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AS IT STANDS My name is Dave Stancliff. I'm a retired newspaper editor/publisher; husband/father, Vietnam vet, Laker fan for 63 years. All opinions are mine unless otherwise noted. I also share original short stories.
A wolf in sheep's clothing?
Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, fought against putting severe limits on executive's pay for companies that are getting government aid.
He managed to prevail in his arguments with Obama's staff who wanted more accountability from the fat cats running banks, etc. I forget now, why did Obama appoint him despite his personal tax troubles?
If you have the answer to that question please tell me! Meanwhile for a comprehensive overview of the actions of Gaithner, and what he's said, click here and see what their saying over at the New York Times about all of this.
Geithner pic via Google images
The FBI is involved now. Our national peanut butter crisis is taking on the aspects of a criminal investigation.
Five people have died from salmonella poisoning and hundreds have been sickened from eating it. I love peanut butter but am afraid to eat it in any form right now, for fear that those jars of it are also tainted, regardless of what's being reported right now.
Authorities are saying the jars of peanut are okay. That's today. What about tomorrow?
The Chicago Tribune talks about the current FBI investigation here.
Peanut pic from Google Images
Two of my grandsons recently got a pair of hamsters (not the duo shown above). They saved up their money and bought a big plastic hamster home full of tunnels and things to play on.
When my wife and I got married in 1974, our first pet was a hamster. We were in an apartment and both worked, so we needed a low maintenance kinda pet. We bought "Zig Zag" thinking he'd fit the bill and got him a little Ferris wheel and fancy food. But there was something not quit right about him. For starters he never stopped running on that Ferris wheel! Day and night. His every waking moment!
I entertained evil thoughts about him for awhile, and then one day I came home and my wife said he was dead. "How" I asked? She had no idea. She just found him laying limp on that damn Ferris wheel. In retrospect, I think he was an older hamster and the pet shop passed him off as a youth. It was either that, or he was just crazy and ran himself to death!
Hamster images via darkroastedblend.com archives
Robert Parry of Consortium News talks about the Republican's attempts to derail any recovery plan for America. It's obvious the Republicans are going to take a hard partisan stance to stifle efforts to stimulate the economy, unless it's done "their way." The problem is the GOP is in the minority! Remember guys and gals?
Here's a bit from Parry's post today:
"The only thing close about the vote is whether the package can overcome a Republican filibuster and get 60 votes for “cloture.” To reach this super-majority, Democrats have been forced to accept a higher percentage of tax cuts, even if leading economists consider tax cuts one of the least effective ways of stimulating the moribund economy.
Yet, this anti-democratic fact about the GOP strategy – that it seeks to frustrate the will of the American majority, which rejected the Republicans and their policies in the last two U.S. elections – is rarely mentioned in the news."
To read the entire article click here.
GOP image via Google Images
One blogger dubbed the discovery of a circle of stones on the floor of Lake Michigan as an underwater stonehedge.
Underwater archeologist Mark Holley found the circle of stones 40 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan.
Holley is shown here investigating a circle of stones on the Grand Traverse Bay floor near Traverse City, Mich.
Scientists are not sure whether the stones were arranged by humans or natural forces.
For the whole story see this mornings Chicago Tribune article here.
(photo by Chris Doyal / February 7, 2009)
What a game!
Kobe was feeling crappy with the flu (he still scored 19 points), Andrew Bynum was out, and someone had to come up big to beat a Cleveland teams that thought it couldn't lose at home this season.
That someone was Lamar Odom. He had a season high for 28 points and 17 rebounds while basically taking over the game during the third period when the Lakers started the period down 12 points.
Pau Gasol chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds to help break the Cav's winning streak. The Lakers took the lead by the end of the third period and never looked back. They out quicked the Cav's, and out rebounded them in the fourth period, to win by 10 points with a 101-91 final score.
It was a real team effort and the Lakers made a statement to the entire league:
... they can beat the best of the West, and East, at their own houses. That's what it takes to win a championship. They wrapped up this six-game road trip with a perfect 6-0 record. Way to go Lakers! Way to go O!
photo of Odom from boards.msn.com/msnbc/boards
This Sunday in the Times-Standard I write about Angels. They are recognized worldwide in all cultures. The question I ask is; have you ever seen an angel? Click here to read the whole story.
hbo.com image from HBO Films
Since my father died last August, there's been other deaths in my family and among good friends. During this tough stretch I'v...