So much for timely reporting
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy .
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Original post by Brendan
So long and thanks for all the fish
Honesty is still the best policy.
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) — Andrew Lahde, the hedge-fund manager who quit after posting an 870 percent gain last year, said farewell to clients in a letter that thanks stupid traders for making him rich and ends with a plea to legalize marijuana.
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Original post by Brendan
Just in time for the Cheech & Chong reunion tour!
According to a Suffolk University poll, 72% of Massachusetts residents look forward to beginning the process of decriminalizing marijuana.
Of the three questions on the Massachusetts ballot this November, only one question — #2 the decriminalization of marijuana — appears all but certain to pass, according to a poll analysis released today by 7NEWS/Suffolk University. Seventy-two percent favored the proposed law, which would replace the criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana to a civil penalty of forfeiture of the marijuana and a fine of $100. Twenty-two percent opposed the proposed law.
“The public may be signaling that pursuing small-time marijuana users is a waste of taxpayer resources,” said David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University. “This issue suggests that there is a Libertarian streak in the thinking of Massachusetts voters.”
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Original post by Brendan
Who are they and what do they make?
A few people have asked me recently both here on RBDN and in the real world where they can find out things like the number of people the City of Worcester employes or what they get paid. There’s no easy answer to that with out a course on public records requests, but a quick and dirty solution has been available for awhile from the Boston Herald.
Have fun kids.
Worcester Payroll
Original post by Brendan
The street vendor war continues
The continued discussion of how to regulate Worcester street vendors Tuesday may have been the most exciting City Council meeting Worcester has had in some time, but not in a good way. It was a ridiculous exercise in just how juvenile, provincial and poorly informed some of our elected and appointed officials are. In particular, Mayor Lukes and Councilor Palmieri went out of their way to embarrass themselves and the City of Worcester. The eye rolling, face making and insults hurled at colleagues and constituents, you have to wonder if these two even realize people actually watch the meetings at home. Foolishness aside, the opposing armies in this debate have defined themselves and in effect, speak for themselves. It’s actually quite interesting when you look at the lists, as they break out into rather obvious personality types.
Representing Team Bat Shit Insane:
Mayor Konnie Lukes
At-Large Councilor Joseph Petty
District 2 Councilor […]
Original post by Brendan
A barroom full of nonsense
Here are just a few of the completely nonsensical arguments laid out in todays Telegram and Gazette by Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme regarding the cities new and ‘improved’ police detail policy for drinking establishments.
A bar or club may pay a couple of hundred dollars for one police officer to work a detail for four hours, but the city can face hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability if the officer has to use force to subdue an unruly patron and/or is injured while doing so, the chief said yesterday. The new policy should address that issue as well, he said.
So the obvious and immediate result of this policy will be either rebate checks to city taxpayers or increased funding to other city services? I can’t wait to see the savings during next years budget hearings.
“Think about it from this perspective; an officer is hired for $200 and the […]
Original post by Brendan
Demographic Inversion
Excellent piece in The New Republic regarding population shifts in American cities. Some of the comments are as interesting as the actual story.
In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be “demographic inversion.” Chicago is gradually coming to resemble a traditional European city–Vienna or Paris in the nineteenth century, or, for that matter, Paris today. The poor and the newcomers are living on the outskirts. The people who live near the center–some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white–are those who can afford to do so.
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Original post by Brendan
Time to meet Worcester’s Street Vendors
Here are just a few of the individuals Mayor Lukes and Councilor Palmeri insist pose a serious threat to the city of Worcester.
Original post by Brendan