Land Of The Flea

Ron Paul: Middle of the Road in Healthcare Leads to Socialism

"Beginning in the 1940s, government policies distorted the health care market, causing prices to rise and denying many Americans access to quality care. Congress reacted to the problems caused by their prior interventions with new interventions, such as the HMO Act, ERISA, EMTLA, and various federal entitlement programs. Each new federal intervention not only failed to fix the problems it was supposedly created to solve, it created new problems, leading to calls for even more new federal interventions. This process culminated in 2010. Contrary to the claims of some of its opponents, Obamacare is not socialized medicine. It is corporatized medicine." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Middle of the Road in Healthcare Leads to Socialism

Citizen Obama’s Middle-Class Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard

"Seventy hotel rooms had been booked for the president’s secret police (not counting those for the whores). Somber men could be seen everywhere with earpieces and bulging jackets. People on the island generally yielded before them on the sidewalk, out of deference for what they understand are their own bodyguards. 'It’s good to be in Massachusetts again,' the president confided when climbing down from a MV-22 Osprey, a military helicopter-airplane hybrid. 'With its tough gun laws, the state of Massachusetts illustrates how common-sense controls can reduce crimes and create a safe gun-free zone for middle-class families like mine.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCitizen Obama’s Middle-Class Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard

Fast food workers strike in 50 cities to demand wages of $15/hour, right to unionize

"The protest movement first began in New York last November with a strike by 200 workers but quickly spread across the country with strikes in July taking place in Chicago, Detroit, Flint, Kansas City, Milwaukee and St Louis. On Thursday organizers said the strike will hit some 1,000 major fast-food restaurants, including Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. 'Hold the burgers, hold the fries, make worker wages supersize!' read a tweet from Fight for 15, a workers organizing committee. 'Many of these workers have children and are trying to support a family,' said Mary Kay Henry of the Service Employees International Union, which is supporting the strike." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFast food workers strike in 50 cities to demand wages of $15/hour, right to unionize

Detroit McDonald’s Forced To Close Amid Protest For Higher Wages

"A local McDonald’s restaurant was forced to close after its employees walked out and hundreds gathered outside to protest for higher wages. The restaurant on 8 Mile and Lahser roads along the Detroit/Southfield city line was just one location locally where fast food workers are participating in a nationwide 'walkout for better wages.' Over 200 protestors crowded the restaurant, carrying signs that read 'We are worth more. Strike for 15,' as in $15 an hour. The National Restaurant Association says the low wages reflect the fact that most fast-food workers tend to be younger and have little work experience." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit McDonald’s Forced To Close Amid Protest For Higher Wages

Students and parents boycott Chicago schools to protest new city budget

"WBBM-TV reported that the march was also held to call attention to the city’s planned school budget of $5.58 billion, which includes a cut of about $68 million from classroom services that opponents argue targets schools in communities of color. According to WGN-TV, the protest, part of a group of demonstrations in 25 cities around the country against school budget cuts, was quickly criticized by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 'I do not think it’s appropriate to advocate that children stay out of school,' he said at a press conference on Tuesday. 'You wanna make a statement? Go to the courtroom. Don’t take it to the classroom.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudents and parents boycott Chicago schools to protest new city budget

Fraternity investigated over Facebook pics of drugs and underage girls

"One of the largest university fraternities in the US was under a new police investigation on Tuesday after the suspension of a Florida chapter whose students set up a Facebook page allegedly advertising drugs and featuring photographs of topless or semi-nude underage girls. The Facebook page has since been taken down, but screen grabs leaked to the Miami Herald and Miami New Times last week show posts from students seeking cocaine or selling Adderall, a popular stimulant 'study drug' that enables users to stay awake. In addition, a caption below one photograph of a topless girl claims she was 17 when the picture was taken." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFraternity investigated over Facebook pics of drugs and underage girls

Alabama candidate wins by 72 votes after sorority offers voters free drinks

"An candidate for the Tuscaloosa City School Board in Alabama has appeared to defeat his opponent by just 72 votes after a sorority got behind him by offering free drinks and limo rides to the polls to encourage people to vote. In all, more than 60 percent of the people who signed up to vote during the final week were college-aged women. In an email obtained by Al.com, University of Alabama sorority members were promised 'incentives' to vote for Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison. On Tuesday, stretch SUV limousines, vans and a passenger bus were seen taking students from Sorority Row to the polling place." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAlabama candidate wins by 72 votes after sorority offers voters free drinks

Julian Assange on Google and the NSA: Who’s holding the ‘sh*t-bag’ now?

"Google started out as part of Californian graduate student culture around San Francisco’s Bay Area. But as Google grew it encountered the big bad world. It encountered barriers to its expansion in the form of complex political networks and foreign regulations, it started leaning heavily on the State Department for support, and by doing so it entered into the Washington DC system. A recently released statistic shows that Google now spends even more money than Lockheed Martin on paid lobbyists in Washington. That Google was taking NSA money in exchange for handing over people’s data comes as no surprise. When Google encountered the big bad world, Google itself got big and bad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulian Assange on Google and the NSA: Who’s holding the ‘sh*t-bag’ now?

How To Cash Checks From America’s Water Needs

"In the most recent study and analysis by the EPA, 73,400 water systems are at risk of putting contaminated water into homes, businesses and agricultural operations across the nation. Fixing the problems is expected to cost at least $384 billion — but we won’t really know until we actually dig into the water systems… many of which were built a century or more ago. Then there’s the matter of aging piping. Every day, on average, there are 850 water main breaks. Since 2000, the number of failed water pipes is some 4.2 million. Fixing all the known pipe problems would cost another $549 billion. These are fixes required by the EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act." Continue reading →

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Official wants E-cigarettes covered in school rules

"The Citrus County School District wants to crack down on anything that even looks like cigarette smoking. According to the Citrus County Chronicle, Planning and Growth Management Director Chuck Dixon has proposed adding language that would include electronic cigarettes to the school's no smoking policy. Dixon said the Florida Department of Health recommended language for e-cigarettes be inserted into the district’s policy. Since the Food and Drug Administration doesn't have a minimum age for who can purchase E-cigarettes, the district wants to make sure the students don't have them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial wants E-cigarettes covered in school rules