WTF!

Attention all virile Tasmanian men, your services may be required. State Health Minister Lara Giddings is asking the local lads to give generously this year…. to the local sperm banks. Hmm, seems Tasmania are down to 4 donors and the women are getting desperate for it. For the first time in sperm donating history, couples have been forced onto waiting lists as the interstate women have all but pilfered the local Tassie sperm stocks.

Psst The State has only 4 donors? That will explain a lot !

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The decline in US newspaper circulation is accelerating as the industry struggles with defections to the internet and tumbling ad revenue.

Figures released on Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show that average daily circulation dropped 10.6 per cent in the April-September period from the same six-month span in 2008. That was greater than the 7.1 per cent decline in the October 2008-March 2009 period and the 4.6 per cent drop in the April-September period last year.

Sunday circulation fell 7.5 per cent in the latest six-month span.

As expected, The Wall Street Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling newspaper in the United States. The Journal’s average Monday-Friday circulation edged up 0.6 per cent to 2.02 million – making it the only daily newspaper in the top 25 to see an increase.

USA Today saw its worst decline ever, dropping more than 17 per cent to 1.90 million. The newspaper has blamed reductions in travel for much of the circulation shortfall, because many of its single-copy sales come in airports and hotels.

The New York Times stayed in third place at 927,851, down 7.3 per cent from the same period of 2008.

Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Part of this is because newspapers stopped serving harder-to-reach areas and limited circulation to their core regions.

In many cases, people simply aren’t buying print copies as much as they used to, given the abundance of free news on the internet, often from the newspapers themselves. This has prompted newspapers to consider charging fees for web access, but it could prove difficult to persuade people to pay for something they are used to getting for free.

Newsday, a Long Island daily, said last week it plans to Start charging people who don’t subscribe to its print edition $US5 ($A5.42) a week for access to its website. Newsday’s circulation dropped 5.4 per cent in the latest reporting period, to 357,124.

Of the top 25 dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle saw the worst circulation decline, falling 25.8 per cent to 251,782. The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, and The Dallas Morning News both fell 22.2 per cent.

The figures from the circulation bureau compare 379 newspapers that had reported daily average sales for both the current and year-ago periods. The Sunday figure, meanwhile, compares 562 newspapers.

The closures of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other printed newspapers aren’t reflected in the total decline. (And in many cases, subscriptions were transferred to each city’s other major newspaper). The total also excludes many smaller newspapers because of rule changes that make direct comparisons impossible.

AP

Source: US newspaper circulation falling fast, down 10.6%

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The decline in US newspaper circulation is accelerating as the industry struggles with defections to the internet and tumbling ad revenue.

Figures released on Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show that average daily circulation dropped 10.6 per cent in the April-September period from the same six-month span in 2008. That was greater than the 7.1 per cent decline in the October 2008-March 2009 period and the 4.6 per cent drop in the April-September period last year.

Sunday circulation fell 7.5 per cent in the latest six-month span.

As expected, The Wall Street Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling newspaper in the United States. The Journal’s average Monday-Friday circulation edged up 0.6 per cent to 2.02 million – making it the only daily newspaper in the top 25 to see an increase.

USA Today saw its worst decline ever, dropping more than 17 per cent to 1.90 million. The newspaper has blamed reductions in travel for much of the circulation shortfall, because many of its single-copy sales come in airports and hotels.

The New York Times stayed in third place at 927,851, down 7.3 per cent from the same period of 2008.

Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Part of this is because newspapers stopped serving harder-to-reach areas and limited circulation to their core regions.

In many cases, people simply aren’t buying print copies as much as they used to, given the abundance of free news on the internet, often from the newspapers themselves. This has prompted newspapers to consider charging fees for web access, but it could prove difficult to persuade people to pay for something they are used to getting for free.

Newsday, a Long Island daily, said last week it plans to Start charging people who don’t subscribe to its print edition $US5 ($A5.42) a week for access to its website. Newsday’s circulation dropped 5.4 per cent in the latest reporting period, to 357,124.

Of the top 25 dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle saw the worst circulation decline, falling 25.8 per cent to 251,782. The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, and The Dallas Morning News both fell 22.2 per cent.

The figures from the circulation bureau compare 379 newspapers that had reported daily average sales for both the current and year-ago periods. The Sunday figure, meanwhile, compares 562 newspapers.

The closures of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other printed newspapers aren’t reflected in the total decline. (And in many cases, subscriptions were transferred to each city’s other major newspaper). The total also excludes many smaller newspapers because of rule changes that make direct comparisons impossible.

AP

Source: US newspaper circulation falling fast, down 10.6%

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Ailing Japan Airlines will restructure itself under a state-backed corporate turnaround firm while the government mulls a special law to cut the carrier’s high pension payouts, reports said Sunday.

The Japanese government, which will announce a turnaround plan for JAL by the end of this week, will also consider an injection of public funds after the plan is finalised, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

Local media reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan will be in charge of breathing life back into the carrier.

The government launched the quasi-public agency earlier this month to help debt-laden companies that are seen as having the potential to recover, designed to ensure transparency in negotiating debt-relief measures among creditors.

The agency may guarantee loans extended by the Development Bank of Japan and other JAL creditors, or it may lend to the company directly, the Nikkei said.

The carrier needs a bridge loan of about Y200 billion ($A2.36 billion) by the end of this year, it said.

JAL’s shortfall of pension reserves has reached about Y330 billion ($A3.89 billion), placing pressure on its management, reports said.

The government also considers creating a new law to enable the carrier to lower its pension payouts to retirees, the Yomiuri daily reported, citing unnamed government sources.

If the law is enacted, debt write-offs by financial institutions and the injection of public funds are to proceed more smoothly, which could accelerate the airline’s rehabilitation, the daily said.

JAL, which is expected to plunge $US5.5 billion ($A5.93 billion) into the red this financial year, has also decided to reduce its group workforce by 13,000 by the end of March 2015, 4,000 more than its initial plan, Kyodo News said.

The company, which lost more than $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion) in the April-June quarter, is seeking another public bailout to keep operating. JAL has already received three government bailouts since 2001.

AFP

Source: JAL to restructure under new state-backed agency- reports

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The Japanese Government, which will announce a turnaround plan for JAL by the end of this week, will also consider an injection of public funds after the plan is finalised,

the Nikkei

business daily reported without citing sources.

Local media reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan will be in charge of breathing life back into the carrier.

The Government launched the quasi-public agency earlier this month to help debt-laden companies that are seen as having the potential to recover, designed to ensure transparency in negotiating debt-relief measures among creditors.

The agency may guarantee loans extended by the Development Bank of Japan and other JAL creditors, or it may lend to the company directly,

the Nikkei

said.

The carrier needs a bridge loan of about Y200 billion ($2.36 billion) by the end of this year, it said.

JAL’s shortfall of pension reserves has reached about Y330 billion ($3.89 billion), placing pressure on its management, reports said.

The Government also considers creating a new law to enable the carrier to lower its pension payouts to retirees, the Yomiuri daily reported, citing unnamed government sources.

If the law is enacted, debt write-offs by financial institutions and the injection of public funds are to proceed more smoothly, which could accelerate the airline’s rehabilitation, the daily said.

JAL, which is expected to plunge $US5.5 billion ($5.93 billion) into the red this financial year, has also decided to reduce its group workforce by 13,000 by the end of March 2015, 4000 more than its initial plan, Kyodo News said.

The company, which lost more than $US1 billion ($1.08 billion) in the April-June quarter, is seeking another public bailout to keep operating. JAL has already received three government bailouts since 2001.

Source: Struggling JAL gets restructure | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

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Ailing Japan Airlines will restructure itself under a state-backed corporate turnaround firm while the government mulls a special law to cut the carrier’s high pension payouts, reports said Sunday.

The Japanese government, which will announce a turnaround plan for JAL by the end of this week, will also consider an injection of public funds after the plan is finalised, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

Local media reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan will be in charge of breathing life back into the carrier.

The government launched the quasi-public agency earlier this month to help debt-laden companies that are seen as having the potential to recover, designed to ensure transparency in negotiating debt-relief measures among creditors.

The agency may guarantee loans extended by the Development Bank of Japan and other JAL creditors, or it may lend to the company directly, the Nikkei said.

The carrier needs a bridge loan of about Y200 billion ($A2.36 billion) by the end of this year, it said.

JAL’s shortfall of pension reserves has reached about Y330 billion ($A3.89 billion), placing pressure on its management, reports said.

The government also considers creating a new law to enable the carrier to lower its pension payouts to retirees, the Yomiuri daily reported, citing unnamed government sources.

If the law is enacted, debt write-offs by financial institutions and the injection of public funds are to proceed more smoothly, which could accelerate the airline’s rehabilitation, the daily said.

JAL, which is expected to plunge $US5.5 billion ($A5.93 billion) into the red this financial year, has also decided to reduce its group workforce by 13,000 by the end of March 2015, 4,000 more than its initial plan, Kyodo News said.

The company, which lost more than $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion) in the April-June quarter, is seeking another public bailout to keep operating. JAL has already received three government bailouts since 2001.

AFP

Source: JAL to restructure under new state-backed agency- reports

Bristol City Council is criticised for failing to act on a predictable primary school places shortfall…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: population density city. The blog is also related to: city year.

Bristol City Council is criticised for failing to act on a predictable primary school places shortfall…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: social studies teaching. The blog is also related to: finance.

1. Does your company do a good job of listening to its customers? Give a specific example of how listening resulted in improved service quality to your customers?
2. Reliability is the ability of the company to perform the promised services dependably and accurately. On a 10-point scale, where 1 is unreliable and 10 perfectly reliable, where would you place your company and why?
3. How well does your company perform the “service basics”—that is, knowing and responding to the fundamental service expectations in your industry?
4. How effectively does your company manage the service design elements or systems, people, and the physical environment? Provide an example of how a lack of planning in one of these areas resulted in a “fail point” during a customer encounter.
5. Service recovery refers to how effectively companies respond to service failures. Cite an example of when a service failure occurred in your company and how it was handled.
6. Teamwork is an important dynamic in sustaining service workers’ motivation to serve and in minimizing service-performance shortfalls. Rate your company on its ability to foster teamwork on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 indicates the absence of teamwork and 10 indicates maximum teamwork. How would you improve teamwork if you rated your company low on this attribute?
7. Internal service is crucial to service improvement, as customer satisfaction often mirrors employee satisfaction. To what extent does your company assess internal service quality (i.e., asking employees about the adequacy of systems to support the service, how the systems interact and serve one another, and where service failures are occurring)? Give examples of how internal service might be measured in your company.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight

Story in the New York Post. (H/T ECM)

Excerpt:

More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.

The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City — meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.

“The Empire State is being drained of an invaluable resource — people,” the report said.

What’s worse is that the families fleeing New York are being replaced by lower-income newcomers, who consequently pay less in taxes.

[...]It all adds up to staggering loss in taxable income. During 2006-2007, the “migration flow” out of New York to other states amounted to a loss of $4.3 billion.

I am 100% certain that the Democrats in Albany had no idea that this would happen. Economics is not something that the left does really well.

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The British pound was easily the weakest of the majors last week as the currency fell more than 3 percent against the euro, Swiss franc, and Canadian dollar. Likewise, the British pound slumped 2.4 percent against the US dollar and 1.7 percent versus the Japanese yen. While some indicators from th …

Source: British Pound Decline May Be Indicative of Long-Term UK Macro Outlook

By Stephen Dinan

Puerto Rican Gov. Luis G. Fortuno is intent on making clear he’s a different kind of leader — the sort who pays for even his official expenses with his own credit card.

“I get reimbursed once they have checked that indeed my expenses were correct. And I think everybody should live like that,” said the photogenic 48-year-old, who eagerly whipped out a personal credit card and then jokingly challenged a reporter to poke through his wallet and verify there was no government-issued credit card to be found.

Given that the man he unseated as governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, stood trial this year — but was found not guilty — of corruption charges, Mr. Fortuno has good reason to draw those distinctions.

Meeting with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, Mr. Fortuno sketched out ambitious plans to close his territory’s budget deficit and try to boost an economy that, he said, is lagging worse than the budget of any of the 50 states, including cutting 30 percent of political appointees’ jobs; reducing agency heads’ salaries; and changing policies on credit cards, cell phones and official vehicle use.

In the interview, he also pleaded for Congress to include Puerto Rico in any health care bill that passes and said he wants to see the island territory be allowed to vote on changing its status.

While serving two terms as Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner, its nonvoting delegate to Congress, Mr. Fortuno had a unique window into power politics in Washington. He said the city makes people lose touch.

“Living here, people think, is real life. It is not. Real life is so different out there,” he said. “A place that has three different newspapers just to cover what happens in the office that is the Capitol — that’s crazy. That is not real life.”

With nearly 4 million residents, Puerto Rico is near the middle of the pack of U.S. states in population. As a territory, though, the island does not have voting representation in Congress, and residents don’t pay federal income taxes on income earned there — but do pay other taxes, such as Social Security and Medicare.

On health care, Mr. Fortuno said he’s trying to work with Congress to include the territory in any plan that passes. Key lawmakers have said it’s too expensive to extend coverage to the island, but the governor says it’s a matter of fairness — particularly given the way the territory gives back in other areas, such as the second-highest participation in the U.S. armed forces.

“Anyone that feels that, why should Puerto Rico be included, they should ask every soldier, every man and woman in uniform, that has fought in every war since 1917, that question,” he said.

Some Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have proposed an amendment that would extend access to health insurance exchanges to residents of the U.S. territories. The amendment was withdrawn until the Congressional Budget Office can figure how much it would cost, but backers said it’s a matter of basic fairness.

“How can we tell these citizens [in the U.S.] that their loved ones in the territories, even though they are American citizens, they won’t have access to the benefits?” asked Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, when the panel discussed the bill last week.

The pressure is also on President Obama, who while campaigning in Puerto Rico during last year’s primaries said he would cover Puerto Rico in his health care plans.

Puerto Rican factories produce 13 of the top 20 prescription drugs used in the United States, Mr. Fortuno said, and while he was in town last week he met with the pharmaceutical manufacturers association and talked about having Puerto Rico covered.

But the governor says the bigger problem is that Puerto Rico’s long-term status is the key roadblock in addition to the current health care debate.

“Just fix it. Just decide what are we, and having clear rules will sort everything out,” he said.

He supports statehood but says his promise to voters was to push for a process that will let voters decide once and for all.

He’s asking Congress to pass a bill that would put up two referendums. The first would ask if Puerto Rico’s residents want to change their status, and the second, which would come later if voters say they want a change, would ask if voters want independence, free association with the U.S. or statehood.

Mr. Obama, during last year’s campaign, promised to support Puerto Rico’s efforts to have its status resolved. Mr. Fortuno said he hopes the White House will announce its support for the process once a bill passes the U.S. House — which the governor hopes could happen this year.

If Puerto Rico were to become a state, it would likely gain six seats in the U.S. House as well as two senators.

But Mr. Fortuno was less certain the residents of the District should see the same fate.

“It’s an interesting argument, and out of commity to my colleague from the District, I said, I support you in general, but I don’t think that’s the answer to it,” he said. He said the residents of the city could have representation in Maryland or Virginia as a solution short of statehood. “It has to be fixed. I feel there could be many ways to fix it.”

As for the territory’s economy, Mr. Fortuno says it went into recession three years before the United States as a whole. He’s battling poor credit ratings for Puerto Rico’s bonds and has had to impose what he calls temporary taxes on cigarettes and alcohol — though he says he’ll never support an income- or sales-tax increase.

Mr. Fortuno is a member of both the Republican Party and the New Progressive Party, which is one of two main parties that vie for political offices in Puerto Rico.

• Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this article.

This article, Puerto Rico’s governor: Put us in health bill, was originally published in The Washington Times.

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Citibank bought a credit default swap (CDS) from Morgan Stanley & Co International in 2006 on a $366 million revolving credit facility it provided to an issuer of collateralized debt obligations (CDO), according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The swap oblig …

Source: Citi sues Morgan Stanley over CDS, claims $245 mln | Markets | Markets News | Reuters

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Source: New Zealand Current Account Surprises With Surplus in Second Quarter

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Source: British Pound Decline May Be Indicative of Long-Term UK Macro Outlook

Let me preface this statistic-rich post by noting the following: 1) most of these numbers were derived from two online sources, so if they were incorrect then I am also; and 2) if you are caught genuinely breaking a law, you deserve to be fined, ticketed, booted, or otherwise reprimanded as defined by local law (with a few exceptions, which may or may not be discussed below). Now, on to the good stuff (it’s long, but it’s worth it).

If the preface didn’t spill the beans, let me do it here by stating that this is a post about our city governments and parking violations.

For instance, in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, New York City brought in revenues of $624 million from parking infractions alone. Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2001, the city has hired nearly 800 new “traffic enforcement agents” to help maximize this revenue opportunity, and 200 of those new agents were hired this year. These agents write, on average, 40 tickets per shift (according to an MSNBC news article), which equates to roughly 40,000 new tickets written every week. If the amount fined averaged $20 per ticket, that’s an additional $800,000 every week, per shift, for the city’s piggy bank. Not bad, eh? And that doesn’t account for extremes, like the super-agent who wrote 227 tickets in a 5-hour period on Black Friday 2007, when 41,000 citations were issued across the city in one day.

Boston visitors and residents face a rise in fines, a 75% increase on parking more than a foot from the curb and an increase of more than 112% for parking on a crosswalk. In similar fashion, Sacremento tacked an $8 surcharge onto its parking fines with the express intention of collecting an extra $1.5 million … or more … to ease a budgetary shortfall. Meanwhile, Seattle implemented a camera ticketing system which issued 58,000 tickets in its first three months, totaling some $5 million in fines to be collected. And last year in Colorado, Denver’s ticket revenues jumped $4 million, to a total $20 million from parking violations. Is it me or does this seem a bit extreme?

In cities like Louisville, Kentucky, a minimum of two outstanding parking violations will get your car booted. Boots are usually removed by police at their discretion … after you pay your fines, of course. But if you’re in a hurry and happen to be in Montgomery County, Maryland (just outside Washington, D.C.) or in Baltimore, you can use your cell phone to unlock the boot … after paying your fines … and a $115 fee, apparently for the convenience of a quick de-booting. (The system isn’t confined to Maryland; it is used in a dozen cities, including New Orleans.)

Some cities have begun using a camera-equipped system that allows meter agents to drive at normal speeds and simultaneously scan license plates for outstanding parking violations. Nifty, huh? Nab two birds with one stone and boot previous violators for extra money even if they are currently legally parked. But that’s just the beginning. Have you heard about the new parking meters in production? They text message local police as soon as your flag goes up. (Better hope there’s not a meter agent in the area.) And several large cities have issued electronic ticketing machines to their agents, allowing them to ticket 30% faster. Oh good, their antiquated tools and multi-million dollar annual revenues had me concerned about reduced productivity. Whew. That’s a real load off my mind.

One New Yorker said he’s seen drivers get ticketed for double-parking while waiting for someone to pull out of a space on the street, an almost universally accepted act especially common in areas of concentrated population and limited parking. In a similar stretch of the law, an attorney was ticketed for parking “somewhere between one second and 59 seconds too soon” in an alternate-side violation. He fought the ticket and won; the citation was dismissed by a judge. Which brings us to a whole new sub-topic: how many of these charges are legitimate?

In the Bronx, a dozen residents accused a traffic agent of falsely citing them for double-parking, some arguing they were not even in the United States when the tickets were issued (at the time of the article, no charges had been filed against the agent, who the city defended and who remained on duty). A retired Navy veteran said he was ticketed while dropping off his wife in a bus zone. One reader commented that he was sent a parking ticket, complete with late penalties, without having been in the city for twenty years. (Despite the two decade absence, ownership of a vehicle that did not remotely resemble the ticketed car, and a letter he sent to authorities with a copy of his registration, the ticket is unresolved.)

Another reader said, “the New York City parking signs have purposely been made so confusing that even police officers cannot tell you if it is okay to park.” He went on to note that many signs were damaged, illegible, or missing altogether but agents still ticketed in the effected areas. In some areas, he also shared, “we have Muni-meters, where you have to park your car then walk to the meter several yards away to buy a receipt…to place in the windshield. Meter people will watch you walk to the meter and give you a ticket before you can get back to the car with the receipt. This is NYC government-sanctioned mugging.” Posters from other cities shared stories of similar abuses and I have no doubt that thousands more could easily be included, everything from unlawful ticketing and conspiracy to purposefully mass-ticket all the way to outright harrassment.

And not just in New York City. People from Columbus, Ohio, and Santa Monica, California, share the same stories, as do citizens from Fort Worth, Texas, and Portland, Oregon. Obviously, these are not isolated incidents but a general trend among cities with the primary goal of raising funds. By any means necessary. Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, it makes no difference, and the more tickets written, bogus or otherwise, the more revenues will increase. (For a disgustingly blatant example, visit my previous post, “Holy Jericho”.)

I will take this opportunity to reiterate that those legitimately breaking the law deserve to be fined … but only those breaking the law, and they should not be fined unreasonable amounts.

I’ve had three parking tickets over the years and I paid every one of them without complaint. Even though the last two were tenuously legal at best, I paid, took my receipt, and walked away without a word. Because it wasn’t worth fighting. For $40 I retained the ability to work a full schedule instead of missing days to fight the tickets in court. I retained anonymity and did not bring down the wrath of meter maids and law enforcement everywhere I went. (If you think that’s not important, you’ve never lived in a smaller town.) I avoided the costly unpleasantness of hiring a lawyer. I learned when and where I could push the law, and when and where I couldn’t. I learned that legality has absolutely nothing to do with decency, common sense, or common courtesy. And all for the low low price of only $40.

I’m not denouncing parking tickets. I am denouncing the growing practice of manufacturing falsities and extorting money out of a populace to fund government greed and idiocy. And so should you. It makes me wonder … what else are they falsely accusing us of? How many innocent people are being ruined by similar practices in other disciplines? Like taxes, for example. If the IRS came calling, could you prove your financial statements to their specifications? There is no statute of limitations; what if they ask for files from a decade ago, or two? Or how about the Department of Homeland Security accusing you of terrorist activity, seizing your property, and denying you trial? It’s perfectly legal and they can sell any seized property for profit without ever formally charging you. Local police have the same authority for drug-related activities and can gleen millions annually from the sales of seized items. Why? The short answer is money. But, really, is that all? Is that why are our freedoms are being pared down to nothing while government payrolls balloon and hoover up any dollar they can find?

These are questions we should be asking.
These are questions we should be asking every day, because this country is feeling less and less like ours.

The more Riptide dissects Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s proposed budget cuts in order to make up a $427 million shortfall, the more we realize el alcalde fuerte is not gonna mess with his executive staff’s perks.

The mayor’s spokeswoman, Vicki Mallette, confirmed Alvarez will not ax the money used for the staff’s car allowances.

Source:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-08-20/news/ridin-dirty-miami-dade-county-execs-drive-expensive-cars-on-the-taxpayers-dime/

B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen says he’s working hard to fill a $3-billion hole in the provincial budget stemming from lost revenues and increased expenses. (CBC)

As government revenues plunge, B.C. taxpayers should brace themselves for a “very, very difficult” budget in two weeks, Finance Minister Colin Hansen is warning.

The government is desperately trying to maintain key services, but a $3-billion shortfall is making that a real challenge, Hansen said.

“We are desperately trying to maintain the critical services in health care and education and the social services. So it’s definitely been a challenging summer,” the finance minister said Wednesday.

In the last three months, British Columbia has faced a financial whipsaw, he said, including:

Corporate income tax and personal income tax revenue ? down by about $1 billion.Projected revenue from natural gas ? down by about $500 million.Projected revenue from other natural resources ? down by about $500 million. Projected revenue from the social services tax ? down by about $200 million.Spending on forest fires and social services ? up by about $500 million.

Hansen didn’t say how he plans to address the shortfall in two weeks when he introduces the first provincial budget since the government was re-elected in May, but it could translate into a larger deficit, higher taxes or more program cuts.

Last month, the minister said his government would not be able to meet its target of a $500-million deficit, as the B.C. Liberals promised during the spring election campaign.

In the February budget before the election, Hansen forecast B.C.’s total spending for the fiscal year would be about $39 billion.

‘Nashville Scene’ may change handsAir Canada will get pension break, Flaherty says

Alan Miller, chairman and CEO of Universal Health Systems, provides about as damning a diagnosis of the Democrat’s health care fiasco (I mean, “reform”).

If you don’t read anything else, at least read the section in red font:

AUGUST 12, 2009, 7:30 P.M. ET

Medicare For All Isn’t The Answer
My company ran a hospital in London. We don’t want to go the government route.

By ALAN B. MILLER

With Congress now in recess, the debate over health-care reform has moved to each member’s home district. The American people have rightly been asking elected officials many probing questions. While few Americans deny we need health-insurance reform (too many people lack adequate coverage), most believe we receive the best quality health care in the world and do not want to see it compromised.

Several advocacy groups and members of Congress want a single-payer insurance system, modeled after Medicare, to cover all Americans. They say Medicare works to provide health care to seniors, so government should extend the program to Americans of all ages. Others want to create a government-run plan, sometimes called a “public option,” which they say would compete with private insurance but would only be two steps away from a single-payer system.

There are more than 1,300 insurance companies competing for business without unneeded competition from a federal government plan. Backed by tax dollars, a government-run option could offer artificially low rates without regard to profitability, or even meeting operating expenses. That would push businesses to move employees to the public-option plan, ultimately putting private insurers out of business and leaving only a single-payer system run by the government.

A single-payer system may appear attractive to some. But as someone with more than 30 years of experience running a leading hospital company with international operations, I have firsthand knowledge of the hidden costs.

Medicare reimbursements to hospitals fail to cover the actual cost of providing services. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an independent congressional advisory agency, says hospitals received only 94.1 cents for every dollar they spent treating Medicare patients in 2007. MedPAC projects that number to decline to 93.1 cents per dollar spent in 2009, for an operating shortfall of 7%. Medicare works because hospitals subsidize the care they provide with revenue received from patients who have commercial insurance. Without that revenue, hospitals could not afford to care for those covered by Medicare. In effect, everyone with insurance is subsidizing the Medicare shortfall, which is growing larger every year.

If hospitals had to rely solely on Medicare reimbursements for operating revenue, as would occur under a single-payer system, many hospitals would be forced to eliminate services, cut investments in advanced medical technology, reduce the number of nurses and other employees, and provide less care for the patients they serve. And with the government in control, Americans eventually will see rationing, the denial of high-priced drugs and sophisticated procedures, and long waits for care.

My company’s experience with health care in the United Kingdom illustrates the point. In the 1980s, we opened The London Independent Hospital to serve the private medical market in the U.K. The hospital had not been open long when representatives of a 1,000-bed government-run hospital located a short distance away approached us to borrow high-tech equipment and instruments. Because people were ill and needed procedures the government hospital could not provide, we provided that hospital with the help it needed. But that experience convinced me that under a single-payer system hospitals do not receive the money required to purchase advanced technology or provide quality care.

Advocates of a single-payer system say that hospitals would survive if they learned to operate more efficiently. While we are always looking for ways to improve efficiency, the economic conditions of the past few years have already forced most institutions to reduce expenses and increase efficiency as much as possible.

The reality is that Americans have come to expect the best health care in the world, and to provide that, hospitals must continue to invest in advanced medical technology, salaries for well-trained nurses and technicians, and state-of-the-art facilities. If hospitals were required to operate solely on revenue from a single-payer system, they could no longer afford to provide the care that Americans deserve.

Single-payer systems have proven to be wholly inadequate in Canada and the U.K. Most people in America are satisfied with the care they receive, so it is important that we take the time to fix only the parts of our system that need repair. Let’s not destroy a system that works well for most Americans. Let’s judiciously change only the areas in need.

Mr. Miller is chairman and CEO of Universal Health Services Inc.

The Democratts’ health plan won’t provide far better coverage for far less money.  What it will ultimately do is provide greatly INFERIOR coverage for far more money.

This isn’t about being a Republican or a Democrat or a conservative or a liberal.  It is about deciding whether or not we want to put big government ideology over common sense.

Many would agree that buying a property can be one of the most stressful times in your life – once you have found the ideal home you will need to decide how you are going to pay for it. This is probably the biggest financial commitment you will make in your lifetime. The cost of renting or buying a property can take up a significant amount of your monthly income.

There are a variety of ways to pay off a mortgage, from a straight forward repayment of capital and interest to a repayment of interest only with an investment product running alongside. Many people may have endowment policies purchased in the 1980’s and 1990’s which were intended to pay off a mortgage at the end of the term.

As with any kind of financial planning; regular reviews are a must to make sure that your expectations in paying off your mortgage are on track, otherwise you could face a shortfall in reaching your goals. With this in mind, any mortgage decision you make is of utmost importance, as not reaching your financial aims could have a drastic effect.

There are many options available in the marketplace today. Taking action is paramount – with interest rates falling and fewer mortgage products being offered by banks and building societies you cannot afford to ignore the situation.

With the current economic uncertainy this is an excellent time to review your current position – you may not have to do anything – but you do have many options open to you especially if you have endowments. A good starting point is a reprojection letter from your policy provider and a balance statement from your mortgage company. This should enable you to ascertain whether your aims and policies are on track to meet your financial goals.

By Petchanet Pratruangkrai,
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn
The Nation
Published on July 31, 2009

Rice packers yesterday insisted some of the giant modern retailers increased the fee demanded from them every year, adding to their cost burden.
Somroek Tangpiroonthum, president of the Thai Rice Packers Association, said large retailers had increased the “back-margin” fee (also known as the “entrance” or “supplement” fee) from 1-2 per cent of the selling price to 5-10 per cent in recent years.

Some modern retailers have also marked up the retail price by 6-10 per cent, he said, resulting in consumers paying over the odds.

He called for the government to negotiate with large retailers to maintain the back-margin fee, as the sale of packed rice offered a low margin. If such charges were increased further, then suppliers would have to pass the burden on to consumers because of higher operating costs.

The Internal Trade Department will soon set up a meeting between the giant retailers and the rice packers in a bid to solve the problem.

Somroek also called on the government to release its rice stockpiles – particularly jasmine rice – via auction, in order to increase the supply for domestic traders. This would make up for a shortfall of rice in private warehouses.

Department director-general Yangyong Phuangrach said rice packers had agreed to freeze their retail prices for another two months, in order to ease the burden on consumers.

The government will release about 70,000 tonnes of jasmine rice via auction on August 10, in order to increase supply for domestic consumption, he added.

Meanwhile, Tesco Lotus senior vice president Darmp Sukontasap said each year, his company sold about 17 million packs of rice, the equivalent of 85,000 tonnes. This is only 0.5 per cent of the overall rice consumption in the country in one year.

With all the modern retailers combined, the volume is unlikely to exceed 2 per cent of national consumption, he said.

Therefore, it is unlikely the business these retailers conduct with members of the rice packers’ association can have a major impact on the market price of rice, he argued.

Furthermore, he added, the rice that the packers sell to modern retailers is only 30 per cent of what they produce, with the rest sold on the open market.

“It is unlikely the price of the 30 per cent sold to us would have a major impact on the 70 per cent sold on the open market,” he said.

“The margin per unit for rice packers is now 8-10 per cent, which is much more than the margin of modern retailers. Therefore, we see no reason for an increase in the price of rice sold to consumers. This year, there’s enough rice for both domestic consumption and export, and the market price is 15-per-cent lower than last year,” Darmp said.