| A note to liberals about economics
If we don't like cutting countries in half, we could look for countries that changed from one economy to another. Zimbabwe comes to mind. Its economy declined from one of the strongest in Africa to one of the world's weakest after nationalization of industry and redistribution of private land.Then there is Ireland. Ireland's heavy industries, due to poor planning and international problems, almost disappeared by the early 1980s.Agriculture was constrained by production quotas. There was mass unemployment and the national debt had doubled, mostly due to welfare programs and subsidies.This changed in the mid 1990s when Ireland began to institute free market economics and lower taxes. Ireland is now ranked, by some measures, as the second wealthiest per capita country in the world.Then there is China.
If the Pats win, are they the best team ever? Maybe ...
Let's ask what seem to be the two big questions about the upcoming game. First, if New England wins, are these Patriots the best team ever? Second, if the Giants win, will that constitute the greatest upset ever? If New England wins, the Patriots will not be the greatest team ever -- at least conditionally, until such time as the NFL reveals what was in the Patriots' cheating videos and documents that the league destroyed in September. Maybe once we know the full truth, then a 19-0 Patriots team could be considered the greatest, depending on what the full truth turns out to be. Most of the sports media have rolled over and played dead on the New England destroyed-tapes story; TMQ reminds you of the specifics here. The NFL promised to get to the bottom of the Patriots' cheating and reveal the truth to the public; instead, the NFL destroyed the New England documents and refuses to say what they contained.
SBA Business Matchmaker (Agencies & Primes)
Small businesses will have the opportunity to meet with you and explain why they feel your company or agency would be a match for their goods and services. As a part of the Matchmaker program, there will be an SBA Small Business Awards Luncheon. Tickets are $30 and you are welcome to attend. Reservations can be made by going to http://buffalo.bizjournals.com The following agencies, primes and large companies were represented in 2007 and met with small buinesses. Avox Systems Canisius College Carleton Technologies Cattaraugus County PTAC City of Buffalo Defense Contract Management Agency Defense Supply Center-Columbus Dept. of Veterans Affairs (Batavia/Buffalo/Canadaigua) Dept. of Veterans Affairs (Albany/Bath/Syracuse) DRS EW & Networking Systems Eastman Kodak Ecology & Environment Energy East Corp.
Doug Moe: 'Mayor of Black Milwaukee' graces mag cover
THE JUST-PUBLISHED Winter 2007-2008 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History has a terrific cover story on J. Anthony Josey, "The First Mayor of Black Milwaukee," written by Milwaukee university professors (and wife and husband) Genevieve G. McBride and Stephen Byers. Josey was a big presence in Milwaukee in the first half of the last century -- as a newspaper publisher and civic leader -- but his career started in Madison. Josey's great-nephew, former Madison alderman Ed Hill, provided many of the photos for the article, including the delightful cover shot of a smiling Josey holding a cigar. "He was a character," Hill was saying Wednesday. Hill lived with "Uncle Joe" for a time in Milwaukee in the 1950s, and was greatly influenced by him. Hill became one of Madison's first black alders when he was elected in 1970 (Gene Parks had been elected a year earlier).
Home prices coming down in area
Both offer good deals because sluggish demand has builders and investors eating mortgages and taxes they never anticipated paying. "You have builders who continued to build and now have quite an inventory," Mitchell said. "On my little street, I have four houses that are brand, spanking new. The builder has water and cut the grass. Nobody is buying them." Idling inventory In April 2006, all five of the nation's largest homebuilders -- Pulte, D.R. Horton, Lennar/US Homes, Centex, KB Homes -- were building homes in Charlotte County and North Port. As the slump intensified, trends coalesced to create an idling inventory of unsold, empty new homes across the region. Builders were hamstrung by a wave of cancellations as buyers backed out of contracts because they couldn't afford new houses without selling old homes.
the has-been
Will Republican candidates try to prove they're not the next George W. Bush by leaving open the possibility of being the next Neville Chamberlain? In 2000, Bush invented compassionate conservatism to distance himself from Newt Gingrich. The GOP's challenge is even greater in 2008, but Thompson may have found the answer: appeasement conservatism. With a Republican Party that loses elections as gracefully as Willkie and loses wars as pre-emptively as Chamberlain, America will forget the Bush presidency ever happened. ... 1:54 P.M. (link) Thursday, May 3, 2007 Animal Farm: As if the GOP needed any more bad omens, this week the Philadelphia Zoo became the latest to join a national trend—giving up on elephants. Now the press can start looking for the next sign of the Republican apocalypse: gun owners turning in their pickup trucks and riding donkeys to work.
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