Federal Stooge ... er... Judge Upholds Obamacare

From Freep.com:

A federal judge in Detroit today upheld key provisions of President Barack Obama’s landmark health reform law.

In a 20-page decision, U.S. District Judge George Steeh refused to issue an injunction to halt preparations for putting federal health reforms into full effect in 2014, a law known as the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in March. Steeh also dismissed the major points of the suit — requiring Americans to buy health insurance and penalizing those who don’t starting in 2014.

So it's official: it's now critical that Democrats be voted out of office next month so that this humongous turd can be flushed by the new Congress before it has time to grow legs and run rampant in the streets raping our mothers and sisters (and brothers, too.)

Bias? What Bias?

Here's coverage from two stories about a bill that recently passed Congress that Obama is planning to veto - check that - he's going to chickenshit veto ... er... pocket veto.

First, from the Washington Post:

President Obama stepped into a growing political furor over the nation's troubled foreclosure system Thursday by vetoing a little-known bill that critics say would have made it easier to evict homeowners who missed their payments.

Critics first. Always critics first. But what does the bill actually purport to to? What does the author of the bill say its intent was?

The decision to block the measure, which Congress passed without debate, came as members of the president's own party have urged the administration and federal regulators to more actively address the crisis over flawed foreclosures.

But Democrats were trying to figure out Thursday how they allowed a bill to pass that critics say would introduce more fraud into the system, a Pelosi staff member said. It was sponsored by Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), the first measure he sponsored that passed.

Even he was surprised that it passed, his spokesman said.

"There is absolutely no connection whatsoever between [the bill] and the recent foreclosure documentation problems," Aderholt said in a statement.

The vetoed bill, which is two pages, would have required local courts to accept notarizations, including those made electronically, from across state lines. Its sponsors said it was intended to promote interstate commerce. Lawmakers saw no problems when the House approved it in April by a voice vote, which leaves no record of votes. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last week.

That's it? That's all the author of the bill had to say? Meanwhile, there's another citation from "critics," this time from a Nancy Pelosi staffer? Jesus, help me. My head...

Let's look in the New York Post:

President Barack Obama will veto a bill that could have helped banks continue to kick mortgage holders from their homes even if notaries public were thousands of miles away from the executives signing off on foreclosure documents -- and clearly unable to see if those legal documents were fake.

The bill had proceeded stealthily through Congress, being passed by the House in April and by the Senate, without debate, on Sept. 27.

Nice language; "kick mortgage holders from their homes" and "the bill stealthily proceeded through Congress."

I'm not sure which is worse - that Congress is making a habit of passing bills - and apparently bills even just two pages long - without reading them and then act surprised when they pass unanimously or that the coverage of even such a mundane issue as this is full of bias?

So who's the biggest ass-clowns: Congress or newspaper writers? The Answer is yes.

But then there's this, from the Chicago Sun-Times, of all places:

The White House announced Thursday that President Obama is sending a newly passed bill back to Congress for revisions because of concerns that it would make ongoing foreclosure-document problems worse. The bill would have loosened requirements for providing a notary's seal on foreclosure documents.

Mounting evidence has surfaced that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers. State and federal officials have been ramping up pressure on the mortgage industry over concerns about potential legal violations.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama wants Congress to fix the bill because the current version has "unintended consequences on consumer protections." The bill would loosen the process for providing a notary's seal to documents and allow them to be done electronically.

Obama will not sign a bill that would allow foreclosure and other documents to be accepted among multiple states. Consumer advocates and state officials had argued the legislation would make it difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosure documents prepared in other states.

Ah, like a breath of fresh air a perfectly concise, well written and bullshit-free story parts through the crowd. This is journalism. It's informative. It's concise and it actually informs you what the bill actually does, and in the first paragraph, no less. So congratulations to Sandra Guy at the Sun-Times. You pass where all the rest of your seething propagandist colleagues FAIL.

Miley Cyrus Intervention

You Can't Be Christian and Do Yoga, Apparently

From Yahoo News:

A Southern Baptist leader who is calling for Christians to avoid yoga and its spiritual attachments is getting plenty of pushback from enthusiasts who defend the ancient practice.

Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler says the stretching and meditative discipline derived from Eastern religions is not a Christian pathway to God.

Mohler said he objects to "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine."

"That's just not Christianity," Mohler told The Associated Press.

Mohler said feedback has come through e-mail and comments on blogs and other websites since he wrote an essay to address questions about yoga he has heard for years.

"I'm really surprised by the depth of the commitment to yoga found on the part of many who identify as Christians," Mohler said.

Yoga fans say their numbers have been growing in the U.S. A 2008 study by the Yoga Journal put the number at 15.8 million, or nearly 7 percent of adults. About 6.7 percent of American adults are Southern Baptists, according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion & Public Life.

It's guys like this that give all Christians a bad name. I've taken yoga classes as part of the strengthening and stretching process to heal my back. Now, granted, I've got very limited experience with it and I've only had one yoga teacher, but I've watched some yoga DVDs and have sat in on a couple of other classes when Kristi used to take yoga at the Downtown Houston YMCA. I guess the yoga classes I've ever been to are much more mainstream than the hard-core yoga mysticism that is out there. I was skeptical of yoga, too, for a long time because I thought it was all a bunch of eastern religious hokum. But actually attending yoga classes showed me that it can be about self-control and stretching, strengthening of the body and being a good steward of the amazing gift that God has given us. The yoga teacher here in Brenham even brought a Christian message into it from time to time.

I liked my yoga experience because:
1. I got to pretend I was Batman in training.
2. It helped stretch my body and made me stronger at a time when my body couldn't handle weight training.
3. It had a very calming effect on my mind - at least for the hour during the class.
4. It helped me learn to block out a lot of external stuff and really focus on the moment at hand.
5. It gave me and Kristi a shared activity that we could do together that brought us together even more.
6. It really complimented my weight training and improved my flexibility once I was able to start lifting again.
7. It helped me realize that there is a lot that I thought I couldn't do (or couldn't do anymore) that can be done, with practice.

Man is a spiritual creature, and yoga can be a very spiritual experience in itself. It can help one get inside one's own head and hear God's voice in way that we're often used to tuning out. By turning into one's self, it's not tuning out God, as this guy seems to think. It's a way of being in tune with one's self, which is a natural way of being in communication with God. It's almost like a prayer - a very silent, personal experience that has tremendous meaning and emotional attachment inside one's head. When one is in that place, whether it be in prayer or in the forest or in a yoga class, one can very easily be in communion with God. It's not a pathway to God, but a way of communication. And how can communication with God on a spiritual level not be Christian?

Albert Mohler would do well to take some yoga classes so he could learn to concentrate on how big of a misinformed dick he sounds like.

Good Points, All...

I'm not usually a big fan of Jon Stewart, but I've gotta admit - this is funny.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2010 - Democratic Campaign Woes
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Thanks to Matt.

Snoop Dogg, Please Stop Recently Sucking

Homemade Spacecraft

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

This seems like something I would be likely to try. Amazing.

Do yourself a favor and read the comments.

Seriously, Smithville?

How the Empire Strikes Back Should Have Ended

Destructo, Grill Master

I entered one of my favorite things to cook in the HEB Grill Master Challenge: Grilled herb salmon with spinach and mushrooms.

I'll make you a deal- if you log in and vote for my recipe and I win, I'll have a huge party (with you invited, of course) with the winnings and to show off the amazing grill they're giving away. And then it'll be salmon for everyone!

Deal?

U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

From the New York Times:

Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.

Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.

The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally.

Can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if George Bush had tried to pull this crap? Yet, silence...

Hello, Kitty!

Matt and I are chipping in to buy one of these for Jolie for her birthday. Who's in?



Thanks to Matt.