http://www.dssrookie.com/ en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:30:27 GMT vBulletin 180 http://www.dssrookie.com/images/misc/rss.png http://www.dssrookie.com/ http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312867-Differnt-vers-of-Michael-Jacksons-Billie-Jean?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:34:27 GMT

I LIKE IT! ]]> General Rants and Discussion Gibson49 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312867-Differnt-vers-of-Michael-Jacksons-Billie-Jean http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312839-Columbias-Cons-Ivy-League-social-work-program-run-by-team-of-former-prisoners?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:42:40 GMT Columbia's Cons: Ivy League social work program run by team of former prisoners
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published June 19, 2013
FoxNews.com

Kathy Boudin was recently approached by a Fox News Channel producer at Columbia University after public outrage over her adjunct teaching position at the school. (Fox News Channel)

Kathy Boudin's page on Columbia University's faculty directory makes no mention of her involvement with political terrorist group the Weather Underground or the time she served in an upstate New York prison.

CJI Associate Director Cheryl Wilkins listing on the faculty directory for Columbia's School of Social Work also makes no mention of her criminal past. (FoxNews.com)

EXCLUSIVE: In the hallowed halls of Columbia University, a nest of ex-cons — who have served time for murder, attempted murder, robbery and assault — hold court on their unique brand of social justice for admiring students enrolled in the school's social work program, a FoxNews.com investigation has found.
The ex-cons work for or with the Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI), co-founded in 2009 by former Weather Underground operative and Columbia adjunct professor Kathy Boudin, who pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in an infamous 1981 armed robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. And while that case was well-publicized, the group is hardly upfront about the “practical experience” of Boudin and others associated with the CJI.
A description on the program's website says it is "situated inside” Columbia, and a part of the school’s “Social Intervention Group,” a research center within the Columbia University School of Social Work. It lists among its goals helping to forge a solution for “a central social crisis of our time, mass incarceration.” The program holds events and conducts research as part of "an interdisciplinary project built around a model of community collaboration" that "seeks to increase the number of skilled practitioners, policy-makers and researchers who can advance the fields of re-entry and incarceration across all disciplines.”
“It’s terrible that she has murderers working with her at a school."
- John Hanchar, brother-in-law of slain Nyack Police Officer Edward O’ Grady
But students and parents who shell out more than $43,000 in annual tuition and fees might be hard-pressed to uncover the fact that former inmates are running the CJI. Outside of a vague reference to Boudin and Cheryl Wilkins being "part of a community of people who have returned from prison," there is no information about their criminal pasts. Boudin's school directory bio, for example, makes no mention of her time in prison. Several other CJI faculty, program members and associates have similarly disturbing backgrounds.
Wilkins, co-director of the CJI, is listed in the Columbia School of Social Work adjunct faculty directory as a “research scientist” and “Associate Director for the Criminal Justice Initiative. She was convicted for her role in a 1996 gunpoint hijacking of a Federal Express truck in Harlem, in which she served as the getaway driver. Wilkins served a 12-year sentence for robbery and assault at Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan.
But Wilkins' school biography page makes no mention of her time in jail. Wilkins is also listed as staff associate at Columbia Law School's Center for Institutional and Social Change, though that bio also neglects any mention of her prison time. According to the bio, Wilkins works with teens who have incarcerated parents and is an adjunct lecturer at Columbia, where she often discusses topics concerning the “need of families and communities affected by mass incarceration.”
Denise Blackwell, a “research assistant” under the Social Intervention Group, the parent/umbrella group of the Criminal Justice Initiative, was paroled in 2003 after serving 10 years in prison on an attempted second-degree murder conviction for her role in a Brooklyn holdup in which three drug dealers were killed. According to reports of her 1991 arrest, Blackwell knew the three men and "orchestrated" the robbery.
"By prearrangement, she let the boys in to stick up the place," a New York Police Department lieutenant was quoted as saying at the time. Blackwell’s son, Mack Moton, who was 15 at the time, was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 32 years to life, and is being held in Sing Sing Correctional Facility, in Ossining, N.Y.
Mika’il DeVeaux was one of the keynote speakers for the CJI’s “Removing the Bars” Conference in 2012. But his bio in the conference program failed to mention the 24-year stint he served in Westchester County for second-degree murder and his subsequent parole in 2003, or that he’s co-director of a non-profit with Boudin called Citizens Against Recidivism. Instead, the bio simply says DeVeaux “has more than three decades of experience working with men incarcerated in New York State maximum security prisons and many who have been released following periods of confinement.”
Repeated requests for comment from Boudin placed through Columbia were not returned, but the school responded with a statement.
“There are approximately 1.6 million people in the nation’s prisons and jails and 7 million American children with a parent who is either incarcerated, on parole, or on probation,” read the statement. “The Criminal Justice Initiative focuses on how the social work profession can best address the educational and human needs of individuals, children, families and communities affected by incarceration.”
Requests for comment were also sent to officials at CJI, including Wilkins and Blackwell.
Critics can't understand why convicted criminals with violent pasts should hold such prestigious positions at the vaunted school.
“I am perplexed by Columbia administrators’ plot to commission notorious villains as mentors to the rising generation of Americans,” Josiah Ryan, editor-in-chief for education advocacy blog Campus Reform, told FoxNews.com. “Columbia administrators should send a letter to parents informing them that many of the professors who will teach their children are unable to pass a basic criminal background check.”
Boudin was a member of radical leftist group the Weather Underground, which was responsible for numerous bombings in the 1960s and 1970s, including ones at the Pentagon, Capitol Building and New York's police headquarters. The group was co-founded by William Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, who themselves went on to long careers in academia in Chicago. The couple was appointed the legal guardians of Boudin's son while she was in prison and has been linked to the early days of President Obama's political career.
Ayers and his wife were even in attendance for CJI's "Removing the Bars" conference in 2012.
"Hungout with Angela Davis, Bill and Bernadine Ayers, Kathy Boudin & others! Wow #removingbars #removingthebars We had a great kickoff event," tweeted Ronin Davis, then head of the Criminal Justice Caucus, a CJI student-leadership group.
The group holds frequent on-campus events, where a common theme is a curious vision of prison reform that seems not to include punishment. Some of the panel discussions at these events include: “How do we DE-carcerate?” and “Society’s Perceptions of the Formerly Incarcerated.”
Last year, CJI held a workshop titled, “No One Wants to Work With Me: Working with Difficult Populations,” where one of the key points discussed was the “misconceptions and judgments of people labeled registered sex offenders.”
The program’s ties to the Weather Underground are deep. In addition to Boudin's involvement and the visit from Ayers and Dohrn, other former high-level members of the Weather Underground were invited to speak at CJI events. They included Russell Neufeld, who went on to become an anti-death penalty attorney, and Laura Whitehorn, who spoke at an October 2011 called the “Troy Davis Teach-in.”
In 1981, a 38-year-old Boudin, along with several other members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army, attempted to rob a Brink’s armored truck in Nanuet, N.Y. The two police officers and the security guard were killed in a shootout during the attempted heist, and, although Boudin did not fire any weapons, her role as getaway driver earned her a sentence of 20 years to life. She was paroled in August 2003.
Boudin's work in prison education dates back to her stint at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York. She took part in a 2001 research study on the subject that also included as participants former Black Panther and one-time FBI most-wanted fugitive Angela Davis and Donna Hylton, who served 25 years in prison for her part in the 1985 torture and murder of a Long Island real-estate broker whose decomposing body was found stuffed in a foot locker. That study, and her previous experience with the Weather Underground, appears to have laid the groundwork for her reinvention as an academic specializing in working for -- and with -- violent criminals.
John Hanchar, brother-in-law of Nyack Police Officer Edward O’ Grady, who was killed in the Brink's robbery, told FoxNews.com it is distressing to see Boudin and other violent criminals treated like academic superstars.
“That’s the worst thing I could have heard,” Hanchar said. “My sister had three children and she raised them into good people and what [Boudin] did was take their father from them.
“It’s terrible that she has murderers working with her at a school," he continued. "I could see if they had someone speak who committed robbery and served their time, but murderers? It’s not right.” ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312839-Columbias-Cons-Ivy-League-social-work-program-run-by-team-of-former-prisoners http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312797-Democrats-defended-rights-of-slave-owners?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:29:33 GMT BLACK DEMOCRAT SWITCHES TO REPUBLICAN

'It was Democrats who defended rights of slave owners'

A state senator from Louisiana who recently announced his departure from the Democratic Party to become a Republican says the party of President Obama is one of “overseers.”

State Sen. Elbert Guillory released a video Sunday explaining his reason for leaving the Democrats, citing their opposition to civil rights, their attitudes toward people and their desire for “control.”

He said the black community, which he invited to join him in the move, should quit exchanging self-reliance for the “allegiance of overseers” through government programs that are intended not to help people, but to control them.

He said in his video message that Democrats push a social justice and welfare aid strategy to manage citizens, not help them from poverty.

“In recent history, the Democratic Party has created the illusion that their agenda and their policies are what’s best for black people. Somehow, it has been forgotten that the Republican Party was founded in 1854 as an abolitionist movement, with one simple creed – that slavery is a violation of the rights of man,” he said.

He noted it was Republicans who pushed for the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, giving blacks citizenship, voting rights and due process.

“Democrats, on the other hand, were the party of Jim Crow. It was the Democrats who defended the rights of slave owners.”

He warned that the very foundations of the Democratic Party are faulty.

“At the heart of liberalism is the idea that only a great and powerful big government can be the benefactor of social justice for all Americans. But the left is only concerned with one thing: control. And they disguise this control as charity.”

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that with one week left in the already Republican-controlled legislature’s session, the impact of the change is uncertain.

The report also said Guillory moved into the Democratic Party in 2007, but his voting record throughout his service in office has “remained staunchly conservative.”

He expressed disappointment in his party’s positions on abortion, which Obama supports in all forms; the Second Amendment, which Obama repeatedly has tried to curb; education and immigration.

Guillory said he reached his tolerance limit when state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson said fellow lawmakers had told her they based their opposition to Obamacare on the race of the president, not policy, the newspaper said.

“The accusations of racism this week certainly helped push me over the edge,” Guillory told the newspaper.

WND columnist Star Parker noted Guillory said Democrats “have moved away from the traditional values of most Americans. Their policies have encouraged high teen birth rates, high high school dropout rates, high incarceration rates and very high unemployment rates.”

Parker said black Americans, “like every American, need less taxes taken out of their paycheck, need to be able to choose where to send their child to school, need to be able to pick freely a health-care plan that suits their needs, and need to save for retirement instead of paying payroll taxes.”

Guillory said the move was the “right decision, not only for me, for all my brothers and sisters in the black community.” ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312797-Democrats-defended-rights-of-slave-owners http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312782-NBA-Finals-Heat-Spurs-touch-sports-best-qualities-in-classic-Game-6?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:27:36 GMT MIAMI --Heat 103, Spurs 100.

"It was by far the best game I've ever been a part of." - LeBron James after Game 6, June 18th, 2013.

You almost want to not write a word on it. It's tempting to just let Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals exist in the ether, as a pantheon game for whatever any of us want. LeBron James' career in a microcosm. The Spurs' finally running out of bullets in their seemingly ever-loaded weapon. The heroic intensity of competition. The drama of sport, where triumph and tragedy meets luck and mental focus.

But you have to try and capture these moments, to put them in context from a different lens than the human eye or the camera. You watched Game 6. You saw what you wanted: the rollercoaster of LeBron James' life and career, the sad struggle of two legends in Manu Ginobili and Dwyane Wade in a mistake-laden game, the reason Miami signed Ray Allen, the reason the Spurs have moved away from Manu Ginobili, the best of Tim Duncan, the sad truth of Tim Duncan.

But more than anything, you saw a great game. Or, as Heat forward James Jones who had the best seat in the house to see it put it:

"That (game) was a barnburner. That exemplifies competition between two teams made up of the world's best basketball players. That's what that game means."

This was the NBA, on the biggest stage, with the biggest stakes, one team with three future Hall of Famers on it on the verge of a fifth title in their coaches' era, the other a superstar team beset by constant drama, their backs against the wall, fighting for their championship survival.


read more: http://$$$.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/22469964/nba-finals-heat-and-spurs-touch-sports-best-qualities-in-classic-game-6 ]]> General Rants and Discussion kgkids http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312782-NBA-Finals-Heat-Spurs-touch-sports-best-qualities-in-classic-Game-6 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312775-Donor-Caught-On-Tape-Slipping-Cash-To-Demonstrators-Supporting-CO-Democrat-Senator-Facing-Recall?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:56:50 GMT Donor Caught On Tape Slipping Cash To Demonstrators Supporting CO Democrat Senator Facing Recall by DEBRA HEINE 18 Jun 2013 Democrat State... Donor Caught On Tape Slipping Cash To Demonstrators Supporting CO Democrat Senator Facing Recall
by DEBRA HEINE 18 Jun 2013

Democrat State Senator Angela Giron is one of two Colorado legislators facing a recall effort in retaliation for her support of the draconian gun control measures passed by Democrats, earlier this year.
Last week Kyle Clark of Denver's 9News was asking viewers for tips on the identity of the mystery man seen passing out twenties to supporters of Democratic Senator Angela Giron.
An unidentified man was caught on tape slipping money to Giron supporters holding signs in opposition to a recall effort by gun rights supporters.
The following video was recorded by the pro-recall group Pueblo Freedom and Rights and provided to 9NEWS.

"I think it speaks for itself," Victor Head, president of Pueblo Freedom and Rights told 9News. "It looks like they're paying people to protest us."
The mystery man with the handful of cash has since been identified as a donor to the effort defending the Pueblo Democrat from the recall, 72-year-old Gerald Rosenblatt of Pueblo.
Rosenblatt admitted that he gave cash to Giron's supporters, but insists his cash handout was spontaneous.
Last week, however, Giron's anti-recall campaign told 9News that the senator didn't even know the man who was seen in the video handing out cash to her sign-waving supporters (and speaking with the senator herself.) Her campaign manager suggested that the video was a setup perpetrated by Republicans. ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312775-Donor-Caught-On-Tape-Slipping-Cash-To-Demonstrators-Supporting-CO-Democrat-Senator-Facing-Recall http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312762-Costly-Obama-family-trip-to-Africa-under-fire-amid-sequester-cuts?goto=newpost Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:04:24 GMT June 18, 2013FoxNews.com President Obama’s trip this month to Africa, with the first family tagging along, is projected to cost taxpayers as much... June 18, 2013FoxNews.com

President Obama’s trip this month to Africa, with the first family tagging along, is projected to cost taxpayers as much as $100 million, sparking criticism as the federal government scrimps along during sequester-related budget cuts.
Among the related costs will be fighter jets; hundreds of Secret Service agents; a Navy ship with a full trauma center; and military cargo planes to bring 56 vehicles including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bullet*proof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. The details were reported by The Washington Post, based on a confidential planning document.
The trip to sub-Sahara Africa runs from June 26 to July 3.
The president and first lady have cancelled plans to go on a safari that would have included the additional expense of a sharp-shooting team, responsible for putting down a cheetah, lion or any other wild animal that became a threat.
Figuring out the exact cost of the overall trip is difficult because the information is classified for the purpose of national security.
However, a Government Accountability Office report shows President Clinton’s 1998 trip to six African nations cost at least $42.7 million – not including Secret Service expenses.
Obama’s trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, a person familiar with the Obama journey but not authorized to speak for attribution told The Post.
The trip comes as agencies across the federal government try to find cost-saving measures to deal with the massive, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequester, which kicked in this year after Washington lawmakers failed to agree on a more measured approach. The Secret Service, for example, pushed to cancel public White House tours to save thousands in weekly overtime expenses.
“For the cost of this trip to Africa, you could have 1,350 weeks of White House tours,” Rep. George Holding, a North Carolina Republican, said last week. “It is no secret that we need to rein in government spending, and the Obama administration has regularly and repeatedly shown a lack of judgment for when and where to make cuts. … The American people have had enough of the frivolous and careless spending.”
The White House had defended the trip cost saying the Secret Service plan determines the security cost and that first family’s trip will result in long-term goodwill.
“The infrastructure that accompanies the president’s travels is beyond our control,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. “When you travel to regions like Africa that don’t get a lot of presidential attention, you tend to have very long-standing and long-running impact from the visit.”


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2Wf9zmYfE ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312762-Costly-Obama-family-trip-to-Africa-under-fire-amid-sequester-cuts http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312628-Gun-Control-Rally-in-San-Bernardino-Draws-3-Protesters?goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:55:30 GMT OFA Gun Control Rally in San Bernardino Draws 3 Protesters
by DEBRA HEINE 18 Jun 2013

Last week, Obama's political action arm, Organizing For Action, held rallies throughout the country advocating for stricter gun laws. Their rallies drew small numbers as seen here and here.
We can thank the vigilant San Bernardino Sun for putting a spotlight on perhaps the smallest of the rallies.
"On Flag Day growing up, I used to always wave a flag with my grandson, and it hit me that the victims of that horrible tragedy won't ever be able to do that," said Curtis Lewis, the group's gun violence prevention coordinator. "We need people to stand up and write to Congress to say they want laws that respect the Second Amendment but also help prevent these tragedies."
Lewis said he supported HR 1565, a bill that would require background checks for sales at gun shows and online, "close the gun show and other loopholes," and create a commission to study the causes of mass violence in the United States.

The protest drew three members of Organizing for Action, a nonprofit group that supports President Barack Obama's agenda, to the National Orange Show Events Center.
"It's three people today, but it will be 23 next time, and we'll see the time after that," Lewis said.
OFA, by the way, is a 501 (c) (4) group that was able to swiftly obtain its tax exempt status, earlier this year.
So, what's next on the agenda for OFA now that they're on such a winning streak, you ask?
Get ready to be "educated" about Obama's horribly unpopular health care law...
The political advocacy group born from President Obama's reelection campaign debuted its first television advertisement Monday in a spot designed to highlight the benefits of his signature healthcare law.
The 30-second campaign-style spot from Organizing for Action (OFA) features Americans who say they have benefited from the legislation, profiling a doctor who is treating more seniors and a man who received a rebate from his insurer.
"Better coverage and lower costs, that's what ObamaCare means for them," the ad's narrator says.
OFA said the ad would be coupled with an "education effort" undertaken by some 800 summer fellows who would extol the virtues of the legislation as it moved to full implementation. ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312628-Gun-Control-Rally-in-San-Bernardino-Draws-3-Protesters http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312609-How-mexican-8th-Graders-Act-in-our-Public-Schools?goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:17:10 GMT ]]> General Rants and Discussion KDDT http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312609-How-mexican-8th-Graders-Act-in-our-Public-Schools http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312572-Gay-Marriage?goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:48:48 GMT I read a posting on Facebook this morning that a friend passed on to me. I think it is a very well written piece by Matt Haddrell, ... I read a posting on Facebook this morning that a friend passed on to me. I think it is a very well written piece by Matt Haddrell, employed in a northern BC school district. I think his finishing comment in the rant fits equally well to the Canadian and the American Constitutions and the citizens of our two great countries.

Quote :

After all these years and all my various rants on topics ranging from the Constitution, to modern masculinity; running through international terrorism past race relations and ending at educational philosophy; it has dawned on me that I am yet to weigh in on gay marriage. I know a number of my fans have been unsure what to think on the issue themselves, waiting with bated breath form my deep and, no doubt, profound thoughts on the topic to let them know what their opinion should be. Well your wait is finally over.

My opinion on gay marriage has multiple layers to it. On the surface is the simple fact that, since it has no effect on me personally, I could not possibly care less if gay people want to get married, so, whatever, go for it guys, fill your boots.

Down to the second layer is that I feel the issue of gay marriage and homosexuality in general gets FAR too much attention. As a mostly self centered person I choose to ignore all people who aren't me. Giving undue attention is against my personal credo, so if gay people want to get married I say stop paying all this attention and let them get married so I can get back to ignoring them like I ignore everyone else. No one pays any attention to the needs of bald, left handed, men pushing forty, gays deserve the same level of, "Who cares, just go away and leave me alone."

The third layer is this. The pool of single, available women in this community is not large (they're out there, there just isn't too many of them). Two guys marrying each other is two fewer guys competing for the same women I am. Gay marriage does not effect me, but direct competition for mates does, so my proposal is this: not only should gay marriage be allowed, it should be MANDATORY. As of this day, all single men more attractive then me should be FORCED to pair off and marry each other, at least until I get hooked up, then they may divorce.

The deepest layer is the simplest. Last I checked, gay people were people too. They are also citizens of Canada. Whether you think we were created by God or discovered by Darwin, all Canadian citizens are guaranteed certain freedoms and nowhere does the Charter of Rights and Freedoms say, "Except for the gays..."

End Quote ]]> General Rants and Discussion davefrombc http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312572-Gay-Marriage http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312476-Are-you-paying-Your-Fair-Share?goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:16:02 GMT By Doug McKelway
Published June 17, 2013
FoxNews.com

The government's program for disability benefits for federal workers is rife with waste and abuse, according to a three part series in the Washington Examiner.
The series documents many cases of apparently healthy young federal workers feasting at the disability trough. One ran marathons while collecting disability. Another hauled in $142,000 in disability payments for a neck injury – all while buying a boat called "Free Ride," travelling the world, doing trapeze flips on a Club Med vacation and enjoying snow skiing and scuba diving.
"For some workers, they can actually make more take-home pay by going on disability than they could if they stayed on the job, " says Mark Flatten, an investigative reporter for the Examiner.
In some cases, the disability program serves as a de facto retirement plan. Some15,000 recipients are 66 or older. Six of them are over the age of 100 - well past retirement age. FECA, the Federal Employee Compensation Act under which the federal disability program is run, lacks many of the controls that state and private sector programs have, says Flatten.
"State plans tend to have much stronger anti-fraud provisions. The federal government’s anti-fraud provisions are basically we trust the workers to tell us the truth," he says.
The FECA program pays 75% of wages for most recipients, all of it tax free. By comparison, federal retirement pay amounts to 60% of wages and it is taxed. The federal government has little incentive to crack down on abuses, because funding for all agencies - about $3 billion per year - is automatically appropriated and run through the Department of Labor.
The US Postal Service, with its legions of letter carriers, tops the list of federal disability claims at 40 percent. In a statement to Fox News Monday, the Postal Service's Inspector General said, "Workers’ comp has become an unintended retirement system. The Labor Department is not addressing these abuses and has no incentive to strike at fraud. Reform is needed."
Complicating effective oversight, the federal program does not require employing agencies to order a second opinion. The claimant can pick his own doctor.
If his claim is rejected, he can file for a different disability, as often as he likes. Senator Susan Collins of Maine has been at the forefront of pushing to close that loophole. "I’m outraged that a program that’s intended to provide financial, medical and rehabilitation support to injured workers instead is plagued with fraud and abuse," she told Fox News.
The Department of Labor Monday defended the disability program. It said in a statement to Fox News, "It is strongly committed to program integrity.... we disagree with the… assessment that the rate of fraud in the ECA program is high, but we consider any amount of fraud or improper payments to be unacceptable."
Rob Waldeck, a lawyer who represents federal workers in disability cases also defended the program. "Every federal worker pays into the FECA program and those who become disabled are getting benefits from the system they paid into while they served," he said.
"The vast majority of former federal workers who are receiving benefits are getting them legitimately."

The private sector has its own problems with disability claims, which have tripled since 1980. The aging of the work force, and the recession explain much of that, but so does a wider latitude in the diagnosis of depression and anxiety. Three times as many Americans claim mental disability as 30 years ago. ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312476-Are-you-paying-Your-Fair-Share http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312457-Poll-Obama-worse-than-bush-on-civil-liberties?goto=newpost Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:14:10 GMT by MIKE FLYNN 17 Jun 2013

A new CNN poll released Monday generated a lot of attention on the dramatic drop in President Obama's approval ratings. The top-line approval numbers were not the most troubling news for the White House, however. Obama now polls much worse than President Bush did on handling government surveillance and protecting civil liberties.

Just 35% of Americans approve of Obama's handling of government surveillance on citizens. 61% disapprove. This is 13 points worse than President Bush scored in the Spring of 2006, just months before the Democrats seized control of Congress. In a poll in May, 2006, 39% approved of how Bush was handling the issue, while 52% disapproved. Bush's numbers came amidst a large outcry from the left and the media criticizing his Administration's anti-terror policies. Yet, today, Obama's numbers are worse.
Also in Monday's CNN poll, 43% of Americans said the Obama Administration had "gone too far" in restricting citizens' civil liberties. In the Fall of 2006, just 39% of Americans said the same thing about Bush.

Much of Obama's first campaign for President was driven by his opposition to Bush's anti-terrorism policies and the government's surveillance activities. Not only has Obama continued these policies; in many cases he has expanded them.

Unfortunately for the White House, the American people have noticed this fact. ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312457-Poll-Obama-worse-than-bush-on-civil-liberties http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312406-Obama-With-a-Scary-Gun-for-Fathers-Day?goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:11:12 GMT White House Tweets Picture of Obama With a Scary Gun for Father's Day
Katie Pavlich | Jun 17, 2013

This is just too good. The White House tweeted a photo of President Obama with a scary looking assault water gun on Father's Day.

Meanwhile, the kid who wore an NRA t-shirt to school is facing jail time.

Suspended and arrested after refusing to change his NRA shirt. Today, 14-year-old Jared Marcum appeared before a judge and was officially charged with obstructing an officer.

A $500 fine and up to a year in jail, that's the penalty that Jared could face, now that a judge has allowed the prosecution to move forward with it's obstructing an officer charge against him.

"Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this," Jared's father Allen Lardieri said. "I don't think it should have ever gotten this far."

The Logan County Police Department initially claimed that the at-the-time 8th grade Logan Middle School student was arrested for disturbing the education process, obstructing an officer and Lardieri says that officers even went as far as threatening to charge Jared with making terroristic threats.

"In my view of the facts, Jared didn't do anything wrong," Ben White, Jared's attorney said. "I think officer Adkins could have done something differently." ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312406-Obama-With-a-Scary-Gun-for-Fathers-Day http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312377-So-God-made-a-Liberal?goto=newpost Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:51:53 GMT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUzMPlQb2G4 ]]> General Rants and Discussion larry0041 http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312377-So-God-made-a-Liberal http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312289-Happy-fathers-day-to-all?goto=newpost Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:48:23 GMT to all at rookie "have a happy, safe fathers day" ]]> General Rants and Discussion cravenmoorhead http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312289-Happy-fathers-day-to-all http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312276-They-walk-among-us?goto=newpost Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:00:50 GMT This tale comes to me from a contact in Malaysia. Whether it is an "urban legend" type posting she was sent by family in the US or fact , I don't know , but it does have a ring of truth to it. By the way .. The US doesn't have a patent on them .. We have some equally clueless ones here.


A DC 'airport ticket agent' who deals with politicians and their aides offers some examples of why the US is in so much trouble!

1.I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Cape Town. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in Massachusetts ..''

Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Cape Town is in South Africa ..''
His response -- click..

3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, 'Don't lie to me!, I looked on the map, and Florida is a very THIN state!!'' (OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from Canada ?'' I said, ''No.'' She said, ''But they look so close on the map'' (OMG, again!)

5. An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas .. I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas ... When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ''I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)

6. An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?' He replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!'' After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca. is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage..

8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?''

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright from Ala. who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get on?'' I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.''

10 Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ''I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?'' I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola and fly on a commuter plane. She said, ''Yeah, whatever, smarty!''

11 Mary Landrieu, La. Senator, called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. "Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.'' I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ''Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!''
12 A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .'' I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?'' 'Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the man After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, sir, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino anywhere." ''The man retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!'' So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo , do you?'' The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''

Now you know why the Government is in the shape it's in! Could ANYONE be this DUMB?

YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED.

I don't write it, I just offer it for your consideration. Like manure, you just gotta spread it around. ]]> General Rants and Discussion davefrombc http://www.dssrookie.com/threads/312276-They-walk-among-us