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2010
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December
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- Barker's New Year's Eve Newsbites: 12/31/2010
- Happy, Happy, Happy New Year...!!!
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, December 30, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, December 29, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: December 28, 2010
- Happy Birthday, Jesus...!!!
- (*GRITTING MY TEETH*) (*BLOOD PRESSURE RISING*)
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, December 23, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, December 22, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, December 22, 2010
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., Dec. 18 & 19, 2010
- Please Read Nick Carey's Full Piece
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, December 17, 2010
- Absolutely Irresponsible; A Pox on Both Their Houses
- Who's Lying?
- Two Californias (by Richard Davis Hanson)
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, December 16, 2010
- This "Newsbite" Deserves Its Own Stand-Alone Post!
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, December 15, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, December 14, 2010
- Barcelona Travelogue
- What It Means To Be Bill
- Back From Barcelona... (and Milan!)
- Barker's Pre-Vacation Newsbites: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010
- As Everyone Who's Anyone Knows...
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010
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December
(27)
About Me
- William R. Barker
- Pearl River, NY High School Class of '81; Northeastern University, Boston, MA Class of '87.
9 comments:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/28/105855/pilot-who-angered-tsa-with-youtube.html
The [airline] pilot who posted a cell phone video on YouTube revealing potential loopholes in airport security identified himself Monday and said he is "pretty shocked" by the national uproar he has caused.
Chris Liu, a 50-year-old Colfax [California] resident and 27-year veteran pilot, said in an interview with a Sacramento television station that he never imagined his "little video" of what he felt were lax procedures at San Francisco International Airport would get much attention.
The video, posted Nov. 30, has since been pulled from YouTube, and Liu has been stripped of his role in a federal anti-terrorism program that allowed him to carry a handgun while flying.
* THE AGE OF OBAMA, FOLKS... (*SIGH*)
A website Liu set up to chronicle his story indicates a man on a mission.
"The Patriot Pilot: An American Hero," describes what Liu views as a contrast between security measures faced by travelers and airline employees and those faced by ground crews. He also expresses his frustration with the Transportation Security Administration's response to his security complaint.
"The Patriot Pilot is an average man, like many of us, who simply wanted to make sure that the American public was truly safe when flying the 'friendly skies,'" Liu wrote on the site.
* http://www.patriotpilot.com/
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e69c85a-1264-11e0-b4c8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz19PoFWoG0
A new Chinese anti-ship missile that will significantly alter the balance of military power in the Pacific is now operational, according to a senior US commander.
Admiral Robert Willard, the top US commander in the Pacific, said the Chinese ballistic missile, which is designed to threaten US aircraft carriers in the region, had reached “initial operational capability”.
Defence analysts have called the Dongfeng 21 D missile a “game changer” since it could force US aircraft carriers to stay away from waters where China does not want to see them. These include the Taiwan Strait where a potential conflict could develop over the self-ruled island which China claims.
“So now we know - China’s [anti-ship ballistic missile] is no longer aspirational,” Andrew Erickson, an expert on the Chinese military at the US Naval War College, said in response to Adm Willard’s comments to the Asahi newspaper.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/69728262-11ec-11e0-92d0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz19Pmnp5WL
Some of the world’s strongest banks have profited from an emergency credit facility set up by the US Federal Reserve...
* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...
More than half of lending under the Fed’s term auction facility - the largest of its crisis programmes - went to foreign banks.
* OLIGARCHS OF THE WORD UNITE!
Rabobank of the Netherlands and Toronto-Dominion of Canada, two of the only banks in the world with triple A credit ratings, used more than $20 billion in cumulative TAF loans.
Ed Clark, TD chief executive, said that using TAF was logical even though his bank never had a liquidity problem. “That wasn’t how we made a lot of money. But you make a dollar here, you make a dollar there. What’s the spread you make on a billion dollars?” he said.
* NICE, HUH?!
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40846
Every three years, the Paris-based OECD holds its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests of the reading, math and science skills of 15-year-olds in developing and developed countries.
Sixty-five nations competed [last year]. The Chinese swept the board.
The schools of Shanghai-China finished first in math, reading and science. Hong Kong-China was third in math and science. Singapore, a city-state dominated by overseas Chinese, was second in math, fourth in science.
Only Korea, Japan and Finland were in the hunt.
And the U.S.A.? America ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math...
* THE (ONCE) GOOD SHIP U.S.S. AMERICA IS HEADING FOR THE ROCKS... (*SIGH*)
"This is an absolute wake-up call for America," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "We have to face the brutal truth. We have to get much more serious about investment in education."
* F--KING IDIOT...! (WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...)
But the "brutal truth" is that we [already] invest more per pupil than any other country save Luxembourg - and we are broke[!]
[A] closer look at the PISA scores reveals some unacknowledged truths: We do not know how to close the gap in reading, science and math between Anglo and Asian students and black and Hispanic students. And from the PISA tests, neither does any other country on earth.
Which brings us to "Bad Students, Not Bad Schools," a new book in which Dr. Robert Weissberg contends that U.S. educational experts deliberately "refuse to confront the obvious truth."
"America's educational woes reflect our demographic mix of students. Today's schools are filled with millions of youngsters, many of whom are Hispanic immigrants struggling with English plus millions of others of mediocre intellectual ability disdaining academic achievement."
In the public and parochial schools of the 1940s and 1950s, kids were pushed to the limits of their ability, then pushed harder. And when they stopped learning, they were pushed out the door.
Writes Weissberg: "To be grossly politically incorrect, most of America's educational woes vanish if these indifferent, troublesome students left when they had absorbed as much as they were going to learn and were replaced by learning-hungry students from Korea, Japan, India, Russia, Africa and the Caribbean."
Weissberg contends that 80% of a school's success depends on two factors: the cognitive ability of the child and the disposition he brings to class - not on texts, teachers or classroom size.
If the brains and the will to learn are absent, no amount of spending on schools, teacher salaries, educational consultants or new texts will matter.
A nation weary of wasting billions on unctuous educators who never deliver what they promise may be ready to hear some hard truths.
http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1811:social-security-is-not-qinsuranceq&catid=31:texas-straight-talk
When it comes to Social Security, we must understand that the system does not represent an old age pension, an “insurance” program, or even a forced savings program.
It simply represents an enormous transfer payment, with younger workers paying taxes to fund benefits.
There is no Social Security trust fund, and you don’t have an “account.” Whether you win or lose the Social Security lottery is a function of when you happened to be born and how long you live to collect benefits.
[Y]oung people today have every reason to believe they will never collect those benefits.
Notice that neither political party proposes letting people opt out of Social Security, which exposes the lie that your contributions are set aside and saved.
(*NOD*)
Social Security is simply a tax. Like all taxes, the money collected is spent immediately as general revenue to fund the federal government. But no administration will admit that Social Security is nothing more than an accounting ledger with no money. You will collect benefits only if future tax revenues materialize as hoped; the money you paid into the system is long gone.
* IN OTHER WORDS, FOLKS, AS OFTEN NOTED HERE AT USUALLY RIGHT, SOCIAL SECURITY IS A PONZI SCHEME.
My hope...
* THE AUTHOR IS OF COURSE THE HONORABLE RON PAUL (R-TX)
...is that at least some members of the new Congress will cut through the distortions and see Social Security as it really is.
The best way to fix the impending Social Security crisis is also the simplest: allow younger individuals to opt out of the program and use their tax savings to invest privately as they see fit. This is the true private solution.
Your money has never been safe in the government’s hands, and it never will be.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/28/morning-bell-stop-the-state-bailouts-before-they-start/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
Hamtramck, Michigan, is running out of money.
City Manager William Cooper tells The New York Times: “We can make it until March 1 - maybe.”
And Hamtramck is not alone. According to the Times, 15 municipalities have pursued bankruptcy in the past two years. And if the economy does not improve revenues, many other local governments will be in the same boat.
Many of these cities, like Hamtramck, have already cut spending on parks, senior centers, and road maintenance. But there is one area they can’t cut: salaries, benefits, and pensions of government workers.
(*SMIRK*)
According to the Times, 60% of Hamtramck’s general fund goes to paying 75 current police officers and firefighters and about 240 worker and spouse pensions. “They kind of have the Cadillac plan,” Cooper tells the Times, “and we’d kind of like the Chevy.”
* FORGET CADILLAC VS. CHEVY; THE PROBLEM IS THE CONCEPT OF A PENSION IN THE FIRST PLACE!
* UNLIKE SOCIAL SECURITY, PRIVATE AND NON-FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PENSION PLANS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE "INVESTED" IN TRUE PROFIT-MAKING ASSETS. HOWEVER... MANY PENSION PLANS ARE SERIOUSLY UNDERFUNDED AND EVEN IF THEY WEREN'T... IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS ALL INVESTMENTS ARE RISKS; ONE CAN'T HONESTLY PROMISE A FUTURE PAY-OFF UNLESS ONE CAN BE CERTAIN OF ENOUGH FUTURE PROFIT TO FINANCE THE PAY-OFFS. WELL... INVESTMENTS ARE NOT SURE THINGS...!!!
(*SIGH*)
Reforming how police and fire workers are paid is an uphill climb politically, but polling shows that once voters are educated, they are open to change.
* FUNNY HOW NEITHER OUR SCHOOLS NOR THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA SEEM TO SHOW MUCH INTEREST IN EDUCATING FOLKS ABOUT THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF HOW ALL THIS STUFF WORKS - OR RATHER, HOW IT DOESN'T WORK!
(*SMIRK*)
* To be continued...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)
The cumulative result of these pensions and benefit promises is staggering. A recent study by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester and Joshua Rauh of Northwestern University found that major pension plans for city workers have a combined estimated under-funding of $574 billion. Heritage Foundation scholar David John details: “For instance, Chicago has only about $22 billion in pension assets to pay for $66 billion in pension promises to its city workers, while New York City has $93 billion available to pay $215 billion in city pension promises, and Boston has only $3.5 billion available to pay $11 billion in promises. That means that every household in Chicago has a liability of about $42,000 just to pay pensions to city workers, while each household in New York City owes $39,000, and each in Boston owes about $31,000.”
* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... THE AVERAGE SHEEPLE HAS NO FRIGG'N CLUE!
The problem is even worse at the state level. An earlier Novy-Marx and Rauh study of the 116 major pension plans sponsored by the 50 states found these plans had assets of about $1.8 trillion to pay pension promises of between $3.6 trillion and $5.2 trillion. This leaves a gap of between $1.8 trillion and $3.4 trillion. Unsustainable public employee compensation is a major reason why large states like California, Illinois, and New York are teetering on the brink of insolvency.
(*MASSIVE MIGRAINE HEADACHE*)
Cities like Hamtramck may eventually be able to escape their government union contracts through bankruptcy. But that road is very difficult. About half the states have laws that allow for municipal bankruptcy filings. But many set limits, including Michigan, which appears ready to force Hamtramck to borrow money from an emergency loan board before it can file for bankruptcy.
But what happens when the states run out of money bailing out their local governments? States currently do not have the ability to file for bankruptcy. So what will they do?
(*BLOOD SHOOTING OUT OF MY EYES*)
California already came to Washington asking for an $8 billion bailout last year. The spendthrift 111th Congress said no.
* THANKS BE TO GOD...!!!
At a bare minimum the 112th Congress should hold the line and refuse to bailout any state government. Instead, Congress should consider a way for states to file for bankruptcy or its fiscal equivalent. While such a law would raise some serious federalism issues, as long as states are allowed to enter into bankruptcy voluntary, it could be constitutionally acceptable.
* THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS WHAT DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAY TO VARIOUS FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS WHO INVESTED IN STATE BONDS...??? HMM...??? IT'S ONE THING FOR THE STATES TO SCREW THEIR OWN CITIZENS OR EVEN OTHER AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM OTHER STATES, BUT WHAT OF SOVEREIGN FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS...???
(*SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* FOLKS... COUNTRIES HAVE GONE TO WAR OVER LESS.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203731004576045581239374792.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
White House aides say they are working up an executive order to allow the U.S. to hold enemy combatants indefinitely...
(*SMIRK*)
* HEY, LIBS...! HEY, LEFTIES...! HOW'BOUT THAT!
(*SNICKER*)
No part of President Obama's agenda has been as thoroughly repudiated as the one regarding terrorist detainees. From the February 2009 promise to close Guantanamo in a year, to the misbegotten attempt to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Manhattan, to the near acquittal of Ahmed Ghailani in a civilian trial, the Administration has failed to change the fundamental architecture of Mr. Bush's legal war on terror.
* AND IN FAILING TO CHANGE THE FUNDAMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF MR. BUSH'S "WAR ON TERROR" OBAMA HAS SHOWN HIMSELF TO BE AN UNPRINCIPLED HYPOCRITE OF THE FIRST ORDER!
* REMEMBER, FOLKS... BUSH BELIEVED IN ALL THIS! HE BELIEVED HE HAD SUCH AUTHORITY! HE BELIEVED HE WAS ACTING CONSTITUTIONALLY! OBAMA ON THE OTHER HAND ACCUSED BUSH OF ABUSING CIVIL RIGHTS! NOW WHO'S ABUSING CIVIL RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW...?!?!
Remember all that huffing and puffing about Mr. Bush's "illegality" and the alleged affront to American values from holding enemy combatants without a trial? Mr. Obama has discovered the difficult dilemmas involved in handling captured killers who refuse to obey the rules of war, much less of civilized society. We're now waiting for House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers to call for Mr. Obama's impeachment.
(*SMIRK*) (*SNORT*)
* HYPOCRITES, FOLKS... SHAMELESS, PHONY, NO GOOD HYPOCRITES...
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/12/28/the-cost-of-driving-gasoline-rises-above-3-per-gallon/
Some analysts had predicted gasoline would cost $3 a gallon by Christmas, and they were right. The average price of regular gasoline rose to $3.05 per gallon this week - an increase of 7-cents a gallon compared with last week and about 45-cents higher than a year ago.
* AND SOME IDIOTS WONDER WHY CONSUMER CONFIDENCE IS FALLING. (OH... AND BTW... JUST REMEMBER THAT AS THE CONSUMER GETS HOSED, WALL STREET LOOKS UPON RISING GAS PRICES AS "GOOD NEWS" - AS DOES BARAK OBAMA, NANCY PELOSI, AND HARRY REID AND THEIR "ENVIRONMENTALIST" ALLIES.)
This is the first time the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. has been above $3 per gallon since October of 2008.
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