Woman to Woman

By Gale

February 27, 2009 9:08 AM | Link to this

How does a college, especially a state college, “refuse to take cuts”? They have a budget. They are responsible for what they spend the budget on. If they provide a lot of courses that students on a lean budget do not take because they are making decisions with their own budget, they will make responsible decisions. This is not a situation of students taking unnecessary courses for free. They pay to take courses. No, lawmakers should not determine the courses taught nor the professors hired. A college is a place of learning, not indoctrination. The student is responsible for the quality of his/her education. If this college does not meet his/her needs, another will. Those decisions will determine the course directions.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this

Well hey, they have the time to stick their noses into college curricula now that they’ve voted to allow their buddies at the Georgia Power Company to bill us, in advance, for something we may or may not ever receive. Of course, they’ve solved all of Georgia’s other problems too, so it’s good they’re keeping busy. Aren’t we SO fortunate to have them?

By Justin

February 27, 2009 9:58 AM | Link to this

The danger in a position such as Hill’s and Byrd’s (and, by extension, Shaunti’s) is that it leads one to beleive that a college education is nothing more than a trade school. Many of the courses that so anger social conservatives are graduate level classes that are designed for future academics and educators. Secondly, liberal arts educattion was once lauded for its tying together or history, economics, philosophy, etc. Liberal arts teach people to think, not simply to work. Queer Theory is an approach that looks at the world from the perspective of a group that is always outside-looking-in to point out the nature of heteronormativity. How is this irrersponsible or wasteful? How much would the state save by cutting such a course? I sincerely doubt that Shaunti, Rep. Byrd, or Rep. Hill have even investigated the cost to the University to offer a course. What’s next: cutting philosophy and English courses and doubling up on welding and business administration? Doesn’t a doubling of business majors only serve to degrade the vaule of that degree?

By chuck

February 27, 2009 10:00 AM | Link to this

These are some of the undergraduate degrees offered at Georgia State:

Folklore, Latin, Real Estate, Jewish Studies, Women’s Studies, Italian, Film and Video, African-American Studies, Hospitality Administration.

As a pragmatist, I look at these majors and see a bunch of people who are never going to get a job. Certainly there is MORE to going to college than JUST preparation for a job, but c’mon, LATIN?!?!?

I have no real problem with GSU OFFERING these majors. I just don’t think we ought to be PAYING for them. Here is a NOVEL APPROACH:

Why can’t we come up with a list of degree programs that the state will pay for. Any degree program not on the list can still be offered, but the university will have to RAISE the money for them. Let’s have HOPE Scholarship ONLY PAY for those approved programs. Students who choose to go outside of those programs will just have to pay their own way. Tuition for non-approved programs could be higher also. That way those programs could be self-funding.

As a side note, all of the programs I listed above could ALSO be folded into OTHER programs to save administrative costs. For instance, Real Estate and Hospitality Administration could be concentrations in a business degree. Folklore and Film and Video could be concentrations in an English degree.

In these economic times, **WE CAN’T KEEP ASKING TAXPAYERS TO PAY FOR THE WHIMS OF TEENAGERS. (AND Academicians)

By Gale

February 27, 2009 10:17 AM | Link to this

Chuck, what do you have against Latin. Latin was once considered to be an essential for education. How could an advanced scholar otherwise hope to study original works in Latin, Greek, Arabic, but by studying those languages. I think Latin was possibly the most important class I ever took in public school. Many public schools no longer teach Latin.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:21 AM | Link to this

Finally … Something that liberals don’t want to be controlled by the government. It’s OK for our banks and health system to have the giant hand of socialism, but not the state owned educational system.

Colleges were politically one sided when i attended in the 70s. Now, many students report a dictatorial hand that alter grades and openly discourage any sort of independent thinking over the socialist group-think that has infected our country.

Georgia is now controlled by Republicans for the first time since reconstruction. (Thank God). The segregationist dixiecrats that held back our education and encouraged racism is now finally losing power. But something tells me that if we lived in California (now bankrupted by it’s democratically controlled state house) that liberals wouldn’t have a problem with any or all control of the University System.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:28 AM | Link to this

Chuck

Why do you have a problem with Film and Video? Granted, the degree is worthless as it stands, but most TV stations now require such degrees before a person will be considered for a job. Needless to say, the same is true for film and video jobs in government and industry.

Do they teach a student to tell a story using the medium? Only if you attend the extremely high end schools, mostly in NYC, but that is the fault of the schools, not the students wanting the education.

You do know that film and video is actually a career, don’t you?

By jct

February 27, 2009 10:31 AM | Link to this

@Chuck

Your analysis is flawed. The majors that you listed are majors under larger programs (film is part of communications; folklore is part of the english department; real estate and hospitality are under the business school). These programs are already sharing administrative expenses.

Liberal arts is important. As a recruiter, I want to hire someone who can think, write, create and express ideas. That is what a liberal arts education is supposed to do. Persons with this type of degree can and do work in numerous fields.

Also, I have yet to look it up but the states subsidy is but it is not 100%. I certainly don’t want our universities to turn into gloried trade schools. We also have those in Georgia. Go there is all you want is a job.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 10:32 AM | Link to this

Actually, Latin is a tremendously useful foundation for the studies of law, medicine, and science. I could theorize extensively as to why a teacher might be opposed to encouraging such studies, but I’ll leave that to the other educators who visit here.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 10:37 AM | Link to this

“…his campaign had been “taken sideways by people who like the titillating words.”

can someone please explain what the heck ‘taken sideways’ means? I googled it and got hits for ‘taken’ and ‘sideways’ but nary a one on ‘taken sideways’.

Gale - lawmakers should not determine the courses taught nor the professors hired. A college is a place of learning, not indoctrination.

hear, hear!! Just looking at how High School science has suffered from political control…can you IMAGINE what would happen to college level science if the professors, courses, and areas of research had to be politically correct?! If America is falling behind in math and science NOW, just wait til the social conservatives get a hold on the curriculum!

AW - …they’ve voted to allow their buddies at the Georgia Power Company to bill us, in advance, for something we may or may not ever receive.

I think this is the most outrageous idea I’ve ever heard! It’s bad enough when local governments force tax-payers into a private-public partnership for works like sports stadiums, which might at LEAST benefit the local economy. But THIS? If GA Power wants a nuclear power plant, they should finance it themselves! After all, they WILL recoup their investments from their customers once the thing is finished! At MOST they should get tax relief (corporate welfare) from the state…not tax MONEY from the people. Especially BEFORE they ‘need’ it.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:39 AM | Link to this

Here is a CNN report about the two representatives mentioned: http:// www. cnn. com/video/#/video/living/2009/02/18/am.costello.teaching.sex.cnn

Anyone who is still blind to CNN’s overt bias might want to note the sarcastic lilt of the reporter’s voice. You may also want to notice that the justification of Queer Studies is a soap opera and a music video. And CNN wonders why it is constantly hammered in the ratings.

By jct

February 27, 2009 10:40 AM | Link to this

oops! I meant ‘glorified trade school.’

By Mara

February 27, 2009 10:48 AM | Link to this

so…Does the State actually finance the universities? If that is so…why do students have to pay tuition? After all, didn’t their parents pay TAXES all those years?

If the state wants to control the curriculum, shouldn’t the colleges be treated as ‘public schools’ that provide ‘free’ education to everyone?

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this

I see Latin as a bridge way like several here do. But I can’t help thinking about the line in Groundhog Day when Andy McDowell’s character tells Bill Murry’s character that she studied 19th century French Poetry. “What a complete waste of time”.

If yob are going to be a doctor, take pre-med along with Latin. Theology? Take the courses. But a major?

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:52 AM | Link to this

Gale

Sadly, colleges are places where students can take advanced courses in indoctrination of group think.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 10:54 AM | Link to this

jct - good point about the differences between universities and trade schools. Unfortunately the Community College system in the US has been decimated by financing cutbacks and the ‘trade’ schools have also been hit by the decline of Union financing.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 10:55 AM | Link to this

Mara

I don’t know how it works in Georgia, but in Tennessee, state residents don’t pay tuition to attend state schools. There’s lots of other costs, but no tuition.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 11:00 AM | Link to this

Mara: “taken sideways.” (Heh heh… heh heh…) I think it’s something similar to what the Georgia State Assembly and their buddies at Ga. Power will be doing to us with their “Pay before you get anything” plan. (Pay as you GO? Not in this lifetime, bub!)

The UP side of that is, it’s not “socialism!!!” All the Anti-S howlers should be thrilled that, at least here in Georgia, the government is fell-ating private corporations at the taxpayers’ expense, instead of enacting [dreadful] policies that demand corporations act on our behalf for a change. (Big round of applause for our pro-fascism friends on the board!)

TOJ: I thought CNN gets hammered in the ratings because the ladies on the Fox “News” Channel have prettier faces, better highlights, and sleeker, shorter dresses, all accentuated by full-body camera shots of long, smooth, who-needs-stockings bare legs with barely-there strappy stilleto sandals — even in winter. When YOU tune in for news, are you REALLY looking for the most “UN-biased” source you can find? Is THAT honestly your criteria?

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 11:00 AM | Link to this

Guys

Why the problems with the financing of of a clean power source? The government has always helped finance the grid. TVA was built by the Fed. Most major grids were.

You seem to want to pick and choose your socialism. What happened in infrastructure improvement?

By Gale

February 27, 2009 11:03 AM | Link to this

“group think” Do you think that young people today have not developed the ability to think for themselves? The college environment has always been a place of peer pressure. When I think about the college years of my agemates, (67-73, yes, the VietNam era), I am very surprised we are not today seeing many campus protests and riots. Perhaps you are right. What are college students doing these days on campus?

By Gale

February 27, 2009 11:08 AM | Link to this

Don’t thinks so, TOJ. This is from the GSU site: “Students who reside permanently in Georgia under specific circumstances receive reduced tuition rates.”

By Gale

February 27, 2009 11:11 AM | Link to this

“clean power source?” Surely you jest. We still cannot figure out what to do with nuclear waste and you can still call it clean?

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 11:18 AM | Link to this

AW

I thought CNN gets hammered in the ratings because the ladies on the Fox “News” Channel have prettier faces, better highlights, and sleeker, shorter dresses, all accentuated by full-body camera shots of long, smooth, who-needs-stockings bare legs with barely-there strappy stilleto sandals — even in winter. When YOU tune in for news, are you REALLY looking for the most “UN-biased” source you can find? Is THAT honestly your criteria?

Apparently, you don’t watch much cable news. CNN offered several of FOX’s better looking women better deals and they have been on CNN for years.

For a pretty good sampling, go here: http:// www. cameroncole.net/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?direct=News_Babes/CNN

If you would do the research instead of reading the crap on your liberal sites, you probably wouldn’t look as foolish.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this

jct, you are correct about “Folklore”. I was just looking at a list of degrees offered and din’t notice that it was listed as a “minor” not a separate BS degree, the same is true for Italian and Jewish Studies.

TOJ, I understand the point of A Film and Video degree, I just don’t think it is in the direct interests of the state to pay for degrees in it.

Even those programs that I listed that are minors, have separate department heads that get additional administrative pay.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 11:23 AM | Link to this

Actually, Latin is a tremendously useful foundation for the studies of law, medicine, and science. I could theorize extensively as to why a teacher might be opposed to encouraging such studies, but I’ll leave that to the other educators who visit here.

I did not say that Latin was USELESS, but taking basic classes in Latin that really will assist you in those fields is great…BUT, a degree in Latin is not necessary FOR ANY OF THOSE OTHER SUBJECT AREA DEGREES.

Please go look at the faculty and staff of GSU and tell me that we are not wasting money on ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 11:23 AM | Link to this

TOJ - What happened in infrastructure improvement?

Nobody is against infrastucrture improvements. Some of us have been nagging about it for years. But in this instance, we are talking about financing PRIVATELY OWNED infrastructure and not PUBLICLY owned projects.

Right now, most roads, ports, airports, water systems and sewage treatments are owned by ‘the people’. Most energy and telecommunications infrastructure are privately owned.

Publicly owned infrastructure is (and should be) paid for from taxes, tolls or metered fees. Private infrastructure investment is generally paid for by the companies customers. If a private company wants to improve it’s infrastructure so as to accrue monetary benefit, THAT is a corporate investment. If they want to partner with the government to offset some of that cost, there are programs to do so.

What makes THIS situation so outrageous is that WE are not only paying FOR the power plant, we’re paying in advance AND will be expected to continue paying for the energy produced (and don’t expect your monthly bill to go down, either).

The legislature has pretty much told GA Power that you and I will pay for them to make money off of us.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 11:30 AM | Link to this

Gale

Like I said, Tennessee is different.

We know execatly what to do with our waste. We do what France has been doing for 20 years, we change the laws and start to allow the further depletion of nuclear energy rods, resulting in much less waste and leaving waste that is not nearly as volatile. The American laws were pushed through by American anti-nuke Activists.

We fix our problems Gale. There’s not that much wind here and Solar in the SouthEast is restricted by our humid and sun depleting atmosphere. We have a huge liberal effort to restrict the use of coal and we all know how everyone feels about petrolium. Unless you are willing to see the homeless strapped to bicycles powering generators, your ilk is forcing us out of options. Refined nuclear under new restrictions is all we have left.

(Hey, this might be a good topic considering that school crap will last about another hour before we are all tired of it.)

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 11:37 AM | Link to this

Mara

it’s all good in theory, but I’m pretty sure this train that goes from Vegas to Disneyland will not be a government owned train. It might be another MARTA, but I hope it is ran like a business and not the disaster that MARTA has become.

I think that Southern Company is crap because of things I have discovered since working on many projects where they have been involved, but financing nuclear power is actually something that we really need.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 11:38 AM | Link to this

TOJ: Re, your media rant, WTF are you talking about? I’ll say it ONE MORE TIME: I do not rely on one source of news! I seek out, read, watch, and listen to a variety of sources every week, because I TRUST NONE OF THEM TO BE COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE OR FACTUAL. (C-SPAN comes closest.) So please…. I was noting that Fox “News” chicks look good, a sentiment I’ve heard many men repeat often. I also know this because I make a point to watch at least a few minutes of that channel EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I have eyes & ears. Your accusations and feigned indignation are unfounded, but hey, if you never noticed the legs on those blondes.. whatEVERRRRR.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 11:59 AM | Link to this

Mara, “Taken Sideways” means that it was taken in a different direction than what was intended by the author.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 11:59 AM | Link to this

Now to what I was writing before TOJ went into a “liberal media” snit:

TOJ: Good question at 11:00! It deserves an answer.

Here are the Georgia AARP’s stated objections to SB31:

— Because this project will not be finished until 2017 at the earliest, SB 31 will force many residential and small business customers to pay higher rates for a project that will never benefit them. — SB 31 largely exempts the biggest users of electricity from paying these higher rates. Why should the smallest customers have to pay more so the big users can take a walk? — SB 31 is unnecessary and ties the hands of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The legislature should let the PSC do its job -which is to balance the interests of consumers and utilities.

Clark Howard breaks it down beautifully in a video you can watch on YouTube — search Clark Howard Georgia Power.

He is ADAMANTLY opposed. Briefly: — He’s appalled at the 70 lobbyists they paid to run around the capitol to push this.

— Because they were getting opposition from their big customers, Ga power exempted big industrial and commercial users thereby putting 100% of the cost of building this plant you and me and small businesspeople UP FRONT.

— Because the money will be collected before, during, AND after, there’s no incentive for them to use cost-effective processes to build the plant. Since WE take all the risk, GA Power takes full rewards with absolutely no responsibility for cost.

— He then explains that the ill affects of corruption are bourne not just indirectly, but directly this time, by you and me… the power of big companies that give generous donations totally obscures our right to be represented.

There’s more, and CH explains it (like everything else) so much better than I could. But I’ll add my part to answer the question: How is it different from the “socialism” of the stimulus bill? The stimulus funding is not being added to the monthly bills — specifically one that must be paid in full every month to keep the lights and refrigerator going — during the worst recession we’ve had in decades — of individuals whose income is drying up faster than Gretchen Carlson in a room full of Jon Cusak. The stim is being funded the same way that years of occupying Iraq were funded: Borrow some more! The difference being who benefits from the borrowed money, and the alleged transparancy of how the money will be spent, which of course remains to be seen.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 12:09 PM | Link to this

AW

You got me. I definitely look at the gams. but I’m not saying that there aren’t babes on the news. There are babes everywhere. And remember that pillow lips are as sexy as gams.

FOX probably started it and yes, at times I saw short skirts that were way beyond reasonable, but it’s an old argument. They all do it and FOX is no more doing it than anyone else.

A little off subject, but did you see the pics of Branjolina at the Oscars? What a skank. Her arrogant condesending look almost worked before she covered herself with prison tats and her repeated collagen lip injections, but she is looking rough. And to say that her “perkiness” is gone would be an understatement.

Brad Pitt stuck with a house full of kids that only two are his, a woman that has tattoos from cell block D who apparently hasn’t smiled since 1992 and whose figure is in a nose dive. Don’t be surprised if Bad soon goes in a different direction.

Actually, I’m just poking at you, but that arrogant look really is beginning to hurt her. I don’t know a single guy who is still attracted to her.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 12:10 PM | Link to this

Mara,

Private infrastructure investment is generally paid for by the companies customers. If a private company wants to improve it’s infrastructure so as to accrue monetary benefit, THAT is a corporate investment. If they want to partner with the government to offset some of that cost, there are programs to do so.

What makes THIS situation so outrageous is that WE are not only paying FOR the power plant, we’re paying in advance AND will be expected to continue paying for the energy produced (and don’t expect your monthly bill to go down, either).

The problem is that Georgia Power has to go to the GOVERNMENT to get permission to raise rates for a PRODUCT THEY SELL. Would you be happier with them being able to charge whatever they want to considering they have a MONOPOLY?

Personally, I would rather there be COMPETITION and a free market. There was an idea back in the 80’s that would have allowed us to purchase our electricity from any company that was hooked into the grid. That would be great.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 12:20 PM | Link to this

Chuck

TOJ, I understand the point of A Film and Video degree, I just don’t think it is in the direct interests of the state to pay for degrees in it.

I wish I could agree because over half the graduates from UGA (at least a few years ago) have a degree in Journalism or Film and Video. Most of those kids come to Atlanta to work and the vast majority never get a job. The ones that do get jobs start learning the day they go to work. It is actually more of a trade school profession and most people coming out of UGA don’t know the difference between a BNC cable and an chroma-key. It is truly a worthless degree. I always go to Savannah School of Art and Design to find workers. They teach me things while kids from state schools are practically illiterate in the profession. I blame that on the state schools, not the profession or the students.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 12:29 PM | Link to this

AW

I like and respect Clark Howard. I have worked with him and his wife, who is a local “talent”. (Talk about gams!!!)

it doesn’t bother me that it will take 8 years to build the thing. France was dumping nuclear waste like crazy, but they have spent billions to refine the process. We stopped all construction on nuclear and the advantage of that is that other countries figured it out.

I don’t like Southern Company. They waste gross amounts of money. But we need to start working on our nuclear energy We are running out of options so unless the Mayans are right and the world will end on Dec. 23, 2012, we are going to need more and more clean energy. This is good solution that has been refined and accepted by many other countries.

Personally, I could get behind this 800 billion going for such projects, but that ain’t going to happen.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 12:30 PM | Link to this

Personally, I would rather there be COMPETITION and a free market.

Chuck, this works great in theory. In the “How’s that working for you?” department: Are you a residential natural gas customer? I am. I remember the “free market competition” argument several years ago when they de-regulated natural gas in Georgia. Do you? They SAID it would increase competition, improve service, and lower rates. I know what happened next. Do you? Would anyone like to recount what happened next?

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 12:41 PM | Link to this

Storms are getting bad, guys. If you have a weather radio, crank it up. If not, find some source that will warn you about tornadoes. Also watch out for flash flood. Our parched soil cannot absorb the water fast enough.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 12:43 PM | Link to this

AW, I remember it well. That’s the problem with public utilities though. When these things started we didn’t know any better. There was only 1 phone company, there was only 1 power company, etc. They put all of the money into infrastructure and then we were stuck with them.

I can tell you though. In my area I have a choice of 3 cable companies and I get much better rates AND service than a couple of family members who are stuck with one company and no choice.

By Gandalf, the White!

February 27, 2009 12:45 PM | Link to this

TOJ, don’t ask AW to not look foolish! It’s an impossiblity! She is a dumbassi and as such is a native fool. SHE is out wasting our precious fossil fuel in her V-6 while the person who cares for his/her enviroment is driving a Prius or Fit. Don’t taunt the fools please!

By Mara

February 27, 2009 12:46 PM | Link to this

chuck - …considering they have a MONOPOLY?

A monopoly? Really? That’s odd. I get MY electricity from an energy co-op. (There are quite a few EMC’s in GA and even more nationwide)

What’s admirable about co-ops is that the customers control the company, which means more corporate oversight and better service. Also, any ‘profit’ they make goes directly back into the company for infrastructure improvements and member dividends. It is a utility SERVICE as opposed to a utility company.

GA Power is a utility COMPANY, controlled by a small Board of Directors and voting shareholders. GA Power will OWN (and profit from) the power plant that you and I pay for, whether we use their service or not. And THAT is what I have a problem with.

By Gandalf, the White!

February 27, 2009 12:48 PM | Link to this

TOJ, Parched soil absorbs water best. You can’t “Train” soil to retain water.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 1:00 PM | Link to this

Mara

We actually agree on the co-op system. I really miss my co-op in the county.

Living in the city is getting harder and harder. Several on here have told me that if I hated the city so much, I should move. It seems like most of my neighbors are planning on moving. Taxes are outrageous, crime is out of control, the city is ran by morons and EVERYONE is tired of the city buses that are traveling routes established in 1960. The only people catching buses here are people who are walking in from surrounding neighborhoods.

I will probably sell this old dump as soon as I can.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 1:12 PM | Link to this

USinUK – (tink, tink, tink) Are you out there? Wanted to point you to Obsidian Wings where they’re chatting about the Financial Times article regarding where those toxic assets came from. Hilzoy makes a good point with this money quote -

“I have been hearing for years and years about how the financial services sector pays such exorbitant wages because the people who work there are so immensely talented that they are cheap at $50 million a year. I never particularly bought that line before. But I never imagined that all those Masters of the Universe would do quite this badly. If we had paid them $50 million a year to go far, far away and leave our financial system alone, it would have been a bargain.” - obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2009/02/now-thats-what-i-call-toxic.html

Thought it might tickle you… :^)

TOJ - the only two things I liked about living IN the city was being able to walk to places without having to, y’know, actually walk in the road, and proximity to the Arts.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 1:16 PM | Link to this

TOJ - this one’s for you…

WASHINGTON (AP) — “The Senate has barred federal regulators from reviving a policy, abandoned two decades ago, that required balanced coverage of issues on public airwaves.”

“The Senate vote on the so-called Fairness Doctrine was in part a response to conservative radio talk show hosts who feared that Democrats would try to revive the policy to ensure liberal opinions got equal time.”

By chuck

February 27, 2009 1:40 PM | Link to this

I know about coops Mara, but most Georgians don’t have that option. Georgia Power has a monopoly in the areas they serve and those customers are the only ones effected. BTW, since you get your electricity from a Coop, why are you upset about this? You don’t have to pay the rate increase.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this

From the Macon Telegraph:

The state Senate on Wednesday gave Georgia Power permission to begin charging ratepayers early for the interest costs of a $14 billion expansion near Augusta.

The legislation would effectively increase the average Georgia Power customer’s electric bill by about $1.30 a month starting in 2011, some six years before construction of two new nuclear reactors are scheduled to be completed.

By Mara

February 27, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this

chuck - why are you upset about this? You don’t have to pay the rate increase.

so….are we to believe that the ONLY issues people should care about are the ones that impact them personally? If that’s true, no man should worry about abortion because they’ll never have to get one. No white person should be concerned about civil rights, because they’ll never be denied them. Americans shouldn’t concern themselves about deforestation because WE control logging in the US.

No, I won’t be paying the increased fees, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t care if the government, in my opinion, is overstepping its bounds. It seems to be not unlike Kelo v New London, government taking taxpayer assets to benefit private business. It isn’t right and I’ll be darned if I just ignore it because it doesn’t PERSONALLY affect me.

ok. outtie today. C-ya Monday.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 2:07 PM | Link to this

Mara

Good for the senate. it was a law that would have been impossible to fairly enforce.

TOJ - the only two things I liked about living IN the city was being able to walk to places without having to, y’know, actually walk in the road, and proximity to the Arts.

Hit a nerve. Some of the “Art” around here is really sad, but the good first:

Exhibits of visually created art are often very good. We have some great and inspired painters and people who work with charcoal, pen and ink and even some sculptor. I love the work of Emily Kate Boyd and always try to see her work. There are others, but her young, vibrant look at life is always very refreshing.

The Bad:

Photography: Some of the least imaginative photography I have ever seen. I would pay almost any admission price to see a single photographer who was original enough to use a medium other than Black & White. I have been active in the Atlanta Art community since 1987 and I honestly cannot remember seeing a single photography exhibit that had any sort of work that was not monochrome. I understand that art is about suffering, but please, somebody try something different.

Video, private documentaries:

Some are OK for a few minutes, but unlike the film world in so many other cities, Atlanta is lacking good film makers who know how to tell a story using the medium. It is usually very thick with ideas and approaches, but just tell the story. Not all are bad, but most are very bad.

Music:

Shoot me, please. I had an idea of secretly video taping many of the more original musical groups in town and putting together a series for Comedy Central. A quick story about the event that inspired the idea:

It was some sort of benefit to raise money for a local artist who had died and their family needed money to bury him. I was all for supporting that so I went. There was an art exhibit that I liked and there was the obligatory Black & White photo exhibit, which was complete, unimaginative crap.

In the facility, there is a small stage with bleacher seating. I had wandered into the stage area and noted a snare drum, a very nice Gibson ES-355 electric guitar, a really cheap slide guitar and the thing that really caught my attention was a classic French, hand made cornet. All this centered around a couch on stage.

Later in the night, we had stepped outside and soon heard the “band” warming up. By the time we got back to the stage area, the bleachers were full. A guy was playing the Gibson, but it was completely out of tune, so every note was abrasive as hell. The slide had been tuned to quarter steps, i.e. as he slid the bar up and down the fret board, it was as if the classic fingernails on the chalk board had finally been outdone. The drummer looked confused like he had never worked with the other guys and honestly didn’t know what to do. As the song became more and more abrasive, the guitar player threw the classic Gibson into the floor and picked up the cornet, stood up in the middle of the couch and started marching. That’s right: marching. At that point, the audience went crazy. A couple of ancient hippy chicks sttarted jumping up and down, screaming at the top of their lungs and the cornet player started blowing into the instrument. Not playing it. Just blowing very big loud noises.

At that point, I honestly thought most of the audience would become violent. The cornet player dropped the cornet and it bounced off the couch and into the floor. At that point, I couldn’t help but think of the serious musicians that would love to own the Gibson or the french cornet, but this idiot was abusing both instruments. I was poor growing up, but my Mom always managed to get me the best musical instruments because it is important to anyone leaning to play to have a great deal of respect for their axe, and these were beautiful, hand made classic instruments. Even “The Who” only smashed cheap guitars.

I have tried to describe this show to several people and I just can’t convey how horrible it was. It really would have made a hysterical TV show. I was going to call the show ART.

Sorry about being so long.

By American Woman

February 27, 2009 2:22 PM | Link to this

Chuck, you bring us a good point with the cable companies. But that’s not what happened with gas deregulation. SAME gas! Same sources, pipelines, and pipes into your house. In a carefully planned maneuver, they (the guys who wound up with our money in their pockets) set up temporary companies from which we could “choose,” each with differing, confusing charges and language, that existed solely to service the accounts. It was all data management and billing, no change in the gas we use or how we get it.

Then they simultaneously jacked the prices, and the collective shriek we all made when opening our January bills could be heard as far away as Iowa, I’m told. When the so-called authorities pulled their heads out of their butts long enough to say, “Wait a minute now….” half these companies promptly folded, eluding responsibility. It was an easy-money SCAM, and it worked.

Why would the gas resource owners lobby lawmakers to deregulate so they could sell half their assets to generate competition and lower prices and profits for everyone? They wouldn’t!!! That was never the goal.

Cable is not entirely free-market. It will be free-market when I can choose and pay for only the channels I want. Time Warner prefers to make these choices for us. “All vs. almost nothing” isn’t much of a choice, IMO. The GOOD news is that competition plus the number of people saying, “I can’t afford cable, buh-bye now” is causing them to renegotiate rates regularly. Mine went down $5/mo.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 2:27 PM | Link to this

Hey TOJ,

Have you seen any of the G3 concerts? I was at the Tab last year with Satriani, Petrucci, and Big Daddy Paul Gilbert. It was a GREAT concert. I saw Satriani at the Variety Playhouse the year before that. Gigantour was Okay, but too much screaming for my taste. I prefer the NON-SCREAMING prog rock bands like Dream Theater that actually write songs that have a melody.

Another “interesting” concert that I went to was Apocalyptica. These are 4 guys who play Metallica on Cellos. I saw Symphony X at Masquerade also. Michael Romeo is a great guitarist. I don’t know too much about local bands, but there are some great small venues in ATL and they bring in some great bands.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 2:32 PM | Link to this

The gas dereg didn’t work because just as with electricity, the infrastructure costs are so great that once a company is entrenched it is hard to compete with them. I’m worried about what is happening in the cell phone industry right now. There were dozens of companies, but one by one they have been bought out by AT&T and ALLTEL. When I heard about the ALLTEL/VERIZON merger, I went ahead and locked in for a longer term contract so I could keep the deal I’ve got.

By chuck

February 27, 2009 2:37 PM | Link to this

I hope you guys have a great weekend.

By The Other jack

February 27, 2009 2:43 PM | Link to this

Chuch

I honestly try to keep an open mind and I really like some hip hop and some experimental. The standard that i try to use to separate the crap is to think about giving instruments to non musicians. Then I ask myself: How long would it take non-musicians to work up this show. If the answer is less than 30 minutes, it’s crap.

Now whether I actually like and enjoy the music and whether or not it is crap is two different things. I can appreciate a lot of music that I just don’t like.

To me, music is a drug. It actually effects the human body a lot like a drug. I wouldn’t like Meth. Banging my head and picking fights with cops is not my forte’. A lot of modern music is meth. A lot of it is like way too much cocaine. Just slamming and angry and loud is not my choice of a lifestyle. I like the way certain music makes me feel. If it makes me feel like stomping kittens to death, I’m probably not going to like it. If it makes me close my eyes, if it makes me smile, I like it.

By Gandalf, the White!

February 27, 2009 3:00 PM | Link to this

FUGLY is getting her girls a a doggie. Want to bet she NEVER walks it?

By Lyrazel

March 1, 2009 10:41 AM | Link to this

Why is it Shaunti can get through to GA reps—but the average person is put on a 190 minute hold and then cut off! The average email to GA reps consists of a thanking you for contact but never once do elected officials actually respond to citizens! WHO IS HER CONTACT who gets her all this grease to get a private phone number of one of GA’s politicians for a chatty conversation concerning her next irrelevant blog topic?

As for the topic I think course relevancy vs jobs available to graduates will come into factor over the next 10 years. Censorship already happens in academics because of relevancy and student enrollment/participation.

Sometime the absence of commentary says more than the words in print. Notice never once did either commentator question the relevance of sports academics—no questioning the relevance of History of Basketball 101, no question Football Strategy 101; no question. Colleges in GA ok millions for coaches and stadiums—not millions on academics or libraries—Maybe thats why so many GA state college graduates can”t get jobs after graduation.

By J-Tex

March 1, 2009 1:55 PM | Link to this

Academic freedom is one of the most important cornerstones of a truly free society. Just remember, Mao went after the professors first.

The moment that legislators start dictating the curricula of our universities is the moment that tyranny gains a foothold.

By Gale

March 2, 2009 8:12 AM | Link to this

Lyrazel, re your March 1 post, I heard a commentary about money spent on sports related to a recent coach rant in Conn, I think. The comment was about how the sport brings in about $7mil a year —of course it spends about $6mil a year. I am so over hearing about how much sports benefit colleges. There seem to be two modes for sports in college. One is the original scholar athlete where sports are part of a well rounded education. The other is the athlete who is there to build athletic skills for the pro world and bring in money for the school— no academic acheivement needed. While we are restructuring our world in the wake of an economic crash, maybe it is time to take a close look at college sports.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 8:51 AM | Link to this

The last few posts have been very interesting. It is the end of modern civilization if ANYONE has a say in dictating the curriculum at state schools, but private citizens should definitely have a say-so as far as athletics go. LOL.

So I guess a career as a professional athlete is just not high brow enough to be even allowed on a college campus, even though there are few state schools where the athletic departments don’t pay for themselves, plus a whole lot of other programs.

After all, the true liberal way is to go to school, work for four years so they can be a waitress or a waiter. Becoming a multi-millionaire professional athlete is hardly a justifiable ambition.

If “Queering The South” studies begins to bring in 7 mil a year, I would be be all for them spending 6 million of that on whatever they want. So Gale, you are upset because a curriculum that at the very least produces coaches that just might inspire America’s youth to put down the wee for a few minutes and take a run around the school yard, and at the most just might fulfill the dreams of a young man or woman who (dare I say it?) wants to be a professional athlete. That seems sort of weird to me.

When the nerds can compete in the athletic courses, then the athletes should be required to compete in the academic courses. It’s a fact of life that we are all different and a few of us just might excel in something that others don’t.

I didn’t like the jocks at the state school that I attended, but I liked the fact that the football program built the music department and put that gorgeous Steinway 9 foot concert grand on the stage of the auditorium. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to march with that handmade trumpet that my Mom worked so hard to buy me because the football program bought marching instruments for any student who couldn’t afford a marching instrument and a concert instrument.

College athletics contribute a hell of a lot more to state schools than any other single entity. Even if it gives a poor kid only a year exposure to higher education, isn’t that better than none at all? How many non-athletes drop out after the first year or two?

And good morning. Hope everyone had a nice “snowstorm”. I hope everyone cranked up their photo equipment. I got some incredible shots of this old neighborhood.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 9:13 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

mark your calendar - on this date in history, I agree with you on something! ;-)

seriously, I totally agree with you on sports - the sports programs at most universities bring in tons of money that 1) gets the university recognized on a national level by students who might not otherwise know about it, 2) brings in much-needed $$$ for other programs and 3) gives students an opportunity for education that they might not otherwise have via sports scholarships.

although, I just want to know what kids in GA are doing … “put down the wee” … the economy has gotten so bad, kids are playing with wee??

hope everyone is staying safe and warm - is it snow there or good ol’ GA ice?

By Gale

March 2, 2009 9:26 AM | Link to this

Thanks TOJ, for the counter arguement for college hyper-sports. I am very much in favor of college sports. I just don’t think the athletes should be there for that reason alone. A person who wants a pro career doesn’t need a college degree and that should not be, and is not, the only way to college for poor kids. There is a lot more in college than liberal arts degrees. There are plenty of academic focussed colleges with scholar athetes; where there are academic requirements for play rights. You may argue they are not very competitive; cases in point, Army and Navy. But there are others where the teams are quite good. And after all, it is college. Do the teams need to play at pro level? Would people flock to see a college game where the players might not be at pro level. Probably.

Lets consider coaching. It is certainly a good career choice and I can think of many college courses that would be required, including Football strategy 101. How about a minor in junior league athletics? Toss in sports medicine and nutrition, psychology and couselling. Does it require national stage athletics? Not really.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 9:34 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Actually, in Georgia, they are playing with weed, not wee.

I’ll mark the date. Wow, did we have a beautiful Sunday morning. HUGE snowflakes. I wish we could post pictures on here. I walked past the church up the street as it let out and got some great snowball fights.

Also, there is an ad on Craig’s list for extras to work on a movie with Bill Murray. Man, I would love to do that, but I am slammed all week.

I never “got” the idea that college athetics were bad. I naver blame anyone for dropping out to go pro. People resent that athletes get so rich so fast. I shot for ESPN a bunch back during the early 90s. So many rookie pros buy that million dollar house and don’t bother to furnish it. The entire house would look like a big dorm room with big TVs and video games in every room.

Strangely enough, the downstairs bathroom was always nice and always very effeminate. I always figured that the Mom or the girlfriend was in charge of that room.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

Glad you had a good Sunday - it sounds like the snow was just lovely! (picturewise, nothing is prettier than snow on some spring blossoms - I have some great pics from last Easter of snow-bound tulips and daffs) …

“I never “got” the idea that college athetics were bad.” - well, I get the idea that some people are peeved when these guys (and women) are given cheap grades - when they get an A for basically turning up while the other kids in the class are working their patooties off just to get by. It does the athletes a serious disservice because one day, their knees/shoulders/backs aren’t going to perform like they did when the kid was 20 and that person is going to need to have something to fall back on.

frankly, I think there should be a special curriculum for college athletes that deals with their finances - while everyone needs this kind of education, those kids that are about to enter their “marketplace” and make millions/year have a particular urgency to know what the heck is happening with their $$$.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 9:48 AM | Link to this

Gale

I read about so many athletes who attend a school, play for them and then are washed out and become a cook at a waffle house. But you never hear about the guy who wants to be a doctor, washes out and becomes a cook at a waffle house. At least the athlete has those years to remember.

And there’s the people who get hurt. One of my childhood friends was voted one of the top high school quarterbacks, went to Tennessee, he was put in the position of defensive line backer and got his knees busted up. He never played after college and Gale, that kid was as good as any quarterback I have ever seen. So he never even got the good college years.

It can be sad, but it can also be the Micheal Jordon.

By Gale

March 2, 2009 9:59 AM | Link to this

TOJ, I am not sure what point you are making. Some kids go to college and fail? Some kids go to college and something happens to thwart their dreams? Yes, that happens. I wanted to be a biologist and cure cancer. Didn’t happen. Just wanting to be a doctor or professional athlete isn’t enough and no education will make it be enough if you do not have the talent or brains. That said, lots of the kids who want to do those things are not good enough, but still manage pretty good careers. Some, let their failure to do great things wash them mentally down the tubes and end up with a career of “You want fries with that?”

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 10:10 AM | Link to this

USinUK

I was thinking about what you had said about worrying that the flowers were blooming too early. I hope it didn’t kill everything. The monster cat was a trip. He would go out the dog door, get soaked, then come back in and run to the front door, wanting out. When I would open the door, he would just stand there like he was thinking, “damn, it’s cold and wet out here, too”. He has stopped growing so he isn’t really that big, but he has very long legs.

frankly, I think there should be a special curriculum for college athletes that deals with their finances - while everyone needs this kind of education, those kids that are about to enter their “marketplace” and make millions/year have a particular urgency to know what the heck is happening with their $$$

When kids ask me what classes they should take in film and video, I always say to take all the business classes they can. Learn self promotion. Learn how to sell yourself. You can’t make a film without money and that money is damn hard to find. (Like today, for instance)

There are a lot of ads for small colleges that claim to want to change the way education works. I think it needs to be changed. Even though I have to say, the courses that I thought I would never use, like trig, I use almost all the time. (I don’t know whether I ever used calculus or not. I went through two years of it and never had any idea what I was doing)

I don’t want to seem flip about this, but all the networks are now comparing the DOW with different times, i.e., we are now back to 1987. If we go much further back, do you think that I will get my hair back?

BTW

Bruno, check out Craig’s list Atlanta under film and video. If you are not working, the extra gig with Bill Murray sounds like fun and it does pay a little

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 10:11 AM | Link to this

Gale

No point. Just blabbering.

Did you have a good weekend?

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 10:15 AM | Link to this

USinUK

I didn’t address your “cheap grades” statement. It isn’t fair. I would rather they just take what they need, but at that point, a college becomes a trade school.

But it does make you appreciate when colleges like Vanderbilt have a decent football team. that is a very hard school. (And they played a huge part in getting rid of Phillip Fulmer . . Yaaaaaaa!!!)

By Lyrazel

March 2, 2009 10:17 AM | Link to this

TOJ—As for wise academic choices I majored in Medieval Literature (talk about vague & unrealistic career goals).

You can rally that athletics brings tons of money for other departments but when coaches are paid in the millions of dollars—I see tuitions being raised so colleges can gain/keep these fine coaches. We won’t ever agree—so be it.

I think however I was trying to prove that if we look into colleges we can find thousands of courses that could be defined as ludicrous—fundamentals of basketball vs queering of the south—to me are equal. To an athletic scholar fundamentals are important for potential coaching careers and to a sociology major queering the south courses will be essential to understand southern homophobia—so both are not something some wink-wink politician should be meddling in.

As for snow we are due 8” by Wednesday—looking at the AJC pictures was hysterical. Up here we call what you had: flurries. So how does one take pictures of snow without that overall blue cast?

By Gale

March 2, 2009 10:27 AM | Link to this

Nice weekend, TOJ. The snow was fun. Like your cat, my dog didn’t like the snow at all. We had to put her coat on and go out with her. She is a shorthair, no body fat doggie and not at all good with cold. I think my cat was fascinated by the snow. He sat and watched for a long time. Snow is pretty when it snows a little at unexpected times? (I did not photograph this snow, but I have some pretty spring shots from other times.) But when snow or ice is the most destructive, it is breathtakingly beautiful? The most beaustiful thing I’ve ever seen was the landscape in Michigan for days fter a very destructive ice storm. The ice stayed for days, glittering briliantly in the sun. Picture a hillside that glitters with millions of diamonds.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

re: the monster cat - I absolutely love how they can kill and eviscerate a rodent, but get all distraught about their paws being wet. (“yeargh! blood and guts!! arrrrrggghhh1!!” vs. e”w!ew!ew! I’m wet!! eeewwww!”). I remember the 1 time both my kittehs went out in the snow - they took 2 steps outside and looked at me as if to say, “you’re kidding, right? you want us to go out and frolick in THIS?? I think not.”

“It isn’t fair. I would rather they just take what they need, but at that point, a college becomes a trade school.”

well, all I can say is that, if they’re going to TAKE business classes, then they should study and pass them just like all the non-athletes.

“I don’t want to seem flip about this, but all the networks are now comparing the DOW with different times, i.e., we are now back to 1987. If we go much further back, do you think that I will get my hair back?”

hahaha … some of us wimmen folk don’t mind really high foreheads. (just make sure you wear sunscreen)

“But it does make you appreciate when colleges like Vanderbilt have a decent football team. that is a very hard school.”

VERY true.

By Gale

March 2, 2009 10:39 AM | Link to this

Ah, but they were lovely flurries, Lyrazel. Thanks for bringing us back to topic. I tried hard to get my stepkids to attend some college because of the variety of courses. Somewhere in all those choices, young not-yet-adults may find their life’s passion, if not career.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 10:40 AM | Link to this

Lyrazel

I can’t say for sure that all colleges pay their muliti-million dollar coach salaries out of the athletic profits, but I’m pretty sure that all SEC colleges do. College athletics is big business, like it or not.

Homophobia is not a Southern exclusive trait.

As for snow we are due 8” by Wednesday—looking at the AJC pictures was hysterical. Up here we call what you had: flurries.

Yea, you and my neighbors from Boston. I told them that this is like bragging that ” you guys only prick your skin with the knife while we push it all the way in.” I spent five years in the north. Two seasons: winter and the fourth of July. All the cars with the little heater wiires hanging out the back. Day after day after week after week after month after month of cold, grey days where it is a chore to walk around the block. Cabin fever sets in in late January and people are even more rude and bitter for the next four to five months.

Snow in Atlanta is an amusement, not a lifestyle. I thought you were a misplaced Southern girl.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 10:57 AM | Link to this

Gale

The snow in really beautiful. I was in the midwest and the northeast so I saw the really, really cold weather. And Northerners do adapt. I just never did. We played ski resorts and had free lift tickets and none of us ever even tried to ski.

My main memory was up in New York State. I was out walking along the lake near Buffalo and there was an iron rail fence at the edge of the lake. The wind was always blowing off the lake so there were 2-3 foot ice sickles hanging at a 45 degree angle where the wind was constantly blowing the water in one direction. I remember waking up and having a snow drift covering my window and I was on the second floor.

I like warm. I LOVE warm water like the Caribbean. My kid now lives in Minnesota and he loves it. I have nothing against anyone who lives in the North, but I resent their idea that we should embrace snow. Screw that. I embrace palm trees.

Also, every August we read about how many old people are dying in Northern Cities because of the heat. So they don’t deal with heat any better than we deal with cold.

By J-Tex

March 2, 2009 11:04 AM | Link to this

The purpose of a University is not to make money. It’s to educate students and assist in the expansion of knowledge. Universities were not founded as profit centers, nor should profit ever be the motive for running one. I realize it’s hard for some people in this profit-obsessed day-and-age to understand, but some things exist because of the benefits they generate for society, not for the money they deposit in coffers. The university system is one of those.

I am a huge fan of college football, but if given a choice between education and sports, I would see sports gone in a heartbeat. Sports should be a luxury on a University campus, not the priority.

It’s also a mistake to suggest that the only purpose of a college education is to get a better job. Education is its own reward, and an end in itself. That a college education makes finding a good job easier is certainly a bonus - a very important bonus - but we should never discount learning simply for learning’s sake. A well-educated and well-ROUNDED person can thrive in many environments, where often the narrowly-educated specialist will fall outside his or her comfort zone.

By American Woman

March 2, 2009 11:14 AM | Link to this

J-Tex, nicely put! Value is not measured in dollars alone.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 11:18 AM | Link to this

USinUK

I’m afraid my boy is getting mean. He has been locked out of my office more than once when i have a client over. This morning, he grabbed my sweat pants as I walked by and scratched the hell out of my leg. I’m sure it is a little cabin fever setting in.

Two things about being bald, (other than the other ten thousand things) Bump your head and it hurts like you wouldn’t believe. And it bleeds like a mother.

Hair regulates your body heat, so bald guys need to use hats to do that. That works great if you are going to a ball game, but what do you do when you wear a suit? What do you do when you wear a tux? It’s God’s little joke.

By Lyrazel

March 2, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this

I remember every time we had flurries in Savannah people drove about honking. In Mexico City it snowed when I was there in 68 and people gathered up snow to put on there cars and drove around honking. A few years ago we had a very VIP client who HAD to get a 4/c brochure printed and scored before a trade show—and we got it done, drove to ATL in whiteout conditions—everyone who passed us honked— after delivery I slipped on black ice going down the steps. Ended up laid up watching azaleas sprouting. Snow is lovely—ice sucks.

Homophobia is not an exclusively southern trait, I agree.

By Gale

March 2, 2009 11:28 AM | Link to this

TOJ, Is the monster cat neutered? Full males do tend to be more agressive, I’ve heard. On the other hand, my vet claims the male cats are all laid back, so maybe it is just cabin fever.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 11:29 AM | Link to this

J-Tex

if given a choice between education and sports, I would see sports gone in a heartbeat.

But we don’t have to have that choice. We can have both. And no, college doesn’t have to be about getting a better job. Just ask any 35 year old sophomore who has turned into a professional student.

Education without a career path is a luxury. I would like to have a ranch on St. Croix where I spend every morning riding horses on the beach, but I can’t afford that either. Spending four to six years in the prime of one’s life to bury themselves in the library to produce a worthless degree in a subject that won’t get you a better job is either for the rich or the person who really likes the fast food industry.

As far as money, it’s just not that important to me. But the Electric company, the bank that loaned me the money for this old house, the gas company, the cable company? It’s really important to them.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 11:36 AM | Link to this

Lyrazel

I knew you were from other places than the north. My neighbors get a little old. Food in Atlanta will never be as good as food in Boston. We are horrible about dealing with the snow. Warm sucks and cold is glorious. We are idiots for letting kids out of school when it snows. Bla, bla, bla. Everyone in the hood was out and smiling and playing in the snow and all they could do was to make fun of everyone.

They are basically good folks, but they need to live where they can be happy, in other words, Delta is Ready when they are.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 11:42 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Yes, he’s fixed. I still get the “why did you do this to me” look every now and then. I think it is cabin fever. The dog has really had enough. His hair is really long so he can comfortably go outside and the cat will leap onto his back and hang onto that hair while the dog runs through the house. It is a scream to watch, but the poor old dog isn’t amused.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 11:44 AM | Link to this

Sorry, Gale, that last post was to you, not USinUK.

By J-Tex

March 2, 2009 12:04 PM | Link to this

Other Jack, I think you’re overlooking the fact that the simple fact of a college education, regardless of major, opens up numerous career paths. It is not necessary to have a career-oriented major to have a successful career. Not only is the job market more accessible to college graduates of whatever stripe, but many Masters level programs do not require an undergraduate degree in the same field. Sufficiently high GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc. scores, a good GPA and good references are the primary factors for admittance.

I myself went into an MBA program with an undergraduate degree totally unrelated to business, and I’m now a Marketing PhD student. And while this may sound hypocritical to my overall stance, when I graduate I will no doubt be teaching large numbers of students in those career-focused majors. And I assure you, the salary for Marketing professors is more than competitive with the private sector.

By Lyrazel

March 2, 2009 12:10 PM | Link to this

TOJ—I adore the south and cant help but remember fondly. I like warm too—and hot isnt so bad if you are not breathing asphalt…I don’t/won’t ski. I miss my flowers in February… Buffalo is its own little ecosphere because it gets lake-effect snow. There are palm trees on Tybee island that are sideways growing because of wind. Nobody up here can do proper bbq and nobody can make a good biscuit. I miss grits and pulled pork sandwiches but I have had some quality lobster rolls.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 12:17 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

“This morning, he grabbed my sweat pants as I walked by and scratched the hell out of my leg. I’m sure it is a little cabin fever setting in.”

he’s just doing his best Glenn Close imitation, “I will not be IGNORED!!!” (just be glad he has no opposable thumbs - god only knows what you’d find boiling in the kitchen)

as for what you wear with a suit - I’m used to seeing guys walking to work wearing toboggans - not the heavy-knit kind with the pompom on top (like you’re on a ski lift), but thinner-knit, stylish colors and nice patterns.

as for a tux … TOP HAT, BABBEEE!!! (then you get to do your best Fred imitation!)

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 12:23 PM | Link to this

J-Tex

I’m not saying that a college education is not important and I definitely understand what you are saying as far any degree helping a person get a job, however unrelated the degree. But you are doing what you need to do to steer your path to a successful career. That’s not hypocritical. That’s just smart.

Most kids coming out of high school are expected to go to college with not a clue as to what they want to do.

I wonder what I would do if I got another chance at being a 18 year old high school graduate. I don’t think I would give college a second look. I would find some way to see the world. I had actually considered the military, but went to college instead. But it’s actually the same thing (except for the dying part). You are being told what to do and tested daily by the standards that somebody you will never meet sets for you.

I have met kids that are traveling the US from Europe. THAT’s cool. Getting a job at McDonald’s in Hong Kong is just as easy as getting a job at McDonald’s in Lilburn. That’s not only cool, but that is real learning. Learn Spanish by moving to Argentina.

I’m fortunate. I have traveled the world and seen some really great things, but most people go from high school to college to a job they hate to a life full of obligations and bills.

To me, college is for 30 somethings. 20s are for living, loving and learning.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 12:32 PM | Link to this

Lyra -

“Nobody up here can do proper bbq and nobody can make a good biscuit. I miss grits and pulled pork sandwiches but I have had some quality lobster rolls.”

amen!!! OMG, AMEN to that - I only spent 2.5 years stranded in yankee-land and hated absolutely every moment of it. well, except for the fall - everything you’ve heard about Connecticut in the fall is true. But, they have no idea what pulled-pork barbecue is, they actually think a regular coffee is loaded with cream and sugar, they think Dunkin Donuts is GOOD (hellloooooo Krispey Kreme!), and they don’t chit-chat with strangers in the line at the grocery (or Target or book store or ANYwhere).

I told the mister, if he ever wants to move back to the states, then fine, but NOWHERE north of the M-D!

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 12:41 PM | Link to this

Lyrazel

We met a woman up in Williamsport PA, that insisted that she could make cornbread. Corn cake, maybe, but real cornbread? Not a chance. They can put down the seafood up north, i’ll give em that.

There are few things that are nicer than being really tired from diving, sailing or snorkeling all day, you are just a little sunburned, but not where it is uncomfortable, you just got seated at the little dockside restaurant, everyone is tanned and smiling (Nothing personal, oh USinUK of the great white skin) and you are about to chow down on some real Caribbean conk and then have a great salad of fresh exotic veggies and fruit and then put down the entry that was caught that day. I love the Caribbean. I may be going to the British Virgins in August. Now I REALLY want to go.

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 12:49 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

“(Nothing personal, oh USinUK of the great white skin)”

hahaha … no slight taken …

although, now, I’ve got Irving Berlin stuck in my head “I’m puttin’ on my top hat … Tyin’ up my white tie … Brushin’ off my tails”

thanks for that.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 12:52 PM | Link to this

USinUK

He is GONE!! It is turning into a nice day and he has split. So I’m sure this afternoon, he will be more than happy to put little paw prints all over everything in my office, tracking in what is left of the snow.

Top hat? I don’t think so. I always think of the scene toward the end of Young Frankenstein where the monster is performing to show how tame he is. I can’t tap dance and i don’t even know where I can buy a cane.

It took me about 30 years to figure out that however you look, it is all about the confidence. I just always keep my jacket on because I freeze if I don’t. I have lost almost all the wieght I had gained and am now just toning. I was getting pretty gross.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 12:57 PM | Link to this

USinUK

And for some reason, that reminded me of the wacked out scene in Blazing Saddles when they broke into the set of the male dancers. Get ‘em girls!!!

I have to get to work. I have a very boring day of going through 19 interviews and finding something … anything that makes sense.

By Lyrazel

March 2, 2009 1:03 PM | Link to this

USinUk—I used to love traveling the #2 bus and jumping off at the Krispy when the HOT sign was lit. Urban paradise, truly enough time to grab a box and get back outside and wait for the return of the #2. (The drivers of the #2 must miss me bad—I always had one ready for them on the return). I guess its where you go—and what you are like—that allows you to adapt in places so have yet to be confronted with a rude New Englander—but maybe its because my accent is so thick I am always talked to—EVERYBODY has relatives who moved to FL or GA!!! I discovered drivers will wait to let you merge into traffic or get out of a parking lot—and wave. Nobody drives about with their stereos blaring, I can walk the streets at night—but I am in a small little town in ME…they love their Dunkin D’s. Bleah…bleah… How is the world of boiled meat?

By USinUK

March 2, 2009 1:22 PM | Link to this

Lyra -

back in my younger, wilder, going-out days when I lived in ATL, we used to stop at the Ponce Krispey Kreme if the HDN sign was on - and, if it was around bar-kicking-out time, you could see the parking lot go from empty to full in about 2 minutes flat. nothing like a good sugar rush if you’ve been out!

“I discovered drivers will wait to let you merge into traffic or get out of a parking lot—and wave. Nobody drives about with their stereos blaring, I can walk the streets at night”

very similar experience here - people let you merge, they wave thanks to you if you give them the right-of-way, say “cheers” to you if you hold the door for them … nothing like a little politeness to make your day!! and VERY rarely do you hear loud stereos … and you NEVER see people with the seat so far reclined that they’re practically lying down.

but, if you’d like to meet some rude NEers, I can recommend Hartford, CT. One caveat - if you have an English accent, you can get away with murder no matter where you go. the Mister always got the red carpet treatment everywhere from the Stop-n-Shop to any bar/restaurant we’d go to “oooo … I just luuuuuuv your accent!”

as far as the land of boiled meat - I gotta say, no one knows how to do cold-weather food like the Brits (when it rains 200+ days a year, they SHOULD know!). But, I think the post-war years really did a disservice to their culinary reputation because there are a lot of classic pub dishes that I absolutely love - lamb shanks, braised pork shoulder (or belly), shephard’s pie (“made with real shephards!” as they said in Sweeny Todd), bangers-n-mash, yorkshire puddings … yumyumyum!!! plus, they have some desserts that are just outstanding (Eve’s Pudding, Stickey Toffee Pudding, Pavlova).

the only thing they do that I can’t abide by - suet in the crust of their steamed puddings - blech - it’s a texture thing.

now, I’m hungry. so I’m heading home - pasta del fuego!!!

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

Power grab

At this writing, the DOW is -277.

Obama is a stooge for some very powerful people. Congress continues to spend Obama’s approval ratings. And at times like these, we can see the absolute brilliance of the Democratic Party. The whole Rush Limbaugh thing is all about extending that popularity, giving Pelosi and Reid more time before Obama’s popularity is gone. When Rob Emanuel states that Rush is the voice of the Republican Party (Remember this is the man that said “Why let a crisis go to waste?”) you know that this is all about a slight of hand. Let’s look at those mean old republicans while we continue to give away our grandchildren’s money and the stock market continues to dive deeper and deeper.

Democrats are brilliant. They understand the power of a 65% presidential approval rating. It doesn’t matter that Congress has the lowest approval rating in history. Most people have no idea that they have been in charge since 2007.

If somebody doesn’t stop the Congress very soon, we are screwed. I had a hard time understanding why the Party of George Wallace and Robert Byrd would have allowed a Black man to be the president. Now, I understand. Obama will be a horrible failure and undoubtedly a one term president. The congress will be no more hated than they already are and everything will be blamed on the president.

Wake up, people. You can’t possibly trust these criminals any longer. The DOW is less than half it’s value when they took over in 2007.

DUH?

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 3:56 PM | Link to this

Obama just released Memos from Bush which will dominate the media for weeks. More slight of hand.

How is everyone’s IRAs doing?

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 4:06 PM | Link to this

DOW closed at -299.95

Today the democrats and CNN hammered the Rush Limbaugh deal and this is the day Obama releases Bush’s memos.

Will this be obvious only to history?

By Archie

March 2, 2009 4:18 PM | Link to this

Yes, lawmakers should have a say in college curriculum and staffing because college tuition is going up and up and that needs to stop. The education gravy train needs to stop. Too many citizens have degrees and a whole lot of debt but these citizens don’t have a good-paying job!!! Lawmakers need to do everything reasonable to make sure the staffing and the curriculum makes sense so that the tuition cost makes sense. I am not in favor of stifling intellectuals but sometimes intellectuals have no common sense and you need someone particularly lawmakers to protect you from that.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 4:55 PM | Link to this

Archie

One of the local TV stations is doing a special report this week on UGA professors that have taken these crazy expensive trips on the University’s credit card. Might be an interesting watch.

By The Other jack

March 2, 2009 5:02 PM | Link to this

At this point in Carter’s presidency, he had a 75% approval rating.

Good man. One term. Congress had ruined the economy, they walk away scott free and Carter will be remembered for a horrible presidency.

I don’t expect anyone to agree. I just ask you to think about this a little as Obama’s approval rating drops and the members of the democratic congress become more and more powerful.

Why do I think that congressmen are getting more powerful? Earmarks help who?

By American Woman

March 2, 2009 5:15 PM | Link to this

“The education gravy train needs to stop. Too many citizens have degrees and a whole lot of debt but these citizens don’t have a good-paying job!!!”

I’m sorry, but I’m not following this logic. There’s an “education gravy train?” What exactly comprises this biscuit sopping goodness? “Too many citizens have degrees?” Are you saying that having a degree makes people more likely to have “a whole lot of debt” sans “good paying job?” Are you saying that educated people are more likely to buy stuff they can’t afford? Or that we would all somehow benefit if more people knew less? Sorry, but… not following.

Also, asking lawmakers to “do something reasonable” is just asking for trouble, IMO! Especially here in Georgia!

By Andy the Welcher

March 3, 2009 8:09 AM | Link to this

Well Gosh! There’s always the free market. Universities are run for profit, even the public ones. In the “free market” system underperforming classes are not continued.

Nobody is forced to go to college, just like nobody is forced to listen to talk radio. Therefore it’s up to the free market to dictate what airs on talk radio, and what classes and particular College teaches and endorses.

You can’t be against the “Fairness Doctrine” and for conservative meddling in college curriculum. If you disagree with GSU’s position, then you have the freedom to send your kids elsewhere.

By Gale

March 3, 2009 8:50 AM | Link to this

Legislators need to stay out of it. People will determine the validity of any class. If no student enrolls in a given class, it will be dropped, at least temporarily. If tuition is too high, the student will attend elsewhere. IF all the colleges are too expensive, fewer people will attend and prices will go down. It is not a matter of too many people with degrees. It is a matter of people attending because someone else is funding them, or they get loans that they don’t understand the real cost thereof. The student with no idea why he/she is there is wasting time and money. Even a degree in mediaval lit is valid if it feeds a passion that is fuel for a career if whatever field. Colleges do not need to be trade schools. Students need to understand that eventually they will want a job with income and interest, but it may not involve that esoteric study interest.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 8:53 AM | Link to this

AW -

“I’m sorry, but I’m not following this logic.”

I’m glad you said that - I didn’t get Archie’s point, either.

TOJ -

First of all, it’s RAHM Emmanuel, not Rob.

Secondly, “The DOW is less than half it’s value when they took over in 2007.”

wow. so, it’s the DEMOCRATS that are causing the stock market to tumble, not economic fundamentals. not corporations posting record losses (helloooo AIG!! RBS!! HSBC!! Citi!! GM!! Ford!! Berkshire Hathaway!!) or companies like Lehman Brothers going under. or companies like GE cutting their dividends. it’s all because of Nancy Pelosi. yeah. got it.

and, just for the record - yesterday the S&P fell 4.8%, the FTSE fell 5.3%, EAFE fell 4.9%, CAC fell 4.5%, DAX fell 3.5%, Nikkei fell 3.8%, the SMI fell 5.4% and the AOI fell 3.8%.

other news from yesterday/the weekend: AIG posted $60B loss, US, UK and European manufacturing indices went further into contraction, China’s manufacturing rose slightly but still remained in contraction, and the VIX premium indicated that the bear market will last 2 years in the US.

lastly, over the weekend, Warren Buffett said, “The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 — and, for that matter, probably well beyond” … he also said, ““Whatever the downsides may be, strong and immediate action by government was essential last year if the financial system was to avoid a total breakdown,” Buffett said. “Had that occurred, the consequences for every area of our economy would have been cataclysmic. Like it or not, the inhabitants of Wall Street, Main Street and the various Side Streets of America were all in the same boat.”

but. yeah. the meltdown is aaaaaaaallllll because the Dems are in charge. got it.

By Gale

March 3, 2009 9:12 AM | Link to this

Listening to an interview of Gordon Brown this morning remined us that we have a global economy and all the major banking systems are very intertwined. I think there is plenty of blame to throw around.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 9:26 AM | Link to this

Gale -

“Listening to an interview of Gordon Brown this morning remined us that we have a global economy and all the major banking systems are very intertwined. I think there is plenty of blame to throw around.”

nope. it’s all Nancy’s fault. all this started in January 2007. as did Polio, small pox, the Black Plague and the heartbreak of psoriasis.

By Lyrazel

March 3, 2009 9:40 AM | Link to this

What led to the current situation were numerous legislative, ideological, and business decisions that worked together to create a systemic failure. Consider each of the following:

The Commodities Futures Modernization Act (2000) allowed unregulated derivatives to run wild.

The repeal of Glass-Steagall (1999) allowed depository banks to become far more intertwined with Wall Street.

From 2001-03, Fed Chair Alan Greenspan took rates down to unprecedented levels, causing 1) a mad scramble for yield and 2) an enormous housing boom.

In 2004 the SEC allowed the five big investment banks to leverage up from 12-to-1 to 35-to-1 or more.

There were several other factors—the changing business model of the ratings agencies from customer-financed research to a form of payola and the misaligned compensation system on Wall Street that pays people for short-term gains despite ongoing long-term risks. I cannot forget the misguided deification of markets—a false belief system that led to a radical deregulatory philosophy that ignored the abdication of lending standards (“Innovative,” said Greenspan) among the subprime lenders.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 9:43 AM | Link to this

USinUK

The DOW was an example. You are right in that the economy is falling apart. But it is a fact that with every major give away, the DOW and every other economic pointer points down.

The Democrats took over Congress in 2007. it wasn’t much of a majority, but they were in charge. Remember the 300 investigations in the first 100 days? Have you heard about anyone getting jailed, indicted, anything? it has been crap ever since old Bug eyed took over. Now they have total control and they are doing everything to maintain that control, along with throwing Obama under the bus. His popularity is starting to slide.

This is a power grab. Consider the massive reduction in the write offs for charitable giving. There is no doubt that this will hurt lots of charities, but Obama is saying that will be covered in the spending. Sounds harmless. But consider who will now decide which charity lives and which charities die.

I don’t expect you to agree. In fact, when Obama loses the Democratic nomination in 2012, I wouldn’t expect you to admit that I was right. But this is nothing but an all out power grab and these tactics of associating Rush Limbaugh as head of the Republicans and releasing Bush’s classified documents is nothing but a slight of hand. As his approval ratings continue to plummet, look for many more.

And I really don’t care what that slime ball’s name is. He is the worst of the worst and he is Obama’s right hand man.

On a lighter note, several of us are going to Bill Murray’s movie. In looking for wardrobe ideas, a friend sent this to me this morning. It is really a hoot. Is it me, or does the 21st century man look like Jesus?

http:// video. google. com/ videosearch?q=1930+fashion&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GFRC&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=8iCtSYe8NuCbtwf28b2IBg&sa=X&oi=videoresultgroup&resnum=8&ct=title#

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 9:46 AM | Link to this

Gale

It is now a matter of trying to fix it. If the Democrats would just stop giving away our grandchildren’s money for just a few days, the market might begin to stabilize.

The best thing Congress could do at this point is to go on vacation.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 9:56 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Fed launches new $200B consumer credit program Federal Reserve launches much-awaited, $200 billion program to spur more consumer lending

Just a few minutes ago.

And you don’t think this is a power grab? I’m now supposed to depend on Washington bureaucrats to loan me money? Are these the same bureaucrats that decide who gets federal contracts and grants?

But as you say, my demographic does fine, so I have no reason to complain. As long as people who have the same color skin as me are rich, what would I have to complain about?

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 10:00 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“If the Democrats would just stop giving away our grandchildren’s money for just a few days, the market might begin to stabilize.”

sorry, but no. if we had a bit of ongoing good news (like that banks are beginning to lend again), then the market might begin to stabilize. the bailout / budget isn’t the problem.

the good news is that the bargin shoppers are out - the DOW, NASDAQ and S&P are all up.

By Lyrazel Doomsayer

March 3, 2009 10:10 AM | Link to this

bargin shoppers are out - the DOW, NASDAQ and S&P are all up

Until tomorrow or Thursday when they fall again. The bottom of the market has yet to be reached. Save your pennies.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 10:14 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Let’s hope it holds.

But please consider what you would say if McCain had won the election and Wall Street lost 20% of it’s value in the first five weeks of his administration.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 10:16 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“And you don’t think this is a power grab? I’m now supposed to depend on Washington bureaucrats to loan me money? Are these the same bureaucrats that decide who gets federal contracts and grants?”

whoooo … boy-howdy, them Feds are just acting in their own self-interest, aren’t they … how dare they try to increase liquidity!

I’ll write this slowly - the. banks. aren’t. lending.

even with rates at 0-0.25% and 10-year yields above 3% (which would give them a profit lending to you), the. banks. aren’t. lending.

this hurts companies big and small, as well as homeowners (or dying-to-be homeowners). you think Bernanke wants to be in this business? no - but the sooner we get money flowing, the sooner we get out of this mess.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 10:28 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“But please consider what you would say if McCain had won the election and Wall Street lost 20% of it’s value in the first five weeks of his administration.”

I don’t know if you have noticed, but I don’t blame politicians for what goes on in the equities markets (or for the price of gas) - I look at the fundamentals. always have.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 10:34 AM | Link to this

Lyra -

“Until tomorrow or Thursday when they fall again. The bottom of the market has yet to be reached. Save your pennies.”

haha … you sound like my coworkers … I was moaning to one of my colleagues that all I want is one piece of good news - he replied “why? it wouldn’t last”

I’m just girding my loins for Friday’s jobs ###s … right now, the consensus is that unemployment is going to rise to 7.9%. gah.

By Lyrazel Doomsayer

March 3, 2009 10:58 AM | Link to this

USinUk: In 17 months stocks have fallen 53.9%. Wait till 11% unemployment (it actually is 11% now but because they don’t conveniently record freelance dismissals or those who have long used up benefits or those who only get part time jobs numbers the numbers are skewed) to buy stocks. By then the bad seeds will have failed and really good stocks whose parent companies have liquidity & strong market base will be at Costco prices—bulk up. Right now even at 1% interest cash is safer than stocks for investment.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 11:05 AM | Link to this

USinUK

We are not going to agree on this, but I am not the person that this government is going to help. I just got a call that will pay my house loan for a few months. That is all I have. Capitalism is my friend. This government is not. That is my reality. I will not be borrowing money from the government.

BTW. I sold my new business yesterday to the investors in Dallas. My only profit is to keep my sales person’s retainer which was my money to start with. This is what happens when paying taxes cripple businesses. They will make millions off my idea and I will still be here, “doing videos” and going from one job to the next. This is reality, not some pie in the sky train to Disneyland.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 11:06 AM | Link to this

Lyra -

“Right now even at 1% interest cash is safer than stocks for investment.”

we were talking about that in our Monday morning meeting - usually, when you see the equities markets fall, you see yields fall for Treasuries, as well - W-Th of last week, we didn’t see that (saw it a little on Fri) … we figure that everyone is putting their cash in a coffee can under their bed.

actually, even for you huge institutional investors, there has been a trend to juuuuuuuuuuust hang out in cash for a while, thankyewverymuch. whoda thunk that a good ol’ blue-ribbon savings account would be the highest-yielding investment on the market!

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 11:08 AM | Link to this

USinUk

I don’t blame politicians for what goes on in the equities markets

But this government is insisting that they have their hand in every aspect of America’s financials. How long will they continue to take over our financial system before you start to blame the people that are causing the problems?

By American Woman

March 3, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this

I think we really MUST legalize industrial hemp and let American farmers grow it so American manufactuers can start producing all manner of (green!) products from it!!! Yes, legalize and TAX the WEED too. C’mon. It’s California’s BIGGEST CASH CROP, and the state is bankrupt because there’s no revenue coming it. Helllloooooooooo? How many trillions has the government spent on the “drug war?” The result of that is: Marijuana is still California’s biggest cash crop!!! You can’t make it go away, you might as well tax it, and in the process, render foreign drug cartels obsolete.

Given the dire state of our economy, hanging on to this outdated, pointless prohibition is IRRESPONSIBLE. Period. TAX THE WEED!!! (and the churches too, since they’re so keen on making policy, but that’s another rant.)

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 11:22 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“I sold my new business yesterday to the investors in Dallas. My only profit is to keep my sales person’s retainer which was my money to start with. This is what happens when paying taxes cripple businesses”

well done, you, on selling your business idea. however, just because you or your accountant didn’t calculate and/or pay your quarterly estimates as you should, doesn’t mean that the government is crippling you.

“How long will they continue to take over our financial system before you start to blame the people that are causing the problems?”

I do blame the people who cause the problems - unlike you, however, I don’t think the government is the sole cause of the current global pickle. some, yes - but, mostly where they were deregulated/never regulated to begin with (helloooooo derivatives!). the biggest problem was the free market that rewarded short-term gains rather than longer-term growth and stability.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 11:34 AM | Link to this

AW

Hemp was several state’s number one cash crop. I’m pretty sure it still is.

It’s nuts. They are allowing killers to go free so they can keep pot growers in prison.

Glen Beck is doing an odd thing. Every few days he talks about how Pot should not be legalized but then he has a guest that gives incredible reasons why it should and he never tries to argue. He ran a story about how the people growing Pot in California are the scum of the earth illegal aliens that are connected to the Mexican Drug cartels. DUH!!!!? Let’s take it away from them by making it legal.

I am the son of a bootlegger that fought very hard against liquor by the drink in my hometown. It was the only think that he and my very religious mother agreed on.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 11:37 AM | Link to this

So much for the small gains in the stock market. It started doing pretty well and the fed announced it’s lending program.

For God’s sake: can they just shut the f^ck up for just a single day?

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 11:47 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“It started doing pretty well and the fed announced it’s lending program.”

I think it had more to do with Bernanke saying that the banks aren’t stabilized as yet.

By YaThink

March 3, 2009 11:48 AM | Link to this

*before you start to blame the people that are causing the problems? *

he must mean those years, starting with Newt’s Contract with America, (absolutely NO regulation, let the market rip everyone off), followed by the 6 years of the rubber-stamp Bush Congress doing more of the same(absolutely NO regulation, let the market rip everyone off).

By American Woman

March 3, 2009 11:50 AM | Link to this

TOJ, we’re still dealing with absurd alcohol prohibition here. On Sundays, you can go to a ball game, or to a bar to watch a ball game, get utterly sh-tfaced, and drive yourself home or into a tree. (Hopefully the cops are looking for those who do.) But you can’t pick up a six pack at a mini mart after church on Sunday, so you can DRINK AT HOME at a leisurely pace, on the Lord’s day, which is where many of us would rather be than in a stinky ol’ sport bar. Absurd!!!

Equally absurd is the persecution of pot. Why the hypocrisy? Why the manufactured FEAR? We know why it was outlawed to begin with: Corporations wielding influence with the lawmakers they purchased, to escalate their own profits, and spending vast sums on propaganda to get the populace on board with a lie. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

By Lyrazel

March 3, 2009 12:10 PM | Link to this

AW: One in every 31 adults is in prison, on parole or probation, at a cost to the states of $47 billion in 2008. As states face huge budget shortfalls, prisons, which hold 1.5 million adults, are driving the spending increases. 34 states spent an average of $29,000 a year on prisoners, compared with $1,250 on probationers and $2,750 on parolees. The study found that despite more spending on prisons, recidivism rates remained largely unchanged. Pew researchers say that as states trim services like education and health care, prison budgets are growing. Georgia had 1 in 13 adults under some form of punishment—NY Times source.

I think the fiscal rationality of legalizing pot is obvious, but won’t happen because of lobbyists of the pharmaceutical corporations peddling influence to politicians. The most citizens can hope for is a partial legalization for medical purposes but even that with impending health care reform on the table will probably not come about. The tax would increase state revenues phenomenally—and decrease prison populations—save national parks and debilitate cartels in a major way. We won’t see it happen until the government figures a way to tax it—then the court must figure a way to sue growers for health risks by consumers. I think Canada might decriminalize pot and if the doom & gloom does not materialize and create a nation of junkies (pot leads to use of hard drugs, remember) Mexico and many S.A. countries will follow before the USA…sorry.

Congrats TOJ—what you did took a hellofalot of effort.

Glen Beck ran a story about how the people growing Pot in California are the scum of the earth illegal aliens that are connected to the Mexican Drug cartels

Yes, and just who is the Mexican Drug cartel’s #1 customer? Couldn’t be US no say it aint so!!!

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 12:13 PM | Link to this

USinUK

Finally. You do admit that it is a matter of confidence. But I’m pretty sure that there is not an investor in America that didn’t already know that the banks were not stabilized.

A capitalistic stock market is not going to react positively to more and more government intervention. My ex (the broker) is saying what I am saying: the government intervention in the two biggest banks and now deciding to become a bank themselves is hurting the confidence of investors.

AW

Don’t get me started on the Sunday liquor thing. You have seen me take on anyone and everyone on behalf of churches, but they are wrong about this one.

I see you know the reason why hemp was outlawed. It was mostly Dupont, but there were other forces. After all pot is just for those nasty jazz musicians. I hevn’t smoked in a looong time, but today, I could use a doobie.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 12:18 PM | Link to this

YaThink

So … how was the economy in the years that the mean old Republicans were in charge of Congress and how has it been doing since they gave up that control in 2007? I’m sure yesterday’s crash was just an 14 year delay from Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution. After all, things do happen really slowly here in the 21st century. (Hopefully, other people will be smart enough to catch the sarcasm)

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 12:20 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

“Finally. You do admit that it is a matter of confidence. But I’m pretty sure that there is not an investor in America that didn’t already know that the banks were not stabilized.”

ohfercryingoutloud - there’s a world of difference between your school of “it’s all Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Dem’s fault” and the market reacting to Bernanke saying that the banks still aren’t stable.

“A capitalistic stock market is not going to react positively to more and more government intervention. My ex (the broker) is saying what I am saying: the government intervention in the two biggest banks and now deciding to become a bank themselves is hurting the confidence of investors.”

yeah. because the failure of major institutions like Citi, AIG and BofA would instill LOADS of confidence in investors. sorry, but I agree with Warren Buffett. he has a little more clout than your ex.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 12:26 PM | Link to this

TOJ and AW -

“I see you know the reason why hemp was outlawed. It was mostly Dupont, but there were other forces. After all pot is just for those nasty jazz musicians. I hevn’t smoked in a looong time, but today, I could use a doobie.”

I can’t remember where, but someone told me that pot remaining illegal was a hold-over from prohibition - basically, the DEA wanted to still have something to regulate … ???

while I’m not torn on Sunday booze sales - (one of the reasons I loved living in DC - could buy beer any day I wanted), I am on legalizing pot. I agree with everything AW and Lyra and TOJ say, but I am concerned with how much more potent it is now than when I was in university. the stuff on the streets does a lot more damage than what we knew from concerts at the OMNI.

so, if it was regulated, would you classify it like booze? or like a narcotic for which you need a ‘script?

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 12:26 PM | Link to this

Lyrazel

The main reason why I sold the company was because I hated it. Plain and simple. Trying to manage type A sales people is not for me. I am proud of the fact that I never raised my voice to any of them. I did want to kill all three of them, but I didn’t. I did wear my tee shirt one day that says “If Jesus wasn;’t holding my hand, I’d be kickin’ your asss.” Not a lot of argument that day.

But I also needed the capital from the escrow accounts. I went to the grocery store and put groceries on my MasterCard the other night. That kind of thing freaks me out. I have mowed yards to pay off credit cards and I don’t ever want to be there again.

By J-Tex

March 3, 2009 12:36 PM | Link to this

It was Hearst, not DuPont. Hearst viewed hemp as competition for his paper mill interests and began to use his paper to spread stories vilifying marijuana and hemp.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 12:40 PM | Link to this

USinUK

Warren Buffet can lose 10 million dollars and not blink an eye. I have a hard time believing that he is worried about an IRA. Please remember that you also agree with George Soros, the man that can no longer do business in your adopted country because of his efforts to destroy the economy of GB.

I’m not going to get nasty about this, but apparently you are right on the verge.

By American Woman

March 3, 2009 12:56 PM | Link to this

USinUK! That was YOU passing it down at the Omni! HAHA! I knew I’d met you before! I understand concerns about the idea of everyone driving around stoned out of their minds. But frankly, I don’t think it would change much. Right now, anyone who wants it can get it. People who don’t partake don’t partake because they don’t WANT to. People who WANT to… do. Did Phelps waste his live on a bong? No, he won 12 gold medals because that’s what he wanted to do with his life. People who don’t want to do anything are going to be wasted anyway.

Current purshasers already pay a “this is illegal” tax. I think American stoners are basically GOOD PATRIOTS who would be happy to pay the same prices they are now, knowing THEIR habit/vice is going to help fix what’s wrong with this country. I think that given the choice, Americans would be thrilled to support the schools, fire departments, and other uniformed heroes with their habit instead of scary illegal immigrants with automatic weapons.

How ‘bout this: tax commercial farms and growers. Street dealers & retailers recoup from anonymous buyers, no prob. Have them purchase a license, like a hunting license, every year in order to sell. NO ADVERTISING OR MARKETING ALLOWED. (Keep those wh-o-res out of it. They ruin everything. Word of mouth reveals the primo stuff.) No sales to minors — that way the cops who just live to run a sting still have someone to bust. No driving while stoned, same as booze. Spin-off industry op: developing test kits that can indicate actual levels of intoxication, not just whether some shows up in the urine, which is possible even if you didn’t smoke. Tell everyone who whines about “zero tolerance” to STFU.

Yes, we CAN!

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 12:56 PM | Link to this

J-Tex

Hearst was the main voice against it but the main problem started when Dupont tried to sell either nylon or rayon rope to the military. Hemp was cheaper and better. It has been a long time since i read about the details. but yes, the Herst newspapers was definitely the voice.

I own a copy of Reefer Madness and i think that it has a small documentary on the DVD with a lot of the history of it.

That’s the problem with the stuff. It is a great natural fiber. It can be used for paper, medicine, and that is in it’s natural form. China has been doing a lot of research into what can be synthesized from it. They have invented a type of ABS-like plastic that is supposed to be much cheaper and doesn’t require petroleum. And you can smoke it and … what was I just saying?

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 12:57 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

“I’m not going to get nasty about this, but apparently you are right on the verge.”

um. “on the verge” … ??? of what??

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 1:03 PM | Link to this

USinUK

This new little job is calling and I need to go. We won’t agree on the gumment or the economy, but we both can agree that it is bad and appears to be getting worse. Be glad you have a job. The Power ball Lottery tonight is 210 mil. If I had a dollar, I would buy a lottery ticket.

Have a good one.

By Lyrazel

March 3, 2009 1:05 PM | Link to this

USinUK With all the issues about 2nd hand smoke and all the regulation with tobacco I dont see how such a product could become—marketable. I would guess the next step is decriminalization for small amounts only. There is no way the government could/would ever allow store sales. The first teenager caught with a pack of pot cigarettes would have umpteen billions in an uproar! Plus then you get into age—at what age is it legal—driving laws—a bevy of regulations—insurance companies would re-write policies— and an entire industry of p**-in-cups clinics might go out of business.

The strangest thing for me about moving to Maine was being in a grocery with liquor & wine aisles. I deliberately bought a bottle of St. Brendan’s on Sunday. I felt wicked!

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 1:34 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

“We won’t agree on the gumment or the economy, but we both can agree that it is bad and appears to be getting worse. Be glad you have a job.”

every. single. day. I’m thankful to have a job to go to.

again, congrats on the bidness sale today - well done!

AW -

passed it down?? heck, if you sat in the nosebleed seats, all you had to do was breathe - who needed to buy??

Lyra -

“I felt wicked!” … and wasn’t it GREAT!!! :-)

seriously, I really don’t know what the answer is - I tend to agree in decriminalization, but am afraid of what will happen when that genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

okay - heading home - later taters!!!

have a good night and STAY WARM!! (especially you, Lyra!)

By Gale

March 3, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

Yea! Decriminalize pot! I’ve been saying that since 1970. Why o why throw someone in prison for something less harmful than alcohol? I worked with guys that smoked every day and they we more productive than the jokers who had a beer with lunch. Sell it the same as booze; regulate and tax and quit wasting money to stop it. So, an underage kid gets hold of it? Same problem if the kids gets a six pack. And as far as limited amounts? Do the same as for allowing small amounts of home brew. You are allowed to make limited amounts of wine or beer at home for personal use. So, you should be able to grow a single plant for personal use. That way you can be sure it doesn’t have any nasty pesticides on it. They really are very attractive plants.

By The Other jack

March 3, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

USinUK

I’ve been thinking about what you said about the stronger pot being more dangerous. Maybe dangerous as far as the possibility of someone doing something really dumb, but probably less harmful to one’s health. Simply, you need to smoke less to get more stoned. Smoke is what is bad. Not that a film maker and musician would know anything about that.

By USinUK

March 3, 2009 4:17 PM | Link to this

TOJ -

from the articles I’ve read about skunk, it seems to have a higher likelihood of causing permanent brain damage than what was on the street 20-30 years ago.

“Writing in today’s IoS, Mr Costa says that is no longer the case as a result of the potency of skunk, adding: “The cannabis now in circulation is many times more powerful than the weed which today’s ageing baby-boomers smoked in college. Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis use - from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and outright psychosis - is mounting and cannot be ignored.”“

http:// www.independent.co.uk/ life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/so-how-dangerous-is-skunk-441729.html

The most detailed study yet comparing the smoking habits of people with psychosis to those of people without the condition suggests that the drug is directly linked to the development of mental illness.

“A study carried out at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London found that people who had a psychotic episode were twice as likely to have used cannabis for more than six years, three times more likely to have used it every day and 18 times more likely to use skunk.”

http:// www.telegraph.co.uk/ health/2235585/Skunk-smokers-18-times-more-likely-to-be-psychotic.html

I think that’s the thing that concerns me most about the whole legalize-it argument. the genetically engineered pot that kids are smoking now is a whole different ballgame from what we knew.

like I said - from an economics and law-and-order argument, I’m absolutely right there with you, AW and Lyra … but from a scientific / mental health standpoint, it concerns me greatly.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 3, 2009 4:41 PM | Link to this

OBAMA is a turncoat, he is a muslim and we all know it! He will ruin us all! PLEASE pray for him to be removed from office! And his little doggie too, Joe “the dumbassi” Biden!

By American Woman

March 3, 2009 4:51 PM | Link to this

USinUK, a man can legally consume an entire case of beer, by himself, in one day. (My first husband did every Saturday. And again every Sunday. Weekdays were a little slower.) Had female friends who’d down a bottle of wine each. Daily.

Ask me who I’d rather be locked in a room with: the abusive, violent ex hubby, the insecure, drunk-azz, back-stabbing drama queens, or my good-natured stoner buddy who has only missed one day of work in eight years. Like I said, its legal status does not change the fact that people WILL do it, or choose not to, at will.

Would you REALLY advocate stepping up the “drug war” to eradicate this new psychosis threat? Meanwhile SMITH-KLINE-GLAXO-WELCOME-BEACHUM or whatever their name is this week, and their crooked, insurance-scamming PUSHERS zombify half the nation, profitably, and unimpeded, and with tax breaks. Please! Look around, Hon. You want to really screw someone up? Give them some LEGAL meds and tell them it’ll all be better real soon. Or better yet, take away the pills people all around you are taking every day. Take Ritalin and Adderall from millions of addicted school kids. Now watch some serious psychosis while their brains start seizing in withdrawal!

Sometimes nature is the better choice. Liberty!

By Archie

March 3, 2009 5:04 PM | Link to this

USinUk,American Woman, I am sorry for coming here so late but I did say too many people have degrees and a whole lot of debt. Someone just stopped at part of the statement. “I’m sorry, but I’m not following this logic. There’s an “education gravy train?” What exactly comprises this biscuit sopping goodness? “Too many citizens have degrees?” Are you saying that having a degree makes people more likely to have “a whole lot of debt” sans “good paying job?” Yes I do think there’s an education gravy train because most state governments are struggling financially and yet you see someone get paid six-figures for teaching one course and you see things as TOJ suggests, people taking expensive trips or slush funds. There is a lot of excess and just plain nonsense going at colleges and again I know more than two or three people with masters degrees and that have big debt but a small paycheck. A degree is not a cure-all and it’s not needed to be educated and it’s a fallacy to say that it is. The author of Rich Dad,Poor Dad talks about this is in his book. Now let me be clear I am not against having a degree especially since I have two but we need to use common sense and keep a perspective and just plain admit that everything taught at these colleges simply isn’t valuable and I think a college education is overpriced. Notice I didn’t say it was not valuable but overpriced most of the time. I will say more but I have to go..

By American Woman

March 3, 2009 5:49 PM | Link to this

Archie, thanks for clarifying that. I can’t comment on Professors’ pay, but it would make sense for universities keep to their budgets. But do you really want the legislature to spend time dictating line items to people who run the colleges? Schools should define their own endeavors, IMO. In the end, you can choose to send your kid (or yourself) somewhere else, but you’re right: College IS prohibitively expensive for too many these days.

I agree the degree doesn’t make the person, and know plenty of hard-working, non-degreed people who’ve risen higher and make more $$ than degreed folks. It’s about personal initiative, or for some, choosing to be there for our children and saying “no” to 60-hour work weeks and constant traveling. (If you’ll do THAT, they’ll hire you without the degree!) I don’t think it’s fair to say people shouldn’t be wasting their time on education, though. There are frugal, practical people with all levels of education, just as there are indulgent, wasteful people at all levels. Regardless, there are as many reasons for debt as there are companies willing to string you into it. Ask someone whose spouse has cancer, or kids with special needs, or whose home was flooded.

By Lyrazel

March 4, 2009 8:37 AM | Link to this

Kind of running back to topic—a far more predominant occurrence (than some congressman making decisions about college classes offered; truly a rare occurrence, btw) in daily life in Universites with large medical colleges: The Times reported that Harvard officials had said about 1,600 of the medical school’s 8,900 professors and lecturers informed the dean that they or a relative had a financial interest in a business related to their teaching, research or clinical care. The faculty disclosures do not specify how much money they receive, nor are they public.

Ok so if a college professor has been bought by a medical company in some way—do students actually get information or do they get what the pharm company representative decides they should know; endorsing product vs research into new techniques.

Would love to hear opinions.

By USinUK

March 4, 2009 8:40 AM | Link to this

AW -

“Would you REALLY advocate stepping up the “drug war” to eradicate this new psychosis threat?”

whoa-whoa-whoa! easy there, cowgirl! who said anything about stepping up the drug war? not I, so take a chill pill, Jill.

I tend to agree with former Drug Czar (and former general) Barry McCaffrey who said it’s more like a cancer than a war (“I know war, this isn’t a war”). I believe in treatment, not incarceration. and, yes, I’ve known people who, I think, probably had ADHD who actually could perform better and concentrate better after a little scoobage.

I guess I’d just like to make sure laws and/or public policy is made based on CURRENT science, not nostalgia (“well, I used to smoke loads back in 1974 and it never did me any harm”).

s’all I’m sayin’

By Gale

March 4, 2009 8:53 AM | Link to this

At the med school level, it is probably more important that students get generalities and theory, and interaction potentials than specific pharmacuetical information. For one thing, the drugs will likely change by the time they graduate. And two, most MDs have a very limited knowledge of the drugs they prescibe. It is the main reason I would be very suspicious of any drug a doctor prescribes and discuss it with the pharmacist who will be able to tell me a lot more about it without the pharm company influence.

By Mara

March 4, 2009 10:26 AM | Link to this

USinUK - I looked at the article you suggested and have two issues with it.

Firstly, the tests for psychological harm were run on teenagers whose brains are still developing, not mature adults. Developing brains are at risk whenever ANY drug is ingested, be it prescription anti-depressents, codiene, alcohol or marijuana. And the numbers cited were PROJECTIONS, not actual results. Since the article was produced in ‘07 and the predictions were that by 2010, more than 1/4 of new schizophrenia cases would be directly CAUSED by pot smoking…we should be able to already calculate how close to accurate those predictions were.

and secondly, the article was mostly concerned with “addiction and psychological problems caused by smoking skunk, which is up to 10 times stronger than resin or grass.” And what is the difference between ‘skunk’ and ‘grass’? According to the article “Skunk” isn’t refering to the more familiar ‘skunk weed’, it is the name of a genetically modified version of cannabis.

now, with all that said…we regulate the amount of alcohol in liquor, so why couldn’t we regulate marijuana the same way? Sure, you can brew your own high-proof hooch as the continued existance of moonshiners proves. But the vast majority of people DON’T. They go down to the corner package store and buy their alcohol after its been taxed and tested. I believe the same would hold true with the weed. And I’m pretty sure we’ve already had the ‘convenience vs cost’ conversation at sometime or another…

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this

Pot heads suck!

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this

Pot heads suck!

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 11:58 AM | Link to this

Recovery.gov and it’s sticker! [DUMBASS!] Unreal what this corksucker is spewing at us! YOU ARE ALL SHEEP! IMPEACH OBAMA!

By USinUK

March 4, 2009 12:08 PM | Link to this

Mara -

good points - all I was saying is that these are my concerns

By Archie

March 4, 2009 12:11 PM | Link to this

There are frugal, practical people with all levels of education, just as there are indulgent, wasteful people at all levels. Regardless, there are as many reasons for debt as there are companies willing to string you into it. Yes,everything you said above is true but I was trying to stay on topic. People are paying thousands more than I paid for my degrees and they have all this debt and it’s time for that to change. Yes I think lawmakers should have some say in staffing and curriculum because intellectuals can be greedy and lack common sense just like lawmakers but that’s what you elect lawmakers for, to protect you or work for you. I know lawmakers aren’t perfect but somebody has to hold someone accountable.

As for marijuana, people in these small towns up here in South Carolina smoke it like it’s a cigarette. It gets on my nerves because I am a non-smoker and these people have not gotten either Mara or USinUk’s point, they’re just smoking.

By Mara

March 4, 2009 12:21 PM | Link to this

hey Archie. :^)

By American Woman

March 4, 2009 12:22 PM | Link to this

USinUK… “scoobage.” HAHAHA! Okay I thought some more about this. We don’t have to legalize it to tax it! Just de-criminalize it somewhat, and change the penalties to fines!! For example, now when the California authorities find a pot farm, they cut it all down, burn it (while flying helicopters low over the smoke to um… prevent others from flying helicopters slow over the smoke), then they arrest, try, convict, and imprison the grower. How about this: Find the crop, locate the grower, issue a citation that he has 30 days to remove the offending plants from the property and pay a fine in an amount based on the estimated weight of the crop. State incurs revenue, taxpayers are saved the prosecution, incarceration, and plant removal expenses, and the free market (woo-HOOOOO!) continues making this the greatest country on Earth!!!

What do you think? (Like, should I totally be running for office or what?) {;->

By Gale

March 4, 2009 12:58 PM | Link to this

Archie, I had no debt from my college days either. In the day, you only went to college if you had the cash or a scholarship. Today, anyone who can get a loan can go. That really isn’t the fault of the college. They are just benefiting from our indulgences. Yes, the costs have gone up. Is that because the education system is more expensive, of the availability of people willing to pay the price has increased? Both are true, although the cash is often someone else’s dime. Do we return to an earlier system where those with less than a 3.8 GPA and were not jocks had no choice but to find the cash for tuition because loans and grants were not available?

I am more in favor of cutting state funded tuitions for people not prepared for college. You don’t keep at least a 2.7 GPA (for instance), you lose your state funding. Maybe the GPA restriction is already in place. I don’t know. I do remember attending classes with students who could not write a complete sentence and they had state funding. Colleges should not be offering remedial classes. You are ready for college material or you don’t belong there. (Ok, end of rant.)

By Mara

March 4, 2009 1:09 PM | Link to this

Gale - “Colleges should not be offering remedial classes. You are ready for college material or you don’t belong there.”

Hear, hear!!!!

By Lyrazel

March 4, 2009 1:36 PM | Link to this

Archie: intellectuals can be greedy and lack common sense just like lawmakers…ah yes!

But impractical courses seldom remain on curriculums due to lack of interest. What might have been a fad course in decades past could be completely irrelevant and professors are not kept if no student attends their courses—so it equals out. Changes like taking class benefiting future employment take president now and one reason is because students are confronted with higher tuition and higher loans. Wouldn’t such changes be better made by the university and students rather than someone telling them this is what we study—this is irrelevant? Having some politician decide the future of their study can become a dangerous slippery slope.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 1:45 PM | Link to this

My boy getting spanked on Boortz.com! HEHE He’s stupid in many forums!

Very good Copyleft, Let’s paraphrase your remarks:

The Obama’s a TOOL, not a GOD.

Bwaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

(I’m laughing at your Idiocy, in case you can’t figure that out)

Geez, Copyleft, you make all too easy!!!!!

By Gale

March 4, 2009 1:51 PM | Link to this

This is not exactly on topic and I know we have discussed it before, but we would not see so many people taking out loans to attend college (with no real idea of why they are attending) if we eased up on the idea that everyone needs a degree. We should respect vocational schools and expand on those. I bet few graduates of vocational schools end up pushing fries for a living. When the pipes are leaking, Who you gonna call?

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 2:08 PM | Link to this

If INS would get off thier butts they could send 3000 wetbacks home. These fine illegals were protesting at a church in Norcross, what an opportunity! Dang them INS officials!!! 3000 would have mad a big difference her in Gwinnett!

By Lyrazel

March 4, 2009 2:54 PM | Link to this

Citizen arrests are legal Gandalf—bye.

Gale, I would be willing to have free tuition for all advanced degrees- using qualifiers such as gpa and financial need. I think the current system is very bad for America because it negatively affects where a doctor would open practice: a GP could go to a rural area without massive debt, vets would enter large animal practice for rural areas instead of small animal care in urban areas. A community service plan would be part of the free tuition. I dont feel bachelor or associate degrees should be free. The cost of undergraduate studies does keep undergrads thinking about future careers. I have seen too many who do not know why they are going to college, what they want in life.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 3:22 PM | Link to this

MIAMI — An abortion clinic owner accused of delivering a live baby during a botched procedure and then throwing the infant away was arrested Tuesday, authorities said.

Belkis Gonzalez, 42, was charged with practicing medicine without a license and tampering with evidence, both felonies, said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office. If found guilty, Gonzalez would face at least a year in prison and up to 15 years.

The teenage mother, Sycloria Williams, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Gonzalez knocked the infant off the chair where she had given birth, and then scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag, and threw it out.

The clinic’s doctor, Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique, had been scheduled to perform the procedure, but Williams went into labor after being given drugs to dilate her cervix and waiting for hours for Renelique to arrive, the suit said. The doctor has said he had been en route to the Hialeah clinic when he was called to treat another patient who was bleeding.

Last month, the Board of Medicine revoked Renelique’s license for committing medical malpractice, delegating responsibility to unlicensed personnel and failing to keep an accurate medical record.

Williams was 23 weeks pregnant when the incident happened in 2006.

Authorities were unable to definitively determine the cause of death — and Gonzalez’s role in it — because the baby’s body had decomposed by the time it was found eight days later, said Griffith, the attorney’s office spokesman.

Gonzalez was being held on $50,000 bond. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning. It was unclear if she had an attorney.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 4, 2009 3:27 PM | Link to this

Lyrazel, that’s why we have goverment’s not to pay for advanced degrees but to keep out INVADERS! Anyhoo, my small car wouldn’t be able to haul more than 4 beaners down to the Rio Grande, so maybe you and AW can come down and drive some of the illegals back home! (AW would probably sleep with them) See how long the Anchor kids stays when momma and dad felon are shipped home. Stupid law in 2009. Should be child of an american citizen, (like Barry!) to become a citizen. Then we can keep all illegals out!

By Gale

March 4, 2009 3:31 PM | Link to this

Lyrazel, there are a lot of useless advanced degrees too. Would you support free tuition for those? I’m thinking of the proliferation of lawyers and MBAs. I am right with you in regard to medical fields. It would seem to be in our best interest to help would be doctors, nurses and vets to achieve the advanced studies without the debt burden. I agree, it is the massive debt that drives many into high paid specialties.

“Financial need” has been over-used and that led to my complaint of students in college “remedial” classes. I might be inclined to agree to a couple semesters to prove the student is up to college work at public expense. But you have to make the grade or you don’t continue. The other down side of this plan is the way it leaves out the middle class; those students whose parents, or they themselves, make too much money for the program, but not enough to actually fund the tuition.

By American Woman

March 4, 2009 4:22 PM | Link to this

Just to play devil’s advocate here: There are LOTS of jobs that really don’t make a meaningful difference in the world. For the sake of the point, I’ll say MINE! If everyone who does what I do for a living were to suddenly evaporate, the world would survive without our fruits. (No, I’m not in advertising, but I add them readily to the example.) If nobody did it, then…. farmers would still grow food and use tractors made by people who make useful things, teachers would still teach, doctors would still push drugs from their pharm reps, rig workers would still bring us precious oil, hard hat heroes would still climb poles after a storm to restore power, bankers would still plot and scheme to scam us of a few more dollars, and… all the innumerable other meaningful occupations would continue. But people who DON’T have a meaningful vocation still need to provide for our families and do the spending that keeps the economic engine chugging. We need jobs to keep otherwise idle people busy, off the streets, earning, and spending. And well…. you need education to artfully justify and execute utterly meaningless work! (“Dilbert” totally nails it.) You need at least SOME flipping college to do what I do! The more the better, I say.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 8:13 AM | Link to this

hooray Mike Luckovich - today’s cartoon is brilliant!

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 8:24 AM | Link to this

Obama announces plan to target internet chatter

Targeting not political rivals, but our freedom of speech. Nice.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 8:27 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“Obama announces plan to target internet chatter”

can you elaborate, please? I see nothing on teh google about it

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 8:39 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Went to Dallas Georgia for the extra call for the Bill Murray movie. What a day! Get Low was the name of the movie and it stars Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray. Murray was a hoot. Lots of pretty woman dressed in 1930s outfits and the guys were drooling. I talked to so many women who were shocked at the reaction to wearing dresses and those goofy little hats. Woman looking very feminine, soft and pretty. No tattoos, no weird piercings, no masculine looking jeans and tees and the guys were falling all over themselves.

I managed to get my picture taken beside Murray and Duvall. Got to talk to some great Cinematographers and had a few minutes with a Panaflex Camera. Handing me the keys to a Ferrari would not have been any more exciting. It really put me in the weeds with my editing work, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

I hope you are having a good day. Sorry to be giddy, but that was a blast.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 8:41 AM | Link to this

USinUK

I know that it would be the last place anyone would look for credible news but it’s the AJC-on line headline this morning. Just go ajc.com. I just stumbled on it while I was going here.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 8:48 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

1) killer cast!! do you know what the movie is about??

2) what kind of scene were you in - a big crowd scene or something like a small corner shop?

3) dresses are lovely when it’s warm - but you try it when it’s 20-something degrees! (but I’m with you on the hats - would love to see a return of the hat to everyday wear)

SO glad to hear you had a fun day! huzzah!! ;-)

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 8:56 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“I know that it would be the last place anyone would look for credible news but it’s the AJC-on line headline this morning. Just go ajc.com. I just stumbled on it while I was going here.”

and did you actually read the article?

first of all, it’s cable chatter, secondly, they aren’t passing any laws or anything, they’re just talking about the talking heads on the cable stations that “attack first and think second” (hello “my kids are afraid to go to school” Santorelli)

so, relax, my friend

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 9:15 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Huge crowd, about a thousand extras. It was a funeral for an old guy from Tennessee that threw his own funeral. Murray was the funeral director. I knew where the cameras were located and where they were pointed so I will be a VISIBLE little dot on the screen. LOL! It was strange being in front of the camera.

It was cold and the women were wearing long, wool coats. As the day got warmer, they took their coats off between takes. I was standing behind one stunning girl who was purposefully dressed like a poor person with a ratty old coat, but she still looked incredible in that dress. The women were liking it, too. Lots of long “bankers” coats and lots of fedoras. Really nice suites with those wide ties and a lot of guys shaved their beards (Including me) and ended up with one of those small Howard Hughes mustaches. Strangely enough, somehow the fact that people were so in love that marriages lasted longer and seemed worth saving made sense. it’s hard to describe other than it was just a very romantic day.

We had to hike for about a quarter mile out to the main road to catch the buses back to wardrobe and they were also taking the old cars out at the same time. Even that was so strange. Nobody took their ties off. Everybody loved the whole feeling.

I met a woman from Hungary (that was married), but I have seen few women that were so absolutely beautiful. She was very sweet and we hang out most of the day. In fact, she took the picture of Robert Duvall and myself. The diamond on her hand was about the size of a Volkswagon so somebody wanted everyone to know that she was married.

I wish I could post pictures on here. It is hard to describe that all day feeling that everyone had. And there were so many people and old cars that it was total immersion.

Very, very nice, once in a lifetime kind of day.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 9:19 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Have you watched CNN for the past few days? EVERY tease and every headline has been about Rush Limbaugh. it is a full attack on the supporters of the Republican Party to divert the eyes of America away from the insane actions of the Congress. But as we have said, we will not agree on this. Today, i just don’t want to argue. I’m just basking in yesterday;s sunshine.

And I have SOOOOO much to do for a big meeting tomorrow.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 9:42 AM | Link to this

good luck on the big meeting tomorrow - (are you still sporting the ‘tache? and, if so, how are you going to a’splain it?)

I take it Duvall was the one who threw his own funeral - so, let’s see … it’s March now, so by the time they’re done with post-production … what do you think … November release? January is for all the Serious Oscar Movies …

“Have you watched CNN for the past few days?”

no - but I have been reading all the papers and blogs about it - you seem to forget, CNN carried his CPAC speech LIVE … tell me how many left-wing non-politicians they’ve done that for … (I’ll wait)

and don’t blame CNN if Michael Steele and Rush get into a VERY public slap-fight that culminated with the RNC Chairman APOLOGIZING - CNN isn’t making the the GOP have a civil war, they’re just reporting it.

By American Woman

March 5, 2009 10:05 AM | Link to this

Actually, CNN’s showcase thing this morning was the anger people are expressing all over talk radio and such about “bailing out” a school bus driver whose $800K house is now worth less than $700K, and they’re having trouble making the payments — as featured in a previous segment. They showed the house… to say it was much nicer than what I, a middle-class, white-collar worker, purchased would be and understatement! I saw absolutely zero “liberal bias” in the story that was expressing the anger of many conservatives: “I bought a house I could afford, why should I pay for HER freaking granite countertops?”

The reason comes back around to this: Foreclosed homes bring down the value of the entire neighborhood. If it were MY neighbor who coun’t pay, I’d be just as angry see my mere-fraction-of-$800K value decline. So the Eff-Ups are rescued so that I, hopefully, won’t have to be. Fair? No way? But honestly, how much of life really is?

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 10:08 AM | Link to this

USinUK

September release. I can’t wait.

Think what you want about the “reporting” of an imagined feud. Our world is falling apart and the MSM is covering Rush Limbaugh. You figure it out.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 10:15 AM | Link to this

USinUk

I was a peasant looking guy with a cap and a leather jacket. All day, my running joke was that I would give the banker looking guys hell for taking my farm. I shaved all the facial hair off and I kind of like it. BTW, Bill Murray is TALL. I am standing beside him in the picture and he is a few inches taller than me. He had everybody cracking up all day.

But the excuse is: I had to shave it off for a film with Bill Murray, Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek. Hell, I may never let it grow back.

I have got to fire up the editor. Oh well, welcome back to the 21st century, jack.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 10:21 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“September release. I can’t wait.”

wow. that seems fast - you know film - is that fast? again, way to go - sounds like it was a great day. was Bru-dog there, as well??

“Our world is falling apart and the MSM is covering Rush Limbaugh. You figure it out.”

yeah. because they’ve totally ignored the equity markets lately. and they haven’t talked about Bernanke at all. or the stimulus and spending bills. or the mortgage bailout plan. c’mon TOJ, you know that isn’t true.

talk about damned either way - either they’re spending waaaayyyyy too much time on the economy and are accused to talking it down/making people more pessimistic, or they start talking about someone else and they’re accused of not spending enough time on it.

on a completely separate note … one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while on YouTube - I was hoping to find some old Phil Hartman clips from his days on SNL and found a bunch of stuff from News Radio. If you want to take a moment from prepping for your meeting, look up Phil Hartman Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor … OMG, I was crying. he was a funny guy who left us way too young.

By Gale

March 5, 2009 10:23 AM | Link to this

I think the bailouts are creating a great deal of middle class anger. It will be interesting to see where it leads. We probably won’t see the big picture within this generation.

By Gale

March 5, 2009 10:26 AM | Link to this

Which is easier, Jack, trimming the beard or shaving every day? Let us know after a week or so if the bars face look suits you.

By AW

March 5, 2009 10:32 AM | Link to this

My feelings are hurt. Nobody commented on the sheer brilliance of my idea (posted yesterday 12:22) on how to tax the “scoobage” without legalizing it. Seriously, these times call for solutions! Why not negotiate “win-win” all around? (sigh….) Will I be one of those people whose true genius is only realized fifty years after I’m dead?

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 10:33 AM | Link to this

AW

I think the liberal bias is the fact that they were showing the snger of many conservatives. What would have made the story less biased is if they had shown the anger of many liberal Obama supporters that i am seeing every day. They are just as angry and feel that Obama is turning his back on the country and they are also very angry that the White House, and it’s minions are pushing this story about the Republicans into the MSM, while they continue to lose their life savings in the form of IRAs while the Congress continues to take s actions that continue the decline of stocks. As much as you are being told, it is not just the Republicans that are angry. Republicans knew this was going to happen. We are disgusted more than angry. Liberals I know are shocked that the Congress is doing what they are doing.

Doesn’t it say volumes that they are only showing angry Republicans? Bias is not always obvious and you need to consider the volume and consistency of stories aimed at showing angry Rush Limbaugh and Angry Sean Hannity and angry Republicans when the fact of the matter is that everyone I know is mad as hell.

It’s not my Republican friends that are planning on going back to Costa Rica in April to scout out jobs and places to live. It is the two most liberal guys that I know.

By Gale

March 5, 2009 10:38 AM | Link to this

Sorry, ‘bars face’ should be bare face.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 10:40 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Seems to be fast to me, but this was the final shoot days for the film so they are pushing it to post immediately. Very small budget.

Like AW says, they are covering it, but look how they are covering it. It is portrayed as the mean old republicans attacking the good and really hard working Democrats for trying to save poor people. Everybody i know is p** and i know a lot more liberals than conservatives. That is being covered on FOX, but certainly not on CNN or NBC, at least not in any sort of saturated way like they are covering the Rush Limbaugh crap.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 10:45 AM | Link to this

“What would have made the story less biased is if they had shown the anger of many liberal Obama supporters that i am seeing every day.”

anecdotal evidence that isn’t supported by polls.

Obama, the Democrats and congressional democrats are doing very well according to polls released this week:

http:// thehill.com/ leading-the-news/polls-show-americans-confident-in-obama-2009-03-04.html

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that six in 10 approve of Obama’s job performance, and that positive view is influencing American’s outlook on the direction of the country. More than two-thirds say they are more hopeful after seeing Obama’s leadership and plans for the country. Sixty-one percent said they believe it is either very or fairly likely Obama will bring change to the country.

That mindset also led to a steep jump in whether Americans believe the country is on the right track. In Thursday’s poll, four in 10 said the country is heading in the right direction, up from 26 percent at the beginning of January and just more than one in 10 last October, before the election. A plurality of 44 percent, however, still believe the country is going in the wrong

Fifty-six percent of respondents approve of Obama’s handling of the economy, with which more than nine in 10 are either somewhat or very dissatisfied.

Obama’s performance is having a very positive effect on how the public views congressional Democrats, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed. Forty-five percent approve of how congressional Democrats are handling their job, the same number that disapprove. On the flip side, nearly six in 10 disapprove of congressional Republicans, while three in 10 approve.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 10:48 AM | Link to this

Gale

Working at home and not seeing people for days tends to bring down the consistency of good shaves I shower every morning, but I don’t shave everyday. I will shave it all off again for tomorrow’s meeting, but we will see if I keep the look. My upper lip was cold all day yesterday.

I gotta go guys.

Everybody have a good day (even you, Mara. I admit that I wondered what you would have looked like in one of those 1930s outfits)

USinUK

I don’t know if Bruno even got my message. It ended up not paying anything unless you were SAG. It paid me in dividends that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Hasta Del Taco en la Buenos Aires

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 10:53 AM | Link to this

Pasta Del Fuego -

kick butt in your meeting tomorrow

and look up the Phil Hartman video on YT if you need a good laugh

By American Woman

March 5, 2009 10:57 AM | Link to this

TOJ, either I misspoke or you misunderstood. CNN was reporting on the anger expressed by people who pay their bills toward the people like this school bus driver. The commentator said something to the effect of, “We’re seeing anger from the people who are self-reliant, who don’t automatically turn to the government to solve their problems.” That describes ME as well as (I presume) you. I did not hear them say, “Republican voters are angry” or “Conservatives are angry.” They did cite a couple of talk radio programs that experienced a frezny of callers. Whether they were Republican callers, I don’t know, since I prefer rock & roll on my radio instead of angry yammering. I HAVE ALWAYS PAID MY BILLS, and have known plenty of broke-azz Repubs, so can you please NOT start in with the bleep bleep stereotypes today? I think their pointlessness has been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 5, 2009 11:02 AM | Link to this

Jail the pot smokers in Arizona, release them when if they agree to take 10 illegals back to Mexico, (by force if required)…voila, two birds with one stone!

By Gale

March 5, 2009 11:06 AM | Link to this

AW, the only problem I had with your 12:22 was that it seemed growing pot was still an offense. I say go ahead and grow it. THe strength of the final product must be measured, identified for the buyer, and appropriated taxed and sold. Do it like wine.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 11:06 AM | Link to this

AW

hey chill. You said this:

I saw absolutely zero “liberal bias” in the story that was expressing the anger of many conservatives:

I didn’t see the show. I was going by what you posted.

By Gale

March 5, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this

Gandalf, Mr problem solver.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 11:32 AM | Link to this

USinUK

Hey, look up Julie Weiss. She was the wardrobe designer and man, she was hardcore. Everybody was terrified of her. No one jumped on anyone but her. We were split up in areas to stand and you had better stay with your group.

We didn’t know her name and my buddy just sent me the name in an email called the hard core b1tch.

By AW

March 5, 2009 11:33 AM | Link to this

Gale, I’m with you! But there are factions that remain fiercely opposed. My suggestion was for a way to work around the opposition for the benefit of moving forward. Decriminalization is a step in the right direction, and fines provide a cost-benefit far superior to incarceration.

TOJ, then I misspoke. I’ll reiterate that, in MY OBSERVATION, the story did not display any “liberal bias.” Additionally, it’s not “liberal bias” to report what is observably true.

Here’s my example of “conservative bias” in the media: the Fox “News” ongoing series on the morning show “48 Liberal Lies: debunking the liberal myths in America’s textbooks.” The premise appears to be that “liberals” are LYING to our children!! (Oh, Gasp!) and Fox “News” is here to set you straight. My objection is not the exposing of myths perpetuated by our education system, but the characterization of all such lies as “liberal.” C’mon…. We ALL KNOW the history books we read as children related only certain portions of the stories they told, omitting details the persons living these stories would surely have appreciated being known. To say my Georgia history book was mighty scant on the Trail of Tears is a gross understatement.

“Conservatiave” or “Liberal” doesn’t have a darn thing to do with it!!! People lie to protect themselves and the history they WANT you to believe.

“He who controls the past controls the future, and he who controls the present controls the past.” - from Orwell’s 1984 and restated artfully by Rage Against the Machine.

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 11:42 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“Hey, look up Julie Weiss.”

I just IMDBd her - she’s worked on some great movies (I la-la-LOVED Searching for Bobby Fisher!!) - and, of course, top of the list was Get Low!

did you see that she was also a casting assistant on Shawshank?? that played the other night - it’s one of those movies that, if I stumble on it while flipping channels, I’ll sit and watch it the rest of the way through. and I’ll still cry at the end.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 11:56 AM | Link to this

USinUK

I’ve owned three copies of Shawshank but they keep disappearing. I really don’t mind if people borrow it and keep it. It’s sort of a Gideon feel.

I am getting e-mails from everyone and they all hate the fact that we woke up back in good old 2009. I know that this is a better time considering the really hard times of the 30s, but it was a nice escape for a day.

Ms. Weiss was hardcore, but everybody knew why. She played a big role in this thing. I think that is why the day was so great. We were all doing our very best to make everything work. All day, I saw people going out of their way to make sure their little area was exactly like she wanted it and that movie will be around for a long time. All day, I talked to the production people and I never failed to remind them how lucky they were.

Now, Jack, get over to that newfangled computer and sort out those dang flip pictures. Today, working on an infomercial is especially hard.

By Gandalf, the White!

March 5, 2009 12:01 PM | Link to this

AW, the Trail of Tears is Darwinian secularism at it’s finest. The whole western expansion can be illistratedin this way. Those with technology control those without. Voila! Without God there is no moral imperitive to treat other groups humanely, after all they have what we want. Watch Obama and his assclowns closely with this in mind and see how they go about controlling what we have; freedom, money, education. Liberals do control the schools, they are lying to our children every day. Accept it and STFU, you dumbassi V-6 driver!

By USinUK

March 5, 2009 12:05 PM | Link to this

“Now, Jack, get over to that newfangled computer and sort out those dang flip pictures. Today, working on an infomercial is especially hard.”

I’ll bet! nothing like REALLY getting away from your work (in your case, that meant being on the other side of the lens). Yes, I am “pea-green with jealousy” (as Ms. O’Hara said) - a very, VERY cool way to spend a Wednesday!! the fact that Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek were there, as well, is just gravy.

By Bruno

March 5, 2009 1:03 PM | Link to this

I la-la-LOVED Searching for Bobby Fisher!

Me too, USinUK, especially since I played on the chess team in HS.

BTW, did you hear that the CEO of Pepsi was fired? He tested positive for Coke.

By Bruno

March 5, 2009 1:04 PM | Link to this

Well, I hope to be back to work next week, so won’t be much time to blog. Best wishes to all.

By The Other jack

March 5, 2009 2:00 PM | Link to this

USinUk

Look here. it’s a story about the shoot.

http:// www. 11alive.com /news/local/story.aspx?storyid=127639&catid=40

By USinUK

March 6, 2009 8:14 AM | Link to this

TOJ -

“Look here. it’s a story about the shoot.”

hooray!! I hope you’ve started practicing your Oscars speech (and I certainly hope you plan to recognize all the W2W irregulars as critical to your success!!).

Brunoooooooooooooooooooo -

it’s been mighty quiet here this week without you!!

“especially since I played on the chess team in HS” … man, you dance, you play chess … YOU, my friend, are a Renaissance Man!!

don’t be a stranger :-)

Gale -

saw this today and I thought you’d find it interesting: the Gay Tax.

http:// www.afterellen.com/blog/ juliamiranda/annie-leibovitz-is-in-a-jam

By USinUK

March 6, 2009 8:34 AM | Link to this

oooof.

unemployment at 8.1%

651K lost their jobs in February.

January’s numbers were also revised up from 598K to 655K. (my £££ is on February’s numbers being revised up next month, as well)

yuk.