www.a1anews.com - Independent Alternative News

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wednesday - December 31, 2008 -



Woman refuses to be taken hostage, stabs armed car jacker with pair of scissors in her van (see video above)

Unpaid downtime from work spreads across the nation

Health care profession no longer Recession proof - Tennessean newspaper explains hospitals are forced to cut back during hard times, give more charity care, and dip into reserves which was put aside to pay down debt

Deflation hits once high rents for tony NYC office space: it's a renter's market out there!

Government's Rx for American's debt addiction: print more money to throw at the problem?




Another lost cause: Virginity pledges have had one big effect . . . teens who take them have more unprotected sex!

Madoff will turn in a list of his assets today

Video cameras in prisons monitored by human rights workers turns Chihuahua City, Mexico Police Department into lauded force which is now a role model

Sony's Playstation costs 35% less to make, yet it still loses about $50 on every $399 unit priced machines sold in the USA

Facebook's War on Nipples

Windows beta 7 leaks to the Internet and becomes a hit on pirate download sites

Israel rejects peace proposals from world leaders, continues pounding Hamas targets, while Hamas keeps sending rockets into Israel



Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Tuesday Evening - December 30, 2008 - Car Wash Worker Tries to Wash Out the Filty Mouth of an Armed Robber (Video)

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30 Dec 08



Car wash cleaner uses power washer to defend himself from armed robber who drops gun, which falls to pieces on car wash floor, and who then runs like Forrest Gump from the scene (click video above for a laugh)

Bristol Palin, labeled a Fornicator, spurs interesting and sometimes humorous thread on Motley Fool today

Boys come forward in Georgia to say they were molested by Youth Minister "Magic Jeff"

96 year old Duchess of Carnegie is being evicted from here magnificent rent controlled apartment ($650 per Month) where she has lived for 61 years

Consumer tip: Read this short article explaining what we've been doing wrong for years when we load our dishwashers

Insiders say Hurricane Katrina was the tipping point for Bush's bully pulpit

Lawrence Wilkerson, Former Powell Aide: Bush Was 'Sarah Palin-Like' in His Knowledge of Foreign Policy

Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic

Tuesday - December 30, 2008 - "The consumer is in survival mode . . . It's Wal-Mart time baby!", Must See Video - The Economy: The Philosopher's Stone



Goverment worker of 27 years took a side trip with his payloader which might cost him his job (video above)

Defiant Governor Blagojevich appoints W. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant seat in the United States Senate

Layoffs: Luxury Brand Chanel to Layoff 200 in Paris

A Toronto man tells men who slept with his stripper wife to get an HIV test

Republican National officials to draft a resolution calling Bush and GOP Congress members "Socialists"

Cat stays stranded in a cop's tree for 9 days as Officer Friendly was more concerned about his insurance not covering rescuers. Finally, someone with some common sense at the PD sent policemen to rescue the exile in a tree.

Will 77,000 people in South Carolina . . . where joblessness is running at 8.4% . . . NOT get their next unemployment checks this week as Governor Sanford tries to force an audit?


Who could have seen this coming? Try Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, and David Walker all in a must see video (above) "The Economy: The Philosopher's Stone"

National home prices post annual 18% drop for October, a new record!

Your 401k might be worth less than you think: Yahoo message board posters for Kraft Foods talk about their diminishing 401ks based on new math for lump payments. They invent a new verb by saying, "You've been Krafted!"

Good News worth reading: Fortune - 7 winning industries: Despite frozen credit and slow consumer spending, a (precious) few sectors are thriving.

China buying Wall Street

Banker Buys $37 Million Apartment After Getting $25 Million for 3 Months Work at Merrill Lynch in Bailout Buyout

Holiday sales drop to force bankruptcies, closings: Retailers may close 73,000 stores in the first half of 2009



The Advertising Recession is 2 Years Old and will last another year, analysts feel, making this the first 3 year cut back in advertising since the Great Depression

Consumer confidence falls to a record low as spiralling job losses build fear

Israeli gunboat rams Gaza medical relief boat which also had a CNN reporter on board



Israeli Defense Forces opens a Youtube channel through which it will disseminate videos of precision bombing of Hamas targets (see above video sample of missile strike)

High-tech crime will boom during this Recession

Barron's says to "Beware the House of (Credit) Cards" . . . as charge offs from bad card debts has risen almost 50% in the past 12 months

FBI looking into whether outgoing Congressman Tom Mahoney (D-FL) committed a crime by placing his mistress on his Congressional payroll

Forced to take 10% paycut, Atlanta police officers must take off one extra day every two weeks


Burger King's new ad serve up cultural imperialism?

For the 3rd straight day, earthquakes rattle Yellowstone Park

The Good Times Stop Rolling: Vegas Meets the Recession

After 50 Years of Castro's Cuba, an End to the Cold War?

Police: Santa shooter planned to kill divorce attorney, mother

Poof goes the GOP

"The consumer is in survival mode" . . . everything retail is crashing . . . "It's Wal-Mart time baby!"

Police: 7 bodies recovered in Canada avalanches

Auto lending company, GMAC, gets $6 Billion in bailout money


Bailout legacy will be inflation, some economists warn

Fortune: "The 21 Dumbest Moments in Business 2008

The firing of the NFL coaches has begun

NFL Scores, Standings and Schedules

NBA Scores, Standings and Schedules

Monday, December 29, 2008

Monday - December 29, 2008 - While Many Retailers Will Fold . . . Discount Retailers Should Thrive in 2009, Kuntsler: The Consumer Economy is Dead,

Jim Kuntsler's "Forecast for 2009" says the Consumer Economy is Dead

Dismal holiday sales could take down retailers and malls

Understatement of the day - Blagojevich lawyer: Wiretaps reveal 'unfortunate' remarks

Virginity pledges do not work says report from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Gaza death toll now over 350 after 3rd day of Israeli attacks

Fifty Herbert Hoovers

Veterans of the S&L Crisis of the late 80s and early 90s . . . many of them former government insiders . . . are licking their chops over the distressed assets of today

High hopes at Yahoo, Intel for Internet-enabled TV

Man dies from horrific burns after his wife set his genitals on fire

A1A News' Teacher of the week: Australian swears at 5th grade students, allows them to run amok, and provides an unsafe atmosphere for learning and still keeps job

Forbes: 5 ways you can cut your phone bill

Fire Department training goes wrong when Firemen kick in wrong door

Oldest man in America dies

As Economy sours, counterfeiting surges

Renaissance Technologies 3 Hedge Funds staffed by math wizards and using complex algorithms are thumping the Markets: one of them is up 58% in 2008. (Click here to see some of what they've been buying)



Waking up the hard way as you go to enter your truck: Chilling game of hide and seek with a hungry polar bear (2 trucks, 6 photos)

Federal debt held by Foreigners and International Investors approaches $3 Trillion

One family's losing fight to modify their loan after an ARM reset raised their mortgage payments by more than 60%

Two avalanches in Western Canada: 3 snowmobilers rescued, 8 still missing

The Web's Free-Labor Economy has Americans happily toiling for attention on for-profit sites that don't pay them money

Doses of vitamin B1 (thiamine) can reverse early kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, research shows.



Nashville Business Journal says discounters like Wal-Mart, Dollar General and Family Dollar are best positioned to ride out 2009, while other retailers will fold

Monday - December 29, 2008 - Satellite Radio? That Was Yesterday, Unemployment Rates in All 50 States, TVA Coal Sludge Tsunami Video




Cleanup of billion gallon TVA coal sludge tsunami could cost $250 Million (video above)

Cleanup of billion gallon TVA coal sludge spill

Seattle company proposes to build 100 windmills off Nantucket and Rhode Island shoreline

Israel Strikes Key Hamas Offices (with BBC video)

Atlantic Monthly Magazine's flashback from its issues during the Great Depression of the 1930s

Alan Abelson of Barron's - GOOD RIDDANCE: 2008 was a real bummer and the new year looks like another one. Dogs of the Dow: Barking up the wrong tree.



Car audio through the ages: how it has evolved beyond satellite radio
Crude oil futures climb to $42 on geopolitical concerns about Mid East fighting

Alter Net writer asks, "Was the 'Credit Crunch' a Myth Used to Sell a Trillion-Dollar Scam?"
Jews Fear Madoff Case Stokes Hate

What is jobless rate in your state, and how has it changed in one year? Rhode Island leads the US as it had 5.2% unemployment last year at this time and is now up to 9.1% unemployment a year later. (Click here to see DC + 50 states unemployment figures)

UN backed Somalian President quits after 4 years after saying he's lost control of country to Islamic militants

Great Britain May Lose 1 Million Jobs in 2009 from the Recession

Homelessness in Japan up by 15% as Economy decays more quickly



Bolivian officials strip Mexican beauty queen Laura Zuniga's title after her arrest

As the ruble slides lower against the Euro, ex-President Gorbacev warns Russia faces “unprecedentedly difficult and dangerous circumstances” and could be “heading into a black hole”.

Pennsylvania's Lancaster County hit by 3.3 magnitude quake

Hollywood hot to take on Recession as theme for new movies

Music labels, not happy with Youtube, might dealing with Hulu for music videos as CD sales continue fall and internet uploads increase

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sunday - December 28, 2008 - Dolphins Beat the Jets 24-17, Playoff Bound!!! Buffet's Brilliance Shines On, Dan Rather's Ghost to Haunt Bush post DC

NFL scores, standings and playoff schedules


Wal-Mart iPhone Sales: Where's the Discount? You'll only save $2 by buying one there




More oil glut proof: Frontline Ltd. (FRO) Chief Financial Officer Jens Martin Jensen told Dow Jones Newswires nine days ago that between 20 and 25 oil supertankers have been contracted out for floating storage in recent weeks to hold up to 50 million barrels of oil.

Matt Simmon's latest slide show titled "The Risk of Misjudging Peak Oil"

Israeli ground troops, tanks and artillery gather at Gaza border


Dan Rather's $70 Million lawsit against CBS to haunt Bush in his retirement. Rather contends the story on Bush's poor Air Reserve record still holds water and that he was fired due to "conservative's" pressure on the Network

Re-read: Financial Meltdown 101

Afghan suicide car bomber kills 16 of which 14 were innocent primary school kids; 58 more are injured

Pakistani suicide bomber pretending to need help with his car kills 34 people

Falling oil prices reason given for Kuwait government cancelling $9 Billion joint venture deal with Dow Chemical

Ugandan Army hot on the heels of LRA militants who hacked to death 45 people inside a Catholic Church

Ben Stein relates how investment bankers badgered him to invest in Madoff and why he passed on the deal; more importantly, he reminds us why we are more important than our investments

Feel good flick, "Marley and Me", tops the box office this weekend

Man with no forearms or hands, no legs below his knees, owns and runs successful gym in Atlanta, GA

His brilliance shines on: Warren Buffett's timeless predictions resonate truer than ever

Irvine, California family finds woman's entire savings of $10,000 in a box of crackers which Whole Foods restocked, when it should have composted it

Bonds are not the bulletproof risk free investments they used to be known for

American's short term memory loss: we buy more trucks and SUVs in December now that gasoline prices have come down

Youth pastor obsessed with child porn resigns from his post at Deltona church

Taliban takes claim for suicide car bomber who kills 16 people, 14 of whom are innocent children

WSJ: Bloggers are no replacement for real journalists



Alan Taylor's "Big Picture Blog" gives us 31 close ups of the recent Space Shuttle Endeavour mission

Where the jobs are: Nursing and teaching

FDIC is close to selling Indymac Bank

Gasoline hits 5 year low!

Unruly naked man dies from taser shots by deputies near Houston

Video catches 4 D.C. Cops stealing from Toys for Tots on Christmas day








Sunday - December 28 - Champion Snowboarder Cheats Death in Avlanche (Video),


Pretzel logic: Woman lies about pregnancy and birth of a child to boyfriend (she miscarried in the 3rd month) and then ups the ante by saying the non-existent child was kidnapped . . . all to keep her boyfriend

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Sunday - December 27, 2008 - Dolphins & Jets To Play The Most Important Game of 2008. Washington Mutual's Crooked Boiler Room Culture, Sat Radio Zero

Why satellite radio has never made a proift and why Howard Stern is no longer influential or talked about on the street


Former head of Wamu, Kerry Killenger, smiling 'cause he took his money and left the building before it collapsed





Saturday - December 27, 2008 - The Coming Demographic Asset Bomb, Kate Winslet Should Win Best Magazine Cover Oscar,

RNC Chairman condemns "Barack the Magic Negro" song

Scottish woman spent more than week locked in trunk


Where the jobs are: US Military having no problems with re-ups or finding new recruits




The Coming Cash Tsunami

Good old German know how invents "Passive Heated" homes which use 1/20th the energy of a normal same sized home with the exact same appliances.




Shoplifting dog had a Merry Christmas with a clean getaway
Man shoots talker at movies, police say

At least 20 die in Baghdad car bomb blast

An 850 pound emerald said to be worth $370 Million, is in the hands of Los Angeles Police as dispute to ownership heats up

Shark attacks and takes snorkeling Australian father

NFL: Scores, Schedule, Standings before tomorrows last week of the regular season ends
Late surge leaves Celtics stunned . . . Warriors hand champs 2d straight loss

NBA: Scores, Schedule, Standings

AIG's rescue has a long way to go. When will the government's costly bailout of the deeply distressed insurance giant be over? Don't expect it to be anytime soon.

Oil finishes the week a tad above $36 a barrel

3 out of 4 Americans glad to see Bush go

Stocks that beat the market meltdown of 2008

What happened to the American Dream?

Retailers cut loose unsold inventory with blowout fire sale type prices, and yet crowds still not forming in post-Holiday shopping

Want to save money commuting and get some exercise? Wired gives 2 thumbs up to Giant's latest version of "The Hybrid Bicycle"


Breaking: Israel launches air strikes on Gaza, at least 195 dead

Barron's this weekend: Coming in 2009: Stockpickers' Paradise

The US Madoff suicide investor (there was another big Madoff investor who committed suicide last week in Britain) was totally ruined by the Ponzi scheme as he had not invested money for clients, but for himself and family

Vanity Fair cover of Kate Winslet with 11 photo slideshow: After five nominations, Kate Winslet may get the Oscar she deserves, doubling down with back-to-back tours de force in The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

How to shoot better low light photos with that digital camera you just got for Christmas


Must read. As retiring Boomers sell off assets, it's time to duck and cover: MSNBC's Jon Markman: An ugly, unrecognizable Recession - Most of us haven't seen an economic decline like this one before, and as the slowdown gets slower, few will be unaffected. Are you ready for the 'frugal future'?

Christmas tree farmers began their work in earnest yesterday preparing for next year's crop

Islamorada, Florida Keys: Man's body with gunshot wound to head found inside a trailer which was burning from "suspicious" fire

Saturday - December 27, 2008 - Slip Sliding Away on Chicago's "Black Ice" on Highways, Kickers Kick Ass, Psycho Santa Melted His Uniform Into His Skin



... with Washington under a State of Emergency
...and Chicago freeways so frozen with ice that chain collisions are happening everywhere

Oahu, Hawaii experiences Key West disease . . . power failure . . . and President-elect Obama's neighborhood there is in the dark tonight

Down on her luck mom smothers her 8 year old son in motel room in Port St. Lucie, FL on Christmas Day

Friday, December 26, 2008

Friday Evening - December 26, 2008 - Glut forces producers to store oil on tankers off shore,

Real Homes of Genius: The Five Figure Zip Codes are Growing. A $62,000 Median Home Price in Southern California?

"We're running out of places to store crude oil. We're already storing oil in large oil tanker ships. OPEC's cuts will not be enough to stem rising inventories."




100 year old man goes to the gym 6 days a week




Six men have gone on trial in China accused of making and selling the chemical at the centre of the tainted milk scandal.

Six Iraqi policemen and seven detained militants have been killed in the city of Ramadi as the prisoners attempted to escape from a police station

Iranians throw shoes at pictures of Bush in support of shoe throwing journalist

Great Britain's Economy shrink more than any quarter since the Recession of 1990

Now the ethanol makers want a bailout

CEO of Fedex says he believes the current financial crisis was caused by tax laws which favored financial institutions in the USA over manufacturing and service sectors

Woman claims she was fired for answering the phone, "Merry Christmas", at vacation rental firm in Florida

Bush's War on Terror is more costly than expected, now pegged at over $1 Trillion (and that doesn't include veteran's healthcare, etc.)

Not all retailers are suffering: Online giant,Amazon claims this Christmas was a record season

New York Times: TVA flood of coal ash, mud and water is three times larger than originally thought

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