Derrick Hale replenishes stock at Emilio's Beverage Warehouse in Bellflower. Sales of distilled spirits fell in the first half of November from a year earlier. (Photo by Robert Lachman, LA Times /December 22, 2009)
The people running the nation's large liquor companies may need a few stiff drinks right about now. Go here to see why.
Christmas in America circa 2009
strands of colored lights stretching from coast to coast
people boasting about who has the most
it’s Christmas in America
credit cards deck check-out lines in every store
despite the economy or bills waiting in January, people buy more
because it’s Christmas in America
it’s a white Christmas for many states this year
travelers stuck in airports find it hard to be of good cheer
this Christmas in America
financial types tell us, as we wait in long lines at the dollar store
that we’re coming out of this recession and were really not poor
this Christmas in America
minimum wage Santas in Malls bounce children on their knees
in nearly every house there are brightly decorated trees
for Christmas in America
corrupt pols beneath mistletoes with lobbyists, and who knows?
Our fates lie with greedy Grinches in government and other foes
this Christmas in America
homeless veterans, cast-offs from three wars, litter the streets
with other victims of society as we enjoy holiday sweets
living here during Christmas in America
in recent times, Jesus climbed down from the Christmas tree
disgusted with the gift-giving capitalistic frenzy
that’s Christmas in America
-Dave Stancliff
David Goldman has fought for his son for five years. The family that held him made sure to make a big production out of returning him to his father with the press and thousands of spectators watching.
The classy thing to do would have been to take the lawyers advice, and make the switch in private somewhere so there wouldn’t be a dog and pony show like what happened.
It took a financial threat to the trade agreement between the USA and Brazil before Brazilian authorities finally stepped up to the letter of the law. The family that held Sean were abductors, yet they got away with what they did because the Dad was a well-connected lawyer.
The judges have been in his pocket since day one. Hopefully, Sean can now lead a normal life with his biological father.
Excerpt from USA TODAY:
“A New Jersey man and his 9-year-old son were reunited Thursday in Brazil after a 5-year international custody battle, and immediately headed home to spend Christmas in the United States.”
Go here to read the rest.
Bianchi family photo of Sean Goldman via Reuters
“A woman accused of telling the Secret Service she would "blow away" Michelle Obama was in federal custody Tuesday as the Obama family planned to travel to Hawaii.
Kristy Lee Roshia, 35, was charged with threatening a family member of the president and assaulting a federal agent after being arrested Saturday less than two miles from the Kailua home where the Obama family planned to stay during a holiday visit later this week.” Go here to read the rest at CBS
The photo above was provided by the U.S. Secret Service and it shows Kristy Lee Roshia.(AP Photo/US Secret Service)
“Sheriff Joe Arpaio -
self-proclaimed
"toughest sheriff"
in America - likes Christmas music, especially "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and anything by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and apparently he thinks the 8,000 inmates inside his Phoenix jail should, too.” Go here to read the story.
Photo and related story via Department of the Offense –Taking It Back
Trouble in tech-land. Earlier this year there was another problem with Blackberries that left customers snarling.
But millions of people love their little Blackberries and temporary outages, or disruptions of service, are taken in stride.
The Chicago Tribune gives details on the latest malfunction.
Excerpt:
“Research In Motion Ltd. said Wednesday the root cause is still under review but its preliminary analysis has determined there was a flaw in two recently released versions of its BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging software.” Go here to read the rest.
The following article ran in the New York Times in 2004. I’m bringing it up again because the debate about taking religion out of Christmas still goes on today.
What do you say? Should Jesus Christ climb down from the Christmas Tree this year?
Or, should Christmas continue to mix the secular with the religious parts of the holiday?
Excerpt:
“A pastor in Raleigh, N.C., took out a full-page newspaper ad in November exhorting Christians to shop only at stores that included "Merry Christmas" in their promotions.” Go here to read the rest.
The FBI is investigating a hacker attack on Citigroup Inc. that led to the theft of tens of millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported Today
Citing anonymous government officials, the Journal reported that the hackers were connected to a Russian cyber gang. Two other computer systems, at least one of connected to a U.S. government agency, were also attacked.
Citigroup denied the report. "We had no breach of the system and there were no losses, no customer losses, no bank losses," said Joe Petro, managing director of Citigroup's Security and Investigative services. "Any allegation that the FBI is working a case at Citigroup involving tens of millions of losses is just not true."
The Journal reported that the attack on Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary was detected over the summer, although it may have occurred up to one year earlier. The FBI, the National Security Agency, the Homeland Security Department and Citigroup worked together to investigate the attack.
Cyber crime is of increasing concern to businesses and the federal government, with President Barack Obama calling it one of the "most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."
Obama is expected to announce today the appointment of Howard A. Schmidt, a former eBay and Microsoft executive, as the government's cyber security coordinator.
Via Associated Press release
My June 7th, 2009 column in The Times-Standard on cell phone dangers, “Are young people facing a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones?” was one of the few “mainstream” articles on the subject ran by any major newspaper in the nation this year.
The cell phone industry has managed to put off controversy about the health care effects of using cell phones thus far with massive lobbying efforts designed to hide the science behind the concerns.
Cracks are appearing in the cell phone lobby’s claims however, and the industry’s assertions that they are safe. They may lead to a major shake-up someday in how we use these handy devices.
I want to thank The Times-Standard for having the guts to allow me to run my warning about cell phones. It wasn’t the kind of article local cell phone advertisers wanted to see for sure. But it ran. Special thanks to Managing Editor Kimberly Wear for putting it in print. You can’t hide the truth forever…
Here’s the tip of the iceberg:
“The state of 
A similar effort is taking place in the city of San Francisco, California. Mayor Gavin Newsom wants San Francisco to become the first city in the nation to require warnings.” Go here to read more at Erictric via The Huffington Post via CrunchGear
A couple of weeks ago I did a column It’s as simple as ABC: ‘You get what you pay for’ in which I discussed America’s trade relationship with China.
Space restrictions kept me from exploring all the problems we have with the Chinese. When it comes to importing and exporting products, we’re getting royally shafted!
This story ran in USA Today and it examines just how lopsided our arrangement with China has been.
I was surprised to see, according to the related news article below, that China is our 2nd biggest trade partner. Can you guess who our number #1 trade partner is?
Meanwhile:
“The World Trade Organization's top arbitrators upheld a ruling that China is illegally restricting imports of U.S. music, films and books, and Washington pushed forward with a new case accusing China of manipulating the prices for key ingredients in steel and aluminum production.
Monday's verdict by the WTO's appellate body knocked down China's objections to an August decision that came down decisively against Beijing's policy of forcing American media producers to route their business through state-owned companies.
If China fails over the next year to bring its practices in line with international trade law, the U.S. can ask the WTO to authorize commercial sanctions against Chinese goods.”
Go here to read the rest.
In a related news, prior to President Obama’s visit to China, the Wall Street Journal’s Online edition ran this story.
Can you spell irony?
I finally hit the wall today. I can't think of what to say about all of the madness going on in this country right now. I'm a writer...
