XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 09/27/11

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggests suspending elections so Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the election -

Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election.

"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that," Perdue said. "You want people who don't worry about the next election."

The comment -- which came during a discussion of the economy -- perked more than a few ears. It's unclear whether Perdue, a Democrat, is serious -- but her tone was level and she asked others to support her on the idea. (Read her full remarks below.)

Later Tuesday afternoon, Perdue's office clarified the remarks: "Come on," said spokeswoman Chris Mackey in a statement. "Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve."

The Republicans sure are taking it seriously as they look to score political points. Here's a statement from GOP spokesman Rob Lockwood:

“Now is a time when politicians need to be held accountable more than ever. To suspend an election would be removing the surest mechanism that people have to hold politicians accountable: the right to vote. Does the Governor not believe that people of North Carolina have the ability to think for themselves about whether or not the actions of elected officials are working?"

UPDATED: GOP House candidate Paul Coble didn't think much of Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's idea that congressional elections be suspended for two years so Congress can concentrate on the economy.

“That’s a proposal that only the politicians that have worsened our economic mess could appreciate,” said Coble, who is chairman of the Wake County commissioners. “Governor Perdue and the politicians in Washington may fear the message voters send next November.”

Perdue's full statement:

"You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."

20 Reasons Why Millions Of Americans Under The Age Of 30 Are Giving Up On The U.S. Economy -

Millions upon millions of young Americans have completely lost faith in the U.S. economy and are mad as hell that their economic futures have been destroyed. The recent economic downturn has hit those under the age of 30 the hardest. Today, there are hordes of young people that should be entering their most productive years that are sitting home with nothing to do. Many of them have worked incredibly hard throughout high school and college. Many of them have stayed out of trouble and have done everything that “the system” asked them to do.
But once they got finished with school, the promised “rewards” simply were not there. Instead, millions of young Americans are faced with crushing student loan debt loads in an economy where they can’t find good jobs. When you are in your twenties, it can be absolutely soul-crushing to send out hundreds (or even thousands) of resumes and not get a single interview. Most of us grew up believing that we would “be something” when we got older, and millions of young Americans are having those dreams brutally crushed right now. Americans under the age of 30 voted for Barack Obama in droves back in 2008 because they believed that he would make things better. Instead, Barack Obama has made things even worse. Significant numbers of young Americans are starting to wake up and realize that neither political party is providing any real answers, and they are starting to get mad as hell about it.
Americans under the age of 30 don’t want to hear that they are not going to be able to do better than their parents. They don’t want to hear that they are going to have to “pay the price” because of the mistakes of previous generations. They don’t want to hear that the “good jobs” that have been held out as a “carrot” for them all these years have disappeared and are not coming back.
Millions of young Americans want what was promised to them. They want good jobs that will enable them to enjoy the “American Dream”. They want things to go back to the way that things used to work in America.
If you spend much time around those in their twenties, you know that many of them have a look of hopelessness in their eyes. Large numbers of them have moved back in with their parents. Large numbers of them are flipping burgers or working retail jobs part-time because that is all they can find. There are even a growing number of them that have given up entirely and have completely checked out.
So are we in the process of creating a “lost generation”?
The following are 20 reasons why millions of Americans under the age of 30 are giving up on the U.S. economy….
#1 Only 55.3% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 were employed last year. That was the lowest level that we have seen since World War II.
#2 Today, there are 5.9 million Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 that are living with their parents.
#3 The economic downturn has been particularly tough on men. According to Census data, men are twice as likely to live with their parents as women are.
#4 Amazingly, less than 30 percent of all U.S. teens had a job this summer.
#5 Approximately one out of every five Americans under the age of 30 is currently living in poverty.
#6 According to one recent survey, only 14 percent of all Americans that are 28 or 29 years old are optimistic about their financial futures.
#7 Since the year 2000, incomes for U.S. households led by someone between the ages of 25 and 34 have fallen by about 12 percent after you adjust for inflation.

#8 The cost of “getting an education” has become increasingly burdensome in recent years. Average yearly tuition at U.S. private universities is now up to $27,293. That figure has increased by 29% in just the past five years.
#9 In America today, approximately two-thirds of all college students graduate with student loans.
#10 Millions of young Americans are absolutely being financially strangled by horrific student loan debt loads. Sadly, the total amount of student loan debt in the United States now exceeds the total amount of credit card debt in the United States.
#11 In 2010, the average college graduate had accumulated approximately $25,000 in student loan debt by graduation day.
#12 One-third of all college graduates end up taking jobs that don’t even require college degrees.
#13 In the United States today, there are more than 100,000 janitors that have college degrees.
#14 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.
#15 In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.
#16 In the United States today, 24.5 percent of all retail salespersons have a college degree.
#17 As the economy has crumbled, fewer young Americans have been getting married. Today, an all-time low 44.2% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are married.
#18 Young Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated as our politicians stand by and do nothing while our economy is being hollowed out. The sad truth is that United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs a month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and top politicians in both major political parties keep pushing for even more job-killing “free trade” agreements.
#19 Young Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated that pretty much the only jobs that seem to be available are low paying jobs. Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
#20 Young Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated that previous generations have saddled them with a 14 trillion dollar national debt that they are expected to make payments on for the rest of their lives.
A lot of young Americans swing back and forth between anger and despair. Many of them worked like crazy for years because of the promise of a better life, and now they are being bitterly disappointed. Just consider the following testimonial that was recently posted on The Atlantic….

I am in my mid-20s. I have a university education. I started working when I was 14. I have chemical burns and scars over my hands from dealing with caustic cleaning chemicals. I did not want that to be my life like my uncles. I had to get out. I worked very hard in high school and volunteered and was the member of clubs and all of that great stuff. I got into a good university and worked hard. I took a language course, took things that I loved. I worked through my degree – I was even a janitor in a building that I lived in, because I needed the cut in rent. I did that for no pay.
After these months of unemployment I have fallen into a pretty major depression. I live at home, I do chores, I look for work. As much as I want to get my life together, I have some great mental health issues to deal with – but have neither the money to purchase medication that may help me, nor the ability to pay for psychological or psychiatric help.

So what can be done?
Well, someone could wave a magic wand and fix the U.S. economy, but we all know that is not going to happen.
In fact, there is all kinds of evidence that the U.S. economy is about to get even worse.
So should we just tell our young people that they might as well just give up and start making rap videos about using food stamp cards like this one? (*Warning* The video contains some very strong language.)
The number of Americans on food stamps has increased by 74 percent since 2007. Millions of young people are learning that the only way to survive is to be dependent on the government.
It certainly does not help that our entire education system is deeply broken. For example, did you know that the verbal scores on the SAT for the class of 2011 were the lowest ever recorded?
Our students have become so “dumbed down” that large numbers of them can barely even function in society once they graduate.
That is not their fault.
That is our fault.
We have failed young Americans in so many ways that it would take a series of books to detail them all.
We can say that we are sorry, but that just isn’t going to cut it.
Millions of young Americans want what was promised to them, but we no longer have it to give to them.
Anger in this nation is already starting to boil over in strange and unpredictable ways. If the economy gets even worse, we are going to have tens of millions of young Americans that are mad as hell and that are ready to riot in the streets.
What are we going to do then?
According to a recent Gallup poll, 81 percent of Americans are “dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed”.
That is not a sign of a healthy nation.
The sad truth is that the foundations of America are crumbling and we have millions upon millions of young people that are incredibly angry and incredibly frustrated.
It does not take a genius to figure out that is a recipe for disaster.
So please pray for America.
We are going to need it.

Read more -
http://www.blacklistednews.com/20_Reasons_Why_Millions_Of_Americans_Under_The_Age_Of_30_Are_Giving_Up_On_The_U.S._Economy_/15883/0/0/0/Y/M.html

Company Aims To Create Renewable Electricity…From Poop! -

Believe in the power of poop. It’s an initiative being pushed by one South Florida energy company, which is now on the edge of being approved in Fort Lauderdale to help generate home electricity.

Power Green Energy, a Pompano Beach start-up hoping to turn sludge from waste-water treatment plants into renewable electricity for the state, is awaiting word today from the Fort Lauderdale City Commission to approve a rezoning request that would implement the system by the middle of next year. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the company has received the City Commission’s tentative approval to initiate operations that would feed into Florida Power & Light Co.’s power-lines by mid-2012.

“To be able offset energy use for waste-water facilities with renewable energy or renewable gas from the very waste going into the facility in the first place is the optimum solution,” Patrick Serfass, executive director for the American Biogas Council in Washington, told CBS Tampa.

The proposed initiative is another step toward creating additional energy sources for the state, its tentative goal projected at 4 megawatts of electricity, or about 1,000-plus homes powered by the waste-to-energy plan. Currently, similar examples are also taking place in North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Oops! White House fails basic geography test -

Looks like someone in the White House press office needs to brush up on his or her U.S. geography.

The press office issued credentials to those reporters and photojournalists who are covering the president’s trip this week to Washington state, California, and Colorado. The credential even provides a handy graphic highlighting (in white) which states the president will visit.

The only problem?

Wyoming is highlighted, not Colorado. To be fair, both states are recrtangular, nearly identical in size, and stacked next to each other. But we doubt our third grade teachers would buy that!

Saudi women get right to vote, but can't drive yet - Saudi woman sentenced to 10 lashes for driving a car -

Saudi activists say a court has sentenced a Saudi woman with 10 lashes for defying the kingdom's ban on women driving.

Activist Samar Badawi says Shaima Ghassaniya was found guilty Tuesday of driving without the government's permission.

No laws prohibit women from driving, but conservative religious edicts have banned it.

The ruling comes just two days after Saudi King Abdullah announced that, for the first time, women have the right to vote and run in the country's 2015 local elections.

Najalaa Harriri, who is also facing court for driving, told The Associated Press she needed to drive to take better care of her children.

Tuesday's verdict is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Other women were detained for several days, but had not been sentenced by a court.

China to Launch First Space Lab This Week - a prototype for a future space station -

China is making final preparations to launch its first space lab module — a prototype for a future space station — this week, state media reported.
The unmanned Tiangong 1 ("Heavenly Palace") module was scheduled to lift off between Sept. 27 and 30, but a forecasted cold weather front has pushed the targeted launch date back to Sept. 29 or 30. The module will launch on a Chinese Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China.

Tiangong 1 is designed to connect with three spacecraft, Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, which will launch later. The maneuvers will mark China's first dockings in orbit, and are planned to be carried out robotically. [Photos: China's First Space Station]
"This is a significant test. We've never done such a thing before," Lu Jinrong, the launch center's chief engineer, told state news agency Xinhua.
China originally planned to launch Tiangong 1 earlier, but the liftoff was delayed when a Long March 2C booster, similar to the Long March 2F, failed to reach orbit. Chinese officials investigated the accident and resolved the issue before pushing forward with Tiangong 1 plans.
Experts say the achievement will be a huge step forward for China's fledgling space program, and an important advancement toward the nation's goal of building a 60-ton manned space station by the year 2020.
The module will also carry medical and engineering experiments onboard.
Engineers conducted a full ground simulation of launch on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 25). Workers have made more than 100 upgrades to the launch site, and more than 170 technical improvements to the Long March 2F rocket, in preparation for Tiangong's mission, Cui Jijun, commander-in-chief of the launch site system and director of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, told Xinhua. These include a new updated computer center and command monitoring system at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, as well as new systems to increase Mission Control's ability to adapt to changes that may occur during the mission.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/27/china-to-launch-first-space-lab-this-week/?test=faces