Va. Grants 60% More Permits For Guns
Concealed-Carry Surge Tied to Va. Tech Killings
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 12, 2008; B01
The number of Virginians who obtained a permit to carry a concealed weapon jumped 60 percent last year over 2006, an increase that many gun experts say was a reaction to the fatal shootings of 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech.
In Northern Virginia, the numbers were much the same. In Fairfax County, there were 2,471 concealed-carry permits issued in 2007, a 64 percent increase. In Prince William County, the number rose to 1,636, a nearly 59 percent gain. In Loudoun, the number of permits issued was 962, a 52 percent increase.
Consumer confidence down, Americans fearful of job and income loss
function createQString(s) { return escape(s); } var Heading = "Consumer%20confidence%20down%2C%20Americans%20fearful%20of%20job%20and%20income%20loss"; var tempTitle = createQString(Heading); var Title = "&t="+tempTitle;Report comes as S&P says home prices fall by record 11.4 percent in January
March 25, 2008
NEW YORK — Consumer confidence sank to a five-year low in March as tight credit markets, rising prices and worsening job prospects made many worry that the economy has fallen into recession.
--read entire article--
The High School Dropout Rate: Unacceptable Failure
by Jayne Matthews
Baltimore Times
Originally posted 4/7/2008
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When too many of our children are at risk, we are a nation at risk- Colin Powell
How does our society define unacceptable failure? What level of malfunction can't we live with? At what point do we feel robbed by the cumulative effect of poor performance? Consider these three scenarios:
1) You have just shelled out several hundred dollars for a complete brake system overhaul. As you are about to leave the shop, your mechanic says, "be careful those brakes are only guaranteed to work 34 percent of the time."
Opponents Paint Obama as an Elitistby Jayne Matthews
Baltimore Times
Originally posted 4/7/2008
When too many of our children are at risk, we are a nation at risk- Colin Powell
How does our society define unacceptable failure? What level of malfunction can't we live with? At what point do we feel robbed by the cumulative effect of poor performance? Consider these three scenarios:
1) You have just shelled out several hundred dollars for a complete brake system overhaul. As you are about to leave the shop, your mechanic says, "be careful those brakes are only guaranteed to work 34 percent of the time."
Clinton, McCain Try to Score Off 'Bitter' Remark
By Perry Bacon Jr.and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 12, 2008; A04
PHILADELPHIA, April 11 -- Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain sharply criticized Sen. Barack Obama on Friday for saying at a private April 6 fundraiser in San Francisco that small-town voters in economically distressed areas of Pennsylvania are "bitter."
. . . "And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not," he went on. "And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
--read entire article--
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Fascinating to me that Clinton and McCain have become a team to stave off defeat; Clinton by flailing at 'elitist' as a buzzword and McCain just enjoying the ride as the Democratic Party continues to self-destroy. What on earth is 'elitist' about recognizing the neglect and destruction of Pennsylvania's working class by presidencies of the past 30 years--which do indeed include Bill Clinton's embrace of free trade.
According to Hillary, Barack must have spent his life clinking glasses of champagne in East Hampton instead of working in the slums of south-side Chicago.
The man is 'elite' because he can speak in something other than sound-bites. He is 'elite' because he addresses the increasing structural wreckage of social, physical and economic America and proposes solutions.
The decline of American society (or any society) is measurable by the rate at which it
- fills its prisons,
- arms itself,
- ignores its own and international laws,
- replaces reason with fear,
- isolates itself from world opinion,
- denigrates its currency and
- fails to educate its citizens
There was a time, not all that long ago, when we led the world in education, supported emerging economies, took pride in open borders with our neighbors, traveled the world as respected and liked emissaries of peace and hope, our dollar the reserve-currency of choice and our opinions taken rather than forced.
That was not an 'elitist' position, but one earned over our history.
Looking up 'elite,' it's defined as "a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status." Any realistic assessment of being a black American disqualifies 'superior social status' and with the Clintons having booked $120 million since leaving office, 'superior economic status' bites the dirt as well. That pretty well leaves us with nothing to tag nasty old Barack with, other than 'superior intellectual status' and we certainly wouldn't want any of that to tinge a president.
But it's the adjective they accuse him of, and the adjective definition, "selected as the best" might cause some embarrassment to those who accuse him of such a discouraging attribute when we have Clinton and McCain available as "less than the best."
Gotta be careful of what mud is thrown, lest you reveal your own more than evident shortcomings.
