Public Pensions, Dinosaurs

Bloomberg's story on the growing problem of retirement -- particularly funding government workers public pensions -- around the world is worth reading at
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-09-17/personal-finance-retirement-dilemma.html

However, the problem (at least the US) is first addressed by ending all taxpayer funded public pensions -- all government workers (like almost everybody else today) should be expected to fund their own retirement accounts/401k accounts (actually pensions are a dinosaur). It's way past time to take government workers off the welfare public trough. Pay them an honest and fair wage and treat them like everyone else--today they are treated better than everyone else--taxpayer funded pensions, higher salaries and wages and benefits than workers in the private sector, etc.

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Detroit Public Pensions, Bankruptcy, Haircuts for All

Detroit Ruling on Bankruptcy Lifts Pension Protections - NYTimes.com: "The judge, Steven W. Rhodes, dealt a major blow to the widely held belief that state laws preserve public pensions, and his ruling is likely to resonate in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and many other American cities where the rising cost of pensions has been crowding out spending for public schools, police departments and other services. The judge made it clear that public employee pensions were not protected in a federal Chapter 9 bankruptcy, even though the Michigan Constitution expressly protects them. “Pension benefits are a contractual right and are not entitled to any heightened protection in a municipal bankruptcy,” he said."

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Cities are broke, Taxpayers are broke, Public union workers do not care

Reality: Cities are broke; Taxpayers are broke; Public union workers don't care to understand the above two points (source infra)

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Two Choices to Deal With "Collective Theft": "I am sick of watching taxes go up year in and year out so that overpaid, underworked, public union workers can get taxpayer sponsored pensions and pay well beyond what private industry gets. That sounds harsh. And it is. But it's also reality....(read more at the link above)

Public Unions Bankrupt Illinois: Unpaid Bills Top $9 Billion as Comptroller Reports "State Treading Water"; Mish's Eight-Point "Bold" Plan to Save Illinois

Mish's Eight-Point "Bold" Plan to Save Illinois
Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/12/two-choices-to-deal-with-collective.html#DmBLQq0FwtvS14xC.99

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Store Video catches Police Abuse in Miami Gardens

Cops who act like this give all police officers a bad name. What can one say about this sad, pathetic situation? --

In Miami Gardens, store video catches cops in the act - Miami Gardens / Opa-locka - MiamiHerald.com:
" . . . The videos show, among other things, cops stopping citizens, questioning them, aggressively searching them and arresting them for trespassing when they have permission to be on the premises; officers conducting searches of Saleh’s business without search warrants or permission; using what appears to be excessive force on subjects who are clearly not resisting arrest and filing inaccurate police reports in connection with the arrests. “There is just no justifying this kind of behavior,’’ said Chuck Drago, a former police officer and consultant on police policy and the use of force. “Nobody can justify overstepping the constitution to fight crime.” Repeated phone messages and emails to Miami Gardens Police Chief Matthew Boyd and City Manager Cameron Benson asking for comment on this story were not returned. Boyd did release a statement, saying that the department is committed to serving and protecting the citizens and businesses in the city. But Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Florida, said that’s exactly what Boyd is NOT doing. “Where is the police chief in all this? In a police department in a city this size, this kind of behavior could not escape his attention. Doesn’t the City Commission know that they are exposing the city to either massive liability for civil rights violations? Either that, or they are going to wake up one day and find the U.S. Department of Justice has taken over its police department.’’. . . ." (read more at link above)

Maybe all cops need to have live microphones, cameras, and tracking GPS on them at all times. Maybe Obama's DOJ needs to start prosecuting these cops as the criminals they are, and throw them into the federal pen where they belong.

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Apple Objects to Federal Court "Shakedown Racket"

You know there are hogs and there are Hogs -- and when you get to the US Federal Court level -- OMG!, here's a Federal Court (politico) Judge and appointee "compliance monitor" who have really gone overboard:

"As part of its punishment for the e-book antitrust trial it lost this summer, Apple is supposed to be footing the bill for a court-appointed “compliance monitor." While it appeals the court’s ruling in the trial, Apple is now contesting the way that its monitor...is doing too much, by doing things like demanding interviews with Apple CEO Tim Cook, board member Al Gore, and Jony Ive (“whose sole and exclusive responsibility at Apple is to perfect elegant product designs,” according to an Apple attorney). [The compliance monitor] is charging too much — more than $1,100 an hour. Apple says this is “higher than Apple has ever encountered for any task.” Bromwich’s bill for his five-person team’s first two weeks of work: $138,432.40." Read more at Apple Complains About Court's E-Book Antitrust Monitor, Fees - Peter Kafka - News - AllThingsD.

The whole thing looks and smells like a shakedown racket (even if legal) -- all under the ruling and supervision of the same Federal (via a politico lifetime appointment) Judge.

Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave!

OK, I'll say it--Hogs at the Trough!

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