Some Snippets Of Silliness
Gary Gerard,
dumbhoosier.com
Perusing the news this week, I found
some things that – for various reasons – were noteworthy.
No, I’m not going to talk about the obvious ones – Secret Service
guys sniffing after hookers in Cartagena and the General Services
Administration hoo haa in Las Vegas. I’m going with some more
obscure, yet equally absurd observations.
According to the Associated Press, The Obama administration is
looking for states that will experiment with unemployment insurance
programs by letting people test a job while still receiving
benefits. Seems the plan is one of the top features of a payroll
tax-cut package the president negotated with congressional
Republicans back in February. AP reports the Labor Department will
open the application process Thursday for 10 model projects across
the country. Any state can apply for the "Bridge to Work" program.
I think this gives America yet one more distinction – the only place
in the world where you can work and draw unemployment at the same
time.
*****
Speaking of President Obama, he was talking at a fundraiser in
Detroit, touting the auto bailout and other parts of his economic
plan when he said this, according to a local Detroit TV station. “When
you decide to support a candidate named Barack Hussein Obama, you
know the odds are not necessarily in your favor. You didn't need a
poll to tell you that wasn't going to be a sure thing. But the
point is, you didn't get involved in this campaign just because of
me. You did it because you were making a commitment to each other.
You had a shared vision for America. It wasn't a vision where just
a few were doing well and everybody else was left to fend for
themselves and play by their own rules. It was a big, bold,
generous vision of America where everybody who works hard has a
chance to get ahead, not just those at the very top. That's the
vision we share. That's the commitment you made to each other. We
knew it wasn't going to be easy. We knew the changes that we
believed in wouldn't necessarily come quickly, but we understood
that if we were determined that we could overcome any obstacle,
that we could beat any challenge. And in just three years, because
of what you did in 2008, we've begun to see what change looks
like. We've begun to see it.” I’m seein’ it all right. I’ve
been seein’ it for three-and-a-half years. Problem is, I’m not
seein’ what he’s seein’. (Please see next item.)
*****
From CNBC: New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than
expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday
that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after
March's slowdown.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 386,000, the Labor Department said. But the
prior week's figure was revised up to 388,000 from the previously
reported 380,000. The four-week moving average for new claims,
considered a better measure of labor market trends, rose 5,500 to
374,750.
"The number suggests that improvement is slowing down," said Subodh
Kumar, chief investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates
in Toronto.
*****
Meanwhile, back in Dearborn, Mich., CBS-62 was reporting that, bomb
sniffing dogs could be seen around Greenfield Village in Dearborn as
officials prepared for President Barack Obama’s visit on Wednesday.
Supporters lined up bright and early to get in the door at The Henry
Ford, including Lonnie Peek, who handed over $1,000 to stand in a
rope line and shake the President’s hand.
“A thousand dollars is a lot of money. But other folks are kickin’
in for their candidates, so what you do is you bite the bullet,”
Peek said. “You wanna have your conscience good, to feel that this
is what I did. “You know, you go without a couple of meals. We can
miss a couple meals,” he said.
As crazy as it is to pay $1,000 for a handshake, I have a question
beyond that. He said “a couple meals.” What’s this guy eating that a
couple meals cost him a thousand bucks?
*****
To depart from all the snarky gloom and doom, I did want to point
out that there is one true, inarguable bright spot in the economy.
Gun sales.
They’re up 66 percent since the beginning of the Great Recession,
providing an unexpected blast for the economy. (Pun fully intended.)
The National Shooting Sports Foundation says firearm sales hit $31
billion in 2011, up from $19 billion in 2008. The increase in sales
also means a 30 percent increase in jobs to 98,750 last year, the
study showed. In addition, the sales accounted for $2.5 billion in
federal taxes in 2011. See, it’s not all bad news.
*****
I live at Dewart Lake and I have noticed, over the years, an
increase in the numbers of swans taking up residence around the
lake.
After reading the following, I am going to say away from them.
AP reports from Des Plains, Ill., that an aggressive swan may have
contributed to the death of a suburban Chicago kayaker who drowned.
Anthony Hensley of Villa Park was pulled from a pond at a Des
Plaines area condominium complex Saturday morning. The medical
examiner's office ruled his death an accident.
Cook County sheriff's spokesman Frank Bilecki says the 37-year-old,
an experienced kayaker, may have paddled too close to a nesting swan
as he checked on the birds. Bilecki says a jogger reported seeing
Hensley fall from the kayak into the water. No one saw any swans
attack him, but witnesses said they saw two birds circling him after
he fell into the water. He went under as he attempted to swim to
shore.
I have windsurfed near those things before. I bet all the while they
were plotting to take me out.
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