My latest column - American public education

We have recently learned that only 37% of Michigan students are proficient in math. Only 15.6% of students in Pellston, and 8.7% of those in Alanson, are proficient.  Florida, when faced with the fact that only 1/3 of its students could pass their writing test, simply lowered their expectations by lowering the passing grade.  Do they think this serves the students?

   We can spread the blame around: to teachers, their mandated agendas and schedules, to parents and students.  There are many more knowledgeable than I who should be brainstorming solutions to having unqualified and ill-prepared graduates.

   Teachers could be concentrating on the old-school priorities of reading, writing and arithmetic first and only, until all students have the skills which prepare them for productive lives.  Perhaps smaller classes in the early years, with trained parents volunteering one-on-one tutoring, would be productive.  Today’s teachers have so many things they must teach that they just don’t have the time, some schools actually say, to teach such basic things as the alphabet and cursive writing.  They expect parents to teach those things, immediately putting at risk the students whose parents do not cooperate.  Students are currently passed along through public schools even though they lack the proficiency they need, so they graduate unprepared for life’s possibilities for upward mobility.  Perhaps we should worry less about their feelings and more about their skills.

   As we can see from decades of mandates from the Federal Department of Education, more and more money, and more and more social agendas, does not produce better educated students.  “No Child Left Behind” is an example of a good idea with poor outcomes.  Perhaps we should consider ending the power of the federal department while once again putting more money and authority with the state, savings billions of dollars.    Charter schools and school choice have proven to be successful, but are vehemently disapproved of by teachers unions.  As much as we all might like the idea of very expensive forced busing for integration, it has not improved the education skills of anyone.  Long bus rides have decreased the time our children have to be at home, playing with friends and spending time with family.  A child asked me why he can’t just go to school, learn what needs to be learned, and then go home.  It’s a fair question. 

   Thirteen year old Jada accepted an award from the Frederick Douglass Foundation in NY and divulged that her original essay on the Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglas was never submitted because she was accused of offending her teachers with her writing.  She was harassed and forced to leave the school for writing that she wanted teachers to be accountable for instructing even the “unteachable”, to find more productive ways to teach.  In defense of teachers, some students are “unteachable” not because the teacher is not doing her job, but because of the influences of home, where education is not valued, there are no consequences for poor decisions, discipline is ignored and making the most of one’s opportunities is not expected.

   On the other hand, schools take the time to inculcate students with social agendas, teaching what to think, not how to think.  Some have even been taught the art of protest and have been taken to political protests on school time!

   An economics professor at Valencia College in Florida described the extent to which our public education has redefined its agenda.  Eighty percent of his students thought they should be given a house, a job, retirement, vacations, free health care, tuition, a house down-payment, and a job, taxing the rich to achieve it all.  They said they weren’t responsible for their own actions, so government should control those “who don’t care about others”.  To be instructive, the professor took all their wallets, rifled through them, and took their cash, saying, “I want the American dream, and your money will help me achieve it.”  Perhaps the students learned why “spreading the wealth” may not be all that it is cracked up to be. 

   The American dream should be realized with effort, pride, responsibility and a good education. Responsibility requires making the choices which lead to success, or to failure.

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 David McCullough Jr., an English teacher at the school, delivered his rather unusual speech (see full text below) Friday, telling graduating seniors that they had been “pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped.”
It was all said in the context of telling students that there is a big wide world out there and that they should not succumb to a culture in which everyone gets a trophy. McCullough, son of the award-winning historian David McCullough Sr., advised the students to seize the future by doing what they love, rather than taking a job for money.
“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you,” he said near the end of the speech.
But he wasn’t exactly kind in getting to his message.
“Contrary to what your soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you’re nothing special,” he said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/commencement-speaker-blasts-students/2012/06/08/gJQATvF1MV_blog.html
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Following is an amazingly powerful ad made by the Catholic Church.  It pertains to anyone who favors the old fashioned values that made America great.  You will enjoy watching it.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D9vQt6IXXaM&hd

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National Security Advisor told to shut up; Drive to recall Governor Snyder is called off; 2000 conservative activists head to Chicago; Conservative bloggers are SWAT-ed; Michigan House votes for small tax cut; Miss USA contestants need primer on USA; Obama connected to Socialist "New Party"; Obamacare dramatically increases cost of insurance for young people; Crazed leftists calling for murder; Dems now believe Obama could lose; ACORN gets illegal money from Obama; Left not outspent 7 to 1 in Wisconsin

Robert Gates, the former defense secretary, reportedly blasted the national security team in the Obama White House for blabbing about the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. "Shut the f--- up," Gates told Tom Donilon, who is now Obama's national security adviser, according to a book by New York Times reporter David Sanger. [Now, of course, Republicans and Democrats alike are livid that to make the President look strong highly secure information was leaked which makes our allies refuse to help us any more.] http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/gates-national-security-team-osama-raid-shut-f_646731.html
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said Wednesday she has “never seen it worse” regarding recent national security leaks in a series of reported stories that contained sensitive national security details.
“Well, I’ve been on the Intelligence Committee for 11 years, and I have never seen it worse,” Feinstein said of the leaks in a CNN interview. http://freebeacon.com/feinstein-on-intel-leaks-i-have-never-seen-it-worse/
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The group looking to recall Gov. Rick Snyder is ending its attempt, saying it fell “well short” of its goal of collecting 200,000 petition signatures by June 1.
Michigan Rising, a Dearborn-based advocacy group, started the effort in April after saying the Snyder has “abused children” and “is bad for Michigan.”
“It has become abundantly clear that Michigan Rising was not going accomplish its goal of recalling Gov. Snyder,” spokesman Bruce Fealk said in a release this morning.
“The results in Wisconsin crystallized how difficult a task it is to recall a sitting governor, even when the unions and the Democratic Party play a significant role in the effort. [Congratulations to all who worked tirelessly to get out the conservative vote!] http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/michigan_rising_ending_effort.html-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emboldened by Wisconsin victory, 2,000 conservative activists set to gather in Chicago 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/emboldened-wisconsin-victory-2-000-conservative-activists-set-211652206.html

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Radical Liberals Endangering Conservative Bloggers!

While we may have to contend with one liberal politician after another, they have no power without the liberal voters who believe them.  Even more dangerous of sorts are the ones who go out of their way to exterminate the liberties, peace, and prosperity that forged this great nation.  While a politician may still have to ‘be on their best behavior’ because they are under the public eye, there are lurking liberals in shady places just waiting to do the First Amendment as much harm as possible.  The weapons they use?  The strong arm of law enforcement, but in a felonious kind of way.
‘SWAT-ed’ is a term that refers to an intimidation tactic whereby the perpetrator uses VOIP tech to make the police think that a serious crime is occurring at the residence of the victim.  Essentially, the SWAT teams bust in, the victim is handcuffed, and everybody has a very, very bad day, with the perpetrator laughing in the shadows.  Patrick Frey, a conservative blogger that was SWAT-ed on July 1st, 2011, mentions that “It’s a phone call that could have gotten me killed,”.  Arlette Saenz on ABCNews.go.com gives details on the event:

Just after midnight on July 1, 2011, Patrick Frey, a deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles and a conservative blogger who writes under the name “Patterico,” heard a pounding at his door as sheriff’s deputies arrived to investigate a call from Frey’s home about a man who claimed he had killed his wife. But no one in Frey’s home had been killed, and no one had made a phone call to the police.”

The report goes on to say:

Frey was cuffed by police while they woke up his wife, who was asleep in their room, and questioned her about the safety of the children.  Helicopters swarmed overhead with searchlights as the sheriff’s deputies investigated.”  [I live in a small community.  Perhaps it is time I had a talk with my local Sheriff.]  http://www.ijreview.com/2012/06/7568-conservative-bloggers-being-swat-ed-an-attempt-to-intimidate-the-truth/

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Today, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding recent reports that several conservative political commentators have been targeted with harassing and frightening actions. Chambliss demanded that Holder examine these cases to determine if federal laws have been violated.

The use of SWAT-ting as a harassment tool is apparently not new, but its use as a tool for targeting political speech appears to be a more recent development…While these incidences are currently small in number, and have fortunately not led to any accidental physical harm, they are extremely concerning. The perpetrators appear to be targeting individuals who are vigorously exercising their First Amendment rights to political speech…Regardless of any potential political differences that may exist, threats and intimidation have no place in our national political discourse. Those who choose to enter into that political discourse should not have to worry about potential threats to their or their family’s safety. http://www.redstate.com/ironchapman/2012/06/06/saxby-chambliss-does-the-right-thing-re-swatting/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The state House voted Wednesday to spend part of the state's $300-million budget surplus on a small election-year tax cut.
Democrats criticized the Republican move as an election-year ploy but mostly voted for the two bills.
"We've gone from a decade of deficits to a small surplus," said Rep. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan. "We can move forward with returning some of that surplus to the people." http://www.freep.com/article/20120607/NEWS15/206070566/State-House-votes-to-cut-taxes
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For women battling each other to claim the coveted crown of Miss USA, you would think they'd care to know the basics of their country.
But a hilarious quiz has revealed nearly half of the contestants quizzed on the nation's vice president could not name him.
And most did not know the colour of the waves of grain mentioned in the song America the Beautiful - a mainstay of classrooms across the country.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2153453/Miss-USA-contestants-Vice-President.html#ixzz1x7ssxKos

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Do you not think that this information should have been given to Americans prior to his election for President?  WND previously reported on newspaper evidence showing Obama was a member of the New Party, which sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda.
 
Excerpt from New Party publication (Courtesy New Zeal blog)
Among the New Party’s stated objectives were “full employment, a shorter work week, and a guaranteed minimum income for all adults; a universal ‘social wage’ to include such basic benefits as health care, child care, vacation time and lifelong access to education and training; a systematic phase-in of comparable worth and like programs to ensure gender equity.” 
Asked by WND whether he thinks Obama has socialist leanings, Davidson stated, “The truth is that Obama was and is a liberal Democrat and an Alinskyist community organizer – which if you know much about Alinsky, is just militant liberalism.”
But the New Zeal blog dug up print copies of the New Party News, the party’s official newspaper, which show Obama posing with New Party leaders, listing him as a New Party member and printing quotes from him as a member.

Barack Obama pictured in New Party publication (Courtesy New Zeal blog)  http://www.wnd.com/2009/08/107731/
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During his first campaign for the Illinois state senate in 1995-96, Barack Obama was a member of, and was endorsed by, the far-left New Party. Obama’s New Party ties give the lie to his claim to be a post-partisan, post-ideological pragmatist. Particularly in Chicago, the New Party functioned as the electoral arm of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). So despite repeated attempts to distance himself from ACORN, Obama’s New Party ties raise disturbing questions about his links to those proudly militant leftists. The media’s near-total silence on this critical element of Obama’s past is deeply irresponsible.

SOCIALIST?  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/226029/something-new-here/stanley-kurtz#
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JERUSALEM – President Obama participated
Heavens to Betsy, young Americans who still think Barack Obama wants to give them hope and change need to check out Avik Roy's enlightening (and alarming) article in Forbes. Here's a bit of it.

Last March, I wrote a detailed piece on why Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of insurance for young people. Yesterday, Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal reported that some colleges are dropping their student health plans for the new academic year, because the new law increases the cost of those plans by as much as 1,112 percent. And no, that’s not a typo. http://vitalsignsblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/obamacare-raises-students-insurance.html
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In light of the crushing victory Scott Walker had tonight, liberals are returning to their normal civility: calling for his murder and promises to kill him. Across the internet, crazed leftists are calling for the governor to be assassinated, as they clearly have no respect for democratic elections. Below are just a few of the disgusting comments posted throughout the internet tonight. http://www.punditpress.com/2012/06/liberals-plan-to-kill-scott-walker-ill.html
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With five months until Election Day, Barack Obama faces a grim new reality: Republicans now believe Mitt Romney can win, and Democrats believe Obama can lose ... Last week's anemic job-creation and economic-growth data was sandwiched between two Bill Clinton specials: in one television interview, the 42nd President lauded Romney's business record as "sterling"; in another, he veered from the Obama line on the extension of Bush-era tax cuts ... The failure to unseat Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker in a recall election was another bad sign for Democrats since it will rev up conservatives nationwide, including the kind of millionaires who gave big bucks to Walker's effort ...[And the latest polls put Romney ahead of Obama in Michigan.  Congratulations again, you Wisconsin patriots!]

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2116715,00.html#ixzz1xAa9VH9U

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Congress prohibited the federal government from funding the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), but that hasn’t stopped the Obama administration from funneling nearly half a billion dollars to the controversial group’s founder.
Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch reports the Treasury Department awarded $445 million to the Illinois Hardest Hit Program, the director of which is Joe McGavin, former director at ACORN:
JW found that a subcomponent of the state-run Illinois Housing Development Authority, known as the Illinois Hardest Hit Program, has just received a generous $445,603,557 Treasury infusion. The Obama Administration established Hardest Hit in 2010 to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hardest by the economic and housing market downturn, according to its website. http://freebeacon.com/acorn-redux/
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As you can see, it is a flat out lie that the left was outspent 7 to 1 in Wisconsin. In fact, considering the money unions spent on things like “voter education”, which are not even tabulated as political activity, the unions probably outspent everyone. We don’t know because they don’t exactly have to disclose it all right now.-  http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/06/08/the-greatest-conspiracy/

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The loving tactics of the left; San Fran reduces worker pensions; Barney Frank declares the big mistake; A terrifying experiment; This is what democracy is; Ford Motor gives vehicles to Disabled Veterans Transportation Network in honor of D-Day; The unreported things NOT causing global warming; Comparing Solyndra to Romney's Konarka; Police tazer a pregnant woman over using handicapped space; Planned Parenthood Clinic in LA high school

A Madison City Clerk has told a Wisconsin radio host that turnout for the area is expected at over 100%, up to 119%. What makes it all the more interesting is that this story comes from a far-left site.  http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/05/report-voter-turnout-119-percent-in-madison

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Exclusive Interview: Thug Threatens WI Poll Watcher That He'll 'Bang Her Head Against The Floor'  http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/06/05/Exclusive-Interview-Thug-Threatens-Poll-Watcher-That-Hell-Bang-Her-Head-Against-The-Floor

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In San Diego and San Jose, voters overwhelmingly approved ballot initiatives designed to help balance ailing municipal budgets by cutting retirement benefits for city workers.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/us/politics/voters-in-california-approve-pension-cuts-results-suggest.html?_r=1
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"I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal," Frank told The Hill Wednesday afternoon, alluding to Republicans' big cash advantage in the race. "My side picked a fight they shouldn't have picked. The recall was upsetting to people, the rerun of the election with [Democratic Milwaukee Mayor] Tom Barrett — it's not a fight I would have picked." http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/governor-races/231273-barney-frank-dems-made-a-big-mistake-in-pushing-for-wisconsin-recall-
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In an email to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina called Tuesday’s outcome — and, more specifically, the super-PAC money spent on Walker — a “terrifying experiment.” Messina said the money “swung the election.”
“This kind of corporate and special-interest spending is exactly what we could be up against this fall,” he said before asking supporters to donate $3 or more to the president’s reelection campaign.  [The best display of ignorance came from the union man who tearfully said that to all of us who were listening, "This is the end of Democracy"!  Actually, sir, this IS democracy, wherein the will of the people is what rules the day, not the thuggish actions of a group of people who are infused with entitlement mentality.  It was a okay for President Obama to run a $1 billion campaign for President, and I'm sure you were not complaining then, were you?] http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/231385-team-obama-frets-after-terrifying-recall-vote
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Today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day, the start of the invasion of France that led to the liberation of Europe from the Nazis.
To celebrate, Ford says it is sponsoring two flights for about 75 World War II veterans from Michigan and Kentucky to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In addition, the Ford Fund is spending $200,000 to buy eight vehicles to the Disabled American Veterans Transportation Network. The vehicles will be used to transport disabled vets. So far, Ford has sprung for 164 vehicles for the cause. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2012/06/d-day-anniversary-ford-disabled-veterans/1#.T8_NbcXp6mV
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No, this isn’t a joke, it isn’t a fake document, and it isn’t a misinterpretation. It is a paper published by Dr. James Hansen (and the GISS team) in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). In the paper (published in 2000, but long since buried) they make these two bold statements (emphasis mine):
..we argue that rapid warming in recent decades has been driven mainly by non-CO₂ greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as chlorofluorocarbons, CH₄, and N₂O, not by the products of fossil fuel burning, CO₂ and aerosols.. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/06/03/shocker-the-hansengiss-team-paper-that-says-we-argue-that-rapid-warming-in-recent-decades-has-been-driven-mainly-by-non-co2-greenhouse-gases/
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In a move that they’ll surely regret, the Obama campaign has called attention to a “green energy” loan to Konarka Power Plastic of Lowell, MA hile Mitt Romney was governor. They have accused Romney of hypocrisy in his criticism of the Obama Administration’s DOE loan guarantee to Solyndra and other “green energy” firms.

Here’s how the two loans panned out:

	Obama	Romney
Failed Green Company	Solyndra	Konarka
“Investment”	$535,000,000	$1,500,000
Taxpayer Money Lost	$528,000,000	$0
Years to Bankruptcy	2	9
Source of Funds	Federal	State
Loan Repaid?	No	Yes
Tied to Wealthy Campaign Donors?	Yes	No

You’ve gotta wonder about someone who can draw any kind of equivalence between these two programs. Maybe that’s the difference between a community organizer and a businessman.  http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2012/06/05/romneys-solyndra-not-hardly/
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Chicago police Tasered a pregnant woman before arresting her and her boyfriend during a dispute with officers in the parking lot of a Walgreens in the Roseland neighborhood Tuesday night, officials said, sparking an outcry from relatives of the couple.


Tiffany Rent, who relatives say is eight months pregnant, was taken to Roseland Community Hospital where a nursing supervisor said the baby appeared to be unharmed. Rent was treated and released, the supervisor said.
But Rent's family said the 30-year-old Rent has lost three babies in the past and they plan to have her undergo more tests. "I'm outraged, just livid. Who does that?" said Rent's sister, Shareeta Rent.


The incident occurred late Tuesday night when Rent was ticketed for parking in a handicapped spot at the Walgreens in the 11000 block of South Michigan Avenue, police said. Rent tore up the ticket and threw it at the officer and "attempted to take off," according to a source reading from the police report. http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-cops-taser-pregnant-woman-after-refusing-to-move-from-handicap-spot-20120606,0,2384785.story
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Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles Unified School District have teamed up in an unusual collaboration to reduce the number of unplanned teen pregnancies at Roosevelt High School.

Students can visit the on-campus health clinic to get free birth control, pregnancy tests, counseling and screening for sexually transmitted diseases – the first program of its kind in the country, according to the Los Angeles Times. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/06/05/planned-parenthood-sets-up-shop-at-roosevelt-high-to-reduce-teen-pregnancies/
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Grassroot organizing successful; MSNBC host devastated; Jesse Jackson calls for march on gun dealers; Voter fraud alert; Eric Holder's demand of Florida; Drone takes out #2 in Al Qaida; Counterattack by Iran possible; Why can't they just find another photographer?

[CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO AIDED WISCONSIN IN THE EFFORT TO PUSH BACK UNION POWER IN AMERICA!  Is shows what a conservative majority can look like when it enables itself with participation, get-out-the-vote efforts, and education of the voters - what it looks like when conservatives bother to get themselves to the polling booth!  Phone banks were available for those from all over the United States who wished to not stand idly by while our country's most important election since that of Scott Brown was being held.  Onward to November!]

It is true that Walker received more financial support, including from outside the state, than Barrett did. But the lesson to learn is not the truism that money can impact elections; it is that Republicans, conservatives, capitalists, and perhaps even a few libertarians were willing and able to match, and then outmatch the famously deep pockets of Big Labor. Republicans were every bit the equal of Democrats in grassroots organizing, in passion for their candidate, and in influencing independent voters without whom the margin of victory would not have been possible.

A DOJ press release notes that the "City of Milwaukee [is] required to provide assistance in Spanish." It was a cynical ploy to turn out minority voters to cast ballots for the Democrat without having President Obama's fingerprints on what was likely to be a losing effort. And even though Milwaukee is run by Democrats, the DOJ's action smacks of trying to taint a Walker victory with implied racism.  [Republican's 4 Senate seats are too close to call for now. http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/06/no-more-excuses

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"In many respects it's to be expected, considering how much money was thrown at this race. You know, NBC is calling it for Walker. Okay, I think it's awful close and there's a lot of absentee ballots yet that are still out and it's going to be very, very close down to the wire" MSNBC's Schultz said.  Ed Schultz concluded the segment by making a wild assertion. "Scott Walker could very well be indicted in the coming days," the MSNBC host said. "So it's going to be really a fight for the Democrats here in November, no question about it," Schultz said.  [Shultz was actually teary-eyed, and he did not attempt to explain just why there might be an indictment.  He just can't believe the tables were turned by the Republicans for once.]  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012//05/schultz_reacts_to_walker_win_he_could_be_indicted_in_the_next_few_days.html

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ED SCHULTZ: This is not going to be an easy night for many broadcasters who are liberal. This is not going to be an easy night for this broadcaster. To say that I’m shocked and stunned is pretty much an understatement. But I also think that it is a real warning to Americans that money is now infiltrated into our political system like we have never seen before, and the ruling by Citizens United is now a real message to every American.  [Earth to Ed - were you upset when your beloved President ran a $1 billion dollar campaign to victory in 2008?  All of a sudden it is a bad thing?]

It is going to take an insurmountable amount of effort on the ground for the progressive movement and the Democrats to do what they need to do in 2012. And this is also a real message to local politics that this money will filter down, and Citizens United will affect federal and state elections over time.  

Isn't it amazing that folks like Schultz weren't at all concerned about the money in politics in 2008 when Barack Obama spent more than any candidate in history?

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/06/05/ed-schultz-walker-victory-not-going-be-easy-night-many-broadcasters-w#ixzz1x0k67CWq

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Two nights ago in Racine, Wisconsin, while demanding jobs for the unemployed, Jesse Jackson decided to slam job creating gun dealers and called for a march on gun shops all over the country. http://weaselzippers.us/2012/06/04/jesse-jackson-we-are-going-to-march-on-gun-shops-across-the-country/ 

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Top Colorado Democrat Currently Registered to Vote in Both D.C. and Colorado

http://www.redstate.com/aarongardner/2012/06/04/top-colorado-democrat-currently-registered-to-vote-in-both-d-c-and-colorado/
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Time and again, the Holder Justice Department has exhibited politically driven law enforcement. But its latest instance of lawlessness is absolutely brazen. Last week, the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section sent a letter to the Florida secretary of state, Ken Detzner, ordering him to stop removing voters who are not citizens from Florida’s voter-registration rolls.
According to the letter sent by Voting Section chief Chris Herren, Florida is checking its voter-registration records against state driver’s-license records to identify noncitizens. This shouldn’t have surprised anyone at Justice — after all, Florida is simply following federal law in making such a database comparison. Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 specifically directs states to coordinate their voter-registration records “with other agency databases within the State” to ensure they are “accurate.” And this is serious business: Making a false claim of citizenship in order to register to vote is a felony under federal law punishable by up to three years in prison.  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/301900/who-may-vote-florida-hans-von-spakovsky#
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U.S. officials say a drone strike has killed al-Qaida’s second-in-command.
The death of Abu Yahya al-Libi is a significant blow to the terror network that has lost a string of top leaders since the death of Osama bin Laden last year. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/06/05/al-qaeda-deputy-leader-killed-in-u-s-drone-strike/
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The Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday expressed worry that leaks to the press about a cyberattack authorized by the Obama administration on Iran could lead to a counterattack on the United States.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined other senior Senate Democrats in expressing serious concerns about the leak, which detailed a cyberattack intended to hamper Iran's nuclear program. Some Republicans argue the information was leaked to help President Obama's reelection campaign.  http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/230985-senate-dems-blast-leaks-about-iranian-cyberattacks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Court Says Gay Rights Trump Religious Rights The New Mexico Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that a professional photographer who refused to take pictures of a gay couple’s commitment ceremony violated state anti-discrimination laws.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the court agreed on Thursday with a previous ruling, ruling the photo studio is considered public, similar to a restaurant or store.  [Once again, the 4% of our population believes they should control all of us.  Why can't they just look elsewhere for a photographer?  Because they are all about in-our-faces use of their rights.]

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gay-couple-refused-photographer-descriminated-court-article-1.1090457#ixzz1x0ibRy00

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DOJ to monitor WI election; Incredible intimidation in WI; 65 million Christians did not vote; FL ignores DOJ; China's spread of censorship and power; Greenland retreated faster in 1930 than today; Obama ignores Appeals Court, has the power to GPS; Pakistan condemns drone strikes; CA bullet train elicits remorse; GSA Bonuses

IN the words from the column, not mine: The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on June 5, 2012, in the following jurisdictions to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes: Alameda, Fresno and Riverside Counties, Calif.; Cibola and Sandoval Counties, N.M.; Shannon County, S.D.; and the city of Milwaukee.
Civil Rights Division attorneys will coordinate federal activities and maintain contact with local election officials.
As reported in a previous Water Cooler post Obama Campaign strategist David Axelrod told reporters on Sunday that an "army of lawyers" will be in the Badger state "to protect" the vote during the recall election.  [It's a sad day in America when this news item invokes in me a concern that the DOJ will be the entity which will skew an election.  With hope gone that the Democrats can fairly win the election, here comes the DOJ which dropped solid charges of voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers in 2008.  The Democrats also, two days before the election, falsely accused Governor Walker of abandoning all responsibility for a college girl when she became pregnant with his child.  It was quickly fact-checked and found to be totally wrong - the wrong student named Walker.] http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/jun/4/picket-doj-monitor-wisconsin-recall-election-tuesd/
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"We're sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote."

Incredibly creepy mail today from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/were-sending-this-mailing-to-you-and.html
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“History shows that some of the world’s most horrific events occurred because the public was disengaged. Either they weren’t aware of what was happening in their country or they just didn’t care.”
Although Huckabee and Andrews insisted the book is “non-partisan” it was pretty clear whom they were looking to engage. Huckabee pointed out the “very startling” statistic that 65 million of the 100 million Americans who did not vote “call themselves Christian believers.” He claimed, “If those 65 million had voted, the election would have been turned.” It was an assumption that those 65 million would have voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin, apparently.
Andrews said there are “two reasons Christians don’t vote.” But before he went there, he raised the spectre of Nazism: “The Nazi Party never had more than 8.5 million members. So literally 10 percent of that country dragged those people into that nightmare. So if 10 percent can do that, certainly 10 percent of us can get together and pull our country into a place our founding fathers intended.” http://www.newshounds.us/huckabee_suggests_a_holocaust_could_result_if_christians_don_t_vote_04022012
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Florida state officials will continue their quest to purge purportedly ineligible people from voter-registration rolls, a representative of Secretary of State Ken Detzner said Saturday, in defiance of objections from the U.S. Justice Department and county officials who say the policy violates two federal voting laws.
On Thursday, T. Christian Herren Jr., the head of the Justice Department’s voting section, said the effort to remove voters appears to violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlaws discriminatory voting practices that disenfranchise minorities. On a list of almost 2,700 voters the state suspects are noncitizens, blacks and Latinos were disproportionately represented, according to an analysis by the Miami Herald, which concluded Democratic and independent voters are the most likely to be targeted.  [Of course, no one will say it: noncitizens, blacks and Lations were disproportionately targeted because they disproportionately commit voter fraud.]
Despite the warning, Detzner’s representative said on Saturday the state intends to go forward with its campaign. “We have a year-round obligation to ensure the integrity of Florida’s elections. We will be responding to (the Justice Department’s) concerns next week,” Chris Cate wrote in an email to Reuters. http://patdollard.com/2012/06/florida-tells-eric-holder-they-will-continue-voter-purge/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ China’s communist regime is negotiating private deals with American film studios and financing the purchase of America’s second largest theater chain, leaving experts and human rights activists fearing the spread of dictatorial soft power and censorship to American shores.
“The Chinese Communist party has a program that they call ‘the Great Propaganda,’ and its aim is to export Chinese social power,” said former political prisoner Dr. Yang Jianli. “Cinema is the perfect way to do that.”
“The Chinese are overpaying, but then again they’re not looking to maximize profits,” said Derek Scissors, a China expert for the conservative Heritage Foundation. “They have a much more complex slate of goals and that is to please the state above all else.”

Censorship has afflicted America’s most recent blockbuster. The Chinese government censored between three and 13 minutes of Men in Black 3 because a memory-wiping device is used on a group of Asians. Chinese officials saw the scene as a commentary on the regime’s censorship policy, according to the Los Angeles Times. http://freebeacon.com/red-star-over-hollywood/
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Recently unearthed photographs taken by Danish explorers in the 1930s show glaciers in Greenland retreating faster than they are today, according to researchers.-Taken together the pictures show clearly that glaciers in the region were melting even faster in the 1930s than they are today, according to Professor Jason Box, who works at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State uni.  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/02/1930s_greenland_glacier_retreat/
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 The federal government informed an appeals court on Thursday that it has the right and the power to place GPS tracking devices on the privately owned vehicles of citizens without obtaining a warrant. This is in open rebellion to a Supreme Court decision from January that held that such warrantless installation of tracking devices on cars was unconstitutional.  n a case being heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Obama administration argued that since the Supreme Court’s ruling didn’t specifically mandate the obtaining of a search warrant in all situations, then the justices intended to leave a loophole open — a loophole large enough to mount a tracking device. http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/11591-obama-admin-argues-no-warrant-required-for-gps-tracking-of-citizens--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned a jump in U.S. drone strikes on its territory, using language that could increase tension between strategic allies already in dispute over military supply routes for NATO that Pakistan has closed. The foreign ministry called the attacks "illegal" and said they violated the South Asian country's sovereignty.  http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Pakistan_condemns_U.S._drone_strikes.html?cid=32833726
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Buyers' remorse for California's 'bullet train to nowhere'

California voters are experiencing buyers' remorse over a $68.4 billion (£44.4 billion) high speed rail project which critics say risks becoming a "bullet train to nowhere." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9310511/Buyers-remorse-for-Californias-bullet-train-to-nowhere.html

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The federal General Services Administration has handed out more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses since 2008 to dozens of employees who were under investigation for misconduct. Already under fire for its lax oversight of spending, the GSA gave bonuses to at least 84 of its employees while they were being investigated, according to a Senate analysis. Some were as low as several hundred dollars, while one employee received nearly $76,000 over five years. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/04/151099/report-gsa-handed-out-1-million.html
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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/04/151099/report-gsa-handed-out-1-million.html#storylink=cpy

WI membership falls 45%; Automatic deductions a thing of the past in WI; Big Labor's big perks; Activist against Obama? Secret Service may visit you; Totalitarian control growing; Fast Eddie questions Obama's "touch"; Times outs Israel as partner in Stuxnet; Obama's efforts to save fuel; Penalizing those who follow employment law; Voter I.D. law produces more voters; "Forward!";

Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees fell [45%] in one year.

“Public Policy Polling numbers showed that 39 percent of union households still plan to vote for Scott Walker. That’s a stunning number given Walker’s anti-union stance (most recently highlighted in his ambiguous support for “right-to-work” laws).” I would suggest that it is not a stunning number; merely one that reflects the reality that mandatory participation in a labor union does not change your politics or your opinions. It merely stifles contrary opinion. http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2012/05/31/54-of-wi-afscme-employees-voted-with-their-feet-in-2011-wirecall/
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In 2010, government employees unions campaigned against Walker’s “5 and 12” plan. It requires government employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pension plans. (Most were paying less than 1 percent. Most private-sector workers have no pensions; those who do pay, on average, much more than 5.8 percent.) Walker’s reform requires government employees to pay 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums (up from 6 percent but still less than the 21 percent private-sector average). Defeated in 2010, the unions now are demanding, as frustrated children do after losing a game, “Let’s start over!”-
what really motivates the unions and elected Democrats is that Walker ended the automatic deduction of union dues from government employees’ pay. The experience in Colorado, Indiana, Utah and Washington state is that when dues become voluntary, they become elusive.   http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-wisconsins-peter-pan-progressivism/2012/06/01/gJQAByuq7U_story.html
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McClatchy Newspapers reporter Judy Thomas spent some time in union financial disclosure reports recently and found a raft of compensation abuses by three families that dominate one of the country's 10 biggest labor organizations.
"First-class travel. Six-figure salaries for half the 132 officers and staffers. Plenty of plum jobs for family members," Thomas writes in her lead. "Life is good at the top of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers." http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/watchdogs-mcclatchy-exposes-union-salary-abuses/576451
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This video documents federal agents coming to the home of anti-Obama activist Rudy Davis aka LoneStar1776. There seems to be an aggressive campaign by the Secret Service to learn personal information about political critics of Barack Obama. Listen carefully to the personal questions these agents ask.
In a country which guarantees our free speech,it is chilling to see the US Government sending armed agents to scope out political activists. If Rudy was a leftist,Obama himself would be denouncing this visit. In Obama’s America,anyone can hear a knock on the door if you are vocal in your legitimate political disputes with Obama and his minions. I am proud that Rudy Davis held his ground,but he has no legal requirement to answer. http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/06/01/video-outrage-secret-service-interrogates-obama-eligibility-activist/
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I see a government approaching levels of totalitarian control that were unimaginable even a few years ago. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution,which protects you from unreasonable search and seizure,is gone. Nude Body scanners and invasive pat down searches are a prerequisite for air travel. The Supreme Court agrees that the government has the authority to strip-search you at any time for any reason,even if you are arrested for a simple traffic stop.
I see a society willing to accept widespread surveillance previously imagined only in the most outlandish dystopian science fiction. A new government facility will centralize all electronic information about every citizen,including e-mails,phone calls,and purchase history into one easily searchable database. Virtually every citizen will have a file.
In addition,they are working with private contractors to create street lights capable of taking pictures,recording conversations,and even transmitting government messages. Linked with the NSA’s data center,it’s conceivable that the government could amass a database of citizens’ private conversations. Meanwhile,weaponized,remotely-controlled drones are becoming commonplace across the country to monitor the activities of everyday Americans.
I see a government that has subverted democracy through gerrymandering,unaccountable elections,and limitless corporate funding. It’s supported by a corporate-controlled media that doesn’t only fail to inform,but actively obscures the truth. http://www.exposeobama.com/2012/06/01/i-see-something-and-im-saying-something/
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In his new book, “A Nation of Wusses,” the Democrat Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania, wonders how “the best communicator in campaign history” lost his touch. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/dowd-dreaming-of-a-superhero.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
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The Times also outed Israel as our partner in launching the Stuxnet virus against Iran’s nuclear computers. While the United States and Israel were long suspected, the article shredded any deniability.
The Allies broke German military codes in World War II, but it remained secret until the 1970s. Now our president leaks secrets in real time.
These authorized leaks go to the heart of integrity and presidential character. With the economy stuck in stall and with even leading Democrats bucking their attacks on Mitt Romney, Obama and Axelrod appear ready to abandon all principles in a frenetic quest for victory.
It is shocking, and it is June. One can only imagine the outrages they will unleash in the coming months to preserve their hold on power.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bam_bo_shoots_off_his_mouth_0L8alyVlNcNhNu0dVnIR2I#ixzz1wjPGmAnT

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Obama Flies Chicago Barber to DC to Cut His Hair  [But Mr. President, doesn't this put more pollutants in the air and use even more of our oil?  Oh, yes, that's right - YOU can do that as much as YOU want.]

President Obama once tried to shame us all by saying, “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times…and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.” It’s a great example of what Andrew Wilkow means when he says socialism is for the people, not the socialist.  http://www.allamericanblogger.com/21782/report-obama-flies-chicago-barber-to-dc-to-cut-his-hair/
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While proponents of immigration enforcement have been told that the federal government monitors the hiring of illegal aliens by the private sector, including adherence to the federal employment verification (I-9) program, Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department appears to have made a decision to penalize organizations that zealously comply.
For example, on Thursday the Justice Department announced that it filed a civil lawsuit against the Tuscany Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, accusing the company of engaging in "a pattern or practice of discrimination in the employment eligibility verification and re-verification process." http://www.examiner.com/article/doj-sues-las-vegas-casino-for-screening-non-citizen-workers
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Black voter turnout increased in Georgia and Indiana after voter ID laws passed. Georgia began implementing its law requiring one of six forms of voter ID in 2007. According to data from Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the black vote increased by 42%, or 366,000 votes, in 2008 over 2004. The Latino vote grew by 140% or 25,000 votes in 2008, while the white vote increased by only 8% from four years earlier.-  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303552104577438421678904222.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
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The truth is that the USA – after sending hundreds of thousands of its finest young people overseas to fight and die to combat the evils of Marxism – has quietly and steadily succumbed to the same ideological seduction right here at home.
This almost unthinkable situation is dramatically documented in the June issue of WND’s monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled “MARXISM, AMERICAN-STYLE.”
The issue reveals with jaw-dropping clarity how Marx’s godless, materialist ideology – characterized by an all-consuming obsession with government control of resources and production, as well as the radical “redistribution” of wealth and power to perpetually aggrieved “victim” segments of society – now dominates key American institutions, from academia to the environmental movement to the Democratic Party.
Highlights of “MARXISM, AMERICAN-STYLE” include:

• “Forward!” Obama’s new slogan has “Marxism” written all over it  http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/marxism-american-style/
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  In 2008 the Obama campaign released an ad that mocked John McCain for his inability to send an email – which infuriated people, because the reason why he can’t send an email is because his arms have never really worked properly after the North Vietnamese got done torturing him. When Obama’s Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden dared mildly apologize for it, the Obama campaign humiliated Biden by having their lackey Bill Burton come out and retract Biden’s apology.
  This is what passed for ‘civility’ in the 2008 election cycle. http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2012/06/02/aww-barack-obama-misses-the-nice-civilized-2008-election-cycle/
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  Obama's 2008 Donors Don't Give In 2012

  “Where’s the change I can believe in?” asked Lisa Pike, a 55-year-old from Williamsburg, Va. with a small medical transcription business who gave $658 in 2008. She said she is not planning on contributing this time around. “I wish he was the socialist they accused him of being. I wish we had the tons of change that would justify the right freaking out. I wish him well — I don’t dislike him personally — but I’m disappointed that he’s not the change-agent I had hoped for.”- http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/obamas-2008-donors-dont-give-in-2012
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