Family farms growing extinct

Ticonderoga County’s family farms have been on the decline for the last 40 years, and agricultural officials say there is no comeback in sight. Jeff Mackey, a professor of sociology at Ticonderoga College, stated that family farms are becoming “as rare as the dinosaur.” Numbers are down since 1985 when there were more than 800 working farms in the county.

Why It's Important

Ford Makes Bank

Maybe American cars don't suck. With Ford reporting jaw-dropping profits for their third quarter, the $1 billion in profit provide some relief to our ailing economy. After years of on-going losses, this comes as a sigh of relief to both producer and consumer.

Ford reported that their third quarter profits totaled nearly $1 billion. Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said the margin shows how Ford "is making tremendous progress." Production has also increased 5%. The reported profits come after years of losses.

The Cash for Clunkers program appears to have aided Ford in posting nearly $1 billion in profits. This astonishing third quarter seems to correlate well, but is it actually a causal relationship? We seem to be ignoring the 5% increase in Ford's production as well as an increase global automobile revenue.

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I leave you with the grain of sand in life's hourglass

Sometimes, I wish I knew what to talk about. When there are infinite yet finite topics to discuss, it is really hard to zone in on one that should be done as an assignment. Why not use the topic that was used to write this assignment? I'm talking about procrastination.

There are three main reasons why procrastination sucks:

gets you behind on everything

you forgot what you actually were supposed to do

it feels so good

I've already seen the movie "Catch Me If You Can", but Leo's stunning looks

and Tom's wonderful acting, i can't help but stare at the television. Why write an article on a blog for a grade when I can shoot my nerf gun at ESPN sports commentators? Unlike the millions of kids that abuse amphetamines every year on college campus to focus, I get distracted by miniscule things such as video games (Borderlands and Halo 3: ODST generally eat 23 out of 24 hours in my day). The worst part?

"I love to procrastinate!"

As I was saying ...

Incarcerated Scarfaces

With the final blog being written currently, it's hard to really concentrate. Studying, writing, living, partying, etc. There is a lot to do in such a short time span. It's exciting, yet draining. This semester has really been a learning experience. Maybe college ain't so bad after all.

No one on the corner has swagger like us

Community Service is extremely fun. I am working at the Alumni Association, 20 hours in total. It serves as both my U101 comm. service and my court ordered comm. service. I enjoy sitting here and stuffing enveloped, watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It drains me, and it sucks to have this during finals week. Luckily the people I work with are extremely nice, and I've even submitted my resume to the Alumni Assoc. for an internship. Hopefully this comes to fruition, as I am in desperate need for a job. I don't really think this type of community service is easy to learn from, as I feel I haven't learned my lesson. I sit here and benefit USC, not the city, not the country, no one. Every other part of getting arrested has worked though.

The police always try and aim flame at us/So I don't mind when a pig's brain splattah's

The prison system in Columbia, SC is screwed. The illegal and inhumane things they do shocked even me, and I went in anticipating the full wrath of the Bible-belt police depot. After seeing Richland County walk away with $500,000 a year in underage drinking tickets and another $300,000 in simple possession charges, I've grown sick to my stomach. Entering dorms and locked areas without consent, illegal search and seizures, bias and prejudice, and conscience-less decisions make the top of the list for how the police forces operate down here.
Check it. First, they use overly aggressive force, as you wake up with bruises all up and down your arms and handcuff gashes, not to mention a concussion (albeit self-inflicted, the concussion that is). Then, while you're in there, they treat you like a crack peddler or a rapist, puting you in cells with crack dealers who just recently violated parole via assault with a deadly weapon. Yeah, that is safe. Not to mention half the people there are still high, rolling, drunk, or zooted from the night before, so it can get fairly interesting. Then you are treated as if you possess IQ of about 73, that part was enjoyable. The water deprevation was fun, too. Screaming in a cell, covered in vomit from when you passed out, just pleading for water. Oh, no, water is not coming. Then when you realize you have a concussion, you ask to go back to the nurse. That will not happen, however. Nope, you're in it for the long haul. Fuck the police.

Herb got my wig fried like a bad perm

After all of these drug and alcohol classes, I have to ask myself, what did I learn? Through and through, my answer within led me to one answer: how to get away with it. If anything, the court and judicial systems have simultaneously created a better criminal, aware of all the laws, regulations, loop holes, and habits in the system. I've learned how to avoid situations, whether by avoiding illicit behaviors or just being smart and avoiding the omnipresent RAs. I've learned how to skew police officers. I've learned how to spot officers of the laws. It is ridiculous. Instead of addressing the issues, these classes have offered me nothing. Nothing. I end up lecturing the instructors or leaders about how they are wrong. I agree with them, but their facts and notions make me sick. If 0 people die of marijuana related deaths per year in the USA, versus the countless to alcohol and tobacco, then how come both the aforementioned habits/addictions are legal after a certain age? Because the system has its head on backwards and doesn't care about the college student, but rather the college student's money (not that he has much). That is what I've learned through this whole ordeal. In the words of Public Enemy: "Fight the Power."