This'n'That; June Seventh#2; Education Control

Teachers' Unions Stifle Reform, Quality!
    Breaking the stranglehold of teachers' unions over state, county and local district spending and quality assurances has started; most notibly in Scott Walker's Wisconsin and Chris Christie's New Jersey.  This undoing will likely spread from these two blue states to the nation's red states--and hopefully--to other blue states. 
    I only have three school districts on which to base my opinions:  the (pre-consolidation) Cohocton (N.Y.) Central School District (CCS); the (pre-consolidation) Wayland (N.Y.) Central School District (WCS); the (post-consolidation) Wayland-Cohocton (N.Y.) Central School District (WayCo, or Wacko!); the Rochester (N.Y.) City School District. 
    My contention is that the NYS Education Department promoted district consolidation with a carrot-and-stick approach.  The complying and the non-complying school districts were either positively or negatively impacted with respect to the 'state aid' each district received.  Those complying with the EdDept wishes, received additional funds in declining amounts over 14 years.  Those non-complying districts either received a zero change or a declining amount of state aid, using formulas decidedly intended to punish said non-compliance.
    While the Cohocton 'acquisition' was probably the first 'merger,' the Wayland district has a long history of absorbing  adjacent rural districts:  Hemlock, Atlanta, North Cohocton, Perkinsville, Springwater, Webster's Crossing, et al.  The merger between Wayand and Cohocton Central School Districts was completed in 1993.  This action co-mingled 1,630 Wayland students with 272 Cohocton students; the Wayland school buildings and administrative offices were (and are) the primary campus.  The Cohocton school and bus buildings were a secondary irritant to the Wayland hierarchy.  As communities, neither the citizens in general nor the students in particular,  ever got along all that well.  Not that there was any outward animosity between the community citizens, Wayland's ruling and social hierarchy just wasn't our 'cup of tea.'  Most Cohocton residents gravitated--both in business and socially--southwardly, toward the Villages of Avoca and Bath.  As for the students, the Wayland district was larger enough as to be more a class, size distinction.  The students had on-going sports rivalries with Avoca and other small, rural school districts as opposed to being outclassed by the larger districts.
    Prior to the official merger vote, animosities grew between the districts; district residents and--much like the Civil War--between families, themselves!  Poor schlubs, we!!  In retrospect, a main problem concerning those against the merger was:  they expected the process would be democratic and above-board.  Not So!!
This merger was 'a done-deal' even before the prospects were announced to the general public; the state EdDept had decreed-thus it will be!  Even personal pleas to acquaintances on the state's Board of Regents went unsatisfied.  The merger opposition quickly realized that any protest; any demand for a re-count, a re-vote would be beaten down.
    For each 'small district' positive, the Wayland hierarchy--in concert with the state EdDept--posed a supposed even greater positive and beat the detractors over the head with it.  As a single example:  The Cohocton Campus was a single, multi-story building; the Wayland Campus is composed of single story buildings.  The  Cohocton district was chastised for not having an elevator in-place, in preparation for future handicapped students.  What was not common knowledge; the Cohocton School Board was actually ahead-of-the-curve on this, having  approximately $10,000 in the building fund earmarked for this very purpose.  Here it must be noted that (to my knowledge,) there were no handicapped students enrolled at the time of the merger proposal.  Previous handicapped students were accomodated with teachers changing classrooms, NOT the student(s).  The anti-merger did get some meaningless concessions:  'Cohocton' would be in the new district's name; the Cohocton Campus would continue to be used for instruction; Cohocton residents' property taxes would remain stable for the forseeable future-Whoopie!!
    The teacher's "association (read: union)" was hip-deep in the tragedy that is forced merger!!  The constant brow-beating, the less-than-authorized assurances of pay increases (one I heard was an Athletic Director {rural district: gym teacher!} whose pay was to increase from the mid-40s to $76,000) were more than the rural teachers could handle.  The Cohocton district--for several years--had a 100% graduation rate; Wayland district couldn't come close to matching that, even with their several-times larger statistical base!!
    I left the former Cohocton School District not long after the completed merger so I'm not intune with the goings-on in the new district.  I surmise that the new district went back to the shenanigans of the former Wayland School District.  Their school board, administrative and teacher's union hierarchies were continually complicit in financial sleight-of-hand; deceptive practices; failing to adhere to the state's operating rules and regulations.  As noted in a recent state audit, the WayCo District has returned to the aforementioned shenanigans!  The district maintained an operating surplus of $3.8 Million over several years, yet during those years the property tax levy increased 38%!!  Yup!!  The leopard's spots didn't change!!
    As with the large, blatant teachers' unions, the smaller ones are just as demanding; just as complicit; just as opposed to accountability as the former!!  These unions--much like their 'labor breathren'--have become so powerful as to dictate many areas of the states' and districts' budget, procedural dictates as well as their own pay and benefits packages.  An under-the-table benefit of union membership is the ability of the hierarchy to use the dues-paying faithful to support union managements' candidate; ruler-of-choice.  This is a less-than-legal money laundering scheme which has come to light recently.  The Soros/Jarrett/owe-bama regime has become so blatant in its' exploitation--at the national level--of the unions' support, as to not care if the regime's actions are exposed as illegal!!
    The concept of the labor union has long out-lived it's usefulness!  The original idea was to organize to fight forced child-labor, to fight unsafe workplaces and conditions.  During it's evolution, the union movement has reached the point of irrevelance!  Currently, the union movement survives to support what-ever regime in power that will grant financial and operational advantages back to the union hierarchy.  As with the Soros/Jarrett/owe-bama regime, the large, in-your-face unions funnel membership dues in support of campaigns like the "Tour d'Lies" which will insure their political standing.
Til Nex'Time....
http://www.empirecenter.org/Special-Reports/2008/06/PropTaxCap.cfm
http://www.bing.com/search?q=teachers%20unions%20control%20over%20education%20spending&pc=conduit&form=CONBDF&ptag=A8C9CD5EA5CD64260ACF&adlt=strict&conlogo=CT1401021
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states
http://www.allbusiness.com/education-training/education-administration/12300475-1.html
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40647054/Wayland-Cohocton-Central-School-District

This'n'That; June Seventh #1; Should Weiner Resign?!?

Weiner Should "Pull A 'Lee'?!?"
    While not reaching the distasteful level of a 'camoflaged weiner,'  former Rep Chris Lee (NY-26) resigned in disgrace after emailing a photo of his bare chest to a Craigslist user.  At the time, everyone-under-the-sun called for Lee's resignation;  Anthony Weiner (NY-9), not-so-much! 
This begs a sidebar question: Does all the 'federal slime' represent New York citizens?!?
    How is this 'Weiner' transgression not at the level of a 'Lee offense;' not a resignable affront to common sensibilities?  Granted, 'sexting' has become more common-but primarily with the adolescents among us.  Should the citizens of New York's nineth Congressional District be subjected to continued mis-reprentation by nothing more than an adolescent in "big-boy pants?"
   How do we know this alleged duu-luu (broadcast accepted word for penis; credit: 'Brother Weese,' various Rochester, NY, radio stations) is really a duu-luu?  Could it not be the "Underwear Bomber-Redux?"  Could it not be a disguised pipe-bomb?
Til Nex'Time....
   

This'n'That; June Sixth #2; Az Wildfires

Will Arizona Be Treated Like Texas?!?
    Much like Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Arizona's Jan Brewer has stood up to the Soros/Jarrett/owe-bama regime in most matters-enforcement!  We all remember Governor Perry's unsuccessful request for federal funds to fight Texas' disastrous wildfires.  We all remember Arizona's SB-1070 and the kerfuffle it caused between Governor Brewer and 'General' holder!!  There is a price to be paid for standing up to the socio-fascists.
    Now Governor Brewer is up against her own wildfires in Arizona.  So far, the state is battling separate wildfires, most notibly:

• The Wallow Fire:  18 miles south of Alpine; 150,000 acres; 1,300 firefighters; $3,000,000 expense.
• The Horseshoe Two Fire:  South of Portal, Az; 930 firefighters; 90,200 acres; $19,000,000 expense; 'human-caused'--owe-bamaspeak for the slimy bastards that are illegal aliens; Mexican drug smugglers-using their signal fires.
• The Murphy Fire:  4 miles west of Tubac, (southern) Arizona; 290,000 acres; $3,800,000 expense.
• (Unnamed) Pumphouse Wash: 7 miles south of  Flagstaff; under control-8 acres.
• (Controlled Burn) North Kaibab Ranger District:  270 acre controlled-burn; north of Grand Canyon; south of Jacob Lake; to have begun June 2nd.

    While the Arizona wildfires haven't reached the scope and breadth of the Texas fires, Governor Brewer is sure to be stiffed by the SJo regime if she requests federal disaster aid.  Given the SJo regime's penchant for supporting every third-world-rathole-dictatorship at the expense of the American LEGAL citizen; at the expense of any RED state;  the 'Arizona money' will probably go to somewhere like Egypt in support of radicals like those of The muslim Brotherhood!!
Til Nex'Time....

This'n'That; June Sixth #1; Loss Of Control

Fascist Control Over All Things Financial!
    As reported the Heritage Foundation's blog, the 'Frank-Dodd' bill has spawned more control over the individual citizen with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)--if that's even possible!!!  The 'really slimy' George Soros made the supervisory position an "advisor to the president" and as such, does not require confirmation by the Senate as do the 'up-front' cabinet positions.  Elizabeth Warren is the SJo choice to play dictator over America's individual financial thought and action.
    Some of the freedoms this bureau will eradicate or tightly control:

• Regulating services provided by automated teller machines; bill payments by phone; point-of-sale transfers in stores.
• Supervising retail sales made by mail, telephone, fax, internet; how products can be advertised; how products can be shipped.
• Collecting data from banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders and others to insure lending practices are "fair" to local communities.
• Regulating terms and conditions of credit cards, mortgages, leasing, franchises and other financial services.
• Overseeing communications between developers, prospective buyers and homeowners, including the types of printed materials that must be destributed based on the number of lots in a subdivision, including property restrictions and descriptions of climate and topography.

   So far, these types of unconstitutional intrusions into Americans' daily lives have been resisted by the right-minded republicRATs in Congress.  What ever happened to personal responsibility?  The socio-fascists that are the Soros/Jarrett/owe-bama regime prey upon those who lazily want the federal government--government at any level--to make the important decisions for them.  This gives the ne'er-do-well individual someone--something--to blame when their lives 'go to hell in a handbasket!!' (For far more information, consult the URLs below.)
Til Nex'Time....
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/06/02/new-evidence-reveals-vast-powers-of-consumer-finance-bureau/
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/04/Reforming-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau-Necessary-to-Protect-Consumers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704746804575367502836650966.html
http://thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1121:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ203/pdf/PLAW-111publ203.pdf
http://bachus.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1092

The Sunday 'Report;' 06/05/2011

What The National Pamphleteers Don't Report:
Best and Worst Things to Buy in June
Published  By Beth Pinsker, Editorial Director of dealnews
    June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year, meaning you have more time to shop. But the urges that drive your purchasing — the summer heat, vacation time, Father's Day and maybe even a wedding present or two — don't always take you in the direction of saving money. Want those fancy dishes that are on your cousin's registry? Don't bet on the "sale" price being anywhere close to the lowest point in the year. So what should you buy now and what should you avoid? We searched through dealnews' extensive archives of deals to sort out fact from fiction when it comes to getting the best deals in June.
Father's Day
The only shopping event of note in June is, of course, Father's Day (we only count Flag Day as a run-up to the 4th of July). Luckily for Dad, the National Retail Federation says that this year's spending will be [....]
http://dealnews.com/features/Best-and-Worst-Things-to-Buy-in-June/467830.html

The New Best Coupon-Clipping Sites
An explosion of coupon sites is actually making it harder for bargain-hunters. Here's where to find the best deals.
By KELLI B. GRANT
    While deal-hunters have oodles of online coupons and promotions to choose from these days, finding the real discounts just keeps getting tougher.  In the last two years, the number of web sites offering coupons and discount codes has more than tripled, to more than 500, says Jack Vonder Heide, president of Technology Briefing Centers. But what many of them are offering has gotten increasingly lousy. The number of counterfeit printable coupons has also grown three-fold, while lousy code sites now outnumber legit ones by at least four to one, according to estimates [....]
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/deal-of-the-day/the-new-best-couponclipping-sites-1305051028323/
Also see: http://www.retailmenot.com/
Also see: http://www.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO
Also see: http://www.southernsavers.com/

US to keep military presence in Asia: Gates
By Ma Liyao and Zhou Wa (China Daily)
Singapore / Beijing - Despite its fiscal troubles, the US will maintain a "robust" military presence across Asia, backed up by new high-tech weaponry, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.  Gates made the remark during a speech on the second day of the Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.  The US military will expand its presence by sharing facilities with Australia in the Indian Ocean and deploying new littoral combat ships in Singapore, where it has regular access to naval facilities, he said.
"Gates' comments were made [....]"
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-06/05/content_12642828.htm

Blogger Note: owe-bama screws the State of Texas in favor of Mexico over disaster financial relief; Why?!?  Mexico has their own methods of financing!!
Mexico seizes $150m in illicit cash
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-03
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican military has seized nearly $150 million in cash from various criminal organizations over the past four and a half years, the defense ministry said Thursday.  Of the total, $4.13 million were confisticated in the first five months of 2011, including $1.95 million in May, the ministry said in a statement.  The Mexican government said its military has played a key role in its ongoing war against drug cartels and the organized crime, as it has detained 33,440 suspects and seized 85,551 weapons, 31,331 vehicles and 490 aircraft during the same period.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-06/03/content_12636535.htm

Why The Elites Hate Sarah Palin
Posted by Nancy Morgan
Friday, June 3rd
    The media is in a frenzy and elite pundits are all atwitter. Why? Because Sarah Palin refuses to let them define her. As Palin puts it, “I don’t owe the media anything.”  The political and media elites on both left and right are rising up in anger at former Governor Sarah Palin. Stories abound, all negative, about this American citizen whose message resonates with ordinary citizens yet doesn’t conform to the current political and media template.
    By all rights, Palin should be kowtowing to the media. Doesn’t she know that? Instead, this upstart dares to ignore the unwritten rules governing political behavior. Palin is playing by her own rules and that just isn’t done.  In the elite world of the old media, any contender for public office must give due deference to the unwritten and ever-changing rules of political correctness. The sacred cows of diversity, multiculturalism and social justice cannot be ignored. And the media is the only one allowed to define the issues (thereby winning the debate by default).  But Sarah Palin has her own agenda. And whatever her agenda is, it most certainly doesn’t fit into the template the media and political elites have insisted upon. This is not only unacceptable, it is downright dangerous.
    When Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska, the media immediately defined her decision as a failure to fulfill the obligations of her office. That was only explanation the media allowed the American public to consider. Palin, seeing the writing on the wall after months of negative and scurrilous attacks by the media, rightly deduced that her remaining time in office would be spent countering frivolous legal and media attacks instead of governing. So she quit.  Palin understood that while [....]
http://www.redstate.com/nancyvideo/2011/06/03/why-the-elites-hate-sarah-palin/

Finally, Some Clarity in GOP White House Field
Many questions remain, but some big dropouts help frame the 2012 Republican presidential primary battle.
By Richard Sammon, Senior Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter
June 2, 2011
    At long last, the Republican presidential field is starting to take shape, setting the stage for a nine- or 10-month campaign that will result in the crowning of a GOP nominee next spring.  Mitt Romney’s official but hardly unexpected entry into the race Thursday makes the former Massachusetts governor the front-runner for the right to take on President Obama in November 2012. But his path to the nomination is not clear, and at this point the odds of winning the party’s nod are only slightly in his favor.
    Another former governor, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, seems at this early stage to be best poised to surge if Romney falters in the months ahead. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah may fill that role, too, but he is untested on the campaign trail and may fade fast if he starts with a series of middle-of-the-pack finishes.  Romney has [....]
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/washington/archives/clarity-for-GOP-field-with-Romney-bid.html

Tribes at war
Yemen is threatening to descend into tribal chaos
Jun 2nd 2011
SANA’A
from the print edition
    AFTER four months of demonstrations and violent strife, Yemen may be sliding into civil war. Shortly after snubbing a third attempt at mediation by the six-country Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), informally headed by Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh sent his forces to fight the leaders of his country’s most powerful tribe, the Hashid. They have been bankrolling the opposition and helping to sustain the tens of thousands of protesters who have been camping out on the streets of Sana’a, the capital.
    It was a dangerous fight to pick. The ensuing ten-day battle between the Hashid tribesmen and Mr Saleh’s troops has already left 200 dead. The two sides, now separated by a few buildings in Sana’a, are firing everything from pistols to anti-aircraft missiles at each other, as they jostle for control of government buildings and the airport. Led by the al-Ahmar family, Mr Saleh’s bitterest rivals, the tribesmen now control the interior and water ministries, the ruling party’s main building and one of the city’s main police stations.  Many of Sana’a’s residents are panicking.  Long lines [....]
http://www.economist.com/node/18775947

China, Italy sign deals worth $3.3b
By Fu Jing and Cheng Guangjin (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-04
ROME/BEIJING - Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi witnessed the signing of a series of deals worth $3.3 billion after their meeting on Friday.  Among the 16 agreements, 14 were signed by China Development Bank, China National Petroleum Cooperation, Huawei, Guangzhou Auto and other Chinese companies with Italian companies, covering areas including telecommunications, medicine, finance, automobiles and new energy.  The other two agreements were on scientific research cooperation and innovation.
    Xi is currently on a four-day visit to Italy on the occasion of the country's celebration of its 150th anniversary as a unified state.  He also met Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Friday, who said Italy is willing to enhance ties with China, which is not only a market for Italy, but also a dialogue partner on global political issues.
    China is a respected partner and Italy attaches great importance to China's economic potential, said Frattini, who will visit China in July.   Tao Jingwen, president of Huawei's West Europe Region, told China Daily after the signing ceremony that the company signed contracts worth $1.3 billion with Telecom Italia and Linkem, accounting for more than one-third of the total value of all the deals.  Under the contracts, [....]
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-06/04/content_12641032.htm

Jobs data stoke US recovery fears
By Robin Harding in Washington
Shannon Bond and Michael Mackenzie in New York

Published: June 3 2011
Last updated: June 4 2011    The US added just 54,000 jobs in May, confirming fears that the recovery of the world’s largest economy has stalled.  The rise in payrolls was far smaller than the 165,000 forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll, and also well below this year’s average monthly gain of 182,000. The unemployment rate rose by a 10th of a percentage point to 9.1 per cent.  Job creation was weak in almost every sector of the economy, pointing to a general slowdown in growth that could threaten President Barack Obama‘s re-election prospects next year.  “Fundamentally it just shows that the economy doesn’t have the ability to sustain momentum because we’re in the workout period after a crisis,” said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities in New York.
    The data will also raise fears of a ‘double dip’ recession , although it is more likely that the economy will continue to grow at an anaemic pace.  “If we get a report like this next month then people are going to be very concerned,” said David Semmens, US economist at Standard Chartered in New York. “There is no real leading indicator that points to any turnround.”  Part of the decline may [....]
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aaee3aa8-8dd7-11e0-a0c4-00144feab49a.html#axzz1OMfyuBX3

Bachmann Moves Chief of Staff to New Gig
By David M. Drucker, Roll Call Staff
June 2, 2011
    Rep. Michele Bachmann’s chief of staff, Andy Parrish, has relinquished his post to take a different job with the Minnesota Republican, yet another indication Bachmann is preparing a White House bid.
Parrish has worked for Bachmann on and off since she served in the Minnesota Senate. As Roll Call reported, Parrish over the years has been one of Bachmann’s most trusted campaign aides. The Minnesota Republican [....]
http://www.rollcall.com/news/Michele-Bachmann-Chief-of-Staff-Andy-Parrish-New-Gig-206140-1.html
Until Next Sunday....