PA in the WSJ

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians

Nary a peep.

PA Businesses

“Unisys denies coverup of security breaches,” by Robert Block (9/25)

“Rite Aid cuts outlook amid wider net loss,” by Russ Britt (9/28)

“Custom bikes for the masses,” by Nancy Keates (9/28) discusses the bicycle industry but somehow neglects to mention Fuji Bikes, whose worldwide headquarters is in Philadelphia. The article does note the increase in bicycle purchases among those who are married with children, white, over 40, and with household incomes averaging $86,000. With Pennsylvania’s aging population this is maybe something we should pay more attention to.

Other PA

An entire story about Philly – “In the inner city of Philadelphia, Horsey set bridles,” by Sarah Nassauer (9/25), on the stables used by African American horse owners and riders within the city being pushed out by developers and gentrification. Surely they add something extremely valuable to the fabric of the city!

In “Business schools forgetting missions?” by George Anders (9/26) we read:

At the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, almost half of the 800 first-year students attend career chats about what it would be like to work for hedge funds or private-equity firms. Four years ago, such formal briefings didn’t exist.

The gist of the article is that business students are no longer trained to run businesses. Interesting.

St. Joseph’s University has a brief mention in “Helicopter parenting: a breakdown,” by Sue Shellenbarger (9/27)

The National Board of Medical Examiners is based in Philadelphia is mentioned in “Student wins her appeal on medical-exam breaks,” (9/27).

Another connection we don’t need. Raffaello Follieri, who schmoozed with Bill and Hillary Clinton and is now in hot water, supposedly bought properties from churches, including two in Philadelphia, and renovated them. “How Bill Clinton’s aide facilitated a messy deal,” by John R. Emshwiller and Gabriel Kahn (9/26)

The Great Expectations School by sometime teacher sometime Inky reporter Cynthia Asquith is reviewed in “The Blackboard bungle,” by Roger Kaplan (9/29)

Other Interesting Tidbits

“Why CHIP is bogged down,” by Sarah Lueck (9/27) offers some real insight into the bill passed this week:

In some ways, after difficult negotiations, the bill turned out to be an unusual example of cooperation. In talks with two Senate Republicans, House Democrats compromised. They cut new spending from $50 billion to $35 billion, gave up an effort to cover legal immigrants and young adults, and dropped cuts to private health insurers operating in Medicare.

The final deal includes many nods to Republicans – though most Republicans in the House and Senate oppose it as an irresponsible expansion of government spending. It reduces federal funding for states that enroll children from families with incomes above about $60,000 a year for a family of four; it bars the federal government from allowing any more states to use CHIP funds to cover parents; and it phases out coverage of childless adults that some states include in CHIP.

To tilts the program toward poorer children, the bill calls for states not meeting enrollment benchmarks for the lowest income children by October 2010 to give up CHIP funds for enrollees above 300% of the poverty level.

And even more interesting is this tidbit from “Democrats ready push for labor,” by Kris Maher (9/25):

At the same time, unions have complained that executive pay and compensation have remained largely protected. One provision in the proposed legislation would modify or eliminate pension plans for certain top executives, if worker pensions are eliminated.

Mr. Bernstein, who represents companies in bankruptcies, said that provision could make it harder for companies facing bankruptcy to retain executives.

Color me unsympathetic to the plight of overpaid executives.

Those following the controversy over the FAA sending more flights over Delco might enjoy “Why even sunny days can ground airplanes,” by Paulo Prada and Scott McCartney (9/28). One thing mentioned in the story that we haven’t heard much about is the growth in smaller regional and private jets which are given as much air space as an airliner full of passengers.

How cool is this? There is a wiki for Latinists. Visit it at http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagina_prima. The last sentence in “Latin isn’t dead; online, it’s veni, vidi, vicipaedia” by Lee Gomes (9/29) is “Latin isn’t dead; it just smells funny.” That’s so true for many of us.

“Congress nears boost in public-debt ceiling,” by David Rogers ( 9/28) points out that when Pres. Bush took office the debt limit was at $5.95 trillion, as it had been since August 2007. It has been raised 5 times since he took office and now stands at $9.815 trillion. But we can still afford tax cuts for the most wealthy Americans?

State candidates use of ActBlue is highlighted in “More Democrats tap web,” by Amy Schatz (9/28).