Total Shock!

I came across a story that I had to write about. It was not in one of the recommended newspapers. So I did a little research and found this same story printed in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/nyregion/24hart.html.  It is one of absolute horror. Something so shocking that my girlfriend and I both felt our jaws drop to the ground.

This is a story about Hart Island. A seven minute boat ride from New York City. This is where 800,000 bodies have been buried since 1869. This is not a misprint. Most of those buried were babies or infants as well as people with no names, no identities, or no family. We are not talking about Nazi Germany. We are talking about modern day American culture.

Until approximately 1991, all of this information was kept secret. A woman named Melinda Hunt went on a fact-finding mission by submitting a Freedom of Information request to have any kept records of those buried released to the American public. She has since been helping many families locate friends and relatives who seemed to have fallen off the planet and were never were heard from again.

This raises so many questions about our society. Funding is surely one of the top reasons along with proximity and having no one to claim the dead bodies. Will we find another solution or continue to dump bodies there for centuries to come?

Craze Across the Nation

You remember the famous line, "We can work it out."  Well it is about to happen.  Apple has "worked out" a deal with the Beatles to sell their music on iTunes.  The Beatles are the best selling music group of all time and ranked 2nd throughout the 2000s to Eminem.  They have sold 177 million albums in the United States throughout the years.  Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, has persuaded all former members of the Beatles to agree to this landmark decision.

Roughly 3/4 of all album sales are cd's.  They are more profitable for record companies and musicians. Apple has become the largest distributor of music on the internet.  It is said that they just basically break even on all downloads.  They use music as a tool to sell more iPods and iPhones.  Bagging the biggest elephant of all, the Beatles, is sure to boost sales out of the roof. 

There have always been several bands that hold out and do not allow others to distribute their music.  I can remember Pearl Jam for years would not allow their music to be sold via mail order companies such as BMG and Columbia House.  Beatles music has been around for four decades.  That is something very special in itself.  This little deal could re-ignite the flame once again.

Hope you enjoyed this blog.  I referenced this material from The New York Times at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/business/media/16apple.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper.

Oil prices are on the upswing once again.....Hmmmmm........

My lifestyle revolves around constant travel throughout the spring and summer. I just read an article about this subject in Business Week. The article was entitled, "Why Oil Could Top $100 a Barrel." The forecast is that interest rates will continue to drop and weaken the dollar even further. Oil prices have risen 17% since Labor Day. There is some speculation as to whether this will happen or not. Now they are saying that the U.S. has plenty of oil and that the Saudis are pumping a decent amount. The Saudis are said to be satisfied with pricing in the $70-85 range.

Peaking Beyond Age 50

     Greeting y'all! I must admit that I have had a hidden agenda. I have now written 10 blogs from 10 separate publications. This week I visited http://www.mentalfloss.com/. They have put together a list of the top 10 people who didn't make it big until after the age of  50. I will not cover them all because President Ronald Reagan is listed at number 10. Of course he was a somewhat popular actor as a young man therefore I consider him as having made it much younger in life.
     Edmond Hoyle was 70 years when he wrote the rules for a wide variety of card games. His name is synonymous with a deck of cards. I am sure everyone knows Colonel Sanders. He was operating a small restaurant when they built an interstate seven miles away from his city. This took away traffic and his business declined. He went to work on perfecting spices and cooking techniques and then opened what would be the first of the KFC franchises. Sanders was 65 years old when he got this idea.
     Laura Ingalls Wilder who penned, Little House on the Praire, didn't publish her first novel until the age of 65. The police use a weapon to incapacitate individuals who are wanting to fight during questioning or arrest. This device known as a taser gun was invented by Jack Cover in 1970 at the age of 50. It wasn't used by a police department for another 10 years when the LAPD purchased a shipment. When he passed away at the age of 88, his product was used in some 45 countries around the world.