Month: March 2015

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Our Daily Thread 3-27-15

Good Morning!

It’s Friday!!!

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On this day in 1794 Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Navy.   

In 1866 President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill, which later became the 14th amendment.  

In 1899 the first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi.

In 1912 the first cherry blossom trees were planted in Washington, DC.

And in 1941 Tokeo Yoshikawa arrived in Oahu, HI, and began spying for Japan on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor.  

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Quote of the Day

“The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each to himself. And that is the most complicated thing on earth.”

Edward Steichen

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Today is composer Ferde Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé’s birthday.

Today is also Brendan Hill’s birthday, so I’m playing some Blues Traveler for my wife. I chose this one because I love the way the fiddle part is played on a harmonica. Only John Popper would think to do that. He’s also the only guy I’ve ever seen wear a harmonica vest. 🙂 I count at least 14. 🙂

Anyway, it’s Blues Traveler covering Charlie Daniel’s “Devil Went Down To Georgia.” I must also insert a language warning for one word at the end, given the song.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-27-15

It’s Friday, so please remember to pray for Mumsee, Mike, and the Nestlings.

Mike has another surgery coming up, so please continue to pray for his health needs and the doctors treating him as well.

Psalm 97

¹The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord.

9 For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.

10 Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

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News/Politics 3-27-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. As I’ve said before, there are no good guys here.

From TheLongWarJournal  “The US-led military Coalition in Iraq is openly supporting Iranian-backed Shiite militias and Iraqi forces who are battling Islamic State fighters entrenched in Tikrit. Many of the Shiite militia commanders are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and one militia is listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Many of the commanders and militias are responsible for killing US, Coailition, and Iraqi troops and civilians during the occupation of Iraq.

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) announced today that “operations to support Iraqi Security Forces in Tikrit have commenced after a request from the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al Abadi,” in a press released issued by the US-led command.

“The Coalition is now providing direct support to Iraqi Security Forces conducting operations to expel ISIL [Islamic State] from the city. CJTF-OIR is providing air strikes, airborne intelligence capabilities, and Advise and Assist support to Iraqi Security Force headquarters elements in order to enhance their ability to defeat ISIL,” the statement continued.

The US and CJTF-OIR have claimed that the airstrikes and other support is benefiting “Iraqi Security Forces,” when in reality more than two-thirds of the personnel opposing the Islamic State are comprised of Shiite militias, all of which are backed by Iran.”

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2. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are sending ground forces into Yemen.

From Time  “Egyptian security and military officials say Saudi Arabia and Egypt will lead a ground operation in Yemen against Shiite rebels and their allies after a campaign of airstrikes to weaken them.

Three senior officials tell The Associated Press that forces would enter by land from Saudi Arabia and by sea from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. They said Thursday that other nations will also be involved.

They would not specify troop numbers or say when the operation would start, only that it would be after airstrikes weaken the rebels and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”

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3. The oil market is reacting to the turmoil.

From Fortune/MSN  “There’s nothing like a scare about the safety of middle-eastern sea-lanes to send oil prices higher, particularly when the scare involves fears of a conflict between the region’s two biggest powers.

Crude oil prices were back at their highest in two weeks at $51.32 a barrel by midmorning in Europe, after Saudi Arabia and its allies launched airstrikes against the Houthi rebels who have overrun much of Yemen, including a military airbase that was used until recently by U.S. forces.

Prices have now surged 8% in the last 48 hours. The impact of the flare-up has been magnified by the fact that many participants in the market have bet on prices staying low all through the year. Those caught in ‘short’ positions have had to cover those positions in a hurry as the price rebounds. Fundamentally, though, the market remains oversupplied, and U.S. stocks of crude and fuel are at record highs.”

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4. What a spiteful little man-child.

From TheWeeklyStandard  “On February 12, the Pentagon quietly declassified a top-secret 386-page Department of Defense document from 1987 detailing Israel’s nuclear program – the first time Israel’s alleged nuclear program has ever been officially and publically referenced by the U.S. authorities. 

In the declassified document, the Pentagon reveals supposed details about Israel’s deterrence capabilities, but it kept sections on France, Germany, and Italy classified. Those sections are blacked out in the document.

The two main exceptions in the international media that wrote about the declassification at the time were the state-funded Iranian regime station Press TV and the state-funded Russian station RT. 

Both these media were rumored to have been tipped off about this obscure report at the time by persons in Washington. (Both the RT and PressTV stories falsely claim that the U.S. gave Israel help in building a hydrogen bomb. This is incorrect.)

Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons. To do so might spark a regional nuclear arms race, and eventual nuclear confrontation.

The declassification is a serious breach of decades’ old understandings concerning this issue between Israel and its north American and certain European allies.”

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5. Two US men were arrested, including a soldier, for planning an attack on a US base.

From Yahoo/Reuters  “A U.S. Army National Guard soldier and his cousin have been arrested on charges of conspiring to support Islamic State in a plot that included an attack on a military installation in Illinois, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.

The two Chicago-area men, both U.S. citizens, spoke of using army uniforms and military knowledge to get into an Illinois National Guard facility, the department said in a statement.

“Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in the statement.

Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested at Chicago Midway International Airport Wednesday night while attempting to fly to Cairo, the Justice Department said. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his Aurora, Illinois, home. Both arrests were made without incident.

Both defendants met with an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation employee and presented a plan to carry out an armed attack against a northern Illinois military facility where Hasan Edmonds had been training, the Justice Department said.”

What I don’t understand is why the charges are so minor. This is treason, so why isn’t the Obama DoJ making that the charge?

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6. This one comes with a CONTENT WARNING!!!!!

I wasn’t going to post this one due to the nature of this so-called reporters other work. I find it disgusting. What I also find disgusting is that this is the only kind of interviewer and interviews that Obama does. The green haired lady in the fruit loop bath was nothing compared to this freak show.

Again, CONTENT WARNING!!!!!

From MRCTV  “The latest man to score an interview with President Obama, Shane Smith, has conducted some hard-hitting interviews, including one with a Japanese sex doll. 

You’re not misreading that; in a video from 2008, founder and CEO of Vice media Shane Smith pays to have sex with a doll in a Tokyo doll brothel.”

“The company Smith founded, Vice.com, “revels daily in hard drug use, weird sex and every sort of bodily effluvium,” reports Forbes….”

“Yet this man just conducted an 18-minute sit-down interview with the Commander in Chief, the most coveted interview of a journalist’s lifetime and one once reserved for the most hard-bitten and veteran of the White House press corps.”

Obama should be embarrassed, but I doubt he is.

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Our Daily Thread 3-26-15

Good Morning!

On this day in 1804 the U.S. Congress ordered the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi to Louisiana.  

In 1885 Eastman Kodak (Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co.) produced the first commercial motion picture film in Rochester, NY. 

In 1937 spinach growers in Crystal City, TX, erected a statue of Popeye. 

In 1951 the U.S. Air Force flag was approved. The flag included the coat of arms, 13 white stars and the Air Force seal on a blue background. 

And in 1982 ground breaking ceremonies were held in Washington, DC, for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 

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Quote of the Day

“The military don’t start wars. Politicians start wars.”

William Westmoreland

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 Today is Diana Ross’ birthday.

And it’s Richard Tandy’s too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-26-15

It’s Thursday, so don’t forget to pray for the folks in PNG.

Anyone else?

Psalm 96

¹O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

13 Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

 

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News/Politics 3-26-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Hillary has been hit with a racketeering lawsuit.

From TheHill  “The conservative group Freedom Watch has filed a racketeering lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that accuses her of failing to produce documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The civil suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, argues that Clinton used her private emails to sell access to other officials in return for donations to the Clinton Foundation.

It alleges that, during her tenure, Clinton withheld documents requested under FOIA regarding State Department waivers given to businesses or individuals doing business with Iran, possibly undermining U.S.-imposed sanctions. 

The complaint, which lists Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation as defendants, alleges the Clintons sold access to other U.S. government officials in return for donations to their organization, which they concealed, allegedly, by using a private computer server for her emails operated from their home in Chappaqua, New York. “

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2. The IG says a member of the Clinton family and their favorite flunkie were shown favoritism. This is the same scam Harry Reid is involved with.

From NationalReview  “A senior Department of Homeland Security official “created an appearance of favoritism and special access” by intervening on behalf of a company run by Hillary Clinton’s brother, a finding that contradicts the official’s testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing.

The issue pertained to the EB-5 program, which provides visas to immigrants who invest in the United States.

“In three matters pending before USCIS, Mr. Mayorkas, now deputy secretary of DHS, communicated with stakeholders on substantive issues outside of the normal adjudicatory process, and intervened with the career USCIS staff in ways that benefited the stakeholders,” the DHS inspector general reports. “Regardless of Mr. Mayorkas’ motives, his intervention in these matters created significant resentment in USCIS. This resentment was not isolated to career staff adjudicating within the EB-5 program, but extended to senior managers and attorneys responsible for the broader USCIS mission and programs.

The report “specifically focused on allegations of special treatment afforded to a Las Vegas casino project championed by Sen. Harry Reid, then the Senate majority leader, and an electric car enterprise led by Terry McAuliffe, who is now Virginia governor, and involving Anthony Rodham, the brother of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” according to ABC.”

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3. Saudi Arabia is getting more involved in Yemen.

From Al-arabiya  “Saudi Arabia waged early Thursday “Operation Decisive Storm” against the Houthi coup in Yemen and in support of legitimate President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

A Saudi air campaign was launched overnight which has already resulted in the elimination of several Houthi leaders.

Yemen air space is currently under full control of the Saudi Royal Air Force.

As the operation continues, a coalition of all GCC countries, barring Oman, is taking part in the campaign, including Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia has deployed 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.”

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4. And yet Obama is begging them for a deal….

From Yahoo/Reuters ” Iran is failing to address suspicions it may have worked on designing an atomic bomb, according to the latest report by a U.N. watchdog, potentially complicating efforts by world powers to reach a deal with Tehran on its nuclear program.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran had still not provided information it was due to produce more than two months ago to help advance a long-running IAEA inquiry into suspected nuclear weapons research.

The confidential document was issued to IAEA member states less than three weeks before the Nov. 24 deadline by which Iran and six global powers are seeking to end a decade-old standoff over the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities.

“Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures,” it said.

The IAEA was referring to two steps that Iran had agreed to carry out by late August, by providing information concerning allegations of explosives tests and other activity that could be used to develop nuclear bombs.”

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5. Planned Parenthood continues to receive millions from taxpayers.

From LifeNews  “Two years ago, pro-life members of Congress sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a comprehensive report on which abortion advocacy groups Americans were forced to fund with their tax dollars. Today the government watchdog (GAO) released the requested report which details funding for six abortion advocacy groups over a three year period (2010-2012).

The six organizations researched were Planned Parenthood, Population Council, International Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

The report found the Planned Parenthood abortion corporation and its affiliates received $344.5 million in federal funds and another $1.2 billion in funding from Medicaid (which includes a combination of federal and state funds) for a total of $1.5 billion over three years from federal programs. The abortion fiant receives $1.2 billion from Medicaid, $201 million from the Title X family planning program $40.6 million from Title XX Social Services block grants and $25.9 million from the Title V Maternal and Child health Services block grant.”

“On average, Planned Parenthood receives approximately $500 million a year in taxpayer funds. The report found that the six organizations spent $481 million in federal funding from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2012.”

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6. I figured this would be a bigger story. It is a fire bombing at an abortion clinic after all. But then I read it, and now I understand why the MSM is ignoring it. Turns out a pro-abortion fanatic was trying to firebomb pro-lifers, so crickets is what you hear from the mainstream press. And she wasn’t just some nut off the street either.

From WeaselZippers  “A woman is facing charges after police say she threw a Molotov cocktail at anti-abortion protesters who were standing outside of Planned Parenthood. Melanie Toney, 52, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

According to the affidavit, the incident happened around 6:25 p.m. on Monday at the Planned Parenthood building on East Ben White Boulevard.”

“UPDATE (Nick):

Drew reported above on the molotov cocktail thrown at a pro-life prayer group outside a Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas. While local media has been pretty straight up on the issue, MSM is underway to try to obscure the intent of the woman who threw a molotov cocktail outside of a Planned Parenthood in Austin, Texas, many reporting it simply as an attack at a Planned Parenthood, leaving the impression it is an anti-abortion protester.

Of course, that fact that it apparently was thrown into the middle of the prayer group might give you a clue.”

“Melanie Toney, a registered nurse, testified in Austin on July 8, 2013 also providing written testimony on Senate Bill #1 trying to defeat abortion restrictions.”

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Our Daily Thread 3-25-15

Good Morning!

Today’s header photo is from Cheryl.

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On this day in 1306 Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland. 

In 1634 Lord Baltimore founded the Catholic colony of Maryland.

In 1655 Puritans jailed Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.  

In 1915 21 people died when a U.S. F-4 submarine sank off the Hawaiian coast. 

And in 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “poll tax” was unconstitutional.  

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Quote of the Day

“As we grow older, our bodies get shorter and our anecdotes longer.” 🙂

Robert Quillen

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Today is Fanny Crosby’s birthday. Blinded by an incompetent “doctor” at 6 weeks of age, she still wrote over 8,000 hymns. Soooo many choices. 🙂

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And if you’re interested, here’s a link to a Hope Channel Biography Series about Fanny’s amazing life.

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Anyone have a QoD?

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Prayer Requests 3-25-15

It’s Wednesday, so don’t forget The Gambia.

Also, continuing prayers for Mike and family would be good. 🙂

Psalm 95

¹O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

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News/Politics 3-25-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The many costs of Obama’s amnesty.

From Investors.com  “Seeing as the costs will come due only after President Obama has left the White House, I guess he doesn’t care how high those costs are. But the costs are horrendous, as just added up by our country’s foremost authority on such things, Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation.

Rector told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week that the lifetime costs of Social Security and Medicare benefits paid to the millions of immigrants to whom Obama is granting legal status will be about $1.3 trillion.

Rector’s calculation is based on his assumption that at least 3.97 million immigrants will receive legal status under Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, and the average DAPA beneficiary has only a 10th-grade education.

DAPA recipients, according to Rector’s calculations, will receive $7.8 billion every year once they get access to the refundable earned income tax credit and the refundable additional child tax credit. Those EITC and ACTC recipients will also be allowed to claim credit for three years of illegal work, which will sock U.S. taxpayers for another $23.5 billion.”

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2. Tell us something we don’t know.

From TheTimesOfIsrael  “he White House was directly involved in an attempt to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in last week’s general election, during a nadir in ties between the Israeli leader and US President Barack Obama, a senior Jerusalem official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times of Israel that “it’s no secret” that the Obama administration had attempted to influence the outcome of the election, having been partially motivated by a desire for revenge over Netanyahu’s polarizing speech before Congress earlier this month, which sought to undermine the president’s key foreign policy initiative – a nuclear deal with Iran.

“The White House is driven by three main motives,” the senior official said. “The first is revenge [over the Congress speech]. The second is frustration: It’s no secret that they were involved in an attempt to bring down the Netanyahu government – something that we have clear knowledge of – and failed. The third [motive] is the administration’s attempt to divert attention from the negotiations with Iran to the Palestinian issue.”

Netanyahu’s latest term in office has seen an unprecedented, unmasked animus seep into the relationship between the administration and his government, much of it over the emerging deal with Iran. On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had spied on the talks, an accusation firmly denied by senior Israeli ministers and that Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman attributed to efforts to undermine ties between Jerusalem and Washington.”

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3. It ain’t broke, so Obama wants to fix it.

From TheGreatFallsTribune  “The Obama administration said Friday it is tightening rules on fracking with regulations that it says will preserve the oil and gas extraction method while protecting water supplies and the environment.

The new rules, which take effect in June, require oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing and to build large barriers to shield nearby water sources.

Environmental groups complimented the new rules on fracking, though some said the administration should simply ban the practice.

Members and supporters of the oil and gas industries denounced the new regulations and said they will damage a booming energy industry. Some immediately filed suit against the administration.”

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4. Are smartphones making kids mentally ill? I know it has that effect on some adults. 🙂

From TheTelegraph  “Julie Lynn Evans has been a child psychotherapist for 25 years, working in hospitals, schools and with families, and she says she has never been so busy.

“In the 1990s, I would have had one or two attempted suicides a year – mainly teenaged girls taking overdoses, the things that don’t get reported. Now, I could have as many as four a month.”

And it’s not, she notes, simply a question of her reputation as both a practitioner and a writer drawing so many people to the door of her cosy consulting rooms in west London where we meet. “If I try to refer people on, everyone else is choc-a-bloc too. We are all saying the same thing. There has been an explosion in numbers in mental health problems amongst youngsters.”

“Official figures confirm the picture she paints, with emergency admissions to child psychiatric wards doubling in four years, and those young adults hospitalised for self-harm up by 70 per cent in a decade.

“Something is clearly happening,” she says, “because I am seeing the evidence in the numbers of depressive, anorexic, cutting children who come to see me. And it always has something to do with the computer, the Internet and the smartphone.””

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5. Oh boy…… 🙄

Just like in Syria and Egypt.

From TheWashingtonPost  “The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials.

With Yemen in turmoil and its government splintering, the Defense Department has lost its ability to monitor the whereabouts of small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies donated by the United States. The situation has grown worse since the United States closed its embassy in Sanaa, the capital, last month and withdrew many of its military advisers.

In recent weeks, members of Congress have held closed-door meetings with U.S. military officials to press for an accounting of the arms and equipment. Pentagon officials have said that they have little information to go on and that there is little they can do at this point to prevent the weapons and gear from falling into the wrong hands.

“We have to assume it’s completely compromised and gone,” said a legislative aide on Capitol Hill who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.”

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Our Daily Thread 3-24-15

Good Morning!

This morning’s photos are of our dear friend Kathy’s Wizard of Oz collection. 🙂

She collected all the little pieces and turned them into this. She’s pretty creative. Plus you can close it up when kids are around. 🙂

3-22-15 076

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On this day in 1629 the first game law was passed in the American colonies, by Virginia. 

In 1832 Mormon Joseph Smith was beaten, tarred and feathered in Ohio. 

In 1920 the first U.S. coast guard air station was established at Morehead City, NC. 

And in 1972 Great Britain imposed direct rule over Northern Ireland.

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Quote of the Day

“I shall produce nothing that will offend the proprieties, whether applied to children or grownups. My pictures are turned out with clean hands and, therefore, with a clear conscience which, like virtue, is its own reward.”

Fatty Arbuckle

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And for the second year in a row, I missed Phil’s birthday by a day.

On a side note, our friend Kathy actually knows Phil and his sister.

And the video has a Wizard of Oz reference! 🙂

From WJTL Radio 

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Anyone have a QoD?