What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Sure. Why not? What could possibly go wrong?
From TheHill “Protesters are expected to gather Thursday evening at the White House as part of a national “Day of Rage” over the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teen earlier this month in Missouri.
The planned rally is among dozens around the nation organized by the group Anonymous, which is demanding the “immediate arrest and prosecution” of officer Darren Wilson. Wilson has been identified as the officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9, touching off violent protests in the streets of Ferguson, Mo.
“We call upon the citizens of the United States to collectively gather in support for those who are suffering in Ferguson,” a voice claiming to represent Anonymous says in a video posted to YouTube. “We must indeed all hang together as one nation or most assuredly we will all hang separately.””
The gathering is being held at night? Gee, I wonder why?….. 🙄
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2. We now know that the US launched a failed attempt to rescue American journalist James Foley and others.
From ABCNews “U.S. special operations forces early this summer launched a secret, major rescue operation in Syria to save James Foley and a number of Americans held by the extremist group ISIS, but the mission failed because the hostages weren’t there, senior administration officials told ABC News today.
President Obama authorized the “substantial and complex” rescue operation after the officials said a “broad collection of intelligence” led the U.S. to believe the hostages were being held in a specific location in the embattled Middle Eastern nation.
When “several dozen” U.S. special operation members landed in Syria, however, they were met with gunfire and “while on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,” one of the officials said. The special operators engaged in a firefight in which ISIS suffered “a good number” casualties, the official said, while the American forces suffered only a single minor injury.
The American forces were able to get back on helicopters and escape.”
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3. The already shady indictment of Rick Perry is lookin’ even shadier now.
From MediaTrackers “Rho Chalmers, who disclosed to the Houston Chronicle yesterday that she was a member of the grand jury that indicted Texas Gov. Rick Perry, was an active delegate to the Texas Democratic Party convention during grand jury proceedings. Chalmers’ active participation in Democratic state politics is important because she claimed yesterday to the Houston Chronicle that her decision to indict Perry, a Republican, was not based on politics.
“For me, it’s not a political decision,” Chalmers told the newspaper. “That’s what a grand jury is about – take the emotion out of it and look at the facts and make your best decision based on your life experience.” More troubling, however, is the fact that Chalmers attended, photographed, and commented on an event with Democratic state Sen. Kirk Watson while grand jury proceedings were ongoing.”
“The grand jury was selected in April of 2014 and its proceedings did not conclude until it returned two indictments of Perry last week. While grand jurors are not generally prohibited from engaging in political activity, Chalmers’ apparent giddiness at attending an event for a grand jury witness calls into question her ability to objectively scrutinize his testimony. Watson had testified before Chalmers and the rest of her colleagues on the grand jury just one month before Chalmers attended his event. Knowingly seeking out participation in an event featuring a grand jury witness while grand jury proceedings were ongoing also seems highly questionable.
Numerous posts from both of Chalmers’ Facebook pages — her personal page, which she shares with her husband, Davis, and her “Developer’s Dungeon” page — make clear that she is a partisan Democratic activist, and that she was an active participant in the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention in June while grand jury proceedings were ongoing.”
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4. 35.4%=Unsustainable.
From CNSNews “109,631,000 Americans lived in households that received benefits from one or more federally funded “means-tested programs” — also known as welfare — as of the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau has not yet reported how many were on welfare in 2013 or the first two quarters of 2014.
But the 109,631,000 living in households taking federal welfare benefits as of the end of 2012, according to the Census Bureau, equaled 35.4 percent of all 309,467,000 people living in the United States at that time.
When those receiving benefits from non-means-tested federal programs — such as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and veterans benefits — were added to those taking welfare benefits, it turned out that 153,323,000 people were getting federal benefits of some type at the end of 2012.”
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5. Something to keep in mind as summer winds down.
From TheAP “The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the familiar, 223-year-old chronicler of climate, folksy advice and fun facts, is predicting a colder winter and warmer summer for much of the nation.
Published Wednesday, the New Hampshire-based almanac predicts a “super-cold” winter in the eastern two-thirds of the country. The west will remain a little bit warmer than normal.
“Colder is just almost too familiar a term,” Editor Janice Stillman said. “Think of it as a refriger-nation.”
More bad news for those who can’t stand snow: Most of the Northeast is expected to get more snowfall than normal, though it will be below normal in New England.”
Yay. 😦
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Wandering Views 
#4 means we are clearly past the point of no return.
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Maybe I’m a little sensitive here since my husband is a retired Navy guy, but do you honestly think we should be lumped in with people who did not work 12 hours a day when in port, stand duty every couple days most of those 20 years and see their less educated college roommates clean up on salaries, never mind the months spent away from home and 12 moves around the country?
Can my husband’s pension be weighed against the, literal, billions of dollars his expertise saved the US Navy? Frankly, I think the taxpayers got a bargain from his years of service.
I see the point: we’ve lost a culture of personal pride in doing a good job– but not at my house. 😦
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I agree with Ricky that its unsustainable but for different reasons — the current distribution of wealth/income is not a sustainable economic model nor is the method used to alleviate this inequity.
However, the numbers are slightly deceiving. Most food stamp recipients actually work, just ask your friendly Walmart greeter. Raise the minimum wage and the number of food stamp recipients will go down.(ie instead of welfare, change the economic structure slightly) Some of the recipients may have been counted twice — Social Secuirty recipients and veterans may also collect food stamps so you cant just add the two groups together.
Similar to Anon, i would take issue with including veterans and Social Security recipients. The later is a pension in which the funds remunerated are based in part on the funds previously contributed and in no way constitutes welfare.
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I am in that group. The government gives me a stipend every month.
But from the day I started working, they took 7.5% of my entire paycheck, and added another 7.5% (Part of my contract, most of you have something similar) to make 15% into the pot. if managed well, that, over the years should provide enough to sustain the output. Many years ago, I started sending $50/month into a stock plan. It worked out well. Those things work if managed well. And if inflation doesn’t steal the value of the input. It’s the people who start with nothing and contribute nothing that stress the system. And they’re never satisfied with what they have.
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I believe that’s why means tested and non means were separated. Non means tested is usually earned, military, SS, UC, it’s not welfare in the traditional sense. It is included because the govt pays it, but it’s not the same. They are mentioned, but are not in the 35.4%.
Your husband earned that thru service and sacrifice, not thru signing up for a govt handout.
And I thank your husband and family for their contribution. He’s earned it, worked for it, and deserves it. 🙂
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/08/21/Former-CIA-Officer-A-Lot-of-Communication-Between-ISIS-and-Mexican-Cartels
Former CIA covert operations officer Mike Baker said that he believes there is “a lot of communication” between ISIS and Mexican drug cartels given past efforts by al Qaeda to do likewise on Thursday’s “Laura Ingraham Show.”
“We’ve had good intel over the years about al Qaeda, about their efforts to coordinate with, as an example, Mexican cartels…in an effort to try to exploit our southern border” he reported, adding that a terrorist group like ISIS “absolutely” knows about the lack of security on the border.
Baker stated he believes there is “a lot of communication” between ISIS and drug cartels. And “the cartels are a business … if there’s a revenue stream they can exploit, then they will, and the extremists understand that.”
There is a scenario like that that opens one of Tom Clancy’s books.
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Agree with Michelle on putting in the years and accepting a well earned pension. I agree with my husband that the States that took our children from their bio families, ought to be kicking in on some of their care and issues. Some of our children will probably always be eligible for Social Security but we have not applied. Maybe we should before they turn eighteen to help them through the obstacles. I am not sure about the speech/occupational therapy type things many of them qualify for. We did get a couple of them into the mental health system on our dollar so, if they ever leave us, they can get the needed treatment. We were told it is easier to receive services if you are already on file with a track record. As long as it is all still available….
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Like I said, we are past the point of no return. Yes, vets and other retirees are different from welfare recipients. If I live long enough I may even be a Social Security recipient. However, Social Security Retirement and Medicare are Ponzi schemes that must be reformed if the US is to avoid bankruptcy. Similarly, millions are fraudulently receiving Social Security Disability payments. This cries out for reform.
Several parts of the former USSR were able to secede as that country approached bankruptcy. A Confederate must look on the bright side.
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I believe we are past the point of no return, but even then, God can heal our nation. I don’t suppose He will but I pray that He will if we have any more purpose in His plan to be a strong healthy force.
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It only took 10 to save Soddom . . . We’ve got at least that many on this blog. 🙂
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In looking at the final figure including SS and veterans etc., some may have been counted twice — receiving both SS and food stamps for example. I wonder what the number would be if we subtracted the food stamp recipients who were working. Raising the minimal wage would eliminate some food stamp use and make the welfare burden more acceptable. Possible tweaks to the system including raising the minimum wage may make it possible for the system to endure.
I’ve always accepted the notion that the SS is a Ponzi scheme but elsewhere I’ve read it is and should be solvent — the real problem is gov’t “temporary” use of these funds to minimize shortfalls elsewhere.
Interesting article in the Nation where a former Marine describes the weapons used by the police in Ferguson. Ignore the editorializing and take stock at the weaponry employed;
http://www.thenation.com/article/181315/catalog-ferguson-police-weaponry#
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