United States Constitutional Amendments require ratification from ¾ of the nation’s states. However, what about the rest of the states? Well, apparently they can just fall through the cracks. It recently became apparent that Mississippi had not yet formally ratified the 13th Amendment. Mississippi was one of the original four states to reject ratification of this amendment in 1865, although all three of the other states did ratify the amendment since then. However, apparently Mississippi never got around to doing this!
This “misstep” became apparent when University of Mississippi Medical Center professor Dr. Ranjan Batra looked into the matter. After seeing Spielberg’s Lincoln, Dr. Batra became curious and decided to research the ratification process in Mississippi. While doing this, he found that the Mississippi state legislature eventually voted to approve the amendment in 1995, but that this legislation was never sent to the Office of the Federal Register and therefore never made official. Dr. Bantra then took steps to gain formal ratification of the 13th Amendment on February 7th, 2013.
Of course, just because Mississippi had not ratified does not mean that they are guilty of violating its provisions. However, this has not the media from mocking Mississippi’s mistake.
Well, better late than never, I suppose!
It's not unusual for the liberal media to mock the views of conservatives. However, this is just getting ridiculous.
During Marco Rubio's response to President Obama's recent State of the Union, he made the apparently fatal mistake of taking a sip of water.
Being called the new "Watergate," liberal media immediately jumped on the opportunity to mock this rising star in the the Republican party.
Sure, maybe it was somewhat awkward and perhaps even funny - but MSNBC replayed the video 155 times! I don't care what it is - nothing is THAT funny.
Steven Colbert also jumped on the bandwagon, creating his own rendition of Rubio's response.
Did they make fun of his traditional Republican views? No. Did they rebuff his criticisms of the Obama administration? No. Did they denounce his attempt to distance himself from Romney? No. (Note how all these links include mention of the "water incident.")
Well, if taking a sip of water is the only thing that the media can mock about the conservative response, then I'd say we're doing pretty well.
As if today’s announcement from the Obama administration regarding the minor changes to the Affordable Care Act was not depressing enough, a global medical company called Smith and Nephew has now said that they are going to layoff nearly 100 workers in their Tennessee and Massachusetts offices. The company cites ObamaCare as their reason why.
"Unfortunately, and in order to absorb this cost burden into our business, this has meant less than 100 positions have been made redundant across various departmental functions in our Tennessee and Massachusetts sites," they said in a statement released earlier this week.
The specific cost that the statement referred to was the Affordable Care Act’s 2.3% tax on medical devices. This tax took effect on January 1, 2013.
Similarly, other medical companies have been forced to lay off workers as a result of this tax. Last November, medical supply company Stryker announced it would have to nearly 1,200 jobs, or five percent of its worldwide workforce, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association estimates that the medical device tax could cost up to 39,000 U.S. jobs. So much for job creation.
Former three-term New York Mayor Ed Koch, age 88, passed away this morning of congestive heart failure. A legend in his own right, Koch led New York through some of its most turbulent years in the 1980s.
Known for his catch phrase “How'm I Doing,” he was outspoken and had a bold and ebullient personality. "You punch me, I punch back," Koch once told a reporter. "I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."
Credited with championing gay rights, combatting Tammany Hall, and improving conditions in inner city New York, Koch was not afraid to cross party lines. Although a reform Democrat himself, he also supported President George Bush in the 2004 election and spoke out against President Obama’s call for Israel to return to its pre-1967 borders as part of a Middle East peace-deal. Koch described himself as "a liberal with sanity."
An iconic figure, he is sure to be missed.
