2012 May

2nd month of the 2nd quarter of the 23rd year of the Bush-Clinton-Shrub-Obummer economic depression

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updated: 2021-01-05
 

  "The Apache had experienced it all before...   Though orators sounded in the 'civilized' halls of their parliaments with speeches on the holy cause of 'freedom'; though the scribes, with deep and moving phrases, wrote of this cause for mankind -- it was the Apache, for generations, who had lived on the thin line of death, running, hiding, fighting, raiding, moving; who had fought for, and only for, this 'freedom'.   Freedom from government!   Freedom from the tributes, the taxes, the regulations, the parasite bureaucrats -- the inevitable bureaucracy that sucked man dry of his spiritual self and ground him, rotting his soul with ambition for money, prestige, power; all the currents of storm and hell that man moves above the Mother Earth." --- Bedford Forrest Carter/Guhyi Usdi/Little Tree 1976, 2004 _Josey Wales_ pg359  

 
 
2012 May
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  "All these models have this awkward feature, known as the Big Bang, where everything goes wrong, right at the beginning.   The Universe is infinitely dense, infinitely hot and so on -- somethign has gone badly wrong with the theory." --- Roger Penrose (in Roger Penrose, Abner Simony, Nancy Cartwright & Stephen Hawking 1999 _The Large, the Small and the Human Mind_ (201 pages; 006.3) pg36)  

 
 

 

 


captain William Scott's flag for the Republic of Texas.

2012 May

2nd month of the 2nd quarter of the 13th year of the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama economic depression


 
 

2012-05-01

2012-05-01
Benny Peiser
news-bytes: fleeing the "green" nightmare

2012-05-01
_Rasmussen_
daily tracking poll of candidates for president

2012-05-01
Joe Bast
new evidence continuse to point to Peter Glieck as likely forger

2012-05-01
Anthony Watts
Obummer admin released new 10 year plan for climate research and propaganda

2012-05-01
_KRGV Rio Grande Valley TX_
40 illegal aliens piled out of an SUV at traffic stop in Mission: police arrested 22 and are coordinating hunt for the rest with ICE

2012-05-01
Anthony Watts
Weather Channel founder John Colemans' report on Svensmarks' theory of cosmic-ray effects on climate

2012-05-01
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
terrorist-linked Al-Mayadeen (the square) setting up shop near White House
"Ben Jeddo is infamous for welcoming a terrorist out of prison with an on-air party (VIDEO).   Samir Kuntar, who in 1979 killed a father and the man's 4-year-old daughter by beating her head against shore rocks in Nahariya, Israel, was released in a 2008 prisoner exchange.   To welcome the terrorist home and celebrate Kuntar's 46th year on this earth, Beirut's bureau chief rolled out a cake for the murderer that included a 'most beautiful picture', in Kuntar's words, of Nasrallah...   Nayef Krayyem, owner of a satellite provider called Union Media, is a former spokesman for Hezbollah and onetime general manager of Al-Manar, Hezbollah’s satellite television station.   In 1995, Krayyem was selected to be head of Hezbollah's Central Information Office.   He would help the group's TV arm get off the ground...   Once describing the relationship between Hezbollah and Al-Manar, Krayyem said, 'They breathe life into one another.   Each provides the other with inspiration.   Hezbollah uses Al-Manar to express its stands and its views, etc.   Al-Manar in turn receives political support for its continuation.'   In 2006, the Treasury Department placed Al-Manar under sanctions as a specially designated global terrorist entity, noting that the official media arm facilitated Hezbollah activities, employed Hezbollah members, supported Palestinian terror organizations, and supported Hezbollah fund-raising and [recruiting] efforts...   Al-Mayadeen lists its address as an office in the National Press Club building...   'Its income is derived solely from private investors who are faithful to its mission.', the description adds.   That mission includes featuring the Palestinian cause heavily in its programming, Ben Jeddo said in announcing the venture last year, and excluding any Israeli officials as guests.   Al-Mayadeen has an official position against the normalization of ties with the Jewish state...   Al-Mayadeen was established through funding from Iranian and Syrian money, and that the network is wholeheartedly supporting Hezbollah."

2012-05-01
Matthew Vadum _American Spectator_
leftist/Soros project to take over administration of elections has gone under-ground

2012-05-01
Phyllis Schlafly _Town Hall_
Obummer is a big-time law violator
Eagle Forum

2012-05-01
_Dice_
Dice Report: 84,911 job ads

Total84,911
UNIXNA
WindozeNA
JavaNA
C/C++/Objective-CNA
body shop36,387
full-time temp51,614
part-time temp1,679

 
graphs

2012-05-01 (5772 Ayyr 09)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A cynical process -- part 1
St. Augustine FL Record
One News Now
"Labor unions, like the United Nations, are all too often judged by what they are envisioned as being -- not by what they actually are or what they actually do...   That mask has been coming off, more and more, especially during the Obama administration, and what is revealed underneath is very ugly, very cynical and very dangerous...   The last thing this process is concerned about is a free choice for workers.   The first thing it is concerned about is getting a captive group of union members, whose compulsory dues provide a large sum of money to be spent at the discretion of union bosses, to provide those bosses with both personal perks and political power to wield, on the basis of their ability to pick and choose where to make campaign contributions from the union members' dues.   Union elections do not recur like other elections.   They are like some Third World elections: 'One man, one vote -- one time.'   And getting a recognized union unrecognized is an up-hill struggle.   But, so long as many people refuse to see the union for what it is, or the Obama administration for what it is, this cynical and corrupt process can continue."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "It is popular today, especially in Europe, to believe that a country can have 'high-tech entrepreneurship' by itself.   France, West Germany, even England are basing national policies on this premise.   But it is a delusion.   indeed, a policy that promotes high tech and high tech alone -- and that otherwise is as hostile to entrepreneurship as France, West Germany, and even England still are -- will not even produce high tech.   All it can come up with is another expensive flop...   The great bulk of innovations lies in other areas.   But also, a high-tech policy will run into political obstacles that will defeat it in short order.   In terms of job creation, high tech is the maker of tomorrow rather than the maker of today...   'high tech' in the United States created no more jobs in the period 1970-1985 than 'smoke-stack' lost; about 5M to 6M.   All the additional jobs in the American economy during that period -- a total of 35M -- were created by new ventures that were not 'high-tech' but 'middle-tech', 'low-tech', or 'no-tech'." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pp505-506  

 
 

2012-05-02

2012-05-02
Ed Kemmick _Billings MT Gazette_
local author explores the myster of Butch Cassidy

2012-05-02
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
Montana officials considering expanded re-introduction of bison
"Viewed as a disease threat and killed for leaving Yellowstone National Park during the 1990s, bison are now making their way into the state despite ranchers' fears of brucellosis.   A herd of 63 bison from Yellowstone were relocated March 19 to the Fort Peck Reservation...   on the refuge in Moise...vaccinations are standard and poor genetic traits are selectively thinned out"

2012-05-02
Frank Lansner
caceh of historical Arctic sea ice maps from 1893 to 1961 has been discovered

2012-05-02
Anthony Watts
Stanford U: "clean energy" policies need a reality check

2012-05-02
Anthony Watts
30 years ago today, 1982-05-02, the Weather Channel went live

2012-05-02
Anthony Watts
transcript: American Tradition Institute FOIA suit against U of VA and MMann

2012-05-02
David Gerstman _PJ Media_
errors and mossions in "60 Minutes" "Holy Land" segment

2012-05-02
Tom Blumer _PJ Media_
government playing favors with economic news embargoes
"So perhaps I was among the few who were surprised to learn last month, as a result of an April 10 policy change at DoL, that many legacy news organizations have had the privilege of accessing otherwise embargoed information ahead of time for decades longer than they've needed it -- or deserved it...   the business press at the time, unlike most of its media counterparts, tended to play its reporting relatively straight, concentrating on just the facts (imagine that).   As I explained in a column written over a decade ago (minor edits have been made to the original), that started to change in the late 1970s.   Until then: [W]e could count on their business reporters (who I will call the 'Bizzies') to accurately report what was really going on in the economy, even if the news wasn't good or didn't fit the liberal template.   That changed with the election of Ronald Reagan.   A critical part of the Reaganites' pre-inauguration tax-cut campaign was an emphatic belief that the economy was in deep trouble, and that it was getting worse.   They were even whispering that we might be on the verge of the 'C-word' (Crisis) to describe economic conditions.   [T]he Newsies, with the help of some outgoing Carter administration officials...ridiculed the verge-of-crisis talk and called it irresponsible, even as the prime rate rose to 21.5%! Some Newsies even complained that such talk in and of itself could cause the economy to get worse (sounds familiar, doesn't it?).   The Newsies, who had never really concerned themselves with what the Bizzies were saying and doing, expected backup from them on this important political issue.   But to the Newsies' horror, the Bizzies by and large agreed with the Reagan team!   While the economy-saving Reagan tax cuts eventually passed for a number of reasons, the lack of sustained opposition from the business press was certainly a factor working in its favor.   The Newsies' response to having been 'betrayed' by their own Bizzies was to assign [leftist] reporters and columnists to the business beat...   Following 1983 and 1984, when the nation's gross domestic product [gross domestic balderdash] grew by 4.5% and 7.2%, respectively, growth in 1985 was 4.1%.   We could use a 'slump' like that right about now.   The decline of business journalism has almost never stopped.   Now it's to the point where most of the press, in the interest of propping up Dear Leader, spent this year's entire first quarter regaling us about our supposedly strengthening economic recovery.   Horse manure; we have just learned that 2012 growth is expected to come in at perhaps half of that seen in 1985."

2012-05-02
Nick deSantis _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Harvard and MIT put $60M into new, even less accessible, platform for "free" on-line courses
"Agarwal said, in the prototype MITx course 'Circuits and Electronics', researchers 'gather huge amounts of data' on students' use of the platform, including how much time they spend watching videos."
This is one of the mistakes Control Data made with PLATO...jgo

2012-05-02
Dennis Jaobe _Gallup_
US job creation nears 4-year high, still severely depressed

2012-05-02
Quin Hillyer _American Spectator_
Hillary and Obummer kneel at Red China's altar

2012-05-02
Quin Hillyer _American Spectator_
John Boehner: "United States has an obligation to stand with the oppressed, not with the oppressor"
Boehner press release

2012-05-02
Peter Ferrara _American Spectator_
the immorality of Obummernomics

2012-05-02
_Fox_/_AP_
how congress has uncontrolled immigration

2012-05-02
William L. Anderson
Bob Wenzel on the Fed

2013-05-02
"Scottich Sceptic"
what to see in Scotland

2012-05-02 (5772 Ayyr 10)
Richard Z. Chesnoff _Jewish World Review_
Nazi collaborator Gertrude Stein at the Met

2012-05-02 (5772 Ayyr 10)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
America's 2-faced leftists
"Loudoun county VA, has a median household income of $119,540, making it the nation's richest county.   Virginia's Fairfax county is next, with a median household income of $103,010; the median price of a house is $507,800.   Third is Howard county MD, where the median household income is $101,771.   These 3 richest counties have 7 nearby high-income neighbors, which include Arlington and Montgomery counties.   The nation's richest counties are close to Washington, DC, where people come to do good and wind up doing well for themselves...   7 of the 10 wealthiest counties in the Washington area voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2008...   The median value of the homes of the [Occupy] arrestees was $305K -- a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied homes of the rest of us.   95 of the arrestees lived in homes valued at more than $500K.   Those who rented paid a median rent of $1,850 per month.   Of the 984 protesters arrested, at least 797 are white.   One Occupy Wall Street protester arrested -- presumably, if you listen to the main-stream media, penniless and from a blue-collar family -- lived in an $850K home in the nation's capital...   The Occupy protesters and their useful idiots in the media and on college campuses proudly display signs and banners revealing their preferences and affiliations, such as 'Communist Party USA', 'Democratic Socialists of America' and 'Fight for Socialism'.   The American Nazi Party has issued an official endorsement of Occupy.   The movement is also supported by White House leftist allies such as the Working Families Party, the Service Employees International Union [SEIU] -- as well as most other labor unions -- ACORN, the New Party and the Democratic National Committee.   During the forthcoming elections, we can be assured that these people will do all they can, including violent protests, to help Obama have an additional 4 years to continue his transformation of our nation."

2012-05-02 (5772 Ayyr 10)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
A cynical process -- part 2
American Spectator
Town Hall
Shreveport Times
"A small head-line in the 2nd section of the Wall Street Journal last week told a bigger story than a lot of front page banner head-lines.   It said, 'U.S. Firms Add Jobs, but Mostly Over-Seas'...   According to the Wall Street Journal, '35 big U.S.-based multi-national companies added jobs much faster than other U.S. employers in the past 2 years, but nearly three-fourths of those jobs were over-seas.'   All these companies have at least 50K employees, so we are talking about a lot of jobs for foreigners with American companies over-seas...   At the local level as well, history shows that some of the most successful politicians have been people who ruined the local economy and chased job-creating businesses away.   Mayor Coleman Young of Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s was not worried when affluent whites began moving out of the city in response to his policies, because they were people who were likely to vote against him if they stayed.   Of course they took their taxes, their investment money and the jobs they created with them.   But that was Detroit's problem, not Coleman Young's problem.   Barack Obama may win re-election by turning the United States into Detroit writ large...   The phrase 'tax cuts for the rich' has been repeated endlessly by Democrats without one Republican that I know of saying, 'Folks, I don't lie awake at night worrying about millionaires' tax problems.   Millionaires have lawyers and accountants who get paid to do that.   But I do worry about jobs being lost to millions of American workers because we make the business climate here worse than in other countries.   That's a high price to pay for rhetoric.'   The case can be made.   But somebody has to make the case."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "In the panic of 1873 the modern welfare [illfare] state was born.   A hundred years later it had run its course, almost everyone now knows.   It may survive despite the demographic challenges of an aging population and a shrinking birth-rate.   But it will survive only if the entrepreneurial economy succeeds in greatly raising productivities." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg516  

 
 

2012-05-03

2012-05-02 21:02PDT (2012-05-03 00:02EDT) (2012-05-03 04:02GMT) (2012-05-03 06:02 Jerusalem)
Paul B. Farrell _MarketWatch_
Yes, you, too, can become a millionaire farmer
"You could buy some natural resources and commodities mutual funds;   You can get into a hedge fund, trust, partnership or private equity firm investing in farmland;   You might actually bite the proverbial bullet, buy a working farm and live off the land or;   You can have your cake and eat it too, like Michael Murphy who publishes the highly-successful New World Investor biotech newsletter and also operates a unique permaculture farm...     Just how badly does the world need more farmers? Jeremy Grantham's firm manages $100G, warns of an 'inevitable mismatch between finite resources and exponential population growth', plus a 'bubble-like explosion of prices for raw materials', plus commodity shortages that will become a huge 'threat to the long-term viability of our species when we reach a population level of 10G', making 'it impossible to feed the 10G people'.   Impossible? Yes, the planet's 'carrying capacity' cannot feed the 10G people UN demographers predict on the planet as we add 3G more by 2050.   So that's a constraint on the world's future."

2012-05-03 04:40PDT (07:40EDT) (11:40GMT) (13:40 Jerusalem)
Kevin Kastner _Foreign Exchange Live_
Challenger, Gray & Christmas: 40,559 announced lay-offs in April, 183,653 year-to-date
Nathalie Tadena: MarketWatch
fox (video)
Leah Schnurr; Fox
Julie Steinberg: Dow Jones
News Max
24/7 Wall Street
9,027 (14,710 year-to-date): education
3,100 (52,660 ytd): government
1,696 (20,134 ytd): consumer products
1,768 (12,860 ytd): financial services
MI: 5,094
CA: 4,070
WA: 3,329
PA: 3,292

2012-05-03 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 330,475 in the week ending April 28, a decrease of 40,158 from the previous week.   There were 415,974 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6% during the week ending April 21, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.7%.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,278,885, a decrease of 146,442 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 3.0% and the volume was 3,769,810.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 14 was 6,597,492, a decrease of 85,523 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, MD, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, WA, and WV during the week ending April 14.   States reported 2,724,432 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 14, a decrease of 4,772 from the prior week.   There were 3,447,542 claimants in the comparable week in 2011.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01;
to 126,579,970 beginning 2012-01-01;
to 127,048,587 beginning 2012-04-07, and seasonal adjustment factors were revised.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2012-05-03
Madeleine Morgenstern _The Blaze_
3 ICE officers wounded in Petaluma CA while serving warrants after triple gang-related murder
Amy Hollyfield: KGO San Francisco CA
KGO (video)

2012-05-03
Thomas E. Brewton
Ultimately, jobs are created by production of value for customers

2012-05-03
Ross Kaminsky _American Spectator_
economic indicators continue to be disappointing

2012-05-03
_One News Now_/_AP_
Obummer pushes for passage of NIGHTMARE act

2012-05-03
Patrick Richardson _PJ Media_
Kathleen Sebelius's willfull ignorance of the US constitution

2012-05-03
Christopher S. Rugaber _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_/_AP_
ISM says non-manufacturing US businesses expanded at a slower pace in April

2012-05-03
Anthony Watts
Raleigh-Durham weather-station albedo change (site/siting)

2012-05-03
Tom Humphrey _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
bill to put soft limits on H and J visa guest-teachers at charter schools to go into TN law without governor's signature
CT News Times/Hearst/AP

2012-05-03
_Wall Street Journal_
Congress weighing yet another visa plan to worsen the glut of foreign students and cheap, young, pliant labor with questionable ethics (video)

2012-05-03
Anthony Watts
record sea ice in Bering Sea
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "People-decisions are time-consuming, for the simple reason that the Lord did not create people as 'resources' for organization.   They do not come in the proper size and shape for the tasks that have to be done in organization -- and they cannot be machined down or recast for these tasks.   People are always 'almost fits' at best.   To get the work done with people therefore requires lots of time, thought, and judgment." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg557  

 
 

2012-05-04

2012-05-04
Burton Speakman _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
YSU oil and gas drilling program is recruiting students

2012-05-04
Paul Hsieh _PJ Media_
government (tax-victim) funded medical research is hazardous to your health

2012-05-04
Jeff Durstewitz _PJ Media_
Obummer -- the arch-duke of moral hazard

2012-05-04
Rand Simberg _PJ Media_
sorting out property rights vs. the "moon treaty" and the "treaty of the seas"

2012-05-04
Holbrook Mohr _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
abuse of cultural exchange visas for summer work undergoing regulatory changes
"J-1 Summer Work and Travel Program, which brings more than 100K foreign college students to the United States each year...   Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961...   The new rules are meant to ensure that students get jobs where there will be interaction with Americans.   There also are 3 new rules meant to protect U.S. workers, including prohibiting companies from hiring J-1 workers if the company has had lay-offs in the previous 120 days."

2012-05-04
David Middleton & Charles Laurence
How green was my bankruptcy?
"The power plant described in the preceding passage is the Cimarron Solar Facility, built on Ted Turner's 590,823 acre ranch in northern New Mexico. It is indeed true that most natural gas- and coal-fired power plants cost a lot more than $250 million to build. However, it's also true that most natural gas- and coal-fired power plants have nameplate generating capacities a bit larger than 30 MW... $820M divided by 880 MW works out to $931,818 per MW [for a new natural gas plant in TN]. $250M divided by 30 MW works out to $8,333,333 per MW... $0.004/kWh [vs.] $0.127/kWh... Austin Energy has agreed to a long-term purchase agreement to pay $10M a year for 25 years, for the electricity generated by the Webberville Solar Farm. That works out to more than 15 cents per kWh."

2012-05-04
Jeffry Bartash _MarketWatch_
employment/unemployment report mixed
Mike Murphy: San JOse CA Mercury News
graphs

2012-05-04
Edwin Rubenstein _V Dare_
Dismal job numbers for immigrants and US citizens... but could legal immigration be increasing?
"The 'other' employment survey, of households rather than businesses, reports a decline of 169K jobs last month.   This on the heels of a 31K job reduction in March...   Foreign-born employment fell by 344K, or by 1.50%.   Native-born employment rose by 175K, or by 0.15%...   Over the past 12 months: Immigrants gained 878K jobs, a 4.0% increase; native-born workers gained 1.816M positions, a 1.5% increase.   ADVANTAGE IMMIGRANTS.   The unemployment rate for immigrants fell by 1.6 percentage points; the rate for natives fell by 0.8 percentage points.   ADVANTAGE IMMIGRANTS.   The immigrant labor force (people working or looking for work) increased by 2.3%; the native-born labor force declined by 0.4%.   ADVANTAGE IMMIGRANTS.   Over-arching everything is the continued growth of the foreign-born working-age population (16 years and over).   This cohort increased by 4.1% in the past 12 months; the comparable native population increased by only 1.1%."

2012-05-04
William L. Anderson
Krugman still says he believes more inflation and higher taxes can end economic depression
"Krugman's memory might be a bit spotty, but I remember that what we had was a dollar crisis because the game of paying for the Vietnam War and the vast expansion of government during the Lyndon Johnson years by essentially printing more dollars had blown up."

2012-05-04 (5772 Ayyr 12)
R' Dovid Rosenfeld
Pirkei Avos/Pirqi Abot: Expressions of the Soul chapter1 mishna17
"there is a well-known Midrash (Targum Sheni to Esther 1:3) which states that King Solomon, wisest of all men, understood the languages of the birds and animals (based on I Kings 5:13)...   we express our souls.   We express our emotions; we give reality to our thoughts, feelings and yearnings by putting them into words.   And this is the type of speech which truly makes us human.   Our souls, not nurtured and developed through language (whether spoken or written), possess only the vaguest and most incoherent yearnings for spirituality and human emotion.   When, however, we tap into those yearnings and give them expression, we both discover and develop our souls, and we mature into beings formed in the image of G-d.   Further, as with all of our Divine gifts, once we are entrusted with the gift of speech we become obligated to use it properly.   When we do, we give expression and vitality to our souls.   If we do not, however, we sink lower than the animals.   We take a distinctly human trait and pervert it.   And we sink to the level of the homo sapien -- and below.   We use our superior IQ's to slander, insult and put others down -- harming them in ways animals could never imagine..."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Here lies a man who knew how to bring into his service men better than he was himself." --- Andrew Carnegie (quoted in Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg597)  

 
 

2012-05-05

2012-05-05
Anthony Watts
Lightning-induces Schumann resonance may be used to analyze other planets

2012-05-05
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Saturday morning funnies... Granny begs to differ that "the South got whooped"

2012-05-05
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Let's be honest with Shenandoah Valley history for the Spring of 1862... not all locals were happy with Stonewall's presence
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Effective executives never ask 'How does he get along with me?'   Their question is, 'What does he contribute?'     Their question is never, 'What can a man not do?'   Their question is always, 'What can he do uncommonly well?'     In staffing [hiring and transfers] they look for excellence in one major area, and not for performance that gets by all around.   To look for one area of strength and to attempt to put it to work is dictated by the nature of man.     [Generalism] hides a profound contempt for man's most specific gift; his abilty to put all his resources behind one activity, one field of endeavor, one area of accomplishment.   It is, IOW, contempt for excellence." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg598  

 
 

2012-05-06

2012-05-06
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Along the road to McDowell... another sesqui moment

2012-05-06
Willis Eschenbach
Bern Model puzzle

2012-05-06
Anthony Watts
East Anglia Climatic Research Unit shown to be liars by results of latest FOIA ruling and investigation

2012-05-06
Victor Davis Hanson _PJ Media_
post-modern leftist facade is crumbling
"Cross the border and you in theory can go from an impoverished Mexican national that lived a wretched material existence thanks to grandees in Mexico City to a 'minority' with vicarious claims against the American system who is suddenly eligible for oppression-based, affirmative action recompense.   But if your family came from Egypt in 1950, you apparently qualify for very little reparations, even if you are darker than the recent Jalisco arrival.   Yet again, score 1600 on the SAT and achieve a 4.5 GPA in high school, and if both Asian and wanting to go to Berkeley or Stanford, well then, who cares about the Japanese interment, the Chinese coolie labor of the 1850s, or the exclusionary acts of the 1920s?...   We have had 38 months of 8% plus unemployment.   We are setting records in the numbers of Americans not working and the percentage of the adult population not employed.   GDP growth was a pathetic 1.7%.   The borrowing hit $5G under Obama, who between golf outings and campaign hit-ups of wealthy people, adds $1G plus each year in more debt.   To question how to pay it back is to pollute the air or abandon the children.   In 2005, Paul Krugman was writing why Bush's spending was going to crash the economy; in 2012, Paul Krugman is writing why Obama's far greater deficit spending, on top of Bush's debts, is not going to crash the economy, given that we need to borrow far more than our paltry $3G or $4G a day.   In 2004, the media's 'jobless recovery' was the description of George W. Bush's 5.4% unemployment rate.   'It's the economy, stupid' referred to George H.W. Bush's 1992 annual 3.3-4% GDP growth rate.   'Unpatriotic' was W's $4T in borrowing in eight years, not $5T in 3.   If Obama right now had 5.4% unemployment, 3.4% economic growth, and a budget deficit of about $400 billion, what would the media call it—a job-full recovery, 'it's not the economy, smarty', or patriotic borrowing?...   Around 2009 January, deficits became 'stimulus'.   'Jobless recovery' vanished from the vocabulary...   A downright mean country redeemed itself with free jet service to Costa del Sol, Aspen, Vail, and Martha's Vineyard.   Yes, after 2009 January, Al Gore lives in a tiny green home.   'Two Americas' John Edwards did not really build a 30K square foot mansion, with a 4K square foot 'John's Lounge'.   'Punish our enemies' was the new civility.   What Does It All Mean? In short, [leftism] does not work, contrary as it is to human nature."

2012-05-06
"zombie" _PJ Media_
Cloward-Piven strategy is working "perfectly"... in Europe

2012-05-06
David P. Goldman _PJ Media_
"Labor force" dwindles in Obummer's phase of the Bush-Clinton-Shrub-Obummer economic depression
more graphs

2012-05-06
Michael Ledeen _PJ Media_
Dishonor and war: international relations with thugs

2012-05-06
_NY Sun_
The Munger games
"The fact is that people who bought gold a decade ago were far better positioned than those who put their money in Mr. Munger's company, Berkshire Hathaway.   For the value of a share of Berkshire Hathaway has collapsed over the past decade to barely more than 74 ounces of gold from the 238 ounces it was worth a decade ago."

2012-05-06
Mike Shedlock _Town Hall_
2.2M have gone on disability since mid-2010: fraud helps explain falling unemployment rates
more graphs

2012-05-06
Thomas E. Brewton
Alan Greenspan once understood the need to not undermine the value of the dollar

2012-05-06
Stacey Patton _Chronicle of Higher Education_
PhDs now come with food stamps
"the percentage of graduate-degree holders who receive food stamps or some other aid more than doubled between 2007 and 2010.   During that three-year period, the number of people with master's degrees who received food stamps and other aid climbed from 101,682 to 293,029, and the number of people with Ph.D.s who received assistance rose from 9,776 to 33,655, according to tabulations of microdata done by Austin Nichols, a senior researcher with the Urban Institute.   He drew on figures from the 2008 and 2011 Current Population Surveys done by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Unless...an executive looks for strength and works at making strength productive, he will only get the impact of what a man cannot do, of his lacks, his weaknesses, his impediments to performance and effectiveness.   To staff from what there is not and to focus on weakness is wasteful...   To focus on strength is to make demands for performance.   The man who does not first ask, 'What can a man do?', is bound to accept far less than the associate can really contribute." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg598  

 
 

2012-05-07

1992-05-07: Bill of Rights 2nd amendment - regulating congressional pay raises - was ratified

2012-05-07 05:55PDT (08:55EDT) (12:55GMT) (14:55 Jerusalem)
Liu Jiay _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner promises to ease the already orders of magnitude too lax control on exports of US high-tech goods to Red China

2012-05-07
Timothy Furnish _PJ Media_
We need jobs, not another student loan repayment program

2012-05-07
Bryan Preston _PJ Media_
Obummer administration misusing its power to benefit its friends

2012-05-07
Tom Blumer _PJ Media_
April's terrible jobs report
graphs

2012-05-07
David Matthau _New Jersey 101.5_
more fed-up NJ workers are filing suits over un-paid over-time

2012-05-07
Julie Kirchner _Immigration Reform_
senator Marco Rubio's push for NIGHTMARE act is providing president Obummer with cover

2012-05-07 (5772 Ayyr 15)
Mark Clayton _Jewish World Review_
DHS warns of on-going major cyber-attack aimed at natural gas pipe-lines

2012-05-07 (5772 Ayyr 15)
Angus Roxburgh _Jewish World Review_
world view of Putin feeling disrespected
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "In an organization one can make his strength effective and his weakness irrelevant.   The small businessman who is good at finance but poor at production or marketing is likely to get into trouble.   In a somewhat larger business one can easily make productive a man who has true strength in finance alone." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg599  

 
 

2012-05-08

2012-05-08
Scott Gates
flooding amidst drought (maps)

2012-05-08
Martin Crutsinger _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_/_AP_
US firms posted 3.74M ads for temp jobs in March
"Nearly 4.36M people were hired in March, slightly fewer than in February [while 4.15 were dumped, slightly more than in February]."
JOLTS press release
graphs

2012-05-08
Paul Driessen
time to terminate subsidies to Big Wind

2012-05-08 05:11PDT (08:11EDT) (12:11GMT) (14:11 Jerusalem)
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
stress on the job

2012-05-08
Irwin Kellner _MarketWatch_
Those who advocate more inflation as a way of boosting economic growth here in the United States are playing with fire

2012-05-08
Doug Hagmann _Canada Free Press_
Obummer regime implementing scheme to create violent civil unrest
"According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama.   During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States.   He then corrected himself, stating that 'a civil war is the more appropriate term.   Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it.', stated my source [inside DHS].   'The DHS takes their marching orders from the Obama administration, from Obama himself, but mostly from his un-appointed czars.   And Jarrett, especially Valerie Jarrett.   Don't think for a minute that the administration is doing anything to stabilize events in the U.S.A.   They are [radical leftist] revolutionaries, and revolutionaries thrive on chaos.', he added...   'They envision rioting starting in the urban areas first, such as New York and other major cities, followed by a disruption of business and commerce.   This will allow the DHS to mobilize their various teams into the streets of America without objection of the people.', stated my source.   'They want to restrict travel, if not through high energy prices, then by check-points and curfews mandated by rioting and unrest.   They understand we are the most well-armed nation in the world, yet they are aware of our vulnerabilities and intend to fully exploit them.', he added...   'The Obama administration is working closely with Bernanke, Geithner and others not to save our economy, but to outright destroy it.   He is not the first or only one to try this, but the most effective and most vetted for that purpose.   Do you actually think that the fact that Timothy Geithner's father worked with Obama's mother in Indonesia was coincidental?...   Obama would not be where he is if it were not for the Clintons, and to a lesser extent, Bush, but that's for other reasons.   Don't be fooled, the Clintons never left or lost power.', he added.'"

2012-05-08
William L. Anderson
John Stossel on liberty and private enterprise
"I will note that every time government really screws up something, the solution ALWAYS is to give more power to the government agency that performed poorly.   After every financial and economic crisis which the Fed helps to create, the answer is to give the Fed even MORE authority, which it gladly takes...   The government helps to create a problem, and then is called upon to 'fix' it.   The best description I can give is that we have the firefighters who start fires and then are called heroes when they bravely put them out.   (Except government seems to make the fires burn even brighter and hotter, all the while claiming it needs more authority to fight the very fires it is breeding.)"

2012-05-08
Mark J. Perry
should you need government permission to earn an honest living?

2012-05-08
Mark J. Perry
STEM degrees at U of TX for under $10K
"Beginning in August, UTPB students interested in studying chemistry, computer science, geology, information systems or mathematics can work toward a bachelor's degree for only $2,500 a year."

2012-05-08 (5772 Ayyr 16)
Frank J. Gaffney ii _Jewish World Review_
farewell to European super-state

2012-05-08 (5772 Ayyr 16)
Gaia Vince & Clare Wilson _Jewish World Review_/_New Scientist_
mega-medical robots are in use, micro- and nano-robots for medical purposes are on the way

2012-05-08 (5772 Ayyr 16)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
the moral infrastructure
Town Hall
American Spectator
St. Augustine FL Record
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "people are either 'readers' or 'listeners' (excepting only the very small group who get their information through talking, and by watching with a form of psychic radar the reactions of the people they talk [with]...   People are both readers and listeners -- trial lawyers have to be both, as a rule -- are exceptions.   It is generally a waste of time to talk to a reader.   He only listens after he has read.   It is equally a waste of time to submit a voluminous report to a listener.   he can only grasp what it is all about through the spoken word.   Some people need to have things summed up for them in one page...   Others need to be able to follow the thought processes of theman who makes the recommendation and therefore require a big report before anything becomes meaningful to them.   Some [bosses] want to see 60 pages of figures on everything.   Some want to be in at the early stages so that they can prepare themselves for the eventual decision.   Others do not want even to hear about the matter until it is 'ripe', and so on...   Few things make an executive as effective as building on the strengths of his [boss]." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pp618-619  

 
 

2012-05-09

2012-05-09
Anthony Watts
Huntsville weather station moves and changes in micro-climate

2012-05-09 03:38PDT (06:38EDT) (10:38GMT) (12:38 Jerusalem)
Nick Heath _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Gartner says off-shoring from and bodyshopping in Europe ramping up
"In 2011 revenues at the top 5 India-based IT service providers grew at 23.8%, compared to 7.7% growth in the global IT services [bodyshopping] market...   The top 5 Indian suppliers made particularly strong in-roads in Europe, where their growth rate almost doubled to 25.9% in 2011...   India's major tech suppliers [bodyshops] typically grow faster than the wider IT services market, and the country's top 10 providers are expanding at an increasing rate, with growth of 21.8% in 2011 compared to 19.9% in 2010...   Last year saw TCS, the biggest Indian IT supplier, become one of the top 20 largest IT suppliers in the world.   The company stands at number 16 in the global rankings, with a revenue of $9.31G in 2011 and 1.1% of global market share.   The fastest growing India-based IT services company [bodyshop] in 2011 was Cognizant, which grew revenues by 33.3% to $5.875G, making it the third largest India-based IT service provider and putting it at 27 in the global rankings.   Cognizant is head-quarted in the USA but Gartner defines India-based IT services companies [bodyshops] as those that deliver more than 90% of their services from India.   IBM remains the world's largest IT service provider [bodyshopper], earning just over $60G in services revenue in 2011, up 6.6% from 2010.   However, its 7.1% share of the global services market was down 0.1% on the previous year."

2012-05-09 04:09PDT (07:09EDT) (11:09GMT) (13:09 Jerusalem)
Toni Bowers _Tech Republic_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Path.To actually tries to optimally match candidates with employers
"Backed by $1.5M in strategic financing from Adecco, a company called Path.To is striving to be just that.   The company features technology and design positions from more than 100 Bay Area companies, including Eventbrite, Evernote, Lytro, and Uber.   Path.To features the 'Path.To Score', a ranking system that analyzes the unique characteristics of each applicant, business, and position to determine compatibility..."

2012-05-09
Matthew Brown _Billings MT Gazette_/_AP_
Montana judge puts transfers of bison on hold pending out-come of suit

2012-05-09
Gary Fineout _Miami FL Herald_/_AP_
Florida may revoke registrations for 2,600 who are not eligible to vote, 1,700 of them in Miami-Dade county

2012-05-09
Mark Krikorian _American Spectator_
Michele Bachmann has become a Swiss citizen

2012-05-09
Joseph Farah _World Net Daily_
how the leftist media turned red states blue and vice versa
"Folks like me, old enough to remember when red states meant Democrat and blue states meant Republican, probably still get confused from time to time about the terminology.   All one has to do is take a trip down memory lane to look at the way the media uniformly showed the Ronald Reagan landslide of 1984.   Look at the map.   The blue states belonged to Reagan.   The red states were those won by Walter Mondale.   Why did that perfectly sensible system suddenly change in the presidential election of 2000? The story goes that the current use of Republican red and Democrat blue began when the late Tim Russert, a respected television interviewer, but one who worked formerly for Democratic senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, decided to use this new color scheme 12 years ago...   The former system made more sense and was deliberately changed by media partisans who didn't like to suggest Democrats [along with the Chinese Communists and the Soviet Union] should be associated with the color red...   What's a little more surprising, however, is how easily Republicans fell in line...   Democrats were at least soft on communism and socialism in the post JFK-LBJ world.   Republicans tended to be anti-communist.   It was all perfectly understandable, accurate and had both historical precedent to support it as well as contemporary parallels in other countries.   I propose to you it's time we -- real Americans, the rest of us -- stopped being manipulated like this...   We all know California is red and Texas is blue.   That makes sense.   It's a very simple concept.   Some Democrats, perhaps those not belonging openly to the [regressive] Progressive Caucus, might be a little self-conscious about being red...   the fact remains that today's Democrats are pushing a political agenda that is traditionally, historically and practically red all over.   It's time for them -- and their cheerleaders in the press -- to just be honest about it."

2012-05-09
Mark J. Perry
some USA energy pipe-lines

2012-05-09
Mark J. Perry
Chronicle of Higher Education fired web logger for not sticking to the racist plantation line

2012-05-09
Mark J. Perry
computing helps find oil and natural gas

2012-05-09 (5772 Ayyr 17)
John Rosemond _Jewish World Review_
parents, stop destroying the American male

2012-05-09 (5772 Ayyr 17)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
leftist race-baiters
Town Hall
Lew Rockwell
Cybercast News Service
"Throughout our history, most Klansmen and most racists have been Democrats.   Here are a few racist quotes from major Democratic figures.   The late senator Robert Byrd, D-WV, a former Klansman, wrote during World War II: 'I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side...   Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.'   When Lyndon B. Johnson was in the House of Representatives, he said that president Harry Truman's civil rights program was 'a farce and a sham -- an effort to set up a police state in the guise of liberty'.   He continued: 'I am opposed to that program.   I have voted against the so-called poll tax repeal bill...   I have voted against the so-called anti-lynching bill.'   When Johnson had become senator, he observed, 'These Negroes, they're getting pretty uppity these days, and that's a problem for us since they've got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "If there is only one 'secret' of effectiveness, it is concentration.   Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time." --- Peter F. Drucker 1996 _The Executive in Action_ pg624  

 
 

2012-05-10

2012-05-10 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 338,418 in the week ending May 5, an increase of 4,942 from the previous week.   There were 397,737 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending April 28, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.6%.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,193,787, a decrease of 99,210 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 3.0% and the volume was 3,723,271.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 21 was 6,423,383, a decrease of 174,529 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AL, AK, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, MD, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, WA, and WV during the week ending April 21.   States reported 2,688,157 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 21, a decrease of 36,275 from the prior week.   There were 3,415,581 claimants in the comparable week in 2011.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01;
to 126,579,970 beginning 2012-01-01;
to 127,048,587 beginning 2012-04-07, and seasonal adjustment factors were revised.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2012-05-10
Peter B. Doran & P. Bracy Bersnak _American Spectator_
Europe's Crisis: a sensible road-map from the past

2012-05-10
Phyllis Schlafly _Eagle Forum_
myths about H-1B visas

2012-05-10
Richard Fernandez _PJ Media_
96% incumbency rate built on pork
"if there is any machine that is to be feared, it is Incumbency, Inc.   What is remarkable is that Mourdock could win at all against the incumbent, let alone an incumbent as powerful and influential as Richard Lugar.   The chances of any challenger beating any random incumbent are pretty slim.   Against Lugar the odds were even lower than improbable.   A study of the advantages enjoyed by incumbents reveals some startling probabilities: 'These are the figures for those [congress-critters] who sought re-election in the 13 biennial national elections for 435 U.S. House seats from 1982 through 2006: 95.17% of incumbents who sought reelection were successful.   What's more, an average of 396 of the 435 incumbent seat holders sought another term, leaving only 39 open seats each biennium for new Members of Congress (Jacobson 2008, 28-29).   You can see these effects graphically...'Re-election Rates of Incumbents in the U.S. House, and Duration of Representatives' Incumbency in the U.S. House'.   Rounding the 4.83% of winning challengers to 19 freshmen, another 39 get there the easy way by filling a seat vacated by a departing incumbent.   So about two-thirds (39 of 58) of freshmen only get there from good fortune of facing no incumbent...   The Senate has not been much better: 86.98% of incumbents were winners in the 1982-to-2006 period...'"

2012-05-10
Andrew G. Bostom _PJ Media_
public schools teaching jihad and Jew-hatred... according to main-stream Muslim canon

2012-05-10
Edwin S. Rubenstein _V Dare_
with so many US citizen STEM grads unemployed why do Obummer and Romney want to bring in more?
"Unemployment rates are high for recent college graduates in even the most demanding majors, including STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering, mathematics): Information systems 11.7%; Mechanical engineering 8.6%; General science 8.2%; Biology 7.7%; Computer science 7.4% [over 4.5 times what economists call the full-employment unemployment rate]; Business 7.4%; Chemistry 6.6%; Health-care 5.4%; Education 5.4%.   Indeed, an Associated Press analysis of data from 2011 found 53.6% of college graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed -- or, if they were lucky enough, under-employed, meaning they were working in fields were their degree was irrelevant...   Indeed, recent Mechanical Engineering grads (8.6% unemployed) are actually more likely to be unemployed than recent Drama and Theater Arts grads...   there were about 8M legal immigrants with BAs or higher in the U.S.A. in 2010 -- and even an estimated 1.2M [illegal aliens] with BAs or higher."

2012-05-10
Edward Morrissey _Fiscal Times_
shallow main-stream reporting on the status of US job markets

2012-05-10
Mark J. Perry
US international trade at record high in March

2012-05-10 (5772 Ayyr 18)
Clifford D. May _Jewish World Review_
The real Palestinian refugee problem is that most are not refugees but pawns of terrorists
"After World War II, the British left India, which was to be partitioned into 2 independent nations.   One of them would have a Hindu majority, the other a Muslim majority.   More than 7M Muslims moved to the territory that became Pakistan.   A similar number of Hindus and Sikhs moved to India.   Today, not one remains a refugee.   After World War II, the British left Palestine, which was to be partitioned into two independent nations.   One would have a Jewish majority, the other a Muslim majority.   About 750K Muslims left the territories that became Israel.   A similar number of Jews left Arab/Muslim lands.   Today, not one of the Jews remains a refugee.   But there are still Palestinian refugees -- indeed, their number has mushroomed to almost 5M.   How is that possible? Through two mechanisms.   First of all, a refugee, by definition, lives on foreign soil, but for Palestinians the definition has been changed, so that a displaced Palestinian on Palestinian [or Israeli] soil also receives refugee status.   Second, the international organization responsible for resettling refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was cut out from the start.   A new organization was set up exclusively for Palestinians: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)."

2012-05-10 (5772 Ayyr 18)
Sergei L. Loiko _Jewish World Review_
Putin sent warning to USA and NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square

2012-05-10 (5772 Ayyr 18)
judge Andrew P. Napolitano _Jewish World Review_
What constitutes a fair trial?
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Micro-processors with a 32-nano-meter minimum feature size have as many as 995M transistors packed on one computer chip.   Today's micro-processors are a major change from micro-processors in the early 1970s, which had a minimum feature size of 10 micro-meters (a micro-meter is a thousand times [as big as] a nano-meter) and 3,500 transistors.   The current generation of micro-processors is being built with 32-nano-meter-gate-width transistors, and processors that use 22-nano-meter-gate-width transistors should be available soon, as the race to increase the computing capabilities of your lap-top [tablet, and telephone] continues." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg96  

 
 

2012-05-11

2012-05-11
Alec Rawls
If Obummer is going to kill coal, he has to hide the body

2012-05-11
Denise Dick _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
3 Mahoning Valley high schools rank in USN&WR's top 10% iin the USA
"Lakeview High School is ranked as the area's top school at 1,640th in the U.S.A. and 91st in Ohio, says U.S. News and World Report...   Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati earned the state's top spot and ranked 90th on the national list...   [USN&WR] reviewed 22K public schools in 49 states and Washington, DC."
Cumberland PA Sentinel: Cumberland Valley, Camp Hill listed among USA's best HSs
US News & World Report

2012-05-11 01:00PDT (04:00EDT) (08:00GMT) (10:00 Jerusalem)
Frank Munger _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
ORNL recruits around the world, but hires a plurality from local U

2012-05-11 05:51PDT (08:51EDT) (12:51GMT) (14:51 Jerusalem)
Mike Pare _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Wacker Polysilicon ramping up Bradley county work-force to 650
Chattanooga TN Times Free Press

2012-05-11
Ned Ryun _American Spectator_
In search of Americanism

2012-05-11
Michelle Malkin _Town Hall_
White House lied, jobs died

2012-05-11
_EconoDay_
UMich consumer sentiment index up from April's 76.4 to 77.8 in early May (with graph)
FRED: St. Louis Fed

2012-05-11
Frank J. Fleming _PJ Media_
solving the student loan debt problem

2012-05-11
Herbert London _PJ Media_
Obummercare's Muslim exemption

2012-05-11
Clayton E. Cramer _PJ Media_
Ugly truths about prejudice

2012-05-11
_Information Week_/_UBM_
Tim Bishop seeks ban on USAID-backed off-shore out-sourcing
"Proposal by U.S. Congressman Tim Bishop would bar agency from funding programs that train over-seas students in the Philippines and other countries to work for out-sourcing companies off-shore."

2012-05-11
_KGO San Francisco CA_
FB co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced US citizenship
San Jose CA Mercury News/Reuters

2012-05-11
Lisa Stark _KGO San Francisco CA_
6 generations of female line gather for great-great-great-great-grand-mother's 111th birth-day celebration

2012-05-11
Alyssa Newcomb _abc_
GAO has issued a report of a study on an uncompleted Pentagon study of the cost of studies

2012-05-11
William L. Anderson
Easy useless [destructive] Keynesianism

2012-05-11 (5772 Ayyr 19)
Charles Krauthammer _Jewish World Review_
Echoes of 1967: Israel unites

2012-05-11 (5772 Ayyr 19)
Howard LaFranchi _Jewish World Review_
with Putin snub of G8, US-Putin 'reset' is off to a stumbling start
"The leaders of the G8 developed countries are set to descend upon Camp David in Maryland's Catoctin Mountain park next week, hosted by president Obama.   But as it turns out, the group will have to do without Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has declared himself too busy to attend."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "[Multiple firms] are working on developing organic solar cells, which...have a more efficient interface between the n and p layers.   Their products coule improve the efficiency of organic solar cells from [the current] 1% to about 6% to 8%.   Although this is only about half the efficiency of conventional solar cells, organic solar cells have greater flexibility." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg185  

 
 

2012-05-12

2012-05-12
Anthony Watts
tracking ash from the unpronouncable volcano on Iceland
"In 2010 May, the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull reached the Iberian Peninsula and brought airports to a halt all over Europe."

2012-05-12
_Carmi IL Times_
House passed Walsh amendment to block funds from "sanctuary cities"

2012-05-12
Victor Davis Hanson _PJ Media_
Rays of sun amid the storm

2012-05-12
Rand Simberg _PJ Media_
the uncivil argument over climate change heats up

2012-05-12
Tiffany Gabbay _The Blaze_
"fact-checking" the life of president Barack Obummer

2012-05-12
Avik Roy _Forbes_
how employer-sponsored insurance drives up the health costs; ObummerDoesn'tCare

2012-05-12
Mark J. Perry
Green river formation holds what may be 200-year supply of oil

2012-05-12
Mark J. Perry
world petroleum production still climbing
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Lithium-ion batteries can store the same amount of power a a nickel-metal hydride battery [NiMH] in a lighter and smaller package.   Lithium-ion manufacturers project that their batteries will [sometimes] last about 10 years, about 4 years longer than nickel-metal hydride batteries.   However, lithium-ion batteries are slower to charge and have safety issues.   (For example, in... particularly publicized [instances going back a couple decades], lithium-ion batteries in [Ford cars] and in lap-top computers caught fire.)   Many companies are exploring the use of nano-technology to change the material used in lithium-ion battery electrodes." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg192  

 
 

2012-05-13

2012-05-13
_Cumberland PA Sentinel_
PA AG says summer job-seekers should be wary of scams

2012-05-13
Anthony Watts
sour milk's carbon foot-print

2012-05-13
Claudia Rosett _PJ Media_
the UN and the terrorism trade

2012-05-13
Ion Mihai Pacepa _PJ Media_
Obummer, Clinton, Carter -- a tradition of appeasement
"It is remarkable how quickly the drama over the blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng fell off the media screen...   The Chen story was getting uncomfortably close to revealing the Democratic Party's longstanding policy of appeasing foreign despots.   I witnessed this policy.   On 1978 April 12, president Jimmy Carter hailed Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceausescu as a 'great national and international leader'.   I was standing next to Carter in the White House, and I could hardly believe my ears.   Ceausescu despised appeasers.   While driving away from that official ceremony at the White House, he took a bottle of alcohol and splashed it all over his face after having been affectionately kissed by president Carter in the Oval Office.   'Peanut-head.', Ceausescu whispered in my ear.   Three months later, I was granted political asylum in the United States, and I informed president Carter that he was praising the wrong man.   In fact, Ceausescu was an international terrorist and arms smuggler who was also selling off Romanian Jews and Germans for Western currency.   The result? Carter alleged that the KGB had staged my defection in order to destroy his excellent relations with Ceausescu, and he ordered that I be deported back to Romania..."

2012-05-13
_CBS_
US charter schools' ties to Turkish imam Fethullah Guelen
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Some nano-technology job projections estimate that nearly 2M workers will be needed worldwide by 2015.   The number of workers varies by country, but NNIN projections are: 80K-900K in the USA, 500K-600K in Japan, 300K-400K in Europe, 200K in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), 100K in other regions.   The numbers are actually bigger than those in the preceding list because nano-technology will create an additional 5M jobs in support fields and industries, according to one projection...   Some studies have indicated that our economic growth is closely tied to technological advances; one study states that as much as 85% of our growth is due to technology.   A weakening science and technology work-force will weaken our economy.   As other countries are upping their contributions to the science and engineering labor pool [at US tax-victim expense], we have to work harder to 'catch up'...   A 2006 report in NanoTechnology Law and Business reported that [after decades of the US government lowering standards and giving out soaring numbers of student and guest-work visas] 'Now 29% of all science and engineering degree holders, and 44% of science and engineering doctorate holders, are greater than 50 years old [while US life expectancies at birth have increased to about 79 years, and from adulthood have exceeded 80 years]...'   Richard Smalley...predicted that [if the US government continues to undermine the education and employment opportunities for US citizens] eventually, 90% of all PhDs in the physical sciences woudl be Asian, and that half of those would be working in Asia." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg252  

 
 

2012-05-14

2012-05-14
Robert K. Yosay _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
One-room school-house
"Today there are fewer than 600 left, and at one time, there were well over 150K one-room schools such as Caldwell School.   Mae Beringer started teaching at Caldwell School in Mercer county PA in 1927 and continued for the next 30 years without heat, electricity or running water.   Many mornings, on wet, cold or rainy days, she would start at 06:00 and the building was still cold when the students arrived at 08:00, some walking two to three miles to get to the school.   The inkwells still would be frozen as she started each day with a Bible verse and then math.   After recess at 10:30, spelling, geography and writing were taught... and after lunch, English, health and history were taught.   What made the one-room school-house special was 'the older students helped the younger students and repetition.   Everyone who left the school knew the basics.   Completely.', said Beringer, now deceased."

2012-05-14
Sebastian Luening & Fritz Vahrenholt
more solar linkage to climate

2012-05-14 10:50PDT (13:50EDT) (17:50GMT) (19:50 Jerusalem)
_KGO San Francisco CA_
in 2011, most popular baby names included Sophia, Jacob, Emma, Mason, Olivia, William

2012-05-14
"suyt"
How I know the enviro/climate goons are collectivists
"...they told me they were."

2012-05-14
Willis Eschenbach
more warmist insanity: guberment "jobs"
"Now, the numbers out of Spain have shown that for every green job created, two regular jobs were destroyed.   And the 'green jobs' campaign in the US has been a resounding failure...   These folks would be funny if they weren't so dangerous.   Meanwhile, here in California we just found out that we're unexpectedly $16G dollars in the hole in this year's budget, from things like paying union teachers and state bureaucrats and functionaries princely salaries while they are working and then paying them very large pensions for the rest of their lives.   Oh, and did I mention business-unfriendly? Eighth year in a row, California was voted worst state to do business in by a poll of CEOs...   'Robert of Texas' says: 'This is just another example of how education has failed -- utterly and completely -- to teach young people about how economies really work.   It's frightening these people get to vote.'"

2012-05-14
Andrew Klavan _PJ Media_
If the truth will set you free, what is the main-stream media propaganda doing?
"This seems like a lot of excitement for a president who is now echoing the views of Vice President Dick Cheney...but, of course, the MSM doesn't really think Obama wants the states (or churches) to be able to reject gay marriage.   They only support him in his Cheneyesque stance because they -- and everyone else -- know it's a lie.   As with the abandonment of our missile defenses at the whims of our enemies, Obama will no doubt have 'more flexibility' about telling the truth after he wins re-election."

2012-05-14
Tiffany Gabbay _The Blaze_
49 bodies left on display near border vs. "basically complete fence"
"Of note, Beck slammed Obama over a comment in which he claimed the border fence was 'basically complete' when in fact only 5% had been completed.   The U.S.-Mexico border stretches 2K miles and last year after 'wasting a $1G and 5 year's worth of [reluctant] work', Beck explained, DHS ended its secure border initiative because 'it didn't meet cost-effectiveness and viability standards'.   Since 2006, 47,500 people have been killed on the U.S.-Mexico border."

2012-05-14
Tiffany Gabay _The Blaze_
Will Obummer condemn Iranian death sentences for 4 homosexual men?

2012-05-14
Christopher Santarelli _The Blaze_
Leftists still trying to push law of the sea treaty
Correction: This treaty was first floated in the 1970s, along with what is commonly referred to as the "moon treaty"...jgo

2012-05-14
Liz Klimas _The Blaze_
Kodak has safely operated a nuclear reactor in their Rochester NY HQ since the 1970s
"'Radiation from the operation was not detectable outside of the facility.'"

2012-05-14
Jonathan M. Seidl _The Blaze_
Arlen Spector, advocate of open borders and increasing legal immigration, backs Orrin Hatch and calls anti-incumbent reformers "cannibals"

2012-05-14
Sara A. Carter _Washington Examiner_
Border Patrol officers say illegal immigration has not slowed
"Federal law enforcement officials...say security is being compromised as the government seeks to keep a lid on the border as a campaign issue during the presidential election cycle.   Department of Homeland Security's Border Patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are being told not to make arrests of noncriminal illegal immigrants, and not to patrol areas of high traffic along the roughly 2K-mile Southwest border."

2012-05-14
William L. Anderson
bank regulation and a bit of history

2012-05-14
Pamela Geller
"60 Minutes's" Leslie Stahl tries to scrub image of Fethullah Guelen and his "Imam's Army"

2012-05-14 (5772 Ayyr 22)
Nando Pelusi _Jewish World Review_/_Psychology Today_
privacy paradox: we feel both over-crowded and isolated
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "According to Pennsylvania State University Center for NanoTechnology Education and Utilization, you can expect a rough range of salaries in nano-technology jobs based on the degree you obtain: 2-year associate's degree, [only] $30K-$50K; 4-year bachelor's degree, [only] $35K-$65K; 6-year mater's degree, [only] $40K-$80K; 8-year doctorate, $75K-$100K." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg254  

 
 

2012-05-15: National Chocolate Chip Day

2012-05-15
Tom Blumer _PJ Media_
Socialist Insecurity's implosion continues

2012-05-15
Liz Klimas _The Blaze_
GM's OnStar patent suggests using it for badgering people with ads

2012-05-15 05:59PDT (08:59EDT) (12:59GMT) (14:59 Jerusalem)
Richard Locker _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Tennessee has created an on-line jobs data-base
Memphis TN Commercial Appeal
Jobs for TN

2012-05-15
Jonathon M. Seidl _The Blaze_
James O'Keefe video shows people who asked to be excused from jury duty on the basis that they are not citizens... who are registered to vote

2012-05-15
J. Christian Adams _PJ Media_
the partisan League of Women Voters

2012-05-15
Kathy Shaidl _PJ Media_
3 reasons higher education is broken -- and how to repair it
"much of this 'research' is conducted in the exact reverse order of the scientific method: ideological students and instructors form conclusions first (i.e., 'America is racist, fascist and imperialist') then 'prove' their thesis, instead of the other way around...   From endowments to tuition to the student loan system to the dwindling return on one's educational investment, money lies at the heart of higher education's malaise, says Riley...   Tenure..."

2012-05-15
William L. Anderson
Keynesians are confused over the huge difference between wealth created and scrip spent

2012-05-15
Mark J. Perry
Petroleum exploration banned from 87% of federsl off-shore area

2012-05-15 (5772 Ayyr 23)
Denis Prager _Jewish World Review_
God and Man at (and for) Liberty

2012-05-15 (5772 Ayyr 23)
Kristen Chick _Jewish World Review_
Obummer admin has resumed arms sales to Bahran despite human rights issues

2012-05-15 (5772 Ayyr 23)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
a censored race war?
Town Hall
National Review

2012-05-15 (5772 Ayyr 23)
Niall O'Dowd _Irish Central_
cannibalism was probably practiced during Irish famine
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "scientists and engineers in general learn the discipline of learning.   If they get that skill, they can broaden their knowledge to related areas when needed to take on a new job or solve a perplexing problem...   If such a company hires a promising engineer fresh out of school, for example, the company has all the tools necessary to help that engineer learn to use nano-technology techniques for a particular position, wehther that person has a degree in nano-technology or not." --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg255  

 
 

2012-05-16

2012-05-16
Beryl Lieff Benderly _AAAS Science_
A brief introduction to the US STEM immigration policies, and proposals to create additional STEM visas to make the field even more dismal
"about 10% of the H-1B visas issued for 2011 were for work at universities."

2012-05-16
Robert Curry
Scottish pragmatism

2012-05-16
Thomas E. Brewton
California state government fiscal collapse is largely union made

2012-05-16
W. James Antle iii _American Spectator_
US senate and White House action/inaction on balancing federal budget

2012-05-16
Mark J. Perry
US vehicle assemblies return to earlier recession levels

2012-05-16
Mark J. Perry
sex difference in degrees earned among blacks is 2:1

2012-05-16 (5772 Ayyr 24)
Jackson Holahan _Jewish World Review_
Aleppo Codex
"In tenth century Tiberias, the renowned rabbi Aaron Ben-Asher dictated the most accurate and revered Biblical codex, bestowed with the honorific title of Crown, in Jewish history.   It was revered not only for its linguistic precision, but also because, 'from beginning to end, it was the same writing...the same shape.   That was the beauty.'   The Crown was not destined to remain long in any one place.   After a wealthy benefactor purchased the codex and gave it to Jerusalem's chief rabbis in the eleventh century, Duke Godfrey of Bouillon led his Crusaders in 1099 to sack the Holy City and take control of the Crown.   Upon learning of Jerusalem's fall the wealthy Jewish community of Fustat, located on the Nile near Cairo, pooled money and paid to have the Crown rescued.   In the twelfth century, famed Jewish scholar Maimonides, himself a resident of Fustat, used the Crown as the authoritative text upon which he based his Mishneh Torah, an important set of commentaries on law that remains fundamental to Jewish faith and scholarship today."

2012-05-16 (5772 Ayyr 24)
Jonathan Tobin _Jewish World Review_
Iran declared victory in nuclear weapons programs

2012-05-16 (5772 Ayyr 24)
Melissa Healy _Jewish World Review_
NIH aims to halt Alzheimer's disease by 2025

2012-05-16 (5772 Ayyr 24)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Should we obey all laws?
Town Hall
Lew Rockwell
Booker Rising
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Stan Williams, a nano-technology researcher at HP, is often asked about how to prepare for working in the nano-technology field.   According to Williams, 'I tell them to figure out what they like and get good at it, adn to take communcations coures, whether writing or journalism [because we really don't want no steenking scientists or engineers, we want sales-clones and PR-clones].'   For our money [say the authors], you should also consider communications courses such as public speaking.   The ability to clarly and concisely communicate, whether written or verbally, with your co-workers, bosses, and customers can make a big difference in your career prospects.   Ken Smith of Carbon NanoTechnologies stresses the importance of inter-disciplinary studies.   According to Smith, 'Individuals with an educational background in these inter-disciplinary areas are very few in number.   Rice University's idea of combining a rare and highly demanded technical eduction with a modest exposure to training in business will produce students who are truly unique, and these student will be highly recruited by industry [but not to do actual science or engineering].'" --- Earl Boysen & Nancy Boysen 2011 _NanoTechnology for Dummies_ pg256  

 
 

2012-05-17

2012-05-17 05:20PDT (08:20EDT) (12:20GMT) (14:20 Jerusalem)
Tuan C. Nguyen _Smart Planet_/_Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Red China updates in J-20 stealth fighter utilizing US and Russian features

2012-05-17 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 322,821 in the week ending May 12, a decrease of 18,259 from the previous week.   There were 361,573 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5% during the week ending May 5, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,127,783, a decrease of 83,044 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.9% and the volume was 3,586,266.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 28 was 6,273,624, a decrease of 149,759 from the previous week. Extended benefits were available in AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, ID, IL, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, and WV during the week ending April 28.   States reported 2,666,007 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 28, a decrease of 22,150 from the prior week.   There were 3,468,979 claimants in the comparable week in 2011.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01;
to 126,579,970 beginning 2012-01-01;
to 127,048,587 beginning 2012-04-07, and seasonal adjustment factors were revised.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2012-05-17
_US census bureau_
most babies are "minorities"
"The U.S. Census Bureau today released a set of estimates showing that 50.4% of our nation's population younger than age 1 were minorities as of 2011 July 1.   This is up from 49.5% from the 2010 Census taken 2010 April 1.   A minority is anyone who is not single-race white and not Hispanic.   The population younger than age 5 was 49.7% minority in 2011, up from 49.0% in 2010.   A population greater than 50% minority is considered 'majority-minority'...   There were 114M minorities in 2011, or 36.6% of the U.S. population.   In 2010, it stood at 36.1%."

2012-05-17
_Miami FL Herald_
over 53K dead people, 2,600 ineligible to vote, 182K non-citizens are registered to vote in Florida
Peter Schorsch: St. Petersburg FL web log
J. Christian Adams: PJ Media
World Net Daily
WTSP/Gannett
WTXL
MJLee: Politico
Fox
Fox
Orlando FL Sentinel
Matt Dixon: Jacksonville FL Times-Union

2012-05-17
Rand Simberg _PJ Media_
death of the warmist hockey stick

2012-05-17
Chris Queen _PJ Media_
how the History Channel was transformed into ancient alien/conspiracy theory central

2012-05-17
Barry Rubin _PJ Media_
2 Obummer admin scandals related to Syria
"the implications of such an incredibly foolish policy—America putting an anti-American, anti-semitic group into the 'official' leadership of Syria's rebels -- have never been properly examined as a case study for Obama's disastrous Middle East policy.   The Kurds had walked out of the talks that formed the SNC last year when they saw how Islamists would be in control...   Obama policy has strengthened the Islamist forces in the opposition and fragmented the rebels, thus helping preserve a radical anti-American Syrian regime that is an ally of Iran or helping make any revolution more likely to produce a radical anti-American Syrian Islamist regime that will be an ally of an Islamist Egypt...   There are different people and groups in the Syrian opposition.   Some are Salafists who feel comfortable with al-Qaida; some are Brotherhood men; some are ex-Syrian army officers, professionals and relatively apolitical; and some are liberals who really want democracy...   Obama policy [once again] follows the worst possible course.   It minimizes U.S. help to the revolution while at the same time ensuring that a disproportionately large amount goes to Islamists."

2012-05-17
Paul Basken _Chronicle of Higher Education_
measuring performance of colleges and universities: NRC to study how to study...

2012-05-17
Talia Ralph _Global Post_
USA's 20 most well-read cities
"1. Alexandria, VA; 2. Cambridge, MA; 3. Berkeley, CA; 4. Ann Arbor, MI; 5. Boulder, CO; 6. Miami, FL; 7. Arlington, VA; 8. Gainesville, FL; 9. Washington, DC; 10. Salt Lake City, UT; 11. Pittsburgh, PA; 12. Knoxville, TN; 13. Seattle, WA; 14. Orlando, FL; 15. Columbia, SC; 16. Bellevue, WA; 17. Cincinnati, OH; 18. St. Louis, MO; 19. Atlanta, GA; 20. Richmond, VA."

2012-05-17
Mark J. Perry
in praise of speculators who benefit society by smoothing out production and consumption

2012-05-17
Mark J. Perry
USA manufacturing will lead in the med-21st century

2012-05-17
Mark J. Perry
the myth of "idle" petroleum leases

2012-05-17
Michael Cutler _RuthFullyYours_
reality of spill-over violence along the border
Family Security Matters
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe.   No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise.   Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." --- Winston Churchill 1947-11-11 to house of commons  

 
 

2012-05-18

2012-05-18
Joseph A. Harriss _American Spectator_
France: How not to deal with jihadists

2012-05-18
Thomas Sowell _American Spectator_
Media smears: one man's experiences

2012-05-18
Roger L. Simon _PJ Media_
Obummer's backers said he was born in Kenya, but why?
"So what if he was born in Kenya?   At least we know why he lied about it.   He wanted to be president.   But why did Obama's agents think he was born in Kenya?   That's a more interesting question."

2012-05-18
Margaret Allen
recent years' big fires in the SW USA are atypical

2012-05-18 01:00PDT (04:00EDT) (08:00GMT) (10:00 Jerusalem)
Bennett Rolan _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
contest gives newly graduated HR-clones an edge in getting jobs, themselves

2012-05-18 06:18PDT (09:18EDT) (13:18GMT) (15:18 Jerusalem)
_Cumberland PA Sentinel_
bronze military service markers stolen from Upper Allen township cemetery

2012-05-18 09:22PDT (12:22EDT) (16:22GMT) (18:22 Jerusalem)
Lauren McLane _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Shippensburg U to add bachelor's in software engineering

2012-05-18
_Information Week_
HP lay-offs signal punishing fall
"Unless HP can turn enterprise software, cloud services, or some other line into a high-volume, high-margin business, it's in for a world of hurt."

2012-05-18
William L. Anderson
Krugman seems to think inflation is good magic, when it is really evil and not magic at all

2012-05-18
Sam Black _Minneapolis/St. Paul MN Business Journal_
Tata to open "300-person" office in Bloomington
Tech MN
"In 2010, Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc. announced a strategic relationship with Tata that included about 600 Supervalu India workers joining TCS.   Minneapolis-based Target Corp., Richfield-based Best Buy company Inc. and Golden Valley-based Allianz Life Insurance company of North America also have worked with Tata in the past, according to Tata press releases."

2012-05-18 (5772 Ayyr 26)
Michael Cutler _Ask.com_/_YouTube_
Michael Cutler interviews Don Rosenberg, whose son was killed by an illegal alien (video)

2012-05-18 (5772 Ayyr 26)
Caroline B. Glick _Jewish World Review_
US government has been embracing dangerous delusions and going against our friends
"[OTOH], Two weeks ago, US congressman Joe Walsh published an op-ed in the Washington Times in which he called for the US and Israel to abandon the 2-state solution.   After running through the record of Palestinian duplicity, failed governance, terrorism and bad faith, he called for Israel to apply its sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.   In his words, he said Israel should, 'adopt the only solution that will bring true peace to the Middle East: a single Israeli state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.   Israel is the only country in the region dedicated to peace and the only power capable of stable, just and democratic government in the region.'"

2012-05-18/1997-05-18
_Locate Ancestors_
Lonnie Causseaux b: 1926-05-05 d: 1997-05-18 murdered while wearing his leg braces and sitting on his porch with his crutches leaning against the wall behind and next to him by one Gibson, member of Tallahassee Police Dept. who over-reacted to Causseaux having ordered a peeping-tom/code-nazi named PowderMiller away from his property
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Hopewellian cultures domesticated many plants we now consider noxious weeds: goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri), marsh elder (Iva annua), knotweed (Polygonum erectum), maygrass (Phalaris caroliniana), and, in some laces, little barley (Hordeum pusillum).   Of ther domesticates, only sunflower (Helianthus annus) and squash (Cucurbita pepo) remain as modern crops.   Isolated traces of corn appear around 2K years ago, but the crop didn't really catch on until about 400CE, at the end of the Middle Woodland period; moreover, some researchers believe that corn might have contributed to the demise of the Hopewellian world by producing such food surpluses that the traditional social structure -- founded upon small, independent farmsteads and transcontinental trade -- collapsed and reformed into what archaeologists call Late Woodland peoples (400 to 800CE).   The Late Woodland period is characterized by a sharp decline in mound building and in the absence of exotic trade goods, but villages began to appear.   Many of them were fortified by earthen or log enclosures, undoubtedly indicating social stress, perhaps even warfare...   In the story, we call the classic Ohio Adena peoples the High Head, and the Ohio Hopewell we designate as the Flat Pipe.   Adena is the older culture, dating back to nearly 700BCE.   Hopewell seems to have merged syncretically with Adena to produce a golden age beginning around 1CE.   Another center of activity is found in the Illinois and upper Mississippi river valleys.   We call this Hopewellian group Havana, and their social organization appears to be the closest to a hereditary chieftainship of any of the Middle Woodland societies...   Dreamers, berdaches, Healers, and shamans.   The Contrary, one of the many forms of the sacred clown, is uniquely Native American, and uses the humorous and the profane to communicate deeply serious and sacred lessons." --- Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear 1994 _People of the Lakes_ pp15-16  

 
 

2012-05-19: Armed Forces Day

2012-05-19
Mark J. Perry
higher education price indices

2012-05-19
Mark J. Perry
colleges and universities care more about diversity of freshman classes than graduates
"After the passage in 1996 of California's Proposition 209, which banned the use of race and ethnicity in public university admissions in that state, 'the system as a whole did not lose blacks, and minority graduation rates went up.   Nobody wants to talk about that.   All that counts as far as these schools are concerned is what the freshman class looks like.   They don't care what the senior class looks like.'   MP: Nationally, only 43% of black students (36% for black males) graduated from college in 2006 compared to 63% for white students, meaning that the graduating senior college classes were much less racially diverse than the entering freshman classes.   At least part of the 20-point white-black racial gap in college graduation rates could be explained by 'academic mismatch' -- a consequence of affirmative action admission policies that admit minority students with lower academic qualifications than their white and Asian counterparts."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "up and down the river, similar fields had been cleared for maygrass, tobacco, and little barley.   In selected marshes, cane and cattail stands were groomed.   Cane provided dart shafts, flooring, and drill stems.   Cattail roots were eaten along with the pods, and the leaves were used for matting.   Hickory, acorns, walnuts, wild grape, hackberry, sugarberry, wild plums, raspberries, and more, reflected the bounty of forest and river." --- Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear 1994 _People of the Lakes_ pg79  

 
 

2012-05-20

2012-05-20
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
Despite what you say, your claim as a loyal Union man is disallowed...

2012-05-20
David Archibald
premonitions of the fall (in temperature)

2012-05-20
John Williams _Milford Daily News_
Bringing IT jobs back to the USA

2012-05-20
Victor Davis Hanson _PJ Media_
Winning battles but not winning wars?

2012-05-20 12:59PDT (15:59EDT) (19:59GMT) (21:59 Jerusalem)
Melanie Oubre _Numbers USA_
web-cast shines light on wave of bills that will hurt American workers, wages and college grads
"They obviously have not cared to ask the 1.8M U.S. born individuals who have engineering degrees but do not have an engineering job what they think of these policies."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "So Constance, daughter of king Roger ii, was born after her father's death.   She was over 30 when she married Barbarossa's younger son, and 9 more years went by before she bore him Frederick, in 1194.   Her husband became the emperor Henry vi, who had gotten the crown of Sicily through the marriage, and who died soon after his birth.   Frederick inherited that glamorous hybrid kingdom.   He grew up among its plots and tumults, the ward of pope Innocent iii, who arranged his first marriage and maneuvered for a German coalition to hail him supreme king in 1211, because Otto vi had been giving the Church intolerable trouble.   By 1220 Frederick was everywhere triumphant and the new pope, Honorius iii, consecrated him Holy Roman Emperor [HRE]." --- Poul Anderson 1990 _The Shield of Time_ pg329  

 
 

2012-05-21

2012-05-21
Martin Kidston _Billings MT Gazette_
Bentonite clay industry booms with resurging economy
"Bentonite has the ability to swell to 16 times its original size and absorb 10 times its weight in water.   It's used in cat litter and beauty supplies and as a binding agent in animal feed.   It's also used in foundry work and in drilling, including in the Bakken field of North Dakota.   The clay's industrial uses tie it directly to the nation's energy and auto industries.   With the economy on the mend, the bentonite industry has followed suit, restoring jobs lost in 2008 while creating an increase in mining applications across the region."

2012-05-21 06:54PDT (09:54EDT) (13:54GMT) (15:54 Jerusalem)
_San Francisco CA Business Times_
Tech executives putting on another push to hire cheap, young, pliant foreign workers with questionable ethics
San Francisco CA Chronicle
Silicon Valley
Matt O'Brien: San Jose CA Mercury News

2012-05-21 08:53PDT (11:53EDT) (15:53GMT) (17:53 Jerusalem)
_Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
Red Chinese firm Dalian Wanda Group bidding to take over AMC
Roger Harris
"The deal, which is subject to government approval in both countries, is valued at $2.6G.   Wanda also is expected to spend $500M in 'AMC's strategic and operating initiatives', the release says...   Regal operates more than 6,500 screens in 522 theaters in the U.S.A. and Canada.   AMC has more than 5K screens in 346 theaters.   Wanda has investments in commercial properties, luxury hotels, tourism investment, cultural industries and department stores...   Although Regal and AMC are competitors, the companies also are partners in 2 joint ventures -- National CineMedia Inc. and Digital Cinema Implementation Partners.   NCMI, owned by Regal, AMC and Cinemark Holdings Inc., operates NCM Media Networks, a digital in-theater media network that presents theater advertising and special events.   DCIP was created by Regal, AMC and Cinemark to roll out digital technology in theaters..."
contact Roger Harris

2012-05-21 09:20:40PDT (12:20:40EDT) (16:20:40GMT) (18:20:40 Jerusalem)
Jeremy C. Owens _San Jose CA Mercury News_
Apple's Tim Cook, Oracle's evil-minded Larry Ellison had highest USA CEO compensations in 2011
Street Insider
Financial Content
Smart Money
Scott Thurm: Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal (gallery/graphs)
"Rounding out the top 5 were CBS CEO Les Moonves, at $69.3M; J.C. Penney CEO Ronald Johnson, at $53.3M; and Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha, at $46.6M.   Jha is expected to be relieved of his duties once Mountain View search giant Google's $12.5G purchase of Motorola Mobility receives final approval.   Only one other Silicon Valley tech company's CEO made the top 50 of the list: Intel's Paul Otellini came in at #49, with total compensation of $16.7M.   Two other Bay Area companies made the top 50, with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo providing CEO John Stumpf $17.9M for a rank of 42, and San Ramon-based Chevron right behind at 43 thanks to CEO John Watson's compensation package of $17.86M."

2012-05-21
Anthony Watts
"Carbon is the currency of life."

2012-05-21
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
Obummer regime following instead of leading at G-8 and NATO summits
"Francois Hollande was the new Socialist on the block, but found an ally for his plans for, in Obama's words, 'the European project'."

2012-05-21
Paul Hsieh _PJ Media_
Dr. Orwell will see you now: Obummer regime's health-care newspeak

2012-05-21
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
Obummer threatens to veto defense act because it provides for purple hearts for victims of terrorist at Fort Hood

2012-05-21
Rick Richman _PJ Media_
European Jews on the eve of the holocaust

2012-05-21 (5772 Ayyr 29)
Mark Clayton _Jewish World Review_
USA utilities' defenses against hackers are still feeble and ill-conceived

2012-05-21 (5772 Ayyr 29)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
racial revolution?

2012-05-21 (5772 Ayyr 29)
Brittany Wallman _Florida Sun Sentinel_
Broward county removed 5K dead people from voter registration data-base, may be as many as 1,966 more
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "By 1099 the First Crusade had gained its objectives, with a massacre of civilians that would have done Genghis Khan proud, and the conquerors settled in.   They founded a string of realms from Palestine up into what she knew as southern Turkey -- the kingdom of Jerusalem, county of Tripoli, principality of Antioch, county of Edessa [ruled by the daughters of Baldwin ii and their husbands].   Gradually they came more and more under the cultural influence of their subjects.   It wasn't really like the Normans in Sicily, learning from the more civilized Arabs; it was as though the Crusaders adn their children took on the unhealthiest aspects of Muslim society.   Weakness followed, until in 1144 the Amir of Mosul captured Edessa and his son Nur-ed-Din advanced upon Jerusalem.   That Christian king appealed for help.   Bernard of Clairvaux -- St. Bernard to be -- preached a new crusade and pope Eugenius proclaimed it.   This Easter, 1146, king Louis vii of France had 'taken the cross', vowing to lead an expedition...   king Conrad...came down with emperor Lothair 10 years ago to help us against Roger." --- Poul Anderson 1990 _The Shield of Time_ pg321  

 
 

2012-05-22

2012-05-22
"rep49"
NASA astronauts, engineers & scientists released another letter to NASA administrator, once again asking that NASA eschew political posturing in lieu of science

2012-05-22
_Californians for Population Stabilization_
Memorial Day ad asks why Obummer admin is admitting millions of guest-workers and immigrants when 29.1% of veterans is unemployed

2012-05-22
Bob Tisdale
wrangling over global ocean heat content

2012-05-22
Alec Rawls
Obummer wants Electricty Reliability Corp. to stop assessing electricity reliability because shutting down coal-fired plants will reduce grid reliability

2012-05-22
Katie Mangan _Chronicle of Higher Education_
Educational technology and job training
"Thomas Kalil, deputy director for policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy... "

2012-05-22
_Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Sili Valley tech exec Thomas Langenbach of SAP charged with elaborate Lego thefts and resales

2012-05-22
J. Christian Adams _PJ Media_
compromising with voting fraud advocates is a no-win strategy

2012-05-22
_Mobile Burn_
T-Mobile to dump 1,900 to 3,300 US employees from 7 US facilities
Quentyn Kennemer: PhanDroid
PhoneArena
T-Mobile press release
"The call centers being closed are Allentown, PA; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Frisco, TX; Brownsville, TX; Lenexa, KS; Thornton, CO; and Redmond, OR.   They will shut down in 3 month's time..."
2011-07-16: Brendan Sasso: Hillicon Valley: merger could cost jobs

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
while DC squabbled over energy policy, markets and producers increased production, held down prices

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
regulation and licensing are biggest barriers to small-business success

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
US vs. world sugar prices

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
"There has been a severe contraction in the quality of higher education in America. Did we really think we could open the floodgates and not affect the quality of graduates?"

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
child mortality falling in Africa

2012-05-22
Mark J. Perry
lowered standards at Thomas Jefferson HS

2012-05-22
John D. Sutter _CNN_
Eugene Polley, inventor of 1955 Zenith "Flash-Matic" TV remote-control, died Sunday 2012-05-20 at age 96
Brian Slodysko: Los Angeles CA Times
Margalit Fox: NYTimes
"His inventions, mostly in the field of television, earned 18 U.S. patents."
Fox: Robert Adler, inventor of 1956 Zenith "Space Command" TV remote-control, died Thursday 2007-02-15 at age 93
Shannon Dininny: Seattle WA Times
about
When Was It Invented

2012-05-22
Jerry Bowyer _Forbes_
college bubble

2012-05-22
Michael Cutler _Californians for Population Stabilization_
The only thing worse than no security is false security

2012-05-22 (5772 Sivan 01)
David S. Cloud & Kathleen Hennessey _Jewish World Review_
USA invites Pakistan to NATO conference... Pakis continue to block supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan

2012-05-22 (5772 Sivan 01)
Warren Richey _Jewish World Review_
cross-border US-based groups object to over-seas surveillance: Supremes to consider

2012-05-22 (5772 Sivan 01)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
big lies in politics
"The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us...   Among the biggest lies of the welfare states on both sides of the Atlantic is the notion that the government can supply the people with things they want but cannot afford.   Since the government gets its resources from the people, if the people as a whole cannot afford something, neither can the government."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "The Bible tells us that they were employed to build the cities of Pithom (Per-Atum) and Ramses, 2 of Ramses ii's greatest projects.   The contrast between the people and the king could not have been greater.   The slaves were known as Hebrews, perhaps from the ancient workd Habiru.   They were, as the name implies, nomads, immigrants.   The Ivrim [ha Ibri], meaning those who journey from place to place.   In Egypt they had become slaves.   They had no power, no wealth, no rights, no freedom They were, of all people, the lowest of the low.   Egypt, at the time, was an indomitable power.   Not only was it a country of immense technical prowess, but it ruled the entire region of the Middle East.   Ramses was not so much served as a king; he was worshipped as a god.   Colossal statues of him were to be found throughout the country." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pg31  

 
 

2012-05-23

2012-05-23
Tom Lutey _Billings MT Gazette_
transition time for young lambs

2012-05-23
Anthony Watts
Human night lighting increasing populations of bugs and predators of bugs

2012-05-23
Vaclav Klaus
NATO and warmist hysteria
"Their ideas are the ideas of ideologues, not of scientists or climatologists.   Data and sophisticated theories will never change their views."

2012-05-23
Joan Lowe _Cumberland PA Sentinel_
Federal and state governments seek more ways to reduce US citizens' mobility -- upward or otherwise

2012-05-23 14:19PDT (17:19EDT) (21:19GMT) (23:19 Jerusalem)
Benjamin Pimentel _MarketWatch_
HP announced 27K employees to be dumped, products remain rotten, stock price soars
Steve Johnson: San Jose CA Mercury News

2012-05-23
Anthony Watts
UK adopts government control of energy: new energy bill is a disaster

2012-05-23
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
leaked e-mail messages show Obummer admin grossly over-estimated risks of uranium mining

2012-05-23
Ryan Young _American Spectator_
Keynesians and their "destroying value is good" fallacy

2012-05-23
Mark J. Perry
Ohio State U has 6.3 full-time non-teaching employees for every professor

2012-05-23
Mark J. Perry
increased natural gas extraction has held down consumer prices

2012-05-23
David North _Center for Immigration Studies_
naturalization standards are too low
"For many years now, the array of questions have been the same nationwide and the passing score has been set at a modest, undemanding 60%.   Further, people over 65, if they have been here for 20 years or more, are given an even easier test.   If you, despite all these advantages, blow the test you can come back within 90 days and try again, without paying an additional fee...   The percentage of people denied citizenship has dropped steadily, falling from 31.1% in 2000 to 8.4% in 2010, and to 7.6% in 2011.   Professor Winke did not use these basic data.   Instead (in her foot-note 4), she quotes a 1998 study by INS that said 34% of a study group of naturalization applicants 'were denied due to failure on the English, the civics test, or both'..."

2012-05-23 (5772 Sivan 02)
Reza Kahlili _Jewish World Review_
Baghdad talks with Iran rulers highlight Western naivete

2012-05-23 (5772 Sivan 02)
Art Markman _Jewish World Review_
developing your creativity"That kind of creativity requires 3 components:   1) improving your knowledge about the way all kinds of things in the world function;   2) developing strategies to pull out the knowledge you need when you need it; and   3) developing thinking habits to support these skills...   When you encounter a new device or an unfamiliar situation, make sure you really understand the way it works.   Take a few minutes to explain it to yourself before assuming that you get it.   By teaching yourself, you'll identify gaps in your understanding.   When you are stuck on a problem, seek its essence.   To practice finding the essence, play around with proverbs.   For example, what does the proverb, 'You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.', really mean?   At a glance, this proverb refers to flies and honey and vinegar, but it's really about how you can influence people more effectively by being kind than by being nasty.   Find a list of proverbs on-line and practice defining them.   This skill will also help you see the essence of a problem you're trying to solve rather than keep you focused on the surface information."

2012-05-23 (5772 Sivan 02)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
Taxation: The People's Business
"After Mellon finally succeeded in getting Congress to lower the top tax rate from 73% to 24%, the government actually received more tax revenues at the lower rate than it had at the higher rate.   Moreover, it received a higher proportion of all income taxes from the top income earners than before.   Something similar happened in later years, after tax rates were cut under Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and G.W. Bush.   The record is clear.   Barack Obama admitted during the 2008 election campaign that he understood that raising tax rates does not necessarily mean raising tax revenues.   Why then is he pushing so hard for higher tax rates on 'the rich' this election year?   Because class warfare politics can increase votes for his re-election, even if it raises no more tax revenues for the government."

2012-05-23 (5772 Sivan 02)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
Should black people tolerate this?
"Each year, roughly 7K blacks are murdered.   94% of the time, the murderer is another black person.   According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims.   Using the 94 percent figure means that 262,621 were murdered by other blacks.   Though blacks are 13% of the nation's population, they account for more than 50% of homicide victims.   Nationally, black homicide victimization rate is six times that of whites, and in some cities, it's 22 times that of whites.   Coupled with being most of the nation's homicide victims, blacks are most of the victims of violent personal crimes, such as assault and robbery.   The magnitude of this tragic mayhem can be viewed in another light.   According to a Tuskegee Institute study, between the years 1882 and 1968, 3,446 blacks were lynched at the hands of whites.   Black fatalities during the Korean War (3,075), VietNam War (7,243) and all wars since 1980 (8,197) come to 18,515, a number that pales in comparison with black loss of life at home."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Indeed, the earliest known reference to the Israelites outside the Bible is an inscriptuion on the Merneptah stele, a giant slab of black granite dating from the 13th century BCE.   It reads, 'Israel is laid waste.   His seed is no more.'   Not only would the Egyptians not have believed that the people Israel would survive, they believed that they were already on the verge of extinction.   Ancient Egypt and ancient Israel, therefore, seem to stand at opposite extremes of the great gamble we take with time.   What endures and what wanes? What survives and what is eclipsed?   It is a question we can never answer in advance, only in retrospect.   But retrospect is what we have.   Egypt and Israel 3 millennia ago were nations that asked themselves the most fundamental human question of all: How do we defeat death and conquer mortality? How, in the brief span of a human life, do we participate in something that will endure long after we are no longer here? The Egyptians gave one answer -- an answer that through the ages has tempted emperors and tyrants, rulers and kings.   We defeat mortality by building monuments that will stand for thousands of years.   Their stones will out-live the winds and sands of time.   The Jews gave an entirely different answer.   The Israelites, slave in Egypt for more than 200 years, were about to go free.   10 plagues had struck the country.   Whatever their cause, they seemed to convey the message: The God of Israel is on the side of freedom and human dignity...   Moses... spoke about children, and the distant future, and the duty to pass on memory to generations yet un-born.   3 times he turned to the theme..." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ p32-33  

 
 

2012-05-24

2012-05-24 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 327,595 in the week ending May 19, an increase of 2,515 from the previous week.   There were 376,632 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4% during the week ending May 12, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,106,534, a decrease of 43,864 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.8% and the volume was 3,549,972.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 5 was 6,168,620, a decrease of 105,004 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, ID, IL, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, and WV during the week ending May 5.   States reported 2,630,507 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 5, a decrease of 35,500 from the prior week.   There were 3,411,860 claimants in the comparable week in 2011.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01;
to 126,579,970 beginning 2012-01-01;
to 127,048,587 beginning 2012-04-07, and seasonal adjustment factors were revised.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2012-05-24
Frank J. Fleming _PJ Media_
Which candidate will kill fewer US jobs?
"Obviously, Romney is Catwoman.   Catwoman sometimes helps Batman and sometimes goes against him, and Romney has a record of being on both sides of a lot of issues.   So as president, he may help us and stay out of the way as we create jobs, but eventually he'll probably turn on us and enact some awful regulations that get in our way.   We'll think he's on our side, and suddenly the royal crown we are protecting will be nowhere to be found and neither will Romney.   I can't believe we trusted you, Cat-Mitt!   [Obummer], on the other hand, is obviously the Joker.   He's a job killing maniac who can't be reasoned with.   There's just no method to his madness.   One moment he's creating some giant new government program that no one wanted in [Obummercare], and the next he's spending $1T in 'stimulus' money that has so little effect you'd swear he just put the money in a warehouse and burned it.   If we're going to elect a job killer, we should at least get one who can destroy jobs without having to spend trillions doing it.   But [Obummer] doesn't care about anything logical or rational like [ending the federal government deficits and paying down the debt] or America's long-term well-being.   He just wants to watch the economy burn.   So there's our choice: We can have untrustworthy Romney or more of Obama and his job-killing madness."

2012-05-24
Benny Peiser
Germany fears de-industrialization

2012-05-24
Jon Cartwright, Jin-Woo Han, Jae Sub Oh & M. Meyyappan
AAAS Science reports on nano-scale vacuum/transistors
"From AAAS, news of a super tiny vacuum-tube transistor hybrid that can operate up to 0.46 TERAHertz (thats 460K megahertz or 460 gigahertz)..."

2012-05-24
Anthony Watts
Canine member of "Union of Concerned Scientists", but where's the science?

2012-05-24
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
Several senators ask inspectors general to investigate obfuscation in Gulf of Mexico oil drilling moratorium

2012-05-24
Chuck Baldwin _V Dare_
NDAA and government UAVs over the USA

2012-05-24
Michelle Malkin _V Dare_
law of the sea treaty? OhBummer!

2012-05-24
Mark J. Perry
Mississippian lime oil field

2012-05-24
Mark J. Perry
credit kkkard debt getting back under conrol

2012-05-24
Mark J. Perry
lessons from the Laffer Curve: another look at the 1920s

2012-05-24 (5772 Sivan 03)
Clifford D. May _Jewish World Review_
What Iran's rulers want: War, genocide and nuclear weapons.

2012-05-24 (5772 Sivan 03)
Chris Farrell _Jewish World Review_
Are we in a tech bubble?

2012-05-24 (5772 Sivan 03)
Matthew Richard Raup _Penn State U_
"The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." --- Theodore Roosevelt
"...However, I think it is often much easier to find a leader or manager with the skills to hire good employees and let them do the work than it is to actually find good employees.   If managers make more money and their job is to let other people do work, how many people out there would prefer to be the employee over the manager?   And because the employees are so empowered in this philosophy, the majority of the good employees probably have the skills necessary to perform the duties of the manager.   When this happens, it becomes increasingly difficult to find good employees because they are not often shown value by properly compensating them for their skill level.   How common is it to see an employee make more money than their boss?   And if the boss's are no longer individuals who have both the technical skill and the management skill, I would argue that it is much easier to find a good manager than it would be to find a good skilled employee.   So as this leadership philosophy becomes prevalent, I think it will lead to more under qualified managers because company's no longer feel they need to possess technical skills..."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Imagine that, while browsing in the library, you come across one book unlike the rest, which catches your eye because on its spine is written the name of your family.   Intrigued, you open it and see many pages written by different hands in many languages.   You start reading it, and gradually you understand what it is.   It is the story each generation of your ancestors has told for the sake of the next, so that everyone born into this family can learn where they came from, what happened to them, what they lived for and why.   As you turn the pages, you reach the last, which carries no entry but a heading.   It bears your name." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pp43-44  

 
 

2012-05-25

2012-05-25
Denise Dick _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Engineering challenge: bungee Barbie

2012-05-25 04:45PDT (07:45EDT) (11:45GMT) (13:45 Jerusalem)
Norm Matloff _CNN_
Get used to a life of lay-offs... unless executives' attitudes, and tax, guest-work, and immigration legal structures are reformed
"It's no coincidence that many of the U.S. core engineering openings at HP have titles like Recent Graduate, Intern and Post Doc, all aimed at the younger crowd.   The difficulties of older techies have been investigated statistically in studies at American University and the National Research Council...   if the hype regarding a seller's market for engineers were true, Wedel should have been able to find something in that region, which sadly has not been the case.   A former student of mine was a star at HP for 10 years or so, acquiring patents and promotions.   Yet he, too, got caught up in a huge layoff, and could find engineering work only sporadically afterward.   Ultimately he left the field.   Those who survive this round of HP layoffs will likely find themselves being asked to not only do their own jobs, but also those of the departed.   Engineers are exempt employees, hence no overtime pay, and HP will accrue a net reduction in labor costs...   HP's jobs web page shows that 48 of the 113 open core engineering positions are outside the United States...   HP workers, including those being discarded, are among the best in the business, and were whizzes in math when they were in school.   Many of our technology leaders, from Hewlett to Huang, are products of the American school system."
Wedel video

2012-05-25
Barnard Condon _Knoxville TN News Sentinel_
AP says average corporate CEO was paid $9.6M in 2011, up 6% from 2010
"The typical American worker would have to labor for 244 years to make what the typical boss of a big public company makes in one.   The median pay for USA workers was about $39,300 last year... up 1% from the year before, not enough to keep pace with inflation."

2012-05-25
_DoJ_
suit filed against bodyshop Whiz International, for retaliating against whistle-blower employee who reported nationality-based discrimination

2012-05-25
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
op-eds, etc.
 
Recently I've been invited to write 3 op-eds, the first one running a few weeks ago on Bloomberg View, and then 2 that appeared today, on CNN and USN&WR.
 
For those of you on Gene Nelson's mailing list, his speculation that CNN censored me from mentioning the H-1B visa issue is incorrect.   I simply chose not to do so, to avoid detracting from what I consider the main themes here.   I'd worked with the CNN editor before, and consider her to be first-rate, definitely not someone who would censor the H-1B topic.
 
As you'll see, I did bring up a couple of my favorite topics, the age discrimination issue, and a defense of the American educational system.
 
The USN&WR piece came out in subscription form last week, paired with counterpoint by representative Jeff Flake, who really played up the entrepreneurship aspect.   That is a phony issue, as far as I'm concerned; I believe H-1B and related programs are actually producing a net LOSS of innovative tech businesses, due to the internal brain drain.
 
Which brings me to a recent PBS documentary I've been meaning to comment on.
 
I was profoundly disappointed by it.
 
As readers of this e-news-letter know, I deplore the efforts of senator Schumer, representative Lofgren and, regrettably, even some academics to scape-goat the Indian and Indian-American IT firmst, portraying them as the Bad Guys on the H-1B issue, while treating the main-stream U.S. firms as the Good Guys.   Abuse of H-1B is rampant, across the board, not just at the Indian firms, so the efforts of Schumer et al. to single out the Indians is reprehensible, and arguably pandering to unhealthy racial attitudes.   (Per my periodic disclaimer, I'm a life-long Democratic, so my gripes with Schumer and Lofgren are not partisan.)
 
So, when the producer of the PBS program called me, early in her project, for background material, I urged her to avoid this trap.   I found her to be quite sharp, and most importantly, very open-minded, as she assured me she would not fall for the Schumer trap.   Indeed, she gave me her own example of an extremely prominent Silicon Valley firm that was abusing the H-1B program.
 
Yet the program as ulimately produced gives the impression that the Silicon Valley firms are using the visa programs responsibly.   It shows Silicon Valley firms with "innovative" foreign workers, implying these employers are the Good Guys, and then says (I'm piecing together a couple of quotes here), "But the 9 to 5, meat and potatoes" companies such as banks are the abusers.   Sorry, but this really rankles.
 
Back to my HP article, one of the reader comments is spot on, in my view:
 
Been there.   You spend 15 years helping build a company.   Just through annual raises and bonuses you become one of the higher paid employees.   When it comes time for lay-offs, you have a target on your back.   When you apply for other employers you almost want to lie about your background.   They take it for granted that you'll be too expensive.   BTW after I was laid off, (took an early retirement) the company went bankrupt.   They had gotten rid of the very people that they needed.
 
That last comment reminds me of a funny (dark humor) incident at the company where my wife worked as a software engineer some years ago.   (No, she wasn't laid off; she just wanted to be a full-time mom.)   During a meeting, the manager asked the group, "Where are the people who know this software?"   Someone at the back yelled out, "You laid 'em all off!" :-)
 
Norm
Beryl Lieff Benderly: AAAS Science

2012-05-25
Lou Dobbs _Fox_
Why is the US State Department making the job markets more difficult for US teens?

2012-05-25
Ron Radosh _PJ Media_
revolutionary betrayed: the story of William Alexander Morgan
David Grann: New Yorker

2012-05-25
Alex Kowalski _Bloomberg_
UMich consumer sentiment index rose from 76.4 in April to 77.8 in early May to 79.3 in late may
Bond Buyer
EconoDay
Mark J. Perry
St. Louis Fed

2012-05-25
Mark J. Perry
prices of prototypers/3-D printers falling into consumer range after nearly 25 years

2012-05-25
Bridget Johnson _PJ Media_
principled and consistent Libertarian Party remains a better choice for the USA than tweedle-Rep and tweedle-Dem
"The 41-year-old party has arguably its most prominent ticket yet this year with former 2-term New Mexico governor Gary Johnson... and Jim Gray, formerly the presiding judge of the Orange county CA, Superior Court...   Are there any true Libertarians in Congress today? Johnson cites Tea Party favorite Justin Amash (R-MI), and says he's sure there are 'dozens' that lean Libertarian such as Paul; Hinkle says 'to a lesser extent' senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is following in his dad’s Libertarian footsteps.   Howell calls Paul 'essentially Libertarian'.   'Beyond that, you have to drop way down the ranks to get some slight Libertarians.', Hinkle said"

2012-05-25 (5772 Sivan 04)
Mark Clayton _Jewish World Review_
the State Department has for a year and a half now tried to counter Al Qaeda's affiliate in the Arabian Peninsula by rhetorically shooting down the group's propaganda when it pops up on Yemeni tribal forum web-sites

2012-05-25 (5772 Sivan 04)
David G. Savage _Jewish World Review_
Supremes insanely held that a jury's unanimous but tentative vote to acquit a defendant on some charges does not count as a verdict for purposes of the prohibition on double jeopardy
"In most states, trial judges can poll jurors who are having trouble reaching a verdict and issue a partial verdict on those charges where they are unanimous.   Once the jury and judge reach a verdict on some charges, a defendant could not be retried for those same offenses."

2012-05-25 (5772 Sivan 04)
Ashley Powers _Jewish World Review_
A nightmare... then conviction was tossed

2012-05-25 (5772 Sivan 04)
Erika Bolstad _Jewish World Review_
Miami Temple canceled controversial event over security fears
"Stanley Tate, a well-known philanthropist and prominent Republican who started Florida's prepaid college tuition program, resigned from the temple after he learned Wasserman Schultz would be talking about Israel after services on Friday night, and that he wouldn't get an opportunity for rebuttal.   The temple's president, Ben Kuehne, a Miami attorney, said the event was canceled because of security concerns...   Temple Israel, which invited her to speak, is just outside her Florida congressional district...   Tate's resignation came after he asked the temple's leadership to let him speak in response to Wasserman Schultz.   When they wouldn't do so, Tate said he would leave the congregation...   Tate, 85, is co-chair of Mitt Romney's campaign in Miami-Dade County...   Kuehne himself was on former vice-president Al Gore's legal team during the 2000 recount, and as DNC chair-woman, Wasserman Schultz is one of the president's top mouth-pieces...   Tate said he objected to Wasserman Schultz speaking from the dais in the sanctuary.   He would have preferred that she speak in the auditorium, and if she did, that there be a Republican involved, too."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Judaism was the first religion to reject idolatry, insisting instead that only one thing in creation is worthy of being considered as an image [or at least a reflection or shadow] of the transcendent God, namely man himself, the living, speaking, choosing, acting, morally responsible person...   since mankind in its diversity cannot be reduced to a single image, so God cannot be reduced to a single faith or language.   God exists in difference and thus chooses as His witness a people dedicated to difference.   In terms of ethics, Judaism was the first religion to insist upon the dignity of the person and the sanctity of human life.   For the first time, the individual could no longer be sacrificed for the group.   Murder became not just a crime against man but a sin against God." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pp74-75  

 
 

2012-05-26

2012-05-26
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Salzman article
 
Very nice analysis by Hal Salzman.
 
Interesting that he refers to the green card bills as "widely popular".   This is true on the Hill, but probably not among the populace.   (So much for democracy.)   A 1998 Harris Poll found that 82% of the respondents opposed an expansion in the H-1B program, and I believe the green card bills would be similar.
 
Norm
US News & World Report Opinion
 
Should Foreign STEM Graduates Get Green Cards?
 
No Shortage of Qualified American STEM Grads:
STEM industries have plenty of labor without foreign grads sticking around
 
by Hal Salzman Sociologist at the E.J Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University
 
2012 May 25
 
Giving STEM graduates a green gard is a widely popular but misguided policy.   Advocates of automatic green cards for STEM graduates base their positions on one or more of a number of suppositions: The U.S. economy is lagging because we don't have enough scientists and engineers to meet industry demand; and/or increasing the supply will directly increase the innovation level in the economy; and/or increases in the number of scientists and engineers in other countries will put the United States at a competitive disadvantage.   Each argument has the same intuitive appeal as that of motherhood and apple pie yet, when looking at the evidence, we find each of these arguments lacks empirical support.
 
Let us consider the evidence.   Do we really kick STEM graduates out of the country upon graduation?   Currently, graduates are automatically eligible to work for 29 months after graduation and the most recent research finds that stay rates have not changed significantly over the past decade, with more than two-thirds of foreign STEM Ph.D.'s working in the United States after graduation.   And for those STEM graduates who do not stay, our research and that of others suggests it is because they find better opportunities at home and less attractive STEM career options in the United States, not because of any barriers to getting a visa, anecdotal accounts notwithstanding.
 
And what is the evidence that there is a large, unmet demand for STEM graduates?   A quick scan of this week's news finds that HP will lay off over 27K workers this year, following lay-offs of over 28K a few years ago.   Or consider General Electric's recent relocation of its 115 year old X-ray head-quarters from Wisconsin to Beijing, following earlier expansion of its corporate research and development labs in India and [Red China].   These companies are not alone but represent the general trend, in industry after industry, of locating STEM-intensive activities off-shore.   It is thus a rather curious proposition that companies are seeking more U.S. STEM employees at the same time they are laying off tens of thousands of STEM workers and increasing employment of off-shore STEM workers who earn a fraction of U.S. salaries.   And this is occurring at the same time that we graduate 2 to 3 times more STEM graduates each year than are hired into a STEM field.
 
What do the career prospects of a STEM Ph.D. look like?   The typical career path is increasingly two post-docs following a Ph.D. before entering the labor market.   That is, following a bachelor's degree and another 4 or 5 years of intensive study and low-wage labor in a professor's lab, the typical STEM Ph.D. can look forward to yet another 6 or 8 years working at an average salary of $50K before they can compete for a regular job in a flooded labor market.   For some, a deep and abiding love of science and engineering and willingness to play the job lottery keeps them in the game.   For many others, these dim prospects push them to go elsewhere.   And this pyramid scheme—of many low-paid graduate students and post-docs working for a small number of senior scientists—rests on having the large supply of foreign students who still flock to the United States because our education system is superb and, because until recently, there were even dimmer prospects of employment in their home countries.   However, as more U.S. and international firms move their technology and research operations off-shore, good job opportunities outside the United States will continue to draw talented STEM graduates to those locations.
 
It is the shift in demand—of where jobs are located—not supply-side policies such as visa policies that are determining the composition and size of the U.S. STEM labor pool.   Further, specific labor market immigration policy is different from overall immigration policy:   The benefit of a social policy that embraces diversity and immigration is something quite different from a labor market policy that seeks to flood the labor pool of STEM workers by robbing our global neighbors to get them.   At best, a policy such as the STAPLE Act is a policy in search of a problem and, at worst, has the perverse effect of weakening the U.S. STEM work-force.
---30---

2012-05-26
Robert Moore _Cenantua_
more on Samuel Windle... a response from a descendant

2012-05-26
Clive Best
water buffering of climate, faint sun paradox and CRUTEM4

2012-05-26
Mike McDaniel _PJ Media_
Wasting time: the hidden public school crisis

2012-05-26
Mark J. Perry
oil prosperity from Eagle Ford shale in Texas
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Relationships lie not in power but in the bond of mutuality made possible by language.   A relationship that depends on dominance -- physical, economic or political -- is not between free agents.   If I have power over you, my will prevails at the expense of yours.   You are a measn to my end.   This fails the biblical test of treating each person as an image of God.   It also fails to redeem solitude, for if I regard you as an extension of me, not a person in your own right, i am still alone.   Words not only allow us to communicate, they allow us to form partnerships.   For I can use language not just to describe facts and express feelings, but also to create a moral bond -- to promise, to bind, to commit myself.   This is what is called a 'performance utterance', meaning the use of language to create something that did not exist before.   So, for example, when I promise to do something, I create an obligation.   When, standing under the bridal canopy, I say, 'Behold, you are betrothed to me.', I create a new and transformative relationship, the relationship of marriage.   This, no less than the birth of the individual, was a critical moment in the journey of mankind -- the still radical idea that the moral relationship is the basis of a free society.   The entire complex achievement of civilization depends on groups of individuals working together.   I must be able to depend on others, and they on me.   But if this is not to be brought about by oen of us having power over the other, then it depends on trust [and fidelity, reliability, loyalty].   And trust depends on my giving my word and keeping it.   Just as God creates the natural world with words, so we create the social world with words -- sacred words, meaning, words that bind.   This is the first intimation of an idea on which eventually all Jewish history will turn: the idea of a covenant (brit) [agreement, contract].   A covenant is made when free agents, respecting one another's freedom, bind themselves by a mutual promise to work together, to be loyal to one another, and to achieve together what neither can achieve alone.   Keeping such a promise is called 'faithfulness', emunah, sometimes wrongly translated as 'faith'." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pp82-83  

 
 

2012-05-27

2012-05-27
Norm Matloff _H-1B/ L-1/ Off-Shoring News-Letter_
Hal Salzman article... more
 
Sorry, I earlier missed the fact that there are several more op-eds on the "staple a green card" issue at US News & World Report.
 
(In the PDF file sent me last week with the subscription publication, only representative Flake and my pieces were there.)
 
There are (almost) all worth reading, even those on the Yes side.   Representative Flake brings up a new data set I had not heard of before, I don't think it's relevant, but at least it's a contribution.   I have a few comments.
 
Ron Hira and Mark Krikorian argue that a "staple" bill might be OK if restricted to PhDs.   I don't think that restriction will get serious consideration, ironically for the very reason Hira cites -- there aren't very many foreign (or domestic) PhDs.   As I've said many times, what the industry really wants are the much more numerous master's-level people, their public claims about PhDs notwithstanding.   Nevertheless, the points brought up in those two essays should be discussed.
 
I strongly disagree with Hira's assertion that
 
A selective set of criteria, such as limiting it to Ph.D.'s-only, is likely to have a small impact on the broader economy because the absolute number of Ph.D.'s is very small and universities don't find producing Ph.D.'s a lucrative business.   It is unlikely that universities will find it profitable enough to create large-scale Ph.D. programs specifically tailored to paying foreign students.
 
On the contrary, universities consider PhDs to be their life blood.   True, the total tuition revenue would not be much, but these are the workers who make the labs run, who author the papers, who present the research at conferences and so on.   Having self-supported PhD students would be manna from heaven, enabling the universities to engage in the above vital activities on a much larger scale.
 
Even more importantly, do Hira and Krikorian really feel we should throw doctoral programs under the bus, so to speak?   We are already producing too many PhDs, and should really concentrate on quality, not quantity.   Even if the foreign "market" (from the universities' point of view) is relatively small, as Hira correctly argues, a "staple bill" would dilute the quality further in an already highly-diluted area.
 
Hira is correct in pointing out that
 
Some have argued that one way to avoid diploma mills is to limit the list of approved universities to very selective criteria.   This is unlikely to be effective because it misunderstands both the business models of universities and the political-economy in which they sit.   Universities left out will find ways to get politicians to include them.
 
Right on both counts.   Some top universities -- Stanford and Columbia come to mind immediately -- are notorious for "selling" master's degrees, by having low admissions requirements but insisting the student pay full price.   So, the quality of the school itself (I'm partial to Stanford) doesn't guarantee that the student quality will be good.   Ron is also correct that any list of approved schools would be subject to "list creep".
 
I've seldom commented on Jacoby's writings, because I consider them to be the most biased of the immigration policy genre.   I think even representative Flake's piece is less biased than Jacoby's.   I'll say no more here, except to remind readers that even the Wall Street Journal did a good analysis of the fallacy in those "x H-1Bs create y jobs" arguments.
 
Norm
---30---

2012-05-27
Anthony Watts
Quote of the Week – BONUS Krugman insanity edition

2012-05-27
Anthony Watts
Yale study suggests splits over issues of the day have little to do with knowledge or intelligence, more to do with collectivists vs. individualists

2012-05-27
Robert Reich _San Francisco CA Chronicle_
US college grads face gloomy prospects

2012-05-27
Mark J. Perry
grade inflation

2012-05-27
Gary M. Stern _Fortune_
costs & worth of employee training
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "The covenantal bond is the only way of reconciling freedom with association.   It allows us to make marriages, families, communities and eventually societies built on the recognition of our independence and interdependence.   It will eventually lead to the greatest of man's attempts to create a social order based on the absolute dignity of the individual as image of God." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pg89  

 
 

2012-05-28: Memorial Day

2012-05-28
William K. Alcorn _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
veterans' graves, "lost" since 1979, found in plain sight around flag-pole

2012-05-28
Denise Dick _Youngstown OH Vindicator_
Chaney HS STEM students headed to work-shop at West Point

2012-05-28
A.W.R. Hawkins _PJ Media_
"Human rights" vs. natural human rights
"Leftists are masters of language.   By shifting words and phrases, they are frequently able to secure victory in an argument with many apolitical, salt-of-the-earth Americans and even some conservatives.   They've done this in the class-room by referring to the American military as 'imperialist', and in the public square by labeling capitalism as a greedy system whereby people only become rich at the expense of others.   Yet over the course of the last few decades, the Left's most rewarding play on language has been a not-so-subtle shift from focusing on natural rights to focusing on 'human rights'.   The former are fixed and derived from God through nature, while the latter are in flux and founded solely upon the decisions various governments and ruling entities make regarding innumerable definitions of freedom.   Our Founding Fathers based the Bill of the Rights on the natural, unchanging rights with which we were endowed by our Creator.   Thus they recognized not only our right to freedom of speech, but also freedom of religion and freedom of the press.   They recognized not only our right to pursue and own property, but also to be secure in that property, and we were even to have security in our own persons.   And to defend these and other natural rights, our Founders recognized that we had a right to keep and bear arms which shall not be infringed."

2012-05-28
Frosty Wooldridge _News with Views_
California's growing third-world population

2012-05-28
Victor Davis Hanson _PJ Media_
Thoughts while traveling along the Rhine river

2012-05-28
Barry Rubin _PJ Media_
Edward Luttwak teaches us about America and the world

2012-05-28
Michael Ledeen _PJ Media_
The on-going war being waged by the rulers of Iran

2012-05-28
_Slash Dot_
back-door found in more chips made in Red China and used in US military systems
Information Age
Ziff Davis

2012-05-28
Dan Stein _Immigration Reform_
studying in the USA should not guarantee that you get a green card

2012-05-28
Mark J. Perry
US energy consumption by fuel type

2012-05-28
Mark J. Perry
cash vs. insurance medical prices

2012-05-28
Mark J. Perry
college is not for everyone
"In 1940, fewer than 5% of Americans had a college degree...   At last count, roughly 40% of Americans had some sort of college degree..."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "God -- who tells Moses that His name is 'I will be where I will be' [Exodus/Shemuth 3:14] -- cannot be confined to one secor of humanity.   This is the point of His remarkabel commane do the Israelites: 'Do not hate an Egyptian.   You were strangers in his land.' God blesses ishmael and Esau -- they too will become great nations.   There is nothing exclusive about the patriarchal covenant: 'Through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' But there is nonetheless an insistence on the integrity of diversity, the dignity of difference; the preciousness to God of those whom the world ignores or mistreats.   God sets his image on the only creature for whom difference is a source of identity, namely man.   And to exemplify this truth, He chooses Israel, the people who are called on to be different, to show that for God, difference matters.   The covenant with Abraham and Israel is a calculated and far-reaching rejection fo 2 other forms of civilization, tribalism and universalism.   Tribalism assumes that there is one god for each nation.   Universalism contends that there is one god for all humanity and only one way in which He is to be served.   Judaism argues that despite the irreducible differences between faiths and cultures, all people are the children of one God.   According to the Talmud, when the Egyptians were drowning...   God stopped the angels from singing a song of triumph: 'My creatures are drowning, and you wish to sing a song?' The faith of Israel declares the oneness [Echad] of God and the plurality of man.   This declaration constitutes a protest against tribalism OT1H, and universal solutions to the human situation on the other.   Neither does justice to the human 'other', the 'stranger', who is not in my image but is nevertheless in God's image.   Tribalism denies rights to the outsider.   Universalism grants rights if and only if the outsider converts.   Tribalism turns the concept of a chosen people into that of a master race.   Universalism turns the [standards] of a single into the measure of all humanity." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pp92-93  

 
 

2012-05-29

2012-05-29
Willis Eschenbach
observational estimate of "climate sensitivity"

2012-05-29
Anthony Watts
Tick Tick Tick

2012-05-29
_Conference Board_
Consumer Confidence index declined again
Leah Schnurr: San Jose CA Mercury News/Reuters
"Those claiming business conditions are 'bad' increased to 34.3% from 33.2%, while those saying business conditions are 'good' decreased to 13.6% from 15.5%.   Consumers' appraisal of the job market was also less favorable.   Those claiming jobs are 'hard to get' increased to 41.0% from 38.1%, while those stating jobs are 'plentiful' decreased to 7.9% from 8.4%."

2012-05-29
Willis Eschenbach
this is what DHS is doing instead of securing ports and borders, running background investigations on visa applicants, and rooting out terrorists and spies

2012-05-29
Anthony Watts
Giving control of the Internet to the UN would be an extremely, extremely bad idea
William Jackson: Government Computer News
Washington Times

2012-05-29
Isaac Sweeney _Chronicle of Higher Education_
when professors squash students' goals

2012-05-29
Dan Stein _FAIR_
visa give-away to foreign STEM graduates is bad policy

2012-05-29
William L. Anderson
Krugman seems to think that actually creating valuable goods and services is being parasitical, while breaking windows is being generous

2012-05-29
Mark J. Perry
mid-west manufacturing recovery: auto production at 2007 levels

2012-05-29
Mark J. Perry
Does the government's power to license occupations trump free speech?

2012-05-29
Mark J. Perry
US oil production vs. consumption

2012-05-29 (5772 Sivan 08)
Thomas Sowell _Jewish World Review_
"meaningful work"
"'Education' is a word that covers a lot of very different things, from vital, life-saving medical skills to frivolous courses to absolutely counter-productive courses that fill people with a sense of grievance and entitlement, without giving them either the skills to earn a living or a realistic understanding of the world required for a citizen in a free society.   The lack of realism among many highly educated people has been demonstrated in many ways.   When I saw signs in Yellowstone National Park warning visitors not to get too close to a buffalo, I realized that this was a warning that no illiterate farmer of a bygone century would have needed.   No one would have had to tell him not to mess with a huge animal that literally weighs a ton, and can charge at you at 30 miles an hour.   No one would have had to tell that illiterate farmer's daughter not to stand by the side of a highway, trying to hitch a ride with strangers, as too many college girls have done, sometimes with results that ranged all the way up to their death.   The dangers that a lack of realism can bring to many educated people are completely overshadowed by the dangers to a whole society created by the unrealistic views of the world promoted in many educational institutions...   What is 'meaningful work'?   The underlying notion seems to be that it is work whose performance is satisfying or enjoyable in itself.   But if that is the only kind of work that people should have to do, how is garbage to be collected, bed pans emptied in hospitals or jobs with life-threatening dangers to be performed?   Does anyone imagine that firemen enjoy going into burning homes and buildings to rescue people trapped by the flames?   That soldiers going into combat think it is fun?   In the real world, many things are done simply because they have to be done, not because doing them brings immediate pleasure to those who do them.   Some people take justifiable pride in working to take care of their families, whether or not the work itself is great."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "A neighbor is one we love because he is like us.   A stranger is one we are taught to love precisely because he is not like us." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pg94  

 
 

2012-05-30

2012-05-30
_MSFTN_
Ayn Rand also popular in India, which surprises some
Dawn
Flagstaff AZ Today
World News
Fostoria Review Times
France 24

2012-05-30
Anthony Watts
why Canadian media are more honest about climate

2012-05-30
Anthony Watts
old aerial photos over Greenland show it has been warmer in the past

2012-05-30
Hans A. von Spakovsky _PJ Media_
My mother dodged Nazis and Communists to give us a happy home in Alabama

2012-05-30 02:35PDT (05:35EDT) (09:35GMT) (11:35 Jerusalem)
Andrew Nusca _Ziff Davis_/_CBS_
Andrew Nusca, Tim Cook and many execs believe that manufacturing consumer electronics in the USA is impossible

2012-05-30
Amy Quinton
thousands in CA protest against state cap and trade measure

2012-05-30
Anthony Watts
ESA CryoSat being used both for sea ice and ocean floor mapping

2012-05-30
Alexis Garcia _PJ Media_
Chicago regulators make opening and operating a business nearly impossible

2012-05-30
Mark J. Perry
Bodyshopping index at 94

2012-05-30
Wayne Allyn Root _Town Hall_
Why Obummer will lose in a land-slide

2012-05-30 (5772 Sivan 09)
Jill Goody Smits _Jewish World Review_
setting and striving for goals based on a pure desire to achieve is good; a persistent feeling of unworthiness is unhealthy

2012-05-30 (5772 Sivan 09)
Walter E. Williams _Jewish World Review_
our nation's future
"Our nation is rapidly approaching a point from which there's little chance to avoid a financial collapse.   The heart of our problem can be seen as a tragedy of the commons.   That's a set of circumstances when something is commonly owned and individuals acting rationally in their own self-interest produce a set of results that's inimical to everyone's long-term interest.   Let's look at an example of the tragedy of the commons phenomenon and then apply it to our national problem.   Imagine there are 100 cattlemen all having an equal right to graze their herds on 1K acres of commonly owned grassland.   The rational self-interested response of each cattleman is to have the largest herd that he can afford.   Each cattleman pursing similar self-interests will produce results not in any of the cattlemen's long-term interest -- over-grazing, soil erosion and destruction of the land's usefulness.   Even if they all recognize the dangers, does it pay for any one cattleman to cut the size of his herd?   The short answer is no because he would bear the cost of having a smaller herd while the other cattlemen gain at his expense.   In the long term, they all lose because the land will be over-grazed and made useless.   We can think of the federal budget as a commons to which each of our 535 congressmen and the president have access.   Like the cattlemen, each congressman and the president want to get as much out of the federal budget as possible for their constituents.   Political success depends upon 'bringing home the bacon'.   Spending is popular, but taxes to finance the spending are not.   The tendency is for spending to rise and its financing to be concealed through borrowing and inflation.   Does it pay for an individual congressman to say, 'This spending is unconstitutional and ruining our nation, and I'll have no part of it; I will refuse a $500M federal grant to my congressional district'?   The answer is no because he would gain little or nothing, plus the federal budget wouldn't be reduced by $500M.   Other congressmen would benefit by having $500M more for their districts.   What about the constituents of a principled congressman?   If their congressman refuses unconstitutional spending, it doesn't mean that they pay lower federal income taxes.   All that it means is constituents of some other congressmen get the money while the nation spirals toward financial ruin, and they wouldn't be spared from that ruin because their congressman refused to participate in unconstitutional spending."

2012-05-30 (5772 Sivan 09)
Jeff Berwick _Daily Reckoning_
10 ways the USA is worse than it was in 1947; federal government debt; un-funded liabilities; Socialist Insecurity Abomination never solvent; surveillance/privacy-violation state; indebting the young and future generations; war on plants; unwarranted "no-knock" invasions...
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "To be a Jew is to argue with heaven for the sake of heaven.   Jewish faith does not lie in the acceptance of suffering or the escape from it, but in seeing it for what it is and contending with it, even if this means contending with God himself.   In this dialogue ther are no answers.   To expect them is to misunderstand what the conversation is about...   The poitn of the dialogue between earth and heaven is not to receive answers.   It is to acquire, through our encounter with God, the strength to carry on, to re-engage with life, to build, rescue, and heal." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pp101-102  

 
 

2012-05-31

2012-05-31 04:30PDT (07:30EDT) (11:30GMT) (13:30 Jerusalem)
Kevin Kastner _Business Week_
CGC: 61,887 lay-offs announced in May; 245,540 year to date
Foreign Exchange Live
Morning Star
Central Valley CA Business Times
Boston Business Journal
CNBC
Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones
Atlanta GA Journal Constitution
Florida Sun Sentinel
Chicago IL Tribune/Reuters
computer: 27,754 (27K by HP; 32,599 year to date)
transportation: 5,419 (24,193 year to date)
food: 3,165 (9,938 ytd)
consumer products: (21,846 year to date)

2012-05-31 05:30PDT (08:30EDT) (12:30GMT) (14:30 Jerusalem)
Scott Gibbons & Tony Sznoluch _DoL ETA_
un-employment insurance weekly claims report
DoL home page
DoL OPA press releases
historical data
DoL regulations
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 341,167 in the week ending May 26, an increase of 10,736 from the previous week.   There were 381,497 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.   The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4% during the week ending May 19, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 2.5%.   The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,043,782, a decrease of 80,602 from the preceding week.   A year earlier, the rate was 2.8% and the volume was 3,510,507.   The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 12 was 6,137,862, a decrease of 30,753 from the previous week.   Extended benefits were available in AK, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, ID, IL, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, and WV during the week ending May 12.   States reported 2,618,366 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 12, a decrease of 12,141 from the prior week.   There were 3,416,540 claimants in the comparable week in 2011.   EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.   [Note that the population used for calculating the "insured unemployment rate" (the divisor) changes
to 132,623,886 beginning 2007-10-06;
to 133,010,953 beginning 2008-01-05;
to 133,382,559 beginning 2008-04-05;
to 133,690,617 beginning 2008-07-05;
to 133,902,387 beginning 2008-10-04;
to 133,886,830 beginning 2009-01-03;
to 133,683,433 beginning 2009-04-04;
to 133,078,480 beginning 2009-07-04;
to 133,823,421 beginning 2009-10-03;
to 131,823,421 beginning 2009-10-17;
to 130,128,328 beginning 2010-01-02;
to 128,298,468 beginning 2010-04-03;
to 126,763,245 beginning 2010-07-03;
to 125,845,577 beginning 2010-09-25;
to 125,560,066 beginning 2011-01-15;
to 125,572,661 beginning 2011-04-02;
to 125,807,389 beginning 2011-07-02;
to 126,188,733 beginning 2011-10-01;
to 126,579,970 beginning 2012-01-01;
to 127,048,587 beginning 2012-04-07, and seasonal adjustment factors were revised.]
EUC (Excel)
EB
graphs
more graphs

2012-05-31
David Archibald
A look at oil extraction

2012-05-31
_Slash Dot_
Red Chinese programmer admitted stealing Treasury Department accounting software source code

2012-05-31
Lorraine Yapps Cohen
California bureaubum Nichols blocks introduction of public concerns on cap-and-trade scheme
"Mary Nichols, in her authoritative over-reach, simply adjourned the meeting when dissenting perspective tried to be heard...   The reality is that the state will find a way to grab the money to support its continuing out of control spending..."

2012-05-31
"mikelorrey"
US congress rejects UN take-over of Internet
Phys Org

2012-05-31
Claudia Rosett _PJ Media_
UN's government-extortion-free elite

2012-05-31
Jennifer Howard _Chronicle of Higher Education_
most of the text of David Livingstone's field journals has been recovered

2012-05-31 14:24PDT (17:24EDT) (21:24GMT) (23:24 Jerusalem)
_MarketWatch_/_UBM_
latest version of NIGHTMARE act is installment in reprehensible immigration law perversion/amnesty for illegal aliens

2012-05-31
Mark J. Perry
daily oil production since 1998

2012-05-31
Steve Tobak _CBS_
10 things great bosses do
"And yet, for all the Yahoos, HPs, RIMs, Sprints, Sonys, Kodaks, Nokias, Bank of Americas, and all the executives that turned these once-great brands into laughing stocks, [and executives of never-great brands like MSFT and Ill-Begotten Monstrosities], there's still the occasional Apple...to give us hope."

2012-05-31
Jay Schalin _John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy_
STEM talent glut
"U.S. colleges are producing too many graduates in many scientific and technical fields...   The real facts suggest that, in many STEM specialties, there is a labor glut, not a shortage...   But there is no urgent need for STEM graduates, at least not in a general sense.   The roots of STEM labor gluts go back over half a century, according to Michael Teitelbaum, a demographer at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and a leading authority on this topic.   Sputnik, the 1957 Soviet missile launch, created a national concern that we were falling behind in the race for technical superiority.   Talk of labor shortages in science and engineering arose, and talk led to action.   Beryl Lieff Benderly, a journalist who writes about employment for scientists for Science magazine and other publications, described the result of the national response to Sputnik: 'Federal money swiftly poured into science and engineering scholarships and so successfully attracted students that, by the early 1970s, the market for young scientists was flooded.'   The flood grew in the 1980s, after the National Science Foundation (NSF) warned of imminent shortages of scientists.   Eventually, the NSF's predictions turned out to be so off-base that the agency was subjected to an investigation by a House subcommittee in [1992 and] 1995, during which NSF director Neal Lane flatly stated, 'there really was no basis to predict a shortage', according to Teitelbaum and Benderly.   (Lane was not involved with the NSF at the time of shortage prediction.)   More recently, a PhD in electrical engineering who follows labor trends in his specialty, Dan Donahoe, wrote for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) magazine that there has been a 'myth of a qualified labor shortage' in his field for a long time.   He says that the myth started in the late 1980s, and that the myth continues despite expansion and contraction of the labor market...   For instance, in the period between 2001 and 2005—the depths of the dot.com bust—only 19,910 net computer-related jobs were added to the U.S. economy, but there were 263,471 new H-1B visas for computer-related jobs, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.   It's no wonder that American students fled the discipline, as reflected in the drop in degrees granted between 2000 and 2009 cited above...   'The best way to increase interest in STEM careers is by making certain that STEM careers are actually viable.'   IOW, allow demand to catch up with supply."
Davidson Data-Base Gifted Issues discussion forum

2012-05-31 (5772 Sivan 10)
Kyle Scott _Jewish World Review_
candidates want the support of every major US religion
"A recent Pew survey found that Mormon support for the Republican party has grown from 68% in 2008 to 80% in early 2012...   while 65% of Jewish voters identify with or lean toward the [leftist] party, that number is down from 2008.   Meanwhile, Jewish support for Republicans has increased by 9 percentage points since 2008...   From 2008 to present, Catholic support for the GOP has increased by 6 percentage points to a point where a majority of Catholics no longer identify with or lean toward [leftists]...   pursuing Catholic voters could help Republicans attract Latino voters...   A recent Pew survey found that among registered Latino voters, immigration ranks behind jobs, education, health care, taxes, and even the federal budget deficit on a list of issues they feel are 'extremely important'."
 
Proposed Bills 2012
 
 

  "Before stating the terms of the covenant, God told Moses to speak to the people and determine whether or not they agreed to become a nation under the sovereignty of God.   Only when 'all the people responded together, We will do everything the Lord has said' did the revelation proceed.   This is the first time in history that individuals -- ordinary individuals, not an elite -- were asked to give their consent to a political order." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pg118  

 
 



 
Proposed Bills 2012


Congressional candidate fund-raising, expenditures, and debt
 

USA Over-Population Clock
World + USA Over-Population Clocks
Jimbo Wales's WikiPedia on World Over-Population
 

  "What is unprecedented is the idea of a kingdom every one of whose citizens is a priest, and a nation every one of whose members is holy [consecrated, dedicated to the relationship with God under the condtions of the covenant].   This is the first and most majestic statement of egalitarian politics.   Significantly, while the revelation is taking place, Moses is at the foot of the mountain with the rest of the people.   At Sinai, God reveals Himself equally to everyone.   At Israel's founding moment, every individual is a party to the covenant and none stands higher than any other." --- R' Jonathan Sacks 2000 _A Letter in the Scroll_ pg119  

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