Hilarious and seriously NSFW!
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Researchers are working on metal-organic framework storage for hydrogen and “believe that MOF’s have the ability to store four or five times the amount of hydrogen at room temperature, resulting in a safe, low-pressure hydrogen storage solution.” If it works, this could make mass use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a reality
Former Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta has been charged in a new indictment for passing on insider information to Raj Rajaratnam, who is now in prison for eleven years for insider trading. At one point, Gupta left a Goldman board meeting to call Rajaratnam with privileged information about Goldman stock.
Four minutes later, Rajaratnam bought 350,000 shares of Goldman. This clearly shows the venal, corrupt nature of the 1%. Gupta doesn’t need the money. He’s already plenty wealthy. Yet he and too many others in his class believe they are above the law and can steal whatever they want. The problem isn’t so much that we have an elite class but that our elite class is mostly amoral thugs and criminals.  countysupervisors.org As part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget cutbacks, 425 local redevelopment agencies will shut down on Feb. 1. While some legislators want to delay the process or allow local governments to retain unused money for low and moderate income housing, the closings won’t be reversed. “I don’t think we can delay this funeral,” Brown said, assuring he would veto any attempts to do so. The primary reason for closing the redevelopment agencies is, of course, money. California has a multi-billion dollar deficit and the governor decided it can no longer afford the cost of redevelopment. The State Controller’s Office says redevelopment agencies created over 36,000 jobs in fiscal year 2009-2010. Expenditures were $9.4 billion with the biggest single item being interest expense at $1.4 billion, which is 21%. Projects included low income housing, street and bridge repairs, water treatment plants, revitalizing downtown areas, commercial and industrial development, and more. In what could be unintended consequences, bond rating agency Fitch has placed all California tax allocation bonds on review because of uncertainty about the transition process and concern over how the bonds will be repaid. Moody’s recently downgraded $11.6 billion of these bonds for the same reasons. An S&P analyst said the elimination of CRA could lead to lenders requiring variable interest loans, which will raise costs for borrowers. The tiny community of Friant in Fresno County received $1 million in redevelopment funds, much of it in loans, but has nothing to show for it. The agency was established 20 years ago but failed to build or redevelop anything, including a badly needed sewage treatment plant many were hoping for. All the money went for operational expenses, debt service, and plans that were never realized. If a town of Friant, which has about 500 people, essentially frittered away $750,000 (they have $250,000 remaining), one can rightfully wonder if other areas may have done the same. But here’s the crucial point, their debt has not gone away. This is precisely what is worrisome to the bond rating agencies. Mayor Pro Tem of Auburn Kevin Hanley says redevelopment was working fine so why kill it now? Downtown Auburn used redevelopment funds to transform itself, creating new businesses as well as jobs. They built sidewalks, added lighting, increased parking spaces, and residents love it, he says. But they were only able to complete about 20% of their streetscape plan before CRA was dismantled. Now those plans are on hold, as are plans in hundreds of other communities. There probably was waste in some community redevelopment agencies. But much of worth was also built. Blighted areas were improved. Businesses moved back. Downtown areas have more shoppers now and became magnets. Sewage treatment plants were improved. But I keep coming back to that startling 21% of funds being spent on interest payments. That’s too much. Maybe California overreached. Hey, the real estate boom was supposed to go on forever because this time was different. But it wasn’t. Now California can’t afford what it thought it could.  New York, New York. A shopper in R. H. Macy and Company department store during the week before Christmas, 1942. Margary Collins, American (Library of Congress) According to a study just released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1/3 of adult shoppers used their cell phones to check reviews and/or compare prices while shopping in a physical store during the recent holiday season. (And over 1/2 used their phones for at least one of the following reasons while shopping.)
I know I checked prices more than once; did you? While the Occupy movement continues to grow and evolve, there are people like Janet Wilson of Occupy the Roads who are attempting to use this movement to further their own shallow egos. We had the pleasure of meeting Janet Wilson at a recent General Assembly, the first of which, she brought a group of drunk people to Liberty Square who attacked Occupiers and nearly derailed our GA for the first time in history. A few days later, on January 28, she came back to the GA sans her disruptive drunk friends with one heck of a proposal to help fund her road trip:
So after one trip to Liberty Square, Janet Wilson goes out and buys an RV and begins occupying the roads and telling people about Occupy Wall Street. Her original proposal asked for a whopping $11,607.88 and an endorsement from the New York City General Assembly to recognize Janet Wilson and Occupy the Roads as official representatives of Occupy Wall Street. The entire proposal illustrates just how little Janet Wilson understands this movement. During the proposal it was pointed out that we currently have a spending freeze. The look on Janet’s face when she realized her fun road trip wouldn’t be paid for was priceless. But through a Point of Information it was further explained that the New York City General Assembly does not endorse people; at best we could offer her solidarity. A movement based on direct democracy does not have representatives. The proposal was blocked for a serious moral concern by a member of the Facilitation Working Group and failed to pass modified consensus (where you need 90% or more yes votes). Janet fumed by me exclaiming, “Fine, I’ll sell the RV.” The fact is the New York General Assembly never asked Janet Wilson to buy an RV. Later, during the GA, Janet attempted to shame and bully me and a friend. She said, “You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re going to have to explain yourself to MSNBC. They’re following me!” Wrong again, Janet. We all have the ability to promote Occupy Wall Street as individuals, but none of us could possibly represent the entire movement. It’s clear that Janet Wilson doesn’t understand this movement, how we operate or how we make decisions. From a visit to what was probably her first General Assembly she had the audacity to write the following in a recent blog post:
Wrong again, Janet. We continue to grow and evolve as a movement with amazing actions like Occupy Town Square, Operation Book Bomb Tuscon, and innovative ways of coming together, like Open Spaces, where we come together in more dynamic and organic ways to foster dialogue rather than focusing on decision-making. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Another day, another betrayal, another gift to the 1%. This is the attitude of the 1%. Screw everyone and everything but us. And we don’t care who gets hurt as long as we billionaires make more money. A multi-billion dollar gamble by Lightsquared is about to become worthless. The FCC has said that their wireless would interfere with GPS. So now Lightsquared wants GPS exempted from the rules. I doubt they will get the exemption. But this is indicative of the greed and disregard for the public good that most of the 1% have.
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