Inflation?

Don't you just love accurate reporting? Here's a cut and paste from Google news about the economy. I just love how one news outlet says the the economy is great and others say it's in the tank. This is not a case of the glass is half full or half empty. The underlying factor is that the idiot in the white house has spent it all, let companys get away with murder (Kenneth Lay) and basically destroyed this nation.




Turkish Press
US Economy: Inflation Slows, Production Unchanged (Update3)
Bloomberg - 7 hours ago
By Courtney Schlisserman Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer prices in the US rose at a slower pace in December and industrial production failed to grow, giving the Federal Reserve the room and reason to cut interest rates at its next meeting on Jan. 30.
But Jump Is Unlikely to Deter Fed Wall Street Journal
Inflation Continues to Edge Up New York Times
MarketWatch - Reuters - BusinessWeek - CNNMoney.com
all 522 news articles »

Enlightment of our healthcare system

Got a kick out of seeing a conservative talking head Glen Beck realize what the actions of his party have done to the health care system. I'm thinking of a new label to put on all of this but I just can't put my finger on it. Something like hoisted by ones own petard just doesn't exactly fit. Any ideas?
There's a great lesson in this

Couldn't believe the pictures of Cleveland

As I watch the economy tank I take note of how this is effecting real communities. Let's see, gas is over $3 a gallon and heading higher. The stock market has only had one up day this year (down 246 on Friday). The dollar is down and the price of gold is over $900. Unemployment is up (7.4% in Michigan). People are foregoing paying their credit cards and phone bills. And even the Shrub in chief is talking about trying to help (God help us all. You know he'll screw it up). Remember all of the safety nets that had been cut years ago have now been eliminated. I just wonder how really bad it will get in the months to come.
They showed some shots of Cleveland on the news. One homeowner in that area noted that when homes go abandoned (forclosed) squatters move in bringing drugs and prostitution. The mayor is concerned as the tax base falls. There are over 10,000 forclosures in that city. With a falling tax base police and fire departments must be cut adding to the problems.

The dumbest statement by a U.S. president?

We should have bombed Auschwitz
I can't believe the stupidity to which this president has stuped.

Environmental meme

Came across a comment on Pyalgia's blog about being tagged for an environmental topic. I wasn't tagged but I thought I'd throw in my two cents for what it's worth. Basically it's about what we can do to save this piece of real estate in the universe for human habitation.
Strangely enough my interest in the environment came more by economic necessity than interest in eco matters. Back in the early eighties I noticed that our dumpster was getting fuller and the price of pick ups was going up. I sugested we see about a recycle bin so we could get a smaller dumpster at less cost. Oddly enough what started as one small recycle bin soon turned to three then four larger ones. This has worked well for some time, but I've noticed some changes in the last few years. Some recycle plastics are not recyclable. The clam shells that cookies come in even though being marked with a 1 in a triangle can not go into the bin. Same is true for many of the bubble wraps. Here's the real kicker. I read an article in the local paper (when I used to subscribe) that said that if the company that was picking up the recycle bins had too much material that the excess would get dumped with the garbage. This is sad because I know in Japan they will take all the garbage in a 20 yard container and recycle nearly all of it.
As for the other cost and environmental saving habits I've picked up came from the last recession. A list below:
Turned the thermostat on water heater down to 120
Bought a new energy efficient water heater
Bought a new energy efficient washer
Changed to low flow shower and water heads
Changed interior lights to mostly cfls
Changed exterior lights from 500 watt halagons to 150 watt high pressure sodium (nearly the same amount of light output)
Just had our windows and slider replaced to a higher energy efficient low e vinyl type.
Replaced my computer with one that is easily recyclable and I won't have to pay to get rid of this one. And this one uses less energy.

And no I didn't do this all at once. Most of the major purchases were in the last eight years.
I am looking into changing to LED lighting but right now they look a bit expensive ($15 to $45 each) but they only use 2 to 3 watts for the same output as a 60 watt bulb. I know as they start to catch on the price will come down just like the cfls.
Sadly I can't compost here there's just no place to do it. Another point, stop putting food waste down the disposal or the toilet. It's better put in with the yard waste or the garbage. Think about where the waste goes and remember it has to be taken out of waste water before that water can be treated and put back into the environment.
More on all of this later

Oil surges hitting $100 a barrel!

I generally tend to try not to be vulgar in this blog but on this I'm going to make an exception. As Stranger over at Blah3 pointed out, it's a time to give great adulations to our Shrub and the vice shrub in the white house two great oilmen who promised in their first term to do something about gas prices when the price was less than $2 a gallon! Shall we all just bend over now and prepare for the excrusiating pain that will be on us shortly? And all this in an election year. Shrub has no morals. And to all of the republicans who supported him over the years it's like he's telling them screw you. I won't be here. I'll just set myself up pretty and leave all the problems for the next guy just like he did in Texas. Asshat!
Happy Scew Year

Sub prime mortgage debacle

The is more up Invictus' alley about the investment pools in Florida. Notice how Jeb Bush enters the picture via the Lehman Brothers. Seems unethical business practices run in the family as far back as Prescott Bush. Should we be surprised?
Florida subprime debacle