Today's newsbites are dedicated to Iz.
You don't know Iz...? Sure you do!
Here... listen...
Beautiful, no? Com'on, you've heard this "twofer" version!
Doesn't it just... move you?
It moves me.
To anyone of my generation or older, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is caught somewhere deep in your soul - as should be "What A Wonderful World."
When I was a kid, watching the yearly airing of "The Wizard of Oz" on network television was a family event.
Com'on... think back to your own childhoods...
(By the way, Ol' Blue Eyes Himself did one hell of a version of "Over the Rainbow.")
As to "Wonderful World," who doesn't love Satchmo Louis Armstrong?!
Anyway... back to Iz... here are his stand apart versions of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Wonderful World." (Nice videos even apart from the audio, huh?)
Hey...! Anyone feeling generous and appreciative of all the newsbites and newsbite theme songs....
You know the mailing address...!!!
(*GRIN*)
(*GRIN*)
3 comments:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_re_us/us_black_lawmaker_immigration
[A Democratic] lawmaker in South Carolina said Tuesday that stricter illegal immigration laws would hurt the state because blacks and whites don't work as hard as Hispanics.
State Sen. Robert Ford, [a Democrat and Member of the body's black caucus,] made his remarks during a Senate committee debate over an Arizona-style immigration law, eliciting a smattering of nervous laughter in the chamber after he said "brothers" don't work as hard as Mexicans.
He continued that his "blue-eyed brothers" don't either.
"We need these workers here. A lot of people aren't going to do certain type of work in this country," said Ford, D-Charleston. "The brothers are going to find ways to take a break. Ever since this country was built, we've had somebody do the work for us."
He recalled to senators that four workers in the country illegally showed up on his lawn and finished mowing, edging and other work in 30 minutes that would take others much longer, and only wanted $10 for the job. He went on to say he recommended the workers to his neighbors, and one local lawn care businessman lost work - a story one senator remarked was hurting, not helping, his case.
* SEEMS TO ME THAT THIS SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC STATE SENATOR HAS JUST ADMITTED TAKING PART IN A CONSPIRACY TO BREAK FEDERAL LAW BY KNOWINGLY HIRING ILLEGAL ALIENS.
The state NAACP leader called Ford's wording unfortunate...
(*SNORT*)
* WHY THAT'S SURE TELLIN' HIM!
http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=259
House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) today announced a partial list of 70 spending cuts that will be included in an upcoming Continuing Resolution (CR) bill.
The CR legislation will fund the federal government for the seven months remaining in the fiscal year and prevent a government wide shut-down, while significantly reducing the massive increases in discretionary spending enacted in the last several years by a Democrat majority.
* NOTE: "REDUCING THE INCREASES..." (THE "MASSIVE" INCREASES...)
(*TRYING TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND*)
A full list of program cuts will be released when the bill is formally introduced.
The total spending cuts in the CR will exceed $74 billion, including $58 billion in non-security discretionary spending reductions.
* A LIST OF SPECIFIC CUTS CAN BE FOUND VIA THE PRESS RELEASE ITSELF VIA THE LINK PROVIDED ABOVE.
All reductions are compared to the President’s fiscal year 2011 request.
* I DON'T WANT TO SEE "COMPARED TO THE PRESIDENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2011 REQUEST - I WANT TO SEE "COMPARED TO 2010 ACTUAL SPENDING...!!!"
* TO BE CONTINUED AS WE LEARN MORE SPECIFICS...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704858404576134282723952842.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Credit-rating firm Standard & Poor's on Wednesday downgraded New Jersey one notch, citing the state's poorly funded pension system and "above-average" debt levels.
S&P downgraded New Jersey from "AA" with a stable outlook to "AA-," also with a stable outlook.
* MEANING... (*SMIRK*)... "STABLE" UNTIL... "STABLILITY" CRUMBLES.
* YOU, KNOW, FOLKS... THE WAY THE GUY WHO CAN'T AFFORD HIS CURRENT CREDIT CARD BILLS "STABLIZES" HIS FINANCES BY GETTING A NEW CREDIT CARD (ABET WITH A HIGHER INTEREST RATE) AND TRANSFERS HIS OLD BALANCE TO THIS NEW CARD.
(*SMIRK*)
A lower credit rating can mean higher borrowing costs for a state.
* REAAALY....?!?! WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT?!
The rater also cited health care and other retirement benefits for government workers as budget stresses.
Gov. Chris Christie, speaking about the S&P downgrade at a town-hall style meeting here Wednesday, blamed the downgrade on the state legislature's inaction on his proposed pension and benefit cuts. "For five months, the Legislature has dallied," he said.
Saying Democratic lawmakers have called him "Chicken Little," he said: "Well, the sky started to fall in today, because now when we need to borrow money to keep government going, to do long-term capital projects, it's now going to cost us more to borrow because we've been downgraded, because they in the Legislature have acted for the special interests and not for the public interests."
(*SIGH*)
In September, Mr. Christie proposed broad-based cuts to future pension benefits for currently employed public workers, including reversing a 9% increase granted in 2001. He also proposed switching to a health-care plan where workers paid a percentage of premiums rather than a percentage of salary.
* AND DEMOCRATS HAVE REFUSED TO ACT.
For more than a decade, New Jersey has underfunded its pension, partially paying or entirely skipping the annual pension bills for many years in favor of other budget items.
* AND THIS IS LEGAL...!
Mr. Christie continued the practice in his first budget, skipping a $3.1 billion payment.
(*MIGRAINE HEADACHE*)
Mr. Christie has proposed increasing the amount some public workers pay into the pension system to 8.5% of their salary, the same amount police and firefighters currently pay. State workers, teachers and others pay 5.5% of their salaries, and many judges pay 3.5% of their salaries into their pension system.
* HOW'BOUT WE JUST END THE PRACTICE OF PROVIDING PENSIONS? PROVIDE PAY INSTEAD! OUT OF THE PAY... WORKERS WILL EITHER PROVIDE OR FAIL TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR RETIREMENTS. IF THEY FAIL TO PROVIDE, THEY MUST BE MADE TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
New Jersey's pension liabilities have been in the spotlight in recent months. In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the state of misleading investors about the health of its two largest pensions while selling billions of dollars in bonds from 2001 to 2007.
* BACK WHEN DEMOCRATS WERE STILL RUNNING THE STATE WITH NO-SEATBELT CORZINE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT.
New Jersey authorities settled the case without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
* AGAIN... NO ONE GOES TO JAIL... NO ONE IS EVEN PERSONALLY RUINED FINANCIALLY.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Thirty-six percent of states are rated AA by Standard & Poor's, according to a report by the firm that takes into account New Jersey's downgrade. Ten percent of states are rated AA- like New Jersey, according to the report. AAA is the highest rating.
[Nancy Pelosi's] California and [Barak Obama's] Illinois are the lowest-rated states by Standard & Poor's. California carries an A- with a negative outlook while Illinois carries an A+, with a negative outlook.
* THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM, FOLKS...
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