Monthly Archives: June 2014

S.F. Taxi Chief Resigns, Predicts Industry Wipeout By Lyft And Uber

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“In a sense, it’s shocking to hear such grim assessments about the state of an industry–one that seems like a basic city service–that has been around for decades. But this is a lesson for other cities: San Francisco’s taxi system is notoriously horrible, with too few cabs on the road, too many cabbies who lie about having broken credit card machines so customers will pay cash, and problematic drivers.  A look at 1,700 customer complaints by the Bay Citizen reveals all sorts of issues, including cabbies smoking, texting while driving, falling asleep at the wheel, and just being rude. Should we surprised that the industry is in danger of toppling over?”

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3031448/heres-an-idea/head-of-san-francisco-cab-company-predicts-lyft-and-uber-will-put-the-industry

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Bay Area city approves $13 minimum wage, to be California’s highest

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“Businesses that pay less than 800 hours of employee wages over a two-week period will be exempt from the rules but must still pay the state minimum wage.  Richmond businesses that ‘derive more than 50 percent of their income from transactions where the point of sale is outside the city’ will be forced to pay an ‘intermediate wage,’ defined as halfway between the city’s minimum wage and the state minimum wage.  Seattle recently raised its minimum wage to $15 by 2017, which would be the nation’s highest. San Francisco’s $10.74 minimum wage is currently the state’s highest.  The new law will phase in the minimum wage hike over several years, increasing to $13 in 2018.”

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/20140605/bay-area-city-approves-13-minimum-wage-potentially-californias-highest

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San Francisco voters just voted to make housing less affordable

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“Yesterday, San Francisco voters handily voted in favor of Measure B. That’s a ballot initiative that will make it more difficult to construct tall buildings on the San Francisco waterfront by requiring buildings over a certain size to obtain voter approval via referendum.  Thanks to the miraculous technology of the elevator, it is perfectly possible for lots of people to live and work in a small geographical area via the mechanism of tall buildings. But when tall buildings are banned, space becomes scarcer. And when space is scarce, the tendency is that the richest people around will be the ones who are able to bid for it.”

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/4/5778696/measure-b-san-francisco-will-reduce-affordability

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ECB: Bank With Us … and We’ll Charge You Interest

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“This morning, the ECB took the radical stepof cutting its deposit rate to negative 0.1 percent. It also lowered its benchmark lending rate (similar to the federal funds rate the U.S. Federal Reserve has been raising and lowering for decades) to 0.15 percent from 0.25 percent.  Furthermore, it tried to boost the mortgage and business loan businesses by offering to buy Asset Backed Securities (ABS) and by launching more Long-Term Refinancing Operations. While central banks in Sweden and Denmark took tentative steps in the direction of negative rates, the ECB’s move is unprecedented because no major world central bank has ever tried it before.”

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/ecb-bank-with-us-and-well-charge-you-interest-61946

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Fed Money Pumping Brings Results: The Affluent Society Returns

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“Once again, monetary inflation is being confused with high-end entrepreneurialism. Ludwig von Mises, the great Austrian economist, was not fooled about the wealth effect of modern finance and, indeed, with his colleague FA Hayek dealt a devastating blow to the ever-reoccurring idea that ‘this time it’s different.’ It’s not different. Never. It just depends on where you are in the business cycle. Like a bad penny, this dream often recurs when the Fed has dumped enough money into the economy. These funds slosh around in the recesses of commercial banks and financial firms and then gradually find their way into stock markets and thence into high-end real estate.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35370/Fed-Money-Pumping-Brings-Results-The-Affluent-Society-Returns–For-Now/

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When parents pay for college, student debt becomes a family affair

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“Their collective student debt bill quickly grew to more than $500,000. Two of their children have managed to pay off their debt since graduating, but the couple is still strapped with more than $150,000 worth of loans and will add more to their load when their youngest son graduates next year.  Although their loans are federal and they have the option to apply for an income-based repayment plan, the Shippens were told their combined income was too high to qualify.  College costs have increased by nearly 30% over the last five years alone.  Nearly 30% of the 38 million federal student loan borrowers in the U.S. today are between 40 and 59 years old.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-debt-nearly-destroyed-this-family-s-finances-150749696.html

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ATF’s Operation Gideon Raises Questions of Fairness, Justice, and Race

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“The stash house was fictional, those drugs never existed, and the brains behind the plot were not criminals, but federal agents.  Dissenting judges argued that the practice of enticing poor young men into robbing stash houses raised questions not only of fair play, but also of constitutionality. The dissenters were particularly concerned that federal agents targeted primarily minority neighborhoods.  According to USA Today, as of last year, the feds had already locked up more than a thousand people who its agents had enticed into conspiracies to rob fake drug stash houses.  The defendants also got hit with longer sentences based on the imaginary amounts of drugs that were going to rob.”

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2014/may/30/operation_gideon_atf_raises_que

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Tampa SWAT Team Kills Marijuana Grower In His Home

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“The Bay News 9 story used anodyne language to describe the raid, saying only that police ‘entered’ the residence. It is not clear from the reporting whether this was a no-knock raid or how the police entered the residence.  Police said one man in the front of the house surrendered when the SWAT team entered, but that Westcott, who was found armed in a back room, pointed his gun and officers and was then shot.  Although police repeatedly referred to ‘narcotics,’ the only ‘narcotic’ Westcott was accused of selling was marijuana. Police found a hydroponic marijuana grow in his home.  Westcott had no prior criminal record except for one incident of driving without a license.”

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2014/may/30/tampa_swat_team_kills_armed_man

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U.S. Border Patrol Guns Down Fleeing Marijuana Smuggler

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“A Border Patrol agent shot and killed marijuana smuggler Luis Arambula, 31, as he fled on foot through an Arizona golf course.  The killing is bound to put CBP’s new use of deadly force policies to the test. According to the CBP’s new handbook, the use of deadly force is authorized only when there is imminent danger of death or serious injury to the agent or someone else.  That doesn’t appear to be the case with Luis Arambula. Border Patrol Agent Daniel Marquez shot him nine times as he ran through a golf course after his vehicle got stuck as he fled from agents.  Pima County sheriff’s deputies investigating the incident said Arambula was unarmed.”

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2014/jun/04/smuggler_shooting_immediately_te

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What are the coolest photos of international borders?

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http://www.quora.com/Borders-geography/What-are-the-coolest-photos-of-international-borders

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