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Working Class Water Supply Threatened by Business Interests
By Michael Boyajian
For hundreds of years European settlers stole from Native Americans while our government gave into demands of land grabbers, gold seekers and business interests until the Native American population was wiped out in what was perhaps the greatest genocide of all time.
Perhaps you are wondering why the state budget would cut municipal aid to New York City to zero, while cutting municipal aid to other areas, including those more affluent than New York City, by very little. It is because need in this state isn’t measured by the need for public services and benefits, which are irrelevant to the rich and a hassle for the political/union complex, which has privileged access to them, to provide to others. What matters is who gets jobs, and who gets sinecures pretending to be jobs. So local government employment in NYC, which was already down sharply since 1990, fell another 13,400 in the year to May according to data released yesterday by the New York State Department of Labor. Local government employment in the rest of the state, which had been up by 130,000 over 20 year, edged down just 3,400 — but public school employment in the rest of the state increased by 3,900. I guess they’ll have to slash New York City’s share of state school aid again, as in the previous two recessions.
Don’t New York City’s public employee unions have any clout? Sure they do, particularly since most of the best paid live outside the city. Far from wanting to keep their jobs, however, most don’t want to work at all. They want to retire early, at 55 instead of 62 for NYC teachers, after 25 years of work rather than 30. Thus you had the biggest fraud of the week, the UFT joining a protest cuts in schools. Guess what — NYC public school spending is going up, but more and more of the money is going to the retired, as a result of the 25/55 pension the UFT managed to grab. Protesting? They should be celebrating the money they will get for providing less and less in return.
Bulls and Bears Prosper, Hogs Do Not
By Michael Boyajian
There once was an adage on Wall Street that served American business well for many years. It went, bulls and bears prosper, hogs do not. The New York Times seems worried by President Obama’s exertion of presidential muscle when dealing with the corporate world. The Times raised concern that perhaps Obama’s actions will scare away these corporations from doing business here.
Sharron Angle proposes curing Harry Reid the same way Yigal Amir cured Yitzhak Rabin. Sharron Angle Floated '2nd Amendment Remedies' As 'Cure' For 'The Harry Reid Problems' www.huffingtonpost.com
Andrea Peyser in Thursday’s NY Post criticizes CNN –
Struggling CNN is moving from its perch as a reliably lefty news source and positioning itself as a carnival sideshow. How else to explain Post reports that the network is close to signing the delusional, hooker-loving ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer as a chat host?
My question to Ms. Peyser – what would she call a newspaper that employs Ashley Dupre as a columnist?
South American Dreams, South American Destiny
By Michael Boyajian
Did you ever feel like you were supposed to carry out some kind of cosmic mission sort of like an involuntary dream that isn’t yours but one that was given to you by someone or something else that is meant for you sort of like a destiny.
From the New York Times: "For decades, New York State’s divorce system has been built on a foundation of winks and falsehoods. If you wanted to split quickly, you and your spouse had to give one of the limited number of allowable reasons — including adultery, cruelty, imprisonment or abandonment — so there was a tendency to pick one out of a hat." So there is no divorce except for a few causes even if both members of a couple agree, right? The title of the article certainly says so.
From deep in the article, near the very bottom: "New York law has long allowed people who agree to a divorce to get one if they both sign a separation agreement and live apart for a year. A new provision could do away with the need for the agreement." That's what the change is. There is no need to lie if both parties agree — and no need to consider the interests of the children either — under current law. The difference is just one spouse could end a marriage unilaterally, and quickly. And that is not what is being presented — even by the New York Times.
Can there be anything more emblematic than the fact that when confronted with a market-based system of regulating carbon emissions, Republicans would instead prefer the heavy hand of government regulation, so the costs would be less apparent? (Actually, that may be unfair to McCain and Graham–most Republicans would prefer we just keep on polluting) Economic Scene – In Cap and Trade, a Risk of Acknowledging Costs – NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37715195
The U.S government can’t force troubled British energy giant BP to defer shareholder dividends or establish an escrow fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNBC Tuesday, noting that any effort by the White House to do so is merely “political posturing.”
http://www.politico.com/politico44/wbarchive/whiteboard06162010.html
DEAL REACHED: BP has agreed to finance a $20 billion escrow fund to pay claims to people who lost income in the Gulf Coast oil spill, an administration source tells POLITICO. Kenneth Feinberg, who was in charge of payments to families of victims of the 9/11 attacks, will oversee the fund..
Reformer Running for New York State Senate Promises Change
By Michael Boyajian
Millbrook Democrat Didi Barrett is running for the New York State senate in a Hudson Valley district that includes Dutchess and Columbia counties. She is running against an entrenched incumbent who symbolizes all that is wrong with Albany and she is calling for change.