http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/mind-boggling-warm-weather-records-swell-in-midwest-great-lakes-northeast/2012/03/20/gIQApziwPS_blog.html
Posted at 03:20 PM ET, 03/20/2012
Mind-boggling warm weather records swell in Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast
By Jason Samenow
The record warm weather in the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast continues to destroy century old records by unthinkable margins. Let’s take a tour of some of the latest unfathomable records...
Chicago: Hit 85 degrees as of 4 p.m. (CT) setting a new record high for not just the date, but for the month, topping the monthly record of 82 set Friday and Saturday. It is the 7th straight day of record highs there - second most in a row in any season of the year (since 1871). ...
Milwaukee: Set an all-time March high of 83 today, its earliest 80+ day on record. ...
Traverse City: Set an all-time March high of 83 Monday (source: Climate Central) only to be broken today when it has climbed to 85.
Pellston, MI: Rose to 80 the last 4 days - the first 80 F days in March in its history. The high of 82 Monday broke the previous record (56, 1976) by an incredible 26 degrees. (Source: Jeff Masters) Today, it has reached at least 83, setting another new March record.
Minneapolis: Has set record highs in 8 of the last 10 days.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Recent Generations Focus More On Fame, Money Than Giving Back
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120315094503.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — The times are changing, and not necessarily for the better when it comes to giving back to society, according to 40 years of research on 9 million young adults. Since the baby boomer generation, there has been a significant decline among young Americans in political participation, concern for others and interest in saving the environment, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
"Popular views of the millennial generation, born in the 1980s and 1990s, as more caring, community-oriented and politically engaged than previous generations are largely incorrect, particularly when compared to baby boomers and Generation X at the same age," said the study's lead author, Jean Twenge, PhD, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of the book, "Generation Me." "These data show that recent generations are less likely to embrace community mindedness and are focusing more on money, image and fame." The study was published online this month in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The findings did show that millennials were more likely than baby boomers or Generation Xers to volunteer during high school and to say that they intend to participate in community service in college. However, the authors contend that this trend is most likely related to schools' requiring community service for graduation, which has been cited in numerous studies. The desire to save the environment, an area considered to be of particular concern to millennials, showed some of the largest declines, with three times as many millennials as baby boomers at the same age saying they made no personal effort to help the environment. Fifty-one percent of millennials said they made an effort to cut down on electricity use to save energy, compared to 68 percent of boomers in the 1970s.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — The times are changing, and not necessarily for the better when it comes to giving back to society, according to 40 years of research on 9 million young adults. Since the baby boomer generation, there has been a significant decline among young Americans in political participation, concern for others and interest in saving the environment, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
"Popular views of the millennial generation, born in the 1980s and 1990s, as more caring, community-oriented and politically engaged than previous generations are largely incorrect, particularly when compared to baby boomers and Generation X at the same age," said the study's lead author, Jean Twenge, PhD, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of the book, "Generation Me." "These data show that recent generations are less likely to embrace community mindedness and are focusing more on money, image and fame." The study was published online this month in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The findings did show that millennials were more likely than baby boomers or Generation Xers to volunteer during high school and to say that they intend to participate in community service in college. However, the authors contend that this trend is most likely related to schools' requiring community service for graduation, which has been cited in numerous studies. The desire to save the environment, an area considered to be of particular concern to millennials, showed some of the largest declines, with three times as many millennials as baby boomers at the same age saying they made no personal effort to help the environment. Fifty-one percent of millennials said they made an effort to cut down on electricity use to save energy, compared to 68 percent of boomers in the 1970s.
[...]
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Glacier-Fed River Systems Threatened by Climate Change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120316112646.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2012) — Glacial meltwater increases biodiversity in mountainous freshwater ecosystems. As glaciers vanish due to global warming, so will those species dependent upon the icy runoff. This is the conclusion of a study authored by researchers from, among other institutions, the University of Copenhagen.
The article "Glacial river biodiversity" with the alarming new findings can be found in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"The knowledge is new and startling. Glacial runoff is cold, nutrient-poor and physically unstable, and therefore, typically species-poor. Traditionally, we have not attached great significance to these ecosystems within the context of local or regional biodiversity," states Associate Professor Dean Jacobsen of the Freshwater Biology Section at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Biology. Jacobsen is one of the study's authors.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2012) — Glacial meltwater increases biodiversity in mountainous freshwater ecosystems. As glaciers vanish due to global warming, so will those species dependent upon the icy runoff. This is the conclusion of a study authored by researchers from, among other institutions, the University of Copenhagen.
The article "Glacial river biodiversity" with the alarming new findings can be found in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"The knowledge is new and startling. Glacial runoff is cold, nutrient-poor and physically unstable, and therefore, typically species-poor. Traditionally, we have not attached great significance to these ecosystems within the context of local or regional biodiversity," states Associate Professor Dean Jacobsen of the Freshwater Biology Section at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Biology. Jacobsen is one of the study's authors.
[...]
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Saturday, March 17, 2012
Obama: GOP Candidates ‘Would Have Been Founding Members Of The Flat Earth Society’
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/15/445268/obama-clean-energy-critics-probably-would-have-been-founding-members-of-the-flat-earth-society/
By Rebecca Leber on Mar 15, 2012 at 1:20 pm
President Barack Obama called out the critics of a clean energy future in his fourth energy speech in as many weeks. He laid out plans for reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels, while knocking politicians (aka Newt Gingrich) who “start acting like they can wave a magic wand and you’ll have cheap gas forever.”
Obama challenged the clean energy dismissals and jokes coming from Republican challengers, saying the approach keeps “us stuck in the past”:
If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail — They must have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society. They would not have believed that the world was round. We’ve heard these folks in the past. They probably would have agreed with one of the pioneers of the radio who apparently said, “Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.” … One of my predecessors, Rutherford B. Hayes, reportedly said about the telephone: “It’s a great invention but who would ever want to use one?” That’s why he’s not on Mount Rushmore, because he’s looking backwards, he’s not looking forwards.
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By Rebecca Leber on Mar 15, 2012 at 1:20 pm
President Barack Obama called out the critics of a clean energy future in his fourth energy speech in as many weeks. He laid out plans for reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels, while knocking politicians (aka Newt Gingrich) who “start acting like they can wave a magic wand and you’ll have cheap gas forever.”
Obama challenged the clean energy dismissals and jokes coming from Republican challengers, saying the approach keeps “us stuck in the past”:
If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail — They must have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society. They would not have believed that the world was round. We’ve heard these folks in the past. They probably would have agreed with one of the pioneers of the radio who apparently said, “Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.” … One of my predecessors, Rutherford B. Hayes, reportedly said about the telephone: “It’s a great invention but who would ever want to use one?” That’s why he’s not on Mount Rushmore, because he’s looking backwards, he’s not looking forwards.
[...]
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Suppressing Feelings of Compassion Makes People Care Less About Morality
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120315110416.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — It's normal to not always act on your sense of compassion -- for example, by walking past a beggar on the street without giving them any money. Maybe you want to save your money or avoid engaging with a homeless person. But even if suppressing compassion avoids these costs, it may carry a personal cost of its own, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. After people suppress compassionate feelings, an experiment shows, they lose a bit of their commitment to morality.
[...]
"Compassion is such a powerful emotion. It's been called a moral barometer," Cameron says. A sense of other people's suffering may even be the foundation of morality -- which suggests that suppressing that sense might make people feel less moral.
[...]
People who had suppressed compassion did, apparently, have a change in their sense of morality: they were much more likely to either care less about being moral or to say that it's all right to be flexible about following moral rules. Cameron thinks this is because suppressing feelings of compassion causes cognitive dissonance that people have to resolve by rearranging their attitudes or beliefs about morality.
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — It's normal to not always act on your sense of compassion -- for example, by walking past a beggar on the street without giving them any money. Maybe you want to save your money or avoid engaging with a homeless person. But even if suppressing compassion avoids these costs, it may carry a personal cost of its own, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. After people suppress compassionate feelings, an experiment shows, they lose a bit of their commitment to morality.
[...]
"Compassion is such a powerful emotion. It's been called a moral barometer," Cameron says. A sense of other people's suffering may even be the foundation of morality -- which suggests that suppressing that sense might make people feel less moral.
[...]
People who had suppressed compassion did, apparently, have a change in their sense of morality: they were much more likely to either care less about being moral or to say that it's all right to be flexible about following moral rules. Cameron thinks this is because suppressing feelings of compassion causes cognitive dissonance that people have to resolve by rearranging their attitudes or beliefs about morality.
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Deprived of Sex, Jilted Flies Drink More Alcohol
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120315145023.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.
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White Rice Increases Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Claims
I have only bought brown rice for years.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120315225751.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2012) — The risk of type 2 diabetes is significantly increased if white rice is eaten regularly, claims a study published today on bmj.com.
[...]
A significant trend was found in both Asian and Western countries with a stronger association found amongst women than men. The results also show that the more white rice eaten, the higher the risk of type 2 diabetes: the authors estimate that the risk of type 2 diabetes is increased by 10% with each increased serving of white rice (assuming 158g per serving).
White rice has a lower content of nutrients than brown rice including fibre, magnesium and vitamins, some of which are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The authors report, therefore, that a high consumption of white rice may lead to increased risk because of the low intake of these nutrients.
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Four Days of Record Setting Weather
http://www.nbcchicago.com/weather/stories/Four-Days-of-Record-Setting-Weather-143059466.html
Saturday, Mar 17, 2012 | Updated 4:01 PM CDT
For the fourth day in a row, a record-setting high temperature has been set in Chicago.
The temperature at O’Hare International Airport, where Chicago’s official temperature is recorded, was 75 degrees at 11:51 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. The record high temperature for March 17 had been 74 degrees, which was set in 2009.
This is the fourth straight day a record high temperature has been set in Chicago.
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The normal high temperature for March 16-18 in Chicago is 47 degrees, according to the weather service.
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Saturday, Mar 17, 2012 | Updated 4:01 PM CDT
For the fourth day in a row, a record-setting high temperature has been set in Chicago.
The temperature at O’Hare International Airport, where Chicago’s official temperature is recorded, was 75 degrees at 11:51 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. The record high temperature for March 17 had been 74 degrees, which was set in 2009.
This is the fourth straight day a record high temperature has been set in Chicago.
[...]
The normal high temperature for March 16-18 in Chicago is 47 degrees, according to the weather service.
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Summer in March continues for Midwest
And I think we're still in a part of the weather cycle normally associated with cooler temperatures. I'll be looking for the info on this.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/article.html
By Dr. Jeff Masters
Published: 1:54 PM GMT on March 17, 2012
For the third consecutive day, Chicago, Illinois hit their warmest temperature on record so early in the year, going back to 1872. The mercury hit 82°F, giving the city its third consecutive day of 80°+ temperatures, smashing the old record by a month. Previously, the earliest Chicago had ever seen three consecutive 80 degree days was back on April 14 - 16, 1976. This morning's Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service in Chicago had this to say:
Chicago and Rockford have both broken high temperature records 3 days in a row and will likely break record highs for 5 days in a row. There is even the potential they could tie or break record highs for 6 or 7 days in a row depending on how warm temperatures get on Monday and Tuesday. It is extraordinarily rare for climate locations with 100+ year long periods of records to break records day after day after day. At the current pace... it is likely that Chicago and Rockford will not only break... but shatter their current record warmest Marches.
Minneapolis, Minnesota hit 79°F yesterday, the warmest it's ever been this early in the year, going back to 1872, and 39°F above average. This smashes the old record by a remarkable 6&Deg;F. Previous record: 73°F, set just two days previously, and also on March 7, 2000.
Bismark, North Dakota hit 81°F yesterday, which was a remarkable 41°F above normal. Not only does this tie Bismarck's warmest all-time monthly March temp on record (three other 81°F readings later in the month, with March 22,1910 being next earliest), it beats the next warmest early season record by a full 6°! The previous record was 75°F on March 12, 2007. Temperatures also soared into the 70's well into Canada's prairies on Friday, setting all-time warm temperature records for so early in the year across much of southern Canada.
International Falls, Minnesota hit 71°F yesterday, which was 36°F above normal, and their earliest 70°F reading by two weeks. Previously, the earliest 70°F reading came on March 30, 1967. Back on March 17, 1897, the temperature in International Falls hit -33°F!
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Link for weather recores
Thanks to rjs for the following link on weather records
here's an interactive:
http://mapcenter.hamweather.com/records/7day/us.html?c=maxtemp,highmin
its always current, so you may not see the same 7 day period each time...
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here's an interactive:
http://mapcenter.hamweather.com/records/7day/us.html?c=maxtemp,highmin
its always current, so you may not see the same 7 day period each time...
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Friday, March 16, 2012
10 Companies Still Advertising On Rush Limbaugh
http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/03/16/446186/10-companies-still-advertising-on-rush-limbaugh/
By Judd Legum on Mar 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Following Rush Limbaugh’s sexist attacks on Sandra Fluke, 142 companies have indicated they do not want their ads aired on his show anymore. Here are 10 companies that continue to advertise on Limbaugh’s New York City affiliate (WABC) according to a report on Radio-info.com.
Amberen
Zyvestra
Insperity
NY Times
GoldCoinPro
LifeLock
WinOurFuture
General Steel
The Total Transformation Program
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By Judd Legum on Mar 16, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Following Rush Limbaugh’s sexist attacks on Sandra Fluke, 142 companies have indicated they do not want their ads aired on his show anymore. Here are 10 companies that continue to advertise on Limbaugh’s New York City affiliate (WABC) according to a report on Radio-info.com.
Amberen
Zyvestra
Insperity
NY Times
GoldCoinPro
LifeLock
WinOurFuture
General Steel
The Total Transformation Program
[...]
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J.K. Rowling's charity giving knocks her off Forbes' billionaires list
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/jk-rowlings-charity-giving-knocks-her-off-forbes-billionaires-list
Tue, Mar 13 2012 at 2:44 PM EST
Author of the 'Harry Potter' series is no longer in the billionaires' club — thanks to simply being an incredible person.
The woman who weaved together the magical world of Harry Potter (netting her an estimated $1.6 million every day), is no longer a part of the billionaires' club. Forbes magazine, which last year recognized J.K. Rowling as the world's first female billionaire novelist, released an updated version of its World's Billionaires list last week with the 46-year-old notably absent.
It's not that the world is no longer is love with all-things Harry Potter (the brand itself is estimated to be worth more than $15 billion), but rather Rowling's charitable giving and taxes that have knocked her back into the millionaires' club.
"New information about Rowlings' estimated $160 million in charitable giving combined with Britain's high tax rates bumped the 'Harry Potter' scribe from our list this year," stated Forbes.
Naturally, none of this likely bothers Rowling, who from the beginning has made giving back a priority for her wealth.
“You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently," she said in a past interview.
That giving includes supporting organizations linked to poverty, multiple sclerosis, children's welfare and illiteracy. Three books that she has written for charity — "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" — have raised almost $30 million for various initiatives.
[...]
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Tue, Mar 13 2012 at 2:44 PM EST
Author of the 'Harry Potter' series is no longer in the billionaires' club — thanks to simply being an incredible person.
The woman who weaved together the magical world of Harry Potter (netting her an estimated $1.6 million every day), is no longer a part of the billionaires' club. Forbes magazine, which last year recognized J.K. Rowling as the world's first female billionaire novelist, released an updated version of its World's Billionaires list last week with the 46-year-old notably absent.
It's not that the world is no longer is love with all-things Harry Potter (the brand itself is estimated to be worth more than $15 billion), but rather Rowling's charitable giving and taxes that have knocked her back into the millionaires' club.
"New information about Rowlings' estimated $160 million in charitable giving combined with Britain's high tax rates bumped the 'Harry Potter' scribe from our list this year," stated Forbes.
Naturally, none of this likely bothers Rowling, who from the beginning has made giving back a priority for her wealth.
“You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently," she said in a past interview.
That giving includes supporting organizations linked to poverty, multiple sclerosis, children's welfare and illiteracy. Three books that she has written for charity — "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" — have raised almost $30 million for various initiatives.
[...]
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record March heat wave sets more records
I have lived in Huntsville, AL or Atlanta, GA almost all the time since 1960. It used to be that every 2-3 years, the temperature would get down really cold sometime in the winter, in the neighborhood of 3F. It hasn't gotten nearly that cold in years. Now, people complain bitterly when it gets down to 20F, which used to be expected every winter.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2052
Posted by: JeffMasters, 2:43 PM GMT on March 16, 2012
As I stepped out of my front door into the pre-dawn darkness from my home near Ann Arbor, Michigan yesterday morning, I braced myself for the cold shock of a mid-March morning. It didn't come. A warm, murky atmosphere, with temperatures in the upper fifties--30 degrees above normal--greeted me instead. Continuous flashes of heat lightning lit up the horizon, as the atmosphere crackled with the energy of distant thunderstorms. Beware the Ides of March, the air seemed to be saying. I looked up at the hazy stars above me, flashing in and out of sight as lightning lit up the sky, and thought, this is not the atmosphere I grew up with.
[...]
For the second consecutive day, large portions of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, including the cities of Chicago, Madison, and Dubuque, recorded their all-time warmest temperatures for so early in the year. Perhaps the most extraordinary record occurred in Madison, Wisconsin, which hit 82°F--a temperature 39°F above average. It was the hottest temperature ever recorded in March, and three degrees warmer than any day so early in the year, going back to 1869. Not as many all-time hottest temperature records for so early in the year were set in Michigan and other surrounding states, due to plentiful moisture that generated afternoon cloud cover. The records will continue to fall across the Midwest for another week, as the ridge of high pressure responsible stays locked in place.
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Mississippi Freeloads on the Back of Blue State Taxpayers for Federal Subsidies to Survive
This has long been true of the southern states, but the conservatives in these states don't believe it.
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13385
Submitted by mark karlin on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 1:38pm.
Yes, it's true, as BuzzFlash at Truthout documented a short time ago, the State of Mississippi (MS) "sucks up $2.73 in federal support for every dollar its residents pay in national taxes." In the dog-whistle language of the right wing, that makes the state where 66 percent of GOP voters believe in creationism, an official "welfare state."
In short, the MS state government run out of Jackson is a leech upon the US government, but try telling that to Mitt Romney.
While pandering for votes in Mississippi before the recent presidential primary, Romney declared: "If the federal government were run more like here in Mississippi, the whole country would be a lot better off." Say what?
Romney, the man who would be president, is saying that Washington DC should emulate a state propped up by federal subsidies -- arguably the poorest and least educated state in the Union.
[...]
That doesn't prevent the MS legislature -- and Gucci lobbyist turned governor, Haley Barbour -- from preaching "states' rights" while depending on financial support from Washington.
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
Corn Insecticide Linked to Great Die-Off of Beneficial Honeybees
No surprise that an insecticide would kill honeybees, which are insects.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314170511.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops -- part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder -- with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides.
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In the study, Andrea Tapparo and colleagues explain that seeds coated with so-called neonicotinoid insecticides went into wide use in Europe in the late 1990s. The insecticides are among the most widely used in the world, popular because they kill insects by paralyzing nerves but have lower toxicity for other animals. Almost immediately, beekeepers observed large die-offs of bees that seemed to coincide with mid-March to May corn planting.
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Farming communities facing crisis over nitrate pollution, study says
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10657809-farming-communities-facing-crisis-over-nitrate-pollution-study-says
3/13/2012
By Stett Holbrook
Food & Environment Reporting Network
Nitrate contamination in groundwater from fertilizer and animal manure is severe and getting worse for hundreds of thousands of residents in California’s Central Valley farming communities, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Nearly 10 percent of the 2.6 million people living in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley might be drinking nitrate-contaminated water, researchers found. And if nothing is done to stem the problem, the report warns, nearly 80 percent of residents could be at risk of health and financial problems by 2050.
High nitrate levels in drinking water have been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes, hair loss, birth defects and “blue baby syndrome,” a potentially fatal blood disorder in infants.
[...]
Nitrate-contaminated water is a well-documented fact in many of California’s farming communities. The agricultural industry, however, has maintained that it is not solely responsible because nitrates come from many sources. But, according to the UC Davis report, 96 percent of nitrate contamination comes from agriculture and only 4 percent can be traced to water treatment plants, septic systems, food processing, landscaping and other sources. While the report focused on California, nitrates in groundwater is a problem that plagues farming communities around the U.S.
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3/13/2012
By Stett Holbrook
Food & Environment Reporting Network
Nitrate contamination in groundwater from fertilizer and animal manure is severe and getting worse for hundreds of thousands of residents in California’s Central Valley farming communities, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Nearly 10 percent of the 2.6 million people living in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley might be drinking nitrate-contaminated water, researchers found. And if nothing is done to stem the problem, the report warns, nearly 80 percent of residents could be at risk of health and financial problems by 2050.
High nitrate levels in drinking water have been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes, hair loss, birth defects and “blue baby syndrome,” a potentially fatal blood disorder in infants.
[...]
Nitrate-contaminated water is a well-documented fact in many of California’s farming communities. The agricultural industry, however, has maintained that it is not solely responsible because nitrates come from many sources. But, according to the UC Davis report, 96 percent of nitrate contamination comes from agriculture and only 4 percent can be traced to water treatment plants, septic systems, food processing, landscaping and other sources. While the report focused on California, nitrates in groundwater is a problem that plagues farming communities around the U.S.
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FTC Takes Action To Stop Deceptive Car Dealership Ads
http://ftc.gov/opa/2012/03/autoloans.shtm
Federal Trade Commission For Release: 03/14/2012
Five car dealers around the country have agreed to Federal Trade Commission settlement orders that require them to stop running ads in which they promise to pay off a consumer's trade-in no matter what the consumer owes on the vehicle.
[...]
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Federal Trade Commission For Release: 03/14/2012
Five car dealers around the country have agreed to Federal Trade Commission settlement orders that require them to stop running ads in which they promise to pay off a consumer's trade-in no matter what the consumer owes on the vehicle.
[...]
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Just 60 Seconds of Combat Can Impair Memory, Finds Study of Police Officers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313085838.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Just 60 seconds of all-out physical exertion in a threatening situation can seriously damage the memories of those involved for many details of the incident, according to a new study of police officers.
Police officers, witnesses and victims of crime suffer loss of memory, recognition and awareness of their environment if they have had to use bursts of physical energy in a combative encounter, according to scientists.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Just 60 seconds of all-out physical exertion in a threatening situation can seriously damage the memories of those involved for many details of the incident, according to a new study of police officers.
Police officers, witnesses and victims of crime suffer loss of memory, recognition and awareness of their environment if they have had to use bursts of physical energy in a combative encounter, according to scientists.
[...]
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Research Shows 50 Years of Motherhood Manuals Set Standards Too High for New Moms
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313121723.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — New research at the University of Warwick into 50 years of motherhood manuals has revealed how despite their differences they have always issued advice as orders and set unattainably high standards for new mums and babies.
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — New research at the University of Warwick into 50 years of motherhood manuals has revealed how despite their differences they have always issued advice as orders and set unattainably high standards for new mums and babies.
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More Trans Fat Consumption Linked to Greater Aggression, Researchers Find
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313122504.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown -- by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities -- that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.
[...]
Dietary trans fatty acids are primarily products of hydrogenation, which makes unsaturated oils solid at room temperature. They are present at high levels in margarines, shortenings and prepared foods. Adverse health effects of dTFAs have been identified in lipid levels, metabolic function, insulin resistance, oxidation, inflammation, and cardiac health.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown -- by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities -- that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.
[...]
Dietary trans fatty acids are primarily products of hydrogenation, which makes unsaturated oils solid at room temperature. They are present at high levels in margarines, shortenings and prepared foods. Adverse health effects of dTFAs have been identified in lipid levels, metabolic function, insulin resistance, oxidation, inflammation, and cardiac health.
[...]
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Cool Hands May Be the Key to Increasing Exercise Capacity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313190054.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Cooling the palms of the hands while working out could help you stick with a physical activity program, according to a small study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Scientific Sessions.
[...]
Sims suggested that holding a bottle of cold water may also cool palms and help exercisers feel cooler, less sweaty and less fatigued -- allowing them to work out longer and make them more likely to stick with their exercise regimen.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) — Cooling the palms of the hands while working out could help you stick with a physical activity program, according to a small study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Scientific Sessions.
[...]
Sims suggested that holding a bottle of cold water may also cool palms and help exercisers feel cooler, less sweaty and less fatigued -- allowing them to work out longer and make them more likely to stick with their exercise regimen.
[...]
..
Millions of Americans at Risk of Flooding as Sea Levels Rise
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314111738.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Nearly four million Americans, occupying a combined area larger than the state of Maryland, find themselves at risk of severe flooding as sea levels rise in the coming century, new research suggests.
[...]
Two ways in which global warming is causing sea levels to rise are thermal expansion – the expanding of water as it warms – and the melting of glaciers.
[...]
Co-author of both papers, Ben Strauss, researcher at Climate Central, said: "The sea level rise taking place right now is quickly making extreme coastal floods more common, increasing risk for millions of people where they live and work. Sea level rise makes every single coastal storm flood higher. With so many communities concentrated on US coasts, the odds for major damage get bigger every year."
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Nearly four million Americans, occupying a combined area larger than the state of Maryland, find themselves at risk of severe flooding as sea levels rise in the coming century, new research suggests.
[...]
Two ways in which global warming is causing sea levels to rise are thermal expansion – the expanding of water as it warms – and the melting of glaciers.
[...]
Co-author of both papers, Ben Strauss, researcher at Climate Central, said: "The sea level rise taking place right now is quickly making extreme coastal floods more common, increasing risk for millions of people where they live and work. Sea level rise makes every single coastal storm flood higher. With so many communities concentrated on US coasts, the odds for major damage get bigger every year."
..
Walking May Lessen the Influence of Genes On Obesity by Half
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314142833.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Watching too much TV can worsen your genetic tendency towards obesity, but you can cut the effect in half by walking briskly for an hour a day, researchers report at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Scientific Sessions.
[...]
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Watching too much TV can worsen your genetic tendency towards obesity, but you can cut the effect in half by walking briskly for an hour a day, researchers report at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Scientific Sessions.
[...]
..
"The Difference Between Private and Public Morality"
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/the-difference-between-private-and-public-morality.html
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Difference Between Private and Public Morality, by Robert Reich: Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, and access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But America’s problem isn’t a breakdown in private morality. It’s a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
There is moral rot in America but it’s not found in the private behavior of ordinary people. It’s located in the public behavior of people who control our economy and are turning our democracy into a financial slush pump. It’s found in Wall Street fraud, exorbitant pay of top executives, financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign “donations.” ...
View
« Fed Watch: FOMC Recap | Main | Inequality "Has Deep Pernicious Effects" »
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"The Difference Between Private and Public Morality"
I don't have Robert Reich's flair as a writer, but this is exactly what I was trying to say in "The Real Moral Problem" which was written in response to a column from David Brooks about the supposed moral decay in the middle class:
The Difference Between Private and Public Morality, by Robert Reich: Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, and access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But America’s problem isn’t a breakdown in private morality. It’s a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
There is moral rot in America but it’s not found in the private behavior of ordinary people. It’s located in the public behavior of people who control our economy and are turning our democracy into a financial slush pump. It’s found in Wall Street fraud, exorbitant pay of top executives, financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign “donations.” ...
Americans are entitled to their own religious views about gay marriage, contraception, out-of-wedlock births, abortion, and God. We can be truly free only if we’re confident we can go about our private lives without being monitored or intruded upon by government, and can practice whatever faith (or lack of faith) we wish regardless of the religious beliefs of others. A society where one set of religious views is imposed on a large number of citizens who disagree with them is not a democracy. It’s a theocracy.
But abuses of public trust such as we’ve witnessed for years on the Street and in the executive suites of our largest corporations are not matters of private morality. They undermine the integrity of our economy and democracy. They’ve led millions of Americans to conclude the game is rigged. ...
An economy is built on a foundation of shared morality. Adam Smith never called himself an economist. The separate field of economics didn’t exist in the eighteenth century. He called himself a moral philosopher. And the book he was proudest of wasn’t “The Wealth of Nations,” but his “Theory of Moral Sentiments” – about the ties that bind people together into societies.
Twice before progressive have saved capitalism from its own excesses by appealing to public morality and common sense. First in the early 1900s, when the captains for American industry had monopolized the economy into giant trusts, American politics had sunk into a swamp of patronage and corruption, and many factory jobs were unsafe – entailing long hours of work at meager pay and often exploiting children. In response, we enacted antitrust, civil service reforms, and labor protections.
And then again in 1930s after the stock market collapsed and a large portion of American workforce was unemployed. Then we regulated banks and insured deposits, cleaned up stock market, and provided social insurance to the destitute.
We must do so again.
[...]
..
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Difference Between Private and Public Morality, by Robert Reich: Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, and access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But America’s problem isn’t a breakdown in private morality. It’s a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
There is moral rot in America but it’s not found in the private behavior of ordinary people. It’s located in the public behavior of people who control our economy and are turning our democracy into a financial slush pump. It’s found in Wall Street fraud, exorbitant pay of top executives, financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign “donations.” ...
View
« Fed Watch: FOMC Recap | Main | Inequality "Has Deep Pernicious Effects" »
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"The Difference Between Private and Public Morality"
I don't have Robert Reich's flair as a writer, but this is exactly what I was trying to say in "The Real Moral Problem" which was written in response to a column from David Brooks about the supposed moral decay in the middle class:
The Difference Between Private and Public Morality, by Robert Reich: Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, and access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But America’s problem isn’t a breakdown in private morality. It’s a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
There is moral rot in America but it’s not found in the private behavior of ordinary people. It’s located in the public behavior of people who control our economy and are turning our democracy into a financial slush pump. It’s found in Wall Street fraud, exorbitant pay of top executives, financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign “donations.” ...
Americans are entitled to their own religious views about gay marriage, contraception, out-of-wedlock births, abortion, and God. We can be truly free only if we’re confident we can go about our private lives without being monitored or intruded upon by government, and can practice whatever faith (or lack of faith) we wish regardless of the religious beliefs of others. A society where one set of religious views is imposed on a large number of citizens who disagree with them is not a democracy. It’s a theocracy.
But abuses of public trust such as we’ve witnessed for years on the Street and in the executive suites of our largest corporations are not matters of private morality. They undermine the integrity of our economy and democracy. They’ve led millions of Americans to conclude the game is rigged. ...
An economy is built on a foundation of shared morality. Adam Smith never called himself an economist. The separate field of economics didn’t exist in the eighteenth century. He called himself a moral philosopher. And the book he was proudest of wasn’t “The Wealth of Nations,” but his “Theory of Moral Sentiments” – about the ties that bind people together into societies.
Twice before progressive have saved capitalism from its own excesses by appealing to public morality and common sense. First in the early 1900s, when the captains for American industry had monopolized the economy into giant trusts, American politics had sunk into a swamp of patronage and corruption, and many factory jobs were unsafe – entailing long hours of work at meager pay and often exploiting children. In response, we enacted antitrust, civil service reforms, and labor protections.
And then again in 1930s after the stock market collapsed and a large portion of American workforce was unemployed. Then we regulated banks and insured deposits, cleaned up stock market, and provided social insurance to the destitute.
We must do so again.
[...]
..
Goldman exec quits, calling firm 'toxic'
Thank you, Greg Smith, for being a person of integrity.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/14/markets/goldman_sachs/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2
By Aaron Smith @CNNMoneyMarkets March 14, 2012: 5:41 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A Goldman Sachs executive has resigned in a very public manner -- calling the firm "toxic" and disrespectful of its clients in a scathing op-ed piece published in Wednesday's New York Times.
"I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it," wrote Greg Smith on his "last day at Goldman Sachs," capping 12 years with Wall Street's gilded firm.
[...]
Smith -- who resigned as a Goldman executive director and head of U.S. equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa -- detailed the disintegration of the company's culture during his time there.
Smith's main gripe is that the firm cares more about making money from its clients than making it for them.
"It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off," he wrote. "Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as 'muppets,' sometimes over internal e-mail."
..
Red meat is blamed for one in 10 early deaths
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9138230/Red-meat-is-blamed-for-one-in-10-early-deaths.html
Wednesday 14 March 2012
The Department of Health was last night urged to review its guidance on red meat after a study found that eating almost half the daily recommended amount can significantly increase the risk of dying early from cancer and heart disease.
Small quantities of processed meat such as bacon, sausages or salami can increase the likelihood of dying early by a fifth, researchers from Harvard School of Medicine found. Eating steak increases the risk of early death by 12%.
The study found that cutting the amount of red meat in peoples’ diets to 1.5 ounces (42 grams) a day, equivalent to one large steak a week, could prevent almost one in 10 early deaths in men and one in 13 in women.
The scientists said that the government’s current advice that people should eat no more than 2.5 ounces (70 grams) a day, around the level the average Briton already consumes, was “generous”.
[...]
Replacing red meat with poultry, fish or vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods cut the risk of dying by up to one fifth, the study found.
..
Wednesday 14 March 2012
The Department of Health was last night urged to review its guidance on red meat after a study found that eating almost half the daily recommended amount can significantly increase the risk of dying early from cancer and heart disease.
Small quantities of processed meat such as bacon, sausages or salami can increase the likelihood of dying early by a fifth, researchers from Harvard School of Medicine found. Eating steak increases the risk of early death by 12%.
The study found that cutting the amount of red meat in peoples’ diets to 1.5 ounces (42 grams) a day, equivalent to one large steak a week, could prevent almost one in 10 early deaths in men and one in 13 in women.
The scientists said that the government’s current advice that people should eat no more than 2.5 ounces (70 grams) a day, around the level the average Briton already consumes, was “generous”.
[...]
Replacing red meat with poultry, fish or vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods cut the risk of dying by up to one fifth, the study found.
..
Elizabeth Warren has asked Congress to stop the secret bailout of AIG, and so should you.
If you want to sign a petition against this, go to the following link:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/no_aig_bailout/?rc=LA_AIG_03142012_a2
At the height of the financial crisis, we spent billions of dollars bailing out failed insurance giant AIG after its reckless bets on mortgage-backed securities went south.
And now, according to recent reports, the Treasury is engaging in a second, secret bailout of the firm -- one that's costing U.S. taxpayers billions, and artificially boosting AIG's profits, leading directly to higher share prices and bigger executive bonuses for some of the same people who ran the company into the ground.
Elizabeth Warren and three other members of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program she chaired -- including two members appointed by Congressional Republicans -- have denounced this stealth bailout of AIG and asked Congress to intervene.2
Tell Congress: Stop the secret AIG bailout.
The issue is about something called "net operating loss," which in normal circumstances allows corporations to use losses in one year to offset their future tax bills.
But when companies are taken over, as AIG was when the government spent over $100 billion to keep the company afloat, they are supposed to be barred from using their net operating loss in this way.
Here's where things become suspect. In 2008 the Treasury issued a special waiver to a handful of companies, including AIG, that allows for their net operating losses to offset taxes owed to the government.
At a time of brutal budget cuts at all levels of government, it would be simply unconscionable for Congress to allow for a multi-billion dollar subsidy to AIG's shareholders and executives.
Tell Congress: Stop the secret AIG bailout.
By some estimates, the waiver given by the Treasury will allow AIG, a company that claimed over $19 billion in profits just from the last three months of 2011, to avoid paying anything in taxes for a decade.
With tens of billions in tax dollars on the line, Congress needs to step in and pass a law to revoke AIG's waiver and require the company to pay its fair share in taxes.
Furthermore, the Treasury has clearly abused its discretion to grant waivers like this, and Congress needs to take away the U.S. Treasury's ability to allow companies like AIG to dodge taxes.
Tell Congress: Stop the secret AIG bailout.
..
Arizona Birth Control Bill Penalizes Women For Using Contraception For Non-Medical Reasons
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/arizona-birth-control-bill-contraception-medical-reasons_n_1344557.html
Laura Bassett First Posted: 03/14/2012 11:47 am Updated: 03/14/2012 11:55 am
Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the employer's moral objection.
Under current law, health plans in Arizona that cover other prescription medications must also cover contraception. House Bill 2625, which the state House of Representatives passed earlier this month and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed on Monday, repeals that law and allows any employer to refuse to cover contraception that will be used "for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes." If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to "submit a claim" to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control.
Moreover, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law would give Arizona employers the green light to fire a woman upon finding out that she took birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.
[...]
..
Laura Bassett First Posted: 03/14/2012 11:47 am Updated: 03/14/2012 11:55 am
Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the employer's moral objection.
Under current law, health plans in Arizona that cover other prescription medications must also cover contraception. House Bill 2625, which the state House of Representatives passed earlier this month and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed on Monday, repeals that law and allows any employer to refuse to cover contraception that will be used "for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes." If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to "submit a claim" to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control.
Moreover, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law would give Arizona employers the green light to fire a woman upon finding out that she took birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.
[...]
..
Solving problems
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einsein
Today (Mar. 14) is Einstein's birthday
..
Today (Mar. 14) is Einstein's birthday
..
Irrational exuberance on Pi Day : 3/14
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10675138-irrational-exuberance-on-pi-day
By Alan Boyle 3/13/2012
The most famous irrational number, pi, is being factored into a whole smorgasbord of silliness on 3/14.
On one level, Wednesday's date is just an excuse for high geekery, ranging from eating mathematically meaningful pies to marching in a circular pi procession. On a deeper level ... well, who needs an excuse to celebrate one of nature's most mysterious numbers?
In differently curved universes, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter might be something other than 3.14159 and some change. But in our universe, the digits that describe that ratio have never come to an end or shown a repeating pattern, even though pi's value has been computed to a length of 10 trillion digits. The irrationality of pi has popped up as a theme in a goodly number of books and movies through the years, including "Contact" (the book) and "Pi" (the movie). Pi's continuing hold on our imagination is definitely something worth celebrating.
[...]
Celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday, which also falls on March 14
[...]
And if you don't follow the American style of stating dates, you might be more comfortable celebrating pi on July 22 (22/7), a date that evokes a fraction close to the irrational value of pi.
..
By Alan Boyle 3/13/2012
The most famous irrational number, pi, is being factored into a whole smorgasbord of silliness on 3/14.
On one level, Wednesday's date is just an excuse for high geekery, ranging from eating mathematically meaningful pies to marching in a circular pi procession. On a deeper level ... well, who needs an excuse to celebrate one of nature's most mysterious numbers?
In differently curved universes, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter might be something other than 3.14159 and some change. But in our universe, the digits that describe that ratio have never come to an end or shown a repeating pattern, even though pi's value has been computed to a length of 10 trillion digits. The irrationality of pi has popped up as a theme in a goodly number of books and movies through the years, including "Contact" (the book) and "Pi" (the movie). Pi's continuing hold on our imagination is definitely something worth celebrating.
[...]
Celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday, which also falls on March 14
[...]
And if you don't follow the American style of stating dates, you might be more comfortable celebrating pi on July 22 (22/7), a date that evokes a fraction close to the irrational value of pi.
..
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
McConnell: I’m Filibustering Seventeen Judges Because Reid Made Republicans ‘Look Bad’
It's the Republicans that have made themselves look bad.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/13/444005/mcconnell-im-filibustering-seventeen-judges-because-reid-made-republicans-look-bad/
By Ian Millhiser posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Mar 13, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced this afternoon that he will file cloture — the Senate procedure to break a filibuster — on seventeen judicial nominees currently being blocked by Republican obstructionism. Nearly all of these nominees were either unanimously approved in the Senate Judiciary Committee or were approved with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) as the only objection. Lee, of course, promised to block all of President Obama’s nominees and he also believes that Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, however, there is good reason to fear that the Senate’s Republicans will continue to obstruct these nominees, or at least force the Senate to waste days and days debating them. From the minute President Obama took office, obstruction of judicial nominees skyrocketed — the average Obama nominee must wait nearly four times as long for a vote as the average nominee at this point in the Bush presidency:
[...]
If this is truly McConnell’s reason for blocking these judges, then he just made an absolutely shocking admission. Thanks to excessive judicial vacancies, America’s courts are increasingly unable to function. In some courts, judges are so overburdened they have to rush major felony cases through as if they involved minor traffic violations. In one court, felony caseloads nearly doubled in just two years. Every court that is unable to handle its caseload means wrongly fired workers waiting months or years for justice and businesses that must delay making new hires until they are sure they won’t be hit with an unwarranted legal judgment. And yet McConnell says he is willing to punish all of these workers and businesses because he is upset that Reid has made him look bad. America can ill afford this kind of tantrum.
..
The Myth of the Non-Paying 47 Percent
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/the-myth-of-the-non-paying-47-percent.html
Another reminder that Republican politicians are citing tax figures that are a very misleading indicator of the overall tax burden that various income groups face:
The Myth of the Non-Paying 47 Percent, CBPP: The argument that we should raise taxes on the bottom half of households because too many of them don’t owe federal income tax doesn’t take the tax system as a whole into account, our former colleague Aviva Aron-Dine explains in a new piece in the Milken Institute Review. Here’s an excerpt:
These are tough times, especially for low- and moderate-income families. For much of 2011, the unemployment rate exceeded 9 percent, and was higher among those without a college education. Last year, 15 percent of Americans lived in poverty, up from 12 percent before the recession. Meanwhile, the median income of working-age households fell sharply for the third year in a row. And that decline came on top of more than three decades of sluggish growth for all but the highest earners.
Yet to hear some people tell it, one of the major problems facing America is that the bottom half of U.S. families is getting off too easy. Every major candidate in the Republican presidential race, along with the Republican congressional leadership, has expressed outrage over the fact that 47 percent of households didn’t owe any federal income tax in 2009. …
But the picture changes dramatically once other federal taxes are included. When all federal taxes are taken into account, even the lowest fifth of households (with average incomes of about $18,000) pay 4 percent of income in federal taxes, while the second-lowest fifth (average income: $43,000) pay 11 percent. ...
State and local tax systems are typically quite regressive... When state and local taxes are taken into account along with federal taxes, the poorest fifth of households pays about 15 percent of income in taxes; the next fifth pays about 21 percent.
[...]
The percentage of people who didn't pay federal taxes in 2009 was also elevated due to the recession, so even in isolation this figure distorts the picture relative to more normal times.
..
Another reminder that Republican politicians are citing tax figures that are a very misleading indicator of the overall tax burden that various income groups face:
The Myth of the Non-Paying 47 Percent, CBPP: The argument that we should raise taxes on the bottom half of households because too many of them don’t owe federal income tax doesn’t take the tax system as a whole into account, our former colleague Aviva Aron-Dine explains in a new piece in the Milken Institute Review. Here’s an excerpt:
These are tough times, especially for low- and moderate-income families. For much of 2011, the unemployment rate exceeded 9 percent, and was higher among those without a college education. Last year, 15 percent of Americans lived in poverty, up from 12 percent before the recession. Meanwhile, the median income of working-age households fell sharply for the third year in a row. And that decline came on top of more than three decades of sluggish growth for all but the highest earners.
Yet to hear some people tell it, one of the major problems facing America is that the bottom half of U.S. families is getting off too easy. Every major candidate in the Republican presidential race, along with the Republican congressional leadership, has expressed outrage over the fact that 47 percent of households didn’t owe any federal income tax in 2009. …
But the picture changes dramatically once other federal taxes are included. When all federal taxes are taken into account, even the lowest fifth of households (with average incomes of about $18,000) pay 4 percent of income in federal taxes, while the second-lowest fifth (average income: $43,000) pay 11 percent. ...
State and local tax systems are typically quite regressive... When state and local taxes are taken into account along with federal taxes, the poorest fifth of households pays about 15 percent of income in taxes; the next fifth pays about 21 percent.
[...]
The percentage of people who didn't pay federal taxes in 2009 was also elevated due to the recession, so even in isolation this figure distorts the picture relative to more normal times.
..
There is No Economic Reason Not to Raise the Top Rate
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/there-is-no-economic-reason-not-to-raise-the-top-rate.html
Bruce Bartlett says Allan Meltzer made a pretty good case for raising taxes on the wealthy::
Would a Higher Top Tax Rate Raise Revenues?, by Bruce Bartlett, Commentry, NY Times: On Friday, Prof. Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University, a well-known conservative economist, offered a commentary in The Wall Street Journal arguing against policies to equalize the distribution of income.
His key piece of evidence is ... from a study by the Swedish economists Jesper Roine and Daniel Waldenstrom, that shows the share of income accruing to the top 1 percent of earners in seven Western democracies. They all follow the same trend line, Professor Meltzer says, and it proves that “domestic policy can’t be the principal reason for the current spread between high earners and others.” ...
Leaving aside the fact that the ultrarich have gained far more in the United States than any other country in his sample and that there is no upward trend at all in the Netherlands, he seems to have missed an important implication of his own conclusion.
If the rich are going to continue to get richer in low-tax countries and high-tax countries alike, then it must mean that high tax rates have far less of a disincentive effect on the rich than conservatives like Professor Meltzer continually proclaim. ...
If, as Professor Meltzer has shown, the rich get richer regardless of the tax rates, there is no economic reason not to raise the top rate. Perhaps unwittingly, his research confirms that of other economists who say that we could get substantial additional revenues even if the top rate doubled.
tags: inequality
..
Bruce Bartlett says Allan Meltzer made a pretty good case for raising taxes on the wealthy::
Would a Higher Top Tax Rate Raise Revenues?, by Bruce Bartlett, Commentry, NY Times: On Friday, Prof. Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University, a well-known conservative economist, offered a commentary in The Wall Street Journal arguing against policies to equalize the distribution of income.
His key piece of evidence is ... from a study by the Swedish economists Jesper Roine and Daniel Waldenstrom, that shows the share of income accruing to the top 1 percent of earners in seven Western democracies. They all follow the same trend line, Professor Meltzer says, and it proves that “domestic policy can’t be the principal reason for the current spread between high earners and others.” ...
Leaving aside the fact that the ultrarich have gained far more in the United States than any other country in his sample and that there is no upward trend at all in the Netherlands, he seems to have missed an important implication of his own conclusion.
If the rich are going to continue to get richer in low-tax countries and high-tax countries alike, then it must mean that high tax rates have far less of a disincentive effect on the rich than conservatives like Professor Meltzer continually proclaim. ...
If, as Professor Meltzer has shown, the rich get richer regardless of the tax rates, there is no economic reason not to raise the top rate. Perhaps unwittingly, his research confirms that of other economists who say that we could get substantial additional revenues even if the top rate doubled.
tags: inequality
..
The Hidden Advantages of Quiet Bosses
http://hbr.org/2010/12/the-hidden-advantages-of-quiet-bosses/ar/1
by Adam M. Grant, Francesca Gino, and David A. Hofmann Dec. 2010
It’s conventional wisdom that’s supported by a decade of academic research: Extroverts make the best leaders. These people—dominant and outgoing—are favored in hiring and promotion decisions, and they’re perceived to be more effective by supervisors and subordinates alike. But our research suggests that in certain situations, an introvert may make the better boss.
To be sure, extroverted leaders have important strengths. However, they also tend to command the center of attention and take over discussions. In a dynamic, unpredictable environment, introverts are often more effective leaders—particularly when workers are proactive, offering ideas for improving the business. Such behavior can make extroverted leaders feel threatened. In contrast, introverted leaders tend to listen more carefully and show greater receptivity to suggestions, making them more effective leaders of vocal teams.
[...]
While it’s often true that extroverts make the best bosses and proactive employees make the best workers, combining the two can be a recipe for failure. Soft spoken leaders may get the most out of proactive employees—so save the outgoing, talkative managers for teams that function best when they’re told what to do.
tabs: leaders, leadership, leader
..
by Adam M. Grant, Francesca Gino, and David A. Hofmann Dec. 2010
It’s conventional wisdom that’s supported by a decade of academic research: Extroverts make the best leaders. These people—dominant and outgoing—are favored in hiring and promotion decisions, and they’re perceived to be more effective by supervisors and subordinates alike. But our research suggests that in certain situations, an introvert may make the better boss.
To be sure, extroverted leaders have important strengths. However, they also tend to command the center of attention and take over discussions. In a dynamic, unpredictable environment, introverts are often more effective leaders—particularly when workers are proactive, offering ideas for improving the business. Such behavior can make extroverted leaders feel threatened. In contrast, introverted leaders tend to listen more carefully and show greater receptivity to suggestions, making them more effective leaders of vocal teams.
[...]
While it’s often true that extroverts make the best bosses and proactive employees make the best workers, combining the two can be a recipe for failure. Soft spoken leaders may get the most out of proactive employees—so save the outgoing, talkative managers for teams that function best when they’re told what to do.
tabs: leaders, leadership, leader
..
Monday, March 12, 2012
Ohio Bill Would Require Men Submit Affidavit From Sex Partner Confirming Impotence Before Receiving Viagra
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/11/442208/affidavit-confirming-impotence-viagra/
By Judd Legum on Mar 11, 2012 at 5:51 pm
An Ohio State Senator is turning the tables on men seeking to regulate women’s access to reproductive health. Sen. Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) has introduced legislation regulating men’s access to erectile dysfunction drugs. The Dayton Daily News has the details:
Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way.
The Cleveland Democrat introduced Senate Bill 307 this week.
A critic of efforts to restrict abortion and contraception for women, Turner says she is concerned about men’s reproductive health… Turner said if state policymakers want to legislate women’s health choices through measures such as House Bill 125, known as the ‘Heartbeat bill,’ they should also be able to legislate men’s reproductive health.
[...]
..
By Judd Legum on Mar 11, 2012 at 5:51 pm
An Ohio State Senator is turning the tables on men seeking to regulate women’s access to reproductive health. Sen. Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) has introduced legislation regulating men’s access to erectile dysfunction drugs. The Dayton Daily News has the details:
Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way.
The Cleveland Democrat introduced Senate Bill 307 this week.
A critic of efforts to restrict abortion and contraception for women, Turner says she is concerned about men’s reproductive health… Turner said if state policymakers want to legislate women’s health choices through measures such as House Bill 125, known as the ‘Heartbeat bill,’ they should also be able to legislate men’s reproductive health.
[...]
..
Meteorites Reveal Another Way to Make Life's Components
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120309104845.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2012) — Creating some of life's building blocks in space may be a bit like making a sandwich -- you can make them cold or hot, according to new NASA research. This evidence that there is more than one way to make crucial components of life increases the likelihood that life emerged elsewhere in the Universe, according to the research team, and gives support to the theory that a "kit" of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by impacts from meteorites and comets assisted the origin of life.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2012) — Creating some of life's building blocks in space may be a bit like making a sandwich -- you can make them cold or hot, according to new NASA research. This evidence that there is more than one way to make crucial components of life increases the likelihood that life emerged elsewhere in the Universe, according to the research team, and gives support to the theory that a "kit" of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by impacts from meteorites and comets assisted the origin of life.
[...]
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Reducing Academic Pressure May Help Children Succeed
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120312101439.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Children may perform better in school and feel more confident about themselves if they are told that failure is a normal part of learning, rather than being pressured to succeed at all costs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
[...]
"Our research suggests that students will benefit from education that gives them room to struggle with difficulty," Autin said. "Teachers and parents should emphasize children's progress rather than focusing solely on grades and test scores. Learning takes time and each step in the process should be rewarded, especially at early stages when students most likely will experience failure."
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Children may perform better in school and feel more confident about themselves if they are told that failure is a normal part of learning, rather than being pressured to succeed at all costs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
[...]
"Our research suggests that students will benefit from education that gives them room to struggle with difficulty," Autin said. "Teachers and parents should emphasize children's progress rather than focusing solely on grades and test scores. Learning takes time and each step in the process should be rewarded, especially at early stages when students most likely will experience failure."
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Nitrous Oxide Emissions Are No Laughing Matter
We waste a lot of energy, often to save effort that would be healthier for us to expend.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120312101926.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — While many are acquainted with the problems caused by CO2 emissions, the harmful effects of the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere have been far less well known. Only in recent years has the international scientific community begun to understand the scope of the threat posed by N2O emissions.
Emissions of nitrous oxide have evolved into a big problem following the boom in the production of biological fuels -- considered an effective measure against global warming.
"Biological fuels are produced as an alternative fuel, intended to replace the burning of oil and gas and thereby reduce global warming. However, since the plants used in the production of biological fuels require fertiliser we cannot eliminate the emission of nitrous oxide; it is a by-product of the process," explains Professor Lars Bakken, a group leader with the Nitrogen Group at the University of Life Sciences (UMB) in Ås, Norway.
"The end result is more or less zero gain," he adds. "Nitrous oxide actually tips the balance in the direction of greater warming, undermining the promise of biological fuels as a means to effect cooling."
[...]
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Potential Role of Parents' Work Exposures in Autism Risk Examined
Note that Republicans are trying to block and roll back environmental protection laws and regulations for the sake of the profits of big business.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120312113902.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Could parental exposure to solvents at work be linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their children? According to an exploratory study by Erin McCanlies, a research epidemiologist from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and colleagues, such exposures could play a role, but more research would be needed to confirm an association.
Their pilot study is published online in Springer's Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
The experts' assessment indicated that exposures to lacquer, varnish and xylene occurred more often in the parents of children with ASD compared to the parents of unaffected children. Parents of children with ASD were also more likely to report exposures to asphalt and solvents, compared to parents of unaffected children. All of these exposures fall into the broader category of solvents, or solvent-containing products.
[...]
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Bill introduced to regulate men's reproductive health
http://news.coffeepartyusa.com/p/1400117842/fempire-strikes-back-bill-introduced-to-regulate-men-s-reproductive-health
www.daytondailynews.com - March 11, 11:05 PM
by JACKIE BORCHARDT, Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS – Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way.
The Cleveland Democrat introduced Senate Bill 307 this week.
A critic of efforts to restrict abortion and contraception for women, Turner says she is concerned about men’s reproductive health. Turner’s bill joins a trend of female lawmakers submitting bills regulating men’s health.
[...]
..
www.daytondailynews.com - March 11, 11:05 PM
by JACKIE BORCHARDT, Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS – Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way.
The Cleveland Democrat introduced Senate Bill 307 this week.
A critic of efforts to restrict abortion and contraception for women, Turner says she is concerned about men’s reproductive health. Turner’s bill joins a trend of female lawmakers submitting bills regulating men’s health.
[...]
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Spring Break Ritual Could Lead to Brain Damage
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120312135111.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Every year, thousands of teens and young adults celebrate Spring Break by drinking large amounts of alcohol -- binge drinking -- a dangerous right-of-passage for some and one linked to possible brain damage later as adults, says an expert.
[...]
She urges parents to have frank and consistent talks with their children early in life about the dangers of alcohol.
"If they hear anything that sounds middle of road, they hear 'yes to drinking.' Any ambiguity as a parent will be interpreted as an approval for drinking. The clear message needs to be that alcohol is not acceptable because it's not safe or good for your developing brain," she says.
Parents who waiver even slightly tend to lose credibility.
"Some parents will debate that maybe it's better to have your children drink at home. They reason that by providing the alcohol, they can control what their teens are drinking and where. However, it's only a false sense of security. In reality, it's the opposite," Kowalchuk says.
Research has shown that lenient drinking attitudes at home tend to lead to higher drinking rates.
"They hear the implicit approval of their drinking, and even if you control the alcohol use while they're with you, they're that much more likely than their peers in non-permitting homes to drink more when unsupervised and not around their parents," she says.
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Every year, thousands of teens and young adults celebrate Spring Break by drinking large amounts of alcohol -- binge drinking -- a dangerous right-of-passage for some and one linked to possible brain damage later as adults, says an expert.
[...]
She urges parents to have frank and consistent talks with their children early in life about the dangers of alcohol.
"If they hear anything that sounds middle of road, they hear 'yes to drinking.' Any ambiguity as a parent will be interpreted as an approval for drinking. The clear message needs to be that alcohol is not acceptable because it's not safe or good for your developing brain," she says.
Parents who waiver even slightly tend to lose credibility.
"Some parents will debate that maybe it's better to have your children drink at home. They reason that by providing the alcohol, they can control what their teens are drinking and where. However, it's only a false sense of security. In reality, it's the opposite," Kowalchuk says.
Research has shown that lenient drinking attitudes at home tend to lead to higher drinking rates.
"They hear the implicit approval of their drinking, and even if you control the alcohol use while they're with you, they're that much more likely than their peers in non-permitting homes to drink more when unsupervised and not around their parents," she says.
..
Thursday, March 08, 2012
After Wisconsin Voters Revolt Against GOP Lawmakers, GOP Lawmakers Approve Amendment Preventing Recall Elections
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/08/440491/after-wisconsin-voters-revolt-against-gop-lawmakers-gop-lawmakers-approve-amendment-preventing-recall-elections/
By Ian Millhiser on Mar 8, 2012 at 11:30 am
The Wisconsin GOP has not worn well with that state’s voters. Two GOP senators were removed from office last year in a recall election, and as many as four more could lose their jobs this year — along with the state’s anti-union Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Rather than accept that these mass recalls are a sign that they should abandon their current policies and pursue effort that won’t incur such ire from the electorate, however, the Wisconsin GOP has decided to pursue a very different tactic — changing the rules of the game:
In the face of an expected recall election targeting Gov. Scott Walker and four Republican state senators, the Wisconsin state Assembly voted Tuesday to amend the state constitution to make it more difficult to toss an official from office.
The measure, which still faces major hurdles before taking effect, would allow officeholders to be recalled only if they have been charged with a serious crime or if there is a finding of probable cause that they violated the state code of ethics. [...]
Republican supporters, including the amendment’s sponsor Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, argued changes are needed to limit recalls given the flurry of such efforts over the past year. Republicans have said Walker and the others are being unfairly targeted simply for doing their job.
For the record, Scott Walker’s job is to serve the very people who have decided that he is doing such a terrible job of it that he needs to be fired immediately.
..
By Ian Millhiser on Mar 8, 2012 at 11:30 am
The Wisconsin GOP has not worn well with that state’s voters. Two GOP senators were removed from office last year in a recall election, and as many as four more could lose their jobs this year — along with the state’s anti-union Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Rather than accept that these mass recalls are a sign that they should abandon their current policies and pursue effort that won’t incur such ire from the electorate, however, the Wisconsin GOP has decided to pursue a very different tactic — changing the rules of the game:
In the face of an expected recall election targeting Gov. Scott Walker and four Republican state senators, the Wisconsin state Assembly voted Tuesday to amend the state constitution to make it more difficult to toss an official from office.
The measure, which still faces major hurdles before taking effect, would allow officeholders to be recalled only if they have been charged with a serious crime or if there is a finding of probable cause that they violated the state code of ethics. [...]
Republican supporters, including the amendment’s sponsor Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, argued changes are needed to limit recalls given the flurry of such efforts over the past year. Republicans have said Walker and the others are being unfairly targeted simply for doing their job.
For the record, Scott Walker’s job is to serve the very people who have decided that he is doing such a terrible job of it that he needs to be fired immediately.
..
Fourth warmest winter on record for the U.S.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2047
February is gone, and the non-winter of 2011 - 2012 is the history books as the fourth warmest in U.S. history, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center yesterday. The winter average temperature of 36.8°F was just 0.4°F cooler than the warmest winter on record, the winter of 1999 - 2000. If you lived in the Northern Plains, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast, it seemed like winter never really arrived this year--27 states in this region had top-ten warmest winters. Across the U.S., only New Mexico (41st coolest) and Alaska (35th coolest) had winter temperatures colder than average. According to NOAA's Climate Extremes Index, the percent area of the U.S. experiencing extremes in warm maximum temperatures (top 10% on record) was 49 percent--the 4th highest value since the index began being computed in 1911. Jackson, Kentucky, Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey all had their warmest winter on record.
[...]
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February is gone, and the non-winter of 2011 - 2012 is the history books as the fourth warmest in U.S. history, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center yesterday. The winter average temperature of 36.8°F was just 0.4°F cooler than the warmest winter on record, the winter of 1999 - 2000. If you lived in the Northern Plains, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast, it seemed like winter never really arrived this year--27 states in this region had top-ten warmest winters. Across the U.S., only New Mexico (41st coolest) and Alaska (35th coolest) had winter temperatures colder than average. According to NOAA's Climate Extremes Index, the percent area of the U.S. experiencing extremes in warm maximum temperatures (top 10% on record) was 49 percent--the 4th highest value since the index began being computed in 1911. Jackson, Kentucky, Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, New Jersey all had their warmest winter on record.
[...]
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Wednesday, March 07, 2012
American manufacturers importing workers
I know from experience that companies will claim they have to hire an H-1B employee when in actually there are U.S. workers who are available and qualified.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/smallbusiness/manufacturing-workers/
By Parija Kavilanz @CNNMoney March 5, 2012: 6:56 AM ET
U.S. manufacturers, frustrated by a shortage of skilled American factory workers, are going abroad to find them.
Business for factories has surged recently, creating a huge demand for machinists, tool and die makers, computer-controlled machine programmers and operators.
"These jobs are the backbone of manufacturing," said Gardner Carrick, senior director with the Manufacturing Institute. "These are good quality middle-class jobs that Americans should be training for."
The United States is experiencing a shrinking pipeline of manufacturing talent, said James Wall, deputy director of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.
"It's been in the making for years," he said. Factories didn't feel the labor pinch as much when manufacturing was in a slump. But the latest "Made in USA" resurgence has them scrambling.
Wall said some manufacturers have been relying on foreign workers to fill the gaps through H-1B visas.
[...]
A total of 39,551 foreign workers for manufacturing positions were certified by the Labor Department in 2011 for H-1B visas.
That number was up from 34,830 workers in 2010.
The agency certifies an application after a U.S. employer has demonstrated that it was unable to find a willing and qualified American worker for the job.
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Personality Change Key to Improving Wellbeing
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120305081412.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — People's personalities can change considerably over time, say scientists, suggesting that leopards really can change their spots.
Psychologists from The University of Manchester and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) also showed that small positive personality changes may lead to greater increases in happiness than earning more money, marrying, or gaining employment.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — People's personalities can change considerably over time, say scientists, suggesting that leopards really can change their spots.
Psychologists from The University of Manchester and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) also showed that small positive personality changes may lead to greater increases in happiness than earning more money, marrying, or gaining employment.
[...]
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Ron Paul: No Federal Relief for Tornado Victims
Yeah, if you're out of work and can't afford food, you should make sure your home owner's insurance is up to date.
http://www.wfpl.org/2012/03/05/ron-paul-no-federal-relief-for-tornado-victims/
by Phillip M. Bailey on March 5, 2012
Standing by his libertarian principles, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul reiterated his opposition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when he said victims of the deadly tornadoes that hit Kentucky should not receive federal aid.
[...]
“The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance,” he said.
Rather than federal funds, Paul argues there is plenty of generous and compassionate Americans who are willing to give after a disaster hits.
Ironically, Congressman Paul’s son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has also been a libertarian voice in Congress, wrote a letter to President Obama on Monday morning urging him to support a request for a major disaster declaration for Kentucky that would result in federal funds being released.
..
http://www.wfpl.org/2012/03/05/ron-paul-no-federal-relief-for-tornado-victims/
by Phillip M. Bailey on March 5, 2012
Standing by his libertarian principles, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul reiterated his opposition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when he said victims of the deadly tornadoes that hit Kentucky should not receive federal aid.
[...]
“The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance,” he said.
Rather than federal funds, Paul argues there is plenty of generous and compassionate Americans who are willing to give after a disaster hits.
Ironically, Congressman Paul’s son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has also been a libertarian voice in Congress, wrote a letter to President Obama on Monday morning urging him to support a request for a major disaster declaration for Kentucky that would result in federal funds being released.
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Purging Voter Rolls To Steal Election, 2012 Style
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/purging-voter-rolls-steal-election-2012
June 21, 2011 06:00 AM
By John Amato
As an American citizen, voting in elections is a right and the key to our democracy even if the overall turnout isn't always what we'd hope for. I've said that if at least 75% of the population came out to vote, corporations would have a much harder time getting away with bribing politicians and littering the airwaves with political ads that try to influence your vote. The scam that the media never talks about is the purging of voting rolls to make it harder--not easier as they claim--for Americans to vote in elections. I covered the Indiana Voter ID scam that the Supreme Court upheld on back in 2008 quite extensively. Voter suppression has been a big weapon used by Republicans for decades. In the 2000 election, voter suppression in Florida gave America eight years of Bush.
EJ Dione tackles the subject in his latest article, How states are rigging the 2012 election:
An attack on the right to vote is underway across the country through laws designed to make it more difficult to cast a ballot. If this were happening in an emerging democracy, we’d condemn it as election-rigging. But it’s happening here, so there’s barely a whimper.
The laws are being passed in the name of preventing “voter fraud.” But study after study has shown that fraud by voters is not a major problem — and is less of a problem than how hard many states make it for people to vote in the first place. Some of the new laws, notably those limiting the number of days for early voting, have little plausible connection to battling fraud.
These statutes are not neutral. Their greatest impact will be to reduce turnout among African Americans, Latinos and the young. It is no accident that these groups were key to Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 — or that the laws in question are being enacted in states where Republicans control state governments.
Again, think of what this would look like to a dispassionate observer. A party wins an election, as the GOP did in 2010. Then it changes the election laws in ways that benefit itself. In a democracy, the electorate is supposed to pick the politicians. With these laws, politicians are shaping their electorates.
[...]
..
June 21, 2011 06:00 AM
By John Amato
As an American citizen, voting in elections is a right and the key to our democracy even if the overall turnout isn't always what we'd hope for. I've said that if at least 75% of the population came out to vote, corporations would have a much harder time getting away with bribing politicians and littering the airwaves with political ads that try to influence your vote. The scam that the media never talks about is the purging of voting rolls to make it harder--not easier as they claim--for Americans to vote in elections. I covered the Indiana Voter ID scam that the Supreme Court upheld on back in 2008 quite extensively. Voter suppression has been a big weapon used by Republicans for decades. In the 2000 election, voter suppression in Florida gave America eight years of Bush.
EJ Dione tackles the subject in his latest article, How states are rigging the 2012 election:
An attack on the right to vote is underway across the country through laws designed to make it more difficult to cast a ballot. If this were happening in an emerging democracy, we’d condemn it as election-rigging. But it’s happening here, so there’s barely a whimper.
The laws are being passed in the name of preventing “voter fraud.” But study after study has shown that fraud by voters is not a major problem — and is less of a problem than how hard many states make it for people to vote in the first place. Some of the new laws, notably those limiting the number of days for early voting, have little plausible connection to battling fraud.
These statutes are not neutral. Their greatest impact will be to reduce turnout among African Americans, Latinos and the young. It is no accident that these groups were key to Barack Obama’s victory in 2008 — or that the laws in question are being enacted in states where Republicans control state governments.
Again, think of what this would look like to a dispassionate observer. A party wins an election, as the GOP did in 2010. Then it changes the election laws in ways that benefit itself. In a democracy, the electorate is supposed to pick the politicians. With these laws, politicians are shaping their electorates.
[...]
..
"Massive Stimulus"? Hardly
And the Republicans blocked a larger stimulus in hopes of causing them to be able get the presidency this year.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/massive-stimulus-hardly.html
Menzie Chinn makes a point I've been trying to emphasize (with less than full success). When people ask why the fiscal stimulus didn't do more to elevate the economy, the right question to ask is what fiscal stimulus? When the federal efforts are combined with the contractions at the state and local level, there was very little net stimulus. That doesn't mean the federal efforts didn't do something positive and important -- if the federal government hadn't offset the state and local contractions things would have been even worse -- but it does mean that people looking for more than simply treading water as evidence that the fiscal stimulus had an impact are asking the wrong question:
[...]
..
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/03/massive-stimulus-hardly.html
Menzie Chinn makes a point I've been trying to emphasize (with less than full success). When people ask why the fiscal stimulus didn't do more to elevate the economy, the right question to ask is what fiscal stimulus? When the federal efforts are combined with the contractions at the state and local level, there was very little net stimulus. That doesn't mean the federal efforts didn't do something positive and important -- if the federal government hadn't offset the state and local contractions things would have been even worse -- but it does mean that people looking for more than simply treading water as evidence that the fiscal stimulus had an impact are asking the wrong question:
[...]
..
Stiglitz says inequality if bad for the economy
http://www.northjersey.com/news/141149483_Economist_says_wealth_gap_is_bad_for_growth.html
Q. Occupy Wall Street has forced income inequality into national discourse. Putting aside the question of whether disparities in income and wealth are fair, what is the impact of income and wealth inequality in this country, and if that gap continues to grow, what could be the economic consequences?
Inequality is bad for growth, stability and efficiency. … Inequality peaked both before the Great Depression and before the Great Recession, and it's not an accident. So basically, when we have a lot of inequality, demand goes down. … All this inequality was offset by creating a bubble. The bubble allowed people to consume more. Now we have the inequality but we don't have a bubble, and that means that we will have persistent, weak demand, and therefore unless we create another bubble it's going to be very difficult for us to get back to full employment.
A lot of the inequality that we have in the United States is created by distortions – excessive financial sector, monopolies like Microsoft … giving the oil companies, mining companies resources at a discount. … These things distort the economy, while they create wealth at the top. So it's not wealth creation – it's wealth redistribution, which makes the size of the pie smaller.
Q. And how do you go about decreasing inequality, just by taxing the wealthy and ending breaks for big companies?
And the loopholes, the distortions, the giveaways. … When you tax capital gains at half the rate of others, you encourage speculation. And so you divert resources to speculative activity, including the best brains at Columbia, into speculation rather than into creative activities.
[...]
..
Q. Occupy Wall Street has forced income inequality into national discourse. Putting aside the question of whether disparities in income and wealth are fair, what is the impact of income and wealth inequality in this country, and if that gap continues to grow, what could be the economic consequences?
Inequality is bad for growth, stability and efficiency. … Inequality peaked both before the Great Depression and before the Great Recession, and it's not an accident. So basically, when we have a lot of inequality, demand goes down. … All this inequality was offset by creating a bubble. The bubble allowed people to consume more. Now we have the inequality but we don't have a bubble, and that means that we will have persistent, weak demand, and therefore unless we create another bubble it's going to be very difficult for us to get back to full employment.
A lot of the inequality that we have in the United States is created by distortions – excessive financial sector, monopolies like Microsoft … giving the oil companies, mining companies resources at a discount. … These things distort the economy, while they create wealth at the top. So it's not wealth creation – it's wealth redistribution, which makes the size of the pie smaller.
Q. And how do you go about decreasing inequality, just by taxing the wealthy and ending breaks for big companies?
And the loopholes, the distortions, the giveaways. … When you tax capital gains at half the rate of others, you encourage speculation. And so you divert resources to speculative activity, including the best brains at Columbia, into speculation rather than into creative activities.
[...]
..
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Can’t Vote After Government-Issued ID Is Rejected At Poll
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/06/439324/86-year-old-ohio-veteran-cant-vote-after-government-issued-id-is-rejected-at-poll/
By Travis Waldron posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Mar 6, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Paul Carroll, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who has lived in the same Ohio town for four decades, was denied a chance to vote in the state’s primary contests today after a poll worker denied his form of identification, a recently-acquired photo ID from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The poll worker rejected the ID because it did not contain an address, as required by Ohio law.
Carroll told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he got the ID from the VA after his driver’s license expired because he doesn’t drive anymore:
“My beef is that I had to pay a driver to take me up there because I don’t walk so well and have to use this cane and now I can’t even vote,” said Paul Carroll, 86, who has lived in Aurora nearly 40 years, running his own business, Carroll Tire, until 1975.
“I had to stop driving, but I got the photo ID from the Veterans Affairs instead, just a month or so ago. You would think that would count for something. I went to war for this country, but now I can’t vote in this country.”
A local Veterans Affairs employee told the Plain Dealer that the decision not to include the address was likely made at the federal level, and because VA IDs are accepted at any location, “the actual address of a veteran isn’t as critical to us.” Carroll was offered a provisional ballot, but the type was too small for him to read and “I was kind of perturbed by then,” he said.
Republicans across the country have pushed voter ID laws to address a voter fraud “problem” that rarely, if ever, exists. Multiple laws have been challenged in court over claims that they disenfranchise voters, particularly minorities and the elderly. Carroll’s story isn’t altogether unique — Tennessee voter authorities denied a 96-year-old woman a voter ID last year because she didn’t have an original copy of her marriage license.
..
By Travis Waldron posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Mar 6, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Paul Carroll, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who has lived in the same Ohio town for four decades, was denied a chance to vote in the state’s primary contests today after a poll worker denied his form of identification, a recently-acquired photo ID from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The poll worker rejected the ID because it did not contain an address, as required by Ohio law.
Carroll told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he got the ID from the VA after his driver’s license expired because he doesn’t drive anymore:
“My beef is that I had to pay a driver to take me up there because I don’t walk so well and have to use this cane and now I can’t even vote,” said Paul Carroll, 86, who has lived in Aurora nearly 40 years, running his own business, Carroll Tire, until 1975.
“I had to stop driving, but I got the photo ID from the Veterans Affairs instead, just a month or so ago. You would think that would count for something. I went to war for this country, but now I can’t vote in this country.”
A local Veterans Affairs employee told the Plain Dealer that the decision not to include the address was likely made at the federal level, and because VA IDs are accepted at any location, “the actual address of a veteran isn’t as critical to us.” Carroll was offered a provisional ballot, but the type was too small for him to read and “I was kind of perturbed by then,” he said.
Republicans across the country have pushed voter ID laws to address a voter fraud “problem” that rarely, if ever, exists. Multiple laws have been challenged in court over claims that they disenfranchise voters, particularly minorities and the elderly. Carroll’s story isn’t altogether unique — Tennessee voter authorities denied a 96-year-old woman a voter ID last year because she didn’t have an original copy of her marriage license.
..
Extreme Poverty In The U.S. Has Doubled In The Last 15 Years
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/06/438907/extreme-poverty-doubled-15-years/
By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 6, 2012 at 8:00 pm
According to the latest Census Bureau data, nearly 50 percent of Americans are either low-income or living in poverty in the wake of the Great Recession. And a new study from the National Poverty Center shows just how deep in poverty some of those people are, finding that the number of households living on less than $2 per day (before government benefits) has more than doubled in the last 15 years:
[...]
While extreme poverty doubled overall, it tripled amongst female headed households. Of course, there’s always the tact taken North Carolina Republican State Representative George Cleveland last week, who simply denied that anyone in his state lives in extreme poverty. As we noted at the time, “the 728,842 North Carolinians who are classified as living in deep poverty might take issue with that assessment.”
..
By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 6, 2012 at 8:00 pm
According to the latest Census Bureau data, nearly 50 percent of Americans are either low-income or living in poverty in the wake of the Great Recession. And a new study from the National Poverty Center shows just how deep in poverty some of those people are, finding that the number of households living on less than $2 per day (before government benefits) has more than doubled in the last 15 years:
[...]
While extreme poverty doubled overall, it tripled amongst female headed households. Of course, there’s always the tact taken North Carolina Republican State Representative George Cleveland last week, who simply denied that anyone in his state lives in extreme poverty. As we noted at the time, “the 728,842 North Carolinians who are classified as living in deep poverty might take issue with that assessment.”
..
Monday, March 05, 2012
Spanking and Genetics May Increase Childhood Aggression
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120305132250.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — A study co-authored by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes shows that the risk of problem behavior during childhood -- particularly for boys -- is greatly increased if children have genetic predispositions for these behaviors and if they are spanked by their parents.
"We found that genetic factors affect which children display aggressive behavior, but we also found that genetic factors matter more when children were exposed to spanking as a disciplinary tactic," said Barnes, an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.
[...]
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — A study co-authored by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes shows that the risk of problem behavior during childhood -- particularly for boys -- is greatly increased if children have genetic predispositions for these behaviors and if they are spanked by their parents.
"We found that genetic factors affect which children display aggressive behavior, but we also found that genetic factors matter more when children were exposed to spanking as a disciplinary tactic," said Barnes, an assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.
[...]
..
Demise of Early Large Animals Caused by Both Humans and Climate Change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120305160645.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — Research provides new insights about what caused the extinction of many of the world's big animals over the last 100,000 years.
[...]
By conducting a statistical analysis using both the climatic information and the timing of arrival of modern humans, they were able to determine whether the pattern of extinctions across landmasses was best explained by climate change, the arrival of modern humans, or both. They concluded that it was a combination of both the arrival of man (probably through hunting or habitat alteration) as well as climate change which caused the extinctions.
The authors believe that the research provides insights into the consequences of pressures on megafauna living today, including tigers, polar bears, elephants and rhinos.
[...]
humans, combined with climate change have been affecting other species for tens of thousands of years and continue to do so. Hopefully, now though, we are in a position to do something about it."
[...]
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — Research provides new insights about what caused the extinction of many of the world's big animals over the last 100,000 years.
[...]
By conducting a statistical analysis using both the climatic information and the timing of arrival of modern humans, they were able to determine whether the pattern of extinctions across landmasses was best explained by climate change, the arrival of modern humans, or both. They concluded that it was a combination of both the arrival of man (probably through hunting or habitat alteration) as well as climate change which caused the extinctions.
The authors believe that the research provides insights into the consequences of pressures on megafauna living today, including tigers, polar bears, elephants and rhinos.
[...]
humans, combined with climate change have been affecting other species for tens of thousands of years and continue to do so. Hopefully, now though, we are in a position to do something about it."
[...]
..
Conservative Christian Leaders Call Judicial Filibusters A Threat To ‘The Future Of Democracy And Ordered Liberty’*
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/05/437537/conservative-christian-judicial-filibusters-threat/
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Mar 5, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate will turn its attention once again to judicial confirmations. With 84 federal judgeships currently vacant — about one in 10 — and the courts struggling to handle their caseloads, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been pushing for votes on 19 people nominated by President Barack Obama and endorsed by the Senate Judiciary Committee — most with unanimous or near-unanimous bipartisan support. Unfortunately, only two of these completely uncontroversial nominees will receive votes tomorrow.
Senate Republicans who persist in obstructing these nominees would do well to listen to the advice they received from Christian conservative leaders* such as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Lou Sheldon, Rod Parsley, Frank Pavone, Miguel Rivera, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, and Rick Scarborough, who slammed judicial filibusters as, in Dobson’s words, a direct attack on “the future of democracy and ordered liberty.”
[...] [see link above for video]
*These religious leaders made these claims when George W. Bush was president. But, of course, that doesn’t matter because — in the words of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) — “we need to treat all nominees exactly the same, regardless of whether they’re nominated by a Democrat or a Republican president.”**
**Cornyn’s statement was also made when George W. Bush was president.
..
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Mar 5, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate will turn its attention once again to judicial confirmations. With 84 federal judgeships currently vacant — about one in 10 — and the courts struggling to handle their caseloads, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been pushing for votes on 19 people nominated by President Barack Obama and endorsed by the Senate Judiciary Committee — most with unanimous or near-unanimous bipartisan support. Unfortunately, only two of these completely uncontroversial nominees will receive votes tomorrow.
Senate Republicans who persist in obstructing these nominees would do well to listen to the advice they received from Christian conservative leaders* such as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Lou Sheldon, Rod Parsley, Frank Pavone, Miguel Rivera, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, and Rick Scarborough, who slammed judicial filibusters as, in Dobson’s words, a direct attack on “the future of democracy and ordered liberty.”
[...] [see link above for video]
*These religious leaders made these claims when George W. Bush was president. But, of course, that doesn’t matter because — in the words of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) — “we need to treat all nominees exactly the same, regardless of whether they’re nominated by a Democrat or a Republican president.”**
**Cornyn’s statement was also made when George W. Bush was president.
..
Scott Brown Received More Than $900,000 From Financial Services Sector After Watering Down Wall Street Reform
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/05/437811/scott-brown-financial-services-940000/
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 5, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Sen. Scott Brown (Republican-MA) received more than $880,000 in contributions from large-dollar individual campaign donors in the financial services sector in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis. The freshman Republican also got at least $60,000 in contributions from corporate political action committees aligned with the financial sector.
[...]
..
By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 5, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Sen. Scott Brown (Republican-MA) received more than $880,000 in contributions from large-dollar individual campaign donors in the financial services sector in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis. The freshman Republican also got at least $60,000 in contributions from corporate political action committees aligned with the financial sector.
[...]
..
Delaware Council Approves ‘Every Sperm Is Sacred’ Resolution To Poke Fun At ‘Personhood’ Movement
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/05/437403/delaware-council-approves-every-sperm-is-sacred-resolution-to-poke-fun-at-personhood-movement/
By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Health on Mar 5, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Back in February, a lawmakers in Oklahoma introduced a bill that poked fun at the rash of “personhood bills” giving zygotes the same rights as American citizens by offering an “every sperm is sacred” amendment. Under the measure, “any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.”
Last week, a local Delaware council in Wilmington voted 8 -4 for a similar “tongue-in-cheek” resolution “that asks state legislatures and U.S. Congress to enact laws that forbid men from destroying their semen“:
[...]
The satirical measure does prove a serious point: only about half of fertilized eggs develop into a pregnancy. If Republican lawmakers are willing to declare every cluster of cells with the potential to become a fetus a person, why stop at fertilized eggs? Why not sperm as well?
..
By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Health on Mar 5, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Back in February, a lawmakers in Oklahoma introduced a bill that poked fun at the rash of “personhood bills” giving zygotes the same rights as American citizens by offering an “every sperm is sacred” amendment. Under the measure, “any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman’s vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child.”
Last week, a local Delaware council in Wilmington voted 8 -4 for a similar “tongue-in-cheek” resolution “that asks state legislatures and U.S. Congress to enact laws that forbid men from destroying their semen“:
[...]
The satirical measure does prove a serious point: only about half of fertilized eggs develop into a pregnancy. If Republican lawmakers are willing to declare every cluster of cells with the potential to become a fetus a person, why stop at fertilized eggs? Why not sperm as well?
..
Army psychiatrist: PTSD diagnoses were fixed at Walter Reed
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/03/05/140855/army-psychiatrist-ptsd-diagnoses.html
By Adam Ashton | Tacoma News Tribune
In her resignation letter, Madigan Army Medical Center forensic psychiatrist Juliana Ellis-Billingsley wrote that the Army’s top behavioral health officer misled Madigan leaders about the results of an investigation into post-traumatic stress diagnoses at the hospital south of Tacoma.
Ellis-Billingsley wrote that Col. Rebecca Porter in early February told Madigan leaders that forensic psychiatrists at Walter Reed Military Medical Center had upheld the first 12 Madigan diagnoses they reviewed among a group of 14 soldiers who contested the behavioral health diagnoses they received from Madigan.
Three weeks later, Porter visited Madigan to deliver the results of the Walter Reed reviews to the soldiers themselves. They learned that Walter Reed overturned six Madigan diagnoses, deciding that those soldiers suffered from PTSD. In eight other cases, Walter Reed agreed with Madigan in diagnosing soldiers with conditions other than PTSD.
[...]
“It became patently clear to me that some force above Western Region (Medical Command) came to bear on Walter Reed forensics and they changed their diagnoses.
..
By Adam Ashton | Tacoma News Tribune
In her resignation letter, Madigan Army Medical Center forensic psychiatrist Juliana Ellis-Billingsley wrote that the Army’s top behavioral health officer misled Madigan leaders about the results of an investigation into post-traumatic stress diagnoses at the hospital south of Tacoma.
Ellis-Billingsley wrote that Col. Rebecca Porter in early February told Madigan leaders that forensic psychiatrists at Walter Reed Military Medical Center had upheld the first 12 Madigan diagnoses they reviewed among a group of 14 soldiers who contested the behavioral health diagnoses they received from Madigan.
Three weeks later, Porter visited Madigan to deliver the results of the Walter Reed reviews to the soldiers themselves. They learned that Walter Reed overturned six Madigan diagnoses, deciding that those soldiers suffered from PTSD. In eight other cases, Walter Reed agreed with Madigan in diagnosing soldiers with conditions other than PTSD.
[...]
“It became patently clear to me that some force above Western Region (Medical Command) came to bear on Walter Reed forensics and they changed their diagnoses.
..
eIncome goes up...especially for the rich
http://economy.money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/income-goes-up-especially-for-the-rich/?source=cnn_bin
By Tami Luhby March 5, 2012: 12:09 PM ET
After two years of declines, Americans' income finally rose in 2010. The Internal Revenue Service provided a first peek at taxpayers' returns and it showed that adjusted gross income totaled $8 trillion, up 5.2% from 2009.
But a closer look at the data reveals that only the wealthiest Americans will be popping the Cristal.
Taxpayers earning more than $250,000 saw their total adjusted gross incomes rise by 13.8%, while those bringing home between $200K and $250K enjoyed a 6.7% increase, according to a CNNMoney analysis.
Middle-class Americans? Not so fortunate. Those making between $50K and $100K saw their incomes creep up only 1.5%.
[...]
Looking at it another way, the Top 1% of taxpayers captured 93% of the income gains in the first year of the economy recovery, according to Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at University of California, Berkeley. The Top 1% had incomes above $352,000 in 2010.
tags: income inequality, wealth inequality
..
By Tami Luhby March 5, 2012: 12:09 PM ET
After two years of declines, Americans' income finally rose in 2010. The Internal Revenue Service provided a first peek at taxpayers' returns and it showed that adjusted gross income totaled $8 trillion, up 5.2% from 2009.
But a closer look at the data reveals that only the wealthiest Americans will be popping the Cristal.
Taxpayers earning more than $250,000 saw their total adjusted gross incomes rise by 13.8%, while those bringing home between $200K and $250K enjoyed a 6.7% increase, according to a CNNMoney analysis.
Middle-class Americans? Not so fortunate. Those making between $50K and $100K saw their incomes creep up only 1.5%.
[...]
Looking at it another way, the Top 1% of taxpayers captured 93% of the income gains in the first year of the economy recovery, according to Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at University of California, Berkeley. The Top 1% had incomes above $352,000 in 2010.
tags: income inequality, wealth inequality
..
ADHD overdiagnosed in youngest kids in class
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/05/10584568-adhd-overdiagnosed-in-youngest-kids-in-class
3/5/2012
The youngest children in their school grade are more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than their slightly older peers in the same grade, a new study finds.
[...]
..
3/5/2012
The youngest children in their school grade are more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than their slightly older peers in the same grade, a new study finds.
[...]
..
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Effects of Environmental Toxicants Reach Down Through Generations
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120302101821.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2012) — A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.
The animal's DNA sequence remains unchanged, but the compounds change the way genes turn on and off -- the epigenetic effect studied at length by WSU molecular biologist Michael Skinner and expanded on in the current issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
While Skinner's earlier research has shown similar effects from a pesticide and fungicide, this is the first to show a greater variety of toxicants -- including jet fuel, dioxin, plastics and the pesticides DEET and permethrin -- promoting epigenetic disease across generations.
"We didn't expect them all to have transgenerational effects, but all of them did," Skinner said. "I thought hydrocarbon would be negative but it was positive too."
[...]
The study was funded by the U.S. Army to study pollutants that troops might be exposed to. Skinner and his colleagues exposed pregnant female rats to relatively high but non-lethal amounts of the compounds and tracked changes in three generations of offspring.
The researchers saw females reaching puberty earlier, increased rates in the decay and death of sperm cells and lower numbers of ovarian follicles that later become eggs.
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2012) — A Washington State University researcher has demonstrated that a variety of environmental toxicants can have negative effects on not just an exposed animal but the next three generations of its offspring.
The animal's DNA sequence remains unchanged, but the compounds change the way genes turn on and off -- the epigenetic effect studied at length by WSU molecular biologist Michael Skinner and expanded on in the current issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
While Skinner's earlier research has shown similar effects from a pesticide and fungicide, this is the first to show a greater variety of toxicants -- including jet fuel, dioxin, plastics and the pesticides DEET and permethrin -- promoting epigenetic disease across generations.
"We didn't expect them all to have transgenerational effects, but all of them did," Skinner said. "I thought hydrocarbon would be negative but it was positive too."
[...]
The study was funded by the U.S. Army to study pollutants that troops might be exposed to. Skinner and his colleagues exposed pregnant female rats to relatively high but non-lethal amounts of the compounds and tracked changes in three generations of offspring.
The researchers saw females reaching puberty earlier, increased rates in the decay and death of sperm cells and lower numbers of ovarian follicles that later become eggs.
..
Drugs: 'New' Does Not Always Mean 'Better'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120302101539.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2012) — Cases in which a newly approved drug is more effective than the cheaper alternatives already available are the exceptions rather than the rule.
This is the conclusion reached in a study by Mariam Ujeyl et al. in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.
[...]
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2012) — Cases in which a newly approved drug is more effective than the cheaper alternatives already available are the exceptions rather than the rule.
This is the conclusion reached in a study by Mariam Ujeyl et al. in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.
[...]
..
How Does Nearsightedness Develop in Children?
This article obviously is about simple myopia. It does not mention degenerative myopia, also known as malignant, pathological, or progressive myopia. This is caused by the abnormal growth of the eyeball. True that the lens does not adapt to it, but the overly long eyeball causes problems such as retinal detachment and macular degeneration.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301113258.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — Myopia (nearsightedness) develops in children when the lens stops compensating for continued growth of the eye, according to a study in the March issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.
[...]
Myopia or nearsightedness -- difficulty seeing objects at a distance -- develops in about 34% of American children as they grow. Vision professionals and scientists typically think of myopia as a problem occurring when the eyeball becomes too long (front to back) for the optical power of the cornea and lens.
[...]
They found that, in children without myopia, the lens grew thinner and flatter to maintain normal vision as the eye grew. This adaptation maintained a normal balance between the optical power of the lens and the increasing length of the eyeball. From age nine months to nine years, eyeball length increased by an average of three millimeters.
However, in children who developed myopia, the lens stopped changing in response to eye growth. Nearsightedness developed not just because of increases in the length of the eyeball, but rather because the optical power of the lens no longer changed as the eye grew.
[...]
..
Insurers Confirm Growing Risks, Costs of Climate Change
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/03-0
Published on Saturday, March 3, 2012 by Common Dreams
As southern Indiana, Kentucky and other midwestern states woke Saturday to devastated communities and a rising death toll, the world again was treated to pictures and video of mother nature's ferocious power and the merciless power of her most precise and terrifying storm, the tornado. Most striking to some is the early arrival of this year's tornado season, which usually begins later in the spring and runs into summer. For climate scientists, who have long predicted longer or more powerful storms and less predictable seasons, the events are an affirmation that offer no comfort.
More striking this week, however, was a little noticed hearing -- just a day before these massively destruction storms -- where the nation's insurance and re-insurance companies came together to recognize the impact that climate change is having on their industry, a direct measure of the financial costs on US taxpayers and private businesses.
[...]
In a press briefing on Thursday, representatives of the nation's top insurance companies, citing a year of history-making natural disasters and $1 billion-plus in damages, took a definitive stance, along with members of the US Senate, to confirm that the costs -- both to taxpayers and private businesses -- from extreme weather events will continue to climb due to the irrefutable march of global warming and climate change.
“From our industry’s perspective, the footprints of climate change are around us and the trend of increasing damage to property and threat to lives is clear,” said Franklin Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America. “We need a national policy related to climate and weather.”
“As a member of the global insurance industry, we have witnessed the increased impact of weather-related events on our industry and around the world,” said Mark Way, head of Swiss Re's sustainability and climate change activities in the Americas. “A warming climate will only add to this trend of increasing losses, which is why action is needed now.”
Cynthia McHale, the insurance program director at Ceres, issued a more unequivocal statement: “Our climate is changing, human activity is helping to drive the change, and the costs of these extreme weather events are going to keep ballooning unless we break through our political paralysis, and bring down emissions that are warming our planet. If we continue on this path, extreme weather is certain to cause more homes and businesses to be uninsurable in the private insurance market, leaving the costs to taxpayers or individuals.”
[...]
..
Published on Saturday, March 3, 2012 by Common Dreams
As southern Indiana, Kentucky and other midwestern states woke Saturday to devastated communities and a rising death toll, the world again was treated to pictures and video of mother nature's ferocious power and the merciless power of her most precise and terrifying storm, the tornado. Most striking to some is the early arrival of this year's tornado season, which usually begins later in the spring and runs into summer. For climate scientists, who have long predicted longer or more powerful storms and less predictable seasons, the events are an affirmation that offer no comfort.
More striking this week, however, was a little noticed hearing -- just a day before these massively destruction storms -- where the nation's insurance and re-insurance companies came together to recognize the impact that climate change is having on their industry, a direct measure of the financial costs on US taxpayers and private businesses.
[...]
In a press briefing on Thursday, representatives of the nation's top insurance companies, citing a year of history-making natural disasters and $1 billion-plus in damages, took a definitive stance, along with members of the US Senate, to confirm that the costs -- both to taxpayers and private businesses -- from extreme weather events will continue to climb due to the irrefutable march of global warming and climate change.
“From our industry’s perspective, the footprints of climate change are around us and the trend of increasing damage to property and threat to lives is clear,” said Franklin Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America. “We need a national policy related to climate and weather.”
“As a member of the global insurance industry, we have witnessed the increased impact of weather-related events on our industry and around the world,” said Mark Way, head of Swiss Re's sustainability and climate change activities in the Americas. “A warming climate will only add to this trend of increasing losses, which is why action is needed now.”
Cynthia McHale, the insurance program director at Ceres, issued a more unequivocal statement: “Our climate is changing, human activity is helping to drive the change, and the costs of these extreme weather events are going to keep ballooning unless we break through our political paralysis, and bring down emissions that are warming our planet. If we continue on this path, extreme weather is certain to cause more homes and businesses to be uninsurable in the private insurance market, leaving the costs to taxpayers or individuals.”
[...]
..
The invisible welfare state of the top one percent
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-invisible-welfare-state-of-the-top-one-percent/2011/08/25/gIQANQRemR_blog.html?wprss=linkset
Posted by Ezra Klein at 10:11 AM ET, 03/02/2012
Pop quiz: What is a government program? And are you on one right now?
Those are the questions Cornell University political scientist Suzanne Mettler has been posing. For her book “The Submerged State,” she asked a scientifically selected sample of 1,400 Americans whether they had ever used a government social program. Only 43 percent copped to having done so. Then she read off 21 social programs, such as Medicare and the home-mortgage interest deduction, and asked the same question again: Have you ever used a government social program? This time, 96 percent said yes, in fact, they had.
[...]
“Indirect social policies offer benefits that are comparable to direct social benefits both in their purposes and in their costs,” Mettler and Koch write. “Both are targeted to specific groups of people, aimed to reward some kind of activity or some class of persons whom policymakers deem worthy of public support. From an accounting perspective, as well, both types have the same effect: They impose costs on the federal budget, whether incurred through fiscal obligations or lost revenues.”
The costs are significant. Huge, in fact. Tax expenditures now cost the federal government $1 trillion annually — more than Medicare and Medicaid combined. And they’re regressive.
There is also a pattern to these programs: The more a government social program benefits wealthier Americans, the less obtrusive it is. We design policies for the poor in ways that make it hard to escape the knowledge that the government is providing help. But richer Americans rely on programs that are “submerged.”
[..]
If Americans who either rent or own their homes outright were asked to accept a tax increase of $150 billion in order to subsidize the mortgage payments of their indebted friends, it seems unlikely they would find that appealing. The same goes for asking Americans who don’t get health insurance through their work to spend $100 billion or so annually subsidizing the benefits for those who do. Of course, that’s exactly what’s happening right now, but it’s hidden in the tax code, so most Americans don’t know it and can’t protest it.
..
Posted by Ezra Klein at 10:11 AM ET, 03/02/2012
Pop quiz: What is a government program? And are you on one right now?
Those are the questions Cornell University political scientist Suzanne Mettler has been posing. For her book “The Submerged State,” she asked a scientifically selected sample of 1,400 Americans whether they had ever used a government social program. Only 43 percent copped to having done so. Then she read off 21 social programs, such as Medicare and the home-mortgage interest deduction, and asked the same question again: Have you ever used a government social program? This time, 96 percent said yes, in fact, they had.
[...]
“Indirect social policies offer benefits that are comparable to direct social benefits both in their purposes and in their costs,” Mettler and Koch write. “Both are targeted to specific groups of people, aimed to reward some kind of activity or some class of persons whom policymakers deem worthy of public support. From an accounting perspective, as well, both types have the same effect: They impose costs on the federal budget, whether incurred through fiscal obligations or lost revenues.”
The costs are significant. Huge, in fact. Tax expenditures now cost the federal government $1 trillion annually — more than Medicare and Medicaid combined. And they’re regressive.
There is also a pattern to these programs: The more a government social program benefits wealthier Americans, the less obtrusive it is. We design policies for the poor in ways that make it hard to escape the knowledge that the government is providing help. But richer Americans rely on programs that are “submerged.”
[..]
If Americans who either rent or own their homes outright were asked to accept a tax increase of $150 billion in order to subsidize the mortgage payments of their indebted friends, it seems unlikely they would find that appealing. The same goes for asking Americans who don’t get health insurance through their work to spend $100 billion or so annually subsidizing the benefits for those who do. Of course, that’s exactly what’s happening right now, but it’s hidden in the tax code, so most Americans don’t know it and can’t protest it.
..
Limbaugh Attacks Help Put Chevy Volt Workers Out Of A Job
Looks like the oil industry at work protecting their profits.
http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/03/02/436898/gm-the-chevy-volt-has-become-a-political-punching-bag/
By Brad Johnson posted from ThinkProgress Green on Mar 2, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Relentless attacks on the Chevy Volt from Rush Limbaugh and Republican politicians have taken their toll, as General Motors has announced a five-week suspension in production of the range-extended electric car. Conservative enemies of clean energy and the Obama administration seized on isolated reports Volts with battery fires, calling the cars “Obama-mandated death traps.” Limbaugh even said GM was a “corporation that’s trying to kill its customers.”
These conspiracy-tinged partisan attacks have now cost American jobs, with 1300 workers temporarily laid off in the face of lower than expected demand for the innovative cars, even as gas prices rise.
[...]
Oh, and about those attacks? After an investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined that the Volt is just as safe as any gasoline-powered vehicle on the road.
..
After Gutting Health And Education Funding, Idaho Republicans Advanc Bill To Cut Top Tax Rate And Corporate Tax
Here in Georgia, where the unemployment rate has been higher than the national average every month for more than four years, the Republicans are paying for tax breaks for business by cutting the length of time for unemployment benefits.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/02/436525/idaho-tax-cuts/
By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 3, 2012 at 11:45 am
Over the last three years, Idaho, like most states across the country, has had to slash its budget in the wake of the Great Recession. The state has gutted education and health care spending, slicing its higher education budget below 2001 levels, while cutting millions from its mental health funding.
But as the same time that they felt the need to cut funding for these important areas, Idaho Republicans managed to find tens of millions of dollars to cut the state’s top tax rate and corporate tax:
[...]
Already, Idaho’s tax system is regressive, with its poorest residents paying a larger share of their income in taxes than its richest residents. Adding some insult to injury, Idaho’s lawmakers also decided to shoot down a bill that would have cracked on on tax dodging that is aided by internet sales companies like Amazon.
..
Friday, March 02, 2012
Life is too short to read privacy policies - here's statistical proof!
http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/life-too-short-read-privacy-policies-heres-statistical-proof-297399
The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal recently reminded us of a Carnegie Mellon study which found that if you read every privacy policy on every website you encounter throughout the year, it would take you 76 work days.
[...]
..
The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal recently reminded us of a Carnegie Mellon study which found that if you read every privacy policy on every website you encounter throughout the year, it would take you 76 work days.
[...]
..
Winning Makes People More Aggressive Toward the Defeated - updated
One of the people who did the study made a correction to my comment. See the end of this post, and the comments.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120229104746.htm
ScienceDaily (Feb. 29, 2012) — In this world, there are winners and losers -- and, for your own safety, it is best to fear the winners. A new study found that winners -- those who outperformed others on a competitive task -- acted more aggressively against the people they beat than the losers did against the victors.
"It seems that people have a tendency to stomp down on those they have defeated, to really rub it in," said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.
"Losers, on the other hand, don't really act any more aggressively than normal against those who defeated them."
Bushman said this is the first study to examine whether winners or losers were more likely to act aggressively.
[...]
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Actually not the first study. Some years ago, I read of research that found that fans of winning sports teams were more likely to commit acts of violence.
Note the authors of the study corrected me on this. See their comment. Theirs was the first experimental study. The studies I have previously seen, such as the one I referred to, were observational studies, which are useful, but need to be backed up by more rigorous research, such as this.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120229104746.htm
ScienceDaily (Feb. 29, 2012) — In this world, there are winners and losers -- and, for your own safety, it is best to fear the winners. A new study found that winners -- those who outperformed others on a competitive task -- acted more aggressively against the people they beat than the losers did against the victors.
"It seems that people have a tendency to stomp down on those they have defeated, to really rub it in," said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University.
"Losers, on the other hand, don't really act any more aggressively than normal against those who defeated them."
Bushman said this is the first study to examine whether winners or losers were more likely to act aggressively.
[...]
============================
Actually not the first study. Some years ago, I read of research that found that fans of winning sports teams were more likely to commit acts of violence.
Note the authors of the study corrected me on this. See their comment. Theirs was the first experimental study. The studies I have previously seen, such as the one I referred to, were observational studies, which are useful, but need to be backed up by more rigorous research, such as this.
..
Thursday, March 01, 2012
How Marijuana Impairs Memory
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301143424.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning. Researchers reporting in the March 2 print issue of the Cell Press journal Cell provide new insight into the source of those memory lapses. The answer comes as quite a surprise: Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons. The side effects stem instead from the drug's action on astroglia, passive support cells long believed to play second fiddle to active neurons.
[...]
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ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning. Researchers reporting in the March 2 print issue of the Cell Press journal Cell provide new insight into the source of those memory lapses. The answer comes as quite a surprise: Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons. The side effects stem instead from the drug's action on astroglia, passive support cells long believed to play second fiddle to active neurons.
[...]
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Ocean Acidification Rate May Be Unprecedented, Study Says
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301143735.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — The world's oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring, says a new study in Science. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.
"What we're doing today really stands out," said lead author Bärbel Hönisch, a paleoceanographer at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "We know that life during past ocean acidification events was not wiped out -- new species evolved to replace those that died off. But if industrial carbon emissions continue at the current pace, we may lose organisms we care about -- coral reefs, oysters, salmon."
[...]
In a review of hundreds of paleoceanographic studies, a team of researchers from five countries found evidence for only one period in the last 300 million years when the oceans changed even remotely as fast as today: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, some 56 million years ago.
[...]
In the last hundred years, atmospheric CO2 has risen about 30 percent, to 393 parts per million, and ocean pH has fallen by 0.1 unit, to 8.1--an acidification rate at least 10 times faster than 56 million years ago, says Hönisch. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that pH may fall another 0.3 units by the end of the century,to 7.8, raising the possibility that we may soon see ocean changes similar to those observed during the PETM.
[...]
"Once a species goes extinct it's gone forever. We're playing a very dangerous game."
It may take decades before ocean acidification's effect on marine life shows itself. Until then, the past is a good way to foresee the future, says Richard Feely, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the study. "These studies give you a sense of the timing involved in past ocean acidification events -- they did not happen quickly," he said. "The decisions we make over the next few decades could have significant implications on a geologic timescale."
..
ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — The world's oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring, says a new study in Science. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.
"What we're doing today really stands out," said lead author Bärbel Hönisch, a paleoceanographer at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "We know that life during past ocean acidification events was not wiped out -- new species evolved to replace those that died off. But if industrial carbon emissions continue at the current pace, we may lose organisms we care about -- coral reefs, oysters, salmon."
[...]
In a review of hundreds of paleoceanographic studies, a team of researchers from five countries found evidence for only one period in the last 300 million years when the oceans changed even remotely as fast as today: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, some 56 million years ago.
[...]
In the last hundred years, atmospheric CO2 has risen about 30 percent, to 393 parts per million, and ocean pH has fallen by 0.1 unit, to 8.1--an acidification rate at least 10 times faster than 56 million years ago, says Hönisch. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that pH may fall another 0.3 units by the end of the century,to 7.8, raising the possibility that we may soon see ocean changes similar to those observed during the PETM.
[...]
"Once a species goes extinct it's gone forever. We're playing a very dangerous game."
It may take decades before ocean acidification's effect on marine life shows itself. Until then, the past is a good way to foresee the future, says Richard Feely, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the study. "These studies give you a sense of the timing involved in past ocean acidification events -- they did not happen quickly," he said. "The decisions we make over the next few decades could have significant implications on a geologic timescale."
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Understanding
"It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
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