Month: December 2013
News/Politics 12-17-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. The ObamaCare contraceptive mandate has suffered a loss in court. Good.
From TheNYPost “In a blow to President Obama’s signature legislative mandate, a Brooklyn federal judge on Monday sided with several Catholic organizations in New York, saying they do not have to comply with an Affordable Care Act requirement to provide employees with contraceptive coverage.
Citing religious freedom grounds, the organizations filed the lawsuit last year seeking protection from the Obamacare directive.
In the first permanent ruling on the hot-button issue, US District Court Judge Brian Cogan said the religious groups should not be forced to comply with the birth control component of Obamacare. The plaintiffs benefitting from the permanent injunction are Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island, the ArchCare healthcare group and Catholic Health Services of Long Island.”
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2. It looks like another court loss may be in their future. Again, good.
From Politico “A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate that collecting the information had helped to head off terrorist attacks.”
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analyzing it without judicial approval,” wrote Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush.
The preliminary injunction Leon granted Monday does not require him to make a definitive ruling on the constitutional questions in the case, but does take account of which side he believes is more likely to prevail.”
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3. The GOP is looking into ObamaCare navigator fraud. And Of course they didn’t get background checks. The DoJ says those are racist. This is exactly the type of people the DoJ is trying to protect. Criminals.
From TheHill “Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released documents on Monday saying that the ObamaCare “navigators” responsible for helping consumers enroll in the new law have made a series of errors and put sensitive consumer information at risk.
Documents released with the report said they have been giving enrollees misinformation, and have not done enough to keep secure consumers’ health information, Social Security numbers, yearly income and other tax information.”
“Some ObamaCare navigators, the report says, “encouraged consumers to commit tax fraud by underreporting income in order to qualify for ObamaCare’s health insurance subsidies.”
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4. The White House says it’s OK, they trust these “community organizing groups” and that this is just GOP efforts to stifle the navigator program.
Yeah, fraud tends to draw that reaction. 🙄
From TheWaPo “Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius says in a new op-ed that a House oversight committee hearing in Texas on Monday is “designed to stifle, intimidate and impugn the reputation” of Obamacare navigators.
The hearing, which is being run by committee Chairman Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), will be held in Dallas and is titled, “Who are the navigators?” Navigators are people who help others sign up for Obamacare.
“What opponents of the new law could not do legislatively, at the ballot box, or even by shutting down the federal government, they’re now trying to do through other means,” Sebelius says in the op-ed in the Dallas Morning News. “Case in point is Monday’s congressional hearing in Dallas, designed to stifle, intimidate and impugn the reputation of people who have been working hard to help their fellow Texans get covered.
In a dueling op-ed, Issa and Dallas-area Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) cite “numerous examples of fraudulent activity related to health navigators in Texas.”
Please. This is ACORN. They impugned their own reputation long ago. The White House’s repeated backing of them has done the same for their reputation.
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5. The anti-Semitism amongst America’s college elite is no secret. But at least now they’re not trying to hide it anymore.
From TimesOfIsrael “The membership of the American Studies Association endorsed its national council’s call for a boycott of Israeli universities.”
“The membership-wide canvas was unprecedented and was undertaken in part at the behest of boycott opponents, who said at a session during the ASA annual conference in Washington last month that the matter was too sensitive to leave up to the 20-member national council, which unanimously endorsed the boycott.”
“This shameful, morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest attack on academic freedom by the American Studies Association should be soundly condemned by all who are committed to the ideal that open exchange of ideas is the most effective way to achieve change,” said National Director Abraham Foxman in a statement.
In the resolution passed unanimously by the ASA national council on December 4, the group asserted that Palestinian students and scholars enjoy “no effective or substantive academic freedom” under Israeli rule and that “Israeli institutions of higher learning are a party to Israeli state policies that violate human rights and negatively impact the working conditions of Palestinian scholars and students.”
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Our Daily Thread 12-16-13
Good Morning!
We’re down to single digits people!
9 Days Until Christmas!
On this day in 1773 nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots.
In 1835, in New York, 530 buildings were destroyed by fire.
In 1901 “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” by Beatrix Potter, was printed for the first time.
In 1944, during World War II, the Battle of the Bulge began in Belgium.
And in 1972 the Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go unbeaten and untied in a 14-game regular season. The Dolphins went on to defeat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
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Quote of the Day
“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.”
George Whitefield
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This one is a request, since it’s his birthday. A Beethoven Christmas montage.
This one takes a long time to sing. So they sped it up a little. 🙂
And this one is because I like it. 🙂
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 12-16-13
Who would like to share a request or praise today?
Psalm 119:1-18
¹Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
News/Politics 12-16-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread, here’s a few to start things off.
1. This should be viewed by everyone. And it should outrage you too. But thankfully, he now gets to tell his side. The Marines and White House should be ashamed of themselves.
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2. A veterans group is vowing to appeal a decision on a cross at a veterans memorial.
From MSNNews “A veterans association that built a massive cross overlooking San Diego as part of a war memorial plans to fight a federal judge’s order to tear it down, a lawyer for the group said on Friday.
Attorney Jeff Mateer said he hoped the U.S. Supreme Court, which last year declined to intervene in the 25-year legal battle, will step in now that there has been an order to dismantle the cross, and rule for his clients.
“We are definitely appealing and are committed to preserving this veterans memorial the way it was intended to be, which includes a cross,” said Mateer, general counsel for the Liberty Institute, which is representing the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Association in the case.”
“On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns grudgingly ruled that the 43-foot-tall (13-meter) cross, a local landmark that has stood atop Mount Soledad in San Diego since 1954, must be taken down because the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found it violated a constitutional ban on government endorsement of religion.
Burns said in his ruling that he disagreed with the Ninth Circuit but that his hands were tied. He stayed his order to give the veterans group and the Obama administration, which has also fought removal of the cross, time to appeal.”
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3. ObamaCare, and it’s trinity of lies.
From TheNYPost “ObamaCare was sold on a trinity of lies.”
That ornate phrase, more suitable for the Book of Revelations or perhaps the next “Game of Thrones,” installment comes from my colleague Rich Lowry. But I like it.
Most people know the first deception in the triumvirate of deceit: “If you like your health insurance you can keep it, period.” The second leg in the tripod of deception was “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”
But the third plank in the triad of disinformation hasn’t gotten much attention: ObamaCare will save you, me and the country a lot of money. This lie took several forms.”
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Our Daily Thread 12-14-13
Good Morning!
11 Days Until Christmas!
On this day in 1799 the first president of the United States, George Washington, died at the age 67.
In 1819 Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.
In 1903 Orville Wright made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged in the attempt. Three days later, after repairs were made, the modern aviation age was born when the plane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and flew 102 feet.
In 1945 Josef Kramer, known as “the beast of Belsen,” and 10 others were executed in Hamelin for the crimes they committed at the Belsen and Auschwitz Nazi concentration camps.
And in 1985 Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe as she formally took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of OKlahoma.
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Quote of the Day
“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.”
Dale Evans
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First up today, some Rich Mullins.
Next, Evie.
And some Reliant K too.
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Anyone have a QoD for us?
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And one last thing……..
GO ARMY!
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Prayer Requests 12-14-13
Who has a request or praise to share?
Psalm 118:14-29
14 The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:
20 This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Rants! and Raves! 12-14-13
It’s Saturday, so time for…..
Rants! 😦
and
Raves! 🙂
News/Politics 12-14-13
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread, here’s a few to start off.
1. They just don’t learn. There is no such thing as a moderate Islamist.
From TheLongWarJournal “After the US’ efforts to prop up the Free Syrian Army have failed and the larger Islamist brigades of the FSA, which have fought alongside al Qaeda, have defected and created the Islamic Front, the Obama administration is now seeking to court the Islamic Front. The catch: The group must denounce al Qaeda and join the peace process. Here is an excerpt:
The Obama administration is willing to consider supporting an expanded Syrian rebel coalition that would include Islamist groups, provided the groups are not allied with al-Qaeda and agree to support upcoming peace talks in Geneva, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
In addition, the official said, the Americans would like the Islamic Front groups to return U.S. vehicles, communications gear and other non-lethal equipment they seized last weekend from warehouses at the Syria-Turkey border.”
Maybe we should make them pinky swear too, just to be sure. 🙄
And maybe a pretty please will get your stuff back too.
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2. Remember folks, taxpayer dollars don’t fund abortion. But it frees up 1.5 million a day that will.
From TheDailyCaller “Planned Parenthood’s 2012-2013 annual report is out, and a pro-life group has already found that the pro-abortion group received nearly $1.5 million a day in government funding over the year.”
“Twenty-six percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from private contributions in 2012, 25 percent came from non-government health services revenue and 4 percent came from “other.” Government grants and reimbursements accounted for 45 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue, or $540.6 million.
The organization further reported over $1.3 billion in net assets and $58.2 million in excess revenue.”
The Hyde Amend. is just one more law in a long list that this administration ignores or refuses to enforce or defend.
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3. Which brings us to this piece.
From TheWeeklyStandard “Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, a Republican, is sponsoring a resolution in the House of Representatives that would, if adopted, direct the legislative body “to bring a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge certain policies and actions taken by the executive branch.” In other words, Rep. Rice wants to take President Obama to court for not faithfully executing the laws.
“President Obama has adopted a practice of picking and choosing which laws he wants to enforce. In most cases, his laws of choice conveniently coincide with his Administration’s political agenda. Our Founding Fathers created the Executive Branch to implement and enforce the laws written by Congress and vested this power in the President. However, President Obama has chosen to ignore some of the laws written by Congress and implemented by preceding Presidents,” Rice wrote in a letter to fellow House members to ask them to co-sponsor this resolution.
“This resolution allows the House of Representatives to bring legal action against the Executive Branch and challenge recent actions, inactions, and policies.” The “legal action against the President” would be, according to an aide for Rep. Rice, “for ignoring Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution.” Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution states,
He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.”
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4. DHS is urging insurers to cover people starting January 1st, even if they haven’t paid yet.
Yeah, that’ll work. 🙄
From CNSNews “Fearing that many people will think they have health insurance coverage when they do not, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is “urging” insurance companies to “give consumers additional time to pay their first month’s premium and still have coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014.”
Insurance companies should cover people who haven’t yet paid, in other words.
With just a few weeks to go until Obamacare takes full effect, Sebelius announced additional changes on Thursday, some that tell insurance companies how to run their business and others that “strongly” encourage insurance companies to waive their rules — on premium payments, for example.
Sebelius now says insurance companies MUST accept payments through December 31 (instead of Dec. 23) for health care coverage that begins the next day, Jan. 1.”
They ignore and re-write this as they go along. Also illegal according to their own law.
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5. And as if things weren’t bad enough, a new glitch that steals money from your bank account. Nice. 🙄
From KGW/Portland “For the second week in a row, the Washington Healthplanfinder website is down, and it’s causing problems for people who are dealing with billing issues. Some of them say the website is mistakenly debiting their accounts.
Shannon Bruner of Indianola logged on to her checking account Monday morning, and found she was almost 800 dollars in the negative.”
“The Bruners enrolled for insurance on the Washington Healthplanfinder website, last October. They say they selected the bill pay date to be December 24th. Instead the Washington Healthplanfinder drafted the 835 dollar premium Monday.”
“One viewer emailed KING 5 saying, “They drafted my account this morning for a second time.”
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Our Daily Thread 12-13-13
Good Morning!
Only 12 Days Until Christmas!
For those who may not have seen them yet, here’s a picture of Kim’s professionally wrapped Christmas presents. 🙂
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On this day in 1636 the United States National Guard was created when militia regiments were organized by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In 1862 an estimated 11,000 Northern soldiers were killed or wounded when Union forces were defeated by Confederates under General Robert E. Lee, at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
In 1913 the Federal Reserve System was established.
In 1964, in El Paso, TX, President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion that diverted the Rio Grande River, reshaping the U.S.-Mexican border.
And in 1982 the Sentry Armored Car Company in New York discovered that $11 million had been stolen from its headquarters overnight. It was the biggest cash theft in U.S. history.
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Quote of the Day
“What day is so dark that there is no ray of sunshine to penetrate the gloom?”
Mary Todd Lincoln
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Today is this guy’s birthday.
Today is also Randy Owen’s birthday.
And this one is a request.
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Wandering Views 