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An optimist might tell you that this is the first inning of the recovery. We will return to the red trend line as the economy begins to strengthen. For what it is worth, I am not an optimist. I believe that the next major trend change in initial claims will be to the upside.

Please note that versions 32 through 34 of these posts are permanently missing. I took a break for a few weeks. Sorry about that! In my defense, not much has changed since I last posted.

Oh sure, there was a feigned attempt to revisit the red trend line in my absence. I guess there was that. Perhaps the red trend line attracted a few red herrings. Sigh.


The job market sure is a mystery, a conundrum so to speak. It's almost like jobs are being automated and outsourced faster than we can think up new ones. Yeah, it's almost exactly like that. Go figure.

See Also:
Extreme Initial Claims Danger v.31 (Musical Tribute)

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Initial Claims
DOL: Initial Claims

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

It seems like a reasonable means of bringing more high tech talent to the USA, thus helping to make us more competitive in the global marketplace. Some however disagree.

The New York Times - WHILE genuine immigration reform has the potential to fix a seriously broken system, four senators have introduced a bill to solve a problem we don’t have: the supply of high-tech workers.

The bill’s authors, led by Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, argue that America would benefit from letting more immigrants trained in science, technology, engineering and math work in the country, with the sponsorship of high-tech companies like Microsoft and I.B.M.

But the opposite is the case: the bill would flood the job market with indentured foreign workers, people who could not switch employers to improve their wages or working conditions; damage the employment prospects of hundreds of thousands of skilled Americans; and narrow the educational pipeline that produces these skilled workers domestically.

The impetus for the bill, which would give six-year visas to as many as 300,000 foreign high-tech workers a year, is the longstanding lament by business leaders that they cannot find the talent they need in the American labor market. In their version, there is a shortage of scientists and engineers, and the United States is failing to keep substantial numbers of foreign students in the country. As a result, our position as the world’s leading high-tech economy is in danger.

Fortunately, they argue, H-1B visas — our guest-worker program for high-tech workers — brings us “the best and the brightest” in the world. We just don’t give out enough of them.

But America’s technology leadership is not, in fact, endangered. According to the economist Richard B. Freeman, the United States, with just 5 percent of the world’s population, employs a third of its high-tech researchers, accounts for 40 percent of its research and development, and publishes over a third of its science and engineering articles.{Read More}

Perhaps we are all set without Senator Hatch's plan. However I can not help but wonder...

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

I have been skeptical of the rEpublican cries of voter fraud that never seems to go away. However, one must question if the following is but a isolated incident or whether it goes much deeper as some have claimed. The explanation seems plausible perhaps but then again...

ABC - CINCINNATI - The Hamilton County Board of Elections is investigating 19 possible cases of alleged voter fraud following months of investigation after the 2012 election.

Twenty-eight subpoenas have been issued as a result of the investigation, which includes 19 Hamilton County voters and nine witnesses who still need to answer questions to satisfy the board.

The board started with 80 suspicious cases and now are down to 19. Officials say the majority of the cases turned out to be simple misunderstandings.

Melowese Richardson, a Madisonville resident, first learned of the allegations when approached by 9 On Your Side reporter Tom McKee Wednesday. Even though she admits to voting twice in the last election, she said the news came as surprise.

"I would think that something this important would come to me first and that I wouldn't have to be enlightened about this through you," said Richardson.

According to county documents, Richardson's absentee ballot was accepted on Nov. 1, 2012 along with her signature. On Nov. 11, she told an official she also voted at a precinct because she was afraid her absentee ballot would not be counted in time.

"There's absolutely no intent on my part to commit voter fraud," said Richardson.

According to BOE records, her name appeared on an absentee ballot list prior to Election Day. The board's report states poll workers should have updated the signature poll book by flagging "absentee voter" next to the names of those who appeared on the list. Upon investigation it was found that none of the voters who appeared on the list were flagged, which included Richardson. The staff could not locate that supplemental list when asked.

Richardson voted at the Madisonville Recreation Center where she worked as a paid worker on Election Day.

She has worked the polls since 1988. Richardson said in her youth she would accompany her mother, who also worked at the polls, even thought she wasn't old enough to vote at the time.

"I, after registering thousands of people, certainly wanted my vote to count. So, I voted. I voted at the poll," she said.

The board's documents also state that Richardson was allegedly disruptive and hid things from other poll workers on Election Day after another female worker reported she was intimated by Richardson.

However, Richardson claims she was the one intimidated while doing her job.

"I think I was intimidated because she's new and wasn't doing her job very efficiently and like I said, I've been working the pools for several years. I let her know how it should have been taken care of," said Richardson.

During the investigation it was also discovered that her granddaughter, India Richardson, who was a first time voter in the 2012 election, cast two ballots in November. {Read More}

Via: Memorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny



As Big Brother (Leviathan) watches... Complements of GWM and the Patriot Act.

WIRED - The Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights watchdog has concluded that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security.

The DHS, which secures the nation’s border, in 2009 announced that it would conduct a “Civil Liberties Impact Assessment” of its suspicionless search-and-seizure policy pertaining to electronic devices “within 120 days.” More than three years later, the DHS office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties published a two-page executive summary of its findings.

“We also conclude that imposing a requirement that officers have reasonable suspicion in order to conduct a border search of an electronic device would be operationally harmful without concomitant civil rights/civil liberties benefits,” the executive summary said.

The memo highlights the friction between today’s reality that electronic devices have become virtual extensions of ourselves housing everything from e-mail to instant-message chats to photos and our papers and effects — juxtaposed against the government’s stated quest for national security.

The President George W. Bush administration first announced the suspicionless, electronics search rules in 2008. The President Barack Obama administration followed up with virtually the same rules a year later. Between 2008 and 2010, 6,500 persons had their electronic devices searched along the U.S. border, according to DHS data. {Read More}

Indeed our liberties are being slowly eroded away by Big Brother. And it is high time we begin to realize that rEpublicans are not true friends of liberty. Call me a rational skeptic but GWB did as much to rollback liberty as anyone in the last 80 or so years of our history.

Via: Memorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


Bill Clinton, a man whom I did not vote for has, over time engendered a certain level of respect. While I do not agree with many of his positions I do admire his resiliency as well as the wisdom he has gained and so effectively communicates.

I cannot help but wonder why there is no one individual in the limited government classical liberal movement that can define precisely what those terms mean and why limited government and classical liberal principles are both workable and sustainable. I suspect it is because they do not really believe it themselves. After all, most of the so called "limited government liberty politicians" have been only too willing to take advantage of the very system and programs they criticize.

Being a true limited government, pro capitalist, and pro liberty individual is the furthest thing from the so called conservative movement of the present as one can get. Of course one needs to understand the motives of the big "R" rEpublican/Neoconservative movement of the present to understand this. Unfortunately there are many who will never take the time to analyze and understand the dangers their leaders and "heroes" are leading them into.

As a nation we are at a point in our history that depending on how we react to past errors, and respond to present challenges will determine the course of our future. Listening to either the socon-neocon rEpublicans or the far left progressive big "D" statist democrats will undoubtedly result in our eventual demise as a great and influential nation.

It would do the rEpublicans power base and aspiring Libertarians well to listen to the words of an elder politician and democrat party Ambassador. After listening it is incumbent on rEpublican/Libertarian leadership to determine how to apply what they learn to EFFECTIVELY sending the powerful message of limited governance and liberty to a populace who is desirous of both.

A cautionary note; the great majority of the general population wants to work and earn an honest living, every day of their lives. They do not want to depend on government to take care of them. And they wonder exactly why there is a 500:1 ratio with respect to executive compensation to the average workers income. They have a point worth considering.

Politico - Former President Bill Clinton had a message for House Democrats on Friday: come up with a plan.

Clinton, speaking to the caucus at their retreat, said that heading into the midterm elections Democrats couldn’t just run against Republican policies but craft their own message on jobs, the economy, immigration, and gun control.

“I think we’re going to be fine, but we’ve got to learn to compare ourselves to the competition in a way that is not threatening and is not negative. We have got got to have a jobs agenda that seems affordable and realistic,” he said. “We need a 10 year budget plan that doesn’t overdo the austerity… Do it all in a same spirit that you took out there in this last election.

“This last race was a referendum in large measure on what the American people did not want, we have to create a future that they do want,” he added.

The former president said that Democrats could even win the gun control debate, if they approach it in the right way, and urged them not give up trying to convince people “who aren’t supposed to be in our demographic.”

“They are thinking about this too. They were sick when those children were killed,” he said. “Treat these people like our friends, our neighbors, and people we share our country with.” {Read More}

Yep rEpublicans and Libertarians, we all share the same desires, hopes, and fears as do our democrat inspired countrymen. So, if we want to win the argument and the day it is, as William Jefferson Clinton would no doubt agree, our responsibility to convince the other side exactly why we have a better plan. The task is I fear monumental given the legacy of GWB ad leadership the likes of Karl Rove.

Via: Memorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Former Illinois Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.

It seems the apple never falls far from the tree. Charlatans both...

The Hill - Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) has signed a plea deal over violations of campaign finance law, according to a report.

The former Illinois congressman agreed to the deal in the last few days, according to NBC News

Under the agreement, Jackson — who resigned from Congress in late 2012 citing health issues — would have to repay the campaign money he spent on furniture and other personal items.

According to NBC News, Jackson spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on items and travel unrelated to campaigning. Using campaign funds for personal use is illegal and punishable by a minimum penalty of five years in prison.

It is unclear how much time in prison Jackson is likely to spend. A federal judge for sentencing has not yet been assigned.

In response to the reported plea agreement, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a statement asking whether Jackson held onto his seat to use as a bargaining chip.

"With the writing on the wall well in advance of Election Day, and Rep. Jackson’s resignation just weeks later, it begs the question whether the former congressman held on to his seat to maintain a stronger bargaining position with prosecutors," CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said in a statement on Friday. "The people of Illinois deserve much more from their federally elected officials. While Rep. Jackson will be required to reimburse the government and may face jail time, the disservice to his constituents likely won’t be forgotten any time soon." {Read More}

As bad as some rEpublican lawmakers have been there certainly are big "D" charlatans out there working to scam the public as well, as Jackson Jr. has shown us. As so often happens, as well it should, Mr. Jackson was caught in his own misplaced belief he was beyond scrutiny. A perfect example of the old adage that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Via: Memeorandum

I'm working with a dear friend on a living room refresh. She recently switched her dining room and living room and wants to make the new living room a cozy spot for reading, iPad watching and the occasional violin practice. (iPad for her and violin for the kids). I need to show you her dining room by the way - so good.

What I love best about working with her is that I just plant the seed and girlfriend runs with it.  And since she is a mucho talented graphic designer, she always adds some killer flair along the way. Flair on your Chochkies uniform might be a thumbs down, but flair in your design is always a good thing. Flair is what takes a room from just pretty to pretty awesome.

She is also good to indulge me in my color addiction and I try to limit myself to two colors in an effort not to drive her off a cliff. Is that teamwork or what?
Plan is set and in motion. Furniture has been delivered, bookshelves arrive next week and the grasscloth is in the corner ready to go up. Now all we need is some multi-day childcare so we can drink some wine get to work. Of course I'll be sure to share some pictures when it is ready for its closeup.

Got a space that you want to refresh? I can help. Email me at daily-site@gmail.com.


Sharing on Design Your Dwelling.

Design Your Dwelling

God's Deputy Won't Talk With Obama!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
************
We exist in a sphere of truism(s).  A truism is simply something that happens to to be a factual truth.  Nothing can change it -- not even a lie. 

Truth has no agenda.  It just is.

One of those aggravating truisms that continually trips up our antagonists on the political left, especially those in the anti-war choir and the "kumbaya crowd," is this:  "You cannot negotiate with those who will NOT negotiate."

Obama (Blessed be his name!), he of the "Golden Tonsils," is so conceited that he actually BELIEVES he can talk to ANYONE and simply by the power of the persuasiveness of his voice, he can bend them to his will.  'Tain't so! 

The latest evidence of Mr. Obama's self deceit is Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's refusal to talk with the Obama Administration to find a way to ease the stalemate over Iran's nuclear program (Sometimes referred to as the creation of the Islam Bomb.)

Not only did the Ayatollah flip Obama the "bird," he managed to interject a threat to those indicating they MIGHT talk with America into his refusal, as well.

In recent days both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi both have indicated they would be open to direct talks with the US.

NOT so cotton-picking fast could describe the reaction of the man with the title "God's Deputy on Earth." 

The REAL ruler of Iran said:  "You [Americans] are pointing the gun at Iran and say either negotiate or we will shoot. The Iranian nation will not be frightened by the threats,"  He went on to say:  "Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America [but] negotiations will not solve the problems."  He continued: "If some people want American rule to be established again in Iran, the nation will rise up to face them." SOURCE: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0207/Iran-s-supreme-leader-shuts-down-possibility-of-direct-nuclear-talks-with-US  

Over the past few days the screws were tightened significantly against Iran, and  yet Iran's rulers are digging in and show no signs of relenting.

Just a missile shot away, Israel and Iran's proxies are are taking swings at each other in and around Syria and Lebanon.  The so-called "convoy" Israel bombed recently may turn out to be a Syrian complex which was billeting several hundred (or more) Iranian troops, many of whom were killed in the attack by the Israeli air force.  There are reports to that affect but the picture is far from clear at this point. 

While some worry that we are on the threshold of a regional war in the Middle East, I would argue that we need to worry about a World War with hostilities beginning in the Middle East.

History DOES repeat itself.  If one were to consider the decades just prior to the Second World War, one can clearly see the parallels between then and now.

The world is, again, in a global financial crisis just as it was before we went to war then.  We are following, step by step, the path of mistakes we made then, which led to a world-wide conflagration.

I sometimes think those descended from ancient Celtic warriors can hear the whispered beat of distant war drums.  Maybe it comes in our DNA.  It's more a feeling than a hearing.  Sometimes a mere murmur -- sometimes a low rumble. Nevertheless, they foretell a coming conflict that is unavoidable. We have passed the point of no return.

A regional war in the Middle East will not remain regional long.  The world's oil supply is dependent upon that region remaining pacified.  Once it goes up in flames the fire will spread quickly around the globe.

Obama has all but ended Pax Americana and this is the result -- a world resembling a street riot.

Soon the world will be clamoring for leadership.  Where will it come from?  Russia?  China?  One thing is certain.  It won't be coming from Obama's America. 

Maybe Iran's Ayatollah is just waiting to speak with the NEW global leader.

© J. D. Longstreet

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

State Representative Daniel B. Winslow

State Representative Winslow, a relative unknown rEpublican is 99% certain he'll run in the special election for the Senate seat being vacated by John Kerry. He appears to be a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. Winslow certainly merits a sincere look. If he is indeed that which he appears to be on first glance sending him to Washington as an offset to Senator Warren ain't such a bad idea.

Political Intelligence - State Representative Daniel B. Winslow, a former judge and onetime aide to Governor Mitt Romney, said Thursday he is entering the special election for the US Senate, the first Republican to officially declare his candidacy.

“I’m in,” Winslow said in a telephone interview. He had said earlier this week that he was “99 percent” certain he would run.

Winslow said he has donated $100,000 of his own money to jumpstart his campaign, which he estimated will cost between $4 million and $6 million.

On Monday, he said, he is flying to Washington to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill and with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which controls much of the party’s national fundraising. Nex month, Winslow said, he will resign from his law firm, Proskauer, where he is senior counsel in the litigation department.

“I’m going to be 100 percent running for the US Senate,” Winslow said. “This is a heavy lift. I’m going to give this race everything I’ve got.”

Winslow, 54, is a second-term state representative from Norfolk who served as Romney’s chief legal counsel from 2001 to 2005. Before that, he was a district court judge.

“I have a proven record of respect for Second Amendment constitutional freedoms,” Winslow wrote in an email announcing his candidacy to party activists and supporters. “My experience as a fiscal conservative and problem solver is experience we need in Washington DC. Our future depends on getting this right.” {Read More}

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


The heavy hand of big statist Socon rEpublicans in Alabama at work finding ways around the law. It is only a matter of time until the rEpublican party is irrelevant. Speaking frankly, perhaps it is time. When the state exercises power in this fashion liberty is indeed threatened. It is but one example demonstrating the rEpublican party has ceased to be the party of liberty that it once was.

By Adam Peck  - Republican lawmakers in Alabama took a crucial step on Wednesday towards their goal of shuttering the state’s last five abortion clinics, advancing a bill to the full house that would impose strict requirements on abortion providers.

The bill, the so-called “Women’s Health and Safety Act,” passed the Republican-controlled House Health Committee on Wednesday morning, and could come to vote in the full legislature as soon as Thursday. If passed, it would require clinics to meet certain architectural standards and have a physician present for all abortions — a provision Republicans claim is for the safety of patients, but is in fact a smokescreen designed to make compliance as difficult as possible:

But critics charged the bill sets impossible standards that have little to do with patient safety and that the bill stems from a template created by the pro-life group Americans United for Life.

“This bill targets regulatory standards of architectural structure, equipment and staffing that are totally unnecessary and cannot be met by the clinics,” said Gloria Gray, director of the West Alabama Women’s Health Center in Tuscaloosa. “How does requiring a six-foot hallway make it safer for a woman to have an abortion?” {Read More}

Via: Memeorandum

Update: This just in; Iowa bill would define legal abortion as murder. As one could guess the bill is sponsored by rEpublicans. A party who has not only lost it's bearings it has lost it's ability to think clearly and objectively. Irrelevancy is in the part's future. There is no doubt.

Ames Tribune - State Rep. Rob Bacon believes abortion is murder and he wants the Iowa Code to reflect that.

Bacon, R-Slater, and eight other Republicans introduced such a bill in the Iowa House Wednesday. It would alter the definition of a person in murder cases to “an individual human being, without regard to age of development, from the moment of conception, when a zygote is formed, until natural death.”

“It’s to protect the life of the unborn,” Bacon told the Tribune. “There’s still some of us that believe life begins at conception.”

Those charged with murder, under the bill, would include a mother who takes abortion-inducing drugs or a doctor who performs an abortion. It also grants no exceptions for rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.

Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, was dismayed by the bill.

“We’re talking about the victim of rape would go to prison along with her rapist,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “It’s very hard to understand the feeling behind it. It’s a health care issue, I mean, sometimes in order to save someone’s life a woman could possibly need an abortion. When we talk about being pro-life, my new question is ‘whose life?’”

Bacon defended the bill, saying, “for some reason, we can protect eggs of a spotted owl … but yet we don’t put the same emphasis on our children.”

Bacon concedes the bill has no chance of becoming law. The bill was sent to the judiciary committee, of which Wessel-Kroeschell is a member. She said it could make it out of that committee but would never become law.

“It will never be brought up in the Senate, we know that,” Bacon said.

Despite that, Bacon felt it was important to send a message that some Republicans remain committed to ending legal abortions. {Read More}

Via: Memeorandum

NYFW has officially started and I can't wait to attend this event in the next days, actually tomorrow! This will be last outfit post to enjoy until I'll come back home and share with you all the wonderful moments captured through  my lenses from NYFW. In the meantime you can follow my journey on Instagram.
Have a wonderful week and I hope to "see you" soon!

P.S. I'm wearing a "heart necklace" received from my creative friend Georgiana, a Etsy shop owner.




                                                                        Necklace: from my friend Georgiana/ Here
                                                                        Coat: thanks to Sheinside/ Here
                                                                        Jeans: American Eagle/ similar Here
                                                                        Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim/ another favorite Here
                                                                        Booties: Nowhere/ great option Here
                                                                        Sweater: Levi's/ I also like this one Here
                                                                        Ring: E&L/ option Here
                                                                        Scarf: French Connection/ option Here

Gun Control Is For Our Own Good!
The STUPID Americans
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*****************

Ma feller 'Mare-cuns.  Ain't yew just plum tickled them gud ole boys and gals in Kongrus knows we's dumm as fence posts and ain't got no need fer guns, 'cause we likely to far that thang an shoot sumbuddy or oursef.  Ain't ya just tickled they's lookin over us like 'at?   

Well, sum of us ain't.  Nosiree, Bob!  I mean, look cuz,  ain't y'all tard of bein called dumm and stewpid?  Ain't yew tard of 'em, I mean them E-Leetes in Warshintun,  makin out we's all so terribul dumm they hafta watch over us all the blessed time.

Makes 'em feel gud, I 'spect.  I rekon we oughta feel sorie for 'em.  I mean, toting them big ole brains around all the time must be tarrin. 

Oh, well.  Just so they no -- WE no they's smartern us -- 'cause the keep rite on tellin us so ... all the time, ever day.  Bless thair harts!

I figger by now y'all no I'm a conservahtive  'cause in amonkst all the words I have writ hear, there ain't one single cuss word.  Nary a one.  Bubba done told me that's a ded giv-away. 

Y'all jest thank 'bout what I said, ya hear -- an ponder it in yor hearts, 'cause it cum to me, tother day, we's losing our cuntry to them E-LEETES that worship Mr. Marx and ain't got no use fer God. And they thank I'M stewpid!  

Well, jes so there ain't no s'prize, I'm gowin to do ever thang, I kin, betwixt now an the nex 'lection, to get rid of them folks.   

Much 'bliged to Mr. Longstreet fer lettin me speek on his writun. 

Till we meat in that big ole faring range in the sky, this hears Ezekiel Harbinger at yor servus.  (Y'all jes call me Zeke)
******************

If you can relate to Zeke's few remarks above just know -- you are not alone.  If you have come to believe that we are viewed by our national politicians as they view ole Zeke above, understand that you are among millions of Americans fed up with the continued drivel from the intellectually elite in Washington and their crusade to make themselves feel better (about themselves) by "helping" those of us they feel are intellectually challenged -- or as Zeke so eloquently put it above ... "dumb as fence posts."

It's insulting! 

It's not all coming from Washington, either.  Look at New York City and New York State.  Both now present as giant Day Care Centers for all their "dumb" citizens.  Politicians who try that in my part of the country would be ridden out of town on a rail with the aroma of hot tar and freshly plucked chicken feathers trailing along behind them.

Attention all you liberal/progressive/socialist/Marxist politicians! STOP HELPING!  You are ruining the country!  (Unless, of course, that is your ultimate goal.)

America is becoming the largest police state on the globe.  We already have more laws than we can enforce.  Just trying to LIVE in America has become a burden. And we continue to complain when the Congress is deadlocked and they are not passing even more laws!

Come ON, people!  GOD only gave us TEN laws!  Have you checked the US Code lately?

Then, one must ask one's self if we are NOT dumb, then how the heck did we elect such people to preside over us?  It would seem that about half of the electorate are a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic!

Look.  The gun grabbing society in America has been waiting for decades for the right situation to develop or occur.  They, along with their (more than) willing accomplices in the Mainstream Media, went to the wall in an attempt to create a state of national hysteria over the massacre of those children in Connecticut.  They deliberately used the deeply emotional mass death of children to press forward their plans to disarm American citizens.  It was another crisis they would not waste.  This is the very same group of Progressives/Marxists that have kept America lurching from one crisis to another, all the while slowly slouching toward an American Armageddon.

We continue to hear from the politicians in Washington:  "The American people want ( fill in the blank)."  Now, ask yourself how many times YOU have been ASKED by your Congressperson or Senator what, exactly, you want?

Those of us who demand our constitutional right under the Second Amendment need to make our voices heard even before we troop to the ballot box to vote the bums out! We need to make our voices heard and clearly understood:  Mr/Ms Congressperson, Mr/Ms Senator, if you cast a vote , any vote, in favor of gun control, regardless of whether or not that bill passes into law, WE WILL VOTE AGAINST YOU in the next election. Your political career will be OVER!  You will have displayed your true colors and we can never trust you again to represent us in Congress-- you're finished.

Resistance IS being organized at the grassroots level.   The Day of Resistance is coming.  The date is February 23, 2013 (.223).  From the web page of "Day of Resistance"  we learn the following: 

"On January 16, 2013, President Barack Obama issued 23 executive actions against your 2nd amendment Constitutional right to bear arms. He did this without the consent of Congress which in itself, violates the foundation of the Constitution and the co-equal branches of government.

In response to these unconstitutional actions by the President, on .223, February 23, 2013 the American people will stand together in defiance to protect the right that protects ALL of our rights, the 2nd Amendment! They will organize locally so that they may band together neighbor to neighbor and reassert their community's right to determine their own destiny!"  SOURCE:  http://www.dayofresistance.com/

Just as we predicted -- no -- promised, the democrats have overreached.  The Americans have no intention of going the way of Great Britain or Australia.  We are going to fight.  God help us if the fight spills into the streets of America,  as well it might.

If that happens expect the long predicted Obama Martial Law to be implemented almost overnight. America will be at war with itself.  We will have become The Balkans.

And THAT is exactly WHY the Second Amendment was insisted upon before the states would sign on to (ratify) the constitution in the first place.

© J. D. Longstreet

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


Interesting...

No more Fox News contributor Dick Morris. His contract to spout republic-damaging nonsense on Fox airwaves has expired, and the network isn’t renewing it.

Taken together with the news that Sarah Palin will no longer be contributing, the Morris development is strong evidence that Fox News has glimpsed the underside of allowing charlatans to brand its coverage. Palin was a roboto-contributor, who responded to everything with a little crack on the lamestream media and a reference President Obama’s socialist heart.

As for Morris’s misdeeds, well, everyone knows what they are. That’s because Fox News presented them so prominently in the run-up to last year’s presidential election. In his prime-time, pre-election appearances, Morris was among the few pundits who wouldn’t hedge his bets; who wouldn’t triangulate his way through the polling numbers; who wouldn’t rummage through scenario after scenario in his analysis.

No, Dick Morris was predicting a Mitt Romney landslide. Fox News fell for it, and surely millions of Americans did as well. After all, in the same breath that he was predicting landslides, he was citing his own expertise:

It’s not a question of being smarter than anybody else. It’s that I’ve done this for a living and there are very few people on television who talk about politics who’ve ever made a living doing it, and most of them are partisan and echoing a point of view, but when you get down to it, a guy like Karl Rove or Pat Caddell or me or even Joe Trippi, we make a living doing this and I’ve made a living doing it for 40 years. {Read More}

Is it really surprising? Morris did work for William Jefferson Clinton after all. Did he not?

Via: Memorandum

More and more schools have started to rely on the suspension and criminalization of students as a way to deal with normal discipline problems. The school suspension rate has doubled nationally in the last twenty years. Little children are often treated as criminals for natural age-appropriate behaviors. Politically correct teachers and administrators are acting as if they’ve been possessed by some insanity spirit. This can no longer be tolerated. It’s time to say NO!

Zero Tolerance For Mary Blair Elementaty School’s “Absolutes”

This past week 7-year-od Alex Evans threw an imaginary grenade into an imaginary box and got suspended by the Mary Blair Elementary School in the Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado.

In this Orwellian school an imagination is a very dangerous thing.

"Mary Blair Elementary has a strict set of rules it calls "absolutes," which expressly prohibit any weapons, real or pretend."

The school lists “absolutes” designed to keep a safe environment. The list includes absolutely no fighting, real or imaginary; no weapons, real or imaginary. Click here to see the Mary Blair “Absolutes”

Contact Mary Blair Elementary School

860 E 29th St Loveland, CO 80538
(970) 613-6400

Email info@thompsonschools.org

Superintendent Stan Scheer,

Thompson School District
800 S. Taft Avenue
Loveland, CO 80537

Here are links to stories and videos about this incident:

Second Grader Suspended from School for Trying to Save the World with an ...
2nd grader suspended from school for using pretend weapon
Second grader suspended from school for 'saving the world'Second Grader Suspended for Trying to Save the WorldBoy, 7, suspended for throwing imaginary grenadeColorado 7-Year-Old Suspended For Throwing 'Imaginary Grenade' During ... 

Schools' reactions to fake guns: Avoiding real danger?Boy, 7, Suspended for Playing Imaginary Game

 

Treating kids as criminals

A 7-year-old boy was handcuffed and arrested for stealing $5 from a classmate--but the case tells us much more about how our society functions, writes Don Lash. . . .

THE ARREST of a 7-year old who taken from his elementary school in the Bronx in handcuffs has outraged people across the country--and focused attention on the criminalization of youth and the "school-to-prison pipeline." . . .

. . .What is lost is any sense of outrage that an officer treats what could be characterized as "age-appropriate misbehavior" by a 7-year old as a routine robbery investigation; where schools seemingly have no problem with armed police pulling students out of class for arrest and interrogation; and where the school system can offer no alternative to a parent who believes her child is being bullied by a school peer other than to march into her local precinct to report a "crime."

This case illustrates long-term trends in treating issues that should be handled by educators--with appropriate staffing and resources--as matters for a delinquency court and the juvenile justice system. . . .

THE PROBLEM goes beyond arrests in school. "Zero tolerance" policies and reliance on suspension and expulsion rather than more effective means of addressing student behavior help to begin the process of pumping kids in to the pipeline.

The suspension rate nationally has doubled in the last two decades. Offenses that once warranted in-school punishment--"talking back" or being late--are now often the basis for interrupting students' instruction with suspension or expulsion. . . .

It’s time that parents launch a Zero Tolerance policy for schools. Let’s start collecting the names of the schools and the offending staff and publish them along with links to the stories. Let’s publish contact information so that parents can complain directly to the schools.

Let's start a new GIVEAWAY today. I have for you a very beautiful sequin knit (worth $216) from TART COLLECTIONS see it HERE   (I wore a similar one a while ago, see it HERE).
Just follow the requests bellow and leave a comment with your email address and your name.
P.S. This giveaway is for US only.


                                           1. Follow Bittersweet Colours with Google Friend Connect or/and Facebook Page HERE
                                           2. Follow TART COLLECTIONS on Twitter HERE and Pinterest HERE


                                                          
                                                                 Last day to enter is February 20.
                                                                             Good luck!

And so it begins.

1. Come up with functional floor plan
2. Paint walls/ceiling/trim
3. Paint dresser (new hardware?)
4. Update vanity (maybe some fun color or hardware)
5. Find curtains and add trim
6. Add a rug and new bedding
7. Hang art and create some personalized pieces
8. Find/Install new light fixture (buh bye ceiling fan)
9. Reupholster chair and possibly add comfy floor cushions 
10. Find/Make lampshade(s)

Here is my inspiration board. I'm going White, Pink and Blue (with some yellow and green thrown in for good measure.) As many of you know, I'm all about color, so this will be fun.


So now it's out there, floating in the world of the web. I guess that means I have to get started. Make sure to check in with all the other wonderful ladies below and see what their plans are too.

Click to enlarge.

I have just one thing to say to those who believe that the Fed can keep us permanently below the long-term median.

Good luck on that theory.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Initial Claims / Nonfarm Payrolls

Click to enlarge.

Does this mean that the new homes of the future won't all come with wall-to-wall granite flooring? Shocked! Shocked I tell you!

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Real Median Sales Price for New Houses Sold