News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Occupy Movement has a new Target... Our Children
Dr. Bobby Eberle
Dr. Bobby Eberle, CEO, GOPUSA, The Loft: In 2011, everyone who is lazy, doesn't want to work, and wants the government to pay for everything had something to cheer about: the Occupy Wall Street movement. Yes, that's right... rather than sitting on a couch doing nothing, they could camp out in a public square and do nothing. They -- the so-called 99% -- had a target: the 1% who pay most of the taxes, fund the government programs, and do the hiring. But now, it appears that liberals in the "occupy" movement have a new target: our children.
First, there was the story of a Christmas program held at an elementary school in Pennsylvania. The theme of this program was "Occupy the North Pole." God forbid that a school actually celebrates real Christmas themes like the birth of Jesus, but perhaps they might talk about Santa Claus preparing gifts for the good, little girls and boys, right? Nope. Not at the George School in Newton, PA. Here is a summary of the program:
This year's dance theme is based on an original story written by Barbara Kibler, who has been a George School dance teacher for twenty-eight years. The action takes place in the North Pole with Santa Claus and his elves losing their workshop as a result of eminent domain. Soon, the elves' work is outsourced and the workshop is taken over by a new corporate conglomerate, whose acronym is GREED. The sad and unfulfilled executive in charge begins using background checks to determine if children have been naughty or nice.
From this plight, Occupy North Pole is born.
As the writer of the blog report notes, "Aren't Christmas traditions usually centered on tales of peace, love, joy, compassion, giving and worship? The revisionist Christmas tradition in this school centers on a story of greed, evil capitalists, outsourcing, and revolution."
But we aren't done yet. It turns out an elementary school in Virginia was busy doing their best to indoctrinate our children as well. As reported in The Blaze, an incident was uncovered "at Woodbrook Elementary School in Virginia in which third-grade students performed (and school officials claim wrote) a song titled, "Part of the 99" as part of a "Kid Pan Alley" performance in October."
The kicker, as noted in The Blaze is that "the Albermale County school district is standing behind the song, claiming the children chose and wrote the lyrics themselves."
This is unreal! The children picked this theme and wrote the lyrics? Give me a break! That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. This is liberal brainwashing at it's worst.
Here are the lyrics:
Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes -- they're the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn't make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I'm part of the 99
Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes -- they're the 1 percent
I used to be sad, now I'm satisfied
'Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn't need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don't need to be first
'Cause I've got my friends
Here by my side
Don't need it all
I'm so happy to be part of the 99
Would your third-grader come up with this theme? Would your third-grader come up with these lyrics? I have a new song that can be taught to these third graders about the "occupy" movement. It's called "Take a shower and get a job!" Tags:Occupy Movement, Occupy schools, schools, school children, children, videos,Bobby Eberle, GOPUSATo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He Kept His Eyes on the Prize
Ken Blackwell and Bob Morrison, Contributing Authors: Informed in 1960 that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Senior would be voting for the Protestant Richard Nixon, Sen. Jack Kennedy smiled and said: “We all have fathers.” It was typical of his wit. Kennedy’s own father was a notorious anti-Semite and appeaser. Young Jack would never repudiate Old Joe, or fail to cash Joe’s hefty checks. Kennedy would win that election and go on to present Congress with the most far-reaching civil rights legislation in a century.
We celebrate this month the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Junior. He kept his eyes on the prize: civil rights for millions of black Americans suffering under unjust Jim Crow laws.
Racial segregation was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the worst rulings in history, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). In that case that the former Kentucky slave owner, Justice John Marshall Harlan, wrote this powerful dissent.
“The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved... We boast of the freedom enjoyed by our people above all other peoples. But it is difficult to reconcile that boast with a state of the law which, practically, puts the brand of servitude and degradation upon a large class of our fellow-citizens, our equals before the law. The thin disguise of 'equal' accommodations for passengers in railroad coaches will not mislead any one, nor atone for the wrong this day done.”
The wrong of that day of Plessy lasted into the 1960s. Justice Harlan, a Republican appointee, ringingly proclaimed that the Constitution must be “color-blind.” Let’s honor his memory, too.
Dr. King made his point in biblical cadences. He cried out from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial :” “Let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24) Following the peaceful conclusion of that great March on Washington in August, 1963, President Kennedy invited Dr. King and the leaders of the civil rights movement to a meeting in the Oval Office.
It was not Dr. King’s first time there. President Eisenhower had made a point of inviting Dr. King to meet with him to discuss civil rights when King emerged as the leader of the Montgomery (Alabama) bus boycott in 1957. Dr. King and his followers refused to ride in the back of the buses that their tax dollars supported.
Ike had used his appointive powers to name Supreme Court justices who would correct the injustice of Plessy. Barely a year into Eisenhower’s first term, the high court unanimously ruled against segregation in public schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). And Republican Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas when the Democratic Gov. Orval Faubus defied federal court orders to de-segregate that city’s schools.
Eisenhower was criticized endlessly by liberal elites for his emphasis on massive federal highway construction and for encouraging American prosperity. “A vast wasteland,” they dubbed TV in what all now see as its golden age. Still, it was over Ike’s new Interstate highways that the Freedom Riders of the early sixties blazed a trail to end segregation. And those TV news cameras let all Americans see, for the first time, the police dogs and fire hoses necessary to maintain segregation. Political reform followed quickly on the heels of Ike’s achievements.
When Democratic Sen. Hubert Humphrey led the fight for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he had no stronger ally than Republican Leader Everett Dirksen. Minority Republicans in the Senate gave even stronger support, proportionately, than Democrats did to push through that historic legislation.
Dr. King was willing to lay down his life. His assassination by a white racist on April 4, 1968 was the culmination of King’s lifelong advocacy of full equality under law.
“I have been to the mountain top,” Dr. King told his worried supporters in the days before his murder. He had indeed. He saw the promised land of equal justice under law. He had that vision because he kept his eyes on the prize. All Americans can be grateful for his legacy.
------------------------- J. Ken Blackwell is a conservative family values advocate. Blackwell is a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council and a visiting professor at Liberty University School of Law. Bob Morrison is a Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council. He has served at the U.S. Department of Education with Gary Bauer under then-Secretary William Bennett. Both are contributing authors to the ARRA News Service. Tags:Martin Luther King, Ken Blackwell, Bob MorrisonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
CFPB ‘Invitations Coordinator’ May Get More Than $100,000 Per Year
by Lachlan Markay, on The Scribe, Heritage Foundation: In the midst of the administration’s efforts to drastically reduce the nation’s military personnel and hike pay for government employees comes this gem: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new director of which was unconstitutionally appointed by President Obama on Wednesday, is prepared to pay a salary of more than $100,000 for an employee to assist in planning bureau events.
According to a job listing on USAJobs.com, the federal government’s official employment classifieds site, the CFPB is seeking an “invitations coordinator” to “support management of CFPB’s participation in external events by developing and maintaining databases and event calendar and providing advice and guidance on consideration of invitations.”
The position will pay up to $102,900, and carries lavish benefits, including “comprehensive health, vision, dental, life, and long-term care insurance programs,” a federal retirement plan, and 10 paid holidays, 13 sick days, and up to 26 vacation days per year.
Here are some excerpts from the listing: Job Title: Invitations Coordinator Agency: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Sub Agency: CFPB – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Job Announcement Number: 12-CFPB-145X SALARY RANGE: $53,500.00 to $102,900.00 / Per Year OPEN PERIOD: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 to Saturday, January 07, 2012 SERIES & GRADE: CN-0301-04 POSITION INFORMATION: Full-time – Excepted service time-limited Appointment NTE 12 months; may be extended up to July 20, 2015 PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 04 DUTY LOCATIONS: 1 vacancy(s) – Washington DC Metro Area, DC WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED: Applications will be accepted from U.S. citizens.
JOB SUMMARY:
Do you want to be a leader in your field at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – a groundbreaking organization solely devoted to the economic strength and vitality of American Families? Do you want to play an important role in making consumer financial markets work for all American families? Do you want to challenge yourself and others? If you answer “Yes”, then we have a career for you! CFPB professionals have unparalleled opportunities to expand horizons for themselves and for the nation. Be one of the founding members of an agency that will make a difference in the lives of everyday American families!
This position is located in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of External Affairs. The Office of External Affairs is responsible for coordination of all external communication, with a focus on raising awareness of consumer issues through activities, messages, and interactions with Public Relations, Media, Communities, Industries, and Stakeholders. You will support management of CFPB’s participation in external events by developing and maintaining databases and event calendar and providing advice and guidance on consideration of invitations.
This position is being filled under CFPB’s excepted service authority. This excepted service, time-limited position may be eligible for conversion to a permanent, excepted service appointment. Appointment under this authority does not convey competitive status.
KEY REQUIREMENTS
Background investigation
U.S. citizenship
May be required to serve a one year trial period.
DUTIES:
The major duties of this position include:
Develop and maintain a database to manage all invitations for CFPB to be represented at external meetings, panels, roundtables, conferences and other external events.
Research and provide background information so that the invitation can be appropriately considered by decision-makers.
Monitor and track all invitations and to ensure that all invitations are considered by the appropriate stakeholder and that decisions regarding the acceptance of the invitation are forwarded to CFPB staff in accordance with established timelines and protocols.
Develop and maintain the CFPB-wide calendar, ensuring that all accepted invitations are placed on the CFPB calendar, and that all appropriate CFPB staff are alerted and invited to the event/meeting.
Serve as expert on calendar issues, providing advice and guidance to CFPB staff on use of the calendar and on protocols for consideration of invitations [...]
BENEFITS:
Our comprehensive benefits are among the most generous in the federal government. They include:
Challenging and rewarding work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses and incentive awards
Ten paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year
Access to comprehensive health, vision, dental, life, and long-term care insurance programs that may be continued after you retire
A wide choice of health insurance plans, coverage for pre-existing conditions, and no waiting periods. We pay a substantial amount (up to 75%) of the health insurance premiums.
Participation in the Federal Reserve Retirement and Thrift Plans; or continued participation in the Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System.
Public Transit Incentive program (PTIP)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Health Unit Services
Emergency Child Care Service (Contracted Service)
Fitness Center Access
Tags:CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB jobs, federal spending, heritage FoundationTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:dictator, Barack Obama, Congress, Us Constitution, AF Branco, political incorrectTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
36 Republican Senators File Amicus Brief With United States Supreme Court Arguing The Entire Law Must Fall In The Event The Court Finds The Individual Mandate Unconstitutional
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and 35 of his colleagues filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court Friday on behalf of the bipartisan, multi-state challenge to the Democrats’ health spending law.
“Americans have been telling Washington for years now that they oppose a 2,700 page health spending bill that dramatically increases costs and expands the reach of the federal government into their health care decisions,” Sen. McConnell said. “In addition to determining the constitutionality of the mandate, that individuals purchase health insurance, the Supreme Court also will consider whether the mandate is severable from other provisions of the PPACA; in other words, whether the other provisions of the law are legally viable in the event the Court finds the mandate unconstitutional. We believe the mandate is not severable from the PPACA because the law will not function as its Congressional proponents intended or achieve their objectives without the presence of the mandate.”
Since its enactment, Senate Republicans have twice submitted an amicus brief in the lower courts in support of the states and private parties that are challenging the PPACA in federal court. This would be the first of two amicus briefs filed by Senate Republicans in the Supreme Court case.
The following are excerpts from the amicus brief:
“If this Court holds that the mandate is indeed unconstitutional, as amici believe the Court should, the Court must then determine a solution that maintains the proper balance between the legislative and judicial branches. To do so, the Court must follow Congress’ intent and evaluate whether Congress would have enacted the statute without the individual mandate. The Court cannot stray from that intent and drastically alter the law through deletion of an essential component, leaving in place a statute which the governing majority would not have chosen.
“The authors of the PPACA and its proponents believed the individual mandate was indispensable to their reform scheme… Several proponents of the law argued in committees and on the floor that the individual mandate was essential to their view of health care reform and that the legislation would not work without the mandate. More than merely a component of the insurance reforms, the majority in Congress believed that the entire health care reform effort of the PPACA was unsustainable without it.
“This Court must defer to this clear expression of Congress’ intent regarding the role of the individual mandate… To maintain the Constitution’s balance, this Court cannot ignore Congress’ determination as to what is essential to the PPACA’s scheme and leave in place a statute Congress would not—and did not—enact.”
“If Congress intended for the PPACA to survive without the individual mandate, it could have protected its major legislative reform simply by including a clause which would have guided this Court and resulted in a strong presumption of severability – a clause which was already before it in a prior version of the PPACA. Congress did not do so.
“Under these circumstances, this Court cannot leave a patchwork alternative to the PPACA in place without the heart of the legislation. Rather, such a determination must be left to the elected representatives of the people.”
The brief was signed by: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Sen. Daniel Coats (R-IN), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. James Risch (R-ID), Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Tags:Republican, Health Care, democrat, federal health care, obamacare, Amicus Brief, United States Supreme Court, Individual Mandate, UnconstitutionalTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: While the nation is struggling with record debt, Barack Obama finally found a government agency he wants to slash -- the Pentagon. Yesterday Obama unveiled plans to cut $500 billion from the Defense budget. In his remarks at the Pentagon, Obama said he was "turning the page on a decade of war." He could also be inviting a new decade of aggression.
Obama plans to abandon America's long-standing policy of being able to fight two major conflicts at once. His cuts will take us back to a pre-9/11 military, just as Iran is ramping up its nuclear weapons program, as the rotten fruit of radical Islam spreads from last year's Arab Spring and as China continues its massive military buildup.
But as the editors of National Review noted: "At its Cold War peak, U.S. military strategy called for the peacetime ability to simultaneously fight and win two major theater wars and a 'brushfire' conflict. The years after the Soviet collapse saw that capability pared down in the name of the 'peace dividend,' just in time for the 9/11 decade to deliver . . . two major theater wars and a series of 'brushfire' conflicts, from counterterror ops in Yemen to air support in Libya, that stretched our forces thin even as we increased them."Every time Republicans try to cut bloated social programs and income redistribution programs, Obama and the media immediately counter that they are going to kill jobs. (Top administration officials and leading Democrats have even tried to convince us that unemployment insurance actually creates jobs!) But then Obama goes to the Pentagon and announces massive cuts that will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs.
In fact, earlier this week Boeing announced 2,000 layoffs at a Kansas plant due to Defense cuts announced last year. According to Boeing there just wasn't enough work to keep the plant open. Conservative politicians who were upset at Boeing should have directed their anger at Obama.
Government spending is about picking priorities, and the first obligation of government is the defense of this nation. But liberals always see the defense budget as the first thing to cut. The first priority of every conservative must be defeating Barack Obama.
------------- Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families Tags:Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, DOD, military, Defense budget, Barack ObamaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
H-1B Visas a Symptom of Special-Interest Influence in D.C.
Blogs For Borders-by John Miano, Fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies, US News: Over the previous year, the United States lost 19,740 computer jobs, 107,200 engineering jobs, and 243,870 science jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In spite of massive job losses, industry has managed to use up the entire quota of H-1B visas, most of which went to foreign workers in these fields. It is likely over 100,000 H-1B visas were given out this year.
In most of America, these grim figures would end any debate on the need to import more cheap foreign labor. In a Washington that is completely beholden to lobbyists and industry campaign cash, they find ways to look the other way. As GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia says, "This [H-1B] is a very important issue for the high-tech executives who give the money."
D.C. is filled with mills that produce bogus studies to provide Congress with rose-colored glasses that deprive reality. Some studies spin H-1B workers as "entrepreneurs." Others make absurd job claims, such as that each H-1B worker creates six additional jobs (Do the math here: With around 100,000 H-1B visas a year, that would make H-1B the single largest job creation factor in the economy.)
In fact, the opposite is true. The largest users of H-1B visas are foreign offshoring companies. They use H-1B visas to provide on-site support for projected moved to other countries. In that model, each H-1B worker here is a proxy for even more jobs lost.
In spite of a long parade of damning audits on the H-1B program, Congress has done nothing to clean up the mess. Deliberate loopholes in the law allow employers to replace Americans with lower-paid H-1B workers. Working in the computer industry, I have witnessed employers openly replacing hundreds of Americans with cheaper worker on H-1B visas.
H-1B supporters rarely forget to remind the public that the statute requires H-1B workers to be paid "the prevailing wage." They invariably forget that, 20,000 words later, the statute redefines the term "prevailing wage" in such a manner that an employer can legally pay a software engineer in Edison, N.J., $34,133 a year less than the median wage.
How is it possible that Americans can be fired in their own country, be replaced with foreign workers, and Congress does nothing for decades? H-1Bs, bailouts to Wall Street, and subsidies to politically connected business are all symptoms of the same problem: a government that is controlled by special interests that are antithetical to those of the American people. Above article shared for "educational purposes" and to share the work of John Miano, Fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies. Tags:John Miano, Center for Immigration Studies, CIS, employment, economy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, immigration reform amnesty, illegal aliensTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Elizabeth Aymond responds on Americans For Prosperity - Arkansas: "My oh my. This just keeps getting uglier for Governor Beebe, and the blame game keeps spinning in circles."
Jason Tolbert, The Tolbert Report, had more to say a few days ago:
[Jan 3, 2010] Emails Draw Questions of When Governor Knew of Forestry Problems [Read More] Tags:Arkansas, Governor, Mike Beebe, emails, Arkansas Forestry Commission, US Forest Service, Tolbert Report, overspending, underfunding, tradition and practices, Plantation Politics, BootBerryismTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Ozark Guru: Hang to your hat or whatever as you read the following. The temptation will be to issue some form of an expletive or to event upchuck. But as we would say in the military, "Fine now we let's to clean up this FUBAR mess." We probably would have a few more words, but you get the drift or have already been there. The primary point: It is past time for "Don't Tread on Me" warnings. It is now time for action. It is time to refortify ourselves, determine our allies and weaknesses, resupply and prepare (i,e, get to work) so we can empty the trash in November, 2012.
President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts [Updated]
But remember: he will not rest until all Americans have jobs, affordable homes, green-energy vehicles, and the environment is repaired, etc., etc., etc.
Tags:Crime, Democrats, Economy, Firearms, Immigration, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Unions, Doug Ross, Director BlueTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Afterburner with Bill Whittle: In his last Afterburner Presentation for 2011, Bill Whittle looked at the state of this country three years into Obama's rule and has amassed a list of breathtaking failures bound to stun and/or depress champions of smaller government. Solyndra, Fast & Furious, the Keystone Pipeline and the deficit are just a handful of the scandals that make Bill's blood boil. So what do we need to do in 2012 to counteract Obama's policies?
Tags:PJTV, PJ Media, Bill Whittle, looking at 2011, failures, wheere we are, what must be done, United States, afterburnerTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
“And GM and its Obama Administration-Democrat backers ludicrously tell We the Shareholders that all of this failure is a‘success.’
“Well, GM was last year the worst car stock of all – and the Chevy Volt was an award-winning flop.; So the market ain’t buying it. And neither are We the People.”
-------------- Seton Motley is the President of Less Government and he contributes to numerous sites and blogs.
ARRA News Service Editor: Here’s an idea: let’s keep the government – and above the crappy administration – out of the business of picking winners and losers in the private sector. Tags: bailout, bailouts, Big Labor, Congress, crony capitalism, crony socialism, Economics, energy, Environment, Federal Spending, General Motors, Chevy Volt, government motors, stock, Healthcare, News, Obama, Regulation, TARP, Technology, unemployment, Unions, Seton Motley, Less GovernmentTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:Barack Obama, oil, shipping, Straits of Hormuz, flow of oil, foreign countries, XP pipeline, USA, political cartoon, AF BrancoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses Ron Paul for President
Dave Nalle, Chair National Republican Liberty Caucus: AUSTIN, TX – The Republican Liberty Caucus national board is proud to endorse Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) for the Republican presidential nomination. In a field of candidates who show little genuine commitment to individual liberty or reducing the size of government, Rep. Paul stands out as a consistent champion of the values of the Republican Liberty Caucus; limited government, personal liberty and free enterprise.
“Ron Paul has been the one Congressman willing to consistently stand up against abuses of government power and for protecting the rights of citizens,” said RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle. “He has led opposition to the War on Drugs, REAL ID and the PATRIOT Act. Just in the past year he has joined us in fighting against unconstitutional military detention of civilians, government tracking of workers through e-verify and a federal takeover of the internet. These are issues which grassroots Republicans are concerned about, but the party establishment is not listening. Ron Paul is the only candidate who really speaks for the grassroots of the Republican Party.”
“Paul has often been a lone vote against big government and big spending in the wilderness of the House of Representatives, but as president that lone vote would become a veto and stop government abuses dead in their tracks,” observed Earl Bandy, Chairman of the RLC of Colorado. “That alone is a great reason to put Ron Paul in the White House and give him that power.”
A major goal of the Republican Liberty Caucus is to expand the number of Senators and Representatives who are truly dedicated to the principles of small government, free enterprise and individual liberty. We made a good start towards changing Congress in 2010 and with Ron Paul at the head of the Republican ticket and a great field of liberty candidates we can win even more seats in Congress in 2012.
With leaders like Ron Paul this is the year when we can bring our government back to the values of the founders and put the liberty and prosperity of our citizens at the top of the national agenda rather than the bottom.
— Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus exists to promote individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise within the Republican Party. This endorsement decision was the result of a vote of RLC state chapters nationwide and certified by the national board. This is the first time the RLC has endorsed a presidential candidate since 1996. Dave Nalle may be reached at 512-656-8011 or by email: chairman@rlc.org Tags:RLC, Republican Liberty Caucus, GOP, endorsement, 2012 Republican, presidential candidate, Ron Paul To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Response to “Online Casinos Gambling:” [...] Soon as I changed to money play, I lost it all.
That defeats all odds. I believe that online casinos
are rigged. It had worked so well in practice I
was very confident. I lost $600 [...] [Source]
by Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum: Just before sneaking off to Hawaii where he barred news photos on the golf course, President Obama overturned longstanding U.S. policy that prohibited internet gambling. In yet another presidential shenanigan that bypasses U.S. law, Obama used the device of a secret Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion, dated in September and quietly released to the public on Christmas Eve.
The Justice Department opinion opens the door for all U.S. states to sell lottery tickets over the internet, and to encourage varieties of online web-based gambling such as poker. The Justice Department opinion reverses decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges. It undermines the U.S. Wire Act of 1961, which up to now has prohibited all wagers via telecommunications across state lines or international borders.
Eric Holder's lawyers invented the argument that the Wire Act applies only to bets on a "sporting event or contest," but not to a state's use of the internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within its borders.
The Assistant Attorney General who wrote the opinion, Virginia Seitz, claimed that the Wire Act's legislative history shows that Congress was mainly interested in internet transmission of betting information on baseball, basketball, football, boxing, and other sports-related gambling such as off-track betting on horse races. She jumped from that assertion to write that lotteries are not included in the Wire Act's prohibitions.
Seitz ignored the Wire Act's provision that gives prosecutors the power to shut down phone lines engaged in interstate or foreign gambling. Gambling law experts say that the Justice Department's opinion would eliminate almost every federal anti-gambling law that could apply to gambling that is legal under state law.
For example, Nevada and the District of Columbia have legalized poker within their jurisdictions. Under the Seitz opinion, federal law can no longer stop similar forms of gambling from expanding to other states.
Many of our 50 states may look to varieties of online gambling, such as online lotteries, to solve their budget deficit problems. Once states become dependent on gambling dollars, they search for more and more ways to entice the weakest among us to pour more of their money down the drain of gambling.
Poker, which involves elements of skill and luck, has been illegal online for real money since a 2006 law forbade financial institutions from processing funds for online wagering. Despite the U.S. ban, one survey shows that the global online gambling industry grew to $30 billion last year.
The gambling industry has become a major contributor to political candidates and parties. As one example among many, the man who invented the instant scratch-off lottery ticket is funding the campaign to replace ourElectoral Collegewith his "national popular vote."
The Justice Department's opinion is part of a multifaceted, bipartisan effort to legalize internet gambling. A House subcommittee held hearings in October and November with testimony by gambling supporters such as Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American Gaming (Gambling) Association and former Republican National Committee chairman, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who tried to repeal the 2006 law when Democrats controlled the House in 2010.
Fahrenkopf predicted how the Justice Department opinion will enable the gambling industry to hit the jackpot. He said, "It's now clear that not only can lotteries sell tickets online, but also games that look like slot machines and poker."
On the other hand, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) said that ending the federal ban on internet gambling would enable the spreading of gambling to every computer, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows phone. It would be like having a casino at everyone's fingertips, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
A warning also came from the world's richest casino owner, Sheldon Adelsen. He announced his opposition to internet gambling because the available technology is not good enough to prevent teenagers from making wagers. A report from Loma Linda Medical School in California showed that at least one out every five young people has a serious gambling-related problem, and the rate of gambling among the young is now almost double the 1988 rate.
Some people seem to think that no harm is done by lotteries; it's just individual choice. But here is the wisdom of our forefathers in an 1879 U.S. Supreme Court decision: "Lotteries ... are a species of gambling, and wrong in their influences. They disturb the checks and balances of a well-ordered community. Society built upon such a foundation would almost of necessity bring forth a population of speculators and gamblers, living on the expectation of what ... might be 'awarded' to them from the accumulations of others." (Stone v. Mississippi)
We should not permit the Obama Administration to surreptitiously change federal law in order to vastly expand the gambling industry. Tags:Barack Obama, Obama Administration, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, secret opinion, Gambling, online gambling, lottery tickets, over the internet, online web-based gambling, poker, U.S. Wire Act, Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Obama's Recess Appointments Are UnConstitutional And An Abuse of Power
Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan. 4, 2010
President Obama in a controversial move choose to unconstitutionally bypass the Senate and install Richard Cordray to run the CFPB and to make three recess appoints to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Note the U.S. Senate has remained in session meeting in pro forma sessions to prevent such an action. This action by President Obama is a destructive example of the President trying to govern without Congress. There are now constitutional as well as political questions revolving around this issue.
As background, the Senate has been meeting in a series of pro forma session to prevent President Obama from making any recess appointments. They in fact met yesterday, January 3rd and will be meeting again on January 6, 10, 13, 17, and 20. This action was taken because of the President's controversial actions of making recess appointments of candidates in his administration who were not confirmed by the Senate due to their radical beliefs outside main stream America or disqualifying actions and prior positions.
Flashback:President Obama Formerly Called Recess Appointments ‘The Wrong Thing To Do,’ And Senior Democrats Have Argued They Are An ‘Abuse Of Power, Mischievous And Troubling’
·OBAMA: A recess appointee is ‘damaged goods… we will have less credibility.’ “To some degree, he's damaged goods…somebody who couldn't get through a nomination in the Senate. And I think that that means that we will have less credibility...” (“Bush Sends Bolton To U.N.” The State Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], 8/2/05)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV):‘An end run around the Senate and the Constitution.’ “I will keep the Senate in pro forma session to block the President from doing an end run around the Senate and the Constitution with his controversial nominations.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.15980, 12/19/07)
·REID:‘They are mischievous.’ “Also, understand this: We have had a difficult problem with the President now for some time. We don't let him have recess appointments because they are mischievous, and unless we have an agreement before the recess, there will be no recess. We will meet every third day pro forma, as we have done during the last series of breaks.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.7558, 7/28/08)
·REID: Recess appointments an ‘abuse of power.’ “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) denounced the appointment as ‘the latest abuse of power by the Bush administration,’ adding that Bolton would arrive at the UN ‘with a cloud hanging over his head’ because he could not win confirmation.” (“Bush Puts Bolton In UN Post,” Chicago Tribune, 8/2/05)
·REID: A recess appointee will have ‘a cloud hanging over his head.’ “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) denounced the appointment as ‘the latest abuse of power by the Bush administration,’ adding that Bolton would arrive at the UN ‘with a cloud hanging over his head’ because he could not win confirmation.” (“Bush Puts Bolton In UN Post,” Chicago Tribune, 8/2/05)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): ‘Troubling.’ “When you have an appointment that is this critical and this sensitive, and the president basically says he's going to ignore the will of the senate and push someone through, it really is troubling.” (“Bush Sends Bolton To U.N.” The State Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], 8/2/05)
·DURBIN: ‘Could easily be unconstitutional.’ “I agree with Senator Kennedy that Mr. Pryor's recess appointment, which occurred during a brief recess of Congress, could easily be unconstitutional. It was certainly confrontational. Recess appointments lack the permanence and independence contemplated by the Framers of the Constitution.” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6253, 6/9/05)
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): “Senate confirmation of presidential appointees is an essential process prescribed by the Constitution that serves as a check on executive power and protects Montanans and all Americans by ensuring that crucial questions are asked of the nominee — and answered…” in a statement reminds the public that the CFPB’s big problems are its lack of transparency and accountability:
"[A]n unreformed, unaccountable CFPB would threaten our recovery at the worst possible time. The current structure of the CFPB will breed uncertainty, restrict credit, and stifle innovation when we need it most.
The fixes are obvious and necessary. First, the CFPB is exempt from nearly all the checks and balances that keep other independent regulatory bodies, like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, transparent and accountable. The CFPB is led by a single, powerful director—the agency’s only Senate-approved position. Its top post carries a five-year term, and the director can’t be fired, even by the president, outside of extraordinary circumstances. The CFPB’s power should be decentralized through a bipartisan panel of commissioners, ensuring balanced debate and a diversity of viewpoints.
Second, that powerful director controls an annual budget exceeding $500 million. Neither Congress nor the administration has any say on how that money is spent. This needs to change. The CFPB’s budget must be submitted to Congress to ensure oversight of the agency’s spending and policy priorities.
Third, the CFPB has been empowered to ban or change financial services or products without sufficient coordination with federal banking regulators. That means so-called consumer protections could come at the cost of financial institutions’ stability. And if banks are pushed into failure by new rules, the collateral damage will hit consumers. There must be a meaningful safety and soundness check that will factor in the impact of the CFPB’s rules.
Senator John Boozman (R-AR) who generally mild in his responses said today that President Obama committed a “gross overstep” with today’s unprecedented recess appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB), a move made for the first time while the Senate is in “pro forma” session.
“This is a gross overstep by the President. Steamrolling the Constitution and rewriting the rules when you don’t get your way is not how democracy works. We have a system of checks and balances that President Obama has failed to respect through this abuse of power.
"Last month, Mr. Cordray’s nomination was taken up in the Senate and was not approved. I joined my colleagues in opposition, not on the basis of Mr. Cordray’s personal merits, but over concerns about the structure of this new agency. The Dodd-Frank Law has given the CFPB enormous powers with little to no accountability. Instead of working with us to fix this defectively structured agency, the President has chosen to continue his misguided practice of circumventing Congress.”
The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Obama signed into law last year. As a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Boozman voted against that bill because it would create permanent bailouts, reward failed regulators and make it more difficult for consumers to access credit.
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) issued the following statement: "Today, the White House doubled down on its assault on the Constitution’s separation of powers – circumventing the people’s representatives in Congress - by not only appointing a new regulatory czar, but also new bureaucrats to the National Labor Relations Board to placate its big labor allies. The President put his own political future and the radical views of his far-left base ahead of constitutional government. The President will have to answer to the American people for this power grab."
The Heritage Foundation identified, "There’s just one problem: The U.S. Senate is not in recess. The decision to appoint these officials nonetheless appears to contradict the Obama administration’s own stated position on the issue.
According to Obama’s own Justice Department, the president is in the wrong. During a 2010 Supreme Court hearing, Chief Justice John Roberts and Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal had this exchange, in which the latter admitted that recess appointments may not be made within three days of adjournment."
Tags:2012, elections, voters, registered voters, dead people, democrats, voter ID, veter identification, Eric Holder, AF Branco, political Cartoon, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Update Jan 19, 2011: Confirmed final results have shifted voted in favor of Rick Santorum. USA Today and other news sources are reporting that Rick Santorum has been certified with a 34-vote lead in the Iowa caucuses. There are even some ballot boxes missing. Note the Iowa Caucus is unofficial, not run by the State of Iowa and not binding on delegates to the National Republican Convention.
------------
Michelle Bachmann Bows Out of Presidential Bid
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) ended her bid for the Republican presidential nomination after coming in last in the Iowa caucuses. Bachmann finished sixth out of six candidates in the first of many contests to pick a Republican presidential candidate. Bachmann will return to focusing on her Congressional campaign and hopefully will continue to needle President Obama over his unconstitutional actions and his progressive socialistic programs. Thank you, Rep. Backmann for being a torch for the TEA Party. Unfortunately in Iowa, she was confronted with the full force of concern by the Republicans voters who are seeking not necessarily the best conservative but the most likely person(s) who can defeat Barack Obama in November.
IowaPolitics.com - DES MOINES — It was an Iowa caucus night that came down to the wire, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum running neck-and-neck for first place in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
At 1:36 a.m. Wednesday, the Republican Party of Iowa declared Romney the winner by just eight votes over Santorum, the dark-horse candidate who ran his campaign on a shoestring budget. With all of the state's 1,774 precincts reporting, Romney received 30,015 votes to Santorum's 30,007. Percentage-wise, the two tied with 25 percent of the vote.
The virtual tie led both candidates to make their speeches in advance of knowing the final results of the state's first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest. The photo finish likely will give both Santorum and Romney momentum going into the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary.
"Game on!" declared Santorum, who was Iowa's most frequent visitor this caucus cycle, spending about 100 days in the state but remaining at the back of the pack until a last-minute surge around Christmas.
"Thank you Iowa for the great send-off you're giving to us and the other winners of this campaign," Romney gushed, as he took the stage at Hotel Fort Des Moines to congratulate his Republican competitors and his own campaign. Romney vowed to head to battle in New Hampshire, and to defeat President Barack Obama. in November in what he called an "election about the soul of America."
For Santorum, Tuesday's results were a near repeat of what former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee did four years ago: A social conservative candidate coming from behind to win Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. The crowd at Santorum's party at the Stoney Creek Inn in Johnston grew larger and more enthusiastic as the night drew on. They chanted, "Go, Rick! Go, Rick!!" and "We pick Rick! We pick Rick!" as they saw results coming in on TV. Showing their evangelical side, they also sang "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America" as they waited.
Evangelical voters were key behind Santorum's success. Santorum was endorsed Dec. 20 by Iowa social conservative leaders Bob Vander Plaats and Chuck Hurley, after a campaign in which such voters were sharply divided on whether to support Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry or Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.
"I kind of believe in what he says, that we shouldn't settle on a candidate," said Jeremy Masterson, 33, of Prairie City, who attended Santorum's post-caucus party. "I believe in his conservative values. That's something we've kind of gotten away from here recently. Plus, the way he did it, the way he started from the ground up in visiting all 99 counties, it really tells me that he supports the people."
But Steve Scheffler, a Republican National Committee member from West Des Moines who's president of the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, told IowaPolitics.com that he doesn't believe the endorsements were the reason for Santorum's surge. "Even before endorsements, he was coming up in the pack," Scheffler said. "He laid a groundwork a long time ago. At the end of the day, people have a lot of respect for candidates who actually try to come and win their vote."
For Romney, Tuesday's win secures him as a national front-runner heading into the months-long process to secure the Republican nomination for president. "We're going to change the White House and get America back on track," he declared.
Kim Schmett of Clive, a former Polk County Republican chairman and congressional candidate who said he went to see most of this year's GOP presidential candidates 10 to 15 times, said it was Romney's experience as a business leader that made him decide to support Romney a week or two ago. "He has the best chance to win," Schmett said. "There's too much at stake of where our government is headed, to not win this election. His skill set is almost perfectly matched for what our country needs at the moment."
An Iowa win was the outcome that Romney had hoped for in the 2008 campaign, when he spent more than $10 million in Iowa and campaigned in all of the state's 99 counties, only to finish second to Huckabee in the caucuses. That cycle, Romney fought for the caucuses with 52 full-time staffers, but this time, he had only five, he told the crowd of 200 supporters who were invited to join his victory celebration.
Romney only spent about 20 days in Iowa during the 2012 caucus campaign and much less money, although his spending was boosted by the super PAC, Restore Our Future, which ran TV ads attacking former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia. Combined, Romney and his super PAC spent more than $1.5 million on 2,246 ad spots in the Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Quad-Cities markets, according to an analysis by IowaPolitics.com.
"Many of Romney's critics lambaste him for not paying enough attention to Iowa, not enough days visiting here in the last year," said former Iowa House Speaker Chris Rants, R-Sioux City. "But tonight Romney will see the fruits of the labor he put in four years ago." Rants, a former senior adviser to Michigan U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter who last year briefly sought the GOP nomination for president, said Republicans want a candidate they trust. But he said even more so then four years ago, they also want a candidate who can win.
Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who was considered a contender to win, on Tuesday translated his loyal base of supporters and large, enthusiastic crowds into a strong third-place finish with 21 percent of the vote. "It may make people take him more seriously on a national stage," said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University. "It will give him a boost, keep him in the campaign longer. I don't think he'll end up being the national nominee. He's the ultimate anti-government candidate."
Paul, who had attracted large crowds throughout the campaign, on Tuesday night addressed a crowd of several hundred supports, many of them young, at the Courtyard Marriott hotel in Ankeny shortly after learning that he came in third in the caucus. The Texas congressman said even though he brought home the bronze medal, his campaign pillar of very limited government won.
"Those are the issues that we have brought front and center," Paul said. "They're out there. They're not going away." Paul's promise to cut whole federal government departments and end the war in Afghanistan are why Joe Stevens voted for Paul Tuesday. "He's got a plan to balance the budget, to cut spending," Stevens said. "I think those are key." Paul promised the roaring crowd that he will keep up his campaign.
"I think there's nothing to be ashamed of, everything to be satisfied (with), and be ready and raring to move on, on to the next stop," he said.
The Texas congressman had long complained that the media wasn't giving him the attention he was due, despite a close second-place finish in the Aug. 13 Ames Straw Poll, steadily growing public support in opinion polls and crowds as large as 1,000 that turned out to see him, especially on college campuses.
Many doubt whether Paul, who previously ran for president as a libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008, can go on to secure the Republican nomination for president. Fellow Republicans have been critical of his advocacy for ending all wars and bringing U.S. troops home.
Yet political analysts pointed out that while the caucus campaign has featured a "flavor of the month" . . . support for Romney and Paul have remained steady at 20 percent or higher.
Since 1972, no candidate that has finished worse than third in Iowa has gone on to win a major party presidential nomination. The 2000 Iowa winners, Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, and the 2004 Iowa winners, Democrat John Kerry and incumbent Bush, won their party's nominations.
Other results of Tuesday night:
Gingrich finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses with 13 percent of the vote. "There will be a great debate in the Republican Party before we are ready to have a great debate with (President) Barack Obama," Gingrich said, while promising to press onward. He praised and congratulated Santorum for running a "positive" campaign and warned voters not to nominate Paul because of his "dangerous" foreign policy views.
Perry will return home to reassess his campaign after a disappointing fifth-place caucus finish, he announced Tuesday night. "I've decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus and determine whether there is a path forward in this race," Perry told supporters at his campaign's vote night headquarters.
Bachmann conceded a sixth place finish with 5 percent of the vote late Tuesday night, but sounded optimistic about the future of her campaign. She referred to her first-place Ames Straw Poll win in August and thanked the people of Iowa for "launching us on the path to victory."
The 2012 Iowa caucus campaign featured wild fluctuations in front-runners. More than 40 percent of likely Iowa Republican caucus goers were undecided in the past week, saying they could change their minds about whom to support, according to a recent poll.
A few weeks ago, Santorum was at the back of the pack. But five polls released during the past week showed Santorum surging. He first appeared in polls in third place behind Romney and Paul. The latest polls showed him moving ahead of Paul in the final days before the caucuses.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad told IowaPolitics.com that he knew Santorum would do better than expected because he spent more than 100 days campaigning here and visited all 99 of Iowa's counties. Other political insiders and analysts warned in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's caucuses that Santorum could pull off a caucus-night surprise.
Santorum continued campaigning until the last minute. He visited four caucus sites Tuesday night in Johnston, Clive and West Des Moines before heading to his post-caucus party.
-------------- IowaPolitics.com is a project under the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting new media journalism and government transparency and accountability.
Tags:Iowa Caucus, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick SantoriumTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Personal Tweets by the editor: Dr. Bill - OzarkGuru - @arra
#Christian Conservative; Retired USAF & Grad Professor. Constitution NRA ProLife schoolchoice fairtax - Editor ARRA NEWS SERVICE. THANKS FOR FOLLOWING!
To Exchange Links - Email: editor@arranewsservice.com!
Comments by contributing authors or other sources do not necessarily reflect the position the editor, other contributing authors, sources, readers, or commenters. No contributors, or editors are paid for articles, images, cartoons, etc. While having reported on and promoting principles & beleifs beliefs of other organizations, this blog/site is soley controlled and supported by the editor. This site/blog does not advertise for money or services nor does it solicit funding for its support.
Fair Use: This site/blog may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as provided for in section Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Per said section, the material on this site/blog is distributed without profit to readers to view for the expressed purpose of viewing the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. Any person/entity seeking to use copyrighted material shared on this site/blog for purposes that go beyond "fair use," must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
