Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, April 10, 2012


Well, folks... Santorum "suspended" his campaign today.
 
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8 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.unknownsoldiersblog.com/2012/04/pledge.html

So far in April, nine American service members have made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan...

Staff Sgt. Tyler Smith, 24, Licking, Missouri
Staff Sgt. Christopher Brown, 26, Columbus, Ohio
Capt. Nicholas Rozanski, 36, Dublin, Ohio
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Rieck, 45, Columbus, Ohio
Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Hannon, 44, Grove City, Ohio
Spc. Jeffrey White Jr., 21, Catawissa, Missouri
Cpl. Alex Martinez, 21, Elgin, Illinois
Spc. Antonio Burnside, 31, Great Falls, Montana

The ninth warrior, Cpl. Christopher Bordoni, 21, died in the hospital after being wounded in the same Jan. 18 terrorist attack that killed Cpl. Philip McGeath, who was remembered on this blog last month.

Cpl. Bordoni, a brave Marine from Ithaca, New York, tragically succumbed to his injuries on Apr. 3.

April 10, 2012 at 2:55 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Daring-pack-of-kids-steal-from-SE-Portland-store-146769415.html?tab=video&c=y

Police are hoping the public can help identify several kids who stormed a local gas station this past Saturday night and stole everything they could grab.

* YEP. MORE WHITE KIDS. IRISH AND NORWEGIAN BY THE LOOK OF 'EM.

(*SMIRK*)

(YEAH... THERE'S VIDEO: BLACKS AND LATINOS. SAME OL', SAME OL'.)

On the surveillance video, one person came into the Chevron convenience store on SE 92nd and Foster. Then a second person came in and pretty soon, a large group of kids was packed into the shop. Soon, they were stealing anything they could, from drinks to gum to candy

* NOT THAT YOU'D KNOW THEY WERE BLACK AND LATINO KIDS - NO "DIVERSITY" AS SUCH - JUST FROM READING THE POLITICALLY CORRECT ARTICLE.

Carlos Garcia was working Saturday night at around 11:30 p.m. when the incident happened.

* THE "INCIDENT."

(*SMIRK*)

He said there were 16 kids in the store.

* "KIDS."

(*SMIRK*)

Garcia said the kids grabbed anything they could and shoved items into their pockets or simply carrying them in their hands and out the door.

"My first reaction was call police because I can't do more," he said. "I don't want to hurt them - they're kids."

* AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM, FOLKS; THESE "KIDS" HAVE NO FEAR BECAUSE IT'S THE LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS WHO ARE AFRAID TO PROTECT THEIR PROPERTY!

"I called the police. They don't stop they're just picking picking as much as they can."

* YOU BELIEVE THIS SHIT...?!?!

As the kids were leaving the store, there was some sort of confrontation. It didn't end there, though. The thieves came back to the parking lot, which is when Garcia said they started throwing things at him. Garcia promptly grabbed a baseball bat and scared the kids off.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

April 10, 2012 at 3:11 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/us/defying-trends-killings-of-police-officers-are-on-the-rise.html?_r=3&hp

[R]ising numbers of police officers are being killed.

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 72 officers were killed by perpetrators in 2011, a 25% increase from the previous year and a 75% increase from 2008.

The 2011 deaths were the first time that more officers were killed by suspects than car accidents, according to data compiled by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The number was the highest in nearly two decades, excluding those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

While a majority of officers were killed in smaller cities, 13 were killed in cities of 250,000 or more.

New York City lost two officers last year. On Sunday, four were wounded by a gunman in Brooklyn, bringing to eight the number of officers shot in the city since December. “We haven’t seen a period of this type of violence in a long time,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

April 10, 2012 at 3:19 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/256f583c-7a83-11e1-8ae6-00144feab49a.html#axzz1rfQGQ72Q

* JUST READ...

(*SIGH*)

April 10, 2012 at 3:29 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/commentary/2012/apr/08/tdcomm01-taxpayers-fund-crony-capitalism-ar-1824771/

The reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank is a case study in Washington bureaucrats picking winners and losers and interfering with the free market.

It's corporate welfare that is hurting economic growth and costing our nation jobs in one of the most stagnant economies in American history.

The Ex-Im Bank was a New Deal program founded in the mid-1930s to assist with the export of American goods. Among other things, it provides loans using funds backed by the full faith and credit of the American people. This means Joe and Jane Taxpayer are responsible for the bank's activities.

After the housing meltdown caused in part by the government bankrolling Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, one would think Uncle Sam had learned its lesson about market-distorting subsidies, but nothing could be further from the truth.

[P]olitical inattentiveness and failure to conduct proper oversight has allowed Ex-Im subsidies to flow into the coffers of a handful of questionable businesses, exposing the American people to potential losses. The beneficiaries include Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar panel company intended to lay the groundwork for President Obama's "green jobs" initiative.

Another well-known recipient of Ex-Im's generosity was Enron, and we all know how that turned out.

But maybe the most egregious example of how dysfunctional and misguided the Ex-Im Bank's actions really are is present in the airline industry. The bank provides financing to foreign airlines that in turn purchase American aircraft, allowing them to compete against U.S.-based carriers. These foreign companies use our subsidy to offer lower prices since American companies cannot qualify for this corporate welfare, and they, in turn, lose business.

When people talk about crony capitalism, this is an example in its purest form.

Why is taxpayer-backed money being wasted on companies that should be able to seek capital from private lending institutions? [I]f banks decide against providing some of these companies with loans, shouldn't that tell us something?

Over the past several years, the American government has grown and expanded like a plague; the wrath of which has left hundreds of thousands out of work, and placed an unfair burden on future generations.

We are $15 trillion in debt due to huge overspending. And it is no time for Washington to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank and give it more money. The market should dictate trade flows, not bureaucrats and politicians.

Washington has turned a blind eye to the unintended consequences of such loans, but we have not. No one who calls themselves fiscal conservatives should support reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank.

April 10, 2012 at 3:56 PM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/295603/obama-s-contempt-law-mona-charen

Last month the Obamas hosted a White House conference on bullying. It was intended as a show of support for victims, but watching this president in action, it might just as easily have been a tutorial.

We’ve gotten glimpses of Obama’s intimidating instincts from the beginning. Now, as his administration flounders, his aggressiveness is becoming less and less veiled.

His first targets, as so often with bullies, were unpopular figures few were inclined to defend. At a 2009 meeting with bankers, Mr. Obama arranged the atmospherics to convey his displeasure. According to Politico, whereas White House meetings are usually comfortable affairs, with snacks and beverages offered, the bankers got different treatment. There was one glass of water at each place — no refills. Obama pressured those present to reduce executive salaries and warned: “I’m the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” Thanks, Evita.

* THAT'S POLITICS. ROUGH BUT IN BOUNDS.

This president rewards his friends and punishes his enemies (his words) with little concern for the rule of law.

In the bailouts and restructurings of General Motors and Chrysler, the president forced some of the companies’ secured creditors to take 30 cents on the dollar while giving much more generous terms to the United Auto Workers. Secured creditors are those who lend money to a strapped company only because they are guaranteed to be paid off first in the event of bankruptcy. But the Obama administration has contempt for such economic realities, to say nothing of the law.

The obvious consequence will be that companies will find it harder to find financing in future.

It was also an early signal that this administration respects few boundaries.

* FOLKS... WHAT THIS WAS WAS FASCISM. PERIOD.

* T0 BE CONTINUED...

April 10, 2012 at 6:45 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Contempt for law and procedure characterized Obama’s response to the Gulf oil spill as well. After the well was capped, a swaggering president described his intentions toward BP: “I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness.” Twenty billion was the amount the president demanded. The president never described by what authority he was requiring BP to set aside this funding — presumably it was the same authority implied in the case of the bankers — the “pitchforks.”

That BP should have been held responsible for the damage it caused is not in question. But we have laws and procedures for this sort of thing. Or we once did.

At the same time, the president used the spill as an excuse to shut down drilling in the Gulf altogether for an extended period. A federal judge issued an injunction against the moratorium and later declared the Obama administration to be “defiant.” “Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re-imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium,” wrote Judge Martin Feldman, “provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government’s contempt.” Undeterred, the administration switched tactics and simply stopped issuing new permits — a clear abuse of regulatory discretion. The economic effects have been severe to a region already damaged by Katrina and the spill itself. The industry group Greater New Orleans, Inc. reports that 50% of businesses have laid off employees because of the moratorium, 76% have lost cash reserves, and 46% have moved all or some of their businesses away from the Gulf region.

Last week, the president returned to bullying the Supreme Court (he had done so once before, during a State of the Union address). The president warned the Court that its legitimacy was suspect because its members are “unelected.” What’s next? Warning that ObamaCare is all that stands between the justices and the pitchforks?

April 10, 2012 at 6:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/295600/largesse-losers-thomas-sowell

How long do politicians have to keep on promising heaven and delivering hell before people catch on and stop getting swept away by rhetoric?

* PEOPLE ARE STUPID. (*SHRUG*) SELFISH. LAZY. IGNORANT. GREEDY. (*SIGH*)

With all the talk about people paying their “fair share” of income taxes, why do nearly half the people in this country pay no income taxes at all?

Is that their “fair share”?

Or is creating more recipients of government handouts, at no cost to themselves, simply a strategy to gain more votes?

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Some people are puzzled by the fact that so much that is said and done by politicians seems remote from reality. But reality is not what gets politicians elected. Appearances, rhetoric, and emotions are what get them elected. Reality is what the voters and taxpayers are left to deal with as a result of electing them.

In politics, few talents are as richly rewarded as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims.

* AND YET... (KEEP READING!)

Welfare states on both sides of the Atlantic have discovered that largesse to losers does not reduce their hostility to society, but only increases it. Far from producing gratitude, generosity is seen as an admission of guilt, and the reparations as inadequate compensations for injustices — leading to worsening behavior by the recipients.

Some people say that taxes are the price we pay for civilization. But the runaway taxes of our time are the price we pay for being gullible.

Whatever the ideology or rhetoric of the political Left, their agenda around the world has been preempting other people’s decisions and regimenting other people’s lives.

People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in creationism in government. In other words, they believe that the universe and all the creatures in it could have evolved spontaneously, but that the economy is too complicated to operate without being directed by politicians.

* FOLKS... THAT IS A BRILLIANT OBSERVATION FROM DR. SOWELL!

The United States now has the dubious distinction of having the highest corporate-tax rate in the world. And people wonder why American corporations are expanding overseas, providing jobs to foreigners.

The Left may get its jollies attacking “the rich,” but its real victims are other people, the ones who need the jobs that are sent overseas to escape a hostile business climate at home.

Different people prefer different exercises. The Republicans’ favorite exercise is running for the hills. The Democrats’ favorite exercise is kicking the can down the road.

When politicians say, “spread the wealth,” translate that as “concentrate the power,” because that is the only way they can spread the wealth. And once they get the power concentrated, they can do anything else they want to, as people have discovered — often to their horror — in countries around the world.

In an old Western movie, John Wayne encounters a black man. Wayne tells him, “I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. I would shoot you as quick as I would shoot any white man.”

That is what equality is supposed to mean.

April 10, 2012 at 6:53 PM

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