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Archive: April, 2010
The Inquirer may have overstated today's good weed news. Like we told you earlier, the Inky reported that the state Supreme Court and District Attorney Seth Williams have announced that the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Philly will become more lax starting at end of April. (The title of the Inky story is, in fact, "Philadelphia to ease marijuana penalty.") But check out this press release we just got from Williams:
We are not decriminalizing marijuana any effort like that would be one for the legislature to undertake. The penalty available for these minimal amount offenses remains exactly the same. What we are doing is properly dealing with cases involving minimal amounts of marijuana in the most efficient and cost effective process possible. Those arrested for these offenses will still be restrained, identified and processed by police in police custody. They will still have to answer to the charges, but they will be doing so in a speedier and more efficient process. We want to use valuable court resources in the best way possible and we believe that means giving minor drug offenders the option of getting into diversionary programs, get drug education or enter drug treatment centers. Again we are NOT decriminalizing marijuana, and the penalty for these offenses remains the same.
We'll update as we find out more.
PREVIOUSLY >> Weed is practically decriminalized in Philly
awww yea...you go Seth!
[...] Being Painted Over Today?This Just In: Let The Seth Williams Backpedaling Dance Party Begin!From a press release just sent out by D.A. Seth Williams:We are not decriminalizing marijuana any effort like that would be one for the legislature to [...]
Who is Seth Williams? I don't get this article. weird.
[...] Seth Williams: "We are not decriminalizing marijuana" Tags: marijuana, seth williams Weed is decriminalized in Philly starting today. Just kidding, [...]
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| Photo | Courtesy of How Stuff Works |
Thanks to the state Supreme Court and District Attorney Seth Williams, Philadelphians caught with wee amounts of marijuana (up to 30 grams) will be charged with a summary offense rather than a misdemeanor beginning later this month, says the Inquirer. Additionally, they may have to pay a fine (money for the city, hello!), but will not face a criminal record. This is all in an effort to unclog the city's court system.
'Course, cops are none too pleased about this, and plan on still arresting the hell out of potheads. Plus, Williams and co. aren't too sure yet if this will require a change to state or city law. Read up on the whole story over at the Inky.
True dat. Legalize it Philly. It's the town of stoners anyways.
Come on Philly. This town is known for partying. Legalize the weed already.
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by citypaper: Weed = practically decriminalized in Philly http://bit.ly/b5RzpZ...
[...] when we told you back in April that District Attorney Seth Williams announced that the possession of 30 grams of marijuana or less [...]
After a long, boring pre-season, the Phils kick off their 2010 NL title defense today, in Washington DC, at 1:05, with Roy Halladay on the mound.
I'll be listening here at my desk on 1210 AM and following along on the GameChannel live tracker.
Where are you watching/listening?
RELATED >> Baseball book give-away on Critical Mass: Win Randy Miller's Harry the K and Mark Kurlansky's The Eastern Stars: How Baseball changed the Dominican town of San Pedro de Macoris.
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| Photo | Michael T. Regan |
| Sayonara. |
No. 5 was traded. Long live No. 5.
As you've likely heard by now, Donovan McNabb's been dealt, heading down I-95 to suit up for the dear old Washington Racist-nameds.
As curious as this seemingly sudden but talked-up-for-weeks-(or-years) move is trading one of the most successful QBs of the decade within the division for good-but-not-great picks what's even more curious is the timing.
Yes, perhaps the Eagles operate in their own little bubble and pay no heed to what's going on in the rest of the world, sporting or otherwise, local or otherwise. But it was suggested to me last night by a friend who knows people who know people who would know, that the fact that this trade happened the night before the Phillies open their 2010 quest to return to the World Series for the third straight year may not be coincidental at all. Seems fair to assume that no matter what the Phils do in the first week of the season, this McNabb thing's gonna steal some of the shine time they Phils'll be getting from papers in Philly or DC (where the Phils open their season today), to say nothing of sports talk radio (which is talking about this very issue right now). Apparently, the source was surprised the trade didn't go down the night before the home opener.
My initial thought: No way the Eagles would try to upstage the Phils. My second thought: The Eagles have lost a HUGE chunk of sporting mindshare in this city in recent years and they're one deep Flyers post-season run away from being the No. 3 team in town.
What do you think?
PREVIOUSLY >> Now What? E. James Beale's been predicting this for years.
I have a hard time believing the timing was intentional. If the deal was done on Sunday and they waited, it would have been leaked. If the deal was done earlier and they wanted to wait until Sunday, it would have leaked earlier. And I 100% disagree with your assertion that the Eagles have lost mindshare.
@trace bullet: yeah, I guess my "third thought," which I wish I'd given myself time to get around to, would be that maybe the Eagles timed this precisely when they did so that the news would be buried by opening-day excitement.
Considering that all the attention will be divided into people crapping on McNabb vs. people crapping on the front office for trading him so cheaply and in the division, that seems like a lot of conspiracy for something that isn't likely to earn the Eagles a single extra dime.
Which is weird, cause the GAO just told us it wasn't gonna go public for another month. No matter. You can read all of it here, and though we haven't had time to sort through all of it yet, here are a few highlights:
The reanalysiss crude oil benefit assumptions are not consistent with current market and industry conditions and future outlook, which raises questions about the reliability of the reanalysiss crude oil benefit estimate.
Also:
The reanalysiss containerized cargo benefit assumptions may not fully reflect current conditions and cannot be adequately assessed without additional information.
However:
The Corps reanalysis addressed many of the limitations that we had identified in 2002 in the projects original economic analysis by using more recent information to correct invalid assumptions and outdated data, recalculating benefits and costs to correct miscalculations, and accounting for some of the economic uncertainty associated with the project. In addition, as we recommended, the Corps had independent experts review the reanalysis before submitting it to Congress.
Sez Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper who is staunchly against the dredging project, in a press release: "This report confirms that the Army Corps still has not provided an accurate picture of the Delaware deepening and its ramifications for our region. If the Army Corps had spent as much time in providing accurate economic and environmental analyses as it has in evading the requirements of environmental protection laws, we would have an accurate picture of the impacts of this project."
We'll report back with a more thorough analysis of the report early next week.
Everyone should read the entire GAO report. Environmentalist may say and do anything to block this project. Dont fall for environmental activist groups taking bits of text out of context to promote their agenda. There is something that the GAO does not take into consideration - all the potential growth in the port region. Once the channels are dredged to the proper depth, industry investment will create many good paying jobs. It is only common sense to believe that this will happen. What this country needs is JOBS! President IUOE Local 25
Those environmentalists/economist opposed to dredging should think "GREEN" when referring to maritime highways. FACT the most efficient way to move US goods is our aquatic highways. Railroads, trucks & planes play their important economic roles, but there is no better GREEN way than the waterways. Reduce our trade deficit, reliance on foreign oil & emissions US marine highway trade yield positive benefits. One 15-barge tow removes 1,050 trucks from highways. 1-gallon of fuel = 1-ton of cargo 576 miles on a barge a railcar 413, & by truck 155. By 2035, freight volume doubles. Goods to Phil. region arrive via other ports over land 95% of trade goes through only 36 ports & Phil port could play a major role providing tens-of-thousands of jobs. Funding loses harm the seaport & thousands of jobs. With trade doubling within 15-years, we may gain back whats been lost. Once dredged taxpayer funding is minimal in comparison to future private industry seaport investment. President IUOE Local 25
if you read Mikesell's "Fiscal Administration and Analysis" one of the leading public-sector finance textbooks, you will find that Cost-Benefit Analysis suffers from the limitation that it fails to account for benefits and costs external to the specific project. Thus, the concerns of the Riverkeepers are unlikely to be addressed by such an approach, regardless of the accuracy of the inputs. This is a basic problem of economics (failure to account for 'externalities') and one of the reasons why disputes between the Riverkeepers and the Corp result in a lot of talking past each other...They are quite literally speaking different lexicons.
Holly, here's a highlight:
Dredging, as it stands now according to the report, would cost $22.3 million a year while bring in revenues of around $30.1 million/yr, for a benefit to cost ratio of $1.35 made/$1 spent. The Corps originally said $1.40/$1, the gov't asks that a project at least bring in as much as it costs on a 1:1 basis. The project, as it stands now, is economically viable.
Crude oil is a commodity that may in part be affected by the downturn in the economy. As it improves, so will imports, and so will the analysis of how much this project is worth.[...] previous Chicago TGs also facing M/F transit passes problem next GAO report on Delaware River dredging is out now! [...]
Why should it come down to money? Sure a project can project that it will make X dollars, and cost Y dollars to make, that is the simplest part. Dredgeing will cause the envirerment change, and possibly harm. Ecosystems are fragile, and the more we mess with them, the more damage we cause. There is already plenty of money made off of that river, from more natural, less harmful ways. Any major dredgeing risks damageing fishing, recreation, tourism, and all to maybe make some one 40 cents on the dollar. Do they take into account the jobs lost, say from the rail road, trucking, and the industry support for those methods of shipping. Pull the curtain back and see who is really pushing for this? It is the same people, that have taken alot of good paying jobs, to countries with little or no concern for the envirerment, or the people who work and live there. Is this just another way they push the expense of makeing more money for themselves off onto the people here? They stand to save themselves a fortune in shipping costs, and the heck with this country, or its laws for protecting it's land, and lack of laws, protecting it's jobs. For every job that is created, makeing it cheaper to bring in goods from other countries, we give up jobs here manufactoring the same products.
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| Photo | Neal Santos |
UPDATE: The report is out now! Check here for more information.
The dredging of the Delaware River, as we all know, is well under way.
But the Government Accountability Office, which in 2002 put out a report saying the Army Corps overstated the dredging's economic benefits by $26.8 million, was due to release a reanalysis of the Corps' new economic claims at the end of March.
Here it is April, though, and it isn't out yet. The Clog just got off the phone with a GAO spokesperson, and it turns out that the GAO has indeed completed the report, and delivered it to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. But the committee asked for a 30-day restriction, which means that the report won't be made public until the end of April.
And that means we'll have to wait another month to know if a project that's already happening is indeed worth our money.
PREVIOUSLY >> Risk and Reward: Dredging the Delaware might not bring as many jobs as proponents claim.
[...] previous GAO report on Delaware River dredging won’t be made public until end of April [...]
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| Photo | Courtesy of defibrillators.us |
Remember the Riders Against Gender Exclusion (awesome acronym, BTW) protest earlier this week, in which transgender activists dressed in drag and marched around City Hall, in order to speak out against SEPTA's M/F gender transit passes?
It turns out that Chicago's TG community is grappling with a similar problem: Their rail system Metra also insists on keeping its M/F gender stickers, also because the company claims it cuts down on theft.
Why are current polititions so afraid of young up and coming Democrats ?
Nicholas DiDonato is a up and coming young Democrat running for PA State Committee on May 18th 2010. But Existing Ward Leaders like in the 39th Ward shunned him and even tried to have his petition dismissed.
Are you a member of Facebook?
Askadelphia runs on Facebook Connect.
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| Kaytee Riek, Health Global Aids Project |
Philly GAWD (Global AIDS Watchdog), ACT UP Philadelphia, and Health GAP (Global AIDS Project) delivered a (fake) 9 billion dollar oversize check to Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Chaka Fattah as part of an April Fool's prank aimed at shaming the representatives both of whom sit on appropriations committees for, they say, going back on a promise to increase spending on fighting global AIDS.
"Organizations that receive US goverment funding were scaled up, they started enrolling more patients," says Kaytee Riek, Director of Organizing for Health Global AIDS Project, "but with the funding not coming through, people who were promised medication that would save their lives are being forced onto waiting lists."
"Our question to Specter and Fattah is, 'Was this an April Fools joke?'"
Pardon the interruption while we toot our own horns here for a second.
The results of the 2010 Keystone Press Awards are in and the good people at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association deemed City Paper writers worthy of five first place awards and one distinguished writing award. To the honorees:
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Division VI, Non-daily papers, circulation 10,000 and higher |
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| First Place, Investigative Reporting | Isaiah Thompson, Steamrolled: The soccer stadium barrels its way into Chester. |
| First Place, Special Projects | CP Staff & Brian Howard (editor): The Big Vision Issue, CP Choice 2009 |
| First Place, Sports Story | E. James Beale, The Prospect: What does it take to make it in the NBA? And does Dionte Christmas have it? |
| First Place, Personality Profile | Carolyn Huckabay and Neal Santos, She's on a Mission: T. Desiree Hines will change the way you think about trans Philadelphia. |
| First Place, Feature Beat Reporting | Trey Popp, Food Beat, for features on Square 1682, Chifa, Root, The Kibitz Room, Fond and DIY Ginger Ale |
City Paper Senior Writer Isaiah Thompson was awarded second place for Distinguished Writing among writers at all weekly papers in the state for his entry that consisted of Coop D'Etat, Believe it or Not and Meet Your New Neighbor.
Congratulations!! Well deserved
Hell yes! Congrats, you guys are awesome!
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