Blog

(This guest post comes courtesy of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader)

Obama’s Secret Plan for Economic Revival. Obama’s strategy to extricate the US from its dire economic straights has been leaking out from Washington over the past few weeks. How does he wean the country off of massive stimulus programs, zero interest rates, and ballooning deficits? 

The former community activist from Chicago intends to let the economy do the heavy lifting, bringing the budget deficit down from a suicidal 10.6% of GDP to 3% of GDP, which can then be sustained indefinitely with a 3% real economic growth rate. Some 60% of this incredible shrinkage will be achieved through tax hikes, and 40% via spending cuts, which together will generate the needed $938 billion in savings. Here is the breakdown:

$331 billion-“bank responsibility fees” designed to address “too big to fail”
$252 billion-expiring Bush tax cuts for couples earning over $250,000 a year
$250 billion-scaling back the wars in Iran and Afghanistan
$105 billion-already announced spending freezes

I have a few problems with this scenario. What if the economy doesn’t grow at 3%? My own long term growth forecast is 2.5%. That creates a shortfall of $710 billion right there. What if interest rates go up? Double short term rates and the government’s debt service leaps from $385 billion to $770 billion. That’s a hole and a half. Are republicans going to cooperate on any of this? Only when Hell freezes over. If the Obama plan falls short of expectations, where will he go to raid the additional funds?

Put a national VAT tax, savings squeezed out of health care though a reduction of services, and cut backs in entitlements at the top of the list. If you think the noise coming out of Washington is unbearable now, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. To me it all adds up to a collapse of the 30 year Treasury bond market (TBT). Funny, it seems that no matter where I focus my research, all roads lead to the TBT. Use this dip to re-establish longs, and set yourself up for your fourth round trip this year.

Get more market commentary from The Mad Hedge Fund Trader >

Join the conversation about this story »

That’s what Republican activist Art McNally wanted to know. McMahon declined an invitation from the group of grassroots activists who hosted a candidate forum in Woodbury Tuesday night, citing previous commitments.

On March 24th, California’s Air Resources Board (ARB) published findings from its study on how the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) could impact California's economy. 

This post looks at the findings specific to the impact on household income. It follows earlier posts summarizing the analytical methods used and findings specific to gross state product and jobs. Future posts will cover: 

• energy price "shock risk" reduction
• how CARB's work compares to other analyses

How will AB 32 impact household income?

ARB’s analysis looks at more than 70 measures in the AB 32 Scoping Plan that will be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as directed under the act. The measures fall into six categories and are expected to account for reductions of 60 million metric tons (MMT), which is about 60% of the reductions needed to meet the goal of cutting 2020 emissions to 1990 levels. 

It's critical that ARB has clear and effective ways to reduce GHG emissions. It's also key to note that many of these measures will save households and businesses money on transportation and energy.

AB 32 implementation is expected to improve household income at all income levels except for the very top level (see graph below) 

Smilar to the economic impact on jobs, the aggregate-statewide effect of AB 32 on household income is small. The ARB found that the AB 32 plans will provide a 0.1% improvement in personal income.

 Figure 1 – Household Income with and without AB 32 implementation

How can it be that energy users save when fuel prices rise?

ARB estimates that while the cost for each unit of energy will rise as a result of AB 32, we will use less because of efficiency. As efficiencies increase, it is likely that monthly bills will decrease.

For example, ARB modeling indicates AB 32 will inspire additional residential sector investments of more than $1.5 billion on devices, processes and operations in 2020, with sector savings of more than $2.2 billion in avoided household and transportation fuel expenditures. Devices include more efficient appliances, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs, new refrigerators and programmable thermostats. Processes include better utility outreach programs geared for low-income ratepayers. Operations can include automatically adjusting lighting and temperature controls and water-moisture gauges that activate drip irrigation. AB 32 is also expected to save drivers $4 billion on fuel expenditures by 2020.

ARB based these findings on the assumption that California's cap-and-trade program will involve some buying and selling of pollution permits, and that all the permit value will remain in California and be returned to households. ARB is developing a program (details will be released later this spring) that will likely combine administrative distribution and auctioning of permits. A core goal of the program is to protect consumers and avoid “leakage” (i.e., loss of emissions and jobs to other regulatory jurisdictions).

Roll Call breaks the story:

The House ethics committee has drafted rules that for the first time would define gay married couples as “spouses” for the purposes of filling out their annual Congressional financial disclosure forms.

The proposed change is found in new draft instructions for those financial disclosure forms, which lawmakers and senior staffers have to file annually, Roll Call discovered. The language says:

Same-Sex Marriages: In 2009, there were a total of four states which issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. (New Hampshire and the District of Columbia began issuing such licenses effective in 2010). If you and your spouse were issued a marriage license by any of these states and were subsequently legally married in that state, you must disclose all required spousal information on your Financial Disclosure Statement.

But don’t be surprised if the draft language doesn’t make it into the final version. The proposal is already taking heat from both gay rights groups and those opposed to gay marriage. Roll Call explains:

For gay rights activists, the disclosure requirement is an attempt to saddle gay couples with some of the obligations of marriage without providing the full benefits of marriage, such as the right to file joint federal tax returns.

Meanwhile, gay marriage opponents say this is a case of one committee trying to override all of Congress.

Tom McClusky, vice president of Family Research Council Action, the legislative arm of the FRC, said the Defense of Marriage Act is explicit in prohibiting federal entities from equating gay partners with opposite-sex married couples.

None of Congress’ openly gay lawmakers would be affected by the change, Roll Call notes, because none is legally married in his or her state.

by John F. Coyle

Many thanks to Ingrid Wuerth for her thoughtful response to my Article.

I agree with Ingrid that the importance of maintaining a uniform international standard in the interpretation of incorporative statutes may be especially salient in the context of treaties, like the Hague Rules, that address coordination problems.  I disagree, however, that the borrowed treaty rule is of little salience in the context of human rights treaties that seek to establish minimum international standards.  An international standard contained in a human rights treaty is typically invoked by domestic litigants only where its application would result in increased protection of individual rights; it is the rare case in which the government is the first to cite to a human rights treaty.  In most (though not all) cases, a presumption requiring the court to consult the relevant international standard as a prelude to interpreting a domestic statute implementing that treaty seems likely to produce tangible benefits vis-à-vis individual rights.  Certainly this was true in INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, where the petitioner successfully urged the Supreme Court to interpret incorporative statutes that are part of the Immigration and Nationality Act to conform them to the relevant international standard.  A presumption that the court should conform its construction of an incorporative statute to the international standard would do even more to promote individual rights.  Consequently, I believe that the widespread application of the borrowed treaty rule could have a direct and positive impact on the domestic implementation of human rights treaties.  Its utility is not limited exclusively to coordinative treaties.

Ingrid also suggests that the Supreme Court in Sanchez-Llamas rejected the notion that U.S. courts should seek to interpret a particular treaty in the way that an international tribunal would.  To be clear, I am not arguing that U.S. courts should view themselves as international tribunals when seeking to determine the meaning of incorporative statutes.  Rather, I suggest that these courts should take a broad perspective on the nature of the interpretive project before them.  Rather than reading an incorporative statute as though it were any other statute, the court should take into account the fact that a portion of the statutory text is derived from an international treaty and that other courts—at the national and international level—may likewise be called upon to consider the meaning of the source treaty.  While there can be no doubt that the Supreme Court in Sanchez-Llamas gave short shrift to the views of the ICJ, there are many other examples where that court and the lower federal courts have looked to international and foreign law sources in order to determine the meaning of treaties and incorporative statutes.  In taking this broad view, these courts have stepped outside their own legal system in an attempt to ascertain, as much as possible, the meaning of the relevant provisions in the (international) legal system from which they were taken.  The borrowed treaty rule would require that U.S. courts take a similarly broad view.

Finally, I am not convinced that the Charming Betsy canon is, as Ingrid suggests, an adequate substitute for the borrowed treaty rule.  The Charming Betsy canon applies where (1) a statute is ambiguous and (2) there is an actual conflict between one plausible construction of the statute and a rule of international law.  Absent ambiguity or an actual conflict, the canon is inapposite.  The borrowed treaty rule, by comparison, applies to guide the interpretations of all incorporative statutes regardless of whether they are ambiguous, and its application is also not predicated on the existence of any conflict.  As such, the borrowed treaty rule is more likely to result in interpretations of incorporative statutes that are faithful to the meaning of the underlying treaty than is the Charming Betsy canon.

A few weeks ago, I read an opinion piece in the Washington Post that praised the Acid Rain Program as an example of how people with different perspectives could come together to create a successful program to solve an important problem. Reading this article twenty years after I helped write the bill that created the Acid Rain Program, I couldn’t help but ask – How did we do it?

The Acid Rain Program is often called “the grand experiment” because it is the world’s first large-scale air emissions cap and trade program. Signed into law in 1990, it created a cap and trade program that requires power plants to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in order to address acid rain.

We were breaking new ground on environmental policy but we also needed a strong, national solution to a multi-state problem with local impacts. Writing the legislation was a wild ride full of Washington intrigue but we knew we had to – and we did – create a carefully designed program that provided a firm environmental goal (the emission cap) while giving industry the flexibility to decide how to achieve their emission reductions.

We were looking for certainty, simplicity, accuracy and an approach that wouldn’t require a lot of people to run it. And the program has proven to be all of these things. Power plant SO2 emissions have fallen dramatically since the program began in 1995. Some sensitive ecosystems are starting to recover from the damages of acid rain. By making huge reductions in SO2, we achieved one of the largest improvements in public health. Compliance cost 70% less than originally expected. Monitors on smokestacks collect data, available online, providing transparency and confidence in results. We’ve seen the market flourish while achieving over 99 percent compliance every year.

Looking back after 20 successful years of the Acid Rain Program, the world now knows that cap and trade works. For the right pollution problem, we don’t have to control every action – just the emissions – and we can allow flexibility AND achieve high compliance. Most importantly, we have shown that a strong economy and a healthy environment CAN exist together.

Interested in learning more? Join our Discussion Forum and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About the author: Brian McLean is the Director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs in the Office of Air and Radiation and EPA manager for the Acid Rain Program.

For more than two dec­ades now, Russian and German physicists have camped on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal from February to April, installing and maintaining instruments to search for the elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos. Artificial eyes deep below the surface of the lake look for dim flashes of blue light caused by a rare collision between a neutrino and a molecule of water. I was told that human eyes would be able to see these flashes too—if our eyes were the size of watermelons. Indeed, each artificial eye is more than a foot in diameter, and the Baikal neutrino telescope, the first instrument of its kind in the world, has 228 eyes patiently watching for these messengers from outer space.

The telescope, which is located a few miles offshore, operates underwater all year round. Cables run from it to a shore station where data are collected and analyzed. It is a project on a shoestring budget. Without the luxury of expensive ships and remote-controlled submersibles, scientists wait for the winter ice to provide a stable platform for their cranes and winches. Each year they set up an ice camp, haul the telescope up from a depth of 0.7 mile, carry out routine maintenance, and lower it back into the water. And each year they race against time to complete their work before the sprigs of spring begin to brush away the Siberian winter and the lake’s frozen surface starts to crack.

What is it about the neutrino that makes scientists brave such conditions? Neutrinos—some of them dating back to right after the Big Bang—go through matter, traveling unscathed from the time they are created and carrying information in a way no other particle can. The universe is opaque to ultraenergetic photons, or gamma rays, which are absorbed by the matter and radiation that lie between their source and Earth. But neutrinos, produced by the same astrophysical processes that generate high-energy photons, barely interact with anything along the way. For instance, neutrinos stream out from the center of the sun as soon as they are produced, whereas a photon needs thousands of years to work its way out from the core to the sun’s brilliant surface.

Neutrinos therefore represent a unique window into an otherwise invisible universe, even offering clues about the missing mass called dark matter, whose presence can be inferred only by its gravitational influence on stars and galaxies. Theory suggests that over time the gravity wells created by Earth, the sun, and the Milky Way would have sucked in an enormous number of dark-matter particles. Wherever they gather in great concentrations, these particles should collide with one another, spewing out (among other things) neutrinos. It is as if a giant particle accelerator at our galaxy’s center were smashing dark-matter particles together, generating neutrinos and beaming them outward, some toward us…

You.  Yes, you.  You know who you are.  You’re an engager of toomfoolery.  You like long walks on the beach, spoofing caller IDs, and living life on the edge. 

(I kid, I kid.  Even if the profile doesn’t fit you, today’s news is still rather important, as it affects caller ID services going forward.)

A few months after it moved through the Senate, the House of Representatives has passed the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010 (H.R. 1258), an amendment to the Communications Bill of 1934.  According to the bill, it is illegal “To cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, with the intent to defraud and deceive.”  An exemption is upheld for those blocking their own caller ID, and as with everything in this world, law enforcement isn’t affected.

The bill now goes to the President for signing.  If you hear anything as you’re going to sleep tonight, it’s probably the tears of thieves.  Then again, I’m sure professional thieves aren’t thinking twice about breaking the law.

Via BGR, PhoneScoop

Safety Spectacles and Goggles

MSA adds six new models of safety spectacles and goggles to its wide range of Protective Eyewear. Extreme robustness as well as fashionable and ergonomic design are features common to all models, increasing wearer acceptance and safety.

Alternator:
A complete solution, offering different levels of protection and comfort in an exclusive style. Alternator has exchangeable lenses and vented temples with good lateral protection. Vented and non-vented dust inserts and a practical storage case are available as accessory.

Racers:
A perfect combination of dynamic style and the highest protection level. Racers have a very high impact resistant single lens and adjustable soft nose buds for a perfect fit. Formable wire temples adapt to different head sizes. The dynamic frame design is available in black or with a silver-red surface finish combined with a stylish red rainbow mirror lens.

Altimeter:
Hybrid design for universal use. The soft frame of Altimeter provides complete eye enclosure and superior shock absorption. 18 large ventilation slits ensure a comfortable and airy fit. An angle adjustable ratchet allows switching between a flexible headband or length adjustable soft temples.

ChemPro:
Fresh look, soft fit and complete protection. ChemPro has a length adjustable comfortable headband and a “soft touch” body that perfectly adapts to the face. The indirect ventilation allows air movement whilst protecting against splash and coarse dust. The easily changeable lens provides resistance to impact at extremes of temperature and protects against molten metal splash.

Metropol: Safety eyewear with a touch of elegance. Metropol, with its attractive transparent frame design, has wide temples with stylish metal decor. Soft nose buds keep the spectacles from slipping and provide good wearer comfort.

Milan:
Extravagant sunglasses for outdoor work. The tortoise coloured frame design makes Milan an exclusive must-have for every fashionist. The large brown lenses provide increased robustness and premium UV400 protection while offering good vertical coverage.

All MSA eyewear models are of high quality and comply with all relevant European standards.

HIGH SPEED ELECTRIC GRIPPING THAT COMBINES COST AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY WITH EASE OF USE.

DE-STA-CO launched the RPE Parallel Gripper, a new electric gripper that combines cost and energy efficiency with ease of use. The “E-Gripper” series is clean room rated and suitable for harsh environments, making it ideal for use in medical, laboratory automation and electronic applications.

The E-Gripper is a low friction mechanism that easily integrates into current engineering and manufacturing processes. Compact and lightweight, the electrically actuated series is designed for gripping small parts in small places and can be mounted and operated in any orientation.

The gripper also utilizes a 24VDC pulsed signal, eliminating the need for pneumatics, as well as requirements for on-board programming software.
DE-STA-CO equipped the E-Gripper series with a spring-closed feature to ensure full grip force and failsafe operation during power off conditions.

The series uses preloaded “Dual-V” roller bearings to eliminate side play for excellent part position repeatability, and provides repeatable gripping forces for holding delicate parts.
DE-STA-CO’s RPE parallel grippers are clean room suitable and equipped with a corrosion resistant shield that protects the drive and bearing mechanism.

BORIDE Engineered Abrasives now offers the largest selection of fine grit mold polishing stones available in the market.

From our EDM polishing stones to our Specialty polishing stones we have grit ranges up to 1200.

We also offer convenient Fine Grit Mold Stone Polishing Kits with a variety of grits in each kit.

Hardinge announces the newest members of the GX-Series of Vertical Machining Centers as a standard product offering in North America. These machines are designed and built for a production environment. The machine can literally overlap one another to better utilize valuable floor space and to promote cell manufacturing. The unique design provides service and operator interface to only the front or back of the machines. This design allows the machines to be stacked in a line side by side since there is no need to access the sides of the machines. Don’t let the small footprint fool you as the GX 300 & 510 packs a powerful punch.

A unique feature of this machine is the spindle torque and horsepower compared to other small footprint machines. With 20 horsepower and 99 ft-lbs of torque the GX300 & 510 is able to provide a solution for the aerospace, medical, defense, 3C, automotive and other industries, requiring high-value, complex parts from difficult to machine materials.

Some of the key differentiators of these machines are: Heavy-duty linear roller guide-ways ensuring a stiff machine design. High acceleration rates of the spindles and axes required for high production. Standard with swing arm ATC, required for high production. Also, this machine is designed to support single piece flow and/or automated parts handling.

The machines come standard with a Fanuc I Series OiMC control. The ATC is magazine capacity 20 Tools.

The GX 300 & GX 510 machining centers are designed and built for a production environment. A unique design allows for these machines to literally overlap one another to better utilize valuable floor space and to promote cell manufacturing. The design allows access to only be necessary from the front and back of the machine allowing you to stack these machines side by side. This type of floor plan and machine design is perfect for automation. Add some robots or a gantry system and you can increase your productivity with virtually no labor costs.

Don’t let the compact footprint fool you, these machines pack a powerful punch! With 20HP and 99 ft-lbs of torque these machines are sure to be a market leader!. These specifications make the GX 300 & GX 510 ideal for the aerospace, medical, defense, 3C, automotive and other industries who require high-value, complex parts from difficult to machine materials.

New from J+J Automation UK are the quality Swiss Newenta electric actuators which provide a cost effective solution for motorised small bore ball valves with on-off, mechanical spring return, or 0-10V modulating operation.
The Newenta actuator is IP65 weatherproof, multi-voltage (H Series covers 110/240V, and the L Series covers 24V AC/DC) and has an ISO5211 F03/F04/F05 mounting flange with a 9mm star drive allowing the Newenta actuator to typically direct mount to 2 and 3 way brass ball valves, 2 way stainless steel ball valves and to plastic 2 and 3 way ball valves via a stainless steel mounting kit.
The Newentra range offers a modular concept, starting with the standard on-off actuator, then adding either electrical or mechanical interfaces to create either mechanical spring return, or 0-10V modulating functionality.
The Newenta product is ISO:9001 manufactured, IP65 weatherproof, CE marked and WEEE compliant.
Contact J+J Automation UK for information.

Altair Semiconductor, a 4G chip company developing the world’s most advanced mobile semiconductors for handheld devices, and Aeroflex, the leading global provider of Long Term Evolution (LTE) test equipment, today announced a joint LTE collaboration.
Through the collaboration, Altair and Aeroflex will perform interoperability testing (IOT) to enable joint customer development and testing on a pre-tested and qualified User Equipment (UE) test setup. Following an intensive evaluation period Altair has ordered multiple 7100 LTE digital radio test sets from Aeroflex, with the first delivery in January 2010.
For several months, Altair and Aeroflex have collaborated on IOT of their respective products—Aeroflex’s 7100 digital radio test set, and Altair’s recently announced FourGee™ LTE USB ExpressCard UE. Altair’s LTE data card has also undergone extensive IOT with additional partners and vendors and is currently being used in various field activities.
Based on Aeroflex’s tried and tested RF and baseband technology, the 7100 Series digital radio test set is unique in its support of both RF parametric and protocol testing for LTE terminal devices. The 7100 Series simulates a network from the physical layer to the core network IP infrastructure. Focused on the R&D market—from components to handsets—the Aeroflex 7100 Series is a comprehensive test system for LTE mobile devices incorporated into a small footprint, single bench-top instrument.
Altair Semiconductor is the world’s leading developer of ultra-low power, small footprint and high performance 4G semiconductors. The company’s products provide device manufacturers integrating any 4G technology into their products with a highly power-optimized, robust and cost-effective solution. Altair’s comprehensive product portfolio includes baseband processors, multi-band RF transceivers for both FDD and TDD bands, and a range of reference hardware and product level protocol stack software. Based on a novel, proprietary Software Defined Radio (SDR) processor, codenamed “O2P™”, Altair’s products are the smallest and most highly power optimized in the industry, offering an unmatched combination of flexibility and performance.

Well, this is awesome news for Cablevision, Time Warner and Comcast customers. If you live in the NY/NJ/CT area, the three companies have just announced a Wi-Fi roaming agreement that opens all of their Wi-Fi networks to each other’s customers. More »

First Lady Michelle Obama boarding aircraft Thursday at Mexico City (photo by Lynn Sweet)

Pool report by Lynn Sweet

MEXICO CITY–First Lady Michelle Obama wrapped up her first solo international official trip on Thursday, with wheels up from Benito Juarez International Airport at 12:01 p.m. local time, en route to San Diego, Calif.

Mrs. Obama’s motocade zipped from La Hacienda de los Morales to the airport on empty highways, arriving at 11:30 a.m. and proceeding to the Presidential Hangar.

A few minutes later, at 11:36 a.m., Mrs. Obama emerged from the terminal, accompanied by a Mexican protocol deputy, to be serenaded by a waiting group of boys and girls. She was wearing the same white pants and ivory jacket she had on during her morning roundtable with a group of a dozen Mexican youth leaders. She listened with cupped hands and clapped when the kids were done with two songs, in English and Spanish.

The songsters waving U.S. and Mexican flags were members of the Christel House choir, called the Polyphonic Chorus, a U.S. Embassy official told your pooler. The adorable children wore uniforms–blue jumpers and tan shirts for girls, blue sleeveless sweaters, blue pants and tan shirts for boys. Christel House was founded to help impoverished children.

Mrs. Obama’s departure greeters met her at the foot of the stairs to her aircraft: those identified by your pooler: U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual; Ambassador Julian Ventura, Undersecretary for North America; Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan and his wife, Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan.

She climbed the stairs alone. At the top of the stairway she paused, looked back and entered the plane.

One of the best unintended consequences of our successful BTOP project has been the people we’ve met – and keep meeting. Yesterday we participated in a conference call with “Wave 6” BTOP projects. The phone call was convened by the NTIA folks with two goals in mind – to help us cross our federal t’s and dot our federal i’s and to help us connect with each other.

I wanted to share just a little bit about the folks we met. Their programs are innovative and may be helpful in other communities and/or worth replicating in some areas:

MEDA – Mission Economic Development Agency works out of San Francisco but their project spans several states, included Minnesota. They focus on building personal assets in low income neighborhoods and plan to run a network of 17 computer centers. They’ll provide computer access, broadband and training to Latino populations. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

The Latino Microentrepreneur Tech Net is a collaborative project led by the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) of San Francisco and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) of San Antonio, Texas. LMTN will establish Public Computer Centers and a standardized bilingual training curriculum for Latino entrepreneurs at 17 locations nationwide and create 2,100 jobs. http://tinyurl.com/y56f4np  

Computers for Youth – Based in NY with offices in other places – they want to improve home learning environment for low income children. They are working with middle schools to bring in families for Saturday training where families can walk away with a broadband-ready computer. They also work with teachers. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

Provide efficient adoption of an open Wi-Fi mesh network into the low-rent housing areas of Mar Vista, Del Rey and a newly formed open Wi-Fi mesh network in the low-rent housing areas of Venice/Lincoln. Working with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Computers for Youth and the City of Los Angeles Community Computer Centers, we’ll provide last-mile solutions to the under served community. http://tinyurl.com/y2jsaul  

Fayetteville State University will partner with their local Metropolitan Housing to operate a computer center near the campus for technology education as well as training to help people get into the workforce. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

The purpose of this activity is to educate vulnerable populations about broadband, provide training access and equipment, and support FMHA and FSU in providing these services. Services provided will address economic growth and job creation in Fayetteville, North Carolina. http://tinyurl.com/yyv359t  

City of Chicago is working on Smart Communities to drive broadband adoption through comprehensive training, where attendees get a computer and business training on tools such as web conferencing. They will create family-net centers and working on You-Media will be connecting kids with media skills. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

One of three SmartChicago projects, Sustainable Broadband Adoption will drive broadband use through street-level outreach and user-friendly trainings including -Enhanced access at FamilyNet and Business Centers -Grassroots promotion by tech-savvy organizers -Everday Digital and Civic 2.0 workshops -Digital Youth Networks -Neighborhood portals -Hardware incentives -Business assistance http://tinyurl.com/y3qjske  

Vermont Council on Rural Development – E-Vermont is a statewide effort to reach underserved communities that are just getting online. They will build digital literacy and cultures of use. As the only other rural project in the mix, we are especially interested in learning more from and about them. Of special interest to me is the fact that one of their project partners is “Front Porch Forum.” FPF has a vision and mission similar to Steve Clift’s e-democracy.org, with whom Blandin has successfully partnered in the past, including ongoing support for a very lively and substantive Issues Forum in Cass Lake, among others. The goal is ubiquitous use in specific towns. Here’s their official summary for e-Vermont and a link for more info:

e-Vermont: The Community Broadband Project will help rural communities and businesses realize the opportunities of the Internet for civic engagement, community betterment, school modernization, job creation and e-commerce. Working with 24 “e-Vermont Communities” over two years, it will systematically stimulate digital culture in schools and homes, community groups and businesses. http://tinyurl.com/y34j4tj  

Las Vegas Urban League will empower communities and ensure equal opportunities. They will be enhancing existing public access computer centers and developing new centers (a total of 30) with bi-lingual study tools for digital literacy and job application skills. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

Vulnerable families will have Access to Computer Technology and Instruction in Online Networking. The ACTION program develops community technology centers and provides training to vulnerable populations in utilizing broadband to access educational and employment opportunities. ACTION is a collaboration of the Las Vegas-Clark County Urban League, Cox Communications, local government and partners. http://tinyurl.com/y78j3re  

NY City Department of Information Technology is giving students a home computer with broadband, training and family training. Also providing training for teachers and administrators. Here’s their official summary and a link for more info:

Broadbandexpress@yourlibrary is an innovative project with a strategic mix of 30 library-based public computer centers and 5 mobile training labs targeting unemployed, underemployed and vulnerable populations in 41 economically distressed upstate New York Counties. The State Library and its partners will also establish interactive video teleconferencing services and 24/7 job resources. http://tinyurl.com/yybjsqp  

Posted by Hal Dardick at 1:55 p.m.; last updated at 3:36 p.m.

The city’s Plan Commission today recommended approval for a new Wal-Mart on Chicago’s Far South Side, but the plan still faces major hurdles at the City Council.

There’s only one Wal-Mart within city limits following a years-long stalemate between pro-union aldermen, Mayor Richard Daley and the giant retailer. Unions oppose allowing more Wal-Marts in Chicago without the city
enacting a so-called living wage ordinance for larger retailers. In the last council election in 2007, the unions backed several pro-labor aldermanic candidates.

The issue got renewed life today as planning commissioners unanimously recommended approval for a second Wal-Mart to anchor a 270-acre parcel in Pullman Park for a
development that would include hundreds of homes and a shopping
district.

The development next must go before the City Council’s Zoning Committee for a zoning change, which also must be approved by the full council.

Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, testified he tried to get other retailers — including Dominick’s, Jewel and Costco — to build at the Pullman site, to no avail. "Wal-Mart wasn’t our first choice. I worked with the unions to try to get someone else to come in," Beale said.

"Nobody else is coming to the area," he said. "If a Wal-Mart doesn’t anchor my site, this site is going nowhere," Beale said.

The property tax revenue generated by a shopping center on the site will help raise millions of dollars for the city, he said.



Beale’s testimony was met with applause from the gallery, where he said his constituents were sitting to support the plan.

Merlon Jackson, pastor of Christ Community Church on 103rd Street, said the development would help bring some optimism to residents of an often overlooked area of the city.

 

"This will give people in that community… some hope," Jackson said.

 

Ald. Mary Ann Smith, 48th, said she hadn’t expected to favor the project, but applauded its "holistic approach" to providing open outdoor space and other amenities in addition to the Wal-Mart. "I’m so happy to be able to support this project in your community," Smith told Beale.

Today’s hearing comes after Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, 6th, proposed an ordinance Wednesday that would require many large retailers to pay a “living wage” of $11.03-an-hour — the measure backed by the unions.



The other side of that debate comes from Beale who says his ward — and the entire South Side — needs the development for the thousands of jobs it will create, including well-paying union construction jobs for the 12-year project. He also says it will bring a full-scale grocery store and restaurants, which are sorely lacking in the area, to one of the city’s so-called food deserts.



The jousting over the so-called living wage and whether to allow the Wal-Mart resurrects a political battle that took place four years ago, leaving the city with just one Wal-Mart in the Austin Neighborhood on the far West Side.



In 2006, pro-union aldermen passed a living-wage ordinance affecting so-called big-box stores, including Wal-Mart. Daley vetoed the ordinance, setting up an electoral battle in 2007, when unions successfully backed several aldermanic candidates.



Although Daley’s administration has the right to sanction new Wal-Marts in some areas, it has refrained from doing so. The mayor has said he wants a majority of aldermen to sign off on the stores. But unions say they do not pay enough, and aldermen haven’t approved new ones.



The new proposal, so far backed by Lyle and 17 of her colleagues, would require businesses with 50 or more employees that receive $250,000 or more in direct or indirect city financial assistance to pay wages of at least $11.03-an-hour.



"That is what we have calculated to be a reasonable wage for a person’s labor, and we’re saying if you get a city benefit — if you get TIF funding, if you get land write downs — if you get anything from the city to bring your development in, then your response should be to pay the residents of the city of Chicago a living wage," Lyle said yesterday.



Beale, meanwhile, says he believes he has sufficient backing to win approval for the project.

Filed under: SUV, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Lexus, Toyota, Luxury

That was fast. Just two days after Consumer Reports issued a “Do Not Buy rating “on the new Lexus GX 460 upon finding that it was possible to trip up the standard electronic stability control and initiate a potentially dangerous mid-corner tail-out drift of the big SUV, Toyota reportedly has a fix for the issue.

According to Japan’s Nikkei daily, Toyota’s solution to the GX’s handling woes involves a reflash of the vehicle’s electronic brain along with unspecified changes to “other aspects of the vehicle.” Not particularly descriptive, but perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how complicated of an issue such handling foibles can be.

In related news, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is just now beginning its own investigation into the 2010 Lexus GX 460. NHTSA has procured the GX that Consumer Reports had been testing and is working to determine if the machine meets its own federal safety standards. No determination has yet been made as to whether the 5,400 or so GX 460s sold so far in the States will be recalled.

[Source: Nikkei – sub. req. via TTAC, The Detroit News]

Toyota may be readying fix for Lexus GX 460 safety concerns as NHTSA begins investigation originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments