• Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: December 15, 2011

    December 15, 2011 /

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

    • Payroll tax cut and spending bill stall in Senate, raising threat of shutdown – Negotiations over how to extend a payroll tax holiday for 160 million Americans and avoid a government shutdown this weekend ground to a halt Wednesday after a standoff in the Senate over how to proceed.

      Amid the gridlock, Cabinet secretaries for the first time formally alerted affected federal workers Wednesday to the possibility of a shutdown — indicating in an ­e-mail that they would determine later which staffers are “essential” to maintain operations in the event of a funding disruption.

    • Iraq war draws to a quiet close – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta paid solemn tribute on Thursday to an “independent, free and sovereign Iraq” and declared the official end to the Iraq war, formally wrapping up the U.S. military’s mission in the country after almost nine years.

      “After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real,” Panetta said at a ceremony held under tight security at Baghdad’s international airport. “To be sure, the cost was high — in blood and treasure for the United States, and for the Iraqi people. Those lives were not lost in vain.”

    • U.S. Lawmakers Offer Bipartisan Proposal for Medicare With Private Option – A bipartisan proposal to give the elderly a choice between the government’s Medicare program and private insurance plans is intended as a “framework” to overhaul the entitlement, Representative Paul Ryan said today.

      Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who heads the House Budget Committee, proposed replacing Medicare with a private insurance system in the spring. He has now teamed with Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, on a new plan to amend the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.

      The proposal, presented today by the lawmakers, may alter the debate in next year’s congressional campaign as both parties hope to sway voters with their arguments on Medicare’s future. The plan gives people turning 65 starting in 2022 the ability to choose between the existing system, where the government pays hospital and doctors’ bills for seniors, and an alternative system of regulated private insurance plans.

    • Paul Ryan-Ron Wyden: Bipartisan Medicare reform – In an extraordinary policy and political breakthrough, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced a bipartisan reform deal. In doing so, they eviscerated the Democrats’ Medicare gambit, undermined President Obama complaints that progress is impossible with Republicans in Congress and gave Mitt Romney a huge political shot in the arm.

      The Post reports: “ Working with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the Wisconsin Republican is developing a framework that would offer traditional, government-run Medicare as an option for future retirees along with a variety of private plans.”

      In a press release, the duo explained the key elements of the bill:

    • Obama nominates 2 for labor board – President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced plans to nominate two Democrats to the National Labor Relations Board, despite a Republican threat to block any appointments to the agency.

      The president intends to nominate Sharon Block, deputy secretary for congressional affairs at the Labor Department, and Richard Griffin, currently the general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers, to fill two vacancies on the board.

      The move comes just days after the board’s top lawyer dropped a controversial lawsuit that charged Boeing with illegally retaliating against union members in Washington state by opening a new plant in South Carolina. That case — along with other union-friendly decisions — has made the board a target of Republicans who contend it has acted too favorably toward unions.

      Obama’s nominees would have to be confirmed by the Senate, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last week he would block Obama from making any further appointments to the board. The agency usually has five members but has operated for months with three. It will lose another member by the end of the year, leaving it without enough members to conduct business.

    • The Supremes v. Obamacare: Will the Court Decide the 2012 Presidential Election? – At least four justices recently agreed to review the centerpiece of President Obama’s domestic policy. Presuming for the moment that the court divided into its usual liberal and conservative quartets, what strategies might they have employed in deciding to determine the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPAACA)? U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th and 6th Circuits had upheld the law’s individual mandate, which requires all Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax penalty for not doing so. Congress believed it had the authority to impose such a mandate under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. Liberals assert that health care, constituting nearly one-fifth of the nation’s gross domestic product, is demonstrably within Congress’s economic regulatory purview. On the other hand, the 11th Circuit (in a Florida case brought by officials from 26 states) voided the individual mandate, while upholding the PPAACA’s expansion of Medicaid, employer mandates and insurance exchanges. Although all of these circuit decisions were appealed to the nation’s highest court, the justices accepted only the 11th Circuit decision for review. The Supremes have asked both sides to address the constitutionality of the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion, as well as whether the entire law falls if they void only one part of it. The court will also tackle whether the individual mandate penalty can even be legally challenged prior to its implementation.
    • Romney boosters want a Republican campaign about nothing? – Kudos to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” for a terrific discussion Thursday morning between William Bennett (who seems to support Romney) and Rudy Giulaini (who had harsh words for Romney and kind words for Gingrich).

      When the topic of conversation turns to, whom should win the Republican nomination? — I think we can agree their opinions are more relevant than having Tina Brown and Arianna Huffington weigh in (which happens all too frequently).

      During the discussion, Bill Bennett made a point several times — which I found quite telling — inasmuch as it seems to be a key rationale for nominating Mitt Romney.

      “What do we want the conversation to be about this summer and fall?,” Bennett asked rhetorically. “I’m worried the conversation will be about [Newt] … rather than about Barack Obama and his policies.”

      This is an argument I’ve heard a lot, lately. And it strikes me as silly for a variety of reasons.

      First, it is utterly naive to think Republicans can make this election solely a referendum on Barack Obama. Of course, they should attempt it, but the truth is that neither Obama (who might have a billion dollars to run in negative ads) nor the media will ever let that happen.

      Whomever Republicans nominate will endure bitter attacks. If Newt Gingrich is the nominee, he will be cast as an insane and erratic cad. If Romney is the nominee, he will be cast as a rich flip-flopper who fired people for a living and belongs to a “weird” religion. I’m not sure which attack is better or worse for Republicans. In this economy, one might argue that the rich “Wall Street” attack on Romney would be more harmful in terms of attracting independent voters. But who knows?

    • Giuliani slams Romney, likens Newt to Reagan – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani slammed Mitt Romney as an unelectable flip-flopper, and said Newt Gingrich, who he compared to Ronald Reagan, offers Republicans the best shot at unseating President Obama.

      Speaking Thursday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Giuliani recalled his GOP candidacy in 2008 in which he ran against Romney.

      “I’ve never seen a guy change his positions on so many things, so fast, on a dime, on everything,” Giuliani said. “Pro-choice, pro-life. And pro-choice because somebody, a close friend died, and he became pro-choice because this woman died of an abortion. Then he figures out there are embryos and he changes.”

      “Then he was pro-gun control,” Giuliani continued. “Fine. Then he becomes a lifetime member of the NRA. Then he was pro cap-and-trade. Now he’s against cap-and-trade. He was pro-mandate for the whole country, then he becomes anti-mandate and he takes that page out of his book and republishes the book. I could go on and on.”
      Giuliani said this opens Romney to an attack from President Obama in the general election that “this is a man without a core,” “a man without substance,” and “a man that will say anything to become President of the United States.”

    • Newt Gingrich’s general election prospects look bleak – If former House Speaker Newt Gingrich manages to win the Republican presidential nomination, he could jeopardize his party’s chances of ousting President Obama next November, according to several new national polls released this week.

      Surveys from the NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, AP/GfK and Reuters/Ipsos all show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney running better than Gingrich in general election matchups against Obama.

      “Electability will come into play for many Republican votes,” said one neutral GOP consultant who preferred to speak anonymously. “It’s going to become problematic. I think you’re starting to signs of it.

    • Playbook 2012: The Right Fights Back (Politico Inside Election 2012) – Two of America’s most perceptive political reporters join forces for an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the race for the White House in POLITICO’s Playbook 2012, a series of four instant digital books on the 2012 presidential election. The first edition, The Right Fights Back, follows the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
    • Is Newt Gingrich taking Iowa seriously enough? – Newt Gingrich’s improbable comeback may fall short if he doesn’t win Iowa — and there are signs he’s not taking the threat seriously enough.

      Gingrich is getting pounded on Iowa TV by both a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC and Ron Paul’s campaign and is doing little to fight back against ads which take direct aim at him. Less than three weeks before the caucuses, the former speaker is airing a single commercial with little money behind it.

    • Mark Levin calls out Krauthammer, Will, Coulter, and Rubin – Mark Levin says that the attacks on Newt Gingrich reminds him of how Sarah Palin has been attacked, and he specifically criticizes Charles Krauthammer, George Will, Ann Coulter, and Jennifer Rubin for basically being over the top in their criticism of Newt and their silence on Romney:
    • Winnowing the Field – National Review Online – RT @EWErickson: So I guess we go for Gingrich then. Or Perry or Huntsman.
    • Washington Examiner backs Romney – Also Pans Newt Gingrich – OP White House hopeful Mitt Romney picked up the endorsement of the Washington Examiner Wednesday, a boost from an editorial page with a long history in conservative politics.

      In an editorial that spends as much space slamming Newt Gingrich as it does praising Romney, the Examiner declares Obama “the only Republican who can beat Obama,” citing recent polls that show the former Massachusetts governor faring better against President Barack Obama than Gingrich.

      “The Washington Examiner believes Romney can defeat Obama, but Gingrich cannot,” the newspaper wrote. “And Romney the businessman is far better suited to the nation’s highest office – by temperament, experience, and cast of mind – than Gingrich the consummate Washington insider. By fits and starts over the years, Romney has become the reliable conservative that America so badly needs at this crucial moment in her history.”

      The editorial goes on to deride Gingrich’s role consulting with Freddie Mac after he left Congress.

      “The fact is, Gingrich is part of the problem, not part of the solution,” the newspaper wrote. “He has tried mightily to shift attention away from his Washington insider status, saying, ‘I have never done lobbying of any kind.’ But that claim simply does not square with the facts, especially concerning Gingrich’s lobbying Republicans in Congress for a new Medicare entitlement in 2003.”

    • Winnowing the Field – National Review Pans Newt Gingrich – We fear that to nominate former Speaker Newt Gingrich, the frontrunner in the polls, would be to blow this opportunity. We say that mindful of his opponents’ imperfections — and of his own virtues, which have been on display during his amazing comeback. Very few people with a personal history like his — two divorces, two marriages to former mistresses — have ever tried running for president. Gingrich himself has never run for a statewide office, let alone a national one, and has not run for anything since 1998. That year he was kicked out by his colleagues, the most conservative ones especially, who had lost confidence in him. During his time as Speaker, he was one of the most unpopular figures in public life. Just a few months ago his campaign seemed dead after a series of gaffes and resignations. That Gingrich now tops the polls is a tribute to his perseverance, and to Republicans’ admiration for his intellectual fecundity.
    • Romney Plays Tiffany’s Card – Romney Plays Tiffany’s Card
    • Romney Plays Tiffany’s Card – In an interview with Sean Hannity ahead of tomorrow’s GOP presidential debate, Mitt Romney sought to neutralize the gaffe he made in last weekend’s debate by taking a shot at Newt Gingrich.

      Said Romney: “As for him trying to reference a $10,000 rhetorical bet, the Speaker, as I recall, probably shouldn’t be talking about that given a $500,000 bill at Tiffany’s.”

    • MSNBC Likens Romney To The KKK With His “Keep America American” – MSNBC daytime anchor Thomas Roberts says Mitt Romney’s “Keep America American” slogan plays homage to the Ku Klux Klan. The patriotic slogan, which is used in this ad, was apparently used by the KKK in the early 1900s.

      Somehow the folks at MSNBC believe Mitt Romney is acknowledging his Klan roots by using the slogan in his 2012 campaign for the presidency.

    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Daily Extraction: December 14, 2011 – The Daily Extraction: December 14, 2011
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: December 14, 2011 – The Morning Drill: December 14, 2011
    • Rick Perry, Mitt Romney internals show Newt Gingrich slippage, sources say – A weeklong blitz of negative ads from Ron Paul and “Restore Our Future,” the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC, have taken a toll on Newt Gingrich’s standing in Iowa, internal numbers from the Rick Perry and Romney camps show, according to multiple sources.

      Sources didn’t provide specific numbers on how far he’s slipped, but it’s perceptible in both camps’ numbers, the sources said.

      Perry has been inching up, the sources said – in part thanks to his faith-based push but largely because of his controversial anti-gay rights ad, and the big question is whether he draws at all from Romney and pushes him down out of the top three finishers in the state.

      The person who is holding strong, according to the internal numbers, is Paul, who has a true shot of winning the caucuses, according to several Iowa Republican insiders surveying ground games and energy.

    • Romney Warns of Nominating ‘Zany’ Gingrich – Updated Mitt Romney is sharpening his warning to Republicans about the consequences of nominating Newt Gingrich, declaring in an interview on Wednesday: “Zany is not what we need in a president.”

      “Zany is great in a campaign. It’s great on talk radio. It’s great in print, it makes for fun reading,” Mr. Romney told The New York Times. “But in terms of a president, we need a leader, and a leader needs to be someone who can bring Americans together.”

      With 20 days before the voting begins at the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Romney is intensifying his forceful attack on the credibility of Mr. Gingrich, who has emerged as his leading rival in the Republican nominating fight. He has shed his year-long reluctance against doing interviews, hoping to change the narrative surrounding his candidacy before the holidays.

    • L.A. International Is Facebook’s Most Social Airport – L.A. International Is Facebook’s Most Social Airport #fb
    • Obama looking good in Virginia – Public Policy Polling – RT @ppppolls: Obama leads Romney by 6 and Gingrich by 7 in Virginia, just as much as he won the state by in 2008:
    • The Study of Orangutans Deliver Insight Into Obesity of Homo Sapiens | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – The Study of Orangutans Deliver Insight Into Obesity of Homo Sapiens
    • » Maharaj named Los Angeles Times editor JIMROMENESKO.COM – Russ Stanton has resigned as Los Angeles Times editor. Davan Maharaj , formerly managing editor = new editor
    • Uh Oh! Obama 49% Vs. Gingrich 39% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Uh Oh! Obama 49% Vs. Gingrich 39% #tcot #catcot
    • At Least for Reid, Gingrich Is the 2012 Republican Pick – NYTimes.com – RT @RalstonFlash: So Harry Reid now says Newt is “the presumptive Republican nominee.” via @jestei. #kissofdeath
    • The Morning Flap: December 14, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: December 14, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: November 15, 2011

    November 15, 2011 /

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

    • Dr. Coburn Releases Report Exposing Billions in Giveaways for Millionaires – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released a new report “Subsidies of the Rich and Famous” illustrating how, under the current tax code, the federal government is giving billions of dollars to individuals with an Annual Gross Income (AGI) of at least $1 million, subsidizing their lavish lifestyles with the taxes of the less fortunate.

      “All Americans are facing tough times, with many working two jobs just to make ends meet and more families turning to the government for financial assistance. From tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes, and luxury yachts to subsidies for their ranches and estates, the government is subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Multi-millionaires are even receiving government checks for not working.

      “This welfare for the well-off – costing billions of dollars a year – is being paid for with the taxes of the less fortunate, many who are working two jobs just to make ends meet, and IOUs to be paid off by future generations. We should never demonize those who are successful. Nor should we pamper them with unnecessary welfare to create an appearance everyone is benefiting from federal programs,” Dr. Coburn said.

      These billions of dollars for millionaires include $74 million of unemployment checks, $316 million in farm subsidies, $89 million for preservation of ranches and estates, $9 billion of retirement checks, $75.6 million in residential energy tax credits, and $7.5 million to compensate for damages caused by emergencies to property that should have been insured. All and all, over $9.5 billion in government benefits have been paid to millionaires since 2003. Additionally, millionaires borrowed $16 million in government backed education loans to attend college. On average, each year, this report found that millionaires enjoy benefits from tax giveaways and federal grant programs totaling $30 billion. As a result, almost 1,500 millionaires paid no federal income tax in 2009.

    • ObamaCare and the Limits of Government – The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether ObamaCare is constitutional, granting certiorari in a case brought by 26 states shortly after that law was enacted in March of last year. In so doing, it will be ruling upon the very nature of our federal union.

      The Constitution limits federal power by granting Congress authority in certain defined areas, such as the regulation of interstate and foreign commerce. Those powers not specifically vested in the federal government by the Constitution or, as stated in the 10th Amendment, “prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” The court will now determine whether those words still have meaning.

      As we argued two years ago in these pages, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (aka ObamaCare) is unconstitutional. First and foremost, the law requires virtually every American to have health insurance. Congress purported to impose this unprecedented “individual mandate” pursuant to its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, but the requirement is not limited to those who engage in any particular commercial or economic activity (or any activity at all). Rather, the mandate applies to everyone lawfully present in the United States who does not fall within one of the law’s narrow exclusions.

    • Dems fear Supreme Court will rule against Obama on healthcare reform – Democrats on Capitol Hill are worried that the Supreme Court will rule against President Obama’s healthcare reform law. 

      Over the last couple weeks, congressional Democrats have told The Hill that the law faces danger in the hands of the Supreme Court, which The New York Times editorial page recently labeled the most conservative high court since the 1950s.

      While the lawmakers are not second-guessing the administration’s legal strategy, some are clearly bracing for defeat.

      “Of course I’m concerned,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). The justices “decide for insurance companies, they decide for oil companies, they decide for the wealthy too often.”

      The pessimism is fueled in part by the John Roberts court’s decision in the 2010 Citizens United case on corporate spending in elections, which Brown has called the “worst” in his memory.

      The comments underscore the gamble the White House took when it opted not to seek to delay the high court’s review until after the 2012 election. That decision leaves the fate of Democrats’ signature domestic achievement in the hands of a right-leaning court that has consistently ruled against liberals on everything from campaign finance to the District of Columbia’s gun ban to Bush v. Gore.

    • Kagan to Tribe on Day Obamacare Passed: ‘I Hear They Have the Votes, Larry!! – On Sunday, March 21, 2010, the day the House of Representatives passed President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan and famed Supreme Court litigator and Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe, who was then serving in the Justice Department, had an email exchange in which they discussed the pending health-care vote, according to documents the Department of Justice released late Wednesday to the Media Research Center, CNSNews.com’s parent organization, and to Judicial Watch.

      “I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing,” Kagan said to Tribe in one of the emails.

      The Justice Department released a new batch of emails on Wednesday evening as its latest response to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by CNSNews.com and Judicial Watch. Both organizations filed federal lawsuits against DOJ after the department did not initially respond to the requests. CNSNews.com originally filed its FOIA request on May 25, 2010–before Elena Kagan’s June 2010 Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

      The March 2010 email exchange between Kagan and Tribe raises new questions about whether Kagan must recuse herself from judging cases involving the health-care law that Obama signed–and which became the target of legal challenges–while Kagan was serving as Obama’s solicitor general and was responsible for defending his administration’s positions in court disputes.

      According to 28 USC 455, a Supreme Court justice must recuse from “any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The law also says a justice must recuse anytime he has “expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy” while he “served in governmental employment.”

    • Occupy Wall Street – How Long, How Many, Which Cities? – How is Occupy Wall Street faring—not broadly, but at this very moment? Below, we’ve compiled a few indicators that attempt to answer this question, from conditions in Zuccotti Park to the movement’s global spread. The metrics, which update every five minutes, are admittedly imperfect and far from comprehensive, but we hope they give you a sense of how things are going. If you would like to see a particular datapoint included, let us know in the comments.
    • The real Wall Street occupation is online – The Occupy Wall Street movement, now that it has broadened in scope beyond the financial district of Manhattan to attain a truly national — even global — scale has the potential to lay the groundwork for a new generation of start-ups capable of reshaping the financial system in radically new ways. These tech start-ups, while officially unaffiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, are nonetheless responding to the unmet needs of these protesters, individuals who feel abandoned by the current financial system.

      The breakout company of the Occupy Wall Street movement thus far has been Palo Alto-based WePay, a start-up largely unknown until the protest movement began September 17. Over the past 45 days, WePay has become the de facto official way to send money to the “Occupy” protesters while simultaneously bypassing the largest financial institutions. At a time when many payment alternatives already exist, it’s more than a coincidence that an unknown technology player, free of any associations with the banking establishment, has emerged as the financial intermediary of choice. Just a few months ago, the obvious choice for sending money to an organization like Occupy Wall Street would have been PayPal, but that was before the company decided to cooperate with the financial embargo against WikiLeaks.

    • Immigration from Mexico in fast retreat, data show – North of the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican presidential candidates are talking tough on illegal immigration, with one proposing — perhaps in jest — an electrified fence to deter migrants.

      But data from both sides of the border suggest that illegal immigration from Mexico is already in fast retreat, as U.S. job shortages, tighter border enforcement and the frightening presence of criminal gangs on the Mexican side dissuade many from making the trip.

      Mexican census figures show that fewer Mexicans are setting out and many are returning — leaving net migration at close to zero, Mexican officials say. Arrests by the U.S. Border Patrol along the southwestern frontier, a common gauge of how many people try to cross without papers, tumbled to 304,755 during the 11 months ended in August, extending a nearly steady drop since a peak of 1.6 million in 2000.

      The scale of the fall has prompted some to suggest that a decades-long migration boom may be ending, even as others argue that the decline is only momentary.

      “Our country is not experiencing the population loss due to migration that was seen for nearly 50 years,” Rene Zenteno, a deputy Mexico interior secretary for migration matters, has said.

      Douglas Massey, an immigration scholar at Princeton University, said surveys of residents in Mexican migrant towns he has studied for many years found that the number of people making their first trip north had dwindled to near zero.

    • Some Residents Cheer the Clearing of Zuccotti Park – Some Residents Cheer Clearing of Zuccotti Park
      As residents and office workers woke to a Zuccotti Park cleared of its protest encampment, some cheered the removal while others objected to the tough police action that brought it about, my colleague Cara Buckley reports:

       

      One young father, pushing his toddler son in a stroller, gave police officers guarding Zuccotti Park a thumbs up. Another man, rushing by in a cream suit, flashed them a mega-watt grin. The sight of the park, freshly cleared and washed, stopped a blonde woman walking by in her tracks. “Ooooooh, good,” she cooed.

      The clearing of Zuccotti Park struck a deep blow to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which had used the site as its physical and spiritual heart. But as the newly ousted protesters gathered in Foley Square to decide what to do next, many residents, workers and business owners near the park felt deep relief. ” Super ecstatic,” said a young office worker. “Definitely relieved,” said a young woman working behind the counter at Panini & Co., a cafe overlooking the park.

      Paul Bruno, 54, who lives in the Bronx but has serviced elevators in Lower Manhattan for 30 years, had lunched daily in the park. He agreed with the protesters’ message, he said, but not their means. “The movement is the right movement,” he said, “but the movement got lost.”

      Another man, who worked nearby and said he could not give his name because it was against his company’s rules, said it was time for the park to be cleared.

      “It started out as a cool grassroots movement, he said, ” and then it turned into a big homeless camp.”

      Still residents described a frightening scene last night, with police rushing into the park, bright lights glaring and helicopters whirring above. Mark Scherzer, a lawyer who lives half a block from the park, said he found the clearing deeply upsetting.

      “I think the protesters were doing a valuable service,” he said, “And I think it was lawful for them to be there.”

    • More Republicans say Cain allegations are “serious matter” – Most Republicans now see the allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain as a serious matter, according to a new Post-ABC poll, a switch from a poll taken just after the charges were first reported. And while two-thirds continue to say the accusations are not going to determine their vote, there’s also still a deep split between GOP men and women.

      Just after the harassment allegations surfaced publicly, 54 percent of all Republicans were skeptical of their seriousness. Now, by contrast, 64 percent assess the situation as a serious one, with the biggest shift among women.

      Fully 74 percent of Republican women call the charges serious, up from 39 percent in early November. Men are also reflecting the trend, but less dramatically so, rising from 36 to 53 percent.

    • Why Do I Need a Google+ Business Page? – Yesterday Google+ rolled out the much-anticipated Google+ Page feature, and now businesses, brands, products, entertainers, and lots of other entities can have their own accounts.

      I know what you’re thinking: Great, another social media page I have to manage for my company.

      Hey, I’m with you — just when you think you’ve figured out how to make business gains from Twitter and Facebook, along comes Google+, another widespread social tool that’s a big, wide-open question mark.

      But you know what? Reserving your spot for your brand now is probably a good idea, even if you haven’t figured out what you’re doing with it. I did.

      You can register a Google+ business page here, but keep in mind that you have to have a personal Google+ account first. Only one user per account so far, and vanity URLs are not available yet. But why?

    • Court order allows Occupy Wall St. protesters back – Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided Zuccotti Park early Tuesday, evicting dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters from what has become the epicenter of the worldwide movement protesting corporate greed and economic inequality.

      Hours later, the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing Occupy Wall Street protesters to return with tents to the park. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on Occupy Wall Street protesters.

      At a morning news conference at City Hall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city knew about the court order but had not seen it and would go to court to fight it. He said the city wants to protect people’s rights, but if a choice must be made, it will protect public safety.

      About 70 people were arrested overnight, including some who chained themselves together, while officers cleared the park so that sanitation crews could clean it.

      By 9 a.m., the park was power-washed clean. Police in riot gear still ringed the public space, waiting for orders to reopen it.

    • Gingrich: I’m auditioning to be “conservative alternative” to Romney – On Fox News this morning, Newt Gingrich jabbed Mitt Romney while responding to polls showing him vaulting into the top-tier.

      “I think you’ve had a series of people — it started with Tim Pawlenty, and then Michele Bachmann, and then Rick Perry, then Herman Cain — there’ve been a series of people who’ve, sort of, auditioning for being the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.

      And Mitt Romney’s being very stable and very steady, and now, we’re in a situation where — to some extent — people are looking at Newt Gingrich and having to decide: do they like the solutions I’m offering?”

      So far, Gingrich has shown great restraint in hitting Romney, but this might be the beginnings of his case.

      Yesterday, a Public Policy Polling survey showed Newt leading Romney by 10%, while a CNN poll had Romney up by 2%.

      That earned Gingrich the rare distinction of being the lead story on both The Drudge Report and Huffington Post at the same time.

    • Twitter Can Predict Who’s Winning the GOP Presidential Race [Study] – Political candidates do better in the polls when they gain more Twitter followers, new research reveals. National polls happen all the time but it’s possible to predict when certain candidates will climb in the rankings based the rate they are followed.

      Zach Green, CEO of Twitter election researcher 140elect, wrote in a blog post Friday that he anticipated this trend, but now has the stats to prove it.

      “A lot of people were surprised [Newt] Gingrich is now in second place, but we’ve seen that coming since Sep. 7,” Green told Mashable. “Twitter indicates he’ll continue to pick up.”

      Gingrich (visualized below) gained a slew of new followers when he announced his candidacy on May 11 and on Sept. 7 after an impressive GOP debate performance. Both events led to poll gains. The candidate’s Twitter momentum has steadily increased over the last two months, which Green predicts will lead to continued poll gains.

    • Day By Day November 13, 2011 – Zombies | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day November 13, 2011 – Zombies #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-15 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-15 #tcot #catcot
    • Dilbert November 13, 2011 – The Invisible Man » Flap’s California Blog – Dilbert November 13, 2011 – The Invisible Man
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 14, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 14, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: November 14, 2011

    November 14, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 10th through November 14th:

    • CHELSEA CLINTON TO SHARE “MAKING A DIFFERENCE” STORIES FOR “NBC NIGHTLY NEWS” AND “ROCK CENTER WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS”– Chelsea Clinton is teaming up with “Rock Center with Brian Williams” and “NBC Nightly News” as a Special Correspondent, the network announced today. Clinton’s role with the shows and the network will be to highlight stories within the “Making a Difference” franchise.”Making a Difference” segments have a history of profiling organizations and individuals who represent the best of what works in the United States and around the world, frequently emphasizing stories about everyday people doing extraordinary things. Clinton’s dedication to public service, solution-based advocacy and focus on empowering people across the country and around the globe resonates with the purpose and content of “Making a Difference.” Her position with NBC News will still allow Clinton to continue her work with the Clinton Foundation and her studies in parallel.

      “Chelsea is a remarkable woman who will be a great addition to NBC News. Given her vast experiences, it’s as though Chelsea has been preparing for this opportunity her entire life,” said Steve Capus, President of NBC News. “We are proud she will be bringing her considerable, unique talents and dedication to NBC News.”

      “Our Making a Difference segments have become a signature of the broadcast. They adhere to a simple goal of highlighting the good works being done across the country and around the world,” said Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing Editor of Nightly News and Rock Center. “Chelsea Clinton has led a remarkable life. She possesses an uncommon understanding of humanity — on city streets, across this country and around the globe. We are so excited she’s joining us to tell the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

    • Friday question answered – The Pros and Cons of Newt Gingrich– Yet there are still conservatives entranced with his patter and admiring of his intellect. PBS727 declares, “You bet he can. Strongest candidate out there. To hell with with his personal baggage. Just look at [Bill] Clinton, [John F.] Kennedy.” Carldahlmann argues: “Gingrich knows history, and he knows Congress. He’s smart and quick — he would kill Obama in any debate. In spite of his personal baggage, I think he’d make a dynamite President, and would create a very effective troika with Boehner and McConnell — this would be the Democrats’ worst nightmare, which is why I like it.”I agree that Gingrich will benefit for some time from Herman Cain’s and Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s woes. It is ironic that the feisty base, which wants to fight, fight, fight against the Democrats, would consider the last GOP speaker of the House to get badly rolled by the White House. But in short order not only his personal baggage but his embrace of decidedly unconservative ideas and ethical problems will become a turnoff for many evangelicals, the group the not-Romney candidate must capture. For all of his flash and humor, Gingrich remains a loose cannon and an inconsistent conservative — not exactly what the not-Romney crowd is looking for.
    • Democrats obsessed with Romney?– Borrowing the title from a popular new wave song from the 1980s, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is out Monday with an email that highlights the numerous recent attacks on the Republican presidential candidate by national Democrats.In an email with the heading “You’re My Obsession,” the Romney campaign states that “President Obama’s political machine has developed an obsession with attacking Governor Romney.”

      The former Massachusetts governor, who’s making his second bid for the White House, has been at or near the top of most national polls this year in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, and he’s also currently at or near the top in surveys in crucial early voting states.

      For months, Romney’s been the target of Web videos and emails from the Obama re-election campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and Priorities USA, an independent group that is supporting the president’s re-election bid. But the efforts seem to have stepped up in recent weeks.

      Many of the emails and Web videos highlight what the Democrats call Romney’s “flip-flop” on numerous issues.

    • Canada Will Sell Oil To China If US Keeps Delaying The Pipeline – The Obama administration put off the decision to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline until 2013.
      But that won’t stop Canada from trying to find another buyer, namely China, according to AFP.
      Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has already spoken with Chinese President Hu Jintao about possible oil exports this past Saturday.
      Harper told reporters, “This does underscore the necessity of Canada making sure that we are able to access Asian markets for our energy products.”
      With plans for the Keystone XL oil pipeline on the rocks, and China looking to diversify its energy supplier portfolio, this might be the perfect opportunity for Canada to get its foot in the door of the Chinese energy market.
    • Poll Watch: Voters split on harassment charges, favor lie detector test– Likely voters are split over whether to believe Herman Cain or the women who accused him of sexual harassment, but a plurality would like him to take a lie detector test to help decide the issue.According to The Hill Poll, likely voters are split, 39 percent to 40 percent respectively, on whether they believe Cain or his accusers. Another 21 percent aren’t sure whom to believe.

      Forty-seven percent of likely voters would like him to follow through on his professed willingness to take a lie detector test, while 35 percent said he should not and 18 percent were not sure.

    • Obama says U.S. has been ‘lazy’ about attracting business– Does President Obama believe the country he leads has the right stuff?Every now and then Obama lets slip that he doesn’t believe his countrymen are all that tough.

      Back in September he told a TV station that the U.S. had “gotten a little soft’’ when it came to competing in international markets.

      On Saturday, speaking at a business forum on the sidelines of an economic summit in Honolulu, he said the U.S. had been “lazy’’ when it came to enticing businesses to invest in America.

      “But we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades,’’ the president said. “We’ve kind of taken for granted — well, people will want to come here and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America.”

      Soft and lazy. Sounds like America could use a few months on Parris Island.

      Not that he’s lost hope. In the first year of his term, he gave a healthcare speech and proclaimed that “we can do great things.’’

      This year, in his State of the Union speech, he was no less optimistic.

      Americans, he said, are a people who “do big things.’’

      “Lazy’’ is a strong word, though, and in a staid talk about trade and currency policy, it caused a bit of a stir.

    • Washington’s unwelcome delay in the Keystone XL pipeline project– EARLY LAST WEEK, as the Obama administration prepared to announce a delay in deciding whether to permit the construction of the Canada-U.S. Keystone XL oil pipeline, Joe Oliver, Canada’s natural resources minister, was in Asia to discuss cooperation with the energy-hungry and cash-flush Chinese on extracting his nation’s oil reserves. Given that China already has an $11 billion stake in Canadian oil production, Mr. Oliver should have little trouble getting the help.Despite the passion among environmentalists against Keystone XL, Mr. Oliver’s travels illustrate the critical point: Canada’s oil will come out of the ground, and someone somewhere will refine it and burn it.
    • Video: FINALLY: Warren Buffett Reveals What HIS Tax Plan Would Look Like – Warren Buffett is on CNBC this morning talking about the Buffett tax.
      As he’s indicated before, what Obama calls the “Buffett Rule” (higher taxes on the rich, basically) differs from his real proposal for such a tax.
      His idea is really simple.
      He says his tax would require earners making over $1 million to pay 30% of their income in taxes and those making more than $10 million to pay 35%—something he admits most people are already doing.
      The difference between the current progressive system, and his idea is that his scheme wouldn’t give any breaks to people who get much of their money from capital gains.
    • President Newt?– Newt Gingrich did very well for himself in the foreign policy debate Saturday, especially when he put down a smug Scott Pelley on the issue of whether killing Al-Awlaki comported with the “rule of law.”  …  Jennifer Rubin and I discuss what a Gingrich Presidency might be like in our most recent Ricochet podcast here (starting about 4:20 in).  Rubin also has a detailed post on why Gingrich is not a “conservative dreamboat.”  … A key point not addressed by issues papers is his firmness in negotiation, or lack thereof. During the welfare reform debate of 1995-6, my impression was that Gingrich always wants to be the hero who walks into the room and cuts the grand deal. As a result he is all-too-ready to make dramatic concessions, which is one reason Clinton cleaned his clock in the post-1994 budget negotiations. Fastest sellout in the West! …KEYWORDS: INFANTILE, EGOMANIAC
    • Some Democrats refuse to back President Obama– Sen. Joe Lieberman was treated like an outcast back in 2008 when he broke from the Senate Democratic Caucus and openly opposed Barack Obama’s bid for the White House.Asked last week if he’d back Obama in 2012, the Connecticut independent said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

      This time around, there may be more Liebermans.

      A number of moderate Democrats like Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar and liberals like Sen. Bernie Sanders are declining to give their unqualified support for the president, saying they’re either too focused on their own races or are calling on the White House to cater to their agendas before they will offer an endorsement. Some up for reelection in red states or in swing districts fear that even showing up on stage with Obama will give their opponents an image to seize upon — much as Democrats did in 2008 when they repeatedly flashed shots of Sen. John McCain hugging President George W. Bush.

      So as the president faces the dual challenges of energizing his base while wooing moderates, some Democrats in Congress are keeping their distance, with the president’s approval rating hovering in the mid-40s — and even lower in states like West Virginia, where moderate Sen. Joe Manchin is up for reelection.

    • Obama Dings Republicans On Waterboarding, Says Jobs Bill May Have To Wait Until After Election – President Barack Obama took one of his first swings at his Republican opponents on Sunday, criticizing Rep. Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain for supporting the use of waterboarding.
      In an afternoon press conference at the APEC summit in Hawaii, Obama was read comments from the two aspiring presidents, and set aside his vow not to comment on the Republican race until they have a nominee to categorically defend his administration’s stance on the issue:
      “Let me just say this: They’re wrong. Waterboarding is torture,” he said. “It’s contrary to America’s traditions. It’s contrary to our ideals. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we operate. We don’t need it in order to prosecute the war on terrorism. And we did the right thing by ending that practice. ”
      “If we want to lead around the world, part of our leadership is setting a good example. And anybody who has actually read about and understands the practice of waterboarding would say that that is torture. And that’s not something we do — period.”
      But Obama refused to attack former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for criticizing his record dealing with Iran, saying only that it’s a complicated issue — and anyone who says otherwise “is either politicking or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-14 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-14 #tcot #catcot
    • Run For Her 5K Part 2
      – YouTube       – I uploaded a @YouTube video Run For Her 5K Part 2
    • Anti-Newt Gingrich chatter begins– A conservative source forwards an anti-Newt Gingrich email making the rounds this weekend, drawing Republicans’ attention to the former House speaker’s history of off-message and ideologically erratic comments.The email is a reminder of the challenge Gingrich faces ahead of him, if he really has to go through the same level of vetting as other credible GOP presidential candidates — like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann did when they were on the upswing in the polls. But it’s also a sign that Gingrich’s rise is being taken seriously by his opponents inside the party. The email reads, in part:

      Fellow Conservatives I urge all of to take a hard look at the real Newt Gingrich. Take 10 minutes of your time to read this email and pass it around as we can’t afford another faux president.

      Continue Reading
      *The Newt Gingrich Files: Does he know where he stands?*

      *MUST KNOW QUOTES*

      • Gingrich: “There Are Parts Of The DREAM Act That Are Actually Quite Useful.” (“Newt And Callista Gingrich On Al Punto With Jorge Ramos,” Newt.org, 10/13/10)

      • In A 2007 Interview With PBS, Gingrich Came Out In Favor Of A Cap And Trade System, Saying “It’s Something I Would Strongly Support.” (PBS’ “Frontline,” 4/24/07)

    • How Gingrich Can Win– Rich Galen explains how Newt Gingrich can win the GOP presidential nomination.”The two candidates who are stable in their numbers are Romney (with a ceiling of about 25 percent of GOP voters) and Ron Paul (who will stay between six and 10 percent). That leaves about 65 percent of Republican voters looking for a home. Cain will continue to drift downward (my words, not Newt’s); Santorum, Huntsman, and Bachman are, and will continue to be minor players.”

      “So, Newt’s thinking goes, he doesn’t need to beat Romney — he needs to consolidate the non-Romney vote and he’s the only one who can do that.”

      An example from recent history: “Sixty-two percent of Iowa voters wanted someone other than Barack Obama four years ago. The only reason he won was because Hillary and Edwards almost precisely split 60 percent of the votes.”

    • Run for Her Part 1
      – YouTube       – Run for Her Part 1
      – YouTube
    • Run for Her Part 1
      – YouTube       – I uploaded a @YouTube video Run for Her Part 1
    • run for her 2011 – 5K Run & Friendship Walk – Home – Off soon to run a 5K for Run for Her supporting ovarian cancer research in Los Angeles
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-13 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-13 #tcot #catcot
    • foursquare:: Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner

      – Breakfast after 8 miles with Alice Tara, Nancy, Mary and 4 more from Roadrunners (@ Ronnie’s Diner)

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-12 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-12 #tcot #catcot
    • The Daily Extraction: Dr. Tommy Murph’s Costa Rica Extraction Courses | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – The Daily Extraction: Dr. Tommy Murph’s Costa Rica Extraction Courses
    • Day By Day November 11, 2011 – The Mean | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day November 11, 2011 – The Mean #tcot #catcot
    • The Daily Extraction: Dr. Tommy Murph’s Costa Rica Extraction Courses | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Daily Extraction: Dr. Tommy Murph’s Costa Rica Extraction Courses #tcot #catcot
    • Dilbert November 9, 2011 – Full Body » Flap’s California Blog – Dilbert November 9, 2011 – Full Body
    • Happy Veterans Day – 2011 » Flap’s California Blog – Happy Veterans Day – 2011
    • President 2012: Is Newt Gingrich the Next Conservative Anti-Romney Candidate? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Is Newt Gingrich the Next Conservative Anti-Romney Candidate? #tcot #catcot
    • Happy Veterans Day – 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Happy Veterans Day – 2011 #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-11 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-11 #tcot #catcot
    • The American Spectator : Charlie Hebdo, Free Speech, and Islam – Unfortunately, the persistence of such sentiments only invites one to state principles that might seem obvious, but never grow unworthy of affirmation. There is no moral equivalence between those exercising their right to free speech and Islamists who wish to impose the standards of traditional Sharia (Islamic law) on society and are prepared to harm physically others and their property to achieve that end.
      More generally, this affair — along with the attack on a Tunisian TV station for broadcasting the film Persepolis, and the  death threats that forced the flight from Pakistan of the judge who convicted the assassin of Salman Taseer, the Punjab governor who opposed the blasphemy law — demonstrates that Islam as a whole still has a long way to go to come towards accepting basic standards of toleration of criticism.
      In short, one hopes that the following principle — well summed up by a prominent Melkite Greek Catholic deacon — will come to be accepted as mainstream in Islam: ‘[O]ne’s response to someone else’s provocative action is entirely one’s own responsibility. If you do something that offends me, I am under no obligation to kill you, or to run to the United Nations to try to get laws passed that will silence you. I am free to ignore you, or laugh at you, or to respond with charity, or any number of reactions.’
    • After Firebombing French Magazine Returns with Gay Muhammad Cover | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – After Firebombing French Magazine Returns with Gay Muhammad Cover #tcot #catcot
    • Facing Eurocollapse – As the world financial crisis deepens, it is unlikely that it can be alleviated without carefully reviewing the infelicitous confluence of mistakes in Europe and the United States that has brought it to its present extreme state. The European Monetary Union, involving 17 countries, was based on a number of generally admirable premises, but also on a couple of false assumptions. All civilized people were grateful at the extension of European cooperation to this new level of intimacy, as ancient foes led by France and Germany reached an ever-closer community of national interest. For German chancellor Helmut Kohl, who did not trust Germany’s political instincts to cause his country to act responsibly when alone and not in the company of allies of less erratic recent history, an ever-closer union was an insurance policy of constructive peer-group thinking. He was sincere in espousing “a European Germany and not a German Europe.”
    • Romney and Gingrich Shine; Perry Doesn’t – No one touched Romney. He was unflappable and knowledgeable. He again showed the right political instinct to want to address the struggles of the middle class, although his tax plan doesn’t do it. His China-bashing will probably play well in the Midwest, although it’s foolhardy on the merits. He consistently got applause. I remember one of the early debates when Romney was flying above the other candidates and Pawlenty — I think — attacked him and he declined to reply, saying “that’s fine.” He said the same thing tonight when Santorum went after him. After all the churning in the race, Romney is in the same basically comfortable place he was in several months ago.
    • Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites – As social media use has become pervasive in the lives of American teens, a new study finds that 69% of the teenagers who use social networking sites say their peers are mostly kind to one another on such sites. Still, 88% of these teens say they have witnessed people being mean and cruel to another person on the sites, and 15% report that they have been the target of mean or cruel behavior on social network sites.
    • Chewing Xylitol Gum Decreases Risk for Ear Infection in Children | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Chewing Xylitol Gum Decreases Risk for Ear Infection in Children
    • Flap’s California Afternoon Collection: November 10, 2011 » Flap’s California Blog – Flap’s California Afternoon Collection: November 10, 2011
    • Effort to repeal new Senate districts advances – Total Buzz : The Orange County Register – Effort to repeal new Senate districts advances –
    • Capitol Alert: Controller John Chiang says California has $1.5 billion cash gap – Controller John Chiang says California has $1.5 billion cash gap
    • Poll Watch: Americans Ability to Afford Food Falls to Near Three Year Low | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Americans Ability to Afford Food Falls to Near Three Year Low #tcot #catcot
    • (500) http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2011/11/do-local-tax-election-results-foreshadow-2012-state-tax-fight/?utm_source=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter – Do Local Tax Election Results Foreshadow 2012 State Tax Fight?
    • Police arrest UC Berkeley students, professor over Occupy camp – San Jose Mercury News – Police arrest UC Berkeley students, professor over Occupy camp – San Jose Mercury News
    • Untitled (http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/09/4040604/dan-walters-new-california-senate.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) – Dan Walters: New California Senate maps still not settled
    • GOP senators praise Boxer on highway bill – GOP senators praise Boxer on highway bill
    • GOP senators praise Boxer on highway bill– California Sen. Barbara Boxer won rare praise from Republicans on Wednesday for unanimously passing an overhaul of federal highway programs bill out of her committee.Boxer, a liberal Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, worked hand-in-hand with conservative Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe to consolidate 90 federal highway programs into 30, grant states more flexibility in spending highway money and expand a pilot program to leverage taxpayer money with private investment.

      The two-year, $84 billion bill has no earmarks for pet projects and aims to offset all new spending with trims in other areas of the government. The 18-0 vote was a rare moment in the bitterly partisan climate on Capitol Hill and provides a template for infrastructure investment that has been sought by the Obama administration but rebuffed by Republicans.

      The Senate last week defeated President Obama’s proposal for $50 billion in infrastructure spending.

    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The United States to Have Policy Goal to Wipe Out AIDS – The United States to Have Policy Goal to Wipe Out AIDS
    • Poll Watch: Most Republicans See Mitt Romney as the Presidential Nominee | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Most Republicans See Mitt Romney as the Presidential Nominee #tcot #catcot
    • Former Football Players Prone to Late-Life Health Problems? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Former Football Players Prone to Late-Life Health Problems?
    • Occupy Protest Movement to Focus on New Year’s Rose Parade? » Flap’s California Blog – Occupy Protest Movement to Focus on New Year’s Rose Parade?
    • Cain Sinking in Iowa – Cain Sinking in Iowa
    • The Morning Flap: November 10, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: November 10, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Blog.com Links and Comments for November 4th

    November 4, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 4th.

    • Stroke Damage to Insular Cortex Boosts Smoking Cessation– Smokers who suffer a stroke that causes a lesion at the insular cortex are more than 5 times more likely to stop their nicotine habit than those whose stroke did not result in such a lesion, according to a new study.In addition, the researchers found that preparedness to change also influenced successful smoking cessation poststroke.

      The study results were not surprising, given that research has already shown that biological and psychological factors help explain smoking cessation in patients with stroke, said the study’s lead author, Rosa Su?er Soler, PhD, from the Neurology Department, Josep Trueta Hospital, Girona, Spain.

      Biologically, the insular cortex may play an important role in emotional decision-making, and in terms of psychology, smoking behavior may be explained by stages, processes, and levels of change, Dr. Su?er told Medscape Medical News. “Before you stop smoking, you must be aware that you have a problem and take the decision to stop smoking.”

      The study was published online November 3 in Stroke.

    • Vaccination Exemptions Rise in California Amid Concerns– Increasing rates of unvaccinated young children with “personal belief exemptions” from vaccination requirements are becoming worrisome, according to research presented here at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 139th Annual Meeting.Recent concern about vaccine safety appears to be gaining strength, and state regulations requiring parents to vaccinate their children before they can attend public schools vary. In California, obtaining a personal belief exemption could not be easier — parents are only required to sign their name to a 2-sentence standard exemption statement on the back of the vaccination requirement form.

      In evaluating data on the rates of exemptions from the California Department of Public Health, the state’s Department of Education and the US Census, researchers found that in 2010, the state had about 11,500 kindergartners with personal belief exemptions, representing a 25% increase over the previous 2 years.

      The increasing rate indicates that, for kindergartners who have adhered to vaccination schedules, exposure to children with personal belief exemptions is about 2.3 per 100 children.

      Because children with the exemptions tend to be found in clusters, the rate of children with exemptions who are exposed to other children who also have exemptions — a higher-risk combination — was 15.6 per 100 in 2010, said lead author Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program in Philadelphia.

      “The average kindergartner with a personal belief exemption attends a school where the exemption rate is 15 per 100, and we see that figure increasing all the time,” she reported.

      Previous data from the fall of 2008 showed that 10% of the nearly half-million kindergartners in California attended schools where personal belief exemption rates exceeded 5%, and as many as 61% of kindergartners with 1 or more personal belief exemptions (n = 9196) attended schools where the personal exemption rate exceeded 5%. Among those, a third attended schools where the personal belief exemption rate exceeded 20%.

      In a separate study conducted by the same team, the researchers investigated the concerns that parents have about vaccines by evaluating data on the specific vaccines received by 168 patients at a pediatric practice in Philadelphia where the practitioner, though pro-vaccine, is known to accommodate parents who seek alternative vaccination options.

    • Sales Taxes and the Internet– Online commerce is a big, big business, accounting for nearly one-tenth of retail sales in the United States. It is a lively and growing sector, a bright spot in our troubled economy — thus the gloomy shadow of the taxman inevitably falls upon it, in the form of a bill proposed by Republican senators Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. A similar bill was proposed by Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois earlier in the year, and a separate effort is afoot to have the so-called supercommittee institute new Internet-tax measures as part of its deficit-reduction plan.But it’s not all about big business: The Enzi-Alexander bill would affect entrepreneurs with as little as $500,000 a year in sales.

      Contrary to most accounts, there is no sales-tax loophole for online retailers. Customers who buy goods online are in most cases required to pay a “use tax” equivalent to the sales tax they would have paid in a conventional transaction. The problem, from the tax-consumers’ point of view, is that most taxpayers do not comply with the law. The state and local governments that depend upon sales-tax revenue protest that they are strapped for cash. That isn’t entirely true, either: Those jurisdictions are spending more money than ever, most of it on salaries and benefits for the legion of bureaucrats and commissars they maintain.

      But in spite of their swollen payrolls and work forces, state and local governments apparently cannot be bothered to hire tax agents in sufficient numbers, thus the now universal practice of their requiring businesses to do their sales-tax collecting for them. The Internet-tax measures under consideration would not expand governments’ power to tax, but its power to conscript businesses into acting as tax collectors.

      The original sin here is government’s delegating its tax-collecting duties to private businesses. If government wishes to levy a tax, let it do the work of collecting it. It is true that this would prove burdensome to cities and states. It is also burdensome to the conscripted businesses. The difference is that collecting taxes is government’s duty, not Amazon’s.

    • Stu’s Dangerous Dozen: Unsafe House Incumbents – Dan Lungren (R-Calif.). Another election means another problem for Lungren, who somehow wins despite his reluctance to raise money. He will be running in a 46 percent McCain district this time, compared with the 48 percent McCain district he ran in last time, but he also will draw the same opponent, Ami Bera. Bera, a doctor who raises money nationally from Indian-Americans, ran a competitive race in a terrible year for a Democrat, so he hopes the better environment will help him close the 7-point gap he had in 2010.
    • GOP Candidate Beats Obama in Swing States on Jobs, Deficit – Voters in 12 key swing states are substantially more likely to feel that a generic “Republican candidate” for president would do a better job than President Obama of handling the federal deficit and debt, and are slightly more likely to prefer the Republican on the issue of unemployment. Swing-state voters are split on the question of whether Obama or the Republican candidate would do a better job of handing healthcare as well as terrorism and international threats.
    • Colgate recalls mouthwash over contamination fears– Colgate-Palmolive is removing up to 50,000 bottles of Periogard mouthwash from store shelves in the U.K. due to possible bacterial contamination.The micro-organisms may be harmful to some people with weakened immune systems or some lung conditions, according to the company.

      Up to 11 other countries, including some where the product has a different brand name, are also involved in the recall of 300-mL containers containing chlorhexidine.

      “The presence of micro-organisms has been detected in some retained production samples of Periogard,” Colgate-Palmolive said in a statement. “Under certain circumstances, these micro-organisms may be harmful to individuals with compromised health. Accordingly, in order to ensure the safety of our consumers, in cooperation with the Medicine and Health Regulatory Authority, Colgate-Palmolive UK is recalling all Periogard.”

    • ADA updates guidelines for managing ONJ risk patients– A patient receiving antiresorptive therapy for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis has a low risk of developing osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), and benefits of the medication outweigh the risk of ONJ, according to an advisory statement from the ADA.The statement, “Managing the Care of Patients Receiving Antiresorptive Therapy for Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis,” is based on a literature review by an advisory committee of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs and updates ADA’s 2008 advisory statement (Journal of the American Dental Association, November 2011, Vol. 142:11, pp. 1243-1251).

      ONJ associated with antiresorptive agents has mostly been referred to as bisphosphonate-associated ONJ, but nonbisphosphonate antiresorptive agents are now available that also could be associated with ONJ, the panel noted. That is why they refer to the condition as antiresorptive agent-induced ONJ (ARONJ).

      A relatively new condition, bisphosphonate-associated ONJ, has received tremendous media attention because of a flurry of lawsuits against the makers of Fosamax and Zometa alleging that the medications led to ONJ.

      These lawsuits have been a factor in raising patients’ and dentists’ awareness of the condition, according to Helen Ristic, PhD, director of scientific information for the ADA’s Division of Science and one of the panelists who contributed to the report.

    • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Targets California GOP Representatives With Ad Campaign » Flap’s California Blog – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Targets California GOP Representatives With Ad Campaign
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Do Those Wisdom Teeth REALLY Need to Come Out? – Do Those Wisdom Teeth REALLY Need to Come Out?
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 4, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 4, 2011 #tcot #catcot
    • Cain accuser stands by sexual harassment complaint – CNN.com – Cain accuser stands by sexual harassment complaint
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for October 4th through October 5th

    October 5, 2011 /

    These are my links for October 4th through October 5th:

    • Senate Democrats rewrite Obama’s jobs bill– Senate Democrats are rewriting portions of President Barack Obama’s jobs bill to include a new 5 percent tax on income above $1 million — a proposal that is sure to be blocked by Republicans.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday he is changing the plan in an effort to attract more votes from fellow Democrats. He said he plans to bring the bill to the floor next week. Reid, however, wouldn’t predict whether Democratic senators would unite behind the measure, which is unlikely to get any support from Republicans.

      The new tax would replace tax increases sought by the president. Obama’s plan called for raising taxes by limiting itemized deductions — including those for charitable donations and mortgage interest — for individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000.

      Reid said the millionaire’s tax would cover the entire cost of Obama’s jobs bill — about $450 billion over the next decade.

      Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said there was opposition to Obama’s plan because people making $250,000 or $300,000 in high cost areas, like New York, don’t consider themselves rich.

      “Drawing a line at $1 million is the right thing to do,” Schumer said.

      The top income tax rate is currently 35 percent, on taxable income above $379,150. Under the bill, the new top rate for millionaires would go to 40 percent.

      Reid announced plans to move the bill as Obama tried to blame Republicans for Congress’ failure to act.

      ======

      Tax the rich enough and they won’t be rich any longer….

    • Green Jobs Training Program Falls Short, Should Return Funds– A $500 million green jobs program at the Department of Labor has so far provided only 15 percent of current participants with jobs, leading the agency’s inspector general to recommend that the bulk of the money be returned to the Treasury.The program, which was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aims to find employment for almost 80,000 people by providing grants for labor exchange and job training projects. With those grants expiring over the next 15 months, IG officials concluded that the program would fail to come close to that target.

      More than $300 million remains unspent, according to the report (pdf). Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who requested the Labor audit when he was ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said the findings show that Congress should focus on creating jobs in all sectors of the economy.

      “This report paints a pretty bleak picture of the program’s effectiveness in job creation,” he said in a statement. “It’s hard to see how leaving $300 million in unused funding for the program in the hands of the Labor Department benefits either the taxpayers or the unemployed.”

      ======

      Another busted Obama “Green Jobs” initiative.

      Return the damn money to the government…..

    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: October 5, 2011 – Today’s top health and dentistry headlines…..:
    • Dilbert October 5, 2011 – Room to Grow » Flap’s California Blog – Scott Adams and Dilbert today award Employee of the Month…..an honor?
    • Day By Day October 5, 2011 – Numerology | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day October 5, 2011 – Numerology #tcot #catcot
    • foursquare – I’m at Rio Hotel & Casino (3700 W Flamingo Rd., at S Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas)
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for October 3rd through October 4th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for October 3rd through October 4th #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for October 1st through October 2nd

    October 2, 2011 /

    These are my links for October 1st through October 2nd:

    • Althouse: "Lots of photos of Perry having nothing whatsoever to do with this story, and not a single one of the rock. Well done, WP!" – Does this have anything to do with Rick Perry (who, asked about the rock, said the word is an "offensive name that has no place in the modern world")? Well, yes, if you're inclined to think that Perry's rural Texas background has bred something nasty into him:

      Perry has spoken often about how his upbringing in this sparsely populated farming community influenced his conservatism. He has rarely, if ever, discussed what it was like growing up amid segregation in an area where blacks were a tiny fraction of the population.

      So what's he hiding, eh?

      Reading on, we see that — according to Perry — Perry's father leased the property in 1983, and the first thing he did was paint over the word on the rock. And every time Perry saw the rock, it was painted over. But WaPo found 7 individuals who say they remember seeing the name on the rock during the time when Perry's father's name was on the lease. And:

      Longtime hunters, cowboys and ranchers said this particular place was known by that name as long as they could remember, and still is.

      “The cowboys, when they were gathering cattle, they’d say they’re going to the Matthews or Niggerhead or the Nail” pastures, said Bill Reed, a distributor for Coors beer in nearby Abilene who used to lease a hunting parcel adjacent to the Perrys’. “Those were all names. Nobody thought anything about it.”…

      “You know, Texas is a little different — you go where it’s comfortable,” Reed said. “. . . It would have been one thing if [the Perrys] had named it, but they didn’t. So, it’s basically a figure of speech as far as most people are concerned. No one thought anything about it.”

      No one thought anything about it. Those who are looking for a racial issue to play know how to jump on a phrase like that. Okay, then, let him who is without sin cast the first rock.

    • Reverend Wright is off limits, but a painted-over rock is page 1 at WaPo – There is no story behind the headline.

      The article itself reveals that the offensive name of the camp, painted on a rock near the entrance, was painted over by Perry’s father soon after they started hunting at the camp in the early 1980s.

      But WaPo made sure to put the offensive word near the top of the article, so that the charge would stick in readers’ memories. It’s not until later in the article that they state the facts. And even then, WaPo cites anonymous sources discounting the precise years in which it was painted over, but never the fact that it was painted over.

      A statement issued by the Perry campaign denies that his family ever owned the property, confirms that the rock was painted over in the early 1980s, and that the name officially was changed by the State of Texas in 1991.

      I have warned people about the upcoming election, and not to take much comfort in the current polling.

    • Economic protesters remain camped out at L.A. City Hall – After a daylong protest against what they view as inequities in economic policies, more than 100 protesters remained on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday night, drumming, singing and discoursing on fiscal policy.

      The Occupy LA protest, which drew hundreds of people in peaceful waves all day Saturday, is modeled after a similar movement in New York that has been staging a sit-in on Wall Street for almost two weeks. Most participants said they hope to change or expose economic polices that benefit the richest 1% of Americans.

      Like their Manhattan counterparts, the Los Angeles protesters said they plan to camp out by City Hall indefinitely or until they draw enough attention to their cause. Other protests have been springing up around the world, including in Cleveland and Australia.

      Andrew Roberts, a 33-year-old father from Long Beach, said he was protesting to try to ensure a better future for his children. "The system that's in place clearly isn't working anymore." Roberts said. "If this carries on my children aren't going to have the same standard of living as I do, and that's sorry."

    • Poverty pervades the suburbs – Sep. 23, 2011 – A record 15.4 million suburban residents lived below the poverty line last year, up 11.5% from the year before, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of Census data released Thursday. That's one-third of the nation's poor.
      And their ranks are swelling fast, as jobs disappear and incomes decline amid the continued weak economy.
      Since 2000, the number of suburban poor has skyrocketed by 53%, battered by the two recessions that wiped out many manufacturing jobs early on, and low-wage construction and retail positions more recently.
      America's cities, meanwhile, had 12.7 million people in poverty last year, up about 5% from the year before and 23% since 2000. The remaining 18 million poor folks in the U.S. are roughly split between smaller metro areas and rural communities.
      "We think of poverty as a really urban or ultra-rural phenomenon, but it's not," said Elizabeth Kneebone, senior research associate at Brookings. "It's increasingly a suburban issue."
      Suburbia's population has boomed among all classes in recent decades as job growth shifted from central cities to their outskirts. Low-wage workers were needed to service this burgeoning number of residents and companies.
      Suburbia became home to the greatest concentration of impoverished residents by 2005, Kneebone said. That stemmed in part from the collapse of the manufacturing industry based outside Midwestern cities. The loss of those jobs contributed to pushing many into poverty.
    • Cities with the worst poverty rates – Reading had the highest percentage of residents living in poverty of any of the 555 U.S. cities with a population of 65,000 or more in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The margin of error means Reading's rank as first is not decisive. Also, these statistics are based on the survey, so populations differ from those given in the 2010 Census results. The survey is an estimate and not an exact count.

      Population belowMargin CityPopulationpoverty levelof error

      1. Reading
      Population: 86,087
      Population below poverty level: 35,517 (41.3%)
      Margin of error: +/- 4.9

      2. Flint, Mich.
      Population: 100,277
      Population below poverty level: 41,265 (41.2%)
      Margin of error: +/- 4.5

      3. Bloomington, Ind.
      Population: 67,122
      Population below poverty level: 26,782 (39.9%)
      Margin of error: +/- 4.0

      4. Albany, Ga.
      Population: 74,913
      Population below poverty level: 29,866 (39.9%)
      Margin of error: +/- 5.2

      5. Kalamazoo, Mich.
      Population: 67,452
      Population below poverty level: 26,201 (38.8%)
      Margin of error: +/- 4.9

      6. Brownsville, Texas
      Population: 173,186
      Population below poverty level: 66,844 (38.6%)
      Margin of error: +/- 3.4

      7. Gary, Ind.
      Population: 80,319
      Population below poverty level: 30,778 (38.3%)
      Margin of error: +/- 5.2

      8. Detroit, Mich.
      Population: 702,010
      Population below poverty level: 263,864 (37.6%)
      Margin of error: +/- 1.8

      9. College Station, Texas
      Population: 83,291
      Population below poverty level: 31,025 (37.2%)
      Margin of error: +/- 4.0

      10. Pharr, Texas
      Population: 70,380
      Population below poverty level: 26,140 (37.1%)
      Margin of error: +/- 6.8

    • One in Five New York City Residents Living in Poverty – Poverty grew nationwide last year, but the increase was even greater in New York City, the Census Bureau will report on Thursday, suggesting that New York was being particularly hard hit by the aftermath of the recession.
    • DEBUNKING OBAMA’S TAX DEMAGOGERY – When President Obama says that the rich don’t pay their share of taxes, he is lying, distorting, and demagoging.

      Here are the facts according to the IRS:

      • Those making more than $1 million pay 24% of income in taxes
      • Those making $200,000 to $300,000 pay 17.5%
      • Those making $100,000 to $125,000 pay 9.9%
      • Those making $50,000 to $60,000 pay 6.3%
      • Those making $20,000 to $30,000 pay 2.5%

      And what of millionaires who pay no taxes?

      There are 1,470 of them. They represent six-tenths of one percent of all those with million dollar incomes in the U.S. If we assume that they make an average income of $2 million a year each, taxing them at the same rate as other millionaires (24.4%) would yield $367 million, which would increase Treasury income tax revenues by 30 one-hundredths of one percent or one-third of one-tenth of one percent!

      Overall, the IRS reports that the revenues from the income tax are sharply skewed toward taxes on the rich:

      • The top 1% pays 39%
      • The top 5% pays 60%
      • The top 10% pays 72%
      • The bottom half pays 3%

      So who does Obama think he is kidding?

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th through August 22nd

    August 22, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 19th through August 22nd:

    • NLRB and Labor Department regulations spell trouble – An obscure federal body, the National Labor Relations Board, along with the U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed regulations that will dramatically change how union representation elections are conducted.
      If finalized, these rules will significantly reduce the availability of legal counsel for employers and will limit the ability of employers to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech.

      Here is how these rules working together will negatively affect businesses.

      One afternoon in 2012 a small-business owner receives notice from the NLRB that a local union has filed a petition for a unionization election. The owner had no idea that union activity was occurring and is shocked to learn that his whole world could dramatically change in just two weeks.

      The owner calls his long-time lawyer seeking legal advice on what he should do to keep the union out of his family business. The owner thinks he needs to give a speech to his employees and asks for help. The lawyer says, "Sorry, I'd love to help you edit a speech, but if I do so then, under the Labor Department's new 'persuader' regulation, I'll have to publicly disclose all of my labor relations clients and what they paid me last year. I can't do that because I'd lose them as clients."

      So, the business owner goes without legal advice. Since he hasn't been in this situation before, he doesn't know all the ways to get into trouble with the NLRB. He inadvertently commits a couple "unfair labor practices" by doing something as simple as disciplining an unruly employee.

      ======

      Read it all

    • South Carolina Governor Haley: NLRB is a ‘rogue agency’ – Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday blasted the National Labor Relations Board as a “rogue agency” for taking action against Boeing Co. for allegedly union busting by building a $1 billion plant in South Carolina.

      Appearing on “Fox & Friends,” Haley said she strongly supports Boeing, which has been accused by the NLRB of locating the plant in South Carolina, where unions are weak, and shifting workers there to retaliate against employees in Washington state for past strikes at the aircraft maker’s facilities.

      Haley said she thinks the NLRB is out of bounds and wants to prevent the same thing from happening in other states.

      “I’m a governor that’s committed to making sure this doesn’t happen to other governors,” she said.

      Haley, a Republican, blamed President Barack Obama for the NLRB action against Boeing.

      “For a president who claims he’s about job creation, he’s done nothing but try to kill all our American jobs,” she said.

      Boeing, which is building the 787 Dreamliner at the South Carolina facility, has said there’s no basis for the NLRB case.

      ======

      Indeed they are.

    • Political dispute over Boeing plant escalates – The Republican-led battle against the chief federal labor agency is escalating, with the head of a key congressional oversight panel and the top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board accusing each other of flouting constitutional and legal constraints.

      The fight is ostensibly over the NLRB's bid to prevent Boeing from opening a jet-manufacturing plant in South Carolina. But GOP lawmakers are portraying it as Exhibit A in their case against President Barack Obama's alleged regulatory overreach.

      The dispute began in April when NLRB acting general counsel Lafe Solomon said there was potential merit in a complaint by Boeing's main union that the aerospace giant built the North Charleston, S.C., factory in retaliation for past strikes at its large plant in Everett, Wash., near Seattle.

      Boeing says it decided to make 787 Dreamliner planes in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, because of legally protected business factors.

      Among the factors Boeing cites are the South Carolina state government's granting of $900 million in tax breaks, and concerns over delays in completing deliveries to airlines around the world that have ordered more than 800 of the next-generation aircraft.

      The dispute is now before NLRB administrative law judge Clifford Anderson. In June, he rejected Boeing's motion to dismiss it and is hearing evidence from the Chicago-based firm and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

      ======

      Read it all.

      As the Presidential campaign comes to South Carolina this will be an issue.

    • Burbank Man Arrested for Feeding Pigeons Posing Risks to Airplanes at Bob Hope Airport » Flap’s California Blog – Burbank Man Arrested for Feeding Pigeons Posing Risks to Airplanes at Bob Hope Airport
    • Welcome to Flap’s California Blog » Flap’s California Blog – Welcome to Flap’s California Blog
    • North Carolina Free Clinic Treats About 2,700 Dental Patients | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – North Carolina Free Clinic Treats About 2,700 Dental Patients
    • President 2012: Former New York Governor George Pataki to Run for President? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012: Former New York Governor George Pataki to Run for President? #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Convicted Murderer Charged With Soliciting Murder Over Loan for Dental Work – Convicted Murderer Charged With Solicitng Murder Over Loan for Dental Work
    • Day By Day August 20, 2012 – Open Season | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 20, 2012 – Open Season #tcot #catcot
    • Day By Day August 21, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 21, 2011 #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-21 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-21 #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th on 12:31 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th on 12:31 #tcot #catcot
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-20 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-20 #tcot #catcot
    • Gregory Flap Cole: "@CEP_Observer You do know …" « Deck.ly – @CEP_Observer You do know I am no longer in private practice? Yes, they are and are important for screening… (cont)
    • foursquare – Home after the long run. Now time for some Lock Up, Hard Time and Kool-Aid (@ Home)
    • foursquare – Post 14 mile run with Alice, Tara, Nancy, and Mary (@ Ronnie's Diner w/ 3 others)
    • Shocker: California State board finds very few pay tax on out-of-state goods – As Amazon.com gathers signatures to reverse a new online tax collection law, the state Board of Equalization said Friday that a mere 0.42 percent of personal income tax filers paid use tax on their 2009 out-of-state purchases.

      The board, which administers sales and use tax collection in California, issued a new four-page review of use tax behavior in 2009. The state collected $10.4 million in use tax payments from personal-income tax returns that year.

      Under long-standing California law, taxpayers are supposed to self-report use tax on remote purchases from out-of-state businesses, though very few do so. Democrats passed a different law in June that attempted to force out-of-state retailers like Amazon.com to collect those taxes.

      BOE researchers found that wealthier taxpayers participated in greater frequency and paid more use tax to the state. Their report showed that 1.12 percent of households making more than $100,000 in adjusted gross income paid use tax, compared to 0.15 percent of those reporting between $0 and $30,000. It also showed that those above $100,000 paid on average $311 in use tax, compared to $76 for those making between $0 and $30,000.

      ======

      What a shocker!

    • Jerry Brown removing GOP appointees from key water panel – In his latest move to reverse GOP appointments, Gov. Jerry Brown will replace former Sen. Dave Cogdill and water agency leader Paul Kelley on a key panel that will shape decisions on water storage and a possible Delta canal, the governor's spokesman confirmed Friday.

      Cogdill was the chief GOP legislative negotiator on the historic 2009 water deal that placed an $11 billion bond on a future statewide ballot and reconstituted the California Water Commission. His subsequent appointment by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the nine-member commission was considered part of the bipartisan deal struck that year by lawmakers and the former Republican governor.

      Kelley is a former Sonoma County supervisor and former director of the Sonoma County Water Agency. A Republican, he serves as president of the Association of California Water Agencies, a key player in the 2009 water talks.

      Brown and Republican lawmakers have been at odds, particularly since talks broke down over a state budget deal in June. Republicans have accused Brown of rescinding past promises made by Democrats in bipartisan agreements and see the Cogdill move as the latest example.

      ======

      So, what else is new?

      Jerry Brown is a cry-baby partisan who failed as Governor the forst time and is failing today.

    • Older Americans with a College Education Have Better Emotional Health After Age 65? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Older Americans with a College Education Have Better Emotional Health After Age 65?
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: There is an APP for Your Dental Lab Prescription Dentists: Dental Rx – There is an APP for Your Dental Lab Prescription Dentists: Dental Rx
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 19th on 12:31

    August 19, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 19th from 12:31 to 16:37:

    • Shocker: California State board finds very few pay tax on out-of-state goods – As Amazon.com gathers signatures to reverse a new online tax collection law, the state Board of Equalization said Friday that a mere 0.42 percent of personal income tax filers paid use tax on their 2009 out-of-state purchases.

      The board, which administers sales and use tax collection in California, issued a new four-page review of use tax behavior in 2009. The state collected $10.4 million in use tax payments from personal-income tax returns that year.

      Under long-standing California law, taxpayers are supposed to self-report use tax on remote purchases from out-of-state businesses, though very few do so. Democrats passed a different law in June that attempted to force out-of-state retailers like Amazon.com to collect those taxes.

      BOE researchers found that wealthier taxpayers participated in greater frequency and paid more use tax to the state. Their report showed that 1.12 percent of households making more than $100,000 in adjusted gross income paid use tax, compared to 0.15 percent of those reporting between $0 and $30,000. It also showed that those above $100,000 paid on average $311 in use tax, compared to $76 for those making between $0 and $30,000.

      ======

      What a shocker!

    • Jerry Brown removing GOP appointees from key water panel – In his latest move to reverse GOP appointments, Gov. Jerry Brown will replace former Sen. Dave Cogdill and water agency leader Paul Kelley on a key panel that will shape decisions on water storage and a possible Delta canal, the governor's spokesman confirmed Friday.

      Cogdill was the chief GOP legislative negotiator on the historic 2009 water deal that placed an $11 billion bond on a future statewide ballot and reconstituted the California Water Commission. His subsequent appointment by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the nine-member commission was considered part of the bipartisan deal struck that year by lawmakers and the former Republican governor.

      Kelley is a former Sonoma County supervisor and former director of the Sonoma County Water Agency. A Republican, he serves as president of the Association of California Water Agencies, a key player in the 2009 water talks.

      Brown and Republican lawmakers have been at odds, particularly since talks broke down over a state budget deal in June. Republicans have accused Brown of rescinding past promises made by Democrats in bipartisan agreements and see the Cogdill move as the latest example.

      ======

      So, what else is new?

      Jerry Brown is a cry-baby partisan who failed as Governor the forst time and is failing today.

    • Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th through August 19th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th through August 19th #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th on 14:07

    August 18, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 18th from 14:07 to 20:57:

    • Warren Buffett’s derided wisdom – LA Times Smoking Crack Again – Investors might hang on Warren Buffett's every word when it comes to financial advice, but Republicans are less than enthusiastic about the Oracle of Omaha's opinions on taxation. After the billionaire chairman of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway wrote an op-ed in the New York Times complaining that the mega-rich are undertaxed in comparison to the middle class, conservatives urged him to voluntarily send more of his own money to the Internal Revenue Service and leave others alone. Not only are they willfully missing Buffett's point, they're seemingly oblivious to the fact that in many ways his tax ideas mirror those of Ronald Reagan.

      Hard to believe as it may seem, it has been a quarter of a century since the last comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was signed by President Reagan, the number of tax brackets was reduced, loopholes were closed, the top tax rate was lowered and capital gains were taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. Yet in the years since, Congress has steadily drilled loopholes back into the code while lowering the tax burden for wealthy people who make money through investments rather than labor. That was the source of Buffett's complaint.

      ======

      But, what did Reagan do in 1981?

      The LA Times Editorial writers either wish to ignore history or simply have been smoking LEFT WING Crack for way too long.

    • President 2012: Lawsuit Alleges Rick Santorum’s Website Built With ‘Counterfeit’ Font – The company's complaint calls out Raise Digital for taking fonts from their Fedra font family and modifying them so they could be used on Santorum's website. Designers often use a method available through a technology called Cascading Style Sheets to host a font on their client's web server and provide it to each visitor — but generally, they make sure to get license to use that font on the web first. The complaint, which goes out of its way to say that the Santorum campaign isn't involved, alleges that Raise Digital — or whomever Raise Digital hired to do the design work — didn't have that license.

      Then things get technical: The suit says the font that appeared on Santorum's website was a modified version of one of theirs — tweaked so that it would work on the web — and that the resulting product was "counterfeit."

      I asked Gabe Levine, a San Francisco-based intellectual property lawyer who represents new media companies, if what Typotheque alleges Raise Digital did would be a rookie mistake.

      "I'd say it's pretty rookie, yeah," he said. Later in the conversation, he added, "When one of my competent developer clients uses a font, they make damn well sure they have a right to use it."

      Raise Digital's founder, Justin Hart — who we know from his work for Chuck DeVore's aborted campaign last year to become the Republican nominee for one of California's U.S. Senate seats — declined to comment.

      The suit seeks $2 million in damages.

      ======

      You have to have the rights…..

    • Government will stop deporting some illegal immigrants, allow them to work – San Jose Mercury News – RT @politicoroger: WH must figure polls can't go lower:will stop deporting some illegal immigrants, allow them to work"
    • WI-Sen Poll Watch: GOP Pick Up in 2012? | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – WI-Sen Poll Watch: GOP Pick Up in 2012? #tcot #catcot
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Cows, Running and Enjoying the Sport of Running – Cows, Running and Enjoying the Sport of Running
    • Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th on 09:02 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 18th on 09:02 #tcot #catcot
  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for August 16th through August 17th

    August 17, 2011 /

    These are my links for August 16th through August 17th:

    • Is Rick Perry the new Fred Thompson? – Perry has criticized Arizona’s tough anti-illegal immigration laws, and is a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, a battery of legislation that would put over 10 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. Conservatives call this amnesty. They are so offended by the policy that they were able to stop its implementation when another Texas Republican tried to push it through with help from a Democratic congress. Conservatives never trusted Bush again.

      Perry has also issues with social conservatives. He approved mandatory HPV vaccinations for all Texas public school girls above the objections of the religious right. He says he is “Okay” with New York’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, a provocative position for a candidate who wants to appeal to religious conservaties, and one that could intensify the now-whispered accusation that Perry is a closeted homosexual.

      And moderates can find plenty to dislike as well. There was the governor’s well-publicized flirtation with secession in 2009 for starters. And Perry’s religiosity goes beyond investing common American political maxims with Biblical language the way Obama does. Perry has encouraged Texas residents to pray for rain, a decision that was widely mocked. And he is holding a Day of Prayer and Fasting on August 6 that will include a panoply of pastors whose views go beyond the Evangelical mainstream. Needless to say, DAR Republicans don’t want a candidate whose religious friends describe the Statue of Liberty as an “idol” or think Oprah’s career portends the arrival of the Antichrist.

      =====

      Read it all

    • Some conservatives not thrilled by Rick Perry – But the vaccine controversy isn’t Perry’s only break from conservative orthodoxy.

      “The Gardasil debacle is just one of many concerns a wide range of grassroots conservative activists have about Perry's record as governor,” said prominent conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, who wrote a post critical of Perry on Wednesday. “He’s soft on illegal immigration despite a few recent nods to border enforcement. He's prone to crony capitalism. And as the vaccine mandate scandal shows, he demonstrated Nanny State tendencies that are anathema to Tea Party core principles.”

      Perry has also ruffled feathers with social conservatives in recent days by saying that under 10th Amendment principles, gay marriage in New York didn’t bother him. After all, Perry endorsed former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 presidential race, who is hardly considered a social conservative.

      Perry has also drawn criticism for his plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor, a failed cross-state toll road that drew criticism from rural property owners and immigration foes, because the plan involved a partnership with the Mexican government.

      ======

      Read it all.

      I am concerned with his past of handling illegal immigration and the Texas Dream Act in particular.

      The Crony Capitalism is also a non-starter for me.

      If it is a choice between Romney, Perry and Bachmann, the GOP had better team up two of the three or Obama wins.

    • President 2012 GOP Wisconsin Poll Watch: Perry 20% Vs. Bachmann 20% Vs. Romney 13% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Wisconsin Poll Watch: Perry 20% Vs. Bachmann 20% Vs. Romney 13% #tcot #catcot
    • Gregory Flap Cole – Google+ – Tax the rich – yeah right.

      Maybe the NFL and NBA should… – Tax the rich – yeah right.Maybe the NFL and NBA should add some more teams?

    • Warren Buffett’s Tax Dodge – The billionaire volunteers the middle class for a tax increase – Barney Kilgore, the man who made the Wall Street Journal into a national publication, was once asked why so many rich people favored higher taxes. That's easy, he replied. They already have their money.

      That insight is worth recalling amid the latest political duet from President Obama and Warren Buffett demanding higher taxes on "millionaires and billionaires." Mr. Buffett is repeating his now familiar argument this week, coinciding with Mr. Obama's Midwestern road trip on the economy. Since the media are treating Mr. Buffett as a tax oracle, let's take a closer look at some of the billionaire's intellectual tax dodges.

      • The double tax oversight. The Berkshire Hathaway magnate makes much of the fact that he paid only 17.4% of his income in taxes, which he considers unfair when salaried workers often pay more. But Mr. Buffett makes most of his income from his investments, in particular from dividends and capital gains that are taxed at a rate of 15%.

      What he doesn't say is that much of his income was already taxed once as corporate income, which is assessed at a 35% rate (less deductions). The 15% levy on capital gains and dividends to individuals is thus a double tax that takes the overall tax rate on that corporate income closer to 45%.

      This onerous tax on capital is a U.S. competitive disadvantage in the global economy, which is why Congress agreed in 2003 to cut the rates on dividends and capital gains. Even as the rest of the world is cutting tax rates on corporate income, Mr. Buffett wants to raise U.S. rates in a way that would make America less attractive for investment. Under a sensible tax reform, the feds would impose either a corporate tax or a dividend and capital gains tax, but not both.

      • The middle-class bait-and-switch. Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Buffett speaks about raising taxes only on the rich. But somehow he ignores that the President's tax increase starts at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Mr. Obama ought to call them "thousandaires," but that probably doesn't poll as well.

      The President needs to levy his tax increase at such a lower income level because that's where the money is. In 2009, 237,000 taxpayers reported income above $1 million and they paid $178 billion in taxes. A mere 8,274 filers reported income above $10 million, and they paid only $54 billion in taxes.

      But 3.92 million reported income above $200,000 in 2009, and they paid $434 billion in taxes. To put it another way, roughly 90% of the tax filers who would pay more under Mr. Obama's plan aren't millionaires, and 99.99% aren't billionaires.

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      Read it all

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