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A new $2,500 car?? Check it out at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/All_eyes_on_Tatas_Rs_1_lakh_car/articleshow/2681795.cms
Yup.? Here comes Asia's NEXT car manufacturers.? Detroit... be scared.
This is Tyler Cowen of George Mason University.? He's evidently a professor of economics.? Rather than be crude, lets just say that this guy should be forced to return his PhD to whomever granted it.? I cannot with any conventional computer count the amount of complete falsehoods, illogical conclusions, and travesties of liberty in his piece below on charging people to drive in Manhattan.? I actually listened to this in my car, and loudly screamed "No, no, no, no, no, no!" as he rattled off his praise of charging people to drive in Manhattan, and the LUDICROUS cause and effect relationships that would result.? I'll leave you to judge for yourself...
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KAI RYSSDAL: You can get a fancy gadget to tell you where the heavy traffic is, but it can't get rid of the traffic jam itself. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a plan to do that. He wants to charge drivers a fee to tool around Manhattan's central business district at peak hours. Later this month something called the New York State Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission will begin discussing the mayor's proposal. Commentator Tyler Cowen says congestion pricing on the roads could solve some other problems, too.
TYLER COWEN: Traffic and the housing market are two of America's biggest messes. But we could improve both problems at the same time. As it stands, it's estimated that American traffic jams waste $78 billion a year in time and fuel.
The best way to cut down on traffic is to make people pay for the right to drive at rush hour. If people have to pay a price, they will cut out their non-essential trips or shift them into other time slots. So far as mechanics go, toll booths are a waste of time, so let's enforce a sticker system or bill people with electronic sensors, as they do in Singapore.
London now uses rush-hour pricing, and initially skeptical Londoners have largely been won over to the idea. Singapore, the pioneer in charging for road use, is one of the few major cities in Asia without regular gridlock.
Road pricing sounds unfair to a lot of people because they think that only the rich can afford to pay the tolls. The current reality is that many people have two-hour commutes each way, and that's even more unfair. Let's not forget that lots of people would rather have more time than more money, and pricing the rush-hour commute would give them that: More time to look for bargains; more times to spend with their families; and more time to enjoy the pace of life.
Cutting down on traffic also would help our troubled real estate market. It would be easier to buy a home further away from town, again because commutes would be shorter. This would help many home prices and give us more residential choice.
And if you are worried about global warming, or the government's budget deficit, road pricing will help these problems too. If you make something free, there's not going to be enough of it. Don't think that roads are any different. When it comes to rush-hour pricing, let's just do it.
RYSSDAL: Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University. His latest book is called "Discover Your Inner Economist."
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This guy gets it.? And he donated to an organization whos beliefs do not correspond to his, because he SO STRONGLY believes that the govt cant do the job on education.? BRAVO!
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Alms wide open
Self-avowed atheist ponies up $22.5M to help out Catholic schools
BY JENS DANA and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Thursday, May 24th 2007, 4:00 AM
The wealthy philanthropist who gave $22.5 million to help Catholic schools doesn't think much of theology - in fact, he's an atheist.
But even though Robert Wilson doesn't believe in God, he does believe in giving poor kids a chance at a quality education.
"I am an atheist, [but] it's far more than about religion," said Robert Wilson, who was raised as an Episcopalian. "It's about getting an education. The donation has nothing to do with religion."
The statement didn't exactly sit well with Edward Cardinal Egan, who joked that Wilson might need a bit of an education himself about what goes on in Catholic schools.
"Mr. Wilson and I are going to [be] spending a lot of time together," Egan quipped.
The donation - the biggest in Archdiocese of New York history - will help 3,000 kids from poor families pay for Catholic schools in New York City during the next five years.
Wilson, 80, suggested he would have considered supporting public education, but wanted to sink his money into what he considers a higher-quality school system.
The former Wall Street investor, who is listed among BusinessWeek's "50 Most Generous Philanthropists," blamed the teachers union for crippling public schools with what he termed selfish and greedy demands.
"They oppose any effort to help private schools," said Wilson, who usually shuns the limelight. "They've opposed any kind of help to the Roman Catholic system."
Wilson's broadside drew howls from the United Federation of Teachers, which charged the gift was "tainted" because he dissed city teachers. "They should be celebrated, not excoriated," said UFT boss Randi Weingarten.
Wilson decided to give so generously after hearing that many seats in Catholic schools go unfilled because parents of deserving kids can't afford the cost.
Another Wall Street titan, who asked to remain anonymous, chipped in $4.5 million after hearing of Wilson's donation.
The two gifts put the Cardinal's Scholarship Program at $97million toward a $158 million goal of providing scholarships toneedy elementary school children.
Most parents of Catholic schoolkids were surprised that an atheist wanted to help church schools, but they were thankful for the un-Godly giver.
"He must believe in something," said Freddy Pilar, 44, of Queens.
Just when you thought the mayors race couldnt get more rediculous!
PHILADELPHIA - The brother of Mayor John F. Street plans to mount a mayoral bid, despite legal woes and questions about his residency.
A judge last year barred T. Milton Street Sr. from running for the Pennsylvania Legislature after finding that he lived in New Jersey. And he was indicted in November over $2 million in questionable airport consulting fees he allegedly failed to report on his tax returns.
Milton Street - whose many incarnations include stints as a hot-dog vendor, community activist, state senator and duck-boat tour operator - said he has kept mum during his brother's seven years in office.
"I stepped back and allowed John Street to administrate and run this city the way he thought without me confusing things," he told KYW-AM during a stop Thursday in City Hall.
If he files candidacy papers, Milton Street would join a crowded field of Democratic candidates who hope to succeed his brother next year.
Milton Street served one term each in the state House and Senate more than 20 years ago.
His trial on federal charges is set for May 14. Street, who has recently lived at least part-time in Moorestown, N.J., has pleaded not guilty.
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Christopher Preble, director of foreign policy studies
In his State of the Union address, President Bush asked Congress to authorize an expansion of the active duty Army and the Marine Corps by a total of 92,000 troops over a five year period. He characterized this significant increase as a necessary first step toward achieving victory in the global struggle against terrorism.
It is a curious assertion. A larger military is essentially irrelevant to fighting al Qaeda and other extremist groups bent on terrorizing American citizens. The most successful counter-terrorism operations rely on timely intelligence, and effective cooperation with foreign militaries and law enforcement agencies. Even when military assets are instrumental -- as in the bombing that killed Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in Iraq -- such strikes were made possible by timely intelligence derived from non-military sources.
No one disputes that our military is stressed. The problems actually began well before 9/11, but these stresses have certainly grown more acute as the war in Iraq has dragged on. But adding tens of thousands of troops doesn't answer basic questions about how they will be used in the future.
The near-term solution to our personnel problems is to bring our troops home from Iraq. The long-term solution is a reappraisal of our strategy for fighting terrorism and a realization that our large and powerful military is only one component of many in what the president correctly called "a generational struggle that will continue" for many years.
As if the AMT is not enough of an outrage, now the faux conservative in charge wants to tax my employers health insurance cost for me and give the money away.
Tax and spend Democrats?? I better never hear THAT again.? Theyre ALL culpable.
"WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's proposed health-insurance plan will raise taxes while helping only a few people, and may eviscerate existing coverage, critics said on Wednesday.
Bush, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, proposed taxing many employer-sponsored health plans and giving tax breaks to people who want to buy insurance as individuals, as a way to give more Americans access to health insurance."
"Mr. Bush did get a word of support from the former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, one of the 2008 Republican presidential hopefuls.
``I believe we should give the President the support to do this. I want us to be successful in Iraq,'' he said on Wednesday on NBC television's ``Today'' show. ``I know how important it is to the overall war on terror. Success in Iraq means a more peaceful world for America, it means a victory against terrorists. Failure in Iraq means a big defeat against terrorists and the war on terror is going to be tougher for us.'' "
How the heck can the government sieze land this way??
Last year, the Philadelphia Gas Works quietly handed out $500,000 in bonus money to most of its 55 top officials, including payouts equal to 18 percent of some of its most senior execs' pay.
PGW is preparing to ask for what surely will be a contentious base-rate hike of as much as $100 million, and the bonuses were not disclosed until recently to the city's Gas Commission - or at all to City Council. Council President Anna Verna learned of the company's executive-bonus program only yesterday.
PGW President Thomas Knudsen, whose salary of $320,000 was supplemented with an 8.6 percent or $27,500 bonus, said the increases were linked to the company's improved fiscal condition and the need to retain talented people who made the beginnings of a turnaround possible.
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This mornings ABC radio news had an item where it said the government will soon mandate stability control in all passenger cars.? "Some say its the most important advance in cars since the seatbelt".? Um, who are "some", doesnt everyone see this is a scare tactic to have the public support the position and for goodness sakes stability control is NOT something that should be mandated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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(*ARG!!!!!!!*)