Columbia engineers map energy use in NYC buildings

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Holly Evarts
holly@engineering.columbia.edu
347-453-7408
Columbia University

New York, NY -- Cities across the globe are trying to develop plans to cut down their energy consumption and lower their carbon footprint by reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions. While initial efforts have focused on individual buildings by incorporating more energy efficient lighting, windows, and building systems, deeper reductions will call for changes beyond individual buildings, requiring a rethinking of how future infrastructure and energy policies should evolve.

A new study by Columbia Engineering School will help urban planners, policy makers, and engineers understand the local dynamics of building energy use in New York Citywhere over two-thirds of the energy consumption is from buildingsand help jumpstart the exchange of ideas.

"The lack of information about building energy use is staggering," said the study's lead author Bianca Howard, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering. "We want to start the conversation for the average New Yorker about energy efficiency and conservation by placing their energy consumption in the context of other New Yorkers. Just knowing about your own consumption can change your entire perspective."

The study, which Howard conducted with Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Modi, was published in the November 7, 2011, online edition of Energy and Buildings and is featured in the February 2012 print edition. The research team included collaborators from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

"This is a critical issue," said Modi. "While discussions frequently focus on electricity use, homes in New York City, whether a townhouse or a large apartment building, use far more energy in form of heat rather than electricity. Nearly all of this heat is obtained from heating oil or natural gas. In addition, current electricity distribution infrastructure in many urban areas relies on large amounts of electricity brought in from outside the city, making it difficult to support increased future use without requiring significant investment of resources and funds. We are looking at ways we can address both these issuesreducing our heating bills and increasing local electricity generation capacity."

Modi's team performed a statistical analysis to estimate New York City-specific building energy use. Their statistical model utilizes zipcode-level energy consumption data to estimate the average annual energy use for every tax lotat practically building levelthrough all five boroughs of the city.

This energy use was further broken down into what the building uses for space heating, space cooling, water heating, and base electric applications such as lighting, and, with this information, the Columbia Engineering team created an interactive web map that shows what type of energy is being used, for which purpose, and in what quantity. "This map will enable NYC building owners to see whether their own building consumes more or less than what an average building with similar function and size would," said Professor Modi. "This is the first time anyone has provided an estimate like this for New York City and the first time anyone has offered information to the public in the form of an interactive map."

The researchers plan to use their understanding of the distribution of energy to estimate where various distributed energy systems, such as photovoltaic, solar thermal, or combined heat and power systems, could have the largest impacts. "What is perhaps the most valuable contribution of this map," Modi said, "is that it enables New York City building owners and energy services providers to explore the possibility of two or more buildings, or an entire block, or even a neighborhood, to share resources and infrastructure, and thus save considerably on both energy and emissions."

"And," Modi added, "Information is the first step toward sustainability."

###

Howard is part of an NSF IGERT "Solving Urbanization Challenges through Design" program directed by Patricia Culligan, Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia Engineering.

Columbia Engineering

Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, founded in 1864, offers programs in nine departments to both undergraduate and graduate students. With facilities specifically designed and equipped to meet the laboratory and research needs of faculty and students, Columbia Engineering is home to NSF-NIH funded centers in genomic science, molecular nanostructures, materials science, and energy, as well as one of the world's leading programs in financial engineering. These interdisciplinary centers are leading the way in their respective fields while individual groups of engineers and scientists collaborate to solve some of modern society's more difficult challenges. http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/

Columbia Engineering Researchers Create Building-by-Building Model to Help Urban Planners Reduce Energy Consumption

Website with Interactive Map Developed to Estimate Average Energy Use for Every Building in New York City - MAP TO BE PRESENTED TODAY, TUESDAY, JAN 31, IN NYC AT THE NORTHEAST CLEAN HEAT & POWER INITIATIVE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Holly Evarts
holly@engineering.columbia.edu
347-453-7408
Columbia University

New York, NY -- Cities across the globe are trying to develop plans to cut down their energy consumption and lower their carbon footprint by reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions. While initial efforts have focused on individual buildings by incorporating more energy efficient lighting, windows, and building systems, deeper reductions will call for changes beyond individual buildings, requiring a rethinking of how future infrastructure and energy policies should evolve.

A new study by Columbia Engineering School will help urban planners, policy makers, and engineers understand the local dynamics of building energy use in New York Citywhere over two-thirds of the energy consumption is from buildingsand help jumpstart the exchange of ideas.

"The lack of information about building energy use is staggering," said the study's lead author Bianca Howard, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering at Columbia Engineering. "We want to start the conversation for the average New Yorker about energy efficiency and conservation by placing their energy consumption in the context of other New Yorkers. Just knowing about your own consumption can change your entire perspective."

The study, which Howard conducted with Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Modi, was published in the November 7, 2011, online edition of Energy and Buildings and is featured in the February 2012 print edition. The research team included collaborators from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

"This is a critical issue," said Modi. "While discussions frequently focus on electricity use, homes in New York City, whether a townhouse or a large apartment building, use far more energy in form of heat rather than electricity. Nearly all of this heat is obtained from heating oil or natural gas. In addition, current electricity distribution infrastructure in many urban areas relies on large amounts of electricity brought in from outside the city, making it difficult to support increased future use without requiring significant investment of resources and funds. We are looking at ways we can address both these issuesreducing our heating bills and increasing local electricity generation capacity."

Modi's team performed a statistical analysis to estimate New York City-specific building energy use. Their statistical model utilizes zipcode-level energy consumption data to estimate the average annual energy use for every tax lotat practically building levelthrough all five boroughs of the city.

This energy use was further broken down into what the building uses for space heating, space cooling, water heating, and base electric applications such as lighting, and, with this information, the Columbia Engineering team created an interactive web map that shows what type of energy is being used, for which purpose, and in what quantity. "This map will enable NYC building owners to see whether their own building consumes more or less than what an average building with similar function and size would," said Professor Modi. "This is the first time anyone has provided an estimate like this for New York City and the first time anyone has offered information to the public in the form of an interactive map."

The researchers plan to use their understanding of the distribution of energy to estimate where various distributed energy systems, such as photovoltaic, solar thermal, or combined heat and power systems, could have the largest impacts. "What is perhaps the most valuable contribution of this map," Modi said, "is that it enables New York City building owners and energy services providers to explore the possibility of two or more buildings, or an entire block, or even a neighborhood, to share resources and infrastructure, and thus save considerably on both energy and emissions."

"And," Modi added, "Information is the first step toward sustainability."

###

Howard is part of an NSF IGERT "Solving Urbanization Challenges through Design" program directed by Patricia Culligan, Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia Engineering.

Columbia Engineering

Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, founded in 1864, offers programs in nine departments to both undergraduate and graduate students. With facilities specifically designed and equipped to meet the laboratory and research needs of faculty and students, Columbia Engineering is home to NSF-NIH funded centers in genomic science, molecular nanostructures, materials science, and energy, as well as one of the world's leading programs in financial engineering. These interdisciplinary centers are leading the way in their respective fields while individual groups of engineers and scientists collaborate to solve some of modern society's more difficult challenges. http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/

Columbia Engineering Researchers Create Building-by-Building Model to Help Urban Planners Reduce Energy Consumption

Website with Interactive Map Developed to Estimate Average Energy Use for Every Building in New York City - MAP TO BE PRESENTED TODAY, TUESDAY, JAN 31, IN NYC AT THE NORTHEAST CLEAN HEAT & POWER INITIATIVE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/cu-cem013112.php

peyton hillis cl p cl p andy rooney andy rooney groupon ipo groupon ipo

Mexicans overcharged billions for phone, web: study (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Mexicans have been overcharged $13.4 billion a year for phone and internet services as the industry dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim gouges customers and keeps the economy from growing, a study released on Monday said.

Mexico, the second-largest economy in Latin America, cannot reach its growth potential until the cost of phone and internet access comes down and more people have easy access to telecom services, the report from the Organization for Co-operation and Development said.

From 2005 to 2009, Mexican consumers paid $13.4 billion a year excess for phone and internet services, with high fees disproportionately hitting the poor, according to the report. In total, overcharging cost the economy $129 billion over the five-year period, the report found, nearly 2 percent of the country's economic output.

"Inefficient telecommunication markets impose a significant cost on the Mexican economy and the welfare of its population," according to the report that reviewed the country's telecom sector.

Mexican home phone service is dominated by Slim's Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, which provides about 80 percent of services while the billionaire controls about 70 percent of the cellphone market through his America Movil.

"This is a critical study...that exposes the weakness of the telecommunications sector in Mexico," Dionisio Perez-Jacome, minister of Communications and Transport, said at a press event accepting the report.

The report found Mexico had the lowest per capita public investment in telecommunications in the 34-member OECD, while Slim's Telmex had very high profit margins compared to other countries.

In 2008, Telmex had a profit margin of 47 percent, while the average for countries including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States was 28 percent.

A Slim spokesman declined to comment on the findings of customers being overcharged, but pointed to other reports that Mexico enjoys a relatively-affordable broadband base.

The report found broadband internet speeds are low compared to the OECD average and comparatively expensive, while a three-minute call from a cellphone to a local phone would cost a Mexican travelling in another OECD country $8.65, compared to the OECD average of $6.76.

It suggested that Mexico eliminate restrictions on foreign investment in the telecom sector and cut judicial red tape that lets the telecom industry stall new rules, fines and restrictions.

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, at a separate event, said that his government planned to auction strands of fiber optic cable that would increase broadband service across the country.

Mexico's cable giant, Megacable, is in a partnership with cellphone company Telefonica and television giant Televisa to share one fiber optic project that should deliver more high-speed internet and telecom services.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker and Krista Hughes; Editing by Gary Hill and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/tc_nm/us_mexico_phone

the exorcism of emily rose the exorcism of emily rose fort knox quarry quarry fred shuttlesworth rule 34

Wasserman Schultz: Priebus ?cossed the line? comparing Obama to Costa Concordia captain (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193393269?client_source=feed&format=rss

battlefield 3 review real housewives of new jersey coraline coraline jacqueline laurita mcfadden mcfadden

Kenya police arrest imam over weapons cache (AP)

MOMBASA, Kenya ? Kenyan police say they have arrested an imam after they found a cache of weapons in his house.

The chief of police for the coastal region says that the suspect is a sympathizer with Somalia's al-Shabab militia. Deputy Commissioner Aggrey Adoli says that the haul included a pistol, a rifle, bomb detonators and some hand grenades.

Aboud Rogo was named in a U.N. report last year as having links to al-Shabab. He is currently on bail for possession of weapons.

But Rogo's wife Khania Saidi Sagar says that police framed her husband. She says the house was searched in front of Rogo's mother and children and nothing was found.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_af/af_kenya_arrest

michael buble michael buble teddy roosevelt rita hayworth rita hayworth lakers rumors alfa romeo giulietta

?The legal investigator should not rely upon pretext or subterfuge??

Get your copy today! My new book tackles the question of why so many bad ideas come from the law schools. "Cutting-edge commentary, hard-hitting, witty, astute." -- Publisher's Weekly. "Excellent... A fine dissection of these strangely powerful institutions" -- Wall Street Journal.

Source: http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/the-legal-investigator-should-not-rely-upon-pretext-or-subterfuge/

bob weston david wilson reggie mckenzie bill obrien exorcism epiphany jersey shore season 5

'Man On A Ledge': The Reviews Are In!

Effects work 'frighteningly well' but 'premise is so devoutly ridiculous,' critics say.
By Kara Warner

Sam Worthington in "Man on a Ledge"
Photo: Summit

If your impressions about the new action thriller "Man on a Ledge" are based on the film's very-literal title, you're very likely correct in assuming to know a decent amount about the film before entering the theater. "Ledge" is the story of ex-cop and fugitive Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), whose seemingly obvious suicidal plan to jump off a building is slowly revealed to be something much more.

Thus far, the critical reception for the film is very different from initial audience reactions. The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer has "Ledge" at a 22 percent fresh rating from critics, versus a 65 percent fresh audience rating.

Read on to see what has the two viewing bodies so divided as we sift through the "Man on a Ledge" reviews:

The Premise
"It's an arresting image, Sam Worthington out on that 40th-story ledge. He's a fairly tough-looking guy, after all, and we know him best as the tooth-gritting blockbuster hero of 'Avatar' and 'Clash of the Titans,' so it's head-spinning to see the man's beefy figure as a speck hovering so precariously close to New York's infinite sky. The camera swirls around Worthington's disgraced former cop Nick Cassidy, inching out past that thin strip of architecture, then back in. What if he trips, or jumps? For a while, anything seems possible, and it's both exhilarating and terrifying. Then the wool comes off, and it's clear that director Asger Leth and screenwriter Pablo Fenjves have ambitions considerably less grand than their protagonist's perch. Cassidy's ledge game — with all the studio-unfriendly moral ambiguities it entails — is just a con, a photo op for the crowds, and Nick's apparent desire to exit the material world is a front. What he truly, passionately wants to do is steal some jewelry." — Andrew Lapin, NPR

The Impact of Practical Effect
"I, on the other hand, was gripping anything in reach, palms dripping, thinking I might not have survived the effects had they been 3-D. Though there were other production sites, serious time was spent actually shooting on that 14-inch ledge wrapping the 21st floor of the Roosevelt Hotel to create the vicarious sensation of being there. Which worked frighteningly well, at least for the vertiginous among us. Oh, that the actual human dynamics of the unfolding story could have been as dramatic, as on the edge as that ledge." — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

The Direction
"Mr. Leth, the son of renowned Danish documentarian Jorgen Leth, has directed only one other film, 'Ghosts of Cité Soleil,' a highly stylized doc that revealed a soul yearning to breathe free of nonfiction. He has an instinct for weaving sturdy narrative fabric out of intersecting plot lines. ... Amid the hoopla, Mr. Leth takes sobering assessment of media-circuses and mob mentalities: The people down below taking cellphone pictures, the ones yelling 'Jump!'; the callous nature of cops for whom it's all routine. There's the occasional goofy grace note: Kyra Sedgwick, playing a voracious and obviously Anglo television reporter named Suzie Morales, rolls the 'R' in her surname as she signs off, just in case someone missed the point (we've all heard it). In another scene, Mr. Leth takes such pains to strip the shapely Ms. Rodriguez down to her underwear that audiences, who may well be leering, will also be laughing at how obvious it is." — John Anderson, Wall Street Journal

The Final Word, Pro/Con Style
"Director Asger Leth, making his U.S. feature-film debut with 'Man on a Ledge,' keeps the pace brisk and never allows the tone to stray into self-seriousness, which is crucial for a movie whose premise is so devoutly ridiculous. The script, from Pablo F. Fenjves, provides enough feints and twists to keep us engaged. Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez aren't the most believable of couples, but there's a screwball charm to their comic routine as amateur thieves charged with aiding Nick's scheme. (Leth can't resist inserting an entirely superfluous — but nonetheless greatly appreciated — scene of the criminally gorgeous Rodriguez stripping down to a thong in the middle of a heist.) Worthington makes for a likable populist protagonist, even if his Australian accent betrays him on copious occasions, and Harris' disturbingly emaciated frame lends an added menace to his devious plutocrat villain." — Thomas Leupp, Hollywood.com

"Like last year's action comedy 'Tower Heist,' 'Man on a Ledge' becomes something of a parable of the 99 percent, with Cassidy initially an object of prurient interest for the massed crowds below, then becoming a blue-collar folk hero. That gives the movie at least a frisson of contemporary relevance, but the filmmakers blow that advantage with plot and characterization that require not just a suspension of disbelief but a suspension of eye-rolling reflexes and the nagging impulse to burst into derisive laughter." — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Check out everything we've got on "Man on a Ledge."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678092/man-on-a-ledge-reviews.jhtml

workaholics new iphone 5 release mary j blige cole hamels cole hamels curtis painter apple news conference

Twitter's new censorship rules face opposition (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? It was only two weeks ago that Twitter was protesting online censorship in the form of anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA. Now the social networking site faces a surge of opposition to its own censorship practices.

Twitter announced in a blog post Thursday that it will now block specific tweets on a country-by-country basis should the messages violate the laws of those countries.

One of the worries is that Twitter has been a powerful tool in the protest movements that have surfaced across the globe in the past year, whether in the Arab Spring or the anti-austerity protests in Europe.

The fear is that the new policy will limit its utility in such instances.

Users have responded by promising to boycott the site on Saturday, and the media has blasted the company for what it views as blatant censorship.

Forbes' writer Mark Gibbs dubbed the move "social suicide" and many others have chimed in to voice their objection.

The boycott of Twitter is being promulgated by the hashtag #TwitterBlackout -- not all that different from the #SOPABlackout tweets from earlier this month. In another case of overlap with the SOPA/PIPA fight, hacking network Anonymous seems to oppose the move. Not known yet is whether it will act.

It's doubtful that enough people will stop using the service to have an impact, nor would a brief Twitter shutdown damage its business. However, the threats are clearly more about sending a message than crippling the now ubiquitous messaging platform.

The site's reasoning for the change was stated in its blog post: "As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there."

Observers see this as Twitter caving to the power of oppressive and restrictive foreign governments. They don't want to anger those countries too much, lest they block Twitter.

To some, this is appalling. To others, it's just business.

Either way, Twitter finds itself on the other end of the censorship fight for one of the first times.

Welcome to adulthood, Tweeps.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/media_nm/us_twitter_rules

zombie apocalypse matt moore matt moore national grid day light savings time 2011 hocus pocus hocus pocus

UK judge: Social network sites differ from press (AP)

LONDON ? The British judge presiding over a wide-ranging inquiry into media ethics and practices has suggested that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter should be seen differently than traditional publishers.

Lord Justice Brian Leveson said Thursday that there was a distinction between what he described as "pub chatter" between friends on such sites and organizations which publish material for public consumption.

Leveson's inquiry was set up in the wake of Britain's phone hacking scandal and has the power to recommend far-reaching changes to the way the country's media are regulated.

The judge also is considering whether nontraditional forms of media, such as blogs, should be submitted to any eventual new rules.

___

Online:

http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_hi_te/eu_britain_media

2012 camry endometriosis 9 9 9 plan 9 9 9 plan hoppin john dan wheldon walking dead

Asia stocks muted as Japan companies report losses (AP)

BANGKOK ? Asian stocks failed to make much headway Friday after disappointing Japanese corporate earnings and U.S. home sales ? considered crucial to an economic recovery ? were weaker than expected.

Benchmark oil hovered below $100 per barrel while the dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3 percent to 8,823.08. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1 percent to 1,959.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 20,431.96, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to 4,279.

Jackson Wong, vice president of Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong, said profit-taking was the order of the day as investors remained unconvinced that the overall global economic scenario was changing for the better.

"A lot of investors are a little bit worried. Not all the fundamentals have changed. Since we had a huge run up, investors are just taking some profits" until mainland Chinese markets open on Jan. 30 following the Lunar New Year holiday.

However, bargain-hunters indulged in stocks that took a beating last year, Wong said, including clothing retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd., which rose 2.8 percent.

Some traders were in wait-and-see mode ahead of the release of fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures from the U.S. Commerce Department later Friday. GDP measures the economy's total output of goods and services.

Economists predict growth will strengthen to around 3 percent in the October-December quarter from about 2 percent in the third quarter. Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the reading was expected to "look healthy."

Attention was also focused on the resumption of talks to reach a deal on how Greece can avoid a catastrophic default on its debt. Greece and its bailout rescuers ? other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund ? are asking private creditors to swap their Greek bonds for new ones with a lower value and interest rate.

The two sides have so far disagreed over what interest rate the new bonds should take.

In the U.S., stocks slipped Thursday after the government reported an unexpected drop in new home sales in December, capping the worst year for home sales since record-keeping began in 1963.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.2 percent at 12,734.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down 0.6 percent at 1,318.43. The Nasdaq shed 0.5 percent to close at 2,805.28.

But there were some bright spots. Orders to factories for long-lasting manufactured goods increased in December for the second straight month, and a key measure of business investment rose solidly.

Japanese exporters continued to be hit by a strong yen, which reduces the value of repatriated profits. Honda Motor Corp. slid 2.1 percent and Panasonic Corp. shed 2.5 percent. Fujitsu Ltd. plunged 3 percent.

Nintendo Corp., the Japanese gaming giant behind the Super Mario and Pokemon games, plunged 4.7 percent, a day after it sharply lowered its annual earnings forecast to a 65 billion yen ($844 million) loss. The company blamed the strong yen for much of the loss.

Japanese electronics company NEC Corp. plummeted 7.1 percent after announcing Thursday that it was slashing 10,000 jobs worldwide and would slide into the red for the full year.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 6 cents to $99.76 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 30 cents to finish at $99.70 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3110 from $1.3104 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.02 yen from 77.49 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

joe mcginniss joan crawford joan crawford kat dennings listeriosis bonobos recent earthquakes

Home Bancorp boosts 4Q profit (AP)

LAFAYETTE, La. ? Home Bancorp Inc., which recently expanded into the New Orleans and Baton Rouge banking markets, sharply increased its fourth-quarter profit.

Lafayette-based Home Bancorp said Thursday that it earned $2.1 million, or 30 cents per share, in the quarter ending Dec. 31. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the company earned $1.5 million, or 20 cents per share.

The company said expenses tied to its acquisition of GS Financial Corp. knocked down fourth-quarter profit by $400,000.

Due to the acquisition, Home Bancorp now has 23 Louisiana banking offices.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_home_bancorp_louisiana

new years rockin eve new years ball drop new york times square jaws brock lesnar first night ball drop

Drew Barrymore Shows Off Her Engagement Ring!

Bride-to-be Drew Barrymore shows off her new diamond sparkler! Plus, see more of your favorite celebs on the scene!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery/1-b-75638?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-75638

2012 nfl draft order georgia bulldogs football winter classic 2012 rashard mendenhall rachel zoe penn state football mt rainier national park

Mobile App Highlight Gives You A 6th Sense About Who?s Nearby

Checkins are not the future. They interrupt the moment and quickly become outdated. Highlight, a mobile app launching today, offers a better gateway to serendipitous meetups.?All you do is download Highlight, turn it on, and let it run passively in the background. Then when you come within a few blocks of another Highlight user who's your Facebook friend or that you have friends or interests in common with, Highlight sends you a push notification and lets you message them.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/27Dy8BrE0sg/

osama bin laden osama bin laden main main atlanta insanity leonard cohen

'Harry Potter' and The Oscars: Why The Boy Wizard Got Snubbed

This morning, Harry Potter fans everywhere had to come to terms with some pretty big disappointment. Hopes that "Deathly Hallows ? Part 2" might earn Oscars glory crashed and burned today with the nominations announcement.
It wasn't just the fans that prayed for a big night on Oscar night. Warner Bros. made a big push [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/24/harry-potter-oscars/

knocked up knocked up edgar cayce eagle rock music festival eagle rock music festival arbor apple crisp recipe

Tracy Morgan of '30 Rock' out of Utah hospital (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Comedian and "30 Rock" cast member Tracy Morgan has been released from a hospital after collapsing during the Sundance Film Festival, and he says he'll be back at work Tuesday.

Morgan's publicist, Lewis Kay, confirmed Monday that the actor left the Park City Medical Center after he suffered from exhaustion and altitude Sunday night in Park City, where the elevation is 7,000 feet.

Morgan posted a comment Monday on Twitter that the high altitude "shook up this kid from Brooklyn."

"Superman ran into a little kryptonite," he quipped.

He also said on Twitter that he would be back to work Tuesday on "30 Rock."

Ron Nyswaner, co-director of the Sundance film "Predisposed," in which the actor stars, said Morgan's collapse resulted from "altitude sickness combined with his diabetes. And he hadn't eaten. He hadn't had enough water."

Kay said hospital officials report no drugs or alcohol were found in Morgan's system.

Morgan had been attending an event for the Creative Coalition at which he had just received an award.

In "Predisposed," which stars Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo, Morgan plays a drug dealer caught up in the push-and-pull between a piano prodigy and his troubled mother.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_ce/us_film_sundance_tracy_morgan

ohio state basketball annie annie zuccotti park leymah gbowee hunger games trailer hunger games trailer

Whited00r Puts iOS 5 on iPhone 2G, iPod Touch 1G

Still using a first-gen iPod Touch or a second-generation iPhone? Sick of all the multi-tasking, home-screen folders and faster performance of all those iOS versions you can’t run on your (frankly embarrassing) old hardware?
Then you might like to give Whited00r 5.1 a try. It’s a custom version of Apple’s official iOS 5, only it’ll run [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/M1qRYbtonvE/

a christmas story prime rib ny knicks sound of music ihop green bean casserole the temptations

Video: Stock Pops & Drops

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46042799/

meteor shower 2011 meteor shower 2011 home depot center the replacements fleet week scarecrow festival scarecrow festival

Mount Rainier snowshoer burned money for warmth

In a photo provided by Mount Rainier National Park, Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, smiles after he was rescued Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 on Mount Rainier after being missing since Saturday. He was reported missing on Saturday after he fell down a slope and became separated from a group he was leading in the Paradise area, a popular high-elevation destination on the mountain's southwest flank, about a 100-mile drive south from Seattle. A rescue team reached Yong Chun Kim on Monday afternoon but it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to a road, spokeswoman Lee Taylor said late Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Mount Rainier National Park)

In a photo provided by Mount Rainier National Park, Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, smiles after he was rescued Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 on Mount Rainier after being missing since Saturday. He was reported missing on Saturday after he fell down a slope and became separated from a group he was leading in the Paradise area, a popular high-elevation destination on the mountain's southwest flank, about a 100-mile drive south from Seattle. A rescue team reached Yong Chun Kim on Monday afternoon but it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to a road, spokeswoman Lee Taylor said late Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Mount Rainier National Park)

TACOMA, Washington (AP) ? A snowshoer who was lost in a blizzard for two days on Washington state's Mount Rainier said he stayed alive by digging out a snow tunnel and burning dollar bills for warmth.

Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma, said he carried a lighter and other emergency supplies and burned personal items: extra socks, Band-Aids, toothbruash, packaging, and lastly $1 and $5 bills from his wallet.

Kim, who served in the South Korean military in the Vietnam War, told KOMO-TV in Seattle that skills he learned as a soldier helped him survive. He said he wasn't scared. He kept waiting for the sounds of the helicopter ? though severe weather conditions prevented park officials from using one to search for Kim.

"I'm a lucky man, a really lucky man," he said in an interview Tuesday afternoon from his home.

With temperatures in the teens and winds whipping on the mountain, Kim said he kept walking and moving to stay warm. He took cover in several tree wells ? depressions in snow that forms around a tree ? and slept standing for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.

He initially made a shelter near a big rock and tried to stay warm. He tried to keep walking, but at times "the snow was so deep, I couldn't breathe."

Kim dreamed of his wife and a nice hot sauna. He talked to himself. He took pictures. He prayed to God. He worried his family and friends would worry about him. He made a fire, drank hot water and ate rice, some Korean food and a chocolate bar.

And even as he burned his personal items to say warm, the last $6 going up in flames Sunday night, he said: "I worried because it's a national park. You're not supposed to have a fire. ... I'm worried about that but I want to (stay) alive."

Money made for the best fire, he said, laughing. Nylon socks and packaging, not so great.

"He could have died," said Kim's stepson, Malcolm An. "He was walking around, struggling to find a place, literally not knowing where to go."

Kim, a U.S. citizen for 30 years, was leading 16 members of a hiking and climbing club from Tacoma on Saturday ? a trip he takes nearly every week ? when he slid down a slope and became separated. He radioed his group twice to tell them he was OK and would meet them farther down the trail, but became disoriented and went the wrong way.

His hiking partners last heard from him on the radio at 2:30 Saturday. When he didn't show up at the parking lot, park officials launched a search. Kim said Tuesday he lost his walkie-talkie as well as his glove and ski pole when he tumbled a second time.

Dozens of park rangers, rescue dogs, volunteers and searchers from several rescue organizations scoured snowy mountain terrain for three days searching for Kim.

"The rangers are nice. The volunteers from all over are nice," said Kim, who retired six years ago after running his own telecommunications company. He said he was so thankful for the rangers and volunteers who helped look for him.

"He's so lucky. It's a blessing and a miracle. That team was amazing," An said. "They had a plan, they were ready to go."

Kim was about a mile from where he was last seen when he was found Monday by a ranger and two Crystal Mount Ski Patrol members.

Kim was in such good shape that when he was found, he did not have to go to a hospital and instead went home with his family.

After rescuers reached Kim it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to the Paradise visitors' center, a popular destination at 5,400-feet elevation on the mountain's southwest flank, about a 100-mile (160-kilometer) drive south from Seattle.

"He was determined," An said. "He kept saying, he is not going to die unless God thinks he should. All he did was try to survive."

Kim said he goes to the mountains for the fresh air and because it's good medicine for recovering from cancer. "When I get out there, it's a nice view. Everytime, same location, different feeling though."

His experience won't stop him from heading to Mount Rainier again. "Oh yeah, of course, every Saturday." But he added: "If it's a bad day, don't hike again."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-17-Missing%20Snowshoer/id-f71737ea003145c09381edc224377336

nba schedule nhl realignment nhl realignment kristin chenoweth country music awards new earth light year

Kate Major Arrest Report: What a Psycho!

Kate Major is an out-of-control mess who needs help ASAP.

That's the main takeaway from a police report filed after her arrest in Boca Raton, Fla., this weekend. If you missed it, Jon Gosselin's and Michael Lohan's ex-GF was jailed for battery after she was seen BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF A GUY AND HIS WIFE.

Police say Major allegedly had to be restrained on the ground by several people who saw her attacking and screaming at Rosario Tapia and Juan Jimenez.

The officer who wrote the report says, "I attempted to speak with [Kate Major], who was screaming and yelling obscenities at Tapia, calling her a 'fat f**k' and a 'b*tch'."

Jimenez told police he and Tapia pulled into the parking lot and noticed someone had parked in their assigned space, so they were waiting for another spot to open.

That's when Kate Major, allegedly, came bolting toward the car out of nowhere.

Jimenez claims Major opened the door and went crazy, calling him and his wife "several racial names" before attacking his wife in the hands, breast and face.

When cops tried to arrest Major, police say she resisted arrest and tried to kick the officers. After she was arrested, she continued to act belligerently.

Officials say she yelled at police and tried to make a break for it. At one point, cops say, she slapped the arresting officer and called him a "fat f**k."

She was since been released, but we have a hunch this isn't over.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kate-major-arrest-report-what-a-psycho/

bo jackson bo jackson ibogaine

Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421

Sometimes a laptop screen just doesn't cut it if you're working with spreadsheets or giving a presentation to a small group. Enter the Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 ($199.99 list), a portable 14-inch monitor driven and powered by your laptop's USB port. Light enough to take with you on the road, this neat little display offers good color and small text performance and comes with a protective cover that keeps it safe while traveling and doubles as a support base. You don't get great grayscale performance with this panel and you can't adjust picture settings like you can with a regular monitor, but if you need a second screen while on the road, the LT1421 is an excellent choice.

Design and Setup
Like nearly all ThinkVision products the LT1421 is designed to complement the ThinkPad line of notebooks. The 14-inch TN+ panel has a resolution of 1,366-by-768 and a matte finish that keeps glare to a minimum and is non-reflective. It's housed in an attractive matte black casing with extremely thin (0.4-inch) top and side bezels. The bottom bezel is 1.1-inch thick and sports a silver Lenovo logo, and there's a ThinkVision badge positioned on the upper bezel. A matching black plastic cover snaps into place to shield the screen while in transit.

The mini-cabinet is around 0.37-inches thick at its thinnest point and only 0.85-inches at its thickest where the mini-USB port and stand are located. It measures 8.6-inches by 13.2-inches (HW) and weighs just 2.3 pounds and will fit easily into most laptop carry bags. The only other thing you'll need to pack is the included USB cable; the monitor gets its power from the host PC and does not require a bulky power brick.

The mini-USB port is the only input connector on the monitor. It shares space with a single rocker switch that toggles through 16 brightness levels, a cable lock slot, and a picture frame-style support arm stand that lets you tilt the monitor as far back as 40-degrees. The arm offers plenty of support, but you can use the cover as a base if you prefer. Other than the brightness switch you don't get any picture settings, such as contrast and color controls, like you do with a typical LCD monitor.

The USB cable is Y-shaped and has a mini USB connector for the monitor and two regular full-sized USB connectors for the host. I needed only one connector while testing the LT1421 with my ThinkPad X220, but certain applications may require drawing power from both USB ports.

Setting up the LT1421 is a breeze; once you've installed the drivers and DisplayLink software (included) all you have to do is plug in the USB cable. If you're using a laptop that doesn't have an optical drive you'll have to download the software and drivers from Lenovo's website. Once the screen powers up you can right click on the DisplayLink icon in the system tray to set the screen's orientation and resolution. Here you can also choose to duplicate or extend the original laptop display, show the desktop only on screen 1, or show the desktop only on screen 2. Pressing the Windows key and the P key simultaneously launches a pop-up menu that lets you quickly choose between the computer monitor only, duplicate, extend, and projector (in this case, the LT1421) only.

Lenovo backs the LT1421 with a three year warranty covering parts, labor, and backlighting. The monitor ships with the USB cable, a protective cover, and a Resource CD containing driver files and a user guide.

Performance
The LT1421 offers great color quality. Swatches from the DisplayMate Color Scales pattern appeared well saturated and uniform, but weren't quite as punchy as what you get with the AOC e1649Fwu and its glossy screen. That said, I'll take a little less color pop for a non-reflective, smudge resistant screen every time. The panel did a good job of displaying the various shades of dark gray on the 64-Step Grayscale test, but the last two shades of light gray were whitewashed. Small text reproduction was outstanding; fonts set to 5.3 points were crisp and clearly defined. Off-angle viewing was decent, but the picture appeared dull at around 70-degrees from dead center. The picture darkened considerably when viewed from the top and bottom, but unlike the AOC e1649Fwu, colors were still identifiable.

With the Lenovo LT1421 you don't have to do without a dual monitor setup just because you're on the road. At a little over 2 pounds it's easy to travel with and its $200 price tag won't kill your budget. You can save a few bucks and get a bit more viewable screen space with the AOC e1649Fwu, but it's not as slender and can't match the overall picture quality of the LT1421.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 with several other monitors side by side.

More monitor reviews:
??? Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421
??? Asus VG278H
??? Acer S231HL
??? Asus PA246Q
??? Sony PlayStation 3D Display
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/GfEvUvy7Jy4/0,2817,2398786,00.asp

yolo steelers vs ravens jack dempsey lake malawi warren jeffs phaedra parks oklahoma earthquake

China policy easing ahead as growth hits 2-year low (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's economy expanded at its weakest pace in 2-1/2 years in the latest quarter, with the sagging real estate and export sectors heralding a sharper slowdown in coming months and fresh pro-growth measures from the government.

Growth of 8.9 percent over a year earlier was slightly stronger than the 8.7 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, but the data on Tuesday raised concerns about the immediate outlook and how much support China can offer a struggling global economy.

Gross domestic output rose just 2 percent from the previous quarter, suggesting to some economists that underlying momentum is slowing more rapidly than headline data implies.

A near 40 percent plunge in the annual pace of property investment in December versus November's rate underscored risks to China's domestic demand even as it is trying to cope with those emanating from debt-ridden Europe -- China's biggest export market.

"It indicates that in Q1 2012 the numbers will be very unpleasant. Policy easing will continue," said Yao Wei, an economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong, who forecasts growth slowing to 8.3 percent in the first three months of 2012.

"It's a very significant slowdown already in China," she said.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

GRAPHIC http://link.reuters.com/zeq95s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Growth for all of 2011 slipped to 9.2 percent, a pace last seen in 2009 during the global financial crisis, from 10.4 percent in 2010.

Beijing is likely to stick to what Premier Wen Jiabao has called "fine-tuning" of economic policy settings to counter the downturn for now, rather than adopting more aggressive measures such as a cut in interest rates.

December's retail sales growth of 18.1 percent on the year was well above forecasts and industrial production also staged a slight uptick in real terms in December versus November.

"On policy, we expect Beijing will read both positive and negative messages from the Q4 data and further adjust their policies," Ting Lu, China economist at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong wrote in a note to clients.

"Simply put, Beijing will continue its policy easing which was started in mid-October, though we should not expect a big-bang stimulus," he added.

China's policymakers have unveiled a series of policy tweaks from tax breaks for small firms, to a cut in the proportion of deposits the country's banks must hold as reserves in a bid to boost corporate credit and money supply.

A cut in the required reserve ratio (RRR) in November -- to 21 percent from a record 21.5 percent for big banks -- was the first in three years.

Analysts polled recently by Reuters forecast another 200 basis points of cuts in 2012, with many banking on one in the run-up to next week's Lunar New Year holiday to ease anticipated liquidity squeezes as demand for cash soars.

The pressure for another RRR cut has built as capital has started to flow out of China after years of inflows that allowed the country to amass the world's biggest store of foreign exchange reserves worth $3.18 trillion.

Reducing RRR keeps money supply -- which senior Chinese think-tank sources tell Reuters is targeted for 14 percent growth in 2012 -- stable in the face of capital outflows.

INVESTORS EXPECT POLICY EASING

Asian shares, the euro, industrial metals and commodity-linked currencies all rose as the data soothed investor worries that the euro zone debt crisis is dragging dangerously on the world's second-biggest economy.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rallied around 3 percent, reversing a 1.7-percent fall a day earlier, as investors priced in further policy easing and hopes that China would quicken the pace of approval for more foreign investors to trade Chinese stocks.

With Europe in danger of slipping into a recession and U.S. growth looking lackluster, China's role in the global economy is magnified.

Although economists widely expect China's 2012 growth will be the weakest in a decade, a more pronounced slowdown would put a major drag on already shaky global growth.

The fourth-quarter growth rate was the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009, when the global economy stumbled out of a deep recession. It also marked the fourth straight quarter in which growth had slowed down.

Global miner Rio Tinto reported much lower than expected growth in iron ore production in the fourth quarter amid concerns that China's demand may be softening.

Ma Jiantang, the head of China's statistics agency, said China's economic growth was likely to slow further as Beijing tries to restructure the economy away from exports and towards domestic consumption -- something the United States and other trading partners have long pressed China to do.

Tuesday's data showed net exports subtracted from 2011 growth while consumption contributed more than half.

Annual growth in property investment at 12.3 percent in December, marked a sharp slowdown from November's 20.2 percent pace, a worrying signal for a sector worth some 13 percent of total economic output.

Housing investment dropped precipitously in December, and many property developers have warned that 2012 looks grim.

A booming housing market helped drive China's explosive growth in recent years, but Beijing has tried to cool prices in hopes of avoiding a devastating bubble and bust.

A modest housing market slowdown would be a welcome development, but a crash would be catastrophic, both for China and its trading partners around the world.

Some analysts think China's first-quarter growth will be below 8 percent threshold seen as the minimum for assuring sufficient job creation.

Europe is China's top export market, and all signs point to much of the continent falling into recession in coming months, with no end in sight as governments push austerity programs.

Mass ratings downgrades in the euro zone over the weekend and a breakdown in Greek bailout talks have added to financial market jitters.

LUNAR LIFT

An early Lunar New Year holiday on January 23-24 probably skewed the fourth-quarter data and the effect will likely linger through the first three months of the year.

Factories typically step up production to clear orders before the festive period, and then temporarily shut down as workers head home to visit family.

That means fourth-quarter growth probably benefited from the surge in manufacturing, while first-quarter activity will be even slower.

"What's happened in December is to some extent the pre-Lunar New Year bounce in activity and prices. What we're seeing in December is the seasonal effect. If it is just a seasonal effect then obviously what that means is January-February will be weaker," Michael Spencer, Deutsche Bank's Hong Kong-based chief economist in the Asia Pacific said.

"It's fair to say the economy is holding up better but it's hard to say if that's just a statistical artifact of the short calendar," he added. ($1=6.31 yuan)

(Additional reporting by China economics team: Writing by Nick Edwards and Emily Kaiser; Editing by Kim Coghill and Neil Fullick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/bs_nm/us_china_economy_gdp

heisman finalists kepler 22 b kepler 22 b rosie o donnell st nicholas st nicholas mindy mccready

Census FY 2009 Public Finance Data: Expenditures | Room Eight

This post will for the most part complete my overview of Fiscal 2009 local government finance data from the U.S. Census Bureau, for New York City compared with elsewhere, that started with this post. The data is located here, and prints on two pages. The data shows that from FY 2002, the lousy economic budget year before now-Mayor Bloomberg took office, and FY 2009, another lousy economic year with the most recently available data, direct spending by the City of New York (not including its soaring spending on pensions and money sent to New York State for Medicaid), increased from 19.7% of the total personal income of New York City residents to 20.97%. The national increase was from 12.4% to 13.3% of income. New York City pension contributions totaled another 1.7% of city?s residents? income in FY 2009, up from 0.5% of income in FY 2002, while New York City?s payments to New York State totaled an additional 1.7% of income, up from 1.3%.

Both the numerator and denominator, spending and income, are moving in these percentages. Total private sector wages earned in the city plunged 12.2% from 2008 to 2009 before rising 6.9% from 2009 to 2010, when the city?s employment turned around and Wall Street sparked outrage by resuming large bonuses after having been bailed out. There are growing indications, however, that the amount Wall Street will get to pillage, which New York City and State then get to tax, may be falling back permanently to something like what it was before, say, 1995. Thus, the 2009 situation is likely a ?new normal.? Meanwhile the really huge increases in spending as a share of income from FY 2002 to FY 2009 were in the Rest of New York State (from 13.5% to 15.5%) and New Jersey (from 9.3% to 11.7%).

I?ve described the data I?m about to describe, and the differences between New York City and other places, over and over again for more than 20 years, to little effect as best as I can tell. On the one hand it seems pointless to do so again. At the same time, given that hundreds of people in New York State choose NOT to do so, even though they are PAID to do so as part of their jobs in financial and budget agencies, there seems to be a need. In particular, the Independent Budget Office and the Office of the NYC and NY State Comptrollers have made a non-decision to avoid providing objective data on how NYC compares with other places, perhaps because the answer does not fit their worldview.

When the IBO was created, I immediately assumed that it would begin compiling and publishing all the comparative data from the Governments Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the National Transit Database, etc, and presenting that information to the City Council and the general public every year. I have even made an effort to call the attention of that agency and the City and State Comptroller?s Offices from time to time over the years (though not for a long time, I?ve sort of given up), offering to show them where to get it and how to use it on my own time. I guess the facts get in the way of a good story, so it?s best to dispense with them if you are inside the political world.

Anyhow, not even including the huge increase in pension spending and retiree health insurance spending, which is where (based on subsequent budgets) the United Federation of Teachers maneuvered more than 100% of the big increase in ?public school? expenditures that New Yorkers have sacrificed to finance during the Bloomberg years, NYC public school spending did rise above the U.S. average from FY 2002 to FY 2009. This is a fairly momentous shift. Rising from 4.53% to 4.97% of income, the city?s spending as a share of its residents? personal income exceeded the 4.75% national average in the latter year. Moreover, this increase took place during the backdrop of falling enrollment, as the relatively large ?baby boom echo? generation exited school having by and large been uneducated in New York City.

In the Rest of New York State, where public school spending has always been sky high, and in the past paid for in part by an unfairly low share of state school aid for NYC, it is never enough. Spending here jumped from 6.4% of the personal income of residents of the rest of the state in FY 2002 to 6.7% of income in FY 2009, as school superintendents worked to get everyone and their brother-in-law on the payroll. The shift in New Jersey is even more spectacular. There spending had always been about average as a percentage of personal income, if one ignores the fact (as tabulated in another data line) that New Jersey wasn?t funding its teacher pensions, with the higher than average school spending in that state evenly matched to its higher than average income. But from FY 2002 to FY 2009 public school spending in New Jersey increased from the typical 4.7% of income to 5.7% of income, a huge move.

To shorten the discussion, I?m going to group other government functions together. One such group is those described in New York City as the ?Uniformed? agencies ? Police, Fire, Corrections, Sanitation. New York City?s spending on the Uniformed agencies, not including their very expensive pensions and retiree health insurance, fell from 2.53% of city residents? income in FY 2002, when it was inflated by 9/11-related overtime, to 2.25% of income in FY 2009. That was far higher than the FY 2009 U.S. average at 1.39% of income, the Rest of the State at 1.44% of income, or New Jersey at 1.24% of income.

The city?s spending has always been far, far higher in these categories, but it isn?t directly comparable, because not every community has a professional fire department, local government-funded garbage pick-up, or is required to hold as many prisoners as New York City. But everyone has a police force. New York City?s spending on police, at 1.11% of income, is nearly double the U.S. average of 0.66% of income. Not because the city?s cops are so well paid while on the job (it is the amount they are paid when they are NOT working in retirement that is bankrupting New York) but because there are so many of them compared with just about anyplace else.

For the sake of simplicity, I?ve grouped Housing and Community Development, Public Hospitals, Cash Welfare and Other Social Services into a ?social spending? group for purposes of this post (not the spreadsheet, but you can download it and add them up ourself). New York City?s spending in these categories fell from 4.4% of its residents? personal income in FY 2002 to 4.0% of income in FY 2009, still far above the U.S. average of 1.57%, the Rest of New York State at 1.28%, and New Jersey at 0.6%. This does not even include Medicaid payments to private, non-profit health care providers, which is recorded at the state level; in many states other social spending other than for housing is a state-level expenditure as well.

Note how miniscule Cash Welfare is, compared with spending on various paid services vendors, many of which are non-profits in New York. Recall, as well, that in FY 2009 only about 20.0% of the spending in these categories came from local taxes, with federal and state aid and charges for services (ie. rent at public housing projects) covering the rest. That is still leavings city residents? paying 0.8% of their incomes in local taxes for these services, plus 1.3% of city residents? income collected in local taxes and sent to New York State for Medicaid.

Next consider the sort of ?general local government? functions including Financial Administration (ie. the agencies that should be compiling comparative public finance data but are not), Judicial and Legal, Central Staff and Public Buildings, Inspection and Regulation (ie. the Buildings Department, etc.) and Public Health (which also involves inspections). These are the sort of general local government functions for which New York City?s spending has always been about average as a percentage of its residents? personal income. It is still about average, little changed, and not a lot of money compared with the agencies that provide services direct to New Yorkers. That was in FY 2009. My guess is spending on these agencies has fallen since, which could be a problem for anyone who requires an inspection.

I also added up Mass Transit, Other Transportation (including the Port Authority) and Water and Sewer utilities as the ?infrastructure? functions. Primarily because of its large transit system, New York City?s spending on infrastructure is well above average as a percentage of its residents? personal income. Of course New Yorkers can choose to pay less for their own cars as a result ? if someone wants to live with two or more cars for their household, I can?t imagine whey they would also choose to live in the New York area in general and in most of New York City in particular, rather than in a place with little mass transit where everyone drives to everything. Those people tend to want to turn New York City into Houston rather than, say, moving to Houston.

While total spending in the infrastructure categories increased from 4.66% of income in FY 2002 to 4.96% of income in FY 2009, the big gain was in the Water and Sewer function. The increase was funded by a surge of borrowing, not taxes or fees, but that borrowing will have to be paid back by even higher taxes or fees later or the infrastructure will collapse. A little of both is going on at the MTA. Much of the increased water and sewer spending is for federal environmental mandates, including holding tanks for combined sewer overflows (to allow the city?s storm runoff to be treated even as suburban systems continue to discharge non-point pollution from their separate storm sewers directly into the waterways), and a filtration plant for Croton Reservoir water. The construction of the third water tunnel in the city also continues, and the failure of an aqueduct Upstate will now require the construction of a replacement.

Switching from spending by function to spending by character, note that NYC capital construction expenditures increased from 2.3% of city residents? personal income in FY 2002 to 3.6% of personal income in FY 2009, but spending on transportation and utility (including water and sewer) construction fell from 1.83% of income to 1.61% of income. Other construction spending has increased substantially. So what else besides infrastructure does the government construct? Buildings, such as the World Trade Center site (remember the Port Authority is included with NYC data in this dataset) and schools, and parks.

Other, non-construction capital expenditures also increased, from 0.58% of city residents? personal income in FY 2002 to 1.38% of income in FY 2009. Non-construction capital expenditures include land acquisition and the purchase of vehicles and equipment. This figure tends to be high in NYC because of the transit system: mass transit non-construction capital expenditures totaled $3 billion for NYC in FY 2009. In general, that spending is for the purchase of railcars and buses, and substitutes for the private purchase of additional automobiles elsewhere.

Capital expenditures tend to be below average as a percentage of income in the Rest of New York State and New Jersey, where the suburban infrastructure may be reaching the same age of deterioration that the urban infrastructure reached in the 1960s and 1970s. Much of the suburban infrastructure of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was paid for by state and federal taxes on established urban areas, even as the infrastructure of those urban areas declined. The suburbs may seek to repeat the trick in the next few years, because the one thing both political parties agree on is that the collective future is to be sacrificed, via higher debts and lower spending on infrastructure and R&D, to pay for either tax cuts or higher spending on seniors and public employee pensions (or both). So there will be less infrastructure investment to go around.

Community colleges, public libraries, and public parks and culture are low cost services for which New York City?s spending, as a share of its residents? personal income, has traditionally been well below the U.S. average. Even though as a dense urban environment, the city is a place where space is at a premium and people have to give up personal amenities for shared ones. From FY 2002 to FY 2009 there was a significant jump in spending as a share NYC residents? personal income in each of these categories, though to levels that remained lower than the U.S. average. Mayor Bloomberg had made parks, and Council Speaker Quinn had made libraries, a higher priority than in the Giuliani/Vallone or Dinkins/Vallone administrations. That was as of FY 2009, however. As the costs of the past have to be paid for, expect these services to be re-devastated. With the added cost of Governors? Island on the city?s books, I expect library service to be cut back to the minimum number of hours/days possible for the city to continue to pretend it has library service, and for most parks not funded by influential donors or corporations to end up looking like the wall on the handball courts on the Greenwood Playground in Brooklyn.

Finally, New York City?s spending on ?Other Expenditures,? including economic development, judgments and claims, and, most crucially, employee and retiree benefits not assigned to individual functions, fell slightly from FY 2002 to FY 2009, from 2.05% to 1.91% of income. The biggest portion of this is employee and retiree benefits, and I cannot imagine that going down, because health care costs keep going up more than inflation. So I took a look at my long-term data spreadsheet for ?General Expenditures Not Elsewhere Classified? for New York City, and found a huge increase from FY 2000 to FY 2002 in the dollar value of spending, from $4.2 billion to $6.1 billion, a 44.0% increase in spending in just two years. Since then, spending increases in this category have been more moderate, with just a 28.7% increase in spending to $7.8 billion over the next seven years. The Consumer Price index went up 19% during that time. Why this is I don?t know, and as mentioned the public Financial Administration agencies that should know have made a non-decision to keep New Yorkers in the dark about how much they pay, and how much they spend in different categories, compared with other places.

That leaves two major categories of spending, debt service and pensions. I want to write about them separately, perhaps when I can calm down enough not to slightly exaggerate by using the word ?evil? and not to say that City Actuary Robert North should be in jail (not that he shouldn?t, but it isn?t fair to single him out).

Source: http://www.r8ny.com/blog/larry_littlefield/census_fy_2009_public_finance_data_expenditures.html

internet censorship sveum benetton ads cornucopia best buy black friday deals thanksgiving crafts matt cassel

India government backs case against internet giants (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? The Indian government on Friday threw its weight behind a case against internet giants including Google and Facebook, who are embroiled in a battle over offensive content after a judge warned websites may be blocked "like in China."

The case, which has stoked worries about freedom of speech in the world's largest democracy, was brought by a private petitioner seeking to remove images considered offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians from websites.

The government on Friday officially sanctioned prosecuting 21 companies including Google and Facebook.

"The government of India...finds it appropriate to grant sanction...to proceed against the accused persons in the aforesaid complaint in national harmony, integration and national interest," a court document seen by Reuters said.

The next hearing was set for March and senior executives could be summoned, local media said.

Separately, the Delhi High Court is due to resume a hearing on Monday of an appeal against the case, which was originally brought in a lower court.

"The lower court gave a ruling asking the companies to take down some content, we appealed that ruling and it is in the higher court," said a Google spokesman in India on Friday.

The India units of Facebook, Yahoo! Inc and Microsoft Corp declined to comment.

"If a contraband is found in your house, it (is) your liability to take action against it," High Court Justice Suresh Kait told lawyers from Facebook India and Google India on Thursday, according to the Economic Times newspaper.

"Like China, we can block all such websites (that don't comply). But let us not go to that situation."

A law passed last year in India makes companies responsible for user content posted on their websites, requiring them to take it down within 36 hours in case of a complaint. The lower court affirmed the law last week.

Less than 10 percent of India's 1.2 billion people have Internet access, though the connected population is rapidly growing through social media tools on mobile phones, bringing many into contact for the first time with images intended to offend.

More than 880 million people have mobile phones in India, but more expensive Internet-capable 3G models are out of reach for many.

Civil rights groups opposed the laws, but politicians say that posting offensive images in the socially conservative country with a history of violence between religious groups presents a danger to the public as Internet use grows.

In December, Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal weighed into the debate, urging Facebook, Twitter, Google and others to remove offensive material.

Despite rules to remove offensive content, India's Internet access is still largely free when compared with the tight controls in fellow Asian economic powerhouse China.

(Addtional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Matthias Williams and Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/wr_nm/us_india_websites

tony stewart amas music awards 2011 music awards 2011 jill biden jill biden al mvp