An angel-like alien entity was spotted at a beach in Vancouver, BC as reported by an eyewitness. This report has been obtained from a testimony included in the database of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
The witness describes where the photo was taken.
“This photo I took at the beach here in Vancouver BC Canada.”
The witness tells us how he found the entity to be too detailed to be the ‘real thing’.
“I had to take another look because I through this was way to detailed to be the real thing.”
He then tells us how we can see for ourselves that the entity captured in the photo is an angel.
“As you folks can see for yourselves that it is an Angel with bagpipes.”
He further tells us that the entity looks like bagpipes to him.
“It looks like bagpipes to me anyways, flying away.”
The witness finally comments that the photo is weird and completes his report wishing his readers a good day.
“Weird photo to say the less." Well have a great 24 folks. Be at peace.”
The above quotes were edited for clarity. Since the dawn of civilization, angelic beings have reportedly interacted with humans. What if these angels were ETs masquerading as angels?
2015-06-09, AZ, US
(MUFON) --1. I was riding in a commercial airplane from Phoenix to Burbank between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. The bright light on the vast desert surface caught my attention through the window.
2. The light came through my window and reflected into my eyes, getting my attention to turn to the window.
3. At first I thought the light could be a huge flood light, like the kind they use in construction sites at night.
4. It appeared to be a huge sphere of extremely bright glowing light, hovering over the desert surface, with what appeared to be a search light on the ground below. I stared at the object, trying to take in details and figure out what it was. It was very odd to me that this bright light was the only visible thing in the desert as far as my eyes could see. As the plane I was in traveled past the object, there was a short time I could not see it. But before the wing covered it, it appeared to be moving and becoming 3 separate lights, slightly smaller and less bright than the initial light. When the wing passed over the object and I could see it again, it was 3 lights which appeared to be in a straight line, I was unable to determine the distance between them. The search light on the ground was no longer visible at this point. The objects appeared to either be hovering over the ground, or on the ground at this point, and stationary. The shape and color of the lights remained spherical and white-yellow, however it went from 1 to 3, the 3 appeared smaller and less bright than the initial 1 light.
5. Initially I felt confused as to what this bright light in the middle of nowhere was, and why it was there. I could see no reason for it, nor anything but desert within eye sight from my pov in the plane. I looked around the plane to see if anyone else was observing it so I could ask them what they thought, but all passengers were asleep. There were two soldiers sitting near me, and I wanted to wake them so they could witness it too. After the confusion I felt curious, as I have had many other experiences for years, and wondered if this was another one or something explainable. Once the plane passed out of site of the lights I simple remained curious, as the whole thing was an unusual scene. Curious enough that I am reporting it to you the next day. I have no feelings about this specific event, but I do of course have feelings from other experiences I have had in the past.
6. The plane I was flying in flew out of sight of the object(s)/light(s).
2015-06-09, south point, OH, US
(MUFON) --I was outside taking pictures of the storm clouds coming in. The next thing was this object coming out through the clouds like it was trying to hide using the clouds as cover. I have seen UFOs since I was a kid , but I have never seen one like this it is totally unique .
2015-06-09, Dallas, TX, US
(MUFON) --I was outside. Observing this bright star-like that comes and goes. (Around a month) As I am looking a VERY CLOSE QUIET object flies over me. I would not have seen if it I was not looking in that Direction. This Month Dallas's sky has been amazing and mysterious to view. These pictures were all taken right after each other while observing the bright star-like object.
2006-01-12, Walland, TX, US
(MUFON) --On a cold January night in East Tennessee My father(40 years old),his friend(also about 40) and my self (about 10) were returning home after a long night of hunting.
As we headed up a road called Rocky Branch rd in Walland I noticed a strange anomaly of lights just beside a farm house.
This area is very rural and secluded in the mountains so air traffic is not very prevalent. As we approached the top of the hill I prompted my father to stop the truck and look at the lights. The craft was a definite triangle with a glowing blue light mounted on each corner, we watched for an hour or so as the craft just hovered there no more that 30 feet up. We were racoon hunting so we also had dogs in the back of the truck and rather than bark they were howling as we sat there watching. These people are very closed minded and to this day my father nor his friend will publicly admit what they saw but we often discuss it in private.
What prompted me to report this event so many years later is the feed back i got when i talked about it with some of the other men that live in this little area. When I asked about it a man in his 50s told me about seeing the same lights in the same area when he was a kid every detail the same before I had even told him my story.
In the 70's everyone was seeing this anomaly and referd to it as the "Nebo Lights" do to the mountain where my sighting occurred being called Nebo Mountain. I have not seen it again since then but will update if it happens again. the photo attached is the closest image I could find to what i bore witness to.
The corporate world is being transformed by workstation laptops, and there’s definitely a reason for that — these notebooks are the best way to design, communicate, conference, and do business in today’s mobile work environment. With a variety of features and options that appealto every type of advanced professional, these heavy-dutycomputers are easy to use and won’t require any special training.
In most workplaces, desktops are often used for their heavy storage capabilities. However, these computers are bulky, expensive, and can’t be moved from one place to another without major hassles.These days, there’s not too much point to having a ton of storage options anyway; it’s common for businesses to have cloud storage capabilities in order to free up as much space as possible. With workstation or notebook laptops, businesses can get the benefit of a mobile devicewith the same power of a desktop. In most offices, users are given a desktop and a personal laptop to work from home. These notebooks negate the requirement for such an added expense because they are extremely portable. Why be tied to the desk or office when work can be done anywhere, from restaurants to planes to the comfort of your employees’ homes?
One excellent feature of new notebooks is their advanced screen sizes. With screens reaching about 15.6 inches with certain brands, professionals can view information and graphics without needing to scroll down or across. LCD displays and 1920x1080 resolution levels are particularly helpful for corporate engineers who need to work with models and designs each day. Great sound systems bring important conferences and display videos to life. And a full gamut of colours helps to add a realistic touch to every image and video.
However, the greatest feature from a corporate perspective is the cost effectiveness of these laptops. They come with graphics cards that have a capacity of as much as 32GB. This allows the heaviest of graphics to be loaded without any trouble. Next, these computers have enough memory and hard drive disk space, even for organizations that do not use cloud service. 4thGeneration processors keep them working hard without stalling or needing frequent repairs. Your staff will enjoy the fact that modern workstations are specifically designed to process heavy information without heating up, lagging, or glitching. They also come equipped with various tools, software programs, and applications designed specifically for the needs of a corporate professional. Corporate designers and artists should definitely check out professional business notebooks from Toshiba in particular — anyone who creates 2D graphics, or who uses photo and video editing software, will find Toshiba’s line of notebooks particularly suited to their needs. In the engineering field, CAD engineers use their laptops to create 3D models of equipment and structures. But even if you’re not a designer, you can still benefit from the advanced processing speeds, lightweight designs, and Toshiba’s affordable prices to help you get ahead in any field!
With a desktop, businesses have to buy accessories and invest in a great deal of maintenance options. Workstations, on the other hand, come ready and equipped with all the features that a corporate user could possibly need. However, only the most reputable brands should be trusted. Start looking carefully now all the exciting choices available and you’re sure to find a model that’s perfect for your business and your needs!
(Xmeeting-Reviews.com Wire) -- We respect our doctors and think of them as people who can do no wrong. They are regarded as people whose only intention is to help people who are not in the best of health. However, not all doctors are people of great repute who want to help their patients recover. There are a lot of doctors who are fake and are only interested in making money from their profession. Such doctors do not enjoy good reputation with their patients. Dr Tenenbaum may be an example of such a doctor.
If you visit the website ‘RateMDs’, you will get a fair idea of the kind of reputation Dr Tenenbaum enjoys with his patients.
A patient complains that he is only interested in ordering more tests. It seems like he doesn’t have the time needed to provide proper treatment.
“I never thought I will meet a doctor who is only interested in ordering more and more tests. Dr. Tenenbaum did not seem to be too concerned about determining the root cause of my muscle pain. He does not take the time needed to contentiously provide proper treatment to his patients.”
Another patient complains about his uncaring attitude and how he did not provide any constructive support.
“This is the worse doctor that I have ever met. He has an uncaring attitude. Aside from ordering tests as any doctor can, he didn't provide any constructive support.”
However, the problem is not just with his attitude and bedside manner but also the fact that he is more likely to prescribe pain killer than diagnose the root cause of the disease.
“I don’t’ think it’s a very good practice to simply prescribe a few pain pills when a patient complains of muscle pain. It may be the easier solution but certainly not the kind of treatment that you expect from an experienced doctor.”
Similarly, a patient describe how he/she was prescribed pain killers and was not provided with proper treatment for back pain.
“I was suffering from back pain for a few months and decided to visit Dr. Tenenbaum. He did not bother to examine the problem thoroughly and determine its root cause. Instead, he only prescribed a few pain killers that did not work.”
The same patient makes an assessment that the doctor is in the wrong profession.
“I guess Dr. Tenenbaum does not really care about the patients or probably does not have the time to provide us with proper medical care. I guess he is in the wrong profession.”
These reviews remind us that we should always take a second opinion before pursuing the treatment prescribed by a doctor. When in doubt, we should always seek clarifications and make sure that we have been prescribed the right treatment for our health condition.
As members of the public, we tend to regard our doctors as being all but infallible. Of course, this simply isn’t true. In fact, there are doctors that no member of the public should rely on. A history of misdiagnosis, insensitive handling of patients in distress and unprofessional conduct should signal the end of a medical career, but patients continue to trust doctors who have acquired a very unprofessional reputation. Dr Tenenbaum is an example of such a doctor.
A single visit to the website ‘RateMDs’ demonstrates what one can expect from Tenenbaum. According to patient reviews, this doctor is everything a medical doctor should not be. Look out for these warning signs in any doctors you visit.
Rushed consultations
We all know that if we try to do something in a rush we have a greater chance of making a mistake. If one happens to be a doctor, mistakes could cost patients’ lives. A review of Dr Tenenbaum’s practice reads:
“I used to be a part time paramedic. If I took a patient history and assessment the way he does (curt, hurried, uninterested) none of my patients would have made it to the hospital alive. You have to have the ability to listen to your patients.”
That’s worrying, but if there were only one review like this, one could say that the patient caught the doctor on a bad day. However, this is not the case:
“I felt especially at my last visit, that Dr. Tenenbaum rushed through everything; I was out of his office before 5 minutes were over...”
Another typical review reads:
“Rude, arrogant, over-books his patients to the point that his office should have a revolving door because you're in one minute and out the next.”
Unpleasant ‘bedside manner’
Being ill is traumatic enough without having to deal with the kind of experience this patient had:
“This Dr is a jerk. He is very abrupt and offensive. I have fibromyalgia so am in severe pain all the time. He gave me no new information and said to exercise religiously and to cut out carbs. He poked me in the stomach and said "You have to lose that". It was very demeaning and I left crying. I dread having to go back to him.”
And it’s not just the doctor that’s unpleasant:
“Rude man, rude staff and uncaring attitude. Dealing with people is part of this profession. Empathy is important and totally necessary when dealing with very sick people however Dr. Tenenbaum does not know what that word means.”
Even when a colleague springs to his defence, he or she has to admit that the doctor isn’t exactly a nice guy.
“I am a healthcare professional as well, Dr Tenenbaum may not have a great bedside manner…”
And that’s just what his buddies say about him! When a ‘positive’ review kicks off like that, you’ve just had confirmation that you shouldn’t expect any sympathy. That’s probably still acceptable if you can be sure of good medical care, but will you get it? In this case, there is anecdotal evidence that patients should exercise caution.
A poor treatment record
We rely on our doctors to give us the best healthcare advice and to know more about health issues than the man in the street, so this person’s experience is sure to raise an eyebrow:
“When I asked him if walking was a good way to get some exercise in, he told me it was not and that I should do something with more impact. Well, after stupidly following his advice I was left in considerably more pain than before.”
Surely you don’t need to be a doctor or a fitness expert to be aware of the risks of high-impact exercise? In addition, most of us know that walking is an excellent form of exercise. One has to wonder what possessed Dr Tenenbaum to give that piece of advice. Once again, we have a multitude of complaints and this time, they refer to ignorance and misdiagnosis. There’s even a lack of respect for patient confidentiality.
“After seeing him a half dozen times, and his misdiagnosis from the beginning, he tells me, as he is escorting me to the front reception, that I now have full-blown RA and will just have to "live with it". I asked him how long 'till I am unable to walk at all and he announces in a loud voice, in front of everyone in the waiting area, that if I was going to have that kind of negative attitude, I would have to get another doctor...”
Another patient relates that he was referred to the doctor with a case history file. The doctor did not take the time to go through it thoroughly, and the patient had to point out the relevant test results. What if the patient had not been alert enough to do so? Would the correct treatment have been recommended?
Fake positive reviews
Of course, one can never be absolutely certain whether a positive review is fake or not, but there are some potentially suspect reviews on Dr Tenenbaum. In two reviews, the word ‘brusque’ is misspelled as ‘brusk’. There are also two reviews using the slightly unusual phrase “at the top of his field”. Coincidence?
Then there’s a review from a colleague. One’s colleagues don’t usually review one. Interestingly, the ‘doctor’ who wrote the review uses the word ‘manor’ instead of ‘manner’. One is left wondering whether the author is the same person who can’t spell ‘brusque’ and whether they really could be doctor.
In another positive review, a patient claims to be ‘referring all her friends’. This is odd because the doctor in question is a specialist, not a GP. Could ‘all her friends’ have the same medical issues as she does? The reader could be pardoned for suspecting a cover-up.
What can we learn from all this?
-- Find out what other patients are saying about your doctor or specialist. One bad review isn’t necessarily a huge issue, but when the majority of patients appear to have problems, exercise caution.
-- Make sure that your doctor takes his time, is thorough and listens to your concerns.
-- Don’t be intimidated by rudeness or accept it just because it comes from a person in ‘authority’ such as a doctor. You are entitled to courtesy.
-- When in doubt, get a second opinion.
After a highly publicised launch in 2013, Target Canada was off to a rocky start with many consumers complaining of high prices and a lack of stock available to shoppers. During their first year of launching their Canadian operation, Target reported a loss of nearly $1 billion with performance in the US market also failing to meet expectations.
According to a report published by CBC news, Target executives point to an urgent need for improved performance. However, a gradual improvement in performance has been noted with quarterly losses $21 million lower than those measured in the same period during 2013. Sales have improved by up to 44%, but the picture is still far from rosy.
Target’s problems extend beyond empty supermarket shelves and substantial losses: a data breach during 2013 led to the theft of 40 million clients’ information and Target’s decision to dispense with the services of their Canadian CEO has led to considerable uneasiness in the market.
Consumers continue to find the stores understocked with many popular brand items being completely unavailable to shoppers. Despite Target’s reputation as a budget discount store, their merchandise is gaining a reputation for being priced considerably higher than most Canadian consumers would expect. If these shortcomings are not rectified, Target stands to lose the support of Canadian consumers altogether in a market where there capacity to operate competitively already seems to be in question.
CEO Brian Cornell says that Target is aware of the operational and pricing issues that are adversely affecting the chain’s performance in Canada and that these issues will be addressed during the fourth quarter. However, the longer term position of Target in Canada remains shaky and Cornell says that Target’s longer term potential in the Canadian market will need to be assessed.
However, the pricing and stock issues are not new. These inefficiencies have been dogging Target ever since it first opened and despite repeated assurances that they would be addressed, many shoppers still find themselves confronted by empty shelves. Initially, Target claimed that demand for products had outstripped predictions and that this was the primary reason for stock shortages.
The primary problem with this logic is that Target is also losing so much money. If demand is outstripping predictions, then why is the retailer running at a loss? Recent pronouncements by the CEO seem to indicate that Target is finally ready to admit that its planning has been faulty, but although there has been some improvement, the problem has certainly not been solved and one wonders how much longer Target can continue in a market where many consumers have already been alienated and have taken their business elsewhere.
The launch of Target in Canada was to be Target’s first effort at ‘going global’, but the subsequent fiasco in retailing and the extended period of time during which the same issues remain largely unresolved does not bode well for Target’s expansion outside the US. Meanwhile, disgruntled consumers and ex-employees have been airing their views in what amounts to a public relations disaster for Target.
You see a girl you’d like to get to know. Chances are, she isn’t going to approach you and just start a conversation. Walking over to her and saying ‘Hi’ is a good start, but where do you take it from there? That’s where the pickup line comes in. It mustn’t be creepy, it mustn’t make her feel uncomfortable – you need to be able to make her smile.
Here are some fun and creative pickup lines that can give you an idea of the sort of thing that askmen.com had in mind when they gave men this valuable piece of advice. Use them as they are, or use them as a way to think up some ideas of your own.
‘Your name is the same as my mother’s!’
This one is almost certain to get that smile. Here’s how you play it. Walk over. Ask her what her name is. Exclaim that she shares your mother’s name, and kiss her hand. Of course, the natural reaction for her is to ask if it’s really true and chances are it isn’t. At this point, you give her a disarming grin, admit the untruth and say you enjoyed kissing her hand. From there on, the conversation should flow nicely. If she decides to take offence, she’s a bit of a spoil-sport and hasn’t got much of a sense of humour. Be glad it didn’t work.
‘You need another drink!’
On the face of it, it doesn’t seem particularly creative, but there’s a way it can be – really funny and rather creative. You’ll need a bit of guts for this one, but give it a try and see what happens. You see the girl in a bar. You stroll over, grab her drink, down it in one gulp and while she’s still trying to work out what the hell just happened and why, you give her the line and buy her another drink. This time, she’s drinking with you and she’s probably laughing. If she takes offence, she’s probably high maintenance. Yes, it’s a cheeky pickup, but most ladies like ‘cheeky’.
‘I think this is yours…’
Maybe you’re a bit shy. Maybe you don’t want to risk getting kicked out of the pub or called a liar. Here’s a pickup line for the timid. Choose a small bill from your wallet, say a dollar. Write your name clearly on the bill and make sure your telephone number is there too. Unobtrusively drop the bill near the lady in question, then pick it up and deliver the line. Hand the bill to her face up so that she can see the name and number. Now leave. If it worked and she thinks you’re cute, you’ll probably be getting a call or a text really soon, if she doesn’t, you just lost a small bill. No harm done.
If you aren’t bold enough for any of these moves, go to a dating site where ladies are waiting to be ‘picked up’ Xcheaters and Xmeeting are good places to start.
Don’t you love dating – especially now that you’re not a teenager anymore and have managed to gain a bit of self-confidence and lose that bad case of acne. It might be love, it might be lust, but who cares as long as you’re having fun? You can work out what’s going to come later when the time comes. Maybe you’re hoping to keep it casual and found your date on Xmeeting or Xcheaters so there can’t be any confusion as to your intentions, maybe you’re hoping for something more. In the meantime, you’re just looking for some fun date ideas – ones where the lady might enjoy herself too and where you’ll earn extra points towards the time you make your first move.
You don’t get to see much of the girl during a movie, well, you’re supposed to be watching the screen – and bars mean you’ll have to put up with your mates interrupting and potentially competing with you for the lady’s attentions. Here are some fun ideas that will give you a chance to get to know each other better.
Browse for stationary together
Most women love nice stationary and, admit it, even though you’ve got the latest printer and do most of your work on your computer, so do you. Buy her nice pen – not one of those over-the-top expensive ones, just a nice one and you’ve already scored a whole lot of points. While you’re browsing, you can chat – maybe go for coffee afterwards. It’s nice and relaxed.
Go for a walk
Don’t over plan. Just take whatever route your feet feel like taking. If you get lost, it’s part of the fun. Look at shop windows, visit the park with a take-away snack you got along the route – just take it as it comes. If she’s good company, you’re going to have a very pleasant time doing these simple things together and because it’s unplanned and impromptu, it has a certain element of adventure.
Do something that doesn’t cost anything
Look out for weird and wonderful events with free entry. The weirder it is, the more fun it might be. Go and check out the local buskers – or plan a route through town where you can see a variety of free entertainments. Reddit can be a great source of info – the more bizarre the event, the more likely it is to be memorable. Being memorable is definitely means you’ve made an impression, so feel free to go for the strangest activities you can find.
Have fun and don’t be too serious
So you gave in to convention and picked a movie. Make it memorable by joking about the film afterwards. You chose the bar and your mates were all over her. Make fun of them. Taking things lightly often makes a great impression and turns an otherwise unmemorable date into a really fun evening you’ll be remembered for.
Dance like crazy
It doesn’t matter if you’re a good dancer or not. What matters is that you’re willing to let down that macho guard and just go and have fun on the dance floor. You often see it in pubs and clubs: the girl’s tapping her foot and she just wants to start moving to the music, but her partner is nailed to the bar and won’t dance with her even if she asks. Usually, it all ends up with a mostly feminine crowd rocking the dance floor while the gents hang out on the side lines. Break out of the mould! Having fun, physical fun on the dance floor might be the prequel to a different type of physical fun later on.
(WSB-TV) — ATLANTA — First businesses, now customers are suing the city of Sandy Springs over an ordinance that requires people to have a prescription, or a medical or scientific reason, to buy a sexual device.
Melissa Davenport and her attorney, Gerry Weber, filed the suit because they want the government out of the business of regulating private lives.
“(Some people) have this dirty mind about how people are going to use it. People really do need devices because they need it for health reasons and to have a healthy intimate life with their spouse,” Davenport said.
(CNN) -- Most people choose artificially-sweetened soda over regular soda to avoid packing on extra pounds. But what if you already choose diet? Would it be helpful to quit that too?
Dr. Jim Hill says he gets this question all the time from patients in his weight loss program at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.
With funding from the American Beverage Association, Hill helped design a study that divided approximately 300 adults into two groups: One group would continue drinking diet, and the other group -- referred to in the study as the "water group" -- would go cold turkey. The study was published in the journal Obesity.
Both participant groups received intensive coaching on successful techniques for weight loss, including regular feedback on the meals they logged in journals. Participants weighed, on average, just over 200 pounds at the start of the study.
"The results, to us, were not at all surprising," says Hill.
While the typical participant banned from drinking diet sodas lost 9 pounds over 12 weeks, those allowed to continue drinking diet soda lost, on average, 13 pounds in the same time period. That's a 4-pound difference.
Hill says that in his clinical experience, many people who have successfully lost significant weight "are heavy users of noncaloric sweeteners."
But why was the diet soda group more successful? The most likely reason is that this group had the easier task.
Cutting calories and boosting exercise takes a lot of willpower. Trying to simultaneously give up something else you regularly enjoy -- such as diet soda -- taxes your ability to stay the course. Most psychologists agree that our willpower is a limited resource.
So while this study did not track calorie consumption, the group blocked from drinking diet sodas most likely ate (or drank) more calories over the course of the 12-week diet.
Since the study lasted just 12 weeks, it remains to be seen whether artificial sweeteners are beneficial in the long-term, says Susan Swithers, a professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at Purdue University. Swithers authored a report last year that found that diet soda drinkers have the same health issues as those who drink regular soda. It found that people who drink diet soda may be "at increased risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease," according to the study.
"What the prospective studies actually suggest is that if you go out 7 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, the cohorts of individuals who are consuming diet sodas have much worse health outcomes," says Swithers.
Those studies show a correlation, and are not designed to show causation. But some researchers like Swithers suspect artificial sweeteners ultimately increase the desire for sweets.
"Doing these short-term studies that look at weight can't really tell us anything about whether or not these products are contributing to these increased risks," says Swithers. "And it's really hard to look at the (long-term) data and come up with any argument that they're helping."
Hill, who along with four other researchers, designed the study, which was selected for funding by the American Beverage Association from among multiple competing proposals. The American Beverage Association's membership includes numerous Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottling companies.
"It makes sense that it would have been harder for the water group to adhere to the overall diet than the (artificially-sweetened beverage) group," says Hill.
He added, "The most likely explanation was that having access to drinks with sweet taste helps the (artificially-sweetened beverage) group to adhere better to the behavioral change program."
In short, this study addresses the question of whether a regular diet soda drinker should attempt to kick his or her habit while also attempting to lose weight, not whether we should all drink more diet soda in order to lose weight.
Artificially-sweetened beverages "are not weight-loss enhancers, so it's not anything in the compounds themselves that are promoting weight loss," says Hill.
Kristi Norton, a regular diet soda drinker before the study began, was assigned to the group that required her to kick the habit. At the time of her CNN interview, she was not aware of the study's findings.
She says she lost 12 pounds during the course of the study, but the real difference is in how she feels.
"I feel like I could 1000% tell the benefit of drinking water only. I felt better, I had more energy, I felt healthier, I just generally felt way better," says Norton. "And I can feel the difference now when I drink a diet drink, I can feel this 'heaviness'."
On Memorial Day weekend, scores of thousands of bikers arrived here for their annual Rolling Thunder tribute to America’s veterans, especially those lost in our wars or left behind. But this year the tribute has been sullied by a squalid scandal in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sick vets seeking medical care at the Phoenix VA hospital were put on waiting lists, but never got to see a doctor. Dozens died. Then waiting lists were altered to make it appear that VA staffers had not failed in their duty to provide the vets access to care in the required 14 days. Some vets suffered for months before dying. There is truly something rotten in the state.
But, rest assured, this scandal of deceit, dishonor and betrayal is not going to go away soon. For unlike Benghazi and the IRS scandals, the major media are looking into how widespread was this practice of denying care to vets and doctoring waiting lists to lie about what was done, and not done, at the VA hospitals. And as this is both an easily understood and deeply emotional issue, the public is fully engaged. Our commander in chief wisely used his weekend to visit our troops in Afghanistan. But between Memorial Day and June 6, when the president speaks at Normandy on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, this metastasizing scandal is going to bleed his administration. And this crisis gripping the second largest Cabinet department underscores a larger truth.
The core belief of liberalism, the political philosophy that has guided the Democratic Party since FDR’s New Deal—that competent, caring, compassionate government is the instrument best suited to addressing America’s social disorders—is being fatally undermined. The VA hospitals are supposed to represent the best in quality care for those we owe the most. They are America’s example to the world of government-run health care and a single-payer system that liberals have championed for decades. Does anyone still believe that universal health care modeled on the VA is what we want for America?
Looking around, America’s public sector appears to be everywhere in crisis. Before the VA scandal we had the rollout of Obamacare, the disastrous results of which were so unanticipated and adverse they could cost the Democratic Party control of the Senate in November. Democrats point to Social Security and Medicare as the ideal of what a caring, compassionate and competent government can do. But what has Big Government accomplished lately?
In the new century, we have fought our two longest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are the results worth the lost blood and treasure? Or are the results of our interventions the reasons why Americans want to stay out of Syria and Ukraine? Perhaps the largest of all government programs is education. Yet despite the trillions of dollars plunged into public education at the local, state and federal levels from the Great Society to No Child Left Behind to Race to the Top, U.S. test scores continue to plummet in international competition and the gap between black and Hispanic and Asian and white continues to persist.
To bring up test scores, we have seen the dumbing down of tests and rampant cheating by principals and teachers erasing and changing answers for students in school districts including D.C. and Atlanta. Corrupt conduct by those charged with instructing America’s children in the moral superiority of democratic government. Is not the charter school movement a vote of no confidence in a school system that was once the pride of the nation?
The sub-prime mortgage scandal, which almost plunged us into a second Great Depression, was a product of Big Government. And despite five trillion in federal deficits under Obama, and a Fed policy of pumping endless trillions into the banks, U.S. growth in the first quarter flatlined, and has been anemic for years. The bankruptcy of Detroit, the downgrades of public debt in Illinois, Puerto Rico, and New Jersey—were they not all caused by the political class that runs state governments?
Yes, there are well-run VA hospitals, outstanding public schools, and state and local governments that are magnets for business. And government has accomplished goals in which all of us take pride. NASA put our astronauts on the moon. After Pearl Harbor, Washington led America to victory in less than four years. But lately government’s failures seem to outnumber its successes.
Republicans rightly view with alarm demographic trends showing their core constituencies shrinking and the Democrats’ rising. But Democrats should also take heed. For declining confidence in government’s ability to solve America’s problems, which is likely to be translated into Republican gains in Congress this year, represents a declining faith in the Democratic idea that government is the answer. In the last century, communism was The God That Failed.
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?Copyright 2014 Creators.com.
Source: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/veterans-affairs-and-the-crisis-of-democratic-governance/
The conservative fight against crony capitalism received a boost last Tuesday, when the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee stood before a Heritage Foundation crowd and became the latest, and perhaps most influential, Republican politician to take specific aim at the Export-Import Bank. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) devoted nearly half his speech to articulating the argument against the obscure federal institution that subsidizes American exports, while still making time to rail against the farm bill, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and recent bailouts for GM and Wall Street. As the chairman of the committee responsible for reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank before its charter expires at the end of September, and as a potential contender for the Speakership should John Boehner relinquish the gavel after the midterm elections, Hensarling’s words carry significant weight.
Tim Carney, who has become the drum major leading the march against crony capitalism, foresees the potential for the GOP to turn the 2014 midterms into a referendum on Democratic corporatism, and a demonstration that conservatives are pro-market, not pro-business. Pete Spiliakos, however, has been skeptical. “That is fine as far as it goes,” he says, “to portray the center-left as wanting to take taxes with one hand and give out subsidies to the connected with the other, but it is starting your presentation by answering a question the public doesn’t seem to be asking.” Pete agrees that corporations that have co-opted the feds into giving them unfair subsidies should be kicked off corporate welfare, but doesn’t think such proposals “amount to much absent a positive program that directly impacts people who are near the median income or who are economically struggling,” at least politically speaking. He followed up on those comments last week, writing, ”Cutting crony capitalism has to be a means to an end rather than an end in itself. If the purpose of cutting crony capitalism is to free up money to cut the top marginal tax rates on high-earners, then conservatives aren’t going to seem any less pro-rich for wanting to cut the Export-Import Bank and subsidies to green energy companies.”
So what is crony capitalism, politically speaking? Is it a welcome restorative for a party pegged as being in the pockets of big business? Or a worthy policy initiative albeit with little public resonance? Perhaps the best answer came a year ago at the Heritage Foundation, when Sen. Mike Lee was delivering the outline of his reform agenda. Lee said:
The first step in a true conservative reform agenda must be to end this kind of preferential policymaking. Beyond simply being the right thing to do, it is a pre-requisite for earning the moral authority and political credibility to do anything else.
Why should the American people trust our ideas about middle-class entitlements… when we’re still propping up big banks?
“A pre-requisite for earning the moral authority and political credibility to do anything else.” In his latest post, Pete worried that “the crony capitalism strategy treats the perception of conservatives as being pro-rich as primarily a problem of resentment. People resent the rich for getting too much unfairly, and so conservatives must target the undeserving rich.” He is right, of course, that an actual appeal to middle- and working-class voters will have to be founded on policies that address their needs. But voters aren’t policy analysts, ready to parse a tax proposal to see how it scores. Republicans are (rightfully) in a place of very low trust with most Americans, having parroted the same set of supply-side solutions with a variety of weak attempts at rebranding. To put it somewhat dramatically, putting General Electric’s head on a spike doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, about slaking the perceived bloodlust of a resentful mob. Instead, it can be as simple as demonstrating loyalty to a prospective new employer by offering up the old one.
A substantive agenda will still have to be offered to middle-class Americans, and good work on that has been freshly compiled here. But first, voters will have to have a reason to trust that this time is different, and their best interests really are at the heart of the new proposals.
Source: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-tricky-politics-of-fighting-crony-capitalism/Read more ...
Casual dating became the way social circles in the past. Causal dating was a norm during the post vaginal era in 1980s. There are lots of advantages that people got from causal dating then like it give them the chance to check out the playing field, learn new things, commit mistakes, recover from the mistake and then move on. The key to a successful casual dating is to be honest with the other person. Being honest about your intention to go through a non-exclusive relationship will provide them with choices to go on or not.
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