Friday, May 7, 2010
Barker's Newsbites: Friday, May 7, 2010
Good news! Mary and I are booked for our "Charleston or Bust" mini-vacation!
Yep... in a few short weeks we'll be winging across the sky headed for Charleston, SC to check out our brother-in-law's new stomping ground where he lives along with "The Nephews."
Those boys better have my "Welcome Uncle Bill!" song written and scored by the time we arrive...
(*WINK*)
And now... on to the newsbites...!!!
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Jobs-up-290000-jobless-rate-apf-560235210.html?x=0&.v=6
The economy got what it was looking for in April: A burst of hiring that added a net 290,000 jobs, the biggest monthly total in four years.
(*SNORT*)
The improving economy drew so many more people into the labor force in search of employment that the jobless rate rose to 9.9%.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*) (*SNORT*) (*CHUCKLE*)
The hiring last month of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census added to overall job creation. But private employers - the backbone of the economy - contributed the most: A surprisingly strong 231,000 jobs, the most since March 2006, the Labor Department said Friday.
* NOT TO BE A WET BLANKET, BUT... (*SIGH*)... STAY TUNED FOLKS; IT AIN'T WHAT THE MEDIA WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE.
The unemployment rate rose from 9.7% in March to 9.9% in April, mainly because 805,000 jobseekers - perhaps feeling better about their prospects - resumed their searches for work.
(*HEADACHE*)
The rate could climb back up to the 10% range in the months ahead, [president of Naroff Economic Advisors Joel] Naroff said.
(*SIGH*)
Consumers increased their spending in March by the largest amount in five months.
* WE'VE ADDRESSED THIS BEFORE; THE SPENDING IS COMING FROM RENEWED BORROWING/DEBT, OBAMA, BERNANKE, AND THE DEMS ARE ENCOURAGING THE SAME SHORT TERM THINKING (AND IRRESPONSIBLE FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING!) WHICH GOT AMERICA INTO THE MESS IT'S IN IN THE FIRST PLACE...!!!
All told, 15.3 million people were out of work in April.
[The] underemployment rate [U6] rose to 17.1% in April.
(*HEADACHE GETTING WORSE*)
The number of people out of work six months or longer reached 6.7 million in April, a new high. These people made up 45.9% of all unemployed people, also a record high.
Europe's debt crisis will probably dampen demand for U.S. exports. And the debt crisis may continue to weigh on markets. Thursday's stock market plunge - the Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 1,000 points before recovering two-thirds of its losses - introduced fresh uncertainties.
* NOTICE... THE ARTICLE DOESN'T EVEN ADDRESS WHAT RISING ENERGY PRICES WILL DO TO THE ECONOMY; WHAT THEY'LL DO TO CONSUMERS.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703686304575228582377071698.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
Illinois lawmakers were in disarray Thursday as they groped for stopgap measures to address a $13 billion deficit equaling nearly half of the state's general-fund revenue.
Illinois is months late on many of its bills and has no plan for catching up. ... [C]onfusion in the legislature indicates that serious steps to fix state finances won't be taken until after the November elections - if then.
The legislature may push the problem to the governor's office by granting Mr. Quinn emergency budget powers and adjourning Friday, about three weeks earlier than usual.
(*BURSTING OUT IN LAUGHTER*) (*WIPING TEARS OF MIRTH FROM MY EYES*)
* OK.. IT'S NOT "FUNNY" FUNNY... BUT JEEZ... YOU JUST HAVE TO LAUGH. I MEAN... THIS IS INSANE! THIS IS REALITY - NOT A SATIRE CARRIED IN THE ONION...
The [state] House also is considering authorizing a sale of expected tobacco-settlement funds...
(*SNORT*) FOLKS... I COULDN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP EVEN IF I WERE SO INCLINED!
House Minority Leader Tom Cross called the tobacco-settlement plan "a gimmick" and said he and other Republicans oppose borrowing the pension payment.
Regardless of its final form, the budget will leave the state borrowing for short-term operations and postponing its bills.
Lawmakers also are weighing the idea of postponing pension payments for the first half of the fiscal year...
* THUS CREATING FURTHER FUTURE PROBLEMS... (*HEADACHE*)
Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes said in his April report that the state's cash position for the quarter ending June 30 "looks exceedingly difficult." By June 10, Illinois must repay $1.75 billion, plus interest, in short-term borrowing.
Meanwhile, the state still owes billions of dollars to hospitals, universities, social-service providers and others. Mr. Hynes said the state's backlog of unpaid bills probably will exceed $5.5 billion at the end of June.
* AGAIN, FOLKS... THIS IS FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL... NOT THE ONION... NOT SNL..
(*SIGH*)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1274405/Women-waiting-longer-children-U-S--record-41-unmarried.html
The number of children born outside marriage in the United States has increased dramatically to four out of ten of all births.
Figures show that 41% of children born in 2008 did not have married parents - up from 28% in 1990.
Having a child out of wedlock does not carry the stigma and shame it once did, they say.
* WELL... THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM SO MUCH AS IS THE FACT THAT HAVING A CHILD YOU CAN'T SUPPORT NO LONGER CARRIES THE STIGMA IT ONCE DID. LISTEN... YOU WANNA SHACK UP... FINE... BUT RESPONSIBLE PARENTS FINANCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN. WHETHER THERE'S A PIECE OF PAPER SIGNIFYING "MARRIAGE" IS OF FAR, FAR SECONDARY IMPORTANCE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.
The study also found that in America there is a declining number of teenage mothers...(THANK GOD FOR THAT)...By comparison, Britain has the worst teenage pregnancy rate in Europe with 45% of children born outside of wedlock in 2008.
* A TRAGEDY...
The share of births to unmarried mothers had increased most among white and traditionally Catholic Hispanic women.
* INTERESTING... (*SHRUG*) (*NOD*)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDTfQgn-ERmhdFdC1qYiqlhXXVwQD9FHP7U00
Los Angeles police have arrested more than a dozen protesters who chained themselves together on a downtown street to protest Arizona's new immigration law.
Protest spokesman Nelson Motto says 14 activists locked themselves in a circle Thursday afternoon and lay down in front of federal immigration detention center, blocking traffic for about four hours.
Dozens of helmeted officers surrounded the demonstrators before declaring an unlawful assembly and making arrests. No injuries were reported.
City attorney spokesman John Franklin says the 14 demonstrators will be charged with interfering with police work and failure to disperse.
The demonstrators oppose Arizona's new law and say illegal immigrants now in the U.S should be legalized.
* OK. I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THE PEACEFUL PROTEST - THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. THESE FOLKS ARE WILLING TO BE ARRESTED IN ORDER TO MAKE A POINT AND SINCE THEIR ACTION (AS DESCRIBED BY AP) WAS PEACEFUL AND CAUSED NEITHER INJURY NOR PROPERTY DAMAGE... FINE... PROTEST AWAY!
* WHAT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IS IT TAKING FOUR HOURS AND DOZENS OF COPS TO ARREST 14 FRIGG'N PEOPLE...!!!
(*MASSIVE MIGRAINE HEADACHE*)
http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-07/european-bank-risk-soars-to-record-default-swaps-overtake-lehman-crisis.html
The cost of insuring against losses on European bank bonds soared to a record, surpassing levels triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., as the sovereign debt crisis deepened.
* JUST REMEMBER FOLKS... (*DARK CHUCKLE*)... THE ECONOMY IS... er... RECOVERING... (YEAH... THAT'S IT... RECOVERING!) (*SMIRK*)
Credit risk rose for a sixth day on concern the Greek debt crisis is spiraling out of control...
* BY "SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL" THEY CLEARLY MEAN... er... "RECOVERING." (*SMIRK*) (*SNICKER*)
The Group of Seven plans to hold a conference call today to discuss the turmoil, after a global stock rout...
* AGAIN... TO BE CLEAR... BY "TURMOIL" THEY CLEARLY MEAN "NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT"; BY "ROUT" THEY MEAN... er... TEMPORARY HICCUP WITH REGARD TO THE... er... "GLOBAL RECOVERY."
“Financials are caught in a really bad place right now,” said Aziz Sunderji, a London-based credit strategist at Barclays Capital. “Investors are selling bonds, not just hedging with CDS. It shows investors are repositioning portfolios and there’s a more long-term repricing of peripheral risk.”
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Mohamed El-Erian and Loomis Sayles & Co.’s Dan Fuss said Europe’s crisis may spread across the globe because of investor concern that governments have borrowed too much to revive their economies.
* OH, IGNORE ALL THAT GOBBLEY-GOOK! JUST THINK OF IT AS DESCRIBING... umm... THE UNDERLYING FACTORS OF THE GREATEST ECONOMIC RECOVERY THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN! (*WINK*) BUCK UP! HAVE A DRINK!
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/96571-gop-continues-its-effort-to-thwart-eu-bailouts?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), vice chair of the House Republican Conference, on Thursday said the Dow losing approximately 348 points should signal the Obama administration that the Greece bailout will not help to restore the market.
* GOD BLESS YOU CONGRESSWOMAN RODGERS...
Rodgers and House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) also sent a letter to Vice President Joseph Biden urging him to oppose a potential bailout of Spain, which appears to be teetering toward financial crisis.
"Should Spain request a bailout from the IMF, we urge you to make it clear that the U.S. will oppose such a bailout, and do all in its power as the IMF's leading contributor to reject putting American money further at risk," they wrote. "The U.S. did not implement the policies that have caused Spain's debt issue and the U.S. taxpayer should not be put at risk to bail them out."
* HEAR! HEAR!
The lawmakers have already sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner calling on him to oppose the $145 billion bailout of Greece, as well as future European bailouts.
http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/265420-hispanic-students-march-through-downtown-for-respect
About 200 Hispanic teens [were] marching in Morgan Hill [California] yelling "We want respect!" and "Si se puede!"...
The group - mostly high school students - walked out of school [yesterday] morning...
* SUSPEND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MEANS BEING WILLING TO ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS. (INDEED... THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!)
Six police cars and a Morgan Hill motorcycle officer [cruised] alongside...
(*ROLLING MY EYES*)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100506/sc_nm/us_climate_science
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 250 U.S. scientists on Thursday defended climate change research against "political assaults" and warned that any delay in tackling global warming heightens the risk of a planet-wide catastrophe.
* OK. THE REASON I HIGHLIGHT "WASHINGTON (Reuters)" IS SIMPLY TO MAKE THE POINT THAT THIS ARTICLE IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF WHY IT'S A DAMN SHAME THAT "BARKER'S NEWSBITES" WILL NEVER REACH MORE THAN A TINY AUDIENCE.
* READ THE FULL REUTERS PIECE. THEN... ASSUMING YOU'RE EITHER A REGULAR "BARKER'S NEWSBITES" READER OR ELSE YOU POUR THROUGH THE SAME AMOUNTS OF QUALITY NEWS AS I DO ON A DAILY BASIS... YOU'LL SEE MY POINT, NAMELY: REUTERS IS BASICALLY FULL OF SHIT.
* FIRST OF ALL, CONSIDER... OR RATHER GUESS... HOW MANY OF THESE "SCIENTISTS" DO YOU SUPPOSE ARE "CLIMATE SCIENTISTS" - EXPERTS IN THE SPECIFIC FIELD, NOT GENERAL "SCIENTISTS" QUALIFIED TO SPEAK AUTHORITATIVELY ON THE ISSUE?
* PUTTING THAT ASIDE... THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IS MADE UP OF 2,100 MEMBERS, 350 FOREIGN ASSOCIATES, AND THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE SPREAD OVER 31 DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES. RE-READ THE OPENING PARAGRAPH: "MORE THAN 250..." (*SNORT*) WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER 90% OF THE ORGANIZATION'S MEMBERSHIP...??? (*SMIRK*)
* CONTINUING... "ALLEGED" PROBLEMS WITH RESEARCH. REUTERS SAYS...?!?! (*LAUGING MY ASS OFF*)
* CONTINUING TO QUOTE THE "VOICE" OF THE REUTER'S PIECE... "An inquiry last month cleared the British researchers of wrongdoing in the "climate-gate" case."
* HA! HA! HA! (*ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING AT THAT ONE*)
* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... PROPAGANDA THINLY DISGUISED AS NEWS. PATHETIC REALLY. WHAT'S REALLY SCARY... THE AVERAGE READER WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT "WE" KNOW NO DOUBT TAKES THE "REPORTING" AT FACE VALUE.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9FI3UP80&show_article=1
Minnesota [Republican] Gov. Tim Pawlenty warned on Friday of "an imminent and severe cash flow crisis" in an executive order that requires agency commissioners to plan for state service interruptions. The order instructed Pawlenty's cabinet members to identify core functions pertaining to "life, health and safety of Minnesota citizens."
The scrambling follows a state Supreme Court ruling that Pawlenty overstepped his authority in making budget cuts on his own last summer after negotiations with the Legislature reached an impasse.
(*SHRUG*) SO NOW WHAT...???
Pawlenty has asked lawmakers to pass a bill ratifying last year's cuts, which included $1.8 billion in delayed school aid checks. ... Democratic leaders gave little indication that they would simply sign off on the cuts of last year. Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, a Minneapolis Democrat, said Thursday that the governor's cuts don't have enough support in the Legislature to pass.
* AND SO...??? WHAT'S THE DEM PLAN - TO SIMPLY REFUSE TO PRIORITIZE AND ALLOW THE STATE OF MINNESOTA TO BASICALLY COLLAPSE...???
"The governor's proposal is not viable. It's not wise. It's not in the long-term interests of the state," Pogemiller said.
* COMPARED TO WHAT...?!?! THERE'S X AMOUNT OF MONEY... THE DEMS APPARENTLY WANT TO SPEND X PLUS MORE. I'M NOT A MATH WIZ, BUT... (*SMIRK*)
Pogemiller called the situation the result of "several years of inattentiveness" by Pawlenty, who has long resisted tax increases and last year vetoed a Democratic plan that would have included one.
* GOD BLESS PAWLENTY! THE PROBLEM ISN'T THAT TAXES AREN'T HIGH ENOUGH; THE PROBLEM IS OBVIOUSLY THAT MINNESOTA DEMS WANT TO SPEND MORE MONEY THAN THE STATE HAS IN IT'S COFFERS!
Pawlenty and Republican leaders say they won't agree to tax increases to close the gap.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/burger-king-one-dollar-double-cheeseburger/5/7/2010/id/28186
Yesterday, lawyers for Burger King asked US District Judge K. Michael Moore to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by franchisees over the $1 double cheeseburger, which has been driving a beef-and-cheddar flavored wedge between restaurant operators and corporate headquarters since it launched in October.
Angry franchisees, who operate 90% of all Burger King locations, voted against selling the sandwich for $1 twice before BK executives in Miami overrode their wishes and made it a mandatory menu item.
Burger King attorney Michael Joblove argued, “We're responding to the competition. Everyone is out there with $1 products.”
[Problem is]... there’s no question that selling double cheeseburgers for $1 was not generating sufficient profit margins for the nine out of 10 BK restaurants that are not company-owned.
Burger King attorney Michael Joblove...contended that margins on the $1 double cheeseburger amounted to approximately 40%.
But, according to franchisee Dan Fitzpatrick, that’s not so.
Fitzpatrick claims that, between the price of ingredients -- $0.55 or so for meat, bun, cheese, lettuce, and tomato -- and rent, labor costs, and royalties paid to the parent company, each $1 double cheeseburger is a money-loser.
“You could conservatively indicate that it costs us between $1.10 and $1.15 per double cheeseburger that we sell with all of our fixed and variable costs being covered," he told Nation’s Restaurant News. "So when your revenue is only a dollar, it’s pretty clear that we’re not making money.”
If Burger King’s latest 10-Q, filed April 30, is to be believed, it’s not so, either. The document points out that “Negative comparable sales growth in the US and Canada of 4.6% (in constant currencies) for the nine months ended March 31, 2010, was driven by lower levels of guest spending due to value promotions in the US, such as the $1 double cheeseburger promotion.”
Further bolstering the franchisees’ position, the promotion also didn’t act as a loss-leader. Burger King CFO Ben Wells said on an earnings call last week that, while the $1 double cheeseburger deal ran, the average check dropped 5%, while purchases off the value menu increased to 20%, up from 12%.
This is likely why Burger King’s third-quarter same-store sales profits declined 13% even though customer traffic was up.
* WHY DID I POST THIS YOU MIGHT ASK...??? BECAUSE IT FITS IN TO THE BASIC CONCEPT THAT WHEN YOU TRY TO RUN AN OPERATION WHERE OUTFLOW OF MONEY SURPASSES INFLOW... YOU'VE GOT A FRIGG'N PROBLEM ON YOUR HANDS; DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S BURGERS OR HEALTHCARE. JUST THINK ABOUT IT... (*SIGH*)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575224033831995628.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion
* FOLKS. I STRONGLY URGE - EVEN IMPLORE - YOU TO FOLLOW THE LINK AND READ THIS OP-ED. IT'S MIND BLOWING AND INFURIATING.
In May of 2007 two unique cancer therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer and osteosarcoma (a type of bone cancer) came under review at the FDA on the same day.
Both the new agent for prostate cancer, Provenge, and the new agent for osteosarcoma, Mepact, had shown the ability to prolong lives to a significant degree.
[Nevertheless...] both drugs were summarily rejected.
Provenge and Mepact were tossed back to the companies developing them with the directive to do more clinical studies.
In the three years that it took to duplicate what was already known, upwards of 80,000 men lost their lives to prostate cancer. This is equal to the number of men killed in combat in the Korean, Vietnam and Iraq wars combined.
[The retesting]...was easy enough for Provenge, due to the return on the risk of investment possible with a new prostate cancer drug and the large number of men with the disease available for another clinical trial. The Dendreon company, makers of Provenge, worked as quickly as possible to redo their already successful trial. The results of the new trial turned out the same as the original, and the drug was finally approved by the FDA last week.
* AS TO THOSE SUFFERING FROM OSTEOSARCOMA... (*SIGH*)...
Osteosarcoma effects "only" 900 Americans, mostly children and young adults, each year.
The FDA's stunningly cavalier demand for another clinical trial for Mepact was made with the full knowledge that the repeat effort would require about 900 new patients. Imagine if a clinical trial for a new asthma or diabetes drug required every single patient in the country to be included not once but twice and you will begin to appreciate the profound predicament those of us in the rare-disease community face when it comes to the FDA's irrational standards.
* AND UNDERSTAND THE PREDICAMENT OF THE PATIENTS AND THEIR LOVED ONES...
* FOLKS... READ THE FULL OP-ED.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575226651125226596.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
The Greeks are giving the world a good taste of their modern politics. Periclean democracy, meet Athenian mob rule: Tens of thousands are rampaging through the capital and other large cities this week...
(*SIGH*)
In terms of overall ease of doing business, Greece comes in 109 out of 183 countries around the world. It is dead last among the 27 members of the European Union as well as the advanced economies in the OECD. You have to go up 30 slots to find the next worst EU performer, Italy.
(The U.S. ranks fourth and Singapore is first.)
At 109, Greece ranks below such models of transparency and free enterprise as Egypt (106), Zambia (90), Rwanda (67) and Kazakhstan (63). A country has to work hard to do this poorly.
* WHICH IS WHY I DON'T WANT TO SEE "GOOD" US TAXPAYER DOLLARS THROWN AFTER BAD BY THOSE SCHMUCKS AT THE IMF!!! IF THE EUROPEANS WANT TO SUBSIDIZE THIS SHIT I SAY "LET 'EM." BUT I DON'T WANT MY AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS BEING TOSSED DOWN A RAT'S HOLE.
* THE QUESTION IS... WHOSE SIDE IS OBAMA ON...??? HE, PELOSI, AND REID HAVE EFFECT "VETO" POWER OVER IMF BAILOUT PACKAGES. HELL... WE PAY FOR 25% OF THE IMF's BUDGET... THEIR "LARGESS." THIS GREEK BAILOUT - AT LEAST THE IMF's - PORTION, CAN'T MOVE AHEAD UNLESS OBAMA GIVE THE GO AHEAD. AND YOU JUST THINK ABOUT THAT, FOLKS...
As for protecting investors, the erstwhile cradle of Western civilization ranks 154, which has the obvious effect of scaring good money away. Most glaring are weak laws on disclosure of information to shareholders. By the [WORLD BANK's] index, a prospective investor enjoys nearly twice the level of protection in Italy, no stand-out itself.
All of this ought to be a cautionary tale for politicians in Europe's other high-spending, slow growth states - and for those in Sacramento, Albany and Washington, D.C., too.
Greece shows that the welfare state model of development, dominated by public unions, onerous regulations, high taxes and the political allocation of capital, has hit the wall. Down that road lies more Greek tragedy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575226323909364054.html
It is essential to understand the primary reason the AMA stands alongside President Obama on health-care reform.
The organization wants to protect a monopoly that the federal government has created for it - a medical coding system administered by the AMA that every health-care professional and hospital must use if they wish to get paid for the services they provide.
This monopoly generates income of $70 million to $100 million annually for the AMA. That makes the AMA less an association looking out for doctors and more a special-interest group beholden to Congress and the White House.
A major cheerleader for ObamaCare, the organization is now trying to silence doctors who oppose it. ... Yet doctors who oppose ObamaCare have not relented. Passage of this bill has stirred in them long dormant political emotions. Doctors across the country are educating their patients about how ObamaCare will limit their freedom to make their own health-care decisions. There are 925,000 doctors in America and the average doctor has at least 2,000 patients, with many of us already asking our patients if we can take two minutes to discuss this bill with them. This terrifies Congress and the White House.
The irony is that in supporting ObamaCare and trying to silence doctors the AMA has forgotten its own mission statement and ethical code: "[T]o help doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues." It is always medically ethical to tell patients the truth, which is what doctors are now doing by educating them about ObamaCare.
My own group, Docs4PatientCare, which to date represents more than 3,000 doctors, intends to continue providing materials and information to doctors who wish to educate and inform their patients about ObamaCare. We will also continue to challenge ObamaCare advocates whenever they show America the ugly face of intolerance and attempt to silence dissent.
Inasmuch as the AMA is allowed to operate a monopoly under the watchful eye of the federal government, I would expect the GOP Doctors Caucus in the House of Representatives to demand an investigation and request that the AMA fully disclose whether it was pressured by Congressional leadership, the White House or the Department of Health and Human Services to engage in intimidation tactics.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303695604575181693906532202.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion
Washington's elites are quietly preparing a post-election...
(*NOD*) "POST" ELECTION...
...fiscal "compromise" that will fund much of President Barack Obama's domestic spending agenda with huge tax increases. They aim to create a value-added tax and will argue that there is no alternative...
* THE AUTHORS CAN'T "PROVE" THIS IS THE CASE... (*SIGH*)... BUT THINK ABOUT IT; IS THERE ANYONE READING THIS WHO DOESN'T BELIEVE THERE'S A DAMN GOOD CHANCE THE AUTHORS' SPECULATION IS ACCURATE...??? I FOR ONE HAVE NO DOUBT IT IS.
... even though doing so will leave the United States resembling the stagnant, bureaucratic nations of Western Europe.
(*NOD*)
But there is an alternative. The U.S. could return to a gold standard, a system that would not only prevent the government from running chronic budget deficits but would also curb attempts to manipulate the value of the dollar for political reasons.
The value of a gold standard was proven in the 19th century. Following the English parliament's passage of the Coinage Act in 1816, which created a gold standard in England in collaboration with the semi-private Bank of England, gold gradually displaced copper and silver to become the world's sole final currency. In doing so, gold established ground rules for international trade and integrated the world's economy. Countries that adopted the international gold standard prospered. This remarkably successful monetary system only blew apart with the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
* HISTORICAL TRUTH, KIDS...! (*SHRUG*) (*SMILE*)
The reason it came apart then—and not at other times when countries abandoned the gold standard to finance wars with deficit spending—was that World War I was the first conflict to affect every major economically advanced country in the world. The U.S. suspended dollar convertibility to gold to finance the Civil War in the 1860s, but because Britain and other major economies did not suspend convertibility of their currencies there was an existing standard for post-Civil War America to rejoin. This wasn't the case after World War I.
* SOMETHING I BET NOT MANY OF YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL... (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*) (*SNORT*)
[P]olitical elites dislike the gold standard: It leaves them little room to run the economy and claim credit for its successes. If you ask political elites why they oppose returning to gold today, they are apt to laugh uproariously and imply that adopting a gold standard is the policy equivalent of reviving the horse-drawn carriage. But their deeper reason is that they prefer to retain power over the economy that they would not have under a gold standard.
* YA KNOW WHAT, FOLKS... I'M GONNA LEAVE IT THERE. I CAN'T "MAKE" YOU READ THE FULL ARTICLE... BUT YOU SHOULD!!!
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_2d3e00dc-597d-11df-98bb-001cc4c002e0.html
Vintage [California] High School students were suspended for fighting and burning a Mexican national flag during incidents on campus Wednesday, school Principal Craig Lewis said.
* WHITE KIDS... BLACK KIDS... BOYS.... GIRLS...? JUST CURIOUS...
At 3 p.m., four female students were involved in a fight related to the burning of a flag, according to Napa police.
* "RELATED," HUH?
Thursday, school administrators found out the burned flag had been discarded on the school campus. They checked trash cans and found a partially burned Mexican national flag, police said. Investigators believe two students burned it in protest for the celebration of Cinco De Mayo, police said. The investigation continues and school officials are dealing with the involved students.
* BOTTOM LINE... WE'RE TALKING MORONS. YEAH, YEAH... CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED "SPEECH" AND ALL THAT. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A CRIME TO BE WORTHY OF SCORN.
* AS TO "DEALING" WITH THE "SUSPECTED" STUDENTS... IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF ANYTHING COMES OUT OF THIS.
* WHY AM I POSTING THIS...??? FAIR'S FAIR. (*SHRUG*) I JUST SHARE THE FACTS AS I KNOW THEM.
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