OBAMA PLAYS THE RACE CARD AFTER DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES FAIL...

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• OBAMA PLAYS THE RACE CARD AFTER DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES FAIL
• Progressive Socialist Democrat California Governor Jerry Brown Pays Off the Unions -- Hires more government employees and reduce reliance on private contractors
• WILL YOUR ATM BE SAFE FROM HACKERS AND MALWARE AFTER MICROSOFT PULLS THE PLUG ON XP AFTER APRIL, 2014?
• END THE CORRUPTION OF POLITICAL PATRONAGE -- IMMEDIATE BUDGET SAVINGS AND BETTER GOVERNANCE

OBAMA PLAYS THE RACE CARD AFTER DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICIES FAIL Posted: 20 Jan 2014 11:20 PM PST Obama to a conservative America When you are an arrogant elitist and refuse to interact with Congress in a bipartisan manner When you fail to govern and prefer perpetual campaigning, fundraising, vacationing, and goofing around on basketball courts and golf courses When your domestic policies fail in spite of spending billions on non-existent shovel-ready jobs and the money was used to insulate government employees from the downturn When your foreign policy disparages our allies and provides aid and comfort to our enemies When your healthcare plan nationalizes one-sixth of the American economy and screws millions of Americans out of existing and decent healthcare When your presidency polarized more of the population and produced I guess your only answer is to play the race card … Obama’s election was one of the great markers in the black freedom struggle. In the electoral realm, ironically, the country may be more racially divided than it has been in a generation. Obama lost among white voters in 2012 by a margin greater than any victor in American history. The popular opposition to the Administration comes largely from older whites who feel threatened, underemployed, overlooked, and disdained in a globalized economy and in an increasingly diverse country. Obama’s drop in the polls in 2013 was especially grave among white voters. “There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black President,” Obama said. “Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a black President.” The latter group has been less in evidence of late. Read more at: David Remnick: On and Off the Road with Barack Obama : The New Yorker Bottom line … President Obama  and his cadre of progressive socialist democrats are a clear and present to America and Americans. It's not his color, it is his attitude toward America and his policies, both foreign and domestic. -- steve

Progressive Socialist Democrat California Governor Jerry Brown Pays Off the Unions -- Hires more government employees and reduce reliance on private contractors Posted: 20 Jan 2014 11:40 AM PST It appears that Governor Brown has decided to screw the private sector in favor of unionized state workers … Gov. Jerry Brown's budget calls for more state workers, less job outsourcing The governor's new budget proposal barely increases the number of government workers in the coming fiscal year, but about halfway through the voluminous 271-page summary, Brown makes clear that he wants to expand the civil service corps. The trade-off: less work for outside contractors. "(T)here is value and utility in training and developing state employees to perform ongoing tasks," the 2014-15 budget summary says, and the Brown administration "continues to identify ways that the state can reduce its reliance on contractors." Anti-tax advocates and Brown's Republican opponents in the Legislature say those words, along with Brown's plan to add another 1,600 state jobs next year, signal that the Democratic governor is cozying up to his union allies. "It's pretty obvious he's doing the bidding of labor unions,"said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "They want to grow their turf and crowd out the private sector. These decisions aren't based on the public good." More at: Gov. Jerry Brown's budget calls for more state workers, less job outsourcing | State News | FresnoBee.com It’s not so much the original cost of the unionized employees, it is the pension and benefit package that is the killer. In most cases, contracts allowing employees to accrue vacation and overtime year-to-year – all to be paid at the highest employee pay rate on retirement or separation, rather than at the rate under which it originally accrued. Millions of unnecessary payouts to employees. Not that I blame the employees for wisely playing the game, but I do blame the unionized government for not saving the taxpayer’s money. The double-edged sword of union politics … It appears that, at least in Los Angeles, there is a push for a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for hotel workers … but wait, it gets more interesting , if your employer agrees to union representation, the loophole drops the minimum wage to $9 per hour. Not only is this a form of extorting employers to sign union contracts, but it is fundamentally screwing their rank-and-file membership. And, how many people know that the teachers’ unions oppose merit-pay for school teachers because it would destroy the old system of rewarding seniority rather than merit. An example of union corruption in California, it costs $30,000 to house an inmate in a Texas prison, but it costs Californians $70,000 to house inmates with the same standards and level of security. What is the difference? Unionized guards that are able to game the system. Where a substitute is paid a premium – even if they do not work. Totally corrupt. Bottom line … Enough of the progressive socialist democrats in local, state, and federal government. Since they are spending taxpayer’s money, they have little or no incentive to save money or stop rewarding the special interests in return for campaign contributions and voter support. And, end the unions who promote seniority over merit, the status quo over innovation, and work rules that divide one-person jobs into multiple-person jobs based on union job classifications. Where moving a portable heater on a movie set requires two unions, one for the physical move and one to supply the electricity by plugging the heater in. Violate union work rules and you are looking at an expensive grievance. For those of you who do not live in California, where the progressive socialist democrats have welcomed illegal aliens to grow the social services bureaucracy and many productive individuals and companies have left the state, this is what your future may look like under progressive socialist democrats. -- steve  Related articles Public Employee Pension Plan: a Raid on California Taxpayers? Gov. Jerry Brown's budget calls for more state workers, less job outsourcing Jerry Brown's budget calls for more state workers, less job outsourcing A first look at Governor Jerry Brown's proposed state budget

WILL YOUR ATM BE SAFE FROM HACKERS AND MALWARE AFTER MICROSOFT PULLS THE PLUG ON XP AFTER APRIL, 2014? Posted: 20 Jan 2014 10:27 AM PST From the “who knew?” department … The death of Windows XP will impact 95 percent of the world’s ATMs Microsoft’s 12-year-old Windows XP operating system powers 95 percent of the world’s automated teller machines, according to NCR, the largest ATM supplier in the US. While the idea of Windows powering ATMs may surprise consumers, XP runs in the background powering the software that bank customers interact with to withdraw money. An upcoming Windows XP support change from Microsoft means ATMs will need to be upgraded and modified throughout 2014. Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that the US has 420,000 ATMs, and the majority of them run XP and face a support cutoff from Microsoft soon. On April 8th, Microsoft plans to end support for Windows XP, leaving businesses still using XP, and 95 percent of ATMs, open to security and compliance risks.  Read more at: The death of Windows XP will impact 95 percent of the world’s ATMs | The Verge What a dilemma … Should the ATM vendors stay with Microsoft and choose between a stable Windows 7 or the hated Windows 8.x? Or, should they byte the bullet and change to a stable version of Linux? It is unknown, at least at this time, if Microsoft is willing to give XP a stay of execution, at least until they get a replacement for Windows 8.x! While I have upgraded one of my older systems to Windows 7 with a clean install of the new operating system on a reformatted hard drive and reinstalling all application programs, I plan to replace one of the other XP machines with an Apple Mac. My future computing needs are pretty much the same, word and image processing, minor (after retirement) programming – but the hardware and the applications programs continue to evolve. Although one cannot imagine how many more features and settings can be tucked away in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat, Photoshop, and other productivity programs. Personally, I remain happy with two fast custom-built desktop machines (Gold and Silver), a Sony Vaio Laptop, and a miscellaneous E-machine that will soon give way to an Apple Mac. In the coming year, I might downsize to a single desktop – rebuilt with a newer motherboard, sound and video cards, and improved bus throughput and connectivity. And, use the other desktop as a network storage device. Ah! The fun of do-it-yourself computing. As for the ATM problem, it is not even problematical for individuals and personal accounts. However, since financial institutions do not offer the same level of reimbursement protection for debit cards and/or commercial accounts, there could be issues if the system is hacked. An impetus to stop using debit cards and attack an un-linked sweep savings account to your main checking account to hold any funds over the minimum necessary for daily activities. By using overdraft protection, you can have the best of both worlds, just consider the o/d fee as a form of insurance. -- steve p.s. For the technically adept – you might want to consider virtualizing your XP installation with VM and running a sandbox image that could be quickly replaced by another image if compromised. Related articles Microsoft Backs Down: Will Supply Anti-Malware Support for Windows XP After Operating System Support Ends on April 8, 2014 Windows XP Still Installed In 95% Of ATMs Around The World Windows XP Still Runs On 95% Of ATM Machines Frightening: Most ATM Machines Still Running Windows XP 95% Of ATMs Are Still Using Windows XP. No, Really Windows XP will Be End-of-Life April 8th Making 95% of All ATMs Vulnerable to Hacking Most ATMs Are Still Running Windows XP--Which Is About to Die Off 95% of ATM machines still use Windows XP, and will be exposed to vulnerabilities after April 8

END THE CORRUPTION OF POLITICAL PATRONAGE -- IMMEDIATE BUDGET SAVINGS AND BETTER GOVERNANCE Posted: 20 Jan 2014 10:28 AM PST Why are people shocked when the scorpion kills the frog midstream because it is the nature of a scorpion to sting … So why should anyone be surprised that one of the most corrupt of the progressive socialist democrats engages in cronyism to further his personal agenda? McAuliffe IMMEDIATELY faces patronage controversy after assuming office Less than a week after taking office, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is already facing criticism for using his appointment powers as a political tool. On Wednesday, McAuliffe appointed consultant Boyd Marcus to one of the most lucrative patronage positions in the state government, the Alcoholic Beverages Control (ABC) board. The position is expected to pay at least $124,000 a year, according to local media sources. Marcus had been a campaign consultant for Republicans for decades, but unexpectedly switched sides last election. He was allegedly offered more money by the McAuliffe campaign. According to former Cuccinelli adviser Chris LaCivita, Boyd also knew the forthcoming ABC appointment was compensation for working on McAuliffe’s campaign. “Boyd let several people know that part of his arrangement would also get him an appointment to the ABC Board, should McAuliffe win,” LaCivita told Politico. More at The Daily Caller » McAuliffe IMMEDIATELY faces patronage controversy after assuming office  What did you expect from a politician other than corruption and cronyism … especially a progressive socialist democrat who says one thing and does another? Let all of the boards, commissions, and panels be staffed with concerned citizens, not people with political payoffs. Back to participative government. There can be no justification for political hacks – termed out politicians, political friends, and paybacks – to suck down six-figure salaries for essentially a part-time job. Especially when those commissions, panels, and boards lead to additional cronyism and campaign funding. It is as unethical and unproductive as letting the union negotiate with a union-supported politician and freezing out the public. -- steve