Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, February 21, 2012


OK... I have the "balance" worked out now.

Presently at the library using a desktop.

Got the laptop working at home, but plan to use it mainly for reading since (for me at least) typing on a laptop is relatively time and effort intensive.

Haven't heard from my "fans" lately...

(Mike...???)

(Mary...???)

(Red Rob...???)

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's GOP Debate from Arizona.

As regular readers know, I have no respect for folks who duck debates and while Romney is the worst in this regard, he and Santorum - and even Ron Paul, interestingly enough - pissed me off royally by pulling out of the scheduled March 1st CNN Debate.

Now some may say they've seen enough.

To them I say... Then Don't Watch Or Listen!

Jeezus... stupid, lazy people shouldn't set the agenda for the rest of us and the simple fact is that these debates - while seriously flawed in terms of form - are pretty much an average citizen's only chance to see the candidates refine and defend their talking points and positions while at the same time questioning their opponents (to a degree at least!) while being directly questioned in turn.

Without the debates the average idiot is totally dependent upon the surface coverage - and manipulation - of the mainstream media.

Heck... even for the sophisticated citizen... candidate to candidate face to face interaction is of far more use than simply relying upon skewed news reporting and analysis or even the candidates' own individual websites and position papers absent the aforementioned real time push-back.

Oh... and to those who question whether I'm simply pushing debates because I feel they offer my candidate, Newt Gingrich, his best opportunity to regain his lost lead... no - that's not it.

Remember, folks... I've been beating this drum from day one of the campaign; if "Red Rob" chimes in he'll tell you've I've always sang this same tune!

Heck... all along I've been boosting the concept of revolving one-on-one debates - real debates moderated according to collegiate formatting and rules - in order to force all the candidates to seriously and in depth defend their proposed policies while articulating - specifically - the flaws (as they see them) in their various opponent's positions.

Forget Gingrich... just imagine one-on-one debates between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney... between Ron Paul and Rick Santorum... between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Folks... as I've told you all along, you're being manipulated.

What's the end game of the mainstream media? To re-elect Barak Hussein Obama of course.

As to the Republican Establishment... they still want Romney and they'll continue to do all in their power to boost him and destroy Newt Gingrich.

Santorum...??? The Religious Right loves Santorum. His support from that quarter is sincere. Even many non-evangelical conservatives (mistakenly) see Santorum as more "their guy" than Gingrich.

But folks... Santorum can't win.

Imagine Santorum winning the GOP nomination. (I can't see it happening, but just imagine...) After everything Romney and his PAC supporters throw at Santorum... do you really see a candidate Santorum as retaining enough solid support to beat the Obama machine?

(*SHRUG*)

I don't.

And I can't see Ron Paul supporters going in mass for Santorum either.

My view? If Gingrich can pull this out... win the GOP nomination and thus force the Party apparatus to get in line... I believe he can beat Obama and as president... I truly believe Newt Gingrich would reignite the stalled Republican Revolution of '94!

Folks... we're losing our country. Four more years of Obama and it's over.

I fear a President Romney would at best "manage a continuing decline."

(And frankly... I fear were he to be elected... a President Santorum would lead us into WW-3.)

I believe Ron Paul is unelectable - though with all my heart, my integrity, and my intellect I would have it otherwise.

Anyway... we'll see what happens tomorrow night at the debate.

We'll see what happens on March 6 - "Super Tuesday."

I'm not the most religious guy... but I ask all of you... pray for our nation.

4 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/jeremy-lin-slur-honest-mistake-fired-espn-editor-anthony-federico-claims-article-1.1025566

* IS THIS YOUR AMERICA, FOLKS?

The ESPN editor fired Sunday for using "chink in the armor" in a headline about Knicks phenom Jeremy Lin said the racial slur never crossed his mind - and he was devastated when he realized his mistake.

"This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny," Anthony Federico told the Daily News.

The headline - "Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin's 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-stopping Loss to Hornets" - appeared on ESPN's mobile website at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and was removed by 3:05 a.m.

Battling to contain a furor, the sports network fired Federico and suspended anchor Max Bretos for 30 days because it turned out he had used the same expression on the air last week.

He said he has used the phrase "at least 100 times" in headlines over the years and thought nothing of it when he slapped it on the Lin story.

It was Federico's last headline of the night before heading home at 2:30 a.m. It might be the last he ever writes.

"I had a career that I was proud of," mourned Federico, who worked at ESPN since getting his start there as a temporary intern in 2006. "I'm devastated..."

* SO... FOLKS... AMERICA AS A LEFTIST (FAILED) STATE... HOW DO YOU LIKE IT SO FAR?

* OH... AND GET THIS - THE OTHER GUY... BRETOS... WHO WAS "ONLY" SUSPENDED FOR 30 DAYS... (READ ON!)

Bretos...said he didn't think of the slur Wednesday when he asked Knicks legend Walt (Clyde) Frazier about Lin on the air. "If there is a chink in the armor, where can he improve his game?" Bretos asked. The moment passed almost entirely without notice.

A video replay suggests Bretos was not trying to be funny but made a poor choice of colloquialism. He tweeted his apologies Saturday, saying he meant no racial reference but would be extra-careful in the future.

(*SMIRK*)

"My wife is Asian..."

* YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME...!!!

* FOLKS... THIS IS NOT MY AMERICA. IS IT YOURS...?

William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/19/violent-crime-dc-surges-2012/

Violent crime so far this year in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C. - our nation's capital) has spiked sharply — a 40% increase that includes twice as many robberies at gunpoint than at this time last year.

* AIN'T THE AGE OF OBAMA GRAND?!

The crime rate is increasing this year after a downward trend — the number of reported homicides last year dropped to the lowest level in a half-century.

* REPORTED... (*SNORT*) CUTE, HUH? (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

Homicides were the only category of violent crime to decline in the first six weeks this year. As of Thursday, the city had recorded 10 homicides compared with 11 at a similar point last year.

(*ANOTHER RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

Overall, though, incidents of violent crime — homicides, sexual assaults, robberies and assaults with deadly weapons — are rising at an alarming pace.

The biggest increase was in the 1st District, which includes Capitol Hill, where violent crime jumped by 69%...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

William R. Barker said...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/sec-surrender-goes-on-with-bear-fund-deal-commentary-by-william-d-cohan.html

Once again, the Securities and Exchange Commission has embarrassed itself.

* DOESN'T BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA HEAD THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF WHICH THE SEC IS A PART...???

Last week [Obama's SEC] let off the hook two hotshot former Wall Street hedge-fund managers who lost a bundle for the investors trusting them to manage their money responsibly.

Instead of going to court on Feb. 13 and laying bare the sordid facts for a jury, at the last minute the SEC settled a civil suit against Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin of the now defunct Bear Stearns.

Cioffi and Tannin were the hedge-fund managers who five years ago loaded up their two funds with billions of dollars of lousy mortgage-backed securities and collateralized-debt obligations, leveraged them to the hilt and, when the market for the securities soured in July 2007, liquidated the funds.

* I'VE ALREADY READ AHEAD, AND NO... THE ARTICLE DOESN'T DELVE INTO THE POLITICAL BACKGROUNDS (SPECIFICALLY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS) OF THE TWO SCUMBAGS.

According to the SEC’s 2008 civil complaint against the men, the collapse of the funds cost investors at least $1.6 billion.

The liquidation of the two funds led to the effective bankruptcy of Bear Stearns itself in March 2008 and the subsequent financial crisis that nearly wiped Wall Street off the face of the earth.

In its complaint, the [then-Bush administration controlled] SEC flat-out stated that Cioffi and Tannin mislead their investors: “Particularly during the first five months of 2007, as the funds suffered increasing losses to the value of their portfolios and faced growing margin calls and redemptions … senior portfolio manager Cioffi and portfolio manager Tannin deceived their own investors, as well as the funds’ institutional counter-parties, by fraudulently concealing from them the full extent of the funds’ deepening troubles.”

Cioffi and Tannin told their investors the funds were diversified -- and raised billions of dollars based on that representation -- but in reality they were highly concentrated in sub-prime mortgages. And now, thanks to [Obama's] SEC’s settlement, the two men may never even be held remotely accountable.

Cioffi, who made $22 million in 2005 and 2006 at Bear Stearns, will pay just $800,000 and agree to a three-year ban from the securities industry. Tannin, who was paid $4.4 million in his last two years at Bear, will pay $250,000 and agree to a two-year ban. Neither has to admit to wrongdoing. The agreement will deter absolutely no one from trying to pull off a similar stunt.

Frederick Block, the judge who was to preside at the trial but instead has been asked to bless the settlement, openly questioned whether the terms fit the crime. He not only called the monetary settlement “chump change,” but also said the SEC’s injunctive provision was “silly” and asked, “Am I just a rubber stamp here or is there some inquiry I ought to be making about these provisions?”

John Worland, the SEC’s attorney...delivered this stunner: “Neither Mr. Cioffi or Mr. Tannin got rich.”

* BUT... BUT... BUT... $22 MILLION IN TWO YEARS FOR CIOFFI ALONE DOESN'T QUALIFY ONE AS "RICH?" I'M SURPRISED THIS WORLAND CHARACTER ISN'T SUBMITTING TANNIN'S NAME TO FOOD STAMP SERVICES SINCE HE ONLY MADE... FOUR MILLION, FOUR-HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OVER HIS LAST TWO YEARS WITH BEAR STEARNS! MY GOD... THAT'S ONLY $11 MILLION A YEAR FOR CHIOFFI AND A MERE $2.2 MILLION A YEAR FOR TANNIN! NAH... THAT AIN'T RICH... (*SNORT*)

* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... SOMETHING SMELLS ROTTEN HERE.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/2/sen-scott-brown-exposes-noaa-s-illicit-party-boat-calls-for-accountability

* FIRST FOLLOW THE ABOVE LINK...

* NOW READ THIS:

In a speech on the Senate floor, Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown called on President Obama to fire Jane Lubchenco, the chief administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

Senator Brown denounced the federal agency regulating fishermen, saying yesterday that one of its divisions bought and used what he termed a $300,000 fishermen-funded party boat for bureaucrats.

"NOAA levied totally unreasonable fines against our fishermen. Then they used that money to buy themselves a luxury boat," Brown said, unveiling an inspector general’s report on the boat.

The inspector general, which launched its investigation in mid-2010 after a whistleblower complaint, said the agency manipulated the usual procurement process to buy the vessel. ... According to the investigation, the boat was supposedly purchased for undercover investigations. Instead, it was mainly used by NOAA personnel for personal entertainment, including transportation of family and friends for excursions to dockside restaurants.

The report [also] said employees lied, under questioning by federal investigators, about the use of the boat.

* AGAIN, FOLKS, I DON'T MEAN TO HARP ON THIS, BUT... JUST LIKE THE PREVIOUS STORY OUTLINING SEC INCOMPETENCE AND APPARENTLY COLLUSION WITH CRIMINALITY, THIS GOVERNMENT AGENCY - NOAA - LIKE THE SEC IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE TO THE PRESIDENT AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE. (*SHRUG*)

* HEY... FOLKS... IF BUSH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR FEMA BACK DURING HURRICANE KATRINA...

(*SHRUG*)