Month: March 2014
News/Politics 3-24-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Is there any branch of government that isn’t spying on us? Sheesh. 😦
From TheWashingtonExaminer “A parking ticket, traffic citation or involvement in a minor fender-bender are enough to get a person’s name and other personal information logged into a massive, obscure federal database run by the U.S. military.
The Law Enforcement Information Exchange, or LinX, has already amassed 506.3 million law enforcement records ranging from criminal histories and arrest reports to field information cards filled out by cops on the beat even when no crime has occurred.
LinX is a national information-sharing hub for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. It is run by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, raising concerns among some military law experts that putting such detailed data about ordinary citizens in the hands of military officials crosses the line that generally prohibits the armed forces from conducting civilian law enforcement operations.”
________________________________________
2. This one is an update on the story from the other day of Pennsylvania’s Democrat AG dropping an investigation with video and audio recording of other Democrats taking bribes. She responded first by saying it was racist, and now she has lawyered up.
From HotAir “The decision of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane to drop the investigation and potential prosecution of Philadelphia Democrats who were recorded accepting cash, money orders, or jewelry certainly seems suspicious. According to news reports, investigators collected over 400 hours of audio and video of five Democrats, including four state lawmakers, before Kane, also a Democrat, secretly killed the investigation last fall. When confronted with this troubling story by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kane cited racism and mismanagement in the investigation, but the detailed descriptions of the recordings certainly seem to indicate that the payments were made.
Kane’s reaction to reports about her decision went from bad to worse. At first, she complained that white men were attacking her:”
“That was a pretty astounding escalation. It is not out of line to wonder why a state’s attorney general would drop an investigation which is said to have obtained detailed recordings of lawmakers taking bribes. The decision to dismiss the investigation under seal combined with Kane’s accusation that it was tainted by racism certainly is newsworthy and gives rise to an inference that, although we may not know exactly what went on here, something unusual did. That’s ordinarily a reason to give something more examination, not less.
But Kane, apparently frustrated by continuing scrutiny of her decision, has now escalated further, hiring counsel and suggesting that if the Inquirer continues to pursue the story, she would start suing people!“
________________________________________
3. This guy has a point. They don’t even try to hide it anymore.
From CNSNews “President Barack Obama’s policies “have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization,” Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the highest court at the Vatican, said in a recent interview.”
“In an interview first published in Polish in Polonia Christiana magazine and republished exclusively in English at LifeSite News, Cardinal Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, was asked about President Obama’s policies towards Christian civilization and if there are any “Catholic reactions against this policy? If yes, what are they, [or] if not, why?” “
“Cardinal Burke, who heads the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court at the Vatican, said: “It is true that the policies of the president of the United States of America have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization. He appears to be a totally secularized man who aggressively promotes anti-life and anti-family policies.””
________________________________________
4. Has the existence of the so-called “low information voter” been confirmed?
From AllenBWest “I’ve often pondered the question, “are Americans deep thinkers or just soundbite grabbers?” We now have quantitative proof.
As reported by Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post, a new study by the Media Insight Project, an initiative of the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute confirms the existence of the “low information voter.”
According to the study, 41 percent of Americans report that they watched, read, or heard any in-depth news stories, beyond the headlines, in the prior week.
However this means around 60 percent (six in 10) acknowledge they’ve done nothing more than read news headlines in the past week. Are you part of the 60 percent? Will you admit to being a low information voter? I do sometimes read comments posted to certain stories and realize some commenting have never read the entire piece — or at least lack basic skills in comprehension.”
Here’s the piece from the WashingtonPost.
________________________________________
5. Last one from me for today. A new study confirms that dumping more money into public education has not improved it in any state that’s tried it.
From HotAir “So many progressive “solutions” to public policy problems simply involve dumping money into a hole. Education is no different. From teachers’ unions to New York Times pundits, the answer is always “more money.” Conservatives doubt that solution – that just dumping money into the education system doesn’t actually improve student outcomes. This isn’t a new argument, but a new study out from the Cato Institute [pdf] finds that not a single state was able to improve their education outcomes by increasing the amount of taxpayer money they spent on education.
Author Andrew J. Coulson writes:
Not only have dramatic spending increases been unaccompanied by improvements in performance, the same is true of the occasional spending declines experienced by some states. At one time or another over the past four decades, Alaska, California, Florida, and New York all experienced multi-year periods over which real spending fell substantially (20 percent or more of their 1972 expenditure levels). And yet, none of these states experienced noticeable declines in adjusted SAT scores—either contemporaneously or lagged by a few years. Indeed, their score trends seem entirely disconnected from their rising and falling levels of spending.”
________________________________________
Our Daily Thread 3-22-14
Good Morning!
And Happy Saturday!
Today’s header photo is another pet rock. This one belongs to Janice. 🙂
On this day in 1457 the Gutenberg Bible became the first printed book.
In 1733 Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water (seltzer).
In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed. It was the first direct British tax on the American colonists. It was repealed on March 17, 1766.
In 1871 William Holden of North Carolina became the first governor to be removed by impeachment.
In 1903 Niagara Falls ran out of water due to a drought.
And in 1935 Persia was renamed Iran.
________________________________________
Quote of the Day
“The first and most important reason for its elimination is the unquestioned fact that evolution is not a science; it is a hypothesis only, a speculation.”
________________________________________
Today is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s birthday.
And this one is because I like these guys.
________________________________________
Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 3-22-14
Anyone have a request or praise they’d like to share?
Psalm 57
¹Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
Rants! and Raves! 3-22-14
It’s Saturday, so time for…
Rants! 😦
and
Raves! 🙂
News/Politics 3-22-14
What’s interesting in the news this weekend?
Open thread weekend.
Our Daily Thread 3-21-14
Good Morning!
Today’s header photo is from me.
On this day in 1788 almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed.
In 1790 Thomas Jefferson reported to President George Washington as the new secretary of state.
In 1851 Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death.
In 1905 sterilization legislation was passed in the State of Pennsylvania. The governor vetoed the measure.
And in 1928 President Calvin Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
________________________________________
Quote of the Day
“Our fear of hypocrisy is forcing us to live in a world where gluttons are fine, so long as they champion gluttony.”
________________________________________
Lot’s of choices today. We’ll start with the classics.
It’s Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday.
And in 1826, Beethoven debuted this in Vienna. The Avalon Quartet, from NIU SoM Official
It’s Bob Bennett’s birthday too. From CollegeParkWC
And it’s Karl Messner’s birthday as well. So we have the Christian version of Weird Al. 🙂
________________________________________
Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 3-21-14
Who has a request or praise they’d like to share?
And today let’s also pray for Mumsee and Mike at the Fisher’s Nest, as well as their many children.
Go Boise! 🙂
Psalm 56
¹Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
10 In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word.
11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
News/Politics 3-21-14
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread, with a few from me to start off.
1. The White House and other opponents of Voter ID will not be pleased with this.
From HotAir “Under the oh so august leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, the Obama administration has been doing their very best to thwart various states in their individual endeavors to implement voter ID laws. In this latest iteration of that ongoing battle, the Federal Election Assistance Commission has so far refused to help state officials in Kansas and Arizona change federal election registration forms to include proof of citizenship. Both states have new voter-ID measures that require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport, or other documentation to prove their citizenship, while the federal registration form only requires that new voters sign a statement declaring that they are citizens. On Wednesday, a federal judge basically told the Obama administration to stop deliberately getting in the states’ way on this one, via the LA Times:
A federal judge has ruled that Kansas and Arizona should be allowed to require voters to provide evidence of U.S. citizenship, in a case closely watched by both sides dealing with the question of voter eligibility.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kan., ruled that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission had no legal authority to deny requests from the two states to add the citizenship requirement. In the ruling, released Wednesday, he ordered the commission to revise the national form immediately. …
“This is a huge victory for the states of Kansas and Arizona,” Kobach said in a prepared statement emailed to reporters. “They have successfully protected our sovereign right to set and enforce the qualifications for registering to vote. We have now paved the way for all 50 states to protect their voter rolls and ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote.”
________________________________________
2. A lot of the damage this administration will inflict on the US will come long after it’s gone. But some of the judicial appointments are starting to join the party.
From JudicialWatch “A Homeland Security initiative to put fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border could discriminate against minorities, according to an Obama-appointed federal judge who’s ruled that the congressionally-approved project may have a “disparate impact on lower-income minority communities.”
This of course means that protecting the porous—and increasingly violent—southern border is politically incorrect. At least that’s what the public college professor at the center of the case is working to prove and this month she got help from a sympathetic federal judge. Denise Gilman, a clinical professor at the taxpayer-funded University of Texas-Austin, is researching the “human rights impact” of erecting a barrier to protect the U.S. from terrorists, illegal immigrants, drug traffickers and other serious threats.
A 2006 federal law orders the construction of fencing or a wall along the most vulnerable portions of the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. This includes reinforced fencing along 700 miles of the southwest border with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determining the exact spots. Professor Gilman wants the identities of the landowners in the planned construction site to shed light on the impact the fencing will have on indigenous, minority and low-income communities. The feds refused to provide the information, asserting that it’s private.”
“This is simply the latest controversy to strike the border fence project since Congress approved it to protect national security and curb an illegal immigration and drug-trafficking crisis. In the last few years the mayors of several Texas border towns have blocked federal access to areas where the fence is scheduled to be built, an Indian tribe tried to block the barrier in the Arizona desert by claiming the feds were intruding on tribal land and a group of government scientists claimed the fencing would threaten the black bear population.”
________________________________________
3. The fight between the CIA and Senate continues. Reid’s on the right side for a change.
From TheWashingtonPost “Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has escalated congressional concerns with alleged interference by the CIA in a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation by asking the Senate’s top law enforcement official to review computers used by committee staffers to investigate the agency’s controversial interrogation program.
Reid’s request comes as aides say he has grown convinced that the CIA overstepped its authority by attempting to interfere in the committee’s investigation into the interrogation program, the results of which may be released in the coming weeks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who leads the intelligence panel, first publicly accused the CIA of interfering in her investigation during a dramatic Senate floor speech last week.
Reid sent a letter to CIA Director John O. Brennan late Wednesday stating that he has asked the Senate Sergeant at Arms to review the computers used by committee investigators and asked that he grant proper security clearances and access to the computers. As part of the committee probe, the CIA set up a secret facility in Northern Virginia with computers where investigators were promised unfettered access to millions of documents describing the interrogation program.”
_________________________________________
4. But Harry ain’t gonna like this one. 🙂
Also from HotAir “How do you go from a warmly embraced team, which despite an undefeated record and a No. 1 seed is still viewed as a charming Cinderella most would like to see live up to the hype, to a hated, evil juggernaut program?
Probably like this, from an interview with the head coach of the Wichita State Shockers Gregg Marshall:
Carchia: Which living person do you most admire? Marshall: Charles Koch. He’s a Wichitan who owns the second-largest privately owned company, Koch Industries. He and his brother [David] are tied for the fourth-richest man in America, and he’s done it with great integrity and commitment to the community. He’s incredibly brilliant.“
😯 🙂
_________________________________________
Our Daily Thread 3-20-14
Good Morning!
Spring has officially sprung!! 🙂
Today’s header photo is from Peter.
In this one, I’m not sure what type of activity is going on, but I’m pretty sure Bosley is the lookout. 🙂
________________________________________
On this day in 1525 Paris’ parliament began its pursuit of Protestants.
In 1627 France & Spain signed an accord for fighting Protestantism.
In 1760 the great fire of Boston destroyed 349 buildings.
In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” subtitled “Life Among the Lowly,” was first published.
In 1868 the Jesse James Gang robbed a bank in Russelville, KY, of $14,000.
And in 1922 the USS Langley was commissioned. It was the first aircraft carrier for the U.S. Navy.
________________________________________
Quote of the Day
“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.”
________________________________________
Today is Jerry Reed’s birthday.
Today is also Ranger Doug’s birthday.
And it’s Slim Jim Phantom’s too.
________________________________________
Wandering Views 