Pitkin vs. Goliath - CO Road Closure

I think these videos tell the sad story for themselves.  The Forest Service, BLM and Parks are all trying to shut down the People's lands all over the country.

Pitkin v. Goliath Part 1

Pitkin v. Goliath Part 2 

Wow, the People win for once.

And then they win again:  citizen-activists-reopen-barricaded-blm-road-near-olathe/

A Win for Privacy - Cell Phones Can Not be Searched

The second 9-0 decision by SCOTUS has gone back to the Constitutional basics by reaffirming the 4th Amendment.  The Court decided that smart cell phones are different than older dumb phones because they can contain so much private information about their owners.

Here is a good writeup from a legal firm: 

Smart Aid for the World's Poor - Matt Ridley at WSJ

This is one of the most important articles I have read in years.  Matt Ridley is a UK Parliamentarian with an outspoken attitude and often right-on ideas. 

Context:  Since 1990, the number of the world's extreme poor has decreased by 50% because of globalization, free markets and the spread of easy to access energy and technology. 

To continue this trend, Ridley asks what are the five most important things people can do to continue the improvement.  He suggests the United Nations needs new goals that are discrete, quantitative and achievable.  He suggests using a method from Bjorn Lomborg, who has brought together 60 economists and asked that very question.

Ridley picks his own list of five, which I can agree with.  However, I would add number zero:  A massive improvement in sanitation, especially in countries like India, where malnutrition caused by chronic diseases is endemic and cultural. 

The entire article is at the WSJ for July 26-27, 2014.   
      Smart Aid for the World's Poor,  How can rich countries best help poor ones? 
See article here at WSJ:  smart-aid-for-the-worlds-poor

Ridley proposes these five ideas:

"What would my own list of five 2030 goals look like, based on the work of the Copenhagen Consensus group?

1. Reduce malnutrition. When children get better food, they develop their brains, stay in school longer and end up becoming far more productive members of society. Every dollar spent to alleviate malnutrition brings $59 of benefits.

2. Tackle malaria and tuberculosis. These two diseases debilitate huge populations in poor countries, but they are largely preventable and curable. In the most harshly affected countries, two people often do one person's work because one of them is sick. Benefit to cost ratio: 35 to 1.

3. Boost preprimary education, which costs little and has lifelong benefits by getting children started on learning. 30 to 1.

4. Provide universal access to sexual and reproductive health, which would save the lives of mothers and infants while enabling women to be more economically productive. It would also lower birthrates (when fewer children die, people have fewer children). Benefits could be as high as 150.

5. Expand free trade. This isn't considered sexy in the development industry, and it may seem remote from humanitarian issues, but free trade often delivers phenomenal improvements to the welfare of the poor in surprisingly quick time, as the example of China has demonstrated in recent years. One of the discoveries of the Copenhagen Consensus process is that incremental goals such as expanding free trade are often better than supposedly "transformational" goals. A successful Doha Round of the World Trade Organization could deliver annual benefits of $3 trillion for the developing world by 2020, rising to $100 trillion by the end of the century."

Some articles about sanitation in India:  

This article got me linking these two article.  Especially look at the chart comparing countries:  http://www.delhifoodbanking.org/index.php/latest-news/60-poor-sanitation-in-india-may-afflict-well-fed-children-with-malnutrition.html

or here at NYT:   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/asia/poor-sanitation-in-india-may-afflict-well-fed-children-with-malnutrition.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0 

 

More articles:

poor-sanitation-not-malnutrition-may-be-to-blame-for-indias-notoriously-stunted-children/ 

how-indian-states-stack-up-on-access-to-toilets

half-billion-indians-still-need-better-access-to-toilets

health-nutrition-unicef-india

http://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Next-Great-Opportunity-Sanitation-for-Indias-Poor

What is Marriage? And Why Should the State Care?

This is the second best explanation I have ever heard for why marriage is between one man and one woman.  I can no longer find the first, unfortunately, although the arguments are similar.

See Ryan T. Anderson speaking at Standford University:  What is Marriage?

Here is the Q&A portion:  Q&A session

Executive Orders: Obama bans AK Imports

Obama Bans AK-47s with Executive Order 13662

July 17, 2014

From Freedom Outpost by Dean Garrison: obama-bans-ak-47s-executive-order-13662/

On Wednesday, Barack Obama used his powerful pen to effectively ban AK-47s, and other Kalashnikov Russian-made imports, indefinitely. This will include the import of parts and accessories so it affects current owners as well as those looking to make a new purchase. If you like your gun, you can keep it. Just don't expect to be getting parts for it without paying a small fortune.

The Executive Order was issued under the guise of punishing Russia with more sanctions. Considering AK-47s are one of the weapons that this administration, and certain members of congress, have been looking to ban, that excuse doesn't seem to hold much credibility. As John Galt said, "The good news is Obama has not banned Vodka imports from Russia yet, probably because he is the biggest homolush in Amerika."
Don't be fooled. There is always an agenda.
The ban is effectively against all AK-line Kalashnikov imports, which obviously covers much more than just AK-47s.
Kurt Nimmo reports:

Obama exploited the conflict in Ukraine to target the importation of the popular AK line of firearms manufactured by Kalashnikov Concern in Izhmash, Russia. The unconstitutional ban includes the Saiga line of rifles and shotguns.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) attempted to soften the blow by stating the executive order does not outlaw Kalashnikov firearms legally purchased in the United States prior to the ban.

The OFAC, according to its website, "administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States."

The criminalization of an entire line of foreign manufactured firearms is possible under "national emergency powers" and there is no appeal process.

No appeal process? I thought I was living in America.
Is this the "Hope and Change" that people voted for?
You can read the details of the sanctions here or you can simply stick a fork in your left eye if you are looking for something more pleasant.
Obama can play games all he wants but MSNBC viewers better not find out about this. In a recent poll, 88% of MSNBC viewers supported constitutional carry.
Wake up America. You are being lied to and the man in the Oval Office cares not what you think. He only cares about what he wants you to think.

11 Facts that Show We Live in a Country Run By Idiots

The following list has been attributed to comedian Jeff Foxworthy.  But Snopes says Foxworthy is not the author.

The original compiler is apparently a man named Fritz Edmunds.
1. If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally, you live in a country run by idiots.
2. If you have to get your parents' permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion, you live in a country run by idiots.
3. If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote on who runs the government, you live in a country run by idiots.
4. If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy leaders in Egypt, you live in a country run by idiots.
5. If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat, you live in a country run by idiots.
6. If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched, you live in a country run by idiots.
7. If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more, you live in a country run by idiots.

8. If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of grade school for saying his teacher's "cute," but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable, you live in a country run by idiots.
9. If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones, you live in a country run by idiots.
10. If the government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working, with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can't find work, you live in a country run by idiots.
11. If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government, you live in a country run by idiots.
If you are offended by this article,  you probably voted for the idiots who are running our country into the ground.

Here's a video with a slightly different list:  Idiots List

Math vs. Obamacare: Dave Ramsey Shows Why Math Wins

So, this is an older video by Dave Ramsey, but it bears repeating.  As usual, Dave gets to the heart of the problem.

Dave Ramsey on Obamacare Math

See also the comments at:  http://eaglerising.com/7395/remember-dave-ramsey-destroyed-obamacare/

Dan Bongino Tells Congress How to be Grown-up Politicians

I'll just repeat this note about how to be a grown-up politician:

Former Secret Service Agent and current candidate for Congress from the state of Maryland, Dan Bongino (R-MD) penned an important and powerful open letter to the corrupt political class in Washington, DC. He posted his observations to his Facebook wall and it’s something that every politician needs to read.

If, during my time as a Secret Service Agent, I had abused my authority as Lois Lerner did, I would be in jail.

If the current class of DC insiders and elitists expect the citizenry who empower them to take them seriously, then large-scale changes are in order.

First, stop talking to us as if we are an unintelligent class of buffoons. Telling us that you "lost" emails, in defiance of both common-sense and common-decency, is an insult to everyday Americans who would be arrested for providing the same excuse to the IRS.

Second, stop blaming the opposing Party, the weather, technology, the winter, prior presidents, and anything else not tied down, for a class of problems that are doing real harm to us right now. Anyone can place blame, but only real leaders take responsibility for problems, regardless of "who started it" (a tactic commonly used by children) and fix them.

And, finally, America is quickly growing hip to your faux aspirations of glory. We are looking for leaders, not political celebrities. Put down the canned talking points and use your heart, instead of the teleprompter, you may be surprised by what comes out.
America is craving statesmen in search of a better tomorrow, not politicians in search of the next DC cocktail party.

-Dan


Originally posted at:   http://eaglerising.com/7085/former-secret-service-agent-writes-open-letter-destroying-dc-political-class/#EAQ82C8YwRp7eul8.99