It’s Saturday, so time for…

Rants! 😦

and

Raves! 🙂

Good dogs!!!

From NBCNews

“Child welfare officials have taken custody of a newborn girl who was found abandoned in a plastic grocery bag by passing dogs in Cypress, Texas.

The infant was in good condition at Texas Children’s Hospital but was lucky to be alive, doctors and law enforcement officials said.”

“”If it had not have been for the resident that came out to walk her dogs, that child may have laid there all night (and) possibly would have died,” said Harris County sheriff’s Sgt. Gordon Trott told NBC station KPRC of Houston.

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Good humans!!!

From MSN

“Video: A daring sailor braved frigid Russian waters to go after a pooch in a precarious situation. Check out the amazing ice floe rescue.”

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Floyd Corkins, the man responsible for shooting Family Research Council security guard Leo Johnson has pleaded guilty to multiple charges. Corkins plead guilty to one federal count of crossing state lines with  guns and ammunition, one count of intent to kill while  armed, and one count of committing an act of terrorism with the intent to kill.

Were it not for Mr. Johnson’s heroism, this could have been much worse. In fact, the shooter has confirmed he had far worse in mind.

From ABC/WJLA

“A man accused of shooting a security guard inside the downtown Washington  headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group pleaded guilty Wednesday  in connection with the shooting.”

“Prosecutors say Corkins, who had been volunteering at a center for gay,  lesbian and transgender people, was carrying ammunition and Chick-fil-A  sandwiches in his bag. Chick-fil-A was making headlines at the time because of  its president’s stated opposition to gay marriage.

Corkins intended to smear the sandwiches in the faces of his victims to make  a statement about gay rights opponents, he acknowledged during a hearing  Wednesday.”

The piece goes on to mention comments from FRC Pres. Tony Perkins about the shooters motivation, and the possible role of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I’ve said for years that the SPLC is what they say they’re against, a hate group. Democrat funded, founded, and backed, they are the shocktroops used against anyone who dares disagree with their ideals. Conservative organizations have long been in the SPLC’s crosshairs. The Obama admin and the FBI both allow this group to hold undue influence in policy making. It’s not just a coincidence that many of these SPLC labeled “hate groups” are also the same groups fighting the Obama admin agenda on many different fronts. While they still list some actual hate groups like Neo Nazi’s and skinheads, and of course the Klan, they’ve evolved into being little more than a liberal advocacy group with a partisan agenda against conservative causes. Perkins elaborates further on this in an email, with more info that ABC didn’t get to, in the link below.

From LifeNews

“Today’s hearing also revealed that in the interview with the FBI right after the shooting, the shooter admitted his guilt, which was captured on video. Corkins said he intended to “kill as many as possible and smear the Chick-Fil-A sandwiches in victims’ faces, and kill the guard.” The prosecutor said they reviewed the family computer and found that he identified his targets on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s web site.”

““The day after Floyd Corkins came into the FRC headquarter and opened fire wounding one of our team members, I stated that while Corkins was responsible for the shooting, he had been given a license to perpetrate this act of violence by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center which has systematically and recklessly labeled every organization with which they disagree as a ‘hate group,’” he said.”

“Perkins added, “The Southern Poverty Law Center can no longer say that it is not a source for those bent on committing acts of violence. Only by ending its hate labeling practices will the SPLC send a message that it no longer wishes to be a source for those who would commit acts of violence that are only designed to intimidate and silence Christians and others who support natural marriage and traditional morality.””

Anyone unfamiliar with the history, tactics, and backers of the SPLC can learn more about them at this piece from last year. Hate is big business.

From AmericanThinker

“Last  week’s shooting  at the headquarters of the Family Research Council (FRC) has placed the Southern  Poverty Law Center (SPLC) back into the news.  The SPLC recently had placed  the FRC on its list of hate groups because the SPLC claims that in its  opposition to gay marriage, the FRC defames gays and  lesbians.

It  should be noted that the not-for-profit SPLC ostensibly began its mission to  help those who had been victimized by civil rights violations by filing suits on  their behalf.  In recent years, the SPLC greatly expanded its  definition of civil rights and hate groups to the point where any organization  that opposes the left’s favored causes risks being labeled a hate group by the  SPLC.  It has also moved away from suing on behalf of the aggrieved to  raising awareness of the presence of “hate groups.”  Most of all, for the  last 35 years, it has become a real fundraising dynamo.”

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread, so what have ya’ got?

Here’s a few to start off.

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I’m sure you’ve heard the Unemployment Rate has risen. Here’s more details, and an age group breakdown, which is not pretty.

From ZeroHedge

“How Today’s “Strong” Jobs Report Led To 115,000 Job Losses”

“While it is enticing to fall for the same old trick of reading the “quantitative”, or headline, jobs data, driven entirely by the Establishment Survey, which as the BLS itself showed today, is nothing but mere noise based on seasonal adjustments and population estimates which is revised at least once a year based on new and improved exit assumptions, below we show the actual unvarnished truth contained in today’s jobs reports.

Recall that in our pre-NFP post we pointed out something critical: “an even more disturbing trend is the conversion of America into a gerontocratic worker society, where the bulk of jobs are handed out to those 55 and over, which puts all young workers, not to mention college graduates, at a major disadvantage relative to far more experienced older workers.” And sure enough, a quick update of the jobs by age-group change in January based on Household Survey data, the same data that showed that the unemployment rate actually rose from 7.8% to 7.9% (to give Bernanke more runway for QEternity as we predicted in December) shows that in the past month, 115,000 jobs were…. lost?”

Not to mention the large number that magically disappeared from the rolls of “The Counted”. Again. Or still.

From CNSNews

“The  number of Americans not in the labor force grew by 169,000 in January,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report.

BLS  labels people who are unemployed and no longer  looking for work as “not  in the labor force,” including people who have  retired on schedule,  taken early retirement, or simply given up looking  for work. There were 89 million of them last month.”

At least they didn’t say “Unexpectedly” like most MSM outlet’s are prone to do.

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Here’s a good story. And say what you will about the man, but it shows class that he did this quietly. I can’t help but think his opponent would have made a big deal out of such a gesture, since it always seems to be about him and the photo op, and little else.

From TheHill

“Mitt Romney’s campaign donated nearly $90,000 to the Red Cross in the weeks  after the Republican presidential nominee’s electoral defeat, filings with the  Federal Election Commission showed Sunday.

The donation was made on Nov. 30, weeks after Election Day, and  not publicized by the campaign.”

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And more details in the Menendez scandal.

From TheMiamiHerald

“Sen. Bob Menendez used his influence to advocate for a Dominican Republic business deal that helped a longtime friend and donor whose South Florida office was raided by federal agents this week.

Menendez questioned Obama administration officials at a July hearing about what it was doing to help U.S. businesses that he felt were being unfairly treated by the government of the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.

One company Menendez was apparently referring to: ICSSI, acquired the year before by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Palm Beach County eye doctor and friend. The firm was seeking to enforce a contract it had won to X-ray Dominican Republic port cargo, that could be worth $500 million to $1 billion over two decades.”

So rather than being a voice for the voters that put him in office, he decided to advocate for his friend/pimp.

And in an unusual turn of events, Harry Reid has nothing to say. That’s a first. C’mon Harry, you are what passes for Dem Senate leadership, so how about you actually lead for a change and get to the bottom of this.

From TheHill

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) fended off questions about Sen.  Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) at a press conference about immigration reform.

The first question out of the gate was from CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who  asked Reid when he learned that Menendez had  reimbursed a political donor nearly $60,000 for two trips he took on the  donor’s private plane.

Reid defended the Menendez as a “friend” and “outstanding senator” but declined  to discuss any details he may have had with the New Jersey lawmaker about media  reports of allegations that he had sex with prostitutes in the Dominican  Republic.”

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KBells and Ricky Weaver!

Are the official winners of our NCAA Bowl Contest.

We had several people with the same number of correct picks. The tie breaker was needed. KBells and Ricky were closest, and both were off by the same number of points from the teams final scores. They are the winners.

Now I will eat crow and say……

Yeah. Tide Rolled.

From FoxSports

“The championship was locked up by halftime. By the time the confetti landed, Alabama was already looking ahead to the next one.

That’s the way it is for the latest dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

Win a title. Move on.

Quieting the Irish on the very first drive, Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron and the No. 2 Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 for the BCS championship Monday night, locking up a second consecutive national title and third in four years with another laugher of a title game.”

Laugher? Well I didn’t see anything funny in it.

OK football fans. Here’s your chance to show your expertise.

There are no prizes 😦 but you get bragging rights, and your name posted as The Winner. 🙂

12 Bowl games

Pick the winner of each of the first 11 games.

The National Championship Game score is the tie-breaker, so in that one you must pick a winner as well as the final score.

The first game is on the 29th of December, so all picks in by noon the 29th.

1. West Virginia vs. Syracuse   Dec. 29th

2. TCU vs. Michigan State   Dec. 29th

3. USC vs. Georgia Tech   Dec. 31st 

4. LSU vs. Clemson   Dec. 31st

5. South Carolina vs. Michigan   Jan. 1st

6. Georgia vs. Nebraska   Jan. 1st

7. Wisconsin vs. Stanford   Jan. 1st

8. Northern Illinois vs. Florida State   Jan. 1st

9. Louisville vs. Florida   Jan. 2nd

10. Oregon vs. Kansas State   Jan. 3rd

11. Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma   Jan. 4th

12. Notre Dame vs. Alabama — Pick winner and final score   Jan. 7th

And no, I didn’t forget Boise State. But they play today and it was just too soon to make the poll. Sorry.

But Go BOISE anyway.

🙂

And then GO IRISH!

Last night while reading the news on-line, I came across this piece from PJMedia. 

“This is the latest video about Musicorps, a program that gives (often very severely) wounded combat veterans the opportunity to play music.  It’s the creation of a wunderkind in Washington DC named Arthur Bloom, a Juliard prodigy who has performed with some very famous musicians and written some very successful compositions, including movie scores.  He took his profits and put them into Musicorps, which maybe, just maybe, is beginning to attract the attention it deserves.”

I must say, I was intrigued. So I checked out their website, watched some more video, got choked up more than once, and knew I had to share it here. It’s a program started at Walter Reed. The benefits of the program are obvious once you watch. These folks deserve our best, and a program like this that helps enrich their lives is certainly worthy of support and encouragement. I salute them and their efforts. Well done.

Here’s the video.

Here’s the link for MusicCorps for more about what they do.

“Musicorps replicates “real world” music relationships so that injured veterans work on, and are motivated to work on, robust goal-oriented projects many hours a day. Musicorps integrates individualized projects, regular visits by accomplished musicians, and the use of specially-assembled computer-based music workstations along with traditional instruments. Working in any musical style they prefer, wounded warriors are able to learn, play, write, record, and produce original material.

Facing a jarring shift from rigorous activity to the pain and isolation of recovery,  Musicorps brings activity, accomplishment, and joy. The program helps wounded warriors overcome injuries, remain productive, and recover their lives.

Musicorps also aids recovery from war-related trauma, including PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury). Concussive blasts from roadside bombs cause TBI, and it has been called the signature injury of the war on terror. Learning, creating, and performing music involves so many aspects of brain function that it is believed to recruit uninjured parts of the brain to compensate for parts that have been injured, and help those parts that are injured recover. Among others, Musicorps is advised by Dr. Allen Brown, Director of Brain Research and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic.”

And here’s one more. You can view more videos at their link.