A Personnal note

It just hit me yesterday that today marks one of those benchmarks you tend to forget as you get older. It was 30 years ago today that I started the paperwork on the place I now live having packed up my van, said my goodbyes, and never looked back on the rustbelt from where I came two weeks earlier. When I heard that many of the mills were set to close I knew it was an end of an era. No more big steel providing those family wage jobs which in turn supported the rest of the area. From what I hear what's left are the scraps and some small specialty steel. Strangely I never set foot in a mill until I came out here and started in Haz Mat work. Yes we do have a few very tiny mills here making mostly rebar for the roads and buildings. That nasty sulfur smell brought back memories as a kid from the east. I remembered the street lights coming on during the day and black snow in winter. Yes it was that bad back then. But that was a different time and a different life. When I saw that Seattle was to be the premier area for technology I knew there would be better prospects here. It was a hard start here but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Must be Friday and time for the Beav but first...

Our wonderful government says that most of the oil in the Gulf is gone. That somehow a magical oil fairy came down when we were all sleeping waved her wand and "poof" everything is back to normal and we can all live happily ever after.


And now for the reality of the situation from a couple of scientists who've been studying spills for a couple of years:

Independent scientists scoffed at the report's findings. Several pointed out that the report estimates that a quarter of the oil is still floating in the gulf or contaminating beaches and marshes, while another quarter was dispersed, either with chemicals or naturally.


In other words, half of it, or about 2.5 million barrels, is still unrecovered.

"I don't think that's real good news," said James "Rip" Kirby, a University of South Florida coastal geologist who has been studying the spill's effects on Panhandle beaches. "That to me is like saying, 'Yee-haw, the Chicago Cubs are only 10 games out of first place!' "

Rick Steiner, a retired University of Alaska professor who worked on the Exxon Valdez disaster, questioned the validity of the estimates in the report, explaining, "These are just what we call WAGs — wild- a-- guesses."

Even if the report's numbers were dead-on, Steiner said, that would not mean the oil spill disaster is over, as some pundits are claiming. The impact is likely to linger for a decade or more.

For instance, in the Exxon Valdez spill, four years passed before the herring population in Prince William Sound collapsed. The toxic contamination had apparently hurt the herrings' immune system.


Personnaly I'd like to see some more of the university's findings. They had sent their research boat out to take samples back in June. Wonder if they did any follow up?

Bank fails later as usual.

Update: Only one bank failed this week in IL.

A momentary break in the daily news

Maybe I need to find some of those strange sites that Crum (Lost in the Bozone) goes to.

Surprise surprise Pelosi grows a set

The senate passed the financial aid package to get aid to the states for FMAP along with funding for a whole bunch of teachers who were scheduled to be laid off just before the school year started. If I didn't know better I'd have thought hell just froze over.
Pelosi is calling the house back in session after they had just gone on summer break an unprecedented move. About time you grew a set Nancy!
In addition I hear senator Stabenow is putting together a jobs bill to help the 99ers.
All I can say is why oh why have they waited so long? People don't want handouts they want jobs. What republicans fail to realize is that we could pay off the national debt and there'd still be massive unemployment because there would be no demand. You can't have demand without money to spend and you can't have money to spend without a job. In recessions past things turned around when the corporate coffers were stuffed. They had no choice but to spend to expand. Not so this time around. They're satisfied with sitting on the cash and making workers they didn't lay off do the work of three people.

Nothing like kicking people when they're down

Who would if they saw somebody down and needing medical care would tell them to just go away? We treat stray cats and injured birds with better respect. A dog stuck in a drain pipe gets more help than we're willing to give a neighbor.
For several weeks the Democrats in the senate have been trying to get funding for FMAP. That's the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages or Medicaid. The republicans have blocked this measure time and time again. With only a few days left before the August break some 30 states will be forced to come up with the money. This after slashing budgets to the bone and still facing shortfalls. Even if an amendment is passed in the senate covering this it still must go through the house which is already on vacation. It would mean calling back the house or waiting until September to get something done. Imagine being on a medication that needs monitoring or needing a desperate surgery only to have to wait until the political parties reach some agreement or the Dems do it by forcing it through. If that isn't the definition of a disease then I don't know what is.

I knew it I spoke too soon

I worked three days last week and got laid off. And no I didn't shoot or piss off the boss or anything like that. As you may know federal money has been put out there to weatherize low and moderate income homes. The idea is good. It will get some people working, provide warmer houses come this winter and save the homeowner some cash on energy. But since this worker classification have never existed it's become a political mess. You see a weatherization technician does many jobs. It involves not just slapping some insulation in the attic and calling it good but the removal of siding, drilling holes for the pump hose, and repairs of all kinds. We can also install vent fans and replace ductwork. I think you see where this is going. There are other trades that do this kind of work and since many of them are out of work they're looking for anything they can find to get their people working. With the first scraps of money coming down the pipe everybody's drooling over what's there. Now it's turning to fighting or turf wars. They seem to want all the trades doing each of their jobs on one site. It won't work. There really isn't enough work to have six guys doing the work of two or three. I was working with three other guys and even that was way too many. I'd love to do this on my own with one other guy but the equipment isn't cheap and the politics in dealing with government agencies is a nightmare. Oh well they said they'd call back in a week or two after the fighting is over.

I knew it there's a pill for everything

6 cities to train mail carriers to dispense anti-terror drugs.

See we don't need to send troops to the middle east just pop a pill and everything will be fine.