Month: February 2014
News/Politics 2-21-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. First up…. Yes please!
From NationalJournal “If all goes according to plan, North Koreans will soon have free, uncensored Internet provided by satellites the size of toaster ovens.
That’s part of a project called Outernet, which hopes to launch hundreds of tiny satellites—known as CubeSats—to provide Internet to every person on Earth. Forty percent of the world’s people currently don’t have access to the Web. In a little more than a year, Outernet plans to have a fleet of 24 satellites operational and testing to pave the way for a globe-spanning network.
The satellites won’t be providing conventional Internet right away. They’ll initially be used for one-way communication to provide services like emergency updates, news, crop prices, and educational programs. Users will help determine what content is offered.
The project’s backers say knowledge is a human right—one they intend to provide even in countries where dictators have thus far limited access. “We exist to support the flow of independent news, information, and debate that people need to build free, thriving societies,” said Peter Whitehead, president of the Media Development Investment Fund, Outernet’s backer. “It enables fuller participation in public life, holds the powerful to account and protects the rights of the individual.”
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2. Next up, a fight between the green energy crowd and the tree huggers. It’s a tough one to call because we know a tortoise can beat a hare, but can he beat a solar panel?
Considering how eagles and other birds fared against the windmill/turbine crowd, I don’t like the slow poke’s chances this time.
From FoxNews “Plans to create two solar energy plants on public lands in California and Nevada are pitting renewable energy advocates against environmentalists who fear the facilities will endanger federally threatened desert tortoises in the area.
Federal officials on Wednesday announced the approval of two plants expected to supply 550 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power about 170,000 homes. Secretary of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said more than 700 jobs will be created through construction and operations.”
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3. More on the story from yesterday on govt monitors in news rooms.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” But under the Obama administration, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to send government contractors into the nation’s newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public’s “critical information needs.” Those “needs” will be defined by the administration, and news outlets that do not comply with the government’s standards could face an uncertain future. It’s hard to imagine a project more at odds with the First Amendment.
The initiative, known around the agency as “the CIN Study” (pronounced “sin”), is a bit of a mystery even to insiders. “This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced,” says Ajit Pai, one of the FCC’s five commissioners (and one of its two Republicans). “I’ve never had any input into the process,” adds Pai, who brought the story to the public’s attention in a Wall Street Journal column last week.”
“Advocates promote the project with Obama-esque rhetoric. “This study begins the charting of a course to a more effective delivery of necessary information to all citizens,” said FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn in 2012. Clyburn, daughter of powerful House Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, was appointed to the FCC by President Obama and served as acting chair for part of last year. The FCC, Clyburn said, “must emphatically insist that we leave no American behind when it comes to meeting the needs of those in varied and vibrant communities of our nation — be they native born, immigrant, disabled, non-English speaking, low-income, or other.” (The FCC decided to test the program with a trial run in Ms. Clyburn’s home state, South Carolina.)
Also not surprising are the Annenberg ties. Obama and his buddy Ayers are familiar with their work, having served on their board.
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4. And now they play dumb. 🙄
How were they to know that cutting 700 billion from Medicare to pay for ObamaCare would be a problem? Nobody mentioned it. Well, except for every conservative publication out there. 🙄
From NationalReview “The National Republican Senatorial Committee points out that North Carolina senator Kay Hagan and other vulnerable Senate Democrats are now whacking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid . . . for enacting changes required by Obamacare. Hey, Senator Hagan, if you want to blame someone, blame the foolish or dishonest lawmakers who voted for the law!
Wait a minute, that’s you!
In 2009, Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) promised North Carolinians who depend on Medicare that she was going to “protect Medicare” and that they would “not see a drop in their Medicare coverage.”
But in 2010 Kay Hagan voted to slash Medicare Advantage to pay for ObamaCare. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #72: Motion agreed to 56-42: R 0-40; D 54-2; I 2-0, 3/24/10, Hagan Voted Yea) ”
They own it. Keep pointing that out.
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5. And with millions of new Medicaid enrollees, the possibility for fraud like this will only increase.
From DCCrimeStories “More than 20 people have been arrested in what federal prosecutors are calling the largest healthcare fraud takedown in the history of the District of Columbia.
Following a multi-year-long investigation into bogus billing practices, more than 200 law enforcement agents spread across the region Thursday to raid homes and businesses, make arrests and seize dozens of bank accounts and property.
Those arrested include operators of home care agencies, operators of nurse staffing agencies, office workers and personal care assistants. One woman is accused of bilking taxpayers out of $75 million.”
““This investigation has revealed that Medicaid fraud in the District of Columbia is at epidemic levels,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen. “This fraud diverts precious taxpayer dollars, drives up the cost of health care, and jeopardizes the strength of a program that serves the most vulnerable members of our society.”
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Our Daily Thread 2-20-14
Good Morning!
Today’s header photo is from Kare.
And this one is from Donna. 🙂
On this day in 1809 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government was greater than that of any individual state.
In 1815 the USS Constitution, under Captain Charles Stewart fought the British ships Cyane and Levant. The Constitution captures both, but lost the Levant after encountering a British squadron. The Constitution and the Cyane returned to New York safely on May 15, 1815. The Cyane was purchased and became the USS Cyane.
In 1931 the U.S. Congress allowed California to build the Oakland Bay Bridge.
In 1933 the U.S. House of Representatives completed congressional action on the amendment to repeal Prohibition.
In 1965 Ranger 8 crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of its surface.
And in 1998 American Tara Lipinski, at age 15, became the youngest gold medalist in winter Olympics history when she won the ladies’ figure skating title at Nagano, Japan.
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Quote of the Day
“Don’t fire until you see the white’s of their eyes.”
William Prescott
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Today is Sandy Duncan’s birthday.
Next up, some Kung Fu Piano. From ThePianoGuys
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 2-20-14
Who has a request or praise to share with us today?
Psalm 28
¹Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
News/Politics 2-20-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Another consequence of the Obama admins decision to rescind propaganda rules. Without the first action, he couldn’t get away with this. Pravda, it’s not just a Russian thing anymore.
From RedState “The Obama Administration’s Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is poised to place government monitors in newsrooms across the country in an absurdly draconian attempt to intimidate and control the media.
Before you dismiss this assertion as utterly preposterous (we all know how that turned out when the Tea Party complained that it was being targeted by the IRS), this bombshell of an accusation comes from an actual FCC Commissioner.”
“Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.
The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about “the process by which stories are selected” and how often stations cover “critical information needs,” along with “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”
In fact, the FCC is now expanding the bounds of regulatory powers to include newspapers, which it has absolutely no authority over, in its new government monitoring program.”
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2. Bullying a bunch of Quakers and burning down their church for using non-union labor? Talk about low…..
From WFB “The federal government on Tuesday indicted multiple union members for burning down a Quaker church in 2012.
Ten members of a Philadelphia ironworkers union face charges of arson and racketeering in connection with a fire against the church, which was employing non-union workers.
“Ironworkers Local 401 [was charged] with allegedly participating in a conspiracy to commit criminal acts of extortion, arson, destruction of property, and assault in order to force construction contractors to hire union ironworkers,” the FBI said in a press release. “Specifically, the indictment charges RICO conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, three counts of arson, two counts of use of fire to commit a felony, and conspiracy to commit arson. Eight of the 10 individuals named in the indictment are charged with conspiring to use Ironworkers Local 401 as an enterprise to commit criminal acts.”
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3. He did it again. This time Battleground Texas (ACORN) and the Wendy Davis for Gov. campaign. Forging voter signatures, illegal copying and storing voter contact info, which is forbidden by law. Same playbook Obama and OFA use.
Vote fraud is alive and well, and much of it happens way before the voting booth.
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4. Is Common Core crashing and burning? Let’s hope so. 🙂
From Politico “The nation’s largest teachers union is pulling back on its once-enthusiastic support of the Common Core academic standards, labeling their rollout “completely botched.”
National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel said he still believes the standards can improve education. But he said they will not succeed without a major “course correction” — including possibly rewriting some of the standards and revising the related tests with teacher input.
“In far too many states, implementation has been completely botched,” Van Roekel wrote in a letter Wednesday afternoon to his organization’s more than 3 million members.”
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Our Daily Thread 2-19-14
Good Morning!
Today’s header photo is from me.
Some of the photos I received will not load properly into the header. Something to do with pixel count. I’m too much of an amateur to figure it out properly. But they are lovely none the less. And I have figured out how to load them correctly on the page though. 🙂
This one makes me think of Spring, when all is new again. 🙂 It’s from Phos/Roscuro
On this day in 1807 former Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested in Alabama. He was later tried and acquitted on charges of treason.
In 1846 the formal transfer of government between Texas and the United States took place.
In 1878 Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph).
In 1942 President Roosevelt signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.
In 1942 the New York Yankees announced that they would admit 5,000 uniformed servicemen free to each of their home ball games during the coming season.
In 1945, during World War II, about 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima.
And in 2003, in West Warwick, RI, 99 people were killed when fire destroyed the nightclub The Station. The fire started with sparks from a pyrotechnic display being used by Great White. Ty Longley, guitarist for Great White, was one of the victims in the fire.
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Quote of the Day
“As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I’m not going to get the girl, and second, I’ll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.
As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I’m not going to get the girl, and second, I’ll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lee_marvin.html#HO4f5QZY67VAjBQb.99
As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I’m not going to get the girl, and second, I’ll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lee_marvin.html#HO4f5QZY67VAjBQb.99
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lee_marvin.html#HO4f5QZY67VAjBQb.99
As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I’m not going to get the girl, and second, I’ll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lee_marvin.html#HO4f5QZY67VAjBQb.99
As soon as people see my face on a movie screen, they knew two things: first, I’m not going to get the girl, and second, I’ll get a cheap funeral before the picture is over.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lee_marvin.html#HO4f5QZY67VAjBQb.99
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Today is Smokey Robinson’s birthday.
It’s Denny Correll’s birthday too.
And this song was completed today in 1964. This video is old. From Subtitleman, who puts lyrics to videos for the deaf and hard of hearing. 🙂
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 2-19-14
Anyone have a request or praise they’d like to share?
And it’s Wednesday, so don’t forget the folks in Gambia. 🙂
Psalm 27
¹The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
News/Politics 2-19-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Terror training centers in the US and Texas? And just imagine the people easily smuggled in across the unsecured southern border.
From PJMedia “The Clarion Project has unearthed Federal Bureau of Investigations documents detailing a 22-site network of terrorist training villages sprawled across the United States. According to the documents, the FBI has been concerned about these facilities for about 12 years, but cannot act against them because the U.S. State Department has not yet declared that their umbrella group, MOA/Jamaat ul-Fuqra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
MOA stands for Muslims of the Americas, which is linked to radical Pakistani Muslim cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. The FBI documents that Clarion has obtained show that the group is headquartered in the well known “Islamberg” compound in rural New York. The facility in Texas is known as “Mahmoudberg.” It’s located in Brazoria county on County Road 3 near Sweeny. Sweeny is in far south Texas, southwest of Houston. The town of about 4,000 is a little under three hours’ drive from the state capital in Austin.”
“The Mahmoudberg compound was the site of a shooting incident in 2002. One member of the group apparently shot another by accident. Members of the group did not cooperate with a law enforcement investigation of the incident, according to the FBI documents. Women in the group wore veils over their faces and were not allowed to communicate directly with law enforcement officers.”
“The FBI documents show that MOA members have been involved in at least 10 murders, a disappearance, three firebombings, an attempted firebombing, two explosive bombings and an attempted bombing.”
And yet DHS is busy with imaginary right-wing terrorists, rather than real ones.
You can read the report from the Clarion Project here.
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2. Denial, it’s not just a river you know. 🙂
From NationalJournal “For nearly three years, the Democratic approach to the political unpopularity of President Obama’s health care law was denial. Deny it played a significant role in the party’s historic midterm losses in 2010. Insist, in the face of contradictory evidence, that as more voters experienced the benefits of the law, the more popular it would become. Deny it would be a major issue at all in the 2014 midterms.
The latest version of the argument points to polling showing that voters don’t want to repeal the law but prefer to see it fixed—perfectly in line with the newly adopted positions of vulnerable Democratic officeholders. In a memo leaked to the press, Democrats argue they can neutralize their health care vulnerabilities by promoting their desire to fix the law and blaming Republicans for intransigence in seeking a full repeal. But dig a bit deeper past the talking points, and it’s unclear what they want to fix—beyond their broken poll numbers.
Indeed, in a sign that Democrats are stuck in neutral on their Obamacare messaging, the “news” from the memo is months old. The strategy devised by the sharpest party operatives has already been in effect in numerous ads across the country and was promoted by the party’s top strategists two months ago. In those targeted races, public polling has shown Democratic standing worsening where the on-air Obamacare debate has already begun. (See: Landrieu, Mary; Hagan, Kay.)
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3. The sad reality is that as illegal as this all is, Republicans won’t do a thing about it.
From NationalReview “The president issued an executive order last week purporting to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The order is unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court made clear in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer that “the President’s power, if any, to issue the [executive] order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself.” Furthermore, “when the president takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb, for then he can rely only upon his own constitutional powers minus any constitutional powers of Congress over the matter.”
Nothing in the Constitution grants the president authority to set or raise the minimum wage independently of an act of Congress. Furthermore, although the president generally has authority to improve the efficient discharge of federal contracts, the president’s minimum-wage order is incompatible with the expressed and implied will of Congress.
Congress has made its will regarding the minimum wage for federal contractors abundantly clear in four separate statutes: The Service Contract Act, the Davis Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under those statutes, the minimum wage for many, if not most, employees of federal contractors is the prevailing minimum wage for employees in the specific job classification in the locality where the work is to be performed. For the remaining classifications of employees for whom no prevailing minimum wage exists, the minimum wage is slotted into the minimum for similar jobs, or is governed by the minimum set by Congress in the Fair Labor Standards Act, i.e., $7.25.”
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4. The CBO has chimed in on the minimum wage issue. Jobs lost, cost increases for every consumer.
From Reuters “Raising the U.S. federal minimum wage to $10.10, as President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing, could result in about 500,000 jobs being lost by late 2016, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday.”
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5. In immigration news….
From TheHill “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he hopes President Obama will review possible administrative actions to halt the deportations of illegal immigrants now that reform legislation has stalled in Congress.
“I would hope that administratively, the president will do what he can to take a look at deportations, but he is being burdened by the law as it exists, and we need to change it,” Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.”
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6. Once again, the Koch Bros. get slammed for the same thing. But like with Soros, Democrats can’t see their own hypocrisy. If it’s a perversion of the system when one side does it, it should be on both, no?
From NBCNews “Billionaire climate-change activist Tom Steyer could spend $100 million in the 2014 midterm election season — and maybe even more — to help Democratic candidates, NBC News confirms.”
“Is it going to take $100 million? I have no idea,” Steyer told the New York Times, which first reported this story. “I think that would be a really cheap price to answer the generational challenge of the world.”
Steyer is one of the biggest — and wealthiest — opponents of the politically charged Keystone XL pipeline.”
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7. Buyers remorse.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Given a chance to do it all over again, only 79 percent of those who voted for President Obama would vote for him again and 71 percent of Obama voters now inclined to vote for somebody else “regret” their vote to reelect the president, according to a new poll.
The Economist/YouGov.com poll found that Obama would lose enough votes in a rematch with Mitt Romney that the Republican would win. “90 percent of people who voted for Romney would do it again, compared to only 79 percent of Obama voters who would,” said the poll.”
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Our Daily Thread 2-18-14
Good Morning!
Today’s photo is courtesy of Chas.
On this day in 1564 the artist Michelanglelo died in Rome.
In 1685 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle established Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay, and thus formed the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
In 1861, in Montgomery, AL, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.
In 1885 Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time.
In 1932 Sonja Henie won her 6th world women’s figure skating title in Montreal, Canada.
And in 2001 NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500 race.
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Quote of the Day
“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”
I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_schwab.html#CQLv6sHrKxUkLLA2.99
I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_schwab.html#CQLv6sHrKxUkLLA2.99
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Today is Juice Newton’s birthday.
And it’s Dennis DeYoung’s as well.
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Wandering Views 