Month: November 2013
Rants! and Raves! 11-23-13
It’s Saturday, so time for you know what….
Rants! 😦
and
Raves! 🙂
News/Politics 11-23-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. A new attempt to delay the coming pain of ObamaCare. At least until after the 2014 elections. Then the hammer drops. 🙄 Great plan.
From Bloomberg “Obama also is pushing back the second-year start of enrollment to Nov. 15, 2014, from Oct. 15. That move is intended to give insurers until May 31 to analyze claims from the first year of plans sold under the law , an extension that may potentially stave off premium increases before the 2014 congressional elections.
Technology failings in the new government-run insurance exchanges are undermining efforts to attract the broad array of customers needed to keep plans affordable in the long run. Avoiding a large increase in prices next year is “absolutely critical” if Obama wants to preserve his signature legislative achievement, said Ana Gupte, a Leerink Swann & Co. analyst.
“The death of this law would be for health insurance companies to price policies for 2015 in a way that premiums skyrocket,” Gupte said in an interview. “At that point, it’s a death spiral and it’s over. So he needs to do something.”
““If premiums go through the roof in the first year of Obamacare, no one will know about it until after the election,” Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in an e-mail. “This is clearly a cynical political move.”
A blatant attempt to provide cover for vulnerable Democrats.
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2. We now learn that if this all goes down in flames, insurers will receive a taxpayer bailout.
From YahooNews “The insurance industry may be next in line to receive a hefty government bailout. That’s what could happen if sign ups for Obamacare fall short of expectations triggering an obscure provision in the Affordable Care Act that makes up any serious losses.
The potential price tag: millions of taxpayer dollars or more over a 3-year period.”
“So-called “risk corridors” were included in the 2010 health law to compensate insurance companies for major coverage losses in the event that far more older and sick people signed up for health plans than younger, healthy people and drove up their costs after they had set the premiums. If actual claims exceed projections by more than 3 percent under Obamacare, the government will compensate the industry for those losses.”
Yay. 🙄
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3. Senate Republicans have an option for fighting back against Reid’s power grab. The question is will they use it? With RINO’s like Graham, McCain, and McConnell already giving in to Dems on the matter, and being too busy attacking the Tea Party wing of the party, I doubt it.
From RedState “Throughout the past few years, aside for a few judicial nominees, Republicans have been willing to grant Democrats a super-majority on major liberal initiatives. They helped Reid pass amnesty. They gave him the votes for the massive farm/food stamp bill. They were all in the tank for the deceptively-named Violence Against Women Act. They recently gave him the 60 votes for ENDA. And most importantly, they stood shoulder to shoulder with Reid against House Republicans during the most important time when conservatives were united behind defunding Obamacare.
So why would Harry Reid fear reprisal from Republicans? What would stop him from pulling the nuclear option?”
“There is one simple thing Republicans can do to retaliate. They can start by ending the Democrat super-majority on legislative issues. They can easily pledge to filibuster every piece of legislation and deny all requests for unanimous consent until the rules change is overturned.
How would Harry Reid respond to a complete shutdown of the Senate? Would he abolish the filibuster even for legislation? Let him try. But for now, he has nothing to fear from just eliminating the filibuster on judges because he knows Republicans will not retaliate. Reid knows that there is not a single issue where McCain, Corker, Graham, and Alexander will now withhold support simply because they were stiffed with the nuclear option.”
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4. We’ve all heard the stories of leftist indoctrination masquerading as education involved with Common Core. Here is yet another example.
From IllinoisReview “Fourth graders in Dupo Illinois are reading a biography of Barack Obama that’s raising eyebrows among St. Clair County parents. The book, which supplements the school’s Common Core curriculum, blames television for the negative behaviors the first African-American president picked up as a teen:”
“The book – brought to the attention this week of those on the “Moms Against Duncan – MAD” Facebook page, goes on to say white Americans were hesitant to vote for a black president, and that Obama pushed the race issue to bring the nation together.
“But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president. Other angry voices were raised. Barack’s former pastor called the country a failure. God would @#%$ the United States for mistreating its black citizens, he said.”
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5. And it looks like mid-week could be messy, just in time for holiday travel.
From NBCNews “Forecasters are warning Thanksgiving travelers to beware, as a sweeping winter storm system could bring icy roads, flight delays and more headaches to the holiday next week.
“We’ve been lucky the last few years, but unfortunately this is a rather poorly timed storm,” said Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel.
Erdman said the Northeast would likely see “massive flight delays” on Wednesday in all major airports, because of rain, snow and low-lying clouds that wreak havoc with flight plans.”
“The storm is “about as expansive a winter storm as it get,” according to Erdman, with its effects being felt from California to Maine.”
Great. 😦
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Our Daily Thread 11-22-13
Good Morning!
It’s finally Friday! 🙂
On this day in 1718 English pirate Edward Teach (a.k.a. “Blackbeard”) was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him.
In 1899 The Marconi Wireless Company of America was incorporated in New Jersey.
In 1906 The International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin adopted the SOS distress signal.
In 1943 President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the measures for defeating Japan.
And in 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, TX. Texas Governor John B. Connally was also seriously wounded. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th U.S. President aboard Air Force One.
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Quotes of the Day
“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”
“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
John F. Kennedy
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It’s the birthday of Composer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.
For some reason I have this song stuck in my head today. 🙂
From TheMerbeckeChoir
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 11-22-13
Who would like to share a request or praise?
Psalm 96
¹O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
News/Politics 11-22-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Reid has exercised the “nuclear option” and changed the Senate rules on filibustering. They seek to pack the courts and govt bureaucracies with liberal activists. The President and VP have come out in strong support. Hypocrites, every single one.
Yesterday the President said “So I support the step a majority of senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business, more specifically, the way the Senate does business.”
But here’s what he had to say when his party was the minority and the Republicans were considering it.
“In 2008, Mr. Reid himself swore that as long as he was leader, he would never turn to the nuclear option, saying it would be a “black chapter in the history of the Senate.”
Here’s what Biden had to say in 2005.
Yeah. Hypocrites.
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2. Democrats better come up with a plan quick. This could get real ugly for them.
From FoxNews “A new and independent analysis of ObamaCare warns of a ticking time bomb, predicting a second wave of 50 million to 100 million insurance policy cancellations next fall — right before the mid-term elections.
The next round of cancellations and premium hikes is expected to hit employees, particularly of small businesses. While the administration has tried to downplay the cancellation notices hitting policyholders on the individual market by noting they represent a relatively small fraction of the population, the swath of people who will be affected by the shakeup in employer-sponsored coverage will be much broader.
An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, shows the administration anticipates half to two-thirds of small businesses would have policies canceled or be compelled to send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges. They predict up to 100 million small and large business policies could be canceled next year. “
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3. And it looks like the Catholic Church has scored another legal victory against the Obama admin’s contraceptive mandate. 🙂
From Pittsburgh/CBSLocal “A federal judge in western Pennsylvania says Catholic groups don’t immediately have to comply with mandates in the federal health care overhaul law.
The Diocese is challenging its participation in the health care program because it would be required to provide its employees with contraceptives.
There were strong words earlier this month from Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese leader Bishop David Zubik as he testified in federal court on the issue.”
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4. NBC being the Obama cheerleaders that they are, have blacked out coverage of the ObamaCare disaster.
From NewsBusters “NBC News has completely censored any mention of the unfolding ObamaCare disaster for the last 72 hours. Not one word about the millions of Americans losing their health insurance nor the severe political damage that has been done to President Obama and the Democratic Party.
In that same time period, both CBS and ABC reported on major developments regarding the new law, including revelations that much of ObamaCare’s infrastructure was still unfinished and that the administration knew of serious problems with the HealthCare.gov website as early as March.
The last time ObamaCare was even mentioned on the air waves of NBC News was during Monday morning’s Today show, when White House correspondent Peter Alexander touted a “to-do list” of damage control for the President and former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs was given a platform to spin for his former boss.”
Straight propaganda, no chaser.
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5. A new study is out which proves yet again that govt. funded pre-k programs are a waste of money and resources. President Obama supports it, but let’s face it, he likes it because it’s money that can be pushed to the teachers unions. Outcome doesn’t matter, financing his supporters, who return the money to Dem coffers is what matters to him. The italicized remarks are his.
From HotAir “Naturally, on the heels of these scientifically rigorous findings, the president announced his desire for a massive expansion of Head Start and state pre-K programs. Universal pre-K— Who could object to that?
“You know, study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than three in ten 4-year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents can’t afford a few hundred bucks a week for private preschool. And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives. So, tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.“
Making high-quality preschool available to every single child in America. So, what would we get for that money? And, more importantly, what do students get? A new study of Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program suggests, once again, the answer is not much.”
“The relatively large effects of TN‐VPK on the Woodcock Johnson achievement measures found at the end of the pre‐k year were greatly diminished and no longer statistically significant at the end of the kindergarten year. The only exception was a marginally significant negative effect on Passage Comprehension such that non-participants had higher scores at the end of the kindergarten year than TN‐VPK participants.”
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6. I know it’s early, but it’s we have our first sighting…..
GRINCH ALERT!!!!
From AllianceDefendingFreedom “On behalf of concerned parents, Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter Tuesday to a South Carolina public charter school whose band director prohibited students from performing the music to “Joy to the World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.” A student also provided the letter to the school at a board meeting Tuesday night.
School officials claim they received some type of communication from either the American Civil Liberties Union or another group that prompted the ban after students had already begun rehearsing the pieces for a concert.
“Schools shouldn’t have to think twice about whether they can allow their bands to play the music to time-honored Christmas carols like these,” said Litigation Staff Counsel Rory Gray. “School districts can and should allow religious Christmas carols to be part of their school productions.”
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Peter’s Pack of Pickled Pigskin Picks- Week 12
‘Tis almost the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
Football to some is but folly, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
Boo to them and their opinions, Fa-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la!
Let’s have fun and forget those minions! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!
Okay, so I should keep to teaching Spanish instead of writing carols. Or picking games for people to try and guess the winners. Sorry to say the games are coming to an end. Next week is rivalry week, and after that are the conference playoffs. I suppose that will be all for our little contest.
And my apologies for the picks, but games involving blog favorites were not very challenging this week. I mean, Alabama and Florida State are playing push over teams (no offense to those from Chattanooga and Idaho).There are a couple of big games to choose, though. The Big 12 and the SEC have important games, and Wisconsin and Minnesota face off, with both being in the Top 25! That hasn’t happened in a long time. Finally, the Pillow Fight features two B1G 10 teams that haven’t won a conference game all year. In fact, Illinois has lost its last 20 conference games.
Pick early, but not often. The first game is scheduled for Friday night at 9:30 PM EST, as the Midshipmen take on the Spartans. No, not Michigan State, but San Jose State.
1. Navy @ San Jose State
2. #4 Baylor @ #10 Oklahoma State
3. #8 Missouri @ #24 Ole Miss
4. #12 Texas A&M @ #22 LSU
5. Brigham Young @ Notre Dame
6. #19 Wisconsin @ #25 Minnesota
7. Duke @ Wake Forest
8. Boise State @ San Diego State
9. Pillow Fight: Illinois @ Purdue
10. Tie Breaker: #5 Oregon @ Arizona– winner and final score.
Our Daily Thread 11-21-13
Good Morning!
On this day in 1620 the Mayflower reached Provincetown, MA.
In 1789 North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1877 Thomas A. Edison announced the invention of his phonograph.
In 1922 Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve as a member of the U.S. Senate.
In 1942 the Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened.
In 1963 President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, arrived in San Antonio, TX. They were beginning an ill-fated, two-day tour of Texas that would end in Dallas.
And in 1980 an estimated 83 million viewers tuned in to find out “who shot J.R.” on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas.
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Quote of the Day
“In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.”
François-Marie Arouet
Voltaire
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Today is Steven Curtis Chapman’s birthday. From Taylor Guitars
It’s also Christian Crowe’s of All Star United.
And on this day in 1960 George Harrison was deported from Germany after being told he was too young to perform with the Beatles.
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 11-21-13
Who has a request or praise to share today?
Psalm 95
¹O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
News/Politics 11-21-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. How can this be legal? They say you’re under no obligation to do so, yet they’re wearing passive sensors which already answered one of their questions. Be sure to watch the video at the link for more details.
From NBCNewsDFW “Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at a police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood.
It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said participation was “100 percent voluntary” and anonymous.”
“But a Fort Worth attorney who is an expert in civil liberties law questioned whether such stops are constitutional. “You can’t just be pulled over randomly or for no reason,” said attorney Frank Colosi.
He also noted the fine print on a form given to drivers informs them their breath was tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”
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2. Next up, more disturbing news. Looks like our refugee relocation efforts have resulted in terrorists who attacked US Troops being allowed into the US. 🙄
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3. Told ya so. Some “fix” huh? 🙄
From NewsObserver.com “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Tuesday that it will raise rates as much as 24 percent on 2013 individual health insurance plans that are being extended next year.
The increase is double the price inflation for the same health plans just a year ago, but many Blue Cross customers who have grumbled about rising costs in past years are cheering the news this time.
The health plans in question were slated for elimination under the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s health care law, but Blue Cross said last week it would offer the plans next year. President Barack Obama urged insurers to extend the individual plans for one year amid a public outcry over forced cancellations and steep price increases for replacement plans.”
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4. The privileged few escape their share of the misery brought about by ObamaCare. The same clowns who dumped it on the rest of us.
From TheNYTimes “Members of Congress like to boast that they will have the same health care enrollment experience as constituents struggling with the balky federal website, because the law they wrote forced lawmakers to get coverage from the new insurance exchanges.
That is true. As long as their constituents have access to “in-person support sessions” like the ones being conducted at the Capitol and congressional office buildings by the local exchange and four major insurers. Or can log on to a special Blue Cross and Blue Shield website for members of Congress and use a special toll-free telephone number — a “dedicated congressional health insurance plan assistance line.”
And then there is the fact that lawmakers have a larger menu of “gold plan” insurance choices than most of their constituents have back home.
While millions of Americans have been left to fend for themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through their options and enroll.”
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These last 2 are because laughter is good for ya’. 😉
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5. This one is toooo funny! 🙂
From TheHill “President Obama’s relationship with congressional Democrats has worsened to an unprecedented low, Democratic aides say.”
“Sources who attended a meeting of House chiefs of staff on Monday say the room was seething with anger over the immense damage being done to the Democratic Party and talk was of scrapping rollout events for the Affordable Care Act.”
““Is he even more unpopular than George W. Bush? I think that’s already happened,” said one Democratic chief of staff.” 😯
““They’re freaking out, as they should be,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide, adding that the rollout continues to be “a lasting mess.””
😆
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And this one? Let’s call it “My how things have changed.” 🙂
The irony in the statement at the :20 mark is priceless.
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Wandering Views 