My doorbell rang yesterday afternoon...it was a young woman, actually 2
young women, in matching T-shirts passing out voter registration information.
Someone had dropped them off as I saw them later sitting in a curb waiting for a
ride. The info reveals that this is a "SOS.GA.GOV" activity so these girls are
getting paid to walk about a fully registered neighborhood in 98 degree weather.
One of the things on the info left mentions that "There is an ongoing effort to
make it more difficult for us to vote. Registering today will force politicians
to focus on issues we care about , like creating opportunities for youth and
reducing crime." "more difficult for US"? " issues WE cars about"? Excuse
me..but who do they mean by "us" and "we"? The web site belongs to the Secretary
of State..Brian Kemp. Why is the Secretary of State of Georgia paying for
canvasers to register special interest voters?
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Another item on the above voter info sheet bothered me, too. It
reads,"Applicants have a choice to either personally return the application or
permit another person, or a private entity, to return the application on the
applicant's behalf." Thus certainly leads to some unscrupulous registration
activities...especially at nursing home facilities.
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Online story:A federal judge ruled Friday that the NCAA can't stop college football and basketball players from selling the rights to their names and likenesses, opening the way to athletes getting payouts once their college careers are over. * The ruling comes after a five-year battle by O'Bannon and others on behalf of college athletes to receive a share of the billions of dollars generated by college athletics by huge television contracts. O'Bannon, who was MVP of the 1995 UCLA national championship basketball team, said he signed on as lead plaintiff after seeing his image in a video game authorized by the NCAA that he was not paid for. * "The kids who are going to benefit from this are kids who don't even know what we did today," Vaccaro said. "It may only be $5,000 but it's $5,000 more than they get now. The future generation will be the benefactor of all this. There are now new ground rules in college sports." -- "a video game authorized by the NCAA that he was not paid for"? You know.. I have to agree with the judge on this..100%. Having had heard the restrictions first hand 50 years ago, yet 'knowing' it was not fair that the NCAA profit from star athletes being "covers" for Sports Illustrated, and the big bucks the NCAA got from TV. Do I agree with the athletes being paid.. no.... but I do I think the NCAA should have been a watchdog against allowing college programs and media outlets (mags& TV particularly) from using the athletes' names and images to make big bucks.
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OK - having just been double-dosed with tuitions with a combined total of
$2,000.00 in "mandatory fees" coupled with discovering that the IRS will give my
students "refunds" for those fees if they file a 1098-T form, I decided I'm
going to discuss info the Columbus State University provides explaining what
those fees are for. Today,I'm starting with two.. the "institutional fee" and
the "athletic fee":
Institutional Fee - "This is a general purpose fee established by the Board
of Regents (BOR Minutes. June 2009) to ensure continued academic excellence
during times of reductions in state funding. Institutions may use it to support
any level of operations that would be appropriate for any educational and
general funds source" -- Hmmm.. in other words, a damn slush fund, but what
really gets me is that colleges/universities are going to collect this even
if there is no reduction state funds. The fee for a full time student can be
$795.00 annually. ($265 times 3 semesters times 7,000 students equals
$5.565,000.00 annual slush fund). I believe that this fund should be scrutinized
going back to 2009 , and the total state funding for colleges/universities be
audited to see when any actual reductions were made. Then the
college/universities should be made to seek out the "actual payers" (whether
parents or loan companies) and refund those actual payers.
Athletic Fee: "Provides support for intercollegiate athletic programs
including scholarships for student athletes, travel for athletic teams and free
admission to at-home regular season (non-playoff) athletic events for enrolled
students." -- " free admission "? "scholarships for student athletes"? Wait a
minute.. how can paying a fee be construed as getting "free admission"...
especially since it was the parents/loan company that probably paid that fee?
What's worse is that is , and I'm sure 'unbeknownst" previously to you, too, is
the fund ($200.00 times 3 semesters equal $600.00 annually times $7,000
students) equals a total of $4,200,000.00 being paid for by parents/loan
companies for the non-athletic scholarship students. WE are paying directly to
send other students to college. It's tough enough paying for your own children,
but being charged for others on top of that just stinks!
---
Whatta difference...there was a time...not too long ago that golf
announcing teams followed Tiger Woods' every move and shot whether he was
leading or well back. Now announcing teams are referring to Tiger's past as
though he has no future.
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On good authority, it appears that Michelle Nunn Martin never got around to
updating her voter registration.. Either she isn't involved enough to keep her
voting info up-to-date, or she'd a "daddy's girl" who isn't very committed to
her husband. "None" of which makes "Nunn" a good potential Senator.
---
Online story: "President Obama announced Thursday night he has authorized
the U.S. military to conduct air strikes "if necessary" against Islamist
militants in Iraq, and the military has conducted a mission to drop humanitarian
aid there to help religious minorities stranded amid the violence." -- Hmmm, so
much for "Mission Accomplished".
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Online story: "Montana Democratic Sen. John Walsh is dropping out of his
Senate race after being dogged by allegations of plagiarism, potentially
boosting Republicans' chances of picking up the seat in November.
* The senator made the announcement late Thursday in a message to
supporters. Walsh said the plagiarism claims have become a "distraction" from
the issues." -- " a "distraction" from the issues"? Good grief, if Democratic
Party candidates campaigned on "their" issues, none would ever get elected in
the first place. He's "dropping out" purely because it's obvious to the
Democratic Party that he cannot win.
---
Online story: "A new congressional report has estimated that more than 25
million Americans without health insurance will not be made to pay a penalty in
2016 due to an exploding number of ObamaCare exemptions." -- Hmmm.. 25,000,000
Americans without health insurance... hmmm couple with the estimated 5,000,000
previously uninsured who signed up on OObamaCRAP.com who were illegally given
subsidies which will now be removed, means that 30,000,000 American will be
uninsured.. Hmmm, wait a minute..wasn't OObamaCRAP suppose to get the 30,000,000
that were already uninsured prior to OObamaCRAP insured? My estimation is that
OObamaCRAP has had zero-effect on the number of uninsured, but has torn "a new
one" in every previously insured American.
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Online story: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is spending more
than $450,000 on gym memberships for TSA agents and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) employees who work desk jobs at a procurement office in
Washington, D.C. * Last month, DHS bought gym memberships for ICE workers in its
Office of Acquisition to boost their morale and “improve working conditions." --
"boost morale"? "improve working conditions"? Good grief.. my "morale" just took
a hit, but the "improve working conditions" excuse about floored me.. on the
other hand, if we could see "improved WORK" from TSA & ICE, I might be OK
with a little 'reward'. Obviously we haven't seen such nor probably
never will.
---
Online story: "The Department of Health and Human Services informed House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa in a letter
Thursday that some of the emails belonging to Marilyn Tavenner, who leads the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, may not be “retrievable.” -- Good
grief.. theirs COLUSION between HHS and IRS! The two agencies that are going to
be in charge of implementing & monitoring OObamaCRAP are knee-deep in
scandal that make Richard Nixon's "tapes" minor.
---
I want to do more research and get some more documentation, but I have seen
some indication that ISIS terrorists have been decapitating children of
Christian families. I want to see mainstream media cover and explain
why it ignores and defends such actions. It was bad enough when CNN Baghdad
ignored Saddam Hussein's use of a "tree chipper" as palace entertainment to get
rid of his enemies.
---
Online story: "A Nevada family reportedly is grappling with more than $1
million in medical bills, after the insurance they bought on the ObamaCare
exchange refused to pay claims over a typo and other issues. * It all started
when Amber Smith in February delivered her daughter five weeks early. * the
Review-Journal reports that the Anthem Blue Cross insurance they got through the
Nevada Health Link -- an ObamaCare exchange -- is not paying claims. The
payments are being denied, reportedly because the mother's birth year is
incorrectly listed on the insurance card. It should be 1979, but is listed as
1978." -- Wait a minute.. Harry Reid is from Nevada.. and OObamaCRAP is a
SENATE written bill passed unread by the HOUSE, but the SENATE did read
it.
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Online story: "Harry Potter was perhaps the final straw. * A former
postmaster general reportedly has resigned from the U.S. Postal Service
committee that decides what images go on stamps, complaining that the agency is
“prostituting” its stamp program by honoring pop culture subjects. * “The stamp
program should celebrate the things that are great about the United States and
serve as a medium to communicate those things to a world-wide audience,” --
Oh... and US Forever postage featuring Muslim symbols is something "great about
the United States"?
---
You know.. incumbent campaigns asking for support based on what "I got for
you" are the worst reason to send anyone back to Washington. It was our money to
begin with. Give me a candidate that tells me what he wants to do to insure the
future for my America and my family!
---
There's "Top 20 Worst Vacation Destinations" list out on the I-net.
Afghanistan leads the list.. but Detroit made the Top 10 (#8). I don't put a
whole lot a faith in this as who would want a Travel Agency that even OFFERS
Detroit as a vacation destination?
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L-E headline: "Georgia soldier wounded in Afghanistan" -- Hmmm, do you
imagine that this wouldn't have happened if someone other than Factless Shrugged
had been the military "travel agent"?
---
HuffPost headline/story: "Former Reagan Press Secretary James Brady's Death
Ruled A Homicide * The death of James Brady, who survived a gunshot to the head
during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan 33 years ago, has
been ruled a homicide by a Northern Virginia medical examiner, a spokeswoman
told The Associated Press. * Because the examiner ruled the death the result of
Brady's 1981 injuries, prosecutors could bring charges against the man who shot
him, John Hinckley Jr., NBC Washington reported Friday." -- Good grief.. not
that I have an iota of compassion for Hinckley (he should have have been
executed more than 30 years ago), but this move is a little over the top. This
just insures we taxpayers are going to get stuck with outlandish legal fees that
will accomplish nothing more than padding those lawyers pockets.
---
HuffPost story: " Activists are rallying against the clothing company Ralph
Lauren for its staunch refusal to sign an international agreement that seeks to
improve conditions for factory workers in Bangladesh, one of the world's biggest
clothing suppliers. * Ralph Lauren said in a statement to HuffPost that less
than 3 percent of the company's clothes are made in Bangladesh" -- Hmmm, and if
I were Ralph Lauren, I'd also announce that "zero percent" would be the figure
his company would use Bangladesh factories from now on.
---
Online headline/story: "Judge: North Carolina GOP-Backed Voting Law Allowed
For November * The law requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID,
ends same-day registration, trims the period for early voting by a week and ends
a popular high school civics program that encouraged students to register to
vote in advance of their 18th birthdays." -- Good grief... this could, no,
should be the law of every state.. not an exception. Our votes are the most
precious right as an American citizen, and every safeguard possible should be
enforced to assure voting is limited to citizens of the state and
America.
---
From the "why isn't a poster of this guy in every boys bedroom in America"
department - Online story: "In a day and age when superstar athletes often jump
ship for other franchises, Dirk Nowitzki has played out his career for one
organization, remaining a Dallas Maverick even as his salary decreased. When the
36-year-old native of Germany recently accepted a three-year, $25 million offer,
he became the fourth-highest paid player ... on his own team. * "Money isn’t
something I play for," Nowitzki told ESPN Dallas in 2013. "(Mark) Cuban has
taken care of me for a long, long time. I always tried to pay him back by hard
playing and being here for this franchise, so I don't think we're going to fight
over money. I want to compete over these last couple of years. That's going to
be the goal." -- Dirk Nowitzki, (and this is the first story I've ever read
about him) just made my All-Time 5 basketball team.. He joins Bob Cousy and 3
to-be-named-as-they-deserve-such-recognition.
---
L-E headline: "COLUMBUS POLICE * POLICE SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS IN SECOND
HOMICIDE IN THREE DAYS" -- Hmm.. this is number 15..unless you work for the
Columbus L-E which still doesn't count a shooting death on a CSU facility as a
Columbus death.
---
LIV's L-E "soundoff": "The problem with guns is most gun worshippers are
wimps who suddenly think they’re Dirty Harry once they they’ve got their gun,
taking the law into their own hands, though they know nothing about law." --
Hmmm.. conversely, most robbery and shooting victims are feeling that if they
could pass another law, criminals wouldn't steal/illegally possess guns they use
to rob or shoot them when they are defenseless.
---
LIV's L-E "soundoff": "Perdue, a big-shot businessman, says raising the
debt limit is bad for the USA and increases the deficit. Both are false. Is he
lying or stupid?" -- Hmmm. reckon this LIV has an inkling that his/her share of
the National Debt is almost $57,000.00? So is the personal debt of any partner
or child of him/her that made it past an abortion.
---
L-E's "Thought for Today, “Hope is a waking dream.” — Aristotle, Greek
philosopher (384 B.C.-322 B.C.)." -- Hmmm.. guess that makes "Hope & Change"
a nightmare.
---
L-E headline: "Storm causes flooding, knocks out power in Hawaii" -- Ooops,
my bad.. thought Factless Shrugged had changed vacation plans.
---
You know... Israel pulling troops out of Gaza or agreeing to another cease
fire will not keep Hamas from its evil doings. A jihadist is a jihadist wherever
it occupies space.
---
L-E story: "The United States warned Russia on Friday that any further
intervention in Ukraine, including under the pretense of delivering humanitarian
aid, would be viewed as “an invasion of Ukraine.” -- Hmmm, I bet this was in
Pravda and the Moscow Times in the "Late Night Laughs" feature.
--
L-E headline: "Obama’s Iraq aim: contain, not destroy, extremists" -- ... a
'catch and release" program for jihadists....? Just what the world needs...
NOT!
---
Instant repeat - L-E headline: "Obama’s Iraq aim: contain, not destroy,
extremists" -- Hmmm, sorta sounds like the illegal aliens program we have on
our southern border.
---
L-E story: "A civilian agency overseeing the redevelopment of an old
military base has approved a tentative sale of about two-thirds of the property
to filmmaker Tyler Perry so he can build a studio. * Perry plans to acquire 330
acres at the Fort McPherson site for $30 million and build up to 16 sound stages
for the film studio, according to Atlanta city officials. The Atlanta
Journal-Constitutionreports the U.S. Army still must sign off on any deal." --
Hmmm, and why didn't Mayor Obamalinson make a pitch to get this here in
Columbus? Perry could have saved about $25M-to-$28M on acquisition costs and
would be able to commute to/from Atlanta via mayor Obamalinson's high speed rail
system.
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You know,, Mayor Obamalinson said the Green Island/River Road "roundabout"
would be built this summer. One of the reasons stated was to relieve early
morning school time traffic jams there. Great, now school has started and Green
Island Hills will have only 1 exit to River Road and that one doesn't have a
stop light.
---
L-E headline: "GM issues 6 more recalls covering 312,000 vehicles" --
Hmmm.. you know, if the Mosqued-man had not bailed GM out, and instead, included
all pre-2009 GM cars eligible for "Cash for Clunkers", America would not be
looking at a future GM recall marathon.
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