Monday, August 27, 2018
Inflation and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs
Inflation and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs
"The California bullet train project has cost state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year — a construction spending rate higher than that for the Bay Bridge, Boston’s Big Dig or any U.S. transportation project in recent history
But still it’s not enough, planners say.
In order to hit its 2033 deadline and $77-billion budget, the California High Speed Rail Authority will have to increase daily spending by up to nine times over the next four years or risk putting the already-delayed system further behind.
...But outside infrastructure experts question whether the $27-million-a-day outlay necessary under the plan would even be possible.
“That burn rate is ludicrous,” said civil engineer James Moore, director of USC’s transportation engineering program.
“It is so far outside standard experience that it doesn’t make sense to assume it will occur.”...
Read all.
"The California bullet train project has cost state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year — a construction spending rate higher than that for the Bay Bridge, Boston’s Big Dig or any U.S. transportation project in recent history
But still it’s not enough, planners say.
...But outside infrastructure experts question whether the $27-million-a-day outlay necessary under the plan would even be possible.
“That burn rate is ludicrous,” said civil engineer James Moore, director of USC’s transportation engineering program.
“It is so far outside standard experience that it doesn’t make sense to assume it will occur.”...
Read all.
Another MSM cover-up!-----FEC Records Indicate Hillary Campaign Illegally Laundered $84 Million
FEC Records Indicate Hillary Campaign Illegally Laundered $84 Million
"The mainstream media took no notice of a federal court filing that exposes a $84 million money-laundering conspiracy Democrats executed during the 2016 presidential election.
The press continues to feed the dying Russia collusion conspiracy theory...
Yet the mainstream media took no notice of last week’s federal court filing that exposes an $84 million money-laundering conspiracy the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign executed during the 2016 presidential election in violation of federal campaign-finance law..."
Read all.
"The mainstream media took no notice of a federal court filing that exposes a $84 million money-laundering conspiracy Democrats executed during the 2016 presidential election.
The press continues to feed the dying Russia collusion conspiracy theory...Yet the mainstream media took no notice of last week’s federal court filing that exposes an $84 million money-laundering conspiracy the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign executed during the 2016 presidential election in violation of federal campaign-finance law..."
Read all.
Limbaugh: Left's war against Trump now 'personal' - WND
Limbaugh: Left's war against Trump now 'personal' - WND:
“Here’s the question, folks. What do you think Donald Trump would do – if I’m right and if the objective here is to ruin him and the Trump Organization – and if you wipe out the Trump Organization, I mean, financially wipe it out, what have you also done?” he said on Friday.
“You’ve wiped out his children, you’ve wiped out his grandchildren, you’ve wiped him out, you have taken away and destroyed and ruined whatever has been built. There’s no ‘there’ there anymore. Would Trump allow that to happen, allow the attempt, would he continue to stay in office and continue to implement his agenda to make America great again and then try to win reelection in 2020, or would he resign to save the futures of his children and grandchildren?”
Limbaugh said he thinks there are more than those two options.
“You’ve wiped out his children, you’ve wiped out his grandchildren, you’ve wiped him out, you have taken away and destroyed and ruined whatever has been built. There’s no ‘there’ there anymore. Would Trump allow that to happen, allow the attempt, would he continue to stay in office and continue to implement his agenda to make America great again and then try to win reelection in 2020, or would he resign to save the futures of his children and grandchildren?”
Limbaugh said he thinks there are more than those two options.
MSM buries this?!-----GOOD LORD: New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.…
Instapundit � Blog Archive � GOOD LORD: New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.
GOOD LORD: New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.
GOOD LORD: New Mexico compound suspects allegedly planned to attack Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.
"New court documents revealed these and other details in the case against five adults who lived in squalor with 11 starving children in a ramshackle New Mexico compound.
...plans by the defendants to attack law enforcement and “specific targets such as teachers, schools, banks and other ‘corrupt’ institutions.”
...items found at the compound included the “Phases of a Terrorist Attack” document.
"A secret compound, child abuse, a dead body, conspiracy, terrorism — this has all the makings of a much bigger story, and yet I have to go hunting for updates"---Posted by Stephen Green
7 Things I'd Do if I Wanted to Keep Poor People Poor - Foundation for Economic Education
7 Things I'd Do if I Wanted to Keep Poor People Poor - Foundation for Economic Education
"If I wanted to keep poor people poor, there are several government policies I would favor.
Specifically, the study concluded that in the case of a single mother with two children ages 1 and 4 earning $29,000 a year through work would be eligible for government benefits (such as Medicaid, housing vouchers, and subsidized daycare) equivalent to roughly an additional $28,000.
Such a scenario puts this woman in a bind.
"If I wanted to keep poor people poor, there are several government policies I would favor.
Let's count them down.
1: An Expanding Welfare State
For starters, I would advocate for a robust and ever-expanding welfare state—programs like Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc.
I would recognize that an effective recipe for keeping poor people poor is to create incentives that push them into decisions that prevent them from climbing out of poverty.
Case in point: A 2012 study by Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Public Welfare analyzed the decisions confronting individuals and families enrolled in various government welfare programs.
1: An Expanding Welfare State
For starters, I would advocate for a robust and ever-expanding welfare state—programs like Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc.
I would recognize that an effective recipe for keeping poor people poor is to create incentives that push them into decisions that prevent them from climbing out of poverty.
Case in point: A 2012 study by Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Public Welfare analyzed the decisions confronting individuals and families enrolled in various government welfare programs.
Specifically, the study concluded that in the case of a single mother with two children ages 1 and 4 earning $29,000 a year through work would be eligible for government benefits (such as Medicaid, housing vouchers, and subsidized daycare) equivalent to roughly an additional $28,000.Such a scenario puts this woman in a bind.
If she finds a better job paying more, or picks up more hours, she risks losing substantial amounts of benefits.
...It is a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle that keeps people poor and dependent on the state.
...Moreover, there is the impact the welfare state has on the family unit.
Welfare programs break up families by replacing a father’s paycheck with a government check and benefits.
Nationally, since LBJ’s Great Society ratcheted up government welfare programs in the mid-1960s, the rate of unmarried births has tripled.
In my home state of North Carolina, families are roughly five times as likely to be in poverty when there is no father in the home.
2: Progressive Taxation Policy
If I wanted to keep poor people poor, I also would finance the welfare state poverty trap through punitive taxes on the job and wealth creators of society..."
In my home state of North Carolina, families are roughly five times as likely to be in poverty when there is no father in the home.
2: Progressive Taxation Policy
If I wanted to keep poor people poor, I also would finance the welfare state poverty trap through punitive taxes on the job and wealth creators of society..."
Read all!
FACEBOOK REMOVES Posts About Americans Who Stood Up For National Anthem…Tell Users They Look Like “Spam” To Them * 100PercentFedUp.com
FACEBOOK REMOVES Posts About Americans Who Stood Up For National Anthem…Tell Users They Look Like “Spam” To Them * 100PercentFedUp.com:
Yesterday, it was announced that Facebook would begin secretly ranking the personal pages of Facebook users. The rankings would be based on how “untrustworthy” the users are. Doesn’t this sound a bit like something you’d expect to hear about in communist China?
According to The Independent, Facebook is using an array of information to decide whether its users should be believed when they say something wrong is happening on the site.
Users will not know that their behavior is being ranked, the company appeared to suggest. But the ranking themselves are important: they decide whether an account is reliable enough to be believed when it reports a page or a story, helping decide whether it should be taken down straight away.
Yesterday, it was announced that Facebook would begin secretly ranking the personal pages of Facebook users. The rankings would be based on how “untrustworthy” the users are. Doesn’t this sound a bit like something you’d expect to hear about in communist China?According to The Independent, Facebook is using an array of information to decide whether its users should be believed when they say something wrong is happening on the site.
Users will not know that their behavior is being ranked, the company appeared to suggest. But the ranking themselves are important: they decide whether an account is reliable enough to be believed when it reports a page or a story, helping decide whether it should be taken down straight away.
Chinese Communist Party Funds Washington Think Tanks
"China's Communist Party is intensifying covert influence operations in the United States that include
- funding Washington think tanks and
- coercing Chinese Americans,
according to a congressional commission report.
The influence operations are conducted by the United Front Work Department, a Central Committee organ that employs tens of thousands of operatives who seek to use both overt and covert operations to promote Communist Party policies.
The Party's United Front strategy includes paying several Washington think tanks with the goal influencing their actions and adopting positions that support Beijing's policies.
...In addition to Johns Hopkins, other think tanks linked to China and influential in American policy circles include the
The influence operations are conducted by the United Front Work Department, a Central Committee organ that employs tens of thousands of operatives who seek to use both overt and covert operations to promote Communist Party policies.
The Party's United Front strategy includes paying several Washington think tanks with the goal influencing their actions and adopting positions that support Beijing's policies.
...In addition to Johns Hopkins, other think tanks linked to China and influential in American policy circles include the
- Brookings Institution,
- Atlantic Council,
- Center for American Progress,
- EastWest Institute,
- Carter Center, and the
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace..."
Read all.
Appeals Court Affirms Denial Of Richard Sander's Request To Access California Bar Data To Study Racial Implications Of Bar Passage Rates
TaxProf BlogAppeals Court Affirms Denial Of Richard Sander's Request To Access California Bar Data To Study Racial Implications Of Bar Passage Rates
Following up on my previous posts (links below): the California Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the trial court's denial of UCLA Prof Richard Sander's request to access California bar admissions data to study the racial implications of bar passage rates...
Appellants and petitioners Richard Sander and the First Amendment Coalition(Petitioners) challenge the trial court’s denial of their petition for writ of mandate seeking to obtain information from the State Bar of California’s bar admissions database.
Specifically, Petitioners seek individually unidentifiable records for all applicants to the California Bar Examination from 1972 to 2008 in the following categories: race or ethnicity, law school, transfer status, year of law school graduation, law school and undergraduate GPA, LSAT scores, and performance on the bar examination.
Making these records available to the public in a manner that protects the applicants’ privacy and anonymity, they believe, will allow researchers to study the potential relationship between preferential admissions programs in higher education and a gap in bar passage rates between racial and ethnic groups..."Read all!
Is It Illegal to Say 'Women Don't Have Penises' in UK? Police Investigate, Mayor Gets Involved
Is It Illegal to Say 'Women Don't Have Penises' in UK? Police Investigate, Mayor Gets Involved:
"A group of women are facing potential police investigation for stating "women do not have penises" as debate over gender identity issues intensifies in the United Kingdom.
The Liverpool ReSisters, a group of feminists in Liverpool, England, resisting transgender ideology, have been printing and distributing small stickers of pink penises with the words "women don't have penises."
And recent social media postings of their efforts drew the attention of police and the city mayor, who have indicated that an investigation is possible.
The group noted in a press release Sunday that their stickers are a creative way of arguing against "self-identification" — allowing people to self-declare their sex without a medical diagnosis...
...In response, the Mercyside police department confirmed they were aware of the stickers and said "enquiries are being made."
Likewise, Joe Anderson, Liverpool's mayor, said: "I am not aware of the group, we will remove stickers and work with the Police to identify those responsible.
Remember though, Liverpool takes #PRIDE in its diversity and history of fighting for equality for all, we love all our Trans residents and all our LGBT community."...
Read all.
"A group of women are facing potential police investigation for stating "women do not have penises" as debate over gender identity issues intensifies in the United Kingdom.
The Liverpool ReSisters, a group of feminists in Liverpool, England, resisting transgender ideology, have been printing and distributing small stickers of pink penises with the words "women don't have penises."And recent social media postings of their efforts drew the attention of police and the city mayor, who have indicated that an investigation is possible.
The group noted in a press release Sunday that their stickers are a creative way of arguing against "self-identification" — allowing people to self-declare their sex without a medical diagnosis...
...In response, the Mercyside police department confirmed they were aware of the stickers and said "enquiries are being made."
Likewise, Joe Anderson, Liverpool's mayor, said: "I am not aware of the group, we will remove stickers and work with the Police to identify those responsible.
Remember though, Liverpool takes #PRIDE in its diversity and history of fighting for equality for all, we love all our Trans residents and all our LGBT community."...
Read all.
Bill Clinton Got His Supreme Court Pick While Under Investigation. Trump Should Get His.
Bill Clinton Got His Supreme Court Pick While Under Investigation. Trump Should Get His.:
Back in July, some Senate Democrats started demanding that the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh be delayed until after the Mueller investigation is finished.
None of them, however, explained the connection between the two.
Now, after Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and Paul Manafort’s conviction stemming from the Mueller investigation, they are at it again. They make no more sense today than they did a month ago, especially given that some of those senators have openly opposed Kavanaugh from the get-go.
As I wrote in July, President Bill Clinton was under criminal investigation in 1993 when he nominated Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Senate voted 96-3 to confirm her nomination just 42 days later.
Back in July, some Senate Democrats started demanding that the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh be delayed until after the Mueller investigation is finished.None of them, however, explained the connection between the two.
Now, after Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and Paul Manafort’s conviction stemming from the Mueller investigation, they are at it again. They make no more sense today than they did a month ago, especially given that some of those senators have openly opposed Kavanaugh from the get-go.
As I wrote in July, President Bill Clinton was under criminal investigation in 1993 when he nominated Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Senate voted 96-3 to confirm her nomination just 42 days later.
The 1930s – The Decade Arctic Alarmists Forgot! | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
The 1930s – The Decade Arctic Alarmists Forgot! | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
"Further to recent posts on the Arctic, No Tricks Zone posted a relevant graph yesterday, showing historical Arctic sea ice extent trends.
"Further to recent posts on the Arctic, No Tricks Zone posted a relevant graph yesterday, showing historical Arctic sea ice extent trends.
It is based on a reconstruction by Alekseev et al in 2016:
It shows how meaningless it is to compare current levels with 1979, which both NSIDC and DMI do..."
History for August 27
History for August 27 - On-This-Day.com
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 1770, Margaret Hungerford 1850 - Author ("Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder"), Theodore Dreiser 1871 - Novelist, journalist
Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) 1908 - 36th President of the United States, Ira Levin 1929 - Writer ("Rosemary's Baby," "The Stepford Wives"), Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens 1952 - Actor ("Pee Wee's Playhouse")
1859 - The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.
1894 - The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. The provision within for a graduated income tax was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1921 - The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers. (NFL)
1996 - California Governor Pete Wilson signed an order that would halt state benefits to illegal immigrants.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
New Report Shows US, Not Countries Promoting Climate Change Activism, Reducing Emissions the Most
New Report Shows US, Not Countries Promoting Climate Change Activism, Reducing Emissions the Most:
Take a wild guess what country is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions the most? Canada? Britain? France? India? Germany? Japan? No, no, no, no, no, and no.
The answer to that question is the United States of America. Wow! How can that be? This must be a misprint. Fake news. America never signed the Kyoto Protocol some two decades ago. We never enacted a carbon tax. We don’t have a cap-and-trade carbon emission program. That environmental villain Donald Trump pulled America out of the Paris climate accord that was signed by almost the entire rest of the civilized world.
The answer to that question is the United States of America. Wow! How can that be? This must be a misprint. Fake news. America never signed the Kyoto Protocol some two decades ago. We never enacted a carbon tax. We don’t have a cap-and-trade carbon emission program. That environmental villain Donald Trump pulled America out of the Paris climate accord that was signed by almost the entire rest of the civilized world.
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