If All You See…

By William Teach November 23, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…are Bad Weather causing dogs, and a field that would be perfect for a compost heap, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jammie Wearing Fools, with a post on turkey death panels.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

UNL Student Learns Valuable Lesson On Liberal Meaning Of Free Speech

By William Teach November 23, 2013 – 10:35 am

Let’s be clear: the 1st Amendment’s Free Speech clause was meant to denote the ability of Citizens to have their say about Government without fear of reprisal from Government. To complain about it, to denounce it, to say negative things about it, to call it out. Excluding the Religion Clause, the entire 1st is about the government not being allowed to retaliate when citizens complain, point out wrongdoing, malfeasance, etc.

Of course, Free Speech has been extended into other realms. If I want to call someone an @sshole, well, they may not like it, but I cannot get into legal trouble, either criminal or civil. Though if they pop me one, hey, consequences. But, we can’t yell fire in a movie house unless there actually is a fire. We can’t threaten to kill someone. We can’t tell untruths about people. Certain obscenity. That isn’t free speech, particularly in the view of political speech. But, what about speech that offends?

(Daily Caller) Fallout continues unabated at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln after a graduate student senator wove an amazing tapestry of racial slurs during a student government meeting last week.

The student, graduate research assistant and Ph.D. candidate Cameron Murphy, used the n-word a bunch of times in the course of citing a comedy routine by Chris Rock, reports the Daily Nebraskan, NU’s campus newspaper.

Murphy, who won his seat thanks to a successful write-in campaign, also questioned whether it was offensive to don sombreros in a Homecoming skit. And, of course, he offered as evidence of his own cultural awareness the fact that he has been called a “cracker.”

Obviously, this seriously upset the student government, and much of the student body. He was making a point about a resolution passed by the student government at the taxpayer funded school about offensive speech. These kids enrolled in an institution of higher learning didn’t get it

“I was in shock. I was sick to my stomach,” fellow student senator Annie Himes told local ABC affiliate KLKN.

“The body was visibly uncomfortable,” she added. “People had their hands on their faces. People had their heads on the tables.”

Himes praised herself for heroically asking Murphy to stop speaking.

She also wants Murphy brought up on charges in the student court. The school chancellor, Harvey Perlman, had a little meltdown about this free speech. Here’s from the Daily Nebraskan opinion piece on the matter

If the non-discrimination clause was doing its job, Murphy wouldn’t have made his comments in the first place. And really, what right does one group of students have to decide whether minority groups need protection from discrimination? Sure, free speech is alive and important. But our student representatives should hold themselves to a higher standard in the way they conduct themselves and interact with others. (snip)

This incident could be a good opportunity for students to more closely examine how ASUN senators are representing the school. Let’s applaud the senators, like Eckstrom and her supporters, who are culturally and socially open-minded.

Liberals like free speech only when it is approved by them. And this is how we end up with Hate Speech laws, which criminalize Free Speech. Because obviously no one should ever be Offended. Unless they are conservatives, then it’s open season, of course.

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Surprise: ACA Subcontractor Under FBI Investigation

By William Teach November 23, 2013 – 8:38 am

This goes to the overall incompetence and fecklessness of Team Obama more than how bad Obamacare is as a law

(Daily Caller) One of the subcontractors working on the Obamacare website is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Client Network Services Incorporated (CNSI) became a sub-contractor on the Obamacare website in 2012, working hand in hand with QSSI, according to its website. QSSI was one of several contractors hauled before Congress to address the sites troubled rollout in October. (snip)

CNSI is currently under investigation by the FBI, which has alleged that then-Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein, a former CNSI employee, exerted undue influence in steering the Medicaid contract to Louisiana.

According to a story in the New Orleans Times Picayne, the FBI also acccused CNSI of witness tampering in another case.

“According to the FBI report in this Court’s possession, one of CNSI’s owners, in front of the other three owners, said if the employee ‘ever disclosed the misconduct at the company they would have him killed.’”

Sounds like a wonderful company hired to help with the Exchange website, wouldn’t you say?

They’ve also been accused by South Dakota of overbilling for Medicaid. Breach of contract by The Southeast Michigan Health Care Exchange. Subverting the normal contract process. Sadly, I’m not shocked in the least that a company like this would be hired by Team Obama.

Read: Surprise: ACA Subcontractor Under FBI Investigation »

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Obama Weekly Address: Hey, I Work With Both Parties On The Economy

By William Teach November 23, 2013 – 8:05 am

Is this a pivot, which would make it his 22nd, or just a shiny distraction type weekly address? He could have talked about the failures of his signature legislation? Or perhaps the nuclear option (yet another shiny distraction) and how his words from 2005 do not mean anything? Maybe Iran? Say, whatever happened to that Syria thing? Drone strikes in Pakistan? The ACLU suing the NSA?

Perhaps he could have explained why Obamacare shouldn’t be repealed since the majority hate it. Or allow Keystone XL? Stop suing over voter ID. Nope, we get this, perhaps the funniest thing, in a sad clown kind of way, that you will read today (unsurprisingly, no video shows on the video page at time of posting, though it is on the main WH page)

Weekly Address: Working with Both Parties to Keep the Economy Moving Forward

Hi, everybody. Over the past couple months, most of the political headlines you’ve read have probably been about the government shutdown and the launch of the Affordable Care Act. And I know that many of you have rightly never been more frustrated with Washington.

But if you look beyond those headlines, there are some good things happening in our economy. And that’s been my top priority since the day I walked into the Oval Office.

Translation: please, for the love of a State Approved Deity, don’t read the news on Obamacare. BTW, I despise that “hi, everybody”. I’m not one for presidents and politicians acting all high and mighty, they’re supposed to be our servants, but, it’s just entirely too casual.

Typical Obama blather follows, then we get

Imagine how much farther along we could be if both parties were working together. Think about what we could do if a reckless few didn’t hold the economy hostage every few months, or waste time on dozens of votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act rather than try to help us fix it.

So, he hasn’t been working with both parties? The headline is mule fritters? And he goes and insults those who do not agree with his idiot economic ideas?

In the weeks ahead, I’ll keep talking about my plan to build a better bargain for the middle class. Good jobs. A good education. A chance to buy a home, save, and retire. And yes, the financial security of affordable health care. And I’ll look for any willing partners who want to help.

Mr. Obama, the House has sent at least 20 bills over to the Senate that deal with the economy. How about telling Harry Reid to bring them up for a vote? Anyhow, it’s hard to get willing partners to dance with you when you walk up and insult their clothing, wouldn’t you say?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Surprise: Obama Picks Fight With News Photographers

By William Teach November 22, 2013 – 2:34 pm

Have you heard this one yet?

(National Journal) New York Times photographer Doug Mills strode into Jay Carney’s office Oct. 29 with a pile of pictures taken exclusively by President Obama’s official photographer at events the White House press corps was forbidden to cover. “This one,” Mills said, sliding one picture after another off his stack and onto the press secretary’s desk. “This one, too – and this one and this one and … .”

The red-faced photographer, joined by colleagues on the White House Correspondents’ Association board, finished his 10-minute presentation with a flourish that made Carney, a former Moscow correspondent for Time, wince.

“You guys,” Mills said, “are just like Tass.”

Comparing the White House to the Russian news agency is a hyperbole, of course, but less so with each new administration. Obama’s image-makers are taking advantage of new technologies that democratized the media, subverting independent news organizations that hold the president accountable. A generation ago, a few mainstream media organizations held a monopoly on public information about the White House. Today, the White House itself is behaving monopolistic.

So, the photogs are a wee bit upset. I have no sympathy for them, nor most in the White House Press Corps, who are complaining about access, as they have acted like good little lapdogs during Obama’s presidency. Where was the massive outcry when the White House locked out certain reporters? When they spied on reporters? When Jay Carney demeans and belittles reporters on a daily basis for daring to ask tough questions (make sure to read down into the article, where Carney belittles the photog concerns)? When access has been reduced overall?

Anyhow, instead of acting like adults and saying “we get what you’re saying, we’ll try better”, Team Obama does what Team Obama always does: pick a fight

The White House released a photo of the press photographing President Obama on Thursday night — a not-so-subtle jab at a group of news outlets who charged that press photographers’ access to the president is being restricted.

White House photographer Pete Souza released a picture through Twitter showing a group of photographers standing over Obama in Oval Office while he signed a series of bills.

https://twitter.com/petesouza/statuses/403699727025180672

An adult would properly consider the concerns and listen. The Office Of the President of the United States Of America should certainly do that. Yet, no, they decide to pick a fight and condescendingly demean the concerns of the photographers.

Read: Surprise: Obama Picks Fight With News Photographers »

Posted in Current Affairs, Democrats, Wonky Media | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach November 22, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil refrigerator, and possibly some evil CO2 infused beer, causing Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Legal Insurrection, which discusses the nuclear option.

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Count Your Blessing This Thanksgiving, Cause Climate Change

By William Teach November 22, 2013 – 11:02 am

Another lecture from people who they themselves are massive hypocrites. What started out as a nice article about keeping the people in the Philippines affected by the typhoon in your prayers, it goes downhill fast

(San Jose Mercury News) It has been two weeks of agony for the victims of one of the worst typhoons on record in the island nation of the Philippines. And it continues on as all of us gather for our annual Thanksgiving celebrations. (big snip)

The country sits in the midst of the world’s most storm-prone area. It is an area of very deep ocean waters, which have experienced some of the highest sea level changes. As man-caused global warming continues, these severe climatic events will be repeated. As population pressures expand Philippine cities, those in the low-lying coastal areas are especially vulnerable. It is also apparent that the meager local resources in places like Leyte were no match for the severity of this event.

Seriously, they just can’t help themselves in dragging Progressive politics into the mix.

As for the sea level change, how do they know? The closest reporting station for the region affected is Davao, in the Philippines, which showed 5.32mm per year, which would add up to 1.75 feet in 100 years, well within the margin of normality for a typical warm period. Yet, it has not functioned since 1994. The Legaspi station is more current, and shows a similar trend, yet it has no data past 2009.

The Jolo station, though, showed .19mm a year. It stopped providing data in 1996. The Manila station shows much higher rise, but it changed how it gathered data, and is also no-operational, starting in 2010. Looking around the region, data shows very different data. Might there not be some other reason for the differences? Why did Quinhon, Vietnam, show a 1.25 decrease? Warmists talk about thermal expansion, which is real, but cannot determine why supposed global warming affects different areas in different ways. Their general explanation is “because we say so”. The big point here is,though, is how can they make claims without actual data?

Read: Count Your Blessing This Thanksgiving, Cause Climate Change »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Holidays | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Push Sports To Spread Awareness And Take Action On “Climate Change”

By William Teach November 22, 2013 – 8:23 am

So, climahypocrites in Congress, who take lots of fossil fueled flights and use a coal fueled power plant to provide steam and cool water to their building, want the NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL to be involved in their little scheme of “climate change”

(CNS News) Climate change alarmists have turned to recruiting sports leagues to promote eco-hysteria. Democrats in Congress are calling on the major sports leagues to promote climate change regulation and to answer what they are doing to limit greenhouse gases.

Democratic legislators from the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change announced on Nov. 20 that they will host major sports league officials in “a closed-door discussion,” Nov. 21. Representatives from Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA/WNBA, NHL and Olympics are expected to attend.

That will be followed by press availability. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are expected to “discuss the effects of climate change on sporting activities and the work these organizations are doing to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” according to the task force website.

Remember that post about liberals taking over sports broadcasting? Now they’re trying to take over sports themselves. Any who get involved are simply hypocrites, considering the amount of power and fossil fuels used to be able to hold games. Why can’t we just leave the politics out of sports? This next quote is a doozy

The congressmen told the sports leagues that they had “a moral obligation to act.”

If that’s the case, why have these congress critters not significantly changed their own lives to become “carbon neutral”?

Read: Democrats Push Sports To Spread Awareness And Take Action On “Climate Change” »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Democrats, Global Warming, Sports | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

Team Obama Plans To Push 2014 O-Care Enrollment To November

By William Teach November 22, 2013 – 7:59 am

Strange how this ends up being after the 2014 mid-terms election date, wouldn’t you say?

(Bloomberg) The Obama administration plans to push back by a month the second-year start of enrollment in its health program to give insurers more time to adjust to growing pains in the U.S. law, a move that may stave off higher premiums before the 2014 congressional elections.

The enrollment period, previously scheduled to begin Oct. 15, 2014, will now start Nov. 15, said an official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t public. The change is important to insurers that need more time to evaluate the first year of the government-run marketplaces.

Moving the filing deadline back a month gives insurers more time to assess the mix of consumers who enroll in plans in the first year they’re offered through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The young, healthy people needed to balance the cost of care for older consumers aren’t likely to sign up in large numbers until March, said Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who helped design the law.

What would this do?

The one-month delay revealed yesterday is just long enough so “consumers will not see their 2015 premiums until after the midterm elections, instead of immediately before,” said Mike Tuffin, a former insurance industry lobbyist who is now managing director of consulting firm APCO Worldwide’s Washington office. “One doesn’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to divine the motive here.”

Either way, this could be a boon for Republicans. Democrats are probably counting on it possibly being easier to blow off Republican campaign rhetoric about the cynicism of pushing off the enrollment period off for a month till after election day versus lots of news stories of people seeing their premiums rise further. Especially those who are being dumped by their companies or being turned into part time workers so the company doesn’t have to provide insurance. This is similar to the way they pushed off the employer mandate (illegally) till 2015.

National Journal’s Sam Baker notes that all this is a bomb waiting to happen before the mid-terms. The question is, can Republicans take advantage of this?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Android Apps: What Rocks?

By William Teach November 21, 2013 – 9:43 pm

I had a friend email me asking what applications I use on my Android, since she just switched over from iPhone to Droid. This is a modified version of what I sent her, figured might as well not waste a long email, eh? Plus, something different.

I have two Droid’s, phone is an HTC One S running 4.1.1. I also have an Elocity tablet I bought a few years ago running 2.something. I don’t need the tablet to do super wild stuff, does what I need. Here’s what I have on my phone (no links, you can hit the Android market for all of them), and every one of them is free. I’m cheap like that. Some apps I link together in folders, some I have stand alone, depends on usage

Anything in bold is a highly recommend/gotta have

Weather: I have a bunch. Can you believe I had 12 on my old iPhone, not including local news apps?

  • Best radar: My-Cast Lite. I really love the way the radar works, versus the horrible type on WeatherBug, Weather Channel, and others
  • 1Weather has my favorite widget, and tends to be closer to WRAL temps, official for Raleigh.
  • Intellicast has some very detailed info, including historical trends
  • Weather Bug can link into very local stations
  • If you love storms, weather TAP zoom provides awesome t-storm radar and data, showing direction, station data, hail, etc.
  • HurricaneSoftware, for tracking hurricanes

News: CBS, Fox, News and Observer, NewsHog, NY Times, Politico, WRAL, Washington Post, Daily Caller, NJ.com, USA Today, News Republic (just added), and the Hill. I have those and more on my tablet.

Cool stuff:

  • IMDb is great for TV and movie info for previous shows/flics
  • Flixster has the best info for current and coming soon movies and DVDs, plus links in to Vudu/Ultra Violet. Not that I ever use it, but, hey, I get those digital copies when I buy DVDs, dagnabit!
  • Photobucket
  • Photo Editor. I’ll link this one, since so many have the same name. Excellent, easy to use, fully powered photo editor
  • Twitchy
  • The Chive
  • Youtube
  • Key Ring – good for all those discount savings cards
  • feedly

Music

  • double Twist -mostly used for playing movies (I have Predators on my memory card)
  • Rocket Player – this one I really like. I’ve been through many different players, and this one has shuffle (I love shuffling all my music) and an equalizer. Really recommend.
  • Play Music, but that came with, never use
  • Cover Art Downloader – self explanatory
  • iHeart Radio
  • Radio.com (good genres, plus I can get 660 The Fan out of NYC to listen to my NJ Devils)
  • Slacker
  • There are others that came with

For email I use K-9 Mail, haven’t found a better program. I have 3 accounts I use, easy to see, can delete from server. One awesome feature is quiet time. I set it so incoming mail makes no sound between 11pm and 8am.

Sports: Score Mobile (favorite), CBS sports, Hockey Center, Yahoo Sports, NHL Gamecenter, a couple of fantasy sports programs

Obviously have the Kindle app, wear it out. Also, Moon+ Reader for non-kindle books.

Nature Sound is a nice sound soother, use it when traveling. Also, Relax and Sleep, interesting sounds, but the loops are not seamless like with Nature Sound.

WordPress, of course.

Tools:

  • Inkpad is a nice simple notepad, which syncs up to my tablet
  • Evernote is a great note taking platform for more detailed info, which also syncs across to my tablet
  • ALYac: anti-virus and spyware/malware. Must have this or some other
  • 3D Compass+
  • Magnifying glass: good for these getting old eyes. I can see fine close up without glasses or contacts, I have distance problems. But with them in, eyes won’t focus. This really helps
  • Master Lock Vault – great for storing sensitive documents and passwords. Syncs across, plus can access on computer.
  • Dropbox – good for storing docs and photos, makes it easy to access across Droids and PCs
  • Drive – connects to Google Drive – I have some different types of docs, mostly work related and not sensitive, on this
  • Current Caller ID – here’s one you really should have, accesses the White Pages (no, that’s not raaaaacist) for when you get called, will usually tell you who if they aren’t in your phonebook. Also, can tell you things like news, weather, Facebook activity if you want
  • Callist is a new app, which is a simple program for accessing favorites, much easier than the built in dialer, plus you can set reminders to call someone.
  • Android System Clean
  • Clean Master (set to automatically clean)
  • ES File Explorer – no rooting necessary
  • Easy App Backup
  • Go TaskManager
  • Oi Shopping List

Road Bike for … biking! Swing by Swing for playing golf.

Browsers: Boat Browser, Miren Browser, and Firefox. BB uses less power, FF is synced with my laptop. Dolphin is also good, but I don’t used it, had it for a specific purpose, when Disqus 2 came out. Other browsers now work with them.

Obviously some games, and some other things that no one else will care about.

Travel

  • INRIX traffic is a must, for tracking traffic
  • Google Maps, which comes with
  • Yelp for food and stuff
  • Carrr Matey is good for finding your car
  • Waze is a good open source navigation program
  • Also have Scout

If you have a DLNA enable TV or DVD player, you should get a DLNA app. This is home networking. You can do this with your PC, most likely. It uses WiFi to connect. You can send pictures, vids, and music to the TV/DVD. In my case, the BluRay player. I have aVia and DLNA Player Free on my phone, different ones on my tablet (2player, BubbleUPnP, and MediaHouse). Partly because that’s what works best on the devices, partly to separate their streams as they show up on BR player. What I really wanted to do was be able to play music on my phone in shuffle mode, with the ability to switch it easily from the phone, and have it play through BR to TV/stereo. Alas, no. Won’t mirror. But cool to send photos to TV.

PS: Youtube has automatic built in DLNA, if your BR or TV has the Youtube app.

Finally, something cool, which is big customization of way phone acts. I use Go Launcher EX which gives a totally different experience. Really, really can change the way things look and act, and Go has lots of ad ons. You know the bottom bar (app drawer) which has things like phone and text? Customizable. Looks cool when you access screen with all the apps. You really have to see it in the app store. You can use different themes, which change the way the apps themselves look. I use the Baltica theme. Transitions from screen to screen, their own widgets…sheesh, so much stuff hard to know it all. It also helps reduce redraw on the screen, which was a big prob with my Samsung Galaxy S. Also, really makes my tablet pop, because it was kind of a pain with the basic.

I have some other stuff on my tablet, like Crackle (Sony free movies), Dictionary, but mostly mirrors the phone, at least in terms of stuff I would use. Do not need table to have all the same. I’ve also tried lots of apps that either didn’t work for me, found better, or just didn’t really need.

Anything cool you’d recommend?

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