Nobody doubts that people’s livelihoods were severely impacted by the BP disaster.  The immediate burden was shouldered by those in close proximity to the Gulf Shores, where the mess began to accumulate, necessitating the shutdown of numerous businesses.  In its wake, the BP oil spill left thousands upon thousands of people without jobs, as businesses old and new alike began to shutter its operations.

The task of determining how best to compensate the victims falls on the shoulders of Kenneth Feinberg, and he has the unenviable task of trying to determine a fair compensation model for the victims.  But if the BP disaster showed us anything, it is that our economy is complex and endlessly intertwined.  Because of the business shutdowns in the Gulf Shores, other businesses thousands of miles away were also impacted.  Are they also victims?  Would they need compensation?

This idea of a geographic proximity model to determine compensation qualification is being examined, and a short report on it is discussed at relevantandtimely.com.  In that article, it is apparent that documents from the BP assessment collectively point to better compensation the closer one is to the actual disaster.  Thus, the further one is from the spill, the less likely one is to receive compensation.

Ted Stevens will be remembered as the man who helped Alaska move into the modern age, through judicious application of federal laws as well as financial help amounting to billions of dollars.  As decorated as Ted Stevens was, his career was brought to a screeching halt in 2008, following a corruption conviction which was later vacated.  At 86 years of age, the man who has survived a previous encounter with death during a place crash is unable to survive this one.  His death was confirmed by a former member of his Congressional staff, who would only say that his body was found Tuesday morning.

Of the nine people on the place, it is believed that five have been killed, including the former Senator. During his reign as the Senator from Alaska, Stevens gained notoriety for his prolific funneling of federal dollars to his home state.  Watchdog groups assert that Senator Stevens routinely receives more dollars per capita than any other state.  Many would have wanted to call him the King of Pork; unfortunately, that title had already been bestowed upon another geezer, the late Senator Robert Byrd.  Ted Stevens had to settle for the no less notorious title of Emperor of Earmarks.

Senator Stevens wasn’t always conservative red in his lawmaking philosophy, as evidenced by his support for Title IX legislation, support for public radio, support for a ban on smoking in federal properties and the de facto position of democrats, tougher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.  Senator Stevens is survived by his second wife Catherine Chandler, his five children from his first marriage, a daughter from his second marriage, and eleven grandchildren.

Amendment 4301 to HR 4213, which would have extended the time for unemployed Americans to file for additional benefits, was shot down in the Senate today, 45-52.  Despite the unquestionable need for the unemployment extension, Senators thought differently and voted against the spirit of the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010.

The Senate motion on 4301 to concur with House Amendment, which required a 3/5 majority, was rejected at 10:45 AM today, June 16, 2010.  What this means for many Americans nearing the end of their tier is that there will be no extension beyond the end date for benefits which they are currently receiving.  For many, June 12, 2010 will be the last benefit week.

Despite the horrendous unemployment rates across the country, the Senators deemed it OK to vote against the only lifeline that many Americans have.  Those same Americans are questioning why it is acceptable to send money to assist countries such as Haiti, to spend billions of their own money to bail out wall street, and to waste trillions on foreign wars when the citizens of this country are on the brink.

Other Americans are beginning to question the necessity of foreign workers in this country.  The spirit of the H1 and other temporary foreign worker visas goes against the realities of today.  We have a glut of fully qualified employees, and anyone arguing that we have a shortage cannot factually support that position. A tech employee from California suggests that the country shut down all such visa bureaus, thereby paving the way for citizens to compete for jobs that heretofore have been enjoyed exclusively by foreign work visa workers. Is it too much to ask employers to employ their own citizens?

Regretfully, our own government seems unwilling to watch out for their own brothers and sisters.  Here, sadly, is the Roll Call Votes for the failed 4301 amendment that would have extended unemployment benefits for Americans:

YEAs —45 (The Good Guys)

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs —52 (The Disappointments)

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brown (R-MA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
LeMieux (R-FL)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Risch (R-ID)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Webb (D-VA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting ??? 3 (The Do Your Job and Vote Already List)

Byrd (D-WV)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)

Tags: 4213, 4301, senate, unemployment

How would you like to have been a good, honest traveler who declared their iPad upon arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, only to have it confiscated.  On top of that, the officials will charge you approximately $12 per day for storing it, and you can pay the ransom and get your iPad back when you leave Israel.  Oh let’s see now.  If I visited the Jewish State for two weeks, I would be paying 14 days x 12 dollars per day = $168 dollars for the privilege of having my iPad confiscated.  So, I pay all that amount to ensure that I don’t have a computing device of any sort (assuming I left the notebook at home, as I most likely will when travelling with the iPad).  So how does this make any sense at all?

The official explanation by the Ministry of Communication, which handed down the ban, is that the iPad is transmitting at a higher power level when using wireless frequency, and that it may affect other devices that use the same frequency.  Prominent Israeli experts refute this “official” explanation, and note that they cannot discern any credible angle regarding the ministry’s draconian actions.  Dor Zakai, a self professed technology freak working in Israel’s OS and Hardware industry notes that he cannot understand “why they are banning the iPad,” and adds “What’s next?”  Israeli business leaders are concerned about the fallout from the ministry’s actions, noting that it really does not help Israel’s reputation as being policed, Big Brother style.

Conspiracy theory fans are coming out of the woodwork and putting their own twist on the matter.  Given that Apple’s sole distributor in Israel is iDigital, which is owned Chemi Peres, son of the Israeli president, conspiracy fans theorize that the ministry is acting to benefit iDigital; that is, it is preventing iPads from sneaking into the Jewish State so that Israelis have no option but to buy the iPad from iDigital when Apple releases the iPad internationally.  For now, it is only available for purchase in the United States.

Believe what you will, but one thing is for certain.  This latest fiasco is not going to help Israel.  As Harel Shattenstein, analyst and prominent tech blogger noted, “Poor old Israel.”

Tags: Apple, iPad

In what was billed as The Fight that would test Manny Pacquiao, Ghana born boxer Joshua Clottey did anything but.  For twelve full rounds, the bigger Clottey kept his guard up, giving Pacquiao nothing to hit, but at the same time, depriving himself of a chance at a real fight.

So, while Manny peppered away at Clottey, throwing at times over a hundred punches per round (Manny ended up averaging a little over a hundred punches thrown per round, which is unheard of in the welterweight division), Clottey steadfastly maintained his defensive posture, breaking it only from time to time to throw a little bit here and there.  The world hasn’t seen such deliberate inaction since a washed up Ali fought a prime Larry Holmes.

At some point past the midway of the fight, a seemingly bored Jim Lampley tried to inject some excitement into the broadcast by yelling “bang, bang, bang” every time Pacquiao threw a punch.  It didn’t matter that the punches were blocked; evidently, Lampley was trying anything to stir up excitement.

Emmanuel Stewart thought Pacquiao fought a good fight in that he did what he had to do to win the fight against a fighter determined to cover up for the entire twelve rounds.  In the end, though Manny won all twelve rounds (how two judges gave Clottey one round each is beyond me), many felt that the fight was a massive let down, given Pacquiao’s prolific knock out performances leading to this fight.  And perhaps that was on Clottey’s mind throughout the fight.  Perhaps he didn’t want to take a premature nap, courtesy of a Pacquiao left.  Or right.

When asked of his tactics, Clottey responded to Kellerman that he thought Manny was too fast, so he didn’t want to risk anything.  Perhaps Clottey trainer DeJesus put it best when he said that he believes his fighter felt Pacquiao’s punching power and was determined not to end up crashing on the canvas as did Pacquiao’s previous opponents.

Unfortunately for fight fans, Clottey’s concern over Pacquiao’s speed and power resulted in a fight that in Clottey’s own words, was “the only fight he lost,” alluding to the fact that he still feels that his three losses on record are questionable.  Well, when you lose all twelve rounds, what else can you say?

Well folks, for those clamoring for a Pacquiao Mayweather showdown, as evidenced by the roaring crowd when Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach called out Floyd, you might want to think about that again.  Floyd may not cover up in Frankenstein fashion as Clottey did, but Floyd will run.  And run, and run and run.  It will end up just like this fight.  A boring twelve rounds of one guy trying to fight another.  And that other guy has nothing but self preservation in their mind.  Bottom line: Mayweather is just like Clottey except he has faster feet.  And unlike Clottey who moved forward from time to time, Mayweather will always move backward.  Is that really a fight anyone wants to see?

Those are the words that exemplifies retiring Republican Senator Jim Bunning’s indifference to the plight of thousands upon thousands of Americans whose sole means of survival is the government’s unemployment benefits.

For nearly all unemployed Americans, unemployment benefits represent their last line of defense against being destitute.  Many are wondering where they are going to turn to when the checks stop coming in.

Critics argue that by supporting any measure of unemployment benefits extension, the government will in fact be creating a nation of hobos, citing parallels in history, where most of those out of the workforce for over two years failed to successfully reintegrate into the working class, and ended up as traveling hobos, seeking mini jobs here and there, wherever they could find it.

But proponents argue that these are special times.  They are putting forth a simple proposition: show us the jobs, and we will gladly take them.  Unfortunately for critics, the proponents of unemployment benefits extension are correct.  The numbers don’t lie: there simply are not enough jobs for everyone that needs one.  One can argue principle all day long, but when the numbers show that the principle is moot, then what can you say about those that still push for its adherence?

Thanks to Bunning’s foolish stand, the Senate is now not in a position to vote on the extensions.  The soonest that they Senate can revisit this is Tuesday, several days after the expiration of the previous unemployment extension provision.  It appears that senators and staff members are milling about to ascertain the implications of letting the programs lapse for a few days.

Once again, out of touch officials have put their personal conviction, however misplaced, ahead of that which is good for the people of the United States.  If they do this often enough, it won’t take long before people take matters into their own hands.  History is replete with stories of what happens to leaders who ignore their constituents.

I can’t remember the last time a refrigerator got my attention, but, at a recent get-together, I was awestruck by the hosts’ outdoor space.  In particular, I was marveling at their outdoor kitchen.  And, if you must know, not all outdoor kitchens are made alike.  This one had everything, including the kitchen sink, plus, fully functioning, stainless steel, glass door outdoor refrigerators.  Yep, not one but two of those beauties.

So what’s the big deal, you may ask?  Well, a kitchen really can’t function stand-alone without some refrigeration unit in there, and what’s more, a party supported by an outdoor kitchen will soon expose said kitchen’s deficiency if cold items, and in particular, cold drinks are nowhere to be found.  Yes, one could scoot into the indoor kitchen to grab a beverage, but then the outdoor kitchen wouldn’t be the stand-alone ironman of the party that it should be, right?

You can forget about those cheesy coolers full of ice and your drinks of choice.  That’s so tailgating, so very frat party.  No sir, we’re talking upscale domestic here, and no ghetto styrofoam or plastic coolers here.

If you really want to impress, and if you go through the trouble of setting up your own outdoor space for a kitchen, then do it right.  There are numerous manufacturers of outdoor refrigerators, and Kalamazoo is one such manufacturer.

Tags: outdoor kitchen, outdoor refigerators

Marketing your internet properties shouldn’t be the bane of your existence.  We all agree that gaining traffic is a necessary ingredient for success, however you define that term.  Bottom line, no traffic, no potential for success.  So how does one steer people to one’s sites?  Internet marketing, of course.  But who has the time to write so many unique content that needs to be submitted to many article directories and blog sites?  M1Links Link Building Services can help!

M1Links is a subscription service that promises to allow you to “set you link building on auto pilot.”  But how does it accomplish that?  What’s the process?  In a nutshell, you provide a unique seed article to M1Links, and the site will help you make more unique instances of your article by turning it into spin format.  Anyone who tells you that machine-spun content is good to go is lying.  M1Links hints at this by noting that they will help you get started, and that you will still need to touch up before you can go.  Fair enough.  A free spin conversion?  I’ll take it.

Beyond the spin, however, is where M1Links shines.  You are able to set up ten active campaigns, which each campaign able to hold ten channels.  On a daily basis, those channels are “broadcasted” to article directories, blogs, social bookmarks and rss aggregators.  Two of the ten channels are reserved for bookmark and rss.  The other eight may be set up as either article submission or blog submission.  Here’s the beauty: you may request that the article or blogs be “layered” – which, in M1Links parlance is called link layering.  Link layering for those of you wondering is simply serializing your links to an aggregator, so that all the juice, if you wish to call it that, is collected at one page before said page is then made to point to your site.  One quality link is better than a bunch of lowly links pointing to your site.  At least that’s the theory, and it makes good sense.  No need to worry about a wayward dirty link pointing to your money site and potentially damaging your reputation in the eyes of the search engine.

Anyway, this commendable service is open to private invitation at the moment, but will open to the public on February 2010.  Look for it, sign up, and free up some time, knowing that with M1Links, your internet marketing is in good hands.

Horny Tiger’s mistress count keeps going up.  That’s right, folks, this guy can’t seem to keep his putter in his pants.  His off-the-course conquests are now rivaling his accomplishments on the green, if you choose to see it that way.  He puts all other adulterers to shame with his mounting mistress count.  Now, we have hardcore porn actress Veronica Siwik-Daniels, who performs under the name Joslyn James as the latest Tiger pussy cat identified.

Those pussy cats have the potential to cash in, as porn king Steven Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment has offered $1 million to any of Woods’ little hoochie mammas to star in a porn flick.  One such pussy cat, Los Angeles porn star Holly Sampson, already has scenes in two upcoming Vivid movies.  It appears Tiger was dipping his driver into Sampson around the time he started seeing Nordegren in 2001.

While the pussy cats’ economic possibilities might be on the rise, Tiger’s penchant for busty sluts could turn into a marketing disaster.  He hasn’t been seen in a prime-time ad since November 29.  Pepsi has confirmed that it has dropped its Gatorade Tiger Focus drink.  Despite these events, it appears that fans are unfazed and don’t care that his clubs have been visiting holes other than that of his wife Elin.  A Marist poll shows that over 90% don’t care about his infidelity when deciding whether or not to buy products he has endorsed.

Accenture, the consulting company whose ads are shamelessly nearly 100% Tiger branded, is probably scrambling to figure out an approach to mitigate the Tiger fiasco.  As a consulting company, Accenture is adept at spinning the truth, so no doubt they’ll find their way out of this Tiger mess by doing what they do best, and that is, BS their way out of it.

More drama coming out of the Tiger Woods saga.  It appears that sources are coming out of the woodwork to claim that Tiger Woods overdosed on Ambien and Vicodin the day he was admitted to the hospital.  Reports are that Tiger was admitted to the hospital under an alias, William Smith.

Tiger’s admission records seem to list “OD” as the cause of admission.  Upon his arrival and admission, Tiger was located in the fifth floor of the hospital.  That floor was promptly locked down.  All this time, Elin Nordegren, his wife, was at his side.

Perhaps reporters can corroborate reports of Tiger’s pill use by asking the many cocktail waitresses out there if Tiger ever popped a pill before, during or after doing the wild thing with them.  Maybe a blue pill was also used?

As if all this ruckus wasn’t enough, Elin had to make yet another trip to the hospital, this time to follow her mother as she was admitted.  Visiting from Sweden, the elder Barbro Holmberg became ambulatory and Elin followed the transport using a black Escalade.  Or maybe that was her twin sister Josefin?  Hmmm, twin sister.  I wonder if Tiger… Anyway, how many SUVs do the Woods family have?  And why isn’t it a Buick, which Tiger promotes?

While all of this is going on, several women who claim to be one of Tiger’s many hoochie mammas have been parading around town, visiting swanky places in the hopes that the papparazzi would take notice and give them coverage.  Of course they obliged, but really, if those cocktail waitresses are parading up and down swanky avenue, they really shouldn’t be seen getting into their banged up econoboxes.  Heck, if they’re gonna play the part, they need to look the part.

During a White House jobs forum this afternoon, President Barack Obama promised to take "every responsible step to accelerate job creation."  He also noted that some ideas could be rolled out immediately, such as a program to help make more US homes energy-efficient.

He also hinted at trade measures and new tax incentives as approaches to stem job losses that regretfully are the worst since the 1930s.  "This has been a tough year, with a lot of uncertainty," the President said as he wrapped up the brainstorming session with over one hundred CEOs, small business and union leaders, as well as local officials. "There’s no question that it’s difficult out there right now,"

The president explained that there were some ideas that could be put to work almost immediately and other ideas that will funnel through as part of legislation for Congress to work on. He gave "moving forward on an aggressive agenda for energy efficiency and weatherization" as an example for something that could be acted on immediately.

Recognizing the disaster that is unemployment levels above 10 percent, Obama simply retorts "We cannot hang back and hope for the best."  Duh.  Who the heck is hanging back and hoping for the best?  Everyone affected by job loss is scraping each and every day, watching while they lose their homes and other valuable possession.  In the end, many have only their pride and the shirts on their backs to count as their possessions.  Everything else has been taken and auctioned.

President Obama tempered his usual upbeat bullcaca with an acknowledgment that government resources could only go so far and that it is up to the private sector to generate large numbers of new jobs.  Uh Oh.  Is this Obama setting the stage to pass the buck?  Should job creation not materialize, will he then say, Oh well, the private sector failed?  This is a rather disturbing MO of his administration: when electric speeches don’t work, find someone else to blame!  The President and his administration have been blaming previous administrations, stating that “we inherited this” bla bla, and lately, he wrongly blamed Rumsfeld for the situation in Afghanistan, prompting a retort from the former Secretary of Defense.

This outrageous behavior by the White House is downright unacceptable.  By flagging others and throwing them under the bus, they’re basically exuding zero leadership.  As disaffected as many of us were with the Bush years, at least he always took responsibility and never, as a way of doing business, did Bush ever blame previous administrations.  It was always, ok, we’re in this mess, now how do we get out of it.  Then the Bush administration put their heads down, and forward they went.  Sometimes the direction was questionable, but there was always direction and there was always action, rather than empty speeches.

With Obama, there are only promises.  And when those promises and speeches fail to deliver anything meaningful as invariably they won’t, they blame previous the administration, including staff members such as Rumsfeld.  Now, it appears they are fattening up the private sector for the blame, should jobs creation fall flat on its face.

Hey Obama and Company!  Who cares about the past?  The ONLY thing that matters here is what you guys are going to do about the future.  You’re at the helm now, show us some measure of leadership and competence!  So far, you all are batting a big, fat, ugly zero.  That’s right.  Zero!  Even your own party is starting to raise the pitchforks.

It is Cyber Monday, and though the American Girl website rarely offers discounts, today, it’s a whole new ball game. Shoppers are in full swing today, with toys and electronics being the most sought after items. And those furry Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters have been in high demand this season, virtually impossible to find at online retailers like Toys R Us and Target.

Perhaps there’s another toy option on this Cyber Monday, particularly for girls. American Girl, the Chicago based doll company, is offering discounted prices on some of their most popular items. The company rarely offers deep discounts, but today their website shows pages of items listed at reduced prices.

Some of the best deals include Chrissa’s Snow Gear, which is slashed from $32 down to $20 for a savings of nearly 38%. Also on sale is Chrissa’s Snow Outfit, which is down to $20 from an original price of $30. For those who don’t know, Chrissa is the American Girl of the Year Doll for 2009 and is a limited run.  The Chrissa doll will only be available until December 31st or while supplies last. Historically, American Girl of the Year dolls typically sell out before the end of the year.

It appears that former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is now engaged to longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky.  Chelsea, now 29, practically grew up in public, as her father had two terms in office during her youth.  Ultimately, she attended Stanford, much to the dismay of her mom, and current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.  Hillary would have preferred Chelsea to stay in DC and attend Georgetown.

So who is this dude Mezvinsky?  He’s an investment banker and the son of Ed Mezvinsky, D-Iowa and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, D-Pa.  Chelsea and Marc both attended Stanford University where presumably they began dating.  Chelsea is the sole child of former president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It was rumored that the couple were to tie the knot last summer in Martha’s Vineyard but that obviously was premature.  They are planning to wed next summer, according to emails sent to family and friends.

This Mezvinsky guy works at Goldman Sachs, you know, that company that’s sucking the blood out of this country right now.  It appears that although his parents are both former members of Congress, they didn’t leave gracefully. In 2002, his father pleaded guilty to swindling dozens of investors out of $10 million after getting caught up in a Nigerian scam.  Hmmm, so the pedigree to screw others is in the blood.  I guess Marc works in the right place, so that he can do the same thing in theory, but with the protection of his firm.

Marc’s mother lost her seat in a conservative congressional district after one term in part because she chose to vote for President Clinton’s health care reform.  She’s probably not feeling too good right now.  Wrong place and wrong time to have voted for that health care reform.  It’s all the rage now.

Anyway, back to the two love birds.  They became friends as teenagers in Washington and both attended Stanford University. Both now live in New York, where Mezvinsky works at Goldman Sucks and Clinton is attending graduate school at Columbia University’s School of Public Health.

Facing the onslaught of a foreclosure wave that never seems to relent, President Obama’s administration plans to increase pressure on mortgage companies to do more to assist people in trouble and help them keep their homes.  This according to administration officials.

On Monday, the administration plans to announce details of its expanded program, notes Treasury spokeswoman Meg Reilly.  "We are taking additional steps to enhance servicer transparency and accountability," Reilly asserts. Moreover, she hinted that the objective is to increase the rate that troubled home loans are being converted into new loans with lower monthly payments.  Evidently, Reilly believes this will help stem the tide.

The new effort appears to include increased pressure on mortgage companies to accelerate loan modifications.  To do so, the administration plans to highlight firms that are dragging their feet.  If humiliation doesn’t do the trick, the Treasury is plans to wait until the loan modifications are permanent before paying cash incentives to mortgage companies that lower loan payments.  So, the mortgage companies have a couple of options: get called out, or collect incentives.  Some might just prefer to get humiliated, rather than take incentives in exchange for taking huge risks with borrowers.

Under the $75 billion Treasury program, companies that agree to lower payments for troubled borrowers collect $1,000 initially from the government for each loan, followed by $1,000 annually for up to three years.  So, that’s $4,000 in incentives.  Absolutely insignificant, if downright insulting.  Relative to the risk, $4,000 is ridiculous.

The government support is being funded through the $700 billion financial bailout program.  It is designed to provide cash incentives for mortgage providers to accept smaller mortgage payments, in lieu of foreclosing.  We’ll see how that goes.

With 54 seconds left and in possession of the ball, USC could have run out the clock leading 21-7.  But it chose not to.  Instead of the customary kneel down, USC went all out, catching UCLA by surprise, to score yet another touchdown, making the score 28-7 following the point after.

How does a team not take a kneel down with 54 seconds left, and leading by two touchdowns?  In an era when sportsmanship is declining, and ghetto play is on the rise, USC proved that it is king of the ghettos.  It’s one thing when a team is trying to impress for BCS consideration; however, lowly USC is not in contention for any BCS bowl, yet they act like they are.  Absolute classless act.  Absolute Ghetto.

But wait, there’s more!  Following the ghetto act, USC then celebrates wildly on their sidelines, and then take their theatrics to the field, taunting the Bruins of UCLA.  So let me get this straight.  Acting like stupid idiotic morons isn’t enough.  They then have to taunt?

And what exactly are they celebrating?  That they beat a .500 team that was just a touchdown behind with more than five and a half minutes left in the game?  Heck, for a team that prides itself on its running game, for a team that likes to call itself Tailback U, the Trojans were more than pathetic on this night, rushing for only 130 yards, as opposed to UCLA’s 134.  They were sloppy as well, playing like a bunch of morons and penalized twelve times for 107 yards in the process.  Heck, if the game lasted any longer, with the penalty they would have received for their idiotic thuggery, they would have ended the night with more penalty yards than rushing yards.  Now, is that something to celebrate?

Ultimately, this is Pete Carroll at his lowest.  So pathetic and ghetto.  So classless.  Total loser.  Carroll the self-anointed prince of Los Angeles feels so entitled that he can’t face the fact that his classless Trojans are not going to play in the BCS at the end of the season.  So what does he do?  He shows his true colors and behaves like a pond scum in encouraging that last touchdown with 54 seconds remaining, and doesn’t prevent his trashy team from celebrating like dickless monkeys, particularly when they rushed the field after the final classless touchdown.

Rivalry game or not, USC’s actions on the field are beyond comprehension.  It’s easy to act classy and sportsmanlike when everything is going well for you, I guess.  But one thing is clear.  When facing adversity, Pete Carroll and his Trojans show their true colors.  And tonight, their true character was in full display: despicable and pathetic.

Storkcraft crib recall is fully underway and is potentially the biggest crib recall november 2009.  Fisher-Price put into play the Storkcraft crib recall after four infants died.  The culprit stems from hardware that broke which allowed the children to become trapped.  This is what the Storkcraft crib recall statement said.

More than two million cribs are affected by the Storkcraft crib recall, mostly in the United States and Canada.  The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Canadian government agency Health Canada coordinated the Storkcraft crib recall on Monday.  They worked alongside Stork Craft, which is based in Canada.

The Storkcraft crib recall involves approximately 1.2 million cribs in the United States and just under 1 million cribs in Canada.  Of those crib recall november 2009, about 147,000 were branded with the Fisher-Price logo.  Only the drop-side cribs are affected by the Storkcraft crib recall.

Owners are being asked to terminate the use of their Storkcraft crib immediately.  Stork Craft will be making a free repair kit available.  The crib recall november 2009 isn’t the first one this year, as a recall was also conducted by Simplicity Inc back in July.  A total of 400,000 drop-side cribs were recalled then.

The Storkcraft crib recall affects cribs built from January 1993 to October 2009.  Those branded by Fisher Price were manufactured sometime between October 1997 and December 2004. The Storkcraft crib recall units sold for between $100 and $400, and were manufactured either in Canada, Indonesia or China.

Owners affected by the Storkcraft crib recall can visit Storkcraft.com or contact Stork Craft directly at (877) 274-0277.

DJ Matthew Roberts discovered after searching for his biological father that in fact, serial killer Charles Manson is daddy.  DJ Matthew Roberts no doubt is reeling from the discovery, and Charles Manson probably has no idea that he fathered a relatively successful child in DJ Matthew Roberts.

DJ Matthew Roberts was aghast and intimated to The Sun that he “was frightened and angry.  It’s like finding out that Adolf Hitler is your father.”  Despite the revelation, however, it appears that DJ Matthew Roberts has been communicating with the serial killer Charles Manson, whose killing spree in the 1960s captivated the nation.  It appears Manson is still enamored with the swastika, as DJ Matthew Roberts noted that communication he receives from Manson is always signed with it.

It appears that DJ Matthew Roberts had been searching for his biological parents for over ten years, and that once he had found in biological mother in Wisconsin, the truth about his paternal parent was revealed.  DJ Matthew Roberts’ mother confided that she didn’t do the wild thing with Charles Manson willingly; in fact, she claims that Manson had raped her in 1967.  So there you go.  DJ Matthew Roberts finds out that his father is the notorious Charles Manson and that he was a product of rape. 

Now a man in his forties, DJ Matthew Roberts claims he is a person at peace, having reconciled his origins.  He also stated that, with respect to his serial killer father, “I don’t want to love him, but I don’t want to hate him either.”

Democrats, with the help of two independents moved their healthcare bill to the Senate floor tonight, despite the efforts of Republicans to defeat the effort.  Now, the floodgates are open and we can expect a protracted debate in the Senate on the overhaul of the healthcare system.

All 58 Democrats and the two independents aligned with them backed cloture on a motion to proceed, thus moving the Democratic-backed healthcare bill to the floor for open formal debate. Thirty-nine Republicans, as expected, opposed the motion.

Tonight’s vote paves the way for debate after the Thanksgiving recess. Opening the floor for debate is one thing; producing an outcome amenable to all is quite another thing.  Centrist Democrats said that while they voted to allow debate, they will be proposing amendments.  They’re not the only ones; the Republicans are gearing up for this one too.

Republicans have been arguing against the measure noting that the $848 billion over 10 years cost was too expensive and would be funded by a variety of taxes and hocus-pocus. In addition, they decried the growing government control and marginal focus on preventing an ailing economy from slipping further.

Democrats countered that fixing healthcare financing was crucial to any economic improvement.  Arrogantly, Democrat Harry Reid stated "I again invite my colleagues, my Republican colleagues, to join on the right side of history. I invite them to join us in at the very least in a debate on our future."  With that statement, Reid preposterously claims that somehow history has already been written and that he is correct.  Perhaps the Senator should just worry about the here and now and leave history to future scholars.

The healthcare argument will consume the Senate in the forthcoming weeks as senators try to pass a bill in time to meet President Obama’s deadline of signing a healthcare law this year.

Then there is the matter of synchronizing their version of healthcare reform with the one passed by the House.  Differences on the public funding options, taxes and fees, among others, will need to be resolved before a final bill can be sent to President Obama.

President Obama has made it clear that healthcare reform is his top domestic priority for this year. Republicans have been hard at work in trying to block any victory, while they eye the midterm election next year. Polls have been consistently showing that people genuinely dislike Congress, and in the past week, even President Obama’s popularity has dipped below 50% by several counts, including the highly regarded Gallup Poll.