From the AP on Paterson’s Budget Proposal….
His play book is a proposed 2009-10 budget of $121.1 billion, which includes layoffs, a cut in school aid, 88 new or higher fees, and the early release of 1,600 inmates.
I can see the layoffs. I can see the cut in school aid. I can even sort of see the higher fees. But releasing inmates to save money strikes me as the last thing the state should be doing.
When you start quoting the Daily Kos, you have to look deep within your soul and start considering the dark path you are on. Nonetheless, this seems well sourced and it makes me madder then a wet hen.
For today the state of Wisconsin at the behest of the USDA drags an Amish farmer named Emmanuel Miller to court for obeying his religious principles.
Perhaps this moment will begin to intimate how the USDA has been operating and why the head of the USDA has become not a political choice but actually life and death for American farmers.
Mr. Miller is due in court today, this Wed. Dec. 17th, at 3:00 pm, at the Clark County Court House, 517 Court St. Neillsville, WI, for his initial court appearance
Family Farm Defenders is encouraging food sovereignty advocates to appear in court in Neillsville to express their solidarity with the Amish farmer being targeted by the State of Wisconsin in its first effort to enforce mandatory premises registration, stage one of the controversial National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
Daniel Borntreger’s home looks like hundreds of other Wisconsin farmhouses: two-story A-frame, porch, clothes on the line.
But his home could cost him thousands of dollars in fines. Borntreger, an Amish farmer, built the house himself according to Amish tradition — but without a building permit.
His case is among at least 18 legal actions brought against Amish residents in Wisconsin and New York in the past year and a half for building without proper permits, according to court records, attorneys and advocates for the Amish.
Reading between the lines, it seems that the code authorities are out of their minds with stupidity. Pennsylvania has made things work, and there have been no safety issues. Moreover it does not seem that the Amish have any problem paying for the permits. Their problem is stupid regulations that try to force them to have electrical outlets or forbid them from cutting their own lumber.
More to the point, have you ever looked at the price of property in Lancaster PA? It is out of this world. So many yuppies want to live next to the cool Amish that new Amish families can’t afford to live there anymore. On top of that, tourists come from all over to spend money in Lancaster because of the Amish.
Now all over the country property prices are falling and people are losing their jobs. And some idiotic town inspectors are going to try to drive out a group of people who are better then any stimulus package?
On top of that, anyone who would prefer a house built to “code” over one built by the Amish is out of their mind. You can add what the Amish don’t easier then you can make up for the lack of craftsmanship in a typical house.
Now, it’s confirmed. The Air Force has indeed blown a third test of its nuclear handling capabilities, as Danger Room first reported over the weekend. In a memo, the Air Force confirmed that the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base “rated unsatisfactory” on its nuclear surety inspection. Testers found fault with the missile unit’s “management and administration,” as well as “tools, tests, tie-down and handling equipment.”
Its not that they have been good for many years and know they are slipping. Its that they have been bad for many years and now they are finally being held to account.
Gov. David A. Paterson will propose a $4 billion package of taxes and fees on a range of items, from sugary soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi to luxury items like furs and boats, when he unveils his plan to close a deficit that has ballooned to $15 billion, people with knowledge of the plan said on Sunday.
Higher taxes will also be imposed on health insurers and a sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $115 will be eliminated, though the administration will propose a two-week holiday for goods under $500, under the budget the governor will introduce on Tuesday.
A number of fees will be increased, with users of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the state parks bearing much of the burden, people with knowledge of the plan said. Tuition at the State University of New York and the City University of New York will also be increased.
Pakistani hauliers are refusing to transport supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan following a series of attacks on their vehicles.
The decision follows a deterioration in law and order along the 35-mile stretch between Peshawar, where the military supplies are stored, and the Khyber Pass which links Pakistan with Afghanistan.
Hundreds of Nato and US-led coalition vehicles have been destroyed in the last two weeks after depots were targeted by hundreds of militants in northwest Pakistan.
Mohammad Shakir Afridi, president of the Khyber Transport Association, in the northwestern city of Peshawar said: “We have stopped supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan from today.
“We have around 3,500 trucks, tankers and other vehicles, we are the major suppliers to Afghanistan, transporting about 60-70 per cent of goods.”
A lot of this is just bluster. These dudes don’t have a lot ways of making money short of driving truck for the US. They just want someone to take their security seriously. At most, they may go so far as cut off supplies for a day or two to make their point.
Still, in the broader context this is a serious issue. War is not just a matter of how many of the enemy you can kill. It is also a matter of how well you can protect your friends. It does no good to win every stand up engagement if your enemy can melt into a population that fears them more then you. This simple idea forms the basis behind any sane counterinsurgency doctrine.
Now the truck drivers probably don’t have a deep love for the US. But if US does not do its best to take care of the truck drivers, the US can forget about getting any other Pakistani to give them a hand. More to the point, without a working supply line, the US can forget about doing anything in Afghanistan.
And don’t tell me that it is the job of the Pakistani government to protect the truckers. Should cuts no ice when your troops are the ones at the end of a shaky supply line. If the US government really believes that the Pakistani government is competent they should stop flying predators over the border every other week. If the US government does not believe the Pakistani government to be competent (and what sane person does?) they should realize that the security of their supply lines is ultimately their problem.
Striking yet another blow at the very heart of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Indian warship INS Mysore and its marine commandos thwarted a hijack attempt on an Ethiopian merchant vessel on Saturday and captured 23 pirates and a large arms cache in the operation.
The arrest of the 23 pirates (12 Somali and 11 Yemeni) and the arms haul is the largest such seizure in the ongoing anti-piracy operations off Somalia. The confiscated arms and equipment included seven AK-47s, three other assault rifles, 13 loaded magazines, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with two rockets, several grenades, a GPS set and a mobile phone.
Have the Yemenis really started joining up with the Somalis to commit acts of piracy? I have read accounts of Yemenis being rescued from Somali pirates, but this is the first time I have heard that they were joining up with them.
From an interview that Spiegel did with Greece’s Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis…..
SPIEGEL: Why have the police reacted in such a restrained and passive manner?
Bakoyannis: The police have not reacted passively, rather they have sought to de-escalate the situation. The government decided that it would rather accept material damage than new casualties and victims.
Earlier in interview Spiegel characterized the material damage this way..
The protests have been more than just an outpouring of anger and grief. In Athens alone, block after block has been devastated.
Accepting this kind of damage in the name of de-escalating the situation strikes me as paying the Dane-geld to a bunch of punks.
We like to talk about all the shoddy products that come out of China. We like to talk about the poison that can be found in the milk. But what we don’t talk about is all the perfectly healthy organs that China provides for those that need them. This essay attempts to rectify that oversight.