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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Sunday, November 1, 2009

Colorado county copes with methane mystery

Bernice and Jerry Angely like to show visitors the singed T-shirt a friend was wearing when their water well exploded and shot flames 30 feet high.

The friend wasn't hurt. But that and an explosion at another home weeks earlier forced Colorado to suspend natural gas drilling around this southern plains town until someone could find out why dangerous levels of methane were getting into the groundwater.

Two years later, Walsenburg and surrounding Huerfano County are still waiting, its residents caught in a collision between two of the West's vital resources: Water and natural gas.

"The water is so saturated with methane and other chemicals it is not to be used for human consumption," said Bernice Angely, who's had water trucked to her home 10 miles west of town since her well blew up in July 2007.

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The end of an era


The blinking, scrolling JFG billboard, which has been a landmark of the Charlotte skyline for more than four decades, is coming down - ending the longest-running billboard campaign in the city's history.

Repugican endorses Democrat in NY House race

Now that is the definition of a civil war.
Brought to you by your local teabaggers.

Repugican endorses Democrat in NY House race


Goldman Sachs bet on America failing

In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.

Goldman's sales and its clandestine wagers, completed at the brink of the housing market meltdown, enabled the nation's premier investment bank to pass most of its potential losses to others before a flood of mortgage defaults staggered the U.S. and global economies.

...now, pension funds, insurance companies, labor unions and foreign financial institutions that bought those dicey mortgage securities are facing large losses, and a five-month mcclatchy investigation has found that goldman's failure to disclose that it made secret, exotic bets on an imminent housing crash may have violated securities laws.- mcclatchy

Matt Taibbi lets us know that Goldman Sachs thinks these dirty in the dark dealings are just "peachy keen" for everyone.

This is from a lobbying document Goldman has been passing around the senate on financial regulatory reform in general.

There is a lot of crazy stuff in this document, but the most notable is probably this passage, in which Goldman pooh-poohs the notion that complete transparency in markets creates accurate prices.

Instead, the bank argues that an over-the-counter market in which big traders like Goldman get to do deals in the shadows in “dark pools” without the retail investor having any knowledge of what the hell is going on is somehow better for everybody, that this somehow produces better prices. Of course the reality is that the two-tiered system creates one pool of fools whose every movement is visible to every animal on the Serengeti, and another pool of giant bloodthirsty carnivores who get to walk around invisible, picking off the Dik-Diks one by one.

Everyone I showed this to had the same reaction — “I can’t believe they said this out loud.” - Taibblog

Lock these America Haters behind bars NOW!

I'm a temp

Does this ring a bell?

If I don't work ... I don't get paid.
There are quite a number of us who will go to work even though we are sick.
Sorry, CDC.
For millions of Americans the rule is simple: if you don't come to work, you don't get paid.

That idea drives an untold numbers of carpenters, day care workers, servers, shopkeepers and small-business owners to their jobs each day. Sniffles or not.

As the swine flu spreads across the nation — and public health officials plead with the ill to, please, stay home in bed for several days until the fever goes away — a large segment of the American work force will face a tough choice about whether to call in sick or simply muddle through. That's because when skipping work means skipping food on the table or missing a rent payment, staying in bed isn't as simple as it sounds.

Read the rest here

Foods that help fight flu

6 foods that help fight flu

Apples, broccoli, and tomatoes are powerhouse produce that help prevent disease.

Flex spending faces hit in health reform

Flex spending faces hit in health reform

Reform could jeopardize the tax-free accounts many Americans use for health expenses.

The hidden cost of swine flu

The hidden cost of swine flu

For millions of workers, unforgiving financial pressure compounds fear of the H1N1 virus.

Keep your gadgets going longer

Keep your gadgets going longer

When your laptop is plugged in, it's a good idea to take out the battery.

What you get with 'median-priced' homes

What you get with 'median-priced' homes

Find out what homes priced at the national average look like around the country.

Save $500 in 30 days?

Save $500 in 30 days? It can be done

Cut a little here and a little there, and it's possible to save a chunk of cash in just one month.

Top 15 franchise failures of 2009

Top 15 franchise failures of 2009

Owners of these franchise businesses suffered the highest rates of default on their loans.

Scary squeeze for biggest cruise ship

Scary squeeze for biggest cruise ship

The world's largest cruise ship comes within two feet of disaster on its maiden voyage.

Death, Second Recall in E. coli Outbreak

An expanding outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 cases in New England that Food Safety News reported on just two days ago took an ominous turn Saturday when New Hampshire reported the first fatality associated with the outbreak.

And just hours before that grim news came word that a much larger ground beef recall was in the works from a second meat processor. Now popular retailers including Price Chopper, Giant Food Stores, Ford Brothers, BJ's Wholesale/Burls and Acme are all involved.

Full Story

Commercial Lender CIT Group Files Ch. 11 Bankruptcy

Full Story

Commercial lender CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York court on Sunday. CIT specializes in lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

CIT Group files for bankruptcy

One of the biggest Chapter 11 filings in U.S. corporate history could affect thousands of businesses.

Cost
Also:

Legend says the Skunk Ape lives in the heart of the Florida Everglades

The sticky, thick brush is home to some frightening creatures: snakes, alligators, and possibly another, scarier one.

Legend says the Skunk Ape lives in the heart of the Florida Everglades.

Dimbulb Spews

Lush Dimbulb lies again saying President Barack Obama's bid to overhaul the health care system is a government attempt to seize control of a big chunk of the country's economy.

Dimbulb Lies Again

Four People Shot To Death In Mt. Airy


Mt. Airy Police are investigating the deaths of four people shot to death Sunday afternoon.

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  • Four People Shot To Death In Mt. Airy

    Grandfather Mountain Is In The Midst Of A Transition


    All proceeds from the sale of attraction tickets and souvenirs will be reinvested in the mission of the foundation.

    Grandfather Mountain Is In The Midst Of A Transition

    Your guide to a bank failure

    Your guide to a bank failure

    Here are the things you need to know if your bank is the next to go under.

    7 Health Benefits To Drinking Water


    How does drinking water really help your body?
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  • A Deer Takes A Dip In Gastonia Swimming Pool


    The cool weather wasn't enough for one deer who needed to take a dive.
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  • November is ...

    November is:

    American Diabetes Month,
    American Indian Heritage Month,
    International Drum (Percussion) Month,
    National Georgia Pecan Month,
    and
    National Alzheimer's Disease Month

    it is also

    NoSHAVEmber (US - Beard Month)
    and
    Movember (Australia - Mustache Month)

    Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

    Today is Zero Tasking Day.

    Daily Almanac

    Today is Sunday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2009.

    There are 60 days left in the year.

    Today in History.

    Our Readers

    Some of our readers today have been in:

    Lincoln, England, United Kingdom
    Florence, Toscana, Italy
    Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
    Riga, Riga, Latvia
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
    Madrid, Madrid, Spain
    London, England, United Kingdom

    Daily Horoscope

    Today's horoscope says:

    You've been taking a lot of risks lately -- and lucky for you, they've been paying off. But your luck is bound to change -- and it'll do so soon.
    Make sure you get ahead of the curve today by playing it much more conservatively.
    Make 'safety first' your motto, and approach the day's events with caution.
    Look both ways before crossing the street, and make sure your seatbelt is on -- and avoid walking under ladders!
    Even superstitions should be obeyed right now.

    Wow!