Huh?

Oddest thing I’ve read in a long time, from StateTech (?):

Atlantic City Aims to Revitalize by Attracting Tech Talent and Startups

How do you redefine a city? It’s a daunting question, but one that Atlantic City, long viewed as a gathering place for the gambling and casino industry, faces amidst significant contraction and major casino closures in recent years.

In an attempt to rebuild itself, Atlantic County, N.J., which is home to Atlantic City, has invested in and built an initiative to drive investments in technology. The county is hoping to draw tech-focused startups from New York City down the coast to Atlantic City through an agency called the Atlantic County Improvement Authority.

“This very well could be the computer mecca of the East Coast. Absolutely,” says Max Slusher, economic development director for the authority. “We do view Atlantic City as being the perfect place where people can come and program, right on the beach, inexpensively.”

The county is hoping to attract companies from a few key industries. One is aviation, which includes drone manufacturing and testing. Atlantic county hopes to leverage the fact that it is home to the Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center (along with a proposed new aviation technical park) as a lure for other aviation tech companies and innovators.

The other industry targeted is computer programming and software development. New York City is a current hotbed for these companies, but Atlantic City could draw those organizations out of the Big Apple by offering a better quality of life and tax credits for high-tech firms that create at least nine jobs.

“Everybody talks about quality of life, but here in Atlantic County on the East Coast, we actually have it,” says Slusher.

The focus on aviation, startups and tech are the result of an extensive economic development strategy and plan for the county that was released in 2015. The county is also interested in drawing other advanced manufacturing and life sciences companies.

“The world economy has caught up with Atlantic County and we have the opportunity to do some amazing things when it comes to technology and research,” says Slusher.

It is notable, though, that while the county sees its future outside of the gambling industry, those glitzy casinos along the boardwalk are still by far the largest economic driver.

“Atlantic City still has seven casino hotels, employs about 21,000 casino workers, and it still exists as the largest generator of employment here in Atlantic County,” says Slusher.

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, New Development, South Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

101 Responses to Huh?

  1. grim says:

    Jesus, they are geniuses. It’s that simple, all you have to do is just become the next Silicon Valley. Let’s do it! Just like that! So sure of their future success, they’ve even picked out a name.

    “The crack computer mecca of the east coast”

  2. grim says:

    Seems like someone has been smoking dope with Glen Straub, and his plan to turn Revel into a city of scientists and superheros.

  3. grim says:

    From the NY Times:

    The New Suburbia: More Urban

    Some suburbs around New York City are becoming decidedly less suburban, as new apartment buildings and condominium communities close to mass transit help expand the downtowns of these villages and towns. Multifamily housing is also popping up near highways and main thoroughfares.

    Young professionals seeking more space than they can afford in Manhattan or Brooklyn, empty nesters looking to downsize and leave the snow shoveling to others and, to a lesser extent, millennials moving out of their parents’ basements are leading the charge to a more urbanized suburbia.

  4. Clotpoll says:

    atlantic city should be ring-fenced and turned into a prison colony.

  5. chicagofinance says:

    you can tell from the writing style and syntax too…..

    relo says:
    January 6, 2017 at 10:20 pm
    Just like you would be able to spot a fake Clot from the jump, same goes for JJ. Not even close to the same hubris.

  6. chicagofinance says:

    I guess all that is needed is the fence then……

    Clotpoll says:
    January 7, 2017 at 9:43 am
    atlantic city should be ring-fenced and turned into a prison colony.

  7. 3b says:

    More urban . And with urban problems too.

  8. Essex says:

    7:41….Proudly worked on Silicon Alley before that was completely decimated in the last tech crash.

  9. Anon E. Moose, proud owner of Silk City Bourbon ver 2.36/114 says:

    “The focus on aviation…”

    Here’s an idea – you’ve got a close-in feeder airport that can easily handle private planes and bizjets minutes away from their destination casinos (AC Int’l is 30 min. away, which is comfortable by limo, but 30 min. still). Let’s close that asset for no good reason, then say we’re committed to aviation.

    The only aviation they are focused on is the federal dollars the FAA spends there.

  10. Anon E. Moose, proud owner of Silk City Bourbon ver 2.36/114 says:

    “The focus on aviation…”

    Here’s an idea – you’ve got a close-in feeder airport that can easily handle private planes and bizjets minutes away from their destination c@sinos (AC Int’l is 30 min. away, which is comfortable by limo, but 30 min. still). Let’s close that asset for no good reason, then say we’re committed to aviation.

    The only aviation they are focused on is the federal dollars the FAA spends there.

  11. relo says:

    10:16 – Also, fewer misspelled words.

  12. Raymond Reddington says:

    Anyone go to Disney on Ice at Prudential Center? Need to know what decent seating sections are.

  13. Grim says:

    The property that they had an $800 million offer on and declined because they thought it was worth $1.5 billion.

    Last I heard they declined a $50 million dollar bid.

  14. walking bye says:

    I believe upstate NY built hollywood studios in no-whereville in hopes that studios would skip NYC or Cali to do post production, animation, special effects etc. I believe those studios sit empty with state employees sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

  15. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This is one of several places where it’s cheaper to society to be more generous to those in need. (Another is direct cash transfers to the poor, which are consistently shown to be more effective than most of our current social safety net.)

    And yet, the prevailing moral intuitions in the US block this. We have a “Puritan work ethic” that says we shouldn’t give people things for free. That any amount of abuse of such a system renders it morally suspect, even if, on the whole, it generates overwhelmingly positive effects for society, and even pays for itself or better.

    The same sorts of issues will come up if we ever start seriously considering a basic income (or one of its more feasible cousins).

    How do we get past that? Is there a way to position societal generosity as a positive investment, rather than a handout?

    https://m.mic.com/articles/86251/study-reveals-it-costs-less-to-give-the-homeless-housing-than-to-leave-them-on-the-street#.IveXqaA4s

  16. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “Tiny homes, a living-with less trend, has gone from hip to humanitarian. Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) now wants to pilot it in New Jersey, with a very different purpose: Reducing chronic homelessness.

    Giving homes to the homeless. Imagine that. Salt Lake City, Utah, tried it, and managed to reduce its chronic homeless count by 72 percent since 2005. The cost was about $12,000 per person housed — far less than the $20,000 a year taxpayers were footing out for each person living on the street, in emergency room visits, EMT runs and jail time, officials there estimate.

    Along with Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), Lesniak has introduced a bill that hopes to create tiny house projects in three regions of New Jersey. It incentivizes towns to change their zoning to allow these houses of less than 300 square feet, by giving them a bonus credit toward their affordable housing obligations for each one built.”

    http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/01/tiny_homes_for_the_homeless_why_not_editorial.html#incart_river_home

  17. Steamturd thinking about the remains of Hillary's umbilical stump says:

    I am highly suspect of any study performed by an academic social policy group.

  18. Steamturd thinking about the remains of Hillary's umbilical stump says:

    “Only 15 tenants have been asked to leave since the program opened for transgressions that included acts of violence toward fellow tenants.”

    So they are handpicking the tenants and letting the violent ones roam the streets? Seems like a charter school study.

  19. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Lol… yup

    Steamturd thinking about the remains of Hillary’s umbilical stump says:
    January 8, 2017 at 7:35 pm
    “Only 15 tenants have been asked to leave since the program opened for transgressions that included acts of violence toward fellow tenants.”

    So they are handpicking the tenants and letting the violent ones roam the streets? Seems like a charter school study.

  20. Essex says:

    In other Left Leaning think tank ini:

    New Jersey’s public employee pension plans ranked among the least generous of top public pension plans in the country, according to a report released today.

    The study shows New Jersey’s pensions are more modest than 94 of the country’s 100 largest plans.

    Gordon MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank, said the results push back against the myth that New Jersey’s public workers enjoy lucrative pensions.

    “It’s crucial that we not be misguided by… inflammatory statements that depict New Jersey’s benefits in a light that is inaccurate,” he said today.

    The study considered whether pension plans protect retirees from rising inflation, how benefits are calculated and how much employees contribute to their plans.

    New Jersey fell in the bottom half in all three fields, which Stephen Herzenberg, the Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center, who authored the report, called the three most important dimensions of generosity.

    “New Jersey public employees face a triple-whammy that gives them among the worst pensions in the country,” he said today. “They contribute heavily to their own pensions, receive only modest pension increases with each additional year of service and get no inflation protection at all in their benefits.”

    Workers kick in 6.93 percent of their pay — and that number is rising — while employees contribute less in more than half of the other systems, according to the findings.

    New Jersey’s retirees do not receive yearly cost-of-living adjustments to offset inflation, unlike 69 other plans included in the study that offer some protection from inflation. Retirees are suing to restore the cost-of-living increases that Gov. Chris Christie suspended as part of a 2011 pension reform package.

    The state’s formula for calculating pension payments also uses a low multiplier — 1.67 percent ­— that lands it in the bottom quarter of plans.

    The report notes that Garden State workers also receive some of the lowest pension benefits, but those were not factored into the rankings.

    On average, pension benefits are $26,000 a year. Local government employees receive less on average, $16,000, while teachers receive more, $40,000. State employees collect $25,000.

  21. Ottoman says:

    Because ipso facto, poor people of color are criminals….

    chicagofinance says:
    January 7, 2017 at 10:16 am
    I guess all that is needed is the fence then……

    Clotpoll says:
    January 7, 2017 at 9:43 am
    atlantic city should be ring-fenced and turned into a prison colony.

  22. Ottoman says:

    “We have a “Puritan work ethic” that says we shouldn’t give people things for free. ”

    Except home ownership tax deductions, capital gains tax deductions, corporate subsidies, investment depreciation deductions…

  23. D-FENS says:

    8:20 – No, just Democratic politicians.

  24. Steamturd thinking about the remains of Hillary's umbilical stump says:

    “poor people of color”

    What color are you referring to? I don’t understand.

  25. The Great Pumpkin says:

    That cost of living elimination is a killer. Even if you don’t spend a penny, it will be worth less and less. They really love robbing the workers blind. Steal their fund, don’t contribute, and then rob them blind by taking their cost of living increase. I guess it is what it is.

    “New Jersey public employees face a triple-whammy that gives them among the worst pensions in the country,” he said today. “They contribute heavily to their own pensions, receive only modest pension increases with each additional year of service and get no inflation protection at all in their benefits.”

  26. Essex says:

    A top aide to Donald Trump says actress Meryl Streep should have supported the president-elect instead of denouncing him from the stage of the Golden Globes.

    Kellyanne Conway told “Fox and Friends” Monday that she’s “concerned that somebody with a platform like Meryl Streep’s is inciting people’s worst instincts.”

  27. Ben says:

    They need to eliminate the idea of calculating pension based off of last 3 years of employment. Last 15 sounds better. I personally know two teachers who were given jobs as VPs on their way out just to increase their pension payout by 40%.

  28. Tywin says:

    Fairly certain Meryl Streep can’t even spell “trade deficit” and has never spent any time in cities such as Detroit, Ohio, or Chicago on a Saturday night.

  29. chicagofinance says:

    Isn’t it 5 for new hires…..my wife comes up on her 3 year anniversary on March 1….only then are we eligible for family health care coverage…..

    Also, my colleague’s wife is at the top of the pay scale in her district and pays 35% of the cost of her family coverage.

    Ben says:
    January 9, 2017 at 10:11 am
    They need to eliminate the idea of calculating pension based off of last 3 years of employment. Last 15 sounds better. I personally know two teachers who were given jobs as VPs on their way out just to increase their pension payout by 40%.

  30. Anon E. Moose, proud owner of Silk City Bourbon ver 2.36/114 says:

    Footstool [08:20];

    Because ipso facto, poor people of color are criminals….

    Totally apropos of nothing at all. Despite your inevitable protestations to the contrary, you’re the racist for bringing that up.

  31. chicagofinance says:

    Shut up……as a frame of reference…..a client of mine has a $30K pension that automatically kicks in in 2021….he was fretting about several things and I gave him a present value of that benefit alone…..I put it between $400K to $500K…..he became silent very quickly…..

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 9, 2017 at 9:46 am
    That cost of living elimination is a killer. Even if you don’t spend a penny, it will be worth less and less. They really love robbing the workers blind. Steal their fund, don’t contribute, and then rob them blind by taking their cost of living increase. I guess it is what it is.

    “New Jersey public employees face a triple-whammy that gives them among the worst pensions in the country,” he said today. “They contribute heavily to their own pensions, receive only modest pension increases with each additional year of service and get no inflation protection at all in their benefits.”

  32. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Chi, I don’t know what the answer is. I guess let’s go all out capitalism. Everyone protect themselves. Get rid of the pensions and instead give those workers the pension compensation directly through their paycheck and be done with this. Have people sign a contract that no one is responsible for their retirement, but themselves. If they fail to plan for their own retirement, or have some unfortunate circumstance take place, they will be put into a program where they are given the bare minimum. Bare minimum on food, and bare minimum on housing. Bare minimum on medical costs (not sure if that’s possible).

    Just toying with ideas, don’t know what the answer is.

  33. STEAMturd says:

    The answer is a 401K type plan. If you don’t save, there’s always cat food on sale at the local dollar store. And remember Plumps, that article doesn’t mention the medical benefits.

  34. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Jesus Christ, I forgot how cold SFHs are! I can’t see any millennial wanting one. I think my father told be back in the 1960’s that most SFHs can only handle about a 60 degree temperature differential. My wife and kids are used to constant 78 degree indoor temps all Winter (super cozy warm the moment you walk in any time of day or night and short sleeves shortly after, I guess you can only do that in a pre-war brick building with a kick-ass boiler). Last night, as a treat, I bumped our thermostat up to 78 degrees…couldn’t get there. The newer gas boiler stayed on all night and you couldn’t get the heat up any higher than 75, about 62 degrees higher than outside temps. Also, we decided to skip a land line except our cell service blows except in the front of the house and upstairs. I have to keep my cell phone downstairs in the dining room or living room on max ringer (not the family room or kitchen). The suburbs blow dudes (even when they’re technciall still in Boston).

  35. grim says:

    Your boiler is undersized or you have some major air gaps.

    Old prewar buildings with steam systems have units that are extremely hot because you have one boiler with no actual zoning. Therefore to keep the baseline cold units warm, the baseline warm units get hot. Easy to tell these building, its the building with the windows open during winter. This isn’t a benefit, this is extremely wasteful.

  36. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Speaking of the suburbs blowing, so does our snow blower. It took for freaking ever to get it started. When I say forever, I mean, taking pictures of it, coming back in and searching youtube and the web, going back out and pulling the pull start a couple more dozen times. Finaally got it started (Fuel shut0ff valve open, check, choke on, check, throttle on high, check, Primer pump pressed a few times, check, turn down the choke as it warmed up, check). When it finally stayed started and I was able to run it down the length of the driveway and down the sidewalk it died again. Now it still started every other time I pulled it (with choke now off, or nearly off), but it wouldn’t stay running. I finally figured out that it would run for a short time from priming it and would continue running if I kept pressing the primer as it was dying, it just wouldn’t stay running drawing from the fuel tank by itself. My guess is that the primer draws through the fuel line into the bowl, so the fuel line can’t be (fully) clogged. It’s an old Tecumseh on a Toro 3521 (1985?). Any ideas? Vapor lock? I have a feeling there was no “winterizing” done as the tank was full. Bad/old gas? Is the best way to drain the gas maually to just disconnect the fuel shutoff valve from the tank?

  37. STEAMturd says:

    Siphon as much gas out as you can. Since it runs if you baby it by adding air through the choke, just run it until the engine burns off remaining fuel. Then, buy one can of true fuel and run it on it for the rest of winter. At end of season, repeat the process. Chances are, you have water that formed from the ethanol sitting in a nut full gas tank which then messed up your carb. The trufuel will clear it out. Never stow anything with small motors with regular (ethanol) gasoline in it for more than a month or so. And if you do, fill it to the rim so the ethanol doesn’t touch air which causes it to break down. That Trufuel is the sh1t. Ethanol should be banned!

  38. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    grim – our older pre-war building withoil/ steam heat is fine (and I think my wife would rather sleep there). This is an expanded SFH (undersized may be right) 1930’s home with a modern gas furnace and forced hot air. The rub might be that the owners told me that the furnace died just before they closed in 2011, so the sellers had to replace, perhaps with an undersized unit. The main heat vent and return is in the dining room, about mid house on first floor, and runs up to one bedroom and the common bath upstairs. There are two more heat vents downstairs (that don’t blow much, because they have to go horizontal a good distance and then up), one in the family room at the back of the extended house and another in the half bath which was also added.

  39. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Thanks Lib! I rememembered you had some advice on this subject! I was thinking ethanol might be the culprit.

    Siphon as much gas out as you can. Since it runs if you baby it by adding air through the choke, just run it until the engine burns off remaining fuel. Then, buy one can of true fuel and run it on it for the rest of winter. At end of season, repeat the process. Chances are, you have water that formed from the ethanol sitting in a nut full gas tank which then messed up your carb. The trufuel will clear it out. Never stow anything with small motors with regular (ethanol) gasoline in it for more than a month or so. And if you do, fill it to the rim so the ethanol doesn’t touch air which causes it to break down. That Trufuel is the sh1t. Ethanol should be banned!

  40. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Agreed. It’s such a headache with small engines. Should be nicknamed “carb killer.”

    “Ethanol should be banned!”

  41. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Actually our old steam heat building had the boilers converted to gas a few years ago. I was concerned that they would mess it up, but it turned out fine and saved the HOA a bunch of coin (along with filling an 18 inch void between the roof and 3 floor units with foam insullation when we re-did the roofs. This place is probably just blown out too much with a wider mud room/kitchen/pantry/half bath out back (with bigger bedrooms and a master bath above) along with a family room on the first floor behind the kitche addition, and a 3 season room tacked on behind that. I’ll be interested to see how (inadequately) the central air works in the hotter months.

  42. STEAMturd says:

    I can’t tell you how many times a neighbor has been ready to throw out a chainsaw, roto tiller, lawnmower, pressure washer, etc., that Trufuel has gotten to run normally with no other intervention than draining the gas tank. I learned it from a tree guy. He said it’s the only stuff he would ever put in a two-stroke. He also said you could get it cheap from small airports that serve props. But since 911, you must have tarmac access to buy it. Prop fuel must be ethanol free. Wonder why? The fuel has a shelf life of like 3 years.

    I recall, when I was a kid, we had a 5 gallon metal gas can that we stored mixed oil/gas in for our weedwacker and other 2-strokes. I swear, we never refilled it for my entire childhood. The gas was still good. It had to have had a shelf life of close to ten years. This was pre ethanol.

  43. Ben says:

    Isn’t it 5 for new hires…..my wife comes up on her 3 year anniversary on March 1….only then are we eligible for family health care coverage…..

    Also, my colleague’s wife is at the top of the pay scale in her district and pays 35% of the cost of her family coverage.

    I dunno if it’s changed for new hires. Wouldn’t be surprised. Everything the union does is usually to screw over new hires. I also pay 35% of my health care costs. Anyone that does (most people), it’s essentially a 6 to 8 year pay freeze that they’ve been fed. This is not a good thing. It didn’t lower taxes one bit. It just freed up money that they’ve likely used to hire even more employees.

  44. grim says:

    Nothin’ like leaded fuel boys.

  45. STEAMturd says:

    The key for a steam boiler (which is pretty inefficient in itself) is to have a well insulated home. Our multi has NO insulation whatsoever. It was insulated with wool at one time, but it has all disintegrated since then. You can’t get it warmer than about 68 degrees when the outside temp drops into the single digits. Our super well insulated home in GR (we know since we tested it with the uber inspector’s thermal camera in a deep freeze in January) seems to have no limit. And we have a boiler that’s at least 20 years old.

  46. STEAMturd says:

    It might have been leaded actually. Fuel went unleaded in early 80s…right? Can was filled probably in 76.

  47. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I have a friend who bought a house in Framingham, MA. He had this one corner of his family room that was cold as hell. He finally removed the vinyl siding from the outside of the house and there was nothing underneath except studs. Sheet rock/air gap between studs/vinyl siding attached to the studs. I’m guessing that’s not to code?

  48. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    And was the purpose of lead, just to keep valve seats from wearing? I think I read that somewhere. The lead was intentionally added to the gas, not part of the formulation process, right?

  49. STEAMturd says:

    ExPat…that’s my multi. The windows are probably better insulators than my walls. Perhaps aluminum siding is better insulating than vinyl?

  50. Essex says:

    Southern California is looking mighty fine today.

  51. Fabius Maximus says:

    Grim,

    I noticed that you hadn’t insulated your own steam pipes. Any reason, or are you using that to heat the space?

  52. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    How clever is Trump to not only bypass the MSM, but have the greatest understanding of the average American attention spa…Squirrel!

  53. grim says:

    Yeah we don’t usually run the heat, if I insulate the steam lines, it’s going to be to keep things cool in the summer.

    Thermally, the space is pretty well insulated, that back wall is 20 feet high, and entirely underground. Even today, the temp inside was 48, usually hovers in the low 50s.

  54. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    grim – Aren’t you afraid that someone will report you to DYFS? Personally, I’m fine with this, our kids need to be toughened up, else they grow up to be…well you know… Pumpkins. ;-)

    Thermally, the space is pretty well insulated, that back wall is 20 feet high, and entirely underground. Even today, the temp inside was 48, usually hovers in the low 50s.

  55. grim says:

    Children work faster when its cold.

  56. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I actually had body work done on two of my cars around Lancaster, PA and he told me he told his kids this, “Work faster, that’s how you’ll warm up.” That body guy taught me something even more valuable though. He said, “Always have at least two suppliers. When times get lean, they’ll undercut each other.”

  57. 3b says:

    It’s been a while for me with this stuff. Is there still controversy out there regarding the usefulness of kurtosis?

  58. 3b says:

    Sorry for anyone familiar with kurtosis?

  59. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    long dick >> cunt

  60. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    LOL. Something else that makes it through.

  61. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumpkin = long cunt >> dick

  62. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Are you force to take the Cadillac plan? Are there alternatives?

    I guess it just sums up living in human society…..always forced to pay the cost for someone else. I just have to try and think positive, otherwise this crap will eat me up on the inside and make me miserable. Just have to apply the same mindset that I do with taxes, and tell myself, it’s the cost of society and for the greater good. Otherwise I’m just going to be pissed off with how unfair this is and ruin my only life with negative thoughts. I guess it is what it is.

    “I dunno if it’s changed for new hires. Wouldn’t be surprised. Everything the union does is usually to screw over new hires. I also pay 35% of my health care costs. Anyone that does (most people), it’s essentially a 6 to 8 year pay freeze that they’ve been fed. This is not a good thing. It didn’t lower taxes one bit. It just freed up money that they’ve likely used to hire even more employees.”

  63. Essex says:

    Cadillac, Cadillac
    Long and dark shiny and black
    Open up your engines let ’em roar
    Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur

  64. grim says:

    Yay Unions…

    Unions representing locomotive engineers filed a lawsuit to overturn a state law that prohibits NJ Transit engineers from operating trains if their motor vehicle driver’s license is suspended.

    The suit was filed in U.S. District Court Trenton on Monday by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD). Union officials contend that the state law, which was signed by Gov. Chris Christie in August, conflicts with federal regulations, is punitive and doesn’t improve safety.

  65. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Hey little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
    Driving all alone in a Colorado night
    You’re my last love, baby you’re my last chance
    Don’t let `em take me to the Cadillac Ranch

  66. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Driving a train is easy, it shouldn’t have anything to do with having a valid driver’s license. After all, you can’t make a wrong turn, amiright?

  67. grim says:

    Well, I mean, usually when you are suspended it’s for reasons like drunk driving and stuff like that.

    If this is that big a problem that the union legal teams are trying to reverse legislation, we’ve got bigger f*kcing problems.

  68. STEAMturd says:

    Isn’t it amazing how nearly the only unions remaining are for public service? I wonder why that is?

  69. chicagofinance says:

    Returns don’t follow the normal, so what is your question? It’s the black swan sh!t…..which was no earth shattering concept……usurped by the bearded douchebag….

    3b says:
    January 9, 2017 at 1:29 pm
    It’s been a while for me with this stuff. Is there still controversy out there regarding the usefulness of kurtosis?

  70. STEAMturd says:

    “The sexual healing bill would require patients to prove they can’t get bedroom action without paying for it — and that they can’t afford it.”

    Sounds like their equivalent of the Obamabone?

  71. Essex says:

    2:18 — because the pay is below average in these fields and the work somewhat monotonous. If they want to attract anyone to these fields they have to offer some type of compelling compensation. As this is reduced look for major shortages in those fields at least in terms of attracting quality candidates. A race to the bottom.

  72. Essex says:

    Widespread media reports of local teacher shortages have become a hot topic in education since the summer of 2015. After years of teacher layoffs, districts began hiring again as the economy recovered from the Great Recession. Many were surprised to find they had serious difficulty finding qualified teachers for their positions, especially in fields like mathematics, science, special education, and bilingual education/English language development. A number of states greatly expanded emergency permits to allow hiring of untrained teachers to meet these demands—which is the classic definition of shortage. To date, however, there has not yet been a detailed national analysis of the sources and extent of these shortages, and the prognosis for the future.

    This report details the outcomes of such a study, which analyzes evidence of teacher shortages, as well as national and regional trends in teacher supply and demand. Using several federal databases, the authors examine the current context and model projections of future trends under several different assumptions about factors influencing supply and demand, including new entrants, re-entrants, projected hires, and attrition rates. They also investigate policy strategies that might mitigate these effects based on research about effective approaches to recruitment and retention.

    Understanding Causes of Teacher Shortage

    Based on the evidence available, authors identify four main factors that are driving the emerging teacher shortage: A decline in teacher preparation enrollments, district efforts to return to pre-recession pupil-teacher ratios, increasing student enrollment, and high teacher attrition. 


    Trends in Demand

    Teacher demand is on the rise, as a function of changes in student enrollment, shifts in pupil- teacher ratios, and most significantly, high levels of teacher attrition. Based on the most recent data available, the authors’ modeling shows that teacher demand increased sharply after the Great Recession, leveling off at around 260,000 teacher hires annually by 2014. Projections show a large increase in 2017–18 and a projected plateau bringing annual hires demanded to approximately 300,000 teachers a year.

    After relatively flat student enrollment growth for the past decade, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) predicts the school-going population will increase by roughly three million students in the next decade.
    Districts are looking to reinstate classes and programs that were cut or reduced during the Great Recession. It would require hiring an additional 145,000 teachers, on top of standard hiring needs, to reduce average pupil-teacher ratios from the current 16-to-1 to pre-recession ratios of 15.3 to 1.
    High levels of attrition, estimated to be nearly 8% of the workforce annually, are responsible for the largest share of annual demand. The teaching workforce continues to be a leaky bucket, losing hundreds of thousands of teachers each year—the majority of them before retirement age. Changing attrition would change the projected shortages more than any other single factor.

  73. Against The Grain says:

    “Isn’t it amazing how nearly the only unions remaining are for public service? I wonder why that is?”

    Mostly because public employee unions are the only unions that never let themselves become Mafia subsidiaries, like most of the others who were then eventually destroyed by it.

  74. chicagofinance says:

    how about this one? bilingual education/English language development

    Essex says:
    January 9, 2017 at 2:35 pm
    Widespread media reports of local teacher shortages have become a hot topic in education since the summer of 2015. Many were surprised to find they had serious difficulty finding qualified teachers for their positions, especially in fields like mathematics, science, special education, and bilingual education/English language development.

  75. Anon E. Moose, proud owner of Silk City Bourbon ver 2.36/114 says:

    Re: Ethanol in gas;

    I’ve done OK with my snowblower this year. The last two years I simply siphoned/ran dry my snow blower before the end of the season with no other efforts.

    Yes, you can get ethanol-free unleaded gasoline at some airports — mostly smaller ones (think Lincoln Park, Blairstown, or Greenwood Lake; not even as large as Morristown or Caldwell). Call and ask if they sell “MoGas”; if they do it will be ethanol-free by default or try airnav.com under “Aviation Fuel” tab). Marinas that sell gas will also be ethanol-free — boats have an even harder time with ethanol in the fuel than small yard equipment. There are other websites that are a backlash against fuel polluted with “corn squeezins”– buyrealgas.com; pure-gas.org. Coastal blue states and regions near refineries almost always have ethanol; places away from refineries its less common — ethanol has to be added at the terminal and can’t be pipelined otherwise it does to the pipeline the same damage it does to the small engine innards. Last thing, gas stations that sell ethanol-free tend to be off-brand independents; you might also get luck sniffing around near a race track (even/especially a small dirt track) if you know where one is nearby.

  76. grim says:

    Electric start on your snowblower makes things really easy, especially when you need to burn through a considerable amount of fuel in the lines, carb, etc.

    Same thing on my little honda hydrostatic mower. Makes the first couple of mows of the season really easy.

  77. grim says:

    Started using that True gas stuff in my weedwacker, it’s worth every penny.

  78. Essex says:

    3:01 Absolutely. i’d think a degreed Bi-lingual person woud be in demand.

  79. STEAMturd says:

    It’s like liquid gold. You guys know how cheap I am and I even spring for it. Though, I buy 8 cans at a time to lower the cost. My guess is the shelf life will probably be forever too.

    And Grim’s right about the electric start. Even if the engine isn’t starting, you can burn the remnants/fumes out of your gas tank with the electric starter as long as you don’t over due it. You can clear the carb/engine of gas by pulling in the rip cord over and over again, but if it’s not a Honda, it will be very tiring. This is how you clear a flooded engine.

  80. STEAMturd says:

    The other crazy thing about that Trufuel is that it’s colored funny. The 30:1 premixed is pink!

  81. Clotpoll says:

    i am. clotpoll.

    that is all.

  82. Fabius Maximus says:

    Stu,

    Whats the thought on the Chase Sapphire Reserve? The 100K is tempting, I think I can make the $450 work for a few years. Don’t know if I should pull the trigger and switch from the Chase United Mileage plus before the window closes?

  83. Clotpoll says:

    seconde ne puis
    clot je suis

  84. Fabius Maximus says:

    I would take electric starter on the snowblower over heated grips any day. Crank it for 30 secs and you start.

    Some Sunoco stations sell racing fuel that is ethanol free.

  85. chicagofinance says:

    lies

    Clotpoll says:
    January 9, 2017 at 5:43 pm
    i am. clotpoll.

    that is all.

  86. chicagofinance says:

    liquid gold?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXZ8RfeHe0

    STEAMturd says:
    January 9, 2017 at 5:02 pm
    It’s like liquid gold. You guys know how cheap I am and I even spring for it. Though, I buy 8 cans at a time to lower the cost. My guess is the shelf life will probably be forever too.

    And Grim’s right about the electric start. Even if the engine isn’t starting, you can burn the remnants/fumes out of your gas tank with the electric starter as long as you don’t over due it. You can clear the carb/engine of gas by pulling in the rip cord over and over again, but if it’s not a Honda, it will be very tiring. This is how you clear a flooded engine.

  87. grim says:

    Whats the thought on the Chase Sapphire Reserve? The 100K is tempting, I think I can make the $450 work for a few years.

    It’s only a good deal if you are focused on miles earning and use them very wisely (not booking a $250 fare for 50k miles).

  88. grim says:

    I book at least 6 free RT tickets a year.

  89. grim says:

    My last good score was 3 RT tickets to Mexico before the devaluation on American, burned off most of my AA miles on that (I’m primarily United).

  90. STEAMturd says:

    Grim nailed it. Great deal for someone who knows how to book reward travel smartly and has the flexibility to not travel during peak times. Card won’t help you say, if you want to take your kids to Florida over Winter break.

    Current collection of cards are:
    Amex Blue Cash (grandfathered) – 5% cash rebate on supermarket, drugstore, gas. Incredible coupons on Amex website.
    Citi Double Cash – 2% cash back on everything.
    Discover It – Rotating categories and took advantage of their awesome double rewards for the first year which yielded me about $2,000 back last year, mostly from the purchase of two new iPhones at 20% back.
    Costco Card – Besides the rebate at Costco, use it for 4% off restaurants.
    My business card is Chase Ink but I purchase nearly nothing with it except home repairs, and if I’m at a hardware store, I often do better with my other cards.

    Best deal is still the British Airways card when they offer the 50K extra bonus which they do for a few months every year. We are eligible for it again. (3 years since we last cancelled it). I’ve written about that one before. I earned over 50% back on my purchases with that card since I use the miles for international first class. But, it’s not really fair since I would never pay $10,000 for a plane ticket.

  91. STEAMturd says:

    I should say, my real issue with mileage cards is that I am very skilled at finding cheap airfares. I can usually get to Vegas for $225-$250 round trip for example. Or Toronto or Buffalo for $150/$100. I can even get out to Reno usually for under $300. It is so damn challenging to find reward miles at the supersaver rates, and if I don’t get 2 cents per mile, I feel jipped as I could have just made the reward generating purchases with my double cash card.

  92. Fabius Maximus says:

    I can burn the miles with trips to Europe. With the 100K miles that is two trips. so first year is not a problem. I also have DVC that I can offset the $300 travel rebate against. I lose the 5% discount I get with Target, but that brings this card down to a $150 a year card. Are there other benefits to offset. I already have the 5 year TSA clearance so that’s out. I think it comes down to, can I make up the $150 in purchases.

  93. Grim says:

    We rent dvc- stayed at Polynesian for a week.

    $10.50 a point.

    Free flights.

    Purchased park tickets with Disney Gift Cards purchased form Target used resale gift cards. Using Target red card you get an additional 5% off – that means park tickets at a 9-12% off. I bought a $250 from Upcycle for 20% discount and then the additional 5.

    We do this instead of the dining plan too, which I feel is a rip off.

  94. Clotpoll says:

    i am looking to purchase a flamethrower. can anyone help a bruh out?

  95. Fabius Maximus says:

    Mrs Fab is putting our Poly points up to rent this year at $16 a point. She’ll get it as there is no inventory and we are heading into the 11 month booking window for December. She is toying with setting up a DVC brokerage. IF you know anyone with DVC points, let her know. She just got her friend $1200 for distressed points that they were going to give up.

    If you are booking a trip to Disney, I have a very good friend who opened up a Disney Travel Agency. She interned at Magic Kingdom back in the day so she knows her way around and will book you into everything you need to see. Book dinner here, ask for the window, and stay for the fireworks. It is Concierge level service, you will have an awesome trip.

    Dining plan is worth it, if you know how to work it. There are a few things. Don’t buy for every day, you can use a table service, day before and day after. We are heading for 5 days we buy for three. Kids meal on a Deluxe is almost a full size meal. Go Family style, the waiters will work with you. They are stretching a dollar as well, reflect it in the tip.

    Save the snacks. You can feed yourself in Epcot on Snacks alone.

    For you, two adults one young kid, Deluxe for the adults and buy the kid a MacNChesse off the ALaCarte. Or one adult and one Kid and Daddy gets the MacNCheese and Jr gets the steak and lobster.

    If you don’t have a reservation and you need to eat, you don’t have to downscale. If you haven’t booked anything, you can always walk into any restaurant, sit at the bar and order the same meal.

    We are a party of 5 and deluxe for the full trip is too much food. We will head for 5 days, and do food for three days with three kids and one adult. 12 table service and snacks.
    There will be some breakfast in the room and some PB&J, but my kids like that.

  96. Fabius Maximus says:

    Hey Gary,

    Can you judge O on his intentions and not his achievements!
    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-statements-kellyanne-conway-233344

    Just looking for a level playing field here. This woman is Baghdad Bob re-incarnated.

  97. chicagofinance says:

    I am going EWR to LAX for $256….I thought it kind of shocking….believe it or not, I am looking forward to going to Ithaca the week before, but loathing the thought of having to slog to SoCal in ealry February for business…….

    STEAMturd says:
    January 9, 2017 at 8:17 pm
    I should say, my real issue with mileage cards is that I am very skilled at finding cheap airfares. I can usually get to Vegas for $225-$250 round trip for example. Or Toronto or Buffalo for $150/$100. I can even get out to Reno usually for under $300. It is so damn challenging to find reward miles at the supersaver rates, and if I don’t get 2 cents per mile, I feel jipped as I could have just made the reward generating purchases with my double cash card.

  98. chicagofinance says:

    BullshIt…… I call ex-pat…..maybe Stu

    Clotpoll says:
    January 9, 2017 at 9:41 pm
    i am looking to purchase a flamethrower. can anyone help a bruh out?

  99. chicagofinance says:

    Yahoo to Become Altaba After Sale; Mayer Will Leave Board

    save us the bother and call yourselves CTRL-ALT-DELETE

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