| Posey Oyler a visionary behind area sports hall
The bottom line is that it's not necessarily just business. You actually get to know people. And if he got into his mind that he was going to call Brooks Robinson, then he would call Brooks Robinson. And he [Robinson] would call him back." John Saunders, assistant director of civic facilities in Salem, called Oyler "a 50 cent millionaire." "He knew people who could get things done," Saunders said, recalling Oyler's using his influence to get Saunders' leaky roof fixed. Oyler's father helped put in the flooring and paint at The Roanoker when it was first built, and Oyler took over that job. He persuaded the Warrens to hire his sister, Renee "Butch" Craft, and now Craft owns the restaurant and runs it with help from E.C. Warren. Oyler had friends in high places, but just as many in more humble circumstances.
Going bankrupt: The US's greatest threat
Robert Higgs, senior fellow for political economy at the Independent Institute, says, "A well-founded rule of thumb is to take the Pentagon's (always well publicized) basic budget total and double it."
Even a cursory reading of newspaper articles about the Department of Defense will turn up major differences in statistics about its expenses. Some 30-40% of the defense budget is "black", meaning that these sections contain hidden expenditures for classified projects. There is no possible way to know what they include or whether their total amounts are accurate.
There are many reasons for this budgetary sleight-of-hand - including a desire for secrecy on the part of the president, the secretary of defense and the military-industrial complex - but the chief one is that members of Congress, who profit enormously from defense jobs and pork-barrel projects in their districts, have a political interest in supporting the Department of Defense.
Apple: The LIVE Blog From Tuesday's Earnings Call
6: 03 PM EST: That does it--the call is over. Meantime, I look forward to getting your comments about all this. Is the market over-reacting to softer than expected guidance? are there clouds over the horizon? doesn't seem to be the case. I'm interested to cull the analyst reaction to all this and see whether today's news leads to a Wall Street downgrade parade. seems to me, Apple .
This Week
The Buncombe Community School Scrapbooking Crew is constructing a scrapbook on the history of the Buncombe Community School and the old Swannanoa schools before 1990. If anyone wants to share pictures, old news articles, antidotes, or any information about the old Swannanoa school or Buncombe Community School, please contact (828) 686-7734 or e-mail susani.smith@bcemail.org. Deadline is March 1. Drop-In Drawing Lessons On Wednesdays, from 6-8 p.m., Jerry Pope is offering drop-in drawing lessons at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. These lessons are for beginner or advanced students; artists decide their subject matter and provide supplies. Cost is $20 per class, or five classes for $95. To register, call 669-0930. Piano & Voice Lessons The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is now offering piano and voice lessons for beginning or intermediate students.
US president to court Saudi allies
A cautious Saudi Arabia has already called for Washington and Tehran to exercise restraint. "Saudi Arabia is a neighbour of Iran in the Gulf, which is a small lake. We are keen that harmony and peace should prevail among states of the region,'' the kingdom's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said. "We have relations with Iran and we speak with them. If we sense any threat... We will speak with them about it,'' he said after a face-off between Iranian and US vessels last week in the Straits of Hormuz entrance to the Gulf. The White House has tried to play down the significance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Saudi Arabia last month for the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage. But in another first, the hardline Iranian leader was also invited to the end-of-year summit of the Gulf Arab monarchies held in Qatar.
|
