Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, May 5, 2010


What's old is new again...

Only in America...!

And now... back to the newsbites!
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16 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/max-keiser-goldman-sachs-and-bill-clintons-hypocrisy-peter-schiff-interview

* MARC MEZVINSKY...??? NOW WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT NAME...???

Marc Mezvinsky...is the son of the former Iowa congressman Ed Mezvinsky (who recently has been released from a halfway house after doing time for investment fraud) and Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky, a former NBC reporter.

* OK... (*SHRUG*)... STILL NOT FLASHING ON THE NAME, THOUGH... (*SCRATCHING MY CHIN*) (*PERPLEXED EXPRESSION*)

Marc and Chelsea originally met in 1996, when they were introduced by colleagues of their political parents. They even attended Stanford University together and studied finance. It has been reported that the two started dating in October of 2007.

* CHELSEA...??? CHELSEA WHO...?!?!

Currently Marc Mezvinsky is an investment banker for Goldman Sachs and makes his home in Manhattan, New York, where he bought a $3.8 million condo last year.

* I'M STILL CONFUSED. WHO IS CHELSEA AND WHY DO I CARE ABOUT CHELSEA AND MARK...???

(*DRUM ROLL*)

(*ENLIGHTENED EXPRESSION*)

Max Keiser is in his prime discussing Goldman and Bill Clinton's hypocrisy in defending Goldman. Which is not all that surprising considering Clinton's son-in-law Marc Mezvinsky is a Goldman Investment banker.

* AHH...!!!

* FUNNY THE CONNECTIONS WITHIN THE OLIGARCHY, HUH?

* GOOGLE MARC'S DADDY - ED MEZVINSKY - YOU'LL GET A REAL... er... "KICK" OUT OF HIS BIO. (*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... (*MASSIVE HEADACHE*) (*SIGH*) (*ROLLING MY EYES*)

May 5, 2010 at 9:43 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575224384004044738.html

Monday night's arrest of suspected Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad is both disconcerting and reassuring - proof that the world's jihadists are still targeting the U.S. homeland, yet also evidence that our antiterror fighters are getting better.

* HANG ON... LET ME MAKE A NOTE: "STREET VENDORS = ANTI-TERROR FIGHTERS" OK. GOT IT. (*SMIRK*)

Astute police work foiled last year's plot to bomb New York's subway, as it did similar planned attacks against a New York synagogue and a Dallas skyscraper.

* OK. (*NOD*) NO ARGUMENT THERE...

But it was only luck that saved the passengers aboard Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day, just as it was luck and terrorist incompetence that prevented an atrocity at the corner of 45th Street and 7th Avenue.

(*SHRUG*) (*NOD*)

The victims of November's Fort Hood massacre were not as fortunate.

(*BOWING MY HEAD*)

One regrettable part of this investigation so far is Shahzad's arraignment in a Manhattan court room yesterday on terrorism charges. This means he has been allowed to lawyer-up and told of his right to remain silent, rather than being subjected to more thorough interrogation as an enemy combatant.

* THE WSJ IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG ON THIS ONE!

* SHAHZAD IS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN ARRESTED ON AMERICAN SOIL; AS SUCH HIS CONSTITUTIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS ARE WHAT THEY ARE AND NO ARTIFICIAL (AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN MY OPINION) EXECUTIVE DESIGNATION AS "ENEMY COMBATANT" CAN TAKE AWAY THOSE RIGHTS.

* AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, SHAHZAD SHOULD BE FACING TREASON CHARGES AS WELL AS THE OTHER CHARGES SO FAR LODGED AGAINST HIM.

* OH... AND BTW... CONTRARY TO ANOTHER IGNORANT OPINION ADVANCED FURTHER IN TODAY'S WSJ LEAD EDITORIAL, THE IDEA OF TRYING SHAHZAD BEFORE A "MILITARY COMMISSION" IS (OR AT LEAST SHOULD BE) A NON-STARTER. ONCE AGAIN... SHAHZAD IS A CIVILIAN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND UNLESS MARTIAL LAW HAS BEEN DECLARED (AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO INFORM ME) THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY TO TRY SHAHZAD ANYWHERE BESIDES A CIVILIAN COURT OF LAW.

May 5, 2010 at 10:08 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575226041502104432.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_news

California regulators adopted new rules Tuesday that will require power plants to reduce their impact on aquatic wildlife at a potential cost of hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars.

The California regulations are the first in the U.S. to restrict marine water use by existing power plants and comes one month after regulators in New York denied a key water-quality permit that Entergy Corp. needs to continue operating a nuclear power plant.

* THESE PEOPLE ARE INSANE!

* ACTUALLY, THOUGH... THEY'RE NOT; THEY'RE SIMPLY FANATICS - LEMMINGS RUSHING TOWARDS THE CLIFF READY TO THROW ALL OF US OVER IT.

The plants' once-through cooling systems kill 2.6 million fish, 19 billion fish larvae and 57 seals, sea lions and sea turtles each year, Dominic Gregorio, the water board's ocean unit chief, said Tuesday before the board's vote.

* FISH LARVAE...??? FISH LARVAE...?!?!

* 57 SEALS, SEA LIONS, AND SEA TURTLES - EACH YEAR...??? 57...? NOT 570... NOT 5,700... NOT 57,000... BUT 57?

* OK... WE'RE BACK TO THESE PEOPLE ARE INSANE...!!!

Power-plant owner Dynegy Inc. criticized the draft regulations, saying they'll force the company to shut down at least two of its plants. Dynegy will likely have to shut its aging South Bay power plant near San Diego by 2013 and its Morro Bay power plant by 2015, when the plants are required to be in compliance with the new rules, a Dynegy representative told the board Tuesday. Dynegy may also have to shut one unit of its Moss Landing power plant...

* YO...! YOU - THE PERSON READING THIS! YOU ARE AWARE I HOPE THAT IT'S HUMAN PRODUCED ENERGY THAT ALLOWS YOU TO BE READING THIS... (*FEELING SICK TO MY STOMACH*)

* THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE FRIGG'N ASYLUM, FOLKS...

In the New York case, Entergy said replacing the once-through cooling system at its 2,000-megawatt Indian Point plant with a "closed loop" cooling system, as recommended by New York regulators, would cost about $1 billion and take 15 years to complete. Instead, the company has proposed installing "wedge wire screens" to protect fish, at an estimated cost of $100 million. In the New York case, Entergy said replacing the once-through cooling system at its 2,000-megawatt Indian Point plant with a "closed loop" cooling system, as recommended by New York regulators, would cost about $1 billion and take 15 years to complete. Instead, the company has proposed installing "wedge wire screens" to protect fish, at an estimated cost of $100 million.

* OH... GREAT... "ONLY" $100 MILLION... ALL OF WHICH WILL BE PASSED ON TO CONSUMERS LIKE... er... ME.

* YEAH... BTW... I'M SOMETHING LIKE 19 MILES FROM THE PLANT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. (PROBABLY LESS AS THE CROW FLIES.)

May 5, 2010 at 11:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575225684273878968.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLETopStories

Moody's Investors Service placed Portugal under review for a downgrade...

(*SIGH*)

Earlier, a top manager with ratings agency Standard & Poor's said the financial rescue plan for Greece isn't a long-term solution for the country's problems...

(*DOUBLE SIGH*)

Commodity currencies were also lower Wednesday morning...

* WELL THAT'S GOOD NEWS! (SERIOUSLY! THAT'S GOOD NEWS!)

* FOLKS... AGAIN... JUST TO MAKE MYSELF CLEAR... WHEN THERE'S GOOD NEWS I'LL GLADLY POST IT!

Although Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero dismissed rumors that his government is now negotiating its own debt bailout, investors remain unconvinced.

(*BACK TO SIGHING*)

May 5, 2010 at 11:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575225472577513414.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

Three people were killed in an apparent firebomb attack on a bank in central Athens Wednesday as a massive protest against recent Greek austerity measures turned violent and angry youths rampaged through the city center torching several businesses, smashing shop windows and overturning garbage bins.

* TO THOSE PRONE TO WHINE "WHY CAN'T WE BE MORE LIKE EUROPE" I SADLY ANSWER... THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING YOU MAY SOON GET YOUR WISH.

* GUNS, PEOPLE... GUNS AND AMMO. IF THE SHIT HITS THE FAN YOU WANT TO BE PREPARED. (AND OF COURSE BUY YOUR GUNS AND AMMO LEGALLY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOW-COST NRA TRAINING AND SAFETY COURSES.)

The violence Wednesday came as tens of thousands of protesters gathered to demonstrate against the government's recently announced austerity measures in one of the largest protests in recent years, and coincide with a nationwide general strike that has paralyzed the country.

On one of Athens's main shopping streets Wednesday, black smoke billowed from various fires, while glass shards and smoldering garbage littered the sidewalks. Protesters also spray-painted shops and building facades calling for resistance against the measures and for workers to rise up.

Earlier in the day, there were clashes between police and protesters in front of parliament, as well as running street battles at various points around the city.

Demonstrators also set fire to a media van from a Turkish television crew and burned at least one private vehicle.

In the northern city of Thessaloniki, there were reports of violence as police clashed with demonstrators who were attacking shop fronts amid a rally that drew at least 20,000 protesters to the streets.

All flights in and out of Greek airports were canceled, while rail and ferry operations nationwide have been suspended.

May 5, 2010 at 11:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/05/05/the-jihadists-deadly-path-to-citizenship/

America’s homeland security amnesia never ceases to amaze. In the aftermath of the botched Times Square terror attack over the weekend, Pakistani-born bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad’s U.S. citizenship status caused a bit of shock and awe. The Atlantic magazine writer Jeffrey Goldberg’s response was typical: “I am struck by the fact that he is a naturalized American citizen, not a recent or temporary visitor.” Well, wake up and smell the deadly deception.

Shahzad’s path to American citizenship - he reportedly married an American woman, Huma Mian, in 2008 after spending a decade in the country on foreign student and employment visas - is a tried-and-true terror formula. Jihadists have been gaming the sham marriage racket with impunity for years. And immigration benefit fraud has provided invaluable cover and aid for U.S.-based Islamic plotters, including many other operatives planning attacks on New York City.

El Sayyid A. Nosair wed Karen Ann Mills Sweeney to avoid deportation for overstaying his visa. He acquired U.S. citizenship, allowing him to remain in the country, and was later convicted for conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that claimed six lives.

Ali Mohamed became an American citizen after marrying a woman he met on a plane trip from Egypt to New York. Recently divorced, Linda Lee Sanchez wed Mohamed in Reno, Nev., after a six-week “courtship.” Mohamed became a top aide to Osama bin Laden and was later convicted for his role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa that killed 12 Americans and more than 200 others.

Embassy bombing plotter Khalid Abu al Dahab obtained citizenship after marrying three different American women.

Embassy bombing plotter Wadih el Hage, Osama bin Laden’s personal secretary, married April Ray in 1985 and became a naturalized citizen in 1989. Ray knew of her husband’s employment with bin Laden, but like many of these women in bogus marriages, she pleaded ignorance about the nature of her husband’s work. El Hage, she says, was a sweet man, and bin Laden “was a great boss.”

* YOU GET THE IDEA, FOLKS... (*SIGH*)

Jihadists have knowingly and deliberately exploited our lax immigration and entrance policies to secure the rights and benefits of American citizenship while they plot mass murder - and we haven’t done a damned thing to stop them.

May 5, 2010 at 11:35 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608104575218392603082622.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

Los Angeles is facing a terminal fiscal crisis: Between now and 2014 the city will likely declare bankruptcy.

According to the city's own forecasts, in the next four years annual pension and post-retirement health-care costs will increase by about $2.5 billion if no action is taken by the city government.

(Even if Mayor Villaraigosa were to enact drastic pension reform today - which he shows no signs of doing - the city would only save a few hundred million per year.)

Five thousand is the number of employees added to the city's payroll during Mr. Villaraigosa's first term as mayor. ... The mayor can't control the economy, but he could have chosen to control spending to keep the size of government proportional to the size of the local economy. Instead he's done the opposite: squeezing the city's productive workers to fund the salaries, pensions and other benefits of government workers.

How have city leaders responded to the crisis? Pension officials have played accounting games... The City Council, wincing at the mere thought of layoffs, chose to shrink the work force through an early retirement program for city workers. This costly program, suggested by union leaders, will not be paid off for 15 years. And most egregiously, rather than laying off employees, city officials have shifted certain workers to agencies like the Department of Water and Power and the airport, which have their own funding.

* KEEP ON TELLING YOURSELVES THAT "THE ECONOMY IS REBOUNDING." (*SMIRK*) PERHAPS PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL REPLACE "HAIL TO THE CHIEF" WITH "HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN."

* ON SECOND THOUGHT... NAH... (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

* OH... AND TO THOSE THINKING LOS ANGELES AND CALIFORNIA HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM... (*SIGH*)... WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE "BAILING OUT" CALIFORNIA DOWN THE ROAD...???

May 5, 2010 at 11:35 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575224092242863572.html

America likes to think of itself as a young country - but it's old, like old Europe, encumbered with habits and structures from an earlier age of industrialization in the last century.

Take the word "legacy," which once referred to what your grandparents left you so you could go to college. Legacy has come to mean trapped by the past. Data managers gripe about their legacy systems, Detroit about its legacy costs.

"Legacy" harks back to a time before deregulation in 1978, when Washington ran the airlines as a cartel, kept ticket prices high and allowed sizeable revenues to be captured by organized labor. Ever since, the industry has been straining to reshape itself in light of market imperatives. It wants to make money, but can't. It wants to provide customers with the services they are willing to pay for, but instead has provided both more and less - selling seats at less-than-cost and then stranding passengers by overbooking.

* ANYWAY, FOLKS... THIS OP-ED CONCERNS THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL AND THE CONTINENTAL-UNITED MERGER IN PARTICULAR. THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE FREQUENT FLYERS - OR PERHAPS JUST INTELLECTUALLY CURIOUS - SHOULD READ THE FULL PIECE.

May 5, 2010 at 11:35 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575223832888768098.html

* YOU FOLKS SHOULD CLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK AND READ THE ESSAY FOR YOURSELVES. THE TOPIC:

Why do Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora churn out such a high proportion of the world's terrorists?

* THE AUTHOR'S ANSWER:

Pakistan's history of pan-Islamism does not mean that all Pakistanis, much less everyone of Pakistani origin, hold extremist views. But it does explain why a larger percentage of Pakistanis than, say, Indonesians or Tunisians, are likely to see the world through the narrow prism of their faith. The ISI's reluctance to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism - training camps, a web of ultra-orthodox madrassas that preach violence, and terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba - ensure that Pakistan remains a magnet for any Muslim with a grudge against the world and the urge to do something violent about it.

* IN BETWEEN THE QUESTION AND ANSWER THE AUTHOR IMPARTS A QUICK CLASS IN MODERN PAKISTANI HISTORY. HE ALSO OFFERS "SOLUTIONS" TO THE PROBLEM.

* AGAIN... IT'S AN ESSAY WORTH READING.

May 5, 2010 at 11:35 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to...

* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...

...[President] Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

(*SNORT*)

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

* BUT, WAIT... GET THIS... (YOU'RE GONNA JUST LOVE THIS!)

An Obama spokesman rejected the notion that the president took big oil money.

“President Obama didn’t accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists during his presidential campaign,” spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

(*SNICKER*)

In Congress, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)...has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of BP’s largesse.

* BY THE WAY... I'M NOT TRYING TO INFER THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH HAVING TAKEN BP'S MONEY; I'M SIMPLY POINTING OUT THAT - AS WITH GOLDMAN SACHS LINKS AND PAYOF... er... CONTRIBUTIONS - OUR "PROGRESSIVE" PRESIDENT AND HIS DEMOCRATIC ALLIES IN CONGRESS SURE SEEM TO HAVE A LOT OF LINKS TO "THE EVIL CORPORATIONS" AND "EVIL BANKERS."

As the top congressional recipient in the last cycle and one of the top BP cash recipients of the past two decades, Landrieu banked almost $17,000 from the oil giant in 2008 alone...

(*SHRUG*)

Several BP executives have given directly to Landrieu’s campaign, including current and previous U.S. operation Presidents Lamar McKay and Robert Malone. Other donors include Margaret Hudson, BP’s America vice president, and Benjamin Cannon, federal affairs director for the U.S. branch. Donations ranged from $1,000 to $2,300 during the past campaign cycle.

The top congressional recipients of BP campaign cash include Republican Rep. Don Young of the oil-intensive Alaska delegation, who has received almost as much as Obama, raking in $73,300 during his congressional tenure. Also on the list is Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), whose state has a BP refinery in Toledo and who has raked in $41,400. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has received $44,899.

* ALL RINOs BTW...

(*SHRUG*) HEY... JUST SAY'N...

May 5, 2010 at 12:20 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/05/morning-bell-the-congressional-assault-on-criminal-justice/print/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

If Congress drafts a law and no one can understand it, can individuals be punished for breaking it? Increasingly, to the detriment of all Americans, the answer is yes.

Since our nation’s founding, a core principle of our system of justice has been that no citizen should be subjected to criminal punishment for conduct that he did not know was illegal or otherwise wrongful. This principle is embodied in the requirement that the government must prove a defendant acted with intent, or at least knowledge, before subjecting him to criminal punishment. Unfortunately this cornerstone of our criminal justice system has been under assault from Congress in recent decades.

* AND NO, THIS DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE OLD STANDBY "IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE." (GOOGLE "MENS REA" IF IN DOUBT.)

By the end of 2007, the United States Code included over 4,450 federal crimes, with an estimated tens of thousands more located in the federal regulatory code. Many of these offenses were only recently created, and far too many lack an adequate guilty-mind (known by lawyers as mens rea) requirement.

(*GRIN*) GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE... (*CHUCKLE*)

According to a new and unprecedented study released jointly today by The Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the 109th Congress alone proposed 446 non-violent criminal offenses, 57% of which lacked an adequate guilty-mind requirement.

* STRANGE BEDFELLOWS INDEED... NO? LISTEN... WHEN CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER AND HERITAGE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE IT'S WORTH CONSIDERING THEIR ARGUMENTS. PLEASE SEE: http://report.heritage.org/sr0077

Today on Capitol Hill in a rare display of bipartisanship in Washington, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Louie Gohmert (R–TX) are holding a joint press conference to announce the report with Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow and former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and NACDL’s Executive Director Norman Reimer. “Without Intent” reveals several startling facts about this Congress’ penchant to overcriminalize. These facts indicate that innocent Americans are increasingly at risk of criminal punishment.

* HEY... EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO INTENT OF READING THE FULL REPORT... CLICK ON THE ARTICLE LINK AND READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

May 5, 2010 at 12:20 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56600aac-5859-11df-9921-00144feab49a.html

* YOU WON'T SEE THIS BIT OF NEWS POPPING UP MUCH VIA THE AMERICAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA...

Slovakia, the newest and one of the smallest members of the Eurozone, is having a very difficult time galvanizing political support for the idea of spending about $1bn to prop up much wealthier Greece.

Robert Fico, the prime minister, said earlier this week there would be “no blank cheque” for Greece. “We can't give Greece any loan before we see them doing their homework,” he said, and added that he doubted the Greek parliament had to fortitude to approve the huge cuts agreed by the government.

* GOD BLESS THIS FICO FOR SIMPLY TELLING THE TRUTH - FOR BEING HONEST!

Fico said that Slovakia would act not to help Greece but to save its own banking system...

(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

Greece’s troubles evoke little sympathy in Slovakia, which saw its economy shrink by 4.7% last year, due in large part to the deep recession in Germany, the main export market for Slovakia’s large car sector. One legacy of the crisis is a large increase in the deficit – to 6.8% last year – something the government has vowed to cut to 5.5% this year.

Unlike Greece, which lied to be admitted to the eurozone, and then fudged its statistics to conceal a growing budget deficit, Slovakia, met all of the Maastricht criteria before being allowed to join the common currency at the beginning of 2009.

The distaste for helping Greece cuts across party lines, to an extent that is unusual in a political system that is normally riven by partisan tensions. Parties ranging from the nationalists of the SNS party, junior members of Mr Fico’s governing coalition, to the centre-right opposition SDKU party, are all opposed.

“We call on the prime minister to make no commitments to Greece,” said Iveta Radicova, the leader of the SDKU.The distaste for helping Greece cuts across party lines, to an extent that is unusual in a political system that is normally riven by partisan tensions. Parties ranging from the nationalists of the SNS party, junior members of Mr Fico’s governing coalition, to the centre-right opposition SDKU party, are all opposed.

“We call on the prime minister to make no commitments to Greece,” said Iveta Radicova, the leader of the SDKU.

* BRAVO...!!!

Mr Fico has said that any funds to Greece will be disbursed only after the June 12 parliamentary elections, after which the new legislature would have to amend the budget.

(*BOTH THUMBS UP*)

* TOO BAD OUR OWN AMERICAN POLITICIANS WON'T PROTECT US AS ESTONIA'S POLITICIANS ARE ATTEMPTING TO PROTECT THEIR NATION'S CITIZENS...

May 5, 2010 at 12:33 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17479186-581e-11df-9eaf-00144feab49a.html

Pork prices have hit an all-time high as the world has regained its appetite for meat just as production is declining.

* AND... AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED IN NEWSBITES...

Beef has also soared in price, with CME front-month live cattle futures up 12% since the start of the year.

While the global supply of pig meat is rising thanks to output gains in China, the US herd of sows kept alive for breeding is at the lowest for more than a century. American pork production is due to fall 2.9% this year even as exports pick up again.

* MORE CHINESE FOOD PRODUCTS; GREAT... JUST SUPER... (*SMIRK*) YOU FOLKS MIGHT WANNA GOOGLE "FOOD SAFETY CHINA" OR SOME SIMILAR PHRASE AND SEE WHAT POPS UP. (*SMIRK*)

May 5, 2010 at 1:05 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/96207-demint-at-odds-with-mcconnell-in-kentucky-gop-primary

Sen. Jim DeMint has endorsed Rand Paul in Kentucky’s Senate GOP primary race, putting him at odds with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

DeMint (R-SC) announced Wednesday he would support Paul, an eye surgeon who is the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), through his Senate Conservatives Fund, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for conservative candidate Marco Rubio in Florida.

DeMint’s move will be seen by some Senate Republicans as a breach of protocol because he is stepping onto McConnell’s home turf to support a candidate McConnell does not.

McConnell on Tuesday formally endorsed Paul’s opponent, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

* DEMINT IS RIGHT; MCCONNELL IS... er... AN INEFFECTIVE RINO.

* HEY... (*LAUGHING 0UT LOUD*)... THE ONLY REASON I'M POSTING THIS IS TO REITERATE MY CONTEMPT FOR MCCONNELL AND MY STRONG SUPPORT OF DEMINT AND HIS EFFORTS WITH THE SENATE CONSERVATIVE FUND.

* I ONLY WISH MCCONNELL WAS UP FOR REELECTION AND HAD A PRIMARY CHALLENGER! (*CHUCKLE*)

May 5, 2010 at 11:22 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/96165-republicans-urge-geithner-to-oppose-greece-bailout

House Republicans will send a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urging him to stop U.S. involvement in the bailout of Greece.

(*WILD APPLAUSE*)

To keep the country from sliding into default, the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to lend Greece $144 billion. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), vice chairwoman of the Republican Conference, argues the U.S. will use taxpayer dollars to shoulder most of that burden.

* AS YOUR NOT SO HUMBLE (BEING USUALLY RIGHT AND ALL THAT) BLOGHOST HAS BEEN HARPING ON ALL ALONG!

"The United States is one of the largest contributors to the IMF and in this agreement it means more taxpayer dollars being spent to help bail out [a] European country," she said, adding: "I really question whether or not we should be now spending U.S. taxpayers to bail out countries like Greece, and there's other European countries that may follow."

* GOD BLESS YOU, CATHY ROGERS!

Countries like Portugal and Spain may soon need a bailout, according to the congresswoman.

* HMM... (*GRIN*)... PERHAPS THE CONGRESSWOMAN HAS BEEN AVAILING HERSELF OF BARKER'S NEWSBITES...?!?! (*CHUCKLE*)

The letter states that the IMF will bail Greece out by tapping into an account called New Arrangements to Borrow, into which the U.S. deposited $100 billion using funds from the fiscal 2009 war funding supplemental bill.

"The legislation was ultimately opposed by 202 members of the House of Representatives, in part because of fears that taxpayer dollars would be used to finance an international bailout slush fund," the letter states. "It now appears that the IMF is on the verge of turning those fears into reality."

McMorris Rodgers claims the bailout out Greece will "create a moral hazard that gets Americans more involved in the gathering storm of European bailouts."

May 5, 2010 at 11:22 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/while-oil-slick-spread-interior-department-chief-of-staff-rafted-with-wife-in-grand-canyon-.html

Though his agency was charged with coordinating the federal response to the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned.

(*SNORT*)

The explosion at Deepwater Horizon was on April 20, and Hayes and Barkoff arrived in the Gulf the next day.

On Saturday April 24, the first oil leaks were discovered.

On Tuesday, April 27, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that his department along with the Department of Homeland Security would launch an investigation into the Deepwater Horizon Incident. Salazar pledged “every resource we can to support the massive response effort underway at the Deepwater Horizon.”

Strickland and his wife arrived in the Grand Canyon that night.

* OH, YEAH... THERE'S A GUY WHO HAS HIS PRIORITIES STRAIGHT... (*SMIRK*)

* HEY... THE BUCK STOPS AT SALAZAR'S DESK; THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD DOWN... OR SO THEY SAY.

May 5, 2010 at 11:23 PM

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