Michael Bloomberg: Constitution ‘must change’ to give government more power

Stand aside privacy right protectionists. 

The bombings in Boston prove the nation needs to change how it interprets the Constitution to give government greater power to protect citizens, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said, in a Tuesday press conference reported by the Politicker. “But we live in a complex world where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

Specifically, Mr. Bloomberg said the nation needed more surveillance, and the likes of more magnetometers in schools.

“We have to understand that in the world going forward, we’re going to have more cameras and that kind of stuff,” he said, in Politicker, talking of the need for greater latitude for courts to grant powers to law enforcement and government to provide security.

“Our obligation first and foremost,” he said, “is to keep our kids safe in the schools. First and foremost [it’s] to keep you safe if you to a sporting event. First and foremost, [it’s] to keep you safe if you walk down the streets or go into our parks.”

See original here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/23/ny-mayor-michael-bloomberg-constitution-must-chang/

Mainstream media explains Reagan's popularity: He must be a liberal

If Ronald Reagan were alive today, he would be the most loved liberal candidate for White House. That’s according to three mainstream media hosts, who tried to make sense of poll numbers that showed three-of-four respondents thought the nation was better off in the 1980s than now – and that 58 percent would vote for the Gipper over President Obama, the Washington Examiner reported.

A recent Today Show talk went like this, the Washington Examiner reported:

Co-host Willie Geist: “Three in four Americans today thought our country was better off in the ‘80s than it is now. Three in four. … If a presidential election were held today, according to this survey, 58 percent would vote for Ronald Reagan over President Barack Obama.”

Weatherman Al Roker responded, the Washington Examiner reported: “But the interesting thing is a lot of people probably --- I mean, Ronald Reagan probably would be seen almost liberally today as opposed to being conservative.”

Co-host Natalie Morales weighed in, the Washington Examiner reported: “Totally.”

And again from Mr. Roker: “I mean, he did a lot of great things. But, I mean, things have shifted.”

And once more from Mr. Geist: “Relative to what you see now, absolutely.”

 

See original here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/16/puzzled-today-show-hosts-reagans-popularity-he-mus/

Propaganda alert: School guidelines push states to teach climate change, evolution

It’s been almost 17 years, but educators have called for national teaching guidelines for science in schools around the nation – and they want the curriculum to focus on climate change and evolution.

The New York Times reported that the guidelines call for the new courses, as outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards report, to start with middle-schoolers. It was 1996 when educators last brought forth a science teaching plan of such nationwide significance, Newser said.

States aren’t required to abide the guidelines. But 26 are, Newser reported.

“In the current situation the state standards are all over the map. It’s a hodgepodge,” said one education official involved in the formation of the standards, as reported by Newser. “We are still in a situation where across the country, basically in every state, students can still graduate from high school and in some cases go through college without learning the basics.”

The Guardian reported the draft version of the report ignited outrage over the emphasis on climate change, and its seeming conclusion that human activity was largely to blame. The final version dramatically pared back this curriculum.

“It’s buried at best,” said one education official, of the final report’s inclusion of human’s impact on climate change, in Newser.

See original story here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/10/new-science-guidelines-tell-states-how-teach-clima/

 

Land of the free: Mom in China dies after government forces sterilization

A Chinese mother of two died following a sterilization procedure that government family planners forced her to undergo, over the objections of her doctor.

Shen Hongxia, 42, leaves behind a husband and two children, Life News reported.

Her doctor had warned Family Planning Officers against the procedure, saying she was not healthy enough and it could place her at risk. But planners said she they wanted to avoid an “illegal pregnancy,” Life News said.

After her death, planners and Village Committee officials agreed to provide her family compensation and to build them a house, in order to put a stop to further investigation. Life News said the family members felt as if they were forced to sign the agreement.

“Women’s Rights Without Frontiers strongly condemns forced sterilization and all coercive family planning in China,” said Reggie Littlejohn, president of the group, to Life News. “The fact that Shen Hongxia’s doctor had clearly warned that sterilizing her could kill her makes her death the responsibility of the Family Planning Officers who forced this violent surgery upon her.  Compensating her family with money is not enough.  Those responsible for her death should face serious criminal charges.”

Ms. Littlejohn said this is the second fatality due to China’s forced sterilization policies in just the past few weeks. And it’s not exactly a well-kept secret.

“The Chinese Communist Party recently admitted to performing 196 million sterilizations,” Ms. Littlejohn said, in Life News. “I first learned of the brutality of China’s One Child Policy by representing a woman who had been forcibly sterilized. Family Planning Officials literally dragged her out of her home kicking and screaming, held her down to a table and cut her open with no anesthesia. She said it felt like someone was burning her insides with a blowtorch.”

See original story here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/8/chinese-mother-dies-after-government-forced-steril/

Second Amendment savior: 15-year-old teen takes nation by storm

A video of a 15-year-old Maryland girl who effectively argued for the Second Amendment and against gun control to state lawmakers in three succinct minutes – and who holds political aspirations -- has gone viral.

More than 1.5 million have clicked on it on YouTube in just a week’s time. In the video, Sarah Merkle told lawmakers that she had been shooting for years, and is now proficient enough to one day seek scholarships to universities for her firearms abilities.

Strict gun control laws, however, could put a halt to that, she said.

Sarah Merkle, on the video: “Because of [my gun background] I have become eligible for various shooting scholarships around the country to a wide array of even the most prestigious colleges that have shooting teams,” she said, in the video. “Achieving stricter gun control laws would obliterate any opportunity I could have had to attend a decent college on a shooting scholarship.”

And she added: People are the problems, not guns.

“Chicago, Illinois has had some of the strictest gun control laws in America enacted in the last few years and it is currently more as twice as likely for you to be killed in Chicago than in the Afghani war,” she said, adding that of the 3,371 killed in Chicago in 11 years, only 37 – or 1 percent – were killed by rifle.

“So creating gun control legislation that targets ‘assault rifles’ has statistically proven to only weed out less than 1 percent of the problem if you’re lucky,” she said.

Fox News reported on Friday that Ms. Merkle hopes to one day become a congresswoman.

See original story here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/5/teen-takes-maryland-and-nation-storm-pro-gun-argum/