Ways On How To Train Your Dog

Ways On How To Train Your Dog

It is important that your beloved dog and your valuable possessions coexist successfully. Unfortunately, your dog may not value the things you have and it may chew anything that may look like a tasty chew toy. Follow the advice below for tips and useful tricks that are guaranteed to help you tame the beast.

Pick a consistent phrase to use with your puppy while house training. Each time you venture out for a bathroom trip, use this phrase to keep your dog focused on the task he came outside to accomplish.

Exercise your dog at least an hour everyday in addition to its regular potty breaks outside. By allowing your dog ample play time, he will be more willing to pay attention during training time. A dog is happy when it gets it exercise and a happy dog follows orders.

You must be firm with your dog in order to train it effectively. However, you should avoid being too loud or aggressively reprimanding your dog as this will hurt your relationship. Your goal should be to show that you are both strict and forgiving. This will help you develop a strong bond with your dog.

One tip to keep in mind when training your dog is to be sure that you introduce it to social environments early and frequently. Your dog has to learn how to behave around other animals and people. The best way to develop good behavior in these situations is to put your dog in the environment as much as possible. It will help your dog adjust to new environments better, also.

Rewarding bad behavior, even in desperation, must be avoided. This just teaches the dog what it can do and what power it has over you. For example, this occurs when you give a dog a treat every time it makes loud noises.

Ensure that your dog knows the rules to follow, and be consistent; this will teach it right from wrong. This means that everyone in the house must follow the same training patterns and always remain consistent. It confuses the dog and sabotages your efforts.

Your dog needs to have a good recall. Your dog should return to your side at all times under all conditions. This critical behavior should be built up in steps so that your dog winds up obeying, regardless of the distractions around. Recall is hard, but it can also be life-saving.

Give your dog new challenges often. Provide your dog with fun ways to "quiz" it in order to ensure that it hasn't lost past training.

Dogs have a lot of energy to exhaust so make certain that you provide plenty of outlets for this to happen positively. Dogs needs include having the proper diet and being able to get a good amount of exercise.

Be aware of how you are reacting to your dogs behavior. If you express amusement after poor behavior, the dog is likely to do it again. This can lead to more bad behavior and make it much more difficult to train your dog. No matter how entertaining your dog is when he misbehaves, you must consistently correct him.

Consistency is imperative when training a dog. You have to use the same words, tone of voice, reward system and do your training in the environment in which the commands will be given normally to ensure the dog picks up what you're trying to teach it.

Do not let your dog drag you. Be sure that your dog understands that you are leading the walk, not him. Use a good training collar and a short leash to begin obedience training, and make sure to keep your dog at heel and to pass through doors and gates ahead of your dog. Do not forget you are the master.

An older dog can learn new things, but you need to be aware of health issues that might cause his ability to be somewhat limited with certain things. A dog with arthritis won't be able to stand for very long, for example. Training could help a dog stimulate its cognitive functions, which is very beneficial when it comes to older dogs. Do make sure that your dog is not in pain when engaging in exercise and training sessions.

Keep your dog's yearly check-up appointments. If you are finding your dog is having difficulty with some aspects of training, or has regressed in his training, make sure he is in good health. You might see that they are must sick or in pain. It's the small behavioral changes which may alert you to the problem. For instance, sudden aggression in an otherwise docile dog can indicate that he is in pain.

A fight with your boyfriend or the cat dragging in a dead mouse, should not result in a stern, cold voice with your dog. If your dog has not misbehaved, you should treat him warmly.

Recognize the triggers that encourage your dog's poor behavior and keep him occupied during the times that he is confronted by these temptations. If your dog isn't comfortable being around other dogs, as you walk him, keep him busy as you walk past other dogs. This builds a relationship where he takes his behavior cues from you and your responses.

If your dog suddenly starts exhibiting behavioral problems, take him to a veterinarian in order to rule out any serious health conditions. Some health conditions or pain can cause animals to lash out or act out of their element. This behavior may be his way of telling you that there is something wrong with him.

Learn how to use positive reinforcement for training outside of treats. Dogs love treats, and easily learn new tricks when this is their motivation. That said, you likely don't always have treats on hand during the times that are not spent formally training your dog. Hugging or patting your dog is a good way to replace treats.

As you know, you must stop the dog from ruining your things via chewing. Your dog, then, will be less likely to be injured, and you will not be as frustrated (plus you'll save money). Use the advice in this piece and you will have what it takes to curtail excessive chewing.

Educate Yourself On Health Insurance With These Tips

Educate Yourself On Health Insurance With These Tips

Not having health insurance can be a major problem. Finding and purchasing an affordable plan that meets your needs can seem like a huge problem. While you may have to make some sacrifices, there are ways to get decent health care that fits your budget.

When you choose your provider for health insurance, understand what your coverage entails. If you have health insurance which covers incidents like these, it can make a difference in paying for the down time you need to incur.

It's important to have vision insurance if you currently have eye problems, or if vision issues are hereditary in your family. Coverage could include your physical exams as well as portions of the cost for spectacles and contacts. Vision insurance is voluntary coverage. There are people that save more money by not having vision insurance than having it.

You can lower your premiums by choosing a catastrophic coverage option instead of a comprehensive one. Catastrophic coverage only kicks in for emergency care and hospitalizations, whereas comprehensive coverages includes coverage for prescriptions and visits to the doctor.

If you are contacted by an insurance carrier in conjunction with your application, do not give information for which they did not ask. Give them only the information they directly request, nothing more. Any extraneous information you throw into the conversation will get recorded by them, and could come back to haunt you later in the form of higher premiums or even total denial of coverage.

Regardless of the type of health insurance you have, you'll save a lot of money by opting for generic drugs over their name brand equivalent. In very rare circumstances a generic won't be available to you. Generics have been proven to be as effective as any name brand.

Health insurance can be dramatically cheaper if you purchase it through a group plan. This is why employers can often offer their workers cheaper health insurance premiums. The best way to get cheaper insurance for yourself is to find a trade organization to join that offers health insurance to its members.

Do your homework if you're looking into getting catastrophic health insurance as your coverage option. Make sure it covers the events that are of concern. If you purchase catastrophic health insurance, be sure to set up an account called: Health Savings Account. You must then make regular deposits. This will enable you to pay your deductible in the event of a catastrophe.

Regardless of whether your pet stays inside or ventures outdoors, it is wise to have pet health insurance coverage. Injuries and accidental poisonings can occur indoors or out, and your pet can become ill at any time. Your pet can break teeth, break bones or get sick inside, too!

You need to keep track of everything that you spend on your medical care. Prescriptions, doctor visit co-pays, deductibles, and premiums all need to be accounted for when you are searching for new health insurance. Be aware of out of pocket costs for coverage and deductibles and who they apply to within your family.

Some insurance companies may reject your enrollment or refuse to pay for a claim because your information was not filled out correctly. Carefully read your enrollment form and double-check it before submitting it.

Talk to your physician to see if any services you might provide are something you could barter with. Trading means that the doctors get what they want, and you get something that you desperately need.

The cost of your health insurance is not just the premium paid every month, it is everything involved with your medical care. All insurance policies require co-pays when you visit your primary care physician or even the hospital sometimes. Determine your co-pay and figure out if it is worth it.

You need to be sure to take the time and read every single document that comes with the health insurance policy that you are looking at - even the fine print. Be certain that you completely understand which services they will cover, and which ones they will not. Several hundred dollars is the difference between going to a doctor considered to be part of the network and a doctor that is not!

Have health insurance, not just for you, but for your kids. Children's complications can be very expensive without insurance, like growth disorders and braces, and other medical conditions like ADHD. To fully provide for your children's needs, you will need good health insurance for them.

You can utilize the Internet to get health insurance quotes, and you will easily be able locate the best price for the health insurance coverage that you need. You may visit the sites of different carriers to get quotes or use websites that are marketplace sites that offer quotes from different companies.

Consider getting a group health insurance plan. Group insurance usually offers rates that are cheaper than purchasing individual health plans. If you are presently employed, most likely your employer can obtain group rates for everyone employed by the company. As well, professional organizations, trade groups and alumni associations also offer group rates on health insurance.

If your health insurance carrier offers wellness benefits, use them. Insurance companies typically offer preventative medical coverage that offer discounts for gym memberships, weight loss programs, and healthy cooking classes. You may also find they have discounts on flu shots and smoking cessation programs. If you take advantage of these offerings, you may also get a discount on your premiums at the next enrollment period.

You should know the state laws and regulations regarding private insurance. Most states have this online. If you are in the market for a health insurance policy, knowing your state's position on tax exemptions will be beneficial. It is also useful to find out if there are any relevant variations between your state's laws and other states.

There are few, if any, types of insurance that are more essential for a person to have than health insurance. You can easily get overwhelmed by the various kinds of coverage and plans. The information you have just learned should help you to choose the right plan for you.

Exciting SEO Ideas To Jumpstart Your Website Traffic

Exciting SEO Ideas To Jumpstart Your Website Traffic

Search engine optimization (SEO) is using strategies and methods to make your website enticing to search engine crawlers. People can also make a lot of money with it. There are a lot of people that will try to convince you that search engine optimization techniques are too difficult for typical webmasters to use. Don't listen to that!

There are a multitude of ways you can optimize your site for search engines. When your system has been tuned to the highest search effectiveness, it will provide the best results. The optimized performance will make your readers happier as well.

To improve your search engine rankings, don't just add keywords to your site. Also add alternative forms of that keyword, including misspellings, in the meta tags of each page on your site. Search engines look for meta tags and including a variety of keywords will help you be more visible to them. For example, if the website is about rabbits, you could use rabbit, rabit, rabbits and rabbitt.

When selecting your domain name you need to ensure that it includes your main keywords or phrase. This will make your domain name memorable and easy to search for. There are many people who will be searching for specific products on the site. It is important to make it easy for them to find what they need.

When you help the web spiders, you can expect to grow in search rank. Spiders analyze all aspects of your site's content, but that content must first be easy to find. Create a site map to help the web spider to determine what is most important about your website and figure out the page hierarchy.

When using internal links on your site it is very important to use the anchor text correctly. Many people make the mistake of using generic links such as "click here". Customize your links using keywords for added SEO benefits. A better option is to employ descriptive keywords for your anchor text. This makes your page seem more relevant to the search engine spiders, helping to boost your overall rankings as a result.

You should look at the source codes on the websites of your competitors. This will show you how they use SEO, and the keywords that they are using. It's likely you don't want to copy them, but looking around can show you what has and hasn't worked for them.

Flash shouldn't be used. Flash can take a long time to load and can not currently be read by search engine spiders, therefore any text included in a Flash file will not be indexed. To optimize your website for search engines, you have to have information that's searchable by them.

Look to your content if you would like to bring more traffic to your site. Users won't remain on a site unless it has the useful information they need, so bettering your content is the simplest way to boost traffic.

Placing a site map on your webpage will not only boost the traffic your site gets on a daily basis, but also its overall ranking. This results in the pages being linked together. This arrangement, with the links positioned along the side, will increase the volume of traffic that flows through your site.

Having a site map will make it easier for search engines to index your pages.. A site map, or navigation bar, helps the search engines find all of the pages of your site. Even a small site can have a huge impact with a site map, in how a search engine will rank it.

While SEO is definitely a complex field, it is also something that a novice can learn and incorporate. You can perform effective SEO on your own by learning simple methods, such as the ones just given to you in the above article. Who knows? Your site ranking might start improving soon.

Considering Turning To Solar Energy? Learn More Here

Considering Turning To Solar Energy? Learn More Here

Everyone isn't sure how to get all of the benefits that solar energy provides. Luckily, if you just spend some time learning about it, you can become an expert on the subject within your social circle. Continue reading for such knowledge.

The amount of power you can produce with your solar energy system depends on the number of panels you purchase and on how efficient these panels are. Assess your needs carefully and do the math before deciding how many panels you want to purchase. It may be more cost effective to purchase more efficient panels.

There are two types of solar panel. Poly-crystalline are less expensive but less efficient when compared to mono-crystalline. You should purchase the best possible product your budget can allow when it comes to solar power systems.

It is important when installing your panels to remember that the position of the sun in the sky changes with the seasons, not just only over the course of the day. By altering the angles, you will be able to maximize the energy level that your panel produces.

Remember that leasing a solar energy system may be a good idea; however, you must be sure you can transfer the lease should you choose to move. This is critical, because in the event you decide to move, you do not want to keep paying for solar units that are of little use to you. The lease transfer can allow you an out while still giving them the benefits of a solar energy system.

Think about the reason why you want solar energy before you take the plunge. Several important factors must be considered. If you're living in a remote location without being connected to a utility grid, solar energy may be a great option for you. Choose this option to lower your project's environmental impact and can afford the greater initial cost.

Stay away from sales people that pressure you too much. You need to be careful and make sure you pick the one that gives you the greatest benefit. Being pressured to make a decision can result in you making a bad decision, which will result in you losing money.

Be certain the solar panels you choose are installed in the most advantageous way for sun exposure year round. When you don't know what you're doing, hire an expert to help.

If you're going to get a house built it's now a good time for you to think about using solar energy. Solar power is the way of the future. If you have not yet looked into this energy source, now is the time to do so.

If you have purchased your own home, consider investing in a complete solar energy system. However, if you have yet to pay off your home in full, there is a possibility that the added costs of paying for the system could put your financial status in the red. Losing your home could mean losing your investment.

When thinking about investing in a solar panel system, you should consider such factors as the typical weather conditions in your area. High-quality solar panels produce enough power for the home if they can get unobstructed sunlight for about five hours a day every day. Look elsewhere if inclement weather conditions dominate your area.

Be sure and alter the angles on your solar panels during each season. Sunlight amounts change based on where the sun is. Altering the angle will ensure you continue to gather the proper amount of power for your home.

Find out which areas in your home are ideal for solar energy. You could for instance invest in a solar-powered water heater for your swimming pool or your hot tub. That said, they could power your water heater. Knowing how it works and how much it can power can help you make the best decision.

You could have your solar energy panels installed with a large discount or even free. This kind of power is hugely promoted by the government and when you install solar energy, they may provide you with grants to pay for some or all of it.

There is nothing that drives up your energy bills faster than children. With all the electronic devices, it can be hard to conserve energy. By switching to solar energy, you can save money.

The normal price range for solar energy systems is between four and six thousand dollars. Consider how quickly you'll get your money back by saving money on your bills and keep generating profit for years to come. In addition, if you are hesitant to convert your entire home into solar energy, you can start out by switching only a few things at one time.

Many people can reap the wonderful benefits of solar power. Unfortunately, most people don't really understand just how beneficial solar energy can be. Now you should have enough information to do some more exploring of solar energy.

Reputation Management - Top Tips Straight From The Industry Pros

Reputation Management - Top Tips Straight From The Industry Pros

Reputation management is essential to be on the top with your regular and professional life. The following advice will help you to maintain a positive reputation. Continue reading for some great advice.

Follow through is very important to customers. This is especially the case if your business is larger. They want to feel as though they mean something to you. Work with automated systems which provide follow-up with customers. Also, attempt asking for feedback on their most recent purchases.

Offense is the way to prevent reputation decay. Ensure you have plenty of positive feedback since this can drown out the negative. Post positive content regularly to keep things fresh, pushing the negativity down in those search engine results.

It is important to remain personable when you are online. Posting tweets and status updates will not work unless you actively communicate with your followers. Whenever a question is posted on your social media page, answer it as fast as you can. Tell your follower the answer to their question immediately.

Make sure your reputation stays strong by working to win over a dissatisfied client. Try to turn a bad experience into a positive one by showing that you care. It's even better when you get to do this on the Internet. Other prospects and customers can see that you actively address issues, so they'll be more apt to buy products from your company later.

Pay attention to your online presence. You can't tell when you're going to get a search engine result that's negative because someone has something bad to say about your business, even if it's for no reason. Do not let negative comments reach the top when people are searching for your company. Work this a few times each and every month.

Always show up where your customers will be found. If you know you have customers who frequent a particular spot, join them there. By taking an interest in what your customers are doing, you see them for who they really are, and will be able to offer them a much better service. Lots of folks like interacting in social environments and will be far more receptive.

When you find inaccurate information about your firm, talk to the website owner. If you have solid proof of the libelous nature of the information, most owners of the site will promptly take it down.

Many trustworthy companies can help you with the reputation of your business. From social media to public announcements, there is a lot that goes into managing a public reputation. Therefore, you will need someone to help you manage that.

Customers are an integral part of any business. There will be times when you encounter complaints, and you have to know how you can address them. And furthermore, you must be addressing them properly in a way that other people would agree upon.

You can find online sites that offer fake reviews. Don't even think about doing this. This can be illegal in some states.

Whenever your business makes any kind of promise or guarantee, make sure it stays true to its word. If you always change the terms, no one will trust you over time. Your business will be viewed in a negative light and not trustworthy. When a business has a bad reputation, it won't be easy to improve it.

Check in on your business search results on a monthly basis. Google your company's name monthly and peruse the entire website. Make sure there isn't negative information about your company. Maintain records of where negative reviews and content came from. Take steps to mitigate it as needed.

There will be negative feedback you read that upsets you. However, do not respond in the heat of the moment. Take time to consider how to deal with the situation in a positive manner and react accordingly. That will only help your reputation.

How do you deal with negative comments? Don't remove the negative feedback, address it honestly and explain that the situation has been rectified. This will help you to be seen in a good light with your customers.

Don't sabotage your own reputation by reacting in anger to customer accusations or issues. Not take any of it personally and start attacking them on social media. If you must, simply extract yourself from the conversation.

If you have a trade organization in your industry, sign up for it. People who are interested in your industry may visit organizations to get leads. Getting a membership with a professional organization like this will make your business more credible. The fee is worth the rewards.

After perusing this, you should know your next necessary step for building your reputation. You should carefully do this to get the best results. If you begin today, your reputation will improve because you now know what you're doing.

Technology | The latest technology with Independent news, gadgets, science news, and more.

Technology | The latest technology with Independent news, gadgets, science news, and more.

Whether iPhone 5 will pull through Japan disaster

by The Weekly Bull Whether iPhone 5 will pull through
Japan disaster Since launching, the wonderful series of Apple iphones
has been capable of making splashes in the entire tech-world. It seemed
to the tech-experts as well as ubergeeks that this California based
tech-baron has resolved to provide a new horizon to the consistently
growing

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Take Advantage of New Technology

Take Advantage of New Technology

Take Advantage of New Technology

If you run a successful business, you
don’t have time to sort through business cards or invoices to get the
information you need.  With a business card scanner you can get better
organized and have everything you’re looking for right at your
fingertips.  The latest and most revolutionary advances in technology
have contributed to the design of a new business card scanner that not
only scans business cards, receipts, photos, reports or other important
papers.

The new business card scanner is capable
of cropping and rotating any documents so that they appear the right way
on your p.c.’s screen.  In addition, it sorts out the documents or
cards and even allows you to cross reference them.  So if you buy
something for your company, you’ll be able to link the credit card
receipt with the vendor’s invoice, the inventory list and the list of
items purchased on that same day.  Think how useful this can be
especially around tax time when you have to produce all sorts of records
for the accountant.  And in the event of an audit, you’ll have
everything in order.  This is certainly better than sifting through
mounds of paper and through cabinet after cabinet.  It may even be of
great benefit at home, to help you keep track of all your expenses and
stay within a budget.

The newer models are small and light;
they weigh less than one pound.  This allows you to take the scanner
along when you travel.  You can store it in your briefcase or even in a
laptop carrying case.  Best yet, you don’t have to carry a plug and look
for an outlet to connect it as it’s powered by a USB.

With a business card scanner you can
attend trade shows, parties or conventions and collect hundreds of cards
and pamphlets.  You won’t have to worry about losing or misplacing
important contact information.  Once you scan these you’ll have access
to all the data within seconds.

And fret not.  This cutting edge
technology ensures that everything you scan is kept confidential, is
never lost or misplaced within your system.  You just need to install
“scan web” software which stores everything in JPG format and allows
more storage space.

So don’t fight it; embrace the newest technology and see how it can benefit you.

Biography: Martin Luther King Jr

Biography: Martin Luther King Jr

Biography: Martin Luther King Jr

by Duffernutter Biography: Martin Luther King Jr The
man, who dared to dream, the leader of African Americans, who shot the
nightmare of racism from a close range, the vicar from Georgia, who
removed the dreary white hood of America, was born in a middle class
family His father and grandfather were Baptizers preachers, while

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Going Against the Grain

Going Against the Grain

Going Against the Grain

by Duffernutter Going Against the Grain   Her words ring loud in every ear, her thoughts capture most minds, her efforts never seem to tire, and her stealthy acts heals one and all! Wanda McKiver has infused new life into the African-American community and the entire literary world remains awe-struck at the politic move that

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Why Vatican conspiracy theories never go out of style

Why Vatican conspiracy theories never go out of style

Why Vatican conspiracy theories never go out of style

Why Vatican conspiracy theories never go out of style Last week I was in New York, and was, among other things, interviewed for a Discovery Channel documentary on the Vatican. It shapes up as a “greatest hits” collection of Vatican conspiracy theories, from alleged Nazi ratlines after World War II to … Read more | Read On »

50-YR-OLD OBESE COP THREATENS TO ARREST YOUNG WOMAN IF SHE DOESN’T HAVE SEX WITH HIM: CONVICTION

ST LOUIS — An officer has been convicted after threatening a woman with arrest if she did not have sex with him.

It began on November 10 when the now-former officer Timothy Jones, 50, pulled over a 24-yr-old woman because he “suspected” she was driving drunk.

He began by forcing her to perform a sobriety test.

After she did the test for him, he threatened to arrest her unless she offered her body to him, according to reports.

He then put her inside his patrol car, drove to a private location, and forced her on the threat of arrest to perform “several sexual acts.”

According to reports, the woman left her cell phone in the officer’s patrol car.

Reportedly she also told her mother about the sexual coercion.

When investigators tried to return the phone to the woman, they reached her mother instead, who then reported what happened.

Further investigation led to the conviction of officer Jones.

He had worked as an officer for at least 20 years prior to the recent conviction.

In the course of 20 years, one wonders if he did this to other woman and got away with it — so far there are no reports that he did.

Imagine what would happen to a citizen if he walked outside with a loaded pistol, approached a woman, and threatened to kidnap her and lock her in a cage unless she gave him sexual favors.

Forcing a woman into sex on the threat of violence is grounds for a large punishment in most cases.

But in the case of officer Jones’s conviction, he wore a special blue costume and enjoyed government privilege when he forced the woman into sex. Thus he gets a light sentence.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Officer Jones received only 1 year in a county jail. Knowing how the system favors those with government-privilege, it’s possible that he’ll be released even earlier.

Originally prosecutors sought a four year sentence.

Amazon Gets Green Light from U.S. Regulators for New Drone Tests

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has won approval from U.S. federal regulators to test a delivery drone outdoors, less than a month after the e-commerce powerhouse blasted regulators for being slow to approve commercial drone testing.

The Federal Aviation Administration had earlier given the green light to an Amazon prototype drone in March, but the company told U.S. lawmakers less than a week later that the prototype had already become obsolete while it waited more than six months for the agency’s permission.

The FAA granted Amazon’s request to test delivery drones in a letter dated Wednesday, posted on the agency’s website.

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5 Most Deranged Right-Wing Moments This Week: Conservative Heads Explode Over Indiana and Iran

Michele Bachmann takes crazy to a whole new level.

Right-wing heads just pretty much exploded this week. It was terrible. Events occurred that could be construed as progress—a deal with Iran, a deal with that other religious extremist state, Indiana—what is the world coming to? Boom! Right-wing brain matter all over the place. Bring out the cleanup crews.

There was so much crazy being spewed, about Indiana and Iran, it was tough to keep up with it. Here’s some of what you might have missed in the onslaught.

1. Michele Bachmann makes utterly deranged comment on Facebook.

It’s hard being Michele Bachmann these days. She no longer has the House floor from which to spout her nonsensical world view. She is reduced to the indignity of spewing it on her Facebook page.

This week, the Tea Partying, Bible-thumping, flat-out insane former congresswoman fought her inevitable obscurity in a post comparing President Barack Obama to Andreas Lubitz, the pilot who downed the Germanwings airliner in the French Alps last week.

How so, you ask? As you might guess, it has something to do with the evidently suicidal mission of making peace instead of war with Iran. Because, apparently, peace kills. Or as Bachmann put it:

“With his Iran deal, Barack Obama is for the 300 million souls of the United States what Andreas Lubitz was for the 150 souls on the German Wings flight—a deranged pilot flying his entire nation into the rocks. After the fact, among the smoldering remains of American cities, the shocked survivors will ask, why did he do it?”

Apart from the insanity of this comparison, some commenters pointed out its despicable attempt to score political points from a genuinely horrific tragedy. But mostly, they just mocked her.

As well they should.

h/t: RawStory

2. Rush Limbaugh goes all out and says everything liberals or newspapers ever said is a lie. 

While most of the right, including the entire Fox operation, waged relentless war on the war being waged on the Indiana’s discriminatory “Religious Freedom” law, Rush Limbaugh decided to broaden the assault by simply denying that anti-gay discrimination, campus rape and police racism even exists. At all. “It’s all fake,” he sputtered, somehow sounding more nuts than he has ever sounded before.

And that’s hard.

It was an extended rant. Included in the potpourri of liberal lies: Lena Dunham can’t prove she was raped by a conservative, so campus rape does not exist; Eric Garner did not die as a result of a chokehold, therefore there’s no such thing as police racism. “Every news story that has caused controversy in this nation is fake,” Rush blathered.

Wow! That’s a hell of a lot of fakery. Never mind the reams of stats on police racism and campus rape. All fake! Anti-gay discrimination? Ha! Stop faking it, gay people! You’re fine. Stop pretending you don’t have the same rights as everyone else. Oh, wait, you don’t.  

You are watching the very late stages of a conservative head inflating to the point where it will inevitably explode all over everywhere, and it will not be pretty. It will be a mess, and it'll make a hell of a lot of noise. But it will be funny.

Listen to the full rant here.

3. Ted Cruz wins prize for most rabidly anti-gay GOP presidential contender.

This is a tough competition. Wait, no it isn’t, because Cruz is still the only officially declared candidate. But, still, he’s winning! Yippee! And when others jump in the pool, Cruz will be tough to beat in the category of rabid anti-gay demagoguery. 

“Religious liberty is not some fringe view,” Cruz told an audience in Bankston, Iowa this week, obviously referring to the brouhaha in Indiana. ”Sadly, a whole lot of Republicans are terrified of this issue.”

But Cruz is not afraid, because he is very, very brave. And he promised he will single-handedly protect those clergy members, pastors, priests and rabbis who are going to be forced against their will to perform same-sex marriage.

Except, of course, this will never happen. It's just a straw dog Cruz set up for his own amusement and fear-mongering. No one said boo about forcing clergy to do anything concerning gay marriage, and they never will because it would be unconstitutional and impossible. And none of this demagoguery has an iota to do with the principled fight against a law giving businesses the right to discriminate against people based on their sexual preferences. 

But since when has the truth stopped Ted Cruz from speaking his diseased mind?

4. Mike Huckabee could give Cruz a run for his money in anti-LGBT hysteria.

All-but-declared presidential contender Mike Huckabee is right up there with Ted Cruz in his anti-gay hysteria. In an interview with CNN this week, the Huckster warned of the “militant gay community” and the fact that there's “more pressure to put sanctions on Indiana than Iran.”

Ah, but the down-home, grits 'n' gun-loving former pastor, does have a way with words.

He especially did not appreciate the fact that big corporations like Apple and Walmart—which he loves, don’t get him wrong—joined in the condemnation of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, enabling people and businesses to discriminate against gays.

“The reason that those corporations put the pressure on Indiana and Arkansas was because the militant gay community put the pressure on them,” Huckabee insisted. The dreaded “militant gay community” does not represent average Americans according to the Huckster. He does.

On an appearance on the Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch” this week, Huckabee continued his crusade, saying the LGBT rights movement is akin to something out of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “It is a classic example of — really a page out of 1984, when what things mean are the opposite of what they really are,” he said.

Hmmm. Really interesting point, Mike, because if ever there was an excellent example of 1984-like Newspeak, it has to be calling the license to discriminate “religious freedom.” Huckabee is a consummate speaker of this language: “That’s what I’m seeing here is that in the name of tolerance, there’s intolerance. In the name of diversity, there’s uniformity. In the name of acceptance, there’s true discrimination.”

Wow! He’s good.

5. Woman too crazy for Fox proves she truly is too crazy for Fox.

Her name is Laura Ashburn, and yep, Fox fired her, or in face-saving terms, “did not renew her contract” after one year as Howard Kurtz’s “Spin Cycle” sidekick.

This puts in her in Glenn Beck-like company, an elite stratosphere of “too cuckoo for Fox.”

Now she’s the resident conservative at Mediaite, where she re-affirmed her status as a thoroughly insane woman this week with a story titled:

Where’s the Media Outrage for This Gruesome Abortion Story?

What gruesome abortion story, you ask? Why, it’s a story about a seven-months-pregnant 26-year-old Colorado woman who nearly died when a woman lured her to her home, supposedly to buy baby clothes, and instead stabbed her and cut the fetus right out of her stomach, killing the baby in the process.

On what planet is that an abortion? And will Laura Ashburn now advocate that the 26-year-old victim be prosecuted since her baby was nearly full-term?

Ashburn is very, very worried that sensible anti-choicers like her are losing the battle against abortion. And with spokespeople like Ashburn, it is not hard to see why.

Why, some pro-choice people are even arguing that abortion clinics should be pleasant, spa-like places.

Isn’t that horrible? Why, it’s even more horrible than a woman getting her baby cut out of her stomach!

5 Most Deranged Right-Wing Moments This Week: Conservative Heads Explode Over Indiana and Iran

Trap Door Spiders

Trap Door Spiders

New York men’s literary dining club the Trap Door Spiders was founded by science fiction, fantasy, and military author Fletcher Pratt in 1944. The group started as a way for a few writer pals to escape the day—and, apparently, escape the new wife of influential writer and chemist John Drury Clark. It seems the friends weren’t fond of opera singer Mildred Baldwin. The invitation-only group was a debating society. The men opened the evening’s festivities with a meal and conversation, in which members had to “provide the others with a good reason for his continued existence.” Isaac Asimov was the group’s most famous member, with L. Sprague de Camp following closely behind. Notable guests included L. Ron Hubbard and Frederik Pohl. Asimov created a fictional group in a book series based on the club called “The Black Widowers.”

The world is ruled by a powerful, secretive few

Secret Societies Control the World

If you were really a member of the global élite, you'd know this already: the world is ruled by a powerful, secretive few. Many of the rest of us peons have heard that in 2004 both candidates for the White House were members of Yale University's secretive Skull and Bones society, many of whose members have risen to powerful positions. But Skull and Bones is small potatoes compared with the mysterious cabals that occupy virtually every seat of power, from the corridors of government to the boardrooms of Wall Street.

Take the Illuminati, a sect said to have originated in 18th century Germany and which is allegedly responsible for the pyramid-and-eye symbol adorning the $1 bill: they intend to foment world wars to strengthen the argument for the creation of a worldwide government (which would, of course, be Satanic in nature). Or consider the Freemasons, who tout their group as the "oldest and largest worldwide fraternity" and boast alumni like George Washington. Some think that despite donating heaps of cash to charity, they're secretly plotting your undoing at Masonic temples across the world. Or maybe, some theorize, the guys pulling the strings aren't concealed in shadow at all. They might be the intelligentsia on the Council on Foreign Relations, a cadre of policy wonks who allegedly count their aims as publishing an erudite bimonthly journal and establishing a unified world government — not necessarily in that order.

RACISM, PARANOIA AND DESPERATION MARK NETANYAHU’S ELECTION CAMPAIGN



Over the final fortnight of Israel’s election campaign, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has gone from being celebrated for slaying President Barack Obama in the US Congress to looking and sounding more like one of Obama’s least-loved predecessors: Richard Nixon.

 

Tired, confused, desperate and paranoid are just a few of the epithets that have been hurled at Netanyahu in the last days of the campaign.

With his ratings sinking as the final polls were published at the end of last week, he raced to offer interviews to every media outlet that would host him. On Sunday night, Netanyahu held a last-minute rally in Tel Aviv organised by the settler movement to try to revive his flagging fortunes.

According to polls, his Likud party is likely to be beaten into second place on Tuesday by the Zionist Union, a centre-left coalition jointly headed by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni.

In response, Netanyahu has concentrated on what he does best: fear-mongering.

Warning that the whole of the right will fall with him, if he is defeated, he ascribed his difficulties not to personal failings but to a sinister plot by “foreign groups”.

They have supposedly been helping his opponents – not only the Zionist Union but also the Joint List, a united front of Arab parties representing Israel’s large Palestinian minority that are running together for the first time and currently polling in third place.

In a comment worthy of Nixon at his most insecure, Netanyahu warned that there was “a huge, worldwide effort to topple the Likud”. Illegitimate funding from “European states” and “leftwingers overseas” might “get the Arab [Joint] List up to 16 seats, thereby determining the overall result of the election”.

His main campaign ad featured a foolish Israeli liberal offering directions to a truckload of armed Islamic State jihadists trying to find the road to Jerusalem. “Turn left,” the Israeli man told them.

Aside from the lack of evidence for a foreign plot, either by leftist Europeans or Jew-hating jihadists, Netanyahu’s chutzpah has plumbed new depths.

Media reports have noted that he has received more funding from overseas – chiefly from Jewish tycoons in the US – than any candidate in Israel’s history. If foreigners are indeed meddling in Israeli politics, it is on Netanyahu’s behalf.

Complicated electoral maths

Nonetheless, even should he fail to rally supporters, Netanyahu’s path to the opposition is far from obvious. Many voters are undecided and their last-minute decisions will shape the result.

In Israel’s complicated electoral maths, a poor performance will also not necessarily block Netanyahu from forming the next government. That will depend on horse-trading to win the support of smaller parties.

Another possibility, if the result is inconclusive between the right and the centre, is that Netanyahu and Herzog may agree to a national unity government.

But equally, if Netanyahu’s tally of seats falls much below his currently predicted 20, he will struggle to hold on to his position as Likud party leader. Party elders are already describing the campaign as a “colossal failure”.

Netanyahu’s troubles reflect two trends that have come to the fore in this election.

The first is that the Likud’s traditional position at the heart of the nationalist camp is no longer assured. As Netanyahu has pushed rightwards, the party has splintered in ways that have weakened its standing and shrunk its support base.

The settlers have preferred a far-right party, Jewish Home, led by Naftali Bennett, dedicated to their own discrete interests. Unlike the equivocating Netanyahu, Bennett is outspoken in demanding that Israel annex most of the West Bank to secure the settlements.

Other elements of Likud have moved towards what Israelis call the centre.

This process began with Ariel Sharon and Tzipi Livni nearly a decade ago, when they broke away to form Kadima after carrying out the so-called “disengagement” from Gaza that Netanyahu and others in Likud opposed.

Kadima itself gradually collapsed following the loss of Sharon, but its successors may prove more durable. At the most recent election, the glamorous TV news anchor Yair Lapid emerged as a surprise success story with his new Yesh Atid party.

In this election he has been joined at the centre by Likud renegade Moshe Kahlon, who set up the Kulanu party.

Lapid and Kahlon largely ignore the “regional threats” that obsess Netanyahu and instead talk about the economy. They promise to break up monopolies controlled by a handful of wealthy families and return money to ordinary Israelis’ pockets.

Separately or together, they could turn out to be this election’s kingmakers, deciding whether Netanyahu or Herzog is crowned. Both have decidedly frosty relations with Netanyahu.

Lavish lifestyle

Unlike his centrist rivals, Netanyahu has come to be seen over the course of the campaign as too closely aligned with the families that dominate the economy, and unwilling to confront them.

Accusations that he and his unpopular wife, Sara, indulge in a lavish lifestyle and bully staff have been swirling around for many years. But at this election the mud has finally stuck.

In Israeli politics, seemingly marginal incidents often accrete larger significance. Revelations during the campaign of the enormous sums the Netanyahus have spent on their entertainments bill and of Sara Netanyahu personally pocketing loose change – amounting to hundreds of dollars – in deposits on returned bottles appear to have cemented an image of the Netanyahus as corrupt.

Netanyahu has responded by focusing on his favourite topic: security.

That was partly why he trooped off to Congress this month to warn of the dangers of a deal with Iran, and why last week his party implied that he was revoking his 2009 pledge to Obama that he would back a two-state solution.

According to Netanyahu, an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would suck in groups from Iran to the Islamic State group, creating a “terror state” next door.

But the scare-mongering may be falling flat in part because the centrist parties are not offering a much more conciliatory message on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The views of the so-called “peace camp” in Israel have been articulated on billboards across the densely populated centre of the country by a group named the Association of National Security Experts, headed by relatively dovish former army generals.

Their posters, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname Bibi, warn: “With Bibi [and] Bennett, we’ll be stuck with the Palestinians forever.”

In their view, the solution is to cut off the occupied territories like some gangrenous limb.

But compared to the centrist parties, even this message is radical. Herzog, Lapid and Kahlon have all suggested that there is no “partner” on the Palestinian side for a peace agreement.

That hopeless diagnosis appears to be shared by a majority of the Israeli public. Some 70 percent of Israeli Jews believe peace talks are futile, and 64 percent say that it makes no difference which party leads the country on the Palestinian issue “because there is no solution”.

In such circumstances, the centre has benefited by focusing on social and economic hardship.

The White House, fearful that its role as guarantor of an endless peace process is in jeopardy, broke its own promise not to intervene in the election by insisting last week that the next Israeli government must join it in renewing peace talks.

Blast of fresh air

If Jewish politics is committed to the status quo on the defining political challenge facing Israel, the Joint List has arrived for most of Israel’s 1.5 million Palestinian citizens as a blast of fresh air.

It is a united front of usually disputatious Arab parties ranging from socialists to Islamists and democratic nationalists.

Led by Ayman Odeh, a personable lawyer who is new to Knesset politics, the List has largely avoided dealing in specific policies to concentrate on reversing the growing disillusionment of the Palestinian minority in the Knesset.

The previous two elections have seen barely more than half the Arab electorate turn out. Polls predict the Joint List could nudge its tally of seats from the current 11 shared across three parties to as many as 15.

Of the three main post-election scenarios, two suggest that the Joint List – if it can hold together – might carry some political weight in the Knesset.

A right-wing Netanyahu government will mean no change, apart from a probable intensification of anti-Arab legislation.

The Joint List has rejected joining a Herzog-led government, but it would probably agree to support the centrists from outside, as a way to prevent Netanyahu’s return to power.

That would require payback from Herzog, probably in the form of increased budgets for Palestinian communities in Israel.

The third scenario is the most intriguing. If a national unity government is formed, the Joint List might accept the position of the formal opposition. That would provide it – for the first time ever – with regular meetings with the prime minister and the chair of several major committees.

But the latter two scenarios also expose the Joint List, and the wider Palestinian minority, to a backlash from the right, which can be expected to step up Netanyahu’s ugly insinuations of “foreign” interference.

Last week, to barely any protest inside Israel, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman called for disloyal Palestinian citizens to be beheaded.

This from a man who has called the Joint List a “terror organisation” and Odeh, who is committed to Jewish-Arab cooperation, a “fifth column”.

His campaign slogan has been “Umm al-Fahm to Palestine”, calling for the inhabitants of large Palestinian communities in Israel to be stripped of their citizenship.

The danger is that the right – from Lieberman to Netanyahu – may be content to have the various Arab parties in one list, exploiting that unity to paint them all as traitors, meddling in the affairs of a Jewish state.

The greater the Joint List’s success and influence, the more it is likely to face claims that it is really a fifth column in the Knesset.

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Ferguson gunman who shot police officers remains at large

Chief now admits protesters could have been intended targets

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Paramedics lift one of two police officers who were shot while standing guard in front of the Ferguson Police Station …

An intense manhunt for the gunman who shot and severely wounded two police officers in Ferguson, Mo., has yet to yield a suspect, St. Louis County Chief of Police Jon Belmar announced late Friday.

“I cannot tell you at this time that an arrest is imminent,” Belmar said at a news conference.

Investigators are following dozens of leads, but still need the public’s help, the chief said.

“We've received scores of tips … but we haven’t been inundated,” he said.

The shooting occurred early Thursday in front of the Ferguson Police Department just as a small group of protesters began to disperse.

The injured men, who have not been identified, were standing side by side in a line of 25 officers when three shots rang out.

A 32-year-old officer from nearby Webster Groves was struck in the face, and a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder. Both were rushed to a local hospital in serious condition, but released about 12 hours later.

“I would hope that they’re going to have a full recovery,” the chief said Friday.

Belmar initially described the shooting as an “ambush” and felt confident the “shots were directed exactly at my officers.”

But under questioning by reporters a day later, the chief said he is unclear if the shooter was deliberately aiming at police or protesters.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “Regardless of whether we have two police officers or whether or not we have folks in the crowd [shot], it’s a tragedy either way because it undermines everything that everybody is trying to do in this.”

Investigators are fairly certain the shots were fired from a handgun about 120 yards across the street from the Police Department. That would be a lengthy — but not impossible — shot with a pistol, the chief said.

“I wouldn’t characterize this as a miracle shot by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “I don’t necessarily prescribe to the fact that this has to be a marksman somewhere with a scope. It may turn out to be, but I don't think that would have to have been necessary in this case.”

Belmar also backed off previous comments about the gunman’s potential motivation.

“It’s kind of really hard to speculate what kind of nexus there may or may not have existed regarding the shooters and any individuals who may have been out there,” the chief said. “I don’t know who did it at this point. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that it happened there.”

Several protest leaders have publicly denounced the attack. More than 100 people gathered in Ferguson Thursday night for a candlelight vigil to end violence.

The Ferguson Police Department has been a point of convergence for protesters and national media since the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, by a white police officer. The incident sparked on-and-off clashes between demonstrators and police. But violence had been muted in recent months until Wednesday night.

Witnesses told reporters the evening had been mostly peaceful before the shooting, though the crowd had grown larger by the hour following the resignation of embattled Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson on Wednesday afternoon.

Jackson is the sixth Ferguson employee to resign or be fired in the wake of last week's critical Department of Justice report that accused the city of racist and unconstitutional police and court practices.

A separate federal investigation cleared Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Brown, 18. The officer resigned from the department after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict him in late November.