The bombs, 500 pounds each, were dropped by two Navy F-18
fighter jets near Erbil, the strategically important city that serves as the
Kurdish capital...
The mission marked a return to U.S. military engagement
in Iraq, three years after Obama removed U.S. forces.
(*SMIRK*)
* FOLKS... EARTH TO THOSE CAPABLE OF CONNECTING THE
DOTS... OBAMA CHEERED ON THE SO-CALLED "ARAB SPRING!"
* FOLKS... DO YOU NOT RECALL OBAMA SUPPORTING THE MUSLIM
BROTHERHOOD'S SHORT AND NOT VERY SWEET TAKEOVER OF EGYPT... UNTIL THEY THEN
TURNED AROUND AND "ACCEPTED" THE MILITARY COUP THAT THEY INSISTED WASN'T A
COUP?
* FOLKS... REMEMBER OBAMA INSISTING - IN THE FACE OF
CONGRESSIONAL OPPOSITION - UPON INVOLVING OURSELVES IN THE LIBYAN CIVIL WAR?
HOW'D THAT WORK OUT...?!?!
* FOLKS... SYRIA. (S*Y*R*I*A) RECALL... OBAMA WAS ARMING
THE REBELS... THE ISLAMIC FANATICS... MANY OF WHOM ARE NO DOUBT THE SAME PEOPLE
HE'S NOW BOMBING NEAR ERBIL!
* RUSSIA...? ANYONE WANNA TALK ABOUT RUSSIA? HILLARY'S
"RESET BUTTON?" (OH, YES... LET'S NOT FORGET MADAM SECRETARY!)
* CHINA...? SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA...? AFRICA...? (NO,
JOE... NOT THE "COUNTRY" OF AFRICA - THE CONTINENT...)
* AN AMERICAN TWO-STAR GENERAL ASSASSINATED THE OTHER DAY
BY... AN AFGHAN SOLDIER... ONE OF OUR "ALLIES."
* OUR SOUTHERN BORDERS...
7 comments:
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://online.wsj.com/articles/fico-recalibrates-its-credit-scores-1407443549?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
A change in how the most widely used credit score in the U.S. is tallied will likely make it easier for tens of millions of Americans to get loans.
Fair Isaac Corp. said Thursday that it will stop including in its FICO credit-score calculations any record of a consumer failing to pay a bill if the bill has been paid or settled with a collection agency.
* I HAVE NO IDEA IF (OR IF, HOW) GOVERNMENT "REGULATES" CREDIT AGENCIES, BUT, IF IT WERE UP TO ME THIS WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED. FOLKS... THINK ABOUT IT... THE ONLY REASON YOU'D WANNA DO THIS IS IF YOU WANNA CREATE A CREDIT BUBBLE... HEIGHTEN RISK... SUPPORT SHORT-TERM PROFITS FOR THE LENDERS WHILE PUSHING THE RISK RIGHT BACK ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE TAXPAYERS SHOULD BAILOUTS BE NECESSARY IN THE FUTURE...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
WHY TRY AND FURTHER THE ABILITY OF THOSE WITH BAD CREDIT RECORDS TO BORROW (AND SPEND) MONEY THEY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PAY BACK? AND HOW DOES ONE ETHICALLY JUSTIFY KEEPING POTENTIAL CREDITORS IN THE DARK REGARDING APPLICANTS PAST RECORD?
The San Jose, Calif., company also will give less weight to unpaid medical bills that are with a collection agency.
* THIS... IS... INSANE...
(AND DIDN'T OBAMA - VIA OBAMACARE - INSURE THERE'D BE NO UNPAID MEDICAL BILLS?)
(*SMIRK*)
The moves follow months of discussions with lenders and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aimed at boosting lending without creating more credit risk.
* BUT COMMON SENSE SAY THAT MORE CREDIT RISK WILL BE ENTAILED! THIS IS INSANE!
The changes are expected to boost consumer lending, especially among borrowers shut out of the market or charged high interest rates because of their low scores.
* YES...!!! I GET THAT...!!! THAT'S WHAT I OBJECT TO...!!!
"It expands banks' ability to make loans for people who might not have qualified and to offer a lower price [for others]," said Nessa Feddis, senior vice president of consumer protection and payments at the American Bankers Association, a trade group.
* TO HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED... (*JUST THROWING MY HANDS UP*)
* BUDDY... YOU'RE READING WHAT I'M READING - RIGHT...?!?!
Some critics said that loosening standards could bring losses for borrowers and lenders.
* YA FUCKIN' THINK...?!?!
"A lot of people really just can't handle credit — you're not really helping them by allowing them to dig themselves into debt," said Howard Strong, a lawyer in Tarzana, Calif., who specializes in consumer-protection class-action lawsuits. "It's like a sharp knife — if you don't know how to use it, you can cut yourself."
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
Some experts said the new model for FICO scores walks a fine line: It loosens standards without overstating the creditworthiness of borrowers.
* IT... LOOSENS... STANDARDS...!!!
* IT... LOOSENS... STANDARDS...!!!
(*THROWING MY ARMS UP IN THE AIR*)
Consumers often are unaware that their insurance company isn't paying a medical bill and can end up in default and in collection without knowing it, said Anthony Sprauve, senior consumer credit specialist with Fair Isaac.
* SO DEAL WITH THAT SCENARIO! CREATE A FIX FOR SUCH SITUATIONS! DON'T SIMPLY REFUSE TO SHARE INFORMATION THAT'S SAY 97% ACCURATE BECAUSE THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH 3% OF THE RECORDS! MAKE IT EASIER TO "FIX" THE RECORD... "FIX" THE SCORE!
In contrast, lenders often send repeated notifications to consumers to let them know they have fallen behind.
* OF COURSE THEY DO! AGAIN... FIX THE EXISTING PROBLEMS... DON'T CREATE BIGGER PROBLEMS!
A revamped FICO score could boost bank lending...
* YEAH... OBVIOUSLY...
(*SMIRK*)
* FOLKS... RECALL YESTERDAY'S NEWSBITE CONCERNING HOW DODD-FRANK HAS ACTUALLY INSTITUTIONALIZED THE BAILOUT CULTURE?
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Fair Isaac will begin rolling out the new scoring model, named FICO 9, to credit bureaus this fall and to lenders later this year.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
More than half of all debt-collection activity on consumers' credit reports comes from medical bills, according to the Federal Reserve. ... The CFPB, in a May report, criticized credit-scoring models used by the financial industry, saying they put too much emphasis on unpaid medical debt and lead to an overly negative view of consumers. CFPB officials say that medical debt is inherently different from other forms of debt because consumers are often unaware of what they owe to hospitals and doctors.
* FAIR ENOUGH... SO FIX THAT! (JUST LIKE INSTEAD OF STARTING WITH OBAMACARE FOR "HEALTH INSURANCE" THEY SHOULD HAVE STARTED WITH OBAMACARE FOR DENTAL INSURANCE.)
* AGAIN... WE ALREADY HAVE FREE ACCESS TO OUR CREDIT SCORES - FREE CREDIT REPORTS - AT OUR FINGERTIPS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR BY LAW! ALSO BY LAW WE CAN "CORRECT" OUR OWN CREDIT REPORTS VIA "EXPLANATION" IN OUR OWN WORDS ADDED (AT NO COST) TO THE REPORTS! MORE "FIXES" COULD - AND SHOULD - BE CONSIDERED PRIOR TO THROWING THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER!
FICO scores have many competitors but are the most widely used. Lenders used them in 90% of consumer and mortgage loan decisions, according to a study this year by the CEB TowerGroup, a financial-services research firm. VantageScore Solutions LLC, a rival credit-scoring firm in Stamford, Conn., rolled out a new scoring model in March 2013 that excludes all paid collections.
* SOUNDS LIKE WE'VE BEEN PLAYED AGAIN FOLKS; A DONE DEAL...
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-jihadist-march-in-iraq-1407454501
After routing Iraq's army from Mosul and most of northern Iraq in June, ISIS has grown as a military force. It captured significant war materiel, including armored U.S. Humvees, and has attracted hardened jihadist fighters from Syria and elsewhere.
In addition to the sums it looted from Mosul's banks, the group has the potential to gain access to revenue from oil fields in northern Iraq.
ISIS is also threatening the obliteration of the Christian population in northern Iraq. An assault by ISIS's forces in northern Nineveh province has emptied towns of their Christian populations. Some 40,000 Yazidis, a minority who have lived in Iraq for millennia, are now isolated with little food or water on Mount Sinjar. ISIS controls all roads out and has proven it will have no compunction to slaughter those who try to flee.
* WE MUST RESCUE THESE PEOPLE. (JUST AS WE MUST PROTECT THE KURDS.)
When ISIS captured Mosul, it often painted an "N" on the houses of Christians, denoting they are of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.
The Christians' confiscated properties have been given to Muslims.
Ancient Christian churches have been razed.
The self-proclaimed "Islamic State" is a barbaric, pre-modern movement whose goal is to expand its dominion with mass killings. Unresisted, it will not stop.
If Kurdistan falls under its control, ISIS would move to consolidate its power in Syria and destabilize Jordan. The Islamic State's base of power and financing assured, it would export skilled jihadists to destabilize political and economic life throughout the Middle East. It is a fantasy to believe the killers on view this week in Nineveh province will stay out of Europe or the U.S.
For President Obama, any decision to reinforce the Iraqis or Kurds will be painful. On Thursday night he still took credit for removing all U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011. He was at pains to reassure Americans that the U.S. will not fight another war in Iraq even as he committed U.S. air power to the war that continues in Iraq.
(*SNORT*)
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://online.wsj.com/articles/claudia-rosett-the-u-n-handmaiden-of-hamas-1407454401
Gaza under Hamas is a place with only two basic industries: aid and terrorism.
These are much entwined, and not solely because Hamas controls Unrwa's staff unions in Gaza, where in 2012 a Hamas-affiliated slate swept 25 of 27 seats.
(*SMIRK*)
In effect the U.N. group subsidizes Hamas.
Among U.N. agencies in the Middle East, Unrwa is the largest employer, with a regular budget for 2014 of $731 million, and a total budget that, with emergency appeals, tops $1 billion.
The agency has roughly 30,000 staff on its payroll, almost all Palestinian. Some 12,500 work in Gaza, home to 1.2 million Unrwa-registered refugees, who account for about two-thirds of Gaza's population.
(The U.N. agency's welfare programs relieve Hamas of many of the costs of servicing the enclave it controls as its launchpad for terror.)
With the agency handling household chores, Hamas — especially since its bloody takeover of Gaza in 2007, ousting the Palestinian Authority's Fatah — has found the time and resources to amass rocket arsenals (Unrwa last month reported finding rockets stashed in three of its vacant schools), to bombard Israel (sometimes in close proximity to Unrwa premises), and to build miles of concrete-reinforced tunnels extending into Israel for terrorist attacks. Israel, in its counteroffensive, has been accused by the U.N. of deadly strikes on Unrwa schools serving as shelters.
* SHELTERS FOR MISSILES...
(*SNORT*)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
How did it come to this? Created by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949, Unrwa began operations in 1950 as an emergency jobs and aid program for Palestinian refugees. It was supposed to be temporary but has been repeatedly renewed. The agency has now carried on for 64 years, vastly expanding its budget, programs and refugee rolls.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Unrwa is unusual among U.N. agencies in ways that render it especially unaccountable - even by U.N. standards.
All other refugees world-wide fall under the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Only the Palestinians have their own dedicated U.N. refugee agency, offering special access to the perquisites of the U.N. logo, stage and fundraising.
Unrwa has ensured its own survival by transforming itself into the patron of Palestinian grievance, conferring refugee status down the generations, an unusual practice.
* UNUSUAL INDEED! (INSANE!)
The agency's website reports that since 1950 its roster of registered refugees has grown from an original 750,000 to 5.3 million — a sevenfold increase, all eligible for the Unrwa dole. Its funding comes almost entirely from "voluntary" contributions. But hundreds of millions roll in every year from the U.S., which is the largest donor (contributing $294 million in 2013), followed by the European Commission ($216 million). According to State Department historical data, the U.S. since Unrwa's inception has given the agency funds totaling $4.9 billion (closer to $7 billion in constant 2014 dollars).
* INSANITY UPON INSANITY UPON INSANITY...
For the Palestinians, this has been ruinous, fostering within an otherwise enterprising culture a crippling sense of entitlement and dependency.
In 2011 the agency opened an office in Washington run by two former U.S. government insiders: Matthew Reynolds, previously the State Department's assistant secretary for legislative affairs, and Chris McGrath, previously a media-events director for Sen. Harry Reid. The job descriptions include representing the U.N. agency's interests to the State Department...
* WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT IF PEOPLE LIKE REYNOLDS AND MCGRATH LOBBIED FOR AMERICA'S INTERESTS?!
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Thus U.S. tax dollars fund Unrwa officials now lobbying in Washington to obtain yet more money for an agency entwined with the rocket-launching, tunnel-digging rulers of Gaza. Mr. Reynolds, reached by phone this week, said he doesn't answer questions from the media. Christopher Gunness, the agency spokesman, did not respond to repeated queries.
* SCUMBAGS.
With this week's truce between Israel and Hamas appearing to hold as the weekend neared, Unrwa is ready for what comes next. The organization has embarked on a $187 million flash appeal to rebuild Gaza. Thus will Hamas be spared the expense of cleaning up after the warfare it provoked.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720066/Were-getting-overrun-danger-increasing-We-need-open-eyes-Sheriff-investigating-murder-Border-Patrol-Agent-claims-armed-illegal-immigrants-military-fatigues-spotted-ranches.html
The Sheriff leading the investigation into the brutal slaying of a Border Control Agent by two illegal immigrants has revealed local farmers in his county have reported spotting gangs of armed Mexicans 'in military fatigues' marching through their fields.
* FOLKS... AGAIN... WHY ONLY IN THE FOREIGN PRESS DO WE READ THESE STORIES?
* FOLKS... USUALLY THE DRUDGE REPORT IS WHERE I FIND MY LINKS. THE MSM HATE DRUDGE. DON'T YOU THINK IF THE NYT, WASHINGTON POST, AND THE TV NETWORKS COULD DISCREDIT DRUDGE FOR RUNNING LIES THEY WOULD...???
Sheriff Larry Spence’s department played a key role in catching Ismael Hernandez and Gustavo Tijerina after they allegedly gunned down hero officer Javier Vega Jr. in front of his mother, father, wife and three sons while they were on a family fishing trip. Since their capture, Fox News reported that the suspects are both Mexican nationals who were in the U.S. illegally and have been deported SIX times between them.
* IMAGINE THE VICTIMS ARE YOUR FAMILY MEMBER... YOUR LOVED ONES...
* I KNOW WHAT I'D DO...
Spence, who has been Sheriff of Willacy County in south Texas for 29 years, said the problem on the border is reaching a crisis point. He said ranchers with land 25 miles north of the border have reported groups of men - believed to be illegal immigrants - walking single file, through farm land, in military fatigues. Some were armed with rifles.
* ISN'T PHYSICALLY PROTECTING AMERICA AND AMERICAN CITIZENS JOB #1 OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT... OF OUR PRESIDENT... OF OUR NATION'S GOVERNORS?
Speaking to MailOnline from his office in Raymondville, Sheriff Spence said that while the current political focus at the border had been on the humanitarian crisis posed by tens of thousands of undocumented children arriving alone in the U.S., an increasing 'criminal element' was being ignored.
He said: 'We are not use to this kind of violence happening in our town. We may have a murder every two or three years, but that would be a bar fight, or a domestic incident, nothing like this. This is becoming much more prevalent. Lately we’ve been having a lot of traffic through the ranches. Smuggling, illegal immigrants, drugs.'
The Sheriff continued, 'About three or four months ago we had an individual who saw people walking through farm property in military fatigues, with backpacks. He went out and asked them, "who are you?" They said "what's it to you?" He said he owned the property and they said, "well you better get out of here." Sensibly he left and called us, but by the time we got out there, they were gone.'
Spence went on, 'We as Sheriffs have the trust of the people, especially near the border. If we don't stop it here, then the problem is going to spread. We need to help come up with a solution. You hear of places already in the United States where cartels have a foothold. We are just trying to do our part. Sheriff’s on the border in New Mexico, Arizona and California are having the same problem. It's not like it was years ago when people were just looking for a job or something to eat. Now if they ask for something and they don't get it, some of them will take it.'
* FOLKS... YOU SHOULD READ THE FULL ARTICLE.
http://nypost.com/2014/08/07/squeegee-men-are-back-and-terrorizing-city-streets/
Squeegee men...
They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s...
And now they’re making a comeback.
Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge. Residents and drivers who pass through the areas said the panhandlers are spraying and wiping windshields without permission to shake down drivers for cash.
Their sudden return is an ominous sign according to the proven “broken windows” theory..
(*NOD*)
The Post spotted one of the vagrants working the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 37th Street, where a woman turned on the wipers of her Mercedes-Benz to keep him away.
The glassy-eyed man, who gave his name as Mike Benthins and claimed to be from Philadelphia originally, said he spends about an hour there every other day or so. “This is a couple of days’ work. About 14 bucks,” he said, displaying a handful of crumpled dollar bills in his filthy, cracked fingers. Benthins, who has also been seen with a squeegee near Times Square, was using a wadded-up copy of the amNewYork free newspaper as a rag.
Maria Berrios, 49, who has lived in Midtown near the Lincoln Tunnel for 30 years, was stunned to see a squeegee man at the corner of Dyer Avenue and West 36th Street about two weeks ago. “He looked like he learned how to do it way back in the day. He just picked up his bucket and went back to work,” she said.
“I haven’t seen those guys in 20 years. I’m a grandma now — the last time I saw one of them, my kids were in the car.”
Livery driver German Perez, 43, of Bayside, Queens, said, “I don’t feel secure when I see these guys around. If they come up to my car, and it’s on a dark street, of course, it scares me. Sometimes I’ll have a customer, and I’m trying to get them to the airport as fast as possible, and I have to wait for them to finish cleaning the window. Then sometimes they argue, ‘I’m not getting enough money,’ or I’ll tell them no because the car is really clean, and they’ll still try to do it and then argue with me. I wish they would stop.”
Elevator mechanic Robert Bannan, 25, of Marine Park, Brooklyn, said he has seen the squeegee men while driving from job to job. He wants the city to take action. “They really have to do something,” he said. “They just gotta nip it in the bud before it becomes a situation that’s out of control and the city gets really bad.”
The resurgence of the squeegee scourge comes despite Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s publicly stated support for a continuing crackdown on “quality-of-life” crimes. Bratton had run the squeegee men out of business during his first stint as top cop under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who branded them a “menace” in his 1993 mayoral campaign.
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