Posts from — February 2009

Blonde Sense has an embedded video of a commercial opposing the stimulus that apparently Jersey Cynic doesn’t like.

Fine, you want to make a point about the damn commercial, no problem … except when it auto-starts and blares out of my speakers, that can’t be stopped, that can’t be turned down, that scares the cats.

The offender is well down the page and is a Flash module.

Don’t subject people to this crap. If someone stops by your blog at work, their cover is blown, and they will have to explain what they are doing. Give visitors a little control.

I didn’t comment over there, because I don’t want to deal with the blaring sound.

The leaders on the trail are: William Kleedehn (12), Hugh Neff (23), Jon Little (18), Sebastian Schnuelle (20), and Brent Sass (13).

All the teams have reached Dawson.

David Dalton (21) scratched on arrival, and Yuka Honda (24) got dinged with a 30 minute penalty for needing to replace her axe. [An axe is mandatory equipment.]

You can get Race Updates here.

Post Updated below the fold:

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Hanging With Sox

zzz ZZZ zzz ZZZ zzz

[Editor: Property likes to stay around Sox whenever she can. She knows her brothers won’t risk annoying Sox to bug her.

Friday Ark

In Memoriam

Mimi: 10 January 2004 – 16 February 2009. Jams has more Mimi photos up. She was a sweetheart.

The BBC reports on The mystery of Ireland’s worst driver

Details of how police in the Irish Republic finally caught up with the country’s most reckless driver have emerged, the Irish Times reports.
…

It was discovered that the man every member of the Irish police’s rank and file had been looking for – a Mr Prawo Jazdy – wasn’t exactly the sort of prized villain whose apprehension leads to an officer winning an award.

As anyone familiar with Slavic languages would have told them, “Prawo Jazdi” is not a name, it means “right to drive” or “driver’s license”.

So how bad is the economy? Apparently even sharks are being laid off: Shark attacks drop worldwide . They are still hiring in Volusia County, Florida. [Actually, they think it’s related to fewer vacationers and beach goers. I mean who would lay off a shark … besides Donald Trump, of course?]

Amy Sullivan, Time Washington bureau notes The Catholic Crusade Against a Mythical Abortion Bill.

The U.S. Catholic Church has launched an all out crusade against the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). [This is probably why the Pope made his remarks to Speaker Pelosi]. The problem is “Congress isn’t about to pass the Freedom of Choice Act because no such bill has been introduced.”

In other news, House minority leader John Boehner made an impassioned speech decrying the decision to charge for e-mail, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced that private investment money has been found for the Bad Assets Relief Fund … in Nigeria.

Jon Little (18), William Kleedehn (12), and Hugh Neff (23) are on the trail, climbing the American Summit. The weather in Dawson City was 1°F [-17°C] cloudy with a chance of snow flurries at 11AM PST. When they reach the border at 3000 feet the time will change to Alaskan Standard Time which is an hour earlier, i.e. 11AM PST is 10AM AKST.

Update: Hans Gatt (16) who was running 4^th has decided to scratch to concentrate on the Iditarod.

You can get Race Updates here.

Both Paul Krugman and Badtux have talked about the insolvency crisis, so I won’t bother, but a Newsweek article on MSNBC shows that some people don’t live in the real world, or know anyone who does. The article, that was so short-sighted I didn’t even bother to grab the link, was essentially claiming that the number of people in default isn’t really that bad. All I can say is look at the damn numbers, it is worse than anything in my lifetime which stretches back to just after World War II ended.

I want to talk about another group who have gone into economic hibernation. These people have great credit scores and haven’t defaulted on anything. On paper they are seemingly doing well, but they don’t think so, as reflected in the The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index™ for January of 37.7, an historic low [100 is “normal”].

These are people who are employed and played by “the rules”. They put 20% down when they bought their house with a 30-year fixed mortgage. They don’t have out-of-control credit card debt. They haven’t abused their HELOC [Home Equity Line of Credit]. They pay all of their bills and save some for retirement, and have for years. They are very afraid.

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The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner notes that William Kleedehn is in line for the Dawson Award: “The Dawson Award, four ounces of Klondike placer gold, goes to the first musher reaching Dawson who then completes the race.” Kleendehn made a last minute pass on Jon Little to arrive 2 minutes ahead of him at the Dawson Check Point. Now he has to make it to Fairbanks.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner‘s reporter also explained the early Britten scratch:

Jean-Denis Britten didn’t care to continue with 10 dogs.

Britten said his three best dogs were submerged in water after breaking through overflow ice near McCabe Creek on Monday.

After determining in Pelly that he would have to drop all three of them, Britten instead scratched from the race, loaded his dogs in a truck and presumably drove home to Dawson City.

It is almost always about the dogs. Mushers will continue with all kinds of injuries, but you don’t risk your dogs.  He couldn’t take the dogs inside to dry off because any dog taken inside is automatically dropped.

CBS carried an AP report that Australia Wildfire Death Toll Reaches 200. They have been searching the open areas, and are now doing the more difficult job of checking structures. The heat of the fire may have cremated people, so it is unlikely that all of the remains will ever be found.

The Australian Broadcasting report, Police urge patience as bushfire death toll climbs, noted that firefighters are still battling 21 fires, 15 of which are contained. The temperatures are also rising back above 30°C [86°F].  While no communities are currently at risk, all it takes is for the winds to pick up.

The first teams, William Kleedehn (12), Jon Little (18), Hugh Neff (23), Hans Gatt (16), Sebastian Schnuelle (20), Brent Sass (13), have arrived in Dawson and begun their mandatory 36 hour layover. This is where the time advantage for the start is ironed out with everyone but Norman Casavant (29) required to stay more than 36 hours.  The first musher allowed to leave with be Jon Little (18) at 10:50AM [PST] tomorrow.

Jerry Joinson (10) decided to scratch after leaving Pelly Crossing, and returned, which pares the field to 27.

You can get Race Updates here.

The BBC tells us that a US tycoon charged over $8bn fraud

Texan billionaire and cricket promoter Sir Allen Stanford has been charged over a $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud, US financial regulators say.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the financier had orchestrated “a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme”.

The SEC said the fraud was “based on false promises and fabricated historical return data”.

English cricket bosses have pulled out of sponsorship talks with Sir Allen.

He also lost money in the Bernie Madoff scheme. It’s a case of one Ponzi scheme investing in another. Who did he think he was, Citicorp? I know where I’d like to stick a wicket, but that wouldn’t be nice. This guy once arrived at an event in a gold-plated helicopter, and people gave him money to invest – it boggles the mind.

So, which do you think is the better message, a World War II British government poster, or the Hedgemony’s party line?

Here are the current leaders: Jon Little (18), Sebastian Schnuelle (20), William Kleedehn (12), Hugh Neff (23), Hans Gatt (16). The lead teams are beyond Scroggie Creek Dog Drop.

Jean-Denis Britten (3) became the first to scratch at Pelly Crossing. His team tied as the fastest into Braeburn, and may have run too hard too early in the race.

Becca Moore (22) is the only one still in Pelly Crossing, having arrived early this morning. Becca is on the trail now, and Pelly Crossing is closed.

You can get Race Updates here.

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Understand that I have taught at the college level, and for Elderhostel. I have also been a trainer for in-service programs in the military and law enforcement. I have absolutely no problem with people who don’t know what I know, but have no interest in dealing with people who refuse to learn.

A member of my family is a special education educator, and I used ARC workers in California, as well as volunteering for a group that assisted people with brain injuries, so I’m well aware of the difference between being unable to learn, or learning at a very slow pace, and those who refuse to learn.

I have always stressed that the only stupid question is the one that doesn’t get asked. If you don’t understand something, let someone know. People learn in different ways and a good teacher will be able to figure out how to explain it to you.

With that background I just get angry over the way the economy is being dealt with, primarily with Republicans, but the Democrats haven’t been star students either.

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