Thursday, December 12, 2013

Twenty-nine significant changes made to ObamaCare. So far

 
The Galen Institute  "By our count at the Galen Institute, more than 29 significant changes already have been made to ObamaCare: at least 12 that President Obama has made unilaterally, 15 that Congress has passed and the president has signed, and 2 by the Supreme Court. But even this large number of changes hasn’t stopped the cascade of failures we are seeing today in the implementation of the law."  Full article

More commentary on the ACA from this source.
 The Galen Institute, Inc., is a not-for-profit, free-market research organization devoted exclusively to health policy. It was founded in 1995 by Grace-Marie Turner to promote a more informed public debate over individual freedom, consumer choice, competition, and diversity in the health sector.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

'Toons

 
 
Below: Zappatrust 

Ann Coulter on Words with fiends

Human Events
Words with fiends
  "Whenever liberals are in a tight spot, they adopt the scorched-earth policy of argumentation. With no answer, they start demanding that you define words: What do you mean “liberal”? What do you mean “democracy”? What do you mean “patriotism”?

" 'They retreat from argument, burning the English language as they go."
....
"A 78-year-old woman is punched by a young black male for no reason, and the Times’ central point is: “Perp says it’s not a ‘game.’”
"Similarly, in Philadelphia magazine, Stephen Silver said of two recent knockout attacks in Philadelphia that he wasn’t counting either one as “confirmed cases of the Knockout Game” on the grounds that the puncher said he “was not participating in the Game.”
"Until the assailants admit they’re playing a game, liberals say the Knockout Game is a “hoax.”
....
"While we’re on the subject, I can’t think of a single instance in which someone has admitted to committing a “hate crime,” but liberals are always calling things “hate crimes.' ”  Emphasis mine, TD
....
And lastly, is this point by Ms. Coulter I loved reading:
...(Say, was the wanton violence by Democratic Party offshoot the Ku Klux Klan a “trend” or more of a “fad”?)



 MSM Ignores 'Knockout' Game  Radio talk show host Larry Elder: “The 'knockout game' – and the media underreporting of it – combines the breakdown of the family with the media's condescending determination to serve as a public relations bureau for blacks. The 'game' is a dare in which a young man – all the perps appear to be male people of color, mostly blacks – tries to literally knock out an innocent bystander with one blow. Both National Public Radio and The New York Times say these reports of the 'knockout game' being widespread are overblown and do not represent a trend. Really? … "From a distance, the media can spot some lone idiot holding up an offensive sign at a tea party rally. But when it comes to black perp/white victim crime, there is a very different attitude.”

 Here is a feel-good story for you! Knockout Game Goes Right: Unlikely Target Gives Thug REALLY Ugly Beatdown
"When a would-be knockout game star and his accomplice run down a Vegas shopping mall to punch a random woman in the face, the attacker finds out quickly what happens if you pick on the wrong person.
"You wind up being humiliated on social media. The targeted woman doesn’t go down when the swing goes awry, and she begins waylaying on him. The boyfriend flies in with a Bruce Lee-style tiger knee to the face, and the rest is Internet history."

 
But...“This incident does not suggest it would be related to any random incident like a ‘knockout’ type game,” he said, noting it “remains under investigation.”
 
Oh, well, as long as the knock-out gamers out there see this video.

Here Are The 30 Most Powerful Photos Ever Taken

worldtruth.tv   "These 30 powerful photos are famous and poignant, they will forever be cemented in history. The images that were captured are so intense, they are impossible to be forgotten. They said a picture is worth a thousand words… but it’s impossible to say just how many words these are worth. Prepare to be left speechless."

Here are TD's main choices:

16. Embracing couple in the rubble of a collapsed factory
powerful15-e1383715585936
 
23. Christians protect Muslims during prayer in the midst of the 2011 uprisings in Cairo, Egypt
powerful8-e1383715710332
 
29. Inside an Auschwitz gas chamber
powerful2-e1383715817480

A long flight back home for Barack? Just guessing. I don't know. I can't say.

American Thinker   "Check out the pictures below.  Did an irate Michelle make misbehaving Barry switch seats at Mandela's funeral?"
 
smalldeadanimals
(Above) Notice Michelle's body language; her knees are pointed away from Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Michelle's back is to her.

Another apology tour including some bowing?

Updates from here on:
Experts snap at memorial selfies
"Nothing good can come of bringing an iPhone to a memorial service.

"That’s the consensus of etiquette experts who said Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s selfie at Nelson Mandela’s memorial was no time for a picture-perfect moment, but differed over whether it amounted to a serious protocol violation."

Obama and selfies; Did you think Rush Limbaugh wouldn't have an opinion?   "The Biggest Selfie Boo-Boo Since Weiner"

The Sydney, Australia, Morning Herald covered the episode this way: "US President Barack Obama may have moved the masses attending Nelson Mandela’s memorial service with his stirring eulogy, but it was his grinning "selfie" with the Danish and British premiers that set social networks abuzz."
....
But keep in mind: "The event was a memorial service and not a funeral for Mandela, who died last week aged 95, and the mood was one of joy and hope as mourners sang, danced and chanted their way into the stadium."
Having fun: Obama jokes with his fellow leaders.
 
Of Course: Photographer Who Took POTUS Selfie Photo Ashamed He Broke News    “ 'That’s kind of a bummer.” Let’s translate that from MSM to English: I broke news — I’m a successful wire service photog! But I broke news that made Mr. Obama look bad. I’ll never hear the end of this from my peers standing around the Monsieur Coffee machine in the AFP break room in their Paris HQ. I am a failure of a photographer. I’ll never be stupid enough to break news again. Mon Dieu! Where did it all go wrong?"
 
If the above seems petty, it is because many of us remember this:
 
And we remember the total lack of grace Mr. Obama has returned to President Bush in the years since. 
The Tunnel Dweller, writing from down where we can observe the character of today's Democrat party. This is most definitely NOT my father's or my Democrat Party (Except for shaking off it's Jim Crow roots).

UPDATED: When do we finally stop the harassment of little boys by school administrators?

Legal Insurrection   "We need a K-12 Insurrection."
Canon City child kissing girl sexual harassment
 
The "war on little boys in elementary schools continues unabated.
Little children are being punished with suspensions, expulsions, and permanent damage to school records based on standards of conduct carried into elementary schools from the adult world. Typically, but not exclusively, the insanity is directed at little boys for alleged violation of zero tolerance gun and sexual harassment policies."
....
"The Principal is defending the punishment:
District superintendent Robin Gooldy told The Associated Press on Tuesday the boy was suspended because of a policy against unwanted touching.
“The focus needs to be on his behavior. We usually try to get the student to stop, but if it continues, we need to take action and it sometimes rises to the level of suspension,” he said.
He said officials have not heard from the girl’s parents, and no legal action is anticipated because it was only a violation of school policy.
"Something needs to be done about out of control school administrators."
 
LI lists these related prior posts:



He looked lovingly into our eyes and we knew we'd follow him no matter what...

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Alan Caruba: Obama's Moment of Truth---About His Lies

Warning Signs
 
Mr. Caruba makes a number of salient points in this excellent column which you are implored to read. But for reasons of my own, I have chosen to excerpt this one:
 
"Obama is the fulfillment of a long effort by the former Soviet Union, begun in the 1920s, to transform our society from one whose values and policies led the world in the effort to oppose communism even as it and European allies embraced socialist programs that are now threatening theirs and our economic stability. “Social justice” is the term adopted and exercised through “political correctness”, a philosophy that paints the U.S. as a heartless, rapacious, racist, capitalist nation more to be hated than admired.
Political correctness played a major role in the election of a virtually unknown first term Senator from Illinois because Americans wanted to demonstrate to the world that a black man could be elected President.

Rebrand ObamaCare all you want: A bad product is still bad


Canada Free Press   "Even though a recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey ... shows that 81 percent of voters believe ObamaCare should be repealed or changed, the president and the Democrats are clinging to their health care “titanic” full speed ahead! And instead of the working-class consumer choosing to use the product because they like it, the president and the Democrats are insisting on using the force of law – that only they knew what was in it – to shove this bad medicine down our throats anyway for ailments most of us do not have.
 
"In addition to the false advertising and scare tactics, the president is asking others to help him “spread the word” in his rebranding initiative:"
More here.
 

Urban legend: Obama's wedding ring

Claim:   Barack Obama's wedding ring bears an Arabic inscription reading “There is no god but Allah.”

Snopes says this is false:  Lord of the Ring
"This claim about Barack Obama's ring (shown in more detail here) looks to be an artifact of someone who has never actually seen the ring in question trying mightily to find a hidden message where none exists, however. All of the images used to illustrate the claim are either blurry, low-resolution close-ups or shots taken from too distant a perspective to clearly show the details of the gold band. Isolating the ring from a much higher-resolution photograph of President Obama's hand taken by photographer Miguel Villagran during a 5 June 2009 news conference in Dresden, Germany, shows the ring to bear what looks like nothing more than a plain loop-like pattern, with the top section matching the bottom:"

From About.com/ Urban Legends; Hi-Res Image of Barack Obama's Wedding Ring
obama allah ring"As you can see in the viral illustration at right, someone has worked very diligently to make it appear as though certain Arabic characters match certain lines and shadows on the face of Obama's ring. But, as you can also see, the alleged correspondence isn't just forced, it's utterly reliant on the defects of the fuzzy, low-resolution images used."
 
From The Christian Post: Barack Obama's 'Islamic' Wedding Ring Claim Proven False?  "According to About.com Urban Legends, Obama's ring bears an abstract design instead of an Arabic script initially spoken about by WND and the publication's sources. While the shahada, or Muslim profession of faith's phrase in its entirety states "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God," some believed that the president's ring only contained the first part of the statement.
"However, Snopes.com, a website discussing urban legends, also seemed to debunk the rumors that the ring contained any Arabic writing at all."

We appreciate those who keep us abreast of rumors and legends floating around that damage the trust people have in conservative sources.
Hat to to Harley Standlee of Placerville, CA for this one.

The character of this President and, by extension, of the electorate who voted for him twice

Walter E. Williams Slams Obama: 'Incompetent,' 'Beyond Learning'  Video.

Ãœber-Classy: Obama Uses Mandela Speech To Attack Republicans…
Speaking at such an historic event overseas, Obama should have made damn sure to steer clear of any hint of partisanship and moral judgement(sp) against his political opponents. But he can’t help himself.
Because Obama’s central animating principle as president is not leading the nation; it’s his vision of social justice. He doesn’t view himself as Republicans’ president too, but as the man bearing the progressive banner against their immoral, discriminatory ideology of hate.
NBC's Chuck Todd: White House Restricting Photo Access a "Version of Propaganda"

Brit Hume: We Are Riding With Obama Along His "Learning Curve"


... "The inefficiency and sluggishness of the federal bureaucracy is known to every politician and citizen who has had experience with it. But the president seems to have glided through his brief term in the Senate in his four plus years in the White House without noticing until now. Supremely self-confident intelligent people who lack experience often learn lessons the hard way because they don't know enough to know how much they don't know." ... 

That Obama/Castro handshake

What does Allan Gross and his family think about the handshake between Obama and Castro?
"It would have been a great opportunity for President Obama to show his displeasure about Mr Gross and human rights violations in general.  He could have shown the world that we shake some hands, like the President of Brazil, and skip others, like the dictator of Cuba."
 
Rubio slams Obama handshake with Castro  “ 'If the president was going to shake his hand, he should have asked him about those basic freedoms Mandela was associated with that are denied in Cuba,” Rubio said."

 NRO:  The Damage of a Handshake   ... "Until now, every American president had studiously avoided this mistake: At U.N. and other gatherings U.S. Secret Service and diplomats were under orders to make sure such a “photo op” so highly desired by the Castros did not happen.
"With his action President Obama has squandered U.S. prestige and honor."

Naturally Jimmy Carter liked it.  Because Mr. Carter and apparently President Obama never met a despot they did not like.

Obama Shakes Blood-Stained Hand of Mass Murderer Robert Mugabe -Update: NBC Flushes Down The Memory Hole…   "Along with the brutal repression of his people, Mugabe’s forces have slaughtered an estimated 20,000 people."
mugabe
 
Crowd Fail: Abbas, Mugabe Cheered, Bush Reportedly Booed At Mandela Memorial   "The fact that Bush has saved millions of African lives seems to have been lost on the crowd at the memorial, most of whom seemed to be African National Congress adherents.
"The ANC has its own legacy of terrorism and murder so perhaps cheering terrorists and dictators are right in line with that history.
"Bush, in a typical classy move, rose to applaud Obama’s remarks on Mandela, always showing respect to the office of the President."
 View image on Twitter
Marshall Lambert @Marshall_ZA
George and Laura Bush give @barackobama a standing ovation after his landmark speech at the