Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Let me be the first to extend a cordial warm welcome to I-Hub and that corner of the world known as RCCH. A new poster joining the conversation is always welcome!
Oh yes and to everyone else wanting to have updates to the I-Box, I'm going to bed early tonight...
fun
To all making requests to add/remove/change the I-Box, I have been making the updates when I have time permitting. My time has become a bit more limited as of late, and therefore changes to the I-Box will be a bit slower. If I have some time today, I will certainly make the changes where appropriate.
fun
Please add me as an assistant mod. Thank you. Let me know how I can help.
fun
Yesterday, I posted about the World Water Day and provided a link. I just realized that was the wrong link to World Water Day.
I forgot that I posted the following almost a month ago on the World Water Crisis Board.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46279759
UN Water Presents: World Water Day 2010
Clean Water for a Healthy World
March 22, 2010
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/flashindex.html
Brochure: Below is a partial screen print of the brochure, the entire brochure can be found on the World Water Crisis Board or as a pdf file from the above UN link.
I'm sure there will be plenty of activity leading up to World Water Day
March 22 was first deemed World Water Day in 1993 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) as an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the role that freshwater plays in our world and lives. Today’s reality is that one in eight people in the world don’t have access to safe water, millions of women and children must still spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, and 2.5 billion people live without a toilet.
http://water.org/world-water-day/?gclid=CM-Oztjjk6ACFZNL2god73CMmA
See World Water Crisis Board for additional info as the day approaches.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=14650
8000inc
Pink Sheets: EIGH
Fourth Quarter Report 2009 and Public Disclosure Document
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27586386/EIGH-2009-4Q-Public-Disclosure-Document
The short list of water companies Buffett has invested in that includes the Berkshire investment holdings found below...
Bershire: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
Coca-Cola
http://www.coca-cola.com/index.jsp
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=KO
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett
Coca-Cola is prominently mentioned in the following movie....
Blue Gold, World Water Wars
See post: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46713592
http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/
Nalco Holding Company
http://www.nalco.com/
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NLC
Sources:
http://www.dailywealth.com/archive/2009/feb/2009_feb_28.asp
http://www.marketfolly.com/2009/02/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway.html#ixzz0ghQes30o
Non public companies:
The Marmon Group
http://www.marmon.com/History.asp?his=true&About=true
Source: http://www.stockpickr.com/port/Fast-Money-s-Warren-Buffett-Deal-Plays/
I didn't go through the entire list of companies found here:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html
Warren Buffett Company Debuts Line of Green Prefab Homes
Clayton Homes: http://www.claytonhomes.com/
http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2009/05/06/warren-buffett-company-debuts-line-of-green-prefab-homes/
Thank you Minnesinger for the screen print.
5th change. The last message has now been removed. I've made a screen print and saved the file.
EPA’s Budget Proposal Seeks Efficiencies, Increased Environmental Protection: Budget proposal aligned with Administrator Jackson’s key priorities
Release date: 02/01/2010
Contact Information: Enesta Jones (Media Inquiries Only), jones.enesta@epa.gov, 202-564-7873, 202-564-4355, Lina Younes (Public Inquiries Only), younes.lina@epa.gov, 202-564-9924, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON - The Obama Administration today proposed a budget of $10 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This budget heeds the president’s call to streamline and find efficiencies in the agency’s operations while supporting the seven priority areas EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson outlined to guide EPA’s work.
“To meet our environmental challenges and ensure fiscal responsibility, we’re proposing targeted investments in core priorities. This budget cuts spending while promoting clean air, land and water, growing the green economy and strengthening enforcement,” said Administrator Jackson. ”The president’s budget is focused on creating the conditions that help American families, communities and small businesses thrive. Clean air, clear water and green jobs are rebuilding the foundations for prosperity in communities across the country.”
Budget Highlights:
Cleaning up communities: This budget includes $1.3 billion to address Superfund sites that may be releasing harmful or toxic substances into the surrounding community. Cleaning up these sites improves communities’ health and allows for these properties to be used for economic development.
In addition, $215 million is provided to clean up abandoned or underused industrial and commercial sites that are available for alternative uses but where redevelopment may be complicated by the presence of environmental contaminants. Revitalizing these once productive properties, known as brownfields, helps communities by removing blight, satisfying the growing demand for land, and enabling economic development. EPA will focus its efforts on area-wide planning and cleanups, especially in under-served and economically disadvantaged communities.
This budget also offers $27 million for EPA’s new Healthy Communities Initiative. This initiative will address community water priorities; promote clean, green, and healthy schools; improve air toxics monitoring in at-risk communities; and encourage sustainability by helping to ensure that policies and spending at the national level do not adversely affect the environment and public health or disproportionally harm disadvantaged communities.
Improving Air Quality: In addition to the funding provided through the Healthy Communities Initiative, this budget includes $60 million to support state efforts to implement updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA proposed stricter air quality standards for smog and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and will work with states to help them meet those standards in the years ahead.
Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships: This budget includes $1.3 billion for state and tribal grants. State and local governments are working diligently to implement new and expanded requirements under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. New and expanded requirements include implementation of updated NAAQS and addressing emerging water quality issues such as nutrient pollution. In addition to the $25 million for greenhouse gas permitting and $60 million to support state efforts to implement updated NAAQS, the $1.3 billion for state and tribal grants includes $45 million for states to enhance their water enforcement and permitting programs. In order to help tribes move forward with implementation of environmental programs, $30 million is budgeted for a new competitive Tribal Multi-media Implementation grant program. To further enhance tribal environmental management capabilities, this budget also includes an additional $9 million for Tribal General Assistance Program grants.
Taking Action on Climate Change: This budget contains more than $43 million for additional efforts to address climate change and work toward a clean energy future. EPA will implement the greenhouse gas reporting rule; provide technical assistance to ensure that any permitting under the Clean Air Act will be manageable; perform regulatory work for the largest stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions; develop standards for mobile sources such as cars and trucks; and continue research of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.
Protecting America’s Waters: This budget broadens efforts to clean up America’s great waterbodies. It provides $63 million for efforts to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay and $17 million for the Mississippi River Basin to respond to non-point source control recommendations of the Nutrients Innovation Task Group and implement recommendations outlined in the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Action Plan.
This budget also invests $3.3 billion to maintain and improve outdated water infrastructure and keep our wastewater and drinking water clean and safe. This is in addition to $6 billion in funding provided to states through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Assuring the Safety of Chemicals: This budget calls for $56 million for chemical assessment and risk review to ensure that no unreasonable risks are posed by new or existing chemicals. This budget also invests $29 million (including $15 million in grants funding) in the continuing effort to eliminate childhood lead poisoning, and $6 million to support national efforts to mitigate exposure to high-risk legacy chemicals, such as mercury and asbestos.
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice: This budget contains $8 million for environmental justice programs. It targets increased brownfields investments to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, and proposes $9 million for community water priorities in the Healthy Communities Initiative, funds that will help under-served communities restore urban waterways and address water quality challenges. EPA is committed to identifying and addressing the health and environmental burdens faced by communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. This commitment is fulfilled through the agency’s efforts to give people a voice in decisions that impact their lives and to integrate environmental justice in EPA programs, policies and activities.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/budget
FY 2011
EPA Budget In Brief
102 pages
http://www.epa.gov/budget/2011/2011bib.pdf
2011 Budget
EPA’s Budget Proposal Seeks Efficiencies, Increased Environmental Protection: Budget proposal aligned with Administrator Jackson’s key priorities (02/01/2010)
Cleaning Up Communities
Improving Air Quality
Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships
Taking Action on Climate Change
Protecting America’s Waters
Assuring the Safety of Chemicals
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice
Source: http://www.epa.gov/budget/
There are two boards on I-Hub that discuss the upcoming world wide water crisis. The discussion boards are packed with articles, studies and movies from Government, profit and non-profit organizations.
World Water Crisis: I am an assistant moderator on this board.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=14650
Peak Water H2O
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=12656
The water shortage, combined with other significant world wide changes is creating a food crisis.
World Food Crisis: I am an assistant moderator on this board.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=16715
Update to the Water Sense Irrigation Systems website
New message found in lower left corner of screen.
http://www.watersenseusa.com/
Update to the Water Sense Irrigation Systems website
Former message is now missing.
http://www.watersenseusa.com/
Water Sense Irrigation Systems
http://www.watersenseusa.com/
Screen Print
The I-Box information was changed at approximately 11:15 am after viewing the latest update found on the website. It is my understanding that posts on the matter cannot be simply deleted on the matter. Please see here for the I-Hub manual: http://ihwiki.advfn.com/index.php?title=Handbook
The only website to display information regarding this matter was found here and at that time, a screen print was made.
Just finished watching the show... it would appear that the measure was adopted.
SEC Announces Measures to Further Strengthen Enforcement Efforts
LIVE WEBCAST
Today, 10:00 am
http://www.sec.gov/news/openmeetings.shtml
SEC poised to curb short-selling
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/24/financial/f044040S97.DTL&type=business
SEC Announces Measures to Further Strengthen Enforcement Efforts
LIVE WEBCAST
Today, 10:00 am
http://www.sec.gov/news/openmeetings.shtml
SEC poised to curb short-selling
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/24/financial/f044040S97.DTL&type=business
SEC Announces Measures to Further Strengthen Enforcement Efforts
LIVE WEBCAST
Today, 10:00 am
http://www.sec.gov/news/openmeetings.shtml
SEC poised to curb short-selling
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/24/financial/f044040S97.DTL&type=business
Get well soon bb, thoughts and prayers for you.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES RECOVERY ACT WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND SANITATION IN COMMUNITIES IN 19 STATES
WASHINGTON, February 19, 2010 — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the funding of 47 projects designed to protect public health by improving water quality and public sanitation services in 19 states. The projects, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, are expected to provide construction jobs and create infrastructure needed to support community growth.
"These investments in water and wastewater infrastructure will deliver safe drinking water and protect the quality of our environment," Vilsack said. "A safe, reliable water supply is vital to economic growth and development. Through these projects, we are helping to achieve the Obama Administration's economic recovery goals to rebuild and revitalize the nation's infrastructure."
For example, the state of Kansas will build eight projects including one in the city of Muscotah. The community has been selected to receive a loan of $240,000 and a grant of $506,000 to construct a new 65,000-gallon elevated water storage tank and install new water lines. Muscotah water system improvements will reduce waterline breakages, meet the state water pressure requirements, and provide community residents with safe, dependable drinking water supplies.
The Fort Smith Water and Sewer District in Montana has been selected to receive a $1,368,000 loan and $2,322,000 grant to construct a new well and well house, connect two systems to a main line, install new fire hydrants and water meters, and construct a 100,000-gallon water storage tank. These system improvements will boost community water pressure.
The loan and grant funding announced today totals $128.1 million. To date, USDA has announced $2.2 billion in Recovery Act funds for water and environmental projects. The Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama one year ago.
The funding announced today is being administered by USDA Rural Development's Water and Environmental Program
http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/index.htm
which provides loans and grants to ensure that the necessary investments are made in water and wastewater infrastructure to deliver safe drinking water and protect the environment in rural areas.
Funding of individual recipients is contingent upon their meeting the terms of the loan or grant agreement. Below is a complete list of award recipients.
Idaho
•City of Bliss: $700,000 loan; $1,000,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
Illinois
•Village of Marissa: $1,380,000 loan; $815,000 grant; water system improvements
•FMC Water Company: $700,000 loan; water system improvements
Indiana
•Mexico Community Regional Sewer District: $1,506,000 loan; $4,449,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Osgood: $2,370,000 loan; $778,000 grant; water system improvements
Iowa
•Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA): $538,000 loan; $1,256,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA): $181,000 loan; $402,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
Kansas
•City of Burlingame: $890,000 loan; wastewater system improvements
•City of Muscotah: $240,000 loan; $506,000 grant; water system improvements
•City of Olpe: $355,000 loan; $570,000 grant; water system improvements
•Osage County Rural Water District No. 6: $395,000 loan; water system improvements
•City of Parker: $390,400 loan; wastewater system improvements
•City of Smolan: $598,000 loan; wastewater system improvements
•City of Weir: $237,000 loan; storm drain system improvements
•City of Woodston: $342,000 loan; $484,000 grant; water system improvements
Maine
•Madison Water District: $450,000 loan; $1,121,500 grant; water system improvements
Massachusetts
•Town of Oak Bluffs: $1,100,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Provincetown: $3,000,000 loan; $9,000,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Wellfleet: $1,500,000 loan; $4,500,000 grant; water system improvements
•Town of Edgartown: $445,000 loan; $361,100 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Provincetown: $2,466,000 loan; $7,364,000 grant; water system improvements
Michigan
•Gogebic Range Water Authority: $5,106,000 loan; $3,552,000 grant; water system improvements
•Village of Bloomingdale: $1,307,000 loan; $3,918,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Village of Hesperia: $918,000 loan; $625,000 grant; water system improvements
•City of Reed City: $3,012,000 loan; wastewater system improvements
Minnesota
•City of Maple Lake: $1,314,000 loan; $604,000 grant; wastewater and water system improvements
Missouri
•Vernon County Public Water Supply District #7: $272,000 loan; $68,050 grant; water system improvements
Montana
•Fort Smith Water & Sewer District: $1,368,000 loan; $2,322,000 grant; water system improvements
•Sweet Grass Community Water & Sewer District: $263,000 loan; $753,000 grant; water system improvements
New York
•Village of Alfred: $797,000 loan; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Volney: $449,000 loan; $344,500 grant; water system improvements
•Town of Wolcott: $644,000 loan; $898,600 grant; water system improvements
North Carolina
•Town of Sharpsburg: $412,000 loan; $2,790,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Town of Jonesville: $2,590,000 loan; $621,300 grant; water system improvements
•Town of Beulaville: $2,304,000 loan; $2,295,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
Pennsylvania
•Brownsville Municipal Authority: $141,000 loan; $488,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
South Dakota
•City of Sisseton: $616,000 loan; water system improvements
Utah
•Manila Town Corporation: $874,000 loan; $1,839,436 grant; water system improvements
Virginia
•Wythe County: $3,316,000 loan; $2,087,000 grant; water system improvements
•Town of Wytheville: $4,105,000 loan; $2,326,000 grant; water system improvements
West Virginia
•Mingo County Public Service District (Jennies Creek): $1,429,000 loan; $2,926,000 grant; water system improvements
•Town of Rowlesburg: $920,000 grant; water system improvements
Wisconsin
•Village of Clyman: $2,317,000 loan; $1,727,000 grant; construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF)
•Village of Winneconne: $3,659,000 loan; $916,000 grant; wastewater treatment plant improvements
•City of Mauston: $782,000 loan; $208,000 grant; water system improvements
•City of Mauston: $694,000 loan; $204,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
•Country Estates Sanitary District: $1,456,000 loan; $3,120,000 grant; wastewater system improvements
President Obama signed The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law on Feb. 17, 2009. It is designed to jumpstart the nation's economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.
More information about USDA's Recovery Act efforts is available at www.usda.gov/recovery. More information about the Federal government's efforts on the Recovery Act is available at www.recovery.gov.
#
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).
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Last Modified: 02/19/2010
Oil & Water
Interesting Slide Show
34 pages long
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25995978/Oil-and-Water-ppt
ghcnj,
I just conducted a Google search using search term, "rccholdings" and look what I found...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tell Bill Graham to put RCCHoldings Corp back up on his website and see what happens. He took it down so it won't be shown. You should know this since you stated it had been there for days before it was found. How did you know that RCC was there for days and how many years have you known Bill Graham ???
Posted by: ghcnj Date: Saturday, February 20, 2010 9:55:04 AM
In reply to: stockraker who wrote msg# 79569 Post # of 79614
Better take that up with Bill Graham. He put RCC Holdings on his website for it to be found not me. Thanks for letting me know it was up there for days. I didn't know that. It won't come up now because Graham took it off. Tell Graham to put it back up and do a Google search.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46869087
DARPA, the well known research arm of the Pentagon, has just announced that they will soon be able to transform algae into biofuel at costs that are competitive with fossil fuels
http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/17/pentagon-developing-cost-competitive-algae-for-jet-fuel/
DARPA, the well known research arm of the Pentagon, has just announced that they will soon be able to transform algae into biofuel at costs that are competitive with fossil fuels. The agency is on track to achieve a cost of $3 dollars a gallon for jet fuel, and their plan is to then develop a large-scale refinery that can produce around 50 million gallons per year. Is this the beginning of the biofuel revolution?
Currently there are significant problems with biofuels — the clearing of land, the use of land for fuel instead of food production, and the difficult-to-assess greenhouse gas emissions. However, if we are going to produce them, creating them from waste or algae seems like the way to go.
DARPA’s new project is expected to deliver roughly 1,000 gallons per acre of farm. By next year, if all goes well, the US Air Force will be testing a 50-50 biofuel blend in their planes. Even better, part of their plan involves creating facilities that could create the fuel essentially anywhere on the planet.
Granted, all of this is currently going towards greening the military — an oxymoron if we’ve ever heard of one. But one must still remember that research projects developed in the military have often changed the world for the better.
+ DARPA
Via Guardian UK
Here is a nice nifty search engine geared for discussion bulletin boards. LOL! How about just a few hours! http://boardreader.com/
Thank you for pointing that out. Reg Sho was 3,680,599 for Feb 19...
From I-Box
From Pink sheets
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Regsho for Friday Feb 19th
http://regsho.finra.org/regsho-February.html
http://regsho.finra.org/FORFshvol20100219.txt
Date|Symbol|ShortVolume|TotalVolume|Market
20100219|RCCH|3680599|3680599|O
The last time I checked, RCC Holdings Corp, with stock symbol RCCH.PK has a sole subsidiary IWS http://www.rccholdings.com/
IWS has a website as well, http://www.rcciws.com/ with a seperate link for "News Releases." http://www.rcciws.com/index-4.html
IWS has been updating this section frequently, in fact on February 17, 2010, IWS announced, "IWS Water Solutions, Inc. Pursues Legal Action." http://www.rcciws.com/Press%20Releases/MIR%202010%2002%2017.pdf I personally don't consider this to be some type of "obscure/general lawsuit" as RCC Holdings Corp, also announced on the same day, "RCC Aggresively Seeks Damages." http://rccholdings.com/images/M_images/pdf_button.png I personally am pleased that action(s) are being taken against those that have alledgely acted in the manner described in the aforementioned links. To me, it shows that management is taking serious steps to defend the shareholders and the company from activities perceived to be damaging. As far as "business operations, the TSX, share structure, etc?" I'm guessing you are asking me to comment on these issues as others have weighed in. A summary of the items of question can be perhaps best described as full disclosure and that is something that has not been made available since I first invested in the stock, which is my personal risk that I chose to take. At some point the cards will have to be laid on the table, so that all can determine if their investment will pay off. The ongoing discussion until recently has been one of timing, and I've commented on that previously. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46553871 Personally, it is beyond me that the lawsuit isn't being applauded. If you are a shareholder of any company, you would want the management of the company to defend itself from perceived attacks. Thus if there are any complaints, the complaints appear to be solely based on timing and the amount of time required to pursue legal action(s) against the party(s) involved.
Now, some additonal thoughts on the stimulus plan: The reality is that the stimulus plan has actually delivered about a third of the total $787 billion budget during its first year (see below for WSJ article, "Bulk of Stimulus Spending Yet to Come"). The "shovel ready" projects in which private industry are expected to receive money doesn't actually really begin until 2010. In addition, Congress is attempting to implement a jobs bill and implement additional water projects. There are a number of bills being discussed in Congress at the moment, including but not limited to:
H.R. 537 Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2009
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46666915
S. 2996: A bill to extend the chemical facility security program of the Department of Homeland Security
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46814375
Then there is the 2011 budget, which is currently being discussed and highlights of this budget can be seen below following the article written by the WSJ, "Bulk of Stimulus Spending Yet to Come."
President Obama's Fiscal 2011 budget.
Environmental Protection Agency
Funding Highlights:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/environmental.pdf
At the same time these bills are being discussed, an overhaul of the financial industry is also being discussed:
H.R. 4173: Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=46079841
The reason is to prevent another systemic crisis within the financial industry. The Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland wrote a detailed paper on this very topic in August 2009, which followed on the July 2009 announcement by the SEC, "SEC Takes Steps to Curtail Abusive Short Sales and Increase Market Transparency." My post on this matter is found here: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45045267
I've personally read the summary version and a large chunk of the full text version of HR 4173 and noticed that the word "systemic" appears numerous times in the full text version. Essentially, the government wants to eliminate the systemic risk associated with banks that are involved with activities that are outside of traditional banking. After the last financial bailout, Congress is under intense pressure to stabilize the financial industry so another bailout won't be required. In order to do this, (in simple terms) it would mean that banking activities will be seperated entirely from trading desk activities. Once the bill passes, a report will be generated which is expected to take upwards of six months (doing this by memory) detailing the best manner to tear the trading desk operations away from the banking activites, so that if the inherent systemic risk involved with trading activies erupts, it will not impact the banking institutions. Afterwards, the implementation phase of changing the financial industry will begin.
Getting back now to RCC Holdings Corp and the recent announcements made. These announcements appear to be consistent with actions taken by other publicly traded companies facing similiar situations. I'm not going to list the long list of actions taken, but if you want to find those actions, a simple Google search will yield significant information. Not too long ago there was some discussion about eliminating the SEC entirely due to its perceived recent failures. During this timeframe, other agencies started to investigate activities and enforce regulations that the SEC was charged to do. I believe we have yet to see the full impact of these other agencies, however this speech may have provided some clue. http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100108.html
In summary, the frustration by shareholders can be best described as frustration regarding the long delay with full disclosure and the perceived delays with expected announcements. Only through continued follow up will these frustrations be eased.
funmaxus
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U.S. NEWS
FEBRUARY 17, 2010.Bulk of Stimulus Spending Yet to Come
Most Cash So Far Has Gone to Services, Government Jobs; Infrastructure Surge Unlikely to Put Big Dent in Unemployment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704804204575069772167897834.html#mod=todays_us_page_one
By LOUISE RADNOFSKY
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration's economic-stimulus program has delivered about a third of its total $787 billion budget during its first year, much of that to maintain social services and government jobs and to provide tax cuts for workers. Now, the pace and direction of stimulus spending are about to change.
Infrastructure spending is set to step up in the second year of the stimulus program, which should mean more money flowing to private-sector employers. Still, economists say that won't likely have a big effect on the unemployment rate, which most say is likely to continue a slow decline as the broader economy recovers.
The shift could be significant politically, though, because Republicans have criticized the relative lack of private business hiring directly attributed to the stimulus.
The approach this week of the stimulus program's one-year anniversary sparked a fresh round of dueling partisan statements, as Democrats sought to credit the effort with averting a deeper recession and Republicans said the program deserved a failing grade. But in terms of spending, the stimulus is largely incomplete.
Most of the money allocated to specific projects hasn't been paid out yet, and there are still an additional $195 billion in tax cuts on the way.
Proponents of the stimulus program focused attention on infrastructure projects during the fight to win approval for it last year. But the bulk of the money proposed for projects like new rail lines and water projects—about $180 billion in all—is likely to be spent this year at the earliest. During year one of the stimulus, only about $20 billion of money was handed out for infrastructure projects.
"I think we'll see a lot more stimulus money get into actual contracts and actual hiring in 2010 than we did in 2009," said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America.
The ramped-up stimulus spending in 2010 will contribute 1.4 percentage points to gross domestic product growth this year, said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight.
But Mr. Bethune says that may not translate into significant improvement in the unemployment rate, a growing political threat for the administration and congressional Democrats.
Infrastructure spending "doesn't really have a big impact on net employment, simply because a lot of the activity is mechanized," he said. "We should be careful of how many jobs we expect to be created from that."
The "shovel ready" projects administration officials pointed to as a source of new jobs have taken months to get organized. Agencies have been holding competitions to decide which projects should get stimulus grants, vetting applications for grants for initiatives such as high-speed rail construction or electric-vehicle projects. In some cases, federal agencies have had to set up entirely new programs.
Many signature projects—including $20 billion for doctors to create electronic medical records, $4.5 billion for an energy Smart Grid and $7.2 billion for broadband networks—are still in their very early stages.
Vice President Joe Biden will announce his own projections of the stimulus plan's progress in a meeting with the president Wednesday. A senior administration official said ahead of the release of Mr. Biden's report that the increase in the pace of infrastructure projects was expected to cause stimulus spending to "shift more towards private sector job growth."
Spending by state and local governments has about the same effect as spending in the private sector, and not cutting a job has a similar macroeconomic impact to creating a new one, said Edward McKelvey, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs. "Most economists, if they're being economists rather than trying to make some sort of normative point about which way they'd like to see the money spent, would tend to recognize" that, he said.
The number of jobs linked to stimulus spending has been the subject of partisan dispute for much of the past year.
Recipients of stimulus money say they are currently funding the jobs of about 595,000 people. But the White House has also said that as many as two million jobs have been supported directly or indirectly by stimulus money.
Republicans have questioned those numbers and pointed to the rise in the unemployment rate since Mr. Obama took office to bolster their case that the stimulus has failed to deliver on the administration's promises.
Government data indicate that most of the jobs supported by stimulus spending belonged to public employees at the state and local level, including about 325,000 teachers and school staff.
Subsidizing those jobs avoided layoffs, or state and local tax increases that could have further undermined the economy. But they didn't result in substantial hiring of people who had lost private-sector jobs.
State officials already are warning that job cuts could be in the offing in 2011 once the stimulus money runs out.
Of the $179 billion in stimulus funds paid out last year, $112 billion has gone out in the form of large checks to state governments to plug holes in school, Medicaid and unemployment-benefits budgets, or to increase funding for established programs, such as food stamps, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
An additional $700 million was spent on administration, and about $47 billion has left Washington in transfer payments, such as $250 checks for Social Security recipients. Social spending totaling $70 billion is also in the pipeline already.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Obama's Fiscal 2011 budget.
Environmental Protection Agency
Funding Highlights:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/environmental.pdf
• Provides $3.3 billion total for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. This will allow States and Tribes to initiate approximately 800 clean water and 500 drinking
water projects nationally, continuing a major Federal commitment to water infrastructure
investment.
• Provides new funding to support the Administration’s commitment to mitigate climate change.
• Continues support for collaborative, interagency ecosystem restoration efforts in the Great
Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi River Basin.
• Provides grants for States and Tribes to administer delegated environmental programs at $1.3
billion, the highest level ever.
• Funds the Agency’s operating budget at $3.8 billion to support regulatory, research, and
enforcement activities.
• Supports economic growth and job creation in hard hit regions by bolstering Brownfields
cleanup.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)is committed to protecting human health and the environment. To achieve this mission, EPA collaborates with States and Tribes to implement air,water, waste, and chemical programs. The Budget requests $10 billion for EPA, a substantially higher annual amount than requested under any previous Administration. This total expands the Administration’s 2010 increase to the Agency’s core operating budget, which provides funds for program implementation, priority research, enhanced regulation, and comprehensive enforcement activities. EPA’s budget also provides more funding for State and tribal program implementation grants than any previous budget. Invests in Clean Water Infrastructure. The Budget requests $3.3 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). The Federal SRF funding provides grants to States for low-interest loans to communities through a combination of Federal capitalization, State matches, State leveraging, interest, and loan repayments. Since loan interest and principal payments are eturned
to the program, the SRFs continue to generate funding for new loans even without continued Federal funding. The Federal contribution to water and waste water infrastructure has been substantially incorporated into SRFs. These Funds, combined, now produce approximately $5 billion in repayments each year. As the Funds have grown, the need for Federal capitalization will decline over the next decade. Some ongoing contribution will be maintained so the neediest communities are adequately served. For 2011, EPA proposes a new approach to helping small drinking water systems, as well as reforms to improve the long-term financial, managerial,and environmental sustainability of the SRFs. As part of that strategy, Federal dollars provided through the SRFs will act as a catalyst for efficient system-wide planning, improvements in technical, financial and managerial capacity, and the design, construction and on-going management of sustainable water infrastructure.
Read more by going to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/environmental.pdf
Commentary:
"The proposed budget levels for the SRF programs are $100 million less than each program is receiving for FY 2010, but near its historical highs."
http://waternewsupdate.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lake Side attended weftec last year and they plan on attending again next year.
http://www.lakeside-equipment.com
For additional information on Lake Side, see I-Box.
Water crisis triggers violent protest in Mumbai
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/14/watercrisis-triggers-violent-protest-inmumbai.html
Mumbai
, Feb 14 (ANI): Activists of an NGO 'Swabhiman' staged a demonstration in Mumbai on Saturday against the water supply cut by the Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Buzz up!The activists gathered at Dadar area and broke the windshields of two tankers.hey claimed that a local mafia was siphoning off water tanker supply to affluent areas.
"We want the common man's water woes should end. Today BMC is saying that there is less water but when there was enough water what did they do? where was the water stored and why was water harvesting not done?" said Santosh Kubal, spokesperson of Swabhiman.
In December last year, civic authorities had cut down piped water supply by as much as 20 percent.
BMC has said that despite heavy rains which lashed the city in July, 2009, the water level in the catchments areas of the city's six lakes has dropped.
The problem of water crisis is worst in slum areas as the residents of the area are forced to dig bore-wells around the periphery. Some are compelled to use the drainage water for household purposes. (ANI)
Chemical Security Legislation in the Senate – a bipartisan group of senators is pressing legislation to extend the DHS current chemical facility security rules by five years, warning that a competing House bill to expand chemical security programs at DHS and EPA would impose costly burdens on the economy. Four Senators introduced S. 2996, a bill to extend for five years DHS' Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) – rules that cover high-risk chemical facilities, but exempt water utilities. The House passed H.R. 2868 in November, which included a provision to require facilities that pose the greatest risk to conduct an inherently safer technology (IST) review, which could result in changes to local disinfection-type preferences. We have not heard any comments from the Senate Environmental Committee on how this bill will affect the movement of any chemical security legislation to regulate water supplies.
http://www.ruralwater.org/
S. 2996: A bill to extend the chemical facility security program of the Department of Homeland Security
A bill to extend the chemical facility security program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes
Sponsors
Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]
Cosponsors:
Mary Landrieu [D-LA]
Mark Pryor [D-AR]
George Voinovich [R-OH]
Feb 4, 2010 - Introduced in Senate. This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the Senate for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill currently available on GovTrack.
S 2996 IS
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2996
To extend the chemical facility security program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 4, 2010
Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. VOINOVICH, and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To extend the chemical facility security program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Continuing Chemical Facilities Antiterrorism Security Act of 2010’.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF CHEMICAL FACILITIES ANTITERRORISM SECURITY PROGRAM.
(a) In General- Section 550(b) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (6 U.S.C. 121 note) is amended by striking ‘October 4, 2010’ and inserting ‘October 4, 2015’.
(b) Chemical Facility Security Enhancements-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘TITLE XXI--CHEMICAL FACILITY SECURITY
‘SEC. 2101. CHEMICAL SECURITY TRAINING PROGRAM.
‘(a) Establishment- Acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and in coordination with the Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs, the Secretary shall establish a voluntary chemical security training program (referred to in this section as the ‘training program’) for the purpose of enhancing the capabilities of high-risk chemical facilities to prevent, prepare for, respond to, mitigate against, and recover from threatened or actual acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other man-made disasters.
‘(b) Requirements- The training program shall provide validated voluntary training that--
‘(1) reaches multiple disciplines, including Federal, State, and local government officials, commercial personnel and management, and governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers;
‘(2) provides training at the awareness, performance, and management and planning levels;
‘(3) uses multiple training mediums and methods;
‘(4) is coordinated with training provided by government training facilities, academic institutions, private organizations, and other entities that provide specialized, state-of-the-art training for governmental and nongovernmental emergency responder providers or commercial personnel and management;
‘(5) uses, as appropriate, government training facilities, courses provided by community colleges, public safety academies, State and private universities, and other facilities;
‘(6) is consistent with, and supports implementation of, the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, the National Preparedness Goal, the National Maritime Transportation Security Plan, and other such national initiatives, and any successors thereto;
‘(7) is evaluated against clear and consistent performance measures;
‘(8) addresses security requirements under chemical facility security plans; and
‘(9) educates, trains, and involves individuals in neighborhoods around chemical facilities on how to observe and report security risks.
‘SEC. 2102. CHEMICAL SECURITY EXERCISE PROGRAM.
‘(a) In General- Acting through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and in coordination with Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs, the Secretary shall develop a voluntary chemical security exercise program (referred to in this section as the ‘exercise program’) for the purpose of offering voluntary testing and evaluation of the capabilities of the Federal Government, State governments, commercial personnel and management, governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers, the private sector, or any other organization or entity, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, to prevent, prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies at chemical facilities.
‘(b) Requirements- Under the exercise program, the Secretary shall conduct, on a periodic basis, voluntary joint security exercises at chemical facilities that are--
‘(1) scaled and tailored to the needs of each chemical facility;
‘(2) for the highest risk chemical facilities, as determined by the Secretary, live training exercises;
‘(3) as realistic as practicable and based on current risk assessments, including credible threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences;
‘(4) consistent with the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, the National Preparedness Goal, the National Maritime Transportation Security Plan, and other such national initiatives, and any successors thereto;
‘(5) evaluated against clear and consistent performance measures;
‘(6) assessed to learn best practices, which shall be shared with appropriate Federal, State, and local officials, commercial personnel and management, governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers, and the private sector;
‘(7) followed by remedial action in response to lessons learned; and
‘(8) designed to assist State and local governments and chemical facilities in designing, implementing, and evaluating exercises that--
‘(A) conform to the requirements of this paragraph; and
‘(B) are consistent with any applicable Buffer Zone Protection Plan, State homeland security plan, or urban area homeland security plan.
‘SEC. 2103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this title.’.
(2) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2022 the following:
‘TITLE XXI--CHEMICAL FACILITY SECURITY
‘Sec. 2101. Chemical security training program.
‘Sec. 2102. Chemical security exercise program.
‘Sec. 2103. Authorization of appropriations.’.
EPA Steps-in to Regulate Water Quality in Florida – and ignites controversy
(see EPA rules and public meeting schedule). http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida/
Last year, EPA agreed to set specific limits on phosphorus and nitrogen in Florida waters to settle an ongoing lawsuit. It’s the first time the EPA has stepped in and set water quality standards for a state. The proposed regulations are out for public review and comment, and they are drawing opposition and support. Public radio features the issues this week (hear broadcast). http://www.wusf.usf.edu/news/program/florida_matters/episode/2010-02/water_quality_epa_takes_over FL Rural Water (and other water associations) take strong stand in opposition EPA’s rules (see comments). http://www.ruralwater.org/frwa%20nnc.pdf
http://www.ruralwater.org/
Florida
Proposed Water Quality Standards for the State of Florida's Lakes and Flowing Waters
Overview
EPA has proposed numeric nutrient water quality standards for lakes and flowing waters, including canals, within the State of Florida and has proposed regulations to establish a framework for Florida to develop “restoration standards” for impaired waters. EPA issued this proposed rule pursuant to a determination that EPA made on January 14, 2009, under section 303(c)(4)(B) of the Clean Water Act. The determination states that numeric nutrient water quality standards for lakes and flowing waters and for estuaries and coastal waters are necessary for the State of Florida to meet the requirements of Clean Water Act section 303(c). EPA signed the proposed rule addressing lakes and flowing waters on January 14, 2010, per the terms of a consent decree. This proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register shortly.
Press Release (January 15, 2010) http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/393728cbe28ce582852576ac00515a61!OpenDocument
Fact sheet (January 2010) http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida/factsheet.html
Federal Register Notice | http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-1220.htm PDF Version (54 pp, 541K, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-1220.pdf
Technical Support Document http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0596
FEATURE-Yemen's water crisis eclipses al Qaeda threat
Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:06am GMT
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLAE656628._CH_.2420
By Ulf Laessing
SANAA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Yemeni water trader Mohammed al-Tawwa runs his diesel pumps day and night, but gets less and less from his well in Sanaa, which experts say could become the world's first capital city to run dry.
"My well is now 400 metres (1,300 feet) deep and I don't think I can drill any deeper here," said Tawwa, pointing to the meagre flow into tanks that supply water trucks and companies.
From dawn, dozens of people with yellow jerricans collect water from a special canister Tawwa has set aside for the poor.
"Sometimes we don't have any water for a whole week, sometimes for two days and then it stops again," said Talal al-Bahr, who comes almost daily to supply his family of six.
The West frets that al Qaeda will exploit instability in Yemen to prepare new attacks like the failed Dec. 25 bombing of a U.S. airliner, but this impoverished Arabian peninsula country faces a catastrophe that poses a far deadlier long-term threat.
Nature cannot recharge ground water to keep pace with demand from a population of 23 million expected to double in 20 years.
More water is consumed than produced from most of Yemen's 21 aquifers, especially in the highlands, home to big cities like Sanaa, with a fast-growing population of two million, and Taiz.
"If we continue like this, Sanaa will be a ghost city in 20 years," said Anwer Sahooly, a water expert at German development agency GTZ, which runs several water projects in Yemen.
Some wells in Sanaa are now 800 to 1,000 metres deep -- requiring oil-drilling equipment -- while many are no longer usable because of the sinking water table, he said.
Millions of thirsty Yemenis may eventually have to abandon Sanaa and other mountain cities for the coastal plain. "Water refugees" may try to migrate to nearby Gulf states or Europe.
Diplomats say fights over water use have erupted in some tribal areas. Several orange orchards have run dry in Saada, a northern province already racked by a conflict with rebels who agreed a fragile ceasefire with the government last week.
"From a Yemeni perspective, al Qaeda is a smaller problem than water. What do you do if big cities have no water? Who would want to commit any investment here?" asked one diplomat.
NATIONAL DRUG HABIT
The crisis is worsened by excessive irrigation by farmers growing qat, a mild narcotic leaf that dominates life in Yemen, where most men spend half the day chewing it, even at work.
Agriculture accounts for more than 90 percent of water use, of which 37 percent goes to irrigate qat, GTZ estimates.
Qat also eats into family budgets, aggravating poverty and leading to under-nutrition of children and others, experts say.
"Qat is the culprit," said Sahooly, at the Sanaa water authority office where he works as an adviser. "It is a dangerous crop that will lead us to disaster."
Government policies are also to blame. Diesel subsidies, due to cost the state $2 billion this year, indirectly encourage qat farmers, or well-owners like Tawwa, to pump more water.
Yemen has overhauled water use regulations, but Sahooly said this would be ineffective unless President Ali Abdullah Saleh enforces restrictions on wildcat drilling and qat cultivation.
He contrasted Yemen's plight with neighbouring Oman, whose government has made water conservation a top priority. No new well can be drilled there without the sultan's approval.
The absence of local utilities to manage water resources has sharpened grievances in remoter areas of Yemen, says Christopher Boucek of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The failure to establish local water corporations in several governorates that historically have not received much support or social services from the central government has raised fear that a resurgent al Qaeda may seek refuge there," he argued in written testimony to the U.S. Congress this month.
Yemen should import qat from East Africa and spur farmers to produce cereals to cut water consumption and dependence on food imports, both Carnegie and GTZ recommend to the government.
Yet at Sanaa's bustling qat market, merchants shrug off talk of the unfolding water disaster.
"It's true that qat uses much of our water but Yemen cannot live without qat," said Heniar al-Qaidasi, handing bags of qat to customers to sample at the peak lunchtime sales period.
"It's the biggest employer of farmers and traders. Where would the jobs come from if qat production were stopped?"
Qat farmer Fathi Ali Dhaghan, arriving with his latest crop for Sanaa traders, agreed.
"We depend on qat. Without it, Yemen is impossible. God will help us find new water." (Editing by Alistair Lyon) (ulf.laessing@thomsonreuters.com; ulf.laessing.reuters.com@reuters.net)
U.S. NEWS
FEBRUARY 17, 2010.Bulk of Stimulus Spending Yet to Come
Most Cash So Far Has Gone to Services, Government Jobs; Infrastructure Surge Unlikely to Put Big Dent in Unemployment
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704804204575069772167897834.html#mod=todays_us_page_one
By LOUISE RADNOFSKY
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration's economic-stimulus program has delivered about a third of its total $787 billion budget during its first year, much of that to maintain social services and government jobs and to provide tax cuts for workers. Now, the pace and direction of stimulus spending are about to change.
Infrastructure spending is set to step up in the second year of the stimulus program, which should mean more money flowing to private-sector employers. Still, economists say that won't likely have a big effect on the unemployment rate, which most say is likely to continue a slow decline as the broader economy recovers.
The shift could be significant politically, though, because Republicans have criticized the relative lack of private business hiring directly attributed to the stimulus.
The approach this week of the stimulus program's one-year anniversary sparked a fresh round of dueling partisan statements, as Democrats sought to credit the effort with averting a deeper recession and Republicans said the program deserved a failing grade. But in terms of spending, the stimulus is largely incomplete.
Most of the money allocated to specific projects hasn't been paid out yet, and there are still an additional $195 billion in tax cuts on the way.
Proponents of the stimulus program focused attention on infrastructure projects during the fight to win approval for it last year. But the bulk of the money proposed for projects like new rail lines and water projects—about $180 billion in all—is likely to be spent this year at the earliest. During year one of the stimulus, only about $20 billion of money was handed out for infrastructure projects.
"I think we'll see a lot more stimulus money get into actual contracts and actual hiring in 2010 than we did in 2009," said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America.
The ramped-up stimulus spending in 2010 will contribute 1.4 percentage points to gross domestic product growth this year, said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight.
But Mr. Bethune says that may not translate into significant improvement in the unemployment rate, a growing political threat for the administration and congressional Democrats.
Infrastructure spending "doesn't really have a big impact on net employment, simply because a lot of the activity is mechanized," he said. "We should be careful of how many jobs we expect to be created from that."
The "shovel ready" projects administration officials pointed to as a source of new jobs have taken months to get organized. Agencies have been holding competitions to decide which projects should get stimulus grants, vetting applications for grants for initiatives such as high-speed rail construction or electric-vehicle projects. In some cases, federal agencies have had to set up entirely new programs.
Many signature projects—including $20 billion for doctors to create electronic medical records, $4.5 billion for an energy Smart Grid and $7.2 billion for broadband networks—are still in their very early stages.
Vice President Joe Biden will announce his own projections of the stimulus plan's progress in a meeting with the president Wednesday. A senior administration official said ahead of the release of Mr. Biden's report that the increase in the pace of infrastructure projects was expected to cause stimulus spending to "shift more towards private sector job growth."
Spending by state and local governments has about the same effect as spending in the private sector, and not cutting a job has a similar macroeconomic impact to creating a new one, said Edward McKelvey, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs. "Most economists, if they're being economists rather than trying to make some sort of normative point about which way they'd like to see the money spent, would tend to recognize" that, he said.
The number of jobs linked to stimulus spending has been the subject of partisan dispute for much of the past year.
Recipients of stimulus money say they are currently funding the jobs of about 595,000 people. But the White House has also said that as many as two million jobs have been supported directly or indirectly by stimulus money.
Republicans have questioned those numbers and pointed to the rise in the unemployment rate since Mr. Obama took office to bolster their case that the stimulus has failed to deliver on the administration's promises.
Government data indicate that most of the jobs supported by stimulus spending belonged to public employees at the state and local level, including about 325,000 teachers and school staff.
Subsidizing those jobs avoided layoffs, or state and local tax increases that could have further undermined the economy. But they didn't result in substantial hiring of people who had lost private-sector jobs.
State officials already are warning that job cuts could be in the offing in 2011 once the stimulus money runs out.
Of the $179 billion in stimulus funds paid out last year, $112 billion has gone out in the form of large checks to state governments to plug holes in school, Medicaid and unemployment-benefits budgets, or to increase funding for established programs, such as food stamps, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
An additional $700 million was spent on administration, and about $47 billion has left Washington in transfer payments, such as $250 checks for Social Security recipients. Social spending totaling $70 billion is also in the pipeline already.
Eventually, the fish will be caught.
http://rccholdings.com/images/M_images/pdf_button.png
RCC Aggressively Seeks Damages...
This PR has been placed at the top of the I-Box and placed as a sticky note.
http://rccholdings.com/images/M_images/pdf_button.png
Water 2025
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6093754/Water-2025
Water 2025 is intended to focus attention on the reality that explosive population growth in western urban areas, the emerging need for water for environmental and recreational uses, and the national importance of the domestic production of food and fiber from western farms and ranches are driving major conflicts between these competing uses of water.
Today, in some areas of the West, existing water supplies are, or will be, inadequate to meet the water demands of people, cities, farms, and the environment even under normal water supply conditions
Water 2025 recognizes that state and local governments should have a leading role in meeting these challenges, and that the Department of the Interior should focus its attention and existing resources on areas where scarce federal dollars can provide the greatest benefits to the West and the rest of the Nation
Water 2025 is Reclamation's new initiative that recognizes the need for a vigorous public discussion over water issues. Water 2025 is a commitment to moving forward in strategically using the appropriate tools that will help minimize or prevent future water conflict and crises in the west.
http://www.usbr.gov/gp/water/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars.
Movie is in segments. Each segment is approximately 10-12 minutes long.
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 01
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37552
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 02
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37554/1/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 03
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37556/1/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 04
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37557/1/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 05
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37558/1/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 06
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37563/1/
Blue Gold, World Water Wars 07
http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/37563/1/
Blue Gold Website
http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/