Thursday, June 24, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, June 24, 2010


Wow...

Isner over Mahut - 70-68.

Unbelievable...

Say what you will about the frigg'n French... but Mahut did his country proud!

As to the Big Man... congrats on a job well done.
Posted by at

5 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100624/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrestnatotoll_20100624111912

The deaths of another four NATO troops in an accident in Afghanistan made June the deadliest single month for US-led foreign forces in nearly nine years of conflict, according to an AFP tally Thursday.

The latest dead were four British troops who were killed in a vehicle crash in the southern province of Helmand, the Ministry of Defence said, bringing the overall British death toll to 307.

So far 299 NATO troops have died this year, according to AFP tallies. Last year, 520 NATO troops died - the worst annual total yet.

June 24, 2010 at 12:26 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/nyregion/24cuomo.html

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, declaring his candidacy for governor of New York, could not have been clearer.

“The influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits,” Mr. Cuomo said last month. “We will be taking on very powerful special interests which have much to lose. We must change systems and cultures long in the making.”

But as he delivered his announcement, Mr. Cuomo was sitting on millions in campaign cash from the very special interests whose influence he said he wanted to limit.

An analysis by The New York Times shows that of the estimated $7.1 million that the Cuomo campaign has received from political action committees, associations, limited liability corporations and other entities, more than half has come from the biggest players in Albany: organized labor, the real estate and related industries like construction, the health care sector and lobbying firms.

* CUTE, HUH?

In the spirit of reform, Mr. Cuomo pledged in 2007 not to accept donations over $10,000 from most categories of contributors during an election cycle. But he did not stick to that vow and has at times received amounts five times as great.

(*SMIRK*)

The analysis by The Times shows that in the current election cycle, lobbying firms and companies that have registered to lobby on their own behalf have given Mr. Cuomo about $555,000 in donations.

Organized labor, long regarded by Democrats and Republicans as perhaps the most powerful force in Albany lawmaking, has given him more than $1.4 million.

Real estate and construction interests have donated more than $1.3 million, and the health care industry has contributed about $570,000.

As attorney general, Mr. Cuomo has undertaken several major initiatives that have coincided with interests of those donors.

* THIS IS JUST PAGE 1 OF THE 3 PAGE NYT STORY. I'LL LEAVE OFF HERE. AS ALWAYS, THE LINK IS PROVIDED ABOVE.

June 24, 2010 at 1:53 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-welfare-casinos-20100624,0,6190326.story

[A Los Angeles] Times review finds that in more than half of the state's casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards.

* YEP...! YOU'RE READING THIS RIGHT, FOLKS!

California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state...

The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.

* MAKES YOU PROUD, HUH?! YEP... NOTHING LIKE GOVERNMENT "COMPASSION." YEP... CERTAINLY GOVERNMENT KNOWS BEST WHEN IT COMES TO REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH... (*DISGUSTED SNORT*)

[Schwarzenegger] Administration officials said the social services agency contracts with a private ATM network to handle the electronic transfer of benefits to people on welfare, and hadn't noticed that the taxpayer money was being withdrawn at gambling establishments.

* ANYONE WANT TO HAZARD A GUESS AS TO WHETHER ANY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - LET ALONE POLITICAL APPOINTEES - WILL BE FIRED...??? (*SMIRK*) (YEAH... THAT'LL BE THE DAY!) (*SNORT*)

The cash portion of California's welfare benefits comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Each year, California gets $3.7 billion from the federal government for the program, while state and local governments kick in an additional $2.9 billion.

* NICE... $3.7 BILLION IN "REDISTRIBUTED" FEDERAL FUNDING.

June 24, 2010 at 1:54 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-financial-conditions-just-dropped-back-to-crisis-levels-2010-6

Deutsche Bank has a new and improved index of U.S. financial conditions, and this index just slumped back towards the lows of our recent crisis.

[According to] Deutsche Bank's Peter Hooper: "Financial conditions appear to have worsened substantially in recent quarters based on our update of the broad index of US financial variables presented earlier this year at the US Monetary Policy Forum. In the wake of recent developments in Europe, increased stress in financial markets has pushed that index halfway back to its immediate post- Lehman crisis lows."

"The continued absence of private securitization of mortgages and subdued activity in ABS markets persists in weighing on broad conditions."

"The worsening of financial conditions increases negative risks for economic prospects going forward..."

* OOPS!

June 24, 2010 at 1:54 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100624/ts_nm/us_venezuela_nationalizations

Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne...

* AND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WILL RESPOND WITH... ???

The 11 drilling rigs have been idled for months following a dispute over pending payments by the OPEC member's state oil company PDVSA. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based company's entire Venezuelan fleet, were being nationalized to bring them back into production.

* AND PRESIDENT OBAMA'S RESPONSE IS... ???

June 24, 2010 at 1:54 PM

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