Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
John Brennan Deputy National Security Adviser
I thought that Biden couldn't be out done in saying stupid things.
"'People sometimes use that figure, 20 percent, say Oh my goodness, one out of five detainees returned to some type of extremist activity,' Brennan said. 'You know, the American penal system, the recidivism rate is up to something about 50 percent or so, as far as return to crime. Twenty percent isn't that bad.'"
John if that 20% comes and kills you is that bad?
Released terrorists have a 100% recidivism rate, because they aren't criminals, they are terrorists. These people are not motivated by illegal gain they are motivated by ideology. That ideology requires them to kill.
Turn them loose in Manhatten with a bus ticket, I don't think the people of New York would hinder them.
Brantigny
"'People sometimes use that figure, 20 percent, say Oh my goodness, one out of five detainees returned to some type of extremist activity,' Brennan said. 'You know, the American penal system, the recidivism rate is up to something about 50 percent or so, as far as return to crime. Twenty percent isn't that bad.'"
John if that 20% comes and kills you is that bad?
Released terrorists have a 100% recidivism rate, because they aren't criminals, they are terrorists. These people are not motivated by illegal gain they are motivated by ideology. That ideology requires them to kill.
Turn them loose in Manhatten with a bus ticket, I don't think the people of New York would hinder them.
Brantigny
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Iran's latest (fashion) threat to the US
Last week Iran declared that it would deliver a blow to the west. It has arrived! Pictured above, the threat (to the fashion industry) was revealed as the president of Iran modelled a new line of sunglasses designed to set the fashion world on it's end, and bring high fashion to it's knees. Called Mullahs these glasses are being touted to "shield your eyes from the glare of the mother of all sunny days!". Al Gore, who has been missing lately, came out of hiding to say that these sunglasses could not have come at a better time."WE are number one!" says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic revolutionary government. If the president of the United States can run GM why can't we run the fashion industry?
Iranian women are seen flocking to buy their new Mullahs!
Buy a pair today!
In other news Iran also declared that it has nuclear weapons and the abilty to manufacture weapons grade uranium. No one in Washington noticed because they were off today again due to global warming.
Brantigny
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
The ad of controversy.... (cross post)
This is the add which caused the rucus...
...So "NOW", "Planned Parenthood", and "NAF" all who support abortion today have egg on their face. Once again the age old adage applies, "...It is better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt...".
The intolerance of the left has never changed. Even before this ad aired the pro-aborts were against it because any add which celebrates life and does not agree with the left can not be tolerated by the left.
Praise God!
Dieu Le Roy!
Brantigny
...So "NOW", "Planned Parenthood", and "NAF" all who support abortion today have egg on their face. Once again the age old adage applies, "...It is better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt...".
The intolerance of the left has never changed. Even before this ad aired the pro-aborts were against it because any add which celebrates life and does not agree with the left can not be tolerated by the left.
Praise God!
Dieu Le Roy!
Brantigny
Friday, February 5, 2010
How is that loss of soverenty working for you?
The Euro like the Dollar not is printed by the local governments but by a central banking system. If Greece and Portugal revert to their own currency it will mark the end of the European Union as it is now known. Unlike the United States (after which it is modelled)the European Union is a loosely confederated group of states, each of which is richer or poorer depending on where it was fiancially in Europe before the union. Now the richer "states" are finding it hard to support their own local economies while shoring up the poorer nations.
Europe's debt crisis intensifies
By AOIFE WHITE and PAN PYLAS, AP Business Writers Aoife White And Pan Pylas, Ap Business Writers – 1 hr 49 mins ago
BRUSSELS – Fears of another crisis spiral for the world economy deepened Friday after the Portuguese parliament defeated a government austerity plan, triggering renewed concern that the financial crisis in that country and in Greece could spread through the eurozone and spill across its borders.
Spooked investors worldwide were fleeing risky assets like stocks. And from Shanghai to Sao Paolo, people were awakening to the reality that what is happening in these European minnow states has vast implications for the fate of the fragile global economic recovery.
Stocks fell in Asia and Europe as governments in Portugal and Greece pushed against fierce political resistance at home to cutbacks aimed at getting their deficits under control.
Markets fear Greece may default or require a costly bailout from already strapped European governments, and those concerns are spreading to other financially troubled governments such as Portugal and Spain.
Portugal's position looked even weaker Friday after opposition parties defeated a government plan for austerity measures that the country needed to pass to soothe markets and reduce the soaring cost of insuring its debt, a measure of investor fear.
"Portugal is next in line with ... what is now a very timid attempt" to bring its deficit down, said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit.
Top EU officials, the economy commissioner Joaqin Almunia and European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet, tried Wednesday and Thursday to reassure markets of the strength of the eurozone and Greece's determination to bring down spending. But markets haven't listened.
The reason is a growing reassessment of government finances worldwide, and knowledge that a Greek default would tear new holes in banks' already battered finances if they hold Greek bonds, most of which were sold to west European investors outside Greece.
The Athens government has outstanding securities of euro290 billion, more than twice those of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, whose bankruptcy brought the world financial system to its knees.
Those fears have pounded stock markets in recent days, with German, French and British stocks closing down 1.8, 3.4, and 1.5 percent down Friday. What would have been a bounce on Wall Street from positive jobs figures remained flat.
On Friday, the Portuguese opposition passed their own bill, which the government says will punch a euro400 million ($550 million) hole in its budget over the next four years. The government says it is "irresponsible" and that it will try to annul it, risking new political friction.
"The risk of contagion now is very very serious. By the end of next week, if things haven't calmed down or if they have actually intensified further, then it will be a matter of a short while before some steps are being taken," Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said.
European officials have said there is no need for a bailout for Greece and that it will be able to borrow the euro54 billion it needs to plug its budget gap this year.
They say Greece must climb out of the crisis by itself, warning against a financial rescue that would reward Athens' decades-old failure to make its sluggish economy more competitive.
But Tilford said those worries are now swamped by worries of contagion within the eurozone.
"We could get into the position where we have a serious crisis in Spain which might not be containable because Spain's a bigger economy," he said. "It's possible for the eurozone to cope with a bailout in Portugal or Greece but Spain would present a problem of a whole different order."
Governments around the world are going to issue huge amounts of debt this year, making it hard even for countries with good prospects to attract investors who can pick and choose bonds to buy.
That environment will also hike the cost of borrowing for other debt-laden EU members that don't use the euro — such as Britain and Hungary, and making their debt troubles harder to climb out of. However, Greece and Portugal "are right at the bottom of the developed country pile," says Tilford.
Together, Greece and Portugal make up less than 5 percent of economic output in the 16-nation eurozone and would be far less expensive to bail out than Spain, where the economy is a much larger 11.7 percent of eurozone GDP.
Spain has tried to shrug off a comparison with Greece and Portugal — but markets were dubious following comments by EU Economy Commissioner Joaquin Almunia who said Wednesday that high wages and low productivity in all three make them less competitive against other European nations.
Changing that would mean wide economic reforms — such as making labor conditions more flexible and opening up markets for goods and services. Greece is promising to do this but markets doubt that it can in time to generate growth.
In the meantime, hefty public spending cuts could wreck any chance of economic recovery.
"The reason why investors are so scared is that they find it difficult to see how these economies are going to return to reasonably robust growth or any growth," said Tilford, adding that a devaluation usually accompanies such cuts.
Euro countries no longer have their own currency to devalue, which boosts exports and makes them more attractive manufacturing destinations. So instead they have to force wages down by other means, in part by cutting them for public sector workers.
They also have to work toward getting back below the strict EU limits on debt and deficits that the financial crisis has forced them to break, as they spent billions to rescue banks and boost economic growth with extra spending and welfare payments.
Ireland has been widely praised for a harsh budget program to curb its deficit — which, unlike the Greek plan, contains big public sector pay cuts. But Greece faces problems that Ireland doesn't — an aging population, few foreign exports and a credibility problem after it falsified economy statistics last year to make its deficit look smaller.
Greece has pledged to bring its deficit down to the EU limit by 2013 — but there are serious doubts about whether it can, given the huge economic reforms that the EU says are needed and growing public opposition to an austerity program that aims to slash public spending.
Greek tax and customs officials were on strike for a second day Friday while civil servants will walk off the job next Wednesday. However, the government had some relief on Friday as farmers scaled down highway blockades despite not winning the extra subsidies they want.
Tilford said the eurozone also needs to think about the divide between northern export-led countries and its southern big spenders. Germany and the Netherlands "need to consume more" to lead the demand needed to propel Europe out of a long period of stagnant growth.
Next step, radical socialism for all.
Brantigny
Europe's debt crisis intensifies
By AOIFE WHITE and PAN PYLAS, AP Business Writers Aoife White And Pan Pylas, Ap Business Writers – 1 hr 49 mins ago
BRUSSELS – Fears of another crisis spiral for the world economy deepened Friday after the Portuguese parliament defeated a government austerity plan, triggering renewed concern that the financial crisis in that country and in Greece could spread through the eurozone and spill across its borders.
Spooked investors worldwide were fleeing risky assets like stocks. And from Shanghai to Sao Paolo, people were awakening to the reality that what is happening in these European minnow states has vast implications for the fate of the fragile global economic recovery.
Stocks fell in Asia and Europe as governments in Portugal and Greece pushed against fierce political resistance at home to cutbacks aimed at getting their deficits under control.
Markets fear Greece may default or require a costly bailout from already strapped European governments, and those concerns are spreading to other financially troubled governments such as Portugal and Spain.
Portugal's position looked even weaker Friday after opposition parties defeated a government plan for austerity measures that the country needed to pass to soothe markets and reduce the soaring cost of insuring its debt, a measure of investor fear.
"Portugal is next in line with ... what is now a very timid attempt" to bring its deficit down, said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit.
Top EU officials, the economy commissioner Joaqin Almunia and European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet, tried Wednesday and Thursday to reassure markets of the strength of the eurozone and Greece's determination to bring down spending. But markets haven't listened.
The reason is a growing reassessment of government finances worldwide, and knowledge that a Greek default would tear new holes in banks' already battered finances if they hold Greek bonds, most of which were sold to west European investors outside Greece.
The Athens government has outstanding securities of euro290 billion, more than twice those of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, whose bankruptcy brought the world financial system to its knees.
Those fears have pounded stock markets in recent days, with German, French and British stocks closing down 1.8, 3.4, and 1.5 percent down Friday. What would have been a bounce on Wall Street from positive jobs figures remained flat.
On Friday, the Portuguese opposition passed their own bill, which the government says will punch a euro400 million ($550 million) hole in its budget over the next four years. The government says it is "irresponsible" and that it will try to annul it, risking new political friction.
"The risk of contagion now is very very serious. By the end of next week, if things haven't calmed down or if they have actually intensified further, then it will be a matter of a short while before some steps are being taken," Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said.
European officials have said there is no need for a bailout for Greece and that it will be able to borrow the euro54 billion it needs to plug its budget gap this year.
They say Greece must climb out of the crisis by itself, warning against a financial rescue that would reward Athens' decades-old failure to make its sluggish economy more competitive.
But Tilford said those worries are now swamped by worries of contagion within the eurozone.
"We could get into the position where we have a serious crisis in Spain which might not be containable because Spain's a bigger economy," he said. "It's possible for the eurozone to cope with a bailout in Portugal or Greece but Spain would present a problem of a whole different order."
Governments around the world are going to issue huge amounts of debt this year, making it hard even for countries with good prospects to attract investors who can pick and choose bonds to buy.
That environment will also hike the cost of borrowing for other debt-laden EU members that don't use the euro — such as Britain and Hungary, and making their debt troubles harder to climb out of. However, Greece and Portugal "are right at the bottom of the developed country pile," says Tilford.
Together, Greece and Portugal make up less than 5 percent of economic output in the 16-nation eurozone and would be far less expensive to bail out than Spain, where the economy is a much larger 11.7 percent of eurozone GDP.
Spain has tried to shrug off a comparison with Greece and Portugal — but markets were dubious following comments by EU Economy Commissioner Joaquin Almunia who said Wednesday that high wages and low productivity in all three make them less competitive against other European nations.
Changing that would mean wide economic reforms — such as making labor conditions more flexible and opening up markets for goods and services. Greece is promising to do this but markets doubt that it can in time to generate growth.
In the meantime, hefty public spending cuts could wreck any chance of economic recovery.
"The reason why investors are so scared is that they find it difficult to see how these economies are going to return to reasonably robust growth or any growth," said Tilford, adding that a devaluation usually accompanies such cuts.
Euro countries no longer have their own currency to devalue, which boosts exports and makes them more attractive manufacturing destinations. So instead they have to force wages down by other means, in part by cutting them for public sector workers.
They also have to work toward getting back below the strict EU limits on debt and deficits that the financial crisis has forced them to break, as they spent billions to rescue banks and boost economic growth with extra spending and welfare payments.
Ireland has been widely praised for a harsh budget program to curb its deficit — which, unlike the Greek plan, contains big public sector pay cuts. But Greece faces problems that Ireland doesn't — an aging population, few foreign exports and a credibility problem after it falsified economy statistics last year to make its deficit look smaller.
Greece has pledged to bring its deficit down to the EU limit by 2013 — but there are serious doubts about whether it can, given the huge economic reforms that the EU says are needed and growing public opposition to an austerity program that aims to slash public spending.
Greek tax and customs officials were on strike for a second day Friday while civil servants will walk off the job next Wednesday. However, the government had some relief on Friday as farmers scaled down highway blockades despite not winning the extra subsidies they want.
Tilford said the eurozone also needs to think about the divide between northern export-led countries and its southern big spenders. Germany and the Netherlands "need to consume more" to lead the demand needed to propel Europe out of a long period of stagnant growth.
Next step, radical socialism for all.
Brantigny
Thursday, February 4, 2010
North Carolina Schools May Cut Chunk Out of U.S. History Lessons
Rewritng History? This is the same thing that Russia did after the revolution.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
By Molly Henneberg Fox News
He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877.
State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth.
"We are certainly not trying to go away from American history," Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told Fox News. "What we are trying to do is figure out a way to teach it where students are connected to it, where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day."
As the North Carolina curriculum stands now, ninth-grade students take world history, 10th-graders study civics and economics and 11th-graders take U.S. history going back to the country's founding.
Under the proposed change, the ninth-graders would take a course called global studies, focusing in part on issues such as the environment. The 10th grade still would study civics and economics, but 11th-graders would take U.S. history only from 1877 onward.
Math, science and English classes are also getting an update.
Critics say the state's decade-old high school curriculum may need an update — but not like this.
"The answer isn't to throw out fundamental portions of U.S. history," said Mike Belter, a U.S. history teacher and social studies director. "This is not preparing our kids to have a deep historical perspective that can be used to analyze modern events for themselves."
Educational policy analyst Terry Stoops agrees.
"I'm all for a global outlook, but it should not be at the expense of American history and learning about American institutions and ideas," he told Fox News.
But those considering the proposal say kids will still learn the basics.
"The students are in school for 13 years," said Garland. "They certainly are taught U.S. and North Carolina history in middle school."
Garland says they're making this curriculum revision process very public to get as much feedback as possible.
Brantigny
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
By Molly Henneberg Fox News
He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877.
State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth.
"We are certainly not trying to go away from American history," Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told Fox News. "What we are trying to do is figure out a way to teach it where students are connected to it, where they see the big idea, where they are able to make connections and draw relationships between parts of our history and the present day."
As the North Carolina curriculum stands now, ninth-grade students take world history, 10th-graders study civics and economics and 11th-graders take U.S. history going back to the country's founding.
Under the proposed change, the ninth-graders would take a course called global studies, focusing in part on issues such as the environment. The 10th grade still would study civics and economics, but 11th-graders would take U.S. history only from 1877 onward.
Math, science and English classes are also getting an update.
Critics say the state's decade-old high school curriculum may need an update — but not like this.
"The answer isn't to throw out fundamental portions of U.S. history," said Mike Belter, a U.S. history teacher and social studies director. "This is not preparing our kids to have a deep historical perspective that can be used to analyze modern events for themselves."
Educational policy analyst Terry Stoops agrees.
"I'm all for a global outlook, but it should not be at the expense of American history and learning about American institutions and ideas," he told Fox News.
But those considering the proposal say kids will still learn the basics.
"The students are in school for 13 years," said Garland. "They certainly are taught U.S. and North Carolina history in middle school."
Garland says they're making this curriculum revision process very public to get as much feedback as possible.
Brantigny
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