Israel bombarded the U.N. headquarters in Gaza today. The compound reportedly was struck about six times with either tank fire or artillery rounds, earning the outrage of the visiting U.N. chief. After nightfall, shells landed near Gaza City’s Quds Hospital, where many families had sought refuge, and the building caught fire, forcing staff to evacuate […]
The price for a barrel of light, sweet crude fell to $33.41 today, approaching a five year low. NEW YORK (AP) – Oil prices tumbled below $34 Thursday, closing in on five-year lows as employment claims rose and OPEC cut demand expectations for 2009. “The bull oil era is officially over,” said Phil Flynn, an […]
The El Paso Times cites a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats that claims Mexico might collapse at any moment. Under almost constant siege from organized crime fueled by the drug trade, human smuggling and kidnapping, many Mexican government employees have been viciously slain in recent years. The command’s “Joint […]
The AP reports today that portions of the Great Plains has been hit by record setting cold: BISMARCK, N.D. – Residents of the upper Midwest bundled up or just stayed inside Tuesday as a wave of bitterly cold air barreled south out of the Arctic, following on the heels of a fast-moving blizzard. Some schools […]
The economy will continue to worsen throughout 2009. The U.S. will officially be in a depression by years end. After a few more months of deflation, the value of the dollar will become unstable and retract. Talk of dumping the dollar as the global reserve currency will accelerate while a North American currency dubbed the […]
Kathy’s grandmother died today in her sleep. Soon afterward, Kathy and I saw two mature bald eagles perched on a tree at our large pond. Bald eagles are relatively rare around here and today is the first time we have ever spotted one on our property. It was a beautiful sight. We will miss you, […]
This is a test. The old website can be found here: http://www.vanshardware.com/indexOld.html and if you prefer the really old and flaky frame-based layout: http://www.vanshardware.com/index_frames.htm