Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, June 30, 2012


Expensive day yesterday... but worth it.

New struts... new shocks... new torque bar... new tie rod... alignment...

$875.94 plus tax... final tab... $949.30 (Interest free 6-month financing; free money!)

(*SHRUGGING WHILE GRINNING*)

Hey... all part of Hank's (my 2008 Charger RT) pre-100,000 mile tune-up. 

Up next... the actual "tune-up" - the engine tune-up; 16 new plugs! (5.7 HEMI)

And now... onto newsbites!


3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-college-balks-at-hillary-clintons-fee-so-books-chelsea-for-65000-instead/2015/06/29/b1918e42-1e78-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html

* WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS SICK...

When the University of Missouri at Kansas City was looking for a celebrity speaker to headline its gala luncheon marking the opening of a women’s hall of fame, one of the names that came to mind was Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But when the former secretary of state’s representatives quoted a fee of $275,000, officials at the public university balked. “Yikes!” one e-mailed another.

So the school booked the next best option: her daughter, Chelsea.

* AS I WROTE ABOVE - SICK.

The university paid $65,000 for Chelsea Clinton’s brief appearance Feb. 24, 2014...

* THOSE RESPONSIBLE SHOULD BE FIRED. (AND YES... I'D SAY THE SAME THING IF IT WERE ONE OF THE BUSH DAUGHTERS - BUT OF COURSE... IT'S NOT ONE OF THE BUSH DAUGHTERS. IT'S NOT AMY CARTER. IT'S NOT...)

(*SHRUG*)

More than 500 pages of e-mails, contracts and other internal documents obtained by The Washington Post from the university under Missouri public record laws detail the school’s long courtship of the Clintons.

They also show the meticulous efforts by Chelsea Clinton’s image-makers to exert tight control over the visit, ranging from close editing of marketing materials and the introductory remarks of a high school student to limits on the amount of time she spent on campus.

* SICK... SICK... SICK... SICK... SICK...

The schedule she negotiated called for her to speak for 10 minutes, participate in a 20-minute, moderated question-and-answer session and spend a half-hour posing for pictures with VIPs offstage.

* SO... $65,000 AN HOUR. (THIS IS A SICK, SICK COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE IN IT ARE SICK.)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* (NOT) CONCLUDING... (GEEZUS... MAKE THAT 2 of 3)

As with Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches at universities, Chelsea Clinton made no personal income from the appearance, her spokesman said, and directed her fee to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

* A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE; INDEED, SHE AVOIDS PAYING PERSONAL TAXES ON THE MONEY!

“Chelsea is grateful to have the opportunity to speak at events like this while also supporting the work of the Clinton Foundation,” said the spokesman, Kamyl Bazbaz. He said she was happy to “celebrate the legacy of women in their community.”

* REMEMBER THAT BLACK MOM WHO SMACKED THE $HIT OUT OF HER SON WHEN SHE CAUGHT HIM RIOTING IN BALTIMORE? WHY NOT PAY HER $65,000 TO SPEAK! THAT'S THE SORT OF PERSON THESE COLLEGE "KIDS" NEED TO BE HEARING FROM!

The e-mails show that the university initially inquired about Chelsea Clinton but her speaking agency indicated she was unlikely to do the speech. ... Just shy of her 34th birthday, Clinton commanded a higher fee than other prominent women speakers who were considered, including feminist icon Gloria Steinem ($30,000) and journalists Cokie Roberts ($40,000), Tina Brown ($50,000) and Lesley Stahl ($50,000), the records show.

* WHAT A SICK, SICK COUNTRY WE LIVE IN. AGAIN... THE MASK IS OFF. THE OLIGARCHY AND THEIR PILOT FISH DON'T EVEN TRY TO PRETEND ANYMORE.

Officials with the school appeared to believe Clinton was worth her fee, which university spokesman John Martellaro said was paid using private donations.

* PRIVATE DONATIONS THAT COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE GONE TO SAY... OH... PERHAPS FINANCIAL AID... SCHOLARSHIPS... INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS?

(*SMIRK*)

They exulted to Clinton’s representatives that the luncheon sold out quickly, with 1,100 tickets selling for $35 each — which would equal $38,500.

* SHOULDN'T THEY BE PLANNING ON MAKING MORE THAN THEY SPEND...???

(*HEADACHE*)

University officials say the event was intended to boost attention for the new hall of fame, not raise money.

* IN THAT CASE... WE'RE BACK TO MY FIRST TWO POINTS: 1) WE'RE SICK; 2) THOSE OFFICIALS SHOULD BE FIRED.

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* (FINALLY) CONCLUDING... (Part 3 of 3)

“Chelsea was the perfect fit,” Amy Loughman, an alumni relations official who managed the event, wrote in an e-mail a few days later. “It created fantastic buzz in the community.”

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

Chelsea Clinton has become an increasingly public figure in her own right.

* JUST BASED UPON THE FACT THAT SHE WAS BORN TO BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON.

Until last summer, she worked as a special correspondent for NBC News, where Politico first reported she earned an annual salary of $600,000.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

With her parents stepping back from the foundation, started by former president Bill Clinton in 2002, Chelsea Clinton has assumed a prominent management role there and as an advocate for its work on global health, childhood obesity and other issues.

* BASED... UPON... WHAT... PRIOR... EXPERIENCE...? GEEZUS, FOLKS... HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE...?!?!

In dozens of e-mails exchanged between University of Missouri officials and Clinton’s representatives at the Harry Walker Agency, which arranges appearances by all three Clintons, there was no reference to her $65,000 fee going to charity. Nor was there any reference in the five-page contract.

* MAKES THE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS EVEN WORSE SCUMBAGS!

The university paid the fee — which also covered Clinton’s travel expenses — in two disbursements to the Walker Agency. But Martellaro said, “We have no knowledge of how funds were disbursed from that point.”

* A... ONE... HOUR... COMMITMENT! WHAT COULD THE ROUND-TRIP AIRFARE POSSIBLY HAVE COST?! (OH... AND LIMO SERVICE TO AND FROM THE AIRPORT...)

* SERIOUSLY... HOW FRIGGIN' STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE?!

Bazbaz said all of Clinton’s paid speeches through the Walker Agency are delivered on behalf of the foundation “to support implementing its life saving work” and that this was “always the intention” with the University of Missouri. He added that neither she nor her hosts receive charitable tax deductions.

* Er... WHEN THE MONEY ISN'T PAID TO HER PERSONALLY OF COURSE THERE'S NO "DEDUCTION" - THERE'S NOTHING TO DEDUCT! BUT MONEY IS FUNGIBLE, PEOPLE! CHELSEA CLINTON ISN'T PAID IN JUST CASH (HER EXORBITANT SALARY AND BENEFIT PACKAGE), SHE'S PAID IN LIFESTYLE - THE LIFESTYLE OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS THAT HER "POSITION" WITH THE CLINTON "FOUNDATION" "ENTITLES" HER TO!

* GEEZUS...!