Hello,
A couple of notes about the primary election...I neglected to mention support for Amy Hunley for Clerk of the Court, an important office often overlooked. And Ralph Malanga has withdrawn from the Justice of the Peace contest and now supports Janus Poppe. fred KBRP/BISBEE ROYALE I hope to have more information about KBRP soon. I went to a meeting at the end of July. The volunteer board continues to make headway to get an overall picture of the health of the organization. It was clear that some of the details of the running of the Project/Royale have been difficult to reconstruct because of inadequate and missing records, missing passwords for computer access, and general disorganization of files. The KBRP situation is an object lesson for any organization that allows concentration of power in one individual, inadequate financial accounting, and sloppy paperwork with inadequate paper trails for decisions, and lax oversight by a board. However there has been considerable progress. Insurance has been bought to cover liquor service, as well as board/officer insurance; two types necessary to protect the organization and decision makers. A new website is in the works. Apparently there are negotiations with the IRS over a $52,600 fine levied against the organization for mis-filing. And there are dozen bookings at the Royale so far through the end of the year. The Radio station continues to run smoothly and IT stuff is being resolved. The financials are clearer; there were several bills, some large, not paid for some time including COB business license, syndicated networks, copyright royalties (ASCAP, BMI) and several others. But there is serious financial difficulties that need to be resolved. According to a P&L statement for Jan 1 through Jan 17, the total income to the Bisbee Radio Project was $52,442 which came from shows, membership underwriting and grants. The total expenses were $87,780. They had a deficit of -$35,638. The expenses were $21,000 for the building, $13,634 for administration, $37,743 for payroll/payroll taxes, and $9673 for production expenses. There should be a clearer accounting as July has ended. They have a small balance in the KBRP account and a large balance in the Bisbee Blues account. There was some confusion about whether the Project could spend any of the BF money. to be resolved. The Royale rental agreement is being reworked to reflect actual costs of opening the building. And a newsletter is in the works. As is someway to involve volunteers with specific tasks. There was some initial talk about contracting out running the Royale. Although the discussion was wandering and came up almost accidently, it is clear that anything of that magnitude has to be thought through with much more detail. There was a meeting scheduled last week that I do not have the results from. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BISBEE MENTIONS
St. Elmo's, Old Bisbee Brewing, Screaming Banshee, Cafe Roka.
https://viewfinder.expedia.com/features/most-under-the-radar-cities-in-america-part-2/
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TRAFFIC DELAYS ON HWY 80 TWEEN DOUGLAS AND BISBEE
Replacement of bridge (milepost 352) necessitates one lane use alternatively with a stop light regulating traffic. Will continue till summer of 2019.
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ECOASIS PART OF NATIONAL MOVE TO BETTER GROCERY STORES
Contrast this with the article about Dollar General below.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/dining/grocery-store.html?hpw&rref=food&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
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WATER WARS OF ARIZONAhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/magazine/the-water-wars-of-arizona.html?hpw&rref=magazine&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-we
............... ECONOMICS
THE RISE OF DOLLAR GENERALContrast this article with the one about better markets. While not directly applicable (yet!) to Bisbee this article details the closing of a food store after Dollar General moved in. An interesting read for us in Bisbee given how DG has impacted Safeway.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/13/dollar-general-walmart-buhler-haven-kansas?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=283344&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection
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80% OF AMERICANS LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/29/us-economy-workers-paycheck-robert-reich?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=282272&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection
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HOW GREEDY CAN THEY GET? THE 1% GETS TAX RELIEF The Trump administration is considering a tax tweak that would index the capital gains tax to inflation. Instead of paying tax on the difference between the sale price and the purchase price of a financial asset, a person would instead pay tax on the (smaller) difference between the sale price and the inflation-adjusted purchase price of the financial asset. An analysis by the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business said that indexing capital gains to inflation would cut revenues by $102 billion over the course of a decade, 86 percent of that windfall going to the top 1 percent.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AND THEN THERE IS THE REST OF US..
Filings for bankruptcy for older Americans have increased three times the rate 20 years ago.//Go here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/business/bankruptcy-older-americans.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A HUGE ECONOMIC DATA STASH IS YOURS FOR THE LOOKING https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ Every economics writer’s best friend is named Fred. It stands for Federal Reserve Economic Data, and it’s maintained by the Fed bank in St. Louis. It allows you to use a single interface to pull, at last count, 509,000 different data series from 87 different sources of economic and financial data. A big part of the advantage is simply that once you’re familiar with the interface, which is intuitive, you don’t have to relearn the data retrieval tool for each statistical agency every time.
.......... POLITICS
THE INSTITUTIONAL WAY OF DENYING WOMEN HEALTHCAREThere is a systematic effort to deny women medical care for reproductive health. From the right wing hatred of Planned Parenthood to religious hospitals limiting care, women are the intended victims in the push for male supremacy in health matters. This article talks about the role of insurers that can funnel patients to Catholic hospitals, which in turn can restrict the reproductive care available to the patient. “Thanks to a wave of mergers and consolidations that has been reshaping the U.S. health care system, ... Catholic hospitals are playing a bigger role in patient care. This is especially true in the Midwest. In Wisconsin, for example, 41 percent of hospital beds are in Catholic hospitals."https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-insurers-can-send-patients-to-religious-hospitals-that-restrict-reproductive-care/
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DEMOCRATS...GET YOUR PIXELS TOGETHER! https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/29/digitalising-democratic-party-jessica-alter-tech-for-campaigns?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=282272&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CARTOONS SHOWING TRUMP/RUSSIA CONNECTIONS
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CARTOONS SHOWING PRUITT'S EPA
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THE LIAR IN CHIEF
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SLY RUSSKIES....RESISTANCE GROUP FOOLED BY FAKE FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/technology/facebook-fake-accounts.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_tu_20180802&nl=bits&nl_art=3&nlid=55736694emc%3Dedit_tu_20180802&ref=headline&te=1
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EVERYTHING ELSE
MEDIA OBESITY....DO YOU CONSUME MEDIA 11.1 HOURS PER DAY?
Maybe we are overfed.
https://qz.com/1344501/americans-now-spend-11-hours-with-media-in-an-average-day-study/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW BATTERY MATERIAL, IT'S A BIG DEAL
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STOP SMART TV'S FROM SENDING INFO TO ADVERTISERS
If you don't mind all your personal viewing info, streaming and cable, being sent to various corporations, don't do anything. But if you want to limit that info (that they sell to other advertisers) here is how to do it. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/smarter-living/how-to-stop-your-smart-tv-from-tracking-what-you-watch.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ct_20180726&nl=technology&nlid=55736694edit_ct_20180726&ref=headline&te=1
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BUYING A USED CAR?
This is helpful.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR OF SAPIENS
Although it is on my reading list I haven't read Harari's book, which has become one of the hot intellectual properties this year. This interview is thought provoking. If his book is as clear as his thoughts in this interview, I gotta get on it. Here's one small exerpt.
"But now the merger of biotech and infotech in neuroscience and the ability to gather enormous amounts of data on each individual and process them effectively means we are very close to the point where an external system can understand your feelings better than you. We’ve already seen a glimpse of it in the last epidemic of fake news.
There’s always been fake news but what’s different this time is that you can tailor the story to particular individuals, because you know the prejudice of this particular individual. The more people believe in free will, that their feelings represent some mystical spiritual capacity, the easier it is to manipulate them, because they won’t think that their feelings are being produced and manipulated by some external system."
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CHECK OUT THESE LAND USE INFO CHARTS... Lotsa charts here showing shifts in land use. When all the pieces are put together; forests, pasture, crops, urban, special use, you will have a rough sense about how land is used in our country. See it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-us-land-use/ "41% of all land in the US revolves around livestock."and...
"The U.S. is becoming more urban—at an average rate of about 1 million additional acres a year. That’s the equivalent of adding new urban area the size of Los Angeles, Houston and Phoenix combined. U.S. urban areas have more than quadrupled since 1945."and this....
"While the U.S. benefits from an overall agricultural trade surplus, Americans imported 15 percent of their food and beverage products in 2016. More than 30 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables Americans consume come from other countries, predominantly Mexico and Canada. The amount of U.S. land used to produce citrus fruits alone is larger than Rhode Island."
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JUNK DRAWERS...THIS IS FOR MEN ONLY (or maybe the women who buy underwear for men too)
BOXERS (testicular cooling) VS BRIEFS (heating the nads) Hang loose or uptight, Dangle or not, the controversy is settled.The definitive scientific study settles the long debated underwear preference for men; Keep your nads cool if you wanna have babies. https://www.newyorker.com/elements/lab-notes/science-has-resolved-the-question-of-boxers-vs-briefs?mbid=nl_Humor%20081018&CNDID=28400132&utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Humor%20081018&utm_content=&spMailingID=14040225&spUserID=MTQxNzkzNjAzMzUwS0&spJobID=1460925969&spReportId=MTQ2MDkyNTk2OQS2 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++FM++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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