Center on Education and the Workforce -

"Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce reported this week that the number of jobs requiring an associates' degree or more will grow faster than the pool of qualified people, to the tune of a three-million-worker shortfall by 2018" Center on Education and the Workforce -

Conform or face the consequences, Archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, June 4, 2010 p 1 « Conger

Wow.
Money quote:

The Archbishop’s Pentecost letter is the public half of a campaign to rein in the Episcopal Church, The Church of England Newspaper has learned, and follows a private letter delivered to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asking her to consider withdrawing from active participation on the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.

Conform or face the consequences, Archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, June 4, 2010 p 1 « Conger

Unfortunatly old news: China threatens US

So... back in the last year of the last millennium, JFQ (Joint Forces Quarterly), the professional publication of the National Defense University noted that an article published in a People's Republic of China journal had called for China to be able to win a war against the US by 2029. There was a lot of intra-military discussion about this. Specifically: was the PRC putting the US on notice -- this is what we're going to do -- or were they just rattling the US' cage?

Well, by their actions ye shall know. For China to be able to defeat the US, there are ... things... that have to happen; for one thing, the People's Liberation Army Navy (yes, that's the correct title) will need a LOT more blue-water capability.

Well it appears that some of these ... things... have started to happen. Here's Gordon Chang by way of the Instapundit.

Sing it high, sing it low, let them know....

Helen Thomas Retires After Palestine Flap | NBC Washington
Perhaps the greatest journalist since Leni Riefenstahl turns in her papers.
Helen Thomas Retires After Palestine Flap | NBC Washington

Markets About to Turn Nasty, Buy Barbed Wire: Advisor - CNBC

Money shot: “I don’t want to scare anyone but I am considering investing in barbed wire and guns, things are not looking good and rates are heading higher,”
EU Debt Crisis - Markets About to Turn Nasty, Buy Barbed Wire: Advisor - CNBC
Comes from NBC

Political Memo - Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage - NYTimes.com

I suspect it's not just the Ds!
Political Memo - Democrats Skip Town Halls to Avoid Voter Rage - NYTimes.com

Peggy Noonan: The Big Alienation - WSJ.com

Peggy Noonan: The Big Alienation - WSJ.com

Released to Near Silence, the U.S. Treasury 2009 Financial Report Shows Dire Course

If you listen to certain politicians and talking heads you might get the impression that the federal fiscal sky is falling. Unfortunately, unlike Chicken Little, they may be right.

The Treasury Department recently issued the 2009 financial report of the United States government. Whereas there is lots of talk in Congress and in the press about the federal budget, the annual report was released to near silence. That’s too bad, not only because the annual report is untainted by creative accounting but also because its message is too important to ignore.

That message is that the sky is indeed falling.

Released to Near Silence, the U.S. Treasury 2009 Financial Report Shows Dire Course

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks - Yahoo! News

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks - Yahoo! News

Megan strikes again!

voters consistently say they'd rather cut spending than raise taxes to reduce the deficit. But when you ask them what they want to cut, the only program there is strong support for cutting is foreign aid . . . which is like trying to pay off your credit cards by slashing your chewing gum budget.

But wait a minute! We spend stomptillion bucks on foreign aid!
I bet we can make this balance if we cut earmarks!
Polling the Budget - Business - The Atlantic

National debt seen heading for crisis level

Ya think?

Economists Carmen Reinhart of the University of Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University have recently shown that a 90 percent debt-to-GDP ratio usually touches off a crisis.

This year, the debt will reach 63 percent of GDP, a ratio that has ignited crises in smaller wealthy nations. Fiscal crises gripped Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Ireland when their debts were below where the United States is shortly headed.

National debt seen heading for crisis level

The article doesn't address the medicare/medicaid/Obamacare/social security/Bush-drug-for-elderly unfunded mandates (which are at least 50 TRILLION and realistically are closer to 100 Trillion.

Marginal Revolution: Do daughters make you more conservative?

Tyler Cowan's comment at marginalrevolution.com finishes with a great quote (i.e., one designed to make some people froth at the mouth:

By the way, I applaud the authors for their "stones" in writing the last paragraph of the paper, such as:

The conservative emphasis on family, traditional values and gender roles, and prolife anti-abortion sentiments all stress investment in children – for both men and women. Conservative policies mirror the genetic interests of women, writ large. They attempt to promote paternal investment in offspring. Further, they stress investment in conceived offspring – “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” In short, Conservative policies support the genetic fitness of women by capitalizing on each pregnancy, reducing male promiscuity, and increasing paternal investment in children. Such policies may impinge on the freedom of parents’ immediate offspring, but they increase the expected number of grandchildren via daughters.

I'm not sure that's true as stated, but it does deserve further debate.

Marginal Revolution: Do daughters make you more conservative?

So, whaddaya think? I figure most replies will fall into accident, tu quoque, or wishful thinking, but I'm willing to be proved wrong!

essential_health_tips

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/essential_health_tips/printer.php

Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill | FDL Action

From Jane Hamscher of FireDogLake. Who is, mirable dictu, right!
Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill | FDL Action

A middle class family of four making $66,370 will be forced to pay $5,243 per year for insurance. After basic necessities, this leaves them with $8,307 in discretionary income — out of which they would have to cover clothing, credit card and other debt, child care and education costs, in addition to $5,882 in annual out-of-pocket medical expenses for which families will be responsible. Many families who are already struggling to get by would be better off saving the $5,243 in insurance costs and paying their medical expenses directly, rather than being forced to by coverage they can’t afford the co-pays on.

Yeah, there are a LOT of better ways this could be accomplished. So many even modern liberals are picking up the tune!

Effort to Ax Tax-Delinquent Feds Draws Fire

Yeah, I'll bet it did.

Proposed legislation that would require the firing of federal employees with outstanding IRS tax liens drew a lot of criticism at a March 17 hearing on the bill before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce.

Under the bill, any fed with an outstanding personal tax debt that has triggered a wage or property lien would be subject to termination. Prospective employees with tax liens would similarly be banned from federal employment.

Among those who took shots at the bill, H.R. 4735, was National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley, who said the bill would deny federal employees the due process rights enjoyed by other taxpayers. Kelley also noted that the issuance of a lien, which under the proposed measure could get a fed fired, is not necessarily a final determination of tax liability.

She also pointed out another obvious shortcoming—if anything, the bill would hinder feds from repaying those back taxes. “We believe that terminating their employment or preventing them from obtaining gainful employment would only serve to worsen their financial situation and lessen their ability to repay,” Kelley said.

J. Ward Morrow, American Federation of Government Employees assistant general counsel for legislation, concurred. “If an individual is unemployed, they will be in default for a far longer period of time and have less incentive to pay any payments,” Morrow said. “To erect a permanent barrier to any federal employment would be counter to the desire to get the debt paid.”

There are also potential technical problems with the proposed bill introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Christopher Rizek, a tax expert and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said that credit and loss carryovers can erase existing tax liabilities. And, in certain instances, he said, litigation over the existence or amount of a tax liability may even be occurring at the time the IRS files an outstanding assessment or tax lien.

To see more, go to: http://tinyurl.com/ylnco4m.

How Real are the Defects in Toyota's Cars? - Business - The Atlantic

In which we, O Best Beloved, discover that there are some REALLY INTERESTING skews causing echos of the Audi Adventures of Ye soi-distant (*pun*) past:

In the original Sudden Acceleration Incident craze that afflicted America in the late eighties, the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration eventually ruled that the problem was "pedal misapplication", aka stepping on the gas when you meant to step on the brake. These incidents were highly correlated with three things: being elderly, being short, and parking (or leaving a parking space). The elderly are more prone to the sort of neuronal misfiring described in yesterday's New York Times. Shorter people have to hunt more for the pedals. And starting up from a complete stop is the most likely time to press the wrong pedal.

McArdle points out that there are three risk-increasers:

1. Being elderly
2. Parking
3. Being short

Repeat after me: correlation does NOT prove causation, and in fact correlation is not here demonstrated. But there are some really interesting data points.
How Real are the Defects in Toyota's Cars? - Business - The Atlantic

Robert J. Samuelson - Will Millennials become the chump generation? - washingtonpost.com

Money shot:

Millennials could become the chump generation. They could suffer for their elders' economic sins, particularly the failure to confront the predictable costs of baby boomers' retirement. This poses a question. In 2008, Millennials voted 2 to 1 for Barack Obama; in surveys, they say they're more disposed than older Americans to big and activist government. Their ardor for Obama is already cooling. Will higher taxes dim their enthusiasm for government?

Hah! One can only hope!
Robert J. Samuelson - Will Millennials become the chump generation? - washingtonpost.com

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

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Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

Posted using ShareThis