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Science

Mars-recurring-slope-lineae

These dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks called recurring slope lineae flowing downhill on Mars are inferred to have been formed by contemporary flowing water. Recently, planetary scientists detected hydrated salts on these slopes at Hale crater, corroborating their original hypothesis that the streaks are indeed formed by liquid water. The blue color seen upslope of the dark streaks are thought not to be related to their formation, but instead are from the presence of the mineral pyroxene. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (Infrared-Red-Blue/Green(IRB)) false color image (ESP_030570_1440) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5. (Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

BREAKING NEWS: Scientists announced on Monday that new findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on Mars.

“Under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on Mars,” Jim Green, NASA Planetary Science Director announced on Monday, September 28, 2015.

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”

Known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), they have for some time and often been described as possibly related to liquid water among the scientific community. But the new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes indicate a relationship between these dark features. The hydrated salts lower the freezing point of a liquid brine just as salt on roads here on Earth are used to melt ice and snow on roadways more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

“We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks,” said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, lead author of a report on these findings published Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

Mars-recurring-slope-lineae-2

Dark narrow streaks called recurring slope lineae emanating out of the walls of Garni crater on Mars. The dark streaks here are up to few hundred meters in length. They are hypothesized to be formed by flow of briny liquid water on Mars. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (RED) image (ESP_031059_1685) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5. (Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

Here’s how NASA broke it down to their substantial social media following on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/648523470070923264
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/648525521081380864

"Under certain circumstances, liquid water has been

Economy

pending-home-sales-sale-sign

Home for sale sign (Realtors) and potential exiting and pending home sales contract. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

The National Association of Realtors said Monday its Pending Home Sales Index unexpectedly declined 1.4% to a seasonally-adjusted 109.4 in August, from a reading of 110.9 in July. While the index, which is based on contract signings, showed a modest increase in the West it was offset by declines in all other regions.

“Pending sales have leveled off since mid–summer, with buyers being bounded by rising prices and few available and affordable properties within their budget,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “Even with existing–housing supply barely budging all summer and no relief coming from new construction, contract activity is still higher than earlier this year and a year ago.”

Still, pending home sales have now risen year–over–year for 12 consecutive months and is 6.1% higher than it was in August 2014 (103.1). According to Yun, sales in the coming months should be able to roughly maintain their current pace, and demand continues to outpace housing supply and elevate price growth in numerous markets. However, he warns that there are looming speed bumps that have the potential to impact housing.

“The possibility of a government shutdown and any ongoing instability in the equity markets could cause some households to put off buying for the time being,” adds Yun. “Furthermore, adapting to the changes being implemented next month in the mortgage closing process could delay some sales.”

However, the “possibility of a government shutdown” is non-existent, as outgoing Speaker John Boehner took that off the table this weekend. Nevertheless, the national median existing–home price is expected to increase 5.8% in 2015 to $220,300 and Yun forecasts total existing–home sales this year to increase 7.0% to around 5.28 million, roughly a quarter below the prior peak set in 2005 (7.08 million).

The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast fell 5.6% to 93.3 in August, but remains 8.9% above a year ago. In the Midwest, the index fell slightly by 0.4% to 107.4 in August, and is now 6.5% above August 2014. Pending home sales in the South also fell by a slightly larger 2.2% to 121.5 in August, but also is still 4.1% higher on a year-over-year basis. The index in the West rose modestly by 1.8% in August to 104.9, up 7.6% from a year ago.

Existing–home Sales for September will be reported October 22, and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be October 29; release times are 10:00 a.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, even though most of the attention regarding the housing market surrounds pending or existing and new home sales data, the more-optimistic reports have somewhat shadowed the concerning trend in mortgage risk. The composite National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) for Agency purchase loans clocked in at 12.14% in August, up 1% from a year earlier. The monthly composite index, which measures how mortgage loans originated month by month would perform under severely stressed conditions, has now gained on a year-over-year basis every month since January 2014.

“The common claim that first-time buyers face tight credit is simply not true,” said Stephen Oliner, codirector of AEI’s International Center on Housing Risk. “If you have a steady job and an ordinary credit score, you can buy a home with little money down.”

# # #

*The Pending Home Sales Index considers a sale to be listed or pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing–home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday

Economy

consumer-spending

A shopper organizes his cash before paying for merchandise at a Best Buy Co. store in Peoria, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. (Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty)

The Commerce Department said on Monday that U.S. consumer spending rose in August and a closely watched gauge of inflation firmed up slightly. The markets have taken the report as a sign of strength in America’s domestic economy that could lead the Federal Reserve to tighten interest rates, despite noted weaknesses at home and abroad.

Commerce said consumer spending increased 0.4% after an upwardly revised 0.4% gain in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, would rise 0.3% last month after a previously reported 0.3 percent rise in July. The data in the report indicate stronger-than-expected consumer spending, which has been fueled by lower gas prices and healthcare spending, not only was a boon to the economy in the second quarter but potentially carried over into the third.

Personal income increased 0.3 percent in August.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday indicated she “anticipated” the economy would be strong enough to tolerate a rate hike later this year–likely in December–though investors aren’t as certain. Many others are betting and advocating the first rate hike in a decade should come in March.

While the economy grew at an upwardly revised 3.9% annual rate in the second quarter, the latest GDP report was the first since the government “adjusted” their longstanding methodology. The change, which again came after first quarter contraction, marks the second time the government has changed the previously long-standing methodology. In the U.S., changing the method to boost investment measures has no real benefit to the truth and no other purpose but to make “GDP growth happy,” as Bloomberg correctly critiqued.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that new orders for long-lasting manufactured durable goods fell 2% in August. The report came after two closely-watched surveys of regional manufacturing activity indicated contraction last month. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s regional Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey for the mid-Atlantic tankedto -6 in September from 8.3 the month prior. The Fed’s reading came in far below economists’ expectations for a drop to positive 6.

The Philadelphia Fed’s report marked the second major regional manufacturing survey released this week showing the sector contracting, as the Empire State Manufacturing Survey outWednesday showed regional manufacturing activity contracted for a second straight month in September, remaining well below zero at -14.7.

Overall, inflation remained flat as lower oil prices have largely weighed gains down, and it has persistently run below the Fed’s 2% annual target. It rose just 0.3% in August from the same month a year earlier.

However, prices were up 1.3 percent when excluding food and energy, a key metric used by the Fed to gauge the trend rate of inflation. This so-called core PCE price index has been holding around 1.3 percent through 2015.

The Commerce Department said on Monday that

Politics

Kevin-McCarthy-John-Boehner-Steve-Scalise

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is joined by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, just after House Republicans voted to make McCarthy the new majority leader in 2014. (Photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is the “odds-on favorite” to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who after roughly a quarter century in Congress and eight years with the gavel announced Friday he will resign effective October 30. McCarthy, a 50-year-old Bakersfield native, would be only the second Californian after Democrat Nancy Pelosi to serve as speaker of the House.

To be sure, even many House conservatives who help lead the effort to topple the speaker admit McCarthy is the realistic front-runner to replace Boehner, who became the 61st Speaker of the House on November 17, 2010 when he was unanimously chosen by House Republicans as their nominee. House whip Steve Scalise, R-La., has already announced he would run as majority leader, indicating the leadership fully expects McCarthy to succeed.

“I certainly think he has the inside track,” Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C. said in an e-mail sent before Boehner’s resignation announcement. Mulvaney helped found the House Freedom Caucus, which has been a stalwart fighter for conservative principles against a forever-caving GOP leadership team.

McCarthy, formerly House whip, easily ascended to majority leader after Eric Cantor was handily defeated in a 2014 GOP primary against conservative economist and political newcomer Dave Brat. Cantor, a member of the self-proclaimed Young Guns trio along with McCarthy and House Budget Chair Paul Ryan, R-Wis., became the first sitting majority leader to lose his own party’s primary in U.S. political history. Most conservatives argue the Republican establishment never learned their lesson after Cantor’s defeat and replacing Boehner with McCarthy would demonstrate nothing has changed despite Boehner’s resignation.

“The big takeaway is that the next speaker is going to have to be somebody who has deep respect for the conservative base of the party,” said Heritage Action for America spokesman Dan Holler. “The party can’t be seen as being cozy with Wall Street, being cozy with K Street, doing the bidding of Boeing and GE.”

McCarthy simply has not been in D.C. long enough to have amassed what those close to the retiring speaker affectionately call BoehnerLand, a legion of staffers more than a little friendly to K Street and Wall Street. However, an examination of those who surround him more than indicates the revolving door between the business wing of the Republican Party and the K Street & Co. crowd will remain open.

Since he replaced his old boss Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., the longtime chairman of the powerful and influential House Ways and Means Committee in 2007, at least four McCarthy staffers have taken the walk through the revolving door between Congress and K Street lobbying firms. Though an insider Beltway Republican would be quick to point out that is a relatively small number over an eight year period, it is both unacceptable to conservatives on principle and as a matter of quality over quantity.

Erica Elliott, who previously served as McCarthy’s former communications director, now works as vice president of public relations for Franklin Square Capital Partners, and continuously travels back-and-forth from the group’s Washington and Philadelphia offices. The firm, established in 2007, provides “investors access to alternative asset classes, strategies and asset managers” and uses one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world to sub-advise its funds.

Shelby Hagenauer, McCarthy’s very first legislative director, is now a senior policy advisor at Nossaman LLP, a law firm with a “strong foundation” is the majority leader’s home state. Yet, their biggest lobbying success didn’t even benefit California, nor was it a direct boon for private industry.

In 2014, they announced their client– the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)–reached commercial and financial closure on the $2.3 billion I-4 Ultimate Project. By their own admission, it was the result of “a productive relationship” that facilitated negotiation and closing of the $949 million in Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), which provided financing for the largest loan ever secured through TIFIA.

McCarthy’s former policy director Stephen Pinkos now works at American Continental Group, a lobbying firm that represents a slew of mid-to-large sized business associations, including the International Franchise Association and the Association of Mortgage Investors. The majority leaders’ former coalitions director, Brian Worth, is now leading Uber’s federal policy campaign on Capitol Hill. To be fair, Uber has become something of a conservative champion, leading the fight against long-established union monopolies enabled by progressive politicians in their particular sector.

“Democrats hate what labor unions hate, and a taxi drivers’ union hates Uber, too,” John Stossel wrote on PPD about Uber in July. “The taxi cartels, which provide inferior service and are micromanaged by government, don’t like getting competition from efficient companies like Uber.”

But McCarthy has relied on the influence industry to staff his own operation, as well, completing the revolving door process. When he first became a member of House leadership, McCarthy convinced several prominent K Street lobbyists to return to what conservatives argue is supposed to be the “People’s House.” Time Warner’s Tim Berry is now McCarthy’s chief of staff. Danielle Burr, McCarthy’s director of external affairs, used to lobby for Navigators Global LLC, which continues to concern themselves with funds from the TARP bailout for their client–Citigroup.

Yet, in many notable ways, McCarthy is not comparable to either Boehner or Cantor. For instance, while McCarthy is a regular visitor to other members’ congressional districts and has taken great steps to understand their districts’ concerns, Cantor apparently didn’t care about his own. These efforts, along with $1.2 million in contributions to GOP candidates from his leadership political action committee, has earned McCarthy loyalty among many of the rank-and-file, specifically in his own state.

“I don’t think anyone would question that the majority leader, the speaker’s ally and friend, is well positioned to become the next speaker,” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said in an interview, adding that “my guess is Kevin is the odds-on favorite. I think we know there will be opposition, but I think it will be token opposition.”

Overall, those who surround House Majority Leader

Video

“Chuck, Do You Really Think This is Not Happening?”

[brid video=”16392″ player=”1929″ title=”Fiorina to Todd on PPFA Videos “Chuck Do You Really Think This is Not Happening””]

On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Carly Fiorina took on moderator Chuck Todd over her past statements regarding Planned Parenthood, but the former Hewlitt-Packard CEO and Republican presidential candidate repeatedly stood her ground.

Todd challenged Fiorina on her position and statements on abortion referencing the Washington Post editorial Sunday titled “Fiorina’s Falsehoods” calling her position an “exaggeration”. The article also referenced how Fiorina in the second debate described how PPFA doctors keep a living fetus alive in order to “harvest its brain,” which they claimed did not happen.

While PPD has extensively covered the undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal trafficking of baby body parts, including the latest and tenth video featuring a top executive expressing concern their activities would “destroy” PPFA, even PPD somewhat agreed with PoliFact on the issue.

However, from the past statements by PPFA heads across the country, which are in the undercover videos, there is no doubt the scene Fiorina described is occurring in PPFA clinics across America everyday. On this, Fiorina flipped the script on Todd and stood her ground, even pointing out that Todd “missed the opportunity” to ask Hillary Clinton (who is now for unfettered abortion on demand) about that reality.

“Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. Do you really think this is not happening?” Fiorina asked in return. “So sad you missed the opportunity to ask Mrs. Clinton why she said late-term abortions are only performed for medical purposes. That is patently false. This is happening.”

When asked if she would like to take her statements back, considering the video only superimposes stock images over other damning footage, the former HP CEO again stood her ground.

“Not at all. That scene absolutely does exist, and that voice saying what I said they were saying — “We’re gonna keep it alive to harvest its brain — exists as well,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina went on to rip the Washington Post, who did call into question her claims

“I don’t think the Washington Post has a lot of credibility here,” she said.

“Planned Parenthood cannot and will not deny this, because it is happening — and taxpayers are paying for it,” she said. Planned Parenthood is a “political slush fund, on top of being butchery that Americans cannot support.”

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Carly Fiorina

Science

Mars-NASA

Mars true-color globe showing Terra Meridiani. Photo: (NASA/Greg Shirah)

NASA will announce they have solved a Mars mystery with a major scientific finding that has the scientific community waiting with baited breath. The agency will hold a news briefing at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28 at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

News conference participants will be:

· Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters

· Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters

· Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

· Mary Beth Wilhelm of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California and the Georgia Institute of Technology

· Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) at the University of Arizona in Tucson

However, fueling speculation is the fact that two of the participants authored a paper that claimed images taken from orbit show flowing water on the surface of the Red Planet. Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and Alfred McEwen, principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment at the University of Arizona in Tucson — published their paper on the subject in 2011, when Ojha was still an undergraduate at the University of Arizona.

“If they’re announcing that they’ve found easily accessible, freely flowing liquid water under the surface — which is one of the theories we’ve been hearing for years and years — that has massive implications both for the potential for life on that planet and sustainability of humans,” Doug McCuistion, the former head of NASA’s Mars program, told the Boston Herald. “That would be highly enabling and might be the game-changing trigger for both finding life and hurrying up and getting people to Mars.”

 

“Based on the people who are speaking and what their backgrounds are … it would seem to imply they have a discovery concerning these mysterious outflows that come from the cliffsides on Mars,” Chris Carberry, executive director of the Massachusetts-based non-profit Explore Mars, told the Herald. “If they do confirm this is water that’s seasonally flowing … that would be an amazing discovery with dramatic implications.”

A brief question-and-answer session will take place during the event with reporters on site and by phone. Members of the public also can ask questions during the briefing using #AskNASA.

NASA will announce they have solved a

US

Pope-Francis-Festival-of-Families

Pope Francis takes the stage at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia on Sept. 26, 2015. (Photo: AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

During his speech, Pope Francis tossed aside his prepared remarks for the World Meeting of Families’ “Festival of Families” on Sept. 26, at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

Here is the full transcript and text of the prepared remarks he was going to deliver but did not give to those in attendance and millions more watching around the world:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Dear Families,

First of all, I want to thank the families who were willing to share their life stories with us. Thank you for your witness! It is always a gift to listen to families share their life experiences; it touches our hearts. We feel that they speak to us about things that are very personal and unique, which in some way involve all of us. In listening to their experiences, we can feel ourselves drawn in, challenged as married couples and parents, as children, brothers and sisters, and grandparents.

As I was listening, I was thinking how important it is for us to share our home life and to help one another in this marvelous and challenging task of “being a family”.

Being with you makes me think of one of the most beautiful mysteries of our Christian faith. God did not want to come into the world other than through a family. God did not want to draw near to humanity other than through a home. God did not want any other name for himself than Emmanuel (cf. Mt 1:23). He is “God with us”. This was his desire from the beginning, his purpose, his constant effort: to say to us: “I am God with you, I am God for you”. He is the God who from the very beginning of creation said: “It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). We can add: it is not good for woman to be alone, it is not good for children, the elderly or the young to be alone. It is not good. That is why a man leaves his father and mother, and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24). The two are meant to be a home, a family.

From time immemorial, in the depths of our heart, we have heard those powerful words: it is not good for you to be alone. The family is the great blessing, the great gift of this “God with us”, who did not want to abandon us to the solitude of a life without others, without challenges, without a home.

God does not dream by himself, he tries to do everything “with us”. His dream constantly comes true in the dreams of many couples who work to make their life that of a family.

That is why the family is the living symbol of the loving plan of which the Father once dreamed. To want to form a family is to resolve to be a part of God’s dream, to choose to dream with him, to want to build with him, to join him in this saga of building a world where no one will feel alone, unwanted or homeless.

As Christians, we appreciate the beauty of the family and of family life as the place where we come to learn the meaning and value of human relationships. We learn that “to love someone is not just a strong feeling – it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise” (Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving). We learn to stake everything on another person, and we learn that it is worth it.

Jesus was not a confirmed bachelor, far from it! He took the Church as his bride, and made her a people of his own. He laid down his life for those he loved, so that his bride, the Church, could always know that he is God with us, his people, his family. We cannot understand Christ without his Church, just as we cannot understand the Church without her spouse, Christ Jesus, who gave his life out of love, and who makes us see that it is worth the price.

Laying down one’s life out of love is not easy. As with the Master, “staking everything” can sometimes involve the cross. Times when everything seems uphill. I think of all those parents, all those families who lack employment or workers’ rights, and how this is a true cross. How many sacrifices they make to earn their daily bread! It is understandable that, when these parents return home, they are so
weary that they cannot give their best to their children.

I think of all those families which lack housing or live in overcrowded conditions. Families which lack the basics to be able to build bonds of closeness, security and protection from troubles of any kind.

I think of all those families which lack access to basic health services. Families which, when faced with medical problems, especially those of their younger or older members, are dependent on a system which fails to meet their needs, is insensitive to their pain, and forces them to make great sacrifices to receive adequate treatment.

We cannot call any society healthy when it does not leave real room for family life. We cannot think that a society has a future when it fails to pass laws capable of protecting families and ensuring their basic needs, especially those of families just starting out. How many problems would be solved if our societies protected families and provided households, especially those of recently married couples, with the possibility of dignified work, housing and healthcare services to accompany them throughout life.

God’s dream does not change; it remains intact and it invites us to work for a society which supports families. A society where bread, “fruit of the earth and the work of human hands” continues to be put on the table of every home, to nourish the hope of its children.

Let us help one another to make it possible to “stake everything on love”. Let us help one another at times of difficulty and lighten each other’s burdens. Let us support one another. Let us be families which are a support for other families.

Perfect families do not exist. This must not discourage us. Quite the opposite. Love is something we learn; love is something we live; love grows as it is “forged” by the concrete situations which each particular family experiences. Love is born and constantly develops amid lights and shadows. Love can flourish in men and women who try not to make conflict the last word, but rather a new opportunity. An opportunity to seek help, an opportunity to question how we need to improve, an opportunity to discover the God who is with us and never abandons us. This is a great legacy that we can give to our children, a very good lesson: we make mistakes, yes; we have problems, yes. But we know that that is not really what counts. We know that mistakes, problems and conflicts are an opportunity to draw closer to others, to draw closer to God.

This evening we have come together to pray, to pray as a family, to make our homes the joyful face of the Church. To meet that God who did not want to come into our world in any other way than through a family. To meet “God with us”, the God who is always in our midst.

During his speech, Pope Francis tossed his

Policy

obama-phone-video

Screenshot from the now-infamous Obama phone video taken in Cleveland, Ohio.

It’s no exaggeration to say that a nation’s long-run vitality and prosperity are correlated with the spirit of independence and self-reliance among its people. Simply stated, if too many people thinks it’s okay to ride in the wagon of government dependency, that a troubling sign that social or cultural capital has eroded.

Government policy obviously plays a role, both because politicians create various redistribution programs and also because they can set rules that help determine whether there is any stigma for relying on taxpayers. Some lawmakers even think recipients should be publicly identified, in part to weed out fraudsters and also to discourage dependency. Here are some passages from a story in the Washington Post.

If you receive government assistance in the state of Maine, Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know about it. …Macdonald said a bill will be submitted during Maine’s next legislative session “asking that a Web site be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole.” He added: “After all, the public has a right to know how its money is being spent.” …Macdonald told the Portland Press Herald that …“I hope this makes people think twice about applying for welfare.” …Publicly posting personal information, he said, could encourage people to go after those “gaming the system.”

Needless to say, this approach causes great consternation for some folks on the left. Here’s some of what Dana Milbank wrote in his Washington Post column.

Rick Brattin, a young Republican state representative in Missouri, has…introduced House Bill 813, making it illegal for food-stamp recipients to use their benefits “to purchase cookies, chips, energy drinks, soft drinks, seafood, or steak.” …This is less about public policy than about demeaning public-benefit recipients. The surf-and-turf bill is one of a flurry of new legislative proposals at the state and local level to dehumanize and even criminalize the poor.

I admit it’s paternalistic, but if taxpayers are paying for someone else’s food, then shouldn’t they have the right to insist that recipients don’t buy junk food? My view, of course, is that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of redistributing income, but that’s an issue we discussed a few days ago. Milbank also is upset that some lawmakers don’t want welfare benefits spent on frivolous things.

…the Kansas legislature passed House Bill 2258, punishing the poor by limiting their cash withdrawals of welfare benefits to $25 per day and forbidding them to use their benefits “in any retail liquor store, casino, gaming establishment, jewelry store, tattoo parlor, massage parlor, body piercing parlor, spa, nail salon, lingerie shop, tobacco paraphernalia store, vapor cigarette store, psychic or fortune telling business, bail bond company, video arcade, movie theater, swimming pool, cruise ship, theme park, dog or horse racing facility, pari-mutuel facility, or sexually oriented business . . . or in any business or retail establishment where minors under age 18 are not permitted.” …another state that prohibits welfare funds for cruise ships is true-blue Massachusetts.

Again, I have to ask why it’s unreasonable for taxpayers to put limits on how welfare funds are spent? Setting aside my desire to get Washington out of the business of maintaining a welfare state, shouldn’t the people paying the bills have some right to decide whether they want recipients going to massage parlors and casinos?

Let’s now look at a very real-world example of how our friends on the left are trying to make dependency easier and more respectable. They now want to make it easier and less discomforting for folks to get food stamps. Here are some excerpts from a story in the Daily Caller.

A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) looked at whether it should get rid of in-person interviews for those who apply to receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is commonly known as food stamps. …the USDA with the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) conducted a limited real-world test to see if the in-person interviews are needed.

The report looks at test cases in Utah and Oregon to gauge the impact on “client and worker outcomes,” but obviously didn’t consider the impact on taxpayers.

The report says that the increase of participants from 17 million in 2000 to nearly 47 million recipients in 2014 is one reason why the application process should be made easier and less costly, but others have argued that more relaxed entry requirements into the program are the very reason it has expanded so much.

The latter group is correct. If people can sign up for freebies over the phone, with very weak verification procedures, then it should go without saying that the burden on taxpayers will grow even faster.

And for purposes of our discussion today, this proposal would make it even easier for people to become dependents. The government already has turned food stamps into a welfare-state version of a debit card, which means that recipients feel less conspicuous about relying on taxpayers. Now they wouldn’t even have to visit a food stamp office when first signing up for the system!

The bottom line is that it will be very healthy for our nation if most people feel reluctant and/or embarrassed to become wards of the state.

Fortunately, there are some folks who already have this self-reliant streak. Here’s a blurb from some analysis by Angela Rachidi for the American Enterprise Institute.

…research shows that a sizeable number of eligible people do not participate in SNAP because they do not want government assistance. According to a 2003 USDA report on the subject, 27% of eligible non-participants indicated that they would not enroll in the program even if they were assured they were eligible. The report cited the desire to feel independent as the primary driver in not wanting benefits.

Thank goodness there are still a non-trivial number of Americans who don’t want to mooch off taxpayers. By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the people of California are the least likely to sign up for food stamps. Too bad the folks in Maine, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington don’t have the same spirit of self reliance. Heck, Vermont’s already famous for having the top spot in the Moocher Index.

P.S. While Dana Milbank apparently thinks there shouldn’t be any restrictions on food stamps, most taxpayers probably won’t be pleased to see these examples of their money being misspent.

Then Mr. Milbank can start investigating other examples of fraud, starting with Medicaid and the disability program.

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With welfare dependency demonstrating the erosion of

Politics

President-Obama-John-Boehner-debt-ceiling-negotions

Speaker Boehner meets with President Obama at the White House during the 2011 debt ceiling increase negotiations. (PHOTO: PETE SOUZA/WHITE HOUSE)

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Friday morning he will resign his speakership and his seat effective October 30. Reaction to the development, which came as a surprise even to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been telling and somewhat fitting for an end to Boehner’s turmoil-riddled tenure.

At the Values Voter Summit on Friday, the audience rose to their feet in applause when Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced the news in a spectacle that quickly made the rounds on social media. However, if the base of the party and the 2016 presidential field of candidates are in near-unanimity, members of the party in the lower chamber are not.

“As our country has weathered difficult times at home and abroad, John has acted as a true statesman, always moving forward with the best interests of the American people close to his heart,” said McCarthy, who many hope and believe will be next in line. “He will be missed because there is simply no one else like him.”

Yet, McCarthy’s statement alone serves as a reminder to many of the party’s more conservative conference members and their supporters why he would only be a repeat of prior mistakes. Within moments of the announcement, conservative talk radio host and stalwart Boehner critic Mark Levin made it clear the establishment pick would prove the party hasn’t learned from those mistakes.

“Kevin McCarthy is Eric Cantor with ten less IQ points,” Levin said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “The Republican establishment never learned their lesson after Cantor… They replaced Cantor with McCarthy, who is a wheeler and dealer—he is not a principled conservative… My concern now is that they will do the same thing again.”

Speaker Boehner became the 61st Speaker of the House on November 17, 2010 when he was unanimously chosen by the House Republicans as their nominee. But it has been all down hill for the Ohioan since. Though he faced an internal battle over funding Planned Parenthood in light of undercover videos exposing their trafficking of aborted baby body parts, it was just the latest in a string of disappointments that have outraged conservative members and Republican voters. Boehner saw his first leadership challenge during the fight over the $1.1 trillion cromnibus bill, which funded President Obama’s executive amnesty and barely passed the House in Dec. 2014.

Boehner worked with the White House to get around members of his own party. In Jan. 2015, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, announced he would challenge Boehner for the speakership, which grew into a movement that only fell 4 votes short. Eventually, the new 246-vote Republican House majority voted to reelect Boehner as speaker to the 114th Congress, giving him a third term with the gavel even though it was far closer than most pols and pundits predicted.

To be sure, McCarthy had conservatives’ backs on Planned Parenthood and the Export-Import Bank when it was convenient and politically expedient. But he is nevertheless part of the Chamber of Commerce business wing of the Republican Party, a wing despised by the anti-crony voices in the lower chamber. They see the rise and fall of Boehner’s speakership as more easily explained along these lines.

“I served with John Boehner in Congress,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh, the head of an organization that helped to lead the fight against Ex-Im, wrote in an email to PPD. “His work on the Contract with America helped Republicans win a House majority when I came to Congress, and his support of a ban on earmarks was an important reform. House Republicans have, unfortunately, strayed from limited government principles, and this transition offers an opportunity for change. The next Speaker must be committed to strong economic conservatism that includes holding the line on sequestration spending caps, and promoting pro-growth tax reform.”

The Club for Growth will no doubt have other candidates to get behind, though as of now it would appear the only member to throw his name into the mix is also one of Beohner’s leadership team. Meanwhile, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the House whip, announced he would run to replace McCarthy as majority leader, which did not at all come as a surprise to the 30 or so conservatives who remain adamantly opposed to the hierarchy. While the speaker said he “had no doubt he would’ve survived” another challenge, House conservatives are billing the news as a win and feel emboldened going forward.

“It was becoming apparent that there was going to be a vote against him and probably removal,” said Rep. John Fleming, adding that the GOP base and GOP-leaning independents were sick and tired of the establishment making excuses for why they couldn’t stop the “radical liberal agenda of Barack Obama.”

Rep. Fleming is certainly on to something, according to the latest poll conducted prior to the release of the PPFA undercover videos. Roughly two-thirds of Republican voters said they wanted Boehner to resign, though whether the next Speaker is more palatable remains an open question. In addition to McCarthy, other likely candidates for the speakership that may or may not satisfy the conservative caucus include Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the latter of which has been leading the conservative coalition willing to take a stronger stance against the Obama administration. Boehner may have immediately poisoned the well for the majority leader when he signaled Friday that he’d like McCarthy to take his place, but more moderate members are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“John Boehner made a decision that he believes is in the best interest of the nation. As a colleague and as someone who believes in the honor of an institution we call the People’s House, I commend his decision and I commend the Speaker for his decades of service,” Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., said in a statement to PPD. “The important question we now face as a party is whether we will be a Congress committed to governing, to giving voice to the people who entrust us to serve, and to actually moving legislation that addresses the issues most important to the country.”

An aide to Rep. Jolly said he had not yet expressed which way he might be heading this early into the process, but indicated that he would be open to other options rather than falling in line behind McCarthy.

“It’s not clear who will replace Speaker Boehner,” said Senate Conservative Fund President Ken Cuccinelli in an email to PPD in response to the announcement.”But you can be sure that SCF will hold that person accountable, too.”

 

With House Speaker John Boehner announcing Friday

Opinion

Yale-Law-School-Shariah-Law-Center

A Saudi Arabian banking and real estate CEO Abdallah S. Kamel, aka HE Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, right, gave a $10 million gift to create the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School, left.

On September 8, Yale University President Peter Salovey and Yale Law School Dean Robert C. Post announced it is accepting a $10 million gift to create the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School. What these two men did not say speaks volumes.

Saleh Abdallah (aka Saleh Abdullah) Kamel, is the father of Abdallah S. (aka Abdullah S.) Kamel, a known banker and financier of Al-Qaeda. The son Abdallah S. Kamel still works for his father at Dallah Al-Baraka Group, of Saleh’s organizations that were investigated for funding Al-Qaeda. From 2001 to 2008 the FBI were investigating Saleh Abdallah Kamel as both a friend of Osama Bin Laden and as a financier of Al-Qaeda. Below is a list of Saleh Abdalla Kamel’s businesses and transactions that were investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security, etc.:

  1. Dallah Avco – (New York Times (8/2/2003)
  2. Dallah al Baraka banking conglomerate for contributing to BMI Inc., a confirmed Al-Qaeda financer. (US Congress 10/22/2003, Wall Street Journal 6/21/2004)
  3. DMI (Dar al-Maal Al-Islami Trust)– Saleh listed as a major investor amidst a proven string of Bin Laden support by DMI (Chicago Tribune 12/21/2004, New York Times 8/8/2008)
  4. Saleh was listed as a member of the “Golden Chain,” an Al-Qaeda finance list of 20 wealthy persons. Judge Conway, a far left liberal judge removed Saleh A. Kamel and his bank Al-Shamal Islamic Bank from a civil suit brought by 9/11 families on the grounds he considered the Golden Chain a myth. (Arab News 12/18/2006)

Yale Law School must have an extremely low vetting standard for those who would have their names emblazoned on the college for centuries to come. This research took less than an hour on Google. In addition, Yale President Peter Salovey made misleading statements to the public on September 8 regarding the Sharia school:

Mr. Kamel’s extraordinary generosity will open up exciting new opportunities for Yale Law School and for the entire university. The Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization will enhance research opportunities for our students and other scholars and enable us to disseminate knowledge and insights for the benefit of scholars and leaders all over the world.

How will teaching Sharia law at a law school benefit those in Yale? It benefits Muslims. But is it a benefit to Yale? To America? To the world?

If Sharia stands in direct opposition to the U.S. Constitution on any point, a Sharia law school’s presence at an American law school could be harmful to the law community and to the American public. Why? Because teaching Sharia in an American law school legitimizes their belief that Sharia law is superior to the U.S. Constitution. If you think Muslims–even American Muslims–do not believe this, then please view the video below.

[brid video=”16297″ player=”1929″ title=”Do American Muslims Think Sharia Law Should Supersede the U.S. Constitution”]

Sharia vs. US Constitution

Sharia literally means “right path”  and is the Arabic term for Islamic law. Sharia does not allow nor does it accept our current government, which Abraham Lincoln described in the Gettysburg Address as “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” A Shariah-based government is a non-democratic theocracy. Because Sharia denies the right of manmade law to exist, as everything is to be in submission to Sharia, it can not accept the very Preamble of the Constitution, which states:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Because the U.S. Constitution is law made by man, not God, Islam does not accept the U.S. Constitution. However, until there are enough Muslims to combat and change this they are to engage in “civilization jihad” from within the United States (see below). If Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama have their way, the number of Muslims in the U.S. will increase exponentially through mass acceptance of “Syrian refugees.” This is not only a national security issue for all the reasons listed by the top U.S. intel chiefs but also simply because they do not accept the U.S. Constitution.

This says nothing about the Freedoms of the People protected by the Bill of Rights. Just look at the First Amendment. Sharia is in direct opposition to these few words!

  1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

For this reason I, Paul Sutliff, Author, Writer and Special Education Teacher challenge both President Peter Salovey and Yale Law School Dean Robert C. Post to a debate on the following points:

  1. Under Sharia law, those who leave Islam are executed. How does teaching this at Yale Law School “benefit the entire university”? How is this scholarly? How does it “benefit the world?”
  2. Under Sharia law, freedom of speech is denied and those who “defame the prophet are executed.” How does teaching this at Yale Law School “benefit the entire university”? How is this scholarly? How does it “benefit the world?”
  3. Under Sharia law, pedophilia is a normal activity. How does teaching this at Yale Law School “benefit the entire university”? How is this scholarly? How does it “benefit the world?”
  4. Under Sharia law, bigamy is a normal activity. How does teaching this at Yale Law School “benefit the entire university”? How is this scholarly? How does it “benefit the world?”
  5. Under Sharia law, musical instruments are banned. Rock-and-roll and all other forms of music that use instruments are forbidden. How does teaching this at Yale Law School “benefit the entire university”? How is this scholarly? How does it “benefit the world?”

If you can not think of a reason to answer any of these questions in a debate forum, why are you taking $10 million from a person who’s father has been long-believed by the FBI to be an Al-Qaeda financier? Why would you promote any law that stands in direct opposition to the U.S. Constitution, save for the purpose of defeating its proliferation?

These are the questions Americans want answered.

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Yale University accepted a $10 million gift

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