Posts Tagged “California”
- The federal government’s quarter-trillion-dollar bank buy-in plan is being embraced by the industry as a means to get them back to the business of lending again, but many experts believe it won’t provide a quick fix to the nation’s economic problems. In my experience, depending on a bank to really help me with my problems is like hiring a shark to host a pool party…
- Wednesday’s final presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama may very well be McCain’s last chance to shake up a race that many polls suggest has been wrapped up by Obama. McCain’s people have suggested he may again try to connect Obama to Bill Ayers, the one-time anti-war radical who is now a professor and neighbor of Obama’s–I don’t know about you, that gets me right off worrying about the economy…
 Engineers at NASA say they know how repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and will begin a complicated remote-control fix Wednesday that will require them to wake up parts on the telescope that have been dormant for 18 years. Are we sure they’re qualified–after all, they probably have parts dormant for much longer than that…- A federal appeals court has ordered that Ohio’s election officials must establish a system to verify the eligibility of newly registered voters and make that information available to all of the state’s election boards, a victory for the state’s Republicans challenging the administration of registration policies by the Democratic secretary of state. So, the GOP is convinced the other side is trying to register ineligible pro-Obama votes, and the Dems are convinced the other side is trying to stop eligible pro-Obama voters from registering–at least they agree on something…
- Thanks to a break in Santa Ana winds, firefighters in Southern California have been able to better control 3 dangerous forest fires that have each moved closer to Los Angeles’ northwestern suburbs. The longer they can keep those arid breezes from fanning the flames, the better off they are–then again, it’s LaLa Land, and the Santa Anas are the least of their hot air problems…
 The upstart Tampa Bay Rays, who until now had never won more than 70 games a season, have pushed the mighty Boston Red Sox into an uncomfortable corner with a 13-4 rout of the defending World Series champs Tuesday–their second-straight lopsided win and the team’s third consecutive victory. The Sox have been here before, and they’ve roared back–but that was with "Manny being Manny", who’s now doing that pretty well for someone else…
Tags: Barack Obama, California, debate, Election Day, financial bailout, forest fires, Hubble Telescope, John McCain, Major League Baseball, NASA
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- The stock market returned to its wild ride Monday, as news of a global plan for buying directly into banks sent prices surging everywhere–including the US, where the Dow posted a gigantic 932 point gain, it’s biggest one-day bump in history. Brokers everywhere celebrated by taking off their homeless person disguises…
- President Bush said he would announce new plans Tuesday that will use a portion of the $700 billion bailout money for the purchase of stock in major US banks–the same plan adopted in Great Britain and throughout Europe. It must be strange for the president to announce a policy that wasn’t dictated to him while asleep by Karl Rove or Dick Cheney…
- Democratic Congressman Tim Mahoney of Florida called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into his own conduct after an ABC News report that he agreed to pay $121,000 to a former mistress and staff worker after being threatened with a sexual harassment suit. He’s either incredibly confident, insane or calculating–in other words, a politician…
 Princeton professor and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on international trade patterns–making Krugman the best-known American economist to win the award in decades. Krugman has been a relentless critic of the Bush administration’s economic policies, particularly the bailout package–which to much of the world would qualify him as a genius…- Canada is wrapped up in an election campaign as well, with voters going to the polls Tuesday to likely re-elect Conservative Party incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper over Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion. A native of Quebec, Dion’s struggles with the English language have been a campaign issue–you mean like Sarah Palin?
 Wildifres in Southern California are moving into suburban Los Angeles neighborhoods, fanned by the area’s legendary Santa Ana winds, forcing frantic evacuations by homeowners–some given as little as 20 minutes to escape the engulfing flames. There are those trying to put a positive spin on the tragedy–their commute just got a lot shorter…
Tags: ABC, California, Canada, financial bailout, Nobel Prize, President Bush, stock market, wildfire
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- The White House’s bailout plan to avoid a financial meltdown suffered one of its own Thursday, as hopes that Congress would pass the $700 billion fix were dashed–by the president’s own party, who refused to send a negotiator to a late-night meeting aimed at working out a deal. I understand the president had to convince Dick Cheney not to take all the dissenters hunting with him…
 And that meltown continued to pick up more heat Thursday, as the FDIC seized Washington Mutual and its $307 billion in assets–making it the the biggest banking failure in US history. They were obviously trying to be a financial leader, only I’m pretty sure this wasn’t it…- Among the perks enjoyed by lawmakers in California is all the free gas they need, at a cost to taxpayers of $220,000 so far this year–all while those same lawmakers couldn’t pass a budget with the state facing a $15 billion deficit. Wow–looks like these folks have attended some of those Destroying State Government seminars in Albany…
 Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are still at odds over whether to hold their first debate Friday, with Obama saying he intends to be at the University of Mississippi debate site while McCain–who earlier suggested it be postponed so the two could negotiate a financial rescue plan–is now mum on the subject. I guess he could always send VP nominee Sarah Palin in his place–McCain just has to be sure he gives her a note to say it’s OK…- The GAO, Congress’ official investigator, claims the FDA’s efforts to control food-borne illnesses are stymied by a lack of oversight of the produce industry. An agency spokesperson denied the allegation, then asked several people in the office if they knew who was in charge of lettuce…
 A Swedish daredevel crossed the English channel while strapped to a homemade jet-propelled wing Friday after jumping from a plane at an altitude of over 8800 feet. I’m sure there are situations where you’d want to do something like this on purpose, only I get ill thinking of them…
Tags: California, financial bailout, Financial meltdown, White House
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- Congressional leaders say they will act quickly on a plan from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy up bad mortgages and other investments that are putting banks and other financial institutions in danger of collapse. Of course, now that the price tag is somewhere just south of a trillion bucks, that seems about as smart a re-election move as admitting you’re a distant relative of Osama bin Laden…
 Nearly a week after Hurricane Ike struck south Texas, Houston is beginning to return to normal with electricity restored to nearly a million homes and traffic returning to normal–but Galveston Island remains closed and residents ordered to stay away while officials struggle to get just basic services restored. I can’t help but think of that classic Glen Campbell song: "Galveston, oh Galveston…I am so afraid my house is floating…" (watch out–audio is old and scratchy!)- The American Medical Association and the American Academy Of Pediatrics, along with twenty other medical groups, say public confidence in vaccine safety must be restored , amid reports of measles outbreaks at a 10-year high and a quarter of all toddlers not sufficiently immunized. The primary reason is that some parents fear that they cause autism–which is about as likely (to them, I’m sure) that they also cause homosexuality…
  A new poll has found that support for a California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is fading and now trails by a 17-point margin. I believe there are two major reasons–one, that Ellen DeGeneres has done it, and Anne Heche hasn’t… Federal law enforcement officials say former congressman Mark Foley likely won’t face charges for all those inappropriate emails and instant messages he sent to underaged pages. That may seem like another politician getting a break from the law, but I think the fact that Foley is now a political zero has probably punished him worse than any fine or jail time…- New Jersey’s attorney general has ordered an end to plea-bargains for teenagers ticketed for driving offenses, saying it undermines the state’s graduated license program–which mandates an improvement program for those offenders before a standard license is issued. It could have unforseen economic consequences–too many teens without cars could wipe out the Paramus Mall…
Tags: autism, Ben Bernanke, California, Financial meltdown, Galveston, gay marriage, health care, Henry Paulson, Houston, Hurricane Ike, Mark Foley, New Jersey
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 Residents and tourists in Key West are making preparations to evacuate as Tropical Storm Fay heads for the Florida coast, with expectations it will reach there by Monday night and reach wind speeds sufficient for a Category 1 hurricane, the region’s first since Wilma struck in 2005. I guess you could call it the calm before the storm…- After signing a cease-fire agreement with Georgia, Russian officials say they will withdraw troops from there beginning Monday–only how fast and how many is uncertain. Anyone who was around for the Cuban missle crisis might find all this oddly familiar–except for where we practiced hiding under our desk in Mrs. Johnson’s class…
 Pakastani president and US ally Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation Monday, saying he wanted to spare his nation from an impeachment battle and that his actions had been "for the people and for the country". Considering the fact that he was in fact being impeached, that he had grown even more unpopular after the assassination of popular opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and the celebrating in the streets over Musharraf’s announcement (see left), there may be just a few people who disagree… - Michael Phelps indelibly etched his name into sports history Saturday when he won his decisive eighth Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Games along with his 4X100 individual medly relay team, finally passing Mark Spitz to become the all-time winningest althlete of the Olympic Movement. Phelps will return home to Baltimore to take some time away from competition–he could hire himself out to help fish swim better…
- California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had surgery on his right knee Sunday after injuring it while exercising about two weeks ago. I understand he actually participated in the procedure–he showed them just where to solder and everything…
- The leader of a Hawaiian pro-sovereignty group that broke into a historic palace Friday night and planned to chain himself to the throne ran into a problem–he had never been there before and had no idea where the throne was. Unfortunately, asking guards for directions didn’t go as well as he’d hoped…
Tags: 2008 hurricane season, 2008 Summer Olympics, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, Florida, Michael Phelps, Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, Republic Of Georgia, Russia
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