Most of this research sounds like common sense. I remember my pediatrician reminding me that children are born with their personalities, same as eye color, intelligence, athleticism, etc. Check the webpage of Brent W. Roberts, University of Illinois, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who was featured in the last U of I LAS News.
Highlights of Recent Findings of Brent W. Roberts
Personality traits predict mortality, divorce, and occupational attainment as well as, if not better than socioeconomic status and cognitive ability (Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, in press).
Personality traits continue to change in middle and old age (Roberts, Helson, & Klohnen, 2002; Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006). Specifically, people become more socially dominant, conscientious, and emotionally stable as they age.
People who are engage in counterproductive work behaviors (e.g., fighting, stealing, malingering) become more more alienated and less controlled than people who do not engage in counterproductive work behaviors (Roberts, Bogg, Walton, & Caspi, 2006).
People who become more involved in work and stay in stable marriages increase on measures of conscientiousness over time (Roberts, Caspi, & Moffitt, 2003; Roberts & Bogg, 2004).
People change their perception of their environment more than they change their self-perceptions over time (Harms, Roberts & Winter, 2006).
Goals for investments in work and marriage are related to increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness in college (Roberts, O'Donnell, & Robins, 2004)
People who are more conscientious avoid most of the risky behaviors that lead to premature mortality and participate in the positive health behaviors associated with longevity (Bogg & Roberts, 2004).
Friday, September 11, 2009
Glenn Beck and ACORN
Yesterday on both the radio and TV shows, Glenn Beck played a tape of an interview at a Baltimore ACORN program that assists people applying for government subsidies for mortgages, helps with tax problems, and other assorted problems. A tour of the beautifully designed ACORN-ilk websites which lured unqualified people into sub-prime mortgages with government kick-back loans, to then running foreclosure workshops (all with government grants), or to borrowing government money to fix up the damaged home they helped them buy are disgusting. ACORN takes their cut at every level. Membership fees isn't how ACORN makes its money or pays its staff.
Yes, the Beck information was shocking, but not more important than the health care scam or cap and trade or automobile take over or the McCarthy-worthy interrogation that Barney Frank put on a few months ago.
Whether you love or hate ACORN, every smarmy act by the Baltimore ACORN staff could be explained.
For those who love ACORN, it could be (and the one you'll hear the most), 1) it's just one bad apple, these people do fine work; 2) it was all staged; 3) legally a prostitute only has to report the income, and all the ACORN tax advice was correct; 4) the ACORN workers were not being judgemental and that's the most important value in today's world (work in a phrase from the Bible here if possible); 5) and then ACORN apologists will segue to Christian, Jewish or other faith based organizations who have made similar "mistakes." They'll for sure bring up scandals they've read about priests. Maybe some witch burning in American history--that's always good. Or homosexual evangelical pastors visiting male prostitutes, etc. It's key to remember that for the left, hypocrisy (not sex slavery of children, not laundered money, not lying), is the most evil of all sin. And that part about the illegal, under-age prostitution ring the mortgage applicants were going to use the house for? Well, that's all open to interpretation, and Media watch dogs and fact checkers on the left will parse that tape to shreds, and close their eyes and ears.
And if you think ACORN is evil, the spawn of Satan, and this tape just proves it, you'd better look at the "laundered" government grant money your own organization gets, because the federal government has been taking more and more power from the local level through laws and regulations for decades, then to support those programs it taxes us, then it turns around and passes that money back to the local jurisdictions, states, non-profits, universities, think-tanks, foundations, churches, and political groups like ACORN, to do the "work of the people." (There's a sidewalk going in on our street and I'm betting it's your stimulus money.)
President Bush's administration was extremely careless with oversite of outsourced government programs, and fertilized the dirt in which the little acorn has grown to a huge tree with deep roots and wide branches. Remember, before Obama, no president had spent more on social engineering programs than Dubya, especially in education. Obama has left him in the dust with his trillions compared to Bush's billions.
The crime Beck exposed (although it wasn't his tape or his investigation) isn't the corruption, like he claimed. There were plenty of YouTube videos of ACORN stealing votes and bussing voters across Ohio's state lines during the 2008 campaign, and we just let that go. ACORN helped elect Obama, so nothing will come of this tape. It's the routine usurption of our rights and stealing our money that has been going on for decades through many administrations that is the big crime.
If conservatives try to make ACORN the whipping boy for problems that go back to Wilson and Roosevelt and probably before, this mess will never be cleaned up and we should never, never again go into a foreign war to aid a 2nd or 3rd world country in becoming a democracy, because we don't do so great at representative government ourselves.
Yes, the Beck information was shocking, but not more important than the health care scam or cap and trade or automobile take over or the McCarthy-worthy interrogation that Barney Frank put on a few months ago.
Whether you love or hate ACORN, every smarmy act by the Baltimore ACORN staff could be explained.
For those who love ACORN, it could be (and the one you'll hear the most), 1) it's just one bad apple, these people do fine work; 2) it was all staged; 3) legally a prostitute only has to report the income, and all the ACORN tax advice was correct; 4) the ACORN workers were not being judgemental and that's the most important value in today's world (work in a phrase from the Bible here if possible); 5) and then ACORN apologists will segue to Christian, Jewish or other faith based organizations who have made similar "mistakes." They'll for sure bring up scandals they've read about priests. Maybe some witch burning in American history--that's always good. Or homosexual evangelical pastors visiting male prostitutes, etc. It's key to remember that for the left, hypocrisy (not sex slavery of children, not laundered money, not lying), is the most evil of all sin. And that part about the illegal, under-age prostitution ring the mortgage applicants were going to use the house for? Well, that's all open to interpretation, and Media watch dogs and fact checkers on the left will parse that tape to shreds, and close their eyes and ears.
And if you think ACORN is evil, the spawn of Satan, and this tape just proves it, you'd better look at the "laundered" government grant money your own organization gets, because the federal government has been taking more and more power from the local level through laws and regulations for decades, then to support those programs it taxes us, then it turns around and passes that money back to the local jurisdictions, states, non-profits, universities, think-tanks, foundations, churches, and political groups like ACORN, to do the "work of the people." (There's a sidewalk going in on our street and I'm betting it's your stimulus money.)
President Bush's administration was extremely careless with oversite of outsourced government programs, and fertilized the dirt in which the little acorn has grown to a huge tree with deep roots and wide branches. Remember, before Obama, no president had spent more on social engineering programs than Dubya, especially in education. Obama has left him in the dust with his trillions compared to Bush's billions.
The crime Beck exposed (although it wasn't his tape or his investigation) isn't the corruption, like he claimed. There were plenty of YouTube videos of ACORN stealing votes and bussing voters across Ohio's state lines during the 2008 campaign, and we just let that go. ACORN helped elect Obama, so nothing will come of this tape. It's the routine usurption of our rights and stealing our money that has been going on for decades through many administrations that is the big crime.
If conservatives try to make ACORN the whipping boy for problems that go back to Wilson and Roosevelt and probably before, this mess will never be cleaned up and we should never, never again go into a foreign war to aid a 2nd or 3rd world country in becoming a democracy, because we don't do so great at representative government ourselves.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Check out these verbs! What bias?
Here's the USA Today's account of the 9/12 March on Washington:
18,000 demonstrate on Sept 5 near Cincinnati, Ohio
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tea Party Patriots are storming the Potomac.The conservative activists who staged taxpayer tea parties last spring and packed town-hall-style meetings to rail against “Obama care” this summer plan to march here Saturday to protest what they call out-of-control government spending.
Encouraged by conservative commentators such as Fox’s Glenn Beck [obviously we old doddering fools couldn't find our way on our own] and organized virtually on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, the march will constitute “the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever,” says Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks. The advocacy group led by former House majority leader Dick Armey is planning the event, although other organizers say theirs is an unprompted movement.
- "Tomorrow [Thursday] I leave for Washington DC. Why am I going? Well, I figure since my senators refuse to communicate with me about how they want to further infringe upon our freedoms, (or anything else) I will go to them and join thousands of other grass-roots people in hopes that we will make a difference. We have no other avenue! In case you don't know who the grass-roots people are, they are the crazy, misinformed old people who consist of Nazis, idiots, racists and people like you and me. The March On Washington promises to be the largest civil protest against the Federal Government ever. Yet, so far the media (with the exception of Fox News) has given the event zero exposure along with our legislators. But our legislators know we're out here cause most were afraid to face us as they cowered during their break and refused to meet with us. If you want to see any of this demonstration on 9/12 do not count on NBC, CBS, or ABC. You will have to tune to Fox News around 11:30 a.m. eastern time.
This protest March is about healthcare and the reckless spending that has guaranteed the recession to last for years to come and financially cripple our grand children. Obama says that we grassroots people have attempted to derail HIS health plan with lies and myths but have no plan of our own. Well, that's a lie. There are plenty of suggestions out there like tort reform, eliminating illegals from free care, letting Medicare negotiate the price of drugs and allowing insurance companies to cross state lines. These suggestion cost NOTHING but they aren't even in Obama's plan nor does he want to hear them. The reason is simple....these remedies go against the special interests groups pure and simple! If our legislators would have read the plan before they attempted to explain it to their constituents, they could have dispelled any myths or lies. But they obviously didn't know what was in the plan. Obama says he's gonna pay for it by taxing the insurance companies and taking 500 billion from Medicare which in turn implies that it won't cost you and I anything. Who the hell does he think has to replace the Medicare dollars and where will the insurance companies get the tax money? You see, every time our government gives away our tax dollars, we then get taxed not only enough to maintain the current bloated budget but also put back the money we gave away. The illegals and non-contributors say "Gracious Mucho" and us grass-root taxpayers say "OUCH" Obama says the special interests are cringing at the thought of this plan going through. Gee, that's not a lie?? As far as I know there hasn't been a major piece of legislation that has passed in years that hasn't been favorable to special interests. The prescription Drug Plan is the easiest example. That dog was written by special interests and is still barking plus all our legislators know it. That's one of the main problems with any bill that they pass, no matter how good or bad, we have to live with it forever.
Anyway, I'll be the good looking guy in the protest March carrying a sign that says "Put "WE THE PEOPLE" back in government". The reverse side will say " Where is ABC CBS NBC?" I put this on the back because I'm sure they won't be there covering the event but they will surely be there tonight when Obama tries to sell HIS plan.
Has anyone asked the question "Why is everyone waiting to hear what Obama wants?" What about what you and I want? Aren't we "WE the People"?
18,000 demonstrate on Sept 5 near Cincinnati, Ohio--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Winter catalogues
Oh NO! And it's 80 degrees. Talbots and L.L. Bean are already here. However, glancing through both (What? a $99 "hoodie" are you crazy?) I noticed blazers seemed to be having a comeback. So this morning, I wore my tan jeans (Lazurus, birthday 2004) and my navy linen/rayon blazer ( Chadwicks ca. 1997) with a white shirt to the coffee shop. Then I read the article in WSJ--something about a jeans jacket over a mini-dress over pants, or something. And I'd just put the 80s in the back of the closet, and here they are again. Back to the drawing board. I'll just never be a fashionista. I used to say I looked better than a lot of women who planned to go to work, but I've noticed with the down economy, people are sprucing up a bit.
Yesterday I saw a woman who appeared to be of middle eastern origin wearing bright fuscia leggings, under a shear black mini-dress with a lot of jewelry and 3" high heels. At a 3 store shopping area in Upper Arlington. Did I miss a fad while I was gone for the summer?
Yesterday I saw a woman who appeared to be of middle eastern origin wearing bright fuscia leggings, under a shear black mini-dress with a lot of jewelry and 3" high heels. At a 3 store shopping area in Upper Arlington. Did I miss a fad while I was gone for the summer?
Republicans--hopeless or helpless?
Although I never voted for George H.W. Bush, I thought Republicans were silly to toss him over for the "no new taxes" broken promise. Obama started breaking promises from the get-go, and our brave, proud media have scarcely batted an eyelash, nor his loyal supporters. Was it Jan. 21 that he raised taxes on the poor with that huge cigarette tax increase? Do you know a single rich guy who smokes hurt by that? Everything he's done in the last 7 months has either intentionally, or unintentionally hurt the economy. The rich can just ride it out. Republicans in Congress still look like idiots. If they can't make a difference because of their small numbers, they could at least stand on principle.
Yesterday I read in our local paper about a closing of a small bakery business--53 years old. Not only that, but the owners have also lost their home. I feel badly because I used to go there all the time when we lived on Abington, but I've probably only stopped in once or twice in the last 7 years. Their cakes, cookies and bread were to die for. The line to get things before an OSU football game went outside the door when my kids were little. The number of times I'd call my husband at work about 4:45 and ask him to swing by there and bring a dessert home--ah, I'm salivating.
The savings rate is up; that's good. But when people don't buy those little extras, and in this case the business employed about 20 people, everyone in the local community is hurt, the city gets fewer taxes, the state gets less, and the U.S. gov't, which thought the owners were "rich" will really get less. So then Obama will raise our taxes to make up for what he can't get from the "rich."
"When's the last time a poor person gave you a job" may be a cliche, but it is oh so true, and investment came to a screeching halt last July when the business world could see who would be the next president, a man very hostile to capitalism.
Yesterday I read in our local paper about a closing of a small bakery business--53 years old. Not only that, but the owners have also lost their home. I feel badly because I used to go there all the time when we lived on Abington, but I've probably only stopped in once or twice in the last 7 years. Their cakes, cookies and bread were to die for. The line to get things before an OSU football game went outside the door when my kids were little. The number of times I'd call my husband at work about 4:45 and ask him to swing by there and bring a dessert home--ah, I'm salivating.
The savings rate is up; that's good. But when people don't buy those little extras, and in this case the business employed about 20 people, everyone in the local community is hurt, the city gets fewer taxes, the state gets less, and the U.S. gov't, which thought the owners were "rich" will really get less. So then Obama will raise our taxes to make up for what he can't get from the "rich."
"When's the last time a poor person gave you a job" may be a cliche, but it is oh so true, and investment came to a screeching halt last July when the business world could see who would be the next president, a man very hostile to capitalism.
The education speech Obama should have given
If he wants to make a difference to minority children (although why he wants them to succeed isn't clear--is it to volunteer? To become a government bureaucrat? To become a social worker and visit people receiving welfare? He definitely doesn't want them to be rich) he needs to talk to their parents, the NEA, the Department of Education and Congress about school choice and supporting home schoolers. Particularly, the parents in DC need to hear this message. Obama and other minority government officials and civil servants send their children to tony private schools that need minorities for "balance" and government grants. Not everyone can afford the school where the Obama girls go or where Jesse Jackson and Al Gore sent their kids, but vouchers do work and its been proven to be very helpful, especially for minority children who most need to escape the prison of the public system. There is a bigger gap now than 20 years ago between minorities and whites. Part of this is, I'm sure (if they are measuring public schools and not all schools), the better students have been pulled out by their parents, or the parents have fled to the suburbs to avoid forced bussing leaving the city schools to struggle with minorities, mix and match quasi-families, immigrants, and special needs students.
". . . students at inner-city [NY] Catholic high schools, who are mostly minorities, achieve nearly 90 percent graduation rates," and these schools could be saved with an adequate voucher program according to the City Journal article. Cleveland would be thrilled with figures half of that. The disabled also get a better chance with the voucher system, and indirectly it prevents the public schools from funneling children into special programs in order to get government money which isn't used on the children with problems.
". . . students at inner-city [NY] Catholic high schools, who are mostly minorities, achieve nearly 90 percent graduation rates," and these schools could be saved with an adequate voucher program according to the City Journal article. Cleveland would be thrilled with figures half of that. The disabled also get a better chance with the voucher system, and indirectly it prevents the public schools from funneling children into special programs in order to get government money which isn't used on the children with problems.
"You Lie!" Joe Wilson
From Blogsphere: HT Nancy at American Daughter
". . .tonight Obama stood before Congress and lied to the members. Rep. Joe Wilson has read the bill. Barack Obama has not read the bill, and is relying on his handlers to tell him what to say. Politicians on both sides of the aisle called upon Wilson to apologize, which he did. Many, including John McCain, seemed to think that Wilson was rude for calling out from the audience. Personally, I believe that Obama was rude for lying to Congress and to the American citizens who were watching and listening. And Obama was arrogant and disdainful for assuming that we are stupid enough to believe his lie. ActBlue immediately created a fund-raising page for Joe Wilson's 2010 Democratic challenger Rob Miller titled No More Name Calling. So far they have raised a grand total of $100 from three supporters. And Wikipedia had to disable editing of their article on Joe Wilson due to vandalism. Which is more important -- the veneer of manners or the gut of honesty? Have any of these pantywaists ever watched a session of the British parliament? In any event, the future probably will favor Wilson. We understand that he has aspirations for higher office, and the governorship in his state may soon be vacant. In this timely moment, he has just become a national ideological hero. He gave voice to the frustrated silent majority, and they are ecstatic:"
". . .tonight Obama stood before Congress and lied to the members. Rep. Joe Wilson has read the bill. Barack Obama has not read the bill, and is relying on his handlers to tell him what to say. Politicians on both sides of the aisle called upon Wilson to apologize, which he did. Many, including John McCain, seemed to think that Wilson was rude for calling out from the audience. Personally, I believe that Obama was rude for lying to Congress and to the American citizens who were watching and listening. And Obama was arrogant and disdainful for assuming that we are stupid enough to believe his lie. ActBlue immediately created a fund-raising page for Joe Wilson's 2010 Democratic challenger Rob Miller titled No More Name Calling. So far they have raised a grand total of $100 from three supporters. And Wikipedia had to disable editing of their article on Joe Wilson due to vandalism. Which is more important -- the veneer of manners or the gut of honesty? Have any of these pantywaists ever watched a session of the British parliament? In any event, the future probably will favor Wilson. We understand that he has aspirations for higher office, and the governorship in his state may soon be vacant. In this timely moment, he has just become a national ideological hero. He gave voice to the frustrated silent majority, and they are ecstatic:"
- The new battle cry of all TRUE AMERICANS:
YOU LIE!!!!!
Blogger: "Joe has just been launched into superstardom. We just watched history being made."
Blogger: "I want to bear his rebel children!!!"
Here again are the phone numbers to contact and congrat Joe:
DC office: 202 225 2452
SC office 803 939 0041
Blogger: "Joe's switchboard is melting down!!"
Blogger: "we need to protect Joe Wilson Now!!!!! after Nancy was looking at the seating chart...she is gonna try to start some shit"
Blogger: "I'm definitely adding him to my list of Great Americans!"
Blogger: "Joe now has 4200 followers on Twitter and growing by the minute, lol. An hour ago he had 2,800"
Blogger: "If there is no concrete plan then why did Obama say he was going to "clarify" on TV tonite. There was a lie right there..."
Blogger: "Good for him, I say. Exercise your first amendment rights before they're taken away."
Blogger: "Bravo Mr. Wilson. Bravo."
Steve Jobs (Apple) is back!
About a year after his liver transplant, he's back in control (at least visibly). Could he have done this recovery with Obamacare and no private wealth?
At 54, he probably would have been considered expendable by whatever government panel needed to make the decision, assuming of course that while he was waiting during the application process, he hadn't become too ill to survive the operation. That happens even now with people on gov't care. As a private businessman, at least he didn't have to worry about losing his job due to his disability.
Still, we all know, that rich guys even under socialism have other options (see Finland or England). Even under Obamacare, he would have gone to the front of the line.
At 54, he probably would have been considered expendable by whatever government panel needed to make the decision, assuming of course that while he was waiting during the application process, he hadn't become too ill to survive the operation. That happens even now with people on gov't care. As a private businessman, at least he didn't have to worry about losing his job due to his disability.
Still, we all know, that rich guys even under socialism have other options (see Finland or England). Even under Obamacare, he would have gone to the front of the line.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Liberals and fascism
“Scratch a "liberal" and you'll find a fascist. I've never met a leftist yet who does not despise ordinary people and who does not harbor a hankering for authoritarian dictatorship by elites.” Patrick Joubert Conlon commenting on Thomas Friedman who thinks we need liberal fascism.
I'm always surprised by the liberals who can forget or ignore the millions and millions of Chinese murdered by their own government and then praise the result as benign. Although it happens so often, I don't know why I'm always caught off guard. Heard the same sentiment at the lectures on China this summer at Lakeside from people in the audience old enough to remember what happened in the 1940s.
I'm always surprised by the liberals who can forget or ignore the millions and millions of Chinese murdered by their own government and then praise the result as benign. Although it happens so often, I don't know why I'm always caught off guard. Heard the same sentiment at the lectures on China this summer at Lakeside from people in the audience old enough to remember what happened in the 1940s.
A mostly lovely day
A bit of rain, but mid-70s low 80s most of the day. Finally got my hair done (cut and color), postponed from last week when I decided to spend week 11 at Lakeside. The sun had pretty much bleached it out. I truly had considered going gray (or white?), but don't like it. Reentry has been a challenge. No place to walk that has sunrises, but I have walked mostly on drive-ways and asphalt, this morning in the Meijer's parking lot. We came home to plumbing repair--in the middle of the night Sunday/Monday I heard a drip drip drip. Got that fixed today after being banished from my bathroom for 2 days. I got 1/2 the tar cleaned off my van, a gift from some inconsiderate truck ambling along Rt. 4 dribbling as he went. The cat has diarrhea, and we've been trimming her tail, since she hasn't quite figured out how high to lift it! Like me she's getting old and creaky--doesn't seem quite sure about jumping up on my lap. The dryer switch has died, so I have wet laundry hanging around the lower level (but no clothes line). My husband has matted and framed four of my summer paintings, so I'll be ready for the art show at Mill Run next week. Tomorrow we're doing some sort of art adventure with 3 other couples, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details since I didn't plan it. Sunday we're invited to a party for a couple celebrating their 50th. The invitation has their wedding photo, which is a nice touch--wedding dresses were much more beautiful and not so revealing 50 years ago. But my goodness, they look young!
Dinner tonight: bratwurst, lightly steamed and buttered beet tops, fried new red potatoes, and strawberries topped with dark chocolate ice cream.
Summer's over. I'll be back at the lake to volunteer for the Midwest Bird Symposium later in the month, but for now, it's just a pleasant memory.
Dinner tonight: bratwurst, lightly steamed and buttered beet tops, fried new red potatoes, and strawberries topped with dark chocolate ice cream.
Summer's over. I'll be back at the lake to volunteer for the Midwest Bird Symposium later in the month, but for now, it's just a pleasant memory.
What Obamacare will look like for older women
Osteoporosis. After all, Dr. Zeke says if you are over 65, you can't contribute much and aren't worth treating.
- Emanuel, however, believes that "communitarianism" should guide decisions on who gets care. He says medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia" (Hastings Center Report, Nov.-Dec. '96).
Translation: Don't give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson's or a child with cerebral palsy.
He explicitly defends discrimination against older patients: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years" (Lancet, Jan. 31).
It's an imperfect document, said Obama
“[The Constitution] is an imperfect document.” Barack Obama
“Why should we be governed by people long dead? … In any case, the group that ratified the Constitution included just a small subset of the society; it excluded all women, the vast majority of African Americans, many of those without property, and numerous others who were not permitted to vote.” Cass Sunstein
“We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” Signers of The Declaration of Independence
I am not aware of Barack Obama or Cass Sunstein pledging their lives, their fortunes or their sacred honor to preserve the US. Citizen Wells Read the full article here.
More on Sunstein’s ideas to control you through more regulations about which you‘ll have no say, because he‘s appointed and needs no confirmation. It's almost impossible to take this guy out of context--he hides nothing!
Here's a fun idea. Go to Google and type in "Let's get rid of Cass Sunstein." Using that phrase, you can find both the progressive/marxist blogs and the conservative/alarmist blogs.
“Why should we be governed by people long dead? … In any case, the group that ratified the Constitution included just a small subset of the society; it excluded all women, the vast majority of African Americans, many of those without property, and numerous others who were not permitted to vote.” Cass Sunstein
“We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” Signers of The Declaration of Independence
I am not aware of Barack Obama or Cass Sunstein pledging their lives, their fortunes or their sacred honor to preserve the US. Citizen Wells Read the full article here.
More on Sunstein’s ideas to control you through more regulations about which you‘ll have no say, because he‘s appointed and needs no confirmation. It's almost impossible to take this guy out of context--he hides nothing!
Here's a fun idea. Go to Google and type in "Let's get rid of Cass Sunstein." Using that phrase, you can find both the progressive/marxist blogs and the conservative/alarmist blogs.
Weeping with WaPo
It could really tear at your heart strings--Washington Post's version of how Obama was first tested on health care while an Illinois Senator. After the first page I thought I'd gag at the obsequious adulation, so I don't know if the writer got around to what's happened in Illinois with all the mandates that now deny people doctors, or that Medicaid, a state run program, has been broke for years. Our Illinois friends chose to keep their mother in an Ohio nursing home (she's on Medicaid) and make the grueling drive back and forth. (They are, of course, union members, DINKS and Democrats.) However the writer did let it slip that the 2004 speech at the Democratic convention was a rerun he'd used many times. That with a phony blaccent and pulpit flourishes was enough to make liberals swoon.
- "Summoning a story he would repeat during his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, Obama talked about a father he met who would soon lose his job and health insurance after being laid off from a plant in Butler, Ill. His son needed $4,500 worth of drugs because of a liver transplant, Obama said. . . "
Mainstream Media Fails Again
says Nancy Matthis at American Daughter.
- "The mainstream media made no mention of the controversy surrounding Van Jones until AFTER he resigned. The usual suspects, who have shaped the news for years, -- CBS, NBC, the Washington Post, and the New York Times -- carried no news at all until the Jones affair was over. Then they reported, briefly (trying to minimize the damage to Obama), that Jones had resigned as the result of a vicious right-wing smear campaign. That is a very biased way to characterize an expose consisting entirely of video clips of the man's own speeches."
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Unelected, Unconfirmed, Unaccountable
Just in case you were counting.
1. Richard Holbrooke — Afghanistan Czar
2. Jeffrey Crowley — AIDS Czar
3. Ed Montgomery — Auto Recovery Czar
4. Alan Bersin — Border Czar
5. David J. Hayes — California Water Czar
6. Ron Bloom — Car Czar (moved to Manufacturing Czar today)
7. Dennis Ross — Central Region Czar
8. Todd Stern — Climate Czar
9. Lynn Rosenthal — Domestic Violence Czar
10. Gil Kerlikowske — Drug Czar
11. Paul Volcker — Economic Czar
12. Carol Browner — Energy and Environment Czar
13. Joshua DuBois — Faith Based Czar
14. Jeffrey Zients — Government Performance Czar
15. Cameron Davis — Great Lakes Czar
16. Van Jones — Green Jobs Czar (resigned)
17. Daniel Fried — Guantanamo Closure Czar
18. Nancy-Ann DeParle — Health Czar
19. Vivek Kundra — Information Czar
20. Dennis Blair — Intelligence Czar
21. Ron Bloom — Manufacturing Czar
22. George Mitchell — Mideast Peace Czar
23. Kenneth R. Feinberg — Pay Czar
24. Cass R. Sunstein — Regulatory Czar
25. John Holdren — Science Czar
26. Earl Devaney — Stimulus Accountability Czar
27. J. Scott Gration — Sudan Czar
28. Herb Allison — TARP Czar
29. Aneesh Chopra — Technology Czar
30. John Brennan — Terrorism Czar
31. Adolfo Carrion Jr. — Urban Affairs Czar
32. Ashton Carter — Weapons Czar
33. Gary Samore — WMD Policy Czar
"The departments raided of their authority in favor of Czars include the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — that’s the entire cabinet except for the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Veterans’ Affairs."
HT Hot Air and Belmont Club.
Google a few of these characters. It's darn scary!
"In today's world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?" John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, p. 838, Ecoscience.
"Taking Machine politics nationwide was one of the great dangers of electing Barack Obama to executive office. Appointing run of the mill political actors like Valerie Jarrett, Arne Duncan, and now Cameron Davis [Great Lakes Czar] takes limited local players onto the national stage, which begs the question…is Congress and the National Press up to the task of checking the Chicagoans?" Chicago Daily Observer
1. Richard Holbrooke — Afghanistan Czar
2. Jeffrey Crowley — AIDS Czar
3. Ed Montgomery — Auto Recovery Czar
4. Alan Bersin — Border Czar
5. David J. Hayes — California Water Czar
6. Ron Bloom — Car Czar (moved to Manufacturing Czar today)
7. Dennis Ross — Central Region Czar
8. Todd Stern — Climate Czar
9. Lynn Rosenthal — Domestic Violence Czar
10. Gil Kerlikowske — Drug Czar
11. Paul Volcker — Economic Czar
12. Carol Browner — Energy and Environment Czar
13. Joshua DuBois — Faith Based Czar
14. Jeffrey Zients — Government Performance Czar
15. Cameron Davis — Great Lakes Czar
16. Van Jones — Green Jobs Czar (resigned)
17. Daniel Fried — Guantanamo Closure Czar
18. Nancy-Ann DeParle — Health Czar
19. Vivek Kundra — Information Czar
20. Dennis Blair — Intelligence Czar
21. Ron Bloom — Manufacturing Czar
22. George Mitchell — Mideast Peace Czar
23. Kenneth R. Feinberg — Pay Czar
24. Cass R. Sunstein — Regulatory Czar
25. John Holdren — Science Czar
26. Earl Devaney — Stimulus Accountability Czar
27. J. Scott Gration — Sudan Czar
28. Herb Allison — TARP Czar
29. Aneesh Chopra — Technology Czar
30. John Brennan — Terrorism Czar
31. Adolfo Carrion Jr. — Urban Affairs Czar
32. Ashton Carter — Weapons Czar
33. Gary Samore — WMD Policy Czar
"The departments raided of their authority in favor of Czars include the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — that’s the entire cabinet except for the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Veterans’ Affairs."
HT Hot Air and Belmont Club.
Google a few of these characters. It's darn scary!
"In today's world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?" John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, p. 838, Ecoscience.
"Taking Machine politics nationwide was one of the great dangers of electing Barack Obama to executive office. Appointing run of the mill political actors like Valerie Jarrett, Arne Duncan, and now Cameron Davis [Great Lakes Czar] takes limited local players onto the national stage, which begs the question…is Congress and the National Press up to the task of checking the Chicagoans?" Chicago Daily Observer
Cass Sunstein, next to go?
Let's have a bit more transparency, some sunshine on the Obama appointments, the ones that need confirmation. The crazies--animal rightists, statists, marxists, and Nudge-nuts.
"Cass Sunstein is another of member of President Obama's administration. His nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been stuck in committee since June because of his extreme ideas. Sunstein is an advocate of something called libertarian paternalism, which means give people the choice to make their own decisions, but instead of just laying out the facts, control the number of choices, then use knowledge of behavioral sciences (like psychology) to guide them to do what you want. In other words treat the voters the way you treat young children." Yid with a Lid
"Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.
Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done." CNSNews" Should fit nicely with the death panels, right?
"Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law professor who has been appointed to a shadowy post that will grant him powers that are merely mind-boggling, explicitly supports using the courts to impose a "chilling effect" on speech that might hurt someone's feelings. He thinks that the bloggers have been rampaging out of control and that new laws need to be written to corral them.
Advance copies of Sunstein's new book, "On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done," have gone out to reviewers ahead of its September publication date, but considering the prominence with which Sunstein is about to be endowed, his worrying views are fair game now. Sunstein is President Obama's choice to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It's the bland titles that should scare you the most. . . Czar is too mild a world for what Sunstein is about to become. How about "regulator in chief"? How about "lawgiver"? He is Obama's Obama. Kyle Smith "
"Cass Sunstein says: An example of a little nudge is that Congress should enact very soon a greenhouse gas inventory, by which American citizens see who are the big contributors to the climate change problem. Amazingly, there isn’t a climate—a greenhouse gas inventory. That little nudge, there’s every reason to think, would achieve considerable good, because no company likes to see in the newspaper that it’s one of the worst contributors to the climate change problem. So information disclosure is a really simple, often costless and sometimes very effective nudge." Interview at Democracy Now! [Wow, is that name a stretch!]
"Cass Sunstein is another of member of President Obama's administration. His nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been stuck in committee since June because of his extreme ideas. Sunstein is an advocate of something called libertarian paternalism, which means give people the choice to make their own decisions, but instead of just laying out the facts, control the number of choices, then use knowledge of behavioral sciences (like psychology) to guide them to do what you want. In other words treat the voters the way you treat young children." Yid with a Lid
"Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.
Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done." CNSNews" Should fit nicely with the death panels, right?
"Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law professor who has been appointed to a shadowy post that will grant him powers that are merely mind-boggling, explicitly supports using the courts to impose a "chilling effect" on speech that might hurt someone's feelings. He thinks that the bloggers have been rampaging out of control and that new laws need to be written to corral them.
Advance copies of Sunstein's new book, "On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done," have gone out to reviewers ahead of its September publication date, but considering the prominence with which Sunstein is about to be endowed, his worrying views are fair game now. Sunstein is President Obama's choice to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It's the bland titles that should scare you the most. . . Czar is too mild a world for what Sunstein is about to become. How about "regulator in chief"? How about "lawgiver"? He is Obama's Obama. Kyle Smith "
"Cass Sunstein says: An example of a little nudge is that Congress should enact very soon a greenhouse gas inventory, by which American citizens see who are the big contributors to the climate change problem. Amazingly, there isn’t a climate—a greenhouse gas inventory. That little nudge, there’s every reason to think, would achieve considerable good, because no company likes to see in the newspaper that it’s one of the worst contributors to the climate change problem. So information disclosure is a really simple, often costless and sometimes very effective nudge." Interview at Democracy Now! [Wow, is that name a stretch!]
Homosexual adoption update
About 2.5 years ago I wrote about the strange case of the heir of the IBM fortune who had adopted her lover, and then they split up.
- Honest, I was looking for the amount of CO2 termites contribute to global warming, and somehow wandered into this strange story of the granddaughter of IBM founder, Thomas Watson, who adopted her adult lesbian partner, then they split, and now about 15 years later, the ex-partner is trying to get herself listed as the 19th grandchild of her ex-lover's biological mother so she can help support her own biological mother, who apparently had no objections to giving her up for adoption. Serves the greedy little twit right if she loses her suit. Serves the flaky IBM granddaughter right if she loses in court to her ex-lover. Some people give adoption a bad name. Some people give women a bad name. Some people give money lust a bad name. Some do all three.
Posted by Norma at 3/19/2007
- The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on July 23 that the adoption of Patricia Spado by her then-same-sex-partner, Olive Watson, in 1991 was valid, reversing a Probate Court ruling that had threatened to derail Spado’s attempt to claim a portion of the trust established by Thomas J. Watson, Jr., son of the founder of International Business Machines (IBM). Adoption of Patricia S., 2009 WL 2195428. Full story here.
Archivist or Librarian--does anyone care?
"On July 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate David S. Ferriero to the position of Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero currently serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL). Mr. Ferriero succeeds Professor Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist last December." National Coalition for History
Well, he's not an archivist, and as a librarian I can tell you these are different specialties, but it's much closer than the Librarian of Congress ever came to being a librarian. And closer than the last guy, Allen Weinstein who had been a history professor, writer, editor and head of a think tank/non-profit. These position usually don't change with the administration but he has Parkinson's Disease and cited ill health. It's probably just a title and I wish him well. To the victor belongs the archives. And the appointments.
And it requires confirmation! Since none of the czars do, and they will affect our lives far more than this position, it's time to demand a little sunlight on them. There are plenty more Van Joneses in the O-Administration; besides it sounds like he's just moved on over to John Podesta's Center for American Progress Action Fund. Sandy Berger's daughter works there. He definitely had a strong NARA connection. (He's the guy who stole the documents from the Archives and stuffed them in his socks.) See Guide to the Political Left for information on CAP.
Well, he's not an archivist, and as a librarian I can tell you these are different specialties, but it's much closer than the Librarian of Congress ever came to being a librarian. And closer than the last guy, Allen Weinstein who had been a history professor, writer, editor and head of a think tank/non-profit. These position usually don't change with the administration but he has Parkinson's Disease and cited ill health. It's probably just a title and I wish him well. To the victor belongs the archives. And the appointments.
And it requires confirmation! Since none of the czars do, and they will affect our lives far more than this position, it's time to demand a little sunlight on them. There are plenty more Van Joneses in the O-Administration; besides it sounds like he's just moved on over to John Podesta's Center for American Progress Action Fund. Sandy Berger's daughter works there. He definitely had a strong NARA connection. (He's the guy who stole the documents from the Archives and stuffed them in his socks.) See Guide to the Political Left for information on CAP.
Only Americans can save the economy
Stop waiting for the President to do something. Stop applying for phony "shovel ready" stimulus money (as of yesterday less than 14% had been spent by federal agencies).
- Go out and buy something from a local business today. Skip the internet.
- If you are in business, put an advertisement in a local newspaper or magazine or TV channel.
- Take the kids to the zoo or go to a movie and then out for ice cream.
- To to the lumber yard or hardware store and buy that item to do the home repair you've been promising.
- Leave bigger tips--bus boys pay rent too, you know.
- Buy school supplies for a low income family at the neighborhood
five and dimedollar or drug store. - Have a party--invite the neighbors.
- Put $5 more in the collection plate next Sunday.
- Buy stock in an American company whose products you know and trust.
- And if you live in a state like Ohio that is proposing more gambling to bring in jobs, consider the fall out, the outside interests, and cost of social problems before you vote.
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