Loss of Privacy

Keeping you informed on recent losses to privacy and civil rights worldwide.

The company is facing $1.3 million a day in fines for each day it chooses not to comply with a piece of the Affordable Care Act that was set to trigger for them on January 1. The craft store chain announced in December that, because of religious objections, they would face the fines for not providing certain types of birth control through their company health insurance.

The penalty was set to go into effect on the day the company’s new health care plan went into effect for the year.

Peter M. Dobelbower, general counsel for Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. said in a statement released through the Becket Fund that, “Hobby Lobby discovered a way to shift the plan year for its employee health insurance, thus postponing the effective date of the mandate for several months.”

The statement continued that “Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its health care plan. Hobby Lobby will continue to vigorously defend its religious liberty and oppose the mandate and any penalties.”

The simple fact is that a company should not be allowed to make any decisions, be they religious or otherwise, for its employees. If America had a single payer health care system, decoupled from their employer, these types of issues would not come up.

Telling your employees what kind of health care they are going to receive is not different from telling them what kind of car insurance they are allowed to get, where they can purchase their groceries, or what bank they can put their money in. If you don’t like the food that your employee purchases, you can simply withhold it from them until they do purchase the “correct” food.

Source.

TwitterRedditShare

flattr this!

According to the Congressional Research Service, ten years after the September 11 attacks the US government still lacks a concise definition for “homeland security.” So what does “homeland security” actually entail? That innocent question would stump the thirty federal agencies and groups who receive homeland security funding. RT’s Meghan Lopez breaks it down for us.

Source.

TwitterRedditShare

flattr this!

TwitterRedditShare

flattr this!

300H-case-flat-640x389

The TrackingPoint rifle makes anyone a highly-skilled marksman.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A laser rangefinder identifies the target, and tells the gun where to aim to hit it, given conditions such as humidity, wind, and the typical ballistic drop you’d expect from a bullet shot from a gun at such a distance.

You pick your target by dropping a pin on it using the camcorder-like zoom lens. When you want to shoot that target, you line up crosshairs inside the scope with the pin you dropped. The weirdest thing is, when you squeeze the trigger, it doesn’t fire. You have to squeeze the trigger and line up the crosshairs with your mark. When you do, the gun goes boom, and the target takes a bullet.

TrackingPoint‘s promotional video.

TwitterRedditShare

flattr this!

Democrat State Sen. Daylin Leach, who represents Montgomery and Delaware counties, announced plans to introduce legislation that would legalize marijuana in Pennsylvania.

The bill would legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21, and regulated just like alcohol is. It would still be illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana, behave badly while publicly intoxicated, or sell pot to minors.

This probably won’t pass a referendum vote as the Pennsylvania legislature requires a two-third’s majority to override the Governor’s veto. However, Governor Corbett is unpopular and, if there is enough support, it could work.

Source
.

TwitterRedditShare

flattr this!