Posts
Why Must They Do That?
Every time I watch MLB baseball, I see most batters adjusting their batting gloves after each-and-every pitch. Why? Haven't they--since the inception of their semi-pro and professional careers--not figured out how to adjust them for the proper fit and tightness?
Every time I watch MLB baseball, I see nearly every player randomly adjusting his nuts. Why? Do they not know--barring castration--everything down there will be where they always were?
Every time I watch NFL football, I see players being "dancing goofs" after nearly each play. I see the offense 'goofing' after each successful run or pass play; I see the defense 'goofing' after each successful tackle, sack, interception. In each case, these players are celebrating for completing an action which they were contracted to perform--millions of bucks, I might add!
Is this not comparable to you--a factory worker--asking your boss for a raise for successfully completing your workday without screwing up too much product?!?
I'm jis askin'!!
Til Nex'Time....
Justin Case
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
This'n'That; January Tenth #1; A. Peterson
He Ain't on MY Team, but....
....I have a whole new respect for Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings!! A couple of days ago, Mr Peterson went out of his way to add support to a local kid's year-long battle with a rare form of cancer!
Adrian.... You da'man!!
Your comments?
Til Nex'Time....
....I have a whole new respect for Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings!! A couple of days ago, Mr Peterson went out of his way to add support to a local kid's year-long battle with a rare form of cancer!
Adrian.... You da'man!!
Your comments?
Til Nex'Time....
Monday, December 10, 2012
This'n'That; December Tenth #1; "Costus"
What Did The NFL 'Costas' Over The Weekend?
I was unable to stay up for Sunday's late game; the one where Bob Costas expounds on the unmodernized U.S. Constitution. I'm unaware of what Costas' blusterful blather was about but I do have one question:
Did Costas and his senior writer, Jason Whitlock suggest making very expensive, very fast privately-owned vehicles with very large internal-combustion engines illegal?!?
Given the Costas-Whitlock mindset of previous weeks' half-time blatherings, this would make perfect sense.
Til Nex'Time....
I was unable to stay up for Sunday's late game; the one where Bob Costas expounds on the unmodernized U.S. Constitution. I'm unaware of what Costas' blusterful blather was about but I do have one question:
Did Costas and his senior writer, Jason Whitlock suggest making very expensive, very fast privately-owned vehicles with very large internal-combustion engines illegal?!?
Given the Costas-Whitlock mindset of previous weeks' half-time blatherings, this would make perfect sense.
Til Nex'Time....
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
This'n'That; August Eighth #3; A Cuppla Articles....
These Might (insert adjective, here) Your Day!
MIT Students Accused of Scamming Massachusetts State Lottery For Years;Total of $8 million
Staff Report,
the360experiment.com
August 6, 2012
The MIT “brainiacs” have been at it again, using their superior math skills to run a scheme that some say violated the public trust. Ten years ago, a professor and some students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology were able to extort money from Las Vegas casinos by counting cards. Now, a new scam team has emerged again at MIT. A researcher and some students have run a scam on the Massachusetts Lottery. The researcher and students were not the only ones behind the scam; the Massachusetts Lottery knew and was also cashing in on the scam.
The scam started when the students were working on a school project and two of them realized that buying $100, 000 in tickets guaranteed a win in the Cash WinFall game. When the jackpot went up to $2 million, the members of the group contributed to the seed money and they shared the winnings. According to the Boston Globe, by 2005,the group’s winnings were close to $8 million. The Globe reports that even after the Massachusetts Lottery officials realized what the MIT students were doing, they allowed them to buy tickets by the hundred of thousands. But there are some who say that the students weren’t scamming anyone, and were instead utilizing superior mathematical capability to take advantage of a natural arbitrage opportunity. The scheme basically worked because when the jackpot in a lottery did not produce a winner, the money carried over to the next jackpot drawing which was even more money. If there were [....]
http://www.the360experiment.com/2012/08/world-news/mit-students-scammed-massachusetts-state-lottery-for-yearstotal-of-8-million/
Finally, a Woman Will Officiate an NFL Game
by 'bowatkin,'
the360experiment.com
August 7, 2012
For the first time in its history, the National Football League will have a game officiated by a female referee. The move is huge for a league that is known for being dominated by men. Shannon Eastin will join the crew officiating the game when the Packers and Chargers go head-to-head on Thursday. The decision to add a woman to the mix is long overdue, and likely made in conjunction with the league’s marketing of female apparel. Eastin has been a referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and is in line to officiate the preseason game in just a few weeks. She has called football games for 16 years–the past four in the MEAC– and will serve as [....]
http://www.the360experiment.com/2012/08/world-news/finally-a-woman-will-officiate-an-nfl-game/
Comments?
Til Nex'Time....
MIT Students Accused of Scamming Massachusetts State Lottery For Years;Total of $8 million
Staff Report,
the360experiment.com
August 6, 2012
The MIT “brainiacs” have been at it again, using their superior math skills to run a scheme that some say violated the public trust. Ten years ago, a professor and some students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology were able to extort money from Las Vegas casinos by counting cards. Now, a new scam team has emerged again at MIT. A researcher and some students have run a scam on the Massachusetts Lottery. The researcher and students were not the only ones behind the scam; the Massachusetts Lottery knew and was also cashing in on the scam.
The scam started when the students were working on a school project and two of them realized that buying $100, 000 in tickets guaranteed a win in the Cash WinFall game. When the jackpot went up to $2 million, the members of the group contributed to the seed money and they shared the winnings. According to the Boston Globe, by 2005,the group’s winnings were close to $8 million. The Globe reports that even after the Massachusetts Lottery officials realized what the MIT students were doing, they allowed them to buy tickets by the hundred of thousands. But there are some who say that the students weren’t scamming anyone, and were instead utilizing superior mathematical capability to take advantage of a natural arbitrage opportunity. The scheme basically worked because when the jackpot in a lottery did not produce a winner, the money carried over to the next jackpot drawing which was even more money. If there were [....]
http://www.the360experiment.com/2012/08/world-news/mit-students-scammed-massachusetts-state-lottery-for-yearstotal-of-8-million/
Finally, a Woman Will Officiate an NFL Game
by 'bowatkin,'
the360experiment.com
August 7, 2012
For the first time in its history, the National Football League will have a game officiated by a female referee. The move is huge for a league that is known for being dominated by men. Shannon Eastin will join the crew officiating the game when the Packers and Chargers go head-to-head on Thursday. The decision to add a woman to the mix is long overdue, and likely made in conjunction with the league’s marketing of female apparel. Eastin has been a referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and is in line to officiate the preseason game in just a few weeks. She has called football games for 16 years–the past four in the MEAC– and will serve as [....]
http://www.the360experiment.com/2012/08/world-news/finally-a-woman-will-officiate-an-nfl-game/
Comments?
Til Nex'Time....
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Thi'n'That; April Eighteenth #2; Unremarkable Remarks
"Princely" Unremarkable Remarks: Fuel Prices
Blather by the "Clown Prince" on
Increasing Oversight on Manipulation in Oil Markets
in the barackingham Palace Rose Garden
April 17, 2012
Good morning, everybody. Lately, I’ve been speaking a lot about our need for an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy -- a strategy that produces more oil and gas here at home, but also produces more biofuels and fuel-efficient cars, more solar power and wind power and other sources of clean, renewable energy. This strategy is not just the right thing to do for our long-term economic growth; it’s also the right way for us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil right now. It’s the right way for us to put people to work right now. And ultimately, it’s the right way to stop spikes in gas prices that we’ve put up [with] every single year -- the same kind of increase that we’ve seen over the past couple of months. Obviously rising gas prices means a rough ride for a lot of families. Whether you’re trying to get to school, trying to get to work, do some grocery shopping, you have to be able to fill up that gas tank. And there are families in certain parts of the country that have no choice but to drive 50 or 60 miles to get to the job. So when gas prices go up, it’s like an additional tax that comes right out of your pocket. That’s one of the reasons we passed a payroll tax cut at the beginning of this year and made sure it extended all the way through this year, so that the average American is getting that extra $40 in every paycheck right now. But I think everybody understands that there are no quick fixes to this problem. There are politicians who say that if we just drilled more then gas prices would come down right away. What they don’t say is that we have been drilling more. Under my administration, America is producing more oil than at any time in the last eight years. We’ve opened up new areas for exploration. We've quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We've added enough new oil and gas pipeline to circle the Earth and then some.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: It's completely normal for gasoline price spikes in the spring each year as the refiners change from the winter blend to the summer blend. There's not much that can be done about this annual price spike. My continual push for more 'green energy' sources, i.e., wind, solar, biofuels, et al--there's a reason for that: funds are becoming more and more scarce to reward those who support my [in]action in various segments of the economy; to reward those who donate to my re-immaculation efforts; those who support said efforts.
While those forms of 'green energy' are noble endeavors, there's not been enough "R and D" put into the various accessorial aspects of each segments, like the batteries required for both solar and wind energy storage; for those highly expensive; highly explosive and flammable batteries required in vehicles like the government-promoted, produced Chevy Volt. Not only are the various aspects of "R and D" noticibly lacking, but so is consumer demand. Even with the $7,500 bribe required to sell even a minimal number of vehicles; said bribe is not enough to forestall a plant shutdown for six-weeks.
True! There currently is more oil being produced than at any time in the past eight years. What is not true is the public perception that the owe-bama Regime is responsible; the vast majority of authorized oil drilling and production are based on permits approved by that evil President George W. Bush!
But as I've said repeatedly, the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world’s oil and we only have 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we’d still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil. That means we pay more at the pump every time there’s instability in the Middle East, or growing demand in countries like China and India.
That’s what’s happening right now. It’s those global trends that are affecting gas prices. So even as we're tackling issues of supply and demand, even as we're looking at the long-term in terms of how we can structurally make ourselves less reliant on foreign oil, we still need to work extra hard to protect consumers from factors that should not affect the price of a barrel of oil. That includes doing everything we can to ensure that an irresponsible few aren’t able to hurt consumers by illegally manipulating or rigging the energy markets for their own gain. We can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage, and driving prices higher -- only to flip the oil for a quick profit. We can’t afford a situation where some speculators can reap millions, while millions of American families get the short end of the stick. That’s not the way the market should work. And for anyone who thinks this cannot happen, just think back to how Enron traders manipulated the price of electricity to reap huge profits at everybody else’s expense.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: The "20:2" statement I--your exalted ruler--continually refer to in relation to the nation's oil consumption is a complete and blatant lie!! Originally, my teleprompter-programmers entered the information incorrectly; since, we've decided that while a complete and blatant lie, it sounds good; it sounds like a plausible statistic. The applicable statistic is: We are 2% of the world's population; we consume 25% of the world's energy.
While neither I--your exalted ruler--nor anyone else in the owe-bama Regime can point to ANYONE who is an oil speculator, I--your exalted ruler--fully intend to vilify them in via the national pamphleteer 'corpse!!' Comparatively speaking there are far fewer oil 'speculators' than there are 'commodities traders' specializing in the oil sector. They have far more effect on the price of oil than a miniscule number of 'speculators.' The word: speculator is far more politically explosive than the phrase 'commodity trader!' Commodity traders actually provide price stabilazation as it relates to those segments of the economy who rely on vast amounts of fuel, for instance the trucking industry. That industry relies on their futures contracts to stabilize their fuel expense, going forward.
Essentially, fuel prices are determined by worldwide supply versus demand. As countries like China and India increase their demand, the price is driven up.... as it should be!! The United States' demand is far greater than it's domestic supply, thus we--those evil 'big oil' marketers--are forced to buy the shortfall amount on the world market. Simple as that! We discover new crude oil deposits almost every day! Were the EPA forced to relax both the drilling and the refinery permitting processes--keeping the environmental concerns in mind--the United States could--over the next several years--make vast gains in supplying domestic oil to the American market.
Now, the good news is my administration has already taken several actions to step up oversight of oil markets and close dangerous loopholes that were allowing some traders to operate in the shadows. We closed the so-called Enron loophole that let traders evade oversight by using electronic or overseas trading platforms. In the Wall Street reform law, we said for the first time that federal regulators will make sure no single trader can buy such a large position in oil that they could easily manipulate the market on their own. So I’d point out that anybody who’s pledging to roll back Wall Street reform -- Dodd-Frank -- would also roll back this vital consumer protection along with it. I’ve asked Attorney General Holder to work with Chairman Leibowitz of the Federal Trade Commission, Chairman Gensler of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other enforcement agencies to make sure that acts of manipulation, fraud or other illegal activity are not behind increases in the price that consumers pay at the pump. So today, we’re announcing new steps to strengthen oversight of energy markets. Things that we can do administratively, we are doing. And I call on Congress to pass a package of measures to crack down on illegal activity and hold accountable those who manipulate the market for private gain at the expense of millions of working families. And be specific.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: Can you believe how devoid of reasonable thought--actually, how completely STUPID--many of my comments are?!? The owe-bama Regime is completely unable to control our southern border; completely unable to control voter fraud; completely unable to control voter intimidation--all by choice, I--as your exalted ruler--might add--and yet, I'm blathering on about controlling the international oil trading platforms; how much bullshit is that?!?
All my blather on the gas pump-price and how it got there; all my blather on the availability and cost of crude oil, is little more than election-year political posturing. Remember when I--your exalted ruler--was immaculated the national average was $1.83 PER GALLON; today it's $3.904 PER GALLON!! That's an increase of nearly 115%!!! The national average has MORE-THAN-DOUBLED during my reign!! The only answer for this increase is my complete lack of a logical domestic energy policy aside from solar, wind and biofuels!!!! Oh, and don't forget my desire to push the United States back into the 'dark ages,' economically!!
First, Congress should provide immediate funding to put more cops on the beat to monitor activity in energy markets. This funding would also upgrade technology so that our surveillance and enforcement officers aren’t hamstrung by older and less sophisticated tools than the ones that traders are using. We should strengthen protections for American consumers, not gut them. And these markets have expanded significantly. Chairman Gensler actually had a good analogy. He said, imagine if the NFL quadrupled the number of teams but didn’t increase the number of refs. You’d end up having havoc on the field, and it would diminish the game. It wouldn’t be fair. That’s part of what’s going on in a lot of these markets. So we have to properly resource enforcement.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: More-and-more control of all aspects of American liberty; less-and-less allowable liberties!! The 'NFL analogy' is completely false: The NFL has ESTABLISHED RULES; the players, coaches and owners are expected to follow those ESTABLISHED RULES. If they violate said ESTABLISHED RULES, they are fined or otherwise punished!! In my socio-fascist scheme-of-things, there are few ESTABLISHED RULES, and those few are enforced on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether a negro is the defendent; the perpetrator, or not.
Second, Congress should increase the civil and criminal penalties for illegal energy market manipulation and other illegal activities. So my plan would toughen key financial penalties tenfold, and impose these penalties not just per violation, but for every day a violation occurs.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: I've asked 'General' holder: "Will these possible increased civil and criminal penalties be enforced without the "involved-negro" rule?!? Hey, I'm jis askin'!! These will remain ficticious accusations, charges, penalties if--in the upcoming months--we're still unable to point to an actual 'oil speculator!'
Third, Congress should give the agency responsible for overseeing oil markets new authority to protect against volatility and excess speculation by making sure that traders can post appropriate margins, which simply means that they actually have the money to make good on their trades.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: Again, more-and-more control of all aspects of American liberty; less-and-less allowable liberties, Nuff Said!!
Congress should do all of this right away. A few weeks ago, Congress had a chance to stand up for families already paying an extra premium at the pump; congressional Republicans voted to keep spending billions of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on more unnecessary subsidies for big oil companies. So here's a chance to make amends, a chance to actually do something that will protect consumers by increasing oversight of energy markets. That should be something that everybody, no matter their party, should agree with. And I hope Americans will ask their members of Congress to step up. In the meantime, my administration will take new executive actions to better analyze and investigate trading activities in energy markets and more quickly implement the tough consumer protections under Wall Street reform. Let me close by saying none of these steps by themselves will bring gas prices down overnight. But it will prevent market manipulation and make sure we're looking out for American consumers. And in the meantime we're going to keep pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy to break the cycle of price spikes year after year. We are going to keep producing more biofuels; we're going to keep producing more fuel-efficient cars; we are going to keep tapping into every source of American-made energy. And these steps have already helped put America on a path to greater energy independence. Our foreign -- our dependence on foreign oil has actually decreased each year I've been in office -- even as the economy has grown. America now imports less than half of the oil we use for the first time in more than a decade. So we are less vulnerable than we were, but we're still too vulnerable. We've got to continue the hard, sustained work on this issue. And as long as I'm President we're going to keep placing our bets on America's future -- America's workers, America's technology, America's ingenuity, and American-made energy. That's how we're going to solve this problem once and for all.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: These on-going--incessant--attacks on 'Big Oil' are both mindless and meaningless!! Just another example of socio-fascist "S & M:" smoke-and-mirrors!!
1. 'Big Oil' will pass on any tax increases to the consumer; the elimination of authorized tax incentives--which owe-bamacRATics have incorrectly labeled subsidies--is essentially a tax increase to the consumer.
2. "oversight" is owe-bamaSpeak for "....more-control-over....!"
3. Ahaa!! I--your exalted ruler--include at least ONE TRUTHFUL STATEMENT in every blather opportunity; here it is:
"....none of these steps by themselves will bring down gas prices...."
Completely by design!! Remember I--your exalted ruler--said I'd essentially destroy all other forms of energy excepting solar, wind and bio-fuels!! This is apart of that ongoing effort.
4. The ongoing production of bio-fuels, energy efficient vehicles, hybrid and electric vehicles.... all require vast federal subsidies--not the kind 'Big Oil' has--actual cash grants!! Every one costs the American taxpayer far more than they currently realize in monetary gains! The consumer is either forced to purchase--"e-10; e-15" ring a bell?--or must be bribed to buy, i.e., the $7,500-$10,000 bribe to purchase the Chevy Volt!!
In conclusion, this is election-year political posturing, political obfuscation-of-the-truth, plain-and-simple!! The obama-boobs at "CREEP" [Committee to RE-Elect the President] are completely flummoxed by the ongoing polling results. They've never had to imbrace any negative aspects during their campaigns. The money has fallen off; even some "Big Hollywood" types are 'checking their wallets at the door.'
Blather by the "Clown Prince" on
Increasing Oversight on Manipulation in Oil Markets
in the barackingham Palace Rose Garden
April 17, 2012
Good morning, everybody. Lately, I’ve been speaking a lot about our need for an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy -- a strategy that produces more oil and gas here at home, but also produces more biofuels and fuel-efficient cars, more solar power and wind power and other sources of clean, renewable energy. This strategy is not just the right thing to do for our long-term economic growth; it’s also the right way for us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil right now. It’s the right way for us to put people to work right now. And ultimately, it’s the right way to stop spikes in gas prices that we’ve put up [with] every single year -- the same kind of increase that we’ve seen over the past couple of months. Obviously rising gas prices means a rough ride for a lot of families. Whether you’re trying to get to school, trying to get to work, do some grocery shopping, you have to be able to fill up that gas tank. And there are families in certain parts of the country that have no choice but to drive 50 or 60 miles to get to the job. So when gas prices go up, it’s like an additional tax that comes right out of your pocket. That’s one of the reasons we passed a payroll tax cut at the beginning of this year and made sure it extended all the way through this year, so that the average American is getting that extra $40 in every paycheck right now. But I think everybody understands that there are no quick fixes to this problem. There are politicians who say that if we just drilled more then gas prices would come down right away. What they don’t say is that we have been drilling more. Under my administration, America is producing more oil than at any time in the last eight years. We’ve opened up new areas for exploration. We've quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We've added enough new oil and gas pipeline to circle the Earth and then some.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: It's completely normal for gasoline price spikes in the spring each year as the refiners change from the winter blend to the summer blend. There's not much that can be done about this annual price spike. My continual push for more 'green energy' sources, i.e., wind, solar, biofuels, et al--there's a reason for that: funds are becoming more and more scarce to reward those who support my [in]action in various segments of the economy; to reward those who donate to my re-immaculation efforts; those who support said efforts.
While those forms of 'green energy' are noble endeavors, there's not been enough "R and D" put into the various accessorial aspects of each segments, like the batteries required for both solar and wind energy storage; for those highly expensive; highly explosive and flammable batteries required in vehicles like the government-promoted, produced Chevy Volt. Not only are the various aspects of "R and D" noticibly lacking, but so is consumer demand. Even with the $7,500 bribe required to sell even a minimal number of vehicles; said bribe is not enough to forestall a plant shutdown for six-weeks.
True! There currently is more oil being produced than at any time in the past eight years. What is not true is the public perception that the owe-bama Regime is responsible; the vast majority of authorized oil drilling and production are based on permits approved by that evil President George W. Bush!
But as I've said repeatedly, the problem is we use more than 20 percent of the world’s oil and we only have 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we’d still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil. That means we pay more at the pump every time there’s instability in the Middle East, or growing demand in countries like China and India.
That’s what’s happening right now. It’s those global trends that are affecting gas prices. So even as we're tackling issues of supply and demand, even as we're looking at the long-term in terms of how we can structurally make ourselves less reliant on foreign oil, we still need to work extra hard to protect consumers from factors that should not affect the price of a barrel of oil. That includes doing everything we can to ensure that an irresponsible few aren’t able to hurt consumers by illegally manipulating or rigging the energy markets for their own gain. We can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage, and driving prices higher -- only to flip the oil for a quick profit. We can’t afford a situation where some speculators can reap millions, while millions of American families get the short end of the stick. That’s not the way the market should work. And for anyone who thinks this cannot happen, just think back to how Enron traders manipulated the price of electricity to reap huge profits at everybody else’s expense.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: The "20:2" statement I--your exalted ruler--continually refer to in relation to the nation's oil consumption is a complete and blatant lie!! Originally, my teleprompter-programmers entered the information incorrectly; since, we've decided that while a complete and blatant lie, it sounds good; it sounds like a plausible statistic. The applicable statistic is: We are 2% of the world's population; we consume 25% of the world's energy.
While neither I--your exalted ruler--nor anyone else in the owe-bama Regime can point to ANYONE who is an oil speculator, I--your exalted ruler--fully intend to vilify them in via the national pamphleteer 'corpse!!' Comparatively speaking there are far fewer oil 'speculators' than there are 'commodities traders' specializing in the oil sector. They have far more effect on the price of oil than a miniscule number of 'speculators.' The word: speculator is far more politically explosive than the phrase 'commodity trader!' Commodity traders actually provide price stabilazation as it relates to those segments of the economy who rely on vast amounts of fuel, for instance the trucking industry. That industry relies on their futures contracts to stabilize their fuel expense, going forward.
Essentially, fuel prices are determined by worldwide supply versus demand. As countries like China and India increase their demand, the price is driven up.... as it should be!! The United States' demand is far greater than it's domestic supply, thus we--those evil 'big oil' marketers--are forced to buy the shortfall amount on the world market. Simple as that! We discover new crude oil deposits almost every day! Were the EPA forced to relax both the drilling and the refinery permitting processes--keeping the environmental concerns in mind--the United States could--over the next several years--make vast gains in supplying domestic oil to the American market.
Now, the good news is my administration has already taken several actions to step up oversight of oil markets and close dangerous loopholes that were allowing some traders to operate in the shadows. We closed the so-called Enron loophole that let traders evade oversight by using electronic or overseas trading platforms. In the Wall Street reform law, we said for the first time that federal regulators will make sure no single trader can buy such a large position in oil that they could easily manipulate the market on their own. So I’d point out that anybody who’s pledging to roll back Wall Street reform -- Dodd-Frank -- would also roll back this vital consumer protection along with it. I’ve asked Attorney General Holder to work with Chairman Leibowitz of the Federal Trade Commission, Chairman Gensler of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other enforcement agencies to make sure that acts of manipulation, fraud or other illegal activity are not behind increases in the price that consumers pay at the pump. So today, we’re announcing new steps to strengthen oversight of energy markets. Things that we can do administratively, we are doing. And I call on Congress to pass a package of measures to crack down on illegal activity and hold accountable those who manipulate the market for private gain at the expense of millions of working families. And be specific.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: Can you believe how devoid of reasonable thought--actually, how completely STUPID--many of my comments are?!? The owe-bama Regime is completely unable to control our southern border; completely unable to control voter fraud; completely unable to control voter intimidation--all by choice, I--as your exalted ruler--might add--and yet, I'm blathering on about controlling the international oil trading platforms; how much bullshit is that?!?
All my blather on the gas pump-price and how it got there; all my blather on the availability and cost of crude oil, is little more than election-year political posturing. Remember when I--your exalted ruler--was immaculated the national average was $1.83 PER GALLON; today it's $3.904 PER GALLON!! That's an increase of nearly 115%!!! The national average has MORE-THAN-DOUBLED during my reign!! The only answer for this increase is my complete lack of a logical domestic energy policy aside from solar, wind and biofuels!!!! Oh, and don't forget my desire to push the United States back into the 'dark ages,' economically!!
First, Congress should provide immediate funding to put more cops on the beat to monitor activity in energy markets. This funding would also upgrade technology so that our surveillance and enforcement officers aren’t hamstrung by older and less sophisticated tools than the ones that traders are using. We should strengthen protections for American consumers, not gut them. And these markets have expanded significantly. Chairman Gensler actually had a good analogy. He said, imagine if the NFL quadrupled the number of teams but didn’t increase the number of refs. You’d end up having havoc on the field, and it would diminish the game. It wouldn’t be fair. That’s part of what’s going on in a lot of these markets. So we have to properly resource enforcement.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: More-and-more control of all aspects of American liberty; less-and-less allowable liberties!! The 'NFL analogy' is completely false: The NFL has ESTABLISHED RULES; the players, coaches and owners are expected to follow those ESTABLISHED RULES. If they violate said ESTABLISHED RULES, they are fined or otherwise punished!! In my socio-fascist scheme-of-things, there are few ESTABLISHED RULES, and those few are enforced on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether a negro is the defendent; the perpetrator, or not.
Second, Congress should increase the civil and criminal penalties for illegal energy market manipulation and other illegal activities. So my plan would toughen key financial penalties tenfold, and impose these penalties not just per violation, but for every day a violation occurs.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: I've asked 'General' holder: "Will these possible increased civil and criminal penalties be enforced without the "involved-negro" rule?!? Hey, I'm jis askin'!! These will remain ficticious accusations, charges, penalties if--in the upcoming months--we're still unable to point to an actual 'oil speculator!'
Third, Congress should give the agency responsible for overseeing oil markets new authority to protect against volatility and excess speculation by making sure that traders can post appropriate margins, which simply means that they actually have the money to make good on their trades.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: Again, more-and-more control of all aspects of American liberty; less-and-less allowable liberties, Nuff Said!!
Congress should do all of this right away. A few weeks ago, Congress had a chance to stand up for families already paying an extra premium at the pump; congressional Republicans voted to keep spending billions of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on more unnecessary subsidies for big oil companies. So here's a chance to make amends, a chance to actually do something that will protect consumers by increasing oversight of energy markets. That should be something that everybody, no matter their party, should agree with. And I hope Americans will ask their members of Congress to step up. In the meantime, my administration will take new executive actions to better analyze and investigate trading activities in energy markets and more quickly implement the tough consumer protections under Wall Street reform. Let me close by saying none of these steps by themselves will bring gas prices down overnight. But it will prevent market manipulation and make sure we're looking out for American consumers. And in the meantime we're going to keep pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy for American energy to break the cycle of price spikes year after year. We are going to keep producing more biofuels; we're going to keep producing more fuel-efficient cars; we are going to keep tapping into every source of American-made energy. And these steps have already helped put America on a path to greater energy independence. Our foreign -- our dependence on foreign oil has actually decreased each year I've been in office -- even as the economy has grown. America now imports less than half of the oil we use for the first time in more than a decade. So we are less vulnerable than we were, but we're still too vulnerable. We've got to continue the hard, sustained work on this issue. And as long as I'm President we're going to keep placing our bets on America's future -- America's workers, America's technology, America's ingenuity, and American-made energy. That's how we're going to solve this problem once and for all.
Being truthful, I--your exalted ruler--might have said: These on-going--incessant--attacks on 'Big Oil' are both mindless and meaningless!! Just another example of socio-fascist "S & M:" smoke-and-mirrors!!
1. 'Big Oil' will pass on any tax increases to the consumer; the elimination of authorized tax incentives--which owe-bamacRATics have incorrectly labeled subsidies--is essentially a tax increase to the consumer.
2. "oversight" is owe-bamaSpeak for "....more-control-over....!"
3. Ahaa!! I--your exalted ruler--include at least ONE TRUTHFUL STATEMENT in every blather opportunity; here it is:
"....none of these steps by themselves will bring down gas prices...."
Completely by design!! Remember I--your exalted ruler--said I'd essentially destroy all other forms of energy excepting solar, wind and bio-fuels!! This is apart of that ongoing effort.
4. The ongoing production of bio-fuels, energy efficient vehicles, hybrid and electric vehicles.... all require vast federal subsidies--not the kind 'Big Oil' has--actual cash grants!! Every one costs the American taxpayer far more than they currently realize in monetary gains! The consumer is either forced to purchase--"e-10; e-15" ring a bell?--or must be bribed to buy, i.e., the $7,500-$10,000 bribe to purchase the Chevy Volt!!
In conclusion, this is election-year political posturing, political obfuscation-of-the-truth, plain-and-simple!! The obama-boobs at "CREEP" [Committee to RE-Elect the President] are completely flummoxed by the ongoing polling results. They've never had to imbrace any negative aspects during their campaigns. The money has fallen off; even some "Big Hollywood" types are 'checking their wallets at the door.'
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Sunday 'Report;' 12/11/2011
What The National Pamphleteers Don't Report:
Obama's 'Tax Cut' Just One Item in a Holiday Spending Spree
by Brian H. Darling
Humanevents.com
December 5, 2011
The Obama class warfare campaign is in high gear.
There are many must-pass bills for Congress to consider before year’s end, giving President Obama leverage to promote his class-warfare agenda. The President has demanded that Congress continue and expand his payroll tax cut. His stimulus bill contained a 2% cut of the 6.2% Social Security tax rate, and to offset the loss of revenue, Obama would impose a 3.25% surtax on Americans making more than $1 million a year. The Obama “tax cut” would actually not reduce the tax burden by one cent. The Obama tax cut isn’t pro-growth for two reasons: It’s not a permanent or a net reduction in taxes. It’s merely another campaign ploy by President Obama to attack the wallets of upper-middle class and wealthy Americans.
Getting Paid Not to Work
Another issue being debated is an extension of unemployment benefits. By Dec. 31, benefits for the long-term unemployed who receive 99 weeks of income support will run out. Most expect a bill to pass to pay individuals not to work. Liberals don’t want to cut spending elsewhere to pay for an extension of these benefits. They even argued that this costly program should have been part of the Super Committee deal to reduce the deficit. They want this passed, and they don’t care about the cost to the taxpayers. Liberals argue that the extension of unemployment benefits provides a stimulus to the economy. James Sherk and Karen Campbell of The Heritage Foundation produced [....]
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Heritage%2BHotsheet&id=47935
13 Cities Where Home Prices Are Falling Dangerously
by Morgan Brennan
Forbes.com
December 8, 2011
(1 of 15-photos/text)
Cities Where Home Prices Are Falling Dangerously The folks at Local Market Monitor compiled a list of the 13 cities that suffered relatively big home price hits this year with more projected through the next 12 months. LMM sifted through market data for more than 300 [....]
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45gihj/cities-where-home-prices-are-falling-dangerously
Fact Checking the Iowa Debate
by ABC News
December 10, 2011Fact Check 1 - We’ll lose 1.6 million jobs over five years under the affordable healthcare act.
Fact Check 2 - Newt Gingrich would build a colony on the moon.
Fact Check 3 - Payroll tax cut: band-aid, gimmick or something else all together?
Fact Check 4 – Romney’s record on the Affordable Care Act.
Fact Check 5 – HPV vaccine vs. Romney’s health care plan.
Fact Check 6 – Palestinians as an “invented” people?
Fact or Fiction Number 1 - We’ll lose 1.6 million jobs over five years under the affordable healthcare act.
ABC News’ Amy Bingham reports:
GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann came out swinging at the ABC News Iowa debate Saturday night, but rather than taking a jab at her comrades on stage, the Minnesota congresswoman directed her ire at President Obama.
In her first answer of the evening Bachmann blasted the president’s health care legislation, saying the Affordable Care Act would kill 1.6 million jobs.
“We can cut government bureaucracy, which is Obamacare,” Bachmann said. “N.F.I.B. tells us, that’s the small [....]
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/fact-checking-the-debate-in-iowa/
Providing In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: A Violation of Federal Law
by Hans von Spakovsky
Charles Stimson
November 22, 2011
Federal law prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State”—unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States. Today, 12 states are circumventing this federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense. Because at least one federal court of appeals has held that there is no private right of action under the specific statute in question—§ 1623 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996—the U.S. Department of Justice must enforce this statutory provision against states that have violated federal law. Yet even as it sues states like Arizona and Alabama for trying to assist the enforcement of federal immigration law, the U.S. government refuses to sue states that are incontrovertibly and brazenly violating an unambiguous federal immigration law. Such inaction is unacceptable: The President and the Attorney General have an obligation to enforce every provision of the United State’s comprehensive federal immigration regulations—including the federal law prohibiting state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State.”
In 1996, Congress passed—and President Bill Clinton signed into law—the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA).[i] Section 1623 of this federal statute prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State” unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States.[ii] Today, 12 states[iii] allow individuals who are in the United States illegally to pay the same in-state tuition rates as legal residents of the states[iv]—without providing the same rates to others. By circumventing the requirements of § 1623 these states are violating federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense.
A Nation of Laws, Not of Men
The United States is a country of immigrants—men and women who sought opportunity and freedom in an exceptional new land. Americans take pride in their heritage and this country’s generous policies regarding legal immigration. Yet, as citizens of a sovereign nation, Americans retain the right to decide who can and cannot enter this country—and what terms immigrants and visitors must accept as a condition of residing in the United States. As mandated [....]
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/11/providing-in-state-tuition-for-illegal-aliens-a-violation-of-federal-law?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
The Covert Intelligence War Against Iran
by Scott Stewart,
STRATFOR.com
December 8, 2011
There has been a lot of talk in the press lately about a “cold war” being waged by the United States, Israel and other U.S. allies against Iran. Such a struggle is certainly taking place, but in order to place recent developments in perspective, it is important to recognize that the covert intelligence war against Iran (and the Iranian response to this war) is clearly not a new phenomenon. Indeed, STRATFOR has been chronicling this struggle since early 2007. Our coverage has included analyses of events such as the defection to the West of Iranian officials with knowledge of Tehran’s nuclear program; the Iranian seizure of British servicemen in the Shatt al Arab Waterway; the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists; the use of the Stuxnet worm to cripple Iranian uranium enrichment efforts; and Iranian efforts to arm its proxies and use them as a threat to counteract Western pressure. These proxies are most visible in Iraq and Lebanon, but they also exist in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
While the covert intelligence war has been under way for many years, the tempo of events that can readily be identified as part of it has been increasing over the past few months. It is important to note that many of these events are the result of hidden processes begun months or even years previously, so while visible events may indeed be increasing, the efforts responsible for many of them began to increase much earlier. What the activities of recent months do tell us is that the covert war between Iran and its enemies will not be [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20111207-covert-intelligence-war-against-iran?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=111208&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=dbd767cda712466b91d2fa37ca513b89
Interest soars in US peer-to-peer lending
By Matt Kennard and Shannon Bond
Financial Times
November 24, 2011
When Greg Dawson wanted to start his own photography business after graduating from college in 2003, he knew he needed money for expensive equipment and marketing materials to spread the word. He walked into his local Bank of America branch, asked for a small business loan – and was rejected.
“I was just starting out in my career, with college debt and no assets,” he said. “They just laughed at me.”
A Google search, however, led him to Prosper, the pioneer of the peer-to-peer lending sector. P2P lending connects borrowers with lenders, with P2P companies taking a percentage from both sides of the transaction. In the wake of the financial crisis, bank lending remains depressed even as hints of confidence have begun to return, and people are [....]
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2345e94a-0bb1-11e1-9a61-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gE7HmsUq
[Invisible Senator] Gillibrand’s faux fix
Loophole-ridden ethics ‘reform’
by Michael A. Walsh
New York Post
December 1, 2011
‘Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I’ve made a big fortune out of the game, and I’m gettin’ richer every day . . . there’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin’: I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.”
That was Tammany Hall leader George Washington Plunkitt, explaining back at the turn of the last century how it was that so many political leaders had become wealthy in “public service.” But today’s pols make the old corrupt Democratic Party machine that ruled New York City for nearly a century look like pikers.
Pelosi’s pal: Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill wouldn’t do enough to end congressional insider trading.
Take the disclosures two weeks ago on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Congress is effectively exempt from insider-trading laws, and that members routinely act on nonpublic financial information that they acquire while doing the “people’s business” to boost their personal-investment portfolios. Reporter Steve Kroft grilled former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her uncanny trading ability: “I wanted to ask you why you and your husband back in March of 2008 accepted and participated in a very large IPO [initial public offering] deal from Visa at a time there was major legislation affecting the credit-card companies making its way through the House.”
Coincidentally, Pelosi’s net worth leaped 62 percent last year, to at least $35.2 million, attributed in news reports to “stock gains and smart investments.”
She’s not alone. Even in a down economy, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Major Leader Harry Reid and many others in Congress also saw handsome net-worth increases. In fact, some 245 of the 535 Congress members are millionaires, putting them squarely in the “one percent” that the Occupy Wall Street rabble is allegedly protesting.
Yet Pelosi could only sputter in reply: “I don’t know what your point is of your question.”
She may be the only one who can’t figure it out. Americans are finally waking up to the fact that we are ruled by oligarchs, many of whom entered Congress as folks of modest means and leave as millionaires and billionaires.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the estimated median net worth of a US senator now stands at $2.56 million — a remarkable feat considering that congressional base pay is $174,000 a year. In addition to Social Security, members also get a generous retirement plan and health-care benefits, as well as an annual automatic cost-of-living increase — unless they vote not to accept it. On top of all that, they get pensions that start at 80 percent of a qualifying member’s final salary. No wonder they spend so much money to win office and fight so hard to stay there. Still, with public satisfaction with Congress at near-record lows, the stench is getting hard to ignore. Which is why Congress is pretending to do something about its appalling ethical problems. In the wake of the “60 Minutes” report, the House Ethics Committee issued a toothless warning against the use of nonpublic information to line members’ personal coffers, and two senators introduced legislation to stop congressional insider trading.
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) introduced his STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would prohibit Pelosi-like shenanigans by Congress members and executive-branch officials. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) followed him with her own version [....]
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/gillibrand_faux_fix_Gx4rwe8yWJtLdujpaR9GpL
JPMorgan Says Top European Stocks May Soar 84%
JPMorgan (JPM) expects European countries to get their house in order, boosting some shares by as much as 84% in the next 12 months.
Contributed by Thestreet.com
Forbes,
December 7, 2011 The U.S. investment bank identifies the shares of 30 companies in various industries that are worth buying heading into 2012. Most of the top picks are diversified across countries, though there’s a concentration in France and Germany, the most stable in the eurozone. A portfolio of JPMorgan’s top European picks for 2011 would have declined by 11% so far this year, compared with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s 12% drop. EADS, a Dutch aerospace and defense company, was the best-performing pick this year, up 25%. Carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen was the firm’s worst selection, down 50%.
Monday was a big day for Europe. France and Germany told the European Union that they must decide if they will accept greater central control over their national budgets. Then Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Germany’s and France’s AAA credit ratings as the agency put 15 euro nations on review for a possible downgrade. U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is currently on a three-day trip to Europe to push European leaders to commit [....]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2011/12/07/jpmorgan-says-top-european-stocks-may-soar-84/
Rankings: Coughlin, Garrett on shaky ground
by Michael Silver,
Yahoo! Sports
December 7, 2011
It’s a battle for first place in the NFC East – with, potentially, one bummer of a booby prize.
For coaches Tom Coughlin and Jason Garrett, a defeat on Sunday night at Cowboys Stadium could be a hard shove toward the unemployment line. With Coughlin’s Giants (6-6) already reeling from a four-game losing streak and Garrett’s Cowboys coming off a brutal overtime defeat to the Cardinals that can be easily traced to the coach’s clock mismanagement, the specter of an ignominious collapse looms for the loser.
Heightening the drama is the perception that a pair of big-name coaches are hovering in the shadows as prospective replacements. There has long been a sense that Bill Cowher, who coached the Steelers to a pair of Super Bowls before stepping aside five seasons ago, regards the Giants as his [....]
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-silver_rankings_coughlin_garrett_giants_cowboys_120711
Congressional Salaries of Past Year
by Legistorm Staff
Legistorm.com
December, 2011
Our congressional staff salary data comes from the official records of the House and Senate. We currently have House salary data for the period covering October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2011 and Senate data from October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2011.
The amounts shown are not annual salaries but gross salary payments made during the periods shown. Read more about congressional staff salaries.
Browse Staff Salaries By ... [....]
http://www.legistorm.com/salaries.html
Until Next Sunday....
Obama's 'Tax Cut' Just One Item in a Holiday Spending Spree
by Brian H. Darling
Humanevents.com
December 5, 2011
The Obama class warfare campaign is in high gear.
There are many must-pass bills for Congress to consider before year’s end, giving President Obama leverage to promote his class-warfare agenda. The President has demanded that Congress continue and expand his payroll tax cut. His stimulus bill contained a 2% cut of the 6.2% Social Security tax rate, and to offset the loss of revenue, Obama would impose a 3.25% surtax on Americans making more than $1 million a year. The Obama “tax cut” would actually not reduce the tax burden by one cent. The Obama tax cut isn’t pro-growth for two reasons: It’s not a permanent or a net reduction in taxes. It’s merely another campaign ploy by President Obama to attack the wallets of upper-middle class and wealthy Americans.
Getting Paid Not to Work
Another issue being debated is an extension of unemployment benefits. By Dec. 31, benefits for the long-term unemployed who receive 99 weeks of income support will run out. Most expect a bill to pass to pay individuals not to work. Liberals don’t want to cut spending elsewhere to pay for an extension of these benefits. They even argued that this costly program should have been part of the Super Committee deal to reduce the deficit. They want this passed, and they don’t care about the cost to the taxpayers. Liberals argue that the extension of unemployment benefits provides a stimulus to the economy. James Sherk and Karen Campbell of The Heritage Foundation produced [....]
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Heritage%2BHotsheet&id=47935
13 Cities Where Home Prices Are Falling Dangerously
by Morgan Brennan
Forbes.com
December 8, 2011
(1 of 15-photos/text)
Cities Where Home Prices Are Falling Dangerously The folks at Local Market Monitor compiled a list of the 13 cities that suffered relatively big home price hits this year with more projected through the next 12 months. LMM sifted through market data for more than 300 [....]
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45gihj/cities-where-home-prices-are-falling-dangerously
Fact Checking the Iowa Debate
by ABC News
December 10, 2011Fact Check 1 - We’ll lose 1.6 million jobs over five years under the affordable healthcare act.
Fact Check 2 - Newt Gingrich would build a colony on the moon.
Fact Check 3 - Payroll tax cut: band-aid, gimmick or something else all together?
Fact Check 4 – Romney’s record on the Affordable Care Act.
Fact Check 5 – HPV vaccine vs. Romney’s health care plan.
Fact Check 6 – Palestinians as an “invented” people?
Fact or Fiction Number 1 - We’ll lose 1.6 million jobs over five years under the affordable healthcare act.
ABC News’ Amy Bingham reports:
GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann came out swinging at the ABC News Iowa debate Saturday night, but rather than taking a jab at her comrades on stage, the Minnesota congresswoman directed her ire at President Obama.
In her first answer of the evening Bachmann blasted the president’s health care legislation, saying the Affordable Care Act would kill 1.6 million jobs.
“We can cut government bureaucracy, which is Obamacare,” Bachmann said. “N.F.I.B. tells us, that’s the small [....]
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/fact-checking-the-debate-in-iowa/
Providing In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: A Violation of Federal Law
by Hans von Spakovsky
Charles Stimson
November 22, 2011
Federal law prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State”—unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States. Today, 12 states are circumventing this federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense. Because at least one federal court of appeals has held that there is no private right of action under the specific statute in question—§ 1623 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996—the U.S. Department of Justice must enforce this statutory provision against states that have violated federal law. Yet even as it sues states like Arizona and Alabama for trying to assist the enforcement of federal immigration law, the U.S. government refuses to sue states that are incontrovertibly and brazenly violating an unambiguous federal immigration law. Such inaction is unacceptable: The President and the Attorney General have an obligation to enforce every provision of the United State’s comprehensive federal immigration regulations—including the federal law prohibiting state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State.”
In 1996, Congress passed—and President Bill Clinton signed into law—the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA).[i] Section 1623 of this federal statute prohibits state colleges and universities from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State” unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States.[ii] Today, 12 states[iii] allow individuals who are in the United States illegally to pay the same in-state tuition rates as legal residents of the states[iv]—without providing the same rates to others. By circumventing the requirements of § 1623 these states are violating federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense.
A Nation of Laws, Not of Men
The United States is a country of immigrants—men and women who sought opportunity and freedom in an exceptional new land. Americans take pride in their heritage and this country’s generous policies regarding legal immigration. Yet, as citizens of a sovereign nation, Americans retain the right to decide who can and cannot enter this country—and what terms immigrants and visitors must accept as a condition of residing in the United States. As mandated [....]
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/11/providing-in-state-tuition-for-illegal-aliens-a-violation-of-federal-law?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
The Covert Intelligence War Against Iran
by Scott Stewart,
STRATFOR.com
December 8, 2011
There has been a lot of talk in the press lately about a “cold war” being waged by the United States, Israel and other U.S. allies against Iran. Such a struggle is certainly taking place, but in order to place recent developments in perspective, it is important to recognize that the covert intelligence war against Iran (and the Iranian response to this war) is clearly not a new phenomenon. Indeed, STRATFOR has been chronicling this struggle since early 2007. Our coverage has included analyses of events such as the defection to the West of Iranian officials with knowledge of Tehran’s nuclear program; the Iranian seizure of British servicemen in the Shatt al Arab Waterway; the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists; the use of the Stuxnet worm to cripple Iranian uranium enrichment efforts; and Iranian efforts to arm its proxies and use them as a threat to counteract Western pressure. These proxies are most visible in Iraq and Lebanon, but they also exist in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
While the covert intelligence war has been under way for many years, the tempo of events that can readily be identified as part of it has been increasing over the past few months. It is important to note that many of these events are the result of hidden processes begun months or even years previously, so while visible events may indeed be increasing, the efforts responsible for many of them began to increase much earlier. What the activities of recent months do tell us is that the covert war between Iran and its enemies will not be [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20111207-covert-intelligence-war-against-iran?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=111208&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=dbd767cda712466b91d2fa37ca513b89
Interest soars in US peer-to-peer lending
By Matt Kennard and Shannon Bond
Financial Times
November 24, 2011
When Greg Dawson wanted to start his own photography business after graduating from college in 2003, he knew he needed money for expensive equipment and marketing materials to spread the word. He walked into his local Bank of America branch, asked for a small business loan – and was rejected.
“I was just starting out in my career, with college debt and no assets,” he said. “They just laughed at me.”
A Google search, however, led him to Prosper, the pioneer of the peer-to-peer lending sector. P2P lending connects borrowers with lenders, with P2P companies taking a percentage from both sides of the transaction. In the wake of the financial crisis, bank lending remains depressed even as hints of confidence have begun to return, and people are [....]
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2345e94a-0bb1-11e1-9a61-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gE7HmsUq
[Invisible Senator] Gillibrand’s faux fix
Loophole-ridden ethics ‘reform’
by Michael A. Walsh
New York Post
December 1, 2011
‘Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I’ve made a big fortune out of the game, and I’m gettin’ richer every day . . . there’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin’: I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.”
That was Tammany Hall leader George Washington Plunkitt, explaining back at the turn of the last century how it was that so many political leaders had become wealthy in “public service.” But today’s pols make the old corrupt Democratic Party machine that ruled New York City for nearly a century look like pikers.
Pelosi’s pal: Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill wouldn’t do enough to end congressional insider trading.
Take the disclosures two weeks ago on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Congress is effectively exempt from insider-trading laws, and that members routinely act on nonpublic financial information that they acquire while doing the “people’s business” to boost their personal-investment portfolios. Reporter Steve Kroft grilled former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her uncanny trading ability: “I wanted to ask you why you and your husband back in March of 2008 accepted and participated in a very large IPO [initial public offering] deal from Visa at a time there was major legislation affecting the credit-card companies making its way through the House.”
Coincidentally, Pelosi’s net worth leaped 62 percent last year, to at least $35.2 million, attributed in news reports to “stock gains and smart investments.”
She’s not alone. Even in a down economy, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Major Leader Harry Reid and many others in Congress also saw handsome net-worth increases. In fact, some 245 of the 535 Congress members are millionaires, putting them squarely in the “one percent” that the Occupy Wall Street rabble is allegedly protesting.
Yet Pelosi could only sputter in reply: “I don’t know what your point is of your question.”
She may be the only one who can’t figure it out. Americans are finally waking up to the fact that we are ruled by oligarchs, many of whom entered Congress as folks of modest means and leave as millionaires and billionaires.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the estimated median net worth of a US senator now stands at $2.56 million — a remarkable feat considering that congressional base pay is $174,000 a year. In addition to Social Security, members also get a generous retirement plan and health-care benefits, as well as an annual automatic cost-of-living increase — unless they vote not to accept it. On top of all that, they get pensions that start at 80 percent of a qualifying member’s final salary. No wonder they spend so much money to win office and fight so hard to stay there. Still, with public satisfaction with Congress at near-record lows, the stench is getting hard to ignore. Which is why Congress is pretending to do something about its appalling ethical problems. In the wake of the “60 Minutes” report, the House Ethics Committee issued a toothless warning against the use of nonpublic information to line members’ personal coffers, and two senators introduced legislation to stop congressional insider trading.
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) introduced his STOCK (Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would prohibit Pelosi-like shenanigans by Congress members and executive-branch officials. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) followed him with her own version [....]
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/gillibrand_faux_fix_Gx4rwe8yWJtLdujpaR9GpL
JPMorgan Says Top European Stocks May Soar 84%
JPMorgan (JPM) expects European countries to get their house in order, boosting some shares by as much as 84% in the next 12 months.
Contributed by Thestreet.com
Forbes,
December 7, 2011 The U.S. investment bank identifies the shares of 30 companies in various industries that are worth buying heading into 2012. Most of the top picks are diversified across countries, though there’s a concentration in France and Germany, the most stable in the eurozone. A portfolio of JPMorgan’s top European picks for 2011 would have declined by 11% so far this year, compared with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s 12% drop. EADS, a Dutch aerospace and defense company, was the best-performing pick this year, up 25%. Carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen was the firm’s worst selection, down 50%.
Monday was a big day for Europe. France and Germany told the European Union that they must decide if they will accept greater central control over their national budgets. Then Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Germany’s and France’s AAA credit ratings as the agency put 15 euro nations on review for a possible downgrade. U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is currently on a three-day trip to Europe to push European leaders to commit [....]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2011/12/07/jpmorgan-says-top-european-stocks-may-soar-84/
Rankings: Coughlin, Garrett on shaky ground
by Michael Silver,
Yahoo! Sports
December 7, 2011
It’s a battle for first place in the NFC East – with, potentially, one bummer of a booby prize.
For coaches Tom Coughlin and Jason Garrett, a defeat on Sunday night at Cowboys Stadium could be a hard shove toward the unemployment line. With Coughlin’s Giants (6-6) already reeling from a four-game losing streak and Garrett’s Cowboys coming off a brutal overtime defeat to the Cardinals that can be easily traced to the coach’s clock mismanagement, the specter of an ignominious collapse looms for the loser.
Heightening the drama is the perception that a pair of big-name coaches are hovering in the shadows as prospective replacements. There has long been a sense that Bill Cowher, who coached the Steelers to a pair of Super Bowls before stepping aside five seasons ago, regards the Giants as his [....]
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-silver_rankings_coughlin_garrett_giants_cowboys_120711
Congressional Salaries of Past Year
by Legistorm Staff
Legistorm.com
December, 2011
Our congressional staff salary data comes from the official records of the House and Senate. We currently have House salary data for the period covering October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2011 and Senate data from October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2011.
The amounts shown are not annual salaries but gross salary payments made during the periods shown. Read more about congressional staff salaries.
Browse Staff Salaries By ... [....]
http://www.legistorm.com/salaries.html
Until Next Sunday....
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