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I am owed around 14 years of back compensation, now that VA finally recognised my claim. Wonder if I will live long enough to see it? At least I have enough money to live on. Some vets don't.

 

p.s. Tammy Duckworth is the best friend veterans have. Wish I could see her in the White House instead of the boobs they are talking about running.

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/27/196277555/watch-rep-tammy-duckworth-dresses-down-irs-contractor

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I am owed around 14 years of back compensation, now that VA finally recognised my claim. Wonder if I will live long enough to see it? At least I have enough money to live on. Some vets don't.

 

p.s. Tammy Duckworth is the best friend veterans have. Wish I could see her in the White House instead of the boobs they are talking about running.

 

http://www.npr.org/b...-irs-contractor

 

 

A very polite lady. And a real hero.

She certainly does nail this "fake" veteran - at end of video clip.

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OK, I'll try and make up for my rant with an interesting story. Flash, I think being a vet you may have some thoughts.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/the-ultimate-act-of-wartime-honesty--british-pow-was-freed-by-the-kaiser-to-see-his-dying-mother---but-came-back-to-prison-because-he--gave-the-germans-his-word--114710659.html#PopSEQv

'I give you my word I'll be back': Extraordinary chivalry of British PoW who returned to German prison after visiting dying mother because of promise he made the Kaiser

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Has some of the Republican party lost their G-damn minds? Shutting down the government over Obamacare? Really, is the program that bad? Honestly, I don't know enough about it to say it is. Its a large government program...amongst many. Medicare/Medicaid is another large government medical program. No talk of shutting the government down over that? Is this about Obamacare or Obama? He's been so so. Not great but not a nightmare either. He inherited a bad economy and didn't improve it much. That's the main thing I can see. His predecessor inherited a decent economy that ended in near collapse. There is this talk of impeachment that is a strategy as well. Talk about enough to make it part of American's thinking and wag the dog with some luck, have a case. WTF? Stagnant economy and continuing and expanding the police state of his predecessor is the worse I can think of. This fringe of the party is soooo far out there it scary. I am literally scared sh*t less of the tea party folks. I'm seeing a by any means necessary kind of thinking. Of all the things to threaten shutting down the government over and there are so many other more legitimate reasons. Mind-boggling. I can't vote for another Republican. Can't do it. Would have liked Huntsman in but he was dismissed out of hand for being an ambassador to China under Obama. I gotta tell you, you know how this obsessiveness about Obama looks? Its the 800 lb elephant in the room. I don't want to even think that's the case. Not only that its handing the white house to Hillary. http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/04/20327629-obamacare-turns-from-gop-uniter-to-internal-divider?lite

'Obamacare' turns from GOP uniter to internal divider the reality that the law is here to stay after numerous failed efforts to repeal it, Obama’s re-election and the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the law’s key provision as constitutional. But a number of Tea Party affiliated conservatives insist the law can be vanquished, even if it means shutting down the government.

In Congress, GOP leaders and a growing coterie of rank-and-file members have distanced themselves from a proposal that would threaten to shut down the government this fall unless Obamacare is defunded.

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"This fringe of the party is soooo far out there it scary. I am literally scared sh*t less of the tea party folks."

 

When I was an undergraduate at UCSB, I used to haunt the used book shops. Not only could of find some of my text books second hand for next to nothing, but I found other fascinating books that I snapped up (e.g. World War I Army and Navy manuals). One shop was owned by a far right nutter. He always had displays out warning about how Europe was taking over the US etc. One section featured pamphlets criticising Barry Goldwater as being "too far left". These folks have been around since the 1960s, but only now are actually getting into positions of power. :surprised:

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I want the Republican party to get its act together. Why would I want them to even though Ivr basically become a Dem to done extent? We are desperate for ideas in governance in this country. I want ideas from all sides then wr can weigh the pros and cons of each and let the people judge.

Right now we have a dearth of ideas from the right and only reactionism from the right. If Obama is for it be against it,obstruct it give him no wins. Even if we agree say its not enough. Thats pretty much the GOP these days. We need a competition of ideas. Bold ideas. Out the box ideas because the status quo aint working. The Dems are sitting back and just letting the fringe right shoot themselves and trying to paint all Republicans as that. Kemp had bold ideas as HUD secty. Get rid of modt if the public housing by privatizing long term owners into home ownership. Wiping billions off the books and instantly moving lifelong people into working class. Dole wanted a flat tax at 17%. May not be doable but it at least was addressing issues of the day. Rumsfeld had originally planned to drastically slash the defense bufget before 911 happened.

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Indiana man sentenced to 8 months in federal prison for teaching people to beat lie-detectors

 

 

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An Indiana man thought he had the freedom to speak about controversial topics and teach others what he knows. The Federal Government disagreed. This week that man found out that the penalty for free speech is 8 months in federal prison. He taught people how to beat polygraph tests. The case has sparked a debate about whether or not the right to lie, or teach others to lie, should be protected under the First Amendment.

 

“My wife and I are terrified,†said Chris Dixon, of Marion, Indiana. “I stumbled into this. I’m a Little League coach in Indiana…never in my wildest dreams did I somehow imagine I was committing a crime.â€

 

Dixon, 34, had been struggling to find work as an electrical engineer and began working as a polygrapher. He soon began giving lessons on defeating the polygraph test.

 

A polygraph test measures blood pressure, sweat activity, respiration and movement to identify people who lie or try to beat the test. While polygraph data is not admissible in court, polygraphers use the information to detect what they believe are lies, followed by an attempt to elicit a confession to confirm their suspicions.

 

Polygraph instructors, like Dixon, claim to teach methods that help the test-subjects avoid scrutiny. Polygraph countermeasures include controlled breathing, muscle tensing, tongue biting and mental arithmetic.

 

“It may be unfortunate for federal law enforcement … but it is protected speech to tell people how to lie on a polygraph,†Dixon’s lawyer, Nina Ginsberg, said.

 

Despite having no criminal record, the Federal government found out about his lessons and began pursuing him for obstructing federal proceedings and wire fraud.

 

Federal district Judge Liam O’Grady seemed somewhat sympathetic to Dixon’s argument that merely imparting controversial knowledge to others was a form of free speech, telling attorneys at one point, “There’s nothing unlawful about maybe 95 percent of the business he conducted.â€

 

The other 5 percent? Explicitly advising prospective federal employees they should lie about having received his training.

 

Prosecutors asked the federal judge to send a “strong message†in sentencing Dixon. They reportedly are seeking to discourage potential whistleblowers, criminals, and spies from obtaining national security clearance and gaining access to state secrets. The federal government uses lie detector tests on 70,000 job applicants per year.

 

“It does not require much looking to find a respected scientist who has convincingly argued that polygraphs do not operate above chance levels and are therefore detrimental to national security,†McClatchy reported Nina Ginsberg as writing in her response to prosecutors. “Mr. Dixon has done nothing that warrants the government’s attempts to make him the poster child for its newly undertaken campaign to wipe out polygraph countermeasures training.â€

 

Dixon taught between 70 and 100 students. Now regretting his classes, he said his training amounted to little more than telling people to relax, pinch their abdominal muscles, and silently count backward in increments of three on certain questions.

 

“Far from embarking on a ‘career of criminal deceit,’ Mr. Dixon was a struggling owner of a small family-owned electrical contracting company, with a third child on the way, who saw a way to stave off foreclosure and protect his family from ballooning financial debt,†Ginsberg wrote. “The government’s exaggerated attempts to lay the fate of society’s most vulnerable and the protection of our national borders at Mr. Dixon’s feet should be seen for what it is.â€

 

“Nothing like this has been done before,†said U.S. Customs and Border Protection official Josh Schwartz, according to McClatchy. “Most certainly our nation’s security will be enhanced. There are a lot of bad people out there…this will help us remove some of those pests from society.â€

 

These pests apparently include those exercising their freedom to speak and teach others what they know. Prosecutors extracted a guilty plea from Dixon late last year to charges of obstruction and wire fraud. His current lawyer, Ginsburg, says that his plea was given after unsolicited advice from lawyers across the country. She contests his innocence and wants to fight the charges.

 

A father of four, Dixon’s family has suffered from this ordeal and his home has gone into foreclosure due to the investigation. And now he will be sent to prison.

 

Judge O’Grady’s sentence will bolster federal prosecutors’ pursuit of similar cases. He stated, “a sentence of incarceration is absolutely necessary to deter others.â€

 

 

http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/indiana-man-sentenced-8-months-federal-prison-teaching-people-beat-lie-detectors/

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Let's see if I have this straight. The Federal government brings its full weight against an individual who teaches prospective government employees how to get away with lying on their mandated polygraph test. However, in 5 years, the Federal government has not successfully prosecuted anyone involved in the financial meltdown of 2008. Do Federal officials care more about removing someone that could affect their job performance (and make them look bad, in the process) than people that cost the government and American taxpayers trillions (but are well connected, contribute millions to elected officials and have lobbyists coming out the wazoo)?

 

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