Phone Company ‘Outraged’ By Fraud, Abuse In ‘Obamaphone’ Program

Phone Company ‘Outraged’ By Fraud, Abuse In ‘Obamaphone’ Program « CBS Denver:
"DENVER (CBS4) – A nationwide cellphone company distributing phones and cellphone plans in Denver as part of a massive government program says it is “outraged by the unacceptable actions” uncovered by a CBS4 undercover investigation.
The response from Total Call Mobile comes nearly three months after an undercover CBS4 investigation revealed multiple examples of fraud and cheating in the phone distribution program.
The Lifeline program is aimed at providing free cellphone service to the poor and needy.
It handed out more than 13 million free cellphone plans in the first six months of 2014. 
In Colorado, the program handed out more than 117,000 free cellphone plans in the first half of 2014 or about 20,000 cellphones every month.
If you own a cellphone, you pay for the free phones and their wireless plans via a monthly tax on your cellphone called the Universal Service Tax.
Although the Lifeline wireless program has been around since 2005 and started under President George W. Bush, it ballooned under President Obama and the phones are often referred to as Obamaphones.
To qualify for one of the cellphone plans, you have to be low income — on food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance or some other government program.
But multiple times a CBS4 producer and reporter found phone agents in Denver circumventing strict government rules to ensure that only the truly needy get the free phones. 
Vendors, like Total Call, receive massive government subsidies to hand out the phones and the accompanying monthly plans."

Gamma-ray Bursts May Explain Fermi's Paradox

Gamma-ray Bursts May Explain Fermi's Paradox - Slashdot

A new study confirms the potential hazard of nearby gamma-ray bursts. It quantifies the probability of an event near Earth, and more generally in the Milky Way and other galaxies over time: "[Evolved] life as it exists on Earth could not take place in almost any galaxy that formed earlier than about five billion years after the Big Bang." This could explain the Fermi's paradox, or why we don't see billion-year-old civilizations all around us.

This is how they "think". And lie!--------N.Y. Times' Charles Blow said nothing about cop who arrested his son being black

N.Y. Times' Charles Blow said nothing about cop who arrested his son being black | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"A Yale campus police officer who detained the son of black New York Times columnist Charles Blow is also black, according to a campus-wide email sent out by Yale officials.
On Saturday, Blow wrote on Twitter that he was “fuming” over a call he received from his son, a third-year student at Yale.
He wrote that his son was “accosted” and held up at gunpoint by a Yale policeman because he fit the description of a suspect.
Blow’s son, Tahj Blow, is an ecology and evolutionary biology major, according to the Yale Daily News.
In followup tweets related to the incident, Blow said, “This is exactly why I have no patience for people trying to convince me that the fear these young black men feel isn’t real.” 
He also tweeted the phrases “I can’t breathe” and “Black lives matter,” both of which are associated with two unarmed black men killed by white police officers in separate incidents in Missouri and New York.
Blow published a Times column on Monday with his thoughts on the matter.
"I am reminded,” he wrote, "of what I have always known, but what some would choose to deny: that there is no way to work your way out — earn your way out — of this sort of crisis. 
In these moments, what you’ve done matters less than how you look.”
The race of the officer who detained Blow’s son is not mentioned in Blow’s column.
"The officer, who himself is African American, was responding to a specific description relayed by individuals who had reported a crime in progress,” said a Monday email to Yale’s campus community.
The email was first noticed by The Root, a black-centric news website.
"What happened on Cross Campus on Saturday is not a replay of what happened in Ferguson; Staten Island; Cleveland; or so many other places in our time and over time in the United States,” the email said.
The email is signed by Yale President Steve Salovey, Dean of Yale College Jonathan Halloway and Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins.
Higgins is also black.
Blow did not return a request for comment on why he omitted the race of the officer in his column or whether the race of the officer matters."

Anti-Gun Advocates Routinely Ask Why Anyone Would Ever Need More Than 10 Bullets — Texas Man Now Has a Good Reason

Anti-Gun Advocates Routinely Ask Why Anyone Would Ever Need More Than 10 Bullets — Texas Man Now Has a Good Reason | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"A man in Tomball, Texas, was startled out of his sleep by the sound of someone kicking in his front door on Monday night.
He quickly retrieved his firearm, ready defend his life and property — though he likely didn’t anticipate the intense firefight that would occur.
Two suspects and homeowner traded more than 30 shots during the aggressive home invasion,

Promises, promises------Super Bowl host city still reeling over sports deals

Super Bowl host city still reeling over sports deals - Yahoo News:
"Glendale bet big on professional sports in the last 15 years, spending millions of dollars on a hockey arena for the Arizona Coyotes and investing heavily in a spring training ballpark for the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Then the economy tanked, and the hockey team went through bankruptcy, with several different owners in recent years.
The city has found stronger financial footing since then and its bond rating has improved markedly, but not without having to raise taxes, trim 25 percent of the municipal workforce, cut back on paving projects, and reduce hours at municipal swimming pools and libraries.
The 9.2 percent sales tax that shoppers and diners pay in Glendale is among the highest in the state.
To fiscal conservatives, Glendale serves as a cautionary tale for suburban cities across the United States that want to throw public money at professional sports projects.
"Overall, it's a bad move for cities," said Kurt Altman, general counsel for the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, which fought Glendale over its enticements to the hockey team.
"As much as they say it's going to make the city a destination, it just doesn't."
...Glendale is far from alone.
...As he navigates the financial situation, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers returns to a maxim he has repeated many times in his life: "I'm not living in the past. I'm just paying for it."
In the case of the Super Bowl, he believes the city is paying dearly. 

He said Glendale will actually lose a "couple million dollars" by hosting the event.
It's spending huge amounts of money on overtime and police and public safety costs for the Super Bowl but not getting much back.
Super Bowl visitors are mostly staying in Phoenix and Scottsdale and only showing up in Glendale on game day, meaning the city won't see much of a boost in tax revenue.
And the city was hoping the state would reimburse Glendale for its police overtime costs, but lawmakers have scoffed at the idea.
Weiers said it pains him that the city had to cut services and lay off workers, but the moves were necessary to ensure financial solvency.
He said the outlook has improved in the last year, a far cry from a couple years ago when Glendale was in jeopardy of joining the likes of Detroit in the category of municipal bankruptcies.
"I have to believe that if '1' is perfect as things could be and '10' was bankruptcy, I'd say we were a strong '8,'" Weiers said.
"We never had to go there, and I strongly believe we won't have to go there."

Dem Congresswoman Doesn’t Go PC When Asked Why Obama Admin. Refuses to Say the Words ‘Islamic Extremism’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

Dem Congresswoman Doesn’t Go PC When Asked Why Obama Admin. Refuses to Say the Words ‘Islamic Extremism’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"The Obama administration’s refusal to acknowledge radical Islam is a “real problem” for the country, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) told Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday night.

When she was asked why the White House will not say “Islamic extremism,” Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, replied:"

These Answers to Basic History Questions Will Make You Cringe

These Answers to Basic History Questions Will Make You Cringe:
"Bill O’Reilly sent Jesse Watters on a mission to Aspen, Colo., for the X Games, where Watters asked some standard history questions and got very unlikely answers.
When was George Washington president? Watters heard answers that ranged from 1776 to 1983 to “way before I was born.”
What countries did America fight in World War II?
Not Spain, France, or Russia, like some respondents thought.
Who bombed Pearl Harbor?
Well, it wasn’t China or Korea.
Hear the cringe-worthy answers to these questions and more in the link
below."
http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/01/26/watch-watters-gets-cringe-worthy-answers-basic-history-questions-x-games

History for January 28

History for January 28 - On-This-Day.com:
Sir Henry Morton Stanley 1841, Jackson Pollock 1912, Alan Alda 1936 


1788 - The first British penal settlement was founded at Botany Bay. 


1871 - France surrendered in the Franco-Prussian War. 


1878 - The first telephone switchboard was installed in New Haven, CT. 


1909 - The United States ended direct control over Cuba.

1915 - The Coast Guard was created by an act of the U.S. Congress to fight contraband trade and aid distressed vessels at sea. 


1922 - The National Football League (NFL) franchise in Decatur, IL, transferred to Chicago. The team took the name Chicago Bears. 


1938 - The first ski tow started operation in Vermont. 


1965 - General Motors reported the biggest profit of any U.S. company in history. 


1973 - CBS-TV debuted "Barnaby Jones." 


1980 - Six Americans who had fled the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, on November 4, 1979, left Iran using false Canadian diplomatic passports. The Americans had been hidden at the Canadian embassy in Tehran. 


1986 - The U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded just after takeoff. All seven of its crew members were killed. 


1999 - Ford Motor Company announced the purchase of Sweden's Volvo AB for $6.45 billion. 

Megyn Kelly Grills Jen Psaki After Yemeni Rebels Take Over Government And Chant 'Death To America'

Megyn Kelly Grills Jen Psaki After Yemeni Rebels Take Over Government And Chant 'Death To America':

"Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, joined Megyn Kelly on Fox News Monday to discuss Yemen’s governmental takeover by radicals who chanted “Death to America, Death to Israel, Victory to Islam.” She suggested we now trust this group because they recently stated that what they said in their chants is no longer “their intention.”

“So … you’re taking them at their word that they no longer mean the chants?” Kelly asked with a chuckle."

Watch: Trey Gowdy tussles with State Dept. liaison during uncomfortable back-and-forth | TheBlaze.com

Watch: Trey Gowdy tussles with State Dept. liaison during uncomfortable back-and-forth | TheBlaze.com:

"Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Tuesday demanded that the State Department speed up the process of getting information to Congress about the 2012 attack that led to the death of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya."

WATCH: Judge Jeanine Makes Road Kill Of Michael Moore As He Continues To Target 'Sniper'

WATCH: Judge Jeanine Makes Road Kill Of Michael Moore As He Continues To Target 'Sniper':

"On her weekend Fox News show, Judge Jeanine Pirro fired back at Michael Moore and other Hollywood types who’ve been harshly critical of both the movie and the “true American hero” whose story it tells, Chris Kyle.

“I for one am sick and tired of people who aren’t worthy of carrying his backpack taking cheap shots at him and the other heroes who go to war – many returning with fewer limbs – to do what has to be done to protect the rest of us.”

Federal Judge Accuses DOJ Attorneys of Defrauding The Court, Threatening Witness in Case of ATF Whistleblower Jay Dobyns - Katie Pavlich

Federal Judge Accuses DOJ Attorneys of Defrauding The Court, Threatening Witness in Case of ATF Whistleblower Jay Dobyns - Katie Pavlich:

"Late last week reporter Tim Steller of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson published a piece about alleged serious misconduct and intimidation from DOJ attorneys during the trial and lawsuit of former ATF agent and whistleblower Jay Dobyns against the government.

One of the recently unsealed documents, a Dec. 1 opinion by Judge Allegra, finally explains why in October the judge voided his original decision, made in August, to award Dobyns $173,000. (He later reversed his decision to void the judgment, which still stands.) The reason: The judge believed that Justice Department attorneys had “committed fraud on the court.”

CBO: Obamacare to cost $2 trillion over the next decade

CBO: Obamacare to cost $2 trillion over the next decade | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"President Obama's healthcare law will spend about $2 trillion over the next decade on expanding insurance coverage but still leave 31 million Americans uninsured, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office released on Monday.
When Obama pitched the healthcare law to Congress, he said it would cost "around $900 billion" over 10 years.
But his statement was misleading because the way the law was designed, the major spending provisions didn't kick in until 2014. This meant that 10-year estimates at the time the law was passed in 2010 were artificially low, because they included four years (2010 through 2013) in which spending was negligible.
The new CBO analysis finds that between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, spending on the law's expansion of Medicaid will cost $920 billion and insurance exchange subsidies will cost nearly $1.1 trillion.
The major spending provisions, taken together, will total $1.993 trillion."

New Report: Obama’s ‘Economic Recovery’ Built on Lies, Manipulation of Numbers

New Report: Obama’s ‘Economic Recovery’ Built on Lies, Manipulation of Numbers:

"A recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that Obama’s “miraculous recovery” is little more than a reconfiguring of unemployment data. A whopping sixty percent of 2014’s so-called “job creation” was from the expiration of unemployment benefits, indicating that the government no longer considers these people in the job market and thus, not “unemployed.”

The Washington Examiner reports:"

Dude, where's my roads?------ 'Pot for potholes' has a nice ring, and a majority of Michiganders agree

Tim Skubick: 'Pot for potholes' has a nice ring, and a majority of Michiganders agree | MLive.com
"Even if you did not indulge during the drug-ravaged 70’s, you must admit the slogan is a dandy: Pot for potholes.
With 64 percent of the citizens saying they would vote to tax marijuana to fix the roads, compared to only 43 percent who would raise the sales tax to do it, maybe the governor should take a second look at his May ballot proposal.
Of course, he can’t, because that die is already cast.
Besides, he doesn’t like the other idea.
“I don’t see marijuana being the solution,” he opines after getting a peek at the first statewide poll on how to fix the roads.
The survey was conducted for a pro-marijuana coalition, and when asked about the sales tax, 49 percent said forget it.
Now the governor is correct in stating that “we’re early in the process,” but his proposal is under water.
Normally if you are pushing any ballot proposition, you want support in the high 60’s so that when the opposition starts to bang away, there is room for your support to come down but still not fall below 50 percent needed for passage."

Rush: Walker GOP 'Blueprint' If 'Serious About Beating Dems | The Daily Caller

Rush: Walker GOP 'Blueprint' If 'Serious About Beating Dems | The Daily Caller:

“If you have spent any time listening to this program in the last two years, you know that I believe Scott Walker is the blueprint for the Republican Party if they are serious about beating the left Scott Walker has shown how to do it,” Limbaugh said.

“Scott Walker has the blueprint for winning and winning consistently and winning big in a blue state with conservative principles that are offered with absolutely no excuses,” Limbaugh remarked. “The left, the Democrat Party, threw everything at Scott Walker trying to destroy him. They did everything they could. He not only withstood it all, he survived and triumphed over all of it.”

Here comes the next Obamacare showdown | WashingtonExaminer.com

Here comes the next Obamacare showdown | WashingtonExaminer.com:

"The Wyoming senator has of late been something of a Paul Revere of the Republican Senate majority, shouting, “King vs. Burwell is coming! King vs. Burwell is coming!”

King vs. Burwell is a case with major implications for the future of Obamacare that will be argued before the Supreme Court on March 4 and likely decided by the end of June. At issue are the subsidies that the federal government provides for individuals purchasing insurance through Obamacare. Though the text of the law says the subsidies were to go to individuals obtaining insurance through an “exchange established by the state,” a rule released by the Internal Revenue Service subsequently instructed that subsidies would also apply to exchanges set up on behalf of states by the federal government."

Obama Has Big Plans for Alaska, and the State’s Republicans Aren’t Happy | TheBlaze.com

Obama Has Big Plans for Alaska, and the State’s Republicans Aren’t Happy | TheBlaze.com:

“What’s coming is a stunning attack on our sovereignty and our ability to develop a strong economy that allows us, our children and our grandchildren to thrive,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R). “It’s clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory. The promises made to us at statehood, and since then, mean absolutely nothing to them.”

“I cannot understand why this administration is willing to negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska,” she added."

Sadly, Americans Care more about Deflated Footballs than Deflated Freedoms

Sadly, Americans Care more about Deflated Footballs than Deflated Freedoms - Eagle Rising:
"Deflated footballs are in the news. In fact, the story is so popular that all the major networks led with the story even though almost nobody in the United States will be financially affected by the outcome. No one will lose any freedom, be forced to pay a tax, or have a pile of new regulations stacked on them.
“On Thursday night, the ‘big three’ of ABC, CBS, and NBC each covered the news that the United States-backed government in Yemen had fallen after rebels stormed the capital city of Sana’a and surrounded the presidential palace on Tuesday. 
While the networks gave this story airtime, they only gave it to the tune of one minute and 59 seconds and avoided any mention of how President Obama had, just months prior, declared Yemen to be a success story for the United States in fighting terrorism."

Must read of the day!!!-----Climategate, the sequel: How we are STILL being tricked with flawed data on global warming

Climategate, the sequel: How we are STILL being tricked with flawed data on global warming - Telegraph:
Something very odd has been going on with the temperature data relied on by the world's scientists, writes Christopher Booker"

...Puzzled by those “2014 hottest ever” claims, which were led by the most quoted of all the five official global temperature records – Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) – Homewood examined a place in the world where Giss was showing temperatures to have risen faster than almost anywhere else: a large chunk of South America stretching from Brazil to Paraguay.

Noting that weather stations there were thin on the ground, he decided to focus on three rural stations covering a huge area of Paraguay.
Giss showed it as having recorded, between 1950 and 2014, a particularly steep temperature rise of more than 1.5C: twice the accepted global increase for the whole of the 20th century.

But when Homewood was then able to check Giss’s figures against the original data from which they were derived, he found that they had been altered. Far from the new graph showing any rise, it showed temperatures in fact having declined over those 65 years by a full degree. 

When he did the same for the other two stations, he found the same. 
In each case, the original data showed not a rise but a decline.

Homewood had in fact uncovered yet another example of the thousands of pieces of evidence coming to light in recent years that show that something very odd has been going on with the temperature data relied on by the world's scientists. 

And in particular by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has driven the greatest and most costly scare in history: the belief that the world is in the grip of an unprecedented warming.

How have we come to be told that global temperatures have suddenly taken a great leap upwards to their highest level in 1,000 years?

In fact, it has been no greater than their upward leaps between 1860 and 1880, and 1910 and 1940, as part of that gradual natural warming since the world emerged from its centuries-long “Little Ice Age” around 200 years ago.

This belief has rested entirely on five official data records.

....One surprise is that the three surface records, all run by passionate believers in man-made warming, in fact derive most of their land surface data from a single source. 

This is the Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN), managed by the US National Climate Data Center under NOAA, which in turn comes under the US Department of Commerce.

But two aspects of this system for measuring surface temperatures have long been worrying a growing array of statisticians, meteorologists and expert science bloggers. 

One is that the supposedly worldwide network of stations from which GHCN draws its data is flawed. 

Up to 80 per cent or more of the Earth’s surface is not reliably covered at all. 

Furthermore, around 1990, the number of stations more than halved, from 12,000 to less than 6,000 – and most of those remaining are concentrated in urban areas or places where studies have shown that, thanks to the “urban heat island effect”, readings can be up to 2 degrees higher than in those rural areas where thousands of stations were lost....

...One of the more provocative points arising from the debate over those claims that 2014 was “the hottest year evah” came from the Canadian academic Dr Timothy Ball when, in a recent post on WUWT, he used the evidence of ice-core data to argue that the Earth’s recent temperatures rank in the lowest 3 per cent of all those recorded since the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago.

Read it all!