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 