Good Morning, this sunny, if a bit cold, Friday.  The last Friday in March, which looks to be going out as it came in--like a lion.  The next few days, well into next week, are supposed to be much colder than it has been lately.  I hope that the temps will follow a pattern for the last week or so where the temps actually were higher than forecast.  And that the rain/snow mix predicted for tomorrow night will be more on the rain side than the snow.  Whatever.  I guess I won't be putting my winter coat away just yet.

Joe Sudbay at Americablog posted this today.  I had wondered why the news media had not covered the alternative budget the Republicans promised to provide.  Evidently there was no real budget proposal and the reporters present, some of them anyway, took notice.  That alone was worth noting as it was a definite departure from recent years when Republicans got repeated passes on their proposals.  God (or which ever deity you prefer to invoke) help us if these bozos get back into power any time soon.  It is bad enough that they have the power to stymie real proposals.

Did anyone else note that IBM is cutting jobs?  Some 3000 I think I heard on the news yesterday.  And moving them to India?  And that IBM's workforce is 71% foreign?  All I can say is 'Another company on my growing sh*t list.  I will not knowingly buy any IBM product.'  Perhaps if enough of us decided that they would rethink their economic imperatives.  What is the use of making things using the cheapest labor around if you can't sell it in what was once the richest marked around?

I guess that the phenomenon of growing modern homelessness has finally become large enough for a media outlet to take notice.  ABC evening news last night had a segment.  For months now I have seen stories on the new tent cities (sometimes dubbed 'Bushvilles') growing at an increasing rate as other shelters have reached or exceeded capacity.  Where the hell did we think people displaced by foreclosure and eviction were going to go?  One story I read recently (sorry I didn't write down the link) reported a growing number of bidding wars over rental properties.  That worries me a bit since I am a renter.