Throwing money at education is counterproductive; the secret is to hold educators accountable for the results …
Here in California, there is no correlation between funding for education and teacher performance. They have produced a decade of functional illiterates, more apt to become political activists than distinguished scholars. Yes, there are outstanding teachers, but they appear to be few and far between. What is prevalent is the political corruption that panders to the teacher’s unions to provide both campaign funding and voter support. In most instances, money voted by citizens did not flow to the children in the classroom, but into administrators, physical building programs, and wages and benefits – most notably unfunded pension liabilities. The special interests have made education a joke, with the Board of Education being a political stepping stone into progressive democrat politics.
So I am pleased to see that North Caroline has ended tenure for teachers …
North Carolina Ends Teacher Tenure
North Carolina has become the latest state to overhaul its teacher tenure rules, directing school administrators to offer four-year contracts to top performers but one- or two-year contracts to everybody else. Previously, all North Carolina teachers with five years of experience were eligible for tenure, which granted them a right to due process before dismissal. Now, longer-term job security will be limited to the 25 percent of teachers who are ranked most effective, based on yet-to-be-determined criteria.
Republican lawmakers who pushed for the tenure changes said the old system allowed too many ineffective teachers to remain in classrooms.
“We need to move to a situation where we provide the best teachers the security of multi-year contracts” and provide principals the means to remove ineffective teachers from classrooms, Senate leader Phil Berger, a Republican, told The News & Observer of Raleigh earlier this month. Source: Teacher Tenure Ends in North Carolina, Other States
Bottom line …
It is about time that we hold the progressive socialist democrats accountable for the havoc they have wreaked on the nation and the nation’s children with their progressive nonsense. Every time you hear “it’s for the children,” it is about funding that is often misdirected to the benefits of the adults and special interests. The introduction of political correctness, multi-culturalism, and moral equivalency into the curriculum has destroyed a generation of students. Functional illiterates that most often find their way into positions of authority in the government where they continue to screw-up the system with their political nonsense.
It is if they are modeling President Obama – “do what I say, not as I do” when it comes to job performance. So busy playing community organizer, activist, and promoter that they have little or no time to teach children. Throwing resources at the low-information, unmotivated student instead of nurturing the high performance student that will most likely make a difference in the world.
For those listening to the progressive democrats telling you we need students who will learn to compete in a global economy, perhaps he should shoot lower and simply accept those who can read, write, and do simple arithmetic. Learning that they, not the collective, will be responsible for their future.
No tenure sounds like an idea whose time has come … hopefully it will be implemented in the People’s Republic of California, the home of the socialist worker’s paradise.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
The attention-getting headline “Planetary 'Runaway Greenhouse' More Easily Triggered, Research Shows” implies that we may find ourselves in a planetary emergency. But what is the real story? The research that the press release author chose to ignore and the real truth that appears in the scientific paper’s abstract?
“A runaway greenhouse could in theory be triggered by increased greenhouse forcing, but anthropogenic emissions are probably insufficient.”
But that the research is just another speculative theory and it appears that man-made emissions are probably insufficient to trigger a runaway greenhouse situation does not fit the progressive agenda nor does it serve a scientific institution wanting to keep the global warming research dollars flowing. Just another example of how the corrupt warmists and their political agenda are warped beyond belief.
The story as reported to the media …
For those writers in the mainstream media who concentrate on headlines and sound bites, I wonder if they will take note of the weasel-words and the fact that the authors admit to having an incomplete model that does not take into account the most prevalent and potent of greenhouse gases, the water vapor found in clouds. How many people will get to the sentence that acknowledges that the Earth will get to the point of a runaway greenhouse stage in about a BILLION AND A HALF YEARS OR SO?
It might be easier than previously thought for a planet to overheat into the scorchingly uninhabitable "runaway greenhouse" stage, according to new research by astronomers at the University of Washington and the University of Victoria published July 28 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
In the runaway greenhouse stage, a planet absorbs more solar energy than it can give off to retain equilibrium. As a result, the world overheats, boiling its oceans and filling its atmosphere with steam, which leaves the planet glowing-hot and forever uninhabitable, as Venus is now.
One estimate of the inner edge of a star's "habitable zone" is where the runaway greenhouse process begins. The habitable zone is that ring of space around a star that's just right for water to remain in liquid form on an orbiting rocky planet's surface, thus giving life a chance.
Revisiting this classic planetary science scenario with new computer modeling, the astronomers found a lower thermal radiation threshold for the runaway greenhouse process, meaning that stage may be easier to initiate than had been previously thought.
"The habitable zone becomes much narrower, in the sense that you can no longer get as close to the star as we thought before going into a runaway greenhouse," said Tyler Robinson, a UW astronomy postdoctoral researcher and second author on the paper. The lead author is Colin Goldblatt of the University of Victoria.
Though further research is called for, the findings could lead to a recalibration of where the habitable zone begins and ends, with some planets having their candidacy as possible habitable worlds revoked.
"These worlds on the very edge got 'pushed in,' from our perspective — they are now beyond the runaway greenhouse threshold," Robinson said.
Subsequent research, the astronomers say, is needed in part becausetheir computer modeling was done in a "single-column, clear-sky model," or a one-dimensional measure averaged around a planetary sphere that does not account for the atmospheric effect of clouds.
The findings apply to planet Earth as well.As the sun increases in brightness over time, Earth, too, will move into the runaway greenhouse stage — but not for a billion and a half years or so. Still, it inspired the astronomers to write, "As the solar constant increases with time, Earth's future is analogous to Venus's past."
Other co-authors are Kevin J. Zahnle of the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; and David Crisp of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
What does it really mean?
As the solar output increases, a planet with a moist atmosphere will reach a tipping point where the atmosphere warms uncontrollably as the planet is unable to radiate enough of the solar energy to keep the oceans below the boiling point – leading to a so-called runaway greenhouse situation. As for the research, using models and calculations, the tipping point may be lower than previously thought.
The atmospheres of terrestrial planets are expected to be in long-term radiation balance: an increase in the absorption of solar radiation warms the surface and troposphere, which leads to a matching increase in the emission of thermal radiation.
Warming a wet planet such as Earth would make the atmosphere moist and optically thick such that only thermal radiation emitted from the upper troposphere can escape to space.
Hence, for a hot moist atmosphere, there is an upper limit on the thermal emission that is unrelated to surface temperature.
If the solar radiation absorbed exceeds this limit, the planet will heat uncontrollably and the entire ocean will evaporate—the so-called runaway greenhouse.
Here we model the solar and thermal radiative transfer in incipient and complete runaway greenhouse atmospheres at line-by-line spectral resolution using a modern spectral database.
We find a thermal radiation limit of 282 W m−2 (lower than previously reported) and that 294 W m−2 of solar radiation is absorbed (higher than previously reported).
Therefore, a steam atmosphere induced by such a runaway greenhouse may be a stable state for a planet receiving a similar amount of solar radiation as Earth today.
Avoiding a runaway greenhouse on Earth requires that the atmosphere is subsaturated with water, and that the albedo effect of clouds exceeds their greenhouse effect.
A runaway greenhouse could in theory be triggered by increased greenhouse forcing, but anthropogenic emissions are probably insufficient.
C. Goldblatt, T. D. Robinson, K. J. Zahnle and D. Crisp, Low simulated radiation limit for runaway greenhouse climates, Nature Geoscience, Advance Online Publication, 2013 doi:10.1038/ngeo1892.
Bottom line …
The global warming activists, corrupt politicians and their fellow travelers in the scientific community once again sit idly by while research results are distorted to scare the American people into ceding power to self-serving democrats, socialists, and communists who do not wish America well. Something to be remembered in the upcoming 2014 congressional election cycle when it is possible to remove the corrupt democrats from office.
-- steve
See how the media is reporting the story for yourself ...
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) claims that President Obama is unfit to lead and that his Vice President is equally unfit and more embarrassing. …
Challenge: Can we forgo attacking the messenger and prove that what Representative Bridenstine is saying is not true?
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
This is beyond belief -- a clear and present danger to our nation …
I cannot believe any scenario where the openly racist Congressional Black Caucus would recommend an openly racist crazy person like Sheila Jackson Lee to head the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world, the Department of Homeland Security.
Congressional Black Caucus recommends Sheila Jackson Lee for Homeland Security Secretary
A letter dated July 25 and signed by CBC Chairwoman Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat, urges President Barack Obama to consider Jackson Lee for the position formerly held by Janet Napolitano, the first woman to hold the position. Napolitano resigned earlier this month to become president of the University of California.
“Representative Jackson Lee would serve as an effective DHS Secretary because she understands the importance of increasing border security and maintaining homeland security,” the nomination letter reads. Since entering Congress in 1995, Jackson Lee has served on several committees, including Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and Homeland Security, in which she was the Chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.
“As Chairwoman, Representative Jackson Lee supported increased airplane cargo inspections and increased security for railroads, issues of great importance to the security of this nation and its citizens,” the letter continues.
Jackson Lee currently holds the post of Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, a position that the CBC says she “stands as a strong and honest ‘voice of reason.’”
Watch Sheila Jackson Lee avoid the issue of enforcing immigration laws already on the books as she promotes immigration reform …
Sounding calm and rational … Lee refuses to recognize that the witness already knows who is legally present in the country and who is illegally present in the country and that the politicians are not enforcing the laws already on the books. This is the type of nonsense these double-talking progressives bring to the table.
Suspicious actions and affiliations?
Voted against the Homeland Security Act of 2002 that created the Department of Homeland Security.
Among the top ten recipients of Arab-Islamic campaign contributions.
Recognized the unindicted terrorist fundraising co-conspirator, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), the propaganda arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, with a Congressional Recognition Award – even when the FBI removed CAIR from their outreach meetings.
Placed a CAIR member in her office as an employee.
Could this be another Valerie Jarrett/David Axelrod Negotiating tactic?
Is Sheila Jackson Lee being set up as a faux stalking horse to make another progressive nominee for the position appear sane and rational. A shifting of the “Overton Window” farther to the left so that it would appear that this new candidate would be perfectly acceptable to the Republicans.
Bottom line …
Sheila Jackson Lee has never managed anything approaching the size of the DHS and has no known managerial ability. Having close and questionable associations with those associated with Islamic terrorists does seem to be a conflict of interest for running an agency that is dedicated to keeping terrorists out of the United States.
The entire socialist cadre of the Congressional Black Caucus is comprised of racists who view every action of the government and the American people through the prism of race, their black liberation theology (a code name for socialism/communism) and the promotion of the progressive agenda.
Not only should the entire Congressional Black Caucus be abolished as a racist institution, but the individual members should be investigated for corruption and held accountable for their incompetence by the American people.
Barack Obama and his fellow travelers in Congress present a clear and present danger to America. It is time to take action and throw these racists, incompetents, and crooks out of office in the upcoming 2014 Congressional election cycle. If you care anything about your country, you will begin to mobilize others to effect real reform in the coming year.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
It has always been my opinion that unions are the closest thing to organized crime in America, a combination protection and extortion racket gone amok …
Now we find that a Brazilian undergraduate student in the University of Kansas School of Business, Arnobio Morelix, has published the results of his financial model that appears to show that doubling the salaries and benefits of every single McDonald’s worker would result in ONLY increase the cost of a Big Mac by 68-cents. All being touted by those progressives who are willing to spend others people’s money to achieve their political aims.
Another deceptive progressive model?
Arnobio Morelix, a student at the University of Kansas School of Business, found himself asking the same question, so he did some financial modeling based on McDonald’s annual reports and data sets submitted to investors. Morelix’s take: If McDonald’s workers were paid the $15 they’re demanding, the cost of a Big Mac would go up 68 cents, from its current price of $3.99 to $4.67. A Big Mac meal would cost $6.66 rather than $5.69, and the chain’s famous Dollar Menu would go for $1.17.
“Some folks online are complaining they will not pay $2 for their Dollar Menu, but the truth is that even if McDonald’s doubled salaries the price hike would not be 100%,” Morelix said. “I will be happy to pay 17 cents more for my Dollar Menu so that fast food workers can have a living wage, and I believe people deserve to know that price hikes would not be as high as it is often portrayed.” <Source>
The devil is in the details …
Like the progressive global warming scaremongers, models based on flawed assumptions, poor programming, and incomplete data often prove the first law of computing: garbage in = garbage out. In this case, Morelix admits that is assumptions are flawed.
Morelix said that his number crunching assumes profits and other expenses are kept at the same absolute number. His calculations are based on increases in salaries and benefits for every McDonald’s worker, from minimum wage line cooks paid $7.25 an hour to CEO Donald Thompson, who made $8.75 million in 2012.<Source>
Called out by his professor …
University of Kansas School of Business economics professor George Bittlingmayer called Morelix’s model “a little bit of a leap of faith.” “The actual effects of raising the minimum wage are up in the air,” said Dr. Bittlingmayer. “It’s a brave new world. We know less than you might think. Fifteen dollars an hour is a huge jump from $7.25. It’s outside the range of experience. If you’re an empiricist, you have to say you don’t know what the outcome will be. But it will create some problems with McDonald’s business model.”<Source>
Whoops – a non-premium $5 burger?
Where is the footnote that explains that the information found in McDonalds’ annual report represents franchise fees and the results of McDonalds’ company owned stores. The franchised stores are separate businesses, paying their own wages, and the numbers are not included in the McDonalds’s annual report. In order to support the additional debt burden on company-owned stores, McDonalds is unlikely to increase franchise fees as the franchisees would be paying their own wage and benefit increases. So how can McDonalds maintain their profitability without increasing sales to cover the additional expenses. And we are not strictly speaking about increasing the prices of hamburgers – but enlarging the McDonalds share of an extremely completive fast foods marketplace?
If I were inclined to press down this road I would compare the $18 billion of revenue from McDonalds run stores with the payroll figure of $4.7 billion; that ratio is 26%. By that calculation, McDonalds would need to raise all its prices by 26% at its own stores in order to double all of its direct payroll expenses, which presumably includes a lot of non-hamburger flippers at headquarters. Hey, 17%, 26%, de nada - it's not my money anyway!
Or from a different tack - the McDonalds-operated stores average $2.8 million in sales per store. The franchisees average $2.5 million per store, so they are on average a bit smaller but close enough that maybe we can wave our hands and pretend they are the same. That suggests that if the franchisees cost structure looks like the parent company then they can double their payroll and recoup the additional expense by raising prices by 26%.
If the price of a $3.99 Big Mac were to go up 26% ($1.04 – not 87-cents), you would have a $5.03 burger or $20.12 tab for a family of four – without the side orders. This is truly socialist wealth redistribution. From your pocket to the poor via the mechanism of a socialist union. And, there is no reason to believe that it would even stop there. Until one day, McDonalds and its franchisees start closing stores, cutting jobs … until “Welcome to Detroit!”
Just who is Morelix?
From what I can see, Morelix appears to be a little more than an undergraduate economics student pursuing academic studies. He appears to be a progressive activists, author, and headline hunter. Admirable as he builds a career for himself, but something that might give the rest of us pause to think about his motivations.
The unanswered questions …
Who purchases a single Big Mac? Certainly not a family of four, bringing the cost to at least $2.72 plus tax. Certainly a disparate impact on the poor and minorities that frequent McDonalds.
Does this price increase affect other products? Of course, the student manipulated the findings to generate a headline – but needed to state that the cost of other McDonald’s offerings would increase approximately 17-cents per item to make his calculations appear correct.
Is this price stable or will it increase over time using multipliers based on the cost of living?
What about constant increases in wages and benefits demanded by the unions at the threat of a strike?
Does this price increase mean a reduction in business for those unwilling to spend the extra money or turn to another, inexpensive competitor?
Does this price increase include the costs of non-productive union representatives on site?
Does this price increase include ceding control over firing to a union grievance committee?
Enter the socialist tactics and class warfare …
As the story is picked-up and amplified in the mainstream media as well as the blogosphere, we begin to see the old socialist “class warfare” tactics emerge.
“Many McDonald’s workers get paid minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour at the federal rate. That means that many workers at the fast food corporation struggle to get by while its CEO rakes in cash. In 2012, McDonald’s CEO Donald Thompson earned nearly $9 million dollars.” <Source>
It is easy for the unions and their cohorts to target the “fat cat” executives and members of management, but there are questions that are never asked. Who among the lower-level employees has the knowledge, experience, and vision to run a complex enterprise – returning substantial value for its shareholder investors? Who among the lower-level employees can inspire confidence in investors, Wall Street, and the banks and other funding sources necessary to keep the enterprise funded? And, most importantly, who is to say what the worth of key executives are to the enterprise, to the company’s Board of Directors, and to the company’s shareholders? Certainly not economics students, union leaders, or politicians.
Bottom line …
Unions are toxic to America. They reward seniority over merit, the status quo over innovation, raise prices without a corresponding increase in productivity or profits, and introduce insane work rules designed to require more employees and keep the bad ones employed. Public employee unions and their corrupt political enablers are the proximate cause of much of the financial trouble now being experienced by municipalities and states in the nation. In the private sector, unions have crushed entire industries and have cost American taxpayers and consumers billions that were simply dissipated or misallocated by corrupt union activities.
Who is to say that the wages paid by McDonald are anything other that acceptable wages for an “entry-level” position – a temporary position – as one goes on to more gainful employment? Of course, in the cases of low-skilled or no-skilled workers, the core constituency of the progressive socialist democrats, these are the “permanent” beneficiaries of such unskilled positions.
Note that while the cost to the public is given in pennies, the real costs amount to multiple millions of dollars and unknown costs down the road. One might even ask if the unions would apply the same type of toxic, company-killing work rules that brought down other industries. Work rules that killed the automobile industry. Work rules that killed Hostess where separate truck crews and loaders needed to transport different products from the same factory to the same store. Work rules that could kill McDonalds if workers could not perform all necessary tasks or that wage-differentials were applied to different shifts and conditions.
So while the progressives tout the results of this questionable “study,” you know the truth. That the study is bogus and self-serving. If you are willing to let progressives tell you how to spend your money, just vote progressive. If not, throw the progressive socialist democrats and their toxic special interest unions out of office in the upcoming 2014 congressional election. And, support McDonalds in their efforts to avoid being taken over by organized crime.
I have long believed that the Saudis have made a Faustian deal with international terrorists to spread radical Whabbism (the official religion of Saudi Arabia) throughout the world by building Mosques and funding terrorist activities indirectly in exchange for terrorists not overthrowing the Kingdom. Understandable when you consider a brutal dictatorship that will do anything to keep their power intact and money flowing.
In addition, I believe that Saudi petrodollars have purchased the votes of those American politicians who would rather profit personally by voting against American energy independence than making America safer and more secure by demanding that we become energy independent and not fund Muslim terrorist activities.
Now we find that one of the most prominent of the billionaire Saudi businessmen, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, warning his country’s Oil Minister, Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, and his uncle, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud, that the Kingdom must diversify their oil-based economy – especially in the face of American oil shale recovery using the revolutionary hydraulic fracturing technique known as fracking”
According to the Financial Times (London) …
Alwaleed warns of US shale danger to Saudi
“Our country is facing continuous threat because of its almost total dependency on oil,” he wrote in the letter, copied to King Abdullah, Prince Alwaleed’s uncle, among others. The Saudi oil ministry declined to comment on the letter. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil exporter, earning $336bn from petroleum exports last year, according to data from OPEC, the oil producers’ cartel. Oil revenues account for 92 per cent of the state budget, according to Prince Alwaleed, and accounted for almost 90 per cent of the country’s export revenues according to OPEC. Source: Alwaleed warns of US shale danger to Saudi - FT.com
Bottom line …
I do not give a rat’s ass about Saudi Arabia as I believe they are an unindicted co-conspirator in worldwide terrorism and the 9/11 attack on America. What I do care about is that their Kingdom seems to be increasing their purchases of American real estate and corporations that serve as the operators of critical infrastructure and/or the suppliers of critical technology. Even wore, I worry about the Saudi influence on weak-willed politicians who might be willing to sell out America’s interests for personal profit, political power, and professional advancement. Witness the amount of Saudi money flowing into the Clinton Foundation and other left-wing non-governmental organizations.
Best to get rid of the corrupt politicians during upcoming 2014 congressional election cycle. Asking why we are paying $4+ per gallon of gasoline here in Southern California while driving past active oil wells and refineries.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
In tonight’s “Talking Points Memo,” Bill O’Reilly had this to say …
“One of the big reasons Trayvon Martin lost his life was that George Zimmerman feared the image he projected that night in Florida. His clothing, his presence. Zimmerman profiled Martin and disaster followed.”
First, George Zimmerman was an unpaid civilian volunteer donating his time to keep his community, a community that suffered a number of incidents involving young black men, safe by being watchful and reporting to the lawful authorities, the police. This he unquestionably did when he encountered a strange person acting suspiciously. He did nothing unlawful and the fact that he carried a lawful concealed weapon is irrelevant to the conversation. There is nothing unlawful about civilian profiling – quickly assessing the likelihood that the person encountered fits a common profile of people who have caused problems in the community in the past. George Zimmerman is a man who should have been commended for his actions on that night and the tragedy he has suffered through the hands of those who tried make this a racial issue. In spite of the protestations of the police, prosecution, and defense attorneys that this was not a racial case, the politicians and race-baiters – including Barack Obama and Al Sharpton – made it an international racial célèbre, an incident arousing widespread controversy, conflict, and racial discord leading to individual and group acts of violence.
Second, the disaster that followed was caused by Trayvon Martin. Brought about because he made a conscious decision not to proceed home, turn around and physically confront George Zimmerman. That Zimmerman was the true victim is evidenced by the wounds he received and the absence of similar injuries to Trayvon Martin. This was corroborated to some extent by an eyewitness who saw Trayvon Martin straddling George Zimmerman and hitting him repeatedly – causing Zimmerman to call out for help.
Third, under any rational interpretation of events, the more physically fit Martin was beating the crap out of Zimmerman who obviously feared for his life. Thus requiring him to use his concealed weapon to save his life – possibly as Zimmerman perceived Martin was reaching for the Zimmerman’s weapon.
Fourth, even in the most generous of interpretations, where Trayvon Martin struck first because he believed Zimmerman was reaching for a weapon, when he reached for his cellphone, does not change the facts that Zimmerman was physically disadvantaged by Martin and feared for his life as Martin tried to push Zimmerman’s head into the sidewalk.
Fifth, you do not find the mainstream media portraying Trayvon Martin as a wannabe dope-smoking, gun-handling, gangsta. Or the fact that suppressed evidence should have revealed that Martin was illegally in possession of a burglar tool and stolen jewelry – if he did not commit the residential burglary where the exact same jewelry was reported stolen. In more ways than one, Trayvon Martin did correctly fit the profile of an unknown suspicious stranger, off public areas, walking slowly between homes on a dark and rainy night.
We will never know what really happened or why Martin did not walk those eighty yards to safety. But, one thing is clear – O’Reilly continues the public excoriation of Zimmerman.
“The anger this case has engendered is understandable. If Trayvon Martin was my son, I would be do exactly what his parents are doing.”
The anger is not understandable. It is time we stopped giving blacks permission to act badly based on little more than historical insult. If they want to be considered equal, let them give up their positions of outrage, affirmative action privileges, and act like everyone else. Taking individual responsibility for their actions.
Justice was served. The legal tenets of the United States upheld. And, the only thing that created the conflagration was race-baiting, community activists like Al Sharpton who believed Zimmerman was white and they could exploit it for their self-advantage. If this were simply a case of Black-on-Hispanic crime, the issue would have faded under the sands of time, ignored by the mainstream media. Even the mainstream media needed to backtrack, creating a fictional category of human: the white-Hispanic to continue their racist agenda.
Is O’Reilly mirroring President Obama in claiming “If Trayvon was my son?” According to O’Reilly’s description of his upbringing and disciplinary practices – Trayvon Martin would have been a straight arrow. Or, suffer O’Reilly’s wrathful anger. Let us not forget, O’Reilly is 6’5” and physically intimidating – something he has used to his advantage throughout his life. He is said to have a wicked temper and is not the man he portrays on camera. As for Trayvon’s parents – why even mention them as they are irrelevant to the storyline.
“But out of tragedy can come something positive. And that is why Talking Points is urging the civil rights folks to stop maligning the country. And face up to a huge problem that is directly harming millions, primarily in the African-American community. Young black Americans, the most violent group in this country by far. The reason is the collapse of the traditional African-American family unit. Fifty years ago, when blacks had it much worse than they have it now, twenty-five percent of black babies were born out of wedlock. Today the number is close to seventy-five percent. That is catastrophic. But the civil rights industry and the white power structure basically ignore the problem. They also ignore the entertainment industry putting out vile products aimed at young people, some of whom incorporate the gansta’ culture into their own lives.”
O’Reilly is a schmuck – does he really think that he has pinpointed the root of the problem? If O’Reilly were an honest man – one of the folks as he often claims – he would be blaming dishonest and corrupt politicians, mostly in the democrat party, for promoting old policies that demanded that black fathers not be in a house receiving government assistance. Or a political system that attempted to create a permanent underclass for political purposes. Not to mention stealing billions of the taxpayer’s hard-earned funds designated to improving the inner cities.
Does this self-identified “simple man” not understand the toxic feedback loop created by the democrats that drove young black women into having babies so they could survive on welfare payments that were deliberately kept below the level required for survival. Forcing single-parent mothers to forego education and employment to raise their burgeoning family. And, why didn’t the democrats go after black men who shirked their family responsibilities? Why did the democrats provide “walking around money” to black preachers to hold down festering discord in the community?
Here is a man, O’Reilly, who rails against censorship – because it affects his future – but turns around an castigates the entertainment industry for pushing garbage that sells a gangsta culture. Is this any different than any of his sponsors who are selling unhealthy foods or cars that can kill you if misused or driven while you are impaired?
Bottom line …
The proximate cause of the country’s problems lie with the democrats and the entitlement culture that supports them. If you want to seek a solution, start with tossing democrats out of office in the 2014 congressional election cycle – starting with those race-baiting members of Congress known as the Congressional Black Caucus, where everything is viewed through the prism of race.
If O’Reilly was an honest man, he would tell the truth about the democrats – but then again, he would be out of a job in a nation that serves up political correctness, multi-culturalism, and moral equivalency as if it were the way to bring about the worker’s paradise found in Cuba, Venezuela, and yes, North Korea under the dear leader’s son.
And, if the blacks were honest, they would realize that it is their attitude, lack of individualism, and fear of peer pressure disadvantaging them and their community. Note that black students are castigated by their fellow blacks as acting white or being an Uncle Tom or an Aunt Jemima when they achieve. Note that successful blacks must give significant amounts of money to the poverty pimps and race-baiters to avoid being called names or having their businesses disparaged by the shake-down artists. It’s time the black community considered themselves as any other immigrant group in this country and prosper on their own without government handouts. No more excuses. No more free passes. And no more benefits from white guilt or scaring white folks into providing reparations. Remembering, it’s a hand-up, not a hand-out.
Reform starts with us, “We the People,” throwing corrupt politicians out of office and not buying the stories of Judas Goats like the Harvard-educated Bill O’Reilly who tell a partial truth to attract an audience. He did it on his own. Hannity did it on his own. Millions of people do it on their own. So why not hold everyone to the same standard. Reserving government assistance for those who truly need assistance and not as a means for purchasing votes?
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
I guess it should come as no surprise that progressives believe in the humane treatment of people who commit heinous acts or act like domestic terrorists, spreading death and destruction with drugs along with actual killings in the community. And, I guess that they believe that the worst of gang members in prison should have the right to control other inmates in the general population and freely communicate orders to gang members on the outside.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting …
Celebrities join prison hunger strikers in protesting isolation -- Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno are among those petitioning Gov. Jerry Brown to end California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence.
Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Jay Leno have joined prison hunger strikers in calling for an end to California's use of solitary confinement to control prison gang violence. The civil rights crusaders, singer and late-night comedian are among those who signed a letter sent Monday to Gov. Jerry Brown. The letter calls isolation units "extensions of the same inhumanity practiced at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay."
Isolation units "serve a vital role in state prisons, keeping staff and other inmates safe from the same violent gangs leading the hunger strike and terrorizing communities across California," corrections spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said. Other notables who signed the letter to Brown include political critic Noam Chomsky, Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and actor Peter Coyote. Source: Celebrities join prison hunger strikers in protesting isolation - latimes.com
Bottom line …
Gang members are every bit as vicious and ruthless as those in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay – and are every bit as much a clear and present danger to American cities and citizens as other terrorists. why these bleeding hearts romanticize prisoners and other miscreants who have caused so much trouble in our communities is almost unfathomable. That is, unless they want to create the self-image of a caring crusader.
The one I really don’t understand is Jay Leno who often gives quietly to good causes and even individuals. Why he would lend his names to murderers, rapists, and domestic terrorists is beyond imagining. What is really inhumane is what these incarcerated gang members do to their fellow human beings – by supplying drugs and wreaking violent havoc on the community. It is almost like they are enemy combatants within the confines of America.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS
While California is regarded as the cereal capital of the world – home of the fruits, nuts, and flakes – it is a bellwether state that serves as an incubator for progressive socialist policies that often defy common sense. I can understand why the progressive socialists in California would want to deny law-abiding citizens their Second Amendment rights – presumably to protect the progressive politicians in tyrannical times – but why would they tell federal law enforcement agents that they, too, can only purchase handguns on the Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale.
Effective January 1, 2001, no handgun may be manufactured within California, imported into California for sale, lent, given, kept for sale, or offered/exposed for sale unless that handgun model has passed firing, safety, and drop tests and is certified for sale in California by the Department of Justice.
Private party transfers, curio/relic handguns, certain single-action revolvers, and pawn/consignment returns are exempt from this requirement.
The sale or purchase of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, if the pistol, revolver, or other firearm is sold to, or purchased by, the Department of Justice, any police department, any sheriff’s official, any marshal’s office, the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, the California Highway Patrol, any district attorney’s office, or the military or naval forces of this state or of the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties. Nor shall anything in this section prohibit the sale to, or purchase by, sworn members of these agencies of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
Where the fit hits that shan …
Notice there are no exemptions listed for federal law enforcement officials! Because California law also specifies technological innovations (e.g. “microstamping”) which manufacturers are refusing to implement because it is both haphazard and ineffective, the selection of handguns available to Californians and other non-exempt entities will be so limited as to prohibit the sale of handguns in the state.All courtesy of corrupt progressive democrat socialists who would rather enlarge the entitlement culture and the pool of potential victims of criminal activities. More crime equals more unionized law enforcement. Of course this can all be fixed by legislative amendment – what the progressives do when they screw-up the system and the unintended consequences become visible for all to see.
Bottom line …
An out-of-control legislature, governed by radical progressive socialist democrats has screwed the formerly golden state. Laws, rules, regulations, and taxes have forced many corporations and residents from the state or to become more creative in their choice of tax avoidance – note I did not say tax evasion – schemes like those used by the major corporations. With so many illegal aliens and welfare recipients entering the state (California has 30% of the nation’s welfare recipients and a majority of the illegal aliens), our tax base is being rapidly depleted to the point where bankruptcy becomes a foregone conclusion.
Will the wealthy, who are insulated from the consequences of their liberal actions, union members, who are insulated by outrageous contracts from the broader economy, and illegal aliens, who don’t follow the law anyway, be the last people left? May be – unless Californian’s wake up and throw the crooked politicians and criminalize the activities of their special interest friends who are purchasing more and more political influence.
And, if you think California Republicans are up to the job – think of that asshole Arnold Schwarzenegger who robbed the system blind and then screwed his maid and the citizens of California.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it! "Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell
“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar
“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS