Senator West Virginia

Plane Stupid Manchester Airport Action BBC News

In a bid to halt the proposed expansion of freight handling facilities at UK’s Manchester Airport climate change protesters have cut through an airport perimeter fence and attached themselves to the wheels of an aircraft.

The protest started at around 07:00 when six protesters gained access to the airfield by cutting a hole in the perimeter fence. A banner with the slogan: ‘More air freight = more climate change – Stop all airport expansion now’ was raised by another group of around 10 protesters at the airport entrance. Flights were suspended for only 20 minutes subsequent to the security breach.

The airport freight terminal currently processes around 170,000 tonnes of inbound and outbound freight every year. It is intended that this capacity will be increased to 250,000 tonnes by 2015.

A spokesperson for the environmental protest group Plane Stupid, who were responsible for the action, has said that the local-council owned airport has kept residents in the dark over plans to increase the freight handling capacity. The environmental campaigners claim that the proposed expansion makes no sense economically nor environmentally and that it is likely to mean that some people’s homes would be demolished The environmental campaigners have pointed out that the current Manchester airport freight handling capacity is currently under-utilised and that the planned expansion could be a stepping stone toward further airport expansion.

This latest protest comes right after protesters have claimed a victory over the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport over which a high court judge has ordered a review.

The tactics employed by the Plane Stupid campaigners have received some criticism. They have staged actions which have disrupted travel for thousands of people. The actions of this protest group have highlighted serious security issues at various British airports. If it is so easy for a group of peaceful protesters to gain access to aircraft on an airfield can we be confident that people with more sinister intentions will not do the same?

For great savings on Manchester Airport Parking always book in advance. And why not consider booking a Manchester Airport hotel to make the most of your journey? And be certain that you have adequate travel insurance for your trip.

Conservatives believe in God.

Liberals think they are God.

 

Conservatives want to engrave the Ten Commandments on every doorpost in the country.

Liberals want to tape the Bill of Rights over the Ten Commandments in every Bible on the planet.

 

Conservatives think that gay marriage will turn the world into one huge gay orgy.

Liberals think that this is a free fucking country, that people should have the right to marry whomever they want, and that if we ban gay marriage, we might as well change our name to Iran.

 

Conservatives own dogs and watch Cops.

Liberals own cats and watch Cats.

 

Conservatives shoot first and ask questions later.

Liberals ask questions first and then blame conservatives for everything.

 

Conservatives stand around at our borders holding guns.

Liberals want conservatives to turn their guns on themselves and pull the trigger.

 

Conservatives want to stab eyes and remove teeth.

Liberals want to give murderers a sad face sticker and a timeout.

 

Conservatives want to leave everything to supply and demand.

Liberals demand that the government supply them with shit.

 

Conservatives think that people solve problems, and governments create them.

Liberals think that governments solve problems, and conservatives create them.

 

Conservatives yell, “Mine, mine, mine!”

Liberals like to whine, whine, whine.

 

A conservative looks at someone and thinks, “How can I profit off of him?”

A liberal looks at someone and thinks, “How can I convince him he’s wrong?”

 

Conservatives think people tend to be more productive when being productive makes them more money.

Liberals think people will rape each other when presented with the opportunity to make more money.

 

Conservatives think that having the government handle money is like having a blind man handle your hernia surgery.

Liberals think that having a free economy handle money is like having Willie Nelson guard your marijuana stash.

 

Conservatives will tell you that every man has his price.

Liberals would like to tell you that every man has his rice.

 

Conservatives want to say farewell to welfare.

Liberals want to say farewell to capitalism.

 

Conservatives think that schools should compete for business.

Liberals think that schools should teach people not to become conservatives.

 

Liberals think that the government should provide free healthcare.

Conservatives think that free healthcare will be worth exactly what people pay for it.

 

Liberals think conservatives are a bunch of deluded, money loving dickheads who would gladly trade the sun for a jar of mayonnaise.

Conservative think liberals are a bunch of deluded, tree hugging sissies who don’t realize that we need to cut down a few trees in order to build a house.

 

Liberals think that global warming is caused by conservatives.

Conservatives think that global warming doesn’t exist, or that if it does exist, it’s caused by the burps of degenerate liberal drunks like the Kennedys.

 

Liberals buy tofu and drive hybrids.

Conservatives buy Hummers and drive up the price of oil.

 

Liberals think that guns kill people.

Conservatives think that guns not only don’t kill people, they actually save people—as long as we each have at least fifteen of them.

 

Liberals think the UN spreads peace.

Conservatives think UN stands for Unbelievably Naïve.

 

Liberals want the US to withdraw from Iraq.

Conservatives want the US to attack France.

 

Liberals smoke marijuana and LSD.

Conservatives snort cocaine and more cocaine.

 

Liberals root for Fonzie and Chachi.

Conservatives root for Mr. Burns and Flanders.

 

Liberals think that humans evolved from bacteria.

Conservatives think that Darwin was a homo.

 

Liberals sing “Heal the World” and “We Shall Overcome.”

Conservatives sing “Achy Breaky Heart” and “I Wish I Was in Dixie.”

 

Liberals reenact the Civil War in order to learn about the nation’s history.

Conservatives reenact the Civil War in order to get ready for the rematch.

 

rodneyohebsion.com

Labor took heavy losses in the U.K. election results and Gordon Brown, incumbent Prime Minister, has announced he will resign as head of the Labor Party. Currently, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties are working on a coalition government. Labor is making a counteroffer to the Liberal Democrats, and it appears it will be months until a British Government is clearly established. Spending deficits and debt relief are part of the issues facing the new government, and austerity measures are expected to be part of the projects for the new government when it finally forms.

Gordon Brown gives up his post as a sacrifice

The move of Gordon Brown to resign from being Prime Minister could be taken as a sacrificial lamb of sorts to the Liberal Democrats, according to the Wall Street Journal. Brown hasn’t announced when he will leave office. In his present capacity as head of the Labor Party, which he will also be resigning, it could easily be construed as an offer meant to woo the Liberal Democrats away from the Conservatives and to forming a different coalition government with Labor instead.

Challenges presented in forming coalition governments

The decision then falls to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to pick which party they wish to form an agreement to form a government with. Currently, The Liberal Democrats are working on forming a coalition government with David Cameron and the Conservative Party, in order to gain a majority, form a government, and solve the first hung parliament in 36 years.

Why this is bad

The United Kingdom, just as the United States, has been having problems lately. Taxation in the U.K is more than in the U.S. (up to 50 percent of income) and alongside other economic woes in Europe, also has a growing deficit. There is a Greece bailout being put together, and European markets have to be stabilized or there will be disastrous ramifications worldwide.

Sources

Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703880304575235731729521938.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

It is no inward that those in un-exclusive relations sectors who elf skillfulness over aggregation and manages it, obtain noesis. Max Weber said it person when he explicit publically, In facing the business of representatives, a officialdom, finished careful knowledge full, fights every attempt of the parliament to obtain knowledge.

How actual these language sound in our ears. Because of this line, as intimately as other aspects of these facts, the earth is revolving speedily into the tract of noesis to modify overt relations.

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It was noted that relationships amid convoluted organizational in open relations whereas government carry office, there appears to be solon noesis. In the unrestricted relations educational aspect, superintendents on civilizes boards incline to acquire solon country than educational officials in large cities.

Suburban superintendents seem to feature fewer controllers. On the one symbol, managers in larger cities lean to tally solon power over the managers in smaller areas. There is no misstatement that knowledge is land.

In fact, we see this powerfulness brought out in some of the famous people that rung publically, which permit Actress Theologize Localizer Jr. and Measure Politico. These men made a conflict by showing their force of noesis.

Woodrow Geophysicist also prefabs a difference. Writer is started the education for the previous exoteric relations. In an crude publication, Physicist acute out that building resources could change and modify the overt relations.                

Despite that, it is a proven fact that knowledge is strength, many public relation officers believe that being in office is power. Contrary to their notion, without knowledge, administrative officers are sure to fail as the system weakens overtime.                              

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The Senate climate change bill has come forth Wednesday after many months of bickering and having a main sponsors drop it. Senators of Massachusetts, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, presented a climate and energy package designed to limit climate change and promote clean energy jobs. Kerry said it was imperative the Senate climate change bill, which includes a little something for everyone, gets passed this year. But one of the vote-getting goodies in the climate bill is expanded off-shore drilling — a provision that could backfire in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Not a good climate for change

Negotiations with lawmakers by Kerry and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on the climate and energy bill appeared to be humming along until just last month. Graham abruptly withdrew his support of the energy legislation under pressure from GOP true believers. Right Wing enforcers seemed to be angry with Graham for giving the Democrats what seemed to be installment loans of Republican support. Graham gave an oblique reference to immigration politics as an excuse. Many Republican votes will now change because of Graham.

Clean energy happens to be stained by oil

When the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico erupted last month, one of the big vote-getting goodies in the climate and energy package — incentives to increase domestic offshore drilling — was rewritten. The New York Times reports that instead of providing for a broad expansion of offshore drilling, the Kerry-Lieberman bill gives coastal states the right to veto any drilling plan that could cause environmental or economic harm. Graham had a hand in drafting the original oil drilling provision.

Big Crowd drawn by Energy legislation

The Senate Climate bill has brought out a bunch of lobbyists. Oil companies have spent millions of dollars trying to stop the bill from passing. Clean energy producers in low-carbon nuclear power, natural gas or wind and solar power have been trying to enrich themselves with the Senate climate bill. Reuters reports that green energy utilities such as FPL Group and Exelon have lobbied alongside environmental groups for the climate change bill, along with General Electric, a manufacturer of clean coal for power plants and wind turbines.

Clean energy and green jobs

Kerry’s presentation of the Senate climate change bill was accompanied by a blog on the Huffington Post asking for public support. Kerry claims the climate and energy bill package will help create nearly 2 million new green energy jobs, develop new products, and support the research and development required to help the U.S. maintain leadership in the global economy. He also explains that this specific climate bill would reduce the deficit by $21 billion in nine years.

A Senate Climate change?

Kerry conveys a sense of urgency for clean energy and green energy jobs, saying it’s long overdue for America to lead on climate change. He says he’ll mount a “full court press” to pass the energy legislation in 2010. But Kerry wants to add more pressure to a Congress paralyzed from dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, financial reform, immigration reform, an upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle and a sputtering economic recovery.

Sources

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/science/earth/13climate.html

Reuters reports

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1219978020100512?type=marketsNews

Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-kerry/transforming-our-power_b_573303.html

With elections due later on this year in Egypt, staff have started to step-up their claims for an improvement in the minimum wage.  The 35 Egyptian Pounds a month minimum wage has continued the same for the last 26 years and loads of ordinary Egyptians think that something needs to be done as inflation is around 10%.

 

Large groups of protestors not too long ago clashed with police as they demanded an improvement to 1,200 Egyptian Pounds a month. Presently, in the region of 40% of Egyptians survive below the poverty line and the rise in the minimum wage would make a large difference to a considerable number of families. Yet, it is being suggested that the Egyptian government are considering an increase to 450 Egyptian Pounds a month.

 

There is little question that an improvement in wages will aide a great number of men and women and in an election year, such a move would clearly aid the government at the polls. However, there is the small matter of how such an increase would be paid for. Governments do not have a unlimited supply of finances with which to pay public sector workers and at the same time businesses can only pay wages out of the cash they earn.

 

Egypt creates a lot of its income from natural resources such as oil, coal and gas together with tourism. Government may be able to pay extra for the increase in minimum wage for its staff with a mix of tax increases, efficiency savings and redundancies. Nevertheless, they will need to bear in mind that tax increases don’t always work as in 2005, the rate of corporation tax was slashed from 40% to 20% year tax revenues the subsequent year doubled.

 

A possible area to be hit with increases is the international holiday-maker. The fees of visas could be elevated to produce additional government revenue while the private sector may likely have to increase room rates at hotels and prices at dining places in order to pay their staff the higher minimum wage.  These costs would most likely be passed on to the holidaymaker. The real expense in Red Sea Holidays from the UK is the cost of flights. Hotels and services once in Egypt have always been fantastic value so there is scope for a rise there. However, pressure may be put on airlines to lower airfares so as not to price breaks to Egypt too far above their recent levels.

The Arlen Specter election results were closely watched in the Pennsylvania election results of the primary race for Senate candidates. Last year, Arlen Specter switched to the Democrats after decades as a Republican. Some took it as a stab in the back, and others believed it was because Republicans had gotten too fanatical to keep moderates in the fold. It was also suggested he moved because he wasn’t likely to win another election to the US Senate, which turned out to be true. Regardless of the quick cash that may have been donated to his campaign, it all came to naught.

Source for this article: Arlen Specter election results are not in his favor

Arlen Specter election results aren’t good for him

There has been something of a wave of anti-establishment mentalities lately, and this translates to a lot of incumbent office holders getting shown the door. A 30 year Senate career has ended and Rep Joe Sestak is the new Democratic candidate for the open Senate seat for Pennsylvania, as a result of the Arlen Specter election results.

More on the horizon

This isn’t the actual election, just the primaries. Sestak, despite winning the Democratic primary, still has the final Pennsylvania election results to get through before he is installed as a senator. He still has to defeat the Republican candidate, Pat Toomey. According to CNN, there was some back and forth about whether anyone should actually challenge Specter, and Sestak decided he didn’t care and ran as the underdog anyway, and emerged victorious as the Democratic candidate.

The midterm primaries are open season on incumbents

Getting rid of incumbents is becoming the theme for this year. Fewer people are satisfied with the job government is doing, and they want new blood. Other primaries had similar outcomes. In the Republican primary in Kentucky, Rand Paul, son of Texas Representative Ron Paul defeated Ted Grayson, the Kentucky Secretary of State. Grayson had been endorsed by Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, but that wasn’t enough to keep the son of the uber-popular Libertarian down. In Arkansas, incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln is in a fight with Lt Gov Bill Halter for the Democratic candidacy, and will have a second runoff election soon.

Article resources

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/19/preston.primaries.analysis/

HB 545 is a comprehensive Ohio payday lending reform law that was passed in 2008. The interest rates that lenders were charging on payday cash advances were capped with this law. Two years after this law went into effect, Representatives Jennifer Garrison, Gerald Stebelton and Matt Lundy are co-sponsoring HB 486, intended to further limit payday lenders.

The argument for more payday loan regulation through HB 486

Ohio’s HB 486 underlines more restriction and regulations on the payday lending industry. Payday lending stores are charging contentious fees for services such as check cashing, loan origination and credit checks, and many lawmakers are none too pleased. When HB 545 passed in 2008, the goal was to reduce the cost of payday loans and more heavily regulate the industry. To tighten regulations even more is what HB 486 is designed to do. Legislators are concerned that payday lending customers are paying, in effect, $ 15 – $ 25 on each $ 100 borrowed for a two or four week period. Many borrowers who are financially irresponsible turn to these products for help, only to find themselves deeper down the barrel.

Disagreements on more regulation for payday loans

While the payday lending industry is not often well received or well liked, HB 486 attempts to punish payday lenders for following the law. When HB 545 was passed, interest rates on payday loans were capped at 28 percent annual interest – about that of most credit cards. However, over the two-week period of most payday loans, that interest rate does not provide the income lenders need to cover their costs. More than 700 payday lending stores have closed down, and about 2,500 Ohio residents lost their jobs.

Ohio lenders controlled under the Small Loans Act

In an attempt to remain above waters, Ohio payday lenders began operating under the Small Loans Act. Under the Small Loans Act, lenders are able to charge fees for check cashing, credit checks and loan origination. However, increased reporting, cash-on-hand and more regulated advertising is required by the Small Loans Act. Following the letter of the law, payday lending stores in Ohio are charging fees and operating under the Small Loans Act to ensure that they are providing a legal service. HB 486 seeks to end this practice.

The math of payday loans in Ohio

Many legislators who believe payday lenders need more regulation are looking to figures such as 391 percent APR to back their finds. However, both HB 545 and HB 486 do not take into consideration that payday loans are specifically designed for short-term financial solutions meant only for two to four week periods. Additionally, the only other option available to most payday loan customers is bank fees of $ 30 or more for bounced checks. Many payday loan customers these days don’t have the required credit to qualify for more traditional financial products.

So what do you think? Will HB 486 protect consumers? Or will HB 486 chuck Ohio payday lenders completely out of business?

Tensions on both sides of the aisle are already heightening, and the Lieberman citizenship bill has not yet even been introduced. Legal experts are calling the bill, simply, “draconian”. In the end, small cash loans are rarely the only thing people need for protection in the legal system – but the U.S. legal system is designed for citizens and non-citizens alike. Would the Lieberman citizenship bill solve what it is intended to solve or just cause more headaches?

Events that prompted the Lieberman citizenship bill?

Lieberman has said that the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, the accused Times Square Bomber, prompted him to write this citizenship bill. Senator Lieberman has publicly decried the fact that Shahzad was read his Miranda rights (if a bit late). Faisal is guaranteed the rights to a full civil trial, as an American citizen.

What Lieberman’s citizenship bill says

Any person with “ties to a foreign terrorist organization” would have their citizenship revoked by the Lieberman bill. Revoking citizenship means revoking constitutional legal protections. There are still many questions about this Lieberman citizenship bill – especially about its definitions.

The question of Lieberman citizenship definitions

The Lieberman citizenship bill raises many, many questions. First of all, the bill does not define what exactly are “ties” to terrorist organizations. There is no protection for individuals who are wrongfully accused, and no standard of proof. New authorities would be granted to the State Department to decide who is a citizen.

Lieberman citizenship bill would not solve problem

Lieberman has said this bill is intended to “fix” the fact Miranda rights were read to the Times Square bomber. The fact that Lieberman’s citizenship bill would strip some rights would not “fix” the Miranda “problem”. Miranda rights still apply to non-citizens, even when arrested in the United States.

Constitutional challenge to Lieberman citizenship bill

The Lieberman citizenship bill would, if passed, almost certainly face legal challenges. The current law of the land is that anyone who fights for a foreign army “does so at the risk of their citizenship”. The Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that citizens cannot be stripped of their citizenship without choice. The only way the government can deprive citizenship is by proving that the citizen intended to revoke their citizenship on their own.

Resources:

Atlantic Wire

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/5-Problems-With-Liebermans-Citizenship-Stripping-Bill-3488

Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/citizen-lieberman/56227/

Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/news/times_square_bomb_attempt/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/05/05/faisal_shahzad_lieberman

Washington Post

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/05/how_liebermans_citizen-strippi.html

The recent attempt, made by New York State Governor David Paterson, to furlough state employees has been rejected by a Federal judge after lawsuits were filed against the furloughs. While in the middle of a serious budget crunch, New York State is running the risk of insolvency. Governor Paterson and legislators reluctantly agreed to put 100,000 state employees on a one-day furlough. It would only have cost each employee one day’s pay, far less than the amount of the average payday loan.

Furlough to ease budget ordered by Gov. Paterson

The state of New York is currently staring down the barrel of a $ 9 billion budget deficit. This does not put the burden squarely on those that would have gone on furlough, but $ 9 billion is not an amount most state governments have in petty cash. Serious cuts were necessary, and this was what New York State legislature and Gov. David Paterson thought could help ease the burden.

Here comes the Judge

More than a few unions filed restraining orders against the furloughs almost as soon as it was announced. If drastic cuts are not made, New York will run out of money before fall this year. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn issued a restraining order against Paterson ordering the furlough, though it would have only lasted one day. He said the furlough would do more harm than good. Legislators also opposed the furlough, but grudgingly passed it. According to the New York Times, canceling a scheduled raise would have been included in the budget cuts, and this enraged union leaders who were not willing to give that up.

New York and the billion dollar deficit

New York’s budget crisis is one of the worst in the country. Only few states are that far in the red, and ascetic measures are opposed at every turn. Obstinate unions unwilling to work with either industry or business heads for the greater good makes it more difficult to cut expenditures, and taxes are hard enough to get raised as it is. When a government runs a deficit, it can cut expenditures, increase revenue, or execute a combination of both.