Readers' Comments

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Just look up the word for what it means and redefine it as just what it is: Something earned, paid for and which you are ENTITLED to.
    Period.
    It's a good thing we are entitled to that money.
    It's ours!

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The difference being several things.
    The money stolen (and unaccounted for) by Congress w/the acquiescence of too many Presidents.
    That does not change a damned thing.
    A rip-off is a rip-off. I demand my money as should everybody.
    The $105,000 limit made almost sense back when $105,000 was $105,000 and still made some kind of intuitive sense. It does not buy what it used to.
    Raise that limit to where those who took so much should contribute further to maintain the society and civilization which allowed their rise via EVERYONE'S tax $$.
    Bottom line is, we are being expected to bear the brunt in an ongoing class war being waged and foisted on us. The Aristocracy is pressing for their perceived 'entitlements' which have nothing but the force of conceit and the power we allow them to prosecute and persecute us ever further.
    They will grind us down until we are gone.
    I will not bend nor buckle anymore out of some divorced-from reality sense they are our betters and we should concede our dignity and offer any fealty further.

  • WANTED: 250,000 Americans to Fight Fake News & Government Propaganda   5 years 20 weeks ago

    This site is controlled opposition. Do not believe these liars. There is no organized group to de-mask the actor ploiticians. It is being done quietly my brothers.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Dear Human:

    Thank you for contacting me regarding potential reforms to Social Security and Medicare benefits. I appreciate hearing your concerns on this important issue.

    Social Security and Medicare are two important programs for our Nation’s seniors. Beneficiaries rely on earned benefits, as well as the long term sustainability of these programs. According to all measures, these entitlement programs represent an enormous and growing share of our Federal budget.

    As you know, the Federal budget has been running deficits at or over one trillion dollars annually, and our national debt now exceeds $15 trillion. Responsible governing requires that all aspects of our Federal budget be examined for reforms and reviewed to ensure sustainability. Currently, significant reforms have been proposed by both members of Congress and the President, and include: measures to ensure inflation adjustments are accurate, benefit adjustments, means testing, etc.

    I am aware that many Americans have concerns about the ramifications of possible reforms to our entitlement programs. I will keep your views in mind as we work on bipartisan solutions to address challenges facing our budget and entitlement programs.
    Again, thank you for contacting me regarding this issue. Please do not hesitate to do so in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern.

    Sincerely,
    John McCain
    United States Senator

    Bernie Sanders needs to explain the Social Security system to McCain!

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The statistics you may be reading have probably been distributed by the Peterson Institute. I heard a representative speak and I found many flaws and downright misleading statistics, graphs, etc. that were obviously done in a way to support an opinion. For example, this person presented a graph combining social security and Medicare into one bar when comparing to other factors, and he presented erroneous population statistics, again, both designed to mislead. In reality, there was a population boom in the 1980s and those people are paying into social security, so the scare tactic that the baby boomers will "make us go broke" is false. Also, one cannot legitimately link Social Security and Medicare because Social Security is, by law, the way in which Social Security is financed, it cannot contribute to the deficit. Look at the vast majority of workers. They work 30-45 years, contribute to Social Security, and on average, collect for 15 years.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Mary bottari's finest article yet!

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The programs are not sustainable. http://www.fpanet.org/ToolsResources/SocialSecurityPredictor/IssuesFacingSocialSecurity/

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    You're just allowing someone else's malicious interpretation of 'entitlements' to cloud your judgment here.

    They are what they are and we are entitled to them because we PAID for them.

    See?

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago
    SSI

    The Prez falling into a trap?
    Really.
    He proposed this crap.
    Firstly by appointing Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles (Wall Street Dem) to his pet commission. They're both big fans of Pete Peterson.
    Obama is quoted as far back as 2004 in being amenable to changes that hurt recipients.

    Chew on this from 2006:

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/obama-at-the-hamilton-project-2006-this-is-not-a-bloodless-process.html#3UhLCIVbkOVZ5vQO.99
    Then google his quotes on SSI beginning in early 2009.........
    You done been snookered.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The single thing holding back agreement on the deficit is the unwillingness of the left wing to balance the budget! If an agreement can made on decreasing the entitilments, which have increased three fold under Obama and Reid the deal will be made.
    Don't fall for the line of bull that Obama care is holding this agreement up. It is and well should be the problem of every American whether on food stamps, disability, welfare or any other entitlement ! It is completely untrue that SS is an entitlement ! We paid into the fund and are now reaping the rewards of years of investment of our hard earned money.
    A veteran of Vietnam

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    ...for the exact reason you say. People are entitled to them for having paid into the accounts. The problem is that people are receiving far more than they ever paid into these accounts. It is not just retirees. The Atlantic ran a piece about disability benefits and how people are milking Social Security dry. The problem is that with dwindling birth rates and increasing retirement rates, the balance has shifted and there is not going to be enough money in these accounts. Period. That's agreed upon fact by all parties.

    So ask yourself if you're willing to take money from your grandchildren's future to ensure that you can get paid in retirement.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    I believe Neugebauer is a representative from Texas, not California.

  • From Junk Bonds to Junk Schools: Cyber Schools Fleece Taxpayers for Phantom Students and Failing Grades   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The NEPC conclusion is too simplistic. Is learning from a computer flawed or is the student flawed? Students who lack the ability and initiative to learn independently should probably not be learning from a computer, yet they are allowed to anyway. That sounds like the real problem. Students need to be screened as to whether or not they are qualified to learn independently, with those who don’t qualify sent to a traditional school. The last paragraph in that section of the article seems to confirm this issue. “Of particular concern to critics is the company's emphasis on serving high-risk students who don't have the motivated homeschool parents and support structures needed to make the most of the model. Why would K12 Inc. focus on this population? "It was an explicit business strategy to go after kids who would demand the least from their educational experience, which ultimately yields increased profits for K12 Inc.," explains Huerta.” When you put mediocre, unmotivated students in front of a computer and then blame the computer for their poor results, you have a flawed interpretation of the situation. What this really tells us is that learning should be customized for students and not a one-size-fits-all environment. Let the independent achievers with initiative learn from a computer, if that’s their choice, but put the rest of the students in a traditional classroom.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    I am SO sick and tired of hearing Social Security called entitlements. I pray the American people are sick of it as well and make their voices heard at the polls.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    We need to tell the President to stop falling into the Republican's trap of calling Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, entitlements. Entitlements refers to charity, and these are anything but charity. EVERY WORKING PERSON in America has paid for these through payroll deductions from every paycheck they have ever earned. The Republicans simply want to take the money from all three of these and use it to end our so called "debt crisis", which is being handled quite nicely without touching any money from Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. All three are completely solvent, and Medicare is the best run health care system in the country. The Republican agenda is nothing more then a war against their fellow citizens, and the last time I checked, the constitution calls this TREASON!

  • From Junk Bonds to Junk Schools: Cyber Schools Fleece Taxpayers for Phantom Students and Failing Grades   5 years 20 weeks ago

    My son is in an on-line K12 high-school and we find it to be a great fit for his personality. He attends two activities at his local high-school, and enjoys being able to focus on academics at home and socializing during electives once school work is done. I think a lot of kids in these programs have learning disabilities so I don't feel the statistics showing kids in these programs perform below public-school kids is fair. I don't like to see tax dollars funding such high salaries of course, but hope there's continued respect for a variety of school choices.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    You failed to mention either GPO or WEP...they have been coming after their SS since 1977.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    The vast majority of seniors and vets do not want charity, we earned our right to modest support in our later years. Uncle Jack took a machine gun hit landing on ewajima, uncle Manuel fought in Europe. We built the high dams, the water distribution canals, the national highway system, the bridges, the colleges and universities, started the space program, landed a man on the moon using slide rules, the calculator had not been invented. We enacted centuries overdue civil rights legislation and came to the aid of not only Europe but virtually every needy nation on earth. Most importantly WE DID IT ALL BY TAXING OURSELVES LEAVING NO DEBT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. Now these greedy undisciplined over-spenders want our earned income trust fund to cover their stupidity and greed. NO F*****g WAY.

  • Texas Attorney General Rebuffs ALEC's Effort to Declare Itself Immune from Open Records Law   5 years 20 weeks ago

    That is what the lobbyist's job is all about. I suggest that instead of allowing these people unfettered access to our legislators and halls of government where they parade about as though they were Kings and Queens, we instead enact laws that state at the very least, all lobbying must be done on legislative floor and prohibit them from meeting in private with our legislators. The penalty for being caught in secret would be to place bounties on the heads of both the lobbyist and the legislator. See if that staightens them out a little.

  • Dear WWII Vets, Forget About the Monument, They Are Gunning for Your Social Security   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Though I am a peacetime Veteran who served 6 years under Dwight Eisenhour who kept us out of War, I have been on the side of those who are sent off to War ever since being diswcharged honorably in 1962.

    Verteran struggles like immigrant struggles and home owner struggles are key to keeping our democracy alive.
    KEEP HOPE alive keep to the streets of Washington- SPEAKING OUT

  • Prions in Plants? New Concerns Regarding Chronic Wasting Disease   5 years 20 weeks ago

    In light of obvious increases in fungal infections, i.e. drug resistant respiratory infection, in the midwestern and southern U.S. and the current onset of the Fall raking season, what study has been done regarding possible transfer between animals via funguses as a transmission vector, particularly edible and inhaled-spore generating examples?

  • Will Supreme Court Expand "Money as Speech" Ruse and Strike Donation Limits?   5 years 20 weeks ago

    It has no head with a mouth that speaks, no body with arms and legs and certainly cannot walk so the only conclusion one can come to is money cannot talk therefor not speech.

  • From Junk Bonds to Junk Schools: Cyber Schools Fleece Taxpayers for Phantom Students and Failing Grades   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Thank you for this important report. I observed K12 from a different angle, taking a close look at the history curriculum for kindergarten, first, and second grades. The results are sometimes hilarious but mostly distressing. Their professional advice when a parent reported that the child didn't understand a lesson was "Do it again."

    "The K12 Virtual Primary School History Curriculum: A Participant’s-eye View":
    http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPSL-0404-117-EPRU.pdf

  • New Records Released Detailing FBI and DHS Fusion Center Monitoring of Activists   5 years 20 weeks ago

    I recommend all people to urgently see this DVD series freely available which asks some very serious questions which reveal that '9/11' was inside job conspiracy: "September 11 - The New Pearl Harbor" http://www.luogocomune.net/site/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=167

  • Prions in Plants? New Concerns Regarding Chronic Wasting Disease   5 years 20 weeks ago

    Uptake of Prions into Plants

    http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=cf0f185d-6f87-40f8-af8c-19d631e62561&cKey=219cd4d8-9980-4835-82cb-7649156010fa&mKey={40C89FC9-A586-491D-A3C7-B0F26504839B}

    Prion2013

    Friday, August 09, 2013

    ***CWD TSE prion, plants, vegetables, and the potential for environmental contamination

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/cwd-tse-prion-plants-vegetables-and.html

    PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD

    Sunday, August 25, 2013

    HD.13: CWD infection in the spleen of humanized transgenic mice

    Liuting Qing and Qingzhong Kong

    Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH USA

    Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America, and there is evidence suggesting the existence of multiple CWD strains. The susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to the various CWD prion strains remains largely unclear. Current literature suggests that the classical CWD strain is unlikely to infect human brain, but the potential for peripheral infection by CWD in humans is unknown. We detected protease-resistant PrpSc in the spleens of a few humanized transgenic mice that were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrpSc was not detected in the brains of any of the CWD-inoculated mice. Our ongoing bioassays in humanized Tg mice indicate that intracerebral challenge with such PrpSc-positive humanized mouse spleen already led to prion disease in most animals. ***These results indicate that the CWD prion may have the potential to infect human peripheral lymphoid tissues.

    Oral.15: Molecular barriers to zoonotic prion transmission: Comparison of the ability of sheep, cattle and deer prion disease isolates to convert normal human prion protein to its pathological isoform in a cell-free system

    Marcelo A.Barria,1 Aru Balachandran,2 Masanori Morita,3 Tetsuyuki Kitamoto,4 Rona Barron,5 Jean Manson,5 Richard Kniqht,1 James W. lronside1 and Mark W. Head1

    1National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit; Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences; School of Clinical Sciences; The University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh, UK; 2National and OIE Reference Laboratory for Scrapie and CWD; Canadian Food Inspection Agency; Ottawa Laboratory; Fallowfield. ON Canada; 3Infectious Pathogen Research Section; Central Research Laboratory; Japan Blood Products Organization; Kobe, Japan; 4Department of Neurological Science; Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine; Sendai. Japan; 5Neurobiology Division; The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS; University of Edinburgh; Easter Bush; Midlothian; Edinburgh, UK

    Background. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a known zoonotic prion disease, resulting in variant Creurzfeldt- Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. In contrast, classical scrapie in sheep is thought to offer little or no danger to human health. However, a widening range of prion diseases have been recognized in cattle, sheep and deer. The risks posed by individual animal prion diseases to human health cannot be determined a priori and are difficult to assess empirically. The fundamemal event in prion disease pathogenesis is thought to be the seeded conversion of normal prion protein (PrPC) to its pathological isoform (PrPSc). Here we report the use of a rapid molecular conversion assay to test whether brain specimens from different animal prion diseases are capable of seeding the conversion of human PrPC ro PrPSc.

    Material and Methods. Classical BSE (C-type BSE), H-type BSE, L-type BSE, classical scrapie, atypical scrapie, chronic wasting disease and vCJD brain homogenates were tested for their ability to seed conversion of human PrPC to PrPSc in protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) reactions. Newly formed human PrPSc was detected by protease digestion and western blotting using the antibody 3F4.

    Results. C-type BSE and vCJD were found to efficiently convert PrPC to PrPSc. Scrapie failed to convert human PrPC to PrPSc. Of the other animal prion diseases tested only chronic wasting disease appeared to have the capability ro convert human PrPC to PrPSc. The results were consistent whether the human PrPC came from human brain, humanised transgenic mouse brain or from cultured human cells and the effect was more pronounced for PrPC with methionine at codon 129 compared with that with valine.

    Conclusion. Our results show that none of the tested animal prion disease isolates are as efficient as C-type BSE and vCJD in converting human prion protein in this in vitro assay. ***However, they also show that there is no absolute barrier ro conversion of human prion protein in the case of chronic wasting disease.

    PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD

    Sunday, August 25, 2013

    ***Chronic Wasting Disease CWD risk factors, humans, domestic cats, blood, and mother to offspring transmission

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/prion2013-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html

    Sunday, July 21, 2013

    *** As Chronic Wasting Disease CWD rises in deer herd, what about risk for humans?

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/07/as-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-rises-in.html

    > sCJDMM1-2 should be considered as a separate entity at this time.

    > All of the Heidenhain variants were of the methionine/ methionine type 1 molecular subtype.

    http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/characteristics-of-established-and.html

    http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/2009/09/co-existence-of-scrapie-prion-protein.html

    PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD

    Thursday, August 08, 2013

    Characterization of the first case of naturally occurring chronic wasting disease in a captive red deer (Cervus elaphus) in North America

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/characterization-of-first-case-of.html

    Sunday, September 01, 2013

    hunting over gut piles and CWD TSE prion disease

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/hunting-over-gut-piles-and-cwd-tse.html

    Wednesday, September 04, 2013

    ***cwd - cervid captive livestock escapes, loose and on the run in the wild...

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/cwd-cervid-captive-livestock-escapes.html

    Tuesday, September 10, 2013

    Review and Updates of the USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services (VS) National Chronice Wasting Disease (CWD) Program 2012-2013

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-and-updates-of-usda-aphis.html

    Sunday, August 11, 2013

    Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report August 2013

    Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada seeing an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010

    http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-cases.html

    Friday, August 16, 2013

    *** Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update August 2013 U.K. and Contaminated blood products induce a highly atypical prion disease devoid of PrPres in primates

    http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-biannual.html

    Sunday, September 08, 2013

    Iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease via surgical instruments and decontamination possibilities for the TSE prion

    http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/iatrogenic-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.html

    Tuesday, September 17, 2013

    USAHA 116TH ANNUAL MEETING October 18 – 24, 2012 CWD, Scrapie, BSE, TSE prion (September 17, 2013)

    http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2013/09/usaha-116th-annual-meeting-october-18.html

    *** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier. Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies.

    http://cdmrp.army.mil/prevfunded/nprp/NPRP_Summit_Final_Report.pdf

    Wednesday, September 25, 2013

    Wisconsin Hunters will again be able to have adult deer tested for chronic wasting disease CWD

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/wisconsin-hunters-will-again-be-able-to.html

    Friday, September 27, 2013

    Uptake of Prions into Plants

    Presentation Abstract

    http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/uptake-of-prions-into-plants.html

    kind regards,
    terry