Dems Are Proposing a Perk That Only Federal Workers Would Get

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 27):

Twenty-one House Democrats have proposed legislation that would give federal workers — and only federal workers — six weeks of paid leave so they can give birth, adopt a child or deal with the placement of a foster child.

The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act is an attempt to build off of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he called for legislation giving everyone paid time off if they’re sick or having a child.

“Today, we are the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers,” Obama said.

The Democratic bill would be a step in that direction, but it would start by giving only federal workers six weeks of paid leave for parental reasons.

“You can count on one hand the number of countries that don’t provide paid leave for the birth of a child, and the United States is part of the club,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the sponsor of the bill.

“This is not only wrong; it’s bad for our economy,” she said. “Smart paid leave policies improve employee retention, boost productivity and more.”

But while she highlighted these benefits, she and other sponsors are not proposing to give them to private sector workers, and instead are hoping those benefits would “make a difference in the lives of millions of federal employees.”   [read more]

Not only is this a bad idea for gov’t workers but also the private sector. If a business can afford to give a worker three weeks off for giving birth then that’s between them and their employee. When a worker is gone he/she is missed. Productivity goes down. The person has to be temporarily replaced.  Not sure how that boosts productivity or improves employee retention.

The question is why isn’t the private sector included in the bill. Could it be because the dems don’t care about business workers? Or could it be the dems know this is a bad idea but they think it won’t effect gov’t productivity because gov’t doesn’t have that much productivity to begin with? You choose.

The Parallels Between Islam and Communism

“A state of this sort [i.e., an Islamic state] cannot evidently restrict the scope of its activities. Its approach is universal and all-embracing. Its sphere of activity is coextensive with the whole of human life. It seeks to mould every aspect of life and activity in consonance with its moral norms and programme of social reform. In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private. Considered from this aspect the Islamic state bears a kind of resemblance to the Fascist and Communist states.”

-- Leading Islamic theologian Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi in The Islamic Law and Constitution

“I turn now from the accidental to the essential factors, to those deriving from the very nature of Islamic society, tradition, and thought. The first of these is the authoritarianism, perhaps we may even say the totalitarianism, of the Islamic political tradition… [T]he political history of Islam is one of almost unrelieved autocracy…[I]t was authoritarian, often arbitrary, sometimes tyrannical…[N]othing but the sovereign power, to which the subject owed complete and unwavering obedience as a religious duty imposed by the Holy Law [Sharia] Both groups offer to their members and followers the agreeable sensation of belonging to a community of believers, who are always right, as against an outer world of unbelievers, who are always wrong. Both offer an exhilarating feeling of mission, of purpose, of being engaged in a collective adventure to accelerate the historically inevitable victory of the true faith over the infidel evil-doers. The traditional Islamic division of the world into the House of Islam and the House of War, two necessarily opposed groups, of which the first has the collective obligation of perpetual struggle against the second, also has obvious parallels in the Communist view of world affairs. There again, the content of belief is utterly different, but the aggressive fanaticism of the believer is the same. The humorist who summed up the Communist creed as “There is no God and Karl Marx is his Prophet” was laying his finger on a real affinity. The call to a Communist Jihad, a Holy War for the faith — a new faith, but against the self-same Western Christian enemy”

--- Bernard Lewis in his 1954 essay “Communism and Islam”

“Bolshevism combines the characteristics of the French Revolution with those of the rise of Islam…Those who accept Bolshevism become impervious to scientific evidence, and commit intellectual suicide. Even if all the doctrines of Bolshevism were true, this would still be the case, since no unbiased examination of them is tolerated…Among religions, Bolshevism is to be reckoned with Mohammedanism [Islam] rather than with Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are primarily personal religions, with mystical doctrines and a love of contemplation. Mohammedanism and Bolshevism are practical, social, unspiritual, concerned to win the empire of this world.”

--- Bertrand Russell in The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism

Source: “5 prominent authors on the parallels between Islam and Communism” The Blaze.com.

The Problem with Central Planning

Centralized planning is a logical consequence of the application of Industrial Age principles and the state of the art of communications and computing in the Industrial Age. But centralized planning does not work well when faced with very dynamic and complex situations. Centralized planning does not work well in a coalition environment where the participants have overlapping objectives but different priorities, perspectives, and constraints.

Centralized planning is a manifestation of a belief in the ability to optimize. For centralized planning to work, it must be possible for a relatively small group of people to do all of the following: make sense of the situation, maintain this understanding in the face of a dynamic environment, predict the future, develop an appropriate response strategy, decompose the response into a coherent set of executable tasks, allocate resources, task subordinates, monitor execution, and make adjustments as required, all in a timely manner. In fact, despite a belief in the power of reductionism and a strong desire to optimize, centralized planning has evolved into a set of processes that often prevent optimization. Ironically, centralized planning processes are designed to deconflict tasks and elements of the force so that they will not get in each other’s way or do harm to one another. They prize deconfliction over synergy. This prevents simultaneity and the synergies necessary to perform anywhere near optimality. Centralized planning is antithetical to agility because it (1) is relatively slow to recognize and respond to changes in the situation, (2) results in ill-informed participants, and (3) places many constraints on behavior.

Source: Power to the Edge: Command and Control in the Information Age (Information Age Transformation Series) (2003) by David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes.

This is why communism failed and why socialism in all manifestations will always fail. Central planning is the antithesis of ingenuity and spontaneity.

The 10 Ways Ted Cruz Thinks He Can Make Your Life Better

From The Daily Signal.com (Jan. 13):

Ted Cruz is ready to bring big change to Washington—one bill at a time.

Speaking yesterday at Heritage Action’s 2015 Conservative Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., the Texas senator outlined his 10 policy goals for the new Republican-controlled Congress.

In doing so, Cruz stressed the importance of the GOP fulfilling the promises it made last election cycle.

“These are extraordinary times,” he said.

“Just last week, walking down the hallway at the capitol, I ran into a janitor carrying a screw driver coming to change the sign on Harry Reid’s door.”

The jab against the former Democrat majority leader brought the room to laughter.

With Republicans now in charge, Cruz said it’s time to embrace a “big, bold positive agenda that says to the American people, you had a referendum and you rejected the Obama agenda.”

Here are the 10 points mapped out in that conservative agenda, which Cruz says he aims to achieve through “piece-by-piece legislation.”

1. Embrace a big pro-jobs growth agenda.
2. Pursue all means possible to repeal Obamacare.
3. Secure the border and stop illegal amnesty.
4. Hold government accountable and rein in judicial activism.
5. Stop the culture of corruption.
6. Pass fundamental tax reform, making taxes flatter, simpler, and fairer.
7. Audit the federal reserve.
8. Pass a strong balanced budget amendment.
9. Champion school choice and repeal common core.
10. Deal seriously with the twin threats of ISIL and a nuclear Iran.

[read more]

That’s a great agenda for Congress. I hope they are able to pass most of those ideas.

If Ted Cruz runs for president he’s got my vote in the primary. He would make a really good president. Bill Clinton advisor James Carville said on ABC's This Week,  Ted Cruz  “is the most talented and fearless politician I’ve seen in the last 30 years.” If the Left fear him then I definitely want him on the ticket. If the republicans put another moderate on the ticket then whoever is the democrat candidate (more than likely Hillary Clinton—we’ll see) will probably win. That’s my prediction. Even Ted Cruz himself agrees with me.

Here are Ted Cruz’s ratings by the way:

American Conservative Union (2013): 100%

Freedom Works (2014): 97%

National Taxpayers Union (2013): A

Citizens Against Government Waste (2013): 98% (Hero)

Numbers USA (2013-2015): A+  Numbers USA is against amnesty and is for securing the border.

You can’t get much better than that. Well, I think you get the point.

Incredible Technology Lets You Feel Objects Without Touching

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 14):

The problem with the virtual world, perhaps, is the lack of touch.

But researchers at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom have discovered a way to allow you to feel virtual objects similar to how you would feel an animate item. The technology was most recently showcased at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

By using a tray of tiny ultrasound speakers, Ultrahaptics cofounder and University of Bristol graduate student Tom Carter said the innovative technology can control the timing between each one of the speakers so that the sound from each one arrive at the same point on your fingertips at the same time.

“We can target each different fingertip individually and we can create a different texture on each different fingertip,” Carter added. He also predicted the technology will eventually take off and allow consumers to control their devices with invisible buttons, from music players to home appliances and even the dashboard of your car.  [read more]

Interesting technology. It is better than wearing datagloves.

33 Policies Obama Should Talk About in State of the Union 2015

From Daily Signal.com (Jan. 15):

President Obama will give his annual State of the Union address on Jan. 20. Heritage experts identified 33 policies in areas ranging from the economy to religious liberty that the president should consider for his 2015 address.

• Economy
• Energy
• Foreign Policy and National Security
• Marriage and Religious Liberty
• Spending and Entitlements
• Unions

Economy

1. Advance economic freedom and opportunity for all.

2. Promote trade and prosperity.

3. Improve small and start-up businesses’ access to the capital needed to grow and create jobs.

5. Make business tax reform an explicit priority.

Energy

10. Open access to domestic and foreign markets.

11. Eliminate using taxpayer money to pick winners and losers in the energy marketplace.

12. Pull back on expensive, onerous regulations that provide little to no environmental benefit.

13. Allow all energy projects to form master limited partnerships.

Foreign Policy and National Security

16. Combat Islamist extremism and terrorism.

17. Address Russia’s imperialist ambitions.

18. Send the IMF “Reform Package” back to the IMF—not to Congress.

19. Recognize the need to fully fund America’s defenses.

Spending and Entitlements

20. Recognize that Obamacare is a policy failure.

22. Resist a gas tax increase, live within the Highway Trust Fund’s means.

23. Scrap plans for a National Infrastructure Bank.

25. Measure inflation more accurately.

Marriage and Religious Liberty

27. Address the marriage crisis.

28. Protect unborn children and women from late-term abortion.

29. End taxpayer subsidies to Obamacare plans covering elective abortion.

30. Protect religious liberty in the marriage debate.

Unions

32. Lift the union “seniority ceiling.

33. End discrimination against non-union members.

[read more]

Excellent polices to talk about. These are just a sample from the column.

Will Obama talk about any of these policies tomorrow? Probably not. He will definitely stay away from the energy and unions areas. Don’t want to talk about the national security and marriage and religious liberty. And will never say that Obamacare is a policy failure—that’s his baby.

Venture for America’s Credo

• My career is a choice that indicates my values.
• There is no courage without risk.
• I believe that actions are the proper measure of one’s accomplishments.
• I will create value for myself and others.
• I will act with integrity in all things.

Source: Smart People Should Build Things. How to Restore Our Culture of Achievement, Build a Path for Entrepreneurs, and Create New Jobs in America (2014) by Andrew Lang Founder, Venture for America.

From the Venture for America website:

We are a fellowship program for recent college graduates to launch their careers as entrepreneurs. Our Fellows spend two years in the trenches of a startup in an emerging city, where they learn how to build a business while making an impact. VFA [Venture for America] trains Fellows to become highly productive startup employees who can help their companies grow, then provides the mentorship, network, and resources they need to become successful entrepreneurs.

The 7 Things Obama Isn’t Telling You When He Brags About Reducing the Budget Deficit

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 9):

President Barack Obama said Thursday that his administration has reduced the budget deficit significantly over the past few years — a boast that conveniently leaves out several key details about how the deficit rose so quickly under Obama, and how it really fell.

“We’ve done all this while cutting our federal deficit by about two-thirds,” Obama said Thursday in Arizona. “And I’m going to repeat that, because they did a poll the other day and like 70 percent of the people think the deficit is going up.”

“The deficit has gone down by two-thirds since I was President of the United States,” he said. “So we’re doing all this in a fiscally responsible way.”

The White House repeated that boast in a tweet showing that “the deficit has gone down by two-thirds”:

Here are seven key facts the White House is leaving out when it talks about the deficit:

1) The Annual Budget Deficit is Falling, but It’s Still Big, and It’s Still Adding to the Total National Debt.

2) Obama’s Lowest Budget Deficit is Still Higher Than George W. Bush’s Biggest Deficit.

3) Real Credit for the End of $1 Trillion-plus Budget Deficits Belongs to the End of the Great Recession, and Renewed Republican Pressure to Keep Spending Down.

4) Obama Was Opposing Those Spending Reductions Year After Year.

5) Obama Has Rejected GOP Proposals to Eliminate the Deficit and Start Paying Down the Debt.

6) Other Analysts Say the Deficit is About to Get Worse.

7) Total National Debt Will Nearly Double Under Obama.

[read more]

Astronomical Explanation for the Star of Bethlehem

From The Blaze.com (Jan. 6):

Adults and children in Latin America and Spain, among other locations, are celebrating Three Kings’ Day Tuesday, a joyous religious holiday that is held each year on the 12th day after Christmas.

The event marks the moment the wise men, also known as the Magi, followed a “star” in the sky and met Jesus Christ sometime after his birth, as recounted in the Bible.

Consider that Dr. Grant J. Mathews, a professor of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology at the University of Notre Dame and the director of the school’s Center for Astrophysics, is among the experts who has investigated “unusual events in the sky” near the time of Christ’s birth.

While traditional Christmas stories generally refer to the phenomenon in the sky that led the wise men to Christ as a “star,” Matthews said that the actual event likely wasn’t a star at all.

“It’s probably not a ‘star’ somehow hovering over a manger and pointing a beam of light as we traditionally view it. Any new star or comet in the sky was usually taken as a harbinger of disaster at that time,” he said, noting in past interviews and appearances that the Magi wouldn’t have followed a star due to perceived negative events to come. “It was most likely an unusual planetary alignment.”

Matthews said that he believes three planetary alignments could have created the bright light in the sky that the Magi followed, though there’s one pattern that he — among other researchers — believes is more plausible than the others.

“In my opinion the most [probable] was the occurrence of the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn in Aries, with Venus in the next-door constellation Pisces along with Mercury and Mars on the other side in the next constellation Taurus,” he said. “Michael Molnar put this hypothesis forward in the book ‘The Star of Bethlehem’. It is corroborated by the writings of the famous ancient astronomer C. Ptolemy who noted that Aries (the ram) was the constellation associated with Judea.” [read more]

An interesting explanation. So, it wasn’t like in the 1985 Twilight Zone episode of “The Star” where future space explorers find out the Star of Bethlehem was a supernova that destroyed an ancient civilization. The Star episode was based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.

24 Brave Republicans Who Voted Against John Boehner

From Daily Signal.com (Jan. 6):

Rep. Justin Amash, Mich.
Rep. Rod Blum, Iowa
Rep. Dave Brat, Va.
Rep. Jim Bridenstine, Okla.
Rep. Curt Clawson, Fla.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Tenn.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, S.C.
Rep. Scott Garrett, N.J.
Rep. Chris Gibson, N.Y.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas
Rep. Paul Gosar, Ariz.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kan.
Rep. Walter Jones, N.C.
Rep. Steve King, Iowa
Rep. Thomas Massie, Ky.
Rep. Mark Meadows, N.C.
Rep. Rich Nugent, Fla.
Rep. Gary Palmer, Ala.
Rep. Bill Posey, Fla.
Rep. Scott Rigell, Va.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman, Ind.
Rep. Randy Weber, Texas
Rep. Daniel Webster, Fla.
Rep. Ted Yoho, Fla.

[read more]

My representative Tim. Huelskamp was one of the brave souls who didn’t vote for Boehner. We need more people like these guys in power. Not to bring gender into the discussion but where are the women representatives on this list?

I call these guys brave because Boehner will strip Florida Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent of their prestigious spots on the House Rules Committee. These are the other guys who ran against Boehner. I guess Boehner doesn’t like competition. Instead of uniting the party Boehner does this. A real class act. Another example of power corrupting.

One other thing. Representative Brian Babin from Texas voted present. Coward. Couldn’t even vote for or against.  That’s exactly what Obama did when he was in Congress.