You will be crying by the end.
"R.I. city seeks bankruptcy; Central Falls gives in to social, financial pressure" August 02, 2011|By Mark Arsenault and Laura J. Nelson, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. - This tiny municipality has for years been a microcosm of big-city problems, with a myriad of financial and social ills concentrated in a community barely bigger than 1 square mile.
The City of Central Falls suffers from Rhode Island’s highest unemployment rate, about 15 percent, and the state’s lowest per capita income. Its underperforming high school made national headlines last year when the entire faculty was fired, then rehired. A year ago, city government was taken over by a state receiver, turning local elected officials into advisers.
And now troubled Central Falls has fallen into bankruptcy.
With the community battered by debt and years of financial problems, Robert Flanders Jr., the receiver in charge of city government and a former state Supreme Court justice, sought bankruptcy protection for Central Falls yesterday, plunging the city into a little-used segment of financial law reserved for government entities that have wholly failed.
“The current situation is dire,’’ said Governor Lincoln Chafee, announcing the bankruptcy filing yesterday, “and it necessitates decisive steps to put the city back on the path to solid financial footing and future prosperity.’’
******************************
The rare bankruptcy of a municipality is a black eye for the Ocean State, and the fallout could undermine confidence in government bonds in Rhode Island, which would increase the cost of borrowing money, putting a further burden on taxpayers.
See: The AAA Scam
Maybe the state should incorporate itself.
“What this says to bond investors is the state is not willing to step in and prevent a bankruptcy’’ with an infusion of money, said New York bond lawyer Brian Fraser, of Richards Kibbe & Orbe. “Investors can no longer count on that backstop.’’
Maybe it is ABOUT TIME!
The city of 19,000 people has fallen on very hard times, made worse by a small commercial tax base and little industry. It was once a center for textiles, metal workers, chocolate makers, and other manufactured products, including Play-Doh, the children’s clay that was made here by Hasbro Inc. until an all-too familiar announcement of a plant closure and layoffs in the 1990s.
So where did Hasbro go?
Btw, I NOTICED BANKS and OIL COMPANIES clearing BILLIONS in PROFITS last quarter, so WTF?!!!!!
Today, brick mill buildings stand as reminders of a more prosperous past.
Sounds like downstreet here.
The community’s best-known employers now include the Wyatt Detention Facility, which houses gangsters, illegal immigrants, and, as she awaits trial, Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of James “Whitey’’ Bulger, the Boston mobster captured in June....
Who?
Related: FBI Frame-Ups Past and Present
A Bulging Boston Globe
Whitey Makes Me See Red
Battle of the Bulger
Choppy Bulger Coverage
Massachusetts' White Shadow
That's why I stopped covering it.
The bankruptcy also comes after state officials failed to reach a deal for union concessions by police, fire, and municipal employees; they also failed to persuade retirees to accept lower pensions and benefits.
Yeah, it is ALL the COP, FIREFIGHTER, and TEACHER'S FAULT -- and GOVERNMENT PROMISES mean NOTHING!!
Pension funds have been chronically shorted by local officials....
Related: States Stole Public Pension Money
Maybe that blade should be sharpened.
Flanders has filed a motion seeking to nullify contracts with the unions, with the intent to force city workers to accept concessions or face the possibility their contracts could be torn up by the court.
And IF the COURT did that we are IN a FASCIST DICTATORSHIP because that is the COURT'S FUNDAMENTAL JOB under the CONSTITUTION!
The ENFORCEMENT of CONTRACTS!!
Maybe I'm looking at it in the wrong way. If you are able to RIP UP a LABOR CONTRACT, then surely you must be able to RIP UP a BOND CONTRACT or DEBT OBLIGATIONS!!
I think I just got Central Falls off the hook.
Joseph Nield, head of the Department of Public Works, said the bankruptcy is shocking to public employees who opted for civic jobs with the lure of stable benefits, rather than white-collar careers.
“When the city told them, ‘You may not make a lot of money, but you’ll always be taken care of,’ they swallowed it, and they’ve continued to believe that,’’ Nield said yesterday....
Well, not now.
--more--"
Related: Central Falls receiver warns council over meeting
City eyes cuts to retiree pensions, benefits
R.I. city asks retirees for significant pension cuts
The Falls of Rhode Island
Also see:
R.I. aims to block death-penalty trial
R.I. tries to bar defendant transfer to US custody
2 hybrid trolleys to replace diesel buses
Bruce Sundlun, 91; served two terms as R.I. governor
R.I. recalls ex-governor Sundlun as a strict steward of state
N.Y. boy, 10, dies in sleep at Scout camp
R.I. has loan deal for nursing students
Memorial Hospital to get a new leader
City begins search for police, fire chiefs
Driver dies after crashing truck in rotary
Sewage spill taints Blackstone River
Rare tick disease cases on rise in Rhode Island
Report backs Slater Mill as national park
Take time and a tissue to dry your eyes.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The AAA Scam
And not the guys who come tow your car after you have broken down.
"A funny thing happened when these companies were sent down to AA.... Borrowing costs for General Electric and Berkshire actually fell in the weeks after they were downgraded"
But they go UP when TAXPAYERS are on the hook?
And DO YOU SEE ME LAUGHIN'?!!!!!!!!!
"AAA rating not all it used to be; Only four US companies still get top marks" by Eric Dash, New York Times / August 3, 2011
Hanging over the debt ceiling negotiations in Washington has been the threat of the United States losing its AAA credit rating, a coveted measure of the federal government’s financial strength. But in corporate America, the top rating long ago became an anachronism.
Scores of big companies have lost their AAA status in recent years - only four continue to hold the rating - as it became seen in board rooms as more of a straitjacket than a path to riches. Just as many consumers relied on their credit cards to finance a higher standard of living, companies took on more debt to reap bigger returns.
The choice did not appear to hurt them. The borrowing costs of companies with AAA ratings and those one level below are not that far apart.
“It’s like you are going from a Rolls-Royce to a Mercedes - not from a Rolls-Royce to a Yugo,’’ said Chris Orndorff, a senior portfolio manager for the bond giant Western Asset Management. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.’’
More and more, companies have found that a AAA credit rating is not something worth aspiring to if a more conservative approach means lower profits....
Analysts say corporate buyouts and acquisitions accelerated the trend. Many AAA companies lost their ratings when they were taken over and their new owners loaded them with cheap debt to help pay for the deal. Other strategic decisions also triggered downgrades.
Meanwhile, the financial crisis and deep recession laid into several of the sturdiest pillars of American capitalism. Berkshire Hathaway, General Electric, and Pfizer all lost their AAA ratings.
Still, a funny thing happened when these companies were sent down to AA. Investors shrugged off the change; the markets had already rendered their verdict. Borrowing costs for General Electric and Berkshire actually fell in the weeks after they were downgraded in spring 2009, amid a broader market rally.
Related:
"General Electric Co. has drawn sharp criticism for paying zero taxes, despite earning more than $14 billion last year"
What do you mean GE got a $3.2 billion tax "refund?"
Ratings for companies and countries are viewed differently, even if they are evaluated in much the same way.
For most Americans, the prospect that the government could lose its vaunted AAA credit rating is almost unthinkable - a blow to national pride and consumer confidence that could turn out to be more damaging than any increase in borrowing costs.
Well, THIS American DOESN'T GIVE a S***!!!
Also see:
"Interest on the national debt rose 9 percent to $386 billion in the first nine months of this year"
That's means DEBT SERVICE INTEREST PAYMENTS WILL COST over $500 BILLION this year!! What could YOU DO with $500 BILLION dollars, taxpayers?
That is why even after President Obama signed a law yesterday that lifted the debt ceiling, some in Washington were worried that the plan’s spending cuts were not deep enough to appease all the major rating agencies....
See: Debt Discussion Dominates
The financial sector really wants to see the economy fail.
It helps that the dollar remains the world’s leading currency, ensuring that demand for US debt is strong in spite of the nation’s financial challenges.
Yeah, and if the world ever gets off that Americans are TOTALLY F***ED!
Think Zimbabwe, Americans.
But the truth is, even as the government maintained its AAA grade, the markets suggested long ago that the United States no longer deserved it.
Like you would EVER FIND THAT in an AmeriKan NEWSPAPER!
The credit-default swap market provided one clue.
Watch: Inside Job
Clear on credit-default swaps now?
During the financial crisis in early 2009, the price of insurance that would pay off if the US government defaulted on its debt was similar to that offered for companies ranked just above junk. Even today, the price of insurance on a government default has been higher than that for Colgate Palmolive, the global toothpaste giant, which has a rating two notches below AAA.
The economic data also suggest that the United States has higher debt levels than most AAA corporate borrowers. Today, the US debt as a percentage of the nation’s economic output is 75 percent and could top 84 percent by 2013, according to Standard & Poor’s research. The typical AAA-rated country has a ratio of about 11.4 percent.
But could a US company’s credit really be more solid than the full faith and credit of the United States?
Who has faith in the U.S. government anymore?
The ratings agencies may say so one day, but lawmakers and citizens might have a reaction like that of Warren E. Buffett, after his Berkshire Hathaway lost its prized AAA status in 2009. “We’re still AAA in my mind,’’ he said.
And when I look in the mirror I always see the fine young prince I used to be.
--more--"
"A funny thing happened when these companies were sent down to AA.... Borrowing costs for General Electric and Berkshire actually fell in the weeks after they were downgraded"
But they go UP when TAXPAYERS are on the hook?
And DO YOU SEE ME LAUGHIN'?!!!!!!!!!
"AAA rating not all it used to be; Only four US companies still get top marks" by Eric Dash, New York Times / August 3, 2011
Hanging over the debt ceiling negotiations in Washington has been the threat of the United States losing its AAA credit rating, a coveted measure of the federal government’s financial strength. But in corporate America, the top rating long ago became an anachronism.
Scores of big companies have lost their AAA status in recent years - only four continue to hold the rating - as it became seen in board rooms as more of a straitjacket than a path to riches. Just as many consumers relied on their credit cards to finance a higher standard of living, companies took on more debt to reap bigger returns.
The choice did not appear to hurt them. The borrowing costs of companies with AAA ratings and those one level below are not that far apart.
“It’s like you are going from a Rolls-Royce to a Mercedes - not from a Rolls-Royce to a Yugo,’’ said Chris Orndorff, a senior portfolio manager for the bond giant Western Asset Management. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.’’
More and more, companies have found that a AAA credit rating is not something worth aspiring to if a more conservative approach means lower profits....
Analysts say corporate buyouts and acquisitions accelerated the trend. Many AAA companies lost their ratings when they were taken over and their new owners loaded them with cheap debt to help pay for the deal. Other strategic decisions also triggered downgrades.
Meanwhile, the financial crisis and deep recession laid into several of the sturdiest pillars of American capitalism. Berkshire Hathaway, General Electric, and Pfizer all lost their AAA ratings.
Still, a funny thing happened when these companies were sent down to AA. Investors shrugged off the change; the markets had already rendered their verdict. Borrowing costs for General Electric and Berkshire actually fell in the weeks after they were downgraded in spring 2009, amid a broader market rally.
Related:
"General Electric Co. has drawn sharp criticism for paying zero taxes, despite earning more than $14 billion last year"
What do you mean GE got a $3.2 billion tax "refund?"
Ratings for companies and countries are viewed differently, even if they are evaluated in much the same way.
For most Americans, the prospect that the government could lose its vaunted AAA credit rating is almost unthinkable - a blow to national pride and consumer confidence that could turn out to be more damaging than any increase in borrowing costs.
Well, THIS American DOESN'T GIVE a S***!!!
Also see:
"Interest on the national debt rose 9 percent to $386 billion in the first nine months of this year"
That's means DEBT SERVICE INTEREST PAYMENTS WILL COST over $500 BILLION this year!! What could YOU DO with $500 BILLION dollars, taxpayers?
That is why even after President Obama signed a law yesterday that lifted the debt ceiling, some in Washington were worried that the plan’s spending cuts were not deep enough to appease all the major rating agencies....
See: Debt Discussion Dominates
The financial sector really wants to see the economy fail.
It helps that the dollar remains the world’s leading currency, ensuring that demand for US debt is strong in spite of the nation’s financial challenges.
Yeah, and if the world ever gets off that Americans are TOTALLY F***ED!
Think Zimbabwe, Americans.
But the truth is, even as the government maintained its AAA grade, the markets suggested long ago that the United States no longer deserved it.
Like you would EVER FIND THAT in an AmeriKan NEWSPAPER!
The credit-default swap market provided one clue.
Watch: Inside Job
Clear on credit-default swaps now?
During the financial crisis in early 2009, the price of insurance that would pay off if the US government defaulted on its debt was similar to that offered for companies ranked just above junk. Even today, the price of insurance on a government default has been higher than that for Colgate Palmolive, the global toothpaste giant, which has a rating two notches below AAA.
The economic data also suggest that the United States has higher debt levels than most AAA corporate borrowers. Today, the US debt as a percentage of the nation’s economic output is 75 percent and could top 84 percent by 2013, according to Standard & Poor’s research. The typical AAA-rated country has a ratio of about 11.4 percent.
But could a US company’s credit really be more solid than the full faith and credit of the United States?
Who has faith in the U.S. government anymore?
The ratings agencies may say so one day, but lawmakers and citizens might have a reaction like that of Warren E. Buffett, after his Berkshire Hathaway lost its prized AAA status in 2009. “We’re still AAA in my mind,’’ he said.
And when I look in the mirror I always see the fine young prince I used to be.
--more--"
Ganging Up on the Elderly
Why not just suffocate 'em with a pillow?
"‘Gang of Six’ plan drops long-term care provision" July 21, 2011|By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
A new insurance program for long-term care may fall casualty to the so-called “Gang of Six’’ plan to address the federal deficit.
Now it's a gang of 12.
A little-noticed provision of President Obama’s health care overhaul established a voluntary insurance program for in-home care in which individuals would pay premiums, then receive cash benefits should they become disabled and unable to perform basic functions like eating or dressing themselves. The bipartisan group of senators trying to develop a compromise to allow the president and Congress to raise the debt ceiling would repeal the program.
But the wars and corporations are well taken care of.
The details of the insurance plan are not yet known because the secretary of Health and Human Services has until Oct. 1, 2012, to design it. According to a June 2010 report by the Congressional Research Service, premiums would probably start at between $123 and $240 a month for average benefits of $50 to $75 a day once a recipient becomes disabled. (Students and those below the poverty level would pay just $5 a month.)
That's not a lot for home care, but I suppose it's better than nothing.
The late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts championed the idea of a government-run long-term care insurance program for years, and before his death was instrumental in getting it included in Obama’s overhaul.
Related: Globe Spits on Kennedy Graves
Gang of Six just took a piss on Ted's.
The plan is known as the CLASS Act, for Community Living Assistance Services and Supports. In the short term, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, the program would reduce federal spending by $83 billion between 2012 and 2021. But that is only because people must buy into the system for five years before getting benefits, so payouts would not actually start until 2017. In subsequent decades, the CBO predicted, the program would pay out more than it takes in.
The big question is whether the program is sustainable in the long term. Analysts say that because the program is voluntary, it is likely that only the sickest and most at-risk population would participate, driving up costs....
Joseph Antos, a health policy expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, warned that if only the sickest Americans take part and the program becomes insolvent, taxpayers could be asked to bail it out.
I would RATHER BAIL THEM OUT than the DAMN BANKS!!!!
It will become “just another entitlement drawing down on the federal budget,’’ Antos said in an interview yesterday.
It's a war on the old and sick?
On the other hand, advocates for the program say it addresses an important need: ensuring that individuals contribute to their own long-term care, rather than relying on Medicaid, another federal program. “The reality is people are without protection against the catastrophic and uncertain risk of needing long-term care,’’ said Judy Feder, a professor at Georgetown Public Policy Institute and an Urban Institute fellow. “This is a way to have people pay in advance to provide a modest amount of protection to help them manage as they need long-term care.’’
Yet SOMEHOW other countries that have adopted universal health care have made it work.
*****************************
It is unclear whether Obama would take a strong stand to support the program.
After the recent debt cave-in you can say goodbye to this program.
A spokesman for Health and Human Services declined to comment. A White House spokesman referred a reporter to statements yesterday by White House press secretary Jay Carney that Obama supports the framework of the Gang of Six proposal but may not agree with all the details. Carney did not mention the CLASS Act.
That's called passing the buck, evading the question, and giving you the run around.
--more--"
"‘Gang of Six’ plan drops long-term care provision" July 21, 2011|By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
A new insurance program for long-term care may fall casualty to the so-called “Gang of Six’’ plan to address the federal deficit.
Now it's a gang of 12.
A little-noticed provision of President Obama’s health care overhaul established a voluntary insurance program for in-home care in which individuals would pay premiums, then receive cash benefits should they become disabled and unable to perform basic functions like eating or dressing themselves. The bipartisan group of senators trying to develop a compromise to allow the president and Congress to raise the debt ceiling would repeal the program.
But the wars and corporations are well taken care of.
The details of the insurance plan are not yet known because the secretary of Health and Human Services has until Oct. 1, 2012, to design it. According to a June 2010 report by the Congressional Research Service, premiums would probably start at between $123 and $240 a month for average benefits of $50 to $75 a day once a recipient becomes disabled. (Students and those below the poverty level would pay just $5 a month.)
That's not a lot for home care, but I suppose it's better than nothing.
The late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts championed the idea of a government-run long-term care insurance program for years, and before his death was instrumental in getting it included in Obama’s overhaul.
Related: Globe Spits on Kennedy Graves
Gang of Six just took a piss on Ted's.
The plan is known as the CLASS Act, for Community Living Assistance Services and Supports. In the short term, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, the program would reduce federal spending by $83 billion between 2012 and 2021. But that is only because people must buy into the system for five years before getting benefits, so payouts would not actually start until 2017. In subsequent decades, the CBO predicted, the program would pay out more than it takes in.
The big question is whether the program is sustainable in the long term. Analysts say that because the program is voluntary, it is likely that only the sickest and most at-risk population would participate, driving up costs....
Joseph Antos, a health policy expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, warned that if only the sickest Americans take part and the program becomes insolvent, taxpayers could be asked to bail it out.
I would RATHER BAIL THEM OUT than the DAMN BANKS!!!!
It will become “just another entitlement drawing down on the federal budget,’’ Antos said in an interview yesterday.
It's a war on the old and sick?
On the other hand, advocates for the program say it addresses an important need: ensuring that individuals contribute to their own long-term care, rather than relying on Medicaid, another federal program. “The reality is people are without protection against the catastrophic and uncertain risk of needing long-term care,’’ said Judy Feder, a professor at Georgetown Public Policy Institute and an Urban Institute fellow. “This is a way to have people pay in advance to provide a modest amount of protection to help them manage as they need long-term care.’’
Yet SOMEHOW other countries that have adopted universal health care have made it work.
*****************************
It is unclear whether Obama would take a strong stand to support the program.
After the recent debt cave-in you can say goodbye to this program.
A spokesman for Health and Human Services declined to comment. A White House spokesman referred a reporter to statements yesterday by White House press secretary Jay Carney that Obama supports the framework of the Gang of Six proposal but may not agree with all the details. Carney did not mention the CLASS Act.
That's called passing the buck, evading the question, and giving you the run around.
--more--"
Shopping For Supper in Somerville
I guess it's Chinese food this evening:
"Wal-Mart to enter local grocery wars; Mid-size market set for Somerville" July 22, 2011|By Kaivan Mangouri, Globe Correspondent
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is opening its first Market grocery store in the Northeast in Somerville, becoming the latest - and biggest - new competitor to try to shake up the once-staid supermarket scene in New England.
The Arkansas retail giant expects to soon sign a lease for the former Circuit City store on Mystic Avenue at the edge of the Assembly Square shopping district, and company spokesman Steven Restivo said the grocery should be open within a year.
Operating under the name Walmart Market, the grocery will be about 34,000 square feet, similar to a mid-size supermarket. Such smaller stores are part of a marked change in strategy for a company that built its reputation on sprawling big-box sites. Wal-Mart is now concentrating on opening smaller stores to improve its penetration in urban areas - especially New England, which the company has targeted as a major focus for expansion.
Analysts said the Walmart Market should benefit consumers by offering a another low-cost competitor to a region that only recently has seen new chains open stores....
While it may be too early to know Walmart Market’s impact on other grocers, Kevin Griffin, the head of Griffin Publishing, which produces industry market analysis, noted that any additional competition would be good for shoppers....
One explanation for the recent surge of interest from outside competitors is that Massachusetts appears to have fewer supermarkets than other states. A study released earlier this year by the Massachusetts Public Health Association found the Bay State ranked near the bottom of states in having enough supermarkets with fresh nutritious food. The study said the shortage was particularly acute in dense urban areas, where land is scarce and big, suburban-style supermarkets have a harder time fitting in.
That's why you grow your own and go to the farm stand.
But the Somerville location is far from underserved when it comes to grocery stores. There are several major supermarkets a short distance away, along a road system that includes Interstate 93 and major secondary highways. It is also very close to the multibillion dollar Assembly Row redevelopment project, which includes housing and additional retail and a new MBTA Orange Line station.
Company officials said the Somerville opening is not related to Wal-Mart’s pledge, made earlier in the week alongside Michelle Obama, to open 300 stores as part of a US government initiative to reduce obesity by providing healthier food options in underserved areas. The company has not yet detailed how many stores it would open in Massachusetts as part of the campaign....
Have you ever seen some of those fat f***s walking the halls of Congress?
The region’s two main supermarket chains said little about the looming threat posed by Walmart Markets. At Shaw’s, which has 84 stores in Massachusetts, a company spokesman said the chain will continue to emphasize locally grown produce and expertise in seafood.
And keep breaking unions?
And a Stop & Shop spokeswoman said the chain’s 130 Massachusetts stores will continue to distinguish themselves by convenience measures, including smaller stores in many locations and the use of smartphone applications that allow customers to bypass checkout lines.
Another supermarket analyst, Neil Stern, a senior partner at Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle LLP, said that Wal-Mart’s ability to run an efficient supply chain and accept lower margins will give it a price advantage over competitors, but that the company’s reputation for weaker customer service doesn’t mean it will automatically take market share from the other grocers.
“They have taken neighborhood market feel, and taken an upper scale market - it looks nicer than the Walmart [Supercenter],’’ Stern said.
“Clearly Wal-Mart’s bread and butter has been the middle-income to slightly lower-middle-income customer; the higher you move up the income bracket, the less [customers] are likely to go to Wal-mart,’’ Stern said.
The Market concept has gone through significant retooling since its inception in 1998, and the company stated at its annual meeting in June that it had finally come up with the right formula to increase its market share near urban centers, where it historically has faced with limited real estate opportunities and community opposition.
Why would they face that?
--more--"
Related: No red carpet for Walmart Market in Somerville
What? After all the good points the Globe made for it?
"Wal-Mart to enter local grocery wars; Mid-size market set for Somerville" July 22, 2011|By Kaivan Mangouri, Globe Correspondent
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is opening its first Market grocery store in the Northeast in Somerville, becoming the latest - and biggest - new competitor to try to shake up the once-staid supermarket scene in New England.
The Arkansas retail giant expects to soon sign a lease for the former Circuit City store on Mystic Avenue at the edge of the Assembly Square shopping district, and company spokesman Steven Restivo said the grocery should be open within a year.
Operating under the name Walmart Market, the grocery will be about 34,000 square feet, similar to a mid-size supermarket. Such smaller stores are part of a marked change in strategy for a company that built its reputation on sprawling big-box sites. Wal-Mart is now concentrating on opening smaller stores to improve its penetration in urban areas - especially New England, which the company has targeted as a major focus for expansion.
Analysts said the Walmart Market should benefit consumers by offering a another low-cost competitor to a region that only recently has seen new chains open stores....
While it may be too early to know Walmart Market’s impact on other grocers, Kevin Griffin, the head of Griffin Publishing, which produces industry market analysis, noted that any additional competition would be good for shoppers....
One explanation for the recent surge of interest from outside competitors is that Massachusetts appears to have fewer supermarkets than other states. A study released earlier this year by the Massachusetts Public Health Association found the Bay State ranked near the bottom of states in having enough supermarkets with fresh nutritious food. The study said the shortage was particularly acute in dense urban areas, where land is scarce and big, suburban-style supermarkets have a harder time fitting in.
That's why you grow your own and go to the farm stand.
But the Somerville location is far from underserved when it comes to grocery stores. There are several major supermarkets a short distance away, along a road system that includes Interstate 93 and major secondary highways. It is also very close to the multibillion dollar Assembly Row redevelopment project, which includes housing and additional retail and a new MBTA Orange Line station.
Company officials said the Somerville opening is not related to Wal-Mart’s pledge, made earlier in the week alongside Michelle Obama, to open 300 stores as part of a US government initiative to reduce obesity by providing healthier food options in underserved areas. The company has not yet detailed how many stores it would open in Massachusetts as part of the campaign....
Have you ever seen some of those fat f***s walking the halls of Congress?
The region’s two main supermarket chains said little about the looming threat posed by Walmart Markets. At Shaw’s, which has 84 stores in Massachusetts, a company spokesman said the chain will continue to emphasize locally grown produce and expertise in seafood.
And keep breaking unions?
And a Stop & Shop spokeswoman said the chain’s 130 Massachusetts stores will continue to distinguish themselves by convenience measures, including smaller stores in many locations and the use of smartphone applications that allow customers to bypass checkout lines.
Another supermarket analyst, Neil Stern, a senior partner at Chicago-based retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle LLP, said that Wal-Mart’s ability to run an efficient supply chain and accept lower margins will give it a price advantage over competitors, but that the company’s reputation for weaker customer service doesn’t mean it will automatically take market share from the other grocers.
“They have taken neighborhood market feel, and taken an upper scale market - it looks nicer than the Walmart [Supercenter],’’ Stern said.
“Clearly Wal-Mart’s bread and butter has been the middle-income to slightly lower-middle-income customer; the higher you move up the income bracket, the less [customers] are likely to go to Wal-mart,’’ Stern said.
The Market concept has gone through significant retooling since its inception in 1998, and the company stated at its annual meeting in June that it had finally come up with the right formula to increase its market share near urban centers, where it historically has faced with limited real estate opportunities and community opposition.
Why would they face that?
--more--"
Related: No red carpet for Walmart Market in Somerville
What? After all the good points the Globe made for it?
Fidelity Been Cheating On Massachusetts
"Fidelity has been reducing its Massachusetts workforce for years, seeking to diversify its locations as a way to attract talent, reduce operating costs, and take advantage of government incentive packages offered in Texas, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and other states. It also has operations in several foreign countries, including Canada, Ireland, and India....
--more--"
--more--"
Debt Discussion Dominates
Obama's declining poll numbers and loss of tweet friends because of this sell-out are nowhere to be found, nor is and end to the wars.
If I didn't know better I would say the STAGE is being SET for ANOTHER FALSE FLAG ATTACK for LATE SEPTEMBER -- especially with the Palestinians scheduled to appeal for statehood from the U.N.
So what is it going to be, a REALLY BIG BANG in Chicago to be blamed on them to initiate WWIII?
"House OK’s debt package; Broad measure draws fire in both parties, heads to expected Senate passage today" August 02, 2011|By Matt Viser and Donovan Slack, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON - During an emotional day, with acrimony evident behind closed doors and in public view, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans decried the terms of the deal. Republicans wanted further domestic spending cuts - and fewer to defense programs - while Democrats said the proposal put at risk some entitlement programs they cherish and should have included tax increases.
But much of the partisan rancor seemed to evaporate when Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who was shot in the head earlier this year at a town hall meeting, made a surprise appearance in the House chamber with about three minutes left to vote on the debt deal. Large applause broke out and members crowded around her.
Related:
Giffords insisted on casting vote
Globe Editorial Giffords: A simple message of unity
The American people are united on many things; it's the politicians and their banking backers that are the problem!
“It’s really good,’’ Vice President Joe Biden said afterward. “Here I am hugging Gabby and Michele Bachmann… . There’s a basic humanity here, man. It matters.’’
Yeah, except that Bachmann is a Tea Party "terrorist!!"
Or is THAT the NEXT GROUP to serve as DESIGNATED PATSY to justify EVEN FURTHER INTERNAL REPRESSION and construction of the TOTAL SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY?
And HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH with the BS POLITICS in the BG?
********************************
Tempers were running high yesterday, which seemed to be one reason House and Senate leaders scheduled quick votes to prevent the deal from falling apart....
That means BEFORE ANYONE COULD READ IT!!!
--more--"
My temper is always running high after flipping through a Globe.
Also see: Mostly ‘no’ from Massachusetts delegation
Globe Editorial A win for neither side, debt deal is a necessity
Really?
It's a different tune the next day:
"Huge cuts could imperil recovery, economists say" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
The massive federal spending cuts that will follow the deficit reduction deal could further weaken a national economy that has been rapidly losing momentum, economists said.
I guess you can have momentum in reverse.
Related:
Markets show a glimmer of optimism
Wall Street rally short-lived
While few forecast an imminent downturn, they said the withdrawal of hundreds of billions of federal dollars comes at a bad time. Over the past few months, hiring has ground almost to a halt, the unemployment rate has resumed an upward trend, and overall economic growth has been barely positive.
So now all the urgency to get this done is a BAD THING?
Yesterday, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity, fell for the first time in nearly two years.
“That was a surprise it was so bad,’’ said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economics professor. “If consumption is weak, what are businesses going to do? We’re certainly at a vulnerable point.’’
********************************
Rogoff also said the budget resolution was “very unsatisfying because all the hard decisions are left ahead.’’ He added that the budget battle diminished both Congress and the president’s stature, and could undermine business, investor, and consumer confidence....
Stocks plunged yesterday on fears of a weakening economy, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 265 points. It was the eighth consecutive day of declines, the longest losing streak since October 2008, during the financial crisis.
Persistently high unemployment above 9 percent and a fear of additional job losses also weigh heavily on consumers, who dramatically reined in their spending; between May and June, the nation’s savings rate rose from 5.0 to 5.4 percent. The weak economy, further hurt by a stagnating housing market, has raised concerns that the nation could slip into a second, or double-dip, recession....
First of all, we NEVER CAME OUT of the GRAND DEPRESSION!
Secondly, the "experts" were DENYING THIS the LAST TWO YEARS or whatever! One reason I rarely reach the business section anymore is because I am sick of bullshit.
Gary Richardson, an economist at the University of California at Irvine and a scholar of the era, said political leaders have failed to address the long-term economic questions, such as whether the government can continue to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits at promised levels....
Even though YOU ALREADY PAID for THOSE SERVICES, America!
Yup, the EMPIRE NEEDS your RETIREMENT MONEY as it CREAKS toward COLLAPSE!
Eugene White, an economist at Rutgers University who has also studied the Great Depression, said tax increases in 1937 contributed to the second slide back into recession.
Yeah, I'm one of those who wants no more taxes, not even on the rich guys. It's all being wasted on wars and the surveillance control grid or being doled out to corporations or Israel.
He said he expects the recently enacted federal cuts to cause a short-term reduction in national economic growth. “I would not say that it will have a huge driving effect on the economy,’’ he said.
White also said that for years after the Great Depression, banks were wary of making loans, much as banks today are lending cautiously, contributing to slower growth. “I would say banks are caught between a rock and a hard place,’’ White said. “On the one hand, government wants them to lend more, and on the other hand, we don’t want them to take any important risks.’’
Oh, the POOR, POOR BANKS!!
Related:
"JPMorgan Chase surprised Wall Street Thursday with a sharp increase in investment banking income at a time when other banks are warning of layoffs because of a slowdown in trading. The New York bank earned $5.4 billion."
Yeah, that is with a B, readers -- all for THREE MONTHS "work."
Also see:
HSBC announces job cuts alongside positive six-month profit report
Goldman doubles profit, plans layoffs
Yeah, BANKS are doing JUST FINE and HELPING ALONG UNEMPLOYMENT!!!
--more--"
"Investor worries keep Dow tumbling; Debt deal can’t allay all fears Jobs report considered key" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
The stock market plummeted again yesterday on growing worries about the ailing US economy, despite the fact that President Obama signed legislation to raise the debt ceiling and avert a potentially disastrous default on the country’s debt....
Analysts said the market has been beaten down by a wave of bad economic news in the past week, in addition to anxiety about a potential default. The Commerce Department said yesterday that consumer spending dropped 0.2 percent in June, the first decline in nearly two years. And that followed a weak manufacturing report on Monday and a dour study on Friday that showed the economy has been growing even more slowly than previously thought.
Translation: YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN, dear readers!
In addition, some investors are now beginning to fret that the debt ceiling deal could actually further weaken the economy by cutting government spending before the economy has fully recovered from the recession....
Great! Just GREAT!!
You have been HAD AGAIN, America!!!!
“The austerity measures are necessary to improve our long-term fiscal health, but in the near term these measures will act as a headwind against growth,’’ said Paul R. Touchstone, senior investment strategist for Stone & Youngberg LLC, a financial services firm in San Francisco. Touchstone said he was previously optimistic that the economy would improve in the second half of the year but plans to revisit that prediction in light of the latest numbers....
And the stock market could be shaken again in coming days if new jobs data come in weaker than expected....
Then the government will just lie and revise later like always.
Gale L. Smith, an investment adviser in Beverly, said she thinks the market has been driven down in part because people were pocketing some of their profits after the market soared earlier in this year.
Yes, ONLY the WEALTHY "RECOVERED" this whole time!
Smith said she doubts the market would fall much more since the debt deal erased a major threat hanging over the market.
In fact, she believes the market will rally in early September as companies report strong earnings and because there has been such a steep sell-off in recent days.
Yeah, I notice during the flip-through companies are always making profits -- and yet no jobs.
“There’s a lot of relief that the Aug. 2 deadline has been removed,’’ said Smith, president of Gale L. Smith & Co., a portfolio management firm.
--more--"
Back to Washington:
"Default averted, battles loom; After Senate OK’s bill, focus shifts to new deficit panel" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Senate approved a sweeping package yesterday that allowed the United States to begin borrowing more money, and President Obama signed the legislation just hours before the country would have faced default on its obligations.
Following an extraordinary, bruising political battle in which neither side emerged unscathed, the Senate approved the measure by an overwhelming 74-to-26 margin. Although the bill enabled the government to continue paying its bills, many questions remained about how the legislation will lower the deficit.
A 12-member joint congressional committee will be formed over the next two weeks to find up to another $1.5 trillion in savings.
Related: Congress will hand the sticky details to a bipartisan committee of 12
That has to be one of the most UN-AMERICAN THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN!
Yeah, let's put the FATE of the NATION in the hands of an APPOINTED POLITBURO!!!
A key question is whether the committee, which must make its recommendations by Thanksgiving, will address increased tax revenue....
The word in the blogosphere is a National Sales Tax -- euphemistically called a Value-Added Tax -- and the reviving of the CARBON TAX!
How long before they jam a fart meter and poop scale up your ass to calculate and gauge your emissions?
On a day when the Dow dropped 266 points, Democrats also sought to shift the focus to the economy, saying they intend to place new emphasis on job creation in the coming weeks.
“Jobs, jobs, job, jobs, jobs,’’ House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference yesterday. “You cannot say it enough.’’
Where, oh where, have you BEEN ALL THESE YEARS (especially the last two) as TAX LAW ENCOURAGED and REWARDED COMPANIES to MOVES JOBS OUT?
--more--"
And OPEN WIDE, America:
"Drop-dead date brought out the tortured metaphors; No politician wanted to blink first in debt fight" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
WASHINGTON - “This deal is a sugar-coated Satan sandwich,’’ proclaimed Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. “If you lift the bun, you will not like what you see.’’ Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, concurred, adding, “with Satan fries on the side.’’
Congress passed that debt plan yesterday, saving the government from running out of money and the country from a daily overdose of tortured metaphors. The politicians have compared the vitriolic debate, calcified stances, and the legislation yoking spending cuts with a higher debt ceiling to everything from turning a battleship around to drinking a glass of sweet tea. To rally the rank and file, they have used sports. Movies have been referenced, biblical comparisons trotted out....
Members of Congress are not known for brevity and, in a building normally packed with 535 politicians they have to be creative to stick out. At times they have been sober, trying to calm financial markets - and constituents. But as the debate dragged on, the politicians seem to be weighed down by a deficit of ways to describe the situation.
When Vice President Joe Biden met with Democrats, he talked of the “sword of Damocles’’ hanging over their heads. (He also reportedly compared dealing with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists.)
********************************
Senator Joe Lieberman took the practice to a new level, employing four metaphors over the course of three minutes.
“Who’s going to blink first?’’ the independent from Connecticut said. “It’s a game of chicken, in which the losers are going to be the American people.’’
He then compared the situation to Russian roulette, and in the next breath compared it to a more child-friendly game.
“Sometimes I’ve had this feeling that this would be that game of hot potato,’’ Lieberman said. “And whoever was holding the hot potato as we got to next Monday was going to have to eat it. Because the alternative would be default and disaster for our economy. So watch the hot potato.’’
(The hot potato ended up in the Senate yesterday, although no senators were spotted eating one.)
Ha, ha.... ha.
--more--"
"Deal’s cutbacks could hobble state’s recovery" August 02, 2011|By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
Massachusetts would lose an estimated $400 million in federal dollars next year and $800 million the following year in the federal budget deal moving through Congress, cutbacks that could slow the state’s tenuous economic recovery, regional economists said.
Related: For now, state’s job picture still brighter than nation’s
Whatever; I'm sick of BG BS.
Those budget cuts will also escalate each year across the next decade, forcing many key Massachusetts industries that rely on federal funding - including defense contractors, hospitals, and universities - to reckon with a new fiscal reality.
You, GET IT, Americans?
Why are you NOT IN THE STREETS like the REST of the WORLD?
The Bay State may feel the impact more than others because it enjoys an outsized allotment of funding, racking up $31.4 billion in federal contracts and grants in the last fiscal year, the ninth-highest in the country, according to US government data....
Take it all back and plow it into Social Security and Medicare.
The Massachusetts economy benefits from a disproportionately large amount of federal spending to state defense contractors, like Raytheon Co. and its subsidiaries, as well as from National Institutes of Health research spending, a boon to the state’s hospitals, universities, and biotech industry.
I find it SO SAD that the ALLEGEDLY "liberal, antiwar" state is SO DEPENDENT on the MILITARY MACHINE!
Andre Mayer, senior vice president of research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state’s largest business trade group, said questions remain about how Medicare cuts, for example, will affect the state. Massachusetts has, on average, an older population than most other states, putting some hospitals at a disadvantage.
You are reading the irate opinions of one.
Massachusetts also has a higher student population than many other states, Mayer said. The proposed budget plan includes efforts to eliminate subsidized loan programs for graduate students and loan-repayment incentives....
It's an education in its way, kids.
Robert A. Baker, president of the nonprofit Smaller Business Association of New England, said Raytheon and its Massachusetts subsidiaries, as well as companies like General Dynamics and General Electric Co., help anchor the state’s economy.
Related:
"General Electric Co. has drawn sharp criticism for paying zero taxes, despite earning more than $14 billion last year"
What do you mean GE got a $3.2 billion tax "refund?"
Also see: State Street Stealers
State Street is Boston's Wall Street.
For example, about 1,500 small New England businesses supply Raytheon alone, he said, and those companies are all closely watching the budget debate.
“You have to worry about it,’’ Baker said of the budget cutbacks. “Since Raytheon is such a prolific employer in the state, I’m sure everybody is going to look at the proposal and think, ‘How is it going to affect me?’ ’’
Thermo-Craft Engineering in Lynn, a 45-employee company that supplies specialized parts to two federal defense contractors and to the Patriot missile program, has already seen business slow down as a result of the budget battles....
The poor, poor war profiteers!
--more--"
Related: Potential Medicare payment cuts alarm doctors, hospitals
The Globe put a wall up, so f*** 'em.
If you can scale it you can see Sen. Jon Kyl say the cuts amount to the destruction of the US military, "The phrase Armageddon was used.... the knowing destruction of the US military as a means to threaten Congress."
Uh-huh. And then he voted for it anyway!
Related: Debt Deal Gives Pentagon $50 Billion Raise
Yeah, the "cut" was more than the Pentagon wanted.
And NO MONEY PROBLEMS HERE:
Romney breaks silence on debt issue, opposes compromise plan
"Large donations fill Romney group’s coffers
WASHINGTON -A pro-Romney committee, raised $12.3 million in the first half of the year....
Much of Romney’s support came from the financial industry, which had been a cornerstone of Obama’s fund-raising during his 2008 presidential campaign. Wall Street investors also were big contributors to the pro-Romney independent group.
Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who made money during the financial crisis betting against subprime mortgages, was one of four $1 million donors to the Restore Our Future PAC....
As his company was selling them.
Watch: Inside Job
So one of Romney's major backers is a Wall Street fraudster?
--more--"
Related: Obama raising even MORE cash from Wall St. than in 2008
Obviously, banks own this government.
If I didn't know better I would say the STAGE is being SET for ANOTHER FALSE FLAG ATTACK for LATE SEPTEMBER -- especially with the Palestinians scheduled to appeal for statehood from the U.N.
So what is it going to be, a REALLY BIG BANG in Chicago to be blamed on them to initiate WWIII?
"House OK’s debt package; Broad measure draws fire in both parties, heads to expected Senate passage today" August 02, 2011|By Matt Viser and Donovan Slack, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON - During an emotional day, with acrimony evident behind closed doors and in public view, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans decried the terms of the deal. Republicans wanted further domestic spending cuts - and fewer to defense programs - while Democrats said the proposal put at risk some entitlement programs they cherish and should have included tax increases.
But much of the partisan rancor seemed to evaporate when Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who was shot in the head earlier this year at a town hall meeting, made a surprise appearance in the House chamber with about three minutes left to vote on the debt deal. Large applause broke out and members crowded around her.
Related:
Giffords insisted on casting vote
Globe Editorial Giffords: A simple message of unity
The American people are united on many things; it's the politicians and their banking backers that are the problem!
“It’s really good,’’ Vice President Joe Biden said afterward. “Here I am hugging Gabby and Michele Bachmann… . There’s a basic humanity here, man. It matters.’’
Yeah, except that Bachmann is a Tea Party "terrorist!!"
Or is THAT the NEXT GROUP to serve as DESIGNATED PATSY to justify EVEN FURTHER INTERNAL REPRESSION and construction of the TOTAL SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY?
And HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH with the BS POLITICS in the BG?
********************************
Tempers were running high yesterday, which seemed to be one reason House and Senate leaders scheduled quick votes to prevent the deal from falling apart....
That means BEFORE ANYONE COULD READ IT!!!
--more--"
My temper is always running high after flipping through a Globe.
Also see: Mostly ‘no’ from Massachusetts delegation
Globe Editorial A win for neither side, debt deal is a necessity
Really?
It's a different tune the next day:
"Huge cuts could imperil recovery, economists say" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
The massive federal spending cuts that will follow the deficit reduction deal could further weaken a national economy that has been rapidly losing momentum, economists said.
I guess you can have momentum in reverse.
Related:
Markets show a glimmer of optimism
Wall Street rally short-lived
While few forecast an imminent downturn, they said the withdrawal of hundreds of billions of federal dollars comes at a bad time. Over the past few months, hiring has ground almost to a halt, the unemployment rate has resumed an upward trend, and overall economic growth has been barely positive.
So now all the urgency to get this done is a BAD THING?
Yesterday, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity, fell for the first time in nearly two years.
“That was a surprise it was so bad,’’ said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economics professor. “If consumption is weak, what are businesses going to do? We’re certainly at a vulnerable point.’’
********************************
Rogoff also said the budget resolution was “very unsatisfying because all the hard decisions are left ahead.’’ He added that the budget battle diminished both Congress and the president’s stature, and could undermine business, investor, and consumer confidence....
Stocks plunged yesterday on fears of a weakening economy, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 265 points. It was the eighth consecutive day of declines, the longest losing streak since October 2008, during the financial crisis.
Persistently high unemployment above 9 percent and a fear of additional job losses also weigh heavily on consumers, who dramatically reined in their spending; between May and June, the nation’s savings rate rose from 5.0 to 5.4 percent. The weak economy, further hurt by a stagnating housing market, has raised concerns that the nation could slip into a second, or double-dip, recession....
First of all, we NEVER CAME OUT of the GRAND DEPRESSION!
Secondly, the "experts" were DENYING THIS the LAST TWO YEARS or whatever! One reason I rarely reach the business section anymore is because I am sick of bullshit.
Gary Richardson, an economist at the University of California at Irvine and a scholar of the era, said political leaders have failed to address the long-term economic questions, such as whether the government can continue to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits at promised levels....
Even though YOU ALREADY PAID for THOSE SERVICES, America!
Yup, the EMPIRE NEEDS your RETIREMENT MONEY as it CREAKS toward COLLAPSE!
Eugene White, an economist at Rutgers University who has also studied the Great Depression, said tax increases in 1937 contributed to the second slide back into recession.
Yeah, I'm one of those who wants no more taxes, not even on the rich guys. It's all being wasted on wars and the surveillance control grid or being doled out to corporations or Israel.
He said he expects the recently enacted federal cuts to cause a short-term reduction in national economic growth. “I would not say that it will have a huge driving effect on the economy,’’ he said.
White also said that for years after the Great Depression, banks were wary of making loans, much as banks today are lending cautiously, contributing to slower growth. “I would say banks are caught between a rock and a hard place,’’ White said. “On the one hand, government wants them to lend more, and on the other hand, we don’t want them to take any important risks.’’
Oh, the POOR, POOR BANKS!!
Related:
"JPMorgan Chase surprised Wall Street Thursday with a sharp increase in investment banking income at a time when other banks are warning of layoffs because of a slowdown in trading. The New York bank earned $5.4 billion."
Yeah, that is with a B, readers -- all for THREE MONTHS "work."
Also see:
HSBC announces job cuts alongside positive six-month profit report
Goldman doubles profit, plans layoffs
Yeah, BANKS are doing JUST FINE and HELPING ALONG UNEMPLOYMENT!!!
--more--"
"Investor worries keep Dow tumbling; Debt deal can’t allay all fears Jobs report considered key" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
The stock market plummeted again yesterday on growing worries about the ailing US economy, despite the fact that President Obama signed legislation to raise the debt ceiling and avert a potentially disastrous default on the country’s debt....
Analysts said the market has been beaten down by a wave of bad economic news in the past week, in addition to anxiety about a potential default. The Commerce Department said yesterday that consumer spending dropped 0.2 percent in June, the first decline in nearly two years. And that followed a weak manufacturing report on Monday and a dour study on Friday that showed the economy has been growing even more slowly than previously thought.
Translation: YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN, dear readers!
In addition, some investors are now beginning to fret that the debt ceiling deal could actually further weaken the economy by cutting government spending before the economy has fully recovered from the recession....
Great! Just GREAT!!
You have been HAD AGAIN, America!!!!
“The austerity measures are necessary to improve our long-term fiscal health, but in the near term these measures will act as a headwind against growth,’’ said Paul R. Touchstone, senior investment strategist for Stone & Youngberg LLC, a financial services firm in San Francisco. Touchstone said he was previously optimistic that the economy would improve in the second half of the year but plans to revisit that prediction in light of the latest numbers....
And the stock market could be shaken again in coming days if new jobs data come in weaker than expected....
Then the government will just lie and revise later like always.
Gale L. Smith, an investment adviser in Beverly, said she thinks the market has been driven down in part because people were pocketing some of their profits after the market soared earlier in this year.
Yes, ONLY the WEALTHY "RECOVERED" this whole time!
Smith said she doubts the market would fall much more since the debt deal erased a major threat hanging over the market.
In fact, she believes the market will rally in early September as companies report strong earnings and because there has been such a steep sell-off in recent days.
Yeah, I notice during the flip-through companies are always making profits -- and yet no jobs.
“There’s a lot of relief that the Aug. 2 deadline has been removed,’’ said Smith, president of Gale L. Smith & Co., a portfolio management firm.
--more--"
Back to Washington:
"Default averted, battles loom; After Senate OK’s bill, focus shifts to new deficit panel" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Senate approved a sweeping package yesterday that allowed the United States to begin borrowing more money, and President Obama signed the legislation just hours before the country would have faced default on its obligations.
Following an extraordinary, bruising political battle in which neither side emerged unscathed, the Senate approved the measure by an overwhelming 74-to-26 margin. Although the bill enabled the government to continue paying its bills, many questions remained about how the legislation will lower the deficit.
A 12-member joint congressional committee will be formed over the next two weeks to find up to another $1.5 trillion in savings.
Related: Congress will hand the sticky details to a bipartisan committee of 12
That has to be one of the most UN-AMERICAN THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN!
Yeah, let's put the FATE of the NATION in the hands of an APPOINTED POLITBURO!!!
A key question is whether the committee, which must make its recommendations by Thanksgiving, will address increased tax revenue....
The word in the blogosphere is a National Sales Tax -- euphemistically called a Value-Added Tax -- and the reviving of the CARBON TAX!
How long before they jam a fart meter and poop scale up your ass to calculate and gauge your emissions?
On a day when the Dow dropped 266 points, Democrats also sought to shift the focus to the economy, saying they intend to place new emphasis on job creation in the coming weeks.
“Jobs, jobs, job, jobs, jobs,’’ House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference yesterday. “You cannot say it enough.’’
Where, oh where, have you BEEN ALL THESE YEARS (especially the last two) as TAX LAW ENCOURAGED and REWARDED COMPANIES to MOVES JOBS OUT?
--more--"
And OPEN WIDE, America:
"Drop-dead date brought out the tortured metaphors; No politician wanted to blink first in debt fight" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
WASHINGTON - “This deal is a sugar-coated Satan sandwich,’’ proclaimed Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat. “If you lift the bun, you will not like what you see.’’ Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, concurred, adding, “with Satan fries on the side.’’
Congress passed that debt plan yesterday, saving the government from running out of money and the country from a daily overdose of tortured metaphors. The politicians have compared the vitriolic debate, calcified stances, and the legislation yoking spending cuts with a higher debt ceiling to everything from turning a battleship around to drinking a glass of sweet tea. To rally the rank and file, they have used sports. Movies have been referenced, biblical comparisons trotted out....
Members of Congress are not known for brevity and, in a building normally packed with 535 politicians they have to be creative to stick out. At times they have been sober, trying to calm financial markets - and constituents. But as the debate dragged on, the politicians seem to be weighed down by a deficit of ways to describe the situation.
When Vice President Joe Biden met with Democrats, he talked of the “sword of Damocles’’ hanging over their heads. (He also reportedly compared dealing with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists.)
********************************
Senator Joe Lieberman took the practice to a new level, employing four metaphors over the course of three minutes.
“Who’s going to blink first?’’ the independent from Connecticut said. “It’s a game of chicken, in which the losers are going to be the American people.’’
He then compared the situation to Russian roulette, and in the next breath compared it to a more child-friendly game.
“Sometimes I’ve had this feeling that this would be that game of hot potato,’’ Lieberman said. “And whoever was holding the hot potato as we got to next Monday was going to have to eat it. Because the alternative would be default and disaster for our economy. So watch the hot potato.’’
(The hot potato ended up in the Senate yesterday, although no senators were spotted eating one.)
Ha, ha.... ha.
--more--"
"Deal’s cutbacks could hobble state’s recovery" August 02, 2011|By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
Massachusetts would lose an estimated $400 million in federal dollars next year and $800 million the following year in the federal budget deal moving through Congress, cutbacks that could slow the state’s tenuous economic recovery, regional economists said.
Related: For now, state’s job picture still brighter than nation’s
Whatever; I'm sick of BG BS.
Those budget cuts will also escalate each year across the next decade, forcing many key Massachusetts industries that rely on federal funding - including defense contractors, hospitals, and universities - to reckon with a new fiscal reality.
You, GET IT, Americans?
Why are you NOT IN THE STREETS like the REST of the WORLD?
The Bay State may feel the impact more than others because it enjoys an outsized allotment of funding, racking up $31.4 billion in federal contracts and grants in the last fiscal year, the ninth-highest in the country, according to US government data....
Take it all back and plow it into Social Security and Medicare.
The Massachusetts economy benefits from a disproportionately large amount of federal spending to state defense contractors, like Raytheon Co. and its subsidiaries, as well as from National Institutes of Health research spending, a boon to the state’s hospitals, universities, and biotech industry.
I find it SO SAD that the ALLEGEDLY "liberal, antiwar" state is SO DEPENDENT on the MILITARY MACHINE!
Andre Mayer, senior vice president of research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state’s largest business trade group, said questions remain about how Medicare cuts, for example, will affect the state. Massachusetts has, on average, an older population than most other states, putting some hospitals at a disadvantage.
You are reading the irate opinions of one.
Massachusetts also has a higher student population than many other states, Mayer said. The proposed budget plan includes efforts to eliminate subsidized loan programs for graduate students and loan-repayment incentives....
It's an education in its way, kids.
Robert A. Baker, president of the nonprofit Smaller Business Association of New England, said Raytheon and its Massachusetts subsidiaries, as well as companies like General Dynamics and General Electric Co., help anchor the state’s economy.
Related:
"General Electric Co. has drawn sharp criticism for paying zero taxes, despite earning more than $14 billion last year"
What do you mean GE got a $3.2 billion tax "refund?"
Also see: State Street Stealers
State Street is Boston's Wall Street.
For example, about 1,500 small New England businesses supply Raytheon alone, he said, and those companies are all closely watching the budget debate.
“You have to worry about it,’’ Baker said of the budget cutbacks. “Since Raytheon is such a prolific employer in the state, I’m sure everybody is going to look at the proposal and think, ‘How is it going to affect me?’ ’’
Thermo-Craft Engineering in Lynn, a 45-employee company that supplies specialized parts to two federal defense contractors and to the Patriot missile program, has already seen business slow down as a result of the budget battles....
The poor, poor war profiteers!
--more--"
Related: Potential Medicare payment cuts alarm doctors, hospitals
The Globe put a wall up, so f*** 'em.
If you can scale it you can see Sen. Jon Kyl say the cuts amount to the destruction of the US military, "The phrase Armageddon was used.... the knowing destruction of the US military as a means to threaten Congress."
Uh-huh. And then he voted for it anyway!
Related: Debt Deal Gives Pentagon $50 Billion Raise
Yeah, the "cut" was more than the Pentagon wanted.
And NO MONEY PROBLEMS HERE:
Romney breaks silence on debt issue, opposes compromise plan
"Large donations fill Romney group’s coffers
WASHINGTON -A pro-Romney committee, raised $12.3 million in the first half of the year....
Much of Romney’s support came from the financial industry, which had been a cornerstone of Obama’s fund-raising during his 2008 presidential campaign. Wall Street investors also were big contributors to the pro-Romney independent group.
Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who made money during the financial crisis betting against subprime mortgages, was one of four $1 million donors to the Restore Our Future PAC....
As his company was selling them.
Watch: Inside Job
So one of Romney's major backers is a Wall Street fraudster?
--more--"
Related: Obama raising even MORE cash from Wall St. than in 2008
Obviously, banks own this government.
Time For a Few Questions
Make sure you greet them (at the third gate, if you get my meaning) with a smile and a sig heil:
"A question for you; How did Logan travelers handle the new TSA queries? Plenty welcomed the safety measure; others were nervous, self-conscious" by Katie Johnston, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
Although most passengers interviewed by the Globe at Logan yesterday said they welcomed the questioning as an additional safety measure, it did cause some apprehension.
Bridget Whitehead, 24, who was flying back to Cincinnati after attending a friend’s wedding at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, couldn’t immediately remember how long she had been in the area.
“I was kind of nervous,’’ said Whitehead. “When people are on vacation, they kind of just lose track of time.’’
Her behavior apparently wasn’t enough to prompt an extra TSA screening.
Alice Lippitt, 28, of Seattle, who was here for the Newport Folk Festival, said being questioned can sometimes make people act guilty for no reason.
“I can definitely get into situations where I feel like I’m being grilled and automatically I’m on the defense,’’ Lippitt said. “And that doesn’t look good.’’
For most travelers, the interaction lasted 20 or 30 seconds, but Ryan O’Malley, 36, who was on his way to San Diego, struck up a longer conversation with one of the TSA officers when he realized they both knew people at the sheriff’s office in Worcester.
Still, he knew the TSA officer was doing more than making small talk.
“I did notice him kind of focusing on how I was acting, because he really, really made a lot of eye contact, seeing if I was shifty or not,’’ said O’Malley.
After about a minute, they shook hands and O’Malley, deemed not shifty, was allowed to go on his way.
Who are the groping perverts to judge who is shifty?
--more--"
"A question for you; How did Logan travelers handle the new TSA queries? Plenty welcomed the safety measure; others were nervous, self-conscious" by Katie Johnston, Globe Staff / August 3, 2011
Although most passengers interviewed by the Globe at Logan yesterday said they welcomed the questioning as an additional safety measure, it did cause some apprehension.
Bridget Whitehead, 24, who was flying back to Cincinnati after attending a friend’s wedding at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, couldn’t immediately remember how long she had been in the area.
“I was kind of nervous,’’ said Whitehead. “When people are on vacation, they kind of just lose track of time.’’
Her behavior apparently wasn’t enough to prompt an extra TSA screening.
Alice Lippitt, 28, of Seattle, who was here for the Newport Folk Festival, said being questioned can sometimes make people act guilty for no reason.
“I can definitely get into situations where I feel like I’m being grilled and automatically I’m on the defense,’’ Lippitt said. “And that doesn’t look good.’’
For most travelers, the interaction lasted 20 or 30 seconds, but Ryan O’Malley, 36, who was on his way to San Diego, struck up a longer conversation with one of the TSA officers when he realized they both knew people at the sheriff’s office in Worcester.
Still, he knew the TSA officer was doing more than making small talk.
“I did notice him kind of focusing on how I was acting, because he really, really made a lot of eye contact, seeing if I was shifty or not,’’ said O’Malley.
After about a minute, they shook hands and O’Malley, deemed not shifty, was allowed to go on his way.
Who are the groping perverts to judge who is shifty?
--more--"
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Facing Tyranny in Massachusetts
So this is what it looks like in the bastion of liberalism(?):
"Caught in a dragnet; A fraud prevention system erroneously revoked his license, and now he’s suing for his hardship" July 17, 2011|By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff
John H. Gass hadn’t had a traffic ticket in years, so the Natick resident was surprised this spring when he received a letter from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles informing him to cease driving because his license had been revoked.
“I was shocked,’’ Gass said in a recent interview. “As far as I was concerned, I had done nothing wrong.’’
After frantic calls and a hearing with Registry officials, Gass learned the problem: An antiterrorism computerized facial recognition system that scans a database of millions of state driver’s license images had picked his as a possible fraud.
It turned out Gass was flagged because he looks like another driver, not because his image was being used to create a fake identity. His driving privileges were returned but, he alleges in a lawsuit, only after 10 days of bureaucratic wrangling to prove he is who he says he is.
It is AmeriKa now.
Meanwhile, the same stat is bending over backwards for illegal immigrants.
And apparently, he has company. Last year, the facial recognition system picked out more than 1,000 cases that resulted in State Police investigations, officials say. And some of those people are guilty of nothing more than looking like someone else. Not all go through the long process that Gass says he endured, but each must visit the Registry with proof of their identity.
“We send out 1,500 suspension letters every day,’’ said Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, who says the system has been a powerful weapon to fight identity fraud since it was installed in 2006 but that it is not without problems. “There are mistakes that can be made.’’
I love the CAVALIER ATTITUDE!
**************************
Massachusetts began using the software after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the US Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents that states issue.
At least 34 states are using such systems. They help authorities verify a person’s claimed identity and track down people who have multiple licenses under different aliases, such as underage people wanting to buy alcohol, people with previous license suspensions, and people with criminal records trying to evade the law. Lisa Cradit, a spokeswoman for L-1 Identity Solutions, the largest developer of the software, said it can reduce fraud by 80 percent.
The system looks at each driver’s license photograph stored in the state’s computers, mapping thousands of facial data points and generating algorithms that compare the images to others in the mathematical database, said State Police spokesman David Procopio. The software then displays licenses with similar-looking photographs - those with two or more images that have a high score for being the same person. Registry analysts review the licenses and check biographical information, criminal records, and drivers’ histories, in part to rule out cases with legitimate explanations, such as drivers who are identical twins....
“The advantage of securing the identity of 4 ½ million drivers is of considerable state interest, and that is what this software does,’’ Kaprielian said....
Kaprielian said the Registry gives drivers enough time to respond to the suspension letters and that it is the individual’s “burden’’ to clear up any confusion.
Yup, YOUR GOVERNMENT at WORK FOR YOU, taxpayers! This is WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR!!
She added that protecting the public far outweighs any inconvenience Gass or anyone else might experience.
What a SUPREMELY FASCIST MIND-SET!
“A driver’s license is not a matter of civil rights. It’s not a right. It’s a privilege,’’ she said. “Yes, it is an inconvenience [to have to clear your name], but lots of people have their identities stolen, and that’s an inconvenience, too.’’
Again with the CAVALIER attitude!
I HOPE HERS is STOLEN SOON, 'eh?
--more--"
And they don't need to see you down at the RMV:
"New tool for police is good with faces; A mobile ID check raises privacy worries" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff / July 18, 2011
Sheriff’s departments across Massachusetts are using facial recognition technology to build a database of every suspect they book, an electronic lineup that local police could soon tap remotely with a handheld device attached to a smartphone.
The device, made by a Plymouth firm called BI2 Technologies, weighs about 12 ounces and can scan an iris, take a fingerprint, or assess a face and then immediately check someone’s identity against national and local databases.
Remember way back when it was just "terrorists" they were concerned about?
“It fits in the palm of your hand; it’s completely noninvasive,’’ said Brockton Police Chief William Conlon, whose department tested a prototype of the device and who hopes to acquire one permanently.
Essex County, the first in the state to adopt the facial recognition program in booking suspects more than five years ago, has already assembled a database of more than 70,000 photos and allows detectives from around the county to use it, said Sheriff Frank G. Cousins Jr. The handheld device, known as the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System, would tap into that database and other national collections to help police identify suspects who are offering fake identities or who are wanted on other charges.
That futuristic capability is enticing law enforcement authorities but worrying privacy rights lawyers who say that technology is outpacing policy that would protect privacy.
A number of questions are unresolved, such as how long the images of suspects will be stored, whether they will be shared with the FBI, and what happens to the images of people who are cleared of charges.
“There’s simply no good reason, in our view, to create detailed dossiers on every American resident,’’ said Kade Crockford of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “And increasingly it appears as if all of these surveillance programs and technological programs are doing just that.’’
As we were WARNED THEY WERE INTENDED from the VERY BEGINNING!
***********************************
While facial recognition technology is increasingly being used on Facebook, in photo troves on private computers, and even in law enforcement, the potential for its handheld use - possibly from a distance, without the subject’s knowledge - is prompting additional concern. Is the scanning of an iris equivalent to a search that requires a warrant? Will police be permitted to search faces in crowds for wanted suspects? Who will have access to information gained through the system?
“I’m not an advocate of using facial recognition to scan a crowd looking for a convict like at a sporting event,’’ Cousins said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I wouldn’t want to see that application used for that.’’
But whether it would be allowed remains unclear.
“Our laws have not kept up with technology,’’ said ACLU staff attorney Laura Rotolo. She added that iris scans might be legally comparable to fingerprints, but the circumstances are different because a person must be brought to a station to be fingerprinted....
--more--"
Related: Facial recognition software could reveal your social security number
And don't try flying out, either:
"Fliers face new queries at Logan; Trial program is first in country" by Katie Johnson, Globe Staff / August 2, 2011
The Transportation Security Administration plans to start testing an expanded behavior-detection security program today at Logan International Airport, the first airport in the nation to roll out the enhanced screening method.
Related: Tragic Justice – TSA Reports Agents Developing Cancer from Naked Body Scanners
F*** the fascists! They think we will feel sorry for their perverted asses?
Under the program, TSA officers will speak with every passenger passing through the Terminal A security checkpoint, asking each two or three questions, such as “Where are you traveling today?’’ or “How long have you been in town?’’ Officials said the intent is to detect suspicious behavior - such as someone sweating profusely or avoiding eye contact - a process the TSA estimates will take about 20 seconds per passenger.
I avoid eye contact as a personal idiosyncrasy; now what?
“We’re not looking for the answers necessarily; we’re instead gauging the reaction, the response to the question,’’ said George Naccara, TSA federal security director at Logan.
If a person is deemed to be a possible threat, he or she will be pulled aside for additional screening, such as a pat-down or a bag search, and in some cases the Massachusetts State Police will be alerted. Questioning will take place at a separate podium after a traveler’s documents have been checked, and those identified for more screening will be sent to a third station....
Don't fly -- ever.
In 2003, Logan became the first US airport to use behavior detection, modeling its system after those used at airports around the world. That program, called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, is used at 160 airports nationwide to identify and question passengers who are deemed to be suspicious. That can include anything from wearing a winter coat buttoned up in the middle of the summer to providing evasive answers to basic questions.
The new 60-day trial program at Logan differs in that all travelers will face questioning, no matter what their attire or behavior.
SPOT has resulted in 2,000 arrests since it began nationwide in 2004, according to the TSA, but Naccara could not say how many were terrorist-related.
“We’ve identified people who have outstanding warrants,’’ he said. “We’ve identified people who’ve been doing surveillance in an airport. We’ve identified people who have been doing testing of our equipment in an airport.’’
Like who?
Just last week at Logan, officials said, a TSA officer pulled aside a man who seemed suspicious and found in his carry-on bag a wallet that he had stolen from a college student in Boston.
Yeah, then the tyranny is all worth it.
But the program’s validity has been questioned by some, including the Government Accountability Office. In a July 13 report, the agency reiterated what it said more than a year earlier: that the TSA decided to implement the behavior-detection program before determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for such tactics. The GAO said it is not known whether the program, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually, has led to the arrest of a would-be terrorist.
Others question whether the program makes it more likely that passengers’ rights will be violated based on their appearance or their inability to respond to TSA employees’ questions in a particular way.
“The notion that TSA screeners will have the scientific training and nuance to make determinations as millions and millions of passengers go through airports is nothing more than security theater,’’ said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “It has yet to catch a single terrorist in seven years and does threaten to both be a hassle for every traveler and opens the door to more racial profiling.’’
And that right there alerts you to the FALSE FLAG, PATSY PLOT, FRAME-UPS that pass as "terrorist" attacks.
About 80 Logan TSA officers are going through training for the beefed-up behavior-detection program, and on-the-job training begins today at Terminal A, home of Delta Air Lines. The test program officially begins in mid-August, after which the TSA will determine whether to expand it to other airports.
The new Logan procedures are similar to behavioral analysis techniques that have long been used at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, where every passenger is interviewed before being allowed to board an airplane....
The USraeli Empire!!
Logan’s security system came under scrutiny after Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked two planes that took off from Logan and slammed them into the World Trade Center....
How sad is it that since the AmeriKan media says that is what happened I begin to doubt what I saw on television that fateful day?
Btw, Muslims didn't do 9/11; Israel did.
Behavioral techniques are effective in identifying potential threats because it is nearly impossible to suppress the stress caused by lying, said Lillian Glass, an expert in nonverbal communications who is writing a book with an FBI agent called “See Something, Say Something: Spotting the Body Language of Terrorists.’’
It SURE SEEMS EASY for GOVERNMENT, POLITICIANS, and NEWSPAPERS!!
Oh, WRITING a $elf-$erving BOOK, is $he?
“The body doesn’t lie,’’ Glass said, adding that people trying to hide something may take short breaths, pulse their jaw muscles, and speak in a staccato style. “The emotions which cause physical actions are deep in your brain and can’t be controlled.’’
Sally Taylor, 63, a self-professed “nervous Nellie’’ flier on her way home to Bradenton, Fla., from Boston yesterday, said she would not object to being questioned in the security line. But Taylor said she does not like the full-body scanner.
Now bend over.
--more--"
And once inside the airport?
"Retailers find shoppers at airports; Captive audience has certain appeal" by Stephanie Clifford, New York Times / August 2, 2011
NEW YORK - After visits to malls plummeted during the recession - they have yet to bounce back - many mass-market retailers stepped up their search for other locations to lure shoppers.
Places where people might be bored. And unable to leave. One time-tested answer: airports....
“Airports are becoming, really, a service facility, like a shopping mall,’’ said Jose Gomez, senior vice president for business development for Mango, the fashion retailer....
Where YOU CAN BE SEXUALLY-MOLESTED and RADIATED with CANCER!
The draw of the airport location is simple: an attentive clientele.
“After security, you’re locked up,’’ Gomez said.
Domestic travelers spend more than an hour, on average, waiting in airports once they have passed through security, said Gerry Cecci, vice president for airport management at Westfield Group, the mall company, which manages retail sites at airports including those in Boston, Newark, and Miami.
“Someone may have a street concept or a mall concept that’s very successful, and bringing it to the airport environment, you capitalize on the captive audience and on the dwell time,’’ Cecci said....
Related: Americans Feeling the Touch of Fascism When Flying
“Though there is a dressing room where you can try on dresses, maybe people are not so much inclined to try on, because they don’t have a lot of time,’’ Gomez said.
You have GO TO BE KIDDING?
The retail push has been welcomed by most airports as they try to build revenue not dependent on airlines.
“The relationship between the airport and the airline has changed dramatically, in that the airport can’t just put its costs on the airlines,’’ said Paul McGinn, president of MarketPlace Development, which manages and leases retail space at Philadelphia International Airport and LaGuardia. “Airports have to be self-sustaining,’’ he said, and retail “has become a valuable source of revenue.’’
--more--"
Is it just me, or is there SOMETHING SICK about this BUSINESS PITCH after the fascist feel-up?
Related: Early Morning Flight
I'm going to call and cancel.
"Caught in a dragnet; A fraud prevention system erroneously revoked his license, and now he’s suing for his hardship" July 17, 2011|By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff
John H. Gass hadn’t had a traffic ticket in years, so the Natick resident was surprised this spring when he received a letter from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles informing him to cease driving because his license had been revoked.
“I was shocked,’’ Gass said in a recent interview. “As far as I was concerned, I had done nothing wrong.’’
After frantic calls and a hearing with Registry officials, Gass learned the problem: An antiterrorism computerized facial recognition system that scans a database of millions of state driver’s license images had picked his as a possible fraud.
It turned out Gass was flagged because he looks like another driver, not because his image was being used to create a fake identity. His driving privileges were returned but, he alleges in a lawsuit, only after 10 days of bureaucratic wrangling to prove he is who he says he is.
It is AmeriKa now.
Meanwhile, the same stat is bending over backwards for illegal immigrants.
And apparently, he has company. Last year, the facial recognition system picked out more than 1,000 cases that resulted in State Police investigations, officials say. And some of those people are guilty of nothing more than looking like someone else. Not all go through the long process that Gass says he endured, but each must visit the Registry with proof of their identity.
“We send out 1,500 suspension letters every day,’’ said Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, who says the system has been a powerful weapon to fight identity fraud since it was installed in 2006 but that it is not without problems. “There are mistakes that can be made.’’
I love the CAVALIER ATTITUDE!
**************************
Massachusetts began using the software after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the US Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents that states issue.
At least 34 states are using such systems. They help authorities verify a person’s claimed identity and track down people who have multiple licenses under different aliases, such as underage people wanting to buy alcohol, people with previous license suspensions, and people with criminal records trying to evade the law. Lisa Cradit, a spokeswoman for L-1 Identity Solutions, the largest developer of the software, said it can reduce fraud by 80 percent.
The system looks at each driver’s license photograph stored in the state’s computers, mapping thousands of facial data points and generating algorithms that compare the images to others in the mathematical database, said State Police spokesman David Procopio. The software then displays licenses with similar-looking photographs - those with two or more images that have a high score for being the same person. Registry analysts review the licenses and check biographical information, criminal records, and drivers’ histories, in part to rule out cases with legitimate explanations, such as drivers who are identical twins....
“The advantage of securing the identity of 4 ½ million drivers is of considerable state interest, and that is what this software does,’’ Kaprielian said....
Kaprielian said the Registry gives drivers enough time to respond to the suspension letters and that it is the individual’s “burden’’ to clear up any confusion.
Yup, YOUR GOVERNMENT at WORK FOR YOU, taxpayers! This is WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR!!
She added that protecting the public far outweighs any inconvenience Gass or anyone else might experience.
What a SUPREMELY FASCIST MIND-SET!
“A driver’s license is not a matter of civil rights. It’s not a right. It’s a privilege,’’ she said. “Yes, it is an inconvenience [to have to clear your name], but lots of people have their identities stolen, and that’s an inconvenience, too.’’
Again with the CAVALIER attitude!
I HOPE HERS is STOLEN SOON, 'eh?
--more--"
And they don't need to see you down at the RMV:
"New tool for police is good with faces; A mobile ID check raises privacy worries" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff / July 18, 2011
Sheriff’s departments across Massachusetts are using facial recognition technology to build a database of every suspect they book, an electronic lineup that local police could soon tap remotely with a handheld device attached to a smartphone.
The device, made by a Plymouth firm called BI2 Technologies, weighs about 12 ounces and can scan an iris, take a fingerprint, or assess a face and then immediately check someone’s identity against national and local databases.
Remember way back when it was just "terrorists" they were concerned about?
“It fits in the palm of your hand; it’s completely noninvasive,’’ said Brockton Police Chief William Conlon, whose department tested a prototype of the device and who hopes to acquire one permanently.
Essex County, the first in the state to adopt the facial recognition program in booking suspects more than five years ago, has already assembled a database of more than 70,000 photos and allows detectives from around the county to use it, said Sheriff Frank G. Cousins Jr. The handheld device, known as the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System, would tap into that database and other national collections to help police identify suspects who are offering fake identities or who are wanted on other charges.
That futuristic capability is enticing law enforcement authorities but worrying privacy rights lawyers who say that technology is outpacing policy that would protect privacy.
A number of questions are unresolved, such as how long the images of suspects will be stored, whether they will be shared with the FBI, and what happens to the images of people who are cleared of charges.
“There’s simply no good reason, in our view, to create detailed dossiers on every American resident,’’ said Kade Crockford of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “And increasingly it appears as if all of these surveillance programs and technological programs are doing just that.’’
As we were WARNED THEY WERE INTENDED from the VERY BEGINNING!
***********************************
While facial recognition technology is increasingly being used on Facebook, in photo troves on private computers, and even in law enforcement, the potential for its handheld use - possibly from a distance, without the subject’s knowledge - is prompting additional concern. Is the scanning of an iris equivalent to a search that requires a warrant? Will police be permitted to search faces in crowds for wanted suspects? Who will have access to information gained through the system?
“I’m not an advocate of using facial recognition to scan a crowd looking for a convict like at a sporting event,’’ Cousins said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I wouldn’t want to see that application used for that.’’
But whether it would be allowed remains unclear.
“Our laws have not kept up with technology,’’ said ACLU staff attorney Laura Rotolo. She added that iris scans might be legally comparable to fingerprints, but the circumstances are different because a person must be brought to a station to be fingerprinted....
--more--"
Related: Facial recognition software could reveal your social security number
And don't try flying out, either:
"Fliers face new queries at Logan; Trial program is first in country" by Katie Johnson, Globe Staff / August 2, 2011
The Transportation Security Administration plans to start testing an expanded behavior-detection security program today at Logan International Airport, the first airport in the nation to roll out the enhanced screening method.
Related: Tragic Justice – TSA Reports Agents Developing Cancer from Naked Body Scanners
F*** the fascists! They think we will feel sorry for their perverted asses?
Under the program, TSA officers will speak with every passenger passing through the Terminal A security checkpoint, asking each two or three questions, such as “Where are you traveling today?’’ or “How long have you been in town?’’ Officials said the intent is to detect suspicious behavior - such as someone sweating profusely or avoiding eye contact - a process the TSA estimates will take about 20 seconds per passenger.
I avoid eye contact as a personal idiosyncrasy; now what?
“We’re not looking for the answers necessarily; we’re instead gauging the reaction, the response to the question,’’ said George Naccara, TSA federal security director at Logan.
If a person is deemed to be a possible threat, he or she will be pulled aside for additional screening, such as a pat-down or a bag search, and in some cases the Massachusetts State Police will be alerted. Questioning will take place at a separate podium after a traveler’s documents have been checked, and those identified for more screening will be sent to a third station....
Don't fly -- ever.
In 2003, Logan became the first US airport to use behavior detection, modeling its system after those used at airports around the world. That program, called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, is used at 160 airports nationwide to identify and question passengers who are deemed to be suspicious. That can include anything from wearing a winter coat buttoned up in the middle of the summer to providing evasive answers to basic questions.
The new 60-day trial program at Logan differs in that all travelers will face questioning, no matter what their attire or behavior.
SPOT has resulted in 2,000 arrests since it began nationwide in 2004, according to the TSA, but Naccara could not say how many were terrorist-related.
“We’ve identified people who have outstanding warrants,’’ he said. “We’ve identified people who’ve been doing surveillance in an airport. We’ve identified people who have been doing testing of our equipment in an airport.’’
Like who?
Just last week at Logan, officials said, a TSA officer pulled aside a man who seemed suspicious and found in his carry-on bag a wallet that he had stolen from a college student in Boston.
Yeah, then the tyranny is all worth it.
But the program’s validity has been questioned by some, including the Government Accountability Office. In a July 13 report, the agency reiterated what it said more than a year earlier: that the TSA decided to implement the behavior-detection program before determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for such tactics. The GAO said it is not known whether the program, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually, has led to the arrest of a would-be terrorist.
Others question whether the program makes it more likely that passengers’ rights will be violated based on their appearance or their inability to respond to TSA employees’ questions in a particular way.
“The notion that TSA screeners will have the scientific training and nuance to make determinations as millions and millions of passengers go through airports is nothing more than security theater,’’ said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “It has yet to catch a single terrorist in seven years and does threaten to both be a hassle for every traveler and opens the door to more racial profiling.’’
And that right there alerts you to the FALSE FLAG, PATSY PLOT, FRAME-UPS that pass as "terrorist" attacks.
About 80 Logan TSA officers are going through training for the beefed-up behavior-detection program, and on-the-job training begins today at Terminal A, home of Delta Air Lines. The test program officially begins in mid-August, after which the TSA will determine whether to expand it to other airports.
The new Logan procedures are similar to behavioral analysis techniques that have long been used at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, where every passenger is interviewed before being allowed to board an airplane....
The USraeli Empire!!
Logan’s security system came under scrutiny after Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked two planes that took off from Logan and slammed them into the World Trade Center....
How sad is it that since the AmeriKan media says that is what happened I begin to doubt what I saw on television that fateful day?
Btw, Muslims didn't do 9/11; Israel did.
Behavioral techniques are effective in identifying potential threats because it is nearly impossible to suppress the stress caused by lying, said Lillian Glass, an expert in nonverbal communications who is writing a book with an FBI agent called “See Something, Say Something: Spotting the Body Language of Terrorists.’’
It SURE SEEMS EASY for GOVERNMENT, POLITICIANS, and NEWSPAPERS!!
Oh, WRITING a $elf-$erving BOOK, is $he?
“The body doesn’t lie,’’ Glass said, adding that people trying to hide something may take short breaths, pulse their jaw muscles, and speak in a staccato style. “The emotions which cause physical actions are deep in your brain and can’t be controlled.’’
Sally Taylor, 63, a self-professed “nervous Nellie’’ flier on her way home to Bradenton, Fla., from Boston yesterday, said she would not object to being questioned in the security line. But Taylor said she does not like the full-body scanner.
Now bend over.
--more--"
And once inside the airport?
"Retailers find shoppers at airports; Captive audience has certain appeal" by Stephanie Clifford, New York Times / August 2, 2011
NEW YORK - After visits to malls plummeted during the recession - they have yet to bounce back - many mass-market retailers stepped up their search for other locations to lure shoppers.
Places where people might be bored. And unable to leave. One time-tested answer: airports....
“Airports are becoming, really, a service facility, like a shopping mall,’’ said Jose Gomez, senior vice president for business development for Mango, the fashion retailer....
Where YOU CAN BE SEXUALLY-MOLESTED and RADIATED with CANCER!
The draw of the airport location is simple: an attentive clientele.
“After security, you’re locked up,’’ Gomez said.
Domestic travelers spend more than an hour, on average, waiting in airports once they have passed through security, said Gerry Cecci, vice president for airport management at Westfield Group, the mall company, which manages retail sites at airports including those in Boston, Newark, and Miami.
“Someone may have a street concept or a mall concept that’s very successful, and bringing it to the airport environment, you capitalize on the captive audience and on the dwell time,’’ Cecci said....
Related: Americans Feeling the Touch of Fascism When Flying
“Though there is a dressing room where you can try on dresses, maybe people are not so much inclined to try on, because they don’t have a lot of time,’’ Gomez said.
You have GO TO BE KIDDING?
The retail push has been welcomed by most airports as they try to build revenue not dependent on airlines.
“The relationship between the airport and the airline has changed dramatically, in that the airport can’t just put its costs on the airlines,’’ said Paul McGinn, president of MarketPlace Development, which manages and leases retail space at Philadelphia International Airport and LaGuardia. “Airports have to be self-sustaining,’’ he said, and retail “has become a valuable source of revenue.’’
--more--"
Is it just me, or is there SOMETHING SICK about this BUSINESS PITCH after the fascist feel-up?
Related: Early Morning Flight
I'm going to call and cancel.
Tuesday Night Ticket
Take a chance, readers:
"Lottery restricts high-level players; Treasurer limits stores’ ticket sales" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff / August 2, 2011
State Treasurer Steven Grossman severely restricted yesterday the number of Cash WinFall lottery tickets any store can sell in a day, closing a loophole that has allowed a handful of high-stakes gamblers to win most of the prizes.
Just three gambling companies collected 1,105 of the 1,605 Cash WinFall prizes statewide after a May drawing, each following a strategy that involved buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the $2 tickets at selected stores over a few days.
Under the new rules, no store will be allowed to sell more than $5,000 worth of Cash WinFall tickets in a single day, making it much harder for the gamblers to continue their high-volume purchases.
Grossman also said that Cash WinFall, which has seen declining sales since it was introduced in 2004, will be phased out next spring as part of the normal rotation of games....
Grossman was reacting to a Sunday Globe story that said that sophisticated gamblers had found a quirk in Cash WinFall’s rules that virtually guarantees they will make a large profit if they buy more than $100,000 worth of tickets at certain times of the year when prizes are four to 10 times larger than normal.
Those times, called “rolldown weeks,’’ take place when the Cash WinFall jackpot grows to roughly $2 million and no ticket wins the jackpot by matching six randomly chosen numbers. The jackpot money is then distributed among the secondary prize-winning tickets, increasing the payoff....
--more--"
Let me check my numbers:
"A game with a windfall for a knowing few; High-rolling gamblers are exploiting a quirk in Cash WinFall, raking in huge profits every 3 months as the Lottery looks on" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / July 31, 2011
SUNDERLAND - Billy’s Beer and Wine sold exactly $47 worth of lottery tickets the day before Marjorie Selbee arrived, just another sleepy day for the liquor store in this tiny Western Massachusetts town. But from the moment the 70-something woman from Michigan entered the store early July 12, Billy’s wasn’t sleepy anymore.
Just down the road, and I've been by there many times.
Over the next three days, Selbee bought $307,000 worth of $2 tickets for a relatively obscure game called Cash WinFall, tying up the machine that spits out the pink tickets for hours at a time. Down the road at Jerry’s Place, a coffee shop in South Deerfield, Selbee’s husband, Gerald, was also spending $307,000 on Cash WinFall. Together, the couple bought more than 300,000 tickets for a game whose biggest prize - about $2 million - has been claimed exactly once in the game’s seven-year history.
I know just where it is, dear readers.
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
The state is lucky if I buy one.
During these brief periods - “rolldown weeks’’ in gambling parlance - a tiny group of savvy bettors, among them highly trained computer scientists from MIT and Northeastern University, virtually take over the game....
Sounds like the BANKS of WALL STREET!!
“Cash WinFall isn’t being played as a game of chance. Some smart people have figured out how to get rich while everyone else funds their winnings,’’ said Mohan Srivastava, an MIT-educated statistician who gained fame in gambling circles when he found a flaw in a Canadian scratch ticket game that allowed him to pick the winners more than 90 percent of the time.
Yup, it's a STATE GOVERNMENT operation.
It is hard to say precisely how much each gambler has won because they have a year to claim prizes and the lottery does not track winning tickets of less than $600. But the Selbees have already claimed nearly $1 million in prize money this year, entirely in tickets valued at $802 to $24,821. Their final haul will undoubtedly be considerably larger.
Srivastava calculated that a gambler who bought 200,000 Cash WinFall tickets during four rolldown weeks in a year would win enough to cover the $1.6 million investment and earn a profit of $240,000 to $1.4 million - without ever winning the jackpot. Srivistava’s calculations suggest that the top five groups and individuals playing Cash WinFall collectively win back the cost of their tickets plus $1 million to $6 million in profits each year from about 12 days of gambling.
If only I had the cash reserves like a bank.
On the other 350-plus days of the year, less-sophisticated Cash WinFall players generally lose money, their losses building up the multimillion dollar pool that is ultimately paid out during the rolldowns.
But THAT is OKAY because SUCKERS like them are responsible for the GOBS of STATE AID you get!
The high-stakes players’ dominance of Cash WinFall is putting an uncomfortable spotlight on the state lottery, which has known about the phenomenon for years but only recently started to police the game under new state Treasurer Steven Grossman.
Meaning Cahill the Corrupt was asleep at the switch.
Cash WinFall is so lucrative to stores that sell the tickets - which get a commission equal to 5 percent of the sales - that some are tempted to break the rules to accommodate the high rollers’ needs.
Behaving just like Wall Street!
A Globe reporter saw Marjorie Selbee behind the counter at Billy’s, apparently operating the Cash WinFall machine in violation of a lottery rule that store employees alone can work the ticket dispenser.
I'm so glad those crack Globe reporters are out investigating things, aren't you?
Within days, the lottery suspended ticket-selling privileges at Billy’s, Jerry’s, and five other stores after agency inspectors discovered violations, such as printing out Cash WinFall tickets for bettors who were not there.
So the GLOBE REPORTER is a SNITCH, huh?
However, lottery officials stressed that stores did not tamper with the machines that generate the tickets or otherwise aid the gamblers.
“It is very important to note that their actions in no way compromised the operation or integrity of the game,’’ said lottery officials in a statement.
Pfffft!
More broadly, some question why the state would sponsor a game that is vulnerable to betting tactics that funnel most of the prize money to just a few....
That is the way the RUN FISCAL POLICY for EVERYTHING!
But lottery officials say the game is successful, generating a respectable $11.8 million in profits in 2011 even though the agency sometimes pays out more money than it takes in during the rolldown weeks. Lottery officials say they more than offset the cost of rolldown weeks over the rest of the year.
That is why they DON'T CARE about the FIX!
“It’s a niche game for a different audience,’’ explained Paul Sternburg, the lottery’s executive director. “You want to bring in as many players as possible. Some people chase a huge jackpot. Others are looking at odds.’’
You mean, like a CYBERCAFE?
One thing is certain, however: The players who invest big money in Cash WinFall do not want to talk about it, refusing to discuss the game or explain the secret of their success. Mark Fettig of Tennessee, one of the top 10 winners during the May rolldown week, urged the Globe not to write a story at all, saying “it would be immoral’’ to attract more people to Cash WinFall and potentially dilute the winnings of current players....
I NEVER SAW a WORD of CONCERN about GAMBLING ADDICTS and the DESTROYED FAMILIES and COMMUNITIES!
--more--"
Looks like you are a loser, readers. Sorry.
"Lottery restricts high-level players; Treasurer limits stores’ ticket sales" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff / August 2, 2011
State Treasurer Steven Grossman severely restricted yesterday the number of Cash WinFall lottery tickets any store can sell in a day, closing a loophole that has allowed a handful of high-stakes gamblers to win most of the prizes.
Just three gambling companies collected 1,105 of the 1,605 Cash WinFall prizes statewide after a May drawing, each following a strategy that involved buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the $2 tickets at selected stores over a few days.
Under the new rules, no store will be allowed to sell more than $5,000 worth of Cash WinFall tickets in a single day, making it much harder for the gamblers to continue their high-volume purchases.
Grossman also said that Cash WinFall, which has seen declining sales since it was introduced in 2004, will be phased out next spring as part of the normal rotation of games....
Grossman was reacting to a Sunday Globe story that said that sophisticated gamblers had found a quirk in Cash WinFall’s rules that virtually guarantees they will make a large profit if they buy more than $100,000 worth of tickets at certain times of the year when prizes are four to 10 times larger than normal.
Those times, called “rolldown weeks,’’ take place when the Cash WinFall jackpot grows to roughly $2 million and no ticket wins the jackpot by matching six randomly chosen numbers. The jackpot money is then distributed among the secondary prize-winning tickets, increasing the payoff....
--more--"
Let me check my numbers:
"A game with a windfall for a knowing few; High-rolling gamblers are exploiting a quirk in Cash WinFall, raking in huge profits every 3 months as the Lottery looks on" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / July 31, 2011
SUNDERLAND - Billy’s Beer and Wine sold exactly $47 worth of lottery tickets the day before Marjorie Selbee arrived, just another sleepy day for the liquor store in this tiny Western Massachusetts town. But from the moment the 70-something woman from Michigan entered the store early July 12, Billy’s wasn’t sleepy anymore.
Just down the road, and I've been by there many times.
Over the next three days, Selbee bought $307,000 worth of $2 tickets for a relatively obscure game called Cash WinFall, tying up the machine that spits out the pink tickets for hours at a time. Down the road at Jerry’s Place, a coffee shop in South Deerfield, Selbee’s husband, Gerald, was also spending $307,000 on Cash WinFall. Together, the couple bought more than 300,000 tickets for a game whose biggest prize - about $2 million - has been claimed exactly once in the game’s seven-year history.
I know just where it is, dear readers.
But the Selbees, who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies, know a secret about the Massachusetts State Lottery: For a few days about every three months, Cash WinFall may be the most reliably lucrative lottery game in the country. Because of a quirk in the rules, when the jackpot reaches roughly $2 million and no one wins, payoffs for smaller prizes swell dramatically, which statisticians say practically assures a profit to anyone who buys at least $100,000 worth of tickets.
The state is lucky if I buy one.
During these brief periods - “rolldown weeks’’ in gambling parlance - a tiny group of savvy bettors, among them highly trained computer scientists from MIT and Northeastern University, virtually take over the game....
Sounds like the BANKS of WALL STREET!!
“Cash WinFall isn’t being played as a game of chance. Some smart people have figured out how to get rich while everyone else funds their winnings,’’ said Mohan Srivastava, an MIT-educated statistician who gained fame in gambling circles when he found a flaw in a Canadian scratch ticket game that allowed him to pick the winners more than 90 percent of the time.
Yup, it's a STATE GOVERNMENT operation.
It is hard to say precisely how much each gambler has won because they have a year to claim prizes and the lottery does not track winning tickets of less than $600. But the Selbees have already claimed nearly $1 million in prize money this year, entirely in tickets valued at $802 to $24,821. Their final haul will undoubtedly be considerably larger.
Srivastava calculated that a gambler who bought 200,000 Cash WinFall tickets during four rolldown weeks in a year would win enough to cover the $1.6 million investment and earn a profit of $240,000 to $1.4 million - without ever winning the jackpot. Srivistava’s calculations suggest that the top five groups and individuals playing Cash WinFall collectively win back the cost of their tickets plus $1 million to $6 million in profits each year from about 12 days of gambling.
If only I had the cash reserves like a bank.
On the other 350-plus days of the year, less-sophisticated Cash WinFall players generally lose money, their losses building up the multimillion dollar pool that is ultimately paid out during the rolldowns.
But THAT is OKAY because SUCKERS like them are responsible for the GOBS of STATE AID you get!
The high-stakes players’ dominance of Cash WinFall is putting an uncomfortable spotlight on the state lottery, which has known about the phenomenon for years but only recently started to police the game under new state Treasurer Steven Grossman.
Meaning Cahill the Corrupt was asleep at the switch.
Cash WinFall is so lucrative to stores that sell the tickets - which get a commission equal to 5 percent of the sales - that some are tempted to break the rules to accommodate the high rollers’ needs.
Behaving just like Wall Street!
A Globe reporter saw Marjorie Selbee behind the counter at Billy’s, apparently operating the Cash WinFall machine in violation of a lottery rule that store employees alone can work the ticket dispenser.
I'm so glad those crack Globe reporters are out investigating things, aren't you?
Within days, the lottery suspended ticket-selling privileges at Billy’s, Jerry’s, and five other stores after agency inspectors discovered violations, such as printing out Cash WinFall tickets for bettors who were not there.
So the GLOBE REPORTER is a SNITCH, huh?
However, lottery officials stressed that stores did not tamper with the machines that generate the tickets or otherwise aid the gamblers.
“It is very important to note that their actions in no way compromised the operation or integrity of the game,’’ said lottery officials in a statement.
Pfffft!
More broadly, some question why the state would sponsor a game that is vulnerable to betting tactics that funnel most of the prize money to just a few....
That is the way the RUN FISCAL POLICY for EVERYTHING!
But lottery officials say the game is successful, generating a respectable $11.8 million in profits in 2011 even though the agency sometimes pays out more money than it takes in during the rolldown weeks. Lottery officials say they more than offset the cost of rolldown weeks over the rest of the year.
That is why they DON'T CARE about the FIX!
“It’s a niche game for a different audience,’’ explained Paul Sternburg, the lottery’s executive director. “You want to bring in as many players as possible. Some people chase a huge jackpot. Others are looking at odds.’’
You mean, like a CYBERCAFE?
One thing is certain, however: The players who invest big money in Cash WinFall do not want to talk about it, refusing to discuss the game or explain the secret of their success. Mark Fettig of Tennessee, one of the top 10 winners during the May rolldown week, urged the Globe not to write a story at all, saying “it would be immoral’’ to attract more people to Cash WinFall and potentially dilute the winnings of current players....
I NEVER SAW a WORD of CONCERN about GAMBLING ADDICTS and the DESTROYED FAMILIES and COMMUNITIES!
--more--"
Looks like you are a loser, readers. Sorry.
Sunday Globe Special: The Confederacy (Tax) Lives
It is only an anecdotal observation; however, I notice the newspaper perpetuates stereotypes.
"In the heart of Dixie, Ala. still collects tax for Confederate veterans; Portion of funds go toward upkeep of memorial park" July 24, 2011|By Jay Reeves, Associated Press
MOUNTAIN CREEK, Ala. - The last of the more than 60,000 Confederate veterans who came home to Alabama after the Civil War died generations ago, yet residents are still paying a tax that supported the neediest among them.
Despite fire-and-brimstone opposition to taxes among many in a state that still has “Heart of Dixie’’ on its license plates, officials never stopped collecting a property tax that once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldiers’ Home, which closed 72 years ago. The tax now pays for Confederate Memorial Park, which sits on the same 102-acre tract where elderly veterans used to stroll.
The tax once brought in millions for Confederate pensions, but lawmakers sliced up the levy and sent money elsewhere as the men and their wives died. No one has seriously challenged the continued use of the money for a memorial to the “Lost Cause,’’ in part because few realize it exists; one long-serving black legislator who thought the tax had been done away with said he wants to eliminate state funding for the park.
These days, 150 years after the Civil War started, officials say the old tax typically brings in more than $400,000 annually for the park, where Confederate flags flapped on a recent steamy afternoon. That is not much compared to Alabama’s total operating budget of $1.8 billion, but it’s sufficient to give the park plenty of money to operate and even enough for investments, all at a time when other historic sites are struggling to keep the grass cut for lack of state funding....
Tax experts say they know of no other state that still collects a tax so directly connected to the Civil War, although some federal excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol first were enacted during the war to help fund the Union.
You know, it really is a war paper.
“Broadly speaking, almost all taxes have their start in a war of some sort,’’ said Joseph J. Thorndike, director of a tax history project at Tax Analysts, a nonprofit organization that studies taxation.
The Lord's Honest Truth from... Alabama?
Alabama’s tax structure was enshrined in its 1901 constitution, passed after Reconstruction at a time when historians say state legislators’ main goal was to keep power in the hands of wealthy white landowners by disenfranchising blacks and poor whites....
Yeah, well, WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT 110 YEARS LATER?
--more--"
And while the pro-tax paper is advocating on behalf of the Alabama taxpayer(?):
"Ala. county cancels bankruptcy talks to look at Wall St. deal" July 29, 2011|Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Leaders of Alabama’s largest county called off a meeting yesterday on filing a record-breaking bankruptcy to consider an offer from Wall Street lenders to settle debts in excess of $3 billion from corruption-tainted sewer deals.
See: Sweet Home Alabama
Jefferson County commission officials canceled their scheduled meeting, where they would have decided whether to file for bankruptcy, after creditors led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. responded to the county’s latest settlement offer.
Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, who oversees county finances, said the creditors’ response was “not real close’’ to the county’s latest proposal for paying down the debt. But he said it was within striking distance.
The county - Alabama’s historic economic hub with some 658,000 residents - has been trying to avoid filing bankruptcy since 2008.
The deal it offered last week would erase more than $1 billion of its debt with the promise of repaying the remaining amount through a combination of modest sewer rate increases and loans....
Are you flipping kidding?
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said yesterday that he is unsure whether bankruptcy or a settlement would be best.
“Bankruptcy is the great unknown. You go into it, and you don’t know where you might end up,’’ he said. “A settlement is certainty, but do you give away the farm?’’
There you go!
Municipal bond markets probably wouldn’t be affected if Jefferson County files for bankruptcy because many investors have expected it for years and previously factored it into their risk assessments, said Matt Fabian, managing director at research firm Municipal Market Advisors.
The benevolent bondholders.
--more--"
"In the heart of Dixie, Ala. still collects tax for Confederate veterans; Portion of funds go toward upkeep of memorial park" July 24, 2011|By Jay Reeves, Associated Press
MOUNTAIN CREEK, Ala. - The last of the more than 60,000 Confederate veterans who came home to Alabama after the Civil War died generations ago, yet residents are still paying a tax that supported the neediest among them.
Despite fire-and-brimstone opposition to taxes among many in a state that still has “Heart of Dixie’’ on its license plates, officials never stopped collecting a property tax that once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldiers’ Home, which closed 72 years ago. The tax now pays for Confederate Memorial Park, which sits on the same 102-acre tract where elderly veterans used to stroll.
The tax once brought in millions for Confederate pensions, but lawmakers sliced up the levy and sent money elsewhere as the men and their wives died. No one has seriously challenged the continued use of the money for a memorial to the “Lost Cause,’’ in part because few realize it exists; one long-serving black legislator who thought the tax had been done away with said he wants to eliminate state funding for the park.
These days, 150 years after the Civil War started, officials say the old tax typically brings in more than $400,000 annually for the park, where Confederate flags flapped on a recent steamy afternoon. That is not much compared to Alabama’s total operating budget of $1.8 billion, but it’s sufficient to give the park plenty of money to operate and even enough for investments, all at a time when other historic sites are struggling to keep the grass cut for lack of state funding....
Tax experts say they know of no other state that still collects a tax so directly connected to the Civil War, although some federal excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol first were enacted during the war to help fund the Union.
You know, it really is a war paper.
“Broadly speaking, almost all taxes have their start in a war of some sort,’’ said Joseph J. Thorndike, director of a tax history project at Tax Analysts, a nonprofit organization that studies taxation.
The Lord's Honest Truth from... Alabama?
Alabama’s tax structure was enshrined in its 1901 constitution, passed after Reconstruction at a time when historians say state legislators’ main goal was to keep power in the hands of wealthy white landowners by disenfranchising blacks and poor whites....
Yeah, well, WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT 110 YEARS LATER?
--more--"
And while the pro-tax paper is advocating on behalf of the Alabama taxpayer(?):
"Ala. county cancels bankruptcy talks to look at Wall St. deal" July 29, 2011|Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Leaders of Alabama’s largest county called off a meeting yesterday on filing a record-breaking bankruptcy to consider an offer from Wall Street lenders to settle debts in excess of $3 billion from corruption-tainted sewer deals.
See: Sweet Home Alabama
Jefferson County commission officials canceled their scheduled meeting, where they would have decided whether to file for bankruptcy, after creditors led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. responded to the county’s latest settlement offer.
Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, who oversees county finances, said the creditors’ response was “not real close’’ to the county’s latest proposal for paying down the debt. But he said it was within striking distance.
The county - Alabama’s historic economic hub with some 658,000 residents - has been trying to avoid filing bankruptcy since 2008.
The deal it offered last week would erase more than $1 billion of its debt with the promise of repaying the remaining amount through a combination of modest sewer rate increases and loans....
Are you flipping kidding?
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said yesterday that he is unsure whether bankruptcy or a settlement would be best.
“Bankruptcy is the great unknown. You go into it, and you don’t know where you might end up,’’ he said. “A settlement is certainty, but do you give away the farm?’’
There you go!
Municipal bond markets probably wouldn’t be affected if Jefferson County files for bankruptcy because many investors have expected it for years and previously factored it into their risk assessments, said Matt Fabian, managing director at research firm Municipal Market Advisors.
The benevolent bondholders.
--more--"
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