Educational Crash Course # 812

Another Installment of Diogenes'
Public Service Educational Series:

" Gourmet Cooking  101"

NEXT IN SERIES:
 "Crowd Funding for Fun and Profit"
A Seminar with Bill and Hillary Clinton

CLASS DISMISSED!

Educational Crash Course Series Archive

Down Here We Call It a Saturday Drive in the Country

Ma Clinton Says She’ll Only Appoint Supremes Who Will Overturn Citizens United Decision

But in the Meantime, She'll Take the Big Money

At a meeting with financial supporters last week, Hillary Clinton revealed she will only  nominate those to the Supreme Court committed to overturning the 2010 Citizens United ruling.  Clinton’s decision to make the Citizens United ruling a litmus test for the High Court nominees is her answer to reigning in the power of billionaires and multi-millionaires who wield unprecedented power over the American political process. You know, the very people who padded her campaign chest to over flowing before her street cred started south here of late.

I've always found it a beautiful irony when the very tactics so useful to democrats get use against them, and they start their stompy-footin' and hollerin' it's unfair!

Now any American with a political pulse knows there is to much money and lobbying influence in politics. But it wasn't until 2008 that independent political contributions, before the  Citizens United decision, skyrocketed in the 2008 presidential campaign. And it was not rich Republican Billionaires that put Barack Obama in office. 

But Ma Clinton and the democrats didn't seem to have a problem with big money before the Citizen United decision. Every wonder why?

Let's take a look shall we..... 

  Top Ten Contributors to 2008 Election Cycle Before CU:

Graphics - Open Secrets.org

   And Now the Top Ten from 2012 After CU:

It's easy to see by the blue (D's) and red (R's) lines to the left of the graphs who was racking in big money contributions in 2008. Of the top ten contributors to dems, 5 where labor unions, organization who extort millions from members who don't always vote Dem.  No outrage from the left there. But after CU the playing field began to level, and the results in part are now a Republican congress and a potential (thanks Barack) of retaking the White House in 2016. 

In 2012, the Super Pac's of  Thomas  Steyer of San Francisco and Mayor  Michael  Blommberg of New York together gave over 84 Million dollars, and those evil Koch Bros. (liberal gasp) that live rent free in the minds of many on the left, and have driven Harry Reid to the edge of insanity, gave combined contributions of 7 Million.  But the left speaks not a word of George Soros, who personal peeled off a cool 3.3 Million from his pocket outside his  super pac and millions he fronts numerous left wing causes to influence LoFo voters.

Granted, the argument for and against CU are complicated, but the SCOTUS decision boiled down to this:

From the ruling:

"Barring independent political spending amounts to squelching free speech protected by the First Amendment.

"The First Amendment protects not just a person’s right to speak, but the act of speech itself, regardless of the  speaker."

And from the dissenting opinion:

"The First Amendment protects only individual speech, not speech by associations of individuals."

"Government may prevent corruption, and campaign spending can be corrupt when it buys influence over legislators. Therefore government may impose spending limits on corporations and unions."

Simply put:  As long as big Labor Union contributions are consider free speech, but corporate and personal money is not, freedom is infringed.

Mrs. Clinton is showing by her statements on Citizens United and her litmus test for Supreme court nominees just what another Clinton Presidency will look like. More federal control through the courts, and democrat subversion of freedom and the original intent of the constitution.

And my point is this:  (1- We do disparately need Campaign finance reform. Fair reform. That is doubtful to come soon. And (2 -Three sitting Justices are approaching 80 years old, one is 82. Three other sitting Justices are in their 60's. 

The next president may have to appoint as many as 3, and possibly more justices in their first term in office. With the constitutional issues facing American today, Mrs. Clinton, or any Democrat elected to the nations Highest office in 2016 would be disastrous for America.

Fishnet Friday - Late Night Edition

Little Georgie Stephanopoulos Actually Did Us a Favor

Minority Report

"The embarrassing revelation that he gave a cool 75K to the Clinton Foundation, and then went on to do an “impartial interview” with that entity’s most famous critic  just proves what we have all known about the objectivity of mainstream media journalists. The revolving door that connects them and Democratic politicians, and all the biased reporting that ensues, constitutes a screaming conflict of interest, a steaming turd that the networks deposit in our living rooms every evening.

He proved with crystal clarity every criticism conservatives have hurled the media’s way for decades. We are a compassionate lot, however, so here is some compassionate conservative advice. George, when the urge to give beckons, try the Red Cross."

Time to Give Hillary a Break......

Dem: "We've Become 'Party of Liberal Elites'

'We Have Left Our Lunch-Bucket Allies'

MRC

Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) just told the world what conservatives have suspected for decades:

"Our party has gotten to be a party of liberal elites. That's great if you want to be in the minority for the next 30 years. That's not where America is. Democrats have left our lunch-bucket allies behind."

In an interview regarding his opposition to the EPA, Rep. Schrader makes the admission after calling the EPA the "big problem for economic development in our region." He is unhappy with the EPA’s handling of an effort to clean-up the pollution of Portland’s harbor. He says that they are driven by emotion more than they are by the science and that instead of coming up with a cost-effective solution, they are more interested in committing to a crusade against the city’s business community.

"Moving back to the Stone Age may be fine for some people, but people need jobs. I think we can balance the environment and these jobs,” stated Rep. Schrader. "I like to think I'm the voice of reason."

We know Congressman.  Barack Obama, places like Baltimore and  Chicago and the blocking of the Keystone Pipeline are just the most recent reminders of you party's ongoing emotion driven problem solving for America. Glad you're finally waking up to it.

THE THRILL IS GONE.....R.I.P. B.B. King

Lucille Falls Silent  
B.B. King -1925-2015

Google Security or Domination?

Google Blocks All External Chrome Extensions in Windows

I rarely use the Google Chrome browser but I know many readers do. I keep it installed on my home computer to make sure this blog is rendering correctly for those who do view it with the Chrome. Last night I opened Chrome for the first time in awhile and found some of the extensions that did make it somewhat usable to me weren't active.

I checked the dashboard settings and found something very interesting......

Many of the extensions I used were disabled, and it was loaded with stuff enabled that I didn't install.  After disabling the phantom extensions (all were google apps) and scanning for malware,  I went looking for a reason for this. This is what I found: 

"After months of Google talking up security problems with browser extensions, here is a bit of news which comes as no surprise.

Google announced today that users of the Windows version of its Chrome web browser can now only install extensions found in the Chrome Web Store. All other sources have been blocked as a security measure, and the ad network also announced it plans to impose a similar restriction on OSX users in July of this year.

Google had previously blocked extensions for users running the consumer distribution of Chrome, but they had also allowed those users who had opted in to the Developer release channel to continue installing extensions from outside the Chrome Web Store. And today Google closed that loophole.

They've adapted and started tricking users into switching to the developer channel so that the unwanted off-store extensions could be installed, and today Google responded by cutting them off. Now, all extension developers will have to play by Google’s rules, and all extensions will have to be approved for use in its store in order to be green-lit for broader use." (source)

Just a heads up to you Chrome users.  Got to keep an eye on these guys!

As for me, the work I do requires a browser built for power user's. Today, that pretty much narrows it down to one, The Opera Browser of old. A bit long in the tooth, Opera 12.16 fits our needs. For those not familiar with the legendary Opera Browser, it was built by the man who invented CSS (Custom Style Sheet) that makes this page possible to view.  Most features you find in today's browsers were innovations of Opera Software. Tab browsing and stacking, speed dials, bookmark managers, side panels and movable tool bars, mouse gestures and built in email client to name just a few of many. 

So if you are interested in ditching your slow, bloated,  memory hog of a browser, he now has a new company and is developing an all new full feature browser that we are testing as the new standard for us. The Vivaldi.Browser. It's fast and promising, but not yet finished. Some technical features are not yet turned on.