Chicago pension tab: $18,596 for every man, woman, child

Chicago Tribune - Front Page - Chicago pension tab: $18,596 for every man, woman, child:

 "The much-discussed government worker pension debt in Chicago now has a price tag: $18,596 for every man, woman and child living in the city.

 That per-person figure is the highest among the nation’s 25 largest cities.

 It’s nearly double that of New York, the city with the second-largest tab. 

And it’s more than five times the median for locales included in the new study done by a major investment research company."

Obama offers his policies as the cure for the Obama economy

Obama offers his policies as the cure for the Obama economy | The Daily Caller:

 "His speech included a few new proposals — more payments to poor working people, reduced tax benefits for wealthy savers, a raised minimum wage and increased legal immigration so that cost-conscious companies can hire minimum-wage foreigners instead of aspiring Americans.

 These big goals were accompanies by the progressives’ version of more cowbell — more K-12 spending, more college degrees, universal preschool so that unionized teachers can supplant parents, more promises of beneficial regulation of the oil-and-gas sector, and cheaper mortgages for poor people.

 The speech listed items intended to spur turnout by the Democrats’ constituency groups — teachers, women, Latinos, environmentalists, gays and opponents of the Guantanamo prison for jihadis."

Hemp, farm-raised fish, food labels and food stamps: What’s in the Farm Bill?

Hemp, farm-raised fish, food labels and food stamps: What’s in the Farm Bill?:
"After more than two years of talks, negotiators released a long-awaited Farm Bill Monday evening.
The legislation is the last big item on the 2013 congressional to-do list and it's expected to sail through the House and Senate in the coming days -- mostly because lawmakers want to get it over with already.
Just as we scoured the more than 1,000-page $1.1 trillion spending agreement passed this month for juicy tidbits, we've perused the 959-page farm bill to call out some neat, new and interesting anecdotes that might not normally see the light of day.
If you're a more serious student of farming and food stamp legislation, read the bill for yourself or read our news story on the bill here.
But if you're in the market for information that might impress friends, family, strangers, co-workers and cocktail-hour buddies -- then read on below. )"

Fact check: Obama's State of the Union

Fact check: Obama's State of the Union:

 "We found a few overstatements and cherry-picked numbers among the applause lines and proposals in President Obama's State of the Union address. 

 • He boasted of businesses creating "more than 8 million new jobs" in the last four years. But that leaves out a loss of government jobs, not to mention the loss of jobs earlier in Obama's presidency.

 • Obama credited the Affordable Care Act with signing up more than 9 million Americans for private insurance or Medicaid. But Medicaid estimates include renewals, along with new enrollees.

 • Obama boasted that the U.S. "reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth." Yes, but the U.S. produces a lot of emissions. Looking at percentage change, dozens of countries did better.

 • Federal deficits have been "cut by half," as he said, but they're still at historically high levels.

 • It's also true, as Obama said, that for the first time in 20 years, domestic oil production was greater than imports. But the increase in U.S. production is primarily due to new technology, not government policy.

MORE: Obama to Congress: Don't hinder progress"

Immigration, World Poverty and Gumballs - Updated 2010

Gary Null via Google+

2 months ago

 

Immigration - Global humanitarian reasons for current U.S. immigration are tested in this updated version of immigration author and journalist Roy Beck's colorful presentation of data from the World Bank and U.S. Census Bureau. The 1996 version of this immigration gumballs presentation has been one of the most viewed immigration policy presentations on the internet.

Presented by immigration author/journalist Roy Beck

Learn More http://www.NumbersUSA.org

NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that favors an environmentally sustainable and economically just America and seeks to educate the public about the effects of high levels of immigration on U.S. overpopulation, the environment, jobs, and wages. We use government data to conduct research on the impacts of U.S. population growth, consumption, sprawl, and current levels of immigration and educate the public, opinion leaders and policy makers on the results of those and other studies.

Northwestern Wildcats football players trying to join labor union

Outside The Lines -- Northwestern Wildcats football players trying to join labor union - ESPN:
"For the first time in the history of college sports, athletes are asking to be represented by a labor union, taking formal steps on Tuesday to begin the process of being recognized as employees, ESPN's "Outside The Lines" has learned.

Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, filed a petition in Chicago on behalf of football players at Northwestern University, submitting the form at the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board.

Backed by the United Steelworkers union, Huma also filed union cards signed by an undisclosed number of Northwestern players with the NLRB -- the federal statutory body that recognizes groups that seek collective bargaining rights."

WeMOG-Kayak training!-West Michigan Coastal Kayak Assn Pool practice dates

The next three Saturdays (Feb 1, 8, and 15) are scheduled for pool practice at Grandville Middle School from 3:00 to 5:00.  

This is a WMCKA club event, so joining the club is required. 

But the first pool date of the season is free with your paid membership.

It costs $15 for an individual membership & $20 for a family.  

The 2nd and later pool sessions are $10 each.  

This is a great opportunity to learn or practice rolling and bracing, or to practice other skills.

Rolling/bracing Instruction is usually available (free) if you contact me in advance. 

If you plan to attend one of these, please go to their website and read about how this works: www.wmcka.org/

The pool entrance door is in the back of the school.

Roger Starring

rlstarr@charter.net

231-893-6905

two three one 89 three - six 905

California Drought: Water Supply Could Tighten in Mega Droughts

California Drought: Water Supply Could Tighten in Mega Droughts | TIME.com:
"Californians need to be ready, because if some scientists are right, this drought could be worse than anything the state has experienced in centuries. 
B. Lynn Ingram, a paleoclimatologist at the University of California, Berkeley, has looked at rings of old trees in the state, which helps scientists gauge precipitation levels going back hundreds of years.
(Wide tree rings indicate years of substantial growth and therefore healthy rainfall, while narrow rings indicate years of little growth and very dry weather.)
She believes that California hasn’t been this dry since 1580, around the time the English privateer Sir Francis Drake first visited the state’s coast:"

NBC News poll: Pessimism defines the state of the union

NBC News poll: Pessimism defines the state of the union - NBC Politics:

"As President Barack Obama enters his sixth year in the White House, 68 percent of Americans say the country is either stagnant or worse off since he took office, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll."

Minimum wage battle heats up in Michigan, US

Minimum wage battle heats up in Michigan, US | MLive.com:
LANSING — The battle over the minimum wage is heating up in Michigan and nationally, as activists consider a potential ballot proposal and President Barack Obama is expected to discuss income inequality during his State of the Union this evening.

A coalition of labor and civil rights groups on Monday announced it had formed a committee that could push for a ballot proposal to raise Michigan's minimum wage. The coalition hasn't announced specific numbers yet, but wants to raise both Michigan's $7.40-per-hour minimum wage as well as the $2.65-per-hour rate for tipped employees.

Michigan is among 21 states with a minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25.

The dark side of Pete Seeger

The dark side of Pete Seeger - Baltimore History | Examiner.com

However, there is a dark side to Pete Seeger, one that isairbrushed out of all the effusive hagiography. Seeger was a dedicated Stalinist and has not renounced his devotion to communism, a political ideology, which according to the Black Book of Communism, responsible for the murder of over 94 million people. When you speak out against communism you get booed, when you’re a cheerleader for its mass murderers you get a Kennedy Center tribute and presidential praise.

Seeger was a member of the Communist Party from the 1930s through the 1950s. He left the party but never gave up the faith. He told the Washington Post in 1995 “I am still a communist.” Like his comrades and fellow travelers Seeger twisted and turned with every pronouncement from Moscow. Seeger supported the Nazi-Soviet Pact, a curious position for a noted “anti-fascist.” In 1941 Seeger along with Guthrie was a member of the Almanac Singers, a communist folk group. The group put out the anti-war album Songs from John Doe, containing songs that labeled Franklin Roosevelt a war monger. 

New Jersey Taxes Could Eat Up All of Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl Earnings

In the News: New Jersey Taxes Could Eat Up All of Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl Earnings:
"No matter who wins the Super Bowl this Sunday, Peyton Manning will lose big on his gameday paycheck thanks to New Jersey’s “jock tax.”
A jock tax is levied on a player’s earnings for the entire calendar year — not just for any games actually played in the state.
As K. Sean Packard explains for Forbes.com, if Manning doesn’t win his second Super Bowl ring, the quarterback could pay more than 100 percent of his earnings from the game to the Garden State:

“If Manning is able to play next season, his New Jersey income tax would be $46,989 on $92,000 for winning the Super Bowl, or 51.08%.
If they lose and he is able to play in 2014, he will pay New Jersey $46,844 on his $46,000 which amounts to a 101.83% tax on his actual Super Bowl earnings in the state—and this does not even consider federal taxes!”"

Muslims demand Sharia student loans because paying interest goes against Islamic law

Muslims demand Sharia student loans because paying interest goes against Islamic law | Tea Party Crusaders Tea Party Crusaders:
"Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.
The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university.
Until now they have paid the market rate of inflation but the reforms mean students who go on to earn more than £21,000 will have to pay interest of up to 3 per cent.
But in some interpretations of Sharia law, which is Islam’s legal system and governs every aspect of Muslim life, loans are forbidden.
The National Union of Students has said it could be two years before an alternative system is worked out, leaving some Muslims fearing they cannot go on to further education."

First-Class Islam: Eric Holder Puts Muslims Above Terror Suspicion

PJ Media » First-Class Islam: Eric Holder Puts Muslims Above Terror Suspicion:
"Now, the Obama administration — led by Holder — has decided that Islam is a “race,” and therefore to examine or even to adduce a Muslim’s Islamic beliefs about jihad, beheading, violence against kuffar (“infidels”), or re-establishing a caliphate is tantamount to racism.
This administration behavior is rationalized because “federal authorities have in particular singled out Muslims in counter terrorism investigations and Latinos for immigration investigations.”
It is difficult to express just how willfully ignorant of reality these statements and accompanying policies are."

2016: Obama's America.. Full Movie - Video

2016: Obama's America.. Full Movie - Video:

History for January 29

History for January 29 - On-This-Day.com:

Birth anniversary of Thomas Paine (1737-1809).

Birth anniversary American president William McKinley (1843-1901) and comedian and noted curmudgeon W.C. Fields (1880-1946).

  

Happy Birthday! Katharine Ross, Tom Selleck 

1850 - Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise bill on slavery that included the admission of California into the Union as a free state. 


1861 - In America, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union. 


1886 - The first successful petrol-driven motorcar, built by Karl Benz, was patented. 

1940 - The W. Atlee Burpee Seed Company displayed the first tetraploid flowers at the New York City Flower Show. 


1958 - Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married. 


1958 - Charles Starkweather was captured by police in Wyoming.  


1990 - Joseph Hazelwood, the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, went on trial in Anchorage, AK, on charges that stemmed from America's worst oil spill. Hazelwood was later acquitted of all the major charges and was convicted of a misdemeanor. 

WeMOG Wed 1:00PM

The weather is warming up!

Meet at cross country ski trailhead

North Ottawa Dunes at 1:00 on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

 If others want to snow shoe - same time, same place! 

Plan to ski a couple of hours, unless is

really cold and we do a little less.

I will bring extra hand and toe warmers!

A ban on autos? Major cities consider going carless

A ban on autos? Major cities consider going carless:
"Germany, home of the high-speed autobahn, is perhaps one of the few countries that has had as intense a love affair with the automobile as the U.S.
But in an effort to go green, the country's second-largest city is studying ways to eliminate cars by 2034.
The northern city of Hamburg has laid out an initial concept, named the Green Network Plan, that would expand public transportation and add more routes for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The most controversial aspect of the plan calls for a steady phase-out of automobiles in the center of the city over the next two decades."

(Video) John Wayne On Liberals - FANTASTIC!!

(Video) John Wayne On Liberals - FANTASTIC!! - The Federalist Papers: "“I’m quite sure that the concept of a Government-run reservation… seems to be what the socialists are working for now — to have everyone cared for from cradle to grave…. But you can’t whine and bellyache ’cause somebody else got a break and you didn’t, like those Indians are. We’ll all be on a reservation soon if the socialists keep subsidizing groups like them with our tax money.”- John Wayne"