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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
April 2, 2014
OAKLAND -- There was a time, only a generation or so ago in fan years, when the Coliseum was the most pleasing stadium in the Bay Area.
Aesthetically and otherwise.
Now? The aging concrete mausoleum still takes center stage for the Athletics, but for all the wrong reasons. The lone stadium still being shared by a big league baseball club (the A's) and an NFL team (the Raiders) has become the butt of jokes for two proud franchises, one which is winning and chasing its third straight American League West title while the other is in Year 1 of a self-described reconstruction phase.
But in their typical loose fashion, the A's are having fun with their predicament, even after water came up through the drains in the coaches' showers while the toilets backed up and unleashed an unholy gurgle on Saturday during an exhibition game against the Giants. This, after a few plumbing stoppages flooded the clubhouses and the A's dugout with raw sewage last season. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10709280/mlb-oakland-coping-stadium-plumbing-issues
Sh*tty Stadium
OAKLAND -- There was a time, only a generation or so ago in fan years, when the Coliseum was the most pleasing stadium in the Bay Area.
Aesthetically and otherwise.
Now? The aging concrete mausoleum still takes center stage for the Athletics, but for all the wrong reasons. The lone stadium still being shared by a big league baseball club (the A's) and an NFL team (the Raiders) has become the butt of jokes for two proud franchises, one which is winning and chasing its third straight American League West title while the other is in Year 1 of a self-described reconstruction phase.
But in their typical loose fashion, the A's are having fun with their predicament, even after water came up through the drains in the coaches' showers while the toilets backed up and unleashed an unholy gurgle on Saturday during an exhibition game against the Giants. This, after a few plumbing stoppages flooded the clubhouses and the A's dugout with raw sewage last season. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10709280/mlb-oakland-coping-stadium-plumbing-issues
April 2, 2014
from WAMU, via WNYC's Transportation Nation:
The expected transformation over the next three decades of Tysons Corner — “America’s Next Great City” — is viewed as a potential model for turning suburbs into cities, for changing an area of large surface parking lots and wide roads into a city-grid street network of bike lanes, bus lanes, and pedestrian plazas surrounded by 20-story high rises and mixed-use development.
And it is all resting on the success of the Silver Line. But the transformation is on hold because the Silver Line has yet to arrive at Tysons, delayed by numerous mistakes in the final stages of construction.
There is no timetable for the Silver Line’s completion by contractor Bechtel and the agency overseeing the project, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Meantime, the patience of the real estate developers who own the land around the four Metro stops in Tysons is wearing thin. They are waiting on the train.
A community on hold
The expected droves of new residents, office tenants, and shoppers and diners have yet to arrive. The estimated number of daily boardings at the four Silver Line stations in Tysons at the start of rail service is 16,300, with a total capacity exceeding 30,000, according to the final environmental impact statement. ...........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/silver-line-delays-holding-tysons-corner-development/
Silver Line Delays Holding Up Tysons Corner Development
from WAMU, via WNYC's Transportation Nation:
The expected transformation over the next three decades of Tysons Corner — “America’s Next Great City” — is viewed as a potential model for turning suburbs into cities, for changing an area of large surface parking lots and wide roads into a city-grid street network of bike lanes, bus lanes, and pedestrian plazas surrounded by 20-story high rises and mixed-use development.
And it is all resting on the success of the Silver Line. But the transformation is on hold because the Silver Line has yet to arrive at Tysons, delayed by numerous mistakes in the final stages of construction.
There is no timetable for the Silver Line’s completion by contractor Bechtel and the agency overseeing the project, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Meantime, the patience of the real estate developers who own the land around the four Metro stops in Tysons is wearing thin. They are waiting on the train.
A community on hold
The expected droves of new residents, office tenants, and shoppers and diners have yet to arrive. The estimated number of daily boardings at the four Silver Line stations in Tysons at the start of rail service is 16,300, with a total capacity exceeding 30,000, according to the final environmental impact statement. ...........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/silver-line-delays-holding-tysons-corner-development/
April 2, 2014
from DNAinfo New York:
HELL'S KITCHEN — The Port Authority hopes to build a $400 million addition to the city's bus terminal in an effort to speed trips for roughly 30,000 passengers daily, according to officials and documents.
The agency's proposed Galvin Plaza Bus Annex would hold 100 buses in a depot on a vacant Port Authority-owned lot on the north side of West 39th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues, officials said. The facility would have direct connections to the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, letting buses bypass city streets entirely.
The annex would help relieve pressure on the over-capacity bus terminal, especially during emergencies, officials said.
During Hurricane Sandy, when subway, train and vehicle tunnels flooded, buses traveling through the Lincoln Tunnel provided one of the only ways to get between New York and New Jersey — and the bus terminal filled up fast. After the storm, the terminal that normally serves about 233,000 passengers daily served an additional 60,000 people daily, officials said. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140401/hells-kitchen-clinton/port-authority-wants-build-another-bus-terminal
NY: Port Authority Wants to Build Bus Terminal Annex
from DNAinfo New York:
HELL'S KITCHEN — The Port Authority hopes to build a $400 million addition to the city's bus terminal in an effort to speed trips for roughly 30,000 passengers daily, according to officials and documents.
The agency's proposed Galvin Plaza Bus Annex would hold 100 buses in a depot on a vacant Port Authority-owned lot on the north side of West 39th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues, officials said. The facility would have direct connections to the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, letting buses bypass city streets entirely.
The annex would help relieve pressure on the over-capacity bus terminal, especially during emergencies, officials said.
During Hurricane Sandy, when subway, train and vehicle tunnels flooded, buses traveling through the Lincoln Tunnel provided one of the only ways to get between New York and New Jersey — and the bus terminal filled up fast. After the storm, the terminal that normally serves about 233,000 passengers daily served an additional 60,000 people daily, officials said. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140401/hells-kitchen-clinton/port-authority-wants-build-another-bus-terminal
April 2, 2014
China Southern Airlines is the latest Chinese airline to post miserable year-end 2013 results. Net profit dropped 24% to 1.99 billion yuan ($321 million), and operating profit fell 70%. China Southern Airlines joins Air China, where net profit dropped 32% in 2013, and China Eastern Airlines, where it fell by 25%.
High oil prices, as well as increased competition from low-cost carriers and each other, have taken a toll. But, as each airline has recently acknowledged, so has China’s massive and growing high-speed rail system.
As Quartz reported last August, the costly and sometimes under-used rail network was shaping up to be a vital part of China’s growth strategy. It doesn’t have the hurdles of the airline industry: Airlines in China struggle to get clearances from the military to expand flight paths, and China’s major airports have earned the title of the most-delayed in the world, where passengers sometimes riot to protest long waits and miserable customer service. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://qz.com/193556/chinas-high-speed-rail-is-so-popular-its-hurting-the-domestic-airline-industry/
China’s high-speed rail is so popular, it’s hurting the domestic airline industry
China Southern Airlines is the latest Chinese airline to post miserable year-end 2013 results. Net profit dropped 24% to 1.99 billion yuan ($321 million), and operating profit fell 70%. China Southern Airlines joins Air China, where net profit dropped 32% in 2013, and China Eastern Airlines, where it fell by 25%.
High oil prices, as well as increased competition from low-cost carriers and each other, have taken a toll. But, as each airline has recently acknowledged, so has China’s massive and growing high-speed rail system.
As Quartz reported last August, the costly and sometimes under-used rail network was shaping up to be a vital part of China’s growth strategy. It doesn’t have the hurdles of the airline industry: Airlines in China struggle to get clearances from the military to expand flight paths, and China’s major airports have earned the title of the most-delayed in the world, where passengers sometimes riot to protest long waits and miserable customer service. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://qz.com/193556/chinas-high-speed-rail-is-so-popular-its-hurting-the-domestic-airline-industry/
April 2, 2014
Metro says there were over a million boardings on the Main Street line during the three-week spring break period. Close to half of those riders traveled Reliant Park for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Others traveled to the Museum District and Hermann Park.
Metro's Jerome Gray says the numbers show a 6.6 percent increase in ridership over the same period last year.
"We had more cars available on the Main Street Line to get to Reliant. So that of course meant we had greater capacity on the cars."
The Main Street Line saw its highest ridership on March 19, with close to 77,000 boardings. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/news/metro-sees-recordbreaking-spring-break-ridership/
Houston: Metro Sees Record-Breaking Spring Break Ridership
Metro says there were over a million boardings on the Main Street line during the three-week spring break period. Close to half of those riders traveled Reliant Park for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Others traveled to the Museum District and Hermann Park.
Metro's Jerome Gray says the numbers show a 6.6 percent increase in ridership over the same period last year.
"We had more cars available on the Main Street Line to get to Reliant. So that of course meant we had greater capacity on the cars."
The Main Street Line saw its highest ridership on March 19, with close to 77,000 boardings. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/news/metro-sees-recordbreaking-spring-break-ridership/
April 1, 2014
from truthdig:
The Nuclear Omnicide
Posted on Apr 1, 2014
By Harvey Wasserman
In the 35 years since the March 28, 1979, explosion and meltdown at Three Mile Island, fierce debate has raged over whether humans were killed there. In 1986 and 2011, Chernobyl and Fukushima joined the argument. Whenever these disasters happen, there are those who claim that the workers, residents and military personnel exposed to radiation will be just fine.
Of course we know better. We humans won’t jump into a pot of boiling water. We’re not happy when members of our species start dying around us. But frightening new scientific findings have forced us to look at a larger reality: the bottom-up damage that radioactive fallout may do to the entire global ecosystem.
When it comes to our broader support systems, the corporate energy industry counts on us to tolerate the irradiation of our fellow creatures, those on whom we depend, and for us to sleep through the point of no return.
.....(snip).....
Cesium and its Fukushima siblings are already measurable in Alaska and northwestern Canada. They’ll hit California this summer. The corporate media will mock those parents who are certain to show up at the beaches with radiation detectors. Concerns about the effect on children will be jovially dismissed. The doses will be deemed, as always, “too small to have any impact on humans.” .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_nuclear_omnicide_20140401
The Nuclear Omnicide
from truthdig:
The Nuclear Omnicide
Posted on Apr 1, 2014
By Harvey Wasserman
In the 35 years since the March 28, 1979, explosion and meltdown at Three Mile Island, fierce debate has raged over whether humans were killed there. In 1986 and 2011, Chernobyl and Fukushima joined the argument. Whenever these disasters happen, there are those who claim that the workers, residents and military personnel exposed to radiation will be just fine.
Of course we know better. We humans won’t jump into a pot of boiling water. We’re not happy when members of our species start dying around us. But frightening new scientific findings have forced us to look at a larger reality: the bottom-up damage that radioactive fallout may do to the entire global ecosystem.
When it comes to our broader support systems, the corporate energy industry counts on us to tolerate the irradiation of our fellow creatures, those on whom we depend, and for us to sleep through the point of no return.
.....(snip).....
Cesium and its Fukushima siblings are already measurable in Alaska and northwestern Canada. They’ll hit California this summer. The corporate media will mock those parents who are certain to show up at the beaches with radiation detectors. Concerns about the effect on children will be jovially dismissed. The doses will be deemed, as always, “too small to have any impact on humans.” .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_nuclear_omnicide_20140401
March 28, 2014
from In These Times:
Warren Buffett’s Epic NCAA Humblebrag
Buffett and Quicken Loans want to give you $1 billion for your perfect NCAA bracket—because they can.
BY DAVID SIROTA
In historians’ quest to find the perfect anecdote to summarize this era of unprecedented economic inequality, they confront an embarrassment of riches (pun intended).
There are the stories of billionaires like Tom Perkins, Stephen Schwarzman and Ken Langone insisting that criticism of inequality is akin to Nazism. There are more subtle antics at the local level—for instance, there is news this week that in New York (aka one of the most unequal states in America) Republican legislators are aiming to create a special sales-tax exemption for those buying private jets. And there is, of course, the tale of the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charles Munger, telling everyone to “thank god” for massive bank bailouts, and then telling the poor to “suck it in and cope” with their own problems.
Each of these makes a good modern-day analogue to the legend of Marie Antoinette’s attitude toward the proles during the 18th century. Yet, none of these examples rise to truly iconic “let them eat cake” status in the way the recent episode involving Warren Buffett does.
.....(snip).....
Look, I’m as much of a fan of March Madness as the average guy, and I understand all the excitement surrounding this “who wants to be a billionaire?” sweepstakes. However, when you take a moment to think about this spectacle in the context of the current economic moment and recent economic history, it is downright grotesque.
Poverty is rampant. Wages are stagnating. Three quarters of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. The unemployment rate remains persistently high and inequality has hit Gilded Age levels. Much of this has been exacerbated by a housing crisis and mortgage fraud. Yet, in the face of such emergencies, one of the world’s richest men joined a mortgage lender that sold shady loans to brag about their collective wealth. That’s the obvious takeaway as Buffett runs to fawning news outlets to proudly proclaim that it wouldn’t faze him in the least to write a billion-dollar check. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/16488/warren_buffetts_epic_ncaa_humblebrag
David Sirota: Warren Buffett’s Epic NCAA Humblebrag
from In These Times:
Warren Buffett’s Epic NCAA Humblebrag
Buffett and Quicken Loans want to give you $1 billion for your perfect NCAA bracket—because they can.
BY DAVID SIROTA
In historians’ quest to find the perfect anecdote to summarize this era of unprecedented economic inequality, they confront an embarrassment of riches (pun intended).
There are the stories of billionaires like Tom Perkins, Stephen Schwarzman and Ken Langone insisting that criticism of inequality is akin to Nazism. There are more subtle antics at the local level—for instance, there is news this week that in New York (aka one of the most unequal states in America) Republican legislators are aiming to create a special sales-tax exemption for those buying private jets. And there is, of course, the tale of the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charles Munger, telling everyone to “thank god” for massive bank bailouts, and then telling the poor to “suck it in and cope” with their own problems.
Each of these makes a good modern-day analogue to the legend of Marie Antoinette’s attitude toward the proles during the 18th century. Yet, none of these examples rise to truly iconic “let them eat cake” status in the way the recent episode involving Warren Buffett does.
.....(snip).....
Look, I’m as much of a fan of March Madness as the average guy, and I understand all the excitement surrounding this “who wants to be a billionaire?” sweepstakes. However, when you take a moment to think about this spectacle in the context of the current economic moment and recent economic history, it is downright grotesque.
Poverty is rampant. Wages are stagnating. Three quarters of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. The unemployment rate remains persistently high and inequality has hit Gilded Age levels. Much of this has been exacerbated by a housing crisis and mortgage fraud. Yet, in the face of such emergencies, one of the world’s richest men joined a mortgage lender that sold shady loans to brag about their collective wealth. That’s the obvious takeaway as Buffett runs to fawning news outlets to proudly proclaim that it wouldn’t faze him in the least to write a billion-dollar check. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/16488/warren_buffetts_epic_ncaa_humblebrag
March 27, 2014
(HuffPost) If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care.
What may come as some surprise is where these two warring tribes tend to live. The states with elected officials most likely to espouse anti-taker sentiments -- i.e., Republican-dominated states -- are the most dependent on federal spending, while returning the least to Washington in the way of tax dollars.
That's according to the consumer finance site Wallet Hub, which crunched federal tax and spending data and then ranked states from most to least dependent on Uncle Sam. In the map below, green states are the least dependent, while red states -- appropriately -- are the most dependent.
The "makingest" state, according to the analysis, is Delaware. Delawareans -- this is really what they call themselves -- pay $1 in taxes for every 50 cents they get back from the federal government. Delaware also has the lowest rate of federal contracts received, as a proportion of federal tax dollars paid. And the state has the highest gross domestic product per capita, at $72,642.
The "makingest" state, according to the analysis, is Delaware. Delawareans -- this is really what they call themselves -- pay $1 in taxes for every 50 cents they get back from the federal government. Delaware also has the lowest rate of federal contracts received, as a proportion of federal tax dollars paid. And the state has the highest gross domestic product per capita, at $72,642. ........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/republican-states-most-dependent-government_n_5035877.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics
Guess which states are most dependent on the federal gubmint?
(HuffPost) If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America's prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care.
What may come as some surprise is where these two warring tribes tend to live. The states with elected officials most likely to espouse anti-taker sentiments -- i.e., Republican-dominated states -- are the most dependent on federal spending, while returning the least to Washington in the way of tax dollars.
That's according to the consumer finance site Wallet Hub, which crunched federal tax and spending data and then ranked states from most to least dependent on Uncle Sam. In the map below, green states are the least dependent, while red states -- appropriately -- are the most dependent.
The "makingest" state, according to the analysis, is Delaware. Delawareans -- this is really what they call themselves -- pay $1 in taxes for every 50 cents they get back from the federal government. Delaware also has the lowest rate of federal contracts received, as a proportion of federal tax dollars paid. And the state has the highest gross domestic product per capita, at $72,642.
The "makingest" state, according to the analysis, is Delaware. Delawareans -- this is really what they call themselves -- pay $1 in taxes for every 50 cents they get back from the federal government. Delaware also has the lowest rate of federal contracts received, as a proportion of federal tax dollars paid. And the state has the highest gross domestic product per capita, at $72,642. ........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/republican-states-most-dependent-government_n_5035877.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&ir=Politics
March 25, 2014
.....
By Peter Nickeas, Lolly Bowean, Richard Wronski and Kim Geiger Tribune reporters
11:00 p.m. CDT, March 24, 2014
Federal investigators will focus on whether a CTA train operator fell asleep at the controls and if an automatic braking system was working properly as they seek to pinpoint the cause of a spectacular crash Monday that left a Blue Line car perched atop an escalator.
The operator may have fallen asleep shortly before her train smashed through a “bumping post” at the end of the track at O'Hare International Airport just before 3 a.m., according to a transit union representative.
The CTA employee, whose name has not been released, said after the crash that she was tired, said Robert Kelly, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.
“I can confirm that she was extremely tired,” Kelly said. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ohare-train-crash-20140324,0,1750012.story
Chicago: Focus in CTA crash falls on operator fatigue, braking system
.....
By Peter Nickeas, Lolly Bowean, Richard Wronski and Kim Geiger Tribune reporters
11:00 p.m. CDT, March 24, 2014
Federal investigators will focus on whether a CTA train operator fell asleep at the controls and if an automatic braking system was working properly as they seek to pinpoint the cause of a spectacular crash Monday that left a Blue Line car perched atop an escalator.
The operator may have fallen asleep shortly before her train smashed through a “bumping post” at the end of the track at O'Hare International Airport just before 3 a.m., according to a transit union representative.
The CTA employee, whose name has not been released, said after the crash that she was tired, said Robert Kelly, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.
“I can confirm that she was extremely tired,” Kelly said. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ohare-train-crash-20140324,0,1750012.story
March 25, 2014
Subway Ridership Hits 65-Year High
Monday, March 24, 2014 - 10:46 AM
WNYC
By Kate Hinds
[font size="1"]The Bedford Avenue L station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Kellan/flickr)[/font]
More people rode New York City's subways last year than any time since 1949 — and Brooklyn is one of the reasons for the boom.
It had the largest borough-wide average weekday ridership increase, with the L, F and G lines all experiencing substantial growth.
The MTA says last year's subway ridership of 1.7 billion was the highest since 1949, and weekday ridership of 5.5 million was the highest since 1950.
Bus ridership showed a bit of rebound in 2013 after five years of flat numbers. Annual ridership had been hovering around 120 million since 2008, but that number jumped to 125 million people last year. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/subway-ridership-hits-65-year-high/
NY: Subway Ridership Hits 65-Year High
Subway Ridership Hits 65-Year High
Monday, March 24, 2014 - 10:46 AM
WNYC
By Kate Hinds
[font size="1"]The Bedford Avenue L station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Kellan/flickr)[/font]
More people rode New York City's subways last year than any time since 1949 — and Brooklyn is one of the reasons for the boom.
It had the largest borough-wide average weekday ridership increase, with the L, F and G lines all experiencing substantial growth.
The MTA says last year's subway ridership of 1.7 billion was the highest since 1949, and weekday ridership of 5.5 million was the highest since 1950.
Bus ridership showed a bit of rebound in 2013 after five years of flat numbers. Annual ridership had been hovering around 120 million since 2008, but that number jumped to 125 million people last year. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/subway-ridership-hits-65-year-high/
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