Why We Have Learned To Hate Citibank!

The other day, we received a letter from Citibank. Their latest missive read, in part, as follows:Dear Ms. Wonk,We are making changes to your account terms.These changes include an increase in the variable APR for purchases to 23.99% and will take effect December 20, 2009.This lastest rate increase comes on top of one that was foisted upon us about six months ago. For years, the interest rate had

This Is A Tragedy

Half of all kids in the United States will be on food stamps at one time or another in their young lives: Half of American kids will live in households receiving food stamps before age 20, according to a study reported Monday in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.Although one in five children rely on food stamps for years, many more live in families who turn to food stamps during a

Attention Pseudo Conservatives

This just in from our Upstate New York Bureau: when, thanks to the interference of outsiders such as Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Tim Pawlenty, and Glenn Beck, Republicans fight among themselves, Democrats will take advantage of the opportunity.And who can really blame them?Ed's Note to Cut-and-Run former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: Since you saw fit to pull the rug out from under a duly

My Goodness

And now it seems as though women aren't supposed to use the "L" Word first.Heh. Are we supposed to teach that in our schools?

U.S. City Celebrates Mexican Independence Day

When it comes to governmental wastage of taxpayer funds, one has to look long and hard in order to exceed that peculiar type of corruption that is found here in the wasteland that is California's so-called "Imperial" Valley. But even here, where all kinds of corruption and nepotism are common-day occurrences, I was stunned to learn that the City of El Centro, California was proudly expending

Getting Fraked

It's not often that we get to be in on the birth of an obscenity:NEW YORK (AP) -- Lee Goldberg thinks Glen A. Larson is a genius, and not because the prolific television writer and producer gave us "Knight Rider" and "B.J. and the Bear."It was Larson who first used the faux curse word "frak" in the original "Battlestar Galactica." The word was mostly overlooked back in the '70s series but is

Of Hurricanes And Cable News Sunday

As Hurricane Gustav bears-down on the Louisiana coast, the cable news channels have been covering the story all day. (See CNN's here.)And so they should cover this major news event.I grew-up in Florida, which is Hurricane Country.And, interesting as it may seem, one of the things that many Florida folks used to say, (and many still do say) is that these monster storms don't hit the big coastal

Los Angeles' Combat High School

Instead of concentrating on their reading, writing, and arithmetic, it seems as though a large number of "students" in one of our publicly-funded high schools have other priorities:"A fight between rival groups of black and Latino students at Locke High School quickly escalated into a campus-wide melee Friday, with as many as 600 students brawling until police restored calm with billy clubs.The

Life Expectancy Down For Some American Women

Saw this article in the Washington Post. It troubles me: For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women.In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.The downward trend is

When They're Too Cool For School

Sad But True.Heh. It's just a matter of time before those all-knowing Washington lawmakers and their associates accomplices over at The Kingdom Of Spellings will attempt to legislate an attitude-change for America's youth.

Censorchimps: The Mandarin Subspecies

In Communist China, if the powers-that-be don't like what you write, you'll do hard time:A Chinese court Thursday sentenced an outspoken human rights advocate to three and a half years in prison after ruling that his critical essays and comments about Communist Party rule amounted to inciting subversion, his lawyer said.The conviction of Hu Jia, 34, quickly brought outside criticism of China at a

Have Nipple Ring, Won't Travel

Did you hear the one about the Texas woman who couldn't board the airliner without removing her nipple rings first?As many of those federal TSA-types seem to be into pain, maybe Mandi Hamlin should have offered to use those pliers on those TSA agents as well as on herself.Full Disc: I must confess that I find the mental picture of her using those pliers on attorney Gloria Allred (pictured, left)

Our Out Of Control Borders: Who's Accountable?

As a people, we are all paying the price for our federal government's refusal to secure our wide-open and out of control southern border. And some Americans are paying the ultimate price:GRAYS WELLS — A Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent was killed Saturday morning when he was allegedly struck by a suspected drug smuggler’s vehicle.The incident occurred at 9 a.m. Saturday about 40 miles east of El

Babies Having Babies: Now A Generational Problem

While I was reading this Iowa story about the 29-year-old grandmother, I wanted to tear my hair out in clumps:Quad-City area teenagers are still having babies. But the good news is that fewer teens are doing so across the region — and in Iowa, Illinois and the United States as a whole — than 10 years ago.Some say the teens who are having babies seem to be getting younger and younger, including a

Sunday School For Atheists?

Yes indeedy in tony Palo Alto, California:On Sunday mornings, most parents who don't believe in the Christian God, or any god at all, are probably making brunch or cheering at their kids' soccer game, or running errands or, with luck, sleeping in. Without religion, there's no need for church, right?Maybe. But some nonbelievers are beginning to think they might need something for their children. "

Today's Non Sequitur: San Fran's Bohemian Intolerance

San Francisco has long touted itself as the sort of Bohemian place where non-conformity isn't just tolerated by the populace, but downright expected. At least as long as the non-conformity meets certain Politikally Korrect expectations. When traditional values are involved, many of those self-styled bohemians who inhabit the City by the Bay can be downright intolerant.For example. These are the

Semiannual Stupidity

Once again, just about all of us Americans have had to go through the twice-yearly hassle of changing the clocks. Only this time around, there is some talk that this minor annoyance may be hazardous to the health of pedestrians. And that includes many kids who walk to and from school: This weekend is the time to turn back those clocks, and according to two scientists, time to be extra careful

When Kids Grow Up Too Fast: The Maine Story

What's up with that Maine middle school that wants to hand out contraceptives to girls as young as 11?School officials voted last night to OK a plan to distribute contraceptives to children as young as 11 in Portland, Maine.The Associated Press says the decision follows at least 17 pregnancies in the last four years among students at the city's three middle schools. Children who have parental

Alzheimer's And Education: The Bad And The Worse

It was somewhat heartening to learn that one's likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease was lessened when one had more education, but it was downright depressing to learn that once one does develop the disease, the more education one has the faster one declines: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Having more years of formal education delays the memory loss linked to Alzheimer's disease, but once the

Kid Dynamite

Eleven-year-old competetive fencer Arabella Uhry of New York City could be an opposing Olympic swashbuckler's worst nightmare.I wish that I'd have thought of using swordplay as a way to getting on the U.S. team.Good for her.