Suicide ain't painless-----Playing us for chumps on public union pension reform

Playing us for chumps on pension reform and mandatory minimum sentences - Chicago Sun-Times:
"We have felt like chumps before.
We’re feeling like chumps again.
All summer and early fall we kept hearing that a 10-member legislative pension committee was on its way toward a fair and workable resolution.
We dared to believe that was true.
But committee members, and the four legislative leaders brought in last month for a final push, can’t get a deal done."

Venezuela joins the hyperinflation club: 54.3% in last twelve months and climbing

Venezuela joins the hyperinflation club: 54.3% in last twelve months and climbing — MercoPress:
"Venezuela's consumer prices rose 5.1% in October, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 54.3%, the highest mark since the late President Hugo Chávez took power in 1999.
The news was released by the central bank on Thursday which also revealed that the scarcity index had reached its highest level since 2009."

The Church Of Climate Scientology: How Climate Science Became A Religion

The Church Of Climate Scientology: How Climate Science Became A Religion - Forbes:
"How do we protect ourselves against such abuses of science?
By knowing the one key difference between real scientists and science abusers.
Science abusers treat science as an infallible authority to be blindly obeyed by the public. 
Real scientists treat science as a method to be carefully explained to the public.

By this standard, today’s vaunted “climate science consensus”—that it’s been scientifically proven that we need to dismantle the fossil fuel industry, the economic engine of the world—is more Scientology than science.

Here are three ways the Climate Scientologists abuse science."
1.    They use manipulative language
2.   They won’t admit when their theory fails
3.  They intimidate, rather than explain

Twitter / conncarroll: I dont get it. Why is Obama ...

Twitter / conncarroll: I dont get it. Why is Obama ...:
"I dont get it. 
Why is Obama apologizing for people losing their insurance? 
Last week he said they were all junk policies. 
Was he lying then?"

Pensions face new blow from ministers

Pensions face new blow from ministers - Telegraph:
"Private-sector workers could see their final salary pensions “eaten away” by the rising of cost of living after ministers proposed removing legal protections against inflation from “gold-plated” retirement funds.
Almost two million employees who are still part of final salary schemes could lose the legal right to have their retirement income rise in line with inflation under the proposals.
The change, which would not apply to public sector workers, could cut the spending power of a pension by almost a third over a 15-year retirement."

Mendacious morons at NYT must think readers are as moronic as themselves-----West and Iran Seen as Nearing a Nuclear Deal

West and Iran Seen as Nearing a Nuclear Deal - NYTimes.com:
"GENEVA — After years of fruitless negotiations, Western and Iranian diplomats are on the verge of an agreement that would freeze Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of some economic sanctions."

OMG, He's lost the WaPost WONKBLOG! -------VIDEO: Watch Obama (kinda, sorta) apologize to Americans’ losing their health plans

VIDEO: Watch Obama (kinda, sorta) apologize to Americans’ losing their health plans:
"What Obama isn't offering is an apology for the cancellation notices themselves. 
Eliminating certain health plans from the market -- ones that the White House thinks are too skimpy -- is a feature, not a bug, of the Affordable Care Act.
You can read more about that here in our FAQ on why about 7 million to 12 million health plans are being terminated under the Affordable Care Act."

If You Live In Illinois, Retire Now! (Or Move To Wisconsin)

If You Live In Illinois, Retire Now! (Or Move To Wisconsin) | Zero Hedge:
 "Across the 50 states, the Bloomberg Muni team has collected the government financial statistics and adjudged the most (and least) under-funded pension plans.
Wisconsin is least under-funded with a 99.91% funding ratio (beaten by the District of Columbia's 'over-funding' at 106.92%) with Illinois the most under-funded at a measly 40.37% funding ratio... It seems only one choice is left for those far from retirement in Illinois... move!"

If Obama had a son, he'd have been in this flash mob..........Surveillance Video Captures Flash Mob Robberies At 3 Chicago Area Stores

Surveillance Video Captures Flash Mob Robberies At 3 Chicago Area Stores « CBS Chicago:
"CHICAGO (CBS) —
Unbelievable surveillance video captured flash mobs dashing into store after store and running out with armloads and sometimes entire racks of sporting goods.
It has happened at three different Sports Authority stores in the Chicago area.
This past Monday in Burbank at just before 1 p.m., five individuals entered a Sports Authority and soon after they were off.
Video shows them running out the door with rack after rack of apparel and an employee giving chase."

Man Successfully Sues Wife Over Ugly Children

Man Successfully Sues Wife Over Ugly Children | CocoaFab:
"A Chinese man divorced and then sued his ex-wife for giving birth to what he called an extremely ugly baby girl, the Irish Times reported.

Initially, Jian Feng accused his wife of infidelity, so sure that he could never father an unattractive child.

When a DNA test proved that the baby was his, Feng’s wife came clean on a little secret — before they met, she had undergone about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery in South Korea.

Feng sued his ex-wife on the grounds of false pretenses, for not telling him about the plastic surgery and duping him into thinking she was beautiful, The Huffington Post reported.

The kicker? He won. A judge agreed with Feng’s argument and ordered his ex-wife to fork over $120,000.

“I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues,” he told the Irish Times. “Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me.”"

European Maps Showing Origins Of Common Words

European Maps Showing Origins Of Common Words - Business Insider

Copper Mountain -Proof of global warming!

Kids can't add 3+9 in their heads but they'll live forever..........FDA to Ban Artery-Clogging Trans Fats

FDA to Ban Artery-Clogging Trans Fats:
"The FDA planned to announce Thursday it will require the food industry to gradually phase out all trans fats, saying they are a threat to people's health. "

Meebee Barry will help 'em out.......Detroit seeks approval for loan Moody's calls 'unprecedented'

Detroit seeks approval for loan Moody's calls 'unprecedented' | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Detroit sought court permission to borrow $350 million to help fund its record municipal bankruptcy, a loan that Moody's Investors Service Inc. called "unprecedented.""

Oh boy. Choice for the union bosses. But not for the workers.....Election 2013’s Biggest Winner? Labor Unions

Election 2013’s Biggest Winner? Labor Unions | TIME.com:
"The victories are a change for the beleaguered labor unions, which have struggled for influence in recent years as national and state leaders have enacted right-to-work laws, vetoed bills to raise the minimum wage, and run and won on antiunion platforms."

'Cash for Clunkers' as prologue to Healthcare.gov nightmare

'Cash for Clunkers' as prologue to Healthcare.gov nightmare: George Will | OregonLive.com:
"Cash for Clunkers lasted 55 days and ended with confusion that was a preview of things to come.
The New York Times (Aug. 1, 2009) explained the final surge of demand for clunker funds:

"Around the country, dealers had put off the laborious task of applying for the rebates ... which requires entering the 17-character identification numbers of each vehicle to be scrapped, scanning images of proof of insurance and filling out other paperwork.
The computer system was overloaded, according to the dealers. 
They said they would finish one page in the application, hit Enter and nothing would happen. 
Eventually a message would appear notifying the dealer that the page had 'timed out.' Tom Frew, the business manager at Galpin Motors in Los Angeles, said that he needed 35 tries to register just one of the company's 11 dealerships on the day that the program opened because of problems with the government website. 
On Friday, he spent an hour processing just one rebate application, he said.""

"White-Hispanic" lobby silent.....DOJ Still Wants To Charge Zimmerman

DOJ Still Wants To Charge Zimmerman:
"Though he cannot face criminal prosecution related directly to Martin’s murder, Holder explained the Department of Justice can still seek civil rights-based charges.
“I’m not sure exactly how much longer that will take,” he said Monday, “but we will get to a point where we are able to make a determination.”"

Our "justice system" at work------Sheriff alerts public: Northern Michigan killer, rapist leaving prison

Sheriff alerts public: Northern Michigan killer, rapist leaving prison | MLive.com:

Porter was 21 years old in December 1971 when he pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder. The Suttons Bay High School graduate admitted to strangling Barbara Belfour, 43, whose body was found covered in snow behind her home on Valentine's Day 1971. Porter went to high school with Belfour's children and was home on leave from the Army at the time of the homicide.

Wayne Porter was sentenced to 12 to 25 years in prison. 

.....He was released on parole on March 23, 1979 after serving 7 years 3 months and he returned to Suttons Bay.

******************************************************

On August 6, 1979, a 16 year-old runaway reported that she was hitch hiking on S Airport Road in Grand Traverse County. The child was in foster care and had snuck out of her foster home in an attempt to return to her mother in Reed City.

She later told her social worker that she was picked up, kidnapped and raped. 

..The victim said that she was picked up by a white male with black hair and a stocky build. The man was Wayne Porter. 

..Porter tied her hands behind her back with a rope he had and made her sit on the floor of the car while he held the knife to her throat. The kidnapper tried to cram a towel down the victim's throat as he drove. He tried to choke her into unconsciousness several times while driving as well. The victim was not cut or stabbed with the knife.

After he drove to Leelanau County, Porter stopped the car and attempted to choke her out again and used both his thumbs, one in each eye, to attempt to push her eyeballs back into her head. The victim remained bound with her hands behind her back while still seated on the Volkswagen floor. The man continued to choke her into unconsciousness as he removed her clothing and sexually assaulted her. 

...The suspect took her out of the car after the assault and took her to a creek that ran into the Lake Leelanau Narrows. Porter grabbed her by the hair and forced her head into the water multiple times while telling her he was going to drown her. Thinking she was going to die, the victim decided to start talking about anything that came in her head. She said "Daddy, what are you doing to me"? Wayne Porter immediately stopped trying to drown her and said "Oh my God, what am I doing?" He then untied her and took her into an abandoned trailer that was on his grandparents' property. The Volkswagen that he kidnapped the victim with was stuck in sand so he could not drive away.

The victim said Porter laid newspapers, plastic and old life jackets on the floor and she slept on and off throughout the night. In the morning they were not able to get the vehicle unstuck. Porter asked her why she didn't scream so the neighboring house could hear her. She told him that there was no need because he would get his punishment when he died. He then for some reason showed her his driver's license and asked if he took her to a phone, would she want him to wait for the cops to come.

The victim said Porter then gave her the knife he had held to her throat earlier and told her if she was going to use it on him, to do it quickly. She gave him the knife back and began to talk to him about God and how her foster father was a preacher. He agreed to talk to her foster dad sometime.

Porter then took her to a boat that was tied on the Narrows and rowed her across to the village of Lake Leelanau. They walked to the grocery store and she used the payphone to call her case worker. Porter went into the store and bought her cigarettes and a pop.

As they sat on the curb in front of the store, Porter told the victim that her case worker would call the cops and they would know where to find him. He went back to the boat and the victim did not see him again.

...Porter pleaded guilty to the 1st Degree CSC in return for the Attempted Murder charge being dropped. He was sentenced on April 29, 1980 by 13th Circuit Court judge Charles Forster to 60-90 years in prison. 

"Little Brother" to Detroit-----Flint voters elect two convicted felons, two others with bankruptcies to city council

Bummer dudes. 
God doesn't have a vote. 
Nor is he welcomed in Flint anymore.

Flint voters elect two convicted felons, two others with bankruptcies to city council | MLive.com:
"FLINT, MI – The newly elected Flint City Council includes a convicted killer, a man who served probation for felonious assault and two people who have gone through personal bankruptcies.

Wantwaz Davis, who beat incumbent Bernard Lawler by 71 votes to win the Fifth Ward seat, served 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1991.
Davis said he didn't hide his murder conviction from voters and openly talked about the conviction with residents, but it never was publicly reported. 
The Journal learned of the conviction Wednesday and Davis confirmed it when asked.

"The council people are elected.
They're going to get sworn in on Monday.
Nothing you write about it is going to change it now," Council President Scott Kincaid said. 
"It's not something that was hidden or should be a surprise to constituents in the Fifth Ward.""

Racist republicans exhibit "felon-o-phobia"! ----Sebelius: Possible for convicted felons to become Obamacare navigators

Excluding felons?!!
Racist!!
Homophobic!!
Racist!!
Outrageous!!
Felonophobic!!
Next..... and your social security number, credit card numbers and mother's maiden name, please:)


Sebelius: Possible for convicted felons to become Obamacare navigators [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller:
"WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged Wednesday that it would be possible for a convicted felon to become an Obamacare navigator — one of the workers responsible for helping people deal with the ins and outs of the healthcare law.

“Isn’t it true there is no federal requirement for navigators to undergo a criminal background check, even though they will receive personal information from the individuals they help to sign-up up for the Affordable Care Act?” asked Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn at a Senate Finance Committee hearing at which Sebelius was testifying.

“That is true,” Sebelius replied. “States could have an additional background check and other features, but it is not part of the federal requirement.”"

Brits got the same deadbeats as the Colonies! -who'd of guessed!

Britain On The Fiddle Review

Dept of Work & Pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith reportedly “hit the roof” (which must have been painful for such a bald man) when he heard that X Factor contestant Johnny Robinson had been claiming incapacity benefit for years, after all there doesn’t seem to be much wrong with him when he takes to that stage on Saturday evenings.

Although it is yet to be proved that Robinson has actually committed an offence, viewers don’t seem to be too concerned with the camp singer’s behaviour, yet benefit fraudsters cost the British public a whopping £4,000,000,000 a year and economic conditions suggest that figure is unlikely to fall without action.

Tonight the BBC are following those whose job it is to catch those who claim that incapacity benefit when they are fit and well. 

While the rest of us are slaving away or commuting for five hours a day, this lot are working, playing golf, football and all the rest of it. Graham Axford owns a property in France (which he personally re-roofed), sails to the Azores in his own luxury yacht and still gets a free flat in Croydon. Yet even in the face of a council investigation and an orgy of evidence he maintains that he is unable to work because of his bad back.

We then saw a spate of drivers abusing the Disabled Badge system, including one woman who tried to run council workers over, before driving off to a care home and dragging the confused OAP badge-holder in front of the cameras. 
My favourite was the bloke who stalled as he tried to escape the car-park interrogation. 
Smooth.

Read this Texas mom’s thank you letter to President Obama that went viral | Rare

Read this Texas mom’s thank you letter to President Obama that went viral | Rare:

Yolanda Burroughs-Vestal, a single mother from Texas, voiced her concerns in a thank you letter to the president, where she called him “a very selfish and cold hearted man.”

Dear President Obama,

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all you have done and are doing. You see I am a single Mom located in the very small town of Palmer, Texas. I live in a small rental house with my two children. I drive an older car that I pray daily runs just a little longer. I work at a mediocre job bringing home a much lower paycheck than you or your wife could even imagine living on. I have a lot of concerns about the new “Obamacare” along with the taxes being forced on us Americans and debts you are adding to our country. I have a few questions for you Mr. President.

Have you ever struggled to pay your bills? I have.

Have you ever sat and watched your children eat and you eat what was left on their plates when they were done, because there wasn’t enough for you to eat to? I have.

Have you ever had to rob Peter to pay Paul, and it still not be enough? I have.

Have you ever been so sick that you needed to see a doctor and get medicine, but had no health insurance because it was too expensive? I have.

Have you ever had to tell your children no, when they asked for something they needed? I have.

Have you ever patched holes in pants, glued shoes, replaced zippers, because it was cheaper than buying new? I have.

Have you ever had to put an item or two back at the grocery store, because you didn’t have enough money? I have.

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep, because you had no clue how you were going to make ends meet? I have.

My questions could go on and on. I don’t believe you have a clue what Americans are actually going through and honestly, I don’t believe you care. Not everyone lives extravagantly. While your family takes expensive trips that cost more than most of us make in two-four years, there are so many of us that suffer. Yet, you are doing all you can to add to the suffering. I think you are a very selfish and cold hearted man, who does not care what is best for the people he was elected by (not by me) to represent, but more so out for the glory of your name attached to history. So thank you Mr. President, thank you for pushing those of us that are barely staying afloat completely under water and driving America into the ground. You have made your mark in history, as the absolute worst and most hated president of the United States. God have mercy on your soul!

Sincerely,

Yolanda Vestal

Average American

Andit only took 5 years! ------------------Chart Of The Day: Bernanke Has Officially Created The Bizarro Market

Chart Of The Day: Bernanke Has Officially Created The Bizarro Market | Zero Hedge:

Over the past year there has been some confusion about whether Ben Bernanke has managed to not only completely break the stock market (which, if one harkens back to hallowed antiquity used to discount good or bad news in the future, and "trade" accordingly), but also invert it fully. The chart below from Guggenheim will once and for all put any such confusion to rest.

As Guggenheim's Scott Minderd points out "The 52-week correlation between S&P 500 returns and the change in the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index has plunged from 0.45 to -0.13 over the past 12 months.
A negative correlation indicates that weak U.S. economic data tends to push equity prices higher, while strong economic data tends to send them lower."

What's the explanation?

In a similar manner to 2005, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 200 basis points in a year, the current plunge in this correlation indicates that the expectation of continued monetary accommodation has trumped economic fundamentals to become the main factor determining the near-term outlook for U.S. equities.

In short: a broken, inverted market, driven purely and entirely by hopes of an even bigger liquidity bubble, and even more greater fools to offload to.

Geography....

Wave the Barry-wand and "poof", inconvenient laws simply disappear------Strategic Move Exempts Health Law From Broader U.S. Statute

Strategic Move Exempts Health Law From Broader U.S. Statute - NYTimes.com:
"WASHINGTON — The Affordable Care Act is the biggest new health care program in decades, but the Obama administration has ruled that neither the federal insurance exchange nor the federal subsidies paid to insurance companies on behalf of low-income people are “federal health care programs.”
The surprise decision, disclosed last week, exempts subsidized health insurance from a law that bans rebates, kickbacks, bribes and certain other financial arrangements in federal health programs, stripping law enforcement of a powerful tool used to fight fraud in other health care programs, like Medicare."

It was actually a pop-tart from Mars!

Fun read of the day! Schadenfreude is greatly underrated------Loyal Obama Supporters, Canceled by Obamacare

Loyal Obama Supporters, Canceled by Obamacare - ProPublica:
"So what is Hammack going to do?
If his income were to fall below four times the federal poverty level, or about $62,000 for a family of two, he would qualify for subsidies that could lower his premium cost to as low as zero.
If he makes even one dollar more, he gets nothing.
That’s what he’s leaning toward — lowering his salary or shifting more money toward a retirement account and applying for a subsidy."

An Oregon Football Coach Was Fired For Planning A Party At Hooters

An Oregon Football Coach Was Fired For Planning A Party At Hooters:
"In news that would have made every Little League coach I ever had as a kid piss his baseball shorts with laughter, an Oregon middle school football coach has been fired because he wanted to host a team party at Hooters and he would not back down from demands from the school district’s athletic director that he reconsider.
 In fact, coach Randy Burbach told Corbett School District AD Jean-Paul Soulagnet that he would rather lose his job than tell his kids that they couldn’t enjoy some above-average jumbo wings at Jon Gruden’s favorite restaurant.
So Soulagnet fired him.
It’s funny how that works out, when employees lay down an ultimatum and are quickly booted.
It’s almost like it’s a horrible idea."

Top 100 Inspirational Quotes

Top 100 Inspirational Quotes - Forbes: "
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs"
Read 'em all

And the liberal media covers up for them again-------Obama-linked firm received 'unauthorized' $100,000 contract for Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity effort

Obama-linked firm received 'unauthorized' $100,000 contract for Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity effort | The Daily Caller:
"The marketing firm that created first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” anti-obesity campaign’s logo, slogan and web design has close ties to the Obama administration and was paid $100,000 in an “unauthorized” no-bid contract, according to internal documents."