5,200 Cameras In One Area Is Alot!

D.C. officials are giving police access to more than 5,000 closed-circuit TV cameras citywide that monitor traffic, schools and public housing — a move that will give the District one of the largest surveillance networks in the country.

The Video Interoperability for Public Safety (VIPS) program will consolidate the more than 5,200 cameras operated by D.C. agencies — including D.C. Public Schools and the D.C. Housing Authority — into one network managed by the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

 The Labor Department on Friday said nonfarm employment fell by 80,000 jobs in March, more than expected and the biggest drop in five years. Financial markets saw this as reinforcing the need for further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Adding to the bleak picture, the Labor Department said a total of 152,000 jobs were lost in January and February, sharply above the prior estimate of 85,000, and the jobless rate jumped to 5.1% from 4.8%, the highest since September 2005. Construction employment fell 51,000, the ninth consecutive month of job losses.

Factory employment fell by 48,000, the biggest decline since July 2003, exacerbated by a 24,000 fall in auto manufacturing jobs that the department said likely reflected the impact of a strike at an auto parts maker. Most economists, having seen a third monthly decline, were now convinced that the economy is in recession.

The numbers drew calls from Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for aid to families facing foreclosure on their homes, while Republican candidate Senator John McCain said tax cuts and streamlining burdensome regulations were needed to foster growth.

A New York Times/CBS News poll released on Friday showed the economy’s deepening woes were weighing heavily on the minds of Americans. Of those polled, 81% said they believed things were “pretty seriously” on the wrong track, up from 69% a year ago and 35% in early 2002.

Britain Bows To China 

Beijing Olympic organisers said Monday they backed a ban on political protests by athletes attending this year’s Games, amid uproar over an effort to silence British athletes. China is believed to be concerned that some of the 10,000 athletes expected here for the Games could be used by human rights activists and other groups to stage protests designed to draw attention to their causes.

The controversy erupted in Britain after a Sunday newspaper reported that the British Olympic Association (BOA) had threatened that any athlete who refused to sign the gag order would not be allowed to travel to China. Basically, any British participant who signed the order and then spoke out during the Games would be sent home, according to the initial plan.

Prince Charles has already let it be known that he will not be going to China, even if he is invited by Games organisers.  His views on the Communist dictatorship are well known, after this newspaper revealed how he described China’s leaders as “appalling old waxworks” in a journal written after he attended the handover of Hong Kong. The Prince is also a long-time supporter of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader.

The controversial clause in the contract stated that athletes “are not to comment on any politically sensitive issues.” It then refers to Section 51 of the Olympic Charter, which says, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Issues considered politically sensitive in communist-ruled China range from human rights, religious freedom, Tibet, Taiwan to Beijing’s role in Sudan.

The BOA took the decision even though other countries – including the United States, Canada, Finland, and Australia – have pledged that their athletes would be free to speak about any issue concerning China. To date, only New Zealand and Belgium have banned their athletes from giving political opinions while competing at the Games.

The government’s efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy by doling out checks to workers could backfire, according to two surveys asking consumers what they will do with their checks.

Nearly three-quarters of those asked on both surveys said they will either pay down debt or save any money sent to them as part of an economic stimulus package. The remaining quarter indicated they would spend the money, which is the goal of the program. So that’s $25 billion, not $100 billion, and it’s not clear how quickly it will be spent. What’s more, money that is directed toward lenders, be it to pay off mortgages or credit-card bills, is money that’s already been spent. In other words, it’s already done its job in helping the economy.

International Council of Shopping Centers  found that 46% of respondents said they would mostly pay off debt with the checks while another 28% said they would save the money. Both surveys found that the results didn’t differ across income levels.

The rationale behind the stimulus, which is primarily aimed at lower- and middle-income taxpayers, is that those with less income are more likely to spend the money on things they might not have been able to afford otherwise, such as big-screen TVs or new clothes. That in turn would boost economic activity and help the U.S. avoid a recession.

This is madness. As our infrastructure crumbles and our nation devolves into an uneducated, uncivilized social wasteland, we continue to amass trillions of dollars in debt creating bomb craters in the sands of Iraq.  If this continues, we will follow in the footsteps of all previous corrupt, immoral empires.

Why aren’t these people finding their paychecks docked?

Federal employees are routinely abusing rules on business-class travel, taking trips to destinations like Zurich for $7,500 and costing taxpayers an extra estimated $145 million annually, congressional investigators have found. The improper use of premium-class travel is widespread at a half-dozen federal departments, including Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce and State, according to the Government Accountability Office report.

The investigators found very few first-class flights, which fall under even stricter rules. But they concluded that about 65% of the overall premium flights — or about $146 million worth — were improper or abusive, meaning either they broke the rules or were not appropriately authorized. That travel represents just 1 percent of overall flights, but it consumes 7 percent of the dollars spent on air travel because business class costs on average five times more than coach. That’s hardly a drop in the bucket compared to the everyday waste federal agencies go through.

But Al Gore for President isn’t likely 

Awareness of global warming may rise after the Nobel Peace Prize awarded Friday to former Vice President Al Gore and a United Nations science panel for their work on the issue. Mr. Gore won’t likely take the one action that could immediately alter the political dynamic at home — entering the 2008 presidential race. Still, the award will likely put pressure on presidential hopefuls from the Democratic and Republican parties to address the issue. The prize isn’t expected to do much to remove political barriers to action in the U.S. or overseas, and Gore likely won’t enter the presidential race.

China Ranks #72 Amongst All The  Corrupt Nations

Corruption costs China as much as $86 billion a year and poses one of the most serious threats to the nation’s economic and political stability, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said. Bribery, kickbacks and theft account for about 10% of government spending and transactions, even though the state has more than 1,200 laws and directives against corruption.

China, the world’s fastest growing major economy, ranks No. 72 in Berlin-based Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perception Index of 180 countries. The government in Beijing had 27 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) of unexplained spending last year, the National Audit Office said in a statement last month. Chinese President Hu Jintao has fired several top officials, including Shanghai Party Chief Chen Liangyu, as part of an anti- corruption drive and has set up an agency to tackle graft.

Corruption is concentrated in areas with extensive state involvement, such as infrastructure projects, real estate, government procurement and financial services.  The direct costs of corruption could be as much as $86 billion a year, or 3% of gross domestic product, based on the conservative assumption that 10% of the land lease revenues, fixed investments and government spending is stolen or misused.

Hillary Raised More Donations Than Obama

Democrat Hillary Clinton raised $22 million this summer for her presidential primary campaign, outpacing all other candidates so far with her best three-month showing of the year. Her $80 million total for the 2008 presidential race puts her on a par with Mr. Obama, though he still leads her in money raised for the primaries alone.

• Barack Obama
  Total to date: nearly $80 million
  Third quarter: at least $20 million
• Hillary Clinton
  Total to date: nearly $80 million
  Third quarter: $27 million
• John Edwards
  Total to date: $30 million
  Third quarter: $7 million
• Bill Richardson
  Total to date: $18.4 million
  Third quarter: $5.2 million

I say, put the environmentalist back on board.

This is the owner of BET and MTV

Congress took aim yesterday at foul-mouthed rappers and the media titans who promote them as lingering fallout from the Don Imus controversy continued. On the defensive were Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., and Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins. The execs, along with rappers Master P and David Banner, were summoned before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, chaired by Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), to answer questions about sexist and racially charged lyrics in hip-hop.

Master P apologized for his past use of offensive lyrics, while David Banner said hip-hop was misunderstood and the subject of unfair scrutiny. Dauman said that Viacom, owner of MTV and BET, monitors videos for offensive language and gestures. “You won’t hear the “b” word or “h” word or “n” word in any of our music videos . . . nor will you see gang symbols or portrayals of violence and drug use,” said Dauman. Why not just ban the whole thing.

Lobster Dinners and The Finest Cookies

An internal Justice audit, released Friday, showed the Justice Department spent nearly $7 million to plan, host or send employees to ten conferences over the last two years. This included paying $4 per meatball at one lavish dinner and spreading an average of $25 worth of snacks around to each participant at a movie-themed party. More than $13,000 was spent on cookies and brownies for 1,542 people who attended a four-day “Weed and Seed” conference in August 2005

And a “networking” session replete with butterfly shrimp, coconut lobster skewers and Swedish meatballs at a Community Oriented Policing Services conference in July 2006 cost more than $60,000. The report, which looked at the 10 priciest Justice Department conferences between October 2004 and September 2006, was ordered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. It also found that three-quarters of the employees who attended the conferences demanded daily reimbursement for the cost of meals while traveling. The most expensive conference on the list was a $1.4 million meeting, in Denver in May 2006, to discuss Project Safe Neighborhood. Ironically, the cheapest meeting on Fine’s list was the only one held overseas: $181,648 to send FBI agents to a conference in Cambodia in March 2006. For more info about the audit.

It is possible to win a legal battle while still being destroyed by the process

Judge Roy “Fancy Pants” Pearson, who sued a DC-area dry cleaner for $54 million dollars after they botched a $10.50 alteration, may well find that his job is on the line. City sources said a marathon meeting of the Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges ended late Monday with agreement to meet again next week to finalize wording of a letter explaining the panel’s doubts about granting Pearson a 10-year term on the bench. Pearson’s initial term expired at the end of April, at the height of his legal battle against the Chung family, owners of Custom Cleaners on Bladensburg Road NE. Those better be some really nice pants. Pearson broke down in tears during an explanation about his frustration after losing his pants, and a short recess had to be declared.

The panel’s discussion about Pearson’s future has focused on what role a judge’s behavior outside the courtroom should play in assessing his qualifications. Was Pearson’s extraordinary zeal in pursuing the case against the Chungs so embarrassing that it amounts to evidence of poor judicial temperament? The sad part is the Chungs may not be able to recover their legal fees if he is out of a job…. I guess he never saves and that’s why he prompted such an expesive lawsuit (60,000,000)? Hopefully he’ll have a long career ahead of him which requires him to ask “do you want fries with that?”.

What else can be expected from the government besides inept performance?

The Internal Revenue Service may be losing hundreds of millions of dollars because it won’t spend the time and money to match millions of income statements with incorrect or missing identification numbers to existing tax accounts, an IRS watchdog said Tuesday. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that in 2004 the IRS received about 3.8 million miscellaneous income statements reporting some $150 billion in earnings that could not be computer-matched to a filed tax return because of missing or erroneous ID numbers.

Starting August 1, 2008

China’s anti-monopoly law is likely to be passed this week, after over a decade of wrangling, but may require national security checks for foreign firms that want to buy Chinese rivals. The new law prohibits use of administrative powers to disadvantage competitors, as well as banning monopoly agreements and abuse of a dominant market provision. The anti-monopoly law was drafted in 1994, but not submitted for first review until June 2006. It will finally come into effect on Aug. 1, 2008 if passed by the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress.

When A Man And Woman Get Angry At The Office, Who’s Reputation Is Ruined More?

A man who gets angry at work may well be admired for it but a woman who shows anger in the workplace is liable to be seen as “out of control” and incompetent, according to a new study. What’s more, the finding may have implications for Hillary Clinton as she attempts to become the first female U.S. president, according to its author Victoria Brescoll. Her research paper “When Can Angry Women Get Ahead?” noted that Clinton was described last year by a leading Republican as “too angry to be elected president.” Previous research has indicated that anger can communicate that an individual feels entitled to dominate others, and therefore perhaps is.

“As Senator Clinton’s experience suggests, however, for a professional woman anger expression may lead to a decrease rather than an increase in her status,” Brescoll wrote. She conducted three tests in which men and women recruited randomly watched videos of a job interview and were asked to rate the applicant’s status and assign them a salary.

The average salary assigned to the angry man was almost $38,000 compared to about $23,500 for the angry woman and in the region of $30,000 for the other two candidates. “Participants rated the angry female CEO as significantly less competent than all of the other targets, including even the angry female trainee,” Brescoll wrote. She said they viewed angry females as significantly more “out of control.” That impacted salaries. Unemotional women were assigned on average $55,384 compared to $32,902 for the angry ones.

A third experiment tested whether a good reason for anger made any difference. Sure enough, the angry woman with a good reason to be angry was awarded a much higher salary than the angry woman who provided no excuse, though it was still less than the men. The study, to be presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, a research and teaching organization with nearly 17,000 members, found similar attitudes to anger among male and female participants. “It’s an attitude that is not conscious,” Brescoll said. “People are hardly aware of it.”

Brescoll said the findings revealed a “difficult paradox” for professional women — while anger can serve as a powerful tool to achieve status at work, women may have to behave calmly in order to be seen as rational.

Mexican Truck Driver Program Already Hitting Speed Bumps

U.S. transportation officials have made progress in complying with congressional conditions for opening the border to long-haul Mexican truck traffic, but more improvements are needed. The administration is preparing to begin a one-year pilot program to test the impact of opening the U.S.-Mexico border to trucks from either country, as required by the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Department of Transportation’s inspector general said the law enforcement database used to look up Mexican drivers’ traffic violations needs to be improved because of “data inconsistencies and reporting problems.”  

Currently, Mexican trucks are allowed to travel only within a 25-mile border zone. U.S. trucks are not permitted in Mexico. Identifying another weakness, the report urged the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to make sure controls are in place to ensure the validity of specimens collected from Mexican drivers for alcohol and drug testing. Sounds more like An Excuse To Get Across The Border!