Associated Press: Ed Donahue: 'News Minute Top Stories'

Source:Associated Press- Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ted Cruz (Texas)

"Here's the latest news for: Wednesday, Aug. 1. Power restored across India after historic failure; Gore Vidal, celebrated author playwright, dies; Texas' Cruz goes from longshot to easy victory; Colo. swimmer's gold gives state reason to cheer." 

From the Associated Press

Bare with me for a minute, this will be my first ever attempt to write a news brief, that I'm going to put on a blog. I figure what the hell, it's another slow news day and there isn't one story thats been reported today that I'm willing to write anything in depth about. So I'l combine several small stories into one hopefully medium size story.

Ted Cruz, won the Texas Republican Senate primary last night and will most likely win that Senate election. Considering at this point there might be more Cowboys than Democrats in the Lone Star State. Ted Cruz, was endorsed by Sarah Palin, which means another mental patient will be heading to Congress. probably to keep Michele Bachmann and Dennis Kucinich company in the Congressional Crazy Caucus. Now hopefully Sarah Palin, will get into the act and run for Congress herself. House or, Senate it doesn't matter to me. Then she'll know what it's like to serve with other people who speak about issues they don't understand. And learn what not to say about things and what not to do. So far in her entertainment, I mean political career, she's been doing the opposite, so a change of pace would do her some good.

Also in the news, India a country of over 1B people, (they have so many people, it's not possible to count them all. It would be like trying to track down the entire population of a continent and I'm not talking about Antarctica either) was without power, but they are back online now. Now, only 70% of the country doesn't have power. 

The House of Representatives, is set again to vote down middle class tax cuts. Vote for tax Hikes for the middle class and more tax cuts for the wealthy. Look, it's a Republican controlled House, just thank God (even if you are an Atheist) that they don't control the Senate and White House as well. Their message being that: "If you don't like high taxes, make a lot of money. Otherwise we are going to punish you for not being rich." Good luck selling this on the campaign trail: "Once you make a lot of money, you'll get to keep most if not all of it and we'll even take money away from people who actually need it and give more money to you."

In other Congressional news, the Senate once again voted to do nothing, as Senate Republicans, once again blocked a judicial nominee of President Obama's. In a statement released by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader said: "That once the President sends up appointments to the bench that we like" meaning right-wing Republicans in Senate speak, "and changes his party affiliation to Republican, Senate Republicans will be prepared to vote on these judicial appointments." 

In more Congressional news, Democratic and Republican Senators during the August Congressional recess, will be taking a two week course on how to legislate and vote on bills that reach the Senate floor. Because its been such a long time since they've done either. They've forgotten how too.

And thats a brief on what's going on in the world today for August 1, 2012. I hope you are more or less informed.

Associated Press: Ed Donahue: 'Today in History For July 30th'

Source:Associated Press- go back in time.

"Highlights of this day in history:  Ex-Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears; Medicare and Medicaid signed into law; A blast rocks Black Tom Island; The USS Indianapolis sunk; Henry Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger born." 

From the Associated Press

The Jimmy Hoffa story is obviously fascinating, for the simple reason that we'll never know what happened to him, or why it happened to him. The best guess is that we either murdered or died at some point during the summer of 1975. He wasn't exactly Howard Hughes who was afraid to be seen in public. Hoffa was obviously a very public man as a labor celebrity and one of the founders of modern Las Vegas. So had he lived much longer after this point, we would've heard about it.

Mike Atkinson: Stan Atkinson- Interviews Susan Atkins in 1976: Acid Made Her Do It?

Source:Mike Atkinson- Stan Atkinson, interviewing Manson Family solider and killer Susan Atkins, in 1976. 

Source:The Daily Press

"Stan Atkinson interviews Susan Atkins"

From Mike Atkinson

Source:FRS FreeState- Manson Family soldier and killer Susan Atkins, in 1976. 

Susan Atkins represents what can happen when people who are not sure where they are going in life, perhaps somewhat lost and need to and is term is used over and over, but to find themselves. Perhaps take a trip to Europe after high school or something. The way Susan Atkins life turned out, probably doesn’t happen that way if she never meets Charlie Manson.

Not to excuse Susan’s role in the vicious crimes of Sharon Tate and others, because she’s clearly responsible for her actions in these crimes. But she represents the damage that Manson not only did by ordering all of these murders, but the damage he did to his followers.

Charlie Manson, picked up all of these young adults were somewhat lost and didn’t feel needed and felt unwanted and assembling them into his cult, what I call the Manson Crime Family. That Charlie Manson assembled in the late 1960s, starting in the Bay Area and moving down to the Los Angeles Area.

Susan, was one of the Manson Family members that managed to make a life for herself behind bars. And hopefully her criminal career would’ve been over had she ever been released from prison. She was sentenced to life and died in prison in 2009.

And to some extent Susan’s life in prison sparked a debate in whether or not she, Pat Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, should ever be paroled or not. Me personally I don’t believe that convicted murderers, especially serial murderers, should ever be paroled. That they should be officially held responsible for the crimes they committed. Which is what you get with life sentences, because their victims will never recover from their crimes and it’s that simple.

But these three women do represent the potential of prison rehabilitation not just for lifers, but for inmates who will eventually be released from prison. The lives of some of the Manson Family members, except for their leader and perhaps Tex Watson, is a damn shame. Because some of these people are very intelligent, articulate and had a lot of potential that they could see come to life. Had they not ended up part of the Manson Family and ended up going to college, getting educated and living a productive life instead.

Associated Press: Ethan Harris: 'US Economic Growth Slowed to 1.5 Pct. Rate in Q2'

Source:Associated Press- Ethan Harris talking about economic growth in the United States.

"The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, as Americans cut back sharply on spending. The slowdown in growth adds to worries that the economy could be stalling three years after the recession ended." 

From the Associated Press

Associated Press: 'Gov't Upping Fight Against Health Care Fraud'

Source:Associated Press- United States Attorney General Eric Holder, talking about health care fraud.

"The Obama administration is upping the ante in the fight against health care fraud, joining forces with private insurers and state investigators on a scale not previously seen in an attempt to stanch tens of billions of dollars in losses." 

From the Associated Press

It's the uncompensated health care in the health care system, that's the biggest problem with the health care system in America, along with the unaffordable health insurance in the country. I'm not talking about Medicaid, which is also a problem in that they don't compensate a lot of hospitals who treat their clients. I'm talking about people who go to the emergency room for the most basic of procedures, who don't have health insurance and not even Medicaid, who can't afford to pay for that health care out-of-pocket, who get that health care for free. And those costs are passed onto the hospitals, and they pass those costs onto to either the taxpayers or the patients that they have who are covered by health insurance. 

What the Affordable Care Act of 2010 does, it requires everyone who can afford it, to get covered by health insurance. And low-income workers, they can now be covered by Medicaid. And for lower middle class workers, they are now eligible for a tax credit to cover their health insurance. Uncompensated health care is not technically health care fraud, at pre-2010, but it's a major source for why our health care is so expensive, at least compared with the rest of the developed world.

Associated Press: Raw Video- ‘New York Debates Proposed Ban on Sugary Drinks’

Source:Associated Press- Shira Gans works for the Manhattan, New York Borough President.

“New York faced the next step in a bitter battle over large sugary drinks Tuesday, with the soft drink and restaurant industries protesting the mayor’s proposed ban and the public lining up to have its say.”

From the Associated Press 

NYPD: “Son, you need to put that slurpy before it eventually kills you or rots out your teeth.” No, I don’t know if that cop in this cartoon actually said that to this little boy, but that’s the attitude that nanny statists on the Far-Left represent in America: “Big Government knows what’s best for the people. The people are too dumb to make their own decisions.”

Source:FRS FreeState- Welcome to Mike Bloomberg's New York Nanny.

Another example of blogging on a slow news day, I’m probably just a step away from bloggers block if there’s such a thing. And if there isn’t, I just invented it.

I know I covered this back in June (but like I said, it’s a slow news day) but New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently has had some vision that he knows how New Yorker’s and perhaps Americans in general, how they should live better than the people themselves. He has the classic one- size fits all to governing, that if this works for him or other people, that it must work for everyone.

In 2008 the prospect of Mike Bloomberg running for President as an Independent, didn’t bother me. He seemed like a classical Northeastern Republican: “keep big government out of our wallets and bedrooms” Republican. But now he seems not only believe that big government should be in our wallets, like calling for all the Bush tax cuts to expire on everyone, including the middle class, but Mayor Bloomberg also wants big government down our throats. Telling us what we can drink and how much we can drink, he’s becoming a hero in today’s so-called progressive (communist, in actuality) politics.

What New York is attempting to do with soft drinks is another example of prohibition. If New Yorker’s can’t get large sodas in the city, then they go to Long Island, North Jersey or Connecticut, someplace where people have the freedom to decide how much they can drink and eat. Of course as long as they have the money to pay for it and then if that jurisdiction has a sales tax, they’ll end up paying taxes on those products that they buy. Which will go to help that jurisdiction pay for schools, roads, hospitals, everything that communities need to be vibrant.

Tax money that could’ve otherwise been spent in New York is now helping local jurisdictions outside of New York, pay for those services. That’s what leftists and religious fundamentalists  have never figured out about prohibition, that just because you tell people they can’t do something, doesn’t mean they stop doing it. It’s just done in other ways and in other areas.

If you think people are living unhealthy and you believe that this unhealthy living is somehow negatively affects the rest of society as a whole and you want to correct that bad behavior, what you should do is incentivize people to correct that behavior. Have them pay a price for living unhealthy, short of putting them in jail. And have them pay a financial cost for living unhealthy. Like taxing soft drinks extra than what you would tax water or milk. 

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Associated Press: Marcela Isaza: 'Stars Don't Blame Hollywood for Shooting Rampage'

Source:Associated Press- actress Demi Levato.

"The AP's Marcela Isaza asks Will.I.Am, Demi Levato and others if on screen violence is to blame for the Colorado shootings." 

From the Associated Press

First of all, the fact that Hollywood actors and other workers in Hollywood wouldn't blame their own industry and company town for the violence in America, is as surprising as seeing an ocean full of water, or a lot of people at the pool on a hot day. That's where they work, that's where they got rich and famous. And besides, they're entertainers, so you have to at least consider that anytime they take a public position on anything. They're not going to do or say anything that could put their future earnings and career at risk. 

Second, Hollywood is a business more than anything else. If there's a large market for violent films and other violent entertainment and they can make a lot of money producing that entertainment, that's exactly what they're going to do. Which is their right as private individuals and businesspeople. 

So I believe this gets to personal responsibility and people knowing what they're looking at and seeing and then deciding it's not real. And just because some celebrity looks cool in a film or on TV blowing someone away or violently beating someone else up on TV or in the film, doesn't mean that would be a cool thing to do in real life. Well, that wouldn't be the right thing to do in real life, even if did make you look cool with hipsters.