Saturday, December 1, 2012

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., Dec. 1 & 2, 2012


Rejoice...

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12 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/why-obama-pushing-stimulus-fiscal-cliff-deal-video-033547060.html

How about a little government economic stimulus?

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

That may sound incongruous considering the budget deficit and the push from Republicans to cut government spending. But President Obama’s first offer to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" holds out the hope of at least some stimulus.

* THE "HOPE...?!?!"

* IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, FOLKS... DOESN'T THAT LINE JUST SAY IT ALL ABOUT THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

This would include extending the 2% point Social Security payroll tax cut...

* ROBBING (OR SHOULD I SAY "FURTHER ROBBING") SOCIAL SECURITY OF THE REVENUE IT NEEDS TO TAKE IN IN ORDER TO TURN AROUND AND SEND THE REVENUE BACK OUT AS SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS!

...boosting a tax incentive to businesses...

* MORE CORPORATE WELFARE... MORE TAX CODE SHELL GAMES...

...establishing a $50 billion bank for long-term infrastructure projects...

* SOUNDS LIKE SOCIALISM TO ME! AT "BEST" IT'S A RECIPE FOR YET MORE GOVERNMENT/BUSINESS CRONY CAPITALISM.

...and extending unemployment benefits.

* THE PERMANENT... OR AT LEAST SEMI-PERMANENT... DOLE. (AGAIN... IF WE CAN ALL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE EUROPEAN STATES ARE "SOCIALISTIC" AND WE KEEP ON MOVING CLOSER TO THAT EUROPEAN MODEL... WHERE DOES THAT LEAD US TO...?)

The total bill: about $255 billion...

* SO... FOLKS... UNDER OBAMA DEFICITS HAVE BEEN RUNNING AT OVER A TRILLION A YEAR - RIGHT? AND NOW THE OBAMA PROPOSAL IS TO... er... TACK ON AN ADDITIONAL QUARTER-TRILLION IN NEW "STIMULUS" SPENDING... DEFICT FINANCED "STIMULUS" SPENDING... DEBT FINANCED "STIMULUS" SPENDING...?

* FOLKS... AS I WROTE ON FRIDAY'S NEWSBITES POST, I'M TRYING TO CHEER UP... TRYING TO BE POSITIVE... BUT HOW CAN I WHEN THIS IS THE REALITY OUR NATION FACES - THAT A MAJORITY OF OUR NATION'S VOTERS PUT US IN A POSITION TO FACE... AGAIN?

December 1, 2012 at 12:24 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/11/30/study-american-households-hit-43-year-low-in-net-worth/

The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.

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

* GOD BLESS OBAMANOMICS!

Over that same period of time, the wealthiest 1% of American households increased their average wealth by 71%.

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

* CHANT IT WITH ME, FOLKS... O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

* IN ALL SERIOUSNESS IT'S NOT SIMPLY OBAMA'S FAULT. I KNOW THIS. BUT THE FACT IS THAT HIS POLICIES AREN'T HELPING... THAT INDEED THEY'RE HURTING. MY BUDDY ("HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED") AND I DISCUSS POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ALL THE TIME AND EVEN WHEN WE DISAGREE... (*SIGH*)... WE BOTH TEND TO VIEW EACH OTHERS IDEAS AS FAR SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING COMING OUT OF EITHER THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OR THE ESTABLISHMENT (RINO) GOP.

* AMERICA... IS... SO... FUCKED...

December 1, 2012 at 12:33 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-gun-violence-november-30-december-1-20121201,0,2142397.story

Four people were shot and killed [in Chicago] Friday night and Saturday morning, and a fifth person who may have been dead for days or weeks was found with gunshot wounds.

In addition to the shootings, a man was stabbed to death on the Southwest Side about 12:45 a.m. Saturday.

At least 11 others were wounded by gunfire in shootings from the Uptown neighborhood on the north to the Chatham neighborhood on the south, police said.

The sixth homicide of the night - a 29-year-old man found dead inside his car about 2:37 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head - drew a crowd from the neighboring Wentworth Gardens apartment complex at 37th and Wells streets, a block south of U.S. Cellular Field. At one point, cars from the Englewood police district, whose northern border is 18 blocks south of the scene, came north to assist with crime scene security. At least 14 cars, most marked, sat near the crime scene early Saturday morning.

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

* BUT... BUT... BUT... WHERE ARE THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS...?

December 1, 2012 at 12:40 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/02/us-afghanistan-jalalabad-explosions-idUSBRE8B100X20121202

Suicide attackers detonated bombs and fired rockets outside a major U.S. base in Afghanistan on Sunday, killing five people in a brazen operation that highlighted the country's security challenges...

* SECURITY CHALLENGES. UH-HUH. RIGHT...

Several coalition troops were wounded...

* I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS... DO YOU? AMERICANS...? HOW BADLY WOUNDED...? FOLKS... THE FACT THAT WE DON'T KNOW... THAT'S DELIBERATE.

* WERE ANY OF OUR MILITARY ASSETS DESTROYED...? MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PLANES...? HELICOPTERS...? AGAIN... THE REPORT DOESN'T SAY...

December 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=294294

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday vowed to pursue efforts to end the split between the West Bank and Gaza and thanked Hamas and all Palestinian groups for supporting his statehood bid at the UN.

In the coming days, Abbas said, "We will study accelerating moves to achieve reconciliation [with Hamas]."

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

Abbas said he was presenting the UN "victory" as a gift to the the "soul of the late leader Yasser Arafat." He said that the Palestinians would continue to march in the footsteps of Arafat.

Abbas said the Palestinians would continue their struggle until the Palestinian flag is raised over the walls of Jerusalem's Old City and churches. He said that Jerusalem was the "eternal capital of the State of Palestine."

* YES... A TRUE RECIPE FOR PEACE! THE "RECOGNIZED" PALESTINIAN STATE AND ISRAEL BOTH CLAIMING JERUSALEM AS THEIR CAPITAL. I'M SURE THIS IS GONNA WORK OUT WELL...

(*RUEFUL SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... HOW MANY MORE "FOREIGN POLICY TRIUMPHS" CAN THE WORLD TAKE FROM THE OBAMA/CLINTON TEAM?

December 2, 2012 at 10:54 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/02/us-egypt-idUSBRE8B004X20121202

Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt's highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely on Sunday...

* BY "PROTESTS" THEY MEAN "THREATS TO THE SAFETY AND EVEN THE LIVES OF THE JUSTICES AND STAFF."

Three people have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests and counter-demonstrations over Mursi's decree.

* YOU KNOW... MURSI... THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD PRESIDENT OF EGYPT WHO AWHILE BACK BASICALLY DECLARED HIMSELF DICTATOR OF EGYPT...

* CHANT IT WITH ME, FOLKS... A-RAB SPRING! A-RAB SPRING! A-RAB SPRING!

At least 200,000 of Mursi's supporters attended a rally at Cairo University on Saturday.

* A RALLY... (*SMIRK*)... YOU KNOW... LIKE BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL... THE PEP RALLIES... ONLY NO CHEERLEADERS IN SHORT SKIRTS AND TIGHT SWEATERS!

His opponents are staging an open-ended sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the cradle of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled him to power in a June election, hope to end the crisis by pushing through the new constitution hastily adopted by the drafting assembly on Friday.

* ANYWAY... THE FUTURE IS BEFORE US... WE'LL SEE HOW THIS ALL PLAYS OUT.

December 2, 2012 at 11:05 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324352004578139543792750584.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop

For proof that politicians have learned nothing from the Federal Housing Administration's insolvency, look no further than a November 19 Senate letter to Edward DeMarco of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mr. DeMarco wants to let the toxic mortgage twins charge higher fees to cover their risks.

* MAKES... SENSE...

At issue is a little-noticed September FHFA proposal to discriminate...

* IN THE GOOD SENSE!

...between states with efficient foreclosure practices [vs.] those where judicial and regulatory burdens prolong the process.

(Specifically in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York, foreclosures can take years.)

Starting next year, Fannie and Freddie would charge borrowers in those states a one-time upfront fee of between 0.15% and 0.30%, which on a 30-year, $200,000 fixed-rate mortgage equates roughly to "an increase of approximately $3.50 to $7.00" on a monthly mortgage payment, according to FHFA.

The agency explained that the fees Fan and Fred charged before the housing crisis "proved inadequate to compensate for the level of actual credit losses" the duo sustained, which "contributed directly to substantial financial support being provided to the two companies by taxpayers." Total taxpayer cost so far: $138 billion.

The change would relieve borrowers in low-cost states from subsidizing those in high-cost states.

* SOUNDS FAIR AND REASONABLE TO ME - AND I LIVE IN NEW YORK!

FHFA would lower or eliminate the levy if states sped up their foreclosure processes, which would also speed up the housing recovery.

* OK...

Cue the outrage from Capitol Hill. Democratic Senators from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida, plus Independent Joe Lieberman, declared. They want the higher fees withdrawn.

The Senators are embarrassed that FHFA is exposing the cost of their "anti-foreclosure crusade" and are trying to pin the blame on bankers.

* WHAT ELSE IS NEW...?!

* AND NO DOUBT PLENTY OF REPUBLICAN SENATORS WILL JOIN WITH THESE DEMS!

Recall that the robo-signing "scandal" never unearthed a wave of current borrowers wrongly ejected from their homes.

(*SMIRK*)

The politicians want Fan and Fred to keep churning out below-market-rate mortgage insurance, regardless of the eventual cost to taxpayers.

* YEP...

This is the kind of thinking that led Fan and Fred to supercharge the subprime lending boom and pushed the FHA into its money-losing expansion.

* YES, MY FRIEND "WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED," I'D SAY THAT'S A FAIR CHARACTERIZATION... "SUPERCHARGED" THE SUBPRIME LENDING BOOM... (WOULD YOU AGREE?)

As long as politicians run the housing markets, they will continue promoting such behavior.

Kudos to Mr. DeMarco, a career civil servant, for trying to impose a more rational policy, but don't be surprised if the Obama Administration tries to replace him in a second term.

December 2, 2012 at 1:53 PM
William R. Barker said...

* THREE-PARTER... (Part 1 of 3)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324352004578131361948093492.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

I recently bumped into a former student of mine outside the high-poverty public high school where I used to teach math. Quaniesha, as I'll call her, was on her way home, and I was on my way in for the SAT tutoring sessions I hold with athletes trying to become "NCAA-eligible" so they can accept sports scholarships.

Quaniesha feigned anger as we walked past the school's metal detectors: "Why you do me like that, Doc? I gotta start Credit Recovery next week." She was smiling and knew full well how our back-and-forth was going to go.

She'd say I failed her in math. Then I'd say no, you failed yourself. She'd say I was a bad teacher. Then I'd ask her how often she had come to class, done her homework, or even brought her notebook and done the class work rather than cursed and fought and joked around.

Once I invited her mother to school for a ceremony celebrating Quaniesha's award as "improved student of the week," but her mother said she couldn't come because she — the 30-year-old mother of the 15-year-old student — had been barred from the school for cursing and fighting with security guards.

But if Quaniesha was feigning anger, I was really angry, because the Credit Recovery program she was starting is a fraud to which I alerted the chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools last summer in a memo and at a one-on-one meeting.

In Credit Recovery, students who have failed a semester-long course attend a "special" class after school for a few weeks and magically earn credit for it — without taking a mastery exam.

* JEEZUS FUCKING CHRIST...

* HEY... FRIEND OF MINE WHOSE NAME I DARE NOT MENTION... ASSUMING THAT NEITHER BARACK OBAMA NOR MICHELE OBAMA NOR JOE BIDEN NOR MRS. BIDEN READ THE WSJ... IS IT REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT THIS ISN'T SOMETHING THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF AIDES THEY COLLECTIVELY HAVE AT HAND WOULDN'T BRING THIS OP-ED TO THEIR ATTENTION...? I MEAN... WOULDN'T YOU ASSUME THAT THIS WOULD BE AN ISSUE NEAR AND DEAR TO THE HEARTS OF A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE AND VP AND VP's WIFE...?

It is a big reason why the 50% of high-poverty, public-school students who actually graduate from high school are generally helpless before a college curriculum.

* THEY'D BE HELPLESS - HAPLESS - BEFORE A HIGH SCHOOL AND EVEN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND EVEN SOME ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TESTING AS WELL I'D GUESS!

* TO BE CONTINUED...

December 2, 2012 at 2:25 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 3)

The dirty little secret of American education is that not only do half of students in high-poverty high schools drop out, but most of those who graduate — as I found in my two years teaching and testing students — operate at about the fifth-grade level in academics, organization and behavior.

* IT'S NO SECRET TO ME. IS IT A SECRET TO YOU MY UNNAMED FRIEND? DO YOU BELIEVE IT'S A SECRET TO OUR ABOUT TO EMBARK UPON HIS SECOND TERM PRESIDENT?

These graduates must then take non-credit remedial courses should they try to go to college.

* THEY... SHOULDN'T... BE... GOING... TO... COLLEGE...!

* MY FRIEND... MY OTHER FRIENDS... MY READERS... JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE JUST READ! THIS GUY WRITING THIS OP-ED - A TEACHER - EVEN AS HE'S WRITING THIS OP-ED IS CLEARLY WORKING UNDER THE PREMISE THAT 18 YEAR OLDS WHO OPERATE "AT ABOUT THE FIFTH-GRADE LEVEL IN ACADEMICS, ORGANIZATION AND BEHAVIOR" SHOULD TRY TO GO TO COLLEGE! SHOULD BE ADMITTED TO COLLEGE!

* JEEZUS... FUCKING... CHRIST...!!! IT'S INSANITY...!!!

Of my ninth-graders last year, only 10% were present in class more than three days a week, and a full 50% attended two days a week or fewer.

When they did attend, the chronically absent did virtually none of the class work or homework.

As a result, I thought it remarkable that a mere 68% of my ninth-graders failed — which, by the way, was typical across the ninth grade in the math department.

* FOLKS... WE NEED A NATIONAL PROGRAM WHICH FOISTERS OUT-MIGRATION! WE NEED TO GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF OUR COUNTRY! SERIOUSLY... I'D BE IN FAVOR OF A PROGRAM THAT OFFERED EACH 18 YEAR OLD AMERICAN $50,000 IN CASH AND A ONE WAY AIRLINE TICKET TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY IN RETURN FOR THEIR RENOUNCING THEIR CITIZENSHIP!

Instead of insisting that students retake failed courses and actually work, the school system allows students to take Credit Recovery or equally bogus summer-school courses. Thus students "age-out" of middle school with second-grade skills and "D-out" of high-school courses they rarely attend.

* THIS... IS... OBAMA'S... AMERICA!

* AND, YEAH... TOO MANY REPUBLICANS ARE WILLING TO TALK THE TALK AND NOT WALK THE WALK AND FIX THE SYSTEM AS WELL!

* BUT FOLKS... HOW DOES ONE "FIX" THIS LEVEL OF SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL DYSFUNCTION...? CERTAINLY MY PROPOSAL UP ABOVE WOULDN'T GET MUCH PUBLIC SUPPORT! SO, SERIOUSLY... WHAT'S A VIABLE ANSWER... AN ANSWER THE LEFT WILL ALLOW...?!?! (REMEMBER, FOLKS... IT'S THE LEFT AND THEIR "EXPERIMENTATION" WITH THE SCHOOLS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCHOOLS. IT'S NOT A BUNCH OF BILL BARKER CLONES RUNNING EDUCATION IN AMERICA... OR ANYTHING IN AMERICA!)

That explains why my so-called pre-calculus class of seniors last year entered with an average fourth-grade math level, just like my freshmen: They had learned little in the previous three years while "passing" algebra I, geometry and algebra II/trigonometry.

(*TEARS LITERALLY WELLING UP*)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

December 2, 2012 at 2:26 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 3 of 3)

What can be done for the Quanieshas of the world, of whom there are literally millions segregated into the high-poverty public schools of America?

* NOTHING. DON'T FIXATE ON "CAN" - FIXATE ON "WILL." NOTHING WILL BE DONE. FOLKS... THESE ARE - ARE - THE POLICIES OF THE LEFT THAT THIS WRITER IS WRITING ABOUT! THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM!

Clearly, if students enter high school with elementary-school skills, graduation is a long shot and college is a mirage.

* AGAIN, THOUGH... LET ME POINT OUT... FROM THE TONE OF THE WRITER I GET THE FEELING THAT EVEN AS HE'S WRITING THAT THEY HAVE 5TH GRADE EDUCATIONS AND SOCIAL SKILLS... HE WOULD STILL WANNA PLACE THEM IN COLLEGE IF IT WERE UP TO HIM!

Schools should drop the fraud of pretending they are doing grade-level work. Instead, schools should rework their reading and math curricula to prepare them for trades that can support a family, such as being a bricklayer, hairdresser, plumber, nurse's assistant or computer technician.

* I AGREE! (SO... MAYBE I WAS MISJUDGING THE AUTHOR'S "TONE." IF SO... THANK GOD! I'M THRILLED TO HAVE MISJUDGED HIM IF I HAD!)

From my experience, 80% of high-poverty high-school freshmen are at elementary-school level, which includes the 50% who are going to drop out. The remaining 20% who are within striking distance of high-school standards should have the option to remain in the academic track. These well-behaved and well-prepared students have been cheated of most of their learning time throughout their school careers by the disruption of the disaffected, and they can probably get to grade level — and to college — if the disruption ends.

* OK! BUT COLLEGE TO WHAT END...? INHERENT IN THE PREMISE IS THAT ANY JOB OPEN TO A COLLEGE GRADUATE IS A "BETTER" JOB THAT A BRICKLAYER... HAIRDRESSER... PLUMBER... BOILER MECHANIC... ALL OF WHICH OFFER SKILLED CRAFTSMEN/TRADESMEN NOT ONLY THE OPPORTUNITY TO EARN A GOOD LIVING PERFORMING TASKS WHICH NEED TO BE DONE, BUT BEYOND THAT, ALL TRADES ALLOW FOR "EXPANSION" INTO STARTING ONE'S OWN BUSINESS AND HIRING OTHERS SO AS TO EXPAND THE BUSINESS!

Triage? You bet. For now, at least. I don't know anything about teaching in elementary school, but I suspect that an end to standardization and a change to relevant curricula would help there, too.

* I'M ALL FOR RELEVANCE... BUT THERE ARE COMMON FACTS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD BE TAUGHT.

In any case, when the majority of high-poverty high-school students are within two years of grade level in their skills, then we can try the "college is for everyone" thing again.

* NOPE... (*SIGH*)... I PEGGED HIM ALL ALONG.

(*DEEPER SIGH*)

* SO HE WANTS A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR WITH A HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN'S EDUCATION TO... GO TO COLLEGE.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

For now, let's end the fraud of Credit Recovery so students can be taught where they truly are, not at the level where we pretend they are.

* AND MEANWHILE THIS FRAUD IN D.C. WILL KEEP ON BEING PERPETUATED. GREAT! WONDERFUL!

December 2, 2012 at 2:27 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/02/Nader-War-Criminal-Obama-Worse-Than-Bush

* VERY INTERESTING VIDEO; RALPH NADER SLAMMING OBAMA.

December 2, 2012 at 11:14 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/news/couple-faces-97k-in-fines-for-using-their-own-driv/nTKWt/

* THE INSANITY THAT IS AMERICA 2012...

December 2, 2012 at 11:23 PM

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