Bullet Train Costs Soar to $68 Billion

 

August 28, 2014



It was 21 years ago in 1993 that the 50-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas ended as, some believe, federal agents caused the fire which destroyed the structure and killed so many.

Can we take a moment to remember Culver City resident Jose de la Trinidad, 36? He was allegedly shot five times in the back by Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies as he held his hands above his head. It was on Nov. 10, 2012 on East 122nd St. at 10:30 p.m. when deputies claim Jose was reaching for a weapon. An eyewitness and physical evidence disagree.

The family filed a $15 million wrongful death suit.

Today I will continue with my strenuous physical training program so by the time the Senior Olympics rolls around, I will win the gold for the 440 High Hurdles. Yes, I read Assemblyman Gorell’s (R-Camarillo) AB 2323 bill that would exempt California athletes from paying tax on the honorary payments from the U.S. Olympic Committee – generally $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.

The Internal Revenue Service says more than five million taxpayers were delinquent at the end of April, 2014. The IRS feels one possible solution would be to turn those accounts over to private collection agencies.

A former police officer in Oakland, CA is being investigated for collecting a disability pension while working for the FBI.

The bullet train is now supposed to cost taxpayers $68 billion.

Speaking of trains, the Federal Transportation officials just “gave” us $2.1 billion in grants and loans to construct the purple line subway four miles and three new stations from Koreatown to Beverly Hills. Projected cost is $2.8 billion and it should be done by 2023. As we all know, Neil didn’t go to Culver City schools, so double check his math. The total cost is $2.8 billion. Subtract the loans and grants of $2.1 billion. That leaves the taxpayers on the hook for 700 million plus all the loans we have to pay back.

You remember the United States Postal System? Those are the people who every few years raise the price of stamps and fees, close and sell post offices (Gateway will close before long), and they want to open offices in Staples using low cost labor. Well, they want to end porch delivery and use curbside or communal or cluster locked mail boxes. Over 10 years they want to convert 15 million front door deliveries to the other options to save on labor costs.

Cops will catch you in Italy because the top speed of Italy’s new police vehicle is 202 miles per hour. Oh, yes, it was built by Lamborghini. My oh my . . .

Ever wonder what was the median Unites States Chief Executive Officer pay in 2013? How does $10.5 million grab you? No 99 Cent Store for them.

For my birthday you can get me a SAFEPLUG for $65. This device will keep Big Brother, the NSA, the FBI, the CIA and, most important, the Chinese out of your business. By connecting this to your router it will send your Internet traffic through several random locations by using TOR (The Onion Router), thus making sure any would-be IP address snoops can’t pin down where you are.

I wonder how many saw the big celebration as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced an ambitious $1.08 billion plan to restore habitat, widen the Los Angeles River, and create wetlands, parks and bicycle trails. I am impressed and I know many of you are as well. The old sergeant read the article for the third time, but now I put my Davy Crockett magnifying glass on it and once again another dirty secret is exposed. The federal government is putting up 1/3, the City of Los Angeles gets to ante up 1/3 or $360 million and the State of California (that’s us, folks) gets to put up 1/3 or $360 million. Maybe we can pan for gold in the L.A. River . . . ?

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in the website’s search box.

 

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