“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ridership on the nation’s trains and buses hit one of the highest levels in decades, with officials crediting high gas prices, a stronger economy and new technology that makes riding public transit easier.

In 2011, Americans took 10.4 billion trips on mass transit — which includes buses, trains, street cars and ferries, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

That’s a 2.3% increase over 2010 and just shy of the number of trips in 2008, when gasoline spiked to a record national average of $4.11 a gallon.

“As people get jobs and go back to work, they get on mass transit more,” said Michael Melaniphy, president of APTA. “And then when people look at gas prices, they really get on transit more.”

Melaniphy said gas prices near $4 a gallon tends to be the tipping point that pushes more people onto mass transit.

Obama makes alternative-fuel vehicle push

Read more

Friday, March 09, 2012

Most voters still say this country is overtaxed, and half think any federal tax increase should be submitted to the public for a vote.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters believe America is overtaxed. But that’s down from 66% two years ago and 64% last year. One-out-of-three (33%) now believe the country is not overtaxed, while another 12% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Read the rest here.

There’s Nothing “Fair” about it

Metro took several steps this week to address complaints that it wasn’t taking sexual harassment seriously enough.

The agency has established a new task force to address sexual harassment on the transit system, has created an email box ([email protected]) for complaints, and is urging its employees to report any cases to police, General Manager Richard Sarles told employees on Friday.

He specifically urged all workers to call Metro Transit Police if riders report any concerns, responding to complaints that some Metro workers had minimized, even laughed, when riders complained. He also called out Metro workers who make disrespectful comments to riders themselves.

“I was disturbed to hear their reports about assault and intimidation while riding trains and buses, particularly those accounts which involved our employees making disrespectful comments,” Sarles wrote to his more than 11,000 employees in a newsletter on Friday.

Several riders had testified at a D.C. Council hearing last month that Metro needed to take harassment more seriously, recounting stories of being groped on trains and accosted by masturbating men. They said other transit agencies had put up public service advertisements to address the issue.

The complaints became more heated, though, when a Metro spokesman told WUSA9 that “one person’s harassment is another person’s flirting.”

Since then, activists had been taking to Twitter, asking Metro to apologize for the comments and deal with the issue.

Read the rest here.

NetJets Inc., the private-plane company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), was countersued by the U.S. over $366 million in taxes and penalties.

NetJets in November sued the U.S., saying the federal government had wrongly imposed taxes, interest and penalties totaling more than $642.7 million.

Claiming the federal Internal Revenue Service wrongfully assessed a so-called ticket tax — an excise tax on payments made in exchange for air transportation — to private aircraft owners maintaining their own planes, the Columbus, Ohio-based company demanded refunds and abatements.

The federal government, in a revised answer and countersuit filed yesterday in federal court in Columbus, rejected NetJets’ claims and alleged that four of the company’s units owe unpaid taxes and penalties.

NetJets Aviation Inc. owes more than $302.1 million, and another unit, NetJets International, is liable for $52.9 million, the U.S. said. Executive Jet Management Inc. owes $10 million while NetJets Large Aircraft owes $1.19 million, the U.S. claimed.

“NetJets doesn’t comment on pending litigation,” General Counsel Colleen Nissl said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News.

The case is NetJets Large Aircraft Inc. v. U.S., 11- cv-01023, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (Columbus).

Source

Fun times for the 1%

Source

Americans sunk tens of billions of dollars into General Motors in 2008 and 2009, money which they won’t see any time soon, if at all.  The Obama administration strongarmed senior creditors in an unprecedented politically-engineered bankruptcy to get taxpayers to eat the costs of old pension obligations and boost the UAW.  All of this was done in the name of making GM a stronger company so that they could eventually pay back the bailout and make better decisions in the future.

So how did that work out?  About as well as you’d imagine.  As soon as GM had some cash, it decided to invest it — in another car company whose bonds had achieved le junk status:

Attention U.S. taxpayers:  You now own a piece of a French car company that is drowning in red ink.

That’s right.  In a move little noticed outside of the business pages, General Motors last week bought more than $400 million in shares of PSA Peugeot Citroen – a 7 percent stake in the company. …

Peugeot can undoubtedly use the cash.  Last year, Peugeot’s auto making division lost $123 million.  And on March 1 – just a day after the deal with GM was announced – Moody’s downgraded Peugeot’s credit rating to junk status with a negative outlook, citing “severe deterioration” of its finances.

In other words, General Motors essentially just dumped more than $400 million of taxpayer assets on junk bonds.

Oh, goody!  Just what we US taxpayers need — another car company “drowning in red ink.”  But there is some sort of secret synergy that the taxpayers who currently float GM must be missing … right?  Right?

An analysis by auto industry consultants IHS said it is “somewhat baffling that GM is willing to get involved in an alliance that it frankly does not need for size or complexity, while still avoiding any public plan to rationalise its European production, cut costs, or deal with labour rates.”

So let’s get this straight.  As soon as GM got freed up a little from its own irrational production costs and could deal a little more effectively with its own labor rates, it took cash that it still owes taxpayers and sunk it into a car company whose problems in the exact same areas are as bad or worse as GM’s was before the bailout.  What a great investment!  Why, that sounds amazingly like the kind of investment expertise that cost taxpayers $535 million in Solyndra.

ABC’s Jonathan Karl notes that while GM bought a big stake in Peugeot, the Peugeot family had an opportunity to buy a stake in GM.  They passed on that “opportunity,” which just proves that the Peugeot family is smarter than GM.

This is what government bailouts buy.  Instead of clearing the decks at GM and freeing their assets through normal bankruptcy so that more competent hands could put them to better use, the government intervention maintained the same status quo and funded it with taxpayer assets.  It’s no great surprise, therefore, that the leadership at GM would toss away money owed to taxpayers to buy a stake in another failing enterprise.”

(via) H/t @StockJockey

Is California Facing a Grape Shortage?

Grape prices are going up, but consumers have grown accustomed to bargains

California’s grapegrowers finally have something to cheer about—grape prices are going up. But does that mean higher prices for consumers? Winery owners are trying to cut costs so they can keep prices low at a time when drinkers still want value.

After nearly three years of sluggish sales and an oversupply of wine, vintners have cleared their cellars of older vintages and are looking to increase their grape purchases. But two small harvests and an absence of new plantings mean they are competing for a smaller amount of fruit. That demand is pushing up grape prices and bulk wine prices. “If you are buying wine on the bulk market, or you’re a négociant, your costs are going to go up,” said Adam Lee of Siduri and Novy Family wines. Larger producers like E. & J. Gallo are actively signing long-term contracts with vineyard owners to guarantee grape supplies at a set price.

Grape costs can vary depending on the vineyard, its location and the size of the harvest. On average, the price of all California grape types rose in 2011. The average cost of red grapes increased 12 percent per ton while white grapes jumped by 8 percent compared to 2010, according to a preliminary report on the 2011 grape crush by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

At the height of the recession, California’s wine industry faced an excess of wine. Sales of bottles priced at $20 and above slumped as consumers traded down to cheaper brands. Winery cellars backed up with unsold wines as restaurants and retailers tried to move existing inventory. Many winemakers had to change their tactics to stay afloat. To stimulate sales, producers and négociants turned to bulk wines and created second labels to meet consumers’ taste for values. Many looked to the state’s Central Valley for inexpensive grapes and processed juice.

Vintners attributed the surplus of wine during the recession to slow sales, not an excess of grapes. “The reasons for these oversupplies have been primarily economic, not due to particularly bountiful harvests,” said Cameron Hughes, founder of the eponymous négociant, which purchases surplus juice from wineries and bottles it under its own labels.

Wineries are now selling off that inventory. Over the past year Americans consumed more wine and reached for more expensive bottles. Wine Spectator sister publication Impact Databank reported that sales increased in volume by 1.7 percent in 2011. With cellars now empty, wineries are scrambling to buy grapes. “For the first time in three years most varietals across California are in demand,” said Brian Clements, vice president of California wine brokerage firm Turrentine.

“Some growers are already saying they are sold out [of their 2011 harvest] when a few years ago they were begging to sell fruit,” said Bill Brosseau, winemaker at Testarossa Winery in the Central Coast. Like many small and medium-size wineries, Testarossa relies on growers for most of its grapes.

Some of California’s largest producers are flexing their financial muscle to secure access to fruit. Winery giant E. & J. Gallo has signed long-term contracts with grape growers for 90,000 acres and announced that it plans to add 10,000 more, mainly in the Central Valley, over the next year. “With our forecasts for projected growth in the wine business, we are and will continue to make major long-term financial commitments to the California wine industry,” said Joe Gallo, E. & J. Gallo’s president and CEO.

A pair of challenging vintages is adding to the pressure to find good grapes at good prices. Data in the USDA’s 2011 grape crush report show that the grape harvest was down 3 percent in 2010 and nearly 10 percent last year compared to the 2009 harvest. “Yields have been down pretty dramatically and for all varieties as well,” said Siduri’s Lee. The 2011 vintage brought cold and wet weather throughout the growing season and a late frost in the Central Coast.

Another issue facing wineries is that the number of new vineyards being planted has slowed since 2006. “No one is planting right now,” said Ed Sbragia of Sbragia Family Vineyards. “So as demand for these wines grows, grape prices are going to go up; as a winery owner you’re going to have to pay more.”

But some argue that the shortage is not as severe as has been reported. “California wine shipments have grown steadily throughout the last decade but that growth is not outpacing supply,” said Hughes. He argues that shipments to wholesalers have outpaced wine sales, emptying cellars and creating an illusion of a shortage. And even though 2010 and 2011 were smaller harvests than 2009, they were still some of the largest in California history. Hughes worries any price increases would be very bad for sales right now.

If the shortage is real, wineries may have to raise their prices or change how they operate to offset the rising costs. While the economy is recovering, most customers are still price conscious—and many got used to discounts during the tough times.

Vintners are looking for ways to save money in their wineries so they don’t scare off customers. Brosseau said Testarossa is focusing on direct-to-consumer sales instead of going through distributors or wholesalers, who buy wine at reduced cost. “We’ve gone direct to restaurants and retail and are stimulating more sales in the tasting room, to offset higher grape prices.”

How wine drinkers will respond to potentially higher prices remains to be seen. And with analysts predicting that California’s shortages could last for several years, wineries will have to consider their options carefully. Grape prices could stay high because of demand even if the state sees a large harvest in 2012. “If we had a bumper crop this year it would be absorbed no problem,” said Clements. “Across the board there are more buyers than sellers.”

Stephen Albanese/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Gavin Rossdale with a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles.

Fender Musical Instruments Corp., the largest seller of guitars in the U.S., plans to sell as much as $200 million worth of shares in an initial public offering in bid to bring more Eric Clapton to China.

The guitar maker and its investors will sell shares, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company said today in a regulatory filing. JPMorgan Securities LLC and William Blair & Co. LLC are advising on the proposed offering. No further details were announced. San Francisco-based Weston Presidio Capital is the largest investor with 43 percent of the shares.

Fender, which traces its roots to 1946, makes the Stratocaster, or “Strat,” one of the most popular electric guitars and models inspired by musicians such as Clapton and John Mayer. The company, which increased sales 13 percent to $700.6 million last year, sees growth coming from emerging markets such as China and India as guitar-based music becomes more popular in those nations.

“We intend to extend our reach to a broader global consumer base,” Fender said. The brand is “closely associated with the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and has a strong legacy in music and in popular culture.”

Read the rest here.

Full article

You could change that with The PPT & 12631…

So funny.

Youtube slapped age restriction on this.

This is part of it.

via NY TIMES 

PRACTICAL TRAVELER

Including More in All-Inclusives

Brett Affrunti

By MICHELLE HIGGINS

Published: March 7, 2012

MENTION the words “all-inclusive resort” and thoughts of bad buffets, watered-down drinks and wristband-wearing guests doing the conga may come to mind. But all-inclusive resorts, which have traditionally included basic accommodations and meals, are reinventing themselves with chic rooms, sophisticated restaurants, butlers and activities all wrapped into one price.

Related

• More Practical Traveler Columns

Many hotel brands are also offering all-inclusive options for travelers who want to know exactly what their vacation will cost. For example, the Fairmont Mayakoba, an upscale resort just south of Cancún, recently introduced its first inclusive meal plan with the “appetite for luxury package,” which starts at $499 a night, per couple, and covers the room, two children five years or younger, bike rentals and unlimited food and beverages.

In the last year, at least two Starwood resorts, the Westin Resort & Spa, Playa Conchal in Costa Rica and the Sheraton Bijao Beach Resort in Panama, have gone completely all-inclusive with meals, accommodations and children’s club all covered under one price — a first for the company. The pricing direction was largely “a response to demand for more vacation packages from our customers,” said Trip Barrett, a vice-president for Starwood’s Latin America properties.

The new breed of all-inclusive resorts can be particularly attractive to travelers looking for one-sum vacations in these uncertain economic times. “There’s a psychological effect here,” said Scott D. Berman, head of the hospitality and leisure division at PricewaterhouseCoopers, “to know your vacation is already paid for and you’re not going to be opening your wallet every five minutes à la carte.”

But travelers need to do their research. While most all-inclusive resort offerings are covered in the price, expect to pay extra for special services and amenities like spa treatments, premium drinks and late-night baby-sitting. And while practically every place claims to have something for everyone, you can still end up feeling out of place if your travel style clashes with other guests. “I’ve been to several cheap all-inclusives that cater to ‘everyone’ — not just families — and I can’t count the number of inebriated pool-goers, partying-all-night-in-the-room neighbors and lap-dancing waitresses I have encountered,” Kyle McCarthy, editor at FamilyTravelForum.com, wrote in an e-mail.

To help you figure out if an all-inclusive might be right for you, here is a sampling of new or recently redone resorts that go beyond the usual buffet spreads and bland accommodations.

FOR FAMILIES

Club Med Sandpiper Bay, Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Standout Features Thirty new rooms designed for families with two bedrooms and one and a half baths, a children’s art studio created with the Pop artist Romero Britto and a Le Petit Sports program, which introduces young children to sports through storytelling and games on pint-size tennis and golf courses.

Beyond the Basics In addition to the usual meals and water sports, you get children’s programs for ages 4 months to 17 years, including a “baby restaurant” and teenagers’ hangout.

What’s Not Included Evening child care; spa treatments at the Club Med Spa by L’Occitane; excursions like airboat rides on Lake Okeechobe.

Cost From $1,064 a person a week to $2,135 a person a week. Children (2 to 16) pay half rate.

FOR THE SPA-OBSESSED

The BodyHoliday, Saint Lucia

Standout Features A recently renovated skin-care clinic, featuring Thalgo products and a couple’s treatment room, and a newly expanded water-sports center, which offers water-skiing, sailing, tubing, snorkeling and windsurfing. There is also a dive shop with a training center.

Beyond the Basics A daily 50-minute spa treatment, farm-to-table meals, fitness classes and wellness and weight-loss programs ranging from archery to “cellulite flushing.”

What’s Not Included Premium drinks, restaurant specials, scuba diving sessions, specialty spa treatments and appointments on day of arrival or departure and off-site adventures like mountain biking.

Cost From $450 a person a night.

FOR PARTIERS

ME Cancun, Mexico

Standout Feature s Five restaurants, seven bars, including the refurbished Rose Bar, which features Bali beds (day beds with white linen roof coverings) and misting fans, and the Beach Club, with an Infinity pool and D.J. jam sessions. The resort, which became an all-inclusive property last year, hosted the MTV series “Real World” in 2009 and features the Real World Suite with a pool table and removable stripper pole. A corner of the resort was recently designated the Chill Out Zone, a music-free area with large daybeds for guests who simply want to relax.

Beyond the Basic s Live D.J. performances are held each weekend. This spring, popular D.J.’s will periodically host day and night pool parties and D.J. Labs for guests who want to learn the art of spinning.

What’s Not Included Premium coffee and most premium liquors; private beach dinners; beachside Bali beds; off-property excursions like visits to nearby archaeological sites; and with few exceptions (guests staying in suites get a treatment) the spa, which features a coed hydrotherapy zone with whirlpools and showers that shoot water from various angles.

Cost From $298 a night for two people.

FOR ECO-MINDED FAMILIES

Sandos Caracol Eco-Resort & Spa, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Standout Feature s Last year the resort overhauled most guest rooms, installing water recycling systems, solar water heating, low-energy air-conditioning, and wooden furniture made from forests certified as responsibly harvested. A water park with 17 slides uses rain capture and filtration systems to help conserve water.

Beyond the Basic s From May to October guests can participate in a sea-turtle release program. There is also an on-site freshwater swimming hole, mangrove swamps and Mayan ruins to explore just steps from the resort.

What’s Not Included Spa treatments, scuba diving, premium liquor, and off-site excursions like deep-sea fishing.

Cost From $188 a night for two people sharing a room, including all taxes, fees and tips.

FOR COUPLES

Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas

Standout Features After a multimillion dollar renovation in 2010, this property — which was formerly a Four Seasons — offers a milelong private cove beach, seven à la carte restaurants, an 18-hole Greg Norman championship golf course and a 17-acre marina in case you want to bring your yacht.

Beyond the Basics Seaside villas come with private butlers.

What’s Not Included Treatments at the 29,000-square-foot spa, private cabanas, off-site excursions, greens fees and marina slips.

Cost From $770 a person a night.

via NY POST

She ferried her kids to band practice, attended parent-teacher conferences and cared for the family’s menagerie of rescued dogs and pot-bellied pigs.

But unlike other suburban housewives, Anna Gristina, 44, also allegedly worked as a high-end Upper East Side madam.

The stay-at-home mom of four catered to clientele with no less than $1 million in the bank while raking in piles of cash in more than 15 years in the industry, prosecutors charge.

CALL GIRL SAYS ‘MADAM’S’ LAW-ENFORCEMENT SOURCES TIPPED HER OFF ABOUT BUSTS

A drawn-looking Gristina yesterday was ordered held at Rikers on $2 million bond after prosecutors told a Manhattan Supreme Court judge that she was an extreme flight risk — and it surfaced that she had an alleged female hooker-booker partner, who is now on the lam.

STEVEN HIRSCH

HOW TIMES CHANGE: Accused madam Anna Gristina strikes a more dowdy pose in courtyesterday (above) than in the sexy Facebook picture of her and husband Kelvin Gorr (below).

In a day of explosive developments:

* An NYPD sergeant, Richard Wall, was ordered to appear today before the Internal Affairs Bureau with his memo book logging his work for the past five years after being seen making repeated trips in and out of the East 78th Street building that allegedly housed Gristina’s brothel.

* It was revealed that Gristina had a partner-in-crime, Manhattan “matchmaker” Jaynie Baker, who flew the coop before the two were indicted, sources said. The strawberry-blond Baker, 30, claimed to work for a legitimate Union Square dating service.

* A source said Gristina employed “Penthouse and Playboy models’’ to service clients who “were all millionaires except two billionaires — hedge-funders, CEOs and real-estate moguls.”

* The investment bank Morgan Stanley searched records of visitors at its New York offices to try to track down which of its bankers met with Gristina before her bust last month to allegedly discuss setting up an online prostitution service.

Today, Gristina’s attorney said he never asked her about a so-called black book.

Peter J. Gleason told “Good Day New York” that “as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist.”

He says if the mom of four is found guilty of the charges, “it’s irrelevant to me if there’s a black book or note.”

Gleason says the prosecution has not shared with the defense team information about its allegations that the Monroe, woman peddled underage girls and had police protection.

He says the allegation she promoted sex with children was “a ploy” the police sometimes use “if they have a hostile client that they want to break.”

Sources said the petite, green-eyed Gristina spent years juggling her illicit work with a quiet, unassuming life in the ’burbs.
Read more: http://trade.cc/audn

Usury upon the people after they bailed them out…

Source

“A combination of joblessness due to the Great Recession and welfare reform meant to encourage work has led to more than a doubling of “extreme” poverty in the United States, a new study has found.

Using a World Bank definition usually applied to developing countries, the National Poverty Center found that the number of households getting by on less than $2 per person, per day increased to 1.46 million households in 2011 from 636,000 in 1996, a climb of more than 129 percent.

Welfare reform in the late 1990s eliminated the sole cash entitlement program for poor families with children, replacing it with time-limited cash assistance that required able-bodied people to seek work. Children were the hardest hit: The tapering off of assistance has doubled the numbers of children in extreme poverty households, to 2.81 million from 1.38 million….”

Read more:  

Water Bills are expected to triple over the coming years to decades. This is due to poor infrastructure that needs to be updated or maintained at the very least. Huge investment, long term, potentials here.

A report from the American Water Works Assoc.