While I wait for tomorrow’s test to finish copying, I thought I’d share a sign posted on the bulletin board Need an anatomy and physics book?
Used 210/211 anatomy and physicology with cat manuel. Very good condition. I only used it two weeks las semester.
A real bargain, since it includes a cat from Barcelona!
The road between Cate’s daycare and our house has been under construction for some time, since a new bridge over the highway is being built. So Cate sees a lot of earth movers, bulldozers, and so forth – and has become quite fascinated with them. She comments every day on the “tractors” and how much she likes them.
She also likes my computer. And if I let her use my Ebay account, I’m sure that she would probably do this:
A New Zealand couple nearly found themselves in a financial hole when their three-year-old daughter bought an earthdigger in an internet auction.
The child, Pipi Quinlan, was trying out her online skills while her parents were asleep in bed.
As Cate would say: “I want one tractor! For me!”
April unemployment data has been released, and South Carolina again ranks third in the nation in unemployment at 11.5%. Only Michigan (12.9%) and Oregon (12.0%) fared more poorly than we.
The State notes that our seasonally adjusted unemployment is a new record for South Carolina – highest since recording started in 1976.
When does this become a “depression” rather than a “recession”?
The comments on that The State link above are interesting.
Comments from The State's article
Right away we have a couple of folks blaming Obama for South Carolina’s economic woes, while at the same time our Governor is adamant about refusing any help from the Obama administration. He’s so adamant about this that he’s filed a lawsuit about it.
Perhaps someone can educate me. How is our state government’s refusal to accept help from the Obama administration Obama’s fault?
(Crossposted to Indigo Journal diary…)
The Morning News has an interesting way of describing what we need to do to get our rates of teen pregnancy under control:
South Carolina spends $3.8 million on teen pregnancy prevention. Much of it has gone to programs focused only on abstinence. Though abstinence is part of the solution, it must be combined with reality-based sex education.
Emphasis mine. Abstinence-only sex ed versus “reality-based” sex ed is a nice way of putting it. It at least admits what our real problem is … abstinence-only sex ed isn’t actually sex ed at all. It wastes resources without getting us much in return.
Here’s the quote of the day, from South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford. He’s talking about the stimulus money and his battle with the legislature over taking it and using it:
“The logical question would be then ‘Why have a governor?’” Sanford asked. “I think it’s a big deal and has far-reaching implications. Let’s see how the House and Senate votes and what the people of South Carolina say on this.”
Good question. Many South Carolinians are probably asking themselves this question right now – as our Governor continues to polish his “fiscal conservative” credentials for a Presidential bid while South Carolina’s unemployment creeps up .
Of course, we didn’t learn our lesson in 2006, when we had this guy as governor:
But a growing chorus of critics, including leaders of his own G.O.P., fear that his thrift has brought the state’s economy to a standstill. This summer, Standard & Poor’s lowered South Carolina’s coveted AAA-bond rating to AA+, citing unemployment of 6.3% and a per capita income ($27,172) stuck in the nation’s bottom fifth. The state had just lost its bid for a $500 million Airbus plant; [he] was widely accused of making a miserly effort to lure the aerospace giant. Business leaders are losing patience with [his] vetoes of budget items like trade centers and tourism marketing. Even G.O.P. bosses charge that he is worse at economic development than at grandstanding
… and put him right back in the Governor’s mansion.
(The quoted paragraph from Time cites data from 2005. Remember when 6 or so percent unemployment was bad, and an unemployment rate of 11% meant that your state had been wiped out by a natural disaster? My, how times change…)
Crossposted to Indigo Journal…
Fort Sumter (public domain image from Wikipedia)
Not willing to let Rick Perry steal all the secessionist glory, some folks in South Carolina are getting in on the act.
Conservative groups are calling on South Carolina legislators to pass a measure asserting state sovereignty.
The resolution declares South Carolina has the right to ignore any federal law or policies it deems unconstitutional. It notes the 10th Amendment gives all powers not delegated to the federal government to states.
That sounds a little like this:
The people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, on the 26th day of April, A.D., 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States, fully justified this State in then withdrawing from the Federal Union; but in deference to the opinions and wishes of the other slaveholding States, she forbore at that time to exercise this right. Since that time, these encroachments have continued to increase, and further forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
How well did that work out for us lsat time, hmm?
(Or perhaps this is more like the Ordinance of Nullification in 1832
We, therefore, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, […] are unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens; and all promises, contracts, and obligations, made or entered into, or to be made or entered into, with purpose to secure the duties imposed by said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held utterly null and void.
… which didn’t work out so well for South Carolina, either.)
It would be really nice, though, if conservatives would stop talking treason just because they’re upset that their last president tanked the economy and their last presidential candidate (unsurprisingly) didn’t win the next election.
Saw this link on Slashdot:
A red digital display counts down the “Study Time Left” and the device beeps and unlocks when the time expires.
The prison-style device weighs 9.5 kg (21 pounds), making it difficult to move while wearing it.
Incentive to study, or S&M toy? You be the judge.
The Study Ball
The retailer doesn’t mention it in the ad, but I have to wonder … does it explode if you try to take it off?
We took Cate to Myrtle Beach for the day last Saturday.
Welcome to the ocean
It was the opening weekend for the new Star Trek film. It was also the oipening weekend for the Harley-Davidson bike rally. A thought occurred to me:
Is there any significant difference between grown men who dress up like Klingons to go to a Star Trek convention and grown men who drees up in leather to go to a Harley Davidson bike rally?
Kellie forwarded me this news story and I thought I should pass it on: Restaurant Customer Shot After Complaining.
A South Carolina restaurant employee has been arrested and accused of shooting a customer who complained about the service.
[…]
Deputies said [the employee] worked at a Waffle House restaurant in Manning and was involved in a fight about 4:30 a.m. Sunday.
So what’s the moral of this story?
An armed society is a polite society?
Hmm. That doesn’t quite seem to fit.
Don’t complain about the service at a Waffle House?
Nope. Still needs work.
Never, ever go to a Waffle House.
Perfect!