Monday, July 29, 2013
Barker's Newsbites: Monday, July 29, 2013
Looks like it's gonna be a good newsbiting day! (Just glanced over Drudge; lots of boiling pots on the stove!)
Thanks, Carl, for taking Mary to the Yankee game yesterday; she had a ball! (The Matsui bobble-head now resides in a place of honor atop the living room bookself... next to my talking GWB "action figure" and personalized bottle of JD!)
Anyway... on to newsbiting!
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http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/07/26/mob-of-teens-brutally-attack-man-in-heart-of-little-italy/
A man is brutally attacked by a group of teens in Little Italy.
* LITTLE ITALY IN BALTIMORE!
* BRUTALLY ATTACKED BY A GROUP OF BLACK TEENS APPARENTLY... (SEE PHOTO.)
Police say four of the attackers are in custody. Three of them are juveniles.
* AGAIN... SEE THE PHOTO.
The victim was walking home from work when he was attacked near Bank and Exeter Streets.
* DON'T KNOW WHAT RACE THE VICTIM IS. DON'T KNOW IF HIS RACE WAS A FACTOR IN HIS VICTIMHOOD. WHAT IS KNOW... THE "GROUP" OF "TEENS" WERE APPARENTLY NOT A... er... umm... "DESEGREGATED" PACK OF ANIMALS.
Police say the brutality of the crime is why three juveniles arrested are being charged as adults.
“It’s very upsetting because you feel suspect now. Now you see a group of kids, children, and you have to worry if they’re not going to pounce on you,” said Giovanna Blattermann, neighbor.
* "KIDS...???" "CHILDREN...???" UH-HUH...
The assault happened in front of Giovanna Blattermann’s house. She’s also watched video of the attack – captured by her neighbors surveillance camera.
While the suspects took the man’s phone, Blattermann says that’s not what they were after. “They beat this boy. He got up, he’d run, they beat him. He got up, he’d run, they beat him. He got up, he’d run, they beat him,” said Blattermann.
The suspects range in age from 16 to 19, but police say because of the brutality of the crime, the minors aren’t being charged lightly.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
“The fact that they broke this gentleman’s jaw, the decision was made and they are going to be charged as adults,” said Sgt. Eric Kowalczyk, Baltimore City Police.
Blattermann and other neighbors believe the same mob has robbed other residents; they’re now banding together to protect their neighborhood.
* OOPS... DON'T KNOW HOW "HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED" WILL VIEW THAT.
(*SMIRK*)
* INSIDE "JOKE" FOLKS...
Police are continuing to follow leads and say more arrests could come.
* "COULD" COME...???
The suspects are facing several charges, including robbery and assault.
* AGAIN... IF THE OTHER "SUSPECTS" TURN OUT OF BE WHITE KIDS FROM THE SUBURBS...
(*SHRUG*)
* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... THE STATS ARE THE STATS... THE VIDEOS ARE THE VIDEOS... THE REALITY IS THE REALITY... REGARDLESS OF WHAT "HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED" AND OTHERS WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/07/29/wh-tours-parade-special-visitors-continues/
The White House continues to bar average Americans from touring “The People's House” but nevertheless lavishes spending on all sorts of special invitees – from diners at last week’s Iftar dinner breaking the Muslim fast to sports teams and foreign diplomats.
Soon after the outcry over the cancellation of White House public tours due to the sequester, the White House promised to see what could be done to allow some visits to resume. But nothing was done and no one can visit – unless President Obama finds you useful or amusing.
Favored guest have poured in this month, even though Obama was traveling in Africa for part of it.
Last week’s glittering Iftar dinner featured about 130 guests treated to remarks by Obama and bread breaking with senior aide Valerie Jarrett and National Security advisor Susan Rice.
* SUSAN RICE...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Obama held a mass reception for the entire diplomatic corps July 19. He hosted the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion Louisville Cardinals July 23 and will gather with the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants today.
(He even found room in the White House for a team that hasn’t won a game in 50 years - the 1963 Loyola University of Chicago Ramblers championship basketball team.)
Meanwhile, he had some old buddies in for a July Fourth celebration.
* FOLKS... THE POINT ISN'T TO BE PETTY... THE POINT IS TO SHOW THE HIPOCRISY AND DISDAIN OF THIS PRESIDENT. (FOLKS... MICHELLE COULD HAVE BEEN "EARNING HER KEEP" BY PERSONALLY LEADING A FEW TOURS A DAY! THE SECRET SERVICE IS SHADOWING HER ANYWAY!)
* SPEAKING OF MICHELLE...
Michelle staged a “Kids’ State Dinner” with dozens of children and their parents to promote her healthy eating initiative.
June’s events included a raucous celebration of LGBT Pride Month, a special movie screening in the White House theater, and visits by the WNBA Champion Indiana Fever and Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens and Division III Women’s Basketball Champion DePauw University Tigers.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-vineyard-vacation-at-7.6m-private-resort-over-75-rooms-booked-for-staff/article/2533598
The Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, the exclusive playground for [certain] presidents and their families, is about to get its annual summer infusion of [taxpayer] cash and [media] attention as President Obama and his family prepare to arrive August 10 for an eight-day vacation.
* YET ANOTHER VACATION...
Local reports indicate that the first family will likely be staying at a $7.6 million resort home on southern edge of the island in the town of Chilmark where homes feature water access to Chilmark Pond, tennis courts and swimming pools.
Staying at the home of Chicago corporate finance manager David Schulte is a break from past Obama vacations because the $21 million home they've [in the past] rented, Blue Heron Farm, isn't available.
* DID THEY PAY "MARKET" RENT? (HEY... IF THE OWNERS ARE PERSONAL FRIENDS THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY... BUT IF NOT...)
Schulte's summer home sits on nine and a half acres, has ocean views and a basketball court.
* I'M GUESSING THAT IF CAMP DAVID DOESN'T ALREADY HAVE A BASKETBALL COURT THAT ONE COULD BE INSTALLED FAIRLY CHEAPLY.
While the president typically keeps to himself and carries with him only a handful of staffers to Martha's Vineyard, security will be tight. As in the past, the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs will house security and communications officials. The owner told the Vineyard Gazette that the Secret Service has booked 70 rooms and another five have been reserved for the Transportation Security Agency. Rates at the hotel run from $225-$345.
Also, telephone and communications lines are being installed on the island for the president's use.
It's unclear why the president is returning home on the 18th, though the school where his daughters attend, Sidwell Friends, said that is when practice for winter sports begins. (Both Malia and Sasha play basketball...)
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.suntimes.com/21552920-761/city-of-chicagos-cash-cushion-plummets-debt-triples-arrests-drop-water-use-rises.html
Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed the books on 2012 with $33.4 million in unallocated cash on hand — down from $167 million the year before — while adding to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show.
* CASH ON HAND... MOUNTAINS OF DEBT...
Last week, Moody’s Investors ordered an unprecedented triple-drop in the city’s bond rating...
* UNPRECEDENTED... TRIPLE... DROP...
...citing Chicago’s “very large and growing” pension liabilities, “significant” debt service payments, “unrelenting public safety demands” and historic reluctance to raise local taxes that has continued under Emanuel.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
* HAVE WE MENTIONED YET THAT EMANUEL IS A PROUD LIBERAL DEMOCRAT... PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF...?
The 2012 city audits...show that an unallocated balance that was $167 million a year ago because of Emanuel’s aggressive cost-cutting efforts has dropped to $33.4 million.
* AGGRESSIVE COST CUTTING...? HMM... TO RECAP:
...while adding to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show.
* ONE... MORE... TIME...
...while adding to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show.
(*RAISING ONE EYEBROW AT EMANUEL'S SUPPOSED "AGGRESSIVE COST CUTTING"*)
Budget Director Alex Holt blamed the $133.6 million drop on “honest” budgeting and ending the long-standing practice of carrying “ghost” vacancies.
* UH-HUH... SO... LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT... EMANUAL (WHO HAS BEEN MAYOR SINCE MAY 16, 2011) HAS SUDDENLY DECIDED TO ADHERE TO HONEST BUDGETING...
* IS APPLAUSE IN ORDER...???
“We’re trying to be more transparent about what we’re really spending and taking in — not just carrying a bunch of people who took up money in the budget and left money on the table at the end of the year,” Holt said.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
In last week’s report, Moody’s noted that the city’s total fund balance at the close of 2012 was $231.3 million and that Chicago has just $625 million in “leased asset reserves.”
* LEASED ASSET RESERVES...??? (IS THEIR A CPA IN THE HOUSE...???)
Had the city fully funded its $1.5 billion “actuarially required contribution” to its four under-funded city employee pension funds in 2012 alone, “these two reserves would have been entirely depleted,” Moody’s said.
* AH... SO UNDER EMANUAL THE CITY BASICALLY "STOLE" $1.5 BILLION FROM THE CITY'S EMPLOYEE PENSION FUNDS IN 2012 ALONE... AND THAT'S LEGAL... FINE AND DANDY...
(*SHRUG*)
The “unassigned” balance is $33.4 million. Experts recommend a cash cushion of at least $200 million for a budget the size of Chicago’s, according to the Civic Federation. The city ended 2009 with an unallocated checkbook balance of just $2.7 million.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
The new round of borrowing brings Chicago’s total long-term debt to nearly $29 billion.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
That’s $10,780 for every one of the city’s nearly 2.69 million residents.
* AND WHAT'S THEIR SHARE OF THEIR STATE DEBT AMOUNT TO...? AND THEIR SHARE OF OUR FEDERAL DEBT...???
(*SNORT*)
More than a decade ago, the debt load was $9.6 billion or $3,338 per resident.
* SOUNDS LIKE OBAMANOMICS! (SERIOUSLY... EXCEPT OBAMA MORE THAN TRIPLED FEDERAL DEBT IN A MERE FOUR YEARS!)
Last year, now-retiring City Comptroller Amer Ahmad argued that the city’s debt load was not “troubling” because, “We still have a very strong bond rating. Our fiscal position is getting better every year and we are aggressively managing our liabilities and obligations.”
* UH-HUH... SO... ALL SET TO TRY AND BORROW YOURSELF OUR OF A DEBT LOAD YOU CAN'T AFFORD... BY.... ADDING TO THAT DEBT...
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
He can no longer say that after the triple-drop in Chicago’s bond rating.
By July 31, Emanuel must release a preliminary city budget. It’s almost certain to include another massive deficit...that will have to be closed with more layoffs, service cuts and new revenues.
Former Mayor Richard M. Daley postponed Chicago’s day of reckoning by balancing his final budget with $330 million in Skyway and parking meters reserves and other short-term fixes. That left just $76 million remaining from the widely-despised, 75-year, $1.15 billion deal that privatized Chicago parking meters.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
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