R. F.: It is disingenuous of the government to tell impoverished local governments to finance social programs through the introduction of new taxes. Exactly what are they supposed to tax that would not result in greater unemployment or deeper poverty?
Who are the winners and losers in the PSU/NCAA settlement?
LOSER: Mark Emmert and the NCAA: What few teeth the NCAA had left have effectively been pulled with news of the settlement agreement. The athletic governing body can now return to its seemingly full-time occupation of defending itself against criticism that it helps large universities exploit athletes’ talent for little or no recompense in return…
On Gil Smart’s “Where liberty equals libertinism, expect a backlash”
What we can see from our long years but may not yet be apparent to Smart, is that as a nation we have largely come to terms with the whirlwind of changes.
Obama’s budget proposal will take aim at the wealthy
WASHINGTON POST: President Obama plans to propose raising $320 billion over the next 10 years in new taxes targeting wealthy individuals and big financial institutions to pay for new programs designed to help lower- and middle-income families, senior administration officials said Saturday. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama will propose raising […]
Does Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” portray rape?
Rocky entices Adrian into his apartment on their first date, he physically bars her exit despite her ongoing requests to leave, he kisses her over her initial resistance, they sink together to the floor and sexual intercourse is implied by the scene and seemingly verified by the later story line.
More Than Half Of American Schoolchildren Now Live In Poverty
Eligibility for free or subsidized lunch for students from low-income households serves as a proxy for gauging poverty, says the foundation, which advocates education equity for students in the South.
Even the New York Times doesn’t have Paterno story right
A caption under a from page photo reads “A statue of Penn State coach Joe Paterno was removed in 2012, the year he died amid a scandal over an asssistant’s sexual abuse.” Jerry Sandusky had not been an assistant coach for years. Rather, at the time of the incident, he was a retired faculty member […]
2014 Breaks Heat Record, Challenging Global Warming Skeptics
NEW YORK TIMES: Last year was the hottest on earth since record-keeping began in 1880, scientists reported on Friday, underscoring warnings about the risks of runaway greenhouse gas emissions and undermining claims by climate changecontrarians that global warming had somehow stopped. Extreme heat blanketed Alaska and much of the western United States last year. Records […]
Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police
Holder’s action represents the most sweeping check on police power to confiscate personal property since the seizures began three decades ago as part of the war on drugs.
NCAA damned with faint praise
The following is from “NCAA agrees to restore Paterno wins, restructure fine” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Penn State’s board of trustees, in a rare unanimous vote, supported the deal. Key to that decision was that the university did not acknowledge the NCAA’s right to impose the sanctions, said alumni-elected trustee Anthony Lubrano, a Glenmoore businessman. […]
NEWSLANC on August 8, 2012: Does NCAA have authority to “kill” Penn State football?
It is not clear to us that the NCAA had the power to “kill” any athletic program and, if it does, the process and safeguards would have made it extremely unlikely under the current circumstances.
Capitolwire: NCAA agrees to repeal consent decree against Penn State.
A statement from the Paterno family says the “repeal of the consent decree and the return of the wins to the University and Joe Paterno confirm that the NCAA and the Board of Trustees acted prematurely and irresponsibly in the unprecedented sanctions that NCAA imposed on the University, the players, coaches and the community.”
US inflation fall complicates Fed’s rate decision
FINANCIAL TIMES: US consumer prices had their biggest monthly fall in six years in December, complicating the Federal Reserve’s deliberations over the timing of an interest rate rise. The consumer price index dropped 0.4 per cent, the biggest one-month decline since December 2008, pulled lower by plunging energy costs, the Department of Labor said. The […]
JPMorgan Chase Chief Says ‘Banks Are Under Assault’
NEW YORK TIMES: ….As JPMorgan Chase reported sluggish earnings and potential new legal costs on Wednesday, its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, lashed out at regulators and analysts, including some who are calling for the breakup of what is the nation’s largest bank. “Banks are under assault,” Mr. Dimon said in the call with reporters. “In […]