Month: March 2015
News/Politics 3-24-15
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. You knew they wouldn’t take this lying down.
From NationalJournal “Telecom companies filed a pair of lawsuits Monday in an attempt to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s new net neutrality rules.
The suits are expected to be the opening shots in a long legal war against the controversial regulations.
USTelecom, which represents AT&T, Verizon, and other companies, filed its lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, while Alamo Broadband, a small Texas-based wireless Internet provider, filed its suit in the U.S. appeals court based in New Orleans.
“The focus of our legal appeal will be on the FCC’s decision to reclassify broadband Internet access service as a public utility service after a decade of amazing innovation and investment under the FCC’s previous light-touch approach,” Jon Banks, the senior vice president for USTelecom, said in a statement. “As our industry has said many times, we do not block or throttle traffic and FCC rules prohibiting blocking or throttling will not be the focus of our appeal.””
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2. But will the RINO’s vote for it?
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Conservative members of the House Republican caucus outbid their party’s official budget Monday, offering a plan to cut planned government spending by more than $7.1 trillion and balance the budget in just six years.
The aggressive plan to cut spending from all areas of government and erase deficits was introduced by the Republican Study Committee, a group of congressmen organized to push policy to the right.
The House this week will consider the budget authored by Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia. The Republican Study Committee budget outline will not supplant that plan, but it does outline where some conservatives would like to steer the government.
The conservative budget “is a bold, conservative plan that will balance the budget, rein in rampant overspending and restore solvency to America’s safety-net programs,” said Bill Flores of Texas, the head of the Republican Study Committee.”
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3. Democrats will not like this.
From HotAir “Or maybe not such a surprise after all. The path to today’s Supreme Court decision to refuse an appeal by the ACLU against Wisconsin’s voter-ID law has been strewn with appellate decisions that supported its implementation, although a last-minute stay by SCOTUS kept it out of play for the midterms. The law will fully take effect for the 2016 election, which may complicate efforts by Democrats to keep the state blue:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact a new Republican-backed law in Wisconsin that requires voters to present photo identification when they cast ballots.
The court declined to hear an appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law. …”
“The SCOTUS stay in October had more to do with the timing of the law, thanks to the scheduling of the challenges through the courts. Regardless, the election still went in favor of Scott Walker and the GOP, preventing Democrats from repealing the voter-ID provision before it could come into effect.
This will put a huge dent in the Obama administration’s efforts to squelch voter-ID laws in other states. In order to grant certiorari, the ACLU would have needed four justices to vote to add it to the docket. The fact that they couldn’t even move the liberal wing to unite against a voter-ID law shows that the justices consider the issue settled. Requirements for identification at polling stations are legitimate, in the eyes of the court, as long as enough options for no-cost qualifying ID exist to keep the poor from being disenfranchised.”
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4. Obama’s former professor says he’s “burning the Constitution” with his new EPA rules.
Also from HotAir “What happens when two Constitutional law scholars collide? Usually, the more learned of the two prevails, but don’t bet on it in this case. Harvard University Professor Lawrence Tribe, described as a mentor to Barack Obama, accused his protege of “burning the Constitution” in the EPA’s efforts to regulate carbon dioxide. Speaking to a hearing of the Energy and Power subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce panel on Monday, Tribe blasted the EPA and the Obama administration for running roughshod over the separation-of-powers doctrine, a concept that can best be described as ConLaw 101:
“EPA possesses only the authority granted to it by Congress,” Tribe told lawmakers in a hearing Tuesday. “Its gambit here raises serious questions under the separation of powers… because EPA is attempting to exercise lawmaking power that belongs to Congress and judicial power that belongs to the federal courts.”
“Burning the Constitution should not become part of our national energy policy,” Tribe added.
Tribe, along with other legal and energy experts, appeared before Congress Tuesday to give testimony on the EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” — the agency’s plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants. Tribe told lawmakers the CPP is unconstitutional and outside the agency’s authority.
“EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the States, Congress and the Federal Courts all at once,” Tribe told lawmakers.”
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5. Oh goody.
From CNSNews “According to weekly detention and departure reports from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there were 167,527 non-detained convicted criminal aliens in the United States as of Jan. 26 of this year, a congressional hearing revealed Thursday.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah.) read the statistic aloud Thursday durin a hearing examining ICE’s priorities and procedures for removing criminal aliens currently living in the United States.
“In that report, it said that there are 167,527 non-detained, final-order convicted criminals on the loose in the United States,” Chaffetz pointed out while questioning ICE Director Sarah Saldana.
“These are people that are here illegally, get caught, convicted, and you release back out into the public,” he said, adding that some of the crimes committed by those who have been released include homicide, sex crimes, child pornography, drunk driving, robbery and kidnapping.
The federal government announced Wednesday that ICE had released about 30,000 convicted criminal aliens from ICE custody in 2014 alone, according to The Washington Times, which first reported the statistic.”
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6. Israel’s not the only one who should follow this advice.
From TheNYPost “First he comes for the banks and health care, uses the IRS to go after critics, politicizes the Justice Department, spies on journalists, tries to curb religious freedom, slashes the military, throws open the borders, doubles the debt and nationalizes the Internet.
He lies to the public, ignores the Constitution, inflames race relations and urges Latinos to punish Republican “enemies.” He abandons our allies, appeases tyrants, coddles adversaries and uses the Crusades as an excuse for inaction as Islamist terrorists slaughter their way across the Mideast.
Now he’s coming for Israel.
Barack Obama’s promise to transform America was too modest. He is transforming the whole world before our eyes. Do you see it yet?
Against the backdrop of the tsunami of trouble he has unleashed, Obama’s pledge to “reassess” America’s relationship with Israel cannot be taken lightly. Already paving the way for an Iranian nuke, he is hinting he’ll also let the other anti-Semites at Turtle Bay have their way. That could mean American support for punitive Security Council resolutions or for Palestinian statehood initiatives. It could mean both, or something worse.”
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Our Daily Thread 3-23-15
Good Morning!
Today’s header photo and the ones below are of Elphaba, a friend of the family. She’s a cutie. 🙂
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On this day in 1794 Josiah G. Pierson patented a rivet machine.
In 1806 explorers Lewis and Clark, reached the Pacific coast, and began their return journey to the east.
In 1839 the first recorded printed use of “OK” [oll korrect] occurred in Boston’s Morning Post.
In 1840 the first successful photo of the Moon was taken.
And in 1972 Evel Knievel broke 93 bones after successfully jumping 35 cars. I guess some having differing definitions of successful. In mine, you have to stick the landing. 🙂
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Quote of the Day
“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
Patrick Henry – March 23rd, 1775
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Today is Franz Schreker’s birthday.
And on this day in 1961 Elvis recorded this song.
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 3-23-15
Anyone have something to share?
Psalm 93
¹The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.
News/Politics 3-23-15
What’s interesting in the news today?
1. What about Huma’s emails?
From TheWeeklyStandard “Senator Chuck Grassley has sent two letters to the State Department to ask about Huma Abedin’s special government status when she was a government employee–and for information on Abedin’s email use while working for the government. Abedin is a close aide to Hillary Clinton, and worked for the consulting firm Teneo (under a special government employee status) while working for Clinton.
“I am writing to follow up on inquiries I have been making since June 13, 2013 and August 15, 2013 regarding the State Department’s use of Special Government Employee (SGE) designations, and in particular, what steps the Department took to ensure that Ms. Huma Abedin’s outside employment with a political intelligence and corporate advisory firm did not conflict with her simultaneous employment at the State Department. I thank the Department for its responses to my inquiries made June 13, 2013 and August 15, 2013. However, to date, the Department’s answers have been largely unresponsive,” writes Grassley to Secretary of State John Kerry.
By way of example, I have still not received the records relating to communications between the State Department and Ms. Abedin’s other employer, Teneo. Nor has the Department provided records of communications between the State Department and any clients or entities represented by Teneo. The Department has also failed to provide any email communications between Ms. Abedin and Teneo or Teneo’s clients. The State Department’s November 14, 2014 response to my inquiries, stated, “Based on an internal review, the Department has never had any contracts with Teneo.” But that is not responsive to my request, and it does not mean that communications between full-time Department employees, or SGEs, and Teneo, or clients of Teneo, do not exist.”
Make sure you get any emails to her friends and family in the MB as well.
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2. Kerry claims progress in the nuke deal, the Iranians make threats. Somebody’s missing the obvious here. And just a reminder, any treaty they sign is useless and they’re not to be trusted. Everyone seems to know this, except Obama.
From TheTimesofIsrael “Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for “Death to America” on Saturday, a day after President Barack Obama appealed to Iran to seize a “historic opportunity” for a nuclear deal and a better future, and as US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed substantial progress toward an accord.
Khamenei told a crowd in Tehran that Iran would not capitulate to Western demands. When the crowd started shouting, “Death to America,” the ayatollah responded: “Of course yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure.
“They insist on putting pressure on our dear people’s economy,” he said, referring to economic sanctions aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program. “What is their goal? Their goal is to put the people against the system,” he said. “The politics of America is to create insecurity,” he added, referring both to US pressure on Iran and elsewhere in the region.
Khamenei’s comments contrasted with those of Iranian President Hassan Rohani, who said “achieving a deal is possible” by the March 31 target date for a preliminary accord.”
Meanwhile…..
From FoxNews “John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., sounded off tonight on the news that Iran and Hezbollah were omitted from the latest U.S. terror threat list.
This year’s Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities doesn’t include Iran or Hezbollah in the terrorism section. Catherine Herridge reports that the office of National Intelligence Director James Clapper cites a change in formatting as a reason for this removal.
“It’s a flat lie […] the people who would say this is a format change are weasels,” Bolton said.
Bolton said he thinks Iranian negotiators told American negotiators to “go easy on us on this terrorism stuff.” Bolton explained that Iran wants to be free of sanctions imposed because of its state sponsorship of terrorism.
The omission of Iran and Hezbollah from the report was likely a concession by the administration in nuclear weapons negotiations, Bolton said. He wondered: How many other concessions has this administration made in an effort to get a deal done?”
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3. Islam and Christianity: Not comparable.
From USAToday “”Christians Have Waged Their Own Holy Wars” was yet another annoying headline, this one in the Miami Herald. It seems that every time someone is beheaded, shot (by children, no less), or burned alive by ISIL, there is this inevitable handwringing over the violent history of —
Christianity.
Confused? So am I. Precisely what the Crusades or the Inquisition have to do with events in the Middle East is not clear. One suspects that attacking Christianity fits neatly into a domestic agenda. Yes, Christianity is not only Islam’s chief global rival, it is a barrier to the American Cultural Left’s social vision (think abortion and gay marriage). Whatever the motivation, this ignores a serious (and growing) foreign threat.
For their part, Christians, in spite of their supposedly violent natures, have accepted all of this rather passively. Indeed, to be a Christian apologist these days seems to involve a lot of apologizing for being a Christian at all. This alone should be sufficient evidence of Christianity’s peaceful nature. I mean, I don’t hear many Muslims apologizing for the Muslim invasion of Europe (which preceded the Crusades by almost 400 years), for the recent scandal of some 1,400 children systematically raped by Muslim men in Rotherham, England, or for the oppression of women and religious minorities in Islamic states.”
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4. Iowa is considering a ban on Planned Parenthood’s “webcam abortions.” Others states should follow suit.
From CNSNews “The Iowa Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold a ban on Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s (PPH) “webcam abortions” in which off-site physicians remotely dispense two abortion-inducing drugs to patients they have not examined.
“This is a national test case,” said Matthew Heffron, an attorney for the Thomas More Society, after the high court heard oral arguments in the case on March 11.
PPH “is trying the procedure here. If they’re successful, they will probably attempt to spread the practice to other states,” Heffron predicted.”
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5. Why a change in fetal homicide laws is needed in some states.
From MSN/AP “The gruesome case of a Colorado woman accused of cutting open the belly of a pregnant woman and removing her unborn baby girl is reviving the highly charged debate over when a fetus can legally be considered a human being.
In the past two years, Colorado twice rejected efforts to make the death of a fetus a homicide. The Democratic-led Legislature voted down a bill in 2013, and 65 percent of voters rejected a ballot measure last year that would have granted legal rights to unborn fetuses, the third rejection of a “personhood measure.”
That leaves the state as one of 12 without a law allowing homicide charges in the violent deaths of fetuses — and the fate of Dynel Lane up in the air. Authorities say Lane lured a woman who was nearly eight months pregnant to her home this week by advertising baby clothes on Craigslist. Lane is accused of stabbing the stranger in the belly and removing the fetus.
Stan Garnett, the district attorney of liberal Boulder County, said during a news conference Thursday that Colorado law makes it challenging to file homicide charges when fetuses are killed.
“Under Colorado law, essentially no murder charges can be brought if the child did not live outside of the mother,” Garnett said.”
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6. The making of the myth.
And the debunking of that same myth.
From TheWashingtonPost “Hands Up. Don’t Shoot!
This phrase became a rallying cry for Ferguson residents, who took to the streets to protest the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old by a white police officer, Darren Wilson. Witness accounts spread after the shooting that Brown had his hands raised in surrender, mouthing the words “Don’t shoot” as his last words before being shot execution-style. The gesture of raised hands became a symbol of outrage over mistreatment of unarmed black youth by police.
That narrative was called into question when a St. Louis County grand jury could not confirm those testimonies. And a recently released Department of Justice investigative report concluded the same.
Yet the gesture continues to be used today. So we wanted to set the record straight on the DOJ’s findings, especially after The Washington Post’s opinion writer Jonathan Capehart wrote that it was “built on a lie.” “
It gets 4 Pinocchios.
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Our Daily Thread 3-21-15
Good Morning!
Welcome to the weekend! 🙂
Today’s header is from Cheryl.
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On this day in 1349 more than 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany.
In 1788 almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed.
In 1857 an earthquake hit Tokyo killing about 107,000.
In 1941 the last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, fell to the British.
And in 1965 more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
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Quote of the Day
“Live your life and forget your age.”
Jean Paul
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Today is Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday.
And it’s Andrew Lloyd Webber’s too.
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 3-21-15
Anyone have something to share?
Psalm 92
¹It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:
2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
5 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Rants! and Raves! 3-21-15
It’s Saturday, so you know what that means….
Rants! 😦
and
Raves! 🙂
News/Politics 3-21-15
What’s interesting in the news this weekend?
Open Thread
Our Daily Thread 3-20-15
Good Morning!
It’s Friday!!!
And it’s the first day of SPRING!!!!!! 🙂
But for some reason, it’s snowing again. 😦
Today’s header photo is from Cheryl. 🙂
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On this day in 1616 Walter Raleigh was released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana.
In 1792 the Legislative Assembly in Paris approved the use of the guillotine. 😯
In 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris after his escape from Elba and began his “Hundred Days” rule.
And in 1897 the first intercollegiate basketball game that used five players per team was held. The contest was Yale versus Pennsylvania. Yale won 32-10.
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Quote of the Day
“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”
Robert H. Schuller
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How could I not play this? 🙂
And today is Ranger Doug’s birthday.
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Wandering Views 