Thursday, January 6, 2011
Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, January 6, 2011
Homey don't play dat!
(*GRIN*)
See...! I do too enjoy some rap and hippity-hop!
O.K., now back to "What's Obama Screwed Up Today" and the ol' diet journal...
8:00 a.m. - A sip of coffee contaminated with the vinegar I had left in the coffee maker from yesterday's cleaning... YUCK...!!!
11:30 a.m. - One half of a chicken, lettuce, pepperoni, tomato, and cheddar cheese sandwich on who grain bread. (With mayo...) (One pickle on the side!)
12:00 p.m. - My second cup of coffee. (I take my coffee with cream, no sugar.)
1:30 p.m. - Ate the second half of my sandwich.
4:30 p.m. - Drank a glass of Crystal Lite with mega-vitamin powder packet mixed in.
7:30 p.m. - Attended a Shiva and had a few scotches and some fruit and cookies.
8:30 p.m. - Snacked on a few broccoli crowns with some onion dip.
8:45 p.m. - Drank a Diet Coke.
9:00 p.m. - Had one slice of pizza.
10:00 p.m. - Had some orange sherbet.
Now I know... I know... my daily diet menus don't always sound like diet menus, but again, if I'm sticking to under 2,000 calories on average then that counts as dieting... for me.
Finally... to reiterate... this diet log is for me... it serves as a reminder and a tripwire. It's a means of backing myself into a corner with regards to keeping my will-power strong.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703675904576064021086613148.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to send an additional 1,400 Marine combat forces to Afghanistan, officials said, in a surprise move ahead of the spring fighting season to try to cement tentative security gains before White House-mandated troop reductions begin in July.
* ISN'T IT "GREAT" HOW EVEN THE WSJ COVERS FOR OBAMA?
* DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES COULDN'T SEED THESE MARINES TO AFGHANISTAN WITHOUT BARAK OBAMA'S APPROVAL AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT. THIS IS BARAK OBAMA'S WAR AND HAS BEEN SINCE HE TOOK OVER.
* INDEED, FOLKS, AFGHANISTAN HAS BEEN THE DEMOCRAT'S WAR SINCE NANCY PELOSI AND HARRY REID FIRST ASSUMED POWER IN JANUARY 2007. THEY HAD THE POWER TO CUT FUNDING AND END THE WAR; THEY REFUSED TO DO SO.
Commanders are examining other proposals to temporarily boost the number of combat troops in Afghanistan in addition to the Marines authorized Wednesday. If the plans are approved, the front-line fighting force could be increased in total by as many as 3,000 troops.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* FOLKS... RECALL THAT IN HIS BIG 2009 "DECISION" TO ORDER A SURGE IN AFGHANISTAN OBAMA REFUSED TO GIVE THE GENERALS THE NUMBER OF TROOPS THEY HAD ASKED FOR... REMEMBER...?!?! (IF NOT, LOOK IT UP.) AND NOW...??? OBAMA WILL APPROVE FORCE INCREASES BY DRIPS AND DRABS, HOPING NO DOUBT THAT FEW ARE PAYING ATTENTION.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/01/rate-increase-by-blue-shield-of-california-prompts-criticism.html
Another big California health insurer has stunned individual policyholders with huge rate increases - this time it's Blue Shield of California seeking cumulative hikes of as much as 59% for tens of thousands of customers March 1.
San Francisco-based Blue Shield said the increases were the result of fast-rising healthcare costs and other expenses resulting from new healthcare laws.
* OBAMACARE! SAY IT! OBAMACARE!
Michael Fraser, a Blue Shield policyholder from San Diego, learned recently that his monthly bill would climb 59%, to $431 from $271.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
* GO, OBAMA, GO! HOPE AND CHANGE!
Blue Shield said the cost of health coverage was being driven up by large hospital expenses, doctors' bills and prescription drug prices. Blue Shield's [spokesman, Tom] Epstein said other factors also contributed to the three increases in five months. On Oct. 1, he said, Blue Shield imposed increases averaging 18% and as high as 29%. Those hikes had been delayed for three months while state regulators examined Blue Shield's filing, costing the company tens of millions of dollars. Epstein said Blue Shield raised rates again Jan. 1 to pay for changes under the national healthcare overhaul and a new state law that bars insurers from charging women more than men.
(*SMIRK*)
* HO! HO! HO! LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, MEET CALIFORNIA!
"It's unfortunate that they all came in a five-month period," Epstein said. "Rates are going to continue to rise unless the cost of medical care is brought under control. We need to reduce what we pay to hospitals, medical groups and pharmaceutical companies."
* COM'ON, FOLKS... SAY IT WITH ME... R*A*T*I*O*N*I*N*G...!!!
Not included in the rate increases are 78,000 Blue Shield individual policyholders whose insurance is regulated by a second state agency, the Department of Managed Health Care. Those customers have seen two rate increases since October that together average 37%, Epstein said.
* AIN'T OBAMACARE GRAND...?!?!
Despite the large increases, Epstein said Blue Shield would again lose "tens of millions of dollars" on its individual business in 2011.
* BUT THAT'S THE POINT - ISN'T IT? (TO DESTROY THE PRIVATE INSURANCE INDUSTRY...)
* FOLKS... WISE UP! GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES! (DIRECTED TO ANY LIBS TUNING IN...)Despite the large increases, Epstein said Blue Shield would again lose "tens of millions of dollars" on its individual business in 2011.
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/long_island/NY-Village-Smoking-Ban-20110105-apx
A village on Long Island's "gold coast" is banning smoking on public sidewalks in front of businesses. Violators could face a $1,000 fine.
The Great Neck village board approved the ban Tuesday night. It claims to be the first municipality in the state to enact such a restriction.
Mayor Ralph J. Kreitzman says the ban was enacted after officials got complaints about smokers standing outside stores in the village.
* YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT, RIGHT? IT'S ABOUT SIDESTEPPING PAST SUPREME COURT DECISIONS THAT DISALLOWED ARRESTS FOR LOITERING AND SUCH.
* FOLKS... EACH TIME THE LEGISLATURE PASSES A BAD LAW OR THE COURTS DISALLOW A GOOD LAW... (*SIGH*)... THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES KICKS IN. THIS IS NOT ABOUT SMOKING...
* OH, YES... AND DON'T FORGET REVENUE SEEKING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MISUSING AND ABUSING THE POLICE POWERS AT THEIR DISPOSAL TO GET INTO OUR WALLETS VIA "TICKETS."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/05/BAGE1H4PU4.DTL#ixzz1AGDGuNqn
A female jail guard's strip search of a male inmate was a "humiliating event" that violated his rights, a divided federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday.
Such searches of a prisoner by a guard of the opposite sex are unconstitutional except in an emergency, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 6-5 decision.
* WHAT'S CLEAR IS THAT SIX OF THESE ELEVEN MUTTONHEADS ON THE NINTH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS NEED TO BE IMPEACHED AND REMOVED FROM OFFICE.
http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2011/01/03/support-for-capt-honors/
* A COMMENT I SUBMITTED TO THE MILITARY TIMES WEBSITE. (WE'LL SEE IF IT'S "ACCEPTED.")
#97
William R. Barker Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 6th, 2011 at 10:01 am
Here’s what you people NEED to do:
Open up a Word document. Start typing!
Oh, sure, blow off steam here, but for God’s sake, do something constructive and also write down your feelings in letter form and send them to your Member of Congress, your Senator, your local newspaper, and if I may suggest, Senator Jim DeMint – a guy who is basically the face of the “Tea Party” movement in Washington.
If you’re afraid “going outside channels” will come back to haunt you professionally, ask a civilian friend to send the letters under his or her name.
I just took a look at Adm. Harvey’s official bio. I suggest others do too.
Our military brass has been infected by politically correct corporatism and what’s been done to Capt. Honors is but a symptom of the rot tearing away at the entire system.
Think about this folks… Capt. Honors is stripped of command under the authority of the same Commander-In-Chief who appointed a tax cheat as Secretary of the Treasury.
Let me get this straight: Owen Honors’ career is now effectively over but Congressman Charlie Rangel is still… er… Congressman Charlie Rangel.
Folks… please… make your voices heard.
BILL BARKER
Harriman, NY
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40971
"Conservative Tycoon ... Dies at 95," said the New York Times headline on New Year's Eve about the death of Roger Milliken.
Clearly, the headline writer did not know the man.
For Roger Milliken exemplified the finest in American free enterprise. He cared about his workers. He cared about his industry. He cared about his community. He cared about his country.
Into his 90s, Roger was holding strategy sessions in Washington and walking the halls of Congress to convince free-traders half his age that, Esau-like, they were swapping the manufacturing base of their nation for a mess of Chinese-made pottage down at the mall.
The great cause of the later years of his life was his workers, his company and his country, all of which he saw imperiled by a global system set up for the benefit of transnational corporations for whom, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, the very ground "they stand upon does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
In 1985, Roger had come to the White House to persuade me to convince the president to sign a bill to slow the flood of textiles into the country. No way, I told Mr. Milliken. I'm the biggest free-trader in the building, except for the fellow down the hall, who was Ronald Reagan. Roger went away disappointed. Reagan vetoed the bill. And I supervised the writing of the veto message.
Within half a decade, however, some of us had seen the light and enlisted in Roger's crusade to preserve the manufacturing core of the country that he rightly saw as inextricably tied to the prosperity and the pre-eminence of the United States.
[Roger Milliken] was there in the thick of the battle against NAFTA, GATT and the new World Trade Organization. He opposed MFN and PNTR for China. He broke with the party he helped to build to back candidates who would stand with him, as he watched the U.S. trade deficit rise and rise, tens of thousands of industrial plants close and millions of manufacturing jobs leave for Asia. It came close, I believe, to breaking his heart, for he so loved his company and his country.
When his carpet plant in La Grange, Ga., burned down on Jan. 31, 1995, Roger could have collected the insurance money, taken advantage of NAFTA, built a new plant in Mexico, employing the same low-wage labor some of his rivals were using, and pocketed the difference as profits for his company.
Instead, he arrived in La Grange the morning after the fire, gathered the stunned workers, told them he would find temporary jobs for them, then pledged to have the most modern carpet factory in the world built on that same site in six months.
He moved his La Grange workers to plants across the South, even to England, and called friendly rivals to ask them to hire his people. He moved to La Grange, oversaw the design of the new plant, brought in 3,000 construction workers and craftsmen, and directed the round-the-clock triple shifts to rebuild his burned-out factory.
A reporter called it with amazement "a company taking care of its company town." As promised, on Aug. 1, 1995, the new plant opened.
Roger Milliken belonged to a rare species of men who used to be more common here in America than anywhere in the world. With his liberal arts degree from Yale, he was a man of ideas and a man of action. He had the ability to enlist creative genius, managerial talent and loyal workers to build an empire of production that was the best in the world. He wished to be remembered with a single word: builder.
That he was, and if America is in a time of decline, it is because we no longer produce many men like Roger Milliken.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/01/06/jefferson-hills-council-stands-by-decision-to-cut-k-9-officer/
Dozens of people packed a Jefferson Hills [Pennsylvania] borough meeting.
The borough laid off Fritz, its K-9 officer, for 2011, but the community wants the dog back on the force.
“No other officer on our force can match him when it comes to running, locating drugs or finding people,” one resident said. “His keen sense of smell, tracking ability and speed alone make him unmatchable by human abilities.”
Fritz was laid off due to budget cuts.
“The major cost is the comp time,” Christopher King, Jefferson Hills Borough President, said.
The wife of Fritz’s handler, Kim Gawlas, disputed the council’s cost evaluation by handing out copies of her husband’s pay stubs. She says there are funding solutions.
“We have citizens who have brought money in, I have funding that was from the attorney general’s office that is available if the borough would accept it,” she said.
Emotions ran high during the meeting, but the council stood firm on ending the K-9 program for now.
* SEEMS TO ME THAT THE ANSWER IS TO FIRE THE SITTING COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO VOTED TO "FIRE" FRITZ AT THE NEXT ELECTION.
* WHY POST A LOCAL STORY LIKE THIS? IT PAINTS A PICTURE, FOLKS - THAT'S WHY.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/01/no-pity-for-robert-gibbs-and-his-modest-salary/68943/
Perhaps it was the long flight back from Hawaii. But President Obama's first full day back on the job suggested a slight case of tone deafness.
In bidding a sort-of farewell to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, he noted the "relatively modest pay" for which Gibbs has labored.
In fact, he earns $172,200 in a nation where the average family income hovers around $55,000, unemployment is high, record foreclosures persist and wages for most folks are at best stagnant.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
President Obama may have spoken a certain [Washington D.C. political insider] marketplace truth Monday. Unfortunately, it's a market known to too few Americans during historically tough times when a pink slip, or just the need for a root canal, can bring financial crisis to homes.
One can wish Gibbs the very, very best and concede the very positive words many have for him. But a former Chicago community organizer might have edited himself just a bit better in suggesting that a loyal lieutenant is a portrait in financial sacrifice.
(*SMIRK*)
* FOLKS... REMEMBER HOW MICHELLE STARTED RAKING IN THE BIG BUCKS THE MOMENT HER HUSBAND WON ELECTIVE OFFICE IN ILLINOIS? (COM'ON... YOU KNOW YOU DO!)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704405704576063892468779556.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
A primary task for the new Republican House majority is to undo as many of the pernicious effects of ObamaCare that it can. One of these effects is the spectacle of employers going hat-in-hand to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for waivers from some of the law's more onerous provisions.
* GOOD THE TERM "INDULGENCES". (*SMIRK*)
In September, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius began granting waivers to companies that provided workers "mini-med" coverage - low-cost plans with low annual limits on what the insurance will pay out. This followed announcements by some employers that they would have to drop these plans because they did not meet the new health law's requirement that 85% of premium income be spent on medical expenses.
By early December, HHS had granted 222 such waivers to provide mini-med policies for companies including AMF Bowling and Universal Forest Product, as well as...
* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...
...43 union organizations.
(*SMIRK*)
According to the department's website, the waivers cover 1,507,418 employees, of which more than a third (525,898) are union members.
(*SNORT*) BUT, WAIT... THERE'S MORE!
Yet unionized workers make up only 7% of the private work force. Whatever is going on here, a disproportionately high number of waivers are being granted to administration allies.
* FOLKS... WISEASS COMMENTS ASIDE... OBAMA IS SELLING INDULGENCES LIKE SOME MEDIEVAL POPE! IT'S THAT FRIGG'N SIMPLE.
The Obama administration's behavior to date suggests that it will not hesitate to take care of its friends. The Senate Republican Policy Committee's health policy analyst, Chris Jacobs, points out that the administration has already given an extravagant gift to the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), a key player in passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. ... HHS's proposed regulations on Dec. 21 exempted the AARP's lucrative "Medigap" plans from the rate review and other mandates and requirements. ... The AARP is also exempt from the new law's $500,000 cap on executive compensation for insurance executives. (The nonprofit's last CEO received over $1.5 million in compensation in his last full year, 2009.)
[Nor will AARP] pay any of the estimated $14 billion in new taxes on insurance companies, though according to its 2008 consolidated financial statement, it gets more money from its insurance offerings than it does from dues, grants and private contributions combined.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
Nor will [AARP] have to spend at least 85% of its Medigap premium dollars on medical claims, as Medicare Advantage plans must do; the AARP will be held to a far less restrictive 65%.
(*SIGH*)
* FOLKS... I'M NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP! THIS IS HOW GOVERNMENT "WORKS" IN THE AGE OF OBAMA!
* FOLKS... UNLESS YOU READ NEWS LIKE THIS HERE AT BARKER'S NEWSBITES OR VIA THE WSJ OR IBD OR GLENN BECK OR RUSH LIMBAUGH, WHERE DO YOU FIND IT? NOT MANY PLACES, RIGHT?! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT'S SIMPLY AN INNOCENT "OVERSIGHT" BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA...?!?! COM'ON! THERE'S A COUP AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW BEING RUN FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. IT'S THAT FRIGG'N SIMPLE.
It's not hard to connect the dots. The Obama administration is using waivers to reward friends. On the flip side, business executives will be discouraged from contributing to the president's opponents or from taking any other steps that might upset the White House or its political appointees at HHS.
In a speech at the University of Iowa last March, the president heralded health-care reform as "a new set of rules that treats everybody honestly and treats everybody fairly."
* THE PRESIDENT LIED. NOTHING NEW... (*SIGH*)
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/01/06/new-jersey-road-repair-plan-relies-on-borrowing-tunnel-funds/
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to propose paying for $8 billion in transportation repairs over the next five years by using money from a scuttled Hudson River tunnel project, handing off projects to the Port Authority and borrowing $4.4 billion, administration officials said Thursday.
(*HEADACHE*)
* CHRIS... TELL ME IT AIN'T SO... (*SIGH*)
The plan...avoids raising the gas tax...
* WELL, THANK GOD FOR SMALL FAVORS... (*PURSED LIPS*)
The state had to come up with a replacement plan to pay for projects through the practically bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund, which is used to finance road projects. By the middle of this year, all of the money dedicated by the legislature from gas and sales taxes and other fees — $895 million — would have all gone directly toward debt, leaving no money for work.
* SO... (*SCRATCHING MY HEAD*)... LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: NJ CAN'T AFFORD THE DEBT IT PRESENTLY HAS... AND IT'S NOW BEING PROPOSED THAT NEW DEBT BE ADDED...??? (FOLKS... IS IT ME...???)
Overall, the Christie administration’s goal is to borrow less than previous New Jersey governors while performing the same amount of work.
* UMM... HOW'BOUT BORROWING... er... NOTHING NEW...???
The trust fund was formed in 1984 with the goal of providing a steady source of money for road projects using 10-year bonds. Over the next 25 years, however, governors and lawmakers kept borrowing, extending the terms of bonds and allowing the fund to pay for a wider variety of costs associated with transportation management, including salaries or short-term work.
* FANTASY DAYDREAMING: ALL SUCH POLITICIANS WILL BE ARRESTED, TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SHOT. (*SHRUG*) HEY... A MAN CAN DREAM, RIGHT?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704415104576065384259344432.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_world
* REMEMBER THAT EPISODE OF THE SOPRANOS WHERE TONY MUSCLES IN ON HIS NEIGHBOR'S SPORTING GOODS BUSINESS AFTER THE NEIGHBOR GETS INTO DEBT WITH HIM...???
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256504/constitution-not-propaganda-orrin-g-hatch
More than 90% of Americans say that the Constitution is very important to them...
* WHO ARE THE REMAINING NINE (PLUS!) PERCENT...???
...and two-thirds say that a “detailed knowledge” of our charter is “absolutely necessary.”
* MEANING ONE THIRD REJECT THE NOTION...???
* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... THERE'S A HUGE MINORITY OF DEADWEIGHT OUT THERE.
Federal and state officials, whether elected or appointed, must take an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
* WHICH THEY RARELY, RARELY HONOR. (WE ALL KNOW THIS...) (*SIGH*)
[T]hose who love liberty should read our Constitution often.
* AGREED.
[W]ho would have thought that simply reading the Constitution out loud on the House floor - by the very House members who the day before took an oath to support and defend it - would be met with such cynicism.
(*RAISING MY HAND*) (*SMIRK*)
One Democratic congressman dismissed reading the Constitution as nothing but “propaganda.” He is — seriously — the previous chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on, yes, the Constitution.
* NOTICE THAT ORRIN HATCH - THE AUTHOR OF THIS PIECE - DOESN'T HAVE THE GUTS TO ACTUALLY NAME THE MEMBER...
(*IMAGINING ORRIN HATCH BEING RIDDEN OUT OF WASHINGTON ON A RAIL*)
* BTW, THE CONGRESSMAN WHOM HATCH DOESN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO IDENTIFY DIRECTLY IS JERROLD NADLER (D-NY).
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010603628.html?hpid=topnews
[The headline reads:] "Pentagon to cut spending by $78 billion, reduce troop strength."
* FINE AND DANDY. I APPROVE! HOWEVER... HOWEVER...
(*PAUSE*)
* IF WE'RE GOING TO CUT MILITARY SPENDING, THEN WE'VE GOT TO CUT MILITARY COMMITMENTS - NO? IN OTHER WORDS, HERE'S THE RUB: IF WE'RE GOING TO GIVE THE MILITARY LESS, THAN BY GOD WE'D BETTER SURE AS HECK DOWNSIZE THE RESPONSIBILITIES IT SHOULDERS. RIGHT...? LOGICAL...???
The Pentagon will have to cut spending by $78 billion over the next five years...
* MEANING $15.6 BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR... RIGHT? CUT FROM WHAT THOUGH?! CUT FROM THE BASE OF THIS YEAR'S BUDGET OR LAST YEAR'S BUDGET, OR "CUT" FROM THE "INFLATION ADJUSTED" AUTOMATIC INCREASES...???
* FOLKS... ARE YOU FOLLOWING? I'M JUST LOOKING FOR STRAIGHT ANSWERS HERE. (I KNOW... I KNOW... "GOOD LUCK, BILL!")
The surprise announcement from Gates was a reminder for the military establishment - which has benefited from a gusher of new money over the past decade - that it will not remain exempt from painful austerity measures that federal lawmakers say will be necessary to control the soaring national debt.
* FAIR ENOUGH... BUT I REITERATE: IS THE "MISSION" GOING TO SHRINK ALONG WITH THE RESOURCES? ARE COMMITMENTS GOING TO BE CUT? IF NOT... THEN WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS RANK IRRESPONSIBILITY. (AS IF ANYONE WOULD BE SURPRISED...)
"We must come to realize that not every defense program is necessary, not every defense dollar is sacred or well-spent, and more of everything is simply not sustainable," Gates said.
* GREAT. SO WHAT COMMITMENTS ARE ON THE CUTTING BLOCK? WHICH DEFENSE TREATIES WILL WE BE ABROGATING?
* To be continued...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)
In response to questions, he emphasized that the $78 billion reduction over the next five years actually represents a "decline in the rate of growth," since the Pentagon budget will grow "in absolute dollars" every year.
(*SMIRK*)
* GUESS THAT ANSWERS ONE OF MY QUESTION, HUH?! (DISINGENUOUS PINHEAD...)
Gates also stressed that even after the reductions in troop strength, the Army and Marine Corps both will still be larger than they were when he became defense secretary four years ago. The Army will be bigger by about 40,000 soldiers, and the Marines will still have 7,000 to 12,000 more troops, he said.
* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... SHOULDN'T WE BE LOOKING AT WHAT OUR MILITARY NEEDS ARE FIRST - WHAT WE NEED TO BACK UP OUR COMMITMENTS - AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT WILL COST? THEN.... IF THE COSTS ARE UNAFFORDABLE... WOULDN'T THE LOGICAL NEXT STEP BE TO CUT BACK OUR COMMITMENTS...? HMM...??? (BUT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS... JUST ME...) (*SIGH*)
Gates predicted that the decisions would come under fire from critics who charge that "we either are gutting defense or we are not cutting nearly enough."
* OR... GATES MIGHT CONSIDER WHAT I'M SAYING HERE..!!! (FRIGG'N PHONY...)
Gates had hoped to spare the Pentagon from the budget ax.
* WHY?! (EITHER THERE ARE SACRED COWS ARE THERE AREN'T; I VOTE FOR "AREN'T.")
The Pentagon will see a short-term boost in its budget next year to about $554 billion, excluding the cost of fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
(*SNORT*)
* WELL OF COURSE... I MEAN, AFTER ALL... WHAT'S ACTUAL FIGHTING HAVE TO DO WITH A PENTAGON BUDGET...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
After that, however, annual spending increases will dwindle until they flatten completely in 2015 and 2016, with no extra money beyond the rate of inflation.
* SO FIRST OF ALL THERE ARE NO REAL "CUTS" COMING AS YOU AND I UNDERSTAND THE WORD "CUT." SECOND OF ALL... (*SIGH*)... GATES' "FAKE" CUTS AREN'T COMING TILL 2015 AND 2016 - WHEN WE'LL HAVE NOT ONLY A NEW CONGRESS BUT POTENTIALLY A NEW PRESIDENT.
* FOLKS... THESE PEOPLE ARE SO FULL OF SHIT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!
http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2011/01/man-attacked-by-kids-at-l-enfant-metro----bystanders-watch-film-6880.html
* READ THE ARTICLE. WATCH THE VIDEO. THIS IS WHAT OUR COUNTRY IS BECOMING.
* LINK FOR THE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEbo1evnF4TQ%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded
On Sunday night, Allen Haywood was randomly and viciously attacked by two kids on the platform of the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. Dozens of people witnessed it. Several people filmed it. Nobody helped.
Haywood looked to strangers for help, but all he saw were other kids with their cell phones out, recording the scene and laughing. Judging from his voice-over, the [subhuman savage] shooting the YouTube video above doesn’t appear to be part of the group.
“I can understand people not wanting to get physically involved,” says Haywood, who’s 47 and works in a Friendship Heights flower shop. "But nobody pressed the emergency button or went to the booth,” as far as he knows. ... “That may have been the whole point, if there is such a thing: 'Let's make a video,'" says Haywood. “They held them high, a pack moving together.”
Haywood finally got free and sprinted to the station booth. He banged on the glass and told the station manager to call 911. With gashes and blood on his face, he ran back to the scene of the attack, hoping the kids would be detained. The ones who’d delivered the beating were gone, but the kids who’d filmed it were still there – and they still had their cell phones in Haywood’s face, taunting him.
“How are you doing, sir?”
“Any comment, sir?”
One of them said if he paid them, they would give him video of the attack.
A Metro worker arrived on the scene and told Haywood to go upstairs. Haywood said he didn’t want to leave, because the kids had evidence of the attack and he wanted them questioned. The worker kept insisting, and Haywood relented. He still doesn’t know what happened to the kids.
* AND APPARENTLY THE REPORTER WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE HASN'T BOTHERED TO TRACK DOWN THAT INFO EITHER.
A transit police officer arrived and took Haywood’s statement and photos of his damaged face. ... By the time he got home he had bruises all over his face and a knot on his head, though the bleeding had stopped.
A detective assigned to the case told Haywood he’s trying to pull video of the attack from Metro station cameras.
* THAT'S ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT DOES THIS MEAN THAT NONE OF THE "KIDS" WHO RECORDED THE INCIDENT ON THEIR CELL PHONES WERE QUESTIONED... THAT THE POLICE DIDN'T BOTHER TO DOWNLOAD WHATEVER VIDEOS WERE AVAILABLE...???
* THE UNANSWERED QUESTION IS WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO HAYWOOD HAD HE DEFENDED HIMSELF? WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF HE HAD USED FORCE AGAINST ONE OF THE "KIDS" TO PROTECT HIMSELF? WHAT WOULD THE OTHER "KIDS" HAVE DONE? HOW WOULD THE POLICE HAVE REACTED? WOULD HAYWOOD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AND CHARGED...???
* FOLKS... OUR SOCIETY IS CRUMBLING AROUND US.
* FOLKS... L'ENFANT PLAZA METRO STATION IS SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF "OFFICIAL" WASHINGTON D.C., IN AN AREA CROWDED WITH FEDERAL BUILDINGS.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/final-tab-pelosi-s-speakership-534-trill
In the 1,461 days that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) served as speaker of the House, the national debt increased by a total of $5.343 trillion ($5,343,452,800,321.37) or $3.66 billion per day ($3.657,394,113.84), according to official debt numbers published by the U.S. Treasury.
* VERIFICATION AVAILABLE HERE: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
When Pelosi was sworn in on Jan. 4, 2007, the national debt stood at $8,670,596,242,973.04.
At the close of business on Jan. 4, 2011, her last full day in the speakership, it stood at 14,014,049,043,294.41 - an increase of $5,343,452,800,321.37.
Pelosi not only outstripped her predecessors in the total volume of debt added to the national debt during her tenure as speaker, but also in the rate at which new debt was added. In fact, Pelosi added debt at a rate more than three times faster than her nearest competitor.
When Pelosi became speaker in January 2007 she was emphatic that there would be no new deficit spending [,stating,] "After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending,” she said in her inaugural address from the speaker’s podium. “Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt."
* SHE LIED.
Pelosi served as speaker for four full years, including one leap year, making her time in that office 1,461 days. On average, the federal government added $3.66 billion ($3,657,394,113.84) in new debt for each of those days.
* BY CONTRAST...
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)...[oversaw] the national debt increasing by an average of $1.05 billion ($1,048,556,747.89) [for each of day he was Speaker].
* BY CONTRAST...
The national debt accumulated during [Newt] Gingrich’s tenure at an average rate of $556 million per day ($556,073,644.88).
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/558879/201101052046/Obamas-Oil-War.aspx
Oil prices are surging...
Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the price of oil has rocketed 117% to $90.41 a barrel and gasoline has jumped 67% to $3.07 a gallon.
More than mere incompetence is at work here; it's becoming more and more obvious that Obama's energy policy is meant to raise prices by making fossil fuels harder to produce and use.
Indeed, the White House has followed a deliberate policy of attacking Americans' use of energy, turning it into something of a moral crusade.
In just two years, as Steve Everley of the American Solutions blog has noted, the Obama administration has:
Virtually shut down oil drilling in the Gulf. Yes, the six-month moratorium announced during the BP oil spill ended in November. But regulators have made it nearly impossible for oil firms to restart operations and have slapped strict new rules on drilling even in shallow waters.
Put hundreds of billions of barrels of offshore oil and gas off-limits to exploration and production. By executive order, the administration has taken much of the energy-rich Outer Continental Shelf out of play. This, according to the Energy Information Administration, will cut this year's output by 220,000 barrels a day.
Canceled 77 existing drilling leases in Utah, one of Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's first actions and a move that set the tone for the Obama administration's war on energy.
Proposed new taxes on energy, including the cap-and-trade fiasco, that have had a chilling effect on new investment in energy. Steven Chu, Obama's energy secretary, has already let the cat out of the bag by saying he wants to see pump prices in the U.S. as high as they are in Europe. (Last we checked, that was $7 a gallon.)
At least 130 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas lie offshore, and hundreds of billions of barrels more are locked in shale deposits in the Northeast and West. Yet [Obama's] policy remains leaving [these domestic resources] alone.
America has the oil and natural gas resources to ensure its energy future as we develop reasonable, economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels. And that oil and gas is available right now. Yet, our government has systematically put those resources out of reach, making us more dependent on unreliable foreign sources. Today we're more, not less, vulnerable to the predations of foreign dictators and tyrants who would do us ill.
Developing our own resources would also go a long way toward boosting the economy. A new study by consultants Wood Mackenzie reckons that 530,000 new, high-paying jobs could be created and $150 billion in government tax revenue generated over the next four years by boosting oil output by 4 million barrels a day.
Obama's war against fossil fuels is a direct assault on our oil-dependent economy and standard of living.
* AND IT'S PURPOSEFUL; EITHER THAT OR THE PRESIDENT IS INCOMPETENT. IT'S ONE OR THE OTHER.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/558935/201101051906/Obama-Serves-Up-Daley-Dish-Thats-Spoiled.aspx
No matter how you rearrange President Obama's inner circle, it still looks, smells and tastes like a rotten Chicago deep-dish pizza.
* HEY! I LOVE DEEP DISH PIE!
(*CHUCKLE*)
Ready for the latest topping on this moldy old pie? It's a...chief of staff slot for Wall Street banker/lawyer/wheeler-dealer William Daley, brother of outgoing Chicago mayor/machine politics mastermind Richard M. Daley (also the former boss of White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and first lady Michelle Obama), whose retirement paved the way for former Obama chief of staff and Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel.
Phew!
(*ANOTHER CHUCKLE*)
The White House is reportedly looking to manufacture a "pro-business" aura with Bill Daley, who holds a "corporate responsibility" executive office at J.P. Morgan...
* COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE, I SUPPOSE; HE COULD HAVE BEEN A GOLDMAN SACH EXECUTIVE!
(*SMIRK*)
In 2009, the head of Chicago's sanitation department implicated Daley in a hiring corruption scheme tied to his brother's mayoral administration. The official was convicted; Daley shrugged off the federal probe. "Even if it happened - and I'm not saying it did - things were different. There was nothing illegal about that stuff."
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Daley has served on the board of government-sponsored financial behemoth Fannie Mae since 1993.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
* NOW THERE'S A RINGING ENDORSEMENT...!
(*CONTINUING TO JUST SHAKE MY HEAD*)
Bill Clinton, the man who appointed Daley to the Fannie Mae board, also appointed [Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm] Emanuel to the Freddie Mac board of directors at a time when its oversight manager called the quasi-governmental agency "so pliant" that it enabled rampant book-cooking. Freddie Mac's stock skyrocketed; its CEOs helped themselves to massive bonuses. Emanuel's hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune, exposed how Emanuel's "profitable stint" during this corruption-plagued period entailed almost no work...
(*GNASHING MY TEETH*)
* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... OBAMA KNOWS THESE PEOPLE ARE CORRUPT. APPOINTING A TAX CHEAT TO BE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY - AND THEREFORE HEAD OF THE IRS - WAS NO ABERRATION. FOLKS... THIS IS THE "CHICAGO WAY."
[N]ow the torch [is being passed] in an endless Windy City circle, from Daley to Emanuel, from Emanuel to Daley, with Obama. 'Round and 'round it goes in Chicago on the Potomac.
Remember: When Crony State corruptocrats brag about "job creation," the only jobs they've ever created are each other's.
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/558932/201101051906/The-Meaning-Of-Allah-Akbar.aspx
"Allah Akbar!" cheered Egyptian Muslims while trampling the remains of dozens of Christians eviscerated in last Friday's suicide bombing.
We heard the same celebratory chant from Palestinians and other Muslims around the world as the Twin Towers burned.
Yet... we're assured that the phrase has nothing to do with Islam.
The list of Islamic terrorists heard shouting the phrase before launching attacks is long. The 9/11 hijackers themselves screamed "Allah Akbar!" before crashing their planes. More recently, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was heard crying "Allah Akbar!" before massacring 13 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood.
* I'D SUGGEST READING THE FULL OP-ED. VALID POINTS ARE RAISED.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/136519-dem-wants-to-slash-member-pay
A Democratic lawmaker wants to slash the paychecks of members by 5%, or $8,700 each.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.) on Thursday introduced a measure that would stop members of Congress from receiving an automatic pay raise in 2012. It would also reduce the salaries of lawmakers by 5 percent in the 113th Congress - the next time a pay reduction would be possible.
* I'D SUPPORT SUCH A BILL.
* ONE QUESTION: WAS GIFFORDS A CONGRESSWOMAN WHEN THE DEMS WERE THE MAJORITY PARTY? IF SO, DID SHE INTRODUCE SUCH LEGISLATION THEN...??? IF NOT, WHY NOT?
Giffords's bill has 18 co-sponsors, including Republican Rep. Ron Paul (Texas).
Separately, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) has offered a measure to halt the automatic cost-of-living increase for 2012.
(*RESPECTFUL NODS TO BOTH MEN*)
Boehner so far has opted not to take a stance on members’ salaries and instead thrown his support behind slashing the operating budget of Congress by 5%. That resolution easily passed the House on Thursday with only 13 lawmakers - all Democrats - voting no.
(*SMIRK*)
If Giffords’s bill is signed into law, it would be the first time Congress has taken a pay cut in 77 years - the last time being in the midst of the Great Depression on April 1, 1933.
“We are living in tough economic times,” said Giffords in a statement. “Everyone is being forced to make sacrifices. Members of Congress can’t ask any American to cut back before we are willing to make some sacrifices of our own. I’m prepared to do that, and I want my colleagues to join me.”
* TURNS OUT THAT GIFFORDS WAS FIRST ELECTED TO CONGRESS IN 2006. AGAIN... DURING EITHER OF HER TWO TERMS WHEN DEMS CONTROLLED THE HOUSE, DID SHE PROPOSE A CONGRESSIONAL PAY (OR BENEFITS) CUT?
* FUNNY... YOU'D THINK THAT THE REPORTER AND/OR EDITOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS STORY WOULD HAVE PURSUED THIS ANGLE...
(*SMIRK*)
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/136501-gop-lawmakers-cast-house-votes-despite-missing-swearing-in
GOP Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) cast their first votes of the 112th Congress on Thursday despite the fact they were technically not members of Congress at the time.
* THEN THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO CAST VOTES!
The two Republicans missed the official swearing-in ceremony on the House floor Wednesday because they were attending a separate event for Fitzpatrick elsewhere in the Capitol.
* HEY... YOU'RE NOT OFFICIAL TILL YOU'VE TAKEN THE OATH. PERIOD.
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) administered the oath to both lawmakers on the floor on Thursday...
(*ROLLING MY EYES*) (*SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Boehner’s office was seeking an agreement with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to offer a unanimous consent request that would retroactively record the two men’s votes.
* FAIR ENOUGH, BUT SESSIONS AND FITZPATRICK SHOULD BE CHIDED BY THE CHAIR - PUBLICLY CHIDED.
“When Congressmen-elect Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick participated in reading parts of the U.S. Constitution on the House floor, Speaker Boehner should have given them Article 6, which requires members of Congress to be sworn in,” DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said. “Jokes aside, Congressmen-elect Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick’s actions raise serious questions: What in the world was more important to Congressmen-elect Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick than taking the oath of office, committing to support and defend the U.S. Constitution? Why did Speaker Boehner and [the] House Republican leadership allow two people who were not sworn members of Congress to vote and speak on the House floor? Republicans have spent a lot of time over the past two days proselytizing about House rules, but they don’t seem very keen on actually following the rules.”
* AGAIN, FAIR ENOUGH! CRIDER IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!
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