Monday - December 19, 2011
more law and disorder and the joke named justice
Tiz always thus. One rule and law for one group, and another set of standards for another.
These stories have made the news and passed pretty quickly cos more important stories take their place. Like how the evil American empire, so described on the radio here by the lawyer of that queer traitor Bradley Manning, is treating his baby faced innocent client. The other person interviewed (for the prosecution) holds the view and correctly I believe, that Manning could not have had the time to read all 125,000 docs he stole and gave to Wikileaks. So the claim of his altruistic intention is rubbish. I sidetracked myself again. That isn’t the subject of this post.
This is.
Ok, fair is fair and if someone fiddles at the expense of the taxpayer, they damn well should face the humiliation of fines and exposure and jail time. These are the leaches that sit on fat asses passing regs and new laws and more rules that the rest of the population is made to live by and with. The average person doing the same thing sometimes does go to jail. Ah but, some things depend on who and what you are.
The crooks here are white, so far. And not members of any favored minority. They are, or were, members of the Labour Party. Think left wing. Or as Lyndon refers to it, the Lie-bour Party. I believe he has a few more colorful names as well. They’ve wrecked this country.
(this does not let off crooks of a conservative bent btw)
MPs’ expenses: jailed trio ordered to pay back legal costs
Three former Labour MPs who were jailed for fiddling their expenses have been ordered to pay back a total of £125,000 – less than half of the money spent on their court cases.But a fourth disgraced politician was spared any repayment on the grounds he is already bankrupt.
Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Eric Illsley, exposed for claiming too much on their Parliamentary allowances after the landmark investigation by The Daily Telegraph, were told by a judge they must give back their legal aid funds and contribute to prosecution costs.
They have already been denied the “parachute” payments given to most MPs when they leave Westminster, and forced to pay back their fraudulently claimed expenses.
So that’s one little part of the expenses fiddle by crooks in control of the public purse.
Here’s another that made the news in the last week. Just a small item which set me to thinking.
Recently a fellow named James Lunn, was working for the Ministry of Justice. Which as we all know doesn’t really exist anywhere in the world anymore. In addition to the crime of being white and middle class, Mr lunn apparently has sticky fingers and has been caught with his paws in the ministry cookie jar. The headline said that he used his MOJ credit card like a piggy bank. His piggy bank. So not an altogether honest man we may all agree.
His lawyer said that his client was working in an enviorenment where everyone abused their expenses.
Oh well, if everyone does it .... Anyway, Mr. Lunn is now facing a year in jail and well deserved as this is not the first time he’s tried to glom money from the public cookie jar. You might interested to learn that the sum he stole was £3,400. Or in our dollars at the current rate. $5,270.15. Not a small sum but then not the Great Train Robbery either.
But for real chutzpah (Yiddish for nerve, in spades. ) take a look at this one. And just so you know, she’ll be entitled to draw money just for signing in when the dust settles. But whatcha gonna do? She came to this country at the age of 13 and has learned well how to fleece the infidel. She was made a Peer, the first muzzie female peer I believe. She’s a baroness FYI. Might be a token jest-ture to prove there isn’t any anti female anti islam feelings and it’s quite pc too.
Take a look at this. Has she drawn a year in the pokey for a hundred thousand plus fiddle? Uh huh. I see you know the answer already.
She was raised to the peerage as Baroness Uddin, of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, for life by Letters patent in the afternoon of 18 July 1998, at the House of Lords.
She was the youngest woman on the benches and the only Muslim and Bangladeshi woman to be appointed to the House of Lords. She was invited to the House of Lords for her contribution to the advancement of women and disability rights, swearing in by saying “Almighty Allah” as she took her seat in the parliament. Since entering the House of Lords, besides claiming the maximum possible amount she could fleece the taxpayer for, she has supported a handful of initiatives.
In 2010, The National Executive Committee of The Labour Party suspended Uddin indefinitely from the Party in light of the expenses claim allegations.
In October 2010, Under the recommendation of The Privileges and Conduct Committee of The House of Lords a suspension is to be handed down to Pola Uddin until Easter 2012 at the earliest for claiming expenses “to which she was not entitled”. The Committee also acknowledged a repayment agreement for expenses wrongly claimed.Uddin claims on her House of Lords Expenses that a flat inMaidstone, Kent is her main residence on which she has claimed £30,000 per annum in tax-free expenses since 2005. This is said to have allowed her to also claim the second home allowance on her London property, a scheme that ostensibly exists to compensate politicians living outside London for the cost of accommodation close to Parliament. Residents living near the flat in Maidstone reportedly said they had not seen any occupiers in the flat since Uddin purchased it and that it has remained completely unfurnished, but Uddin claims: “The Maidstone property is furnished and I strongly deny that I have never lived there” Uddin’s husband even denied having a property in Kent when questioned on the issue
She also has one of the highest claims for overnight subsistence of any member of the Lords.
Uddin’s home in Wapping, where she lives and is registered to vote, is a housing association property. Spitalfields Housing Association received a public subsidy of £37.8 million in 2008. The average rent for its properties is £104 a week, a sixth of the market rate. The allegations of fraud led the Tory opposition leader in Tower Hamlets, Peter Golds, to state, “Lady Uddin is depriving a low-income family of a home which was built for the needy at public expense.” On 5 May 2009, one of the senior Lord’s official, Clerk of the Parliaments, has announced the House of Lords authorities are investigating the report by the Sunday Times. Uddin welcomed the review: “I welcome this review and will co-operate fully with him in the hope of a speedy resolution and clarity that I did not break the rules of the House.”
On 23 November 2009, Uddin’s cases was passed to the police for possible prosecution for fraud. The Daily Telegraph later reported that she was refusing to cooperate with the police investigation, refusing to answer any questions.The Crown Prosecution Service announced on 10 March 2010 that Baroness Uddin would not face any charges on the grounds that a senior parliamentary official ruled that a Peers “main house” might be a place they visit only once a month. There were no indications that the expenses would be paid back.
On 18 October 2010, the House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee ruled that Baroness Uddin had ‘acted in bad faith’ and recommended that she should be asked to repay £125,349 as well as being suspended from Parliament until Easter 2012.In November 2011, it was revealed that no formal mechanism existed to prevent Baroness Uddin’s return to the House of Lords, even if she refused to repay the expenses that were fraudulently claimed, leading many members of her own party to call for her to resign rather than bring the House of Lords into further disrepute.
The amount of money quoted in her case (£125,349) is probably the largest amount in any of the House of Commons or House of Lords expenses scandals.Bangladesh Mansion
Further expenses claims by Uddin were later discovered when The Sunday Times revealed that she owns a mansion in Bangladesh. The mansion was described as made out of Italian marble with tiles, mosaics and with a balcony.’ An investigation of this has been acquired to whether she does have a home in Bangladesh. The mansion was believed to be built after Uddin became a peer in 1998, costing £140,000 which was organised by her husband Komar, located in Jawa Bazar in Chhatak; this is where many of her in-laws are originally from. However Uddin claims that the land was bought by her husband’s family, purchased by Kumar’s father in 1980.
FULL UNEDITED WIKIPEDIA VERSION HERE
OH BTW .... SHE IS NOT PAYING BACK ONE SINGLE DIME.
Now then, if Mr. Lunn, thief tho he may be were a member of her privileged group .... any questions?
Posted by peiper
on 12/19/2011 at 07:10 AM
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Finance and Investing • Government • muslims • UK •
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Permalink • Friday - December 16, 2011
Finally, Hope For Some Change!!
A rare bit of sanity in government! I’d call it a
Congress overturns incandescent light bulb ban
Congressional negotiators struck a deal Thursday that overturns the new rules that were to have banned sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs beginning next year. That agreement is tucked inside the massive 1,200-page spending bill that funds the government through the rest of this fiscal year, and which both houses of Congress will vote on Friday. Mr. Obama is expected to sign the bill, which heads off a looming government shutdown.
Congressional Republicans dropped almost all of the policy restrictions they tried to attach to the bill, but won inclusion of the light bulb provision, which prevents the Obama administration from carrying through a 2007 law that would have set energy efficiency standards that effectively made the traditional light bulb obsolete.
The spending bill doesn’t actually amend the 2007 law, but does prohibit the administration from spending any money to carry out the light bulb standards — which amounts to at least a temporary reprieve.
Half a loaf is better than a sharp stick in the eye, right? The rest of the story details the rest of the less than great news, but I’m looking for something - anything!! - positive coming from the feds, so I’ll take this and be happy.
Oh, if only the UK could feel the joy of this moment. Real light bulbs, cheap. Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we’re free at last. Until next year.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/16/2011 at 11:10 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - December 14, 2011
The DC Garbage Nazis
WASHINGTON - It’s the law in D.C. - recycle or face a fine from the Department of Public Works. But is enforcement of the law going too far?
Dupont Circle resident Patricia White says she has been fined eight times for throwing homemade cat litter in her trash. The fines total $2,000. White says she shreds old newspaper and junk mail to use as cat litter. She believes she is helping the environment by reusing the paper and avoiding cat litter you will find in stores.
After being fined several times, White says she called the Department of Public Works inspector who issued the tickets. According to White, the inspector admitted to digging through trash looking for violations. White even appealed the violations in D.C. court. Judge Audrey Jenkins agreed with the inspector after White explained the situation. FOX 5 tried to reach Judge Jenkins, but her office has declined to comment.
D.C. Council Member Jack Evans says DPW is going too far with its recycling enforcement. He demanded a meeting with DPW Director Bill Howland to discuss White’s case.
White says she will continue to fight the citations and continue to dispose of her cat’s litter in the trash and not in the recycling bin.
We have paper recycling here in Clinton too. Newspapers, magazines, cardboard. But if you shred the paper it becomes garbage, and if the paper is soiled with either food or feces it is NOT recyclable. I think the garbage nazis in DC and Judge Stoopid ought to get a better grip on reality. Besides, newspaper is organic, so it can decompose, and it will decompose more readily once it is cut into little bits and soaked with something, especially something that happens to be an organic acid. Like cat pee.
Yet another case of A Bridge Too Far that has connected the insane asylum with the powers of government.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/14/2011 at 08:32 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Stoopid-People • Tyrants and Dictators •
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Permalink • Thursday - December 08, 2011
Old News Is New News Again Yet Again
Holey cheese and rice! Is today Time Warp Day or something? What kind of hermetically sealed rock have these jokers been living under?
Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation “Fast and Furious” to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.
In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the “big fish.” But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called “gunwalking,” and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3”. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.
On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:
“Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
Well, perhaps it is actually new news here in the middle of December that BACK IN JULY a document surfaced that certainly seemed to support the conclusion THAT THE ENTIRE RIGHT WING BLOGOSPHERE FIGURED OUT quite a number of months before that.
At this rate, CBS will run the “news” that this operation was also used to launder vast amounts of money ... sometime in the Spring perhaps? And they’ll get around to calling for Mueller’s, Holder’s, Napolitano’s, and Obama’s heads in about 2017. Melson and Burke are already long gone, but they’re just the fall guys. This goes all the way up the ladder, right to the very top. Chop chop. Chop.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2011 at 09:25 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Guns and Gun Control •
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Permalink • Old News Is New News, Again
Gee, didn’t the New Digital Media figure this out in excruciating detail more than a year and a half ago?
Yeah, and water can’t cure dehydration. Numbnuts.
Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation’s Armed Forces at home.
During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam.
Thirteen people were killed and dozens more wounded at Fort Hood in 2009, and the number of alleged plots targeting the military has grown significantly since then. Lawmakers said there have been 33 plots against the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, and 70 percent of those threats have been since mid-2009. Major Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, who is being held for the attacks, allegedly was inspired by radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in late September. The two men exchanged as many as 20 emails, according to U.S. officials, and Awlaki declared Hasan a hero.
Pretty damn pathetic if you ask me. I think that “workplace violence” label falls under the “nice try asswipe” and “you can fool some of the people NONE of the time” categories. It wasn’t “human-caused disaster” either, or whatever the proper pansy-ass euphemism is. It was straight up terrorism executed by a jihadist who used the ninny-britches military’s kowtowing to political correctness to his advantage to work his evil. Take the bastard out and shoot him. And don’t call it anything else. Period. Next?
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2011 at 09:11 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Military • Politically Correct B.S. • RoPMA •
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Permalink • Wednesday - November 23, 2011
It’s a start
A former fundraiser to President Barack Obama was sentenced to 10.5 years in federal prison today. Tony Rezko, 56, will end up spending only seven years behind bars because the judge gave him credit for time he’s already served.
In 2008, Rezko was convicted of pay to play politics including fraud, bribery and extorting millions from businesses seeking contracts with the state of Illinois while Rod Blagojevich was Governor.
...Rezko’s sentencing of 10.5 years could set a precedent for the upcoming sentencing of convicted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich was found guilty on multiple corruption charges during his re-trial earlier this year. His sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday December 6th in Chicago.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/23/2011 at 09:10 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed • Obama, The One •
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Permalink • Friday - November 18, 2011
Conservative Pandering
House passes concealed weapons permit bill
A state permit to carry a concealed firearm would be valid in almost every other state in the country under legislation the House passed Wednesday.
The first pro-gun bill the House has taken up this year and the first since Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was severely injured in a gun attack in January, it had the National Rifle Association’s backing and passed by a comfortable margin. The vote was 272-154, with only seven Republicans voting against it and 43 Democrats supporting it.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has no parallel bill. But two years ago, GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and David Vitter of Louisiana nearly succeeded in attaching a similar measure to a larger bill.
Under the House legislation, people with a concealed carry permit in one state could carry a concealed weapon in every other state that gives people the right to carry concealed weapons. While states have various standards for issuing such permits, currently only Illinois and the District of Columbia prohibit the concealed carrying of weapons.
“The Second Amendment is a fundamental right to bear arms that should not be constrained by state boundary lines,” said GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The bill’s chief co-sponsor, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said states should consider concealed carry permits no differently from driver’s licenses recognized by all states. He noted that many states already have reciprocity agreements with other states.
- The Second Amendment already recognizes citizen’s natural right to bear arms. This means anywhere, everywhere, at any time. So this bill is just mouthwash.
- The Second Amendment does not say a single word about “this natural right can only be exercised with the proper government permits, training classes, and psychological exams, and can be limited by time, place, and circumstance at the whim of the government.”
- Article IV Section 1, the “full faith and credit” part of the Constitution, requires states to recognize each others licensing and contracts, so “common sense” would say that “reciprocity” has always existed.
- Without a parallel bill up for vote in the Senate, this vote does NOTHING other than pander to the RKBA crowd, those “bitter clingers”, as we move into an election year.
- The vast majority of states - 39 so far - are already either “shall issue” (35) or “no permit required” (4). Many of those states already have reciprocity agreements with many of the other CCW states.
- CCW is seriously restricted or denied only in the states that are historically highly liberal. California is a mess of local regulations and favoritism. New York’s laws are quite muddy and flat out denied in New York City. New Jersey considers even owning a firearm to be a crime, but will issue CCW to those with lots of money and excellent political connections. I don’t know what the deal is in Alabama and Connecticut, but I’d expect Alabama to have its act together.
- Only Illinois flat out refuses to recognize the Second Amendment in as many ways as it can, and it’s even worse in the city of Chicago and its surrounds.
Had the Supremes made a bolder, more righteous decision in Heller, none of this would be necessary. But while they did kick the ball far down field, they sort of punted at the end. That’s why we’re still going through iterations of idiocy, like this worthless bill.
Many sources covered this story yesterday. If I wasn’t such a cynic I’d be embarrassed at the level of turbo-stupid displayed in the comments at most of them. Instead I’m merely annoyed because I don’t accept those comments as naive. I see them as knowingly misleading. Especially the ones that blather on about “states rights”. Jerks. States have NO rights, only powers. And NO state has the power to ignore the Constitution or any part thereof.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms - in any manner as they desire, whether on their hip or in their pocket - shall not be infringed. “Brandishing” however is a crime when not done for self-defense. And that’s about all there is to it.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/18/2011 at 09:29 AM
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Permalink • Saturday - November 12, 2011
A Shot In The Arm For The Economy?
It occurs to me that if a) there was no corporate tax, then b) then no companies could make political contributions, and c) there would be no charges of corrupt crony capitalism.
But there would still be graft. Payouts for friends, political appointments, sweetheart deals ... it never ends. But the level of cronyism under the current administration is just beyond comprehension. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth. It never ends. It never even slows down.
$433M Smallpox Drug Contract to Company Tied to Dem Donor
Scientists are questioning a $433 million government contract for a smallpox drug they say the country doesn’t need, amid concerns over the way the project was secured for a firm tied to a Democratic donor.
The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that U.S. officials took unusual steps to award the contract to Siga Technologies. Democratic donor Ronald Perelman has the controlling share of the company.
The article cited emails showing the Obama administration replaced the lead negotiator on the project following complaints from Siga—Siga was apparently concerned about the government’s objections to how much money Siga would make off the deal.
Earlier, in December, the government also reportedly blocked other companies from bidding on the contract in a second round.
Siga ultimately won the contract in May, but some questioned the price of the drug—approximately $255 per dose—and the practicality of the project.
The government already has a smallpox vaccine on reserve. Siga’s pill is meant to help people diagnosed too late for the vaccine to be effective, according to the Times.
Reporting from Washington — Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.
Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.
When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company’s financial demands, senior officials replaced the government’s lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.
When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.
Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a “sole-source” procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation’s biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government’s specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.
Once feared for its grotesque pustules and 30% death rate, smallpox was eradicated worldwide as of 1978 and is known to exist only in the locked freezers of a Russian scientific institute and the U.S. government. There is no credible evidence that any other country or a terrorist group possesses smallpox.
Siga’s drug, an antiviral pill called ST-246, would be used to treat people who were diagnosed with smallpox too late for the vaccine to help. Yet the new drug cannot be tested for effectiveness in people because of ethical constraints — and no one knows whether animal testing could prove it would work in humans.
Hey, remember when the media had shit-fits 24-7 over some no-bid contracts awarded to Halliburton and Blackhawk for work in the Iraq war zone, even though no other companies existed that could perform the work in the time and scope necessary? Do you think they’ll wind up their alarm sirens and start screaming over this one, when at least a dozen other companies could have made this drug that may not even work and is probably not even needed? [crickets] [more crickets]
Remember when those same media “watchdogs” went turbo-monkey-poo over “no WMDS” in Iraq, and how Iraq was considered the most likely evil nation to even have a bio-terror capability?
So? So what will they say now? [even more crickets]
Posted by Drew458
on 11/12/2011 at 04:21 PM
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed • Medical • War On Terror •
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Permalink • Saturday - November 05, 2011
no more squatter/gypsy/traveler stories … except for this.
For a few years now I have shared with some great frustration, the many stories about squatters, travellers and gypsies. They all do basically the same thing and all pretty much cause havoc and great expense to innocent property owners.
It isn’t that the problem has gone away in the short time I was gone. Trust me. It hasn’t. But to be honest, I am bone tired of the story and I bet you are too.
Damn if it isn’t reported so often (cos it happens so often) that you’d get the impression nothing else happens here except that subject. So in the future, I am going to ignore (or will do my best to ignore) any more articles on that subject.
I can report however that Parliament has met to discuss legislation to outlaw squatting. I’m not clear on the traveller/gypsy thing though. Whatever, I have discovered I’m brilliant because what I’ve been ranting about seems to have been said publicly by some politician who has said, that folks do things like squatting and taking property simply because they have faith that they will get away with it. Which is what I’ve been saying for so long. So I guess maybe now I’m a rocket scientist er sompthin. Jeesh. Wouldn’t you think that was self evident? Why has it taken these folks so damn long to discuss the topic in govt.?
Anyway, I think the law will change but I don’t yet know when it will take effect.
Why not now? What’s wrong with now? Or first thing Monday morning. Why wait?
But I guess better late then not at all.
Posted by peiper
on 11/05/2011 at 12:32 PM
Filed Under: • Government • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters •
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Permalink • Monday - October 31, 2011
Another Drop In The Bucket
This one is almost too small to notice, not even $100 million. Still, it’s your money, and it’s gone, and I bet if you could turn over this rock you’d find Obama donor roaches on the board, scurrying for the shadows. Crony socialsim and a “green bubble”. Any fool with a green
(Reuters) - Beacon Power Corp filed for bankruptcy on Sunday just a year after the energy storage company received a $43 million loan guarantee from a controversial U.S. Department of Energy program.
The move comes about two months after solar panel maker Solyndra also filed for bankruptcy, setting off criticism of the government loan program.
The department guaranteed $535 million in loans to Solyndra, and Congress is investigating whether political influence played a role.
Beacon Power used the government-guaranteed-loan to build a 20-megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York.
The company said in documents filed with Delaware’s bankruptcy court that it had $72 million in assets and $47 million in debts.
A flywheel energy storage plant. A flywheel energy storage plant?? Excuse me, am I reading this right? The government handed out a fortune for a perpetual motion scheme? Horry clap. Can you get any more naive than that????
Posted by Drew458
on 10/31/2011 at 09:53 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •
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Permalink • Friday - October 28, 2011
Saving Money The Government Way
February 27, 2008 | By Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross
Where else but San Francisco City Hall could a 10-foot-long wheelchair ramp wind up costing $1 million?
Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president’s perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled.
What’s more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months while the work is done.
“It’s crazy,” admits Susan Mizer, director of the mayor’s Office on Disability. “But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building.”
advertisement | your ad hereSupervisor Jake McGoldrick said Tuesday that the issue went to the heart of liberal guilt that often drives the city’s decision making. He also choked on the price tag, and asked that the board take some more time to come up with an alternative, like maybe just getting rid of the president’s elevated seat.
The root of the problem dates back to when City Hall got a $300 million makeover in the 1990s that made just about every hallway, bathroom and office accessible to the disabled. The exception was the board president’s podium, which is reachable only for someone who can climb the five steps from the chamber floor.
The understanding was that the room would eventually be made fully accessible. But no one worried about the podium until 2004 when Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair, joined the board.
Wheelchair ramp in San Francisco supervisors’ chamber finally moves forward
By: Joshua Sabatini | 02/02/11 11:30 PM
Examiner Staff WriterFor years, Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair, fought for a ramp in the historic Board of Supervisors chamber in City Hall. Now, after much arguing, officials are finally talking about the details of installing the $529,000 ramp, and work could begin in August.
The rub is that Alito-Pier is no longer on the board. She was termed out in January. And no current supervisor uses a wheelchair. But Susan Mizner, the director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability, said making the board president’s podium wheelchair-accessible is still needed even without Alioto-Pier.
“It’s not just a matter of whether there would be a Board of Supervisors member who uses a wheelchair and is the president,” Mizner said. “To have the second-most powerful seat in city government be inaccessible is a strong and bad message that we don’t want to send to the [disabled] community.”
August 29, 2011 | Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnists
What costs more: a home in San Francisco’s Sunset District, or a wheelchair ramp in the Board of Supervisors’ chambers?If you picked the house, you’re wrong.
By the time the final tab comes in, the cost of designing and installing a ramp to the president’s chair at the Board of Supervisors - a project now under way - is expected to top out at $699,413.
That is about $50,000 more than the median cost of a home in the Sunset.
Any jackass with a hammer and some 2x4s could whack something together in a week, for peanuts. A decent carpenter with one helper ought to be able to do the job in a couple days, with another day or two at most for finishing work to make it beautiful. No way in heck this project had to cost more than half a million. $5,000 would be my guess, and $10,000 should get you something drop dead gorgeous, rock solid, and easy to use. If you don’t care about pretty, you could build one for $500, labor included.
But hey, at first the bill was over a million, then it came down to half a million, and then was built for that price with only 40% cost overrun. And it took years instead of days. For government, that’s high efficiency and cost savings.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/28/2011 at 03:22 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - October 13, 2011
Oops
Yesterday:
Opening new terminal is a ‘defining moment’
Monroe Louisiana - Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo couldn’t help but smile as he toured the new Monroe Regional Airport terminal one last time before Monday’s official grand opening.
The grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new $35 million Monroe Regional Airport Terminal is at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“It’s going to be a historic day for the city of Monroe,” Mayo said. “It’s an awesome moment for all of us. It’s emotional as well because we’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Without question, it has been the No. 1 project during my administration. It’s very gratifying to know this will change the gateway into and out of Monroe and the entire northeast Louisiana region.”
The first flight at the new terminal is scheduled to arrive at 8:17 p.m. Tuesday. The first flight out will occur at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
“The first set of passengers who fly into Monroe will probably be shocked when they get off the plane and walk through the loading bridges and come into a brand new facility,” Mayo said.
Today:
Missed connections
Monroe Regional Airport officials learned Tuesday passenger loading and unloading bridges at the new $36 million terminal are not being able to connect to airplanes.
Airport director Cleve Norrell confirmed Tuesday afternoon that some of the loading and unloading bridges at the new terminal appear they will not be able to connect to some of the airplanes.
He said airport officials are working to determine what caused the problem, if the issue resulted from a design flaw during the construction process or if it was a result of an error on the city’s part.
“We are checking them out to see what the problem is, but it looks like some of them will fit and some won’t fit,” Norrell said. “We’re not sure what will fix it right now, but that’s what we’re working on. There are a lot of variables, but we’ll know when we try to put them up to the plane. We’re working to remedy the problem.”
Oops. Still, it’s just a bit of a glich. I’m sure another couple hundred thou can fix things right up. But the real falling short to me is how they spent the money in the first place.
From what I can find out from visiting the “>airport’s homepage, it seems that about two dozen significant commercial flights a day flow through this airport, mostly going in and out of Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta. Wiki tells me they have 3 runways, with the longest one being 7500 feet. That limits this airport to jets smaller than the A320 and modern 737 size; they can fly the old MD-80s and the tiny corporate jets, but that’s about as big as they can go. If they’d spent some of that $35 million on upgrading and lengthening the runway to about 9000 feet, then they could have perhaps grown into a regional hub. Once upon a time Delta was centered out of here, but they moved on to bigger and better airports long ago. To be a playa in the major airport game you need to be able to land the widebodies, and that means long runways built strong enough to fly the heavies. At the very least you need to build to handle the mid-size planes like the A320 and the 737, which make up nearly 1/3 of all native flights, even to make a decent financial go of it. If you can’t do either then you may as well hang Maggie’s Drawers on a pole as a windsock, because your airport will forever just miss the target.
But hey, I’m sure the 900 passengers a day who use the main terminal will be impressed. For $35 million, they damn well ought to be. So good luck to Monroe Regional. And yes, “are not being able to connect to airplanes”, because grammar and writing skills are apparently no longer required to get a degree in journalism.
Monroe is the 8th largest city in Louisiana, located in Ouachita Parish in the northern part of the state, with a population of about 50,000. 3 miles east of town and only 79 feet above sea level, Monroe Regional Airport has two 5000 foot strips and one 7500 foot strip. During WWII more than 15,000 navigators were trained there.
Below the fold: a partial solution?
Posted by Drew458
on 10/13/2011 at 01:59 PM
Filed Under: • Government • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •
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Permalink • Tuesday - October 11, 2011
Oh Right, This Will Help
DOD Announces New Defense Policy Board Members
Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta today announced the following new members to the Defense Policy Board: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state; Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general; Jane Harman, former U.S. congresswoman; Retired Gen. James Cartwright, former vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former chief of naval operations.
These members join the following returning members: John Hamre, chairman; Harold Brown; J.D. Crouch; Richard Danzig; Rudy deLeon, Chuck Hagel; Retired Gen. Jack Keane; Henry Kissinger; Frank Miller; John Nagl; Sam Nunn; Joseph Nye; William Perry; James Schlesinger; Brent Scowcroft; Sarah Sewall; and Retired Gen. Larry Welch.
The Defense Policy Board provides the secretary, deputy secretary and under secretary for policy with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning matters of defense policy.
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14841
Posted by Drew458
on 10/11/2011 at 11:29 AM
Filed Under: • Government • Military •
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Permalink • Thursday - October 06, 2011
I’m gonna heave
Rep. Edolphous Towns (D-NY) has introduced the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2011. That bill would do with Obama’s presidential records what Obama has already done to his personal and collegiate records: Seal them up.
In an obvious effort to protect President Barack Obama, a group of congressional Democrats has introduced legislation to create an official process that will allow the commander-in-chief to keep presidential records secret after he leaves office.
Ironically, Obama revoked a similar George W. Bush order in one of his first official acts as president. In 2001 Bush penned an executive order severely limiting public access to his presidential records. Shortly after swearing in, Obama killed it as part of his much-ballyhooed commitment to government transparency. At the time, the new president claimed that he was giving the American people greater access to “historic documents.”
If the Democrats’ proposed measure (Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2011) becomes law, former presidents will be allowed to assert a new “constitutionally based privilege” against disclosing records of their liking.
No. Not this president. Not any president. Not Bush, not Clinton, not Reagan. Not one word, one recording, one photo or one document. Granted that certain things have to be kept secret for security reasons, National Secrets Act or some such. But those should be accessible to people with the proper clearance levels, and there shouldn’t be all that much of it. The day to day stuff and everything else belongs to us. We The People are paying the bill, so the work product, it’s ideas, and all the machinations behind it belong to us. Every word spoken, every doodle drawn, every gold tee shanked. There is no 9 to 5 time clock for the job, so every utterance from every hour is public. That such a bill should be introduced more than a year before the next election really smells. And Edolphus Towns ought to be run out of town on a rail for putting forth such a tyrannical bill.
Posted by Drew458
on 10/06/2011 at 03:53 PM
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed •
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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