Currently viewing the tag: “Needed”
Calling citizen journalists:
Tomorrow, an army of very angry union thugs will be descending on the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison. They are furious that the Republican senators voted to pass the collective bargaining provisions of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget reform proposal, without the fiscal portions that required a larger quorum.
They are not just angry-they feel betrayed. And they have been betrayed-by the union leaders and runaway Democrats who promised them that the Republicans would crack. They are going to try to prevent the Wisconsin state assembly from passing the senate’s bill and sending it to Gov. Walker’s desk.
They have been told by the Democrats and the MSNBC commentariat that there are no rules anymore. We can expect them to behave accordingly.
We ask you to go to the state capitol and bring cameras. Send us what you find. We didn’t pick this battle…the public sector unions did. But, we can finish it. We are winning.
Gilda Jacobs, former state senator and now president of the Michigan League for Human Services, had an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press over the weekend with some eye-opening numbers on poverty in the state of Michigan.
Along with some good news — we’ve made progress as a state in reducing dropout rates, for example — the annual child well-being report foreshadows trouble ahead. Child poverty in Michigan has risen a frightening 60% since 2000 with more than one in every five kids living below the poverty line (a mere $ 17,000 or less for a year for a family of three). Worse, poverty is higher for children of color — nearly one in every two African American and one in three Hispanic children live in poverty.
Poverty has lifelong consequences, and the longer children are in poverty, the deeper the impact. For example, a recent study shows that adults who spend one to three years in poverty as children were more than twice as likely to drop out of high school…
Child maltreatment is up 25% over the decade, too, and one federal study indicated that most of the cases are due to neglect. We know that neglect is often worsened by poverty.
Jacobs praises Gov. Rick Snyder for not calling for cuts to Medicaid in his proposed budget, but she also notes that his plan to eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit will put at least 14,000 more Michigan children below the poverty line and his plan to eliminate the child tax credit will push many more families into poverty — all to pay for a $ 1.8 billion cut in business taxes.
“Making working poor families living in poverty pay income taxes while many businesses pay none,” Jacobs writes, “is not a good priority for Michigan.”
…. so that the advocates of imposing a “No Fly” over Libya will be the first to perish for their arrogance and folly.
With pro-Sharia parties looking to play a significant role in new governments in North Africa and the Middle East, one would think that the French Foreign Minister might think this would be a good time to disengage from Euro-Med partnership initiatives. No such luck.
“Uprisings: Juppe’, Mediterranean Union Needed More Than Ever,” from ANSAmed, March 2 (thanks to Insubria):
(ANSAmed) – PARIS, MARCH 2 – In light of the uprisings in the Arab world the Union for the Mediterranean project, launched in 2008 in Paris, is needed more than ever. The statement was made by the new French foreign minister, Alain Juppe’, who already yesterday insisted on the need to revive this ambitious project.
During a speech to the Paris National Assembly Juppe’ stated that ”The Med Union is an idea that is needed more than ever before”, and added that ”Our common interest is to ensure that the development of the two shores will allow citizens of the south to live at home, on their land, in their countries, and to find there their rightful peace, freedom, work and prosperity.
That is what we will do by reviving the Med Union with the support of all European Union Countries”. The Union for the Mediterranean, a cooperation project between the EU and the Countries of the south shore of the Mediterranean, among which Israel, was one of the initiatives that was strongly desired by president Nicolas Sarkozy. But the stalemate in the peace process between Israel and Palestine still has not allowed the project to take off….
Euro-Med activity is actually ongoing: see “Europe’s looming demise,” by Pamela Geller in the Washington Times, December 30, 2009.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint argued that if PBS, CPB, and Sesame Street can afford lavish salaries for their executives, then surely they have the money to survive as private, non-commercial broadcasters. (He doesn't even mention how people chipping in $ 25 to "save" shows like Sesame Street might feel misled if they saw the salary numbers.)
PBS President Paula Kerger even recorded a personal television appeal that told viewers exactly how to contact members of Congress in order to "let your representative know how you feel about the elimination of funding for public broadcasting." But if PBS can pay Ms. Kerger $ 632,233 in annual compensation—as reported on the 990 tax forms all nonprofits are required to file—surely it can operate without tax dollars.
The executives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes the taxpayer money allocated for public broadcasting to other stations, are also generously compensated. According to CPB's 2009 tax forms, President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison received $ 298,884 in reportable compensation and another $ 70,630 in other compensation from the organization and related organizations that year. That's practically a pittance compared to Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR, who received more than $ 1.2 million in compensation, according to the tax forms the nonprofit filed in 2009.
Harrison was a wildly controversial choice when she was appointed to the CPB by President Bush in 2005, since she had been co-chair of the Republican National Commitee from 1997 to 2001. Once appointed, she quickly "went native," becoming a fierce protector of the subsidized liberal sandbox. DeMint continued:
Despite how accessible media has become to Americans over the years, funding for CPB has grown considerably. In 2001, the federal government appropriated $ 340 million for CPB. Last year it got $ 420 million. As Congress considers ways to close the $ 1.6 trillion deficit, cutting funding for the CPB has even been proposed by President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission. Instead, Mr. Obama wants to increase CPB's funding to $ 451 million in his latest budget.
Meanwhile, highly successful, brand-name public programs like Sesame Street make millions on their own. "Sesame Street," for example, made more than $ 211 million from toy and consumer product sales from 2003-2006. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $ 956,513 in compensation in 2008. With earnings like that, Big Bird doesn't need the taxpayers to help him compete against the Nickleodeon cable channel's Dora the Explorer.
PS: The sad state of the National Lampoon brand is proven by an attempt by "humorist" Philip Rodney Moon to explore how terrible PBS will get if conservatives defund it, including a show called "Mr. Roger Ailes' Neighborhood."
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint argued that if PBS, CPB, and Sesame Street can afford lavish salaries for their executives, then surely they have the money to survive as private, non-commercial broadcasters. (He doesn't even mention how people chipping in $ 25 to "save" shows like Sesame Street might feel misled if they saw the salary numbers.)
PBS President Paula Kerger even recorded a personal television appeal that told viewers exactly how to contact members of Congress in order to "let your representative know how you feel about the elimination of funding for public broadcasting." But if PBS can pay Ms. Kerger $ 632,233 in annual compensation—as reported on the 990 tax forms all nonprofits are required to file—surely it can operate without tax dollars.
The executives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes the taxpayer money allocated for public broadcasting to other stations, are also generously compensated. According to CPB's 2009 tax forms, President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison received $ 298,884 in reportable compensation and another $ 70,630 in other compensation from the organization and related organizations that year. That's practically a pittance compared to Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR, who received more than $ 1.2 million in compensation, according to the tax forms the nonprofit filed in 2009.
Harrison was a wildly controversial choice when she was appointed to the CPB by President Bush in 2005, since she had been co-chair of the Republican National Commitee from 1997 to 2001. Once appointed, she quickly "went native," becoming a fierce protector of the subsidized liberal sandbox. DeMint continued:
Despite how accessible media has become to Americans over the years, funding for CPB has grown considerably. In 2001, the federal government appropriated $ 340 million for CPB. Last year it got $ 420 million. As Congress considers ways to close the $ 1.6 trillion deficit, cutting funding for the CPB has even been proposed by President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission. Instead, Mr. Obama wants to increase CPB's funding to $ 451 million in his latest budget.
Meanwhile, highly successful, brand-name public programs like Sesame Street make millions on their own. "Sesame Street," for example, made more than $ 211 million from toy and consumer product sales from 2003-2006. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $ 956,513 in compensation in 2008. With earnings like that, Big Bird doesn't need the taxpayers to help him compete against the Nickleodeon cable channel's Dora the Explorer.
PS: The sad state of the National Lampoon brand is proven by an attempt by "humorist" Philip Rodney Moon to explore how terrible PBS will get if conservatives defund it, including a show called "Mr. Roger Ailes' Neighborhood."
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint argued that if PBS, CPB, and Sesame Street can afford lavish salaries for their executives, then surely they have the money to survive as private, non-commercial broadcasters. (He doesn't even mention how people chipping in $ 25 to "save" shows like Sesame Street might feel misled if they saw the salary numbers.)
PBS President Paula Kerger even recorded a personal television appeal that told viewers exactly how to contact members of Congress in order to "let your representative know how you feel about the elimination of funding for public broadcasting." But if PBS can pay Ms. Kerger $ 632,233 in annual compensation—as reported on the 990 tax forms all nonprofits are required to file—surely it can operate without tax dollars.
The executives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes the taxpayer money allocated for public broadcasting to other stations, are also generously compensated. According to CPB's 2009 tax forms, President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison received $ 298,884 in reportable compensation and another $ 70,630 in other compensation from the organization and related organizations that year. That's practically a pittance compared to Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR, who received more than $ 1.2 million in compensation, according to the tax forms the nonprofit filed in 2009.
Harrison was a wildly controversial choice when she was appointed to the CPB by President Bush in 2005, since she had been co-chair of the Republican National Commitee from 1997 to 2001. Once appointed, she quickly "went native," becoming a fierce protector of the subsidized liberal sandbox. DeMint continued:
Despite how accessible media has become to Americans over the years, funding for CPB has grown considerably. In 2001, the federal government appropriated $ 340 million for CPB. Last year it got $ 420 million. As Congress considers ways to close the $ 1.6 trillion deficit, cutting funding for the CPB has even been proposed by President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission. Instead, Mr. Obama wants to increase CPB's funding to $ 451 million in his latest budget.
Meanwhile, highly successful, brand-name public programs like Sesame Street make millions on their own. "Sesame Street," for example, made more than $ 211 million from toy and consumer product sales from 2003-2006. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $ 956,513 in compensation in 2008. With earnings like that, Big Bird doesn't need the taxpayers to help him compete against the Nickleodeon cable channel's Dora the Explorer.
PS: The sad state of the National Lampoon brand is proven by an attempt by "humorist" Philip Rodney Moon to explore how terrible PBS will get if conservatives defund it, including a show called "Mr. Roger Ailes' Neighborhood."
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has been claiming that his budget repair bill — which strips Wisconsin’s public employees of their collective bargaining rights, sparking weeks of protests — must be passed soon because it includes a debt restructuring provision that will save the state $ 165 million. Walker claims that the debt restructuring is necessary to avoid layoffs of state employees.
“If we want to avoid the layoffs that will eventually come at the state and local level, the only way to achieve that” is to pass the bill, Walker said last week. “This is not a threat, this is not a strategy, and this is not a negotiation. The bottom line is that if [the bill is not passed], there are dire consequences,” he added yesterday. He has even gone so far as to issue layoff warnings to some state employees.
However, according to both finance experts and Wisconsin’s own finance director, failure to refinance the state’s debt by Walker’s deadline “doesn’t mean the state is in any kind of immediate fiscal peril”:
The notion that the state needs to refinance the debt because it’s broke and can’t make its debt payments is “completely wrong,” said Mr. Hoadley, the state finance director. “This is about providing relief to the budget situation by rearranging the payments,” over a longer period, he said.
However, there are other ways to address Wisconsin’s current fiscal year budget deficit of $ 137 million other than refinancing the debt, said Joshua Zeitz, municipal finance analyst for MF Global.
This is one more piece of evidence showing that Walker’s assault on public sector unions has little to do with balancing the budget; instead, it’s an attempt to kneecap an ideological opponent. “There’s a good amount of political theater in what you’re seeing,” said municipal credit analyst Tom Kozlik. “With any state, I’d really question whether they are going to fall off a cliff over one budget cycle.”
Of course, if Walker were truly serious about balancing the budget, he would not be proposing a $ 36 million cut in the state’s capital gains tax or a $ 46 million corporate tax cut, on top of the millions of dollars in tax cuts he and the Republican legislature have already approved. As my colleague Zaid Jilani found, Walker could balance his current budget by ending a variety of special interest tax dodging that is occurring in his state.
Boston Globe |
Pacers pull out needed victory vs. Warriors
Indianapolis Star Bill Jones, basketball fan and $ 75-a-month DISH Network subscriber, heads into March Madness with… Old pros like Tom Hanks and Kirk Douglas help ground the Academy Awards telecast. With unpacked boxes piled high in his own office, Bishop-elect … Warriors-Wizards Preview Golden State Warriors fall short on road again, lose to Indiana Pacers Warriors fall to Indiana, skid reaches 4 games |
Yahoo! Sports |
Pacers pull out needed victory
Indianapolis Star Pacers forward Danny Granger drives to the basket during Tuesday's victory. He scored 27 points. / Matt Kryger / The Star Inside: No buyout, so Ford remains with the Pacers. C4 pacers at The Indiana Pacers didn't refer to their 109-100 victory over the … Golden State Warriors fall short on road again, lose to Indiana Pacers Warriors fall to Indiana, skid reaches 4 games Warriors-Wizards Preview |
Monopoly.
The standoff in Wisconsin will stretch into its third week, and the fleebaggers in the state Senate still refuse to return to vote on the bill passed in the Assembly on Friday morning. Legislators say they will remain out of state as long as the bill is on the table, and demand that Governor Scott […]
Robert Krulwich got fooled by the above video (actually just an art project). But, he argues, the prospect of employing bees to find illegal plants isn't so unrealistic:
At first I was irritated by being duped by a news-like video. Then, thinking it over, I got the uncomfortable feeling that Waithe's fantasy doesn't seem all that far-fetched. I'm (vaguely) OK with DNA testing, scent-chasing bloodhounds, police-aiding psychics, but somehow, turning social insects into police intelligence units seems just crazy enough, just do-able enough, just attractive enough to the police, that one day we may have to actually cringe when a bee comes wandering through the kitchen window.
USA Today |
D'Alessandro: No pity needed for Carmelo Anthony, simply a decision
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com By Dave D'Alessandro/Star-Ledger Columnist John Mabanglo/EPACarmelo Anthony was the focus of the media's attention Friday during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. This is always the fun part of the NBA season, the weekend in which fanged and drooling … The options available to Carmelo Anthony Lawrence: Knicks need to give up 'Melo drama, turn to Plan D, as in Dwight Carmelo Anthony Trade Offer From Knicks Includes Danilo Gallinari, Raymond … |
USA Today |
D'Alessandro: No pity needed for Carmelo Anthony, simply a decision
The Star-Ledger – NJ.com By Dave D'Alessandro/Star-Ledger Columnist John Mabanglo/EPACarmelo Anthony was the focus of the media's attention Friday during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. This is always the fun part of the NBA season, the weekend in which fanged and drooling … The options available to Carmelo Anthony Lawrence: Knicks need to give up 'Melo drama, turn to Plan D, as in Dwight Carmelo Anthony Trade Offer From Knicks Includes Danilo Gallinari, Raymond … |
No Comments Needed: For Jer (Jerry Remmers) Resquiescant en Pace, Rest in Peace Good Brother
Jerry Remmers. As a woman in the ‘biz’ so to speak, having the protective wing of brothers and sisters is a blessing, and I mean it. It is s a rare and beautiful thing. The tiny group who play wingman and wingwoman to my work at TMV before and after it sees the light of day, are beyond meaningful to me… and Jer was one. Quick with a compliment, fast to note heart in myself and others.
I spoke with Jer on the phone many times, to give encouragement both before and after he became so ill. Early on, he wrestled with the intricacies of WordPress and would emails ten emails in a row asking for help. So, I’d call him, and in many cases I’d warn him that it was the blind leading the blind… but that I’d try to help him. We did manage to get the mechanics pinned down, spiced by Jer’s ah, baseball cussing. But it didnt bother me because Jer would immediately apologize, saying he forgot he was speaking to a lady, and then turn right around and peel the paint off the walls again. What a precious soul. The privilege was mine.
Later, when Jer was truly ill, he’d send columns by email that he was strong enought to write, but just too weak to post… and Joe G. and I would post them for Jer. Again, our honor.
I had a deal with Jer. As he became more and more ill, he said he didnt want to talk about it incessantly, and having been on deathside twice in my life myself, I understood this. You dont want to jinx what health and time you have left for focusing on the last doorway. So, I said, we could have guiding symbol that we could use as code to not speak about illness, but just to send encouragement daily. So, we worked out that I would say: The rooster has many more sunrises to bring to the world. And Jer would say, Right on.
And we went on that way for weeks. And then. Well, you have already heard the sad news of Jer’s passing. And tonight, here in the midst of spring-yet-winter, in this dark after midnight, I was thinking about something… Long ago, here in the Rockies, they blasted away an entire mountain in order to make a road. When you looked out, you no longer saw the mountain and that was so sad. But you also saw so much more of the sky, and that was gut-beautiful too.
There’s something like that going on with alot of us tonight now that we know Jer’s gone home. He’s through the storm… truly he’s come through the storm and is safe now, on the other side… where I hear they have terrific night baseball Jer.
See you when I see you good brother.
with love,
dr.e
____
nota bene: The photo above is “A Dark Starry Night Wallpaper”
by ~s3vendays at Deviant Art, ©2007-2011
The Moderate Voice