Don’t lean in: Lean back, get married, have some kids….

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Dana Milbank

Opinion Writer

Conservatives to women: Lean back

The conservative minds of the Heritage Foundation have found a way for Republicans to shrink the gender gap: They need to persuade more women to get their MRS degrees.

The advocacy group held a gathering of women of the right Monday afternoon to mark the final day of Women’s History Month — and the consensus was that women ought to go back in history. If Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg’s mantra is “lean in,” these women were proposing that women lean back: get married, take care of kids and let men earn the wages.

“We’re gathered to celebrate Women’s History Month but I don’t celebrate Women’s History Month,” announced writer Mona Charen, one of the panelists. “It doesn’t interest me whether a person who happens to share my chromosomes sits in the Oval Office. It doesn’t interest me how many women members of the Senate there are.”

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Blogger’s Code of Conduct as a proposal–Good, bad, indifferent?

MoonHowler

From Wikipedia:

Behavior

The Blogger’s Code of Conduct is a proposal by Tim O’Reilly for bloggers to enforce civility on their blogs by being civil themselves and moderating comments on their blog. The code was proposed in 2007 due to threats made to blogger Kathy Sierra.[99] The idea of the code was first reported by BBC News, who quoted O’Reilly saying, “I do think we need some code of conduct around what is acceptable behaviour, I would hope that it doesn’t come through any kind of regulation it would come through self-regulation.”[100]

O’Reilly and others came up with a list of seven proposed ideas:[101][102][103][104]

  1. Take responsibility not just for your own words, but for the comments you allow on your blog.
  2. Label your tolerance level for abusive comments.
  3. Consider eliminating anonymous comments.
  4. Ignore the trolls.
  5. Take the conversation offline, and talk directly, or find an intermediary who can do so.
  6. If you know someone who is behaving badly, tell them so.
  7. Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person.

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Mudslide victim wanted to live anywhere he wanted

MoonHowler

Thom  Satterlee, a local community activist, attempted to lead an effort to secede from Snohomish County.  He didn’t like the land use restrictions and many other things dished out by local government.  One has to wonder how that worked out for him in the past couple of days.  Thom and his wife are among the missing in the giant landslide in Washington State.

NBCnews.com:

Among those missing in the landslide that devastated a small Washington community is the leader of a group that sought to secede from Snohomish County over land-rights issues, including whether government could restrict property owners from building in risky or environmentally sensitive areas like the one buried by the slide.

Thom Satterlee, 65, and his wife, Marlese, 61, both are missing from their home in the community of Oso in the wake of Saturday’s landslide, which spewed tons of mud and debris over homes scattered along the Stillaquamish River. A daughter, Andrea Hulme, did not respond to an interview request from NBC News, but a message on her answering machine said, “My parents are missing in the mudslide.”

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Va. House looks for any excuse regardless of how stupid…

MoonHowler

From The Washingtonpost.com editorial:

The Post’s View

Va. Republicans need to end their excuses for not expanding medicaid

REPUBLICANS IN Virginia’s House of Delegates are running out of excuses to refuse a huge pot of federal money for expanding health-care coverage to poor people. The legislature this week convened a special session, the product of House Republicans’ baseless refusal to compromise on the health-care expansion. Both Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and the state Senate have offered compromise plans, responding to the House GOP’s proffered reasons for opposition with more seriousness than they deserve. If the Republicans’ opposition is anything beyond thoughtless or cynical, they should come to the negotiating table now.

The special session was called to agree on next year’s budget. But the battle is over one piece of the state’s financial plan: whether to accept federal funds to expand eligibility for Medicaid, the federal-state partnership that offers health-care coverage to people below and around the poverty line. The Affordable Care Act’s coverage plan depends on this expansion, but the Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out. Virginia is one of those that hasn’t made up its mind, even though the federal government has committed to pay nearly the whole tab, in perpetuity, with tax dollars it is already collecting from every state, including Virginia, whether they expand or not.

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Supreme Court: Collision of rights?

MoonHowler

boss supreme

 

Washingtonpost.com:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday prepared to hear a second challenge to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, this time to decide whether employers must provide their workers with insurance coverage for contraceptives even if the owners say it would violate their religious principles.

What is likely to be the signature ruling of the court’s term presents the justices with complicated questions about religious freedom and equality for female workers. It could have long-term implications for what other legal requirements companies could decline because of religious convictions. And it asks a question the court has never confronted: whether the Constitution or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that protects an individual’s exercise of religion extends to secular, for-profit corporations and their owners.

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Leave religion out of the work place

MoonHowler

Wrong answer, Pat. What you should have told your loyal listener is to leave religion out of the work place. Bring your faith to work in the form of good deeds. Be kind to your fellow co-workers and help them out when they need it. Don’t gossip at the water cooler. Bake some brownies for everyone.

No one wants to be a captive audience to someone selling their religion all day long. While the woman’s religion might have been the best thing since sliced bread to her, not everyone likes sliced bread. In America, workers should be free to go about their business without having someone trying to shove their religion down their throat.

Bothering others at work over religious matters should be an actionable offense, regardless of the religion being ‘sold.’

General Assembly Special Session–deals flying left and right

MoonHowler

The General Assembly has reconvened to consider expanding Medicaid.  Approximately 400,000 Virginians would be added to the program.  The Federal government will pay for it 100% for the first 3 years.  The following 2 years would provide for 90% of the payment.  After five years, the federal contribution, if any, is unknown.

People apparently have no idea how many people have no type of insurance.  An unemployed male will not get Medicaid in this state.  The fact that the person might not be able to find work is irrelevant.  Apparently having a child is the secret to being able to get Medicaid.  Poor with children.  Not all people eligible for food stamps get Medicaid either.

What on earth do people do if they get sick and have no coverage?  They go to hospitals and the rest of us eventually pay for it at a ginned up price.  I would rather just pay for Medicaid in the first place.  It’s an investment.

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Corey–1, Insidenova–Zip: Look who’s keeping score

MoonHowler

badge

Good for Chairman Corey Stewart.  He has continued to point out the need for additional law enforcement officers, despite the fact that he has been vilified and mocked on some other blogs that frankly, would brand him regardless of what he advocated in his role as county chairman.  Now one of the local online news agencies wants to pile on, ignoring facts.

insidenova.com:

In recently arguing his case for more police officers (and perhaps higher taxes) in next year’s fiscal county budget, Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart also managed to perpetuate an unfortunate stereotype.

“It’s not just in Woodbridge or Dale City, it’s not just in places where people would think these things would occur,” Stewart said of what he perceives as a spike in crime. “They are happening in the western end of the county.”

Really, Mr. Stewart? We expect rape, robbery and murder on the east end but not the west end?

He might as well have called it “Hoodbridge,” that embarrassing nickname that started who knows where, but it seems to have stuck.

Stewart called a press conference earlier this month to make his case that crime is on the rise, and mentioned two recent high-profile incidents – the execution-style shooting death of 21-year-old Glenda Coca-Romero at Platanillos Grocery in Woodbridge and a gang fight at Potomac Mills mall.

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Ding Dong, Fred Phelps is dead

MoonHowler

fag

Fred Phelps, founder and leader of Westboro Baptist Church has died, according to family.  Hopefully, his family will be able to bury their dead father without the horrible, nasty protests that the Phelps family has inflicted on others.

Washingtonpost.com:

Phelps rose to fame (or infamy) for his decades-long work of “opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth,” according to the church Web site. He expressed that opposition by picketing the funerals of military servicemen and women who in his view had been killed in wartime by a vengeful God punishing the United States for its increasing acceptance of gay rights. Many a grieving family had to put a loved one to rest within view of Phelps and others holding signs saying, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “Thank God for 9/11” and his signature slogan, “God hates fags.”

Phelps and his family have ultimately probably done more to help advance gay rights than any other single factor.  Americans seriously hate haters.  It’s in our national DNA.  Phelps went after mining disaster victims, veterans,  those killed in the line of duty, and children’s funerals to display their message condemning the gay life style by saying the death(s) was God’s wrath.  The not-so-right Reverend Phelps had better hope he was wrong as he goes to meet his maker.  He might just find the pearly gates not so hospitable.

I expect a new rash of jokes to spring up.  Please deposit them here.

Colorado still just going to pot

MoonHowler

pot3

politico.com:

A majority of Coloradans believe marijuana use should be legal, marking growing support since the 2012 ballot measure and two months after its legalization in the state in January.

Fifty-seven percent of Colorado voters think marijuana use should be legal, while only 35 percent think it should be illegal, according to a poll published Wednesday by Public Policy Polling.

The pollster notes that the 22-point margin shows an increase in support for legalization since the state’s ballot measure in 2012 passed by 10 points.

However, while a majority in the state favor legalization, few have yet to partake themselves in using marijuana. Only 8 percent say they’ve used the drug since it became legal in January and 89 percent say they have not used it.

Additionally, the poll shows support for gay marriage in the state has reached a record high with 56 percent supporting it and 36 percent opposing. Support for civil unions increases furthermore with 79 percent of Colorado voters supporting some sort of legal recognition for same-sex partners.

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Tom Jackman reviews a booze app

MoonHowler

booze

Ever wonder about value in the Virginia ABC store?  WaPo writer Tom Jackman has reviewed a new app for iphone and android that compares prices and value in the Virginia ABC stores.

Washingtonpost.com:

How many times have you wondered, just what is the difference in price AND quality between different types of tequila at the Virginia ABC store? And can you really get a straight answer from the ABC clerk? And where’s the closest ABC store to me RIGHT NOW? I know, many times.

These are the questions that Ben Katz, a recent Virginia Tech graduate from Oak Hill in Fairfax County, set out to solve for those with a smart phone and a thirst for immediate alcohol knowledge. So he created the “VABC” app for the iPhone and the Android, now available in their various stores for the low, low price of 99 cents on iOS, and free on Android. It does not allow you to compare prices between ABC stores, because ABC doesn’t reveal which specific types of alcohol are sold in which stores, but it does allow you to compare between 2,300 types of drinks, and it also incorporates review ratings of the various brands from both the Beverage Testing Institute and the Wine Enthusiast, which apparently has expanded its enthusiasms.

This sounds like a great app, especially the free or inexpensive part.   The review ratings should also come in handy.  I don’t know much about tequila.  I would value someone else’s opinion.  I also don’t drink gin. It makes me perspire heavily.  (Don’t even ask how I found this out.)  I would probably just buy Beefeaters if I needed gin for something, only because I know the name.  but is it a good buy?  Probably not.

What are some of the great apps out there and why?  Let’s share some of the good things we like and know about.

 

President Obama announces further sanctions on Russian officials

MoonHowler

Is Obama just posturing or do these types of sanctions have influence on countries like Russia?  Will our NATO allies flex with us or impose their own set of sanctions?

How many different times will Ukraine be the whipping boy of Russia?

It appears that Obama is meting out a little whup-ass to Putin’s pals.  Good.  Maybe they won’t like it and will convince their bully bud to rein in what appears to be his reign of terror.