US Army Retired

US Army Retired

Thursday, May 3, 2018

The News You Won't Easily Find for May 3, 2018




65% of Public School 8th Graders Not Proficient in Reading; 67% Not Proficient in Math

Why am I not surprised? And here's what they don't report in the article - How many TEACHERS are proficient in the subjects they are supposed to teach? And, notice which are the worst school systems - those run by whom?

(CNSNews.com) - Sixty-five percent of the eighth graders in American public schools in 2017 were not proficient in reading and 67 percent were not proficient in mathematics, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress test results released by the U.S. Department of Education.

The results are far worse for students enrolled in some urban districts.

Among the 27 large urban districts for which the Department of Education published 2017 NAEP test scores, the Detroit public schools had the lowest percentage of students who scored proficient or better in math and the lowest percentage who scored proficient or better in reading.

Only 5 percent of Detroit public-school eighth graders were proficient or better in math. Only 7 percent were proficient or better in reading.

In the Cleveland public schools, only 11 percent of eight graders were proficient or better in math and only 10 percent were proficient or better in reading.

In the Baltimore public schools, only 11 percent were proficient or better in math and only 13 percent were proficient or better in reading.

In the Fresno public schools, only 11 percent were proficient or better in math and only 14 percent were proficient or better in reading.



TRUMP ‘Gangnam Style’ Video Celebrating Korean Peace Talks Takes Twitter by Storm




Rosenstein Admits "You Can't Revoke an Election"


Then why in the hell are the DimocRATs so hell bent on voiding the will of the people? Threats of calling the president before a grand jury. Threats to impeach. Continued whining that he didn't win the popular vote (which is a lie because millions of votes were never counted. See references to uncounted absentee ballots.)



A Prime Reason to Vote for GOP Candidates


If the Dims win, she's gonna run for Speaker. What better reason is there to keep the majority of the House GOP?

She also promises to raise your taxes if they win.



Belem, Brazil Becomes Slaughter Zone

Something we will never see in the USA media and I can't figure out why. All of Brazil is in deep trouble, poverty and unemployment rampant.

SAO PAULO – Local media in Brazil are reporting more than 30 people have been shot dead in the northern city of Belem since the weekend.

The G1 news portal says 33 people have been killed since Sunday, when police officer Maria de Fatima dos Santos was gunned down.


Sao Paulo, Brazil 24-storey building collapses after huge blaze


So far, 250 people who'd been living in the building have been registered after the blaze, city security official Jose Roberto said. The fire began overnight and spread rapidly, turning the building into an inferno before it fell down.



Puerto Rico government officials face corruption probe

About damned time. And I'm sure this is only scratching the surface.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico's chief of staff and three other government officials are facing accusations of undue influence.

The U.S. territory's justice secretary said Wednesday there's enough evidence to submit a case to special independent prosecutors who investigate government corruption. Among those being investigated are Chief of Staff William Villafane, Associate Secretary to the Interior Ministry Itza Garcia, water and sewer company vice president Yoniel Arroyo, and Administration for the Sustenance of Minors manager Waleska Maldonado.

Villafane did not immediately return a message for comment. Garcia, Arroyo and Maldonado could not be immediately contacted.

The case already forced a judge to resign after those accused allegedly discussed what kind of rulings he should issue in a WhatsApp group called 'Coffeebreak.' The judge also resigned as president of the island's state election commission.


And the power STILL has not been totally restored!


Why a daily sauna could cut your risk of STROKE by as much as 61%:


One of the things I truly loved while serving in Europe was enjoy the saunas. (And I never did get over the embarrassment of siting there when undressed females entered)

Study finds relaxing in high temperatures can reduce blood pressure

Saunas have long been lauded by experts as an easy way to help with weight loss
But the new Bristol University research suggests they can help with stroke, too
Saunas can aid the immune system and keep the heart and blood vessels healthy



What will probably happen with the North and South Korean peace treaty

After watching the video and reading the article, the conclusion it all comes to is nothing will happen.

A surprise?

Not actually. The real players in all of this are clearly the USA and China. It indicates that China isn't all that interested in seeing a complete thaw between the north and south and especially NOT reunification.

So, what does it think WILL happen. A loosening of visitation rules for families on both sides and perhaps more economic cooperation. But little else.

At least not right away. IMHO, I can see what happened at the end of the Cold War when The Wall finally came down.



Our Sailors Don't Know How to Sail Anymore

 

At least that's what this article declares.

The US Navy overly relies on electronics and automation, according to the US Naval Institute, and it could be its downfall in a war against a major foe like Russia or China.
US Navy figures have been warning for some time about a lack of fundamental skills that could lead to the US losing its next major sea conflict.
Russia and China both have a strong focus on countering the US's ability to access electronic and automated systems.

"Navigation and seamanship, these are the fundamental capabilities which every surface warfare officer should have, but I suspect if called to war, we'll be required to do a lot more than safely navigate the Singapore strait," US Navy Capt. Kevin Eyer, former skipper of the cruisers Shiloh, Chancellorsville, and Thomas Gates said in December. Eyer was speaking in reference to the USS John McCain's crash with a container ship in the Singapore strait, as Breaking Defense noted at the time.

I wonder if this isn't happening to all of our armed forces. Read more @ http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-could-lose-next-war-electronics-automation-2018-4


So You Can See Potholes in the UK


Someone has either a sense of humor or desperation for the damage done to their vehicles.

Dolls' heads have been popping up in the southwest of England after one resident took it upon himself to try and fix a problem with potholes.

Neville Daytona told Euronews he was "getting fed up with the pothole" in Wroughton, a town in Wiltshire near to him, and decided to fill it with dolls' heads to cause "amusement" among residents.

He said he was tired of getting mad with the potholes and used the heads bought from a charity shop to do something amusing for residents, making it look as though someone had fallen down the hole.



Gibson Guitars Filing for Bankruptcy


Nowhere in the article (seemingly centered on European circumstances) does it deal with the US government raiding their facilities over wood they claimed was protected by environmental laws. (The wood was later returned and almost all of the instruments were sold)

It does hint that stores are centered on pros and not first-time buyers.

Legendary guitar maker Gibson has filed for bankruptcy in the USA. Gibson Brands has a reported debt north of 400 million euros, with its other musical divisions like Epiphone or Wurlitzer also in the doldrums as sales of musical instuments decline.

Once near-ubiquitous in the hands of stars and guitar heroes from the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix to Neil Young and many, many more, the guitar is no longer the instrument of choice for the EDM generation, who are more likely to buy synthesisers or other electronic kit to make music.



(Hispanic) Network Hosts Disparage Massive Federal Aid Effort in Puerto Rico


Specifically so-called "news" hosts at Univision, the biggest and most liberal Spanish language TV channel. They spew hour after hour of anti-Trump propaganda to a poorly educated audience who mainly speaks little or no English.

This article shows just how much assistance has been given to Puerto Rico and completely ignores the corruption and just plain obstruction by local politicians in helping their own people.



Caputo's Statement to Senate Intelligence Committee

Americans are finally beginning to see the full vindictiveness of DimocRATs towards anyone who helped President Trump win his election. An average American's life destroyed for no other reason than he supported a political candidate he believed in - someone who was outside The Establishment.

Is this the end of our republic as we know it?

Here's a snipped of his comment:

What America needs is an investigation of the investigators. I want to know who is paying for the spies’ work and coordinating this attack on President Donald Trump? I want to know who Dan Jones is talking to across the investigations – from the FBI, to the Southern District of New York, to the OSC, to the Department of Justice, to Congress.

Forget about all the death threats against my family. I want to know who cost us so much money, who crushed our kids, who forced us out of our home, all because you lost an election.

I want to know because God Damn you to Hell.

The full statement @ http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/05/caputos-complaint.php

His 8 minute interview on FoxNews is @ https://video.foxnews.com/v/5510800310001/?#sp=show-clips


Do Senior Officials of the DOJ Think They are Independent?

It would appear so. The Assistant AG has been making all sorts of news about threatening the president. And we all know that the AG is apparently ignoring the president's call to act on several matters.

Just how long will it be until the president takes action?

A Rigged System - They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!

The idea that the Department of Justice is “independent” of the president is ludicrous. It is part of the Executive Branch, which the President runs. See Article II of the Constitution. The President appoints the Attorney General, and DOJ reports to the president just as other federal agencies do. The President sets policies to be executed by DOJ, and his Attorney General and the AG’s subordinates carry them out.

That is how it is supposed to work, anyway. And it certainly is how it worked during the Obama administration, when Attorney General Eric Holder described himself as President Obama’s “wing man.”

What is going on here? Constitutional illiteracy, to be sure. But also, an open expression of the view that the federal bureaucracy–the fourth branch, the administrative state–not only is, but ought to be a fifth column whenever the President is a Republican. For the Left, obstruction of the President’s policies by his subordinates is a positive virtue, as long as the President is a Republican.



CNN Flack Asks Sarah Sanders Dumbest Question in WH History


If it isn't CNN's Acosta screaming at her, we now find the WH press secretary faced with the stupidity of other CNN flacks.

Ryan then launched into a nonsensical follow-up.

Chaos, hush money, Russia trolls, Facebook, Wikileaks, D.N.C. Hacks, Comey email investigation on the eve of the election, allegations of collusion,” she said, lacking any semblance of basic sentence structure. “Do these issues give support to those who offer questions about the president’s legitimacy?”

The White House press secretary looked confused and responded “I’m not sure I follow the question.”

Sanders then added “millions of Americans came out and voted for and continue to support this presidency makes him pretty legitimate.”



Two Century Old Beer Recreated by Australian Scientists


They're thinking of selling it commercially. I wonder how many Aussies will buy it.

World's oldest surviving beer is brought back to life: Scientists brew an ancient ale with 'hints of blackcurrant and spices' using yeast recovered from 1797 shipwreck

Beer bottles on board an 18th century ship spent two centuries underwater
After being salvaged in the 90s, the beer has now been recreated by scientists
Called 'The Wreck - Preservation Ale'. it is said to have 'hints of blackcurrant'
Originally lost in the 1797 shipwreck, the beer will go on sale later this month



Time travel maps:

Aerial mapping project shows how dramatically American cities from New York to Las Vegas have changed over the last 80 years

Historic Aerials is a mapping project based in Tempe, Arizona, that allows viewers to compare aerial maps from different years and decades
The project has collected more than a million aerial maps, some as far back as the 1920s
Historic Aerials is run by Nationwide Environmental Title Research (NETR) and was started around 2005
Today, the project has seven people working on it, but they can publish at least a thousand images every day

It's amazing to see the differences. My one comment was the statement that San Diego was founded in 1848 after the Americans came. The truth is, the Spanish founded it in 1769 when the mission and presidio came about.



Las Vegas in 1950. When Las Vegas was founded in 1905, the city limits were north of this aerial image, which shows only desert. In 1950 the population of Las Vegas was 24,624, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The line in the desert just below the structure is present day Flamingo Rd.


2013, LAS VEGAS: In 2012, the city's population had risen to 594,294 and in 2016 it grew even more to 632,912. The desert that had been in this area in 1950 is long gone

California Desert Marine Base Renamed Due to Cold Winter


The Duffle Blog is one of the funniest blogs I follow on a daily basis. Some of the stuff is hilarious and I highly recommend it for civilians as well as veterans.

This particular piece headlines that Marine Base 29 Palms has been renamed Marine Base 9 Palms because severe cold and winds caused 20 of the palms to give up the ghost. Of course, they went to the Departments of the Navy and Defense for approval of the name change.




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