Monday, September 3, 2012

Protestors in Hong Kong riled over school 'brainwashing' by Communist China authorities.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / September 3, 2012

 Hong Kong protest over school 'brainwashing' by China
Thousands of protesters, parents, and their children outside 
the government headquarters in Hong Kong.
Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Chanting "No to brainwashing education. Withdraw national education", some 8000 people denounced a Hong Kong government-funded booklet entitled "The China Model" they say glorifies China's single Communist party rule while glossing over more brutal aspects of its rule and political controversies. 
One hunger striker was taken away on a stretcher on the third straight day of protests after fasting for more than 40 hours.
The protests represent a challenge for Hong Kong's new pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying, who took office in July, and who has come under pressure for policies that have highlighted underlying tensions as the financial hub becomes increasingly intertwined, economically and socially, with China.
Polls suggest Hong Kong public distrust towards China is at a record high some 15 years after the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, with many fearing Beijing's hand encroaching increasingly into the city's cherished freedoms and political affairs.
Many of the protesters were young students who flocked to the demonstrations straight after their first day back at school, some heckling Leung to scrap the scheme or step down.
Despite protracted public opposition to the scheme including a late July rally that drew some 90,000 people, officials resisted calls to scrap it from local primary and secondary schools, saying it was aimed at instilling a greater sense of national pride and belonging towards China. 

"The important thing is to ensure that the public concern or the parents' and the students' worry about the so-called brainwashing will not happen," said Hong Kong's number two official, Carrie Lam.

"But that will only be achievable by more communication between the various stakeholders and by putting the trust in the school sponsoring authorities and the individual schools."

Hong Kong officials say schools may adopt the curriculum voluntarily with the scheme not to become mandatory until 2015.

The protests are a continuation of demonstrations that first flared on Saturday, with many pledging to fight on including a small band of hunger strikers. One middle-aged female academic was stretchered off late on Monday for medical treatment after going on hunger strike for over 40 hours. 

While the curriculum touches on some negative aspects of contemporary Chinese history including unfair land grabs by corrupt officials and a toxic milk powder scandal, it makes no mention of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Source: Reuters

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Her Royal Bevness (Gov. Perdue) plays hostess at National Democratic Convention.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / September 2, 2012

File:Beve...


NEWS & OBSERVER September 2, 2012
Staff writers John Frank, David Menconi and Bruce Siceloff

Gov. Bev Perdue will play hostess in chief this week with the world look at North Carolina amid the Democratic convention. Her tentative schedule started with four national cable news interviews Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union”.

On Monday, after rehearsing for her opening remarks on the convention’s first day, Perdue is tentatively scheduled to appear on MSNBC for separate interviews with Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews. And later in the week, she will appear on MSNBC again for an interview with Chuck Todd.

But one major N.C. Democratic face you won’t see on TV: state party Chairman David Parker, officials said. (The less he’s seen the better, some Democrats privately say.)

Parker is still toxic after a sexual harassment scandal rocked the party earlier this year. At the time, national party officials described Parker as “a man without a part,” but he survived repeated calls for his resignation and remains at the helm.

That said, Perdue has her own issues: unpopularity and former campaign aides indicted after an investigation into her 2008 election effort.

The musical lineup for the big event includes James Taylor; Foo Fighters; Mary J. Blige; Earth, Wind & Fire; Delta Rae; Inspire the Fire; Marc Anthony (singing the national anthem).
Ledisi, DJ Cassidy and Durham resident Branford Marsalis are among the acts performing earlier in the week.

GOP elite crash DNC party
The Republican convention in Florida continues – at least in part – this week in Charlotte as the party seeks to counter the Democratic message.

About 50 high-profile operatives and surrogates for presidential candidate Mitt Romney are coming from Tampa to North Carolina to run a GOP war room not far from the Democratic convention at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Among the expected surrogates: N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes, a former congressman and friend of VP candidate Paul Ryan; South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

New executive decision looms
Republican legislative leaders are in tune with the concerns of Democrat Gene Conti, who complained this week that he is underpaid as the state’s transportation secretary.

That’s why they amended the state budget this year to give North Carolina’s next governor new power to set salaries for non-elected state department heads.

“These agencies have gotten huge in terms of budget and responsibility,” said state Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary, one of the Senate’s chief budget-writers.

Conti said he took a big pay cut in 2009 when he gave up a private-sector job to take charge of DOT, with its $4 billion budget and 12,000 employees. Stevens agreed with Conti that the statutory salary limit – $121,807 this year for the heads of DOT and seven other agencies – could make it hard for the state to attract the best administrators.

So whoever wins the November election to succeed retiring Gov. Bev Perdue will have the authority to set these salaries, starting in the fiscal year that begins in July 2013.

“Either Gov. Dalton or Gov. McCrory, we think, will need the flexibility to bring in the best-qualified people to run these agencies,” Stevens said. “We think the state will be better off at the end of the day. We did not provide additional money for this. If the next governor pays the health and human services secretary double what the current secretary is making, he’ll have to find that money elsewhere in the budget,” Stevens commented.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/02/2312112/perdue-plays-hostess-in-chief.html

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/02/2312112/perdue-plays-hostess-in-chief.html#storylink=cpy


Parker is still toxic after a sexual harassment scandal rocked the party earlier this year. At the time, national party officials described Parker as “a man without a part,” but he survived repeated calls for his resignation and remains at the helm.

That said, Perdue has her own issues: unpopularity and former campaign aides indicted after an investigation into her 2008 election effort.

GOP elite crash DNC party
The Republican convention in Florida continues – at least in part – this week in Charlotte as the party seeks to counter the Democratic message.

About 50 high-profile operatives and surrogates for presidential candidate Mitt Romney are coming from Tampa to North Carolina to run a GOP war room not far from the Democratic convention at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Among the expected surrogates: N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes, a former congressman and friend of VP candidate Paul Ryan; South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.


New executive decision looms
Republican legislative leaders are in tune with the concerns of Democrat Gene Conti, who complained this week that he is underpaid as the state’s transportation secretary.

That’s why they amended the state budget this year to give North Carolina’s next governor new power to set salaries for non-elected state department heads.

“These agencies have gotten huge in terms of budget and responsibility,” said state Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary, one of the Senate’s chief budget-writers.

Conti said he took a big pay cut in 2009 when he gave up a private-sector job to take charge of DOT, with its $4 billion budget and 12,000 employees. Stevens agreed with Conti that the statutory salary limit – $121,807 this year for the heads of DOT and seven other agencies – could make it hard for the state to attract the best administrators.

So whoever wins the November election to succeed retiring Gov. Bev Perdue will have the authority to set these salaries, starting in the fiscal year that begins in July 2013.

“Either Gov. Dalton or Gov. McCrory, we think, will need the flexibility to bring in the best-qualified people to run these agencies,” Stevens said. “We think the state will be better off at the end of the day.

“We did not provide additional money for this. If the next governor pays the health and human services secretary double what the current secretary is making, he’ll have to find that money elsewhere in the budget,” Stevens said.

Staff writers John Frank, David Menconi and Bruce Siceloff

more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/02/2312112/perdue-plays-hostess-in-chief.html#storylink=cpy

Saturday, September 1, 2012

No health-care reform coverage for undocumented immigrants -- Obama

Verne Strickland / Blogmaster / September 1, 2012

Barack Obama2-20120430-27.jpg







The Department of Health and Human Services released a rule amendment to clarify that the Affordable Care Act, which offers coverage to those "lawfully present" in the United States, did not apply to those covered by Obama's June declaration.

The amendment means that the undocumented immigrants will not be able to join the Pre-Existing Condition Plan for high-risk patients and the health-care exchanges being established to help people and small businesses obtain cheaper rates.

The immigrants will also not be able to get into state-federal programs such as Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor, or the Children's Health Insurance Program.

"This certainly is a substantial financial issue in places like Miami, New York City and Los Angeles," said Alan Sager, a health-care policy expert at Boston University. He called the ruling "a relatively minor administrative clarification, a screwing down of something that was already nailed down."

The reason is that, in an attempt to get support from conservatives for the reform bill in 2010, Democratic lawmakers promised that undocumented immigrants would not benefit from the act.

Obama's June announcement affected immigrants under 31 who were brought into the United States illegally as children. His move did not formally grant them residency or permanent legal status, but allowed them to stay and work in the country.

That action, HHS decided, did not mean these immigrants were "lawfully present." On Monday, it issued a 12-page amendment to the reform act regulations "so that the program does not inadvertently expand the scope" of the act.

The issue of immigrant health care is huge for South Florida. As many as a third of the uninsured patients at Jackson Health System are believed to be undocumented.

State-federal funds pay for their emergency care until they are considered stable, but any other treatment falls on county taxpayers if they go to a government hospital. If they go to other hospitals, the facilities get reimbursed for their care by charging higher rates to insurers and paying patients, Sager said.
©2012 The Miami Herald

Verne Strickland recommends: 'The Left & the Wrong Side of History' by Jude Eden


New post on OFP

The Left & the Wrong Side of History

by Jude Eden, Jane of Trades
In the buildup to World War II, many in Europe thought that the Nazi ideas of socialism could work, and that Hitler was a charismatic leader who meant them no harm.  Churchill was called a warmonger for his stance that Germany should not be able to arm and for his opposition to Hitler’s demonization of the Jews.  Hitler painted himself as an advocate for peace, even as he was drawing plans to take over Europe and exterminate the Jews.  After surviving the first World War, many were justifiably loathe to enter into another.  They didn’t want to believe that another war was impending, or that one rogue nation wanted to take over, subjugate and purge all the others.  They were soon to see how wrong they were.
1941 Anti-war poster
Anti-war advocates are apt to acknowledge that we had to fight the Nazis, and yet today cannot acknowledge that there are still the same legitimate reasons to fight real enemies of freedom.  During and after WWII, both conscientious objectors and Nazi sympathizers would have to answer to their unwillingness to fight or their sympathy toward the murderous enemy.  “Conscies” were often stigmatized in their communities, and Nazi sympathizers rightly treated with outright anger and disdain.
Hitler claimed to be offering solutions to the downtrodden, to be an advocate for peace and progress.  His actions showed that he was really a bloodthirsty dictator intent on being the head of a new master race.  Some saw him for what he was, the Nazis for what they were, but others said there was no threat.
History will look back on 21st century and see, as many do today, that Ahmadinejad and jihadists are the Hitler and Nazis of our time.  Just so, all those who fail to stand against them, and more who defend Islam as a religion of peace will be seen like the Nazi sympathizers of World War II.  Our president and the Left are those sympathizers today.
Just as Hitler and the Nazis demonized the Jews as the cause of Germany’s economic woes, so Obama and his party demonize the entrepreneurs and any Republican or Conservative as evil and the source of our financial crises and social injustice.  And just as the Nazis came up with all sorts of lies and distortions to paint Jews as evil and inferior, so Obama and his party have tried to paint, whites, the wealthy and Christians (and Jews) as hateful, corrupt and backwards.
1930s Union Pledge Peace poster
The future will look back on the early 21st century and see that while Liberals claimed to be for peace, they said nothing if the president making war was in their own party.  They will see that no matter how much Ahmadinejad proclaimed his genocidal intentions, the Left ignored him, just as Hitler’s words were ignored until it was too late, the bombs were already falling and the troops were already marching.
The future will see that just as Churchill was demonized as a warmonger for opposing Hitler and Chamberlain was championed as a broker of peace, the early 21st century Left attacked those who were fighting for freedom and human rights against child-raping, suicide-bombing Islamists, soldiers even punished for fighting that fight, while Obama is lauded as some kind of peacemaker though he has done nothing to but disempower the United States and her allies to fight the real warmongers of our time.
They will see that while the Left claimed to be for women’s rights in particular and human rights in general, they studiously ignored the women and children who were subjugated, abused, raped, had acid thrown in their faces, and murdered according to the faith of Islam.
But History will see the Left as fools and hypocrites for much more than their defense of Islam in America and their claim that the US is the cause of Islamofascism.
The future will look back and see that while the Left claimed to be for the poor, they did everything they could to stop cheap and efficient energy production while forcing the world into inefficient and expensive energy sources that only the rich could afford.  And while their party controlled all branches of government, the whole economy continued its steep decline.
They will see that while the Left claimed to be against corruption and crony capitalism, their president favored his wealthy donors and tax evaders with cabinet and other political positions, gave billions to favored Big businesses and presided over the least transparent administration in the country’s history.
They’ll see that while the Left claimed to be against bullying, they had no problem with voter intimidation by groups like the New Black Panthers, and they had no problem bullying even children who criticized the president’s policies.
WWII Anti-Christian Nazi poster
They will see that though the Left claimed to want the “separation of church and state,” they had nothing to say about the Middle Eastern theocracies, nor the increasing drive toward implementing Sharia, Islam’s religious law, in America.  The future looking back will wonder how the Left could not oppose opening with the Islamic jummah prayer at the Democrat National Convention.  And while giving extremist Muslism a pass, the Left viciously attacked Christianity, the religion of "turn the other cheek," whose followers gave the most to help the poor and destitute.
As the future looks back on a scene like the Code Pink group absurdly protesting the Grand Old Party’s convention, they’ll wonder why the Pinkers didn’t go to a local Islamic center or the Democrat National Convention and sing their song about “where all the world has human rights.”
They will see that though the Left screamed about the intrusive wire-tapping of the  Patriot Act during the Bush years, they had nothing to say when Obama continued that same wire-tapping, and went further by taking away the citizens’ rights of habeas corpus.
They will see that though the Left mouthed the words of equal rights to life, liberty and happiness, they fought fiercely to ensure that women could deny their babies those rights, killing them at any stage of pregnancy and even after birth, and studiously ignored the Islamic theocracies that kill gays as a rule.
Obama bows to Saudi King, 2009
But this is 2012, where the Dalai Llama and the president of Israel, the tiny Democracy in the Middle East are made to go through the back door of the White House while our president bows to and kisses the hands of dictators and welcomes the Muslim Brotherhood into the Oval office.  The Muslim Brotherhood, who in Egypt recently tried to pass law based on the Quran that would allow men to have sex with their dead wives.
This is 2012, where the president’s followers adore him like a cult leader.  Just as Hitler was charismatic and persuasive, so is Obama, and just as some thought Nazi ideas of socialism should work, so does the Left today.  I’m not saying that Obama is a murderous dictator.  That position is squarely held by Ahmadinejad.  The future will see Obama more like the fool Chamberlain, a man who got the peace prize though he did nothing to earn it, a man who mouthed platitudes about peace who did nothing to stop war and everything to weaken his country to fight a bloodthirsty, anti-humanitarian enemy.
It doesn’t matter how corrupt Obama is, how many lobbyists he grants positions of political leadership to, how much he divides the country, how he supports those who subjugate women and children, how many people lose their homes and jobs and go on food stamps, or how many lies he tells.  The followers still bend their minds into pretzels justifying him.
Thankfully, a lot of folks are waking from their zombie fog.  They’re looking at their own bottom line, comparing what Obama said yesterday to what he says and does today.  They see that they’re not better off, that race relations are worse than ever in most of our lifetimes, that Obama is dividing and destroying the country.
For those who remain unconvinced, or twist their minds into pretzels convincing themselves that the clean-as-a-whistle Romney-Ryan duo is somehow worse, there is no hope.  They won’t be persuaded, they have to be defeated, just like Nazi’s and their sympathizers.
Jude Eden, Jane of Trades | August 31, 2012 at 11:03 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2b545-7r

Campaign Update: Frank Williams, GOP nominee, Brunswick County Commissioner

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / September 1, 2012

 








CANDIDATE SAYS 'CRUNCH TIME IS HERE'

By FRANK WILLIAMS


Labor Day is this Monday, and we are between the two major parties' conventions.  This means that the campaign season is entering the home stretch.

Thanks to the support and help of you and countless others, we won the Republican Primary last May.  Now, I need your help to win the General Election on November 6.  I do have a Democrat opponent, and we will not take the election lightly.  Please read the rest of this e-newsletter to find out how you can help.  Additionally, please let me know of any events I should attend in your community.

Thank you for your past support.  I look forward to working with you over the next two months to ensure victory in November.

Sincerely,

Frank Williams

How You Can Help

Many of you have asked how you can help with my campaign.  If you live in or near Brunswick County, there are several ways you can get involved:

  1. Volunteer with the Brunswick County Republican Victory Office.  They need help with Voter ID phone calls and door-to-door campaigning.  The Victory Office's efforts will benefit me and the entire Republican ticket.  The office is located at the Brunswick County Republican Headquarters, 971 Old Ocean Highway in Bolivia.  Jason Britt, our regional Victory Director, can be reached at 910-297-7402 or jason.britt@ncgop.org.  Please call or email him today to sign up and get involved. 
  2. Serve as a Poll Observer or Precinct Official during Early Voting or on Election Day.
  3. Put up signs.
  4. Distribute literature for the Republican Party on Election Day. 
If you would like to help with items 2, 3 or 4, please click here and sign up volunteer with the Brunswick County Republican Party.

Thoughts on the RNC Convention

I posted the following on Facebook after Wednesday night’s convention proceedings:  "As I watched tonight's convention speeches, numerous speakers mentioned the American Dream. People from all across the world have long sought to come to the USA to try and achieve the AMERICAN dream. Not the Soviet dream. Not the socialist dream. Not the <insert any other country here> dream. The AMERICAN dream. We are a unique nation built on an idea, on an experiment. We are at a crossroads that will decide whether that dream continues to exist as we have known it, that will determine the outcome of the American experiment. Will we still be a nation of free people and free markets, or will we be a shadow of our former self? We are truly at a time for choosing."

RNC Convention Videos

Events

Past:

Upcoming:

Friday, August 31, 2012

Lefty media strike back after Dirty Harry dares to mock Obama.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster / Sept. 1, 2011


 

30 Aug 2012 

Obama can't take a joke. But we already knew that.

For four long years we've waited, hoped and prayed that some young comic would break free of the politically correct demands of The State and mock Obama the way all presidents and all people in power should be mocked. But for four long years (with a few exceptions) all we've seen instead are cowardly toadies of The State: Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Chris Rock, the cast of "Saturday Night Live"…
Since Obama won the presidency, comedy has pretty much gone straight to hell as our Entertainment Overlords morphed into pathetic lapdogs to The State; begging for scraps of attention and affection from Obama, and in the process becoming stale, lazy, dull, predictable, painfully unfunny, and like a needy poodle -- more than a little annoying.
Who would've ever thought that one of the men who would display enough backbone and "edge" to finally take it to Obama with wicked mockery on about 30 million live television screens would be 82 year-old Clint Eastwood?
Once we learned Eastwood was the night's mystery guest, no one knew what to expect. And anyone who took a guess most certainly didn’t guess that the Oscar-winning American icon would use his opportunity to relentlessly and hilariously mock Barack Obama in front of the entire free world.
It was glorious! And everyone I've talked to who was in the hall absolutely loved it.
Eastwood hit Obama in every sweet spot we've been waiting for him to get hit on: The incompetence; the lies; the empty, pretentious rhetoric; the inexperience; and that roaring blowhard of a moron Obama chose to be a heartbeat away.  
Oh, and the empty chair. Other than an empty suit, there is no sharper metaphor.
Eastwood also made one of the very best points of the night: WE own this country, and when someone doesn't do the job "we have to let them go."
The media, naturally, is furious. They don’t like to see Their Precious One mocked and they also understand the power of mockery -- which is why they keep Stewart and Colbert on such a tight leash. This is why the media has already written 25 stories (5 from Politico) mocking Eastwood.
Had Eastwood said the things the media likes to hear with the same nervousness and hesitation, they would've called him wizened and seasoned. But because he mocked Their Precious One, suddenly he's some kind of embarrassment.
And now Politico, Ben Smith and CNN are all talking about how they intend to use Eastwood as way to overwhelm Mitt Romney's speech in the coming days.
Like they wouldn't have found another reason.
All I can say in response is: Go to hell you Obama-shilling crybabies. Eastwood showed more grit and honestly in those few minutes than you water carriers have during your entire propaganda-for-the-collective careers.
What Eastwood did tonight was funnier, fresher, edgier,  and braver than anything those comedy cowards Chris Rock, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert have done in 15 years.
82 years-old, and Dirty Harry is still pissing all the right people off.
My hero.

Follow  John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Romney energizes his base, cuts to the chase, makes his case: 'we need jobs, lots of jobs'





Verne Strickland Blogmaster / August 30, 2012
 

 









Aug 30, 9:16 PM (ET)

By DAVID ESPO and ROBERT FURLOW



VS: IT WAS A GREAT NIGHT FOR AMERICA, FOR AMERICANS, AND FOR MITT ROMNEY!



TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney launched his fall campaign for the White House in a rousing Republican National Convention finale Thursday night, proclaiming America needs "jobs, lots of jobs" and promising to create 12 million of them in perilous economic times.
"Now is the time to restore the promise of America," Romney said in excerpts released in advance of his prime-time speech to a nation struggling with 8.3 percent unemployment and the slowest economic recovery in decades.
He muted his criticism in the advance excerpts of President Barack Obama, his quarry in a close and unpredictable race for the White House.
"I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed," he said. "But his promises gave way to disappointment and division."
(AP) Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney points to the photographer as he and vice presidential...
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"This isn't something we have to accept ," he said, appealing to millions of voters who say they are disappointed in the president yet haven't yet decided to cast their votes for his Republican challenger. "Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, 'I'm an American. I make my destiny. And we deserve better! My children deserve better! My family deserves better! My country deserves better!"
Romney's remarks came after other speakers filled out a week-long portrait of the GOP nominee as a man of family and faith, savvy and successful in business, savior of the 2002 Winter Olympics, yet careful with a buck. A portion of the convention stage was rebuilt overnight so he would appear surrounded by delegates rather than speaking from a distance, an attempt to soften his image as a sometimes-stiff and distant candidate.
"He shoveled snow and raked leaves for the elderly. He took down tables and swept floors at church dinners," said Grant Bennett, describing Romney's volunteer work as an unpaid lay clergy leader in the Mormon church.
Following him to the podium, Ted and Pat Oparowski tenderly recalled how Romney befriended their 14-year-old son David as he was dying of cancer. "We will be ever grateful to Mitt for his love and concern," she said.
(AP) Michigan delegate Linda Lee Tarver from Lansing wipes away her tears during the Republican National...
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Beyond the heartfelt personal testimonials and political hoopla, the evening marked one of a very few opportunities any presidential challenger is granted to appeal to millions of voters in a single night. The two-month campaign to come includes other big moments - principally a series of one-on-one debates with Democrat Obama - in a race for the White House that has been close for months. In excess of $500 million has been spent on campaign television commercials so far, almost all of it in the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.
Romney holds a fundraising advantage over Obama, and his high command hopes to expand the electoral map soon if post-convention polls in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and perhaps elsewhere indicate it's worth the investment. In a speech that blended the political and the personal, Romney talked in his excerpts of the importance of the love he felt from his parents and that he and his wife Ann have sought to give their children and grandchildren.
"All the laws and legislation in the world will never heal this world like the loving hearts and arms of mothers and fathers," he said.
As for Obama, he said, "Many Americans have given up on this president, but they haven't ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves, Not on each other. And not on America."