Our two highschoolers on the way to school (Elliott Prairie Christian School, Woodburn, Oregon).
Today was Michayla’s first solo drive. (She’s a senior; Andrew, a freshman.)
Historic day.
This and That
Welcome to Today
Some morning headlines, that’s what’s here.
- Cleric: It’s Time for Islamic Financial System
- Iceland shares plunge 76%, officials seek Russian help — Russian help?! 😯
- One dead, thousands flee as fires erupt across California
- I’ll be back, McCain vows — He’s leaving? He left? Is he right?
- U.S. to pump $250 billion into banks — The government has more money than I realized!
- Investors jump into stocks, calmed by bank plans
- US stocks set to extend Monday’s huge rally — And yesterday the Dow Jones was up close to 1000 points!
- Former Fed chief says U.S. now in recession — Fine. Now we don’t have to “worry” about the “coming” recession.
- Funeral industry bucks economic downturn 😯
- Bush Pledge: “Government’s role will be limited and temporary” — How can he pledge that when he’s about to leave office? 🙄
- Nuts on the Loose Alert: ACORN Registers “Mickey Mouse”
- Latest Edition of Web Evangelism Bulletin Just Published
OK, your turn: When you want to read good news, which site(s) do you go to?
DJI in Early Freefall
Original Post Time: 6:52am Pacific; updates below
I stopped by Yahoo! Finance for a quick look-see.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down somewhat over 200 points.
About ten minutes later, I saw this:
Right now it’s at -898.03 — but it’s been bouncing around. I hope everybody involved is well stocked with Dramamine or Bonine!
Update 7:11 am, Pacific
Update 10:55 am, Pacific
Bailout Arrows
Whether or not you’re for the huge bailout that went into law yesterday, I suppose you should know this:
| An Oregon arrow maker suffers slings of outrage
An Oregon company selling a 30-cent shaft for children’s arrows became a bull’s-eye for critics of congressional pork nationwide Friday, when lawmakers eliminated an arcane tax as part of their $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. […] The critics gathered force, and the tiny company based in southern Oregon’s Myrtle Point found itself the surprising flash point for public venting against a bailout package with costs too vast for most citizens to grasp. […] As of Friday, Dishion received more than 100 phone calls, 40 e-mails and hate mail from people across the country, not to mention phone calls from the BBC and mentions on the Bill O’Reilly talk show. […] The flap reveals the misinformation circulating about what the 43-cent tax repeal is really about, according to Jay McAninch, president of the Archery Trade Association. […] The tax became a problem for Rose City and a handful of other companies in 2004, when lawmakers, while trying to correct another problem with the arrow tax, changed a 12 percent tax on all arrows to a flat 43-cent tax on arrow shafts. The tax, which got tacked on to every arrow shaft, goes to fund educational programs put on by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. […] Rose City Archery’s wooden arrow shafts sell for 30 cents. |
Wait a minute. How does that work?
A 43-cent tax on a 30-cent shaft? 😯
“The 43-cent tax took a huge toll on its youth archery business” the above article goes on to say.
No kidding.
Unique Adversaries
After the flirtation came the fatwa:
| With some overly friendly comments to Gov. Sarah Palin at the United Nations, Asif Ali Zardari has succeeded in uniting one of Pakistan’s hard-line mosques and its feminists after a few weeks in office.
A radical Muslim prayer leader said the president shamed the nation for “indecent gestures, filthy remarks, and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt.” Feminists charged that once again a male Pakistani leader has embarrassed the country with sexist remarks. And across the board, the Pakistani press has shown disapproval. |
Muslims and feminists and the press — I wonder how often that axis teams up!
Oh, what did he say to her?
“The whole of America is crazy” — actually, he said more. 🙄
He Fooled Them
“Inflation has certainly been good to one crafty robber.”
That’s the opening line of an interesting news story out of Seattle. Check out the rest of the story: Bank + robber + inner tube + Craigslist — a link title I made up all by myself.