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2011
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May
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- Barker's Pre-Vacation Newsbites: Saturday, May 28,...
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, May 27, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 26, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, May 25, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, May 24, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, May 23, 2011
- Attention Dr. Nan Hayworth (R-NY-19)
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., May 21 & 22, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, May 20, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 19, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, May 18, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, May 17, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, May 16, 2011
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., May 14 & 15, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, May 13, 2011
- "Must Read" for Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (R-NY-19)
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 12, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, May 11, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, May 10, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, May 9, 2011
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., May 7 & 8, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, May 6, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 5, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, May 4, 2011
- Same Ol' Tax Rant... With Feelin'...!!!
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, May 3, 2011
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, May 2, 2011
- Osama bin Ladin
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May
(28)
About Me
- William R. Barker
- Pearl River, NY High School Class of '81; Northeastern University, Boston, MA Class of '87.
14 comments:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-09/u-s-underwater-homeowners-increase-to-28-percent-zillow-says.html
More than 28% of U.S. homeowners owed more than their properties were worth in the first quarter as values fell the most since 2008, Zillow Inc. said today.
* AND THAT'S FINE; THAT'S LIFE!
* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... MOST MATERIAL POSSESSIONS ARE "UNDERWATER" THE MOMENT YOU TAKE POSSESSION OF THEM. IT'S NO TRAGEDY IF YOUR HOUSE IS UNDERWATER AS LONG AS THERE'S NO IMMEDIATE NEED TO SELL IT! AS LONG AS YOU CAN AFFORD TO KEEP UP WITH THE PAYMENTS (AND THAT SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HOME'S WORTH) THEN ALL IS WELL!
* DON'T LET THESE IGNORANT DOUCHE BAGS GET YOU RATTLED.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54604.html
Speaker John Boehner came here [to NYC] Monday to lend a peek to a worried Wall Street and a concerned Washington as to where he stands as the nation rapidly approaches its statutory debt ceiling.
What they heard was that he feels no urgency.
(*STANDING OVATION*)
The Ohio Republican used a speech to the Economic Club of New York to unveil a staunchly conservative plan to offset a debt ceiling hike with spending cuts of a greater amount...
* BY "STAUNCHLY CONSERVATIVE" THESE BOZOS AT POLITICO CLEARLY MEAN "STAUNCHLY RESPONSIBLE."
* ANYWAY, FOLKS, LET'S JUST QUOTE THE HEADLINE OF THIS PIECE:
John Boehner: Cut 'trillions' as debt limit nears.
* YEP! LET'S HOPE SO! LET'S PRAY SO...!
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/klein-school/8497/
* ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT GOES ON IN AMERICA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS SHOULD CLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK AND READ THE ARTICLE. (INDEED, FORWARD IT TO ANY TEACHERS YOU KNOW!)
* FOR THE SHORT VERSION... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576312880501768962.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
* IF THE LINK(S) DON'T WORK, JUST GOOGLE "JOEL KLEIN" AND EITHER "THE ATLANTIC" OR "WALL STREET JOURNAL".
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703864204576313370527615288.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
The ObamaCare preview that Massachusetts has been conducting for the last several years grows more ominous by the month...
A new survey released yesterday by the Massachusetts Medical Society reveals that fewer than half of the state's primary care practices are accepting new patients, down from 70% in 2007, before former Governor Mitt Romney's health-care plan came online.
(*SIGH*)
The average wait time for a routine checkup with an internist is 48 days. It takes 43 days to secure an appointment with a gastroenterologist... 41 days to see an OB/GYN...
(*SIGH*)
Massachusetts premiums are among the highest in the U.S.
(*SIGH*)
Massachusetts health regulators also estimate that emergency room visits jumped 9% between 2004 and 2008, in part due to the lack of routine access to providers.
* BUT I THOUGHT EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS WERE SUPPOSED TO DECLINE... (*SNORT*) (*SIGH*)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703864204576310851503980120.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion
* THE AUTHOR, MR. TIMO SOINI, IS CHAIRMAN OF THE TRUE FINN PARTY OF FINLAND.
Europe is suffering from the economic gangrene of insolvency - both public and private. Unless we amputate that which cannot be saved, we risk poisoning the whole body.
To understand the real nature and purpose of the bailouts, we first have to understand who really benefits from them.
It is not the little guy who benefits. He is being milked and lied to in order to keep the insolvent system running.
He is paid less and taxed more to provide the money needed to keep this Ponzi scheme going.
Meanwhile, a symbiosis has developed between politicians and banks: Our political leaders borrow ever more money to pay off the banks, which return the favor by lending ever more money back to our governments.
* AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE WAY IN WORKS HERE IN THE GOOD OL' U.S.A. MY FRIENDS!
In a true market economy, bad choices get penalized. Instead of accepting losses on unsound investments - which would have led to the probable collapse of some banks - it was decided to transfer the losses to taxpayers via loans, guarantees and opaque constructs such as the European Financial Stability Fund.
* HERE IT WAS TARP - WHICH BTW ALSO FUNDED FOREIGN BANKS AND OTHER FOREIGN FINANCIAL ENTITIES. (WHILE THE U.S. TAXPAYER SUPPORTED IMF ALSO BAILS OUT FOREIGN DEADBEATS...)
The money did not go to help indebted economies. It flowed through the European Central Bank and recipient states to the coffers of big banks and investment funds.
(*NOD*)
[T]he recipient states did not want such "help," not this way. The natural option for them was to admit insolvency and let failed private lenders, wherever they were based, eat their losses. That was not to be. Ireland was forced to take the money. The same happened to Portugal.
Why did the Brussels-Frankfurt extortion racket force these countries to accept the money along with "recovery" plans that would inevitably fail? Because they needed to please the tax-guzzling banks, which might otherwise refuse to turn up at the next Spanish, Belgian, Italian or even French bond auction.
(*NOD*)
Already under this scheme, Greece, Ireland and Portugal are ruined. They will never be able to save and grow fast enough to pay back the debts with which Brussels has saddled them in the name of saving them.
(*SIGH*)
We must restore the market principle of freedom to fail.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Insolvent banks and financial institutions must be shut down, purging insolvency from the system.
* YES...!
For sovereign debt, the freedom to fail is again key.
* YES...!!!
* EVERYTHING THIS MAN POINTS OUT CONCERNING EUROPE DIRECTLY APPLIES TO US HERE IN AMERICA.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87400de0-7ade-11e0-991a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LxKsUUo9
NATO warplanes bombed targets in Tripoli early on Tuesday in an escalation of attacks on the Libyan capital...
* HEY, FOLKS... REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS SOLD TO US AS "PROTECTING THE INNOCENTS?"
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/05/09/morning-bell-obamas-attack-on-private-industry/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
You might think that a U.S. company’s decision to expand its manufacturing facilities and create 1,000 new jobs here at home - rather than overseas - would be hailed by the Obama Administration as a step in the right direction, especially with nine percent unemployment.
You’d be wrong.
(*SNORT*) (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)
President Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is doing all it can to throw a wrench in the machinery of private industry.
(*NOD*)
The story begins with Boeing Corporation’s decision to build a new assembly plant in Charleston, South Carolina, in order to produce the 787 Dreamliner, the company’s fastest selling airliner.
* GOOD...
The NLRB, which is charged with remedying unfair labor practices, got wind of the decision and last month filed a complaint against Boeing, alleging that the company decided to build the plant in South Carolina out of retaliation for union strikes at its Washington state facilities.
* HUH...? WHAT'S THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING? BOEING IS A PRIVATE COMPANY - THEY CAN BUILD THEIR PLANTS WHEREVER THEY CHOOSE AND AS LONG AS THESE PLANTS ARE BUILT IN AMERICA I FOR ONE AM PRETTY DAMN HAPPY!
Boeing considered building its new plant in Washington, but the IAM (International Association of Machinists) refused to sign a long-term no-strike agreement. That played a role in Boeing’s decision to expand into South Carolina, a right-to-work state with a good business and tax climate...
* SOUNDS REASONABLE TO ME. (*SHRUG*) BUT IN ANY CASE... AMERICA JOBS ARE AMERICAN JOBS!
”It’s clearly outside of the authority of this federal government to be threatening and bullying and trying to intimidate companies like Boeing who should have the freedom to locate their plants anywhere they want. It’s intimidation,” Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) said Wednesday.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
[T]he NLRB’s moves are just the Obama administration’s latest effort to come to the defense of the union machine. And it’s also a direct shot at private industry’s freedom to make fundamental business decisions, which has serious consequences for the U.S. economy.
(*NOD*)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/opinion/10brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
[I]n 1954, about 96% of American men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked.
Today that number is around 80%.
One-fifth of all men in their prime working ages are not getting up and going to work.
According to figures from the OECD, the United States has a smaller share of prime age men in the work force than any other G-7 nation. Meanwhile the number of Americans on the permanent disability rolls has steadily increased.
Ten years ago, 5 million Americans collected a federal disability benefit. Now 8.2 million do. That costs taxpayers $115 billion a year, or about $1,500 per household. (Government actuaries predict that the trust fund that pays for these benefits will run out of money within seven years.)
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
The result is this: There are probably more idle men now than at any time since the Great Depression, and this time the problem is mostly structural, not cyclical. These men will find it hard to attract spouses. Many will pick up habits that have a corrosive cultural influence on those around them. The country will not benefit from their potential abilities.
* FOLKS... DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A NATION ON THE ASCENT... OR A NATION IN DECLINE?
(*SHRUG*)
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/266770/education-mantra-thomas-sowell
One of the sad and dangerous signs of our times is how many people are enthralled by words, without bothering to look at the realities behind those words.
* AMEN, BROTHER SOWELL... AMEN...!!!
One of those words that many people seldom look behind is “education.”
(*FLINGING MYSELF OUT OF MY CHAIR TO DO A LITTLE JIG; I'M SO DAMNED HAPPY*)
But education can cover anything from courses on nuclear physics to courses on baton twirling.
(*DOUBLE THUMBS UP*)
Unfortunately, an increasing proportion of American education, whether in K–12 schools or in colleges and universities, is closer to the baton-twirling end of the spectrum than toward the nuclear-physics end.
(*WISHING I WERE FRENCH SO I COULD KISS SOWELL ON BOTH CHEEKS*)
Even reputable colleges are increasingly teaching things that students should have learned in high school.
(*I'M LITERALLY ABOUT TO SWOON*)
* SOWELL GETS IT! SOWELL IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MEN THIS NATION HAS EVER PRODUCED! GOD BLESS THOMAS SOWELL!
We don’t have a backlog of serious students trying to take serious courses. If you look at the fields in which American students specialize in colleges and universities, those fields are heavily weighted toward the soft end of the spectrum.
(*VIGOROUS NOD*)
When it comes to postgraduate study in tough fields such as math and science, you often find foreign students at American universities receiving more of those degrees than do Americans.
(*SAD NOD*)
A recent headline in the Chronicle of Higher Education said: “Master’s in English: Will Mow Lawns.” It featured a man with that degree who has gone into the landscaping business because there is no great demand for people with master’s degrees in English.
Too many of the people coming out of even our most prestigious academic institutions graduate with neither the skills to be economically productive nor the intellectual development to make them discerning citizens and voters.
(*DOING MY BEST IMPRESSION OF A PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO HAS JUST SCORED THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN OF THE SUPERBOWL DOING AN END-ZONE DANCE*)
Students can graduate from some of the most prestigious institutions in the country without ever learning anything about science, mathematics, economics, or anything else that would make them either productive contributors to the economy or informed voters who can see through political rhetoric.
(*ON MY KNEES KOW-TOWING TO PROFESSOR SOWELL IN RESPECTFUL ADMIRATION OF HIS BRILLIANCE*)
* FOLKS... READ THE FULL COLUMN! PLEASE...!!! WHAT I'VE EXCERPTED HERE IS ONLY THE PREFACE TO SOWELL'S MAIN POINT!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2011/05/08/2011-05-08_nowork_all_pay_ground_zero_rebuild_costs_up_96m_under_union_rules.html
No-work jobs in a mob-linked union could add nearly $100 million to the public cost of rebuilding Ground Zero, a new report charges.
* HUH...?!?!
The Real Estate Board of New York, a major developers' group, says antiquated rules let a cadre of crane and heavy equipment workers pocket six-figure paychecks for little more than showing up.
(Contractor and union sources confirmed that the eight tower cranes at the WTC site guarantee a bonanza for Local 14 operating engineers and the Local 15 specialists who fix them.)
In the next three years the no-work jobs, controlled by Locals 14 and 15 of the Operating Engineers, could add $96.2 million to the cost of World Trade Center projects, the REBNY says.
* F--KING DISGUSTING...
Many of the jobs are vestiges of an era in which the Colombo and Genovese crime families controlled Locals 14 and 15. On one day in mid-March, for example, contractors said 56 of 204 Local 14 and Local 15 employees on site held no-work jobs.
Local 14 has been under a federal monitor since 2009.
* SO HOW DOES THIS SHIT CONTINUE...?!?!
* FOLKS... SOUNDS TO ME LIKE THERE'S A GOOD CASE TO BE MADE THAT THE "FEDERAL MONITOR" SHOULD BE IN JAIL!
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/media-manipulation-the-majority-of-american-media-outlets-fail-to-report-the-yemeni-passenger-was-shouting-allahu-akbar-as-he-attempted-to-storm-the-cockpit-door-video-examples-of-newscasts-fro/
* I'VE GOTTA ADMIT... I DIDN'T KNOW THIS UNTIL BECK REPORTED THE NEWS. FOLLOW THE LINK... SEE FOR YOURSELF.
* FURTHER INFO: http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-san-francisco/did-yemen-man-yells-allahu-akbar-incident-outside-cockpit-door-video
* YOU'D THINK THERE WOULD BE A BIT OF "INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING" GOING ON. (*SMIRK*)
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-raid-pakistan-hints-china-peak/story?id=13570573
Pakistani officials said today they're interested in studying the remains of the U.S.'s secret stealth-modified helicopter abandoned during the Navy SEAL raid of Osama bin Laden's compound...
* I THOUGHT THE SEALS DESTROYED THAT HELICOPTER...? AND IF THE SEALS DIDN'T PROPERLY DISPOSE OF THE GROUNDED HELICOPTER WHY WASN'T IT TARGETED TO BE DESTROYED BY MISSILE...???
A U.S. official said he did not know if the Pakistanis had offered a peek to the Chinese, but said he would be "shocked" if the Chinese hadn't already been given access to the damaged aircraft.
* AND WE'RE GIVING PAKISTAN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR...?!?!
The chopper, which aviation experts believe to be a highly classified modified version of a Blackhawk helicopter, clipped a wall during the operation that took down the al Qaeda leader, the White House said. The U.S. Navy SEALs that rode in on the bird attempted to destroy it after abandoning it on the ground, but a significant portion of the tail section survived the explosion.
* AGAIN... IF THE SEALS COULDN'T DO WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE WHY WASN'T THERE A PLAN B IN PLACE...? HOW COME THE PAKISTANIS HAVE ANY PIECES OF THAT HELICOPTER BIGGER THAN A DUST MITE...?!?!
In the days after the raid, the tail section and other pieces of debris - including a mysterious cloth-like covering that the local children found entertaining to play with - were photographed being hauled away from the crash site by tractor.
* TELL ME AGAIN ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MIGHTY ACHIEVEMENT... (*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*) WHY WAS THIS DISABLE HELICOPTER ALLOWED TO BE CAPTURED PARTIALLY INTACT...?!?!
The potential technological advancements gleaned from the bird could be a "much appreciated gift" to the Chinese, according to former White House counter-terrorism advisor and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke.
* YA FRIGG'N THINK...?!?!
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/10/news/companies/usps_earnings/?section=money_latest
The U.S. Postal Service continues to hemorrhage money, with a loss of $2.2 billion in the most recent quarter.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
http://orangepunch.ocregister.com/2011/05/10/lifeguarding-in-oc-is-totally-lucrative-some-make-over-200k/44783/
According to a Newport Beach, California city report on [municipal] lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards, 13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
More than half the lifeguards collected more than $150,000 for 2010 with the two highest-paid collecting $211,451 and $203,481 in total compensation respectively.
* $211,451...?!?! TO BE A LIFEGUARD...?!?!
Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000.
* OH... AND GET THIS:
Lifeguards are able to retire with 90 percent of their salary, after only 30 years of work at as early as the age of 50.
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