Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
May 1, 2013
[font size="1"]L train plods through Brooklyn. (Genial23/flickr) [/font]
Storm Sandy caused an almost 30 percent increase in subway delays during the first three months of 2013. That expected finding comes from a Straphangers Campaign study of electronic alerts by the New York MTA. But the study also found that the problems weren't just storm-related: subway delays were up by 10 percent last year in the ten months before Sandy.
The F train had the most delays, accounting for 8 percent of the 2,669 alerts issued for 20 subway lines. (Shuttle trains were not counted.) The largest increase in delays -- 60 percent -- occurred on the L train. The most improved line was the much-maligned G, which had 19 percent fewer delay alerts in the ten months before Sandy than during the same period in the previous year.
The study only counted alerts about what it termed controllable delays, such as mechanical breakdowns; it didn't count uncontrollable delays, such as police actions and sick passengers. The MTA deems a delay worthy of an alert if passenger service is disrupted for 8 minutes or more.
The MTA got most of the subway system back up and running a few weeks after Sandy struck in late October. But officials have warned that salt water may have rendered some electrical components less reliable, even after they'd been cleaned. That might explain the increase in delay alerts during the first three months of this year. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/may/01/nyc-subway-delays-last-year-even-sandy/
NYC Subway Delays Up Last Year, Even Before Sandy
[font size="1"]L train plods through Brooklyn. (Genial23/flickr) [/font]
Storm Sandy caused an almost 30 percent increase in subway delays during the first three months of 2013. That expected finding comes from a Straphangers Campaign study of electronic alerts by the New York MTA. But the study also found that the problems weren't just storm-related: subway delays were up by 10 percent last year in the ten months before Sandy.
The F train had the most delays, accounting for 8 percent of the 2,669 alerts issued for 20 subway lines. (Shuttle trains were not counted.) The largest increase in delays -- 60 percent -- occurred on the L train. The most improved line was the much-maligned G, which had 19 percent fewer delay alerts in the ten months before Sandy than during the same period in the previous year.
The study only counted alerts about what it termed controllable delays, such as mechanical breakdowns; it didn't count uncontrollable delays, such as police actions and sick passengers. The MTA deems a delay worthy of an alert if passenger service is disrupted for 8 minutes or more.
The MTA got most of the subway system back up and running a few weeks after Sandy struck in late October. But officials have warned that salt water may have rendered some electrical components less reliable, even after they'd been cleaned. That might explain the increase in delay alerts during the first three months of this year. ...............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/may/01/nyc-subway-delays-last-year-even-sandy/
May 1, 2013
[font size="1"]A D.C. Streetcar (Martin Di Caro)[/font]
The last time a streetcar ran in D.C. was 1962, but on Wednesday, city officials welcomed them back.
Three streetcars are being delivered to the city this week for testing. Standing at 66 feet long and eight feet wide, each streetcar can fit 157 people—more than a standard Metro rail car.
Speaking at a press conference, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said the goal was have the H St/Benning line operational by the end of this year.
And to drum up ridership, fares could be free for a while. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/may/01/dcs-first-streetcars-roll-testing-mayor-mulls-free-fares/
D.C.'s First Streetcars Roll in For Testing
[font size="1"]A D.C. Streetcar (Martin Di Caro)[/font]
The last time a streetcar ran in D.C. was 1962, but on Wednesday, city officials welcomed them back.
Three streetcars are being delivered to the city this week for testing. Standing at 66 feet long and eight feet wide, each streetcar can fit 157 people—more than a standard Metro rail car.
Speaking at a press conference, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said the goal was have the H St/Benning line operational by the end of this year.
And to drum up ridership, fares could be free for a while. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/may/01/dcs-first-streetcars-roll-testing-mayor-mulls-free-fares/
May 1, 2013
(Bloomberg) A Chinese research scientist suspected of spying on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration --- and pulled from a plane in March as he was about to depart for China -- is set to plead to a misdemeanor charge of violating agency computer rules.
Bo Jiang, who was indicted March 20 for allegedly making false statements to the U.S., was charged yesterday in a separate criminal information in federal court in Newport News, Virginia. Jiang unlawfully downloaded copyrighted movies and sexually explicit films onto his NASA laptop, according to the court filing. A plea hearing is set for tomorrow.
Along with the misdemeanor, the government said it had resolved the false statements case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg said in a filing today.
At the time of his arrest in March, Jiang was under federal investigation at NASA’s request for a possible conspiracy involving violations of the Arms Export Control Act, according to an FBI affidavit. Prosecutors said in court papers on April 2 that they were trying to determine whether Jiang had taken, or was seeking to take, “secret, confidential or classified information” to China. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-01/chinese-nasa-spy-suspect-to-plead-to-computer-rule-charge.html
U.S. finds porn, not top secret information, on suspected Chinese spy's laptop
(Bloomberg) A Chinese research scientist suspected of spying on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration --- and pulled from a plane in March as he was about to depart for China -- is set to plead to a misdemeanor charge of violating agency computer rules.
Bo Jiang, who was indicted March 20 for allegedly making false statements to the U.S., was charged yesterday in a separate criminal information in federal court in Newport News, Virginia. Jiang unlawfully downloaded copyrighted movies and sexually explicit films onto his NASA laptop, according to the court filing. A plea hearing is set for tomorrow.
Along with the misdemeanor, the government said it had resolved the false statements case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg said in a filing today.
At the time of his arrest in March, Jiang was under federal investigation at NASA’s request for a possible conspiracy involving violations of the Arms Export Control Act, according to an FBI affidavit. Prosecutors said in court papers on April 2 that they were trying to determine whether Jiang had taken, or was seeking to take, “secret, confidential or classified information” to China. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-01/chinese-nasa-spy-suspect-to-plead-to-computer-rule-charge.html
May 1, 2013
from In These Times:
Lean Socialist
Why liberalism needs socialism–and vice versa.
BY Bhaskar Sunkara
He wasn’t a household name, but for the last half of the 20th century Michael Harrington was the most prominent socialist in the United States. International leaders like Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme said that if Harrington were European, he’d be a head of state—rather than simply a regular on late-night C-Span. William F. Buckley was more dismissive, noting, “Being called America’s foremost socialist is like being the tallest building in Topeka, Kansas.”
Since Harrington’s death in 1989, the decline of an already small American socialist movement has been even more pronounced. With even the most tepid forms of “liberalism” on the retreat in the United States, and something as economically rational as single-payer healthcare off the agenda entirely, more radical policies seem like the stuff of fantasy. Sure, socialism has its holdouts, but the truly committed domestic socialists now number in the thousands, not the millions. Much as Star Trek nerds make their pilgrimage to Trekkie conventions, this cadre flocks to Left Forum in New York City every year for heated arguments over this or that piece of sectarian esoterica.
The American democratic socialist movement today is marked by both a corrosive internal culture and absolute organizational disarray. When socialists do have impact it’s behind the veil of liberal-left groups, such as Progressive Democrats of America. For the most part, the “S-word” is seen as a liability and is kept hidden from sight. Aside from as a right-wing scare tactic, it goes without saying that socialism has no place within the mainstream American political landscape.
But despite this gloomy picture, there are signs that the cause may not be lost. A Pew poll last year found that more young Americans were favorably disposed to socialism than to capitalism. Even some of the more maligned aspects of Occupy activism pointed toward an underlying radicalism. The yearning for a more just economy seen in Zuccotti Park’s soup kitchen, or the thirst for deeper democracy embodied by Occupy Wall Street’s General Assemblies, represented profound aspirations, if only fleetingly realized. Members of a generation that came of age politically after the Cold War may not claim the label of “socialist,” but they don’t associate it with gulags and military parades, either. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/14873/lean_socialist/
Lean Socialist: Why liberalism needs socialism–and vice versa
from In These Times:
Lean Socialist
Why liberalism needs socialism–and vice versa.
BY Bhaskar Sunkara
He wasn’t a household name, but for the last half of the 20th century Michael Harrington was the most prominent socialist in the United States. International leaders like Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme said that if Harrington were European, he’d be a head of state—rather than simply a regular on late-night C-Span. William F. Buckley was more dismissive, noting, “Being called America’s foremost socialist is like being the tallest building in Topeka, Kansas.”
Since Harrington’s death in 1989, the decline of an already small American socialist movement has been even more pronounced. With even the most tepid forms of “liberalism” on the retreat in the United States, and something as economically rational as single-payer healthcare off the agenda entirely, more radical policies seem like the stuff of fantasy. Sure, socialism has its holdouts, but the truly committed domestic socialists now number in the thousands, not the millions. Much as Star Trek nerds make their pilgrimage to Trekkie conventions, this cadre flocks to Left Forum in New York City every year for heated arguments over this or that piece of sectarian esoterica.
The American democratic socialist movement today is marked by both a corrosive internal culture and absolute organizational disarray. When socialists do have impact it’s behind the veil of liberal-left groups, such as Progressive Democrats of America. For the most part, the “S-word” is seen as a liability and is kept hidden from sight. Aside from as a right-wing scare tactic, it goes without saying that socialism has no place within the mainstream American political landscape.
But despite this gloomy picture, there are signs that the cause may not be lost. A Pew poll last year found that more young Americans were favorably disposed to socialism than to capitalism. Even some of the more maligned aspects of Occupy activism pointed toward an underlying radicalism. The yearning for a more just economy seen in Zuccotti Park’s soup kitchen, or the thirst for deeper democracy embodied by Occupy Wall Street’s General Assemblies, represented profound aspirations, if only fleetingly realized. Members of a generation that came of age politically after the Cold War may not claim the label of “socialist,” but they don’t associate it with gulags and military parades, either. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/14873/lean_socialist/
May 1, 2013
Published on May 1, 2013
Ten years ago the United States declared victory in Iraq. However the war-torn country slides into a civil war as violence and tensions grow. More than 200 people have been killed in Iraq in less than a week. RT's Gayane Chichakyan looks at Iraq war legacy and why US prefers ignoring the regrets.
Mission Not Accomplished: Violence after Bush's victory tears Iraq apart 10 yrs on
Published on May 1, 2013
Ten years ago the United States declared victory in Iraq. However the war-torn country slides into a civil war as violence and tensions grow. More than 200 people have been killed in Iraq in less than a week. RT's Gayane Chichakyan looks at Iraq war legacy and why US prefers ignoring the regrets.
May 1, 2013
(The New York Times) WASHINGTON — Wall Street bankers and some of the world’s top finance ministers are waging a bitter international campaign to block Washington financial regulators from extending their policing powers far beyond the nation’s shores.
The effort — centered on oversight of the $700 trillion marketplace of the financial instruments known as derivatives — is just one front in the battle still being waged nearly three years after Congress passed the Dodd-Frank law, which revamped financial regulations in the United States in hopes of curtailing the risky trading practices blamed for the global financial crisis in 2008.
Industry players have spent tens of millions of dollars to avert, delay or weaken new rules that are being drafted as part of the law. Members of Congress from both parties have joined in the effort, directed at an obscure but increasingly powerful agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has written and must approve some of the most contentious provisions.
Banks and overseas regulators are resisting an agency proposal, intended to go into full effect as early as mid-July, that would require overseas offices of American-based banks, foreign institutions and hedge funds to turn over information on foreign trades if they involve United States customers, or are guaranteed by a financial institution with American ties, requirements that the industry calls redundant and excessive. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/business/banks-criticize-strict-controls-for-foreign-bets.html?_r=0&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1367441499-x9TKwDXZz7F6+x/i98KMpQ
Banksters rail against attempts to regulate the global casino
(The New York Times) WASHINGTON — Wall Street bankers and some of the world’s top finance ministers are waging a bitter international campaign to block Washington financial regulators from extending their policing powers far beyond the nation’s shores.
The effort — centered on oversight of the $700 trillion marketplace of the financial instruments known as derivatives — is just one front in the battle still being waged nearly three years after Congress passed the Dodd-Frank law, which revamped financial regulations in the United States in hopes of curtailing the risky trading practices blamed for the global financial crisis in 2008.
Industry players have spent tens of millions of dollars to avert, delay or weaken new rules that are being drafted as part of the law. Members of Congress from both parties have joined in the effort, directed at an obscure but increasingly powerful agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has written and must approve some of the most contentious provisions.
Banks and overseas regulators are resisting an agency proposal, intended to go into full effect as early as mid-July, that would require overseas offices of American-based banks, foreign institutions and hedge funds to turn over information on foreign trades if they involve United States customers, or are guaranteed by a financial institution with American ties, requirements that the industry calls redundant and excessive. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/business/banks-criticize-strict-controls-for-foreign-bets.html?_r=0&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1367441499-x9TKwDXZz7F6+x/i98KMpQ
May 1, 2013
Bail-Out Is Out, Bail-In Is In
Posted on Apr 30, 2013
By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt
This piece first appeared at Web of Debt.
The crossing of the Rubicon into the confiscation of depositor funds was not a one-off emergency measure limited to Cyprus. Similar “bail-in” policies are now appearing in multiple countries. (See my earlier articles here.) What triggered the new rules may have been a series of game-changing events including the refusal of Iceland to bail out its banks and their depositors; Bank of America’s commingling of its ominously risky derivatives arm with its depository arm over the objections of the FDIC; and the fact that most EU banks are now insolvent. A crisis in a major nation such as Spain or Italy could lead to a chain of defaults beyond anyone’s control, and beyond the ability of federal deposit insurance schemes to reimburse depositors.
The new rules for keeping the too-big-to-fail banks alive: use creditor funds, including uninsured deposits, to recapitalize failing banks.
But isn’t that theft?
Perhaps, but it’s legal theft. By law, when you put your money into a deposit account, your money becomes the property of the bank. You become an unsecured creditor with a claim against the bank. Before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was instituted in 1934, U.S. depositors routinely lost their money when banks went bankrupt. Your deposits are protected only up to the $250,000 insurance limit, and only to the extent that the FDIC has the money to cover deposit claims or can come up with it. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bail-out_is_out_bail-in_is_in_20130430/?ln
Bail-Out Is Out, Bail-In Is In
Bail-Out Is Out, Bail-In Is In
Posted on Apr 30, 2013
By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt
This piece first appeared at Web of Debt.
“With Cyprus . . . the game itself changed. By raiding the depositors’ accounts, a major central bank has gone where they would not previously have dared. The Rubicon has been crossed.”
—Eric Sprott, Shree Kargutkar, “Caveat Depositor”
The crossing of the Rubicon into the confiscation of depositor funds was not a one-off emergency measure limited to Cyprus. Similar “bail-in” policies are now appearing in multiple countries. (See my earlier articles here.) What triggered the new rules may have been a series of game-changing events including the refusal of Iceland to bail out its banks and their depositors; Bank of America’s commingling of its ominously risky derivatives arm with its depository arm over the objections of the FDIC; and the fact that most EU banks are now insolvent. A crisis in a major nation such as Spain or Italy could lead to a chain of defaults beyond anyone’s control, and beyond the ability of federal deposit insurance schemes to reimburse depositors.
The new rules for keeping the too-big-to-fail banks alive: use creditor funds, including uninsured deposits, to recapitalize failing banks.
But isn’t that theft?
Perhaps, but it’s legal theft. By law, when you put your money into a deposit account, your money becomes the property of the bank. You become an unsecured creditor with a claim against the bank. Before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was instituted in 1934, U.S. depositors routinely lost their money when banks went bankrupt. Your deposits are protected only up to the $250,000 insurance limit, and only to the extent that the FDIC has the money to cover deposit claims or can come up with it. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bail-out_is_out_bail-in_is_in_20130430/?ln
May 1, 2013
Tom Ricketts threatens to take his toys and go home
The owner of one of the most profitable teams in Major League Baseball threatened to walk away from one of MLB's most profitable venues if the city didn't approve a $300-million renovation plan for Wrigley Field.
The Cubs have floated a renovation plan for Wrigley Field that would expand concourses, expand the ballpark footprint, build a new hotel across Clark, construct a new parking ramp in the area, and add video signage to the outfield wall. The city, in the form of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has already agreed with the Cubs on the broad terms of the deal, which still must receive approval from other city departments. The main opposition: owners of rooftop bleachers, who have a revenue-sharing deal with the Cubs, though so far their opposition has been muted, with Ald. Tom Tunney -- normally an advocate for the rooftop owners -- participating in discussions with Emanuel and the team.
Today Tom Ricketts, part of the Ricketts family ownership of the Cubs, answered a question about the team's future in a rather surprising way: after weeks of good publicity and a deal with the city, he threatened to move the team if approvals weren't ultimately granted. .....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://ballparkdigest.com/201305016240/major-league-baseball/features/ricketts-brings-hammer-down-threatens-cubs-move
May 1, 2013
(Bloomberg) Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, Russia’s 14th-richest person, and his wife, Elena Rybolovleva, have been brawling for almost five years in at least seven countries over his $9.5 billion fortune.
In a divorce complaint originated in Geneva in 2008, Rybolovleva accused her husband of using a “multitude of third- parties” to create a network of offshore holding companies and trusts to place assets -- including about $500 million in art, $36 million in jewelry and an $80 million yacht -- beyond her reach.
She has brought legal action against the 48-year-old Rybolovlev in the British Virgin Islands, England, Wales, the U.S., Cyprus, Singapore and Switzerland, and is seeking $6 billion.
The suits provide a window into the offshore structures and secrecy jurisdictions the world’s richest people use to manage, preserve and conceal their assets. According to Tax Justice Network, a U.K.-based organization that campaigns for transparency in the financial system, wealthy individuals were hiding as much as $32 trillion offshore at the end of 2010. Fewer than 100,000 people own $9.8 trillion of offshore assets, according to research compiled by former McKinsey & Co. economist James Henry. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-29/billionaires-flee-havens-as-trillions-pursued-offshore.html
Billionaires Flee Havens as Trillions Pursued Offshore
(Bloomberg) Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, Russia’s 14th-richest person, and his wife, Elena Rybolovleva, have been brawling for almost five years in at least seven countries over his $9.5 billion fortune.
In a divorce complaint originated in Geneva in 2008, Rybolovleva accused her husband of using a “multitude of third- parties” to create a network of offshore holding companies and trusts to place assets -- including about $500 million in art, $36 million in jewelry and an $80 million yacht -- beyond her reach.
She has brought legal action against the 48-year-old Rybolovlev in the British Virgin Islands, England, Wales, the U.S., Cyprus, Singapore and Switzerland, and is seeking $6 billion.
The suits provide a window into the offshore structures and secrecy jurisdictions the world’s richest people use to manage, preserve and conceal their assets. According to Tax Justice Network, a U.K.-based organization that campaigns for transparency in the financial system, wealthy individuals were hiding as much as $32 trillion offshore at the end of 2010. Fewer than 100,000 people own $9.8 trillion of offshore assets, according to research compiled by former McKinsey & Co. economist James Henry. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-29/billionaires-flee-havens-as-trillions-pursued-offshore.html
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,097
