News News
Cash for Clunkers 2009 Program Launched
The much anticipated Cash for Clunkers Program is officially in full swing. The U.S. Government is finally giving a chunk of the bailout back to the everyday person, offering between $3500 and $4000 for old vehicle trade-ins with the purchase of a new vehicle. Not too shabby if you’re in the market for a new car or have an old one laying around.
Clearly, the strategy here is two-fold: the first part of the plan is to cut back on fuel demand and greenhouse gases by getting rid of old clunkers and trading them for modern, fuel-efficient cars; the second part is to stimulate the economy by getting people to open up their wallets and spend some cash. Uncle Sam says he has a pool of around $1 billion to devote to the Cash for Clunkers Program. The program is slated to go until November 30th of this year, but will stop early if funds are depleted. So go and trade your clunker in while there’s still some loot left!
Continue ReadingGiant Shark Washes Up on Long Island Beach
A massive Basking Shark washed up on Gilgo Beach in Long Island, NY this morning. A far cry from the mysterious Montauk Monster, the shark measured around 20 feet long and weighed about a ton! Crowds gathered around the shark, as the surf tossed around it’s lifeless body on the sand.
Unlike other sharks such as the Great White Shark, the Basking Shark is generally considered harmless, especially to humans. Because of their tiny teeth and the fact that they generally feed on plankton, they’ve never been seen as a threat to swimmers.
Basking Sharks typically hangout in the waters of the Northeast U.S. during the summer months, then head down south to warmer waters once the winter hits. Though they’re common around Long Island beaches and other beaches around the coast, the site of a 20 foot shark washed up on shore is still quite amazing!
Continue ReadingFire Shuts Down Throgs Neck Bridge
The Throgs Neck Bridge caught on fire Friday morning, causing massive traffic jams all through New York. Traffic in New York…what else is new?! As a native New Yorker, I’m used to all sorts of traffic, but I’m thankful I wasn’t caught up in this particular jam.
The bridge, which connects the Bronx and Queens, was engulfed in flames caused by a fire started on a construction platform hovering just beneath the bridge. Initially, some lanes were kept open as firefighters fought the blaze early in the morning on Friday, around 5am. Eventually, they shut the bridge down altogether, pushing the line of cars back miles into Queens.
It’s still unclear whether the fire has caused any structural damage. Initial reports indicate that the bridge is still very much sturdy and secure, but there will be experts weighing in on that in the next few days. In my opinion, it would take a very hot, big and long-burning fire to cause any serious structural damage to a massive steel bridge.
Continue ReadingGoogle to Launch Chrome Operating System, Competes with Microsoft
Google is branching out from its domination in the online search market into the realm of operating system software. They’ll be going head-to-head with OS giant and pioneer, Microsoft. Microsoft has long been lagging in the search market to both Yahoo and Google, but has maintained a legal monopoly, of sorts, on the OS market around the world.
In keeping with their typical product style, Google is setting out to revolutionize the standard operating system model as we know it with the launch of their Google Chrome OS. They plan to incorporate web into the operating system and make it much faster than Windows, all the while keeping it somewhat open-source, allowing outside developers to contribute to it by fixing bugs and adding features that will enhance its operation.
Google certainly isn’t the first to try and take a crack at Microsoft’s Windows monopoly. But where others have failed, I believe Google may succeed. They have a lot of money and talent to throw at their OS, and with the largest base of loyal web followers in the world, it might just catch on. Does it have what it takes to go mainstream and replace Windows as the dominant OS? We’ll have to anxiously wait until the beta version to find out!
Continue ReadingPolice Say McNair Death is Murder-Suicide
At a news conference this afternoon, Nashville, Tennessee Police Chief Ronal Serpas told reporters that Steve McNair was murdered by his 20-year old girlfriend, who then turned the gun on herself. All the evidence clearly points to a murder-suicide – including the entry and exit wounds and the positions of both bodies. As tragic as it is and as much as friends, family and fans don’t want to believe it, Steve McNair was actually murdered.
McNair’s girlfriend, 20-year old Sahel Kazemi, likely shot and killed McNair while he was asleep on the couch. She shot him once in the head, twice in the chest, then again in the temple. She then positioned herself so that she would fall onto his lap after she pulled the trigger, which is how police found her body.
Continue ReadingSix Flags Theme Park Files for Bankruptcy
Since I’m not a big fan of roller coasters and other theme park rides, the fact that Six Flags recently filed for bankruptcy doesn’t really bother me.
Six Flags had been staving off the looming bankruptcy, trying to negotiate its increasing debt outside of court with private lenders. However, when they couldn’t reach an agreement, they had no choice but to file for bankruptcy in a Delaware court early Saturday morning.
The New York Times reports that Six Flags had a staggering $2.4 billion in debt and faced a payment of $300 million to preferred stockholders this August. Though the newly-installed management team has done a great job of cutting Six Flags’ net losses over the past 2 years, it wasn’t enough to counterbalance a 24% drop in revenue. And, because of the credit markets still largely frozen, Six Flags had a difficult time trying to offload their debt.
Continue ReadingDonald Trump Fires Miss California Carrie Prejan
In recent weeks, we learned that Carrie Prejan was allowed to keep her title of Miss California, despite supposedly breaking the rules of the contest. However, Donald Trump changed all that today. Miss California Carrie Prejan was stripped of her crown, due to “contract violations”.
She came under fire after topless photos of her surfaced last month, as well as due to her missed appearances and statements on same-sex marriage. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before she was dethroned, but when nothing happened immediately, people started to think she was going to be allowed to keep the crown.
Trump stated that “Carrie is a beautiful young woman, and I wish her well as she pursues her other interests…”. Clearly, those interests will not include her keeping the Miss California crown. She’ll likely have difficulty entering another beauty contest on the same level, but with all the press surrounding her, I’m sure she’ll be able to squeeze a living out of something.
Continue ReadingDavid Letterman Sarah Palin Joke Went ‘Too Far’
Critics are up in arms about the recent jokes David Letterman made about former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Did Letterman go too far this time? I guess that’s up to you. Letterman remarked that Palin was going for the “slutty flight attendant look” on her recent trip to New York. He also took a stab at her daughter, joking that she “got knocked up by a New York Yankee”. in my opinion, they’re just jokes. Politicians are fair game.
Maybe people are starting to feel like Palin is being picked on a bit much. But, with her antics during the presidential election race, you really can’t blame anybody for making fun of her. I say keep the jokes comin’!
Continue ReadingGet Ready to Celebrate National Donut Day
National Donut Day takes place on the first Friday of June every year, which would make the celebration on schedule for tomorrow. The ‘holiday’ celebrates the donut – worshiping it, cherishing it, and eventually consuming it. Due to the conception that donuts are unhealthy, many people in recent years have modified the holiday to become ‘National Donut and Bagel Day. Like bagels are that much better.
National Donut Day started back in 1938 as a fundraiser for the Chicago Salvation Army. They wanted to raise money for the Great Depression and also to honor the ‘lassies’ who served donuts to solders in France behind the front lines in World War I.
There are many places you can get donuts to celebrate National Donut Day – the first place that comes to mind is Dunkin’ Donuts. But don’t forget about Krispy Kreme or your good ol’ local gas station. If you’re feeling brave, you can even bake your own donuts and feast in the comfort of your home!
Continue ReadingSonic Drive-In Giving Away Free Root Beer Floats!
The popular fast food chain, Sonic, is offering free root beer floats as part of a recent promotion. Sonic is the latest chain to hop on the trend of giving away freebies to get some press and spur some more business. It seems like there’s a new freebie hitting the press every day, so you won’t hear any complaints from me about it.
The promotion is only going on today from 8 PM until midnight, so if you want a free 10oz root beer float, you better get moving! Sonic estimates that they’ll be giving away about 3.5 million floats. Unfortunately for me, the nearest Sonic is at least a half hour away, so I won’t be enjoying any tasty root beer floats!
Click here to see all Sonic’s locations
Continue Reading