Just a few tidbits I've seen in the news recently. No big surprise here: population in Central New York dwindling. What surprised me is that most people seem to be migrating to Downstate. Orange County has seen a population increase. My home county, Oneida County, has seen a slight increase, too, but this is due to the vast amount of immigrants we get every year. Most are from Bosnia, Asian countries, and Central America. I'm glad to see new, vigorous people fill the empty houses around here, but the demographics have changed the economics here, and not for the better. Most jobs around here are so low-paying that government assistance is used just to make ends meet.

In other news, there are reports of ninety people ill after visiting an indoor water park. This is another news story that does not surprise me. An indoor water park? Public? In winter, during flu and cold season? Like, duh. I do not like water parks, anyway; they tend to be dirty. Obviously, lol.

And Downstate New Yorkers are shocked-- SHOCKED-- that their electricity rates are 63% more than Upstater's bills (and Upstate NY bills are sky-high already!). Like, DUH! If you have to have all your electricity transmitted from the boonies, of course it's going to be expensive! Downstate simply refuses to make their own generation plants. Fault Lines has an excellent commentary on that.