The Deans List
I’ve neglected my blog for too long now.
I thought a post about the the Pack’s glorious victory Saturday would be an appropriate way to kick things off. And before you Carolina fans say “Just wait until basketballs season” - well - just dont say it. Let us enjoy our week of fun. After all - we have to “play” twice in basketball. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to remind us then. Enjoy the photo - it was posted over at StateFans Nation
Unbelievable. I think this all but makes it official. The world series is being delayed to Obama can run his 30 minute “ad”.
The Obama campaign bought time on CBS, NBC and Fox for $1 million per network. In Fox’s case, the deal means pushing back the start time of a potential World Series Game 6 to 8:35 p.m., a condition that was approved by Major League Baseball.
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police are still questioning a 20-year-old woman who said she was robbed and assaulted at an ATM in Bloomfield because of her political views.
Ashley Todd, of College Station, Texas, said she was using an ATM at Liberty Avenue
and Pearl Street just before 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man approached her and put a knife to her throat.
Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the robber took $60 from Todd, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim’s car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using a dull knife to scratch the letter “B” into her face, Richard said.
“She further stated that the male actor approached her from the back again and hit her in the back of her head with an object, she doesn’t know what the object was, causing her to fall to the ground where he continued to punch her and kick her and threaten to ‘teach her a lesson’ for being a McCain supporter,” Richard said.
Richard said the woman refused medical treatment after the assault, which happened outside the view of the bank’s surveillance cameras.
Speaking to Channel 4 Action News on Friday, Richard said they’re still questioning Todd because of some new developments.
“We have learned that the victim’s statement has a few inconsistencies in it and her statement has changed,” said Richard
Richard said Todd now says she isn’t sure if it was a bumper sticker on her car or a campaign button on her jacket that angered the attacker. Richard said Todd added new details to the attack, saying at one point she lost consciousness.
“She also indicated she was sexually assaulted as well. She indicated that when he had her on the ground he put his hand up her blouse and started fondling her. But other than that, she says she doesn’t remember anything else. So we’re adding a sexual assault to this as well,” Richard said.
Police said they gave a polygraph test to Todd, but they aren’t releasing the results.
The robber is described as a dark-skinned black man, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 200 pounds with a medium build, short black hair and brown eyes. The man was wearing dark colored jeans, a black undershirt and black shoes.
New Video:
Raw Interview: Police Spokeswoman Talks to WTAE
The Obama-Biden campaign released a statement, commenting on the attack. The statement said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.”
The McCain-Palin campaign also released a statement saying, “The McCain campaign is aware of the incident involving one of its volunteers. Out of respect, the campaign won’t be commenting. The campaign also confirms that Senator McCain and Governor Palin have both spoken to the woman.”
source:http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/print/17789356/detail.html
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I actually got a forward today that was worth reading…
U.S. Tax System explained in Beer
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. ‘Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10! ”Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man.
‘I only saved a dollar, too.. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I! ”That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man.
‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!
”Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!
‘The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man (the richest) didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.Professor of Economics University of Georgia
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates delayed a $35 billion contest for aerial refueling tankers until the next presidential administration, a decision that may help Boeing Co.’s chances against Northrop Grumman Corp.
The companies were notified this morning, the department said in a statement. The request for bids was withdrawn because there isn’t enough time left by the end of President George W. Bush’s final term in January.
Boeing successfully protested the Air Force’s Feb. 29 decision to award the contract to Northrop and partner European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. Since a draft of new bidding rules was released in August, the Chicago-based planemaker has argued it needs more time to develop a bid based on a larger aircraft than it first submitted. Both companies’ allies in Congress have complained about fairness of the process.
“In the time remaining to us, we can no longer complete a competition that would be viewed as fair and objective in this highly charged environment,” Gates said in the statement.
The delay in effect gives Boeing more time and tosses the decision into the administration of either Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican whose complaints about an earlier tanker plan triggered a probe that sent Pentagon and Boeing officials to jail, or Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat from Boeing’s headquarters state of Illinois. They are their respective parties’ candidates to succeed Bush.
I just read on the N&O’s Under the Dome Blog that Bev Perdue won’t debate Pat McCrory on UNC-TV tommorrow night. I think this is a very weak and defensive move on her part.
Why does her campaign launch all kinds of negative and false attacks against McCrory but is afraid to have a discussion about the issues?
To my knowledge this would be the only debate between the candidates that would air statewide.
How can the person seeking our state’s top position not make this a priority? If she believes she’s the best person for the job and has the best ideas for our state shouldn’t she want this kind of exposure?
I think the answer is obvious. McCrory’s campaign theme: The difference is leadership.
Just in time for the election!
From WRAL.com
N.C. auto insurance rates to drop
Raleigh, N.C. — State Insurance Commissioner Jim Long signed an order Thursday requiring a 16.1 percent reduction in automobile insurance rates and a 11.7 percent reduction in motorcycle liability rates.
The new rates will go into effect Jan. 1.
“After listening to testimony from both sides during the rate hearings in July and August, I found that the Rate Bureau’s request for a 12.9 percent increase just wasn’t warranted,” Long said in a statement. “It’s the largest increase they’ve requested in almost 15 years. I was surprised by the request, especially since last year the bureau filed for no change.”
Under state law, the insurance commissioner sets the maximum allowable rate that auto insurance companies can charge in North Carolina. The state has the sixth-lowest auto insurance rates in the nation.
During recent hearings, an attorney for the Department of Insurance argued that the market for auto insurance had not changed significantly since last year, when companies did not seek a rate increase.
Experts with the department said the Rate Bureau, which represents insurers, used faulty calculations when determining the proposed rate increase. For example, the bureau filing included claims arising from the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility, an entity that insures riskier drivers, even though bureau rates don’t apply to those drivers.
The Rate Bureau can appeal Long order in court and can raise rates while awaiting the the appeals decision. The difference in the ordered rate and the implemented rate must be held in escrow and refunded to policyholders if the bureau loses its appeal.
By Mark Johnson
mjohnson@charlotteobserver.com
The late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms didn’t want his children to squabble over his estate; worried about who would get his desk; kept stamp and coin collections; and, even in death, perpetuated the conservative buzz phrase “death taxes.”
Helms split his estate between his wife and a trust to provide any needed support for his wife, children and grandchildren, according to his will filed in Wake County courts July 16, nearly two weeks after his death. He cautioned his children to cooperate in dividing his estate and asked them to discuss it only among themselves, not with their spouses and children.
“I ask that my children try to be as understanding and tolerant of each other as possible,” Helms wrote, “and to make every effort to avoid disharmony among themselves.”
Helms, a conservative lion and Republican senator from North Carolina for 30 years, died July 4 and left most of the details of his estate up to his children and two executors, grandson Charles Knox Jr. and Wake County commissioner Paul Coble, Helms’ nephew. Helms did specify, though, that if no one in his family wished to use his Senate desk, then it should be given to the Jesse Helms Center Foundation until a family member wishes to use it.
Helms’ wife, Dorothy “Dot” Helms, received his congressional papers, and Coble said Helms already had given a variety of gifts to the Jesse Helms Center in Wingate.
The will, updated in 2002, stipulated that his stamp and coin collections could be sold, with the proceeds added to the estate.
Helms also repeatedly used the term “death taxes” to refer to estate, inheritance and other related taxes, a favorite phrase among conservatives who push to reduce or eliminate such taxes. Helms used it until the end – and after.
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