Tag Archives: National

On Labor Day 2013, Welfare Pays More Than Minimum-Wage Work In 35 States

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Avik Roy

Since 2009, the Fair Labor Standards Act has dictated that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Some people think that’s too low; others think it’s too high. But it turns out that, in 35 states, it’s a better deal not to work—and instead, to take advantage of federal welfare programs—than to take a minimum-wage job. That’s the takeaway from a new study published by Michael Tanner and Charles Hughes of the Cato Institute.

“The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” Tanner and Hughes write in their new paper. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit,” which offers extra subsidies to low-income workers who take work. “In 13 states [welfare] pays more than $15 per hour.”

Read more at Forbes

Don’t Believe The Debt Ceiling Hype:

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The Federal Government Can Survive Without An Increase

Jeffrey Dorfman, Forbes

Ignore what you hear and read in the news. The federal government actually reached the legal debt ceiling about four months ago. Since then, the government has been financing its monthly budget deficit by stealing/borrowing money from other government funds, like the federal government employees’ pension fund. In about two weeks, the government will run out of tricks to keep operating as if nothing has happened. If the debt ceiling is not raised by then, the government has to balance its budget.

That’s right. As much as the politicians and news media have tried to convince you that the world will end without a debt ceiling increase, it is simply not true. The federal debt ceiling sets a legal limit for how much money the federal government can borrow. In other words, it places an upper limit on the national debt. It is like the credit limit on the government’s gold card.

Read more at Forbes

Army Ranger believed to be unconscious salutes during Purple Heart ceremony

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Army Ranger Josh Hargis was unconscious, hooked to a breathing tube at a military hospital in Afghanistan after losing both his legs in battle last week.

But when the Purple Heart ceremony began at Hargis’ bedside, it turned out he was not unconscious, as doctors believed. Instead, he struggled with an attending doctor to raise his heavily bandaged hand to salute a commanding officer presenting him with the medal.

“I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day,” the commander wrote to the Ranger’s wife. “Grown men began to weep, and we were speechless at a gesture that speaks volumes about Josh’s courage and character.”

Read more at FOX News

November is national novel writing month

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nanowrimo-crestEvery November is National Novel Writing month in which writers participate in writing a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.

The idea was started in 1999 in San Francisco by Chris Baty [Facebook]. Every year since then the event has grown from 21 writers to over 300,000 in 90 countries.

The center for the activity is the NANOWRIMO web site. There are also various local chapters of the site including one in Flagstaff. There is a little over two-weeks to sign up for the event.

Participants sign up on the NANOWRIMO web site and agree to write a certain amount of words a day totaling 50,000 by the end of the month. The web site also allows authors to communicate with one another and provide encouragement.

The organization does not guarantee a novel sale, of course, and it will probably need a re-write. The web site only encourages the process after which you may have a novel to submit. Or you might choose to self-publish through web sites such as LULU or CreateSpace.

WWII memorial barricaded again

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WASHINGTON DC—Less than twenty-four hours after the Million Veterans March in Washington tore down barricades blocking the World War II Memorial, the cash-strapped administration that cannot afford to keep them open found the money to have the barricades put back in place.

The veterans, which did not number a million, tore down the barricades and carried them past the White House.

The World War II Memorial was built with the help of public service announcements by actor Tom Hanks. Hanks played the role of Captain Miller in the hugely successful World War II film Saving Private Ryan. The advertisements appeared around the time of the 1998 film.

In an interview on YouTube, Hanks applauded the efforts of the veterans who re-opened the memorial if only for the weekend. At an event for his new film, Captain Phillips, Hanks said, “Good for the veterans. Good. Go see it. We should all have access to them all the time. Sorry that they didn’t have it.”

He joked, “Did they assault it with helicopters? Landing craft? Did they bust through in a jeep? How did they do it?”

Sadly the administration could find the money to re-barricade the memorial after veterans left.

Donald Trump says he’ll pay for fallen warrior burials cut by shutdown

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Billionaire Donald Trump has offered to pick up paying a “death gratuity” to families of four soldiers and a Marine who died in combat in Afghanistan over the weekend after the Pentagon announced it is suspending immediate payments to families of combat fatalities because of the government shutdown.

When service men and women are killed in combat, the Pentagon normally pays families $100,000 to cover funerals and the cost of families to travel to receive the remains of their loved ones.

The Pentagon suspended those payments after the government shutdown, stirring outrage on Capitol Hill.

Read more at BizPac Review

Here’s Who Is Behind Those Creepy Billboards That Say ‘Your Data Should Belong To The NSA’

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nsa billboard bittorrent
In the past week, several online media outlets have noted a series of plain, white billboards that have popped up in New York and California bearing ominous surveillance-state messages like “YOUR DATA SHOULD BELONG TO THE NSA” and “THE INTERNET SHOULD BE REGULATED.”

Today, the peer-to-peer content sharing service BitTorrent claimed responsibility for the billboards, saying the Big Brother-esque statements reflect the harmful attitudes people have accepted in exchange for the convenience of using the internet.

In a post to the company’s blog, BitTorrent vice president of marketing Matt Mason said these attitudes are “an assault on freedom” that the public should refuse to accept.

Read more at Business Insider

Rep. Michaud Condemns Use of Veterans as Political Pawns

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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representative Mike Michaud (ME-02), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, spoke on the House floor today during debate on H.J.Res. 72, a bill that partially funds VA operations and furthers the standoff over the government shutdown. Michaud has previously spoken out against piecemeal approaches pursued by Republican leaders.

“This House bill, like the others before them, will not be considered by the Senate and the President has said he will veto it. Instead of waging a PR war and wasting time on bills that will go nowhere, House Republicans should pursue a solution to the shutdown that could actually pass both chambers and be signed by the President,” said Michaud.

Read more at Veterans Today

Police: Soldier fatally stabbed; may be hate crime

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LAKEWOOD, Wash. – A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier was stabbed to death in a parking lot at the 12500 block of Pacific Highway Southwest around 2:30 a.m., officials say.

20-year-old Tevin Geike was walking with two other white soldiers along Pacific Highway SW when a group of black men drove by and shouted a racial comment toward the soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said.

“One of the soldiers yelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers with disrespect,” Lt. Chris Lawler said.

The car turned around and the men confronted the soldiers, according to reports. As the verbal confrontation ensued, the driver of the vehicle realized the men were actually combat veterans and called his friends off. While the men headed back to their vehicle, one of the suspects appeared to have bumped into Geike, witnesses say.

Read more and see video at KOMO News

Patricia Blair Dies at 80; Starred in Television’s ‘Daniel Boone’

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p-blair

Patricia Blair and Edward Mulhare in Empire of the Lost.

Patricia Blair, an actress who played resourceful women in 1960s television westerns like “Daniel Boone” and “The Rifleman,” died on Sept. 9 at her home in North Wildwood, N.J. She was 80.

The cause was breast cancer, Amber Hennessey, a friend and neighbor, said.

Standing 5 feet 9 inches tall, Ms. Blair could fit in the same frame as lanky co-stars like Fess Parker, who played Daniel Boone, and Chuck Connors, the star of “The Rifleman.” She played the hotel owner Lou Mallory on “The Rifleman” starting in 1962 and Rebecca Boone, Daniel’s wife, in the six-year run of “Daniel Boone” on NBC beginning in 1964.

Read more at New York Times