Obamacare got six enrollees on Day 1

Where is "Captain Crunch" when you need him?

Six.

That's how many people signed up for Obamacare on Day 1, according to CBS News, and no that's not a misprint.

The Obama administration has kept the number of enrollments close to the vest. Its touted the number of visitors to the troubled HealthCare.gov website – 4.7 million – but hasn't released the actual number of enrollments.

But according to CBS News, notes from a "war room" meeting the day after the Affordable Care Act launched on Oct. 1 say "six enrollments have occurred so far." By the end of Day 2, enrollments totaled 248 nationwide.

The White House predicted 500,000 would sign up by the end of the month, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press, and that was considered a "modest start" for the market.

CBS notes that in order to meet the goal of seven million enrollments by March 1, the exchanges need to enroll an average of 39,000 a day.

During Wednesday's Congressional hearing, Health and Human Services head Kathleen Sebelius was asked several times for the number of enrollments. She explained that the data was unreliable and would not be available until mid-November.

"We do not have any reliable data around enrollment, which is why we haven’t given it to date," she said.

The Obama administration has enlisted the services of computer engineers from tech companies such as Google and Oracle to help fix the troubled healthcare website, which has been plagued with issues from the start. As Sebelius testified Wednesday that the site "has never crashed," users trying to access it found a message that read, "The system is down at the moment."

Halloween at the White House

Obamacare may be the nightmare before Christmas for those trying to sign up online, but it turns out that the White House does have a functioning web operation. And it was on full display Thursday night as President Barack Obama celebrated Halloween with some 5,000 area schoolchildren and kids of military families.

The web in question housed a giant inflatable black widow spider above the entrance of the famed South Portico, with about a dozen more of the eight-legged creepy-crawlies swarming down the columns, escorted by bats and crows. Two large autumn wreaths hung nearby.

At about 5:30 p.m., kids walked up the driveway and formed a line that snaked from near the main door, past the East Wing, down the driveway as far as this pooler's eye could see.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama, and her mother Marian Robinson emerged shortly thereafter.

"Hi guys! Come on down," the president called out. He was wearing an orange shirt, black sweater and khakis. The first lady donned in an orange and black top, orange pants. Mrs Robinson was in orange as well. All three carried baskets with White House treats wrapped in individual clear-plastic packages.

Nearby, bales of hay were home to four carved white pumpkins spelling out B O O ! under the vigilant eye of an inflatable black cat.

Obama Has Presided Over 5 of 6 Largest Deficits in U.S. History

President Barack Obama has now presided over five of the six largest annual budget deficits the U.S. government has ever run, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Treasury.

In fiscal 2013, which ended Sept. 30, the deficit was $680.276 billion, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Wednesday.In fiscal 2012, the deficit was $1.089193 trillion; in fiscal 2011, it was $1.296791 trillion; in fiscal 2010, it was $1.294204 trillion; and, in fiscal 2009, it was $1.415724 trillion.In fiscal 2008, the last full year that George W. Bush was president, the deficit was $454.798 billion.

Even when adjusted for inflation, the $680.276 billion fiscal 2013 deficit is only exceeded by one pre-Obama deficit–the one the U.S. government ran in 1943, during the height of World War II. That year, the deficit was $54,554,000,000–or $738,367,890,000 in inflation-adjusted 2013 dollars.

Definitely "Food for Thought"

Many Americans are angry about the health care takeover that Congress and the Obama White House are trying to ram down their throats.

This is not surprising.

Many claim that the Obama scheme is a disaster and a very bad idea for America’s future. They say it will bring much suffering, sickness and death to you and to your family.

We agree that this is not only a bad plan, but also an unconstitutional one.

These, however, are not the same thing.

To say that something is a bad idea and unconstitutional is to say two different things.

Let me explain…

Suppose you invite me to your house for dinner and while I’m there I notice that your window treatments are shabby and that your furniture does not match your wall colors. So, the next day, while you’re not at home, I break into your house and change the windows and the walls. For the sake of argument, let’s say I actually make it look better than it did before I broke in.

I’m still guilty of the crime of breaking in, entering and trespassing.

Do you see that even if it was a good idea to change the décor, it was a crime because it was outside of my authority to do it.

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and millions of others are screaming that the government takeover of the health care system is a very bad idea. They are right, but even if it were a good idea it would be a criminal scheme all the same.

Because the Constitution does not grant the Federal Government any authority to meddle in our health care, it wouldn't matter, even is their plan was a good one.

The operative clauses to look up in this situation are Article One, Section Eight and the Tenth Amendment. It will only take you about six minutes to read and understand that Obamacare is more than just a bad idea for American health care. It is a dangerous and tyrannical trespass into American homes and lives.

Good and Bad

"I love Obamacare. Now that I'm unemployed, I can still afford health insurance."

" Why are you unemployed?"

"I got laid off because my employer couldn't afford Obamacare."

Pat Sajak blasts Obamacare: ‘If you like your vowels, you can keep your vowels’

Television host Pat Sajak took to Twitter Wednesday afternoon to poke fun at Obamacare, saying that he’s considering a few rule changes at “Wheel of Fortune” to keep in line with the new law.

“Considering rule change for Wheel: If you like your vowels, you can keep your vowels,” he joked.

“A lot of confusion regarding new vowel policy. Guidelines are being written and will be posted online by November 31,” he added.

“Vowel Clarification: Ys will be covered if they meet minimum standards found in section XIV of guidelines,” the host continued. “Further clarification: Prices for vowels will go up for some, and you may be directed to other vowels. (Section XXVII.)”

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress Wednesday that she is responsible for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, but ultimately admitted after prodding by Rep. Greg Harper that the president is in charge of all government-run programs.

“I think it’s great that you’re a team player and taking responsibility,” said Mr. Harper, Michigan Republican. “It is the president’s ultimate responsibility, correct?”

“You clearly — whatever,” Mrs. Sebelius said. “Yes, he is the president. He is responsible for government programs.”

Mr. Sajak, and many other Twitter users, jumped on her “whatever” comment, and a new hashtag was born.

“Tired of all the questions. Everything will be clear when you read the guidelines. Whatever!” the “Wheel” host wrote.

Two U.S. commandos fought in Benghazi rescue, privately honored for valor

Keeping a Secret: President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left out of their story line of the Benghazi attack the fact that U.S. military special operations commandos came to the rescue of besieged Americans. 

Masked from public view, two of the U.S. military’s elite special operations commandos have been awarded medals for bravery for a mission that further undercuts the Obama administration’s original story about the Benghazi tragedy.

For months, administration officials have claimed no special operations forces were dispatched from outside Libya to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012, al Qaeda terrorist attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission and CIA annex because none was within range.

The Pentagon, under intense public criticism for not coming to the aid of besieged Americans, published an official timeline in November that carefully danced around the issue.

It said time and distance prevented any commandos outside Libya from reaching a CIA compound under attack. The timeline disclosed that a reinforcement flight 400 miles away in Tripoli contained two “DoD personnel” but did not describe who they were. Later, the official State Department report on Benghazi said they were “two U.S. military personnel” — but provided no other details. It made no mention of special operations forces.

But sources directly familiar with the attack tell The Washington Times that a unit of eight special operators — mostly Delta Force and Green Beret members — were in Tripoli the night of the attack, on a counterterrorism mission that involved capturing weapons and wanted terrorists from the streets and helping train Libyan forces.

When word of the Benghazi attack surfaced, two members of that military unit volunteered to be dispatched along with five private security contractors on a hastily arranged flight from Tripoli to rescue Americans in danger, the sources said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because the special operations forces’ existence inside Libya was secret.

The two special operations forces arrived in time to engage in the final, ferocious firefight between the terrorists and Americans holed up in the CIA annex near the ill-fated diplomatic mission in Benghazi, the sources added.

The two special operators were awarded medals for valor for helping repel a complex attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stephens, another American diplomat and two former Navy SEALs, but spared many more potential casualties.

“Yes, we had special forces in Tripoli, and two in fact did volunteer and engaged heroically in the efforts to save Americans,” one source told The Times. “The others were asked to stay behind to help protect Tripoli in case there was a coordinated attack on our main embassy.

Political Masturbation in NYC

NYC Hikes Smoking Age

Smokers younger than 21 years old will soon be banned from purchasing tobacco products in New York City after the City Council on Wednesday voted to increase the age limit.

What next? I wonder which "Political Genius" in the Big Apple, had the vision and the forethought to come up with this harebrained idea? OMG, you mean that 20 year olds can actually buy cigarettes.

"Do you actually mean to tell me that some young man or a young woman, in the National Guard, from New York, with their rifle and backpack and all that government equipment on, leaving their families behind, can actually stop and buy a package of filthy cigarettes on their way to Afghanistan or some area where their life will be in harms way. I vote YES, OH, the horrors of it all .... Pass me a bottle of water."

Detroit, on the other hand, lowered the age to 2 to purchase alcohol and tobacco in hopes of somehow increasing revenue from taxes .................

Words of wisdom

Purpose of Obamacare:

Insure the Uninsured.

Effect of Obamacare to date:

Uninsure the Insured.

Brit Hume

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Only took a few hours .... should have taken one.....old age

Took the wife to Columbus today, Riverside Hospital, for a checkup on something they removed a few years ago. I have been there many times, been to Columbus many, many times, years ago. We have a nice GPS, which we didn't take because I knew where it was, and, as Marilyn said, she doesn't  like to have it in the car because I yell, scream, and cuss, at her, her being the GPS. Took us a few hours to get there, instead of 45 minutes.

Old age is "hell" the mind does not work right, it naps, at times, looses all sense of reason and just shuts down. We went over the same terrain many times, missed my target by almost 15 miles. I asked directions, four times, called on her cell phone and got directions from the hospital, and we finally made it, a couple of hours late. It has been 3 or 4 years since I was there last, so things have changed drastically. I also forgot a bit about the GREEN parking garage, made a number of laps on level TWO before I realized how to get to the next level, ended up on Level 5.

She had her procedure, all went well, got the car out of the FIVE LEVEL garage, had to weave around and pick her up at one particular entrance. Made ONE wrong turn but got there. With a minimum amount of problems, we found the way home, not the way we went, but we made it home.

After her procedure was done, she was napping, so I went down the hall for a coffee and doughnut. Sat in a nice lounge area, about 15 people. I was the ONLY ONE who did not have a phone or a laptop. Everyone was walking around, hand extended, looking at their phone. EVERYONE walking around has a cell phone. How do they see to walk when they are looking at their phone?

I want to get one of those little "pull things" many of them have. A laptop in a briefcase, maybe a cardboard box, but so many of those little "pull pull things." I want one, not sure what I will be pulling, but I want one.

Remember when salesmen wore suits, no more, some were in bluejeans and flip flops, with computer and a telephone close by. There were a few "suits" but not many.

I have been going to that hospital, Riverside, in Columbus, Ohio, off and on now for probably 30 years, and the remodeling is still going on. It is a great hospital, had my bi-pass there, nothing but GOOD to say about the place, and the staff is extremely cooperative, polite and they bend over backwards to be of service. If you ask someone how to get ... they don't tell you, they take you.

Any problems today, were of MY own choosing, old age ...... I don't "merge" as well as I used to.

Sebelius heads to Hill to defend health law, and her job

It is inconceivable to me, that anyone, with any knowledge of government and history, felt that, especially as involved as this program is, that it would work. I can think of nothing that has "government involvement" would run properly, efficiently, and as intended. I would not be surprised that Sebelius, as she strolls up Capitol Hill, is not being "led to slaughter." "Let's blame her."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager to cast blame, lawmakers are preparing to grill President Barack Obama's top health official over problems with the rollout of the government's health care website.

A growing number of Republicans in Congress are calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to step down or be fired because of problems consumers are having signing up for insurance coverage on the government's new website.

On Wednesday, Sebelius heads to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, her first appearance before Congress since state-based health exchanges opened for business on Oct. 1.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee, on Tuesday joined the list of GOP lawmakers calling for Sebelius to go.

"Taxpayers have spent $400 million to create exchanges that, after 3½ years, still don't work," Alexander said. "No private-sector chief executive officer would escape accountability after such a poor performance."

Sebelius is likely to face questions about problems with the website as well as a wave of cancellation notices hitting small businesses and individuals who buy their own insurance. Lawmakers also want to know how many people have enrolled in plans through the health exchanges, a number the Obama administration has so far refused to divulge.

Dooley's Observers

Odor from Sriracha chili plant a nuisance

We want jobs, work, increases our tax base, we want our economy to prosper, right here in Irwindale, but please DO NOT interfere in our lives or inconvenience us in any way ........

IRWINDALE, Calif. (AP) — It looked like things were really starting to heat up for this little Southern California factory town when the maker of the Sriracha chili sauce known the world over decided to open a sprawling 650,000-square-foot factory within its borders.

Getting the jobs and economic boost was great. Getting a whiff of the sauce being made wasn't, at least for a few Irwindale residents. So much so that the city is now suing Huy Fong Foods, seeking to shut down production at the 2-year-old plant until its operators make the smell go away.

"It's like having a plate of chili peppers shoved right in your face," said Ruby Sanchez, who lives almost directly across the street from the shiny, new $40 million plant where some 100 million pounds of peppers a year are processed into Sriracha (pronounced "sree-YAH-chah) and two other popular Asian food sauces.

As many as 40 trucks a day pull up to unload red hot chili peppers by the millions. Each plump, vine-ripened jalapeno pepper from central California then goes inside on a conveyor belt where it is washed, mixed with garlic and a few other ingredients and roasted. The pungent smell of peppers and garlic fumes is sent through a carbon-based filtration system that dissipates them before they leave the building, but not nearly enough say residents.

"Whenever the wind blows that chili and garlic and whatever else is in it, it's very, very, very strong," Sanchez said. "It makes you cough."

8 Seriously Hurt in School Bus Accident on Staten Island

Eight people were seriously injured in a school bus accident on Staten Island Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Children were on the bus when it was involved in a crash near Oakdale Street and Preston Avenue in Eltingville around 8 a.m., but it wasn't immediately clear if they were among the seriously injured. 

Chopper 4 captured an extensive emergency presence near the damaged bus.

China police hold five over Tiananmen 'terror attack'

Beijing (AFP) - Chinese police have captured five suspects over a "terrorist attack" in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, they said Wednesday, the first time authorities have admitted to such a strike taking place in the capital.

Beijing police said on a verified social media account that three people in the sports utility vehicle which crashed in the symbolic heart of the Chinese state and burst into flames on Monday, all of whom died, were from the same family -- one man, his wife and his mother.

The car had a licence plate identifying it as from the restive western region of Xinjiang, police said, and the names given for the trio sounded like ones used by the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.

Another five people have been arrested in connection with the case, police said.

It was a "carefully planned, organised and premeditated violent terrorist attack", the statement said, adding that the car carried petrol, knives and banners bearing extremist religious content.

The suspects crashed the vehicle, "ignited the petrol inside the car so the car caught on fire" and the three people inside "died at the scene".

Police said two tourists were killed in the incident, which took place close to a huge portrait of Mao Zedong hanging from the walls of the Forbidden City, and that another 40 people were injured.

Police had alerted hotels in the capital to look out for eight suspects from Xinjiang, most of them apparently from China's mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, who are concentrated in the region.

Witnesses and reports said that in Monday's incident a vehicle drove along a stretch of pavement near the Forbidden City, a former imperial palace and popular tourist site next to Tiananmen Square, knocking over pedestrians before bursting into flames, in what appeared to be a deliberate act.

New York CVS Overrun with Duck Invasion

The YouTube video, 'There was an incident last night at CVS,' doesn't quite capture the hilarious and puzzling nature of what is contained within, but it's at least a start. According to uploader Aplue, around 50 ducks entered the pharmacy in Saratoga Springs, NY, last week. 

There is a park down the street where the ducks live most of the time, but somehow they managed to sneak past the front door and hold an impromptu shopping spree. In addition to the ones inside, there were dozens more outside the store as well. 

After using a swiffer to try to shoo them out, one enterprising employee was able to lure them out with a bag of popcorn. And really, who doesn't love popcorn?

On healthcare, spying, questions on what Obama knew and when

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To his critics, President Barack Obama often has seemed to be conveniently distant when trouble has hit his administration.

But on Tuesday, Obama was hit with a public-relations crisis that struck at the core of his domestic and foreign policy - one that raised questions about whether he had misled Americans on his signature healthcare overhaul, and whether he really was unaware of the U.S. government's alleged spying on its allies.

It was a dramatic twist for the Democratic president, who was widely seen as outflanking Republicans during the budget battles that led to a partial government shutdown and a near-default by the U.S. government this month.

Until this week, most of the discussion in Washington on the "Obamacare" health insurance program focused on its clumsy rollout, as symbolized by a balky website that is frustrating uninsured Americans' efforts to enroll in the program.

But several media reports on Tuesday raised questions about whether the administration was completely truthful in selling the program to Americans four years ago, after Obama was first elected president.

The latest flap dates to a pledge that Obama made in 2009 about the healthcare initiative that remains the biggest achievement of his nearly five years in office.

"If you like your healthcare plan, you'll be able to keep your healthcare plan, period," he told the American Medical Association in Chicago on June 15, 2009, a mantra he has repeated regularly - including during his 2012 re-election, when Republicans were saying that the law would force millions of Americans to lose their insurance.

"No one will take it away, no matter what," Obama has said.

But as potentially millions of Americans are learning now, the pledge came with some caveats.

If you think candy's sweet

There's a president guy you oughta meet

Sugar drips from his lips when he sighs

But the reality that lies

Within his baby eyes

How he lies, how he lies, how he lies

Reminder: Republicans have no interest in fixing Obamacare

Is HELP on the way?????????

In response to the disastrous rollout of key parts of President Barack Obama’s federal health care law, Republican lawmakers are asking questions on a daily basis about how and when HealthCare.gov, the website where Americans can find insurance options, will function properly.

Despite their concern, it can be easy to forget that the GOP has no interest in actually fixing the problems that plague the law, and Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday offered a friendly reminder.

“There is no way to fix this monstrosity,” Boehner said after a meeting with House Republicans. “The idea that the federal government is going to supply the health insurance for every American and write all the rules defies any, any sense from my standpoint.”

Boehner's statement confirms what should be obvious. House Republicans have voted 42 times to either repeal or change parts of the law, so their intention is no secret. But since HealthCare.gov launched Oct. 1, Republicans have shown an outpouring of concern about the site’s dysfunction. That concern is more about making the case to kill the law than it is about seeking solutions to fix it.

Last week the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing with the contractors who helped build HealthCare.gov, and several GOP lawmakers asked what could be done to fix the website.

“What we’re trying to figure out is how did all this taxpayer money get wasted and what is their remedy?” Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, the panel’s chairman, told The New York Times.

More Republican-organized hearings are planned this week: On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee is questioning Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, about the state of the law’s implementation, and on Wednesday, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, will testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Republican goal here is not necessarily to find solutions to the problems, but to expose them as part of an effort to stall the law’s complete implementation and, ultimately, to repeal it.

Republicans know that they can’t eliminate the law as long as they control only the House. (The failed effort to defund the law while threatening to shut down the government proved it.) For now, stalling is their best defense.

NYC Marathon returns after Boston attack

NEW YORK (AP) — Idrissa Kargbo threw his arms in the air to try to describe his excitement at learning of his entry into the New York City Marathon.

The runner from Sierra Leone, who boarded a plane for the first time to come to the race, is the sort of smiling face that used to define big-city marathons. On Monday, his story was only a brief delay to the questions about natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

The NYC Marathon is Sunday, an event usually associated with cheering fans lining streets and giddy runners waving to the cameras. Then came last year's race week.

The initial announcement that the marathon would go on after Superstorm Sandy prompted outrage from many New Yorkers at the prospect of diverting resources to a sporting event amid so much destruction. The late decision to cancel the race occurred after many out-of-town entrants had already flown in.

Then came April's Boston Marathon.

Two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260.

This NYC Marathon will look different in some ways: more barricades, bag screenings, bomb-sniffing dogs. Runners who returned after signing up for last year will wear special orange wristbands. The whole field will sport yellow and blue ribbons for the Boston victims.

For race organizer New York Road Runners, the wish is for most everything else to recapture the innocence of marathons past.

"We hope the day can be one that honors, remembers those hurt and still suffering, and we can provide for the city and for Boston and for people everywhere a back-to-basics celebrating the triumph of the human spirit," NYRR President Mary Wittenberg said Monday.

NSA chief defends agency amid U.S. spy rift with Europe

By Tabassum Zakaria and Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency defended his beleaguered organization on Tuesday, saying it acts within the law to stop militant attacks and calling reports that the NSA collected data on millions of phone calls in Europe false.

Army General Keith Alexander, testifying with other U.S. spy chiefs before the House of Representatives Intelligence committee, sought to defuse a growing controversy over reports of NSA snooping on citizens and leaders of major U.S. allies.

The hearing took place as Congress is weighing new legislative proposals that could limit some of the NSA's more expansive electronic intelligence collection programs.

"It is much more important for this country that we defend this nation and take the beatings than it is to give up a program that would result in this nation being attacked," Alexander said, referring to criticism of his agency.

On Monday, that criticism broadened to include Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate's intelligence panel and a long-time ally of U.S. spy agencies.

The White House has moved to limit some NSA programs, including one that monitored the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Reuters reported on Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama has also curtailed NSA monitoring of United Nations headquarters in New York.

But under sympathetic questioning from the committee chairman, Representative Mike Rogers, Alexander said reports of NSA spying in Europe were exaggerated. He called media reports in France, Spain and Italy that the NSA collected data on tens of millions of phone calls in those countries "completely false."

Some of the data referenced in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden were collected not just by the NSA itself but was also "provided to NSA by foreign partners," he said. "This is not information that we collected on European citizens. It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations."

The U.S. intelligence officials also sought to turn the tables, saying that Europeans also spy on the United States.

Where is Mister Kotter?

Dear Mister Speaker: 

"My son Barack won't be in his office today, he has a very severe case of "malfeasance," which has led to his catching "chasse" and made him very depressed.  We are not sure where he picked it up, but he has shown symptoms now for a few years. He seems to be worser today from it. He feels that some of the other people in Washington have been "verbally" abusing him and questioning some of his decisions. He feels bad from it. 

So he will not be in his office today.

Signed, "Barack's Mother"

John's New Christmas Album

What would Christmas be with the music of one Johnny Mathis. The larger one is his new one just being released. The red one, upper right, I have nearby, looking at me right now. The one to the right in the ski togs I had many years ago and wore it out. Mr. Mathis is still around and singing on a regular basis, he does a lot of shows. I saw him perform at Lake Tahoe, Harrah's South Shore Room, I think he was one of Bill Harrah's favorites. Bill was old fashioned, he liked his entertainers to "dress up," which Mathis always did.

The room darkened, stayed that way for a short time, a spotlight suddenly went on, and there, on stage, framed in that light, Mr. Mathis. And then, he sang, sang and sang, his hit songs. After many of those hits, "I bet you didn't think I could talk, did you."Entertainment personified." He and I were both born on the 30th of September, he is a few years younger though, and, apparently much more active. In Reno we occasionally went to the running track at the University of Nevada, and watched Johnny train, he was a "world class"athlete in his younger days. He is a big part of our Christmas Music ....... Glad he is still around....... "Chances Are" you will like his new album.

Some thoughts to brighten your afternoon - more to come

• What can you say about a nation that has more people getting handouts from the federal government than working full-time? According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people receiving means-tested welfare benefits is greater than the number of full-time workers in the United States.
• New numbers have just been released, and they show that the number of public school students in this country that are homeless is at an all-time record high. It is hard to believe, but right now 1.2 million students that attend public schools in America are homeless. That number has risen by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.
• When I was growing up, it seemed like almost everyone was from a middle class home. But now that has all changed. One recent study discovered that nearly half of all public students in the United States come from low income homes.
• How can anyone deny that we are a Socialist nation when half the people are getting money from the federal government each month? According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program.
• Signs of increasing poverty are even showing up in the wealthiest areas of the nation. According to the New York Post, New York subways are being "overrun with homeless".
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately one out of every six Americans is now living in poverty. The number of Americans living in poverty is now at a level not seen since the 1960's.
• The gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is at an all-time record high. The wealthy may not consider this to be much of a problem, but those at the other end of the spectrum are very aware of this.

A SERIOUS message in this foto .....

Obama Knew He Was Lying on Keeping Your Insurance

If you think candy's sweet

There's a guy in the white house

   you oughta meet

Sugar drips from his lips when he sighs

But the reality that lies

Within his baby eyes

How he lies, how he lies, how he lies

We all knew he was lying. Finally the liberal press is catching up. Check it out:

In a blockbuster report on Monday, sources told NBC News that at least half to three quarters of those who buy individual insurance will have that insurance cancelled by their insurers over the next year thanks to changes mandated by Obamacare. A huge number of the people forced off their current insurance will have “sticker shock,” the sources said. What’s more, President Obama knew all that even as he campaigned on the promise that if you liked your insurance, you could keep it: “the administration knew that more than 40 to 67 percent of those in the individual market would not be able to keep their plans, even if they liked them.”

Robert Laszewski of Health Policy and Strategy Associates has been a supporter of Obamacare, but stated, “This says that when they made the promise, they knew half the people in this market outright couldn’t keep what they had and then they wrote the rules so that others couldn’t make it either.” On Monday, White House spokesperson Jessica Santillo said that people might have to pay more for insurance, but that their insurance would be better: “One of the main goals of the law is to ensure that people have insurance they can rely on – that doesn’t discriminate or charge more based on pre-existing conditions. The consumers who are getting notices are in plans that do not provide all these protections – but in the vast majority of cases, those same insurers will automatically shift their enrollees to a plan that provides new consumer protections and, for nearly half of individual market enrollees, discounts through premium tax credits.”

Liberal Government Honors Child Molester

Harvey Milk was made famous when Sean Penn starred in the fictional biographic movie of Milk’s life. Before that, he was popular mostly in the gay community and in California politics, as Milk was the first openly gay politician elected to public office. Because of this distinction, Milk has become a pseudo-saint of the leftist gay community. The problem is that not only was Harvey Milk a homosexual, he was a chronic and serial child abuser.

Randy Shilts was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and a close friend of Milk’s. In his biography of Milk he wrote, “Harvey always had a penchant for young waifs with substance abuse problems.” One of those “waifs” was a 16 year old runaway from Maryland who Milk picked up on the streets of San Francisco. Of their relationship Shilts wrote,”… Sixteen-year-old McKinley was looking for some kind of father figure. … At 33, Milk was launching a new life, though he could hardly have imagined the unlikely direction toward which his new lover would pull him.”

More study of the life of Harvey Milk would lead one to learn that this young boy was not the only victim of Harvey Milk’s pederasty. One of the things that drove Harvey Milk was the desire to see America’s traditional cultural and sexual mores completely transformed. He believed that the monogamy expressed in heterosexual lifestyles was not natural to the human experience.

Randy Thomasson, child advocate and founder of SaveCalifornia.com, is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Harvey Milk. Of the Shilts biography, Thomasson notes, “Explaining Milk’s many flings and affairs with teenagers and young men, Randy Shilts writes how Milk told one ‘lover’ why it was OK for him to also have multiple relationships simultaneously: ‘As homosexuals, we can’t depend on the heterosexual model. … We grow up with the heterosexual model, but we don’t have to follow it. We should be developing our own lifestyle. There’s no reason why you can’t love more than one person at a time.’”

Normally a man who is a serial rapist of children would not be highly thought of, but for years Milk has been venerated by the Left. Indeed, President Obama has now made it official and even placed Milk on a commemorative stamp through the USPS. This is what happens when liberals are in charge – they call evil good, and good evil. It’s a complete travesty that Harvey Milk has been lionized in our nation, when, in reality, he was a violent and disgusting criminal who raped young boys whenever he could.

1 year on, Sandy survivors to light up shore

NEW YORK (AP) — Candles and flashlights will light up the shore along the East Coast as survivors of Superstorm Sandy pay their respects to what was lost when the storm roared ashore one year ago.

To mark Tuesday's anniversary, residents of coastal neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey that suffered some of the worst flooding are honoring that terrible day in ways both public and private.

On Staten Island, residents will light candles by the stretch of waterfront closest to their homes at 7:45 p.m. in a "Light the Shore" vigil. Along the Jersey Shore, people plan to shine flashlights in a symbolic triumph over the darkness that Sandy brought.

It's a time of healing for many who suffered in Sandy's wake. But the day also brings back frightening memories for people who survived the waves and wind that lashed their homes.

"People are terrified of the ocean, even though we've lived here all our lives," said Lily Corcoran, who lives in the New York City coastal neighborhood of Belle Harbor. "We're all terrified of the water and what it can do."

Sandy made landfall at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey shore. In New York City the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city's subway and commuter tunnels and knocking out power to the southern third of Manhattan.

The storm was blamed for at least 181 deaths in the U.S. — including 68 in New York and 71 in New Jersey — and property damages estimated at $65 billion.

Are we building bridges?

I have posted this before, got to thinking about my kids, grandkids and great grandkids, and thinking of what might lie in their future. Yea, it's depressing, but out of my control. I think I worry more about the grand and great grandkids more than I did our kids. I really have no control over them, just admire, be thankful for, and worry. I worry a lot, always did. Mom had to drag me to birthdays parties and such, got there, and didn't want to leave. Once, had to worry about having a catheter taken out for a couple of weeks, I was a nervous wreck when my wife dragged me to the doctors office. I remember cringing, eyes tightly closed, hands sweating, tense, "When are you going to take it out," I reluctantly asked the doctor .... "It is out."

I first heard this poem in about '44 at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago. My brother was going through a V-12 program and we went up for a visit. The Chaplain used this in his sermon. Eddy Peabody played hymns on his banjo. I knew my brother would soon be going off to war.

My Dad's story is here, for those interested.

Some have asked.

by Will Allen Dromgoole (1860-1934)

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening cold and gray
To a chasm vast and deep and wide
Through which was flowing a swollen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The rapids held no fears for him.
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” cried a fellow pilgrim near,
“You’re wasting your time in building here.
Your journey will end with the closing day;
You never again will pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide;
Why build you this bridge at even-tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head.
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There follows after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This stream, which has been as naught to me,
To that fair youth may a pitfall be.
He too must cross in the twilight dim —
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

10/28/2013

MONDAY, 28 October, 2013 - The sun is out, frost is on the car windshield, but I am sitting here in shorts, waiting for Indian Summer. If Caleb comes out for a walk now, I am in trouble. The news ....

Debating the Kennedy assassination.. Of all the problems we have in this country, that is probably the most pressing. It does not seem like it happened 50 years ago. I was standing at the front counter of Southgate Mens Shop where I was working. I guess we heard it on the radio. I remember hearing the news, and it seemed like the air was sucked out of the room, we all just stared.

Why, is still a question, so many questions about the incident that have gone unresolved to this day. Some even question the Warren Commission on their findings. Maybe the "networks" were given instructions to "get their minds off of our problems." Just a diversionary tactic so we don't think about what is perhaps the greatest "snafu" in history, Obamacare, or our "spying" efforts that have been uncovered. I don't think our country has ever been at a lower point in our history.

Do I believe it, you bet. It is now 9:15 AM, about an hour ago this laptop was working great, fast, windows opened right up with lightening speed. And then, about 8:30, I was sending an email,  a   n   d      t   h   e  n      i   t      s    l   o   w   e   d     d    o    w     n     . Do I feel like someone is either look at, or copying my files, yes. And then we read where millions of phones are tapped, all around the world. I finally got the email sent, but it too ten times longer than it should have.

For those who asked, this is the STEAK link.

For the gentleman in Spain, thanks for the email, here is the link to my PHONE MESSAGE. Thanks for asking. I will try to dig up that information and get it out to you today.
I hope all have a nice week.

U.S. NSA spied on 60 million Spanish phone calls in a month

MADRID (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) recently tracked over 60 million calls in Spain in the space of a month, a Spanish newspaper said on Monday, citing a document which it said formed part of papers obtained from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Spain's government has so far said it was not aware its citizens had been spied on by the NSA, which has been accused of accessing tens of thousands of French phone records and monitoring the phone of German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Spain on Friday resisted calls from Germany for the European Union's 28 member states to reach a "no-spy deal", similar to an agreement Berlin and Paris are seeking, though Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the country was looking for more information.

El Mundo newspaper on Monday reproduced a graphic, which it said was an NSA document showing the agency had spied on 60.5 million phone calls in Spain between December 10, 2012 and January 8 this year.

The newspaper said it had reached a deal with Glenn Greenwald, the Brazil-based journalist who has worked with other media on information provided to him by Snowden, to get access to documents affecting Spain.

El Mundo said the telephone monitoring did not appear to track the content of calls but their duration and where they took place.

Spain's European secretary of state and the U.S. ambassador in Spain were scheduled to meet on Monday, after Rajoy said on Friday he too would seek more details from the ambassador.

Someday soon

Meteorologists spy clue to heat waves weeks away

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meteorologists may have found a way to predict some killer heat waves up to three weeks in advance. Now, the best they can do is about 10 days.

An earlier warning would help cities prepare for the heat wave, arrange to open up cooling centers and check on the elderly, said Gerald Meehl, co-author of a study that describes the forecasting clue.

"It gives you a little bit of a heads up of what's coming," he said.

The key may be a certain pattern of high and low pressure spots across the globe high in the sky. When that pattern shows up, the chances double for a prolonged and intense heat wave in the eastern two-thirds of the United States, according to the study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

This could predict some types of heat waves but not all, meteorologists said. The study's authors said they think the pattern occurred before last year's heat wave in much of the central United States, but they still need more work to confirm it.

The researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., looked at heat waves that lasted at least a week and were about 5 to 8 degrees warmer than normal. In any given summer week, the odds of a heat wave like this happening are usually only about 1 in 67 in the U.S.

They did thousands of computer simulations and discovered that when high pressure and low pressure systems line up in a specific pattern, it foreshadows heat to come in about 15 to 20 days. Scientists call this 4-mile-high pattern wave No. 5.

The weather on the ground at the time of the pattern really doesn't matter; it can be rainy, dry, hot or cold, said study lead author Haiyan Teng, a scientist at the research center. The same pattern that signals a U.S. heat wave also indicates different extreme weather in other parts of the globe, like heavy rains, she said

This wave pattern was seen before the 1980 heat wave that was blamed for 1,250 deaths and pushed temperatures over 100 degrees in Dallas every day, said Randall Dole, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Triple-digit temperatures in Dallas persisted for a record 42 consecutive days that year. Dole, who wasn't part of the study, said the science behind the study is sound, significant and may be practical after extensive testing.

US denies Obama knew of Merkel spying

Earlier HEADLINE: Obama aware of Merkel spying since 2010: German report .... 

DEFINITION: lies; Any information that originates in Washington, DC, whether printed or oral, generally a source of such mis-information is a "politician" or anyone involved in the actual day to day running of the country, at any level. 

If you think candy's sweetThere's a president guy you oughta meetSugar drips from his lips when he sighsBut the reality that liesWithin his baby eyesHow he lies, how he lies, how he lies

Washington (AFP) - The imbroglio over the tapping of Angela Merkel's phone deepened Sunday, after a US denial that President Barack Obama was personally informed for years of electronic surveillance against the German chancellor.

As a sense of betrayal spread in European capitals about spying activities conducted against world leaders and ordinary citizens, German media reports said tapping of Merkel's phone may have begun as early as 2002.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that America's National Security Agency chief General Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.

"Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue," the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying.

News weekly Der Spiegel reported that leaked NSA documents showed Merkel's phone had appeared on a list of spying targets for over a decade, and was still under surveillance weeks before Obama visited Berlin in June.

But NSA spokeswoman Vanee' Vines, in Washington, flatly denied the claims.

Britain braces for worst storm in a decade

London (AFP) - Britain was braced on Sunday for its worst storm in a decade, with heavy rain and winds of more than 80 miles (130 kilometres) an hour set to batter the south of the country.

The Met Office national weather centre warned of falling trees, damage to buildings and disruption to power supplies and transport when the storm hits overnight to Monday.

Between 20 and 40 millimetres (0.8 to 1.6 inches) of rain is predicted to fall within six to nine hours starting on Sunday evening, with a chance of localised flooding.

It will be followed by widespread gusts of 60 to 70 miles an hour across southern England and south Wales on Monday, with winds reaching more than 80 miles an hour in some areas, forecasters say.

The Met Office issued an "amber" wind warning for the region, the third highest in a four-level scale, and urged people to delay their Monday morning journeys to work to avoid the worst of the bad weather.

London's rush-hour looked set to be chaotic after train companies First Capital Connect, C2C, Greater Anglia, Southern and Gatwick Express services all said they would not run services on Monday until it was safe to do so. That is likely to be after 9.00am (0900 GMT), according to forecasts.

Major airports also warned of disruption to flights with London-hub Heathrow expecting approximately 30 cancellations.

Cross-channel train service Eurostar said it would not be running trains on Monday until 7.00am, meaning delays to early services.

Several ferry operators said they had cancelled some cross-Channel services and Irish Sea crossings.

Britain last experienced similar wind strengths in March 2008, but forecaster Helen Chivers told AFP the expected damage was more comparable with a storm seen in October 2002.

The Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are going to retain their name, they will still be the "Redskins."

Now, however, referring to Redskin Potatoes.

This is their new logo affixed to their helmet.

This news courtesy of Frank Beckman and his Facebook post, it was submitted by a listener, Paul Johnson.

Some people in Detroit still have a good sense of humor.

B ONE G

On my soap box today a little. I have sent a number of emails to The Big Ten, and gotten absolutely no answer from them,, that I know of. Why, you ask, this is their logo ..

ANYONE who know type styles or fonts knows that is a ONE .... it says

B ONE G

And, no one will explain to me, why it says that.

I am sure they have a plausible answer.

And, why, the ONE G is blue and the B is black.

In this one, they use an I but work a ONE in between the T and the E

So I am reasonably sure it is intentional, but I cannot figure out why.

If you know the answer, please Email it to me

joedooley@yahoo.com

So, this is your Dad .............

Irving Raskin Levine

 (August 26, 1922 – March 27, 2009) was an American journalist and longtime correspondent for NBC News. During his 45-year career, Levine reported from more than two dozen countries. He was the first American television correspondent to be accredited in the Soviet Union. He wrote three non-fiction books on life in the USSR, each of which became a bestseller.


Why write about him, you ask, well, I'll tell you. At Newark Leader, where I worked for 20 years, for a number of years we worked with Denison Univerisity, and assisted with the production of their newspaper, The Denisonian.

We did the typesetting and assisted the students in getting it ready for press. We even printed it at one time. 

The had their own staff which came to our plant and did the work, getting it ready for press. One semester, the editor of the paper was Dan Levine. He became a favorite, very personable, and he worked well with our staff. I think we had a restaurant then and he even came out and ate a few times. Really liked him.

At the end of his year, on graduation weekend, he came to our plant with his parents, and asked if he could show them where he worked and showed them around the plant.

"This is my Mom, and my Dad, Irving R. Levine." We had always pronounced his name, Dan Lavin, when in reality he was Dan Laveen, and he never mentioned his parents, probably never came up. I was very familiar with his Dad, had heard his reports for many years, he was a favorite newscaster and reporter of mine.

So, I took Irving R. Levine and his wife on a plant tour and explained "offset printing" to them. He was very attentive, asked many questions, very gracious, and extremely interested in the process. He and his wife were very gracious, just Dan's Mom and Dad.

Michigan middle school football team conspires for touching touchdown

This is a GREAT story, saw it on TV, gives me hope for the future, their are still compassionate, understanding young people out there.

(CBS News) OLIVET, Mich. -- Between classes, they schemed and conspired. For weeks, the football players at Olivet Middle School in Olivet, Mich., secretly planned their remarkable play.

"Everyone was in on it," says Nick Jungel. "But the coaches didn't know anything about it," Parker Smith says. "We were, like, going behind their back." We've never heard of a team coming up with a plan to not score. "It's just like to make someone's day, make someone's week, just make them happy," Justice Miller says.

The play -- which was two plays, actually -- happened at a home game earlier this month. The first part of their plan was to try to get as close to the goal line as possible without scoring, even if it meant taking a dive on the one-yard-line, which it did. The crowd was not happy. "But us kids knew, hey, we got this, this is our time, this is Keith's time," Parker, the quarterback, says.

Keith Orr is the little kid in the brown jacket. He's learning disabled, struggles with boundaries -- but in the sweetest possible way. Because of his special nature, it's no surprise that Keith embraces his fellow football players. What is surprising is how they have embraced him. "We thought it would be cool to do something for him," Parker says.

"Because we really wanted to prove that he was part of our team and he meant a lot to us," adds Nick. "Nothing can really explain getting a touchdown when you've never had one before," says Justice.

Which brings us to part two of their play. If you didn't see Keith, it's because they were so protective of him, but he was in the middle of the rush.

When they crossed the goal line, Keith says it was "awesome." "It was like, 'Did he just score a touchdown?'" Keith's mom, Carrie, says.

"Get your camera out!" his dad, Jim, remembers saying. Keith's parents almost missed the moment, but they got the significance.

She's right. When the football team decides you're cool, pretty much everyone follows suit. Today, Keith is a new kid, although by no means was he the only one who was profoundly changed."Somebody is always going to have his back -- from now until the day he graduates," Carrie says.

"Once I saw him go in, I was smiling to here," says Justice, a wide receiver, pointing to his cheeks. "Nothing could wipe that smile off my face." Asked why it affected him so much, Justice turns emotional.

"Because he's never been cool or popular, and he went from being, like, pretty much a nobody to making everyone's day," he says.

He says it never crossed his mind to give Keith any glory.Justice admits the play wasn't his idea, saying, "I would have not really thought of that."

"I kind of went from being somebody who mostly cared about myself and my friends to caring about everyone and trying to make everyone's day and everyone's life," he says.

Which may just make that touchdown the most successful football play of all time.

HERE IS THE VIDEO TO WATCH

Obama aware of Merkel spying since 2010: German report

Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama was personally informed of mobile phone tapping against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which may have begun as early as 2002, German media reported Sunday.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.

"Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue," the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying.

Meanwhile newsweekly Der Spiegel reported ahead of its Monday issue that leaked NSA documents showed Merkel's phone had appeared on a list of spying targets since 2002, and was still under surveillance weeks before Obama visited Berlin in June.

The spying row has prompted European leaders to demand a new deal with Washington on intelligence gathering that would maintain an essential alliance while keeping the fight against terrorism on track.

Germany will send its own spy chiefs to the United States next week to demand answers following the allegations that US intelligence has been tapping Merkel's mobile phone, as the row threatened to fray transatlantic ties.

Merkel confronted Obama with the suspicion in a phone call on Wednesday saying that spying on allies would be a "breach of trust" between international partners.

The Time I Was Questioned by Police for Knitting in a Starbucks

I'm sitting at Starbucks, which I rarely do. It's hard to knit there. A lot of people still find it weird for a man to be knitting in public. But, for us fellas that knit, it's nothing short of ordinary. There are many people that see us, see what we're doing and find themselves asking us lots of questions. And they have no problem stopping to ask questions while you're in the middle of counting.

I've been asked on numerous occasion on email if I ever go out to knit with groups or have knitting friends. Sadly, I don't. I'm too busy counting. I can't lift my head from the stitches to hear what's being said. I'm so focused. I'm there with the rows, both knit side and purl sides facing with the work, and the rest of the world falls away into.... well, nothing.

So, I'm at said Starbucks working up one of my teddy bears, roughly 8 a.m., figured I was safe, not too many people running in and out. And as I'm working on row 10 of the body of the bear, I see three sets of Orange County Sheriffs officers' legs approach.

I hear the clearing of a voice, "Ahem... What are you doing?"

I look up and see them staring at me strangely. A trio of enormously inquisitive men in their early 30s pulling up their belts, propping themselves in that "stance." Authoritative, broad, forceful.

Now, you've seen how I look. I imagine I was mistaken for a vagrant and was going to be asked to move along. They do it at Starbucks all the time. Little known secret. You can look rough and sit outside with your coffee and yes, someone will ask you to move on if they think that coffee was left behind by someone else. Even though I've paid for the coffee, all it takes is a yuppie couple with a baby feeling "threatened" by the unsavory looking guy outside.

"Could you ask him to leave? Did he pay for that coffee? Or is he just taking up space so we can't sit out there with our SUV sized baby stroller? Besides he smells of... something (Old Spice) and our little one is allergic..."

Happens all the time. They spent a gazillion dollars on a latte and a cappuccino and all I had was a tall coffee, with no room for milk. I'm not as important.

You know how it is. Oh, you know how it is...

"What is that you're doing?" One of the officer's asked, staring me dead in the face.

"I'm making a teddy bear."

"But, what is it you're doing? Is that needlepoint?"

"No! No, it's knitting."

"I knew it," he screamed to the guy to his left! "See? I told you it was knitting! I just never saw anyone do it with four needles before. That ain't needlepoint! I knew it! I knew it!"

"Oh! Yeah! Well, it's so you can work up stuff without a seam," I responded.

"A teddy bear, you said?"

"Yea... or socks. You can do all kinds of things if you can work double pointed needles," I said.

The other two were equally impressed.

"I've never seen anyone do knitting like that before."

OK. So, here is where my own charm popped in. I wanted to say, "It's quite common. These are double pointed needles. It's basic knitting 101."

Oh, no. A trio of hot, burly, sexy virile young deputies?!

I replied, "That's cuz I'm a master, a knitting ninja," I twirled one of the double pointed needles between my fingers. "Yeah. Ninja..."

They all laughed, snorting coffee out of their noses and spilling crumpet crumbs to the ground. (Funny, huh? Cops with crumpets? Ha ha!) One shook my hand and said, "I'm impressed. I've never seen a man knit before, but I have definitely never met a knitting 'ninja' before. This your usual time?"

It was about 8 a.m. "Yeah... yeah, it is."

"OK, we'll see you next time... and if you have any trouble you let us know. Even ninjas need back up."

Thanks, fellas. I will. The next time I'm there, I'll complain about a yuppie couple with a stroller giving me a hard time.

Gregory Patrick is a writer and knitter in Orlando, Florida. Patrick writes the blog madmanknitting.wordpress.com, where this post first appeared. Check out his hand-knit teddy bears here.

Report: US May Have Bugged Merkel Phone for More than a Decade

The U.S. National Security Agency may have bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for more than 10 years, according to a news report Saturday by the German weekly Der Spiegel. 

Der Spiegel also cited a source in Ms. Merkel's office saying U.S. President Barack Obama apologized to the German leader when she called him this past Wednesday to seek clarification on the issue.

A Merkel spokesman and the White House declined comment.

Germany plans to send its intelligence chiefs to Washington in the coming days to seek answers on the spying allegations.

Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that show sweeping U.S. surveillance on Internet searches and telephone records of ordinary citizens and world leaders have sparked outrage globally.

Germany is also working with Brazil on a draft United Nations General Assembly resolution to guarantee people's privacy in electronic communications. U.N. diplomats say it would call for extending the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to Internet activities, but would not mention the United States.

Protesters march in Washington against NSA spying

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters marched on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday to protest the U.S. government's online surveillance programs, whose vast scope was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

People carried signs reading: "Stop Mass Spying," "Thank you, Edward Snowden" and "Unplug Big Brother" as they gathered at the foot of the Capitol to demonstrate against the online surveillance by the National Security Agency.

Estimates varied on the size of the march, with organizers saying more than 2,000 attended. U.S. Capitol Police said they do not typically provide estimates on the size of demonstrations.

The march attracted protesters from both ends of the political spectrum as liberal privacy advocates walked alongside members of the conservative Tea Party movement in opposition to what they say is unlawful government spying on Americans.

"I consider myself a conservative and no conservative wants their government collecting information on them and storing it and using it," said Michael Greene, one of the protesters.

"Over the past several months, we have learned so much about the abuses (of privacy) that are going on and the complete lack of oversight and the mass surveillance into every detail of our lives. And we need to tell Congress that they have to act," said another protester, Jennifer Wynne.