The First Phone Call From Heaven

A Christmas gift from the bride, this book is the sixth offering from the sports write Mitch Albom, and the second that I have had the pleasure to read.
Published in 2013 by Sphere, which is described as an imprint of the Little Brown Book Group, the book is 308 pages long.
The story is about grieving people in the small town of Coldwater, who have the unbelievable fortune to receive phone calls from their passed loved ones. Some of the people offer testament in church and subsequent reaction is an overblown media event.  One grieving person has just been released from a year in jail, for an event that precipitated his wife's death.  Their son is only seven and desperate to hear from his departed mother.  The son's desire has triggered a protective instinct in the father who hopes to deflect disappointment from the son's possible discovery that h the calls are a hoax.   On his quest, the father, Sully, researches the departed obits and searches for the source.  What Sully finds is the truth about the calls, the truth about the cause of his imprisonment and in the end his own connection to his departed wife.
It is good short read, worth the effort.

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Gassy Germans

To be more clear cows were farting too much.

Being full of gas is more of a German national thing.

BERLIN: Gassy German cows blamed for barn explosion - Weird News - MiamiHerald.com

Having grown up around a dairy farm, this sounds like like a load of you know what.

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Georgia Gun Legislation Proposal

This proposal in interesting enough, at the time of year when proposals are vogue.
As copied from the NRA email.

Yesterday, state Representative Rick Jasperse (R-11) introduced House Bill 875, the most comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation in recent state history.

HB 875 seeks to make many changes to benefit law-abiding gun owners, shooters and sportsmen alike.  Some of the key improvements and changes include:

• Removal of fingerprinting for renewal of Weapons Carry Licenses (“WCL”).
• Prohibiting the state from creating and maintaining a database of WCL holders.
• Creation of an absolute defense for the legal use of deadly force in the face of a violent attack.
• Removal of the sweeping restrictions on legally carrying a firearm with a WCL in churches and bars, leaving this decision to private property owners.
• Lowering the age to obtain a concealed WCL for self-defense from 21 to 18 for active duty military, with specific training.
• Repealing the unnecessary and duplicative state-required license for a firearms dealer, instead requiring only a Federal Firearms License (FFL).
• Preempting a ban on firearms in public housing, ensuring that the right to self-defense should not be infringed based on where one calls home.
• Codifying the ability to legally carry, with a WCL, in sterile/non-secure areas of airports.
• Incorporation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act for mental health reporting.
• Stating that under a declared state of emergency, all law-abiding gun owners will not have their Second Amendment rights restricted or infringed by executive authority through Emergency Powers protection.
• Strengthening current firearms preemption statutes through further clarification of the regulatory authority of local governments, excluding firearm discharge ordinances.
• Allowing school systems to decide whether staff and faculty may carry a firearm on school property, pending approved training, similar to the NRA’s National School Shield program.
• Allowing the lawful carry by WCL holders in government buildings where it is not currently restricted or security screening personnel are posted during regular business hours.

HB 875 has yet to be assigned to a House committee, but it will be assigned and heard in the coming weeks.  Your NRA fully supports these comprehensive improvements to the gun laws in Georgia and will be sure to keep you informed and engaged as HB 875 progresses during the 2014 legislative session.

Have been searching for the poison pill, it all sounds so good to me, it must be a facade.

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Small Balls

The State of the Union Address tends to excite the creative juices.

Allen West makes clear the President's usage of a disabled veteran as a symbol of his patriotism while speaking to a house that had recently voted to limit cost of living adjustments for disability benefits.

SOTU: Small balls and a wounded warrior gets stabbed in the back

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The Solution to Income Inequality Is Opportunity, Not Entitlement

Found this essay on Jewish Work Review. Am reluctant to post because I have no desire to harm Dr. Carson's reputation by the promotion of a man willing to be profane (me).  Posted anyway because this man has earned the right to be listened to and has honored that right by exhorting achievement via effort in a gentlemanly manner.

Ben Carson: The Solution to Income Inequality Is Opportunity, Not Entitlement

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69% Think It’s Better for Obama to Work With Congress Than Go Around It

The President surely is focusing more on the majority of respondents that believe the Republicans should make more of an effort to work with the Democrats and President.
My guess for the future is that the President will get away with these unconstitutional unilateral rulings for the next three years. Then when a new group is in power the Democrats will call for adherence to the Constitution.
This President has proven to be an unbending liberal prick.

69% Think It’s Better for Obama to Work With Congress Than Go Around It

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Sphincter Tightener

An email from the White House, signed by the First Lady. Will withhold the smart-but comments for the end. Normally would have taken a screen shot of the little presidential looking White House emblem, but frankly I am sick of looking at it .

Tonight, Barack will deliver his fifth State of the Union address.
You might think that this speech was born out of a pile of papers or a long series of meetings. But actually, the real motivations -- and the real substance -- behind tonight's speech come from those quiet moments late at night, when Barack is at his desk reading your letters.
He reads at least 10 a day, from folks all across the country. You write him to say thank you, or to weigh in on a policy issue. You tell him about your families, and what's going on in your lives. And he listens.
These letters turn into real action. I've seen it happen: He'll write in the margins "This is who we're fighting for," and then he'll pass them on to his senior staff.
Take a look at this video -- you'll see what I mean. Then make sure to let him know you'll be watching tonight.
Barack is always up late before big speeches like this one.
And all day today, I know that he'll be making changes to the speech right up until the last hour.
It's not only because he wants to get that final draft just right. It's because he cares deeply about your stories and your hopes and dreams. That's what keeps him going every single day.
We hope you'll be watching:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu
Thanks,
First Lady Michelle Obama
P.S. -- I'm honored to be watching tonight's speech with some incredible Americans from across the country. Meet them here, and make sure you tune in at 9 p.m. ET.

Let us start at the beginning.
As the fifth of eight potential SOTU speeches, we are ready for some content that does not blame another political party or claim success where it does not exist. As a citizen we should hope that the next three addresses are not required and that all citizens are happy with the obvious improvement of conditions and require no false home run trot by a lying politician to understand success as broad reaching prosperity. Not likely for a president espouses policies that are contradictory to even the most basic prosperity requirement, that being job creation.
And the "real" motivation is not coming from the input of letters from "regular" citizens, the purpose of the address is to mark progress real or imagined and lay the groundwork for planned legislation priorities. Well folks the planned priorities are already set, only the real priorities are not the ones that will be shared by the President. He hopes to expand the Democratic base so that he can set in motion a self perpetuating liberal model, he plans on expanding that base by giving people stuff, aka creating dependency. Does anybody not know that?
I do believe that the President like all politicians, or at least minions, stay up all hours to hone speeches so that they promise enough to sate citizens basic needs while obscuring long range goals of achieving political dominance and applying fiscal favoritism for the purpose of personal reward.
There is no chance I will spend one minute watching the SOTU or the Republican rebuttal, it is all crap.

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Omnibut Passage

Congress.org presents: MEGAVOTE, January 21, 2014 for Georgia's 13th Congressional District.
Recent Congressional Votes -

• Senate: Omnibus Appropriations  passage
• House: Omnibus Appropriations  passage

Both chambers are in recess until January 27.

Recent Senate Votes:

Omnibus Appropriations  passage
Vote Agreed to (72-26, 2 Not Voting)
One day after it passed the House, the Senate on Thursday cleared the omnibus appropriations package that would fund every corner of the federal government through September. Senators voted, 72-26 , to endorse the $1.1 trillion omnibus, sending the measure to the presidents desk. The bill retained funding for the 2010 health care reform laws.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss voted Not Voting
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted YES
I read this as Isakson joined the bastards and Saxby hesitated, but he wants it.

Recent House Votes:
Omnibus Appropriations  passage
Vote Passed (359-67, 7 Not Voting)
On Wednesday, the House voted  to pass roughly $1.1 trillion in discretionary spending for the remainder of fiscal 2014. The vote bundled together 12 separate bills to fund federal departments and agencies. More than half of the funds will go to the Department of Defense, the war in Afghanistan, and other counterterrorism operations. With the vote, the House stuck to the deal over top-line discretionary spending struck between House and Senate appropriators in December.
Rep. David Scott voted YES
Have to admit the President has some skill when it comes to pushing around the Congress.  They are whipped.  David Scott jumping on this shit was a foregone conclusion but that freaking, chicken shit, wanna be Democrat, Speaker of the House is about to make me throw up. Now the Republicans have given up any pretense of supporting conservative constituents.  They bought into the bull shit insanity of throwing money at everything, they are worthless now.

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Statistics: 49% of black men arrested by age 23

As a young boy, under 10, I remember talking to older teenagers and thinking that everybody was held back a year or two before they went to college.  Later as a teenager I thought that most adult men got arrested as some point for speeding or drunken debauchery. Now as dullard engineer, I've managed to get through grade school, college and 30 years working for the same firm, was never held back or arrested.
Now it seems that the jail thing is coming true, these dumb bastard (literally) boys ignored in school should be held back but aren't, progress into adulthood ill prepared for responsibility, contrarily prepared for violence by means of incredibly perverted PlayStation games.
Check it out, 2 of every five young men have been arrested.
Statistics: 49% of black men arrested by age 23

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States for Disposal of EPA

Amazing comments offered in the pretty blue italic font.....

Congress.org presents: MEGAVOTE, January 13, 2014, for Georgia's 13th Congressional District.

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: Federal Reserve Chair Nomination  Confirmation
• Senate: U.S. Court of Appeals Nomination  Cloture
• House: Solid Waste Disposal Regulations  Passage

Upcoming Congressional Bills

• Senate: Unemployment Compensation Extension
• Senate: Government Funding
• House: Government Funding

Recent Senate Votes:

Federal Reserve Chair Nomination  Confirmation
Vote Confirmed (56-26, 18 Not Voting)
On Monday, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Janet L. Yellen to be Chairwoman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the next four years. Only 11 Republican Senators voted in support of her nomination.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss voted YES
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted NO
It is frightening thing to think that President Obama has the power to screw up the Federal Reserve like everything else. 

U.S. Court of Appeals Nomination  Cloture
Vote Agreed to (55-38, 1 Present, 6 Not Voting)
Senators agreed to invoke cloture and end debate on Thursday on the nomination of Robert L. Wilkins to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. As in other cloture votes since the Senate changed its filibuster rules on judicial nominees in November, Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted with Democrats to end debate. The Senate is expected to confirm this nomination today.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss voted NO
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted NO
Senator Murkowski showing why Alaska Republicans voted her out in the primary. 

She is a moderate Democrat, in the Republican party because it is politically expedient.

Recent House Votes:

Solid Waste Disposal Regulations  Passage
Vote Passed (225-188, 19 Not Voting)
The House passed a bill along party lines on Thursday to alter the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) role in overseeing the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. The measure requires the EPA to get states approval to add sites to a priority list within its Superfund cleanup program and would allow states to add potential cleanup sites to the list. It also would allow the EPA to review and revise waste disposal regulations and would eliminate the federal governments claims to sovereign immunity from state enforcement actions over Superfund cleanups of sites on federal property.
Rep. David Scott voted NO
Hello, I am Democrat, anything that might shift rights to the states is an anathema to me. The Constitution said all undefined rights belong to the states. Just watch, the Senate or the President will kill this thing.  

Sarcastically speaking, why should a department of the Federal government be answerable to a state?

State officials are not confused as to who their constituency is, federal employees are answerable only to the President and their union, the EPA  does not give two shits about local communities or state economies. 

 

Upcoming Votes:

Unemployment Compensation Extension - S.1845
Senators will consider a bill extending long-term unemployment benefits on Monday.
Can't fix unemployment can you Mr. President, but no worries, if you maximize the number of people dependent on hand outs, the political leverage gained far outweighs your moral failure as a leader.

 
Government Funding - H.R.___
The Senate also is expected to consider legislation to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year if it passes the House this week.
A decision to keep spending more thou should. 

 
Government Funding - H.R.___
The House is expected to consider legislation to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year on Wednesday.
A certain decision to keep knuckling under to artificial pressure.

Pussies!

 
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77% Think Woman President Likely in Next 10 Years

The other 23% of respondents think that whoever she is, there is man out there that is tired of her shit.

77% Think Woman President Likely in Next 10 Years

On the real side, I am inclined to agree, am certain that it will be a Democrat because every woman associated with conservatives or Republicans is treated like a megalomaniac by the press and pariah the liberal politicians.
e.g.

• Sarah Palin
• Condoleezza Rice
• Elizabeth Dole
• Laura Ingram
• Michelle Malkin

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The Georgia Plan for 2014

Copied from an email sent by the National Rifle Association.
A wish list that I am sure the Federals have plans to subvert. Last year Governor Deal tried some fancy footwork to ram through means testing for gun ownership.  So watch it people, they might act like they are on your side, but in the end they are just politicians, and that means they are liars.

Yesterday, the Georgia General Assembly convened its 2014 legislative session. Your NRA is working hard this year to build on the strong foundation set in the 2013 session, culminating with the progression of Senate Bill 101 through the state legislature.  SB 101, as amended in its conference committee, would have been the most comprehensive pro-gun legislation to have passed in Atlanta in recent history.  SB 101 included the following changes that would greatly benefit gun owners across Georgia:

• Enhances the current reciprocity for out-of-state concealed carry permit holders traveling through Georgia and sets legal precedent for other states to follow suit.
• Removes fingerprinting for renewal of a Weapons Carry License (WCL).
• Prohibits the state from establishing and maintaining a database of WCL holders.
• Protects the confidentiality and privacy of WCL holders.
• Lowers the age from 21 to 18 for activity duty military, with specific training, to obtain a WCL to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense.
• Allows churches to opt-in and allow their parishioners to carry concealed.
• Repeals the unnecessary and duplicative state-required license for a firearms dealer, ensuring that gun dealers are only required to have a Federal Firearms License.
• Preempts banning firearms in public housing, as the necessity of self-defense is paramount regardless of where one calls home.
• Allows concealed carry on college campuses by those individuals with a valid WCL.

Although SB 101 did not pass, this 2014 legislative session will focus on advancing similar comprehensive pro-gun legislation to further the interests of gun owners and sportsmen in Georgia.  Know that your NRA is diligently working to fight any attack against your Second Amendment rights while advancing pro-gun reforms.  We will continue to keep you updated on pro-/anti-gun and pro-/anti-hunting legislation as well as other measures that impact you in the new year. 

Keep your guard up.

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Mississippi Conjugal Visitation Rights Vanishing

The picture immediately reminded me of the John Grisham novel and movie "The Chamber", starring the hacker.

This subject is all over the internet today. It seems that six states in the United States allow conjugal visits to the inmates.  One of those states, Connecticut, the program is inactive and another, Mississippi is halting the program due to excessive costs.

This particular is interesting in its portrayal of the issue, the International Business Times suggests that American states are regressing in comparison to the shining example of Islamic countries.

Midnight Special: Conjugal Visitation Rights For US Prisoners Vanishing, While ‘Repressed’ States Like Iran And Saudi Arabia Permit Them

Within the above article the author, Palash Ghosh, notes that an imprisoned has fathered a child while held.

The Economist reported that Turkey, Costa Rica, Israel and Mexico allow conjugal visits – in some cases, even for unmarried and/or homosexual inmates. (In fact, Yigal Amir, the man who assassinated former Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, fathered a child while in prison, during a conjugal respite).

Well isn't that special, a terrorist has rights that need to asserted.  Leading to the birth of another disciple, who will grow up fatherless and angry.  Can you imagine the uproar caused if an married homosexual couple petitioned for conjugal visits?  There can be little doubt the marriage would not be recognized in the state of Mississippi.

At the FoxNews website there is some recognition that the conjugal visits could be a positive influence on inmate behavior.

“Allowing conjugal visitation may also decrease sexual violence within prisons. Family members and children who visit and thus able to build and sustain more meaningful relationships with their incarcerated parent or family member may benefit tremendously,” 

It is hard to disagree with that statement.

The Detroit Free Press offers a direct slap to the intent on the creation of the program in Mississippi.

The practice began in the early 1900's at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, whose warden thought they would prod black inmates to toil harder in the fields; prostitutes were often brought in.

Racist and profiteering without a doubt.  This comment brings to focus the issue of cost of imprisonment and the societal changes that curtailed the domain of prison officials to force prisoners to work.

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EPA Violates the Law

An agency, created to serve the people, steals from the people and does not respect the people enough to respond to complaints.
This kind of thing puts an exclamation point on the repugnance to established law that our executive branch has.
It's wrong, they know it and they don't give a shit.

EPA Violates the Law, Ignores Congress, Seizes Private Land in Wyoming

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Junk Science

Is The Record Cold Arctic Outbreak Tied To Global Warming?
Do the Hot and Cold Spells Have a Meaning?

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/arctic-blast-linked-global-warming-20140106?cm_ven=Email&cm_cat=article_share

The Global Warming cabal is more interested in the creation of a global need as a path to global government then they are the subject of whether or not the earth is getting warmer or colder.  Only the desperate desire for such an important goal could foster such trivial reporting.
That said, I must admit that as a skeptic, a cold front caused by the polar vortex, a constant phenomenon I might add, is not proof that there is no global warning.
No more than a hot summer heat wave is proof that global warming does exist as defined by some scientists.
As an engineer, I know the predictions that have been made were based on end of the curve data; statistically these are outliers that can only be incorporated with more data which can only come with time.