Al Qaeda is obviously upset that they have not yet been treated to a beer summit with our Dear Leader.

Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif said he believes Al Qaeda is responsible for the deadly attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans and said roughly 50 people have arrested in connection with the violence, according to two broadcast interviews Sunday.

Megarif, president of the Libyan National Congress, also reportedly differed with the Obama administration’s position that the attacks Tuesday were sparked by an anti-Islamic video on the Internet.

In an interview with NPR, Megarif said foreigners have been infiltrating his country over the past few months, which has been undergoing major changes since the uprising against the late dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi.

Megarif says the attackers, who he believes are connected to Al Qaeda, used the protests at the consulate as a cover to attack the U.S. Consulate on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“We firmly believe that this was a precalculated, preplanned attack that was carried out specifically to attack the U.S. Consulate,” Megarif told NPR.

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Civil unrest is breaking out all over the middle east.

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This should make any tax payer sick. Keep in mind that over 80% of Chicago 8th Graders do not pass the state reading examinations…

Source

September 9, 2012

The Chicago Board of Education is Offering the Chicago Teachers Union a Fair and Reasonable Proposal to Set the Stage for a Deal and Avoid a Strike:   Increases in Pay: 16 percent average salary increase equaling $320 million over the next four years, including COLA (3% year 1; 2% years 2,3,4) lanes and modified step increases that both reward experience and provides better incentives for mid-career teachers to help keep them serving in the Chicago Public School system.   New Opportunities and Security for Laid Off Teachers: Teachers displaced due to school closings: will receive a job at a school receiving their students if there is a vacancy; placed in a reassigned teacher pool for five months or may elect to receive a three-month lump sum severance; or placed in a Quality Teacher Force Pool in which teachers who apply for positions shall be entitled to an interview and explanation if not hired. Teachers displaced due to turnarounds or phase outs: placed in a reassigned teacher pool for five months or may elect three-month lump sum severance. Teachers displaced for other reasons: shall have recall rights for one year for the same unit and position and will be offered interim assignment in substitute teacher pool. Joint Implementation of Teacher Evaluations with Flexibility When Needed: The Board has proposed to work jointly with CTU to fully implement REACH Students and maintain performance standards and student growth requirements. This proposal will also allow CPS and CTU to study REACH’s implementation jointly and make adjustments as needed.   New Short-Term Disability Policy, Including First-Ever Paid Maternity Leave: While the banking of sick days will end, the Board will offer short-term disability to all CTU members, including paid-maternity leave. Employees will no longer need to use sick days to take time off needed for the birth of a child – nor will they need to bank the number of sick days needed before starting their family planning. Employees who have a short-term illness will not have to use sick days in order to take time needed to get well; short-term disability coverage will cover their needs and provide pay while recovering. The proposal will protect accrued sick-day accumulation for teachers with over 15 years of service in the form of pension service credits.   CPS to Cover Part of Employee Pension Contribution: The Board has also offered to continue picking up 7% each employee’s 9% pension contribution.   Freeze on Health Care Contributions for Most Plans:  The Board is calling for a modification to the health care plan funding that will freeze all employee health care contributions for single and couple plans with a small increase in family contributions of no more than $20 a pay period in addition to a small increase in emergency room co-pays.  67 percent of all CTU members will not see a change to their healthcare.   Increased Opportunity for Promotion: The Board proposes that CPS and CTU collaborate and work together to increase promotion opportunities and identify differentiated compensation models that have worked in other places.   Improved Health and Living: Like the nearly 40,000 City employees who have already signed up for the Wellness program, the Board is asking teachers to join the program at no cost. Teachers can opt-out of Wellness, and pay a small premium differential.   Improved Monitoring of Class Size Issues: The Board remains committed to protecting and maintaining current class sizes, but will establish a panel and joint supervisory committee with the CTU to monitor and address any class size issues that may arise.   Creation of a New CTU/CPS Commission to Find Fair Pension Funding Solution: The Board pledges to partner with the CTU through the formation of a Legislative Commission to find the right solutions for pension reform and draft legislation that ensures equitable pension funding.   A Better, Fuller Calendar: Maintain a calendar with 180 student attendance days, and 190 teacher workdays, including 10 Professional Development days.   A Full School Day: The newly extended Elementary school day will continue to be 7 hours, while high school days will now be 7.25 hours, a decrease from 7.5 hours. In addition, high school teachers will be limited to teaching only five classes.

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We are the ball and the stock market is not telling this story…..

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“The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its annual report on household food security in the United States in 2011. The study found that 14.9% of American households “had difficulty at some time during the year providing food for all their members due to a lack of resources.” The percentage is slightly higher than the 14.5% reported in 2010, but the USDA says the change is statistically insignificant and may be due to variations in sampling.”

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With a shortage of doctors in the U.S. already and millions of new patients set to gain coverage under President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, American medical schools are struggling to close the gap.

One major reason: The residency programs to train new doctors are largely paid for by the federal government, and the number of students accepted into such programs has been capped at the same level for 15 years. Medical schools are holding back on further expansion because the number of applicants for residencies already exceeds the available positions, according to the National Resident Matching Program, a 60-year-old Washington-based nonprofit that oversees the program.

Read the rest here.

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“Check the ingredients label on almost any food product and most likely there are substances never approved by the federal government.

Since the 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has largely abdicated responsibility for testing new food ingredients. Instead of government scientists testing new flavorings or preservatives, manufacturers’ own labs or those they contract with perform the assessments.

The FDA acknowledges in writing that a company has certified an ingredient as safe, without affirming or denying this declaration.

This system has resulted in “the vast majority of new ingredients added to U.S. food” over the last 15 years never receiving a safety determination from the government,” according to the Chicago Tribune.”

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Am i missing something here or is it business as usual for uncle Sam ?

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“Forget the few hundred million dollars in wrist-slap fines the banks face from regulatory discipline over the Libor rate manipulation ‘conspiracy fact’. As the WSJ reports this morning, the number of suits and potential liabilities are rising rapidly as cities, insurers, investors, and lenders all jump on the cabal-beating band-wagon. From individual investors claiming lost returns due to low rates to hedge funds squeezed in derivatives trades, liabilities could exceed $176bn as the blood-suckers lawyers note “this is just the beginning” as “scores of interested potential clients” have called. While, obviously, it won’t be easy to win in court, the ongoing costs of litigation and potential liability (which will be largely ignored by Messrs. Bove et al. we are sure) range from Macquarie’s $176bn estimate to Morgan Stanley’s $7.8bn ”

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“The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for August crashed, falling to 47.8, well under the final July reading of 49.3.  The dismal result, the first indication of China’s economy for this month, was far below 50, which divides expansion from contraction.  The final PMI will be released September 3, but it is now clear that August will be the 10^th-straight month of decline for the vitally important manufacturing sector in China.”

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On August 24^th, we warned on Forbes that Tropical Storm Isaac could pose a threat to energy markets and even rival Hurricane Katrina in its destructive power (Could Tropical Storm Isaac Turn Into Another Katrina?).  While the computer models are still showing a substantial spread in solutions, it appears more likely that Isaac will make landfall somewhere near the Louisiana, Mississippi Gulf Coast.  This track will provide the storm more time to intensify over the very warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the rest here.

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But the Empire State Building shooting — two dead, nine others wounded — wasn’t really a mass shooting. Or, if it was, it was mostly perpetrated by two police officers.

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Business as usual….

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A mayor in Spain is leading movements of people who raid grocery stores; he likens himself to Robin Hood. Sweet, civilization flourishes when, every time someone creates something stable, a mob ransacks it.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/world/2012/08/21/pkg-goodman-spanish-mayor-robin-hood.cnn

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Get your tea party on…..

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mgMHB5UBeE 450 300]

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“Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has made an admirable habit of enraging western governments over the last few years, particularly the United States.

Most notably, his release of classified diplomatic documents in 2010 proved ruthlessly embarrassing, shining a spotlight on the absurd, petty little world of international relations.

Ever since, the US government has done everything it can to stop him. Short of assassination. They shut down his website, but mirror sites instantly popped up. They sought legal action, but their efforts have been impeded by the bureaucratic deftness of his attorneys. They froze his bank accounts… but donations have poured in from all over the world.

Along the way, Uncle Sam co-opted a number of allied nations to set aside their principles for the sake of US interests–Switzerland rolled over immediately and shuttered Assange’s bank accounts.”

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Cheers on your weekend!

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bzFhrkqE8g&feature=related 450 300]

“Waiting for “Superman” is a 2010 documentary by director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott. The film analyzes the failures of American public education by following several students through the educational system, hoping to be selected in a lottery for acceptance into charter schools. The film’s title is based on an interview with Geoffrey Canada wherein he recounts being told (as a child) by his mother that Superman was not real, and was frightened because there was nobody to save him.”

 

 

 

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmM22QFSy6E 450 300]

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“As West Nile Virus plagues the US in its worst outbreak since 2004, Texas has declared an emergency as it hosts 80 percent of the country’s infections.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings expressed concern over his state’s unusually high infection rate. More than 200 disease infections occurred in Dallas County. In Texas, there were 381 cases and 16 deaths related to West Nile Virus – more than half of which occurred in Dallas County, ABC News reports.

The mayor on Wednesday authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide from planes in more than 45 years, in an attempt to battle the deadly insects. The spraying will cost the government’s emergency fund $500,000.

“The number of cases, the number of deaths are remarkable, and we need to sit up and take notice,” the mayor said”

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