@9:30, 12/7/12

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I am not catching up.  I must steal a march.

1

Education

Texas: El Paso School Trustees Replaced After Cheating Scandal

By MANNY FERNANDEZ | Dec 7, 2012

The head of the state’s education agency will appoint a board of managers to oversee the El Paso Independent School District, as its current board of trustees is now in disgrace.

Education (K-12); Cheating; Reform and Reorganization; Appointments and Executive Changes; 

 They were following the Texas pattern.

2

U.S.

California: Deal Reached for Board to Oversee Oakland Police

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Dec 7, 2012

Oakland officials have agreed to relinquish power over the city’s police department to a court-appointed director to avert a federal takeover.

Police; Police Brutality and Misconduct; Appointments and Executive Changes; 

The speed in this case has been very deliberate.

 

3

N.Y. / Region

New York State Is Sued Over Use of Isolation in Its Prisons

By MOSI SECRET | Dec 7, 2012

The New York Civil Liberties Union, calling solitary confinement psychological torture, said it was imposed for trivial offenses and in a racially biased manner.

Suits and Litigation; Prisons and Prisoners; Civil Rights and Liberties; 

The prison system is getting the attention it has needed.

The changes are still undecided.

 

4

Business Day

Race Is On to Clean Up Hydraulic Fracturing

By ERICA GIES | Dec 5, 2012

Many entrepreneurs hope to profit from techniques that could clean up the huge amounts of water used in fracking, which could allay environmentalists' fears.

Hydraulic Fracturing; Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline; Water Pollution; 

Fracking is unprofitable now.  

Adding water treatment costs would make it more unprofitable.

Water treatment will be a public expense if it happens.

Better to shut the business down for now.

5

N.Y. / Region

In Changing Harlem, a Mosque Struggles to Pay Rent

By KIA GREGORY | Dec 6, 2012

Monthly rent for the Masjid Aqsa was $4,000 a few years ago; now, the imam says, the landlord wants $18,000.

Mosques; Renting and Leasing (Real Estate); Real Estate and Housing (Residential); Muslims and Islam; Rent Control and Stabilization; 

Rent gouging is tradition.  

It is a very good reason for inflation.

What the traffic will bear is discovered by the screams going silent.

 

6

U.S.

In Tax Fight, G.O.P. Seeking a Position to Fall Back On

By JONATHAN WEISMAN | Dec 5, 2012

With President Obama winning public support for higher tax rates on the rich, Congressional Republicans find themselves in a difficult political spot and are quietly beginning the search for a way out.

Income Tax; National Debt (US); United States Politics and Government; Federal Taxes (US); Social Security (US); Payroll Tax; 

I hope this is so.  I doubt that it is.

 

7

U.S.

Shipping Strike in Los Angeles Ends

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Dec 6, 2012

A spokesman said that the union extracted promises from management that, as workers retire or leave, no more than 14 jobs will be outsourced.

Labor and Jobs; Ships and Shipping; Organized Labor; Ports; 

This does not read like a significant win for labor.

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N.Y. / Region

Still Building at the Edges of the City, Even as Tides Rise

By JIM DWYER | Dec 5, 2012

A hefty portion of the Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s Far West Side is going to be built within the 100-year-flood plain, just as the World Trade Center development is.

Floods; Building (Construction); Transit Systems; Hurricane Sandy (2012); 

The idea is a bad one.

The plan is a reasonable one for a project that should not have been proposed.

Design some real floodgates for the rail tunnels.

When flooding becomes a regular event more will need to be done.

 

9

Technology

National Network for First Responders Is Years Away

By EDWARD WYATT | Dec 7, 2012

Planning delays, lack of money and limitations in technology have slowed the creation of a communications network for the police, firefighters and others.

Hurricane Sandy (2012); Wireless Communications; Disasters and Emergencies; 

Your agency is such a network.  

The money to equip it with links to the local first responders is trivial.  

Perfect communication is not required.

10

N.Y. / Region

They Came to the Rescue; Now, They Wait to Be Paid

By PATRICK McGEEHAN | Dec 4, 2012

Utility employees from outside the metropolitan area said National Grid had not fully compensated them for their grueling out-of-town shifts after Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy (2012); Power Outages and Blackouts; Wages and Salaries; 

Business will cheat if it can.  Regulation helps.  Contracts help.

The costs of operation must be carried by the business.

 

11

U.S.

In Louisiana, Growing Rice to Trade on Some Creatures That Eat It

By DAVE THIER | Dec 6, 2012

Many South Louisiana farmers are finding that it pays to look at a rice field and see a crayfish pond.

Rice; Agriculture and Farming; Lobsters; Fish Farming; 

Don't carp about the economics of traditional farming.

 

12

U.S.

Season Has Changed, but the Drought Endures

By JOHN ELIGON | Dec 7, 2012

More than 62 percent of the continental United States is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, compared with just over 29 percent at this time last year.

Weather; Rivers; 

Think dust bowl.   

Stop plowing now.  

Plant poverty grasses in the spring.

The banks can afford to loose a crop or two.  

The interest on the loans must go unpaid.  

The farmers will have to adapt to the conditions.

13

World

Neglect Catches Up to Russians in Three-Day Traffic Jam

By ANDREW ROTH | Dec 4, 2012

A weekend standstill involving 10,000 vehicles between Moscow and St. Petersburg refocused attention on the state of Soviet-era infrastructure.

Roads and Traffic; Weather; Delays (Transportation); 

General Winter has turned its coat.

Sometimes there is no way to externalize costs.

 

14

Business Day

In Fine Print of Fiscal Debate, Charities Unite to Defend Deductions

By ANNIE LOWREY | Dec 6, 2012

Growing support for eliminating some of the tax breaks that high-income households get for charitable giving has some nonprofit groups worried.

Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions; Nonprofit Organizations; Federal Budget (US); United States Economy; 

Free money is habit forming.

 

15

World

India’s Lower House Votes to Support Foreign Investment

By GARDINER HARRIS | Dec 6, 2012

The move to back the government’s decision to allow Walmart and other major retailers to set up shop passed after a nationally televised fight.

Foreign Investments; Elections; Legislatures and Parliaments; 

Lord Keynes learned in a hard school.  His answers are still correct.

16

Science

At Climate Talks, a Struggle Over Aid for Poorer Nations

By JOHN M. BRODER | Dec 6, 2012

As a Friday evening deadline for concluding the United Nations climate conference approached, negotiators were still fighting about finances.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; International Relations; 

The way the world economy works must change.

That will cost everyone, rich and poor.

17

N.Y. / Region

New York City Settles Suit by Abused Foster Children for $9.7 Million

By BENJAMIN WEISER | Dec 7, 2012

The plaintiffs were fraudulently adopted by a Judith Leekin of Queens over 15 years ago and subjected to years of mistreatment.

Abuse of the Disabled; Suits and Litigation; 

Lying for profit is called fraud.  Assisting in fraud is conspiracy.

 

18

U.S.

Rules Eased for Veterans’ Brain Injury Benefits

By JAMES DAO | Dec 7, 2012

The Department of Veterans Affairs will propose new regulations to make it easier for veterans to receive treatment for illnesses linked to traumatic brain injury.

Veterans; Traumatic Brain Injury; 

It is much easier to say yes.

The Army must also act.

 

19

Books

Robert Lescher, Literary Agent, Is Dead at 83

By PAUL VITELLO | Dec 7, 2012

Mr. Lescher’s client roster featured several distinguished authors, including Robert Frost, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Alice B. Toklas, Benjamin Spock and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Agents (Business); Books and Literature; Deaths (Obituaries); Writing and Writers; 

This is not a job I want.

 

20

Opinion

Keep the State Tax Deduction

Dec 7, 2012

Citizens should not be penalized for choosing to pay for strong state and local governments.

States (US); Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions; Income Tax; Federal Taxes (US);

True.
Citizens should suffer for refusing to pay for state and local governments
and the necessary services they perform.
Perhaps a surcharge on the federal taxes of residents of states receiving subsidies could be imposed.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch".


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

December 7, 2012, 8:12 am4 Comments

My Head Talks About the Fiscal Cliff

Barry Ritholtz has the video. I haven’t watched it.

See also Moyers on ALEX.

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