Concern about runaway spending is ‘anarchy’

A national network reporter, during an interview about about the government shutdown, actually told me: “Democrats believe government should do some things. Republicans don’t believe government should be doing anything.” Where had we heard that characterization of the GOP?
“‘Anarchist’? Why in the world wouldn’t I use the term anarchy?” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a CNN interview. “That’s what they are. They’re anarchists. They don’t believe in government — at any level. … They’re anarchists, just like they were at the beginning of the 20th century. … They’re not blowing up buildings and they’re not killing people. But they’re throwing monkey wrenches in the wheels of government.” That a reporter parroted the line almost verbatim explains why Obama and the Democrats believe they will win the PR battle over which party voters will blame for this partial government shutdown.
Well, forgive tea party Republicans, elected to stop Obamacare, for actually going to Washington D.C. to try to stop Obamacare. Politicians literally attempting to fulfill campaign promises. Imagine.

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/10/harry-reid-concern-about-runaway-spending-is-anarchy/ 

Beyond Obamacare glitches, some consumers face dramatically higher rates

Problems with the main "Obamacare" website, HealthCare.gov, have dominated headlines since the site opened for business on Oct. 1.
But another problem is surfacing: Some consumers who have been buying their own insurance are getting cancellation notices – and offers for insurance at dramatically higher rates.
There are multiple reasons this is happening. First, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) sets minimum standards for benefits, including mental-health and substance-abuse treatment, maternity care, prescription drugs, and rehabilitative care, which were not included in many of the old plans. Also, insurance companies are now required to take all comers, regardless of their health status, and so rates are rising to cover their costs as well. 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/1007/Beyond-Obamacare-glitches-some-consumers-face-dramatically-higher-rates-video

Government Shutdown: Don’t Believe the Hype

Government wants you to play a role in the "shutdown" of the federal government. Your role is to panic.
Republicans and Democrats both assume that shutting some government is a terrible thing. The press concurs. "Shutdown threatens fragile economy," warns Politico. "Federal workers turn to prayer," laments The Washington Post.
If the public starts noticing that life goes on as usual without all 3.4 million federal workers, we might get dangerous ideas, like doing without so much government. Politicians don't want that.
They'd rather have us worry about how America will cope.
President Obama gave a speech where he actually said we need to keep government open for the sake of people like the person working for the Department of Agriculture "out there helping some farmers make sure that they're making some modest profit," and the Department of Housing and Urban Development "helping somebody buy a house for the first time."

http://reason.com/archives/2013/10/09/government-shutdown-dont-believe-the-hyp

Illegal immigrants allowed to practice law in California

Illegal immigrants can be licensed to practice law in California under one of eight bills expanding immigrant rights that were signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday.
The California Supreme Court, which finalizes requests of applicants to be licensed as a lawyer in California, is now authorized to approve qualified applicants regardless of their immigration status.
Other new laws prohibit law enforcement officials from detaining immigrants based on federal government instructions except in cases of serious crimes or convictions, and make it illegal for employers to retaliate against workers on the basis of their citizenship.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in a statement. "I'm not waiting."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/06/us-usa-immigration-california-idUSBRE99500420131006

What happens when only 16% of flu patients have the flu?

Here is how serious propaganda works: Over a a long period of time, you build up a gigantic lie. You keep reinforcing it.
You have major money behind you, as well as institutions of government, and corporations. You forge that lie, and you keep repeating it over and over.
Finally, and this is the payoff, you reach a point where a refutation of the lie would seem, to most people, like a piece of incomprehensible insanity, like gibberish.
Therefore, the refutation of the lie would tend to be invisible. It would sink like a small stone, leaving no trace.
After writing about fake vaccine science since 1988, I thought I’d seen it all:

http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/what-happens-when-only-16-of-flu-patients-have-the-flu/ 

Why Growth Is Getting Harder

For over a century, the trend line for the long-term growth of the U.S. economy has held remarkably steady. Notwithstanding huge changes over time in economic, social, and political conditions, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has fluctuated fairly closely around an average annual rate of approximately 2 percent. Looking ahead, however, there are strong reasons for doubting that this historic norm can be maintained.
Consider the four constituent elements of economic growth tracked by conventional growth accounting: (1) growth in labor participation, or annual hours worked per capita; (2) growth in labor quality, or the skill level of the workforce; (3) growth in capital deepening, or the amount of physical capital invested per worker; and (4) growth in so-called total factor productivity, or output per unit of quality-adjusted labor and capital. Over the course of the 20th century, these various components fluctuated in their contributions to overall growth. The fluctuations, however, tended to offset each other, so that weakness in one element was compensated for by strength in another. In the 21st century, this pattern of offsetting fluctuations has come to a halt as all growth components have fallen off simultaneously.

http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/why-growth-getting-harder 

Electronic Privacy Defenders Lose Challenge to Government Secrecy

The director of national intelligence properly withheld documents related to how his office uses databases to fight terrorism, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
     The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center had filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding how the National Counterterrorism Center gets information from other federal agencies.
     Though the agency released eight partial documents, it withheld an additional 21, citing statutory exemptions. EPIC then filed suit in Washington, D.C.
     U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted the agency summary judgment Wednesday.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/10/09/61888.htm