Posts Tagged “forest fires”
- 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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- As expected, Congress has overridden President Bush’s veto of legislation that protected doctors from a 10.6% cut in Medicare fees. When you’re up for re-election, "Medicare" and "cuts" are never in the same sentence…
- Over 100,000 pilgrims from around the world have arrived in Sydney in anticipation of a Mass by Pope Benedict XVI to open the World Youth Day festival. This is a good time for organizers to check their wafer supplies…
- The Massachusetts Senate has voted to repeal an old law that had been prohibiting out-of-state residents from getting same-sex marriages. Maybe this is how you boost tourism during high gas prices…
- Barack Obama and John McCain highlighted their differences on the war in Iraq in speeches on Tuesday, with Obama calling it a costly distraction while McCain insisted it is a conflict that American must win. They agree that more troops are needed in Afghanistan–just not who should give the order…
- Another E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has now spread to New York, Kentucky and Indiana. While more sanitary procedures in meat production are needed, I’m thinking some folks ought to get over their love of red in red meat…
- The practice of using private firefighting companies by insurers to protect expensive homes from California forest fires is on the rise, and officials worry that they may interfere with legitimate firefighting, or their concern for just their own wealthy customers may leave others without protection. You don’t really want somebody looking at a printout before deciding if they plan to save your life…
Tags: Afghanistan, Australia, Barack Obama, Congress, E. coli, forest fires, gay marriage, Iraq, John McCain, Massachusetts, Medicare, Pope Benedict XVI
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- The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that some children as young as 8 be given cholerterol-fighting drugs to help fight future heart problems. Physicians would make the determination based on family history, current levels of both "good" and "bad" chloresterol, and the child’s daily intake of bacon-and-bacon sandwiches…
- Cooler, more humid air Sunday gave firefighters in California a tiny break in their battle to control another wildfire threatening 2,700 homes in the Santa Barbara area. Maybe it was just the Governator channeling Mr. Freeze from Batman And Robin…
- Congress returns from a week-long holiday break with plans to provide foreclosure relief, stop Medicare cuts and broaden intelligence agencies’ ability to track suspected terrorists–all planned for completion by early August, when members will break for another month and likely begin re-election campaigns in earnest. So they’re cramming a ton of work into just a few weeks’ time–this is gonna turn out just like my last home remodeling project…
- Health experts warn that John McCain’s plan to tax health insurance premiums as income and then give those paying them a tax credit would lead many employers to stop providing it as a benefit, since many of their employees could buy individual polices for less than the tax credit they would receive. This sounds like a great plan–if geometrically increasing the nation’s uninsured is what you had in mind…
- The United Arab Emirates has agreed to cancel $7 billion of Iraq’s debt and has moved to restore diplomatic relations there, a sign of improved security and acceptance of their Shiite government. And as a thanks to US efforts there, the UAE promised that Americans would never pay more than $20 a gallon for gas…
- The latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary features some new additions–"Texas Hold-’Em" and "dirty bomb", as well as the lesser-known "Norovirus", "edamame", and "pescatarian". Just missing this year’s list: "K-Fed", "baby mama", and "Britney-tized"…
Tags: California, Children, Congress, forest fires, health care, Iraq, John McCain
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