News Roundup & Commentary (11/11/2015)

Look No Stretch Marks
It's being bantered about that some female celebrities who post their magnificent flat muscular stomachs shortly after pregnancy may be faking it. Rumor has it some of them are using surrogates allowing themselves to be photographed wearing a fake pregnancy prosthetic. Should anyone be surprised if this were true? After all they are actors.

Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones....
Over the last few days we've seen university students going bonkers over what they interpret as being disrespected on campus. Today's students are forcing the resignations of educational leaders by acting up. I've seen several videos where high school and college administrators along with their invited guests tried talking calmly with them got shouted down and physically threatened. A few things to keep in mind. (1) These administrators didn't disrespect them. Their fellow students did. (2) Students who want respect need to give respect in return. (3) Because students ramped up the war over words exchanged it has now escalated beyond that to become physical. Not exactly a well thought out strategy.

Marketing 101
Create faux outrage. (1) Market a plain red cup for Christmas (Starbucks). (2) Have your marketing people rage against them on social sites. Thusly feeding the gullible news media hungry to fill their publications and air-time anyway they can. (3) Sell lots more coffee. No wonder the press is hurting for money. They're giving it away for free. I may not be the brightest bulb, but I didn't just fall off the turnip truck either.

Speaking Of Not Just 'Falling off The Turnip Truck'...
Anyone see the video of the guy supposedly sexually assaulted by the two women at a gas station? It's obvious these two were not just some horny girls groping the dude. Am I the only one who sees these two pick pocket's failure. Watch their hands Duh! I suspect the prosecutor is looking to get more mileage out of sexual assault charges then otherwise would for charging them with simple theft.

Morals Clause Doesn't Apply To Some
If someone plays sports very well, chances of getting fired or kicked out of college isn't likely. Same seems to apply to some in law enforcement as well. Kick your spouse's ass... get charged and see how long your job lasts.

Quick Take On Last Debate (11/10/2015)
Trump says he wouldn't raise the minim wage. His reason, Americans already are paid too much if we want to compete globally with other workers. Ben Carson complains he's being far too scrutinized by the press over the last three weeks. Yeah well join the club with Hillary and Obama who've had to endure this far longer and with lots more vigor not only by the press but from congress as well. Huckabee wants to eliminate the IRS and replace it with a national sales tax. Heads up: Rich people couldn't possibly spend all their money. They divert it by investing instead. They also receive all kinds of perks like housing, travel, clothes, food expenses and all kinds of other things far beyond their salaries which wouldn't be taxed to them. The average smuck has to buy these things for themselves. Gee, I wonder who'd get soaked there.

Changes At The Grocery Store
Campbell's soup removed 10 additives (were 20) from it's Chicken Noodle soup. Amongst them were onions, celery, corn starch and vegetable oil. Did they do this for consumers or for creating a cost savings for themselves? Will prices reflect this change to the recipe?

Speaking of changes at the grocery store. Even though the tissues I buy come in the same box at the same price, I noticed the number of them went down from 184 to 170. Baby wipes also went from 80 to 70 count. This too at the same price with the same size packaging just as it has for snack products. Then there's the incredible shrinking ice cream containers coinciding as well.

I grocery shop based on unit pricing. They outsmarted me there too. In some instances they've discontinued the original product in favor of the new and improved products making it impossible to buy the older ones.

The Homeless In NYC
According to a series running all this week on WPIX-TV 20% of the homeless living in NYC work full time jobs. Another 10% work part time. Anyone against raising the minim wage need to reevaluate their objections. I'm not saying entirely everyone in the country needs or should get $15 an hour. However there should be a federal standard applied broken down area by area what it cost someone to survive economically where they live. We can do this either by zip codes or by some other means, but something should be done.

There's no excuse why someone who sweats by their brow for a living should be discounted as being a lesser contributor to this economy then someone(s) who exploited these sincere work efforts thereby unfairly profiting off of them.

Jails: The Practice Of Pay To Stay

The US inmates charged per night in jail
By Jessica Lussenhop, BBC News Magazine (11/9/2015)

"The fees affect mostly rural and suburban counties, and some charge as little as $1 or as much as $66 a day. The ACLU found former inmates with debts ranging from several hundred dollars up to $35,000."

My Comments About The Article AboveThe $50 a day may not mean much to some, but others it might as well be $500. Especially coming out from prison having had no income during their incarceration.

Many prisons are privatized leading to once again taking money out the pockets of the poorest (who are most likely to be locked up) and giving it to investors who stand to profit from such things. It can also lead to things like the Kids for cash scandal which occurred in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Two judges were convicted of taking money from two for-profit youth centers for juvenile detainees. Not to even mention the vulture like bill collectors who will haunt their lives for years after.

If these ex-offenders (especially the poor ones) are kicked while they're already down it would be a determent to the goal of reducing recidivism to my way of reasoning. It seems to me taking away hope or an opportunity to turn one's self around can't be a good thing. If there's some sort of statistical evidence otherwise I haven't found it.

I can understand the rational behind taxpayers not wanting to be forced paying for jails. On the other hand I question whether there's a true economic savings. Especially in the case of those who are released returning to their wife and children unable to support them because of the said debt owed. No doubt in more then a few cases their children would qualify for government sponsored benefits due to the family's forced financial situation Perhaps even housing assistance as well.

I realize not all of these people are looking to turn themselves around but for those who do this adds one more hurdle. Face reality the really bad guys are never going to pay. What should we do lock those who do not pay back up again?

We already took away their freedom for whatever amount of time. Should we strip them further of their money after paying lawyers, court fees and loss of income? Make it financially harder on them to survive even if they'd be fortunate enough to find a job with their record? How much is enough punishment and how long before they should be able to move forward from their past?

I'm not advocating for softer sentencing nor forgiveness of crimes committed. What I am in favor of is allowing someone to move on with their life if they sincerely make the effort. Obligating someone to a possible lifetime of debt neither benefits they nor taxpayers. Only bill collectors and for-profit jailhouse investors who have no interest in seeing ex-cons succeed.

Then There This..

Yeah there's nothing like making a buck off somebody's misery !

Secret U.S. Prisons

What A Country !

Temple University: Oh, Say, Can You Pay?

Philly.com reports, "Unionville High School's chorale. About 50 members of the Kennett Square group will belt out "Oh, say, can you see" at the Nov. 21 game against Memphis at Lincoln Financial Field. Price tag? 100 tickets at $15 a pop.... "It's about creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience to come down on a field and sing the national anthem in front of thousands of fans,"

Hey if they're stupid enough, what can I say? GO FOR IT!

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Nightmare

I've been railing against these trade deals for years.
No matter my worse fears, they were nothing compared to this TPP deal.

Why They Kept It Secret: 10 Shocking Realities of the TPP
Kevin Zeese | U.S. Uncut (11/7/2015)

"4 Major Expansion of the Race to Lower Wages through Expanded Immigration" ...Chapters 10 and 12 expand the number of L1 worker visas and the number of tourist visas permitted for business purposes, placing no limits foreign skilled workers. Under Chapter 10, foreign corporations coming to the United States to compete with US companies who bring their employees with them do not have to pay US wages... If the US does not allow foreign corporations entry into the US, it can be sued in the corporate trade tribunals and be forced to do so. On top of this there is no enforcement of labor standards unless the US government decides to sue in a trade tribunal.

8 End of Buy America: The TPP prevents the Federal Government from giving preference to US-manufactured products in their purchases, known as “Buy America.” Foreign bidders must be treated as equal to US bidders. This means the federal government cannot stimulate the economy by creating jobs within its own borders... The TPP requires negotiations within three years on applying these rules to state and local governments to ban “Buy America” or buy local preferences at those levels as well"

The Most Brazen Corporate Power Grab in American History
By Chris Hedges / Truthdig (11/6/2015)

"The TPP removes legislative authority from Congress and the White House on a range of issues. Judicial power is often surrendered to three-person trade tribunals in which only corporations are permitted to sue. Workers, environmental and advocacy groups and labor unions are blocked from seeking redress in the proposed tribunals..

Congress cannot raise concerns about the effects of the TPP on the environment. It can only vote yes or no. It is powerless to modify or change one word.

Fifty-one percent of working Americans now make less than $30,000 a year, a new study by the Social Security Administration reported. Forty percent are making less than $20,000 a year."


My Comments About The Articles AboveAs if this international agreement weren't bad enough I find it appalling it forces within 3 years state and local governments to comply and "ban “Buy America” or buy local preferences" as well.

This Sucks Worse Then You May Think
Suppose Pennsylvania were to have set up Allentown's NIZ zone three years from now instead of when it did. At that time it would be illegal for the ANIZDA or developers to reject foreign manufactured building materials. So too rejecting foreign held corporations competing on American soil. Thus forcing ANIZDA to consider them for the project along with their right to bring in an unlimited number of "skilled workers" holding H1-B VISAs.

This agreement also means whichever President we choose in the next election will have his or her hands completely tied no matter how America votes.

Folks we heard about the day the world's wealthy would one day take over the world and it's governments (federal, state & local). With this one great big and final push it looks like that day is just around the corner.


Texts Of The Agreement




The Blockbuster Disaster of the TPP (11/6/2015)



Bernie Sanders- TPP: A Raw Deal for America (April 2015)

Another Incident In The Allentown School District

Trexler Middle school fights prompt arrests, beefed-up police presence
By Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com

"There will be an increased police presence on Friday near Allentown's Trexler Middle School after fights on Thursday led to a lockdown and a pair of arrests, officials said."

My Comments About The Article AboveApparently there were multiple incidents throughout the school day. I as a 1966 graduate of the Allentown School District can attest some of this stuff which happened is not entirely new. When I attended William Allen about once or twice a year there was the occasional fist fight at West Park. As I grew older my stepson experienced problems on his bus up to voc-tech in Schnecksville as well as a stabbing in the leg of someone in the then famous 'cancer court' area of WAHS.

What's happening today is far different. None of these kids would dare pull this stuff off inside the high school itself. They had a certain fear of teachers who's time has long since passed. Not one time in either my, the step son's or daughter's years in high school would anyone dream of challenging authority. Nor was security required via police presence.

So What's Changed?
The majority of students come from homes far different from those I and others grew up in. The harsh reality is schools are asked to bear responsibilities far reaching from what they are legally able to accomplish. These are unreasonable expectations. Reality is legislation has tied the hands of teachers taking appropriate disciplinarity measures even if it were at risk to their own physical safety in doing so.

It started out early in the elementary grades when teachers & gym teachers physically made contact with some of these little shits behaving badly. Nobody's talking about beating kids, but sometimes kids are better handled by physical means early on when they are yet incompatible of understanding reasoning within their brains. Those days are long gone. As a result we have what we are seeing today. Guess what.. we all survived including I.

In many instances the parents complaining about the schools' lack of control are the first to complain taking away the tools necessary to do anything about early intervention. As result this is what we're seeing today. Either they or the schools need to step in early when these kids act up. If the parents won't don't expect schools to be a solution to what they refuse to do for themselves. This may seem harsh, but this is the reality of the situation we now find ourselves in.

Nobody's kid is perfect including me when I was their age.