Jon Stewart gives'em the business. Business that is.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Councilman cleans up
... but turns potty into planter
Code enforcers at the urging of the mayor told Snellville, Georgia, city councilman Robert Jenkins a month ago to clean up his property.
And he did.
Well, sort of.
He was told to remove an old toilet and a broken-down car as well as trash.
He couldn't part with the toilet, which he said was in good shape.
Instead he turned it into a planter, spreading rocks around the porcelain base and planting a tulip bulb, two bunches of daffodils and two iris plants.
Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer chuckled when he heard about it, saying he's glad Jenkins cleaned up his act.
Jenkins says his proud of his potted potty.
He says it's his contribution to folk art, adding and that he loves to see things grow.
Man climbs pole to test new shoe spikes
It did not end well ...
A Kokomo, Indiana man who begged neighbors not to call police was arrested after he was rescued dangling from a utility pole.
Sargent Bruce Rood said a 26-year-old man used shoe spikes to climb more than 20 feet up the pole when he become stuck Tuesday night.
Neighbors called 911 despite his protests and when officers arrived, they found him hanging from a climbing strap around his waist.
Officers took the man into custody after determining that he had two outstanding warrants.
He remained jailed on Thursday.
Police are also investigating thefts of copper wire from utility poles in the area.
The man told officers he was just trying out his new shoe spikes.
Healthcare is a "privilege," not a right.
This guy is an idiot!
Representative Wamp - a repugican from Tennessee - showing his and the rest of the repugicans true colors.
He tries to do the repugican two-step and divert attention away when called on his statement, "Healthcare is a "privilege," not a right.", and fails miserably at it, just seconds after he made it.
This is nothing new from this moron, nor anything new from repugicans en masse - the difference now is American has awoken and is paying attention to this dolt's idiocy as well as the rest of the repugicans and calling them to task for their idiocy while ignoring them as any one without any sense should be ignored and going about repairing the damage they have caused.
Bus driver charged with egging on snowball attack
A school bus driver has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she allegedly offered students cash to throw snowballs at a 13-year-old boy.
The woman was arrested Wednesday.
The woman was arrested Wednesday.
According to police, the 34-year-old woman interjected herself into a verbal tussle between two students.
Police said the driver got on the bus' PA system and offered varying amounts of money to students to either throw snowballs at the 13-year-old or stuff snow down his shirt.
Several students did throw snowballs at the boy, who was not seriously injured.
The school system said the driver has been suspended from duty and was on paid leave.
Octopus gets inside lunchbox at aquarium
Question: What is 7 feet long, weighs 30 pounds, has eight arms and fits in a box slightly larger than a milk crate?
Answer: Truman the octopus.
Truman squeezed into a clear, acrylic box while trying to snag his lunch at the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Aquarium workers often place food inside locked boxes for the intelligent animals to crack open. It's what the aquarium calls an "enrichment activity," but it didn't go as planned Thursday.
In this case, crabs were locked in a smaller box inside the bigger box, which is 14 inches per side. The impatient Truman bypassed the locks and squeezed his body through a 2-inch hole in the exterior box.
He spent about 30 minutes inside before slithering out, delighting staff and guests who witnessed the spectacle.
He never did get the smaller box open.
Cops find heroin in pregnant woman's pants
Police in Dunleith, Delaware arrested a 31-year-old pregnant woman who had 73 bags of heroin stashed in the waistband of her pants.
Police said the woman was a passenger in a car stopped by officers on Wednesday because they believed it had illegal window tint.
In the car, police said officers found six bags of heroin and a loaded gun and a stun gun in the trunk. When officers took her to police headquarters, they found 73 bags of heroin in her waistband.
The driver, a 27-year-old man, was charged with drug and weapons offenses.
Man at border asks for manners, gets pepper spray
And you wonder why 'Ugly American' is a phrase used to describe Americans abroad?!
Well, when things like this happen 'at home' ... think about it.
A Canadian says he got a face full of pepper spray after repeatedly asking a U.S. border inspector in Blaine, Washington to say please.
Desiderio Fortunato says he thought the inspector who told him to turn off his engine Monday was rude and asked him to say please.
The 54-year-old British Columbia resident told The Bellingham Herald that the inspector repeatedly ordered him to turn the car off and then said he would spray him if he didn't.
Fortunato says he was stunned and blinded by the pepper spray and was pulled out of the car and handcuffed. He was detained about 3 hours.
Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mike Milne in Seattle says it was a lawful order that travelers must obey. He says the use of force is under review.
*****
Being 'lawful' does not excuse poor manners and I can feel Mr. Fortunato's pain - coming back into the U.S. from Niagra Falls, Canada, my wife and I experienced the rudeness as well although the old Corps utility cap on the dash and the 'USMC Sniper' decal on the back window of the vehicle I think forestalled any notion of pepper spray on the part of the rude border patrol that time.
Cowboys release Terrell Owens
Well my grandson will be disappointed ...
But he is a cowboys fan much to the disappointment of the rest of the family so a little comeuppance is due.
But he is a cowboys fan much to the disappointment of the rest of the family so a little comeuppance is due.
*****
Jerry Jones made it clear, both in action and words: Getting rid of Terrell Owens means a fresh start for the Dallas cowboys.
T.O. was released Thursday, ending a three-year run that produced as many big headlines as big plays. Most of those headlines were about ego and attitude, and Jones has decided enough is enough. He wants the focus on winning, something the cowboys haven't done in the playoffs since 1996. (and won't any time soon.)
Marines, driver hurt in crash of three buses
Authorities say three buses carrying Marines from Camp Lejeune crashed in North Carolina, injuring 13 Marines and one civilian.
Marine Corps Capt. Clark Carpenter said a bus driver was critically injured and air lifted to a hospital after the Thursday crash. He said none of the Marines was seriously injured, though two remain hospitalized.
Authorities say the wreck occurred about 20 miles north of Camp Lejeune on U.S. Highway 17 near Maysville. Carpenter said investigators believe the third bus failed to stop for traffic and collided with the bus it was following.
The state Highway Patrol said the driver of the third bus, John Tipton of Enfield, was charged with failure to reduce speed.
The Marines were traveling to Norfolk, Va., to begin training exercises March 10th in advance of their deployments.
Man accused of filing $13M in false tax claims
Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced they have sued a South Carolina tax preparer and accused him of filing more than $13 million in fraudulent tax refund claims.
The Department of Justice has requested an injunction preventing Winston Able of Blythewood from filing any more federal tax returns. Able fabricated tax withholding information on at least 200 of his customers' returns and then claimed large refunds, according to court documents filed Wednesday in federal court.
In the government's filing, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins referred to Able's tactics as a "redemption" scheme, by which proponents claim individuals should recoup money the government has wrongfully charged them.
Able, whose business was called Reclaim Services, gained customers through word-of-mouth referrals as well as at least one seminar, held last year in Columbia. That gathering for about 40 potential clients was held at the offices of Prosperity Exchange Group, run by Bill Smith, an insurance agent who prosecutors say also referred customers to Able.
At that seminar, prosecutors say Able had prospective clients summarize their expenses and told them his business could make them "private citizens," a classification he said would allow them to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars owed them by the government.
Able charged his clients between $400 and $800 to prepare their tax filings and told them to disregard any correspondence from the IRS on possible penalties.
"Able falsely assured his customers that he would resolve the assessment of any penalties," Wilkins wrote, adding that Able told clients any penalties were "part of a delay tactic by the government" to avoid paying the refunds.
As a result of his filings, the government says some of Able's clients have been assessed $5,000 penalties and could be subject to further penalties equal to 20 percent of the amount improperly claimed on their returns, regardless of whether they received a refund.
There was no answer Thursday at a number listed for Able, who prosecutors say has not offered to reimburse clients for fees paid to him or for the $5,000 penalties assessed by the government.
"Winston Able has refused to cooperate with the IRS's investigation and has shown no remorse for his actions," prosecutors wrote in their application.
In addition to preventing him from filing future tax returns, the government also says Able should no longer be allowed to act as a federal tax preparer. Prosecutors also ask that Able be required to provide the government with a list of his clients.
A California tax preparer has also been sued. Officials say the IRS paid out about $7 million as a result of more than $26 million in fraudulent claims made by Teresa Marty of Pollock Pines, Calif.
Hooked On Facts
Today's six facts are:
The average housefly weighs 10 to 15 millionths of a pound.
There is a species of clam that can grow up to four feet and weighs up to 500 pounds.
In 1789 the total U.S. federal debt was $190.000.
French was the official language of England for over 600 years.
15 million gallons of wine were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game.
Bonus Fact: Europe is the only continent without a desert.
The average housefly weighs 10 to 15 millionths of a pound.
There is a species of clam that can grow up to four feet and weighs up to 500 pounds.
In 1789 the total U.S. federal debt was $190.000.
French was the official language of England for over 600 years.
15 million gallons of wine were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game.
Bonus Fact: Europe is the only continent without a desert.
Did you know ...
The first aquarium opened to the American public was developed by none other than the circus showman P.T. Barum.
He opened it in 1856 in New York City.
He opened it in 1856 in New York City.
Women have a passion ...
Women have a passion for mathematics.
They divide their age in half, double the price of their clothes, and always add at least five years to the age of their best friend.
They divide their age in half, double the price of their clothes, and always add at least five years to the age of their best friend.
Yon know it's true ...
Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need of it.
So much for saint raygun
Americans prefer president Obama's economic policies over ronnie raygun's and 66% approve raising taxes on those earning in excess of $250,000 including 41% of repugicans!
America is coming out of the mass insanity induced coma it fell into in 1980 when the neo-cons first stole our country!
America is coming out of the mass insanity induced coma it fell into in 1980 when the neo-cons first stole our country!
When Breastfeeding's Not Okay
An opinion piece by Lloyd Garver via the Huffington Post:
Ohio police recently stopped a woman for using her hand-held cell phone while driving. What's so unusual about that? She was not only driving and talking on her phone, she was breastfeeding her baby at the same time. The woman was outraged that she was stopped, and said that she did not want to let her baby go hungry. So it was concern for the child that made her endanger her kid? The baby was not strapped safely into a car seat while being nursed by the cell phone-using/car-driving mommy. All she had to do was put up with the baby's crying for a moment or two, pull over, and feed the kid. Up until now, I've never been a big fan of "three strikes" laws. However, driving, phoning, and nursing at the same time are three strikes that deserve punishment.
Ohio is one of the six states that bans driving while talking on a handheld cellular phone. The District of Columbia has a similar law, and other localities have at least some restrictions about driving while talking on the phone. But again, that's not the only reason the police stopped her. Child endangerment is, obviously, the more serious charge. Imagine if Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman were driving while talking on the phone to Dr. Phil and nursing all eight of her babies at the same time. Yikes!
I live in a state that has banned talking on hand-held cell phones starting with January 1 of this year. Just prior to the beginning of 2009, my family went to buy equipment that would allow us to talk hands-free while driving. We weren't alone, so I thought I'd never see another driver trying to balance his steering wheel and cell phone while cutting me off with a left turn. Boy, was I wrong.
Not a day goes by that I don't see people driving and talking on their cell phones as if the new law had never been enacted. I called the police to see what we ordinary citizens are supposed to do when we see this activity. If we are pedestrians, should we run up to the car in the intersection and make a citizen's arrest? Are we supposed to honk or yell at the driver? Should we take down the license plate number and call the police?
Answer: None of the above. The police explained that a police officer must see the person committing this offense in order to cite him. They won't just take our word for it. Why not? Can't they just give us a lie detector test so they'll know we're telling the truth about the woman in that black SUV we see every day as she drives her kids to school and talks on the phone to set up a lunch date?
It's very frustrating to keep seeing people drive dangerously while they talk on the phone and to not be able to do anything about it. Sure, we've all seen drivers do other dangerous activities like putting on make-up, eating, reading, kissing, and doing the crossword puzzle. What is so disturbing about the Ohio mom is that she took it to another level by combining cell phone use with doing something else that she shouldn't be doing while driving.
It probably shouldn't shock me. This is the era of multitasking, and I should get used to it. For generations, we heard about people who had sex in their cars. But those cars were parked! I remember "Benjamin" - the Dustin Hoffman character -in "The Graduate" enjoying the fact that "Elaine" was conceived in "an old Ford." If they ever shoot a remake of that movie, they could probably say that Elaine was conceived in a Ford cruising down the highway at 70 MPH while both parents were talking on their cell phones - and maybe doing their taxes, too.
Radio ID Chips Help Fight Cacti Theft in Saguaro National Park
From Treehugger:
Who Knew Cacti Theft Was a Big Problem?
You'd think a giant cactus would be pretty hard to steal, but apparently some still manage to do it. In fact, it happens often enough that park managers of the Saguaro National Park want to inject Radio ID Chips (RFIDs) into them to deter thieves. Read on for more details.
Article continues: Radio ID Chips Help Fight Cacti Theft in Saguaro National Park
"FakeTV" Promoted as Energy-Efficient Burglar Alarm
From Treehugger:
Light box emulates television to outwit intruders. Photo via Opto-Electronic Design
For anyone who keeps the TV on when out of the house to fake-out potential burglars, now there’s FakeTV. Turn on this gizmo and stop wasting energy by leaving the television on for hours when no one's home--especially with Planet Green on the dial. This light-emitting device replicates the flickering images of a real television while consuming a fraction of the power—only one one-hundredth, claim the makers. Is this really a useful idea, just a clever placebo for peace of mind, or an addition to the "as seen on TV" collection destined for landfill?
Article continues: "FakeTV" Promoted as Energy-Efficient Burglar Alarm
Winston Cigarettes Pitchman Dies of Throat Cancer
Karma is a bitch ...
Alan Landers, 68, a model who posed for Winston cigarette ads in the 1960s and 1970s, has died of while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.
Lush Dimbulb Challenges President Obama To A Debate
Talk about leading a Pig to the slaughterhouse -
and the Pig begging to be led!
and the Pig begging to be led!
Ramping up the fact that he is the de facto leader of the repugican party, neo-con radio host Lush Dimbulb (otherwise known as Vulgar Pigboy) has challenged President Obama to a debate over his economic policies.
Even as much fun as skinning repugicans can be (metaphorically speaking), watching the swift and sure removal of this pig's hide and guts would be painful ... one can only take so much fun at a time.
It will never happen, of course, Our president has better things to do than play nursemaid to a drooling buffoon who molests little boys in third world countries while jacked on Viagra and Oxycontin. Things like ... well, anything is more important.
This is too RICH!
On a website where they ask the question: "Who is the leader of the repugican party?"
The best example of repugican stupidity is this comment from "Koz" in Norristown, Pennsylvania who says:
Individual Liberty - only if by individual liberty you mean kowtowing and conforming to what your masters tell you individual liberty is, then OK, maybe.
Capable of gathering thoughts - now there's a laugh riot for you - repugicans are INCAPABLE of thought and have no means to gather any that many be around from any source outside what they are told are their thoughts by their masters.
And, if you want to know who was leading the poll as to who was the 'leader' of the repugican part ... it was Lush Dimbulb, by a huge margin.
The best example of repugican stupidity is this comment from "Koz" in Norristown, Pennsylvania who says:
"Republicans don't need leaders, they stand for individual liberty. They are also capable of gathering thoughts from a variety of sources."Oh, my poor sides hurt from the laughter at that one!
Individual Liberty - only if by individual liberty you mean kowtowing and conforming to what your masters tell you individual liberty is, then OK, maybe.
Capable of gathering thoughts - now there's a laugh riot for you - repugicans are INCAPABLE of thought and have no means to gather any that many be around from any source outside what they are told are their thoughts by their masters.
*****
And, if you want to know who was leading the poll as to who was the 'leader' of the repugican part ... it was Lush Dimbulb, by a huge margin.
Gandhi items sell for $1.8M
Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, smiles in this 1947 photo.
Mohandas Gandhi's eyeglasses and other items sold for $1.8 million today at an auction that drew outrage from the Indian government, a last-minute reversal from the seller and a frenzy of bidding won by an Indian conglomerate that said the pacifist leader's possessions will be coming home.
The lot included Gandhi's wire-rim eyeglasses, worn leather sandals, a pocket watch, a plate and the brass bowl from which he ate his final meal.
The Indian government had protested the sale, saying the items should be returned to the nation and not sold to the highest bidder. The seller and the government could not work out a deal, and the auction went forward as planned.
But the self-identified owner, California art collector James Otis, told reporters outside the Antiquorum Auctioneers that he no longer wanted to sell the items. Meanwhile, U.S. Justice Department officials served an Indian court injunction on the auction house, blocking it from releasing the items.
Auctioneer Julien Schaerer announced as the sale began that the Gandhi items would be held for two weeks "pending resolution of third party claims."
Toni Bedi, an executive of the Indian company UB Group, had the winning bid after a furious four minutes in which the offers raced from $10,000 to $1.8 million. Bids came from the floor and by phone and Internet from overseas; none of the other bidders were identified.
Bedi said he was acting on instructions of Dr. Vijay Mallya, CEO of UB Group, whose firms in India include breweries, airlines, chemical, pharmaceutical and fertilizer firms and information and technology companies. He said that the company wants to donate the items to the Indian government, and plans to return them for public display in New Delhi.
The auctioneer's premium on the sale would boost the total price to around $2 million.
Charlotte makes top five in 'manliest' city list
Who knew?
Apparently having too many home furnishing stores like Ikea in your city is a sign of being "unmanly."
At least that's the conclusion of a study released Thursday that ranks "America's Manliest Cities" on criteria such as the number of professional major league sports teams, popularity of tools and hardware, and frequency of monster truck rallies.
Nashville came out on top in the study conducted by Sperling's BestPlaces. Mars Snackfood US and its Combos snack food brand commissioned the study. The ranking is part of the Combos launch of its Ultimate Man Zone Sweepstakes, which awards prize packages to upgrade men's tailgating, grilling, home theater or gaming "zones."
New York City finished last out of 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
Cities lost ranking points for "emasculating" characteristics like the abundance of home furnishing stores, high minivan sales and subscription rates to beauty magazines.
Nashville grabbed the top spot in the ranking thanks to its high number of NASCAR enthusiasts, popularity of hunting and fishing, and concentration of barbecue restaurants.
Rounding out the top five were: Charlotte; Oklahoma City; Cincinnati; and Denver.
Tennessee placed a second city on the list with Memphis coming in 11th.
Despite high ratings in the bowling category, New York City came in 50th because it apparently lacked in areas such as fishing, home improvement and drag racing.
Riding with the first cowboys – in 3500 BC
High up in the steppes of Kazakhstan is where it may have first happened: a human decided to climb atop a horse instead of killing it for meat. The act seems trivial today, but nearly 5500 years ago it would have been revolutionary.
"Horse domestication was a landmark moment, a bit like the invention of the wheel," says Alan Outram of the University of Exeter, UK.
By domesticating horses, humans created the first form of land transportation, vastly expanded the region within which goods could be traded and wars waged, and spread culture over huge swathes of land.
Outram and colleagues have now found the world's first "horse farms", in Kasakhstan's ancient Botai settlements. The sites date back to 3500 BC, pushing back the domestication of horses by 1000 years.
The researchers studied horse remains from four settlements in the steppes of north-central Kazakhstan. Before the Botai built villages dug out of the ground, the region was home to nomadic hunter gatherers that followed and killed wild herds of horses. What made them suddenly settle in villages, the largest of which comprises some 100 houses, is something of a mystery.
Read the rest in New Scientist: Riding with the first cowboys – in 3500 BC.
Is time an illusion?
IT is the invisible presence that governs your world. Trailing you like an unshakeable shadow, it ticks and tocks incessantly - you can sense it in your heartbeat, in the rising and setting of the sun, and in your daily rush to make meetings, trains and deadlines. It brings order to our lives through the categories of past, present and future.
Time. There is nothing with which we are so familiar, and yet when you try to pin it down you find only a relentless torrent of questions. Why does time appear to flow? What makes it different from space? What exactly is it? It's enough to make your neurons misfire, then sizzle and smoke.
And I Quote
Whenever a Republican criticizes Rush, they have to run back and apologize to him
and say they were misunderstood.
He is the voice and the intellectual force and the
energy behind the Republican Party.
~ Rahm Emanuel
and say they were misunderstood.
He is the voice and the intellectual force and the
energy behind the Republican Party.
~ Rahm Emanuel
Arrests made in mugging of 90-year-old woman
Statesville, North Carolina police arrested four people Wednesday night who are accused of attacking a 90-year-old woman in a mall parking lot.
Police believe they did it for drug money.
Investigators said Tammy Moulder, Phillip Greene, Melissa Link, and Jeremy Melton robbed Pauline Bost outside the Belk at Signal Hill Mall Tuesday.
According to police, a viewer tipped off police after seeing a story Wednesday.
That tip led officers to Moulder and Greene.
By late Wednesday night, all four suspects were in jail.
And the police chief said it’s a relief for people in Statesville.
"Anytime you have a 90-year-old lady knocked to the ground, you have some concerns," said Chief Tom Anderson.
Bost is recovering at home with a broken jaw and separated shoulder.
Police expect more charges against the suspects in the case.
There is a long line formed to assist with the horse-whipping these four deserve as a very livid reminder as to why they are going to prison for a long, long time!
You do not beat up old ladies ... PERIOD!!!!!!!!!
Police believe they did it for drug money.
Investigators said Tammy Moulder, Phillip Greene, Melissa Link, and Jeremy Melton robbed Pauline Bost outside the Belk at Signal Hill Mall Tuesday.
According to police, a viewer tipped off police after seeing a story Wednesday.
That tip led officers to Moulder and Greene.
By late Wednesday night, all four suspects were in jail.
And the police chief said it’s a relief for people in Statesville.
"Anytime you have a 90-year-old lady knocked to the ground, you have some concerns," said Chief Tom Anderson.
Bost is recovering at home with a broken jaw and separated shoulder.
Police expect more charges against the suspects in the case.
*****
There is a long line formed to assist with the horse-whipping these four deserve as a very livid reminder as to why they are going to prison for a long, long time!
You do not beat up old ladies ... PERIOD!!!!!!!!!
News Briefs
A veteran Chester County sheriff's deputy is accused of stealing $300 from the department's evidence room. Deputy Rodney Killian, 49, of Fort Lawn was arrested Wednesday on a charge of misconduct in office, according to a news release from Chester County Sheriff Richard Smith.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to end a five-year-old investigation into the accounting practices of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, the confectionery maker said Wednesday.
A new Duke University survey of chief financial officers suggests that the global recession will last well into 2010 – with harsh effects on the economy.
Private sector employment decreased by 697,000 last month, according to ADP’s national employment report released Wednesday.
*****
The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to end a five-year-old investigation into the accounting practices of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, the confectionery maker said Wednesday.
*****
A new Duke University survey of chief financial officers suggests that the global recession will last well into 2010 – with harsh effects on the economy.
*****
Private sector employment decreased by 697,000 last month, according to ADP’s national employment report released Wednesday.
Couple tries to steal beads
From the "Crooks really, I mean REALLY DUMB" Department:
A Lancaster couple is accused of trying to steal more than $500 in beads from Rock Hill's Hobby Lobby.
Melissa Scott, 35, and Brian Scott, 33, were charged with shoplifting Tuesday after the manager at Hobby Lobby told police he watched the pair for 10 minutes as they stuffed packages of jewelry beads into the woman's purse, according to a Rock Hill police report. Brian Scott also had eight packets of beads in a jacket pocket, the report states.
Both were arrested and taken to jail.
*****
Beads?! You try and steal beads?!
I know a few fanatical costumers in the theater and Renaissance Faire circuit that are bead-a-holics but even in their most frenzied dementia of times sewing wouldn't be so dumb as to try and steal beads!
Want to own a lighthouse ...
Then you better hurry!
A rusty, abandoned light tower off the North Carolina coast is for sale and the online federal auction has attracted two mystery bidders dueling at more than $500,000 for the relic.
The Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is nearly 35 miles off the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The former Coast Guard outpost and weather station has been replaced by buoys.
Two bidders who go by the names “hunley” and “Big Gun” have raised their offers daily. The federal auction will continue as long as one raises their bid by $3,000 each day.
The Coast Guard and state officials have explored the idea of tearing down the tower and dropping it in the ocean as an artificial reef, but that would cost more than $3 million.
*****
Too late ...
A South Carolina company that does dive charters and fishery research is the high bidder for a dilapidated light tower located 35 miles from the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
The Star-News of Wilmington reported Thursday that Shipwrecks Inc. bid $515,000 for the Frying Pan Shoals light tower. The tower includes 5,000 square feet of living space and has its own helipad.
Lee Spence, 1 of the owners, says the company plans to use the prime fishing spot for a sport fishing group, a dive charter business and probably will do fisheries and oceanographic research with two or three universities.
Spence says the company also plans to use part of the tower for a commercial diving school that will be run by the International Diving Institute in Charleston.
Books and Fire
This is a tragic shame ...
Access to rare books and documents in the library at UNC Chapel Hill is being restricted because the building has had numerous fire code violations.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that the state fire marshal's office nearly shut down Wilson Library a year ago. But the regulators allowed the 80-year-old building to stay open with restrictions.
The primary problems are the lack of exits and a sprinkler system, all of which would cost nearly $12 million. The cost is complicated by plunging state revenues and cost-cutting orders.
The restrictions mean that about 60 percent of the 300,000 square feet of space can be used for storage. But fire officials say no people are allowed to work in the area.
DOT chief says no more roads politics
It's about time!
Road-building decisions will be based on data and North Carolina's long-term transportation goals, not whether a board member has pushed a project, new state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said Wednesday.
Following through on Gov. Bev Perdue's demand that politics be taken out of road construction choices, Conti and his chief deputies rolled out a new process that seeks more input from the public and accountability for completing jobs and meeting goals.
Perdue ordered members in January to stop voting on individual road projects. Over the years, some members have been accused of placing too much influence on getting roads on the state's transportation funding blueprint or projects built to benefit themselves.
The board now will become primarily a policy-based panel, Conti said.
“We want people on the board who are interested in transportation policy, setting a strategy and evaluating performance,” Conti told reporters. “We're not interested in people who want to be on the board so they can get a project for their county or their region or anything else.”
The new process will revolve around 20-, 10- and 5-year transportation plans and measurements to determine whether DOT is meeting goals.
And I Quote
Civilization is the encouragement of differences.
Civilization thus becomes a synonym of democracy.
Force, violence, pressure, or compulsion with a view to conformity, is both uncivilized and undemocratic.
Civilization thus becomes a synonym of democracy.
Force, violence, pressure, or compulsion with a view to conformity, is both uncivilized and undemocratic.
Our Readers
Some of our readers today have been in:
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Tallinn, Haajumaa, Estonia
Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk-Gewest, Belgium
Brisbane, Victoria, Australia
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
London, England, United Kingdom
Bucharest, Bucuresti, Romania
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Bielsko-Biala, Slaskie, Poland
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
and in the United States
Fairbanks, Alaska
Mantua, New Jersey
Chantilly, Virginia
Lutz, Florida
Clovis, New Mexico
Brookings, South Dakota
Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Frisco, Texas
Chaska, Minnesota
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
as well as the countries of Italy and Scotland.
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Tallinn, Haajumaa, Estonia
Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk-Gewest, Belgium
Brisbane, Victoria, Australia
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
London, England, United Kingdom
Bucharest, Bucuresti, Romania
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Bielsko-Biala, Slaskie, Poland
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
and in the United States
Fairbanks, Alaska
Mantua, New Jersey
Chantilly, Virginia
Lutz, Florida
Clovis, New Mexico
Brookings, South Dakota
Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Frisco, Texas
Chaska, Minnesota
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
as well as the countries of Italy and Scotland.
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Any deadlines you have right now can wait, and there are not going to be any fires breaking out anytime soon.
Cool!
Any deadlines you have right now can wait, and there are not going to be any fires breaking out anytime soon.
Cool!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
