Coachella Trading Company - recent posts from Public Sector community

Mad as hell on the trading floor...just a Chicago tea party?

2009-02-20T16:33:00-08:00

People, and even the media themselves, often assualt ‘the media’ for being too liberal, too conservative, or even puppets for an international conspiracy. Sometimes I agree with all of those statements, feeling as though our news sources cover too-little-too-lightly, often popularizing corporate and government agendas as the only reality. But these same agendas seem to be at the cause of the so-called economic crisis creating the need for bailouts and swift action in the first place. But if things are that bad, maybe we shouldn’t be bailing out a bad system. Maybe it’s time for a revolution.

To the shock of many yesterday morning one media man spoke of on-air revolution with only part of his tongue-in-cheek. Rick Santelli, CNBC trade floor correspondent to the Chicago Board of Trade created a mild controversy when he ranted on air opposing the presidents housing bailout plan with boisterous agreement from those in attendance.

CNBC anchors concluded discussing the 275-billion-dollar mortage plan and Santelli immediately let loose his angry chiding vocative, “Mr. Ross has nailed it. The government is promoting bad behavior. We certainly don’t want to put stimulus pork and give people a whopping $8 or $10 in their check and think that they ought to save it.”

Throughout Santelli’s relatively unrestrained monologue traders on the floor cheered, hissed, and booed akin to detractors in a British parliament session. Santelli continued his vitriol:

“This is America! (turning to nearby traders)

“How many people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgages that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills? Raise their hand! (crowd reacts loudly)

“President Obama, are you listening?”

One trader in the foreground interjects live, “Why don’t we all stop paying our mortgage. It’s a moral hazard.”

Asked about the benefit of lowering interest rates to 2% Santelli responded, “You could go to -2% and they still can’t afford the house,” and the anchor asks why we are trying to keep people in their houses and Santelli implodes:

I mean I know Mr. Summers is a great economist but boy I’d love the answer to that one,” with more cheers from the floor.

“We’re thinking of having a Chicago tea party in July. All you capitalists that want to show up at Lake Michigan I’m going to start organizing.”

The crowd whistles and cheers and another anchor asks, “What are you dumping in this time?” to which Santelli responds with sardonic calm, “I think we’ll be dumping some derivative securities.”

After more mildly humorous revoluationary references another remote guest to the show says to Santelli, “I congratulate you on your new incarnation as a revolutionary leader.”

Somebody needs one. If you read our founding fathers, people like Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson, what we are doing in this country is making them roll over in their graves.”

Though this humble reporter thinks the founding fathers might be less rolling in their graves and more rolling their eyes at the sad cyclic nature of the human condition, politics, and civilization. What is happening now in the U.S. and around the world seems inevitable given how prone humans are for preservation of self-interest coupled with our propensity for ignoring detrimental other-realities threatening those self-interests.

I am not sharing this incident because I agree or disagree with Santelli. Nor because I have insight into the economy worth adding, there are plenty of folks doing that . Nor do I think that such highly charged emotional on-air diatribes and pleas are that rare. Keith Olberman and Bill O’Reilly do it every night.

What is different about Rick Santelli’s mocking call to action is that he doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who typically agitates for revolution, seriously or not. He appears someone who is mad as hell and actually, almost, not going to take it anymore.

So, I’m commenting on the Santelli Tea Party because regardless of what side of the aisle you stand, it does seem that some kind of revolution is in the air. Lifestyles of excess and convenience that began in the 50’s seems to have run their course. The U.S. is not the unilateral powerhouse it once was. More people are conscious of possibilites and consequences of finite resources in the face of seemingly endless population growth. Whimsical and not-so-blissfully ignorant understanding of how global economies work and the implications of failure are fresh in the human consciousness.

People are losing their homes and their jobs. For people in places like the U.S. and Britain people are starting to taste the struggle of their ancestors past and of daily life in smaller countries around the world to this day.

In general folks from every walk of life around the world can sense that something isn’t quite right and are no longer willing to simply accept colorful rhetoric gloss over from their leaders. Statements such as those from Santelli seem to be just a precursor to a much larger dialog starting to take place, in the media, at work, in the malls, and in our homes. ‘The people’ seem to be remembering that have a voice, and they better well start using it before things get worse.

What do you think? Should we continue propping up existing economic and govermental systems and policies? Or is it time for a revolution? And if so what does that “better” world look like?

You might also be interested in:

Jackson Safety discusses 23CFR 634-Worker Visibility and the recent changes

2009-02-02T20:00:03-08:00

While discussing crazy roads around the world with our friend Thomas over at Jackson Safety we got to discussing the changes in worker visibility regulations in the new interim final rule for 23CFR 634 . Well you know how crazy those regulations get, so he sent over a simplified interpretation for the rest of us.

Effective November 24, 2008, a new federal mandate, 23 CFR 634 , goes into effect that states “All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or construction equipment within the work area shall wear safety hi-visibility safety apparel.” By the effective date, States and other agencies shall be required to comply with the provisions of this ruling and ensure that workers are wearing compliant clothing.

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN??
It’s really pretty simple!

When does it take effect?

November 24, 2008

Who does it effect?

Per the FHWA, “Workers on foot whose duties place them within the right-of-way of a federal-aid highway, such as highway construction and maintenance forces, survey crews, responders to incidents within the highway right-of-way, and law enforcement personnel when directing traffic, investigating crashes, and handling closures, obstructed roadways, and disasters within the right-of-way of a federal-aid highway.”

How does the FHWA define Hi-Visibility Safety Apparel?

Safety clothing that is intended to provide conspicuity during both daytime and nighttime usage, and that meets the requirements of ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 Performance CL2 or 3 requirements. ANSI 107 requires that CL2 garments have at least 775 square inches of hi-viz, fluorescent background material and at least 201 square inches of reflective material.

What do you mean by ‘Responders to Incidents’?

The FHWA defines this term very broadly and can be considered tow truck drivers or other roadside vehicle service responders, media representatives when covering news events or similar actions within highway rights-of-way, military personnel when on foot, and commercial drivers on foot within the right-of-way who are with disabled trucks or motor coaches.

What is a ‘Federal-Aid Highway’?

U.S. Federal-Aid highways comprise 975,000 miles of roads and their associated rights-of-way – almost one of every 4 miles of all American roads combined. Since determining what roadway is or is not ‘Federal-Aid’ can be difficult, many companies are planning to assume that all roads are covered under the mandate in order to avoid inadvertent noncompliance.

Are any workers exempt?

Virtually the only category of workers specifically exempted from 23 CFR 634 compliance would be law enforcement officers that are engaged in law enforcement activities, such as traffic stops and pursuit and apprehension of suspects. However, they are required to wear hi-visibility clothing during other times such as directing traffic, investigating crashes and handling lane closures, obstructed roadways, and disasters within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway.

What about Public Safety Vests (PSV)?

After 23 CFR 634 was finalized, a new standard for PSVs was published as ANSI/ISEA 207-2006 AND since ANSI 207 was not published until after 23 CFR 634 was finalized, the federal mandate could only reference ANSI 107. ANSI 207 vests requires 201 square inches of reflective material and only 450 square inches of background material. Therefore, ANSI 207 vests do not meet the requirements of ANSI 107 and do not currently meet the requirements of 23 CFR 634. These complications are expected to be addressed by the anticipated 2009 MUTCD changes (unlikely to go into effect until the 2nd or 3rd qtr of 09).

Jackson Safety offers numerous safety vests that are compliant with the 23 CFR 634 ruling. The entire Jackson Safety apparel line that has been labeled as ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 CL2 or CL3 are considered compliant. . Customers that do not adhere to the mandate will face costly repercussions from OSHA!

Still looking for more info on the nitty-gritty details?

Remember Jackson Safety and CoTradeCo are happy to sell you whatever you need to comply with regulations, but we also want to make sure you have access to the most useful information possible.

If you still have questions don’t hesitate to contact Trader Dan and the CoTradeCo team or better yet, post your questions and discussions in our community blog

Urban landscape goes invisible (well sort of...)

2008-11-28T10:14:38-08:00

Some may accuse California of being overly concerned with appearances, but this art project commissioned by Culver City, CA is something to (not) see. The city selected Joshua Callaghan, an MFA student at UCLA, to integrate 9 utility boxes into the surrounding landscape.

The result is pretty neat. Each side of the normally drab gray metal utility boxes are covered in high tech stickers printed with a photograph of the view behind the box as if it were not there. The utility boxes housing electric, telephone, and traffic signal equipment in the redeveloped Town Plaza are went from drab to fab.

Christine Byers, Culver City’s public art and historic preservation coordinator, said to the Los Angeles Times Magazine:

“They are an eyesore. We are looking at this as a long-term temporary project. It’s good for five to seven years.

Also according to the LA Times Magazine, “Sticklers might note that a utility box is a utility box is a utility box, but for the city the designer camouflage is a hit, blending with the landscape until you get up close.”

“I love watching people do the double-take,” Byers said.

The permanent public project entitled, Transformers, is by Joshua Callaghan in 2004. Visit his official website to see more pictures from the Transformers public project and more of his art

Money is debt (Video)(Part 5) Where does money come from?

2008-11-27T12:05:18-08:00

Money is Debt Part 5

This is part 5 of the film Money is Debt by Paul Grigon. I found it an eye-opening primer on where money comes from and how the banking system works.

I will try to post more on this topic in the future and encourage more discussion in the future. I have a lot to learn about the economy and banking, and I look forward to your input and advice as I go. But I had to share this film with you all.

If you don’t want to watch the film in 5 parts here, you may also watch the full length video at Google Video

But I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of the DVD. Learn more about the film, it’s concepts, and purchase a copy of the DVD at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Learn more about Paul Grignon at his official website.

Money is debt (Video)(Part 4) Where does money come from?

2008-11-27T12:03:39-08:00

Money is Debt Part 4

This is part 4 of the film Money is Debt by Paul Grigon. I found it an eye-opening primer on where money comes from and how the banking system works.

If you don’t want to watch the film in 5 parts here, you may also watch the full length video at Google Video

But I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of the DVD. Learn more about the film, it’s concepts, and purchase a copy of the DVD at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Learn more about Paul Grignon at his official website.

Money is debt (Video)(Part 3) Where does money come from?

2008-11-27T12:01:52-08:00

Money is Debt Part 3

This is part 3 of the film Money is Debt by Paul Grigon. I found it an eye-opening primer on where money comes from and how the banking system works.

If you don’t want to watch the film in 5 parts here, you may also watch the full length video at Google Video

But I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of the DVD. Learn more about the film, it’s concepts, and purchase a copy of the DVD at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Learn more about Paul Grignon at his official website.

Money is debt (Video)(Part 2) Where does money come from?

2008-11-27T12:00:36-08:00

Money is Debt Part 2

This is part 2 of the film Money is Debt by Paul Grigon. I found it an eye-opening primer on where money comes from and how the banking system works.

If you don’t want to watch the film in 5 parts here, you may also watch the full length video at Google Video

But I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of the DVD. Learn more about the film, it’s concepts, and purchase a copy of the DVD at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Learn more about Paul Grignon at his official website.

Money is debt (Video)(Part 1) Where does money come from?

2008-11-27T11:55:29-08:00

Money is Debt Part 1

Where does money come from? If you are like me you probably thought, with some help from the U.S. school system that the government printed it, and maybe that each dollar was worth some gold or silver in Fort Knox. Even as I grew older and learned more about government and economy, and that the Gold Standard was eliminated in the U.S. for Fiat currency I somehow never really shook that notion that our ‘money’ must have some value based on something besides someone decreeing it so.

This video by Paul Grigon helps put the concept of money in perspective and raises some interesting questions. This film asks the following questions:

“Debt- government, corporate, and household have reached astronomical proportions. Where does all this money come from? How could there be so much money to lend. The answer is…there isn’t. Money IS debt. Without debt there would be no money.”

And as the “Money Is Debt website”: goes on to say, “If this is puzzling to you, you are not alone. Very few people understand, even though all of us are affected.”

Some quotes from the film

“One thing to realize about our fractional reserve banking system is that, like a child’s game of musical chairs, as long as the music is playing, there are no losers.” – Andrew Gause, Monetary Historian

“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented…If you want to continue to be slaves of the banks and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let bankers continue to create money and control credit.” – Sir Josiah Stamp Director, Bank of England 1928-1941, reputed to be the 2nd richest man in Britain at the time

Mark J. Windle at w-o-e (what on earth) on blogspot has a nice summary write up of the film on his blog.

If you don’t want to watch the film in 5 parts here, you may also watch the full length video at Google Video

But I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of the DVD. Learn more about the film, it’s concepts, and purchase a copy of the DVD at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Learn more about Paul Grignon at his official website.

Easily find a parking spot with smart parking technology for cities

2008-10-10T08:52:04-07:00

How many times have you struggled to find a parking spot downtown on a busy weekend? With some simple but ingenius technology you might not have to drive in circles to find that space anymore.

Parksys™ from Mobilisus™ is an intelligent system guiding drivers to available parking spots via a car navigation system, personal computer, mobile devices, or a Pay & Display control system booth. The Parksys™ displays real-time parking locations with statistics for every parking lot on a public roadway.

The Parksys™ system not only shows where an available spot is, but how many spots are available in each location, offering innovative street parking management. The system is solar powered including the powerful wireless CPU and the Pay & Display machine that manages the parking.

The idea is so brilliant, you wonder why someone didn’t think of it sooner.

Learn more at the Parksys site

The other VP candidates: Rosa A. Clemente

2008-10-03T16:43:12-07:00

Here is Rosa A. Clemente VP candidate for the green party. Surely I can’t be the only one who hadn’t heard until now that there was a black woman running for president.

The other VP candidates: Matt Gonzales

2008-10-03T16:38:25-07:00

Matt Gonzalez speaking on the importance of third parties.

The other VP candidates: Darrell Castle

2008-10-03T16:30:41-07:00

Presenting Darrell Castle, the Constitution Party VP candidate.

There has got to be a better video out there somewhere. Somebody, help!!

The other VP candidates: Wayne Root

2008-10-03T15:56:18-07:00

Where were Wayne Root, Darrell Castle, Matt Gonzalez, and Rosa A. Clemente at last nights VP debates? Ever hear of ‘em? They are the major “third party” candidates and they were not invited to the debates. Here is Wayne Root, the libertarian VP candidate for your viewing pleasure.

Darrell Castle, Matt Gonzlaez, and Rosa A. Clemente will follow.

vote em out

2008-09-29T14:12:43-07:00

Let us see. It is a big horrific emergency. If WE do not give the United States
treaury $700 Billion dollars to bail out their friends in Wall Street, the whole world economy will collaspe. BUT, the so called public servents in congress can not agree to pass a bail out bill. Could it be that they are that incompetent or is this just another BIG DAMN LIE. With the Media unable or unwilling to tell the truth how do We find out the truth? It sort of reminds me of a couple of films “Wag the Dog” and “V”
More barking from bad dog

vote em out

2008-09-27T18:32:00-07:00

This is where most of our poltroon politicans belong.

vote em out

2008-09-27T18:27:59-07:00

Right On! Write in Joe (Nancy’s family friend) for Pres. The others caused this
fincial mess and now are actiting like children trying to blame some one else.
The U.S. should force the oil companies to lend the $700 billion from their proffits. The U.S. Gov. would then pay back the loan at 1.5% interest over 20 years. That way everyone wins especially the average tax payer. Those in power in Washington tried to make large sums of money in real estate and the stock
market just like the speculators. You notice no laws reining in the speculators is talked about.

Let's vote them all out

2008-09-27T14:06:37-07:00

As we sit here and watch all the wrangling in Congress and the back and forth finger pointing it makes you wonder why any of them are worth keeping. Both political parties are at fault with all of their pet projects and special interests. The national polls are telling us that the approval rating for congress is around 17%. If you and I got a rating on our personal job performance of 17% we’d be fired that day.

“Enough is enough,” let’s start a movement to remove all of the incumbents on November 4th. All we have to do is vote for whomever is running against the current office holder. I know that you’ll say that this is crazy as “my representative” is good for us and that it’s the other guy that’s the problem. Baloney, these wonderful people who we have voted for and trusted have allowed the mess we’re in to happen. What could a whole new group do that would create a bigger problem than we already have?

If you don’t like any of the names on the ballot write in “Trader Dan” or better yet let’s write in Tina Fey.

how long

2008-09-06T10:32:08-07:00

The late great State of California. KILLED by the legislature. Those idiots who think only of thmselves and will not pass a budget.

Political humor: Time for some campaignin' starring everybody

2008-09-05T18:15:15-07:00

Funny stuff. John McCain, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Barak Obama himself all make appearances in this hilarious musical parody. Amazing animation and stunning soundtrack make this a must see.

And I’ve got one or two things to say about change. Like the change we must change to the change we hold dear. I really like change, have I made myself clear?

So he’ll talk about change until your deaf in the ear.

Oh it’s time for some campaignin’

Check it out and vote!

open the door on the budget

2008-08-17T16:53:19-07:00

Every year We the Citizens of California go thru the same thing. The fools up in Sacramento who call themselves public servants mess with peoples lives. They fool around and play politics and do not pass a budget. It is time the public puts a stop to this nonsense. First, for every day that a budget is not passed the legislature must stay in secession no time off. Second,for each day there is no budget all legislators should not get paid. Does anyone know how to get such laws on the ballot?

change

2008-07-31T14:46:23-07:00

I was reading about the 1964 Presidential election. Goldwater and Johnson were talking about an unpopular war, the economy and Socilal Security. Forty four years have gone by and nothing has changed nor been fixed.

budget

2008-07-31T14:12:39-07:00

For years the State has stopped while the politicians goof with the budget.
From now on for every day whith no budget the state legislators should not be paid.

Four California Coast LID & Permeable Pavement Workshops being offered

2008-04-04T01:27:14-07:00

Live and work in California and want to learn more about LID (Low Impact Development) storm water management and Permeable Pavements for Stormwater Management? Four workshops are being offered in Ventura, Newport Beach, Oakland, and Santa Cruz.

These workshops are geared towards building trade professionals, developers, engineers, material suppliers, local government staff, and state government planners and regulators. They will discuss Low Impact Development (LID) which according to the California Coastal Commission site is, ”...gaining popularity as a better approach to stormwater management that seeks to control stormwater at the source, using small-scale integrated site design and management practices to mimic the site’s natural hydrology.”

The workshop will cover practical application, design, implementation, and mainteance of LID techniques and many more topics.

Visit their site to learn more and register for these events .

Press release

Reining in the Rain:

Watershed-Friendly Low Impact Development Site Design & Permeable Pavements for Stormwater Management

Ventura Monday April 21
Newport Beach Tuesday April 22
Oakland Wednesday April 23
Santa Cruz Friday April 25

See http://www.coastal.ca.gov/nps/lid_California Coast LID & Permeable Pavementworkshops.html for more information.

The contents of workshop does not necessarily reflect the view and policies of the State Water Resources Control Board, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

News Release: Seeking municipal & corporate nominees to National Clean Water Act Recognition Awa

2008-04-01T15:25:50-07:00

The EPA, through the Office of Wastewater Management sponsors the National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards annually. The award was created in 1986 as an extension to the National Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Excellence Awards created a year earlier which gives recognition to communities with O&M programs at publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities.

The O&M Excellence awards were so successful they expanded to the Clean Water Act Recognition and have since further with the Exemplary Biosolids Management Excellence Awards.

They are currently seeking nominations for 2008. To qualify you must first contact the EPA Regional Awards Program Manager for an application, Be in compliance with applicable water quality requirements for two years, or have a satisfactory record with respect to environmental quality, and submit separate nomination/application for each awards program category of interest.

For more information:

Press release

EPA Seeks Nominations for National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards The Office of Water has announced a call for nominations for its 2008 National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards. The awards program, in its twenty-third year, recognizes municipalities and industries for outstanding and innovative technological achievements in wastewater treatment and pollution abatement programs. Awards will be given to first and second place winners for demonstrated outstanding water quality achievements for projects and programs in five awards categories, including: operations and maintenance, biosolids management, pretreatment, stormwater management, and combined sewer overflows control. These national awards heighten public awareness of the contributions wastewater treatment facilities make to clean water and public health and safety. Nominations are due to EPA headquarters by May 30, 2008.

For more information about the awards program and the nomination process, visit the Office of Wastewater Management web page at:

http://www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/intnet.htm

or contact Matthew Richardson, national awards program coordinator, at (202) 564-2947.

Image of O&M first place winner at Kalispell,MT,2007 used from the EPA site.

Announcing new CalTrans subdomain and upcoming community "neighborhood" feature

2008-03-26T13:41:19-07:00

In the near future we will be launching an exciting new feature to our community system. Community members will be able to create their own “neighborhoods” that will function as clubs or groups with their member created community blog topics and resource pages. The goal is to give you the ability to network , create discussions, and share information with focused individuals and organizations relevant to your interests and industry.

We have intentionally created very broad communities for people to communicate and network in. As we looked around the social networking landscape we saw certain gaps in who was being served by the various communities out there. We also saw that typical social networking sites tended to segregate and isolate individuals more than they brought them together.

We believe that community is bigger than just what you do in your personal and professional circle, much like the local community where you live. Our first goal with the communities at CoTradeCo was to figure out how to get people from various but similar backgrounds to interact and meet.

Now that we have the first community goal underway we are beginning the “neighborhood” club/group feature.

All neighborhoods will exist within a community and all blog topics and posts will be available to all members of that community and will appear on your SPOT like any other post. Again, emphasizing the exposure and overlap of information. The neighborhoods will simply be a way to filter down and focus on more specific areas of interest.

For example, a car club or event, such as the Cruisin’ Grand event in Escondido, CA could create a “Cruisin’ Grand neighborhood” in the “Gearheads and Drivers community”: http://cotradeco.com/communities/12-gearheads-and-drivers. Or a construction contractor could create a “Riverside County Contractors Neighborhood” in the Hardworking Folk community . And in some cases CoTradeCo will create it’s own special neighborhoods for various groups and organizations that we serve.

In preparation for the launch of our new community “Neighborhoods” feature we have created our first niche subdomain devoted to serving CalTrans. http://caltrans.cotradeco.com/

While this new subdomain does not reflect the upcoming functionality of the neighborhoods feature, it does represent our first step towards creating highly focused and specialized information resources for our community members.

If you would like to know more about this or other upcoming developments with CoTradeCo or the website email us, or read/post to the Potluck community CoTradeCo News and Announcements blog topic .

Thank you for visiting and participating at CoTradeCo. If you don’t already have your own SPOT, sign up today!

Visitors from CalTrans Procurement Fair...WELCOME!

2008-03-26T11:55:14-07:00

My name is Trader Dan (not to be confused with Dan Anderson who you met at the Fair) and I wanted to welcome you to my Trading Post.

I hope that Dan and Stacy treated you alright today and I look forward to working with you in the future. Small businesses like ours appreciate opportunities such as the CalTrans Procurement Fair, that agencies such as yours put out to the business community.

My team and I have a strong background in serving government agencies and are eager to bring our knowledge and expertise to work for you.

If you ever have any questions don’t hestitate to email me or do us the honor of signing up for your own SPOT here at my Trading Post and posting your thoughts and questions for everyone to benefit from.

Thanks for coming by!

-Trader Dan

High school degree and College Logic course needed to cross street

2008-03-24T10:40:32-07:00

Sheesh! This crosswalk instruction sign covers it all. I found this amusing and thought I would share it. Though I couldn’t help but notice that the instructions are not in braille! And what about those places where a recorded voice tells you when it is okay to walk? Will it read them the instructions. In fact the sign could intelligently sense if someone is milling about on the corner and automatically turn the walk lights on. That idea is free for all the city planning folks and street maintenance agencies that could use it.

To Cross Push Button image courtesy of bookish in north park at Flickr under a creative commons license.

Investment banks implement funding restrictions for coal-fired power plans

2008-03-01T12:23:15-08:00

Source: Grist.com – Mark(et)ed for Death

Three Wall Street banks announce funding restrictions for new coal power plants

Three major investment banks, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, will announce new environmental standards today that are expected to make it more difficult for large coal-fired power plants in the United States to get funding.

The three banks said that they would consider funding energy efficiency measures and renewable-energy projects ahead of coal plants and that when funding coal projects they’ll heavily favor plants that can successfully capture and sequester their carbon emissions. The banks maintain that their primary motivation for the standards is financial; Wall Street bigwigs don’t want to be stuck with debt when coal plants are forced to pay for at least a portion of their emission allowances under cap and trade.

Read the full story

Wiretaps back on...U.S. Telecom cooperates "for the time being"

2008-03-01T12:22:05-08:00

Source: CHINAdaily – White House says phone wiretaps back on ‘for now’

The Bush administration said on Saturday US telecommunications companies have agreed to cooperate “for the time being” with spy agencies’ wiretaps, despite an ongoing battle between the White House and Congress over new terrorism surveillance legislation.

The measure passed by the Senate would provide retroactive lawsuit immunity to firms which cooperated with warrantless wiretaps that Bush authorized after the September 11 attacks. But the House of Representatives has opposed it, and Democratic leaders of both chambers said they would try to find a compromise.

Read the full story

Regulators seek water company protection for lawsuits

2008-03-01T12:20:01-08:00

Source: WaterTechOnline – Utility regulators seek lawsuit insulation for water companies

The nation’s utility regulators are expected to vote next week on a resolution asking state governments to give water-supply companies that comply with state and federal safe drinking water standards “safe harbor” against lawsuits by those who would claim they’ve been harmed by drinking water.

The object of the resolution, according to a text of it provided by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), is to prevent the cost of such lawsuits from becoming an undue economic burden on water suppliers and their ratepayers.

Read the full story

Coachella Trading Company - recent posts from Public Sector community

Mad as hell on the trading floor...just a Chicago tea party?

Jackson Safety discusses 23CFR 634-Worker Visibility and the recent changes

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN??It’s really pretty simple!

When does it take effect?

Who does it effect?

How does the FHWA define Hi-Visibility Safety Apparel?

What do you mean by ‘Responders to Incidents’?

What is a ‘Federal-Aid Highway’?

Are any workers exempt?

What about Public Safety Vests (PSV)?

Still looking for more info on the nitty-gritty details?

Urban landscape goes invisible (well sort of...)

Money is debt (Video)(Part 5) Where does money come from?

Money is Debt Part 5

Money is debt (Video)(Part 4) Where does money come from?

Money is Debt Part 4

Money is debt (Video)(Part 3) Where does money come from?

Money is Debt Part 3

Money is debt (Video)(Part 2) Where does money come from?

Money is Debt Part 2

Money is debt (Video)(Part 1) Where does money come from?

Money is Debt Part 1

Some quotes from the film

Easily find a parking spot with smart parking technology for cities

The other VP candidates: Rosa A. Clemente

The other VP candidates: Matt Gonzales

The other VP candidates: Darrell Castle

The other VP candidates: Wayne Root

vote em out

vote em out

vote em out

Let's vote them all out

how long

Political humor: Time for some campaignin' starring everybody

open the door on the budget

change

budget

Four California Coast LID & Permeable Pavement Workshops being offered

Press release

News Release: Seeking municipal & corporate nominees to National Clean Water Act Recognition Awa

Press release

Announcing new CalTrans subdomain and upcoming community "neighborhood" feature

Visitors from CalTrans Procurement Fair...WELCOME!

High school degree and College Logic course needed to cross street

Investment banks implement funding restrictions for coal-fired power plans

Wiretaps back on...U.S. Telecom cooperates "for the time being"

Regulators seek water company protection for lawsuits

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN??
It’s really pretty simple!