Cities now paying murderers not to kill people.
Richmond CA, has a “innovative” plan to reduce their crime rate. They’re paying convicted murderers and other violent offenders not to commit crimes.
“But when Holmes was released from prison last year, officials in this city offered something unusual to try to keep him alive: money. They began paying Holmes as much as $1,000 a month not to commit another gun crime.
And when the elaborate efforts at engagement fail, the mentors still pay those who pledge to improve, even when, like Holmes, they are caught with a gun, or worse — suspected of murder.
You have to feel sorry for the city’s law abiding citizens who not only don’t get the $1000/month but are actually working to pay for this. Maybe their property values will rise when word of this progressive idea of theirs starts to attract new residents.
Source: Washington Post
Japan and South Korea scratching their heads over Trump’s proposal that they should build nuclear arsenals
Donald Trump’s proposal that Japan and South Korea should have their own nuclear arsenals met with some disbelief and confusion.
From Japan:
“Whoever becomes president of the United States, the Japan-U.S. alliance, based on a bilateral security agreement, will remain the core of Japan’s diplomacy.We will adhere to our three principles that prohibit Japan from owning, developing and transporting a nuclear arsenal”
-Yoshihide Suga, Japanese chief cabinet secretary.”
From South Korea
“We are dumbfounded at such myopic views of a leading candidate in the U.S. presidential race, who tries to approach such critical issues only from the perspective of expenses,. Trump must refrain from his penny-wise and pound-foolish approach.”
-The JoongAng Ilbo, one of South Korea’s biggest newspapers,
It takes a very special candidate to ask Japan to build nuclear weapons. This proposal is so over the top it makes you question what conceivable purpose it was meant to serve. Did Mr. Trump want to alienate two of our strongest allies in the Pacific ? Did he think that this would win support with American voters ? Did he think at all ?
Source: Washington Post
Federal Government Spends $6,000 To Study ‘French Lesbian Activism Since World War II’
Proving that the one course any student should take in college is, “How to write a grant proposal” , The National Endowment for the Humanities issued gave $6000 to have a book written about French lesbian activists. Other grants from the “Common Good Initiative” include,
The University of Kansas received $19,999 for a college class on the “ethical boundaries of community,” while Boston College received $20,000 for a six-week seminar on “the meaning of work and leisure.”
The University of Rochester also received $19,341 for an undergraduate seminar on “what it means to die.”
$6,000 to the University of South Florida for a cultural analysis of “conflict graffiti in Detroit and cities in the Middle East.”
Another $6,000 went to a professor at California State University for a book on “feminist activism and peace negotiations at the end of World War I.”
While not all these grants are completely useless. Teaching students the meaning of work sounds like a good idea, though they seem to have already perfected leisure. They all also demonstrate the folly of letting federal government get away from it’s actual mandates.
Source: Washington Free Beacon
Worlds Largest Renewable Energy Developer Facing Bankruptcy
U.S. solar energy company SunEdison Inc (SUNE.N), whose aggressive acquisition strategy has saddled it with almost $12 billion of debt, is at “substantial risk” of bankruptcy, one of its two publicly listed units warned on Tuesday. A bankruptcy would rank among the largest involving a non-financial company in the past 10 years, according to bankruptcydata.com. SunEdison declined to comment.
Oops, do these things ever actually work out ?
Pressure From Disney Caused Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to Cave on Religious Liberty
But did the citizens of Georgia actually get anything for the capitulation ?
Likely not says a study of Michigan’s efforts to subsidize the movie industry
Apparently Michigan’s efforts to attract movie industry jobs wound up costing the state nearly $200,000/job and it was largely temp work.
Palmyra Before and After Isis
Slideshow of the Middle Eastern City of Palmyra, before and after it’s destruction by ISIS
I am sure the dead Greek and Roman era city was a very real threat to ISIS.
When is a Superpac not a Superpac ?
I give this idea credit. Don’t call your superpac a superpac, call it a business, make some nominal sales to a campaign, bypass all the regular rules about coordinating with a candidate. I think I am going to drop Google and start using Bing.
The Psychology of the Trumpkins
The Federalist has an article up delving into the psychology motivating Trump’s supporters
If we take a central tenet of Trump’s campaign—immigration—and apply the crisis intervention model to explain how this issue has caused a watershed of panic among his supporters, the calculus might look something like this: our government allows thousands of illegal immigrants to pour across our borders, plus this is a violation of the statutes governing immigration, plus distress because our country is no longer governed by the rule of law equals a generalized feeling of powerlessness.
My take is a little simpler. Excluding the truly crazy and hateful, who are there, and Trump does nearly nothing to discourage, the rest of his supporters are just people who have no faith that the regular candidates will represent their interest or make decisions that will benefit them in any way shape or form. Toss in a legitimate loss of a faith in a better tomorrow and for many a pretty desperate today, you get people who are willing to try anything. Unfortunately for them, if they get their way they will learn just how true the saying “It can always get worse” truly is.
Buying Politicians still a really good investment: AT&T Looks for a $100 million subsidy to upgrade it’s aging DSL infrastructure in California
AT&T is asking taxpayers to foot a $100 million bill for Internet service that at best will get customers 10Mbps down and 1Mbps up. The California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), provides grants to Internet service providers to connect citizens in “unserved and underserved areas,” but specifies that service must be “[offered at] advertised speeds of at least 6 mbps download and 1.5 mbps upload.” In the case of AT&T DSL, it wouldn’t even qualify on the latter stat, but it’s still pushing forward
The rise of anti-establishment movements around the world will hit global investment, Wall Street profits and Hillary Clinton‘s chances of winning the presidency, according to a self-described libertarian economist.
Well That’s it for the water cooler today. It’s an open thread so have at it.
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