What’s interesting in the news today?
Open thread.
1. Unsustainable.
From CSNNews “Buried deep on the website of the U.S. Census Bureau is a number every American citizen, and especially those entrusted with public office, should know. It is 86,429,000.
That is the number of Americans who in 2012 got up every morning and went to work — in the private sector — and did it week after week after week.”
“Of the 103,087,000 full-time, year-round workers, 16,606,000 worked for the government. That included 12,597,000 who worked for state and local government and 4,009,000 who worked for the federal government.”
“In the last quarter of 2011, according to the Census Bureau, approximately 82,457,000 people lived in households where one or more people were on Medicaid. 49,073,000 lived in households were someone got food stamps. 23,228,000 lived in households where one or more got WIC. 20,223,000 lived in households where one or more got SSI. 13,433,000 lived in public or government-subsidized housing.”
I know Math is hard and all, but 86 million cannot sustain 148 million for long. Anyone with even a basic understanding of math can see that.
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2. Inflation? The Obama admin insists there is none.
From ZeroHedge “Soaring Food Inflation Full Frontal: Beef, Pork And Shrimp Prices Soar To Record Highs”
“We previously noted that both beef and pork (courtesy of the affectionately named Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus) prices have been reaching new all time highs on an almost daily basis. It is time to update the chart. Below we show what a world in which the Fed is constantly lamenting the lack of inflation looks like for beef prices…”
Click the link to see the charts. It’s not pretty, and it shows no sign of coming down anytime soon.
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3. NATO is moving more military assets into the Ukraine border area in response to Russia’s continued meddling. A little late to the game, no?
From TheNYTimes ” The head of NATO pledged on Wednesday to immediately step up military patrols along the alliance’s vast eastern border in response to mounting evidence of Russian interference in Ukraine.
The announcement by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, appeared to be another sign that the confrontation with Russia over Ukraine was becoming more acute. But Mr. Rasmussen emphasized that the move was designed to be a deterrent rather than preparation for conflict.
“Our decisions today are about defense, deterrence and de-escalation,” Mr. Rasmussen said in a statement posted on the NATO website. “NATO will protect every ally and defend against any threat against our fundamental security,” he said.
Even so, the moves represent a significant strengthening of NATO’s posture in a region where it is already operating an air-policing mission in the Baltic states and surveillance flights over Poland and Romania.”
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4. How many cases do you need before you can call it an epidemic?
From TheDailyMail “Over the last five years, more than 100 New York City school employees, including teachers, have engaged in racy extracurricular activities — sexual or ‘inappropriate’ relationships with students — over the last five years.
The shocking statistics comes from Richard Condon, the special commissioner of investigation for the New York City Department of Education, who has looked into more than 593 complaints about illicit teacher-student relationships, the New York Post reported. Of that number, 104 cases were confirmed as relationships of either a sexual or otherwise inappropriate nature.”
“Even more troubling, the more than 100 trysts are only a small part of the sexual misconduct complaints Condon’s office received.
For example, in 2013 alone, his office received 566 complaints against Department of Education employees involving a ‘sexual component,’ which includes groping, molestation and assault. It opened 233 investigations and substantiated 24 percent, or 58, Condon reports.”
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5. And NY isn’t the only state with this problem. It’s more likely every state.
From AL.com “Between 2008 and 2013, there have been about 150 cases of inappropriate relationships reported to the Alabama Department of Education. These “relationships” include not only sexual intercourse between a teacher and a student, but also inappropriately romantic or sexual communications between the two, said Susan Tudor Crowther, an attorney in the Office of General Counsel for the Alabama Department of Education.
For 2013, 66 percent of those complaints involved male teachers, while 34 percent involved female teachers. Are the numbers on the rise? It appears so, said Crowther who recently wrote an article for a trade publication called “Hot For Teacher: When Good Teachers Go Bad.”
“It is not clear why they appear to be on the rise. It is possible that we are simply getting more reports of such behavior,” Crowther said. “In 2010, a law was passed criminalizing sexual relationships between teachers and students. This may have prompted increased reporting. “
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The leftists have been promoting it across the liberal mainstream media. There is a minor hole in the media’s coverage of Common Core; they never ask the ones being affected by this platform: the students. In order to establish my future statements, I am a sophomore in high school; I am an honors student participating in the college prep course.
Recently I was “selected” to participate in a “test of the test” for the new Common Core state test (the PARCC) which is set to replace the PSAE in the state of Illinois. On paper, Common Core sounds like a good idea, asking a student to explain how they got the wrong answer to a math problem and if they can explain their answer giving them credit for their work; however, in the long term, this will only undermine the American education system. We all (I hope) have been taught that 2+2=4. Under Common Core, if a student answers with 5 instead of 4, and can explain their answer, the student will receive credit.
School officials have said that Common Core is meant to drift towards the “how” and “why” questions instead of correct computation.
Read more at http://eaglerising.com/5668/illinois-cooking-books-common-core/#v8QG7gr3M0xd7Qm0.99
Wandering Views 
Hurrah for Chile! It is Christian, free and relatively unperverted.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/04/oppenheimer_cautious_about_latin_america.html
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Hurrah for Mulim cab drivers who refuse to promote perversion!
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/04/some_cleveland_hopkins_cab_dri.html
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Nightmare. IRS investigators are being investigated, apparently by the foxes:
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/04/16/the-terrifying-implications-of-the-irs-abuse-doj-connection/?singlepage=true
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Another nightmare. Jews are being ordered to register in the Ukraine: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/
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Anon,
Exactly.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/jw-obtains-irs-documents-showing-lerner-contact-doj-potential-prosecution-tax-exempt-groups/
“Judicial Watch today released a new batch of internal IRS documents revealing that former IRS official Lois Lerner communicated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) about whether it was possible to criminally prosecute certain tax-exempt entities. The documents were obtained as a result of an October 2013 Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after the agency refused to respond to four FOIA requests dating back to May 2013.”
“These new emails show that the day before she broke the news of the IRS scandal, Lois Lerner was talking to a top Obama Justice Department official about whether the DOJ could prosecute the very same organizations that the IRS had already improperly targeted,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The IRS emails show Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is now implicated and conflicted in the IRS scandal. No wonder we had to sue in federal court to get these documents.”
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And the same DoJ is involved here, so of course they say nobody who took the money knew anything. Nothing to see here either…. Just like with the IRS, Benghazi, FandF, and the numerous other scandals.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101592670
“A hotel executive and Democratic fundraiser has pleaded guilty in New York to witness tampering and conspiracy to evade campaign finance laws.
Sant Singh Chatwal appeared Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. The candidates were not identified.
Chatwal had raised at least $100,000 for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign against Barack Obama.”
” “There is no allegation that the candidates participated in, or were aware of, Chatwal’s scheme,” the DOJ said. ”
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“A source close to the investigation told the Observer the campaigns belonged to Ms. Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and then-Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek, who ran an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in 2010.
Federal finance records show that a Mr. Chatwal contributed to Ms. Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Multiple individuals with the same last name and hotel employer also gave to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a Democratic National Committee account, the records show.
Mr. Chatwal additionally appears to be a financial supporter of two federal lawmakers in Queens: Congressman Joe Crowley, the head of the DCCC, and Gary Ackerman, who recently retired. He also gave extensively to Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign.”
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rw: I’m giving odds that the courts do not rule against the Muslim cab drivers. That’s just the way that it is…
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Tychicus, I hope you are right. I would like to think that sixty years ago Christian cab drivers would have refused to drive cabs that promoted perversion. American Christianity has become very watered-down.
Your Spurs are looking good. I hope my Thunder will make it to the Conference Finals. Last night I watched the Mavs and Grizzlies really battle with both teams trying to avoid the Spurs in the first round.
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rw: The Spurs are even better than last year and will be playing with a chip on their shoulders b/c of what happened in the Finals last June. Barring serious injury, I like their chances. The Thunder will have a very physical first round series with the Grizzlies. I hope our teams meet in the WCF…
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