This and That...

[Warph]

Free Thinkers Anonymous Complaint Means Memorial To
Sun Prairie, WI Crash Victim Must Go

(Time to start charging the free thinkers and the offended with the theft of oxygen)

Via Wisconsin State Journa:l
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/anonymous-complaint-means-memorial-to-sun-prairie-crash-victim-must/article_26e66f3b-152d-592d-978b-50ddeb309786.html

A professionally designed  and installed memorial honoring a Sun Prairie woman killed by a drunken driver must be removed because an anonymous resident complained about it, the state said.

Department of Transportation guidelines say that if even one person complains about a roadside memorial, it must go.

The lead organizer of the memorial to Maureen Mengelt said he was made aware of the rule by a DOT official before embarking on the effort but never dreamed anyone would actually complain.

"We tried to put up the most respectful, beautiful memorial we could, and now one person gets to anonymously complain and all of those good intentions mean nothing? It's a terrible rule," said Matt Glowacki of Sun Prairie.

The elevated bronze plaque is anchored to a concrete pad. It is probably at least 20 feet from the road and does not pose a driving hazard, Glowacki said. The Sun Prairie City Council approved its installation following a community fundraising effort that collected about $2,800.

Mengelt, 52, a mother of three who was heavily involved in school and community events, was out for an afternoon run in Sun Prairie on April 7, 2013, when she was struck and killed by Bruce Burnside, a Lutheran bishop at the time. His blood alcohol level was 0.128 percent. The legal limit for driving in Wisconsin is 0.08 percent.

Burnside was sentenced to 10 years in prison on July 31. The day before, the memorial was installed in a grassy area on state-owned land near the intersection of highways 151 and 19 (Windsor Street), the site of the crash. It replaced impromptu memorials in which people left running shoes.

All seemed fine until Sept. 11, when the Dane County Public Works, Highway and Transportation Department received a complaint from an anonymous resident and passed it along to the DOT, according to DOT spokesman Michael Bie. Bie said he did not know the nature of the complaint. Dane County highway officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Bie said the DOT's policy on roadside memorials is based on a state statute that says "no sign shall be placed within the limits of any street or highway except such as are necessary for the guidance or warning of traffic." While that language essentially forbids roadside memorials, Bie said the DOT recognizes the emotional connection people have to them and takes a less-strict approach, often letting them remain.

However, DOT's policy says a memorial will be removed if it poses a safety concern, interferes with routine maintenance, falls into disrepair or is the subject of a complaint. The latter is the case in Sun Prairie, Bie said.

News of DOT's decision spread fast. Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, said he was contacted Friday by Sun Prairie Mayor Jon Freund. Hebl said he tried to immediately reach someone at DOT but couldn't so he drove to the memorial and taped a piece of paper over part of it that reads "DOT: Contact me BEFORE sign removal."

He left his State Assembly business card and wrote his cellphone number in large letters on the piece of paper, which was still on the memorial Wednesday.

"The last thing I want is for the Mengelts to go through any more pain or suffering," Hebl said in an interview Wednesday.

Hebl said he has now had a chance to talk with the DOT and it appears the memorial will need to be moved. Sun Prairie City Administrator Aaron Oppenheimer said the city will work with the Mengelt family and the memorial's organizers to find a suitable site on city property. Bie said DOT has not given the city a deadline.

One likely site is Orfan Community Park, Oppenheimer said. An annual 5K run in Mengelt's honor is now held there.

Proceeds from that race benefit the Maureen Mengelt Memorial Fund, which has raised more than $90,000 in 18 months, said Kevin Mengelt, the victim's husband. The largest chunk, $37,200, was donated toward the construction of the Sun Prairie Ice Arena. Other money has funded high school soccer shelters and music camp scholarships, among other things.

Such generosity and community spirit is one reason Glowacki said he got involved in the effort. He did not know the Mengelt family but approached Kevin Mengelt about a memorial after becoming increasingly impressed with everything he learned about Maureen Mengelt.

The thought of having to move the memorial far from the crash site gets Glowacki pretty steamed.

"Context is at least part of the story," he said. "You don't put a Pearl Harbor memorial in the middle of Afghanistan."

Kevin Mengelt said he has nothing but high praise for everyone who worked so hard to install the memorial. "I'm frustrated someone would complain," he said. "It just seems mean-spirited."
He said he stops by the memorial on his daily runs and touches it.

[Warph]

Lawmaker: Require Arizona Students To Pass Citizenship Test

(Schools would have to change the curriculum)

Via Arizona Republic:http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/southwest-valley/2014/09/17/lawmaker-require-arizona-students-pass-citizenship-test/15798933/

All high-school students in Arizona would be required to pass the same 100-question civics test required for U.S. citizenship to graduate under a proposal from a state lawmaker.

State Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, announced the plan Wednesday that he said would ensure that all Arizona high-school graduates have a basic understanding of civics.

Montenegro is working with other state legislators and officials from the Civics Education Initiative, part of the Civics Proficiency Institute, to craft legislation for the requirement.

Every single student in Arizona and across the United States of America should have basic knowledge and understanding of American government. Civics is just common sense. So, this Civics Education Initiative ... is a common-sense approach at achieving that goal," Montenegrosaid at a press conference with supporters of the proposal,including Rep. John Allen, R-Scottsdale, and Jay Lawrence, representative-elect for District 23.

Lucian Spataro, president and CEO of the Joe Foss Institute, another civics organization affiliated with the initiative, cited a study from the Pew Research Center that found that only about a third of Americans can name the three branches of government.

Other studies, he said, found that less than a quarter of high-school students in Arizona and Oklahoma passed the U.S. Citizenship Civics Test.

The initiative is intended to bring a renewed focus on civics in education, said Sam Stone, national campaign manager for the Civics Education Initiative.

"This a first step to increasing civics education in schools, renewing the importance and focus on civics," he said.

Take the sample test and see if you can pass it.
Find more test questions at www.uscis.gov.
You must score a 60% or higher to pass.  I got 100%.  Good Luck!:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/17/us-citizenship-test-quiz/15803779/

[Warph]

Poll: 60% Of Americans Consider Obama A "Weak Leader"

(And calling Obuma "weak" is being extremely generous)

Via YouGov/Economist:
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/yra4dy2iqu/econTabReport.pdf

[redcliffsw]

With Obama, Hillary, and the Republicans, there's not any hope for America except more of the same.

[Warph]

With Obama, Hillary, and the Republicans, there's not any hope for America except more of the same.

There is always 'hope' for America, Red.  What you need to do is run as a candidate for the "Do Nothing Party" ...  aim high... run for U.S. Senator from the state of KS.  Check it out:  http://donothingparty.com/

Do Nothing Party

[Warph]

ISIS Creates "Islamic State Police Force" In Iraq

(Again, nothing our so-called  "ally" Saudi Arabia doesn't have)

   

BAGHDAD, Sept 19 (Reuters) –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/19/islamic-state-police-iraq_n_5848584.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000017

Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's northwest Nineveh province have created a police force to "implement the orders of the religious judiciary," according to a well-known militant Islamist website.

    Photos on the website showed armed men in black clothing with "Islamic Police Nineveh State" printed on the arm. The police forces were in freshly painted police cars and one photo showed militiamen on a river boat.

    It was not clear when the photos were posted or when the police force was established.

    The text on the website said the force would "maintain order and arrest culprits and the corrupt." The text said it would be different from police forces in other states, which it described as "a tool to suppress dissent."

[Warph]

Chuckle Of The Day: Al Jazeera Sues Al Gore

(Ah so much fun when the silly hoxer gets, well, "Gored", by the equally ridiculous Islamist-promoting network)

   

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Jazeera America is suing former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the former owners of the TV network that became Al Jazeera America.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AL_GORE_AL_JAZEERA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-19-13-17-10
   
The parties are fighting over money that is being held in escrow. The former vice president and Hyatt, the founder of Hyatt Legal Services, sued the network last month saying that it was improperly withholding tens of millions of dollars placed in escrow when Al Jazeera bought Current TV for $500 million.

Al Jazeera America says it is entitled to the money because Gore and Hyatt agreed to indemnify the network for claims made against Current TV, but didn't live up to their promise. It accuses the pair of "misrepresentations" and says they received hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale.

Gore and Hyatt filed a lawsuit against the network in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The two men each owned 20 percent of Current TV.

The Qatar-owned news channel took over Current TV's signal last August and hired U.S. TV news veterans including Soledad O'Brien and John Seigenthaler. It is available in almost 60 million U.S. homes.

[Warph]

MTV Set To Air Documentary About Transgender Youths

(This is exactly what people want to see.  Anything to push an agenda... destroying society one reality TV show at a time.  Very easy to fill empty brains with trash.)

Via CNS News / AP:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/mtv-air-documentary-about-transgender-youths   

Laverne Cox will host a documentary on MTV and Logo next month that profiles seven young transgender people.

The special, "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word," will air simultaneously on the two channels on Oct. 17. Cox, a transgender actress, was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in Netflix's "Orange is the New Black."

After the documentary, Logo and MTV's web site will air a forum where Cox and the documentary's cast members answer questions from viewers about their lives. MTV personality SuChin Pak will help lead the "Trans Forum" discussion.

[Warph]

8 Ways The Obuma Administration Is Blocking Information

http://blog.ap.org/2014/09/19/8-ways-the-obama-administration-is-blocking-information/

The fight for access to public information has never been harder, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee said recently at a joint meeting of the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Associated Press Photo Managers. The problem extends across the entire federal government and is now trickling down to state and local governments.

Here is Buzbee's list of eight ways the Obama administration is making it hard for journalists to find information and cover the news:

1) As the United States ramps up its fight against Islamic militants, the public can't see any of it. News organizations can't shoot photos or video of bombers as they take off — there are no embeds. In fact, the administration won't even say what country the S. bombers fly from.

2) The White House once fought to get cameramen, photographers and reporters into meetings the president had with foreign leaders overseas. That access has become much rarer. Think about the message that sends other nations about how the world's leading democracy deals with the media:  Keep them out and let them use handout photos.

3) Guantanamo: The big important 9/11 trial is finally coming up. But we aren't allowed to see most court filings in real time — even of nonclassified material. So at hearings, we can't follow what's happening. We don't know what prosecutors are asking for, or what defense attorneys are arguing.

4) Information about Guantanamo that was routinely released under President George W. Bush is now kept secret. The military won't release the number of prisoners on hunger strike or the number of assaults on guards. Photo and video coverage is virtually nonexistent.

5) Day-to-day intimidation of sources is chilling. AP's transportation reporter's sources say that if they are caught talking to her, they will be fired. Even if they just give her facts, about safety, for example. Government press officials say their orders are to squelch anything controversial or that makes the administration look bad.

6) One of the media — and public's — most important legal tools, the Freedom of Information Act, is under siege. Requests for information under FOIA have become slow and expensive. Many federal agencies simply don't respond at all in a timely manner, forcing news organizations to sue each time to force action.

7) The administration uses FOIAs as a tip service to uncover what news organizations are pursuing. Requests are now routinely forwarded to political appointees. At the agency that oversees the new health care law, for example, political appointees now handle the FOIA requests.

8 ) The administration is trying to control the information that state and local officials can give out. The FBI has directed local police not to disclose details about surveillance technology the police departments use to sweep up cellphone data. In some cases, federal officials have formally intervened in state open records cases, arguing for secrecy.

[Warph]

Why is it that one administration after another insists on carrying on an unseemly love affair with Islam? For several years, George W. Bush kept telling us that Islam was a religion of peace when, clearly, it was the one religion in the entire world that wasn't.

These days, we have Obama curtsying to sheiks, imans and ayatollahs, every chance he gets. For good measure, the eminent theologian, John Kerry, who merely moonlights as the secretary of state, claimed, at a ceremony to appoint Texas lawyer Shaarik Zafer to be special representative to Muslim communities, that it was America's biblical responsibility to confront climate change and to protect vulnerable Muslim majority countries. "It's a responsibility that comes from God," he insisted, without clarifying whether or not he was referring to Obama.

How reassuring it is to know that the State Department is being overseen by someone so deeply concerned with the well-being of our archenemies. And how is it that we need to have a special envoy to Muslim communities when we seem to get along fine without envoys to Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian, Baptist, Hindu, Shinto or Amish, communities?

In this particular case, we had Kerry paying homage to two cults simultaneously. The first consists of those who insist that global warming is anything but a hoax created in order to enrich those invested in so-called green energy operations and the politicians who reside deep inside the pockets of the ecology nuts who exchanged their brains for membership in the Sierra Club. The second is the cult of Islam, which only pretends to be a religion so that pinheaded barbarians can pray to something besides their goats.

Yet another cult is the one devoted to personalities, which is why I despise politicians who are described as charismatic, and why I take exception to those who claim that someone like Gov. Scott Walker, for instance, shouldn't be the GOP presidential candidate in 2016. Such louts dismiss competence as boring. The problem is that charisma inevitably gets you someone like Hitler, Mussolini, Peron, Castro, Huey Long, Obama and Hugo Chavez.

Speaking of Chavez, the late, unlamented, dictator, left-wing Venezuelans have altered the Lord's Prayer in places to read, "Our Chavez, who art in Heaven...." and "lead us not into the temptation of capitalism." Over the Church's objections, Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, has endorsed the new version.

Closer to home, we have Berkeley's city council members, who are forever in competition with their loony colleagues in San Francisco, deciding to dispense free marijuana to anyone making less than $32,000-a-year. I suppose now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, Frisco will have no choice but to offer free heroin.

As if it's not embarrassing enough that the chief propagandist for ISIS, Ahmad Abousamra, is an American who hails from Boston, it so happens he has dual-citizenship. Thanks to open borders, we are barely a sovereign nation these days, but allowing for dual citizenship is totally beyond the pale. That is especially the case when the other nation, as is the case with Mr. Abousamra, happens to be Syria, one of our archenemies. The question that comes to mind is how, even if we get our hands on the bum, the U.S. can even indict and convict him for treason when he is fighting for one of his two countries.

If someone told you that global-warming is the greatest crisis facing America, as Hillary Clinton recently stated, you would question her ability to run a lemonade stand, let alone a nation. But here she is announcing that a climate hoax is a greater threat than China and North Korea threatening our Far East allies; greater than ISIS and Iran threatening Israel and America; and greater than Russia threatening all of Eastern Europe. To me, the only threat that comes close to these others is the threat of Hillary Clinton being returned to the White House.

You would think that so long as the law of averages hasn't been overturned that liberals would occasionally be right about something, but, as you may have noticed, when it comes to liberals, including those in the White House, laws, even natural ones, don't pertain. So it is that this administration keeps assuring the worst villains on the face of the earth that they needn't ever worry about "boots on the ground," which has quickly become the most over-used expression since "at this point in time." Whenever I hear Obama or one of his stooges utter those words, I find myself imagining a kid finally confronting a schoolyard bully and assuring his tormentor: "Don't worry, I promise I won't punch you in the nose."

But there are times when even Obama, Kerry and Clinton, can't handle all the heavy lifting. At such times, Barbara Boxer is always ready to step in and even defend the administration's cover-up of the Benghazi massacre, insisting, "We shouldn't try to turn a tragedy into a scandal."

Well, Madam Senator, we conservatives didn't do the turning. President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton did that when they spent weeks blaming the massacre on a silly video they knew played no part in provoking the terrorist attack. They might as well have blamed it on "Gone with the Wind," ocean currents or sunspots.

As you may have noticed, liberals are always asserting their expertise when it comes to things such as the economy, national defense and the climate, things they know nothing about. Worse yet, because the educational system is such a hash, they generally have the academic credentials with which to buffalo the unsuspecting.

For instance, what constantly amazes me about those on the Left who keep demanding that corporate taxes be raised is that they seem to be totally unaware of who in the final analysis pays those taxes. It's we the consumers. As even a child would realize, all the corporations do is add the taxes to their other expenses and pass them along in the price we pay for their products or services.

It's sad but also shameful that those so-called progressives who spend their lives demanding that the fat cats be soaked are apparently unaware that it is they, along with the rest of us, who wind up getting drenched.

....Burt