The Stowell Boys - Jimmy and Jerry

Jerry, once a  high school coach and teacher, now a grade school teacher in Sarasota, Florida and Jimmy, from Peoria,  a one-time employee of mine and my onetime stock broker who was good at "churning" my stocks for quick commisions.

Both failed to realize I still have a friend or two at the JS and at least one TV Station.
Friends wondered how "National Inquirer" news traveled so fast.

A lot more on these two, who capitalized on their Dad's name, later .

Atta Boy, Jim

Forwarded to me by a friend.  Merle

Do you remember the scene?  The Senate.  Barbara Boxer hearing from a Brigadier General?  Silly General!  He addresses Barbara as "Ma'm", and she CORRECTS him, telling him she's "worked SO hard to earn the title, "Senator", so please use that when speaking to her.
 Get a load of this letter!
Read the letter sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer from an Alaskan Airlines pilot below.  Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer on   June 18, 2009   as she admonished Brigadier General Michael Walsh because he addressed her as "ma'am" and not "Senator" before a Senate hearing.


This letter is from a National Guard aviator and Captain for Alaska Airlines named Jim Hill.  I wonder what he would have said if he were really angry. Long fly   Alaska   !!!!!


Babs:


You were so right on when you scolded the General on TV for using the term, "ma'am," instead of "Senator".  After all, in the military, "ma'am" is a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position.  The General was totally wrong.  You are not a person of superior rank or position.  You are a member of one of the world's most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equaled only by the U.S. House of Representatives.


Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors, drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered), criminals, and other low level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected.  Many Democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs.  How many of you could honestly say, "We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor"?  None?  One?  Two?


Your reaction to the General shows several things.  First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military.  Your treatment of the General shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind.  When the General  entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your corpulent derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather chair, paid for by the General 's taxes. You repaid him for this by humiliating him in front of millions.


Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance, which borders on the hubristic..  This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made   California   into the laughing stock of the nation.


What I am writing, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them.  Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 - 1902) so aptly charged, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."


Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, "Mr. Power" has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it.


Finally, Senator, I, too, have a title.  It is "Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat."  It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and you were offended by "ma'am"?


Have a fine day.  Cheers!
Jim Hill
16808 - 103rd Avenue Court East
South Hill   ,   WA   98374

Notre Dame Professor Tells More Truths About ObamaCare

Free Republic Browse · Search News/Activism Topics · Post Article -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skip to comments. NOTRE DAME PROFESSOR ON OBAMACARE THE CHRISTIAN POST ^ | 11/20/2013 | Laura Hollis Posted on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 11:10:35 PM by Dqban22 NOTRE DAME PROFESSOR ON OBAMACARE Obamacare Should Remind Us We Are Not 'Subjects,' We Are People Laura Hollis is a professor at the University of Notre Dame November 20, 2013 http://www.christianpost.com/news/obamacare-should-remind-us-we-are-not-subjects-we-are-people-109165/ • Laura Hollis is a professor at the University of Notre Dame The unveiling of the dictatorial debacle that is Obamacare absolutely flabbergasts me. It is stunning on so many levels, but the most shocking aspect of it for me is watching millions of free Americans stand idly by while this man, his minions in Congress and his cheerleaders in the press systematically dismantle our Constitution, steal our money, and crush our freedoms. • The President, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid (with no small help from Justice John Roberts) take away our health care, and we allow it. • They take away our insurance, and we allow it. • They take away our doctors, and we allow it. • They charge us thousands of dollars more a year, and we allow it. • They make legal products illegal, and we allow it. • They cripple our businesses, and we allow it. • They announce by fiat that we must ignore our most deeply held beliefs – and we allow it. Where is your spine, America ? Yes, I know people are complaining. I read the news on the internet. I read blogs. I have a Twitter feed. So what? People in the Soviet Union complained. People in Cuba complain. People in China complain (quietly). Complaining isn't the same thing as doing anything about it. In fact, much of the complaining that we hear sounds like resignation: Wow. This sucks. Oh well, this is the way things are. Too bad. Perhaps you need reminding of a few important facts. Here goes: 1. The President is not a king. Barack Obama does not behave like a President, an elected official, someone who realizes that he works for us. He behaves like a king, a dictator – someone who believes that his own pronouncements have the force of law, and who thinks he can dispense with the law's enforcement when he deigns to do so. And those of us who object? How dare we? Racists! And while he moves steadily "forward" with his plans to "fundamentally transform" the greatest country in human history, he distracts people with cheap, meaningless trivialities, like "free birth control pills"! (In fact, let's face it: this administration's odd obsession with sex in general - Birth control! Abortion! Sterilization! Gay guys who play basketball! -- is just plain weird. Since when did the leader of the free world care so much about how people have sex, who they have it with, and what meds they use when they have it? Does he have nothing more important to concern himself with?) 2. It isn't just a failed software program; it is a failed philosophy. People are marveling that Healthcare.gov was such a spectacular failure. Well, if one is only interested in it as a product launch, I've explained some of the reasons for that here. But the larger point is that it isn't a software failure, or even a product failure; it is a philosophy failure. I have said this before: Obama is not a centrist; he is a central planner. And this – all of it: the disastrous computer program, the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted, the lies, the manipulation of public opinion, the theft of the public's money and property, and freedom (read insurance, and premiums, and doctors) -- IS what central planning looks like. The central premise of central planning is that a handful of wunderkinds with your best interests at heart (yeah, right) know better than you what's good for you. The failure of such a premise and the misery it causes have been clear from the dawn of humanity. Kings and congressmen, dictators and Dear Leaders, potentates, princes and presidents can all fall prey to the same imperial impulses: "we know what is good the 'the people.' And they are always wrong. There is a reason that the only times communism has really been tried have been after wars, revolutions, or coups d'état. You have to have complete chaos for people to be willing to accept the garbage that centralized planning produces. Take the Soviet Union , for example. After two wars, famine, and the collapse of the Romanov dynasty, why wouldn't people wait in line for hours to buy size 10 shoes? Or settle for the gray matter that passed for meat in the grocery stores? But communism's watered-down cousin, socialism, isn't much better. Ask the Venezuelans who cannot get toilet paper. Toilet paper. ¡Viva la Revolución! Contrary to what so many who believe in a "living Constitution" say, the Founding Fathers absolutely understood this. That is why the Constitution was set up to limit government power. (Memo to the President: the drafters of the Constitution deliberately didn't say "what government had to do on your behalf.") They understood that that was the path to folly, fear, and famine.) 3. Obama is deceitful. Just as the collapse of the computer program should not surprise anyone, neither should we be shocked that the President lied about his healthcare plan. Have any of you been paying attention over the past few years? Obama has made no secret of his motivations or his methods. The philosophies which inspire him espouse deceit and other vicious tactics. (Don't take my word for it: read Saul Alinsky.) Obama infamously told reporter Richard Wolffe, "You know, I actually believe my own bullshit." He has refused to be forthcoming about his past (where are his academic records?). His own pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, told author Ed Klein, that Obama said to him, "You know what your problem is? You have to tell the truth." Did Obama lie when he said dozens of times, "If you like you plan, you can keep it. Period!"? Of course he did. That's what he does. 4. The media is responsible. And had the media been doing their jobs, we would have known a lot of this much, much earlier. The press is charged with the sacred responsibility of protecting the people from the excesses of government. Our press has been complicit, incompetent, or corrupt. Had they vetted this man in 2008, as they would have a Republican candidate, we would have known far more about him than we do, even now. Had they pressed for more details about Obamacare, Congress' feet would have been held to the fire. Had they done their jobs about Eric Holder, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS scandal, NSA spying - or any of the other myriad betrayals of the public trust that this administration has committed, Obama would likely have lost his 2012 reelection campaign. (A fact that even The Washington Post has tacitly acknowledged. Well done, fellas! Happy now?) Instead, they turned a blind eye, even when they knew he was lying, abusing power, disregarding the limits of the Constitution. It was only when he began to spy on them, and when the lies were so blatant that the lowest of low-information voters could figure it out that they realized they had to report on it. (Even in the face of blatant, deliberate and repeated lies, The New York Times has the audacity to tell us that the President "misspoke.") They have betrayed us, abandoned us, and deceived us. 5. Ted Cruz was right. So was Sarah Palin. The computer program is a disaster. The insurance exchanges are a disaster. What's left? The healthcare system itself. And this, of necessity, will be a disaster, too. Millions of people have lost their individual insurance plans. In 2015, millions more will lose their employer-provided coverage (a fact which the Obama administration also knew, and admitted elsewhere). The exorbitant additional costs that Obamacare has foisted on unsuspecting Americans are all part of a plan of wealth confiscation and redistribution. That is bad enough. But it will not end there. When the numbers of people into the system and the corresponding demand for care vastly exceed the cost projections (and they will, make no mistake), then the rationing will start. Not only choice at that point, but quality and care itself will go down the tubes. And then will come the decisions made by the Independent Payment Advisory Board about what care will be covered (read "paid for") and what will not. That's just a death panel, put politely. In fact, progressives are already greasing the wheels for acceptance of that miserable reality as well. They're spreading the lie that it will be about the ability of the dying to refuse unwanted or unhelpful care. Don't fall for that one, either. It will be about the deaths that inevitably result from decisions made by people other than the patients, their families, and their physicians. (Perhaps it's helpful to think of their assurances this way: "If you like your end-of-life care, you can keep your end-of-life-care.") 6. We are not SUBJECTS. (or, Nice Try, the Tea Party Isn't Going Away). We have tolerated these incursions into our lives and livelihoods too long already. There is no end to the insatiable demand "progressives" have to remake us in their image. Today it is our insurance, our businesses, our doctors, our health care. Tomorrow some new crusade will be announced that enables them to take over other aspects of our formerly free lives. I will say it again: WE ARE NOT SUBJECTS. Not only is the Tea Party right on the fiscal issues, but it appears that they are more relevant than ever. We fought a war once to prove we did not want to be the subjects of a king, and the Boston Tea Party was just a taste of the larger conflict to come. If some people missed that lesson in history class, we can give them a refresher. The 2014 elections are a good place to start. Call your representative, your senator, your candidate and tell them: "We are not subjects. You work for us. And if the word "REPEAL" isn't front and center in your campaign, we won't vote for you. Period." Laura Hollis is an attorney and teaches entrepreneurship and business law at the University of Notre Dame . She resides in Indiana with her husband and two children. Finally, someone who thinks like me In this country many people have always talked about the “banana republics” (referring mostly to Central and South American countries), their revolutions, their coup d’etats, etc. But when the governments act like they have in those countries, usually that is the ONLY way to get rid of them. In this country, up to 2008, that was not the case but since then it is rapidly going that route and the natives are not used to it nor prepared to fight it effectively. Most of those natives (and sadly quite a few natives of those banana republics) naively believe in the “checks and balances” which the usurper is quietly but swiftly doing away with. I repeat Professor Hollis words: “Where is your spine, America ?” In case someone wants to write, her address is lhollis@nd.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections KEYWORDS: laurahollis; obamacare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.

Little White Lies of BIG Black Ones??

The 600 million dollar website that doesn't work was made by a company with a lousy track record and a top executive who's a pal of the First Lady, Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of '85, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $600 million Obama care enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. George Schindler, the president of the Canadian-based CGI Group, CGI Federal's parent company, became an Obama 2012 campaign donor after his company gained the Obama care website contract ...Three other companies submitted bids for Obama care, but CGI s bid was the only one considered. CAN WE GET OUR MONEY BACK.

 

 

gene
in sunny Prescott

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!!!!! If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. PERIOD!!!!! If you like your health insurance, you will be able to keep your health insurance.  PERIOD!!!!! 29 separate pieces of videotape show our dear leader making these two promises repeatedly in 2009, as he was OVERselling his Barackocare (Obamacare), healthcare plan. THIS was when Obamacare was only a proposed bill.  (i.e.,  well before this bill was rammed through Congress... after bribing senators in many states, including Nebraska , Louisiana , and Florida .)

The two "PERIOD"-lies above almost certainly provided the impetus for this proposed UNREAD monster-bill to PASS in Congress.  (so these were not just  'little white lies')

So now we can better see how one man can keep his promise to "FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM" the United States of America!   (little white lies and BIG BLACK ones!  with a supportive mainstream media standing quietly on the sidelines... as usual... for The Chosen One to spin his deceitful web.)

 

 

Merry Christmas to Most of My Readers and a Special Invite

I invite any and all who have followed my adventures in the liberal press and other places to come my house from the period of Dec. 26 through December 30 to sit with my wife and together we will answer all questions that are civil and reasonable questions about the events of which I was made by the JS to be the criminal and was so widely publicized mainly by this  National Inquirer. (Journal Star) You might learn that JS "reporter" Matt Buedel left out the ages and the relationship of the three woman, one, not the 27 year old, who may have stolen jewelry from our office erroneously unlocked filing cabinet. I'll tell you now. One was 27 and worked at the Club Caberet where I OCCASIONALLY had lunch with one or two well known Peorians who invited me to join them. I'll even tell you the name of one of these "friends". The 2nd visitor was 49 and was the club workers aunt, and the third was an overweight 22 year who was sister to the 27 year old who was supposedly visiting in Peoria and is a student in college in Miami.

I'll even tell you why I offered the invitation.

And that there is no upstairs in our house as Buedel  (Buedel wanted to make his readers believe there were upstairs bedrooms,)  claimed there was. Buedel also claimed that I  "stepped down" (means resigned) from the County Board which I certainly did not. I served my full 10 year elected terms and have the plaque and newspaper article to prove it. ( I was twice elected Vice-Chairman of the County Board by my Democrat and some Republican peers.)

You might learn and I'm sure some of you are interested that I had prostrate surgery many years ago. I elected to have radiation seeding which KILLS ALL THE CANCER AND THE NERVES IN THE GENITAL AREA THAT ALLOWS AN ERECTION AND AN ORGASM. So you can imagine the great sex party the four of us had in MY house while my wife, then a serious alcoholic who wouldn't seek help even after her doctor told her she was near death, was in the hospital and then the nursing home.

You will learn that the detective in charge of the case  did not interview anyone but me for 5 weeks (if no interview in the first day or two, cases like this are dead) and they never did interview the 22 year old. So MY reporting the theft to our competent 'Peoria security protectors' got me nothing but a lot of slander. And no, the jewelry wasn't insured. And no, we didn't get the jewelry back. No one was arrested and never will be arrested.

I will even talk some, I haven't had my day in court which my attorney and  I eagerly look forward to, about the "alleged" happening in Sarasota.

And this is the beginning of what you might learn. Only orange juice will be served as my wife has been 'on the wagon' since mid-August. No cookies as you will be here to learn the facts.

Call first. We are in the book.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Dangerous, but.....

Forwarded to me by a friend.  I blogged similair information on this years ago under several titles of Global Warming, which if your interested in reading, you can fin by entering "global warming" in my 'search bar'. Can't find it? Email me.

And thanks to my growing number of readers. 

Merle

CARBON EMISSIONS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR PLANET

Takes an Aussie to tell us like it is and answer that mysterious question…

Where Does All The Carbon Dioxide Really Come From?

Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, Professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and the director of multiple mineral exploration and mining companies. He has published 130 scientific papers, six books and edited the Encyclopedia of Geology.
Notable awards: Eureka Prize (1995, 2002), Centenary Medal (2003), Clarke Medal (2004)

Okay, here's the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland -- since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet -- all of you. Of course, you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress -- it’s that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans and all animal life.

I know... it's very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up till midnight to finish your kid’s "Green Revolution" science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home instead of abroad,nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50 cent light bulbs with $10 light bulbs... well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days.

The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth's atmosphere in just four days -- yes, FOUR DAYS -- by that volcano in Iceland has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon. And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud at any one time -- EVERY DAY.

I don't really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in all its years on earth.

Yes, folks, Mt Pinatubo was active for over one year -- think about it.
Of course, I shouldn't spoil this 'touchy-feely tree-hugging' moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keeps happening despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.

And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud, but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years. And it happens every year.

Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you, on the basis of the bogus 'human-caused' climate-change scenario.
Hey, isn’t it interesting how they don’t mention 'Global Warming' anymore, but just 'Climate Change' -- you know why?

It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bullshit artists got caught with their pants down.

And, just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading Scheme -- that whopping new tax -- imposed on you that will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer.
It won’t stop any volcanoes from erupting, that’s for sure.

But, hey, relax... and have a nice day!





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Asia's Largest Cinema Owner Annouces 80 More New IMAX Theatres

IMAX stock is up almost $.60 as I enter this blog. And how is the "Big Screen" doing at the downtown museum? Never forget that the "movers and shakers" in Peoria made quite a few promises that we who opposed the museum KNEW would be falsehoods. One big promise that helped pass (barely, by 400 votes out of 30,000 cast)  the referendum were the ADAMANT written and verbal claims by the museum promoters that there WOULD BE AN IMAX THEATRE in the 'built to fail' riverfront museum.

Fired Richerson? The whole board should have resigned.

And what about the 2 Bradley professors who promised $14 million in NEW business each year for Peoria and to grow as attendance increased? Are they still employed by Bradley?

Yes, I own a substantial amount of IMAX stock which I have bought and sold at various times. I would have never bought the stock if it hadn't been for the museum controversy. I predict it will be a $35 stock in less than a couple of years. Closed $.73 up today. So far, I've been wrong on Cat. I hope I am wrong.

Thanks, folks. and by the time Cat takes the building over I'll be dead or will have moved south.

Illinois Policy Institute on the State of Illinois Borrowing Excessive Interest Costs

This week Illinois borrowed $350 million to pay for projects including roads, bridges and schools. The state issued 25-year taxable general obligation bonds, the first borrowing by Illinois since the state passed its pension “fix” in early December.

But not unlike someone with a terrible credit score, Illinois must pay the highest penalty rate of the 50 states when borrowing money from the financial markets. Illinois’ inability to pay its bills, balance its budget or control its massive pension shortfall has earned the state the worst credit rating in the nation.

Illinois now pays a 1.58 percentage point penalty to borrow when compared to other fiscally disciplined states with AAA ratings such as Missouri and Georgia.

For example, if Missouri pays 4 percent to borrow money for 10 years, Illinois must pay 5.58 percent. That 1.58 percentage point difference translates into more than $75 million in extra interest payments — taxpayer money — for this $350 million, 25-year borrowing. Illinois has more than $30 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds.

And while the 1.58 percentage point penalty represents a drop from levels prior to the pension bill passage, it’s nothing to be excited about. It’s still the highest in the nation.

Illinois’ penalty rate has only fallen to the level it was at six months ago, when Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings downgraded the state’s credit rating to the lowest in the nation.

Pundits and many in the media are celebrating Illinois’ pension bill passage and a subsequent small drop in the state’s borrowing costs. But the fact is Illinois’ penalty rate for borrowing is still seven times higher than when Gov. Pat Quinn took office in early 2009.

That means legislators need to stop celebrating their “first step” on pensions — and get to work on the next one.
 

College Boards and Fans Support Huge Earnings For Football Coaches

Jimbo Fisher, Florida State, in bonuses alone could add almost $700,000 to his salary in the low millions.
Urban Meyer, Ohio State, in bonuses alone could add between $350-450, 000 to his salary of $3.2 million.
Gus Malzahn, Auburn, in bonuses alone could add over $1 million to his salary, unknown by me but suspect it to be $3 million.
Gary Pinkel, Missouri, in bonuses alone could add up to $350,000 to his salary, unknown by me but suspect $2 million.

Plus other perks adding into 10's of thousands of dollars.

And the beat goes on for football coaches. Yes, I know about job insecurity but in just two years, a coach could make more than 100 highly skilled workers make in one year and the number could even be higher.

Just supply and demand and an a lot of crazies out there. At the end of the day, (a popular redundant saying these days,) our demand to be entertained may do us in.

Read more about this subject in the December 5th edition of USA TODAY.

Fox Sells Out Super Bowl Ads

At around $4 million per 30 second slot. We're going more sports crazy. Those working to take this country down are not.

China To One Day Replace the United States of America as the Leader of the World?

This e-mail is more than

  the bridge. Take note after the bridge how aggressive and worldly the Chinese

  have become.  When I was in Nassau, the Chinese bought what will be the

  biggest resort which will shadow Atlantis. Before they started working on

  it,  they built a huge beautiful, new airport because the other one would

  not be able to accommodate their rich and powerful jets from China. They are

  out buying the world!!!

   -- China

  surpassed the US to become the world's largest

  manufacturer.

------China jumped light

  yrs ahead of US Space program by launching astronauts into space while

  simultaneously building their own state- of -the- art  space

  station.

------China has the fastest

  growing economy in the world.

 ----- has the fastest

  growing military.

------fastest bullet train

  in the world.

------greatest deep sea

  exploration

------buying up 2/5 of the

  world's coal, zinc, aluminum, and copper.

It's only a matter of time

  before it uses the $2 trillion America owes it as a battering ram to push its

  foreign policy objectives. Unless we see a dramatic change,  there is

  very little the bankrupt US government can do to stop it. Where you work,

  where you live, what car you drive, what you pay for food, clothing, and

  energy-you name it-will be indirectly be controlled by China because they

  will soon control the money, energy, natural resources, and ultimately much of

  your financial life. 

I received this email from a friend. He is using research from Larry Edelson who can be found on the web. 50 some years ago my brother--in-law, John Kauffman, a farmer was telling all his friends that one day the yellow race would rule the world. I was dubious but I have called attention the the growth of China in both knowledge and population and our sliding power position, respect and prestige with other countries, the latest critic being Saudi Arabia. 

Also, I have called attention to our increasing interest in circuses somewhat similar to Ancient Rome, our internet use abuse, and our pre-occupation with professional sports, drugs, gambling; now even by internet, and excessive playing of web games. 

Merle

Is This a Great Country or What??

Forwarded to me by a friend. When I stopped puking, I decided to pass this on to my readers. All you Democrats out there who can tell a similair story on a Republican, be my guest.  However, you gutless anonymous might as well not waste your time.  Merle

 

Convicted Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is scheduled to receive $8,700 per month in government disability pay, as well as a partial federal pension of $45,000. That generous $8,700 in disability comes thanks to Jackson’s sudden development of a "mood disorder" as the federal government began looking to indict him. Jackson, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, had no history of mental illness during his prior 17 years in Congress. Rev. Jesse Jackson has defended his son’s claims of mental illness, stating to the court, " This time a year ago I thought we may have lost him." So, Jesse Jackson, Jr. 17-year veteran of the US Congress, suddenly gets a "mood disorder" (about the same time he learned he was to be indicted) and is going to prison for 2.5 years. Because his "mood disorder" was so severe, he has become disabled and will receive $8700 per month as a disability payment as well as $45000 a year from his congressional pension, a total of about $150K per year. Is this a great country or what?

By the way, I have had a rather substantial "mood disorder disability" ever since Obama got elected in 2008. I have not committed any felonies, have not been convicted and sentenced to prison and I don't get squat - other than a higher and higher tax bill every year and the privilege of watching our federal deficit grow every day of the year.

Obama - But Look at all the Things He Accomplished That Are Ruining Our Country

Forwarded to me by a friend. Merle

An Historic Accounting:
   

During the 3-1/2 years of World War 2 that started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ended with the Surrender of Germany and Japan in 1945, the U.S. produced 22 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 48 cruisers, 349 destroyers, 420 destroyer escorts, 203 submarines, 34 million tons of merchant ships, 100,000 fighter aircraft, 98,000 bombers, 24,000 transport aircraft, 58,000 training aircraft, 93,000 tanks, 257,000 artillery pieces, 105,000 mortars, 3,000,000 machine guns, and 2,500,000 military trucks.

 

We put 16.1 million men in uniform in the various armed services,  invaded Africa, invaded Sicily and Italy, won the battle for the Atlantic, planned and executed D-Day, marched across the Pacific and Europe, developed the atomic bomb and ultimately conquered Japan and Germany.

 

It's worth noting, that during the almost exact amount of time, the Obama administration couldn't put together a website in 4 years.

"User Fees" Are A Successful Attempt by Government to Fool the Taxpayers

User fees are in reality taxes and allows the government to fool the people that they aren't raising their taxes. This I can prove because "user fee" increases were raised by the Peoria County Board so in effect we could make the user pay more. A paid, naturally, "consultant" was hired who studied what other counties were charging and what was allowed by Springfield and fees were proportionally raised.  The argument was and is somewhat valid that all people don't fly, therefore the ones that do fly should pay more, etc.

The major he argument was the charges didn't cover costs.. At the same time Peoria County was providing security at BELOW Peoria County costs to small towns who claimed they couldn't justify their own security.

Think this wasn't about getting the vote from these small towns when, say, the sheriff  and the County Board member serving that area, are up for election??

If I recall, this was one of the few times I went along with the "herd" vote. (Think the riverfront museum and FireFly, both of which I strongly opposed for factual reasons.)

Fees, like public services, payroll and pensions, once raised, never go down although a feeble attempt is being made to control out of control pensions.

Think about it. In the end, most airlines charge countless fees.  And these flying tax fees are going up  very soon as part of the Democrat-Republican weak comprimised budget bill. Look at your phone bill, (all utilities) the garbage user fee,  so "user fees" eventually includes all people even the dead. Study especially the fees added on to your landline bill (AT &T) . All of these "user fees" are taxes, plain and simple.

As an aside, look at the large late charge from AT&T.  If you are only one day late, you pay approximately 7.9% extortion fee.  It is very true that many people can't pay their bills on time often for very legitimate reasons. So the rich get richer and the poor are definitely getting poorer in the good old U.S.A.

So sad for the poor who really try to make ends meet.

Bill Cosbyisms'

They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain't, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics. I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father? People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from?? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .......  I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.  I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don't have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa ... So stop, already! ! !  With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap ..........And all of them are in jail. Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back.  People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..  We cannot blame the white people any longer.' Dr.. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.  WELL SAID, BILL It's NOT about color... It's about behavior!PASS THIS ON AROUND THE WORLD!!!!!!               =

 

Big Difference Between "Fixing" Something and "Repairing" Something Wrong

All this talk about the administration in charge about fixing problem is partly "bunko". When you have a tear in your shirt you can "fix" it with a safety pin. If you want to "repair" it, you take it to a seamstress or a tailor.

When I was in business and a customer had a problem, we might have "fixed" it temporarily until we could bring back the right technician or the right part or whatever, to "repair" it.

Big difference. This administration is good at "fixing" but mostly lacking in the ability to properly repair. Very noticeable in there inability or mainly lack of desire to fire those who are causing the problem. And the voter has a problem in impeaching the main problem maker and "fixer"

I have always opposed "big" goverrnement. They fix; the private sector most usually properly repairs..

I suppport honest capitalism. This administration supports dis-honest capitaalists and supports Socialism.

So sad.

A Solution to Curb Classroom Cheating

One of the most important paragraphs is the 2nd from the bottom. A factual theory I have blogged years ago.  Merle

From The Atlantic, Thursday, December 12, 2013. See http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/a-classroom-where-no-one-cheats/282254/

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A Classroom Where No One Cheats

A new book says it's possible-but only if teachers get their students to care about learning for learning's sake.

By Jessica Lahey

When I catalog my personal top ten list of teaching failures, the first spot always goes to the same offense: cheating. The times I've caught the eye of a student whose glance has wandered on to a classmate's test. When I've compared two identical, oddly misspelled answers two different quizzes. When I've found a sentence in an essay that doesn't feel right and a quick search of the internet locates that same sentence in an published article. Oh, and the fallout: denials, tears, parents who insist, "My child simply would never do that sort of thing."

While I'd love to place the blame for this offense fully on my students' shoulders, I can't. My teaching methods and classroom habits are often as much to blame as their response to them.  If my teaching practices create an atmosphere in which students resort to cheating rather than rely on their own hard work and discovery, I'm doing something wrong.

Eradicating cheating from a classroom is a remarkably difficult task. Cheating is a many-headed hydra: Cut one offense off, and another one bursts forth in its place. Teachers struggle to keep up with students' novel and ingenious methods of academic deception, and yet we forever remain one step behind our technologically and ethically flexible wards. Plus, cheating taps into teachers' worst fears about both our ability to teach and our trust in our students. I never doubt my perceptions more than when I contemplate whether to confront a student about suspicions of cheating. No matter how the process shakes out, trust is broken, feelings are hurt, and everyone loses sleep.

One teacher, desperate to eradicate cheating at its source, has come up with a theory of cheating and a plan for what he calls "The (Nearly) Cheating-Free Classroom." In his book Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty, James M. Lang, Associate Professor of English at Assumption College, recounts his experience with cheating, and his personal journey to rid his classroom of its influence. Lang undertook his research on academic dishonesty because, "My personal experiences with cheating were probably a lot like yours: students occasionally cheated in my classes, it baffled and frustrated me, and I was never sure how to react." Lang turned to the available research on cheating, searching for ways to fight back.

When Lang looked into the data on who cheats, and how often, the numbers varied widely. As most of the studies on cheating rely on student self-reporting, cheating statistics depend on students' and researchers shared understanding of the definition of cheating, and that's a high hurdle to clear. In one study, in which respondents were given clear definitions of academically dishonest behaviors, such as "writing a paper for another student," or "copying answers from a text or other source instead of doing the work independently," 75 percent of students admitted to at least one of the pre-defined cheating behaviors over the course of their college career-an uncomfortably large percentage.

After clearly identifying the problem, Lang presents his solutions for combatting the cheating epidemic:

First, teachers should be focused on encouraging mastery rather than performance on assessments. When Lang looked at research on how teacher's goals for their students influence cheating, he found that there are two types of learners, mastery- and performance-oriented. According to Lang, mastery-oriented students "pursue understanding," whereas performance-oriented students hope to "demonstrate their ability." When students are more focused on their grade point average than the material they are supposed to be learning, they are much more likely to cheat. Worse, when students compete with each other around grades, they are far more likely to put their energy into demonstrating their ability than to pursue their own individual understanding of the material. If we want to curb student cheating, we should be aiming higher than the carrot and stick of grades and assessments and engage our students in learning for learning's sake.

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SIDEBAR:  Related Story  --  What Does It Take to Get Kids to Stop Skipping School?  See http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/what-does-it-take-to-get-kids-to-stop-skipping-school/281898/

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This relates to another cause of cheating, in Lang's view: high-stakes testing. According to Lang, "The more pressure you load onto an exam or assessment of any kind, the more you are likely to have students who respond to that pressure with academically dishonest measures." We all yearn to be seen as competent and smart, but when the consequences of one assessment can means the difference between graduation and flipping burgers at minimum wage, the temptation to cheat can overwhelm the better angels of our otherwise morally stalwart nature.

Another factor that affects cheating is self-efficacy-as Lang puts it, when students have "a belief in their ability to succeed." Lang reports that students with low self-efficacy "are more likely to resort to cheating." This is where a teacher's attitude and approach to education really becomes a vital part of a student's success. Kids need to feel that someone - anyone - believes in them, even when they don't believe in themselves. Self-efficacy, according to Lang, means "students have to believe that they have the skills or knowledge necessary to succeed on the task" and "they have to believe that when they sit down to complete that task, they will be able to do so." I've taught students who drove me up the wall with their lack of effort and casual disregard for learning, only to figure out that they were waiting for me to prove that I had faith in their potential.

Even in the toughest cases, teachers need to find opportunities to praise student effort. One such student, whose stubborn refusal to do any work in my class morphed into a career favorite when he handed me just such an opportunity in the form of a thoughtful essay, and from that moment on, our relationship shifted from one of mutual frustration to mutual respect.

In order to earn our place at the front of a cheating-free classroom, educators are going to have to own our share of the blame for the atmosphere of high-stakes testing and extrinsic rewards that we've created. Cheating is not solely the fault of our students or the declining ethical standards of the millennial generation, but a product of our testing-oriented and performance-obsessed culture. The American educational system should focus on the handing down of knowledge and skills rather than test preparation and administration. The same conditions that encourage cheating discourage our students' mastery of content and skills, while we waste our time attempting to catch cheaters in the act of deception, we are distracted from our higher goal: catching students in the act of learning.

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Caterpillar a $70 Stock?

Pilfered from another knowledgeable source where one analyst has set his buy target at $68 a share.  Merle

 Chinese quality said to be catching up to
big U.S. equipment makers • 6:55 PM

• Bad news for U.S. makers of construction and mining equipment: China is closing the quality gap.
• Rio Tinto (RIO) CEO Sam Walsh said earlier this week that his company has been increasing purchases of heavy equipment and other items from China, and has found the quality impressive.
• Among RIO's purchases were heavy-duty trucks, equipment for loading ships and rail cars that carry ore; "the quality actually was much higher" vs. the traditional supplier, Walsh said. "Instead of spot welds, for example, on the sheet metal they were actually continuous welds."
• At the best Chinese equipment makers, “it’s incredible the speed at which they are coming up the quality curve," a J.P. Morgan analyst say, spelling tougher competition for a host of Western equipment makers, including Caterpillar (CAT) and Joy Global (JOY).

Read comments

Was the Pension "Fix" for Illinois Public Services Retirees Just That; a "Fix"?

Courtesy of the Illinois Policy Institute.  Merle

House Speaker Mike Madigan and proponents of the temporary pension “fix” enacted last week promised taxpayers that it would immediately reduce the state’s unfunded pension liability by about $20 billion. But despite these promises, the credit rating agencies have indicated that they would be waiting for actuarial analyses before making any decisions on how the new law will affect Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation credit rating.

They’re wise to wait. It turns out that somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion of Madigan’s promised reduction is solely the result of accounting gimmicks.

Part of the “fix” Madigan’s bill offers is to eventually move to what’s called the “Entry Age Normal” cost method for calculating how much the state should be contributing to pensions each year. That’s actually a good idea. This new accounting method helps make the pension ramp a little less steep. It’s also required by the new pension accounting rules promulgated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

But here’s the problem: switching to this new accounting method actually increases the state’s unfunded liability by approximately $6 billion to $8 billion in the short term, because it attempts to spread the costs over the course of employees’ careers, rather than having them back-loaded like we do now.

So how do you make up for that increase, when you’re trying to reduce the state’s unfunded liability? Do you incorporate more comprehensive reforms to get that debt under control? Not if you’re Madigan.

Instead of addressing that increase, the pension bill simply delays implementing the accounting change until fiscal year 2016. This means that the state gets to pretend that at least $6 billion to $8 billion of the pension debt simply doesn’t exist for now. But when the new rules take effect in 2016, that pension debt is added back to the books. Instead of cutting $20 billion off the unfunded liability as promised, it looks like Madigan’s bill only really cuts $12 billion to $14 billion.

Actuaries for the state’s largest pension system recommended against delaying the new accounting rules. As they noted, the gimmick is being used to “maximize the amount of liability reduction,” even though 25 percent to 35 percent of that liability reduction will be added back to the pension debt in just a few years.

The rating agencies have already begun cracking down on state and local governments for using gimmicks to paper over their true pension debt.

Are lawmakers seriously hoping they’ll overlook this one, especially when our own actuaries are highlighting it?

What is the normal cost?
The normal cost is the present value of all benefits expected to be earned in a particular fiscal year. Each additional year of work brings with it additional pension benefits. The normal cost represents how much money should be set aside, today, to earn enough interest to pay out the cost of this year’s benefits when they come due. The normal cost implicitly assumes that all assumptions about mortality rates, investment returns, etc. are correct. Actuaries can calculate the normal cost in multiple ways, depending on what kind of funding schedule is desired. Illinois currently uses the Projected Unit Credit method, but will transition to the Entry Age Normal method in 2016.

What is the Projected Unit Credit cost method?
The Projected Unit Credit cost method attempts to fund pension benefits with each additional year of service credit. Each additional year a government employee works increases the annual contribution the state must set aside to fund pensions under this method. Costs increase as the employee gets closer to retirement, because the state will have less time to earn interest before retirement and because benefit accruals are larger the closer to retirement an individual gets. This creates a back-loaded funding scheme or payment ramp for each employee’s annual normal cost. The higher the assumed discount rate, the steeper the payment ramp.

What is the Entry Age Normal cost method?
The Entry Age Normal cost method attempts to reduce the pension ramp and fund pensions at a more level amount throughout the working careers of employees. This method allows the state to contribute a normal cost that is a level dollar amount or a level percentage of payroll over the course of an employee’s career. It appears that Illinois plans to keep the normal cost as a percentage of payroll, meaning that it will remain a payment ramp, though it will not be as steep as under the Projected Unit Credit method. However, because the amortization of the unfunded liability accounts for most of the state’s annual pension contribution and it will also remain as a percentage of payroll, the payment ramp will likely remain nearly as steep as it is today.

An example
Imagine a teacher in downstate Illinois. After 30 years in the classroom, she retires at age 60 with a starting pension of $60,000, a little below average for the typical career teacher in Illinois. Over the course of her career, her salary increased steadily at an average of 3 percent per year, and she didn’t receive any pension spiking raises in her last few years on the job. Let’s assume that the pension funds were able to earn 8 percent on its investments each every year and will continue to earn 8 percent for the rest of her life. And let’s assume that her life expectancy is exactly the same as the average person her age in the private sector.

Under the Projected Unit Credit cost method, the normal cost would total just more than $3,000 for her first year on the job. But the normal cost for her final year teaching would total a whopping $28,000. On the other hand, if the state used the Entry Age Normal cost method to keep contributions level as a percentage of payroll, the normal cost for her first year teaching would be roughly $5,000, increasing to nearly $12,000 by her final year of teaching, tracking her salary increases of 3 percent per year. By somewhat leveling out the payment ramp, the total normal cost paid over the course of her career would drop by nearly 30 percent. Making contributions on a level-dollar basis would produce even higher long-term savings.