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Archive for December, 2011|Monthly archive page

“The Big Lie: Wall Street has destroyed the wonder that was America”

In Opinions on December 28, 2011 at 4:58 am

This dailybeast.com column by Michael Thomas (Thomas is a frequent commentator on Wall Street and the author of Love and Money.) is a horrifying view of the destruction brought by the culprits in government and Wall Street.”

“Imagine a vast field on which a terrible battle has recently been fought, the bare ground cratered by fusillade after fusillade of heavy artillery, trees reduced to blackened stumps, wisps of toxic gas hanging in the gray, and corpses everywhere.

Click here to find out more!

“A terrible scene, made worse by the sound of distant laughter, because somehow, on the heights commanding the dead zone, the officers’ club has made it through intact. From its balconies flutter bunting, and across the blasted landscape there comes a chorus of hearty male voices in counterpoint to the wheedling of cadres of wheel-greasers, the click of betting chips, the orotund declamations of a visiting congressional delegation: in sum, the celebratory hullabaloo of a class of people that has sent entire nations off to perish but whose only Read the rest of this entry »

Your Columbia Library has a January full of “free events”

In Education, Everyday Living, In Columbia, Opportunities on December 28, 2011 at 4:58 am

Library Newsletter – January 2012

Now that the excitement of Christmas is past and the decorations are packed away, long winter evenings stretch ahead of us. Why not fill them with some good books … either the “old standard” physical volume or a book downloaded to an e-reader! Click here to read the January newsletter.

today’s news … Tuesday, December 27

In Uncategorized on December 27, 2011 at 5:40 am

today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today… “Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. – Franklin Pierce Adams

  • LEGAL NOTICE (published in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era, December 27, 2011) – “Notice is hereby given that a Special Meeting of Columbia Borough Council will be held on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Borough Municipal Building, 308 Locust St., Columbia, PA to address 2011 Budget changes, and any other Borough business. If you are a person with a disability wishing to attend and require an accommodation to participate in the meeting, please contact the Borough Office at 684-2467. Norman B. Meiskey III Borough Manager.”
  • “Taylor Elementary School makes the list: “2010 Keystone Achievement Awards Recognize Pennsylvania Schools for Academic Achievement” – PrnNewswire.com. Follow-up article from today’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era
  • “Between 100 to 120 Sears & Kmart stores to close” – York Dispatch

Christmas sky at dusk one.

  • More on the $250,000 grant to SGHA – “The plan also calls for working with Susquehanna River towns Wrightsville, Columbia and Marietta to bring more economic development projects into those areas. SGHA also plans to work with Lancaster County officials to do a Veterans Memorial Bridge lighting project that includes placing historic cast iron lights above the bridge, which connects Wrightsville and Columbia, Platts said.” – York Dispatch
  • Now in effect! “The teen driving law, signed by Gov. Tom Corbett in October, took effect at 12:01 a.m. (yesterday) morning. Teens with learner’s permits will need 65 hours of driving experience to get a junior license, up from 50 hours. Teens can get a junior license starting at age 16. There is also a new experience Read the rest of this entry »

Two funny columns from local newspapers

In Opinions on December 27, 2011 at 5:30 am

Among the “must reads” in any newspaper are the columns, letters to the editors, the opinions/editorials and classified pages. These features are the pulse of any community.

Over the weekend, we read two “seasonal” columns that produced smiles or outright chuckles.

Remember Ellen and Clark Griswold’s “good, old-fashioned family Christmas?” Beverly D’Angelo and Chevy Chase starred in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Yesterday’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era featured local columnist, Jane Holahan‘s look at the “crowded holiday season.” In “By December 31, the holiday spirit is gone,” she offers feelings that are shared by almost all of us.

“In this very crowded holiday season, we are moving from Christmas (hope you had a good one) on to New Year’s Eve.

“I am skipping Boxing Day, which is actually today, because, well, does anyone know what Boxing Day is about?

“Apparently, it’s some sort of shopping holiday in the British Isles, sort of like Black Friday in America. (Can you imagine getting a day off to go shopping?)

“Anyway, I’m tired of holidays by the time New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day come along.

“When you think about it, the ‘holidays’ have been in our faces since the day after Halloween, when all the Christmas stuff arrived on the shelves and the Christmas music started playing.” Click here to read her column in full.

“First off, Virginia, to be blunt, your little friends sound like real jerks.”

On Sunday (Christmas Day), we laughed aloud while reading York’s Mike Argento‘s “Maybe, Virginia, there could be a Santa Claus.” We think you will find it funny to read, too. Click here to read Argento’s “Yes, Virginia” letter.

” … medical myth: eating carrots will improve your eyesight”

In Everyday Living, Opinions on December 27, 2011 at 5:14 am

In the developed world, where vitamin A deficiency isn’t an issue, eating carrots won’t help you see more clearly. Nerdcoregirl

(Source: theconversation.au.edu)

Getting enough vitamin A is important for healthy eyes. And carrots are a rich and natural source of this vitamin, which is basically a group of chemicals made up of retinal (the active form of vitamin A) and carotenes such as beta-carotene (which gives carrots their distinctive colour).

But a diet overloaded with carrots – and vitamin A – won’t leave you with healthier eyes.

To understand where vitamin A fits in, I’ll first explain a little about the process of vision. When we look at something, light from that object enters the eye and is focused onto the inside back surface of the eyeball, which is lined by a thin layer of cells. This is called the retina.

The retina is responsible for catching light and turning this into a neural signal, which is then sent up to the brain for further processing. In order to perform this wondrous action, the retina has specialised cells, called photoreceptors, each of which is packed with light-catching pigments.

The predominant pigment in the retina is rhodopsin, a major part of which is retinal (vitamin A). When the retinal reacts with light, it induces a cascade of biochemical events and shape changes in the rhodopsin molecule. In turn, this creates an electrical signal. This whole process is known as phototransduction, and this is really where vision begins.

Humans are unable to synthesise vitamin A afresh and, therefore, must take it in through their diet to maintain normal visual function. Vitamin A can be found in a range of meats and vegetables – the most notable being the carrot, though the best source is probably liver.

For most people living in developed countries, adequate vitamin A intake is not an issue, so eating more carrots will make no noticeable difference. This is because our diets contain enough vitamin A and we are able to store it, unlike other nutrients, such as vitamin B. To continue reading this article, click here.

today’s news … Monday, December 26

In Uncategorized on December 26, 2011 at 5:30 am

today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today…“I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men’s hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of permanent equality of property.” – Alexis de Toqueville

  • “A scam artist last week duped a Manor Township man out of more than $1,000, according to police. A caller told the man, who is in his 70s, that he had won a lot of money in a lottery and had to pay taxes on it before receiving his winnings, township police said. Police believe the call originated in Jamaica. They warned residents to fully check out any such claims before sending anyone any money.” – LancasterOnLine.com
  • Taylor Elementary School makes the list: “2010 Keystone Achievement Awards Recognize Pennsylvania Schools for Academic Achievement” – PrnNewswire.com
  • What happens when you get grant money and don’t do what you said you were gonna’ do? This Harrisburg Patriot-News article deals with just that.
  • “Technical Sgt. Crystal Mentzer of Columbia has received the Meritorious Service Medal, a noncombat medal equal to the Bronze Star, from the Department of the Air Force for single-handedly correcting a highly deficient technical order pro­gram. Her accomplishments ulti­mately enhanced flight safe­ty, aircraft availability and readiness for the 193rd Air National Guard at Middle­town. Mentzer has served in the Air Force/Air National Guard for 12 years, receiving nu­merous awards and commen­dation for her duties during the Enduring Freedom cam­paign, in which she served at Dover Air Force Base in Del­aware after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She also served two tours of duty in the Middle East during the Iraqi Free­dom campaign and with her unit in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. She is the daughter of Bill and Deb Mentzer of Colum­bia.” – Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era
  • Christmas Day church attendance was off; Christmas eve services were busy – Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era
  • Even snakes and rats have supporters! Love the opinions in today’s Letters to the Editors, especially this quote from one: “Rulers are the servants and agents of the people; the people are their masters. When the Read the rest of this entry »

“The Way to Occupy a Bank is to Own One”

In Everyday Living, Opinions on December 26, 2011 at 5:07 am

(SOURCE: http://www.moveyourmoney.org)

By Ellen Brown, Global Research, December 16, 2011

The campaign to “move your money” has gotten a groundswell of support. Having greater impact would be to “move our money” — move our local government revenues out of Wall Street banks into our own publicly-owned banks.

Occupy Wall Street has been both criticized and applauded for not endorsing any official platform.  But there are unofficial platforms, including one titled the 99% Declaration which calls for a “National General Assembly” to convene on July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia.  The 99% Declaration seeks everything from reining in the corporate state to ending the Fed to eliminating censorship of the Internet.  But none of these demands seems to go to the heart of what prompted Occupiers to camp out on Wall Street in the first place – a corrupt banking system that serves the 1% at the expense of the 99%.  To redress that, we need a banking system that serves the 99%.

Occupy San Francisco has now endorsed a plan aimed at doing just that.  In a December 1 Wall Street Journal article titled “Occupy Shocker: A Realistic, Actionable Idea,” David Weidner writes:

[P]rotesters in the Bay Area, especially Occupy San Francisco, have something their East Coast neighbors don’t: a realistic plan aimed at the heart of banks. The idea could be expanded nationwide to send a message to a compromised Washington and the financial industry.

It’s called a municipal bank. Simply put, it would transfer the City of San Francisco’s bank accounts—about $2 billion now spread between such banks as Bank of America Corp., UnionBanCal Corp. and Wells Fargo & Read the rest of this entry »

Who uses phone books?

In Everyday Living, In Columbia, Opinions on December 26, 2011 at 4:58 am

A few days ago the Verizon SuperPages telephone directories were delivered to area homes. This directory is one of several that are delivered in the area. Generally, we look at these books as obsolete as buggy whips; they almost immediately hit the recycle pile.

Increasingly, people are finding “things” by relying on the Internet, smart phones and digital technology. The “hold-it-in-your-hands” directories (yellowbook; Verizon’s superpages; CenturyLink Yellow Pages) have digital versions. Directory use is rapidly declining; we were not able to find exact numbers via Internet search, but we did find some. For instance, a study from Australia shows 65% increase in people who “use print versions of yellow pages less than monthly or not at all.”

(SOURCE: yellowturningblue.com.au)

Before recycling these issues, we decided to thumb through the directory. If you are looking for an attorney or a bailbondsman, here’s the place to look.

We found one really good resource for information about what to do in case of a nuclear incident at Three Mile Island. What we could not find were listings for people in the “traditional white pages.” The white pages include only business listings. Most likely, the phone directory has discovered that people are turning away from the phone in the home to the phone in the pocket or the bag. Mobile telephone use has skyrocketed across the globe; in the US today, more than 327 million mobile telephone numbers are in use. (NOTE: The US ranks third in users behind China and India according to this wikipedia article.] Read the rest of this entry »

today’s news … Sunday, December 25 … Christmas 2011

In Uncategorized on December 25, 2011 at 5:30 am

today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today… “God bless us. Everyone!” – Tiny Tim

  • Sent to Columbia news, views & reviews by a reader: “The Lancaster Central Market in Lancaster, PA is always busy, but even more so during the holiday season. The crowds were even larger on Saturday, December 17, 2011 as a flash mob gathered to perform the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. Enjoy!”
  • The old radio and TV show, “Kids Say the Darndest Things” may need an update to “Kids, and Veeps, say the Darndest Things.” Even the President can’t shut this guy up: “Taliban Welcome Biden’s ‘Not our Enemy’ Remark” – The Daily Beast
  • Business opportunity! “After about 14 years at (York’s) Central Market, Marchios Delicatessen co-owners Diane Seitz and Connie Markle will close shop Dec. 29. The friends are retiring and have put the popular deli up for sale, according to their website.” - York Dispatch
  • “Free Christmas meal for all at Round the Clock” – York Dispatch
  • Recent restaurant and food serving establishments: York County – York Dispatch; Lancaster County – Sunday News. A complete listing of all facilities in Lancaster, York counties and the entire state, except those in Columbia, are listed at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Website.
  • RUMOR!: “Has Lady Gaga purchased a house in Lancaster County?” – Harrisburg Patriot News & The Sunday News (Lancaster) article: “Lady Gaga to call Lancaster home?”
  • “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer story started as ‘crowd-bringer’ for Montgomery Ward” – Harrisburg Patriot News
  • POLICE LOG: “WEST HEMPFIELD TWP.: Jewelry valued at more than $1,400 and money were stolen overnight Wednesday from a home in the first block of Cedar Terrace while the resident was sleeping, police said. The resident found items scattered about in the morning, according to police. The burglar(s) possibly entered through an unlocked door. – WEST HEMPFIELD TWP.: Courtney Hartman, 21, and Justin Herr, 19, both of Columbia, were charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after they were found inside a car in the back parking lot of a church in the 400 block of West Main Street, police said. Police responded at 10:47 p.m. Thursday.” – The Sunday News (Lancaster)
  • Lancaster sends citations to landlords for failing to keep up properties. “We first made a commitment to ensure that the exterior and interior of all rental properties in the city would be systematically inspected at least once every four years,” (Randy) Patterson said. This was done, he added, “not just for the tenants who choose to rent the apartment, but also for the neighbors.” – The Sunday News (Lancaster)

We wish you a Merry Christmas

In Everyday Living, History and Heritage, Treasures on December 25, 2011 at 5:15 am

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