Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Employees ran up big hotel, restaurant bills on Madison school credit cards in 2011

Employees ran up big hotel, restaurant bills on Madison school credit cards in 2011 - EAGnews.org :: Education Research, Reporting, Analysis and Commentary
We have a question for the taxpayers of Madison:
Do you have any idea how your education tax dollars are spent?

If the answer is no, well, you are not alone. It turns out that Madison school officials have very little idea, either, particularly when it comes to expenditures involving district credit cards and checks.

The district issues multiple credit cards for various departments in each of its 55 schools and other buildings, according to Candie Steffen, manager of the district’s accounting office.
Each building has a site manager who is supposed to keep track of all purchases and receipts for seven years.

Clinton's new diplomatic tool, an army of US chefs

Clinton's new diplomatic tool, an army of US chefs - FRANCE 24
More than 50 of the nation's finest culinary wizards, many of whom are household names across the United States, have signed up to join The American Chef Corps, newly launched at the State Department.

MIT Study: Ethanol Doesn’t Reduce Gasoline Prices

MIT Study: Ethanol Doesn’t Reduce Gasoline Prices | Heartlander Magazine
The MIT study, “Ethanol Production and Gasoline Prices: A Spurious Correlation,” analyzes and refutes claims by the ethanol industry that ethanol reduced gasoline prices by nearly a dollar per gallon in 2010 and more than a dollar per gallon in 2011.

Presumed Egelston Township supervisor-elect Doug Chappell dies unexpectedly

Presumed Egelston Township supervisor-elect Doug Chappell dies unexpectedly | MLive.com
Doug Chappell, 52, died Monday.
He was virtually assured of being the township’s next supervisor after winning the Democratic primary in August.
With no Republican opponents, only a write-in candidate could have kept Chappell out of office.

Waiting for "Superman"

Waiting for "Superman" | Official Site | Take Action

Mona Shores schools-of-choice openings under review, public forums planned

Mona Shores schools-of-choice openings under review, public forums planned | MLive.com
The issue has two sides.
On one hand, too many choice students could make it difficult for Mona Shores to convince voters to pass bond projects that benefit children who live outside the district, Peden said. On the other hand, more students mean more money and potentially more program offerings, he said.

Andrew Klavan: How to Behave During an Islamic Massacre


Apparently, Obama's islamic policy.

Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets

Navy Times Mobile - Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets
On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans.
Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Omega-3 fatty acids don't reduce stroke or heart attack, study finds

Omega-3 fatty acids don't reduce stroke or heart attack, study finds | News.com.au
Researchers said patients at the University Hospital of Ioannina did not show a statistically significant reduction in death or heart illness, and questioned whether omega-3 should be administered proactively when trying to optimise a patient's heart health.
"Our findings do not justify the use of omega-3 as a structured intervention in everyday clinical practice or guidelines supporting dietary omega-3," said Evangelos Rizos, chief author of the study.

Does this look like an economy that’s moving forward? 9 reasons why it really doesn’t

Does this look like an economy that’s moving forward? 9 reasons why it really doesn’t | AEIdeas
If the participation rate were the same today as it was in February 2010, when the job market supposedly bottomed, the unemployment rate would be 10.1%.

Jim Lakely and Joy Pullmann: Chicago Teachers Strike | Heartland Institute

Jim Lakely and Joy Pullmann: Chicago Teachers Strike | Heartland Institute

350,000 Chicago Students Out of School for Teachers Strike

350,000 Chicago Students Out of School for Teachers Strike | Heartlander Magazine
Union Rejected Pay Raise
CPS offered teachers a four-year package worth $400 million that would have increased the average teacher’s compensation by 16 percent over that time, said Chicago School Board President David Vitale. The city expects to face a $3 billion budget deficit over the next three years, plus a $2 billion pension deficit over the next two years.
CPS’s annual spending is approximately $5.5 billion.

A Short History of the Obama Campaign Against Education

Chicago Daily Observer » Blog Archive » A Short History of the Obama Campaign Against Education
This Strike is a perfect example of what happens when Democrats, in the Chicago Way, take control of both government and the unions.
Each side in this strike is controlled by Democrats, all avid supporters of Obama.
Instead of working together in the best interests of kids in school, these factions fight over how much more of the tax payers’ dollars will wind up in their pockets.
The union leadership and Chicago politicians, Democrats all, get fatter, and the kids and people of Chicago suffer more.

You break it, you buy it? Whitehall considers charging users for damage to parks

You break it, you buy it? Whitehall considers charging users for damage to parks | MLive.com
Whitehall City Council is scheduled to consider making people and festivals who rent the city’s parks pay for any damage they cause.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Killing bin Laden, part 1 - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Killing bin Laden, part 1 - 60 Minutes - CBS News

In case you missed it.
Compelling!

FIRE's Red Alert List Exposes the Worst Violators of Campus Rights

FIRE's Red Alert List Exposes the Worst Violators of Campus Rights - The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - FIRE
Michigan State University

Michigan State University (MSU) joined FIRE's Red Alert list after finding student government leader Kara Spencer guilty of "spamming" and misuse of university resources for criticizing the administration's plan to change the school calendar.
Spencer had carefully selected and e-mailed 391 faculty members to encourage them to express their views on the proposed changes.
Despite the fact that Spencer merely wished to alert a small percentage of the campus community—roughly 8 percent of MSU's faculty—to an important administrative decision, MSU found her to be in violation of the university's Network Acceptable Use Policy and of engaging in an "unauthorized" use of the MSU network.
After FIRE intervened, MSU dropped the charges but made its policy even more restrictive.
Read Full Article

43 Months of Depressing Misery

PJ Media » 43 Months of Depressing Misery
Mort Zuckerman accurately contended in a Friday evening Wall Street Journal op-ed, “we are experiencing, in effect, a modern-day depression,” where “dependent millions” relying on food stamps and swelling the disability rolls “are the invisible counterparts of the soup kitchens and bread lines of the 1930s.”
....

  • Full-time employment only increased by 43,000 in August. It’s down (yes, down) by 902,000 since March, and by over 1.4 million since Obama took office.

  • 562,000 fewer married men and 700,000 fewer married women were employed in August than were when the recession officially ended in June 2009.

  • 22% of the 3.47 million private-sector jobs created since the recession’s end have been at temporary help services.

  • What about what the new jobs created actually pay? The National Employment Law Project recently reported that “Lower-wage occupations were 21 percent of recession (job) losses, but 58 percent of recovery growth. Mid-wage occupations were 60 percent of recession losses, but only 22 percent of recovery growth.” The leftists at the NELP wouldn’t state the obvious, so I will: Their research proves that the Obama administration’s economic policies are gutting the middle class.

  • Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs

    Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs | Reuters
    Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher.
    There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.

    The Disappearing DUI: MLive finds wide disparities in drunk driving arrests; see how your police rank

    The Disappearing DUI: MLive finds wide disparities in drunk driving arrests; see how your police rank | MLive.com
    The totals do not include additional arrests by campus police at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, though the trend there was similar.
    MSU police arrested three times as many drunken drivers as Michigan’s.
    Ann Arbor Deputy Police Chief Gregory Bazick said he could not explain the differences, or why his department ranks so low overall.

    Muskegon seems to be a great county to drive drunk!

    Obama's Communist Party Endorsement

    Articles: Obama's Communist Party Endorsement
    Nevertheless, we must not allow the extreme rhetoric in which the endorsement is couched to distract us from a more fundamental issue, which is this: the CPUSA endorses Barack Obama on the very same grounds -- even in the same words -- that Obama uses in defense of himself.
    If a communist were operating under the official umbrella of the Democratic Party, and were thus forced to use Democrat talking points rather than speak his own radical mind, we would interpret this as typical leftist cynicism and subterfuge.
    But this time the words appear on the CPUSA's own website.

    Sunday, September 09, 2012

    Newport Beach Lifeguards Make $200,000 and Can Retire at Age 50

    PensionWatch » Blog Archive » Inside Edition: Newport Beach Lifeguards Make $200,000 and Can Retire at Age 50

    EyeOnMuskegon 2012-9-9


    CARPE DIEM: There's One Place with Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs

    CARPE DIEM: There's One Place with Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs
    The jobs report today was pretty grim even though the jobless rate fell to 8.1%.
    But there's at least one place where the job market is booming like never before, where the state jobless rate is only 3%, where there are ten counties with jobless rates below 2% and where one county with a jaw-dropping 0.7% unemployment rate: North Dakota.

    At Top Business Schools, an MBA Application Drought

    At Top Business Schools, an MBA Application Drought - Businessweek
    A handful of schools reported even steeper drops, including Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business, where applications fell 18 percent

    '2016: Obama's America' Now No. 2 Ever in Political Documentary Genre

    '2016: Obama's America' Now No. 2 Ever in Political Documentary Genre | NewsBusters.org

    The Making of the Pure Michigan Sing-Along Video | Pure Michigan Blog

    The Making of the Pure Michigan Sing-Along Video | Pure Michigan Blog

    The Pure Michigan Statewide Singalong


    Debt collectors cash in on student loan roundup

    NYT: Debt collectors cash in on student loan roundup - Business - US business - The New York Times - NBCNews.com
    In all, nearly one in every six borrowers with a loan balance is in default.
    The amount of defaulted loans — $76 billion — is greater than the yearly tuition bill for all students at public two- and four-year colleges and universities

    Jeff Bezos And The End of PowerPoint As We Know It

    Jeff Bezos And The End of PowerPoint As We Know It - Forbes
    I know what some of you are thinking—it works for Bezos because he’s revealing products that people can see and touch.
    Let me be clear—picture superiority works in any presentation, even for the most complex ideas.

    Is America the greatest nation on earth? MLive readers join the debate

    Is America the greatest nation on earth? MLive readers join the debate | MLive.com