To help close California’s gigantic budget deficit, Governor Brown wants to eliminate hundreds of local redevelopment agencies and enterprise zones. These entities have long been derided by critics as having little to no impact on employment in poor areas — while rewarding politically-connected developers with massive taxpayer subsidies. Thanks to Propositions 13 and 98, redevelopment [...]
Archive for January, 2011
Can Governor Brown Slay the Redevelopment Beast?
Posted in planning, tagged Brown, Redevelopment, San Jose on January 24, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Blame Michelle Obama
Posted in highways, risk, tagged GHSA, pedestrians on January 21, 2011 | 3 Comments »
While overall traffic fatalities fell last year by a “record” amount, pedestrian fatalities have shown little improvement. And what is the explanation for this? According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Assoc., it is all Michelle Obama’s fault: First lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to get people to exercise outdoors might be a factor in an increase [...]
Failure of US Traffic Safety Policy
Posted in automotive on January 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
As a follow up to yesterday’s blog post on the trade barriers to European automobiles, let’s dig into the traffic fatality statistics. The whole point of these trade barriers, after all, is to prevent Americans from driving “unsafe” automobiles. We should expect to find a huge improvement in US road safety, relative to foreigners, right? [...]
How ‘Safety’ Regulations Impede Fuel Efficiency
Posted in automotive, risk, tagged FHA, IIHS, NHTSA, regulation on January 6, 2011 | 5 Comments »
SUV and small truck sales are booming again, and Detroit automakers have returned to their bad old ways. But when prices surpass the $4/gallon mark again, what plan do they have for the next gas crisis? One simple answer: re-brand fuel-efficient cars they already sell in Europe. Believe it or not, both Ford and GM [...]
Hot Sexy Train Attendants
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged China, high-speed rail, sexism on January 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Some photos of the, um, etiquette training for train attendants on China’s new high-speed rail services. Applicants should be 20-years old (or younger), and of “dignified appearance”.
