DC’s Red-Light Cash Cows

You know those ubiquitous red-light cameras in DC? Well, they’re good at two things: 1) they turn a hell of a profit, and 2) they erode our civil liberties (Hello? Fourth Amendment?). But despite what the DC gubment says, they absoultely do not prevent accidents.

WaPo:

The District’s red-light cameras have generated more than 500,000 violations and $32 million in fines over the past six years. City officials credit them with making busy roads safer.

But a Washington Post analysis of crash statistics shows that the number of accidents has gone up at intersections with the cameras. The increase is the same or worse than at traffic signals without the devices.

Three outside traffic specialists independently reviewed the data and said they were surprised by the results. Their conclusion: The cameras do not appear to be making any difference in preventing injuries or collisions.

“The data are very clear,” said Dick Raub, a traffic consultant and a former senior researcher at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. “They are not performing any better than intersections without cameras.”

(Indignant emphasis mine.)

traffic, red+light+cameras, cameras

Big Bad Bill Needs a Remedial Econ Class

File under: Another Reason to Laugh at Bill O’Reilly: he doesn’t understand basic market economics.

Big Bad Bill on “the price of a gallon of gasoline”:

Every time I ask who sets the price I get “the market”, “the Merc”, “OPEC”, and on and on. Well it’s all B.S. Somebody tells your local gas station owner exactly what to charge. Somebody does that.

Um. Well, no.

(Via Hit & Run.)

Bill+O’Reilly

Categories
Misc.

US Military Buildup in Paraguay? More Info

Here’s an interesting — if alarmist* — assessment of a potential US military buildup in Paraguay.

(*I mean, c’mon, it’s not like our government has a history of meddling in Latin American affairs or anything.)

(Via Sploid.)

Paraguay, Chile, Nicaragua, Grenada, Venezuela, Chavez

“A War to be Proud Of”

Christopher Hitchens: “The case for overthrowing Saddam was unimpeachable. Why, then, is the administration tongue-tied?”

Hitchens, Iraq, war

Categories
Misc.

More on the US and Paraquay

Watching America has the translation of an article from Spain about developing ties between the US and Paraguy. Interesting passage:

This was admitted by the vice president himself, who said that Secretary Rumsfeld was worried about the situation in the zone. “… We also spoke of countries closer to us in the region; they (the Americans) are quite worried about the instability of governments like Ecuador, that is on its seventh president in nine years, or Bolivia, which remains unstable, and the same with Brazil, which at the moment is experiencing great political upheaval.

“In comparison, Paraguay is an area where one sees strong political stability, governability and institutional strength…

(Via RobotWisdom.)

Paraguay

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Misc.

Oil Protests in Ecuador

The details, from the BBC:

Ecuador’s state oil company says it is suspending crude oil exports following five days of protests in two provinces that have slashed production.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Sucumbios and Orellana have occupied oil installations and airports.

What it all boils down to:

Not all sections of Ecuadoran society have benefited equally from oil revenues.

The traditionally dominant Spanish-descended elite gained far more than the indigenous peoples, who make up a large proportion of those who live in poverty.

Ecuador, oil, protests

Categories
Misc.

Turmoil in Peru

Breaking news from Peru, which I recently mentioned in reference to the Failed States Index Map*:

CNN:

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) — Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo said Thursday he had asked all his ministers to tender their resignations and would evaluate who would stay on in their jobs.

The government was plunged into crisis earlier when Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero quit, following the appointment of Toledo’s controversial top ally, Fernando Olivera, as foreign minister.

Housing and Construction Minister Carlos Bruce also resigned immediately.

Bruce and Ferrero both publicly split with Olivera over legalizing some cultivation of the raw material for cocaine, and their resignations signal more turbulence ahead for the unpopular Toledo in his final months in office.

Under Peru’s constitution, once a prime minister resigns all ministers must tender their resignations.

The story’s still developing; the only other report I can find at the moment is from the BBC.

Stay tuned…

*Maybe those folks at Foreign Policy know what they’re talking about after all…

UPDATE: The the AP has this report, but other than that there’s been nary a peep in the daily papers — the WaPo has nothing at all, and the NY Times has only a paragraph.

Peru, Toledo, Andes

“Helping Boys Become Men, and Girls Become Women”

Is My Child Becoming Homosexual?

Vietnam War Reenactors

WaPo: “Vietnam Buffs Bring Jungle to Va.: Reenactors Evoke a War Many Would Rather Forget”

I consider myself to be way ahead of the curve, so I shall be staging an Iraq war re-enactment this weekend in the Arizona desert. (I’ve got Syria, Iran, and North Korea re-enactments tentatively planned for next summer contingent upon current events.)

Cambodian Gubment Sez: Stop Sending Nudie Pics Via Mobile Phones!

AFP:

“PHNOM PENH – A teenage craze for sending doctored naked images of female celebrities to each other by mobile phones sparked a demand by a Cambodian minister for government action against pornography.

Cambodia, phonecam