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gpatt0n

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  1. gpatt0n
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/surveillance-a-threat-to-democracy.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/friedman-blowing-a-whistle.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/the-price-of-the-panopticon.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/surveillance-snowden-doesnt-rise-to-traitor.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/us/nsa-disclosures-put-awkward-light-on-official-statements.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/us/nsa-disclosures-put-awkward-light-on-official-statements.html?hp
    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/poll-finds-disapproval-but-little-personal-concern-about-record-collection/?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/opinion/kennedys-civil-rights-triumph.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/surveillance-a-threat-to-democracy.html?hpw
    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/insurers-inflating-books-new-york-regulator-says/?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/the-weird-world-of-colonoscopy-costs.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/opinion/brooks-the-solitary-leaker.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/poll-finds-disapproval-but-little-personal-concern-about-record-collection/?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/opinion/kennedys-civil-rights-triumph.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/opinion/surveillance-a-threat-to-democracy.html?hpw
    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/insurers-inflating-books-new-york-regulator-says/?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/the-weird-world-of-colonoscopy-costs.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/opinion/brooks-the-solitary-leaker.html?src=me&ref=general
     
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/business/fraud-against-seniors-often-is-routed-through-banks.html?src=me&ref=general
    v
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/us/us-moves-to-declare-captive-chimps-endangered.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/douthat-your-smartphone-is-watching-you.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/automobiles/autoreviews/aiming-for-the-hybrids-sweet-spot.html?hpw
    http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/power-and-privacy-on-the-internet/
    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/blogging-disrupted-by-bomb-threat/
    http://nocera.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/the-gun-report-june-11-2013/
  2. gpatt0n
    Here are some links from perusing today's NYTimes I think are worth reading.
     
    The Senate looks at raising taxes by taxing Internet sales (Is the party over?)
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/technology/internet-sales-tax-gains-ground-in-senate.html?hp
     
    Can psychotherapy help old farts?
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/how-therapy-can-help-in-the-golden-years/?hp
     
    Can Americans be non-violent?
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/is-american-nonviolence-possible/?hp
     
    Editorial on hands and eating
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/the-hand-that-feeds-us/?hp
     
    How to handle the Boston case?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/opinion/how-to-handle-a-terrorism-case.html?hp
     
    4.23/2013 developments on Boston bombing
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/boston-marathon-bombings-developments.html?hp
     
    Tim McVeigh vs. "Joker" Tsarnaev what's the diff??
    http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/whats-the-difference-between-mcveigh-and-tsarnaev/?hp
     
    Russians put blogger on trial - Bill Keller opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/opinion/keller-a-blogger-on-trial-in-russia.html?hp
     
    Krugman on the jobless trap
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/opinion/krugman-the-jobless-trap.html?hp
     
    Kids suffer from pollution in today's China
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/world/asia/pollution-is-radically-changing-childhood-in-chinas-cities.html?hp
     
    Five year old child raped in India
    http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/04/22/world/asia/100000002185630/rage-after-child-rape-in-india.html
     
    Tablets as cash registers in small business
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/technology/with-tablets-businesses-ring-up-at-more-fanciful-cash-registers.html?hpw
     
    Germany fines google over data collection
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/technology/germany-fines-google-over-data-collection.html?hpw
     
    Marathon bombing update
    http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/updates-in-the-aftermath-of-the-boston-marathon-bombing/?hpw
     
    Boston bombings create clash at Senate immigration hearing
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/politics/senators-at-immigration-hearing-clash-over-boston-bombings.html?hpw
     
    A NYTimes QnA on the immigration measure before the Senate
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/politics/q-and-a-the-senate-immigration-bill.html?hpw
     
    the bright idea of across the board cuts delaying flights
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/us/politics/flights-delayed-amid-furloughs-of-air-controllers.html?hpw
     
    Texan carjacks yellow cab in NYC ... Didn't Dennis Weaver do that in his TV show?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/nyregion/man-carjacks-yellow-taxi-in-manhattan.html?hpw
     
    TV pilots judged by the masses (I actually viewed a pilot; wonder if it is mentioned?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/arts/television/original-pilots-judged-by-the-masses.html?hpw
     
    Newsbiz gaming?
    http://open.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/the-best-of-newsgaming-at-the-editors-lab/
     
    Gold a speculative commodity?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/business/gold-currency-to-some-is-acting-like-a-speculative-commodity.html?src=rechp
     
    G-20 governments consider concerted effort to curb tax evasion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/business/global/g-20-pushes-for-measures-to-end-tax-evasion.html?src=rechp
     
    Did conspiracy motivate suspect in ricin case?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/us/politics/mississippi-suspect-in-ricin-case-feared-conspiracy.html?src=rechp
     
    Viacom loses in youtube copyright case
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/business/media/judge-rules-against-viacom-in-copyright-suit-against-youtube.html?src=rechp
     
    Cyberattacks are a huge threat to startups and investors
    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/cyberattacks-a-huge-threat-to-start-ups-and-their-investors/?src=rechp
     
    How businesses employ a business form to avoid taxes
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/business/restyled-as-real-estate-trusts-varied-businesses-avoid-taxes.html?src=me&ref=general
     
    Dog minds - story about pack mentality
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/science/enlisting-a-virtual-pack-to-study-dog-minds.html?src=me&ref=general
  3. gpatt0n
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/jimmy-wales-is-not-an-internet-billionaire.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/magazine/how-to-succeed-in-the-legal-pot-business.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/technology/detroit-embracing-new-auto-technologies-seeks-app-builders.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/automobiles/when-fuel-economy-improves-but-filling-the-tank-costs-more.html?hpw
    http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/the-media-immigration-and-g-o-p-donorism/
    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/moochers-grifters-and-the-beveridge-curve/
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/how-to-listen/
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/us/updates-to-drivers-education-reflect-new-dangers-on-the-road.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/world/europe/financial-crisis-amplifies-educations-value.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/health/experts-scramble-to-trace-the-emergence-of-mers.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/arts/television/through-the-wormhole-considers-mind-reading.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/media/the-bible-a-hit-on-cable-will-have-its-sequel-on-nbc.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/science/space/timeless-questions-about-the-universe.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/nyregion/time-warner-intends-to-move-to-planned-west-side-tower.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/europe/snowden-speaks-out-in-moscow-for-first-time.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/politics/feinsteins-support-for-nsa-defies-liberal-critics-and-repute.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/politics/gop-groups-offering-cover-for-lawmakers-on-immigration.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/us/arizona-blaze-rages-on-as-crews-cope-with-death-of-19-firefighters.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/middleeast/egypt-protests.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/middleeast/mideast-chaos-grows-as-us-focuses-on-israel.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/global/loan-practices-of-chinas-banks-raising-concern.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/world/europe/snowden-applies-for-asylum-in-russia.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/opinion/justice-for-big-business.html?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/the-new-prostitutes/?ref=opinion
  4. gpatt0n

    August reading

    By gpatt0n,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/world/asia/iranian-president-is-sworn-in-and-presents-a-new-cabinet-of-familiar-faces.html?hpw
    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/disruptions-rather-than-time-computers-might-become-panacea-to-hurt/?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon-divergent.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/arts/design/buy-local-gets-creative.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/arts/television/surviving-cbss-fight-with-time-warner-cable.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/us/other-agencies-clamor-for-data-nsa-compiles.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/world/interpol-issues-alert-on-prison-breaks-in-9-nations.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/nyregion/with-education-as-economic-engine-ithaca-thrives-in-struggling-region.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/science/monogamys-boost-to-human-evolution.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/business/energy-environment/company-says-its-the-first-to-make-ethanol-from-waste.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/magazine/stephen-kings-family-business.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/dowd-whos-that-candidate-in-the-teal-toenail-polish.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/sunday-review/life-in-a-toxic-country.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/garden/banning-guests-that-bite-or-buzz.html?hpw
    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/is-there-any-point-to-economic-analysis/
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/03/crumbling-american-dreams/
    http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minority/
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/us/politics/gop-push-to-slash-food-stamps-puts-farm-bill-in-jeopardy.html?src=rechp
    http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/wheelies-the-natural-gas-pickups-edition/?src=rechp
    http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/with-arrests-signs-of-justice-in-slaying-of-costa-rican-turtle-guardian/?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/03/business/a-hankering-for-hybrids.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/arts/television/surviving-cbss-fight-with-time-warner-cable.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/fashion/katharine-weymouth-takes-charge-at-the-washington-post.html?src=dayp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/business/for-obamacare-to-work-everyone-must-be-in.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-freak-show-as-fable.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/douthat-return-of-the-jesus-wars.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/sunday-review/when-politics-catches-up-with-portnoy.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/ben-schott-job-jibber-jabber.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/us/as-trial-begins-in-fort-hood-spree-experts-see-landmark-case.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/world/us-extends-closing-of-some-diplomatic-posts.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/how-to-whitewash-a-plague.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/the-woman-who-ate-cutlery.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/the-whistle-blowers-quandary.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/sunday-review/a-washington-riddle-what-is-top-secret.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/i-am-tom-i-like-to-type-hear-that.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/sunday-dialogue-can-suburbs-help-cities.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/thestrip?ref=opinion
  5. gpatt0n
    The plain fact is that trump won using the rules - the rigged rules which are rigged in favor of rural states and voters - and he is our president.
     
    What we need to do is give the guy a chance as he likely is not as bad as his VP.
     
    Indeed, I have to give trump kudoos on his choice of VP because Pence, while he has some Washington experience, is among the most regressive and intolerant of the Republicans. Hell, he was headed for near certain defeat in his quest for re-election in Indiana because of his neanderthal attitudes. The point being is that Trump, despite all his blather, is probably more aligned with the Democrats on things like social security and even health care than Pence, whose by word in policy is, like most ubber-conservatives, out to truly magnify misery. (For a deeper understanding of Pence, remember he entered the public arena as right-wing radio talk show host.)
     
    The point is that he is probably a lot more dangerous if elevated to the white house than even trump and his genius was that he chose possibly the most rabid right winger he could as his VP meaning that only a dumb, dumb democrat would trade him for Pence.
     
    That said, Trump is likely, if he decides to assert himself to 'attain big things' ... you got to know that he wants a bunch of stuff named after him like airports, bridges, even health care systems (trumpcare) ... he is going to be at odds with the rabid-right wing congress.
     
    And, if he gets in trouble with his 'conflicts of interest' with his kids, the republican congress will probably want to impeach him more than will the Democrats ... and his ace in the hole is that the Democrats may balk at removing him - in essence defending him - because Pence is the last person the Democrats want in the whitehouse.
     
    Bottom line ... we need to accept Trump because his gut level interest - doing big things he can put his name on - is at odds with the small government dominated congressional Republicans.
     
    My advice for Democrats is to accept the election because he won under the rules and be more directed in our opposition - i.e. we need to choose our battles with this administration carefully. Just protesting his victory is understandable ... but needs to end sooner than later.
     
    pubby
     
     
     
    Source: A Family Affair.
  6. gpatt0n
    When first presented with the idea, I was just about where you are SG. I was curious and skeptical ... and then I saw the world press take notice. Why would they care?
     
    I did a little more research on the airline industry - not enough to make me an expert on airlines - but enough to note there are some less than obvious opportunities when it comes to enhancing competition. The airline carriers are pulling back, limiting service to smaller cities and eliminating in some others. Air transportation is a public-private partnership much like the highways ... where the government provides the locations and private industry provides carriers and even, in the case of general aviation, airplanes. The obvious analogy is to public highways on which run Greyhound buses, semi-tractors, limosines, sedans, convertibles and harlies. Some carry passengers for hire, others own their own.
     
    In the big picture, Atlanta is not just a hub, it is a destination and getting here requires you be able to land here. There are some carriers who can't. Then there are the smaller airports that lost their service anywhere and with smaller providers effectively blocked from Atlanta, those airports can't even get here using small regional jets or even small regional turboprops.
     
    Those smaller to mid-sized airports that have lost flights to Atlanta, because of federal law, can have carriers subsidized to maintain service. But with the consolidation of airlines, there were no competitors ready to fill the void when Delta and other major carriers pulled out, not necessarily because it was not profitable, but because the ROI was not 'high enough.'
     
    In real estate, the saying is location, location, location. In the Atlanta airport market monopolized by Hartsfield-Jackson, it is location. The plain fact is the market is more than big enough for location, location and probably there is room for the third location.
     
    See SG, monopolies distort markets and that is what I got from the interest of the world press in this project in little old Paulding.
     
    And, as far as H-J, consider for just a moment that it is hardly unusual for a commercial passenger to transfer from say Reagan National to Dulles or from JFK to LaGuardia or even Newark, DFW to Hobby or Love ... and the trip from Silver Comet to H-J would actually be among the most direct by cab or car in any of these examples. There is even a google ad war going on amongst cabs, limo companies, etc. for those trips there.
     
    I'll leave it to you to look up the others but the point is that if as little as 1/10th of one-percent (one in a thousand) of the traffic going through H-J needed to go to or from one of the small markets for a connection or for any other reason that would equate to over 100,000 passengers.
     
    No doubt they would rather transfer from one gate at Hartsfield-Jackson to another but with the major airlines eliminating that service, guess what.
     
    Then there was the H-J research that pegged the projected traffic volume through Paulding's airport at between 300,000 and 1.3 million annually whil asserting it would cost close to $3 billion to do it (including re-routing US 278) which I see as a ridiculous (and self-serving since H-J wants to expand another runway or two at H-J at a cost of about $3 billion, duh?)
     
    So, what is the bottom line?
     
    First, air transportation is and always will be part of the national priority because it is the 'inter-city rapid transport' system.
     
    Second, air transportation is structured as a public/private partnership much like our highway system.
     
    Third: the airline carriers have been in a period of consolidation and have created areas of dominance that allow them to set prices and, more importantly, restrict services in ways detrimental to the traveling public and especially the mid-sized and smaller communities they are supposed to serve.
     
    Forth: As a country, we can either accept 'unacceptable' levels of service, re-regulate the industry bureaucratically to provide acceptable service, or foster competition to allow the market to right itself and provide new opportunities for new players to provide acceptable service in markets that are suffering (including through incentives as currently in law or modification of those incentives.)
     
    That is the niche of the broader perspectives that our little old Silver Comet Field in little old Paulding County Georgia fulfills.
     
    Now, add the proximity of the new Braves stadium; Lake Point Sports and Bartow's Sochi playground ... oh and the people you've identified as 'not enough alone' to make the airport a success.
     
    Then add the international notoriety, and I'd say good publicity (and concomitant accolades) that come from being the David in the David and Goliath story of doing this despite the strong opposition both publicly and surreptitiously of Delta and H-J.
     
    You can't buy publicity like that. That publicity can't help but accomplish the goal of bringing good jobs to the community.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: The Airport Bonds - Just Follow the Money
  7. gpatt0n
    First, I will close this topic. Why?
     
    Because it is a no-win for pcom or for local businesses.
     
    We have developed rules regarding all this and those rules seek to balance the issues presented.
     
    Let me address the points where there is obviously some misunderstanding.
     
     
    We protect the advertising posts of business members. If a business member come in and offers, say, a lunch special for $4.99, their topic making that offer is protected. In other words, another member will be reprimanded for coming in and saying, yeah, bought that special last week and it made me sick. I think they use rancid leftovers ... and they put in as a reply to that topic, they are going to get 'dinged.' Why? Because the business member effectively paid for that advertisement and space first. Second, we are not a court of law and just because the member says that they got sick and made those allegations of using rancid food is not proof the biz member did. We have no idea whether the poster is telling the truth or why, even, they made the statement. Could it be they are a competitor? Could it be they are a competitor whose business is hurt every time they make the offering? No one has sworn an oath to tell the truth and, believe it or not, some people make a habit of lying about stuff when they can assume an advantage.
     
    We also know that, in the case of a restaurant, if there are people reporting to the health department they are getting sick, etc. the health department has procedures to rectify and even close a restaurant. So why did the consumer poster come on pcom and slam the business???? Note, we would also report that a restaurant was closed due to people getting food poisoning if the report came from the health department and it wouldn't make any difference if the business were a member here or not.
     
    To simplify the rule, if a business member starts a topic advertising their good or service and someone comes and rains on their parade, we will ding them, double ding them and if necessary suspend them if they insist of trying to rain on the parade of a business member in a topic they start.
     
    This same member could avoid the dings, however, by starting their own topic criticizing the business. We get a ton of these disgruntled customer complaints and frankly, we are not able to determine the truth or falsity of them. However, we try to move these topics from the Cafe to the covert condescension forum as quickly as possible WHETHER OR NOT the business is a business member here or not. We are not a court and we don't have the resources to go out and investigate the allegations and we certainly don't ascribe truth (or falsity) to the report. I have been encouraged to put that forum behind a paywall but have resisted doing so.
     
    The reason that makes sense is because consumer making complaints in some of these cases go overboard and allege the businesses are a ripoff which comes close to alleging fraud. And of course there is only their testimony. In those cases, more for the protection of the poster than the business, we set those topics invisible because allegations of illegal activities, particularly if they are not true (we have no way of knowing) the original poster could be subject to a libel. While we would likely be named in such litigation, the plain fact is that the consumer has a real option in this if they are alleging fraud.
     
    Basically, what they need to do is go file a small claim in magistrate court and detail their cost/injury and then, with an active court case, we will let the allegation stand in a public (as opposed to restricted) forum. Essentially, you go to court you can talk about your court case. Now your attorney, assuming you have one, will tell you not to but if you go to court, you can.
     
    My experience though is that few will - very few - go to the trouble of bringing a law suit. They'd rather come her and complain and not realize that their unfounded, unsubstantiated, complaints made out of motives that range from competitive advantage to meanness and vindictiveness to personal greed and stupidity risks the entire venture. But what do they care; they didn't invest in pcom and more often than not, they aren't even paying members. They felt wronged and if it breaks pubby because businesses are afraid to advertise there, what do their care. And then they complain because we don't put their complaint front and center.
     
     
     
    I understand how, with a distorted view of what our rules are, you might think that but you'd be dead wrong. First, as stated above, we routinely (when we see them) move topics critical of businesses - we're a little less strict when it comes to restaurant reviews that concentrate on service or stories that relate to a creep lurking in the parking lot at wallyworld - to the covert condescension forum.
     
    Our active protection is limited to topics started by biz members promoting their business. Again, don't rain on their parade.
     
    Other rules are that you don't put non-biz member business names in titles, and you don't provide phone numbers, street directions, maps, emails or active website links to non-business members. If you work in a non-biz member company and you know of a job opening, you can state the name of the business and the job and job description but not the salary or contact phone or street address ... and don't put the business name in the title of the topic. Also, just have the members interested contact you for the essential information.
     
    This contrasts with what Biz members can do. They can post their business name in the topic title, host a recruitment video, publish their telephone number in a big font and put live links to their application (or web site) in the topic.
     
    Recommendations of businesses again are common on pcom for both biz member and non-biz members. Again, you can name, say an attorney that your recommend that doesn't advertise here but while you can say he's from Douglasville or Marietta, you can't put out his number (advertising) or his street address (advertising) or an active link to the website of the firm.
     
    Again if someone complains about any business, we move the topic to covert condescension regardless of whether the business is a member or not. Since non-business members can't start topics, it is by definition impossible for someone to be dinged for raining on their parade on pcom because them making a topic advertising their business is not allowed.
     
    The point is the only pro-active moderation done for business members that isn't done for all members is dinging people for raining on their parade. We actually protect non-members from criticism by disallowing the use of business names for non-members in our titles. (ex. wallyworld, mickeydees, k-Roger, etc.)
     
    We don't extort businesses in the community.
     
     
     
    And just how are we supposed to know about how ethical or unethical a business is? We're not the government and we don't wiretap. We do however, report news about business members when they are arrested for activities from trademark infringement to arrests made for running a grow farm for dope. We also allow those members who file a law suit alleging fraud or slick business dealings to talk about official court actions in public forums.
     
    What you really want to say, diehardky, is that we don't take your word over the word of a business member when you don't even have the courage of your convictions to file a suit (or maybe, really, when it is all said and done, you didn't have a case at all.)
     
     
     
     
    And some members, in an effort to kill pcom, have adopted a rather odd strategy of slandering all business members on the site believing they can successfully destroy the site they oppose for political reasons by doing so.
     
    If you're curious about a business member, start a topic on what you want done and ask for opinions. There is a good likelihood if something negative comes up, it will end up in covert condescension. While not part of our internal search, you can review topics in that forum if you choose to look.
     
    And again, I've been encouraged to make that forum available only to paying members but have resisted that.
     
    This was a long post but subtlety cannot be expressed too succinctly or else it looses its subtlety. This was a teaching moment.
     
    This topic is now closed and this post is also promoted to a blog post.
     
    pubby I
     
    Source: My Post about the man in front of DD...
  8. gpatt0n
    Tuesday night, after two weeks off, I happened to Catch Jon Stewart's return to the Daily Show comedy news.
     
    He opened with the funniest, hardest hitting, self-deprecating video editorial in my memory. My jaw was agape.
     
    Here it is in three installments. Watch one, watch the second and watch the third and you'll know how silly the polarizing language used by today's 'dividers' is ...
     

    The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
     
    This was enough for the first installment but you've got to keep going. This next segment is continues where the one above ends ...
     

    The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
     
    Why they put this into three segments on the web, I don't know ... it is most effectively a totality of sillyfying prose.
     

    The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
     
    And there you have it ... a complete and utter udder of political milk as sprayed with the cream coming to the top only when you view the three sections in sequence.
     
    The truth can get no funnier.
     
    pubby
  9. gpatt0n
    In the following piece I conjure the idea that the way to fund mental health care might be to impose an excise tax on the purchase of or distribution of graphically violent content such as TV shows, movies and video games based on the degree of violence depicted in the content.
     
    The biggest problem may be the constitutionality of taxing something so intertwined with speech. However, one quick thought is that the tax may solve this, at least in the context of movies, is a tax on the sale of the tickets. In the case of television, it might be able to be applied to the price of the commercials that adjoin the content.
     
    Just thinking about it.
     
    pubby
     
     
     
     
    The responsible gun owner is not the problem. Assuming that cops are going to go door to door collecting weapons is the most absurd thought imaginable. I mean the it is just not feasible to send 30 cops to every residence and bust down the door. And it is unconstitutional as well.
     
    You're problem is you don't know anything other than the second amendment. Think about the provision regarding expost facto laws. The gun you own today legally is going to be legally owned tomorrow.
     
    The term 'ban' refers to the manufacture and/or consumer marketing of a particular style of weapon or a particular kind of magazine. It says we have 30 million (or whatever number there are) of semi-automatic military-type assault rifles in households and we don't need 30 million more. Enough is enough ... pull them off the shelves in Walmart, Bass Pro shop, your local pawn shop and the sports authority (assuming they sell the dang things.)
     
    Mr. Gun Manufacturer, you can stockpile the one's you have and sell them to LEO, to military contracts or possibly, if we get another president like Reagan, trade them for hostages in Iran ... but you can't market them to the survivalists after June 1, 2013.
     
    The DA in Newark or the Mayor in NY will offer bounties for guns and some people will turn in old bolt action .22's, rusty with pitted barrel Barretas, and the occasional bushmaster to get them out of the house and knowing they don't want their teen to use the weapon for a suicide; or to knock of the 7/11. There are reasons folks turn in weapons some will. Others will be stolen, illegally dealt or otherwise become black market items that, bye and bye are confiscated as evidence in criminal proceedings and are destroyed. Over the next 50 years, with possible further restrictions, the number of guns may shrink from 300,000,000 million to 275,000,000. Gun deaths drop as more of the guns are in the hands of responsible owners and fewer are easily available to criminals and gun violence drops, in large part because guns and associated violence is just not as popular culturally. A drop of ten percent is better than a ten percent increase. A drop of twenty or thirty percent in violence is even better.
     
    But no one is coming you house to take your guns except possibly criminals and if obviously, if you're threatened and cap them in the act, the crime rate may decline incrementally as well.
     
    Still the problem with gun violence, as we all know, is due to criminals and crazies. Improved access and effectiveness of mental health services will also contribute but possibly the biggest contribution is the understanding by youth and adults alike, that fear is less a factor and the dependence some in society that use guns as a medical aid to calm their fears may also subside. If it does, it will probably be because the media and gun manufacturers also grasp that glorifying violence and hyping fear are no longer paths to success. Heck, maybe you create a new tax - not a lot of money maybe - that says if you graphically depict a murder by gun you have to pay $0.03 cents a thousand viewers (the tax being used to fund mental health services). A graphic 'death' by knife might cost $0.025 per thousand. Similarly, a duty may be assessed on the audiences even of the cable networks for the same mental health program for each hour devoted to reporting of a murder or other crime on broadcast or cable. Local television stations may have to pay a duty for reporting violent murders from outside their ADI or DMA. Violent video games - graphic shooters or slashers - get a special tax added, also earmarked to mental health.
     
    Those who include that kind of content in their media because it attracts audiences would contribute to the fallout including the subtle level of fear such programming instills. They don't want to pay the tax, show something else and don't pay the for violent content tax.
     
    The cumulative effect of these kinds of, what I think are common sense reforms, will lower the level of fear generated by media and entertainment, will provide a funding mechanism for mental health services. Heck, instead of an outright ban on 'military assault type rifles' a $100 license fee or excise tax, the proceeds dedicated to mental health services, might be an alternative.
     
    Again, no one is coming after your guns. Momentum in society may change overnight - the concept of the tipping point - but true change takes years if not decades.
     
    the constitution's goal for the future is not a 'perfect union' ... just a more perfect union, a better union. As stated in another post, a gun under every pillow is not the American dream; it is the American nightmare.
     
    Guns remain the only consumer product whose primary purpose is to kill humans. Sure a car might kill people and even might be used to kill; but its primary purpose is to get you from point A to B. But guns aren't apriori bad just as people aren't apriori bad. However, bad people with guns are unequivocally bad. We need fewer of both and engineering society for that output represents progress to a more perfect union.
     
    The idea that someone is going to come get your guns is a straw man argument created by those whose goal is to sell you more guns and ammo today and even more tomorrow. You don't owe them a damn thing. We all just need to be willing to compromise for the greater good and frankly, they can suck it up just like the tobacco barons. Oh, you know you can still buy a pack of cigs.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: The Gun Topic:
  10. gpatt0n
    My take on this is a bit more nuanced.
     
    First, the film is nothing more than an excuse to whip up a mob and get their juices going.
     
    In the case of the attack in Egypt and the silence of the current government; the manipulation you're seeing is one from the civilian "muslim brotherhood" faction that is and has been in an internal fight for power with the Egyptian military.
     
    The US, since Camp David in 1979, has been funding and training the Egyptian military and the civilian group seeks to hurt, damage, limit the influence of the military in the Egyptian government.
     
    If you were a sly, manipulative guy, what kind of strategy would you employ?
     
    Well, you'd see that foreign aid is one of the bills up for reauthorization on the Hill and that the likelihood is that there is about $3-4 billion in funding for your local political enemy, the Egyptian military. What could you do to sabotage that?
     
    How about starting a "war" with the Americans? But you have no military because they want the $3-4 billion heading their way. What to do? What to do?
     
    Easy ... you whip up a mob and have them attack the American embassy. How do you whip up a mob? You have allies in that ... the extremists on the other side. Just pull something out of their ass and show it and point to the American Embassy and you've got your war.
     
    So how about Libya. We know that the US Ambassador was well connected and respected in Libya and had been a key resource for the Rebels as they over threw Gaddafi. Again, internal politics and the undermining of the faction that is gaining strength from its association with us. Notably, as diplomats, we look for others besides religious fundamentalists as our working partners in these countries. As per principal, we are accepting and tolerant as per religious fundamentalists there just as we are here.
     
    Unfortunately, that sentiment toward toleration and compromise is one not shared by fundamentalists anywhere.
     
    So, if you're this fundamentalist intent on taking your country back to the seventh century what is the best course of action?
     
    Again, start a war with the United States.
     
    Don't have an army (They hardly ever do.) no matter, get you a mob and do what? Attack the American Embassy. In the case of Libya, you can further erode your political oppositions strength by killing the 'infidel' with which they deal locally.
     
    Bottomline ... these fundamentalists are our enemy. They represent a small portion of the population in these countries and they are making a real play for power. It is to their advantage to have a war with the United States and the notion of being occupied (Like Iraq or Afghanistan) is not an issue. The dynamics of recruiting and making large portions of the population fundamentalist actually is helped dramatically by 'occupation' by a foreign power.
     
    So, how would you handle this delicate bit of foreign intrigue?
     
    Well, even Mitt Romney's not saying we should attack and occupy these countries.
     
    Our commitment has to be to keeping moderate people in power and keeping the fundamentalists out of power.
     
    Any approach is tricky.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: America Attacked Again
  11. gpatt0n

    reading

    By gpatt0n,

    http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/what-big-thing-would-reinvigorate-the-democratic-party/?mabReward=RI%3A7
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/upshot/what-studies-show-about-the-effect-of-voter-id-laws.html?mabReward=RI%3A7
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/us/politics/court-rejects-incumbents-bid-on-ballot-count.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/business/economy/liberal-treasury-nominees-deal-making-prowess-could-be-a-liability-.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/nyregion/lester-bernstein-former-newsweek-editor-dies-at-94.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/upshot/under-pressure-from-uber-taxi-medallion-prices-are-plummeting.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/automobiles/review-2015-lamborghini-huracn.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/automobiles/gms-futurliner-to-take-its-place-among-historically-important-vehicles.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/automobiles/2-fieros-for-want-of-a-ferrari.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/business/smallbusiness/more-start-up-retailers-opt-for-the-freedom-and-lower-costs-of-selling-from-a-truck.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/business/woman-cleared-in-death-caused-by-gms-faulty-ignition-switch.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/business/gm-bullied-manufacturer-over-poorly-designed-part-email-says.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/automobiles/autoreviews/style-points-but-not-a-bulls-eye-.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2014/11/23/automobiles/collectibles/23dodge-slides.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/minivans-fare-poorly-in-tests-mimicking-a-collision.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/opinion/paul-krugman-pollution-and-politics.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/opinion/the-new-gop-showdown-threat.html
    http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/what-if-were-wrong-about-depression/
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/movies/the-imitation-game-stars-benedict-cumberbatch.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/upshot/when-should-you-shop-right-after-black-friday.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/business/drug-maker-gave-large-payments-to-doctors-with-troubled-track-records.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/us/ferguson-experts-weigh-darren-wilsons-decisions-leading-to-fatal-shooting-of-michael-brown.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/science/solving-the-riddles-of-an-early-astronomical-calculator.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/opinion/remember-the-sand-creek-massacre.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html
  12. gpatt0n
    National vs. local politics apparently is a meme on pcom.
    I apparently irritated the new owners with expressed concerns over a draft Executive Order that was leaked that promises, in the words of gizmodo - a tech site, not a political site - that the proposal would give the administration in power under these kinds of rules the ability to censor, with a political slant, all posts on the internet. The trick is that it redefines what is meant by the legal immunity offered sites called section 230(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1996. My explanation of that was removed because apparently I crossed the line into national politics because I localized it to its potential impact on pcom.
    As someone who has a degree in political science and who has played in the arena in various role, I subscribe to the notion that 'All politics are local" So, here is a RedState article (link) that explores the entomology of the phrase, commonly attributed to former Speaker Tip O'Neil, with the author asserting, as an expert on the American lexicon, that it was the head of censorship in the US in WWII, that was the actual person to coin the phrase. Seems fitting, doesn't it.
     
     
     
  13. gpatt0n
    Below is the opening page of the Center for Sustainable Journalism's Conference page announcing the conference set for September 25th. If you check the lineup of people on panels and speaking, you'll see that I'm on a panel.
     
    Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.
     
    If you want a discount ($10 off) the conference fee, use the promotional code "Hughes" and you'll get a break.
     
    pubby
  14. gpatt0n
    I'm listening to a podcast involving some of the judges for the 48 hour guerrilla film contest ...
     
    Here are some pearls:
     
    Everybody has a weekend, you may as well be making a movie.
     
    99 percent of the people just talk about it, just get it done is a huge accomplishment
     
    we shouldn't make a movie about a movie. make a movie about a character.
     
    Not action for the sake of action . no drug deal gone bad movies.
     
    do something we can do well.
     
    Sound is important. do some foley work. Sound is the biggest thing
    preparation ...
     
    get some ideas ready. get some lights ready ... maximize the preparation time as much as possible.
     
    Setting a time table on scripting, shooting ...
     
    talent actors are often crew. time sensitive nature ... watch out for tempers.
     
    keep your actors happy.
     
    TOp films will be shown in the Alamo film house in Austin Texas.
     
     
    -----------------------------
     
    I'm actually thinking of scenarios and production capabilities.
     
    for instance, we have the resource of the Pcom studio which could give us some controlled locations good for shooting dialog.
     
    I also have the cameras.
     
    what I need at this point are some people to do some specific jobs.
     
    A sound engineer/(foley) who can maybe mix some music or even compose a score would be nice. (very simple and you can probably get by using public domain music/loops ... I've got a source)
     
    At least two additional folks to run some cameras.
     
    A continuity person ... needs to be very detail oriented ...
     
    I already have possibly a couple of male actors but will likely need a female, two or three.
     
    The main thing on the actors is that we will likely have to adapt the script and knowledge of what we can do to them and their talents.
     
    We could also probably use some teens and maybe some kids - 8-12 - although at this point whether any or all of them will have a part or not I can't promise.
     
    I'll also probably post this as a post as well as this blog entry.
     
    pubby
  15. gpatt0n

    From: HEY PUBBY

    By gpatt0n,

    What? Twenty bucks? That might buy you and me a couple of latte's at Starbucks but it is hardly enough of an investment to justify divulging potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on proprietary market research into the public domain.
     
    Its use and utility was the driving force and information that put a signature on a contract for a forty-year lease that pays the taxpayer for the use of the facility.
     
    You do remember that they are paying the county/AA funds in this transaction. They are removing the burden of a fair portion if not all of the expense of the terminal and airport from local taxpayers.
     
    The quicker we complete our portion of the contract, the sooner that happens.
     
    The plain fact is that the anti-forces are delaying the airport paying for itself. There is a contract that is in place that most of have confidence will remove significant expense off the county's taxpayers in the short term and over the long term work to diligently increase the ratio of commerical/industrial property on the county's property tax digest in relation to homes, effectively lowering the portion of local taxes for schools and county operations borne directly by homeowners.
     
    The reason this is being fought so passionately falls into three areas and they are totally and utterly separate from the merits of the project.
     
    First, there is the financial interests of Delta airlines which over the past decades has solidified its position as the dominate airline in Atlanta to the point of being considered a monopoly (with 80 percent market share.) It seeks to eliminate any outfit it doesn't control and it doesn't control the outfit that has the contract to operate Paulding's Silver Comet Field.
     
    Second, there is the politics. Paulding has always had two factions that vie for dominance and the Austin's and a Dallas Centric view is central to their efforts. When they are in power, developments like the industrial park at Chatt Tech occur. The airport is another development that is cozily located in the western half of the county.
     
    When the other group is power - Jerry Shearin's administration is a key example - investment occurs more concentrated on the eastern side of the county with projects like Bill Carruth Parkway, etc.
     
    The difference really has been where the money is spent and what it is spent for (promoting home building or education, promoting sewerage to promote home building or industrial development)
     
    The issues aren't the issues raised in elections; issues raised in elections are considered tools to get your guy in. Allegations of criminal corruption, true or not, are commonplace and are often raised by people whose intentions and world view consider the plunder possible from public service to be their justification for running in the first place. That has moderated in recent years - certainly the players are more sophisticated - but in some long past administrations the record is undeniable. I need simply mention a sheriff convicted of child exploitation and a road-barn manager convicted of theft by conversion or even a commission chairman who was accused of bid rigging.
     
    In all honesty, I've seen worse elsewhere.
     
    And finally, one of the attractions of Paulding has been its relatively isolation and conservatism. Inertia, in the realm of physics, is the tendency of things at rest to stay at rest. Paulding has been among the more restful communities and it has attracted residents who prefer things to stay the same. This has happened in part because of the housing boom and rapid growth across the Atlanta metro area. Those most disturbed by change in Cobb, Fulton, Douglas and yes, Whitey, Clayton counties chose to move here to avoid the inevitable changes that swept across the region.
     
    Over the past 20 years this group has been constantly disappointed by the political leadership in the county which is charged with preparing the county for a population that some estimate to be over 450,000 residents by 2050. See, change is happening. It has momentum and it is not going to stop.
     
    However the politicians, recognizing they can pander this anti-growth attitude, seek out and use issues that literally turn this group into a swing voting block. The 'out of power' faction lies to them to gain their support and then, when elected, inevitably disappoints restarting the cycle.
     
    Since we all know; and it is almost a mantra here - at least my mantra - perfection eludes us all - it is impossible to satisfy everyone all the time. People can and should be held responsible for what they do and regrettably, sometimes they aren't. But in terms of overall investment in the county, it would appear that this particular administration has been amongst the fairest in the way it invests county money throughout the county.
     
    Further the anti-growth faction, in its fervor, continues to raise concerns regarding growth and that is their right under the constitution. That not everyone shares the depth of their concerns is the right of those who recognize that change is difficult.
     
    We all know from religion that idle hands are the devils workshop and we also know that since home building went bust in 2007, there has been an inordinate number of idle hands. That is spelled limited opportunity.
     
    Jobs, more jobs, better jobs, more-better jobs are the only answer to that and we have a moral obligation to do whatever we can to promote more jobs and better jobs. Is it not silly to expect perfection in that quest when we are not perfect in any else we do?
     
    The best we can do is try. And when we listen to those who say, don't try, somehow I feel we're being immoral. We're shirking a responsibility.
     
    So, my advice to those out there in pcom land is that they select leaders who are going to try and pass by those who say we shouldn't or it is not our job.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: HEY PUBBY
  16. gpatt0n

    From: HEY PUBBY

    By gpatt0n,

    Yes, I bet you're patting yourself on the back on that one too, Whitey. It inspired me to make a joke.
     
    Here's why doing anything new in Paulding is tough. A new person in the county comes in to buy cola at a fair. Yep, they're willing to give us $5.00 for a .50 cent can of Coca-cola. Its a hot day and they figure that it is worth it. They pull out a $10 bill and pass it to the guy and then hold their hand out for change ... The old guy, we'll call him Whitey for grins, stares at the hand like he hasn't ever seen a palm before. He then hems and haws, grabs his customers' hand and shakes it saying, here's your tip ... in a slow, gravely southern drawl.
     
    Taken aback by the familiarity, the newbie says, "I'm giving you $5 for a cold can of coke, I want change!"
     
    "Boy you're quick, ... that's it ... there ain't no change in Paulding County as long as I'm here around ... now next," Whitey says.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: HEY PUBBY
  17. gpatt0n
    To set this topic up:
     
     
    Rockysmom then said:
     
    That would be Romney's living room Low.
     
     
    I would assume, lowrider, that if you heard say, Newt, say that he was for a law that created vouchers and required individuals to purchase health insurance - i.e. the individual mandate that is at the core of obamacare - you would realize that obamacare is an idea that was lifted from the 1994 Heritage Foundation plan offered as an alternative to Hillarycare back then.
     

     
    I know you have to see it to believe it, that's why I posted a video.
     
    There are also quotes from the guy that 'designed' Romneycare - the wonk that worked under Mitt when he was governor in Massachusetts and got Romney care complete with its individual mandate passed there. The man, a MIT economist, said:
     
     
    the role and involvement, including Mitt saying no, it isn't the same bill ... is in this NBC report. Of course this article from the 2012 election was at a time when it would have cost Romney the nomination to admit that Obamacare was 'really' romneycare.
     
    finally, the assertion that it is a disaster in Massachusetts is also highly debatable. The fact is Factcheck.org did a comprehensive report on the status of Romneycare, which boosted the number of insured residents from 86 percent to over 98 percent from 2006 through 2011. It is a long report with a lot of good information that refutes the train wreck meme that is being perpetrated about that implementation and by extension, obamacare.
     
    One of the key differences between Romneycare and obamacare is that obamacare includes a variety - several cost saving approaches - that were not part of the romneycare law.
     
    Lowrider; if you are open-minded at all - and I think you are - you'll see my point that the real reason that the GOP is so adamant against obamacare is because they think of programs like this as how the democrats 'buy votes' and they're just real pissed because the Democrats - not them - enacted the law.
     
    Heck, one of the strongest arguments the GOP dominated Congress in 2004 used to get their congressmen on board for the medicare drug benefit was that "if we don't pass it, the Democrats will" ...
     
    They honestly see the passage of obamacare and its implementation as direct threat to their election in the coming decades. To them, it is on the order of how social security's passage in the 1930s ushered in the Democratic dominance that put them in what seemed to be a perpetual minority in the Congress from 1932 through literally 1994. (the GOP didn't have a majority in the house but two years in that 62-year period - in 1946) They fear the same this time and they're really pissed because "it was our idea" if you get past the rhetoric.
     
    Of course the last part is my opinion but I can't imagine this level of vitriol coming from anything any less than from "they stole our idea! and they'll get elected forever because of it. To the folks in the GOP, it really has nothing to do with health care or what works or doesn't; it is about power and if they lose this battle, given the changing demographics and their staunch opposition, they will be totally SOL.
     
    Given that they do feel that it is worth it 'burn the house down' because they believe they will be 'out of the loop' for decades in congress if they lose this battle.
     
    It is not about truth, it is not even about health care and budgets, it is about power.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: what do you think about the goverment shutdown?
  18. gpatt0n

    reading list

    By gpatt0n,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/lobbyists-look-for-a-euphemism.html?src=rechp
    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/with-help-teradata-speeds-up/?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/politics/reaping-profit-after-assisting-on-health-law.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/opinion/biometric-technology-takes-off.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/business/detroit-is-now-a-charity-case-for-carmakers.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/us/amid-drought-a-water-fight-spills-into-legal-territory.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/americas/for-migrants-new-land-of-opportunity-is-mexico.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-popes-radical-whisper.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/dowd-americas-billionaire.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/dinner-is-printed.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/fashion/step-away-from-the-phone.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/business/the-mental-strain-of-making-do-with-less.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/mother-nature-and-the-middle-class.html?src=me&ref=general
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/business/quandary-of-hidden-disabilities-conceal-or-reveal.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/us/after-a-crisis-of-faith-finding-a-new-secular-mission.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/us/a-turnabout-at-traditionally-white-sororities-at-alabama-university.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/world/asia/singapore-universities-set-to-dig-deep-for-expansion.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/automobiles/a-just-in-case-provision-for-incidents-on-the-road.html?hpw
    http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/green-parking-not-just-a-concept-anymore/?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/business/santa-monica-bets-on-electric-cars-but-consumers-are-slow-to-switch.html?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/nyregion/green-cabs-appear-as-bloomberg-prepares-to-depart.html?ref=automobiles
    http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/general-motors-looks-to-cut-battery-prices-and-increase-e-v-range/?ref=automobiles
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/automobiles/autoreviews/a-marriage-of-economy-and-serenity.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/magazine/how-robots-can-trick-you-into-loving-them.html?ref=magazine
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/magazine/garage-sale-arbitrage.html?ref=magazine
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/magazine/eat-pray-love-get-rich-write-a-novel-no-one-expects.html?ref=magazine
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/magazine/can-emotional-intelligence-be-taught.html?src=me
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/krugman-free-to-be-hungry.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/09/22/did-the-pope-tip-the-political-scales-in-the-us/?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/short-of-a-deal-containing-iran-is-the-best-option.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/dont-fear-the-squeegee-man.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/keller-a-jury-of-whose-peers.html?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/the-importance-of-the-afterlife-seriously/?partner=rss&emc=rss
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/close-the-nsas-back-doors.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/a-rare-plea-to-the-court.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/silencing-scientists.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/was-this-whistle-blower-muzzled.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/american-bile/?partner=rss&emc=rss
  19. gpatt0n
    The GOP is saying, we won't force a shutdown if the Dems in the Senate go along with us and delay/defund/kill Obamacare. In their minds, they are making a totally reasonable request.
     
    Why is this a loosing position.
     
    Because their solution to the conflict - shut down the government - is so "we're going to take our ball and go home" a response.
     
    Bottom line, the budget and spending authorizations are like the whole game. That they lost the legislative effort that the Democrats have been pushing for since 1948; that they have refused to cooperate in a multitude of ways is, at its core childish and selfish in the same way the poor little rich kid who insists that he be safe at first base when he was out by a mile 'or he's going to take his ball and bat and go home.'
     
    Bottom line, the immaturity of the position is covered in the Urban Dictionary definition:
     
     
    The real problem is that this immaturity seems to extend throughout the entire Republican Party. You know, statements by the Georgia Insurance Commissioner that they're going to sabotage the program.
     
    An opinion piece in Bloomberg news entitled:
     
    Georgia’s Dangerous War Against Obamacare
    ... puts a more sinister quid-pro-quo spin on the effort locally.
     
     
    Apparently our Governor has already taken his ball and gone home.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: The pending government shutdown ... Why the GOP position is a loser
  20. gpatt0n

    Reading

    By gpatt0n,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/media/shepard-smith-to-run-a-breaking-news-division-at-fox.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/arts/television/andy-samberg-talks-about-his-new-sitcom-brooklyn-nine-nine.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/arts/television/fall-tv-preview-old-hits-return-new-worlds-open.html?ref=television
    http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/arts/television/derek-stars-ricky-gervais-as-a-nursing-home-volunteer.html?ref=television
    http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/amcs-the-killing-is-cancelled-again/?ref=television
    http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/video-ricky-gervais-discusses-derek/?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/media/an-early-start-on-promoting-a-mini-series-spoof-set-for-january.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/media/nbc-announces-a-face-lift-and-one-new-face-for-today.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/business/media/breaking-bad-spinoff-better-call-saul-is-picked-up-by-amc.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/theater/jim-lehrers-new-play-bell-is-opening-in-washington.html?ref=television
    http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/arts/television/brains-on-trial-with-alan-alda-begins-on-pbs.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/08/25/arts/television/20130825_SNL.html?ref=television
    http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/arts/television/white-house-chiefs-of-staff-in-the-presidents-gatekeepers.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/business/media/tina-fey-to-host-return-of-saturday-night-live.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/business/retirementspecial/elderly-acting-just-might-improve-line-please.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/arts/television/yahoo-screen-introduces-shows-with-puppets-and-a-tiny-rambo.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/magazine/glenn-beck-wants-to-know-why-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/arts/television/the-goldbergs-and-surviving-jack-among-new-sitcoms.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/arts/television/defying-expectations-tv-actors-try-different-roles.html?ref=television
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/arts/saul-landau-maker-of-films-with-leftist-edge-dies-at-77.html?src=mv
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/graphic-ads-motivate-smokers-to-quit/?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/business/media/judge-rules-against-injunction-in-effort-to-buy-paper.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/business/media/a-newspaper-in-las-vegas-at-risk-of-closing-divides-a-family.html?src=rechp
    http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/e-cigarette-marketers-have-an-eye-on-teens/?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/09/04/us/100000002421645/bill-clinton-defends-affordable-care-act.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/us/politics/clinton-urges-americans-to-sign-up-for-health-care-exchanges.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/global/chappatte-north-korea-may-have-restarted-nuclear-program.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/world/middleeast/us-eases-sanctions-to-allow-good-will-exchanges-with-iran.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/world/middleeast/iran-signals-an-eagerness-to-overcome-old-impasses.html?src=rechp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/ray-dolby-who-put-moviegoers-in-the-middle-is-dead-at-80.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/us/godfrey-sperling-made-eggs-for-press-dies-at-97.html?hpw
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/us/politics/at-meeting-with-treasury-secretary-boehner-pressed-for-debt-ceiling-deal.html?hpw
    http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/anatomy-of-a-scene-video-of-mother-of-george/?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/mother-of-george-stars-danai-gurira-as-a-hopeful-bride.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/blue-caprice-examines-the-mystery-of-the-beltway-snipers.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/in-the-family-de-niro-and-pfeiffer-head-a-mob-family.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/four-stars-wendell-pierce-in-film-adaptation-of-play.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/hawking-a-documentary-on-stephen-hawking.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/in-gmo-omg-jeremy-seifert-takes-on-a-complex-subject.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/money-for-nothing-a-look-at-the-fed-and-its-power.html?ref=movies
    http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/movies/informant-a-documentary-profiling-brandon-darby.html?ref=movies
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/business/media/latest-overhaul-of-the-mgm-studio-appears-to-be-a-moneymaker.html?ref=movies
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/movies/the-coen-brothers-look-wryly-at-their-films.html?ref=movies
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/who-will-be-left-in-egypt.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/global/cohen-an-anchorless-world.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/krugman-rich-mans-recovery.html?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/a-brilliant-mess/?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/how-we-learned-not-to-guzzle.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/the-marijuana-muddle.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/in-california-stronger-workers-rights.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/09/12/is-the-miss-america-pageant-bad-for-women/?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/mismanagement-and-death-in-a-coal-mine.html?ref=opinion
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/what-our-telescopes-couldnt-see/?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/getting-past-the-outrage-on-race/?ref=opinion
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/the-next-wireless-revolution-in-light/?ref=opinion
    http://keller.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/playing-chess-with-putin/
    http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/more-on-warming-slowdown-mislabeled-crude-in-canadian-train-inferno/
    http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/the-story-behind-the-putin-op-ed-article-in-the-times/
    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/insurance-company-with-an-army-blogging/
  21. gpatt0n
    I appreciate what you're saying here sound guy but I would correct you on a couple of the broad-brush notions put forth.
     
    Folks on the right are always fond of saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." The same is true with chemical weapons. What is critical is the notion that Assad's regime needs to know that using chemical weapons is not a good idea. That they have them or may have them is secondary. Instilling in their minds an understanding of why they don't want to use them (Maxwell's Silver hammer comes down upon their head, bang, bang, Maxwells Silver Hammer makes sure that they are dead.) doesn't require their removal, hence does not require they be taken by the force of boots on the ground.
     
    Second, while it is true some of the rebels in Syria are Al Quida, I think it is an exaggeration to suggest they are all Al Quida.
     
    From what I heard the actions contemplated, while they are designed to ding Assad's forces, there really is no desire to take down Assad. Indeed, regime change is not a goal of any contemplated action.
     
    Third, I believe I was among the first to suggest that we let Russia take the lead on this and it seems we may be maneuvering them into doing so. That really is great, IMO.
     
    Anyone familiar with Russia and its problems in the region will recognize that they started this conflict with ... and actually created Al Queda as a response to their invasion of Afghanistan back in the 80s. That is when Osama Bin Laden got his start ... working with the CIA.
     
    The real challenge in all this is that if the US comes across as chastened and weak, that perception will have other ramifications. There is already a move on in international markets to drop the dollar as the reserve currency for the world. One of the reasons we would be reluctant to invite Russia into the Syrian crisis is because of the perception of weakness.
     
    In that context, I don't fault Obama for rattling the swords but (and unlike GWB) actually be willing to use the UN to its fullest including inviting Putin into the ground-game in Syria.
     
    The real point is that possibilities for intrigue and mischief with the Muslim fundamentalists operating all over the region including the XYZ-stans and Southern Russia will actually be a greater deterrent to Russian exploitation of the situation than I think Putin realizes. In addition, if we can maneuver Putin into that situation, we can increase our standing as a broker of a wider peace with that part of the world, IMO, including the Israeli situation, etc.
     
    That McCain is amongst the loudest saber-rattlers in this country, BTW, tells me that the Israeli lobby is likely the strongest sponsor of our intervention.
     
    Finally, let me say that using the UN at this time as the institutional tool will strengthen that institution which frankly remains the best shot at avoiding WWIII anyway.
     
    Regardless, the way to get Putin and the Russians to take the bait will require that we stay united. Indeed, the world's eyes are on us and if we, for instance, go through some gyrations regarding the budget, we may lose our greatest strength - the use of the dollar as the reserve currency for the world. Protecting that status takes precedence over killing obamacare, embarrassing for partisan political gain the administration in other ways. We're playing with fire here folks and the fall out from our political squabbling could well cause us all real pain.
     
    This crisis is really big and the real key to our emerging from this crisis is for us to rally 'round the flag.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: An answer to the Syrian debacle
  22. gpatt0n

    We're in deep s**t

    By gpatt0n,

    This blog post is comes from a discussion on Micky D's workers striving for $15/hr. I suggested that if they got that wage, the end result would be the creation of robotic fast food processes and the elimination of many of the low wage jobs that industry has.
     
    That notion drew some conversation and I did a data dump on the real scope of issue.
     
     
    http://paulding.com/forum/index.php?app=blog&module=post&section=post&do=showform&id1=303871&id2=3835010&btapp=forums# 
    It is okay to agree with me cptlo
     
     
     
    Not at all. I'm saying if they had unions which could negotiate retaining employees, they would (like auto workers) give up some jobs, agree to lower wages for some of the jobs that remain and do that through negotiation. If the fast food workers are unable to unionize, which is almost certain in right to work states like Georgia, the likelihood of those jobs surviving the next five or ten years - especially with a wage increase - very problematic.
     
    NJ, I just don't think you or a lot of the folks on the right get it. The reason that employment has not rebounded is because businesses are investing in automation at an increasingly rapid rate. There aren't good jobs because industries from wall street - they've got computers that do trades faster and better than low-level traders - to factories which are moving back here because the robots work cheaper and more productively than do Chinese workers. With the doubling of computing power every 18 months advances in AI and controls, these 'machines' are taking jobs and will take more and more jobs.
     
    I'm personally looking forward to the conflict with the conservative union called the teamsters are going to react when truck drivers become obsolete in probably about a decade.
     
    The traditional solutions to this dramatic and rapid societal change is on an order of magnitude greater than the industrial revolution, NJ. Change is happening and happening faster than we imagine. It is mind boggling and the bad news is that reactionary approaches to the problems promise disaster.
     
     
     
    I'm convinced of it, seriously.
     
     
    Oh, but I am serious TP. I think the dislocations in employment and by extension in the social stratification could become a time of great social unrest - depending on the leadership - more divisive than that of the early part of the 20th century. That these changes are happening in rapid fashion world-wide will exacerbate social conflict.
     
     
    Tatertot; the notion of entitlement is one of the wild-cards in the coming social conflicts. The good news, if there is good news, is that the nature of work itself - what constitutes work and how it relates to one's individual survival - literally its definition - is one of the major changes we face.
     
     
    I can only say that your attitude in regard to immigrants ignores the fact that the world's society is much more tightly integrated than anytime ever in history and the issues that confront us as a nation also confront the world as a whole.
     
    Immigrants come in two flavors; there are those who are adapted to the future and there are those who are essentially economic refugees from failing nation states that are unwilling or unable to address the issues that confront their populations.
     
    Throw in the big brother aspect of the NSA - and they're big brother for the world if that hasn't dawned on you. (Much of their signals intelligence gathering is obviously foreign, you know.)
     
    The problems we face with immigration are unique to us. The EU also faces issues as the world becomes more 'the society' than any individual nation. The rise of multi-national corporations coupled with not just the gridlock of our national government but the lack of any thing other than a joke as parading as international authority, foreshadows conflicts between commercial entities that have captured and using their wealth to co-opt the governments of nation-states.
     
    Oh, and cmorg, these multi-national corporations represent the power thrust of that group you call RINO's ... and are a key part of the GOP. And don't think these entities don't have their hooks in the Democratic party too.
     
    Indeed, my gut is that these entities are likely behind the ineffectiveness we all see in our national leadership - the national leadership they provide us. Oh, and the gridlock? I feel that is just part of the strategy of these powerful institutions whose design is to convince us all that our vote doesn't count and that government just doesn't work but can't work to solve problems.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: McDonald's Workers Strike For Higher Wages
  23. gpatt0n
    New post on pv magazine USA
        CLEAN Future Act would slash emissions, create national energy standard
    by Joe Bebon Leaders from the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce introduced the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation's (CLEAN) Future Act. The legislation aims to decarbonize the country and establish a national 100% clean electricity standard (CES), among other proposals.
    The legislation would authorize $565 billion over 10 years to achieve its goals. The bill sponsors said the legislation includes
    "significant updates" to a draft released in January 2020, reflecting comments from stakeholders, expert testimony received in Committee hearings, and the enactment of several previous provisions into law through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
    The CLEAN Future Act would mandate net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions no later than 2050, with an interim target of reducing GHG emissions 50% from 2005 levels no later than 2030. The targets come from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
    Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) called climate change "one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime." He said the bill, which was introduced March 3, would create millions of "homegrown jobs" while ensuring the federal government does not "watch from the sidelines as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on Americans' health and homes."
     
    Rep. Frank Pallone Pallone, considered one of the gatekeepers of the Biden administration's energy agenda, introduced the bill with Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL).
    According to a summary from the sponsors, the CLEAN Future Act proposes new policies aimed at cutting GHG pollution in areas within the House committee's jurisdiction.
    Specific sectors
    Power sector: The CLEAN Future Act includes a nationwide CES requiring all retail electricity suppliers to obtain 100% clean electricity by 2035, in line with President Joe Biden's call to action for the power sector. The CES would mandate that all retail electricity suppliers provide an increasing supply of clean electricity to consumers starting in 2023, rising to 80% by 2030 and then 100% by 2035. The bill would invest in clean energy, distributed energy resources, grid infrastructure, and microgrids to help build resiliency and cut pollution. In addition, it would empower the federal government to expedite building out the transmission system to achieve clean energy goals.
    Building sector: The bill aims to improve the efficiency of new and existing buildings, as well as the equipment and appliances that operate within them. It would establish national energy savings targets for continued improvement of model building energy codes, leading to a requirement of zero-energy-ready buildings by 2030. The bill also would set energy and water savings targets for federal buildings and provide funding for schools, homes, and municipal buildings to improve efficiency.
     

    The bill also would update financing programs to expand domestic manufacturing of advanced automotive technologies.
    Transportation sector: The bill targets transportation emissions, the largest source of GHG pollution, by building  infrastructure to support a clean transportation system. The bill includes investments in transportation electrification, including grants and rebates to deploy electric vehicles and charging stations, zero-emissions school buses. It also would formally authorize a Clean Cities Coalition Program. The bill also would update financing programs to expand domestic manufacturing of advanced automotive technologies. It would establish a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant program to decarbonize and electrify ports around the country, reducing air pollution that affect nearby communities.
    Industrial sector: The bill would establish a Buy Clean Program that sets performance targets to reduce emissions from construction materials and products used in projects that receive federal funding. The bill incorporates new Climate Star labeling and provisions to ensure that performance targets adequately consider the complexities of manufacturing and procuring carbon-intensive products. With the majority of U.S. construction projects funded by government dollars, the program would aim to transform and strengthen the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing sector, while reducing emissions by promoting low-carbon materials and expanding the market for cleaner products.
    Additional policies
    A national climate target for federal agencies: In line with Biden's government-wide approach to fight climate change, the bill would direct all federal agencies to use existing authorities to put the country on a path toward a 50% reduction in GHG emissions from 2005 levels by no later than 2030, and to net zero no later than 2050. To ensure federal agencies' efforts remain on track, the legislation would direct the EPA to evaluate each agency's plans, make recommendations and report on progress each year, and establish a Clean Economy Federal Advisory Committee to review the plans.
     

    States would have flexibility to develop plans to meet the 2050 and interim targets based on their own policy preferences, priorities, and circumstances.
    State climate plans: The bill would empower states to complete the transition to a net-zero economy based on the federalism model in the existing Clean Air Act. States would have flexibility to develop plans to meet the 2050 and interim targets based on their own policy preferences, priorities, and circumstances. Each state would submit a climate plan to the EPA for its review and approval. To ensure that states have ample guidance and expertise at their disposal, the bill would direct the EPA to develop a set of model GHG control strategies states can choose to incorporate into their plans. The bill would authorize $200 million to help states prepare their plans.
    Accelerator program: The bill would establish a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator--modeled after the Green Bank model deployed across the U.S.--to help states, cities, communities, and companies transition to a clean economy. Capitalized with $100 billion in funding, the accelerator program would mobilize public and private investments to provide financing for low- and zero-emissions energy technologies, climate resiliency projects, building efficiency and electrification, industrial decarbonization, grid modernization, agriculture projects, clean transportation, and the development of state and local Green Banks where they do not yet exist. The bill would require that the program prioritize investments in communities that are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change and includes labor protections.
     

    The bill also would create new programs to support dislocated workers and provide financial assistance to local governments.
    Worker transition: The bill would establish an interagency framework to ensure workers and communities have federal-level support and resources during the nation's transition to net-zero climate pollution. It would create an Office of Energy and Economic Transition in the Executive Office of the President, responsible for managing a task force and stakeholder advisory committee to coordinate programs and activities that support impacted workers and communities. The bill also would create new programs to support dislocated workers and provide financial assistance to local governments, including by replacing lost revenue due to the closure of a major employer.
    Environmental justice: The bill includes provisions designed to make environmental justice part of the mission of all federal agencies and to incorporate environmental justice considerations into laws. It includes investments to protect the health and safety of environmental justice communities, including lead service water line replacement, brownfield cleanups, and superfund cleanups. It further protects these groups by implementing new coal ash disposal requirements and repealing oil and gas production exemptions from landmark environmental laws.
    The path forward
    The CLEAN Future Act also features a suite of related policies, including proposals to reduce waste, remove barriers to clean energy, and reduce pollutants like methane. The legislation is the result of 27 hearings in the Energy and Commerce Committee on climate change over the last two years. Its introduction marks the beginning of the legislative process; hearings on the CLEAN Future Act will continue in the months ahead.
    Bill text can be found here, and a section-by-section detail can be found here.
  24. gpatt0n
    You are absolutely right that a gun is just a tool but what you're missing is that a gun can be more than just a tool.
     
    Think about tools for a minute and then think about Andy Rooney, late of 60 Minutes fame and his ancient typewriter that he used to write his witty editorials. He could have had the newest laptop with the fanciest word processing program but he held to his manual Royal typewriter circa 1945. Dare I say he loved it.
     
    Think about the kid who drives up in a new high-output Mustang, face beaming because of his pride. Think of the topics we've had on here about folks 'first cars.' One of my first memories was of a friends mother who, strangely to me, had named her car something like Matilda.
     
    Another example would be musicians with their instruments whether it is a horn, keyboard or guitar. Most of us have developed a relationship with our computers to one degree or another and it is not at all uncommon for us to praise or cuss the damn things. Even some mechanics and carpenters can be partial to one tool choosing it over newer and shinier items.
     
    And it would be foolish to think our personification of inanimate objects is limited to those things. It is human nature to attribute human characteristics to inanimate objects and in so doing, it changes our relationships with those objects.
     
    This happens with guns too. Who could forget Al Pacino's line in Scarface ... "Say hello to my little friend."
     

     
    Would that scene have been as memorable if the 'little friend' were a 32 cal. Beretta?
     
    The point is that weapons perceived to be 'assault weapons' - yes it is largely in the mind of the possessor - seem to provide 'courage' to some people possessing them and 'respect' to others, as if the weapon were some sort of magical talisman. People don't like to admit it, but while Pacino's scene demonstrates the 'courage' aspect, this scene from the 1991 movie (One of my favorites by the way) Grand Canyon, illustrates the 'respect' aspect.
     

     
    pubby
     
    Source: NRA,assault weapons,gun laws
  25. gpatt0n
    There is the obvious clarity that we all appreciate about you ... and your humor Stradial
     
    My recollection of the discussions back in 2005-06 regarding the airport was that the feasibility studies were such that a commercial passenger airport was a pipe dream at best and not what was intended for the facility. Still, if it was a possibility, the most major important great thing we could do by building our own general aviation airport is to get prior rights to aviation here because if that thing (passenger airline service) were to become a reality, at least we'd have a say. IF THE CITY OF ATLANTA (AND DELTA) DECIDED TO DO A COMMERCIAL PASSENGER AIRLINE TERMINAL IN PAULDING ON THE ATLANTA AIRPORT PROPERTY, WE'D BE SOL.
     
    Well, we built the airport and Delta, which thought they had through the city of Atlanta, a right of first refusal on a commercial airfield here, basically decided to do all their activities in Clayton County at Hartsfield-Jackson. When Propeller INvestments came in and proposed action in Gwinnett, you can bet that Delta was behind and encouraging the opposition there ... largely because they don't want to lose their monopoly on air traffic in the market.
     
    The point is the airport was not expected to become a commercial passenger facility of any design or description but it was not sold that way. It was sold as a way for local control over any such commercial air transportation facility in the unlikely event that it was going to happen.
     
    In a very real sense, it has been successful in that role. No one can say that Delta and the city of Atlanta has any business tell us what we can do locally and we planned it that way.
     
     
    I'm going to blame Brett Smith for this. I'm pretty sure that the contract that exists between silver comet field and silver comet partners gives him the sole authority to publicize the commercial passenger aspects of the deal. I don't expect the Airport Authority to have any control over the advertising, marketing or publicity of whatever venture lands at Silver Comet field. Even the decision to announce the new name of the field was controlled by him.
     
    As far as the public engagement part, I suspect the drubbing that he got for his efforts in Gwinnett basically cured him from much in the way of seeing publicity as a good thing.
     
    The AJC and most reporters anywhere and everywhere will go for the sensational and frankly two charter commercial flights a week does not a commercial passenger airport terminal make. This aspect has been hyped to sell papers and because, in fealty to Delta and city, home for the Atlanta promoting AJC and other metro media (they know commerce in the city is where their bread is buttered just as I know my bread is buttered by promoting businesses out here.)
     
    So what we have is a press-shy company that has great contacts and a desire to avoid the headaches they got just over a year ago when they saw publicity blow up a deal they spend probably years trying to put together. I would be go so far as to say in aggregate - I'll exclude Pcom - the press is a liability for this effort because they over-emphasize the wrong stuff and really seek to sell papers and cover their corporate masters in the city.
     
     
    Well it is untrue.
     
    That is what I found when I decided to reply in this topic. While David, and for that matter Tommie Graham, can come across to some folks as a bit aloof, that kind of high-handed royal-assed attitude really doesn't fit what I do know about either of them.
     
    Anyway, I actually did call David and confronted him about this incident. I also called the preacher - he doesn't like to be called Reverend I found out - Rick Dunn - the guy whom you got the idea was intimidated ... or at least someone told you was.
     
    I can say with a straight face I didn't intimidate him (I do have that affect on some folks) and he told me that I was more intimidating that either David or Tommie Graham; both of whom did call him.
     
    What if found enlightening is that apparently he misunderstood the 'informational meeting' and was a bit ticked that David and Tommie were 'invited' to the meeting to sit quietly and get beat on. He came to that conclusion apparently Wednesday morning when he finally got the presentation that was planned and saw that it was more of a one-sided pep rally for airport opponents than a meeting that intends to reasonably and honestly explore the issue. He wondered if his church's board would have approved their donation of the room for the meeting had the seen the presentation on Monday as he had asked. Still, it was a bit late in the game Wednesday to do anything more than grin and bear it and let the meeting proceed.
     
    In the visit that David made with Preacher Rick, he said that he understood the muzzle that the invite the chairman had received how David would feel like that he was being tossed into the lions den. The one-sidedness is what struck him and made him notably uncomfortable with the meeting his church was hosting.
     
     
    I find most of what they post as distortions and spin ... and I can tell they've learned their debate style from conservative talk radio quite well. I actually hate it that folks think this kind of bull cheese is valuable ... it is not . it is propaganda and propaganda techniques that unfortunately can be effective because they invoke the knee-jerk reactions that we all experience as we use shorthand cues to keep things simple. Basically they're doing their best to dupe us and in that context you can tell by the materials - some of the slick web sites - that this is being orchestrated from outside because frankly, Tundra ain't that slick.
     
     
    Let me work on this aspect. I would think that the contractual agreement regarding the commercial passenger airport terminal is under the purview of the contracted agent (Silver Comet Partners, LLC) and public utterances regarding it (as opposed to the nuts and bolts of the airport facility - runway expansion, etc.) is limited to them through confidentiality agreements.
     
    Oh, and Whitey, the contract with the Silver Comet Partners, llc can be referenced in the minutes and a complete copy need not be included in the minutes. Such contracts are public record. Maybe if you get a copy before I do, you can confirm provisions regarding the ability to talk about developments because the presence of such a section simply comes from who has said what in regard to what over the past roughly two months.
     
    Finally, my reading of the 'deal' is that it is a great deal and the controversy surrounding it from Delta and those they control more directly to me is actually being used to effectively hype the event.
     
    The Todd Pownall in the dark aspect - which I do feel is being overplayed by the man - and the obvious suggestions in this case of a corruption so deep as to be unAmerican, evil and self-serving is basically bull at this point. I've not seen one allegation of inside dealing in this regard. There may be some but there are no rocks - no substance - in the mud being slung.
     
    I mean detail a real-estate deal where the property flips five times to hide that it was stolen for taxes and represents a financial gain of a million dollars for a principal. There are no such substantial scandals and all we get is BS mudslinging based on half-truths and no-truths.
     
    The allegation that the commission tried to shut down the so-called town meeting be a prime example. It is not true.
     
    pubby
     
    Source: Community Meeting set for 11-21-13
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