The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
03-27-2015, 07:31 AM
#5284
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What I actually am, Mr. Rearden, is a policeman. It is a policeman's duty to protect men from criminals – criminals being those who seize wealth by force. ... But when robbery becomes the purpose of the law...then it is an outlaw who has to become a policeman.
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04-01-2015, 08:54 AM
#5287
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Obama Admin?s New Spending Website Rolls Back Transparency | Washington Free Beacon
pretty good read, goes over all the changes that make it less transparent.
A redesign of a transparency website that provides information on federal spending by the Obama administration now makes it much more difficult to see how taxpayer dollars are spent.
Usaspending.gov, a website mandated by law to provide detailed information on every federal contract over $3,000, received a makeover on Tuesday. Users can no longer search federal spending by keywords, sort contracts by date, or easily find detailed information on awards, which are delivered in bulk.
Information, such as how much the Pentagon spends on Viagra, used to be available at the click of a button. Locating those same contracts on the new website is virtually impossible, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
In its previous form, the website provided easy access to how taxpayer dollars are spent, as it happens. A user now must have the federal grant identification number to see details of a contract.
Usaspending.gov, a website mandated by law to provide detailed information on every federal contract over $3,000, received a makeover on Tuesday. Users can no longer search federal spending by keywords, sort contracts by date, or easily find detailed information on awards, which are delivered in bulk.
Information, such as how much the Pentagon spends on Viagra, used to be available at the click of a button. Locating those same contracts on the new website is virtually impossible, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
In its previous form, the website provided easy access to how taxpayer dollars are spent, as it happens. A user now must have the federal grant identification number to see details of a contract.
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04-01-2015, 09:32 AM
#5288
Obama Admin?s New Spending Website Rolls Back Transparency | Washington Free Beacon
pretty good read, goes over all the changes that make it less transparent.
pretty good read, goes over all the changes that make it less transparent.
Must be the same contractors who did the healthcare.gov site.
Checked another zip code in another state I'm familiar with and drilled down to the DoD agency and of 61 records it only shows the 1st 14 records but the page 'buttons' all appear to be working but aren't. Wonder how much the contractor is making on this POS...
And so technically, it's in violation of it's own act.
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04-02-2015, 11:25 AM
#5289
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ends. means.
Atlanta cheating scandal teachers go to cells in hand-cuffs: Eleven educators face up to 20 years in prison for inflating their students' test scores to get money for their schools . . . and for themselves | Daily Mail Online
Atlanta cheating scandal teachers go to cells in hand-cuffs: Eleven educators face up to 20 years in prison for inflating their students' test scores to get money for their schools . . . and for themselves | Daily Mail Online
In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams.
The defendants - including teachers, a principal and other administrators - were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.
The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.
However the person accused of benefiting the most from the conspiracy, Superintendent Beverly Hall - who is thought to have received up to $500,000 in bonus payouts - died of breast cancer over the course of the trial.
A 12th defendant, a teacher, was acquitted of all charges by the jury this week.
The 11 will all be sentenced on April 8 and could face up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering charges.
They were all found guilty under the the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which is typically reserved for major mobsters and organized crime bosses.
The defendants - including teachers, a principal and other administrators - were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system.
The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.
However the person accused of benefiting the most from the conspiracy, Superintendent Beverly Hall - who is thought to have received up to $500,000 in bonus payouts - died of breast cancer over the course of the trial.
A 12th defendant, a teacher, was acquitted of all charges by the jury this week.
The 11 will all be sentenced on April 8 and could face up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering charges.
They were all found guilty under the the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which is typically reserved for major mobsters and organized crime bosses.
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04-03-2015, 01:16 AM
#5291
Death to America!
Iran Accuses U.S. of Lying About New Nuke Agreement | Washington Free Beacon
I find myself in a very strange place; I believe the information coming from the world's largest State sponsor of terrorism, and not that from Obama.
I find myself in a very strange place; I believe the information coming from the world's largest State sponsor of terrorism, and not that from Obama.
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04-03-2015, 06:25 AM
#5292
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Iran Accuses U.S. of Lying About New Nuke Agreement | Washington Free Beacon
I find myself in a very strange place; I believe the information coming from the world's largest State sponsor of terrorism, and not that from Obama.
I find myself in a very strange place; I believe the information coming from the world's largest State sponsor of terrorism, and not that from Obama.
Ignorance is strength.
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04-03-2015, 10:34 AM
#5293
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California prison ordered to grant inmate’s sex change surgery
By Lindsey Bever April 3 at 6:44 AM
In a rare move, a Northern California district court judge has directed the state to grant a transgender inmate’s sex reassignment surgery — marking a first in the state’s history. The judge said the procedure is the “only adequate” treatment for her condition.
Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, 51, was born as Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy. In the 1990s, she started living as a woman in state prison and was later diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria, a condition in which people identify with a different gender from the one they were born with, according to court documents. California corrections officials have said she has been given proper medical care over the years, including counseling and hormone therapy, the Associated Press reported.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in San Francisco said on Thursday that the department denied her request for sex reassignment surgery, or SRS, likely because it has a policy against approving it as a treatment for transgender inmates. He granted a preliminary injunction, telling the prison system to let her have the operation “as promptly as possible.”
“The weight of the evidence demonstrates that for Norsworthy, the only adequate medical treatment for her gender dysphoria is SRS, that the decision not to address her persistent symptoms was medically unacceptable under the circumstances, and that [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] denied her the necessary treatment for reasons unrelated to her medical need,” Tigar wrote in his ruling. Denying her the surgery, he said, would violate her constitutional rights.
The injunction ordering the state prison system to grant the surgery is a novel ruling. It’s reportedly the first time such a decision has been made in California, and it has been seen only one other time in the country, Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center, told the AP.
In 2012, a federal judge ordered the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to provide the procedure for a transgender inmate. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling late last year and, last month, the inmate’s attorneys took it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1987, Norsworthy was convicted of murder and sentenced to life behind bars. She is now being held at an all-male prison called Mule Creek State Prison, some 40 miles from Sacramento. Officials have argued that if she has the surgery, keeping her in that facility — or any men’s prison — could put her at risk for sexual assault. Moving her to a women’s prison, they said, could put her or other inmates at risk because she has a history of domestic violence, the AP reported.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it is considering whether to appeal Tigar’s order. If the department complies, Norsworthy reportedly will be the first transgender inmate in California to undergo the operation. The procedure could cost the state as much as $100,000, Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for California Corrections Health Care Services told the Los Angeles Times.
The Transgender Law Center said that price is a “gross exaggeration.”
“This decision confirms that it is unlawful to deny essential treatment to transgender people” in or out of prison, Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, told the AP. “The bottom line is no one should be denied the medical care they need.”
California prison ordered to grant inmate?s sex change surgery - The Washington Post
Free sex change with conviction.
By Lindsey Bever April 3 at 6:44 AM
In a rare move, a Northern California district court judge has directed the state to grant a transgender inmate’s sex reassignment surgery — marking a first in the state’s history. The judge said the procedure is the “only adequate” treatment for her condition.
Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, 51, was born as Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy. In the 1990s, she started living as a woman in state prison and was later diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria, a condition in which people identify with a different gender from the one they were born with, according to court documents. California corrections officials have said she has been given proper medical care over the years, including counseling and hormone therapy, the Associated Press reported.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in San Francisco said on Thursday that the department denied her request for sex reassignment surgery, or SRS, likely because it has a policy against approving it as a treatment for transgender inmates. He granted a preliminary injunction, telling the prison system to let her have the operation “as promptly as possible.”
“The weight of the evidence demonstrates that for Norsworthy, the only adequate medical treatment for her gender dysphoria is SRS, that the decision not to address her persistent symptoms was medically unacceptable under the circumstances, and that [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] denied her the necessary treatment for reasons unrelated to her medical need,” Tigar wrote in his ruling. Denying her the surgery, he said, would violate her constitutional rights.
The injunction ordering the state prison system to grant the surgery is a novel ruling. It’s reportedly the first time such a decision has been made in California, and it has been seen only one other time in the country, Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center, told the AP.
In 2012, a federal judge ordered the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to provide the procedure for a transgender inmate. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling late last year and, last month, the inmate’s attorneys took it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1987, Norsworthy was convicted of murder and sentenced to life behind bars. She is now being held at an all-male prison called Mule Creek State Prison, some 40 miles from Sacramento. Officials have argued that if she has the surgery, keeping her in that facility — or any men’s prison — could put her at risk for sexual assault. Moving her to a women’s prison, they said, could put her or other inmates at risk because she has a history of domestic violence, the AP reported.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it is considering whether to appeal Tigar’s order. If the department complies, Norsworthy reportedly will be the first transgender inmate in California to undergo the operation. The procedure could cost the state as much as $100,000, Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for California Corrections Health Care Services told the Los Angeles Times.
The Transgender Law Center said that price is a “gross exaggeration.”
“This decision confirms that it is unlawful to deny essential treatment to transgender people” in or out of prison, Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, told the AP. “The bottom line is no one should be denied the medical care they need.”
California prison ordered to grant inmate?s sex change surgery - The Washington Post
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04-06-2015, 10:37 AM
#5296
Boost Pope
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German Court Tells Bald Man To Buy A Hat
The bald men among you who have been thinking about moving to the German province of Rhineland-Palatinate in order to take advantage of liberal health-care coverage to get free hairpieces should think again.
A court there ruled last week that the health-insurance system did not have to pay for hairpieces, saying that baldness was not unusual enough among men to justify the claim that corrective measures should be covered by health insurance. Apparently, the man had argued that his case was different because he had been bald since childhood, and that it was a health-care issue because he needed hair to protect his head from the elements. I infer the latter argument from the court's reasoning that "[t]he hair's protective function against the sun and the cold can easily be replaced by a hat. . . . [But] the health insurance does not have to pay for [hats]."
The insurer had said it would cover "long-term hair replacement support," and the story did not explain why the man had rejected that and demanded a hairpiece instead. It did describe Germany's health-insurance system as "generous" and noted that it "has been known to fund such benefits as trips to spa resorts and breast implants." All of which suggests that, while you gentlemen certainly might want to at least plan a vacation to a Rhineland spa resort, don't go there expecting any free hats.
German Court Tells Bald Man to Buy a Hat - Lowering the Bar
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04-08-2015, 02:05 PM
#5299
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Maine institutes feel-good welfare reform. Some people complain, others support decision:
Maine finally took a bold step forward in welfare reform and it’s paying huge dividends.
Last year Maine passed a measure that would require recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, to complete a certain number of work, volunteer, or job-training hours before being eligible for assistance.
Main Governor Paul LaPage passed the measure last year and the resulting drop in food-stamp enrollees has been dramatic.
At the close of 2014 approximately 12,000 individuals were enrolled in the state assistance program. Keep in mind that these individuals are adults who aren’t disabled and who don’t have children at home and who are claiming the food-stamp benefits because of a lack of financial resources.
After forcing these individuals to either work part-time for twenty hours each week, enroll in a vocational program, or volunteer for a minimum of twenty-four hours per month, the numbers showed a significant drop from 12,000 enrollees to just over 2,500.
Republicans in the state are calling it a major victory, while Democrats are infuriated and are calling for special measures to roll back some of the strict requirements.
However, even if the requirements lose some of their strictness, once an individual is removed from the Maine food-stamp program they cannot receive benefits from the program for three years.
This is a true victory for welfare reform, and, while opponents are continuing to push back, we can hope that other states will notice the effectiveness of Maine’s program.
Meanwhile, for all the naysayers who say that this program is unfairly targeting those in rural or extremely poor areas, let’s remind ourselves who this program is really affecting.
These individuals who were benefiting from the food-stamp law and who now can’t are able-bodied, capable adults. These aren’t people with physical or mental disabilities or raising growing children. These are regular Joes who don’t seem to want to get a job.
And while I will say that getting a job can be harder than it sounds, Maine’s program solves that difficulty beautifully. If individuals can’t get and hold a part-time job of twenty hours per week, they can qualify by enrolling in training program. If that doesn’t get them a job, they can still qualify by volunteering.
Do you see what Maine did there? They’re making people exhaust their possibilities for employment before giving them a handout. Finally a state government has hit upon a great way to reward people for trying to get jobs and to punish those who sit around feeding off the taxes of the rest of the country.
Now the struggle remains for the rest of the country to work to adopt similarly effective laws.
This Is What Happened When Maine Forced Welfare Recipients To Work For Their Benefits-
Maine finally took a bold step forward in welfare reform and it’s paying huge dividends.
Last year Maine passed a measure that would require recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, to complete a certain number of work, volunteer, or job-training hours before being eligible for assistance.
Main Governor Paul LaPage passed the measure last year and the resulting drop in food-stamp enrollees has been dramatic.
At the close of 2014 approximately 12,000 individuals were enrolled in the state assistance program. Keep in mind that these individuals are adults who aren’t disabled and who don’t have children at home and who are claiming the food-stamp benefits because of a lack of financial resources.
After forcing these individuals to either work part-time for twenty hours each week, enroll in a vocational program, or volunteer for a minimum of twenty-four hours per month, the numbers showed a significant drop from 12,000 enrollees to just over 2,500.
Republicans in the state are calling it a major victory, while Democrats are infuriated and are calling for special measures to roll back some of the strict requirements.
However, even if the requirements lose some of their strictness, once an individual is removed from the Maine food-stamp program they cannot receive benefits from the program for three years.
This is a true victory for welfare reform, and, while opponents are continuing to push back, we can hope that other states will notice the effectiveness of Maine’s program.
Meanwhile, for all the naysayers who say that this program is unfairly targeting those in rural or extremely poor areas, let’s remind ourselves who this program is really affecting.
These individuals who were benefiting from the food-stamp law and who now can’t are able-bodied, capable adults. These aren’t people with physical or mental disabilities or raising growing children. These are regular Joes who don’t seem to want to get a job.
And while I will say that getting a job can be harder than it sounds, Maine’s program solves that difficulty beautifully. If individuals can’t get and hold a part-time job of twenty hours per week, they can qualify by enrolling in training program. If that doesn’t get them a job, they can still qualify by volunteering.
Do you see what Maine did there? They’re making people exhaust their possibilities for employment before giving them a handout. Finally a state government has hit upon a great way to reward people for trying to get jobs and to punish those who sit around feeding off the taxes of the rest of the country.
Now the struggle remains for the rest of the country to work to adopt similarly effective laws.
This Is What Happened When Maine Forced Welfare Recipients To Work For Their Benefits-
Last edited by Braineack; 10-08-2019 at 09:48 AM.
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