Saturday, June 15, 2013

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., June 15 & 16, 2013


Raising my coffee cup to Bros-In-Law Pat, Craig, and Ryan...

Stay safe, boys... and kick ass!

10 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/06/15/US-producing-abysmally-low-number-of-primary-care-doctors/UPI-49201371271930/?spt=hs&or=hn

Despite a shortage of U.S. primary care doctors, less than 25% of new doctors go into this field, and fewer still work in rural areas, researchers say.

Lead study author Dr. Candice Chen, an assistant research professor of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, said the study also found only 4.8% of the new primary care physicians set up shop in rural areas.

"If residency programs do not ramp up the training of these physicians the shortage in primary care, especially in remote areas, will get worse," Chen said in a statement. "The study's findings raise questions about whether federally funded graduate medical education institutions are meeting the nation's need for more primary care physicians."

Chen and colleagues studied the career paths of 8,977 physicians who had graduated from 759 medical residency sites from 2006-08. Three to five years after the program ended, the researchers found 25.2% of the physicians worked as primary care doctors, although this number almost certainly was an overestimate because it included graduates who practiced as hospitalists, Chen said.

In addition, the researchers found 198 out of 759 institutions produced no rural physicians at all during the study period.

Currently, the United States is producing primary care physicians at rates that are "abysmally low," Chen said.

William R. Barker said...

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

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-the-left-turns-compliant-on-violating-civil-liberties/2013/06/14/8c30d91a-d4d2-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

Where have all the liberals gone?

* THE TRUE LIBERALS... THE "BIG L" LIBERALS... THOSE LIBERALS WHO LINK THE TERM "LIBERAL" WITH "LIBERTY"...?

President Obama, who as a Democratic senator accused the Bush administration of violating civil liberties in the name of security, now vigorously defends his own administration’s collection of Americans’ phone records and Internet activities.

* AND, FOLKS... DON'T THINK BUSH WAS DOING WHAT OBAMA WAS DOING - BECAUSE HE WASN'T!

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he thinks Congress has done sufficient intelligence oversight. His evidence? Opinion polls.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi defended the programs’ legality and said she wants Edward Snowden prosecuted for leaking details of the secret operations.

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, accused Snowden of treason and defended false testimony given to her committee by the director of national intelligence, who in March had denied the programs’ existence.

* ...DEFENDED FALSE TESTIMONY...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* BTW, FOLKS... THIS IS DANA MILBANK WRITING THIS - NOT SOME "KNUCKLE-DRAGGING CONSERVATIVE!"

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 3)

With some exceptions, progressive lawmakers and the liberal commentariat have been passive and acquiescent toward the secret spying programs, which would have infuriated the Left had they been the work of a Republican administration.

* "FOR SOME REASON...?!?!" HMM... HOW'BOUT HYPOCRISY... LACK OF PRINCIPLES...

(*SNORT*)

When libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced legislation last week to curb the surveillance powers, he had no co-sponsors.

* NONE. ZIP. ZERO.

When he held a news conference this week to unveil a lawsuit claiming the surveillance is unconstitutional, five members of Congress joined him — all Republicans.

* SEE WHAT I MEAN, MY FRIENDS? YES... BOTH PARTIES ARE CORRUPT... ARE VILE... BUT AT LEAST YOU HAVE A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN WITHIN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!

I kept looking for liberal dissent — and then, on Wednesday morning, the news wires reported that a group called Voice of Resistance was meeting outside the Capitol, where demonstrators would proclaim Snowden a hero and flog an effigy of Republican Rep. Peter King (NY), one of the first to brand Snowden a traitor.

* I DETEST PETER KING. HE'S A FAKE, PHONY FRAUD!

I arrived at the appointed place and time but found no protest. Instead, there were six journalists and a lone demonstrator, who was wearing an anti-abortion baseball cap. He told me the group was actually a Rightwing outfit. “The others are parking the car,” he explained, before turning the topic to Rush Limbaugh.

Polling this week by The Post and Pew Research Center produced discouraging evidence that Democrats have shed their suspicion of government overreach now that one of their own is in charge. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say that terrorism investigations should trump privacy as the government’s main concern, compared with 51% in 2006, when the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program had come to light. Then, 37 % of Democrats found the NSA’s actions acceptable, compared with 64% now. (Republicans went in the other direction, suddenly becoming more privacy-conscious.)

* NOT QUITE, DANA... (*SMIRK*)

* AS I NOTED WHEN I REVIEWED THAT PEW POLLING THE OTHER DAY, WHILE DEMOCRAT PUBLIC OPINION BASICALLY FLIPPED... REPUBLICAN PUBLIC OPINION ONLY ROTATED.

* AGAIN... NOT "DEFENDING" REPUBLICANS PER SE... BUT IT MATTERS THAT THE REPUBLICAN BASE IS MEASURABLE LESS BLATANTLY HYPOCRITICAL AND UNPRINCIPLED THAN THE DEMOCRATIC BASE.

(*SHRUG*)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 3 of 3)

Certainly, there are differences between now and then. Today, the program operates under court supervision...

* BULL. WE'VE GONE OVER THIS... GONE OVER THE NUMBERS. WE'RE TALKING RUBBER STAMPING.

...and has at least the veneer of congressional approval (the administration circumvents the law’s requirement that only “relevant” records can be collected by claiming that all phone records of all Americans are relevant).

* SOME "CIRCUMVENTION," HUH? (SEE... THIS IS WHAT I MEAN ABOUT EVEN LIBS LIKE MILBANK HERE; HE JUST CAN'T BRING HIMSELF TO CALL A SPADE A SPADE IN PLAIN ENGLISH.

And it remains to be seen whether Snowden is a true whistleblower or somebody who means his country harm.

* WHAT "HARM" HAS HE POSSIBLY DONE...? HMM...???

Yet it is jarring to see the Left so compliant now that the surveillance has been sanctioned by a Democratic president.

* "JARRING...???" WHAT DID YOU EXPECT...? DID YOU EXPECT PRINCIPLES WHERE NONE EXIST...?

Even if the programs ultimately prove defensible, isn’t it worth finding out what they really are, before liberals accept a suspension of civil liberties they may come to regret?

* GEEZUS... THIS ISN'T ABOUT LIBERALS... IT'S NOT ABOUT CONSERVATIVES... IT'S ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW! (FOLKS... GO BACK TO THE MAIN "USUALLY RIGHT" SCREEN AND SCROLL DOWN TILL YOU REACH MY 4TH AMENDMENT STAND ALONE POST. RE-READ IT!)

The weakness of the liberals’ argument for standing down was displayed by Reid, who assured reporters this week that Senate intelligence committee members “have done their very utmost, in my opinion, to conduct oversight. And that’s why the American people, in polls — two polls that I saw today — support what is happening with trying to stop terrorists from doing bad things to us.”

* THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS CAN'T TELL WHAT THEY KNOW EVEN IF THEY WANT TO - THE INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED!

While Reid tests the political winds to determine which constitutional rights Americans should have, those who should be overseeing the program are instead defending it with a just-trust-me logic. Feinstein declared that “these programs are within the law.” The top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), promised that “we’re not violating any constitutional rights.” Both said they’d like to see more about the program declassified, but their past efforts to produce more disclosure have been weak.

(*SMIRK*)

There are a few Democrats who have upheld the party’s tradition of championing civil liberties — such as John Conyers (Mich.), who is introducing a bill with conservative Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) to curtail the program, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced legislation backed by eight senators requiring more disclosure of secret court rulings.

* SECRET COURT RULINGS...

* FOLKS... THINK ABOUT THAT PHRASE... "SECRET COURT RULINGS..."

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

William R. Barker said...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/13/fbi-hasnt-contacted-a-single-tea-party-group-in-irs-probe-groups-say/

There is no evidence that the FBI has contacted a single tea party group in its criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service, according to the groups the IRS abused.

* REMEMBER HOW THE FBI "INVESTIGATED" BENGHAZI, FOLKS...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* UNDERSTAND, PEOPLE, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, HOMELAND SECURITY, THE NSA, THE FBI, THE PENTAGON... THEY'VE ALL BEEN THOROUGHLY POLITICIZED... THEY'RE ALL WORKING FOR OBAMA... OBAMA THE MAN, NOT JUST OBAMA THE PRESIDENT.

“We have not been contacted by any federal investigative agency and, to date, none of our clients have been contacted or interviewed by the FBI,” Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice told The Daily Caller on Thursday. The ACLJ has filed suit against the IRS on behalf of 25 conservative groups, with additional groups being added in the next couple weeks, according to a spokesman.

“I have been very surprised that I have not heard from anybody and frankly, none of my clients have. I talk to other tea party leaders on a regular basis,” said Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer largely credited with pushing the IRS abuses to the forefront.

“It’s been a month and I can’t see any evidence of an investigation of the IRS,” Mitchell told TheDC Thursday. She represents nine tea party groups targeted by the IRS.

Tea Party Patriots — a group with thousands of local chapters — “has not been contacted by the FBI” either, according to Jameson Cunningham, the group’s spokesman.

The revelation suggests that the FBI is in no hurry to get to the bottom of the scandal, despite the Obama administration’s promise to investigate the IRS’s multi-year abuse of conservative groups.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

* HERE'S WHAT THE PHONY PRICKS SAY... (READ ON...)

Attorney General Eric Holder promised in mid-May that the FBI would get to the bottom of the IRS’s behavior by opening a criminal investigation. “I can assure you and the American people that we will take a dispassionate view of this,” Holder told congressional investigators on May 15. “This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions. Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable.”

* AND OBAMA... (READ ON...)

“Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” President Obama said in a White House statement on May 15. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives.”

* BUT... (READ ON...)

But in separate testimony before congressional investigators Thursday, FBI Director Robert Mueller seemed completely unaware of the progress of any such investigation.

(*SPREADING MY ARMS OUT*)

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan lit into Mueller for his lack of knowledge during a House judiciary committee hearing. “This is the most important issue in front of the country in the last six weeks, and you don’t know who the lead investigator is?” Jordan asked, sounding shocked.

“At this juncture, no I do not,” Mueller responded.

“Do you know if you’ve talked to any of the victims?” Jordan went on. “Have you talked to any of the groups that were targeted by their government? Have you met with any of the tea party groups since May 14, 2013?”

“I don’t know what the status of the interviews are by the team that’s on it,” Mueller said.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, the FBI’s Washington, D.C. press office transferred TheDC to a long-ringing phone line and eventually hung up.

* THIS IS AMERIKA, MY FRIENDS... AMERIKA WITH A "K".

William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/305765-senators-skip-classified-briefing-on-nsa-snooping-to-catch-flights-home#ixzz2WHh6qpXb

A recent briefing by senior intelligence officials on surveillance programs failed to attract even half of the Senate, showing the lack of enthusiasm in Congress for learning about classified security programs.

* FOLKS... (*PAUSE*)... UNDERSTAND... (*PAUSE*)... OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE MOSTLY SCUMBAGS.

Many senators elected to leave Washington early Thursday afternoon instead of attending a briefing with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and other officials.*

* NAMES...?!?!

The Senate held its last vote of the week a little after noon on Thursday, and many lawmakers were eager to take advantage of the short day and head back to their home states for Father’s Day weekend.

* FUCKING SCUMBAGS...

Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing...

The Hill was not provided the names of who did, and who didn't, attend the briefing.

Lawmakers have been quick to call for increased congressional oversight of the phone and Internet monitoring programs, but many have been unwilling to skip flights or make other scheduling sacrifices to learn more of the secret details.

The Hill was not provided the names of who did, and who didn't, attend the briefing.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/14/white-house-defends-high-bills-africa-trip/

The White House Friday defended the first family’s upcoming weeklong trip to Africa, which could cost taxpayers up to $100 million, as “great bang for our buck.”

* UP TO $100 MILLION...

* HOW...?!?!

The Obamas’ trip, at a time of “sequestration” budget cuts, will take them to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa from June 26 to July 3. Citing a confidential planning document, the Washington Post reported that the trip will cost between $60 million to $100 million.

* EVEN $60 MILLION... HOW DOES ONE JUSTIFY $60 MILLION...?!?!

The excursion will involve military cargo planes airlifting 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines, and three trucks to carry bulletproof glass panels to cover the windows where the first family is set to stay. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship with a fully staffed medical trauma center will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency.

* THE COST OF THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER SHOULDN'T BE INCLUDED; AFTER ALL, IT HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE, RIGHT? BUT 14 LIMOUSINES...? WTF...?!?!

Fighter jets will fly in shifts to provide around-the-clock protection over the president’s airspace. The trip will reportedly involve hundreds of Secret Service agents.

* I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THE FIGHTER JETS, BUT WHY HUNDREDS OF AGENTS? HUNDREDS...?!?! THE HOST COUNTRIES WILL OBVIOUSLY BE PROVIDING SECURITY. PLUS... THERE ARE MARINES ATTACHED TO THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP! PLUS... MARINES AT THE EMBASSIES!

Mr. Obama is expected to spend part of the trip emphasizing the importance of global health programs, including HIV/AIDS prevention.

* WTF...?!?! LET THE UN DO THIS SHIT...!!! FOLKS... THIS IS SIMPLY ANOTHER TAXPAYER PROVIDED VACATION FOR THE OBAMA FAMILY. PERIOD!

William R. Barker said...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/weiner_wife_abedin_being_probed_RECiIMdUmPXgXsytPXpa9M

One of the Senate’s most aggressive investigators is probing longtime Hillary Rodham Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s employment status, asking how she got a sweetheart deal to be a private six-figure consultant while still serving as a top State Department official.

* I'VE PROVIDED NEWSBITES ON THIS BEFORE... (*SHRUG*)

Abedin, one of Clinton’s most loyal aides, is married to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, who’s in the midst of a vigorous effort to beat back his own scandal and become mayor. (Abedin has been essential to Weiner's attempt to move past his sexting scandal.)

The inquiry by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), compiled in a three-page letter to Abedin and Secretary of State John Kerry, adds drama to Weiner’s bid.

The couple hauled in as much as $350,000 in outside income on top of Abedin’s $135,000 government salary after Weiner quit Congress amid a sexting scandal when he got caught sending out Tweets of his crotch.

* "MOONLIGHTING" CASH. NICE JOB IF YOU CAN GET IT, HUH? $350,000 FOR PART-TIME WORK WHILE SUPPOSEDLY WORKING FULL-TIME FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AT A SIX-FIGURE SALARY WITH PLATINUM BENEFITS!

Abedin, who served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff when Clinton was secretary of state, later became a “special government employee” who was able to haul in cash as a private contractor.

(*SMIRK*)

* ACTUALLY... I SHOULDN'T SMIRK. HILLARY AND WEINER AND ABEDIN SHOULD BE THE ONES SMIRKING. AFTER ALL... THEY'RE THE ONES GETTING AWAY WITH THIS. I BE EVEN THOSE OF YOU READING THIS DON'T REALLY GIVE A SHIT.

(*SHRUG*)

The change in status came to light only last month. Abedin took on the new assignment after she gave birth to son Jordan and began working from New York.

* SO SHE'S WORKING A FULL-TIME JOB... AND MOONLIGHTING TO THE TUNE OF NEAR A THIRD-OF-A-MILLION-DOLLARS... ALL WHILE SHE'S PREGNANT AND THEN WHILE SHE'S ACTUALLY HAVING THE CHILD AND RECOVERING FROM THE PREGNANCY AND BONDING WITH THE CHILD. A REAL SUPERWOMAN!

One of the clients she did consulting work for while on the government payroll was Teneo Holdings, a firm founded by longtime Bill Clinton aide Doug Band.

* I WONDER IF I SHOULD SEND THEM A RESUME...?

Grassley, the top Judiciary Committee Republican, wrote that he was concerned Abedin’s status “blurs the line between public- and private-sector employees, especially when employees receive full-time salaries for what appears to be part-time work.”

* FOLKS... YOU KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE FULL-TIME SALARY IS FOR AN AMERICAN...? IT'S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN $40,000-$50,000 A YEAR.

Grassley peppered Abedin and Kerry with 13 questions about her employment. Among them: “Who authorized the change in status in your official title?” and “Who was made aware of the change in status?”

A State Department official, noted there were 100 such consultants at the agency, saying, “Miss Abedin’s status was approved through the normal process.”

* ANYONE BELIEVE THIS...? ANYONE AT ALL...???

The official couldn’t immediately answer who signed off on the consulting deal, saying Abedin submitted it to the ethics office in June of last year.

* "ETHICS" OFFICE... (WHAT A FRIGGIN' SICK JOKE...)

A person close to Abedin said she voluntarily disclosed that she worked for Hillary Clinton personally – “to allow Huma to begin planning for [Clinton’s] activities post-State,” as well as for the Clinton foundation and Teneo Holdings.

* OH, YEAH... THREE JOBS... ALMOST FORGOT THAT ABEDIN WAS ALSO ON THE "CLINTON FOUNDATION" PAYROLL.

(*SNORT*)

The person added that Teneo conducts “no business” with State and that Abedin “did not provide ‘political intelligence.’”

* WHAT DOES TENEO DO...? WHAT SERVICES DID ABEDIN PROVIDE...?

William R. Barker said...

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

http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201306140130

The Senate has begun debate on the proposed immigration "reform" bill.

* IT'S AN AMNESTY BILL.

If this bill becomes law, there is one likely outcome for low-skilled [American] workers: Disaster.

* TRUE!

The assurances of the bill's proponents that the bill will somehow help the economy obscure copious evidence that the bill will wreak enormous damage to the employment prospects of American workers who have already seen their wages and employment rates plummet over the last several years.

Indeed, it is no secret that the employment picture for low-skilled workers is abysmal. ... Among those without a high school diploma, the unemployment rate in May reached 11.1%, and for blacks without a high school diploma, it is more than 24%. The labor-force participation rate is at historic lows and long-term unemployment is the worst since the Great Depression. The workweek is shrinking, as well as wage rates. Barely one in two adult black males has a full-time job. A record 47 million people are on food stamps.

The immigration reform bill has the potential to make things even worse.

* NOT "POTENTIAL." IT WILL!

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Not only will the bill grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants, it will act as a magnet for future illegal immigration and substantially increase the number of legal immigrants. It is conservatively estimated that the bill will result in 30 million to 33 million additional immigrants over the next 10 years.

The bill is structured so that most of the immigrants will be low-skilled. These immigrants will compete with Americans in the low-skilled labor markets. The competition is most fierce in some of the industries in which blacks historically have been highly concentrated, such as construction, agriculture and service. Since the supply of low-skilled workers already exceeds the demand, the massive influx in low-skilled immigrants bodes ill for all such workers, but particularly black males. Evidence adduced before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights shows that immigration accounts for 40% of the 18-point percentage decline in black employment rates over the last several decades - the bulk of the decline occurring among black males.

That's hundreds of thousands of blacks thrown out of work; hundreds of thousands who can't support their families without taxpayer assistance.

* AMERICAN BLACKS...

* AND AMERICAN WHITES... AND AMERICAN HISPANICS...

* AMERICANS OF ALL ETHNICITIES!

The evidence adduced by the commission shows that not only does illegal immigration depress the employment levels of low-skilled Americans, it drives down the wages for available jobs. For example, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimated that as a result of the growth of undocumented workers, the annual earnings of actual documented workers in Georgia in 2007 were $960 lower than they were in 2000. In the leisure hospitality sectors of the economy, the wages were $1,520 lower.

* GEEZUS, FOLKS...

A $960 annual decrease in wages may not seem like much to some members of Congress, but as President Obama observed when he signed the extension of the payroll tax cut in 2012, an extra $80 a month makes a big difference to many families. It means $80 more toward rent, groceries and the cost of gasoline. Besides, why should American workers suffer any decline in their wages because of illegal immigration?

* THEY SHOULDN'T!

Recent history shows that a grant of legal status to illegal immigrants results in a further influx of illegal immigrants who will crowd out low-skilled workers from the workforce. Contrary to the mythology promoted by some supporters of the bill, this isn't because low-skill Americans - regardless of race - are unwilling to work. It's because they're unwilling to work at the cut-rate wages (and often substandard conditions) offered to illegal immigrants - a cohort highly unlikely to complain to the EEOC, OSHA or the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. This inexorably increases the number of low-skill Americans depending upon the government for subsistence, swells the ranks of the unemployed and reduces the wages of those that do have a job.

Before the federal government grants legal status to illegal immigrants, serious deliberation must be given to the affect such grant will have on the employment and earnings prospects of low-skilled Americans. History shows that granting such legal status is not without profound and substantial costs to American workers.