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Alan Gin's USD Leading Indicators of San Diego Economy Continue Plunging
At least there's one group that's doing fantastic in this downturn...City of San Diego employees: http://voiceofsandiego.org/pdf/08demaio020309.pdf Look at all those people earning over $100k, accruing fancy benefits, and a posh pension. With the help of their politically powerful unions, they even get to pick their own bosses. Too bad they're so frequently incompetent or indifferent that we get boondoggles like the over cost and over schedule ERP system. Whoopie! Hurray for City employees! Too bad about the rest of us...— February 4, 2009 5:31 a.m.
Michael Phelps -- 8 Gold Medals, 2 Drug Busts
I'd not call Radley Balko lame. There's a reason why his blog www.theagitator.com has caught fire...he's doing great work there. I think you missed the point. Your going off on Phelps is ridiculous. You're not outraged in the least. In fact, you agree that this is a non-story. So why jump on the bandwagon? Instead, you could have taken the opportunity to state your views: 1. Marijuana should be legalized. 2. Kids shouldn't be exposed to adults acting stupid, whether with drugs, booze, or goats... Is that a fair statement? Certainly, it's not true to say that Josh Board is outraged over some 23 year old smoking pot.— February 3, 2009 11:40 a.m.
Michael Phelps -- 8 Gold Medals, 2 Drug Busts
Josh, your faux outrage isn't very convincing. After all, when you write about bogarting bongs, you've given away your own intimate experience with the subject. Time for all of us to grow up. If the winner of a gazillion gold medals also happens to smoke pot, maybe it's not the big bad evil drug the government claims. How many parties have you crashed now, Josh? At some of those parties, you've noted attendees openly smoking marijuana. Did any of those pot smokers cause problems? Did they get nasty and start fights? Were they puking on the host's petunias? No? So what are you jumping on Phelps for? From the ending of your article, it might be assumed that had you the good fortune to crash one of his parties, you'd not only marvel at his enormous lung capacity, but eagerly pack a bowl for yourself. I got no problem with that, Josh. Phelps is doing the same thing that the last three Presidents did, what 40% of Americans admit they've done at least once, and what human kind has been doing since the dawn of time. The outrage shouldn't be about a successful young athlete smoking a bit of pot at a party -- the outrage should be about the fact that not so successful black kids doing the exact same thing can get a boot on the throat, thrown in jail, denied education or work, and stigmatized for life. Seriously, let's grow up. This is stupid. In a time of economic melt-down, can we really afford the estimated $50 Billion price tag for being hypocritical scolds? Read Radley Balko's latest on this subject...he says it far better and backs it up with lots of links: http://www.reason.com/news/show/131438.html— February 3, 2009 7:53 a.m.
Change We Can’t Believe In
Current city leadership counts on the fact that their work is done out of the public view. It allows them to continue their mismanagement of the city. Yet even if you can get off work, find parking, pass the metal detectors, ride the elevator to the council chambers, you'll be wasting your time and money. It's not a place to participate in any meaningful way with our city's governance. Sure, you're "allowed" to fill-out a speaker card, either in favor or against an agenda item, wait quietly for your name to be called, and speak for all of two minutes. You can say whatever you want, even sing songs or quote from the Bible if you like. Rarely, you might even contribute crucial information for the council's consideration before they vote. It doesn't matter. You'll be studiously ignored regardless of what you do. ...and then they'll vote exactly how they planned to vote all along. Nothing is ever presented to the public until it's already been decided. Any effort to change the rules is met with stiff opposition. Members of the public are held in utter scorn by those we employ at 202 C Street. That Gloria, Hueso, Faulconer, and Young all collaborated to continue the shameful tradition of ignoring the very people who elected them to office is no surprise. All these former staffers are themselves products of the culture of corruption festering downtown for the last two decades.— February 2, 2009 6:45 a.m.
President-elect Obama wants to toss in another trillion bucks soon
Re: 7 and 8, I'm gratified that my artwork is appreciated. Inflation vs. Deflation: I see asset price deflation coupled with consumer price inflation, which with falling or stagnant incomes is going to squeeze the middle and lower classes very hard. As Don points our, 70% of our economy is the equivalent of "taking in each other's laundry". Most of our nation's work doesn't really "make" anything...we're paid for being in the middle. Those industries that DO produce real tangible goods that the rest of the world wants to buy should do well...except for one major problem. The Fed and Treasury is borrowing other country's savings in a vain effort to re-inflate our domestic consumption bubble. So our foreign friends and trading partners don't have the available money, or a stable enough currency, to buy our real goods. So, if you want a global macro-economic stimulus try this strategy: Lend $850 Billion to OTHER nations so they can use it to stabilize our currencies and buy what we produce. Best, Fred— February 2, 2009 6:33 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
600, here we come!— January 27, 2009 3:53 p.m.
Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It
No, BrianBaxter, these oh-so-very-clever city officials are going to eradicate the horrible drug menace NO MATTER WHAT! Accordingly, apples, empty beverage cans, aluminum foil and toilet paper rolls are now all illegal. After all, anything that people might use to get high must be made illegal...right?— January 27, 2009 noon
Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It
This "War on Bongs" is ridiculous...and counter productive too. see: http://www.reason.com/news/show/130844.html Just because these dorks want to prevent people from getting high...(too often with the death penalty), they've unleashed a pandora's box of problems. see: http://reason.com/news/show/131131.html In an economic crisis, why are we still wasting our time, and destroying ourselves, with this pointless attack on those who use proscribed intoxicants? Let's stop.— January 27, 2009 9:27 a.m.
Upgrading a Grade School
Johnny, don't be quite so hasty. There's certainly some networking involved, projectors are expensive (but really worth it when teaching or making a presentation), and they've probably also included the costs for software licenses, support and maintenance. If the school is buying it, that adds more to the costs because they can usually only get stuff from pre-approved vendors. I recently did an estimate on equipping a similar classroom environment for technical training, so while the school's price is on the high end, it's not unreasonable. If the school is buying Macs, then the price they're getting is quite good. Remember, while you or I could buy refurbished XP boxes, the school district probably requires by policy that they buy better and newer equipment. So while you're making the point that equipment can be had for less, it's not apples to apples in this case. Besides, I'm a fan of classrooms equipped with computers. It's a better investment than many other things our schools spend money on. Best, Fred— January 23, 2009 5:25 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
To round out this (finally) expiring thread, here's today's Economist with a depressingly familiar story: “The big-picture problem for Illinois has nothing to do with markets,” explains William Atwood, director of the state board of investments. “It has to do with policymakers’ decisions to allocate money to places other than pensions.” After years of starving its retirement systems, in 1995 the state adopted a plan to ensure that its ratio of assets to liabilities reached 90% by 2045. But this was scuppered by generous new benefits for workers and lax payments to the funds themselves. Meagre returns have not helped. Source: http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displ…— January 23, 2009 4:43 p.m.