The market is so damn fickle!

Why does anyone pay attention to it? It doesn't matter what anyone says that brings it up, it's only going to go down because they aren't hearing what they want every day.

Oh, Lord

Slaying Linked To KKK Initiation; 8 Arrested

Woman Traveled From Oklahoma To Join

COVINGTON, La. -- Eight people were arrested Tuesday in connection with the killing of a woman who apparently tried to back out of a Ku Klux Klan initiation ritual, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said Tuesday.

The woman was slain Sunday morning, allegedly shot to death by a Klan leader from Bogalusa. Her body was found Monday in a ditch in the small St. Tammany community of Sun, about 60 miles north of New Orleans, the sheriff said.

Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the woman. Seven others -- Raymond Foster's son, 20-year-old Shane Foster; Frank Stafford, 21; Timothy Michael Watkins, 30; Alicia M. Watkins, 23; Andrew Yates, 20; Random Hines, 27; and Danielle Jones, 23 -- are facing obstruction of justice charges.

Shane Foster and Stafford are being held in Washington Parish and will be brought to St. Tammany Parish soon for processing. The other six suspects are being held in the St. Tammany Parish jail.

Strain said the woman lived near Tulsa, Okla., and was recruited over the Internet to come to Louisiana for initiation into the Klan. Deputies have not been able to confirm her identity.

She arrived in Slidell last week and was met by two members of the group, Strain said. She was taken to a campground near Pearl River for the initiation ceremony, and when she asked to be taken back into town, there was an argument. That's when Foster allegedly shot and killed her, Strain said.

The other members of the Klan group are accused of helping cover up the crime by burning items at the campsite, including the woman's personal effects. A clerk at a nearby Circle K alerted police after two of the suspects went into the store bathroom to wash blood out of their clothes, Strain said.

Investigators found Klan paraphernalia at the campsite, including flags and six Klan uniforms. Strain said Raymond Foster is chief of the "Sons of Dixie" or "Dixie Brotherhood" KKK branch.

Strain said the case does not appear to be connected to the recent election of Barack Obama as president. He told WDSU he was surprised to find out about this KKK group because it hadn't been very visible before.

Ugh...

I have an "active issue" on my unemployment claim, whatever that is. One of these days I'll actually be able to clear it up...IF I CAN GET A HOLD OF AN ACTUAL PERSON!!! I've gone through NCESC's maze of phone numbers. The call to the remote services center that I think is supposed to handle my issue only results in a busy signal, if not no answer at all. So I'm currently on hold with their claims center (going on 16 minutes) with the hope that I will actually speak to a person.

I'm not too excited to receive unemployment. We'd be okay without it, but I have paid into the system, so I suppose it's right that I receive for it. I'd just rather a hungry child get fed rather than I get money for bills we can pay without it.