The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
09-05-2013, 02:13 PM
#4723
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"A record number of young adults living at home" is a phrase I've heard a few times.
What's most interesting about that graphic is that, while the numbers have gone up, it shows that a little more than half of all 18-24 year olds were living at home when unemployment was low and the economy was in expansion.
Hmm... Correlation, but causation? Maybe:
What's most interesting about that graphic is that, while the numbers have gone up, it shows that a little more than half of all 18-24 year olds were living at home when unemployment was low and the economy was in expansion.
Hmm... Correlation, but causation? Maybe:
Why were so many young adults apparently living at home when unemployment was about 4 percent?
It comes down to a very sneaky definition of "home." In the Current Population Survey that provides these figures, "college students in dormitories are counted as living in the parental home." Dormitories! This might strike you as absurd -- and it certainly strikes me as questionable -- but it's Labor Day Weekend, and I'm not going to waste it fighting with the folks at CPS, so there it is. Dorms = your parents' place, according to the government.
A Record-High Number of Young People Are Still Living With Their Parents: Why? - Derek Thompson - The Atlantic
It comes down to a very sneaky definition of "home." In the Current Population Survey that provides these figures, "college students in dormitories are counted as living in the parental home." Dormitories! This might strike you as absurd -- and it certainly strikes me as questionable -- but it's Labor Day Weekend, and I'm not going to waste it fighting with the folks at CPS, so there it is. Dorms = your parents' place, according to the government.
Last edited by Braineack; 10-08-2019 at 09:48 AM.
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09-05-2013, 05:09 PM
#4727
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Aww, crap! I already don't eat much seafood for this reason, and now the chicken, too?
Don't Trust a Chicken Nugget That's Visited China - Bloomberg
Would you willingly eat chicken nuggets processed in a country that has no intention of meeting U.S. food-safety standards? Most Americans likely wouldn't.
That may explain why the U.S. Department of Agriculture waited until Friday -- the day before a long holiday weekend -- to announce that it had ended a ban on Chinese chicken imports by approving four Chinese poultry processors to ship processed ("heat-treated/cooked") chicken to the U.S. The report on the approved poultry plants noted that the audit set out to “to determine whether the People's Republic of China's (PRC) food safety system governing poultry processing remains equivalent to that of the United States (U.S.), with the ability to produce products that are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled." Needless to say, the Chinese plants passed.
Initially, at least, the chickens will be slaughtered in the U.S. (or another nation that's allowed to export slaughtered chicken to the U.S.), then shipped to China for processing and re-export. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, according to the New York Times, no USDA inspectors will be present in the Chinese processing plants (despite the fact that China has never before been allowed to export chicken to the U.S.), thus offering consumers no guarantees where the processed chickens were in fact slaughtered. Even worse, because the birds will be processed, the USDA will not require point-of-origin labeling (under USDA rules, foods that have been cooked aren’t subject to point-of-origin labeling). In other words: Consumers will have no way to tell if those chicken nuggets in the supermarket freezer were processed in the U.S. or in China.
That’s a big problem. For more than a decade, China has earned a reputation as one of the world’s worst food-safety offenders. In just the last year, consumers have been confronted with a bird flu outbreak, news of sales of 46-year-old chicken feet and reports of poisonous fake mutton. These are not isolated incidents, but rather the most spectacular instances of a crisis that has become so severe that some consumers now smuggle quantities of infant milk formula from foreign countries into China so as to avoid buying potentially tainted Chinese dairy products.
The Chinese government, sensitive to people’s beliefs that it isn’t doing enough to protect their food supply, has made a point of regular, ineffective crackdowns on food-safety violators. Yet in July, when a senior Chinese policy maker involved in developing new food safety standards was asked at a press conference if and when it would meet developed-world standards, he conceded that it would, instead, have to meet China’s “national condition” as a developing country. In other words: China’s food supply cannot meet USDA standards.
China’s “national condition” has already seemingly had a harmful effect on its poultry – and on U.S. consumers unlucky enough to have bought it for their pets. (The U.S. allows chicken imports for animal consumption.) As of December 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that it had received reports of 501 dog deaths (and thousands of dog sicknesses), many seemingly from chicken jerky treats manufactured in China, dating back to 2007. But the department has so far been unable to pinpoint a cause for the problem, and the Chinese have been unwilling to volunteer one.
What was the USDA thinking when it decided to sign-off on Chinese processed chicken exports for humans? Probably not the best interest of American consumers. Rather, U.S. beef and poultry producers have long sought to have the restrictions lifted in hope of encouraging Beijing to reciprocate and open its huge market to more U.S. meat exports (U.S. beef is currently banned for import into China). It’s a reasonable goal, and one that the USDA should pursue -- just not at the expense of a safe U.S. food supply.
(Adam Minter is the Shanghai correspondent for Bloomberg's World View blog and a contributor to the Ticker. Follow him on Twitter.)
Don't Trust a Chicken Nugget That's Visited China - Bloomberg
Would you willingly eat chicken nuggets processed in a country that has no intention of meeting U.S. food-safety standards? Most Americans likely wouldn't.
That may explain why the U.S. Department of Agriculture waited until Friday -- the day before a long holiday weekend -- to announce that it had ended a ban on Chinese chicken imports by approving four Chinese poultry processors to ship processed ("heat-treated/cooked") chicken to the U.S. The report on the approved poultry plants noted that the audit set out to “to determine whether the People's Republic of China's (PRC) food safety system governing poultry processing remains equivalent to that of the United States (U.S.), with the ability to produce products that are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled." Needless to say, the Chinese plants passed.
Initially, at least, the chickens will be slaughtered in the U.S. (or another nation that's allowed to export slaughtered chicken to the U.S.), then shipped to China for processing and re-export. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, according to the New York Times, no USDA inspectors will be present in the Chinese processing plants (despite the fact that China has never before been allowed to export chicken to the U.S.), thus offering consumers no guarantees where the processed chickens were in fact slaughtered. Even worse, because the birds will be processed, the USDA will not require point-of-origin labeling (under USDA rules, foods that have been cooked aren’t subject to point-of-origin labeling). In other words: Consumers will have no way to tell if those chicken nuggets in the supermarket freezer were processed in the U.S. or in China.
That’s a big problem. For more than a decade, China has earned a reputation as one of the world’s worst food-safety offenders. In just the last year, consumers have been confronted with a bird flu outbreak, news of sales of 46-year-old chicken feet and reports of poisonous fake mutton. These are not isolated incidents, but rather the most spectacular instances of a crisis that has become so severe that some consumers now smuggle quantities of infant milk formula from foreign countries into China so as to avoid buying potentially tainted Chinese dairy products.
The Chinese government, sensitive to people’s beliefs that it isn’t doing enough to protect their food supply, has made a point of regular, ineffective crackdowns on food-safety violators. Yet in July, when a senior Chinese policy maker involved in developing new food safety standards was asked at a press conference if and when it would meet developed-world standards, he conceded that it would, instead, have to meet China’s “national condition” as a developing country. In other words: China’s food supply cannot meet USDA standards.
China’s “national condition” has already seemingly had a harmful effect on its poultry – and on U.S. consumers unlucky enough to have bought it for their pets. (The U.S. allows chicken imports for animal consumption.) As of December 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that it had received reports of 501 dog deaths (and thousands of dog sicknesses), many seemingly from chicken jerky treats manufactured in China, dating back to 2007. But the department has so far been unable to pinpoint a cause for the problem, and the Chinese have been unwilling to volunteer one.
What was the USDA thinking when it decided to sign-off on Chinese processed chicken exports for humans? Probably not the best interest of American consumers. Rather, U.S. beef and poultry producers have long sought to have the restrictions lifted in hope of encouraging Beijing to reciprocate and open its huge market to more U.S. meat exports (U.S. beef is currently banned for import into China). It’s a reasonable goal, and one that the USDA should pursue -- just not at the expense of a safe U.S. food supply.
(Adam Minter is the Shanghai correspondent for Bloomberg's World View blog and a contributor to the Ticker. Follow him on Twitter.)
Last edited by Braineack; 10-08-2019 at 09:48 AM.
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09-06-2013, 02:06 AM
#4728
Drudge gets "it"
Matt Drudge sounds off on Republicans over Syria, NSA | Fox News
Punchline...Republicans and Democrats are all the same. If you're still rooting for your "side", you just don't get "it." Both parties are quite happy with a tax system that no could possibly understand, won't EVER push for term limits for obvious reasons, lets the debt and deficit take second place to ANY titilating new (Weiner, et al).
Bottom line, it's individual freedom versus Central Planning.
Punchline...Republicans and Democrats are all the same. If you're still rooting for your "side", you just don't get "it." Both parties are quite happy with a tax system that no could possibly understand, won't EVER push for term limits for obvious reasons, lets the debt and deficit take second place to ANY titilating new (Weiner, et al).
Bottom line, it's individual freedom versus Central Planning.
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09-06-2013, 08:49 AM
#4730
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Woman says Detroit bus driver 'snapped,' attacked her on bus | News - Home
Edit* read the comments, hahaha.
I also think the news did only report half the story. There really was no "ending".
Welcome to Detroit lady.
They had her on the morning radio show Dave and Chuck, they had a limo come pick her up and take her to work this morning.
Then this comes out today:
Typical union.
"Being new to the city, I asked the driver for some help, asking him how far down Woodward he would go," she said.
"He was saying that he was going to take me on the ride of my life and then drop my b*** a** on the east side, which being new I don't even know what that means," Dorado said.
"He was saying that he was going to take me on the ride of my life and then drop my b*** a** on the east side, which being new I don't even know what that means," Dorado said.
"And he was like, 'What?!?' And he got up from his seat -- the bus was still in motion -- and he backhanded me with his right hand," Dorado said.
I also think the news did only report half the story. There really was no "ending".
Welcome to Detroit lady.
They had her on the morning radio show Dave and Chuck, they had a limo come pick her up and take her to work this morning.
Then this comes out today:
One day after a passenger on a Detroit DDOT bus said she was slapped by a driver, the bus drivers union said the driver was defending himself from an assault.
Last edited by Erat; 09-06-2013 at 09:13 AM.
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09-06-2013, 11:23 AM
#4731
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Tax Change Affects Restaurant Tips for Large Groups - WSJ.com
I love this stuff.
An updated tax rule is causing restaurants to rethink the practice of adding automatic tips to the tabs of large parties.
Starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges—which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding—instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.
Starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges—which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding—instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.
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09-09-2013, 09:29 AM
#4737
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Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Already Covered By Medicaid
According to researchers from the George Washington University (GWU) School of Public Health, in 2010, almost half of all births in the United States were paid for by Medicaid, and that rate is only going to go up. Medicaid was responsible for 48% of the 3.8 million births in 2010, an increase of 90,000 births from 2008, which was an 8% increase during that period.
Lead investigator Anne Markus, an associate professor of health policy at GWU, said, "As states expand coverage, low-income women of childbearing age will be able to obtain more continuous coverage before and between pregnancies. Now, for the first time, researchers will have a comprehensive baseline that will help them determine how increased access to services might change pregnancies and ultimately birth outcomes.”
Study co-author Cynthia Pellegrini, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at the March of Dimes, said that the analysis would help to ascertain how successful Medicaid was in addressing the reduction of childbirth complications and the health of women and their babies: "This study gives us a window into the vital role Medicaid plays in maternal and child health. With these data in hand, we'll be able to accurately monitor the impact of Medicaid expansion and other factors on the births covered by state Medicaid programs."
In New York City in 2009, 76% of Hispanic births were covered by Medicaid, 70% of births in the black community were covered, and 31% of whites.
Lead investigator Anne Markus, an associate professor of health policy at GWU, said, "As states expand coverage, low-income women of childbearing age will be able to obtain more continuous coverage before and between pregnancies. Now, for the first time, researchers will have a comprehensive baseline that will help them determine how increased access to services might change pregnancies and ultimately birth outcomes.”
Study co-author Cynthia Pellegrini, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at the March of Dimes, said that the analysis would help to ascertain how successful Medicaid was in addressing the reduction of childbirth complications and the health of women and their babies: "This study gives us a window into the vital role Medicaid plays in maternal and child health. With these data in hand, we'll be able to accurately monitor the impact of Medicaid expansion and other factors on the births covered by state Medicaid programs."
In New York City in 2009, 76% of Hispanic births were covered by Medicaid, 70% of births in the black community were covered, and 31% of whites.
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09-09-2013, 12:01 PM
#4740
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Mishap At The Money Factory Delays $100 Bill Release « CBS Miami
The error could cost taxpayers about $4 million because the current bill costs 7.8 cents to produce, compared to 12.6 for the new one.
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