TOP PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy will undoubtedly hit economic output

Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Cars floating in a flooded basement following Hurricaine Sandy on Oct. 30, in the Financial District of New York.

David Friedman / NBC News

Joe Gallagher carries his aunt Kathleen Fitzsimmons on Thursday, Nov. 1 in Breezy Point, N.Y. Fitzsimmons collapsed after viewing the burned-out remains of the home that had been in her family since 1928. Residents returned to their devastated homes after Superstorm Sandy and a fire there that destroyed over 100 homes.

John Makely / NBC News

John Dellorusso looks over his backyard which now contains the debris from a nearby restaurant, on Thursday in Staten Island. His home, at right, was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Adam Hunger / Reuters

People walk on the beach past the remnants of the Spring Lake boardwalk which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Spring Lake, NJ, on Thursday.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

People board the NY Waterways ferry with the Manhattan skyline in the background in Hoboken, N.J., on Thursday.

John Minchillo / AP

Seawater from the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy floods the Ground Zero construction site on Oct. 29. Sandy forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets and sent coastal residents fleeing.

Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Robert Justh drags a hose while attempting to drain a flooded basement, caused by Hurricane Sandy, in Long Beach, N.Y., on Wednesday.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Damage is viewed in the Rockaway neighborhood where the historic boardwalk was washed away during Hurricane Sandy, on Wednesday, Oct. 31, in the Queens borough of New York City.

When the World shifted into our understanding, will we change?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, a barrel of oil is a barrel of oil. You know the size of it, you know the weight of it, you know its wealth making properties. Property owners understand boundary peaks and fences but the spectrum, well, you can’t see it, it doesn’t behave itself with respect to manmade laws, it’s governing laws are the laws of physics rather then economics or political lines in the sand, so it’s difficult, difficult to describe in a legal sense of what is your right. I have a title for my property, making a title for spectrum is difficult.

So is the application of property rights appropriate for the radio frequency spectrum? Fundamental question. I believe it is, that in some segments of the radio frequency spectrum the management is better off being the responsibility of the party to which excess of the spectrum gives the greatest value.

Take the similar radio bands for example, management of interference with these bands by the service provider allows for a dynamic approach to engineering. There are -- [inaudible] -- to my own country where the antennae patent has changed between morning and night to make up for the capacity, drive time, extra capacity needed. Can’t apply for a license like that, that people are doing it need to be master of their own destiny, management rights allows people to be masters of their own destiny, property rights.

One of the roads to excellence in spectrum management, like virtually any other activity of mankind, is through competition.

Imagine that you want to put a fixed link between point A and point B. You need a license, you go along to one spectrum manager and he gives you a proposal, but then if you can get another proposal the quality of engineering is driven up and the costs down, fundamental part of competition. And you all know it, have it seen applied to every other field.

So what is needed to bring this about? How do we get there? Let me use the example of my own country, New Zealand. In the early 1980s the New Zealand economy was racing to the back door. In just 30 years we’d managed to move from one of the wealthiest nations per head per population to about 20th on the OECD list. There were many reasons for this, New Zealand is a small country, it did not have the ability to determine its own future economy, we were a pointer(?) in the falling of the European Community and many other things that caused it. But nevertheless our economy was racing to third world status.

The country was amassing huge debt and as I said the economy was sliding backwards. In 1984 the new labor government at the time under the Prime Minister of David Longey(?), upon being reelected to power opened the books and finding the cupboard rather bare decided change was needed. At that stage ladies and gentlemen about 48 percent of the workforce were either directly employed by the government or in government agencies. At that stage

the government owned the New Zealand Post Office, the railways, the airline, the tourist bureau and so on and so on and so on. The government of the day looked at what it owned and decided to undertake a zealous program of government asset sales. The theory was that the revenue from the sale of assets would help alleviate the national debt. It would also bring market forces to the provision of services and the excellence that such forces would bring.

As a first step the government formed state owned enterprise with the government as owner. Each state owned enterprise had a commercial mandate and the body of business law applied to it, they were no longer under the umbrella of protection of government. The SOE was required to provide a dividend to its owner and the government, which was the government which also helped to round the budget.

When the opportunity is right the state sold some of the SOEs and used the money mainly for the national debt. Not all SOEs or state owned enterprises end up being sold, some were too difficult. And in a couple cases, notably in the airline industry and in the railway industry, the whole theory fell flat in the face and the government had to come involved again. It wasn’t a completely wonderful story all the way through but generally it was. The sale of Telecom New Zealand was quite a success story for example.

But it was in this environment of the need to privatize, to look at the business efficiencies in every sector, that the government officials of the 1980s looked at the opportunities to enhance the value of the radio frequency spectrum to the nation by overcoming the problem of a monopoly supplier, the then New Zealand Post Office. In 1988 the government contracted the NERA, N E R A, Organization of the United Kingdom, to report on what the possibilities were. This was a major turning point and even though history has shown that the issues were rather oversimplified and there’s a tendency always for people to oversimplify spectrum management issues that the basic concepts were of great merit even today.

Stockton Town Hall to unite civilians, city officials in search for solutions

Stockton Town Hall to unite civilians, city officials in search for solutions
Submitted by Linda Park, Community Web Producer

STOCKTON, CA - Disheartening topics about Stockton run as regular headlines on the morning and evening news. It is therefore a common belief that there are limited solutions to the city's problems. Many Stockton residents have questions they want answered and are seeking solutions to the challenges facing their city.

On Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Long Theatre at University of the Pacific, ABC News 10 Sacramento will host "Stockton in Crisis, Searching for Solutions," a free town hall forum open to the public.

The town hall will present a six-party panel featuring, mayor Ann Johnston, district attorney James Willett, Deputy Chief of Police Rick Salsedo, Eberhardt School of Business professor and director of University of the Pacific's Business Forecasting Center Jeff Michaels, as well as Pastor Glenn R. Shields, community representative and religious advocate. These individuals will comment on the issues facing the city of Stockton, and provide feedback to questions posed by the audience.

"This is News 10's commitment to Stockton," explains Gina Villarreal, segment producer with News 10. "The goal of the town hall is to provide an open dialogue with city officials and key community constituents in order to offer solutions to Stockton."

"Higher education institutions have a responsibility to their students and community to provide forums of discussion," said Ted Leland, University of the Pacific vice president of external relations. "This type of event allows the University to join the dialogue and establish a neutral setting for a constructive conversation about the city's weaknesses."

News 10 will be integrating audience and online questions throughout the Town Hall, allowing community members an opportunity to have their comments and concerns addressed directly by Town Hall participants.

Reporters Tim Daly, Cristina Mendonsa, and Dale Schornack will broadcast live from the forum, and Leigh Paynter will be monitoring a live webcast of the event, fielding questions and comments from online viewers.

For those interested in attending the event in person, please request a ticket on news10.net, or call 916-441-2345 (Limit 4 RSVP's per person).

News10/KXTV

Family Crests and Coats of Arms by House of Names

Family Crests and Coats of Arms by House of Names

Greg Pitsch, and Dale Fritchen Have Realistic Budgets that make "cents"

Dale Fritchen is the incumbent district 6 council member in Stockton, CA. He is running for re-election, and is squaring off against Michael Tubbs. Friday afternoon, he brought forward the only option in my eyes, and that is a financial solution laid out in black and white, a plan to cut back 20.5 million of our nearly 27 Million dollar deficit. Mr. Fritchen has also been dealing with looking for answers for the public while AJ s laughing thinking she fooled the public again. Stand up with Greg Pitsch honoring his endorsement for Dale Fritchen running for Dist. 6, to Unite Stockton as a whole, get rid of several un-necessary and risky spending that has destroyed our economy, costing unemployment to rise above 22% in February 2012.

Many are well aware of how our city was "occupied" again Thursday. A measly 100 people came out, they shut down the surrounding area it and had multiple agencies come assist with riot control. For 100 people?

"Wasted funds are being amassed like we've never seen before, and the people are no longer fighting for there own sake. It almost seems as if nobody cares about the City, and honestly I can't be in any such environment that promotes a negative tone or result, without having the desire to want to fix it.." - Gregory S. Pitsch.






MIKE KLOCKE
June 3, 2012


One person's "occupation" is another person's "annoyance."


Nevertheless, several streets downtown were shut as protesters carried signs and chanted about such things as officer-involved shootings, Stockton's leadership and influential banks.



Much of the gathering was from the much-more-intense Occupy Oakland movement. Buses brought people to Stockton to march.



To everyone's credit, there were no arrests.



Civic protests are an important part of this country's history, and they have led to great and positive changes. You do not have to go too far back in history to realize those truths.

I am certainly in no position to pass judgment on the officer-involved shootings that were such a focal point of the third Occupy event in Stockton. They obviously were on the minds of protesters.

The focus was on the deaths of James Rivera Jr., 16, and Luther Brown, 32. Some protesters carried signs with the names of the Stockton Police and San Joaquin Sheriff's officers involved.

Again, that is fine and well within the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

But before the city is occupied for a fourth time, I would like the protesters to consider rallying against - or for - some other things:

>>VOTE FOR GREG PITSCH<<

» Support the 35-year-old who was hit, threatened and then had the assailant follow her into her house;

» Stand up for the family of the unidentified man who was found dead by the railroad tracks in northeastern Stockton;

» Make signs in support of the woman who reported she was sexually assaulted, falsely imprisoned and threatened by a man in Stockton;

» Plea for justice for the young man whose Camaro was carjacked at gunpoint. Speak out against those who committed the crime;

» Support the Stockton police who had to deal with a hatchet-wielding man before making an arrest;

» Demand justice for the 43-year-old man who had simply just gotten a cup of coffee when his car window was broken with a chain and then he was beaten in the head and robbed;

» Chant demands that the people who fired gunshots into the house of a woman on Airport Way be sought, arrested and jailed before they do something such as this again. Incidentally, it was not the first time shots were fired at the woman's house;

» Rally people against the man who allegedly assaulted a police officer with a knife when he was trying to break up a domestic dispute;

» Decry the criminal who tried to falsely imprison a 15-year-old girl in his vehicle;

» Pray for the 21-year-old man who was shot in the head and left for dead on South Sinclair Avenue. Demand that his assailant be caught;

» Carry signs with strong messages of protest against the two men who beat a 71-year-old man, and the other two men who beat a 63-year-old man in robberies just a few hours apart.




What do you think of these suggestions as matters to protest the next time you show up to occupy Stockton?

The sad thing: each of these incidents happened within the four days prior to the Occupy Stockton visit. So we have not even touched on previous incidents, last year's record 58 murders in Stockton or - to change the direction of a potential protest - the need for more officers.

Occupy our city and call out the criminals. Criticize the people doing the beating, stabbing, shooting, robbing and more.

I could not agree more with the words of Occupy Oakland organizer Christopher Moreland, who told the media: "We're not here to start trouble; we're here to awaken the city of Stockton. We feel their pain and support them in their struggle."

Amen. But it is more than a struggle against officer-involved shootings, city leadership and Wells Fargo Bank playing foreclosure hardball.

It is a struggle against crime. Every day, every hour, practically every minute. For citizens - and definitely for law enforcement.

It is our life, and it is getting more intense - something you certainly know about in Oakland.

So roll these suggestions around in your collective thoughts before jumping on another east-bound bus.

Contact Record editor Mike Klocke at (209) 546-8250 or mklocke@recordnet.com

Oh Zee | Stockton, CA | World / Hip Hop / Funk | Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos | ReverbNation

Oh Zee | Stockton, CA | World / Hip Hop / Funk | Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos | ReverbNation:

'via Blog this'

Gov. Jerry Brown warns more budget cuts are coming

By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
May 11, 2012

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown warned Californians on Thursday to brace for another round of difficult budget cuts as he hand-delivered boxes of petitions to election officials requesting that his proposed tax hike be placed on the November ballot.

Brown, who is expected to unveil his revised budget proposal Monday, said he needed far more than the $4.2 billion in spending reductions he asked for in January. And he continued to raise the specter of even deeper wounds to public schools, colleges and other state services if his bid for tax hikes fails.

"With this tax measure, and with the cuts that I'll be proposing on Monday, California will put itself in a very, very strong position," said Brown, flanked by his wife and dog at the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters.

It's become a familiar refrain from the governor — telling Californians to trust that he is being frugal while asking them to open their wallets wider. Brown hopes the message sticks even as the mood in Sacramento turns grim.

Tax revenue has lagged by $3.5 billion and the state has shelled out $2.1 billion more than expected so far in the current budget, according to the state controller. Brown said Thursday that his new spending plan will fall between $85 billion and $90 billion, down from the $92.6 billion proposal he released in January.

A budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, is due from the Legislature by June 15.

The linchpin of the governor's financial plan is his request that voters approve a quarter-cent increase in the state sales tax for four years and a seven-year hike on incomes of $250,000 or more that will range from 1 to 3 percentage points. He says the measure would raise $9 billion in the upcoming budget year.

Brown has said that he would be forced to cut $5.4 billion from the next budget — mostly from public schools and colleges — if his tax plan failed. That number is expected to increase in his revised proposal Monday.

The cautious optimism of January, when Democrats hoped that a windfall from Facebook's IPO and a rebounding economy could help them dodge social service cuts, has now given way to an acceptance in the Capitol that sagging revenue will require steeper reductions than expected.

Activists who have met with administration officials said they expect cuts in health and welfare programs in particular. Casey Young, a lobbyist for AARP, said Brown's health secretary, Diana Dooley, "appeared visibly shaken by the choices she was having to sort through" in a recent meeting.

It's not just the poor and needy who are likely to feel the ax. Brown is also expected to ask unions to help reduce state payroll costs. Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the largest state worker union, said she had been conferring with administration officials on the issue.

She assured union members in an email that "furloughs are not on the table," as they have been in past years.

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Who to turn to? The youth has the future, counterparts maybe disqualified

A conflict of interestseems to arise with all the other Candidates, besides myself and Tony Stevens, based on the fact that they will all have to bring up the city employees' pensions, being that it is one of the top priorities for the City's agenda. Only one of the other Candidates are able to vote on this extensively overpaid, but dramatically underfunded, so it's a key factor to Stockton's negative revenue.

Ralph Lee White is a 'Retired' City Council Member for Stockton, during the 1970's and 1980's. If he has been out of the political spectrum for so long, as with Jimmie, are out of touch with the majority of Stockton and its overwhelmingly young citizens. The same goes for Ann Johnston, because I believe she will be drafting her own notice to withdraw herself from the race. Tony and I share the one characteristic that will benefit this great city, we have no personal attachment to the City's pension reform, something that must be dealt with immediately after either one of us are elected. Fo

Why don't they stay retired? They are taking jobs from persons with little to no income, when they already have a substantial amount coming in each month, and they have an odd way of appeasing the public, by giving them more of the (expletive) they've been fed over and over.

I Gregory S. Pitsch have a plan to reduce the crime in our city, by allocating more resources to the Police Force. Yeah, even if that means a few other policies have to be eliminated completely. First and foremost we need our city to be safe enough to conduct business in for the future generation of Stocktonians. Will you help me Solve Stockton?