The Populist Uprising Against Common Core Is Libertarian and It’s Winning | Reason

…. The populist uprising against the national education standards is a dramatic and recent phenomenon, given that almost no one had even heard of Common Core until just two years ago. The standards were developed in 2009 by education policy bureaucrats at the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. President Obama’s Department of Education took an immediate interest, and the federal government encouraged state governors and legislatures to sign on to the standards by bribing them with Race to the Top grant money. This led 45 state governments to commit to Common Core implementation, even though hardly anyone knew what that would cost (lots of money) or require (retraining teachers, purchasing new technology).

Since then, the American people have had ample time to learn about Common Core—and the more they hear, the less they like it.

Fierce opposition to the standards is remarkably nonpartisan. Both conservative grassroots organizations and teachers unions are urging state legislatures to resist Core implementation. Thousands of parents and teachers have shown up to town hall meetings to demand that their school boards don’t hand over curriculum sovereignty to regional or federal education authorities…

go here -> Common Core / Libertarian and It’s Winning – Reason.com.

Venezuela issues ID cards to curtail food hoarding | AP

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Battling food shortages, the government is rolling out a new ID system that is either a grocery loyalty card with extra muscle or the most dramatic step yet toward rationing in Venezuela, depending on who is describing it.

President Nicolas Maduro’s administration says the cards to track families’ purchases will foil people who stock up on groceries at subsidized prices and then illegally resell them for several times the amount. Critics say it’s another sign the oil-rich Venezuelan economy is headed toward Cuba-style dysfunction.

Registration begins at more than 100 government-run supermarkets across the country Tuesday, and working-class shoppers who sometimes endure hours-long lines at government-run stores to buy groceries at steeply reduced prices are welcoming the plan.

What a surprise– it turns out they lied about the deficit last year | Sovereign Man

clickie!!

… Despite the Obama administration touting a budget deficit of “only” $680 billion in 2013, the GAO’s more accurate accounting shows a total government cost of $3.8 trillion on total revenue of $2.8 trillion.

In other words– the administration wasn’t exactly honest with the American people– the deficit was more like $1 trillion, not $680 billion.

But it gets worse.

The GAO added up ALL the US government’s assets in 2013. Aircraft carriers. The highway system. Land. Cash and financial assets. The total is $2.97 trillion.  The liabilities, on the other hand, total $19.88 trillion. This includes the official public debt, plus all sorts of IOUs and loan guarantees.

This means the net EQUITY of the US government is -$16.9 trillion [poster note: yes negative folks. GE.]

Moreover, the US government’s cash position is a mere $206 billion… roughly 1.1% of its public debt. This isn’t enough to cover net interest payments for the next year.

Unlike a savvy investor who borrows cheap money to purchase productive assets, the US government borrows money to pay interest.

via Sovereign Man and H/T to ZeroHedge where we saw it first

UPDATED 4/24/13: Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi: Boston bombing ‘person of interest’ has 6 Saudi ‘terrorists’ in family, 5 more are in Gitmo. Visited by Michelle Obama prior to deportation & after Boston bombing | Global Dispatch

Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi in the hospital.

UPDATED 5AM EST Apr 24, 2013:

Confirmation that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, the Saudi national and initial “person of interest,” is indeed being deported this week now is spreading across the Internet. More details are emerging this weekend as Arabic sources and Saudi papers themselves are confirming “rumors” swirling in the US. (more at bottom)

Moreover, the Saudi papers are detailing the visit by the Obamas, especially Michelle to the hospital and this man. The “rumors” of the President meeting with Saudi officials in the hospital just prior to his “approved deportation” is a bragging right in their press.

More notable is the assertions that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi is free an clear of terrorist ties, when in fact over 10 names from his clan are already linked to Al-Qaeda.

Michelle Obama visits Al-Harbi in Boston Hospital? Image source and accuracy unknown

Many from Al-Harbi’s clan are entrenched in terrorism and are members of Al-Qaeda as identified by the Islamic governments.

Out of a list of 85 terrorists listed by the Saudi government shows several of Al-Harbi clan to have been active fighters in Al-Qaeda:

• #15 Badr Saud Uwaid Al-Awufi Al-Harbi
• #73 Muhammad Atiq Uwaid Al-Awufi Al-Harbi
• #26 Khalid Salim Uwaid Al-Lahibi Al-Harbi
• #29 Raed Abdullah Salem Al-Thahiri Al-Harbi
• #43 Abdullah Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Harbi (leader)
• #60 Fayez Ghuneim Humeid Al-Hijri Al-Harbi [Source]

Then you have Al-Harbi clan members in Gitmo:

• Salim Salman Awadallah Al-Sai’di Al-Harbi
• Majid Abdullah Hussein Al-Harbi
• Muhammad Abdullah Saqr Al-Alawi Al-Harbi
• Ghanem Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al-Harbi
• Muhammad Atiq Uwaid Al-Awfi Al-Harbi [Source]

A front row seat for the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiation show…

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