They have written for themselves essentially the same sort of complicated bond deal that created this mess. The public is also intentionally left out of the loop, and is not asked to understand or participate.
Tag: featured
Detroit is bankrupt – will Philadelphia follow?
In some ways, Philadelphia is like Detroit. Both had thriving manufacturing sectors that disappeared. Both suffered huge outflows of households to the suburbs. Philadelphia, once the nation’s third-largest city, has lost 25 percent of its population and is now the fifth-largest city. Detroit lost more than 40 percent of its residents and is now just the 18th largest.
The Montgomery County official at center of same-sex license fray
Hanes, along with the clerks in Philadelphia and Chester Counties, argued that it was inappropriate to ask those questions or deny self-uniting licenses to non-Quakers. He told The Inquirer, “I’m elected to carry out the law evenly, not interpret the law to suit my beliefs.”
Have the suburbs hit a dead end?
Gallagher: The suburbs were a great idea that worked really well for a long time, but they overshot their mandate. We supersized everything in a way that led many people to live far away from where they needed to be and far away from their neighbors, and that has far-reaching implications, no pun intended.
Keep your eyes open in Harrisburg debt deal
AGM’s record demonstrates its “take no prisoners” approach to debt reduction. It will likely never consent to reducing the principal amount it is owed. It challenged Stockton’s right to file for municipal bankruptcy, because it feared that city’s debt to its state retirement system might get priority over it; a federal court dismissed its challenge.
U. S. Estimate for a New Hip: Over $78,000. The Belgian Bill: $13,660
NEW YORK TIMES: “ …An artificial hip, however, costs only about $350 to manufacture in the United States, according to Dr. Blair Rhode, an orthopedist and entrepreneur whose company is developing generic implants.
LANCASTER SUNDAY NEWS
“According to U.S. News & World Report, the total cost of a four-year degree by the time my youngest goes to college, assuming he does, will top $200,000. Where’s that coming from? Well, maybe he’ll be even better at baseball than his older brother.”
On artificial life and spider silk
“…a method for producing spider silk has been developed by genetic engineers who insert genes from orb-making spiders into goats which then secrete the spider silk – along with milk – from their udders. Spider silk is incredibly useful because it is both elastic and five times stronger than steel by weight. The spiders themselves cannot be farmed because of their antisocial, cannibalistic nature. But the insertion of their silk-producing genes in the goats allows not only a larger volume of spider silk to be produced, but also allows the farming of the goats.
Iran’s President Puts New Focus on the Economy
NEW YORK TIMES: Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, vowed Saturday to work with the outside world to lift the “oppressive sanctions” crippling the Iranian economy, as he received the official backing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a ceremony marking the start of his presidential term…
Canada Liberal Party Leader Says Legalize Marijuana
CHRONICLE: Canada’s opposition Liberal Party head Justin Trudeau has called for the legalization of marijuana, putting himself and his party on a collision course with the ruling Conservatives ahead of 2015 elections. Trudeau’s stand also differentiates the Liberals from the New Democratic Party (NDP), which has been the progressive party on drug reform, but which only calls for decriminalization.
New York Times Company Sells Boston Globe for billion dollar loss
Like most newspapers, The Globe has struggled to hold onto its readers and the print advertisers who fed its profits for decades. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, circulation at The Globe from Monday through Friday declined 38 percent in 2013 from 2003, to 245,572 from 402,423. Before the Times Company bought The Globe in 1993, The Globe had a weekday circulation of 506,996.
Florida To Hold ‘Stand Your Ground’ Hearings
REUTERS: Florida lawmakers will hold hearings this fall on the state’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, which has become a lightning rod for criticism following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.
New Rule at N.F.L.’s Camps: No Tackling. It’s Just Practice.
As 32 N.F.L. teams opened their camps, the new practice model virtually prohibits tackling and tolerates only nominal full-scale contact between the players, often no more than five minutes a week…
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS
“Under terms of the deal, which is still being hammered out, the city’s parking assets would be leased to the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority, also known by its acronym PEDFA, which is a component of the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development. PEDFA, in turn, would partner with the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation, known locally as CREDC, as a local non-profit entity to oversee management and maintenance of the assets. CREDC would then subcontract management and maintenance to the private firms interested in the deal: Chicago-based Standard Parking, which would serve as parking operator, and Boston-based AEW Capital Management, which would serve as property manager…