Monday, November 19, 2018
Mixed Reception Leaves Central Americans Uncertain in Tijuana
This report was published on YouTube on November 18.
Macron, Merkel Pay Respects at Berlin War Memorial
This report was published on YouTube on November 18.
Cyberwars: Is Canada Ready for the Wars of Tomorrow?
This report was published on YouTube on November 18.
CBC’s Wendy Mesley speaks with James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander, about NATO’s new cyberwar command centre. It's designed to fend off foreign threats, but is Canada lagging behind in protecting our democracy?
CBC’s Wendy Mesley speaks with James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander, about NATO’s new cyberwar command centre. It's designed to fend off foreign threats, but is Canada lagging behind in protecting our democracy?
Governor Cuomo: 'Nothing in the Amazon Transaction is New'
The following op-ed was written by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The Amazon transaction is an historic transformative moment for the entire New York City region. I have done enough development work during my career to know there is no large development project that is accomplished without controversy: especially in a city like New York and especially in this polarized, hyper-political time. While I appreciate the ideological and political points of view, we must still govern and analyze based on facts. In fact, given the current political turmoil, it is more important than ever.
Amazon publicly held a national competition for over one year essentially challenging governments all across the country to "bid" for their headquarters location. The upside for taxpayers was tremendous: 25,000 to 40,000 direct jobs paying an average of over $150,000; 1,300 construction jobs on average each year during the 15-year construction period; and a major advancement in the tech sector for the future. To put these job gains into perspective, Amazon is committing to an annual payroll of over $3.75 billion annually within 10 years—far and away the state's largest economic development transaction in modern history. Several cities across New York State and over 238 cities across North America competed for the Amazon headquarters and the Long Island City proposal is the only NYS project that was selected as a finalist.
This transaction is a lightning rod for the political rhetoric on both extremes. The extreme conservatives and the socialists both now vehemently oppose "incentives" for Amazon, which is one of the most profitable companies in the country. Compounding the situation, Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and Amazon and is a competitor to many interests currently involved in the discussion.
The New York Post, which is representative of extreme conservatives, says essentially that New York "gave Amazon $1 billion." Their argument is factually baseless. New York State and New York City gave Amazon nothing. Amazon, by our current tax structure, would generate approximately $1 billion per year in new revenue. Our proposal offered that, when and if those revenues are realized, the government would effectively reduce their $1 billion payment by about $100 million for a net to New York of approximately $900 million. New York doesn't give Amazon $100 million. Amazon gives New York $900 million. The revenue is from state and city taxes, including income taxes [in New York State and New York City: one of the highest rates in the country] with the second highest millionaire's tax in the country (only California is higher).
Click here for the full commentary.
Source: The Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Tests Showed Children Were Exposed to Lead. The Official Response: Challenge the Tests
By J. David Goodman, Al Baker and James Glanz
Mikaila Bonaparte has spent her entire
life under the roof of the New York City Housing Authority, the oldest
and largest public housing system in the country, where as a toddler she
nibbled on paint chips that flaked to the floor. In the summer of 2016,
when she was not quite 3 years old, a test by her doctor showed she had
lead in her blood at levels rarely seen in modern New York.
A
retest two days later revealed an even higher level, one more commonly
found in factory or construction workers and, in some cases, enough to
cause irreversible brain damage.
Within
two weeks, a city health inspector visited the two Brooklyn public
housing apartments where Mikaila spent her time — her mother’s in the
Tompkins Houses; her grandmother’s in the Gowanus Houses — to look for
the source of the lead exposure, records show. The inspector, wielding a
hand-held device that can detect lead through multiple layers of paint,
found the dangerous heavy metal in both homes. The Health Department
ordered the Housing Authority to fix the problems.
The discovery spurred the Housing Authority to action: It challenged the results.
Rather
than remove or cover the lead, the Housing Authority dispatched its own
inspector who used a different test, documents show. The agency
insisted that however Mikaila was poisoned, there was no lead in her
apartments.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The New York Times (via Empire Report New York)
Friday, November 16, 2018
Medal of Freedom Awards Presented at the White House
Miriam Adelson is among seven people Mr. Trump is recognizing with the
medal, the highest honor America can give a civilian. She is a doctor,
philanthropist and humanitarian, but is perhaps best known as the wife
of Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate considered one of the
nation's most powerful Republican donors.
The other recipients include retiring Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of
Utah, one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history; Alan Page,
who was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court after an NFL career with
the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears; and Roger Staubach, the Hall of
Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
Posthumous honors are being granted to Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth and
Antonin Scalia, the conservative Supreme Court justice.
Random Acts of Kindness: Restoring Faith in Humanity
This video was published on YouTube on August 24, 2018.
Source: Fast And Furious
Source: Fast And Furious
Inspiring Moments of Respect in Sports
This video was published on YouTube on May 18, 2018.
Source: Heart Of Champions
Source: Heart Of Champions
Challenged Athletes Foundation Triathlon Challenge (2018)
This video was published on YouTube on October 24.
On Learning from Students... 2018 New York Teacher of the Year, Christopher Albrecht
This video was published on YouTube on May 6.
Lady Gaga Volunteers at Red Cross Shelter, 'Let's Keep the Faith'
This report was published on YouTube on November 12.
Lady Gaga is putting her heart and soul into helping people driven from
their homes by the California wildfires -- and she delivered an
emotional speech to evacuees.
Curtis 'Wall Street' Carroll: How I Learned to Read and Trade Stocks....in Prison
This video was published on YouTube on May 18, 2017.
How Verna Kirkness Changed Indigenous Education
This report was published on YouTube on November 15.
How One Man Found Meaning Removing Swastikas from the Streets of Montreal
This video was published on YouTube on November 15.
Corey Fleischer runs a graffiti removal company. He made it his pastime
nine years ago to remove hate symbols from public spaces in Montreal.
RISE: Eva Wong Powers Way to FinTech Stardom with Confidence
This report was published on YouTube on November 15.
Eva Wong is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Borrowell, a
Canadian company that offers free credit scores and personal loans.
Prince Charles Attends Special Tea Party to Celebrate 70th Birthday
This report was published on YouTube on November 14.
Prince Charles continued to celebrate his 70th birthday on Wednesday by
attending a tea party, complete with birthday cake, at Spencer House in
London.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
The Green Book: Listings of Where Negroes Could and Couldn't Go
From the Introduction to the 1949 edition:
With the introduction of this travel guide in 1936, it has been our idea
to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running
into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable. The Jewish press has long published information about places that are
restricted and there are numerous publications that give the gentile
whites all kinds of information. But during these long years of
discrimination, before 1936 other guides have been published for the
Negro, some are still published, but the majority have gone out of
business for various reasons.
In 1936 the Green Book was only a local publication for Metropolitan New
York, the response for copies was so great it was turned into a
national issue in 1937 to cover the United States. This guide while
lacking in many respects was accepted by thousands of travelers. Through
the courtesy of the United States Travel Bureau of which Mr. Chas. A.
R. McDowell was the collaborator on Negro Affairs, more valuable
information was secured. With the two working together, this guide
contained the best ideas for the Negro traveler.
Click here for the complete description.
Source: The New York Public Library Digital Collections
Amazon HQ2 Will Cost Taxpayers at Least $4.6 Billion, More Than Twice What the Company Claimed, New Study Shows
By David Dayen and Rachel M. Cohen
Amazon’s announcement this week
that it will open its new headquarters in New York City and northern
Virginia came with the mind-boggling revelation that the corporate giant
will rake in $2.1 billion in local government subsidies. But an analysis
by the nation’s leading tracker of corporate subsidies finds that the
government handouts will actually amount to at least $4.6 billion.
But even that figure, which accounts
for state and local perks, doesn’t take into account a gift that Amazon
will also enjoy from the federal government, a testament to the old
adage that in Washington, bad ideas never die.
The Amazon location in Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens, is situated in a federal opportunity zone,
a Jack Kemp-era concept resurrected in the 2017 tax law that, in
theory, is supposed to bring money into poverty-stricken areas. The
northern Virginia site, in the Arlington neighborhood of Crystal City
(which developers and local officials have rebranded as “National
Landing”), is not directly in an opportunity zone but is virtually
surrounded by other geographic areas that are.
Under the tax overhaul signed by President Donald Trump last year, investors in opportunity zones can defer payments
of capital gains taxes until 2026, and if they hold them for seven
years, they can exclude 15 percent of the gains from taxation. If
investors carry the opportunity zone investment for 10 years, they
eliminate taxes on future appreciation entirely. Investment managers have been salivating
at the chance to take advantage of opportunity zones. Special funds
have been built to cater to people holding unrealized capital gains —
such as Amazon employees with large holdings of company stock.
Not only could Amazon benefit from the
opportunity zone directly in Long Island City, but Virginia employees
with unrealized capital gains will have an escape valve next door to an
Amazon campus. “People who happen to be sitting around with long-term
capital gains may now have vehicles for hiding them,” said Greg LeRoy of
Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that scrutinizes economic development
incentive deals between cities and companies, and has analyzed the
Amazon deal.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment on the opportunity
zone or the Good Jobs First estimate of the subsidies it could receive.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Intercept_
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