• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for July 27th on 14:23

    These are my links for July 27th from 14:23 to 15:29:

    • White House ‘rickrolls’ Twitter critic – Tensions may be high in Washington amid a stalemate in talks to raise the US debt ceiling but the White House is keeping a sense of humor.
      White House officials were replying to questions on Twitter on Wednesday when a Tennessee man named David Wiggs complained that the discussion was "not nearly as entertaining as yesterday's."
      The White House quickly fired off a reply to @wiggsd on its Twitter feed, @whitehouse.
      "@wiggsd Sorry to hear that," the White House said. "Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes.
      "Here's something more fun: tinyurl.com/y8ufsnp."
      The link is to a video by pop star Rick Astley singing his 1987 chart-topper "Never Gonna Give You Up."
      "Rickrolling" is an Internet phenomenon begun several years ago whereby an unwitting user who clicks on a link is directed to the video of Astley's song.

      ======

      Glad they have the time to do this on the taxpayer's dime.

    • Will Janice Hahn Run For The "Black" Seat After Redistricting? – Newly minted Rep. Janice Hahn faces a tough choice if she wants to stay in Congress for more than a year. By the looks of the latest redistricting maps, she will be drawn into a coastal district that also includes Rep. Henry Waxman.

      Waxman has been in Congress for 36 years, and is as close as it gets to an immovable object. So that leaves Hahn with one other option: run for the "Gardena-Compton" seat.

      The problem with that is it's supposed to be a "black" seat — and Hahn is not black.

      The idea that she would run for the seat — and cut L.A.'s black representation in Congress from three seats to two — is already stirring anger among the black political community.

      In an email making the rounds today, activist Basil Kimbrew accuses Hahn of having "disrespected and betrayed the black community." Kimbrew claims that Hahn told him she will run for the Gardena-Compton seat, which also includes Hahn's home in San Pedro.

      Kimbrew goes on to say that African-Americans who worked to elect Hahn in her special election were "duped" and "tricked" — and would have been better off supporting Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

      Also running for the Gardena-Compton seat are Assemblyman Isadore Hall and Rep. Laura Richardson. Hahn represented Watts on the L.A. City Council and has enjoyed strong support in the black community, in part due to the legacy of her father, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

      =======

      Janice Hahn should enjoy her time in DC and hope to get a job in the second term of the Obama Administration.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for July 14th through July 15th

    These are my links for July 14th through July 15th:

    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: July 15, 2011 – The Morning Drill: July 15, 2011
    • Day By Day July 15, 2011 – Real Estate | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day July 15, 2011 – Real Estate #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-07-15 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-07-15 #tcot #catcot
    • CA-36: Newly elected Janice Hahn may find trouble in new congressional maps – latimes.com – The newest member of Congress could be among the most adversely affected by new political maps currently being considered by the state's redistricting commission.

      Democratic Congresswoman-elect Janice Hahn of San Pedro could find herself in a new district that runs along the coast from the South Bay to Malibu, and stretching inland to grab parts of West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Much of that district is currently represented by Rep. Henry Waxman. The other option for Hahn is a Long Beach district that has none of her South Bay political base and also includes two other Democratic incumbents -– Reps. Linda Sanchez and Laura Richardson.

      Democratic consultant Paul Mitchell, who has been actively monitoring the redistricting process, says Hahn could be “in serious trouble."

      "She’s losing the seat that she just won,” Mitchell said.

      Mitchell says that under new working maps released by the commission this week, the number of Latino seats in Los Angeles is likely to increase, while one of the basin’s three African American congressional seats could disappear.

      Meanwhile, criticism, political challenges and legal threats are mounting against the commission as its members continue to tinker with California’s political maps.

      This week, Republican state party chairman Tom Del Beccarro charged that “the process intended to provide fair redistricting has been overtaken by partisanship and incompetence.”

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for July 4th on 12:02

    These are my links for July 4th from 12:02 to 16:26:

    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Heartland Dental Care Office Featured in Dental Economics Magazine – RE: Does the Heartland Dental Plan go like this?

      1. Come into Midwestern and Southern cities/towns and buy up existi…

    • 2011 All-Star Final Vote Ballot | MLB.com: Events – Help get Andre Ethier to the 2011 MLB #allstargame via @MLB
    • Another outrageous claim from the Hahn campaign for congress in the CA 36th CD – POLITICO quotes Janice Hahn's adviser John Shallman as saying that 70% of the Independent votes are Democratic (sic) primary voters (in the 36th California Congressional District runoff election).

      Really?

      The funny thing is the Hahn campaign failed to release any poll backing up that facially outrageous claim. The mainstream press seems to have forgotten that in the last election Independent voters chose the Republican candidates over the Democrat candidates by 10 percentage points. How else do you think the Republicans won their greatest victory since the 1938 elections?

      The only poll we have from the Hahn campaign is from early last month which showed Ms. Hahn within 5% of her opponent, Tea Party Republican and Torrance businessman Craig Huey. The rumor is she leaked the poll to spur Democrats to forgive her for her dirty tricks campaign she ran against California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. If so, it didn't work.

      =====

      Count down to election day in 1 week. The only poll that matters is the one on July 12th.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for June 18th on 17:28

    These are my links for June 18th from 17:28 to 17:34:

    • High-ranking LAX exec and former chief of staff for Janice Hahn quits over sexually explicit texts – A high-ranking executive at Los Angeles International Airport voluntarily resigned his position for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages on a city-issued cell phone, officials confirmed Thursday.

      Michael Molina stepped down last week as the airport's deputy executive director of external affairs after he was directly asked about sending the graphic messages, said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of LAX.

      "It's an incredibly sad situation and I honestly believe Mike used some bad judgment by mixing professional and personal comments," Lindsey said. "We are very sorry to see him go under these circumstances because he's a talented guy and a very valuable member of the team."

      The nature of the explicit messages was not immediately disclosed. It was also unclear who received the messages and how many were sent by Molina, who earned more than $192,000 annually.

      Molina, 48, did not return four phone calls placed to his Harbor City home seeking comment.

      Lindsey said she had not viewed the text messages, but was alerted to the matter June 3 by a city employee.

      Molina voluntarily resigned June 7 after he was asked about the messages, Lindsey said. He will not receive a severance for his three-year tenure at LAX, but will be paid for an undisclosed number of unused vacation days.

    • Janice Hahn’s milking of ‘Homeboyz’ – It's been four days since the release of the inflammatory web video depicting Janice Hahn as a stripper who let killer gang members go free in Los Angeles.

      But the California Democratic congressional candidate appears to be the only one still talking about it.

      On Saturday, Hahn released a press release asking Republican Craig Huey to formally demand the video be taken down.

      On Friday, her campaign put out an e-mail trying to fundraise off the ad.

      But even with Huey's denunciation of the spot released by a reclusive third party right-wing PAC, Hahn's camp continues to fan the flames. Could this be their way to rally the base that appears less than motivated to turn out in a mid-July special election?

      Huey's team sure thinks so. After all, he didn't release the ad. He denounced the ad. He's basically powerless in trying to get the ad down and it's not running anywhere but the web.
      "We officially demand that Hahn and her supporters take it down. They are the only ones circulating it on the Internet or anywhere," Huey spokesman Dave Gilliard told POLITICO Saturday. "The only reason this racist video has received any exposure is because Janice Hahn has attempted to profit from it. Her shameful actions are a testimony to the shallowness of her candidacy."

      ======

      Of course, Hahn is milking this ad.

      She has a poor record to run on and she is scared Craig Huey may beat her.

      She is right to be scared.

    • Illegal immigration: Government alters Secure Communities deportations – The Obama administration is changing the Secure Communities fingerprint-sharing program and says it will concentrate more on illegal immigrants who are serious offenders.

      Facing a barrage of criticism from some Democratic governors, members of Congress and local officials, the Obama administration is altering a controversial federal program in which law enforcement agencies share fingerprints of suspects held in local jails with U.S. immigration authorities.

      The Secure Communities program, which was intended to identify and deport convicted felons, wound up also ensnaring minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, as well as witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses.

      In response, U.S. Homeland Security officials announced Friday that the department had issued new guidelines in an effort to stop immigration officers from deporting people who were arrested while reporting a crime, or who were witnesses in a potential criminal investigation or trial. The guidelines also give prosecutors more discretion on whom to deport.

      =======

      Read it all….

      The Democrats want lax enforcement so that they can capture the votes of Hispanics.

      Pandering in the worst form here.

      This will likely become a Presidential campaign issue.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 27th on 12:00

    These are my links for May 27th from 12:00 to 13:32:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 27th on 10:59

    These are my links for May 27th from 10:59 to 11:51:

    • CA-36: Liberals rally to Hahn in California special #CA36 – Liberals are circling the wagons around Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn (D) as she heads into the House special-election runoff with Republican Craig Huey.

      Hahn and Huey, a wealthy businessman, finished first and second in the May 17 primary for former Rep. Jane Harman's (D-Calif.) seat.
       
      Hahn has since been backed by EMILY's List, Gov. Jerry Brown (D), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other members of the California delegation. She's also been endorsed by anti-war activist Marcy Winograd, who placed fourth in primary.

      And on Friday, Hahn found backing in former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

      During the primary, Dean backed Debra Bowen, the California secretary of State, who subsequently finished third. The former governor of Vermont said it was now time to move forward to make sure the seat stays in Democratic hands. 

      "With the primary election now behind us, Janice has emerged as our clear and critical choice for the 36th district," Dean said in a statement. "I urge all Democrats to join me in working to get her elected to Congress, and defeat the right wing extremists backing her opponent in this race."

      ======

      The Left will not take this district for granted.

    • New Food Pyramid Coming June 2, USDA Says – In an exclusive interview with WebMD, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the replacement for the Food Pyramid will be announced on June 2 — and that the new icon heralds a "monumental effort" to improve America's health.

      Why a new icon? The pyramid really does not capture the public's attention anymore, Robert C. Post, PhD, deputy director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, tells WebMD.

      "Consumers can look forward to a new, simple, easy-to-understand cue to prompt healthy choices," Post tells WebMD. "You will get this monumental effort across all agencies as well as the private sector. A partnership with the goal of improving the health of all Americans."

      "This icon really has the potential to trigger an 'aha!' moment, where people say, 'Hey, this is not that hard, I can do this,'" says Kathleen Zelman, RD, WebMD's Director of Nutrition, who is familiar with the USDA plan. "These 'aha!' moments are what make people finally change their behavior."

      The release of the icon marks the launch of a massive effort to promote the USDA/HHS dietary guidelines announced last January.

      ======

      More Big Government…..

    • Nonsurgical Device Effective for Adult Male Circumcision – A simple disposable device, known as PrePex, can be used to effectively circumcise male adults without anesthesia or a sterile environment and with no blood loss, and patients can return to work within hours, investigators announced here at the American Urological Association (AUA) 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting.

      The device can handle the increase in HIV-prevention male circumcision in high-risk resource-limited settings like sub-Saharan Africa.

      In all, "22 million of the 33.4 million HIV-infected individuals worldwide live in sub-Saharan Africa. Scale-up of adult male circumcision in this region is a challenge because the standard surgical procedure is relatively difficult to perform and requires a surgeon or highly skilled medical professional, along with expensive instruments," Muyenzi Leon Ngeruka, MD, a staff surgeon at Kanombe Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, told Medscape Medical News. "In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a lack of medical infrastructure."

      He added that a "benefit of the device is that it can be deployed by minimally trained healthcare professionals in urban or rural environments without the need for a sterile hospital setting. We therefore believe that the new device can facilitate a rapid scale-up of adult male circumcision."

      Dr. Ngeruka presented results of a study of 50 healthy men, 18 to 35 years of age, who were recently circumcised using the device.

      ======

      Read it all.

      I guess if San Francisco and Santa Monica ban circumcision, then these folks can use this device.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for May 23rd on 15:58

    These are my links for May 23rd from 15:58 to 16:38:

    • Two patients died after waiting in ambulance outside ‘full’ Oldham hospital unit – Two patients died after being left waiting in ambulances outside an over-stretched hospital.

      The patients, believed to have been in their 80s, couldn’t get into the Royal Oldham Hospital for seven and 20 minutes respectively.

      They were assessed by ambulance crews as ‘very sick’ and were both suspected of having suffered heart attacks.

      The A&E department was so busy that all but the most urgent cases were being sent to other hospitals at the time. All five resuscitation beds at Oldham were full.

      The two patients were assessed and treated by a casualty doctor and senior nurse in the ambulances.

      It is understood neither actually had suffered a heart attack by the time they were admitted – although both later died at the hospital. One died in the resuscitation unit the following day and the other three days after being admitted to a ward.

      A probe has been launched after ambulance chiefs reported the incident to regional health authority NHS North West.

      =======

      Read it all.

      Get ready for ObamaCare

    • CA-36: What Went Wrong in the L.A. Special Election? – Hahn is expected to win the July run-off, but we expect turnout to be even lower. Huey can easily self-fund with another $500,000, and labor will have to expend its scarce resources to crank its turnout effort and put Hahn over the top. As blogger Marta Evry pointed out, Hahn will win the special election in July – but re-districting could change the demographics and make the district more Republican in 2012. Her complete analysis is well worth reading in full, but I’ll just quote one line from it: “Janice Hahn’s strategic choices, coupled with Marcy Winograd’s ego, may have created a perfect storm in which a to bring a previously unknown Tea Party candidate to national prominence.”

      ======

      Read it all…..

      From the LEFT perspective…..

    • Janice Hahn Won The Battle In 2011. Could She Lose The War In 2012? – From what I've heard and read, CA-36 is probably going to lose everything north of LAX, and potentially gain back Palos Verdes. Palos Verdes, connected to an Orange County district by a block-wide strip in Long Beach and a narrow strip of San Pedro, is profoundly gerrymandered. Those Republicans have to go somewhere.

      If this happens, it would significantly cut into Democrat's voter registration advantage, and create a district that more closely resembles the one in which Janice Hahn previously ran for congress in 1998.

      Hahn lost that race, to Republican Steve Kuykendall, 47% to 49%.

      Janice Hahn got the opponent she wanted. But by helping to advance Huey into the runoff, Hahn has elevated him from an unknown evangelical advertising consultant to a national figure in the Tea Party movement. The media isn't ignoring Craig Huey anymore. He has two months to build up his name recognition and base of support. And when he loses in July, he can turn right around and start stumping for the June 2012 primary race in a district likely to be far more receptive to his message.

      ======

      Read it all.

      Craig Huey indeed could lose in July and still come out the winner.

    • Jon Huntsman Jr., potential GOP candidate hits California for fundraising swing : – Former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr.is heading to California this week — just in time to pump up his fundraising base as the 2012 GOP presidential race shapes up.

      The former Utah Governor, who's been described as the possible GOP candidate "Democrats fear most," hits San Francisco Tuesday, Los Angeles Wednesday and Orange County on Thursday of this week. The Palo Alto native will be having private meetings with California donors and supporters, sources say.

      ======

      Money will never be Huntsman's problem but his moderate position on the issues will be.

    • President 2012: Not the whole truth in Pawlenty claims – Truth" was Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's buzzword Monday when he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He said he will tell the truth about hard choices facing the nation while others — President Barack Obama notably among them — do not.
      A parsing of Pawlenty's opening-day statements shows they were not the whole truth.
      Here is a sampling of his claims Monday and how they compare with the facts.
      ___
      PAWLENTY: "The truth is, people getting paid by the taxpayers shouldn't get a better deal than the taxpayers themselves. That means freezing federal salaries, transitioning federal employee benefits, and downsizing the federal work force as it retires." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: A federal pay freeze is already in effect. Obama proposed and Congress approved a two-year freeze on the pay of federal employees, exempting the armed forces, Congress and federal courts.
      ___
      PAWLENTY: "ObamaCare is unconstitutional." — USA Today column.
      THE FACTS: Obama's health care overhaul might be unconstitutional in Pawlenty's opinion, but it is not in fact unless the Supreme Court says so. Lower court rulings have been split.
      ___
      PAWLENTY: "Barack Obama has consistently stood for higher taxes." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: Obama's record shows more tax cutting than tax raising. The stimulus plan early in his presidency cut taxes broadly for the middle class and business, and more recently he won a substantial cut in Social Security taxes for a year. He also campaigned in support of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all except the wealthy, whose taxes he wanted to raise. In office, he accepted a deal from Republicans extending the tax cuts for all. As for tax increases, Obama won congressional approval to raise them on tobacco and tanning salons. The penalty for those who don't buy health insurance, once coverage is mandatory, is a form of taxation.
      ___
      PAWLENTY: "For decades before I was elected, governors tried and failed to get Minnesota out of the top 10 highest-taxed states in the country. I actually did it." — Campaign announcement.
      THE FACTS: Minnesota remains among the 10 worst states in its overall tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation. In its 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index, the anti-tax organization ranks Minnesota 43rd, making it the eighth worst state. The ranking slipped from 41st two years earlier. The index considers corporate, individual, sales, unemployment insurance and property taxes.

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      Read them all.

      Tim Pawlenty will NOT be the GOP nominee.