December 26, 2008 at 2:25 pm
In tough times like this, it seems some of our fellow Tri-Citians have found a novel way of making a few extra bucks: by turning in criminals.
So far this year, Crime Stoppers has paid out $3,800 in rewards to 20 people, with $1,400 given just in October and November, said Mike Blatman, the law enforcement coordinator for Crime Stoppers.
“It kind of fluctuates, but it is up,” Blatman said. “It’s largely because of the economy and the holidays.” …
This year, reward money paid is about $1,200 above the average of $2,667 a year, Blatman said.
Depending on your outlook, that’s either really creative or really desperate. Or maybe a little bit of both. 
Full story at the Herald web site.
December 22, 2008 at 2:21 pm
From the New York Times in 1999:
Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers.
I think the problem actually goes back to the ’80s and the Reagan Administration, but have never seen any old articles referencing that.
July 30, 2008 at 11:01 pm
How does something like this happen?
There’s a story in our local paper that talks about a Petland store in Pasco that recently sold four puppies that were sick with Parvo. Two of the four have died. Yikes!
Here’s the part I don’t get:
It’s unclear whether the puppies were infected at the store or before arriving in Pasco from a Midwest supplier, Washburn said. The local Petland no longer will take puppies from that supplier, she said.
A Midwest supplier? I guess I never thought about it much, but … a Midwest supplier? So, like, there are dog factories and distribution chains just like we have with food, toys, furniture, auto parts, and everything else? Do they ship these dogs in big 18-wheelers, too? I’m not one of those animal freaks all of a sudden, but that just seems strange to me. But I suppose pet stores need (animal) inventory just like any other place….
Still, when all of the animal shelters in the Tri-Cities are overflowing (wish I could find that link) with unwanted pets, what on earth are people doing buying dogs at a chain pet store that come from the Midwest?
This whole thing is bizarre … maybe it’s just me?
[where: 5109 N Road 68, Pasco, WA 99301]
February 15, 2005 at 11:10 pm
Today I discovered an absolutely fascinating article about Princeton’s “Global Consciousness Project”, and how a little, black box supposedly sensed the 9/11 and Asian tsunami tragedies before they happened.
Yes, it sounds “far out”, and it is. Only a passing mention is given to the other side of the story — the “skeptics” as they say in this story.
But this line toward the end got me thinking:
“They might help provide a solid scientific grounding for such strange phenomena as ‘deja vu’, intuition and a host of other curiosities that we have all experienced from time to time.”
Deja vu. Yeah. I get that. Not a lot, but once or twice a month probably, which I assume is about normal. Deja vu. The feeling that you’ve already experienced something. Sometimes my deja vu is SO VIVID that I know I experienced it already.
Deja vu.
And I can’t help but think: How do we, as a society, explain the concept of deja vu? How is it possible? Why do I not hear more about studies into the concept of deja vu? When we experience deja vu … what’s happening inside the brain?
Not sure about the black box, but I’m fascinated by deja vu at this moment….
August 6, 2004 at 10:55 am
Here’s a nice change of pace…. Despite what you see and read about online scams, the FTC says the Internet is not the biggest source of fraud. What is? Print advertising! According to the FTC survey, 33% of scams came from ads in newspapers, magazines, direct mail, etc. The next biggest source is telemarketing at 17%, and the Internet is third at 14%. Rounding out the list of fraud and scam sources is TV and radio advertising at 11%. So the Internet isn’t that big, scary place a lot of people make it out to be.
FTC Consumer Fraud Survey
