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Silicongraybeard sent me this one, it is great!  Enjoy!

Move on dot org has “targeted” Target Stores because of a campaign contribution Target Corporate made to a conservative candidate in Minnesota.   Apparently Target’s $150,000 donation to a business-oriented group supporting Republican Tom Emmer, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, has gotten the attention of the Move On and they have started protesting outside the Target corporate offices and their stores.  Move On think that Target has done something “wrong” by supporting the conservative candidate for Governor.

Move On, in their single minded way, takes exception with Tom Emmer’s view on gay marriage.  But I suspect that Target gave their support because Emmer is also in favor of lower taxes and promotion of business in the Minnesota.  I would think that Target couldn’t care less about the gay marriage issue.

Question, if Target had contributed to a left leaning candidate that conservative groups would be picketing Target’s Headquarters?  Probably not!

I found a link on the Target dot com website where you can sent them an email.  I have sent an email lending my support for their right to contribute to the candidate of their choice.   Click this LINK to add your email supporting Target

Here is the article on the protests from the AP:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Protestors have been rallying outside Target Corp. or its stores almost daily since the retailer angered gay rights supporters and progressives by giving money to help a conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota. Liberal groups are pushing to make an example of the company, hoping its woes will deter other businesses from putting their corporate funds into elections.

A national gay rights group is negotiating with Target officials, demanding that the firm balance the scale by making comparable donations to benefit candidates it favors. Meanwhile, the controversy is threatening to complicate Target’s business plans in other urban markets. Several city officials in San Francisco, one of the cities where Target hopes to expand, have begun criticizing the company.

“Target is receiving criticism and frustration from their customers because they are doing something wrong, and that should serve absolutely as an example for other companies,” said Ilyse Hogue, director of political advocacy for the liberal group MoveOn.org, which is pressing Target to formally renounce involvement in election campaigns.

But conservative organizations are likely to react harshly if Target makes significant concessions to the left-leaning groups.

The flap has revealed new implications of a recent Supreme Court ruling that appeared to benefit corporations by clearing the way for them to spend company funds directly in elections. Companies taking sides in political campaigns risk alienating customers who back other candidates.

Target’s $150,000 donation to a business-oriented group supporting Republican Tom Emmer, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, was one of the first big corporate contributions to become known after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out prohibitions on corporate spending in elections earlier this year.

The Minneapolis-based chain has gone from defending the donation as a business decision to apologizing and saying it would carefully review its future giving. But the protests have continued.

Demonstrators marched near Target’s Minneapolis headquarters on Thursday, and two Facebook groups focused on gay rights are organizing protests at Target stores nationwide this weekend. Immigrant rights supporters have joined the protests, citing Emmer’s tough stance on illegal immigration.

The company is in talks with the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization that wants Target and electronics retailer Best Buy Co., which gave $100,000 to the same group backing Emmer, to match their donations with equal amounts to help gay-friendly candidates.

Fred Sainz, the group’s vice president for communications, said he is optimistic both companies will respond to the demand. Target has long cultivated a good relationship with the gay community in Minneapolis, and its gay employees have protested the donation.

“The repair has to be consistent with the harm that was done,” Sainz said.

MoveOn, which had feared a heavy flow of corporate donations to groups that help conservative candidates after the Supreme Court decision, protested outside Target headquarters last week.

On the other side, conservatives have begun to rally to support Target, but in smaller numbers. A Facebook page urging “Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics” has more than 54,000 fans. A page declaring “I will NOT Boycott Target for supporting a Conservative candidate” has a little more than 400 fans.

A Target spokeswoman said the company had nothing to add to chief executive Gregg Steinhafel’s statement of apology last week. At Richfield Minn.-based Best Buy, a spokeswoman said the company is reviewing its process for political donations and intended the Minnesota contribution to focus “solely on jobs and an improved economy.”

Emmer has said he views the Target giving as an exercise in free speech and wants to keep his campaign focused on economic issues.

Target and rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have been trying to expand into urban markets after years of saturating the suburbs. Just last month, Target opened its first store in Manhattan, in East Harlem.

The company has 1,700 stores in the U.S. but only 150 stores in cities, and 50 more in cities with more than 100,000 people nearby.

In San Francisco, Target got a warm reception when it originally outlined plans to open two stores. That’s shifted since the Minnesota controversy erupted.

“It just illustrates their disconnect, I think, from a city that they would want to establish a successful business in,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. Target stores would be serving “the epicenter of the LGBT rights movement.”

Target and BestBuy’s donations went to MN Forward, a business-focused group that has run ads supporting Emmer and his lower-taxes message. The group is staffed by former insiders from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration and has also backed a few Democratic legislators.

MN Forward has continued to collect corporate money after the backlash against Target, bringing in $110,000 through Tuesday from businesses including Holiday Cos. gas stations and Graco Inc., a maker of pumps and fluid handling equipment.

AP Retail Writer Emily Fredrix in New York and Associated Press Writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Here is a short test on your knowledge of the history of Social Security.  Let’s see how you do!

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent ‘Trust Fund’ and put it the general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A : That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into Social Security.

Then, after repeatedly violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it! If enough people read this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn’t so.

Here is some additional interesting history on Social Security. Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary — It is no longer Voluntary

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program — now 7.65% on the first $90,000

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year, is no longer tax deductible

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent ‘Trust Fund’ rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program. Under Johnson the money was moved to the General Fund and spent. (I still hear politicians talk about the “Social Security Trust Fund” in news interviews just like the trust fund still exists! What the trust fund is now is a box of IOUs from the general fund where the politicians have stolen the money from Social Security and left the IOUs. There is no possible way for the General fund to repay the debt to Social Security)

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. That changed under the Clinton Administration and now 85% of your Social Security can be taxed.

So how did you do on this test?  Are you really pissed off now? If you are pissed off now, just wait. The Obama Administration is looking at ways of taxing or outright seizing your 401K and IRA retirement plans to prop up the Social Security plan. Under the guise of making sure that all Americans have adequate and fair retirement coverage they want to take total control of your private retirement plans. If this isn’t redistribution of wealth I don’t know what is. The truth is, they have stolen the money from the Social Security system and now they want to steal your private retirement funds. If we allow this to happen we are dumber that I ever thought we could be as a country!

Pat Condell is a blogger and activist from the UK.  In his latest video blog he comments on the proposal to build a Mosque at the Ground Zero sight in NYC.  As is usual for Pat, he states his opinion clearly and concisely.

No Mosque at Ground Zero

I agree wholeheartedly with Pat.  It is just a way for Muslims to take advantage of our stupid politically correct leaders and work the situation to their advantage!

If you check out some of the blog sights you will find that there have been several protest marches in NYC, but these protests haven’t make the lame stream media.  They don’t want the general public to know that there is any opposition to the proposed mosque.

I’ve been considering purchasing an Ebook reader for a while now.  I have been reading all the reviews, doing my research, watching the prices, but until just last week couldn’t make up my mind.  In the end it came down to two likely candidates, the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes & Noble Nook.  Both had features that I liked.

The Amazon Kindle  has been around for a while and enjoys high popularity.  The hardware features are good, I liked the built in hardware keyboard, albeit small, it works quite well.  Most of the readers today use the same E Ink screen.  These screens although not back lit, but have excellent resolution and are readable at almost any angle and in any light that you could read a normal printed page.  I used a friend’s Kindle for a little test drive and found it to be quite user friendly.

The B&N Nook had a couple of features that were very appealing to me.  First was the 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity.  Both of these readers use AT&T for the wireless connection for downloading books and I knew that AT&T coverage here at the house is spotty at best.  So, the ability to use my own wireless internet connection here at the house would assure that I had the ability to quickly download any books that I wanted to read.

Second, the Nook has the capability to expand the memory with a Micro SD memory card.  Rule of thumb of any computing device is you can’t have too much memory.  That must be one of Murphy’s Laws, like you can’t have too much chrome, too much horsepower, or two much money!

Similar to selecting a computer or computer operating system, when I think about an electronic book reader I think  the most important feature would be the media that is available.  That decision out weighs the hardware.  You’ve got to have access to a large inventory of books, periodicals, blogs, and so on to make a Ebook reader worthwhile.  After doing some searching on the B&N and Amazon websites for some books I would like to download, I found that Amazon had more titles I wanted and slightly better prices.

So I decided to go with the Kindle.  Because I already an account with Amazon it was a snap to purchase the Kindle using their one click ordering and overnight shipping.  I had the Kindle the next day and was downloading books.  I now have a considerable backlog of reading.

I guess I better get off this computer and get to my reading!