The Limits of Language

In Nicholas Lemann's "The Limits of Language" he writes "To Orwell the connection between the English language and politics was that the debasement of the latter requires the corruption of the former". In other words he is saying that once the English language has been corrupted,the use of it in politics will leave politics in a degrading form. When that happens then no one will give credibility to what a candidate or politician speaks about or the topics spoken about. He points out "Bad writing is,unfortunately,eternal; surely there is more of it today, by weight, than there was in 1946". I am in agreement with this, there is far more manipulating of the English language now than ever, and the worst language is what most people seem to remember which lives on forever. Finally he states "To my mind, an even more frightening political prospect than the corruption of language is the corruption of information". I strongly believe this is true more than ever. In the age of the Internet there are a lot of people who have easy access to communicating a lot of information,regardless if they are true or not, which has a great impact on people in society. Misinformation can be very harmful when it is believed and acted upon as the truth, which happens far to often and has become the new norm. Unfortunately, just as Lemann states "there is often no corrective mechanism at hand, as there is in cases of the intentional corruption of language.

Creditors Scramble for College Students

Next year credit card companies must require co-signers for those under 21. ABC News had this article on October 5, 2009. These companies are scrambling to get college students to sign up before February 2009 when this new law goes into effect. Under the new rules, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 will restrict anyone younger than 21 from getting his or her own credit card, unless a parent, guardian or spouse is willing to co-sign or the underage person can show sufficient income to pay the credit obligations. The article said 84% of college undergraduates ave at least one credit card and the average balance is $3,173 the highest amount ever according to Sallie Mae earlier this year. Campbell says "it has not made sense that students with no job could receive credit and this law will help them learn responsibility." Mc Bride of Bankrate.com said that having credit is more important than people think. "it also relates to prospective employers, landlords and even auto insurance companies."

Hawaii starts 4 day school week to cut costs

On the World News with Charles Gibson, Oct. 23,2009, 6:30 broadcast, I saw the story of Hawaii no longer having classes on Fridays for the elementary to high school levels, because the state is so strapped for cash from the recession that 14 percent had to be cut.
The state decided that the furlough Fridays was a better option than layoffs. it is the shortest school yer in the nation, even though Hawaii already ranks near the bottom in national test scores causing the students to fall further behind. Parents however do not like the idea and are angry about it. Hawaii's budget problem is now the parents problem. This will result in kids being home more and parents are struggling to cover these cost bases and the increase in costs. It is exactly the opposite of Obama's position who wants more school days not less. Hawaii is also his home state.

Car seats can be dangerous outside the car

USA Today reports more than 8,700 infants end up in emergency rooms each year because their car seats are used improperly outside the car, according to a study presented Monday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Washington. The article stated that babies are spending more time in car seats, because of the convenience of the travel systems which allow them to be used in the car and out of the car as hand held baby carriers. Experts say that baby carriers are no safe ways to carry babies for extended periods of time. Many of the injuries were from the car seat flipping over on soft surfaces such as beds and couches or on high surfaces where the car seat could fall off and tip over injuring the child. Most of the injuries were to the head, with arms and legs close behind. Car accidents are the #1 reason for fatalities for children under 1 year. Car seats reduce 75% the chance of a child dying in car accident and over 9000 lives have been saved in the past 3 decades.

I believe this is an important article. Infant and child car seats are one of the greatest inventions for the transport of kids since peanut butter and jelly. Unfortunately in today's busy lifestyle many people use them for baby carriers or beds too often. In addition I believe that many people parents, grandparents, etc. find security in these carriers. A false sense of security develops when they rely on them too heavily outside of the car. If you have ever traveled with and infant or a small child in a car seat you know how convenient they can be! And how they can give you a certain amount of peace of mind knowing where they are and what they are doing, but a gentle reminder needs to be heard and that is, it is a car seat, not a long term baby carrier or a baby bed, it's a car seat. If used correctly it can protect your infant, but if it is used incorrectly its protection can be limited.

One US pig has H1N1

This week the Associated Press reported that one pig from Minnesota has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, the US dept of Agriculture said on Monday. USDA officials announced on Friday they would test samples from three pigs collected from pigs at the Minnesota State Fair between August 26 and September 1, 2009. The sample pigs were from a university research project and showed potential for positive results. USDA officials said they did not show signs of the sickness and suggested the virus was contracted from some of the 1.8 million people who visited the fair. officials also say that since this was a show it isn't a part of the commercial industry and does not affect the pork industry. The H1N1 is also known as the swine flu.

I found this article interesting! We all know the affects this flu is having on the human population around the world, and the urgent need to get the H1N1 vaccines, that have been slowed by the overwhelming demand for this vaccine. But apparently they are testing the swine too. I think this is a good idea. I am also surprised that they believe the flu came from the people who attended the fair! Well maybe not that surprised, because it spreads so easily and if 1.8 million people came to see me, the odds are pretty good some one has the flu! Not only are the pigs being exposed but the other 1.8 million people were probably being exposed to it too! But to spread it to the pigs at the state fair! That's not fair ! That's just not fair!

Foreclosures in 3rd quarter up nearly 23% from 2008

Foreclosures are continuing at a rapid fire pace that may accelerate in 2010, driven by rising unemployment, and adjustable rates resetting to higher monthly payments. 937,840 properties had foreclosure filings in the third quarter. Realtytrac dosn't expect it to peak until the end of 2010. Several factors behind the situation is the resetting of the adjustable rate loans, the current economic recession and the high rising unemployment rates that continue to climb in addition to the fact that people are unemployed for long extended periods of time, without and job opportunities to pursue. Resulting in a second wave of foreclosures in much of 2010. As long as unemployment is high so will the foreclosures be. California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, and Michigan accounted for 62% of the nations's foreclosure activity in the third quarter according to Realtytrac.

This is a serious problem, not only are the subprime mortgages being affected but now main stream America being affected by the fact that the recession has created high unemployment for millions of people but also extended unemployment for long periods of time. The refinance mortgage programs don't allow you to be unemployed to use them, which is even worse. If you add to all this the fat that the Senate has not pased a extension for unemployment and hundreds of thousands of people have exhausted their unemployment makes this even worse. The senate said they would discuss the matter in a few weeks. Everyone else got their bailout but when it comes to the American worker, they want to discuss alittle more! We the tax payer have to pay for the bailouts the least the senate can do is extend unemployment benefits until people can find work how ever long that is! The American people need to be able to feed their families, pay their bills and their mortgages!

Red Light Cameras at Intersections

In Loma Linda they are considering removing the red light cameras from major intersections. The reason they first appeared were to reduced accidents and catch red light runners in the act, by issuing tickets. Now that people are use to them, the driving habits of people have changed.
Drivers are more likely to speed up now to avoid a red light or brake abruptly to avoid entering the intersection and receiving a ticket, which causes more accidents, not less. And less citations which means less revenue for the city. The lights are now costing $5000.00 a month more than they are bring in . This story was again reported on the abc7 eyewitness news at 6 pm. I like the idea and apparently so does the city of Loma Linda since they are considering removing them at the end of the contract period.