Month: April 2015
News/Politics 4-27-15
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread
Here’s a few to start things off.
1. It appears that Hillary’s payola scheme violates the constitution.
From TheFederalist “The Washington Post reported last week that the tax-exempt foundation run by Bill and Hillary Clinton accepted money from seven foreign governments while Hillary served as U.S. Secretary of State (it’s unclear how much foreign money the organization accepted while Hillary was a U.S. Senator). Super shady, right? It’s worse than that, though, becauseArticle I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution actually bans foreign payola for U.S. officials.
The constitutional ban on foreign cash payments to U.S. officials is known as the Emoluments Clause and originated from Article VI of the Articles of Confederation. The purpose of the clause was to prevent foreign governments from buying influence in the U.S. by paying off U.S. government officials. Here’s the text of the clause:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Various statutes and rules have been promulgated to effect the constitutional ban on foreign cash. The U.S. House of Representatives bans cash payments from foreign governments. The U.S. Senate, of which Hillary was a member from 2001 to 2009, bans cash payments from foreign governments. And the U.S. State Department bans cash payments from foreign governments. Let’s take a look at the specific language from the State Dept.:
Executive branch employees are subject to restrictions on the gifts that they may accept from sources outside the Government. Unless an exception applies, executive branch employees may not accept gifts that are given because of their official positions or that come from certain interested sources (“prohibited sources”).”
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2. Dissent will not be tolerated.
From TheDailySignal “An Oregon administrative law judge recommended today that the bakers who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding should be fined $135,000.
“[T]he forum concludes that $75,000 and $60,000, are appropriate awards to compensate [the same-sex couple] for the emotional suffering they experienced,” wrote Alan McCullough, administrative law judge for Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries in his proposed order.
Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa located in Gresham, Ore., say the fine is enough to potentially bankrupt their family of seven.
The dispute began in January 2013, when Aaron denied Rachel Cryer a wedding cake after learning there would be two brides in her wedding.
Aaron and his wife Melissa are both Christians and believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
Rachel and her partner Laurel Bowman-Cryer, who are now married, filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries under the state’spublic accommodation law, which bans discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation.”
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3. The “safe space” movement is yet another attempt by liberals to attack the freedoms of those who dare disagree with them.
From TheWeek “One of the more contentious ideas to recently emerge from the culture war is that of “safe spaces.” We are said to be at risk of social dangers. Sometimes these dangers are labeled denialism (in which someone’s identity isn’t recognized) or triggering speech (speech that sets off traumatic responses in unwitting listeners). The way some students at elite colleges combat these social dangers is to create, or demand the creation of, safe spaces. And just as often, students demand that their entire campus become a safe space.
Hence the wrong kind of speech is re-labeled as violence. The space only becomes safe when certain ideas (and the people expositing them) are banished. We’re trying to build a supportive community, don’t you know?
Why worry about the exotic (and sometimes silly) life of a college campus? Well, it matters because future elites — who will set the norms and tone of our institutions of power — are coming of age in this intellectual stew. At top colleges we already see the nepotistic acceptance of incurious mediocrity, the shirking of citizenship’s duties, and a liberation from old constraints, all of which tell us about the future of our nation’s social and political life.
Here’s my prediction: Safe spaces will continue to spread across campuses. And from there, the colonization project will really begin in earnest. Public institutions, schools, and even the home. And colonization is the right word, because the logic of a “safe space” is entirely alien to traditional notions of liberty.
How can you even object? Are you pro-trauma? Pro-denialism? You think kids should have their identities denied and be traumatized in the home?”
Their stupidity is traumatizing me. I think their thin skin and cry baby whining is triggering it. 🙄
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Our Daily Thread 4-25-15
Good Morning!
Welcome to the weekend! 🙂
Today’s header photo and the one below are from Kare and her husband.
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On this day in 1859 work began on the Suez Canal in Egypt.
In 1898 the U.S. declared war on Spain. Spain had declared war on the U.S. the day before.
In 1928 a seeing eye dog was used for the first time.
And in 1967 Colorado Governor John Love signed the first law legalizing abortion in the U.S. 😦
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Quote of the Day
“The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.“
Edward R. Murrow
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Today is Bjorn Ulvaeus’ birthday. Both videos are from AbbaVEVO
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 4-25-15
Anyone have a request or a praise to share?
Psalm 122
¹I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good.
Rants! and Raves! 4-25-15
It’s Saturday, so you know what that means….
Rants! 😦
and
Raves! 🙂
News/Politics 4-25-15
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread Weekend
Our Daily Thread 4-24-15
Good Morning!
It’s Friday!!!
The header and photos below are the flickers I mentioned yesterday.
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On this day in 1800 The Library of Congress was established with a $5,000 allocation.
In 1877 federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans. This was the end to the North’s post-Civil War rule in the South.
In 1953 Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
And in 1990 the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL. carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
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Quote of the Day
“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.”
Mark Twain
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Random selection day. From sixstepsrecords
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Anyone have a QoD?
Prayer Requests 4-24-15
Today is Friday, so please remember to pray for everyone at The Nest.
Anyone else?
Psalm 121
¹I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
News/Politics 4-24-15
What’s interesting in the news today?
Open Thread
1. Hillary had a rough day yesterday. The dirt on her is everywhere now. It appears our State Dept. was for sale under her leadership.
From TheNYTimes “But the untold story behind that story is one that involves not just the Russian president, but also a former American president and a woman who would like to be the next one.
At the heart of the tale are several men, leaders of the Canadian mining industry, who have been major donors to the charitable endeavors of former President Bill Clinton and his family. Members of that group built, financed and eventually sold off to the Russians a company that would become known as Uranium One.
Beyond mines in Kazakhstan that are among the most lucrative in the world, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset, with implications for national security, the deal had to be approved by a committee composed of representatives from a number of United States government agencies. Among the agencies that eventually signed off was the State Department, then headed by Mr. Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.
And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.”
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2. Give Hillary and Bill some money, and they’ll steer some money your way too.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “Twenty-two of the 37 corporations nominated for a prestigious State Department award — and six of the eight ultimate winners — while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State were also donors to the Clinton family foundation.
The published donor records of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation don’t give exact dates or amounts of its contributors, but it is possible to create a general timeline for when many of the corporations donated and when they were either nominated or selected for the award.
Silicon Valley giant Cisco was the biggest foundation contributor nominated in 2009, giving the Clinton charity between $1 million and $5 million. The company then won the award in 2010 when eight of the 12 finalists and two of the three winners had donated to the foundation.
The other Clinton contributor to win that year, candy-maker Mars, Inc., had given between $25,000 and $50,000. Coca-Cola was the most generous foundation donor to be honored as a finalist in 2010, giving a $5-10 million donation.
TOM’s Shoes, a 2009 winner for its work in Argentina, donated between $100,000 and $250,000. The other 2009 winner, Trilogy International Partners, gave between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Overall,seven of the 10 finalists in 2009 were foundation donors.”
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3. GE is refusing to assist in retrieving Hillary’s “lost” emails. Most likely because they might expose that his company was benefiting as well.
From TheDailyCaller “General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt said Wednesday that he will not release the emails that GE exchanged with Hillary Clinton’s State Department during the period in which GE was donating to the Clinton Foundation.
“Again, I think that’s not something we would do. Right?” Immelt said at GE’s shareholder meeting in Oklahoma City, OK in response to a question from Justin Danhof of the National Center For Public Policy Research, who pressed the CEO to release written communications with the State Department.
Secretary of State Clinton lobbied the Algerian president in 2012 to pick GE as a contractor for Algerian power plants. GE got the Algeria deal and quickly thereafter donated to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton also lobbied on behalf of Clinton Foundation donors including Boeing and Chevron.”
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4. And tax issues too. Looks like they found a creative way to hide the donations while she was Sec. of State.
From Reuters “Hillary Clinton’s family’s charities are refiling at least five annual tax returns after a Reuters review found errors in how they reported donations from governments, and said they may audit other Clinton Foundation returns in case of other errors.
The foundation and its list of donors have been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks. Republican critics say the foundation makes Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, vulnerable to undue influence. Her campaign team calls these claims “absurd conspiracy theories.””
“For three years in a row beginning in 2010, the Clinton Foundation reported to the IRS that it received zero in funds from foreign and U.S. governments, a dramatic fall-off from the tens of millions of dollars in foreign government contributions reported in preceding years.
Those entries were errors, according to the foundation: several foreign governments continued to give tens of millions of dollars toward the foundation’s work on climate change and economic development through this three-year period. Those governments were identified on the foundation’s annually updated donor list, along with broad indications of how much each had cumulatively given since they began donating.”
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Our Daily Thread 4-23-15
Good Morning!
Today’s header photo is from Cheryl.
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On this day in 1789 President George Washington moved into Franklin House, New York. It was the first executive mansion.
In 1900 the word “hillbilly” was first used in print in an article in the “New York Journal.” It was spelled “Hill-Billie”.
In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.
In 1964 Ken Johnson (Houston Astros) threw the first no-hitter for a loss. The game was lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds due to two errors.
And in 2005 the first video was uploaded to YouTube.com.
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Quote of the Day
“The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men.”
James Buchanan
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Today is Roy Orbison’s birthday.
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Wandering Views 