History for February 8

History for February 8 - On-This-Day.com

Birth anniversary of Jules Verne, Father of Science Fiction (1828-1905).

Birth anniversary General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-91).

In 1587 Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay, England.

Happy Birthday! Brooke Adams, John Grisham, Nick Nolte

1861 - A Cheyenne delegation and some Arapaho leaders accepted a new settlement (Treaty of Fort Wise) with the U.S. Federal government. The deal ceded most of their land but secured a 600-square mile reservation and annuity payments.
 

1896 - The Western Conference was formed by representatives of Midwestern universities. The group changed its name to the Big 10 Conference. 


1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began with Japan attacking Russian forces in Manchuria. 


1910 - William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. 


1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to re-introduce draft registration. 

1993 - General Motors sued NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" had rigged two car-truck crashes to show that some GM pickups were prone to fires after certain types of crashes. The suit was settled the following day by NBC. 

$5 BILLION?!!!!!!!!!!!--------Billions Wasted on Unreliable Obamacare Exchanges

Billions Wasted on Unreliable Obamacare Exchanges:
"The federal taxpayers have spent over $5 billion to build Obamacare’s exchanges. 
Unfortunately for taxpayers, these investments have not delivered a good return and are ongoing.
Despite the muddled launch of many exchanges, the federal government is still doling out grant money, giving out over $200 million to nine states last month.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia are running their own Obamacare exchanges and they all received federal grant money to help build them—a total of over $4 billion. California alone received $1 billion to set up its exchange.
Many state-based exchanges have struggled with similar website problems as the federal healthcare.gov site, and some are still barely operational despite being four months into the open enrollment period.
Consider Maryland and Oregon:
The Maryland exchange, called the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, has received $171 million in federal grant money but its exchange still isn’t functioning properly, causing enrollment difficulty and the site even listed an incorrect phone number to call for assistance"

NO mention, at all, this is the medical pot outlet for Muskegon..........Hydroponics business in Muskegon allegedly targeted by thieves

Hydroponics business in Muskegon allegedly targeted by thieves | MLive.com:

MUSKEGON, MI -- A hydroponics business in Muskegon was allegedly broken into over the weekend, police said.

Muskegon Police Department officials were notified to the alleged break-in at Big Blue Hydroponics, in the 500 block of Ottawa Street, around 12:34 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1. The business is equipped with an alarm system which had been activated, sending police officers to the scene.

California’s Two Droughts

California’s Two Droughts | National Review Online:
"Californians have not built a major reservoir since the New Melones Dam more than 30 years ago.
As the state subsequently added almost 20 million people, it assumed that it was exempt from creating any more “unnatural” Sierra lakes and canals to store precious water during California’s rarer wet and snow-filled years.

Then, short-sightedness soon became conceit. 
Green utopians went further and demanded that an ailing three-inch bait fish in the San Francisco delta receive more fresh oxygenated water.
In the last five years, they have successfully gone to court to force millions of acre-feet of contracted irrigation water to be diverted from farms to flow freely out to sea."

Congressman Tried to Shut Down a Tea Party Leader at Thursday’s Hearing — That’s When a GOP Rep. Showed He Wasn’t Having Any of It

Congressman Tried to Shut Down a Tea Party Leader at Thursday’s Hearing — That’s When a GOP Rep. Showed He Wasn’t Having Any of It | Video | TheBlaze.com
That’s when Jordan stepped in to make a simple but effective point.

“Ms. Engelbrecht,” Jordan said, “in the first 20 years of business, did OSHA ever visit your place of business?”
“No sir,” she responded.

“Never once?”

“No sir.”

“After you filed the [tax-exempt application for King Street Patriots], OSHA visited then, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“In the first 20 years of business did the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] ever come to your business?” Jordan continued.

“No sir.”

“And they came a couple times once you filed your application?”

“Yes sir.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) pressed Tea Party group leader Catherine Engelbrecht during a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. (AP)

“And in your first 20 years of business, did the IRS ever audit you?”

“No sir.”

“But once you filed your application, they audited you?”

“Many times.”

“And in your first 20 years of business, did the FBI ever visit you?”

“No sir.”

“But once you filed your application, did they visit you?”

“Six times.”

Jordan made his final point: “Mr. Connolly wants us to believes that’s all a coincidence.”

Unamused with Jordan’s line of questioning, an agitated Connolly shot back, insisting that he’s merely looking for evidence of the scrutiny being politically motivated.

“You can believe it’s all a coincidence,” Jordan said. “I refuse to do so.”

“I believe in fact-based, empirical oversight,” Connolly responded. “And innuendo and drawing conclusions and paranoia do not substitute for fact-based, empirical oversight.”

Connolly concluded by muttering the word “McCarthyism”:

Humana Will Get $250-450 Million to Offset Expected Loses This Year. That's Just One Insurer.

Humana Will Get $250-450 Million to Offset Expected Loses This Year. That's Just One Insurer. | National Review Online:
"A few weeks ago, we were told not to listen to the hype about Obamacare’s troubles, because insurers believed it was all going to be okay. Better yet, even after a rocky start in 2014, it was going to be good for their businesses.
And indeed, it is likely that the reason they agreed to let the federal government tell them what they can sell or not and at what price is that they thought this was worth it in exchange for Obamacare’s forcing citizens to buy their products.
But what will this bargain take? 
One large health insurer, Humana, is going to need between $250 and $450 million payment (some or most​ of it could be coming from taxpayers) to compensate for their loses in 2014. "

Jails Enroll Inmates in Obamacare to Pass Hospital Costs to U.S

Jails Enroll Inmates in Obamacare to Pass Hospital Costs to U.S. - Bloomberg:
"Being arrested in Chicago for, say, drug possession or assault gets you sent to the Cook County Jail to be fingerprinted, photographed and X-rayed.
You’ll also get help applying for health insurance. 
 At least six states and counties from Maryland to Oregon’s Multnomah are getting inmates coverage under Obamacare and its expansion of Medicaid, the federal and state health-care program for the poor."

Dems gettin' a bit goosey......

https://my.democrats.org/Impeachment

Geezers take over ski resorts---Wednesday at A-Basin

Kind of amazing.
Maybe a bit depressing but ...
We healthy retireds are sitting up top Arapaho Basin at the Black Mountain Lodge with all the very friendly workers under 30 and hear three songs in a row on the lodge's music system: Bohemian Rhapsody (1975), Layla (1970) and Marrakesh Express (1969).
Our generation has spent this generation into soon-to-be bankruptcy while they wait on us with our geezer music playing in the background.
And still they smile.....and vote for Obama......

Honeybunch disappearing along a ridge at A-Basin. WINDY and COLD!

We stopped shivering for a moment:

This soldier makes me proud to be an American-----Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Silences Crowd After Laughter is Heard

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Silences Crowd After Laughter is Heard:

Think You’re Having a Bad Day? This Guy’s Rude Introduction to the Power of a Snow Plow is Worse

Think You’re Having a Bad Day? This Guy’s Rude Introduction to the Power of a Snow Plow is Worse | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"In movies, it’s what happens right as a person thinks “could this day get any worse?” and then a passing truck sloshes dirty street water at them as they’re walking down the sidewalk.

This video is the winter version of that bad day — only perhaps worse."

An Inconveint Truth-Court Orders Utility To Address Wind Turbine Noise Problems

Court Orders Utility To Address Wind Turbine Noise Problems [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:

""There are only two ways to reduce the noise level," Martis said.

"One would be to increase the distance between the turbines and the homes, and it is too late for that.

The other is to reduce the decibel level, which would significantly increase the operating costs of the plant."

 Lake Winds is a 56-turbine facility located south of Ludington in Mason County.

It was the utility company's first wind plant project in Michigan. Residents who live near the $250 million plant began complaining of health problems shortly after the turbines began operating.

They filed a lawsuit on April 1 arguing that noise, vibrations and flickering lights emanating from the wind plant were adversely affecting their health. 

Among the symptoms noted in the lawsuit were dizziness, sleeplessness and headaches."

National insanity!.... or Media Lies?--------------CNN Poll: Pathway to citizenship trumps border security

CNN Poll: Pathway to citizenship trumps border security – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs: "Washington (CNN) - Americans overwhelmingly favor a bill that would give most undocumented immigrants a pathway towards citizenship, according to a new national poll.

 And a CNN/ORC International survey also indicates that a majority of the public says that the government's main focus should be legalizing the status of the undocumented rather than border security."

Obama's america-FBI Agents revolt against Eric Holder

FBI Agents revolt against Eric Holder | Power Line

FBI AGENTS REVOLT AGAINST ERIC HOLDER

First it was the Justice Department’s career prosecutors; now it’s FBI agents. The federal employees responsible for fighting crime are simply unable to digest the anti-law enforcement slop being served up by their boss, Attorney General Holder.

The FBI’s beef is with the selection of Debo Adegbile as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The FBI Agents Association’s opposition is based on the way in which Adegbile defended, and led the cheers for, cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The problem isn’t that Adegbile defended Abu-Jamal. 
The problem, as Bill Otis explains, is that Adegbile led a street campaign to denounce the policeman Abu-Jamal killed, Officer Daniel Faulkner, and the police in general, as an occupying fascist army.

Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles?

Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles? | AEIdeas:
"Carpe Diem
Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles?
Mark J. Perry | February 6, 2014, 3:58 pm
From James Surowiecki’s article in The New Yorker “The Sochi Effect“:

Whatever happens on the ice and snow of Sochi in the next couple of weeks, one thing is certain:
this Winter Olympics is the greatest financial boondoggle in the history of the Games.
Back in 2007, Vladimir Putin said that Russia would spend $12 billion on the Games. 
The actual amount is more than $50 billion. (By comparison, Vancouver’s Games, in 2010, cost $7 billion.)

As Josh Barro points out in a Tweet, $50 billion is 2.5% of Russia’s GDP, and the equivalent of the US spending $400 billion on the Olympics (that’s also equivalent to the annual Gross State Product of Massachusetts).
HT: Greg Allar"

Frustrating Medicare catch: Who's an in-patient at the hospital and who's under observation?

Frustrating Medicare catch: Who's an in-patient at the hospital and who's under observation? | Fox News:
"But when she was 95, Felton fell late one night at home and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room, where doctors found she'd broken her pelvis in three places.

Brier said the doctors told her that after leaving the hospital, her mother "would have to go to rehab and learn to walk again and learn to function again."

But Brier and her sisters were told that would mean a skilled nursing facility, which is expensive. But, if she "stayed three full nights, we were told that was the criteria for having Medicare pay for the rehab," Brier said.

There's a nasty catch, however-- many people in the hospital are not officially considered "in-patients" but rather "under observation" although the difference is not obvious.

Says Toby Edelman of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, “Once they are in the hospital and in a bed for several days, getting care and treatment and medicine and food, (a) wristband, they think they're in-patients.  People have no idea that they're out-patients.""

History for February 7

History for February 7 - On-This-Day.com:

50 years ago, The Beatles landed at JFK Airport, New York City, from London, to tremendous crowds and press attention.

Reporter: "Aren't you afraid of what the American Barbers Association is going to think of you?"

Ringo: "Well, we run quicker than the English ones, [so] we'll have a go here, you know."

Birth anniversary of author, journalist, orator, publisher Charles Dickens (1812-70).

Birth anniversaries of  Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

Happy Birthday! Garth Brooks, Gay Talese

1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. 


1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City. 


1893 - Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents. 


1922 - DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace offered 5,000 copies of "Reader's Digest" magazine for the first time. 


1944 - During World War II, the Germans launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy. 


1986 - Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country ending 28 years of family rule. 


1991 - The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president. 

Transparency Website Shows True Cost of Unionized Government in California

Transparency Website Shows True Cost of Unionized Government in California | Union Watch:
"The real shockers, however, are in the individual examples.
On the Transparent California website, click on “All Pensions – 2012” and view the results.
Three retired public servants collected pensions of over $500,000! 
Try your hand at Excel – click on “Download all Pension data for 2012” and sort by amount.
The $200,000 pension club now has a respectable showing at 582 members.
And the much vaunted $100,000 “pension club” now has 31,527 members. 
But why stop there?

The maximum Social Security benefit is currently a whopping $31,704 per year.
For that you have to work until you’re 67 years old, and contribute 12.4% of your total compensation – presumably for over 40 years.
How many retired state and local government workers – that we know of – collect twice that much? Transparent California’s data shows 140,461 retirees collecting $63,408 or more in pensions during 2012. 
Since the “average service life” of a government pensioner is 20 years, very few worked 40 years before retiring."

Oh yeah! This is gonna be GREAT for Detroit!----------Nation of Islam convention to bring 30,000 visitors to Detroit

Nation of Islam convention to bring 30,000 visitors to Detroit | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:

"The Nation of Islam will return to its roots when it holds its annual convention in Detroit later this month, a gathering that’s expected to draw up to 30,000 visitors to Detroit over four days.

 One of the oldest Muslim and black nationalist organizations in the U.S., the Nation of Islam usually holds its annual gathering in Chicago, where the group is based.

But it will be held in Detroit this year for the first time since 2007, when about 50,000 packed Ford Field to hear its leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, speak.

Farrakhan will speak on Feb. 23 at Joe Louis Arena on the last day of the convention.

 Called Saviours’ Day, the event celebrates the birthday of Wallace Fard Muhammad, who founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930.

The Nation of Islam’s first temple still exists in Detroit, where its message of black empowerment resonates in the largest black-majority city in the U.S."

A better map would compare debt/capita with states/countries------US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs

131 – US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs | Strange Maps:

"Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. Put differently:

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)"

Elitist lipstick on the CBO pig

Blog: Elitist lipstick on the CBO pig:
"The congressional number-crunchers, perhaps the capital's closest thing to a neutral referee, came out with a new report Tuesday, and it wasn't pretty for Obamacare.
The CBO predicted the law would have a "substantially larger" impact on the labor market than it had previously expected: 
The law would reduce the workforce in 2021 by the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time workers, well more than the 800,000 originally anticipated.
This will inevitably be a drag on economic growth, as more people decide government handouts are more attractive than working more and paying higher taxes."

WeMOG Feb 7

Ski Pickerel Lake on Friday, February 7.

 

Meet in the parking lot at 1:30 PM and ski 1.5 to 2 hours.   

This area has many hills. 

There is one easy trail around the lake suitable for beginners and snow shoes.  

Directions:

From 131 take West River Drive Exit and go East on West River Drive. Cross East Beltline and continue on Cannonsburg road towards Cannonsburg.   After a while, you will see Cannonsburg ski area on your right.  Continue about another mile and turn left on Ramsdale.  Townsend Park will be on your right. Continue on Ramsdale till you see Pickerel Lake on your left. 

The parking lot entrance will be just past the lake on your left.

http://www.michigan.org/property/pickerel-lake-park/

Parents’ ‘blood boiling’: Colo. school says celebrating America for ‘spirit week’ is offensive

Parents’ ‘blood boiling’: Colo. school says celebrating America for ‘spirit week’ is offensive - BizPac Review

A Colorado high school is barring students from hosting a day to honor the United States for fear it may offend non-Americans — offending students and parents in the process.

As a part of next week’s “Winter Spirit Week” at Fort Collins High School, the students broached the idea of “‘Merica Monday,” with everyone dressed in red, white and blue. Not so fast, said school administrators, according to Fox News.

“They said they didn’t want to offend anyone from other countries or immigrants,” a 16-year-old member of the student council told Fox News on condition of anonymity. “They just really did not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

She called the incident “shocking,” saying, “There are men and women fighting for our country, and we should be able to celebrate that and be proud that we live in a country where we are allowed to vote – the right to free speech. They won’t even let us celebrate it.”

Parents were equally outraged.

“It’s bizarre and idiotic that we’ve come to this crossroads in our society that we are having to sacrifice our own culture and belief system,” one parent told Fox. “I can’t even tell you how it got our blood boiling.”

Thrown into the mix is the hypocrisy of Fort Collins High students being required to celebrate Cinco de Mayo each year. For the proposed “‘Merica Day,” classmates would only be encouraged — not required — to dress in patriotic colors.

OMG! The NYT has lost its mind!!!------------Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap - NYTimes.com

Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap - NYTimes.com:

The Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the number of full-time workers by 2.5 million over the next decade. That is mostly a good thing, a liberating result of the law. 

Of course, Republicans immediately tried to brand the findings as “devastating” and stark evidence of President Obama’s health care reform as a failure and a job killer. 

It is no such thing.

The report estimated that — thanks to an increase in insurance coverage under the act and the availability of subsidies to help pay the premiums — many workers who felt obliged to stay in a job that provided health benefits would now be able to leave those jobs or choose to work fewer hours than they otherwise would have. In other words, the report is about the choices workers can make when they are no longer tethered to an employer because of health benefits. The cumulative effect on the labor supply is the equivalent of 2.5 million fewer full-time workers by 2024.

Some workers may have had a pre-existing condition and will now be able to leave work because insurers must accept all applicants without regard to health status and charge premiums unrelated to health status. Some may have felt they needed to keep working to pay for health insurance, but now new government subsidies will help pay premiums, making it more possible for them to leave their jobs.

Newspeak-The Word is Our Oyster

Because Obama is president, unemployment and a miserable economy is ,,,,,,, cool!

Belmont Club » The Word is Our Oyster:
"The companion piece to Spengler’s article on the bone-tiredness of the US economy is SFGate’s upbeat story on “funemployment”.
While Spengler worries that the US economy is losing steam, SFGate says: don’t worry, be happy.
It writes:
 Michael Van Gorkom was laid off by Yahoo in late April.
He didn’t panic.
He didn’t rush off to a therapist.
Instead, the 33-year old Santa Monica resident discovered that being jobless “kind of settled nicely.”
 What most people would call unemployment, Van Gorkom embraced as “funemployment.”"

Obama administration announces 'climate hubs'

Obama administration announces 'climate hubs':
"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday detailed plans to establish seven regional hubs tasked with helping Americans to mitigate the scourge of climate change."

Sooooo. Not working is good for americkans........Sadly, most libs (those who are even aware of this disaster) will only hear this version of Obama's Healthpocalypse----No, CBO did not say Obamacare will kill 2 million jobs

No, CBO did not say Obamacare will kill 2 million jobs:

The Facts

First, this is not about jobs offered by employers. It’s about workers — and the choices they make.

The CBO’s estimate is mostly the result of an analysis of the impact of the law on the supply of labor. That means how many people choose to participate in the work force. In other words, the nonpartisan agency is examining whether the law increases or decreases incentives for people to work.

One big issue: the health insurance subsidies in the law. That’s a substantial benefit that decreases as people earn more money, so at a certain point, a person has to choose between earning more money or continuing to get the maximum help with health insurance payments. In other words, people might work longer and harder, but actually earn no more, or earn even less, money. That is a disincentive to work. (The same thing happens when people qualify for food stamps or other social services.)

Thus, some people might decide to work part-time, not full time, in order to keep getting health-care subsidies. Thus, they are reducing their supply of labor to the market. Other people near retirement age might decide they no longer need to hold onto their job just because it provides health insurance, and they also leave the work force.

Look at it this way: If someone says they decided to leave their job for personal reasons, most people would not say they “lost” their jobs. They simply decided not to work.

A vast left wing insanity!--------White House: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2.5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce

White House: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2.5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce - Forbes:
"But the CBO wasn’t responsible for the most amazing thing that happened yesterday.

That title belongs to the Obama White House, where Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed that 2.5 million Americans leaving the workforce was a good thing, because they would no longer be “trapped in a job.”"

And now: 7 government ‘hubs’ that will ‘help Americans mitigate the scourge of climate change’

And now: 7 government ‘hubs’ that will ‘help Americans mitigate the scourge of climate change’

"I’ve always told you what global warming is really about. 

Expansion of government. 

It’s an excuse for government to “take action” on the premise that something is threatening our future and they and only they can do anything about it.

This is the only reason liberals tout belief in global warming. It is merely a means to an end - the end being a new set of taxes and regulations that will expand government control over industry and over people’s day-to-day habits, and will empower bureaucrats to enforce these rules and make up new ones.

And now, because we have a liberal president who sees no need to wait for Congress to do anything of the sort, their day has come":

The Obama administration will detail plans today to establish seven regional hubs tasked with helping Americans to mitigate the scourge of climate change.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected today to formally announce plans to establish the first climate hubs in Ames, Iowa; Durham, N.H.; Raleigh, N.C.; Fort Collins, Colo.; El Reno, Okla.; Corvallis, Ore.; and Las Cruces, N.M.

The centers, which the administration is calling “climate hubs,” will be overseen by the Department of Agriculture. They are tasked with studying fires, invasive pests, flooding and droughts and using the research to provide guidance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to cope with the problems.

“Climate Hubs are part of our broad commitment to developing the next generation of climate solutions, so that our agricultural leaders have the modern technologies and tools they need to adapt and succeed in the face of a changing climate,” Vilsack said in a statement.