NYRR removes benefactor status and NYRR salaries and consultants

Here's a quote from the New York Flyers Forum:

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.

"most overpriced marathon in this country". Maybe it's so.

And maybe here's why:

Salaries of NYRR staff and consultants: (somehow the CEO salary is missing)
http://picasaweb.google.com/fedex1/NYRR#5292852791671891234

Source: Form 990 See: http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/132/132949483/132949483_200703_990.pdf

For who would like to know how to read Form 990, See: http://www.npccny.org/Form_990/990.htm

Don't worry, the volunteers are mentioned here: http://picasaweb.google.com/fedex1/NYRR#5292853625696380658

It appears that the volunteers contribution "do not meet the criteria of contributed services".

Significant 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.

But services/goods contributed to NYRR do have a monetary value:

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.

Does anyone know how to bid on the NYRR contracts. As a charity they are obligated to have an open fair bidding process.

Independent Contractors:

Susan Spivack
8417 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, NY Art Designer $97,730.

American Pro Cycling
500 East 76th Street, Suite 2RN, NY, NY 10021 Art Design; Install $1,010,863

Protective Strategies
14834 Das Marinas Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78418 Security $216,680

Daniel J. Edelman
21992 Network Place, Chicago, IL 60763-1219 Public Relations $216,929


Employees:

Ann Wells Crandal Hinegardner
9 East 89th St New York, NY VP of Sales 40 $274,909. + $10,550. (salary + benefits)

Saul Zuchman
9 East 89th St New York, NY VP of IT 40 $118,722. + $6,447.

Peter Ciaccia
9 East 89th St New York, NY VP of Events 40 $166,500. + $7,116.

Robert L. Laufer
9 East 89th St New York, NY VP of Le gal 40 $140,000. + $5,930.

Susan Cuttler
9 East 89th St New York, NY VP of Creati 40 $140,000. + $5,930.

Mr. X, tear down this wall.

I guess the basic difference in our discussion from yesterday is that you think most people are lazy, "want something for nothing", etc.

While I would say the opposite is true. I believe most people are good, (to paraphase Hank Paulson:) "hard-working"

Given the right system (a cooperative sane economy), people would be motivated and "guided by values of solidarity, and sympathy, and concern for others"

RALPH NADER: Yeah. Yeah, a remarkable statement. A reporter asked him, "What's your biggest regret?" at the end of his great career as a labor leader. And Eugene Debs said, "My greatest regret is that, under our Constitution, the American people can have almost anything they want, but it just seems they don't want much of anything at all."

Fast-forward to 1945. We were the biggest power in the world after World War II. Western Europe was devastated, but those people pushed and got, by law, universal healthcare, decent pensions, living wage, decent public transit, paid vacation, paid maternity leave, paid family sick leave, university free education. They got it, by law.

Sixty-three years later, these two parties, the Republican and Democratic parties, still have not given the American people what people in western Europe got decades ago. So we're trying to raise the expectation level, Amy, of the American people. If they become cynical and withdraw, which is what cynicism does, then they're going to lose their country. These giant corporations that hijacked our government are tearing the heart and soul out of America.

Noam Chomsky: Modern industrial civilization has developed within a certain system of convenient myths. The driving force of modern industrial civilization has been individual material gain... Now it's long been understood - very well - that a society that is based on this principle will destroy itself in time. It can only persist - with whatever suffering and injustice it entails - as long as it's possible to pretend that the destructive forces that humans create are limited, that the world is an infinite resource, and that the world is an infinite garbage can. At this stage of history either... the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community issues guided by values of solidarity, and sympathy, and concern for others, or - alternatively - there will be no destiny for anyone to control.

Another good lecture on "really existing free markets"
http://www.chomsky.info/talks/19960413.htm


And here's Chomsky's view on human nature and government.

2. Critics complain that anarchism is "formless, utopian." You counter that each stage of history has its own forms of authority and oppression which must be challenged, therefore no fixed doctrine can apply. In your opinion, what specific realization of anarchism is appropriate in this epoch?

I tend to agree that anarchism is formless and utopian, though hardly more so than the inane doctrines of neoliberalism, Marxism-Leninism, and other ideologies that have appealed to the powerful and their intellectual servants over the years, for reasons that are all too easy to explain. The reason for the general formlessness and intellectual vacuity (often disguised in big words, but that is again in the self-interest of intellectuals) is that we do not understand very much about complex systems, such as human societies; and have only intuitions of limited validity as to the ways they should be reshaped and constructed.

Anarchism, in my view, is an expression of the idea that the burden of proof is always on those who argue that authority and domination are necessary. They have to demonstrate, with powerful argument, that that conclusion is correct. If they cannot, then the institutions they defend should be considered illegitimate. How one should react to illegitimate authority depends on circumstances and conditions: there are no formulas.

In the present period, the issues arise across the board, as they commonly do: from personal relations in the family and elsewhere, to the international political/economic order. And anarchist ideas -- challenging authority and insisting that it justify itself -- are appropriate at all levels.

3. What sort of conception of human nature is anarchism predicated on? Would people have less incentive to work in an egalitarian society? Would an absence of government allow the strong to dominate the weak? Would democratic decision-making result in excessive conflict, indecision and "mob rule"?

As I understand the term "anarchism," it is based on the hope (in our state of ignorance, we cannot go beyond that) that core elements of human nature include sentiments of solidarity, mutual support, sympathy, concern for others, and so on.

Would people work less in an egalitarian society? Yes, insofar as they are driven to work by the need for survival; or by material reward, a kind of pathology, I believe, like the kind of pathology that leads some to take pleasure from torturing others. Those who find reasonable the classical liberal doctrine that the impulse to engage in creative work is at the core of human nature -- something we see constantly, I think, from children to the elderly, when circumstances allow -- will be very suspicious of these doctrines, which are highly serviceable to power and authority, but seem to have no other merits.

Would an absence of government allow the strong to dominate the weak? We don't know. If so, then forms of social organization would have to be constructed -- there are many possibilities -- to overcome this crime.

What would be the consequences of democratic decision-making? The answers are unknown. We would have to learn by trial. Let's try it and find out.

The best one is the quote which I can't seem to find in print, but Chomsky says and I paraphrase: all this talk about corporate greed is a diversion. Basically, corporations are greedy, they are nothing else. They are institutions created to interfere with markets to maximize profit. The Capitalist autocracy comes from the same intellectual roots as the other modern forms of totalitarianism. Asking corporations to be less greedy would be like asking a totalitarian government to be less brutal. The point is not to get a tyranny to be less brutal, but to get rid of it.

The best part was when Noam explains that there's nothing engraved in stone about capitalism, stalinism, fascism. They are human institutions and in the same way that stalinism and fascism fell, so too will capitalism fall.

definition of subsidy?

With the impending New York City subway fare increase (subsidy cut), it makes you think "what does the word subsidy mean?"

To Quote Noam Chomsky:

Well "subsidy" is another interesting word, kind of like reform. It's a subsidy if public funds are used for public purposes. That's called a subsidy. It's not called a subsidy when they go to private wealth. That's reform. So the -- so they're cutting down subsidies for public transportation. Well, that's just a tax. If you pay 20 percent more for getting on the subway, that's a tax. Same if you pay higher tuition at City College. And that's a highly regressive tax. So, who rides the subways, and who goes to City College?

http://www.chomsky.info/talks/19960413.htm

 

image credit: ny times

bush regrets intelligence failure

surprise surprise. bush regrets intelligence failure. amazing!

It is truly amazing to me that all Bush has to do is "apologize for the calamitous state of the US economy"
It is very similar to the Walmart incident where a Walmart employee died in a stampede set up by the "Black Friday" frenzy promoted by Walmart.  All Walmart has to do is "apologize".

Why don't "we, the people" refuse to pay taxes (which are used to support the wall street criminals) and refuse to fight the rich man's war and refuse to be police officers, etc.  And when judge asks for a statement say "oh, I apologize"

George W Bush says Iraq intelligence failure is his biggest regret

George W Bush has expressed his regret over the faulty intelligence leading up to the Iraq conflict, admitted he was "unprepared" for war and apologised for the calamitous state of the US economy, in a retrospective interview just seven weeks before he leaves office.

 

By Alex Spillius in Washington 
Last Updated: 6:55AM GMT 02 Dec 2008

George Bush: Supporters say he is doing what he can to preserve conservative principlesPhoto: AP

Though the outgoing US president failed to take responsibility for the misfortunes that have beset the country during his eight years in office, he was candid about wishing things had gone better.

Asked by ABC News' Charles Gibson what he would do differently, Mr Bush replied: "I don't know – the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq.

"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration. A lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington DC, during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different."

He said he could not answer the question of whether or not he would have gone to war had he known Saddam Hussein did not possess "weapons of mass destruction".

"I think I was unprepared for war," Mr Bush said. "In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack,'" he said. "In other words, I didn't anticipate war.

One of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen."

On the subject of the economy, Mr Bush said: "I'm sorry it's happening, of course." He continued: "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401Ks [pension plans]. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

The 43rd president said he hoped to be remembered as a "guy that came, didn't sell his soul for politics, had to make some tough decisions, and did so in a principled way".

Laura Bush, who joined her husband for the interview added: "I think they think he's somebody that kept them safe for eight years. I hear that all the time, people thanking me, telling me to thank him."

Despite devastating attacks of 9/11, the wars, floods, collapsing stock market and soaring unemployment, Mr Bush twice described his job as "joyful".

"The idea of being able to serve a nation you love is – has been joyful.

"In other words, my spirits have never been down. I have been sad, but the spirits are up," he concluded.

 

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source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3540733/George-W-Bush-says-Iraq-intelligence-failure-is-his-biggest-regret.html

President appoints Monkey to replace Hank Paulson as Secretary of Treasury

By Nim Chimpsky
Published: July 4th, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, appoints Nim Chimpsky Jr. as the next United States Treasury Secretary. President Obama thanked Mr. Paulson for trying his best, but it is obvious that Paulson's utter incompetence at best or malicious avarice and corruption at worst invites the question: "Could a monkey do a better job?". President Obama thinks so. "If this works, I plan to replace large parts of the cabinet with monkeys. They work for bananas and are not corruptible with silly things like green pieces of paper which easily corrupt some humans". President Obama apologized to Mr. Paulson for the charges of corruption and $200 billion civil lawsuit, but those funds are needed to balance the budget. "Mr. Paulson has stolen large parts of the $700 billion bailout, so we're only trying to get that back before he flees the country.", said President Obama. The charges, filed by Attorney General Russ Feingold late in the evening, allege that Mr. Paulson, knowing full well that Goldman Sachs and company were fueling a false real estate bubble, falsified information in order to pursue the disastrous corrupt lending practices which lead to what is ludicrously called the downturn in the "health of the economy".

Secretary Nim Chimpsky Jr. is affectionately called "Junior" by friends and family alike. President Obama said, "Junior will certainly do more for the general public and even if he makes random decisions, that will make "we the peoples" odds of a fair, SANE, and just decision 50% better than the previous administration, where the general public's odds were 0."

The former Treasury Secretary appeared unfazed by the apparent slap in the face by his replacement with a monkey. (GAVIN BELLOWS/BOSTON GLOBE)

Source: New York Times/CBS News poll

What is he doing?

A report of John McCain on the campaign trail:

Republican presidential nominee John McCain said the trio of Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) represent a "dangerous threesome."

"This election comes down to how you want your hard-earned money spent," Sen. McCain (Ariz.) said at a rally in Cleveland on Monday. "Do you want to keep it and invest it in your future or have it taken by the most liberal person to ever run for the presidency and the Democratic leaders, the most liberal who have been running Congress for [the] past two years — Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?"

You are probably asking yourself why is it John McCain is making such a joke of this campaign. Why is he repeating the same things over and over? Why when he talks there is all the canned sounds of hisses and aahs. It's worse than an old radio program, this time it seems to be produced by trained monkeys.

The reality is that John McCain knows he will not win the election. In fact, the entire campaign has been a show for you, the American People, and to a lesser extent the world. The show's main message is "the Republicans" and "the Democrats" are extreme ends of the spectrum and there is nothing else. It's exactly the choice in the Matrix. Do you want the "blue pill" or the "red pill"?

The red pill will answer the question "what is the Matrix?" and the blue pill simply for life to carry on as before. As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns Neo "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

The problem is the rainbow has more than two colors!

The show will end with the necessary illusion of "change".

This show will continue until enough of us wake up.

Greenspan finds a flaw in Atlas Shrugged.

 

Greenspan, 82, acknowledged under questioning that he had made a "mistake" in believing that banks, operating in their own self-interest, would do what was necessary to protect their shareholders and institutions. Greenspan called that "a flaw in the model ... that defines how the world works."

 

Amazing. This seems to be rather simple.  Self-interest without regard to the welfare of others, without regard to the welfare of nature is doomed.  It would be the equivalent of putting pampered spoiled brat babies and many normal babies in a ring with only one jar of pumpkin seeds.  Let's call the ring, "the economy"; the pampered spoiled brat babies, "wall street executives"; the normal babies; "the people"; the seeds, "the future".  Wait one day, and let's check on the health of "the economy", you would expect that the spoiled brat babies have eaten the "future".  But no, the normal babies who outnumber the spoiled brats by a lot shine light on the "seeds" and protect them and plant them.

 

The point is people have to wake up and realize that self-interest does not work!

 

Here's the reason:

 

From Chomsky: source: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20081010112037474

 

 The financial market "underprices risk" and is "systematically inefficient", as economists John Eatwell and Lance Taylor wrote a decade ago, warning of the extreme dangers of financial liberalisation and reviewing the substantial costs already incurred - and proposing solutions, which have been ignored. One factor is failure to calculate the costs to those who do not participate in transactions. These "externalities" can be huge. Ignoring systemic risk leads to more risk-taking than would take place in an efficient economy, even by the narrowest measures.

The task of financial institutions is to take risks and, if well-managed, to ensure that potential losses to themselves will be covered. The emphasis is on "to themselves". Under state capitalist rules, it is not their business to consider the cost to others - the "externalities" of decent survival - if their practices lead to financial crisis, as they regularly do.

Financial liberalisation has effects well beyond the economy. It has long been understood that it is a powerful weapon against democracy. Free capital movement creates what some have called a "virtual parliament" of investors and lenders, who closely monitor government programmes and "vote" against them if they are considered irrational: for the benefit of people, rather than concentrated private power.

Investors and lenders can "vote" by capital flight, attacks on currencies and other devices offered by financial liberalisation. That is one reason why the Bretton Woods system established by the United States and Britain after the second World War instituted capital controls and regulated currencies.*

The Great Depression and the war had aroused powerful radical democratic currents, ranging from the anti-fascist resistance to working class organisation. These pressures made it necessary to permit social democratic policies. The Bretton Woods system was designed in part to create a space for government action responding to public will - for some measure of democracy.

John Maynard Keynes, the British negotiator, considered the most important achievement of Bretton Woods to be the establishment of the right of governments to restrict capital movement.