Archive for January 12, 2010
Twitter Feed re Haiti Earthquake
This is the most up-to-date site I’ve found.
Read the tweets. They’re heartbreaking.
7.0 Earthquake Hits Haiti
UPDATED @10:20 p.m. ET
OMG. There has been a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, centered roughly 10 miles outside the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most densely populated at nearly 10 million souls. It’s people were living at subsistence level to begin with. Now, with power and water most likely wiped out, and food unable to move from place to place due to cracked roads and collapsed bridges, they are going to be living in hell
This is terrible news.
(Interestingly, CNN is the only cable “news” channel covering this now (6:37 p.m. ET). You know it is, the world ends at our border.)
UPDATED: CNN is still the only cable “news” channel covering this disaster.
Fox Advertises Sarah Palin as a “New Face”
How many times has Sarah Palin been on Fox in the last year, year and a half? Fifteen? Twenty? So she’s a “New Face at Fox” huh? Pretty funny.
Nothing Like a Negative Return on a Savings Account
When I opened my first savings account thirty years ago I think I was getting something like 5% or maybe it was more like 7% interest. Fast forward to today. I got a year-end statement for a small savings account of just over $3,000 to which I have not contributed to, or withdrawn from, all year.
The balance a year ago — on December 31, 2008 — was $4 higher than it was at the end of last month. The mutual fund company subtracted a $20.00 “account service fee” which not only ate up the miniscule interest I earned over the year, but it cut into my principle by $4. And then, as if to kick me when I’m down, they’re forwarding a form to the IRS charging me with $l6.52 in income dividends — which is the money eaten by the service fee.
What a freakin’ racket. Things are so rigged against us little people around here.
Oh, yeah, and this is bonus week on Wall Street. Don’t get me started.
For the Love of Sunshine
The month-long cold spell deep freeze we’ve suffered through here in Colorado has finally broken. Today it’s crystal clear and 60º. Woo hoo!
I’m headin’ out to the deck to read for a few minutes and to catch some warming rays.
Hey, maybe I’ll put shorts on too.
Break Time — Architecture
Check out this 5′ 6″ wide, 1000 sq. ft. house — er, brownstone — just west of London.
Bible Thumpers at My Door
Two sweet-looking old ladies just knocked on my door. We have a No Soliciting sign on our front stoop so right away I asked if they’d seen it. They said they had but that they weren’t “selling anything.” Ticked me off that people their age didn’t have a broader understanding of the word “soliciting” but anyway, turns out they wanted to talk to me about the Bible. I told them thanks but no thanks.
I think it is so presumptuous and rude to go to somebody’s house, knock on their door, and essentially “solicit” them to convert to your religion.
Pisses me off no end.
Permitting Gay Marriage Destroys Traditional Marriage?
Nate Silver has done a little digging into what happens to the divorce rate in states that allow gay marriage. Turns out the claim that gay marriage destroys traditional marriage is a bunch of hooey. Fact is, the opposite is true.
Time To Tear Hair Out
Looks like the “liberal media” is going to spend another day talking about one thing: Harry Reid’s “Negro” remark.
Meanwhile, I listen to 30 minutes of BBC radio news and learn more about what’s going on in the world than I would if I watched cable “news” all day.
