CNBNEWS.NET

CNBNEWS Op-Ed: Is the Archdiocese Lying Or Just Incompetent On School Closings?

 related: FREINDLY FIRE

 

by CHRIS FREIND

cnbnews.net

 

"I don’t know Chief…this shark is either very smart, or very dumb…”

 

So was the famous line uttered by the legendary Quint in Jaws, as he was trying to figure out the intentions of the great white.  

 

After the recent roller coaster ride regarding Archdiocesan school closings --- and now the many reprieves --- Catholics across the Philadelphia region are wondering the same thing.  Is the Church hierarchy very smart (in a conniving way), or very dumb?

 

Or are they, and the “Blue Ribbon” school commission deciding the fate of so many, just downright incompetent?

 

There isn’t a fourth option.

CNBNEWS Op-Ed: Did Chris Christie Lower Jersey Flags for Whitney to Suck Up to Black People?

 

related: FREINDLY FIRE

 

Chris Christie And Whitney Houston: Not Perfect Together

 

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

 

With the sparse media coverage of Whitney Houston’s death and funeral, it’s not surprising that her years of military service have gone largely unnoticed, as were her activities as an undercover cop in New Jersey (was she really killed after a sting went bad?).  After all, she must have done these dangerous things to warrant all Jersey state flags being flown at half-mast in her honor, as ordered by Governor Chris Christie. 

 

Because the opposite simply defies common sense. 

 

If Houston was not a police officer gunned down in the line of duty, nor a military hero killed in a war zone, that means that the hugely significant act of lowering the flags in deference to her was because she was…. a singer?

CNBNews Op-Ed: Opposing Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients? Are You High?

 

Related: Freindly Fire

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

Randomly testing all public workers is simply common sense

Random drug testing of welfare recipients and public workers is racist, discriminatory and blatantly unconstitutional.

And if believe any of that, you’re smoking something.

Once again, the drug testing issue is making headlines in Pennsylvania, as such a program is now underway. Unfortunately, because the Legislature dragged its feet (what else is new?), the current initiative is a scaled-down version of the original bill, and has been put into effect via an emergency budgetary order from the Governor. It only applies to welfare recipients who have been convicted of a felony in the last five years or are currently on parole or probation.

Too bad.  It should include every single non-elected person receiving a paycheck courtesy of John Q. Taxpayer. 

CNBNews Op-Ed: Rendell As Inquirer Owner? Might As Well Be Philly Enquirer

Related:  FREINDLY FIRE

By Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

A Jerry Maguire-like treatise for how to resurrect the media’s credibility

 

Famed political strategist James Carville once referred to Pennsylvania as two major cities with Alabama in between.  What an insult to Alabama.

 

The folks in the nation’s fifth-largest state --- all of them --- are the backwards ones, the sad result of refusing to hold their leaders accountable for broken campaign promises and abject failures. All the while, their neighboring states --- AKA “the competition” --- continue to make gains at Pennsylvania’s expense. 

CNBNews Op-Ed: Hey Chris Christie, Get On The Treadmill --- You May Be President

FREINDLY FIRE

 

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

Don’t Be Surprised If Romney and Gingrich Bow Out At The End

 

About the only job better than weatherman --- where you can get it wrong half the time and still

remain employed --- is political pundit.  These guys make an art out of looking dumb, and doing so with authority.
 

In the last few years alone, we have been told that Obama had zero chance of beating Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney was sure to be the GOP nominee in 2008, and now, the President can’t win re-election because Romney will beat him.  That last prediction, of course, is predicated upon Romney winning the Republican nomination, which the pundit brain trust is now telling us is a done deal after Mitt’s victory in Florida. 

CNBNews Op-Ed: Gingrich Is Right To Shoot For The Moon

 

FREINDLY FIRE

 

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

Romney, McCain are visionless dream-killers who should be ashamed 

CHRIS FREIND

 

 

 In May, 1963, the astronaut sitting atop the Mercury-Atlas rocket “went higher, farther, and faster than any other American…for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen.”  So were the ending words of The Right Stuff, an incredibly inspirational film which followed the brave exploits of America’s space pioneers, as chronicled in Tom Wolfe’s famous book of the same title.

 

Heroes they were: Chuck Yeager, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and all the others who volunteered to charge into the unknown, routinely working on projects that more often resembled suicide missions than scientific research.  While they garnered glory and headlines, these men were deeply driven by something far more important: the opportunity to put America on top in the Space Race, and in doing so, become part of arguably the most exciting time in all of civilization.  These explorers opened the door to the final frontier, an astounding achievement that taught the whole of humankind that no dreams were too big, and that men and women could aspire to do things greater than themselves. They literally made true the can-do spirit that “the sky is the limit.”

 

CNBNews Op-Ed: No Secret Ballot For GOP Endorsement Is Same As Union Card Check

 

Related: FREINDLY FIRE

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), commonly known as “Card Check,” is the misnamed

legislation promoted by Organized Labor to stop the hemorrhaging within union ranks.  (From a high near 40 percent after World War II, union representation in the private sector has plummeted to just 7 percent today). It would make organizing a union infinitely easier by eliminating the current secret ballot vote used to determine whether employees wish to unionize. 

 

 Common sense tells us that whenever a secret ballot is not employed, many people will not vote their conscience.  Instead, they fall victim to intimidation and arm-twisting, and end up casting a ballot in favor of the person whom they are strongly encouraged ---AKA “told” --- to support.  The result is a rigged, Banana Republic election, anything but “Free Choice.”

 

The King, Convict Bryant is Back in Court, South Jersey Voters Have No Say | cnbnews.net

CNBNEWS TIPS AND SNIPPETS:

by Bill Cleary

KING GEORGE NUMBER 3-PolitickerNJ released their Power List 2011 and year in

THE KING

review earlier this month. The-44-page document contains the names of the 100 most influential personalities in New Jersey politics. Coming in at Number 3 was South Jersey Democrat political boss George Norcross. 

 

The list, first released in March 2000, is an Insiders List that includes policy makers, party leaders, fundraisers, lobbyists, labor unions, businesses, and associations with clout, with an impact on politics and government in the Garden State -- everyone but elected officials and judges.

 

In November elections, the state’s most powerful Democratic boss maintained control over his South Jersey legislative empire and picked up a seat in the assembly. Not only will his close ally, state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) remain in power for another two year term, but Norcross cut a deal with state Senator Nick Sacco (D-32) that increases South Jersey’s power in the Assembly, ushering in South Jersey Assemblyman Lou Greenwald as majority leader of the lower house. ~ from PolitickerNJ.com Power List 2011.

For those who don’t know Mr. Norcross, he started a small insurance company in the

 

Republican State Committee: It’s Time For An Open Senate Primary

 

Related: FREINDLY FIRE

 

By Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

Endorsing Steve Welch ---who voted for Obama --- would make the Party a national laughingstock

 

To say the Republican presidential primary has become interesting would be a gross understatement. With three different winners in the first three contests --- an unprecedented situation --- everyone is asking why the frontrunners keep falling and why the GOP base cannot unite behind a leader. 

 

Well, hold on to your seat, because here’s a big question: Would you believe that both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 primary? And after they became disenfranchised by the Republican Party for moving too far Left, they decided to do the only logical thing: become Democrats? And in addition, does it blow your mind that besides voting for the Big O, they took out their frustrations over a too-liberal GOP by financially supporting the most far-Left Democrat in the entire Congress? 

 

Seem far-fetched? Well, it is --- and it isn’t.  

"Domestic Oil Production is Up" - Only Part of the Full Story | cnbnews.net

by Wil Levins

(cnbnews.net)Last night, a friend asked me via facebook if what the President was saying about domestic oil production was true.  Below is my cursory response - 

The President is right that domestic crude oil production is up in the United States because of the North Dakota oil finds,  shale oil production in Texas, and other various on-land and off-shore drilling operations.  And he is also correct that these domestic oils are being exported overseas.  But, I know firsthand that this is actually a very bad sign for U.S. refining.  U.S. refineries, when at full capacity, would have consumed all of this new domestic crude oil as we could not supply our own demands within the United States.

- The Devil is in the details -

Why Are Iowa Hicks, NH Lobsta’men And Carolina’s Uncle Cletus Picking OUR President?

By Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

Pennsylvania, New Jersey  and the nation

have zero say ---yet again

 

Another election year is upon us, and there’s good news and bad news.  On the upside,

Americans will again peacefully choose their next leader in November, a continuing miracle which we too often take for granted.  

 

The not-so-great part is that the 98 percent of citizens who don’t live in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina will --- yet again --- have virtually no say in their Party’s nominee for President.

In other words, the leader of the Free World will largely be determined by Hawkeye State hicks whose claims to fame are making full-size butter cows (sounds like a made-to-order Paula Deen special) and hysterically crying whenever their other sacred cow is criticized: ethanol mandates.  

Op-Ed: Don’t Blame Sunoco, ConocoPhillips, Or Unions For Refinery Shutdowns

 

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

Second in a series on how retooled refineries can save jobs and revitalize manufacturing

 

 

“Thank you for trying to get those who should understand the urgency of energy independence, jobs, and our future…to do so.  (We are) loading up the SUV almost every day to give away household items to Neighborhood Services and friends…and preparing to relocate if necessary.  You are right… finding middle class wages here in Pennsylvania is challenging if not impossible.  The blood, sweat and tears of years planning and building our dream home only to sell it in a bad housing market is like adding salt to the wound….”

 

This heartbreaking message was sent by a distraught wife of a 19-year Sunoco refinery worker, as that company’s two refineries (Philadelphia and Marcus Hook) are slated for closing, as is the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Delaware County, if no buyers are found.  Making the sin mortal, there are reports that the ConocoPhillips plant might be dismantled, shipped overseas, and resurrected in a foreign---potentially adversarial --- country.  But this is nothing new, as America’s abandonment of its manufacturing base has often included shipping entire facilities overseas for the benefit of our competitors.

CNBNEWS Op-Ed: Catholic School Closings Result From Church Being Paper Tiger

by Chris Freind

cnbnews.net

 

If the Church had fought for true school choice, many schools would be thriving

 

Part Two

 

What does it tell you when private Notre Dame Academy in Villanova has 101 students in its freshman class --- at $20,000 per year --- and Archbishop Prendergast in Drexel Hill, an Archdiocesan high school, has…82?  Yes --- eighty two.

 

That the economy is booming because folks can shell out 20K a pop? That the gap between rich and poor is widening, with more people in the “have” category?  Not quite.

 

It tells us, in no uncertain terms, two things:

CNBNEWS Op-Ed: School Closings Are Because Catholicism No Longer “Demands”

 BY CHRIS FREIND

cnbnews.net

 

Vatican II Destroyed Catholic Identity And The Essence Of Being Catholic   

 

The message from Headquarters was sent to field agents worldwide:

 

“This is your mission --- if you choose to accept it:  Take one of the most powerful institutions in the history of mankind and change it so radically --- in all the wrong ways --- that in the span of fifty years, it will be a shell of its former self, relegated to a backwater shaped only by the sad ghosts of the past.”

 

Was this a Mission Impossible communiqué sent at the height of the Cold War to implode the Soviet Union? Certainly could have been. And the goal would have been a worthy one, fighting an evil adversary hell-bent on human domination.

SANTORUM’S CATHOLICISM ATTACKED

January 6, 2012

 

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent attacks on presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s religion:

Op-Ed: Santorum’s Arrogance Will Be His Downfall ---Again

 

by Chris Freind

special to CNBNews

 

The deceased had been incredibly beloved: successful businessman, political activist, philanthropist and the ultimate family man. Friends and colleagues from far and wide came to pay their respects to one who had touched their lives.

 (photo Chris Freind)

Predictably, the line at the viewing was long that night --- more than two hours. But hundreds dutifully stood, passing the time as best they could under the circumstances. Millionaire CEO’s conversed with blue collar workers, reunited grade

 

Op-Ed: Friendly Fire’s Biggest Losers Of 2011

 

by Chris Freind

special to CNBNews

 

Although Freindly Fire has never been known for sarcasm and negativity, it feels compelled as a civic duty to point out this year’s biggest losers.  

 

So with very little pleasure (okay, maybe a little), here are some of 2011’s notable wankers:

 

Philadelphia Phillies

 

A colossal failure. Period. End of story.

 

But this being Philadelphia, further explanation is, of course, warranted. Yes, they won the (ridiculously weak) National League East Division for the fifth time in a row. Yes, they set a franchise record for regular season wins. Yes, there was one

Chris Freind: From Occupy Philly to Archbishop Wood Football: My 7 Biggest Winners of 2011

by Chris Freind

 (special to CNBNEWS)  

It’s that time of year when Freindly Fire heaps praise upon those most deserving.

So in the spirit of consistency, the Biggest Winner of 2011, just like every year, is illegal immigrants. They are granted driver’s licenses, free education — in some cases all the way to college — and free first-rate health care. Not only do they pose a national security threat, but a personal one, as many are criminals released back onto the streets because the government refuses to deport them. Their presence has forced the closure of hospitals, ripped jobs away from American workers, depressed wages and caused taxes to increase sharply.

Op-Ed: The Political Correctness Of “Merry Christmas” Has Dangerous Consequences

 

by Chris Freind

(special to CNBNews.Net)

 

“This is the way the world ends ...Not with a bang but a whimper." 

 

Does that famous quote aptly describe America’s future? Time will tell, but indications are that this nation, the most powerful, benevolent and fair in the world, is crumbling before our very eyes. Like Rome, it isn’t falling from outside invasion, but within.  

Op Ed: Save Sunoco Refineries? Get Pols Out Of The Way

By CHRIS FREIND

(special to CNBNEWS.NET)

Part 1 of a series on saving refinery jobs and getting America working again

For the tens of thousands whose livelihoods depend on the Sunoco and ConocoPhillips oil refineries in Philadelphia, Marcus Hook and Trainer, the Grinch arrived early this Christmas, announcing that all three facilities would be closing in the near future.

Earth to Neshaminy Teachers’ Union: Have We Met?

BY CHRIS FREIND | The Philly Post

So for a classic case study of how space cadets operate, let’s take a look at the ongoing legalized extortion occurring in the Neshaminy School District.  The teachers union in that Bucks County district has been at odds with the school board for months. Why? Because they want a “fair” contract. Pretty much everyone else on this planet calls it greed. Unadulterated greed.

What are they asking from the taxpayers? Salary increases, retroactive to 2008, of 2.75 percent in each of the first two years, 3 percent in the third and fourth years, and 3.5 percent in the final year.

So a teacher making $100,000 a year now will be taking home a guaranteed $116,000 salary for nine months’ work in 2013. What a deal!

And there are quite a few teachers at or near that level: 64 make over $100,000, and over half make over $90,000, not including health care benefits.

But hey, times are tough, so the union leadership has another demand, one from which it won’t budge: continued free health care.

That’s right. Neshaminy teachers do not pay a single penny towards their health care premiums.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

How’s that for living in the real world?

 

CONTINUE TO READ via blogs.phillymag.com

It’s Time for the DRPA Leadership to Go | The Philly Post

By Chris Freind

In yet another unbelievable act of arrogance, the board of the Delaware River Port Authority last week rescinded a reform that had been pushed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  The board’s action once again permitted free bridge trips for DRPA employees commuting to work. Not unexpectedly, Christie vetoed that action, and the ensuing headlines made the Governor out to be a conquering hero — not altogether an untrue assessment. Possibly wary of Christie’s wrath, the New Jersey Board members issued a mea culpa, saying that if they had the chance to vote again, they wouldn’t allow the free trips.

A nice gesture, if it is to be believed.

Unfortunately, based on the track record, that’s a stretch.  Instead, it seems like the classic DRPA Two-Step: say one thing, but do another.

But we won’t have to wait long to find out how serious both Christie and the board are at reforming the DRPA, given the latest bombshell revelations which broke after last week’s board meeting.

continuevia blogs.phillymag.com