Oakland’s police chief Anthony Batts has announced that Oakland Police will not responded to 44 different crimes if planned layoffs occur at midnight. It was useful for Batts to announce the categories in advance for criminals to chose from a criminal dim sum list of free crimes including grand theft, burglary, vehicle collision, identity theft and vandalism.
If you are the victim of burglary, you will be told to make a report online and not to expect police to respond.
Here the list of free crimes in Oakland:
burglary
theft
embezzlement
grand theft
grand theft:dog
identity theft
false information to peace officer
required to register as sex or arson offender
dump waste or offensive matter
discard appliance with lock
loud music
possess forged notes
pass fictitious check
obtain money by false voucher
fraudulent use of access cards
stolen license plate
embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
extortion
attempted extortion
false personification of other
injure telephone/ power line
interfere with power line
unauthorized cable tv connection
vandalism
administer/expose poison to another’s
That allows ample room for most criminals to plan a life of crime without the risk of police interference.
This is the response to the planned layoff of 80 officers. That is roughly one-tenth of the force. As we continue to gush billions in Afghanistan and Iraq, our cities are returning to a state of nature. According to the city of Oakland, each of the 776 police officers currently employed at OPD costs around $188,000 per year. The city council asked OPD officers to pay nine percent of their salary toward their pensions. However, the union would only agree if the city promised no layoffs. The city refused.
Source: NBC.
Slarti:
Velcro was discovered in 1941 by some guy walking in the woods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro
teflon 1938
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene
transistor 1925
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
and I might add all by individuals or companies for profit. The moon shot would not have been possible without the private sector and the discoveries made by people looking to benefit themselves. I also might add that Werner Von Braun should have been shot or hanged but was needed by the US. From here I could rant about science in service/subservience to the state but I wont, I think you probably get the idea I have in mind.
Elaine:
Good idea, I like it. But is that enough? I would also reduce some of the more hobbling regulations that don’t do much but cost large sums of money to both enforce and comply with.
Slarti:
“(unless you’re secretly working for China ).”
please keep that our secret.
Gyges:
I thought I had answered your question. Wasn’t the well analogy acceptable? (I even thought that one up all on my lonesome 🙂 )
That analogy was used by one of the top economists (Walter Williams) in the country to demonstrate the effect of stimulus money in an economy. It is the lost opportunity of money. And please tell me why it would create prosperity to buy windows for everyone rather than suits of clothes or new ovens or new sewing machines?
How do you know I actually benefit from the interstate system? How do you know a private system of toll roads wouldn’t reduce the price of my goods and put more money in my pocket because I am paying less in taxes both to the federal government and at the pump.
Elaine. It is terrible. Fortunately the only punishment they have to give out is ex-communication. People do not care that much anymore. They will receive communion if they want. Many American catholics no longer pay attention to Rome. Look what just happened in Argentina which is a country largely comprised of catholics. They ignored the church and made gay marriage equal.
Slart,
I’ll argue much more strongly for federally funded science than I will art. For the reason that the vast majority of art can be effectively funded by groups other than the federal government(local governments have a vested interest in maintaining the cultural base of their city, private collectors, etc.).
Byron said:
“And how about getting rid of funding for the arts and sciences, way too political in my mind.”
Were you trying to get my goat? I’ll leave the question of public funding the of arts (which I approve of) to someone else and tackle the question that I know more about: science. Do you really want to create a depression amongst PhDs, cripple the university system and ensure the end of America’s leadership in discovery? The private sector would be horrible at funding basic research (look at pharma – most of their research money is spent on figuring out new uses of the drugs they have rather than creating new drugs these days). Most of the benefits of research (and they are many) don’t come from specific inquiry into achieving that benefit (we didn’t go to the moon in order to find velcro, for instance). If science is too political, the answer is to get politics out of scientific funding as much as possible and out of scientific research entirely, not to end the public funding of science. I think you would be really unhappy with the boatload of unintended consequences that would come with cutting off public funding of scientists (unless you’re secretly working for China ;-)).
Swarthmore mom–
I left the Catholic Church a loooonnnng before Ratzinger became pope.
This one’s for you!
Vatican: Ordination Of Women A ‘Grave Crime’ (Huffington Post, 7/15/2010)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/15/vatican-ordination-of-wom_n_647296.html
Excerpt: VATICAN CITY — The Vatican issued a revised set of in-house rules Thursday to respond to clerical sex abuse, targeting priests who molest the mentally disabled as well as children and priests who use child pornography, but making few substantive changes to existing practice.
The new rules make no mention of the need for bishops to report clerical sex abuse to police, provide no canonical sanctions for bishops who cover up for abusers and do not include any “one-strike and you’re out” policy for pedophile priests as demanded by some victims.
As a result, they failed to satisfy victims’ advocates, who said the revised rules amounted to little more than “administrative housekeeping” of existing practice when what was needed were bold new rules threatening bishops who fail to report molester priests.
The rules cover the canonical penalties and procedures used for the most grave crimes in the church, both sacramental and moral, and double the statute of limitations applied to them. One new element included lists the attempted ordination of women as a “grave crime” subject to the same set of procedures and punishments meted out for sex abuse.
Byron–
I wrote: Our economy isn’t going to get much better until we start manufacturing goods again in this country. Instead, we give tax breaks to corporations that build factories in other countries where the wages are much, much lower.
You asked: Good point but how do you attract companies back to the US?
**********
How about not giving the corporations that build plants in foreign countries tax breaks for starters? Why not give tax breaks to companies that build manufacturing plants in the US and provide jobs for out-of-work Americans?
Jill,
We just disagree on the incendiary value of the phrase “take to task”. 😀 You should know by now, having seen me eat enough trolls and win enough arguments, that when I go incendiary I usually go full on flame thrower if not tactical nuclear. No scold was meant and I’m sorry if you took it that way.
And thanks. I’ll tell you this too: working on this project and using the Declaration of Independence as the basis for principles behind selecting the platform items has made me truly re-evaluate and appreciate what an intelligent guy Jefferson was.
Byron,
Also, No personal benefit from the interstate system? Really? So you don’t think all those goods that get shipped in from out of town would cost more if the trip took longer?
Byron,
You didn’t answer my questions, what’s the broken window? Remember it has to meet those assumptions or your analogy’s no good. If you’re going to use a well known analogy then you’d better be able to explain why it’s applicable, otherwise you’re just being lazy and cribbing someone else’s notes.
10/4 on both accounts. My friend is a nun of a liberal Catholic order and no one wants to sign up because they’re too liberal. These nuns have really been hassled by the hierarchy.
Buddha,
I really wish you would use less incendiary language with me. How about just saying you disagree with me and say why? You sound like a scold when you say you’re going to take me to task. Also, good job on your party principles. They make a lot of sense!
Jill:
What exactly is social justice? I know what I think it is but then I am on the opposite end of the political spectrum from you on most, though not all, issues.
Would you be willing to explain it to me from your political viewpoint? I don’t want to argue about it, I just want an explanation. If I have some questions would you be willing to answer them? I actually just want to understand the concept from a different perspective.
The peace and social justice movement in the Catholic church was attractive as was liberation theology. Ratzinger has made it very difficult to remain a catholic. Thank you for the apology.
Gyges:
where does the money come from? And what would the person do with the money if it didn’t get diverted to something else?
How often do you replace windows in your house or even in your place of business? The point being is if I told you by breaking the window in every house in the country I could “stimulate” the economy you would tell me I was out of my mind.
So what is the difference between buying everyone new windows or building roads and bridges? Which aren’t being built, from my understanding it is mostly going to teachers, police, fire fighters and government workers salaries. These are not jobs that produce anything, there is no surplus value to add to the economy. Although you could make the case that they protect property at least in the case of police and ff but government workers and teachers are pure admin.
So back to roads, roads and bridges don’t produce surplus value, granted they allow goods to be shipped but then trucking companies pay a gas tax and other fees to use the roads so where is any value gained? The money may get recirculated but at some point is has to come from somewhere which is taxes. It is as if you have a dry well and you fill it full of water, it works for awhile but if there is no aquifer to recharge it eventually the water runs out and all you have done is taken a finite amount of water and spread it around without trying to tap the actual spring. The water is gone and you are left with a dry well that isn’t going to produce.
Infrastructure is a necessary “evil” which I would like to see privatized but know that is probably not going to happen.
Infrastructure benefits those who design and build the roads and bridges. There are so many alternative forms of travel and shipping that I don’t know how much I personally benefit from a public interstate highway. Honestly, I would be better off paying $25, $50 even $100 every time I used an interstate road than paying a gas tax.
Our system, as set up currently, is one big wealth transfer mechanism from the middle class to the poor and to major corporations. By poor I mean the ones who can work but dont and are unwilling to contribute but who dont mind taking. People who cant work should be helped.
Swarthmore mom,
Sorry I thought you were a christian. I was raised first in a cult and then in a very social justice oriented christian church (for which I am grateful to have been a part of). I wasn’t trying to preach but can see how it came off that way. There are some parts of progressive, social justice orientations in the christian church that I like and I was speaking from that. That particular quote attributed to Jesus has always stuck with me. It has given me pause many times in my life.
Byron,
I’ll give you the broken window example, if you’ll answer one question.
What’s the broken window analogous to?
See the whole example is based on the fact that the window was in fact, broken.
If the guy just decided to replace the window, or constantly needed a supply of new windows as an operating cost of his business, then the whole thing falls apart right? Heck I mean, the whole thing falls sort of falls apart if the new window is in any way better than the old one being as the person buying the window see some sort of benefit from their money. Hmmm, and The story assumes that the baker A) would never need to replace the window, and B) will never have another $100 to buy a suit. Neither of which is likely to be true in real life (you’d actually be better leaving the part about the tailor off).
So, how does the stimulus represent money that:
a) is spending that wouldn’t have been ever needed
b)comes from an nonrenewable source
c) gives no benefit to the people paying the cost (let’s call them the tax payers).
By the way, here’s a break down of spending (with a link on the page to the tax cuts)
http://www.propublica.org/special/the-stimulus-plan-a-detailed-list-of-spending
The biggest category is “transportation and infrastructure.” Which if I remember the reports from after that bridge collapse a few years ago, we’re a decade or two behind in BASIC maintenance (let alone improvement). I don’t think there’s a singe person that doesn’t benefit from infrastructure improvement.
Easy there, Jill. I realize the whole situation with the venal pigs leading this country to destruction from within has you upset. Hell, it makes me downright angry. I don’t think any of the regulars here are happy about the people you are taking on and that’s part of what keeps them regulars – dissatisfaction and concern over where this country is and is heading and a desire to hold those responsible responsible. But there is no need to get so defensive over a simple clarification. History shows that if I had a reason or a need to “go for it”, I’m not shy in the slightest.
Jill I don’t need you to preach to me. You don’t know whether or not I am a christian. The only thing I have said about my religious views on this blog is that I was raised catholic.