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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 12:35:39 PM
From: longnshort3 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
what about polygamists ?



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 12:39:15 PM
From: TideGlider4 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 12:40:09 PM
From: Jack of All Trades4 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Site your source please...



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 1:03:58 PM
From: lorne2 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny..."Do you favor giving federal tax benefits and social security benefits to same sex couples? Most Americans do favor it."....

If they are American citizens why would I be opposed to that...and why would you even ask something like that?



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 1:41:37 PM
From: JakeStraw4 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
ObamaCare Turns 3: 10 Disturbing Facts About Health Law

Just over three years ago, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously quipped about ObamaCare that "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.

But only now, as ObamaCare's third anniversary approaches — President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010 — is the country starting to find out what the sweeping health care overhaul will actually do.

ObamaCare backers typically tout popular features that went into effect almost immediately. The law expanded Medicare's drug coverage, for example, and let children stay on their parents' plans until they turned 26.

But the bulk of ObamaCare doesn't take effect until next year. That's when the so-called insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running, when the mandate on individuals and businesses kicks in, and when the avalanche of regulations on the insurance industry hits.

As this start date draws near, evidence is piling up that ObamaCare will: Boost insurance costs. Officially the "Affordable Care Act," ObamaCare promised to lower premiums for families. But regulators decided to impose a 3.5% surcharge on insurance plans sold through federally run exchanges. There's also a $63 fee for every person covered by employers. And the law adds a "premium tax" that will require insurers to pay more than $100 billion over the next decade. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation expects insurers to simply pass this tax onto individuals and small businesses, boosting premiums another 2.5%.

Push millions off employer coverage. In February, the Congressional Budget Office said that 7 million will likely lose their employer coverage thanks to ObamaCare — nearly twice its previous estimate. That number could be as high as 20 million, the CBO says.

Cause premiums to skyrocket. In December, state insurance commissioners warned Obama administration officials that the law's market regulations would likely cause "rate shocks," particularly for younger, healthier people forced by ObamaCare to subsidize premiums for those who are older and sicker.

"We are very concerned about what will happen if essentially there is so much rate shock for young people that they're bound not to purchase (health insurance) at all," said California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

That same month, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said ObamaCare will likely cause premiums to double for some small businesses and individuals.

And a more recent survey of insurers in five major cities by the American Action Forum found they expect premiums to climb an average 169%.

Cost people their jobs. The Federal Reserve's March beige book on economic activity noted that businesses "cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff.

Around the same time, Gallup reported a surge in part-time work in advance of ObamaCare's employer mandate. It found that part-timers accounted for almost 21% of the labor force, up from 19% three years ago.

Meanwhile, human resources consulting firm Adecco found that half of the small businesses it surveyed in January either plan to cut their workforce, not hire new workers, or shift to part-time or temporary help because of ObamaCare.

Tax the middle class. IBD reported in February that much of the $800 billion in tax hikes imposed by ObamaCare will end up hitting the middle class, including $45 billion in mandate penalties, $19 billion raised by limiting medical expense deductions, $24 billion through strict limits on flexible spending accounts, plus another $5 billion because ObamaCare bans using FSAs to buy over-the-counter drugs.

Add to the deficit. The Government Accountability Office reported in January that Obama-Care will likely add $6.2 trillion in red ink over 75 years if independent experts are right and several of its cost control measures don't work as advertised.

Cost more than promised. The Congressional Budget Office now says ObamaCare's insurance subsidies will cost $233 billion more over the next decade than it thought last year.

Be a bureaucratic nightmare. Consumers got their first glimpse of life under ObamaCare when the Health and Human Services Department released a draft insurance application form. It runs 21 pages. "Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes," the AP concluded after reviewing the form.

Exacerbate doctor shortages. Last summer, a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than its needs by 2015, thanks in large part to ObamaCare. At the same time, a survey of 13,000 doctors by the Physicians Foundation found that almost 60% of doctors say ObamaCare has made them less optimistic about the future of health care and they would retire today if they could.

Leave millions uninsured. After 10 years, ObamaCare will still leave 30 million without coverage, according to the CBO. As IBD reported, that figure could be much higher if the law causes premiums to spike and encourages people to drop coverage despite the law's mandate.




To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 3:03:22 PM
From: longnshort8 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
Obama just gave Lebanon 200 billion just like that, what happened to the terrible sequastration which was only 47 billion and the end of the world.

Obama and the dems are total bullshit



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 3:54:38 PM
From: longnshort  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
More Docs Plan to Retire EarlySix in 10 physicians said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years.

By David Pittman, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today

WASHINGTON — THURSDAY, March 21, 2013 (MedPage Today) — Most physicians have a pessimistic outlook on the future of medicine, citing eroding autonomy and falling income, a survey of more than 600 doctors found.

Six in 10 physicians (62 percent) said it is likely many of their colleagues will retire earlier than planned in the next 1 to 3 years, a survey from Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found. That perception is uniform across age, gender, and specialty, it said.

Another 55 percent of surveyed doctors believe others will scale back hours because of the way medicine is changing, but the survey didn't elaborate greatly on how it was changing. Three-quarters think the best and brightest may not consider a career in medicine, although that is an increase from the 2011 survey result of 69 percent.

"Physicians recognize 'the new normal' will necessitate major changes in the profession that require them to practice in different settings as part of a larger organization that uses technologies and team-based models for consumer (patient) care," the survey's findings stated.

About two-thirds of the survey responders said they believe physicians and hospitals will become more integrated in coming years. In the last 2 years, 31 percent moved into a larger practice, results found. Nearly eight in 10 believe midlevel providers will play a larger role in directing primary care.

Four in 10 doctors reported their take-home pay decreased from 2011 to 2012, and more than half said the pay cut was 10 percent or less, according to Deloitte. Among physicians reporting a pay cut, four in 10 blame the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and 48 percent of all doctors believed their income would drop again in 2012 as a result of the health reform law.

Other findings:

26 percent believe Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula will be repealed in the next 1 to 3 yearsOne in 10 believe medical liability reform will pass Congress in the next 1 to 3 yearsA quarter of physicians would place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare patients if there were payment changes55 percent of physicians believe the hospital-doctor relationship will suffer as admitting privileges are put at risk to comply with hospital standards of meaningful use31 percent gave the U.S. healthcare system a favorable grade of "A or B" compared with 35 percent in 2011Despite those pessimistic views, seven of 10 said they were satisfied about practicing medicine, although that number was lower for primary care providers and higher for younger age groups, the survey found. Dissatisfaction was attributed toward less time with patients, long hours, and dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, and government regulations.

Speaking of the ACA, fewer physicians (38 percent in 2012) believe the ACA is a step in the wrong direction compared with 44 percent in 2011. The number who think the law is a good place to start remained the same.

Two-thirds of physicians in the Deloitte survey say they use an electronic health record (EHR) that meets meaningful use stage 1 requirements, but that number has been lower in other surveys. Three in 5 respondents were satisfied with their EHR.

Deloitte mailed the survey to more than 20,000 physicians selected from the American Medical Association's master file. Just 613 returned completed surveys, giving a margin of error of 3.9 percent at the 0.95 confidence level.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 3:56:49 PM
From: longnshort1 Recommendation  Respond to of 224890
 
US plan calls for more scanning of private Web traffic, email

The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country's private, civilian-run infrastructure.

As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their emails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyber attacks.

Under last month's White House executive o rder on cybersecurity, the scans will be driven by classified information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies — including data from the National Security Agency (NSA) — on new or especially serious espionage threats and other hacking attempts. U.S. spy chiefs said on March 12 that cyber attacks have supplanted terrorism as the top threat to the country.

The Department of Homeland Security will gather the secret data and pass it to a small group of telecommunication companies and cyber security providers that have employees holding security clearances, government and industry officials said. Those companies will then offer to process email and other Internet transmissions for critical infrastructure customers that choose to participate in the program.

DHS as the middleman
By using DHS as the middleman, the Obama administration hopes to bring the formidable overseas intelligence-gathering of the NSA closer to ordinary U.S. residents without triggering an outcry from privacy advocates who have long been leery of the spy agency's eavesdropping.

The telecom companies will not report back to the government on what they see, except in aggregate statistics, a senior DHS official said in an interview granted on condition he not be identified.

"That allows us to provide more sensitive information," the official said. "We will provide the information to the security service providers that they need to perform this function." Procedures are to be established within six months of the order.

The administration is separately seeking legislation that would give incentives to private companies, including communications carriers, to disclose more to the government. NSA Director General Keith Alexander said last week that NSA did not want personal data but Internet service providers could inform the government about malicious software they find and the Internet Protocol addresses they were sent to and from.

"There is a way to do this that ensures civil liberties and privacy and does ensure the protection of the country," Alexander told a congressional hearing.

Fears grow of destructive attack
In the past, Internet traffic-scanning efforts were mainly limited to government networks and Defense Department contractors, which have long been targets of foreign espionage.

But as fears grow of a destructive cyber attack on core, non-military assets, and more sweeping security legislation remained stalled, the Obama administration opted to widen the program.

Last month's presidential order calls for commercial providers of "enhanced cybersecurity services" to extend their offerings to critical infrastructure companies. What constitutes critical infrastructure is still being refined, but it would include utilities, banks and transportation such as trains and highways.

Under the program, critical infrastructure companies will pay the providers, which will use the classified information to block attacks before they reach the customers. The classified information involves suspect Web addresses, strings of characters, email sender names and the like.

Not all the cybersecurity providers will be telecom companies, though AT&T is one. Raytheon said this month it had agreed with DHS to become a provider, and a spokesman said that customers could route their traffic to Raytheon after receiving it from their communications company.

As the new set-up takes shape, DHS officials and industry executives said some security equipment makers were working on hardware that could take classified rules about blocking traffic and act on them without the operator being able to reverse-engineer the codes. That way, people wouldn't need a security clearance to use the equipment.

Civil liberties implications
The issue of scanning everything headed to a utility or a bank still has civil liberties implications, even if each company is a voluntary participant.

Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that the executive order did not weaken existing privacy laws, but any time a machine acting on classified information is processing private communications, it raises questions about the possibility of secret extra functions that are unlikely to be answered definitively.

"You have to wonder what else that box does," Tien said.

One technique for examining email and other electronic packets en route, called deep packet inspection, has stirred controversy for years, and some cybersecurity providers said they would not be using that. In deep packet inspection, communication companies or others with network access can examine all the elements of a transmission, including the content of emails.

"The signatures provided by DHS do not require deep packet inspection," said Steve Hawkins, vice president at Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems division, referring further questions to DHS.

The DHS official said the government is still in conversations with the telecom operators on the issue.

The official said the government had no plans to roll out any such form of government-guided close examination of Internet traffic into the communications companies serving the general public.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 7:30:03 PM
From: golfer722 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
No I do not. They can get married but no benefits for their partners. Whats next, people marry their dogs?



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/22/2013 11:54:37 PM
From: Wayners3 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
No because it will bankrupt the system with payouts to people that "got gay married" for the sole purpose of robbing social security. Clearly the reason behind gay marriage is that people are unhappy with the no property rights aspect of it. Gay marriage is just a tool to undo the part about losing property rights at death. A better solution is to get rid of Social Security entirely and then nobody will be clamoring for Gay Marriages.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/23/2013 12:02:06 AM
From: Woody_Nickels1 Recommendation  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
A lot of senior citizens don't get married because they would lose
some Soc. Security benefits.

Why would GLBT people get special treatment, when seniors don't?



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/23/2013 8:09:26 AM
From: chartseer7 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
If obamacare is so good why is congress exempt from obamacare? how could congress legally pass a law that applies to every american except themselves? That doesn't sound constitutional to me.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/23/2013 8:14:55 AM
From: lorne2 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny,,Be careful out there...Pass this on to Obama so he can spread an alert.

Meningitis spreading via anonymous 'gay' sex
Meningitis Spreading Via Anonymous Sex in NYC
Katie Moisse
Mar 22, 2013
abcnews.go.com

New York City health officials are urging some men to get vaccinated against meningitis amid an outbreak that has sickened 22 New Yorkers and killed seven.

The dangerous strain of bacterial meningitis appears to be spreading through sexual encounters between men who meet through websites or smartphone apps, or at bars or parties, according to the City’s health department. More than half of the infected men have had HIV, a virus that attacks the immune system making infections more likely and more severe.

“Vaccination is the best defense,” City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said in a statement. “I urge all men who meet these criteria – regardless of whether they identify as gay – to get vaccinated now and protect themselves from this disease before it is too late.”

Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the brain’s membranous lining, called the meninges. Early symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and a rash within 10 days of the infection. If left untreated, the disease can cause severe brain damage and even death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease is spread by “prolonged close contact with nose or throat discharges from an infected person,” the health department said in a September 2012 statement after the death of a patient. While vaccination can help prevent new infections, “people that have been in prolonged close contact with infected people need to see their health-care provider immediately to receive preventive antibiotics,” the department added.

Men from all five boroughs have been infected, health officials said, declining to comment on the kinds of websites or apps involved in the outbreak.

“I strongly recommend all men who have intimate contact with other men get vaccinated,” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a statement. “This disease is both potentially fatal and extremely contagious, so increasing the public’s awareness to this growing issue and encouraging vaccination are of the utmost importance.”

New Yorkers are advised to call 311 or search “meningitis” at nyc.gov for more vaccine information.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/23/2013 8:18:00 AM
From: lorne3 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny...Ya think this White Mother did something racist?

Police arrest 2 teens in Georgia baby's killing
By RUSS BYNUM
The Associated Press
Friday, March 22, 2013
BRUNSWICK, Ga. —
ajc.com

A pair of teenagers was arrested Friday and accused of fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face and wounding his mother during their morning stroll through a leafy, historic neighborhood in southeast Georgia.



Sherry West had just been to the post office a few blocks from her apartment Thursday morning and was pushing her son, Antonio, in his stroller as they walked past gnarled oak trees and blooming azaleas in the coastal city of Brunswick.

West said a tall, skinny teenager, accompanied by a smaller boy, asked her for money.

"He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it," she told The Associated Press Friday from her apartment, which was scattered with her son's toys and movies.

"When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said 'I don't have it.' And he said, 'Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, 'No, don't kill my baby!'"

Authorities said one of the teens fired four shots, grazing West's ear and striking her in the leg, before he walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.

Seventeen-year-old De'Marquis Elkins is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, along with a 14-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile, Police Chief Tobe Green said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the boys had attorneys.

Police announced the arrest Friday afternoon after combing school records and canvassing neighborhoods searching for the pair. The chief said the motive of the "horrendous act" was still under investigation and the weapon had not been found.

"I feel glad that justice will be served," West said. "It's not something I'm going to live with very well. I'm just glad they caught him."

West said detectives showed her photographs of about 24 young men. She pointed to one, saying he looked like the gunman.

"After I picked him, they said they had him in custody," West said. "It looked just like him. So I think we got our man."

West said she thought the other suspect looked much younger: "That little boy did not look 14."

The slaying happened around the corner from West's apartment in the city's Old Town historic district. It's a street lined with grand Victorian homes from the late 1800s. Most have been neatly restored by their owners. Others, with faded and flaking paint, have been divided into rental units like the apartment West shared with her son. The slain boy's father, Luis Santiago, lives in a house across the street.

A neighbor dropped off a fruit basket and then a hot pot of coffee Friday as a friend from the post office dropped by to comfort West.

Santiago came and went. At one point he scooped up an armload of his son's stuffed animals, saying he wanted to take them home with him. He talked about Antonio's first birthday on Feb. 5 and how they had tried different party hats on the boy.

"He's all right," Santiago told the boy's mother, trying to smile. "He's potty training upstairs in heaven."

West said her son was walking well on his own and eight of his teeth had come in. But she also mourned the milestones that will never come, like Antonio's first day at school.

"I'm always going to wonder what his first word would be," West said.

Beverly Anderson, whose husband owns the property where West has lived for several years, said she was stunned by the violence in what's generally known as a safe neighborhood where children walk to school and families are frequently outdoors.

Jonathan Mayes and his wife were out walking their dogs Friday, right past the crime scene, and said they've never felt nervous about being out after dark.

"What is so mind-numbing about this is we don't have this kind of stuff happen here," Mayes said. "You expect that kind of crap in Atlanta."

It's not the mother's first loss of a child to violence. West said her 18-year-old son, Shaun Glassey, was killed in New Jersey in 2008. She still has a newspaper clipping from the time.

Glassey was killed with a steak knife in March 2008 during an attack involving several other teens on a dark street corner in Gloucester County, N.J., according to news reports from the time.

"He and some other boys were going to ambush a kid," Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County prosecutor's office, told the AP Friday.

Glassey was armed with a knife, but the 17-year-old target of the attack was able to get the knife away from him "and Glassey ended up on the wrong end of the knife," Weisenfeld recalled.

Prosecutors decided the 17-year-old would not be charged because they determined that he acted in self-defense.

Sabrina Elkins, the sister of the older suspect in the baby's slaying, said Friday evening that she believed her brother was innocent of the charges. She didn't know whether he had a lawyer.

"He couldn't have done that to a little baby," she told AP. "My brother has a good heart."

She said that her brother had been living in Atlanta, and only returned to Brunswick a few months ago. Typically, he would come by her house in the morning and they'd go to breakfast. But yesterday morning, police came to her door.

Her brother was walking down the sidewalk and saw the officers at her door but came over anyway, Sabrina Elkins said.

"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she recalled by phone. "He said, 'What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?'"

Sabrina Elkins said, "I am devastated and I keep saying, 'There ain't no way (this is) possible.'"



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/25/2013 12:10:57 PM
From: lorne1 Recommendation  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny. Is Obama going to stop payment for toilet paper to all government sponsored rest rooms because of this?

US unblocks $500M for Palestinians
State Department spokeswoman Nuland says aid money frozen by Congress for months freed up as PA faces worst economic crisis in years

AFP
Published: 03.23.13, 12:03 /
Israel News
ynetnews.com

The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top US official said Friday.

The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.

"To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

The Obama administration also notified Congress in late February that it was seeking a further $200 million to fund US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs for the Palestinians, she said.

The first sum comprises some $195.7 million, allocated under the 2012 fiscal year budget for USAID economic, development and humanitarian assistance, as well as a further $100 million earmarked specifically for narcotics control.

The second sum of $200 million unblocked and available to the Palestinian Authority will come under the 2013 budget and be spent for direct budget support.

The Palestinian Authority is facing its worst economic crisis in years, in part because of a failure by donors to deliver pledged funds. But its finances were plunged further into chaos after president Mahmud Abbas won upgraded UN observer status at the UN General Assembly in late November.

Congress froze the US administration's requests for funds.

And Israel, which also strongly opposed the move, said it was suspending monthly transfers of the tax and tariff revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of the decision.

It did, however, transfer $100 million in a one-off payment in late January.

Earlier this month a report by the Palestinian Authority urged the world to step up financial aid and press Israel to allow economic development, warning of a "political collapse" due to Israeli fiscal strangulation.

Obama met Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank on Thursday as part of his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, accompanied by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry has pushed for the funds to be released since taking up his post on February 1.




To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/25/2013 12:54:22 PM
From: longnshort4 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 

EXCLUSIVE: SASHA, MALIA OBAMA VACATION AT BAHAMAS' 'ATLANTIS' RESORT

Sasha and Malia Obama are quietly vacationing at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Breitbart News has learned.A source tipped Breitbart News off to the First Daughters’ spring vacation, which was not publicly announced or reported.

Breitbart subsequently confirmed President Barack Obama’s daughters’ trip with other sources. Both the White House and the Atlantis resort declined to confirm the report or comment, but another guest provided a photograph of Sasha and Malia at the resort.

Social media, including Twitter and Facebook, have also carried reports of the First Daughters' presence at Atlantis. One person who is at the resort wrote: “Rumor confirmed: friends saw the first daughters with a gaggle of friends being escorted to the held elevator.”

Via Twitter, another person wrote: “Obama daughters at the same restaurant as me...in the bahamas.”

A third tweeted that she was excited to see Sasha and Malia at Club Crush, the Bahamian resort’s nightclub for teenagers: “OBAMA'S DAUGHTERS SMILED AND WAVED AT ME. I WAS IN THE SAME ROOM AS OBAMA'S DAUGHTERS.”

Atlantis describes Club Crush as the “ultimate nightclub for teens ages 13 to 17 and tweens ages 9 to 13 vacationing on Paradise Island.”

Another hotel guest tweeted a photograph of what she said was the motorcade for "the Obama crew":



It is unclear at this time if first lady Michelle Obama is also at the resort, or if she is planning to join her daughters there.

Atlantis spokeswoman Megan Marchesini told Breitbart News that “our company policy is to never comment on guests.” Secret Service spokesman Bryan Leary told Breitbart News that the Secret Service does not confirm or deny trips for anyone under the agency’s protective detail, including Sasha and Malia.

Sasha and Malia both attend Sidwell Friends School, which is currently on its spring break. That break continues through Friday. It is unclear how long the first daughters will be staying in the Bahamas, or what the cost will be to taxpayers.

Earlier this month, the White House canceled public tours as a result of the recent budget sequester, citing Secret Service staffing costs.

According to Judicial Watch, Malia Obama's trip to Mexico last spring break, during which she was apparently accompanied by Secret Service protection, cost taxpayers $115,500.87. Sasha did not accompany Malia on that trip.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/25/2013 1:06:33 PM
From: longnshort2 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Police tear-gas anti-gay marriage protesters in ParisPolice in Paris used tear gas to disperse hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrating against gay marriage on the Champs-Elysees.



Riot police spray teargas on demonstrators during clashes on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris Photo: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

Agence France-Presse in Paris

6:21AM GMT 25 Mar 2013

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said there were "dozens of arrests", without giving further details.

Authorities had earlier banned the protestors from marching on the Champs-Elysees. They followed a nearby route and organisers claimed their numbers swelled to 1.4 million, while police gave an initial estimate of 300,000.

Protesters demonstrate against France's gay marriage law in Paris (PIERRE ANDRIEU/AFP/Getty Images)

The hugely controversial bill to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption has been comfortably adopted by the lower chamber of parliament and will go to the Senate for examination and approval in April.

The upper house is unlikely to prevent the groundbreaking reform from becoming law by the summer. The protestors want the government to withdraw the project and put it to a referendum.

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23 Mar 2013
The opponents to gay marriage highlighted France's flagging economy, beset by mass layoffs and spiralling unemployment, and attacked Socialist President Francois Hollande's government for ignoring pressing issues while pushing ahead with his election pledge of "Marriage for All."

An anti gay marriage protester stands in front of riot police officers on the Champs Elysee (AP)

Banners held up along the march route read: "We want work not gay marriage," and "No to gayxtremism."

The Paris police had turned down a request from the protest organisers to march on the Champs-Elysees on the grounds it would be a threat to public order, partly because it borders the French presidential palace.

The demonstrators lined a three-mile route from the Paris business district of La Defense to the roundabout where the Arc de Triomphe is located.

Thousands of people demonstrate on the Champs-Elysees avenue against France's gay marriage law (AFP/Getty Images)

The movement against gay marriage has given France a new celebrity in the form of its public face, Virginie Tellenne, a Parisian socialite who goes by the name of Frigide Barjot.

Her assumed name - a play on the name of French film star Brigitte Bardot, a sex symbol in the 1960s - translates as Frigid Loony.

"We want the president to deal with the economy and leave the family alone," Ms Tellenne said Sunday.

"We will not give up anything. We came to defend the fact that a father and a mother is better for children," said Marie, a 30-year-old protestor.

Somewhere between 340,000 and 800,000 demonstrators had flooded into the capital for an anti-gay marriage march in January.

A campaign orchestrated by the Catholic Church and belatedly backed by the mainstream centre-right opposition has steadily gathered momentum.

But Mr Hollande's support for the legislation has not wavered and his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, has revealed that the president will be attending the marriages of gay friends once the legislation is on the statute books.

Gay men and women can already adopt as individuals in France if approved by social services.

A separate law on providing medically assisted conception to gay couples, already extended to heterosexual couples unable to conceive, will be debated later in the year.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/28/2013 10:29:46 PM
From: lorne  Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny...its about time they started protecting themselves!

White Student Union Claims Towson Has Black-On-White Crime Problem

March 26, 2013
Reporting Rochelle Ritchie
baltimore.cbslocal.com



TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) — A student known for causing a bit of controversy on the campus of Towson University is now taking the law into his own hands in an effort to tackle what he believes to be a growing problem of black-on-white crime around campus.

Rochelle Ritchie spoke with the student behind the plan.

The founder of the White Student Union–which is not recognized by the university–says white women are the biggest target for crime committed by black men. Now he and his fellow members are standing up against it.

Matthew Heimbach is not a stranger to stirring up controversy after starting a White Student Union on the campus of Towson University in which members chalked “white power” all over campus. Now he’s organizing nightly patrols looking to report crimes–a majority, he says, committed by black males.



“Towson sends us reports every time a violent crime happens on campus and the one thing we always see is the offender is a black male between 18 and 24,” said Heimbach.

Heimbach says there has been a spike in black-on-white crime, particularly with black male on white female crime, and he is tired of it being ignored.

“The idea is, as a Christian, to stand up for all human people, especially those who are being discriminated against and in this case attacked,” Heimbach said.

“I think it’s something that should be avoided altogether,” said one student.

University officials say his effort are without merit.

“This campus is one of the safest in the entire state of Maryland,” said Victor Collins.
According to the University System of Maryland, which monitors crime on campus, Towson University has the lowest crime statistics. Despite an increase in enrollment, violent crimes are down almost 38 percent.

Some students fear Heimbach’s beliefs more than an actual criminal.

“I felt very safe, but when I heard about this, I was like, `Well, now I can’t walk alone. I have to find a guy friend to walk me back to my dorm,’” said Alexandra Gainous.

In response to the White Student Union crime patrol, university officials say, “We do not encourage the general public to take the law into their own hands for both their personal safety and legal protection.”



Some call Heimbach a racist. He says he is simply trying to serve his community.

“The White Student Union is just trying to be the vanguard to help our community,” he said.

Heimbach says three males and one female armed with pepper spray will patrol the campus and report or place a person under citizen’s arrest if they believe that person is committing a crime. Heimbach says if his group sees a non-white student being violated, they will step in and help.

Heimbach graduates in May.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/28/2013 10:36:01 PM
From: lorne3 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224890
 
Kenny...What do you figure made these black thugs torture, rape and murder these 2 White kids?????

Torture-slaying retrial declared 'victim-free' zone

Judge warns families of couple murdered during black-on-white carjacking, kidnapping
Thursday, March 28, 2013
wnd.com





Family members of two torture-slaying victims say they are sustaining another slight at the hands of the judicial system – which already has forced them to endure retrials of those accused in the case.

This time, the judge in the trial of one of the suspects in the deaths of Chris Newsom, 23, and Channon Christian, 21, has told their family members not to wear buttons they created honoring their lost loved ones if they sit at the front of the courtroom where George Thomas now is on trial for the deaths.

WND was among the first to report on the case that has garnered attention for the horrific black-on-white violence that destroyed the lives of the two people who had been dating just a short time. Investigators say Christian and Newsom were on a Jan. 6, 2007, date and were in the process of leaving a friend’s apartment complex.

Christian reportedly was sitting at the wheel of her Toyota SUV and Newsom was at her side in the open door, kissing her, when they were attacked by the armed gang members.

According to court documents, the two were tied up, blindfolded and taken to one defendant’s rental home. Shortly thereafter, Newsom was sexually assaulted, shot in the head, set on fire and his body was left beside railroad tracks. The attackers allegedly took 24 hours to kill Christian, raping her multiple times and spraying bleach in her mouth to destroy evidence before stuffing her in plastic and dumping her in a closed trash can.

The Knox News reported two years ago after the first round of trials in which the suspects were found guilty that new trials would have to be held because the judge was presiding over the cases “while trysting in his office, cutting drug deals with felons on a taxpayer-funded cell phone and snorting pain pills with a former drug court probationer.”

So the court hearings were restarted, and now Senior Judge Walter Kurtz, hearing the evidence against suspect George Thomas, said family members may wear photo buttons they created to honor their loved ones – but they then must sit several rows back from the front bench in the courtroom.

Christian’s father, Gary Christian, said he no longer will sit in an area of the courtroom near where the defendant and his attorneys sit in the Knoxville, Tenn., courtroom.

Carjacking victims Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom

The trial for Thomas may be the end of the case. Alleged co-conspirator Vanessa Coleman also had been granted a new trial because of the earlier judge’s actions, and was convicted in a second trial and sentenced to 35 years.

Earlier convictions for Lemaricus Davidson and Letalvis Cobbins stood because of the physical evidence that linked them to the crimes.

Defendant No. 5, Eric DeWayne Boyd was found guilty of being an accessory and sentenced to 18 years.

Davidson was given the death penalty. Cobbins was given life in prison, the sentence for Thomas before a new trial was ordered.

Judge Richard Baumgartner, the judge whose misbehavior sparked the retrials, later pleaded guilty to official misconduct and resigned.

The attack happened when such black-on-white violence was just starting to gain attention, and grabbed the headlines because of the extreme violence involved.

The brutalized bodies of the victims showed evidence that the attackers had tried to destroy DNA evidence by dousing Christian with bleach and Newsom’s body was burned beyond recognition.

L to R, Eric Boyd, Lemaricus Davidson, George Thomas, Letalvis Cobbins, and Vanessa Coleman

The suspects were arrested within a few days of the attack in the Knoxville and Lebanon areas.

Prosecutors have explained the suspects carjacked the couple and decided to get rid of Newsom before pursuing their sexual attack on Christian.

Comments posted on a variety of websites by the public showed the level of disgust that developed. One writer said a lethal injection would be too good, and “a public quartering would send a message to other dirt bags that society will not tolerate such atrocities.”

Attorneys for the defendants actually tried to have such comments censored.



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/29/2013 1:13:49 PM
From: longnshort8 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Cheney: “Preventing this president from enacting devastating policies is not obstructionism. It is patriotism.” scoop 8 204



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/29/2013 2:19:27 PM
From: longnshort  Respond to of 224890
 
[yt]qEv1afKaLhA#![/yt]



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/29/2013 2:45:38 PM
From: longnshort  Respond to of 224890
 
Two Vacations In One Week: Obama Girls Go From Bahamas Vacation To Idaho Skiing Getaway it's good to be king, huh?



To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (154139)3/30/2013 8:12:38 AM
From: lorne7 Recommendations  Respond to of 224890
 
Primetime: Piers Morgan Falls to Near-Last on Last Place CNN

Wednesday night, in the key 25-54 demo, Morgan attracted a measly 113,000 viewers, which means he was beat by everyone else at CNN during the all-important primetime hours (between 5pm and 10pm), except for the increasingly hapless Erin Burnett, who hit a Soledad O'Brien-level rating low with only 89,000 viewers.

breitbart.com