Yeah. I know it's the NPR and their lib cronies again. But their list of "Best Good News" has only 3 items? Just thinkin'.......Tired Of Doom And Gloom? Here's The Best Good News Of 2013

Tired Of Doom And Gloom? Here's The Best Good News Of 2013 : NPR:
Seriously? 

The geniuses at NPR could only come up with THREE "good newses"?!! 

And what a top 3! 

What about all that free health care.... er .... health insurance? 

And all the other stuff that comes with unbridaled hope and change?

It's all about power. It always was.

Yes Virginia, angry morons get millions of dollars of federal funding-----Planned Parenthood Pens 'Twelve Days of Contraception' Christmas Carol

Planned Parenthood Pens 'Twelve Days of Contraception' Christmas Carol:
"Staff members of the Arizona affiliate of Planned Parenthood are celebrating the season by changing the lyrics of the traditional Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” to accommodate the abortion industry."

It's the culture, stupid--------Sneak attack: Pandemonium as latest Air Jordan sneakers go on sale and fights break out at stores across the country

Sneak attack: Pandemonium as latest Air Jordan sneakers go on sale and fights break out at stores across the country | Mail Online: "
Nike's latest Air Jordan sneakers were released yesterday
People lined up overnight to get their feet into a pair
Violence broke out in malls and outside stores all over the country as frenzied shoppers tried to buy the shoes
Similar scenes accompany the release of a new version each year
Last year, Joshua Woods, 22, was gunned down on his way home and robbed of the pair of sneakers he had bought"

The new "American dream"---How great is this! Free Moolah for Michiganians!

Obama's version of the "american dream".
A lawsuit victory.
Interesting spin by this reporter.
We have the most deaths.
But look at all the money we're gonna get.
Kinda sick, doncha think?
Michiganians biggest beneficiaries of $100M settlement over tainted steroids | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Michigan residents are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a $100 million settlement with a Massachusetts pharmacy company linked to a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis.

Authorities say 22 of the 64 people who died in the outbreak were from Michigan.

Attorneys for creditors of the Framingham, Mass.-based New England Compounding Center said Monday that they've reached a preliminary settlement to create a victim compensation fund worth more than $100 million."

We used to have "insurance agents" to help us with this. Now we have ACORN rejects--------Obamacare 'Deductible' Shock–Just 14% Understand Insurance Lingo

Obamacare 'Deductible' Shock–Just 14% Understand Insurance Lingo:
"A recent academic study published in the Journal of Health Economics found that just 14% of individuals who have health coverage could correctly answer all four of four basic questions about health insurance, including understanding what a “deductible” and “copay” are. 
If comprehension figures are that low for the insured, analysts worry what that portends for the uninsured, especially for a program as complex as Obamacare."

From Costa Rica's Great Balls to Death Valley's wandering rocks: The 10 bizarre phenomena that still have scientists baffled

From Costa Rica's Great Balls to Death Valley's wandering rocks: The 10 bizarre phenomena that still have scientists baffled | Mail Online:
"From Costa Rica's Great Balls to Death Valley's wandering rocks: The 10 bizarre phenomena that still have scientists baffled
Great balls of Costa Rica date back to 600AD yet their purpose is unknown
In Serbia and Japan, frogs and other wildlife are said to fall from the sky
Stones slide across the ground under a mysterious force in California.
While no one knows how vast shapes appeared in Peruvian sand"

The private sector to the rescue-Blue Cross extends deadline for off-market plans

Wasn't this supposed to be the other way around?
Blue Cross extends deadline for off-market plans | Crain's Detroit Business

Blue Cross extends deadline for off-market plans

The state's largest health insurer on Monday gave some people an extra week to buy insurance in time for coverage that would kick in on Jan. 1, saying that roughly half of those purchasing plans on their own can skip enrollment on the government's website.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan said the extension until Dec. 31 applies to consumers not qualifying for subsidized premiums on the federal insurance market. The "off-marketplace" plans are identical to those on www.healthcare.gov but only available to those making too much to receive tax credits.

The announcement came the same day the Obama administration extended by one day — until today — the deadline to sign up on the exchange for coverage that begins New Year's Day. Open enrollment ends March 31.

The tax credits will make premiums more affordable for households earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the poverty line. That's about $11,500 to $46,000 for an individual, and roughly $23,500 to $94,000 for a family of four.

For those making more than that, "we can enroll you right away," said Terry Burke, Blue Cross' vice president for individual business. He added that consumers qualifying for premium subsidies who are interested in a Blue Cross plan can cut their call time in half by first registering at healthcare.gov.

What a mother and wife. What a woman! ----Woman gives family wonderful Christmas gift two years after her death

Yeah. This made me cry.....
Woman gives family wonderful Christmas gift two years after her death | Rare:
"Wife and mother Brenda Schmitz penned a letter to her husband two months before she lost her battle to ovarian cancer — a letter the late Mrs. Schmitz intended her husband to hear shortly before his second marriage.

“I am writing this letter to have sent to you by dear friend who has instructions to do so when it is the time,” 

16 Of The MOST CLEVER AND AMUSING Homeless Signs!!!!

As a nation of free men and women, are we lazy, ignorant, bored enough to allow this massive power grab to expand? ----------NSA Panel Member Recommends Increased Data Collection

NSA Panel Member Recommends Increased Data Collection - NationalJournal.com:
 "Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA and a member of President Obama's task force on surveillance, said in an interview on Sunday that a controversial telephone data-collection program conducted by the National Security Agency should be expanded to include emails.
He also said the program, far from being unnecessary, could prevent the next 9/11."

And we keep giving these morons MORE POWER? -----------------Obama can’t point to a single time the NSA call records program prevented a terrorist attack

Obama can’t point to a single time the NSA call records program prevented a terrorist attack

National Security Agency defenders, including President Obama, continue to cite the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001 when defending the program that scoops up domestic call records in bulk. But asked specifically, on Friday, if he could identify a time when that program stopped a similar attack, President Obama couldn't. That's because the program hasn't prevented a second 9/11.

At the end of the year news conference, Reuters's Mark Felsenthal asked:

As you review how to rein in the National Security Agency, a federal judge says that, for example, the government has failed to cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata actually stopped an imminent attack. Are you able to identify any specific examples when it did so? Are you convinced that the collection of that data is useful to national security to continue as it is?

But President Obama never answered the question about a specific examples. Instead he spoke more broadly and tied the program, again, back to 9/11.

What I've said in the past continues to be the case, which is that the NSA, in executing this program, believed, based on experiences from 9/11, that it was important for us to be able to track, if there was a phone number of a known terrorist outside of the United States calling into the United States, where that call might have gone and that having that data in one place and retained for a certain period of time allowed them to be confident in pursuing various investigations of terrorist threats.

The president's reliance on a 9/11 narrative is expected. The terrorist attack was a defining moment for a generation and now serves as a tragic reminder of a time when the U.S. government failed to protect its citizens. It's understandable that any president would want to be seen as vigilant in preventing another such attack.

But the reason the president can't cite a specific time the phone meta-data program stopped a similar tragedy is because it hasn't.

It's not rich vs poor. Black vs white. Old vs young. It's us American citizens vs the governing class! Until we understand that, the racket will triumph-------It's a Very Merry Christmas for Washington Insiders

Even more despicable, they successfully divide us for their benefit!
Sewing hatred for their own greed.

It's a Very Merry Christmas for Washington Insiders | Cato @ Liberty:
"Last year, while writing about the corrupt and self-serving behavior at the IRS, I came up with a theorem that explains day-to-day behavior in Washington.

Simply stated, government is a racket that benefits the D.C. political elite by taking money from average people in America"

And the democrats tell us we not paying our fair share?

Don't worry democrat voters, Barry is nice and warm in Hawaii--------230,000 in Michigan still without power after weekend ice storm

This is a national disaster.
And a national disgrace!
Imagine the outrage  if Bush was stilll...... 
230,000 in Michigan still without power after weekend ice storm | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"More than 230,000 electric customers remain without power in Michigan’s lower peninsula after this weekend’s ice storm, with about 58,000 of those out in metro Detroit, according to local energy providers.
....A total of 303,000 Consumers customers have been affected by the storms, Dodd Said. In metro Detroit, about 150,000 customers lost power after Saturday’s storm blanketed trees, roads and power lines with ice."

Oh boy------Financial Repression From The Obama Administration: How Savers May Be Forced To Buy Federal Debt

Financial Repression From The Obama Administration: How Savers May Be Forced To Buy Federal Debt - Forbes:
 "Despite the reassurance, economists and industry officials are still worried. “The runaway, unaccountable regulators at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau would like to ‘protect’ the IRAs of U.S. citizens by making them into a $20 trillion ATM for the government,” says economist George Gilder.

Critics fear that the CFPB would claim regulatory authority over IRAs and self-employed person pensions (SEPPs) on the grounds that seniors aren’t capable of handling their accounts and are being defrauded by the firms that manage them."

.....For now, almost every dollar in America’s individual retirement accounts is invested in the private sector — which earns higher returns than government debt.
 “I wouldn’t put it past the government to go after some of that money, almost all which is invested in corporate stocks and bonds or real estate,” says Curtis De Young, founder and CEO of American Pension Services, a leading financial advisory company.

I'm thinkin' it's not his graduation photo----Suspect ID'd in fatal quadruple shooting

Suspect ID'd in fatal quadruple shooting | WOOD TV8:
"MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) - Muskegon Silent Observer is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who prosecutors suspect was involved in the weekend shooting of four people .

Gary Ogreen III , 21, was killed and three others were wounded when police say a group of unwanted guests returned to Ogreen's home after they'd been asked to leave and opened fire.

Sheriff's officials say there was a fight before the group left the first time. They returned a short time later and one of the people in the group fired several shots, Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson said Monday evening.

An arrest warrant was issued for Deontay Demarco Black-Wickliffe, 22, but police have not been able to locate him. He is charged with open murder, three counts of assault with intent to murder, and a felony firearm charge. Authorities say he should be considered armed and dangerous."

I think I'm a nuclear power supporter.....but is man competent to operate it safely. I'm not so sure-----Thyroid Cancers Surge Among Fukushima Youths

Thyroid Cancers Surge Among Fukushima Youths | Zero Hedge:

It seems US sailors aren't the only ones who three short years after the Fukushima disaster are being stricken by cancers and other radiation-induced diseases. For once, the media blackout surrounding the Japanese nuclear power plant tragedy appears to have crumbled, and at least a portion of the truth has been revealed. Hong Kong's SCMP reports that fifty-nine young people in Fukushima prefecture have been diagnosed with or are suspected of having thyroid cancer. Notably, all of newly diagnosed were younger than 18 at the time of the nuclear meltdown in the area in March 2011. They were identified in tests by the prefectural government, which covered 239,000 people by the end of September.

History for December 24-Christmas Eve

History for December 24 - On-This-Day.com
1814 - The War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium. 






1818 - Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for "Silent Night" to words written by Josef Mohr. 









1985 - Fidel Castro, the Cuban president, announced that he was a non-smoker. 

Death wish----D.C. Council Approves Minimum Wage Increase

D.C. Council Approves Minimum Wage Increase: DCist:
"In a rather anticlimactic moment, the D.C. Council unanimously passed an increase in the minimum wage today to one of the highest levels in the country.
Council chair Phil Mendelson moved to place both the minimum wage increase and paid sick days for restaurant workers bills on the consent agenda, and that passed without any discussion.
Supporters of the bills poured out into the Wilson Building's fifth floor lobby to celebrate. 
The Council unanimously passed the bill on first reading earlier this month.
The increase will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 in July 2014, $10.50 the following year, and $11.50 by 2016, with future increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. "

Yes. There are unions that will use their power for this kind of idiocy------French pub fined for using 'undeclared labour' after customers return glasses to the bar

French pub fined for using 'undeclared labour' after customers return glasses to the bar - Mirror Online

A French pub is facing a £7,500 fine for using 'undeclared labour' after officials spotted customers taking empty glasses back to the bar.

Markya Le Floch, the owner of Mamm-Kounifl concert-café in Locmiquélic, said agents from social security body URSAFF stormed the pub before taking her into custody.

"Around half-past midnight, a customer returned a drinks tray. She passed by the bar to go to the toilets. That was when it all kicked off. My husband was pinned against the glass by a man. A woman leapt on me, showing her ID card and that’s when I realised it was a URSSAF check. They told me I had been caught using undeclared labour,” she told  Le Télégramme.

...But URSAFF maintains it is an infringement of labour laws.

Another government/union partnership "success"-----------Inalfa Roof Systems closing Grand Blanc Township plant; UAW says some jobs moving to Mexico

Inalfa Roof Systems closing Grand Blanc Township plant; UAW says some jobs moving to Mexico | MLive.com:
"GRAND BLANC TWP., MI -- A sunroof company that the state of Michigan and township lured here with big tax breaks a decade ago is closing its plant on North Holly Road and a union official says some of the work is moving to Mexico.

Initial layoffs are expected to start in January at Inalfa Roof Systems Inc. and the plant will permanently close in June or July, costing 52 workers their jobs, according to a plant closing notice filed with the state of Michigan and the UAW."

But wait. It's even more moronic that this headline-----Business owner informed by city of Houston he must fix potholes

Business owner informed by city of Houston he must fix potholes | khou.com Houston:
  "HOUSTON -- One man says when he complained about the shoulder of the road in front of his business, the city told him it was his responsibility to fix it. So the man paid his employees to fill in the holes along the 4000 block of Oates Road in northeast Houston. But thanks to the city, now he's got another problem. KHOU 11 News Reporter Tim Wetzel has the full story." 

More moronic laws that make EVERYONE a law breaker------Tax Dollars at Work: Trooper Catches Dummy in HOV Lane

Tax Dollars at Work: Trooper Catches Dummy in HOV Lane | Washington Free Beacon:
"A Seattle man was pulled over and ticketed Wednesday for driving in the HOV lane without a passenger, despite the driver’s use of a human-looking dummy, KCPQ reports.

State Trooper Anatolly Nazariya believed something was fishy and pulled the driver over, seeing that the passenger, dressed in Seattle Seahawks garb, was in fact fake.
The driver was cited with an HOV violation, a fine worth $124."