Wednesday Open Thread
Welcome to your Wednesday open thread. Hopefully I have the day correct. The floor is yours.
First, try this out for fun: The Postmodernism Generator
A professor takes on the question: Is the real environmental problem population growth or overconsumption? The answer is Yes.
To start, let’s be clear about one thing: global environmental problems are not caused solely by population growth. The number of people on the planet per se doesn’t affect our climate, our ecosys tems or our natural resources. It’s how we collectively consume and pollute that impacts the environment.
Plus, a relatively small number of us are responsible for the vast majority of the globe’s consumption, pollution, land and water degradation, and biodiversity loss. In the United States alone, our 4 percent of the global population accounts for roughly 25 percent of the world’s fossil fuel use—about six times our share of the planetary pie.
…
Population growth is definitely contributing to our global problems too, but in a different way.
The world’s poorest nations are not only home to some of the fastest growing populations, but also often the most vulnerable to environmental, political and economic disruptions. While the people who inhabit them contribute relatively little to global environmental degradation, they will be the first to feel the impacts.
It’s a one-two punch: The rich are rapidly increasing consumption and causing the lion’s share of our planetary environmental problems, while the number of poor is growing, putting more people in harm’s way and increasing human vulnerability to environmental disruption.
As poor nations develop they also consume more resources (they have a long way to go to match U.S. consumption). Natural resources are finite. China is now the world’s largest consumer of oil and they’re still growing. India is also growing rapidly. What happens when we hit peak oil?
We got some more bad economic news yesterday with reports of a huge plunge in home sales. Frank Ahrens at the Washington Post argues this is a good thing.
Painful as it is to take in the short term, today’s news about the plunge in home sales is exactly what this economy needs for the long run.
…
The second effort — government-sponsored attempts to prop up the housing industry — has only postponed the inevitable pain. The government offered a home-buyer tax credit program last year, then extended it, then extended the deadline for closing on new purchases, in an effort to spur sales.
And, for a time, it worked. But literally the minute that the government subsidies stopped, home sales fell off the cliff. Again, this is simple economics. I don’t know why it still surprises us. We saw the exact same thing to auto sales when the government’s cash-for-clunkers program ended last year.
This is wrong though, car sales are back up. I see nothing wrong with temporary stimulus. It works. But the housing market is much different. How much more proof do you need that the Reagan/Bush model of economic prosperity will no longer work?
You’ve probably already seen the value of your home drop 20, 30, 40 percent over the past four years. That’s painful, especially because it’s the largest purchase most Americans will make in their lives. But today’s number — combined with the general economic malaise — tells us that home prices probably still have not hit bottom.
And that’s exactly what needs to happen before the economy can right itself.
Color me skeptical at the pain caucus, but this graph is an eye-opener.
Tags: Open Thread
The News Journal struck again this morning. They reported that there is no Democratic candidate for the 3rd Council District. In fact, Renee Taschner is our endorsed candidate to succeed Bill Tansey who is retiring. Sloppy reporting, non-existent editing. They have since corrected the story on-line but the dead-tree edition is out there. Sheesh.
I wonder why she didn’t show up for the CLNCC/GHADA/Community News debate? That may be why Beth Miller figured that there wasn’t any candidate – but it is sloppy reporting regardless.
Elizabeth Warren makes this point about housing in this speech (long but well worth the listen).
Warren debunks the myth of a superficial over-consuming society. She found that we are spending less on commodities than ever before, but we are spending more on housing.
Commodities are cheaper, but housing and other essentials are more expensive. Basically the money we used to spend on consumer goods has been captured by real estate.
Warren also speculates that when we buy a house, we are really shopping for schools, and this is bidding up home prices.
I suppose this is in her book… I haven’t read the book but the speech presents the point well (Warren starts 5 minutes in).
Nancy,
Renee was there but not allowed to speak because there’s no Democratic Primary in the 3rd District Council race. They only let primary contestants speak.
Also, this wasn’t Beth Miller’s story, she would know better. Chad Livengood wrote this masterpiece.
I wanted to come out of hibernation to share this random gem of a line I heard from a tea-bagger while at work the other day.
He called an aborted fetus a “hanger-baby.”
..and wondered why I busted out on a fit of laughter at the mention of it.
That is all.
Is that the same Chad Livengood who thinks that whiny rich people are news? No wonder he can’t get his facts right. Too busy sucking up to his editors in their Hockessin mansions.
Gotcha – I wasn’t thinking primary. Beth Miller wrote one of the articles about the Hockessin debate but she left early to follow the crew of GOPers who went to the wingnut “job interview” at the Newark Senior Center later. Urky had a mid-sized RV with his photo glued to the entire exterior. That must be the ‘bus’ that brought his red shirt contingent.
anony, no one is surprised that you are a bit defensive about the current exposure of the Coonsie/Clark corruption as far as degrading the UDC’s quality of life protection. Not everyone thinks the county’s main duty is to help out the development community.
Yeah, that’s the graph I was looking for a couple weeks back when you schooled me
Nancy: Peoples Settlement lost is 501C3 status today. This as a result of you and that “rogue” board and your inability to manage or control the former Ex. Director Keith Lake. I don’t think the community cares what you think on any topic. Chew on that awhile.
“Is that the same Chad Livengood who thinks that whiny rich people are news?”
If the state has to pick up the road-improvement tab for the Barley Mill project, a lot more than rich people will be whining. Depending on the road improvements required, we could be looking at a cost in the mid-eight-figures, a cost all Delaware taxpayers will shoulder.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/nyc-cab-driver-stabbed-by-islamophobe/hate-crimes/?cid=cs:headline2 thank you Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Newt, and the rest. you all made this possible! ALL HAIL CONSERVATISM
See, if you are a Rockerfella you go out and buy up gadzillion acres in Wyoming or on St. John’s Virgin Island and then you carve out the really prime stuff for a family compound. Then you give the rest to the US Department of the Interior for a National Park. That way you get the benefit of the gadzillion acres and the taxpayers pick up most of the maintenance.
Apparently the DuPonts didn’t figure this one out and now they’re upset that the commoners are coming too close.
This must be why Delaware is the only state without a National Park. Too bad.
Oh, c’mon, Geezer. You’re smarter than that. Or are you taking the side of the Gatsbys because you live up there?
DelDOT builds new intersections and stoplights and upgrades roads every year because of new development, and there’s not a peep in TNJ about it. Sometimes the developer pays because the improvements directly benefit their project; sometimes the state pays because it’s due to population and traffic build-up over time.
The Livengood/Milford story over the weekend was nothing more than a blowjob to the Greenville and Hockessin neighbors of some TNJ higher-up. The whining rich douchebags weren’t complaining because their tax dollars were going to have to pay for road improvements, but because a slice of commerce was going to intrude on the views from their palatial estates.
Chad Livengood got played trying to make a name for himself, and Maureen Milford got an excuse to write about her favorite subject – rich people in Chateau Country, where the living is good and no one talks about getting new clothes for the kids at the Goodwill because Mom is already buying clearance bread, store-brand pasta and lots of tuna fish.
Fuck those fucking fuckers. I’d LOVE to see Stoltz get the zoning changed and then put in a homeless shelter down the road from Muffy and Reginald just to really see them go apeshit.
New Topic. VP Biden is out in Missouri at the DNC Summer meeting.
As the Vice President said today, this election is about a choice “between Democrats and the Republican Tea Party, between Democrats and the party of repeal and repeat.”
I like that. “the party of repeal and repeat.” Catchy.
You’ve got a better chance of seeing a pollution-free refinery operating in Delaware City than Stoltz establishing a homeless shelter on the outskirts of Greenville.
OK anon – I’m in love with you – I laughed so hard I cried at that last one….
Just realized I left part of a sentence out … should have read:
“… Chateau Country, where the living is good and no one talks about getting new clothes for the kids at the Goodwill *because there’s no room in the grocery budget* because Mom is already buying clearance bread, store-brand pasta and lots of tuna fish.”
“Oh, c’mon, Geezer. You’re smarter than that. Or are you taking the side of the Gatsbys because you live up there?”
Grow up. Pointing out that we’re all going to foot the bill for the road mess Barley Mill will cause is hardly “taking the side of the Gatsbys.” I don’t care why the Richie Riches were upset. I was pointing out why you should be. You’ve got a hard-on for people with more money than you, stroke your dick yourself, and leave me, Chad Livengood and Maureen Milford out of it. “Fuck those fucking fuckers”? Class resentment at its finest.
As for its journalistic merits, there were plenty of points made that needed airing — did Paul Clark’s disingenuous bullshit ever look so lame before, and was Pam Scott’s prickishness ever on such gaudy display? — and writing about the newspaper’s core audience hardly makes poor business sense. TNJ market penetration in upstate Republican areas is far higher than anywhere else. They should ignore that audience just because it gets your Greenville Envy engorged? Think about it for five seconds, or better yet, use Google maps, and you’ll see none of it will affect Ledford or his drive from Hockessin to Creekwood.
Nice one there, iaic, are you referring to the list of DE non-profits who have failed to file with the IRS? The list has been making its way around. Planned Parenthood sent it to leg hall who sent it to the county who sent it to the Civic League – we were on the list as were most of the non profits in the state. The law was changed in 2006 and caught a lot of agencies unawares. PSA was on the list too but everyone has until October to file so I doubt PSA has ‘lost its status’.
Here is what Dave Carter put together for people:
Beginning with the May 17, 2010, filing deadline, the IRS will begin revoking the tax-exempt status of nonprofits required to file an annual return (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF) that have failed to do so for three consecutive years.
Who Should Be Aware of These Changes?
Nonprofits required to file an annual return that have not done so for three consecutive years. Small organizations with revenues of $25,000 or less are particularly vulnerable, since before 2008, they were not required to submit annual filings to the IRS, and they may not be aware of the requirement.
Grantmakers and others who need to verify nonprofits’ status to know which ones are exempt and which are not.
Donors who want to ensure that their charitable contributions will be deductible—and that the organizations they are supporting are in compliance with the law.
Why Is the IRS Revoking Tax Exemptions?
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires the IRS to revoke the federal tax exemption of any organization required to file an annual return that has failed to do so for three consecutive years. Nonprofits that wish to have their exemptions reinstated will be required to reapply to the IRS for tax-exempt status, a process that can take several months and requires a user fee of $400 or $850.
Angie Basicoonsie protected the public from the truth for the last five years and got rewarded with 70K+ per annum with all the perks. That is why the WNJ didn’t report on much of the Coonsie/Clark shenanigans.
I love it that the Builtmore Hotel is now going to be allowed to open. That is only after we spent gazillions retrofitting drainage into the offramp to South 141. Socializing costs and privatizing gain. The Pam Scott – Nathan Hayward – Jay Sonecha – Ruthie Minner document from April 2004 (drafted by Ralph Reeb in DelDOTs realty offices) is giving DelDOT a headache now. The Southern Sewer has been built for Bayberry per the Infrastructure Agreement but the Beltway 301 is struggling to justify it’s cost. The government really, really wants to build the thing but they can’t convince the legis that tolls will pay back the bonds and they can’t convince the feds that the tolls will pay back the bonds. There is no money to build Bayberry’s Beltway. Will Saul Ewing sue Jack Markell over 302 like they sued Chris Coons over the Southern Sewer because their Agreement isn’t being met in a timely manner?
Does Obomba think that social security is “like a milk cow with 310 million tits?” If not, why does Deficit Commission Co-Chairman Alan Simpson (R, Cranky Old Man) still have his job today?
“In the United States alone, our 4 percent of the global population accounts for roughly 25 percent of the world’s fossil fuel use—about six times our share of the planetary pie.”
While you self-flagellate over this … perception…, I’ll revel in the knowledge that the US contributes, (via technology, philanthropy, etc)., more to the well being of this planet than any10 of the third world shitholes occupying the remainder of the pie.
I’ll be getting (predictably) labeled as a racist in … 3, 2, 1, …
Thats it Nancy. Thats your excuse for why PSA lost its tax exempt status? It could’nt be the result of you and the “rogue” boards failure to protect the agency? It couldnt be that PSA is in foreclosure and no longer a “non profit”…geez. you have an excuse for everything right? Wrong.
no, just evil or stupid. not sure which one.
Mis: Deflect, deflect, deflect. It’s not about self-flagellation. It’s just a fact. Whether you think it’s worth addressing is up to you, but if you belittle others for thinking it’s worth addressing, don’t be shocked to find yourself belittled in your turn.
The U.S. contributes very little philanthropy to the world. Foreign aide is <1% of our budget. Unless you count bombing poor countries into oblivion as U.S. philanthropy – we spend a lot of money on that.
“Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: I’m Gay”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/bush-campaign-chief-and-former-rnc-chair-ken-mehlman-im-gay/62065/
A1 – it was the worst kept secret in DC, just like Lindsay Graham’s sexual orientation (hint – he ain’t straight).
Apropos of nothing, and without a single link, here’s something I stumbled across while researching an argument with some other wingnut:
In 1988 when the US tightened sanctions on Iran, Dupont couldn’t sell its explosive Tovex to Iran anymore… but Canada could. So Dupont sold its Tovex business to a nominally Canadian holding company, with physical offices in Wilmington Delaware, which then licensed Tovex to a Pakistani company, which now has Iran as a major Tovex customer, and today Tovex is turning up in terrorist bombs.
There’s always a way.
Update: Oh all right, here’s a link:
http://www.biafo.com/aboutus.htm
“The U.S. contributes very little philanthropy to the world. ”
Bullshit.Call it philanthropy, or whatever, this country provides a tremendous amount of support to under-developed countries. You’re either too lazy to research it, or to obstinate and narrow-minded to admit it. Here’s but one minor recent example. A mere drop in the bucket
:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/10/tax-dollars-to-build-mosques/
Geezer:
By now, you should know that it really doesn’t mean jack shit to me whether you, or anyone here, makes an impotent attempt to “belittle” me. Add something substantive to the conversation, or fuck off.
I’m sorry if you don’t like it but we are a stingy nation, especially considering how big our economy is compared to others.
Top donor nations – U.S. is top in terms of $.
Nations by GDP
Hahahahahahaha, the Washington Times as a source.
“Hahahahahahaha, the Washington Times as a source”
Oddly enough, I couldn’t find any reference to the story on the Huffington Post or The Daily Show.
I would love to have their take on the Office of the Inspector General’s audit of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) faith-based and community initiatives that examined whether government funds were being used for religious activities. Or, for that matter, any liberal news source and/or the MSM. Please let me know if you find an objective breakdown of the audit.
I won’t hold my breath.
Oh little miss. You can’t demand people to bear false claim. Well, you do. And your klan does. Never fret dearie! its well established that WN’s tithe. You gotta pay to get a seat closer to the hand of god, right?
Apparently, coherency isn’t your strong suit, Joe. You ate the brown acid, didn’t you?
Never mind. Obomba thinks it is OK to have a co-chair of the deficit commission who thinks that social security is “like a milk cow with 310 million tits.”
Jennifer Psaki, the deputy White House communications director, said, “Alan Simpson has apologized and while we regret and do not condone his comments, we accept his apology and he will continue to serve.”
Alan Simpson,a CLEAR CASE STUDY of someone weaned from the teet too soon.
Mis: I’ll add something substantive to the conversation right after you do. The US uses more energy per capita than other nations. That’s the substance. What we do charity-wise is not adding anything to that conversation. It’s switching the subject so that you don’t have to face the fact. Fuck off indeed.
TNJ gets it right: Why the hell do we elect a county sheriff?
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100826/OPINION11/8260313
The very same questions ought to be asked about recorder of deeds, register of wills and clerk of the peace. They are all anachronisms, more suited to the 1800s than the 2000s.
Anon: Chad Livengood has a follow-up this morning to the Sunday story. Still think it’s all about catering to rich folks in Greenville?
As a matter of fact, I do. The original story was all about how the folks living on their estates in Chateau Country are going to have to see a large office tower from their homes. The trafic and redevelopment angles were minor. The follow-up is an obfuscating attempt to make the story seem like someone’s done something wrong and get the focus off the whiny rich people. The senior NJ editors must have realized that whiny rich people don’t get a lot of public sympathy.
TNJ does a takedown of Velda. Sweet stuff.
She didn’t tell Markell? And she doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with that?
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100826/OPINION11/8260313
If she makes it through the primary, Bonini’s going to have a field day with this.
She should resign as Treasuer. This has gone too far.
anon, that was the sherrif article.
My bad – thanks a. price, my clipboard must not have been working right. Here’s the treasurer expose:
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100826/NEWS02/8260356/-1/RSS1210
Anon,
Actually today’s story was a pretty good example of:
a) what happens quite often in Land Use; and
b) what happens when the media isn’t paying attention to the routine of government and no one inside government has a conscience.
Think about it: two days after the gravel pit ordinance is passed, Stoltz puts in a gravel pit redevelopment proposal. No one notices, or no one on the inside raises an eyebrow or brings it to anyone’s attention.
But if you read Paul Clark’s comments, you see that he’s the one who’s being disingenuous. His wife, the Stoltz attorney, probably explained it to him very well before the ordinance was put on the council agenda.
” The US uses more energy per capita than other nations. That’s the substance. ”
That may be the substance of *your* narrow focus, which is only part of the picture. The US produces more than most other nations. Is this obvious enough for you to grasp?
“What we do charity-wise is not adding anything to that conversation. ”
It was relevant to the conversation I was in before you jumped in with the usual limp-dick attempt at an insult. Any thing else of substance you’d care to add? If not, go flagellate yourself.