Unemployment News: Armed Guards in Unemployment offices

Unemployment news gets worse every day in America, but did you ever think that things in America would get so bad that we would need to put armed guards into our unemployment offices?

Recently Indiana announced that it will be putting armed guards in all 36 of that state’s unemployment offices, in what state officials said is a step to improve safety and make branch security more consistent.

No specific incidents prompted the action, according to Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter.

Lotter said the agency is merely being cautious with the approach of an early-December deadline when thousands of Indiana residents could see their unemployment benefits end after exhausting the maximum 99 weeks provided through multiple federal extension periods.

"Given the upcoming expiration of the federal extensions and the increased stress on some of the unemployed, we thought added security would provide an extra level of protection for our employees and clients," said Lotter.

So could things really get out of hand when thousands of unemployed workers in Indiana find out that they aren’t going to get checks any longer? Could we soon see economic riots similar to what we have seen in Greece and France?

Lets face it, the majority of those calling themselves the 99ers have been without unemployment benefits for more than 8 months and no violent out breaks have happened in America, yet - but we shall see what happens if the Congress does not get off it’s collective “butt” when they return mid-November and pass not only a Tier 5 but extend too, the UI filing deadlines.

But it is not just the state of Indiana that could have a problem. In fact, one recent study found that approximately 2 million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance benefits during this upcoming holiday season unless Congress authorizes another emergency extension of benefits by the end of November. At this point, however, that is looking less and less likely.

What if all the states start putting armed security guards in their unemployment offices?  The truth is that frustration among unemployed Americans is growing by the day and the idea of armed guards in unemployment offices has been catching on in many other states where the unemployment is unreasonably high. Most Social Services offices have had armed guards stationed in many cities throughout the USA for years now.

So who is paying for all of this extra security? The Feds of course, which means Tax Payers.

The additional cost of the new security (in Indiana) will be approximately $1 million, and it will be paid for with U.S. government funds designated for the administration of the unemployment system according to Lotter.

Whether or not violence breaks out in American streets over the economic woes of the “have nots” may well be determined by what happens tomorrow at ballot boxes throughout America. If you are hurting now - God help us all if the Republicans take back control of the Congress.

For many more statistics that reveal the economic horror we are now facing as a nation, please see ”30 Reasons Why People Should Be Getting Really Nervous About The State Of The U.S. Economy."

The following is a video news report about the armed guards that are going into Indiana unemployment offices….

World Series 2010: Rangers Nolan Ryan Says "We Can Win Three In A Row"

The Dan Patrick Show had Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan on this morning, who made some interesting comments, including saying the Rangers could win the next three World Series games against the San Francisco Giants. Here's the recap.

Ryan Keeps DP Show Waiting

On the morning of the day of World Series Game 5, Texas Rangers President and Pitching Legend Nolan Ryan was set to talk with with former ESPN Personality and host of The Dan Patrick Show, on radio and DIRECTV, Dan Patrick. From the looks of it, Ryan's keeping Dan and his staff, called "The Danette's ,"waiting. As of this writing, Ryan's a no show.

Given the Rangers sorry performance against The San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series, he would have been forgiven for backing out. The Texas Rangers are just one SF Giants victory from being blown out of the World Series by a combined score of 26 to 9. That Giants win could come this evening.

Todd Fritz, Executive Producer of The Dan Patrick Show and called "Fritzy," just explained that the Texas Rangers spokesperson said they haven't seen Ryan in the office and can't find him, but as of this writing, they're trying to.

Wow. Talk about a blow off by Ryan – at least as of this writing.

UPDATE – Ryan's in transit, driving to the Texas Rangers' office.

Ryan's on now. Says' he's been in better moods: "We're going to have pitch well tonight and have some offense." He says he's more surprised by their hitting. The Giants are "by far playing the best baseball."

On Rangers Pitcher Cliff Lee (who's set to start for the Rangers tonight): "No contract discussions," as of this writing and Ryan will not do so until after the season. "I have to believe (Lee and his family) have enjoyed their time here. That may be an advantage for us."

Stating the obvious, Ryan says The Rangers have struggled in the middle of their lineup during the 2010 World Series. On Rangers Outfielder Josh Hamilton's unexpectedly poor World Series play, Ryan said "I think they've seen him in both playoff situations and have a pretty good idea how to pitch him. So they're throwing a lot of off plate pitches."

On the season and The World Series: I think it's a success even with the World Series. You don't like to lose any game." Patrick asked if the Rangers could win the next three World Series games. Ryan: We can win three in a row. We've got our three best pitchers (coming up).

On Tim Lincecum versus Cliff Lee "We want Cliff Lee to be on like he was against the Yankees and Tampa Bay."

On hugging and kissing or hugging and kissing First Lady Laura Bush Ryan said "We were just all excited to get into the win column," after the Rangers win on Saturday.

Madison Bumgarner, Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey: SF Giants World Series 1 Win Away

Thanks to the pitching of Madison Bumgarner, and the bats of Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants are just one Arlington Stadium win away from its first World Series Championship win in its history. The Giants beat The Rangers 4 to nothing in Arlington, Texas.

In the process of chalking up its third win in the last four games, The San Francisco Giants are defying the experts, who expected the Texas Rangers to display more batting power than the baseball team by the Bay. So, far, with the exception of Saturday's World Series Game 3, it hasn't happened.

As the great SF Giants Fan blog McCovey Chronicles explains, Madison Bumgarner was just "a pitching prospect without a fastball. His velocity wasn’t just down, it was Rueterian." Buster Posey "didn’t have enough of his manager’s trust to play in September" one year ago. And Aubrey Huff was "lucky to get a major league contract after he floundered in Detroit."

Wow, how fast fortunes can change in just a year.

Madison Bumgarner allowed just three Rangers hits in eight innings of play. Aubrey Huff, played the DH role expertly with a two-run home run. Buster Posey's homer was the coup-de-gras, putting the Giants up 4 to 0.

On Monday, the first day of November, and one day before election day, the San Francisco Giants get a chance to make their own statement as World Champions of Baseball and for the first time since 1954.

Stay tuned. The Giants face Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee on the mound.

March Of Dimes, Walgreens CFO, Honor White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford

The good news in politics is often not reported. Such is the case with this news of The March of Dimes Of Chicago and Walgreens CFO, Wade D. Miquelon, who's formal title is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Walgreens as Honorary Chairperson, presenting White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford with the 2010 Chef of the Year award just over a month ago.

According to The March Of Dimes, Wade D. Miquelon was joined in the role of Honorary Chairperson by Denise Wong, Vice President and Division Chief Information Officer of Walgreens. The retailer was presenting sponsor for the event to honor this Chicago legend who serves President Obama in the role of White House Executive Chef.

First Woman As White House Executive Chef



First Lady Laura Bush selected Cristeta Comerford as Executive Chef on August 14th 2005. She became not just the first woman but the first Filipino and minority in the role. When Bush gave way to the tidal wave that was the Obama movement into the White House, Comerford, a Chicagoan, was retained in her role.

In doing so, First Lady Michelle Obama said this "Cristeta Comerford brings such incredible talent to the White House operation and came very highly regarded from the Bush family," Michelle Obama said in a statement released by the transition team. "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families."

Jerry Brown For California Governor Over Meg Whitman

Regardless of your view of Jerry Brown - and Oaklanders have as many views of Brown as their are City Council districts - it's hard to get passed the fact that he's more than prepared to be California's next governor. The first and most obvious reason is Brown's been there before.

"Governor Brown" is called that because Jerry was Governor of California. And while his record is both harmed and helped by the battle against, and then the support for, Proposition 13, no one can deny that Jerry has the knowledge, experience, and relationships to make a difference in Sacramento. 

But, let's face it, we all knew this was coming.

Everyone in Oakland who pays half a mind of attention to politics knew Jerry was planning for this moment - election day November 2, 2010 - when he ran for Mayor of Oakland and won in 1998. A number of people said he was working to change his image from that of "Mayor Moonbeam" to one of centrist problem solver.

His final path on the way to this moment was running for and winning the race for California Attorney General. Jerry, as much as this blogger may not have liked it at times, had a plan and stuck to it.  He continues that positive habit to today.  It's something that will be good for California.

Would I have preferred the Jerry plan include enthusiastic support for the Super Bowl I was charged with bringing to Oakland? Yes. Did it take me years to get over the political battle I waged against what seemed to be a set of Oaklanders, including Jerry, who had changing sets of agendas? Yes. Did I start Oakland's first blog (Oakland Focus) mostly out of sheer anger with Governor Brown and them. Yes. Did we talk about that later? Yes.

My message to Jerry was that I was never going to go away as a person who mattered in Oakland, and that even if he or anyone else didn't want to, they would be forced to pay attention to what I had to say. I can say Jerry gets that now. I'm done.

As I told him recently, losing the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl took me years to get over.  I may live the rest of my life never completely recovering from that episode, because it showed me why Oakland never completely gets to the point of real urban success.

So be it.  I decided to do what Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris told me to do: use my brains on myself, because few cared about Oakland as much as I did.  Elihu was right.  I can say the National Football League has been a friend through that period, and up to today.  One day, I'll write a book and make a movie about that moment of my life.  It has to be seen to be believed.

For me, the whole matter is done, and I want nothing from the Governor other than what this blog post is doing: to wish him well and ask that you vote for him.

But that aside, I really do believe Jerry Brown will make a good Governor of California.  Indeed, Jerry Brown's returning to his rightful place in this state's colorful culture.  He knows, and arguably is, California.  Thus, he's the person best able to at least take a good crack at straightening out California.

What? You'd rather have Meg Whitman?

Ha.  No.  Big HA HA.

For this blogger, the former eBay CEO's run for Governor will always be marked by the signal she sent to majority minority cities like Oakland.  A point of view encapsulated in this video I created a few months ago, where Whitman's staffers sent a message of fear of Oakland and to Oaklanders that's a punch line from a script for The Colbert Report:



You want the fearmonger for Governor of California? A person who's shown hostility to her own Latino family housekeeper, insulted Fresno, California, and dissed Oakland?

Please.

Vote for Jerry Brown.

Stewart's Rally To Restore Sanity Beats Beck's Attendance

Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity with Stephen Colbert on October 30, 2010 drew in a bigger crowd than Glenn Beck's Rally to Restore Honor.

Stewart's event drew in over 210,000 people, and Beck's rally in August had less than 100,000 people in attendance.

Entertainment Weekly reports that 250,000 attending in person and 4 million streamed the event on computers.

Dallas Cowboys Blown Out By Jacksonville Jaguars 35 to 17

The Dallas Cowboys improbable season continues. The only thing worth watching at Cowboys Stadium this season are The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the stadium's art work. The Cowboys were blown out at home by the Jacksonville Jaguars 35 to 17, as Jaguars Quarterback David Garrard threw four touchdown passes.

In fact, David Garrard tied a club record, as he was 17 of 21 for 260 yards and four touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 157.8.

By contrast, Cowboys Quarterback Jon Kitna was just good and awful at the same time, throwing for 374 yards, 34 of 49, but committing four interceptions against just one touchdown.

The Cowboys actually outgained the Jaguars 415 yards to 387 yards, but the interceptions made the difference, as Dallas gave the ball to a red-hot David Garrard.

It was so bad that fans started cheering "Let's go Rangers," referring to tonight's World Series Game 4 pitting the Texas Rangers against the San Francisco Giants.

Dallas Cowboys' Season Is Terrible

Now, The Cowboys are 1 and 6, and there's no sign their fortunes will get any better, soon.

CNN's Dana Bash' Unexplained Lisa Murkowski Tweet Causes Internet Storm

CNN's Dana Bash has some explaining to do. Her tweet about Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski caused the Senator's name to be retweeted so much, it's now the second hottest topic on Google Trends as of this writing. Used properly, Twitter can be a force for good or bad. In this case, the bad is for Lisa Murkowski and the good may be for Joe Miller if this little firestorm grows.

On Twitter, Dana sent out this tweet 54 minutes ago as of this writing:

DanaBashCNN Dana Bash
Woah. Lisa murkowski just made really clear to our drew griffin in alaska republicans can't count on her to be w them.

Now Dana (photo at left) didn't provide a link to a video or text of an interview as part of her tweet, she just tweeted that statement.

The tweet was red meet to rabid Tea Party Movement supporters just two days before the 2010 MidTerm Elections. It was retweeted 14 times directly by followers (as of this writing), but many, many more times by follower of those followers, and so on. The result is a sea of retweets helping to create the content that meets the search demand for "Lisa Murkowski."

But just what Lisa Murkowski said was never explained by Dana Bash, and it must be. Google News has no supporting information that Senator Murkowski's going to, essentially, jump ship on the Republican Party. Was that Dana's interpretation?

If it was, Dana, as a political news reporter, should be really careful how she shares her take on politics. It could be interpreted as support for the Tea Party.   The Senator's challenger, Tea Party-backed Joe Miller, is reportedly behind in the polls.  Dana's tweet is the kind of spark that could turn it around for him, which is why it was so careless for Bash not to explain it.

Stay tuned.

Marine Corps Marathon

The 35th annual Marine Corps Marathon took place Sunday, October 31, 2010 throughout the D.C. streets.

Runners from across the world came wearing festive attire as they ran through the DC. streets. Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Biden's wife, fired the starting gun at 8 a.m. and the runners began their 26.2 mile run.

The marathon is also known as The People's Marathon and there were over thousands in attendance.

Denise Borino Quinn: Sopranos Actress Dies Of Liver Cancer

Denise Borino Quinn, the actress who played mobster Johnny Sack's wife Ginny Sacramoni on The Sopranos has died of liver cancer. She was just 46 years old.

According to EOnline, Borino Quinn died last Wednesday at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, and her funeral was held Saturday.

On July 23rd, 2000, Denise was selected to play the role of Ginny Sacramoni after an open casting call that drew 15,000 participants.  She had never acted before at any level.

Before her famous job with the The Sopranos, Denise Borino Quinn was a legal secretary and part-time manicurist living in New Jersey. Interestingsly Ouinn said she was really at the open casting call to support her best friend Maria Galasso; Denise didn't think she herself would be picked.

Denise is a graduate of West Essex Senior and Junior High School in North Caldwell, has a business degree from Dover Business College, and two semesters at Morris County College.

In an interview Denise explained how she wanted to be remembered:

I guess I want to be remembered for always being genuinely nice to people and being able to put a smile on their face. Just before my husband Luke’s sister Theresa passed away, Luke had brought me over to her house to meet her and Luke said he hadn’t seen his sister smile like that in months so for me knowing that I brought a little bit of happiness into his sister’s life means the world to me!

Given her role on The Sopranos, it's fair to say she did put a smile on America's face.

Time Change Fall 2010: Daylight Savings Time Change Nov 7

When does Time Change Fall 2010 take place? That seems to be the question of the day online, as this first period of heavy online use in our history is causing confusion on this day of Daylight Savings Time, called "DST," or the Time Change Fall 2010.

(UPDATE - Now it's our turn!)

But for Europe, not America or the Americas.

Today is Time Change Fall 2010 for Europe; in America and the Americas, it takes place November 7th.  That's one week from today, October 31st.  It's the first Sunday in November - the time for America to change its clocks.

Why?

First, Daylight Savings Time, or DST, itself was adopted to gain more light from a single day. It was observed more when the World's economy was largely agrarian. In today's tech culture, Daylight Savings Time isn't really needed as much. However, it does help with tourism and events.

Second, if you know that sundown is at 8 PM, because the clocks reflect that, rather than 7 PM, you will leave your event open one hour longer at least. That means more money and exposure for businesses that depend on daylight for revenue generation.

Time Change Fall and Daylight Savings Time Not Everywhere

With that, some countries don't observe the practice or the Time Change Fall 2010 or whatever and a number of countries are considering changes to DST or observe it in a different way. For example, Russia reduced their number of time zones from 11 to nine and are considering ending Daylight Savings Time in 2011.   And Egypt changed its clock four times in 2010.

Time Change Fall 2010 - Daylight Savings Time Change For Europe

Note: Time Change for USA on November 7th.

Some hold that today is Time Change Fall 2010, but the problem is that Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In America.

In November. That would be next week. Today is October 31st, Halloween.

But in Europe, because it's on that side of the Earth, it's different. Today is Time Change Fall 2010, and clocks are set back one hour.

According to the website Webexhibits.org:

In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It begins the last Sunday in March and ends the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment.

So for America, the time remains the same; for Europe it goes back one hour today.  On Halloween.

London NFL Game Impacted

An NFL Football game will be played today in London. Given the time change difference, you've got to wonder if the player of the San Francisco 49ers and The Denver Broncos are all aware of this.  Not only do they have to deal with the time zone date line change, but the time change itself.  Yikes.