Fighting Extremism At Home

An interesting article at AltMuslim on efforts to curb extremism in the UK.

Safety Tips

The DC Police Department sent out the following safety tips that I wanted to share with everyone

Fastest Food Cost Rise in 17 Years

The worldwide economy is getting increasingly worse and the poor are being hit the hardest

Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.

He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors — dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.

The owner of Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies in Brooklyn said he didn’t want customers thinking he was “jacking up prices because I have a unique product.”

“I have to justify it,” he said.

The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it’s getting worse. That’s putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.

U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5 percent.

Higher prices for food and energy are again expected to play a leading role in pushing the government’s consumer price index higher for March.

Analysts are forecasting that Wednesday’s Department of Labor report will show the Consumer Price Index rose at a 4 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, up from last year’s overall rise of 2.8 percent.

For the U.S. poor, any increase in food costs sets up an either-or equation: Give something up to pay for food.

“I was talking to people who make $9 an hour, talking about how they might save $5 a week,” said Kathleen DiChiara, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “They really felt they couldn’t. That was before. Now, they have to.”

For some, that means adding an extra cup of water to their soup, watering down their milk, or giving their children soda because it’s cheaper than milk, DiChiara said.

Al-Qaeda Terrorist is Dead

The AP reports that the person alleged to have plotted the murderous London bombings is dead and plotting again to kill has died. Story below the fold…

Jedi Baseball

5′ 9″ Dunker: T-Dub

This guy has some major leaping ability

Muhammad Ali on the Real Islam

It is NOT the Islam of the terrorists

NFL’s New Logo

Kinda looks like the old one

WSJ on The Need for More Immigrants

A few weeks ago, Bill Gates was on Capitol Hill trying to convince the Congress to act to ease restrictions so that we may allow more highly skilled workers into the US. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the subject. See below

Five Guys at Nats’ New Stadium

Everyone in DC has been talking about the Washington Nationals’ new baseball stadium. One draw has definitely got to be the fact that they will be having Five Guys Hamburgers there. Yes it is unhealthy, but it is really good. Make sure that if you eat one, get plenty of exercise afterwards to kill all the calories.

Here is an article about all the food options in the new stadium