Thursday, December 18, 2014

When using the argument that their government is repressive, try to admit that for every disagreeable act they commit you can easily find a similar one in America; from killing unarmed children, torture, taking away citizens in the early morning hours, refusing permits, false arrests, confiscating property, etc. One thing Cuba does better than us is that you can walk down any street and feel safe. In the USA there are streets where law enforcement won’t even go–not so in Cuba.

Now is the time to abolish the wet foot-dry/foot policy. A Cuban hasn’t come to our shores seeking political asylum for decades. They only come for economic opportunities. Just ask them. It’s long past the time for the US to wake up and smell the coffee. Natural Beauty

History has shown that drug prohibition reduces neither use nor abuse. After a rapist is arrested, there are fewer rapes. After a drug dealer is arrested, however, neither the supply nor the demand for drugs is seriously changed. The arrest merely creates a job opening for an endless stream of drug entrepreneurs who will take huge risks for the sake of the enormous profits created by prohibition. Prohibition costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year, yet 40 years and some 40 million arrests later, drugs are cheaper, more potent and far more widely used than at the beginning of this futile crusade.

We believe that by eliminating prohibition of all drugs for adults and establishing appropriate regulation and standards for distribution and use, law enforcement could  focus  more on crimes of violence, such as rape, aggravated assault, child abuse and murder, making our communities much safer. We believe that sending parents to prison for non-violent personal drug use destroys families. We believe that in a regulated and controlled environment, drugs will be safer for adult use and less accessible to our children. And we believe that by placing drug abuse in the hands of medical professionals instead of the criminal justice system, we will reduce rates of addiction and overdose deaths

[Videoing Police]

The law in 38 states plainly allows citizens to record police, as long as you don’t physically interfere with their work. Police might still unfairly harass you, detain you, or confiscate your camera. They might even arrest you for some catchall misdemeanor such as obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct. But you will not be charged for illegally recording police.

Twelve states—California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington—require the consent of all parties for you to record a conversation. But do not despair if you live in these states: All but 2 —Massachusetts and Illinois—have an “expectation of privacy provision” to their all-party laws that courts have ruled does not apply to on-duty police (or anyone in public). In other words, it’s technically legal in those 48 states to openly record on-duty police. This is Why You Should Always Videotape the Police

FTR’S RESPONSE: It is always fascinating that so many people of the leftist persuasion find it impossible to engage in discourse without being insulting. I find it especially amusing that the poster who is obviously an Obama sycophant, speaks of Russians “gong crazy,” and credits Obama with Russia’s economic woes. The comment that “We are indeed fortunate to have him as our leader” is very much like a homage praising Kim Jong-un who is the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The facts do not support the claim made by the poster. While it is true that the economic sanctions have made a minor impact on the Russian economy, their real problem is the glut of fossil fuels that is now flooding the world market.

While Obama’s sanctions have been in place, Russian military aircraft and naval vessels have purposefully penetrated our air and sea space. They have not abandoned their aggressive ways.

Putin neither fears nor respects Obama. In mid-November NATO reported that columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops, entered into Ukraine. All of that while the sanctions have been in place.

Putin’s response to Obama’s sanctions is and has been a single digit salute.

In spite of Obama’s commitment to strangling American oil production, oil prices have almost halved over the last six months as increasing volumes of light, high quality oil from North America from shale have overwhelmed demand.

Oil is a major generator of revenue for Russia. As a result of the worldwide glut of oil, the ruble has been hit hard, prompting Russia’s central bank to begin selling part of foreign currency holdings worth $7 billion in an effort to halt a collapse in its currency. That effort is failing.

The sanctions have had some impact, but Obama’s former ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, recently said the driver in the tanking of Russia’s economy is plummeting oil prices.

Don’t look for Russia to shut its doors and post a “business closed” sign any time soon, it has one of the strongest sovereign debt profiles of any country globally. Russia has official currency reserves of about $416 billion, more than enough to cover all the debt coming due in the next year. In addition, experts estimate the financial sector in Russia has over $250 billion in foreign exchange reserves that can be used to cover its debt. Many Russian companies also have substantial foreign assets.

Personally I wish the sanctions would reign in Putin’s ambition, but so far only cheap oil seems to be actually seriously impacting the Russian economy.

That cheap oil came from private U.S. lands and procuring it was funded by private money. It came in spite of Obama.

Yessiree, we are “indeed fortunate to have him (Obama and his Democrat minions) as our leaders.” Under their leadership our national debt has very nearly doubled in only 7 years. Both China and Russia are back in the aggressive cold war mode. Muslim fundamentalism is running amok in the mid-east and around the world. Terrorists are slaughtering school children. Iran will soon have nukes. Israel and most of our allies no longer trust nor respect us. Our unemployment rate is much higher than it was when they took power. Race relations are in the toilet. The rich have gotten much richer, the poor very much more poor, our middle class is disintegrating. Median family income has dropped precipitously. The wealth gap between middle- and upper-income households has widened to the highest level on record. Only 37% of Americans approve of Obamacare (Gallup 11/17).

We still are feeling the symptoms of the longest recovery from recession in our history. Nearly 70% of Americans believe that our nation is on the wrong track. There’s a whale of a lot more, but you get the idea about just how “fortunate” we are to have Democrats and Obama in power.

PART 2) A very troubling facet of Obama has just been revealed. We all know that he has issued many Executive Orders to enforce his will and to avoid the constraints of the Constitution. But Obama and his flacks have been loudly proclaiming that the number of the orders he has executed are fewer than GWB. That is true, but the scope and magnitude of his Executive Orders to date eclipse any previous president.

Now we have just learned that he and his have been intentionally lying to us on the issue.  Rather than titling his directives as Executive Orders, President Obama has routinely been issuing a form of executive action known as the presidential memorandum. And he has done it more often than any other president in history. He is using the presidential memoranda to take unilateral action even as he has signed fewer executive orders.  He has issued more presidential memoranda than any other president in our history.

Like executive orders, presidential memoranda don’t require action by Congress. They have the same force of law as executive orders and often have consequences just as far-reaching. And some of the most significant actions of the Obama presidency have come not by executive order but by presidential memoranda.

Executive orders are numbered — the most recent, Executive Order 13683, modified three previous executive orders. Memoranda are not numbered, not indexed and, until recently, difficult to quantify.

Under Executive Order 11030, signed by President Kennedy in 1962, an executive order must contain a “citation of authority,” saying what law it’s based on. Memoranda have no such requirement.

Obama and his admin must be aware that his relentless usurpation of the Constitution would be condemned by America or he would not have attempted to hide the truth. It is apparent that he fancies himself as being the “Supreme Leader” ala Kim Jong-un. Link