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Showing posts with label indoctrination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indoctrination. Show all posts
Why the government shouldn't own the broadcasting airwaves

Why the government shouldn't own the broadcasting airwaves

Remember Lyndon Johnson:

That federal agency soon limited licenses to restrict competition and guarantee profits for selected license holders in key markets. It made complicated regulations that required expensive lawyers and consultants. It also seemed to grant and revoke (or threaten to revoke) broadcast licenses in ways that advanced the careers of certain politicians with ties to the FCC.
One of them was Lyndon Johnson. He was broke when he was first elected to Congress in 1937. But within 12 years, he was one of the richest and most powerful members of the U.S. Senate. He got his wealth when his wife bought a cheap radio station – that quickly became the most powerful and profitable station in Texas – after getting FCC permits nobody else could get. . . .
Now under the Obama administration we have this:
 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski testified Wednesday that his agency takes calls to cancel Fox's broadcast licenses "very seriously."  Groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), have urged the FCC to pull Fox's licenses because of evidence that its parent company News Corp. hacked people's phones in the United Kingdom to get stories.  During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) pressed Genachowski on whether he plans to do anything about the allegations. Genachowski said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on a specific case, but that the commission is "certainly aware of the serious issues that have been raised in the U.K."  He noted that the law requires that the FCC only grant broadcast licenses to people of "good character." . . .
Does anyone think that the Obama administration can keep politics out of this?  Even if the licenses aren't revoked, does the threat produce a chilling effect? If people don't trust Fox, they can obviously stop watching the network.

Obama Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein can't remember 2008 article on controlling speech that he disagrees with



I have also written a lot of papers, but I would still remember the basic points from a paper that I had written three years earlier.
Alinsky-tied gets $56 million federal loan

Alinsky-tied gets $56 million federal loan

Tax dollars given to an left wing group that has no background in area that it is being given a huge amount of money for. From Fox News:

A Saul Alinsky-tied group has been awarded a $56 million federal loan to start up a nonprofit health insurance company -- one of several organizations across the country this week tapped to launch a new network of insurers under the sponsorship of the federal health care overhaul.

The Wisconsin group, Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, was awarded the funding on Tuesday. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the group is expected to provide coverage statewide within five years after starting on a smaller scale in early 2014.

But Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson questioned the group's credentials -- given its affiliation and lack of experience in the insurance field.

"The indisputable fact is that Common Ground was an outgrowth of the Alinsky operation in Chicago," Wilson said. "We're not giving money to a group with experience in health care issues or in setting up exchanges. ... We're handing the money to people who have been trained by arguably the single most expert individual on community organizing in the last 100 years." . . .
"[Rep. Steny] Hoyer urges schools to teach health care benefits"

"[Rep. Steny] Hoyer urges schools to teach health care benefits"

The notion that universities should be teaching the benefits of Obamacare should be rather shocking. It isn't clear that Hoyer, a powerful Democrat in Congress, understands the point of universities. It is also surprising that the Federal government has already spent money putting together sample flyers for universities to hand out to students. When Hoyer writes that "Another excellent resource for your student body is the non-partisan Young Invincibles online tool kit," it appears as if he is implicitly acknowledging the obvious that the government information is biased.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer is asking colleges and universities in his district to add a new item to their curricula: Information about the benefits of the Democrats' health care overhaul. . . .

The letter, which Hoyer's office said was sent to the University of Maryland, Bowie State University, St. Mary's College of Maryland and other schools, follows after the jump.

May 11, 2011

Dear ------,

As we approach the graduation season, I wanted to follow up on a letter you should have received from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding health care coverage for students.

The recently enacted Affordable Care Act contains a vitally important, immediate improvement in health coverage options for young people under age 26. Thanks to this new law, young people up to age 26 can typically obtain coverage on their parents’ health insurance plan as long as that plan covers dependent children. This option is true regardless of whether they are employed, in school, or living at home. I encourage you to follow up on the secretaries’ advice and ensure that your graduating students – and the entire student body – are aware of this new option for health coverage.

The Administration provided numerous ways to supply this information to your student body. Listed below are those links for your convenience:

• Place a “badge” on the home page of your Website that automatically links to information about how students can remain on their parents’ health insurance plan. Download the badge by visiting: http://www.healthcare.gov/stay_connected.html.

• Distribute a flyer to students and their parents about this new benefit along with graduation materials. Download a sample flyer by visiting: www.healthcare.gov/center/brochures/new_benefits_for_graduates_and_young_adults.pdf.

• Encourage staff to talk to students about other insurance options – for example, if their parents do not have coverage – by visiting: www.healthcare.gov/foryou/betterbenefitsbetterhealth/youngadults.html.

• Host a session to explain insurance options to your students. HHS has helpfully offered to assistance in creating this event and you can email them at: externalaffairs@hhs.gov.

• Encourage students to visit the Administration’s Facebook page with information for young adults and parents about coverage for individuals under age 26. That can be found at: www.facebook.com/youngadultcoverage.

Another excellent resource for your student body is the non-partisan Young Invincibles online tool kit: http://www.gettingcovered.org/Toolkit/, which has information tailored specifically to young people. It is searchable by state and explains exactly what the new law means to young people, including how to get on a parent’s insurance policy, what to do if he or she has a pre-existing condition, and how the new law impacts women and young people with cancer.

Working together, we can ensure more students and recent alumni obtain the health coverage they need. Please feel free to contact my office at 202-225-4131, should you have any questions. We appreciate your attention to this important matter.

Wishing you the best during this graduation season and with kindest regards, I am

Sincerely yours,


STENY H. HOYER
More censorship in Venezuela

More censorship in Venezuela

Is there any question that more totalitarian countries try harder to control the information that their citizens receive?

Venezuela has told a private TV company to stop showing a Colombian soap opera it says is insulting to the country.

Chepe Fortuna stars a character called Colombia and her sister Venezuela, who owns a dog called Little Hugo, the same name as Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

In one episode Venezuela loses Little Hugo, prompting Colombia to tell her she is better off without him.

The spat comes as the countries are making efforts to improve their historically strained relationship.

They restored relations last August, shortly after President Juan Manuel Santos took office in Colombia.

Venezuela's telecommunications regulator Conatel said the secretary character named Venezuela was "repeatedly characterised as associated with crime, interference and vulgarity".

Her gossipy and unscrupulous manner, it said, showed "the shameless manipulation of the plot to demoralise the Venezuelan people".

Conatel ordered the Televen channel to take the programme off air on Thursday night. The channel has not yet commented on the demands. . . .
Push for UN "policing" the Internet

Push for UN "policing" the Internet

Countries such as Brazil, India, South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia like the idea of the UN policing the internet. Presumably a few other not so free countries need to be added to this list. The motives of at least some of these countries should give people pause. Particularly, the desire by certain countries to control the information that their citizens receive. In addition, whatever the original claimed motivation for the regulations, the regulations could easily change direction once the regulatory apparatus is put in place

Previously, when Hugo Chavez took broadcast licenses away from radio stations he would point out that they could still broadcast on the internet. Now where will they go?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defended plans for a law that would impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet, saying Sunday that his government should protect citizens against online crimes.

Chavez's congressional allies are considering extending the "Social Responsibility Law" for broadcast media to the Internet, banning messages that "disrespect public authorities," "incite or promote hatred" or crimes, or are aimed at creating "anxiety" in the population.

Government opponents and press freedom groups have been critical of the plan, saying it is one of several measures being considered that could restrict freedoms in Venezuela.

"We aren't eliminating the Internet here ... nor censoring the Internet," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio program, "Hello, President." "What we're doing is protecting ourselves against crimes, cybercrimes, through a law." . . .


UPDATE: Now the regulation used against over the air broadcasters will be applied to the internet.

The National Assembly has approved a sweeping set of laws that impose penalties for spreading political dissent on the Internet, grant decree powers to President Hugo Chávez for 18 months and prevent legislators from breaking with his political movement. . . .

The extension of an existing broadcast law to include restrictions on Internet messages that “incite or promote disobedience of the current legal order” or “refuse the legitimately constituted authority” has elicited concerns from press freedom groups. The measure introduces fines and the suspension of services for Web sites deemed in violation.

Changes in the broadcast law also portend a showdown with Globovisión, a news network here that remains critical of the government. The government recently took a 20 percent stake in Globovisión, and the law may ease a further shift in control by requiring television station owners to be in Venezuela when reapplying for licenses. Globovisión’s owners recently went into exile in the United States. . . .


There are also the regulations that ban Venezulan groups from taking foreign donations.
More indoctrination in public schools

More indoctrination in public schools

The public schools would immediately forbid any positive discussion about Christianity, but the public schools have no problem with this.

The parents of a Bedford teen are calling for the ouster of school officials who assigned their son a book that refers to Jesus Christ as a "wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist."
"We had almost PhD people letting this fumble through their fingers, and they all said it was grand," said Dennis Taylor, a conservative Christian. "I think there should be a review of these individuals and perhaps some firing done."
Taylor and his wife Aimee became upset when they learned that their son had been assigned the book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," in his personal finance class at Bedford High School.
"Nickel and Dimed" is a first-person account of author Barbara Ehrenreich's failed attempts to make a living at various minimum wage jobs across the country. Written in response to 1996 welfare reform, the book offers a serious critique of the current economic system, which Ehrenreich argues preys on the poor.
This fall, Dennis and Aimee Taylor complained about the book to the school district, citing its occasional use of obscene dialogue and anti-capitalist message.
"The author is a known social Marxist, hates everything American, everything that America stands for or was built on," Aimee Taylor said. "I mean when you read the book you see that strongly in this woman's agenda. It's horrible." . . .
So why do younger people view Obama so positively?

So why do younger people view Obama so positively?

On issues such as Social Security reform, on labor market regulations, and what he is going to do on the national debt, one would think that younger voters would actually oppose Obama. While he is less popular among young people than he was a couple of years ago when he was running on an agenda of cutting government spending, he is still quite popular.

Meetings of the College Democrats that attracted 200 people in 2008 now pull in a dozen. New voter registration is way down, too, and free posters of President Obama — once “the Michael Jordan” of politics, as one freshman put it — are now refused by students. . . .

This was not what Generation O expected Mr. Obama won two years ago with 66 percent of the 18- to 29-year-old vote, a historic proportion. Americans under 30 also worked on campaigns at a greater rate than the general population did for the first time since 1952, or possibly even earlier, according to the National Election Studies. . . . .

While most of them still view him more favorably than their parents or grandparents do, various polls show that the youthful passion that led to action has not been sustained. . . .


More research needs to be done on this point in bold.
Public University doesn't react negatively when university email sent out asking staff and students to vote for Democrats

Public University doesn't react negatively when university email sent out asking staff and students to vote for Democrats

This is one reason not to have people working for the government. The article from the Winston-Salem Journal is here:

Some 6,400 staffers and students at Winston-Salem State University received e-mail exhortations Monday to take advantage of early voting and help the Democratic Party, setting off local Republicans.

After a complaint by Nathan Tabor, the chairman of the Forsyth County GOP, university officials acknowledged that the e-mail — sent from the student-affairs division — was improper. . . .

Tabor said he’s upset that he had to call the university and complain.

“That is a tax-funded school,” Tabor said, calling the original e-mail “highly illegal and unethical.”

The university said it would try to discover who sent out the e-mail and whether it was sent intentionally or accidentally in a partisan form.

Early voting started last Thursday in Forsyth County and runs through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 2. . . . .
Your tax dollars being used to create support for Obama care

Your tax dollars being used to create support for Obama care

Rasmussen on July 26 finds: "The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% of voters favor repeal, including 48% who Strongly Favor it. Thirty-seven percent (37%) are opposed to repeal, with 28% who are Strongly Opposed."

So what does the Obama administration do? Use taxpayer dollars to pay for ads to increase support for Obamacare. This is not the first of the taxpayer paid ads pushing Obamacare.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Actor Andy Griffith has a new role: pitching President Barack Obama's health care law to seniors in a cable television ad paid for by Medicare.
The TV star - whose role as sheriff of Mayberry made him an enduring symbol of small-town American values - tells seniors that "good things are coming" under the health care overhaul, including free preventive checkups and lower-cost prescriptions for Medicare recipients.
Polls show that seniors are more skeptical of the health care law than younger people because Medicare cuts provide much of the financing to expand coverage for the uninsured.
Medicare says the national ad is not political, but part of its outreach to educate seniors about new benefits available next year. Griffith is 84.




Part of the text of the ad: "with the new healthcare law, more good things are coming: free check-ups, lower prescription costs, and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud. See what else is new. I think you're going to like it." How much is being spent? "He is the spokesperson for Medicare’s $700,000 ad campaign."

Another Medicare ad (60 –Second Radio Script Affordable Care Act Fraud Prevention):

The new Affordable Care Act contains some important benefits for Medicare beneficiaries. . . .


Isn't it enough that Democrats already have a big money advantage in the races this year?

Heading into the fall campaign season, most would agree that Republicans have momentum on their side. They are benefiting from economic and deficit anxiety, as well as diminished approval ratings for President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress. Most importantly, their party’s base seems highly motivated to show up at the polls in November.

But to a surprising extent, Democrats enter the campaign season with a distinct money advantage in the battle for the House. The most vulnerable House Democrats—freshman and sophomore members elected from swing districts—have compiled campaign war chests far bigger than those their Republican opponents bring to the races. Those Democrats, as a result, will have ample resources to spread their message and reach out to their base. The question will be whether the money advantage is enough to offset the momentum advantage. . . .

There are 19 House Democrats running for re-election who first won in 2006 or 2008 in districts that Republican contender John McCain carried in the last presidential race. . . .

An examination of Federal Election Commission records shows that, as of June 30, these 19 especially vulnerable House Democrats had a combined $23.2 million in campaign cash on hand, compared with just $7 million for their leading Republican opponents. That’s a cash advantage of more than three to one heading into the thick of the campaign season.


If you want a list of other races, see here:

• In Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has rebounded in the polls while reporting a $7.1 million cash-on-hand advantage ($8.9 million versus $1.8 million) over former GOP state legislator Sharron Angle. . . .

• Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, reported $11.3 million to spend in her FEC filing, compared with $950,000 for Republican Carly Fiorina, who was just emerging from an expensive primary battle. . . .

• In Wisconsin, Sen. Russ Feingold finds himself in an unexpectedly tough re-election fight despite a $4.3 million to $940,000 cash-on-hand advantage over Republican Ron Johnson, a relatively unknown businessman from Oshkosh making his first bid for public office. . . .

• The dynamic also is playing out in House races, such as Virginia's 5th District. Freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, a Democrat, on June 30 reported $1.7 million in the bank, compared with $216,000 for state Sen. Robert Hurt, the Republican nominee. . . .

The Democratic Senate and House campaign committees have a combined $55.4 million to spend on the fall races, while the Republican congressional campaign organs report $36 million. . . .
Graduate student seeking degree in school counseling told that she has inappropriate views on homosexuality and told that she must change them

Graduate student seeking degree in school counseling told that she has inappropriate views on homosexuality and told that she must change them

If true, I won't be surprised, though I still find this disturbing. No matter what one's views are on the issue of homosexuality, getting a degree shouldn't be contingent on those views. In fact, I am amazed that someone who thinks that homosexuality is immoral can make it through a graduate program where the issue is discussed.

A graduate student in Georgia is suing her university after she was told she must undergo a remediation program due to her beliefs on homosexuality and transgendered persons.

The student, Jennifer Keeton, 24, has been pursuing a master's degree in school counseling at Augusta State University since 2009, but school officials have informed her that she'll be dismissed from the program unless she alters her "central religious beliefs on human nature and conduct," according to a civil complaint filed last week.

"[Augusta State University] faculty have promised to expel Miss Keeton from the graduate Counselor Education Program not because of poor academic showing or demonstrated deficiencies in clinical performance, but simply because she has communicated both inside and outside the classroom that she holds to Christian ethical convictions on matters of human sexuality and gender identity," the 43-page lawsuit reads. . . .


What looks to be a very similar case in Michigan was just decided. It looks as if students at public universities who are taking classes to be counselors must first agree to counsel homosexual and then must believe that homosexuality is good or they can't be allowed to be counselors. It seems to me that they should be able to at least recuse themselves from counseling certain people.
Public High School in Massachusetts won't let students say pledge of allegiance

Public High School in Massachusetts won't let students say pledge of allegiance

The reason for this is really stunning.

When Sean Harrington entered his freshman year at Arlington High School, he noticed something peculiar: There were no American flags in the classrooms, and no one recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

So Harrington enlisted the aid of his fellow students, and now, three years later, they have succeeded in getting flags installed in the classrooms. But the pledge still will not be recited.

The Arlington, Mass., school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it, according to a report in the Arlington Patch. . . .
Does government funding give the government an advantage in shaping the news?

Does government funding give the government an advantage in shaping the news?

Great, so NPR has the resources to create new story lines that the rest of the media doesn't have.

As daily newspapers continue to shed Washington bureaus and severely slash their staffs, fewer reporters than ever are serving as watchdogs of the federal government. Rare is the reporter who is assigned to cover one of the many federal departments, agencies or bureaus that are not part of the daily news cycle. . . . Networks and cable television news outlets certainly have reporters in Washington, but they concentrate on politics and the story of the day out of the White House, the Capitol and the most visible departments, such as Defense, State, Justice and Homeland Security. National Public Radio has beefed up its Washington coverage the past several years, and its reporters--many of them former newspaper writers--do have time for enterprise. Yet when it comes to departments, it sticks to the same handful as television. . . .
Howard Zinn working with History Channel?

Howard Zinn working with History Channel?

Marxism for pre-K through high school kids?

Enter Howard Zinn – an author, professor and American historian – who, with the help of Hollywood and the History Channel, intends to change the way our pre-K through high school children learn American history. His current curriculum suggestions, like introducing three-year-olds to the lynching of African-Americans, or quizzing seven-year-olds on which Presidents owned slaves, should be a red flag to parents.

Zinn has spent a lifetime teaching college students about the evils of capitalism, the promise of Marxism, and his version of American history – a history that has, in his view, been kept from students. His controversial 1980-book The People’s History of the United States paints traditional American history as a façade – one that has grotesquely immortalized flawed leaders and is based on principles that victimize the common man. In 2004, Zinn wrote a companion book entitled Voices Of A People’s History Of The United States, which includes speeches and writings from many of the people featured in The People’s History. . . .

Democrat book for children: Democrats care for people, want them to do well, Republicans don't

Do Republicans care about students have good teachers? Not according to this book for young kids. Republicans may advocate vouchers because they believe that competition will produce better schools. Democrats want to pay teachers more and protect teacher unions. Does the Democratic approach really work? I don't think so and I think that it should be pretty obvious to anyone, but it is a whole additional step to claim that Democrats don't care about children.
How about police and firefighters? Don't Republicans want them to do their jobs?
Do Republicans not care about the planet? What if you disagree on whether the planet is sick? What if you think that the Democrat's policies will make people poorer and that poorer people are don't live as long?



Two stories illustrating what school is like these days

Two stories illustrating what school is like these days

The first story is written by my son Maxim for the lead at Fox News:

A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.

Matthew Whalen, a senior at Lansingburgh Senior High School, says he follows the Boy Scout motto and is always prepared, stocking his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal — and the knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town.

But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance policy, and when school officials discovered that Whalen kept his knife locked in his car, he says, they suspended him for five days — and then tacked on an additional 15 after a hearing.

The incident is similar to the case of Zachary Christie, a 6-year-old Cub Scout in Delaware who faces up to 45 days in his district’s reform school for bringing a scout utensil that can be used as a fork, spoon and knife to school. But for Whalen — who has received an award from the Boy Scouts of America for saving a life and completed 10 weeks of basic military training last summer — the stakes are much higher:

He is concerned that the blot on his school record could kill his dream of attending West Point. . . .


The second story is from California:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, has signed a law setting aside a day to commemorate Harvey Milk, a gay San Francisco politician who was shot dead three decades ago.

Under the measure, 22 May will be declared Harvey Milk day in California, coinciding with Milk's birthday. While it will not be a state holiday, schools will be encouraged to hold lessons "remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognising his accomplishments and familiarising pupils with the contributions he made to this state". . . .
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