Yearly Archives: 2013

Pension Funds: The $4 Trillion Problem

"Using the lower, safer growth rate of 3.22%, the unfunded liability in Pennsylvania’s two pension plans grows to a combined $156 billion. This different form of measuring liabilities produces some truly scary results. In five states, State Budget Solutions calculates pension liabilities represent more than 40% of the entire state economy. In two states — Ohio and Mississippi — the pension costs are equal to more than half the state’s gross production. On a per-capita basis, it’s equally worrisome. There are five states where the unfunded pension liability would represent a per capita cost of more than $20,000, with Alaska leading the way, at more than $32,000 per person." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPension Funds: The $4 Trillion Problem

Peter Schiff: The Taper That Wasn’t

"The Fed's failure today to announce some sort of tapering of its QE program, despite the consensus of an overwhelming percentage of economists who expected action, once again reveals the degree to which mainstream analysts have overestimated the strength of our current economy. The Fed understands, as the market seems not to, that the current 'recovery' could not survive without continuation of massive monetary stimulus. Mainstream economists have mistaken the symptoms of the Fed's monetary expansion, most notably rising stock and real estate prices, as signs of real and sustainable growth. But the current asset price bubbles have nothing to do with the real economy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Taper That Wasn’t

Danger! Exploding Wealth Gap!

"We don’t just have an economic bankruptcy, but we also have a moral and ethical bankruptcy taking place on top of the threat of war, and the fact that most governments are taking away freedoms and personal initiatives by making them people dependent on state handouts. We also have the very dangerous situation where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Since 2009, the wealthiest 7% have seen their wealth increase by 28%, while the other 93% have seen their wealth decline by 4%. If you take the wealthiest 300 in the world, they have more wealth than the poorest 3 billion. This is very dangerous for a world which that will have more and more people going hungry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDanger! Exploding Wealth Gap!

Florida Official: “Abandon Jesus if You Want to Feed the Poor.”

"The Department of Agriculture goes to a lot of trouble getting Congress to tax Americans. This is necessary so that the USDA can buy food from farmers at above-market prices. This reduces the amount of affordable food available to the poor. The USDA gives it away to state agencies. These agencies then give it away to charitable groups. They in turn give food to the hungry. One non-profit outfit in Florida has given away free food for 31 years. But not any longer. It turns out that this group — Christian — mentions Jesus to the poor people it ministers to. It took 31 years for some low-level government bureaucrat to put two and two together. 'What’s this? They talk about Jesus? Well, that’s got to stop.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida Official: “Abandon Jesus if You Want to Feed the Poor.”

Man gets drunk randomly because his own body brews beer from carbs

"A Texas man who was struggling with episodes of sudden and unexplained drunkenness was found to have alcohol-producing microbes in his gut, which were busily making beer. Health care workers were baffled. Initially they assumed that the man was being dishonest and was drinking on the sly. They checked the patient in to a hospital room for 24 hours and made absolutely sure that he had not smuggled in any alcohol. They fed him foods rich in carbohydrates. Sure enough, his blood alcohol content began to spike on its own. The man, who was an avid home brewer, had an abundance of brewer’s yeast in his gut, making his intestines act as their own small brewery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan gets drunk randomly because his own body brews beer from carbs

Officer named in lawsuit for knocking teen off mini-bike when off-duty

"A St. Paul Park teen’s family alleges that an off-duty St. Paul police officer who lives in the city intentionally knocked the teen off his mini bike and verbally assaulted him. A civil suit has been filed against officer Ronald Himes by Jessica Heroux on behalf of her son Mica Franke, 16, who was involved in a May altercation with Himes and was left scraped, bruised and with a handprint on his chest. Franke told police Himes ran out into the road, hit him in the chest and knocked him off the mini bike. Franke said Himes then stood over him and proceeded to yell at him, the police report said. The lawsuit claims Franke was not given a warning and he was subjected to a 'profanity-laced tirade' from Himes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficer named in lawsuit for knocking teen off mini-bike when off-duty

Deaf man claims police laughed at him, denied interpreter during arrest

"A deaf Oregon man has filed a lawsuit claiming that police violated his civil rights when they laughed at his request for a sign language interpreter during his arrest. According to the site, Updike used sign language to ask officers what he’d done to result in his arrest, and he also tried to speak the words, 'What did I do?' The suit claims officers pushed him roughly into a patrol car and laughed at him. An interpreter was assigned when Updike appeared again two days after his arrest. He was released from jail, and all charges were dropped against Updike eight days after his arrest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeaf man claims police laughed at him, denied interpreter during arrest

Police officer researched romantic rivals using criminal justice databases

"A former Tucson police officer who pleaded guilty to computer tampering for using criminal justice databases to check up on romantic rivals has been sentenced to probation. Pima County prosecutors say Andrea Middleton was given three months of probation Friday. She pleaded guilty to two counts of computer tampering last month. Middleton resigned in June from the police department, where she had worked for seven years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice officer researched romantic rivals using criminal justice databases

NSA Efforts Damaged U.S. Cryptography Standard

"The fix may not be all that difficult—the tainted part of the standard is a highly inefficient algorithm that security experts identified as a problem long ago. In fact, the biggest mystery, those experts say, is why the NSA thought any company or government agency would willingly use that particular algorithm to protect their data. Despite Dual_EC_DRBG’s known flaws, prominent tech companies including Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec and RSA include the algorithm in their product’s cryptographic libraries primarily because they need it to be eligible for government contracts, cryptographer Bruce Schneier says." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA Efforts Damaged U.S. Cryptography Standard