Month: November 2014

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Prayer Requests 11-8-14

Anyone have a request or praise to share?

Psalm 126

¹When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

3 The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

4 Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

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Our Daily Thread 11-7-14

Good Morning!

It’s Friday!!!

And that’s Bosley!

Also, it has come to my attention that someone has a birthday today….  

Happy Birthday Donna! 🙂

For you.

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On this day in 1637 Anne Hutchinson, the first female religious leader in the American colonies, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for heresy.   

In 1837, in Alton, IL, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy was shot to death by a mob (supporters of slavery) while trying to protect his printing shop from a third destruction. 

In 1895 the last spike was driven into Canada’s first transcontinental railway in the mountains of British Columbia. 

And in 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first person to win a fourth term as president. 

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Quote of the Day

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”

Billy Graham

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 Today is William Alwyn’s birthday. From Julian.D. Metzger, the man playing cello.

And since it’s Rev. Graham’s, that’s as good a reason as any for some GBS.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 11-7-14

Today is Friday, so please remember to pray for Mumsee, Mike, and the young folks at The Nest.

Anyone else care to share something?

Psalm 125

¹They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

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News/Politics 11-7-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Of course they are. That’s exactly what I would expect sore losers to do. I hope Harry doesn’t get too crazy. After all, whatever he does with 51 votes, can be undone with 51 votes, thanks to his nuclear option.

From TheWashingtonPost  “Before ceding full control of Congress to the GOP in January, Senate Democrats are planning to rush a host of critical measures to President Obama’s desk, including bills to revive dozens of expired tax breaks and avoid a government shutdown for another year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is also aiming to chip away at a backlog of presidential nominations to the federal bench and the State Department over the next month, although Democratic aides say they will be unable to process all of the hundreds of pending appointments before turning the chamber over to Republicans.

Republican leaders, too, are inclined to clear the legislative decks of must-pass bills so they can start fresh in January, when they will have control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in eight years. Leaders from both parties are due at the White House for a lunch Friday to begin discussing the parameters of the possible in a new era of Republican domination.

At his first news conference since the GOP landslide at the polls this week, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday warned Obama to abandon his “go-it-alone” strategy of governing by executive order and to begin looking for areas of compromise with Congress.”

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2. Everything is bigger in Texas…. including Wendy Davis’ loss. 🙂

From NationalReview  “Wendy, we barely knew ye! Actually, that’s not true. We knew Wendy Davis well — too well. It is difficult to think of a more overexposed candidate in the 2014 election cycle.

We knew (from the get-go) that she was a publicity-stunt actress with show-stopping athletic shoes made famous when she spoke for eleven hours in favor of a woman’s “right” to kill her unborn child. We knew that she was the type of woman who leaves her husband and children in Texas to attend Harvard Law School, then divorces said husband the day after he pays her final law-school bill. And we found that she had — like many another brand-name politician — a politically convenient memory of myriad personal details. Of course, her memory was infallible when it came to the memoir she released less than two months before the election.

In case that was not enough, we found out, too, that she was not suited to running for homecoming queen, let alone governor of a state with an economy the size of two Switzerlands, about the functioning of which she seemed to be perilously confused. And if she was not on the campaign trail failing Civics 101, she was excelling in Advanced Mudslinging, accusing her wheelchair-bound opponent of exploiting his disability for votes, or of threatening to rescind the right to interracial marriage — despite the fact that he is married to a Hispanic woman.

As I wrote in my pre-mortem postmortem of the Wendy Davis campaign two weeks ago, Davis’s candidacy will never rise to the levels of infamy achieved by Todd Akin and Christine O’Donnell, because she had the benefit of a “D” next to her name. But Davis was a worse candidate than either, victimized not by a single foolish comment, but by managing to step on more rakes than Sideshow Bob. Adding to that was her determination to double down on those mistakes, so that she often looked not just bumbling, but mean.”

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3. They never learn. 

From AOL.com  “One of the longest-held prisoners at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay was sent home to Kuwait on Wednesday, the first release based on the determination of a review panel that has been re-evaluating some men previously classified as too dangerous to release.

Fawzi al-Odah had been told his release was imminent but didn’t know the date until shortly before he boarded the flight back to his country from the base in southeast Cuba, his lawyer, Eric Lewis, said.

The 37-year-old al-Odah had been the focus of an arduous battle to secure his release that had the support of his government. Lewis, who spoke to him about a week before the departure, said the prisoner just wanted to get on with life.”

“The release of al-Odah was criticized by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a chief proponent of keeping the prison open. The New Hampshire Republican called it “yet another dangerous example of the Obama administration’s misguided motivation to empty and then close Guantanamo rather than protect the national security interests of the United States.””

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4. Huh. The mainstream press appears to have missed this story. I wonder why….? 🙄

Are they afraid to arrest her because they fear more riots? They’re gonna happen either way.

From TheDailyMail  “Michael Brown’s mother has been named as one of the ‘attackers’ who assaulted and robbed vendors selling t-shirts commemorating the youngster’s death.

A report from Ferguson police identified Lesley McSpadden, 34, as one of a group of up to 30 people that ran into the tent and ransacked the stall in the Missouri city on Saturday October 18. 

Pearlie Gordon, 54, Brown’s mother-in-law, and two men were selling ‘Justice for Mike Brown’ merchandise when the subjects ‘jumped out of vehicles and rushed them’ during what police are classifying as an armed robbery.”

“More than $1500 in merchandise and $400 in cash ‘was stolen by unknown subjects’ who managed to escape before police arrived.”

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More here, from TheSmokingGun  “A police report detailing a fight last month between members of Michael Brown’s family over the sale of commemorative t-shirts identifies the late teenager’s mother as one of the “attackers” who beat and robbed vendors selling the merchandise from a tent in a Ferguson, Missouri parking lot.

A copy of the Ferguson Police Department report was provided yesterday by city attorney Stephanie Karr. When TSG requested the document two weeks ago, Karr noted that Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, was “described in the report” and had “specifically requested that the report be withheld from the media.”

“McSpadden’s mother, Desureia Harris, began to rip down t-shirts hanging on a line, Gordon told officers. Then, she added, other members of the group began “tearing her booth apart.” Gordon (seen at left) said that during the melee she was repeatedly struck in the head and knocked to the ground.

At one point, Gordon recalled, she heard McSpadden “yell to an unknown subject, ‘That’s Calvina’s mom, get her @#%.” [Calvina is the first name of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife.] “McSpadden then ran up and punched Gordon,” according to the report.

Gordon’s male associates were also beaten–reportedly with a pipe–during the confrontation, and one of the men was transported by EMS workers to a local hospital for treatment of “injuries sustained during the assault.”

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Our Daily Thread 11-6-14

Good Morning!

Fish. It’s what’s for dinner.

It’s cold and rainy in the Northeast. So think sunny and warm. This pick from Michelle will help.

palmtrees

On this day in 1861 the inventor of basketball, James Naismith, was born. 

In 1894 William C. Hooker received a patent for the mousetrap. 

In 1935 Edwin H. Armstrong announced his development of FM broadcasting. 

And in 1967 Phil Donahue began a TV talk show in Dayton, OH. The show then continued to be on the air for 29 years. 

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Quote of the Day

“Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself.”

“Sincere composers believe in God.”

John Philip Sousa

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 Today is Ignacy Paderewski’s birthday.

And it’s John Philip Sousa’s too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 11-6-14

It’s Thursday, so please remember to pray for Jo and the folks in PNG.

Anyone else?

Psalm 124

¹If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

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Peter’s Pack of Pickled Pigskin Picks- Week 11

This week is hard to pick. A lot of the best teams are playing easy games. While it would be nice for someone to get all ten games correct for once, I wouldn’t want everyone doing so. Therefore, along with some of the blog favorites, I picked some games that involve Top 25 teams, or other games with evenly matched teams, including the Pillow Fight. And I think for the first time there are four teams from Texas. I must have a disease or something. Thus, I present your Week 11 choices:

  1. #13 Baylor @ #18 Oklahoma – Could this one decide the Big 12?

  2. #10 Notre Dame @ #9 Arizona State – I can’t remember these two ever meeting. Not that I care about either team.

  3. #5 Alabama @ #16 LSU – About the only SEC game that seems it’ll be a contest.

  4. Texas A&M @ #3 Auburn – Okay, so there are two SEC games of interest.

  5. #16 Ohio State @ #8 Michigan State – This game is more important than OSU-Michigan later on.

  6. Louisville @ Boston College – Haven’t had the ACC here much. So here they are.

  7. Boise State @ New Mexico – Broncos and Lobos (Wolves). A true wild West match-up.

  8. Colorado @ #19 Arizona – My Wildcats still have a slim chance in the PAC-12 South. This will help.

  9. Pillow Fight SMU (0-7) @ Tulsa (1-7) – I guess in the big scheme, this is meaningless. But it’s fun!

  10. Tie Breaker #20 WVU @ Texas – Tychicus chose this one. Guess the winner and the score.

The first game is at 12 noon EST Saturday, so get your picks in by then, whether you live in Georgia, USA or Georgia in Asia.

Winner decided on Sunday or Monday, depending on how busy I am.

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News/Politics 11-6-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The voters have spoken and he doesn’t like what they said.

From TheAP  “For anyone expecting postelection contrition at the White House or vows to change course after a disastrous election for Democrats, President Barack Obama had one message Wednesday: Think again.

A day after Democrats lost control of the Senate and suffered big losses in House and governors’ races across the country, Obama struck a defiant tone. He defended his policies, stood by his staff and showed few signs of changing an approach to dealing with congressional Republicans that has generated little more than gridlock in recent years.

Rather than accept the election results as a repudiation of his own administration, the president said voters were disenchanted with Washington as a whole. And rather than offering dour assessments of his party’s electoral thrashing, as he did after the 2010 midterms, the president insisted repeatedly that he was optimistic about the country’s future.”

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2. And speaking of defiant….

From TheCharlotteObserver  “Two weeks after he lost his right to vote, former Charlotte mayor and convicted felon Patrick Cannon apparently cast a ballot.

That vote, which was officially challenged Tuesday night, would violate Cannon’s bond and could put him back before a judge, said Greg Forrest, chief of the U.S. Probation Office in Charlotte.

It may even mean the 47-year-old Democrat goes to prison sooner.

“Let’s cut to the chase: He shouldn’t have done that, and we’re going to talk to him tomorrow (Wednesday),” Forrest told the Observer.”

Lock him up and add a new charge.

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3. 5 Democrat myths have been exposed as false.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “As Democratic losses mounted in Senate races across the country on election night, some liberal commentators clung to the idea that dissatisfied voters were sending a generally anti-incumbent message, and not specifically repudiating Democratic officeholders. But the facts of the election just don’t support that story.

Voters replaced Democratic senators with Republicans in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia and likely in Alaska, and appear on track to do so in a runoff next month in Louisiana. At the same time, voters kept Republicans in GOP seats in heavily contested races in Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky. That is at least 10, and as many as a dozen, tough races, without a single Republican seat changing hands. Tuesday’s voting was a wave alright — a very anti-Democratic wave.

In addition to demolishing the claim of bipartisan anti-incumbent sentiment, voters also exposed as myths five other ideas dear to the hearts of Democrats in the last few months:

1) The election wouldn’t be a referendum on President Obama.”

“4) Women would save Democrats.”

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4. How do you know they’re missing if you never looked for them?

From JudicialWatch  “Judicial Watch announced today that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admitted to the court that it failed to search any of the IRS standard computer systems for the “missing” emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS officials. The admission appears in an IRS legal brief opposing the Judicial Watch request that a federal court judge allow discovery into how “lost and/or destroyed” IRS records relating to the targeting of conservative groups may be retrieved. The IRS is fighting Judicial Watch’s efforts to force testimony and document production about the IRS’ loss of records in Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation about the IRS targeting of Tea Party and other opponents of President Obama(Judicial Watch v. IRS (No. 1:13-cv-1559)).  The lawsuit is before U.S. District Court Judge Emmett G. Sullivan.

In its September 17 Motion for Limited Discovery, Judicial Watch argues that, despite two orders, the IRS had consistently failed to provide information detailing how “the missing emails could be retrieved from other sources and produced to Judicial Watch.” On October 17, IRS attorneys asked the court to deny the Judicial Watch request, even while admitting that additional Congressional requests “could result in additional documents being located ….”

In its October 27 Reply in Support of Motion for Limited Discovery, Judicial Watch argued that declarations submitted by the IRS in response to the Judge Sullivan’s orders “fail to answer important questions about the missing emails:”

[I]t has become apparent that the IRS did not undertake any significant efforts to obtain the emails from alternative sources following the discovery that the emails were missing. The emails are potentially responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA requests, and the IRS’s failure to search for them in other recordkeeping systems raises material questions of fact about whether the agency has conducted a reasonable search.

Judicial Watch lawyers reviewed the IRS court filings and concluded that the agency “did not undertake any significant efforts to obtain the emails.””

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5. As Democrats now call for bi-partisanship (which they never get around to when they run things), here’s something for the Republicans to keep on mind.

From WeaselZippers  “Last night, the talking points were already under way from Democrats on how now we must all work together, the time for partisanship is past.

No no, my dear Democrats. Given this election is a very specific and direct rejection of the policies that you and President Obama have espoused(in his own words), now is the time to work nonstop and eliminate those same policies in accordance with the will of the people.

Republicans, Conservatives. Please do remember as you are urged to act in a ‘bipartisan way’, what you have been called.”

“Enemy, paranoid, greedy, Bible-thumping, gun-toting, fear-mongering, racist, sexist, bigot, birther, redneck, homophobic, xenophobic, global-warming denialists, anti-science, Neanderthal, barbarian, terrorist, hobbits, member of the Flat Earth Society, Nazi, bully, Yosemite Sam hillbilly, beer-toting, pot belly, church going, small-minded, whack-job, Evangelical, gun nuts, wing nut, knuckle-dragger, clueless, Teabaggers, narrow-minded, evil, redneck freaks, judgmental, backwards, sick, anti-intellectualist, slut-shaming, slimebuckets, forced-birther, neocons, Zionist, neo-Confederate, wild nasty hard-right fringe, extremist, sewer rats, wacko birds, bitter clingers, misogynist, you suck, Obamaphobic, chirper, white nativist, crazies,”

And that’s not even a third of the list.

Don’t fall for it. Don’t let Lucy do it to you again Charlie Brown.

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