Real estate is no game for amateurs, even in former Communist countries:
Prague- The Communist party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) may lose over 60 million crowns due to the disadvantageous agreements on the sale of its headquarters in Prague's centre and the purchase of a building under construction in Prague-Vysocany, which eventually did not materialise, KSCM deputy chairman Jiri Dolejs told journalists.
The Communists have given a deposit of 20 million crowns for the purchase of their new headquarters and as they changed their mind, they may lose the money. Besides, they can be penalised another 40 million crowns for the sale of the old building, which did not materialise, Dolejs said.
"If costs for a mediator are added, the loss may be even higher," Dolejs said, adding that he believed that the loss could still be pushed under 30 million crowns.
"This is still my hope," Dolejs said.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
If you're so smart...
...what took you so long to appreciate Milton Friedman, says Michael Strong:
Milton Friedman, whose life I fondly commemorate with this article, was probably responsible for more human happiness and well-being than any other individual in the 20th century. And yet his tireless efforts on behalf of humanity were, for much of his life, greeted with taunts, ridicule, and abuse.
....
After WW II, when many dozens of former colonies became independent nations, there was a unique opportunity to create new institutions. In almost every case, the newly liberated colonies implemented the policies that their western educated leaders had learned at western universities. These policies, driven by theories propounded by western academic intellectuals, consisted of either Marxist communism or Fabian socialism. Both of these policy paths are unambiguous failures, the first leading to poverty and mass death in nations such as China and Cambodia, the second leading merely to never-ending poverty, as in India prior to the 1980s.
A thought experiment: What if Milton Friedman, and other classical liberal economists, had been as widely read and as highly regarded in 1947 as were Marx and Lenin, Laski and the Webbs? What if every newly liberated nation had, in 1947, created institutions similar to those of Hong Kong or Mart Laar’s Estonia?
If this had happened, there might well be no poverty on earth today. The institutions of economic freedom, which we are today so laboriously working to create in the aftermath of fifty years of cultural and institutional destruction caused by Marxism and socialism, could have been developed from the colonial institutions re-structured by indigenous leaders if schooled in classical liberal principles. A unique opportunity to create a better world was lost because classical liberal ideas were despised at the time.
Better late than never, countries such as India, China have seen the light, and are prospering. Yet there are still those who criticize Friedman for taking his ideas to places where they needed to be heard:
A few years ago I had the opportunity to have dinner with Milton and Rose. I asked him if the attacks had been difficult to take. He cheerfully denied that they had bothered him, stating that when he knew what the truth was it didn’t bother him if people made absurd claims against him. But Rose was not so forgiving; she fully recognized how profound the injustice to him had been, and her eyes gleamed and her nostrils flared at the memories.
Milton is now in the heavenly firmament of the greatest thinkers in world history. It is to Rose that I offer this vindication of Milton, to alleviate however insignificantly the loss of a man who was surely among the greatest husbands in history, as well as one of the greatest human beings.
Milton Friedman, whose life I fondly commemorate with this article, was probably responsible for more human happiness and well-being than any other individual in the 20th century. And yet his tireless efforts on behalf of humanity were, for much of his life, greeted with taunts, ridicule, and abuse.
....
After WW II, when many dozens of former colonies became independent nations, there was a unique opportunity to create new institutions. In almost every case, the newly liberated colonies implemented the policies that their western educated leaders had learned at western universities. These policies, driven by theories propounded by western academic intellectuals, consisted of either Marxist communism or Fabian socialism. Both of these policy paths are unambiguous failures, the first leading to poverty and mass death in nations such as China and Cambodia, the second leading merely to never-ending poverty, as in India prior to the 1980s.
A thought experiment: What if Milton Friedman, and other classical liberal economists, had been as widely read and as highly regarded in 1947 as were Marx and Lenin, Laski and the Webbs? What if every newly liberated nation had, in 1947, created institutions similar to those of Hong Kong or Mart Laar’s Estonia?
If this had happened, there might well be no poverty on earth today. The institutions of economic freedom, which we are today so laboriously working to create in the aftermath of fifty years of cultural and institutional destruction caused by Marxism and socialism, could have been developed from the colonial institutions re-structured by indigenous leaders if schooled in classical liberal principles. A unique opportunity to create a better world was lost because classical liberal ideas were despised at the time.
Better late than never, countries such as India, China have seen the light, and are prospering. Yet there are still those who criticize Friedman for taking his ideas to places where they needed to be heard:
A few years ago I had the opportunity to have dinner with Milton and Rose. I asked him if the attacks had been difficult to take. He cheerfully denied that they had bothered him, stating that when he knew what the truth was it didn’t bother him if people made absurd claims against him. But Rose was not so forgiving; she fully recognized how profound the injustice to him had been, and her eyes gleamed and her nostrils flared at the memories.
Milton is now in the heavenly firmament of the greatest thinkers in world history. It is to Rose that I offer this vindication of Milton, to alleviate however insignificantly the loss of a man who was surely among the greatest husbands in history, as well as one of the greatest human beings.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Hurry up and...die
In Norway: This is the sort of thing Milton Friedman warned about...government provision of services:
Ivar Bolin spent the final weeks of his life being driven from hospital to hospital, and died in the family cabin while waiting for a cancer operation.
The story highlights the perplexing situation of acute lack of hospital capacity in a wealthy country that is regularly named the world's best country to live in.
After falling ill with headaches, a swelling around the right eye and a lump on the throat, 73-year-old Ivar Bolin was denied a spot at Moss and Fredrikstad Hospitals in southeastern Norway.
A call to emergency services managed to free up a spot in Fredrikstad nonetheless, but he was shortly moved to the Diakonhjemmet in Oslo, a diaconal hospital affiliated with the state church. Here he could only get a space in a corridor and, unable to rest, chose to leave.
Hillary Clinton could not be reached for comment.
Ivar Bolin spent the final weeks of his life being driven from hospital to hospital, and died in the family cabin while waiting for a cancer operation.
The story highlights the perplexing situation of acute lack of hospital capacity in a wealthy country that is regularly named the world's best country to live in.
After falling ill with headaches, a swelling around the right eye and a lump on the throat, 73-year-old Ivar Bolin was denied a spot at Moss and Fredrikstad Hospitals in southeastern Norway.
A call to emergency services managed to free up a spot in Fredrikstad nonetheless, but he was shortly moved to the Diakonhjemmet in Oslo, a diaconal hospital affiliated with the state church. Here he could only get a space in a corridor and, unable to rest, chose to leave.
Hillary Clinton could not be reached for comment.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
THE Giant Passes
RIP Milton Friedman, who had, more than any other man, the credit for the superior performance of this nation's economy as depicted in the graph in the immediately preceding post.
As even Brad DeLong realized:
All five of the planks of the New Keynesian research program ...had much of their development inside the twentieth-century monetarist tradition, and all are associated with the name of Milton Friedman. It is hard to find prominent Keynesian analysts in the 1950s, 1960s, or early 1970s who gave these five planks as much prominence in their work as Milton Friedman did in his.
The importance of analyzing policy in an explicit, stochastic context and the limits on stabilization policy that result comes from Friedman (1953a). The importance of thinking not just about what policy would be best in response to this particular shock but what policy rule would be best in general--and would be robust to economists' errors in understanding the structure of the economy and policy makers' errors in implementing policy--comes from Friedman (1960). The proposition that the most policy can aim for is stabilization rather than gap-closing was the principal message of Friedman (1968). We recognize the power of monetary policy as a result of the lines of research that developed from Friedman and Schwartz (1963) and Friedman and Meiselman (1963). And a large chunk of the way that New Keynesians think about aggregate supply saw its development in Friedman's discussions of the "missing equation" in Gordon (1974).
Thus a look back at the intellectual battle lines between "Keynesians" and "Monetarists" in the 1960s cannot help but be followed by the recognition that perhaps New Keynesian economics is misnamed. We may not all be Keynesians now, but the influence of Monetarism on how we all think about macroeconomics today has been deep, pervasive, and subtle.
Amen. And we won't see his like again.
As even Brad DeLong realized:
All five of the planks of the New Keynesian research program ...had much of their development inside the twentieth-century monetarist tradition, and all are associated with the name of Milton Friedman. It is hard to find prominent Keynesian analysts in the 1950s, 1960s, or early 1970s who gave these five planks as much prominence in their work as Milton Friedman did in his.
The importance of analyzing policy in an explicit, stochastic context and the limits on stabilization policy that result comes from Friedman (1953a). The importance of thinking not just about what policy would be best in response to this particular shock but what policy rule would be best in general--and would be robust to economists' errors in understanding the structure of the economy and policy makers' errors in implementing policy--comes from Friedman (1960). The proposition that the most policy can aim for is stabilization rather than gap-closing was the principal message of Friedman (1968). We recognize the power of monetary policy as a result of the lines of research that developed from Friedman and Schwartz (1963) and Friedman and Meiselman (1963). And a large chunk of the way that New Keynesians think about aggregate supply saw its development in Friedman's discussions of the "missing equation" in Gordon (1974).
Thus a look back at the intellectual battle lines between "Keynesians" and "Monetarists" in the 1960s cannot help but be followed by the recognition that perhaps New Keynesian economics is misnamed. We may not all be Keynesians now, but the influence of Monetarism on how we all think about macroeconomics today has been deep, pervasive, and subtle.
Amen. And we won't see his like again.
Tales of Two Quarter Centuries
Several economist-bloggers have taken note of Senator-elect James Webb's temper tantrum in yesterday's Wall Street Journal:
America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.
But, as the graph at the top makes clear, in the last quarter century (1982-2006, inclusive) there were only two (and short and mild) recessions. Compare that to the previous 25 years (1956-1981) with its six recessions.
We seem to have a clear picture of which period 'working people' are better off. Does Webb really think that allowing high income earners to pay at lower tax rates (on more reported income) is too high a price for the comparative economic bliss of the last twenty five years?
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Can't see the forest...
...for the thieves:
Thieves in southern Germany made off with an entire forest, police said Tuesday.
The theft was discovered by the 56-year-old owner when he went to check on the trees in the Hunsrueck region south of Frankfurt. The man was shocked to find they had disappeared over an area of 2,500 square metres - about half the size of a football pitch.
Police said the thieves appeared to be professionals who used different cutting devices to chop down the fir trees and drive away with them.
Thieves in southern Germany made off with an entire forest, police said Tuesday.
The theft was discovered by the 56-year-old owner when he went to check on the trees in the Hunsrueck region south of Frankfurt. The man was shocked to find they had disappeared over an area of 2,500 square metres - about half the size of a football pitch.
Police said the thieves appeared to be professionals who used different cutting devices to chop down the fir trees and drive away with them.
Microcredit Micromania
Microsoft too:
Seattle philanthropists have embraced the idea of microcredit, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently decided to steer an undetermined amount of its own enormous resources into a new program for financial services for the developing world's poor.
....Money has been pouring into microfinance programs lately from individuals, foundations and corporate philanthropies such as Google.org.
Locally, organizations involved in microfinance now include the Gates Foundation, Unitus, Global Partnerships, Microfinance Corp., the Grameen Technology Center and World Vision.
....Some younger philanthropists, most notably eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, say microfinance can grow much faster if it's opened up to venture capital and commercialized as a profit-making business.
....In Seattle, some programs combine the region's deep-rooted technology expertise with the social-service aspect of microcredit. The Grameen Technology Center, started with support from wireless entrepreneur Craig McCaw, created an open-source software platform for managing microfinance projects, and the Gates Foundation gave Unitus a $1.5 million grant over three years to look for ways to make microfinance work more efficiently.
Seattle philanthropists have embraced the idea of microcredit, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently decided to steer an undetermined amount of its own enormous resources into a new program for financial services for the developing world's poor.
....Money has been pouring into microfinance programs lately from individuals, foundations and corporate philanthropies such as Google.org.
Locally, organizations involved in microfinance now include the Gates Foundation, Unitus, Global Partnerships, Microfinance Corp., the Grameen Technology Center and World Vision.
....Some younger philanthropists, most notably eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, say microfinance can grow much faster if it's opened up to venture capital and commercialized as a profit-making business.
....In Seattle, some programs combine the region's deep-rooted technology expertise with the social-service aspect of microcredit. The Grameen Technology Center, started with support from wireless entrepreneur Craig McCaw, created an open-source software platform for managing microfinance projects, and the Gates Foundation gave Unitus a $1.5 million grant over three years to look for ways to make microfinance work more efficiently.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
License to Speak
Reviving the Danegeld?
Right-wing radio station Radio Holger has again run afoul of broadcasting authorities for its alleged racist programming. Despite having its licence revoked last week, the station continues to broadcast.
Radio Holger, which takes its name from Denmark's mythical guardian, had its licence suspended after failing to deliver a copy of a broadcast to the Radio and Television Board (RTB).
....Radio Holger broadcasts on a shared, public access frequency, making an immediate shut down of the station impossible.
'Unfortunately if we pull the plug on them, other stations that are broadcasting legally will also be shut off,' said Christian Scherfig, chairman of RTB. 'We could possibly seize the equipment through an injunction. Our legal advisor is investigating the possibility.'
RTB has since reported Radio Holger to the police, who will likely slap the station with a fine and possibly confiscate its broadcasting equipment.
....Radio Holger has had its licence revoked before. Should its broadcasting equipment be confiscated as a result of the current dispute, station spokesperson Kaj Wilhelmsen has pledged to move the station's broadcasts to the internet.
Right-wing radio station Radio Holger has again run afoul of broadcasting authorities for its alleged racist programming. Despite having its licence revoked last week, the station continues to broadcast.
Radio Holger, which takes its name from Denmark's mythical guardian, had its licence suspended after failing to deliver a copy of a broadcast to the Radio and Television Board (RTB).
....Radio Holger broadcasts on a shared, public access frequency, making an immediate shut down of the station impossible.
'Unfortunately if we pull the plug on them, other stations that are broadcasting legally will also be shut off,' said Christian Scherfig, chairman of RTB. 'We could possibly seize the equipment through an injunction. Our legal advisor is investigating the possibility.'
RTB has since reported Radio Holger to the police, who will likely slap the station with a fine and possibly confiscate its broadcasting equipment.
....Radio Holger has had its licence revoked before. Should its broadcasting equipment be confiscated as a result of the current dispute, station spokesperson Kaj Wilhelmsen has pledged to move the station's broadcasts to the internet.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Pelosi Care
'Don't do it', says an Italian who has to live with it in his country:
The next speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has let it be known that within her first 100 hours on the job, she will move to allow the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower drug prices for Medicare patients.
....But before Pelosi rushes down the road to Italian-style health care, allow me to offer a word of caution. Italy is hardly a health-care paradise. In fact, it's more like a quagmire of red tape.
....The state purchases nearly 60 percent of the nation's prescription drugs. And it supposedly negotiates prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. But since the Italian government controls such a disproportionate share of the market, it in effect dictates drug prices.
....Because of the country's artificially low drug prices, demand for pharmaceuticals is artificially high -- higher than it would be under free-market conditions.
The point is that the government's attempt to force down drug prices has not reduced overall health-care spending. Rather, it has resulted in a spike in demand -- which is one reason why Italy's health-care spending has skyrocketed, growing nearly 68 percent between 1995 and 2003.
As for the quality of Italy's care, that, too, is suffering. With demand for drugs rising, the Italian government has attempted to save money by adopting reimbursement policies that favor certain drugs over others. Unfortunately, the most innovative products often aren't considered reimbursable by the government precisely because they are the most expensive.
It's a great system if you just need an antibiotic. But if you're hoping to avoid open-heart surgery through access to a miracle drug, it can be a nightmare.
....The economy is also harmed. Because it's simply not profitable for companies to invent cures in Italy, price controls have decimated Italy's pharmaceutical industry. Today not one of the world's 50 largest drug manufacturers has its headquarters in Italy, even though the country is the world's seventh-largest economy.
....So by attempting to hold down drug prices, the Italian government has deprived its citizens of the best care without reducing health-care spending. And it has deprived the country of what could be a vibrant sector of the economy. In their rush to revamp Medicare, U.S. policy leaders should be careful not to make the same mistake.
[Thanks to Don Boudreaux]
The next speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has let it be known that within her first 100 hours on the job, she will move to allow the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower drug prices for Medicare patients.
....But before Pelosi rushes down the road to Italian-style health care, allow me to offer a word of caution. Italy is hardly a health-care paradise. In fact, it's more like a quagmire of red tape.
....The state purchases nearly 60 percent of the nation's prescription drugs. And it supposedly negotiates prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. But since the Italian government controls such a disproportionate share of the market, it in effect dictates drug prices.
....Because of the country's artificially low drug prices, demand for pharmaceuticals is artificially high -- higher than it would be under free-market conditions.
The point is that the government's attempt to force down drug prices has not reduced overall health-care spending. Rather, it has resulted in a spike in demand -- which is one reason why Italy's health-care spending has skyrocketed, growing nearly 68 percent between 1995 and 2003.
As for the quality of Italy's care, that, too, is suffering. With demand for drugs rising, the Italian government has attempted to save money by adopting reimbursement policies that favor certain drugs over others. Unfortunately, the most innovative products often aren't considered reimbursable by the government precisely because they are the most expensive.
It's a great system if you just need an antibiotic. But if you're hoping to avoid open-heart surgery through access to a miracle drug, it can be a nightmare.
....The economy is also harmed. Because it's simply not profitable for companies to invent cures in Italy, price controls have decimated Italy's pharmaceutical industry. Today not one of the world's 50 largest drug manufacturers has its headquarters in Italy, even though the country is the world's seventh-largest economy.
....So by attempting to hold down drug prices, the Italian government has deprived its citizens of the best care without reducing health-care spending. And it has deprived the country of what could be a vibrant sector of the economy. In their rush to revamp Medicare, U.S. policy leaders should be careful not to make the same mistake.
[Thanks to Don Boudreaux]
Content to lose, and proud of it!
When will Tim Russert and Rahm Emanuel issue their apologies to Elizabeth Dole, now that Howard Dean admits Democrats are the party of Vietnam Syndrome Redux:
WALLACE: But beyond that, beyond preventing the safe haven, is -- what ends up in Iraq is not our business?
DEAN: .... Our problem is we've got to cut our losses and figure out how we're going to get our folks out and still defend the United States of America.
....
WALLACE: But cut our losses is what the message you get from this election is.
DEAN: Yeah, don't stay in Iraq. We're not going to put up with terrorism in Iraq or anyplace else, but we can't keep 140,000 brave Americans in Iraq indefinitely. Did not we learn this lesson in Vietnam?
WALLACE: But beyond that, beyond preventing the safe haven, is -- what ends up in Iraq is not our business?
DEAN: .... Our problem is we've got to cut our losses and figure out how we're going to get our folks out and still defend the United States of America.
....
WALLACE: But cut our losses is what the message you get from this election is.
DEAN: Yeah, don't stay in Iraq. We're not going to put up with terrorism in Iraq or anyplace else, but we can't keep 140,000 brave Americans in Iraq indefinitely. Did not we learn this lesson in Vietnam?
Sunday, November 12, 2006
They have the cojones?
Tax collectors in India:
Tax authorities in one Indian state are attempting to persuade debtors to paying their bills - by serenading them with a delegation of singing eunuchs.
Eunuchs are feared and reviled in many parts of India, where some believe they have supernatural powers.
Often unable to gain regular employment, the eunuchs have become successful at persuading people to part with their cash.
The eunuchs will get a commission of 4% of any taxes collected.
In Bihar's capital, Patna, officials felt deploying the eunuchs was the only way to prompt people to pay up.
Tax authorities in one Indian state are attempting to persuade debtors to paying their bills - by serenading them with a delegation of singing eunuchs.
Eunuchs are feared and reviled in many parts of India, where some believe they have supernatural powers.
Often unable to gain regular employment, the eunuchs have become successful at persuading people to part with their cash.
The eunuchs will get a commission of 4% of any taxes collected.
In Bihar's capital, Patna, officials felt deploying the eunuchs was the only way to prompt people to pay up.
Friday, November 10, 2006
That's What Adolph Thought
That Germany should rule the world:
Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
....Along with Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Tenet, the other defendants in the case are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone; former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assisant attorney general John Yoo; General Counsel for the Department of Defense William James Haynes II; and David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Senior military officers named in the filing are General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top Army official in Iraq; Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo; senior Iraq commander, Major General Walter Wojdakowski; and Col. Thomas Pappas, the one-time head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib.
Germany was chosen for the court filing because German law provides "universal jurisdiction" allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and related offenses that take place anywhere in the world.
Remember where that got you last time, guys.
Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
....Along with Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Tenet, the other defendants in the case are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone; former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assisant attorney general John Yoo; General Counsel for the Department of Defense William James Haynes II; and David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Senior military officers named in the filing are General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top Army official in Iraq; Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo; senior Iraq commander, Major General Walter Wojdakowski; and Col. Thomas Pappas, the one-time head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib.
Germany was chosen for the court filing because German law provides "universal jurisdiction" allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and related offenses that take place anywhere in the world.
Remember where that got you last time, guys.
Royal Gaffe
Segolene caught Kinsleying French teachers and their unions:
PARIS, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) - The Socialist favourite in France's presidential race Ségolène Royal caused more dissension in the ranks Friday after she was shown in a video chastising teachers for not working hard enough.
In a clip circulating on the Internet, Royal is seen telling a meeting that "revolutionary ideas" are needed to reform the French education system, and that teachers in secondary schools should spend 35 hours a week on the premises as opposed to 17 hours at present.
"I am not going to sing it from the roof-tops, because I don't want to come under attack from the teaching unions," she says on the video, which was filmed in January in the western town of Angers.
She described it as an "absurdity" that many state sector teachers use their spare time to give private tuition via "companies that are quoted on the stock exchange".
"We need to take a step, perhaps with the new generation (of teachers) if the current lot say — sorry, we've got our rights, 17 hours and then we are off home," Royal says.
Royal's spokesman Gilles Savary confirmed the video was genuine, but said its broadcast on the Internet was "an underhand attack" ahead of next Thursday's vote by Socialist party (PS) members to designate a candidate in April's presidential election.
Teachers make up a large proportion of the party's 200,000 card-carrying members and are likely to be angered by her remarks.
PARIS, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) - The Socialist favourite in France's presidential race Ségolène Royal caused more dissension in the ranks Friday after she was shown in a video chastising teachers for not working hard enough.
In a clip circulating on the Internet, Royal is seen telling a meeting that "revolutionary ideas" are needed to reform the French education system, and that teachers in secondary schools should spend 35 hours a week on the premises as opposed to 17 hours at present.
"I am not going to sing it from the roof-tops, because I don't want to come under attack from the teaching unions," she says on the video, which was filmed in January in the western town of Angers.
She described it as an "absurdity" that many state sector teachers use their spare time to give private tuition via "companies that are quoted on the stock exchange".
"We need to take a step, perhaps with the new generation (of teachers) if the current lot say — sorry, we've got our rights, 17 hours and then we are off home," Royal says.
Royal's spokesman Gilles Savary confirmed the video was genuine, but said its broadcast on the Internet was "an underhand attack" ahead of next Thursday's vote by Socialist party (PS) members to designate a candidate in April's presidential election.
Teachers make up a large proportion of the party's 200,000 card-carrying members and are likely to be angered by her remarks.
And at Tight End...
...from the Republican Party?
KIRKLAND — Only in Jerramy Stevens' bizarre world could something like this happen. Only he could take a knee to the groin and wind up a villain.
The NFL fined the Seahawks' troubled tight end $15,000 Wednesday, ruling that Stevens provoked Oakland defensive lineman Tyler Brayton on "Monday Night Football." Meanwhile, Brayton was hit with a $25,000 fine and spent the day apologizing and turning less evil.
Somehow, the knee-er is garnering more sympathy than the knee-ee.
KIRKLAND — Only in Jerramy Stevens' bizarre world could something like this happen. Only he could take a knee to the groin and wind up a villain.
The NFL fined the Seahawks' troubled tight end $15,000 Wednesday, ruling that Stevens provoked Oakland defensive lineman Tyler Brayton on "Monday Night Football." Meanwhile, Brayton was hit with a $25,000 fine and spent the day apologizing and turning less evil.
Somehow, the knee-er is garnering more sympathy than the knee-ee.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Mosque State News
Belgium offers Islamists a few more slices of salami:
BRUSSELS - Belgium plans on setting up an Imam school before the end of the 2006 -2007 academic year.
This school was requested by the Exécutif des musulmans de Belgique (the Belgian Muslim executive).
The Muslim executive also requests the presence of a mufti - a Muslim scholar who is also an interpreter and advocate of the Sharia, Islamic law, and who is, according to traditions, capable of issuing a fatwa, a judgment based on Islamic laws.
However, a Belgian mufti would not be given this right since it would conflict with Belgian's justice system.
For the time being, that is.
BRUSSELS - Belgium plans on setting up an Imam school before the end of the 2006 -2007 academic year.
This school was requested by the Exécutif des musulmans de Belgique (the Belgian Muslim executive).
The Muslim executive also requests the presence of a mufti - a Muslim scholar who is also an interpreter and advocate of the Sharia, Islamic law, and who is, according to traditions, capable of issuing a fatwa, a judgment based on Islamic laws.
However, a Belgian mufti would not be given this right since it would conflict with Belgian's justice system.
For the time being, that is.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Growth Industry
Palm grease:
Corrupt Russian officials are estimated to take bribes of US $240 billion a year, an amount almost equal to the state’s entire revenues, a senior prosecutor said in an interview with the government daily printed Tuesday.
Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta that prosecutors had uncovered over 9,000 cases of bribery in the first eight months of the year.
....The global anti-corruption group Transparency International and Russia’s business-funded National Anti-Corruption Committee last year estimated that the level of graft had jumped as much as sevenfold since 2001.
Russia is near the top of Transparency International’s scale of corruption, at No. 121 out of 163 in 2006, along with such countries as Rwanda and Burundi. Four years ago, it had been rated 71. On that scale, the least corrupt is Finland, while Haiti and Myanmar occupy the top two places.
Corrupt Russian officials are estimated to take bribes of US $240 billion a year, an amount almost equal to the state’s entire revenues, a senior prosecutor said in an interview with the government daily printed Tuesday.
Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta that prosecutors had uncovered over 9,000 cases of bribery in the first eight months of the year.
....The global anti-corruption group Transparency International and Russia’s business-funded National Anti-Corruption Committee last year estimated that the level of graft had jumped as much as sevenfold since 2001.
Russia is near the top of Transparency International’s scale of corruption, at No. 121 out of 163 in 2006, along with such countries as Rwanda and Burundi. Four years ago, it had been rated 71. On that scale, the least corrupt is Finland, while Haiti and Myanmar occupy the top two places.
Oversized and Over There
Appropriately for an 840 passenger jet, Airbus had too much of almost everything, and now must shed the dead weight:
PARIS, Nov 6, 2006 (AFP) - European aircraft maker Airbus plans to reduce by 80 percent the number of subcontractors used by the company as part of a vast restructuring plan aimed at reducing costs, a company spokesman said Monday.
The number of subcontractors is to be cut from nearly 3,000 to about 500, the spokesman said, confirming a report in the Financial Times Deutschland published on Monday.
The group, based in Toulouse, southern France, also plans to cut its administrative costs by EUR 900 million in total by 2010 and its supply costs by EUR 350 million over the same period, the spokesman said.
He added that the number of logistics facilities used by the company would be reduced from 80 to between four and eight.
Update: Word appears to be filtering out:
Boeing scored a victory in the airliner wars Tuesday when FedEx became the first customer to cancel an order for Airbus's much delayed A380 jumbo jets and said it will instead will buy Boeing 777s.
FedEx Corp., the world's largest express transportation company, cited production delays for its decision to retract an order for 10 of the new double-decker A380's. Its FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 freighters with a list price of $3.5 billion (2.8 billion euros) and taken options on an additional 15.
PARIS, Nov 6, 2006 (AFP) - European aircraft maker Airbus plans to reduce by 80 percent the number of subcontractors used by the company as part of a vast restructuring plan aimed at reducing costs, a company spokesman said Monday.
The number of subcontractors is to be cut from nearly 3,000 to about 500, the spokesman said, confirming a report in the Financial Times Deutschland published on Monday.
The group, based in Toulouse, southern France, also plans to cut its administrative costs by EUR 900 million in total by 2010 and its supply costs by EUR 350 million over the same period, the spokesman said.
He added that the number of logistics facilities used by the company would be reduced from 80 to between four and eight.
Update: Word appears to be filtering out:
Boeing scored a victory in the airliner wars Tuesday when FedEx became the first customer to cancel an order for Airbus's much delayed A380 jumbo jets and said it will instead will buy Boeing 777s.
FedEx Corp., the world's largest express transportation company, cited production delays for its decision to retract an order for 10 of the new double-decker A380's. Its FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 freighters with a list price of $3.5 billion (2.8 billion euros) and taken options on an additional 15.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Not to speak ill of the dead...
...but it proves nearly impossible with Jo Jo:
Jo Jo Laine, who died on Sunday aged 53 after falling down a flight of stairs, led a fast-paced life which bore witness to the dangers of too much beauty combined with an almost total lack of self-restraint.
Petite, wide-eyed and with waist-length dark auburn hair, Jo Jo Laine became famous as a model but notorious as a groupie who numbered among her conquests some of the most glamorous icons of the Sixties and Seventies rock scene.
After losing her virginity to Jimi Hendrix, her lovers included Rod Stewart, Jim Morrison and the Wings (and former Moody Blues) guitarist Denny Laine, to whom she was briefly married. After a fling with Randy Rhoads, the Black Sabbath guitarist, she began a relationship with Peter O'Donohue, a builder who was jailed in 1988 for 11 years for his part in a £40 million armed raid on a safety deposit centre in Knightsbridge. Later she became one of the live-in "wifelets" of the Marquess of Bath, occupying a cottage on the Longleat estate. Cream's drummer Ginger Baker was quoted as saying: "No sane man would go near her."
During her rock chick years, Jo Jo Laine consumed heroic quantities of drugs and alcohol and remained seemingly unfazed by the premature deaths of at least two of her former lovers from drug and alcohol abuse.
Jo Jo Laine, who died on Sunday aged 53 after falling down a flight of stairs, led a fast-paced life which bore witness to the dangers of too much beauty combined with an almost total lack of self-restraint.
Petite, wide-eyed and with waist-length dark auburn hair, Jo Jo Laine became famous as a model but notorious as a groupie who numbered among her conquests some of the most glamorous icons of the Sixties and Seventies rock scene.
After losing her virginity to Jimi Hendrix, her lovers included Rod Stewart, Jim Morrison and the Wings (and former Moody Blues) guitarist Denny Laine, to whom she was briefly married. After a fling with Randy Rhoads, the Black Sabbath guitarist, she began a relationship with Peter O'Donohue, a builder who was jailed in 1988 for 11 years for his part in a £40 million armed raid on a safety deposit centre in Knightsbridge. Later she became one of the live-in "wifelets" of the Marquess of Bath, occupying a cottage on the Longleat estate. Cream's drummer Ginger Baker was quoted as saying: "No sane man would go near her."
During her rock chick years, Jo Jo Laine consumed heroic quantities of drugs and alcohol and remained seemingly unfazed by the premature deaths of at least two of her former lovers from drug and alcohol abuse.
Defeatocrat...And Proud of It!
We suppose James Carroll ought to get some credit for admitting just what he is:
It is one thing to feel uneasy about your nation's war, or even to move to a position of outright opposition. It is another to face the harsh fact that the only way out of the war is to accept defeat. The goal of "peace with honor" assumes that the nation's honor has not already been squandered. During Vietnam, for all the widespread opposition to the war, the American public was never ready to face the full truth of what had been done in its name, and so the martial band played on. And on. The war ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, with the United States whining that somehow it had been the victim. Not incidental to the present disaster is the fact that the men dragging out that shameful last moment of Vietnam, when our nation's abject defeat was made plain for all the world to see, were Ford administration honchos Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.
Rumsfeld and Cheney are prepared to do it to their nation again. The question now is whether America will let them? The general uneasiness with the war in Iraq is mostly tied to how badly it has gone. Tactical and strategic planning have been bungled at every level, and the elusive enemy is yet to be understood in Washington. If the Democrats take power with the elections tomorrow, congressional hearings will have a lot of such questions to consider. But what about the moral question? For all of the anguish felt over the loss of American lives, can we acknowledge that there is something proper in the way that hubristic American power has been thwarted? Can we admit that the loss of honor will not come with how the war ends, because we lost our honor when we began it? This time, can we accept defeat?
Update: Carroll's timing couldn't have been worse for Tim Russert and Rahm Emanuel:
SEN. DOLE: .... it’s almost as if the Democrats, you know, it’s like they’re content with losing because to pull out, to withdraw from this war is losing. No question about it. You look at...
MR. RUSSERT: The Democrats are content with losing.
SEN. DOLE: The Democrats appear to be content with losing because they’re to...
REP. EMANUEL: I really...
SEN. DOLE: No, no, I, I want to finish what I’m saying here because...
REP. EMANUEL: I, I, I, no, no, you made yourself—Senator, wait a little sec, Senator...
SEN. DOLE: No, I, I’m going to finish this.
MR. RUSSERT: That’s a very strong statement.
SEN. DOLE: It is a strong statement.
REP. EMANUEL: Yeah, senator, senator, you, you...
MR. RUSSERT: Senator, that’s a very strong statement. I think he, he deserves a right to respond, no, no, no.
REP. EMANUEL: Senator, that is not fair.
SEN. DOLE: Yeah, it is, but I would like to finish why...
MR. RUSSERT: You—I’ll let you back, but I’ll tell you, when you make a statement like that...
REP. EMANUEL: Senator, senator, senator.
SEN. DOLE: ...why, why they appear to be content to lose.
MR. RUSSERT: Excuse me. When you make a comment like that, I got to give the other side a chance to respond.
SEN. DOLE: But I do need to explain what I mean by that.
REP. EMANUEL: Senator. Senator, you, you, you said something that’s wrong.
SEN. DOLE: Osama bin Laden and, and, and they...
REP. EMANUEL: Democrats, Democrats have provided—wait a second, Senator.
I’ve—I understand some. I will not sit si...
SEN. DOLE: No. Rahm, I want to finish what I said.
REP. EMANUEL: ...I will not sit idly by with an accusation that Democrats are content with losing.
SEN. DOLE: They appear to be content to lose...
REP. EMANUEL: We want to win and we want a new direction to Iraq because after three, three years—I’m—Tim...
SEN. DOLE: ...because when you pull out, this is losing. That we know that it becomes a breeding ground...
MR. RUSSERT: All right, hold on. Hold on. Time out, time out, time out.
REP. EMANUEL: Forget about it.
MR. RUSSERT: Time out. Time—time out. Time out, please.
SEN. DOLE: ...a breeding ground for terrorists. We’ve got Iran and Syria sitting there on each side of Iraq...
REP. EMANUEL: That, that’s wrong. You should take that back, Senator.
We’ll have differences, but we do not disparage you like that, Senator.
MR. RUSSERT: You’ve made your point. You’ve made your point, Senator.
It is one thing to feel uneasy about your nation's war, or even to move to a position of outright opposition. It is another to face the harsh fact that the only way out of the war is to accept defeat. The goal of "peace with honor" assumes that the nation's honor has not already been squandered. During Vietnam, for all the widespread opposition to the war, the American public was never ready to face the full truth of what had been done in its name, and so the martial band played on. And on. The war ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, with the United States whining that somehow it had been the victim. Not incidental to the present disaster is the fact that the men dragging out that shameful last moment of Vietnam, when our nation's abject defeat was made plain for all the world to see, were Ford administration honchos Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.
Rumsfeld and Cheney are prepared to do it to their nation again. The question now is whether America will let them? The general uneasiness with the war in Iraq is mostly tied to how badly it has gone. Tactical and strategic planning have been bungled at every level, and the elusive enemy is yet to be understood in Washington. If the Democrats take power with the elections tomorrow, congressional hearings will have a lot of such questions to consider. But what about the moral question? For all of the anguish felt over the loss of American lives, can we acknowledge that there is something proper in the way that hubristic American power has been thwarted? Can we admit that the loss of honor will not come with how the war ends, because we lost our honor when we began it? This time, can we accept defeat?
Update: Carroll's timing couldn't have been worse for Tim Russert and Rahm Emanuel:
SEN. DOLE: .... it’s almost as if the Democrats, you know, it’s like they’re content with losing because to pull out, to withdraw from this war is losing. No question about it. You look at...
MR. RUSSERT: The Democrats are content with losing.
SEN. DOLE: The Democrats appear to be content with losing because they’re to...
REP. EMANUEL: I really...
SEN. DOLE: No, no, I, I want to finish what I’m saying here because...
REP. EMANUEL: I, I, I, no, no, you made yourself—Senator, wait a little sec, Senator...
SEN. DOLE: No, I, I’m going to finish this.
MR. RUSSERT: That’s a very strong statement.
SEN. DOLE: It is a strong statement.
REP. EMANUEL: Yeah, senator, senator, you, you...
MR. RUSSERT: Senator, that’s a very strong statement. I think he, he deserves a right to respond, no, no, no.
REP. EMANUEL: Senator, that is not fair.
SEN. DOLE: Yeah, it is, but I would like to finish why...
MR. RUSSERT: You—I’ll let you back, but I’ll tell you, when you make a statement like that...
REP. EMANUEL: Senator, senator, senator.
SEN. DOLE: ...why, why they appear to be content to lose.
MR. RUSSERT: Excuse me. When you make a comment like that, I got to give the other side a chance to respond.
SEN. DOLE: But I do need to explain what I mean by that.
REP. EMANUEL: Senator. Senator, you, you, you said something that’s wrong.
SEN. DOLE: Osama bin Laden and, and, and they...
REP. EMANUEL: Democrats, Democrats have provided—wait a second, Senator.
I’ve—I understand some. I will not sit si...
SEN. DOLE: No. Rahm, I want to finish what I said.
REP. EMANUEL: ...I will not sit idly by with an accusation that Democrats are content with losing.
SEN. DOLE: They appear to be content to lose...
REP. EMANUEL: We want to win and we want a new direction to Iraq because after three, three years—I’m—Tim...
SEN. DOLE: ...because when you pull out, this is losing. That we know that it becomes a breeding ground...
MR. RUSSERT: All right, hold on. Hold on. Time out, time out, time out.
REP. EMANUEL: Forget about it.
MR. RUSSERT: Time out. Time—time out. Time out, please.
SEN. DOLE: ...a breeding ground for terrorists. We’ve got Iran and Syria sitting there on each side of Iraq...
REP. EMANUEL: That, that’s wrong. You should take that back, Senator.
We’ll have differences, but we do not disparage you like that, Senator.
MR. RUSSERT: You’ve made your point. You’ve made your point, Senator.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Just don't call them late for dinner
The dolphins' dinner, that is:
Fish can eavesdrop on the calls of dolphins to avoid getting eaten, a new study suggests.
"Probably a lot of fish can do this," said lead researcher Luke Remage-Healey, a behavioral neuro-endocrinologist at University of California, Los Angeles.
....Remage-Healey first suspected that gulf toadfish could listen in on hungry dolphins' calls two years ago while recording the mating calls of the male toadfish off the Gulf coast of Florida.
"Then, they all stopped calling," Remage-Healey recalled. "My field assistant noticed dolphins [image] foraging right over the toadfish site, and we heard we were recording dolphin sounds instead."
The researchers captured toadfish and placed each in its own cage and rested the cages on the seabed in the breeding patch. From underwater speakers, they played recordings of snapping shrimp sounds or dolphin sounds — both high frequency "whistles" that dolphins use to communicate with each other, and low frequency "pops" likely used to locate a quarry. The shrimp sounds mimicked a common background noise in the bay.
Results showed that the toadfish ignored the snapping shrimp sounds and dolphin whistles and continued on with their mating calls. But when the fish heard dolphin pops or combinations of pops and whistles, they drastically reduced their calling rates.
Fish can eavesdrop on the calls of dolphins to avoid getting eaten, a new study suggests.
"Probably a lot of fish can do this," said lead researcher Luke Remage-Healey, a behavioral neuro-endocrinologist at University of California, Los Angeles.
....Remage-Healey first suspected that gulf toadfish could listen in on hungry dolphins' calls two years ago while recording the mating calls of the male toadfish off the Gulf coast of Florida.
"Then, they all stopped calling," Remage-Healey recalled. "My field assistant noticed dolphins [image] foraging right over the toadfish site, and we heard we were recording dolphin sounds instead."
The researchers captured toadfish and placed each in its own cage and rested the cages on the seabed in the breeding patch. From underwater speakers, they played recordings of snapping shrimp sounds or dolphin sounds — both high frequency "whistles" that dolphins use to communicate with each other, and low frequency "pops" likely used to locate a quarry. The shrimp sounds mimicked a common background noise in the bay.
Results showed that the toadfish ignored the snapping shrimp sounds and dolphin whistles and continued on with their mating calls. But when the fish heard dolphin pops or combinations of pops and whistles, they drastically reduced their calling rates.
Perfect Pitch
Sandy Koufax never delivered a more accurate fastball than this knockdown of John Kerry from Mark Steyn:
A vain thin-skinned condescending blueblood with no sense of his own ridiculousness, Senator Nuancy Boy is secure in little else except his belief in his indispensability.
Then he explains why the 'botched joke' matters:
In fairness to Kerry, he didn't invent the Democrats' tortured relationship with the military. But ever since Eugene McCarthy ran against Lyndon Johnson and destroyed the most powerful Democrat of the last half-century, the Democratic Party has had a problematic relationship with the projection of power in the national interest. President Jimmy Carter confined himself to one screwed-up helicopter mission in Iran; Bill Clinton bombed more countries in a little more than six months than the Zionist neocon warmonger Bush has in six years but, unless you happened to be in that Sudanese aspirin factory, it was as desultory and uncommitted as his sex life and characterized by the same inability to reach (in Ken Starr's word) "completion." As for John Kerry, since he first slandered the American military three decades ago, he's been wrong on every foreign policy question and voted against every significant American weapons system.
To be sure, like Kerry in 2004 deciding that the murderers and rapists were now his brave "band of brothers," the left often discover a sudden enthusiasm for the previous war once a new one's come along. Since Iraq, they've been all in favor of Afghanistan, though back in the fall of 2001 they were convinced it was a quagmire, graveyard of empire, unwinnable, another Vietnam, etc. Oh, and they also discovered a belated enthusiasm for the first President Bush's shrewd conduct of the 1991 Gulf War, though at the time Kerry and most other Democrats voted against that one, too. In this tedious shell game, no matter how frantically the left shuffles the cups, you never find the one shriveled pea of The Military Intervention We're Willing To Support When it Matters.
To be sure, the progressives deserve credit for having refined their view of the military: not murderers and rapists, just impoverished suckers too stupid for anything other than soldiering. The left still doesn't understand that it's the soldier who guarantees every other profession -- the defeatist New York Times journalist, the anti-American college professor, the insurgent-video-of-the-day host at CNN, the hollow preening blowhard senator. Kerry's gaffe isn't about one maladroit Marie Antoinette of the Senate but a glimpse into the mind-set of too many Americans.
A vain thin-skinned condescending blueblood with no sense of his own ridiculousness, Senator Nuancy Boy is secure in little else except his belief in his indispensability.
Then he explains why the 'botched joke' matters:
In fairness to Kerry, he didn't invent the Democrats' tortured relationship with the military. But ever since Eugene McCarthy ran against Lyndon Johnson and destroyed the most powerful Democrat of the last half-century, the Democratic Party has had a problematic relationship with the projection of power in the national interest. President Jimmy Carter confined himself to one screwed-up helicopter mission in Iran; Bill Clinton bombed more countries in a little more than six months than the Zionist neocon warmonger Bush has in six years but, unless you happened to be in that Sudanese aspirin factory, it was as desultory and uncommitted as his sex life and characterized by the same inability to reach (in Ken Starr's word) "completion." As for John Kerry, since he first slandered the American military three decades ago, he's been wrong on every foreign policy question and voted against every significant American weapons system.
To be sure, like Kerry in 2004 deciding that the murderers and rapists were now his brave "band of brothers," the left often discover a sudden enthusiasm for the previous war once a new one's come along. Since Iraq, they've been all in favor of Afghanistan, though back in the fall of 2001 they were convinced it was a quagmire, graveyard of empire, unwinnable, another Vietnam, etc. Oh, and they also discovered a belated enthusiasm for the first President Bush's shrewd conduct of the 1991 Gulf War, though at the time Kerry and most other Democrats voted against that one, too. In this tedious shell game, no matter how frantically the left shuffles the cups, you never find the one shriveled pea of The Military Intervention We're Willing To Support When it Matters.
To be sure, the progressives deserve credit for having refined their view of the military: not murderers and rapists, just impoverished suckers too stupid for anything other than soldiering. The left still doesn't understand that it's the soldier who guarantees every other profession -- the defeatist New York Times journalist, the anti-American college professor, the insurgent-video-of-the-day host at CNN, the hollow preening blowhard senator. Kerry's gaffe isn't about one maladroit Marie Antoinette of the Senate but a glimpse into the mind-set of too many Americans.
Friday, November 03, 2006
If the punishment fit the crime
Wouldn't he be let go immediately?
(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - An Italian man has been convicted of escaping justice for leaving house arrest to return to jail.
The young drugs offender from the Abruzzo region left a treatment community earlier this year and turned up at Rome's Rebibbia prison the next day, saying he preferred jail to his new companions.
Italy's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, on Friday fined him 1,000 euros and added two months to his sentence .
(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - An Italian man has been convicted of escaping justice for leaving house arrest to return to jail.
The young drugs offender from the Abruzzo region left a treatment community earlier this year and turned up at Rome's Rebibbia prison the next day, saying he preferred jail to his new companions.
Italy's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, on Friday fined him 1,000 euros and added two months to his sentence .
Art Laffer, llama su oficina
In Spain, do as the Spanish do; evade capital gains taxes of 35%:
There is an anecdote which some Spanish property lawyers tell about King Juan Carlos.
They relate with apparent nonchalance how he only declared 50 percent of the cost when he sold one of his many homes – technically breaking the law by avoiding tax. However, the attitude of those who tell this story is not one of appalled concern that even the monarch has such disrespect for the law.
Instead, the king is seen as a chip off the old block; the attitude appears to be "if he can get away with it, why not the rest of us?"
If you buy a house in Spain, you will almost certainly be asked to break the law as a routine part of the process. Refusing usually means you face losing the house of your dreams....
In simple terms, the fraud works like this: to reduce capital gains tax, a seller will ask a buyer to declare they are buying the house at a reduced price - and then pay them the difference in cash.
This practice of using 'black money' to make cash buys 'under the table' for all kinds of services is part of the culture in Spain – as the story about the king proves.
A recent estimate suggested 30 percent of all EUR 500 notes in Europe are in circulation in Spain. This is not purely by chance, but linked to money laundering.
There is an anecdote which some Spanish property lawyers tell about King Juan Carlos.
They relate with apparent nonchalance how he only declared 50 percent of the cost when he sold one of his many homes – technically breaking the law by avoiding tax. However, the attitude of those who tell this story is not one of appalled concern that even the monarch has such disrespect for the law.
Instead, the king is seen as a chip off the old block; the attitude appears to be "if he can get away with it, why not the rest of us?"
If you buy a house in Spain, you will almost certainly be asked to break the law as a routine part of the process. Refusing usually means you face losing the house of your dreams....
In simple terms, the fraud works like this: to reduce capital gains tax, a seller will ask a buyer to declare they are buying the house at a reduced price - and then pay them the difference in cash.
This practice of using 'black money' to make cash buys 'under the table' for all kinds of services is part of the culture in Spain – as the story about the king proves.
A recent estimate suggested 30 percent of all EUR 500 notes in Europe are in circulation in Spain. This is not purely by chance, but linked to money laundering.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
A Day Without Anglicans?
They're fed up and not going to take it anymore:
"What do we want?"
"More police!""When do we want them?""NOW!"
It was a curious sight, some 500 people, many middle-aged, marching along a Spanish road, in a Spanish town, watched with curiosity and not a little concern by Spanish police.
The banners were in English, the chants were in English, and most – but by no means all – of the marchers were English.
....Steve Miller, 42, lives in Huddersfield, in Britain. He was holidaying in nearby Torrevieja when he was mugged early one evening, losing all his money, papers, the lot. He went straight to the Guardia Civil offices close by, to report the theft.
“They said I needed an interpreter. I told them, 'I've lost all my cash, my passport, I'm bleeding from a cut to my forehead, and no, I don't speak Spanish. I'm just here on holiday, for God's sake!'
"No, they told me to go away and get an interpreter. How they hell do I do that? How do I pay for one? They just shrugged, and told me to clear off. I tell you, it's the last time I come to ruddy Spain!”
Law and order is the biggest issue, closely followed by lack of interpreters, seemingly absurd Spanish bureaucracy, police apathy and official intransigence.
And they're inspired by:
...if the estimated 150,000 British residents along the Costas got together, and formed a political party, the effects of Spanish local government could be enormous. No Taxation Without Representation; the slogan that sparked the American war of independence, and lost Britain its American colonies - and now it's starting to be heard again.
"What do we want?"
"More police!""When do we want them?""NOW!"
It was a curious sight, some 500 people, many middle-aged, marching along a Spanish road, in a Spanish town, watched with curiosity and not a little concern by Spanish police.
The banners were in English, the chants were in English, and most – but by no means all – of the marchers were English.
....Steve Miller, 42, lives in Huddersfield, in Britain. He was holidaying in nearby Torrevieja when he was mugged early one evening, losing all his money, papers, the lot. He went straight to the Guardia Civil offices close by, to report the theft.
“They said I needed an interpreter. I told them, 'I've lost all my cash, my passport, I'm bleeding from a cut to my forehead, and no, I don't speak Spanish. I'm just here on holiday, for God's sake!'
"No, they told me to go away and get an interpreter. How they hell do I do that? How do I pay for one? They just shrugged, and told me to clear off. I tell you, it's the last time I come to ruddy Spain!”
Law and order is the biggest issue, closely followed by lack of interpreters, seemingly absurd Spanish bureaucracy, police apathy and official intransigence.
And they're inspired by:
...if the estimated 150,000 British residents along the Costas got together, and formed a political party, the effects of Spanish local government could be enormous. No Taxation Without Representation; the slogan that sparked the American war of independence, and lost Britain its American colonies - and now it's starting to be heard again.
'I'll spot you an open-heart surgery...
...and still expose your front office as total incompetents.'
Or so, the 2005 second round draft choice of the Los Angeles Lakers could have said been saying to the Seattle Supersonics who passed on him to pick, in the first round, his French National Team colleague Johan Petro--16 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds in his NBA opener--when they could have been getting nights like this:
Ronny Turiaf showed spark underneath the basket, nailing career-highs with 23 points and nine rebounds in only his 25th NBA game.
....A year ago, Turiaf was coming back from open-heart surgery, plowing through one hurdle after another, the largest being an enlarged aortic root that left him shaken to the point of telling reporters he was "scared of dying" a couple days before he had surgery in July 2005.
....He successfully came back from that, no small accomplishment in its own, but then had to prove his way in the CBA and fight visa problems — he is a French citizen — before finally playing for the Lakers on Feb. 8.
The 37th pick in the 2005 draft, he picked up on Wednesday where Andrew Bynum left off Tuesday against Phoenix, making eight of 10 shots and providing a timely lift.
"It's a blessing just to be part of this, to be part of something," said Turiaf, 23, who still must wear a pad made of foam and plastic to protect his sternum. "Last year was tough at this time, lying down in my bed and not able to move."
Or so, the 2005 second round draft choice of the Los Angeles Lakers could have said been saying to the Seattle Supersonics who passed on him to pick, in the first round, his French National Team colleague Johan Petro--16 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds in his NBA opener--when they could have been getting nights like this:
Ronny Turiaf showed spark underneath the basket, nailing career-highs with 23 points and nine rebounds in only his 25th NBA game.
....A year ago, Turiaf was coming back from open-heart surgery, plowing through one hurdle after another, the largest being an enlarged aortic root that left him shaken to the point of telling reporters he was "scared of dying" a couple days before he had surgery in July 2005.
....He successfully came back from that, no small accomplishment in its own, but then had to prove his way in the CBA and fight visa problems — he is a French citizen — before finally playing for the Lakers on Feb. 8.
The 37th pick in the 2005 draft, he picked up on Wednesday where Andrew Bynum left off Tuesday against Phoenix, making eight of 10 shots and providing a timely lift.
"It's a blessing just to be part of this, to be part of something," said Turiaf, 23, who still must wear a pad made of foam and plastic to protect his sternum. "Last year was tough at this time, lying down in my bed and not able to move."
Still stupid after all these years
John Kerry is at least consistent:
WASHINGTON (AP) - During a Vietnam-era run for Congress three decades ago, John Kerry said he opposed a volunteer Army because it would be dominated by the underprivileged, be less accountable and be more prone to "the perpetuation of war crimes."
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who turned against the war, made the observations in answers to a 1972 candidate questionnaire from a Massachusetts peace group.
.... "I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'
WASHINGTON (AP) - During a Vietnam-era run for Congress three decades ago, John Kerry said he opposed a volunteer Army because it would be dominated by the underprivileged, be less accountable and be more prone to "the perpetuation of war crimes."
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who turned against the war, made the observations in answers to a 1972 candidate questionnaire from a Massachusetts peace group.
.... "I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'
Is there a prize?
Ala the John Bates Clark Medal for the best economist under the age of 18:
It was another appearance by Ingraham's mysterious underground candy salesman, a lanky, A- and B-average senior who has been defying the Seattle Public Schools' nutrition and solicitation policies for about a year. The Seattle Times agreed not to identify him, but around Ingraham, most teachers and administrators have looked the other way, anyway. Some buy from him.
After the district in 2005 implemented its policy banning junk food and sodas, school vending machines became a wasteland of granola bars, bottled water and baked chips.
The Candyman saw an opportunity.
"Just like prohibition in the '20s, when demand is high and supply is cut off, there are going to emerge black, parallel markets," he said. "High-schoolers need candy, especially in the morning."
It was another appearance by Ingraham's mysterious underground candy salesman, a lanky, A- and B-average senior who has been defying the Seattle Public Schools' nutrition and solicitation policies for about a year. The Seattle Times agreed not to identify him, but around Ingraham, most teachers and administrators have looked the other way, anyway. Some buy from him.
After the district in 2005 implemented its policy banning junk food and sodas, school vending machines became a wasteland of granola bars, bottled water and baked chips.
The Candyman saw an opportunity.
"Just like prohibition in the '20s, when demand is high and supply is cut off, there are going to emerge black, parallel markets," he said. "High-schoolers need candy, especially in the morning."
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
A Standup After John Kerry's Heart
British comedian describes how John Kerry would feel...if he had any sense:
They all laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. They're not laughing now.
They all laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. They're not laughing now.
'Don't think this has taught me a lesson'
Saying anything whatsoever is a tradition in Democrat politics, as this Wikipedia article about another big hair Dem makes clear:
Bankhead was born in Huntsville, Alabama to speaker of the United States House of Representatives William Brockman Bankhead and Adelaide Eugenia Sledge. She was the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II, and granddaughter of Senator John H. Bankhead, all Democrats. Bankhead was also a Democrat.
....It was in 1933 that Bankhead nearly died following a 5-hour emergency hysterectomy for an advanced case of gonorrhea, contracted - she said - from either actor George Raft or Gary Cooper. Only 70 pounds when she was able to leave the hospital, she stoically said to her doctor, "Don't think this has taught me a lesson!"
Flown Under Any Bridges Lately?
When you're a Massachusetts' liberal and you've lost Don Imus and Karen Tumulty, you've lost:
You've got to wonder about John Kerry's eye-hand coordination. His career is falling into a pattern. Whenever Kerry is confronted with a big decision, he tries to compensate for his last mistake.
He voted against the first Iraq war, which turned out to be a success. So when the second one came around, he swallowed his misgivings and voted for it. That also turned out to be a mistake.
So when it came time to vote for the $87 billion to fund the war that he had voted for, he produced what must be the single most damaging sound bite in modern political history by voting for it before he voted against it.
So now, when U.S. troops are suffering their worst casualties in nearly two years, he insulted them. Could Karl Rove have dreamed up a better October surprise than having the Democrats' most recent choice for Commander in Chief suggest that the men and women are dying there because they weren't smart enough to get into law school?
His initial impulse, predictably enough, was to fight back against the criticism. He didn't want to fall again into what turned out to be the biggest trap of 2004, when he failed to understand that a relatively small ad buy from a group that no one had ever heard of could be more damaging than he imagined.
He was determined not to be "swift-boated" again. So he declared: "If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the President and his failed team and a Republican majority in the Congress that has been willing to stamp — rubber-stamp policies that have done injury to our troops and to their families."
But even Rand Beers, his national security adviser in the 2004 campaign, said: "It's unfortunate that Senator Kerry misspoke. No one who has ever been in combat would intentionally impugn our brave troops."
In other words, Kerry has managed on the eve of what could be a watershed election to remind pretty much everyone what it was they didn't like about the Democrats, and especially what they didn't like about him.
You've got to wonder about John Kerry's eye-hand coordination. His career is falling into a pattern. Whenever Kerry is confronted with a big decision, he tries to compensate for his last mistake.
He voted against the first Iraq war, which turned out to be a success. So when the second one came around, he swallowed his misgivings and voted for it. That also turned out to be a mistake.
So when it came time to vote for the $87 billion to fund the war that he had voted for, he produced what must be the single most damaging sound bite in modern political history by voting for it before he voted against it.
So now, when U.S. troops are suffering their worst casualties in nearly two years, he insulted them. Could Karl Rove have dreamed up a better October surprise than having the Democrats' most recent choice for Commander in Chief suggest that the men and women are dying there because they weren't smart enough to get into law school?
His initial impulse, predictably enough, was to fight back against the criticism. He didn't want to fall again into what turned out to be the biggest trap of 2004, when he failed to understand that a relatively small ad buy from a group that no one had ever heard of could be more damaging than he imagined.
He was determined not to be "swift-boated" again. So he declared: "If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the President and his failed team and a Republican majority in the Congress that has been willing to stamp — rubber-stamp policies that have done injury to our troops and to their families."
But even Rand Beers, his national security adviser in the 2004 campaign, said: "It's unfortunate that Senator Kerry misspoke. No one who has ever been in combat would intentionally impugn our brave troops."
In other words, Kerry has managed on the eve of what could be a watershed election to remind pretty much everyone what it was they didn't like about the Democrats, and especially what they didn't like about him.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
And if we could hit a curveball we'd be Albert Pujols
Or had a few billion dollars, Bill Gates.
But, France already is Alfred E. Neuman. What, we worry?:
...French decline is not inevitable, any more than British decline was inevitable in the 1970s. There is nothing that necessarily predisposes the French to conservatism or resistance to change. Just because political leaders in the past have failed to push through bold reforms—Mr Chirac himself, in 1986-88; Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, in 1995—does not mean that the country is unreformable. The unruly French do not make the task easy, but winning them over is a question of political leadership—the courage to level with voters and tell them why things need to change.
.... Some of those who defend the status quo argue that France is a civilised country that has simply chosen different priorities. Like a misunderstood teenager, it wants to do things its own way. It still believes in solidarity and social cohesion, in small farmers and local markets. It does not want to abandon its poor to the streets and its shopkeepers to Wal-Mart.
....Politicians will have to explain that tightening welfare rules need not rip a hole in the safety-net; that subjecting hypermarkets to more competition need not drive the boulanger or patissier from the high street; that removing pharmacists' monopoly on non-prescription drugs need not deprive every village of its green cross. They will also have to persuade voters that the prize is worth having.
....The two presidential front-runners—Ségolène Royal on the left and Nicolas Sarkozy, currently the interior minister, on the right—are both in their early 50s, and both claim to offer a break with the past. But is this new generation as reform-minded as it sounds? And how can it build a consensus for change in a country that seems so resistant to being nudged out of its comfort zone?
But, France already is Alfred E. Neuman. What, we worry?:
...French decline is not inevitable, any more than British decline was inevitable in the 1970s. There is nothing that necessarily predisposes the French to conservatism or resistance to change. Just because political leaders in the past have failed to push through bold reforms—Mr Chirac himself, in 1986-88; Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, in 1995—does not mean that the country is unreformable. The unruly French do not make the task easy, but winning them over is a question of political leadership—the courage to level with voters and tell them why things need to change.
.... Some of those who defend the status quo argue that France is a civilised country that has simply chosen different priorities. Like a misunderstood teenager, it wants to do things its own way. It still believes in solidarity and social cohesion, in small farmers and local markets. It does not want to abandon its poor to the streets and its shopkeepers to Wal-Mart.
....Politicians will have to explain that tightening welfare rules need not rip a hole in the safety-net; that subjecting hypermarkets to more competition need not drive the boulanger or patissier from the high street; that removing pharmacists' monopoly on non-prescription drugs need not deprive every village of its green cross. They will also have to persuade voters that the prize is worth having.
....The two presidential front-runners—Ségolène Royal on the left and Nicolas Sarkozy, currently the interior minister, on the right—are both in their early 50s, and both claim to offer a break with the past. But is this new generation as reform-minded as it sounds? And how can it build a consensus for change in a country that seems so resistant to being nudged out of its comfort zone?
Effortless Stupidity
From John Kerry, reporting for duty and inadvertently saying what he really thinks of men in uniform.
Then follows it up with an explanation that reads like a James Lileks parody:
Washington – Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:
Then follows it up with an explanation that reads like a James Lileks parody:
Washington – Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:
“If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the
more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck
there, they're crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of
these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who
never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.
I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit
White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no
doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start
lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these
Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort
so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.
The people who owe our troops an apology are
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a
Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our
soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These
Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of
our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave
troops to war without body armor.
Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate
straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work
because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a
sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an
administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still
and lose strategy in Iraq.”
What was that again?
Perhaps this explains why Bill Clinton thinks he was the nemesis of Osama, and John Kerry says he was running guns to the Khmer Rouge:
MAASTRICHT - People who consciously pretend as if they can not remember something, thus to lie, with that behaviour disturb their real memories. As a result, they can eventually remember little of what in reality has happened. That becomes clear from research from the University of Maastricht.
....According to researcher Kim van Oorsouw, who will graduate November 30th following her doctoral study into amnesia and criminal behaviour, suspects who say they have a black-out, should be directly subjected to a memory loss test.
MAASTRICHT - People who consciously pretend as if they can not remember something, thus to lie, with that behaviour disturb their real memories. As a result, they can eventually remember little of what in reality has happened. That becomes clear from research from the University of Maastricht.
....According to researcher Kim van Oorsouw, who will graduate November 30th following her doctoral study into amnesia and criminal behaviour, suspects who say they have a black-out, should be directly subjected to a memory loss test.
Extra! Extra!
Just in time for the new French Network, someone found a job in France:
PARIS, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) - French unemployment fell to 8.8 percent of the workforce in September, President Jacques Chirac said in an interview to be published Tuesday by the daily Le Figaro.
"Unemployment has fallen for the past year and a half. In September there were 30,000 fewer jobless people. That took us below the level of nine percent to 8.8 percent," Chirac said.
"We are headed in the right direction," he added....
According to International Labour Organization data, French unemployment was last at 8.8 percent in October 2001.
Labor Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the lower rate of unemployment was the result of measures such as a New Work Contract created in August 2005 that "addresses the concerns of very small companies".
Borloo said France had entered a "virtuous cycle" that did not depend on demographic effects such as the number of people in the workforce.
Virtue being a French value?
PARIS, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) - French unemployment fell to 8.8 percent of the workforce in September, President Jacques Chirac said in an interview to be published Tuesday by the daily Le Figaro.
"Unemployment has fallen for the past year and a half. In September there were 30,000 fewer jobless people. That took us below the level of nine percent to 8.8 percent," Chirac said.
"We are headed in the right direction," he added....
According to International Labour Organization data, French unemployment was last at 8.8 percent in October 2001.
Labor Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the lower rate of unemployment was the result of measures such as a New Work Contract created in August 2005 that "addresses the concerns of very small companies".
Borloo said France had entered a "virtuous cycle" that did not depend on demographic effects such as the number of people in the workforce.
Virtue being a French value?
Dead Air in August?
'Au contraire', say the French:
PARIS, Oct 31, 2006 (AFP) - A round-the-clock international news channel France is to launch in December will challenge the 'Anglo-Saxon' views spread by market leaders BBC and CNN by relying on 'French values', the network's chief said Tuesday.
France 24, as the network is called, will start broadcasting in English and French on the Internet on December 6 and then via satellite two days later, its chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, told Le Figaro newspaper.
Like its British and US rivals, it is homing in on "opinion leaders" around the world by dishing up a diet of news, features and discussion.
But those viewers, Pouzilhac claimed, have become increasingly "sceptical of the world vision offered by the Anglo-Saxons like BBC World and CNN International."
Instead, he asserted, they "are looking for contradictory opinions — which is what France 24 is proposing by relying on French values."
He did not define what those values were in the interview, beyond saying that the channel would highlight "diversity (and)... confrontation, without forgetting the culture and French art of living."
PARIS, Oct 31, 2006 (AFP) - A round-the-clock international news channel France is to launch in December will challenge the 'Anglo-Saxon' views spread by market leaders BBC and CNN by relying on 'French values', the network's chief said Tuesday.
France 24, as the network is called, will start broadcasting in English and French on the Internet on December 6 and then via satellite two days later, its chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, told Le Figaro newspaper.
Like its British and US rivals, it is homing in on "opinion leaders" around the world by dishing up a diet of news, features and discussion.
But those viewers, Pouzilhac claimed, have become increasingly "sceptical of the world vision offered by the Anglo-Saxons like BBC World and CNN International."
Instead, he asserted, they "are looking for contradictory opinions — which is what France 24 is proposing by relying on French values."
He did not define what those values were in the interview, beyond saying that the channel would highlight "diversity (and)... confrontation, without forgetting the culture and French art of living."
Monday, October 30, 2006
Next French Export?
Her neighbors hope it doesn't catch on:
PARIS, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) - The targeting of vehicles by maurading gangs of youths is pretty much a French phenomenon in Europe, according to officials in various countries.
French authorities are currently grappling with a wave of bus torchings -- including one on the weekend that left a badly burned woman on the verge of death -- that is adding to the "normal" arson count of around 70-100 vehicles each night.
Nine buses were incinerated last week, seven of them in the Paris region. The spate of attacks coincided with the first anniversary of the 2005 suburban riots that gripped France -- a three-week orgy of violence that left 10,000 vehicles smoking wrecks.
....In Britain, theft is the main cause attributed to the thousands of arson attacks on vehicles there.... Rioting, in contrast, does not usually involve vehicle burning....
In Germany, there are few examples of cars bearing the fiery brunt of urban disgruntlement, beyond some copycat torchings that occurred during the French riots.
.... A Belgian police spokeswoman, Eels Clemput, said car burnings in her country were "in general to get rid of prints after a bank robbery or theft." ....
In Greece, a small hardcore group of anarchists occasionally set fire to cars belonging to the police or media organisations during major street protests.
In the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, the phenomenon is practically unknown -- at least for now.
PARIS, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) - The targeting of vehicles by maurading gangs of youths is pretty much a French phenomenon in Europe, according to officials in various countries.
French authorities are currently grappling with a wave of bus torchings -- including one on the weekend that left a badly burned woman on the verge of death -- that is adding to the "normal" arson count of around 70-100 vehicles each night.
Nine buses were incinerated last week, seven of them in the Paris region. The spate of attacks coincided with the first anniversary of the 2005 suburban riots that gripped France -- a three-week orgy of violence that left 10,000 vehicles smoking wrecks.
....In Britain, theft is the main cause attributed to the thousands of arson attacks on vehicles there.... Rioting, in contrast, does not usually involve vehicle burning....
In Germany, there are few examples of cars bearing the fiery brunt of urban disgruntlement, beyond some copycat torchings that occurred during the French riots.
.... A Belgian police spokeswoman, Eels Clemput, said car burnings in her country were "in general to get rid of prints after a bank robbery or theft." ....
In Greece, a small hardcore group of anarchists occasionally set fire to cars belonging to the police or media organisations during major street protests.
In the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, the phenomenon is practically unknown -- at least for now.
Meet Me in St Louis
And carry heat, cause it's dangerous there:
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A surge in violence made St. Louis the most dangerous city in the country, leading a trend of violent crimes rising much faster in the Midwest than in the rest of nation, according to an annual list.
The city has long fared poorly in the rankings of the safest and most dangerous American cities compiled by Morgan Quitno Press. Violent crime surged nearly 20 percent in St. Louis from 2004 to last year, when the rate of such crimes rose most dramatically in the Midwest, according to FBI figures released in June.
"It's just sad the way this city is," resident Sam Dawson said. "On the news you hear killings, someone's been shot."
And, just as in the recently concluded World Series, Detroit is number two:
The second most dangerous city was Detroit, followed by Flint, Mich., and Compton, Calif.
The bad news for St. Louis was good for Camden, N.J., which in 2005 was named the most dangerous city for the second year in a row.
Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said Sunday she was thrilled to learn that her city no longer topped the most-dangerous list.
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A surge in violence made St. Louis the most dangerous city in the country, leading a trend of violent crimes rising much faster in the Midwest than in the rest of nation, according to an annual list.
The city has long fared poorly in the rankings of the safest and most dangerous American cities compiled by Morgan Quitno Press. Violent crime surged nearly 20 percent in St. Louis from 2004 to last year, when the rate of such crimes rose most dramatically in the Midwest, according to FBI figures released in June.
"It's just sad the way this city is," resident Sam Dawson said. "On the news you hear killings, someone's been shot."
And, just as in the recently concluded World Series, Detroit is number two:
The second most dangerous city was Detroit, followed by Flint, Mich., and Compton, Calif.
The bad news for St. Louis was good for Camden, N.J., which in 2005 was named the most dangerous city for the second year in a row.
Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said Sunday she was thrilled to learn that her city no longer topped the most-dangerous list.
Going to the dogs
Is British healthcare:
Plans by a debt-ridden NHS hospital to treat sick cats and dogs to raise money were criticised yesterday as a "hygiene disaster waiting to happen".
Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk is hoping to reduce a deficit of £24 million by giving radiotherapy to pets.
The hospital expects to make £50,000 a year – enough for two nurses – from weekend treatment for cats and dogs suffering from cancer.
....Jan Rowsell, a spokesman, said: "Our radiotherapy staff wanted to explore whether the equipment could be used to treat pets on a Saturday morning when nobody is using it."
Plans by a debt-ridden NHS hospital to treat sick cats and dogs to raise money were criticised yesterday as a "hygiene disaster waiting to happen".
Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk is hoping to reduce a deficit of £24 million by giving radiotherapy to pets.
The hospital expects to make £50,000 a year – enough for two nurses – from weekend treatment for cats and dogs suffering from cancer.
....Jan Rowsell, a spokesman, said: "Our radiotherapy staff wanted to explore whether the equipment could be used to treat pets on a Saturday morning when nobody is using it."
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Over 9 Billion Sold
Not (no pun intended) Big Macs:
EUFAULA, Ala. — In Eufaula, Alabama's condom production has survived an onslaught of Asian competition, thanks to the patronage of straitlaced members of Congress from the Bible Belt state.
Behind the scenes, the politicians have ensured that companies in Alabama won federal contracts to make billions of condoms over the years for AIDS prevention and family-planning programs overseas, though Asian factories could do the job at less than half the cost.
In recent years, the state's condom manufacturers fell hundreds of millions of condoms behind on orders, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began buying them from Asia. The use of Asian-made condoms has contributed to layoffs scheduled for next month.
But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., has quietly pressed to maintain the unqualified priority for U.S.-made condoms and is likely to prevail if the past is any guide.
"What's wrong with helping the American worker at the same time we are helping people around the world?" asked the senator's spokesman, Michael Brumas.
....Alabama's members of Congress have long preserved several hundred factory jobs in the state by insisting that USAID buy condoms made in Alabama, though most have done so discreetly.
....The U.S. government, the world's largest donor of condoms, has bought more than 9 billion of them in the past two decades. Under President Bush's global AIDS plan, which dedicates billions of dollars to fight the pandemic, one-third of the money for prevention must go to promoting abstinence.
But that leaves two-thirds for other programs, so the federal government's distribution of condoms has risen, to more than 400 million a year.
EUFAULA, Ala. — In Eufaula, Alabama's condom production has survived an onslaught of Asian competition, thanks to the patronage of straitlaced members of Congress from the Bible Belt state.
Behind the scenes, the politicians have ensured that companies in Alabama won federal contracts to make billions of condoms over the years for AIDS prevention and family-planning programs overseas, though Asian factories could do the job at less than half the cost.
In recent years, the state's condom manufacturers fell hundreds of millions of condoms behind on orders, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began buying them from Asia. The use of Asian-made condoms has contributed to layoffs scheduled for next month.
But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., has quietly pressed to maintain the unqualified priority for U.S.-made condoms and is likely to prevail if the past is any guide.
"What's wrong with helping the American worker at the same time we are helping people around the world?" asked the senator's spokesman, Michael Brumas.
....Alabama's members of Congress have long preserved several hundred factory jobs in the state by insisting that USAID buy condoms made in Alabama, though most have done so discreetly.
....The U.S. government, the world's largest donor of condoms, has bought more than 9 billion of them in the past two decades. Under President Bush's global AIDS plan, which dedicates billions of dollars to fight the pandemic, one-third of the money for prevention must go to promoting abstinence.
But that leaves two-thirds for other programs, so the federal government's distribution of condoms has risen, to more than 400 million a year.
Friday, October 27, 2006
We are not amused...
...said Ukraine to the Blonde Ukraine Greenpeace Activist...over Nude Posters:
A Greenpeace activist in Ukraine faces deportation after she posed naked for a series of environmental awareness posters.
Oksana Golubova, a beautiful blonde and head of the local Greenpeace office in Ukraine’s largest seaside resort area of Crimea, was attempting to protect the peninsula’s nature from careless tourist attitude.
The girl posed as a model for a series of posters together with dead animals and birds. The message she intended to send to the world was human holidays are a threat to nature, the Express Gazeta newspaper reports.
However instead of feeling guilty, the authorities and residents of the peninsula, where tourism is the only source of income, cracked down on the activist herself. She was accused of being immoral, unpatriotic and of trying to ruin the region’s economy.
If Golubova continues her agitation, Crimea’s Prime Minister Viktor Plakida has said, he will personally see that she gets deported from the peninsula.
A Greenpeace activist in Ukraine faces deportation after she posed naked for a series of environmental awareness posters.
Oksana Golubova, a beautiful blonde and head of the local Greenpeace office in Ukraine’s largest seaside resort area of Crimea, was attempting to protect the peninsula’s nature from careless tourist attitude.
The girl posed as a model for a series of posters together with dead animals and birds. The message she intended to send to the world was human holidays are a threat to nature, the Express Gazeta newspaper reports.
However instead of feeling guilty, the authorities and residents of the peninsula, where tourism is the only source of income, cracked down on the activist herself. She was accused of being immoral, unpatriotic and of trying to ruin the region’s economy.
If Golubova continues her agitation, Crimea’s Prime Minister Viktor Plakida has said, he will personally see that she gets deported from the peninsula.
Strange?
That isn't the half of it:
Brussels. We have them for everything for shopping to travelling. Now people in Flanders are to be given 'loyalty' cards . . . for demonstrating their willingness to speak Flemish.
Civic bosses in Flemish Brabant want to increase the number of French-speaking people living in the area to speak Flemish. So, under a novel plan put forward by the local communes, retailers are being asked to speak only in Flemish to people who come into their shops.
Shoppers will be issued with a 'loyalty' card and those who make an effort to cooperate given points. Once they have amassed sufficient points, they will be eligible to enter a draw with a weekend away the first prize.
A spokesperson for Flemish Brabant said shoppers who make mistakes in their attempt to speak Flemish will be corrected.
"It may seem a strange idea but it is hoped this will encourage more French-speakers resident here to speak Flemish."
Great idea, insult your customers.
Brussels. We have them for everything for shopping to travelling. Now people in Flanders are to be given 'loyalty' cards . . . for demonstrating their willingness to speak Flemish.
Civic bosses in Flemish Brabant want to increase the number of French-speaking people living in the area to speak Flemish. So, under a novel plan put forward by the local communes, retailers are being asked to speak only in Flemish to people who come into their shops.
Shoppers will be issued with a 'loyalty' card and those who make an effort to cooperate given points. Once they have amassed sufficient points, they will be eligible to enter a draw with a weekend away the first prize.
A spokesperson for Flemish Brabant said shoppers who make mistakes in their attempt to speak Flemish will be corrected.
"It may seem a strange idea but it is hoped this will encourage more French-speakers resident here to speak Flemish."
Great idea, insult your customers.
Ole!
Spain celebrates a new low in unemployment:
MADRID — The number of people out of work fell to its lowest point since 1979, according to figures published on Friday.
The National Institute of Statistics said unemployment fell by 72,000 in the third quarter of the year.
The total number of people out of work now stands at 1,765,000 - or 8.15 percent of the 'economically active' population.
This is the lowest figure for 27 years.
But, then they take not working seriously in Spain:
MALAGA — An entire village went on strike in protest at plans to build two golf courses, 800 luxury homes and two hotels.
The Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Friday none of the children in Ceuvas del Becerro, near Malaga, went to school and all shops and businesses were closed.
Police and emergency services even maintained a minimum service, joining in the protest.
Isabel Teresa Rosado, the mayoress of Ceuvas, said the strike had been a success.
"The whole town went on strike. The support has been overwhelming, with 100 percent of businesses closed," she said.
MADRID — The number of people out of work fell to its lowest point since 1979, according to figures published on Friday.
The National Institute of Statistics said unemployment fell by 72,000 in the third quarter of the year.
The total number of people out of work now stands at 1,765,000 - or 8.15 percent of the 'economically active' population.
This is the lowest figure for 27 years.
But, then they take not working seriously in Spain:
MALAGA — An entire village went on strike in protest at plans to build two golf courses, 800 luxury homes and two hotels.
The Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Friday none of the children in Ceuvas del Becerro, near Malaga, went to school and all shops and businesses were closed.
Police and emergency services even maintained a minimum service, joining in the protest.
Isabel Teresa Rosado, the mayoress of Ceuvas, said the strike had been a success.
"The whole town went on strike. The support has been overwhelming, with 100 percent of businesses closed," she said.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
At least they're a good bad example
Looking back on the anniversary of the French Muslim rioting:
Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the start of three weeks of rioting in suburbs across France, sparked by the accidental deaths of two teenagers who hid from police in an electrical sub-station in the poor, immigrant Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
The story became a top international news story, as television viewers around the world watched pictures of burning cars and schools, dramatic evidence of the failure of the country's integration efforts.
"The riots were watched with great interest," recalled Arnauld Miguet of the London School of Economics.
"The British considered that the French model had failed in a way but at the same time it wasn't all negative as there were plenty of things to learn," he told AFP.
....For Italian centre-left senator Andrea Manzella the French riots revealed a "social fragility".
....Belgium was "concerned and horrified" at the situation in neighbouring France, says University of Liege philosophy professor Edouard Delruelle.
"The no-go zones, this type of incipient civil war, the de facto ghettos... create an image seen with a certain amount of fear," said Delruelle, a former Belgian rapporteur on intercultural dialogue.
....Fyodor Lukianov, chief editor at the "Russia in Global Politics" review, said parallels were drawn between what happened in the French suburbs "and what could happen in Russia if we don't seriously face up to our own problems of integration".
Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the start of three weeks of rioting in suburbs across France, sparked by the accidental deaths of two teenagers who hid from police in an electrical sub-station in the poor, immigrant Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
The story became a top international news story, as television viewers around the world watched pictures of burning cars and schools, dramatic evidence of the failure of the country's integration efforts.
"The riots were watched with great interest," recalled Arnauld Miguet of the London School of Economics.
"The British considered that the French model had failed in a way but at the same time it wasn't all negative as there were plenty of things to learn," he told AFP.
....For Italian centre-left senator Andrea Manzella the French riots revealed a "social fragility".
....Belgium was "concerned and horrified" at the situation in neighbouring France, says University of Liege philosophy professor Edouard Delruelle.
"The no-go zones, this type of incipient civil war, the de facto ghettos... create an image seen with a certain amount of fear," said Delruelle, a former Belgian rapporteur on intercultural dialogue.
....Fyodor Lukianov, chief editor at the "Russia in Global Politics" review, said parallels were drawn between what happened in the French suburbs "and what could happen in Russia if we don't seriously face up to our own problems of integration".
Well, some of our readers are flying blind
The Whiner Community files another lawsuit to get things the way they think they ought to be:
In the case of the National Federation of the Blind v. Target, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that retailers can be sued if their websites are not accessible to the blind. In her opinion for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Patel wrote that "the 'ordinary meaning' of the ADA's prohibition against discrimination in the enjoyment of goods, services, facilities or privileges, is that whatever goods or services the place provides, it cannot discriminate on the basis of disability in providing enjoyment of those goods and services."
Target had argued that its websites were not covered by the provisions of the ADA, only its physical stores. ....
The issue of website accessibility is not a new one. A few years ago, the National Federation for the Blind sued AOL, but the case never went to trial as AOL agreed to make its sites fully navigable for the visually impaired.
....NFB v. Target appears to be the first case in which a judge has ruled that the ADA covers a web site in addition to meatspace locations. So does this mean that every website in the US, including your blog, needs to be fully ADA-compliant? Mazen M. Basrawi, Equal Justice Works Fellow at Disability Rights Advocates, thinks so. He believes that the ruling requires that "any place of public accommodation is required to ensure that it does not discriminate when it uses the internet as a means to enhance the services it offers at a physical location."
In the case of the National Federation of the Blind v. Target, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that retailers can be sued if their websites are not accessible to the blind. In her opinion for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Patel wrote that "the 'ordinary meaning' of the ADA's prohibition against discrimination in the enjoyment of goods, services, facilities or privileges, is that whatever goods or services the place provides, it cannot discriminate on the basis of disability in providing enjoyment of those goods and services."
Target had argued that its websites were not covered by the provisions of the ADA, only its physical stores. ....
The issue of website accessibility is not a new one. A few years ago, the National Federation for the Blind sued AOL, but the case never went to trial as AOL agreed to make its sites fully navigable for the visually impaired.
....NFB v. Target appears to be the first case in which a judge has ruled that the ADA covers a web site in addition to meatspace locations. So does this mean that every website in the US, including your blog, needs to be fully ADA-compliant? Mazen M. Basrawi, Equal Justice Works Fellow at Disability Rights Advocates, thinks so. He believes that the ruling requires that "any place of public accommodation is required to ensure that it does not discriminate when it uses the internet as a means to enhance the services it offers at a physical location."
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Revoltin' Readers Need a Picture Drawn for Them
Ever obliging, the FLUBA Committee on Educating the Uneducable answers the fans at Angry Bear who stumbled upon a reference to 'same point in business cycle comparisons' and were stumped.
For those who have eyes to see it is obvious that the upward slope of the GDP growth beginning at the end of the 1990-91 recession is interrupted at the end of the Clinton Administration and remains essentially flat for about two years.
Then the growth resumes after the 2001 recession. At a pace very similar to (or even perhaps a little steeper than) that after the previous recession. Similar graphs can be drawn for other economic statistics, such as unemployment or total employee compensation.
All of which ought to be obvious to people with advanced degrees in economics. Of course, when the perennially angriest of the Bears can't even be bothered to click on a link provided:
I guess Roland Patrick was too busy thinking up his smear of Senator Kerry....suggest[ing] Lt. Kerry was giving guns to the Khmer Rouge. But does he have a shred of evidence for this outrageous LIE?
Had he, he would have found said evidence; Senator John Kerry making the claim to Tim Russert in January 2005 on Meet the Press:
SEN. KERRY: I still have the hat that he gave me, and I hope the guy would come out of the woodwork and say, "I'm the guy who went up with John Kerry. We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia."
A very strange bird...
...is this pelican in London,
whose beak holds what his belly can
for about twenty minutes:
Families and tourists in a London park were left shocked when a pelican picked up and swallowed a pigeon.
The unusual wildlife spectacle in St James's Park was caught on camera by photographer Cathal McNaughton.
He said the Eastern White pelican had the unfortunate pigeon in its beak for more than 20 minutes before swallowing it whole.
.... "The pelican was on the towpath preening itself, and there were a lot of tourists watching it.
"Then the bird got up and strolled along until it reached one of the pigeons, which it just grabbed in its beak.
"There was a bit of a struggle for about 20 minutes, with all these people watching. The pelican only opened its mouth a couple of times.
"Then it managed to get the pigeon to go head first down its throat. It was kicking and flapping the whole way down."
whose beak holds what his belly can
for about twenty minutes:
Families and tourists in a London park were left shocked when a pelican picked up and swallowed a pigeon.
The unusual wildlife spectacle in St James's Park was caught on camera by photographer Cathal McNaughton.
He said the Eastern White pelican had the unfortunate pigeon in its beak for more than 20 minutes before swallowing it whole.
.... "The pelican was on the towpath preening itself, and there were a lot of tourists watching it.
"Then the bird got up and strolled along until it reached one of the pigeons, which it just grabbed in its beak.
"There was a bit of a struggle for about 20 minutes, with all these people watching. The pelican only opened its mouth a couple of times.
"Then it managed to get the pigeon to go head first down its throat. It was kicking and flapping the whole way down."
Das Wowerkind?
Berlin begins to face the brave new world of economic reality:
The German capital is looking for ways to reduce costs, following a court ruling denying it federal support to pay off its mammoth 61.6 billion euros ($77 billion) debt.
The ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court last week came as a stunning reverse for Berlin's charismatic Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who was just one month ago re-elected to a new term.
"I was not so naive to believe that l would be returning to Berlin with a trunk full of money. But the negative news is that we are not to get any money at all," said the man nicknamed Wowi by the city's tabloid press.
....Every year Berlin, which has a population of around 3.3 million, has to pay 2.5 billion euros in interest on its debts.
Which the FLUBA Currency Converter makes to be just shy of $1,000 per year per ein Berliner. But, they've got plenty of options for relief, from which to choose:
Among the belt-tightening measures suggested were cuts to the culture budget, introducing university fees for students and selling off some of the 270,000 city-owned apartments.
For years, there has been speculation that one of Berlin's three heavily subsidised opera houses might have to close. .... Currently, the powerful State Opera House where Daniel Barenboim wields the baton, is being restored at a cost of 130 million euros.
....The three Berlin universities - the Free University and Technical University in the west, and the Humboldt University in the central Mitte district, could face pressure to introduce fees.
The cost of running two zoos - one at Tierpark in the eastern part of the city, the other in Charlottenburg, close to the Zoologischer Garten railway station - has also come under question.
Some of Berlin's many libraries, sports Facilities and swimming pools could also face closure as the city battles to regain financial viability in the coming years.
The German capital is looking for ways to reduce costs, following a court ruling denying it federal support to pay off its mammoth 61.6 billion euros ($77 billion) debt.
The ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court last week came as a stunning reverse for Berlin's charismatic Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who was just one month ago re-elected to a new term.
"I was not so naive to believe that l would be returning to Berlin with a trunk full of money. But the negative news is that we are not to get any money at all," said the man nicknamed Wowi by the city's tabloid press.
....Every year Berlin, which has a population of around 3.3 million, has to pay 2.5 billion euros in interest on its debts.
Which the FLUBA Currency Converter makes to be just shy of $1,000 per year per ein Berliner. But, they've got plenty of options for relief, from which to choose:
Among the belt-tightening measures suggested were cuts to the culture budget, introducing university fees for students and selling off some of the 270,000 city-owned apartments.
For years, there has been speculation that one of Berlin's three heavily subsidised opera houses might have to close. .... Currently, the powerful State Opera House where Daniel Barenboim wields the baton, is being restored at a cost of 130 million euros.
....The three Berlin universities - the Free University and Technical University in the west, and the Humboldt University in the central Mitte district, could face pressure to introduce fees.
The cost of running two zoos - one at Tierpark in the eastern part of the city, the other in Charlottenburg, close to the Zoologischer Garten railway station - has also come under question.
Some of Berlin's many libraries, sports Facilities and swimming pools could also face closure as the city battles to regain financial viability in the coming years.
Remember the Chrysler Bailout!
Appears to be the battle cry of Michigan's John Dingell as he looks to the Democrat takeover of Congress:
...Dingell has always frustrated many ideologues on the left by his willingness to work with Republicans to protect the hometown industry, Detroit's automakers. He is deeply wary of the zealotry with which Al Gore and others pursue global warming, for example. Yes, he says, global warming would be on the committee's agenda if he is chairman, but the first goal would be "to gather the facts" - even though global warming ideologues consider the debate closed.
But automakers and other old-line manufacturers blame many of their economic woes on the fact that health care costs are soaring. Detroit places the cost at $1,500 a car, roughly double what they pay for steel. Among other things, Dingell favors immediate relief through a "Medicare for All" system - perhaps starting with laid-off auto workers. He says he would also work to replace the Bush drug plan with a direct government benefit.
"One-third of the $2 trillion or so that we are spending is eaten up in management fees and corporate bureaucracy," he claims, and elimination of that would allow even bigger benefits.
Of course, as humorist P.J. O'Rourke once pointed out, if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's "free." And in even daring to raise the possibility of what Republicans like to term "socialized medicine," Dingell risks reminding Republicans why they should get to the polls. But Dingell makes one thing clear: while there may not be many new ideas on the Democratic side of the aisle, as many Democrats themselves have complained, there are plenty of old -- arguably bad -- ideas awaiting resurrection.
...Dingell has always frustrated many ideologues on the left by his willingness to work with Republicans to protect the hometown industry, Detroit's automakers. He is deeply wary of the zealotry with which Al Gore and others pursue global warming, for example. Yes, he says, global warming would be on the committee's agenda if he is chairman, but the first goal would be "to gather the facts" - even though global warming ideologues consider the debate closed.
But automakers and other old-line manufacturers blame many of their economic woes on the fact that health care costs are soaring. Detroit places the cost at $1,500 a car, roughly double what they pay for steel. Among other things, Dingell favors immediate relief through a "Medicare for All" system - perhaps starting with laid-off auto workers. He says he would also work to replace the Bush drug plan with a direct government benefit.
"One-third of the $2 trillion or so that we are spending is eaten up in management fees and corporate bureaucracy," he claims, and elimination of that would allow even bigger benefits.
Of course, as humorist P.J. O'Rourke once pointed out, if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's "free." And in even daring to raise the possibility of what Republicans like to term "socialized medicine," Dingell risks reminding Republicans why they should get to the polls. But Dingell makes one thing clear: while there may not be many new ideas on the Democratic side of the aisle, as many Democrats themselves have complained, there are plenty of old -- arguably bad -- ideas awaiting resurrection.
A few rotten apples
The difficulty of finding seasonal labor now hits the apple orchards of Eastern Washington:
This tract of Broetje Orchards is filled with jumbo red- and golden-delicious apples, hanging from branches that arc across long, fruit-scented rows.
Though pockmarked by spring hailstorms, the fruit is sugar sweet and prime for juice.
But there are no bins, no tractors and no crews here. These apples — an estimated 15 million pounds — will not be picked.
"We didn't have enough pickers, so they are going to drop," said Ralph Broetje, who will forgo harvest on 400 of his 5,400 acres of orchards.
Even raising wages couldn't draw enough workers:
Wages have typically climbed by 10 to 25 percent or more, with workers flexing newfound labor muscle to leave one orchard for another if they don't like the pay, according to Sanchez and Mike Gempler of the Washington Growers League.
....experienced pickers can earn from $80 to about $120 a day.
Which would seem to undercut the hysterical charges from some about the lousy labor market
But, Republicans worried about losing control of congress might want to think about what they've sown politically in rural, Red State, America:
Both growers and labor-union officials support a provision introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year that would streamline the program for bringing in temporary workers in times of shortage at wages that don't undercut the local job markets, and help resident farm workers who are here illegally gain legal permanent residence.
"Absolutely, we do have common cause about what should happen next. We need to have a legal labor force," said Erik Nicholson, the United Farm Workers Northwest regional director.
The House of Representatives hasn't supported such legislation. The House's Republican majority has backed a bill that would beef up security along the border with a 700-mile extension of fences and barriers on the southern borders.
Growers say that unless the politics change in Congress, they expect more labor shortages next season.
"What we are experiencing this year is a red-flag warning," Broetje said. "We are beholden to these workers, and they should be able to get here without risking their lives to cross the border."
This tract of Broetje Orchards is filled with jumbo red- and golden-delicious apples, hanging from branches that arc across long, fruit-scented rows.
Though pockmarked by spring hailstorms, the fruit is sugar sweet and prime for juice.
But there are no bins, no tractors and no crews here. These apples — an estimated 15 million pounds — will not be picked.
"We didn't have enough pickers, so they are going to drop," said Ralph Broetje, who will forgo harvest on 400 of his 5,400 acres of orchards.
Even raising wages couldn't draw enough workers:
Wages have typically climbed by 10 to 25 percent or more, with workers flexing newfound labor muscle to leave one orchard for another if they don't like the pay, according to Sanchez and Mike Gempler of the Washington Growers League.
....experienced pickers can earn from $80 to about $120 a day.
Which would seem to undercut the hysterical charges from some about the lousy labor market
But, Republicans worried about losing control of congress might want to think about what they've sown politically in rural, Red State, America:
Both growers and labor-union officials support a provision introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this year that would streamline the program for bringing in temporary workers in times of shortage at wages that don't undercut the local job markets, and help resident farm workers who are here illegally gain legal permanent residence.
"Absolutely, we do have common cause about what should happen next. We need to have a legal labor force," said Erik Nicholson, the United Farm Workers Northwest regional director.
The House of Representatives hasn't supported such legislation. The House's Republican majority has backed a bill that would beef up security along the border with a 700-mile extension of fences and barriers on the southern borders.
Growers say that unless the politics change in Congress, they expect more labor shortages next season.
"What we are experiencing this year is a red-flag warning," Broetje said. "We are beholden to these workers, and they should be able to get here without risking their lives to cross the border."
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