Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, December 11, 2012


This song always brings tears to my eyes...

 To everyone we've lost over the years...

Posted by at

9 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324339204578171753215198868.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

American schoolchildren continue to lag behind those of major competitors in math and science exams given globally...

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

Students in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Finland, among other nations, bested U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students on the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, known as TIMSS.

* AMONG OTHER NATIONS... (*SNORT*)

Results released in 2010 from the Program for International Student Assessment math exam, given to 15-year-olds across the world every three years, showed American kids in the middle of the pack compared with 33 industrialized peers.

* NOTE... (READ ON...)

Some states volunteered to administer the tests to more students so their results could be statistically valid to be broken out separately and did very well, especially Massachusetts, Minnesota and Colorado. Massachusetts, for example, posted the second-highest scores globally on the eighth-grade science test.

* GOOD FOR MASSACHUSETTS! THE QUESTION IS... HOW DID THEY DO SO WELL WHILE OVERALL WE'RE DOING RELATIVELY POORLY?

December 11, 2012 at 10:00 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323339704578173031716551680.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

The U.S. trade gap expanded in October as the deficit with China hit record levels...

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

The deficit with Japan jumped 45%, or $2.2 billion, to $7 billion as imports rose and exports shrank.

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

U.S. exports fell 3.6% to $180.51 billion...

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

U.S. sales abroad fell across the board. Exports of industrial supplies fell $2.86 billion, while capital-goods exports like computers sank $1.87 billion.

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

Imports of industrial supplies climbed $396 million to $60.11 billion.

* WHY...?!?! WHY CAN'T WE EVEN MANUFACTURE OUR OWN DAMN INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES...?!?!

(*PAUSE*)

* TO BE FAIR... THERE IS SOME MITIGATION OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE COMPLETELY DISASTEROUS NEWS... (READ ON!)

* REMEMBER... THIS REPORT CONCERNS SEPTEMBER INTO NOVEMBER STATS...

Tuesday's report showed that the average price of imported crude oil climbed $0.87 to $99.75 a barrel in October. ... [R]eal, or inflation-adjusted deficit, which economists use to measure the impact of trade on the gross domestic product, narrowed slightly to $46.17 billion in October from $46.62 billion the month before.

* WHAT THEY'RE SAYING IS THAT THE INCREASE IN PRICES IS PUSHING UP THE DEFICIT NUMBER vs. US SIMPLY IMPORTING MORE "STUFF" PER SE.

Imports outside of petroleum products were largely down, with consumer purchases such as cellphones and diamonds falling more than 8%, or $3.64 billion.

* THAT'S VERY GOOD NEWS! (ONLY I FEAR IT'LL BE REVERSED BY DECEMBER CHRISTMAS PURCHASES/SALES.)

[E]xports to Mexico rose to a record $20.5 billion...

December 11, 2012 at 10:12 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324024004578171561230647852.html?mod=WSJ_hp_EditorsPicks

* READ IT AND WEEP, PEOPLE...

American soldiers should brace for a "social-cultural shock" when meeting Afghan soldiers and avoid potentially fatal confrontations by steering clear of subjects including women's rights, religion and Taliban misdeeds, according to a controversial draft of a military handbook being prepared for troops heading to the region.

The proposed Army handbook suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture, not Taliban infiltration, has helped drive the recent spike in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces.

(*SNORT*)

The 75-page manual... has drawn criticism from U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the top military commander in Afghanistan, who aides said hasn't — and wouldn't — endorse the manual as written.

Gen. Allen also rejected a proposed foreword that Army officials drafted in his name. "Gen. Allen did not author, nor does he intend to provide, a foreword," said Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. "He does not approve of its contents."

(*PURSED LIPS*)

December 11, 2012 at 11:01 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/only-7-detroit-public-school-8th-graders-proficient-reading

Some public school teachers in the City of Detroit and around the state of Michigan are reportedly taking a vacation or a sick day today to protest right-to-work legislation likely to be approved by the state legislature.

68% of Michigan public-school eighth graders are not proficient in reading and 69% are not proficient in math.

* NOT PROFICIENT... NOT!

Statewide in Michigan, only 32% of public-school eighth graders scored grade-level proficient or better in reading, and only 31% scored grade-level proficient or better in math.

In the public schools in Detroit, Mich., according to the U.S. Department of Education, only 7% of the eighth graders are grade-level proficient or better in reading. Detroit public-school eighth graders do even worse in math than they do in reading, according to the Department of Education. While only 7% scored highly enough on the department’s National Assessment of Educational Progress test in 2011 to be rated “proficient” or better in reading, only 4% scored highly enough to be rated “proficient” or better in math.

December 11, 2012 at 12:41 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/10/us-sending-20-more-f-16s-to-egypt-despite-turmoil-in-cairo/?intcmp=obinsite

Instability in Egypt, where a newly-elected Islamic government teeters over an angry population, isn't enough to stop the U.S. from sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets, as part of a $1 billion foreign aid package.

* INSANITY...? I'D SAY SO. FINANCIAL AND FOREIGN POLICY INSANITY.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, recently criticized U.S. military aid to Egypt: “The Obama administration wants to simply throw money at an Egyptian government that the president cannot even clearly state is an ally of the United States.”

* YEP. CERTAINLY SOUNDS LIKE IT.

The $213 million order, which is paid for by U.S. taxpayers...

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

* FOLKS... THIS IS YOUR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AT WORK! THIS IS YOUR CLINTON STATE DEPARTMENT AT WORK! THIS IS YOUR LEON PANETTA DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AT WORK!

A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. and Egypt have an important alliance that is furthered by the transfer.

(*JUST THROWING MY HANDS UP*)

While the basic F-16 has been a military workhorse for top air forces for more than 25 years, the cockpit electronics are constantly updated and the models Egypt is getting are the best defense contractor Lockheed Martin makes.

(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)

December 11, 2012 at 12:53 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/75-percent-obamas-proposed-tax-hikes-go-toward-new-spending_666067.html

Seventy-five percent of the new revenue pulled in by President Barack Obama's "fiscal cliff" plan would go toward new spending, not toward deficit reduction, the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee contends.

* CHARTS INCLUDED IF YOU FOLLOW THE LINK. (*SHRUG*)

December 11, 2012 at 1:34 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/11/Union-Mob-Destroys-Tent-With-People-Inside

* NICE...

* YOU'LL NEVER SEE THE "TEA PARTY" ACT LIKE THIS. BUT YOU'LL OFTEN SEE THE LEFT ACT LIKE THIS. THINK ABOUT IT...

December 11, 2012 at 3:13 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/justice_delayed_again_70HJppZLGIQCg47QgptB1K

Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan is still getting away with murder — this time by the hair on his chinny-chin-chin.

In an absurd turn last week, the military judge in Hasan’s murder trial, Col. Gregory Gross, was removed by a civilian appeals panel because Gross had followed military codes and ordered Hasan, an Army major, to shave.

Hasan was playing the Islamic radical in court — beard and all — but rules are rules, so Col. Gross held him in contempt and ordered that the beard be forcibly removed.

But the Armed Forces Court of Appeals heard Hasan’s cries and sided with the terrorist, yanking Gross and spelling another unacceptable delay in a slow-motion prosecution that has dragged on for three years.

* TOO BAD THE POST DOESN'T NAME THE ARMED FORCES COURT OF APPEALS JUSTICES WHO RULED THUS!

“Should the next military judge find it necessary to address [Hasan’s] beard, such issues should be addressed and litigated anew,” the judges wrote.

That’s ridiculous. The next judge will now have to consider the question again — at the risk of possible removal — guaranteeing even more delays for the trial.

* YEP... YOU READ THAT RIGHT!

Truth is, Hasan’s beard is an open-and-shut case. It’s in the Army’s rulebook: Beards are forbidden except in cases of medical necessity, and “exceptions or accommodations based on religious practices will not be granted.”

Hasan knew that when he entered the Army. Had he wished to devote himself to a peaceable religious life outside the military, he could’ve retired and grown a beard down to his knees. But he didn’t.

True, two Sikh doctors recently got permission before joining the Army to keep their beards, as did a rabbi who wished to become a chaplain. But Hasan never sought permission nor had any interest in growing a beard during his 20 years of service; he began growing one just this year as a courtroom stunt.

And let’s be honest about the man on trial. He murdered 13 people and wounded 29 others on a terroristic shooting spree.

* WHY DOESN'T OBAMA JUST ORDER HIM EXECUTED? SERIOUS QUESTION! I MEAN... OBAMA CLAIMS TO HAVE SUCH POWER. MOST AMERICANS APPARENTLY BELIEVE OBAMA HAS SUCH POWER. CERTAINLY OBAMA HAS EXERCISED SUCH POWER - DEATH WARRANTS... TARGETED ASSASINATIONS - SO WHY NOT SIMPLE FOLLOW THE LOGIC AND LET OBAMA ORDER HASAN'S EXECUTION?

* DON'T GET ME WRONG... I WOULD OPPOSE SUCH A MOVE... BUT I'M PLAYING DEVIL'S ADVOCATED HERE. OBAMA DOES CLAIM TO HAVE SUCH POWER! WHY DOES HE NOT USE IT? WHY DO THE SUPPORTERS OF ALLOWING THE PRESIDENT TO DESIGNATE AMERICAN CITIZENS "ENEMY COMBATANTS" NOT DEMAND A PRESIDENTIAL DEATH WARRANT FOR HASAN...?

The Defense Department has a duty to mete out swift justice to this killer — it owes that much to those who died on Nov. 5, 2009, and to the rest of the nation as well.

* SWIFT JUSTICE...?!?! THAT SHIP HAS LONG SAILED! (FOLKS... MY WATCH SAYS IT'S 12/11/12.)

Every day that passes with Hasan still awaiting trial is an injustice and an infamy.

Shave his face.

And start the trial, finally.

December 11, 2012 at 3:35 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/10/obamacare-fee-of-63-per-person-to-begin-in-2014/#ixzz2EkkJlVa4

Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense...

(*GRITTING MY TEETH*)

...so you probably are, too.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

It’s a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Obama’s health care overhaul.

* $126 A COUPLE...

The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.

Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a “sleeper issue” with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers. “Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, companies will be hit with a multimillion-dollar assessment without getting anything back for it,” said Mr. Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.

Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee.

December 11, 2012 at 6:53 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)