Comerica Bank Must Be In Trouble

What's Wrong With Comerica Bank?

Apple's Snow Leopard Update Zaps
Bugs, Kills Hackintosh Netbooks
Daniel Ionescu, PC World
Nov 10, 2009 9:22 am

On Monday Apple released an update to its Snow Leopard operating system (10.6.2) that fixes flaws, including one that wipes out a user’s personal data.
The Snow Leopard 10.6.2 update addresses over 100 general fixes, 43 being security related. One of those fixes addresses the highly publicized bug that wipes out users’ home folders when logging in with a guest account. This is the second update since Snow Leopard was released at the end of August.

Former Task Force Chief Rattner Slams Wagoner
BUSINESSWEEK.com
The Auto Beat
Posted by: David Welch on October 22

Former Treasury Department auto task force chief Steve Rattner took off the gloves in his assessment of fired General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner.

… Rattner said in his own narrative of the auto bailout that he and his team found at GM “perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company.” That should be the last thing they discovered at GM given that Wagoner and many of his very top reports came from GM’s New York treasury office or were, at the least, finance guys by training.

… He wrote: “Certainly Rick and his team seemed to believe that virtually all of their problems could be laid at the feet of some combination of the financial crisis, oil prices, the yen-dollar exchange rate, and the UAW.” Wagoner made that case repeatedly and many in the organization took it to heart. GM had excuses for not succeeding and they came right down from the top. Rattner also wrote that he found a tone of “friendly arrogance” from Wagoner. That was what did Wagoner in. He opposed the idea of bankruptcy, which the task force and its advisors thought was an option that needed to be seriously considered. And if Wagoner thought GM’s problems were inherited, and the union, oil prices and the yen were to blame, then he surely wasn’t the CEO to bring in real change.

The truth is that the UAW did not hesitate to come to the party with concessions and total co-operation. The Wall Street bond holders were the bad guys, and refused to make any concessions at all until threatened by Washington, and specifically called out by President Obama.

What’s Wrong With Michigan?

Last night Detroit TV station, Channel 7 ABC reported on the State of Michigan Budget negotiations now ongoing. The Legislature is refusing to raise any taxes, so that means cutting somewhere, and the usual target is Education.

Channel 7 News at 5:30 read two comments from viewers. The first comment was that if the educators had been doing a better job of educating our children, the State would have a surplus. [logic???] The second comment was that the first place to cut spending should be education, and that our teachers are overpaid.

This is a general opinion of Education in Michigan, where:

MICHIGAN HOUSE OK’S SKIPPING ALGEBRA II IN HIGH SCHOOL

(AP) -- Lansing, Mich. - Michigan high school students could skip algebra II and still graduate under legislation approved by the state House.

Lawmakers voted 97-10 Wednesday to pass the bill, which now goes to the Senate.

It likely will face opposition from [Democratic] Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has said she doesn't want to water down Michigan's tough high school graduation standards.

This is the same State where Mitt Romney campaigned for the 2008 Republican Primary, telling us that you shouldn’t need a college education to get a good job. He also said he could fix the automobile industry and put us all back to work if elected President. Mitt won the primary here.

Michigan must be an attractive State for high-tech companies, with stone-age work force and great schools for their kids. Then there’s the roads…

Somali Pirates Mistake French Military Vessel for Commercial Ship
Wednesday, October 07, 2009 Associated Press

PARIS — Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

Thong-Wearing Florida Biker Agrees to Cover Up in Future
Wednesday, October 07, 2009 Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Tallahassee man known for riding his bike in a thong has avoided prosecution for reportedly exposing himself and agreed to cover up in the future.
Irby had been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. A Tallahassee police officer who responded to a mobile home park on Aug. 17 was told that a resident saw Irby walking around in a thong with his genitals exposed. Days later, the mobile home park office manager said two others had reported exposure incidents. Irby told the Tallahassee Democrat Monday the he now has bicycle shorts that come down to just above his knees.

Mom in minivan tasered twice in Salina traffic stop; camera captures deputy's rough roadside arrest
By John O'Brien/The Post Standard
August 13, 2009, 3:33AM

In January, an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy pulled over Audra Harmon, who had two of her kids with her in her minivan. A routine traffic stop escalated quickly.
The deputy, Sean Andrews, accused her of talking on her cell phone. She said she could prove him wrong.
He said she was speeding. She denied it and got out of the van. He told her to get back in. She did, then he ordered her back out.
He yanked her out by the arm, knocked her down with two Taser shots and charged her with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His rationale on the disorderly conduct charge: She obstructed traffic when she got out of the van. The speeding accusation: going 50 mph in a 45-mph zone.The scene along Hopkins Road in Salina on the afternoon of Jan. 31 was captured by a camera on the dashboard of Andrews' patrol car. Harmon, 38, says the video is proof of police brutality.

TWO U.S. policemen fired for tasering 76-year-old tractor driver
Digital Journal - Published Sep 24, 2009 by Stefanie Dearing

Senior citizen Bud Grose was chased and tasered -- five different times -- by two Wyoming police officers on August 1. The investigation has just concluded with the firing of the two officers.

The small town of Glenrock, Wyoming was shocked and horrified after one of its residents was chased and tasered by police during an annual celebration of community arts and life this past summer. It was nearing the end of the Deer Creek Days annual parade held on Aug. 1 when two officers chased and tasered senior citizen, Bud Grose. Grose was driving an antique tractor in the parade, when one of the officers, Michael Kavenius, issued Grose with an order.

When Grose did not comply, there was a short chase by the officers and Grose was subsequently tasered five times by Kavenius. The other officer on duty, Paul Brown, had also engaged in the chase.

California cops use stun gun twice on unarmed amputee

Internal Affairs Investigating California Police Use of Stun Gun Twice On Unarmed, Legless Man
Merced Sun-Star, www.mercedsun-star.com
September 21st, 2009

MERCED, Calif. — A California man whose legs are amputated says police used a stun gun on him twice and violently manhandled him even though he was unarmed.

Williams and witnesses say officers tasered the wheelchair-bound man twice, then left him handcuffed with his pants down on the sidewalk in broad daylight. Williams spent six days in jail before prosecutors said they lacked evidence to charge him.

GM OFFERS MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

So, GM is going to “guarantee car buyers that if they don't like their new Chevrolet, GMC, Buick or Cadillac, they have 60 days to bring it back for a full refund”.

What a F___ing joke. GM would never honor a guarantee or warranty of any kind in the past, so this new ploy means absolutely nothing. As in the past, once it’s out the door you’re on your own.

My wife’s Chevrolet Blazer is an example of that. Delivered with engine cylinder block full of core sand, the entire cooling system had to be replaced three times. And it is now on the fifth radiator. Five radiators? Cost me thousands of dollars, and the dealer and the factory rep offered no help at all. Just argued that all this was a maintenance issue. Same vehicle had the entire air-conditioning system replaced two times, the rear axle fail and need to be rebuilt, the ball joints replaced (because the dealer failed to lube the uppers). We were stranded at night when the front end collapsed. Nice. Gives you real confidence. Blazer had no hard service, just driven to tennis and bridge at the club a few times a week by a 70-year old woman.

We are happy with our new Mercury Mariner hybrid. A really nice car, years ahead of the Blazer in every way, and the dealer is courteous - a visit to the dealer is actually a pleasant experience.
No more GM.

AT&T Again

Service?

My landline AT&T phone has been out three times in the last month. The first time took six days before anyone showed up, the second a couple of days, and the third time it was fixed the next day – a Sunday.

This is in Ann Arbor, Michigan - not out in the sticks somewhere.

Don't Tell Anyone, But...

GOPers Decrying ‘Socialized Medicine” Go To Government Hospitals For Surgeries
Sam Stein, HuffPost Reporting

Republicans in Congress have raised the specter of a bloated, "socialized," bureaucrat-run nightmare of a health care system as a means of undermining the White House's effort at a systematic overhaul. And yet, when medical crisis hit close to home, many of these same officials turned to a government-run hospital for their own intensive care and difficult surgeries.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who warned that "a government takeover of health care" would "take away the care that people already have and are perfectly satisfied with." In its place, the senator said, would be "a system in which care and treatment will be either delayed or denied."
That was July 2009. In February 2003, McConnell actually went to one of those government-run institutions for a procedure of his own. The Kentucky Republican traveled to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to have an elective coronary artery bypass surgery after it had been revealed that he had arterial blockages.

Also known as Bethesda Naval Hospital, the National Naval Medical Center is the premier branch of the United States Navy's system of medical centers -- as in, the government runs it. It's also the place where elected officials of all ideological stripes and political branches often go get surgery performed.

Indeed, members of Congress pay an annual fee for the privilege of getting treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital or, for that matter, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It is, as longtime Democrat Martin Frost wrote for Politico, "like belonging to an HMO." Only, in these cases, the surgery is conducted at a public facility.

None of this has stopped some of the same officials who have taken advantage of this congressional perk from railing against the intrusiveness and inefficiencies of a health care system with greater government involvement.

Senator John McCain, (R-Ariz.) for instance, recently applauded the town hall protesters who were, in his words, revolting "against a government-run health system." That was August 2009. In May of 2000, McCain had surgery at the Bethesda Naval Hospital to remove a potentially lethal melanoma from his left temple.

Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo.), meanwhile, has warned of the rationing of care, expensive costs, and reduced quality that would come under a government-run health care plan. In April 2003, however, he traveled to Bethesda Naval Hospital to undergo hip replacement surgery in an attempt to alleviate degenerative arthritis in his left hip.

Senator George Voinovich, (R-Ohio), has declared that a "bureaucratic Washington-run government plan is not the answer" to the nation's health care needs. In June 2003, the Ohio Republican went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to have a pacemaker installed.

Toyota Will Cut Domestic Production as Sales Plummet

By Tetsuya Komatsu and Makiko Kitamura
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg)

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, plans its first long-term closure of a domestic assembly line as car sales in the country fall to the lowest in more than 30 years.
Toyota, which cut domestic production 49 percent through June, will reduce output by about 220,000 vehicles by shutting down a line at its Takaoka plant from the fiscal first quarter of next year through the second half of calendar year 2011.
Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, earlier this month forecast a net loss of 450 billion yen ($4.8 billion) for the year ending in March. Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who took the helm in June, is slashing costs as he tries to avoid a third consecutive year of losses.
“Toyota is desperate to cut costs,” said Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive officer of Fukoku Capital Management Inc. in Tokyo. “The company needs to stop building unpopular and unprofitable cars.”

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, is also forecasting a second straight loss of 170 billion yen this fiscal year.

Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest, forecasts a 55 billion yen profit, helped by its motorcycle business.

Toyota’s sales in Japan fell 23 percent through July. Honda’s domestic sales declined 12 percent in the same period, and Nissan’s dropped 22 percent.

Japan’s exports fell for a 10th straight month in July as demand from all of the nation’s major markets deteriorated. Shipments tumbled 36.5 percent from a year earlier, steeper than June’s 35.7 percent drop, the Finance Ministry said today in Tokyo.
Toyota also plans to shut a joint-venture factory in California with General Motors Co., according to people familiar with the plan. GM said in June it would end assembly of Pontiac Vibes at the plant, where Toyota builds Corolla compacts and Tacoma pickup trucks.

CHINESE ENGINEER KILLS SELF OVER LOST '4G' IPHONE

From USA TODAY
ON DEADLINE
7-22-09

A Chinese worker killed himself after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for disappeared.

The 25-year-old engineer, Sun Danyong, who worked for Foxconn, jumped from a 12-story building last week. A Chinese newspaper reported that his property had been seized and that he was held in solitary confinement, where he faced "unbearable interrogation techniques" for having lost one of 16 "4G" prototypes.

Foxconn apologized, but questioned reports that police beat Sun.

Apple issued a statement this afternoon. A spokeswoman said the Silicon Valley firm is "saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death. We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."

Reminds me of a widely reported incident about fifteen years ago when a Chinese refrigerator plant had a ‘quality’ problem, and took seven workers out the back of the plant and shot them. One of the workers was only seventeen years old and had only worked there for a few days.
No more refrigerator quality problems.

Florida Will Save the Day

Florida lawmakers weigh tax break for yachts and planes
As state lawmakers pinch pennies to balance the budget, they also consider a tax break on boats and planes that would benefit the wealthy
BY ALEX LEARY
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- At the same time lawmakers are slashing the state budget, considering laying off dozens of government workers and increasing fees and taxes, they are also pushing a break for the richest Floridians.
A bill moving through the Legislature would cap the sales tax on boats and planes at $25,000. It's being called the Aviation and Maritime Full Employment Act.

''The bill does exactly what the name suggests: It is designed to create jobs and spur economic growth,'' Rep. Tom Grady said before a House panel voted Tuesday to advance the proposal.

But the move comes as lawmakers have agonized over closing existing sales tax exemptions to help plug a $3 billion budget hole -- an exercise that has all but been abandoned.

''It's ridiculous,'' said Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando. We're talking about increasing the cost of a driver's license and other fees and now we're going to hand out tax breaks to those who can afford yachts and planes? People would be outraged.''

Now It's Boats and Yachts

Luxury boat builder Tiara Yachts lays off 300 due to slow sales
by Julia Bauer The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday February 26, 2009, 9:48 AM

Holland, Michigan -- Luxury boat builder Tiara Yachts will lay off 300 of its 400 employees for at least a month.

"It's the economy that is largely to blame," said Dave Walsh, director of marketing. "We need 30 days to allow sales activity to catch up with production. We hope that it will."

The temporary layoffs follow a series of permanent cuts last year, when 300 jobs were eliminated. This round is different, Walsh said.
"Based on the slowdown in business, we hope to call all of them back," he said.

Tiara's remaining skeleton crew includes office workers for customer support, and some production workers to complete parts already under way.
The latest layoffs and a steep drop in demand comes after several years of expansion for the Holland company, which invested more than $20 million since 2005 and once employing nearly 800.

Maine boat builders laying off workers Yard owners say buyers have cash, but not eager to let it go in face of uncertain national economy
by Dieter Bradbury Portland Press Herald

Maine's builders of luxury boats are laying off workers and struggling to diversify in the face of a recession that has softened demand for high-end yachts and powerboats.

Sabre Yachts has laid off about 100 people, or half the work force at its boatyards in Casco and Rockland, since November, a company official said Tuesday.

Hinckley Yachts, one of Maine's signature boatbuilders, announced last week that it was laying off 26 workers and might have to shut down its production operation in Trenton if conditions don't improve.

At Lyman-Morse Boatbuilders in Thomaston, the company is investigating blade construction for wind turbines and other projects related to alternative energy, in order to enhance revenue.

Others say their yards are keeping busy on the strength of orders placed before the economy crumbled, but many are casting a nervous eye to the future.

"There's still a lot of people out there with a fair amount of money," said Frank Hull, vice president at Brooklin Boat Yard. "They just don't want to spend it."

Maine has about 70 boatyards that build a diverse array of commercial and recreational vessels, ranging from tugboats and lobster boats to ocean-going yachts and motorcraft.

Anxiety Is Up as Orders Fall at [New Jersey] Boatyards
New York Times, New Jersey Edition
By DUNSTAN A. MCNICHOL
Published: April 3, 2009

“We’re planning on 40 percent less product,” Andrew Davala, a Viking vice president, said recently. “And we’re keeping the lines going at a slower pace.”

Viking, the state’s biggest boat builder, now has a payroll of 800, down from 1,360 a year ago, Mr. Davala said.

Orders for medium-sized boats, the 46-foot to 68-foot models that sell for about $1 million apiece, are off so sharply that Viking is running its production line for those boats at half speed through the summer, he said.

The boat yards at Viking and other New Jersey boat builders, once symbols of the state’s booming economy, are now piling up with unsold inventory, where the gleaming new boats have suddenly turned into million-dollar bellwethers of financial collapse.

In January, Viking and another yacht maker, Silverton Marine in Millville, announced plans to lay off or furlough 742 workers by the end of March. The boatyard cutbacks were two of the three largest layoffs reported to the State Department of Labor in January.

In the last 18 months New Jersey boat builders have eliminated about 1,000 jobs, a microcosm of the surge in joblessness that pushed New Jersey’s unemployment rate to 8.2 percent last month, higher than the national rate for the first time in many years.

“It hurts us, but it hurts everybody,” said John Foster, 43, who was furloughed in February, joining more than 500 other Viking workers let go since last summer in the face of a collapse in yacht sales. “I don’t have any bitter things to say about Viking; they held off as long as they could.”

In nearby Weekstown, Ocean Yachts has been bleeding jobs for two years, said the general manager, John Leek IV. In that time Ocean’s staff has dwindled from 130 to just 50 employees.

What's Going On?

What’s Going On?

Ford outsold Toyota in the U.S. last month. Buick topped Lexus in J.D. Power and Chevy Malibu was top rated mid-size over Honda and Toyota, but nobody notices...
The real shame is G.M. getting rid of Pontiac. The Pontiac G8 is the neatest car on the road today. Just a beautiful machine inside and out. And real performance too. I should buy one while they are still available.

Ford outsells Toyota

Ford outsells Toyota as auto sales drops go on
BY JEWEL GOPWANI • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 2, 2009

Ford Motor Company turned the tables on Toyota Motor Co. in April, outselling Japan's largest automaker in monthly sales for the first time in more than a year.

Ford, which has been promoting itself as the "different" American automaker that is surviving without federal assistance, sold 129,476 cars and trucks in April. Toyota sold 126,540.

For the year, Ford sales are still about 46,000 vehicles behind Toyota. But Ford is benefiting from its new Fusion hybrid and gasoline-powered models, which Ford is billing as "America's most fuel-efficient mid-sized sedan."

Toyota reported the second-largest decline, with sales falling 42%, as popular models struggled.
April sales of the once-popular Toyota Prius hybrid declined 61.5%, compared with the same month a year ago, when gas prices were at least $1 higher. Sales of the Camry, usually the nation's best-selling passenger car, fell 37%.Across the U.S. auto industry, meanwhile, light-vehicle sales fell 34.4% in April, compared with the same month last year. That was the 18th consecutive month of declines. For the year, U.S. new-vehicle sales are now off 37.4%.

J.D. Power reliability study

Jaguar, Buick Dethrone Lexus in Reliability Study
By Dan Strumpf

NEW YORK (AP) — Jaguar and Buick surged to the top of J.D. Power and Associates' closely watched vehicle dependability study this year, tying for the No. 1 spot and dethroning Lexus for the first time since the Japanese luxury brand has been a part of the survey.
Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.'s luxury brand, took the next spot in the study released Thursday, followed by Toyota's namesake brand, then Mercury, Infiniti and Acura.

"Buick and Jaguar both lead the industry in nameplate performance," said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power. "In terms of individual model performance, Lexus and Toyota still do very, very well."

The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Suzuki owners reported the most problems among the 37 brands assessed by J.D. Power.
General Motors Corp.'s Buick LaCrosse was J.D. Power's top midsize car, while Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand took two awards. Chrysler LLC, which took no segment awards last year, won top honors for its Dodge Caravan in the van segment.

Arizona Cuts Spending

Lawmakers question budget-cutting tactics
by Mary Jo Pitzl - Feb. 22, 2009 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic
Hundreds of state workers have lost their jobs and hundreds more have been sent home without pay to cope with the state budget deficit.
Child Protective Services workers are bracing for larger caseloads, while parents with disabled children have been cut off from services. Meal deliveries for shut-ins and the elderly are dwindling.
Budget cuts being carried out this month have forced the immediate closure of state parks and sparked talk of shutting down university campuses. And that's just the beginning.
Lawmakers three weeks ago closed the $1.6 billion deficit, largely by making lump-sum cuts to state agencies. They said they trusted agency directors, with their intimate knowledge of state programs, to make the specific cuts.

In other words, you figure out where to cut spending…but do it.

Auto Companies

G.M. is about to fail. The Saab unit is being cut loose for the Swedish government to save if they want to. Saab is not important to G.M. On the other hand, the German government has been moving to take over Opel for a while now. G.M. has owned Opel since 1928-1930, and Opel is a key component of GM. Opel does V6 engine development, and the Opel platform is used throughout GM. The Cadillac CTS uses an Opel platform and engine. Vauxhall in England is also part of that mix. Look for the Germans to take Opel.

Chrysler is done too. Maybe the U.S. Government will make a new company out of GM and Chrysler. That would be bad for GM, and be doing a favor for Cerberus and Daimler AG.

The Economy and GOP Politics

Looks like Obama will be a one-term President. Difficult times. What a mess. No President in history has done so much in the first few days and weeks. Tried to be bipartisan, but the Republicans are doing everything they can to make him fail. Rush Limbaugh was criticized for announcing that he wanted Obama to fail, but that has become the strategy. Obama brings top economic and corporate minds to Washington to plan the stimulus program, and the Republican politicians won’t help. A F******* Senator from Alabama knows more than Paul Voelker, Larry Summers, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Immelt. A lot of individual Congressmen probably would like to vote in favor, but if they did, the GOP will run and fund another Republican against them in the next primary. That's how it works.

News From Arizona - No Tax Increases

3 more state parks on chopping block
Panel to debate closing 11 recreation areas on Friday
by Matthew Benson - Feb. 19, 2009 12:00 AM, The Arizona Republic
Three additional state parks have joined a list of eight that may close due to state budget cuts: Tonto Natural Bridge, Red Rock and Jerome State Historic Park.
With the three parks, which drew nearly 230,000 combined visitors last year, there are 11 that could close - some as early as next week - after a Friday decision by the Arizona State Parks Board. Park closures and reduced park hours are among a variety of options being considered as the state Parks Department grapples with nearly $35 million that was cut or swept from the agency's budget in fiscal 2009, including $27 million in cuts and fund sweeps approved by legislators and Gov. Jan Brewer late last month.

39 Republicans give their pledge not to raise taxes
by Mary Jo Pitzl - Feb. 19, 2009 12:00 AM, The Arizona Republic
At least 39 of Arizona's 90 lawmakers have signed the State Taxpayer Protection Pledge promoted by Americans for Tax Reform.
That means they have promised to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes," according to the pledge.
The number is significant in light of Gov. Jan Brewer's trial balloon for a temporary tax hike to carry the state through tough budget times. These members, arguably, would be bound by their pledge not to vote for a tax increase, or to refer it to the voters for a decision.

Republicans pledge not to refer a tax increase to the voters for a decision? Government for the people…

Goodby Number Six

'Prisoner' actor Patrick McGoohan dies in LA

By ANDREW DALTON – Jan 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patrick McGoohan, an Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show "The Prisoner," has died. He was 80.
McGoohan died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a short illness, his son-in-law, film producer Cleve Landsberg, said Wednesday.
McGoohan won two Emmys for his work on the Peter Falk detective drama "Columbo," and more recently appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film "Braveheart."
But he was best known as the title character Number Six in "The Prisoner," a surreal 1960s British series in which a former spy is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape.

From our friends at southsiders-mc.blogspot.com:

"Where am I?"

"In the Village."

"What do you want?"

"Information."

"Whose side are you on?"

"That would be telling…. We want information. Information! INFORMATION!"

"You won't get it."

"By hook or by crook, we will."

"Who are you?"

"The new Number Two."

"Who is Number One?"

"You are Number Six."

"I am not a number — I am a free man!"

Funding Arizona Education

GOP Budget Proposal Slashes Funds For Arizona Education
by Mary Jo Pitzl - Jan. 16, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

In the GOP options plan, education is targeted for the biggest cuts over the next year and a half. The K-12 system is penciled in for a nearly $1 billion cut for this year and next.

"That's $1,000 a kid in Arizona over 17 months," said Rep. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa. He predicted that the proposed deep cuts to education won't win enough votes to pass.

Education, from kindergarten to the state universities, could take the biggest hit as lawmakers try to resolve the state's looming budget deficits, under a plan unveiled Thursday by Republican budget leaders.

The proposal to cut $1.5 billion from education budgets over the next year and a half drew immediate protests from education advocates, Democrats and some skeptical Republicans.

"What we shouldn't be doing is looking at education first," said House Minority Leader David Lujan, D-Phoenix. "It should be the last thing we do."

Education advocates were quick to cry foul.

The Arizona Board of Regents called the proposal to cut nearly $500 million from university budgets over the next year and a half "cataclysmic in the depth and breadth of devastation they will cause to our higher-education system in Arizona."

For the current-budget year, university spending cuts would be the largest contributor to the budget solution: 16 percent of the total, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

Next in line: The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona's alternative to Medicare. The plan proposes a $160 million cut this year.

Even prisons would take a hit: $22 million this year, which would reduce the deficit by 2.3 percent.

My Opinions: Typical Republican thinking, there is ‘no relation between spending on education and performance test scores’. Right. There's those test scores again.

Look out, the ‘Health Care Cost Containment System’ is next. Just the name tells you what it is. That ought to encourage retirement to Arizona.

Increased Property Values

Mormon temples boost property values
Home values often rise near LDS sites
by Chelsea Schneider - Jan. 8, 2009
The Arizona Republic

Homeowners near the proposed site of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Gilbert could see their property values increase, even in this depressed real-estate market.

As the focal point of the Mormon faith, a new temple tends to raise property values because church members like to live nearby. And for those outside the faith, temples have a reputation of being good neighbors and can anchor the long-term quality of an area.

The newest LDS temple in the U.S. opened in August in Twin Falls, Idaho. As has happened elsewhere, lots around the temple are now bringing higher prices than other places in the city.

Twin Falls' experience
When the site of the Twin Falls temple was announced, property values of houses across the street doubled overnight, Idaho developer Ken Edmunds said. This "temple effect" on a real-estate market is typical, Edmunds said.

Temples are considered houses of the Lord, and many of the Mormon faithful like to live in the shadows of their most sacred religious buildings.

In addition to raising home values, the temple has attracted three new major chain hotels in the area and plans for a fourth. About 160,000 people came to Twin Falls for a two-week public open house of the temple before it was dedicated. Now, 500 Mormons visit the temple every day, and weddings are held almost every weekend.

Twin Falls' previous claim to fame was being the site of Evel Knievel's unsuccessful 1974 motorcycle jump across the Snake River Canyon.

Like The Energizer Bunny, This Story Just Keeps Going, And Going...

Palin's future son-in-law quits job for not having diploma
From USA Today On Deadline

Last week Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sought to clear the record regarding the educational status of 18-year-old Levi Johnston, her future son-in-law and the father of her new grandchild. She told The Associated Press that he is not a high school dropout; he's taking a correspondence course while working as an electrical apprentice up in the North Slope oil fields, where Johnston's father and Palin's husband work.
Sunday, a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News questioned how Levi could get an apprenticeship without a diploma, which the federal government requires.
Yesterday, Levi quit his job with ASRC Energy Services Inc., a major North Slope contractor, the Anchorage Daily News says.
Palin denied she had anything to do with his getting the position, as did his father, a construction engineer for ASRC.
"He felt it was the best thing to do to kind of calm the waters, so to speak," said Keith Johnston. He said his son flew home late last night.
Johnston has said he intends to marry Palin's daughter, Bristol, who gave birth December 27 to a son named Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston.
Meanwhile, Levi's mother and Keith's wife, Sherry Johnston, pleaded not guilty yesterday to six felony counts of possessing and selling the painkiller OxyContin. She was arrested Dec. 18.
She said in court she is in the middle of a divorce with Keith Johnston and is living on disability payments and child support, the Daily News reported. Trial is scheduled for March.

Arizona's Budget Problems

State Budget Woes Worsen
Up to $5.7 billion loan may be needed, treasurer says
by Mary Jo Pitzl - Jan. 6, 2009 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

Arizona would have to borrow between $2.5 billion and $5.7 billion as early as February to bridge the state budget through a cash-flow crunch caused by a shortfall.
That's the estimate of State Treasurer Dean Martin (Republican), who on Monday said that the state may have to borrow money for the first time in decades.
"It's like . . . using your Visa to pay off your MasterCard," Martin said at an afternoon news
He said he hopes to convene a meeting this week of the state Loan Commission, the first step to securing the short-term loans needed to literally keep the lights on in state fovernment.
The loans would add to the state's financial woes. The current $9.9 billion budget is already $1.2 billion in the red, and many expect it to worsen. Any borrowing would have to be repaid, with interest, a circumstance that is not contained in the current budget.
Martin said he will ask legislators for two changes to state law that could delay borrowing until April.
But, he added, borrowing appears inevitable.
Even if lawmakers make deep budget cuts when they start work next week, the savings won't pile up fast enough to avert the need for borrowing. Likewise, any tax increases - highly unlikely in the Republican-controlled Legislature - wouldn't be able to bring in enough money fast enough to reverse the state's upside-down trend of spending outpacing tax collections.
The only hope, as Martin (Republican) sees it, is a federal stimulus program that would send cash to the states.

My Comment: Wait a minute – this Republican sees the only way out of Arizona’s problems is a Federal stimulus program that would send cash to the states? I wonder how the Republicans on the other end of this deal would feel abut this? How would Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee respond to this?

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