Month: February 2014

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News/Politics 2-18-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

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1. I saw the same thing during the Clinton years. Whenever politicians decide it’s time to reduce forces, these sort of things happen.

From FoxNews  “The number of U.S. soldiers forced out of the Army because of crimes or misconduct has soared in the past several years as the military emerges from a decade of war that put a greater focus on battle competence than on character.

Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct more than tripled in the past three years. The number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drugs, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007, as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year.

The data reveals stark differences between the military services and underscores the strains that long, repeated deployments to the front lines have had on the Army’s soldiers and their leaders.”

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2. If shutting a few lanes on the GW get’s you an Inquisition style investigation, shouldn’t shutting down lanes all over the state get ya’ one too? After all NJ is getting snow again today. Running out of salt will close way more than 2 lanes on the GW.

From WFB  “The Obama Administration has not approved a waiver that would allow New Jersey quick access to tons of salt for ice-covered roads at a port in Maine despite the state being at dangerously low levels.

Townsquare Media reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the state’s request for a waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 law requiring that all cargo and passengers moving between points in the United States be transported on American vessels.

A waiver would have allowed New Jersey to get the salt within days from a foreign transport in Searsport, Maine.”

“We were pursuing a waiver, but we’ve been advised we wouldn’t get one,” Dee said. “It seems unlikely we will get it.” DHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.”

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3. Surprised? Me neither.

From Variety  “Despite its Biblical inspiration, Paramount’s upcoming “Noah” may face some rough seas with religious audiences, according to a new survey by Faith Driven Consumers.

The religious organization found in a survey that 98% of its supporters were not “satisfied” with Hollywood’s take on religious stories such as “Noah,” which focuses on Biblical figure Noah. Faith Driven Consumers has been tracking the viability of major Hollywood films courting faith-based audiences this year.”

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Our Daily Thread 2-17-14

Good Morning!

And Happy Presidents Day.

Today’s header photo is from Mumsee’s place.

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On this day in 1801 the U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Jefferson was elected president and Burr became vice president.

In 1876 Julius Wolff was credited with being the first to can sardines.

In 1933 Blondie Boopadoop married Dagwood Bumstead three years after Chic Young’s popular strip first debuted.

In 1944, during World War II, the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll began.  U.S. forces won the battle on February 22, 1944.

And in 1992 serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison.

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Quote of the Day

“I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”

George Washington

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Today is Gene Pitney’s birthday. He sang this song.

On this day in 1969 these two had a recording session in Nashville. This song is the only duet ever released from that session.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 2-17-14

Who would like to share a request or praise with us today?

Psalm 25

¹Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

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News/Politics 2-17-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Lots to talk about today. So I’ll be brief.

1. First Holder wants voting rights for felons, now he wants to fight efforts to ensure illegals can’t vote too. Or as Democrats call it, expanding their voter base.

From PJMedia  “Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard was in court today trying to stop Kansas from ensuring that only citizens register to vote. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, relying on a United States Supreme Court opinion of last year, asked the federal Election Assistance Commission to permit him to ensure that only citizens were registering to vote.

The Election Assistance Commission said no, so Kris Kobach went to federal court. Enter Eric Holder’s Justice Department, as usual, opposing election integrity measures.”

“Despite harping about resource concerns (which apparently means that the DOJ can do nothing about corrupted voter rolls), Holder found the time and money to send Bradley Heard to a hearing in Kansas to argue against Kobach’s election integrity measures.”

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2. Meanwhile their success in immigration court is dropping. By design, just another stealth amnesty program.

From Yahoo   “Nearly half of immigrants facing deportation are now winning their cases before an immigration judge, their highest success rate in more than 20 years, according to a new analysis of court data published Thursday.

The U.S. government has been losing more deportation cases each year since 2009, according to the Transaction Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which collects and studies federal prosecution records.”

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3. Joe Wilson was right.

From WeaselZippers  “Joe Wilson Was Right: Obamacare Recruiting Illegal Aliens To Sign Up”

“If you look at the nature of who the Obamacare navigators are, you can see who the outreach is geared toward, and it isn’t primarily the young and healthy ones that would sustain the system. Virtually none are geared toward universities or youth-oriented areas.

Most are geared toward minority and poor populations, particularly black and Hispanic populations. So what does that tell you about their orientation, or the intent to actually be a self-sustaining system?”

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4. And now we have yet another example of why the Obama admin is against background checks, and it shows why their navigators weren’t checked. They claim she was vetted though. Must have been vetted by the same people that vetted Obama.

From TheDenverPost  “A director with Colorado’s health-care exchange was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after it was discovered she has been accused of stealing from a nonprofit housing organization she oversaw in Montana.

Christa McClure, 51 is the director of partner engagement for Connect for Health Colorado, the state program that implements the Affordable Care Act in the state.”

“The eight-count indictment against McClure was filed in U.S. District Court in Billings, Mont., in January. McClure pleaded not guilty Feb. 6 and was released pending trial, according to the Billings Gazette.”

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5. Another ObamaCare lie.

From IJReview  “Along with Barack Obama’s promise of “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan,” was his declaration that “people with pre-existing conditions shouldn’t be penalized.”

Yeah, well, that was then and this is now. People with serious pre-existing diseases, precisely those Obama said the “Affordable Care Act” would help, could find themselves paying for expensive drug treatments with no help from the healthcare exchanges.”

“Those with expensive diseases such as lupus or multiple sclerosis face something called a “closed drug formulary.” Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute explains:

“If the medicine that you need isn’t on that list, it’s not covered at all. You have to pay completely out of pocket to get that medicine, and the money you spend doesn’t count against your deductible, and it doesn’t count against your out of pocket limits, so you’re basically on your own.”

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6. Here’s some news you probably hadn’t heard from the MSM.

From CNSNews  “On Feb. 7, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Northwestern  Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation agreed to  pay the family of Tonya Reaves, $2 million after she died from  hemorrhaging from a botched abortion in 2012. Reaves received the  abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic on 18 S. Michigan Ave in  Chicago, Ill.

“Planned  Parenthood is a billion dollar a year baby killing business,” Day  Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, told  CNSNews.com. “The money awarded to Tonya’s son is a pittance in  comparison to what they are worth – $2 million dollars is just a tiny  drop in a bottomless bucket. The truly sad thing is that no one can put a  dollar value on the life a human being – a life snuffed out way too  soon.”

“After the botched abortion took place at Planned Parenthood, Reaves bled for five and a half hours without medical treatment.

A  FOIA of the 911 calls from the Planned Parenthood location where Reaves  received her abortion shows that the clinic never called 911 on Reaves’  behalf, even after five and a half hours had elapsed.”

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7. This judge is obviously a Planned Parenthood supporter.

From Breitbart  “A Chicago judge has issued a controversial decision to reduce a fine handed down by state health department officials to an Illinois abortion clinic for violations of cleanliness and health codes. The judge reduced the massive $36,000 fine to a mere $77.

Cook County Circuit Judge Alexander White arbitrarily reduced the fine after the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) conducted a health inspection of the state’s abortion providers in 2011. The issuance of the fine was immediately disputed and has been coursing through the courts ever since.

The IDPH cited the clinic for such violations as storing food items in the same freezer that contained containers of fetal tissue, filthy floors, medication dispensing cups filled with crumbs of medication, recovery rooms with rusted walls, and other filthy conditions. The IDPH report also noted that one employee was re-using discarded paper towels on patients.

Worse, the IDPH charged the clinic for failing to perform CPR on a patient who soon died in its care.Judge White based his reduction of the fine on the claim that the owner of the clinic closed the facilities down and had only $77 left in the company bank account.”

What the judge ignored though was evidence that the clinic operator reopened under a new name in the same building in a matter of weeks, and even used the same website for advertising.

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8. The real War on Women.

From TownHall  “Having liberals claim that someone else is waging a “war on women” is like Anteaters claiming Ladybugs are making war on ants. Not only is the Left much more unfriendly to women than the Right, liberals are actually leaving a body count behind.

1) The Party of Infanticide: The liberals’ whole “safe, legal and rare” abortion  shtick has gone by the wayside and they’ve moved on to “Any reason’s a good reason.” Just this week, Iowa Democratic State Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell advocated aborting children to avoid “sleepless nights” and avoid “disciplinary challenges.” Even the Aztecs weren’t as zealous about sacrificing children as the modern Left has become and the carnage it’s left in its wake is comparable to any of history’s greatest monsters. More than 28 million female babies have been snuffed out since Roe v. Wade. That’s 28 million women who will never get to pretend to be a princess, ask their mother for advice or fall in love and get married. All of those poor girls were slaughtered like cattle and disposed of like garbage because of the same people who claim Republicans are waging a “war on women.”

“2) Excusing Horrible Liberal Behavior Toward Women: Ted Kennedy left a woman to slowly die in a tidal pool while he went home to sober up and plan to get away with his crime. Liberals loved him. As we speak, Massachusetts Rep. Carlos Henrique is in jail for beating his girlfriend and the New England Area Conference of the NAACP is fighting to keep him from being expelled from the state legislature. Bill Clinton has not only cheated on his wife over and over, he was credibly accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick. That has not given a single liberal pause. Roman Polanski is a liberal filmmaker who was convicted of raping a 13 year old girl and yet liberals defend him. What was it Whoopi Goldberg said? “I know it wasn’t rape-rape. I think it was something else, but I don’t believe it was rape-rape.” The reason it wasn’t “rape-rape” in her mind is because a prominent liberal man was involved. If everyone from MSNBC to the NAACP to NOW are willing to side with men who leave women to die, men who beat their girlfriends, and rapists over the women they victimize, what does that really tell you about liberals?”

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9. In other news Democrats want the IRS to continue harassing conservative groups.

From TheHill  “Senate Democrats facing tough elections this year want the Internal Revenue Service to play a more aggressive role in regulating outside groups expected to spend millions of dollars on their races.

In the wake of the IRS targeting scandal, the Democrats are publicly prodding the agency instead of lobbying them directly. They are also careful to say the IRS should treat conservative and liberal groups equally, but they’re concerned about an impending tidal wave of attack ads funded by GOP-allied organizations. Much of the funding for those groups is secret, in contrast to the donations lawmakers collect, which must be reported publicly.

 One of the most powerful groups is Americans for Prosperity, funded by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. It has already spent close to $30 million on ads attacking Democrats this election cycle.”

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10. Those dastardly Koch Bros. are the worst offenders.

Oh wait, no, they’re not. Not even close.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Charles and David Koch are the two most evil people in American politics, right? We know that because Jane Mayer proved it with her landmark “Covert Operations” tour de liberal force in 2010.

Well, it turns out that Mayer’s aim was off just a little, by like 58 slots on the all-time biggest donors in American politics list, as compiled by OpenSecrets.org.”

“So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are … wait for it … unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.”

“In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.”

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Our Daily Thread 2-15-14

Good Morning!

It’s Saturday!

We got 20 inches of snow, with 3-4 more today, and I’m in pretty bad shape as a result of clean-up efforts, so some posts are brief today.

I selected Kim’s header photo today in order to help us East coast folks think warm thoughts. 🙂

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Quote of the Day

“The problem with winter sports is that – follow me closely here – they generally take place in winter.”

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First today, some Josh Turner.

And this one kinda sums up the last few days.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 2-15-14

Anyone have a request or praise they’d like to share?

Psalm 24

¹The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

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Our Daily Thread 2-14-14

Good Morning!

valentines

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Today’s header photo is from Cheryl.

On this day in 1778 the Stars and Stripes was carried to a foreign port, in France, for the first time. It was aboard the American ship Ranger.

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell filed an application for a patent for the telephone.  It was officially issued on March 7, 1876.

In 1889, in Los Angeles, CA, oranges began their first trip to the east.

In 1912 the first diesel engine submarine was commissioned in Groton, CT.

In 1929 the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” took place in Chicago, IL. Seven gangsters who were rivals of Al Capone were killed.

And in 1989 the first satellite of the Global Positioning System was placed into orbit around Earth.

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Quote of the Day

1 Corinthians 13

¹If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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Since it’s all about love today, I guess the music should be too. 🙂

Next, PianoGuys

Next, Jars of Clay

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QoD?

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Prayer Requests 2-14-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 23

¹The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.