Now the NYC half marathon has risen from 65 dollars last year to 84 this year a 34 percent increase for members.We realize that they are the few that don't want to know about what is happening to our running community, but there are those that don't know and want to know.The NYC marathon is 61.6 percent higher than 3 years ago. now $ 160 (for members)Outrageous
A December front page of a local new york paper had a picture of an Ethiopian runner with a doctored photograph where his shirt was modified to read "will run for food". I'm not sure what the intention was but it seems as if the editor or author or whoever wrote that thinks that they don't run for food. If you think about it, the reality is we all run for food. Some run and run and run for food.
Last updated: 3:16 am
March 12, 2009
Posted: 3:05 am
March 12, 2009
It's good to be king.
Mayor Bloomberg is no longer just the most powerful man in town - he's the richest too.
Hizzoner has risen to the top of the Big Apple entries on Forbes magazine's 2009 billionaires list, reclaiming the title of city's richest man from oil and gas tycoon David Koch.
And in a year where the list of the world's billionaires shrank by almost a third due to the cratering economy, Bloomberg did the unthinkable - he got even richer.
Last year, the media mogul's worth clocked in at $11.5 billion. But after he bought back 20 percent of his company Bloomberg LP from a foundering Merrill Lynch in July, his value skyrocketed and he is now worth a staggering $16 billion.
Not since entrepreneur William Russell Grace won the mayorship in 1880 but spent every afternoon running his company, W.R. Grace, has the city had such a financial colossus at its helm.
While Forbes listed Bloomberg's worth as $20 billion on its 400 richest Americans list last September - meaning his value has dipped by $4 billion in the last six months - he still ranks as the 17th richest man in the world.
Bloomberg was quick to downplay the achievement.
"I don't pay much attention to these lists," he said. "The most important thing is what I do with philanthropy."
The mayor, in fact, came in at No. 9 on a list of the country's top philanthropists in 2008.
While Bloomberg's financial situation defied gravity, a scan through the rest of the list revealed how deeply the global economic collapse has bitten into the wallets of the world's wealthiest.
In all, the list shrank from 1,125 billionaires last year to 793, and their combined wealth slipped from $4.4 trillion to $2.4 trillion. Bloomberg was one of only 44 to see their value go up.
The average billionaire is now worth only $3 billion, down from $3.9 billion last year.
The bite was felt all over the world. The United States fell from 469 to 359 overall billionaires - down 110 from last year - toppling in overall value from $1.6 trillion to $1.1 trillion. Europe lost 102 billionaires and Asia lost 81.
The hardest hit was India's Anil Ambani, whose value shrunk by $32 billion in the last year.
"It's no surprise billionaires have been battered with the global economy," said magazine editor Steve Forbes. "No tears will be shed for the fact that a billionaire has gone down in his net worth."
Despite the hard hit taken by the dons on Wall Street, the shakeup has left the Big Apple as the city with the most billionaires in the world - with 55. That puts Gotham back on top of Moscow, which had 74 billionaires last year and has just 27 now, landing it in third place following London.
But plenty of super-rich New Yorkers got less rich in the past year. Corporate raider Carl Icahn saw his worth fall $5 billion and media tycoon S.I. Newhouse's holdings fell $4.5 billion.
David Koch - the previous holder of the wealthiest New Yorker crown - lost $3 billion, falling from $17 billion to $14 billion.
The global economic meltdown also rejiggered the list at the very top - once again making Microsoft founder Bill Gates the wealthiest man in the world with $40 billion.
He displaces Warren Buffett, who slips to second with $37 billion. Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu is at third with $35 billion.
But collectively the three men lost $68 billion in the last year.
Falling completely off the list were former Citibank chairman Sandy Weill, former AIG chief exec Hank Greenberg and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
In all, 355 people fell off the list and only 38 new people joined.
source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/03122009/news/politics/bust_is_boom_time_for_bloomy_159183.htm
By Letters From Earth (lettersfromearth1@gmail.com)
Published: February 4, 2009
The way Sen. Dodd told me this morning about it, somebody said, "Well, what if we don't do anything?" And Bernanke says, "There will be no economy on Monday."
"No economy on Monday". What does that mean? Maybe we'd be better off without your economy, Mr. Bernanke. And if I had done half as bad as you and the other politicians and elitists have done, I would not only resign in shame, I would apologize and admit my criminal activity. The fact is you and the other elitists need depressions. Think about it, who mans the armies for the wars you fight? Ordinary people do. Why do they do it? Because they have no choice, there are no significant social programs in America. You have no insurance unless you work for these dog-eat-dog corporations. The entire thought process is wrong. If someone has a broken leg, the first thing I think of is how I can help them. The first think you of is how can I profit from this person's broken leg. How you live with youself, I do not know.
The same holds true for other basic human needs such as food and shelter. This is already true for fire fighting and crime fighting. The case of fire fighting is simpler. When your house is burning down and the fire department comes to your door, do they think "how can I profit from this burning house?" Do they ask "Excuse me sir, do you have fire fighting insurance?" No, they put out the fire.
The police department is more complicated. In a fair and just society, we will have laws but not a military police force which creates a police state. But yet, the profit motive is not involved here. This is as it should be. In fact, the "profit motive" is basis of the problem with the world today. Why do the common people become police officers? For the exact same reason that soldiers volunteer to go to war. Let's go back to the Vietnam War. There was a draft and people hated the draft. Obviously, war is not feasible if there are no soldiers. If a draft is not possible, then you need depressions to force people into a crisis state where they will do anything to get money.
So, you see all the false talk about hating the depression or quotes such as "no one could have predicted this disaster". WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? What if you tell the police officer when he stops you for some minor speeding infraction, "Officer, the car accelerator got stuck and no one could have predicted this disaster" You would be laughed at and fined. What if you work at a factory you've ignored the machines for years and then one day they all rust and stop and you say when asked why it happened. "What a disaster, no one could have predicted it" You would be gone the next day.
So, why is Bernanke and the other elitists still there? When will the people wake up.
The conclusion is we need to realize that we all need to eat, we all need shelter, we all get sick, we all are going to die, and we all equally important. Not only "created equal" but "always equally important"
Next topic: The "profit motive" vs. "creative motive".
AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday, our guest, Chris Field, testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Republican minority invited Princeton University physicist William Happer to testify at the same hearing. He's a former Energy Department official and chair of the board of directors of the George Marshall Institute, an organization that's reportedly received $715,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. This is a part of what Professor Happer had to say.
WILLIAM HAPPER: The increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere will cause some warming of the earth's surface. The key question is, will the net effect of the warming and any other effects of CO2 be good or bad for humanity? I believe the increase of CO2 will be good.
I predict that future historians will look back on this period much as we now look back on the period just before we passed the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution to prohibit the manufacturing, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors. At the time, the 18th Amendment seemed to be exactly the right thing to do. It was a 1917 version of saving the planet from the ravages of climate change. More than half the states enacted prohibition laws before the 18th Amendment was finally ratified. Only one state, Rhode Island, voted against it, and my hat's off to the senator from Rhode Island. I'm sorry he's not here.
Well, there were many people who thought that Prohibition might do more harm than good, but they were completely outmatched by the temperance movement, whose motives and methods had much in common with the movement to stop climate change. Deeply sincere people thought they were saving humanity from the evils of alcohol, just as many people now sincerely think they're saving humanity from the evils of CO2. Prohibition was a mistake, and our country's probably still not fully recovered from the damage it did. For example, institutions like organized crime got their start in that era. Drastic limitations on CO2 are likely to damage our country in an analogous way. There's tremendous opportunity for corruption there.
Iris, the end of the annual benefactor membership is really bad news. Combined with NYRR's cap at 5,000 runners "to enhance the runner's experience" and, consequently, NYRR's all but guaranteed price rise in March, they will be (once again and again and again!) be forcing their membership to shell out more and more money for what is already the most overpriced marathon in this country.
Salaries of NYRR staff and consultants: (somehow the CEO salary is missing)
Don't worry, the volunteers are mentioned here: http://picasaweb.google.com/fedex1/NYRR#5292853625696380658Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)
Volunteers
NYRR has many volunteers who make significant contributions to the program and support
the functions of NYRR. These contributions do not meet the criteria for recognition of
contributed services , and therefore , their value is not reflected in these financial statements.
Contributions of Goods and Services
Substantial goods and services are contributed to NYRR. Those contributions that are
susceptible to objective measurement or valuation are included in the accompanying financial
statements . NYRR has recorded contributions of approximately $1,157,000 for the year ended
March 31, 2007.
