"TSA workers are leaving Thursday to help Sandy survivors. They'll not only be helping the traveling public, but their fellow TSA screeners who are dealing with the aftermath of a storm in their personal lives. The extra help is needed because of the backlog of passengers the airlines have with all the canceled flights over the past three days, and because many of the TSA screeners in the New York City area can't make it to work." Continue reading →
"Busloads of people were being escorted out, with several residents interviewed saying police and fire officials knocked on their doors, telling them they had five minutes to pack a bag before they had to leave. Residents will be able to return at some point, with police escorts, to gather their belongings. 'Overall, we’re in very very good shape because we have the people in place to do the job at the right time. We’ve pretty much got Seaside on lockdown and that’s what we’ve go to do to make it safe,' Seaside Height Police Chief Thomas Boyd said." Continue reading →
"Crews coming to assist all the way from Alabama’s Decatur Utilities were turned away because they aren’t unionized, despite making the 800-mile jaunt to lend a hand. Left with nothing to do in New Jersey, Moore and other members of the Decatur team are reportedly waiting in Roanaoke, Virginia to see if Seaside Heights authorities will change their mind. Meanwhile, though, millions of residents up and down the East Coast remain without power after a powerful tropical storm downed power lines and flooded streets from North Carolina to New England." Continue reading →
"I’ve had some fun on this blog by comparing moronic government policies in the United States and United Kingdom. In my never-ending search for cheap laughs and juvenile entertainment, I’ve ever turned this into a contest to see which nation has more pathetic and useless bureaucrats. The United Kingdom has some very strong contestants. But as a patriotic American, I’m proud to say that we’re giving the Brits a run for their money. As you can see, the United States is filled with equally stupid and clueless government officials." Continue reading →
"The former mayor of Flint, Mich., Don Williamson, recently set a bronze statue of himself outside his gated home surrounded by six bronze lions, reported Michigan Live. Williamson says the statue itself was made 20 years ago and at one time sat in the building of a company he ran, The Colonel’s Inc., which burned down in 1993 in a suspected arson. His wife imported the lions. Williamson, who now lives in nearby Davison Township, resigned as mayor of Flint soon before his looming defeat in a recall election in 2009." Continue reading →
"There are only two numbers that matter: the amount of money the pension fund will pay out for earned benefits, and the amount of money it has on hand. Between now and 2045, TRS will pay $376.5 billion to retired teachers. It has just $36.3 billion on hand. In order for these assets to cover future payouts, TRS would need to see average investment returns of more than 18.5 percent per year. The simple fact is that TRS is broke. Under new accounting rules, TRS has less than 23 percent of the money it should have in the bank today in order to make its pension payments." Continue reading →
"We are not placing a burden on our children. We are placing a burden on ourselves. The government is borrowing money to pay for the systems. We are therefore raising our level of indebtedness. Our children are not going to be burdened with this; we are going to be burdened with it when the kids get smart enough to pull the plug. They are going to stiff the creditors who have bought Treasury bonds and Treasury bills, and that means the banks that have bought them, the money market funds which have bought them, the retirement funds which have bought them, and anyone else who has bought them, including the central banks of the world." Continue reading →
"As we head into the last few days of the presidential race, we ask Bill Bonner, bestselling author and founder of Agora financial what he thinks the biggest issues on the electoral agenda should be. Considering the problems facing the country took decades to form, can they be easily resolved by the casting of a vote? And what about the debt and the deficit? Both presidential candidates express some concern about the debt, but are either really going to act on those concerns in meaningful ways?" Continue reading →
"Michael Kelly of Clayton, Georgia did what he believed to be his duty as a law-abiding citizen. As a result, he and his wife were arrested and spent two days in jail, and nearly lost custody of their 9-year-old son to the department of child services. Michael Kelly’s family has joined the ever-growing roster of innocent victims who can testify that it is NEVER a good idea to call the police for ANY reason." Continue reading →
"The Moraga School District in Moraga, California alleged that a 12-year-old girl, who suffered prolonged sexual abuse at the hands of two different middle school teachers in the 1990s, was 'negligent,' 'careless' and 'was herself responsible for the acts and damages of which she claims.' Former Joaquin Moraga physical education teacher Julie Correa pleaded guilty to rape and sexual battery of Cunnane over a four-year period beginning in 1996, when Cunnane was an eighth grader. The suit also alleges that Cunnane turned to her science teacher, Daniel Witters, to report the abuse, who in turn molested her." Continue reading →