Month: March 2014

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Our Daily Thread 3-8-14

Good Morning!

And Happy Saturday!

We finally have a 4 days stretch of warm weather on the way. 🙂

Today’s header photo is the Amazing Spider Cat, aka Bosley.

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On this day in 1855 a train passed over the first railway suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, NY.

In 1887 the telescopic fishing rod was patented by Everett Horton. 🙂

In 1894 a dog license law was enacted in the state of New York. It was the first animal control law in the U.S.

In 1948 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public schools was unconstitutional.

And in 1965 the U.S. landed about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam. They were the first U.S. combat troops to land in Vietnam. 

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Quote of the Day

“A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his audience, for the revealing of his own humour will stimulate a like humour in the listener.”

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

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Today we start with a request, for his 300 birthday. From Norwegian Chamber Orchestra

It’s also Mickey Dolenz’s birthday.

And it’s Lew DeWitt’s too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-8-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 43

¹Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

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News/Politics 3-8-14

What’s interesting in the news this weekend?

Open thread weekend!

Here’s 2 to ponder.

1. The daughter of Obama’s former pastor has been convicted of fraud.

From MSNNews  “The daughter of President Barack Obama’s former pastor was convicted on Friday of laundering thousands of dollars from a state grant for a Chicago-area job-training program, federal prosecutors said.

A federal jury took less than two hours to find Jeri Wright, 48, the daughter of Jeremiah Wright, guilty on all counts for her part in a fraud scheme led by a former suburban police chief and the chief’s husband, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield.

The $1.25 million state grant was for a not-for-profit work and education program called We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, owned by Regina Evans, former police chief of Country Club Hills, and her husband, Ronald Evans Jr.”

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2. Now I kept thinking I’d heard of this program before, and I was correct. Obama has started the same kinda program.

From CNN  “President Barack Obama spoke Thursday at the White House, where he announced “My Brother’s Keeper” – a new initiative to help young men and boys of color succeed.

He described the program as one that “goes to the very heart of why I ran for President” and dove into his own life to explain why such an initiative is needed, speaking candidly about his father, drugs and race.

A White House official said Obama improvised a good portion of his remarks and was more emotional than many planners of the event had anticipated.”

The same kinda program, also with roots in Chicago. Do you doubt for a minute the federal program won’t be a fraud filled affair as well? Birds of a feather and all. This is how they operate, it’s from the same playbook, Community Organizer 101.

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Our Daily Thread 3-7-14

Good Morning!

It’s finally Friday!! 🙂

Today’s header photo is from Cheryl.

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On this day in 1774 the British closed the port of Boston to all commerce.

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell received a patent (U.S. Patent No. 174,465) for his telephone. 

In 1908 Cincinnati’s mayor, Mark Breith announced before the city council that, “Women are not physically fit to operate automobiles.” 😯

In 1933 the board game Monopoly was invented.  

In 1965 state troopers and a sheriff’s posse broke up a march by civil rights demonstrators in Selma, AL.

And in 1981 anti-government guerrillas in Colombia executed the kidnapped American Bible translator Chester Allen Bitterman.

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Quote of the Day

“Magnetism, as you recall from physics class, is a powerful force that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators.”

Dave Barry

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Today is Kevin Mills’ birthday. From NewsboysVEVO

And it’s composer Joseph Maurice Ravel’s too. From SacriEstaTrio

And it’s composer Heino Eller’s as well. From ClassicalArtist

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-7-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 42

¹As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8 Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

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News/Politics 3-7-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread.

1. This one isn’t surprising. After all, the amount they were funding was a joke anyway. And Obama would much rather direct this money to Planned Parenthood.

From CNSNews  “President Barack Obama wants to eliminate funding for abstinence education funding in his 2015 budget, which he sent to Congress on Tuesday.

 In the “Cuts, Consolidations, and Savings” portion of the budget, it shows that the $5 million funding to Health and Human Services (HHS) through its Title V Maternal and Child Health Program that was included in the 2014 budget is not part of Obama’s latest budget.

Supporters of “sexual risk avoidance” – or SRA abstinence education programs – expressed the need for such programs and the across-the aisle-approval of them by parents.

“By eliminating SRA (sexual risk avoidance) abstinence programs in his budget, the President has, once again chosen to ignore the wishes of parents and the approach that helps youth avoid all risk associated with teen sex,” Valerie Huber, president of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA), said in a statement on Wednesday.

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2. He’d rather Planned Parenthood receive the money for stuff like this.

From LifeNews  “Planned Parenthood’s Elokin CaPece is on a global mission—to make “sexperts” of students across the mid-south and send them forth to indoctrinate the world. The University of Memphis campus newspaper, The Daily Helmsman, is hawking “sexpert” training at Planned Parenthood, “offering students the opportunity to become educators and advocates for sexual health and safety on college campuses throughout the MidSouth.”

CaPece, education director for Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, is quoted in the article: “I hope sexperts becomes a revolution. . . . That we teach you what you need to know about sex and you go and teach the world.” For a Baptist turned Catholic like me, that sounds a lot like a bastardization of “The Great Commission” found in Matthew 28:18-20.

How do these Planned Parenthood trained “sexperts” see their mission? “I just want everyone to do what they want as long as they’re safe and to destigmatize the idea that sex is bad or wrong, outside of the context of marriage,” a senior University of Memphis sexpert graduate says. Her analysis is much more honest and on point than the explanations given by Planned Parenthood.”

“The culture in the U.S. conveys the negatives of sex to people, emphasizing the risks of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases and infections that can be contracted through skin-to-skin contact or body fluids. Many times, sex creates a list of negative consequences and CaPece shares how Planned Parenthood is breaking that barrier. “Planned Parenthood is a sex-positive place. Sex should be positive and sexuality is a part of everyone no matter how you portray it,” CaPece said.

Why fund abstinence education when you have programs like this? This will obviously work so much better…. 🙄

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3. Warrantless searches and cell-phone tapping. Not from the feds, but from your local PD.

From WatchDog.org  “Recent court documents reveal a troubling cell phone surveillance program conducted by a Florida police department against unsuspecting cell phone users.

Attempts to keep the practice secret, even from judges, is raising questions as to just how prevalent police spying is within the Sunshine State.”

“Now on appeal, courtroom deliberations revealed last week that the Tallahassee Police Department used a Stingray 200 times since 2010 without seeking a warrant.

“This record makes it very clear that (Tallahassee Police Department) were not going to get a search warrant because they had never gotten a search warrant for this technology,” an appeals court judge said.”

Welcome to the police state. Please check your rights at the door.

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4. The number of victims of the terrorist group Boko Haram continues to grow.

From TheDailyStar  “A Catholic bishop says Islamic insurgents have destroyed 20 churches in northeastern Nigeria  in recent attacks.

Bishop Oliver Dashe Dome  says more than 500 of his parishioners have been killed since insurgency in the region began in 2009. At least 180 people have been killed in less than two weeks, including 60 children.

Boko Haram  insurgents advocate a harsh version of Islamic law and have threatened the Christian minority in northern  Nigeria in the past.  However, their victims have also been Muslim.”

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Our Daily Thread 3-6-14

Good Morning!

Today’s header photo is from Peter.

On this day in 1521 Ferdinand Magellan discovered Guam. 

In 1808, at Harvard University, the first college orchestra was founded.

In 1836 the thirteen-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and his army ended. 

In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision ruled that blacks could not sue in federal court to be citizens. 

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. heavy bombers began the first American raid on Berlin.  Allied planes dropped 2000 tons of bombs.

And in 1960 the United States announced that it would send 3,500 troops to Vietnam.

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Quote of the Day

“Many believe – and I believe – that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”

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On this day in 1825 “Beethoven’s Opus 127, String Quartet #12” was performed for the first time. Here’s a sample. From Jasper String Quartet

In 1853 Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” debuted in Venice. Here’s a sample of that one.

And it’s the birthday of Wes Montgomery. In one word, smooth.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-6-14

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

Psalm 41

¹Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

2 The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

3 The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

4 I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

10 But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

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News/Politics 3-6-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, with a few to start things off.

1. This should make healthcare sooo much easier…. 🙄

From TheWeeklyStandard  “Ever considered suicide by jellyfish? Have you ended up in the hospital after being injured during the forced landing of your spacecraft? Or been hurt when you were sucked into the engine of an airplane or when your horse-drawn carriage collided with a trolley?”

“But should any of these unfortunate injuries befall you after October 1, 2014, your doctor, courtesy of the federal government, will have a code to record it. On that date, the United States is scheduled to implement a new system for recording injuries, medical diagnoses, and inpatient procedures called ICD-10​—​the 10th version of the International Classification of Diseases propagated by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. So these exotic injuries, codeless for so many years, will henceforth be known, respectively, as T63622A (Toxic effect of contact with other jellyfish, intentional self-harm, initial encounter), V9542XA (Forced landing of spacecraft injuring occupant, initial encounter), V9733XA (Sucked into jet engine, initial encounter), and V80731A (Occupant of animal-drawn vehicle injured in collision with streetcar, initial encounter).

The coming changes are vast. The number of codes will explode​—​from 17,000 under the current system to 155,000 under the new one, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The transition to ICD-10 was planned long before Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. But Obama administration officials say it is a critical part of the coming reforms. “ICD-10 is the foundation for health care reform,” said Jeff Hinson, a CMS regional administrator, in a conference call about ICD-10 for providers in Colorado.”

138,000 new codes is sure to streamline things. 🙄

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2. Good. A little bi-partisan common sense. Having an NAACP lawyer in charge of this division was a bad idea.

From RollCall  “Seven Senate Democrats joined Republicans to block President Barack Obama’s pick of Debo P. Adegbile to lead the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division amid a controversy over his legal defense of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.”

“Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Chris Coons of Delaware, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and John Walsh of Montana all voted no. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also voted no in order to preserve his right to reconsider the vote. If Adegbile had mustered just two more votes plus Reid, Vice President Joseph Biden was on hand to cast a possible tie-breaking vote.”

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3. She did it again. Time for a contempt citation.

From TheDailyMail  “Former IRS official Lois Lerner refused for a second time on Wednesday to testify about her role in a scheme to target conservative organizations that applied for tax-exempt status during President Barack Obama’s first term in office. Lerner risks arrest if she is found in contempt of Congress.

The House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee ruled on June 21, 2013 that Lerner, formerly in charge of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations office, waived her right to invoke the Fifth Amendment during a May 22 hearing when she insisted in a lengthy opening statement that she had done nothing wrong.

Wednesday’s continuation of that hearing was a brief affair, with Oversight Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Darrell Issa adjourning it after Lerner cited the Fifth amendment again and refused to answer questions.”

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4. Did he know? Of course he did. And do you really think the DoJ will do anything about it? Of course they won’t.

From HotAir  “If you missed the morning post on this topic, the short version is that the CIA’s Inspector General has called for a Justice Department probe into alleged CIA snooping on a Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI) investigation into Bush-era interrogation and detention activities by the agency. Now a letter written by a Democratic Senator to Barack Obama this week suggests that the President knew of the snooping before it went public today (via Glenn Reynolds):

“A leading US senator has said that President Obama knew of an “unprecedented action” taken by the CIA against the Senate intelligence committee, which has apparently prompted an inspector general’s inquiry at Langley.”

“As you are aware, the CIA has recently taken unprecedented action against the committee in relation to the internal CIA review and I find these actions to be incredibly troubling for the Committee’s oversight powers and for our democracy,” Udall wrote to Obama on Tuesday.”

“Independent observers were unaware of a precedent for the CIA spying on the congressional committees established in the 1970s to check abuses by the intelligence agencies.” That’s because such spying is illegal. I wonder who else, inside and outside the various branches of government, was being similarly spied upon. And what was done with the information learned. (Bumped, because this seems big.)”

Sure it’s big, but do you really think the press will pursue it? I have zero confidence in that.

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5. Another unlawful ObamaCare delay. I’m sure Hillary is pleased. This attempt to provide cover to Dems will drop the other shoe just as she seeks the presidency.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it would allow insurers to issue until October 2016 health plans that do not meet Obamacare regulations, pushing back another Affordable Care Act deadline well past November’s midterms.

Facing the prospect of another wave of cancellation notices this fall, the administration took even further action to mitigate the blowback from President Obama’s broken promise that all Americans could keep their health care plans under Obamacare.

The Department of Health and Human Services had already given insurers the option of continuing those plans facing cancellation through 2014, and on Wednesday said those policies could remain in effect an additional two years.”

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