Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy -- able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint -- and the announcement came with great fanfare.
McGinn had joined Vice President Joe Biden in the White House to make it. It came on the eve of Earth Day. It had heady goals: creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods.
But more than a year later, Seattle's numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals are now achievable.
"The jobs haven't surfaced yet," said Michael Woo, director of Got Green, a Seattle community organizing group focused on the environment and social justice.
"It's been a very slow and tedious process. It's almost painful, the number of meetings people have gone to. Those are the people who got jobs. There's been no real investment for the broader public." Really...is this any surprise?
Looking at these numbers -- 14 jobs created and three houses retrofitted in more than one year -- tells me that 13 of the fourteen jobs are administrative with one additional laborer doing part-time retrofit work (and no doubt be paid a full-time salary). In other words, all of the jobs are administrative.
#5
actually, a number of public buildings and buildings owned by non profits have been insulated
these kinds of programs generally come with a complicated application process (to prevent fraud you need that unfortunately) and its pretty burdensome for the individual homeowner or the apartment owner
the grants are also for low income people and most people like that have owned their home for many years and don't like strangers fooling around in their attic
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/16/2011 19:29 Comments ||
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#6
That extorted 20 million will has caused much more than 14 people to be unemployed, mal-employed, under-employed or lower-paid.
#9
That extorted 20 million will has caused much more than 14 people to be unemployed, mal-employed, under-employed or lower-paid.
The average total compensation of the US private sector worker in 2009 was $61K. So $2M is 327 man/years. Or halve the man years if that $20M is paying government employees.
creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods.
Relive the Good Times of 2009. That is a sterling example of Obama's Jobs Created Or Saved math. Planning on only paying the workers $10K/year and confiscating materials and transportation?
[An Nahar] British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... announced Monday a sweeping review of government policy to reverse a "slow-motion moral collapse" that he blames for last week's riots that left five people dead.
He also pledged an "all-out war" on street gangs as Britannia struggles to find answers to its worst civil disorder for decades, which tarnished the country's image abroad just a year before London hosts the 2012 Olympic Games.
"This has been a wake-up call for our country. Social problems that have been festering for decades have went kaboom! in our face," Cameron said in a speech at a youth club in his affluent rural constituency in Witney, central England.
"Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?" he asked, against a backdrop of colorful graffiti at the club.
Children as young 11 joined the four-day frenzy of looting, arson and violence which spread from London to other major English cities including Manchester and Birmingham, leaving dozens of homes and businesses in flames.
The Conservative premier has flooded the streets with police to prevent further unrest while more than 2,300 people have been nabbed, but Cameron said that the "security fightback must be matched by a social fightback."
He said the coalition government -- which came to power in May 2010 promising austerity measures to cut a record deficit -- would in the coming weeks review "every aspect of our work to mend our broken society."
A day after he controversially hired U.S. "supercop" Bill Bratton to advise the government on tackling street gangs, Cameron said there should be a "concerted, all-out war on gangs and gang culture".
"Stamping out these gangs is a new national priority," Cameron said, describing them as a "major criminal disease that has infected streets and estates across our country."
Cameron said the government would look at toughening conditions for those who receive unemployment and other benefits, trying to improve parenting skills and schools in deprived areas.
He said Britannia would use its current chairmanship of the Council of Europe to seek to push through changes to the European Convention on Human Rights, saying it had "undermined personal responsibility."
Addressing calls for the reintroduction of national military service, Cameron added that he was introducing a program of "National Citizen Service" to get 16-year-olds carrying out voluntary work.
In a taste of harsher measures to come, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith separately told the BBC that people convicted of being involved in the riots could lose their benefits even if they do not receive a custodial sentence.
Labor opposition leader Ed Miliband was reportedly to accuse Cameron of "knee-jerk gimmicks" in a rival speech on Monday.
Cameron's speech came a day after he faced criticism from police chiefs who opposed his decision to hire Bratton, who is credited for tackling gang violence in New York, Los Angeles and Boston. Police chiefs say Britannia needs home-grown policies.
Top coppers and the opposition have also called on the government to reverse its plans to slash police budgets.
Interior minister Theresa May chaired a meeting of the government's COBRA security committee on Monday at which it is expected to decide whether to scale down the surge of officers on London's streets, currently at 16,000.
Courts in England have been working through the night and, in a first, on Sunday to clear the massive backlog of cases from the riots.
Three people were due to appear in court later Monday over the murder of three men who were hit by a car while defending their neighborhood against looters in Birmingham, Britannia's second city.
More than 5,000 people observed a minute's silence at a peace rally for the victims in Birmingham on Sunday.
Tariq Jahan -- who is the father of one of the victims and emerged as a heroic figure with his calls for peace after his death -- told the gathering that the display of unity gave him "strength in my heart".
A 16-year-old boy was also nabbed on Sunday on suspicion of the murder of a 68-year-old man who was attacked as he tried to put out a fire in the west London borough of Ealing.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2011 00:00 ||
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From Mark Steyn:
This is the logical dead end of the Nanny State. When William Beveridge laid out his blueprint for the British welfare regime in 1942, his goal was the "abolition of want" to be accomplished by "co-operation between the State and the individual." In attempting to insulate the citizenry from life's vicissitudes, Sir William succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. As I write in my book: "Want has been all but abolished. Today, fewer and fewer Britons want to work, want to marry, want to raise children, want to lead a life of any purpose or dignity."
'Bout sums it up. In any given population, there are 30% of people who want to work and produce, 30% who naturally don't, and 40% who could go either way. Collectivism in all its forms (fascism, communism, socialism, social democracy, Labor party, Democrats) pushes that 40% in the direction of being bottom dwelling sessile filter-feeding sea creatures, not the other way towards the light.
Call me cruel if it makes you feel morally superior, but unless and until we reintroduce the idea that able-bodied folks who choose to not work will suffer huge deprivation up to and including starving, this will only continue.
If only it weren't so. But it is.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/16/2011 6:57 Comments ||
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#2
"Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led."
WHAT? Makes absolutely no sense...which is par for the course, coming from the knuckle-dragging Bushites posting here...
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/16/2011 7:33 Comments ||
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#3
"'Bout sums it up. In any given population, there are 30% of people who want to work and produce, 30% who naturally don't, and 40% who could go either way. Collectivism in all its forms ...blah, blah, sputter, blah."
Do you have evidence to back up these numbers, Sherlock?
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/16/2011 7:36 Comments ||
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So they begane to thinke how they might raise as much corne as they could, and obtaine a beter crope then they had done, that they might not still thus languish in miserie. At length, after much debate of things, the Gov r (with y e advise of y e cheefest amongest them) gave way that they should set corne every man for his owne perticuler, and in that regard trust to them selves ; in all other things to goe on in y e generall way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcell of land, according to the proportion of their number for that end, only for present use (but made no devission for inheritance), and ranged all boys & youth under some familie. This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted then other waise would have bene by any means y c Grov r or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave farr better contente. The women now wente willingly into y e feild, and tooke their litle-ons with them to set corne, which before would aledg weaknes, and inabilitie ; whom to have compelled would have bene thought great tiranie and oppression.
The experience that was had in this comone course and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanitie of that conceite of Platos & other ancients, applauded by some of later times ; that y e taking away of propertie, and bringing in comunitie into a comone wealth, would make them happy and florishing ; as if they were wiser then God. For this comunitie (so farr as it was) was found to breed much confusion & discontent, and retard much imploymet that would have been to their benefite and comforte. For y e yong-men that were most able and fitte for labour & service did repine that they should spend their time & streingth to worke for other mens wives and chil- dren, with out any recompence. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in devission of victails & cloaths, then he that was weake and not able to doe a quarter y e other could ; this was thought injuestice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalised in labours, and victails, cloaths, &c., with y e meaner & yonger sorte, thought it some indignite & disrespect unto them. And for mens wives to be commanded to doe servise for other men, as dresing their meate, wash- ing their cloaths, &c., they deemd it a kind of slaverie, neither could many husbands well brooke it. Upon y e poynte all being to have alike, and all to doe alike, they thought them selves in y e like condition, and one as good' as another; and so, if it did not cut of those relations that God hath set amongest men, yet it did at least much diminish and take of y e mutuall respects that should be preserved amongst them. And would have bene worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none objecte this is men's corruption, and nothing to y e course it selfe. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in his wisdome saw another course fiter for them.
Posted by: William Bradford ||
08/16/2011 8:19 Comments ||
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#5
Doyou have evidence to back up these numbers, Sherlock?
Posted by Shakey Steve
that's Mark Steyn, ex-pat Canuck you're arguing with. Don't bring a BB Gun to a real gunfight. In a battle of wits with him, you'd be embarrassed. Mush like everyday in your bleak "life", I suppose
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/16/2011 9:44 Comments ||
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#6
Is there some mystery link between "moral collapse" and subsidising fecklessness by fining workers for work?
#7
Shakey Steve -- a Mod here with just a bit of advice and history of Rantburg.
Your comment to "Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led."
WHAT?Makes absolutely no sense...which is par for the course, coming from the knuckle-dragging Bushites posting here...
Best to learn the special font Fred uses in his posted articles. He is, after all, the owner of Rantburg. Spends much of his time and resources to provide a space for you to deliver your rants.... at no cost to you.
I wouldn't want to angry him too much. He does own the "kill switch."
#8
The looters are all part of a sub-class who do not share majority values. The fact that UK muslims can set up and enforce "Sharia Zones" with impunity, set the stage for the loot-fest.
Posted by: Injun Oppressor of the Swedes1340 ||
08/16/2011 13:17 Comments ||
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#9
I'll wait to see if the UK PM follows through on his observations. Something needing to be done early on is to build more prisons to hold the initial wave of miscreants who will be rounded up. Failing that, restore the sentence of 'transportation' to places like the Falklands.
#10
30-40-30 sounds about right in general, with the middle migrating towards the poles depending upon leadership or sloth.
Watch the video of that stage collapse, and note how many got in there from the get-go, how many wondered about asking themself if they could help, and how many just looked puzzled and left.
#11
'Bout sums it up. In any given population, there are 30% of people who want to work and produce, 30% who naturally don't, and 40% who could go either way
Depends on what race/culture you are looking at some more hardworking/ambitious than others!
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/16/2011 15:05 Comments ||
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#12
I suspect those percentages are a whole lot different in India.
[Al Jazeera] Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has seen her re-election campaign boosted after she won half the votes against a divided opposition in a presidential primary.
Three of the nine other candidates were battling for second place in Argentina's first-ever open and simultaneous presidential primary on Sunday.
The idea of the open, simultaneous and obligatory primary was meant to force parties to allow voters to choose candidates for president and vice president.
Instead, all the parties simply proclaimed their candidates months ago.
That turned the primary into a kind of nationwide political survey, since voting is mandatory in Argentina and voters could choose any candidate in the primary irrespective of party.
Kirchner had 50 per cent of the votes, when just over half of the ballots had been counted, nearly 38 points ahead of Ricardo Alfonsin, the next closest contender, who had 12 per cent.
Eduardo Duhalde, the former president, got 12 per cent and Hermes Binner, the Socialist Santa Fe Governor, won 10 per cent.
The results suggest that unless the opposition unites around a single candidate, Kirchner has a very good chance of winning re-election.
But she faces major challenges, including taming inflation estimated at over 25 per cent without hurting growth and cutting spending in the major grains producer. She will also need to find a way to repay debt without draining central bank reserves.
"I voted for Cristina because I see my children's progress. They all have jobs, homes, cars. We used to travel by donkey," said Aida Peralta, 81, as she celebrated to the sound of drumming outside the president's campaign headquarters.
Cheering supporters waved flags and images of Nestor Kirchner, her late husband and presidential predecessor.
'Big picture'
Many Argentines credit Kirchner, 58, and her late husband with reviving the economy after a crippling 2001/02 financial crisis, when Argentina declared a record sovereign debt default that made it a market pariah.
"I call on everyone to think about the big picture, to be united. The world is in difficulty but if we manage to get over our differences ... we can learn to make fewer mistakes," she told supporters, extending an olive branch to her rivals.
Argentina's economy is expected to grow eight per cent this year as high grains prices and strong demand in neighbouring Brazil boost revenues despite turmoil in the United States and Europe.
The winner on October 23 must get at least 45 per cent of the vote to avoid a runoff, or more than 40 per cent with a 10 percentage point lead over the second-place finisher in a race with multiple candidates.
In her victory speech, Fernandez referred to the looming global economic crisis and said politicians must ensure Argentina remains independent.
"We have to not only take care of our political democracy, but our economic democracy as well," she said.
Kirchner's two main opponents, Alfonsin and Duhalde, a dissident from her own Parodist party, fared worse than expected, polling only around 12 percent each. The law prohibits them from forming an alliance.
"The serious campaign begins now. I'm sure we can win the elections in October," Alfonsin said.
Turnout was about 75 per cent of the nation's 29 million voters, who faced fines and bureaucratic hassles if they failed to cast ballots.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2011 00:00 ||
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"Parodist Party"??
No doubt it means something else to them, but YJCMTSU
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/16/2011 10:47 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] As Germany emerged from the destruction of World War II, it rebuilt its economy on a system of strong rules governing virtually every aspect of business, from auto manufacturing to competition among regional newspapers.
Today, the German economy is Europe's strongest, a regional powerhouse that its indebted neighbors depend on for billions of euros they need to cope their staggering indebtedness. Germany is insisting that they, too, adopt strict rules before it's prepared to release its money.
Left, right and center, a vast majority of Germans and their leaders believe that the combination of free markets and strict competition controls was the key to their country's economic success.
"At the root of the concept is that you put down the rules and let people have a go, but you don't screw with the rules," said Jackson Janes, Executive Director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington.
"That's a very different attitude that doesn't apply in places like Greece," he said. "It's very difficult to get people to focus on that structure that has worked so well for the Germans."
Germans point to their nation's 3.6 percent growth last year, the strongest in Europe, that allowed them to recover swiftly from the 2009 global downturn as proof.
The belief in "Ordnungspolitik," or "order politics," underlies Berlin's years of repeated demands for the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to force restrictions on its members in exchange for German funds to rescue neighbors no longer able to service their staggering national debts.
Those demands will be on display Tuesday when Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... travels to Gay Paree armed with plans for a new EU body to enforce strict budget limits and fiscal policy, and calls for all 17 eurozone nations to follow Germany's example and enshrine a balanced budget in their constitution.
Such disagreements over "order politics" are viewed abroad as having hampered Europe's response to the crisis, spawning long political battles with countries that see strict, unchanging rules as unsuited to their economies. That squabbling has undermined investors' faith in the eurozone's ability to manage its members' debt, and the euro and the continent's stock markets have been hit by seemingly unending turmoil.
When Greece first appealed for help in 2010, Merkel demanded a permanent crisis resolution mechanism before it would agree to loosen its pursestrings, ultimately delaying a bailout.
Germany came under fire for insisting that EU members agree to tougher sanctions for countries that have excessive government debt before endorsing the 110 billion ($157 billion) bailout package.
In the end, Merkel backed down, the aid to Greece went through, the regulations didn't and Germany emerged facing accusations of foot-dragging and tightfistedness. Yet the situation continued to worsen. Within months, there was talk of Ireland and then Portugal needing aid.
In Germany, the move had been an attempt to make the package more palatable to voters who feel they repeatedly tightened their belts after the expensive reunification of East and West Germany in the 1990s, and others should do the same.
After the bailout, German tabloids howled that taxpayers' hard-earned savings were being squandered to bail out a nation viewed as indulgent and lazy. The media were flooded with stories of Greek tax-dodging and corruption.
"Germans are a very disciplined people, this characteristic has also made us masters of export in the global economy," said Peter Walschburger, a professor at Berlin's Free University who specializes in the psychology of economics. "The Greeks, by contrast are governed more by emotion and impulse."
Some 90 percent of Germans say they believe state regulation is needed to govern large financial institutes from banks to big businesses, according to the 2010 Pew Global Attitudes survey. Last year, Germany's federal debt increased 21.9 percent to 1.28 trillion ($1.82 trillion), largely due to the need to bail out ailing banks.
EU countries have been patchy at best in keeping their debts below 60 percent and their deficits below 3 percent of economic output as stipulated by the so-called Stability and Growth Pact, pushed in the 1990s by Germany's finance minister at the time, Theo Waigel.
But Germany and La Belle France later agreed to weaken the rules, inviting other countries' profligacy.
Now, Berlin's response has been to push for even stricter and more automatic sanctions at the EU level.
"The Germans have set up this whole concept of, here are the parameters, now go to it," Janes said. "When they see them violated, or when they see people cheating on them, it basically makes them enforce it that much more."
Merkel has repeatedly called for a "stability culture on budgets and finances," as she told news hounds in October, pointing to Germany as an example.
During Germany's 2007 turn at the presidency of the Group of Eight, Merkel pushed hard for more transparency on global financial markets. But her efforts ran into stiff resistance from Washington and London.
Once the global economic downturn hit in 2009, Berlin clashed again with Washington and London over how best to combat that crisis. Merkel came under fire for failing to launch wider stimulus programs, while expressing criticism of President Barack B.O. Obama's decision to push money at the problem in the United States as a rescue measure.
The second Greek bailout package this year only made the situation worse on the home front.
The prospect of yet more eurozone aid has added to tensions within Merkel's center-right coalition, which has spent much of its tenure since winning office in 2009 immersed in internal squabbles over issues ranging from pledges of tax cuts to nuclear energy. The issue is awkward for Merkel because conservatives tend to be particular sticklers for "order politics."
With an election late in 2013 beginning to loom on the horizon, Merkel is caught between being viewed from abroad as not doing enough, and annoying supporters in Germany, where she faces charges of selling out. At the same time, the first signs of a slowing German economy are beginning to show. Numbers last week showed German exports fell 1.2 percent on the month in June.
At a time when strong leadership and clear signals are being called for to calm jittery markets and reassure investors, Germany will be challenged to convince its partners that playing by the rules is enough to guarantee economic success.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2011 00:00 ||
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This would be the Germany which a person can work 3 months, then take the next 9 months off collecting a welfare which pays the rent and recreation? Correct if wrong, but that is how it was explained to me, and if so unfortunate for those exceptional Germans.
[Emirates 24/7] Chancellor Angela Merkel's ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... candidate for the governorship of a German state has withdrawn from the race after admitting he had a relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
Forty-year-old Christian von Boetticher was the front-runner for next year's elections in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, representing Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. He withdrew Sunday, saying the relationship was a mistake.Boetticher said he had been in love with the girl, and in no other relationship. Local media have reported the two met on Facebook.
Boetticher retains his position as a state politician. Merkel's front man refused to comment on Monday.
Christian von Boetticher, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Schleswig-Holstein, announces to step down and to renounce his bid to stand for state premier in a May 2012 election, on August 14, 2011 in Kiel, northern Germany. The unmarried 40-year-old leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party has resigned after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl he met on the Internet.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2011 00:00 ||
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The British Army is the British Damn Army. The Navy and Airforce are hangers on.
Like in WWDeuce..... jeeps and trucks were marked, AUSA ------ Army United States of America, in lieu of USA. It's a very subtle difference, it has to do with the yeomanry/nation in arms.
Fetch me a fine Yew thar ShakeySteve!
Posted by: S ||
08/16/2011 18:18 Comments ||
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#4
"There must be some subtle standard in a constitutional monarchy mandating terms like the "British Army" but the "Royal Air Force."
Obviously, there is no mandate as it was without the 'Royal' for 43 years...unfortunately, the current regime (Conservative Party) thinks that we should be cozying up with the British Monarchy again...WHY? This came out of left field..
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/16/2011 18:38 Comments ||
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#5
The RCAF Officers Club in Ottawa has always been (required in the deed) called the Royal Canadian Air Force O club, even when the lads were some of the only airmen in the world who had to wear green.
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... Monday directed all federal and provincial authorities to immediately respond to the flood-affected areas of Sindh and assured payment of compensation after the damage assessment.
Prime Minister Gilani who was here on a day-long visit to witness the damages caused by heavy rains and flooding, directed the National Disaster Management Authority to provide tents, food, medicines and other facilities to the displaced at the relief camps set up at different locations.
He said 15,000 tents would be provided in the first phase to provide shelter to the people.
Prime Minister Gilani also directed National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to provide Watan cards for the displaced people so as to help them meet their financial needs. He asked Ms Farzana Raja, Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) also to provide relief to the people under the programme.
Prime Minister Gilani also distributed relief goods amongst the flood-affected people and said the government would ensure swift relief for the masses.
He said he had seen the damages caused by the heavy rains and assured that the federal government was taking necessary measures to ensure that basic facilities were provided and their sufferings were mitigated.
He said the flood-affected areas had been declared disaster hit and the Zarai Taraqiati Bank had also been asked to provide loans to the farming community.
Prime Minister Gilani said the Damage-Need Assessment would be conducted in the area and the government would compensate the people on the damages to their property, livestock and farms.
Speaker National Assembly Fahmida Mirza, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar and Chairman Pakistain Baitul Maal Zamurrad Khan accompanied Prime Minister Gilani.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!!1!
Shepard Fairey -- creator of the famous "Hope" poster that came to encapsulate Obama's 2008 presidential campaign -- was beaten up after the opening of his exhibition at a Copenhagen gallery.
"I have a black eye and a bruised rib," Fairey told the Guardian. "Poor thing- tell us what happened"
According to reports, 41-year-old Fairey and his colleague Romeo Trinidad were punched and kicked by at least two men outside the Kodboderne 18 nightclub in the early hours of last Saturday morning. Fairey claims the men called him "Obama illuminati" and ordered him to "go back to America". snipped: long tedious explanation of an 'artistic misunderstanding'
The artist said he had not filed a police report following the attack in Copenhagen. "I did not know any of the people or get a great look at them, so it seemed pointless," he said. "I'm not a huge fan of the cops anyway. The only thing I could see coming out of it was further media commentary like 'street artist whiner Shepard Fairey can't hold it down in a fight so he snitches to the cops'." Well, that DOES sum up a certain aspect of this little story- you just whined to your Guardian pals instead of the proper authorities...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy -- able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint -- and the announcement came with great fanfare.
David Cameron
[Al Jazeera] Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has seen her re-election campaign boosted after she won half the votes against a divided opposition in a presidential primary.
Chancellor 
Prime Minister 
