Cost Per Calorie: Where McLogic Breaks Down

I can't even Google+ Becket Adams' article...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/29/could-the-mcdonalds-mcdouble-actually-be-the-greatest-cost-per-calorie-bargain-ever/

...Too many McDonalds employees are overloading the system, plussing this article like mad. But I'd like to call attention to the breakdown of the company spokesman's McLogic in the actual article. A cheeseburger contains nutrients, yes, if you can digest them. (I can't; the best thing about a plain greasy hamburger, no cheese and no bun, is that the fat has a laxative effect on me.) If you need two thousand calories per day, and you eat one real meal and one snack per day, then a cheeseburger might be a viable part of your diet plan. But, er, um...if your ideal weight is 125 pounds, you'd have to be a full-time professional athlete to use two thousand calories per day!

Exterminating Every Tea Partier?

When the e-mail header is "Congress Plans to Exterminate Every Last Tea Partier," the astute reader thinks, "Oh, this is about a strategy to get people who don't agree that we're Taxed Enough Already into Congress, to replace all the ones who do...Well, probably. Strange things have happened in this administration."

So the good news is that the astute reader's first guess would, in this case, be right:

http://www.capitolhilldaily.com/2013/07/congress-liars-obamacare/

Fellow Americans, don't agonize, organize. Spread the word. Remind your people on Capitol Hill that we need a medical care plan that has a chance of working, and--thank a veteran--the Veterans Administration has provided us a model that has worked for a long time. Make sure they know that getting rid of Obamacare is not about depriving poor people of medical care; it's about making sure a bankrupt government won't deprive poor people of medical care, ten years down the road. Make sure they know that the good things they enjoy as Congressmen come from the voters, and the voters want a sustainable, reality-based, cost-only-and-no-gambling medical care plan...not the Obamanation of Obamacare.

How corrupt are your elected representatives? You'd know more about that than I would, but I'd like to remind everybody that most human beings are neither altogether good nor altogether bad--they are self-serving. People will generally do what's advantageous to them. If your Congressmen know that you're watching them and that it's advantageous for them to do the right thing, even if it takes some actual work as distinct from voting with a party to enact a bill nobody's even read, then my guess is that most of them will do the right thing.

Morgan Griffith on the American Dream

From Congressman Morgan Griffith's E-Newsletter:

"

“An Elusive American Dream”

The Associated Press wrote a piece using recent survey data indicating that four out of five American adults struggle with poverty and unemployment for some of their lives, “a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.”  Their numbers indicate that this trend is on the rise, and that by 2030, “close to 85 percent of all working-age adults in the U.S. will experience bouts of economic insecurity.”  Specifically mentioned in this piece is the Ninth District’s own Buchanan County, described as “a declining coal region” and with one resident saying “I think it’s going to get worse.”

 

I hope that President Obama saw this piece, and took note of the impact his anti-coal policies are having on Buchanan County, other coal-producing regions across the United States, and their surrounding communities.  With America’s great natural wealth, work ethic, and ingenuity, I believe there is no reason for the report of the Associated Press to be reality.  But to make certain that America is strong economically, we have to have policies coming out of Washington that don’t punish hard-working Americans who are trying to make better lives for themselves and their communities.  "

Hey, I read that article on Newsmax yesterday; linked to it on my Google+ page. If you didn't see the article on Newsmax or in your local newspapers, here's the link:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Poverty-Struggling-Whites/2013/07/28/id/517420

And here's my Google+ page, which is the quickest place for me to post links to some but not all the other people's work I want to commend without adding much commentary, so that's where a lot of the links to news stories are likely to be found in the future...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/114274742909017597601/posts

Don't Rob a Gun Store with a Bat

Gentle Readers, I'm sure none of you needed to be told not to rob any kind of store! This "Least Competent Criminals" story goes out to our real-world friends who work in gun stores, on the police force, as security guards, etc. Oh well...I'm sure anybody who works in any high-security, tightly regulated business anywhere can use a chuckle.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/dont-bring-a-bat-to-a-gun-store-mans-robbery-attempt-fails-miserably/

Fascism Recommended by the United Nations

Patricia Evans caught the quote:

"

"Regionalism must precede globalism. We foresee a seamless system of governance from local communities, individual states, regional unions and up through to the United Nations itself."- UN Commission on Global Governance

Remember:  REGIONALISM is communism.

"Fascism is the best form of government to implement these changes. Say what you will about fascism, it is efficient."  

From AGENDA21TODAY Newsletter

Fascism = Sustainable Development

Sustainability plans are the reason America is deteriorating. These plans are the reason why states and counties have no money. United Nations Smart Growth agenda has gained widespread acceptance in the United States to the detriment of local economies. The amount of money being spent on United Nations Agenda 21 Sustainability plans shows you exactly why we have massive debt, all by UN design. All sustainability plans are the same but with different names. It doesn't matter what the name of the plan is, or what part of the country it is being implemented, They all use the same tactics and they all have the same goal. Goal of groups is to effect centralized government through regional groupings under the United Nations. Their goal is to abolish private property, transcend local governments, bankrupt our communities and lower our standard of living. All sustainability plans are built on lies created by computer models and sold to the people using the Delphi technique (predetermined outcomes for surveys)

HUD, EPA and DOT are providing grants to do this - GRANTS are taxpayers money.
The state participates with  SUBSIDIES - more taxpayer dollars

Please take the time to listen to this excellent audio/ video series  This is a regional sustainability plan combining the lower 7 counties in FL called Seven /50. This video brings the United Nations Agenda 21 plan into clear focus:                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

CLICK HERE:  http://ac4pr.intuitwebsites.com/Andre--Duany--Seven-50-Architect.html?_=1374430859581

Why are we broke?  Short history lesson:

Clinton Presidents Council on Sustainability - Executive Order 12858

Obama  Rural communities, National Oceans Council - Executive Order 13575

**Conservation easements and land grabs**

 It doesn't matter what the name of the plan is, they are all the same.  All have the same tactics and goal:

• use any means to steal land : lie, cheat, doesn't matter
• bankrupt the community, lower the standard of living.

 The video answers all questions including;

• Poor schools - they are now European models ( Common Core )
• Housing - goal is to get rid of Single Family Residence's and proportionally decide who can live where.
• Energy - keep it high so people won't be able to use cars and luxuries - like in Europe.
• Racism - so people wont talk and figure this out.
• Immigration- open borders, No America
• Regulations to Close businesses and farms -  government control and wealth redistribution

I could go on and on by I am sure you get the idea.

 

High points of Florida's sustainability plan called Seven /50  are:

1. "Only Mega-Regions are important."
2. "We need to transcend local control."
3.  "We need to stop having public meetings. Just get on with the plan."
4. "We only need 4 people to make the decisions."
5. "Top-down Federal government is best.  WE (Seven 50), decides who makes what decision and when, and then download to others later."
6. "Those who seceded from us—the EPA, HUD, DOT - we will crush you."
7. "Miami and Cuba should become a sister-state."
8. "We are passing Code Pink. It allows people to act, to reduce red tape. To be in a "free zone."
9. "Miami needs to become South America. This is the one area where we will dominate. We could throw an election."
10. "Everything must be planned, NOT TO THE CONVENIENCE OF LAND OWNERSHIP."
11. "Say what you will about Fascism...it is efficient."                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Before there is a great awakening, there is a rude awakening.

--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."  - Thomas Jefferson"

Phenology Revisited: Debbie Dunn's Flood Story

As regular readers remember, last week I posted about watching TV reruns during a flood...well, e-friend Debbie Dunn, a few miles south in Tennessee, was out in it. Waded out of a flooded store just as the water came pouring in. You can read her story here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/827190-crazy-wet-time-in-kingsport-tennessee-on-7-17-2013

Jim Macdonald on Blast Injuries

Part of a strangely interesting (right, understandably interesting) series...let's hope we only need to refer to this information for fiction-writing purposes! Though the kind of traumas Jim Macdonald describes could be associated with side effects of fracking...

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/015024.html

Phenology: Cold Front and Katydids

That "cold front" is still hanging over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Heavenly. Bright blue sky, clear cool air, only about 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) and 70% humidity. What am I even doing at the computer center? Waiting for a car pool to do some errands. Checking e-mail. I don't even have a lot of e-mail...looks as if youall are enjoying the unexpected relief from "dog days" weather, too. I hope so.

Katydids are making their noise. Because so many scattered thundershowers have rained out their performances last week (they "sing," or rasp their legs to attract mates, just after sunset) different people report that they appeared on different days. Anyway, they're here now. According to folklore, the first frost occurs three months after the first katydid "sings." Of course, according to folklore, if it doesn't rain on July 15 it won't rain for the rest of the summer...it didn't rain on July 15 this year, and Kingsport is still suffering from flood damage.

For foreign readers, katydids are sometimes described as "bush crickets." They're in the same insect family that includes grasshoppers, crickets, and mantids. Here's a picture:

And here are some links for fun facts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tettigoniidae

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313386/katydid

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/katydids.htm

What katydids "say" is "buzz buzz buzz," or "buzz buzz buzz buzz," which some people traditionally interpret as "Katy did" or "Katy didn't." I've heard individuals show off with more, sometimes as many as seven rasps, which I suppose those people would hear as "Katy never would have done!"

Was Trayvon Martin a Communist?

It seems unlikely that Trayvon Martin belonged to the Communist Party, but Terresa Monroe-Hamilton has documented that some of the old White guys currently claiming to "be Trayvon" did...

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/07/29/communist-race-baiting/

And why is that bad? Why was the Communist Party ever a threat to national security, when so many Americans liked some of their ideas? Because the Communist Party openly favored force and violence, and wanted to foment dissent that would lead to violent crime and open the door to a violent revolution. And apparently some of those guys are still spoiling for a fight.

Hence events like this weekend's mugging, in which three Black goons told the White man they attacked that they were beating him up and stealing his money "for Trayvon." Ohhh be still my heart; I'm sure the Martin family felt sooo proud. (Not!)

TMH's e-friend Trevor Loudon can fairly be described as a McCarthyite...but it seems that, although the original ideals of Marxist "Communist" Parties worldwide are as dead as Lenin, we still need a few McCarthyites to help diagnose more current manifestations of violent insanity.

If I felt moved to do something in memory of Trayvon Martin, here are a quick few ideas I'd consider that would actually honor the young man and his family: Send his siblings, cousins, friends, or neighbors (as many of them as funds allowed) to college. Make a memorial donation to his school, or to a charity (was he even old enough to have had a favorite charity?). "Adopt" a highway or a park bench in his name. Light a small, cheap candle in his name and stand around it holding hands and eating Skittles. Compose a song for people to sing while doing any of these memorial rituals, or any other memorial ritual that may occur to them.

But do not start a color war in which more young people, including children younger and smaller and more innocent than Trayvon Martin, will be hurt. That is absolutely the worst memorial Martin could possibly have.

Publius Huldah on the Parental Rights Amendment

This web site has posted material in which Michael Ramey supported the proposed Parental Rights Amendment, so let's be fair and share a link to this page, in which Publius Huldah opposes it:

http://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2013/07/28/parental-rights-god-given-and-unalienable-or-government-granted-and-revocable/

Right. This is a quarrel about semantics--about words--and in law, words really matter. So it is a serious objection, and might warrant editing the P.R.A. before more money is spent debating it.

Phenology for 7/28/13: Finally, Sunshine

Whew, finally...three days in a row with actual sunshine, overnight temperatures dipping briefly below 60 degrees (Fahrenheit), and humidity below 75%. It felt great. It felt so great I couldn't force myself to leave the Cat Sanctuary and come to the computer center until this afternoon.

Everyone seems to be enjoying this break in the hot, humid weather. One retired friend felt so good he actually went back to work on Friday. Luckily for him, since it's a family business, his children were as glad to see him on the job as the customers were.

On Friday night we had another heavy rain, but on Saturday night I stayed out long enough to watch the fireflies. I think I've seen more fireflies this year than I saw in the past six years together. I'd never even noticed before that we have two distinct species. Both are common, but because they're not normally common enough that I've noticed both at one time, I've never paid attention to how different they are.

I started to type a quick off-the-cuff description of how different the fireflies are, then thought, "Hey, I'm on the Internet. Why don't I look for fresh fun facts about'em?" Here's a very quick and basic summary:

http://www.firefly.org/types-of-fireflies.html

It seems that what I've noticed this summer are the differences between two genera. Based on this description, it seems that our dominant species, the larger beetles who blink their lights on and off quickly while flying high above the ground in June, would be Photuris, and the less numerous species, who stay close to the ground and flash their lights in a much slower pattern, often in July and August, would be Photinus. While humans just see their cute little lights blinking in the night and think, "How cute, they're showing off to impress their mates," scientists also say these fireflies have other things to say to one another. Although they look like larger and smaller specimens of the same sort of thing, they are two distinct species, they don't like each other very much, and occasionally they eat each other.

If you scroll down the Firefly.org page you'll see a picture of Phausis reticulata. These are also common at the Cat Sanctuary from August through October. I never heard anyone call them "blue ghosts" before--as this computer screen clearly shows, they're not blue. Their local name is "glowworms." The wingless females don't really look like worms but do look more like grubs than like most beetles.

Stop Government Abuse Week

From Popvox: " Hi there, POPVOX user: Yesterday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced #StopGovtAbuse Week, an initiative by House Republicans to "restrain runaway government" and "protect citizens from government overreach." We're sending you this alert because you previously weighed in on a related bill. Now's a good time to share your views with Congress on POPVOX -- and to tell your friends and networks. POPVOX will deliver your message to your lawmakers. (Learn how it works.) ____________________________________________________________________________ #StopGovtAbuse Initiative Legislation The House will consider these ten bills, beginning on Wednesday, July 31. (Find it on POPVOX.) -- Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care (HR 2009): "would prohibit the IRS from implementing or enforcing any provisions of the president's health care law," according to the bill sponsor. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2009 -- REINS Act (HR 367): "would require any major regulation -- a rule or regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more as scored by the OMB -- from the executive branch to come before Congress for an up-or-down vote before it could be enacted," according to the bill sponsor. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr367 -- Citizen Empowerment Act (HR 2711): would establish certain procedures for conducting in-person or telephonic interactions by Executive branch employees with individuals. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2711 -- Government Employee Accountability Act (HR 2579): "would give all federal agencies the mechanisms necessary for agency heads to deal with Senior Executive Service employees, including the ability to conduct "investigative leave without pay" and to carry out immediate termination," according to the bill sponsor. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2579 -- Government Customer Service Improvement Act (HR 1660): would require the establishment of Federal customer service standards and improve the service provided by Federal agencies. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1660 -- Government Spending Accountability Act (HR 313): would institute spending limits and transparency requirements for Federal conference and travel expenditures. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr313 -- Common Sense in Compensation Act (HR 1541): would establish limitations, for FY 2013, 2014, and 2015 on the total amount in awards or other discretionary monetary payments which may be paid to any Federal employee. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1541 -- STOP IRS Act (HR 2565): would give the head of the IRS the ability to fire employees who engage in political targeting. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2565 -- Stop Playing on Citizen's Cash Act (HR 2769): would impose a moratorium on conferences held by the IRS. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2769 -- The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (HR 2748): "would require the IRS to respect common-sense taxpayer rights such as the right to be informed and assisted, the right of appeal and the right to confidentiality, among others. This law ensures the IRS Commissioner and IRS employees are familiar with, and abide by, these taxpayer rights," according to the bill sponsor. - https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr2748 Find this list online. ____________________________________________________________________________ Thanks for using POPVOX! We hope you connect with us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/POPVOXnation or on Twitter @POPVOX. (New to POPVOX? Learn how it works.) Sincerely, Rachna Choudhry Co-founder, POPVOX.com ____________________________________________________________________________ Want a Weekly Update on Congress? Based on POPVOX user feedback, we're now sending out a weekly update on what bills will be moving in Congress. Sign up.

_____ POPVOX.com See what's trending at www.popvox.com/bills On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/POPVOXnation On Twitter @POPVOX POPVOX | 274 Redwood Shores Pkwy, #222 | Redwood City CA 94065 "

Candidate McAuliffe's Green Tech: Scandal?

From Patricia Evans:

"
McAuliffe hones China’s crony-capitalism model in U.S   McAuliffe really is a master of the Chinese-style “crony capitalist” model. It’s a system where political connections, government favors and even some thuggery determine the success of an enterprise. The GreenTech controversy is magnified because of its many political connections to the federal government. It’s owned by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. This puts McAuliffe in the center of the "Next DC Scandal."

In the former Soviet Union, the joke was “They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work.” It took over four decades of the Cold War to finally put an end to the lie that Communism as an economic system works. From "Living in a Communist Economy"  http://www.teapartynation.com/forum/topic/show?id=3355873%3ATopic%3A2594162&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic

Whistle-blower speaks out on WMC Action News 5 against Terry McAuliffe’s GreenTech

There was no evidence of any car production. It was all show. Employees were told to appear as if they were working.  "We would stand over the car with tools in our hand and look like we were doing something to the car, but we wasn't doing anything," said the former employee.  Watch the video:  Click HERE


VIDEO: The next DC scandal?

Watch the video here: http://watchdog.org/97554/video-fox-news-looks-at-possible-scandal-involving-greentech-funder-homeland-security/ from Fox News yesterday discussing a potential new scandal brewing around Alejandro Mayorkas, President Obama’s choice for the No. 2 job at the Department of Homeland Security, Terry McAuliffe, and others.

McAuliffe company pressed Homeland official on 81 investor visas

Is this cronyism at work? Get the facts here!  

Emails between Alejandro Mayorkas and attorneys working for GreenTech Automotive show the company pressed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director to speed processing of 81 investor applications in a federal “cash-for-visas” program after each invested at least $500,000 in the hybrid car company.

The Inspector General’s Office says Mayorkas is the subject of an investigation for allegedly helping Gulf Coast Funds Management secure a visa for at least one GreenTech investor, according to the Assoicated Press. Mayorkas is President Obama’s nominee for the No. 2 position in the Department of Homeland Security.

One of the visas sought by Gulf Coast is for an official with a Chinese telecommunications firm that has been investigated by the House Intelligence Committee over claims it has close ties with Chinese intelligence, NBC News reported.

The GreenTech controversy is magnified because of its many political connections to the federal government. It’s owned by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, who announced his resignation as company chairman in April amidst an intense investigation by Watchdog. The company’s fundraising arm, Gulf Coast, is headed by Bill Clinton’s brother-in-law Anthony Rodham. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) authorized the company to solicit investors through the government’s EB-5 program, which awards visas to foreign investors.                    

 

Virginia officials also worried about the close ties between Gulf Coast and GreenTech. “We believe that having the principals of the Regional Center be the same as the principals of the company benefiting from the investment creates a conflict of interest,” wrote VEPD Chairman Jeffrey Anderson to Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Patrick Gottschalk.

The legal database Lexis/Nexis shows GreenTech and Gulf Coast are related, sharing the same McLean, Va., address through February 2013.

“Until questions regarding the plant are answered and a complete financing solution is identified, we recommend that the Governor decline the opportunity to support the expansion into Virginia of the Gulf Coast Funds Management LLC Regional Center affiliated with GTA,” Anderson wrote in 2009.

Virginia government officials finally nixed the idea of a plant there. McAuliffe ultimately located the plant in Mississippi and has yet to construct the building that he says will be its permanent facility.

Part 36 of 39 in the series Terry McAuliffe, gubernatorial candidate and carmogul  

http://watchdog.org/series/terry-mcauliffe-gubernatorial-candidate-and-carmogul/

--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."  - Thomas Jefferson"

Tribute to Dame Helen Mirren

It's always nice when an actor's work generates tributes while s/he is (1) still alive, (2) still acting, and (3) old enough that retirement would be a respectable option. Thanks to Terresa Monroe-Hamilton for sharing Spencer Blohm's tribute to the British actress known as Helen Mirren:

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2013/07/25/68-never-looked-so-good/

Hmm. That picture looks about as good, to me, as recent photos of Grandma Bonnie Peters at 78...but my purpose here was to agree with Spencer Blohm about the enduring beauty and coolness of active senior citizens. There's a certain transition point for hair and skin, beyond which people definitely can't pass for 25-year-olds any more...and apart from that, healthy people don't really look "older" and can remain beautiful, sometimes into their nineties. Long may Dame Helen Mirren wave.

Defunding Obamacare in the Senate

Fellow Americans (I'll post something for foreign readers next, I promise), what exactly do you hate most about Obamacare? The fascist power grab of it? The power it gives to insurance corporations to keep raising the cost of medical care at will until everyone else is bankrupt and/or dead? The way it takes away benefits on which people who really are disabled and poverty-stricken have been depending for years, perhaps all their lives? The improbability that, if Obamacare goes into effect, we'll ever get a sensible system set up for meeting the actual costs of the medical care people really need and can't pay for themselves?

Personally I find it hard to pick just one, but if any Democrats are reading this post, I'd like to ask youall to focus on the last one. This web site is not asking Congress to stop paying for Grandma's diabetic supplies or Junior's physical therapy. We never have asked that. We never will. We don't want that; we want the diabetic supplies and the physical therapy and suchlike to remain available to poor people. We suspect that a sensible plan, like the one that's worked for the Veterans Administration, could be funded without raising existing tax rates by a penny, but we would rather pay higher taxes to support a sensible plan than pay penny one into any insurance gambling racket.

So we're delighted to report that the House of Representatives has voted to defund and thus block Obamacare. Legislation to this effect was not expected to succeed, but it's moving into the Senate, and the Tea Party Patriots group want to make sure you know which U.S. Senators to thank and which ones to lean on...Republican Senators, that is. They've written off the Democrats (I don't; see below). Here is their summary of the Republican Senators and their positions:

"Obamacare is coming apart at the seams and our final chance to stop it is fast approaching. Starting in 2014, major parts of the law will be implemented that will be difficult to undo.

Recently, Senator Mike Lee from Utah issued a letter (text below) urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to defund Obamacare in light of the President's decision to lift the employer mandate burden for big businesses while keeping it in place for individuals like you and me.

The following is a list of the Republicans in the Senate. Fifteen of them have signed on to Senator Lee's Letter. The rest of them have not. Yet all of them have either voted against Obamacare or have publicly opposed the law. We are asking you to call the Republicans in the Senate today. Thank those who have signed on to Senator Lee's letter for their bold stance against Obamacare. To those who have not signed on to Senator Lee's letter, we need to encourage them to do so and ask them why they have not done so yet. The bottom line is, voting to fund Obamacare is voting to own it.

This is our last chance to stop this train wreck from wreaking havoc on our economy and our health care system. Please call them today!

Have Signed on to Senator Lee's Letter: (Thank these Senators)

Marco Rubio, FL: (202) 224-3041

Chuck Grassley, IA: (202) 224-3744

James Risch, ID: (202) 224-2752

Mark Kirk, IL: (202) 224-2854

Rand Paul, KY: (202) 224-4343

David Vitter, LA: (202) 224-4623

Roger Wicker, MS: (202) 224-6253

Deb Fischer, NE: (202) 224-6551

Jeff Chiesa, NJ: (202) 224-3224

Jim Inhofe, OK: (202) 224-4721

John Thune, SD: (202) 224-2321

John Cornyn, TX: (202) 224-2934

Ted Cruz, TX: (202) 224-5922

Mike Lee, UT: (202) 224-5444

Mike Enzi, WY: (202) 224-3424

Have Not Signed on to Senator Lee's Letter: (Encourage these Senators)

Lisa Murkowski, AK: (202) 224-6665

Jeff Sessions, AL: (202) 224-4124

Richard Shelby, AL: (202) 224-5744

John Boozman, AR: (202) 224-4843

Jeff Flake, AZ: (202) 224-4521

John McCain, AZ: (202) 224-2235

Saxby Chambliss, GA: (202) 224-3521

Johnny Isakson, GA: (202) 224-3643

Mike Crapo, ID: (202) 224-6142

Dan Coats, IN: (202) 224-5623

Jerry Moran, KS: (202) 224-6521

Pat Roberts, KS: (202) 224-4774

Mitch McConnell, KY: (202) 224-2541

Susan Collins, ME: (202) 224-2523

Roy Blunt, MO: (202) 224-5721

Thad Cochran, MS: (202) 224-5054

Richard Burr, NC: (202) 224-3154

John Hoeven, ND: (202) 224-2551

Mike Johanns, NE: (202) 224-4224

Kelly Ayotte, NH: (202) 224-3324

Dean Heller, NV: (202) 224-6244

Rob Portman, OH: (202) 224-3353

Tom Coburn, OK: (202) 224-5754

Pat Toomey, PA: (202) 224-4254

Lindsey Graham, SC: (202) 224-5972

Tim Scott, SC: (202) 224-6121

Lamar Alexander, TN: (202) 224-4944

Bob Corker, TN: (202) 224-3344

Orrin Hatch, UT: (202) 224-5251

Ron Johnson, WI: (202) 224-5323

John Barrasso, WY: (202) 224-6441

 

We may not always agree with our elected officials, but it is important to thank them when they do the right thing. Likewise, it is important for us to encourage those who need help doing the right thing.

In Liberty,
Tea Party Patriots Support Team

---

Text of Senator Lee's Letter:
Dear Leader Reid:

We view the Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay Obamacare's employer mandate and eligibility verification for the individual exchanges as further proof the law is a failure that will inevitably hurt businesses, American families, and the economy.

In light of this admission, we believe the only way to avert disaster is to fully repeal Obamacare and start over with a more sensible, practical approach to reforming our healthcare system.

However, if Democrats will not agree with Republicans that Obamacare must be repealed, perhaps they can at least agree with the president that the law cannot be implemented as written.  If the administration will not enforce the law as written, then the American people should not be forced to fund it.

This is a matter not only of fiscal prudence, but of fundamental fairness as well. The president cannot seriously expect to waive Obamacare’s onerous mandates on large businesses, while simultaneously forcing individuals and families to pay to implement an individual mandate the public has opposed since before the law was even passed.

For these reasons, we will not support any continuing resolution or appropriations legislation that funds further implementation or enforcement of Obamacare.

Sincerely,
Sens. Lee, Rubio, Cruz, Cornyn, Risch, Paul, Inhofe, Vitter, Wicker, Kirk, Thune, Chiesa, Enzi, Fischer, and Grassley."

Personally, I'm not so sure that we need to write off the Democrats either. The word "Democrat" does not inherently mean either "lacking intelligence" or "lacking good will"; we had good Democrats in Congress who opposed Obamacare, if only on the grounds that nobody had actually read the full text of the proposal. Democrats do, by definition, support the general idea of a national plan to subsidize medical care for poor people; they've supported that at least since the Kennedy Administration, but they're not necessarily stupid enough to think that forcing everybody to support increasingly expensive gambling rip-offs is the way to implement the plan they want. If you are a Democrat or are on speaking terms with Democrats in the Senate, your role in derailing the "train wreck" of Obamacare and building a workable alternative plan will be vital. Liberal Republicans like Senators McCain and Graham, and conservative Democrats like Senator Mark Warner, have a wonderful opportunity here to take charge of constructing a bipartisan health care plan that can actually work. And this web site says the sooner the better.

Btw...does anyone out there want to thank the Tea Party Patriots for compiling this list? Write, call, or click:

Tea Party Patriots
1025 Rose Creek Drive
Ste 620-322
Woodstock, GA  30189
Support: 404-593-0877
http://www.tppsupport.org

Virginia SB 354 Update

Some readers out there keep searching for a 2012 post on Virginia Senate Bill #354. They can't be all that keen to reread the silly pun I made about it. They must want an update! Yes, SB 354 was enacted into law...

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+CHAP0473

Free money for beekeepers? Well, money, anyway. Strings may be attached; the number and position of "strings" may vary.

One good string that needs to be attached is that, before people go into beekeeping, they understand why honeybee populations have gone into decline. The more peaceable bees are, the more vulnerable they tend to be to a fungus infection that's wiped out whole beekeeping operations during the past twenty years or so. If anybody out there is thinking, "Well, my great-uncle left some old hives moldering away on the hillside. I'll just stock'em with bees and collect the money," you need to get educated before you apply for this grant money. You will need new hives; you may need a new plan for assuring any bees you adopt a dry, healthy place to live. Hives in which bees died of foulbrood need to be burned. Land on which bees died of foulbrood should in most cases be disqualified for grants.

Another thing: I didn't have to look up foulbrood. I learned about it from a beekeeper who had to burn his hives in 1994. Although beekeeping was his only job for many years, he no longer handles bees. He became disabled by a mysterious blood disease that's not believed to be either contagious or hereditary or cancer-related. Doctors suspected that prolonged and frequent exposure to bee venom might have caused the disease.

Another thing: "Africanized" bees aren't as genteel in their habits as the peace-loving, lower-immunity "Italian" breed. Although the Bible notes the phenomenon of bees nesting in a carcass as a "News of the Weird" item thirty gamblers and riddle-lovers failed to imagine, I have seen "Africanized" bees ignoring clover blossoms to buzz around carrion or cat litter. (Yes, these were bees, not flies that try to look like bees; they had nests containing honeycombs.) I would not expect the kind of health benefits sometimes reported for various kinds of flower honey to be available from honey produced by garbage-eating bees. "Italian" bees are said to be so particular about their honey that the alert beekeeper can pick out separate combs of honey derived from different kinds of flower; I don't know whether this is true for the "Africanized" breeds.

So...beware: the challenges of beekeeping go beyond buying hive material and avoiding stings. Nevertheless, many people do find beekeeping pleasant and profitable.

How Can We Parse This One?

Fellow Americans, many of whom may already have received this e-mail from the White House...what sense do youall make of it? In this document, our President seems to be supporting most of the same things this web site supports. If so, why have we found ourselves opposed to so many of this administration's proposals for achieving these things? Please be shrewd as serpents and gentle as doves while reading the document below:

"
Hello everybody --

The basic bargain of this country says that if you work hard, you can get ahead -- you can build a secure life for your family, and know that your kids will do even better someday.

But for more than a decade, that bargain has frayed, and a devastating recession made it worse.

Over the past four and a half years, America has fought its way back, laying a new foundation for more durable economic growth. But many of the challenges that faced the middle class before the recession remain. And Washington has taken its eye off the ball.

Too many people in this town are focused on scoring political points or fanning phony scandals instead of finding ways to help grow our economy, create jobs, or roll back a 30-year trend of rising inequality.

It’s time for that to stop. It’s time for all of us to focus on our top priority as a country, and that’s reigniting the engine of our prosperity: a rising, thriving middle class.

That’s what I just said while speaking at Knox College, back home in Illinois, where I kicked off a series of speeches on what truly matters to the middle class.

If building America from the middle out is an idea you share, I need you to stand with me. Add your voice to mine.

This has been my North Star for as long as I've been in office, and it's what will shape the time that I have left in the White House.

In the weeks ahead, in towns across the country, I’ll be talking about my ideas for building on the cornerstones of middle-class security: Good jobs with good wages. An education that prepares our children and our workers for a new economy. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. A better bargain for the middle class, and for all who are striving to join it.

This is the debate we need to have. And you can join me right now.

Let the country know that you believe that America works best not when it grows from the top down, but when it grows from the middle out:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/a-better-bargain/speak-out

Thank you,

President Barack Obama"

Griffith Supported Amendment to End NSA Blanket Collection of Americans' Phone Records

From Morgan Griffith:

"
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 - During debate on the Department of Defense appropriations bill, Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) was allotted 30 seconds of debate time with which to express his support for the Amash-Conyers amendment, which would have ended authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act.  This amendment would also have barred the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215. 

Video of Griffith’s remarks can be found by clicking here or on the link below.

                                          
Despite Griffith’s support, the Amash-Conyers amendment failed in a vote of 217-205. "

Griffith Statement Following Defeat of Amash-Conyers Amendment

From Morgan Griffith:

"
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) released the following statement after the defeat of the Amash-Conyers amendment:

“While the Amash-Conyers amendment that would rein in the NSA’s data gathering capabilities on U.S. citizens who aren’t suspects failed, I am proud to be a part of a bipartisan group of Congressmen and women who believe our first duty is to protect and uphold the freedoms recognized by the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.  While we fell a few votes short this evening, we will continue our efforts on behalf of freedom loving Americans.  I encourage each and every one of you to stay involved in this process.” 

Video of Griffith’s floor remarks can be found by clicking here. "

Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

"The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research." How vague is that? Joke name, or is this an actual organization whose activities and goals are somewhat secret? Apparently it's the latter (yes, it's been mentioned at this web site in the past). Patricia Evans shares the dirt. I hope your right-click buttons are working, since each link tells more of the story:

"The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Pittsylvania County was built to advance United Nations Agenda 21, Sustainability. We were told the Institute would "create jobs" but it has been a dismal failure, proving once again that fascism doesn't create prosperity. The Institute highlights the failures of United Nations Agenda 21 policies and reminds us that government doesn't create businesses or jobs, but will waste huge amounts of money trying.  Million's are being wasted and after 11 years we get  "Dan River Plants" with the hope of 40 seed germinating jobs!

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research http://www.ialr.org/  has announced  its first ( possibly ) successful commercial venture, Dan River Plants may hire up to 40 "propagation" technicians ( to produce more plants by seeds, cuttings, grafting etc.) in the next few years.  http://www.newsadvance.com/go_dan_river/business/article_789264d6-ea3b-11e2-bb81-001a4bcf6878.html


The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research receives grant money from:

The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission   http://www.tic.virginia.gov/overview.shtml
                                 
Take a look at how this Commission spends money!  http://www.tic.virginia.gov/recentgrantawards.shtml  Please note, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research received $5 million in 2011 for Development of Renewable Energy R&D. They received $5 million in 2010 in Partnership with HELIOS to develop Renewable Photovoltaic Energy Technology in SWVA.  And In 2009, they received $750,000 for "operating funds for Sustainable Energy Technology."
                                                                                                                                                                                                              

And The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission seems to be a driving force behind the "Advanced Manufacturing" scheme. They have a section of future expenditures devoted to "Advanced Manufacturing" here:  http://www.tic.virginia.gov/pdfs/grantfunding/Education/FY13/5%2023%2013%20-%20Education%20Approvals.pdf    Our government bureaucracy has decided we need more welders, but what about other skills?  We have a dangerous shortage of electricians, plumbers, farmers, etc. while young adults with college degrees are unemployed and drowning in debt. Our education system is producing welfare recipients, a lost generation.

In 1998, the Attorneys General of 46 states signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the four largest tobacco companies in the United States to settle state suits to recover billions of dollars in costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses. Virginia’s share will be $4.1 billion...

That's how we got The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission's seven grant programs intended to accomplish the economic revitalization and diversification of Virginia’s tobacco-growing region, Southern and Southwest Virginia. The grant programs provide project funding to implement economic development activities that are consistent with the Commission’s mission, Strategic Plan and each program’s guidelines. To date, the Commission has awarded 1,602 grants totaling more than $962 million."    

Mission: to: (i) provide payments to tobacco farmers as compensation for the adverse economic effects resulting from loss of investment in specialized tobacco equipment and barns and lost tobacco production opportunities associated with a decline in quota; and (ii) revitalize tobacco dependent communities. The Commission shall have only those powers enumerated in § 3.2-3103 
Strategic Plan, Vision: "Commission seeks to accelerate regional transformation..."

If Southern and Southwest Virginians don't feel revitalized,  just look at how the money is being spent on United Nations Agenda 21 Sustainability. We may not be revitalized, but we are certainly being transformed: http://www.tic.virginia.gov/recentgrantawards.shtml

And we need to understand the purpose, "the Original intent" of The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research:

From Agenda 21, Chapter 34: Transfer Of Environmentally Sound Technology, Cooperation And Capacity-building  http://habitat.igc.org/agenda21/a21-34.htm
                              

                                                                                                   Establishment of a collaborative network of research centres:

...establish demonstration centres which are linked with the national institutions, in close cooperation with the private sector...through the involvement of both public and private enterprises and research facilities, as well as funding for technical cooperation among programmes... This should include developing links among these facilities to maximize their efficiency in understanding, disseminating and implementing technologies for sustainable development. Support should be provided for programmes of cooperation and assistance, including those provided by United Nations agencies, international organizations, and other appropriate public and private organizations.
--
Danville Regional Foundation President and CEO Karl Stauber said the struggle to marry science and business and produce employment offspring has played out over the country at similar institutions...
“It’s very hard for research-based institutions to spin out successful businesses..."

But Gov. Bob McDonnell is still trying to sell the United Nations "Advanced Manufacturing" scheme stating “Dan River Plants’ project highlights the high-level of cooperation in the commonwealth between our research universities, the private sector, and our local and regional economic development allies. It also underscores the economic transformation taking place in Southern Virginia as the region leverages its agricultural and manufacturing heritage to create employment opportunities using modern technology.”

The failures of fascism and Agenda 21... But don't worry, they are not going to give up. They will continue to waste huge amounts of money trying to "create jobs" and controlling our property and our lives.


"That "original intent" — to develop a research facility that created jobs in our community — was and is the only reason to keep the Institute open. If it can’t do that, then the efforts of local, state and federal elected representatives, economic developers and key business leaders will have been a waste." Read more below....

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research's long, long road back
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_dan_river/opinion/editorials/article_a5482600-ea7c-11e2-b65e-001a4bcf6878.html#.UeBT34dYq6Y.gmail

This is a good editorial from The Danville Register & Bee Editorial Board:

Thursday’s job announcement was more than a decade in the making. It marks the first commercial venture to be spun off from the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

  

The new company, Dan River Plants, has developed commercial relationships with nurseries that want plants grown just for them. Dan River Plants may eventually employ as many as 40 plant propagation technicians during its own growth phase.

  

That’s great news for the Dan River Region.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research was sold to this community as a way to turn laboratory research into commercial ventures that could employ local people. That was the only reason to support the Institute’s development, construction and ongoing operations.

The Institute’s side businesses — conferences and higher education classes — could have been done anywhere. But the people of the Dan River Region put their trust — and millions of dollars — in a core concept that was eventually tossed aside.

To say that the Institute "lost its way" is galling, as was the revelation earlier this year that the Institute’s conference business was actually losing money. You can’t reinvent the economy of this or any other community by losing money hosting wedding receptions and high school reunions.

The Dan River Plant Propagation Center was just another money-losing venture with a flawed business plan — a few plants selling at high prices.

Eventually, the Danville Regional Foundation suspended funding.

"I think when we pulled the money and said, ‘you sold yourself as a business enterprise,’ that was kind a wake-up call," said Karl Stauber, the president and CEO of the Danville Regional Foundation. "Then they demonstrated they could make it happen."

That started the Dan River Plant Propagation Center back on the road to recovery, and that meant the hard work of developing plants that companies would buy.

"Dan River Plants is a realization of that key goal, that original intent," the Institute’s deputy director, Michael Duncan, said recently.

That "original intent" — to develop a research facility that created jobs in our community — was and is the only reason to keep the Institute open. If it can’t do that, then the efforts of local, state and federal elected representatives, economic developers and key business leaders will have been a waste.

Dan River Plants is a success, and this is a good time to celebrate how far the company has come.

But the leaders of the Institute must realize that the people who have paid the bills need more of these announcements.

--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."  - Thomas Jefferson"