Thursday, December 4, 2014

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, December 4, 2014


The first song from Pandora this morning...

 And, HEY... for a SPECIAL TREAT...

 (Wasn't that AWESOME...?!?!)

And now... today's "traditional" Christmas Carol - one of my all time favorite "church" songs!

With bonus track!




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10 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-america-is-now-no-2-2014-12-04

Hang on to your hats, America - and throw away that big, fat styrofoam finger while you’re about it!

There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it: We’re no longer No. 1.

Today, we’re No. 2.

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

Yes, it’s official. The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world. For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet.

* 1869-1877

It just happened — and almost nobody noticed.

* WHAT?! NO BLEETING FROM THE SHEEPLE...? (SOMEHOW I DOUBT THIS NEWS WILL BE SPREAD ENTHUSIASTICALLY BY THE OBAMAPHILE MEDIA...)

The International Monetary Fund recently released the latest numbers for the world economy. And when you measure national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China will this year produce $17.6 trillion — compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S.A.

As recently as 2000, we produced nearly three times as much as the Chinese.

* THE YEAR BUSH WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT. (THOUGH I ACKNOWLEDGE... THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT VERY WELL...)

(*SNORTING WHILE SMIRKING*)

To put the numbers slightly differently, China now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy when measured in real purchasing-power terms, compared with 16.3% for the U.S.

This latest economic earthquake follows the development last year when China surpassed the U.S. for the first time in terms of global trade.

I reported on this looming development over two years ago, but the moment came sooner than I or anyone else had predicted.

* WHAT ELSE IS FRIGGIN' NEW!

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

Make no mistake. This is a geopolitical earthquake with a high reading on the Richter scale.

(*SIGH*)

Yes, when you look at mere international exchange rates, the U.S. economy remains bigger than that of China, allegedly by almost 70%. But such measures, although they are widely followed, are largely meaningless. Does the U.S. economy really shrink if the dollar falls 10% on international currency markets? Does the recent plunge in the yen mean the Japanese economy is vanishing before our eyes?

Make no mistake; throughout history political and military power have always depended on economic power. Britain was the workshop of the world before she ruled the waves. And it was Britain’s relative economic decline that preceded the collapse of her power.

(*NOD*)

And it was a similar story with previous hegemonic powers such as France and Spain.

(*ANOTHER NOD*)

This will not change anything tomorrow or next week, but it will change almost everything in the longer term. We have lived in a world dominated by the U.S. since at least 1945 and, in many ways, since the late 19th century.

And... we have lived for 200 years — since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 — in a world dominated by two reasonably democratic, constitutional countries in Great Britain and the U.S.A.

For all their flaws, the two countries have been in the vanguard worldwide in terms of civil liberties, democratic processes and constitutional rights.

* THE AGE OF CHINA...???

(*SIGH*)

December 4, 2014 at 12:45 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.livescience.com/48995-us-birth-rate-hits-all-time-low.html

The U.S. birth rate reached an all-time low in 2013, as the number of babies born in the country declined for the sixth straight year since the peak in 2007 (when a record-breaking 4.32 million babies were born in the U.S.) a new report finds.

The country's birth rate dipped to 62.5 births per 1,000 women between ages 15 and 44, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That is 10% lower than the birth rate in 2007, which was 69.3 per 1,000 women, and a record low since the government started tracking birth rates in 1909, when birth rate was 126.8.

Trends in the birth rate varied among age groups. Among women under age 30, childbearing is on the decline, whereas it continues to rise among women older than 30, in line with the general trend over the last three decades. In fact, 2013 birth rates for women ages 35 and over was "at the highest levels seen in approximately 50 years," the researchers wrote in their report.

In contrast, among teenagers the birth rate fell 10% from 2012, dropping to 26.5 births per 1,000.

Rates also declined by 3% for women ages 20 to 24, continuing the general decline of birth rates for women under age 25 over the last two decades, the researchers said.

* FOLKS... NOTE WHAT THEY DON'T REPORT. THEY DON'T BREAK IT DOWN BY ETHNICITY, CITIZENSHIP, RELIGION...

(*SHRUG*)

* AMERICAN CULTURE IS SUICIDAL.

December 4, 2014 at 1:34 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://nypost.com/2014/12/03/protests-against-nypd-chokehold-decision-begin/

Protesters chanting “No justice, no tree!” tried to storm Rockefeller Center on Wednesday to disrupt the annual lighting ceremony following a grand jury’s decision to not indict an NYPD cop in the death of Eric Garner.

* ANIMALS...

“F–k the tree!” the mob bellowed as cops held them at bay along Sixth Avenue near Radio City Music Hall.

* F--K YOU TOO, SCUMBAGS!

Hundreds of frustrated anarchists then trekked to the West Side Highway, where they vaulted barricades and clashed with cops in riot gear.

* HOPEFULLY QUITE A FEW EMERGED MUCH THE WORST FOR WEAR!

Rush-hour traffic ground to a halt for roughly an hour from West 79th to 45th streets before cops forced the rabble off the roadway, making a bunch of arrests.

* I LIKE THAT! "THE RABBLE..."

(*THUMBS UP*)

Police also used orange netting to pen hundreds of demonstrators at 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue and tangled with others who blocked the Lincoln Tunnel.

* BUT NO TV COVERAGE... MEDIA BLACKOUT IN REAL TIME... (AT LEAST THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE WATCHING TV LAST NIGHT!

* FOLKS... AMERICA HAS BECOME AMERIKA. IT'S NOT MY IMAGINATION NOR MY PARANOIA. (DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY BELIEVE THERE ARE NO MORE EBOLA CASES...??? ANYONE? ANYONE AT ALL...???)

At about midnight, 1,000 protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, with cops allowing them to move in the roadway but busting a half-dozen who sat down and would not move.

* GOOD!

In all, at least 83 arrests were made, police sources said.

* EXCELLENT!

At the tree lighting, the angry throng attempted to ram through a police barricade at Sixth Avenue and West 52nd Street, but was pushed back by a sea of blue and never got near the tourist attraction, which was illuminated as scheduled at 9 p.m.

* PERHAPS THE COPS SHOULD HAVE CALLED UPON THE DECENT PEOPLE THERE FOR THE TREE LIGHTING TO JOIN THEM IN PROTECTING THE TREE...

(*SMILE*)

December 4, 2014 at 2:14 PM
William R. Barker said...

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

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2014/12/03/can-racial-discrimination-explain-much-n1925750

* BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

In the medical profession, there is the admonition primum non nocere, the Latin expression for "first, do no harm."

In order not to do harm, at the minimum, requires accurate diagnostics.

Suppose a patient presents with abdominal pains, and the physician diagnoses it as caused by the patient's ingrown toenails. If that isn't the cause, the physician can spend all the resources he wants treating the patient's ingrown toenails and not remedy the patient's abdominal pains.

* OBVIOUSLY A RIDICULOUS ANALOGY - PURPOSEFULLY SO - BUT THE POINT IS VALID.

The decency of accurate diagnosis should be given to analyzing the problems of a large segment of the black community.

* ANYONE WHO ISN'T FAMILIAR WITH THE AUTHOR? (LOOK HIM UP!)

Very often, major problems are erroneously seen as being caused by racial discrimination. No one argues that racial discrimination does not exist or does not have effects. The question that's relevant to policy, as well as resource allocation, is: How much of what we see is caused by discrimination?

Let's apply this question to the tragic state of black education. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, sometimes called the nation's report card, the average black 12th-grader has the academic achievement level of the average white seventh- or eighth-grader.

* ISN'T THIS A TOPIC WORTHY OF DISCUSSION FOLKS...???

In some cities, there's even a larger achievement gap.

* "BLUE" CITIES...???

If, as some people assert, this is the result of racially discriminatory education funding, then demonstrations, legal suits and other measures might be taken to promote funding equity. Also, resources could be spent to politically organize and elect black people as mayors, city councilors and school superintendents.

(*GUFFAW*)

* SORRY! COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!

If the cause of the black/white achievement gap has little to do with racial discrimination, then focusing on discrimination will lead us to ignore or downplay factors that do affect black education. In some school districts, 700 teachers are annually assaulted and threatened.

* "BLUE" DISTRICTS...???

At one time, Philadelphia employed 500 school police officers.

* PHILADELPHIA...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Similar stories of school violence can be told in other cities with large black populations, such as Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Oakland, California, and Newark, New Jersey.

(*SHRUG*)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

December 4, 2014 at 4:30 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

How useful is it to spend resources on discrimination while allowing unsafe and chaotic educational environments to exist?

Whether a student is black, white, orange or polka-dot and whether he's poor or rich, there are some minimum requirements that must be met in order for him to do well in school. Someone must make the student do his homework. Someone must see to it that he gets eight to nine hours of sleep. Someone has to fix him a wholesome breakfast and ensure that he gets to school on time and respects and obeys teachers.

Here's my question: Which one of those basic requirements can be accomplished through a presidential executive order, a congressional mandate or the edict of a mayor, a superintendent of schools or a teacher?

If those basic requirements aren't met, whatever else that is done in the name of education is for naught.

Spending more money on education is not a substitute. If it were, black academic achievement wouldn't be a problem. For example, in 2012, Washington, D.C., public schools led the nation in spending per pupil, at $29,409.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

In terms of academic performance, "the nation's report card" shows that over 80% of D.C.'s predominantly black eighth-graders scored either "basic" or "below basic" in reading and math.

* AND THEY LUMP THE TWO TOGETHER SO THE "BELOW BASIC" DOESN'T JUMP RIGHT OUT ATCHYA!

(*SADLY SHAKING MY HEAD*)

"Basic" indicates only partial mastery of the knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at grade level, and "below basic" means that the student doesn't even have partial mastery.

* AND THERE'S AN APPALLING NUMBER OF "BELOW BASIC" STUDENTS.

Other devastating problems that are faced by many blacks and cannot be attributed to racial discrimination are a high crime rate...

* AND THE MOST TERRIFYING STATISTIC OF ALL...

...over 70% of blacks being born to single females and only slightly more than 30% of black children being raised in two-parent households.

* THAT'S NOT DISCRIMINATION, FOLKS... THAT'S GROSS IRRESPONSIBILITY.

Solutions to these truly challenging problems will not be found in the political arena or in government programs.

* INDEED THERE MAY NOT BE A SOLUTION - AT LEAST NOT A POLITICALLY ACHIEVABLE VIABLE ONE!

For black politicians, civil rights leaders, the intellectual elite and others to blame racial discrimination for the problems of today is dereliction. If a medical practitioner made the same kind of incorrect diagnosis, we'd indict him for malpractice.

December 4, 2014 at 4:30 PM
William R. Barker said...

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

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2014/11/25/beware-of-our-betters-n1923363/page/full

Jonathan Gruber's several videotaped remarks about the gross deceptions that got ObamaCare passed in Congress should tell us a lot about the Obama administration.

* HEY... THOSE WHO VIEW POLITICS - GOVERNING - AS A "TEAM SPORT" AND WHO VIEW THEIR TEAM AS THE DEMOCRATS NO DOUBT - BY AND LARGE AT LEAST - HAVE LITTLE PROBLEM WITH OBAMA'S LIES. AFTER ALL... "THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS."

And the way that the mainstream media hesitated for days to even mention what Professor Gruber said, while they obsessed over unsubstantiated charges against Bill Cosby, should tell us a lot about the media.

* COSBY DID IT.

(*SHRUG*)

Whatever did or did not happen between Bill Cosby and various women is not likely to affect the lives of 300 million Americans. But ObamaCare does.

* GUESS WHAT? AFTER FIRST BEING DENIED... MY INSURANCE COMPANY WAS THEN "KIND ENOUGH" TO RECONSIDER AND "AUTHORIZE" A SLEEP STUDY THAT BOTH MY GP AND A SPECIALIST BELIEVE I NEED. THE ONLY PROBLEM... THE COPAY WOULD BE $750. (GUESS WHO ISN'T GETTING A SLEEP STUDY!)

For both the politicians and the media, this was not just an isolated incident. Gruber's videotaped discussions of the complicated deceptions built into ObamaCare with his help, designed to take advantage of what he called the "stupidity" of the public, are all too typical of the role played by the political Left.

Neither the politicians nor the intelligentsia - including the media - want that role exposed for what it is.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi acted as if she had never heard of Jonathan Gruber, and had no idea who he was. (But she too had been caught on tape, a few years ago, citing him as someone whose support of ObamaCare was supposed to show that the "experts" knew how good it was.)

President Obama gave a somewhat more sophisticated version of the same act. He pointed out that Professor Gruber was not part of his staff. But he did not mention that Gruber had been to the White House 19 times, and the Obama administration had paid Gruber about $400,000 of the taxpayers' money for his supposedly unbiased expert opinion.

(*SNICKER*)

Gruber's own statements seem to indicate that his mathematical models were enough to baffle the Congressional Budget Office in its efforts to figure out how ObamaCare works. That kind of expertise apparently does not come cheap. Moreover, the four hundred grand is chump change compared to the millions that Jonathan Gruber has reportedly raked in from state governments for his "expertise."

Barack Obama is currently playing the same political game of parading experts by citing a list of prominent law professors who say that he is not exceeding his Constitutional power by granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.

Someone at the Fox News Channel has checked out these professors and found that every one of them whose political registration could be traced is a Democrat - but the names of these profs are still being paraded as if they were simply eminent scholars seeking the truth. (Maybe. But maybe not.)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

December 4, 2014 at 5:55 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Whether the issue is ObamaCare, amnesty for illegal immigrants or "global warming," when you hear that "all the experts agree," that may mean nothing more than that the fix is in.

(*DOUBLE THUMBS UP*)

* REMEMBER THE BAILOUTS, FOLKS! BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT FOR WALL STREET! THINK FOREIGN POLICY! BOTH SIDES SEEM TO BELIEVE "THE MORE WARS THE BETTER."

[Oh...] and "all experts" may mean considerably less than 100% - or even 50%.

No one can know for sure what motivated Professor Gruber to do what he did...

* MONEY... LACK OF PRINCIPLE... LACK OF SCRUPLES... IDEOLOGY...

...or what motivated the media to stonewall as if he had never spilled the beans...

* I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHY THE MEDIA DOES WHAT IT DOES...

(*SNORT*)

...or the liberal law professors to give Obama cover while he violated the Constitution.

* VIOLENCE IS THE ONLY ANSWER... AND YET... VIOLENCE ISN'T THE ANSWER...

(*SIGH*)

But running through all of their actions seems to be a vision of the world, and a vision of themselves, that is a continuing danger to the fundamental basis of this country, whatever the specific issue might be.

Probably few people on the political Left are opposed to the Constitution of the United States...

* UH... YOU'RE KIDDING - RIGHT?

...much less actively plotting to undermine it.

* THE PLOTTING TAKES PLACE IN THE FRIGGIN' OVAL OFFICE NOWADAYS...!!!

But, on issue after issue, what they want to do requires them to circumvent the three words with which the Constitution begins: "We, the people..."

Many on the Left may want to help "the people." But once you start from the premise that you know what is best for the people, better than they know themselves, you have to figure ways around a Constitution based on the idea that the people not only have a right to choose their government and control government policy with their votes, but also that there are vast areas of the people's lives that are none of the government's business.

(*NOD*)

Jonathan Gruber's notion that the people are "stupid" is not fundamentally different from what Barack Obama said to his fellow elite Leftists in San Francisco, when he derided ordinary Americans as petty people who want to cling to their guns and their religion. We need to see through such arrogant elitists if we want to cling to our freedom.

* ON THE OTHER HAND... THE AMERICAN SHEEPLE ARE LARGELY STUPID... IGNORANT... LAZY... SELF-SERVING...

(*SHRUG*)

December 4, 2014 at 5:56 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-confirms-failed-effort-rescue-somers-27367373

The Pentagon says a hostage rescue mission last month in Yemen failed to liberate American Luke Somers because he was not present at the targeted location.

* IT'S THE CARTER YEARS ALL OVER AGAIN...

The Pentagon press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said in a brief written statement Thursday that the U.S. government was acknowledging the attempted rescue of the 33-year-old Somers, the only American among the roughly dozen hostages held by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot.

* ACKNOWLEDING FAILURE. (A MONTH LATER...)

Kirby said the Pentagon wanted to "provide accurate information" in light of the fact that the rescue attempt has been widely reported. Eight hostages were rescued, as has been reported previously.

* EIGHT FOREIGNERS...

A Yemeni official said an American journalist and a Briton were moved before the raid.

Kirby said details about the mission remain classified.

White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the U.S. is aware of a video showing Somers. She said President Barack Obama authorized a rescue operation last month to free Somers and other hostages but "regrettably, Luke was not present."

* SO... THE MISSION FAILED.

Meehan said the mission was coordinated with the Yemeni government and undertaken by U.S. and Yemeni forces.

"The overriding concern for Mr. Somers' safety and the safety of the U.S. forces who undertake these missions made it imperative that we not disclose information related to Mr. Somers' captivity and the attempted rescue," Meehan said, adding that the mission was being disclosed now because of the video released Thursday.

Meehan said the White House's "thoughts remain with the Somers family, and with the families and loved ones of every other U.S. citizen being held hostage overseas."

* I'M SURE THAT'S A GREAT... er... COMFORT TO SOMERS AND HIS FAMILY.

December 4, 2014 at 11:18 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/04/Sowell-Psychiatrist-Needed-to-Explain-GOP-Wanting-More-Foreign-Workers

Thomas Sowell, author of "Basic Economics," argued that increasing the number of foreign workers in the US "will keep down the wages of American workers" and that "you would have to get a psychiatrist" to explain the GOP's support for increased foreign labor on Thursday's "Laura Ingraham Show."

* THE GOP'S SUPPORT OF THE DEMOCRAT'S PASSION THAT IS...

"The competition will keep down the wages of American workers, I mean, this is not a new principle. I mean this has been known for hundreds of years," he stated.

When asked why the GOP would support such a policy, he responded "you would have to get a psychiatrist or someone like that to explain that. There are cleaning women who say 'I don't do windows.' I don't explain Republicans."

On the issue of giving the president fast-track authority on trade, Sowell argued that while "by and large free trade does benefit the country," "a lot of what is called free trade is not free trade."

* AGAIN, FOLKS... THE DEMOCRAT PARTY IS EVIL... BUT THE GOP IS JUST FUCKING STUPID...!!!

December 4, 2014 at 11:29 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/terrorizing-taxpayers-1417740076

For proof of Ronald Reagan’s maxim that the closest thing to eternal life on Earth is a government program, consider the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002. What was sold to the public as a temporary backstop is becoming another permanent entitlement.

The law’s original purpose was to help property and business insurers absorb losses related to 9/11 and stabilize the then-moribund market until insurers could adjust their forecasting models and prices. The government (meaning taxpayers) promised to bear much of the cost of future terrorism-related claims above a certain threshold. In exchange, insurers pledged to offer terrorism policies to commercial customers.

Insurers and potential targets of terror, such as the National Football League, property developers and hoteliers, have lobbied hard to keep the program going... and going... and going.

Congress waived through extensions in 2005 and 2007.

* A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS IN 2005; A DEMOCRAT CONGRESS IN 2007. (ALL HAIL THE OLIGARCHS!)

Earlier this year, facing a Dec. 31 expiration date, Harry Reid’s Senate passed another seven-year extension 93-4. Like the Export-Import Bank, terrorism insurance is one of those business subsidies that both parties are only too happy to support.

* I REALLY WISH THESE STORIES WOULD TELL US WHO THE FOUR WHO VOTED "NAY" WERE.

House Republicans would have rubber-stamped the Senate bill too, were it not for Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling and fellow Texan Randy Neugebauer. They want to extend the act for five years but gradually raise the threshold at which taxpayers step in, to encourage private insurers to shoulder more risk. That effort stalled and now the lame duck Congress is negotiating next steps.

Lobbyists and Republicans have lined up to sell the no-reform Senate bill to the House GOP.

* LOBBYISTS... REPUBLICANS... AND OF COURSE DEMOCRATS!

The best solution would be for the House to let the program expire. Insurers have had 13 years to adjust their models. The Government Accountability Office reported in May that terrorism risk premiums have stabilized since 2010. Private reinsurers can cover many of the risks that taxpayers now bear. In the event of a truly catastrophic attack, government would surely step in to offset the worst losses in any case.

Republicans would take heat from the Chamber of Commerce and the real-estate lobby, but they could also tell their voters that they ended a program that pads business profits while putting the risk of loss on taxpayers.

None of this is likely to happen.

(*SIGH*)

We’re told that Rep. Hensarling and Senator Chuck Schumer are negotiating to extend terrorism insurance for six years with minimal reforms in exchange for fixes in Dodd-Frank.

* HOW'BOUT THIS INSTEAD: HENSARLING AND SCHUMER DO A THELMA AND LOUISE! (BASTARDS!)

If the GOP can get Democrats to reopen one of President Obama’s signature laws and ease red tape burdens on business, so much the better. But regarding terror insurance, Reagan’s maxim seems likely to prevail again.

* AGAIN... ULTIMATELY THIS COUNTRY CAN'T BE SAVED. IT'S JUST GONE TOO FAR.

December 4, 2014 at 11:44 PM

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