Month: October 2013

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Our Daily Thread 10-28-13

Good Morning!

On this day in 1793 Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin.

In 1886 the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland.

In 1904 the St. Louis Police Department became the first to use fingerprinting.

 In 1919 Congress enacted the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Act.

In 1965 Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

And in 1976 John D. Erlichman, a former aide to President Richard Nixon, entered a federal prison camp in Safford, AZ, to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions. 

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Quote of the Day

“I just thank God I can make a living doing something I enjoy as much as I do playing music.”

Charlie Daniels

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Today is Charlie Daniels’ birthday.

It’s also Brad Paisley’s.

And just for fun, here’s the Charlie Daniels Band with Skynyrd, doing an instrumental version of “Freebird” from 1979.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 10-28-13

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 70

¹Make haste, o God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.

2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.

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News/Politics 10-28-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, 60 Minutes/CBS had a new piece on Benghazi last night. Basically everything CBS and Fox News has reported has been confirmed.

No wonder they’ve tried to cover it up.

And now you know why releasing Gitmo terrorist detainees isn’t a good idea as well.

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Next up today, complaints about Hurricane Sandy and associated relief efforts. Gov. Christie is blaming the feds. And Congress.

From Verizon/AP  “Gov. Chris Christie says he understands victims’ frustrations a year after Superstorm Sandy but maintains that his administration isn’t to blame for delays in aid reaching victims.

In an interview with The Associated Press as the anniversary of the Oct. 29 megastorm approached, Christie blamed Congress, which took three months to approve a $50.7 billion relief package for the region, and a thicket of red tape put in place to prevent the type of fraud that occurred after Hurricane Katrina.”

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A name you’ll recognized has come up in the relief discussion too. One that’s already associated with a large scale govt failure.

From DailyCaller  “CGI Federal Inc., the mastermind behind healthcare.gov, is assisting the U.S.  Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the distribution of $1.7  billion in relief for Hurricane Sandy.

In a memo obtained by FreedomWorks titled, “Minutes of the 295th  meeting of the members of the Housing Trust Fund Corporation held on May 9,  2013, at 8:30 a.m.,” CGI Federal is tasked with implementing the Disaster  Housing Assistance Program. Additionally, they are asked to aid in the  implementation of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery  Program, an assistance program that had recently obtained $1.7 billion.”

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And that’s not all, they’re associated with other govt offices, and even more govt money. And more failure. The NSA and PRISM ring a bell? Foreign govts too.

From WeaselZippers  “A great deal of media focus has been devoted to the epic failure of Healthcare.gov, the Obamacare website. Less has been said about the company who was engaged by HHS with responsibility for the design of the website and the roll out.

The company was CGI, a Canadian company. CGI has a long and checked past of failures and overruns on projects from Canada to Hawaii.”

“CGI, the Canadian company whose U.S. subsidiary built the failed Obamacare website, was once contracted to build a federal gun registry for the Canadian government, Breitbart News has learned.”

“CGI has a subsidiary called Silver Oak Solutions (SOS) which operates the PRISM platform. If that rings a bell, it’s because the NSA uses the PRISM platform to help spy on people.”

Getting worried yet?

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And we now also know that one of their top executives was a classmate of Michelle Obama, and that the company president is an Obama supporter. No bid contracts and cronyism don’t mix well for taxpayers.

From TheDailyCaller  “First  Lady Michelle  Obama’s Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the  contract to build the failed Obamacare website.

Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is  senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $678 million  Obamacare enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a  Canadian company.”

“Toni Townes ’85 is a onetime policy analyst with the General Accounting Office and previously served in the Peace Corps in Gabon,  West Africa. Her decision to return to work, as an African-American woman, after  six years of raising kids was applauded by a Princeton alumni  publication in 1998

George  Schindler, the president for U.S. and Canada of the Canadian-based CGI  Group, CGI Federal’s parent company, became an Obama 2012  campaign donor after his company gained the Obamacare website contract.”

Nice huh? 🙄

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Meanwhile the middle class continues to experience sticker shock from ObamaCare.

From TheLATimes  “Thousands of Californians are discovering what Obamacare will cost them — and many don’t like what they see.

These middle-class consumers are staring at hefty increases on their insurance bills as the overhaul remakes the healthcare market. Their rates are rising in large part to help offset the higher costs of covering sicker, poorer people who have been shut out of the system for years.

Although recent criticism of the healthcare law has focused on website glitches and early enrollment snags, experts say sharp price increases for individual policies have the greatest potential to erode public support for President Obama‘s signature legislation.”

“”This is when the actual sticker shock comes into play for people,” said Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “There are winners and losers under the Affordable Care Act.”

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My wife has been telling me this for years. It’s why we don’t go to the doctors for colds, respiratory infections, and minor illnesses. Antibiotic use is out of hand, and it not working like it used too 😯

From TheDailyMail  “‘For a long time, there have been newspaper  stories and covers of magazines that talked about “The end of antibiotics,  question mark?”‘ said Dr Arjun Srinivasan. ‘Well, now I would say you can change  the title to “The end of antibiotics, period.”’

The associate director of the CDC sat down  with Frontline over the summer for a lengthy  interview about the growing problem of antibacterial resistance.

Srinivasan, who is also featured in a  Frontline report called ‘Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria,’ which aired  Tuesday, said that both humans and livestock have been overmedicated to such a degree that bacteria are now resistant to antibiotics.

‘We’re in the post-antibiotic era,’ he said.  ‘There are patients for whom we have no therapy, and we are literally in a position of having a patient in a bed who has an infection, something that five years ago even we could have treated, but now we can’t.’”

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Our Daily Thread 10-26-13

Good Morning!

The weekend has arrived! 🙂

On this day in 1825 the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York.  

In 1854 Charles William Post was born. He was the inventor of “Grape Nuts,” “Postum” and “Post Toasties.” I’ve always wondered who was to blame for Grape Nuts. Now I know.

In 1881 the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” took place in Tombstone, AZ. The fight was between Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holiday and the Ike Clanton Gang.

In 1951 Winston Churchill became the prime minister of Great Britain.

In 1962 the Soviet Union made an offer to end the Cuban Missile Crisis by taking their missile bases out of Cuba if the U.S. agreed to not invade Cuba and would remove Jupiter missiles in Turkey.

And in 1977 the experimental space shuttle Enterprise successfully landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

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Quote of the Day

“Being a conservative in Hollywood is like walking into a shooting range with a bull’s-eye attached to your body. There are more of us than you would believe, but if you want to keep working, you feel like you have to keep quiet.“

Pat Sajak

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Today is composer Domenico Scarlatti’s birthday. So classical guitar it is, played by Vladimir Gorbach.

Today is also Keith Urban’s too. So here he is with a bunch of guys.

And just for fun, another from Scarlatti, from Elaine Comparone. She’s very good.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 10-26-13

Who has a request or praise to share?

Psalm 69:29-36

29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.

33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

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News/Politics 10-26-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, here’s a few from me.

The US Army has finally decided to stop some of the nonsense.

From FoxNews  “The Secretary of the Army has ordered military leaders to halt all briefings on extremist organizations that labeled Evangelical Christian groups as domestic hate groups. The shutdown comes just four days after I reported exclusively about a briefing at Mississippi’s Camp Shelby that labeled the American Family Association as a domestic hate group.”

“Men and women of faith – who have served the Army faithfully for centuries – have been likened to those who regularly threaten the peace and security of the United States,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of improper characterization.”

““The groups identified in the instruction were not ‘extremist’ organizations as that term is defined in Army Regulation,” McHugh wrote in his memorandum.”

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Holder has some more ‘splainin’ to do.

From TheHill  “Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) accused Attorney General Eric Holder of forcing  African American students in Louisiana into failing schools for the sake of  diversity. 

“The fact that Attorney General Holder would block any child from obtaining a  good education is bad enough,” Toomey said Thursday. “The fact that he is doing  so based solely on the children’s race is inexcusable.”

Toomey along with more than 20 of his Senate Republican colleagues sent  Holder a letter Thursday requesting more information on why the Justice Department filed a  petition to keep 570 students from “escaping failing public schools, solely on  the basis of the children’s skin color.”

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CBS is reporting that more Medicaid plans paid for by taxpayers are being received from the new exchange than private plans paid for by the individuals. Shocking right? 🙄

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Now who’s pushin’ Granny off the cliff? 🙄

From TheNYPost  “ObamaCare is making seniors sick.

Elderly New Yorkers are in a panic after getting notices that insurance companies are booting their doctors from the Medicare Advantage program as a result of the shifting medical landscape under ObamaCare.

That leaves patients with unenviable choices: keep the same insurance plan and find another doctor, pay out of pocket or look for another plan where their physician is a member.”

You can’t cut 700 billion and expect this wouldn’t happen. And we’re dumping even more people into the system while cutting funds and doctors. What could possibly go wrong?

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And the last one for today is an interesting one, with an easy solution. Don’t do it. And if you do anyway because you enjoy playing around in social experiments and giving away body fluids, then expect that there might be consequences.

Or will this be like weddings, cakes, and photos and you can’t refuse to perform it without being sued?

From NBCNews  “A Kansas district court heard arguments Friday in the case of a man who is being sued for thousands of dollars in child support by the state after donating his sperm to a same-sex couple he found through a Craigslist ad.

William Marotta, a mechanic, and his wife Kimberly are fighting the state’s contention that the man should be required to pay child support, arguing that a Kansas law requiring a licensed doctor to perform artificial insemination is antiquated.”

“Bauer and Schreiner have separated since the artificial insemination, and have struggled financially because of an injury that left Schreiner unable to work. Marotta has said that he has seen the girl twice in her lifetime – once soon after her birth, and another time by coincidence at the Kansas State Fair. But he has never identified himself as her father, he said.”

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Our Daily Thread 10-25-13

Good Morning!

It’s Friday! 🙂

On this day in 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade took place during the Crimean War. The British were winning the Battle of Balaclava when Lord James Cardigan received an order to attack the Russians. He took his troops into a valley and suffered 40 percent caualties. Later it was revealed that the order was the result of confusion and was not given intentionally.

In 1881 the founder of “Cubism,” Pablo Picasso, was born in Malaga, Spain.

In 1955 the microwave oven, for home use, was introduced by The Tappan Company.

In 1962 U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson presented photographic evidence to the United Nations Security Council. The photos were of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

And in 1983 U.S. troops and soldiers from six Caribbean nations invaded Grenada to restore order and provide protection to U.S. citizens after a recent coup within Grenada’s Communist (pro-Cuban) government.

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Quote of the Day

“And I would be the first to admit that probably, in a lot of press conferences over the time that I have been in coaching, indulging my own sense of humor at press conferences has not been greatly to my benefit.” 🙂

Bobby Knight

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Today is Johann Strauss II’s birthday. So it’s “Tales from Vienna Woods Waltz”, from The Bijou Orchestra.

It’s also Sarah Ophelia Colley’s birthday.

And it’s Jon Anderson’s as well.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 10-25-13

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 69:1-18

¹Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.

9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.

12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

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News/Politics 10-25-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, the more we know, the worse it gets.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Let me be exactly clear about what health care reform means to you,” Obama said at one rally in July 2009. “First of all, if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan.  Nobody is talking about taking that away from you.”  

But the president’s promise is turning out to be false for millions of Americans who have had their health insurance policies canceled because they don’t meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. 

According to health policy expert Bob Laszewski, roughly 16 million Americans will lose their current plans because of Obamacare:”

“These 16 million people are now receiving letters from their carriers saying they are losing their current coverage and must re-enroll in order to avoid a break in coverage and comply with the new health law’s benefit mandates––the vast majority by January 1. Most of these will be seeing some pretty big rate increases.”

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Even one of the Democrat supporters is saying it’s too expensive, even for his rich constituents. And he wants a waiver for these 1%ers. 😯 The folks at Occupy will not be pleased.

From FoxNews  “One of President Obama’s most ardent liberal supporters has defected from ObamaCare.

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, told a Colorado health policy think tank that ObamaCare premiums will be too expensive for some of the wealthiest addresses in America – ski resorts like Breckenridge and Keystone. 

He says he’s asking the feds to let them sit out the president’s national health system.

“We will be encouraging a waiver,” Polis told Health Policy Solutions in a story that ran today. “It will be difficult for Summit County residents to become insured. For the vast majority, it’s too high a price to pay.”

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Here’s more on something we talked about yesterday.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Even if Obama wanted to extend the open enrollment period, he wouldn’t be allowed to without an act of Congress — at least if he wants to follow the law he signed.

Though the health care law granted the Secretary of Health and Human Services discretion to define dates for the open enrollment period to occur each year, it also specified that the initial enrollment period (i.e. the current one) had to be announced by July 1, 2012.

Specifically, Section 1311 of the healthcare law reads, “ENROLLMENT PERIODS: The Secretary shall require an Exchange to provide for– (A) an initial open enrollment, as determined by the Secretary (such determination to be made not later than July 1, 2012).”

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Meanwhile the cost for set up has gone over a billion dollars.

From TheHill  “A surge in government spending in the six months before the ObamaCare exchanges  went live pushed federal spending to top government contractors over the $1  billion mark, a new study finds.”

“According to the report released Thursday by Bloomberg Government analyst Peter  Gosselin, federal spending ramped up in the months leading up to Oct. 1, with  $352 million of the $1 billion in federal contracts to the top 10 ObamaCare  contractors awarded during this time.

“In a typical IT project, spending  ramps up to a peak, then trails off during the final phase,” Gosselin  wrote.

The price tag usually associated the Affordable Care Act rollout  is $394 million, based on a Government Accountability Office report. Gosselin  argued that study was too narrowly focused, so he expanded his search of a  federal contractor databases to include all awards where the acronym “ACA” or  other related words and phrases appeared.”

Wow. The GAO was wrong? Color me shocked…. 🙄

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I can’t wait to hear the justification from the NEA and Dems on this one.

From FoxNews  “A bipartisan bill that would stop convicted sex offenders from working in schools has been passed by the House but is running into a foe as it heads to the Senate: major teachers’ unions like the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

Kyle Olson, with the Education Action Group Foundation told Megyn Kelly Wednesday night on “The Kelly File” that the unions’ objection to the bill proves “unions are out to protect the adults…they are not out for the interests of the children.”

“We should have zero tolerance for issues like this,” Olson said. “We have zero tolerance policies for weapons, a kid who bites a Pop Tart into a gun or has a Hello Kitty bubble-maker will be suspended or expelled if they have those sorts of things…”

“Additionally, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has spoken out against the bill, saying it does not allow for people to overcome their criminal backgrounds.”

Ummmm, no, sorry Keith. Just because someone served their time for it doesn’t mean they should be allowed around children in a position of authority as if it never happened. Not buyin’ it.

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And the last one today is a little comic relief from the folks at ReasonTV.

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