian accidents, according to Branyan, happen because people jaywalk or drivers ignore existing traffic laws — which require, for example, yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk, heeding the speed limit and stopping at red lights. A pedestrian dies every 110 minutes in the United States, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and there has been an increase in the last few years in pedestrian deaths in Washington and other urban areas across the country, prompting governments in the D.C. metro area to launch a new advertising campaign aimed at increasing pedestrian safety. It is both "edgy and blunt," Branyan says of the radio spots and posters, which depict a violent pedestrian-car collision. The most recent pedestrian fatality in Washington was typical, Branyan says: an elderly woman who was crossing the street with the right of way was hit last week by a driver turning right on a green light, knocking her almost 50 feet.

When the Department of Transportation and the D.C. police recently conducted a two-month street-safety campaign, undercover cops at crossings and pull-over police units issued 6,000 tickets — two-thirds to drivers and one-third to pedestrians for jaywalking, Branyan said. Though Washington police, along with other law enforcement agencies, agree that the increase in text messaging endangers both drivers and pedestrians (many states have outlawed text messaging while driving, and Maryland and Virginia are considering banning cyclists from text messaging on the go), Branyan thinks that creating new laws to ban texting, particularly in urban areas where police already face many law-enforcement challenges, is less useful than enforcing laws that are already on the books.

Traffic safety engineers are developing new technologies to alert drivers to areas where pedestrian traffic is heavy at certain times of the day. St. Petersburg, Fla., for example, has installed motion detectors at some crossings where there are no traffic signals; when a pedestrian approaches, a squawkbox urges him or her to push a button before crossing, triggering high-intensity flashing lights that drivers can see some distance from the intersection. City officials credit the system with boosting driver compliance with crosswalk laws from 8% to 84%. Washington plans to install similar bilingual devices at some of its high-risk intersections. In Boulder, Colo., the city has placed audible warning devices at busy crosswalks — when a pedestrian pushes the crosswalk button, lights flash and a "Use caution when crossing" message is played to remind the pedestrian to be careful.

Some communities, however, have opted for much lower-tech solutions. In County Mayo, Ireland, where rising pedestrian accidents have caused concern, elementary-school children persuaded the Irish Road Safety Authority last week to revive a popular 1970s ditty called the "Safe Cross Code," which exhorts six easy steps (including "look for a safe place" and "don't hurry") for safe street crossing. But even the classics can sometimes afford a little modernization: the Irish musician Brendan Grace has agreed to re-record the old-time jingle as a cell-phone ringtone, which can now be downloaded for a fee that goes toward supporting national traffic-safety programs.

San Francisco Bans Soda in Vending Machines

Original Post: AOL Health

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans Jul 9th 2010 12:06PM

The city of San Francisco has made good on its promise to ban sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks from public-property vending machines, replacing them with diet drinks and soy milk.

The executive order, signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom months ago as part of his battle against the obesity epidemic, went into effect this week, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

"There's a direct link between what people eat and drink and the obesity and health care crises in this country," mayoral spokesman Tony Winnicker told the paper.

Eliminated from soda machines on city grounds: sodas, juice with added sweeteners, sports beverages and water with artificial flavors. Drinks made with 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice will stay. Soy and rice milk will be added.

Newsom says people who drink at least a can of soda a day are 27 percent more likely to be obese. His war on the epidemic mirrors the efforts of First Lady Michelle Obama to fight the problem among children.

One nutritionist said San Francisco's move is unlikely to have any great impact, however.

"I kind of look at that approach as trying to bring all the cows in after they've already escaped from the barn," Dr. Douglas Husbands, who has a nutrition and wellness practice in northern California, told AOL Health. "I don't think that's really effective."

Husbands said people who crave sodas and artificially sweetened drinks will just go somewhere else to buy them if they can't get them on public property in San Francisco.

"It will be a minor inconvenience," he said. "If they want a junk food fix, they're going to look for it elsewhere. ... And the people who are trying to plan out healthy snacks generally don't go to vending machines anyway."

A greater public health benefit, Husbands believes, would be a reduction in exposure to ads for diet drugs and obesity-related health problems as they help create an illusion that there are easy solutions to being overweight.

He'd also like to see an increase in public service announcements about the importance of eating enough fruits and vegetables.

Peggy West Milwaukee County Supervisor doesn't know where Arizona is

Apparently it's ok to support a boycott on a state when you don't even know where it is, congratulations Peggy West, you're a winner. It sickens me where I live in a world where some how this person: survived to adult hood, has the ability to cancel my vote, got elected to public office and is governing me.

On a related matter, I would like to congratulate Senator Jon Kyle for putting Peggy in her place. I was sitting down with MS Paint open getting ready to flame her when I found a Senator had beat me to it. Some times the only rational response is ridicule and humiliation because the idiocy of the left has to be pointed out in such a manner as to drive the point home to the masses and show them who they put in charge, and why they were wrong to do so, so they don't make the same mistake over again.



Update 6/25/2013: It appears Peggy West isn't the only geographically challenged Democrat official. Mary Landrieu thinks that South Dakota borders Canada and either North Dakota doesn't exist, is part of Canada, or is somewhere else. But they're the intelligentsia and Republicans are the stupid ones. Clearly.

Joe Biden calls constituent a smart ass

I don't think Joe Biden thought that the comment was "smart ass" I think he meant the idea that the government could possibly lower our taxes was the smart ass idea. What a radical concept after all. Lowering our taxes, stealing less money, that can't possibly be done and you're a smart ass if you think so. Lovely.