Paradise Driver: September 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

SEPTEMBER 30TH

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 30, the 274th day of 2008.
There are 92 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 30, 1846, Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

On this date:

In 1777, the Continental Congress — forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces — moved to York, Pa.
In 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria.
In 1938, after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain praised the accord on his return home, saying, "I believe it is peace for our time."
In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end.
In 1952, the motion picture "This Is Cinerama," which introduced the triple-camera, triple-projector Cinerama widescreen process, premiered at the Broadway Theatre in New York.
In 1955, actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.
In 1958, the police drama "Naked City" debuted on ABC-TV.
In 1962, black student James Meredith was escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolled for classes the next day.
In 1988, Mikhail S. Gorbachev retired President Andrei A. Gromyko from the Politburo and fired other old-guard leaders in a Kremlin shake-up.
In 1997, France's Roman Catholic Church apologized for its silence during the systematic persecution and deportation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.

Ten years ago:

The General Accounting Office reported that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and his predecessor, Robert Fiske, had spent more than $40 million on the investigation of President Clinton's Arkansas land deals that was expanded to include the probe of the Monica Lewinsky affair.
Both President Clinton and Republicans claimed credit for news that the government would run a surplus of about $70 billion in the current fiscal year.

Five years ago:

The FBI began a full-scale criminal investigation into whether White House officials had illegally leaked the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Eighteen accused al-Qaida sympathizers were convicted in Belgium's biggest terrorism trial.

One year ago:

A U.N. envoy failed to meet with Myanmar's top two junta leaders in his effort to persuade them to ease a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, but was allowed a highly orchestrated session with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan hanged a teenager found to have U.S. money in his pocket as a warning to others not to use dollars.
The United States won the Presidents Cup in Montreal, giving them a victory on foreign soil in cup competition for the first time since 1993.
Germany defeated Brazil 2-0 in the final of the Women's World Cup held in Shanghai, China.

Today's Birthdays:

Author Elie Wiesel is 80.
Actress Angie Dickinson is 77.
Singer Cissy Houston is 75.
Singer Johnny Mathis is 73.
Actor Len Cariou is 69.
Rock singer-musician Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield) is 66.
Singer Marilyn McCoo is 65.
Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 62.
Actor John Finn (TV: "Cold Case") is 56.
Rock musician John Lombardo is 56.
Singer Deborah Allen is 55.
Actor Calvin Levels is 54.
Actor Barry Williams is 54.
Singer Patrice Rushen is 54.
Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 52.
Actress Fran Drescher is 51.
Country singer Marty Stuart is 50.
Actress Debrah Farentino is 49.
Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 48.
Actress Crystal Bernard is 47.
Actor Eric Stoltz is 47.
Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 46.
Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 45.
Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 44.
Actress Monica Bellucci is 44.
Rock musician Robby Takac (Goo Goo Dolls) is 44.
Actress Lisa Thornhill is 42.
Actress Andrea Roth ("Rescue Me") is 41.
Actor Tony Hale is 38.
Actress Jenna Elfman is 37.
Actor Ashley Hamilton is 34.
Actress Marion Cotillard is 33.
Actor Mike Damus is 29.
Tennis player Martina Hingis is 28.
Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu is 27.
Actress Lacey Chabert is 26.
Actor Kieran Culkin is 26.
Singer-rapper T-Pain is 24.

Thought for Today:

"Nothing you can't spell will ever work."
Will Rogers, American humorist (1879-1935).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Monday, September 29, 2008

About 2 years ago I mentioned that we were headed for a financial crisis. Last year I reiterated my statement, to which one commenter made fun of my "cabbie index" for predicting the economy.

It didn't take a genius to see what was coming but then again, the market is not controlled by bright IQs, is it.

Greed has always been the motivationing factor behind the financial markets and greed is always a loser, in the long term.

Last week's presidential debate showed that neither candidate really understands what is going on. They are both idiots. IMO.

When asked for details about their economic policy both could only paint a picture using a roller and neither provided the details that the American people so desperately sought.

A country always gets the leadership it deserves. Now we can see that what we will receive is just more of the same BS as we have always be given.

On a different topic - I appreciate all the comments I have been receiving. I do read every one but with the bad vision, trying to respond is a gigantic struggle. But please don't stop. I work very hard everyday to produce this blog. It takes me a couple of hours to do what used to take maybe 30 minutes. I haven't given up on you. Please don't give up on me.

My deepest thanks to everyone who still comes by. I still visit each of the blogs listed on the sidebar, also. I just don't leave comments because of the vision problem.

Please excuse any typos. Its just too difficult to proof read.

You friend,
Wil

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SEPTEMBER 29TH

Today is Monday, Sept. 29, the 273rd day of 2008.
There are 93 days left in the year.
The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana begins at sunset.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 29, 1978, Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church.

On this date:

In 1758, English Admiral Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk.
In 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of
several hundred men.
In 1829, London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.
In 1902, Broadway impresario David Belasco reopened the Republic Theatre under his own name.
In 1918, Allied forces began their decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line
during World War I.
In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
In 1963, the second session of the Second Vatican Council opened.
In 1979, Pope John Paul II began the first papal visit to Ireland as he arrived for a
three-day tour.
In 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains unsolved.)
In 1988, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., marking
America's return to manned space flight following the Challenger disaster.

Ten years ago:

Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley died at age 80.
The Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate a quarter-point, to 5.25 percent.

Five years ago:

The White House denied that President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, had leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity to retaliate against her husband, an opponent of the administration's Iraq policy.
President Bush signed legislation to ratify the Federal Trade Commission's authority to set up a national do-not-call list for telemarketers.

One year ago:

President Bush signed a bill to prevent a government shutdown, but lambasted Democrats controlling Congress for sending him the stopgap measure while they continued to work on more than a dozen spending bills.
Actress Lois Maxwell, who'd starred as Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond movies, died in Fremantle, Australia, at age 80.

Today's Birthdays:

Actress Lizabeth Scott is 86.
Actor Steve Forrest is 84.
Actress Anita Ekberg is 77.
Actor Eddie Barth is 77.
Writer-director Robert Benton is 76.
Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 73.
Actor Ian McShane is 66.
Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 66.
Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland, is 65.
Television-film composer Mike Post is 64.
Actress Patricia Hodge is 62.
TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 60.
Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 60.
Rock musician Mike Pinera is 60.
Country singer Alvin Crow is 58.
Actor Drake Hogestyn is 55.
Broadcast journalist Gwen Ifill is 53.
Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 52.
Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice'' Clay is 51.
Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 50.
Actor Roger Bart is 46.
Singer-musician Les Claypool is 45.
Actress Jill Whelan is 42.
Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 40.
Actress Erika Eleniak is 39.
Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 39.
Country singer Brad Cotter ("Nashville Star'') is 38.
Actress Emily Lloyd is 38.
Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 38.
Actress Rachel Cronin is 37.
Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 35.
Actor Zachary Levi is 28.
Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 26.
Rock musician Josh Farro (Paramore) is 21.

Thought for Today:

"Nothing makes people so worthy of compliments as occasionally receiving them. One is more delightful for being told one is delightful — just as one is more angry for being told one is angry."
Katharine Fullerton Gerould, American writer (1879-1944).

"Let's all be careful out there!"