The small glass jugs filled with green or gold coloured extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe but they will be banned from 1 January 2014…The use of classic, refillable glass jugs or glazed terracotta dipping bowls and the choice of a restaurateur to buy olive oil from a small artisan producer or family business will be outlawed…The European Commissions justification for the ban, under special Common Agriculture Policy regulations, is “hygiene” and to protect the “image of olive oil”…”It will seem bonkers that olive oil jugs must go while vinegar bottles or refillable wine jugs can stay.”
At least they’re fiddling with olive oil. It could be a lot worse.
There was a recent survey of the top airports in the country — in the world, and there was not a single U.S. airport that came in the top 25. Not one. Not one U.S. airport was considered by the experts and consumers who use these airports to be in the top 25 in the world. I think Cincinnati Airport came in around 30th. What does that say about our long-term competitiveness and future? And so when folks say, well, there was some money in the FAA to deal with these furloughs — well, yeah, the money is this pool of funds that are supposed to try to upgrade our airports so we don’t rank in the bottom of industrialized countries when it comes to our infrastructure. And that’s what we’re doing — we’re using our seed corn short term.
Actually the head of the FAA sounds like a fool. The sequester resulted in ATC’s having one furlough day every two weeks. He’s apparently claiming that that tiny amount of money is material to “upgrading our airports.” How ridiculous is that? But he inadvertently making a compelling case to privatize everything the government does that the private sector can do better — get all that out of government spending. Oh wait, that wasn’t the head of the FAA.
To stay one night in London, the VP booked approximately 136 hotel rooms for 893 room nights at a hotel. The bill for the hotel alone was $459K (his hotel bill for one night in Paris was almost $600K):
When Winston Churchill came to America in late 1941, he stayed at the White House for three weeks and the bill was $0. What passes for normal today is surreal, bizarre, but no one seems to notice.
Two senators were “heartened” and “impressed” or “moved” by words spoken at a recent dinner. Words! After five years of ridiculous words, they still jump into the tank. We can only hope that these unattributed leaks to Peggy Noonan were cynical flattery (as if that had a prayer of accomplishing anything); otherwise, it’s clear some senators aren’t too bright.
Since at least 1950, all but two of the public shootings in America with more than three deaths have taken place where guns were banned. Take the Aurora shooting last summer. Within 20 minutes of the murderer’s apartment there were seven movie theaters premiering the Batman movie. The shooter didn’t go to the one that was closest to his apartment. And he didn’t choose the one with the largest audience. Instead, he went to the only one where guns were banned.
It doesn’t matter that armed civilians stop these things well before the police can. Everywhere in the USA should be a gun free zone, and we should quintuple the number of all laws and regulations on the books to make the country perfect. Oh wait, we already have!
In the email sent Monday by Charles Brown, an official with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service office in Raleigh, N.C., Mr. Brown asked “if there was any latitude” in how to spread the sequester cuts across the region to lessen the impacts on fish inspections. He said he was discouraged by officials in Washington, who gave him this reply: “We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be”…
even amid the cuts, APHIS is still hiring new employees and interns. Since Sunday the agency has posted 24 help-wanted ads including 22 student internships, one ad seeking a clerk in a New York office, and one ad seeking three “insect production workers” to grow bollworms in Phoenix.
Can’t have enough bollworms, even while you’re creating phony pain for the media to feed to the masses. Meanwhile, the House Republicans can’t manage to keep a coherent message on needless spending. They want the USPS to continue Saturday deliveries, despite the wishes of the Postmaster General and polling in favor of saving the $2 billion a year. It’s the cerebrally challenged youth vote of 2012 versus the cerebrally challenged GOP in Washington. Pity everyone can’t lose.
The Energy Department gave $150 million in economic Recovery Act funds to a battery company, LG Chem Michigan, which has yet to manufacture cells used in any vehicles sold to the public and whose workers passed time watching movies, playing board, card and video games, or volunteering for animal shelters and community groups…only three of five planned production lines were complete, that less than half of the expected 440 jobs had been created and that battery production had not yet begun. General Motors, which was expected to buy batteries from the plant in Holland, Mich., is still buying the electric-car batteries from LG Chem in South Korea. LG Chem Michigan has reimbursed the Energy Department for $842,189 in costs the inspector general found to be “unreasonable and unallowable” for time employees spent working for Habitat for Humanity, animal shelters and outdoor nature centers…The 650,000-square-foot plant — which is also eligible for more than $175 million in tax relief from the state and local governments through 2025 — was supposed to produce lithium-ion batteries to support the manufacture of 60,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2013. The July 15, 2010, groundbreaking was attended by President Obama and then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), who said Michigan would become the “North American battery capital”…He said in 2010 that the LG Chem Michigan venture was “leading the way in showing how manufacturing jobs are coming right back here to the United States of America” and that by 2012, batteries for the Chevrolet Volt and the electric Ford Focus could be “stamped ‘Made in America.’ ” He said the plant was a “symbol” of where Holland, Michigan and America were going. Sales of electric vehicles have lagged behind expectations, especially those of Obama, who aimed at having 1 million electric vehicles on the road by the middle of the decade. The Chevy Volt is the best-selling electric vehicle; GM said it sold 30,090 Volts worldwide last year. For those cars, GM has been buying LG Chem lithium-ion batteries made in South Korea. As a result, LG Chem has put its Michigan workers on rotating furloughs.
Gotta give the guy credit: “He said the plant was a ‘symbol’ of where Holland, Michigan and America were going.” Well, at least he was right about that. HT: WRM
We enjoyed watching this entertaining and creepy video of diversity training at the USDA. (The video appears to have been removed, but others are available here.) Sure, it was a little odd when he asked the crowd to chant that the Pilgrims were illegal aliens. But that’s just what the kids learn in college these days. What got to us in the segment above is that this guy was actually hired by the State Department to travel to Venezuela and give a number of lectures in that country on the meaning of the 2008 election. Who approved that boondoggle? Why? Who even dreamt up the concept? Pardon us if it looks like there’s more than a little backscratching going on somewhere.
cats have been introduced globally and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on islands. The magnitude of mortality they cause in mainland areas remains speculative, with large-scale estimates based on non-systematic analyses and little consideration of scientific data. Here we conduct a systematic review and quantitatively estimate mortality caused by cats in the United States. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually.
Looks like we need cat control far more than gun control. HT: GP
Today the US is legally bound to spend $250 billion more simply on entitlements and interest on the national debt than it takes in in revenue, and the situation is likely to get much worse. Via Zero Hedge:
In Fiscal Year 2011, the federal government collected $2.303 trillion in tax revenue. Interest on the debt that year totaled $454.4 billion, and mandatory spending totaled $2,025 billion. In sum, mandatory spending plus debt interest totaled $2.479 trillion…exceeding total revenue by $176.4 billion. For Fiscal Year 2012 which just ended 37 days ago, that shortfall increased 43% to $251.8 billion. In other words, they could cut the entirety of the Federal Government’s discretionary budget – no more military, SEC, FBI, EPA, TSA, DHS, IRS, etc. – and they would still be in the hole by a quarter of a trillion dollars…
Raising taxes won’t help. Since the end of World War II, tax receipts in the US have averaged 17.7% of GDP in a very tight range. The low has been 14.4% of GDP, and the high has been 20.6% of GDP. During that period, however, tax rates have been all over the board. Individual rates have ranged from 10% to 91%. Corporate rates from 15% to 53%. Gift taxes, estate taxes, etc. have all varied. And yet, total tax revenue has stayed nearly constant at 17.7% of GDP. It doesn’t matter how much they increase tax rates – they won’t collect any more money…
Bottom line, the US government is legally bound to spend more money on mandatory entitlements and interest than it can raise in tax revenue. It won’t make a difference how high they raise taxes, or even if they cut everything else that remains in government as we know it. This is not a political problem, it’s a mathematical one. Facts are facts, no matter how uncomfortable they may be. Today’s election is merely a choice of who is going to captain the sinking Titanic.
The only mitigating factor would be brisk economic growth, and that appears to be off the table now. HT: Andrew McCarthy, who is also pretty pessimistic.
this notice…Expands the safe harbor method described in a previous notice to provide employers the option to use a look-back measurement period of up to 12 months to determine whether new variable hour employees or seasonal employees are full-time employees, without being subject to a payment under § 4980H for this period with respect to those employees. An employee is a variable hour employee if, based on the facts and circumstances at the date the employee begins providing services to the employer (the start date), it cannot be determined that the employee is reasonably expected to work on average at least 30 hours per week. (The 30 hours per week average reflects the statutory definition of full-time employee in § 4980H(c)(4) and is the definition of “full-time employee” as used in this notice.) Seasonal employee is defined in section III.D.5, below…
Simultaneously with the issuance of this notice, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments) are jointly providing administrative guidance under § 2708 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act). PHS Act § 2708 applies to group health plans and group health insurance issuers and provides that any waiting period under a group health plan must not exceed 90 days. To clarify how the PHS Act § 2708 90-day waiting period limitation coordinates with § 4980H, this notice applies portions of the Departments’ separate and simultaneous PHS Act § 2708 guidance. DOL and HHS concur in the application of PHS Act § 2708 in this notice.
This notice consists of a background section briefly summarizing the § 4980H and PHS Act § 2708 statutory framework and the administrative guidance issued to date (section II); a description of the safe harbors available for employers for determining full-time employee status in the case of ongoing employees and newly hired variable hour and seasonal employees (including the transition from newly-hired to ongoing employees and a series of examples illustrating how the safe harbors apply) (section III); a description of the reliance provided to employers through at least 2014 (section IV); and a request for comments (section V)…
No inference should be drawn from any provision of this notice concerning any other provision of § 4980H or any other provision of the Affordable Care Act.
Robert Samuelson explains that a quater of those employed in the US are part-time, and 10 million or so — and the businesses that employ them — may be negatively impacted by these mind-numbing regulations. But “Affordable” and “Care” sound so nice!
Since the last budget was passed on April 29, 2009, Washington has spent $11.2 trillion and added more than $4.8 trillion to the national debt. With the national debt now over $16 trillion, never before have taxpayers needed a budget blueprint more to guide our nation away from fiscal ruin. Yet, the Senate Budget Committee has failed to produce a budget -– which it is required to do by law -– in over 1,200 days. In addition to not producing a budget resolution, the committee has also failed to hold many hearings, a key tool for Congress to conduct oversight, investigate problems, seek solutions, initiate conversation and debate, and advance an agenda. The Senate Budget Committee held a mere 12 hearings in 2012 – fewer than all but five other congressional committees from both chambers…
The National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) classify themselves as non-profit organizations to exempt themselves from federal income taxes on earnings. Smaller sports leagues, such as the National Lacrosse League, are also using the tax status. Taxpayers may be losing at least $91 million subsidizing these tax loopholes for professional sports…NASA spends about $1 million annually “researching and building the Mars menu.” This year, NASA also awarded $947,000 to researchers at Cornell University and the University of Hawaii to study the best food for astronauts to eat on Mars. Six volunteers will head into a barren landscape in Hawaii to simulate a 120-day Mars mission. In exchange, they receive an all-expenses-paid trip, plus $5,000
This got a unanimous vote in the Senate and passed the House by a large margin:
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 represents a major step forward in our nation’s effort to provide all children with healthy food in schools. Increasingly schools are playing a central role in children’s health. Over 31 million children receive meals through the school lunch program and many children receive most, if not all, of their meals at school. With over seventeen million children living in food insecure households and one out of every three children in America now considered overweight or obese, schools often are on the front lines of our national challenge to combat childhood obesity and improve children’s overall health. This legislation includes significant improvements that will help provide children with healthier and more nutritious food options, educate children about making healthy food choices, and teach children healthy habits that can last a lifetime.
Sadly, 650-850 calories apparently doesn’t get the job done if you’re doing sports. One-size-fits-all government at your service. On the plus side, kids are now learning to mock the nanny state at a young age.
The U.S. Justice Department says it has reached a settlement with the Sacramento (California) Public Library over a trial program the library was conducting that let patrons borrow Barnes and Noble NOOK e-book readers. DOJ and the National Federation of the Blind objected to the program on grounds that blind people could not use the NOOK e-readers for technological reasons. The Justice Department said the settlement is aimed at stopping discrimination
The State Department has a monthly magazine. In it the Chief Diversity Officer wrote:
How many times have you or a colleague asked if someone could “hold down the fort?” For example, “Could you hold down the fort while I go to…” You were likely asking someone to watch the office while you go and do something else, but the phrase’s historical connotation to some is negative and racially offensive…“Going Dutch.” Likely you or your colleague meant that each person pays for his or her own meal. The historical meaning: a negative stereotype portraying the Dutch as cheap…“Rule of thumb.” This is an acknowledged and generally accepted benchmark. Many women’s rights activists claim this term refers to an antiquated law, whereby the width of a husband’s thumb was the legal size of a switch or rod allowed to beat his wife…There is no absolute verification as to the historical roots of the word “handicap.” However, many disability advocates believe this term is rooted in a correlation between a disabled individual and a beggar
We understand that in a subsequent issue of State Magazine he’ll explain the secret meanings behind Dutch Uncle and Dutch Oven. HT: DC
With Mitt Romney’s announcement this morning that he had tapped Ryan, the very same flicker is enlivening the eyes of everyone residing at the Obama for America HQ in Chicago and in the warrens of the White House, coupled with grins wide enough to span the distance between the two. But as giddy as Democrats are about the pick, so are Republicans and in particular conservative stalwarts. The underlying cause of the joy on both sides is the same, and it also happens to be the reason why the country should love the selection too: It raises the stakes and starkly clarifies the choice that voters will face in November — in one fell and dramatic swoop transforming a campaign that was teetering on the edge of being about nothing (of substance, that is) into a contest about Very Big Things indeed.
That the right is thrilled comes as no surprise, of course, given the despondency sinking in among hard-core conservatives (and, really, most Republicans) over the state of the Romney campaign during this long hot summer. Themeless, timid, error-prone, and on the defensive over Bain, taxes, and the dreadful foreign trip, the Romney campaign has seen their guy’s position in the race steadily erode, with three new polls showing him behind by seven to nine points and Obama at or near 50 percent (CNN 52-45 percent, Fox 49-40 percent, Reuters/Ipsos 49-42 percent). While the GOP political class has loudly and justifiably lamented Team Romney’s poor performance on defense against Team O’s attacks, conservatives have been more troubled by its abject failures of offense: its inability or unwillingness to lay out a bold and clear agenda to contrast with that of the president.
In choosing Ryan, Romney, in effect, both acknowledged and granted the validity of that latter set of criticisms. As my colleague Jonathan Chait and others have written, Ryan has become the de facto ideological and intellectual leader of the contemporary GOP. His agenda of turning Medicare into a voucher program, bloc-granting and taking the meat axe to Medicaid, drastically cutting spending on virtually every other government program (except defense, natch), and, yes, privatizing Social Security has been called many things, from courageous and bold (by countless conservatives) to “thinly veiled Social Darwinism” (by Obama) and “right-wing social engineering” (by Newt Gingrich). What you cannot call it is vague or vacuous or mealy-mouthed — all words that have been attached to the man at the top of the ticket.
So this was not a safe or conventional pick — not a pick motivated by winning a state (as Portman would have partly been regarding Ohio or Marco Rubio would have partly been regarding Florida). This was a pick about ideas, about policies, about core convictions. But it was also a pick driven by political weakness.
As you know, we disagree with the last point, since our reading of the polls suggests that Romney has been ahead by a comfortable margin. But we agree with Mr. Heilemann that both sides should be happy about this. Each camp is going for a mandate, and will have one if the November results are clear enough.
Our thesis is that the 2012 election is something like the Alamo or the Custer’s Last Stand of the legacy media. Every made-up gaffe, every Kool-Aid poll are in service of dragging the guy that 90% of them support across the finish line. Their power to shape the national narrative has been on the wane for 25 years now, and we think there’s something of a crack-up going on in the media-cultural establishment. In November, we’ll see how accurate our view is.
Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed…Under Latch On NYC, new mothers who want formula won’t be denied it, but hospitals will keep infant formula in out-of-the-way secure storerooms or in locked boxes like those used to dispense and track medications. With each bottle a mother requests and receives, she’ll also get a talking-to.
It could be worse. Indeed, it is worse: if you’re a scientist who studies whales, you might be accused of the “environmental crime” of “harassment” of a life-form. Downsize, radically downsize.
