Forums: August 13

Children born in the summer in England are at an academic disadvantage throughout school, says a report from the IFS. The study says that among seven-year-olds, August-born children are more than three times as likely to be "below average" as September-born children. August children are also 20% less likely to attend a top university. The IFS says the economic consequences facing summer babies will last "throughout their working lives". The report from the independent financial researchers shows the sharp difference in outcomes between the youngest children in a year group - those born in August - and the oldest, born...

Democratic Party fundraising slumps in AugustREUTERS/Kevin Lamarque updated 9/11/2011 12:17:41 AM ET **SNIP** Both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and President Barack Obama's re-election campaign were forced to curtail fundraising during the summer because of the negotiations with congressional Republicans over raising the debt limit, which led Obama to cancel fundraisers around the country. **SNIP** Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who led her first full committee meeting, said the party needs to rally behind Obama's $447 billion jobs plan aimed at jump-starting the economy and hiring, as well as his own re-election prospects. "There is only one job the...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Charles Krauthammer: "I think Obama and the Democratic Leadership have made a bet. The only way to get out of the November election next year alive is to run against Republicans as the 'granny-killers' who want to destroy entitlements. Medicare and Social Security. The only way to reduce the debt is to do something on entitlements. The Democrats will refuse and I think this is all headed for a train-wreck on August 2nd." Chris Wallace, host: "Really?" Krauthammer: "Yes, really. I wouldn't say it otherwise."

The Obama Administration will be proposing a "Mini Stimulus" plan next week as left-wing economists like Paul Krugman charge that last year's $864 brillion stimulus spending bill was too small.

Date Debt Held by the Public Intragovernmental Holdings Total Public Debt Outstanding 01/20/2009 6,307,310,739,681.66 4,319,566,309,231.42 10,626,877,048,913.08 10/01/2009 7,505,894,097,177.82 4,414,625,067,141.60 11,920,519,164,319.42 08/31/2010 8,927,061,238,060.48 4,522,591,298,974.57 13,449,652,537,035.05

Last week, a journalist who writes for the North Country Times, a small newspaper in Southern California, sent us an e-mail titled "Help." He couldn't understand why an Islamic Centre in an area where Adam Gadahn, Osama bin Laden's American spokesman came from, and that was home to three of the 911 terrorists, was looking to expand. The man has a very valid point, which leads to the ongoing debate about building a Mosque at Ground Zero in New York. When we try to understand the reasoning behind building a mosque at the epicentre of the worst-ever attack on the...

Truth, even in the tightly controlled prison of the Obama media complex, occasionally bursts forth like a swordfish cavorting on the waves of a golden August afternoon. Newsweek, the Washington Post's former progressive stepchild, published an op-ed by Fareed Zakaria, the in-house lapdog for the Administration, extolling the virtues of building the Ground Zero Mosque. A couple of sentences demand a great deal more explanation. To that end, early in its tenure the Bush administration began a serious effort to seek out and support moderate Islam. Since then, Washington has funded mosques, schools, institutes, and community centers that are...

With thanks and credit to Brugmansian, it's looking like all the LSM fuss about Michelle's extravagant vacation in Spain, just might be a distraction to cover up a much more sinister reason for her trip. Brugmansian uncovered the following article in EL MUNDO and the last paragraph is of specific importance. Varias casas reales árabes también pasan sus veranos en Marbella desde hace años. Así, habrá un encuentro entre Michelle Obama y el príncipe Salman bin Abdelaziz, gobernador de Riad y hermano del fallecido Rey Fahd de Arabia Saudí; mientras que se baraja otra reunión de la primera dama con...

U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers $22 million, federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programming—and the English language. By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek Aug. 3, 2010 URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226500202 Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $22 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia. Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business...

Readers who read my original Washington Examiner post about Shirley Sherrod know that she and husband Charles received $150,000 each for "pain and suffering” as part of "a thirteen million dollar settlement in the minority farmers law suit Pigford vs Vilsack." Based on history presented by Ron Wilkins yesterday at Counterpunch, it's appropriate to ask: "Whose pain and suffering?" It now seems that Mr. and Mrs. Sherrod inflicted quite a bit of pain and suffering on their own -- and on some of the very people Mr. Sherrod described as "our own" in a speech earlier this year -- at...

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is telling colleagues that Elena Kagan has a dangerous political approach to the law that makes her unfit for the Supreme Court. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is previewing his case against Kagan in a letter to senators the day before the Senate begins debating her nomination.

In the scandal involving the theft and release of classified military information that could cost the lives of U.S. military personnel, the British Telegraph newspaper is reporting that the American soldier at the center of the scandal was “openly homosexual” and apparently held a grudge against the U.S. because of the military’s anti-gay policy. In another bizarre twist, reliable reports suggest that Private First Class Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army Intelligence analyst accused of leaking the classified information to the WikiLeaks.org website, was not only a homosexual but was considering a sex change. Manning was arrested at the end of...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- New bank failures last week included two in Arizona and one each in Pennsylvania, Alabama and Nevada, bringing the total number of banks and savings and loans shut down by regulators this year to 77. All 102 bank failures since the beginning of 2008 are detailed on TheStreet.com's interactive bank failure map:

I've been trying to reach Eshoo about Health Care. Take a look at the long list of hard-hitting townhall meetings she has lined up in during the August recess to address constituents' concerns about the major issues of the day: On Wednesday, August 26th, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo will host a Town Hall Meeting to discuss High Speed Rail. Experts from the High Speed Rail Authority and Caltrain will make presentations and answer questions. In November, 2008, Californians passed Proposition 1A, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. How this will impact local communities has...

Health Care Town Meeting Cowpens Library Cowpens, SC 29330 Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Start Time: 6:30 PM End Time: In attendance, Rep. Bob Inglis H (REP) District 4 Health Care Mobile Office Hours Adams County Office Building Hastings, NE 68901 Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Start Time: 10:00 AM End Time: 12:00 PM In attendance, Rep. Adrian Smith H (REP) District 3 Health Care Town Hall Avery County Commissioner's Board Rm Newland, NC 28657 Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Start Time: 6:00 PM End Time: In attendance, Rep. Patrick McHenry H (REP) District 10 Health Care County Tour Stop Sauder Community Center...

In his most recent remarks, President Obama has stopped mentioning what had been his mantra — that the House and Senate finish their health-care bills by the August recess — and switched to a less specific call to fast action. The increased flexibility follows resistance by key senators in both parties to what they have called an "artificial deadline." A White House aide said the president isn't letting up. "No change in the timeline," said the aide

Obama, House Leaders Promise Health Bill By AugustMay 13, 2009 6:30 pm US/Eastern WASHINGTON (CBS) - President Obama and key congressional leaders announced on Wednesday that the House of Representatives will vote on a comprehensive health care reform package before August. "Our legislation will be on the floor by the end of July, I am quite certain," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said outside the White House. Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden had just finished meeting in the Oval Office with congressional Democratic leaders heading up health care reform, including Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Ways and...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2007 – All four services reported strong recruiting success in August, with the Army marking its second consecutive month exceeding its monthly goal, Defense Department officials announced today. The Army topped its August goal by 6 percent, bringing 10,126 new soldiers into the force. The Army made 102 percent of its goal in July. Officials expressed confidence that the consecutive successes mark a turnaround from May and June, when the Army fell short in recruiting. Army Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commander of U.S. Army Recruiting Command, attributes much of the rebound to the Army’s new...

Contrary to recent reports, Engadget says that Apple's rumored "iPhone" may appear as early as August. A reader is reporting to us that a coworker's tech-unsavvy friend, who is regularly hired by Apple to do marketing photo shoots, was recently brought on to take some shots of "the sleekest, sexiest damn phone he's ever seen."It has been well-established that Apple has been working on an Apple-branded phone for some time, however the release date has been difficult to pinpoint. Recently, various patents (1, 2) have been uncovered regarding Apple's cell phone technology and Peter Oppenheimer made comments during Apple's Q3...

August 6th marked the 60th anniversary of America’s use of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. While some still argue that President Truman’s decision to use the A-bomb was “controversial,” they are afflicted with the scourge of our time, the loss of a sense of moral proportion and certainty. Unfortunately, those with relativistic morals will lead us to see the day when nuclear weapons are used again – this time to end once and for all the barbaric savagery of Islamism. Green Left Weekly (GLW) calls the U.S. putting a swift end to WWII – using atomic...

How many nations could genuinely say that they had the real potential to conquer the world or destroy it? How many nations had an arsenal capable of obliterating any other nation without risking retaliation? How many nations, with an army and navy superior to any others, an industry and economy capable of producing more weapons and material than any other, with forces already deployed for conquest, how many nations would try to conquer the world while they had such advantages? Sixty years ago, this was exactly situation in which the United States of America found itself. American military forces were...

TEHRAN, July 22 (MNA) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is due to visit Tehran and take part in President-Elect Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration ceremony, the FARS News Agency reported on Friday. Chavez, who visited Iran three times during President Khatami’s tenure, will travel to Tehran on 30 July, for the fourth time. The presence of Chavez in Tehran can strengthen friendly ties between Iran and Venezuela, which have developed closer relations over the past several years. Ahmadinejad will be sworn as Iran’s next president on August 4.