Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Federal Court - Now What?

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the
onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly
conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

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Senate panel okays $850 billion debt increase

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved an $850 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority to $9.815 trillion in order to avoid a default as the government nears its credit limit of $8.965 trillion.

People this can't continue. Why have limits if those limits are just going to be increased?

This financial reckless behavior disgusts me.

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Sour Americans hungry for change as election approaches

According to opinion polls and interviews with political experts and voters, the U.S. population is more liberal than at any time in a generation, hungering to end the Iraq war, turn inward and use the federal government to solve problems at home.

Still, polling indicates, some want to turn farther right, demanding that the country fence off its Southern border, expel illegal immigrants and rein in a federal government grown fat under a Republican government they now dismiss as incompetent.

The surveys point to one thing almost all Americans tend to agree on: They're deeply unhappy with the way things are going in the United States and eager to move on. There's virtually no appetite to extend the Bush era, as there was at the end of Ronald Reagan's presidency in 1988 or Bill Clinton's in 2000.

Some things change.

Some things never change.

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Children taken from parents and adopted ‘to meet ministry targets’

It says that the number of parents in England who have lost their children, despite insufficient evidence that they were causing them harm, has reached record levels.

One reason, according to social workers, is that they are under pressure to meet government adoption targets – in line with ministers’ policy for more children in care to be adopted.

At the same time, it is claimed, parents are not always given a proper chance to challenge adoptions because of the short time limit for appeals and the secrecy of the family courts. Lawyers say that hearings in private fuel parents’ sense of injustice and can in some cases breed bad practice, preventing them from properly defending themselves.

Pathetic.

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YouTube row over social services baby threat

I found this link over at Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease. I have to say I agree with her. This is fucked up.

She recorded a social worker telling her and her husband Martin, 41, that even though there was "no immediate risk to your child from yourselves", the council would seek a court order to place the child in foster care.

...

John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP and chairman of campaign group Justice for Families, said: "I find it very odd that a newborn baby would be removed when there is not any allegation by the authorities that the child is at risk. Yet this case is not unique. There are many cases in which newborns are removed because of allegations that their mothers may at some later stage 'emotionally abuse' the child."

The case returns the spotlight to claims that social services are being heavy-handed in removing children from their parents, in order to meet Government adoption targets.

Quotas?

Adoption quotas?

How fucked up is that?

Read the rest. It should piss you off.

Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned

The US government is on a “burning platform” of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.

...

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.

But who pays attention to history?


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Paulson: US should boost debt limit

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday said the United States may be unable to pay its bills this fall unless Congress raises the government's borrowing authority, now capped at $8.965 trillion.

Now think about that.

The government may not be able to pay its bills unless it borrows more money.

There is no logic to the madness.

Financial responsibilty is really very simple: do not spend more than you bring in.

Never get out of debt here.

It's the people vs. the government, new poll suggests

But Americans are not convinced that changing parties will make much difference. The new dynamic in American politics right now isn't Democrat versus Republican.

That's because it's different shit but the same stench.

"It is a sad commentary in America today that many Americans have lost faith in their government," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said. He added, "Americans don't believe that their government is representing them, is acting on their behalf. The polls show it."

And are you surprised by the anger?

Read the rest.

Gas at $6 per gallon? Get ready.

Get ready for Congress to solve the energy problem just as it has previously solved the illegal immigration problem. A bill being debated in the Senate this week is described by some of its supporters as “far from perfect” but “a good start.”

...

“A review of S. 1419, including the just-completed section on tax changes, reveals that the bill could increase the price of regular unleaded gasoline from $3.14 per gallon (the early May national average) to $6.40 in 2016 — a 104 percent increase,” write Heritage Foundation researchers William W. Beach and Shanea Watkins.

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Why Americans Keep Getting Fatter

The USDA grossly underfunds the healthiest foods while pouring billions into a farm bill that supports many of the foods its dietary recommendations warn against.

Now isn't that interesting?

Try to lose weight here.

US: New polls reveal mass opposition to Democrats and Republicans

New opinion polls released this week show mounting discontent within the American population over the war in Iraq and the policies of both political parties. They reflect deep and bitter opposition to the Bush administration, but also reveal that just six months after the Democrats took control of Congress, masses of Americans who voted Democratic to express their opposition to the Iraq war are disillusioned and angry over the Democrats’ cowardice and complicity with Bush.

Proof that both parties are really the same and that the American people do not have two choices. In fact, the two choices scenario is nothing but bullshit. The powers that be want you to believe that you only have two choices and any other possiblity is just "throwing away your vote." However, you should have learned by now that there is not much difference between your two choices. The names change, the "parties" change, but nothing else changes. Yet, the facade is allowed to continue "election" after "election" after "election."

Are you really angry or are you just saying the words?

Spooks Infiltrating UFO Community?

So, if I get this right: these spooks don't really believe in UFOs, but they're worried that foreign intelligence agents have infiltrated UFO groups that have military members with classified info. And what sort of classified information do these supposed foreign intelligence types think they're gonna get from the UFO group (other than UFO information)?

Exactly.

Read the rest.

Censorship 'changes face of net'

Amnesty International has warned that the internet "could change beyond all recognition" unless action is taken against the erosion of online freedoms.

...

The "virus of internet repression" has spread from a handful of countries to dozens of governments, said the group.

Amnesty accused companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of being complicit in the problem.

Get censored here.

Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt

The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

1.3 trillion! With a "T"! Pay attention people!

The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006.

...

Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined.

Rich people should not be allowed to run governments because they have no understanding of fiscal responsibility (they've never had to). They've rarely, if ever, had to save money because generally speaking they've always had it or they have forgotten what it's like to not have it.

Here's more.