CNN....gah

Yesterday, CNN, for more than five minutes, covered what the President ate for lunch, how much he tipped, etc. etc. Why? Because the other networks were covering it too? I know it wasn't because it was a slow news day. Between the economy and swine flu, there are no slow news days right now.

I understand it is difficult to fill time on a 24 hour news network. What the national networks do in 30 minutes, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC do in 144 minutes. However, there has got to be limits. What the President eats for lunch has no business being on a news network.

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Where's the Chief?
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California Burning

Wild fires, once again, are raging in California and are torching the homes of the poor and rich alike.

This seems like it happens all the time in California, this and mudslides. It reminds me of floodplains on the Mississippi and any other river. Why do people build houses in areas where a bad flood will destroy the house? If there is a chance that a wildfire or a mudslide might destroy your house, why do you live there?

Sure, maybe the views are nice, but how nice is the view of a pile of rubble that used to be your bedroom?

I have trouble feeling sorry for people who become victims of their own stupidity.

bad decisions

Last week, a government Boeing 747 (it's only Air Force One if the president is on board) flew at low altitudes over New York City, down the Hudson River, around the Statue of Liberty, and back to Washington D.C.. All because somebody needed to update some photos for the plane.

The trip cost $350,000 and scared the crap out of New York City. For security reasons, only the FAA and a few other people were informed of the plan. The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, local police and firefighter, and the President of the United States, were not informed. Barack Obama says that he is furious

Daily Show host Jon Stewart watched everything happen two blocks from the Hudson River in the TV show's studio. Here is his response...which is kind of everyone's response.

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Mistakes on a Plane
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South Park on pirating

Hilarious episode, see full episode at www.southparkstudios.com

Specter switches sides

In a surprise move earlier this week, 29-year Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced he is switching to the Democratic party. Specter says that the reason for the change is because the Republican party views have shifted far to the right of his current views.

The move gives the Democratic party 59 members in the Senate. If Al Franken wins his court case against Norm Coleman, the party would have a filibuster proof 60 members. Several recounts of the November election between the two have held that Franken barely won the election.

While Specter contends he is divorcing the Republican party because of irroncilable differences, the real reason is because he wants to win reelection in November. Specter's recent liberal voting record has drawn criticism from hardcore conservatives and it is believed he would not win the Pennsylvania Republican primary in November. Michael Steele, Chairmen of the Republican National Committee, said that Specter "“left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.”

On a side note, the NY Times article I got this from misspelled Specter several times as Spector. When I do that I get an F on my paper.

Most dangerous cities

I read an article in Forbes today about the 15 most dangerous cities in America. The criteria was number of violent crimes per 100,000 people. The study also included the metropolitan area (suburbs) of the cities, so Schaumberg would be considered part of Chicago.

The most interesting correlation the study mentioned is that many of the cities listed are considered hubs for illegal drug transportation. I bet you don't think of Stockton, Calif as the 5th most dangerous city in the country. However, it is 500 miles from Tijuana and, according to Megan Wolfram, an analyst at iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a Maryland-based risk-assessment firm,

"Stockton is a major transit point along the I-5 corridor on the way to Seattle and Vancouver. A lot of it is similar to crime happening in the Southwest. For the most part, it's drug gang on drug gang."

The top 15 are as follows.
1) Detroit
2) Memphis
3) Miami
4) Las Vegas
5) Stockton, Calif
6) Orlando
7) Little Rock, Ark
8) Charleston
9) Nashville
10) Baltimore
11) New Orleans
12) Baton Rouge, La
13) West Palm Beach, Fla
14) Charlotte
15) Philadelphia

Noticeably absent on this list are New York, LA and Chicago. I was especially surprised not to see Chicago included considering its propensity for shootings. Additionally, I was very surprised to see the inclusion of Little Rock, Memphis and Nashville. Apparently the Ozarks area isn't such a great place for vacations after all. And Orlando? When did Disney World become dangerous for anything other than mom and dad's wallet?

Another trend that wasn't discussed very much in the article, but that I noticed, is cities that rely on a lot of tourism money. Miami, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charlotte and West Palm Beach were all booming towns leading up to the recession. Tourism was up and homes couldn't be built fast enough. Las Vegas was routinely growing by 10 percent a year. Beachfront Miami property has been absolutely crushed by the housing crash.

An interesting tidbit, on cityrating.com Charlotte, NC is also considered the 9th best place to live. A sentiment echoed by various google searches.

Swine Flu

There is an article in today's Chicago Tribune titled "US declares health emergency as world officials race to contain worrisome swine flu, panic."

Yet, after reading the article, my reaction was more of a, so what? Apparently, this whole thing started in Mexico. The country estimates that there have been around 1,600 cases and 103 deaths. Only 22 of those 103 deaths have been confirmed to be the result of Swine Flu.

But outside of Mexico, almost all people suspected of having swine flu reported feeling mildly ill. I feel mildly ill about 10 times a years...many more if you include hangovers. It seems like the biggest reason people are dying from this disease is because of how much Mexico sucks ass.

New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, the US and a few other countries have had less than a dozen confirmed cases from recent visitors to Mexico. Many of these visitors were students returning from spring break. According to the article, these students got mildly ill and that the current strain is being treated with Tamiflu and Relenza.

Currently there is no vaccine, but the CDC is hard at work manufacturing one. It is still unknown where in Mexico the disease started and how it is spread, other than it involves pigs. The current strategy is to quarantine and treat. A couple of schools in New York and Texas canceled classes last week to contain any possible spread.

Anyone remember when the bird flu was supposed to destroy the world? Wasn't it supposed to be an unstoppable mega-plague that made the black death look like a case of chicken pox? 11 years after the nightly news was showing people in China wearing surgical masks, the nightly news is showing people in Mexico wearing surgical masks.

It seems like the common denominator between the bird flu and swine flu is the nightly news using words like; pandemic, epidemic, outbreak, plague, crisis, and emergency. Lost in the conversation are words like; treatment, mild symptoms, limited spread, prevention, and control.