An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for September 2011
Weasel Time
EPA – Destroying Jobs and Lives
EPA regulations violate constitutional rights
By Sen. Rand Paul
Since its creation in 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency has done more harm than good. EPA regulations cost more than 5 percent of our annual gross domestic product – the equivalent of the costs of defense and homeland security combined. Since EPA regulations have expanded, unemployment in America has increased by 33 percent. This abuse of power by the implementation of regulations infringes upon our basic constitutional rights.
There have been too frequent reports of individual rights being violated by abusive and power-hungry EPA bureaucrats. These regulations have hampered landowners’ ability to manage their private property as they please and have impaired job creation. Americans are suffering from the overreach of regulatory agencies such as the EPA.
Moral Decline
Census: Fewer Tenn. kids living in married homes
Newly released Census data finds that fewer Tennessee children live in homes with married parents and more children are living with a single parent or with a grandparent compared to a decade ago.
According to the census data released this month, 58 percent of children lived in a married family household in Tennessee in 2010, which includes remarried parents and step families. That’s down from 64 percent in 2000.
It’s been proven that kids who grow up with their family intact do much better in life in general. Since the 60s, we have seen a moral decline that should make us ashamed. However, since shame doesn’t seem to be in the American vocabulary anymore, I guess people just accept the fact that kids are growing up without one of their parents in the home.
Once upon a time, when an unmarried teen girl turned up pregnant, she didn’t brag about it, or show off her big belly in school. She’d likely be sent away to a ‘boarding school’, or to live with a relative, until she gave birth, and then the baby was usually given up for adoption. Now? Girls too young to understand the ramifications of pregnancy, are popping out babies like rabbits in heat.
Once upon a time, moms and dad would have arguments, throw things maybe, get really angry, and yet….they’d find a way to work it out, and continue with their lives as a family. Now? The least little thing, and poof…..marriage is over. It’s so much easier to be a jackass than to behave like a grownup. We are an extremely selfish society, and if things don’t go our way, we tend to ‘take our ball and go home’. A successful marriage doesn’t just happen. People have to work to achieve success.
Isn’t it time we bring back shame, and grownups? Shouldn’t we think of the damage done to our kids? I don’t blame anyone in particular, but when I look back, I see the beginning of our decline when Madeline Murry O’Hare decided to attack the very moral fiber of our nation. Between Hollywood, the failed public education system, and constant interference of the federal government, it shouldn’t be surprising that we’ve had such a major moral decline. The single parent home is just one indication of the decline.
More Dumbing Down
Arizona: Teachers Can Have Accents and Use Bad Grammar
It’s not how you speak English – it’s about whether you know it at all.
That was the final word out of Arizona, where the state and two federal agencies reached a settlement over an allegation that the state was discriminating against teachers who may have thick accents or use bad grammar when teaching English-immersion classes.
I’d like to ask the obvious: How do they expect the students to speak English properly if those teaching them can’t, or won’t?
The agencies alleged that application of a state law requiring English teachers to possess a good knowledge of the English language discriminated against Hispanic teachers and students.
I don’t suppose anyone has thought about the ramifications of the kids future employment prospects if they can’t speak English properly? Personally, I wouldn’t hire someone who was unable to enunciate, especially if they would be working with the public.
Food Police On Patrol
Food Regulators Out of Control
The Foundry
First Lady Michelle Obama’s obsession with “childhood obesity” has bothered many since it began two years ago, especially those who think that White House nagging of parents should be reserved for more pressing issues. Now it is getting more serious, with food regulators starting to infringe on the free speech rights of advertisers.
In the latest upset, four federal agencies known as the Interagency Working Group (IWG) have delivered a plan to drastically censor food advertisers with products deemed to be “too high” in sodium, sugar, or fat that cater to any viewing audience between the ages of two and 11. These advertisers would lose key slots during some of America’s most popular shows, like American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and Glee—simply because the nanny state is “uncomfortable” with what they are selling.
The IWG, formed within the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act to study childhood obesity and offer possible solutions, has gone far beyond their descriptive reach. Now, perfectly reasonable companies may be penalized severely.
