The BBC, reporting on a meeting at the Royal Geographical Society, says that 140 million people in developing countries are drinking water with such high concentrations of arsenic as to constitute poisoning. Experts estimate that one out of ten people living in these areas will die of aresenic-induced ailments, particularly cancer.
The problem resulted from the well-intentioned efforts of aid agencies to steer communities in poor areas away from using surface water, which is often badly contaminated by bacteria, towards well-digging, not realizing the well water could have high levels of arsenic.
Author Archives: the editor
This is why socialists are so popular…..
The job cuts are part of a restructuring plan by EarthLink to reduce operating costs and boost efficiency. As part of the plan, EarthLink will also close offices Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and California. The company will move its remaining operations to its Atlanta, Ga. facility.
Now read this from later on in the same article…
The company also announced Tuesday its board of directors voted to authorize the purchase of an additional $200 million of its outstanding shares of common stock. EarthLink now has $270 million available to repurchase its stock.
This is rewarding sellers of Earthlink stock at the expense of those who hang on to their Earthlink stock. Given that Earthlink is already having a tough time of it, it would make more sense for them to hang on to the money. When credit gets tight, you want to have cash on hand.
Why the democrats are going to win the next election…..
Look at this chart over at Calculated Risk. The ARM are really going to hit hard next year.
A sound sleeper…..
A German teenager accidentally climbed out of a fourth-floor window and fell 10 meters to the ground where he kept on sleeping, albeit with a broken arm and leg.
According to this article, no drugs or alcohol was involved.
Poem of the Week: 8/26/07-9/1/07
The Poem of the Week is The Charge Of The Light Brigade by Lord Tennyson. You can read about the battle that he based the poem off of here.
Rant of the Week: 8/26/07-9/1/07
PC Bloggs makes fun of those who think that more laws are the answer to crime with devastating British irony.
Essay of the Week: 8/26/07-9/1/07
One of the biggest errors of modern time is a misplaced faith in laws. It is thought that the right laws can do everything from taming the power of the US to improving the status of woman. But the truth is that laws do not create society, society creates laws. The power of a law nessearly stems from the values that make up a society. As a consequence, laws that are not based on values common to a society will only create widespread lawlessness. In other words, without a society based on common values, laws are useless.
This truth is ignored by many people who think that if they can only get the right laws passed, then society will be so much better. Such people would do well to read this essay from the Belmont Club exploring the consequences of trying to make enforce a common law were there is no common society.
Pennsylvania Income Taxes vs New York State Income Taxes
Pennsylvania Income Tax rate is this….
Pennsylvania has a flat tax rate of 3.07 percent on individual income, with no personal exemptions.
County, municipal and school district taxes also are collected. Those rates can be found at the Department of Community and Economic Development Web site.
Pennsylvanians who live on a modest income may qualify for the state’s Tax Forgiveness Credit.
New York State Income Tax is this….
New York collects state income taxes using a progressive, five-bracket system.
For single taxpayers:
— 4% on the first $8,000 of taxable income
— 4.5% on taxable income between $8,001 and $11,000
— 5.25% on taxable income between $11,001 and $13,000
— 5.9% on taxable income between $13,001 and $20,000
— 6.85% on taxable income of $20,001 and above.For married persons filing joint returns, the rates remain the same but the income brackets are doubled.
New York City has its own tax rates and brackets. The state’s earned income credit has increased to 30 percent of the federal credit. The credit helps taxpayers offset increases in living expenses and Social Security taxes, reduces taxes owed and in some cases can even provide a refund to filers who do not owe any tax. File Form IT-215, Claim for Earned Income Credit.
Obviously, Pennsylvanian income taxes are far lower then they are in New York. But the really disgusting thing is how ridicules the income brackets are in New York State. I mean, I can see making below 20, 000 a different tax bracket. But making between $8 grand and 11 grand a separate tax bracket? Simply absurd.
Information taken from this site.
Walking on Liquid
Have you ever heard of liquid armor? Well here is a demonstration of principles behind the idea.
A heads up for the readers of Opus…..
Berkeley Breathed is being censored by many news papers. From his web site….
Note to Opus readers: The Opus strips for August 26 and September 2 have been withheld from publication by a large number of client newspapers across the country, including Opus’ host paper The Washington Post. The strips may be viewed in a large format on their respective dates at Salon.com.
According to the website Little Green Footballs this censorship is happing because the newspapers feel that these comics are offensive to Muslims. I don’t think that they know this for a fact. I think they are just saying because of the sample panel that Berkeley Breathed posted on his website.
But the sample frame does support their theory…..