An Old Man's Musings

Does it make sense?

2011-12-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

Each Chevy Volt sold thus far may have as much as $250,000 in state and federal dollars in incentives behind it – a total of $3 billion altogether, according to an analysis by James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Read more >> CAPCON...

Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle makes economic "sense."The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is on the cover of the April issue — the influential magazine's annual survey of vehicles — but the GM vehicle comes in for criticism.

"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."

Peruse Chevrolet's February sales release, and you'll notice one number that's blatantly missing: the number of Chevy Volts sold. The number – a very modest 281 – is available in the company's detailed data (PDF), but it certainly isn't something that GM wants to highlight, apparently. Keeping the number quiet is a bit understandable, since it's lower than the 321 that Chevy sold in January.

Read more >> autobloggreen...

Read more >> Volt...

2011-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents. Sure enough, the “Seventh Quarterly Report” on the economic impact of the “stimulus,” released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic “stimulus” did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt.
The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.
In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

Read more >> The Weekly Standard...

2011-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Falling home prices have shrunk the equity Americans have in their homes to nearly the lowest percentage since World War II.

Read more >> USA Today...

2011-06-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

We all think it’s a panacea. If you don’t have enough money saved for retirement, you’ve got a few ways to close the gap between what you have and what you need in your nest egg: Save more, invest more aggressively, and/or work longer.

Well, it turns out that working longer is indeed an option, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute latest study. The only problem is that the latest research shows that you’ll have to work much longer than you anticipated. In fact, many Americans will have to keep on working well into their 70s and 80s to afford retirement, according to the study, titled "The Impact of Deferring Retirement Age on Retirement Income Adequacy."

Read more >> MarketWatch.com...

What happened?!?

2011-05-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Analysts who once downplayed the government’s role in causing the financial crisis now have changed their tune, concluding that government regulations that promoted risky loans played a major role in spawning the crisis. In a May 3 note to clients, Michael Cembalest, the Chief Investment Officer of JP Morgan Private Bank, revised his 2009 account of what caused the financial crisis. Under the heading, “Retractions – the primary catalyst for the US housing crisis,” he wrote:
“US Agencies played a larger role in the housing crisis than we first reported.
In January 2009, I wrote that the housing crisis was mostly a consequence of the private sector… However, over the last 2 years, analysts have dissected the housing crisis in greater detail. What emerges from new research is something quite different: government agencies now look to have guaranteed, originated or underwritten 60% of all “non-traditional” mortgages, which totaled $4.6 trillion in June 2008. What’s more, this research asserts that housing policies instituted in the early 1990s were explicitly designed to require US Agencies to make much riskier loans, with the ultimate goal of pushing private sector banks to adopt the same standards.” (emphasis in original)

Read more >> OpenMarket.org...

And now...

2011-04-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter as higher food and gasoline prices dampened consumer spending and sent inflation rising at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years.

Read more >> Reuters...

Comic book budget squabble...

2011-04-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

The world had better start paying attention to the US government’s inability to govern. The prevailing mood over this has been strangely complacent. Six months of the fiscal year gone and only now a ramshackle budget? Government brought to the brink of shutdown over trifling disagreements? Absurd, one thinks, but this is Washington. Do as most Americans do, and regard the pantomime with blithe contempt. In the end, out of sheer exhaustion, the actors do their deals and it is business as usual.

Read more >> Financial Times...

Near the bottom...

2011-03-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

The US ranks near the bottom of developed global economies in terms of financial stability and will stay there unless it addresses its burgeoning debt problems, a new study has found.

In the Sovereign Fiscal Responsibility Index, the Comeback America Initiative ranked 34 countries according to their ability to meet their financial challenges, and the US finished 28th, said David Walker, head of the organization and former US comptroller general.

"We think it is important for the American people to understand where the United States is as compared to other countries with regard to fiscal responsibility and sustainability," Walker said in a CNBC interview. "Americans are used to rankings and they're used to ranking very high, but frankly in this area we rank very low."

Read more >> CNBC.com...

2011-03-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Purchases of new U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in February to the slowest pace on record and prices dropped to the lowest level since December 2003, adding to evidence the industry is floundering.
Sales decreased 16.9 percent to a 250,000 annual pace, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a gain to a 290,000 rate, according to the median estimate. The median price fell 8.9 percent from the same month in 2010.

Read more >> Bloomberg...

Brother, can you spare a dime?

2011-03-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rose in nearly all of the 372 largest U.S. cities in January compared to the previous month, mostly because of seasonal changes such as the layoff of temporary retail employees hired for the holidays.
The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate rose in 351 metro areas, fell in only 16, and was unchanged in 5. That’s worse than December, when the rate fell in 207 areas and increased in 122.

Read more >> USA Today...

Everything costs more...

2011-03-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February - double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January's 0.5 percent rise.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.

Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.

Read more >> The Island Packet...

Trade Deficit

2011-03-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

A surge in oil prices and rising demand for foreign cars and machinery helped push imports up at the fastest pace in 18 years in January, giving the country the largest trade deficit in six months.
The January deficit increased 15.1 percent to $46.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Exports rose 2.7 percent to an all-time high of $167.7 billion. But imports rose at nearly twice the pace of exports, to $214.1 billion. A big jump in demand for a variety of foreign goods from industrial machinery and telecommunications equipment to autos drove the increase. America's foreign oil bill rose 9.5 percent, underscoring concerns that higher oil prices could slow the economic growth.

Read more >> The Associated Press...

2011-03-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said a surge in U.S. government “activism,” including fiscal stimulus, housing subsidies and new regulations, is holding back the economic recovery.

Read more >> Bloomberg...

Duplication...

2011-02-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development.

These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping and duplicative programs that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, according to the Government Accountability Office.

A report from the nonpartisan GAO, to be released Tuesday, compiles a list of redundant and potentially ineffective federal programs, and it could serve as a template for lawmakers in both parties as they move to cut federal spending and consolidate programs to reduce the deficit. Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.), who pushed for the report, estimated it identifies between $100 billion and $200 billion in duplicative spending. The GAO didn't put a specific figure on the spending overlap.

Read more >> The Wall Street Journal...

2011-02-28T23:31:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) – China's holdings of US bonds reached $1.16 trillion at the end of December, almost $270 billion more than previously estimated, new data showed Monday.
Beijing, which has converted much of a huge trade surplus with the United States over the past two decades into buying up US treasuries and other securities, held 26.1 percent of the total of $4.44 trillion held by foreigners, the Treasury said.
The figures came as the US government recalculated its data on foreign holdings of US securities from June 2010.
Chinese-held Treasuries have fallen since hitting a high of $1.18 trillion in October, under the revised figures. Japan remained by far the second largest holder of US government debt, with $882 billion in December, around $1.3 billion less than original estimates.
Britain was third at $272.1 billion.

Who's picking up the tab?

2011-02-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

Less than two years after entering bankruptcy, General Motors will extend millions of dollars in bonuses to most of its 48,000 hourly workers as a reward for the company's rapid turnaround after it was rescued by the government.

Read more >> AP...

Slow train wreck coming...

2011-02-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama may lose the advantage of low borrowing costs as the U.S. Treasury Department says what it pays to service the national debt is poised to triple amid record budget deficits.
Interest expense will rise to 3.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2016, from 1.3 percent in 2010 with the government forecast to run cumulative deficits of more than $4 trillion through the end of 2015...

Read more >> Bloomberg...

P.O. Blues...

2011-02-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Postal Service warned Wednesday that it may default on some of its financial obligations later this year after reporting yet another quarterly loss.
The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said it suffered a loss of $329 million in the first quarter of federal fiscal year 2011. That compared with a loss of $297 million a year earlier.

Read more >> CNNMoney...

2011-01-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

Interest rates are now hovering near record highs, at an average rate of 14.72%. And if your credit is bad enough, you could even end up with a rate as high as 59.9% APR.

Read more >> CNNMoney...

Another new record!

2011-01-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

The Congressional Budget Office is estimating that the federal budget deficit will hit $1.5 trillion this year, another new record.

Read more >> USA Today...

Bad and getting worse...

2011-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

It was the most startling of warnings. If the US does not get its finances in order “we will have a European situation on our hands, and possibly worse”, claimed Paul Ryan, the new Republican chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee.
The consequences of not tackling the country’s mounting debt burden would be dire, he last week told an audience of leading budget experts and economists at a gathering in Washington. “We will have the riots in the streets, we will have the defaults, we will have all of those ugliness problems,” he said, referring to “French kids lobbing Molotov cocktails at cars, burning down schools because the retirement age will be moved from 60 to 62”.
As it stands today, the US borrows about 40 cents of every dollar it spends. Curbing the budget deficit has been the stated mission of Mr Ryan, a rising Republican star, for several years. But such calls for action have multiplied in Washington in recent months, igniting what some say is the fiercest debate over fiscal and budgetary policy in decades.
The risks are big. If the government rushes into austerity, cutting too much and too quickly, it could stunt economic recovery. But if the political system cannot forge some kind of consensus on steps to restore US deficits to sustainable levels, the danger is potentially even greater: a sovereign debt crisis in the world’s largest economy.

Read more: Financial Times...

Wildlife Die-Offs

2011-01-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

Large wildlife die-off events are fairly common, though they should never be ignored, according to the U.S. Geological Survey scientists whose preliminary tests showed that the bird deaths in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve and those in Louisiana were caused by impact trauma.

Preliminary findings from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Arkansas bird analyses suggest that the birds died from impact trauma, and these findings are consistent with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's statement. The State concluded that such trauma was probably a result of the birds being startled by loud noises on the night of Dec. 31, arousing them and causing them to fly into objects such as houses or trees. Scientists at the USGS NWHC performed necropsies—the animal version of an autopsy—on the birds and found internal hemorrhaging, while the pesticide tests they conducted were negative. Results from further laboratory tests are expected to be completed in 2-3 weeks.

"Although wildlife die-offs always pose a concern, they are not all that unusual," said Jonathan Sleeman, director of the USGS NWHC in Madison, Wis., which is completing its analyses of the Arkansas and Louisiana birds. "It's important to study and understand what happened in order to determine if we can prevent mortality events from happening again."

In 2010, the USGS NWHC documented eight die-off events of 1,000 or more birds. The causes: starvation, avian cholera, Newcastle disease and parasites, according to Sleeman. Such records show that, while the causes of death may vary, events like the red-winged blackbird die-off in Beebe, Ark., and the smaller one near Baton Rouge, La., are more common than people may realize.

Read more: USGS...

Up. Up, and Away...

2011-01-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

The latest posting today of the National Debt shows it has topped $14 trillion for the first time.

Read more: CBS NEWS...

Where we've been. Now where are we going?

2010-12-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hans Rosling tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes.

Click on the picture to view video...

2010-12-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

The U.S. government fell deeper into the red in fiscal 2010 with net liabilities swelling more than $2 trillion as commitments on government debt and federal benefits rose, a U.S. Treasury report showed on Tuesday.

Read more: Reuters...

IRS in action...

2010-12-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Internal Revenue Service is making it a bit riskier to cheat on your taxes.

The tax agency increased the number of returns it audited by nearly 11 percent this year, statistics released Wednesday show. Wealthy taxpayers and big businesses were most likely to be targeted.

The IRS also stepped up audits of charities and other tax-exempt organizations.

Read more: npr.com...

Budget Gap

2010-12-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - The United States recorded a larger-than-expected US$150-billion budget gap in November, the largest shortfall for any November, Treasury Department data showed Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted around a US$132-billion shortfall in November after posting a US$120-billion shortfall in November a year earlier.
The government has now posted a budget deficit for 25 straight months, the longest on record, the Treasury Department said.

Read more: Financial Post...

Wikileaks

2010-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Trust.

It’s a simple, one syllable word. If you think about it, trust is all that stands between us and terrible circumstance, whether that’s the breakup of a family or total, nuclear Armageddon.

Trust is vitally important to the operations of nations and governments, as well. Not everyone, for example, is entrusted with America’s nuclear codes. Not everyone is entrusted with the command of virtually independent nuclear ballistic missile submarines. And not everyone is entrusted with secret government documents.
For many things, trust has to be selective. It’s not a good idea, as an example, to put controlling nuclear weapons on the honor system. My friends worry enough when I get around a good fireworks store or wax poetic about plasma torches — they wouldn’t feel comfortable if I had nukes.
Yet, we have to trust some people. It’s not possible to do everything yourself. Working parents must trust someone to watch their newborn. Bosses who can’t do everything themselves, or be in multiple places at once must put some trust in their employees.
Because the United States is a large nation with many interests all over the world, our military and diplomatic leadership must put some trust into the lower-level men and women who move and analyze tremendous amounts of information the world over. Even if they’re only 22.
And so it came to be that the great nation of the United States of America entrusted Bradley Manning — a young Private First Class of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division in Iraq, a former school dropout and pizza greeter — with handling message traffic considered confidential and not for foreign eyes.

Read more: zdnet.com...

Why are we going nuts?

2010-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

More than 45 million Americans, or 20 percent of U.S. adults, had some form of mental illness last year, and 11 million had a serious illness, U.S. government researchers reported on Thursday.

Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of mental illness at 30 percent, while those aged 50 and older had the lowest, with 13.7 percent, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA.

Read more: cnbc.com...

Click HERE for a quick course in Government Economics...

2010-11-14T21:37:00.003-08:00

It takes on to know one...

2010-11-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

Brother can you spare a dime trillion?

2010-11-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

$10.2 trillion: The amount of money advanced-nation governments will need to borrow in 2011

As the debts of advanced countries rise to levels not seen since the aftermath of World War II, it’s hard to know how much is too much. But it’s easy to see that the risk of serious financial trouble is growing.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal...

Phew!

2010-11-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

A daily shower is a deeply ingrained American habit. Most people would no sooner disclose they had not showered in days than admit infidelity. But . . .

Read more: The New York Times...

Taken for a ride?

2010-10-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Government Motors' all-electric car isn't all-electric and doesn't get near the touted hundreds of miles per gallon. Like "shovel-ready" jobs, maybe there's no such thing as "plug-ready" cars either.

The Chevy Volt, hailed by the Obama administration as the electric savior of the auto industry and the planet, makes its debut in showrooms next month, but it's already being rolled out for test drives by journalists. It appears we're all being taken for a ride.

Read more >> Investor's Business Daily...

Read more >> Volt...

Food Stamp Nation by Pat Buchanan

2010-10-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

"The lessons of history ... show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit."

These searing words about Depression-era welfare are from Franklin Roosevelt's 1935 State of the Union Address. FDR feared this self-reliant people might come to depend permanently upon government for the necessities of their daily lives. Like narcotics, such a dependency would destroy the fiber and spirit of the nation.
What brings his words to mind is news that 41.8 million Americans are on food stamps, and the White House estimates 43 million will soon be getting food stamps every month.
A seventh of the nation cannot even feed itself.
If you would chart America's decline, this program is a good place to begin. As a harbinger of the Great Society to come, in early 1964, a Food Stamp Act was signed into law by LBJ appropriating $75 million for 350,000 individuals in 40 counties and three U.S. cities.

Exempt!

2010-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Nearly a million workers won't get a consumer protection in the U.S. health reform law meant to cap insurance costs because the government exempted their employers.

Thirty companies and organizations, including McDonald's (MCD) and Jack in the Box (JACK), won't be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which provided a list of exemptions, said it granted waivers in late September so workers with such plans wouldn't lose coverage from employers who might choose instead to drop health insurance altogether.

Without waivers, companies would have had to provide a minimum of $750,000 in coverage next year, increasing to $1.25 million in 2012, $2 million in 2013 and unlimited in 2014.

Hard times in New York...

2010-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

By: Reuters
The recession put a 3.1 percent dent in the personal incomes of New York state residents, who endured their first full-year decline in more than 70 years, according to a report released Tuesday.
Paychecks or net earnings tumbled 5.4 percent, while dividends, interest and rent slid 8.4 percent, to a grand total of nearly $908 billion, the state comptroller's report said.
Not only did New Yorkers' personal incomes fall "almost twice" as much as they did in the nation as a whole, but they have yet to recover to pre-recession levels, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
The drop occurred even though the job-destroying recession was milder in New York than in the rest of the country.

Jackass?

2010-10-05T17:34:00.001-07:00

Run on Food Stamps

2010-10-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

The number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 41.8 million in July as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high, the government said.
Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 18 percent from a year earlier and increased 1.4 percent from June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in a statement on its website.
Participation has set records for 20 straight months.
Unemployment in September may have reached 9.7 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts in advance of the release of last month’s rate on Oct. 8. Unemployment was 9.6 percent in July, near levels last seen in 1983.
An average of 43.3 million people, more than an eighth of the population, will get food stamps each month in the year that began Oct. 1, according to White House estimates.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at abjerga@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth in Chicago at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

Get in line...

2010-09-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, the highest number in the half-century that the government has kept such statistics, the Census Bureau announced Thursday.

A Lesson From 9/11

2010-09-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago today, we saw the world stand still. We saw the innocence of a nation crumble to the ground. We saw the face of evil form in plumes of smoke and ash. It was Sept. 11, 2001.
I heard a thousand gasps of a thousand people standing stock still in the normally bustling Times Square as they watched the second plane hit the second tower on a JumboTron in Times Square.
I saw images of small figures that looked liked birds outside the towers. Only they weren’t birds, they were people, forced out by the flames, forced to make an impossible choice under impossible circumstances.
We all watched the towers collapse, completely, falling from the skies above into a cloud below — horrific and awesome, breathtaking and unbelievable.
I felt myself grow numb, but I refused to be afraid. My attitude that day was the same as most Americans: the terrorists must not be allowed to win. America would not be cowed. We would rise, our greatness would shine, and our ideas of freedom would remain a beacon to the world.
That is why the debate these past few weeks over Islam in America — from the proposed Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan to talk of the burning of Korans — has been so hard to watch. Too much of the debate seems to be centered around the sensitivities of terrorists a world away who have hijacked the passions of a faith, who would see us destroyed and who want to attract more damaged souls to their cause.
I understand, in theory, the idea of not stirring the hornet’s nest while our troops are still in harm’s way. But I chafe at the idea that great American debates, in all their ugliness and splendor, should be tempered for terrorists and their attempts to recruit.
It is true that we seem to be experiencing a new sense of paranoia about these extremists and the threats they pose.
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released this week, the percentage of people who say that the country is safer now from terrorism compared with before Sept. 11, 2001, has reached a new low.
But we simply cannot allow this new wave of fear to make us into something that we’re not. We are a country of freedoms, a country where religious freedom and freedom of speech hold equal standing, a country in which the construction of a building and the destruction of a book are rights extended to all, even if opposed by most.
Free expressions are not always pleasant, but they must ever be protected, with no regard to the proclivities of the enemy.

This is America, and the moment we forget that, they start to win.
By CHARLES M. BLOW, The New York Times

Summer of Recovery?

2010-09-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to recovery summer?

This was supposed to be the season the economy heated up, thanks to a wave of public works projects, funded by the government's stimulus program. But summer is coming to an end, and the recovery has not taken root. (The Labor Department on Friday reported a slight rise in the unemployment rate to 9.6 percent in August as more people were looking for work.)

And before long, stimulus dollars will be fading like autumn leaves.

Southern Arizona

2010-09-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

Po folk...

2010-08-30T23:11:00.001-07:00

Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.

"Lives Touched"

2010-08-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

Every time a report on the stimulus bill is released, one can almost hear the sound of ‘Yakety Sax’ playing in the background and the president’s team running around in frantic disarray.
It isn’t simply the absurdity of a recent Government Accountability Report(GAO), finding that each job ‘created’ by the stimulus bill costs an average of $194,213. It’s the fundamental shell game that the administration is playing with the public regarding the numbers, a game that can only be interpreted one of two ways – either the administration itself is inept in their reporting, or they assume the American people are too inept to catch on.
In fact, the jobs reporting has been such a muddled mess, that even liberal media stalwart, MSNBC, couldn’t keep track of their stories earlier in the year.On January 13th, they ran two stimulus related stories, one which touted the White House claim that the stimulus had saved two million jobs, and another which explained why calculating such a number is impossible.
Now however, the GAO report shows that the phrase ‘jobs created’ or ‘jobs saved’ is no longer the term of choice. They have decided to go with — wait for it — ‘lives touched’.
Essentially, we’ve now transitioned from the aforementioned terminology, on to ‘jobs funded’, and eventually landed on something reminiscent of an after school special, ‘lives touched’.
So what exactly defines a touched life?

Whistleblowers...

2010-08-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

New US whistleblowing incentives within the Dodd-Frank financial reform act – that could net informants multimillion dollar pay-outs – are likely to generate a surge in allegations against US-listed companies and Wall Street banks, lawyers say.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is expecting a sharp increase in tip-offs from senior employees and third parties prompted by potential seven-figure bounties.
“The scale of the awards reflects the high quality of whistleblower we hope to get – people within a company, broker or other regulated firm that we might not have heard from before,” Stephen Cohen, an SEC official, told the Financial Times. “We’re expecting a tremendous response.”

The Gap

2010-08-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

The United States is selling fewer products around the world and spending more on cheap imported goods, an imbalance that hurts the job market at home and means the economy is even weaker than previously thought.

The trade deficit of nearly $50 billion for June is the biggest in almost two years, and economists fear that economic growth for the second quarter, which came in at a sluggish rate of 2.4 percent in early estimates, may turn out to be only half that.

"The problem is that to the extent we have a recovery in the United States, it is pulling in a lot of imported goods. That means it is not translating into production and jobs at home," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Could be worse?

2010-08-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

The U.S. government spent itself deeper into the red last month, paying nearly $20 billion in interest on debt and an additional $9.8 billion to help unemployed Americans.

Federal spending eclipsed revenue for the 22nd straight time, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The $165.04 billion deficit, while a bit smaller than the $169.5 billion shortfall expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires, was the second highest for the month on record. The highest was $180.68 billion in July 2009.

The government usually runs a deficit during July, which is the 10th month of the fiscal year. So far in fiscal 2010, the government spent $1.169 trillion more than it made. That figure is about $98 billion lower than during the comparable period a year earlier.

Federal workers rule!

2010-08-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

At a time when workers' pay and benefits have stagnated, federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn, a USA TODAY analysis finds.

Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade.

Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.

The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.

Public employee unions say the compensation gap reflects the increasingly high level of skill and education required for most federal jobs and the government contracting out lower-paid jobs to the private sector in recent years.

Is Obama anti-business?

2010-08-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - Labeled anti-business by Republicans and some corporate chiefs, President Barack Obama mounted a campaign to show he wasn't. But his charm offensive has hit a rocky patch.
Business leaders gripe about burdensome new financial and health care regulations, what they see as unfriendly tax policies and vast government spending. They were put off by Obama's harsh depiction of "fat cat bankers" and "reckless practices," a label he applied both to Wall Street and to oil-spill giant BP.

Environmental Extortion?

2010-08-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

An unusual deal is part of a new United Nations initiative to persuade energy-rich countries not to drill for oil and gas in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecuador has therefore agreed not to touch three oil fields in the Yasuni region of the Amazon for the next ten years, if rich countries buy enough 'Amazon bonds'. Under the terms, donating nations pay an amount per year for a decade - receiving no dividend except an environmental one.
Ecuador's Yasuni reserves are estimated to hold 846m barrels of crude - or a fifth of Ecuador's total.
Raising the money will save the 3,800 square mile forest that is home to rare animals and indigenous peoples. Cutting down trees to develop the area would have released 400m tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
The proposed sum of $3.6 billion is only half the $7 billion that it might have been made through selling the extracted oil at today's prices.

Dung Beetle

2010-08-06T13:05:00.003-07:00

The Bio-Bug has been converted by a team of British engineers to be powered by biogas, which is produced from human waste at sewage works across the country.

Beating the Summertime Blues....

2010-08-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

Monkeys Get High for Science (Winston-Salem, NC)

Researchers at Wake Forest University think that, in at least one case, it is good to monkey around with stimulus dollars. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent $71,623 to the Winston-Salem college to see how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine. The project, titled “Effect of Cocaine Self-Administration on Metabotropic Glutamate Systems,” would have the monkeys self-administer the drugs while researchers monitor and study their glutamate levels. When asked how studying drugcrazed primates would improve the national economy, a Wake Forest University Medical School Spokesman said, “It's actually the continuation of a job that might not still be there if it hadn't been for the stimulus funding. And it’s a good job.” He added, “It’s also very worthwhile research.”

To see 99 more innovative projects funded by the Federal Government go to: http://coburn.senate.gov/...

The Devil is in the Details...

2010-08-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge.

To drill down for all detail go to: http://www.house.gov/...

Warning from CBO

2010-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

The risk of a debt crisis along the lines of the kind being experienced in Europe will increase as long as the debt increases, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday.

The CBO said in a new report that while it was impossible to predict whether the United States would encounter a debt crisis like those plaguing some European nations, the longer debts and deficits go unaddressed, the greater the risk of a crisis.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to predict with any confidence whether and when such a crisis might occur in the United States; in particular, there is no identifiable tipping point of debt relative to GDP indicating that a crisis is likely or imminent.” a new CBO report said. “But all else being equal, the higher the debt, the greater the risk of such a crisis.”

By Michael O'Brien

Post racial america?

2010-07-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Weren't we supposed to enter a new age of tolerance with the election of President Barack Obama?

His half-black, half-white ancestry and broad support across racial lines suggested that at last Americans judged each other on the content of our characters — not the color of our skin or our tribal affiliations.

Instead, in just 18 months of the Obama administration, racial discord is growing and relations seem to have been set back a generation.

Black voters are galvanizing behind Obama at a time of rapidly falling support. White independents, in contrast, are leaving Obama in droves.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Recovery Summer

2010-07-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

The White House is trumpeting a "summer of economic recovery," but it could soon be facing a winter of discontent.
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and other officials have visited far-flung locales such as Holland, Michigan, Louisville, Kentucky, and Barre, Vermont, to see first-hand some of the projects financed by an $862 billion stimulus package passed last year.
While economists generally agree the recession would have been worse without the government spending spree, it's a hard sell to voters with unemployment at 9.5 percent and unlikely to fall much by November's congressional elections.
"I think it's a very risky strategy to use the term 'recovery' and the promise and claim of recovery when for many Americans, the evidence is simply not there," said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University.
White House officials are trying to frame the mid-term elections as a choice between Republicans, whose policies the administration says caused the economic mess, and Democrats, who are trying to dig the country out.
Dana Milbank, a Washington Post columnist, pointed out this wasn't exactly the stuff of catchy bumper sticker slogans. "Vote Democratic. Things might have been even worse without us" probably won't sway voters, he wrote.

Read more: Reuters...

2010-07-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Every day we have something to be thankful for in our lives…

…. today we are thankful that the photographer was not standing on the other side!

More to come?

2010-07-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

"Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was - get ready for it - a commission. That's Washington-speak for 'we'll get back to you later.'
Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy. We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it - and that's the kind of President I intend to be."
(Barak Obama, September 18, 2008)

President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was establish February 13, 2010 to make recommendations on how best to address America's financial problems.
He has also established commissions to address the BP oil spill, nuclear power, and the creation of an American Latino museum.

Are there more commissions to come?

The load just keeps growing... [click]

2010-06-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

President Obama's overhaul of the health-care system has done little to improve the nation's budget outlook, congressional budget analysts said Wednesday. They also said the president's tax agenda -- including a pledge to extend an array of tax cuts for the middle class -- would only make things worse.

Click title above to read full Washington Post article.

Better late than never?

2010-06-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Day 70
Tuesday June 29, 2010, 6:43 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States is accepting help from 12 countries and international organizations in dealing with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. is working out the particulars of the help that's been accepted.
The identities of all 12 countries and international organizations were not immediately announced. One country was cited in the State Department statement -- Japan, which is providing two high-speed skimmers and fire containment boom.
More than 30 countries and international organizations have offered to help with the spill. The State Department hasn't indicated why some offers have been accepted and others have not.

Congress at work on Wall Street reform...

2010-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate. "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works."

Rights For All

2010-06-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Watch video...

$146B and rising... [click]

2010-06-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took over a foreclosed home roughly every 90 seconds during the first three months of the year. They owned 163,828 houses at the end of March, a virtual city with more houses than Seattle. The mortgage finance companies, created by Congress to help Americans buy homes, have become two of the nation’s largest landlords.
For all the focus on the historic federal rescue of the banking industry, it is the government’s decision to seize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008 that is likely to cost taxpayers the most money. So far the tab stands at $145.9 billion, and it grows with every foreclosure. The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the final bill could reach $389 billion.

Click title above to read full New York Times article.

What, BP worry? [click]

2010-06-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

BP holds enough oil in its reserves to single-handedly supply the United States for two years. It has little debt for a company of its size and makes more money than Apple and Google combined.
So when the White House arm-twisted its executives into setting aside $20 billion for the Gulf oil spill, investors weren't worried it would bankrupt BP. They barely batted an eye.
"The U.S. government will become insolvent before BP does," said Bruce Lanni, a stock analyst with Nollenberg Capital Partners.

Click title above to read full Associated Press article.

Obama pleads for $50 billion more...

2010-06-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid "massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters" and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama defended last year's huge economic stimulus package, saying it helped break the economy's free fall, but argued that more spending is urgent and unavoidable. "We must take these emergency measures," he wrote in an appeal aimed primarily at members of his own party.

U.S debt to rise to $19.6 trillion by 2015

2010-06-08T23:27:00.001-07:00

The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.

June 8 (Reuters) - The report that was sent to lawmakers Friday night with no fanfare said the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product would rise to 102 percent by 2015 from 93 percent this year.
"The president's economic experts say a 1 percent increase in GDP can create almost 1 million jobs, and that 1 percent is what experts think we are losing because of the debt's massive drag on our economy," said Republican Representative Dave Camp, who publicized the report.
He was referring to recent testimony by University of Maryland Professor Carmen Reinhart to the bipartisan fiscal commission, which was created by President Barack Obama to recommend ways to reduce the deficit, which said debt topping 90 percent of GDP could slow economic growth.
The U.S. debt has grown rapidly with the economic downturn and government spending for the Wall Street bailout, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the economic stimulus. The rising debt is contributing to voter unrest ahead of the November congressional elections in which Republicans hope to regain control of Congress.
The total U.S. debt includes obligations to the Social Security retirement program and other government trust funds. The amount of debt held by investors, which include China and other countries as well as individuals and pension funds, will rise to an estimated $9.1 trillion this year from $7.5 trillion last year.
By 2015 the net public debt will rise to an estimated $14 trillion, with a ratio to GDP of 73 percent, the Treasury report said.

Federal debt tops $13 trillion mark [click]

2010-06-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

The federal government is now $13 trillion in the red, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday, marking the first time the government has sunk that far into debt and putting a sharp point on the spending debate on Capitol Hill.
Calculated down to the exact penny, the debt totaled $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of Tuesday, leaping nearly $60 billion since Friday, the previous day for which figures were released.
At $13 trillion, that figure has risen by $2.4 trillion in about 500 days since President Obama took office, or an average of $4.9 billion a day. That's almost three times the daily average of $1.7 billion under the previous administration ...

Click title above to read full Washington Times article.

What's your source of income? [click]

2010-05-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

Private pay shrinks to historic lows as gov't payouts rise

Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds.
At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.
Economist David Henderson of the conservative Hoover Institution says a shift from private wages to government benefits saps the economy of dynamism.

"People are paid for being rather than for producing," he says.

Click title above to read full USA TODAY article.

The U.S.Senate at work . . . What me worry?

2010-05-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to view video.

Shell Game

2010-04-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre announced in a Wall Street Journal column Wednesday that his company has paid back its government bailout loan "in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule." He is even running TV ads on all major networks to that effect--a needless expense given that a credulous media is only too happy to parrot his claims for free. Detroit Free Press' Mike Thompson, for example, advises bailout proponents to start "warming up their vocal chords" to jeer their opponents with chants of "I told you so."
But before belting out their victory aria, GM-boosters ought to hear the whole story--not just the fairytale version about Government Motors' grand comeback that Mr. Whitacre is feeding them.
Mr. Whitacre's bailout payback ploy is a desperate attempt to win back the car-buying public deeply disgusted by the spectacle of GM rattling its tin-cup before Uncle Sam. But the fact of the matter is that the company is still deep in the hole. It might claw its way back – or it might not. But surely it's premature for its media boosters to pop open the champagne bottle without getting their story straight.

Read more >> Forbes...

Click to find a place...

2010-04-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Now that's a neat camping stove!

2010-04-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Watch video...

Virtual

2010-04-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - The Army is opening a new training center at Fort Leavenworth to let soldiers to fire their weapons using virtual ammunition.
It's called an engagement skills trainer and allows soldiers to practice marksmanship and combat skills in a safe environment.
The Army will dedicate the new facility Friday morning. An Army Reserve unit is scheduled to use the trainer after a brief ceremony.
The trainer will allow practice on small arms, shoulder-launched weapons and heavy machine guns. The systems are linked to computer systems and fire virtual ammunition at targets, saving money in using live rounds.
It also allows for training indoors with immediate response for soldiers preparing for duty.

The Old Man thinks this is quite appropriate considering this country is now funded with virtual money.

They HEDGED their bets last year... [click]

2010-04-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Billion dollar payday for top ten!

The Lazarus-like recovery of the nation’s big banks did not benefit just the bankers — it also created huge paydays for hedge fund managers, including a record $4 billion gain in 2009 for one bold investor who bet big on the financial sector.
Hedge funds — the elite, lightly regulated investment vehicles open to a restricted range of investors — enjoyed a winning streak during the buyout boom that preceded the financial crisis in 2008. Then the bottom fell out of the industry, handing even top hedge funds double-digit percentage losses. In turn, the earnings of the top 25 fund managers in the 2008 survey tumbled 50 percent.
At the time, some market experts questioned whether the industry could continue to charge hefty fees — a manager typically receives a substantial portion of the fund’s annual appreciation — for such uneven performance. After all, hedge funds were supposed to protect investors against market volatility, not subject them to it.
But in a startling comeback, top hedge fund managers rode the 2009 stock market rally to record gains, with the highest-paid 25 earning a collective $25.3 billion, according to the survey, beating the old 2007 high by a wide margin.
The minimum individual payout on the list was $350 million in 2009, a sign of how richly compensated top hedge fund managers have remained despite public outrage over the pay packages at big banks and brokerage firms.

Click title above to read full New York Times article.

Change you can belive in...

2010-03-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

Quiet! You'll enjoy the new health care I have for you.

Census 2010 – The American Race [click]

2010-03-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies and I have been talking on at NRO’s The Corner about the Census form and the particularlly obnoxious Question 9 asking the person's race. Mark sent his form in after marking the option for “Some other race” and writing in “American” and he had a column in USA Today about it. As I pointed out, federal law specifies that you can be fined if you either don’t answer ($100 per question) or provide a false answer ($500 per question). So the question arises whether Mark’s answer could get him in trouble.

Click title above to read full The Foundry article.

States’ Rights Resurgence [click]

2010-03-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

Whether it’s correctly called a movement, a backlash or political theater, state declarations of their rights — or in some cases denunciations of federal authority, amounting to the same thing — are on a roll.
Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a Republican, signed a bill into law on Friday declaring that the federal regulation of firearms is invalid if a weapon is made and used in South Dakota.
On Thursday, Wyoming’s governor, Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, signed a similar bill for that state. The same day, Oklahoma’s House of Representatives approved a resolution that Oklahomans should be able to vote on a state constitutional amendment allowing them to opt out of the federal health care overhaul.
In Utah, lawmakers embraced states’ rights with a vengeance in the final days of the legislative session last week. One measure said Congress and the federal government could not carry out health care reform, not in Utah anyway, without approval of the Legislature. Another bill declared state authority to take federal lands under the eminent domain process. A resolution asserted the “inviolable sovereignty of the State of Utah under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.”
Some legal scholars say the new states’ rights drive has more smoke than fire, but for lawmakers, just taking a stand can be important enough.

Click title above to read full New York Times article.

Alma [click]

2009-12-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

Do your kid a favor: Smother him in germs

2009-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

If you’re one of those germ-a-phobes who refuse to let your kids do fun stuff like eat mud and gobble up Froot Loops off the floor you’re doing little junior a big disservice.
A new Northwestern University study suggests that American parents should ease up on antibacterial soap and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud — or at least a much better acquaintance with everyday germs.
The study is the first to look at how microbial exposures early in life affect inflammatory processes related to diseases associated with aging in adulthood.
Most provocatively, the Northwestern study suggests that exposure to infectious microbes early in life may actually protect individuals from cardiovascular diseases that can lead to death as an adult.
Good to know my parenting score just went up. And since I’m prone to drop food and still woof it down I’m feeling pretty good about my immune system too.
By Larry Dignan http://www.smartplanet.com/
Photo via Ontario Cycling Association

Pigeon: Impossible [click]

2009-11-21T10:45:00.001-08:00

Everything You Read on the Internet is True

2009-10-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Internet has revolutionized the publishing and media industries. Anyone with an Internet connection can instantly share their thoughts and opinions with a worldwide audience. The result, according to Google, is that there are well over a trillion unique Web pages [source: Alpert].
Since anyone can publish a Web site, you can never tell where that information comes from. That's not the case: By using a relatively simple set of guidelines, you can evaluate the credibility of information on any Web site.
The first thing you should examine is the Web address itself. Does it end in .gov or .edu? Does it include a person's name? With nothing more than a URL, you already have a good indication of the source of the material.
If the online material is an article, does it include the author's name and publication date? Search the author's name and find out more about his or her experience and expertise. If the article is old, consider whether it covers the kind of information that changes quickly.
If you don't recognize the name of the Web site from an offline publication -- newspaper, magazine or TV show -- read the site's "about" section to find out more. Look for clear signs of bias or commercial interests.
Above all, say the librarians of the University of California at Berkeley, you should approach all online information with "healthy skepticism" [source: UC Berkeley]. Use the same analytical tools you would use to examine any other form of media. In other words, consider the source.

From HowStuffWorks.Com: Top 5 Myths About the Internet

Dangerous DST? [click]

2009-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Like many old timers, I don't like changes. One change I don't like to accomodate twice a year is Daylight Savings Time.Click the link above and find a "green" reason to be suspect of the value of Daylight Savings Time.

I'm Searchin' . . .

2009-10-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

Using Google to search the internet is good for the brain and can slow or even reverse age-related conditions such as dementia, according to scientists.
They found older people who have never used the internet before boosted their brain power just a week after going online.
The scientists from UCLA in Los Angeles found simple internet searches triggered key centres in the brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.
As the brain ages a number of structural and functional changes occur, which can impact how we process thoughts.
Research has shown that mental stimulation may affect the efficiency of this cognitive processing and alter the way the brain encodes new information.
Traditionally, these include games such as crossword puzzles, but with the advent of technology, scientists are beginning to assess the influence of computer use - including the internet.
Study author Dr Gary Small from UCLA, said: 'We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function.
'The study results are encouraging that emerging computerised technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults.
'Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.
'A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older.
'With more time on the internet, they may demonstrate the same brain activation patterns as the more experienced group.'
The UCLA team worked with 24 volunteers aged between 55 and 78.
Prior to the study, half the participants used the internet daily, while the other half had very little experience.
The participants performed web searches while undergoing MRI scans, which recorded brain-circuitry changes experienced during this activity.
This type of scan tracks brain activity by measuring the level of cerebral blood flow during cognitive tasks.
After the initial brain scan, participants went home and conducted internet searches for one hour a day for a total of seven days over a two-week period.
The first scan of participants with little internet experience demonstrated brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and visual abilities.
The second scan of these participants - conducted after the practice internet searches at home - demonstrated the same brain activity but also triggered the areas of the brain that work memory and decision-making.
The scientists said the results showed that after internet training at home, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of savvy internet users - after just a brief period of time.
Previous research by the UCLA team found that searching online resulted in a more than twofold increase in brain activation in older adults with prior experience, compared with those with little internet experience.
The findings are published in the academic journal Neuroscience 2009.

How the swine caught the flu...

2009-10-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

USDA confirms H1N1 in Minnesota pigs
Oct 19 2009
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Associated Press Writer

Udderly rude!

2009-10-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

What can we do? [click]

2009-10-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Kelsey Briggs2002 - 2005

Don't Bug Me! [click]

2009-10-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Interesting Bios [click]

2009-09-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

We'll get to the bottom of this...

2008-12-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

Mr. President

2008-11-21T00:09:00.001-08:00

So what does it all mean?

2008-11-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Click on the question mark!

This picture needs a caption...

2008-11-13T10:47:00.001-08:00

The election is over...

2008-11-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

What are you going to do now?

2008-10-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

"I just woke up one day and here I am," said The Old Man.

My schedule...

2008-09-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Showdown at PS38...

2008-08-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States.
The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt.
School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom.
Thweatt said it is a matter of safety.
"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said. "It's just common sense."
Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said.
Recent school shootings in the United States have prompted some calls for school officials to allow students and teachers to carry legally concealed weapons into classrooms.
The U.S. Congress once barred guns at schools nationwide, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck the law down, although state and local communities could adopt their own laws. Texas bars guns at schools without the school's permission.

Aging Gracefully -- It's a Real Workout

2008-08-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

The most depressing thing about getting older is that it can't be stopped. Or so we've been told. The aging process seems to be one of inevitable decline, the withering away of both body and mind. No matter how much we rage against the dying of the light, we're still going to forget where we put our car keys.
But is our fate really so fixed? Is the march of time always so cruel?
There is an important scientific debate about the inevitability of the aging process and what even young and middle-aged people can do to blunt the adverse effects of time.
According to scientists, it's entirely possible to grow significantly older without getting much slower -- as long as we're willing to put in the work. The elixir of youth, it turns out, is an old-fashioned cocktail: blood, sweat and tears.
The latest science suggests is that the best anti-aging treatment isn't something you apply to your skin or buy in a bottle: It's what you already have in your head. The bad news, of course, is that the same research shows that the passage of time is not an equal opportunity eroder.
Last year, a large study led by researchers at Harvard University compared the brains of young adults and senior citizens. As expected, the scientists found consistent differences between the two groups. The most significant occurred in a brain system known as the "default network," which is active when people turn their attention inward, as when they're trying to remember a name. The default network is defined by a series of pathways between the front of the brain -- this includes areas of the prefrontal cortex -- and the "back" of the brain, such as the cingulate cortex.
Under normal circumstances, the default network ensures that these two brain areas work in perfect sync. "When the front of the brain fires, you want to see the back of the brain fire right back," says Jessica Andrews-Hanna, the study's lead author. "Unfortunately, this connection seems to weaken with age, so that older people can end up with a rather disconnected brain." Andrews-Hanna suggests that deficits in the default network might be responsible for many of the classic symptoms of old age, such as an inability to focus and problems with memory retrieval.
The aging process is a biological wrecking crew. But buried in all the bad news are some optimistic data. It turned out that nearly half of the older subjects exhibited brain activity that appeared indistinguishable from that of the young adults: Their default system was nearly as synchronized as those of people in their 20s. Furthermore, these differences in brain activity were correlated with performance on a battery of tests that measured short-term memory, abstract reasoning powers and processing speed. "There really was tremendous individual variation," Andrews-Hanna says, "and this variation was evident both in the brain and in observed behavior."
The question, of course, is what causes this variation. How do some people manage to maintain such a spry cortex? Some scientists argue that the secret to thinking like a young person is cognitive exercise. "The brain is a learning machine, and like all machines it needs to be continually maintained," says Michael Merzenich, a professor emeritus at the University of California at San Francisco. "If you stop exercising the brain -- and this is what often happens during retirement -- then you shouldn't be surprised when it starts to die off."
Merzenich has developed a software program, Posit Science Brain Fitness, that helped reverse the cognitive effects of aging in 93 percent of elderly subjects, according to a 2006 study. After a few months of intensive training, the brains of 75-year-olds had the memory function of people decades younger, at least when tested in a lab. Merzenich argues that the aging brain requires rigorous workouts to stay in shape. There are no shortcuts. Even people blessed with ideal genetics -- those lucky souls at low risk for wrinkles and memory loss -- still need to exercise the mind to preserve their mental vigor.
But the mind does have one crucial advantage over the body: It can rewire itself as it tries to cope with the challenges of getting older. According to Denise Park, a neuroscientist in the Productive Aging Laboratory at the University of Texas at Dallas, the inevitable atrophy caused by the aging process means that older brains must continually find new ways to perform the same mental tasks. The cortex deals with cell death by re-directing its traffic, becoming more reliant on those neural pathways that remain viable.
Although it's still unclear where such mental flexibility comes from, several studies suggest that it's largely an ancillary benefit of "sustained cognitive engagement," or thinking intensely on a regular basis. Not only does an active mind have more cortical matter to lose -- scientists refer to this as "cognitive reserve," since the extra tissue serves as a buffer against cell death -- but it also seems better able to adjust its activity in response to the insults of age. "The brain operates on a use-it-or-lose-it principle," says Merzenich. "And the ability to cope with change seems to really be something you either use or lose."
What this suggests is that successful aging has little to do with stopping the aging process, because that can't be done. Our flesh is mortal; there is no fountain of youth. Nevertheless, these anatomical changes don't need to become handicaps. The brain is a flexible machine: If we put in the effort -- and it takes lots of effort -- our cells will find a way to stay fit. Nobody ever said aging gracefully was easy.

By Jonah Lehrer, editor at large at Seed magazine and the author of "Proust Was a Neuroscientist."

The Old Man says, "Ah, forget the whole thing."

2008-08-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

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