Editorial: County to provide taxpayers with pension details - Marin Independent Journal:
"PUBLIC PENSION CRITICS in Marin say they have won a big battle.
County officials say they are willing to meet the critics part way by adding a page to the county tax bill informing taxpayers about the county's long-term pension obligation and its retiree health care costs.
Leaders of the Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans, a Marin public pension reform group, had asked the county to print that information on the tax bill for every taxing agency.
County officials, not surprisingly, were not enthused.
They said the information wouldn't fit on the one-page tax bill."
Meybee we gonna see this in Muskegon?
NOT!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Feds give millions in contracts to firms owned by fictitious people
Feds give millions in contracts to firms owned by fictitious people | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"The Department of Homeland Security, with seemingly little investigation of the company's background, gave it a government credit card "to use for payment for goods provided pursuant to a government contract," on which Whitehead racked up $40,000 in charges."
"The Department of Homeland Security, with seemingly little investigation of the company's background, gave it a government credit card "to use for payment for goods provided pursuant to a government contract," on which Whitehead racked up $40,000 in charges."
Cop out
Cop out - NYPOST.com:
New York pays more police in retirement than to patrol our streets — yet pols do nothing to address our skyrocketing pension costs
"During Bloomberg’s final year, city will spend $8.7 billion on the police department, nearly double the 2002 figure and more than three times the rate of inflation."Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap
Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap:
"We interpret this as evidence that the menstrual cycle raises female absenteeism.
Absences with a 28-day cycle explain a significant fraction of the male-female absenteeism gap.
To investigate the effect of absenteeism on earnings, we use a simple signaling model in which employers cannot directly observe workers' productivity, and therefore use observable characteristics – including absenteeism – to set wages.
Since men are absent from work because of health and shirking reasons, while women face an additional exogenous source of health shocks due to menstruation, the signal extraction based on absenteeism is more informative about shirking for males than for females.
Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that the relationship between earnings and absenteeism is more negative for males than for females.
Furthermore, this difference declines with seniority, as employers learn more about their workers' true productivity.
Finally, we calculate the earnings cost for women associated with menstruation.
We find that higher absenteeism induced by the 28-day cycle explains 11.8 percent of the earnings gender differential."
"We interpret this as evidence that the menstrual cycle raises female absenteeism.
Absences with a 28-day cycle explain a significant fraction of the male-female absenteeism gap.
To investigate the effect of absenteeism on earnings, we use a simple signaling model in which employers cannot directly observe workers' productivity, and therefore use observable characteristics – including absenteeism – to set wages.
Since men are absent from work because of health and shirking reasons, while women face an additional exogenous source of health shocks due to menstruation, the signal extraction based on absenteeism is more informative about shirking for males than for females.
Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that the relationship between earnings and absenteeism is more negative for males than for females.
Furthermore, this difference declines with seniority, as employers learn more about their workers' true productivity.
Finally, we calculate the earnings cost for women associated with menstruation.
We find that higher absenteeism induced by the 28-day cycle explains 11.8 percent of the earnings gender differential."
Third Woman’s Burned Body Found On Detroit’s West Side
Third Woman’s Burned Body Found On Detroit’s West Side « CBS Detroit:
"Police say it’s the third case in recent weeks where a woman has been set on fire and left for dead"
"Police say it’s the third case in recent weeks where a woman has been set on fire and left for dead"
Saginaw County says interest rates too high to sell bonds to cover pension liability
Saginaw County says interest rates too high to sell bonds to cover pension liability | MLive.com:
" Saginaw County was the first county in the state to gain Michigan Treasury approval for a plan to sell bonds to cover its pension fund liability.
But the county's plan has been put on hold, Controller Robert Belleman told county leaders on Thursday, Aug. 8.
"We did go out to price today," Belleman said. "And the interest rates being demanded by the investors was much higher than we had anticipated or our budget could support. So we withdrew our bond from the market today and we'll look at whether or not we'll go out again later this year."
Belleman explained that when the county went to sell bonds necessary to make the plan work, the interest rates had risen to a level that made the plan no longer feasible."
" Saginaw County was the first county in the state to gain Michigan Treasury approval for a plan to sell bonds to cover its pension fund liability.
But the county's plan has been put on hold, Controller Robert Belleman told county leaders on Thursday, Aug. 8.
"We did go out to price today," Belleman said. "And the interest rates being demanded by the investors was much higher than we had anticipated or our budget could support. So we withdrew our bond from the market today and we'll look at whether or not we'll go out again later this year."
Belleman explained that when the county went to sell bonds necessary to make the plan work, the interest rates had risen to a level that made the plan no longer feasible."
Moral Victory Is Total Victory
Moral Victory Is Total Victory | National Review Online:
"We’re way too politically correct to do something like that today, of course, and so we fight pointless wars for speechwriter mush about “human freedom” that are all tactics and no strategy, with no apparent political objectives other than to see “elections” staged, some schools built, and some cups of tea drunk.
But we did not fight to “liberate” the Germans from Hitler or the Japanese from imperial militarism:
We fought them to crush them and eradicate the root of the evil that animated them.
They started it, we finished it.
Which is why we haven’t had to refight them."
"We’re way too politically correct to do something like that today, of course, and so we fight pointless wars for speechwriter mush about “human freedom” that are all tactics and no strategy, with no apparent political objectives other than to see “elections” staged, some schools built, and some cups of tea drunk.
But we did not fight to “liberate” the Germans from Hitler or the Japanese from imperial militarism:
We fought them to crush them and eradicate the root of the evil that animated them.
They started it, we finished it.
Which is why we haven’t had to refight them."
How Not to Debate What We Should Be Doing at Movie Theaters
How Not to Debate What We Should Be Doing at Movie Theaters - Richard Lawson - The Atlantic Wire
Then this morning, another tech guy, writer and self-described entrepreneur Anil Dash, wrote a smug, scolding piece about priggish "shushers" and their obstinate refusal to let other people enjoy movies the way they want to enjoy them — meaning talking, texting, tweeting, tromboning, whatever. It's a gruesome read.
Most glaringly, Dash, in an effort to paint these "shushers" as people standing athwart history yelling stop, invokes slavery of all things as evidence that societal norms are forever changing.
No, he really did: "This list of responses pops up all the time, whether it’s for arguing why women should not wear pants, or defending slavery, or trying to preserve a single meaning for the word 'ironic,' or fighting marriage equality, or claiming rap isn’t 'real' music, or in any other time when social conservatives want to be oppressive assholes to other people."
In likening the social stigma against bringing iPads into movie theaters to the defenders of slavery, Dash was, he explained on Twitter, "providing a wide range of examples of cultural conservatism, I showed a continuum from trivial to profane."
Then this morning, another tech guy, writer and self-described entrepreneur Anil Dash, wrote a smug, scolding piece about priggish "shushers" and their obstinate refusal to let other people enjoy movies the way they want to enjoy them — meaning talking, texting, tweeting, tromboning, whatever. It's a gruesome read.
Most glaringly, Dash, in an effort to paint these "shushers" as people standing athwart history yelling stop, invokes slavery of all things as evidence that societal norms are forever changing.
No, he really did: "This list of responses pops up all the time, whether it’s for arguing why women should not wear pants, or defending slavery, or trying to preserve a single meaning for the word 'ironic,' or fighting marriage equality, or claiming rap isn’t 'real' music, or in any other time when social conservatives want to be oppressive assholes to other people."
In likening the social stigma against bringing iPads into movie theaters to the defenders of slavery, Dash was, he explained on Twitter, "providing a wide range of examples of cultural conservatism, I showed a continuum from trivial to profane."
Major Danish Daily Newspaper Warns: ‘Globe May Be On Path To Little Ice Age…Much Colder Winters…Dramatic Consequences’!
Major Danish Daily Newspaper Warns: ‘Globe May Be On Path To Little Ice Age…Much Colder Winters…Dramatic Consequences’! | Climate Depot:
"The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the “Muhammad caricatures“, features a full 2-page article bearing the headline:
”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age” followed by the sub-headline: “Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”
"The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the “Muhammad caricatures“, features a full 2-page article bearing the headline:
”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age” followed by the sub-headline: “Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”
Know Thine Enemy
Know Thine Enemy | National Review Online:
"On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Three years, eight months, and eight days later, the Japanese surrendered.
These days, America’s military moves at a more leisurely pace.
On November 5, 2009, another U.S. base, Fort Hood, was attacked — by one man standing on a table, screaming “Allahu akbar!” and opening fire.
Three years, nine months, and one day later, his court-martial finally got under way."
"On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Three years, eight months, and eight days later, the Japanese surrendered.
These days, America’s military moves at a more leisurely pace.
On November 5, 2009, another U.S. base, Fort Hood, was attacked — by one man standing on a table, screaming “Allahu akbar!” and opening fire.
Three years, nine months, and one day later, his court-martial finally got under way."
An Older Version Of The Hockey Stick | Real Science
An Older Version Of The Hockey Stick | Real Science:
"This version is from the National Academy of Sciences, before self-awarded Nobel Prize Mikey straightened them out that the world was heating out of control, rather than cooling out of control.
In 1975, people were too stupid to know the difference between cold and heat."
Read the comments!
"This version is from the National Academy of Sciences, before self-awarded Nobel Prize Mikey straightened them out that the world was heating out of control, rather than cooling out of control.
Read the comments!
Terry Foster: Is The ‘N-Word’ Ever OK In The Locker Room?
Terry Foster: Is The ‘N-Word’ Ever OK In The Locker Room? « CBS Detroit:
"Foster tells it this way: “Hey, cracker,” Delmas often says to Scheffler inside the Lions practice facility.
“How’s my n—–?” Scheffler replies."
Imagine the pain the millions of recently released slaves here in offended-land must feel.
"Foster tells it this way: “Hey, cracker,” Delmas often says to Scheffler inside the Lions practice facility.
“How’s my n—–?” Scheffler replies."
Imagine the pain the millions of recently released slaves here in offended-land must feel.
Friday, August 09, 2013
The Hope And Change Guy Starts A New Panic
The Hope And Change Guy Starts A New Panic | Real Science:
"Obama’s latest fear mongering is that Putin is going to arrest gay Olympic athletes.
Johnny Weir: If I’m arrested in Russia, so be it – CBS News
The hope and change guy seems to move effortlessly from one mindless panic to another.
A few days ago it was terrorists.
Before that it was George Zimmerman. Before that it was Edward Snowden.
Before that it was CO2.
Before that it was the fiscal cliff, healthcare, stimulus, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, tea party, and on and on and on.
What a world class wanker."
"Obama’s latest fear mongering is that Putin is going to arrest gay Olympic athletes.
Johnny Weir: If I’m arrested in Russia, so be it – CBS News
The hope and change guy seems to move effortlessly from one mindless panic to another.
A few days ago it was terrorists.
Before that it was George Zimmerman. Before that it was Edward Snowden.
Before that it was CO2.
Before that it was the fiscal cliff, healthcare, stimulus, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, tea party, and on and on and on.
What a world class wanker."
Detroit Lost a $1 Million Check in a Desk Drawer
Detroit Lost a $1 Million Check in a Desk Drawer - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire:
"Strategy one for addressing the budget shortfall might include checking other drawers around City Hall.
Who knows how much might turn up."
"Strategy one for addressing the budget shortfall might include checking other drawers around City Hall.
Who knows how much might turn up."
7 Wonders of Michigan: The Top 20
7 Wonders of Michigan: The Top 20 | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com:
"Here are the Top 20 — in alphabetical order.
Did your suggestions make the cut?
Castle Rock (St. Ignace)
Grand Traverse Bay
The Grand Hotel
The Great Lakes – Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie
Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum
Isle Royale National Park
Kitchi-Iti-Kipi Spring
Lake of the Clouds
Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Island
Manitou Islands
Michigan Stadium (The Big House)
National Shrine of the Cross
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Soo Locks
Tahquamenon Falls
Tunnel of Trees (M-19)
Turnip Rock"
"Here are the Top 20 — in alphabetical order.
Did your suggestions make the cut?
Castle Rock (St. Ignace)
Grand Traverse Bay
The Grand Hotel
The Great Lakes – Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie
Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum
Isle Royale National Park
Kitchi-Iti-Kipi Spring
Lake of the Clouds
Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Island
Manitou Islands
Michigan Stadium (The Big House)
National Shrine of the Cross
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Soo Locks
Tahquamenon Falls
Tunnel of Trees (M-19)
Turnip Rock"
The Best Small Places For Business and Careers List
The Best Small Places For Business and Careers List - Forbes
Not one Michigan metro area on the list of 100!
Duh!
Not one Michigan metro area on the list of 100!
Duh!
Saginaw County 3rd muni in Michigan to postpone million-dollar bond sale in wake of Detroit bankruptcy
Saginaw County 3rd muni in Michigan to postpone million-dollar bond sale in wake of Detroit bankruptcy | Crain's Detroit Business:
"The securities are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, fourth-highest.
Saginaw joins Michigan's Genesee County and Battle Creek in postponing general obligation offerings. Proceeds would help Saginaw, with about 198,000 residents, finance unfunded pension liabilities of about $60 million."
Muskegon county will soon be lookin' for $40 million (GO, not revenue) for the new jail.
Hopin' for a bunch of rich dummies.
The financial dominoes of doom are tippin'.
The MSM and our politicians will tell us about it when the last one falls.
"The securities are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, fourth-highest.
Saginaw joins Michigan's Genesee County and Battle Creek in postponing general obligation offerings. Proceeds would help Saginaw, with about 198,000 residents, finance unfunded pension liabilities of about $60 million."
Muskegon county will soon be lookin' for $40 million (GO, not revenue) for the new jail.
Hopin' for a bunch of rich dummies.
The financial dominoes of doom are tippin'.
The MSM and our politicians will tell us about it when the last one falls.
FIRST LAVABIT, now Silent Mail shuts down. Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration.....
Instapundit » Blog Archive » FIRST LAVABIT, now Silent Mail shuts down.
"Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration, when people got exercised about the government knowing what books you checked out of the library?"
"Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration, when people got exercised about the government knowing what books you checked out of the library?"
Who's setting Wisconsin's academic standards?
Who's setting Wisconsin's academic standards? « Watchdog.org:
“They don’t come to the math department. They go to the school of education,” Lempp said.
“They very rarely consult with the math department.
They’re afraid we’ll tell them things they don’t want to here — like their tests suck.”"
“They don’t come to the math department. They go to the school of education,” Lempp said.
“They very rarely consult with the math department.
They’re afraid we’ll tell them things they don’t want to here — like their tests suck.”"
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city | Crain's Detroit Business:
"In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn't deposited.
The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later."
Read it all and weep.
And almost EVERY Detroit city council incumbent won their primary races.
There is no fixin' what the folks don't want fixed.
"In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn't deposited.
The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later."
Read it all and weep.
And almost EVERY Detroit city council incumbent won their primary races.
There is no fixin' what the folks don't want fixed.
Michigan State's Spartan Stadium construction begins, will last throughout football season
Michigan State's Spartan Stadium construction begins, will last throughout football season | MLive.com
New practice field for marching band
The 300-plus-member Spartan Marching Band will have a new home beginning with the 2014 football season.
Earlier this summer, the MSU Board of Trustees approved repurposing a portion of Munn Field, located just a few hundred yards southwest of Spartan Stadium at the corner of Shaw Lane and Chestnut Road, as an artificial turf field for the SMB.
The new field will include a regulation-size football field, lights, a permanent band tower, spectator seating, fencing, gates and an underground drain system. The band's current practice field, located immediately north of Demonstration Hall, is a natural-grass surface lacking lighting, a permanent tower and fencing and gates.
"The band currently practices at Demonstration Hall Field, but the location continues to be problematic because of the maintenance requirements and irrigation issues associated with a grass field," a university memo on the new practice field reads. "An artificial turf field would provide a safer and superior surface for the band. The field would be scheduled by intramural sports and summer sports camps for other activities when not in use by the Spartan Marching Band."
New research says: cellphone use+driving=death...not so much
New research says: cellphone use+driving=death...not so much | TG Daily:
"You are more likely to kill yourself reading this article than you are talking on your cellphone and driving.
That's our guess, but for almost 20 years, it has been a wide-held belief that talking on a cellphone while driving is dangerous and leads to more accidents.
However, new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that talking on a cellphone while driving does not increase crash risk."
"You are more likely to kill yourself reading this article than you are talking on your cellphone and driving.
That's our guess, but for almost 20 years, it has been a wide-held belief that talking on a cellphone while driving is dangerous and leads to more accidents.
However, new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that talking on a cellphone while driving does not increase crash risk."
The IRS Scandal, Day 92
TaxProf Blog:
The IRS Scandal, Day 92
- Letter from Ellen Weintraub (Chair, FEC) to Candice Miller (Chair, House Administration Committee) on IRS/FEC Coordination in Targeting of Conservative Groups (Aug. 6, 2013)
- American Thinker: Issa Expands IRS Probe to Include Possible FEC Collusion Targeting Conservatives
- The Daily Mail: America's Tax Collectors Are STILL Targeting Tea Party Groups, an IRS Agent Has Told Congressional Investigators
- Forbes: DEA Passed Secret Data, Tips for Covering Up to IRS
- Fox News: IRS Scandal Hits 3 Month Mark -- Where's the Accountability, Mr. Obama?
- The Hill: Ways and Means Chairman Alleges Continued IRS Targeting
- Human Events: IRS Scandal Probe Expands to Include the FEC
- MSNBC: Is the IRS Still ‘Targeting’ the Tea Party?
- Scripps Howard: IRS Caressed Liberals, Harassed Conservatives
- Slate: Assume a Scandal
- Town Hall: Scandal Watch: Issa Expands IRS Targeting Investigation to FEC
- USA Today: Common Ground: Obama 'Phony' Scandals
- Wall Street Journal: House Republicans Widen IRS Probe
- Washington Examiner: IRS Agent: Tax Agency Is Still Targeting Tea Party Groups
- Washington Post: FEC Chair Requests Probe of Agency’s Ties With IRS
- Washington Times: House Investigating FEC and IRS Communications Over Tax Exempt Groups
Drone delivers beer not bombs at S.Africa music festival
Drone delivers beer not bombs at S.Africa music festival - FRANCE 24:
"It's an almost Biblical thing that beer is dropping from the sky," said Hoffmann."
"It's an almost Biblical thing that beer is dropping from the sky," said Hoffmann."
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