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SunSeeker

SunSeeker's Journal
SunSeeker's Journal
September 27, 2012

After Complaint, Miss. Man Allowed to Change Name

Source: ABCNews.com

A Mississippi man has taken his wife's last name after the ACLU complained he was told by state officials that he would need a court order to do so because it was not traditional.

Robert Everhart, 28, of Pascagoula, born Robert McCarthy, changed his last name on his driver's license Wednesday by using his marriage certificate, as many women do in taking their husband's last name.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi sent a letter to Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Albert Santa Cruz on Tuesday, saying the agency was violating state and federal law.

DPS spokesman Warren Strain said Tuesday that Everhart's request was unusual, and employees at driver's license stations were operating under an old practice. He said the employees were informed that men can use marriage certificates to change their names, just like women do.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/complaint-miss-man-allowed-change-17329753



A true Southern gentleman.
August 31, 2012

I listened to Romney's speech so you didn't have to.

In a nutshell:

He never "introduced himself" to the American people like they said he would. Instead, he talked about his dad getting a rose for his mom every day---which is how she discovered he died: she found no rose and went looking for him. Mitt actually choked up saying that.

Then he started in with the $716B cut to medicare lie and that things are not any better today than when Obama was elected lie, etc., etc.

Than he promised he would create 12 million jobs with his "5 point plan" which consisted of nothing but Republican platitudes: 1) School vouchers instead of funding education; 2) drill baby drill; 3) cut regulations and cut taxes for "job creators" (the rich); 4) cut the debt (doesn't specify how); and 5)repeal and replace Obamacare (but does not specify with what).

And that's it. No details, no insight into Romney the man (other than that he may have daddy issues).

It was a big ol' bucket of fail.

August 18, 2012

Romney-Ryan strategy: Resurrect the "death panels" lie.

And with hundreds of millions in Koch and Adelson PAC money, they have the resources to keep repeating that lie until people believe it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. As unlikeable as the Romney-Ryan ticket is, we must not rest. From this morning's paper:

In Florida, Paul Ryan warns of Medicare rationing under Obama plan

THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- Escalating the campaign fight over Medicare, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan warned an audience of Florida seniors Saturday that changes to the program made by President Obama's healthcare plan will lead to rationing of care for the elderly. Ryan made the charge during a campaign stop at the largest retirement community in Florida, the state with the nation’s biggest proportion of seniors and the 2012 battleground with the most electoral votes.

Campaigning with his diminutive, 78-year-old mother at his side, Ryan tore into a provision of Obama’s healthcare law that would give an independent federal panel authority to rein in Medicare spending if the program grows too fast. The board’s recommendations would take effect unless Congress acted to change them.

Obama “puts a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in charge of Medicare who are required to cut Medicare in ways that will lead to denied care for current seniors,” Ryan said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-paul-ryan-in-florida-warns-of-medicare-rationing-20120818,0,6203516.story

August 14, 2012

Capital gains should be taxed HIGHER than labor.

All this repuke talk about the how the poor don't know that value of work is nothing but projection. It is the repukes who don't value work. They want to tax work income at 30%, while taxing capital gains (where you get money without lifting a finger) at ZERO. The unfairness is mind boggling.

If anything, labor should be taxed at a lower rate, because it is a diminishing asset, so to speak. We can only provide so many years of labor, then we can't work anymore. Then we die. Life is short and most people, if they could, would spend their limited time here on earth hanging out with their loved ones or seeing the world, engaging in hobbies, etc. Work, in general (particularly low wage work), sucks. So why further discourage work by taxing it many times more than other forms of income? And most people who have to work for a living need every dime they make for the basics. Therefore, they spend everything they make, which is way more stimulative to the economy (70% of the economy is based on consumer spending).

Capital gains, on the other hand, are generated by money --and money does not die. It lives forever and can continue generating capital gains forever. Plus, the rich people who get these gains just stash it away. Relatively little of it is spent on consumer goods to drive the economy. The rich already have all they need. Their spending is discretionary. Why would you tax capital gains at a lower rate if it does not boost the economy like labor income? (Rhetorical question--I know it is because the rich rule congress and are money hoarders).

July 19, 2012

Team USA's outsourced uniforms prompt calls for clothing 'Made in America.'

With all the bad news about the economy, it was nice to see good news for a change--and on ABC News no less. Here's a report (the video runs about 3 minutes) that talks about how 500,000 jobs have come back since 2010, particularly in clothing. 75% of Brooks Brothers suits are now made in the U.S.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/olympic-uniform-uproar-riles-us-manufacturers-16807922

July 12, 2012

San Bernardino bankrupt: Blame pet projects, not labor, union says

Source: LATimes

San Bernardino's labor unions pushed back at the suggestion that lucrative labor agreements were forcing the city to seek bankruptcy protection – and instead blamed city officials for frittering away money.

Steve Tracy, a fire engineer and spokesman for the city firefighters' union, said the city's labor groups had already given $10 million in concessions. He cited the mayor and former city manager's pet projects, including a call center and new movie theater downtown, as reasons for the $46-million deficit.

"Before you start putting blame on the labor groups, get your own fiscal house in order," he said.

The City Council voted 4 to 2 Tuesday night to seek bankruptcy protection. Although Mayor Patrick Morris called it a "stain" on the city, he said the only other option was "draconian cuts" to all city services, including the police and fire departments.



Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/san-bernardino-bankruptcy.html



The politicians spend on unnecessary stuff they can't afford, then blame the unions when they go in the red. Hmmm, where have I seen this before?
July 11, 2012

Official: Mom leaves mentally disabled daughter at bar, refuses to retrieve her

Source: CNN

An Illinois woman who left her mentally disabled daughter outside a Tennessee bar cannot be charged with a crime, police said Tuesday. Police in Caryville, Tennessee, said the daughter is 19 and not assigned to a legal guardian. "As terrible as it is, unfortunately there is nothing we can do," Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said. "There is no doubt we need a law for mental health rights, but pending this investigation, we just don't know what else to do."

According to police, Eva Cameron stopped at the Big Orange Bar in Caryville on June 28 when her daughter, Lynn, needed to use the restroom.
...
Eva Cameron told the Northwest Herald newspaper in Illinois that she brought Lynn to Caryville because of its concentration of Baptists and because Tennessee has the "No. 1 health care system in the United States of America."
...
Authorities said Lynn Cameron is being cared for at a facility in Roane County. When asked how the young woman is doing, Smith replied, "Lynn is doing fantastic."




Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/us/mother-abandons-disabled-daughter/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

July 3, 2012

GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3B for health fraud

Source: AP

GlaxoSmithKline will pay $3 billion in fines - the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history - for criminal and civil violations involving 10 drugs that are taken by millions of people.

The Justice Department said Monday that GlaxoSmithKline PLC will plead guilty to promoting popular antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses. The company also will plead guilty to failing to report to the government for seven years some safety problems with diabetes drug Avandia, which was restricted in the U.S. and banned in Europe after it was found in 2007 to sharply increase the risks of heart attacks and congestive heart failure.

In addition to the fine, Glaxo agreed to resolve civil liability for promoting Paxil, Wellbutrin, asthma drug Advair and two lesser-known drugs for unapproved uses. The company also resolved accusations that it overcharged the government-funded Medicaid program for some drugs, and that it paid kickbacks to doctors to prescribe several drugs including Flovent for asthma and Valtrex for genital herpes.

Prosecutors said Glaxo illegally promoted Paxil for treating depression in children from 1998 to 2003, even though it wasn't approved for anyone under age 18. The company also promoted Wellbutrin from 1999 through 2003 for weight loss, sexual dysfunction, substance addictions and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although it was only approved for treatment of major depression.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JUSTICE_GLAXOSMITHKLINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-02-13-47-23



Glad to see USDOJ going after the real drug pushers.
July 2, 2012

Rupert Murdoch calls Scientologists 'creepy' and maybe 'evil'

Source: LA Times

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has put his two cents in on the news that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting divorced.

"Watch Katie Holmes & Scientology story. Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people," Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp. tweeted Sunday morning.

Murdoch's tweet followed Friday's news that Holmes had filed for divorce from Cruise after five years of marriage.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-rupert-scientologist-0120701,0,419588.story



Pot, meet kettle.

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