Anti- Terrorist act shuts down wiring funds to Somali… Yet it is not fair…

The Wall Street Journal  06/22/12 Miriam Jordan & Erica E. Phillips

“ Bank Moves Hinder Immigrants:  Service That Many Somalis Use to Send Money Home are Curtailed by Anit-Terrorism Regulations”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304441404577478853067322944.html

Efforts by U.S. banks to avoid violating antiterrorism financing laws are crimping the ability of Somalis in the U.S. to send money home, prompting calls for Congress to revisit bank regulations on money transfers.

Somalis in the U.S. use money-transfer merchants, informally known as "hawalas," to send about $100 million annually to Somalia, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The East African country, where there is no formal banking system, has been without a functioning government since 1991, when civil war erupted and forced tens of thousands to flee.

In Minnesota, home to 32,000 Somalis, a crisis erupted for these immigrants when Sunrise Community Banks, a local bank that facilitated most transfers for three years, stopped doing so last Dec. 30. It acted after two local Somali-American women were convicted last year of routing money to al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group. The women used hawalas, according to evidence presented in court.

“The community is concerned that their loved ones back home will be severely impacted if this problem isn't solved," said Sadik Warfa, a Somali community leader in Minneapolis.

Concern over money transfers has risen since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The federal government has tightened banking regulations to prevent money from the U.S. ending up in the hands of terrorist groups in the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world.

Somalis have held several demonstrations in Minneapolis to demand a solution. Last month, they marched from the Wells Fargo Center to U.S. Bancorp with signs that blamed the institutions for "starving" their families. Many Somalis closed their accounts with the banks, according to community leaders.

"War on terror has nothing to do with this business," said Imam Hassan Mohamud of the Islamic Da'wah Center in St. Paul. "The money we send goes to 80-year-old grandpa and grandma."

Common Sense Review

Should I be surprised that once agains another group of people have come to the US shores and when the govt or industry doesn’t bend to its will, the answer is to protest. 

A population from a country that has had no formal govt or banking system sends funds home via “Hawalas” (an organization in Africa that receives the wire and delivers the funds to the families) yet when the concern the some are funding terrorist groups from American dollars and the system must shut down, the concern is not for their new countrymen but the irritant of finding a new way of getting funds to relatives who still live in the country you left.

The Imam Hassan Mohamud from St. Paul MN, says the war on Terror has nothing to do with this business yet the aggressive Somali pirates have proven that this band of people will harm or kill for money, which puts all new Americans from Somali likely to fund terrorist. 

Note to all who come to our shores should understand that terrorism against America will not be tolerated and to be here this must be understood…/.

Grand Rapids gorges itself in tax dollars to forward their “Climate Protection” agenda…

The Grand Rapids Press 06/21/212 Matt Vande Bunte

“See which Groups will split $25,000 ‘climate protection’ prize for Grand Rapids”

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/06/see_which_groups_will_split_25.html

On Arbor Day in April, Mayor George Heartwell named his inaugural Tree of the Year in Grand Rapids. A city budget approved this week includes funding to supplement a grant for planting trees in street right-of-ways.

So perhaps it's no surprise that half of the $25,000 prize Heartwell got last week from the U.S. Conference of Mayors will be allocated to Friends of Grand Rapids Parks...for tree planting.

The other half will go the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, a Grand Rapids non-profit whose executive director appeared in a video that showcased the city's energy initiatives to U.S. mayors in Orlando last week. See the video here.

WMEAC will use the money to create a community resiliency plan aimed at preparing Grand Rapids for climate changes and energy volatility. Some initiatives related to that broad plan will be introduced to donors at a fundraiser next week.

Common Sense Review

I find it questionable to award groups thousands of dollars in grants to forward the climate protect … but isn’t that why we pay the EPA and the DEQ.  So why is more of our tax dollars going to organization the is encourage a falsehood that the majority of the population of the earth do not believe.

The US Conference of Mayors awarded Mayor Heartwell  2012 Mayors' Climate Protection Award.  Isn’t  it interesting that King George gets an award paid by the taxpayers based on a false premise. 

The lie is steeped in the groups that function in this city.  WMEAC who won half of the $25,000 grant is also going before the Grand Rapids City Commission, June/July  to ask for that the citizens pay $3.7 million in paying to clean storm water runoff…  i.e. creating a “Rain Tax”.

Well..Gee, who paid WMEAC to study the storm water system and create a proposal… The City of Grand Rapids…  Correction the taxpayers of Grand Rapids…

So the taxpayers are paying WMEAC (then giving WMEAC a grant funded by tax dollars) to create a proposal to instill a new tax on the citizen so the mayor (King George) can get an award… 

Senate passes Farm Bill… Don’t you mean Food Stamp bill…

The Wall Street Journal  06/22/12  Damain Paletta & Janet Hook

“Senate Passes Farm Bill that Curtails Aid”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304898704577480802726268554.html

The Senate passed a sweeping package of farm and nutrition-assistance programs that would reduce spending by billions of dollars partly by ending direct subsidies to farmers, setting up a showdown with House Republicans who have demanded steeper spending cuts in exchange for their support.

The legislation with a total cost of about $1 trillion over 10 years would end the two-decade-old program that sends $5 billion to farmland owners and investors each year-roughly one-third of total U.S. farm subsidies-regardless of whether they raise crops.  The also would expand the federal crop insurance programs, which offers subsidies to farmers and insurance companies, through lawmakers agreed this week to curtail assistance for larger farms.

The largest item in the Senate package is the projected $768 billion 10-year outlay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Commonly Known as food stamps, which helps low-income families purchase food. The new law makes some minor changes to the program such as preventing lottery winner and certain college student from collecting benefits, shaving costs by $4.5 billion over 10 years.  But it largely leaves the structure of the program intact.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich) said the SNAP funding was necessary to help “families who have fallen on hard times”.

The number of Americans receiving SNAP aid has surged the past five years, in part because of the lingering impact of the recession and also because many states have eased eligibility rules.  The Congressional Budget Office said 45 million people received close to $80 billion of SNAP benefits in 2011, up 70% from 2007.  House lawmakers have voted to cut SNAP spending by an additional $30billion over 10 years, mostly by limiting eligibility and some have called for giving control of the program to the states.

Common Sense Review

Where to begin… First when the majority of the funding in a Farm Bill goes to food stamps, it is not a Farm Bill it is  Food stamp bill. It is ridiculous that lawmakers think the citizens don’t get it. 

Now you have giving 75% of the funding to the Food Stamp program, if there is a weather issue that damages crop, food prices go up.  I am glad the poor are covered while the rest of us pay the increased price. 

Yet the most interesting part of the article is Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow statement regarding the necessity to increase in the SNAP program is to help “Families who have fallen on hard times”… Debbie don’t you mean the hard times that have fallen on the people.  This is followed by the CBO’s note that 45 million people received close to $80 billion of SNAP benefits in 2011, up 70% from 2007. 

Gee, Debbie (the great savior of Michigan) did you vote for the bills that slammed this “Hard Times” on to the people?…  

Bloomberg support the police practice of “Stop and Frisk” and not a citizen’s right to personal liberty

The New York Times  06/11/12  Kate Taylor

“At Black Church, Mayor Says Stop-and-Frisk Policy ‘Saves Lives’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/nyregion/at-black-church-in-brooklyn-bloomberg-defends-stop-and-frisk-policy.html

As criticism of the Police Department’s so-called stop-and-frisk policy grows louder, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took to the pulpit before a black congregation in Brooklyn on Sunday to make his most forceful and nuanced defense of the practice yet, arguing that it had helped make New York the safest big city in the country, while acknowledging that the police needed to treat those whom they stopped wi In the city as a whole, the police stopped people and questioned them 684,330 times last year, a 600 percent increase from Mr. Bloomberg’s first year in office. Eighty-seven percent of those stopped were black or Latino, and the vast majority were young men, which has led some minority leaders to denounce the policy as a form of racial profiling.

Mr. Bloomberg said Sunday that racial profiling was banned by the Police Department, and that “we will not tolerate it.” He added, however, that the city would not “deny reality” in order to stop different groups according to their relative proportions in the population. (He used the examples of men versus women and young versus old people, rather than white versus black or Hispanic.)

Some critics have pointed out that, as the number of stops increased, the percentage in which guns were found diminished. Last year, the police seized 780 guns, suggesting that guns were recovered in roughly one in 1,000 stops.

Common Sense Review

This is another power grab of personal liberty under the veil of societal safety. 

The article focuses on the aspect of racial profiling yet it is greater than that.  It is pushing the Constitutional right against illegal search and seizure. The police cannot just stop you and frisk without probable cause which infringe on personal liberty.

Yet Bloomberg is not concerned with personal liberties.

Bloomberg says the police have to do this to secure public safety. However, out of the 684,330 they have found 780 guns last year.  Those are not good odds.  There are reasons for the Constitution is so the govt doesn’t overreach their authority in people’s lives. 

87% of those searchs were of black and Hispanic people, yet all were Americans (my assumption).  The Constitution overrides any societal theory of unethical police practice.  So New York citizens should protest on racial profiling but on the unconstitutionality of the practice.

Florida Educators focus on Test score process instead of the failure in educating the Children

The New York Times 06/11/12 Michael Winerip

“Backtracking on Florida Exams Flunked by Many, Even an Educator”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/education/florida-backtracks-on-standardized-state-tests.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Bill Vogel, the superintendent of schools in this suburb of Orlando, has always been vigilant about preparing his district for the state tests.

All students take practice tests in math, reading and writing in September and December. Heather Flay’s fourth graders at Crystal Lake Elementary keep folders with their test results so they can chart which scores need improving.

“We have them show their folders to their parents,” Ms. Flay said. “They’ll say, ‘This is what my scores were in third grade, this is where I was in September and this is what I’m shooting for.’ ”

Then, last month, the state dropped a bomb. The 2012 scores on the writing test — given to 4th, 8th and 10th graders — plummeted in all districts. Only 27 percent of Florida’s fourth graders were rated proficient, compared with 81 percent the year before. In Seminole, 30 percent were proficient, down from 83 percent.

The numbers fell so drastically because, as announced last summer, state officials toughened the standards, paying more attention to grammar and spelling as well as to the factual accuracy of supporting details in essays.

But they did not change the scoring system, resulting in a public relations disaster.

What to do?

They could live with the results — that after 15 years of education reform, three-fourths of Florida children could not write.

The high failure rate was based on measuring proficiency as a score of at least 4.

First, the state considered lowering the cutoff to 3.5.

That would have resulted in a passage rate of about 50 percent. People would probably still be angry.

So on May 15, Florida’s education commissioner, Gerard Robinson, held an emergency conference call with State Education Board members, while 800 school administrators from all over Florida listened in. The board voted to lower the cutoff to 3.

Presto! Problem solved. The proficiency rate for fourth graders was now exactly what it had been in the 2010-11 school year, 81 percent.

Common Sense Review

Clearly this school systems effort is going in the wrong direction if they are vigilant about preparing for these tests and yet they are not passing them. 

A couple of things caught my eye when reading this article. 

First, the rules of grammar and writing haven’t changed.  So the school’s action poses the question, what are you teaching these children if you are not reviewing the principle of grammar and writing.

Second, societies understanding of the role of a teacher would bring back the focus of schools.  Teaching children the skills to be productive adults is the main purpose for teachers and if they are not accomplishing this task, then what are they spending the time in school doing?  I see test scores not just a way of seeing what a child need more needs help understanding certain subjects, but possibly the start of a bigger problem.   If the class as a whole didn’t do well then reviewing the teachers techniques need to be audited.  When the report shows a school or school system’s child population not achieving the levels of education, then a complete overhaul, yet if the education system is to teach the basic rules of grammar and writing this shouldn’t be a problem.

Finally, pointing the finger at the scoring system shows the children that in live if you don’t like the outcome of a situation blaming other factors is acceptable.  Yet failure in life will not change the situation with the accusation of others at fault. 

Ultimately, the children are pawn in this game, when educators are focus on scores and not aptitude of the education.  As well as the child’s ability to apply those skills into a viable job skill seems to be not even secondary concern. 

I feel it is well beyond the time to get back to the back foundation of an education.   Having the ability to run a computer is a moot point if the child can write out a simple sentence or solve a math problem with a pencil and paper.

Three Students shot dead due a man rejected by a woman… Is this a societal problem?

The New York Times  06/11/12  Kim Severson

“Three Killed in Shooting near Auburn University”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/us/report-of-a-multiple-shooting-near-auburn-university.html

Three young men, two of them with ties to Auburn University’s football team, were killed and three others were wounded during a pool party on Saturday night at an apartment complex near the campus here.

Several law enforcement agencies were searching in Montgomery on Sunday for the man they suspected of firing the fatal shots, which were aimed at a few men at the party.

The suspect, whom the police identified as Desmonte D. Leonard, 22, of Montgomery, apparently had no connection to the university, officials said. He has been charged with three counts of capital murder. Court records show that he has a history of gun violence.

The police did not release many details of the shooting. But people who were at the party said the fight began in the apartments’ clubhouse area after Mr. Leonard saw a man dancing with a woman he had spent time with earlier.

“They started fussing over a girl, and the fussing escalated to a fight, and the fight escalated to a shooting,” said Richard Trammell, 21.

Common Sense Review

Have we a generation of people who don’t know how to cope.  A person goes on a shooting spree because another man was dancing with a woman he was previously talking to.  There was no sense of relationship, just a woman he just met.  How is this acceptable behavior over being rejected by a female? 

Are we teaching our children the skill to cope with life’s hurdles?  So many times we see that people on the news due to a poor reaction to a bad decision.   Last year in Grand Rapids, a lady caught her live in boyfriend in a bar with another woman.  She followed the couple in her car in a chase all over Grand Rapids in excessive speeds.  It ended with the boyfriend’s car crashed which caused his death. The girlfriend was convicted with his death and serving time in prison.

Why she didn’t go home, pack his stuff and kick him out?  Or go home and confront him on their relationship.  Both situations have a non violent reaction to the situation.

Now he is dead and she has lost her freedom over the inability to address his bad behavior. 

We try to protect our children from the harshness of life but are we creating a more serious situation in the future?

USDA throws $1 million dollars to feed 5,306 students in GRPS system… Govt Waste, you decide..

The Grand Rapids Press  06/06/12  Monica Scott

“Parent of 5,306 students to get funds for nutritious food:  Federal Program will provide $60 per child, per month”

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/06/parents_of_5306_grand_rapids_s.html

On Saturday, the families of 5,306 students from Grand Rapids schools will begin receiving $60 per child, per month, to buy nutritious food.

More than 2,800 families recently received congratulations letters after being randomly selected for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) for Children program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The money is received on debit cards.

The $60 stipend will be given in June, July and August. Parents were not disqualified if they already receive food stamps or other state assistance. The families of the 2,500 students involved in the program last year were allowed to remain in the program as long as they completed the consent forms.

This program is separate from the longtime free summer meals program operated by Grand Rapids Public Schools for children in the area, regardless of what school district they are in. Beginning June 18, children 18 and younger can receive a free lunch this summer and at school and community sites.

There are rules regarding what and where food can be bought. All of the food items in the summer food package are approved by Women, Infants and Children. Families must shop at certain stores and buy certain brands and types of nutritious food and drink as part of the benefit.

Common Sense Review

There are a few problems with this....

So what are we getting for the $955,080… governmental waste!

I took the time to speak with the Food workers at the GRPS Nutrition dept.  I was informed that every child in the GRPS area get an application to take home for their parent to fill out and  the chosen are out of the application that were brought back received.  There is never a review of the household income, so families who make a good income or families already receive Bridge cards, so that the program make a positive effect on the households who truly need the assistance.

The program doesn’t look into the child (school attendance, grades, legal issues) so to make sure the children who work hard to better themselves may be over looked and the program benefits the children are not making an effort in life.

GRPS offers breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack for all students from the age of 18 and younger.  These meals are available in 30 locations. 

So even after the taxpayers pay for 2 square a day during the school year, we also pay for 2 squares during the summer as well as $ 1 million are given 2,800 families in the GRPS system.   How are the children starving?

Ok, $60/month… Really?!?!   In a 30 day per month cycle equals $2 a day.  Does this make or break a family?  Will the children starve if they don’t get the $60/mo?   

Ultimately this million dollar program, is throwing money at a school system and no more…

Clearly…GRCC Leaders didn’t take the Accounting classes offered by GRCC…

 The Grand Rapids Press 06/05/12  Brian McVicar

“GRCC votes to borrow $28.5M:  Divided Board of Trustees plans to sell bonds for campus repairs”

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/06/a_divided_grcc_board_of_truste.html

A divided Grand Rapids Community Board of Trustees tonight approved a plan to sell $28.5 million in bonds to fund what administrators say are urgently needed campus repairs.

The move comes about a month after voters overwhelmingly defeated a request to raise GRCC’s millage rate. Had the measure been approved, the college would have sold bonds totaling $98.6 million to pay for campus repairs and renovations.

Revenue generated from the sale of the bonds will help the college buy new windows, update its sprinkler systems and fix its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, among other repairs.

Ryskamp, who abstained from the vote, asked whether the college could pay for the repairs using revenue from the facilities fees instead of borrowing. The fee is expected to generate $2.8 million in its first year.

Administrators said such a route could be pursued. But they cautioned that under such an approach, the price of repairs would rise because of inflation and the college would fall further behind on maintenance projects.

Declining enrollment means the college will collect less money from its facilities fee, which is what the college will use to cover interest payments on the bond.

“We’re taking an ultra-conservative approach on enrollment,” Ender said. “When you’re building bond principal and interest payments off of a revenue stream that depends on student enrollment, you do not want to overestimate enrollment.”

Common Sense Review

Grand Rapids Community College is the epitome of hypocrisy.

In May they posed the question before the people to give them millions of dollars to repair their facilities and the people said….. NO!  So now sadly they have to increase enrollment fees to cover the expense and the trustees have agreed to borrow $28.5 million to address the issue.

I took a moment to review the GRCC academic class catalog, low and behold the offer a basic Accounting class… Wow!

The class description:

“This program prepares students for responsible positions in the accounting department of small businesses and for support positions in both financial and manufacturing accounting in larger firms”

Apparently, those who work at GRCC didn’t take the class.  

Educators needed to be educated on Bullying…. And they teach our children?!?!?

Wood Radio.com  06/04/12 

“Schools to Submit Anti-bullying Policies”

http://www.woodradio.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=125494&article=10172427

Officials in Michigan are working to submit anti-bullying policies that are required by Wednesday in public school districts and charter schools statewide.

Gov. Rick Snyder in December signed legislation giving schools six months to put such policies into place. Many school districts already had anti-bullying policies, but until the law passed, districts weren't required to spell out what steps would be taken to deal with bullying and discourage it.

The Detroit Free Press reports Monday that more than 400 of the state's districts and charter schools have submitted policies to the Michigan Department of Education. Hundreds more still must submit policies. School boards in several communities meet early this week about the policies.

The law is known as "Matt's Safe School Law."

Common Sense Review

If you are a school system who hasn’t had an anti bullying policy already in place before Gov. Snyder signing the bill in December, you lose all taxpayer dollars.  To the school system, we bring our children to you for an education and yet you haven’t had a child safety policy until the word “Bullying” has become a popular term that needs our care now!

How can you stand as educators on the forefront when you need to be told that you have to protect our children from those who wish them harm.   It is time to educate you:

Define:

Bullying – to affect by means of force or coercion

Terrorism – the systematic use of terror; especially as a means of coercion.

Is it me?  Should this be taught to those who teach our children?

Dictators make the best leaders of tourism according to the UN

The Daily Mail  06/01/12  Jason Groves

“Outrage as Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe is honored by UN as a ‘leader for tourism’”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2152101/Despot-Mugabe-UNs-envoy-tourism.html

DURING his three decades in power, Robert Mugabe has dragged once-wealthy Zimbabwe into the gutter.

His forced seizure of white-owned farms precipitated the collapse of the economy, leading to devastating poverty.

He has the blood of tens of  thousands of his people on his hands and is banned from travelling to most parts of the world because of his regime’s human  rights abuses.

Strange then that the United Nations has honored the tyrant as a tourism ‘ambassador’.

In a move prompting condemnation, the UN’s World Tourism Organization has invited Mugabe to join its prestigious ‘Leaders for Tourism’ group.

Labour MP Kate Hoey, who is chairman of the all-party group on Zimbabwe, described the move  as ‘an affront to the people  of Zimbabwe’.

She added: ‘For a man who has destroyed his country’s infrastructure and cynically engineered hunger to be an “ambassador” for tourism is disgraceful – particularly as he has been personally responsible for the downward spiral of the economy and destroyed the hotel, travel and tourism industry in the process.’

‘Mugabe has destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy and does not deserve any recognition, least of all for encouraging tourism.’

Kumbi Muchemwa, a spokesman for Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party, said: ‘Robert Mugabe is under international sanctions, so how do you have an international tourism ambassador who can’t travel to other countries? The UN is losing credibility. Does it think people should go to a country where the law is not obeyed?’

Common Sense Review

This is so laughable and the UN credibility is question as if it wasn’t before.  However the UN give a dictator of an African county the title of “Leader for Tourism”. 

I know when I am think of vacation spot, Zimbabwe is at the top of my list.

In a continent where 75%  of the countries  are on the US Travel warning list due to civil unrest and threats to Americans, (which  17 African countries out of a total of 31 countries are on the Warning list).   How is this dictator the “leader of tourism”?  Great motto's:

“Zimbabwe where avoiding violent crowd is a part of the fun”

“Come be arrested for assisting in Humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe”

“Zimbabwe… Have you been assaulted today… Why YES!”

“Zimbabwe… Where you can commit a crime and not know it”

“Zimbabwe, where take photos of nature can get you detain”

“Zimbabwe, where eating is like being a participant in ‘Fear Factor’ “

Maybe I should be the leader of tourism for Zimbabwe….

Govt tells us what they see from the Stimulus manipulation of our economy….Key word “Manipulation”

The New York Times 05/20/12  Gretchen Morgenson

“Seeing Bailouts through Rose Colored Glasses”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/business/a-bailout-analysis-thats-incomplete-fair-game.html?_r=1

THE multibillion-dollar trading loss at JPMorgan Chase has revived the idea of paring down banks that are too big to manage. That’s a good thing, if we ever hope to get off the boom-bust-bailout track

As the battles over financial regulation rage in Washington, it’s crucial that American taxpayers understand the costs associated with rescuing behemoth institutions. Getting a straight answer on this question can be tough, given the politics now surrounding the bailouts that occurred in 2008.

The total cost of those salvage efforts isn’t yet known. The problems at the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have not been resolved, and the taxpayers’ current $151 billion bill will undoubtedly shift in size.

Nevertheless, an accurate accounting of the 2008 rescues should include the value of the bailout subsidy provided by the taxpayers, as well as a hard-nosed cost-benefit analysis. Unfortunately, neither was included in a recent United States Treasury analysis of the various rescue programs, including TARP.

AN even larger problem with the Treasury analysis, Mr. Kane said, is its failure to calculate the value of the subsidy that taxpayers provided to rescue recipients. “You would not pass Economics 101,” he said, “if you didn’t understand the opportunity costs involved in providing the subsidy.”

Timothy G. Massad, assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability, said: “We believe the fact that we took strong, forceful action resulted in us preventing significant economic costs, including the risk of a second Great Depression. But a specific counterfactual analysis is something that can be done in a variety of ways, and for the government to endorse one particular approach is not something we think is appropriate in this case.”

Charles W. Calomiris, is a professor at Columbia Business School, as well as Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He worked with Mr. Kane on the critique of the Treasury’s analysis and said in an interview last week: “Pretending that when providing these subsidies all you have to do is get your money back and not get an adequate return accounting for risk — that is not a good accounting for cost.”

Another problem with the Treasury’s presentation is that it does not give taxpayers a cost-benefit analysis. “We are not saying that the benefits weren’t there,” Mr. Calomiris said. “We’re not saying that it wasn’t worthwhile to create these programs. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But it requires a fuller analysis of what the benefits were.”

Common Sense Review

As the govt review the need for regulation of the free market risk for financial institution, they are not taking responsibility for their own financial fiasco.  Anyone… “Pot/Kettle”?

Arg! Once again the govt , in their infinite wisdom, think the citizens are ignorant.  This idea that govt has the ultimate knowledge over all thing financial is seen in Mr. Kane’s comment “opportunity costs involved in providing the subsidy.”   Wow, Mr. Kane we are not in a bar and you are not trying to pick me up… quit lying..

Opportunity to provide subsidy is sideways talk of wealth distribution.  Due to the fact that the American’s who work hard and provide for their families can (in govt eyes) provide for all….

If the govt would quit being the Mrs Kravits (Bewitch’d reference) of the financial world, the economy (after a rocky time) will settle itself out.  

PPPSSSSHHHH… Rest easy Kim, we are not in your country…..(wink,wink)

The Washington Post  05/29/12 Chico Harlan

“U.S. denies N. Korea Commando operation”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-denies-n-korea-commando-operation/2012/05/29/gJQA4viVyU_story.html

The U.S. military on Tuesday denied a report that it has been sending commandos into North Korea to spy on underground military facilities, a mission that would violate the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.

“Quotes have been made up and attributed to him,” the U.S. statement said. “No U.S. or [South Korean] forces have parachuted into North Korea.”

But analysts warned that North Korea, despite the U.S. denial, could seize the initial report as evidence of American belligerence, a central theme of its propaganda and a key rationale for its military spending and provocations. Last week, Pyongyang vowed to bolster its “nuclear deterrence” if the United States continued a hostile policy toward the North.

“Anything like this, it just plays right into the hands of North Korea,” said Daniel Pinkston, a Seoul-based security expert at the International Crisis Group. “It proves their narrative that America just wants to topple the regime. They can pick up the original story and just run with that.”

The United States runs spy missions in numerous dangerous countries, security experts note, but few present the kind of challenges posed by North Korea, which has near-sealed borders and redundant layers of surveillance agencies. In recent years, U.S. intelligence officials have learned of important events in the North — such as the development of a uranium-enrichment facility and the death of leader Kim Jong Il — only when the Pyongyang government announced them.

Common Sense Review

This is an absolutely ridiculous article.  North Korea who supposed to have Nuclear missile (yet can’t launch a long range missile successfully) as well as their tyrannical attitude to their own people, is not on the radar for the US govt to send in any military tool to acquire information on what the North Korean intentions.  Sometimes the US govt thinks we are idiots.

Of course they sent in some form of intelligence agent into North Korea.  Whether it is the commando forces, CIA specialist in North Korea, Local spies or drones, the US is going to get intel on this secretive country. 

I just glad the US govt isn’t just lying to its citizens by to the rest of the world…

Taxpayers force to support Blind Chinese activist…. Why?!?

The Wall Street Journal  05/21/12  Josh Chin & Laura Kusisto

“Blind Activist Starts New Life In US:  Chen Will Study Law in New York but the Fate of His Backers and His Influence in China are Unclear”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304019404577416051310772214.html

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng's departure from China raises difficult questions ranging from the fate of his extended family and allies to his ability to spur change at home, even as he enjoyed his first taste of freedom in seven years following his arrival in the U.S. over the weekend.

Mr. Chen, his wife and their two children touched down in the U.S. on Saturday evening after a sudden rush to Beijing International Airport that ended weeks of speculation over his fate and concluded one of the tensest episodes in U.S.-China relations in several years.

Jerome Cohen, co-director of New York University's U.S.-Asia Law Institute, where Mr. Chen will study, said on Sunday that Mr. Chen was in good spirits and planned to spend his first full day in America resting.

"He's much less tired. He's, I think, in admirable shape considering he hasn't been here 24 hours," Mr. Cohen aid.

Mr. Chen is going to study comparative law and hoped to improve his English, Mr. Cohen said. "He's very smart and he is a quick learner. He'll start in a week or two, whenever he's ready."

NYU spokesman John Beckman said the university was forbidden from discussing the finances of any student under federal law. "However, I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that there have been significant offers of philanthropy regarding Mr. Chen," he said.

Common Sense Review

Why is this guy so different from the thousands of other activist around the world fighting against tyrannical govts?  I find this situation quite unusual.  Many activists in countries that are under the tyrannical, oppressive govts tend to have their lives threatened.  The monks in Tibet are an excellent example of this forceful police state upon its citizens.  Are the monks seeking asylum in the US? Not to my knowledge.

Now that this Chen guy is in the US, how can he lead his followers in fighting his govt?  What hypocrisy when a leader sits in his cushy New York apartment sending commands to his followers who are under the veil threat of death, and struggle day to day to survive? 

Now let’s get down to brass tacks, how much is this going to cost the US tax payers?  Mr. Chen could have gone to any other country until his papers were in line to get a visa under the pretense of political asylum without the fanfare or financial support?  Now if a private citizen wants to financial support Chen, so be it but the taxpayers shouldn’t be flipping the bill for this person.