Keith D. Milby :: blog

Union officers’ pension plans are significantly better funded than the plans they negotiate for their rank-and-file counterparts, raising questions about whether union members have been manipulated by those they trust to bargain for them.

The average union staff plan is funded at over 95 percent, while the average funding percentage of a rank-and-file member’s pension plan is 79 percent, according to a September study by the Hudson Institute. None of the staff pensions is on the Department of Labor’s list of critically underfunded pension plans, while more than half of rank-and-file pension plans are endangered. (A pension is considered “endangered” by the government when it contains less than 80 percent of the assets needed to cover its liabilities.)

via Unions pay themselves first, rank-and-file second (and less) | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment.

YouTube – Amazing Technology…..

An air traffic controller at New York’s Kennedy Airport was suspended for allowing his young son to radio instructions to several pilots.

The few quick exchanges between the elementary-school-aged child and jets waiting to take off from JFK, one of the nation’s busiest airports, appeared to delight pilots at the time.

via Child Directed Traffic at N.Y.’s JFK Airport, Air Traffic Controller Suspended – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com.

The Internet is abuzz with comparisons of the “strikingly similar” logos of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the ubiquitous Obama 2008 campaign.

The Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the Defense Department, now features a circular red, white and blue logo on its Web site that has been characterized in some reports as “scarily” similar to President Obama’s former campaign symbol. Others have noted that it has a crescent and star design, evoking a common symbol for Islam.

via FOXNews.com – Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Internet Stir.

Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique.

Hoskins said he’s been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000 home.

“When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn’t going to stand for that, so I took it down,” Hoskins said.

via Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure – Cincinnati News Story – WLWT Cincinnati.

So yesterday afternoon I wondered if my new camera had come from Amazon. Did I go out and check the garage? No, I clicked on Amazon, where it said “Delivered — Garage.” Then I went out to the garage . . . . Yes, it’s the 21st Century.

I have done the same thing on several occasions. Nice to know I am not the only one.

What is really crazy, I call home from work to tell Jeanette to get the package from the front door.

via Instapundit » Blog Archive » A NEW WORLD: So yesterday afternoon I wondered if my new camera had come from Amazon. Did I go out ….

Absolutely amazing video.

YouTube – OK Go – This Too Shall Pass.

I never have to worry about anyone calling me professor.

All American Blogger » Move Over “Articulate,” The New Racist Code Word is “Professor”.

Everyone knows the role that calcium plays in healthy bones, but many may be surprised to learn that silicon also is crucial. Studies by the National Institutes of Health have suggested that dietary silicon may be important for the growth of bone and connective tissue, and some studies have suggested that beer in moderation may be a good dietary source of the element. Silicon is present in beer in the form of soluble orthosilicic acid, which is about 50% bioavailable — that is, about half of it can be absorbed and used by the body. But which beers are best?

via Drink that beer ladies, it’s good for your bones? | Booster Shots | Los Angeles Times.

There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minn., with a huge photo of former president George W. Bush and this question: “Miss Me Yet?”

via ‘Miss Me Yet?’ Billboard With Photo Of Bush Is Real; Not An Internet Trick – The Two-Way – Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR.

A legal angle on the Super Bowl: The National Football League has claimed ownership of the phrase “Who Dat.”

via Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Sue My Shop? – Hit & Run : Reason Magazine.

Well it seems that Andrew Sullivan is continuing his spat with Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds.

I think Andrew Sullivan does it just to get the massive traffic from Instapundit. It certainly isn’t because he’s on the right side of the spat. He never will as long as he takes out of context, beliefs and ideas and misquotes what has been stated clearly in black and white pixels.

The guys over at Big Lizards are talking about stuff that is Greek to me, doing stuff that is really cool.

It is way over my head as most stuff is, but if it protects just one American life, I am all for it.

Seems someone made an shipping error for the cargo of a B-52 bomber and ended up giving some nukes a ride around town.

Maybe the pilot should check his load next time before taking off.

From Reuters: Author’s
sales jump after Osama mentions book

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An unexpected endorsement from al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden has resulted in a huge jump in sales for a book by a critic of U.S.
foreign policy.

William Blum’s “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower” was ranked
209,000 on Amazon.com’s sales list before bin Laden mentioned it in an audiotape released
on Thursday. By Friday, the book was No. 30 on the Amazon.com list.

Bin Laden said al Qaeda group was preparing more attacks in the United States
but also told Americans, “It is useful for you to read the book ‘The Rogue State.’”

“I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he’d
said,” Blum said on Friday in an interview with Reuters Television in his Washington
apartment.

“I was glad. I knew it would help the book’s sales and I was not bothered by who
it was coming from.

I would imagine it would be embarrassing to receive support from a terrorist. For
this guy, not so much. He seems OK with it.

From Reuters: When good things happen to good cows.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – A cow that escaped last week from a Montana slaughterhouse, leading workers and police on a six-hour chase, will be spared following a wave of popular support, officials said on Tuesday.

Del Morris, manager of Mickey’s Packing Plant in Great Falls, said he decided to let the cow live the instant he saw it cross the Missouri River through Great Falls.

That’ll do cow, that’ll do.

From Reuters: Baby, you can park my car..

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Take a few leggy California blondes, throw in a passion for luxury cars, plenty of parties, and a distaste for parking your own car.What have you got? A multimillion-dollar, female valet parking business, where struggling models and actresses dressed in bikinis, miniskirts or lingerie and Santa hats park the cars of the rich and famous in the Los Angeles area.

Beverly Hills, California-based Girls Valet Parking opened for business less than six months ago. This week, it took over its rival, Valet Girls, and announced plans to expand to San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix.

Nice, another reward for Capitalism.

From Reuters: Fla. attorney
general says his e-mails aren’t spam

MIAMI (Reuters) – Florida’s attorney general has spearheaded an aggressive campaign
against unsolicited e-mails, or spam. But as a candidate for governor, he appears
to be generating some unwanted Internet clutter himself.

Charlie Crist was a staunch defender of a tough anti-spam law passed by the state
legislature last year, under which violators can be fined up to $500 for every e-mail
they send.

But a report in Thursday’s St. Petersburg Times said Crist, a Republican gubernatorial
candidate, had annoyed some residents of the state by sending them unwanted e-mails
promoting his candidacy and soliciting campaign donations.

Do as I say, not blah, blah, blah….