Sarah Palin to step down as governor of Alaska
Friday, July 3rd, 2009Here’s a Twitter-flavored report about Palin’s resignation on PoliticsDaily.com.
And here’s another a straight-up news thingie about the story from KTUU-TV in Alaska.
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Everybody’s broke
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009That’s likely because so many have spent so long living beyond their means, celebrities included. Look no further than Michael Jackson. But, he’s not the only one. Sports stars, media darlings, musicians — they’re all feeling the pinch.
One big difference between them and us, though: They’re debts are often measured in the millions.
It seems like just yesterday — excess was in and celebrities lived it up, buying lavish cars, expensive toys and over-the-top homes. Now, they’re losing it like everyone else.
Victoria Gotti, daughter of deceased Gambino family crime boss John Gotti, let audiences into her lavish $4.2 million Long Island estate for her reality TV show, Growing Up Gotti. But now, the mafia princess turned New York Post columnist is behind by $650,000 on her mortgage and will likely lose her home.
Part of the problem for some celebrities is that they were allowed to borrow huge amounts of money because of their sizable paychecks during boom times. But Hollywood is fickle, and now some VIPs are struggling with smaller income streams and mortgages worth more than what their homes are currently worth.
Celebrity broker now $12 million in debt:
The Wack list: July 2
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009Five people, places and things we really ain’t digging today.
• North Korea’s missile tests
• The lack of funding for this Senior Center
• The continuing violence in Pakistan
Not much green in the 4th of July
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009It’s no secret, fireworks — as pretty as they are — are trashy. Something you may not have considered is this: They’re also toxic. Fortunately, eco geeks are on the case.
Fireworks spew out not only dust and smoke, but also heavy metals, carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides. The shades of green are produced by barium compounds that can cause heart and lung problems, according to Thomas Klaptke, a professor at University of Munich in Germany.
While fireworks are explosive and not environmentally safe to begin with, there is hope. Researchers are working to find a way to produce environmentally safe fireworks at an affordable price.
Darren Naud and Michael Hiskey decided to find a way to create eco-friendly fireworks nine years ago, when they founded DMD Systems. Since then, the company, based in Los Alamos, N.M., has created two branches of fireworks: low smoke and perchlorate-free.
More from The Frederick News-Post.
Further reading: South Carolina readies for fireworks rush
Bailed out banks, including BofA, raising rates
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009Good, ol’ bankers. They’re going to take money out of your pocket, one way or another. Aren’t they? As if billions of taxpayer dollars aren’t enough, they’re boosting their bottom line with fee increases.
Forget the rising unemployment rate. Forget the hard-working people working for less. No, they don’t count nearly as much as the expectations of our bank’s shareholders. They are more than happy to snatch a few extra dollars from your account if it means their investments are safe.
That’s probably why more and more people are living cash-only lives. And — shocking as it may seem — they’re still alive!
Your bank wants more of your money, and it’s found a way to get it: by jacking up the fees on your account.
Customers are paying more to maintain a checking account and withdraw cash from an out-of-system ATM, and when they bounce a check. To make up for declining revenue, many banks are boosting fees and are requiring higher minimum balances for many accounts.
The institutions also have made it easier for customers to spend more than is in their accounts — and then hit them with substantial fees, a practice so vexing to consumer advocates that the Federal Reserve is thinking of regulating it.
Bank revenue has plummeted on the back of foreclosures and rising credit card delinquencies. Now Congress has passed a law cracking down on arbitrary and excessive credit card fees. So the banks have been fighting back.
“There is an economic storm that has made revenue fall,” said Michael Moebs, an economist and chief executive of Moebs Services, an economic research firm in Lake Bluff, Ill. “Fee income is basically where banks and credit unions can offset both loan- and investment-related losses.”
Bank of America this year raised the maximum number of times customers can get hit with overdraft fees from five a day to 10. On top of that, it began charging a one-time fee of $35 if the account remains in the negative for more than five days. The bank also raised the monthly fee on My Access checking accounts to $8.95 from $5.95. Citigroup’s Citibank last year increased its overdraft fee to $34 from $30 and its ATM fees for non-Citibank customers to $3 from $2. Wells Fargo also last year increased its maximum overdraft and insufficient funds fee to $35 from $34.
More from The Washington Post.
More about living a cash-only lifestyle:
Quincy Jones wants to hang on to Vibe
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009“Print and all that stuff is over.” — Quincy Jones
The founder of Vibe is not quite ready to let it go. Vibe won’t be returning as a print magazine, but if all goes as planned, we may be welcoming it in cyberspace soon enough.
Vibe announced on Tuesday that it would be shutting down amidst declining readership and mounting debts.Jones was quick to announce he is currently in the process of reacquiring the magazine, though with plans to release it as an online-only venture.
Man strips on Charlotte-to-Los Angeles flight
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009I would never want to be on a flight with terrorists.
That being said, I would never want to be on a cross country flight with a strange man who wants to run around the airplane naked either. It may make for a funny story after the fact. But during the event, not so much.
Check out the video from one of the more eventful Charlotte-to-Los Angeles flights.
The Wack List: July 1
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Five people, places and things we really ain’t digging today.
• Palin — she’s confident she’ll win “the race”
• A UNCC dean who allegedly just couldn’t keep her hands out of the cookie jar … or bank account
• More job losses
• Americans and our weight issues
Liquor is getting cheaper
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Well, now, here’s cause to celebrate:
Starting Aug. 1, the cost of a half gallon of Grey Goose vodka will drop from $71.95 to $59.95. The cost of a fifth of Absolut vodka will drop from $21.95 to $19.95. And, for those who can afford it, a half gallon of Glenmorangie scotch is slated to sell for $89.95 instead of $99.95.
Why the price break?
Because the high-end booze has been taking a sales hit as consumers have increasingly turned to bargain-priced liquor. Distillers of the good stuff are chopping their prices to hang on to recession-weary customers.
More from the Raleigh News & Observer.
To help get you in the spirit, here’s the “Liquor Anthem”:
What’s with the bombs on US 74?
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Two bombs, nearly identical, were discovered near busy US 74 this week. Shelby officials say the bombs’ construction was similar, but the contents were different, calling the bombs “improvised pyrotechnic explosives.” That means they’re dangerous fireworks.
So far it is unclear who is dropping the bombs off, when or why they would do such a thing. It’s speculated the bombs may have been planted at the same time, even though they were discovered on different days. One was found near a gas station.
Trudy Spurlin initially didn’t know why investigators were scouring outside her workplace Tuesday morning. Nor was she ever told by anyone of official capacity.
Spurlin found out about the nearby explosive from a customer.
“I thought it was pretty strange … had it really been anything, I think we should have known about it,” said Spurlin, a manager at Roco Food Stores on U.S. 74. “Here we are with all these gas pumps and everything. If it had exploded, we would have all been gone.”
For the second time in as many days, a bomb truck from Gaston County rolled in on East Dixon Boulevard. This time, it stopped at the old Wal-Mart shopping center.
In what’s quickly becoming an alarming trend, authorities Tuesday discovered another homemade explosive in Cleveland County. Gaston County Police Sgt. Charlie McCants said it was discovered in the roadway at the intersection of U.S. 74 and South Post Road.
