Mover Mike

11 feet 4 inch sturgeon caught in the Frazier River. Click the picture for the story.

Sonar spotted a big pile of something below the Bonneville Damand sent cameras down to investigate. What they found was amazing, a huge ball of sturgeon, estimates of 60,000 fish, some 14 feet long, all cuddled up in the 34-36 degree water in fifty feet of water. Michael Milstein of The Oregonian writes

It was an aquatic phenomenon nobody had ever seen at such a monstrous scale, offering a startling glimpse into the life of the Columbia's largest and most ancient fish.

If the estimates are anywhere near correct, the congregation of sturgeon may represent 5 percent to 10 percent of all the white sturgeon in the lower Columbia River...

My friend Mick is a little league baseball ump and has been for over 25 years. It is an unpaid and entirely selfless avocation, if you want to umpire in the world series. I am always entertained by his knowledge of the baseball rules and how they come into play in a game. He has to know instantly how to call a grounder that is fair when it goes bouncing fair past third base, but goes foul or a fly ball that is fair when it passes third, but goes foul. How to instantly react to base running situations is another puzzle for me, but not for him.

The other day a base runner slid toward home and the catcher tagged the runner on the arm as he was reaching for the bag. The tag moved the runner's arm. Mick called him out and just as quickly checked with the other ump, who also saw the tag and signaled out. Now the manager of the player tagged out, put up a fit and started yelling at Mick that this was the worst call he'd ever seen, that Mick was as blind as any bat, that the call was an injustice to all the good umps out there.

Mick calmly told the manager "that's enough, move away and return to the dugout."

The manager did turn away, but had to get one more dig in. "You are an abomination!"

Mick pointed at the manager and emphatically yelled, "You're out of here!"

The shocked manager said, "But blue, this is a practice game!"

I love baseball. Too bad, so many see this life as just practice.

In a recent post she accused some on the Portland City Council of "character assassination" regarding her husband and "Do-nothing Portland City Council of Mean White Boys." She even accuses them of being "evil-doers." She thought better of her post and pulled it. Now the web site is still there, but none of her posts are visible.

Advice, to Hansen: Never pull a post! You can revise or update a post or even strike through a post using , but never delete it entirely. Good bloggers stand or fall on their integrity and the words they post for all the warts. We are striving for accountability and credibility. No whereNowhere is their there a place for complete revision without comparison.

Update:

I sat there mesmerized thinking we could be twins. Same Roman nose, same eyes, same eyebrows, same Italian look. I found out later, he's about six years younger. It was a weird experience. I examined his every move and thought that's me up there! Then when the movie was over and we walked out into the lobby, I wondered if the people were just being polite by not rushing me for an autograph.

For a while, when I would see Assante on the screen, I noticed he had put on a little weight, as did I, and we stopped being twins. People never did rush me or girls throw panties.

Lately, I find myself looking like someone else. My Father!

That's me or is that my father? I see him in quick glances in the mirror, I see him in my thumbs and the way I move my hands. We both, even, drove school buses. Dad was just chosen as Multnomah County's Volunteer of the Year. He works with Elders In Action, preparing the road for the Baby Boomers. We are both involved in our communities trying to move opinions and politicians.

I took some online test once that said I would die at 68! Dad is going to be 87. I hope I'm like my father and stick around for quite a few more years.

Georgia Power will pay approximately $6.4 billion to Westinghouse Electric to build its share of two proposed 1,100-megawatt nuclear reactors at the utility's Vogtle plant south of Augusta, the utility said Wednesday.

[...]

... the nation tries to lessen its dependence on natural gas and foreign oil as well as cut back on carbon emissions and other pollutants. Based on the state's expected growth, Georgia Power says it needs to add more than 7,000 megawatts of capacity and that nuclear energy is essential to achieving that goal.

One alternative is the Pebble Bed Modular Reactors which I wrote about back in 2005.

She looked up to watch her ball pass over fence and missed first base. As she headed back to hit the base, she stopped and dropped to the ground in pain.

Due to game rules, teammates could not touch Tucholsky or she would be out. A player could be substituted for the down player at first base...

Central entered Saturday's doubleheader one game behind Western Oregon in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference race. At stake was a bid to the NCAA's Division II playoffs. Western won the first game 8-1, extending its winning streak to 10 games. Central desperately needed the second game to keep its postseason hopes alive.

John Canzano asks would men have acted this way?

Welcome! Here's what you will find at Mover Mike: I was a stockbroker for almost 30 years so I post about The Economy, The Trade Deficit and the Dollar, Troubled Companies, Precious Metals, Gold, Inflation, and Government Statistics. I like to illustrate my points with charts and graphs

I also post about politics, geology, the global warming hoax, book reviews and current events.

I hope to keep you interested and coming back for your daily "Mover Mike" fix.

April 18 marked the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart, in which it rejected legal challenges to the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

While opponents of the ban claimed numerous lawsuits would be brought forth to challenge the Supreme Court's ruling, thus far no challenges have been filed.

My friend T. Fraser Stern at T F Stern's Rantings writes

I was watching the Astros game a while ago and watched as the Rockies center fielder (Ryan Spilborghs) attempted to catch a fly ball; what should have been a lead off double by (with the score 3-2 Rockies) Blum turned into the first out. Had he (Ryan) caught it “on the square” it would have been a great play; but the ball momentarily was dislodged from his glove, rolled on the grass and he was able to gather it back quickly. His back was to the infield and the umpire couldn’t see how the ball had gotten out and quickly retrieved.

The fans booed Ryan Spilborghs for several minutes. Astros fan TF says "What kind of hero would intentionally lie in front of an entire stadium full of fans just to record a single out?"

Apparently, some think it's ok to cheat. Rarely does it happen in golf.

Six Le Ponant pirates captured:

French commandos seized six pirates in Somalia on Friday during a daring helicopter raid launched shortly after the bandits had released the 30-strong crew of a luxury yacht hijacked last week.

Update:

According to the International Herald,

Pirates seized control of a French luxury yacht carrying 30 crew members Friday in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's coast, the French government and the ship's owner said.

Attackers stormed the three-mast Le Ponant as it returned without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea, said officials with French maritime transport company CMA-CGM.

I got to wondering about the student's comment. Is that a reaction to Katrina in New Orleans in which the black population was left behind by city leaders? Or is the comment a reflection of the poverty that keeps blacks without the means to escape? Maybe, it's a telling statement that blacks expect their paternal government to look after them. Maybe, it's a comment about blacks' intelligence. I would guess it's a blooming stereotype, like the horror movie stereotype. The opening scene shows a blond girl unaware of her danger, ending up dead or the survivor of the mayhem is the only virgin.

The interesting thing is, the student making the comment is black. Maybe, she was saying that "Blacks are always the last to leave!" as a joke.

I wonder why the movie's star changed from white to black. I haven't read the 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson, "I am Legend." I don't know if Matheson chose a color for his hero. Certainly, the first two tries at the movie starred white men. Vincent Price starred in the first.

Today's press release explains:

FORBES.COM TO LAUNCH BUSINESS AND FINANCE BLOG NETWORK

Nicholas Ricci Tapped as General Manager, Sales for the Blog Network & Forbes Audience Network

NEW YORK, NY (March 24, 2008) – Today Forbes.com, home page for the world’s business leaders, announced the creation of a Business and Finance Blog Network, comprised of a community of pre-screened, influential business and financial blogs.

The Blog Network’s content will focus on senior business decision makers and high-net-worth investors. Topics will be relevant to the banking, trading, hedge fund management, affluent investing, and senior business decision-making communities. Participation in the network is by invitation only, and all blogs are vetted by Forbes.com editors for appropriate content, and to ensure that they are in keeping with the Forbes editorial brand. (Emphasis added)

The network will allow advertisers to target a highly engaged, exclusive niche audience of senior business decision makers and affluent investors easily and effectively. Four hundred-plus blogs have already joined the network, with many more expected to sign on before the official launch in the next few weeks.

“There is no denying the growing importance and influence of blogs within the media landscape,” said Forbes.com President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Spanfeller. “Forbes.com can ensure advertisers are reaching a hard-to-find and very desirable audience within safe, well-lit environments by exclusively inviting ‘best of breed’ business and investing bloggers to our new Business and Finance Blog Network.”

Nick Ricci has been appointed General Manager, Sales. He will be responsible for overseeing the sales, marketing and promotion for the Blog Network as well as the Forbes Audience Network (FAN), which launched in November 2007. Nick joins Forbes.com from About.com, where he served as Senior Vice President, Sales and Ad Operations. He has also held senior sales management and marketing positions at Times Mirror Magazines, Cox Interactive Sales, and Hachette Filipacchi Media US. Nick is already in the process of hiring and building a dedicated network sales team.

“I’m thrilled that Nick has joined Forbes.com to oversee the sales efforts for the Blog Network,” added Spanfeller. “He is a seasoned executive with several years of sales and marketing experience who will play a key role in driving the network’s success.”

In the famous Obama speech, he referred to his grandmother, who was white, as a "typical white person"! Now I'm sure if John McCain had referred to Obama as a "typical black person" the wrath from the MSM would have peeled the paint off nearby buildings. No such firestorm has been directed at Obama. Instead, those who support him have said great things about the speech. In fact, the speech sent a shiver up the leg of the star of Hard Ball.

With that background Kimsch is now offering TWP* T-shirts and related accessories:

*Typical White Person

Update:

Analysts at Deutsche Bank sent an alert to their clients saying, "Lehman is not Bear." They cited Lehman's higher levels of liquidity, the support it has from its counterparties, its higher level of diversification, and the experience of Lehman's CEO as reasons for its opinion.