Daily Archives: August 4, 2013

Aetna withdraws from Maryland Obamacare exchange after state demands lower rates

"Aetna Inc pulled out of Maryland’s health insurance exchange being created under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law after the state pressed it to lower its proposed rates by up to 29 percent. Each U.S. state will have an online exchange where Americans will be able to buy insurance plans, starting on October 1. The government is counting on about 7 million people to enroll next year for this insurance, many of whom will qualify for subsidies. According to online documents, Aetna had requested an average monthly premium of $394 a month for one of its plans and the agency had approved an average rate of $281 per month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAetna withdraws from Maryland Obamacare exchange after state demands lower rates

Archived papers reveal Queen Elizabeth’s ‘World War Three’ speech

"Relations between the Soviet Union and the West had become so tense 30 years ago that British officials drew up a speech for Queen Elizabeth to deliver to the nation in the event of a nuclear war, newly released archives showed on Thursday. In the speech, the monarch was to urge Britons to remain united and resolute in the face of the 'madness of war.' Written by government officials, the hypothetical speech was part of a secret exercise designed to prepare Britain for the threat of a possible World War Three, but was never broadcast." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArchived papers reveal Queen Elizabeth’s ‘World War Three’ speech

‘Nut-free’ school zone decision upheld by Michigan Court of Appeals

"Michigan Court of Appeals panel upheld a decision Tuesday dismissing a lawsuit over a Romeo-area elementary school's policy creating a nut-free school. The unpublished opinion addresses a lawsuit filed by the parent of a student at Hevel Elementary School challenging the decision of Romeo Community Schools to make the elementary school a nut-free zone because of a student with life-threatening nut allergies. The ban prohibited all peanuts and tree nuts from the building, and school officials periodically searched lunch boxes and backpacks, according to the opinion." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Nut-free’ school zone decision upheld by Michigan Court of Appeals

DC, Maryland: Speed Camera Firms Move To Hide Evidence

"The firms operating red light cameras and speed cameras in the District of Columbia and Maryland are working to suppress evidence that could be used to prove the innocence of a photo enforcement ticket recipient. In Washington, the Arizona-based vendor American Traffic Solutions has repositioned cameras and cropped photos so that it is impossible to determine whether another object or vehicle happens to be within the radar unit's field of view. The change is important since DC hearing adjudicators have been throwing out citations whenever another vehicle was visible, creating the possibility of a spurious radar reading." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDC, Maryland: Speed Camera Firms Move To Hide Evidence

Florida education chief resigns after fixing charter school grades for GOP donor

"Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett resigned on Thursday after he was accused of changing a grading system while serving as Indiana school superintendent so that a Republican donor’s charter school would not receive bad marks. An Associated Press report earlier this week found that Bennett had quickly overhauled a school grading system after discovering that high-profile charter school Christel House was expected to receive a 'C' grade. Under a revised formula, the school was awarded an 'A' grade. Bennett had left Indiana to take the top education job in Florida in January." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida education chief resigns after fixing charter school grades for GOP donor

Pennsylvania police chief suspended over profanity-laced, anti-liberal gun videos

"The Pennsylvania police chief who made a profanity-laced videos while firing machine guns and ranting about liberals has been suspended without pay for 30 days. After a 55-minute executive session, the Gilberton Borough Council voted 5-1 on Wednesday to suspend Chief Mark Kessler for using 'borough property for non-borough purposes without prior borough permission' by using machine guns and other weapons in his YouTube videos. Kessler had donated the weapons to the borough earlier in the year. In online videos, Kessler had used profanity to berate 'libtards' and suggested an armed rebellion against the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPennsylvania police chief suspended over profanity-laced, anti-liberal gun videos

Arkansas Attorney General Won’t Let School Arm Teachers

"Arkansas school districts can’t use a little-known state law to employ teachers and staff as guards who can carry guns on campus, the state’s attorney general said Thursday in an opinion that likely ends a district’s plan to arm more than 20 employees when school starts later this year. The Lake Hamilton School District has been using the same law for years to train a handful of administrators as security guards, but the guns are locked away and not carried by the administrators during the school day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArkansas Attorney General Won’t Let School Arm Teachers

Congress to get Obamacare exemption

"Under the law, popularly referred to as Obamacare, lawmakers and their aides were required to source health insurance 'created' by the law or offered through one of its exchanges; and without the subsidies they currently have, the members of Congress would have faced thousands of dollars in additional premium payments each year, the reports said. However, the Office of Personnel Management now plans to rule that the government can continue to make a contribution to the health-care premiums of the lawmakers and their staff, according to unnamed congressional sources and a White House official." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress to get Obamacare exemption

CNN Says Bradley Manning ‘Betrayed’ America

"From simply complaining about our tap water to being political activists, we now have on the record admission from both state and federal officials that the DHS’ classification of a ‘terrorist’ is broad enough to apply to 100% of the population. In fact, all we have to do to see the true extent of this is to go back to the bombshell report out of a recent German newspaper. The article reveals that the United States military is actually targeting those who oppose genetically modified organisms in the food supply. So, with these numbers, that means at least 93-96% of the US population can now be classified as terrorists under this factor alone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCNN Says Bradley Manning ‘Betrayed’ America

Last Hurrah of the Interventionists?

"In what a Washington Post columnist describes as a rout of Rand Paul isolationism, the Senate just voted overwhelmingly to send another $1.5 billion in foreign aid to Egypt. The House voted 400-20 to impose new sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, two days before Iran’s new president, elected on a pledge to re-engage the West on the nuclear issue, takes his oath. Do these triumphs of AIPAC and the War Party, of neocons and liberal internationalists, tell us where we are going? Or are they the last hurrahs of the interventionists, as America’s long retreat proceeds apace." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLast Hurrah of the Interventionists?