November 19, 2014 by the real Aj

Our Daily Thread 11-19-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1794 Britain’s King George III signed the Jay Treaty. It resolved the issues left over from the Revolutionary War.

In 1863 President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

In 1969 Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made man’s second landing on the moon.

And in 1985 President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

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Quote of the Day

“The chief duty of government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people.”

James A. Garfield

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Today is Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov’s birthday. From Cathedral of St.Andrew Men’s Choir

And here’s another. From the lady on piano, Irina Grayfer

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Anyone have a QoD?

November 19, 2014 by the real Aj

Prayer Requests 11-19-14

It’s Wednesday, so don’t forget to pray for the Gambia.

Anyone else have something they’d like to share?

Psalm 135

¹Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.

²Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

³Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

⁴For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

⁵For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

⁶Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

⁷He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

⁸Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.

⁹Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

¹⁰Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;

¹¹Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:

¹²And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

¹³Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.

¹⁴For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

¹⁵The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

¹⁶They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

¹⁷They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

¹⁸They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

¹⁹Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron:

²⁰Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

²¹Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

November 19, 2014 by the real Aj

News/Politics 11-19-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. A better question is why hasn’t the White House done the same?

From CNSNews “A State Department spokesman said Monday the administration was seeking clarity from the United Arab Emirates over its decision to list two American Muslim groups as terrorist organizations.

Spokesman Jeff Rathke seemed unaware that one of the two groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has long been engaged in outreach programs with the U.S. government.

He said the administration was “seeking to gain more information on why” the UAE had included include CAIR and the Muslim American Society (MAS) on the list. Others among the more than 80 groups listed ranged from the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda affiliates and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL).

CAIR and MAS have expressed shock at the move, with MAS saying it would look to the U.S. government to help.”

Which they will because they call them advisers instead of what they are.

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2. Here’s yet another example of Obama’s clueless foreign policy.

From TheFreeBeacon “Last month in Juba, the capital of the relatively new nation of South Sudan, a small motorcade carrying the U.S. ambassador got entangled with a larger convoy ferrying a senior government official. Frustrated with the delay, a soldier in the South Sudanese convoy got out of his truck, fired two shots into the bulletproof glass of one of the embassy vehicles, and rejoined his own motorcade, which drove away.

So it goes in Juba. Since last December, when an coup allegedly perpetrated against the country’s Dinka president by his Nuer vice president led to Dinka troops going house-to-house in Juba, murdering men, women and children and trucking their bodies out to the bush, a civil war has been underway. The fighting calmed through much of the middle of 2014, but the dry season has arrived. Traditionally in South Sudan, negotiating is for the wet season, and fighting renews at its conclusion.

To get a sense of scale, consider that researchers at the International Crisis Group estimate that at least 50,000 men, women, and children have died in the hostilities thus far. That’s the minimum estimate. To get the flavor of the nightmarish, madcap nature of the conflict, take a look at this report from VICE News, where the correspondent accompanies government (Dinka) troops to the front lines as they mount an amateurish offensive against the Nuer rebels, who promptly rout them.”

“American policy towards South Sudan is a disaster—such that there is a policy at all. When decisions come, they come—as is the case in most conflicts where American diplomats and soldiers are involved today—from the very top, with policy micromanaged from the offices of Susan Rice and Samantha Power. In terms of meaningful action, the policy has involved the levying of travel and financial sanctions on mid-level commanders and suspected human rights abusers, who must have been devastated when word arrived at their swamp redoubts beside the upper Nile that they are no longer permitted to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to sanctions, much hope has been invested in the ability of a regional coalition of neighboring states, organized as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development—IGAD, inauspiciously pronounced as Egad!—to broker a deal between the Dinka and the Nuer, the two tribal networks doing the fighting. IGAD includes among its members Uganda, which has troops in South Sudan backing the government-aligned Dinka, and Sudan, which is widely believed to be backing the rebel Nuers in an effort to act as a spoiler in its recently surrendered territory.”

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3. How to stop Obama’s amnesty plan.

From Bloomberg “There’s no evidence that any president, up to and including Barack Obama earlier in his tenure, ever thought that it would be proper to grant legal status to several million illegal immigrants unilaterally. Yet the president appears likely to do so very soon.

If that weren’t sufficiently outrageous as a constitutional matter, Obama’s stated rationale is worse. He is acting, he says, because Congress has not. It shouldn’t need to be explained that the refusal of Congress to pass legislation to the president’s liking isn’t a breakdown of the system that justifies an extraordinary presidential act.

The judgment that this diktat is improper doesn’t depend on the judgment that the policy Obama wants to impose is in itself wrong. I believe that the government should eventually grant legal status to most illegal immigrants — I’d even be happy to call it an “amnesty” — after it’s clear that immigration laws will be enforced at the border and the workplace going forward.”

“There could be a way out of this for Republicans. First, they should remember that in a democracy, even one that’s not working the way it should, argument and denunciation are never the same thing as “doing nothing.” Elected officials who disagree strongly with the president’s action should criticize it and try to make the president and his allies pay a political price for it.

But there may be more they can do. Why not try to pass a funding bill that pays for all of the operations of the federal government except for Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency in the Homeland Security Department that would carry out Obama’s order? They could then try to pass another bill that just funds that agency — but with a restriction saying no money can be used for the president’s amnesty.”

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4. Who’s the man? Well Gruber was, but not so much now….

From TheFreeBeacon “Former Obama administration official Steve Rattner said Jonathan Gruber was “the man” putting together Obamacare, contradicting President Obama’s statement that Gruber was merely “some advisor who never worked on our staff.”

“If you go back and look at the Washington Post or the New York Times or anything from that period, you will find Jonathan Gruber’s name all over it,” Rattner said. “Someone who’s a leading expert on health care, quoted by everybody, as someone who the White House was using.””

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5. An “Innocence Project” that helps convict innocent men? Talk about false advertising.

From FoxNews “Alstory Simon has always considered himself a forgiving person, but after being tricked into confessing to a double murder and spending 15 years in prison, he finds it hard to turn the other cheek.

In a case fraught with irony, Simon’s bitterness is directed at the Medill Innocence Project, an advocacy group dedicated to freeing innocent people. It was that group that he, and now prosecutors, accused of using threats, trickery and false promises to get a crack-addled Simon to say he killed two teens in a Chicago park in 1982. The confession of Simon led to his conviction and death sentence, but it also freed another man from death row and prompted Illinois to end capital punishment — ultimately sparing Simon himself from execution. “

“Members of the group, which was led by former Northwestern University Journalism Professor David Protess and included several students and a private investigator, confronted Simon in his home in 1999, telling him the mother of one of the victims had placed him with Porter at the scene and telling him they were working on a book about the murders.

“The Innocence Project had bum-rushed my house and accused me of murder,” recalled Simon, who was battling a drug problem at the time.

Simon denied any involvement in the murders, but the group persisted. Days later, it sent private investigator Paul Ciclino and another man to Simon’s home, with both flashing guns and Chicago Police Department badges. They urged Simon to confess if he wanted to avoid the death penalty, according to Simon.”

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6. And here I thought we didn’t negotiate with terrorists?

From TheWashingtonPost “Following weeks of intense negotiations, local police officials and Ferguson protesters have agreed to a dozen policies for how any future protests will be policed — but have yet to reach consensus over whether tear gas and riot gear will be used or whether the protesters will get advance notice of when the grand jury will announce its decision regarding Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson.

The negotiations have centered on 19 “Rules of Engagement” proposed by a coalition of 50 community and civil rights groups in an effort to avoid the violent clashes that brought worldwide attention to Ferguson after the shooting of a black teenager in August.

The list is largely a docket of best police practices, such as “the first priority shall be preservation of human life” and “excessive force and other forms of police misconduct will not be tolerated.” In general, protesters have agreed to peaceful demonstrations if police don’t interfere, while police have agreed to respect demonstrators’ right to assemble as long as there is no violence.

Negotiations on Tuesday continued to stall, however, over seven of the proposals, including the coalition’s request to give protesters 48 hours’ notice prior to the grand jury announcement.”

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November 18, 2014 by the real Aj

Our Daily Thread 11-18-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1820 Captain Nathaniel Palmer became the first American to sight the continent of Antarctica.

In 1883 the U.S. and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones.

In 1916 Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I, called off the Battle of the Somme in France. The offensive began on July 1, 1916.

And in 1985 Joe Theismann (Washington Redskins) broke his leg after being hit by Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants), and it ended Theismann’s 12 year career.

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Quote of the Day

“God is sufficient in all ages for His church.”

John Nelson Darby

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Today is Anthony Warlow’s birthday. From Opera Australia

Here’s another from Anthony. Since Donna officially started the Christmas music yesterday, I’ve decided to follow her lead. 🙂

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Anyone have a QoD?

November 18, 2014 by the real Aj

Prayer Requests 11-18-14

Does anyone have something they’d like to share?

Psalm 134

¹Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.

²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.

³The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

November 18, 2014 by the real Aj

News/Politics 11-18-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Obama’s 10 point amnesty plan.

But hey, at least they’re gonna spend some on border security….allegedly. 🙄

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2. I wasn’t even aware we had a court like this. But like all the others, it’s govt. run, so delays and inefficiency are to be expected. And isn’t this kind of an admission that some of these might be unsafe for kids?

From TheAP “While Jeffrey’s injuries were devastating, his parents were told they might not have to bear the costs alone. The doctor explained that Jeffrey could apply for lifelong care paid for by the federal government. The program’s premise is simple: quickly and generously support people in the rare cases when a shot to prevent a sickness such as flu or measles instead is the likely cause of serious health complications.

But 11 years would pass before the McCord family would receive its first check.”

“To investigate vaccine court in depth, the AP read hundreds of decisions, conducted more than 100 interviews, and analyzed a database of more than 14,500 cases. That database was current as of January 2013; the government has refused to release an updated version since. Among the AP’s findings:

-Private attorneys have been paid tens of millions of taxpayer dollars even as they clog the court with more cases than they can handle, some of which the court rejected as totally inadequate. The court offers a financial incentive to over-file – unlike typical civil court cases, attorneys are paid whether or not they win, as was the case with more than 5,000 losing claims that vaccines caused the developmental disability autism. Those who double-bill for their time or consistently submit questionable expenses are not disciplined.

– Prominent attorneys have enlisted expert witnesses whose own work has been widely discredited, including one who treated autism with a potent drug used to chemically castrate serial rapists. Another doctor cribbed his material from an anti-vaccine website. Some of the most prominent experts set up nonprofits questioning vaccine safety, further fueling public skepticism. Meanwhile, many doctors hired by the government to defend vaccine safety in court have ties to the pharmaceutical industry.”

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3. More waste, fraud, and abuse of the food stamp program.

From TheFreeBeacon “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued over $2.4 billion in improper payments on food stamps in fiscal year 2014, according to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).”

“In addition, 15.25 percent of payments through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) were improper, totaling $1.748 billion. Thirty million children participate in the program, including 21 million who receive free or reduced price lunch from the federal government.

The school breakfast program accounted for $923 million in improper payments, with a rate of 25.61 percent, the highest reported. The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program issued $206 million improper payments, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides food and snacks to day cares, issued $10 million worth of improper payments.

In all, the OIG reported $5.325 billion in improper payments from these five programs, the vast majority of which were overpayments.”

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November 17, 2014 by the real Aj

Our Daily Thread 11-17-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1558 Elizabeth I ascended the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary Tudor.

In 1796 Catherine the Great of Russia died at the age of 67.

In 1904 the first underwater submarine journey was taken, from Southampton, England, to the Isle of Wight.

In 1913, in Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm banned the armed forces from dancing the tango.

And in 1973 President Nixon told an Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, FL, “people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

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Quote of the Day

“Discipline strengthens the mind so that it becomes impervious to the corroding influence of fear.”

Bernard Law Montgomery

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Today is Gordon Lightfoot’s birthday.

Today is also Jeff Buckley’s birthday.

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Anyone have a QoD?

November 17, 2014 by the real Aj

Prayer Requests 11-17-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share?

Psalm 133

¹Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

²It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

³As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

November 17, 2014 by the real Aj

News/Politics 11-17-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The case against executive action amnesty, from President Obama’s own mouth.

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2. And yet…..

From CNSNews “The Obama administration announced on Friday a plan to create a new refugee/parole program for children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras whose parents are legal residents of the United States.

“This program will allow certain parents who are lawfully present in the United States to request access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for their children still in one of these three countries,” the State Department said in a news release. The department added that “[c]hildren who are found ineligible for refugee admission but still at risk of harm may be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis.”

The State Department said the new, in-country program is a “safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are currently undertaking to the United States.””

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3. His plans are definitely taking a toll on ICE workers.

From TheWashingtonExaminer “Morale among officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, already low, has reached a new bottom as illegal immigrants expecting amnesty from President Obama taunt and ridicule the overworked officers, according to a new report.

“Yes,” said one, “working for this agency is hell right now.”

That was the latest message to immigration policy critic Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. She has charted the woes of the officers who carry out the president’s orders.

In a new paper, she wrote:

“The president’s gradual, calculated dismantling of our immigration system has caused morale to plummet in the agencies of the Department of Homeland Security. Career immigration officials have courageously objected in public, and sometimes resorted to lawsuits to draw attention to the administration’s subversion of the law. In denial about their principled objections to his scheme, now the president is hoping to stifle their voices by offering them a pay increase as part of this outrageous plan. His assumption that they are motivated by money shows just how little respect he has for the men and women who have devoted their careers to public service in immigration.”

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