We the Geeks Part 3
***
FACT: Health care reform saved consumers nearly $4 billion on their insurance premiums last year. http://t.co/bLrfwFy98e #ObamacareInAction
— The White House (@whitehouse) June 20, 2013
Report referenced below
***
New ACA report http://t.co/StE0yBei1h shows “medical inflation will likely fall to 6.5 % next year — a 50 year low.” http://t.co/tZ7x35EaJr
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) June 19, 2013
***
We’re in this fight for the long run. RETWEET if you are, too. #DemandAction pic.twitter.com/BxcgOtuLvz
— Demand Action (@DemandAction) June 19, 2013
***
Looking forward to speaking to a great audience tonight at @LULAC. –VP #LULAC13
— Office of VP Biden (@VP) June 20, 2013
***
RT if you agree: We can’t afford to let student loan rates double in 11 days. #DontDoubleMyRate, pic.twitter.com/RU49Xb5zJQ
— The White House (@whitehouse) June 20, 2013
***
Wow. Just. Wow. http://t.co/vUKjuPHmb7
— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) June 20, 2013
***
U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, backed by an arsenal of attack ads and a huge spending advantage, holds a double-digit lead over GOP rival Gabriel Gomez as the special U.S. Senate election heads into the final days, a new UMass Lowell-Boston Herald poll shows.
Gomez has been hammered by a late round of negative TV ads that has driven up his unfavorable ratings and hampered his ability to get closer to his Democratic rival, according to the poll of 608 registered Massachusetts voters, including 312 likely voters taken this week.
“Gomez is in a deep hole right now and it has more to do with lopsided campaign spending than anything else,” said Joshua Dyck, co-director of the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion. “Markey is just beating him up.”
On #RefugeeDay2013, take a look inside a camp for #refugees from #Syria on #DipNote. http://t.co/f1pv3S5p18
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 20, 2013
Secretary of State speaks at World Refugee Day
Transcript of Remarks
***
Cam & John Kerry http://t.co/OWTlePtqWs First time in history brothers serve together in a Cabinet of administration pic.twitter.com/2aZTFwHpnc
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) June 20, 2013
***
***
WASHINGTON — John Kerry was the center of attention during his first Cabinet meeting as secretary of state. A White House photo shows him speaking, hands outstretched and eyes wide open as President Obama looked on.
Off in the corner, barely visible, was another man. His hand was over his mouth as he leaned back and listened. That man, overshadowed as ever, was Kerry’s younger brother, Cameron.
Throughout his life, Cam, as his friends call him, has been devoted to his older brother’s political career, helping him run his campaigns and advising on matters big and small.
During a fund-raiser in 2004, Kerry supporters printed up a giant banner emblazoned with, “Cameron Kerry for First Brother.”
***
Leaders Across the Midwest Urge Immigration Reform to Strengthen the Economy: Ed. note: This post is the secon… http://t.co/hp40DU6nAr
— White House Blog (@WhiteHouse_Blog) June 20, 2013
***
Following the President’s trip to the G-8, check out this Op-Ed from @USTreasury on Beneficial Ownership: http://t.co/joaDYQwD3C
— @NSCPress (@NSCPress) June 20, 2013
***
Embarrassing setback for House GOP leaders with Farm Bill defeat http://t.co/NyY6Z0GlNQ
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 20, 2013
***
In a surprising and embarrassing setback for House Republican leaders, legislation to overhaul the nation’s farm programs failed in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives Thursday. The bill was defeated by a coalition of House conservatives who said the bill spent too much on food stamps and nutrition programs and House Democrats who opposed both the cuts to those food stamp programs and a GOP-backed amendment that added new work requirements for those applying for assistance. The measure failed 195 – 234, with 62 Republicans joining 172 Democrats to oppose the bill, and just 24 Democrats voting with 171 Republicans to approve it…….
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi mocked the Republicans’ charge that Democrats pulled the rug out at the last minute, telling reporters, “If we ever came to you when we had the majority and said we didn’t pass a bill because we didn’t get enough Republican votes, well that’s really silly. It’s sad, it’s juvenile, it’s unprofessional, it’s amateur hour.”
***
President Obama to nominate James Comey to become F.B.I. Director tomorrow afternoon a primer:
By nominating J. Comey http://t.co/xJQSlvRofW #Obama picked a man of integrity. Resignation letter he prepared 4 Bush pic.twitter.com/IwB9P9YD5Q
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) May 30, 2013
***
Comey “I witnessed effort 2 take advantage of a very sick man” http://t.co/RTzBU57ANh Video of jaw dropping testimony http://t.co/KPi8OW9qQf
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) May 30, 2013
***
Chinese hackers referencing PRISM to lure e-mail victims
A cyber security professional named Brandon Dixon recently discovered an e-mail scam, apparently sent by the same group responsible for the “NetTraveler” attacks sourced to Chinese hackers, with an ingeniously newsy hook.
The e-mail, which Dixon posted in full, carries the subject line “CIA’s prism Watchlist,” a reference to the secret U.S. data-miningprogram code-named PRISM. It includes some half-sensical text, filled with references to the National Security Agency and yes even The Washington Post, followed by a 2.5 megabyte attachment, “Monitored List1.doc,” which is actually a spying tool that lets the e-mail sender break into your computer.
***
Statue Unveiled, Douglass Is Hailed 4 Equality Fight http://t.co/7RMQZhNTTc Video of remarks http://t.co/yR0uOHaYe7 pic.twitter.com/yInHKcqqQv
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) June 20, 2013
If anybody missed this yesterday…..
***
Friday’s Schedule
10:45AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press
11:30PM THE PRESIDENT meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press
2:05PM THE PRESIDENT makes a personnel announcement
The Rose Garden
The Obama Diary 
hi
Great post LP, ty
TY Layla!!!! Your hot streak continues……
Well, you’re lucky I was commuting…….
Ha ha!
Hi, LP!
Thanks for the extra news and I hope your tests were all clear, LP.
Hello VC! Thank you for asking…..my x-rays today show 85% of the fluid is out of my lungs, so hopefully the walking-pneumonia will be completely absolved by next week *fingers crossed*. I have been feeling a lot better as of late.
That sounds good, LP. Will cross my fingers along with you for the last 15%. Continue to take care of yourself, please.
How did I miss that you were sick?!?!Walking pneumonia is a bitch!
It sucks a lot out of you, so you have to be gentle with yourself, recharged physically, emotionally and spiritually. Of you get tired for awhile, it’s your body telling you it needs rest.
Be well.
Can hardly keep up today. Geeks on a roll!
Ok, I’ll post mine either after this or some time tomorrow.
😦
Congratz, Layla. #1 is popping!
Great post LP. So much great info here.
smiling at you
See why I love the Obama Diary? I didn’t even know Kerry had a brother. BTW, love all the Ireland and Germany pix.
Whoa!!!!!!
HP An exotic “sheep-eating” plant, so-called because it kills and “eats” sheep, has bloomed for the first time at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden Wisley in the U.K.
The plant, known formally as Puya chilensis, has been at the garden for 15 years. In that time, it has reached a height of 10 feet and grown its signature base of razor-sharp, hook-shaped spines.
Per a BBC report, in its native habitat of Chile, the plant uses the spines to ensnare sheep and other small animals. After they starve to death and decompose, the animals nourish the plant through the soil, acting as a gruesome fertilizer.
Speaking of the plant’s first-ever flower, Cara Smith, a horticulturist at the Garden Wisley attributed the success to keeping the plant nourished on a liquid fertilizer. “[F]eeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic,” she admitted.
Smith added, “[P]arents coming along with small children [to see the flower] don’t need to worry about the plant devouring their little ones. It’s growing in the arid section of our Glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike.”
Now all we need is a republican eating plant!!
Maybe a few delivered to the next RNC?
LOL. Go Nancy. The thugs are whiny lil’ pos.
And the two dozen dem critters who voted for this scam bill should be ashamed.
Right OUT of office.
Nancy Smash has not time for this crybaby.
He Loves, so very much Loves his Gigantic Gavel…..hmm?
Viagra comes to mind, mine at least!
Looking Marvelous in Your Gold……..Bling…..Motif 😉
Thank you dawwwwlin!
Veterans Affairs Department Shows Progress On Disability Claims Backlog:
The VA pays disability benefits to veterans who are injured or become ill as a result of their active service. For years, veterans have complained that it takes too long for their claims to be resolved. In late March, more than 611,000 claims, or about 70 percent, were pending longer than 125 days.
But in recent months, the department has taken steps to try to deal with the backlog. The oldest claims in the system were moved to the front of the line and claims processors were required to work at least 20 hours of overtime each month. That has helped to reduce the backlog to just over 531,000, the VA said Thursday.
Among the claims cleared were about 65,000 cases that had been pending for longer than two years. About 2,000 such cases remain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/veterans-affairs-disability-claims_n_3474734.html
That will make one of my patrons very happy.
Here’s a non-HuffPo post.
I avoid them wherever possible. Hate everything about that site.
Read of the billions saved by Obamacare however 99% of commenters said their premiums all went up and its hogwash..anyone care to say what is really the truth…as a Canadian who already has universal health care its hard to tell the sheep from the goats in this debate?? Warning ..I take everything on this site as gospel..any sources other than the government for facts on premiums???
I told you all few days ago that ours went up $7 and $8. Frankly, I do not consider that “going up.” That’s peanuts compared to what premiums used to do.
Premiums have gone up for some people this year, prior to the exchanges going into effect. Some premiums, for non-exchange people, may go down next year. However, the rise in premiums is partially due to continued rise in health care costs, which will continue to go up. The significant thing is that the premium dollar actually buys more as 80-85% of it has to be used to cover medical costs whereas before sometimes as little as 50% of it went for that and the rest into administrative costs and profit. And, furthermore, actual health care costs, although still rising, have risen far more slowly just in the past year.
Yup, now you get more bang for your money. Boneless dems need to bone up on these pesky facts.
My senior supplemental health insurance went down by almost $60 a month since April of last year. However the premium for my Medicare Part B went up $7, beginning January this year. This increase was almost half of how much it went up ($13.90) at beginning of 2012. Put together, I am still saving $53 a month on health insurance premiums. At the end of the year, I will have saved $636. I don’t know about any one else, but for me the ACA has lowered the cost of my health insurance.
huh? 99% said it went up? where’s the proof of that? kind of a strange comment.
mine have already gone down, and that’s before it’s even in full effect, plus it’s not designed to bring big price drops overnight. it’s about costs being controlled over time, so the savings will accelerate the longer it’s in place. others here have also reported premiums going down too, so you shouldn’t need to wonder any longer.
HP
The longest day of 2013 is finally here — but this year, it comes with a twist.
While the solstice in the northern hemisphere traditionally falls on June 21 — and this year it will occur on that date at 1:04 a.m. EDT — it will begin on Thursday, June 20, for parts of the western U.S., according to the website of the Clark Planetarium. The time of the solstice depends upon your position on Earth and, as a consequence, where you are in relation to the sun.
The summer solstice occurs when Earth’s axis is the most tilted toward the sun — the angle is known as “maximum axial tilt.” As a consequence of this specific orientation, the sun rises at its most northeasterly point along the horizon and also sets at its most northwesterly point in the northern hemisphere.
The solstice isn’t the only big celestial event this week. Skywatchers are gearing up for the arrival of the 2013 supermoon, which is set to peak June 22-23 and deliver the biggest, brightest moon of the year.
But, but, but TeaNN ORC poll said……….. ❓
Russ Tice, Bush-Era Whistleblower, Claims NSA Ordered Wiretap Of Barack Obama In 2004
Russ Tice, a former intelligence analyst who in 2005 blew the whistle on what he alleged was massive unconstitutional domestic spying across multiple agencies, claimed Wednesday that the NSA had ordered wiretaps on phones connected to then-Senate candidate Barack Obama in 2004.
Speaking on “The Boiling Frogs Show,” Tice claimed the intelligence community had ordered surveillance on a wide range of groups and individuals, including high-ranking military officials, lawmakers and diplomats.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/russ-tice-nsa-obama_n_3473538.html?utm_hp_ref=politics#comments
Eliot Spitzer was Found out…..His escapades.
Thank Goodness, that Today we have Oversight, Courts and a much better system now.
Amk, you are just like an energizer Bunny, Going, going, going, going……Nothing beats Facts…..and sir, You are delivering……..Thank You Very Much 😉
Early morning coffee rush. 🙂
I just retweeted all of AMK’s great finds. Some talking heads are imploding today.
I really stumbled upon it while looking for job creation numbers. Thanks for the spreading the facts around.
Hopefully chips will give these facts star billing in tomorrow’s R&S.
This can’t be right. I mean, I haven’t seen it on CNN. 🙂
But, but Greenwald sez….
Imagine if you made history being elected the first AA to the highest office in the land and the leader of the free world. Then imagine if you had a more successful legislative record than FDR and LBJ, and you succeeded where your predecessors had failed while loud voices were telling the American people you can’t get anything done.
Then imagine if your popularity abroad and your domestic policies at home were restoring American greatness while those same loud voices are saying America is in decline.
And imagine if in each of your election bids your reinvention of the proverbial wheel using new technological tools and election strategy is so impressive that insiders write books about it. And imagine if you were one of only 6 U.S. presidents reelected with more than 51% of the popular vote while some in the media are still insisting it was a close call.
Can you imagine what it must feel like to have to tolerate a national press that won’t acknowledge your accomplishments, but must tell you daily how to do the job you’ve already proven you do better than most people on the planet? Can you imagine being President Obama?
That explains his little smirk and the twinkle in his eyes!
…and the “SWAGGER”, let’s not forget that!
Ahhh…..that swagger. That’s what has the press corps all green with envious rage. I almost feel bad for them now. Nah….just kidding.
Well put, sweetbay. Despite the corrupt msm’e efforts, people are seeing these things and hence his consistent favorability rating.
Very well said. Whenever I am discouraged about his treatment I have similar thoughts and think why be concerned about his critics. History will judge PBO as one of our best.
Exactly. So glad to be witnessing it first hand though.
Well stated, sweetbay, very well stated.
And, what baffles & maddens both the radical right & left is that, despite their gross & obvious misbehavior toward him, he still turns to them and offers an opportunity for dialectic – constructive, critical dialogue on issues like perpetual war, privacy, security, etc.
His core values of empathy and constructive engagement no matter how difficult the issue (‘community organizer’), and total commitment to a just society are his power and his glory.
#TrustBarack
Good points, Bob. His core values are consistently on display and that’s why the press can’t make inroads with their phony scandals and irrational criticisms. They look ridiculous to the majority because he remains so sane and rational.
Yes indeed, Bob! Thank you for another of your vintage commentary.
Thank you nath 🙂
You are so polite in your wording. He is killing them with kindness. Lawd, he has patience with these &&@..
Wonderful summary, sweetbay. And now it is tip-off.
See y’all manana.
This! Absolutely this! Thanks Sweetbay.
Don’t be speaking truth now.
John Kerry’s brother, I remember in 2004/2005 reading that he converted to Judaism? They also found out that they had a Jewish heritage. That was before this conversion. So is the brother above that same brother?
Yes. Article says he converted to Judaism for his wife.
She is keeping up with a tweet of hers. Bombard them with Facts……indisputable Facts.
They go Negative….media and righties and emoprogs……We Answer back…..then overwhelmed them with Facts. Winning.
Those Pelosi’s are amazing.
The Senate had passed a bill that was sent to John Boehner. How Come he is Not even bringing that Bipartisan bill to the Floor for a Vote. Dems should be demanding for a Vote on that Bill. Reid called for that at 7PM ET of before tonight.
No matter..he”s drunk right now and ORANGE!
I suspect he has more of a problem than many realize. Unless they seek help or stop drunks do not improve with age.
SOS Kerry is admirable.
Fact ….
https://twitter.com/deaconmill/status/347884974499827712
Try that again
Remember when we were asking what happened to “Occupy Wall Street”? I have feeling we will be hearing a similar question being asked about GG and his crony Snowden. 🙂
Terry is for Green energy and transportation projects. I don’t like him, but he would have my vote in this alone.
🙂
Excellent. Put the fear of god in these neocons infested mic assholes.
Exactly the questions that need to be asked, Bob. If there were concerns about his credentials, he shouldn’t have been hired. Who nudged them to do so and how much did it cost?
Precisely, Jackie!
Mellesia Barnett posted this earlier today, but it bears repeating:
Two clarifications in this tweet:
. A friend of Ted Cruz’s grandfather was the person who bribed the Cuban official, not his grandfather
. Ted Cruz’s father toiled in Canada, not his grandfather
From yesterday.
It’s true that California has a lot of problems, but selfishly hoarding riches and education for the top polluters, embezzlers and tax evaders is not one of them.
Seems a good explanation as to why some people vote against their own best interest. Found a link to this on BJ – worth watching if you haven’t seen it – “Watch this guy dispel the notion of what has been undermining the white working class”
http://www.upworthy.com/were-teaching-kids-history-but-were-leaving-this-entire-bit-out-2?c=upw1
PoliticsNation:
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has become involved with the ethics complaint filed against a Texas judge for allegedly making racist comments.
Roberts formally ordered that a judicial misconduct complaint against 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones be reviewed by officials in a different circuit.
The complaint, filed last week, alleges that Jones said “racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime,” in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year. The complaint also alleges she said death sentences provide a public service by allowing inmates to “make peace with God.”
Although her comments were not recorded, five students and one attorney who were in attendance signed affidavits on what was said, according to an Associated Press report.
The complaint was filed by a coalition of civil rights groups, including the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Austin chapter of the NAACP.
“This is a hopeful sign that [the judges] are taking this seriously,” lawyer James Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project told the Houston Chronicle.
Jones was nominated to the 5th Circuit Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and has been considered a potential Supreme Court nominee during multiple Republican administrations.
Ok bt’s, if no one has a post ready, I’ll do mine in about 15 minutes.
I have a music post in the queue, but if you have something you wanted to get off your chest, then I can hold off….
You know what, go ahead. It’s an essay which will be better in the daytime. Time to wind down now. 🙂
OK NP…..the only public event tomorrow is 2:30 F.B.I. nomination…….I would post after that. Will be a nice read for people starting their weekend!
AWWW look at you, so considerate!
Nice. 🙂
New Post: http://theobamadiary.com/2013/06/20/night-owl-jukebox/
Apparently there is some horrendous flooding in Calgary. 100,000 homes evacuated.
And still raining buckets here. Bridges closed over swollen rivers… Can’t remember when we has such torrential rains, thunder, high winds.
Thanks for the wonderful post, LovelyPlains!