Not satire
Bob Morris @ Oct 18th 2007 15:34 - Category: Unfiled ;
More GM tinkering: Sticking rabbit genes into poplars
Archive for October 18th, 2007
No Three Strikes in Connecticut
Bob Morris @ Oct 18th 2007 11:33 - Category: Unfiled ;
Connecticut prisons are already filled to way beyond capacity. The governor, in response to a horrific home invasion, just revoked parole for violent offenders, something which will just make them even more crowded.
Unlike California, prison officials and the guards union are not working in concert. The officials say everything is just fine while the guards say the overcrowding creates a powder keg environment.
Worse, in response to the Cheshire home invasion torture murders by two parolees, some want a Three Strikes law like California has. But that law has imprisoned people for decades when all their strikes were non-violent. Plus, the judge has absolutely no leeway in sentencing.
Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, a grassroots organization started by the families and friends of the incarcerated, has 150 case histories showing the grotesque unfairness of the law. For example, Rene Landa had two priors for burglary. He then stole a spare tire, and this became his third strike. He’s now doing 27 years to life - and must do the full 27 years before being considered for parole.
Connecticut: please don’t pass a law like this. It solves nothing, is hideously unjust, and comes down hardest on people of color (as there are more of them in prisons.) If such a law is to be passed then a) the judge must have discretion to override the guidelines. 2) All the strikes should be violent felonies only. 3) No sliders. A slider is a crime that could be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. Rene Landa should have been charged with a misdemeanor for stealing that tire, and not with a felony.
The alleged humans who committed the Cheshire murders should never be allowed out of prison. But that doesn’t mean that new laws should be passed in reaction to their crimes that condemns those whose crimes were not violent to decades in prison.
More early fall color
Bob Morris @ Oct 18th 2007 06:47 - Category: Unfiled ;
Because of dry conditions, fall color is coming about two weeks late this year. This tree changed early.
More reasons why housing prices may drop
Bob Morris @ Oct 18th 2007 00:24 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bush’s tax cuts included a provision that dropped the lowest capital gains tax rate for 2008-2010. If you’re below the 25% tax bracket, for three years the capital gains tax drops to zero!Imagine having an appreciated asset, like a rental home, that you could sell tax free; would you pass up that opportunity? Few people would.
Bush also wants to temporarily eliminate taxes on mortgage debt forgiveness for a primary residence. Say you get foreclosed and the bank takes back the house and forgives your $100,000. Currently the IRS will treat that $100,000 as taxable income, something which seems unduly harsh. However, the IRS code already says if the foreclosure was due to insolvency, then the taxes are forgiven, so this will only help the upper middle class who still have assets left after losing a house.
A lowering of capital gains tax along with no taxes on mortgage debt forgiveness will mean a flood of homes for sale, coming on top of a market that already has way too many homes for sale. So, prices will have to drop to accommodate the glut.
I just went on Realtor.com and looked up home prices for the area in Los Angeles where we sold our home in Jan. Comparables are now going for 20% less and what we sold the house for in Jan. will now get you a house with 33% more square footage. Looking at the prices is illuminating. Some homeowners clearly think it’s still 2005 and are asking $650,000 for homes that others are listing at $470,000. Which home are you going to buy for $650,000 - 2600 sq ft or 1400 sq ft? I thought so.
What happens to prices there when those $470,000 homes start going for $390,000 at bank auctions?
Cutting emissions. A group task
Bob Morris @ Oct 18th 2007 00:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
The CEO of NRG Energy says his company is willing to reduce emissions, but only if all the other power companies do the same, else they’d take a financial risk for doing so - which seems a Capitalist Dilemma indeed - cooperation and altruism are what’s needed, but are not traits that capitalism rewards.
Paul Krugman riffs on this in the NY Times
It’s in the interest of most people (and especially their descendants) that somebody do something to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, but each individual would like that somebody to be somebody else. Leave it up to the free market, and in a few generations Florida will be underwater.
The solution to such conflicts between self-interest and the common good is to provide individuals with an incentive to do the right thing. In this case, people have to be given a reason to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions.
He says taxes on emissions and emission permits have been successfully used to lower sulfur emissions, but that international agreements are needed to stop global warming. True, but we also need to give people a positive reason to change (a reward) rather a punishment (taxes and permits) if they don’t. The carrot always works better than the stick.
