Wisconsin Recall Election: Officials Unknowingly Break Law With Facebook Posts

And so, you think Unions, general and Public Employee, aren't "special interests," don't influence, don't marshall their resources to provide unfair advantage to their "chosen" candidates who slip their special favored legislation "under the door?"

As to purchasing elections, I think the whole system stinks; "one man, one vote, do it in person (disability excepted) and identify yourself as a Registered U.S. Citizen."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Leon Panetta Responds To Mitt Romney's Afghanistan Comments (VIDEO)

You may be partly correct, however, what hs has said so far indicates a reasonabbly firm stance on important historical security and treaty issues.

I would prefer a much more robust stance on using economic weapons to achieve compliance with foreign policy goals. Like, "Cut off ALL trade and financial activity with Iran, or forget about doing ANY business with the U.S., and by Presidential decree, I am ordering an embargo on any trade or financial transactions with you including shipments already under way, unless you comply."

Fortunately the U.S. still has enough economic strength to carry this off, and I bet that cheaters and non-compliers would soon feel real pain.
About Afghanistan
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Leon Panetta Responds To Mitt Romney's Afghanistan Comments (VIDEO)

So, if I have this correctly, we are leaving Afghanistan without a "victory," no matter what anybody says. We are leaving one of the most corrupt governments, top to bottom, in charge of billions of dollars of our funds, and funds of other NATO countires, plus giving them Billions more over time after we leave, and tons of equipment, mainly used to haul dope. We are leaving our relationship with nuclear power Pakistant in worse shape than ever, and we've allowed Iran to increase their influence in Afgh. during our campaign. We have allowed Afghanistan to become the one of the largest, repeat, largest drug growers and processors in the world, with little NATO activity to interrupt their activity, which supports the Taliban's terrorist and guerilla efforts. Military commanders say that it would take another 150-200,000 troops and at least three years to defeat the Taliban, and that effort would also result in failure without getting control of the tribal areas of Pakistan, and the border territory with Iran, which, big secret, is used to provide literally tons of Iranian military gear, including IED's and advisors, to guess who?

"Class, can we say SNAFU?"
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

No Holiday for Hunger

Poor program design and management, politically correct eligibility, no follow up to monitor continuing qualification (some have been on for a generation or more!) are a problem. When government substitutes for parents, even down to the feeding of children, we transfer responsibility from those who should have it, to those that shouldn't. Using her logic, we would just take children at birth, house them in nurseries and dormitories, a nnd in effect, make the state their parents. Think that would produce good results? Hint: Look at Russia and other countries experience with "factory-farm raising of children.Ms. edelman's charitable attitude and comittment is appreciated for it's oodness, but the dependence on the state, ever-growing, ever more demanding, does no service, actually hurts, her constituents-the children.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

No Holiday for Hunger

We have free and accessible birth control.

We have sex ed in public AND private schools.

Regarding the hand up. If there are no consequences for the parents because of the irresponsibility (including not using available birth control methods) one reaches one of two conclusions;

a. it "happened" on purpose (surveys show that many, if not most, girls who get pregnant do so by choice, not by "accident." or

b.The minority, the 1-2% who are pregnant by way of incest or rape ARE entitled to society's protection, but they must cooperate. Many refuse to name potential father(s), even when the pregnancy is voluntary, knowing that the system will provide support.

While innocent children are not responsible for the irresponsibile decisions of their procreators, we make a mistake by not asking/requiring the community-the geograpjhic, political and religious "commmunity" to take leadership not only in caring for children, but in counseling prevention in the first place. Americans are by far the largest charitable givers in the world, but charity without compassion, which includes the willing participation in community moral structure and yes, opprobrium when necessary, is doomed to failure. There will NEVER be enough resources to take care of ever-growing populations of poor and minority children, absent making more important resouces available for most through population planning which divides the pool among less each year, making more available for all.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Barney Frank Criticizes House Republican On Jobs, Wall Street Reform

I have never suggested let starving children die. I have suggested that starting immediately we MUST provide populaion control planning, and incentives, otherwise we will NEVER get this under control,, never.

You seem to have skipped the part where I extolled American values of "personal decisions, personal consequences; individual opportunity, individual achievement."

No one who knows me has ever accused me of bigotry, or unfairness.

I can only assume you have misread what I wrote, or are replying to someone else.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

No Holiday for Hunger

The newly released Census report provides a clue..." In 2011 children born to minorities, Latino, Blck and Asian, outnumber white births for the first time in American history.And, notwithstanding the "mix" between poor and not-poor births, the fact is that those children born to poor minority parent(s) are proven to be less healthy, more dependent on social programs, less likely to get educated, while at the same time their mostly unmarried parent(s) also place great demands on society, and lose their own opportunity to prosper through education and training. We have created this mess through misguided social policies, compounded by poor leadership, not one of whom I have every heard counsel poor and minority girls to avoid unprotected sex, eschew unmarried parenthood, value their selves and look toward personal achievement.

Poverty persists because there are little or no consequences for bad decisions. Poverty persists because it is of benefit to so-called community and religious leaders who generate power through numbers of constituents, and so want more constituents, not less.
About Hunger
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

No Holiday for Hunger

You are absolutely ...not correct. If parents (wrong word-"procreators) don't have consequences for their bad decisions, who does? Are you suggesting, and I beleiieve you are, that people who make decisions to have children they can't feed, or support (even emotionally, as a parent(s)) should be allowed willy-nilly to have as many children as they want and "society" meaning taxpayers-should support that ridiculous idea? How would you stop the plague of children born to uncaring, even abusive parents who can't or won't care for them(11-12% of poor and minority children are cared for by others, in homes where their parent(s) don't live)? Just continue to allow what is so obviously an epidemic number of mouths to feed, clothe, house, educate and prepare for a productive life?

Yes is the wrong answer.
About Hunger
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

No Holiday for Hunger

Better we should provide incentives for population control that would provide more resources for those that need them, then dividing increasingly scarce resources into ever-growing populations, leaving less for each. A long-tern, a generation long, program of birth control incentives, properly structured, would increase the ability of those who participate to become better educated, achieve and maintain better health, and look forward to increasing opportunity, instead of a lifetime of "voluntary servitude."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Barney Frank Criticizes House Republican On Jobs, Wall Street Reform

Prison-the farm-is way too nice. Be glad he's retiring and can't continue to do damage. Here's a "bet" for you.; I bet Barney Frank will earn over 1,000,000 in speaking fees the first year, AND will be elected to some financial Boards of Directors, AND will earn additional millions for his "connections" and contacts. How much? I bet my house!
About Gay Marriage
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Barney Frank Criticizes House Republican On Jobs, Wall Street Reform

Barney Frank is not an idiot. In fact, he's at his best when obfuscating to avoid his (and Dodd's) share of the blame for the financial collapse due to his insistance on supporting "expanded home ownership opportunities" through pressuring Fannie and Freddie and FHA and the mortgage originators and the banks and just about anybody who could sign their name to a loan to incentivize (translate : corrupt) the marketplace. Well, the banks and hedge funds and investment banks and anybody who could add up fees and commissions could see that this was a good thing. I mean why not help Americans to borrow more money than they could afford to repay? Why not "blow up" the housing marketplace with time bombs of Rate Resets through ARM, No-Doc loans, and every "casino chip" created to earn money for the "players." We are at virtually unlimited risk levels, and if I had to apportion the blame for the state of the economy and the financial marketplace, I would lay most of the housing collapse at Frand/Dodd's door, with generous helpings for those who ended the Glass/Steagall act separating banking and investment banking/trading operations, and another portion for the Federal Reserve who kind of knew early on that the mess was headed into unsustainable terrortory, but allowed politics to intefere.

Our current system needs/must have redesign-right now!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Barney Frank Criticizes House Republican On Jobs, Wall Street Reform

The financeial world got caught with their hands in my pockets; the Republicans seem to want to gove them more opportunities to do so. I don't approvve, and I am a financial conservative.

See "Unfettered Captialism Leads to Economic Anarchy.")

http://voices.yahoo.com/unfettered-capitalism-leads-economic-2083708.html?cat=9
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mitt Romney Addresses Gay Marriage, Religion In Liberty University Commencement Address (VIDEO)

One would think from your "snarks" that you are decidely against Romney as a candidate. Please don't substitute opinion and half-truths for the substance of informed discourse. Even if I don't think Romney is the best candidate, I certainly can't ignore the charge towards Progressive Socialism your guy-Obama-brings to the party, and the absolute damage he has caused to American free market capitalism.
About Commencement Central
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mitt Romney Addresses Gay Marriage, Religion In Liberty University Commencement Address (VIDEO)

And therein you have the proximity of belief over fact, myth over morality. To some, religion is faith as the sword, the club of obedience. The morality of community interest, as reflected in teachings of ALL religions (and some non-religions) is to be preferred over the politics of religion reflected in the (purported) advancement of the faith, when that faith is used to mislead, obfuscate and otherwise subjugate people in contravention to their own best interests. My beliefs lie in "personal decisions, personal consequences; individual opportunity, individual achienvement."

When community chooses/volunteers to help those who need it, that's desirable. When government mandates that effort through involuntary taxation and decision-making, that's reprehensible.
About Commencement Central
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Ashlie Simpson Sues Colorado Christian University

The "progressiveness" of that institution is admirable. I wonder why most can't see the difference between judging on the basis of individual performance and worthiness, and on the basis of specious religious values originating from a myth-supporting and controlling heirarchy?
About Video
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Ashlie Simpson Sues Colorado Christian University

It's always amazing to me when religious institutions "discover" their values when a worker is found to be outside their mainstream values. Either they prosecute their values rigoriorsly-up front- in their hiring process, require adherence throughout their employee monitoring process, or quit trying to manage people's personal lives and values. Either the person is evaluated on their job performance, or is fired for non-performance. No in-between "situational morality, circumstantial ethics." If religious adherehnce is the predominat requirement for employment, then stick to it; only invite to apply and hire faithful adherents, only evaluate on religious performance, nothing else. If religious infrastructures want to "have their cake," they must "eat it too."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Colin Powell's New Book: War With Iraq Never Debated

You go too far. The considered exercise of the war powers constitutionally authorized for the President is allowed as a direct response to imminent threat, or actual attack. When asked to "vote" on war, Americans are always reluctant, having been the biggest provider of peacekeeping "fodder" in all the world's wars.

Time to revisit the Monroe Doctrine (stay at home!) while making sure that our response to circumstances is balanced, and includes participation by NATO and other treaty partners who have continuing stakes in preserving peace.
About Colin Powell
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mt. Rushmore Site Should Be Returned To Indigenous Native American Tribes, U.N. Official Says

Brazil and many other countries are doing to their indigenous peoples what we did to American Indian tribes generations ago. Without judging the correctness of "might makes right" over conquered territory of a long-ago era, I an still ponder the correctness, even today, of big government getting it's way through financial and legislative oppression. By all means, if the MT. Rushmore and related territory belongs to the Sioux, give it to them!

Maybe we could negotiate national Park Status, or Visitation and Resort privileges to allow Americans and foreign tourists right to enjoy this wonder. But, if the Sioux insist on religious grounds to manage this territory, and it is indeed theirs, give it to them. Our mistake originally was in granting nation status to native tribes, along with reservation ownership, as recompense for our conquering the.

But, that horse is out of the barn, and today's sense of what's right requires us to be more, not less, supportive. One hundred years from now ( or sooner!) when these independent territories, now able to choose what American laws they honor, yet able to ask for Federal and state help when the need suits them, are going to be in a position to declare independence. What then? Will the U.N. recognize these independent nations?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Kenlie Tiggeman, Southwest's 'Too Fat To Fly' Passenger, Sues Airline (VIDEO)

The real problem is that the airline industry has always been "protected" by government, and Darwinism has not been allowed to operate. The singular determination of airlines to use this protection to stay in business no matter what has led to the kind of price-cutting and overcapacity that has driven U.S. airline growth to levels that hurt, not help, consumers. The coming revolution in Internet-based "work at home" and Collaboratrive business models offers unimaginably huge savings in pollution, travel time, satisfaction, productivity increases, and more. While I anticipate more "the world is growing smaller" technologies like efficient airlines, to facilitate leaisure travel, the demonstrable savings of Internet-based work and educaion (soon to include health) business models argues in favor of restructuring the airine industry through free-market competition to better allocate resources among competitors, and getting the government out of the business of saving those who make bad busines decisions.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Bragging Rights

Other than a person's own need for self-esteem, there is no justification for purposefully 'bragging" about children. I think that a "braggart"-not a person who merely responds to questions (also an obvious opening and lead-in for another to respond with a brag)-seeks self-validation though the accomplishments of their children, in many cases. Being proud of children's accomplishments is one thing and maybe some don't feel they need wide acknowledgement of their children to either make themselves or their children "important."

Personally, I value more my children's growth and maturity as caring human beings, or at least equally to their swim and lacrosse trophies. The kids? Well, they value their accomplishments, but since every kid is not destined for a sports or academic scholarship, maybe we could give them all the opportunity to be good human beings through imparting of coping and self-validation skills.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost