Alaska’s Business Climate Continues to Suffer, Ranked 44th out of 50 States

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Photo Credit: Kiskadee 3According to an annual scoring based upon inputs from the National Association of Manufacturers and the Council on Competitiveness, Alaska is ranked seventh from the bottom for competitiveness.

The categories and point values for the scoring this year are:

Cost of Doing Business (450 points)
Economy (375 points)
Infrastructure (350 points)
Workforce (300 points)
Quality of Life (300 points)
Technology & Innovation (300 points)
Business Friendliness (200 points)
Education (150 points)
Cost of Living (50 points)
Access to Capital (25 points)

Alaska received a total score of 1140. The top state, South Dakota, received a score of 1639, while the worst state, Hawaii, scored 924.

From its ranking in 2012, Alaska slipped in the following categories: workforce, quality of life, infrastructure and transportation, economy, and education. It remained the same, 50th in the nation, in technology and innovation. Alaska also retained the same score from 2012 to 2013 in cost of living (49th).

Alaska’s biggest decline was in economy, moving from fourth in the nation in 2012 to 23rd in the nation this year.

Alaska did see improvement in cost of doing business, business friendliness, and access to capital, leading to an overall increase from 47th in nation in 2012 to 44th in nation this year.

Michael Lohan Interview-Opens Up About His Daughter Lindsay and Their Battle With Addiction

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Photo Credit: Irish CentralWhen you hear the name Lohan, you think celebrity and celebrity rehab in the same instant. Michael Lohan’s long struggle with substance abuse has been public and painful for himself as well as his family. It contributed to his stint in prison and helped lead to the dissolution of his marriage.

As if to magnify the havoc addiction can wreak on a family, his daughter Lindsay has followed in her father’s footsteps of addiction to drugs and alcohol.

The talented actress has damaged her promising movie career and her reputation, with many public and embarrassing moments over the years. Some of this behavior has lead to legal troubles and jail time…..she is presently in court ordered rehab at Cliffside Malibu.

Following his 2011 stint on TV as a patient in Dr. Drew Pinsky’s Celebrity Rehab, Michael says he’s done a lot of reflecting. He realized in his explosive last episode, that a switch of anger had been turned on by the dysfunction of his relationship with his girlfriend Kim. This lead to an emotional shouting match and confrontation on television…Michael was ultimately jailed for domestic abuse following another argument with Kim after release from Celebrity Rehab. At the time Dr. Drew called his relationship with Kim, “toxic.” See Dr. Drew calls it quits in “Hollywoodite”

Michael says he’s now clean and sober, working with others to promote a way, for not only celebrities to seek treatment for their addictions, but for those in all walks of life. He is actively working with the Lukens Institute, expanding their services through A.I.R., Aid in Recovery.

Recently Michael met and befriended the “Tan Mom,” Patricia Krentcil and helped her into rehab. Known for her leathery skin due to her addiction to the tanning booth, Krentcil gained national infamy for supposedly dragging her 5 year old daughter into the booth as well, trying to tint daughter like mother. She was subsequently arrested for child endangerment and was just recently reported to be in rehab for alcohol addiction. See catching up with Tan Mom.

As I talked with Michael, the conversation easily flowed, he was especially animated about how the Lukens Institute focuses on treating the trauma in an addict’s life. “People need to get to the root of their problems before they can address their other problems.” “They treat the trauma first, not just putting a band aid on the wound.” People have a switch that can be triggered by their trauma and it can lead them back to their addictions.

Michaels divorce from his wife Dina inflicted a great trauma on his children, including Lindsay and that can be hard to heal. He feels that has played a role in Lindsay’s struggles with drugs and alcohol and the divorce was particularly hard on Lindsay, impacting her as the eldest child.

But those hurts can be healed, as Michael shared:

“People don’t realize I now have a great loving relationship with my kids including Lindsay” and “I’m the only one Lindsay wanted to have visit while she was staying at the Betty Ford Rehab Center.” She stayed at Betty Ford prior to being moved to her present facility, Cliffside Malibu. Michael said he is happy she is as Cliffside because they treat the trauma that is at the root of addiction.

Michael is hoping his daughter will get the treatment she needs at her present facility….But grim statistics show that many thousands of people die from the epidemic of addiction in our country.

I asked Dr. William Hanna, Clinical Director at the highly rated west coast addiction treatment facility called Reflections, to offer an opinion, regarding trauma being at the root of addiction:

“It has become apparent that this increasingly undeniable recognition, on the part of myself as therapist, clinician, and clinical director; has propelled me to assist hundreds of individuals through “trauma-work”.

“Once the traumatic genesis of symptoms has been established, then the meaningful psychotherapy begins. In trauma-work, the therapist’s presence is ideally that of an authentically-interested and involved and utterly reliable witness who is able to willingly hear, absorb, and accept profoundly-impactful, emotion-laden, and frequently disturbing information about the life of the resident. Therapy for the trauma client must take place in a context of safety and trust in which the resident feels free to engage in unrestricted memory and affective experiences. Under these conditions the trauma client is much more likely to be revealing and willing to participate in the process of disclosing, healing, and recovery. Louise McCallion, Executive Director and myself have carefully and strategically chosen Reflections‘ “clinical team”, in order for us to be professionally-competent and significantly-empathic to do the deep work that we are known for.” For more from Dr. Hanna at Reflections, click here.

Celebrities like the Lohans can be ridiculed for their public meltdowns and failures, but more than likely if they weren’t under the influence of their addictions to drugs and alcohol, none of that behavior would have occurred.

Very few addicts get the national exposure the Lohans attract and perhaps through their public ordeals, there can be some triumphs that can help lead others to a new way of living.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

July 3: The Day Big Government Finally Imploded

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Photo Credit: Douglas JonesMark July 3, 2013, as the day Big Government finally imploded.

July 3 was the quiet afternoon that a deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy announced in a blog post that the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate would be delayed one year. Something about the “complexity of the requirements.” The Fourth’s fireworks couldn’t hold a candle to the sound of the U.S. government finally hitting the wall.

Since at least 1789, America’s conservatives and liberals have argued about the proper role of government. Home library shelves across the land splinter and creak beneath the weight of books arguing the case for individual liberty or for government-led social justice. World Wrestling smackdowns are nothing compared with Hayek vs. Rawls.

Maybe we have been listening to the wrong experts. Philosophers and pundits aren’t going to tell us anything new about government. The one-year rollover of ObamaCare because of its “complexity” suggests it’s time to call in the physicists, the people who study black holes and death stars. That’s what the federal government looks like after expanding ever outward for the past 224 years.

Even if you are a liberal and support the goals of the Affordable Care Act, there has to be an emerging sense that maybe the law’s theorists missed a signal from life outside the castle walls. While they troweled brick after brick into a 2,000-page law, the rest of the world was reshaping itself into smaller, more nimble units whose defining metaphor is the 140-character Twitter message.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hundreds Call to Adopt Down Syndrome Baby, Save it From Abortion

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Photo Credit: Carolyn KasterWhen the Rev. Thomas Vander Woude learned about a young couple planning to abort their unborn baby that had been diagnosed with Down syndrome, the priest reached out and offered a deal: Deliver the child and he would help find an appropriate adoptive family…

The woman, who has not been identified for her privacy and her protection, was just shy of six months pregnant and lives in a state that prohibits abortions past 24 weeks — which meant he had a short time to find a family willing to make a lifelong commitment.

So Father Vander Woude, the lead pastor at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville, Va., approached a volunteer who helped manage the church’s social media pages, and she posted an urgent plea on Facebook early Monday morning.

“There is a couple in another state who have contacted an adoption agency looking for a family to adopt their Down Syndrome unborn baby. If a couple has not been found by today they plan to abort the baby. If you are interested in adopting this baby please contact Fr. VW IMMEDIATELY,” the post read. “We are asking all to pray for this baby and the wisdom that this couple realize the importance of human life and do not abort this beautiful gift from God”…

[A church staff member was astounded by the response, saying] the church received phone calls from all over the United States and around the world, including from England, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands.

Read more from this story HERE.

In Historic First, Navy Lands Unmanned Drone on Aircraft Carrier (+video)

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Photo Credit: APFor the first time ever, a fighter jet-sized drone piloted entirely by computer landed on a modern aircraft carrier.

The successful touch down paves the way for unmanned aircraft to operate alongside traditional airplanes, providing around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing strike capability. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was clearly aware of the import of the historic moment.

“It isn’t very often you get a glimpse of the future,” Mabus said in a statement. “The operational unmanned aircraft soon to be developed have the opportunity to radically change the way presence and combat power are delivered from our aircraft carriers.”

The X-47B experimental aircraft took off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland before approaching the USS George H.W. Bush, which is operating off the coast of Virginia. The drone landed by deploying a tailhook that caught a wire aboard the ship, bringing it to a quick stop, just like normal fighter jets do.

Read more from this story HERE.

Saudi Princess Arrested in California Human Trafficking Probe

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Photo Credit: APA Saudi princess was charged Wednesday with human trafficking for allegedly holding a domestic worker against her will and forcing her to work at an Orange County condominium, prosecutors said.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas identified 42-year-old Meshael Alayban as a Saudi princess who was charged with one count of human trafficking. If convicted, she faces up to 12 years in prison.

Alayban was arrested after a Kenyan woman carrying a suitcase flagged down a bus Tuesday and told a passenger she believed she was a human trafficking victim. The passenger helped her contact police, who searched the Irvine condo where Alayban and her family were staying, authorities said.

The 30-year-old woman told authorities she was hired in Kenya in 2012 and her passport was taken from her on arrival in Saudi Arabia. She was forced to work excessive hours and was paid less than she was promised and not allowed to leave, authorities said.

“This is not a contract dispute,” Rackauckas told the court during a bail hearing Wednesday afternoon, likening the case to slavery. “This is holding someone captive against their will.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The $100,000 Obamaphone for Millionaires

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Photo Credit: National Review The Obamaphone lady is moving up in America: She isn’t a rabble-rouser in Cleveland anymore, but a real-estate developer in Maui, a ski-resort owner in Breckenridge, and a dedicated golfer in Scottsdale — and, more important, the telephone companies that serve them. And she isn’t costing taxpayers a couple hundred bucks a year in subsidies, but more than $100,000 per household.

That’s the finding of a new study released by economists Thomas Hazlett of George Mason University and Scott Wallsten of the Technology Policy Institute, who have turned their attention to the aptly named “high-cost fund” administered by the Federal Communications Commission and supported by the 16 percent universal-service tax levied on everybody from landline users to voice-over-IP customers. The fund has spent some $64 billion on carrier subsidies since 1998, and while there is some dispute about how many additional households have phone connections thanks to those outlays, the highest estimates run around 600,000, meaning a cost of more than $100,000 per household.

The program was originally developed to help extend basic communications to poor people in remote rural areas without telephone service. But the United States ran out of poor people in remote rural areas without telephone service a good long while ago. The administrators of federal programs fear nothing so much as looking for a job in the private sector, so the program found new products to subsidize, such as broadband internet, and new places to subsidize them: No more dirt farms in the sticks, but high-end developments — “mansion-lined gated golf communities” in the words of Dave Herman of the Alliance for Generational Equity, which sponsored the study.

According to Hazlett, the $4.5 billion-a-year program has connected at most 0.5 percent of U.S. households to telephone service.

Read more from this story HERE.

Zimmerman Neighbor Says He was Bloodied, Disfigured; Expert Says Residue Proves Martin was on Top (+video)

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsBy FOX NEWS. [T]estimony from one of Zimmerman’s former Florida neighbors, Eloise Dilligard, [was] that Zimmerman’s “nose was very disfigured” and blood covered much of his face immediately after his deadly confrontation with Trayvon Martin…

“His nose was very disfigured,” testified Dilligard, who also said she believes it was Zimmerman’s voice that could be heard screaming on a 911 tape…

Earlier, a forensic expert testified Tuesday that Martin’s gunshot wound indicated that he was likely on top of Zimmerman when the neighborhood watch volunteer shot him. Forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio, an expert on gunshot wounds who has written and co-authored several articles and a book on the subject, said the single shot that killed the Florida teen passed through Martin’s clothing as it hung 2-4 inches from his skin, indicating that Martin was over Zimmerman and leaning forward.

“If you’re lying on your back, the clothing is going to be against your chest,” DiMaio testified. “So the fact that we know the clothing was 2 to 4 inches away is consistent with someone leaning over the person doing the shooting.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APDefense winds down case at George Zimmerman trial

By MIKE SCHNEIDER AND KYLE HIGHTOWER. George Zimmerman’s attorneys are finishing up their defense of the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin, though the judge first must rule on two requests by defense attorneys.

Zimmerman, so far, hasn’t testified. But jurors saw repeated video recordings of Zimmerman telling his side of the story to police investigators. The defense started its case last Friday. If it keeps to the schedule anticipated by defense attorney Mark O’Mara, its presentation will take about half of the time of the prosecution and call on about half as many witnesses.

Judge Debra Nelson still has to decide on two requests by the defense. One is whether to allow jurors to view an animation that depicts Zimmerman’s fight with Martin, the teenager killed in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., last year. The second issue is whether she will allow Martin’s text messages that purportedly deal with fighting. The judge said she would rule on both matters Wednesday. Read more from this story HERE.

Restoring Liberty is Now in the Top 50 Conservative Websites in the Nation

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According to the July 4, 2013, “Official Top 100 Conservative Websites for 2013,” Red Flag reports that Restoring Liberty is now ranked 49th* in the nation.

The report reflects that websites such as Mark Levin, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, American Conservative, Ann Coulter, TeaParty.Net, Family Research Council, PJ TV, Laura Ingraham, World Magazine, and others have lower rankings than Restoring Liberty, reflecting lower Internet traffic.

As always, our success is due to your faithful readership, loyal volunteers, and staff (especially Katy). Joe and Kathleen Miller thank every one of you for making Restoring Liberty one the nation’s top political websites.

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*Red Flag periodically updates its rankings. Restoring Liberty’s ranking at that site will fluctuate with its worldwide Alexa ranking.

San Diego Investigative Journalist Uncovers More Troubling Facts About Journalist Hastings’ Death (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeIt’s been nearly three weeks since Michael Hastings was killed in a fiery car accident in West Los Angeles. The award-winning journalist earned his stripes as a wartime reporter and captured fame with his 2010 Rolling Stone story that forced General Stanley McChrystal to resign as commander of the US forces in Afghanistan.

According to City News Service Hastings, 33, “was driving south on Highland Avenue when he apparently lost control of the compact (2013 Mercedes Benz CLK250) near Melrose Avenue and crashed into palm trees in the median about 4:20 a.m. Tuesday (June 18). The car’s engine reportedly ended up about 200 feet away from the impact site.”

An eyewitness at the scene, Jose, employed at nearby business ALSCO Inc said, the car was travelling very fast and he heard a couple explosions shortly before the car crashed.

In fact, the explosion was so intense that it took the LA County assistant corner, Ed Winter, two days to identify the burned-beyond recognition body of Hastings. Officials confirm that an autopsy has been performed, but the cause of death is pending. LAPD media spokesperson Lieutenant Andrew Neiman said, “it will take several weeks to get the toxicology results.” By stark contrast, in Italy, ‘Sopranos’ star James Gandolfini’s family received the toxicology report within a few days.

…It quickly surfaced that Hastings reached out to Wikileaks attorney Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before his death claiming the FBI was investigating him…

[Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard] Clarke told The Huffington Post that a single-vehicle crash is “consistent with a car cyber attack. There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers — including the United States — know how to remotely seize control of a car.”

Video:

Read more from this story HERE.