Is Mitt Romney A Unicorn?

 

There’s no proof that he isn’t, according to the group LeftAction. In response to Arizona’s Secretary of State Ken Bennett (and “birthers” everywhere), the group has gathered over 17,000 signatures on a petition asking Mr. Bennett to investigate the claims that Romney is, in fact, a unicorn.

Bennett claims he was swayed by 1,200 emails claiming Obama may not eligible for his presidency. S0 17,000 messages should convince him of Romney’s apparent unicorn-ing. According to LeftAction:

What about the persistent rumors that Mitt Romney is in fact, a unicorn? There has never been a conclusive DNA test proving that Mitt Romney is not a unicorn.  We have never seen him without his hair – hair that could be covering up a horn.

Florida Voter Purge Finding 23x More Citizens Than Illegals

Here are the numbers, so far, from Gov. Rick Scott’s statewide voter purge.

By the numbers:

• 2,061 individuals notified that they will not be allowed to vote, unless documentation is provided.
• 1 in 5  (19.7%) are full US citizens
• 1 in 125 (0.8%) are truly not eligible to vote
• 1,638 have yet to be followed-up on.

A program that has a 0.8% success rate and a 20% error rate!? Shouldn’t that be the other way around?

 

 

He’s Jeff Barth, And He Learned Chess In Iceland

Definitely runner-up in the Best-Political-Ad competition (coming in just behind Herman Cain), Jeff Barth is running for Congress…..and he’ll be glad to tell you why he’s the best choice.

MIT Develops The Needle-less Needle

Are you afraid of needles? Don’t like getting vaccinations and other “shots”? Hate the pain and soreness?

MIT has the answer for you. Instead of using a traditional needle to break the skin and inject needed medicine, engineers have developed a device that delivers medicine as an extremely thin, exceptionally high-powered jet of liquid, which has enough force to breach skin, yet does so with such precision and speed that it doesn’t cause pain or discomfort, nor does it leave behind a noticeable hole.

 

 

Happy Memorial Day, You Can No Longer Vote

 

I can’t vote anymore? Why not!?

Because Rick Scott (R-FL) says you can’t. Scott has ordered that the state purge all “non-citizens” from the voting rolls prior to November’s election. But the problem lies in the data; It is extremely difficult to collect accurate information on possible voters.

This was evident last year, when Scott attempted the same tactic. The governor ordered his Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, “to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from the voter rolls.” Browning could not access reliable citizenship data. So election officials attempted to identify non-U.S. citizens by comparing data from the state motor vehicle administration with the voting file. That process produced a massive list of 182,000 names, which Browning considered unreliable and refused to release. Browning resigned in February and Scott pressed forward with the purge.

This year, the ploy is moving forward with terrible results. In Miami-Dade county alone, 1,638 individuals have been targeted as “non-citizens”. Since letters were sent out, 385 of those have proven their citizenship….a 23.5% error rate thus far. Similarly, in Polk County, 9 of the 21 individuals identified as “non-citizens” are, in fact, citizens…..a 42.9% error rate.

“But all you have to do is send in proof of your citizenship!” screams the hard-right. Florida “non-citizens-residents-maybe-citizens-who-knows” have 30 days to respond to the letter. But what if I receive a letter and I’m out-of-town for an extended period? Or if I don’t check my mail too often? Or if I see the envelope as junk mail and toss it in the trash?

Then I, as a full-citizen, cannot vote. Thanks Rick Scott. Add this achievement to his wonderful drug-testing plan. Quite a legacy.

 

 

Solutions From John Boehner

This weekend saw the funniest thing to come out the Department of We Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up. If you were to navigate your way to John Boehner’s (R-OH) offical website, and clicked on the “GOP Solutions” tab, you would have seen this:

 

 

The website was then updated to this:

 

 

Oh irony……

 

 

Students Have Little To Do With Amendment One Passage

Following the passage of North Carolina’s “amendment one”, a terrible internet photo has been circulating. This picture, looking at county-level voting, implies asserts that disapproval of same-sex marriage is directly correlated to higher-education student population centers.

 

 

There are certainly a number of factors in play here, so honing in on just one is horribly misleading and unproductive.We can look at this map a few ways:

• The map highlights UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Wilmington. Guilford and New Hanover Counties voted FOR the amendment (by 72 and 198 votes, respectively).
• The map somehow ignores the other 40-plus 4-year colleges in North Carolina.
• Many student-laden areas are left out,  Just to highlight a few:

1. Wake Forest University (Forsyth County, voted FOR 53% to 47%),
2. Western Carolina University (Jackson County, voted FOR 62% to 38%),
3. Wingate University (Union County, voted FOR 73% to 27%), and
4. UNC-Pembroke (Robeson County, voted FOR 86% to 14%)..

• The picture also leaves out Dare County, which voted AGAINST the amendment 51% to 49%, but has no 4-year college.

So why did the vote occur as it did? Three things: Overall Education Level, Age, and Race.

First, voters with higher levels of formal education tend to vote Democratic (And Democrats tend to endorse same-sex marriage). Second, the younger one gets, the more likely you will support same-sex marriage. County-level age demographics line-up nicely with the voting map. And third, African-Americans are much more likely to oppose same-sex marriage (this would explain why Dare County for FOR the amendment while their next-door neighbors in Tyrrell County voted AGAINST 78% to 22%).

The maps correlate nicely:

The creators of the original picture had the right idea. Well, part of it. Unfortunately, they did not continue the thought and stopped when they saw a (weak) correlation that fit well with their bias.

Gay Marriage As A Health Care Issue

 

Is the legalization of same-sex marriage good for your health? Well, if you’re a gay man, it seems to be.

Researchers examined health patterns among gay men in Massachusetts before and after the 2003 legalization of same-sex marriage. They found that, within 12 months, there was a 13% decrease in medical and mental-health visits. These foregone visits were fairly homogenous, associated with depression and stress.

The study also noted a decrease in stress-related diagnoses, such as hypertension, depression, and adjustment disorders.

 

Note: Massachusetts’ universal health care law was irrelevant in this analysis as the law didn’t go into effect until 2006.

 

 

Same-Sex Marriage Boosts Economy

 

The GOP is working tirelessly to create jobs and strengthen our economy, just ask Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

Republicans here on Capitol Hill are focused in on the economy. The American people are still asking the question, “Where are the jobs?” and our focus is going to continue to be on the economy like it has been for the last year and a half.

Well there’s great news! Multiple studies have found that legalization of same-sex marriage has boosted the economies of the laws’ respective states. The equality laws bring in money from tourism (hotels, restaurants, etc), wedding planning, and provides extra tax revenue.

– MASSACHUSETTS: A 2009 study found that “marriages have had a positive economic effect on Massachusetts -– likely providing a boost of over $100 million to the state economy.”

– IOWA: A 2011 study found that same-sex marriages brought as much as$13 million in new spending to Iowa in the year since the state Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage.

– MARYLAND: A report last month from the Maryland Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce found that the recently passed marriage equality law could boost the state’s economy by $90 million over the next year.

– ILLINOIS: In March, a study from the Williams Institute predicted that legalizing marriage equality would boost Illinois’ economy by between $39 and $72 million over three years, and bring in as much as $8 million in tax revenue.

– NEW JERSEY: The Williams Institute also found that legalizing marriage equality in New Jersey could add $40 million to the state’s economy annually.

 

Thank goodness Mr. Boehner is focusing so hard on that economy of ours.

 

 

Shaquille O’Neal PhD…Dr. Shaq To You

 

That’s right. Shaq (Kazaam) has earned a doctorate from Barry University, a private school in Miami.

O’Neal finished his PhD in Organizational Learning and Leadership with a specialization in Human Resource Development by completing his dissertation, titled: ”How Leaders Utilize Humor or Seriousness in Leadership Styles.”

After department chair David M. Kopp placed a light blue graduation hood around his neck, Shaq, who is 7’1, responded by lifting his professor up “like Tarzan was rescuing Jane” to loud cheers from the crowd.