Steve's barking at partisan news

Through out the history  of America there has been partisan news.
The news came in the form of pamphlets or newspapers, and damn they didn't have to be neutral because we had a free press. A free press didn't  mean we had a factual press.
Along came this thing called radio, and with it came the government licencing the news people had to be careful what they put on the air. Luckily  we had two major parties so there was only so much  nonsense over the airways news reporting could get away with. This was true with television and radio.
The slow dieing of print media one would think would make a more honest way of getting ones news.Ah, but along came this thing called cable and we now have all kind of reporting. Well these cable news networks do the work of the old partisan newspapers did and blogs do what partisan pamphlets used to do.
We have a cable news network that starts with an F that *mirrors what Pravda did. (I know that 's Russia, OK, the Daily Worker).
Computers gave way to blogs as pamphlets did in days of yore. And it's cheap enough that even buffoons like me can write them.


*A mirror is an exact reflection only it's 180 degrees different(?).

Steve's barking privacy and an open government?

Why are those who a complaining that government is listening in on American secrets are in general the same people who demand open government?
In a democracy they say there should be no secrets from the people.
In a free society government shouldn't know what the people are saying to one another.
Question is a free society exclusionary from a democratic society?
Question does a majority rule society a free society because those in the majority hold back the rights  of the minority ( think of the old segregation in the south)?
Question how can a press question the government about privacy of it's citizens when at the same time dumpster dive and hound celebrities ( who just so happen to be private citizens) all in the name of freedom of the press?
Why do some people complain about violation of the fourth amendment for listening in on conversation and even government reading e mails and think it's alright to stop some one on the street
and frisk them ( which by the way we have the fourth amendment according to most American history books is because the British employed stop and frisk in colonial times)?
Maybe the US government should use the Terry ruling to explain why they can legally obtain e mail records and telephone conversations.

There is a Motown record of the way I feel- Ball of Confusion.

Steve's barking Mayor Mike Bloomberg fails 5th grade reading comprehension test

On August 12, 2013 took a reading comprehensive test.
There was only one question. on a single paragraph.
Paragraph :
The right of the people to be secure in their person, house, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.
Answering the question is it alright for the police to stop and search a person to prevent crime after reading that paragraph he answered of cause it is. It's an important tool in fighting crime.

*The question with stop and frisk and the Terry decision of the (Liberal) Warren Court states that stopping an individual can be constitutional if the police have a reasonable suspicion of a crime and in order to protect themselves they may pat down and use as evidence any found.
Much has been written about the Terry Supreme Court decision and the general rule is that stop and frisk should be used for a police officer's protection not to gather evidence.

The other question for Mayor Mike can you do the math. 88% of the over two million stop and frisk involve nothing being found. That does not equal what the Terry decision warrants. 

  

Steve's barking would you vote for Hitler if he promised you a job?

I was surfing the other day and I happen to come across on CNN this Brit fellow Morgan asking this African  
American Perry why would African Americans Vote in such overwhelming numbers for the current president when there's a such a large unemployment of African Americans under the current president. Morgan wasn't the first person to ask this question as to why the African American community is polling so overwhelming for the current president, my favorite columnist in the NY Post ask the same question in one of his columns  My answer at the time is I wouldn't buy a car from my brother ( Whom I trust) without telling me what type of car it is. Why would an unemployed person vote for a presidential ticket on how he's going to create a good paying job for me without giving me a clue as to how?
After thinking about what if I was unemployed, I wouldn't just vote for anybody, what if that person was a Hitler type ( No Mitt Romney is not anything like a Hitler, don't get me wrong). I'm just Questioning the question.

Steve's barking

News item, the today is relieving Ann Curry of her co-anchor position on the today show. Well I have a suggestion for NBC, they should go retro and hire a monkey for their co-anchor position such as Dave Garroway had when the today show just started out.

Why do I think I could do a much better job then the professional that the democratic party has to get their message across?
That's because the democratic party has no message. I would at least create one.

Why are sports columnist going crazy on Rodger Clemons, Barry Bonds and the rest of those star athletes in the steroid age?  Cheating and doing illegal things have always been part of the game. Are those sports writer suggesting that opposing players don't try to steal signs? How come Gaylord Perry is in the Hall of Fame, he was caught red handed with a emery board in his back pocket doctoring up the baseball.
Why are they complaining about players trying to get a edge. That's the way of the world.
Is it because of illegal drugs? We have two presidents admitting to marijuana use
They lied to congress? Well congress lies to the American people all the time.

Steve's barking at news of German unemployment April '02

Headlines for German unemployment for April of 02 from different new services.
Bloomberg News - German jobless unexpectedly up as crises flares.
CBS News- German unemployment down to 7%.
Yahoo News - German unemployment rate down to 7%. 
Daily FX-Rise in German  Unemployment rises Further discourages investors.
Alt Market.com-German unemployment on the rise.
Palm Beach Post- German unemployment falls to 7%.

OK WHAT GIVES

Steve's barking at primaries what primaries?

I don't get it.
Primary season is the time to pick up delegates for the national convention , there really should be no winners and losers. A candidate can literally come in third in each caucus and primary and still have enough delegates to win to be the parties nominee for the run for the presidency  of the United States.
 I understand that if you come in first in these early caucus you get a s**t load of money, and if you if don't  nobody wants to know your name. I understand that is why a lot of candidates say goodbye. The problem is that it in't very democratic.
Maybe the primaries are a kind of Darwinism, survival of the fittest candidates.
Why is it that most of the media ( I'm really talking about television) will have debates and would leave candidates out, then hire pundits who complain that there's too much money being spent on election of candidates. What's a pundit anyway? Someone who dents puns?
Why do they call these question and answer news conferences debates? Actually there Sunday talk shows.
Why don't we have debates on the presumptive problems of the day and how they should be fixed. Kind of like the debates one has on the debating teams in high school and in college.
I think the reason we can't have anything that resembles a debate is because the networks have to showcase there million dollar talent. ( I'm not sure the right word is talent).
One thing these primaries are good at, putting on television shows that equal any reality show having goofball characters.   
       

Steve's barkin at test scores NYC children

Here we go again.
New York City children test scores on math and reading are in the 24% range and every bodies got their nickers up in the air.
This is great news if you like to play the blame game.
The way I see it,the educators in NYC got short changed because they didn't know how to cheat on this test.
I'm actually not very upset by the children can't read, most of the adults I see on the boob tube,be it political or just some talking head commentator have a problem with reading comprehension. For that mater it's the same with newspaper opinion writers.
If one listens to the majority of politician and talking heads and opinion writers you can even say the same thing about math (math including logic).
To summarize my thinking, we should make sure the adults can read and understand math before we criticize that Johnny can't read or do math in the fourth grade.

*I don't know how many people who are out of work are poled by the dept of labor but if he same amount of people are asked if they are still looking for work is the same as 4 years ago or even 6 months ago the statistics are very shaky to say the least.
** So many of us quote the constition but it doesn't say way we want it to say.

Streve's barking at banking

I recently heard on the telly that banks have an exorbitant amount of money and there not lending it out.
I also heard on that very same devise that it was hard for bussines to borrow money from those same banks, because government rules make it hard to justify lending money out unless you are the most credit worthy borrower.( I guess that why Donald Trump keeps getting loans).
Now a  birdie told me (I cant recall weather the bird was an Eagle or a Sparrow) that it didn't matter what your credit worthiness's is, you would be able to borrow money from the bank if you had a relationship with it. The relationship being you played golf with an executive, or went to the same school, or even hooked the executive up with your drug dealer.
Now the people on that same contraption tell their viewers that these bank are not making money the old fashion way by lending it out to the masses but are are borrowing from the government at 0% and lending it back to the government at a greater then 0%.
What I can't figure out about  is what the bank I loan money too in the form of a checking account and savings account, does with that money if it's not lending the money it's borrowing from me. Now I know the bank is making money, because I saw the president of the bank on the Telly and he said so.


I remember the old expression if you build a better mouse trap the world will beat a path to your door. I just can't help think at the end of the day it's still a mouse trap.
I can't help but think about that as I keep hearing laurels that Steve Jobs has been getting.

Steve's barking at the galloping ghost

What ever happened to the galloping ghost?
Red Grange better Known as the galloping ghost from the the University of Illinois took a pay cut when he went from college football to the pros (as the legend would have us believe).
The old story used to be told that colleges would hire miners to play for them on saturday and they would go back to their real jobs on Monday. Were was the NCAA?
Did these things really happen?
Is the NCAA turning into big brother?
Is the NCAA good for college sports?


* Today I heard that the NCAA will allow student athletes to have a $2000 a year stipend.
   They will also allow schools to continue scholarships  to go into 5 and 6 years.
   These are steps that should have been taken years ago. Finally scholarship athletes are getting something for their services to the schoolsthey represent on the playing fields.

Steve's Barking saving the economy from the debt ceiling.

Oh no MR Bill, I'm actually agreeing with Ron Paul,at least what I heard him say today. We should sell off part of our gold reserves to keep from raising the debt limit. That's part of my solution for our debt. Of cause I wanted sell part of the federal lands and have social security tax continue for those earning over 106 thousand dollars and I even wanted to sell part of our oil reserves. (The one that we are suppose use in case of cut off oil supplies from hostile nations)
Even though I think that the health care in the United States stinks, I would add 1/2% tax (that's actually 1% because employees put in) to keep medicare solvent. This wouldn't hurt the economy one bit,this amount is so minuscule when you think about. Compare it to fuel and food inflation this amount would be a joke.
One might even say it's anti-inflation. Huh
If raising the Fed rate is anti-inflation why isn't raising taxes anti-inflationary? They both take money out of the economy.

The one thing I didn't mention Congressmen Paul has his doubt that we actually don't have the gold reserves that the government says we have and he wants an audit. I say why not after all we can pay for it with a very small part of the selling of our gold.

Steve's barking at making New York State the Empire State again.

Not so long ago I wrote an article that I sent to the New York Times which for what ever reason turned me down.
So I then sent the article to the Albany Times Union and what do you think I got the same results.
So after many sleepless nights (exactly none) I've decided to let the free world have a look at my foolish idea with the hope that people in this cruel world will critic my foolish idea for New York State.

                          Making New York the Empire State Again Not the Me Too State    

 After hearing Governor elect Andrew Cuomo plans for New York State I can’t help but compare his statement for the future of this state with Chris Christies implementation of his budget for New Jersey. It also sounds similar to so many other governors that the only thing I can think of is that we should change the name of this state to the Me Too State from the Empire State.

 Now I have a plan to place New York State in the leadership roll of the states of this country

;The most important renovation is too eliminate 1/3 the state budget that is going to health care. I would do this by asking a waiver from the United States government on the health care reform act of 2010 and replace it with a 2 percent or less income tax from all who derive income from New York State. This income tax would be used to buy health care insurance for all. The boilerplate would be the Empire plan. If one wanted to more, then one could purchase it. This would eliminate the need for businesses in this state buy health insurance making them more competitive with foreign compaction. We would also need to get Medicare for those who are eligible with the provision that Medicare part B would be paid by the tax. The plan would also need to get Medicaid for those who are income eligible to help defray the cost of insurance. Those who make under $20000 will have no co-pay. 20001 to $35000 will pay $5 co-pay. A top co-pay of $20 for those who can afford it. The only thing the government will do is monitor the insurance companies to make sure they give the service that they claim to give and to dole out the money from the income insurance tax. If this plan can’t be implemented a plan (B) must be thought up to reduce the 1/3 of the state budget for health care.

 New York can’t be shy about borrowing money. The infrastructure of this state as in all states are falling apart. When we borrow the money for roadways and bridges we have to be able to pay for it from tolls or some other direct income that affects roadway travel. Tolls should not go to pay for schools or even subways. We cannot borrow using toll money to pay what’s it’s not intended for. We shouldn’t be afraid of borrowing money as long we can pay for it directly for the purpose that it’s intended for.

A very important thing that this state and all governments must do is believe in the sanctity of contracts. For every contract the state gives out the contractor must live up to it no matter how well connected the contractor is. Long term contracts must be reviewed and audited at least once every four years and if the contract isn’t being done according to the terms of the contract, it should be called null and void and the state should demand its money back. Even if it means that the state will loss many of its contractors. The state will have to hire more auditors and set up a quota on how many audits are done in order to keep the contractors honest.

The state should try to get the best brains to streamline the paperwork that small business must put up with. When I state that the state must streamline paperwork this must be done without hurting employees or in some cases the environment. A review must be done with workers comp again without hurting the employee.

Then again why think of ways to help the state when we can play follow the leader and blame the union’s blame the workers insist that we pay too much tax instead of trying ways to lower cost, thus lowering taxes without gutting services. 

Steve's barking at Ron Paul

This is a change I'm actually naming some one. Ok some times I do name names.
I should like Ron Paul, he's has a different idea of how to make the government better.
No I don't mean let the states handle every thing, they are closer to the people and they can give the people what they want and better services. ( This was the pre constitutional thinking and is still held by vast minority of citizens even today).
Now Ron Paul claims to be a free libertarian. At one time I used think I was too. Keep the government off the people back. I go even further, keep big bureaucracies away from making decisions that will effect me. That includes big business, big city government etc. Oh I almost forgot big news organizations like Fox News.
Now that really doesn't sound like me. So who knew I was really an anarchist.
Now Mr. Paul sounds sincere enough, but I don't get why he would take Medicare in his medical practice, after all that's a big government program that interfere with a doctors way of treating patients.  If enough doctors didn't sign on this program would have ended before it started.

Now Congressman Paul stated on the telly that the United State has already defaulted on it's obligation, for it promised to pay it's civil war obligation in gold. He's kind of telling the truth, the government issued green backs or as we know them today as dollar bills with the promise to  pay back in gold. We some times call these gold certificates?
We haven't paid these green back with gold.
Now I seem to recall from my history books that president Roosevelt unilaterally took all the gold from the citizens of the United States
Now Nixon took us off the gold standard all together, our dollars are backed by nothing.
Now the question is did we really default as Ron Paul suggest, or is that really a stretch?
If we missed a payment on our debt it wouldn't be the end of the world, a meteor wouldn't hit the earth nor would the earth collapse from earth quakes , but there would be great hardship, and the possibility of hyper inflation in the United States would greatly be enhanced.

Now I'm not a worrier of the debt that the United States is piling up, for I can eliminate a third of the debt in no time at all. Of cause I don't think that people like congressman Paul would go along with the program. (I've stated how I would eliminate a third of the debt in a previous blog.

Eliminating or weakening the Federal Reserve as Doctor Paul has suggested that is not a good idea, we live in the 21st century and we need a central bank that will push money in case of disaster and burn money if too much money is in the system. (Burn Money)?

My gut feeling is that free libertarians like Ron Paul would have been good in the end of the 19Th century, but for the 21st century;free market isn't working the way it's suppose too .

*  I must be losing it, this isn't much of rant and some of it makes no sense at all.

Steve's barking at birther trump

I just heard that the man with the bad hair is saying that he thinking about running for president.
He then made a birth-er like claim, was the president born in the United Stated?
Well I checked the president's birth certificate on the Internet. A copy is their with certain non -important information blacked out.
I then checked why these information was blacked out. It has to do with Hawaiian law.
Do I really I want a president who doesn't believe in the law and can't look up information on a computer.
Donald your not hired.

Steve's barking at why the pols and the papers are calling Americans stupid

You read it here first kiddies, most of the papers, most of the commentators and the politicians are calling most of the American people stupid. No they don't come right out look the American people in the eye and say you people are stupid. They call majority of the American people stupid by simply saying that government workers make more then they do, have benefits that they don't have. What there not saying is why don't you idiots take a government job, after all most of the jobs that our civil service it's not who you know. It's how well you do on a test or in some cases  what you bring to the table in prior work experience. ( Now I know that's not always the case, just look at New York City mayoral appointments, this administration and the last).
Now assuming how much better it is to be in the public sector and that most jobs aren't based on who you know but how well you do on a test or what you've done prior, one who have to be stupid not to try for a civil service job. Most Americans take civil service jobs as a last resort, and if you don't believe me, just look at how many people actually apply for a civil service job, you don't fine a line around the block for most of these jobs. So because these jobs are so good one would have to reason that politicians,newspaper columnist, along with most pundits on the boob tube and annoying radio are really stating that Americans are stupid. After all the majority of Americans should be applying for civil service jobs and their not.

If being a teacher is so good why several years ago, did New York City have a recruiting problem?      

Steve's barking at Unions for government workers (collective bargaining)

I've bee watching so called news and business networks recently,  hearing from the peanut gallery (the paid experts?) claiming that government workers shouldn't have unions and that  government workers shouldn't have collective bargaining. Now are they saying that if you become a government worker you lose your rights. Government workers don't have the right to ask for raises, nor ask for a decent health care. Government workers can't have representation nor rally, or voice an opinion. I guess these gas bags  believe that government workers should be grateful that the taxpayers let them work for them.
I'd have some respect for these overpaid stiffs if they didn't have agents or lawyers, I'd excuse their self -righteousness (maybe).
From my time in state government and a union activist I know a lot more then those pundits on the boob tube and those who write in the papers.
Nobody forced governors and legislators to give raises, if other states are like New York it's against the law to strike.
What can the workers do if they didn't get raises, vote against the politicians. There are more none government workers then there are government workers.
Give money to those politicians. They spend more money on their elections then the public unions could possibly give.
As I see it those who think that collective bargaining rights should be taken away public unions are just a bunch of sniveling cowards.  Kind of like most of the commentators on Fox.

New York State pensions can not be part of collective bargaining, I imagine that's the way it is in most states.

Why are states in a such bad shape when it comes to paying out pensions?
If they put money into their pension systems in good times as well as bad,there would be no shortfalls in their pension systems, New York doesn't and I believe California has no shortfall. If government didn't do what it's suppose to it blames the unions.

Did anyone but me notice that the demise of private pensions coincides with the demise of private sector unions.

   
 
    

Steve's barking at why do governors believe in the tooth fairy?

Most of the Governors of this great country must believe in the tooth fairy, why else would they they cut taxes to business and expect job growth. Why don't those state that cut taxes just sell off their infrastructures for some magic beans, that will be planted and miracle of miracles the private sector will create jobs.
Let me put what I'm trying to state in another way, not one one job will be created in this current economic climate by cutting business taxes. If you lay off workers or try to take back take home pay you are creating a climate of losing jobs including private sector jobs.
Maybe our  business leaders are stupid and plan to hire people that will not help the bottom line, or maybe their just plain liars to get their way and hopefully help their bottom line. (Don't forget the only purpose of business is make as much money  as possible). 
So in conclusion to cut business is like believing in the tooth fairy. 

Steve's barking at what's happening in Egypt

What's going on in Egypt must be important, broadcast media are sending over their anchors.
They must be sending over their anchors so they don't have to pay their reporters excess for too much air time ( Like I really know)?
I was surfing the boob tube again and I heard by an expert how if Egypt were to go down Suez Canal it's quite possible that the Suez Canal will be shut down. It would then mean that oil tankers would not be able to go west. There is even a possibility that that an oil pipe line that runs through it would be shut down.
The statements from these pundits (?) is that the price of oil would go up.
NOOOO the price of oil has nothing to do if the oil goes East or West, the closing of the Straights of Hormuz would have devastating effect on the price of oil. Now the closing of the Egyption pipe line and the closing of the Suez Canal might hurt the bottom line on some oil companies but the output of oil isn't effected one way or the other by Egypt.   

Steve's barking Does Neil Cavuto know what free market means?

I was surfing the boob tube last week when I came across a fellow named Neil Cavuto.
Now Mister Cavuto whom I understand beside being an anchor on Fox business news is also managing editor for Fox business.
Anyway to get on with the story, Mr. Cavuto read the story that Bank of America was raising it fees and creating news, as he was reading he claimed that Bank of America was raising its fees because of new government regulation, hinting all the while that this is what all bank were going to do.
Let me inform Mr Cavuto competition dictates what a business does or doesn't do in a free market not government regulations.
Let me also inform Mr. Cavuto that in all likely hood Bank of America would raise it's fee if there was no regulation if they felt that they could get away with it. The purpose of business is to Maximze profits and if they felt that charging fees that other banks aren't and have a greater profit despite losing some clients then that's exactly what they should be doing.
Government's job is to protect the citizens and that's what it regulations do.
This is high school economics. It's about time business news persons learn it  .     

Steve's barking at progressives? 17 amendment unconstitutional?

I just was looking at u tube. I saw this video from Fox ( I can't believe they call this) News. On it was this ex-judge Napolitano claiming that the 17Th amendment was unconstitutional. (I wish I knew how to upload from another source, this you got to hear).
The reason the honorable Napolitano said it was unconstitutional because it stepped on states rights and our founding fathers  wanted the states to have the last word. What? I must misunderstood what I heard.
States right was what the civil war was fought for, wasn't it?
The history books in NYC when I as a mere lad stated the article of confederation wasn't workable, so our forefathers decided to have a stronger central government, and they brought forth the Constitution. They had to have a consensus, the mostly manufacturing north against the large landholders from the south.
Now this is from the history books that I read in NYC, it seems that our forefathers like the idea of the English system with a house of Lords (the senate) and the house of commons ( congress). They didn't trust all the people all the time so they had the states appoint their senators. Our founding fathers did have the wisdom to put into our Constitution an ability to amend it. Well those damn  progressives decided that they were going to trust the people and have them elect directly the senators. Of cause the states agreed with those damn progressives,  because if they didn't, the amendment wouldn't become part of the Constitution.

Now lets get back to this word progressive that I keep hearing on the sly old fox news network.
I looked up the word Progressive in my Marion Webster dictionary.
One believing in moderate political change.
Social improvement by government action. 

Now call me slow, but I just don't understand how the Honorable Judge Napolitano can call the height of progressive movement just prior to the roaring 20s.
Giving the women the right to vote, He's right that was progressive.
Making alcohol illegal in the Constitution,  that was draconian.
Now I wouldn't call a President that called "The Birth of A Nation" an accurate depiction of history progressive. Nor the same president who payed 3/4 the pay for African American soldiers because he believed that the were 3/4 of a man. (Not exactly social improvement by government).

Are progressives evil  setting up  sewer systems. Having National Parks system. Trying to make sure that the food we eat is safe.  These are some of the progressive things that happened between Roosevelt and Wilson.
I guess it was a terrible progressive era.