The Borowitz Report - Banks Raise Fees

Banks Raise Fees on Same People Who Bailed Out Their Asses, Introduce New ‘Thank You’ Fee on Debit Cards

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – The largest banks in the US made history today by hiking fees on the same people who bailed out their asses three years ago.

“We would not exist today without the generosity of the American taxpayers,” said CEO Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, which received billions of dollars of Federal bailout money. “And we want to thank them by assessing a special monthly ‘thank you’ fee on all of our debit cards.”

Becoming emotional, Mr. Moynihan added, “We think of the taxpayers every time we vacation on our yachts or visit our third homes, and we want them to think of us every time they try to spend $20 on groceries.”

Mr. Moynihan said that even after paying the new $5 monthly fee, "American taxpayers should still have enough money left over to let them eat cake."

In other news, CNN announced today that it plans to start covering the mass protests on Wall Street in lower Manhattan “as soon as the Michael Jackson trial is over.”

And Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry today blasted President Obama’s decision to kill a terrorist in Yemen: “There are plenty of perfectly good people to execute right here in America.”

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Readers Write - 71st wedding anniversary of the Clintons!

Pictures from the 71st wedding anniversary celebration we held for Carl and Agnes Clinton at the Coldstream Park (our doggie park).

We had great fun, wonderful food and lot's of sunshine.

Enjoy

Lilly, Hans and Eddy

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Ratepayers' Association News.

To Members (and former members) of the Coldstream Ratepayers Association

(CRA):

 

May I please ask for two or three of you to  volunteer tomorrow night

(Sept. 28) to help me set up for the CRA meeting at 7 PM at the Log

House on Kalavista Dr. You can park right outside the Log House itself.

Please be there by 6:30 PM.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Steve Heeren, Pres., CRA

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Local scientist to discuss water issues in public speaker series

http://okanagansisss.wordpress.com/

What’s up with water in the Okanagan?

A lot, and Dr. Anna Warwick Sears is eager to tell you about it at a public lecture at Okanagan College’s Kalamalka Campus on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. This talk is presented by the Science in Society Speaker Series (a joint project by Okanagan Science Centre and the Okanagan College).

 

Dr. Warwick Sears is the Executive Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, a local government agency focused on water sustainability in the arid interior of British Columbia. More information can be found about her work and concerns at Okanagan Basin Water Board website and Dr. Warwick Sears’ blog.

The Okanagan has become a center for water science and policy innovation in Canada. Many important questions need to be answered concerning our water resources: How do we protect our aquatic environments? What activities should be allowed in the forested drainages around drinking water sources? How will we adapt to climate change? Who will go after the polluters? Who pays for what? New models are evolving in British Columbia to regulate the use of water including such approaches as collaborative governance. As the government of British Columbia is in the process of revising its century-old water act, informed input, from all stakeholders, is crucial. In this talk, Dr. Warwick Sears will be sharing the latest issues and approaches of the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

Warwick Sears received a Ph.D. in population biology at the University of California – Davis, studying competition for resources in arid environments. Before coming to the Okanagan in 2006, she was the Research Director of an environmental non-profit in California, leading watershed restoration and planning initiatives. Dr. Warwick Sears is particularly interested in using science to solve real-world problems and building bridges with community stakeholders.

Admission is $5 in advance or $7 at the door. Please contact the Okanagan Science Centre www.okscience.ca or call (250) 545-3644 for advanced purchase of tickets or for more information.

This event is sponsored by the Best Western Vernon Lodge, the Morning Star, Starbucks Coffee, and Sweet Caroline’s Bakery.
For more information, contact:

• Carl Doige, Okanagan College (250) 545-7291 ext. 2286
• Sandi Dixon, Okanagan Science Centre (250) 545-3644  

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Selected News Clips Morning Star, September 25, 2011

 

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Council Meeting and Parks Public Hearing Sept. 27

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NASA satellite sheds debris in Canada: report

National Post

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A six-tonnes NASA science satellite pierced the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and fell back to Earth, the U.S. space agency said on Saturday, but it was not yet known where the remains landed.

NASA said its decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, which took an unpredictable course as it tumbled through the upper atmosphere, fell to Earth sometime between 11:23 p.m EDT on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT on Saturday).

“The precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty,” NASA said of the 20-year-old satellite.

There were reports on Twitter of debris falling over Okotoks, a town south of Calgary in western Canada, most likely satellite remains.

Stretching 35 feet (10.6 metres) long and 15 feet (4.5 metres) in diameter, UARS was among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably through the atmosphere, although it is a slim cousin to NASA’s 75-tonnes Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979.

Russia’s last spacestation, the 135-tonnes Mir, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2001, but it was a guided descent.

NASA now plans for the controlled re-entry of large spacecraft, but it did not when UARS was designed.

The 13,000-pound (5,897 kg) satellite was dispatched into orbit by a space shuttle crew in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in Earth’s atmosphere. It completed its mission in 2005 and had been slowly losing altitude ever since, pulled by the planet’s gravity.

Most of the spacecraft burned up during the fiery plunge through the atmosphere, but about 26 individual pieces, weighing a total of about 1,100 pounds (500 kg) could have survived the incineration.

The debris field spans about 500 miles (805 km), but exactly where it is located depends on when UARS descended.

With most of the planet covered in water and vast uninhabited deserts and other land directly beneath the satellite’s flight path, the chance that someone would be hit by falling debris was 1-in-3,200, NASA said.

“The risk to public safety is very remote,” it said.

The satellite flew over most of the planet, traveling between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator.

UARS was one of about 20,000 pieces of space debris in orbit around Earth. Something the size of UARS falls back into the atmosphere about once a year.

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NORD News - Regional Growth Strategy adopted.

  
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Photogallery - IT IS HARVEST TIME ONCE AGAIN AT DAVISON ORCHARD - Debbie Gibson

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