News/Politics 1-21-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

After a couple of days off, I have a bunch, so I’ll try to be brief. As always, clicking the text will take you to the entire article.

1. Not shocking. It’s one of the reasons Planned Parenthood pushes both to young girls. It guarantees return business either way.

From CNSNews  “A new report released by the Family Research Council (FRC) on the demographics of abortion in the United States reveals that when and if a woman undergoes the procedure once or more is tied directly to chastity, monogamy and the use of contraceptives.”

“It also shows that 34 to 38 percent of women who became sexually active as young girls (12 or younger, 13, or 14) have had an abortion, while six percent of women who had intercourse for the first time at age 20 or later have had an abortion. “There’s a huge relationship between the earlier one starts being sexually active and the more likely things are going to go wrong, including undergoing an abortion,” said Patrick Fagan, director of FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute and co-author of the report with Scott Talkington, research director for the National Association of Scholars and Senior Research Fellow at George Mason University School of Public Policy.

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2. Cuomo says pro-lifers aren’t welcome in his state. They can’t have conservatives challenging the abortion extremists, now can they?

From HotAir Forty-eight percent of Americans and all priests and nuns are no longer welcome in the Empire State, according to its governor. Delivering a monologue on Republicans with all the hyperbole of an MSNBC anchor and none of the charm, Cuomo offered this:

You have a schism within the Republican Party. … They’re searching to define their soul, that’s what’s going on. Is the Republican party in this state a moderate party or is it an extreme conservative party? That’s what they’re trying to figure out. It’s a mirror of what’s going on in Washington. The gridlock in Washington is less about Democrats and Republicans. It’s more about extreme Republicans versus moderate Republicans.

… You’re seeing that play out in New York. … The Republican Party candidates are running against the SAFE Act — it was voted for by moderate Republicans who run the Senate! Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.

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3. I have a feeling the Gov. would welcome this though, because he obviously agrees with the ideology.

From TheDailyCaller Hillsdale professor Terrence Moore, author of  “Story Killers: A Common Sense Case Against Common Core,”  exposed some of the more distressing aspects of the controversial Common Core education standards program, saying that all teachers must tell young students that all right-wing groups are fascist.

Moore highlights how it is not just the reading lists and course materials — which have already attracted a large amount of criticism — that need to be examined by parents. It’s also the teaching notes and standard curriculum; the notes and standards come as part of a comprehensive package. Moore noted through his research that a distinctly political slant is introduced, one which dictates not only what children are taught, but also how they should be taught.”

““In the margin of the teachers edition, the teacher is instructed to explain the term ‘fascist’ to the students and to point out that the term ‘fascist’ is now applied to all right-wing extremist groups.”

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4. In other school news…..

It looks like Atlanta wasn’t the only city with a major teacher cheating scandal.

From FoxNews  “Just days after three Philadelphia school principals were fired for alleged cheating, news comes that the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office is conducting a criminal investigation into widespread cheating involving more than 100 educators around the city.

The Philadelphia Inquirer cites sources with knowledge of the criminal inquiry in reporting the attorney general’s involvement, as well as a grand jury to probe a growing scandal that has already ensnared 138 teachers and principals from schools all over the city.”

Union reps blame the high stakes test.

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5. In other union news…..

From TheFreeBeacon  “Two of the most powerful unions in the country have voiced objections to a bill that would provide better background checks for teachers, Campbell Brown writes in a Thursday Wall Street Journal column.

After the Government Accountability Office found “hundreds of potential cases of registered sex offenders working in schools” across the United States in 2010, the House passed a bill that would streamline the vetting process and close inconsistencies across state lines.

The bill is a common sense measure, according to Campbell, yet powerful teachers unions are opposed to the new standards.”

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6. Who’s up for some judicial stupidity?

From Boston.com  “A federal appeals court in Boston today upheld a judge’s ruling that a transsexual inmate convicted of murder is entitled to a taxpayer-funded sex change operation as treatment for her severe gender identity disorder.

In a ruling that was a first of its kind, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said courts must not shy away from enforcing the rights of all people, including prisoners. “And receiving medically necessary treatment is one of those rights, even if that treatment strikes some as odd or unorthodox,” the court said.”

Odd, unorthodox, and stupid. They forgot to mention stupid. 🙄

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7. The new intolerance.

From TheNewStatesman  “The new intolerance: will we regret pushing Christians out of public life?  In this provocative challenge to the left, the former New Statesman deputy editor Cristina Odone argues that liberalism has become the new orthodoxy – and there is no room for religious believers to dissent.”

“Only 50 years ago, liberals supported “alternative culture”; they manned the barricades in protest against the establishment position on war, race and feminism. Today, liberals abhor any alternative to their credo. No one should offer an opinion that runs against the grain on issues that liberals consider “set in stone”, such as sexuality or the sanctity of life.

Intolerance is no longer the prerogative of overt racists and other bigots – it is state-sanctioned. It is no longer the case that the authorities are impartial on matters of belief, and will intervene to protect the interests and heritage of the weak. When it comes to crushing the rights of those who dissent from the new orthodoxy, politicians and bureaucrats alike are in the forefront of the attacks, not the defence.”

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8. Makes sense to me.

From TheTelegraph  “Older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to   recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists   believe.

Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to do humans   take longer to access information, it has been suggested. “

“The human brain works slower in old age,” said Dr. Michael Ramscar, “but only because we have stored more information over time

Our Daily Thread 1-20-14

Good Morning!

Since it’s a holiday, only 2 posts today.

On this day in 1265 the first English parliament met in Westminster Hall.

In 1801 John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States.

In 1885 the roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson.

In 1887 the U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.

In 1937 Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to be inaugurated on January 20th. The 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President.

In 1942 Nazi officials held the Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their “final solution” that called for exterminating Europe’s Jews.

In 1981 Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days.

And in 1986 the U.S. observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

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Quote of the Day

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Yesterday was this lady’s birthday.

Today is Wes King’s.

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QoD?

Do you have the day off, and if so, what are your plans?

Prayer Requests 1-20-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share?

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Our Daily Thread 1-18-14

Good Morning!

And Happy Saturday! 🙂

On this day in 1778 English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he called the “Sandwich Islands.”

In 1788 the first English settlers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. The group moved north eight days later and settled at Port Jackson.

In 1896 the x-ray machine was exhibited for the first time.

In 1911, for the first time, an aircraft landed on a ship. Pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.

In 1919 the World War I Peace Congress opened in Versailles, France.

And in 1964 the plans for the World Trade Center in New York were disclosed.

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Quote of the Day

“The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.”

Daniel Webster

Seems like it still is.

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Today is Heather Payne’s birthday, from PointofGraceMusic.

Today is also the birthday of composer Cesar Cui. From Selecteum des Arts et des Sciences CCU

And it’s the birthday of composer Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

And here’s a picture of Janice’s kitten Bosley.

bosley

Prayer Requests 1-18-14

Who would like to share a request or praise today?

Psalm 150

¹Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

News/Politics 1-18-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, so post whatever you’d like.

Here’s a few from me.

1. Not only didn’t they learn their lesson, and how could they when no one was held responsible for it, they’re planning the same strategy again.

From TheWallStJournal  “President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election. They’ve been at even greater pains this week to ensure that the same conservative groups are silenced in the 2014 midterms.

That’s the big, dirty secret of the omnibus negotiations. As one of the only bills destined to pass this year, the omnibus was—behind the scenes—a flurry of horse trading. One of the biggest fights was over GOP efforts to include language to stop the IRS from instituting a new round of 501(c)(4) targeting. The White House is so counting on the tax agency to muzzle its political opponents that it willingly sacrificed any manner of its own priorities to keep the muzzle in place.”

“The fight was sparked by a new rule that the Treasury Department and the IRS introduced during the hush of Thanksgiving recess, ostensibly to “improve” the law governing nonprofits. What the rule in fact does is recategorize as “political” all manner of educational activities that 501(c)(4) social-welfare organizations currently engage in.

It’s IRS targeting all over again, only this time by administration design and with the raw political goal—as House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) notes—of putting “tea party groups out of business.”

A goal the RINO faction of the GOP went along with.

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2. It’s been said by some that America’s number one export to the world is abortion and debauchery. That would be correct. And Planned Parenthood is staying true to their racist roots.

From CNSNews  “In its strategic plan for Africa for the years 2010-2015, the International Planned Parenthood Federation has set an organizational goal of increasing its “abortion services” in that part of the world by 82 percent.  

The number is in Figure 2, the “performance framework” of the plan (page 7), under “performance milestones/benchmarks” and notes its expectation of an “82 percent increase in abortion services: 212,021 services by 2013, and 273,656 by 2015.”

Democrats will of course be happy to assist and fund it whenever they can.

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3. CONTENT WARNING!!!!

For adult, sexual material. It’s not for the kids. But it’s being taught to kids.

But don’t worry, they justify it by saying it’s only part of the curriculum. Just one more reason to home school.

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4. And yet another reason……

From TheWaPo  “Viewed from Washington, which often is the last to learn about important developments, opposition to the Common Core State Standards Initiative still seems as small as the biblical cloud that ariseth out of the sea, no larger than a man’s hand. Soon, however, this education policy will fill a significant portion of the political sky.

The Common Core represents the ideas of several national organizations (of governors and school officials) about what and how children should learn. It is the thin end of an enormous wedge. It is designed to advance in primary and secondary education the general progressive agenda of centralization and uniformity.

Understandably, proponents of the Common Core want its nature and purpose to remain as cloudy as possible for as long as possible. Hence they say it is a “state-led,” “voluntary” initiative to merely guide education with “standards” that are neither written nor approved nor mandated by Washington, which would never, ever “prescribe” a national curriculum. Proponents talk warily when describing it because a candid characterization would reveal yet another Obama administration indifference to legality.”

“Nevertheless, what begins with mere national standards must breed ineluctable pressure to standardize educational content. Targets, metrics, guidelines and curriculum models all induce conformity in instructional materials. Washington already is encouraging the alignment of the GED, SAT and ACT tests with the Common Core. By a feedback loop, these tests will beget more curriculum conformity. All of this will take a toll on parental empowerment, and none of this will escape the politicization of learning like that already rampant in higher education.”

That is the real purpose. Indoctrination, not education.

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Our Daily Thread 1-17-14

Good Morning!

It’s finally Friday!

On this day in 1806 James Madison Randolph, grandson of President Thomas Jefferson, was the first child born in the White House.

In 1900 Mormon Brigham Roberts was denied a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for his practicing of polygamy.

In 1945 Soviet and Polish forces liberated Warsaw during World War II.

In 1991 coalition airstrikes began against Iraq after negotiations failed to get Iraq to retreat from the country of Kuwait.

And in 1994 the Northridge earthquake rocked Los Angeles, CA, registering a 6.7 on the Richter Scale. At least 61 people were killed and about $20 billion in damage was caused.

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Quotes of the Day

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

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Today is Eddie Carswell’s birthday, so NewSong, with “Blessed Be Your Name”

And this young lady is good. 🙂 Like Eddie VanHalen good. 😯

From TinaS

Bravo! 🙂

You can see her play Antonio Vivaldi’s “Presto” from “Summer” as well by clicking her playlist at the top left of the video. Heavy metal classical music. What’s not to love? 🙂

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Anyone have a QoD?

Prayer Requests 1-17-14

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 149

¹Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.

News/Politics 1-17-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Claims by the Obama admin over who was responsible for a Syrian chemical attack are having their accuracy challenged by some experts. This was part of the admins supposed evidence to justify entering the Syrian conflict.

From TheMiamiHerald   “A series of revelations about the rocket believed to have delivered poison sarin gas to a Damascus suburb last summer are challenging American intelligence assumptions about that attack and suggest that the case U.S. officials initially made for retaliatory military action was flawed.

A team of security and arms experts, meeting this week in Washington to discuss the matter, has concluded that the range of the rocket that delivered sarin in the largest attack that night was too short for the device to have been fired from the Syrian government positions where the Obama administration insists they originated.

Separately, international weapons experts are puzzling over why the rocket in question – an improvised 330mm to 350mm rocket equipped with a large receptacle on its nose to hold chemicals – reportedly did not appear in the Syrian government’s declaration of its arsenal to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and apparently was not uncovered by OPCW inspectors who believe they’ve destroyed Syria’s ability to deliver a chemical attack.     

Neither development proves decisively that Syrian government forces did not fire the chemicals that killed hundreds of Syrians in the early morning hours of Aug. 21. U.S. officials continue to insist that the case for Syrian government responsibility for the attack in East Ghouta is stronger than any suggestion of rebel involvement, while experts say it is possible Syria left the rockets out of its chemical weapons declaration simply to make certain it could not be tied to the attack.”

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2. More Benghazi info from the just released report. This info makes the NY Times piece about Al-Qaeda not being involved even more laughable.

From CNSNews  “On August 16, 2012–a little less than a month before the terrorist  attacks on the U.S. State Department and CIA facilities in Benghazi,   Libya–Amb. Chris Stevens sent a cable to State Department  headquarters in Washington, D.C. stating that a CIA officer on the  ground in Benghazi had briefed a State Department officer in that city  the day before “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias  and AQ training camps within Benghazi.”

“The CIA officer’s discussion of the “AQ training camps” in Benghazi occurred  at an “Emergency Action Committee” meeting convened August 15, 2012 by  the State Department’s principal officer in Benghazi. “In an August 16, 2012, cable to State headquarters, Stevens raised  additional concerns about the deteriorating security situation in  Benghazi following an Emergency Action Committee (EAC) meeting held on  August 15, 2012, in Benghazi,” says a Senate Select Committee on  Intelligence report on Benghazi that was released today.”

“The CIA officer’s statements at the August 15, 2012 EAC in Benghazi  was not the only warning the CIA issued about the threat from  terrorists–including al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists–in Benghazi before  the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. The Defense Department, like the CIA, was also sounding warnings  about the growing threat from terrorists and al Qaeda in Libya, and  particularly in eastern Libya, according to the Senate Select Committee  on Intelligence report.”

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3. This one isn’t shocking, but it could be dangerous. But in a PC world we can’t target only the groups who are blowing people up. 🙄

From TheNYTimes  “The Justice Department will significantly expand its definition of racial profiling to prohibit federal agents from considering religion, national origin, gender and sexual orientation in their investigations, a government official said Wednesday.

The move addresses a decade of criticism from civil rights groups that say federal authorities have in particular singled out Muslims in counterterrorism investigations and Latinos for immigration investigations.”

“The Bush administration banned profiling in 2003, but with two caveats: It did not apply to national security cases, and it covered only race, not religion, ancestry or other factors.

Since taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has been under pressure from Democrats in Congress to eliminate those provisions. “These exceptions are a license to profile American Muslims and Hispanic-Americans,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said in 2012.”

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4. For this next one, you need some background music. Hit the play button. 🙂

Now read this….

From InvestorsBusinessDaily  “Attorney General Eric Holder has opened up a new front against car lenders and has forged an alliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to frame them for racism, too.”

“For starters, Justice had to guess the race of Ally’s black customers from Census data for black neighborhoods. The auto-finance industry does not report the race of borrowers like the mortgage industry.”

“So “victims” were never actually identified. That’s why the complaint has to estimate that Ally discriminated against “approximately” 100,000 African-American borrowers.

More shocking, civil-rights prosecutors never actually checked the creditworthiness of those borrowers. That’s right, they never looked at credit scores, down payments, debt or other key risk-related factors banks consider to set interest rates. Not for blacks, or for supposedly “similarly situated” whites.”

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5. This one is just Joe being Joe I guess. 🙄

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6. This one isn’t shocking either, but it is a bit much, even for Democrats.

From ThePuebloChieftan  “Saying some neighborhoods have more pot shops than banks, Colorado Democrats on Wednesday rejected a proposal to ban the use of public assistance cards to obtain cash at marijuana-shop ATMs. 

The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee voted 3-2 along party lines against a GOP proposal to add marijuana shops to the list of places where recipients of public assistance can’t use their government-issued EBT cards to access cash.”

“Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, said Colorado’s new legal pot industry needs to make sure not to invite federal scrutiny through improper cash withdrawals at recreational or medical marijuana stores.”

“I’m not comfortable limiting that access until I’m certain we’ve done that due diligence to make sure people can access their benefits when they need to,” Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, said.”

Those silly Republicans. I’m sure nobody will use the cash for weed. 🙄

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