Thursday, April 10, 2014

History for April 10

History for April 10 - On-This-Day.com:
Commodore Perry Day: Birth anniversary of Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858).


Birth anniversary of Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911).


Happy Birthday John Madden, Steven Seagal, Max Von Sydow


1814 - Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Toulouse by the British and the Spanish. The defeat led to his abdication and exile to Elba. 


1849 - Walter Hunt patented the safety pin. He sold the rights for $100. 


1912 - The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England. 





1922 - The Genoa Conference opened. The meeting was used to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after World War I. 





1930 - The first synthetic rubber was produced. 


1932 - Paul von Hindenburg was elected president of Germany with 19 million votes. Adolf Hitler came in second with 13 million votes. 




1938 - Germany annexed Austria after Austrians had voted in a referundum to merge with Germany. 


1941 - Ford Motor Co. became the last major automaker to recognize the United Auto Workers as the representative for its workers. 





1960 - The U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Bill. 


1963 - 129 people died when the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher failed to surface off Cape Cod, MA. 


1971 - The American table tennis team arrived in China. They were the first group of Americans officially allowed into China since the founding of the People Republic in 1949. The team had recieved the surprise invitation while in Japan for the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. 




1992 - Outside Needles, CA, comedian Sam Kinison was killed when a pickup truck slammed into his car on a desert road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. 


1996 - U.S. President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique used to end pregnancies in their late stages. 


Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Americans on Medicaid Exceed Population of UK | CNS News



Americans on Medicaid Exceed Population of UK | CNS News: "(CNSNews.com) - The number of Americans who were enrolled in Medicaid at any time during fiscal 2013 exceeded the entire population of the United Kingdom, according to new data published by the federal government’s Medicaid and CHIP Payment Access Commission (MACPAC).

Were Medicaid a nation instead of a U.S. entitlement program it would be the 20th most populous country on earth."




Here’s What Happens To Kids Who Oppose Common Core



Here’s What Happens To Kids Who Oppose Common Core: "One free-thinking eighth grade student in New York took the initiative to investigate mandates surrounding the program and offered her insight to her classmates. As a result, she now claims she is facing retribution in the form of a two-day suspension.
After determining required tests under Common Core are “set up for the kids to fail,” Seirra Olivero did some research and found out that students may opt out of the exams – a fact administrators apparently want to keep quiet. She recently informed other students at Orange-Ulster BOCES that they were not required to take the unpopular tests, explaining administrators told her to “shut [her] mouth and keep walking.”"




More frightening than funny-----Funniest Liberal Gaffes

As Obama Spotlights Gender Gap in Wages, His Own Payroll Draws Scrutiny - NYTimes.com



As Obama Spotlights Gender Gap in Wages, His Own Payroll Draws Scrutiny - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday will call attention to what he has said is an “embarrassment” in America: the fact that women make, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns.
But critics of the administration are eager to turn the tables and note that Mr. Obama’s White House fares only slightly better. A study released in January showed that female White House staff members make on average 88 cents for every dollar a male staff member earns."




I wonder which "contributor" or family member got that contract-------HHS Spending $800K on Studies to Help Family Planning Clinics Survive Obamacare

HHS Spending $800K on Studies to Help Family Planning Clinics Survive Obamacare | The Weekly Standard:
"HHS intends to spend up to $800,000 to fund studies to "conduct data analysis and related research and evaluation on the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Title X funded family planning centers." "

Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S.

Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S. - latimes.com:

"The retail value of "all-fresh" USDA choice-grade beef jumped to a record $5.28 a pound in February, up from $4.91 the same time a year ago.

The same grade of beef cost $3.97 as recently as 2008."

UNDER THE BUS: 5000 legal students in Florida to lose their tuition to illegals

UNDER THE BUS: 5000 legal students in Florida to lose their tuition to illegals | Viewpoints of a Sagitarrian:
While most of us were aware that Americans would become sacrificial lambs on the path to illegal amnesty, most of us never expected that our children would be shoved to the rear of the bus as well.
Thanks to the Progressive establishment on both the left and the right  vying for the votes of Hispanics, more than 5,000 legal students in the state of Florida will have the dream deferred as Progressives clear the path for illegal alien students to receive a higher education.
In a report released by Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) the impact of providing College Tuition Subsidy for Illegal Aliens (HB851/SB1400, AKA in-state tuition) will be that approximately 5,000 legal students will be displaced in Florida higher level institutions by illegal alien students….
While the number of displaced legal students and fiscal cost vary slightly between HB851 and SB1400 the estimates are similar:
• HB851 will displace of 5,026 legal students
• SB1400 will displace 5,175 legal students  
• The fiscal cost of HB851 is estimated at $21.7 million.
•  The fiscal cost of SB1400 is estimated at $22.7 million.    
The full report is available here

‘You Don’t Want to Go There, Buddy!’


‘You Don’t Want to Go There, Buddy!’:
"Holder shot back curtly, pointing his finger at the congressman, “You don’t want to go there, buddy! You don’t want to go there, okay.” 
Congressman Gohmert, obviously surprised at Holder’s reaction, responded, “I don’t want to go there?”





Event to kick off Detroit streetlight improvement project

Event to kick off Detroit streetlight improvement project | Crain's Detroit Business:

"Southwest Detroit Business Association President Kathy Wendler says the streetscape project will improve safety and "serve as a catalyst for economic growth" in the area. 

 Funding for the project includes money from foundations, private donors and a $4.5 million Transportation Enhancement grant."

Global Warming Panic explained

Latest ObamaCare surprise: Most won't be able to buy health insurance until end of year

Latest ObamaCare surprise: Most won't be able to buy health insurance until end of year | Fox News
There is yet another ObamaCare surprise waiting for consumers: from now until the next open enrollment at the end of this year, most people will simply not be able to buy any health insurance at all, even outside the exchanges.
"It's all closed down. You cannot buy a policy that is a qualified policy for the purpose of the ACA (the Affordable Care Act) until next year on January 1," says John DiVito, president of Flexbenefit which has 2,500 brokers.
John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas adds, "People are not going to be able to buy individual and family policies, and that's part of ObamaCare. And what makes it so surprising is the whole point of ObamaCare was to encourage people to get insurance, and now the market has been completely closed down for the next seven months."
That means that with few exceptions, tens of millions of people will be locked out of the health insurance market for the rest of this year."

Calif. Gubernatorial Candidate Says a ‘Tsunami’ of Opposition to Common Core Is About to Hit

Calif. Gubernatorial Candidate Says a ‘Tsunami’ of Opposition to Common Core Is About to Hit | TheBlaze.com:

"Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly of California predicted Monday that a “tsunami” of opposition to Common Core is soon about to hit.

“People are finally seeing what Common Core is … so the parents are beginning to react,” he said. “They’re going to take a stand and unite, and it’s going to start here in California because there’s just something in the air right now.”"




Teacher Has EPIC and AWESOME Response To Profanity-Laced Letter From Student!

vcvsdTeacher Has EPIC and AWESOME Response To Profanity-Laced Letter From Student! | The Federalist Papers:

"An English teacher at McKinley High School (city unknown) received a letter from one of her students that was taped to the door of the classroom, according to a posting on Reddit.

The 101-word letter was full of grammatical and spelling errors, and also contained curse words and name calling directed at the teacher.

And how did the teacher respond?

By correcting all of the student’s mistakes.

The teacher went through and sliced and diced the letter in red marker, noting everything from not having a date to not indenting the signature line to a comma splice."

How the U.S. Power Grid Is Like a Big Pile of Sand

How the U.S. Power Grid Is Like a Big Pile of Sand - NationalJournal.com
Last month, The Wall Street Journal gave us quite a scare.
"The U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs knocked out just nine of the country's 55,000 electric-transmission substations on a scorching summer day," Rebecca Smith wrote.
"It's no secret that North America's three massive power grids, the interconnected systems that transmit electricity from power plants to consumers, are not invincible.
The U.S. power grid is, in fact, big enough to fail."
In other words, the grid may be not be the "right" size—big enough to distribute power efficiently, but small enough to prevent widespread blackouts, such as the 2003 blackout that cut power to 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada for two days.

....The bigger the grid gets, the greater the risk of failures.
Need help visualizing the problem?
Just think of a sandpile, Newman says.
"Sandpiles are stable until you get to a certain height. 

Then you add one more grain and the whole thing starts to avalanche," Newman said. 
"This is because the pile's grains are already close to the critical angle where they will start rolling down the pile. 
All it takes is one grain to trigger a cascade."

History for April 9

History for April 9 - On-This-Day.com
In 1882, the most famous elephant in history, Jumbo, arrived in America from the London Zoo. P.T. Barnum purchased the seven-ton animal for $10,000. His name entered the English language to describe anything oversized.


Happy Birthday! Hugh Hefner, Tom Lehrer, Dennis Quaid


1682 - Robert La Salle claimed the lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France. 


1770 - Captain James Cook discovered Botany Bay on the Australian continent. 


1865 - At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of Wilmer McClean's home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops. 


1867 - The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty with Russia that purchased the territory of Alaska by one vote. 


1869 - The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada. 


1913 - The Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field opened. 


1940 - Germany invaded Norway and Denmark. 


1945 - National Football League officials decreed that it was mandatory for football players to wear socks in all league games. 


1959 - NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts. 


1967 - The first Boeing 737 was rolled out for use. 


Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Rep. Wolf on Mozilla CEO's Ouster: 'It Was the Silencing of Dissent'

Rep. Wolf on Mozilla CEO's Ouster: 'It Was the Silencing of Dissent' | CNS News:

"The ousting of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich over his views on traditional marriage amounted to the silencing of dissent, the compromising of freedom of speech and religion in America, and “the implications are vast and deeply troubling,” Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said on Monday, likening the incident to "mob rule.""




Supreme Court Rejects Christian Photographer's Appeal Of Lesbian Wedding Verdict

Supreme Court Rejects Christian Photographer's Appeal Of Lesbian Wedding Verdict | CNS News:
"While the Supreme Court is mulling over the religious rights of Hobby Lobby owners the Greens, it decidedly denied those rights Monday morning to a small wedding photography business owned by a Christian couple.
This morning the Supreme Court rejected Elane Photography's appeal to overturn a 2006 New Mexico ruling which said that the Christian business owners violated the state's anti-discrimination laws by refusing to photograph a lesbian wedding ceremony."

Climate 'consensus': Is carbon dioxide the new cholesterol?

Climate 'consensus': Is carbon dioxide the new cholesterol? (Mulshine) | NJ.com

Imagine a public policy issue that could determine the course of millions of lives. 
Imagine the science concerning this issue was complex and confusing. 
Nonetheless, most scientists had reached agreement on certain aspects of it.
And imagine the Washington Post wrote an editorial stating, "Government agencies must constantly make recommendations on the basis of just this kind of incomplete but suggestive evidence, and there is a consensus on what to do."
That sounds like the current debate over climate change, doesn’t it? 
Nope. 
That editorial is from 1980. 
The issue was not levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but levels of cholesterol in the diet.
In that case, the consensus was that the amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol in the diet are related to the levels of cholesterol in the blood and "that reducing the one will lower the other," the Post wrote.
That seemed to be the case at the time. 
But there were dissenters who claimed carbohydrates, particularly refined ones, were the more likely triggers for obesity and heart disease. 
That led the mainstream authorities to hold a "Consensus Conference" in 1984. 
The result was a national policy emphasizing low-fat diets as a means of combating obesity and heart disease.
Soon the market was inundated with low-fat foods. 
But they weren’t having the desired effect. 
By 2002, the cracks in the consensus were so evident that the New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy and well-researched article by noted science writer Gary Taubes headlined "What if it’s all been a big fat lie?"
"It used to be that even considering the possibility of the alternative hypothesis, let alone researching it, was tantamount to quackery by association," Taubes wrote. 
"Now a small but growing minority of establishment researchers have come to take seriously what the low-carb-diet doctors have been saying all along."
Last month, the prior consensus was turned on its head by a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine
A meta-analysis of 76 studies and clinical trials showed no link between fat, even saturated fat, and increased heart-disease risk.

I discussed this yesterday with Meir Stampfer, who is a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Stampfer said the move to low-fat diets might have actually increased obesity and heart-disease risk.
That’s because people tended to substitute refined carbohydrates for fat in their diets, Stampfer said.
"Basically what happens is the refined carbs are very rapidly absorbed," Stampfer said. "Blood sugar goes up very rapidly and insulin is secreted so it plummets again."
That rapid fluctuation leads to an increase in triglycerides, which in turn can lead to weight gain and atherosclerosis, he said.
So is there a new consensus that "Butter is back" as one op-ed piece in the Times recently stated?
Nope, said Stampfer.
He and his Harvard colleagues disagree with those who are promoting saturated fats from dairy and red meat.
The Harvard crowd argues that people would be better off consuming more olive oil and seafood.
But that’s a healthy disagreement.
As for that prior consensus, the consensus is that it did not hold up.
"This is complicated and the policymakers tried to make it simple," Stampfer concluded.
"But it’s better to be complicated and right than simplified and wrong."
"Science of course is always correcting mistakes. That's what it's all about." Freeman Dyson, the smartest guy in New Jersey - and the universe
It is indeed, and I would encourage my fellow journalists to keep that in mind in light of the highly touted "consensus" on the role of carbon dioxide in promoting global warming.
Climate science is infinitely more complicated than human physiology. 
Once all of the data are in, we may find that atmospheric carbon dioxide‚ actually has the effect predicted by physicist Freeman Dyson of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton. 
The 90-year-old Dyson, whom many consider to be the smartest guy on Earth, argues that far from harming the planet, atmospheric C)-2‚ may have a positive effect by increasing plant growth.
Perhaps you disagree. 
Fine, but you’re disagreeing with a guy who calculated the number of atoms in the sun when he was 5 years old and who’s been at the institute since Einstein was walking the grounds.
Science requires taking the long view, said Dyson when I called him the other day.
"Science of course is always correcting mistakes," he said. 
"That’s what it’s all about."
It is indeed. 
What it’s not about is consensus.
That’s for editorial writers.

NJ State trooper caught shoplifting from Pa. Cabela's store is fined $150

NJ State trooper caught shoplifting from Pa. Cabela's store is fined $150 | NJ.com
A New Jersey State trooper who worked on Gov. Chris Christie's security detail has been fined for shopifting gun supplies from an outdoor recreation store in Pennsylvania,according to a report on NJWatchdog.org.
William Carvounis will have to pay a $150 penalty in addition to court costs, the report said. The trooper must also pay $100 to attend a “STOPLIFT” rehabilitation class and is banned from returning to any Cabela's store, Watchdog reported.
Carvounis remains suspended without pay, Sgt. Brian Polite told The Star-Ledger this afternoon. Polite said he had no information about how long the suspension will last. The Star-Ledger reported in February that Carvounis was suspended following his arrest pending the outcome of the case.
The trooper, who made $110,579.10 in 2013 has also been admitted to a pre-trial intervention program by the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County. If he successfully completes the program, the theft charges will expunged from his record.
In total, Carvounis ended up paying $1,260.38, including restitution and court costs, New Jersey Watchdog reported.
Carvounis was arrested on Jan. 8 at the Hamburg, Pa store. after he put several items in his cargo pants pockets — including some handgun grips, a pistol magazine and a hat — and put a $29.99 binocular strap in a box for a product worth $19.99, police said at the time.
While Carvounis paid for some items at checkout, he allegedly did not pay for the concealed items, which were worth $267.38.
He also allegedly asked local police for "professional courtesy" because he was worried about losing his job, according to previous reports.

Obamacare Era: 50 Worst Months of Employment in Past 25 Years

Obamacare Era: 50 Worst Months of Employment in Past 25 Years | The Weekly StandardIn June 2009, Obama effectively launched the Obamacare era in his major speech to the American Medical Association, during which he offered advice to doctors on how to practice medicine.  
The next month (the first of the economic “recovery”), the employment-population ratio—which shows the percentage of Americans (among those who are free to pursue employment) who are employed—fell to just 59.3 percent. 
That tally was lower than in any month of the 18-month recession that Obama inherited. 
It was also lower than in any month of the George W. Bush administration, any month of the Clinton administration, any month of the George H. W. Bush administration, and any month of the second term of the Reagan administration. 
Prior to the Obamacare era, the last time that only 59.3 percent of eligible Americans were employed was in April of 1984, when we were still recovering from Jimmy Carter.

Alas, 59.3 percent has turned out to be the high-water mark (to date) for employment in the Obamacare era, which has now spanned four and three-quarters years (and counting).  
In other words, the 50 worst months of employment in the past 25 years have all come since Obama launched the Obamacare debate (a debate he now—wishfully, arrogantly, and irrationally—calls “over”). 
Indeed, it’s actually worse than that:  
The 57 worst months for employment in the past 29 years (and 11 months) have all come during the Obamacare era.  
And whereas Joe DiMaggio’s fabled hitting streak ended at 56 games, Obamacare’s streak of 57 consecutive months of historically bad employment is ongoing.
Liberals say the employment-population ratio has dropped not because of Obamacare but because of baby boomers’ retirements, but that claim doesn’t square with the data.  
To be sure, those retirements—which are putting added strain on a pool of potential Medicare funding that’s now being rechanneled, in part, to finance Obamacare—have been a factor.  
But in the Obamacare era, the employment tallies for those between the ages of 25 and 54 have been nearly as bad as for the eligible population as a whole.
According to the BLS, the percentage of eligible Americans between the ages of 25 and 54 who are employed has been between 74.8 and 76.7 percent during all 57 months of the Obamacare era.  
The last time employment for this age-group was that low for any month in the pre-Obamacare era was in August of 1985, when Rambo: First Blood Part II and Back to the Future were in theaters.

These Pictures Of School Lunches Will Show You Exactly Why Kids Are Fed Up With Michelle Obama’s Diet

tannerThese Pictures Of School Lunches Will Show You Exactly Why Kids Are Fed Up With Michelle Obama’s Diet:
"Now, students are posting images of the “healthy, hunger-free” lunches on Twitter and Instagram. 
Let’s assume they passed on carrot sticks, salad and steamed vegetables as they made their choices."

Your Monday Dose of Doom & Gloom, Gotterdammerung-Sized

PJ Media » Your Monday Dose of Doom & Gloom, Gotterdammerung-Sized
barackalypse_now_poster_10-5-13-1
SNAPSHOT ONE: A soldier who never faced combat “snaps” and murders three of his fellow soldiers before turning the gun on himself. This happens on the grounds of one of America’s largest Army bases.
SNAPSHOT TWO: A week after the deadline has passed, nobody can say for sure if a trillion-dollar health insurance overhaul law has actually resulted in a net gain of people with insurance. This is despite executive lenience, if I may coin a phrase, towards who counts as having “purchased” “coverage.”
SNAPSHOT THREE: The American President, having been embarrassed in sequence by having his demands ignored by the leaders of Iran, then Syria, then Russia, finds himself hailed for “facing down the war machine.” This claim is made in the face of Russian preparations for further aggression, continued Syrian foot-dragging on giving up its chemical weapons, the ongoing refusal of Iran to be talked out of its nuclear program, and something close to a crisis in Sino-Japanese relationships.
SNAPSHOT FOUR: America’s equities markets experience broad declines on news that the American economy created nearly 200,000 jobs in March following weeks of bad weather. Wall Street wasn’t looking at America’s stubbornly high underemployment rate, which actually rose slightly. Instead, Wall Street worries that even modestly-good economic news will slow the free money raining down from the Federal Reserve.
SNAPSHOT FIVE: A California state senator and gun control advocate, widely expected to have a long career in politics, is arrested on charges of bribery and trafficking automatic weapons and missiles to Muslim separatists in the Philippines. The mainstream American media for the most part yawns.
SNAPSHOT SIX: Oklahoma, of all places, experiences “record seismic activity.”
You don’t have to be a millenarianist these days to get the sense that the world is coming to an end. Our six snapshots above don’t show a world sucked into itself on the battlefields of Megiddo, but instead flying apart seemingly at random in a million different directions.

Parental revolt against Common Core prompts states to take action

Parental revolt against Common Core prompts states to take action | Fox News:
Many students and teachers saw the standards for the first time this year, as the program was being phased in nationwide. 
And now that they’ve seen it, many are not happy with it, and they’re joining an ever-increasing group of critics who are lining up against it.
Teachers complain the program was pushed through too fast, that there wasn’t time for schools to make the adjustment, there wasn’t additional funding available for new textbooks, and that they just weren’t included in the process when the Common Core was created."