LOS ANGELES — The day a governor signs a budget bill into law usually marks the end of acrimony, threats and political dodge ball. But this is broke, embattled, politically crippled California, and so with the sweep of his pen, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the door Tuesday for more fights. Seeking to close a final hole created by a last-minute rejection by lawmakers of two large revenue-producing measures, the governor made a slew of line-item cuts to programs for children and the poor to close a roughly $24 billion two-year gap. His trims to programs that legislators took pains to protect over these many weeks prompted instant screaming from lawmakers, as well as implications of lawsuits. The Democratic-controlled Legislature insisted that Mr. Schwarzenegger overstepped his authority to veto new appropriations by editing out existing funds and interfering with items written to avoid a veto. ‘I am asking legislative counsel for a definitive opinion on the legality of the governor’s actions, the Assembly leader, Karen Bass, said in a statement. ‘The cuts the governor made today will have catastrophic effects on children, domestic abuse victims and seniors. Legislators finalized the document last week after a series of […]
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In a gleaming white factory here, Bob Peters was gently feeding sheets of chemical-coated foil one afternoon recently into a whirring machine that cut them into precise rectangles. It was an early step in building a new kind of battery, one smaller than a cereal box but with almost as much energy as the kind in a conventional automobile. The goal of Mr. Peters, 51, and his co-workers at International Battery, a high-tech start-up, is industrial revolution. Racing against other companies around the globe, they are on the front lines of an effort to build smaller, lighter, more powerful batteries that could help transform the American energy economy by replacing gasoline in cars and making windmills and solar cells easier to integrate into the power grid. This summer the Obama administration plans to announce how it will distribute some $2 billion in stimulus grants to companies that make such advanced batteries for hybrid or all-electric vehicles and related components. International Battery is vying for a modest chunk of it. The hope is that the grants will spur far higher levels of experimentation and production, pushing down the costs that have prevented these batteries from […]
WASHINGTON — New research shows medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than for someone who’s normal weight. Overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion, double what it was nearly a decade ago, says the study published Monday by the journal Health Affairs. The higher expense reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments far more common for the overweight, concluded the study by government scientists and the nonprofit research group RTI International. RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health-care system: ‘Unless you address obesity, you’re never going to address rising health-care costs.’ Obesity-related conditions now account for 9.1% of all medical spending, up from 6.5% in 1998, the study concluded. Health economists have long warned that obesity is a driving force behind the rise in health spending. For example, diabetes costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes. Moreover, obese diabetics are the hardest to treat, with higher rates of foot ulcers and amputations, among other things. The new study’s look at per-capita spending […]
LINCOLN - At least three Nebraska lawmakers want to send a message to the federal government: Butt out of state business. Next year they will see if a majority of their colleagues agrees. The senators are working on resolutions asserting Nebraska’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. Congressional powers The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Among the powers given to Congress by the U.S. Constitution: >>To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States. >>To borrow money on the credit of the United States. >>To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. >>To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States. >>To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and […]
A system that can deliver power to devices without the need for wires has been shown off at a hi-tech conference. The technique exploits simple physics and can be used to charge a range of electronic devices over many metres. Eric Giler, chief executive of US firm Witricity, showed mobile phones and televisions charging wirelessly at the TED Global conference in Oxford. He said the system could replace the miles of expensive power cables and billions of disposable batteries. ‘There is something like 40 billion disposable batteries built every year for power that, generally speaking, is used within a few inches or feet of where there is very inexpensive power,’ he said. Trillions of dollars, he said, had also been invested building an infrastructure of wires ‘to get power from where it is created to where it is used.’ Witricity claims to be able to charge gadgets large and small ‘We love this stuff [electricity] so much,’ he said. Mr Giler showed off a Google G1 phone and an Apple iPhone that could be charged using the system. Witricity, he said, had managed to pack all the necessary components into the body of […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
