There was a story in our weekly paper that is having an impact on my community.  I live in the hills adjacent to Berkeley and most home owners buy here because of the weather but most of all because of the tremendous views of the San Francisco Bay and all the bridges that span the bay.  It is simply breathtaking.  It is not inexpensive.

There are several green belts that run along the hills and much of the ridge area and along the backside of the hills is found Tilden Park.  However, the problem lies with one of the green belts where a grove of redwood and pine are located.  SOMEONE is poisoning the trees!  Just below the ground at the base of several trees someone has drilled out a core and filled the core with poison and then closed the opening with a wine cork.  And slowly the poison begins to work.  A tree might take a year or more to die.  One of the park rangers noticed a dying tree last year and noted it for limb removal etc. but this year when he saw another tree was dying, he investigated more closely and found the evidence.

WHO would do such a thing?  No one has come forward to confess and there have been no witnesses to anyone tampering with trees.  Logically the culprit is one of the homeowners who live above the area and was losing his view because the tallest of the trees.  And, unfortunately, losing value to his home.

But this is environmental terrorism.  Simply terrible.

Russia sending uranium to Chavez.  Iran with a 2nd nuclear plant for *peaceful* energy.  Obama’s hand picked general in Afghanistan asking for more troops for the war that Obama said in his campaign was the war to fight but he is still pondering what to do.   His general’s rules of engagement in Afghanstan which deny our troops air support if under fire if there is a civilian near the scene (hint…the terrorists always have a civilian near the scene).   China buying up our debt while we incur much more.   Acorn workers offering to assist community organizers in setting up a brothel for underage girls from impoverished countries. 

But all of this pales to the news on WOW.  Victoria Beckham is really human!  Someday Ted Kennedy’s son will run for office (our world will not be safe until this happens!).  And…gee its really tough being a famous rich person and having to handle your public/private persona.  This will be especially helpful to women who are working 1 or 2  miniumum wage jobs on their feet who don’t get to choose whether to hire a nanny or not.  Gee the rich are just like us…they wake up every morning and take their kid to school and everything….what a tough life they have!

But here is the real burning question in my mind….what are we going to do about Jennifer Anniston and Jessica Simpson?  They cannot find true love!

As for the dead trees.  It is truly a despicable act to kill trees so you will have a better view.   Especially when you live in  a *not inexpensive* development. Trees are good, they cut down on carbon emissions…just like windmills will reduce them.  I am of course reminded of the Ted Kennedy’s strong objection to erecting windmills in Nantucket Sound (even though it has great wind) because it would destroy his view.  I think its pretty easy to figure out who is killing the trees by looking at whose view is bettered by it.  On the other hand, if the trees are on this person’s property then I think he is entitled to do with them what he pleases.   But yeah…this should be front page news in all major newspapers and stuff.    

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent — a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. — meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.

And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults — aged 16 to 24, excluding students — getting a job and moving out of their parents’ houses are long. Young workers have been among the hardest hit during the current recession — in which a total of 9.5 million jobs have been lost.

"It’s an extremely dire situation in the short run," said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. "This group won’t do as well as their parents unless the jobs situation changes."

Al Angrisani, the former assistant Labor Department secretary under President Reagan, doesn’t see a turnaround in the jobs picture for entry-level workers and places the blame squarely on the Obama administration and the construction of its stimulus bill.

"There is no assistance provided for the development of job growth through small businesses, which create 70 percent of the jobs in the country," Angrisani said in an interview last week. "All those [unemployed young people] should be getting hired by small businesses."

There are six million small businesses in the country, those that employ less than 100 people, and a jobs stimulus bill should include tax credits to give incentives to those businesses to hire people, the former Labor official said.

"If each of the businesses hired just one person, we would go a long way in growing ourselves back to where we were before the recession," Angrisani noted.

There’s more here…

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_dead_end_kids_AnwaWNOGqsXMuIlGONNX1K

WASHINGTON — Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that’s happened since the 1980s.

The deficits _ $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 _ won’t affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit.

Applications for retirement benefits are 23 percent higher than last year, while disability claims have risen by about 20 percent. Social Security officials had expected applications to increase from the growing number of baby boomers reaching retirement, but they didn’t expect the increase to be so large.

What happened? The recession hit and many older workers suddenly found themselves laid off with no place to turn but Social Security.

"A lot of people who in better times would have continued working are opting to retire," said Alan J. Auerbach, an economics and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "If they were younger, we would call them unemployed."

Job losses are forcing more retirements even though an increasing number of older people want to keep working. Many can’t afford to retire, especially after the financial collapse demolished their nest eggs.

Some have no choice.

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/us_social_security_early_retirements/2009/09/27/265358.html

Sorry to hear of the passing of William Safire yesterday.  What a talented wordsmith he was.  Clever and witty. 

CSPAN2 ran their last hour-long interview with him in 2008. 

Few nations are as generous with their time and money as the United States, but right now Americans are a suspicious bunch.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. Thirty-six percent (36%) are Very Angry.

Despite the high level of political anger last year that helped fuel President Obama’s election, 59% say the current level of political anger in the country is higher than it was when George W. Bush was president.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/

I watched The View today for the first time in many years (unfortunately it is on when I am at work) and was impressed with Michael Moore and his comments on Corporate America.  With the G20 summit now taking place in the US it is an ideal opportunity for the world powers to curb the control the major banks have on the world economy.  Have we not learnt from the Great Depression of the 1930’s where banks plunged the world into an economic downfall and it has happened again.  Must we wait for another Depression before Banks are bought to account.  There must be a global set of rules that all Banks must adhere too, to ensure Mr and Mrs Average do not lose their jobs or their homes.

posted by Bev, Australia.