We all remember Donald Trump’s press release when Obama’s birth certificate surfaced. Well, there’s a new challenge to the legitimacy of Obama’s citizenship, this time from an Ohio senior mother-of-seven Susan Daniels. Daniels has been a licensed private investigator since 1995 and she has experience vetting social security numbers for thousands of other clients.

What Daniels found is that Obama’s SSN has a prefix of “042” which, according to her investigation, is reserved for individuals who register in Connecticut, and that Obama’s SSN was issued in 1977 in Connecticut. Daniels further makes the case that there is no record of Obama visiting Connecticut during that time frame, he would have been 15 years old and living in Hawaii.

In checking other records, such as DMV and IRS records, Daniels came across another anomaly in the president’s birth date. There is the discrepancy of the 08/04/1961 and 04/08/1961 birth dates, which could be a simple mistake, but she also found a birth year of 1890 repeatedly. Daniels explains this discrepancy by claiming that the 042 SSN had been previously issued to a Connecticut resident born in 1890.

This assertion can be verified by examining the microfilm of the original SS-5 application attached to that particular SSN. Daniels, however, does not have access to that information which is why she filed suit in the Ohio courts. She also asked the court to issue an injunction against Obama’s name appearing in the Ohio ballot until this is cleared up.

Despite establishing a clear paper-trail, it is unlikely that the injunction will be filed, or that even mainstream media will pick up this story.

I have to say this is probably the most convincing Stop Smoking Ad I’ve ever seen:

Starting November 1, 2012 all vehicles traveling on French roads will have to be equipped with a breathalyzer in a government attempt to curb the drunk driving which is currently the cause 33% of motor vehicle fatalities in France. To give you some perspective, Great Britain came in at 17% and Germany at 10%.

In the United States the picture doesn’t look so good, in 2010 Utah ranked #1 in least DUI related fatalities in the nation at 19%; North Dakota ranked #50 at 44%. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like we are headed towards mandatory breathalyzers in every car, since overall DUI related fatalities have decreased by 7%.

How popular will medicinal marijuana be when they take the high out of it? We may find out soon as Israeli scientists have reportedly cultivated a form of cannabis that does not get users stoned. The new plant looks, smells, and tastes like regular marijuana; but scientists have isolated the substance called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which induces the numbing sensation familiar to pot smokers.  Instead the scientists have increased the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) which has proven to be helpful to diabetic and psychiatric patients. It will interesting to see the effects of this innovation on both medicinal and illegal marijuana trade.

We all know that Mitt Romney is very wealthy. We know he was a ‘businessman’ who worked at Bain Capital. The question remains is how did he accumulate this kind of wealth while working anywhere? How?

Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, hired Mitt in 1977 at the age of 30. After one year, Mitt was made a vice president. Vice president at 31, after 1 year. Then in 1984 Romney went to the spin off Bain Capital. Bain Capital was a venture capital firm. Venture Capital firms invest in new companies providing needed capital. Staples Inc was one of Bains first successes.

Bain Capital later morphed in to leverage buyouts. Leveraged buyout firms acquire controlling interests in a company’s equity where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage borrowing. After buying these firms, Bain Capital would soon sell them.

Romney reaped so much money through this buying and selling of companies to make himself a multimillionaire.

Did Mitt (real first name Willard) earn his money? Yes, he did. De he take an inordinate amount of money for someone who just finagled with the bottom line of buying and selling a company? Yes.

My question is why did someone who really did not contribute anything to the bottom line of any of these companies make so much money? Why did someone who never spent one minute working on a real product get rich? Romney did not create any product. Mitt just worked for a company that figured out how to buy a company that needed money on the cheap. Then, not long after, sell the company for more than they paid for it.

Mitt Romney good businessman? Maybe. Good salesman. Definitely. Is that what the US needs? Another good salesman?

You would certainly think it is safe to going shopping at the Mall of America. That was not the case this past Monday. There were large crowds out shopping and very often when you have large crowds you can have trouble. After Christmas sales were the draw at the Mall of America.
Sometime shortly after 4 pm about 20 individuals started fighting in the food court area. Drinks and food as well as chairs were being thrown. People were actually running towards the fight instead of away from it. At the same time, in other areas of the mall more fights were breaking out, causing police to arrest nine individuals.
No one was seriously injured and it is not known what started the mayhem. Only minor injuries occurred.
It seems that just going shopping at the mall can be a danger these days. Families are no longer safe strolling in the Mall of America. You may want to find an alternative to be safe.

Here are some videos of the event:

Parents who choose to spank their children when they have disobeyed are among the 90% in the country who have used this form of discipline. However, spanking has been opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and has been banned in over 30 countries. Spanking is still legal in the United States, but there are laws forbidding the behavior in schools.
Arguments against spanking a child far outweigh the positive views of the discipline. Studies have shown that children who are spanked will grow up to hit their parents or siblings. They are also at risk for being depressed and committing crimes as a juvenile. Children follow the example their parents set forth, and when they are hit, they will likely hit in return at some point. Instead of hitting the child, parents are encouraged to communicate the behavior that occurred and find a peaceful resolution. Small incidents of spanking can be helpful if used in the correct way, but there is no way to know how the child will react. Therefore, it is best to not spank the child.
Groups who are in favor of spanking children would rather have parents talk to their child before any form of physical punishment is used. Parents should attempt the misbehavior with love and kindness at first. If this tactic does not work, two small spanks with an open hand to the rear of the child can be used. Spanking is most effective with children ages 2-6. After the child is spanked, the parent needs to talk to the child and help them to understand why they were disciplined the way they were. As children get older, parents should use timeouts and the removal of privileges as forms of punishment. There has been no definitive research done that would conclude spanking is useful or harmful to children.

The short answer is yes.  A study by The University System of Georgia concluded that kids who spent a year studying abroad experienced greater success. Here are some of the key findings of the study:

Graduation rates were higher for Georgia students who studied abroad than for those who stayed home. The six-year graduation rate averaged 89 percent for study-abroad students, as against 83 percent for the control group.

Grade-point averages ran a bit higher for students who had studied abroad, particularly among those with lower SAT scores. The mean GPA of study-abroad students with 1000 SAT scores (500 points each on the verbal and math section, close to the national average) was 3.22, a strong B, compared with 3.16 for those who had not studied abroad.

If you can afford to send your kids to a foreign country for a year you probably should. Not only will they learn about another culture but they will do better academically when they return.

Today I was driving through A1A in the Delray Beach area and was blocked by a group a cyclists completely hogging the roadways. These guys all dressed up like Lance Armstrong and think they are in the Tour De France.

They are supposed to be one abreast in their bike lane, but feel that they deserve to take over 1/2 of the driving lane from cars.

I visit the beach weekly and drive up A1A. It has come to the point where every time I travel up this road on a weekend I am in some scary situations. Old people driving cars almost striking bikers or cars in the oncoming lanes.

The police (Delray Beach Police, Boca Raton Police), do not seem to care about this issue as they just cross to the other lane, over the double yellow line, to pass these bikers. Then they move through.

I am so surprised that more people in these big SUV’s down here do not run them over.

According to a report by the New York Times, women pay more than men for health insurance. The troubling part is that even policies that do not include maternity care are more expensive for women than they are for men. Some of the companies that were investigated are Humana and Anthem Blue Cross.

There has been a clear migration away from company sponsored insurance coverage as companies have struggled to make ends meet. The discrepancy in prices and coverage between men and women becomes even more evident in these cases.  The variance was also found when insurance coverage and prices were compared state to state.

A study by a national organization for health care consumers, shows Idaho health insurance, for example, experienced an increase of 121.6 percent in health care premiums over the past eight years and was second only to Wyoming’s in the nation.

Individuals and families that scrutinize insurance offers before signing up have a better chance of avoiding unfair price disparities based on gender. There are several websites that assist users in finding medical insurance policies at lower and more competitive pricing. Insurance companies usually will not refer prospects to any of these websites as there are considerable discounts and savings to be found. One such website offering a discount in medical insurance quotes delivered savings between $100 and $200 monthly.