New York state Sen. Hiram Monserrate (mahn-suh-RAHT') has been sentenced to three years on probation for dragging his bleeding girlfriend through his apartment building lobby.
His sentence, handed down Friday, also includes 250 hours of community service and a year of domestic abuse counseling. He also must continue to stay away from his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo.
Giraldo had sought to have the protection order lifted. She was in court for the sentencing.
Monserrate could have gotten in up to a year behind bars.
He was acquitted of intentionally smashing Giraldo's face with a glass on Dec. 19, 2008. The wound near her eye required about 40 stitches; both said it was an accident.
Some lawmakers have called for Monserrate's resignation.
News Source: The Associated Press.
Solution Business
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Trichet Clears Obstacles to Higher Rates in Stimulus Withdrawal
European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet is withdrawing stimulus measures faster than economists anticipated, clearing obstacles to higher interest rates next year.
The ECB’s decision yesterday to end long-term emergency loans and tighten the terms of its final 12-month tender will give greater traction to any rate increases in 2010 should policy makers deem them necessary.
“The ECB chose a quicker exit path,” said Laurent Bilke, a former ECB economist now at Nomura International Plc in London. “It’s very difficult not to think it’s the beginning of a tightening process.”
The move to tie the rate on the 12-month loans to the ECB’s key rate rather than setting a fixed rate of 1 percent means any increase in the benchmark will also affect banks’ funding costs. While Trichet said the move doesn’t signal the ECB intends to raise rates, some officials are concerned that leaving borrowing costs at a record low for too long will fuel asset bubbles and faster inflation.
Trichet spoke as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke promised a “smooth” withdrawal of stimulus in the U.S. as the world’s two biggest economies pull out of recession.
Yesterday’s announcements “put the ECB in a position where it can choose to raise rates if it wants to further down the line,” said David Page, an economist at Investec Securities in London. “We’re penciling in a rate rise in the second half of next year.”
Economic Recovery
The risk for the ECB is that any indication it could raise rates sooner than the Fed may fuel further gains in the euro and undermine the region’s economic recovery.
Economists had expected the ECB to leave the rate on its 12-month tender fixed at 1 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey. That would have made any increase in the benchmark rate next year less effective because banks would have had money at 1 percent through the end of 2010.
By setting the rate on the loans to the average of the benchmark rate over the year, “the ECB has made sure that future movements in interest rates will be reflected in banks’ funding costs,” said Colin Ellis, an economist at Daiwa Securities SMBC Ltd. in London.
Some members of the ECB’s Governing Council were against indexing the rate, fearing it would fuel market expectations of policy tightening, people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg last week. Trichet said today the decision was not unanimous, rather reached “by consensus.”
‘Strong’ Dollar
The euro traded at $1.5081 at 7:30 p.m. in Frankfurt last night, down from $1.5123 before Trichet spoke. It fell to $1.5061 after Trichet said it’s “very important” for Europe that the U.S. has a “strong” dollar.
The euro has gained 20 percent against the greenback since mid-February, threatening to slow the region’s recovery by hurting exports. Daimler AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, said yesterday it will shift some production to Alabama from Germany as it seeks to benefit from the cheaper dollar.
While the ECB raised its economic outlook, forecasting growth of 0.8 percent next year and 1.2 percent in 2011, it said price pressures remain “subdued.” Inflation is expected to average 1.3 percent next year and 1.4 percent in 2011, below the bank’s medium-term goal of just less than 2 percent.
‘No Compelling Argument’
“The new staff growth and inflation forecasts confirm that there is still no compelling argument for hiking rates,” said Marco Annunziata, an economist at UniCredit Group in London. “Trichet was emphatic in noting that the decisions on liquidity simply reflect improving market conditions and in no way signal a prospective hardening of the monetary policy stance.”
Still, the ECB is withdrawing its non-standard operations “at a somewhat quicker pace than we had expected,” said Julian Callow, an economist at Barclays Capital in London. “In our view, today’s decisions are on the hawkish side.”
ECB council member Axel Weber said yesterday it’s a “balancing act” for central banks to withdraw stimulus measures without threatening their economic recoveries.
“We’ve made it clear that we’ll gradually withdraw unconventional measures in the future,” Weber, who is also head of Germany’s Bundesbank, told ARD television. “But that doesn’t mean that we won’t use the necessary caution. There’s no need to send a signal on interest rates at the moment.”
Normal Refinancing
The changes announced by the ECB nevertheless pave the way for a return to normal refinancing operations, in which the interest rate on its loans is determined by market demand. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September last year made banks reluctant to lend to each other, the ECB said it would lend them as much cash as they wanted at its benchmark rate.
Money-market rates have dropped, suggesting banks have become less wary of lending to each other. The Eonia overnight rate, the rate European banks charge each other for overnight loans, has declined to 0.34 percent from 2.2 percent at the start of the year.
“Once liquidity conditions normalize in the third quarter of next year, the Eonia rate is likely to move back to the refinancing rate,” said Nick Kounis, chief European economist at Fortis Bank Nederland NV in Amsterdam.
“This would pave the way for conventional monetary tightening from the autumn of next year, and we expect 50 basis points of rate hikes by the end of 2010.”
News Source: bloomberg.com
Solution Business
The ECB’s decision yesterday to end long-term emergency loans and tighten the terms of its final 12-month tender will give greater traction to any rate increases in 2010 should policy makers deem them necessary.
“The ECB chose a quicker exit path,” said Laurent Bilke, a former ECB economist now at Nomura International Plc in London. “It’s very difficult not to think it’s the beginning of a tightening process.”
The move to tie the rate on the 12-month loans to the ECB’s key rate rather than setting a fixed rate of 1 percent means any increase in the benchmark will also affect banks’ funding costs. While Trichet said the move doesn’t signal the ECB intends to raise rates, some officials are concerned that leaving borrowing costs at a record low for too long will fuel asset bubbles and faster inflation.
Trichet spoke as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke promised a “smooth” withdrawal of stimulus in the U.S. as the world’s two biggest economies pull out of recession.
Yesterday’s announcements “put the ECB in a position where it can choose to raise rates if it wants to further down the line,” said David Page, an economist at Investec Securities in London. “We’re penciling in a rate rise in the second half of next year.”
Economic Recovery
The risk for the ECB is that any indication it could raise rates sooner than the Fed may fuel further gains in the euro and undermine the region’s economic recovery.
Economists had expected the ECB to leave the rate on its 12-month tender fixed at 1 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey. That would have made any increase in the benchmark rate next year less effective because banks would have had money at 1 percent through the end of 2010.
By setting the rate on the loans to the average of the benchmark rate over the year, “the ECB has made sure that future movements in interest rates will be reflected in banks’ funding costs,” said Colin Ellis, an economist at Daiwa Securities SMBC Ltd. in London.
Some members of the ECB’s Governing Council were against indexing the rate, fearing it would fuel market expectations of policy tightening, people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg last week. Trichet said today the decision was not unanimous, rather reached “by consensus.”
‘Strong’ Dollar
The euro traded at $1.5081 at 7:30 p.m. in Frankfurt last night, down from $1.5123 before Trichet spoke. It fell to $1.5061 after Trichet said it’s “very important” for Europe that the U.S. has a “strong” dollar.
The euro has gained 20 percent against the greenback since mid-February, threatening to slow the region’s recovery by hurting exports. Daimler AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, said yesterday it will shift some production to Alabama from Germany as it seeks to benefit from the cheaper dollar.
While the ECB raised its economic outlook, forecasting growth of 0.8 percent next year and 1.2 percent in 2011, it said price pressures remain “subdued.” Inflation is expected to average 1.3 percent next year and 1.4 percent in 2011, below the bank’s medium-term goal of just less than 2 percent.
‘No Compelling Argument’
“The new staff growth and inflation forecasts confirm that there is still no compelling argument for hiking rates,” said Marco Annunziata, an economist at UniCredit Group in London. “Trichet was emphatic in noting that the decisions on liquidity simply reflect improving market conditions and in no way signal a prospective hardening of the monetary policy stance.”
Still, the ECB is withdrawing its non-standard operations “at a somewhat quicker pace than we had expected,” said Julian Callow, an economist at Barclays Capital in London. “In our view, today’s decisions are on the hawkish side.”
ECB council member Axel Weber said yesterday it’s a “balancing act” for central banks to withdraw stimulus measures without threatening their economic recoveries.
“We’ve made it clear that we’ll gradually withdraw unconventional measures in the future,” Weber, who is also head of Germany’s Bundesbank, told ARD television. “But that doesn’t mean that we won’t use the necessary caution. There’s no need to send a signal on interest rates at the moment.”
Normal Refinancing
The changes announced by the ECB nevertheless pave the way for a return to normal refinancing operations, in which the interest rate on its loans is determined by market demand. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September last year made banks reluctant to lend to each other, the ECB said it would lend them as much cash as they wanted at its benchmark rate.
Money-market rates have dropped, suggesting banks have become less wary of lending to each other. The Eonia overnight rate, the rate European banks charge each other for overnight loans, has declined to 0.34 percent from 2.2 percent at the start of the year.
“Once liquidity conditions normalize in the third quarter of next year, the Eonia rate is likely to move back to the refinancing rate,” said Nick Kounis, chief European economist at Fortis Bank Nederland NV in Amsterdam.
“This would pave the way for conventional monetary tightening from the autumn of next year, and we expect 50 basis points of rate hikes by the end of 2010.”
News Source: bloomberg.com
Solution Business
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Beach Erosion Weighed in Property-Rights Case
The Supreme Court waded into a property-rights dispute Wednesday, weighing whether Florida can restore eroded beaches in front of private homes and designate the newly emerged beach as public property.
Erosion threatens nearly 59% of Florida's 825 miles of sandy beaches, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Under a 1961 law, the state dredges sand from one area and dumps it on another, expanding the width of a threatened beach.
Six property owners in Walton County, banding together as Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc., argue that they should own the new beach and visitors shouldn't be allowed to spread their towels on it. The owners say their deeds entitle them to all land up to the mean high water line, including the additional 80 to 100 feet of beach the state added.
The case has animated groups angered by the last major Supreme Court decision on property rights, a 2005 ruling that said authorities in New London, Conn., could condemn private land for a redevelopment project. The groups filed briefs supporting the Florida landowners, who argue the state has violated the Constitution by taking private property "for public use without just compensation."
The beach-restoration program operates all over the Sunshine State -- including in Broward County, where Justice John Paul Stevens owns property. He was absent from the bench Wednesday, suggesting that he has recused himself from the case.
The Justice Department and many state and local governments backed Florida, arguing that a contrary ruling would undermine their ability to protect natural resources and carry out other public policies.
Last year, the Florida Supreme Court sided with the state. That court said that the shoreline is a "dynamic boundary" where property can change because of natural events like erosion and storms. Florida law "attempts to bring order and certainty to this dynamic boundary" by balancing public and private interests, the opinion said.
At the Supreme Court, the owners argued that the state court had radically altered prior understanding of Florida's common law of property and caused a "judicial taking." Kent Safriet, a Tallahassee lawyer representing the owners, said the Florida court had made "a sudden and dramatic change in state law."
Liberal justices, however, seemed unconvinced that the Florida court's opinion was such a dramatic departure from precedent.
"It sounds like a typical common law situation. A new situation arises. You try to apply old precedent and they reached the result they did," said Justice Stephen Breyer.
Conservative justices seemed more inclined to let the owners raise a takings claim in state court. But even then, Justice Antonin Scalia said, they might not get much in compensation.
"The state gave you some quid pro quo for this," he said, by protecting their property from further erosion. "So, who knows? Maybe that's sufficient compensation" for installing the public beach, he said.
If the court divides along typical ideological lines, the outcome likely would rest with Justice Anthony Kennedy.
He seemed wary of taking over common law questions that traditionally rest with state courts.
But he also suggested that putting a public beach between the owner's line and the water might diminish their property's worth.
"I'm asking whether or not a state beach with -- what do you call them -- port-a-johns and hot-dog stands and whatnot, isn't a substantial impairment of the upland owner's use," he said.
A decision is expected by July in Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The issue in the Florida case differs from the 2005 Kelo v. New London case, which was a dispute over eminent-domain powers. Residents who were compensated for their condemned homes argued unsuccessfully that regardless of the payment, New London's redevelopment project was not a "public use" and the city could never take their property through eminent domain.
News Sorce: online.wsj.com
Solution Business
Erosion threatens nearly 59% of Florida's 825 miles of sandy beaches, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Under a 1961 law, the state dredges sand from one area and dumps it on another, expanding the width of a threatened beach.
Six property owners in Walton County, banding together as Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc., argue that they should own the new beach and visitors shouldn't be allowed to spread their towels on it. The owners say their deeds entitle them to all land up to the mean high water line, including the additional 80 to 100 feet of beach the state added.
The case has animated groups angered by the last major Supreme Court decision on property rights, a 2005 ruling that said authorities in New London, Conn., could condemn private land for a redevelopment project. The groups filed briefs supporting the Florida landowners, who argue the state has violated the Constitution by taking private property "for public use without just compensation."
The beach-restoration program operates all over the Sunshine State -- including in Broward County, where Justice John Paul Stevens owns property. He was absent from the bench Wednesday, suggesting that he has recused himself from the case.
The Justice Department and many state and local governments backed Florida, arguing that a contrary ruling would undermine their ability to protect natural resources and carry out other public policies.
Last year, the Florida Supreme Court sided with the state. That court said that the shoreline is a "dynamic boundary" where property can change because of natural events like erosion and storms. Florida law "attempts to bring order and certainty to this dynamic boundary" by balancing public and private interests, the opinion said.
At the Supreme Court, the owners argued that the state court had radically altered prior understanding of Florida's common law of property and caused a "judicial taking." Kent Safriet, a Tallahassee lawyer representing the owners, said the Florida court had made "a sudden and dramatic change in state law."
Liberal justices, however, seemed unconvinced that the Florida court's opinion was such a dramatic departure from precedent.
"It sounds like a typical common law situation. A new situation arises. You try to apply old precedent and they reached the result they did," said Justice Stephen Breyer.
Conservative justices seemed more inclined to let the owners raise a takings claim in state court. But even then, Justice Antonin Scalia said, they might not get much in compensation.
"The state gave you some quid pro quo for this," he said, by protecting their property from further erosion. "So, who knows? Maybe that's sufficient compensation" for installing the public beach, he said.
If the court divides along typical ideological lines, the outcome likely would rest with Justice Anthony Kennedy.
He seemed wary of taking over common law questions that traditionally rest with state courts.
But he also suggested that putting a public beach between the owner's line and the water might diminish their property's worth.
"I'm asking whether or not a state beach with -- what do you call them -- port-a-johns and hot-dog stands and whatnot, isn't a substantial impairment of the upland owner's use," he said.
A decision is expected by July in Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The issue in the Florida case differs from the 2005 Kelo v. New London case, which was a dispute over eminent-domain powers. Residents who were compensated for their condemned homes argued unsuccessfully that regardless of the payment, New London's redevelopment project was not a "public use" and the city could never take their property through eminent domain.
News Sorce: online.wsj.com
Solution Business
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
African-American group challenges Cuba on raceAfrican-American group challenges Cuba on race
The Cuban government must confront a legacy of discrimination against black Cubans on the island, a group of prominent African Americans charged.
A group of prominent African Americans, traditionally sympathetic to the Cuban revolution, have for the first time condemned Cuba, demanding Havana stop its ``callous disregard'' for black Cubans and declaring that ``racism in Cuba . . . must be confronted.''
``We know first-hand the experiences and consequences of denying civil freedoms on the basis of race,'' the group declared in a statement. ``For that reason, we are even more obligated to voice our opinion on what is happening to our Cuban brethren.''
Among the 60 signers were Princeton professor Cornel West, actress Ruby Dee Davis, film director Melvin Van Peebles, former South Florida congresswoman Carrie Meek, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of President Barack Obama's church in Chicago, and Susan Taylor, former editor in chief of Essence magazine.
NEW VOICES
The declaration, issued Monday, adds powerful new voices to the chorus pushing for change on the island, where Afro-Cubans make up at least 62 percent of the 11.4 million people yet are only thinly represented in the top leadership, scientific, academic and other ranks.
``This is historic,'' said Enrique Patterson, an Afro-Cuban Miami author. Although predominantly white Cuban exiles ``tried to approach these people before, they lacked credibility. Now [African Americans] are listening.''
A news release accompanying the statement acknowledged that ``traditionally African Americans have sided with the Castro regime and condemned the United States' policies, which explicitly work to topple the Cuban government.''
But more African Americans traveling to Cuba have been able ``to see the situation for themselves,'' said David Covin, one of the statement's organizers and former president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.
The growing number of Afro-Cuban activists complaining about racial discrimination and casting their struggle as an issue of ``civil rights,'' rather than ``human rights,'' has helped to draw the attention of African Americans, said Victoria Ruiz-Labrit, Miami spokesperson for the Cuba-based Citizens' Committee for Racial Integration.
``The human rights issue did not make a point of the race issue, and now we have an evolution,'' she added.
``Cuban blacks moved closer to the term `civil rights' because those are the rights that the movement here in the U.S. made a point of -- the race issues.''
Alberto González, spokesman for Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington, said it was ``absurd'' to accuse of racism a Cuban government that ``has done more for black Cubans than any other in all areas, including health, education and welfare.''
The African Americans' statement was ``part of a campaign of subversion against Cuba,'' he added, designed to impact the administration of the first African-American president of the United States.
`HARASSMENT'
The four-page statement demands that Raúl Castro end ``the unwarranted and brutal harassment of black citizens in Cuba who are defending their civil rights. . . . We cannot be silent in the face of increased violations of civil and human rights for those black activists in Cuba who dare raise their voices against the island's racial system.''
The statement also demanded the immediate release of Darsi Ferrer, a well-known Afro-Cuban physician and activist jailed since July while under investigation on charges of illegal possession of two sacks of cement. The statement called Ferrer a political prisoner.
News Source: miamiherald.com
Solution Business
A group of prominent African Americans, traditionally sympathetic to the Cuban revolution, have for the first time condemned Cuba, demanding Havana stop its ``callous disregard'' for black Cubans and declaring that ``racism in Cuba . . . must be confronted.''
``We know first-hand the experiences and consequences of denying civil freedoms on the basis of race,'' the group declared in a statement. ``For that reason, we are even more obligated to voice our opinion on what is happening to our Cuban brethren.''
Among the 60 signers were Princeton professor Cornel West, actress Ruby Dee Davis, film director Melvin Van Peebles, former South Florida congresswoman Carrie Meek, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of President Barack Obama's church in Chicago, and Susan Taylor, former editor in chief of Essence magazine.
NEW VOICES
The declaration, issued Monday, adds powerful new voices to the chorus pushing for change on the island, where Afro-Cubans make up at least 62 percent of the 11.4 million people yet are only thinly represented in the top leadership, scientific, academic and other ranks.
``This is historic,'' said Enrique Patterson, an Afro-Cuban Miami author. Although predominantly white Cuban exiles ``tried to approach these people before, they lacked credibility. Now [African Americans] are listening.''
A news release accompanying the statement acknowledged that ``traditionally African Americans have sided with the Castro regime and condemned the United States' policies, which explicitly work to topple the Cuban government.''
But more African Americans traveling to Cuba have been able ``to see the situation for themselves,'' said David Covin, one of the statement's organizers and former president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.
The growing number of Afro-Cuban activists complaining about racial discrimination and casting their struggle as an issue of ``civil rights,'' rather than ``human rights,'' has helped to draw the attention of African Americans, said Victoria Ruiz-Labrit, Miami spokesperson for the Cuba-based Citizens' Committee for Racial Integration.
``The human rights issue did not make a point of the race issue, and now we have an evolution,'' she added.
``Cuban blacks moved closer to the term `civil rights' because those are the rights that the movement here in the U.S. made a point of -- the race issues.''
Alberto González, spokesman for Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington, said it was ``absurd'' to accuse of racism a Cuban government that ``has done more for black Cubans than any other in all areas, including health, education and welfare.''
The African Americans' statement was ``part of a campaign of subversion against Cuba,'' he added, designed to impact the administration of the first African-American president of the United States.
`HARASSMENT'
The four-page statement demands that Raúl Castro end ``the unwarranted and brutal harassment of black citizens in Cuba who are defending their civil rights. . . . We cannot be silent in the face of increased violations of civil and human rights for those black activists in Cuba who dare raise their voices against the island's racial system.''
The statement also demanded the immediate release of Darsi Ferrer, a well-known Afro-Cuban physician and activist jailed since July while under investigation on charges of illegal possession of two sacks of cement. The statement called Ferrer a political prisoner.
News Source: miamiherald.com
Solution Business
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