This Weeks Sound Off

As the U.S. Senate votes today to raise the debt limit, I wanted to make sure you know where I stand.

I cannot in good conscience support this deal.

Simply stated, it locks us into more debt, bigger government and most devastating of all, a weakened Defense infrastructure at a time when threats to our nation are increasing, not decreasing.

This agreement still adds over $7 trillion in new debt over the next decade and only makes small reductions in future spending. We hardly address the future growth of entitlements, a major contributor of future budgetary problems.

Instead of our nation running toward bankruptcy we will be walking toward bankruptcy.

The only part of our nation’s budget which is really exposed to serious consequences is the Department of Defense. Their budget could be reduced by nearly $1 trillion under this plan. And if these proposed cuts ever become reality, the biggest loser will be our men and women in uniform.

I firmly believe defense spending should be placed under a microscope and we can find savings. However, this agreement places Defense on the chopping block and slowly moves the Republican Party away from the Reagan model of a strong national defense. I fear it legitimizes the concept that Defense spending is not only equal to other areas of federal spending, but is of lesser importance.

The U.S. Constitution's preamble is unequivocal where it states one of the federal government’s primary responsibilities is to “provide for the common defense.” I fear this deal could ultimately weaken that principle.

I always believed we have to raise our nation’s debt-ceiling but should do so in a responsible manner. I strongly supported Cut, Cap and Balance and will continue to work for passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. I thought we could have raised the debt-ceiling for a period of nine months, the historical average since 1940, accompanied by a dollar-to-dollar spending cut to debt-ceiling increase while we work to enact these important structural changes to the way the government operates.

The debt-limit debate offered us a prime opportunity to finally stop kicking the can down the road and bring discipline to the way Congress spends.

Because of our $14.5 trillion and growing national debt, we are in jeopardy of losing the American Dream where children are able to do better than their parents.

Unfortunately, I fear we will see that this agreement does not really move the needle when it comes to reducing government spending.

For these reasons, I vote No.

By Senator Lindsey Graham

Locally Speaking

Freestyle Music Park May Get A New Ticket To Ride

Mortgage lender buys theme park out of foreclosure

The theme park formerly known as Freestyle Music Park might be back in business in time for summer 2012.

FPI US LLC, the mortgage holder of the former park that has been closed for two years, bought the property out of foreclosure this week with a goal of reopening the theme park in Fantasy Harbour in time for next summer, its attorneys said Wednesday.

“There’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel,” said David Slough, an attorney for FPI US.

Elected leaders and business owners near the park heralded the news Wednesday, saying it could help rejuvenate an area that desperately needs it.

“Any time you can take something that is dead and you can bring some life to it, it is good,” said Horry County Councilman Gary Loftus, whose district includes the theme park area.

FPI US is looking for either a partner to manage and operate the park or a buyer who can purchase the park and reopen it, Slough said.

Talks are in the early stages, so it’s not clear exactly when the park would open, whether it would still be called Freestyle or whether it would create a new theme.

“They hope it reopens and it’s a big success,” said Franklin Daniels, an attorney for FPI US. “They don’t want to see it be a vacant theme park. They are not willing to just let it go.”

FPI US LLC, which had foreclosed on former park operators FPI MB Entertainment LLC a year ago, bought the property at the Horry County foreclosure auction Monday through a “credit bid” of $7 million. That means FPI US gets the property but doesn’t pay that amount because it’s already owed more than that by the former park operators. The total debt was $34 million, according to court records. Other businesses that were still owed money by Freestyle are out of luck.

FPI US won the auction over one other bidder, Alton Swann, a real estate professional in Myrtle Beach who said during a brief telephone conversation Wednesday that he had been working on a plan to bring somebody in to take over the park.

“I’d just like to see something happen to it,” he said. “It’s a shame to see it go to waste.”

The 50-acre theme park has sat idle for about two years, a far cry from the hoopla that marked its first and second openings during a two-year period.

The theme park, which was built for $400 million, originally was branded as Hard Rock Park and debuted in 2008. It filed for bankruptcy protection after a slow first season.

The park’s second run started early the following year when a group of investors bought it out of bankruptcy for $25 million in February 2009 and reopened it as Freestyle Music Park a few months later. It also fell into financial troubles after just one summer - a season where tourism statewide took a hit because of the lagging economy that kept many people from traveling or prompted them to cut back on their spending if they did go on vacation.

The park has been closed since, riding a wave of cases in court. With the litigation behind it, the park can move forward, Daniels said.

FPI plans to look at what went wrong the first two times the park operated, identify what needs to happen to make the park a success and find a buyer or good partner to manage the park, Daniels said.

That means the theme, marketing and ticket prices – which some critics said were too high, especially during the tough economy – all will be reviewed, he said. Tickets for admission to Freestyle started at about $40 for adults and about $30 for children, though the park dropped them later in the summer 2009 to less than $20 for special promotions.

“Many things in the past have to be done differently,” Daniels said. “They’ve learned a lot of hard lessons, lost a lot of money. But they are committed to it.”

Some business owners in the Fantasy Harbour area, off U.S. 501 at the Intracoastal Waterway, said a revived theme park could be the first step in getting the area back to where it should be. A re-opened theme park could bring more people to the area and make it look better, said Robbie Love, owner of The X Sports Center off George Bishop Parkway near the park.

“Definitely, that’s a boost,” he said. “That should be a good shot in the arm for the area.”

Having the park reopen might not translate into more business at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Fantasy Harbour Boulevard, but it would help the look of the area, said Lori Posma, the hotel’s sales director.

“That would be great,” she said. “Just the perception of the area - everybody says it looks so decrepit over here...Any action over here would be fabulous.”

During the past two years, theme park operators and others have stopped by the park interested in buying some of the rides, but the investors didn’t want to sell off the park piece by piece, still optimistic that the theme park could eventually work in Myrtle Beach, Daniels said. A small crew has continued to work at the park, including an engineer who regularly runs the rides to keep them in shape, Daniels said.

“You start selling off the rides, you destroy the value of the theme park,” he said. “They truly are committed. They want to see it reopen. They want to see it work.”

But they’ve learned lessons from the park’s back-to-back failures, Daniels said.

Loftus said a theme park can work in the Myrtle Beach area if it’s done right.

“There were many issues that kind of led to the demise of the first two. Obviously, there were a heckuva lot more that went wrong than right,” Loftus said. “Done correctly, and with the right marketing, it should have a chance.”

One culprit that hampered the park’s second run was the Great Recession, which led to an 8 percent drop in tourism in South Carolina in 2009, according to figures released this week by the S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism department. Tourism throughout the state generated $14 billion in 2009, down about $1 billion from the previous year.

Tourism officials have said the industry has picked up since then.

FPI’s talks with potential managers or buyers are in the early stages, and it’s unclear when FPI would announce details of a reopening. It probably would take between six and nine months to adequately prepare the park and promote it, though Freestyle owners did it in three months after they bought the park out of bankruptcy.

“There’s no timeframe,” Daniels said. “They are working hard.”

Posma of the Clarion hotel, like Loftus, said a theme park could be successful here.

“If they take input they have learned and apply it, commit to it, I think they can make it work,” she said. “I’m hoping for the best.” -Sun News

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Girls' Answer To STDs: Vaccinate Boys, Doctors Say

What's the best way to protect teenage girls from sexually transmitted diseases? Some doctors in Charlotte say the answer is to vaccinate boys.

More than 65 million Americans - that's one in five - carry a sexually transmitted disease. The most common one - the human papilloma virus, or HPV - affects more than half of sexually active Americans at some point, according to the federal government.

Since 2007, health officials have recommended that adolescent girls get vaccinated against HPV because it can lead to cervical cancer later in life.

Now, they're also suggesting the vaccine for boys to prevent genital warts and anal cancer, rare symptoms of HPV. But for some doctors, vaccinating boys is also a favored new strategy in preventing the spread of the virus to girls.

Dr. Sameena Evers, a physician at Dilworth Pediatrics, encourages boys to get vaccinated against HPV "so that girls don't get it." This kind of practice is called "herd immunity," or vaccinating one segment of the population to protect another.

"It's no surprise that women are getting it from the men in the world," said Evers.

A necessary vaccine

Officials say along with Pap smears, vaccinating girls is the most effective way to prevent cervical cancer.

They say it's as important for girls as vaccinating against illnesses like tetanus, meningitis, and the flu. The series of three shots cost about $400 or more but are covered by Medicaid, and most private insurance programs.

Since the approval of the vaccine for boys in 2009, health officials have debated whether vaccinating boys for girls' sake is an effective way to control cervical cancer. In part, there are questions about how long the vaccine stays active in boys' bodies.

The federal government recommends the vaccine for boys, too, but it's considered less urgent. It's optional for doctors to tell boys and their parents about it.

But many doctors are recommending it to both boys and girls with the same urgency. Every year, cervical cancer leads to about 4,000 deaths in the United States. (By comparison, however, breast cancer kills 10 times as many women.)

The correlation between cervical cancer and some types of HPV is clear: the primary cause of the cancer in women is HPV. One out of 10,000 women who contract HPV end up with cervical cancer.

Most infections clear on their own within a couple of years and don't develop into cervical cancer. Nonetheless, some 35 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed in the U.S.

Coverage varies

In February of 2010, North Carolina began covering the vaccine for boys through Medicaid. But not all private insurance plans cover the shots.

Evers has seen private coverage increase in the past year. As a result, the number of boys getting the vaccine is growing, she said. In June of last year, 19 boys and 17 girls were vaccinated against HPV at Dilworth Pediatrics. During the same month this year, 47 boys and 11 girls received the vaccine.

Parents say they're concerned with keeping their sons free of genital warts and cancer. The idea of protecting future girlfriends is a secondary concern, said Evers.

In addition, men are generally more willing to get the vaccine when it's described as preventing not just genital warts but cancer, too, according to a UNC Chapel Hill study.

The N.C. Immunization Registry recently found that out of 388 boys it surveyed in the past year, about 13 percent had received the vaccine. The survey showed the number of girls getting vaccinated was much higher, at 39 percent.

Some attribute the difference to heavy advertising for Gardasil by Merck, the manufacturer, that targeted middle and high school-aged girls and their parents. The pharmaceutical company hasn't done that for boys.

Health experts say patients are learning about Gardasil mostly from their doctors.

Dr. Preeti Matkins, the medical director of the Teen Health Connection in Charlotte, encourages her male patients to get the Gardasil shots. And when Gardasil was approved for boys, she enthusiastically sent her then 14-year-old son to get his shots.

"I don't want you to get cancer or warts in your genital area," Matkins told her children when they objected.

She said that discussions about Gardasil make some parents uncomfortable, especially when it comes to the teenage children they believe won't become sexually active for a long time. Sometimes, doctors themselves are uncomfortable discussing it with parents, she said.

And then there's the parental fear that giving their child the vaccine encourages sexual activity, she said.

Religious groups such as the Family Research Council have advocated strongly against the Gardasil vaccine for these reasons. They emphasize abstinence over immunization.

"Religion is often used as reason for non-vaccinators ..." Matkins said.

But Matkins said "teens in Charlotte are having sex." According to Mecklenburg county's most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, half of high school students have had sex.

Nationally, while teens and young adults represent only a quarter of the sexually active population, they account for half of the new STD cases every year.

Some doctors skeptical

Not all doctors are on board with use of the Gardasil vaccine for either gender. Some have criticized the speed with which the drug was approved. They say Pap smears are a highly effective tool for detecting cervical cancer and that the vaccine is just another layer of cost.

Once a consultant for Merck, Dr. Diane Harper is one of Gardasil's most outspoken critics. One of the biggest problems is "the way it's been marketed and sold and crammed down people's throats so that companies have a profitable bottom line for making their investment into the research," said Harper, a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri.

She is convinced that if Gardasil vaccine for boys becomes a higher priority, "Merck will hit the advertising market hard for boys."

And parents will start hearing about it a lot more. –Sun News

Ragbag Headliners

How To Unlock A Car With A Text Message

Don Bailey says he can unlock thousands of cars across the United States simply by sending a few texts from his Android phone.

And that's not even the scary part.

Bailey, a senior security consultant with iSEC Partners, said in an interview with CNN at the Black Hat security conference here at Caesars Palace that the same hack he has used to demonstrate unlocking and even starting a car via text message also could be used to attack industrial systems, the power grid and the water system.

"I could care less if I could unlock a car door," he said. "It's cool. It's sexy. But the same system is used to control phone, power, traffic systems. I think that's the real threat."

Bailey would not share details about which cars or which auto systems are vulnerable to the hack that he showed off publicly at the event.

The hack affects many kinds of devices that connect to cellular GSM networks, like the one used by AT&T. As cars and plenty of other stuff -- from pill bottles to trees, he said -- start connecting to cell grids and the Internet, Bailey said they become more vulnerable.

Certain electronic components that accept wireless signals are vulnerable to the hack, he said. Those components are in the cars Bailey said he can unlock remotely.

Again, he would not name which cars have them.

Strangely enough, Oprah Winfrey kinda-sorta inspired this research.

Bailey said he was watching an "Oprah" show about a device called the Zoombak, which the TV host said could be used by parents to track the locations of their kids.

"I heard that and thought, 'Oh dear God no. Please Oprah, no, no no!' " he said in a presentation at Black Hat. "This was my thinking: That's dangerous. That can definitely be owned. Let's own that thing."

In hacker-speak, "own" means to take control of a device.

Once he figured out how to take control of the kid-tracker, Bailey moved on to cars, which he said was more difficult but still not impossible.

"I couldn't just straight-up text message it and be like, 'Gimme yo' datas!' " he said, referring to the car parts. "So it was a little more work."

It's not all doom-and-gloom, though.

Bailey said manufacturers could purchase more expensive parts that would keep these types of hacks from being possible. He thinks industry associations should put out recommendations suggesting this approach, even though cost increases would be "highly significant."

"We have to," he said. "We have to find elegant ways to find that sweet spot between cost and security."

Black Hat is an annual gathering of hackers and security professionals in Las Vegas. Researchers hope that by showing off how to hack certain systems, the computer industry will take steps to make infrastructure and consumers safer. –CNN Tech

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Alabama Defends Its Immigration Law

Officials criticize federal suit to stop state from enforcing its tough statute

Alabama officials Tuesday criticized a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the state’s tough new immigration law, arguing that the federal government’s failure to enforce its own immigration statutes had forced the states to do so.

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, a Republican, said the legislation — signed into law in June by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley — will survive any court challenge. A federal judge in Phoenix has blocked implementation of an Arizona immigration law for more than a year after a similar challenge from the Obama administration in 2010.

“Make no mistake, this lawsuit will not undo Alabama’s immigration law. If the court finds problems with parts of the law, tweaks can be made,” Mr. Hubbard said. “But Alabama is not going to be a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants. Alabama will have a strict immigration law and we will enforce it.”

Alabama State Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said the federal government has “looked the other way” on the issue of immigration law enforcement, allowing Alabama’s illegal immigrant population to increase by nearly 400 percent over the past decade.

“With almost one out of every 10 Alabamians looking for a job, we need to make sure that legal Alabama residents are not being passed over for employment in lieu of those who are here illegally,” Mr. Marsh said.

The Justice Department lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, restated the Obama administration’s strongly held view that setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration law was a federal responsibility. The department argued that the Alabama law, known as H.B. 56, “undermines the federal governments careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives.”

The brief makes clear that, while the federal government values state assistance and cooperation, a state cannot set its own immigration policy, much less pass laws that conflict with federal enforcement of immigration laws.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the problems of immigration law enforcement cannot be addressed through a “patchwork” of state laws.

“To the extent we find state laws that interfere with the federal governments enforcement of immigration law, we are prepared to bring suit, as we did in Arizona,” he said.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the suit Aug. 24.

Both supporters and critics of Alabama’s law have described it as the toughest in the nation. It requires public schools to determine the immigration status of students; orders police to detain those they suspect of being in the country illegally when stopped for any reason; and makes it a crime to knowingly transport or harbor someone illegally in the country.

The law, scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1, also imposes penalties on businesses that knowingly employ someone without legal resident status.

The Alabama law was authored by House GOP Majority Leader Micky Hammon, who told reporters after the lawsuit was filed that the Obama administration and federal officials have “turned a blind eye toward the immigration issue and refuse to fulfill their constitutional duty to enforce laws already on the books.

“Now, they want to block our efforts to secure Alabamas borders and prevent our jobs and taxpayer dollars from disappearing into the abyss that illegal immigration causes,” he said.

The Justice Department argued that the Alabama law could result in the “harassment and detention of foreign visitors, legal immigrants and even U.S. citizens who may not be able to readily prove their lawful status.” In addition, the department said, it will place “significant burdens on federal agencies, diverting their resources away from dangerous criminal aliens and other high-priority targets.”

The Washington-based Service Employees International Union, one of the nation’s largest labor unions, applauded the lawsuit and called on Congress to begin working on a comprehensive immigration reform bill. –The Washington Times

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Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid Recipients, Including Families With Children Will Lose Under Debt Deal

August 2, 2011  -  Today, President Obama signed into law a bill that raises the United States debt limit, but after the dust settled from all the political wrangling these past few months, it appears the plan permits cuts to some social programs that many families with children rely on today.

Under the measure, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and other social services, including those for families and children, will not be part of the $917 billion in the initial round of cuts.

However,  they may later on.  In short, in exchange for authority to raise the debt limit by $2.1 trillion, $2.1 to $2.4 trillion dollars in deficit reductions must be made.  Those reductions will come from cuts in domestic and defense spending programs.

Social services, including those that some families and children rely on, are not safe from being cut under a second phase of the new law. Under that phase, the measure creates a bi-partisan committee, being called a Super Committee by Policy wonks, that will be half Democrats and half Republicans. 

This Super Committee will get together, come up with a deficit reduction plan and will recommend an additional $1.5 trillion in cuts, bringing the total deficit reduction to $2.4 trillion.

“The legislation puts no restriction on what the Super committee can do,” said Principal Deputy Director for the National Economic Council Jason Furman during a call with reporters yesterday. “They can undertake spending reform, spending reductions, comprehensive tax reform, can close individual tax loop holes, they will have no constraints on their actions and the goal for that room would be to come together and undertake balance reduction.”

The Commission can cut from domestic or military spending, but many are concerned that many of the cuts will be to entitlement programs like social security, Medicare and other programs that help low-income to middle class families.  

Others say the cuts in social programs are needed because government entitlement programs have gotten out of control and have created a culture of dependency among Americans.

Still, some say it is not fair that the low and middle class will bear the brunt of the cuts while the richest Americans will not be forced to contribute to reducing the deficit through an increase in their taxes.

They are fearful the Supercommittee, which will be made up of 12 people selected by Congressional leadership, may make drastic Draconian cuts to social programs.

However, since the committee will be made up of half Democrats, it is unlikely those members will permit cuts to domestic social programs only.

If there is a stalemate and the Super Committee is unable to agree on a plan, the law authorizes automatic cuts totaling $1.2 trillion dollars to come from domestic and military spending.

This trigger exempts Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other low-income social programs from cuts.

The Committee will be formed quickly and will have until this Thanksgiving to come up with a proposal to send to Congress.  Congress will then have until December 11, 2011 to vote and approve the Committee's plan. 

A wide demographic of women, children and families  rely on aid, especially now in this economy where the unemployment rate is above 9%.  In times of economic boom, cuts may not hurt as much, but these days even a minor reduction in assistance could be detrimental to many families.

We will know by Thanksgiving what ends up on the chopping block and what the Super committee ultimately recommends.  

The President and the Democrats in Congress were unable to get revenue increase in the form of a tax increase through this negotiated deal.  However, the White House is counting on the fact that the Bush Tax Cuts – just extended last December- will expire on January 1, 2013.  That is the same day, many of the cuts to spending will go into effect.

Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said emphatically during the call that President Obama intends to veto any proposal that comes to his desk that would extend the Bush tax cuts further beyond January 1, 2013.

For a simplified version of the budget deal, check out my Jenebaspeaks  blog piece, “The Final Approved US Debt Ceiling Deal Broken Down for the Average Man”, which explains the nuances of the deal in simple term that your third grader should be able to understand. –The Washington Times

[“Facebook”]

A dying granny tells her granddaughter, "I want to leave you my farm. That includes the villa, the tractor and other equipment, the farmhouse and $22,398,750.78 in cash." The granddaughter, about to be rich, says, "oh my granny, you are so generous. I didn't even know you had a farm. Where is it?" With her last breath, her granny whispered, "Facebook..."

Author Unknown
Shared by my sister/friend, Robyn

The Video Congress Does Not Want You To See

A Male Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a prince asked a beautiful princess, “Will you marry me?”

The princess said, “No!”

Thereafter, the prince rode motorcycles; banged skinny, long-legged broads with big tits; hunted and fished; raced cars; went to naked bars; dated women half his age; drank whiskey, beer and Captain Morgan. He never heard bitching; never paid child support or alimony; banged cheerleaders and kept his house and guns; ate Spam, potato chips and beans, and blew enormous farts. He never got cheated on while he was at work. All his friends and family thought he was frickin' cool as hell; had tons of money in the bank; and left the toilet seat up. And he lived very happily everyday.

Author Unknown

These were our parents. What in God's name have we let happen?

I guess we are the last generation to see, or even remember anything like these? Whatever happened? Political correctness (or "re-education") happened, lack of God's name happened, lack of personal responsibility happened, lack of personal integrity and honesty happened, lack of respect and loyalty to our country happened, lack of being an American happened.