The Truthiness Report

Brass Tax: Propositions N and Q Levy Businesses, Property

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By Tim Kingston
The Truthiness Report: No. 6 in a series on election advertising. Propositions N and Q, which would increase and modify San Francisco’s property transfer and payroll expense taxes, were the product of intense negotiations between different business groups. Not surprisingly, the winners and losers in those negotiations define the pro and con election advertisements. The laws are simple enough: N would increase the property transfer tax from 0.75 to 1.5 percent on properties worth over $5 million, while Q ensures that partners in law firms have to pay payroll taxes.

World

Breakaway Abkhazia Ponders Russian Neighbor

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The contested region of Abkhazia is struggling to balance its hopes for independence from Georgia with its links to Russia, reports the Christian Science Monitor. A secessionist movement led by ethnic Abkhazians declared independence from Georgia in 1994, leading to war and more than a decade of unrest. Abkhazia sided with Russia when it invaded Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August, and in September signed a treaty strengthening economic and military ties with the former communist superpower. Russia’s new military presence offers Abkhazians security, but may come with the price tag of economic dependency. Russians are buying up property abandoned during the secessionist strife, raising concerns about inflated home prices.

The Truthiness Report

Prop. K: Untested Theories Drive Prostitution Debate

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By Bernice Yeung, Newsdesk.org/The Public Press
Proposition K, which seeks to decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco, has spawned a heated debate over how to curb human trafficking and protect the lives and health of sex workers. A close look at campaign advertising around the proposition reveals sharp disagreements between supporters and opponents over what the local impacts of the law would be, as well as a schism in feminist circles over prostitution itself. Drafted by the Erotic Service Providers Union (ESPU), a local sex workers’ alliance, Proposition K would require San Francisco law enforcement to disregard state laws prohibiting prostitution. The measure also calls for the estimated $1.6 million to $3.2 million currently spent on prostitution-related arrests and prosecutions to be directed toward other crimes, including violence against prostitutes. Despite an impact that would be purely local, the dialogue surrounding the proposition reflects the increasing globalization of the sex industry.

Featured

More Than Clean Energy

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San Francisco’s Proposition H, a clean energy mandate that may take a commercial power utility public, has attracted $5.4 million in influence ads. The Truthiness Report looks at bond exceptions, “blank checks,” rate increases, municipalization and more. Photo: jfraser

World

Giant Robot from Japan? Not *Quite* Yet

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Elderly or disabled people with mobility problems in Japan are now able to rent a robotic suit that will enable them to walk. Agence France-Presse reports that a company called Cyberdyne is making the suit, which detects electrical signals through the skin, then relays them to mechanical braces that lift the user’s limbs for them. The suits, which will first be leased to patients in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, are said to enable even paralyzed people to walk. Several countries are interested in renting the suits, which are available for up to five years. The HAL suit, or Hybrid Assistive Limb, weighs 24 pounds, although officials say the user won’t notice the robot’s weight.

World

Skype In … On Your Chat About China

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Canadian researchers have discovered that the Chinese wing of Skype, Ebay’s Internet communications company, has been monitoring its users’ text chats and scanning for sensitive keywords, including the word “democracy.” The Register, a British technology publication, reported that a text filter scanned messages for the sensitive phrases that, if found, were uploaded and stored on servers in China. Skype said that its Hong Kong-based partner, TOM Online, had put the text filter in place surreptitiously, and apologized for the breach of privacy. The Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto, exposed the surveillance and created a list of words that triggered the text filter, the article said. The filter looks for words like Taiwan independence, earthquake and milk powder — the latter referring to China’s recent tainted milk powder scandal.

Environment

Dutch Town in Hot Water for Energy Needs

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In the southern Dutch province of Limburg, the city of Heerlen is now the first in the world to heat and cool homes with geothermal energy. According to The Times of London, geothermal energy will be sourced from water heated in coal mines that were abandoned and flooded in the seventies. With a 55 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Heerlen expected, the mine water concept “can be adapted by former mining regions all over the world,” said Heerlen councilor Riet de Wit. At the moment the project is relatively small and able to heat around 350 homes and businesses, mainly because heating and cooling efficiency depends on proximity to the mines. Water drawn from deeper down the mines – up to 800 meters – can reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas cold water higher up will be used for cooling.

Economy

Credit Crisis Doesn't Break Scandinavian Ice

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The current financial crisis may be affecting economies around the industrialized world — but there’s one region that doesn’t seem overly worried: Scandinavia. Sweden and Finland, which suffered through a similar financial mess in the early 1990s, are apparently now well-positioned to survive the current woes — and despite the struggles facing Iceland and other neighboring nations. “Let me be clear that Sweden differs from some other European countries,” Swedish finance minister Anders Borg told London’s Financial Times. “We don’t have any failed banks and thus reconstruction needs are not as great.” Next door, Norway is feeling the pain — up to a point.

World

Hundreds of Immigrant Children Missing in Italy: Report

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Of the 1,320 unaccompanied minors who entered Italy illegally from the southern island of Lampedusa this year, hundreds have disappeared, according to the charity Save the Children. The group believes that the missing children may have fallen prey to human traffickers or criminal groups. Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported that approximately 400 minors between the ages of 15 and 17 have vanished from their host communities in southern Sicilian provinces. According to Adnkronos International news, a Save the Children spokesperson said there is no clear evidence of what happened to the youth. The organization has been monitoring the issue since June and will report the exact number missing later this year.