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September 17, 2008

Dover area getting discount grocer

If you want a change from a traditional grocery store, you might want to check out the new SaveSmart coming to Weigelstown soon. It'll replace the old Nell's Shurfine that closed earlier this month.

Here is what we have so far on it.

Discount is how they are marketing it, and it won't look like a traditional grocery store to keep costs low. So what do you think? Will that make you come check it out?

Tainted dog food issues strike babies in China

Another reason to buy American: The same sort of chemical that made its way into pet food shipped to the United States last year from China and killed our pets has made its way into baby formula.

Three babies have died and thousands are sick in China, and evidence of the tainted milk has spread to other countries.

And again, the reason is shady people using chemicals to fool quality inspectors and make more money. This makes me sick.

For parents: Why kids playing video games is a good thing

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Almost every child in America plays video games, according to this study. I wanted to cry when I read it. I didn't play video games, and about half my friends didn't.

But I'm willing to bet the kids who played video games in my high school class now make more money than those who didn't.

Why?

Finish reading 'For parents: Why kids playing video games is a good thing' »

September 16, 2008

Could you still work if your computers went down?

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We learned the hard way yesterday that you can't do a whole lot of work in the modern office without a working computer network.

It didn't last long (happens to everybody at some point) but it still sparked a flurry of making backup plans, waiting for updates and other behavior akin to hunkering down during a natural disaster.

And me? I dug out that big, yellow book that's more dust-bunny habitat than directory nowadays. People still make phone books, ya know?

Of course, beyond calling a bunch of people and taking notes, I couldn't have done a whole heck of a lot. What does your office usually do when the computer network, or power for that matter, goes down?

September 12, 2008

A sad fact about public transportation

I love bowhunting, but I still don't love this statistic I came across this morning while looking up some gas prices facts:

"The number of bowhunters equals the number of Americans using public transportation to commute to work. (USCensus, NSGA)." (Courtesy of Huntersurvey.com.)

I'm happy for my favorite fall sport. But really? That's all the public transportation-takers in America?

Getting student loans getting harder

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See that picture? Students are seeing a whole lot less of that for college in central Pennsylvania.

A private student loan agency in Carlisle is limiting student loans it allocates from here on out, and a newspaper to the north of us is reporting the business isn't taking any new loan applications.

No matter what anyone says about race or gender glass ceilings still lingering in America, the 800-pound gorilla remains having the money for a good education. (Financial disparities are part of the race and gender ceilings, and in the end, money talks.) And like everything else in America, the degrees we buy - like hammers to smash through the glass - are bought on credit.

Credit woes aren't just something confined to people who were snookered on a bad mortgage or who ran up credit card bills at the mall, although sadly, that's part of what's caused the problem. And now kids can't afford college.

The situation with CampusDoor, I'm worried, will get worse. Do you know of anyone who is having problems with student loans this year? Are you worried education will become less available to those groups historically locked into class structures, and locked out of social mobility?

September 8, 2008

Another reason to watch Mad Men ... they talk about Utz

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I've had trouble getting into Mad Men, the uber-nominated show from American Movie Classics, a network I've traditionally turned to for my John Wayne fix. My trouble probably has something to do with its rise from cable near obscurity while the new Battlestar Galactica languishes off the Emmy radar screen.

But during a commercial for Mad Men the other week, month, or however long ago, I could have sworn I heard them talk about Utz.

Note: If you've never seen the show, it follows the all-male world of Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s and how ad execs use all kinds of tactics to get their customers' products sold. And, there are a whole lot of bedroom antics without happily ever afters to follow.

Well, looks like they were talking about Utz after all. So what do you think about such a big show making a storyline out of one of our local companies?

September 2, 2008

105th update: Harley party a great place to get married

Or at least that's what one couple decided, right in front of the Harley-Davidson Museum. Immediately, my thoughts go to that Tom Arnold-hosted "Redneck Wedding" show on CMT.

Disclaimer: I am not looking down on the show, the couple, rednecks or bikers. I watch the show; the couple scores points for originality; I love squirrel pot pie; and I know better.

Now of course, it wasn't just some random Harley party. It was the official 105th anniversary in Milwaukee. So the couple gets points in the "if you're going to do something, do it right" category.

So where were they from? This is really what got my attention.

Finish reading '105th update: Harley party a great place to get married' »

Oil dropping after Gustav misses, so when will local gas prices follow?

The hurricane was bearing down on Louisiana over the weekend, and gas prices around York County went from about $3.39 to $3.45. It's a smart move to spread out the pain of a Category 4 storm smashing into oil rigs and upping oil prices in its wake.

But then the rigs pretty much got missed, and oil prices began to fall. At last count, they were down to about $106 per barrel.

So watch out for gas prices to drop, even below that $3.30 range where prices settled for a bit. If they don't, let us know.

August 28, 2008

Do we have a right to Iraqi oil?

Story in the Times this morning about a contract becoming official for the Chinese to start developing an Iraqi oil field. It's based on a contract originally signed with Saddam.

So with oil prices going up again and our troops freeing up that oil from despotism, U.N. sanctions against the regime and whatnot, do you think we should get that oil ... and get it at a discount?

Or is it only fair that the free market play out?