Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Islam in Detroit


Jimmy Carter to Give Keynote Speech at Muslim Convention in Detroit

On Monday, The Toledo Blade reported that former President Jimmy Carter, the same President who accused Israel of practicing apartheid and called for the U.S to "legitimize" Hamas, will be giving the keynote speech at the 51st annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) held in Detroit this Friday, September 1st.

The speech will be held at a luncheon August 30th.That very same evening, a session will be held titled, "Generations Rise: Elevating Muslim-American Culture," the same title as the conference's theme, where ISNA's outgoing President, Imam Mohamed Magid and four other Muslim speakers will offer ideas on Muslim-American advancement over the next five years. A "secret special guest" is also billed to appear; no indications are made whether that will be Carter or not.

At the convention's opening session Friday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the national leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will make remarks. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim member of Congress, will also be speaking Saturday.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Bonds revisited

Bonds act like loans.  You pay back fees, principle and interest over time.  If your furnace goes out or your roof needs to be replaced, you may not have the option of just paying cash.  If not, you may take out a loan like a home equity loan and pay it off as quickly as you can.
Government is not as frugal spending your tax dollars. Bonds have been a major source of government waste.  The amount of waste depends on the size and duration of the Bond.  A 30 year Bond, paying 5% interest gives you a debt that is double the size of the Bond.  If the duration is 20 or 10 years, the interest cost is reduced proportionally.
Before the days of government trying to increase its cash reserves, voters were inclined to approve or disapprove Bonds based on their necessity or merit, these days, not so much.  The sales pitch for all ESPLOST (sales tax increase) votes for public schools was “it’s for the kids”.  Knowing that school districts sell Bonds immediately after the vote should tell you that your sales taxes will go to their debt service fund.  If the ESPLOST raises $50 million a year and goes on for 5 years, the school board anticipates receiving $250 million. If they want money up front and they sell 30 year Bonds at 5%, the school district ends up spending $125 million on stuff and puts the other $125 million into a paper shredder for interest and fees.  
I never understood why a $1 billion a year county public school system or county government would ever need to borrow money.  But without any voter objections, they use Bond money to fund buying land and building schools.
Cities, Counties and other government entities use Bonds to supplement revenue or build reserves.  If their debt gets out of control, they go broke. Elected officials are mobbed by developers who want local government to redevelop private property.  This is never a good idea.  Economic development is best left in the hands of the free market investors, without government subsidies.
Government can avoid selling Bonds if they want to save money.  They can budget dollars to set up accrual accounts and use these accounts to fund construction.
The only folks who can justify borrowing money are individuals who need a loan to buy a car, so they can get to work.  Likewise, they may buy a house and eventually have an asset rather than just paying rent forever. 
Government entities also have reserve accounts you can find in their CAFR (Consolidated Audited Financial Report). These funds are budgeted to accrual accounts and are invested.  Most of these accounts are spread all over and can amount to an entire years’ revenue.  They don’t tell you about that do they ?
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Video Journalist Forcefully Removed From Republican Meeting!

Posted by Brian K. Pritchard in Featured Stories, State & National, Sunday, August 24, 2014 updated August 25, 2014
 
Governor Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal sat on the front row of a Republican Candidate meet and greet and watched as Dawson County Deputy Tony Wooten removed video journalist Nydia Tisdale from Burt’s Pumpkin Farm.
 
Saturday afternoon Johnny and Kathy Burt, owners of Burt’s Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville, hosted a meet and greet for Governor Deal and Republican candidates. In attendance were, Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, Republican candidate for State School Superintendent Richard Woods, Department of Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, Attorney General Sam Olens, 9th District U.S. Congressman Doug Collins, Candidate for U.S. Senate David Perdue and Governor Nathan Deal.

Tisdale the owner of AboutForsyth.com has attended many of the candidate’s events. She videos them and uploads the videos to her website. Several of the candidates know her. She is a non-partisan video journalist.

Tisdale told FYN in an interview that upon arriving she introduced herself to Kathy Burt. She arrived early and sat on the front row with her video camera in plain view of everyone. No one approached her and no one asked what she was doing with a camera.

Clint Bearden stood in front of the crowd and said let’s get this kicked off as he introduced Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. With Tisdale’s camera rolling Hudgens started making his campaign stump speech. When talking about Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate Michelle Nunn, referring to the Chamber of Commerce debate between Perdue and Nunn, Hudgens said listening to Nunn
“I thought I was going to absolutely puke.”
Hudgens looked at Tisdale and said  “I don’t know why you’re video taping?” (Full audio recording of the meeting is below.)

This comment from Hudgens noticeably changed the mood in the room about Tisdale recording the event, especially for Bearden. Hudgens introduced Richard Woods. While Woods was speaking Bearden went and sat next to Tisdale, and according to Tisdale he asked her to stop videoing or she would have to leave. Tisdale told him that she was invited and would not stop. When we asked Bearden for a comment he referred us to the authorities that arrested Tisdale for a comment.

As Woods continued to speak Bearden went to Deputy Wooten for assistance. I then watched Bearden go and speak to the property owners Johnny and Kathy Burt. By this time Labor Commissioner Mark Butler had started speaking. Bearden returned and said something to Wooten. At this time both Bearden and Wooten approached Tisdale. Wooten told her she had to turn the camera off. Tisdale refused and continued to video. Wooten started to try to remove the camera from Tisdale’s hands. When she refused and struggled to keep the camera running, Wooten started physically removing her from the event. Tisdale physically resisted being removed turning the camera on Wooten screaming, “identify yourself, who are you?”
Butler paused as everyone watched Tisdale struggling with Wooten. Deputy Wooten then physically removed Tisdale as she continued to scream and video him.

Butler tried to continue speaking but was interrupted by loud screams coming from Tisdale in the barn (screams can be heard in the audio below). Tisdale told FYN in an exclusive interview (posted below) that she screamed because Deputy Wooten had her arm twisted up her back and she was in pain. The Burts went into the barn where Tisdale was being held. Tisdale told FYN that Johnny Burt told Wooten to let her go and let her leave. Deputy Wooten said it had gone too far for that and she is going to jail. Sources tell FYN that Tisdale allegedly hit Deputy Wooten. Sources also tell FYN that the Burts asked to have her stop videoing or leave. Tisdale was on private property but Burt’s Pumpkin Farm provided their venue for a public event.

Tisdale was taken to jail in Dawson County and charged with felony obstruction of an officer and criminal trespass. Tisdale bonded out at 12:40 Sunday morning. Dawson County took Tisdale’s video camera as evidence. The camera has the full incident recorded on it. FYN spoke to Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle Saturday night. Carlisle refused to comment and referred us to his public information officer on Monday.

After the shock of Tisdale’s removal, Butler made light of it and continued with his comments. Butler then introduced Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black. I was sitting there wondering if Black would comment on what just took place. This was a very disturbing scene that had just taken place. Surely Black would make a comment. No, Black gave his seven minute stump speech like nothing happened. Black then introduced Attorney General Sam Olens.

Olens tooked the microphone and looked around the crowd like did anyone else see what I just saw? Respecting the Burt’s private property rights he made the following statement.
“Let me be possibly politically incorrect here for a second. If we stand for anything as a party what are we afraid of with the lady having a camera filming us? What are we saying here that shouldn't be on film? What message are we sending?  Cause it’s private property they shouldn't be filming? What is the harm? The harm that this poses is far greater than her filming us. What are we hiding? If we are telling you why we are running and what we stand for, what are we hiding?”  Pointing in the direction from where Tisdale was drug away, “there is no reason for that, that is not right”.
Olens continued,“ It is private property. The private property owner has the right to not have the person there. Who is the winner in the long run? Not a good move.”  (Listen to Olens’ comment below in audio file.)

Olens said now that I have shocked everyone with my comments he went on to make some campaign comments and then introduced Congressman Doug Collins. Collins introduced Perdue, Perdue introduced Deal. Then the event was over. A little time for pictures and on to another event. Olens was the only candidate to comment on the situation. Everyone else acted as if it never happened. Sources at the event did tell FYN the candidates were not opposed to Tisdale videoing and several were used to her being at events. The only candidate who commented about her videoing was Hudgens.

At the end of the event Bearden apologized to the crowd for what happened. He said the property owners, the Burts, asked her to stop videoing or leave. FYN tried to contact the Burts for comment, they were not available for comment. I never saw the Burts speak to Tisdale and ask her to leave. I only saw Deputy Wooten and Bearden speak to Tisdale.

The event was advertised as a public event by Governor Deal’s campaign through social media. No restrictions where stated on the invitation. It did not prohibit journalists or have any conditions on the invitation. I accepted the invitation and the campaign knew I was attending three days before the event. Tisdale told FYN she accepted the same invitation and they also knew she was coming. Tisdale even promoted the event for a week on social media and Twitter. A source told FYN that the local paper in the Dawsonville area advertised the event as ‘open to the public’.

I had my camera in clear view. I took pictures. I had my digital audio recorder out in plain view. I always record these events so I can refer to the recording for accuracy of a candidate’s quotes.

The facts are, Tisdale was on private property, she is a video journalist and she went to jail, her video camera was confiscated.

I am not clear if someone from the campaign asked the Burts to stop her from videoing or if they made that decision on their own. No one will answer my question on how the events transpired. I just keep getting referred to the authorities for answers and they won’t comment.

Tisdale’s court date has not been set. FYN requested a comment from Governor Nathan Deal’s Campaign Communication Director, Jen Talaver. Talaver responded
“as this incident was in no way related to Deal for Governor I am referring you to the owner of the private property at which the event took place.”

At 3:50 into the video you will hear Hudgens’ comments concerning Michelle Nunn and Tisdale was videoing. At 12:15 into the video you will hear Tisdale demanding Wooten to identify himself. At 14:12 into the video you will hear Tisdale’s loud screams where she said Wooten was hurting her. 24:10 you will hear Sam Olens’ comments.
http://www.fetchyournews.com/archives/19628-Video-Journalist-Forcefully-Removed-From-Republican-Meeting!.html

Pro-Islamist Beheading


by Judson Phillips -  Thursday, August 21, 2014
 
James Foley of Rochester, N.H., was a freelance contributor for Global Post, in Benghazi, then James Foley went to Syria. He died in an unknown place, beheaded by a man wearing black and speaking with a British accent.
Mr. Foley was allegedly a journalist. To call him a journalist is to stretch that word beyond all meaning. Mr. Foley was an activist and a propagandist. He did not go to report the truth. He was not “fair and balanced.” He wasn’t even accurate.
That did not matter. His cause was the Sunni Islamists fighting the Syrian government. He tweeted repeatedly about this, ignoring the attacks of Islamists on Christians and repeating the pro-Islamist talking points.
He hated Israel. He hated America.
He despised Mitt Romney and Republicans.  Mr. Foley was kidnapped in Syria in November 2012. An interpreter who traveled with him was also kidnapped but later released.
Mr. Foley was held for almost two years before he was executed.
In July, U.S Special Forces were sent into Syria to try and rescue Mr. Foley. It is ironic that Barack Obama sent the American military to rescue an activist who despised our military and this nation, while Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a Marine who served his country honorably is left to rot in a Mexican jail.
We will never know what Mr. Foley thought when he was kidnapped. Was he shocked that his pro-Islamist propaganda and beliefs did not protect him? Was he stunned when he was traded to the hands of the Islamic State (IS)? Did he believe he would be held for a while, then released? Did he believe he would ultimately be able to write a book about his experience? What happened on the last day of his life? Did he know he was going to die when he made the video? He read a statement that he certainly could have written himself. Did he believe that he was just making a video to prove he was still alive or a propaganda video?
When did that horrible realization occur to Mr. Foley that despite his support for the Islamist cause, they were going to kill him anyway?
There is a lesson here that people need to realize.
There is evil in this world and right now, the focus of evil in the world is an organization called IS or ISIS or ISIL.
Pleas for moderation and peace will not work with these people. Strongly worded letters will not work. Surgical airstrikes will not work. There is only one thing that will work against evil. That is force.
IS is marching through Iraq and Syria. It is killing anyone who will not accept their version of Islam. The execution pits are filling rapidly with the victims of their genocide. It does not matter to these lunatics whether their victims are men, women or children. They are killing men and taking young and attractive women to be “wives” or worse.

James Foley’s death should serve as a lesson to anyone who believes there can be accommodation with evil. Mr. Foley supported them. He was their propagandist. He was their cheerleader. What did that get him? A gruesome death and an unmarked grave someplace. Americans generally want to mind their own business and live their own lives.  Unfortunately we face and evil that does not believe in accommodation. They believe in surrender or die. Mr. Obama does not want to admit there is a war coming. After all, he is cheering for the enemy. There is a war coming. The only question is when will it hit our shores. James Foley’s death is a warning to America. Is anyone in Washington listening?
 
 
Comments
When dealing with a 3rd –world country, it’s good to know what missionaries have learned:  A missionary journeyed to Africa to show them that he had a good heart.  Upon determining that his heart was good, they ate it.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
 

HAARP stops Hurricane


California drought deliberately prolonged? Amazing Satellite Image Fraud Posted By: AndiV  Date: Saturday, 23-Aug-2014 13:14:29

This shows the REAL reason for the California drought (along with chemtrails, of course). It is AMAZING that hurricane Julio is still shown on the visible satellite, but it DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE. The other three satellite images prove that it was destroyed by a HAARP downburst of dry air, on August 13, but on the next day, the visible satellite image is still showing it, like nothing happened.
The tropical depression Julio was killed before it could be pulled over to California, by the jetstream. This would have brought tons of rain to California, and Oregon, but it is now destroyed, so the California drought is extended another month.
The Gakona HAARP kills EVERY low pressure system, while it is still over the Pacific, before it can bring rain to the west coast. Several of my videos prove this is happening, so to hide the breakup of this strong tropical depression, they killed it when it was 2,000 miles from California.
 
It was killed, very suddenly, over a six hour period, for no apparent reason, while spinning over warm water, and no jetstream to tear it apart. To avoid the suspicion that HAARP did it, they decided to STILL show it on the satellite maps, even though it is GONE!!!
Tropical Depression Julio was not killed by traveling over cold water. The video shows the sea surface temperature map, and Julio was killed over 80 degree water (27.5 C – sorry in the video, I mistakenly said 25.5).
The HAARP outflow boundary was clearly seen in this video, and this expanding ring is proof of a HAARP downburst of dry air. The roll cloud, or “smoke ring” of dry air, is caused by the edge of the descending air getting “squashed” out, and begins to roll, like a rolling pin smoothing a pie crust. This roll cloud has a lot of momentum, and it can persist for hours, as we see in this video. From the start of the HAARP downburst, it was four hours before the roll cloud was visible at the edge of the hurricane.
The oval shape of the HAARP downburst has a long axis pointing directly to the Gakona HAARP transmitter. This is a very long way for the Alaska transmitter to reach, so it had to have a heavy mass of chemtrails half way, to act as a reflector, to bounce the radio energy almost all the way to Hawaii.
 
It is a rare treat to see the HAARP downburst ring anymore. When I first started making these videos in February, 2014, EVERY single HAARP downburst had a clear ring around it. Now, all the satellite maps are photoshopped to hide the HAARP evidence. Also, all the chemtrails are edited out of the Rapidshare Nasa images, and all the satellite weather maps. This is fraud, and federal law enforcement should arrest those in charge.
This is really sickening, that the weather profiteers can put LIES on the satellite images, to hide their organized crime RACKETEERING, with NO fear of retribution.
People in California need to call for state hearings on this, and get experts to testify publicly, on how every Pacific low pressure “magically” disappears before reaching California.
People all over the USA need to demand congressional hearings on the reality of weather warfare, now that this activity is becoming so obvious.
This video is amazing, and I hope you will forward it to everyone who is affected by drought, or geoengineered aerosols.
The people of California must start talking about who is buying up their private water rights. You will find many land owners have sold out, for large sums of money, and the people who bought those rights are the prime suspect in the man-made California drought
.
 
You people in California can end your drought, by getting organized politically, and using a free Ap to track chemtrails, and then map them onto a free website. I predict that within two months of putting up a free Ap, and a website to track chemtrails, your drought will end.
I believe that the videos on my channel have had a huge beneficial effect on the climate of Texas, and probably the whole country, as the HAARP operators are now more concerned about runaway global warming, than they are about cashing in on their portion of Texas, and California, water rights.
This whole HAARP program needs to go public, just like many hidden technologies of the past have done. All of these were declassified: radar, night vision, GPS, CDMA, and resulted in benefits for the world. It is time for HAARP to emerge into the public domain, so the BEST minds, NOT THE GREEDIEST SCUMBAGS, can use it to preserve life on Earth, as long as possible.
Enough preaching, figure out some way you can get involved, and get going! You folks in California CAN end your drought.
 

 

CDC Autism Fraud


CDC caught in scientific fraud, perpetrating vaccine violence against blacks in shocking eugenics cover-up
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) Yesterday I wrote that Natural News is investigating a report of a massive scientific cover-up perpetrated at the very highest levels of the CDC.

Today I can report that I now have in my possession CDC documents which prove beyond any doubt that the former head of the CDC, Dr. Julie Gerberding, actively participated in willful scientific fraud in order to bury clinical evidence linking the MMR vaccine to a 340% increase in autism among African-American children.

Yes, the CDC knew that MMR vaccines caused autism in black babies, and its top scientists actively conspired to cover up that fact for the last twelve years.

What we are looking at here may be a criminal conspiracy of the highest order which, once fully exposed, will absolutely destroy the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC whistleblower who is stepping forward with all this information has been "haunted" by this cover-up for the last 12 years, and this person has now decided that protecting public health and scientific integrity is more important than protecting vaccine profits.  CDC head Dr. Julie Gerberding conspired to commit scientific fraud
These documents are going to be made public in mere days. They show that Dr. Gerberding and other CDC scientists actively and knowingly conspired to commit scientific fraud in order to hide the truth about vaccines and autism from the public. Dr. Gerberding was later rewarded for her scientific conspiracy with a lucrative executive position at vaccine maker Merck, where she still works today.

We will also present evidence showing that the CDC whistleblower who attempted to tell the truth about all this was reprimanded by CDC leadership as a form of punishment for not falling in line with the lies and the cover-up.
CDC leadership, in other words, actively suppressed its own scientist who was following true scientific protocols.

Furthermore, those CDC scientists who perpetrated the cover-up -- including Coleen Boyle -- were then granted a coveted award from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services "Autism Public Health Response Team" for keeping their mouths shut about the
scientific fraud they helped perpetrate.

That's how things really work at the CDC: Suppress the science, punish any scientists who might speak out, perpetrate a massive public health fraud, then hold an awards ceremony for those who kept their mouths shut.
The CDC's racist eugenics agenda now surfaces.  What is especially heinous and disturbing about these revelations is that the CDC had in its possession irrefutable data linking MMR vaccines to autism in African-American children.

The agency then went out of its way to retroactively alter the study data to commit
scientific fraud which they knew would bring harm to countless African-American babies. Today, there are untold thousands of young black children and teens who grew up with autism disorders due entirely to the CDC's willful scientific fraud. Rather than warning the public about the autism risk of MMR vaccines, the CDC deliberately chose to hide this fact, all while lying to the African-American community by telling them "vaccines are safe!"

In essence, the CDC has perpetrated what can only be called "
vaccine violence against blacks," knowing that black babies would be seriously and permanently harmed by these vaccines yet doing absolutely nothing to warn the public or require safer vaccines from drug companies. To the CDC, black babies are always expendable.
Vaccine violence perpetrated against black Americans. This cover-up has continued for the last twelve years, during which anyone who dared mention the word "autism" in the same sentence as "vaccines" was immediately and viciously attacked by the scientific community, vaccine trolls and the mainstream media. Yet all this time, the CDC's highest officers were fully aware that the MMR vaccine autism link was real. And it was black babies who were suffering the consequences of the cover-up.

Yes, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri shot one black man and killed him, but the CDC allowed doctors to shoot up millions of black babies with dangerous vaccines that have caused untold pain, suffering and permanent damage across the African American community. The audacity and scale of this crime against humanity is almost unspeakable.

Even worse, the very people who were complicit in the engineered destruction of the medical career of Dr. Andrew Wakefield secretly knew his concerns were scientifically correct. They knew MMR vaccines caused autism, and yet they were willing to destroy the life of an honest doctor in order to cover up their own fraud and lies. The criminality of this conspiracy is vast and deeply rooted in corporate-sponsored evil and scientific fraud.
Irrefutable evidence coming out in mere days.  Natural News will be publishing these CDC documents in a matter of days. The documents are shocking. The CDC has been caught red-handed. There is no covering this up, and the entire mainstream media owes all vaccine skeptics a huge apology right now: we were right all along to warn the public about vaccine dangers.

The web of lies and "scientific" fictions that has propped up the vaccine industry for decades is headed for collapse. Those who promoted these vaccines will rightly be seen as the racist eugenics promoters they truly are. The very term "vaccine" will soon be synonymous with "scientific fraud." The history of modern medicine changes course in just a few days. Soon, the whole world will know that the vaccine empire operating today was built upon a foundation of callous racism, medical lies and scientific fraud.

This is all on top of the vaccine fraud we've already documented here at Natural News thanks to two courageous whistleblowers who used to work as virologists for Merck. They
filed a False Claims Act with the federal government, accusing Merck of committing extreme scientific fraud with the fabrication of vaccine efficacy data.  Guess where former CDC head Dr. Gerberding now works? Also Merck.

Watch these videos to learn more:

Source:http://www.naturalnews.com/046537_vaccine_violence_black_Americans_scientific_fraud.html#ixzz3B3PVBga0
Tags: vaccine violence, black Americans, scientific fraud
Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/046537_vaccine_violence_black_Americans_scientific_fraud.html#ixzz3BQOCGDBh http://www.naturalnews.com/046537_vaccine_violence_black_Americans_scientific_fraud.html#ixzz3BQOTT9X3

The dependency state grows to 175 million

by Robert Romano

Don’t think the government is ubiquitous? Consider the following data published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2012, 109.6 million Americans were on some form of means-tested welfare, including Medicaid, food stamps and public housing. Another 43.7 million were on Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and other government programs.

Add to that another 21.9 million government employees working at the federal, state, and local level according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, and you wind up with a grand total of 175.2 million people dependent on the government one way or another — more than 56 percent of the population. That’s a clear majority.

But what about the voting age population? There’s about 50 million children on Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare programs. Meaning, when they’re subtracted out of the total, there’s still about 125.2 million adults that are government-dependent in some way, shape, or form.

That’s still about 53 percent of the 235.6 million voting age population who at least nominally have a majoritarian interest in the continued expansion of government.

Many commentators comfort themselves and their readers by not including government workers or seniors in these government dependency indexes, but that is as every bit misleading as excluding others who financially benefit from the government treasury.

For example, the Census figures do not include the many millions more who qualify for things like student financial aid, student loans, home loans financed by Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, a multitude of tax credits, or the employees of subsidized industries and of private contractors that work for the government.

This seemingly benign intrusion into almost every aspect of our lives has one assured impact: it creates a perpetual incentive for more and more government.

The point is not to belittle or besmirch those who are on the take, nor to overlook those who paid taxes into these vast programs. The fact is, it is virtually impossible to get through modern life without taking advantage of them.

All you have to do is live to the age of 65, and you are guaranteed enrollment in the dependency state. That is, whether you wanted to pay the payroll taxes or not. Whether you thought you would have invested that money better yourself or not. Whether you like it or not. For, there is no choice in the matter.

In the Federalist No. 10, James Madison warned that in democracies, “governments are too unstable, [and] the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”

Madison and the Framers thought that through the scheme of elected representatives, state legislatures appointing senators, plus having a large, geographically wide republic and constitutional limits on the powers of government, a tyranny of the majority would not appear.

But did it work? The American experiment with constitutionalism was supposed to have cured what Madison called the “mischiefs of faction.” Yet, as the limits on government have been peeled away by successive administrations and Congresses over decades, and tens of millions have become enrolled in the dependency state, sadly, it would appear it was as effective as every failed experiment that came before it.

Robert Romano is the senior editor of Americans for Limited Government.

Source:

http://netrightdaily.com/2014/08/dependency-state-grows-175million/?utm_source=WhatCounts+Publicaster+Edition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+dependency+state+grows+to+175+million&utm_content=The+dependency+state+grows+to+175+million

Read more at NetRightDaily.com:
http://netrightdaily.com/2014/08/dependency-state-grows-175-million/#ixzz3BQFvvefs

Sunday, August 24, 2014

USSA by, for and of the Oligarchy


You Have ‘Near Zero’ Impact On Policy, Determines Princeton Study  Sunday, August 17th, 2014 by Pat Kane
Is America really the most free country on the plant? Despite what patriots may tell themselves, several new studies say ‘no.’ A shocking new report from Princeton University Professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Professor Benjamin Page found that the average American has a “near-zero” impact on U.S. policy, both domestic and foreign.
“Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impact on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little to no independent influence,” reads the study which is slated to appear in the fall edition of Perspectives on Politics.
For the paper, researchers examined over 1,800 separate policy issues and the public attitude towards them. Of these 1,800 issues, the study determined that public opinion was almost categorically ignored by legislators.
This study comes only months after a similarly harrowing study by the same researchers that determined the U.S. government in not a democracy or a republic, but is in fact an oligarchy.
“I’d say that contrary to what decades of political science research might lead you to believe, ordinary citizens have virtually no influence over what their government does in the United States… Government policy-making over the last few decades reflects the preferences of those groups — of economic elites and of organized interests,” said Gilens in an interview.
Breitbart reporter Wynton Hall notes that while this research is controversial, one needs only to look at the news to see this phenomena in action. Hall claims that despite a Reuters poll showing 70% of Americans are starkly opposed to illegal immigration, special interest groups help keep the possibility of amnesty alive in Washington.
Comments
Since 1989 I’ve seen a marked increase in destructive actions taken by the federal government.  Reagan was alone in holding back the tyranny.  The federal government did everything in their power to lower oil and gas drilling, keep the Mexican border open and doubled and tripled legal immigration. The only weapon we have left is the ballot box and we won’t have it for long.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
 

When Government Preschool Comes To Town



BBy Ashley Bateman  August 20, 2014
Thousands of preschoolers in Alabama will go back to school this year in a variety of settings: faith-based, federally-funded, full-time, part-time, or private. But the state’s diverse preschool market is dwindling, and if legislators continue to support bigger federally funded programs, those choices will dry up.
Faith-based providers are losing students to the ever-expanding First Class program, Alabama’s state and federally-funded preschool. Right now, about one in five of Alabama four-year-olds attend government-funded preschool.
Federal dollars already fund preschool for nearly 20,000 underprivileged children in the state through Head Start. Three times as many four-year-olds—15 percent of the state’s population—are enrolled in the Head Start as are enrolled in First Class, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research, an advocacy group. First Class funding casts a net over preschool programs, supporting those that agree to restrictive government regulations. An extensive list of programs and classroom regulations dictate everything from the length of the school day (6.5 hours) to the number of students per classroom (16, with mid-year growth to 18 allowed). Even the physical environment of state-funded preschools— displays, furniture, materials—must meet specific requirements, and the daily classroom schedule must be approved by the Alabama Office of School Readiness.
The intent of the regulations, OSR says, is to ensure quality. A 2013 study published in the respected journal Science found that quality rating systems for early childhood care centers in most states, including Alabama, do nothing to actually improve preschool quality.
A Bias Against Religious Institutions
Tight restrictions on any expression of religion in participating preschools have re-routed the majority of government funding to subsidize secular institutions. Alabama’s preschool, like Head Start and most state preschool programs, works on essentially a voucher system, where kids who qualify can take their government funds to either government or non-government institutions—as long as the institutions jump through government hoops first.
Approximately 300 preschools are enlisted in the program; only approximately seven of those are faith-based, said J. Robin Mears, executive director of Alabama Christian Education Association. Basically, religious preschools must give up their basic mission to comply with state regulations, he said.
First Class has gained gradual foothold in the state, because it is an annual line-item in the state budget and advocates ask for more money every year.
“The legislature added around $10 million this year, same as they did last year,” Mears said. “The debate to adjust the budget is very clumsy and muddy, so even legislators who may not like it or oppose it won’t vote against $10 million. It’s a very manipulative process.”
Unthinking Acceptance
Touted everywhere as an essential part of long-term education success, preschool has become a definite and evident part of the nation’s consciousness. Parents may not understand the implications of what appears to be the spread of quality, free programs. But when government-funded programs come to town, their “free” price tag and accompanying restrictions can drive out diversity and choice for families.
Joy Berish, teacher at a faith-based Alabama preschool and mother of two, said her school has such wide appeal to parents because of its flexible attendance options.
“[Government subsidized preschool] does away with choice,” Mears said. “There are still those parents who don’t want their little child in class from 8 to 3:30 every day.”
Research: Preschool Essentially Wastes Money
Preschool institutions have not been found to advance a child’s learning long-term, according to the best studies available. Even popular pre-K advocates, such as W. Steven Barnett of Rutgers University, have found that any evident academic advancement of preschool attendees fades out, typically by the second grade. But state and federal lawmakers continue to funnel increasing funds in that direction regardless.
Multiple organizations in the state have studied the topic of federal and state-based preschool programs and expressed opposition. Alongside the ACEA, Eagle Forum and the Alabama Policy Institute have criticized mandating preschool state and nationwide. It’s an excessive amount of money and effort and not even proven to increase graduation rates, Mears said.
“How about, instead of ‘universal for all,’ ‘options for all,’” said Vicki Alger, a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
Research by the Alabama Policy Institute has found that the best solution to low-academic achievement is, “not to increase government intrusion into child rearing at all but rather to increase meaningful parental participation in the upbringing and education of children.”
And yet state policymakers continue to vote for a limiting, state-wide early education structure.
“Alabama could do a model program like Arizona’s Education Savings Account, and I would recommend an Early Education Savings Account,” Alger said. “If the state itself wants to start a program…put the funding into parents’ hands.”
With so many organizations trying to improve school preparation programs, early education and childcare tax credits would be another great model, Alger said.
“The challenge is for policymakers to ensure that there are an array of options,” Alger said. “There is no one-size-fits-all in [early learning]; the ones who know best how programs are going to work in communities and cities are Alabamans.”
Source: http://thefederalist.com/2014/08/20/when-government-preschool-comes-to-town/#disqus_thread
 

Common Core Caca

Poll: Common Core support among teachers plummets, with fewer than half supporting it By Valerie Strauss August 19, 2014

Anybody watching the escalating battle across the country over the Common Core State Standards and aligned standardized testing will hardly be surprised by a new national poll which reveals a significant loss of support over the last year — especially among teachers, whose approval rating dropped from 76 percent  in 2013 to only  46 percent in 2014. Overall support for the Core dropped from 65 percent last year to 53 percent in 2014, with most of the defection among Republicans.

The annual poll was conducted by the pro-school-reform journal Education Next and asked a nationally representative sample of Americans about a variety of education issues, with the  results on the Common Core being the most dramatic. Here are some of the results:

*Support for the Core dropped from 65 percent in 2013 to 53 percent across the general population. When asked about the notion of common national education standards without mentioning the Common Core, support was at 68 percent.

*Along with the 30-percentage point drop in approval by teachers, there was a huge jump in opposition, from 12 percent to 40 percent.

*Support among Republicans has dropped from 57 percent in 2013 to 43 percent this year, while Democratic support has barely changed, from 64 percent to 63 percent in 2014.

 

In a sign of the changing school choice landscape, 26 percent of adults living with school-age children have educated at least one of their children in an alternative setting that was not a traditional public school. Education Next is a magazine whose top editors are supporters of modern school reform, including the Core. Its editor-in-chief is Paul E. Peterson, director of Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance in the Graduate School of Education, and a fellow at the Hoover Institute (which is housed at Stanford University) is well-known for his support of school vouchers.

It is interesting to see how the article in Education Next about the poll, co-written by Peterson and titled “No Common Opinion on the Common Core,”  characterizes the drop in Core support. It notes that “opposition has been voiced both by conservative groups who fear expanded federal control and by teachers unions worried about the consequences for teacher evaluation.” While some  conservative groups have opposed it out of fears of a federal takeover of local education, teachers unions aren’t actually worried about “the consequences of teacher evaluation” in a vacuum. They are worried about the consequences of teacher evaluation based on the results of controversial Common Core-aligned standardized tests and a method of evaluation that many experts say is unfair. Furthermore, these are not the only two places from where opposition to the Core has been building.  Core opposition has come from all ends of the political spectrum for a variety of different reasons including questions about the funding, the developmental appropriateness of some of the standards, the botched implementation of the standards in many states and the quality of the aligned tests.

The article also says that “opinion with respect to the Common Core has yet to coalesce,” and then kindly suggests to Core supporters that they “probably need to clarify their intentions to the public if they are to keep their support from slipping,” as if the opposition is based on a particular set of misunderstandings. The report does indeed note that a majority of those polls displayed three misunderstandings of the Core, but it is not known if those are the only reasons that the majority opposes the Core.

In a post on the Education Next website on Tuesday, Peterson made clear his thinking on the results:

Political polarization is making it increasingly difficult to sustain support for policy undertakings that a majority of the public supports. Narrow interest groups and small minorities are twisting public opinion through slogans and rhetoric to which sensation-mongering elements in the media are giving excessive attention. Such is my conclusion after reviewing eight years of Education Next (Ednext) polling on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

As for opinion on the Core actually coalescing, don’t hold your breath.