Founder of Zapps Potato Chips Dies...sad day for me...B-Q is my favorite...

ZAPPE Ronald Joe Zappe, age 67, of Baton Rouge, LA, died on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 in Houston, TX due to complications arising from treatment of cancer. Ron was born in Beaumont, Texas, on February 15, 1943 to parents Verline and Lester Joseph Zappe. He grew up in Houston, Texas, and attended Reagan High School. He studied Industrial Engineering at Texas A&M, Class of '65, where he quickly distinguished himself by being named Outstanding Freshman in 1961. He gained further notoriety among his Aggie peers when he was charged with cattle rustling for his part in the capture The University of Texas mascot, Bevo, in 1963. Ron began his career with Ingersoll Rand but showed the first signs of his entrepreneurial spirit when he launched Flow-Quip, the first of many oil supply related businesses. In 1985, in the midst of the oil crisis, he made what proved to be a brilliant move from crude oil to peanut oil when he founded Zapp's Potato Chips and settled in to his life's calling. He donated time and money (and LOTS of chips) to numerous charities. He was known for his generosity, his over-the-top personality and love of a good time. He is survived by the love of his life, Anne Grantham Zappe; his daughter, Kristin Zappe Hopper and husband, Tim of Bloomfield, New Jersey; his son, Eric Campbell Zappe and wife, Catherine of Jacksonville, Florida; three grandchildren: Matthew, Katie, and Jack Hopper; and his sister, Joan Zappe Brown and husband, George of League City, Texas. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 1:00 p.m at St. James Episcopal Church, 205 North Fourth Street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with visitation starting 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to LSU Rural Life Museum at 4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809-3424 or the charity of your choice. Rabenhorst Funeral Home in Charge of Arrangements.

Need a job? Want to clean up oil in 100+ degree heat for 10 hours a day? Apply with-in...

How much per hour would it take for YOU to do this type of work???
Put Jobless Young People to Work Cleaning Up BP’s Mess and Order BP to Pay
Former Labor Secretary suggests that BP should pay for a legion of "young people" to go to the Gulf Coast to clean-up the marshes and beaches. 

""For most new high school and college grads finding a job is harder than ever. Meanwhile, states are cutting summer jobs for disadvantaged young people. What to do with this army of young unemployed? Send them to the Gulf to clean up beaches and wetlands, and send the bill to BP.""

I have NO problem with this! However, I am intrigued by the reality of this proposal:  Suggest to high school and college graduates to move to the Gulf Coast, work 8 hours a day in 100+ heat, cleaning/scrubbing raw crude oil from beaches, marshes, rocks, etc...I am not suggesting in any way that this demographic lacks the work ethic or can-do to do this, but seems to me that this (even MY) generation is no-depression era generation when it comes to doing work like this:

""The President should order BP to establish a $5 billion clean-up fund, and immediately put America’s army of unemployed young people to work saving the Gulf coast. Call it the new Civilian Conservation Corps.

(The old CCC — created by FDR at another time of massive unemployment and environmental stress — gave millions of young Americans jobs and training to reforest lands that had been degraded, provide emergency flood relief in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and build the infrastructure for our national parks.)""

Am I wrong? Judging this generation too harshly?  Convince me otherwise... :)

Shrek Glasses Recalled---I wish they recalled the movie instead...

WSJ: McDonald's Recalls 'Shrek' Glasses

""Cadmium was detected in McDonald's 'Shrek'-themed glasses featuring characters, from left, Puss In Boots, Shrek, Donkey and Fiona..McDonald's Corp. is recalling 12 million glasses sold as a promotional tie-in to the latest "Shrek" movie because they contain the toxic metal cadmium. The voluntary recall is a rare lapse for McDonald's, which is known for tough oversight of suppliers, and could hurt its standing with families that have driven the fast-food chain's growth. The company's shares slipped $1.15 to $66.70 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday, with the broader markets also lower. Friday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the designs on the glasses, which were sold for about $2 since the beginning of May, contain cadmium, which can pose health risks with long-term exposure.
The glasses were manufactured by ARC International North America Inc., of Millville, N.J. The company said it only learned about the problem late Thursday and will look into it, the Associated Press reported Friday. ARC International is based in France.
No injuries have been reported, but McDonald's has asked consumers to stop using the glasses and return them for a full refund.
McDonald's says the glasses met federal standards when tested by an independent third-party laboratory but decided to recall the items "in light of the CPSC's evolving assessment of standards for cadmium in consumer products."
The recall, reported earlier by the Los Angeles Times, may do some damage to McDonald's image in the eyes of families, Telsey Advisory Group analyst Tom Forte said Friday in an interview. "The risk would be that there would be the perception that McDonald's selling unsafe items," he said.
The glasses don't pose an "acute risk" to children, said Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the CSPC, as the amount of cadmium in them is slightly above a standard the commission is developing. He said the amount of the metal found is "far below" the level foundin three previous recalls of children's metal jewelry.
With concern over the metal growing, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently began limiting the use of cadmium in a variety of children's products after voluntarily recalling some pieces of children's jewelry that were found to have high levels of the metalcadmium. ""

Spot the IT/Computer guy in this corporation---this one made me LOL!!! :)

Source: The Great Carpe Diem

Gender Discrimination in Clothing Prices!! Why do women pay LESS???

Clothing Inflation Gender Gap(Source:Carpe Diem)

Professor Perry asks if there is a gender bias in the pricing of women's vs men's clothing...

""The chart above shows the CPI for Men's Apparel (data here) and Women's Apparel (data here) from January 1978 to April 2010. Men's clothing has appreciated by 1.06% per year since 1978, which is more than double the annual rate of appreciation for women's clothing (0.52%). Compared to 1978, men today are paying 40% more on average for their clothing, and women are paying only 20% more. According to the selective concern among the "gender activists" about gender imbalances, any gender outcomes that favor men can be traced to overt or "unexamined" sex discrimination.""

There is often more to graphs like this one than meets the eye.  When exactly did the price of clothing start to decrease significantly?  The points are pretty clear---women's clothing in 1994 and men's in 2000.  Hmmm...what year was NAFTA ratified?  When did China emerge, in a global fashion, as the world's manufacturing floor, first in clothing/shoes/accessories and now in higher value goods?   I am curious as to the time lag of 6 years before the fall in price of men's clothing.  Perhaps Professor Perry has an answer:

Q: What are we then to make of these gender imbalances in favor of women for clothing prices? Is this an outcome of price discrimination because women are more "ruthless" in their shopping habits for clothing, male demand for clothing is more "price insensitive," and therefore men (women) pay higher (lower) prices.

What do you think????

CHS Top 10 are Newsworthy in DFW! ALL Male Top 10...See Video From Newscast!

 

My Daughter's Graduation Photostory to the song "BLINK"--quite good, if I say so myself...

Here is the LINK..THANKS!!

Get elected to Congress--Leave Congress---Make BIG money Lobbying Congress---See who is doing this!!

An inteactive map (click HERE) that when you run the cursor over the state will show you the number of former Congress-people who are now registered lobbyists for various organizations.  Click on the State and it will show you a picture of the person and what they lobby for.  Texas leads the way with 17...

""It's not exactly breaking news that Washington is stuffed to the gills with lobbyists. One good government group recently tallied 8 lobbyists for every member of Congress during the health-care reform debate. But what doesn't get as much attention is that, over the last few decades, a vast army of what might be called uber-lobbyists has taken shape in the capital, made up of retiring lawmakers eager to cash in on K Street after a lifetime of making do with public sector salaries.
We've compiled a close-to-comprehensive list of former members of Congress currently working on behalf of private interests in Washington's influence-peddling industry. We count 172 of them -- almost one-third the number of current members of Congress.""

COOLEST World Cup Soccer Schedule!! (If you like soccer)

Click HERE to go to site

I am a 5-percenter---no cream or sugar---fill to the brim!!

http://www.chartporn.com/

This Memorial Day Photo got to me like no other this weekend...

HT:The Daily Dish:(A young woman lays down on the grave of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Noah Pier on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery May 31, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia. Pier was killed February 12, 2010 in Marja, Afghanistan. This is the 142nd Memorial Day observance at the cemetery. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.)

20 of the most "badass" quotes from movies AND links to the actual clips

My favorite is below...Here is the link to the rest---which is your favorite....

If you are a computer geek, this is for you---NICE graphic on super-computing...

From BBC: In graphics: Supercomputing superpowers (Click on this link for interactive graphic)

The biannual Top 500 supercomputer list has been released. Use this graphic to explore the world's fastest number crunchers or find out more about alternative supercomputer powers .
About this data:  The data used to generate the interactive treemap visualisation come from a draft of the June 2010 TOP500 Supercomputing list. This ranks most of the world's fastest supercomputers twice a year. There may be minor differences between this list and the final published list.
The graphic allows you to see the visualise the list by the speed of each machine; the operating systems used; what it is used for; the country where it is based; the maker of the silicon chips used to build the machine and the manufacturer of the super computer.
The maps were produced using the Prefuse Flare software, developed by the University of California Berkeley.

Is the situation in Haiti improving?? Not so much...

From NYTIMES: Rubble of a Broken City Strains Haitians’ Patience
Update on how the recovery/re-building is progressing in Haiti. This report "from the ground" shows growing frustration with the effort. Rubble is still piled in the streets and there is public sentiment that the government is not proactive enough with the clean-up and recovery. Have things really changed (or at least improved) internally to bring about desired change?

""While few have given up entirely on the dream that a more efficient, more just Haiti might rise from the rubble, increasingly, hope is giving way to stalemate and bitterness. “Is this really it?” Haitians ask. They complain that the politically connected are benefiting most from reconstruction work that has barely begun. They shake their heads at crime’s coming back, unproductive politicians and aid groups that are struggling with tarpaulin metropolises that look more permanent every day.""

Taking care of people who are in crisis is job one.  The problem of homelessness, the"tent/tarpaulin cities" that dot the landscape, and immediate health issues are priorities, but re-building infrastructure and motivating people to create a new and improved Haiti needs to be a high priority too.  Seems like enough resources, money and material,  have been poured into the country that there could be a full-frontal assault to improve conditions dramatically even at this early stage.
Crucial to this effort must be the participation of ex-patriate Haitians who seem committed to help create a better Haiti.  However, this has not been easy for them:

""Before Parliament closed, she added, lawmakers could have made it easier for members of the Haitian diaspora to invest — perhaps by easing rules requiring that joint ventures be 51 percent Haitian-owned...That might have opened the country to more people like Alain Armand, 36, a Haitian-American lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who is now trying to open several businesses here in Port-au-Prince, the capital, including a bed and breakfast.""

If the existing government of Haiti OR the shadow government created by the UN with former President Clinton as co-president does not aggressively solicit the investment dollars from people like Mr. Armand, then they are simply going to give up and go away.  That would be a shame and Haiti will remain at status quo. That would be in no ones  interest...

1,000% Inflation in Zimbabwe---It is important to protect your currency, isn't it??

Inflation is a thief in the night (or day) that literally reaches into your pocket to take your money.  Actually, it reduces the purchasing power of  your money.  You can think of price increases in two ways: the value of  goods/services increases because they become relatively scarce, or the money used to buy those goods or services is worth less than it was before and now it takes more of it to exchange for those goods/services. Zimbabwe is good example of the devastation inflation reaps on a country.  A once thriving country is now reduced to monetary ashes. Inflation is not the only cause of its decline, but it will likely be its complete downfall.  A country cannot print more money than its economy can produce in "stuff"...If you increase the money supply by 10% then, assuming constant velocity of money (the rate at which your money supply "turns over to buy GDP), you must produce 10% more in goods and services to maintain price stability.  Anything less than that then you have the classic definition of inflation--"too much money chasing too few goods". 

From BBC: Zimbabwe's inflation tops 1,000%

""Zimbabwe's inflation rate has surged past the 1,000% mark signalling that the African country is struggling to keep its economy functioning normally. The annual rate of price growth was 1,042.9% in April, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said, having risen 129 percentage points from March....Zimbabwe is a country that is blighted by crumbling urban infrastructure. There are regular water and power cuts, while the cost of everyday foods has surged. A loaf of bread now costs between Z$80,000 - Z$110,000 (79 US cents - $1.08) up from about Z$7,500 last year, when the price was controlled by the government. A carton of orange juice costs about Z$500,000 and a kilo of beef up to Z$1m.

This is an excellent example of "The Menu Costs of Inflation" (the expense in having to change the posted prices on a regular basis for businesses) and/or the "Shoe Leather Costs of Inflation" (the increase in transaction costs--i.e.-having to go to bank to get more money to conduct business).

"Business quotations are not valid for more than two days," an office manager in Harare told the BBC News website. "Actually I have one in front of me which says it is valid for 24 hours. Prices can literally double overnight," she said...""