Soldiers and police are supposed to be different. … Police look inward. They’re supposed to protect their fellow citizens from criminals, and to maintain order with a minimum of force.

It’s the difference between Audie Murphy and Andy Griffith. But nowadays, police are looking, and acting, more like soldiers than cops, with bad consequences. And those who suffer the consequences are usually innocent civilians.”

______________________________________________

4. Maliki is stepping down in Iraq. I doubt it helps, but it’s the right thing to do.

From CNN “Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave up the fight Thursday to keep his post, clearing the way for a new leader that many hope can hold Iraq together as the country battles brutal extremist fighters.

In a televised address, al-Maliki withdrew his candidacy for a third term and endorsed the Prime Minister-designate, bringing to an end a political battle that just days ago saw him vow to hold onto power as he ordered tanks into the streets.

“I announce to you today that I am withdrawing my candidacy in deference to my brother, Haider al-Abadi, in the highest interest of the country,” he said.”

______________________________________________

5. Kirsten Powers is hitting the President for ignoring the plight of Christians in Iraq.

From USAToday “It’s starting to seem as if the Obama White House operates on a time delay. In the case of Iraq’s religious minorities, the results have been deadly.

On June 10, the barbaric extremists called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul. By mid-July, they issued an edict to the Christians who remained to “convert, leave or be killed.” The White House said nothing.

Beginning on July 22, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., took to the House floor six times to plead for attention from the Obama administration as a genocide threatened Iraq. Not a word from the president.

On July 24, a resolution sponsored by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., “condemning the severe persecution (of) Christians and other ethnic and religious minority communities … in Iraq” was introduced on the floor of the House. It called for the administration to “develop and implement an immediate, coordinated and sustained humanitarian intervention.” Crickets.

______________________________________________

6. Many of you may have already read Matt Walsh’s take on the Robin Williams suicide. He’s taken a lot of flack for his comments. If you haven’t read it, here it is.

From TheMattWalshBlog “The death of Robin Williams is significant not because he was famous, but because he was human, and not just because he left this world, but particularly because he apparently chose to leave it. Suicide.”

“It’s a tragic choice, truly, but it is a choice, and we have to remember that. Your suicide doesn’t happen to you; it doesn’t attack you like cancer or descend upon you like a tornado. It is a decision made by an individual. A bad decision. Always a bad decision.

And that’s why I felt compelled to say something here. There are important truths we can take from the suicide of a rich and powerful man, yet I’m worried that we are too afraid to tackle the subject, or too blind to tackle it with any depth, so we only perpetuate the problem. But worse than the glossing over of suicide is the fact that we seem to approach it with an attitude that nearly resembles admiration.”

Over at The Federalist Bill McMorris agrees, and thinks this might be an opportunity to revive the stigma.

From TheFederalist “Robin Williams is dead. It is a tragedy. The greater tragedy is that he committed suicide. The greatest tragedy is that we can’t talk about it, not honestly. When Christian blogger Matt Walsh attempted to do so, the purveyors of moral preening, both Right and Left, came out of the woodwork to exercise their lungs and position themselves as righteous. Their case amounted to this: how dare he suggest that eliminating the stigma of suicide isn’t the best suicide prevention technique.

I read and re-read his post, trying to find the passage that invited all this scorn. Here’s the most offensive passage to the virgin eyes of the twenty-first century:

It’s a tragic choice, truly, but it is a choice, and we have to remember that. Your suicide doesn’t happen to you; it doesn’t attack you like cancer or descend upon you like a tornado. It is a decision made by an individual. A bad decision. Always a bad decision.”

“The outrage over Walsh’s column points to the changing status of suicide in our new world. Self-annihilation, once regarded by the Christian West as the greatest sin, is now treated through the prism of Eastern religions: the ultimate symbol of martyrdom.”

______________________________________________

June 9, 2014 by the real Aj

News/Politics 6-9-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up today, we know that fasting accompanied by prayer has spiritual benefits, but now some are saying that it has physical benefits too.

From TheTelegraph/UK “Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable”.

Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.

Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.

It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.”

______________________________________________

2. Next up, he’s not heavy, he’s my brother.

From NBCNews “A Michigan teenager who wanted to raise awareness about cerebral palsy by walking 40 miles with his younger brother strapped to his back battled heat, rain, fatigue and more to finish the trek Sunday.

Hunter Gandee, 14, had been planning for weeks to pull off the walk, hoping to put a face on the muscular disorder that prevents his 7-year-old sibling, Braden, from being able to walk without help. But all his organizing couldn’t prepare him for the conditions he faced as he packed the 50-pound boy over two days.”

“Honestly, yes, there was a point that we did consider stopping,” Hunter said. “Braden’s legs — the chafing was getting pretty bad. We did have to consider stopping. It was at about the 30-mile point.” A phone call changed all that.

Hunter reached out to a friend, who said a prayer for the brothers. That, combined with some rest and a change in how Braden was positioned on his brother’s back, helped the boys make it the final 10 miles.”

______________________________________________

3. As in football, politics requires a strong ground game.

From Politico “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is helping open a “GOP engagement office” on Saturday in an African-American area of Louisville, part of a frenetic summer schedule aimed at reaching beyond the party’s traditional base, with explicit appeals to minorities and young people.

In late summer or early fall, Paul plans a major foreign policy address that will give him a prime chance to close a gap with establishment Republicans that has been perhaps the biggest hurdle to acceptance of Paul by party elites.

The itinerary will bolster the widespread view among Republican leaders that Paul is doing the most visible spadework of the party’s potential presidential candidates. As a sign of his advanced planning, the senator told AP that he would consider running for reelection and president at the same time, and that a Kentucky ballot law against dual candidacies would not be an obstacle.”

______________________________________________

4. This is the problem with arming the bad guys. Sooner or later, they turn their weapons on you.

From TheNYPost “In his new book, “Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi” (Broadside Books), writer Kenneth R. Timmerman explains how the US government’s efforts to arm the Libyan rebels backfired, flooding weapons into Syria, and as he reveals here, Afghanistan: The Obama administration isn’t only giving the Taliban back its commanders — it’s giving them weapons.

“The next day, an explosive ordnance disposal team arrived to pick through the wreckage and found unexploded pieces of a missile casing that could only belong to a Stinger missile.

Lodged in the right nacelle, they found one fragment that contained an entire serial number.

The investigation took time. Arms were twisted, noses put out of joint. But when the results came back, they were stunning: The Stinger tracked back to a lot that had been signed out by the CIA recently, not during the anti-Soviet jihad.

“My sources in the US Special Operations community believe the Stinger fired against the Chinook was part of the same lot the CIA turned over to the Qataris in early 2011, weapons Hillary Rodham Clinton’s State Department intended for anti-Khadafy forces in Libya.”

______________________________________________

5. As usual, nothing is as they advertised it.

From TheCourier-Journal “It wasn’t supposed to work this way, but since the Affordable Care Act took effect in January, Norton Hospital has seen its packed emergency room become even more crowded, with about 100 more patients a month.

That 12 percent spike in the number of patients — many of whom aren’t actually facing true emergencies — is spurring the hospital to convert a waiting room into more exam rooms.

“We’re seeing patients who probably should be seen at our (immediate-care centers),” said Lewis Perkins, the hospital’s vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer. “And we’re seeing this across the system.”

That’s just the opposite of what many people expected under Obamacare, particularly because one of the goals of health reform was to reduce pressure on emergency rooms by expanding Medicaid and giving poor people better access to primary care.”

______________________________________________

March 10, 2014 by the real Aj

News/Politics 3-10-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. CPAC finished up it’s annual conference over the weekend. The results from the conservative side of the Republican party are in, and their early favorite has emerged from a crowded pack.

From TheWashingtonTimes “Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote — nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz.”

“In the presidential poll, Mr. Cruz’s 11 percent was a big improvement for the freshman senator, who won just 4 percent in last year’s straw poll. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth with 8 percent in results that signal growing discontent with the GOP establishment in Washington.

Indeed, CPAC voters now have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress, with 51 percent saying they disapprove of the job the GOP is doing on Capitol Hill. Just last year the GOP had a 54 percent approval rating, and in 2012 they held a 70 percent approval rating.”

More here from the WT, with more of Paul’s speech.

Ted Cruz lays out his sweeping vision here, also via the WT.

________________________________________

2. Putin is threatening economic sanctions of his own, while tightening his grip.

From TheTelegraph “Vladimir Putin has mocked diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis as Russia threatened to disrupt European gas supplies by cutting off sales to Kiev over its unpaid debts.

The Russian president said through his official spokesman that, despite deep disagreements with the West, he did not want a confrontation over Ukraine to spiral into a “new cold war”.

Nevertheless Dmitry Peskov ridiculed Western demands for direct talks between the Kremlin and the new Kiev government, claiming that the loss of credibility involved “puts a smile on our face”.”

________________________________________

3. Will the IRS investigate?

Good question. But no, they won’t.

From TheDailyCaller “The IRS still has not responded to allegations from a former Center for American Progress (CAP) employee that the left-wing think tank coordinates on editorial content with the White House — revelations that could threaten the organization’s nonprofit status.

Former ThinkProgress reporter Zaid Jilani wrote a piece this week detailing his experiences working for the liberal blog, which is run by CAP’s 501(c)(4) nonprofit Action Fund, the advocacy arm of White House counselor John Podesta’s think tank.”

________________________________________

4. I’ll believe it when it actually happens.

From HotAir “On Wednesday, we found out the Big Reveal on whether or not Lois Lerner would be emptying the bag for Darrell Issa. Nope. So many perfectly good conspiracy theories flushed down the tubes after I went through two pots of coffee dreaming them up. It looked like a big, fat nothingburger and another dead end. But now, seemingly out of nowhere, the IRS seems to have had a change of heart.

The powerful House Ways and Means Committee will get everything from disgraced former IRS official Lois Lerner’s email account since a few weeks before Barack Obama became president.

And Republican committee members are hoping they’ll find a smoking gun tying the Obama administration to the years-long scheme to play political favorites with nonprofit groups’ tax-exemption applications.

After eight months of back-and-forth stonewalling, the IRS has agreed to turn over the complete contents of Lerner’s email account, along with other documents that two congressional committees have been demanding.”

________________________________________

5. This last one is very sad. It’s unbelievable that this is allowed to continue.

From CNSNews “In New York City, 80% of the babies killed by abortion in 2012 were minorities: Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Blacks.

According to a “Pregnancy Outcomes” report published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, there were a total 73,815 “induced terminations,” or abortions, in 2012 in the five boroughs that comprise New York City.

Among those abortions, 58,738 were of babies of minority race or ethnicity. That’s 79.57% of the total, or approximately 80% of all the abortions that year.”

The NYC Dept. of Health report is here, (See Pregnancy Outcomes NYC 2012.pdf)

________________________________________

November 19, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 11-19-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up, stop digging.

From TheChicagoTribune “On some level, then, the president plainly agrees with critics of Obamacare, this page included, that the law needs to be rewritten: He and his administration keep rewriting its major components — remember the mandate that sizable employers offer coverage in 2014? — as practicalities and politics demand.

But in this country we don’t change bad laws by presidential fiat. We change them by having Congress rewrite them or by starting from scratch. Obama doesn’t want to reopen this law for fear that Republicans and some Democrats will substantially rewrite it. But that’s what has to happen.

We understand why the president and leaders of his party want to rescue whatever they can of Obamacare. On their watch, official Washington has blown the launch of a new entitlement program … under the schedule they alone set in early 2010.

What we don’t understand is their reluctance to give that failure more than lip service. Many of the Americans who heard their president say Thursday that “we fumbled the rollout of this health care law” would have been pleased to hear him add: So we’re admitting it. This law is a bust. We’re starting over.“

_________________________________________________

2. Rand Paul is reminding folks who is responsible for folks getting cancellations. And no, it’s not those evil insurance companies. There’s also a 30 minute video of the whole conversation with Paul at the link.

From WeaselZippers “RAND PAUL: I’m still learning about it. It’s 20,000 pages of regulations. The Bill was 2,000 pages and I didn’t realize this until this week, the whole idea of you losing or getting your insurance cancelled wasn’t in the original Obamacare. It was a regulation written by President Obama, three months later.

So we had a vote, this is before I got up there. The Republicans had a vote to try to cancel that regulation so you couldn’t be cancelled, to grandfather everybody in. You know what the vote was? Straight party line. Every Democrat voted to keep the rule that cancels your insurance.“

_________________________________________________

3. Info that should have raised red flags, but didn’t. Cronyism and no-bid contracts got in the way of common sense.

From TheWaPo “The lead contractor on the dysfunctional Web site for the Affordable Care Act is filled with executives from a company that mishandled at least 20 other government IT projects, including a flawed effort to automate retirement benefits for millions of federal workers, documents and interviews show.

CGI Federal, the main Web site developer, entered the U.S. government market a decade ago when its parent company purchased American Management Systems, a Fairfax County contractor that was coming off a series of troubled projects. CGI moved into AMS’s custom-made building off Interstate 66, changed the sign outside and kept the core of employees, who now populate the upper ranks of CGI Federal.

They include CGI Federal’s current and past presidents, the company’s chief technology officer, its vice president for federal health care and its health IT leader, according to company and other records. More than 100 former AMS employees are now senior executives or consultants working for CGI in the Washington area.”

Among that list are Obama donors and the first lady’s college friend.

_________________________________________________

4. If you can’t pay for your new insurance plan, do you really even have one? Of course not.

From TheWeeklyStandard “An editorial in last week’s USA Today repeats the common belief about the deadline: “The deadline for signing up for insurance that begins Jan. 1 is Dec. 15.” However, “signing up” for insurance is not enough. As the Healthcare.gov website states [emphasis added]:

If you enroll in a private health insurance plan any time between October 1, 2013 and December 15, 2013 and make your first premium payment, your new health coverage starts January 1, 2014.”

“However, paying the premium is not necessarily a simple matter. An online chat with a Healthcare.gov representative revealed that the site is not recommending using the exchange to make the initial premium payment. The representative was not even completely sure the option was being offered.”

“The federal government-run exchange is not the only one to experience problems with premium payments. The Maryland Health Connection, that state’s version of the Obamacare exchange, announced a week ago Friday that it was suspending the bill-pay feature indefinitely:”

Really need that face-palm smiley.

_________________________________________________

5. Looks like some liberals are taking the IRS method of dealing with conservatives to heart. Nothing like govt funded intimidation of your political enemies huh?

From TheCapitolCityProject “In Wisconsin, dozens of conservative groups and allies of Gov. Scott Walker are undergoing political intimidation from the left at the hands of a special prosecutor.

Subpoenas have been issued demanding correspondence and donor information of right-leaning organizations and individuals and raids have been conducted resulting in law enforcement officers taking computers and files in a secret investigation, according to reports.”

“It continues, “Copies of two subpoenas we’ve seen demand ‘all memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications’ both internally and between the subpoena target and some 29 conservative groups, including Wisconsin and national nonprofits, political vendors and party committees. The groups include the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.”

The WSJ says the latest actions are taking place under Wisconsin’s John Doe law, which makes it difficult for the groups involved to defend themselves publicly. The law, “Bars a subpoena’s targets from disclosing its contents to anyone but his attorneys. John Doe probes work much like a grand jury, allowing prosecutors to issue subpoenas and conduct searches, while the gag orders leave the targets facing the resources of the state with no way to publicly defend themselves.”

_________________________________________________

6. The saga continues. What a mess.

From NBCNews “George Zimmerman was arrested and charged with threatening his girlfriend with a gun Monday after Florida authorities responded to a disturbance call at the woman’s home.

Zimmerman has been charged with felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal mischief, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma said during a press conference Monday in Sanford, Fla., hours after Zimmerman was arrested in nearby Apopka, roughly 15 miles northwest of Orlando.

Zimmerman’s girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, told deputies that she and Zimmerman were having a “verbal dispute,” and she alleged that he broke a table and pointed a long-barreled shotgun at her, Lemma said.”

_________________________________________________

7. Why does this not surprise me?

From TheLATimes “College students who cheated on a simple task were more likely to want government jobs, researchers from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania found in a study of hundreds of students in Bangalore, India.

Their results, recently released as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, suggest that one of the contributing forces behind government corruption could be who gets into government work in the first place.

For instance, “if people have the view that jobs in government are corrupt, people who are honest might not want to get into that system,” said Rema Hanna, an associate professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. To combat that problem, governments may need to find new ways to screen people seeking jobs, she said.”

Screen them? Haven’t they heard?

At least in this country, and according to this administration and it’s DoJ, it’s racist to do background checks.

_________________________________________________

October 16, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 10-16-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, some interesting words from Rand Paul. I’ll be honest, my first thought was I wonder what Dad thinks?

From CNSNews “Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the mainstream media try to ignore it but there is a “worldwide war on Christianity” being waged by a “fanatical element of Islam,” and that U.S. policy towards Syria has resulted in America now sending weapons to “Islamic rebels who are allied with al-Qaida.”

“From Boston to Zanzibar, there’s a worldwide war on Christianity,” said Senator Paul at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 12. “Christians are being attacked around the world, but you won’t hear much about it on the evening news because the answer’s not convenient. It doesn’t fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam.

“The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians,” said Paul. “The media describes the killings as ‘sectarian.’ But the truth is, a worldwide war on Christians is being waged by a fanatical element of Islam.”

Meanwhile, the war on Christians in the military continues here at home.

Also From CNSNews “After the Obama administration, for the second Sunday in a row, continued to prohibit approximately 50 Catholic priests from saying Mass and administering other sacraments at U.S. military facilities around the world, Father Ray Leonard, who serves as the Catholic chaplain at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, filed suit Monday against the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Department of the Navy, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

DOD is prohibiting Father Leonard and the other Catholic priests from administering the sacraments and providing other services to their congregations even though two weeks ago Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, a law that instructed DOD to maintain on the job and keep paying contract employees who were supporting the troops.

DOD took this action because Hagel determined–after consulting with Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department–that civilian Catholic priests, working under contract as chaplains, did not, among other things, “contribute to the morale” and “well-being” of service personnel.”

Shocked? Me neither. After all, they’re more likely to support the people in the first link than they are Christians anywhere.

_________________________________________________

In other news from the continuing shut down saga….

From TheWashingtonPost “The Republican-controlled House canceled a vote Tuesday night on a plan to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling after support from conservatives for the deal crumbled, leaving Washington without a clear path forward for avoiding a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.

Later Tuesday night, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell moved to pick up the pieces of the shattered House effort, with aides to both senators expressing optimism a deal could be soon at hand.

“Senator Reid and Senator McConnell have re-engaged in negotiations and are optimistic that an agreement is within reach,” said Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Reid (D-Nev.).

“Given tonight’s events, the leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default. They are optimistic an agreement can be reached,” said Don Stewart, spokesman to McConnell (R-Ky.).”

I’d be more optimistic if McCain and Senate Republicans didn’t appear to be stuck in “Surrender Monkey” mode.

And the plot thickens as well. This should add a sense of urgency to the whole affair.

From CNBC “Fitch Ratings put the US government’s “AAA” credit rating on ‘rating watch negative’ Tuesday, saying that the standstill on the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations risks undermining the effectiveness of the country’s government and political institutions.

U.S. stock index futures fell.

“Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default,” the rating agency wrote in a statement.”

_________________________________________________

Next up, only 6,964,000 to go. If you do the math, at this rate, no way they hit 7 million by their deadline, even if you go with the Mail’s 51 thousand instead of the 36 thousand here. And where will the money to fund it and keep it afloat come from without actual policyholders to pay for it?

From NationalReview “Millward Brown Digital, a consultancy firm, released an analysis today estimating that only 36,000 people had signed up for insurance through the federal Obamacare exchange website.

According to Millward Brown Digital, there were 9.47 million unique visitors to healthcare.gov from the site’s launch on October 1 through October 5. Of those visitors, 1.3 million left the website for their state-run exchange and 3.72 million attempted to create an account on the site. Only 1.01 million successfully did so.”

“The analysis says that “Healthcare.gov was clearly unprepared to handle the huge spike in traffic witnessed on October 1st when it was visited by .9% (or 1 in 114) of everyone online in the U.S. This is roughly equivalent to the daily traffic on Target.com.”

Yeah…….. 🙄

Here’s more from the study, also not encouraging. 1 year delay? Sounds like 3 or 4 is more like it.

From TheWashingtonPost “The number of visitors to the federal government’s HealthCare.gov Web site plummeted 88 percent between Oct. 1 and Oct. 13, according to a new analysis of America’s online use, while less than half of 1 percent of the site’s visitors successfully enrolled for health insurance the first week.”

“Based on a sample of two million users — or 1 percent of all online users in the U.S. — which Millward Brown Digital has permission to track, it suggests that the rush of traffic administration officials cited as the cause of the site’s problems trailed off within a matter of days.”

“And Aneesh Chopra, who served as the White House’s first-ever chief technology officer during President Obama’s first term, said the analysis actually captured the public’s sustained interest in signing up for health insurance on the federal exchange. He noted that while the total number of visitors to the site is interesting, it matters much more that one million Americans created an online account.

“Account creation is always the holy grail. That’s the moment that matters,” Chopra said in an interview. “In one week, a million people began a process that will result in affordable coverage. That means a lot of people are going to ultimately get the product.”

Not surprised the former Obama admin employee tries to put a good spin on things. But the reality is he’s wrong. His “Holy Grail” is useless. It means nothing. What it needs are paying customers. Signing up is easy, forking over the cash for an actual policy is quite another matter. That isn’t happening in large enough numbers yet.

And Forbes says people will be shocked when they find out the cost. They say the system is designed to get all your info first, then you get to see the prices. They say that’s the case because the numbers will scare folks away.

From Forbes “A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.

HHS didn’t want users to see Obamacare’s true costs

“Healthcare.gov was initially going to include an option to browse before registering,” report Christopher Weaver and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal. “But that tool was delayed, people familiar with the situation said.” Why was it delayed? “An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to ensure that users were aware of their eligibility for subsidies that could help pay for coverage, before they started seeing the prices of policies.”

_________________________________________________

And last one for today, was the difficulty with the SNAP program over the weekend really a computer glitch? Or a dry run to gauge reaction for this?

From WeaselZippers “The United States Dept Of Agriculture is the governmental body tasked with overseeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or “SNAP.”

According to a memo dated Oct 11 2013 and circulated among SNAP program administrators for all states that participate, the USDA recommends they begin withholding benefits from citizens beginning in November.

Is the US Dept of Agriculture trying to create panic among program participants as we saw previously?“

Is this the next move in the make it hurt campaign the Obama admin is engaging in?

_________________________________________________

March 8, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 3-8-13

What’s interesting out there today?

____________________________________________________

First an UPDATE to a story from yesterday. Senators Paul and Cruz, who also spoke during the filibuster, have introduced legislation to limit drone strikes against American citizens.

The civil war between conservatives and moderate/liberals in the Republican party will continue. They’re ignoring the leadership and doing what they believe to be right. Meanwhile, the old guard led by McCain and Graham whine about grandstanding by Paul (while grandstanding themselves), and how wonderful dinner with Obama was.

From CruzSenate.Gov

“U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) today introduced legislation to prohibit drone killings of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat.

“Our Constitution restrains government power,” Cruz said. “The federal government may not use drones to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat. The Commander in Chief does, of course, have the power to protect Americans from imminent attack, and nothing in this legislation interferes with that power.”

Key bill text: The Federal Government may not use a drone to kill a citizen of the United States who is located in the United States. The prohibition under this subsection shall not apply to an individual who poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to another individual. Nothing in this section shall be construed to suggest that the Constitution would otherwise allow the killing of a citizen of the United States in the United States without due process of law.”

Some on the left are coming out in agreement with Paul’s way of thinking as well. Plus a video of tone deaf McCain, if you want to watch it.

From HotAir

“Erika already touched on this but watch the vid too to see one of the more memorably tone-deaf performances in modern political history. Whatever your feelings about Paul’s position on drones, there’s no denying the truth of what Philip Klein says here:

A lot of the outpouring of conservative support for Paul’s filibuster on Obama’s drone policy went beyond the libertarian and anti-interventionist blocs of the movement who were also deeply troubled by Bush era counter-terrorism policies. Even those conservatives who may not agree with all of Paul’s views on presidential war powers were supportive if for no other reason than they relished seeing a conservative win a messaging war with Obama. It was impossible to dismiss this as just a right-wing Tea Party attack, because a lot of liberals agree with the substance of Paul’s criticism. This filibuster had to get under Obama’s skin. As much as anything else, he was elected on a promise to turn the page on the Bush era and conduct the war against terrorism with greater concern for civil liberties. Watching Paul’s filibuster last night, I couldn’t help but think that this is how Obama imagines himself – a principled crusader for justice. When Bush and Cheney were running the show, whatever could be said about them, at least they were consistent in supporting broad presidential powers in the realm of national security. But it’s hard to look back at the pre-2009 Obama and see him as anything other than an arrogant hypocrite now — somebody who thinks a muscular executive branch is okay so long as he’s running it.”

____________________________________________________

Here’s another Update to one of yesterday’s stories. The White House has pulled the planned International Woman of Courage Award for the anti-Semitic/anti-American remarks made by Samira Ibrahim.

From TheHuffingtonPost

“The Obama administration is postponing an award for an Egyptian activist who rallied worldwide attention against forced “virginity tests” on female protesters because of anti-American and anti-Semitic comments discovered on her Twitter account.

The State Department announced earlier this week that Samira Ibrahim would be among 10 recipients of the International Women of Courage award presented by Secretary of State John Kerry and first lady Michelle Obama on Friday.

But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday the U.S. would hold off on awarding Ibrahim while officials investigate the tweets, which include support for attacks against U.S. diplomatic installations and praise for a terrorist assault against Israeli citizens in Bulgaria.”

Meanwhile, she doubles down. From TheWeeklyStandard

“Finally, Ibrahim herself has spoken, writing in Arabic on her Twitter page. Egyptian democracy activist Mina Rezkalla provides the translation: “I refuse to apologize to the Zionist lobby in America regarding my previous anti-Zionist statements under pressure from American government therefore they withdrew the award.”

This would seem to settle the question as to whether or not her page had been “stolen.” Now all that’s left is for the State Department to demand that Ibrahim reimburse American taxpayers for her trip to the United States.”

____________________________________________________

And while we’re on the subject of anti-Semites, it’s off to Harvard for the next one.

From IsraelNationalNews

“In Harvard University’s latest attempt to promote the delegitimization of the state of Israel, Jewish students in freshman and upper class dormitories received mock eviction notices in light of “Israel Apartheid Week”, which is currently being organized on college and university campuses worldwide.

The campaign, organized by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, distributed notices at the beginning of March which read, “We regret to inform you that your suite is scheduled for demolition in the next three days”, a reference to the group’s views regarding Israel’s treatment of the Arab population.

The Anti Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage over the prestigious university’s latest attempts to daunt Jewish students and demonize the state of Israel saying, “This tactic is designed to silence and intimidate pro-Israel advocates at Harvard and campuses around the country.”

____________________________________________________

Hugo Chavez’s supporters are convinced foul play was involved. The implications are that the US was responsible. And like any good lefty, Chavez said we should blame George Bush. 🙄

From TheWashingtonPost

“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been fighting cancer for two years when he died this afternoon at age 58, but some Venezuelans — including new President Nicolas Maduro — are convinced foul play is to blame.

Maduro promised on state television that a “scientific commission” would look into Chavez’s death and the possibility that his “historical enemies” had somehow induced his disease, reported El Diario. On social media and in several news outs, that “historical enemy” was interpreted as the United States.”

____________________________________________________

This is just disturbing. This is yet another indictment against the public school system. Throwing money at it has solved nothing. But that will be what they say they need to fix it.

From NYCBSLocal

“Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University’s community college system.”

“When they graduated from city high schools, students in a special remedial program at the Borough of Manhattan Community College couldn’t make the grade.

They had to re-learn basic skills — reading, writing and math — first before they could begin college courses.”

“In sheer numbers it means that nearly 11,000 kids who got diplomas from city high schools needed remedial courses to re-learn the basics.”

And that’s just one major city, and it’s not the only one.

____________________________________________________

And this one I’m putting up because all too often we hear rich people, mostly liberals, talking about the rich paying more. The problem is, they never volunteer more of their money to help out. Well this one is, and no, he’s not a liberal. Warren Buffet could learn a lot from this guy. And unlike Warren, I bet this guy doesn’t own millions in back taxes either.

From HotAir

“The White House’s transparently petty decision to inflict sequester’s pain on America’s middle-schoolers (as if those years aren’t tough enough) revealed its sequestration doomsaying as silly and its post-doomsaying behavior as spiteful. In a rare good PR turn for Republicans, what was meant to make them look like heartless meanies has held the White House up for ridicule for its utter unwillingness to prioritize. Upon hearing the estimates that the White House’s cancellation of tours might save the administration $18,000-$72,000 a week, Fox News anchor Eric Bolling— I’m sure they’re fans at the White House— decided to come to the aid of The Children.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, anchor Eric Bolling announced that he will offer to personally pay the costs to keep the tours at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue open for a week.

During Thursday evening’s episode of “The Five,” Bolling elaborated. “I will absolutely write the check if they open the doors next week.”

“I’ll make you a deal Mr. President…Let these families take their White House tours next week and I’ll cover the added expenses. Word is it will cost around $74,000.”