The 2014 Shrimp Season In The Gulf Of Maine Has Been Canceled

They’re small and sweet, beloved by locals and tourists alike, and will soon be indefinitely unavailable. The Northern shrimp population in the Gulf of Maine has officially collapsed and a moratorium on shrimping is being recommended for the 2014 season. Restaurants in Maine are rushing to get their hands on whatever is left over from last year’s catch.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced the news Tuesday after voting unanimously to halt shrimping for the upcoming season.
The Gulf of Maine Northern shrimp fishery has never been big. But the season, usually between December and May, helps make ends meet for Maine fisherman during otherwise difficult winter months, before the lobsters and tourists arrive. In 2012, the value of the Gulf catch was about $5.1 million. Historically, as much as 25 million pounds of shrimp have been caught in the Gulf of Maine. The last time the fishery had to shut down, way back in 1977, just 1 million pounds of shrimp were landed. Regulators closed the fishery the following year, and since then, shrimp populations have rebounded to record highs.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/04/3021451/maine-shrimp-season-closed/ 

Union-backed fast food proposal could cost half a million jobs

Hourly wage increases advocated by labor groups could kill more than 450,000 jobs, according to a new report.
Union-backed labor groups, including Fast Food Forward and Fight for 15, are staging nationwide walk-outs and demonstrations at fast food chains across the country calling for starting wages of $15 per hour.
Their success could spell economic disaster for nearly 20 percent of the nation’s 2.5 million fast food workers, according to an analysis from the Employment Policies Institute.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/05/study-union-backed-fast-food-proposal-could-cost-half-million-jobs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29 

Executive order: Obama ups green-energy mandate on feds to 20 percent

By 2020, federal agencies will have to up their use of renewable energy sources significantly and replace 20 percent of electricity with greener options, President Obama said in a new executive order due for release on Thursday.
That demand will almost triple the federal government’s use of renewable energy, The Hill reported. The order is applicable to all federal agencies, including the civilian and military sectors.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/5/executive-order-obama-ups-green-energy-mandate-fed/#ixzz2md68Irmv

The Economy Really is the Republicans’ Fault

In the “bad news is good news” economy that’s at the root of Obamanomics, the market has been rattled the last few days by signs that the economy is finally, again…did I say finally, again?... growing.
Well at least that’s the story THIS week.
I stopped counting the number of times that economy finally started growing.
Still, the market views robust numbers in the manufacturing sector released this week as cautionary.
Caution for the market that is, while welcome news to you and me.

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2013/12/05/the-economy-really-is-the-republicans-fault-n1757532?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl 

Obamacare Is Good Enough for Government Work

The phrase “good enough for government work” used to be a boast. Then it became an insult. With Obamacare, it is an ethic.
On Cyber Monday, the federal government was the only entity on the planet touting a commercial website with the promise that it would work most of the time, provided people visiting during peak hours were willing to take a number and come back later.
Although HealthCare.gov was still plagued by what used to be known as “glitches,” it was working better. In fact, it appears to be well on the way to being fixed—except for the part where people pay for and actually get insurance. That is called the “backend,” or the payment system without which any other business would go bust. To be charitable, it is still a work in progress.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/12/obamacare-is-good-enough-for-government-work-100684.html#ixzz2md4jx91X

Global-warming ‘proof’ is evaporating

The 2013 hurricane season just ended as one of the five quietest years since 1960. But don’t expect anyone who pointed to last year’s hurricanes as “proof” of the need to act against global warming to apologize; the warmists don’t work that way.
Warmist claims of a severe increase in hurricane activity go back to 2005 and Hurricane Katrina. The cover of Al Gore’s 2009 book, “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis,” even features a satellite image of the globe with four major hurricanes superimposed.
Yet the evidence to the contrary was there all along. Back in 2005 I and others reviewed the entire hurricane record, which goes back over a century, and found no increase of any kind. Yes, we sometimes get bad storms — but no more frequently now than in the past. The advocates simply ignored that evidence — then repeated their false claims after Hurricane Sandy last year.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/05/global-warming-proof-is-evaporating/ 

Millennials Abandon Obama and Obamacare

Young Americans are turning against Barack Obama and Obamacare, according to a new survey of millennials, people between the ages of 18 and 29 who are vital to the fortunes of the president and his signature health care law.

The most startling finding of Harvard University's Institute of Politics: A majority of Americans under age 25--the youngest millennials--would favor throwing Obama out of office.
The survey, part of a unique 13-year study of the attitudes of young adults, finds that America's rising generation is worried about its future, disillusioned with the U.S. political system, strongly opposed to the government's domestic surveillance apparatus, and drifting away from both major parties. "Young Americans hold the president, Congress and the federal government in less esteem almost by the day, and the level of engagement they are having in politics are also on the decline," reads the IOP's analysis of its poll. "Millennials are losing touch with government and its programs because they believe government is losing touch with them."

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/millennials-abandon-obama-and-obamacare-20131204