My Gazette

What Life Looks Like at 18 Weeks

Kelsey Harkness /@kelseyjharkness/September 21, 2015/3 comments

 

 

Why smart people actually believe Mercury retrograde ruins lives, By Tim Donnelly and Robert Rorke

If you spilled a whiskey all over your computer or signed a lease for a bedbug-filled apartment, relax! It’s probably not your fault; it’s probably Mercury retrograde. The astrological phenomenon, which started Thursday and goes until Oct. 9, is the hottest scapegoat in town, the juice cleanse of the cosmos, if you will. According to astrological hucksters (and the flocks who follow them), the three periods each year when Mercury appears to be moving backward are total pandemonium, a time when the stars are liable to wreak havoc on technical devices, morning commutes and official documents. Too bad it’s total nonsense. Mercury retrograde isn’t responsible for the G train being late or your iPhone freezing-up, anymore than that black cat that crossed your path gave you bad luck. And yet, belief in“Mercury retrograde” is getting stronger and stronger. My social media feeds are filled with comments from otherwise logical, educated people who take the phenomenon seriously.....To Read More.....

 

Military Expelled Officers For Criticizing Islamists’ Rape Of Boys - A new report describes a U.S. military complicit in its Afghan allies’ systematic sexual abuse of young boys, going so far as to expel American officers who voiced concern. According to The New York Times, U.S. servicemen who speak out about Afghan militia commanders’ rape of children face discipline and occasionally expulsion from the military….. “Bacha bazi,” literally “boy play,” is an age-old Afghan custom, and the U.S. military has treated it as simply a cultural difference…….“we were putting people into power who would do things that were worse than the Taliban did.” …..Jason Brezler emailed his superiors a warning about a police commander named Sarwar Jan, who had had a record of corruption and abuse dating back to 2010. Jan moved into a Marine barracks together with his extensive entourage of “tea boys.”…….two weeks later Brezler’s colleague Lance Cpl. Buckley was dead at the hands of Jan’s 17-year-old servant.

 

Irony: ObamaLectures Congress on “Responsible - Budget” - Wow. It takes a lot of gall for the most liberal President America has ever had to presume to lecture Congress about passing a “responsible budget.” But that is exactly what President Obama did on Saturday when he chided Congress for their inability to get a budget passed. Oddly, the President didn’t seem to care during the many years that Democrats ran Congress and chose to pass no budget at all. Now that the GOP has taken control of both Houses of Congress and has actually succeeded in passing a budget though… he’s interested.

 

Chicago Adds Ridiculous 9% 'Cloud Tax' on Netflix and Other Streaming Services - Streaming is big business, and Chicago wants a piece of the action.

 

US Spends Far More on Social Welfare Than Most European Nations -How much of this spending reaches the poor? The U.S. Census Bureau has released its annual poverty report. Conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. has a small social welfare system and far more poverty compared with other affluent nations. But noted liberal scholars Irwin Garfinkel, Lee Rainwater, and Timothy Smeeding challenge such simplistic ideas in their book “Wealth and Welfare States: Is America a Laggard or Leader?”…… Only one nation (Norway) spends more per person than the U.S. spends……The average poor American has more living space than the average, non-poor individual living in Sweden, France, Germany, or the United Kingdom…..

 

How Obamacare Will Cost Native American Tribes Millions of Dollars - Native American tribes are pushing back against a provision of Obamacare mandating that tribal governments provide health insurance to their employees. Tribal leaders say it's a "misinterpretation" of the law that will cost millions of dollars.

 

If Bush were still president, this would be a huge story - Cancer-stricken children weeping as they are callously treated. Perfect to use against a Republican, but when President Obama is the cause, the media yawn.

 

In Obamacare Mandate Case, Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Religious Freedom - It is not for judges to dissect an objector's religious beliefs, but rather, to determine if the line drawn "reflects 'an honest conviction.'"

 

Listen to Nations Experienced with the Islamic Influx - When it comes to the Islamic influx, the West would do well to learn from the experience of nations like Hungary.

 

Dying Piece By Piece- Obama expects the American taxpayer to believe that the abortion industry -- above all others -- can regulate itself.

 

The First American Political Conventions - Hardly anyone today knows about the Anti-Masonic Party, but in 1831 they were a growing faction in American politics. And the Anti-Masonics broke new ground on September 26, 1831, when they held a national nominating convention. The Whigs and the Democrats followed, and a political tradition began.