Saturday, August 17, 2013
Filthy Filner Can No Longer Patronize Hooters
According to a tweet from San Diego Republican Party executive director Francis Barraza. Barraza also tweeted that her server said it was a “corporate” decision for “every location,” according to a server. A call to her office said she was out to lunch, presumably, at Hooters. An email to Hooter’s spokesperson was not immediately returned.
South Korean 'Super Gun' Can Lock On And Eliminate A Human Target From 3-Kilometers
Academic Women's Center to Conservative Women: Not Here
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| Alderman Library on the campus of UVA. |
After completing an exhilarating Capitol Hill internship in 2004, Karin Agness returned to University of Virginia eager to find a group of conservative women with whom she could continue her political education. But when she approached the school’s women’s center about co-sponsoring a club to that end, she was rebuffed by a faculty member.
“She just looked at me like I was crazy,” Agness recalled. “She chuckled and said, ‘Not here.’”
Undeterred, Agness founded her own club for young conservative college women — an organization, Network of enlightened Women (NeW), that has since grown to 20 chapters on campuses across the country, and that Republicans hope will offer a foothold in their outreach to an elusive voting demographic: female college students.
According to 2012 exit polls, Mitt Romney won only 36% of women under 30 years old. Republican National Committee spokesperson Sarah Isgur-Flores blamed the party’s trouble reaching these voters, in part, on their message getting “distorted through the lens of liberal academia.”
“We’re a party of ideas that really resonate with college students,” said Isgur-Flores. “Liberty, self-governance — once they hear those ideas from us, they’re meaningful and they identify with them. I think part of this for us is finding messengers and getting them
Muslim Women who fear being forced to marry abroad told to hide spoon in underwear
Charity advises women and young girls to set off airport metal detectors to give them more time to seek help from authoritiesKarma Nirvana says purposefully setting off an airport scanner can give women and girls one last chance to tell someone they are at risk of being forced into marriage. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters
A number of women and girls at risk of forced marriage have avoided going abroad by concealing spoons in their underwear at airport security, according to a campaign group.
Karma Nirvana, a Derby-based charity that supports victims of forced marriage, advises people who ring its helpline to hide a spoon in order to set off metal detectors at British airports. The group says that its recommendation has prevented some women from being spirited overseas.
Last week ministers warned that young people were at the highest risk of being taken abroad for a forced marriage during the school holidays. The government's forced marriage unit received 400 reports between June and August last year, out of an annual total of 1,500.
No one knows for sure how many Britons are forced into marriage each year. Estimates range from 1,500 to 5,000. More than a third of those affected are thought to be aged under 16.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, Natasha Rattu, Karma Nirvana's operations manager, said that when worried youngsters ring the charity's helpline, "if they don't know exactly when it may happen or if it's going to happen, we advise them to put a spoon in their underwear.
"When they go through security, it will highlight this object in a private area and, if 16 or over, they will be
Lobbyist Secretly Wrote House Dems' Letter Urging Weaker Investor Protections
Thirty-two liberal Democrats signed onto a letter drafted by a financial-industry lobbyist that aims to block protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts.
June 14 letter from 32 House Democrats to the Department of Labor.
A letter that a group of progressive Democrats sent to federal regulators opposing new protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts was drafted by a financial-industry lobbyist, according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.
The Department of Labor, which oversees the federal law setting minimum standards for many retirement plans, would like to require retirement investment advisers to act in the best interest of their customers, as opposed to their own best interest.
But 28 out of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—a group of African American members of Congress that advocates the interests of low-income people and minorities—signed onto a June 14 letter opposing the rule. So did Democratic lawmakers Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Ed Pastor of Arizona, and Jim Costa of California.
The letter's metadata indicates it was drafted by Robert Lewis, a lobbyist who works for the Financial Services Institute (FSI), an investment industry trade group:
Together, the liberal lawmakers who signed the letter have received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from the securities and investment industry in recent years.
In the letter, the lawmakers caution the Labor Department against proposing new regulations, warning that a strict new rule on retirement advisers may cause many of them to leave the market and thus "could severely limit access to low-cost investment advice" for "the minority communities we represent."
But the Department of Labor, financial reform groups, and consumer advocates say the regulation won't make it any harder for poor and middle-class customers to get investment advice. The current law doesn't do enough to prevent unscrupulous investment brokers from parking Americans' hard-earned cash in high-fee investments that benefit themselves, even if it's not in their customers best interests, argues Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America.
Current Labor Department regulations governing retirement investment advisers date back to 1974, when most people had traditional pension plans that left few decisions to workers. Today, most employees have to figure out how to invest their retirement money on their own. Each year, according to the Congressional Research Service, about 10 million people change jobs and must move their retirement money from employee-sponsored 401(k) plans into individual retirement accounts. As Americans seek advice on what to do with those IRAs, they often consult advisers who stand to profit by duping investors into making unnecessary high-fee investments.
"This rule is about protecting people from conflicts of interest," says Phyllis Borzi, the Department of Labor's assistant secretary for employee benefits security, who is spearheading the push for a stronger investment adviser rule. "Those conflicts harm everyone who is doing the right thing and trying to save."
Borzi emphasizes that an updated adviser rule is especially important to protect working-class people from predatory investment counselors. Conflicts of interest in the business "are particularly harmful when you're talking about low-income workers, who can least afford to lose their hard-earned savings," she says.
But the industry has a lot to lose from a rule change. FSI has expressed concern that the regulation would limit the types of fees advisers can collect for servicing retirement accounts. The trade group spent $196,000 on lobbying in the just the first quarter of 2013—that's nearly half the the total it spent on lobbying in all of 2012. On a recent federal disclosure form, FSI listed the Labor Department's investment adviser rule at the top of its lobbying issues. FSI did not respond to requests for comment on the ghostwritten letter.
It's not unheard of for lobbyists to ghostwrite letters—or even legislation—for lawmakers. In May, Mother Jones reported on a House bill written almost entirely by a Citigroup lobbyist that would vastly expand the types of risky trades a bank can conduct with taxpayer-backed money.
The House Dems' letter of opposition could help the financial industry make a case that there is widespread concern about the change. The signatories represent low- and middle-income districts with large proportions of minority voters. The CBC has long backed progressive policies that help low-income folks, such as nutrition assistance, jobs programs, and unemployment benefits. Fifteen of the CBC members who signed the letter are also part of the 68-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.
A spokeswoman for the CBC emphasized that the caucus is concerned about the effect of the rule on the "smaller, independent financial services firms that provide tailored financial services to underrepresented communities" that FSI represents, adding that "the one-size-fits-all approach to policymaking is not always in the best interest of our constituents." (The offices of the non-CBC signatories did not respond to a request for comment.)
Marcus Stanley, policy director at the advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform, notes that no matter the size of the firms FSI represents, the trade group has "a very clear interest that gives them a perspective on this that can be at odds with the perspective of constituents who are investing their retirement investments."
In just the last election cycle, lawmakers who signed the June 14 letter raked in over $88,000 in donations from the
June 14 letter from 32 House Democrats to the Department of Labor.
A letter that a group of progressive Democrats sent to federal regulators opposing new protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts was drafted by a financial-industry lobbyist, according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.
The Department of Labor, which oversees the federal law setting minimum standards for many retirement plans, would like to require retirement investment advisers to act in the best interest of their customers, as opposed to their own best interest.
But 28 out of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—a group of African American members of Congress that advocates the interests of low-income people and minorities—signed onto a June 14 letter opposing the rule. So did Democratic lawmakers Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Ed Pastor of Arizona, and Jim Costa of California.
The letter's metadata indicates it was drafted by Robert Lewis, a lobbyist who works for the Financial Services Institute (FSI), an investment industry trade group:
Together, the liberal lawmakers who signed the letter have received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from the securities and investment industry in recent years.
In the letter, the lawmakers caution the Labor Department against proposing new regulations, warning that a strict new rule on retirement advisers may cause many of them to leave the market and thus "could severely limit access to low-cost investment advice" for "the minority communities we represent."
But the Department of Labor, financial reform groups, and consumer advocates say the regulation won't make it any harder for poor and middle-class customers to get investment advice. The current law doesn't do enough to prevent unscrupulous investment brokers from parking Americans' hard-earned cash in high-fee investments that benefit themselves, even if it's not in their customers best interests, argues Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America.
Current Labor Department regulations governing retirement investment advisers date back to 1974, when most people had traditional pension plans that left few decisions to workers. Today, most employees have to figure out how to invest their retirement money on their own. Each year, according to the Congressional Research Service, about 10 million people change jobs and must move their retirement money from employee-sponsored 401(k) plans into individual retirement accounts. As Americans seek advice on what to do with those IRAs, they often consult advisers who stand to profit by duping investors into making unnecessary high-fee investments.
"This rule is about protecting people from conflicts of interest," says Phyllis Borzi, the Department of Labor's assistant secretary for employee benefits security, who is spearheading the push for a stronger investment adviser rule. "Those conflicts harm everyone who is doing the right thing and trying to save."
Borzi emphasizes that an updated adviser rule is especially important to protect working-class people from predatory investment counselors. Conflicts of interest in the business "are particularly harmful when you're talking about low-income workers, who can least afford to lose their hard-earned savings," she says.
But the industry has a lot to lose from a rule change. FSI has expressed concern that the regulation would limit the types of fees advisers can collect for servicing retirement accounts. The trade group spent $196,000 on lobbying in the just the first quarter of 2013—that's nearly half the the total it spent on lobbying in all of 2012. On a recent federal disclosure form, FSI listed the Labor Department's investment adviser rule at the top of its lobbying issues. FSI did not respond to requests for comment on the ghostwritten letter.
It's not unheard of for lobbyists to ghostwrite letters—or even legislation—for lawmakers. In May, Mother Jones reported on a House bill written almost entirely by a Citigroup lobbyist that would vastly expand the types of risky trades a bank can conduct with taxpayer-backed money.
The House Dems' letter of opposition could help the financial industry make a case that there is widespread concern about the change. The signatories represent low- and middle-income districts with large proportions of minority voters. The CBC has long backed progressive policies that help low-income folks, such as nutrition assistance, jobs programs, and unemployment benefits. Fifteen of the CBC members who signed the letter are also part of the 68-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.
A spokeswoman for the CBC emphasized that the caucus is concerned about the effect of the rule on the "smaller, independent financial services firms that provide tailored financial services to underrepresented communities" that FSI represents, adding that "the one-size-fits-all approach to policymaking is not always in the best interest of our constituents." (The offices of the non-CBC signatories did not respond to a request for comment.)
Marcus Stanley, policy director at the advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform, notes that no matter the size of the firms FSI represents, the trade group has "a very clear interest that gives them a perspective on this that can be at odds with the perspective of constituents who are investing their retirement investments."
In just the last election cycle, lawmakers who signed the June 14 letter raked in over $88,000 in donations from the
Fox News Dominates All Time Slots And All Age Groups
So the filthy lying bastards in the leftist public relations media (as George Orwell calls Them) has been having an echo fest of calling Fox News viewers old and saying hysterical things like:
Be Patient: Fox News Viewers Have Maybe 15-20 Years Left to Live
Only Old People Watch Fox News -- Daily Intelligencer
Fox News has oldest cable audience - Live Feed
Fox News Fans: A Dying Breed? - NewsHounds
Fox News' aging audience could be a big problem- MSN Money
Old People Love Fox News - FishbowlNY - Mediabistro
This is all wishful thinking for the foul-brained Marxists in the leftist propaganda media. Here are the FACTS: FOX News gets double the vaunted 25-54 year old age group viewers of any show in any time slot.
Read it and weep you filthy lying Marxist media outlets:
Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for Thursday, August 15, 2013
| Net | Morning programs (6-9 AM) | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | FOX & Friends | 1,094 | 245 | 479 |
| CNN | Early Start/Starting Point | 280 | 85 | 124 |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe | 369 | 117 | 186 |
| CNBC | Squawk Box | 104 | 42 | 55 |
| HLN | Morning Express w/ Meade | 238 | 144 | 179 |
| Net | 5PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | FIVE, THE | 1,738 | 261 | 594 |
| CNN | Situation Room | 411 | 109 | 216 |
| MSNBC | HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS | 522 | 115 | 160 |
| CNBC | FAST MONEY | 119 | 34 | 66 |
| HLN | EVENING EXPRESS | 158 | 53 | 87 |
| Net | 6PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER | 1,601 | 268 | 507 |
| CNN | Situation Room | 339 | 117 | 156 |
| MSNBC | POLITICS NATION | 510 | 138 | 181 |
| CNBC | Mad Money | 105 | 48 | 40 |
| HLN | EVENING EXPRESS | 126 | 46 | 90 |
| Net | 7PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | The Fox Report W/S.SMITH | 1,387 | 188 | 458 |
| CNN | ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT | 412 | 139 | 182 |
| MSNBC | HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS | 488 | 140 | 151 |
| CNBC | Kudlow Report | 84 | 16 | 26 |
| HLN | JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL | 227 | 70 | 136 |
| Net | 8PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | THE OREILLY FACTOR | 2,517 | 342 | 863 |
| CNN | Anderson Cooper 360 | 559 | 115 | 237 |
| MSNBC | ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES | 527 | 121 | 195 |
| CNBC | AMERICAN GREED | 127 | 45 | 56 |
| HLN | Nancy Grace | 288 | 101 | 165 |
| Net | 9PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | Hannity | 1,554 | 249 | 557 |
| CNN | PIERS MORGAN LIVE | 504 | 80 | 199 |
| MSNBC | Rachel Maddow Show | 681 | 139 | 308 |
| CNBC | AMERICAN GREED | 232 | 116 | 93 |
| HLN | Dr. Drew ON CALL | 309 | 97 | 173 |
| Net | 10PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | ON THE RECORD W/GRETA | 1,269 | 204 | 478 |
| CNN | Anderson Cooper 360 | 522 | 132 | 278 |
| MSNBC | Last Word W/ L. ODONNELL | 535 | 110 | 234 |
| CNBC | AMERICAN GREED | 241 | 105 | 114 |
| HLN | HLN AFTER DARK | 180 | 74 | 120 |
| Net | 11PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) |
| FNC | THE OREILLY FACTOR | 1,068 | 246 | 531 |
| CNN | ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT | 306 | 87 | 149 |
| MSNBC | ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES | 279 | 84 | 126 |
| CNBC | Mad Money | 132 | 78 | 68 |
| HLN | SHOWBIZ TONIGHT | 151 | 71 | 99 |
For other days cable news ratings click here.
P2+ = viewers over the age of 2
(25-54) = Adults 25-54 viewing
(35-64) = Adults 35-64 viewing
Prime Time = 8-11pm
LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast. For more information see Numbers 101.
Scratch = when a show's audience fails to meet minimum Nielsen reporting levels. For more information go here.
Data Source: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/08/16/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-august-15-2013/197950/
P2+ = viewers over the age of 2
(25-54) = Adults 25-54 viewing
(35-64) = Adults 35-64 viewing
Prime Time = 8-11pm
LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast. For more information see Numbers 101.
Scratch = when a show's audience fails to meet minimum Nielsen reporting levels. For more information go here.
Data Source: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/08/16/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-august-15-2013/197950/
Female Member of Israeli Parliament Obliterates John Kerry: You will "cause the whole region to spin out of control"
In letter publicized to the press, Shaked attacks US pressure to release terrorists: "You are putting me and my children's lives at risk"Bayit Yehudi MK Ayelet Shaked has released a scathing open letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, for pushing the Israeli government to release convicted terrorist murderers...
"In light of the current situation that you have brought about, I feel that I cannot be bound by the restraints of 'politically correct' wording, and I therefore will allow myself to convey my following message to you in the most straightforward fashion... By forcing Israel to capitulate to terrorism by releasing murdering terrorists with so much blood on their hands that the US would never dream of releasing if it was their own citizens murdered – you are not only being extremely hypocritical, but are actually dabbling in experimentation and (read the rest HERE)
A Bullet Proof, Fire Proof Gun Case Inside a Couch...
Imagine a fire-rated gun safe hidden inside a custom built couch, with bullet proof cushions with carry straps, so they can be used on the fly as a shield. Now there is one.
CouchBunker™ patent pending, is available in a wide range of styles, leather and fabric coverings creating choices from game room casual to living room formal.
The optional bullet resistant cushions, serving as portable, personal shields, will stop a 44 Magnum at point blank range.
http://bedgunsafe.com/bedbunkers/couch-bunker/
Friday, August 16, 2013
Gun-Permit Requests Soar in Newtown
Police in Netwown, Connecticut, said Thursday that at the current rate, gun-permit requests in 2013 are likely to be double the number from last year, in the wake of the shootings that left 26 people dead in December. There have been 211 permit requests so far this year, already far more than the 171 last year and the 99 in 2011. Some residents said they fear their rights will be taken away because of the shootings, and that urgency pushed them to get permits.
Krauthammer On Obama's Internet Access Program: "Tenth Time In His Administration He Has Gone Around Congress"
He says, 'The other guys are bad guys, they really don't have the national interest at heart. I do so, I will do stuff and ignore the law.' Under our system, what you do is you propose a law, you get it passed and the Congress appropriates the money. This is not the way that we govern, and this is about the tenth time in his administration in which he has gone around the Congress in ways that are clearly unconstitutional, starting with the way that he has made all these unilateral amendments and suspensions in his own Obamacare without ever consulting with the Congress. (Special Report, August 14, 2013)
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds
The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.
Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.
Read the documents
NSA report on privacy violations
Read the full report with key sections highlighted and annotated by the reporter.
FISA court finds illegal surveillance
The only known details of a 2011 ruling that found the NSA was using illegal methods to collect and handle the communications of American citizens.
What's a 'violation'?
View a slide used in a training course for NSA intelligence collectors and analysts.
What to say (and what not to say)
How NSA analysts explain their targeting decisions without giving "extraneous information" to overseers.
More on this story:
FISA court judge: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited
Spy court chief judge says it must rely on government to say when it improperly spies on Americans.
NSA statements to The Post
The National Security Agency offered these comments on The Post’s story on privacy violations.
The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance. Inone of the documents, agency personnel are instructed to remove details and substitute more generic language in reports to the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
In one instance, the NSA decided that it need not report the unintended surveillance of Americans. A notable example in 2008 was the interception of a “large number” of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused the U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt, according to a “quality assurance” review that was not distributed to the NSA’s oversight staff.
In another case, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has authority over some NSA operations, did not learn about a new collection method until it had been in operation for many months. The court ruled it unconstitutional.
[FISA judge: Ability to police U.S. spying program is limited]
The Obama administration has provided almost no public information about the NSA’s compliance record. In June, after promising to explain the NSA’s record in “as transparent a way as we possibly can,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole described extensive safeguards and oversight that keep the agency in check. “Every now and then, there may be a mistake,” Cole said in congressional testimony.
The NSA audit obtained by The Post, dated May 2012, counted 2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months of unauthorized collection, storage, access to or distribution of legally protected communications. Most were unintended. Many involved failures of due diligence or violations of standard operating procedure. The most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders.
In a statement in response to questions for this article, the NSA said it attempts to identify problems “at the earliest possible moment, implement mitigation measures wherever possible, and drive the numbers down.” The government was made aware of The Post’s intention to publish the documents that accompany this article online.
“We’re a human-run agency operating in a complex environment with a number of different regulatory regimes, so at times we find ourselves on the wrong side of the line,” a senior NSA official said in an interview, speaking with White House permission on the condition of anonymity.
Assembling Radios In 1925 In Philadelphia
Queens of the Radio: 1925 [Shorpy]
More Awesome Photos HERE
