Koreas Exchange Volley of Shells ~ N. Korea Desperate

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other’s waters Monday in a flare-up of animosity that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters for several hours, South Korean officials said.

The exchange of fire into the Yellow Sea followed Pyongyang’s sudden announcement that it would conduct live-fire drills in seven areas north of the Koreas’ disputed maritime boundary. North Korea routinely test-fires artillery and missiles into the ocean but rarely discloses those plans in advance. The announcement was seen as an expression of Pyongyang’s frustration at making little progress in its recent push to win outside aid.

North Korea fired 500 rounds of artillery shells over more than three hours, about 100 of which fell south of the sea boundary, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. South Korea responded by firing 300 shells into North Korean waters, he said.

[….]

The poorly marked western sea boundary has been the scene of several bloody naval skirmishes between the Koreas in recent years. In March 2010, a South Korean warship sank in the area following a torpedo attack blamed on Pyongyang that left 46 sailors dead. North Korea denies responsibility for the sinking. In November 2010, a North Korean artillery bombardment killed four South Koreans on Yeonpyeong.

…read more…

Three-Quarters Of ObamaCare Signups Have Higher Premiums

Lower pay for specialists and doctors mean more “car-sales-men” physicians selling you their personalities rather than their earned specialties. Via Gateway Pundit:

Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove told Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures that three-quarters of ObamaCare signups have higher premiums.

“Well people who’ve signed up, about three-quarters of them, find that their premiums are higher than they had been previously with other insurance. What we do know it that it will have a major impact on healthcare providers. What we do know is that we’re going to get paid less for what we do.”

Larry Elder Lays Bare L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Class Warfare

Garcetti focuses on pay-rate myths in the genders. Again and again the Right has to deal with these mantras of the Left. Video of Mika Brezezski spreading this lie is included in the audio.

For more clear thinking like this from Larry Elder… I invite you to visit: http://www.larryelder.com/

Democrats Now Admit Sarah Palin Was Right ~ Death Panels

Take note I wrote (or posted) on this in 2010 and 2012:

TRUE CONSERVATIVES ON TWITTER (TCT), via D.J. SOBIESKI, sent this story of Democrats acknowledging and coming out against Obama-care’s death panels:

Palin was right as well, and also took a lot of heat, when she referred to ObamaCare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) as a death panel whose decisions would result in health care rationing.

(Under ObamaCare, IPAB’s board of 15 presidentially appointed “experts” will be empowered to make arbitrary Medicare spending-cut decisions with virtually no congressional oversight or control.)

Dr. Donald Berwick, who headed the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, admitted as much when he opined: “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”

D.J. SOBIESKI then sends you to the IBD COLUMN, who adds:

Some Democrats are signing on to bills repealing the powers of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to effectively ration health care for seniors. So Sarah Palin was right about those death panels after all?

[….]

In an op-ed last month in the Wall Street Journal that Palin could have written, Howard Dean, former head of the Democratic National Committee, called IPAB “essentially a health care rationing body” and said he believes it will fail.

“The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them,” wrote Dean, who is also a physician. “Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on.”

Indeed, a growing number of Democrats — many of whom face tough re-election bids next year — agree.

Over the past three months, 22 have signed on to the House IPAB repeal bill. They include lawmakers such as Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., a longtime GOP target.

Recently as well three of the biggest unions have backed away from Obama-Care. Some people hate, hate, hate saying “I told you so,” I rather enjoy it.

Video Description:

Some Democrats are now “Echoing” Sarah Palin’s deep concerns over ‘Death Panels’. The former Governor of Alaska joins FNC’s Eric Bolling on ‘Cashin In’ to discuss this timely issue. Other topics addressed: President Obama referring calling the other scandals such as Benghazi, the IRS, as ‘Fake and Phony’; the handling of the NSA surveillance controversy; and her devout support of ‘Team Rand Paul’ for his libertarian ideals.

Even Obama mentioned the craziness of Death Panels that his own party is acknowledging in Droves. Let’s “Take the Temperature” and see where the naivety of the left leads us, via The World According to Kimba:

….The speech was truly Obama-esque, taking on the role of leader and teacher, author and facilitator, and at times taking the assemblage to the cloakroom for a good old fashioned scolding. “I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than to improve it.” To those who have sought to make short term political gains…..to those who characterized this initiative with calls of death panels…..those are outright lies.”

While the audience was mainly civilized, it was this last inference that brought about a significant amount of boos from the conservatives in the chamber, but this was not the topper of the evening. Promising that his bill would not mandate guaranteed coverage for illegal aliens, Republican Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, shouted “LIE!” One could only wish the Representative would have missed the speech, opting for a hike along the Appalachian Trail with his counterpart, Governor Sanford…….no such luck.

The bill as outlined by the President, will be a bi-partisan bill, if not due to the Republican votes it garners, but the Republican wishes it contains. No funding for illegal aliens, no funding for abortions, real tort reform, a guarantee of no additional additions to the deficit due to this plan and a renewed free market sense of competition between a not-for-profit public option and the individual insurance companies, especially in regions where there is none….

So Kimba listed some items:

  1. No funding for illegal aliens
  2. no funding for abortions
  3. real tort reform
  4. a guarantee of no additional additions to the deficit

Okay, let’s work through a few of these:

1) No funding for illegal aliens

This comes via CANADIAN FREE PRESS and CNSNEWS:

Last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was funneling Obamacare cash to 67 community health centers where the money would be used for migrant farm workers. HHS also informed us that the immigration status of said farm workers would not be ascertained before free care was given meaning that illegal aliens would be given Obamacare funding.

“approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers,” Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS.

Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services.

“Health centers do not, as a matter of routine practice, ask about or collect data on citizenship or other matters not related to the treatment needs of the patients seeking health services at the center,” Andrews said.

Further, the grant recipients are required to serve “all residents” who walk through their doors.

On his campaign website, Wilson remarked about his vindication over the issue:

Nearly two years ago I made national news when I voiced your outrage at the misrepresentations being perpetuated by the Obama administration. The media and Obama’s liberal allies attacked me for only pointing out the truth that ObamaCare would cover illegal immigrants.

Yesterday, my point was vindicated when the Department of Health and Human Services announced its newest ObamaCare grant.

The president specifically promised the American people that ObamaCare would not cover those who are here illegally. He misled all of us.

Facts, as they say, are stubborn things….

read more at FoxNation

 

2) no funding for abortions

Firstly, NATIONAL REVIEW, last year, explained what person’s on the left cannot grasp — and that is, Obama-care funds abortions:

But Obamacare provides taxpayer dollars to purchase insurance plans that cover abortion-on-demand–a policy that is politically toxic and nearly brought the bill down in an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. Obamacare also forces almost all insurance plans, including plans provided and purchased by religious Americans, to cover abortion drugs

The issue here does not appear to be that Romney is backing off his stance on abortion–indeed, he says he will use an executive order to cut off funding to groups that perform abortion overseas. But he is mistaken in thinking that there aren’t issues related to abortion-funding are handled through the legislative process at the federal level

Another newsworthy mention should be that Planned Parenthood directly receives funds via Obama-Care. But put simply, as GATEWAY PUNDIT does, Obama lied:

It’s official. The concern pro-life organizations had about the ObamaCare legislation funding abortions has been confirmed, as the Obama administration has issued the final rules on abortion funding governing the controversial health care law.

Nestled within the “individual mandate” in the Obamacare act — that portion of the Act requiring every American to purchase government — approved insurance or pay a penalty — is an “abortion premium mandate.” This mandate requires all persons enrolled in insurance plans that include elective abortion coverage to pay a separate premium from their own pockets to fund abortion. As a result, many pro-life Americans will have to decide between a plan that violates their consciences by funding abortion, or a plan that may not meet their health needs.

The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a final rule regarding establishment of the state health care exchanges required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

As a knowledgeable pro-life source on Capitol Hill informed LifeNews, as authorized by Obamacare, “the final rule provides for taxpayer funding of insurance coverage that includes elective abortion” and the change to longstanding law prohibiting virtually all direct taxpayer funding of abortions (the Hyde Amendment) is accomplished through an accounting arrangement described in the Affordable Care Act and reiterated in the final rule issued today.

“To comply with the accounting requirement, plans will collect a $1 abortion surcharge from each premium payer,” the pro-life source informed LifeNews. “The enrollee will make two payments, $1 per month for abortion and another payment for the rest of the services covered. As described in the rule, the surcharge can only be disclosed to the enrollee at the time of enrollment. Furthermore, insurance plans may only advertise the total cost of the premiums without disclosing that enrollees will be charged a $1 per month fee to pay directly subsidize abortions.”

The ACLJ notes the same.

3) real tort reform

One small newspaper notes the following earlier this year:

As we all are beginning to realize, Obamacare is rapidly becoming a disaster on so many fronts. Even one of its creators, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, recently described it as a “train wreck.”

One serious flaw in its enactment is the total lack of consideration of tort reform. Every physician, whether he or she will admit it, has practiced some form of defensive medicine, thereby increasing the cost of medical care. Democrats and Republicans are equally guilty, and trial lawyers (devout Obama supporters) will be rewarded handsomely, perhaps intentionally, when medical errors are perceived

A larger paper chimes in, the WALL STREET JOURNAL:

This is an absurd position, in that the law makes no provision for tort reform.

According to Patients for Fair Compensation, doctors spend more than $650 billion a year practicing “defensive medicine,” ordering unnecessary tests and procedures in the interest of warding off plaintiff attorneys.

Without concomitant tort reform, there will never be meaningful health-care reform, and it is absurd to ask doctors to speak well of the law to their patients.

— Robert N. Levin, M.D.

And prior to the latest election, the HUFFINGTON POST points out that tort reform is not in Obama-Care:

Looks like Obamacare is not what the doctor ordered.

More than half of physicians say they’ll vote for Mitt Romney come November 6th compared to just 36 percent for Obama, according to a recent survey by medical staffing firm Jackson and Cokey. In fact, 15 percent of survey respondents said they’ll be switching to the Republican camp this election, with most citing the Affordable Care Act as the reason.

The majority of the 3,660 doctors polled in the survey said they also are in favor of repealing and replacing Obama’s signature piece of legislation because it failed to address tort reform, an issue relating regulations surrounding malpractice lawsuits.

It’s not just doctors that aren’t pleased with Obamacare, however. Other critics include the food service industry, which fears the law may adversely affect restaurants’ ability to maintain slim profit margins since it requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide affordable health insurance. In August, Papa John’s pizza CEO John Schnatter said that at least some of those extra costs would be passed on to the customer….

4) a guarantee of no additional additions to the deficit

Really!? Do I have to show what every paper and news organization and health experts has said? Laughable!

Obama’s Surgeon General Pick Another Wolf in Doctors Clothing

Investors Daily Business has a story about the extreme goals of Obama appointee picks. In this case it is his [OBAMA!] U.S. Surgeon Generals choice:

Second Amendment: The administration’s choice to be the nation’s doctor in chief views gun ownership as a public health issue and not a constitutional right, and wants doctors to query patients about guns in their homes.

Cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal’s champion, Debo Adegbile, President Obama’s defeated pick to be assistant attorney general for the civil rights division at the Department of Justice, is not the only radical on President Obama’s wish list.

That list includes gun-grabbing advocate Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, Obama’s nominee to be U.S. Surgeon General.

Nose In Air

Another guy who seems like he can tell ordinary citizens what to do and what not to do.

Murthy is the 36-year-old president and co-founder of the anti-gun group Doctors for America, which advocates ObamaCare and gun control laws.

His group, which has been dubbed “Docs vs. Glocks,” has pushed Congress to ban “assault” weapons and “high-capacity” magazines.

He also wants to spend more tax dollars on more research to prove that fewer guns mean a lower crime rate, despite the fact that a number of reputable studies prove the opposite.

[….]

The call for universal background checks, including at all gun shows, ignores that the guns Adam Lanza used at Sandy Hook were legally purchased and registered by his mother.

Just such a gun-free zone policy is why the Aurora, Colo., shooter carefully chose the theater he did. And unlike the mall in Clackamass, Ore., where a concealed-carry holder prevented a massacre, there was no one in Aurora to shoot back.

At Sandy Hook, 27-year-old teacher Victoria Soto hid students in a bathroom or closet and died trying to protect them from shooter Lanza. If she, the principal or any of the other adults at the school had access to a firearm, things might have turned out differently.

A recent Department of Justice study found only 0.7% of guns were purchased at gun shows and only 20% of guns used in crimes were purchased anywhere. Chicago street gangs, which are responsible for most of that city’s homicides, are unlikely to line up for gun permits.

The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which did nothing to prevent Columbine, was largely based on a weapon’s cosmetic appearance, not on its capability for carnage.

…read more…

The Left’s Crazy Narrative About Bobby Jindal ~ Macho-Sauce

From video description:

It’s another one of those articles that slipped by. The liberal media acts a lot like termites, destroying the integrity of a structure in ways you often can’t see until there’s a big problem. They’re constantly firing little shots to damage republicans, and those little points add up with the masses they’re trying to control. Hear More in this ZoNation.

This reminds me of the MSNBC “narrative” that fits the left’s vision better:

“Do It for Denmark” ~ Demographic Reality for the West

(HotAir) Sex sells, so the axiom instructs, and it’s at least true for page views of this travel agency’s latest PR effort. After hitting YouTube yesterday, the mildly-NSFW ad already has almost 400,000 page views, mostly due to the sultry sales pitch for planning a little procreation on Danish holiday travels. Noting the precarious decline of the fertility rate among Danes, Spies Travel will hold a contest for those who become pregnant while on tour through the romantic cities of Europe (via NPR):

Russia did something similar, in that it promoted having babies for the homeland because of its falling population rates.

From the “My Lunch Teacher Told Me…” Files (God Trumps Lunch Lady)

This cute, and-at-the-same-time, awful story, comes my way via The Blaze. I love this part of the article:

In fact, so unheard of and blatantly out of step with American values was the incident they were hearing about that Marcos Perez pulled out his iPhone and started recording as they listened again to their kindergartner’s story.

I love it because it is true that it is wholly out-of-step with this countries values; and two — that it was recorded almost instantly and uploaded not to much later. How many times in this countries history since the 60’s revolution devolution has this happened and it was swept under the rug. Not too much anymore. This could happen in Deer Isle Main, and I would know about a day or two later in Southern California… someone who is totally unconnected. Awesome.