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The Afternoon Flap: August 10, 2012
These are my links for August 3rd through August 10th:
- White House Approached Schwarzenegger in 2011– Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting back into the movie business with a lineup of six film projects–but at one point, things might have gone a very different way.Mr. Schwarzenegger was approached by White House officials about a cabinet position around the time he left office in January 2011, according to people familiar with the matter.The entreaty to the centrist Republican governor wasn’t completely out of the blue.Mr. Schwarzenegger, who was in office for more than seven years and continues to promote his vision of “post-partisanship,” acknowledged earlier in his career that he’d welcome a cabinet post.
- 5 Graphs That Show How Crazy It Is to Compare California to Greece– Even though it occupies a special place of disdain for the GOP faithful, California is a pretty dynamic economy by global standards. It’s the home of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. And while the state might play a larger economic role than in other corners of the country, it’s still relatively light compared to Europe’s more bloated government sectors. State spending is last year was roughly 6 percent of its economy, while federal dollars usually make up around 18 percent. In Italy and Greece, Government is about half the economy. In Spain, it’s around 43 percent.So lumping California in with Greece, Italy, and Spain is, in the end, pretty silly. But why am I dwelling on it then? Again, every good joke is supposed to have a kernel of truth. And among a certain set of conservatives, there seems to be a feeling that states are just one extra medicaid payment away from getting savaged by the world’s bond markets. California has its economic problems. But they’re not that bad. Just ask Europe.
- Noonan: A Nation That Believes Nothing– When Americans go to Europe they see everything but the taxes. The taxes are terrible. But that’s Europe’s business and they’ll have to figure it out. Yes what happens there has implications for us but still, they’re there and we’re here.What Americans are worried about, take as a warning sign, and are heavily invested in is California—that mythic place where Sutter struck gold, where the movies were invented, where the geniuses of the Internet age planted their flag, built their campuses, changed our world.We care about California. We read every day of the bankruptcies, the reduced city services, the businesses fleeing. California is going down. How amazing is it that this is happening in the middle of a presidential campaign and our candidates aren’t even talking about it?Mitt Romney should speak about the states that work and the states that don’t, why they work and why they don’t, and how we have to take the ways that work and apply them nationally.
Barack Obama can’t talk about these things. You can’t question the blue-state model when your whole campaign promises more blue-state thinking.
But Mr. Romney can talk about it.
Both campaigns are afraid of being serious, of really grappling with the things Americans rightly fear. But there’s no safety in not being serious. It only leaves voters wondering if you’re even capable of seriousness. Letting them wonder that is a mistake.
- Homeland Security official claims in suit Secretary Napolitano favored women pals– A veteran US law-enforcement official has filed a blockbuster discrimination lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, charging she pushed him aside to make way for a less-qualified woman who’s “enjoyed a long-standing relationship” with the anti-terror chief.The lawsuit, which was first reported yesterday by blogger Debbie Schlussel, identifies the woman as Dora Schriro, who was later appointed by Mayor Bloomberg as commissioner of the city Department of Correction, a post she still holds.The court papers also allege that Suzanne Barr, Napolitano’s chief of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has engaged in “numerous” acts of “sexually offensive behavior” intended to “humiliate and intimidate male employees.
- Janet Napolitano-run Homeland Security treated male staffers like lapdogs, federal discrimination lawsuit charges– Looks like the Department of Homeland Security could be renamed the Department of Hyper Sexuality.A blistering federal discrimination suit accuses agency honcho Janet Napolitano of turning the department into a female-run “frat house” where male staffers were banished to the bathrooms and routinely humiliated.James Hayes Jr., who now is New York’s top Homeland Security cop, claims Napolitano filled top spots in Washington, D.C., with two of her gal pals who were bent on tormenting male employees.The suit identified them as Dora Schriro, who is now running the city Department of Correction, and Suzanne Barr, the chief of staff for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Soon after Schriro and Barr were hired in January 2009, male staffers were treated like lapdogs, Hayes claims.
- Romney Attack Ad – What Does it Say about a President’s Character? – Romney Attack Ad – What Does it Say about a President’s Character?
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-10 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-10
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-10 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-10
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-09 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-09
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-09 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-09
- The Romney Hood Fairy Tale– As he escalates his class war re-election campaign, President Obama has taken to calling Mitt Romney’s economic plan “Robin Hood in reverse” or “Romney Hood.” The charge is that even though Mr. Romney is proposing to cut tax rates for everybody across the board, Mr. Romney will finance this by imposing a tax increase on the middle class. His evidence is a single study by the Tax Policy Center, a liberal think tank that has long opposed cutting income tax rates.The political left always says Daddy Warbucks gets all the tax-cut money. So this is hardly news, except that the media are treating this joint Brookings Institution and Urban Institute analysis as if it’s nonpartisan gospel. In fact, it’s a highly ideological tract based on false assumptions, incomplete data and dishonest analysis. In other words, it is custom made for the Obama campaign.
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-08 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-08
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-08 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-08
- Gregory Flap @ Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville – foursquare – Time for some nachos! (@ Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville w/ 2 others)
- (500) http://flapsblog.org/2012/08/07/flaps-california-blog-flap-twitter-updates-for-2012-08-07/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=flaps-california-blog-flap-twitter-updates-for-2012-08-07&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-07
- (500) http://flapsblog.com/2012/08/07/flap-twitter-updates-for-2012-08-07/ – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-07
- Gregory Flap @ Max Brenner – foursquare – Anniversary and chocolate with Alice (@ Max Brenner)
- Gregory Flap @ Harrah’s Hotel & Casino – foursquare – A 5 mile run down the strip to start the day. Now, some Starbucks. (@ Harrah’s Hotel & Casino)
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-06 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-06
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-06 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-06
- Gregory Flap @ Harrah’s Poker Room – foursquare – Checking in! (@ Harrah’s Poker Room)
- Gregory Flap @ Vegas Baby – foursquare – Just arriving in Vegas (@ Vegas Baby)
- Gregory Flap @ Starbucks – foursquare – On the way to Vegas – now with a Venti (@ Starbucks)
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-05 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-05
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-05 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-05
- Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – 8 miles completed with Alice and Tara. (@ Ronnie’s Diner w/ 2 others)
- Olympic TV Schedule | NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo | NBC Olympics – RT @higdonmarathon A lot of T&F Sat on NBC , plus the women’s marathon Sunday at 5:00 AM. Go Shalane! Go Kara! Desiree?
- Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-04 – Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Blog @ Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-04
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-04 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-08-04
- Obama Immigration-Policy Details Emerge– The Obama administration on Friday revealed details of its sweeping immigration program that could allow almost one million undocumented young people to remain in the country, an initiative that is prompting nonprofit organizations to ramp up efforts to help potential beneficiaries.According to the rules of the program, which was first announced in June, applicant information won’t be shared with immigration enforcement except in cases that involve crimes. Applicants will be disqualified for offenses such as drunk driving, but not for driving without a license.
- Disneyland Half Marathon: Do the Galloway! – Disneyland Half Marathon: Do the Galloway!
- Facebook prices may alter Calif. budget– Facebook’s disappointing stock performance could punch a hole in the state budget if share prices don’t recover by the end of the year, according to the state’s legislative analyst.State officials, like many investors, assumed the tech company’s stock would fetch at least $35 a share after its initial public offering this year. The officials figured California would reap about $1.9 billion in new revenue over this fiscal year and next, from taxes levied once former and current employees are allowed to exercise stock options or sell shares in November.In all, the state expected that revenue to account for about 1 percent of taxes that California took in over the next two years. But Facebook’s stock has performed far below expectations.
- NV-Sen: New Video Highlights Investigations into Rep Shelley Berkley – NV-Sen: New Video Highlights Investigations into Rep Shelley Berkley
- The California Nurses Association Wants to Raise Californian’s Taxes – The California Nurses Association Wants to Raise Californian’s Taxes
- Expanding the Dental Safety Net– This white paper from the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign investigates how the addition of dental therapists to the dental team may expand the capacity of Federally Qualified Health Clinics to treat more children.Recent research from the University of Connecticut suggests that adding dental therapists to Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs) could significantly expand the availability of care for millions of American children.In particular, by including dental therapists as providers in school-based programs operated by FQHCs, the researchers estimated states could provide access to care for 6.7 million Medicaid-eligible children, nationwide.[i] Moreover, the analysis also suggests that this significant increase in access could be realized for a cost of approximately $1.8 billion — just one half of 1 percent of combined state and federal 2009 Medicaid spending.[ii]While the University of Connecticut study is the first of its kind and further research is needed, these promising, preliminary findings underscore the urgency of such additional analysis and, more broadly, for the expansion of the dental workforce throughout the dental safety-net system. This white paper reviews the study’s findings and provides context from states where allied dental providers and school-based delivery models are already in place. Expanding the Dental Safety Net also offers recommendations for policy makers as well as other stakeholders to help them support the development and systemic integration of allied dental providers to ensure all children can receive the critical dental care they need.
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Smokers Go for the Less Taxed Tobacco – Smokers Go for the Less Taxed Tobacco
- Who is the Health Nut Donor Behind California Proposition 37? – Who is the Health Nut Donor Behind California Proposition 37?
- The Morning Flap: August 3, 2012 – Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: August 3, 2012