Saturday, January 5, 2013
Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., Jan. 5 & 6, 2012
Bored... tired... sated...
Hit the gym earlier and then ate a Caesar Salad... with sliced chicken breast, sauteed Italian peppered salami and mushrooms, raw broccoli, and diced cheese(s).
Mary's babbling over the phone with one of her sisters...
Maybe I'll take a nap...
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http://news.yahoo.com/why-cash-clunkers-hurt-environment-more-helped-024848694.html
Back in 2009, President Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program was supposed to be a boon for the environment and the economy.
* NOPE. SIMPLY ANOTHER BAILOUT AND GIVEAWAY MAINLY TO THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS.
Though almost a million people poured into car dealerships eager to exchange their old jalopies for something shiny and new, recent reports indicate the entire program may have actually hurt the environment far more than it helped.
According to E Magazine, the “Clunkers” program, which is officially known as the Car Allowance Rebates System (CARS), produced tons of unnecessary waste while doing little to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The program's first mistake seems to have been its focus on car shredding, instead of car recycling.
(With 690,000 vehicles traded in, that's a pretty big mistake.)
According to the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), automobiles are almost completely recyclable, down to their engine oil and brake fluid. But many of the “Cash for Clunkers” cars were never sent to recycling facilities. The agency reports that the cars’ engines were instead destroyed by federal mandate... The remaining parts of each car could then be put up for auction, but program guidelines also required that after 180 days, no matter how much of the car was left, the parts woud be sent to a junkyard and shredded.
(*SMIRK*)
Shredding vehicles results in its own environmental nightmare. For each ton of metal produced by a shredding facility, roughly 500 pounds of “shredding residue” is also produced, which includes polyurethane foams, metal oxides, glass and dirt. All totaled, about 4.5 million tons of that residue is already produced on average every year. Where does it go? Right into a landfill.
E Magazine states recycling just the plastic and metal alone from the CARS scraps would have saved 24 million barrels of oil.
While some of the “Clunkers” were truly old, many of the almost 700,000 cars were still in perfectly good condition. In fact, many that qualified for the program were relatively “young,” with fuel efficiencies that rivaled newer cars. And though the point was to get less fuel efficient cars off the roads, with only 690,000 traded in, and over 250 million registered in the U.S., the difference in pollutant levels seems pretty negligible.
But all that vehicular destruction did more than create unnecessary waste for the environment. It also had some far-reaching economic effects.
According to a recent TriCities op-ed from Mike Smith of Ralph Smith Motors in Virginia, CARS created a dearth of used cars, artificially driving up prices. For those who needed an affordable car, but didn’t qualify for the program, this increase in price meant affordable transportation was well out of reach.
It also meant used-car dealers, most of whom are independently owned, small-business owners, had little to no stock.
According to Smith, 122 Virginia dealers chose not to renew their licenses after that year.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/04/gasoline-prices-starting-to-rise-again/1810175/
That early winter break you've been getting at the gasoline pump? It's beginning to show signs of cracking.
* BREAK...?!?! WHAT A SICK FUCKING JOKE...
[T]he national average has crept up three cents to $3.30 a gallon the past week and 8 cents since hitting a 2012 low of $3.22 in mid-December.
It's likely to get worse in the coming weeks. Crude oil prices are up about $10 a gallon the past month, with benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude closing at $93.09 a barrel Friday, finishing the week up 2.5%.
* WHY...?
* AT LEAST PART OF THE REASON IS OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION AND THE CONTINUING ASSAULT ON THE DOLLAR BY BEN BERNANKE'S FEDERAL RESERVE.
"The celebration is over,'' says Patrick DeHaan, senior energy analyst at gasbuddy.com, which operates 250 North American price-tracking websites. DeHaan expects prices to rise another 35 cents a gallon through early April before peaking at about $3.95 a gallon. That's on par with 2012's $3.94 peak and but below 2008's all-time record $4.11.
* IN 2008 GAS PRICES WERE ONLY CRAZY HIGH FOR A VERY LIMITED TIME. (NOTICE THEY DON'T GIVE YOU THE AVERAGE 2008 GAS PRICE...) SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE GAS PRICES GO UP AND DOWN BUT STAY UP HIGHER LONGER ON AVERAGE. (COM'ON... WE'VE BEEN LIVING THROUGH IT!)
Still, DeHaan and the AAA expect 2013 gas to average less than $3.60 a gallon, ending a string of record high averages since 2008. Last year, the average price of gas was about $3.61 a gallon, up from $3.52 in 2011.
* LIKE... I... WAS... SAYING...
* AS TO WHAT DEHAAN "EXPECTS..." WELL... WE'LL SEE, WON'T WE? IF HE'S RIGHT IT'LL BE MAINLY BECAUSE THE ECONOMY TAKES A NOSEDIVE.
Despite decreasing demand, last year's prices were impacted by both global oil prices and limited refinery capacity. Refinery shutdowns and reduced production in California, Washington and Illinois caused both regional and national wholesale prices to surge before seasonal demand slumped in the fall.
http://freebeacon.com/the-ansar-al-sharia-threat/
Ansar al-Sharia, the Islamist militia linked to the deadly terror attack against the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, continues to operate Facebook pages and conduct fundraising and proselytize in Libya, according to U.S. officials.
* THIS REPORTING - BY BILL GERTZ - RAN IN THE DECEMBER 31st EDITION OF THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON.
President Barack Obama promised on Sept. 12, the day after the deadly attack, that the United States would take action against those responsible for the murders and looting. “And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people,” Obama said during remarks in the Rose Garden.
So far, however, no public or covert action has been taken against the Ansar al-Sharia Brigade by either U.S. or allied military or intelligence forces.
Intelligence reports provided to the U.S. Africa Command earlier in December revealed that Ansar al-Sharia operates several Facebook pages, including one outlet called the Campaigns of Ansar al-Sharia for Dawa and Charity. The website was operating as late as Dec. 15 before being shut down under pressure from the U.S. government. That social media page was connected to the Benghazi-based militia behind the terrorist attack that operated a camp in Benghazi until the Sept. 11 burning of the diplomatic compound and the killings of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stephens and three other Americans.
A Pentagon report published by the Library of Congress in August on al Qaeda in Libya stated: “Ansar al-Sharia, led by Sufian Ben Qhumu, a former Guantanamo detainee, has increasingly embodied al Qaeda’s presence in Libya, as indicated by its active social-media propaganda, extremist discourse, and hatred of the West, especially the United States.” (Ansar al-Sharia means “supporters of Sharia” or Islamic law.)
According to U.S. officials, the Ansar al-Sharia Brigade’s Facebook pages were shut down by Facebook after the Sept. 11 attack. But new pages quickly emerged after that date and continued to operate as recently as Dec. 15. The Campaigns page was focused on promoting the terrorist group’s effort to spread its ideology in Benghazi and neighboring areas. Photos showed brigade jihadists giving out leaflets and clothes to children and villagers in poor areas. The page also showed that Ansar al-Sharia is working with other Islamist groups in Benghazi, including the Islamic Corporation for Dawa and Reform and the al-Ansar Mosque.
http://www2.wjtv.com/news/2013/jan/06/flu-spreading-earlier-and-faster-year-ar-5305865/
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is warning the flu season appears to be bad this year - spreading faster and earlier than usual.
There is one theory that the outbreak may be due in part to the possibility that the flu vaccine does not include the strain that is currently spreading across the country.
* AND WOULD THIS SURPRISE ANYONE...???
The CDC disagrees, saying the influenza virus people are being infected with appears to be covered by this year's vaccine.
* OF COURSE THEY "DISAGREE!" WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO DO - ACCEPT BLAME...??? (*SNORT*)
* BEN-GHAZ-I! BEN-GHAZ-I! BEN-BHAZ-I!
* GEEZUS, FOLKS... THE PATTERN IS CLEARLY AN ESTABLISHED ONE. (ANYONE HAVE AN "OLD" FAST AND FURIOUS SUBMACHINE GUN TO SELL ME...?)
http://myfox8.com/2013/01/06/ga-mom-shoots-intruder-5-times-saves-children/
LOGANVILLE, Ga. — A Georgia mother hid her two 9-year-old twins and shot an intruder several times during a home invasion on Friday, according to multiple media reports.
The Loganville mother said she didn’t initially answer when someone knocked on her door around 1 p.m. Friday. When the visitor began repeatedly ringing the doorbell, she called her husband at work, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He then dialed 911 and his 37-year-old wife gathered their 9-year-old twins and hid them in a crawlspace inside the home.
According to the report, the intruder then forced his way into the home and started “rummaging” through the family’s belongings.
When the suspect went into the closet where the family was hiding, the woman fired six bullets at the suspect, five of which hit alleged suspect Paul Ali Slater in the face and neck area.
* GOOD FOR HER!
“He opens the closet door and finds himself staring down the barrel of a .38 revolver,” Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
(*THUMBS UP*)
The woman fled to a neighbor’s home with her children. The woman and her two children were not injured.
(*HIGH FIVE*)
The injured intruder stumbled out of the home and attempted to flee in his car. However, he crashed into a wooded area and collapsed in a neighbor’s driveway, according to WSB-TV.
The suspect was arrested at the scene. He was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to survive.
* AH... TOO BAD...
The victim’s husband said he’s proud of his wife. “My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do as responsible, prepared gun owner,” Donnie Herman told WSB-TV.
* FOLKS... ONLY VIA DRUDGE DID I STUMBLE ACROSS THIS STORY. THE QUESTION IS, HOW OFTEN DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS OCCUR? I ADVISE READING JOHN LOTT'S "MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME," FOR THE ANSWER ACCORDING TO THE LATEST AND MOST RELEVANT GOVERNMENT STATS.
* FOLKS... FACE IT... IT'S NOT IN THE IDEOLOGICAL INTEREST OF THE MAINLY "ANTI-GUN" MEDIA TO HIGHLIGHT SUCH STORIES, SO... THEY DON'T.
(*SHRUG*)
http://www.france24.com/en/20130105-usa-french-economist-duflo-join-barack-obama-team-policy
France’s Esther Duflo, a star economist...
* WHAT'S A "STAR" ECONOMIST? SOMEONE WHOSE PREDICTIONS TURN OUT CORRECT... OR SOMEONE WHOM THE ESTABLISHMENT LIKES...?
(*SHRUG*)
...who was once named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to help shape U.S. global development policy.
* Umm... er... ISN'T THAT WHAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS FOR... PERHAPS SOME DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE TREASURY...???
Called the Global Development Council, the group was founded by Obama in 2010 to help shape U.S. development efforts abroad.
* FOLKS... WE CAN'T HANDLE OUR OWN INTERNAL "DEVELOPMENT" EFFORTS! LOOK AT THE MESS CONNECTED TO HURRICANE SANDY! HEY... IS THE "FREEDOM TOWER" UP AND RUNNING ALMOST 12 YEARS AFTER 9/11...?!?!
* FOLKS... OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BORROW 46-CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR IT SQUANDERS ON OUR BASIC FEDERAL OPERATING EXPENSES...!!! EXPECTING THESE CLOWNS TO "DEVELOP" THE REST OF THE WORLD...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... BUREAUCRACY ON TOP OF BUREAUCRACY... INCOMPETENCE ON TOP OF INCOMPETENCE...
* HEY... "HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED"... HOW'RE THEY DOING ON THE TZ BRIDGE?!
While Duflo’s nomination will likely be viewed with a sense of pride in France, it comes as Obama’s leadership continues to be dogged by unflattering comparisons in the media to European-style socialism. Just Friday, the cover of financial news magazine The Economist...
* THE ECONOMIST...
...depicted Obama wearing a beret, red neckerchief and a striped mariner shirt, under a headline that read “America turns European”.
* HEY... HE WON HIS SECOND TERM... NO NEED TO PRETEND OTHERWISE ANY MORE.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
The article criticized the country’s recent fiscal-cliff deal as “lousy”, saying its mismanagement bore striking similarities to the “mess in the euro zone”.
* YA THINK...?!?!
Duflo, who was raised in a “left-leaning Protestant” family, said she became aware of economic divides and social injustice at a very early age. “I was always conscientious of the gap between my existence and that of the world’s poor,” she told weekly French magazine l’Express in a January, 2011 article. “As a child, I was extremely troubled by the complete randomness of chance that I was born in Paris to an intellectual, middle class family, when I could have just as easily been born in Chad. It’s a question of luck. It inspired in me a sense of responsibility.”
* OH, GEEZUS... THIS DOESN'T SOUND GOOD, FOLKS...
* "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT!"
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/poor_some_ugar_on_me_0Hq1d3iPnvj2RwpsEDS7MN
They’re on the dole — and watching the pole.
Welfare recipients took out cash at bars, liquor stores, X-rated video shops, hookah parlors and even strip clubs — where they presumably spent their taxpayer money on lap dances rather than diapers, a Post investigation found.
* MAKES YA PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, DOESN'T IT...
A database of 200 million Electronic Benefit Transfer records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx.
The cover of today's Post
The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), which oversees the “cash assistance program,” even lists some of these welfare-ready ATMs on its Web site.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
Welfare recipients receive food stamps and cash assistance under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Both benefits are accessed through an EBT card, but only cash assistance — meant for housing, utilities and household necessities — can be accessed at ATMs. A single-person household could receive a maximum $200 in monthly food stamps plus $158 in cash assistance. A family of four could get as much as $668 in food stamps and $433 in cash.
The food-stamp program prohibits the purchase of booze, tobacco and lottery tickets with an EBT card. But with the cash-assistance program, users can blow money on strippers or a six-pack and to tap welfare dollars from liquor stores, casinos and adult-oriented establishments.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
The Post found dozens of pubs, nightclubs and tobacco shops where welfare dough was dispensed — and presumably spent. The Boiler Room, a gay dive bar in the East Village, had $120 and $60 transactions a minute apart on Jan. 17, 2011. The bar is around the corner from a Bank of America that takes EBT cards.
(*SMIRK*)
West Village tobacco shop Shisha International had EBT transactions ranging from $40 to $180 in 2011. The store is near at least two EBT-friendly ATMs.
New York State Sen. Tom Libous (R-Binghamton) passed a bill in his chamber in June that would outlaw welfare withdrawals at gambling dens, strip clubs and other venues of vice, but the measure is gathering dust in the Democratic-controlled Assembly.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, signed by President Obama last February, requires states to prohibit sinful welfare spending by 2014. If they don’t, they’ll forfeit federal cash.
* ONE WORD: W*A*I*V*E*R*S
* COM'ON, FOLKS... WE'VE HEARD ALL THIS BEFORE...
(^SIGH*)
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Large-fight-shuts-down-Mall-of-Louisiana-185765712.html
The Mall of Louisiana was closed during a busy shopping time and evacuated after a fight broke out between dozens of young people Saturday evening.
* UH-HUH... (*PAUSE*)... "YOUNG PEOPLE."
* ANYONE NOTICE ANYTHING ABOUT THESE... er... "YOUNG PEOPLE" VIA WATCHING THE VIDEO...???
(*SNORT*)
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