Archive for June, 2014

The Lerner emails: Interesting twist …

June 30, 2014

 

First, some background on a group called Judicial Watch …Judicial Watch is a non-partisan conservative organization whose motto is “Because no one is above the law”.

To achieve this goal,” Judicial Watch uses the open records or freedom of information laws and other tools to investigate and uncover misconduct by government officials and litigation to hold to account politicians and public officials who engage in corrupt activities.” Source

For example, when the White House was claiming (a) that it had no involvement in the development of Susan Rice’s infamous “it was the video’s fault, not terrorists” talking points, and (b) that all emails had been turned over to Congressional committees … it was Judicial Watch that worked the courts using the Freedom of Information Act to get a copy of the smoking gun emails that put tied the talking to Ben Rhodes – the White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser at the time. Source

Somehow, Judicial Watch’s courts actions seem to get better access to sensitive government info than the Congressional Committees.

Go figure.

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Well, now Judicial Watch is targeting Lois Lerner’s missing emails … (pun intended)

Here’s the scoop …

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Problem Solving Tips: Patterning, framing and the astronaut’s pen …

June 27, 2014

Excerpted from Think Better

Among the many discoveries NASA made when it began sending people into space was that the astronauts’ pens did not work well in zero gravity.

The ink wouldn’t flow properly. You can simulate the effect at home by trying to write with the business end of your pen pointing up.

Pretty soon, the ink stops flowing and the pen won’t write.

 

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The solution – giving astronaut’s a way to write upside down —  depends on how you frame the problem …

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Hiring: Don’t trust your gut……

June 26, 2014

According to an HBR article “In Hiring, Algorithms Beat Instinct” …

Studies of applicant evaluations shows that a simple equation outperforms human decisions by at least 25%.

And, the effect holds in any situation with a large number of candidates, regardless of whether the job is on the front line, in middle management, or (yes) inthe C~suite.

 

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Why is that?

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Stop right there, professor … proof of citizenship, please !

June 25, 2014

Unfortunately, this has become an annual event.  A summer initiation of sorts.

Once again, I was detained for questioning by government officials.

This year was unusually unnerving.

No, it wasn’t by rogue IRS agents in Cincinnati targeting an alleged conservative blogger.

 

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I was suspected of crossing a border to illegally access government-provided services.

Here’s the story …

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What are the odds of 7 specific IRS hard drives crashing?

June 24, 2014

Here’s why I think there’s a cover-up happening in the IRS targeting scandal …

Lois Lerner is at the heart of the investigation.  She exercised her 5th amendment right to not self-incriminate and didn’t testify to Congress.

Then, it’s “discovered” that 10 days after the scandal inquiry kicked off, her PC hard drive – which contained the only permanent copies of emails she sent to folks outside the IRS – crashed … and all data – including the subpoenaed emails – was lost forever.

Hmmm.

 

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Then it was revealed that the hard drives of 6 other IRS “persons of interest” had also crashed (after the investigation was kicked off.

Double hmmm.

Got me to wondering: What are the odds of that happening?

Let’s do some arithmetic …

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My View: IRS targeting Lerner emails, next steps

June 23, 2014

Some semi-random thoughts on the IRS fiasco…

First, I don’t think any reasonable person can deny that persons within the IRS targeted conservative groups for harassment during the run-up to the 2012 Presidential election.

One interesting aspect is that the IRS actions had nothing to do with REVENUE since the organizations don’t operate for a profit. The organizations spend everything that they take in – i.e. expenses consume revenues, so profits are zero and there are no taxes to collect.

So, it’s reasonable to conclude that the harassment was done simply for political reasons, right?

 

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That’s the why, what about the “who”?

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Problem Solving: A matter of perspective …

June 20, 2014

According to ChinaSmack.com, most Hong Kong elementary school applicants are able to answer this admissions test question in the allotted 20 seconds.

Can you?

Psst: It’s ok to use scratch paper and a pen or pencil.

 

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Stumped?  Here’s the answer and the teaching point …

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Who supported going into Iraq in the first place?

June 19, 2014

Answer: A compelling, bi-partisan majority of U.S. politicians and citizens.

The question aroused my interest since it’s commonly implied that only Bush, Cheney and a handful of Neocons were on board with the invasion decision.

First, let’s look at the blowhard politicians.

The 2002 Iraq War Resolution passed the House 296 (68%) to 133 (31%) … with 81 Democrats voting for it.

In the Senate, the vote was 77 to 23 … with 29 of 50 Democrats voting for it …. Among the notable Dems voting yes: Biden, Clinton, Kerry, Hagel … Side note: Obama wasn’t in the Senate yet.

Below is a summary of the vote … click for details re: how each Senator & Congressional Rep voted.

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Now the bigger question: Did Congress vote the will of the people?

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Are emergency rooms required to treat all patients?

June 18, 2014

More specifically, the question that a friend and I were discussing after yesterday’s post was:

“Are emergency rooms required to treat all patients? … whether or not they have insurance?”

I said “yes” but decided to fact-check my answer.

 

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Here’s what I found…

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More patients flocking to ERs…

June 17, 2014

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal:

One of ObamaCare’s goals was to reduce pressure on emergency rooms by expanding Medicaid and giving poor people better access to primary care.

Instead, many hospitals across the nation are seeing a surge of those newly insured Medicaid patients walking into emergency rooms.

Nationally, nearly half of ER doctors responding to a recent poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians said they’ve seen more visits since Jan. 1.

That’s a problem since an average ER visit costs $580 more than a trip to the doctor’s office.

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Why’s this happening?

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Polar Opposites: I’m OK, but I’m not so sure about you …

June 16, 2014

Interesting infographic from Pew calibrating something that everybody knows …

Democrats are becoming more liberal Republicans are getting more conservative … and the moderate middle-ground between the parties is getting smaller, and smaller and smaller …

 

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About 40% of Democrats think that Republicans are destroying the country … and, about 40% of Republicans think that Democrats are destroying the country.

Here’s the finding that I found most interesting …

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Undeniable Proof of God … #SisterAx

June 13, 2014

We’ve previously posted about Sister Cristina Scuccia, the nun whose performances on the Italian version of “The Voice” went viral.

Well, there by the grace of God, she won it all!

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According to ABC.com

During the finals broadcast , the nun — dressed in her traditional habit, crucifix and plain black shoes — appeared surprised when she advanced to the final two, along with Giacomo Voli.

Sister Cristina — who was coached by Italian rapper J-Ax was overjoyed when the show’s host announced that she was the winner, taking  62.3 percent of the vote.

In the audience, her fellow nuns applauded, and cheering supporters waved T-shirts bearing her image and the hashtag #SisterAx.

The clincher: Sister Cristina performed a high-energy version “What a Feeling” from of Flashdance, complete with Madonna-like back-up dancers on stage  … and her fellow nuns dancing in the aisles.

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sister kristina what a feeling

 

Sister Cristina said she was inspired to audition for “The Voice” by the words of Pope Francis who called upon clergy to “get out onto the streets.”

She told the judges and audience “I have been given a gift and I am giving it to you”.

Rock on Sister.

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P.S. If you need an upper today, here’s a greatest hits compilation of Sister Cristina’s performances, including “Hero” and “Living on a Prayer”…

 

Thanks to MM for feeding the lead re: the win in the finals

#HomaFiles                #SisterAx             #SuorCristina

Follow on Twitter @KenHoma            >> Latest Posts

 

 

Analogy Test: Cleveland Clinic is to VA Hospitals … as Apple is to what?

June 12, 2014

It’s a simple analogy … and, apparently, the Cleveland Clinic’s CEO got it right.

Answer: JC Penney

VA-JCP logos

 

 

Here’s my logic …

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The Taliban-5, Benghazi … and my friend’s daughter.

June 11, 2014

Last week, one the Administration’s talking points was “not to worry, the 5 Taliban leaders being released won’t be allowed back in Afghanistan for a year … and by then practically all troops will be out of the country … so the odds of Americans being killed are relatively low.”

Are you kidding me?

In a prior post, I posed a simple over-under bet: Do you think that the number of Americans who will be killed — either directly or indirectly – by the Taliban-5 will be under 1 or over 1?

I’m taking the over and haven’t gotten many takers for the under.

 

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Today, let’s connect a couple of dots and personalize the situation…

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What’s the value of an American life?

June 10, 2014

Don’t worry, I’m not going deeply philosophical on you …  I’m just going to pose a simple wager.

Last week, one the Administration’s talking points was “not to worry, the 5 Taliban leaders being released won’t be allowed back in Afghanistan for a year … and by then practically all troops will be out of the country … so the odds of Americans being killed are relatively low.”

Are you kidding me?

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Let’s reduce this argument to a simple bet …

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All the jobs are back … please, hold your applause.

June 9, 2014

According to the Feds, the economy added 217,000 jobs in May … that’s good.

Big deal made of the fact that the economy has regained all of the jobs lost in the finance-induced recession.

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But, save the high fives …that’s only part of the story.

The rest of the story doesn’t look nearly as rosy.

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Which city is the U.S. “Murder Capital”?

June 9, 2014

Well, it depends on your metric.

In terms or raw number of murders, Chicago has led the league for the past 2 years … with 412 murders in 2013 alone.

As should be expected, big cities dominate the top 10 list … partly a matter of sheer population size.

 

 

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Source: Daily Beast

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To be statistically fair, let’s adjust the numbers to reflect population size.

Which U.S. city has the highest per capita murder rate?

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What’s in your wallet?

June 6, 2014

A couple of interesting charts from the Fed’s Triennial Payments Study…

If you’re like most Americans, there both debit and credit cards in your wallet …. both debit and credit card usage is increasing … with debit card usage increasing by leaps and bounds..

 

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That said, cash is still king …

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POTUS says: “When veterans do get into the system, they get great healthcare” … oh, really?

June 5, 2014

When Obama finally commented on the VA scandal, he gave the usual “outraged, will investigate and hold accountable” … then asserted that “when veterans do get into the system, they get great healthcare”.

No questions from the media.  Not much follow-up.

Must be true since the President said it, right?

Of course, my BS detector started screeching.

Fortunately, the WSJ started to dig and found “significantly higher rates of mortality and dangerous infections at some VA hospitals compared with others” … and compared to private hospitals.

For example, the Boston area VA hospital is rated 5-stars … the embattled Phoenix VA draws a single star.

 

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Source

The WSJ concluded that the Phoenix VA doesn’t appear to be an outlier.   

Here’s where things get interesting …

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More: The doctor will see you … eventually

June 4, 2014

Last year, I needed to see an eye surgeon, when I called, I was given an appointment within 2 weeks.

This year, I called the same doctor and was told the the first open slot was in 8 weeks.

Hmmm.

Can’t project off one observation, right?

 

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Last week, the VA waiting times were revealed to be 115 days … almost 4 months.

That got me to wondering: What are waiting times in some other countries often cited as ObamaCare models .

Here’s a sampling …

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Another look: Is a college degree is worth it?

June 3, 2014

Lots has been written recently re: the economic value of a college degree.

Let’s boil it down to 3 key charts …

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First, the cost side of the equation …

Sky-rocketing tuitions are loading students with an enormous amount of post-graduation debt.

While other forms of consumer debt have held relatively constant for the past 10 years, student loans have soared from “only” $200 million in 2004 to over $1 trillion today.

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That’s the cost.

What about the benefits side?

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WSJ: “How to Fix the Veterans Affairs Mess” … say, what?

June 2, 2014

Last week, the WSJ ran an opinion piece How to Fix the Veterans Affairs Mess by Anthony Principi who served as secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2001-05.

I expected a practical roadmap for attacking the current problems.

Instead, the author delivered a potpourri of declarations … some of which surprised me, and many of which made me sigh “oh my”.

 

 

Here are some of the points that caught my attention.

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