Thursday, July 09, 2009

Public Pensions Cook the Books

Public Pensions Cook the Books
"Here's a dilemma: You manage a public employee pension plan and your actuary tells you it is significantly underfunded. You don't want to raise contributions. Cutting benefits is out of the question. To be honest, you'd really rather not even admit there's a problem, lest taxpayers get upset.
What to do? For the administrators of two Montana pension plans, the answer is obvious: Get a new actuary."

TIGERHAWK: The 35% Solution

TIGERHAWK: The 35% Solution
“Because its efforts have been broken into separate initiatives with different justifications, few people other than news junkies have noticed how extraordinary Barack Obama’s agenda is.
Perhaps a number will help: 35%.
That is the aggregate percentage of United States GDP produced by the three industries that the Democrats hope to restructure from the top down: Health care (17% of GDP), energy (9.8% of GDP), and financial services (8% of GDP).
Think about that. Without even considering the transformational impact of proposed anti-business laws of general application, such as the Orwellian ‘employee free choice act,’ the Obama administration wants to redesign 35% of gross domestic product from the center. And he proposes to do it all in a rush this summer, lest the decline in his popularity and that of the Congressional Democrats erodes his power to do so.”"

How Ferris State's tuition increase stacks up to other Michigan schools

How Ferris State's tuition increase stacks up to other Michigan schools
"Students will pay the whole increase, but the university will cut rebate checks when it gets an expected $1.39 million in federal money."

Your "job stimulus" dollars at work?

People with employability issues or criminal records get training for construction trade in GRCC program

People with employability issues or criminal records get training for construction trade in GRCC program
Grants worth about $200,000 cover tuition, materials and other expenses.
"Perhaps the biggest benefit is that the guys can demonstrate to themselves that they can make a difference in the community, and demonstrate to the community that these people can make a difference," said Dan Buron, Goodwill's chief work force development officer.
Students, between the ages of 24 and 50, spend three weeks in a classroom brushing up on math skills, plus learning how to use small tools safely.
They will spend the rest of the summer building two scaled-down "green" model houses that can be set up at construction expos, as well as working in the field on Habitat for Humanity homes.

Fabulous!
$200,000 (mostly from us taxpayers) to teach "math" and how to use an electric drill without killing someone, so those schmoos will be able to find there are NO construction jobs and no one needs a new house cuz we got thousands of empty ones already.
Cuz we tax our businesses out of the state .... in order to have nice programs like that one.......

That makes sense...right?

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Big Public Pension Squeeze

The Big Public Pension Squeeze: "Vallejo, a working-class community of 120,000 northeast of San Francisco, has long been a strong union town. Like many cities, it gives its workers generous retirement benefits: Police and firefighters can retire as young as age 50 with a pension equal to 90 percent of their final salary, and they enjoy free health care for life. Salaries, which serve as the base for determining pension levels, have also been generous: Forty-four percent of the city’s 613 employees had gross wages in excess of $100,000 in 2008."

Corrections officers conducted "informational picketing" Tuesday outside the soon-to-close Muskegon Correctional Facility.


Corrections officers conducted "informational picketing" Tuesday outside the soon-to-close Muskegon Correctional Facility.
"The goal of the picketing, organized by the Michigan Corrections Organization, was to 'educate the public' about what that union calls a danger to public safety: the state's decision to parole up to 4,000 inmates after their minimum sentence is served -- sooner than would previously have been the case -- thus allowing it to close MCF and other prisons."

This is what state over-spending brings, folks.

The sentences are gonna be shorter, or non-existent, for the thugs.

And the thugs know it.

Buy a gun...NOW!

Officials: Arrests, hospital visits up at ROTHBURY

Officials: Arrests, hospital visits up at ROTHBURY
"Arrests and hospital visits stemming from the second ROTHBURY festival were up from last year's event, authorities say."

I wonder if all the concert cheerleaders factored this in.....

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Reminding the Russians about Alaska. UPDATE: Setting off the “Quayle-o-Meter…

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Reminding the Russians about Alaska. UPDATE: Setting off the “Quayle-o-Meter…:
July 8, 2009
“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Reminding the Russians about Alaska.

UPDATE: Setting off the “Quayle-o-Meter.” “That’s the way to ‘hit the Reset button’, Mr. President. Remind the Russians of perhaps the stupidest thing they ever did.”
Bottom line: The guy is a smooth-talking ignoramus: not all that smart, not well-read, with a wafer-thin resume.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Maybe Obama’s just covering for Joe Biden."

Lake Express -Big sale!

Lake Express - High Speed Car Ferry crossing Lake Michigan between Milwaukee, WI and Muskegon, MI
"Savings of more than 25% are possible when you take advantage of the Lake Express summer '91-19' return fare sale - Available for Phone and In-Terminal Bookings Only.

Convert your one-way trip to a roundtrip for as little as $19 per person when you use a 6:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m. crossing"

Good idea!

Metrorail Operator Caught Texting on Job

Metrorail Operator Caught Texting on Job
"There's more bad publicity for Metro after a YouTube video surfaces of a Metro train operator apparently texting while on the job."

Government provided commuter care.
Great.........

Barack Obama holds a fire sale of America’s nuclear defences in Moscow

Barack Obama holds a fire sale of America’s nuclear defences in Moscow
"For Obama, success is not the delivery of watertight nuclear security for America; it is a feel-good news conference and photo opportunity that will create huge approval ratings on liberal campuses where the delusions of 1968 and the anti-Vietnam war movement still linger on in these isolated Jurassic Parks.
It seems certain Obama will sacrifice the anti-missile shield in Europe that would have been our defence against a nuclear Iran after the ayatollahs, with Russian help, emerge as potential vapourising agents of the infidel. The interceptor missiles do not even carry warheads: they rely on an impact at 14,900mph to destroy any incoming missile, so Russian hysteria about this “threat” is synthetic."

Obama may make Neville Chamberlain look Churchillesque in comparison.

Audit finds states using stimulus to stay afloat

Audit finds states using stimulus to stay afloat: "The Obama administration hoped spending $787 billion in stimulus would jump-start the economy, build new schools and usher in an era of education reform.
So far, government auditors say, many states are setting aside such grand plans and simply trying to stay afloat."

So the $trillion dollar porkulus bill that was supposed to create jobs has simply been sucked up by the same credit card spending on the state level that the feds have been doing on the national level?

No new jobs....?
And we still owe the $trillion?

Just great.......

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

TheHill.com - Republican report puts blame for housing on Fannie, Freddie

TheHill.com - Republican report puts blame for housing on Fannie, Freddie: "“The housing bubble that burst in 2007 and led to a financial crisis can be traced back to the federal government intervention in the U.S. housing market intended to help provide home ownership opportunities for more Americans,” declares the first sentence of the GOP Oversight and Government Reform report."

Obama: Social Justice in Catholic Church Has Had 'Profound Influence' on Me

Obama: Social Justice in Catholic Church Has Had 'Profound Influence' on Me
"President Obama said the Catholic Church's long tradition of social justice has had a 'profound influence' on him -- just days before he is to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on his first trip to Italy."

American Thinker Blog: Just how naïve is President Obama?

American Thinker Blog: Just how naïve is President Obama?
"'U.S. President Barack Obama said July 7 that if Iran stops its nuclear weapon development program, the U.S, has no reason to develop a missile defense system, Interfax reported. Obama was speaking at the Russian School of Economics in Moscow.'


Is the President unaware that North Korea is a nuclear power, and produces long range missiles that it tests and delivers to other countries?


Are there no other threats from terror groups or nations, other than Iran for which an American missile defense mightbe useful?"

EDITORIAL: Return of the Black Panther - Washington Times

EDITORIAL: Return of the Black Panther - Washington Times: "Rarely does the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights vote unanimously on anything.
A partisan divide has made the commission contentious in recent years. Yet the Department of Justice's decision to forfeit its voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party and three individual defendants drew a 6-0 vote with one abstention by the commission. What unified the commission was outrage at the Justice Department for letting the Black Panthers off the hook."

I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin

I Still Hate You, Sarah Palin
"And so the word went out, from that time and place: Eviscerate Sarah Palin like one of her field-dressed moose. Turn her life upside down. Attack her politics, her background, her educational history. Attack her family. Make fun of her husband, her children. Unleash the noted gynecologist Andrew Sullivan to prove that Palin’s fifth child was really her grandchild. Hit her with everything we have: Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, taking a beer-run break from her quixotic search for Mr. Right to drip venom on Sister Sarah; post-funny comic David Letterman, to joke about her and her daughters on national television; Katie Couric, the anchor nobody watches, to give this Alaskan interloper a taste of life in the big leagues; former New York Times hack Todd “Mr. Dee Dee Myers” Purdum, to act as an instrument of Graydon Carter’s wrath at Vanity Fair. Heck, we even burned her church down. Even after the teleological triumph of The One, the assault had to continue, each blow delivered with our Lefty SneerTM (viz.: Donny Deutsch yesterday on Morning Joe), until Sarah was finished."

CRACKING THE SOCIAL SECURITY CODE: The nation’s Social Security numbering system....

CRACKING THE SOCIAL SECURITY CODE:
The nation’s Social Security numbering system...... is an open book!
"I’m sure they’ll do a fine job of protecting your healthcare information, though."

Global Pensions-DISASTER!

Global Pensions
"Hungary’s pension system will be financially unsustainable in the coming weeks as the government has run out of money, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation"

Dumbing-down the U.S. Navy

Dumbing-down the U.S. Navy
"According to Fleming, who once sat on the board of admissions, white applicants must have all As and Bs and test scores of at least 600 on the English and math parts of the SAT even to qualify for a 'slate' of 10 applicants, from which only one will be chosen.
However, if you check a box indicating you are African-American, Hispanic, Native American or Asian, writes Fleming, 'SAT scores to the mid 500s with quite a few Cs in classes ... typically produces a vote of 'qualified' ... with direct admission to Annapolis. They're in and given a pro forma nomination to make it legit.'
If true, the U.S. Naval Academy is running a two-tier admissions system of the kind that kept Jennifer Gratz out of the University of Michigan and was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Monday, July 06, 2009

US lurching towards 'debt explosion' with long-term interest rates on course to double - Telegraph


US lurching towards 'debt explosion' with long-term interest rates on course to double - Telegraph: "In a 2003 paper, Thomas Laubach, the US Federal Reserve’s senior economist, calculated the impact on long-term interest rates of rising fiscal deficits and soaring national debt. Applying his assumptions to the recent spike in the US fiscal deficit and national debt, long-term interests rates will double from their current 3.5pc.
The impact would be devastating by making it punitively expensive to finance national borrowings and leading to what Tim Congdon, founder of Lombard Street Research, called a “debt explosion”."

Grand Haven Board of Light and Power customers to pay new surcharge


Grand Haven Board of Light and Power customers to pay new surcharge
"The state's plan is aimed at public utilities meeting 1-percent energy savings starting in 2012.
The BLP worked with the Michigan Public Power Association to develop the plan.
The BLP's customers in the Grand Haven area will pay the surcharge based on a formula that translates to the average residential user paying an additional 83 cents per month.
'That's definitely manageable,' Molyneux said"

Manageable to whom?
$12 buck a year here and $12/yr there and it starts to add up.
This is your State of Michigan democrat eco-nuts at work folks!

Nonunion Muskegon County Road Commission workers get raise


Nonunion Muskegon County Road Commission workers get raise
"Board members said they didn't need the extra money. They said the board is largely a voluntary role they enjoy, though they receive salaries between $3,500 and $7,000, depending on years of service.
'I don't need the extra money either,' Conrad said. 'I was just thinking about you guys.'
There was not a motion to include commissioners in the pay-raise package, and it did not come back up for further discussion.
Nevertheless, county commissioners in attendance, including James Derezinski, were not amused.
During a recent county board meeting, Derezinski asked whether the road commission has the authority to give itself a raise.
County Attorney Theodore Williams said that by state law the county board holds the power in granting raises to the road commission's board members."

Since when does "voluntary" mean $7 grand a year from the taxpayers of our pothole infested county?
And kudos to commissioner Derezinski for spotting and stopping Conrad's scam before it succeeded!

WZZM-TV13 (ABC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS), WOOD-TV8 (NBC) will begin to pool news video


WZZM-TV13 (ABC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS), WOOD-TV8 (NBC) will begin to pool news video
"Three of West Michigan's major TV network affiliates are launching a news sharing arrangement, it was announced today. The stations -- WOOD-TV8 (NBC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS) and WZZM-TV13 (ABC) -- cover the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek markets. The pooling does not include Grand Rapids-based WXMI-TV17 (Fox)."

Wow!
Single source news!
...sorta like single source health care?

Bloggers Unite!

Changes likely in store for Muskegon Summer Celebration


Changes likely in store for Muskegon Summer Celebration
"The financially-troubled Muskegon Summer Celebration festival might have thrown its last party -- or at least its last 'Big Party,' anyway.
Festival officials on Sunday acknowledged preliminary figures don't look good."
Total bummer!
Good luck MSC!

Clinic cuts a concern


Clinic cuts a concern
"Medicentres in and around Edmonton are closing their doors early, if they open them at all, leaving many sick and hurt people frustrated.
With only one doctor on, the Belmont clinic was forced to curtail its hours from the normal 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. stretch to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Other centres -- from Jasper Avenue to Sherwood Park -- had phone messages and signs on doors informing would-be patients that 'due to a shortage of physicians' they would not open or they would close early."

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Sharia law UK... How Islam is dispensing its own justice side-by-side with British courts


Sharia law UK... How Islam is dispensing its own justice side-by-side with British courts
"Sharia has been operating here, in parallel to the British legal system, since 1982. Work includes issuing fatwas - religious rulings on matters ranging from why Islam considers homosexuality a sin to why two women are equivalent to one male witness in an Islamic court....
In Britain, sharia courts are permitted to rule only in civil cases, such as divorce and financial disputes. Until last year, these rulings depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. But now, due to a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996, they are enforceable by county and high courts."

The Stupid Shall Be Punished: CDR Kevin Mooney's Retirement Remarks

The Stupid Shall Be Punished: CDR Kevin Mooney's Retirement Remarks
"Now some of you may think NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NOT TRUE. We never did settle on what the acronym NATO really denotes, but here were some of the contenders:
- Not At The Office
- Not After Two O'clock
- No Action Talk Only, and my personal favorite:
- Need Alcohol To Operate
All accurately describe NATO operations."

Irving woman spreads spirit of 4th with flags


Another Blow to Junk Science... Polar Bear Populations Booming


Another Blow to Junk Science... Polar Bear Populations Booming
"As the democrats passed the junk science 'pile of sh*t' this past week a new report was released, and suppressed, insisting that polar bear numbers, far from decreasing, are much higher than they were 30 years ago."