Decorated USMC Vietnam vet dies on Flight 3407

Fifty Varied Lives, Ended on a Cold, Foggy Night

Excerpts:

Clay Yarber was on Continental Connection Flight 3407, a decorated Marine who had twice survived helicopter crashes in Vietnam but was left with a fear of flying so deep he often preferred to drive, even cross country. But Thursday, Mr. Yarber, 62, had boarded a flight from California, connecting through Newark, to visit a friend in the Buffalo area.

...
He had received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam.

“He was a really great father,” said Michele Keratsis, his last wife.

She said that around the time of the Tet offensive in 1968, Mr. Yarber was twice in helicopters that were shot down, but that in each instance he basically walked away from the crash.

“That is one of the bitter ironies of all this for us,” she said. “He was not happy to get on a plane at anytime.”

A stepson, Richard Curtis, said he was so inspired by Mr. Yarber he joined the Marine Corps, following in his footsteps. “He raised me after my father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 13,” Mr. Curtis said. “I called him Dad.”

Comment: The opposite of the soft landing on the Hudson

Daily Mail takes on "The Prince of hypocrites"

The Prince of hypocrites: Charles embarks on 16,000 mile 'green' crusade... aboard a private jet

Excerpt:

Prince Charles was accused of hypocrisy last night for using a private jet on an 'environmental' tour of South America.

The prince will travel to the region next month in a visit costing an estimated £300,000 as part of his crusade against global warming.

He will use a luxury airliner to transport himself, the Duchess of Cornwall and a 14-strong entourage to Chile, Brazil and Ecuador on a 16,400-mile round trip.

...

'To hear that the Prince of Wales is flying to South America to save the environment and taking 14 staff on his jet at hideous cost just for this trip is the height of the absurd.

'At a time when the greed of bankers is causing much adverse comment I would have thought that Prince Charles would have had more sense than to be so financially and ecologically wasteful.'

Comment: He flies in a custom Airbus 319!

Vote without reading

Excerpt:

GOP Leader Boehner Floor Speech Opposing Democrats' Trillion-Dollar Spending Bill

Comment: 1000+ pages ... just recently posted on House website. Democratic Senator Predicts None of His Colleagues 'Will Have the Chance' to Read Final Stimulus Bill Before Vote

DropBox

Dropbox

Comment: Anyone tried this? What's your experience. Looks like the price is very reasonable ... free for 2 Gig ... $ 99 per year for enhanced service. Can synch with Max, Windows, and Linux. Let me know. Thanks

The Zimbabwe 10 Trillion dollar note

Excerpt:

The 100 Billion bill was released on July 1st 2008. The purchasing power was 3 eggs. I have 5 of these notes. They have printed on them - "pay on demand ... on or before December 31, 2008" (basically the money expires!)

The latest ... the 10 Trillion dollar bill.

Find them on Ebay: Search "zimbabwe dollar"

How not to blow your nose

The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold

Excerpt:

Coughing and sneezing generated little if any pressure in the nasal cavities. But nose blowing generated enormous pressure — “equivalent to a person’s diastolic blood pressure reading,” Dr. Hendley said — and propelled mucus into the sinuses every time. Dr. Hendley said it was unclear whether this was harmful, but added that during sickness it could shoot viruses or bacteria into the sinuses, and possibly cause further infection.

The proper method is to blow one nostril at a time and to take decongestants, said Dr. Anil Kumar Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the New York University Langone Medical Center. This prevents a buildup of excess pressure.

Comment: OK a stupid post ... I admit it. I find nasal irrigation w saline solution helpful.

Roll-n-Glow: "a work of engineering genius from the China coast"

Amish Space Heater: Is That an Oxymoron?

Excerpt:

The ads, which have been around for more than a year but have been running with increasing frequency this winter, have become something of a sensation themselves, turning the Roll-n-Glow into a next-wave Clapper. Appearing in publications as varied as National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, Parade and The New York Times, and on local TV stations across the country in the form of an infomercial, they have given rise to much word-of-mouth speculation and online commentary.

Web sites and blogs have debated the merits of the product and parsed the curious and sometimes byzantine wording of the ad copy, which describes the heater as being given away for free, though to get one customers must buy a $298 oak mantel (cherry is $338; sold alone, the heater is $249). The infomercial, meanwhile, has given rise to a number of spoofs on YouTube.

The aspect of the ads that seems to have stirred the most interest is the claims they make about the involvement of the Amish.

In December 2007, soon after the ads first appeared, a reader of the product review site alternativeconsumer.com suggested that there was something absurd about the idea of an Amish man inventing a “miracle” space heater, considering that the Amish have traditionally been wary of modern technology.

Comment: I've actually managed to miss the ads until last week when my daughter pointd it out to me in the Sunday Star Tribune.

Kryptonite for a quarterback

No Tears This Time, Favre Says So Long

Excerpt:

Favre repeatedly said his torn right biceps tendon, which he refers to as a shoulder injury, provided the final push toward retirement, acting as kryptonite for a quarterback who started every regular-season game since early in the 1992 season.

As far back as training camp, Favre occasionally felt symptoms similar to those he felt after he tore his left biceps tendon a few years ago. After the Jets played at San Francisco on Dec. 7, Favre received a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain. It helped, but only briefly, and in Seattle two weeks later, Favre underthrew several open receivers running seam routes. If he felt fine physically, Favre said, he would have considered playing next season.

“I got my answer as the season progressed,” Favre said. “I finally can’t throw the ball like I once threw it.”

Comment: What a tribute - "started every regular-season game since early in the 1992 season". I'll miss him!

More Obamamania

Students: Change Boulder High name to Barack Obama High

Excerpt:

A Boulder High student group is pushing to rename the school after a hot new historic figure: Barack Obama.

"We initiate this campaign in order to honor the momentous achievement of his election as an African-American, inspire the community with his ideals of unity and hope, and reflect the progressive spirit that is shared by both Barack Obama and our school environment," the Student Worker Club said in a press release today.

Previous Obamamania: Mount Obama, Barack Obama Day, & Obamamania

Comment: The Student Worker Club should get on the bandwagon and wear brown shirts! A little too much premature adulation!

Vikings: Out of touch with reality

Vikings VP Lester Bagley blasted Gov. Tim Pawlenty over the lack of progress on building a new venue.

Excerpt:

Lester Bagley, the team's vice president of public affairs and stadium development, provided biting remarks Wednesday about the lack of engagement from Gov. Tim Pawlenty and intimated the clock could be ticking on the Vikings' time in Minnesota if something doesn't happen in the current legislative session.

"With all due respect, he's been governor for six years, and he hasn't done anything," Bagley said of Pawlenty. "He hasn't lifted a finger to engage in a problem-solving discussion to help us on our issue. And that's the frustration that the NFL feels, that our ownership feels and a lot of our allies [feel], whether they be elected officials or not. There's a lot of frustration, and there's been no meaningful engagement by the executive branch."

Bagley's remarks came as he provided an update on the team's hope to get public funding for a multipurpose, retractable-roof venue that would be built on the site of the Metrodome. Although a final cost analysis isn't finished, the Vikings are expected to ask for about $700 million in public funding for a $954 million stadium. Their lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season.

The state's economic woes -- Pawlenty said Wednesday he expects Minnesota's projected deficit to be as high as $7 billion when the next economic forecast is released in March -- factor in, but Bagley pointed out the team brought this issue to the attention of politicians long before the country's financial troubles began.

Comment: As far as I am concerned they can pack up and move to Vegas.

Wells Fargo CEO on the Hill today;

Live-Blogging the Bankers’ Showdown on Capitol Hill

Excerpt:

11:01 a.m. | And yet more loans: Mr. Stumpf of Wells Fargo says the bank made $72 billion of new loans in the fourth quarter. “We do business and lend money the old fashion way — responsibly and prudently,” he says. “We are Americans first and bankers second.”

12:00 p.m. | Fannie and Freddie: Rep. Edward R. Royce asks to what extent the mortgage securitization process, led by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was part of the problem. Mr. Stumpf of Wells Fargo — which originated relatively few of the most exotic kinds of mortgage loans — says that the problem started a long time before 2007 with “crazy things” such as negative amortization loans and so-called liar loans. “There’s no question that Fannie and Freddie played a part in that,” Mr. Stumpf says.

1:44 p.m. | Autos and bonuses: What are these banking chiefs’ views on the viability of the American auto industry? Several executives say that they are supportive of the industry, including by making auto loans.

Back to TARP money received, salary and bonuses, or lack thereof.
Mr. Stumpf: $25 billion. $850,000 salary. No bonus.
Mr. Pandit: $45 billion. $1 million salary. No bonus. He will take $1 salary until Citi turns a profit again.
Mr. Mack: $10 billion. $800,000 salary. No bonus.
Mr. Logue: $2 billion. $1 million salary. No bonus.
Mr. Lewis: $15 billion. $1.5 million salary. No “incentive.”
Mr. Kelly: $3 billion. $1 million salary. No bonus.
Mr. Dimon: $25 billion. $1 million salary. No bonus.
Mr. Blankfein: $10 billion. $650,000 salary. No bonus.


2:06 p.m. | Where’s the money?: Will the banks lose more money? Mr. Stumpf recollects his time as a collector and says that job losses are key to answering the question. Mr. Pandit agrees that unemployment is important; when asked about when credit will flow again, he says “we’re doing everything we can.”

3:42 p.m. | No less anger: A congressman from Texas says the American people won’t have any less anger after the hearing because they don’t know where the money has gone. He asks if the bankers can ascertain the amount of new money that has been lent out directly attributable to TARP. Everybody raises their hands except for Mr. Stumpf, who says all of the loans go into the same pool of capital.

4:16 p.m. | Mark to market: Mrs. Biggert asks whether anyone would do away with mark-to-market accounting. Mr. Stumpf and Mr. Lewis said it should be modified for extraordinary times when there is no market for products.

4:20 p.m. | “Feed the troops”: Representative Joe Donnelly, Democrat of Indiana, tells the bankers to “feed the troops before they feed themselves.” “We are counting on your good judgment,” he says. He also asks the bankers whether they can work with small businesses who are paying their loans but their ratios might be off. Mr. Stumpf says they are working with small companies.

Comment: My favorite part ... does not involve Wells Fargo:

3:30 p.m. | “Mr. Countrywide”: A congessman from Florida doesn’t seem to know who the bankers are. He mispronounces Mr. Dimon’s name and asks the panel who “Mr. Countrywide” is. Mr. Lewis said he is “not Mr. Countrywide.”

Wells Fargo CEO before congress today

Full statement here: Testimony of John Stumpf
President & CEO, Wells Fargo & Company, House Financial Services Committee, February 11, 2009 (PDF)

Excerpt:

Last quarter alone, we made $22 billion in new loan commitments and $50 billion in mortgages – a total of $72 billion in new loans. That’s almost three times what the U.S. Treasury invested in Wells Fargo. With the merger, we have reopened lines of credit to some Wachovia customers who previously had been denied credit.

Comment: Meanwhile CNN's Campbell Brown bashes Wells Fargo

WSJ: Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics

Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics

Excerpt:

In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama said, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified." Or as administration spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in January, the touchstone is, "What will have the biggest and most immediate impact on creating private sector jobs and strengthening the middle class? We're guided by what works, not by any ideology or special interests."

Unfortunately, this rhetoric is not true. Mr. Obama's economic policy is following not what has been proven to work but liberal ideology.

The best way to understand this is to compare what's being proposed now with what Ronald Reagan accomplished. In 1980, amid a seriously dysfunctional economy, Reagan campaigned for president on an economic recovery program with four specific components.

The first was across-the-board reductions in tax rates to provide incentives for saving, investment, entrepreneurship and work. The second component was deregulation to remove unnecessary costs on the economy. In today's world, that would especially mean removing the onerous restrictions on energy production -- allowing drilling offshore and onshore for oil and natural gas, revival of the nuclear power industry, and construction of more electric power plants.

Third was the control of government spending. In 1981, Reagan forced through Congress not only his famed, historic tax cuts, but also a package of budget cuts close to 5% of the federal budget -- equivalent to roughly $150 billion today. In constant dollars, nondefense discretionary spending declined by 14.4% from 1981 to 1982, and by 16.8% from 1981 to 1983. Moreover, in constant dollars, this nondefense discretionary spending never returned to its 1981 level for the rest of Reagan's two terms. By 1988, this spending was still down 14.4% from its 1981 level in constant dollars.

Comment: A worthwhile read. I pray that a new generation of Reaganites will revive the Republican party!

"soak-the-rich" - a history of polarizing rhetoric

Railing Against the Rich: A Great American Tradition

Excerpt:

Franklin Roosevelt himself, trying to steal the thunder of the populists, proposed the so-called "soak-the-rich" tax, passed in 1935, which targeted high corporate salaries and investment income, even though it did little to increase government revenues or reduce the real wealth of those required to pay. He made a series of speeches in 1936 excoriating the selfishness and greed of the "economic royalists." He had struggled, he said, "with the old enemies of peace, business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering…. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me, and I welcome their hatred." This polarizing rhetoric was greeted with some of the most enthusiastic responses of any of his speeches.

....

Few 21st-century Americans have any real experience with economic populism. That appears to be changing fast. In the 1930s, the demonization of the upper class did not really begin until almost two years after the stock-market crash. We are now six months into our own economic crisis, and signs of populist resentment are already visible: in the perverse fascination with Bernard Madoff's remarkable fraud, the popular outrage at the tax problems of public officials, the growing contempt for the many overseers of the credit markets, the ruined investments of millions of ordinary people, the growing army of the unemployed (still far below the 15% to 25% unemployment of the 1930s, but 7.6% in January and growing fast), the likelihood of a recession that could last not just for months, but for years. These are the preconditions of populist revolts. Mr. Obama's chastisements of bankers and CEOs have been relatively mild compared to the routine denunciations of "economic royalists" in the 1930s. But the longer the crisis goes on and the deeper it grows, the more Huey Long-like challenges to those in power will arise, and the more pressure there will be for national leaders to launch populist battles of their own.

Whether that would help or hurt the Obama administration is hard to predict. In 1896, in the midst of another great depression, the Democratic party chose as its candidate the great populist hero William Jennings Bryan. His crushing defeat ushered in 36 years of almost unbroken Republican rule. In 1936, at the height of Franklin Roosevelt's populist rhetoric, his landslide re-election helped solidify a comparable period of Democratic dominance. Cultural populism has been a staple of the right since at least 1968, and it has alternately helped, and badly hurt, conservative candidates and causes. Economic populism has the same capacity either to bring down the president's ambitious agenda or, if handled skillfully, to open up opportunities for greater change than he may yet have imagined.

Comment: I used to think like this - basically thinking that the rich got that way by luck or inheritance. The "soak the rich" mentality is actually counterproductive to real economic progress.

Blue Dog Heath Shuler stands up to Pelosi and Reid

Pelosi, Reid have "failed," Shuler says

Excerpt:

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C) has further ingratiated himself with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — not — by declaring that Pelosi and Harry Reid "failed" the bipartisanship test on stimulus.

"In order for us to get the confidence of America, it has to be done in a bipartisan way," Shuler said in Raleigh following an economic forum, according to the AP.

"We have to have everyone — Democrats and Republicans standing on the stage with the administration — saying, 'We got something done that was efficient, stimulative and timely.'"

Here's the kicker: "I truly feel that's where maybe House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed."

Shuler, rumored to be mulling a '10 Senate run, was one of 11 House Democrats to vote "no" on the stimulus and was already deep in Pelosi's doghouse. Now he'll have to build a Harry Reid wing.

Comment: Heath Shuler Blue Dog Coalition. We need more "Heath Shulers"!

Biden: "new tone" or "newspeak"?

Biden promises 'new tone' in U.S. foreign affairs

Excerpt:

Vice President Joe Biden emphasized a "new tone" in Washington and around the world as he delivered his first major speech Saturday in Munich, Germany.

Biden told delegates at a security conference that the United States will work "preventively, not pre-emptively" whenever possible to avoid conflict, and will at the same time "vigorously defend" the nation's security.

Comment: Newspeak; Prevent; Preempt

G.K. Chesterton quote: on wine

The dipsomaniac and the abstainer are not only both mistaken, but they both make the same mistake. They both regard wine as a drug and not as a drink.

Comment: I can't verify that it is a G.K. Chesterton quote but looks like he cited it here.

Why (and How) I Drink

Excerpt:

During my formative-drinking years, when alcohol was still a relative novelty, I had something that many of my harder-drinking friends did not: parents who demonstrated a responsible relationship with alcohol. My father and sometimes my mother would crack a cold beer on hot days, and wine was regularly served at dinner on weekends and special occasions to everyone including the kids. They kept a decently stocked liquor cabinet, but usually only opened it for drop-by guests and the occasional dinner party, which were celebrated in good cheer but were seldom if ever followed by awkward phone calls the next day.

This open yet modest approach to alcohol was in contrast to the paths taken by the families of some friends and neighbors, whose habits ranged from over-indulgent to abstemious and were sometimes an odd mix of the two: it was not lost on me during my secular Bible Belt upbringing that some of my hardest-drinking friends – whose relationships with booze were often of the vomit-in-the-shrubbery, loss-of-all-personal-control variety – were from religious homes in which alcohol was seldom if ever served.

Comment: My parents drinking was like the authors: very rarely! To my Christian teetoalling brothers, I am not advocating drinking! There appears to be three Christian views on drinking: 1.) Abstinence (prevalent Baptist view); 2.) Moderation; 3.) Prohibition. My view is as follows: 1.) it is clear that drunkenness is sin (Galatians 5:21, Ephesians 5:18, and other verses! 2.) it is doubtful that Jesus turned water into grape juice (John 2) (if I am right about this, there is an application there!); 3.) The Christian should eschew activity that would cause another brother to stumble (Romans 14:21); 4.) It is possible to be a moderationist in theory but an abstainer in practice (see Romans 14:21 in previous point).

Romney rebuts Obama

Mitt Romney: Stimulate the economy, not government

Excerpts:

... any new spending must be strictly limited to projects that are essential. How do we define essential? Well, a good rule is that the projects we fund in a stimulus should be legitimate government priorities that would have been carried out in the future anyway, and are simply being moved up to create those jobs now.

...

if we're going to tax less and spend more to get the economy moving, then we have to make another commitment as well. As soon as this economy recovers, we have to regain control over the federal budget, and above all, over entitlement spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This is more important than most people are willing to admit.

There is a real danger that with trillions of additional borrowing -- from the budget deficit and from the stimulus -- world investors will begin to fear that our dollars won't be worth much in the future. It is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the value of the dollar. That means showing the world that we will put a stop to runaway spending and borrowing.

... we must begin to recover from the enormous losses in the capital investment pool. And the surest, most obvious way to get that done is to send a clear signal that there will be no tax increases on investment and capital gains. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be extended permanently, or at least temporarily.

And finally, let's exercise restraint in the size of the stimulus package. Last year, with the economy already faltering, I proposed a stimulus of $233 billion. The Washington Post said: "Romney's plan is way too big." So what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?

In the final analysis, we know that only the private sector -- entrepreneurs and businesses large and small -- can create the millions of jobs our country needs. The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government.

Comment: He defines essential stimulus! Nice rebuttal to Obama's editorial yesterday. He also asks a good question: "what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?". Mitt should be the GOP front runner for 2012!

Add this button

http://www.addthis.com/


Comment: Looks worthwhile

Snake story

Prehistoric 'monster snake' remains discovered

Excerpt:

Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the snake would have weighed 1,140 kilograms (2,500 pounds) and measured 13 meters (42.7 feet) nose to tail tip -- dwarfing the largest modern pythons and anacondas which can grow to 6 meters (19.5 feet).

Scientists believe it slithered around the planet between 58 and 60 million years ago.

Geologist David Polly, who identified the position of the fossil vertebrae which made a size estimate possible, said in a statement Wednesday: "At its greatest width, the snake would have come up to about your hips. The size is pretty amazing.

"But our team went a step further and asked, how warm would the Earth have to be to support a body of this size?"

Titanoboa's fossilized remains were discovered at a coal mine in the tropical Cerrejon region of northern Colombia by an international team of scientists.

"Truly enormous snakes really spark people's imagination, but reality has exceeded the fantasies of Hollywood," paleontologist Jonathan Bloch, who co-led the expedition, told reporters.

"The snake that tried to eat Jennifer Lopez in the movie 'Anaconda' was not as big as the one we found."

Based on the snake's size, the team was able to calculate that the mean annual temperature in equatorial South America 60 million years ago would have been about 91 degrees Fahrenheit, about 10 degrees warmer than today, Bloch said.

"Tropical ecosystems of South America were surprisingly different 60 million years ago," said Bloch. "It was a rainforest, like today, but it was even hotter and the cold-blooded reptiles were all substantially larger.

"The result was, among other things, the largest snakes the world has ever seen...and hopefully ever will."

According to Nature.com, snakes are poikilotherms (cold-blooded) that, unlike humans, need heat from their environment to power their metabolism. Therefore research suggests that at the time the region would have had to be no less than 86 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit for the snake to have survived.

Comments: I am a young earth (don't ask me how young because I don't know) creationist, so I don't buy the "60 million years ago" part of the story. But how about that size. And the temps ... it was (as if they really know) "10 degrees warmer than today". Touches on the global warming debate. Pic from Fox News.