Maersk Alabama repels 2nd pirate attack with guns

Nov 18, 2009 -   By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – 32 mins ago Source NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device.   A U.S. surveillance plane was monitoring the ship as it continued to its destination on the Kenyan coast, while a pirate said that the captain of a ship hijacked Monday with 28 North Korean crew members on board had died of wounds. - 7 Comments

‘Good evening, live from the Berlin Wall’

Nov 09, 2009 - I thought this would be an interesting tie in from Tulipe's earlier post. On the night of Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall — the stark, menacing symbol of the Cold War — came crashing down, suddenly and dramatically. - 16 Comments

Battered Company Says 'No' To Job Cuts

Nov 05, 2009 - The Hypertherm factory sits hidden in the woods not far from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Inside, in a testing room, a jet of superheated ionized gas slices smoothly through an inch of plate steel. Jim Miller, vice president of manufacturing, says that when the world is making big heavy things, Hypertherm does quite well. - 4 Comments

Obamacare...a personal look.

Oct 25, 2009 - I am going to give you my personal look at Obamacare from a perspective which may seem a bit strange but in reality it should be alarming.  The interesting thing is that most of all of my childhood I went without even some of the basic things people assume most everyone has.   The only healthcare I had as a child was Medi-cal...which is the program upon which Obamacare was designed.     My father worked several part-time jobs as well as his full-time job as a Baptist minister.  He did everything possible to provide for us, worked his fingers to the bone and still managed to comfort the people in our church and help them deal with their own problems.  Not once did any congregation we served bother to possibly consider that making sure the minister and his family had any healthcare or even some of the basic necessities in life was one of their priorities. They did however call at any time of the day or night for his help and he was there for them.    Sometimes our whole family was there for them.  I was a very experienced babysitter, cook, and housekeeper before I was even 11.  This is not bitterness I speak from---it is my attempt at revealing to you that many who are among the uninsured are hardworking people often working in service-oriented positions which simply aren't offered healthcare.   So....let me get back to Medi-cal......the mentor of Obamacare.  When I hear people on the Obamacare bandwagon I think they probably don't really understand what they are supporting.   Many have never been on medi-cal. - 4 Comments

50 Emergency Uses for Your Camera Phone

Sep 28, 2009 - 50 Emergency Uses for Your Camera Phone by Paul Purcell In an emergency you'll not only need to provide and receive help, but after the event is over, you'll face the prospect of return, repair, and rebuilding. Central to all these activities is communication and documentation. Everything in our society carries a heaping helping of red tape, and disasters are no different. - 0 Comments

Vick turns tide against dogfighting

Sep 26, 2009 - Philadelphia Eagles Sign Michael Vick Maybe it was one of the times John Goodwin found a more receptive audience while lobbying politicians for stricter sentencing against dogfighting. Maybe it was one of the times a law enforcement training session was packed with police. Maybe it was while he was riding along on what is an increasing number of raids on dogfighting operations. - 13 Comments