September 23rd, 2008
One convicted cop killer Troy Anthony Davis, was spared his life, at least for now, by the U.S. Supreme Court. Davis’ life, for now, has being spared, but it was on a day when one Philadelphia police officer was killed and other wounded by other worthless societal degenerates, one of whom is now dead.
In the past year, four Philadelphia police officers has given their lives in the line of duty.
September 23rd, 2008
Long before cell phones, MP3 players, CDs and DVDs, laptops, and home theaters, life was simple. There were wax records that were played on record players; notebooks and steno books for taking notes; and black-and-white television and the dear old radio, especially the ever-popular AM stations!
Gone are the days of some of the simple pleasures many of us enjoyed.
September 16th, 2008
United Airlines (UAL) has increased baggage fees for passengers with heavy bags. In fact, it doubled the baggage fee from $25 to $50. The fee went into effect today for flights departing in November.
The only positive note in the baggage increase that I saw was that active duty military personnel with travel orders would not be accessed the baggage fee. That’s good news, and something I would have appreciated having a waiver for if these sky-high baggage fees were in place when I was in uniform.
September 12th, 2008
The U.S. Coast Guard units in and around the Gulf Coast are certainly earning high praise from the news media, from over 40 people who have been rescued this morning, and leaders in various areas impacted by Hurricane Ike.
Now, at 2:32 p.m., with Hurricane Ike at a category 2 with 105 mph winds, many are surprised the Coast Guard is still doing rescues, as a notice, according to some, had been issued earlier saying rescues would end hours ago. They haven’t, and there are at least two people alive — at least — who were rescued in this extended mission.
August 28th, 2008
Hurricane Gustav is going to hit the United States unless there’s an act of divine intervention. Short of a miracle from Heaven, all computer predictions are showing Hurricane Gustav will hit somewhere along the Gulf Coast, anywhere from Pensacola, Florida on the Eastern side to Houston, Texas on the West.
Unless Hurricane Gustav’s path is suddenly diverted, or unless Hurricane Gustav falls apart and becomes little more than a tropical storm or depression, it’s more than likely at least one of the many oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico will receive some damage, but likely all of the platforms will be closed down in advance of the storm.
August 22nd, 2008
Beloit College’s Class of 2012 Mindset List has been released. It’s a list of things that incoming freshmen – most of whom were born in 1990 – are familiar with, but things they also don’t know or comprehend. For example, Harry Potter could very well be one of their classmates, the Class of 2012 Mindset List notes.
The list was started by Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, providing insight into the life and realities — as they exist — for incoming freshmen. It provides cultural touchstones that shape the lives of the incoming students, sometimes making it easier for a professor to understand why some students don’t grasp course content. one such example, for which I must be an exception, is this year’s item #20.
August 20th, 2008
Earlier today, around 2:10 p.m., miscommunication between a Congressional staffer, as well as workers at Cleveland’s City Hall, led to news reports from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Associated Press, and CNN, among other news outlets, to prematurely report the death of U.S. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 57, who was serving her fifth term in Congress.
This evening, at 6:12 p.m., however, the Congresswoman was pronounced dead about 24 hours after being taken to the hospital by ambulance. She would have celebrated her 59th birthday in 21 days, on September 10.
August 15th, 2008
It’s always nice when someone with means (you know, the people called “the haves”) reaches out and helps others in society with less (those people called “the have-nots”), but sometimes things that are done for supposed “have nots” is ridiculous. A classic example is in the news today.
It seems Donald “The Donald” Trump is doing something with his money to help another American couple deal with their personal woes as a result of defaulting on their mortgage. That’s nice, right?
August 4th, 2008
There are at least a handful of people arguing the U.S. government needs to “do more” to regulate online pharmacies. Sure, that may be true, but right now, face the facts: most in Congress are older people who are technologically-challenged. In fact, look at legislation about most any aspect of life and you’ll see most of it is at least 10 or more years behind the times. I won’t even touch on the health care crisis in the U.S.
In a story on CNN.com, one woman cried to the cable news channel that she found her husband on their marriage bed, dead, in a pool of vomit. He allegedly died from what the woman — the widow — declares was an accidental overdose of drugs the now-dead husband received from an online pharmacy.
July 31st, 2008
While we aren’t yet using the thumbprint technology in transactions such as buying a home, grocery shopping, or, for that matter, shopping at most any store, it is used for government stuff, as well as used for computing security.
Did Simon Ramo have it all wrong back in November 1964, or was he a little too optimistic for his time? I think it’s the latter. Even in the late 1990s and early this decade, even as late as 2003 or so, I heard people I know dismiss the idea of using debit cards, as well as ATMs, even for cash advances from a credit card. Those same people, though, also were against online shopping.
July 27th, 2008
Congress has approved a $300 billion funding measure to help people who are at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure, and now, it seems, almost every media outlet in the country is busy touting the ways to stake claim to your chunk of change from that bailout.
To be in foreclosure means you haven’t paid your mortgage. Wow! What a concept. Most of the people in the current mortgage crisis are people who managed to get mortgages from lenders who offered sub-prime loans. The loans were given to people with a variety of options, but many people who never would have managed to get a mortgage from traditional lenders managed to buy a home. Great. Until the taxpayer-funded bailout.
July 21st, 2008
After giving up on lifesaving efforts, the lifeguards covered each of the girls’ bodies with a beach towel out of respect for the dead. The feet and ankles of both girls poked from under the beach towels, a testament to two young lives snuffed out.
Within feet of the girls’ bodies, folks went about sunbathing and other beach antics as normal, ignoring the two dead bodies.
