United Way was a Great Charity, Right?

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by Denise Simon

Yes, but everything is subject to power and money. When it comes to your child, take extreme caution, ask questions, research and don’t trust anyone. That includes Bill Gates and Common Core. You are the real watchdog for your children, regardless of age, take comfort however, there are people doing great work on your behalf. Use these tools.

<<— Big and scary

Parents: Don’t Listen to the United Way. Don’t Sign Away Your Child’s Data and Give Up a Constitutional Right to Privacy.

The Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) has been a stumbling block in accessing data in education reformer plans for many years. According to the ed reform talking points, it is imperative that personally identifiable information be available so that all federal agencies, state educational agencies and third party researchers have access to this information ostensibly to ‘help your child’. The request for information and the need for this information has been requested repeatedly by education reformers needing that data for company/agency existence. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services need that information as well in order to ‘help your child and your family’ reach the goals the government (not the parents) has indicated is success.

From a previous 2013 article on escholar, a company wanting to use data to track students:

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Common Core and the revision of FERPA by the US Department of Education allows intensive data mining and sharing of student information to various federal agencies and private firms selected the the USDOEd. The company eScholar is one education reform company eager and ready to data mine information on students. From wsj.com and Education Data Companies Chosen, 08.13.2012:

New York state education officials Monday said they selected four companies to build a broad education database that will host students’ test scores, curriculum materials and education apps, paid for by up to $50 million in federal Race to the Top funds.

The state Education Department said that by fall 2013, school districts will be able to use one of the data systems created by either ConnectEDU, eScholar or Pearson PLC and its subsidiary Schoolnet.
The systems are supposed to store student test scores, student demographic information, curriculum materials, lesson plans and other items that teachers or parents can access. Companies will get paid, in part, based on how many school districts select their data system.

It’s financially lucrative for data mining companies to compile student data and advantageous for them to have start up funding provided by taxpayer money. eScholar has produced a video about “Bobby”, a hypothetical student the company is tracking. From the eScholar website:

“Have you met Bobby yet?”

(access video here)

Meet Bobby, the newest member of the eScholar myTrack team. We think that educators have a lot of students like Bobby, students who have things that they want to do, but aren’t always sure how to get there. Check out the video to see how Bobby and his team of supporters use myTrack to help him reach his goals. What do you think? Do you have any students like Bobby?

eScholar is a company that received federal stimulus dollars to track your child without your knowledge or permission. Could such behavior and practice be considered not just data mining but stalking?

Should the tracking of student academic and non-academic information and sharing it with federal agencies and private organizations without parental/student knowledge/permission be allowed? How is the difference in the dissemination of personal information about “Bobby” to others and monitoring “Bobby’s” computer usage via the relaxation of FERPA any different than the definition of how stalkers operate?

Here’s an example of what eScholar will gather on “Bobby” and why:

Enabling P-20 Data Warehousing

Today, a consensus has emerged amongst educators at all levels that there is a need to create an LDS that provides a comprehensive view of education from early childhood through postsecondary and beyond (P-20). This capability is essential to maximizing the effectiveness of our efforts to encourage every student to achieve his or her greatest potential. A key element of this LDS is a comprehensive data warehouse that supports the data requirements of the P-20 world. With the introduction of CDW-PS, which integrates with our eScholar Uniq-ID® products supporting unique identification and ID management of individuals from early childhood through postsecondary, eScholar now has a complete solution for a P-20 data warehouse. Thedata model for the CDW-PS product is specifically designed to integrate with the eScholar Complete Data Warehouse® for PK-12 product to create a comprehensive LDS of over 3,000 data elements encompassing student and teacher academic history from pre-K through higher education. This powerful combination enables SEAs to answer key P-20 questions through one software product solution.

Should the tracking of student academic and non-academic information and sharing it with federal agencies and private organizations without parental/student knowledge/permission be allowed? How is the difference in the dissemination of personal information about “Bobby” to others and monitoring “Bobby’s” computer usage via the relaxation of FERPA any different than the definition of how stalkers operate?

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The United Way Salt Lake City (a private NGO) is making a pitch to parents to sign away their children’s right to privacy by agreeing to waive their FERPA protections so that the organization can ‘help’ their child and agencies can then determine the ‘right’ services for their children. Apparently the Salt Lake City United Way just can’t do its job without parents giving their human capital information to federal agencies, NGOs like The United Way and third party researchers. Unlike escholar, United Way is making a pitch directly to parents to give away a right that has been constitutionally provided. The United Way is asking parents to provide active permission to data mine students. It doesn’t give information on exactly where that information is directed and other than promises that it will make United Way’s partners jobs easier, there is no indication on who has access to this data.

From Emily Talmage in United Way to Parents: Give Us Your Gold:

To get around this law, United Way of Salt Lake City, which has recently partnered with an organization called “StriveTogether” – a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks Foundation that has received millions from the Gates Foundation – is now encouraging parents to sign a form waiving their FERPA rights.

They’ve even put together a video to convince parents just how important it is that they give up their children’s personal information to just about any organization in the city that wants it – including the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce.

Here is The United Way’s video cajoling parents into giving their child’s data away. It’s the same argument made by escholar, it’s because we want the best for your child. Don’t fall for it. It’s to have access to the dossier on your human capital. Do a search on ‘United Way and FERPA’. The United Way is supportive of this administration’s educational reforms and ESSA and many United Way agencies are requesting parents give away their child’s constitutional right to privacy.

CBO: Gutting Obamacare Saves Half Trillion

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by Denise Simon

Bill gutting ObamaCare would save half-trillion over a decade, CBO finds

TheHill: A GOP-led effort to repeal the biggest parts of ObamaCare would cost about $42 billion less than previously expected, saving more than a half-trillion dollars over a decade, the congressional budget scorekeeper said Monday.

Legislation to gut most of ObamaCare’s mandates and taxes, known as Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, would reduce the deficit by $516 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The bill is expected to get a vote in the House this week, followed shortly by a vote in the Senate. President Obama has said he would veto the bill.

The CBO had previously said the bill would reduce deficits by $474 billion, but the estimates have been reduced in light of the recently enacted governing spending bill. That funding bill, which has already been signed by Obama, delays three key healthcare taxes, which each would have brought billions in revenues.

As part of a congressional deal reached on the spending bill, the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost healthcare plans is delayed for two years and the medical device tax and the health insurance “premium” tax are paused for two years and one year, respectively.

Republicans are looking to pass their latest bill targeting ObamaCare through a budget process known as reconciliation. Under the Senate’s rules, a party that controls both chambers can pass legislation with a simple majority – sending a bill gutting ObamaCare to the president’s desk for the first time.

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GOP-led Congress set for first time to vote, pass bill to replace ObamaCare
FNC: Within hours of reconvening Tuesday, the GOP-led Congress will finally act to fulfill a 2010 promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

The effort is set to begin Tuesday afternoon when the House Rules Committee meets on the repeal measure, with a full debate and vote as early as Tuesday. With the Republican-led Senate having already passed its version, GOP congressional leaders will send the measure to President Obama, daring him to veto it.

Obama will undoubtedly veto the measure to undo his signature health care law, and Congress has nowhere near the votes to override a presidential veto.

But Republicans hope the entire exercise might start to change the circumstance on Capitol Hill regarding the years-old argument about ObamaCare and its repeal.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is promising to unveil a bill to, in fact, replace ObamaCare.

For all of the GOP’s Sturm und Drang about ObamaCare, neither the House nor the Senate has ever debated a bill that attempts to succeed the law.

The reason is that nobody has crafted a plan that would pass in either chamber.

In 2010, House Republicans concocted the “Pledge to America.” It was a political compact created to help the GOP seize control of the House from Democrats and tell voters what they would do if in control.

One of the promises was to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare. After Republicans earned the House majority, the first major vote of 2011 was to repeal the health care law. The House and Senate have voted more than 60 times to either fully or partially repeal the Affordable Care Act, as it is more formally know. Yet they’ve never held a vote to replace ObamaCare.

But with Ryan now at the helm in the House and the GOP controlling the Senate, this may be one of the few chances the party has to come together around a bill which would replace the six-year-old law.

Ryan is, nevertheless, tempering expectations. In a recent meeting with reporters, he indicated that the House was practically obligated to pass a replacement bill. And though Ryan was confident about the House doing so this year, he underscored the unlikelihood that Obama would sign the legislation into law.

Still, the effort is part of Ryan’s attempt to contrast Republicans with the agenda of Obama and the left. Democrats have long hectored Republicans for failing to cough up a bill to succeed ObamaCare.

Such a measure is a unicorn.

If there were the votes to approve that elusive bill, Republicans would have done it. But if they finally at least draft a bill and better yet pass it, then the sides can argue about policy and not just exchange hypothetical catcalls.

Still, if Ryan is correct, the House GOP will write an ObamaCare alternative seven years after a triumvirate of House committees prepped the initial iterations of the ACA in the summer of 2009.

The House approved the first version of ObamaCare in November 2009. The Senate did so on Christmas Eve of 2009. Both bodies ushered the final health care packages to passage in March, 2010.

This enterprise won’t be easy for Republicans.

Some GOP aides defended not having a replacement bill at the ready.

They suggested the promise in the Pledge to America was to “repeal and replace” the ACA. Certainly there were votes to repeal the law (at least in the House). But the law was never repealed. Therefore, they argued, it wasn’t yet incumbent upon Republicans to make good on the second contingency and replace the statute.

Ryan won’t be able to implement the replacement package either with Obama still in the White House in 2016 — if it does, in fact, get that far. But if Ryan’s successful, he’ll have come a lot further than anyone else has before.

Which brings us back to what the House is up to next week.

Though the House has approved dozens of repeal bills over the years, the Senate has not until a few weeks ago taken a direct, up-or-down vote on eliminating ObamaCare.

Democrats controlled the Senate until January 2015. That meant they could block any Republican effort to deposit a repeal bill on the floor.

However, the story changed when the GOP won the majority. Still, Senate rules often favor the minority party. Republicans would have to vault two anticipated Democratic-filibusters just to bring up a repeal bill for debate. Overcoming those filibusters would require two roll call votes of 60 yeas. That wasn’t happening.

The GOP nevertheless had one option at its disposal — something called “budget reconciliation.”

Budget reconciliation is a unique, once-a-shot piece of legislation that operates under special rules. It’s inoculated from pesky Senate filibusters. And if you can jam something into a budget reconciliation measure, you can usually get it through the Senate because it just requires a simple majority for passage.

The House recently started this process and knocked out a dual reconciliation bill that simultaneously repealed ObamaCare and defunded Planned Parenthood. It then shipped the measure to the Senate. But because of special Senate rules governing budget reconciliation, the upper chamber had to tweak the plan to pass it. That meant that the House and Senate had approved slightly different bills. So the Senate then bounced its updated version back to the House.

This is where things stand: The House is expected to debate and vote on the final, Senate-amended version of the reconciliation plan. If approved, the House and Senate are in alignment and the bill goes to Obama to sign or veto — though this is a fait accompli.

House Republicans initially planned to take up the reworked Senate bill right before Christmas. But at the last minute, they decided to delay that gambit. They had a new tactic. Wait until after the holiday to maximize exposure of the House debate and vote — as well as the President’s planned veto. Plus, it might help tee up Republican plans on health care in the new year.

The GOP hopes it can artfully message its plans to design and approve a replacement bill for ObamaCare — with something with a lot more policy teeth than the other parliamentary gymnastics of just voting to repeal parts or all of the legislation over and over again.

Republicans also are hoping the public embraces these policy ideas as a contrast to those propounded by Obama and Democrats with health care topping the list.

2015: A Year in Review

Posted on December 28, 2015December 28, 2015 by Denise Simon

Dramatic and a year for historical significance. This photo essay is by no means a complete 2015 diary and is not in order of occurrence.

Charlie Hebdo Attack in Paris

Terror struck in Paris one week into the New Year when a group of men with extensive ties to terrorist organizations targeted the offices of a famed satirical newspaper. Two men shot their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo while a third waited near the getaway car. The shooters forced their way into the publication’s offices, killing a maintenance man and police bodyguard assigned to protect the editor after he received death threats. Once arriving at the office, they proceeded to kill nine others, mostly editorial staff gathered for their weekly meeting, injuring an additional 11. A faction of al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

The attacks continued in France for two more days, taking the lives of six others, including two police officers and four people held hostage at a kosher grocery store in Paris. The three perpetrators also died.

PARIS 1/11/2015

More than 40 world leaders marched in honor of the 17 victims of terrorist attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

Germanwings Plane Crash

PHOTO:A screengrab taken from an AFP TV video on March 24, 2015 shows search and rescue personnel making their way to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps above the southeastern town of Seyne.

A major aviation mystery in 2015 differed from the series of crashes the previous year in that the plane’s recording device led investigators to a suspect shortly after the deadly crash: the co-pilot. The recording from inside the cockpit of Germanwings Flight 9525 during the March 24 flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf indicated that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the lead pilot out of the cockpit during a break and proceeded to direct the plane toward the mountains of the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers and crew on board.

“The intention was to destroy the plane,” Brice Robin, the public prosecutor of Marseille, said during the investigation.

PAYNESVILLE, LIBERIA 1/26/2015

Benetha Coleman, a nurse’s aide and Ebola survivor, comforted an infant girl with symptoms of the disease in a high-risk treatment area.

Amtrak Train Crash

PHOTO:Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train derailment, May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia.

A train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight and injured more than 200 Amtrak passengers in May after the Northeast Regional train sped around a curve and went off the track. The train’s engineer. who survived, could not explain what caused the deadly crash. The National Transportation Safety Board led the investigation into the accident and determined that the train accelerated before the crash and had been traveling in excess of 100 mph, which was more than twice the speed limit for that area of the track.

MIRONOVKA VILLAGE, NEAR DEBALTSEVE, UKRAINE 2/17/2015

A child played cards in the local Palace of Culture, used as a bomb shelter during fighting between the Ukrainian Army and Russian-backed militants.

Prison Escape in New York

PHOTO:In this handout from New York State Police, convicted murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt are shown in this composite image.

One of the biggest stories of the summer seemed like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. It involved two prisoners, a sexual liaison with a prison worker who smuggled tools hidden in frozen meat and a midnight escape with a smiley-faced getaway note. David Sweat and Richard Matt, both convicted murderers, escaped from the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on June 6, crawling out of sewage pipes and digging through cell walls a la “The Shawshank Redemption.”

TAIPEI, TAIWAN 2/4/2015

A picture from a video of a TransAsia Airways plane as it struck an elevated highway before plunging into a river, killing 43 people.

On-Air Shooting in Virginia

PHOTO:WDBJ-TV7 news morning anchor Kimberly McBroom, center, gets a hug from visiting anchor Steve Grant, left, as meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner reflects after their early morning newscast at the station, Aug. 27, 2015, in Roanoke, Va.

The gunman in another tragic shooting claimed it was the racism of the Charleston church shooting that prompted him to create a scene of carnage in the late summer. Vester Lee Flanagan, a disgruntled former news anchor, shot two of his former colleagues while they were on the air on location for a Roanoke, Virginia, TV station. The Aug. 26 shooting left reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward dead. Flanagan later posted a video on social media of the shooting that he appeared to have filmed during the attack using a portable camera. He also sent a manifesto and called ABC News after the shooting. He shot himself to death during a car chase with police later that day.

SELMA, ALA. 3/7/2015

President Obama marched with thousands across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Major Murder Trials

PHOTO:Former Marine Cpl. Eddie Ray Routh stands during his capital murder trial at the Erath County, Donald R. Jones Justice Center in Stephenville Texas, Feb. 24, 2015.

Four of the biggest trials of the year all resulted in guilty verdicts and one of those murderers now faces a death sentence. The first verdict came in February when Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty of killing “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. Though Kyle was well-known before the trial because of his bestselling book, the case gained even more national attention when his biopic came out just over a month before the trial started. Routh received a sentence of life without parole. He has filed a notice of appeal.

HILLAR CLINTON email scandal

A key aid to Hillary Clinton is the focus of a separate FBI investigation into the former secretary of state’s use of a private unsecured server. Bryan Pagliano, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times to avoid testifying before a House Committee investigating the Benghazi terrorist attack. Investigators are trying to determine more about Clinton’s use of a private server that contained highly classified material.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT HACK

The massive hack into federal systems announced last week was far deeper and potentially more problematic than publicly acknowledged, with hackers believed to be from China moving through government databases undetected for more than a year.

MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND 3/3/2015

Secretary of State John Kerry, center, took a break during a meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, over limiting Tehran’s nuclear program.

PHOTO:Aaron Hernandez watches as Robert Kraft entered the courtroom during the murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end at Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Mass., March 31, 2015.

Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty in April and sentenced to life in prison without parole after killing Odin Lloyd, who was dating Hernandez’ fiancee’s sister. The case turned into a family drama as both Hernandez’s fiancee, who was granted immunity for her testimony, and her sister took turns on the witness stand. His appeal is underway.

PHOTO:In this June 24, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, right, stands before U.S. District Judge George OToole Jr. as he addresses the court during his sentencing, in federal court in Boston. — PHOTO:In this June 24, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, right, stands before U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. as he addresses the court during his sentencing, in federal court in Boston.

In another case, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving brother of a pair of siblings, was found guilty in April of all 30 charges that he faced in connection to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and his ensuing flight from police, which included the killing of an MIT police officer. One month later, he was sentenced to death after the conclusion of the penalty phase of his trial. The first of many expected appeals is underway.

BALTIMORE 4/28/2015

Community members formed a buffer between the police and protesters at dusk, a day after protests over the death of Freddie Gray turned violent.

EL CHAPO GUZMAN ESCAPE from prison

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEOS, BABY PARTS

WASHINGTON 4/16/2015

President Obama, in the Rose Garden, signed the so-called doc-fix bill, which permanently ended automatic Medicare payment cuts to doctors.

CATHEDRAL CITY, CALIF. 4/3/2015

In California, where lush developments like this one abut bone-dry desert, the governor imposed mandatory water restrictions after a long drought.

BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL 4/29/2015

Residents retrieved belongings from homes four days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country and left over 9,000 dead.

IN THE ANDAMAN SEA OFF THAILAND 5/14/2015

Rohingya migrants on a fishing boat, part of an exodus in which thousands of people took to the sea to flee ethnic persecution in Myanmar.

ROOSEVELT ISLAND, N.Y. 6/13/2015

Hillary Clinton was joined onstage by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at a rally to kick off her presidential campaign.

SANA, YEMEN 6/12/2015

Yemenis searched for survivors at a Unesco World Heritage Site after an explosion that witnesses said was caused by Saudi airstrikes. Saudi Arabia denied responsibility.

COLUMBIA, S.C. 7/10/2015

The massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston was a catalyst for the permanent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s state house.

ATHENS 7/10/2015

A pensioner waited to withdraw money from Greece’s national bank. The country implemented more austerity measures to address its debt crisis.

MANHATTAN 7/10/2015

The United States women’s soccer team celebrated at a ticker-tape parade after winning the World Cup.

KOS, GREECE 8/15/2015

Laith Majid, an Iraqi, broke out in tears of joy, holding his son and daughter, after they arrived safely in Kos on a flimsy rubber boat.

HORGOS, SERBIA 8/31/2015

A mother rested with her daughter and other relatives in a field during their almost two-month journey to escape violence in Syria.

JPOA IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

European Refugee Crisis

PHOTO:A refugee holding a boy react as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, Aug. 21, 2015.

Tens of thousands of people fleeing war-torn Syria and other areas in the Middle East and Africa spent much of this summer making the laborious, and dangerous, trek through Europe toward countries including Germany and Sweden in hopes of finding asylum. The influx of refugee families prompted international disputes and policy shifts as countries such as Hungary started to close some of their borders and put up fences with razor wire to prevent people from entering. President Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States met with stiff resistance from some House Republicans who have called for stricter certifications that none of the immigrants poses a security risk.

Same-Sex Marriage Debate

PHOTO:The front of the White House is lit in the color of the rainbow, June 26, 2015, after the United States Supreme Court issued the decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that same-sex marriage is legal in all states.

The Supreme Court made a landmark decision in June, voting to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. The 5-4 decision was praised by many, including President Obama, who called it a “victory for America.” But not everyone was pleased with the decision. A county clerk in Kentucky became a touchstone for the national debate after she claimed it was against her religious beliefs to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kim Davis was jailed for nearly a week for defying a judge’s order to issue any marriage licenses in Rowan County.

Pope Francis Visits the US

PHOTO:Pope Francis places a white rose on the names of the September 11 victims at the edge of the South Pool of the 9/11 memorial in New York, Sept. 25, 2015.

One of the biggest moments of national excitement came when Pope Francis made his inaugural visit to the United States, sweeping the country up in a serious case of Pope-mania. His visit started in Washington, D.C., after a trip to Cuba, and he went on to visit New York and Philadelphia before returning to the Vatican. Some of the highlights of the trip included a historic address to Congress, frequent rides in his Fiat and a particularly memorable moment shared with a baby girl dressed up like a pope.

WASHINGTON 9/23/2015

President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House during the pope’s first visit to the United States.

Another Terror Attack in Paris

PHOTO:A photo shows a makeshift memorial for a tribute to the victims of a series of deadly attacks in Paris, in front of the Carillon cafe in Paris, Nov. 23, 2015.

A series of coordinated terror attacks struck fear through the heart of the French capital on Friday Nov. 13. A combination of shooters and men wearing explosive vests targeted a football stadium, restaurants and a concert venue that evening, leaving 130 people dead.

French officials determined that the attackers had ties to ISIS, which has claimed responsibility. The alleged ringleader of the attacks was killed five days later when authorities raided his apartment in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. An international manhunt is still underway at this time for at least one other suspect.

GREECE-MACEDONIA BORDER, NEAR IDOMENI, GREECE 8/26/2015

A child stood near police controlling a rush of refugees into Macedonia.

CLEARLAKE, CALIF. 8/3/2015

A firefighter was silhouetted by his headlamp as he battled the Rocky Fire, a wildfire that spread over three counties and burned over 60,000 acres.

HAVANA 8/14/2015

Workers hanging the seal of the United States at the reopened American Embassy.

TIANJIN, CHINA 8/15/2015

Rows of motor vehicles were destroyed in chemical explosions that killed 160 people and were strong enough to register on earthquake scales.

Russia’s air campaign in Syria has killed hundreds of civilians and caused massive destruction in residential areas, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International.

SHANKSVILLE, PA. 9/3/2015

A new visitor center and museum told the story of Flight 93, forced down by passengers after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 9/5/2015

A Syrian father, center, slept with his son and other family members on the floor of a bus driving from Budapest to Vienna.

HUNGARY-SERBIA BORDER, NEAR HORGOS, SERBIA 9/16/2015

A man tried to save his child as Hungarian police officers fired tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at migrants trying to cross into the country.

BODRUM, TURKEY 9/2/2015

Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler whose drowning off the coast of Turkey drew public sympathy to the refugee crisis.

KOBANI, SYRIA 10/27/2015

Nine months after coalition airstrikes and Kurdish fighters repelled an invasion by the Islamic State, the city was still in ruins.

MANHATTAN 10/21/2015

New York City police officers stood at attention as the remains of Officer Randolph Holder, who was killed on the job, were taken from a Harlem hospital.

WASHINGTON 10/29/2015

Representative John A. Boehner hoisted a box of tissues to laughter during his farewell remarks before the House elected Paul D. Ryan to replace him as speaker.

The Metrojet Airbus 321, bound for St Petersburg and carrying mostly Russian citizens, crashed in Egypt’s Sinai desert just 23 minutes after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh.

PARIS 11/13/2015

A victim outside the Bataclan theater, where 90 people were killed during coordinated terrorist attacks that left 40 more dead across the city and in a northern suburb.

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. 12/7/2015

A candlelight vigil commemorated the 14 victims of a mass shooting by a radicalized Muslim couple.

BEIJING 12/8/2015

Schools were closed, driving restricted and factories shut down after China’s capital issued its first ever “red alert” for air pollution.

WASHINGTON 12/12/2015

The lectern in the Cabinet Room of the White House where President Obama announced a historic agreement among 195 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

RAMADI, Iraq 12/27/2015

Iraqi forces with U.S air support are taking back ‘some’ neighborhoods in the Anbar Province.

DALLAS, Texas 12/27/2015

Tornado devastation in Texas killing 48.

Photo essay taken in part from the two websites below, that offer additional text and photos.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/year-review-13-biggest-news-stories-2015/story?id=35852690 and http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/27/sunday-review/2015-year-in-pictures.html?_r=0

Those Making Decisions About Destiny

Posted on October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 by Denise Simon

Spooky and deviant people packaged in philanthropic paper and bows have darker missions that is not conspiracy but fact.

The Clinton Foundation is not especially included in this group but the same model of collusion is applied.

Going back to 2009, the agenda was being crafted for the next four years and had a probability of the next eight to ten years. It is working and chilling.

Note, they even call themselves the ‘Good Club’….really?

They’re called the Good Club – and they want to save the world
Paul Harris in New York reports on the small, elite group of billionaire philanthropists who met recently to discuss solving the planet’s problems
It is the most elite club in the world. Ordinary people need not apply. Indeed there is no way to ask to join. You simply have to be very, very rich and very, very generous. On a global scale.

This is the Good Club, the name given to the tiny global elite of billionaire philanthropists who recently held their first and highly secretive meeting in the heart of New York City.

The names of some of the members are familiar figures: Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller and Ted Turner. But there are others, too, like business giants Eli and Edythe Broad, who are equally wealthy but less well known. All told, its members are worth $125bn.

The meeting – called by Gates, Buffett and Rockefeller – was held in response to the global economic downturn and the numerous health and environmental crises that are plaguing the globe. It was, in some ways, a summit to save the world.

No wonder that when news of the secret meeting leaked, via the seemingly unusual source of an Irish-American website, it sent shock waves through the worlds of philanthropy, development aid and even diplomacy. “It is really unprecedented. It is the first time a group of donors of this level of wealth has met like that behind closed doors in what is in essence a billionaires’ club,” said Ian Wilhelm, senior writer at the Chronicle of Philanthropy magazine.

The existence of the Good Club has struck many as a two-edged sword. On one hand, they represent a new golden age of philanthropy, harking back to the early 20th century when the likes of Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Carnegie became famous for their good works. Yet the reach and power of the Good Club are truly new. Its members control vast wealth – and with that wealth comes huge power that could reshape nations according to their will. Few doubt the good intentions of Gates and Winfrey and their kind. They have already improved the lives of millions of poor people across the developing world. But can the richest people on earth actually save the planet?

The President’s House of Rockefeller University is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The university’s private campus, full of lush green trees, lies behind guarded entrances and a metal fence. It overlooks the East River, only a few blocks away from the United Nations.
It was here, at 3pm on 5 May, that the Good Club gathered. The university’s chancellor, Sir Paul Nurse, was out of town but, at the request of David Rockefeller, had allowed the club to meet at his plush official residence. The president’s house is frequently used for university events, but rarely can it have played host to such a powerful conclave. “The fact that they pulled this off, meeting in the middle of New York City, is just absolutely amazing,” said Niall O’Dowd, an Irish journalist who broke the story on the website irishcentral.com.

For six hours, the assembled billionaires discussed the crises facing the world. Each was allowed to speak for 15 minutes. The topics focused on education, emergency relief, government reform, the expected depth of the economic crisis and global health issues such as overpopulation and disease. One of the themes was new ways to get ordinary people to donate small amounts to global issues. Sources say Gates was the most impressive speaker, while Turner was the most outspoken. “He tried to dominate, which I think annoyed some of the others,” said one source. Winfrey, meanwhile, was said to have been in a contemplative, listening mood.

That the group should have met at all is indicative of the radical ways in which philanthropy has changed over the past two decades. The main force behind that change is Gates and his decision to donate almost all his fortune to bettering the world. Unlike the great philanthropists of former ages, Gates is young enough and active enough to take a full hands-on role in his philanthropy and craft it after his own ideas. That example has been followed by others, most notably Soros, Turner and Buffett. Indeed, this new form of philanthropy, where retired elite businessmen try to change the world, has even been dubbed “Billanthropy” after Gates. Another description is “philanthro-capitalism”. Much more here.

Examples:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grants money to measure your child’s moods via bracelets. Reported by the Chicago Tribune, schools are the basis of the testing and database modeling, where behavior modification is the sole objective.

Warren Buffett’s Foundation has an initiative controlling water and the food supply in Africa and Central America, all in the cause of enhancing agriculture to which population control and sustainability is achieved. To date, Central America is full of bloody criminals and Africa is a continent rife with terror. Buffett is a large funder of abortions globally.

George Soros, the spookiest of the Good Club, has an umbrella organization titled Open Society Institute that funds just about every dark nefarious operation globally, even the IRS scandal, suppressing free speech.

Ted Turner, the media mogul has a ‘one child’ policy emulating that of China.

It appears all of these members of the ‘Good Club’ continue discussion from a 1974 USAID study. Further as the decades pass with new trends emerging, more aggressive and edited objectives are financed.

The matter of eradicated diseases re-emerging, refugees and global financial strife has wrought other billionaires missions yet to be fully realized or understood but take caution.

Defunding Planned Parenthood and Committee Formed

Posted on October 24, 2015October 24, 2015 by Denise Simon

Some, rather many are anti-Boehner as Speaker and are delighted he resigned. Yet on the way out the door, he has taken a positive measure against Planned Parenthood. Moving to create a commission to investigate the organization is a good thing and passing a measure in the House to defund it is even better. Others argue this is just theater as it may advance such that Barack Obama would veto the legislation. That is true, it could happen but the House took a very assertive step in this regard.

Boehner is forming a House Select committee to investigate ‘big abortion providers’ — namely Planned Parenthood
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced Friday the appointment of eight Republicans (four women and four men) to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Select Investigative Panel focused on “big abortion providers” — namely Planned Parenthood.

He appointed Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) as panel chair.

Other members are Rep. Joe Pitts (PA), Rep. Diane Black (TN), Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN), Rep. Sean Duffy (WI), Rep. Andy Harris (MD), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO) and Rep. Mia Love (UT).

From the Speaker’s Friday news release:

Recent videos exposing the abortion-for-baby parts business have shocked the nation, and demanded action. At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don’t have the full truth. Chairman Blackburn and our members will have the resources and the subpoena power to get to the bottom of these horrific practices, and build on our work to protect the sanctity of all human life.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has five spots to fill, according to the Hill, but has yet to announce her appointments.

Planned Parenthood issued a statement through spokesman Eric Ferrero on Friday criticizing the panel:

Planned Parenthood has been cooperating fully with all of these investigations, even though they were all sparked by false and discredited claims and even though their political motive has become increasingly clear. Regardless of whether these investigations are focused on uncovering facts or pursuing a political agenda, we will continue to share the facts with all of these committees, which include that fetal tissue donation for medical research is an important but tiny part of Planned Parenthood’s work in just two states, that we’ve had guidance in place for more than a decade that goes well beyond the legal requirements, and that even doctored and discredited videos show no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.

Defunding

BREAKING: U.S. House passes bill to defund Planned Parenthood

The U.S. House voted today on legislation to halt the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, which has been caught harvesting the body parts of aborted babies, among other scandals.

The House approved H.R. 3762, a reconciliation bill which cannot be filibustered in the U.S. Senate, on a near party-line 240-189 vote. The bill can pass the Senate chamber with 51 votes, rather than than the 60-vote threshold.

H.R. 3762 places a freeze on certain federal payments to the abortion giant for one year. Only seven House Republicans voted in opposition to the measure, while one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn), voted in favor.

Reps. Ken Buck (Col.) Bob Dold (Ill.), Richard Hanna (NY), Walter Jones (NC), Mark Meadows (NC) and Matt Salmon (AZ) were the seven Republicans who broke party ranks.

Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding has come under scrutiny over the past few months, in the wake of undercover videos revealing corporate Planned Parenthood executives discussing horrific fetal tissue procurement practices.

In August, the U.S. Senate held a historic vote to defund the abortion giant, with most senators in favor of the measure. The effort was halted, however, due to a filibuster by Senate Democrats.

The latest vote comes in the aftermath of 10 videos by The Center for Medical Progress, which detail Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry’s role in the trafficking of fetal body parts.

The videos also show top-level Planned Parenthood executives admitting how they sell the body parts of aborted babies, alter the abortion procedure to obtain intact organs, and perform what appears to be illegal partial-birth abortions.