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USDA Funds $25K Study on Whether Kids’ Preference for
Fat, Sugar Leads to Obesity By
Fred Lucas
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding a study to determine if “preference
for fat and sugar may have a role in overweight and obesity development” among
African-American adolescents in Alabama. The department announced the $25,000
grant to Tuskegee University in Tuskeegee, Ala., in April.
“This project will document taste preferences for fat and sweet foods in
African American adolescents and enhance the research infrastructure and
capacity in obesity, food product development and sensory evaluation research
at Tuskegee University,” the USDA press release from April 2, 2013 said. The
project description from Tuskegee focused on “upgrading a computerized data
collection and analysis system for sensory response in obesity and food product
development.” “Alabama ranks sixth nationwide with 36.1% of its children, ages 10-17
years, falling into the obese category,” the project summary said. “Increased
preference for fat and sugar may have a role in overweight and obesity
development.” The study will evaluate taste preferences for
African-American children in selected Alabama counties ranging in ages 12 to
17. “It is hypothesized that a preference for fat and sweet foods would predict
weight gain among African Americans,” the project description said. The
children will be recruited for the study through advertisements. Or, why don't we ask a few moms?
~~~~~~
Obama’s IRS Appointee Scheduled WH Visit 1 Day After IRS
Meeting on Tea Party By
Ryan Kierman
One day after an Aug. 4,
2011 meeting of IRS officials who gathered to discuss the handling of Tea
Party tax-exemption applications, an appointment was made for William J.
Wilkins, head of the IRS Chief Counsel’s office and one of only two political
appointees there, to meet at the White House. Four days later, on Aug. 9, 2011,
Wilkins kept that appointment, according to White House visitor records. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA) report on IRS scrutiny of Tea Party groups released in
May of this year, states that on Aug. 4, 2011, officials from the IRS Chief
Counsel’s office and the Rulings and Agreements office met to discuss the
agency’s handling of Tea Party applications, “so that everyone would have the
latest information on the issue.” That was the meeting, said Hull, where at
least three people from the Chief Counsel’s office were present, along with tax
specialists Justin Lowe, Hillary Goehausen and Kastenberg. The IRS Chief Counsel’s office,
headed by Wilkins, wanted more information collected relative to the Tea Party
applications. Ronald Shoemaker, who supervised Hull, told investigators
for the House Oversight Committee about the interest of the IRS Chief Counsel’s
office in the 2010 political, election activity of Tea Party applicants. As
the Committee revealed in a July 17 letter, Shoemaker said, “Counsel was not
very forthcoming on what their opinion was. But we discussed it to some extent
and they indicated that they wanted more development of possible political
activity or political intervention right before the election period; that that
had not occurred and that that’s what was missing. … Of [redacted] right before
the election period. In other words, immediately before.”
~~~~~~
MSNBC: “Small Government” Led To Detroit’s Bankruptcy
by Philip Hodges
Detroit’s
in such financial and physical shambles that they’ve had to file for
bankruptcy. But a county circuit judge ruled that they had to withdraw their
filing, because it violates Michigan’s constitution and state law:
“While
Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr on Friday was offering short-term reassurances
to thousands of city pensioners whose benefits are in jeopardy, his lawyers
were waging a whirlwind legal battle over the constitutionality of the
bankruptcy filing that could land both sides before a federal judge early next
week…. Friday's legal wrangling marks the beginning of what is expected to be a
lengthy bankruptcy process that will involve more than 100,000 creditors, which
include the Police and Fire Retirement System and the General Retirement System
and its 20,000 retirees.”
Much
has been said about the cause of Detroit’s decline over the past 60 years. Much
of the reason does involve racial tensions and gang violence, and perhaps that
is the driving force. The exorbitantly high violent crime rate combined with a
mass exodus of residents (on the order of one resident every 22 minutes in
2011) have contributed to Detroit’s destruction:
·
In
1950, Detroit was the fifth largest city with over 1.8 million people.
·
Since
then, the population has plummeted to just over 700,000 people in 2012.
·
560,000
are eligible to work (aged 16 and over).
·
Of
the work-eligible residents, only 305,000 either work or are looking for work.
·
257,000
don’t work and are not looking for work.
·
224,000
Detroit residents do work.
·
Of
those workers, 34,500 have government jobs.
·
The
190,000 workers that are left have private sector jobs.
It’s
not surprising then to find out that Detroit’s “average monthly income [is]
barely $1,200 before taxes; a fifth of the population [is] in poverty; the
official unemployment rate is 30 percent – the real rate [being] much higher.”
Detroit is stricken with a 40% poverty rate, and about 35% of its households
are on food stamps. And because so many productive citizens have left the city,
out of 363,000 housing units, over 99,000 are vacant.
This
is the perfect picture of socialism. But leave it to Melissa Harris-Perry over
at MSNBC to conclude that this is actually what happens when government is too
small:
“This
lack of tax base [in Detroit] is also exactly the thing that many Republicans
would impose on us even when our cities have sufficient populations. This is what it looks like when government is
small enough to drown in your bathtub and it is not a pretty picture.”
Is
she wanting the government there to be bigger? With what money? They can’t even
support the “small” government they have, because all their taxpayers are
leaving the city in droves.
And with good reason. What’s left are basically the non-productive citizens,
who are waiting on their government pensions, and those on welfare. Most
of the productive taxpayers have vacated permanently. This is not the result of
“small government.” It’s the result of a culture of dependence on government.
~~~~~~
Tavis Smiley: Obama Lacking 'Moral Leadership' on Race
By: Greg Richter
Talk-show
host Tavis Smiley is happy President Barack Obama talked about race with regard
to the shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin, but Smiley believes Obama was
pressured into finally addressing the issue. "He did not walk to the podium for an
impromptu address to the nation. He was pushed to that podium," Smiley
said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "A week of protests
outside the White House, pressure building on him inside the White House pushed
him to that podium." Despite
Obama noting in a White House press conference Friday that "Trayvon
Martin could have been me, 35 years ago," he still did not answer the
question, "Where do we go from here?" Smiley said.
"This is not Libya, this is America. And on this issue you cannot lead from behind," Smiley said. "What's lacking in this moment is moral leadership." Politicians can lead on race, Smiley said. "Lincoln did, Truman did, Johnson did." Smiley urged Obama to "step into his moment. I don't want him to be like Bill Clinton when he's out of office regretting that he didn't move on Rwanda." Charles Ogletree, Obama's law professor at Harvard University, disagreed. "People keep making him as though he's the black president. He's the president, who happens to be black. And he can do whatever he can do for all of us, but not simply focus on one community or one issue," Ogletree said on the NBC show.
"This is not Libya, this is America. And on this issue you cannot lead from behind," Smiley said. "What's lacking in this moment is moral leadership." Politicians can lead on race, Smiley said. "Lincoln did, Truman did, Johnson did." Smiley urged Obama to "step into his moment. I don't want him to be like Bill Clinton when he's out of office regretting that he didn't move on Rwanda." Charles Ogletree, Obama's law professor at Harvard University, disagreed. "People keep making him as though he's the black president. He's the president, who happens to be black. And he can do whatever he can do for all of us, but not simply focus on one community or one issue," Ogletree said on the NBC show.
~~~~~~
Benghazi Key Witness Made Available To Congress After
“Administrative Error” Kept Him Hidden For Months
by Tim Brown
Marine
Col. George Bristol is a key witness in the Benghazi attack investigation by
Congress. On Friday, the Defense Department has now stated they will allow
members of Congress to speak with Col Bristol, who was in command of the U.S.
Special Forces in Northern Africa (AFRICOMM) on September 11, 2012. Officials had previously told
Congress that he was retired and couldn’t be found and so could not be
made available. Now they are claiming that was an “administrative error.” U.S.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were among those who
have never accepted that excuse.
Rep.
Chaffetz said that the DoD had been unwilling to “pass along any sort of
information about Col Bristol’s location. Air Force Maj. Robert Firman confirmed
to the Daily Mail, “The Department of Defense has fully cooperated with
congressional requests to understand the attacks on the Benghazi compound,’
Firman said. ‘Col. George Bristol, USMC, will be available to meet with House
and Senate members and their staffs.” Senator
Graham sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday citing
Bristol’s “in-depth knowledge of the region, coupled with his close interaction
with U.S. Special Operations Forces operating on the African continent.” Graham wrote that Bristol “would be the ideal
person to speak with about what happened on the ground in Benghazi.” The Daily Mail reports on its own search of
Col. Bristol:
MailOnline
has located Bristol’s home in Northern Virginia in recent weeks. On Thursday
evening a woman answered the door and confirmed that he lived there, but the
colonel himself has not responded to four separate requests for an interview. Sources
have said Bristol was out of the country on non-military business until July
14.
Firman
told MailOnline that the about-face came after Sen. Graham sent a letter
to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday, asking for reconsideration. That
move followed a report in the Marine Corps Times, which cited a Marine
Corps source in concluding that Bristol’s retirement would not become final
until August 1.
~~~~~~
Obamacare Database Worse Than NSA Snooping
As
the Obamacare train-wreck begins to gather steam, there is increasing concern in Congress over
something called the Federal Data Services Hub. The Data Hub is a comprehensive
database of personal information being established by the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) to implement the federally facilitated health
insurance exchanges. The purpose of the Data Hub, according to a June
2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, is to provide “electronic,
near real-time access to federal data” and “access to state and third party
data sources needed to verify consumer-eligibility information.”
The
massive, centralized database will include comprehensive personal information
such as income and financial data, family size, citizenship and immigration
status, incarceration status, social security numbers, and private health
information. The
hub will be used on a daily basis by so-called Navigators, which according to
the GAO are “community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups, to which
exchanges award grants to provide fair and impartial public education” and
“refer consumers as appropriate for further assistance.” Thousands of such people will
have unfettered access to the Data Hub, but there are only sketchy guidelines
on how they will be hired, trained and monitored. Given the slap-dash,
incoherent way Obamacare is being implemented the prospect for quality control
is low. And the Obama administration’s track record of sweetheart deals,
no-bid, sole-source contracting and other means of rewarding people with
insider access means the Data Hub will be firmly in the hands of trusted White
House loyalists. Scared Yet?
~~~~~~
Actor James Woods Slams Obama on Twitter for Trayvon
Remarks
By Greg
Richter
Actor
James Woods lit into President Barack Obama on Twitter after Obama's impromptu
words on race at a press briefing on Friday. "When Trayvon Martin was
first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that
is, 'Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,'" Obama said almost a
week after the not guilty verdict in Florida for George Zimmerman, who said he
shot Martin in self-defense. Civil
rights activists have insisted that race played a role in the case and urged
Obama to speak on the subject. When he finally did, Woods was not impressed.
"Just curious. Does the president of the United States have any advice for other teenage boys in America? Wounded warriors, for example . . ." Woods tweeted. More than 800 people retweeted him.
He followed that with more:
"ALL youth of every heritage in this country would benefit from jobs and manageable student loans, NOT a bloated welfare state."
"The only reason people lock their car doors when Obama walks by is they are afraid he'll tax them to death . . . " (That one got more than 1,000 retweets.)
"Racial integration has worked in the Armed Forces because everyone has a job, gets training in a skill, and MUST respect the rank of others."
"The race issues in America that have bedeviled this nation for decades could be greatly resolved with JOBS and EDUCATION and SKILLS TRAINING."
In response to other Twitter users, Woods responded, "Though I only have anecdotal evidence, I have personally watched diversity flourish in this country in my 66 years." and "For Sharpton et al, racial disharmony is in part a business. They thrive on discord, while we diverse Americans thrive on harmony."
"Just curious. Does the president of the United States have any advice for other teenage boys in America? Wounded warriors, for example . . ." Woods tweeted. More than 800 people retweeted him.
He followed that with more:
"ALL youth of every heritage in this country would benefit from jobs and manageable student loans, NOT a bloated welfare state."
"The only reason people lock their car doors when Obama walks by is they are afraid he'll tax them to death . . . " (That one got more than 1,000 retweets.)
"Racial integration has worked in the Armed Forces because everyone has a job, gets training in a skill, and MUST respect the rank of others."
"The race issues in America that have bedeviled this nation for decades could be greatly resolved with JOBS and EDUCATION and SKILLS TRAINING."
In response to other Twitter users, Woods responded, "Though I only have anecdotal evidence, I have personally watched diversity flourish in this country in my 66 years." and "For Sharpton et al, racial disharmony is in part a business. They thrive on discord, while we diverse Americans thrive on harmony."
~~~~~~
Rep. Peter King: 'Isolationist' Republicans Won't Beat
Hillary Clinton
By: Sandy Fitzgerald
Republicans
won't stand a chance at winning the presidency in the next election if they put
up the wrong candidate against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Republican Rep. Peter King warned Saturday. "I think she's very strong
on foreign policy, and I think that if we nominate someone from our isolationist
wing of the party, she'll destroy them," the New York lawmaker told ABC News, referring to two potential
Republican contenders, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ted Cruz of Texas. King has been discussing his own presidential
ambitions and comparing them to his boxing skills, saying he is "going to
be feeling out the opponents the first two rounds, throwing jabs and jabs and
when they're not looking, right cross and it's all over."
Republican candidates need to
participate in "coherent" foreign policy dialogue while avoiding
"name calling and pandering to people's fears," King said. "I
like Paul [Ryan], said King, "but as far as defense, Paul hasn't really
spoken out. So far, no one is out there talking about national defense. The
economy is important, immigration's important, but the fact is if we don't
survive as a nation, none of that matters." King
told The New York Times that he worries about candidates who steer
clear of foreign issues. "It
bothers me when the leading Republicans out there, someone like Rand Paul, seem
more concerned about an American being killed in Starbucks by a CIA drone than
he is about Islamic terrorism,” said King, who is now serving his 11th term in
office.King said he wants to keep the GOP from drifting away from its role as a proponent of having a tough national defense. "Ever since the days of Eisenhower, Republicans have been the party of strong national defense,” he told The Times. “Right now, the main potential candidates — such as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz — are isolationists who barely mention the threat of Islamic terrorism. I don’t want isolationism to be emblematic of the national Republican Party." On domestic issues, King also criticized Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, saying he failed to deliver on aid to the Northeast after Superstorm Sandy. "I have a lot of regard for Sen. Rubio, but I have some hard feelings after what he did, voting against aid to New York,” King told ABC. It "shows some narrowness which I’m not over yet.”
While Clinton has yet to announce her presidential aspirations, she's already considered by many to be the presumptive candidate. Should she decide to run, her public favorability ratings are already high, with a recent USA Today/Gallup poll posting near-record high-approval numbers with 66 percent of Americans having a favorable view and suggesting she would be a "formidable" candidate should she make another run at the White House
With
the above said, we have yet to see the conclusion of the Benghazi affair and
Hillary's direct involvement.
~~~~~~
"Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in
confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited
constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with
power." --Thomas
Jefferson, The Kentucky Resolutions, 1799
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