Someone tells it like it is ...
Friday, October 17, 2008
And I Quote
"I grew up in western Pennsylvania. I grew up in a steel town - Butler, PA - and those people are not racist.
What they are are people that look at a nigger like Obama, who won’t wear the American flag pin, and he is not in concert with their values.
It has nothing to do with the color of that nigger's skin."
~ Rick Santorum's (repugican, particularly a Man-on-Dog Sex pervert repugican) private thoughts while speaking with a reporter.
Read it all at Think Progress
What they are are people that look at a nigger like Obama, who won’t wear the American flag pin, and he is not in concert with their values.
It has nothing to do with the color of that nigger's skin."
~ Rick Santorum's (repugican, particularly a Man-on-Dog Sex pervert repugican) private thoughts while speaking with a reporter.
Read it all at Think Progress
OK, tell me I heard him incorrectly. Oh, I thought I had not. When will these nits (you can't call'em nitwits - they aren't that bright) learn that some people do listen and remember ...
Undecideds Laughing At, McCain
From TIME's Amy Sullivan:
In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg’s focus group were “audibly snickering” at John McCain’s grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to “Joe the Plumber.”
Polls in 8 countries show wide Obama support
One would think the repugicans would realize this.
Nah, that would require a functioning brain ...
Nah, that would require a functioning brain ...
*****
If the world beyond America's shores had a say, it seems clear that Barack Obama would win the presidential election by something approaching a landslide.
That is the key finding of a coordinated series of newspaper polls conducted in eight countries and published Friday in Britain's Guardian and other papers.
It is no surprise Obama, the Democratic nominee, is popular in Europe - that was clear when he drew tumultuous crowds to his open-air speech in Berlin this summer - but the scope of the lead suggested by the polls is startling.
In Switzerland, for example, Obama has 83 percent support to John McCain's 7 percent; in Britain, 64 percent to McCain's 15 percent and in France, 69 percent to McCain's 5 percent. The closest they get is in Poland, where Obama has 43 percent and McCain 26 percent.
"The results tell you there is a really strong global desire for change in America, at least in the countries where we polled," said Julian Glover, The Guardian's polls reporter. "There's not a lot of support for McCain anywhere."
Glover said widespread unhappiness over the policies of President Bush has spilled over to color the public's view of McCain, the Republican candidate.
The polls, coordinated by La Presse newspaper in Montreal, also tested attitudes toward the United States and found deep suspicion and mistrust in many countries.
In addition to surveying sentiment in Europe, newspaper polls were conducted in Japan, Canada and Mexico. Obama was found to be favored by wide margins in all three countries.
Julia Clark, head of political research at the Ipsos MORI polling firm in Britain, said the results are consistent with other surveys outside of the United States.
"That tallies up with polls we've done and other polls we've seen," she said. "There is a very large favorability for Obama, particularly as the financial crisis worsens."
She said Democratic Party candidates typically fare better in European polls because their policies on health care and education are more in line with European views. The preference is stronger this time, she said, reflecting Europeans' inability to relate to social conservatives who make up an important wing of the Republican Party.
"People in Europe have difficulties with a candidate like Sarah Palin, who resonates with part of the American population," Clark said. "Europeans don't get it."
Clark, whose company was not involved with the poll, said she had no problems with its methodology even though the polling techniques were not uniform from country to country.
"The margins are so wide I'm sure we're not being misled," she said.
Scientists have new clue to mystery of sunken sub
It's long been a mystery why the H.L. Hunley never returned after becoming the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship in 1864, but new research announced Friday may lend credence to one of theories.Scientists found the eight-man crew of the hand-cranked Confederate submarine had not set the pump to remove water from the crew compartment, which might indicate it was not being flooded.
That could mean crew members suffocated as they used up air, perhaps while waiting for the tide to turn and the current to help take them back to land.
The new evidence disputes the notion that the Hunley was damaged and took on water after ramming a spar with a charge of black powder into the Union blockade ship Housatonic.
Scientists studying the sub said they've found its pump system was not set to remove water from the crew compartment as might be expected if it were being flooded.
The sub, located in 1995 and raised five years later, had a complex pumping system that could be switched to remove water or operate ballast tanks used to submerge and surface.
"It now really starts to point to a lack of oxygen making them unconscious," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston and the chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission, formed to raise, conserve and display the sub. "They may have been cranking and moving and it was a miscalculation as to how much oxygen they had."
In excavating the sub, scientists found little intermingling of the crew remains, indicating members died at their stations. Those bones likely would have been jumbled if the crew tried to make it to the hatches in a desperate attempt to get out.
"Whatever occurred, occurred quickly and unexpectedly," McConnell said. "It appears they were either unconscious because of the concussion (from the attack) or they were unconscious because of a lack of oxygen."
Archaeologist Maria Jacobsen cautioned that scientists have not yet examined all the valves to see if the crew may have been trying to surface by using the pumps to jettison ballast.
"Can we definitely say they weren't pumping like mad to get water out of the tanks? No we cannot," she said. "I'm not really at a point where I think we should really be talking about what these guys were doing at the very end because we simply don't know all the valve settings."
But she said scientists can definitely say the valve that would have been used to remove water from the crew compartment was closed.
Where have I heard this before ...
For months I have thought this political campaign sounded familiar and then I remembered how so. And so a little digging turned up where I heard McPain's entire campaign in a two minute span.
All right in a two minute forty-nine second span, then. Picky, picky are we?
All right in a two minute forty-nine second span, then. Picky, picky are we?Space smells like steak
Astronauts returning from spacewalks have noticed a distinctive smell of fried steak on their space suits when they take them off.
Wow ! Who knew?!"
(OK, some of us carnivores did.)
Turns out, the cosmos is not vegan.
(I always knew those didn't belong here with the rest of us, now there is proof positive.)
Wow ! Who knew?!"
(OK, some of us carnivores did.)
Turns out, the cosmos is not vegan.
(I always knew those didn't belong here with the rest of us, now there is proof positive.)
NASA: “When astronauts were de-suiting and taking off helmets, they all reported quite particular odors.“We have already produced the smell of fried steak, but hot metal is more difficult.
“We think it’s a high energy vibration in the molecule and that’s what we’re trying to add to it now.”
Selling used CDs is still legal in America
The record industry lost a landmark battle last spring, when a court said that merely printing "not for resale" on an unsolicited promo CD does not prevent you from reselling it -- and certainly does not prevent anyone from buying it.
The judgment establishes that "first sale" -- the legal doctrine that says that once you buy something, it's yours -- is still alive and well.
This The Legality article spells it all out for you:
The judgment establishes that "first sale" -- the legal doctrine that says that once you buy something, it's yours -- is still alive and well.
This The Legality article spells it all out for you:
Once again, the music industry overestimated the level of control they should be allowed to maintain over their copyrighted works. Just as when Sony invaded its consumers’ privacy by embedding software in CDs and when the five largest music distribution companies illegally corroborated to fix the price of CDs, the music industry has again violated the law. The United States District Court for the Central District of California concluded, via summary judgment, that the purported EULA included by UMG did not create a “license,” nor does it allow UMG to retain any control over the promotional CD. UMG gave away these CDs, and those who receive them are free to dispose of them as they see fit. Therefore, the court found, as the legal owner of the CDs in question, Mr. Augusto and Roast Beast Music broke no laws in selling these recordings, and may continue to do so.At least we can still sell our old CDs… Right?
It depends. While Mr. Augusto enjoys the right to sell his legally owned CDs, questions arise in a number of states as to who can purchase them. The music industry, it seems, is foregoing lawsuits in favor of promoting preventative legislation. Recent legislation in Florida, Utah, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island has made it more difficult to sell used CDs in those states than it is to get a driver’s license. In Florida, for example, anyone attempting to sell used CDs to a retailer must present identification and be fingerprinted, and any retailer looking to sell those same CDs must apply for a permit and submit a $10,000 bond with the Department of Agriculture and Human Services. Thankfully, those restrictions do not apply to online or person-to-person sales.
Not bad for an out of the way little corner of the Internet
Weekly Chart | Monthly Chart | Yearly Chart
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Telling isn't it ...
This photo has not been altered or photoshopped in any way.
Pot may help stave off Alzheimer’s
Pot may help stave off Alzheimer’s
Good news - smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer’s disease.
New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the
formation of deposits in the brain associated with the degenerative disease.
active ingredient, THC, can prevent an enzyme from accelerating the formation of
"Alzheimer plaques" in the brain more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.
And I Quote
"If the election took place this week, it would be a wipe out of major proportions.
Even Arizona has to be classified as leaning toward Obama. McCain, as of now,
can be certain of carrying just eight states with a combined total of only 36 electoral votes."
~ Dick Morris (repugican)
Even Arizona has to be classified as leaning toward Obama. McCain, as of now,
can be certain of carrying just eight states with a combined total of only 36 electoral votes."
~ Dick Morris (repugican)
That's bad. When you own people are telling you you suck ... You suck!
Parents of Michigan boy left in Nebraska lose custody
Like, Duh!
A Michigan couple were barred from seeing or contacting their children after authorities said the mother abandoned their adopted but unwanted 13-year-old son in Nebraska under the state's safe haven law.
A Michigan court official issued the order Thursday against Terri and Terrance Martin and placed their children under temporary state custody.
Prosecutors said the children were victims of abuse and neglect.
Oakland County Juvenile Court Referee Karla Mallett also ordered the two boys, ages 10 and 5, and a 3-year-old daughter returned to their home under the care of a 19-year-old cousin.
Terri Martin drove about 12 hours to leave the teen on Monday at an Omaha hospital under Nebraska's unique safe haven law.
All states have laws designed to allow desperate new mothers to leave their newborns in safe hands, but Nebraska's law allows parents to abandon older children and even teenagers at hospitals.
The boy was the 18th child and the second from out of state abandoned in Nebraska since the law took effect in July.
Terrance Martin said Thursday that after his wife left with the teen, he took the three remaining children to a motel.
A fifth youngster, a 16-year-old boy, is a foster child who was already removed from the home by the Michigan Department of Human Services.
Prosecutors' request for custody cited a history of referrals to the Michigan Department of Human Services for reports of injuries to the abandoned teen.
The report said Terri Martin told Nebraska officials that she took the boy there to "scare him," yet she denied incidents of aggression.
It also said state records showed evidence that neither parent wanted the 13-year-old, who was adopted along with his 10-year-old brother.
Terrance Martin and his attorney, LaVonne Jackson, had no comment after the hearing, but Jackson said in court that the children were not at risk under his care and that he had cooperated with social workers.
Terri Martin's attorney, Douglas Oliver, said he had not yet spoken to his client.
Mallett postponed a prosecutor's request to terminate the Martins' parental rights until Friday so Oliver could have time to locate Terri.
Terrance Martin said the 13-year-old boy remains in Nebraska, where he was a ward of the state until Thursday.
He said he doesn't know where his wife is or when she is returning.
My question is why wasn't any action taken to find solutions for this family before now?
With the various agencies aware there were difficulties before the trip to Nebraska, someone dropped the ball to say the least.
But the million dollar question is: What is this doing to a 13-year-old boy who was chosen (i.e., adopted) then rejected.
Oh, and don't let the Mrs., near Terri Martin or I would have to visit her on Tuesdays and Saturdays - she was chosen as a child and when it comes to children, the entire Marine Corps could not stand against the Mrs., and hold her back from throttling the life out of anyone that harms a child, especially a chosen one.
A Michigan couple were barred from seeing or contacting their children after authorities said the mother abandoned their adopted but unwanted 13-year-old son in Nebraska under the state's safe haven law.
A Michigan court official issued the order Thursday against Terri and Terrance Martin and placed their children under temporary state custody.
Prosecutors said the children were victims of abuse and neglect.
Oakland County Juvenile Court Referee Karla Mallett also ordered the two boys, ages 10 and 5, and a 3-year-old daughter returned to their home under the care of a 19-year-old cousin.
Terri Martin drove about 12 hours to leave the teen on Monday at an Omaha hospital under Nebraska's unique safe haven law.
All states have laws designed to allow desperate new mothers to leave their newborns in safe hands, but Nebraska's law allows parents to abandon older children and even teenagers at hospitals.
The boy was the 18th child and the second from out of state abandoned in Nebraska since the law took effect in July.
Terrance Martin said Thursday that after his wife left with the teen, he took the three remaining children to a motel.
A fifth youngster, a 16-year-old boy, is a foster child who was already removed from the home by the Michigan Department of Human Services.
Prosecutors' request for custody cited a history of referrals to the Michigan Department of Human Services for reports of injuries to the abandoned teen.
The report said Terri Martin told Nebraska officials that she took the boy there to "scare him," yet she denied incidents of aggression.
It also said state records showed evidence that neither parent wanted the 13-year-old, who was adopted along with his 10-year-old brother.
Terrance Martin and his attorney, LaVonne Jackson, had no comment after the hearing, but Jackson said in court that the children were not at risk under his care and that he had cooperated with social workers.
Terri Martin's attorney, Douglas Oliver, said he had not yet spoken to his client.
Mallett postponed a prosecutor's request to terminate the Martins' parental rights until Friday so Oliver could have time to locate Terri.
Terrance Martin said the 13-year-old boy remains in Nebraska, where he was a ward of the state until Thursday.
He said he doesn't know where his wife is or when she is returning.
*****
All right then ...My question is why wasn't any action taken to find solutions for this family before now?
With the various agencies aware there were difficulties before the trip to Nebraska, someone dropped the ball to say the least.
But the million dollar question is: What is this doing to a 13-year-old boy who was chosen (i.e., adopted) then rejected.
Oh, and don't let the Mrs., near Terri Martin or I would have to visit her on Tuesdays and Saturdays - she was chosen as a child and when it comes to children, the entire Marine Corps could not stand against the Mrs., and hold her back from throttling the life out of anyone that harms a child, especially a chosen one.
As of this moment ...
4185 Brave men and women will never be returning from Iraq
and
542 Brave men and women will not be returning from Afghanistan
and
542 Brave men and women will not be returning from Afghanistan
Alive!
Support OUR Troops ...
Bring them home now!
Support OUR Troops ...
Bring them home now!
Big Bug of Borneo
A stick bug from the island of Borneo measuring well over a foot in length has been identified by researchers as the world's longest insect, British scientists said Thursday.
The specimen was found by a local villager and handed to Malaysian amateur naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun in 1989, according to Philip Bragg, who formally identified the insect in this month's issue of peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
The insect was named Phobaeticus chani, or "Chan's megastick," in Chan's honor.
Paul Brock, a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum in London unconnected to the insect's discovery said there was no doubt it was the longest still in existence.
That assessment was also confirmed by Marco Gottardo, an entomologist at Italy's Natural History Museum of Ferrara and Aaron T. Dossey, a researcher at the University of Florida in Gainesville who studies the insects.
Looking like a pencil-thin shoot of bamboo, the dull-green insect measures about 22 inches, if its twig-like legs are counted.
Its body length is 14 inches, beating the previous record held by Phobaeticus kirbyi, also from Borneo, by about an inch.
Stick bugs have some of the animal kingdom's cleverest camouflage.
Although some use noxious sprays or prickly spines to deter their predators, generally the bugs assume the shape of sticks and leaves to avoid drawing attention.
"Their main defense is basically hanging around, looking like a twig," Brock said. "It will even sway in the wind."
Breaking News! gop hospitalized with a broken pelvis.
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is on a roll today ...
Breaking News! gop hospitalized with a broken pelvis.
In a sad turn of events for conservatives everywhere, the republican party has been hospitalized after breaking its pelvis several days ago. The entire gop was admitted to George Washington university hospital in Washington, DC, this morning, after complaining about fractures, pain and the inability to actually move forward.
Apparently the gop broke its pelvis several days ago, but with all the excitement about acorn and William Ayers, didn't even notice it until today. Some speculate the break happened when John McCain named Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick. "There's no way a body can withstand that sort of stress, without something giving way," said William Kristol.
The republican party is 154 years old, and therefore the prognosis is not good. Complete breaks, let alone the multiple fractures and splinters that have been seen in the party for the past few months, can be devastating to an elderly organization.
"We don't think the gop will be back on its feet for a long, long time," doctors were quoted as saying. "Decades, maybe."
"If we're lucky," they added.
Even Nixon's plumbers were less dirty
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo posted this over on his blog today October 16, 2008.
From Martin Eisenstadt:
Addendum: Johnathan Martin says the Toledo Blade is reporting that Joe isn't licensed to be a plumber, and has a tax lien.
So apparently McMuffin vetted his "regular Joe" as well as he did his veep pick.
Remember John McMuffin's newest bff, Joe the plumber?
Turns out, he's also the bff of the Charles Keating family.
Wotasuprize!!
Turns out, he's also the bff of the Charles Keating family.
Wotasuprize!!
From Martin Eisenstadt:
Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio.
Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher?
Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan.
The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
Does any of this make Joe the plumber a bad guy?
Of course not.
In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name.
[ed. note: thanks for ruining our joke, Martin!]Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher?
Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan.
The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
Does any of this make Joe the plumber a bad guy?
Of course not.
In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name.
But at a debate where John goes full bore on Obama for guilt-by-association with William Ayers (and dodges a bullet by Obama not mentioning Keating Five), the press is going to bring it back front and center by midday tomorrow once they delve deeper into the most popular plumber in america.
As they used to say in our neighborhood, smooth move exlax! way to remind everyone that you've been involved in major economic scandals in the decades.Addendum: Johnathan Martin says the Toledo Blade is reporting that Joe isn't licensed to be a plumber, and has a tax lien.
So apparently McMuffin vetted his "regular Joe" as well as he did his veep pick.
*****
He says McMuffin, I say McPain but, either way he is still a joke.
Irish bookie calls US race over, pays off on Obama
The race is over as far as Ireland's biggest bookmaker is concerned.
Paddy Power PLC says it is so sure Barack Obama will win the U.S. presidential election next month that it paid off Thursday on all bets it had taken backing the Democratic candidate. It said it shelled out more than euro1 million, about $1.35 million.
"We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama - your winnings await you," the company said in a statement.
Paddy Power has a long tradition of winning free publicity by paying off early, particularly on political contests.
Powers said the biggest winner among the Obama bettors was someone who gambled euro100,000 and got back a total of euro150,000.
The most visionary bettor, though, was the "punter" who put down euro50 on Obama in 2005. At the time, Obama was listed at 50-to-1, so the bettor got euro2,550.
Despite calling the contest, the Dublin-based bookmaker said it is still taking new bets on the race. A John McCain victory Nov. 4 on a bet placed Thursday would pay off euro5 for every euro1 bet. By contrast, each euro1 bet on Obama would net just 11 euro cents.
The government subsidies behind Cindy McCain's family fortune
John McCain has made no bones about his disgust for greed. But his wife Cindy's fortune comes from a government-created entity that’s anti-competitive and full of lobbyists and special interests.
Best microscopic photos of 2008
Nikon has picked its best microscopic images for 2008 and there's some stunners this year -- like this high-mag view of the antibiotic powder mitomycin.
This Just In:
Just got this quotation in the inbox from Mike.
It is from a discussion on the 'trickle down' theory of voodoo economics and I think it is one of the best descriptions I have seen to date of the theory and why it is and will ever be a failure.
"... the notion that the way to slake the thirst of the needy is to provide wine to the aristocracy and then allow the poor to enjoy their piss just hasn't worked out as well as it sounds."
It is from a discussion on the 'trickle down' theory of voodoo economics and I think it is one of the best descriptions I have seen to date of the theory and why it is and will ever be a failure.
"... the notion that the way to slake the thirst of the needy is to provide wine to the aristocracy and then allow the poor to enjoy their piss just hasn't worked out as well as it sounds."
After 9-11, wife prodded Hosseini finish 'Kite'
The author of the big seller on Afghanistan was afraid he might be seen as opportunistic.
“The Kite Runner,” the novel that put a human face on Afghanistan for millions of Americans, almost didn't get finished, author Khaled Hosseini told a Charlotte audience Wednesday night.
Hosseini, a physician, had been writing in his spare time in 2001, but when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, “I lost all will to continue.”
He worried that trying to publish a book about Afghanistan under the circumstances would appear opportunistic. It was his wife, an attorney, who convinced him to finish. His work, she told him, could show Americans a different side of Afghanistan.
“The Kite Runner,” a story of two boys who lived in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, was published in 2003 and became an international bestseller. He followed in 2007 with another bestseller, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” about two Afghani women during Taliban rule.
Hosseini spoke at Ovens Auditorium to an audience of 2,300 – the largest in the 18-year history of the public library's Novello Festival of Reading. WFAE's “Charlotte Talks” host Mike Collins interviewed the author. Audience members also asked questions.
What do you remember about the Soviet invasion? one boy asked.
Hosseini, whose father was a diplomat, left Afghanistan at age 11. They were living in Paris, he said, when he and his family saw a TV news break about the invasion. He noticed the look that passed between his parents. And he realized what it meant. “For me, it meant the end of, really, my life in Afghanistan.”
Hosseini spoke humbly about his talent, saying he often writes himself into blind alleys and fumbles his way out. Responding to a question, he recalled reading condensed American novels, translated into Farsi, as a child. At 10, he read his first full American novel, “The Exorcist,” which a women's magazine had serialized.
Hosseini speaks Farsi, his native language, at home. (He also multiplies in Farsi.) But when he writes a novel, he said, he thinks in English.
As the event ended and applauding audience members began standing to leave, Hosseini spoke again. When “The Kite Runner” was first published, he said, his book signings drew only a few people.
“I'm very grateful for everyone coming,” he said. “I don't take it for granted. I'm very touched.”
Stocks plunge anew as retail sales show steep drop
Volatility has returned to Wall Street, as investors show concern after the release of some disappointing economic numbers.
The Dow Jones industrials finished more than 700 points lower.
The government's report that retail sales plunged in September by 1.2 percent - almost double the 0.7 percent drop analysts expected - made it clear that consumers are reluctant to spend amid a shaky economy and a punishing stock market. And the economy cannot grow unless consumers are spending.
And there's a new warning today from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the economy won't recover quickly, even if the financial markets stabilize.
Gas for $2.99, a great deal or still too high?
... lots of stations in our area have not dropped below three dollars a gallon. While most drivers think that's a great deal, at least compared to what we were paying.
I drive a company car so I don't actually have to pay for the gas, but come on, 2.99, I might as well save the station some money, the boss would probably like that.
Everybody agrees 2.99 today is an incredible price, but not that long ago even 2.99 would have seemed outrageous.
One year ago gas in North Carolina averaged 2.75 a gallon...but since then we've had hurricanes, shut down refineries and shortages, so 2.99 a gallon?
"Well, I think it's great," said one driver.
James Knox's Dodge Charger was thirsty today, he was recently laid off and needs to find bargains, so this sign hit him like a light from the sky, not the sun, but the price.
"I think it's still a high price, but you have to be in condition down from four bucks, I think it ought to be about two bucks," Knox said.
Those days may be long gone. But 2.99 is one dollar a gallon less than we paid one month ago, and it's down 36 cents just from last week, and today is the 29th straight day of falling gas prices. Experts tells us as long as oil prices keep dropping and demand slips due to the weak economy, these prices could fall even farther. But there are some prices we'll never see again, believe it or not, when Jerry Garris' car was new, gas cost fifteen cents.
His car is a 1931 Ford Model A coupe.
"Henry Ford wouldn't believe it today," said Garris.
Three months ago oil prices peaked at $147 a barrel, at the close of trading on Tuesday that price had fallen to $78.63, and the experts say that is probably not going to be the bottom.
*****
It is still too high.
(David Whisenant is a reporter for the local TV station WBTV)
(David Whisenant is a reporter for the local TV station WBTV)
Asheville area has NC's lowest gas prices
Gasoline prices in the Asheville area of western North Carolina have been among the state's highest, but this week they dropped to the lowest in the state.
After hurricanes disrupted pipeline deliveries from the Gulf coast, prices in some western North Carolina areas soared to around $5 a gallon. A month ago, Asheville's prices averaged $4.31 a gallon.
On Thursday, however, AAA Carolinas said prices in the Asheville area averaged $3.07.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that some stations sold gasoline for prices under $3 a gallon.
AAA said North Carolina averaged $3.32 a gallon Thursday with the highest average in the Raleigh-Durham area at $3.42 a gallon.
The guy right down the street from me has it at $3.29 a gallon.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
OK all you hiring managers out there (read: Voters)
OK, all you hiring managers out there who would you hire to be the management team for a large diversified corporation with business interests around the world?
Your choice of applicants are two teams and your only means of making a choice is based upon the educational backgrounds of the teams.
Educational Backgrounds
Your choice of applicants are two teams and your only means of making a choice is based upon the educational backgrounds of the teams.
Educational Backgrounds
Team A Lead Manager:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science; specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Team A Assistant Manager:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
Team B Lead Manager:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Team B Assistant Manager:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
I have been a hiring manager and team A would be hired and team B would be asked to leave the premises.
For those who haven't a clue ... Team A is Obama/Biden - Team B is McPain/Pale-lyn.
Bush Bubbas, let's get it right this time!
In the local paper today in the 'Letters the the Editor' section:
Bush Bubbas, let's get it right this time!
I'm a 55-year-old white Southern male christian who enjoys a high standard of living.
I voted George W. Bush both times. (I will carry the shame to my grave.)
I study politics more carefully now.
Barack Obama has my vote even if I have crawl the polls.
~ Bill Carpenter - Wesley Chapel, NC
Bush Bubbas, let's get it right this time!
I'm a 55-year-old white Southern male christian who enjoys a high standard of living.
I voted George W. Bush both times. (I will carry the shame to my grave.)
I study politics more carefully now.
Barack Obama has my vote even if I have crawl the polls.
~ Bill Carpenter - Wesley Chapel, NC
Zero out of four
Team McCain/Pale-lyn lost the last debate.
Gramps just looked like what he is an angry old man.
Gramps just looked like what he is an angry old man.
Guess who has been better for your pocketbook?
Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole?
This diagram will give you a clue.
Read the accompanying article here.
This diagram will give you a clue.
Read the accompanying article here.
Will the bailout work?
Back in 1990, the feds seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.
They failed and it closed.
Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling booze?
Dozens get gas in Wisconsin for 35 cents
Sure, gas prices have come down lately. But to 34.9 cents a gallon? That's what Kelly Joosten and dozens of other motorists paid at a Citgo station Monday. The sign advertised $3.43 for a gallon of premium fuel, but the pump cost read $0.349 a gallon.
"That was amazing," said Joosten, who normally spends about $100 to fill up her 1998 Ford Expedition.
Joosten proudly showed off her receipt for 25.36 gallons at $8.85. She said she saw other motorists filling gas cans, too, at the discounted price.
Station owner JP Raval says the attendant on duty couldn't figure out why the station was suddenly so busy.
Raval estimated 30 to 40 customers fueled up at the incorrect price - between 200 and 300 gallons worth - for about 90 minutes.
"People kept coming, so fast," Raval said. "Everything was crowded; it was like a fairground."
Two more warm days and the fall chill follows
Around these here parts leastways ...
Summer fans ... you've got two days left to enjoy the heat.
Autumn fans ... get the sweaters ready. Your turn is coming soon.
Carolinas weather will switch gears rather abruptly Friday, moving from summer-like heat to an autumn chilldown for the weekend. The changeover day will come Friday, accompanied by a chance of showers.
Today and Thursday will be warm enough to challenge record high temperatures for the dates. Forecasters are predicting highs today and Thursday near 86 degrees, and that's within striking distance of the records -- 88 degrees today (set in 1985) and 87 Thursday (set in 1925).
Tuesday's high at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport was 82 degrees, and it dropped to an unofficial low of 49 this morning. But the warmup today will be quick.
A cold front is expected to cross the area Friday, bringing clouds and a 50 percent chance of showers. No thunderstorms are expected, and highs will only reach the lower 70s.
By Saturday, we're expected to get a full taste of autumn. Forecasters expect the cold front's clouds to move east of the area in the morning. Under partly sunny skies Saturday, we'll have highs only in the lower to middle 60s. Temperatures on Sunday morning might fall to near 40 degrees, with highs around 70.
Female burglary ring broken up
Police in Guilford County say they have broken up a rather unusual burglary ring.
Eight of its nine members were women, say police.
The ring has been linked to at least 60 break-ins in Greensboro, High Point and Thomasville. Police say the group brought in other friends when they were short-handed, and that they often targeted people they knew.
“I think the chief said he couldn't remember a female we'd arrested for burglary,” said Lt. Jeff Blank of the Greensboro police department's property crime division. “This time it's eight of them and one man.”
Women sometimes act as lookouts or drivers in burglaries, Blank said, but aren't often involved in the actual break-ins.
“We're not sure why it happened that way this time,” Blank said. “From the interviews it looks like they got together a group and when one person wasn't available they'd just bring in another one of their friends.”
Blank said that many burglars don't target people they know, but many of this ring's victims were friends and acquaintances.
They operated for about a year and a half, stealing large flat-screen televisions, DVD players, other high-end electronics and cash, police said.
Police began investigating in August and, after the first few suspects were arrested, the group was linked to dozens of burglaries in the Triad.
Charges ranged from breaking and entering to larceny and intimidation of a state witness. Those charged are:
Barbara Williams Ahmad, 44, and Margie Annette Arroyo, 29, both of 305 Sunset Drive, High Point; Crystal Dominguez Artega, 35, of 208 Ashwood Circle, Asheboro; Victoria Gail Driggers, 16, of 107 Doak St., Thomasville; Lori Ann Johnson, 25, and Javier Estrada Soto, 24, both of 503 N. Centennial St., High Point; Billie Sue Mejia, 34, of 622 South Road, High Point; Brittina Vanmetre-Valdez, 20, of 619 Granby Ave., High Point; and Elizabeth LaDawn Williams, 25, of 110 Hodgin St., High Point.
*****
Dumb Crook News: the Soap Opera Division ... this one is funny crooks targeting their friends - some friends they are!
Chatter
Been a while since I posted about the chatter on the forums - there has been no need - the chatter is all about the election.
But I was actually looking at TV yesterday and within two minutes an ad for McPain aired ... the same add.
What made this one stand out was the only thing in it that was the truth was the tagline 'Change is coming', the rest was complete falsehoods.
In fact they were exactly opposite from reality - saying Liberal congressmen pushed FOR deregulation and still push for more deregulation, raised taxes, gave tax breaks to corporations and saying Obama led the pack as it were on these things.
What a crock!
Used to be outright lies and even implied untruths were punished and it looks like they will be again ... NC is 54% for Obama now to 39% for McPain. We don't tolerate liars well in North Carolina!
But back to the Chatter:
The howling from the wing-nuts now is that Liberals are not being 'civil' when they call attention to the hate being spewed by the wing-nuts which is at the point of violence with cries of 'Kill him' whenever the wing-nuts mention Obama at their Klan meetings (excuse me, rallies) and to actual physical violence wherein a wing-nut in Tennessee killed people, in a church no less, because their church was a liberal church ...
And not one word of repudiation or rebuke from those 'running' the wing-nut campaign on any of it, thereby tacitly (tacitly nothing - outright) approving and encouraging such hate, fear and violence.
The American I grew up in was a helluva better place than this and with this election we will get it back and begin to rebuild what was once the greatest nation on the planet!
So the ad was right about one thing CHANGE IS COMING. It is just not the 'change' the wing-nuts are hoping for.
But I was actually looking at TV yesterday and within two minutes an ad for McPain aired ... the same add.
What made this one stand out was the only thing in it that was the truth was the tagline 'Change is coming', the rest was complete falsehoods.
In fact they were exactly opposite from reality - saying Liberal congressmen pushed FOR deregulation and still push for more deregulation, raised taxes, gave tax breaks to corporations and saying Obama led the pack as it were on these things.
What a crock!
Used to be outright lies and even implied untruths were punished and it looks like they will be again ... NC is 54% for Obama now to 39% for McPain. We don't tolerate liars well in North Carolina!
But back to the Chatter:
The howling from the wing-nuts now is that Liberals are not being 'civil' when they call attention to the hate being spewed by the wing-nuts which is at the point of violence with cries of 'Kill him' whenever the wing-nuts mention Obama at their Klan meetings (excuse me, rallies) and to actual physical violence wherein a wing-nut in Tennessee killed people, in a church no less, because their church was a liberal church ...
And not one word of repudiation or rebuke from those 'running' the wing-nut campaign on any of it, thereby tacitly (tacitly nothing - outright) approving and encouraging such hate, fear and violence.
The American I grew up in was a helluva better place than this and with this election we will get it back and begin to rebuild what was once the greatest nation on the planet!
So the ad was right about one thing CHANGE IS COMING. It is just not the 'change' the wing-nuts are hoping for.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Odds and Sods
I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov (the world chess champion) and there was a checkered tablecloth.
It took him two hours to pass me the salt.
*****
A priest, a rabbi and a pastor walk into a bar.
The barman says, "Is this some kind of joke?"
*****
A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories.
After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse.
"But why?" they asked, as they moved off.
"Because," he said "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."
*****
I said to the Gym instructor "Can you teach me to do the splits?".
She said "How flexible are you?".
I said "I can't make Tuesdays".
*****
A sheriff's deputy responded to reports of someone stopping at all the mailboxes in town.
It was the mailman.
It took him two hours to pass me the salt.
*****
A priest, a rabbi and a pastor walk into a bar.
The barman says, "Is this some kind of joke?"
*****
A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories.
After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse.
"But why?" they asked, as they moved off.
"Because," he said "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."
*****
I said to the Gym instructor "Can you teach me to do the splits?".
She said "How flexible are you?".
I said "I can't make Tuesdays".
*****
A sheriff's deputy responded to reports of someone stopping at all the mailboxes in town.
It was the mailman.
TSA didn't keep track of ex-employees' badges and uniforms
Yet, further proof the TSA are really the Keystone Kops ...
A Homeland Security Committee investigation has found that the TSA was negligent in keeping track of former officers' uniforms and badges, so that an unknown number are now floating around, ready to be worn by anyone who wants to impersonate a TSA officer in order to bring a 3.1 ounce tube of toothpaste into a major US airport, thus causing every plane in the sky to crash simultaneously.
A Homeland Security Committee investigation has found that the TSA was negligent in keeping track of former officers' uniforms and badges, so that an unknown number are now floating around, ready to be worn by anyone who wants to impersonate a TSA officer in order to bring a 3.1 ounce tube of toothpaste into a major US airport, thus causing every plane in the sky to crash simultaneously.
Investigators found numerous cases in which former employees retained their passes long after they had left the agency.The investigation also found that TSA uniforms were frequently not collected when employees left or were transferred.
People using improper badges, IDs or uniforms — particularly in combination — "could significantly increase an airport's vulnerability to unauthorized access and, potentially, a wide variety of terrorist and criminal acts," the report said.
Oh, their names ...
Buckley is voting for Obama so is Eisenhower and Nixon .
Looks like all the conservative icons are for Obama.
Poetic justice ...
Buckley says, "Let me be the latest conservative/libertarian/whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance. Or would they? But let’s get that part out of the way. The only reason my vote would be of any interest to anyone is that my last name happens to be Buckley—a name I inherited. So in the event anyone notices or cares, the headline will be: “William F. Buckley’s Son Says He Is Pro-Obama.” I know, I know: It lacks the throw-weight of “Ron Reagan Jr. to Address Democratic Convention,” but it’ll have to do."
Looks like all the conservative icons are for Obama.
Poetic justice ...
Buckley says, "Let me be the latest conservative/libertarian/whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance. Or would they? But let’s get that part out of the way. The only reason my vote would be of any interest to anyone is that my last name happens to be Buckley—a name I inherited. So in the event anyone notices or cares, the headline will be: “William F. Buckley’s Son Says He Is Pro-Obama.” I know, I know: It lacks the throw-weight of “Ron Reagan Jr. to Address Democratic Convention,” but it’ll have to do."
Daily Horoscope
My horoscope for the day says:
Ain't that the truth,brother!
But then again, hasn't everybody?
"You've had more groundless promises than you need."
Ain't that the truth,brother!
But then again, hasn't everybody?
As of today ...
If the election was held today it would be a Landslide of historic proportions.
With 53% of registered voters voting for Obama and only 41% saying they will vote for the others running (more than McPain and Pale-lyn are running you know) it looks to be the largest margin of victory in history, both in the 'popular' vote and the electoral vote which stands today at 357 for Obama and 181 for McPain ... 0nly 270 is needed.
It is worth note that the margin is increasing in favor of Obama hourly.
With 53% of registered voters voting for Obama and only 41% saying they will vote for the others running (more than McPain and Pale-lyn are running you know) it looks to be the largest margin of victory in history, both in the 'popular' vote and the electoral vote which stands today at 357 for Obama and 181 for McPain ... 0nly 270 is needed.
It is worth note that the margin is increasing in favor of Obama hourly.
Two for the books
From the "idiots and food" Department:
A McDonald's cashier called 911 after a Vero Beach drive-thru customer allegedly offered to pay for his meal with marijuana. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said the cashier called Monday with a description of the vehicle the suspect had been riding in.
A McDonald's cashier called 911 after a Vero Beach drive-thru customer allegedly offered to pay for his meal with marijuana. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said the cashier called Monday with a description of the vehicle the suspect had been riding in.
A deputy spotted the vehicle, found marijuana in the car and arrested its occupant, 27-year-old Shawn Alexander Pannullo.
Pannullo was charged with possession of cannabis and posted $500 bail.
A Sheriff's report did not say what the suspect ordered at McDonald's or if he ultimately purchased the meal using something other than marijuana.
*****
A Brooklyn butcher shop worker called his specialty "hot kielbasa" - for snorting, not eating. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the kielbasa was really cocaine - not the Polish sausage sold in a popular meat market.
According to a criminal complaint, the "hot kielbasa" was kept in the basement.
Twenty-six suspects are under arrest, including the butcher, after an FBI informant visited the shop in response to the message: "Come to the store, I have hot kielbasa for you."
Though prices tumble, we still pay 10 percent more than the national average
Not the distinction we want ...
Despite tumbling in the past week, average gas prices in the Charlotte region remain higher than in most of the country, and the per-gallon average for North Carolina is the highest in the continental U.S.
Despite tumbling in the past week, average gas prices in the Charlotte region remain higher than in most of the country, and the per-gallon average for North Carolina is the highest in the continental U.S.
In the Charlotte area, the average price of regular was about $3.54 a gallon Monday, down 36 cents from about $3.90 last Tuesday and 64 cents from an all-time high of about $4.18 on Sept. 15, according to the American Automobile Association.
Yet, area motorists are still paying 10 percent more than the national average, which was less than $3.21 a gallon Monday. Compare that to a year ago, when regular was virtually the same in the Charlotte area as the U.S. as a whole, about $2.76 a gallon.
While the region usually has less expensive gas than the nation, supply remains limited by Hurricane Ike, said Tom Crosby of AAA Carolinas. The September storm significantly disrupted production on the Gulf of Mexico – the starting point for pipelines that provide gas for much of the Carolinas.
While part of the flow has been restored, Crosby said, some oil wells and a big refinery remain offline, and Charlotte-area stations still aren't at 100 percent of normal supply.
“We're still trying to build inventory on the ground,” he said. “It's getting better week by week, and prices are dropping three or four cents a day.”
As for when or if Charlotte-area prices will again drop below the U.S. average, Crosby said that depends in part on the weather. Colder temperatures could lead some oil companies to shift production to more lucrative heating oil, he said, which could curb the area's gas supply.
“We're still in kind of an iffy area,” he said.
The Daily Laugh
This one is too rich! My sides are hurting from the laughter!
I literally just received an e-mail from a friend containing the following quote:
What makes this so hilarious is the one quoted opining on others having 'closed and self-righteous minds' is in fact one of the most self-righteous, closed minded wing-nuts posting on that old forum I have mentioned.
I have always maintained they haven't a grasp on reality and they keep proving me correct time and time again.
Anyway I need to go and get the aspirin ... damn my sides are hurting ...LOL.
I literally just received an e-mail from a friend containing the following quote:
"... trying to discuss ideas with hopelessly closed and self-righteous minds."
What makes this so hilarious is the one quoted opining on others having 'closed and self-righteous minds' is in fact one of the most self-righteous, closed minded wing-nuts posting on that old forum I have mentioned.
I have always maintained they haven't a grasp on reality and they keep proving me correct time and time again.
Anyway I need to go and get the aspirin ... damn my sides are hurting ...LOL.
It really is that simple ...
repugicans hate Obama because of the color of his skin.
The world hates the shrub because of his wars, rapes, genicide, thefts, tortures and kidnappings not to mention his ignorance, arrogance, stupidity and all around uncouthness.
The world hates the shrub because of his wars, rapes, genicide, thefts, tortures and kidnappings not to mention his ignorance, arrogance, stupidity and all around uncouthness.
And I Quote
I'm not a fundamentalist hoping for the end of the world, a raving lunatic unclear on the concept of science, or a certified moron who claims to read every newspaper in the country but reads and knows essentially nothing.
In other words, I'm not Sarah Palin...I'd be the last to question the moronicity of George W. Bush, but Sarah Palin is substantially dumber, bizarrely crazier, and
dangerously and arrogantly less aware of her own shortcomings.
~ David Swanson
(speaking for 76% of America)
In other words, I'm not Sarah Palin...I'd be the last to question the moronicity of George W. Bush, but Sarah Palin is substantially dumber, bizarrely crazier, and
dangerously and arrogantly less aware of her own shortcomings.
~ David Swanson
(speaking for 76% of America)
A TSA screener ripped off hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of electronics from passengers, TSA itself didn't notice
And you wonder why the TSA and DHS are seen as Boobs!?
TSA Screener Pythias Brown walked off with hundreds of thousands of dollars of passengers' belongings without ever being observed by the TSA, selling the items on Ebay (apparently he was good about customer service).
Pythias started small, stealing cameras, laptop computers, gaming consoles and eventually moved on to the good stuff including a video camera belonging to CNN, and a $47,900 camera stored inside the bag of an HBO employee.The items were sold on Ebay, and as you can see from his feedback listing, these were not cheap items.
His greed eventually came back to haunt him, when CNN found one of their cameras listed on Ebay. With a little help from the local police department and the USPS, Brown was apprehended.
When agents entered his house, they found 66 cameras, 31 laptop computers, jewelry, lenses, GPS devices and more.
"Monty Python Could Have Written This."
I have thought that watching Sarah Palin is like watching a Monty Python skit.
Now, I have confirmation from the horse's mouth as it were ...
Now, I have confirmation from the horse's mouth as it were ...
John Cleese on Palin: "Monty Python Could Have Written This."
The former Monty Python star shares his unsparing thoughts and views about GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin
The former Monty Python star shares his unsparing thoughts and views about GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin
Monday, October 13, 2008
Financial crisis leads to violence
An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide. A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.
In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family's mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: "By the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead."
Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.
Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation's financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full.
"I've had a number of people say that this is the thing most reminiscent of 9/11 that's happened here since then," said the Rev. Canon Ann Malonee, vicar at Trinity Church in the heart of New York's financial district. "It's that sense of having the rug pulled out from under them."
With nowhere else to turn, many people are calling suicide-prevention hot lines. The Samaritans of New York have seen calls rise more than 16 percent in the past year, many of them money-related. The Switchboard of Miami has recorded more than 500 foreclosure-related calls this year.
"A lot of people are telling us they are losing everything. They're losing their homes, they're going into foreclosure, they've lost their jobs," said Virginia Cervasio, executive director of a suicide resource enter in southwest Florida's Lee County.
But tragedies keep mounting:
_ In Los Angeles last week, a former money manager fatally shot his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before killing himself.
Karthik Rajaram, 45, left a suicide note saying he was in financial trouble and contemplated killing just himself. But he said he decided to kill his entire family because that was more honorable, police said.
Rajaram once worked for a major accounting firm and for Sony Pictures, and he had been part-owner of a financial holding company. But he had been out of work for several months, police said.
After the murder-suicide, police and mental-health officials in Los Angeles took the unusual step of urging people to seek help for themselves or loved ones if they feel overwhelmed by grim financial news. They said they were specifically afraid of the "copycat phenomenon."
"This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair," Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said. "It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times."
_ In Tennessee, a woman fatally shot herself last week as sheriff's deputies went to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Pamela Ross, 57, and her husband were fighting foreclosure on their home when sheriff's deputies in Sevierville came to serve an eviction notice. They were across the street when they heard a gunshot and found Ross dead from a wound to the chest. The case was even more tragic because the couple had recently been granted an extra 10 days to appeal.
_ In Akron, Ohio, the 90-year-old widow who shot herself on Oct. 1 is recovering. A congressman told Addie Polk's story on the House floor before lawmakers voted to approve a $700 billion financial rescue package. Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae dropped the foreclosure, forgave her mortgage and said she could remain in the home.
_ In Ocala, Fla., Roland Gore shot his wife and dog in March and then set fire to the couple's home, which had been in foreclosure, before killing himself. His case was one of several in which people killed spouses or pets, destroyed property or attacked police before taking their own lives.
"The financial stress builds up to the point the person feels they can't go on, and the person believes their family is better off dead than left without a financial support," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Washington D.C.-based Violence Policy Center.
Dr. Edward Charlesworth, a clinical psychologist in Houston, said the current crisis is breeding a sense of chronic anxiety among people who feel helpless and panic-stricken, as well as angry that their government has let them down.
"They feel like in this great society that we live in we should have more protection for the individuals rather than just the corporation," he said.
It's not yet clear there is a statistical link between suicides and the financial downturn since there is generally a two-year lag in national suicide figures. But historically, suicides increase in times of economic hardship. And the current financial crisis is already being called the worst since the Great Depression.
Rising mortgage defaults and falling home values are at the heart of it. More than 4 million Americans were at least one month behind on their mortgages at the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
A record 500,000 had entered the foreclosure process. And that trend is expected to continue through next year, despite the current programs from the government and the lending industry to refinance delinquent homeowners into more affordable loans.
Counselors at Catholic Charities USA report seeing a "significant increase" in the need for housing counseling.
One counselor said half of her clients were on some form of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. The agency has seen a decrease in overall funding, but it has expanded foreclosure counseling and received nearly $2 million for such services in late 2007.
Adding to financially tense households is an air of secrecy. Experts said it's common for one spouse to blame the other for their financial mess or to hide it entirely, as Balderrama did.
After falling 3 1/2 years behind in payments, the Taunton, Mass., housewife had been intercepting letters from the mortgage company and shredding them before her husband saw them. She tried to refinance but was declined.
In July, on the day the house was to be auctioned, she faxed the note to the mortgage company. Then the 52-year-old walked outside, shot her three beloved cats and then herself with her husband's rifle.
Notes left on the table revealed months of planning. She'd picked out her funeral home, laid out the insurance policy and left a note saying, "pay off the house with the insurance money."
"She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for her," said her husband, John Balderrama. "Apparently she didn't have anyone to talk to. She didn't come to me. I don't know why. There's gotta be some help out there for people that are hurting, (something better) than to see somebody lose a life over a stupid house."
*****
It is going to get worse before it gets better, folks, and my garden next year will be bigger!
At 9% satisfaction is at an all-time low
With these numbers is it any wonder there is talk of a "perfect storm" politically building to sweep out the repugicans and usher in the Democrats into control of the government.
And not like the last year and a half when the repugicans stalled, filibustered and just ceased government function ... just so they could have the 'do nothing Democrats' rally cry in the election because the Democrats did not have enough seats in congress to prevent them from doing nothing and trying to blame them.
Trouble is ... the repugicans didn't count on the rest of us to be smart enough to figure out that was what they were doing.
So, sorry. I have a brain and I use it and as the repugicans are finding out so do the majority of Americans.
The rats are abandoning ship Cap'n
Vote for Obama:McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace.
McCain Loses His Head
By George F. WillDennis Hopper praying for Obama victory
From The AFP and a related piece in the LA TimesTo read the editorials whose headlines appear above click on the author's or source name.
Kindly note that the phrase 'the rats are abandoning ship' refers to those knowing the ship is sinking or going to sink and therefore leaving it before they go down with it and not to any particular person ... that is all.
Kindly note that the phrase 'the rats are abandoning ship' refers to those knowing the ship is sinking or going to sink and therefore leaving it before they go down with it and not to any particular person ... that is all.
Second out-of-state teen abanonded at a Nebraska hospital
Nebraska officials say another teenager from outside the state has been left at an Omaha hospital under the state's safe haven law.
Todd Landry with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says a 13-year-old Michigan boy was left at Creighton University Medical Center Monday morning.
This is the second time since law went into effect in July that a child from outside the state has been left at a hospital in Nebraska.
To date, 18 children between the ages of 1 and 17 have been abandoned.Last week, a 14-year-old girl from Iowa was left at an Omaha hospital by her grandparents.
She has since been returned to her family.
Nebraska's unique safe-haven law allows children as old as 18 to be abandoned without fear of prosecution.
OK, I understand the intent here but I fail to see where the next step in logic wasn't taken by those that enacted this law.
The intent was and is noble, however, the failure to dot all "I's" and cross all "T's" is allowing abuse to spread rapidly.
Dealing with a 'rebellious teen' is a part of life so get over it and on with it.
Dropping them off at a Nebraska hospital isn't an option no matter what the 'law' in Nebraska says.
Todd Landry with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says a 13-year-old Michigan boy was left at Creighton University Medical Center Monday morning.
This is the second time since law went into effect in July that a child from outside the state has been left at a hospital in Nebraska.
To date, 18 children between the ages of 1 and 17 have been abandoned.Last week, a 14-year-old girl from Iowa was left at an Omaha hospital by her grandparents.
She has since been returned to her family.
Nebraska's unique safe-haven law allows children as old as 18 to be abandoned without fear of prosecution.
*****
OK, I understand the intent here but I fail to see where the next step in logic wasn't taken by those that enacted this law.
The intent was and is noble, however, the failure to dot all "I's" and cross all "T's" is allowing abuse to spread rapidly.
Dealing with a 'rebellious teen' is a part of life so get over it and on with it.
Dropping them off at a Nebraska hospital isn't an option no matter what the 'law' in Nebraska says.
Nude Photo Of Sarah Palin Found!
Finally!
All the "Nude Sarah Palin" photo searches have not been in vain!
One has been found and it reveals Sarah as she truly is ...
We are better than this ...
David B Nava writes this over on his blog on October 8, 2008:
We are better than this and we deserve better than McCain-Palin offers us.
By David B. Nava
This is a much better country than the one offered by The Manchurian Candidate and Sarah Barracuda and this nation deserves leadership, not hate-mongering. The GOP vision for America is the Triumph of the Ignoramus, deriding the educated, attacking minorities. It is a Khmer Rouge nightmare of zombies committed to a rigid uniformity reveling in their own ignorance. It is not the America in which I grew up.
I am sick unto the death of uneducated, shoot-from-the-hip, anti-intellectual Know-Nothings occupying vital positions in our governments, state, local and national. This is no time for stupid people to be in charge of affairs, no time for the rest of us to be forced to suffer fools lightly.
(Corrected for spelling: To read the rest as originally written follow the link above)
Rednecks for Obama
When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."
In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.
Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.
Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.
"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.
"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.
The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.
"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.
It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.
Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.
"I'm shocked, actually, but excited" that such a demographic would be organizing support for Obama, said student Naia Ferguson, 18, said after hamming it up for pictures behind the banner.
"When most people think 'redneck,' they think conservatives, anti-change, even anti-integration," she said. "But America's changing, breaking stereotypes."
A southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, defines the stereotype as a "glorious lack of sophistication".
Philistines or not, he said, most rural southerners are no longer proponents of the Old South's most abhorrent ideology -- racism -- and that workaday issues such as the economy are dominating this year's election.
"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business," Spencer said. "Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote republican."
To an important degree, however, race is still the elephant in the polling booth, experts say, and according to a recent Stanford University poll, Obama could lose six points on election day due to his color.
Racism "has softened up some, but it's still there," Viessman acknowledged from Belmont University, site of Tuesday's McCain-Obama debate in Nashville, Tennessee.
Despite representing the heartland state of Illinois, and having a more working-class upbringing than his Republican rival John McCain, Obama has struggled to shoot down the impression that he is an arugula-eating elitist.
Surely he alienated many rural voters earlier this year when the Harvard-educated senator told a fundraiser that some blue-collar voters "cling to guns or religion".
But Viessman, who says he owns a dozen guns, said Obama "ain't gonna take your guns away."
The South traditionally votes Republican -- victories for southerners Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were exceptions -- but with less than a month to election day, four states in or bordering the South are considered toss-ups: Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia.
Viessman says he'd like to think his grassroots movement could sway enough people in small-town America to make a difference.
"There's lots of other rednecks for Obama too," he said. "And the ones that's not, we're trying our best to convince them."
The bomb that healed
The bombing of a prominent Atlanta synagogue in 1958 claimed no lives, but the community outrage that it prompted helped galvanize the city's nervous Jewish community to embrace the civil rights movement.
Members of The Temple gathered Sunday for the blast's 50th anniversary, recalling its terrifying aftermath and the way it changed their congregation's mission to promote racial equality.
"What could have been a terribly tragic event had the effect of making the congregation more confident, and more willing to get involved in controversial events," said Ellen Rafshoon, who curated an exhibit on the bombing at Emory University's rare manuscripts library.
The Reform congregation, housed in a handsome cluster of buildings on one of Atlanta's busiest streets, had for years discouraged conflicts with Atlanta's dominant Christian community. But the synagogue's message changed when it hired Rabbi Jacob Rothschild to lead the congregation in 1946.
Sermons encouraging racial equality soon became an annual tradition on Jewish holidays, and the rabbi slowly pushed his congregants to work for integration.
"He suspected all along that he was endangering the congregation and his family," said Rothschild's widow, Janice Rothschild Blumberg, who remarried after the rabbi's death in 1973. "But he felt he had to do it, that this was his duty - as a rabbi and a human being."
On the early morning of Oct. 12, 1958, some 50 sticks of dynamite exploded in the synagogue's entryway, destroying a part of the building. At least six other synagogues around the nation had been targeted by bombs in the previous year.
But it was a particular shock for congregants who believed Atlanta - whose leaders fostered a reputation as a bustling, progressive city - was immune from the hate crimes spreading across other parts of the South.
"We were so naive at the time," said Jill Shapiro Thornton, a Temple member and a ninth-grade student at the time of the bombing.
The city's Jewish community worried the bombing would be met with a halfhearted response, as had happened in the aftermath of the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Temple member who was killed by a white mob. Instead, the Temple was flooded with letters and donations, messages of support from Girl Scout troops, concerned clergy - even a white citizens council in Alabama.
Atlanta Mayor William Hartsfield visited the Temple and quickly went on television to condemn the bombers and the politicians who he said should share the blame.
"Whether they like it or not, every political rabble-rouser is the godfather of these cross burners and dynamiters who sneak about in the dark and give a bad name to the South," he said. "It is high time the decent people of the South rise and take charge."
Dozens of city, state and federal investigators fanned out across the area, arresting five suspects with ties to anti-Semitic groups. One suspect, George Bright, was acquitted in a high-profile trial, and charges against the other four co-defendants were dropped.
Rothschild, meanwhile, continued to urge his flock to embrace racial equality. Among his proudest accomplishments was co-hosting an integrated dinner after Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel prize in 1964. Some 20 percent of the event's donors were Jewish, Rafshoon said.
"Jews had become complacent and afraid, reluctant to stick their necks out," said Rafshoon. "The rabbi had pushed the congregation to take a stand, to support the civil rights movement. After the bombing, the big hug that came their way made Jews in Atlanta feel they could have the confidence to move forward on this controversial issue."
Congregants on Sunday mingled with residents who came to pay respects in a new building near the site of the explosion. Some recalled it as a terrifying introduction to racism. Some said it cemented the Jewish community's role in Atlanta.
To Blumberg, it was an act of violence that ultimately proved to be positive. "I felt it was like lancing a boil, like a surgeon opening a wound that didn't heal right," she said.
That helps explain the surprising name she coined for the blast that shook Atlanta: "The bomb that healed."
Nobel in Economics
Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton university and an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in economic science on Monday.“It’s been an extremely weird day, but weird in a positive way,” Mr. Krugman said.
read more NYTimes Economics
also, The Peking Duck wonders...
"The Democrats about to win in a landslide. Krugman winning the nobel prize. Is our faith in humanity actually about to be restored?"
*****
Been wondering that myself the last few days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
