News of the Week
Occupy Wall Street *************** #Occupy DC Suffers From Growing Rat Infestation – Hezbollah & Hamas Flags Being Flown at Camp ***************Occupy DC continues to suffer from an infestation of rats. And, Hamas and Hezbollah flags are being flown at the camp. ************** Occupy LA Costs at Least $2.3 Million A preliminary report released Friday by the city administrative officer estimates the nearly two-month Occupy LA encampment at City Hall cost the budget-strapped city at least $2.3 million, but officials said the sum is expected to grow by the hundreds of thousands of dollars. ************** OWS Anatomized It turns out not to be the Tea Party. "Hide the Decline" *************** Nothing is Sustainable People have this idea that sailing is cheap, because of the low fuel costs. But blue-water sailors have a saying that goes like this: The wind is free … but everything else costs money. Reading the various pronouncements from the partygoers at the Durban climate-related Conference of Parties, I was struck by the many uses of the words “sustainable development” and “sustainability”. It’s pretty confusing. Apparently, paying high long-term subsidies for uneconomic energy sources is sustainable … who knew? War & Terror *************** NUKE SCIENTIST EXCHANGE PLANNED Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman is working on a major Obama administration initiative that would renew scientist exchanges between U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and Chinese nuclear facilities. ************** Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu Fear of terrorism as university prepares to publish key details National *************** A Christmas redistricting present for the NJ GOP ************** Las Vegas Teachers’ Union May Force 1,000 Layoffs to Preserve Its Profitable Insurance Company LAS VEGAS – While the Great Recession has affected almost all Americans, Nevadans may be the hardest hit. The state leads the nation in unemployment (13 percent) and home foreclosures (three times the national average). ************** How to Save a Treehouse from a Zoning Board It was supposed to be a "slice of Americana and of childhood dreams," says U.S. Army Specialist Mark Grapin, who lives in Fairfax County, Virginia. He's talking about the treehouse he built for his two sons after returning from his latest tour of duty in Iraq. What Grapin didn't expect was that Fairfax County's zoning board would demand he tear down the treehouse after an anonymous complaint, thus launching the family into an eight-month legal battle. ************** Every Picture Tells A Story, Part Two In October, I posted a graphic developed by Rob Vance that showed the progress in the growth of firearms carry rights from 1986 through 2011 as a percentage of the U.S. population. In 1986, 90% of the U.S. population lived in states that severely restricted carry rights or had none at all. Today, over two-thirds of Americans live in states with either shall-issue carry or constitutional carry. The conclusion was that shall-issue is the new norm. ************** Cal State campuses overwhelmed by remedial needs Wracked with frustration over the state's legions of unprepared high school graduates, the California State University system next summer will force freshmen with remedial needs to brush up on math or English before arriving on campus. Economy
& Taxes *************** On payroll tax cut, GOP caves to Obama House Republicans caved to President Barack Obama’s demand for a two-month payroll tax cut extension, ending an impasse that threatened to raise taxes on millions of Americans on Jan. 1. ************** Banking Crisis Will Spark Deflationary Spiral The European Sovereign Debt Crisis that morphed into the European Banking Crisis is about to morph into a powerful worldwide deflationary spiral. The bankruptcy of MF Global, a former primary dealer for the U.S. Federal Reserve, has propelled a growing electronic bank run as many depositors have lost faith in the liquidity and solvency of many of their financial institutions. The banks, brokers and other lenders are responding by firing bankers to slash costs, selling off assets, and curtailing lending. As borrowing becomes more difficult large companies and virtually unavailable for smaller firms; production will fall and unemployment will rise. ************** Why Are Indian Reservations So Poor? A Look At The Bottom 1% ************** LePage: More Mainers receiving welfare than paying taxes PORTLAND, Maine — There are more Mainers receiving welfare benefits than there are income tax filers paying taxes, Republican Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday. *************** International *************** New protests in Russia amid vote-rigging claims ************** In Russia, the lost generation of science ************** Missing Bush As Bad Rachel notes, "5,000 Syrians have been massacred by Bashar Assad since March, including 300 children. How are those sanctions workin’ out, Mr. Obama?" ************** New Brakes Won’t Stop Runaway EU Debtors Euro Crisis: The EU may impose new debt ceilings. There's just one problem: Every member save three is in violation. So it'll be like enforcing brakes on a runaway train — too little too late. ************** North Korean leader Kim Jong Il dead at age 69 PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died of heart failure. He was 69. *************** Opinion *************** Capitalism Created the Middle Class, and Now the Public Sector Is Destroying It ************** Why “Reform” Makes Problems Worse: A Case Study There’s an old saying that goes something like “scoundrels vastly underestimate the cynical possibilities of ‘reform,’” and my own social-sciency version of this is the equation P+R=2P, where P is the Problem and R is the Reform to solve the problem, but which makes the problem twice as bad. And yes, elementary algebra shows that Reform is a Problem itself. *************** |
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