Monday, May 31, 2010

“Education group key issue to GOP - Times Daily” plus 3 more

“Education group key issue to GOP - Times Daily” plus 3 more

Education group key issue to GOP - Times Daily

Posted: 31 May 2010 12:43 AM PDT

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The GOP primary features seven candidates, but Byrne and James have raised the most money and made the most noise leading up to the vote June 1. Recent polls have shown Byrne, James and former Chief Justice Roy Moore fighting for the two spots in an almost certain runoff July 13.

If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters enter the runoff.

Byrne says James' father, Gov. Fob James, was close to AEA in his second term and worked with the teachers' organization to pass school funding legislation.

"Tim James would be their kind of governor," he said.

James said Byrne has a record and political philosophy that matches that of the Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis and Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks.

He calls Byrne "the other Democrat in this race."

The attacks have become so biting that Moore says he's benefiting by staying above the fray.

And Robert Bentley, a Tuscaloosa physician making his first statewide race, says Byrne and James have been so busy attacking each other that they've skipped candidate forums for Alabama's No. 1 job.

"Now would you hire someone who didn't show up for the job interview?" he asked after they missed a forum in Huntsville.

Bentley and another candidate, former state agency director Bill Johnson, have taken a friendlier attitude toward AEA. Bentley recently worked with the teachers' organization to pass legislation providing a tax break to Alabama businesses that hire the unemployed. Johnson received campaign contributions from a group largely funded by AEA.

Byrne established AEA as a major issue in the Republican race very early. He held a news conference in downtown Montgomery on Oct. 6 where he had AEA's headquarters positioned behind him.

"I don't think AEA stands for the best of their profession. AEA stands for the worst of it," Byrne told reporters.

As chancellor of Alabama's two-year colleges, Byrne fought AEA politically and in court to establish criminal background checks for college employees and to ban college employees from serving in the Legislature after this year.

AEA's leaders, Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert and Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed, are vice chairmen of the Alabama Democratic Party and usually devote most of their political energy to Democratic politics, but they made Byrne an exception.

"He called us out and we came out," Hubbert said.

Campaign finance records in mid-April show AEA contributed $500,000 to political action committees that helped fund ads attacking Byrne as a liberal trial lawyer who supported tax increases and Bill Clinton for president.

One of Tim James' fundraisers, Montgomery lobbyist Claire Austin, used a political action committee to donate $20,000 to the organization running the attack ads.

Byrne said the campaign finance records show James is helping AEA's efforts to hijack the GOP race for governor.

James Potts and Charles Taylor also are running for governor as Republicans.

"Do you want Paul Hubbert to pick your next governor? Because that's what he's trying to do," Byrne said.

AEA maintains the ads were a truthful representation of Byrne's record.

Byrne contributed to Clinton in 1992. He was elected to the State Board of Education as a Democrat in 1994 with AEA's support, but switched to the GOP in 1997. While serving in the state Senate in 2003, he voted to let Alabama voters decide whether to approve Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax increase plan.

"He can't deny his record," Reed said.

James said Byrne's claims are false because he had nothing to do with Austin's donations, and he hasn't been involved with the attack ads against Byrne.

"Byrne will say anything because his campaign is floundering," James said.

Hubbert backs up James' statement. "I haven't talked to Tim James in months," he said.

Johnson estimates $3 million has been spent on attack ads, and he questions what they say about the priorities of candidates who want to run state government.

"When I see them, I think of what that money could have been used for," he said. "This amount of money could have provided ALL Kids health care coverage for an entire year to 70,000 children in Alabama. It could also have funded the installation of approximately 7,000 wheelchair ramps to lessen the struggles our disabled citizens and veterans face each day."

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Weekend Movie Forecast: Prince of Persia Vs. Carrie ... - Gothamist.com

Posted: 28 May 2010 11:53 AM PDT

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Click on the film stills for more details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include: Prince of Persia, Sex in the City 2, Micmacs, Agora, Survival of the Dead, Mademoiselle Chambon, The Father of My Children, Breathless, Top Gun and The City of the Lost Children.

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Which dog training philosophy is best for your dog? - Examiner

Posted: 30 May 2010 05:19 PM PDT

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If you are searching for a dog trainer and have begun your research, you are most likely inundated with trainers, each telling you they have the best philosophy for you and your dog. There are dozens upon dozens of dog trainers in San Diego alone. From strictly positive reinforcement trainers to trainers who use traditional methods, to those who advocate the use of electronic stimulus in dog training. So how do you choose? Which philosophy actually is best for your dog?

At the end of the day, the most important thing you need to ask yourself when selecting a trainer is "Who will be training my dog?" After all is said and done, YOU will be the person in charge of making sure whatever training has been implemented, is reinforced. You in essence are your dog's trainer. That means that you need to step away from all the fancy marketing and ignore the trainers that tell you their way is the ONLY way, and choose someone you actually like. Select a dog trainer whose philosophies make sense to you, and whose teachings you are comfortable reinforcing in your own home.

Keep in mind that dog trainers are running a business - it's their job to convince you that they are the best. They can be passionate in their convictions and have likely chosen their training philosophy because they believe very strongly in it. But if it doesn't suit you, respectfully decline. If you have your heart set on a positive reinforcement trainer, find one. Don't let someone dissuade you otherwise unless you find yourself truly convinced that another way is better. Alternatively, if you have your heart set on using an electronic collar to train your dog, find a trainer that suits your needs. Again, don't let someone pressure you into another methodology unless you find yourself truly convinced. Just remember, this is YOUR dog. You know him best and you know yourself best. There is no sense giving into the pressure of dog trainers and owners disapproving of your dog's training. If you do, you will only find yourself throwing money away because you didn't believe in the training method you were pressured into and you weren't willing to reinforce consistently.

Dog trainers and owners can be an opinionated lot. They have their hearts in the right places and in the end, everyone is only trying to help. But ultimately, you have to listen to yourself and your dog. If you trust your instincts when choosing a dog trainer, your dog will thank you for it.   

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Medicaid, SCHIP, and political philosophy - Examiner

Posted: 31 May 2010 11:06 AM PDT

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It starts and ends with bureaucracy.  Illegal immigrant mothers in Nebraska were receiving health care benefits from Medicaid.  However, there is a glitch.  Medicaid, apparently, prohibits care to immigrant children.  That's federal law.

Nebraska was forced to stop illegal immigrants from receiving health care benefits.  Until December of last year, Nebraska allowed illegal women and their unborn children the right to Medicaid care.  The federal government stepped in and told the state that giving unborn children Medicaid benefits was illegal.  The same federal government which is twisting itself in knots over the Arizona law to require documentation during a routine police stop or investigation.

So the philosophical debate began.  If you cannot give care to an unborn baby, you cannot give care to the mother, can you?  It's an interesting conundrum.

Here's another; some suggest the solution is simple; allow these women care under the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program).  The children are, ironically, American citizens and certainly qualify.  There are many women's groups and web sites who suggest this solution.

In principle, it is a good idea.  I don't think a reasonable citizen would oppose good, preventative health care.  However, in the state of Nebraska, the rights of unborn babies is an issue still very much in the air.

We passed a law limiting the right to abortions after 20 weeks.  This law is going to be challenged in court, and there are those confident that it is unconstitutional.  The basis of the law is to prevent fetal pain.  Women's groups are up in arms, again, to prevent the fetus to have the rights of a person.

So there needs to be a reconciliation.  If the baby is not a person until it is born, the mother is not eligible for any benefits paid by taxpayers; especially if they cannot sustain a law in their state they support.  If the baby is the vehicle to deliver health care benefits to the mother, the baby's rights must be preserved as early and as long as possible.

In the interim, Governor Heineman and the state legislature need to sort out what the state can afford, with a $5 million shortfall to the budget, and with the sense of morality required to represent Nebraska's values.

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