Architecture In Motion

This is really pretty cool - but not for those who suffer from motion sickness.

Using the building to produce energy from wind is also quite interesting.

And why do we have such innovations?
Capitalism, Entrepreneurial Spirit and the Desire to Solve Problems.
Investors hope to make money on this, and at $3000 per square foot - they probably will.

Saturday Satire - Two For Today

From The Onion...





and this one...





Visit the Teleprompter Blog

CT Unemployment Jumps to 8.8%

The Courant reported today that the CT State Department of Labor reported CT's October unemployment numbers up 8.8% from September's number of 8.4%. (more here)

Septembers job loss total was 6,200, and for the 12 months ending in October, the state has lost 71,100 jobs.

Things may not improve anytime soon. Aetna said yesterday it is now eliminating 160 Connecticut jobs and will lay off more by March.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in October. Of the 15.7 million Americans who are currently jobless, nearly 36 percent, or 5.6 million, have been unemployed for six months or more.

With an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent, Connecticut now has the dubious distinction of being classified by the federal government among the "high unemployment states."

That makes the state's jobless workers eligible to receive up to 93 weeks of unemployment benefits, under an extension approved by Congress earlier this month.

If the jobless rate averages 8.5 percent over three months, the extension provides an additional six weeks of benefits for a total of 99 weeks -- the current three-month average is about 8.4 percent, said Salvatore DiPillo, the state's labor statistics supervisor.

Where exactly are those green shoots we have heard so much about?

Town Will Photograph Every Vehicle Entering And Leaving

The Tiburon Town Council (a northern suburb of San Francisco) voted on Wednesday by 4 to 0 to install cameras to photograph every single car that enters or leaves in order to "make the community safer". Funny thing is that the town doesn't enjoy high crime figures. The idea is to photograph the license plates of every car that travels Tiburon's roads and compare the information with the police's list of the stolen and suspicious vehicles.

It is on a peninsula, from which there are only two roads. Luckily for them, it won't be too costly to install a few cameras.

One might ask: Don't people have the right to move around WITHOUT being monitored by the government at all times?

Probably not.

Fight technology with technology.

One could get one of these license plate photo shields.

End The Fed Rallies - November 22nd

End The Fed Rallies are happening at every Federal Reserve office across the nation this weekend - (Here is a map and addresses and other info) Closer to CT one will be in Boston at 600 Atlantic Avenue and the other in New York City at the NYC Federal Reserve building at 33 Liberty Street. Rally in New York City starts at Noon and ends at 3:00PM. For details of all cities.. go here.








Americans Deserve a Transparent Fed - by Ron Paul and Jim DeMint

For nearly a century the Federal Reserve has operated in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of Congress, journalists and the American people. Created in 1913, the Fed was given enormous responsibility to protect the value of our currency. Yet in the last 96 years the U.S. dollar has lost more than 95% of its purchasing power. The Fed's unprecedented actions over the past year in attempting to stabilize the financial system have now forced it into the spotlight, and caused millions of people around the country to question the opacity of the Fed's financial transactions....

No matter how direct the questions are, Fed chairmen answer with a vagueness common to bureaucrats. The whole process is window dressing for public consumption, not any sort of attempt to exercise oversight or gain any real insight into the Fed's actions.

What is needed is a full audit of the Fed, something that has never happened. We need to know who the Fed is giving money to, what types of securities are being purchased and what backs those securities, how much money is being paid for those securities, etc. ...( read more here. WSJ)

Audit the Fed - End the Fed.

Keep It? Or Toss It?

Still Tasty is an excellent website about food and its shelf life.

It supplies you with answers to questions like:

- Is Frozen Turkey still good after 6 months?
- How Long Will Thawed Ground Beef Remain Safe?
- Is it OK to Put Hot Food Directly Into the Fridge?
- Are Eggs Still Safe After the Expiration Date?

Check it out, and see if that fruitcake you got 5 years ago is still safe to eat or if that Bloody Mary mix that you have had in the liquor cabinet will still taste ok.

Best of all - it gives a real thorough explanation of expiration dates and what they mean.



(H/T Leann S.)

Barter Exchange Networks

I found this over at the AOCS Website and thought that I'd share it with you.

Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (i.e. without the use of money).

It's interesting to me that there are many barter networks set up. Some have been around for quite awhile. People buy what they need and sell what they want without using Federal Reserve Notes (which are becoming increasingly worth less in value).
So here is a sampling of what's out there:

ITEX

"ITEX is the leading marketplace for cashless business transactions. Put your cash and credit cards away and buy and sell using ITEX dollars! With ITEX dollars, money will never be the same."

Green Apple

"Green Apple has been in business for more than 17 years and has managed over $500,000,000 in barter transactions. No more one-on-one direct trades, where you must take back from the business that bought from you. Green Apple serves as a clearinghouse for its members' transactions as well as a marketing agent for their businesses, generating new business for its members. Green Apple is your partner in business."

Midwest Business Exchange

"SouthWest Michigan's premier local barter exchange."

IMS Barter Network and Trade Exchange

"Since its inception in 1985, IMS has continued to expand its membership roster by way of acquisitions and a strong program of internal growth. As a result, the company now serves a client base of more than 18,000 business and professional people. By exhibiting a high level of integrity and solid reliability, International Monetary Systems has earned a great degree of respect and has developed a reputation as a dominant player in the barter industry."

American Exchange Network

"The American Exchange Network (AMX) is one of the leading companies in the business to business trade industry. Established in 1982, today AMX has affiliates around the world with a trading network of thousands of companies worldwide. AMX is affiliated with both the National Association of Trade Exchanges and the International Reciprocal Trade Association."

There's an upcoming Barter Expo in New England in December.

Exchanging goods and services has always been around - and indeed we see it on Craigslist and other sites. So if you are short on cash - you might still be able to barter for things especially if you have a skill like designing websites or cutting hair or doing landscaping.

Barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, when the currency is unstable and devalued by hyperinflation.

Just thought you should know.

Geography Of A Recession

Pretty amazing flashplayer movie of the progression of this recession based on unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Thanks to flashplayer movie creator Latoya Egwuekwe)

The maps don't take into account the latest 10.2 figures, but the progression shown in the movie linked above is quite sobering.

The Employment Situation for November 2009 is scheduled to be released on December 4, 2009, at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.


(H/T Ricky G.)

Peter Schiff - Gold & Silver Surge, Dollar Falls, Obama In Asia

Schiff continues to speak common sense.
I hope you will support his campaign with the money bomb.


Tiny Mauritius Tells US To Shove Its Dollar, Buys 2 Metric Tons Of Gold From IMF At $1,115 An Ounce

The International Monetary Fund announced Monday it has sold two tons of gold to the central bank of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius for nearly $72 million.

The sale came as gold prices surged Monday to an all-time high of $1,136.72 per ounce.

- This is not a gold/silver bubble. This is flight from the US Dollar.... and it's just the beginning.

700 Sent Off To Iraq From CT

CT Army National Guard deploying 700

Hartford (AP) - Two units of the Connecticut Army National Guard are sending 700 soldiers to the Middle East in the largest single deployment of Connecticut guard members since the Korean War.

A send-off ceremony is being held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on Sunday afternoon. Gov. M. Jodi Rell is scheduled to attend.

Rell's office says the 102nd Infantry will help train Afghanistan's Army, police and border police forces. Its units are located in Norwalk, Manchester, New Britain, Branford and Southington.

The departing troops also include members of the 250th Engineer Company of New London. Their job will be to ensure safe routes for troops on the move in Iraq.

Wait... wasn't Obama supposed to bring troops home and end the war?




...Take that to the bank, yeah huh.... Which bank - the Federal Reserve?
or maybe one of the ones that went belly up this year.(123 so far in 2009)

So how's that Hope and Change working out for ya?
What a pity those 700 won't be spending the holidays with their families.

I pray they all come home safe and sound.

Oba-Mao

Reuters

and this from CNN:





Hah! "The shirt might offend him"... Are you kidding me? A Maoist like Obama would welcome that kind of glorification. He will probably buy one for each member of the White House staff and force them all to wear it under their uniforms.


Communist Capitalists.. now that's Change we can believe in.

Obama Bows Down Again

And before anyone says this was a cultural gesture ... No other world leaders bow to Emperor Akihito. Are all those other leaders lacking respect for Akihito? I think not.
In a proper cultural meaning that gesture would have been simultaneously returned.
It wasn't.
And for men, the hands are at the sides.
This bow wasn't even executed properly in accordance with Japanese custom.

OK - here's the full video...




By subordinating himself to other world leaders, this U.S. President has damaged the prestige of the office he holds and of the country. The press in other countries are now running stories with headlines calling him the Groveller-in Chief.


Obama did not bow to Queen Elizabeth. Michelle patted her on the back though. (hint: You don't touch the Queen)

He bowed to the Saudi King Abdullah.

Maybe Obama just grovels before people who buy our debt.


"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

The US President should bow down to NO ONE.