Boo Hoo, I don't agree and I can't flag here, I am so sad!
CLOSED for Posting - Please POST to the Current Month - These are for Read Only ....
The following are archived postings for the Month of July 2008.
I have decided to continue to archive these postings monthly.
I kept these because this was the first month of people supporting this NEW alternative to craigslist.org Rants and Raves.
Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Spanish
252 comments:
1 – 200 of 252 Newer› Newest»I really hare CL Posters, especially Flaggers and so-called regulars. That goodness for this Blog.
re, CL Posters
Yeah the ones in Phoenix are the worst.
They are all druggies, and idiots.
re, Speaking of Phoenix...
those idiot regulars over there like Zoo Mom, Mikester, Dude, etc, are real stupid daily ass posters and losers. They are scary to think that this is what America has become.
loser loser loser!
Mikester you're a goddamn legend in your own warped ass useless mind.
We all hate you, now fuck off ........
Mikester is a friigin lost cause and a whack job faggot druggie..........
that stupid shit vital social issues and stuff blog comes from a TV show called Married with Children where Kelly Bundy, the dumb blonde had her own TV show - Vital Issues and Stuff that talked non-sense and things some 11-year-old wouldn't watch.
Like no one can figure it out.
Those YouTube clips are made by a spaced out mind ... go back to your meds!
At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down
These are our rules!
1. Men are NOT mind readers.
2. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
3. Sunday sports It's like the full moon
or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.
4. Crying is blackmail.
5. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!
6. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
7. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
8. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.
8. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.
9. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one
10. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
11. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
12. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
13. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
14. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.
15. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
16. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.
17. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .
18. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball
or golf.
19. You have enough clothes.
20. You have too many shoes.
21. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
22. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;
But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
Citizenship Test for Illegals....
1. When standing with a group of men on a corner, what is the proper conduct while looking for work?
a.) Sit under the shade tree.
b.) Stand as close to the curb as possible.
c.) Watch for trucks and work vehicles.
d.) Make lewd and suggestive comments to female passers-by.
2. The acceptable public use of a restroom is:
a.) Leave it as you found it.
b.) Clean up after yourself.
c.) Bring a magic marker and toss your used toilet paper on the floor.
3. When shopping at Wal-Mart, who is responsible for the actions of your kids?
a.) Store security.
b.) Other customers.
c.) The parents.
d.) Nobody.
4.) Upon obtaining a driving license, what is the first thing you should do?
a.) Steal a '79 Chevy Monte Carlo.
b.) Purchase a chain-linked license plate holder.
c.) Install, 'The Club' for your steering wheel.
d.) All of the above.
5. In America, when is it proper to speak Spanish?
a.) When stopped by the police.
b.) When insulting others in line at 7-11.
c.) Only while watching Telemundo.
d.) When your boss tells you to do something that you don't want to do.
e.) All of the above.
6. When in a crosswalk, what is the best way to interact with traffic?
a.) Wait for the walk sign and proceed directly to the opposite corner.
b.) Cross only when traffic has stopped.
c.) Wait until the don't walk sign is flashing and then stroll slowly to the other side.
d.) Make eye contact with everyone who is waiting and smile.
7. The United States of America first belonged to:
a.) Mexico
b.) Indians
c.) Mexico
d.) Both a and c.
8. Your state government provides free services for which of the following?
a.) Medical
b.) Pregnancy
c.) Welfare
d.) Food Stamps
e.) All of the above.
9.) Earned income in the United States must be:
a.) Declared for tax purposes.
b.) Spent entirely at the swap meet.
c.) Sent back to Mexico.
d.) Both b and c.
10. Who is considered to be, "the father of our country" in the United States?
a.) George Washington
b.) George Lopez
c.) Poncho Villa
d.) Eric Estrada
Since I have become jaded to the various solutions proposed by the republicans, democrats, Sierra Club, ACLU, etc, I have elected to solve the problems as they affect me. It solves both my gas and illegal immigrant problem.
I have hired illegal immigrants to push my car. They're plentiful and cheaper than buying gas. Then I pay them in pesos so they have to go home to spend it.
I just love it when a plan comes together!
New Zealand man puts up his soul for auction....
another eBay funny!
Oil hits new record highs and Congress still sits on its dead ass.
Happy 4th of July to all U.S. Citizens - the rest of you scum get the fuck out of America.
Dear meat head dood at Pranksters,
I don't know why you chose me of all people to try to pick a fight with at the jukebox tonight. Perhaps it was my overtly geeky ways; my freshly washed but undried hair, my glasses, my weezer shirt that matched with the rest of my friends at the table... Maybe you thought I was asking for it?! Whatever the reason, you had obviously had a lot to drink this evening, and I hadn't even had my first beer yet. That doesn't really make you look cool. Especially since I was female, about 6 inches shorter, and much tinier despite the fact that I am overweight and you most certainly were not. You were also ridiculously easy to outwit. Seriously, I wasn't very sharp this evening. How embarrassing that must have been for you if your girlfriend understood a word of it.
But guess what? You totally won. Because here I am hating you on freaking craigslist and you're probably peacefully passed out in your bed or your buddies couch. I hope you piss yourself in your sleep.
Sincerely,
the deceptively passive looking girl at the prankster's jukebox
While standing in line this morning, at the money exchange office in Toronto Canada, I overheard this small Japanese appearing lady complaining to the ever patient cashier. She said: "last week when I come inya here, you give me 200 yen for one dolla. Today, I come inya here and you give me 175 yen for one dolla. Why you do that to me? To which the cashier replied: "fluctuations". The little Asian lady turned bright red and screamed at the teller: "So, fluc you white people too", and she stormed out the door.
UPS Airlines
Just in case you need a laugh:
Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.
Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.
By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
*
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
*
P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit
*
P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.
*
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
*
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
*
P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
*
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.
*
P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
*
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.
*
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search
*
P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.
*
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
*
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
*
And the best one for last
*
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.
1. If you tell a individual that you are going to murder the person they are screwing if they don't quit screwing that person, and you do it - because they still screwin the person - does that make them a accomplice?
2. If your spouse pulls up after a night of drinking, can you place them under citizens arrest and call the police?
3. Adultery is against the law in the State of Arizona - what do you have to do to have the person charged with the crime?
4. Can you get off on a murder charge if the person you kill has so totally mentally anguished you - to the point of killing them? But your NOT crazy...or are you?
All just theoretical scenarios of course =)
Your are entitled to your opinion. My opinion is:
If you are that unhappy with America, Mexico is just a short drive to the south. and Canada is just a three and a half hour plane trip to the north. Consider moving to one or the other. Or perhaps you would prefer a country with a truly oppressive regime. If you burnt the flag in one of those countries, you would be imprisoned...or shot. Protest and opposition to the rulers is NOT permitted.
Here you have the right to protest, freedom of speech and may practice, or choose to ignor, any religion you want. There is no 'state' or 'national' religion. You DO have a choice. Stay and work to make it better...or simply leave. Don't come to the potluck picnic empty-handed with a mouthful of give me.
Come to the table with solutions, or at least ideas for improvement. With only complaints and criticisms and no solutions, you are just talking through your ass.
Q) Why dont black women wear underwear?
A) Keeps the flies off the watermelon.
Jessie Helms dies
A hero for many of you in Mississippi and Arizona has died.
Jessie Helms' views on race relations – he opposed a national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., led a filibuster against the extension of the Voting Rights Act and called some young blacks "Negro hoodlums" – and social issues sharply divided the public into those who viewed him as a champion of the common man and those who thought of him as a narrow-minded bigot.
David Broder, a widely respected political columnist for The Washington Post, called Helms "the last prominent unabashed white racist politician in this country."
Man accused of faking heart attacks to avoid bills ...
Prayers are nice, but Powdered gaterade is what I send our boys! I don't support the war. But I will always support the grunts on the ground. I found a site called anymarine.com and anysoldier.com and once a month I send care package of hard candies powdered drink mixes I can buy fairly cheap from walmart. You will never know how uplifting it is to recieve something from somebody when your in a faraway shithole doing a job for your country. I got a pkg from a girlscout when I was 22 in beiruit and I never forgot how good it felt knowing somebody fucken cared. I gave up beer and smokes and the money I saved goes to 1-2 pkgs a month to some Marine or dogface in country. So check it out.........SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! Have a safe and enjoyable fourth of July folks. And dont forget what a spcial country you live in...we can do anything we want here. It's just all up to you because we have what is most important....FREEDOM!
US Democrat Congress to destroy Middle Class with $11p/gal gasoline
Oil at $300 per barrel coming soon!
an article by - Terry Easton
You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline.
The Democrats’ base -- wealthy white “limousine liberals”, and very poor people -- won’t be harmed, but the families who live in suburbia will be devastated.
The multi-millionaires like billionaire Senators John Kerry & Jay Rockefeller, financial speculator George Soros, filmmaker Michael Moore, and actors George Clooney & Meg Ryan can easily pay for their auto and private jet fuel. Poor people are forced to take public transit.
Here’s the reasoning behind the move.
The so-called “Global Oil Crisis” is an invention of the US liberal ruling class, which has successfully managed to export their disastrous ideas worldwide. Oil supply and demand has been on knife-edge balance for years. With the growth of the newly well off Chinese and Indian car-consuming populations, oil consumption has been rapidly increasing in the developing world even as it has been dropping in the US. No wonder India and China, with nearly half the world’s population, refused to sign on to the Kyoto “global warming” treaty.
Cheap energy -- and specifically oil -- is what made America the powerhouse of the 20th century. When gasoline was $1 a gallon in the US, it was $2-3 a gallon in high-tax Europe. Low US excise taxes enabled the country to grow and our vast middle class to prosper. Even today, the American consumer is paying $4-$5 per gallon of gasoline while his European counterpart is paying $10-12.
To meet this new energy shortfall, economists would assume that the rational market would increase the supply of oil and other oil-substitute energy supplies. But they would be wrong.
First, US the anti-nuclear lobby got the nuclear power industry banned from building new safe and clean fifth-generation power plants, abandoning the field to countries like France, which runs its super-fast trains on nuclear plants scattered throughout the country. In fact, fully 90% of France’s electricity comes from 59 non-polluting “carbon neutral” nuclear; they also recycle 99% of the spent fuel into new fuel using a breeder reactor at the La Hague chemical complex. We don’t do this either.
Next, the eco-greens got the drilling for new known American oil reserves in the barren wasteland of the Alaska ANWR’s near-coast sites, and along the east and west-coasts of the continental US, and in the Gulf of America. Now China & Venezuela are set to start drilling off the coast of Cuba - but not Exxon or Chevron. They’re forbidden by law.
Then, the construction of new modern and efficient US-based refineries has been halted for 40 years. So there is a perennial shortage of heating fuel in the winter and gasoline in the summer. One hurricane can take out 5% of the nation’s refining capacity for months. A 5% shortfall can now easily cause a $25 price increase.
Meanwhile, the nation’s electricity generators, primarily fuelled by coal-burning plants, were forced to convert to natural-gas, previously mostly used in industry, agriculture and home heating. This has, in turn, driven the price of natural gas through the roof, from $3 per thousand cubic feet to over $11.
Finally, the hundreds of older existing oil fields and pumping derricks were closed and not allowed to re-open due to “environmental concerns”. California alone has scores of older fields just waiting to be re-opened to increase the US oil supply. And these could be re-opened in a matter of months, not years.
But wait, there’s more.
To make matters worse, Congress then mandated using a toxic and polluting chemical -- ethanol -- inefficiently converted from corn, to help alleviate the oil shortage. Corn farmers promptly sold their commodity to the highest bidder, the ethanol refiners. The price of corn-based foods, like cornflakes - and sugar, chicken, milk, eggs and beef has now shot up.
In the process, a minor supply-demand problem has been artificially legislated into a full-blown crisis. The stock market’s response has been predictable: down, down, down.
The liberal solution, of course, is for Congress to raise taxes, increase the fuel excise tax, and force industry to adapt wacky “carbon credit” schemes to line the pockets of the rich liberals who are capitalizing on the global warming scare by selling newly-invented credits, like Al Gore’s new company is doing. Wrong. This will stress the mostly-Republican middle class even more.
So what is the solution? What’s right for America is wrong for the limousine liberals. It’s simple, really. Unleash the supply-side forces of economics.
Open up domestic oil drilling immediately. Turn back on the older wells now capped off. Fast-track new safe nuclear power plants. Stop creating global food shortages by killing off corn-based Ethanol production. Waive the punitive duty on cheap Brazilian sugar cane ethanol. Plant lots of domestic switchgrass for cleaner & cheaper ethanol manufacture. Begin a crash construction program of 50 new advanced nuclear power plants nationwide. Stop burning up natural gas to generate electricity. Build new clean coal-burning electric power plants nationwide (China is turning one per week for the next 5 years), and construct coal-to-oil conversion plants. The Germans were doing this in WWII. Alternative-energy sources like cheap 4th-generation solar panels will ramp up as their prices continue to fall.
In other words, return to the old policy of cheap domestic energy that has made America the powerhouse (pun intended) that it once was. The US will become oil-independent of our enemies whose treasuries are now overflowing with a flood of newly-printed dollars we’ve been using to pay our oil bills with, and the dollar regain its strength as the world’s reserve currency.
And the irony? All of this can be done now with results beginning in 90 days, and using new super-clean super-efficient and environmentally-friendly technology. The result: oil will drop down to well below $100 per barrel and the economy will once again boom. If France and China and Brazil can do it, why can’t America? Why not indeed?
Oil sells for $145 per barrel mostly because of artificially-created supply-side shortages. A small part of its price is also determined by speculators and uncertainty over a future cut-off of oil from the middle east that a war with Iran could cause. Assuming that Iran’s nuclear bomb program is destroyed by Israel this fall -- with or without America’s help - look for oil to spike up to $250-300. And 40 years of congressional bumbling will be the cause.
OBAMA will bring us freedom
No one knows more about freedumb than Barack Obama. He will make sure all Americans have unlimited freedumb. The price of freedumb isnt free, be prepared to pay and pay and pay.
re, Obama Freedom!
You are right.
And you thought ecoli was bad - Introducing the Mexican Brain Worm!
So, everyone thinks that ecoli is bad -- it's not too bad when compared to the mexican brain worm. What you are about to learn will horrify you. This is a public health alert and is very gross!
The only thing you can do to protect yourself, your family, and those that you love from this point on is NEVER eat from a taco wagon, in a mexican restaurant or anywhere food is handled by mexicans; it just might be your final meal!!
neurocysticercosis, a brain infection caused by a pork tapeworm, is a "growing public health problem in the United States," especially in states bordering Mexico, where the disease is endemic.
So if you have people cooking for you or handling your food who are tapeworm carriers and don't have good personal hygiene, you will be exposed to the eggs of the tapeworm" and become infected by swallowing food they touch, Mr. Tsang explained.
Carriers tend to be people from rural developing countries with poor hygiene, where pigs are allowed to roam freely and eat human feces. Mr. Tsang said the condition is rife in Mexico and other parts of Latin America and Central America and "in a large part of China and Africa."
Please inform everyone you know of the public health concern!
World must brace for oil beyond $150, so says OPEC and most world experts on oil that track energy uses, supply and demand.
6 Thing NEVER to say to a car salesman...
1. I love, love, love this car
Even if a car has your heartstrings in a white-knuckled stranglehold, never let on. Stay calm and pretend you're looking over a microwave oven.
By admitting that you're smitten, you've given a salesman - and the sales manager and everyone else in the process - the combination to your personal safe.
The salesman will, of course, sympathize and want to help you out. But he'll tell you the sales manager, you see, well... That's a really hot car and we had someone in here just the other day and... He just won't take less than...
They know you're not about to walk away. Bottom line: Cars you're not in love with are usually a lot cheaper.
2. I need to get a car by tomorrow
If there's anything worse than being in love, it's being in desperate need. Letting on that you need a set of wheels immediately is, basically, telling the salesman "I won't be thinking too much about any of this."
He knows you won't be looking too closely at the particulars of the deal and you aren't likely to drive across town to try to get a better price.
It also means you're more likely to accept whatever he shows you from the dealership's inventory even if it doesn't exactly suit you. In other words, you may be presenting yourself as an opportunity to unload a bit of slow-moving inventory.
Even if you really do need a car quickly, act like you have a month to decide. But you would consider buying today if you found a car that really pleases you at a price you like.
3. I need a monthly payment of...
It's understandable that many car shoppers are "payment shoppers." Most of us have no idea how much car we can afford except by looking at how much it would cost us each month.
But saying "I want a payment of less than $350 a month" is like going into a box store and asking for a two-inch box. You'll notice that some dimensions are missing. You could end up with a box that's 12 feet long.
Almost any given monthly payment is possible provided the loan is long enough and the downpayment is big enough. Over the course of, say, seven years, $350 a month can add up to a lot more than $350 a month for three or four years.
To understand how much car you can really afford, you need more than a monthly payment figure. Know what monthly payment you want, for how long and how much you want to pay up front. You also need a fairly good idea of what your trade-in is worth.
To keep it really simple, just figure out what price you can afford for the car -based on your monthly budget and trade-in value - and negotiate that one big number. Talk about downpayment and monthly payment and negotiate the value of your trade-in after that.
4. My trade-in's outside
A salesperson will usually want to know, early on, if you have a vehicle to trade in. If you tell him that you do and that it's parked, conveniently, right outside, he'll ask you for the keys.
That way the used car manager can assess its value while you're negotiating. It'll save time.
Well, he has a point there. But consider the downsides. You've just handed the salesperson your car keys and he's given them off to someone else.
Guess what's going to happen if you reach an impasse in the negotiations and decide it's time to leave. You'll have to ask for you car keys back. And, odds are good, they will have been misplaced.
You'll be negotiating a while longer.
5. I don't know anything about leasing
Even if you're never going to lease a car, you need to know about leasing, if only to know exactly why you're never going to lease a car.
That's because there's a good chance someone will try to sell you on the idea. And they might be right. It could be a good choice for you. But it probably isn't.
First of all, leasing makes sense only for people who know - really know - they will not be keeping a car for more than a few years.
Beyond that, you need to understand the terminology and costs of leasing beyond the monthly payments, the number salesperson will focus on. You need to know how many miles are included in the lease and if there's additional money you need to pay up front or at the close of the lease.
6. My credit's a little spotty
Many people underestimate their own credit rating - and they're the people who are big moneymakers for car dealers. Part of the interest you pay is shared with the dealership, so they might be pleased to confirm your belief that you don't qualify for a low interest rate.
To make sure you're getting the best financing deal, secure your own financing before you start shopping. Having another loan in place - one you can use if you don't like what the dealership is offering - gives you negotiating power. It also lets you know exactly what you qualify for.
In most cases, a dealership's finance office - working with a manufacturer-affiliated auto financing company - should be able to get you a more-than-competitive rate.
Employers use federal law to deny benefits....
WASHINGTON DC - Dying of cancer, Thomas Amschwand did everything he was told to make sure his wife would collect on the life insurance policy he had through his employer.
"He was obsessed with dotting every `i' and crossing every `t'," Melissa Amschwand-Bellinger recalled about her husband, who died in 2001 at age 30.
But Spherion Corp., the temporary staffing company where Amschwand worked, told Amschwand-Bellinger she would not receive any of the $426,000 in benefits she believed she was due. When she went to court, Spherion succeeded in getting her lawsuit thrown out. The Supreme Court on June 27 refused to review the case.
Amschwand-Bellinger received a refund of the few thousand dollars in insurance premiums she and her husband dutifully had paid. The total, she said, would not cover the costs of his funeral.
The story has played out often under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Designed to protect employee benefits, the law has been used by employers as a shield against suits.
Federal appeals courts, interpreting Supreme Court decisions dating to 1993, consistently have said companies that offer health, life and retirement benefits under ERISA cannot be sued for large amounts of money, or damages. Instead, they can be sued only for typically smaller sums such as Amschwand's insurance premiums.
Several federal judges have bemoaned the unfairness even as they have felt constrained to rule in favor of employers.
"The facts ... scream out for a remedy beyond the simple return of premiums," Judge Fortunato Benavides of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in the Amschwand case. "Regrettably, under existing law it is not available."
The Bush administration has argued that the appeals courts are misreading the precedents and has asked the high court at least twice to clarify the earlier rulings. So far it has refused.
Congress, which could amend ERISA to make clear such suits are allowed, also has taken no action.
The result, in the view of ERISA experts, the administration and some lawmakers, is perverse.
"The beneficiary under the policy didn't get the promised benefit," said Colleen Medill, an expert on ERISA at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "To say we're just going to return your premiums, that's a total farce. That's not what they paid the premiums for. They paid them for the benefits."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said at a recent hearing that before ERISA became law, employees clearly could sue for benefits in state courts.
The court rulings, said Leahy, D-Vt., have left people "more vulnerable than they were before the law was passed."
Spherion's decision to deny benefits to Amschwand-Bellinger turned on an odd set of facts. Spherion, which employs about 300,000 people, switched insurers after Thomas Amschwand was diagnosed with a rare form of heart cancer. The new policy did not take effect until an employee worked one full day. Spherion never informed Amschwand of the requirement.
Amschwand asked repeatedly whether there was anything else he needed to do and was told no. He asked that the new policy be sent to him. Spherion never did so.
He died without returning to work. His widow said he easily could have worked a day if that was what it took to activate the new policy. Spherion could have waived the one-day-of-work provision, as it did for other employees but not for Amschwand.
Spherion spokesman Kip Havel issued a brief statement when contacted by The Associated Press after the high court declined to review the case. "We are pleased the court has made its decision and the matter has finally been resolved," Havel said.
The court also recently turned down an appeal from Louis Gerard "Gerry" Goeres, who sued Charles M. Schwab & Co. over hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement plan benefits.
For 16 months, Schwab mistakenly refused to acknowledge Goeres as the beneficiary in the retirement plan of his domestic partner, Stephen Ward, a Schwab employee who died in 1999. By the time Schwab acknowledged its error, the value of the account had declined by more than $500,000. Goeres sued for the rest. Federal courts dismissed the suit. "Unfortunately, legal relief is not available," U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said in ruling against Goeres.
"You know the Schwab commercial, `Talk to Chuck?'" Goeres said. "I thought if Chuck knew this, he'd say, 'Oh my God, this is so wrong.' I live on naive dreams."
Schwab said in court papers that Goeres could have taken legal action soon after Ward's death, when he first was told he was not the beneficiary.
Amschwand-Bellinger said the cases show the need for either the court or Congress to provide "some sort of meaningful remedy for employees when employers have a breach of fiduciary duty."
A Texas native who lives in an unincorporated Houston suburb, she has since remarried and has an 18-month-old daughter. She is president and executive director of the Amschwand Sarcoma Cancer Foundation, which she founded with her first husband.
She recognizes that she is more fortunate than many others who have fought similarly futile battles for benefits under ERISA. "What if we had had children and I was a stay at home mom?" said Amschwand-Bellinger, who previously worked for a public hospital system. "What if I was 60 years old, with no skill sets, and I had to go back to work?"
BARA, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces have halted an operation against militants in the country's volatile northwest to try negotiating peace through tribal elders, officials said Saturday.
Tariq Hayat, chief administrator for the Khyber tribal area, said local tribal leaders have agreed in principle to conditions including handing over 16 wanted men and respecting government authority in the region. A tribal council also is mediating between authorities and militant leader Mangal Bagh.
Elders have historically wielded significant influence in the tribal areas, which are considered safe havens for pro-Taliban and al-Qaida militants.
Pakistan launched the paramilitary offensive on June 28 after militants began threatening Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, as well as a key road used to send supplies to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
Hayat said the tribal elders would meet with officials Sunday to hash out details. "Security forces will remain in the area" while negotiations proceed, Hayat said.
Muhammad Ali, an official in charge of a crisis management center set up by the government in Peshawar to monitor the offensive, said security forces had stopped demolishing militant centers. He said the round-the-clock curfew in the troubled Khyber town of Bara a key focus of the operation was being relaxed during daytime hours.
On Saturday, shops in Bara were open, selling cloth, electronics and food. Paramilitary forces had only a minor visible presence in the area.
The move to talk peace appeared more in line with the policies of the new Pakistani government than the paramilitary operation itself.
The government came to power after February elections with promises of using alternative methods to combating militancy, and it has sought peace deals with militants including the Pakistani Taliban, though officials usually insist the deals are with tribes.
But government officials said they could not ignore the potential threat to Peshawar, a key hub, and sent out troops to Khyber.
Still, the operation itself has faced criticism, with skeptics noting that it has met with scant resistance and appears to have led to the death of only one militant. Many militants apparently fled before the operation started.
A key target of the offensive is Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group headed by Mangal Bagh. It and a rival group, Ansarul Islam, are accused of trying to impose their own Taliban-style Islamic rule in Khyber.
A tribal council leader, Amal Khan, said he had met with Bagh and the militant leader had shown interest in a peaceful end to the operation.
A senior politician in the North West Frontier Province has said supporters of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam fled to the remote Tirah valley ahead of the crackdown. The politician requested anonymity because his party is a member of the ruling coalition and does not want to publicly criticize the government.
Despite the operation, the two militant groups have been reportedly fighting each other in the valley, reportedly killing dozens.
The previous government, led by allies of U.S.-backed President Pervez Musharraf, relied heavily on military action against insurgents.
On Friday, Musharraf defended his approach and warned that without a united effort, Talibanization would spread in the frontier. "We need to check this terrorism and extremism and act against it collectively as a nation," he told a gathering of business leaders in Karachi.
The new government has insisted it is serious about ending militancy in Khyber.
The Ministry of Interior has said it has arrested 92 "criminals" and seized large caches of arms and ammunition in the Khyber operation.
re, Pakistan ...
I agree the only time these assholes want to talk peace is when their getting there asses kicked.
Peace talks just give them time to rearm, re-train, and regroup!
Kill them all and be done with it.
30% of Americans Think the Past 7 years have been Great...
The assholes that run Crais's List
Do you think they'll ever catch a fucking clue that it's the spammers who are flagging all the legit posts so only the stupid spam web site fake posts are left?
Wake up assholes and refine your 'flagging' function.
For those of us that used to actually like and use Craig's.....we need to abandon it for good and find another site that functions like this one used to. All it is now is a haven for prostitutes, con men, and serial killers.
BROWARD COUNTY BLOWS--YOU KNOW, I KNOW, WE ALL KNOW THAT BROWARD BLOWS !!!!
50,000 S. Koreans protest 'unsafe' U.S. beef
Bullshit, I say the we do two things immediately ....
1) Pull all of our troops out of South Korea and let the North have it!
2) Ban the import of all KIA Cars.
US removes uranium from Iraq
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.
"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb" a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.
The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.
"We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.
The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.
And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.
Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration.
Tuwaitha and an adjacent research facility were well known for decades as the centerpiece of Saddam's nuclear efforts.
Israeli warplanes bombed a reactor project at the site in 1981. Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have guarded the 23,000-acre site surrounded by huge sand berms following a wave of looting after Saddam's fall that included villagers toting away yellowcake storage barrels for use as drinking water cisterns.
Yellowcake is obtained by using various solutions to leach out uranium from raw ore and can have a corn meal-like color and consistency. It poses no severe risk if stored and sealed properly. But exposure carries well-documented health concerns associated with heavy metals such as damage to internal organs, experts say.
"The big problem comes with any inhalation of any of the yellowcake dust," said Doug Brugge, a professor of public health issues at the Tufts University School of Medicine.
Moving the yellowcake faced numerous hurdles.
Diplomats and military leaders first weighed the idea of shipping the yellowcake overland to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf. Such a route, however, would pass through Iraq's Shiite heartland and within easy range of extremist factions, including some that Washington claims are aided by Iran. The ship also would need to clear the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, where U.S. and Iranian ships often come in close contact.
Kuwaiti authorities, too, were reluctant to open their borders to the shipment despite top-level lobbying from Washington.
An alternative plan took shape: shipping out the yellowcake on cargo planes.
But the yellowcake still needed a final destination. Iraqi government officials sought buyers on the commercial market, where uranium prices spiked at about $120 per pound last year. It's currently selling for about half that. The Cameco deal was reached earlier this year, the official said.
At that point, U.S.-led crews began removing the yellowcake from the Saddam-era containers some leaking or weakened by corrosion and reloading the material into about 3,500 secure barrels.
In April, truck convoys started moving the yellowcake from Tuwaitha to Baghdad's international airport, the official said. Then, for two weeks in May, it was ferried in 37 flights to Diego Garcia, a speck of British territory in the Indian Ocean where the U.S. military maintains a base.
On June 3, an American ship left the island for Montreal, said the official, who declined to give further details about the operation.
The yellowcake wasn't the only dangerous item removed from Tuwaitha.
Earlier this year, the military withdrew four devices for controlled radiation exposure from the former nuclear complex. The lead-enclosed irradiation units, used to decontaminate food and other items, contain elements of high radioactivity that could potentially be used in a weapon, according to the official. Their Ottawa-based manufacturer, MDS Nordion, took them back for free, the official said.
The yellowcake was the last major stockpile from Saddam's nuclear efforts, but years of final cleanup is ahead for Tuwaitha and other smaller sites.
The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency plans to offer technical expertise.
Last month, a team of Iraqi nuclear experts completed training in the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat, which once housed the Chernobyl workers before the deadly meltdown in 1986, said an IAEA official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decontamination plan has not yet been publicly announced.
But the job ahead is enormous, complicated by digging out radioactive "hot zones" entombed in concrete during Saddam's rule, said the IAEA official. Last year, an IAEA safety expert, Dennis Reisenweaver, predicted the cleanup could take "many years."
The yellowcake issue also is one of the many troubling footnotes of the war for Washington.
A CIA officer, Valerie Plame, claimed her identity was leaked to journalists to retaliate against her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who wrote that he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy additional yellowcake from Niger.
A federal investigation led to the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
An ad in the Phoenix CL auto section ...
NEED CAR THAT RUNS AND HAS AC - $400 (Tempe)
I am moving to Tempe on July 17th and I need to get a car that is DRIVABLE to take me to work (Chandler) and back for at least a month and a half with AC. I don't really care about the appearance of the car as long as it is COMPLETELY DRIVABLE and you have a title to sign over and the vehicle is registered. MANUAL and AUTOMATIC are both OK. Please send me a description of the vehicle with photos and a phone number where I can reach you. I am willing to pay up to $400 Cash O.B.O
-----------
I think I have seen it all now -
Had to share this one, found it in the wanted section. Jeesh~ Do you want it waxed and polished too, Am & Fm or do you want the 6 disc CD and the DVD Player with Surround Sound? Good thing you said CASH or OBO, perked my ears up you are dealing with that amount of CASH, will you be delivering that with the Brinks Armored truck?
'Public' online spaces don't carry speech, rights
NEW YORK NY - Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won't eject you for your remarks alone, however unpopular or provocative.
Say it on the Internet, and you'll find that free speech and other constitutional rights are anything but guaranteed.
Companies in charge of seemingly public spaces online wipe out content that's controversial but otherwise legal. Service providers write their own rules for users worldwide and set foreign policy when they cooperate with regimes like China. They serve as prosecutor, judge and jury in handling disputes behind closed doors.
The governmental role that companies play online is taking on greater importance as their services — from online hangouts to virtual repositories of photos and video become more central to public discourse around the world. It's a fallout of the Internet's market-driven growth, but possible remedies, including government regulation, can be worse than the symptoms.
Dutch photographer Maarten Dors met the limits of free speech at Yahoo Inc.'s photo-sharing service, Flickr, when he posted an image of an early-adolescent boy with disheveled hair and a ragged T-shirt, staring blankly with a lit cigarette in his mouth.
Without prior notice, Yahoo deleted the photo on grounds it violated an unwritten ban on depicting children smoking. Dors eventually convinced a Yahoo manager that far from promoting smoking the photo had value as a statement on poverty and street life in Romania. Yet another employee deleted it again a few months later.
"I never thought of it as a photo of a smoking kid," Dors said. "It was just of a kid in Romania and how his life is. You can never make a serious documentary if you always have to think about what Flickr will delete."
There may be legitimate reasons to take action, such as to stop spam, security threats, copyright infringement and child pornography, but many cases aren't clear-cut, and balancing competing needs can get thorny.
"We often get caught in the middle between a rock and a hard place," said Christine Jones, general counsel with service provider GoDaddy.com Inc. "We're obviously sensitive to the freedoms we have, particularly in this country, to speak our mind, (yet) we want to be good corporate citizens and make the Internet a better and safer place."
In Dors' case, the law is fully with Yahoo. Its terms of service, similar to those of other service providers, gives Yahoo "sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse or remove any content." Service providers aren't required to police content, but they aren't prohibited from doing so.
While mindful of free speech and other rights, Yahoo and other companies say they must craft and enforce guidelines that go beyond legal requirements to protect their brands and foster safe, enjoyable communities ones where minors may be roaming.
Guidelines help "engender a positive community experience," one to which users will want to return, said Anne Toth, Yahoo's vice president for policy.
Dors ultimately got his photo restored a second time, and Yahoo has apologized, acknowledging its community managers went too far.
Heather Champ, community director for Flickr, said the company crafts policies based on feedback from users and trains employees to weigh disputes fairly and consistently, though mistakes can happen.
"We're humans," she said. "We're pretty transparent when we make mistakes. We have a record of being good about stepping up and fessing up."
But that underscores another consequence of having online commons controlled by private corporations. Rules aren't always clear, enforcement is inconsistent, and users can find content removed or accounts terminated without a hearing. Appeals are solely at the service provider's discretion.
Users get caught in the crossfire as hundreds of individual service representatives apply their own interpretations of corporate policies, sometimes imposing personal agendas or misreading guidelines.
To wit: Verizon Wireless barred an abortion-rights group from obtaining a "short code" for conducting text-messaging campaigns, while LiveJournal suspended legitimate blogs on fiction and crime victims in a crackdown on pedophilia. Two lines criticizing President Bush disappeared from AT&T Inc.'s webcast of a Pearl Jam concert. All three decisions were reversed only after senior executives intervened amid complaints.
Inconsistencies and mysteries behind decisions lead to perceptions that content is being stricken merely for being unpopular.
"As we move more of our communications into social networks, how are we limiting ourselves if we can't see alternative points of view, if we can't see the things that offend us?" asked Fred Stutzman, a University of North Carolina researcher who tracks online communities.
First Amendment protections generally do not extend to private property in the physical world, allowing a shopping mall to legally kick out a customer wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a smoking child.
With online services becoming greater conduits than shopping malls for public communications, however, some advocacy groups believe the federal government needs to guarantee open access to speech. That, of course, could also invite meddling by the government, the way broadcasters now face indecency and other restrictions that are criticized as vague.
Others believe companies shouldn't police content at all, and if they do, they should at least make clearer the rules and the mechanisms for appeal.
"Vagueness does not inspire the confidence of people and leaves room for gaming the system by outside groups," said Lauren Weinstein, a veteran computer scientist and Internet activist. "When the rules are clear and the grievance procedures are clear, then people know what they are working with and they at least have a starting point in urging changes in those rules."
But Marjorie Heins, director of the Free Expression Policy Project, questions whether the private sector is equipped to handle such matters at all. She said written rules mean little when service representatives applying them "tend to be tone-deaf. They don't see context."
At least when a court order or other governmental action is involved, "there's more of a guarantee of due process protections," said Robin Gross, executive director of the civil-liberties group IP Justice. With a private company, users' rights are limited to the service provider's contractual terms of services.
Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard professor who recently published a book on threats to the Internet's openness, said parties unhappy with sensitive materials online are increasingly aware they can simply pressure service providers and other intermediaries.
"Going after individuals can be difficult. They can be hard to find. They can be hard to sue," Zittrain said. "Intermediaries still have a calculus where if a particular Web site is causing a lot of trouble ... it may not be worth it to them."
Unable to stop purveyors of child pornography directly, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently persuaded three major access providers to disable online newsgroups that distribute such images. But rather than cut off those specific newsgroups, all three decided to reduce administrative hassles by also disabling thousands of legitimate groups devoted to TV shows, the New York Mets and other topics.
Gordon Lyon, who runs a site that archives e-mail postings on security, found his domain name suddenly deactivated because one entry contained MySpace passwords obtained by hackers.
He said MySpace went directly to domain provider GoDaddy, which effectively shut down his entire site, rather than contact him to remove the one posting or replace passwords with asterisks. GoDaddy justified such drastic measures, saying that waiting to reach Lyon would have unnecessarily exposed MySpace passwords, including those to profiles of children.
Meanwhile, in response to complaints it would not specify, Network Solutions LLC decided to suspend a Web hosting account that Dutch filmmaker Geert Wilders was using to promote a movie that criticizes the Quran before the movie was even posted and without the company finding any actual violation of its rules.
Service providers say unhappy customers can always go elsewhere, but choice is often limited.
Many leading services, particularly online hangouts like Facebook and News Corp.'s MySpace or media-sharing sites such as Flickr and Google Inc.'s YouTube, have acquired a cachet that cannot be replicated. To evict a user from an online community would be like banishing that person to the outskirts of town.
Other sites "don't have the critical mass. No one would see it," said Scott Kerr, a member of the gay punk band Kids on TV, which found its profile mysteriously deleted from MySpace last year. "People know that MySpace is the biggest site that contains music."
MySpace denies engaging in any censorship and says profiles removed are generally in response to complaints of spam and other abuses. GoDaddy also defends its commitment to speech, saying account suspensions are a last resort.
Few service providers actively review content before it gets posted and usually take action only in response to complaints.
In that sense, Flickr, YouTube and other sites consider their reviews "checks and balances" against any community mob directed at unpopular speech YouTube has pointedly refused to delete many video clips tied to Muslim extremists, for instance, because they didn't specifically contain violence or hate speech.
Still, should these sites even make such rules? And how can they ensure the guidelines are consistently enforced?
YouTube has policies against showing people "getting hurt, attacked or humiliated," banning even clips OK for TV news shows, but how is YouTube to know whether a video clip shows real violence or actors portraying it? Either way, showing the video is legal and may provoke useful discussions on brutality.
"Balancing these interests raises very tough issues," YouTube acknowledged in a statement.
Unwilling to play the role of arbiter, the group-messaging service Twitter has resisted pressure to tighten its rules.
"What counts as name-calling? What counts as making fun of someone in a way that's good-natured?" said Jason Goldman, Twitter's director of program management. "There are sites that do employ teams of people that
do that investigation ... but we feel that's a job we wouldn't do well."
Other sites are trying to be more transparent in their decisions.
Online auctioneer eBay Inc., for instance, has elaborated on its policies over the years, to the extent that sellers can drill down to where they can ship hatching eggs (U.S. addresses only) and what items related to natural disasters are permissible (they must have "substantial social, artistic or political value"). Hypothetical examples accompany each policy.
LiveJournal has recently eased restrictions on blogging. The new harassment clause, for instance, expressly lets members state negative feelings or opinions about another, and parodies of public figures are now permitted despite a ban on impersonation. Restrictions on nudity specifically exempt non-sexualized art and breast feeding.
The site took the unusual step of soliciting community feedback and setting up an advisory board with prominent Internet scholars such as Danah Boyd and Lawrence Lessig and two user representatives elected in May.
The effort comes just a year after a crackdown on pedophilia backfired. LiveJournal suspended hundreds of blogs that dealt with child abuse and sexual violence, only to find many were actually fictional works or discussions meant to protect children. The company's chief executive issued a public apology.
Community backlash can restrain service providers, but as Internet companies continue to consolidate and Internet users spend more time using vendor-controlled platforms such as mobile devices or social-networking sites, the community's power to demand free speech and other rights diminishes.
Weinstein, the veteran computer scientist, said that as people congregate at fewer places, "if you're knocked off one of those, in a lot of ways you don't exist."
(Q) What do U tell a woman with 2 black eyes?
(A) NOTHING! YOU ALREADY TOLD HER TWICE!!!!!!!
Seriously studies have shown (500,000 battered women) is that they "JUST DON'T LISTEN"!!!!!
Virginity like
bubble, one prick, all gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who run in
front of car get tired.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who run behind
car get exhausted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man with hand in
pocket feel cocky all day.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Foolish man give
wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright
organ.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man with one
chopstick go hungry.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who scratch ass
should not bite fingernails.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who eat many
prunes get good run for money.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Baseball is wrong:
man with four balls cannot walk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
War does not
determine who is right, war determine who is
left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Wife who put
husband in doghouse soon find him in
cathouse.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fight with
wife all day get no piece at night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It take many nails
to build crib, but one screw to fill it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who drive like
hell, bound to get there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who stand on
toilet is high on pot.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who live in
glass house should change clothes in
basement.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fish in
other man's well often catch crabs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man who fart in
church sit in own pew.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Crowded elevator
smell different to midget.
I know where to get FREE gas.
Just go to the grocery store, buy a can of baked beans and eat the whole damn can, cold!
2012 GOODBYE BEANERS
The Mayan Calender marks the end of time for beaners on this planet. Good bye Pedro, Carlos, Jose, Aztlan and the rest of you brown scum.
IMPACT: US wavered over S. Korean executions
SEOUL, South Korea - The American colonel, troubled by what he was hearing, tried to stall at first. But the declassified record shows he finally told his South Korean counterpart it "would be permitted" to machine-gun 3,500 political prisoners, to keep them from joining approaching enemy forces.
In the early days of the Korean War, other American officers observed, photographed and confidentially reported on such wholesale executions by their South Korean ally, a secretive slaughter believed to have killed 100,000 or more leftists and supposed sympathizers, usually without charge or trial, in a few weeks in mid-1950.
Extensive archival research by The Associated Press has found no indication Far East commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur took action to stem the summary mass killing, knowledge of which reached top levels of the Pentagon and State Department in Washington, where it was classified "secret" and filed away.
Now, a half-century later, the South Korean government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is investigating what happened in that summer of terror, a political bloodbath largely hidden from history, unlike the communist invaders' executions of southern rightists, which were widely publicized and denounced at the time.
In the now-declassified record at the U.S. National Archives and other repositories, the Korean investigators will find an ambivalent U.S. attitude in 1950 at times hands-off, at times disapproving.
"The most important thing is that they did not stop the executions," historian Jung Byung-joon, a member of the 2-year-old commission, said of the Americans. "They were at the crime scene, and took pictures and wrote reports."
They took pictures in July 1950 at the slaughter of dozens of men at one huge killing field outside the central city of Daejeon. Between 3,000 and 7,000 South Koreans are believed to have been shot there by their own military and police, and dumped into mass graves, said Kim Dong-choon, the commission member overseeing the investigation of these government killings.
The bones of Koh Chung-ryol's father are there somewhere, and the 57-year-old woman believes South Koreans alone are not to blame.
"Although we can't present concrete evidence, we bereaved families believe the United States has some responsibility for this," she told the AP, as she visited one of the burial sites in the quiet Sannae valley.
Frank Winslow, a military adviser at Daejeon in those desperate days long ago, is one American who feels otherwise.
The Koreans were responsible for their own actions, said the retired Army lieutenant colonel, 81. "The Koreans were sovereign. To me, there was never any question that the Koreans were in charge," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Bellingham, Wash.
The brutal, hurried elimination of tens of thousands of their countrymen, subject of a May 19 AP report, was the climax to a years-long campaign by South Korea's right-wing leaders.
In 1947, two years after Washington and Moscow divided Korea into southern and northern halves, a U.S. military government declared the Korean Labor Party, the southern communists, to be illegal. President Syngman Rhee's southern regime, gaining sovereignty in 1948, suppressed all leftist political activity, put down a guerrilla uprising and held up to 30,000 political prisoners by the time communist North Korea invaded on June 25, 1950.
As war broke out, southern authorities also rounded up members of the 300,000-strong National Guidance Alliance, a "re-education" body to which they had assigned leftist sympathizers, and whose membership quotas also were filled by illiterate peasants lured by promises of jobs and other benefits.
Commission investigators, extrapolating from initial evidence and surveys of family survivors, believe most alliance members were killed in the wave of executions.
On June 29, 1950, as the southern army and its U.S. advisers retreated southward, reports from Seoul said the conquering northerners had emptied the southern capital's prisons, and ex-inmates were reinforcing the new occupation regime.
In a confidential narrative he later wrote for Army historians, Lt. Col. Rollins S. Emmerich, a senior U.S. adviser, described what then happened in the southern port city of Busan, formerly known as Pusan.
Emmerich was told by a subordinate that a South Korean regimental commander, determined to keep Busan's political prisoners from joining the enemy, planned "to execute some 3500 suspected peace time Communists, locked up in the local prison," according to the declassified 78-page narrative, first uncovered by the newspaper Busan Ilbo at the U.S. National Archives.
Emmerich wrote that he summoned the Korean, Col. Kim Chong-won, and told him the enemy would not reach Busan in a few days as Kim feared, and that "atrocities could not be condoned."
But the American then indicated conditional acceptance of the plan.
"Colonel Kim promised not to execute the prisoners until the situation became more critical," wrote Emmerich, who died in 1986. "Colonel Kim was told that if the enemy did arrive to the outskirts of (Busan) he would be permitted to open the gates of the prison and shoot the prisoners with machine guns."
This passage, omitted from the published Army history, is the first documentation unearthed showing advance sanction by the U.S. military for such killings.
"I think his (Emmerich's) word is so significant," said Park Myung-lim, a South Korean historian of the war and adviser to the investigative commission.
As that summer wore on, and the invaders pressed their attack on the southern zone, Busan-area prisoners were shot by the hundreds, Korean and foreign witnesses later said.
Emmerich wrote that soon after his session with Kim, he met with South Korean officials in Daegu, 55 miles north of Busan, and persuaded them "at that time" not to execute 4,500 prisoners immediately, as planned. Within weeks, hundreds were being executed in the Daegu area.
The bloody anticommunist purge, begun immediately after the invasion, is believed by the fall of 1950 to have filled some 150 mass graves in secluded spots stretching to the peninsula's southernmost counties. Commissioner Kim said the commission's estimate of 100,000 dead is "very conservative." The commission later this month will resume excavating massacre sites, after having recovered remains of more than 400 people at four sites last year.
The AP has extensively researched U.S. military and diplomatic archives from the Korean War in recent years, at times relying on once-secret documents it obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and declassification reviews. The declassified U.S. record and other sources offer further glimpses of the mass killings.
A North Korean newspaper said 1,000 prisoners were slain in Incheon, just west of Seoul, in late June 1950 — a report partly corroborated by a declassified U.S. Eighth Army document of July 1950 saying "400 Communists" had been killed in Incheon. The North Korean report claimed a U.S. military adviser had given the order.
As the front moved south, in July's first days, Air Force intelligence officer Donald Nichols witnessed and photographed the shooting of an estimated 1,800 prisoners in Suwon, 20 miles south of Seoul, Nichols reported in a little-noted memoir in 1981, a decade before his death.
Around the same time, farther south, the Daejeon killings began.
Winslow recalled he declined an invitation to what a senior officer called the "turkey shoot" outside the city, but other U.S. officers did attend, taking grisly photos of the human slaughter that would be kept classified for a half-century.
Journalist Alan Winnington, of the British communist Daily Worker newspaper, entered Daejeon with North Korean troops after July 20 and reported that the killings were carried out for three days in early July and two or three days in mid-July.
He wrote that his witnesses claimed jeeploads of American officers "supervised the butchery." Secret CIA and Army intelligence communications reported on the Daejeon and Suwon killings as early as July 3, but said nothing about the U.S. presence or about any U.S. oversight.
In mid-August, MacArthur, in Tokyo, learned of the mass shooting of 200 to 300 people near Daegu, including women and a 12- or 13-year-old girl. A top-secret Army report from Korea, uncovered by AP research, told of the "extreme cruelty" of the South Korean military policemen. The bodies fell into a ravine, where hours later some "were still alive and moaning," wrote a U.S. military policeman who happened on the scene.
Although MacArthur had command of South Korean forces from early in the war, he took no action on this report, other than to refer it to John J. Muccio, U.S. ambassador in South Korea. Muccio later wrote that he urged South Korean officials to stage executions humanely and only after due process of law.
The AP found that during this same period, on Aug. 15, Brig. Gen. Francis W. Farrell, chief U.S. military adviser to the South Koreans, recommended the U.S. command investigate the executions. There was no sign such an inquiry was conducted. A month later, the Daejeon execution photos were sent to the Pentagon in Washington, with a U.S. colonel's report that the South Koreans had killed "thousands" of political prisoners.
The declassified record shows an equivocal U.S. attitude continuing into the fall, when Seoul was retaken and South Korean forces began shooting residents who collaborated with the northern occupiers.
When Washington's British allies protested, Dean Rusk, assistant secretary of state, told them U.S. commanders were doing "everything they can to curb such atrocities," according to a Rusk memo of Oct. 28, 1950.
But on Dec. 19, W.J. Sebald, State Department liaison to MacArthur, cabled Secretary of State Dean Acheson to say MacArthur's command viewed the killings as a South Korean "internal matter" and had "refrained from taking any action."
It was the British who took action, according to news reports at the time. On Dec. 7, in occupied North Korea, British officers saved 21 civilians lined up to be shot, by threatening to shoot the South Korean officer responsible. Later that month, British troops seized "Execution Hill," outside Seoul, to block further mass killings there.
To quiet the protests, the South Koreans barred journalists from execution sites and the State Department told diplomats to avoid commenting on atrocity reports. Earlier, the U.S. Embassy in London had denounced as "fabrication" Winnington's Daily Worker reporting on the Daejeon slaughter. The Army eventually blamed all the thousands of Daejeon deaths on the North Koreans, who in fact had carried out executions of rightists there and elsewhere.
An American historian of the Korean War, the University of Chicago's Bruce Cumings, sees a share of U.S. guilt in what happened in 1950.
"After the fact — with thousands murdered — the U.S. not only did nothing, but covered up the Daejeon massacres," he said.
Another Korean War scholar, Allan R. Millett, an emeritus Ohio State professor, is doubtful. "I'm not sure there's enough evidence to pin culpability on these guys," he said, referring to the advisers and other Americans.
The swiftness and nationwide nature of the 1950 roundups and mass killings point to orders from the top, President Rhee and his security chiefs, Korean historians say. Those officials are long dead, and Korean documentary evidence is scarce.
To piece together a fuller story, investigators of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will sift through tens of thousands of pages of declassified U.S. documents.
The commission's mandate extends to at least 2010, and its president, historian Ahn Byung-ook, expects to turn then to Washington for help in finding the truth.
"Our plan is that when we complete our investigation of cases involving the U.S. Army, we'll make an overall recommendation, a request to the U.S. government to conduct an overall investigation," he said.
Dr Horton and their subsidiary DHI Title have a blatant record of condoning discriminatory practices. Does not make sense for any person who is Black to give their hard earned money to a racist company.
GM mulling thousands of job cuts, sale of brands:
General Motors Corp (GM.N) is planning to cut thousands of white-collar jobs and is considering whether it should sell or stop production of more of its brands, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Both moves are part of a broader re-evaluation of the company's strategy and of its ability to meet an internal projection of returning to profitability in 2010, the people told the paper.
The job cuts are likely to be approved when GM's board of directors meets in early August, the people said. The reductions would be in addition to earlier announced cuts.
Management may also present the board with options for raising additional cash, they told the paper.
The board may also hear management's latest thoughts on whether GM should trim the number of brands it offers in the United States, the people told the paper.
All but the Cadillac and Chevrolet brands, which GM considers core to its business, are undergoing close scrutiny, some other people told the paper.
In the past few years, as GM has run up massive losses, some board members and some executives have on occasion raised questions about its plethora of brands, only to be rebuffed by Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
GM has put its Hummer brand up for sale to prospective buyers thought to include Mahindra & Mahindra (MAHM.BO), but the SUV brand is expected to fetch far less than $1 billion in any sale.
The company, hit by rising oil and raw material prices, the credit crunch and the housing downturn, will need to raise as much as $15 billion in cash to shore up liquidity and bankruptcy is "not impossible" if the U.S. auto market continues to slump, Merrill Lynch had said last week.
U.S. auto sales plunged in June to a 15-year low.
Although GM clung on to its top spot in the American market, some analysts have raised concerns over the financial state of the firm, whose shares fell to a 54-year low earlier this month.
GM could not be immediately reached for comment.
Proposal to euthanize wild horses spurs debate
RENO, NV. - Animal rights activists and ranchers are clashing over a federal proposal to euthanize wild horses as a way to deal with their surplus numbers.
Horse advocates will mount a campaign against the proposal announced late last month by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington, D.C.
Federal officials said they're faced with tough choices because wild horses have overpopulated public lands in the West and they no longer can afford to care for the number of animals that have been rounded up.
But Heyde maintained the agency is seeking a "magic bullet" for budget problems caused after it began rounding up the mustangs at an unprecedented rate in recent years.
He said the roundups left too many horses for the public to adopt, requiring the agency to contract for more private long-term holding facilities.
The proposal "is killing pure and simple to balance the books for an agency whose reckless management has caused immeasurable harm to a national treasure at considerable cost to the American taxpayer," Heyde said.
Ron Cerri, of the Rebel Creek Ranch in Orovada and president-elect of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, said ranchers would prefer horses be adopted but euthanasia may be necessary to keep their numbers down.
"Unfortunately, it's something they'll have to consider," Cerri said. "I don't know of another solution."
Cerri criticized the federal agency's proposal to stop roundups of wild horses to save money. Ranchers view mustangs as competition for forage on the range.
"That would be really unfortunate," he said. "We're starting to get close to what's called `appropriate management levels' of wild horses on the range. If we stop the roundups, that number will blow up again."
There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses in 10 Western states. About half of those are in Nevada.
The agency has set a target appropriate management level of horses at 27,000. About another 30,000 horses are in holding facilities, where most are made available for adoption.
Last year about $22 million of the entire horse program's $39 million budget was spent on holding horses in agency pens. Next year the costs are projected to grow to $26 million with an overall budget that is being trimmed to $37 million.
Lacy Dalton, president and co-founder of the Let 'Em Run Foundation horse advocacy group, urged the agency to consider alternative solutions.
They include efforts to step up birth control and legislation to provide tax breaks to large landowners willing to let horses roam on their property, she said.
"The American people have spoken they want to preserve these wild horses," said Dalton.
"They are symbolic of the wildness and freedom and independent spirit of the West. We need to find ways to save them without being a burden on taxpayers," she added.
Agency officials said they stepped up the roundups in recent years because of ongoing drought that has left dwindling forage and water for the mustangs. Horse advocates insist the action was taken to placate ranchers.
The Bureau of Land Management's announcement marked the first time the agency publicly has discussed the possibility of putting surplus animals to death. Congress unanimously passed the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to protect the animals.
G-8 summit opens with focus on Africa:
RUSUTSU, Japan - Africa was in the spotlight Monday, as leaders from the world's major economic powers gathered for an annual summit that will also grapple with climate change and the global food crisis.
The Group of Eight leaders representing the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia were to meet with seven African leaders to address key problems such as food supplies, infectious diseases and economic development.
Activists have accused some G-8 nations particularly France, Canada and Italy of skimping on aid to Africa and urged them to ramp up their contributions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has urged G-8 leaders to take a tough stance on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's widely denounced presidential election runoff victory.
U.S. President George W. Bush, arriving Sunday for his eighth and final Group of Eight summit, emphasized the urgency of providing aid for Africa. He called on wealthy nations to provide mosquito nets and other aid to prevent children from "needlessly dying from mosquito bites."
"I'm concerned about people going hungry. We'll be very constructive in the dialogue about the environment I care about the environment but today there's too much suffering in the continent of Africa," Bush said during a press conference after a one-on-one meeting Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, host of the gathering.
"Now is the time for the comfortable nations to step up and do something about it," Bush said.
Aid to Africa was the centerpiece of the G-8 summit three years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders called for increasing aid to $50 billion a year through 2010 with half of that going to Africa itself and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor nations.
Advocacy groups for Africa and hunger gave the G-8 a mixed report card on progress in reaching its commitments to Africa.
Collectively, the G-8 has delivered just $3 billion of the $25 billion pledged to Africa in 2005, according DATA, a group founded by U2 singer Bono and music producer Bob Geldof.
Germany, the U.S. and Britain were following through on commitments, while progress from Japan, France, Italy and Canada was either unclear or weak, DATA said.
"We desperately need to see more money from the G-8, and for it to be new money," said Max Lawson from Oxfam International, another advocacy group.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in April that foreign aid by major donor countries slumped in 2007, as debt-relief plans tapered off and amid a global economic downturn in Japan and other rich nations.
The related topic of soaring food prices was another key topic on the agenda at the summit, with some experts predicting that the leaders would announce a food aid package and possibly funds to invest in agricultural development in poorer nations.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he has received international support for his idea of creating an experts group to tackle the global food crisis, similar to the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
"In the 21st century, we must be able to feed the planet," Sarkozy said in an interview published in Japan's Yomiuri newspaper Monday.
"This idea seems to have been received favorably by our G-8 partners, and I am delighted," Sarkozy told the newspaper. A transcript of his remarks was also provided by his office.
Germany's Merkel said the leaders will confer on how to toughen sanctions against Zimbabwe, and hoped that they would get support from African colleagues on the matter.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, whom Zimbabwe's opposition has accused of favoring Mugabe, and Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua are scheduled to meet with the G-8 leaders. Also invited are the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal and Tanzania and the chairperson of the African Union Commission.
Talks were expected to shift Tuesday and Wednesday to climate change as leaders will try to move forward U.N.-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of 2009. The negotiations have stalled because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and India should be required to participate.
It was unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions by 50 percent by 2050. A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond reach.
Debt collectors on the rampage.....
More consumers are finding themselves the target of aggressive agents who don't always play by the rules. Here's what you need to know.
Six months after Rob Hruskoci closed his business, a debt collector called and demanded payment that day for the $5,000 balance on his business credit card.
"They want me to wire them $1,900 in 5 hours," Hruskoci said. "It was all about intimidation and harassment."
With the economy in a tailspin, more consumers like Hruskoci are falling behind in their loan repayments, and finding themselves the target of aggressive debt collectors.
Complaints against debt collectors have risen substantially in the last few years, according to the Better Business Bureau - up 20% in 2006 and 26% in 2007, according to preliminary figures.
As cash-strapped consumers struggle to make ends meet, third-party collection agencies are buying up debt from companies and actively trying to recoup losses and collect commissions.
Collection services go after past-due accounts referred to them by various credit grantors such as credit card issuers, banks, car dealerships, stores and hospitals - any business that extends credit or offers payment installment plans.
There are about 6,500 collection agencies in the United States. And they serve a useful purpose - debt collectors returned $39.3 billion to the U.S. economy in 2005, according to the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals.
Third-party collectors are regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which is administered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There are strict guidelines aimed at protecting consumers from abusive or unfair debt collection practices.
But there are also agencies that blatantly disregard those rules.
After a bad bicycling accident, Mike Gambino, 28, had a $20,000 bill from the hospital and no savings with which to pay it. He tried to work out a payment plan, but despite what agreement he thought he had made, his debt ended up in the hands of a collection agency.
Then began the months of harassment, he said, with agents often calling five or six times a day - from 6 in the morning to 12:30 at night.
"They were harassing me, one of them threatened to throw me in jail," he said. So Gambino learned what his rights were and got himself a lawyer.
In fact, collectors may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, or fax. However, they may not contact you at inconvenient times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree. A debt collector also may not tell you that you will be arrested if you do not pay. (For more on your basic rights, see "What's prohibited")
Proceed with caution
If a debt collector contacts you, your first move should be to ask for proof of the debt, said Linda Sherry, of Consumer Action, a consumer advocacy group. "What you should get is a real document with your signature that shows you applied for the debt."
Collection agencies use a practice of tracking people down called "skip tracing."
"Sometimes they make huge leaps between what's real and what's not," Sherry said. You might have been contacted erroneously, just because you have the same name as the debtor they are looking for, or their old cell phone number.
Even if the debt is yours, it could be old enough to no longer be collectable. Some debt has a statute of limitations, which can range from three to 15 years, depending on your state. Make sure you find out your debt's expiration date because once you pay a portion or initiate a payment plan, the clock starts ticking all over again, Sherry said.
If you do negotiate a repayment plan, make sure you get it in writing - and that goes for every all other correspondence as well.
It's very important to open up a file and write down the names and numbers of the people who contact you, Sherry said. Keep copies of every letter sent and received, and track all correspondence with certified mail and return receipt.
To further protect yourself from harassment, use a pay phone if you don't want the collection agents to have your phone number, and tell them not to call you at work.
You can stop a debt collector from contacting you altogether by writing a letter telling it to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, it may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact. That does not make your debt go away, but it will offer a reprieve from the phone calls.
"I really recommend that people contact an attorney that's a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates," Sherry said. If you feel like you have been treated unfairly, find an attorney with expertise in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act who will take the case on a contingency basis.
Plus, if you have an attorney, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you.
You can also report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state attorney general's office and the Federal Trade Commission. Many states have their own debt collection laws, and your attorney general's office can help you determine your rights.
Another really stupid ad on Phoenix AZ CL FREE Section Board ...
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Elk Bones! Make your very own elk skeleton...
Well, as much of it as you can.
I have two bags filled with elk bones! Femurs, vertebrae, antlers, pelvic bones, etc.! Great for crafts or whatever you do with bones.
If you don't like what someone post or says, well think of this ...
After all, in the grand scheme of things does their opinion really matter?
I don't think so.
Watermelon Could Possibly Work As Well As Viagra
San Francisco, CA - Google-owned YouTube was ordered to turn over to Viacom the login names and computer addresses of Internet users that frequent the popular video-sharing site.
Prius hybrid to get rooftop solar panel
Motor mammoth Toyota, maker of the famed Prius hybrid car, is rumoured to be thinking about fitting some new Prius models with solar panels. The possible move is unlikely to seriously affect the car's fuel consumption, however, and is being seen by some as a PR stunt.
Toyota is offering no official comment on the suggestions, which were first reported in Japanese business daily Nikkei. However, Reuters quotes an anonymous source "briefed on the matter" as saying that the plans were "a symbolic gesture" which would do little more than provide part of the power used by the Prius' air conditioning.
"It's very difficult to power much more than that with solar energy," added the informant.
This view certainly squares with the well-understood performance of solar panels, especially small ones which can be fitted onto a car roof (as the Prius ones will reportedly be). Such panels can already be bought as accessories, and one was also included in the recent "Provoq" concept fuel-cell hybrid design from GM. In neither case can large amounts of power - suited to actually propelling a car, rather than running ancillary electronics - be harvested in a reasonably short time. You'd have to leave your car parked in the sun for ages to charge up even a normal car battery, let alone one which could actually drive the car usefully. (Which the Prius' can't, by the way. Toyota has thus far turned its face resolutely away from cars which can store enough electricity to make journeys solely on battery power.)
Panels of this kind are still useful, however, as they can prevent a car's battery running flat while parked due to the constant trickle of power used by security systems and so forth. With a heftier hybrid battery, you might also be able to run the air-con for a bit longer while stationary before the engine had to fire up. This is probably all that Toyota actually intends to offer.
However, the Prius remains the only car being driven globally which is actually different from normal internal combustion jobs in its power-train engineering. Thus it attracts a great deal of eco-hype and attention, and the addition of a solar panel even though it won't offer a lot more benefit than a twenty quid job from Maplins slipped into your sunroof shutter will perhaps be seen as justifying a substantially bigger markup on the car price.
Jalapenos, Cilantro Eyed as Salmonella Suspects
Health Officials Expand Salmonella Probe to Mexican Produce
As the salmonella outbreak spreads across the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is now looking at produce, such as jalapeno peppers and cilantro, as possible culprits.
Close to 1,000 people in 40 states have been sickened by the salmonella bacteria so far, and health officials are desperate to find the source.
"All of our conversations with people who have gotten ill probably 80 percent have eaten tomatoes, so that's where the focus has been," Emily Palmer, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services, said. "However, we do want to make sure that there's not something else that may be associated with tomatoes."
The Chicago Department of Health has identified several cases of salmonella poisoning from people who ate at Mexican restaurants, leading them to widen the investigation to ingredients often found in salsa and guacamole.
Officials have turned their focus to the critical points of the food chain. Imported produce is now being tested at border entry points and will not be distributed to consumers without FDA approval.
With the number of reported cases of salmonella poisoning increasing, consumers are also taking extra precautions.
"I always double wash everything, even if it says washed twice," said concerned mom Kimberly Doyle.
HOW TO SOLVE THE SINGLE MOM PROBLEM IN THE USA.
SEND THEM TO IRAQ TO BE CONCUBINES FOR OUR TROOPS.
G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050
Iraq insists on U.S. withdrawal timetable.
Lets give them one and get the fuck out now!!!!
1973 war powers legislation should be replaced so says Study Panel and calls for new war powers legislation.
WASHINGTON DC - The next time the president goes to war, Congress should be consulted and vote on whether it agrees, according to a bipartisan study group chaired by former secretaries of state James Baker III and Warren Christopher.
In a report released Tuesday, the panel says the current law governing the nation's war powers has failed to promote cooperation between the executive and legislative branches. It says the 1973 resolution should be repealed and replaced with new legislation that would require the president to inform Congress of any plans to engage in "significant armed conflict," or non-covert operations lasting longer than a week.
In turn, Congress would act within 30 days, either approving or disapproving the action.
Baker, who served as secretary of State in the first Bush administration and co-chaired the 2006 Iraq Study Group, said the proposal isn't intended to resolve constitutional disputes between the White House and Congress on who should decide whether the nation fights.
"What we aim to do with this statute is to create a process that will encourage the two branches to cooperate and consult in a way that is both practical and true to the spirit of the Constitution," Baker said in a statement.
A new joint House and Senate committee would be established to review the president's justification for war. To do so, the committee would be granted access to highly classified information.
The panel has briefed the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain, as well as congressional leadership. Obama and McCain did not provide comment.
Congress' involvement in approving combat operations became a central issue in the Iraq debate last year, when Democrats tried to force President Bush to end the war. While Congress had authorized combat in Iraq, Democrats said the resolution approved only the invasion and not a five-year counterinsurgency.
After taking control of Congress in January 2007, Democrats tried to cap force levels and set a timetable for withdrawals. While they lacked a veto-proof majority to put the restrictions into law, the White House argued that such legislation would have violated the Constitution by infringing upon the president's right as commander in chief to protect the nation. Democrats disagreed, contending there was ample precedence.
The one surefire way for Congress to have ended the war was to cut off money for combat operations — a step most Democrats weren't willing to take because they feared doing so would have hurt troops in harms' way, or at least be perceived by voters that way.
The plan identified by Baker and Christopher, who served as secretary of State under President Clinton, would not necessarily resolve such issues in the future. But it would create a consultative process between the White House and Congress that currently does not exist. Also, calling on Congress to respond would exert significant political pressure on a president if he ignored lawmakers' wishes.
The panel studied the issue for more than a year and consulted more than three dozen experts. Other members of the panel include former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, who in 2006 led the Iraq Study Group with Baker; former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of State.
The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia sponsored the study.
Gasoline prices won't peak until November:
WASHINGTON DC - U.S. drivers can expect to shell out more than $4 a gallon, on average, for gasoline for the rest of 2008 and prices will keep rising until November, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
Oil prices, meanwhile, will remain under pressure from the tight market for crude and international demand.
Regular-grade gasoline in the United States is expected to average $3.84 a gallon in 2008, up from last month's forecast of $3.78 a gallon, the agency said.
For the rest of 2008, pump prices are projected to remain well above $4.00 per gallon, peaking in November at $4.25 a gallon, the agency said in its Short Term Energy Outlook. Gasoline prices normally peak in the summer driving months.
"This forecast reflects very weak gasoline margins, because of the decline in gasoline consumption and growth in ethanol supply," it said.
Retail diesel fuel prices, which averaged $2.88 in 2007, are projected to average $4.35 per gallon in 2008 and $4.48 per gallon in 2009.
Oil prices, meanwhile, are expected to average $127 a barrel this year, up from the previous forecast of $122 a barrel, the agency said. In 2009 the oil prices are expected to average $133 a barrel.
"Global supply uncertainties, combined with significant demand growth in China, the Middle East, and Latin America, are expected to continue to pressure oil markets," the agency said.
Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever....
but yet the America public keeps this stupid two-party system.
The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.
Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008.
The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month. The number of Democrats who give Congress a poor rating remained unchanged. Among Republicans, 8% give Congress good or excellent ratings, up just a point from last month. Sixty-five percent (65%) of GOP voters say Congress is doing a poor job, down a single point from last month.
Voters not affiliated with either party are the most critical of Congressional performance. Just 3% of those voters give Congress positive ratings, down from 6% last month. Sixty-three percent (63%) believe Congress is doing a poor job, up from 57% last month.
Just 12% of voters think Congress has passed any legislation to improve life in this country over the past six months. That number has ranged from 11% to 13% throughout 2008. The majority of voters (62%) say Congress has not passed any legislation to improve life in America.
Voters hold little positive sentiment about the future. Just 41% find it at least somewhat likely that Congress will address important problems facing our nation in the near future, while 55% find this unlikely.
Despite these negative attitudes towards Congress, Democrats continue to enjoy a double digit lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
Most voters (72%) think most members of Congress are more interested in furthering their own political careers. Just 14% believe members are genuinely interested in helping people.
A separate Rasmussen survey found that half of all voters believe America's best days are in the past. However, another survey found that 64% of voters also believe that the world would be a better place if more countries were similar to the United States.
Congressional Approval at lowest level in history, here is the full story....
This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports July 1, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
Iran test-fires 9 missiles, issues warning to U.S. and Israel......
it's time to nuke these useless low life muslims!
Here is the list of the Global 500 Biggest Corporations:
Company..........
1 Wal-Mart Stores
2 Exxon Mobil
3 Royal Dutch Shell
4 BP
5 Toyota Motor
6 Chevron
7 ING Group
8 Total
9 General Motors
10 ConocoPhillips
11 Daimler
12 General Electric
13 Ford Motor
14 Fortis
15 AXA
16 Sinopec
17 Citigroup
18 Volkswagen
19 Dexia Group
20 HSBC Holdings
21 BNP Paribas
22 Allianz
23 Crédit Agricole
24 State Grid
25 China National Petroleum
26 Deutsche Bank
27 ENI
28 Bank of America Corp
29 AT&T
30 Berkshire Hathaway
31 UBS
32 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
33 Carrefour
34 Assicurazioni Generali
35 American International Group
36 Royal Bank of Scotland
37 Siemens
38 Samsung Electronics
39 ArcelorMittal
40 Honda Motor
41 Hewlett-Packard
42 Pemex
43 Société Générale
44 McKesson
45 HBOS
46 International Business Machines
47 Gazprom
48 Hitachi
49 Valero Energy
50 Nissan Motor
51 Tesco
52 E.ON
53 Verizon Communications
54 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
55 Deutsche Post
56 Metro
57 Nestlé
58 Santander Central Hispano Group
59 Statoil Hydro
60 Cardinal Health
61 Goldman Sachs Group
62 Morgan Stanley
63 Petrobras
64 Deutsche Telekom
65 Home Depot
66 Peugeot
67 LG
68 Électricité de France
69 Aviva
70 Barclays
71 Fiat
72 Matsushita Electric Industrial
73 BASF
74 Credit Suisse
75 Sony
76 Telefónica
77 UniCredit Group
78 BMW
79 Procter & Gamble
80 CVS Caremark
81 UnitedHealth Group
82 Hyundai Motor
83 U.S. Postal Service
84 France Télécom
85 Vodafone
86 SK Holdings
87 Kroger
88 Nokia
89 ThyssenKrupp
90 Lukoil
91 Toshiba
92 Repsol YPF
93 Boeing
94 Prudential
95 Petronas
96 AmerisourceBergen
97 Suez
98 Munich Re Group
99 Costco Wholesale
100 Merrill Lynch
Abu Dhabi fund buys stake in NY Chrysler Building...
that's just what America needs MORE stinking useless ass Muslims buying up our country.
George Bush you suck, so does you policies and love for these ass wipe no good Arabs who only wish us harm!
Jesse Jackson has finally said some thing that is accurate.The majority of black people find Obama`s Bill Cosby routine condescending.Why should it surpise people that Obama talks down to black people? After all he was raise by liberal white people and attended all white schools. Obama is a liberal whiteman with dark skin. Like all good liberal whitemen Obama knows what is best for negros. All you have to do is read the posts from liberal white people condemning Jackson to see my point. What these liberal white elistist are doing is standing with their fellow liberal white elitist Obama and condemning "the rude remarks" made by a negro (Jackson}. How very white of you all to defend Obama`s reputation.
re, jesse jackson
that's only part of it....
the real reason blacks like sharpton and jackson support obama but on the surface only is because they realize if a black man gets into office all this bullshit about blacks being kept down, racism, etc has to go away.
Quirk in Belgian law drives iPhones near $1,000........
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgians finally get the chance to buy one of Apple Inc.'s coveted iPhones on Friday at the highest prices in the world.
The 8-gigabyte iPhone will retail for 525 euros ($825) more than four times the U.S. price of $199. The 16-gigabyte version costs 615 euros ($966). The same phone would cost $299 in the U.S.
Belgian Enterprise Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne blamed a local law that forbids companies subsidizing one product by charging more for something else.
He said he will try to scrap this rule in September because it stops phone operators from selling handsets inexpensively along with fixed service contracts, as is common elsewhere. For instance, Dutch customers over the border can pay just 1 euro ($1.57) for an iPhone if they pick a contract with operator T-Mobile.
The Belgian iPhone carrier, Mobistar, claims it isn't worried that high prices will deter customers. It is expecting lines at stores in Brussels when the phones go on sale Friday.
For the first few weeks, shoppers won't be allowed to buy more than one iPhone each even if they could afford it.
to my asshole boss
When you see me leave at 6 pm take that dirty look that tells me you will be there til 9 and shove it up your ass. I have already been there since 6 am while you don't get there til 830. Stop giving me dirty looks because I dare to go next door and grab a sandwich. Stop interrupting my lunch which is only 15 minutes anyway. Stop giving me deadlines and say it HAS to be done when in truth nothing HAS to be done. Not by me anyway. If you want to have someone do two weeks of analysis and work in 4 days then hire another person to share the workload.
The 80,000 you pay me works out to 39 dollars and hour but with the extra hours I am expected to work due to your lack of management and inability to hire people to fill the 4 empty spots we have open that works out to much less.
Keep pushing and you won't have anyone to do the work, at least not me
FREE: My old phone number (760-277-369?)
As of tonight, my number has changed.
If there are any women out there who would like to be called 63 times in a 5-hour period (usually between the hours of 1 a.m. & 6 a.m.) and have 21 new voice mails when you wake up, simply request my old number from your service provider. Don't let this opportunity pass you by!
If you would like to hear drunken warbling sobs that randomly spit out "I'm sorry" and "I fucken love you", then this is the phone number for you.
His current record is 89 calls in about 45 minutes.
Re: Free Old Phone Number
OMG!! That was hysterical. I would like to add to that.
My husband got sloppy and left some e-mails he printed off lying around so I e-mailed the lady and she led me to his posting on Tangowire.com under Nunative.
If there are any ladies interestd in dating a Native American man you have my blessing to take him off my hands as quickly as possible.
re jackson's comments
fuck off! jesse tells it like it is and doesn't sellout to the white man like that half-cracker obama!
Jesse Jackson / B. Hussein Obama
Recently, Obama has been giving a series of talks to Blacks, and in a Bill Cosby way...has told them that part of the reason for their failures and lack of success and progress today, is due to their own actions ( MIA fathers....teen births, drugs, to name just a few)
Jackson hates that. Why? Because Jesse Jackson's whole Shakedown machine, and politics is predicated on the White Man being the reason for Blacks problems and issues. Jackson wants to blame anyone and everyone..EXCEPT BLACKS THEMSELVES. Obama was giving a talk asking for blacks taking responsibility for themselves. Jackson wants to point fingers at whites. Jackson is a jealous asshole too....and this just shows, that there is a business out there (Sharpton's included here) of just churning up Race Hate, and accusations. Jackson has been like a leech...sucking life from businesses and institutions for his phoney Rainbow Coalition...and manufacturing excuses for Black failure...and redirecting them at "society" or white racism. This hypocrite ( a "Reverend"..if you've forgotten) needs the money to pay for the bastard children he's fathered. Some example. Jerk-off.
My husband is an asshole in public, and an even bigger jerkoff at home. If there were no kids here, I would have been out of here a long time ago. Sorry to the public for the latest outcry of assholeness.
Obama says every American should learn Spanish.
Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress.
Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he played a role in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democrats, such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, or in firing federal prosecutors considered disloyal to the Bush administration.
Rove had been scheduled to appear at the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. A placard with his name sat in front of an empty chair at the witness table, with a handful of protesters behind it calling for Rove to be arrested.
A decision on whether to pursue contempt charges now goes to the full Judiciary Committee and ultimately to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House Republicans called Thursday's proceedings a political stunt and said if Democrats truly wanted information they would take Rove up on an offer he made to discuss the matter informally.
The House already has voted to hold two of President Bush's confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry into whether the administration fired nine federal prosecutors in 2006 for political reasons.
The case, involving White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, is in federal court and may not be resolved before Bush's term ends in January.
The White House has cited executive privilege, arguing that internal administration communications are confidential and that Congress cannot compel officials to testify.
Rove says he is bound to follow the White House's guidance, although he has offered to answer questions specifically on the Siegelman case — but only with no transcript taken and not under oath.
Democrats have rejected the offer because the testimony would not be sworn and, they say, could create a confusing record.
Rove has insisted publicly that he never tried to influence Justice Department decisions and was not even aware of the Siegelman prosecution until it landed in the news.
Siegelman an unusually successful Democrat in a heavily Republican state was charged with accepting and concealing a contribution to his campaign to start a state education lottery, in exchange for appointing a hospital executive to a regulatory board.
He was sentenced last year to more than seven years in prison but was released in March when a federal appeals court ruled Siegelman had raised "substantial questions of fact and law" in his appeal.
Siegelman and others have alleged the prosecution was pushed by GOP operatives including Rove, a longtime Texas strategist who was heavily involved in Alabama politics before working at the White House. A former Republican campaign volunteer from Alabama told congressional attorneys last year that she overheard conversations suggesting that Rove pressed Justice officials in Washington to prosecute Siegelman.
The career prosecutors who handled Siegelman's case have insisted that Rove had nothing to do with it, emphasizing that the former governor was convicted by a jury.
re, Karl Rove
This is just continued proof Congress has its head up its ass.
Worrying over this bullshit instead of addressing the Housing and Gasoline crisis that effect everyday Americans.
re, re, Karl Rove
I totally agree that's why Congress has the lowest rating in US History.
They just don't get it and apparently they don't give a damn.
The 2-party system must go. and go now!
Toyota to build Prius hybrid in USA
a step in the right direction but still not good enough!
OBAMA IS ONLY OUT TO DESTROY AMERICA.
THE ONLY RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING IS MUSLIM.
HIS DADDY WAS MUSLIM. HIS UNCLE WAS MUSLIM, HIS STEP FATHER WAS MUSLIM, AND HIS MOTHER WAS ATHIST.
MICHELLE OBAMA IS ANOTHER RACIST, A TRUE BLACK.
SHE PREACHES BLACK, SHE LETS EVERY ONE KNOW SHE IS BLACK THEN TAKES OFFENSE IF SOME ONE CALLS HER BLACK.
OBAMA DOES NOT HAVE THE BALLS TO CALL OUT HIS PREACHER, THEN HOW WILL HE BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH WORLD LEADERS??
HE IS A WASTE OF TIME!!!
SAVE AMERICA, VOTE AGAINST OBAMA!!
Women with intelligence
HOLY SHIT....you found ONE???? Where is she, where is she?
diaper head cashiers
When white, black & Mexican cashiers give you change they generally give you the coins first by putting their hand over yours, tilting their hand to 'pour' the coins in, touching your hand, then give you the paper cash.
When Ragheads give you change, they NEVER touch your hand. They fold the bills length wise & put the coins in the fold.
This annoys me every time.
OBAMA COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET
In a recent interview with Ebony Magazine Obama admited that he allways felt that he was a whiteman trapped in a blackman`s body. He when on to say that as a teenager when no one was a round he would dress up his white grandfathers clothes. He than said I cant help myself I was born that way.Obama added that his feeling of being a white liberal has given him the right to talk down to black folks.
What would it take for Jews and Muslims to find happiness together?
All it would take for them to find happiness together is for Hamas to pledge to buy Life Insurance from a Jewish insurance company for all their suicide bombers.
RE, CAN A MUSLIN AND JEW FIND HAPPINESS TOGETHER?
If Barack Hussein Obama a dirty useless Muslin picks Michael Bloomberg a Jew as his running mate?
Stocks tumble amid worries about health of Fannie, Freddie; oil sets fresh records....
NEW YORK NY -Stocks tumbled Friday as investors focused on troubles at mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and watched oil prices climb further into record territory. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 180 points and neared the 11,000 mark for the first time in two years.
Oil sets new record above $147 a barrel:
NEW YORK - Oil prices spiked to a new record above $147 a barrel Friday, as rising hostilities between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities gave investors reason to rush back into the energy markets.
The resurgence in crude prices not only raises the concern that $4-a-gallon gasoline is here to stay for U.S. drivers it also means that heating American homes could get significantly more expensive this winter. Heating oil futures surged on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a record of more than $4.15 a gallon, and natural gas also rose sharply.
Iran, which has long been under U.N. scrutiny for its uranium enrichment program, has been testing missiles this week, including a new missile capable of reaching Israel. On Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the oil-producing nation that the United States will defend its allies, and Iran responded with another missile launch.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery jumped $4.69 to $146.34 a barrel in early trading on the Nymex, after reaching an all-time high of $147.27.
Crude had fallen by nearly $10 a barrel over two days at the start of the week, but rebounded by more than $5 a barrel Thursday as anxiety heightened about Middle East and Nigerian supplies being disrupted.
Neither the United States nor Israel has ruled out a military strike on Iran. Traders fear the oil producing nation could block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40 percent of the world's tanker traffic passes.
"There's always a fear premium in pricing. The tensions in Iran and the threat of supply disruption will help support oil prices," said Jeff Brown, managing director of FACTS Global Energy in Singapore.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warned Thursday that it cannot replace the shortfall if Iran is attacked and takes its crude supplies off the market.
Also Thursday, Nigeria's main militant group said it would resume attacks in the oil-rich region because of Britain's recent vow to back the government in the conflict there. Unrest over the past two years have already lowered the nation's typical daily oil output by a quarter.
JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, said the news about Iran and Nigeria — as well as a reported threat of a strike by oil workers in Brazil were "enough to wake the market from its two-day slumber."
Meanwhile, the dollar weakened against other major currencies Friday. The falling dollar has been a major factor behind the surge in crude oil, which is denominated in dollars; oil's rise has not been as severe for countries with stronger currencies, and meanwhile, traders have been using commodities as a hedge against the tumbling U.S. currency.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose to a new trading record of $3.631 a gallon before easing back to $3.6194, up 10.85 cents. Heating oil futures rose to their own trading record of $4.1586 before falling to $4.144 a gallon, up 10.66 cents.
Natural gas futures rose 14.1 cents to $12.436 per 1,000 cubic feet.
August Brent crude rose to a new trading record of $147.50 before easing back to trade $4.82 higher at $146.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
Obama rules out Clinton for VP......
I hope Hillary Clinton enjoyed the fucking she just got!
re, Hillary and the VP spot.
She should teach those leftist liberals in the Democratic party a lesson and run as an independent.
10-year-old Muslim girl divorced....
Raped and beaten, Nujood Ali, a child bride, fought for her divorce and won.
Sold as child bride by her family this Yemen girl escaped and got a Muslim court to grant her a divorce.
The court awarded the divorced but said she had to pay her Muslim husband compensation of USD $200.00.
The man got no jail time and is free to marry another child bride if he chooses.
re, Islam
All these Muslim assholes are pedophiles, terrorist, and goat fuckers.
A woman learns on father's death bed he looks white but really is black...oops!
FUCK OBAMA! He is a globalist and an elitist and NOT A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE.
Senate passes foreclosure rescue ...
Too damn little way too late!
Beating Photo Radar
The 6th Amendment gives you the right to confront your accuser. Your accuser is bolted to a sidewalk somewhere in Mesa. If you ran a red light, I would demand to see the records certifying how long the yellow light lasts and evidence to show that such time is adequate given the size of the intersection. I would demand to cross examine the person who timed the light to determine his qualifications to do that job.
If you broke speed radar, again, demand to confront your accuser. It is your 6th Amendment right. Tell them you want to see the records that certify that camera as being correctly calibrated to measure speed accurately. I would want to cross-examine the person who certified it, etc.
In your case, if your hand is blocking your face, take this to trial. You're not likely going to find a jury that is sympathetic to photo radar or one that can say without a doubt that it is you behind that hand.
For those of you who have received a picture of you violating the law but haven't been served, don't ever reply to that letter. First off, it is not valid service. To be required to appear in court, you have to be served with a summons. A picture in regular mail is not a summons. They would have to send it certified at least or better yet send an officer to your home or a process server. If you do fill out that letter and send it back, you have basically surrendered your Fifth Amendment rights and incriminated yourself by written confession that it is in fact, you in the picture breaking the law. Think about it, if they sent a picture of you stabbing a store clerk through the regular mail, would you sign it and send it back saying "Yes, it was me that did that"?
When you get ticketed by a regular cop, that signature on the ticket is just a promise to appear in court. It is a summons and it is obvious you have been properly served since your signature is on the ticket. Of course, if you refuse to sign it, they'll make sure you go to court by bringing you in right then and there.
I stumbled upon the word breast".....Aha they must be talking about breast sucking...no wait....this is a religious ruling for goodness sakes.....ahhh breastfeeding, that's it!
Holy cow! A fatwa regarding adult breast feeding? Imagine that!
So according to this article, scholars at the Al Azhar University in Cairo have issued a fatwa making adult breastfeeding?????? permissible.
Why you ask?
Well, according to some hadith quoting the prophet Mohammed, if a woman breastfeeds a child other than her own, who is under 2 years of age, technically that child can be considered as one of her own and therefore that child may never have sexual relations with that woman's biological children, because that would be considered incest and incest is forbidden in Islam.
So therefor the question here was whether an adult male drinking milk from his breastfeeding wife would be committing incest if he was messing with her boobs while having sex.
I guess the answer is "no" considering that the adult male is not under the age of 2.
Supposedly the fatwa has caused such a stir on the Arab street and the media that it made it all the way to Egypt's parliament where it continues to stir up heated debate. WOWWW!
For those of you who read this, pay close attention. These are not my opinions, these are FACTS!!! Social security is just a big scam instituted by our government. PERIOD.....Want proof....Well read on!!!
The Social Security program was drafted and enacted under Franklin D. Roosevlet's administration. When it was first enacted, the first recipients were to start receiving their benefits at the age of 65. The government did not come up with this number by accident. Why, you ask? Because the average life expectancy at that time was.....Drum roll please???? Yep, 65. That in itself should tell you that this program was designed, not to provide a subsidized retirement for the United States citizens who paid into the program.
Now, if your like me, and every year you get a update from the SSA of your expected retirement benefits, it tells you that you will recieve so much per month in retirement benefits. Now, let's do a little math here. Let's assume for a minute that Bob (A mythical person) starts working at the age of 25. Let's say that Bob works until he is 65, and then retires, and starts recieving his benefits from Social Security. Let's also assume that Bob makes $50,000 per year. Yes, I realize this is not include pay raises, or is indexed for inflation, but for exaple purposes, I want to keep this simple. Bob's payments into Social security would be, over his life, $124,000.00 $50,000 @ 6.2% X 40 years. We also have to account for the employers contributions, so that would be an additional $124,000.00. So according to my calculations, Bob should be "entitled" to $248,000.00 in retirement benefits. Now, if we assume that Bob will take his benefits when he is 65 years old, he should recieve approximately $1,700.00 per month. So, in order for Bob to recieve what he has paid in, he should recieve benefits for 146 months, or 12 years and 2 months. Now let's look at a few things here. 40 years from now $1,700.00 per month income (and this figure does not include the taxes Bob will have to pay, because your Social Security income gets taxed when you recieve it) So, after taxes, Bob will recieve about $1,300 per month. Now let me ask you this? What will $1,300 per month buy you 40 years from now. If your lucky, it might pay for your utility bills and food and clothing expenses.
Does this sound like "Security to you"? Now I have a radical idea here. Let's say that we do away with "Soso Security". Instead, have every American be required to take a class, maybe in High school about Investing and financial education. Let's also say, that the money that used to get deducted from your paycheck to go to Social Security, In Bob's case, that would be $3,100 per year from Bob, and $3,100 per year that Bob's employer paid in. Instead of it going to the Social Security administration, how about every worker, employee, etc. open up a private retirement account at an Investment brokerage of their choice, be it Fidelity, A.G. Edwards, T. Rowe Price, Magellan, whatever. Since this money would be going into a retirement account, it would go into this retirement pretax. So now Bob has $6,200 per year going into his own retirement account. He is in control of it, He won't lose a dime of it to corrupt poloticians. There won't be the overhead of the thousands of employee's of the Social Security administration's employee's to pay for. He won't lose a dime of it going to people who have only worked for say, 5 years, or maybe 8 years, and then get retirement benefits until they die. There wouldn't be a dime lost to WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE, Which now is the hundreds of millions per year. Now let's assume that Bob learned a little something in the retirement and investment class he took, and he got a very modest return of 8% over the course of his life. Now, I went to an online calculator to do this estimate, and it show's that Bob would have $1,734,642.45 in his retirement account. Hmmmmmmm....Seems to me that Bob have a much more secure, and prosperous retirement if he was responsible for his retirement. While he would be in a state of financial hardship if he is to depend on Social Security.
US judge blocks gas drilling in Michigan forest......
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - A federal judge has overturned a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to allow oil and gas drilling near a forest and a river in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula.
U.S. District Judge David Lawson of Detroit ruled Thursday the agency had acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in 2005 by giving Savoy Energy LP of Traverse City a permit to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River's south branch.
The proposed wellhead would be located in the Huron-Manistee National Forest about three-tenths of a mile from the Mason Tract, a 4,679-acre wilderness area prized by anglers and other outdoor recreationists.
Forest supervisor Leanne Marten said when approving Savoy's application that the project wouldn't significantly harm the environment and the company would be required to keep noise to a minimum.
But the judge ruled the Forest Service didn't consider how degrading the area could harm tourism, and said the agency did a "woefully inadequate" job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.
Two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, sued the government to halt the drilling. Joining the suit was Tim Mason, whose grandfather, auto executive George Mason, donated the original 1,200 acres to the state upon his death in 1954 and asked that it be maintained as wilderness.
"The ruling supports what my grandfather's vision was. It's a victory," said Mason, a Woodstock, Ill., businessman.
Huron-Manistee spokesman Ken Arbogast referred a request for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, which represented the Forest Service in court. Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the department, said its attorneys were studying Lawson's ruling and had not decided whether to appeal.
A message seeking comment was left with Savoy.
Leaders of the environmental groups urged the company and the government to look for other places to explore for oil and gas.
"We've said from the beginning we didn't want to stop them from drilling," said Marvin Roberson, a forest policy specialist with the Sierra Club. "We want them to drill from a place that won't be harmful to the old-growth forest or the recreational experience."
Although the Mason Tract is state property, the federal government owns rights to minerals beneath it and leased production rights to Savoy. In 2003, the company filed for a permit to drill into one of its lease holdings.
The plan was to clear about 3.5 acres of forest for a well site on federal land, then drill beneath the Mason Tract at an angle. If enough gas or oil was found, the company intended to install a pipeline and build a production facility about a mile east of the well.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved the project shortly after the Forest Service granted the permit. But it has been on hold since Lawson issued an order in December 2005 blocking the company from clearing land to get started.
re, U.S. Federal judge blocks gas drilling in Michigan forest....
This is typical of these asshole liberal judges and environmental whack jobs.
Wake-up you friggin useless twit of a so-called humanoid, their is a energy crisis in America.
What a total moron !!!!
re,re, U.S. Federal judge blocks gas drilling in Michigan forest....
I agree this ass wipe should be fired.
Scum of the earth these damn Liberals.
I hope he has to start riding a bicycle to work in the hot humid summer and freezing winters then we'll see what is his already useless ass opinion would be!
re, re - U.S. Federal judge blocks gas drilling in Michigan forest:
Here is a prime example why ALL judges should be elected to office!
re: diaper head cashiers ........
They don't use toilet paper, do you really want them touching you?
It Should Not Be called "Child Support."
It should be called "Keep Mommy in Designer clothes with Coach Purses and Estee Lauder makeup and the kid in a T-shirt and jeans from Walmart and PBJ for Dinner". I speak from years of experience dealing with whining single MOM's. Hey women get a better education, instead of using whats between your legs.
Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway
Dealing with gas prices....
Some people make major life changes to afford to drive to work.
People are having to drop their health insurance to afford gasoline - WTF
Wake-up Congress this is going to cost the taxpayers a fortune because the rest of us are going to pay for that healthcare when they show up at the hospital with NO insurance.
Anheuser-Busch agrees to InBev buyout in $50 billion deal.....
Effective immediately I will NO longer buy Bud Beer.
I am going back to Miller.
Bush to lift executive ban on offshore drilling
WASHINGTON DC - In another push to deal with soaring gas prices, President Bush on Monday will lift an executive ban on offshore drilling that his stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well.
The president plans to officially lift the ban and then explain his actions in a Rose Garden statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by former President Bush in 1990. The current president, trying to ease market tensions and boost supply, called last month for Congress to lift its prohibition before he did so himself.
But Perino said Bush no longer wants to wait. She pinned blame on the leaders of the Democratic Congress, noting that no action has been taken on this issue.
"They haven't even held a single hearing," Perino said. "So we are going to move forward, and hopefully that will spur action by the Congress."
Asked if Bush's action alone will lead to more oil drilling, Perino said, "In terms of allowing more exploration to go forward? No, it does not."
The president, in his final months of office, has responded to record gas prices with a series of proposals, including more oil exploration. None would have immediate impact on prices at the pump, according to White House officials, who say there is no quick fix. But starting action now would help, they say.
Bush's proposal echoes a call by Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, to open the Continental Shelf for exploration.
Congressional Democrats have rejected the push to lift the drilling moratorium, accusing the president of hoping the U.S. can drill its way out a problem.
Bush says offshore drilling could yield up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time, although it would take years for production to start. Bush also says offshore drilling would take pressure off prices over time. In addition, the president has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, lifting restrictions on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity.
Congressional Democrats, joined by some GOP lawmakers from coastal states, have opposed lifting the prohibition that has barred energy companies from waters along both the East and West coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A succession of presidents, from Bush's father George H.W. Bush to Bill Clinton, have sided against drilling in these waters, as has Congress each year for 27 years. Their goal has to been to protect beaches and coastal states' tourism economies.
Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 08-14
Abstract:
Senator McCain was born in 1936 in the Canal Zone to U.S. citizen parents. The Canal Zone was territory controlled by the United States, but it was not incorporated into the Union. As requested by Senator McCain's campaign, distinguished constitutional lawyers Laurence Tribe and Theodore Olson examined the law and issued a detailed opinion offering two reasons that Senator McCain was a natural born citizen. Neither is sound under current law. The Tribe-Olson Opinion suggests that the Canal Zone, then under exclusive U.S. jurisdiction, may have been covered by the Fourteenth Amendment's grant of citizenship to "all persons born . . . in the United States." However, in the Insular Cases, the Supreme Court held that "unincorporated territories" were not part of the United States for constitutional purposes. Accordingly, many decisions hold that persons born in unincorporated territories are not Fourteenth Amendment citizens. The Tribe-Olson Opinion also suggests that Senator McCain obtained citizenship by statute. However, the only statute in effect in 1936 did not cover the Canal Zone. Recognizing the gap, in 1937, Congress passed a citizenship law applicable only to the Canal Zone, granting Senator McCain citizenship, but eleven months too late for him to be a citizen at birth. Because Senator John McCain was not a citizen at birth, he is not a "natural born Citizen" and thus is not "eligible to the Office of President" under the Constitution.
This essay concludes by exploring how changes in constitutional law implied by the Tribe-Olson Opinion, such as limiting the Insular Cases and expanding judicial review of immigration and nationality laws passed by Congress, could make Senator McCain a citizen at birth and thus a natural born citizen.
Obama is constitutionally ineligible for the office of president
According to Pat Shannan, (assistant editor, American Free Press, July 7, 2008) it now appears that Barack Obama is constitutionally ineligible for the office of president. John McCain's eligibility was established in 1964, when courts ruled Sen. Barry Goldwater was eligible although he was born in Arizona when it was a territory, not a state. McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone when it was a U.S. territory.
And, even as the controlled media continues to ignore the ineligibility of Obama, it will not go away. While few doubt that the Democrats will manage to pull off his nomination, all remain poised to view the legal performance.
The first hurdle will be having Obama produce his birth certificate, which so far he has refused to do, and prove that he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, as he has always claimed. There is speculation that his American mother may have brought him to Honolulu shortly after his birth in Kenya, but no proof of that has been shown.
According to the law on the books at the time of Obama's birth, the office of president requires that a candidate be a natural born citizen if the child was not born to two U.S. citizen parents. Since he was not, should it be proven that Obama was not born in Hawaii, as claimed, he is ineligible without further debate. But assuming that he was born there, he has another problem.
According to a legal researcher who has contacted AFP, U.S. law very clearly states: "If only one parent is a U.S. citizen at the time of one's birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for a minimum of 10 years, five of which must be after the age of 16." And therein lies Obama's new problem.
Barack Obama's father was never a U.S. citizen. Interestingly, there isn't much paperwork on the marriage of Obama's parents, and this has a few researchers speculating that it never took place at all. On page 27 of Obama: From Promise to Power, David Mendell writes: "Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama's maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married." He also notes that Obama's father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation. This also would suggest that there may never have been any legal marriage by Obama's parents at all, but the Constitution does not ban an illegitimate child from the White House, as long as h e was born insi de the U.S.
Obama's mother was born in Kansas and was only 18 when Obama was born. This means even though she satisfies the citizen requirement for 10 years, she was not a citizen for at least five years prior to Barack Obama's birth. In essence, the mother alone is not old enough to qualify her son for automatic U.S. citizenship. At most, two years elapsed from his mother turning 16 to the time of Barack Obama's birth when she was 18. His mother would have needed to have been 16 + 5 = 21 years old at the time of Barack Obama's birth for him to be a natural-born citizen. Barack Obama was already three years old at the time his mother turned 21.
Technically, Obama should have been naturalized as a citizen, but that, of course, would disqualify him from holding the office of president. If these allegations are, accurate, America could install in January of 2009 a new president who is not even a U.S. citizen, neither born nor naturalized.
It should be demanded that Obama produce his 1961 Hawaiian birth certificate.
If he cannot satisfactorily do so, he should be deemed immediately ineligible to hold the office of president.
Have you herd ...
There is a NEW word in the English language -
MIGGERS
It's what we are calling Mexicans now.
They are the blackman's nigger!
Vote very wisely
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
INTERESTING DATA JUST RECEIVED ON TAXES
Please spread the word.
This is something you should be aware of so you don't get blind sided. This is really going to catch a lot of families off guard. It should make you worry.
Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales
How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN 15% (no change)
OBAMA 39.6%
How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.'
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama, your taxes will more than double!
How does this affect you? No explanation needed. This is pretty straight forward.
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax
How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES BEING PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.
New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....
New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!
Yeah, But if Obama is Elected, Will He Free the Slaves ?
because the white man is the new slave
he blamed for everything including the sins of his forefathers
WTF
WOMEN'S ASS SIZE STUDY
There is a new study about women and how they feel about their asses, the results were pretty interesting:
30% of women think their ass is too fat...
10% of women think their ass is too skinny...
The remaining 60% say they don't care, they love him, he's a good man, and they wouldn't trade him for the world.
re, MIGGERS
I like it.
I'll use it.
Beaners, oh sorry Miggers are too stupid it will take months before any of them get it!
Craig Newmark you are an asshole.
your craigslist flagging system sucks.
you suck.
i hate CL
fuck you all
there are plenty of post boards on the internet around the world no one needs you, you need us ...
be happy with those asshole faggots and drugged out regulars that post over and over everyday.
Obama's True Motives Revealed
Obama is a just another al qaeda operative that has volunteered to martyr himself in the war against the great satan.
He is a born and raised muslim extremist that has gone to great lengths to make himself appear to be a moderate african american politician. His real mission is to get himself elected as president of the united states so that he can subsequently be assassinated by "white supremacists", thereby causing a race war in the united states.
This is the most cost effective al qaeda terror campaign yet - the death of one man could result in the partial destruction of several of the U.S.' largest cities - LA, Chicago, DC, NYC, will all go up in flames. Thousands will die, and it will be American killing American.
Crazy? maybe just crazy enough to be true. Think about it...
'Dirty bomb' materials not secured fast enough.....
uh oh we're all gonna die
obama is a liberal idiot and a muslim.
mccain is a lying mentally defective old fart
wow what a flipping choice we have
Re: Obama's True Motivies
"Crazy? maybe just crazy enough to be true. Think about it..."
No, I'm going to stick with just crazy.
Maybe next time, though, you could throw in some aliens. They scare the shit out of me.
re, Re: Obama's True Motives....
"If Obama was such an innocent Christian then why would he have gotten so offended at the New Yorker joke? "
To all the CL scum bag flaggers ....
I have put an evil curse on anyone who flags my post on CL (craigslist)
If you FLAG my post a curse of eternal evil shall descend upon you and all you descendants throughout time!
Obama said that ICE is terrorizing neighborhoods??
DID YOU HEAR WHAT OBAMA SAID IN A SPEECH TO "LA RAZA" (the race). HE SAID THAT ICE AND IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IS TERRORIZING NEIGHBORHOODS AND HE WANTS TO GET RID OF THEM.....WHO IS TERRORIZING NEIGHBORHOODS WITH DRIVE BYS, CAR THIEFS, HOME INVASIONS AND GRAFITTI??? IT IS THE ILLAGAL ALIENS..OBAMA IS NOT GETTING MY VOTE. NO WAY OBAMA..OBAMA YOU NEED TO QUIT..VIVA LA RAZA MY ASS.
Stop Barack Hussein Obama - he wants to get rid of ICE.
Fed chairman says economy is confronting 'numerous difficulties'
and this asshole actually gets paid a salary, what a clueless twit of an idiot...
get rid of the Federal Reserve, it is destroying America......
Inflation hits fastest pace in 27 years...
GM cuts deep 'to survive'
General Motors today said it will suspend its dividend, sell off $4 billion to $7 billion in assets, and cut 20 percent in salaried cash costs. "Our plan is not just a plan to survive; it's a plan to win," said CEO Rick Wagoner. GM has been hard-hit by record-high gas prices, economic weakness, and a waning consumer interest in trucks and SUVs.
More American job loses - but Congress and greedy corporate assholes always get their benefits, income, bonuses, healthcare, etc.
Repo man sails after yachts
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida In a bad economy, fun is often the first casualty.
For James Hedrick, that means it's a busy time in his line of work. He's one of those dreaded repo men.
He spends his days scanning megayachts, sailboats and fishing skiffs as he steers his dinghy through a marina west of the city's skyscrapers, looking for a piece of the American dream.
This particular piece is a gleaming white, 65-foot Hatteras with two master bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a full galley kitchen with glossy teak cabinets. The owner is $35,000 past due on his $1.5 million boat loan.
Hedrick is an agent with National Liquidators, considered by industry experts to be the world's largest marine repo company. The Fort Lauderdale-based company has tripled its business in the past three years, and now takes possession of about 200 boats a month in Florida, Ohio and California. The company's competitors also say they've seen similar increases in business.
"They're going to hang on to the car, they're going to hang on to the house. But they're going to give up on the boat," said Hedrick, whose employer has doubled its staff in two years to 85 repo agents so they can meet demand from the banks and lenders.
It's not just boats: Repo agents say banks and lenders have been asking them to reclaim all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, small planes, snowmobiles, semi-trucks and, of, course, cars. Vehicle repossessions were up 10 percent in 2007 over the previous year, said Tom Webb, an analyst for Atlanta-based Manheim, the largest car auction company in the nation.
One boat dealer, whose company also does recovery for banks and lenders, says those facing boat repossession were typically involved in the housing boom either as a real estate agent, construction worker or mortgage broker.
"A lot of this is self-inflicted. It's somebody who three years ago made $50-$60,000 and didn't save a penny," said Ray Jones, the owner of Long Beach Yacht Sales in California. "They thought the income would never end. But the income stopped and the toys went away."
Rising gas prices have also made it harder for owners to make room in their budgets for boat trips. Marine diesel fuel is over $5 a gallon in some places, which means a five-hour jaunt on the water can easily cost $250 for some gas-guzzling yachts. Last year's marine diesel cost about $3.40 a gallon.
"For about a year now, it's been good for the repo guy," says Don Mashak, the owner of First National Repossession in Minneapolis.
Overall, the marine industry is hurting. Bankers say new boat loans are declining. MarineMax, the nation's largest boat retailer based in Clearwater, reported in April that sales fell 28 percent for its second quarter.
Because prices for used boats are falling, buyers can buy repossessed boats under 60 feet for as low as 40 percent of what the boat would cost new, said Robert Toney, National Liquidators' president. Boats larger than that are less likely to be repossessed because their wealthy owners are in a better position to weather a slowing economy, Toney said.
Sometimes, owners turn the boats in to the repo agencies when they realize they can no longer pay. But other times, they hide or vandalize the boats before they can be seized, said Megan McQuaide, the owner of Repo Yacht Sales in San Diego. She's boarded boats with oil splashed around the cabin, engines intentionally overheated and feces on the deck.
"Sometimes it's really malicious stuff," she said.
On a recent June afternoon, Hedrick finds no such surprises aboard the 65-foot Hatteras. He and his assistant board the yacht to take photos and catalog any personal items. There aren't many aboard, and the boat is unusually clean, save for a six-pack of Diet Coke and a children's video in one of the VCRs.
Occasionally, he finds the remnants of parties: bikinis, champagne bottles and even drugs. He calls police if he comes across anything illegal.
Most of all, he tries to avoid confrontations. He carries a sharp knife on his belt to swiftly cut dock lines and a company credit card in his wallet in case he needs to pay past-due dock fees. If the owner shows up, Hedrick will politely leave and let lawyers, lenders and the boat owner sort it out.
"I'm not 'Dog the Bounty Hunter,"' says Hedrick. "We get paid not to have trouble. But does it bother me sometimes? You bet."
The filthy fucking beaners contaminated the Starlite pool and they closed the rest of the pools in the city to make sure no one else gets sick. When will people learn this filthy garbage doesn't belong here.
Gitmo Interrogation Video Release
The lead-in talked about a 16-year old boy being held for questioning. Of course, I forget that EVERYTHING is 'sponsored by' or 'brought to you by' in this commercial age. The clip begins and I see a 30-something guy sitting across from a teen-aged boy. Hmmm...he looks no worse for wear. And the interrogator is smiling and congenial. They've got milk. Then out come the Oreo cookies. Something's not right here. Death by Oreo? Baked goods torture? Icing denial? How does this new age interrogation work? Will he spill his guts? Or simply dunk his cookie and ask for another?
CL Flaggers!
So I just wanted to know what is up with all the flaggers any more. More and more post's I click on seems like most of them have been flagged. It seems like its getting worse and worse!
Any body else feel this way, it really annoys me that people just sit there on the computer all day and just flag people's post for such stupid reasons!
Found this a little while ago on craiglist Phoenix CL FREE Boards...
This should tell you what kind of assholes live in Arizona and what morons post to CL Boards in general. Thank goodness for forums like this one....
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free madagascar hissing roaches ! ! ! ! 50+ roaches!
I kept these roaches as breeding stock to feed my bearded dragon. He loved them, they have less chitin to meat ratio then crickets. They also make great pets. I no longer have the dragon and so do not need the roaches anymore. I am giving away the whole colony, about 50 to 100 of them. You must take them all and You must bring your own container to put them in. They will fit in a 10 gallon but a 20 will be better, you also need a secure lid, Madagascars can't fly but they do climb glass.
"These aren't just hot jobs, they're sizzling jobs," said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association. Wind energy grew by 45 percent last year. "We need every type of job candidate."
Indeed, with oil topping $100 per barrel, expect power industry jobs to explode in the next 10 years and not just in petroleum or the electric company. Want to repair wind turbines, manage a nuclear reactor or install solar panels? The jobs await.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and energy leaders reveal what fields are expected to grow, and they are listed below with projected growth levels through 2016, salary data, and what you need to get a related job.
Engineers
11 percent projected growth
$44,790-$145,600 annually, depending on specialty
"We're experiencing a comeback in 'dirty jobs,'" said Chris McCormick, partner and head of the energy division of venture capital firm Landmark Ventures. "While a few years ago, what we wanted were the 'clean' jobs in computer engineering, now we're back to the types of engineers who get their hands dirty with chemistry and broad-application engineering."
Chemical engineers who work with biofuels, electrical engineers who design power plants, mechanical engineers who find better ways to capture air and wind energy, and nuclear engineers who make plants run more efficiently will all be in high demand with salaries to match. While some engineers, like chemical engineers, may need a PhD to do their jobs, most others, like environmental engineers, only require a bachelor's degree in physics or engineering, according to the BLS.
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators
11 percent projected growth
$35,590-$75,240 annually
"When I got out of college, people told me, 'Go do other things.' The conventional wisdom was that nuclear power was going to go away," said Carol Berrigan, senior director for industry infrastructure at the Nuclear Energy Institute. "But now, with some regulatory changes, we have something like nine applications out there for 16 new nuclear power plants in the next few years."
Which jobs will grow fastest? Think Homer Simpson, but with more computer knowledge and less buffoonery. On top of the billions of dollars the industry is spending on new construction, the field's employees are aging: In the next 10 years, half of all nuclear reactor operators are expected to retire. You don't need to have an engineering degree for these jobs, but you should expect extensive on-the-job training and classroom instruction as well as licensing exams, according to the BLS.
Industrial Machinery Mechanic
9 percent projected growth
$42,350 median annual income
Someone's got to install the solar panels and repair wind turbines, and industrial machinery mechanics are often the ones who get the jobs. In solar, Tioga Energy's Executive Vice President Preston Roper said the biggest demand is for solar installers.
Both Roper and Real de Azua said local community colleges are the places to go to get the training necessary for the jobs. Many are offering specialized training in solar or wind repair work.
Skilled Trade Workers
Electricians: 7 percent projected growth
$44,780 median annual income
Line Workers: 7 percent projected growth
$52,570 median annual income
Welders: 5 percent projected growth
$32,270 median annual income
These workers repair the lines that bring power to your home and build and repair power plant structures. Want one of these jobs? Usually you don't need post-high school education, but you will need an apprenticeship through a union or other skilled trade group. The programs usually take about four years.
re, CL Flaggers
Welcome to the board.
Like many here I only post something on occasion.
I am not like CL addicted idiot regulars who sit around all day long and hit the refresh button on their computer and FLAG anyone who is not part of their click.
Stop paying child support.....
I found this info on avioding child support.
http://stoppayingchildsupport.com/
Maybe if the system wasn't so unfair to fathers we would all want to pay. Instead the more you do the right thing the more they punish you. I just got back from iraq and the judge wants me to pay the same amount I was paying before I went to Iraq, when I was a commercial pilot. Except now I am a disabled vet, but he said it didn't matter.. Hey jackass, my left leg got blown off, I need two feet to fly a plane.
I am angry and spreading this message all over. If you are also a victim please help get the word out.
Well worth a read.
Consumer prices have risen to one of it's highest levels in 26-years...
But Congress, The Federal Reserve, and the White House continue to bail out the rich and powerful and punish the poor and middle class...
we need serious change in this country and it's NOT a Democrat or a Republican with more open ended empty promises.
Barack Hussein Obama will raise taxes to cover the spending of Bush and to expedite his own stupid wild ass policies.
The government and their useless agencies have risen to a new level of stupidity, if that's possible ....
The NTSB has concluded after 12 years on the crash of TWA Flight 800 the airline industry and airplane manufacturers need to improve engine and fuel tank safety. This will take approximately 10 years to implement on all aircraft that is effected and cost in 2008 dollars - over 700 million.
It will require designing all fuel tanks on new aircraft and a retrofit on existing airplanes.
There are over 1,000,000 people on the U.S. Government's Security Watch list with about 20,000 being added every month.
Once on, it is almost impossible to get removed.
The government keeps the list secret, won't divulge how it works or how someone's name gets on it.
Are you on the LIST?
If your name is the same as someone on the list, you have problems. This means that you will have to check in manually at all airports and airlines, no carry on bags, no E-Tickets, etc. You may be refused your flight even though you paid for your ticket.
This is now being expanded to public Trains (all ready in place with Amtrack in the Northeast Corridor of the USA), Subways, and Busses.
my 73 year old mother and A NATION IN DISTRESS
she has decided to start flying her flag upside down. Good for her! She is still working to pay bills and now Medicare is being denied by doctors. What the hell is wrong with us and this country. we should all follow her lead. or continue to be cattle led to slaughter.
hybrid cars
I know it's a free market but sellers are preying on the fears of steadily rising gasoline prices. Emotions get the best of buyers and they will overpay and make an irrational decision, negating any mpg savings. Also, don't forget to buy a used car with a free and clear title, not one where there is a lien and the owner needs to pay the lease off.
re, hybrid cars
thats because car salesman are like realtors, useless con artist scum sucking vulchers.
an illegal alien took a shit in the phoenix pool and everyone got sick......
re, Illegal shits in pool -
THIS SUPRISES YOU AND WHY?
Girls Piss Me Off ! ! !
Girls Piss Me Off.. "can you tell im single"? ? ?
Gimme a Break, The World Needs Whores, and You Know It !
Hillarious!!!
People will try to sell anything these days!! There is a fortune cookie up for bid on ebay!!! Maybe I'm the only one who thinks its funny!? It might be good for a laugh...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=150271587218
They are selling a Fortune Cookie
BARACK "OREO" OBAMA
Barack "Oreo"Obama black on the outside, white in the inside.
Politicians and diapers both require frequent changing for best results.
re, oreo
about that dumb ass muslim everyone is raving about
that was damn funny about obama
Nancy Pelosi, says President Bush is a total failure. Reminds me of my X wife bitch, bitch, bitch. The most remarkable part is she is the leader of Congress and its aprovial rating is now under 10%.
Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush.....
6 arrested in alleged plot to attack Bush and set up terror cell -
JERUSALEM - Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush.
Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush's delegation.
The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.
Bush visited Israel in January and again in May.
Lawyers for the six suspects could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Shin Bet identified four of the suspects as Palestinian residents of Arab East Jerusalem and two as Israeli Arabs.
The Shin Bet said the men had met several times at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, seeking to organize a local al Qaeda network. The agency said computers seized from several of the suspects contained bomb-making manuals.
Earlier this month, Israel indicted two of its Bedouin Arab citizens for links to al Qaeda and for planning attacks inside the Jewish state.
Florida police officer fired for demanding free coffee at Starbucks
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - An internal affairs report says a Daytona Beach police officer demanded free coffee and tea from a Starbucks and threatened employees with slower emergency response times if they refused.
Lt. Major Garvin, a 15-year veteran, was fired July 8. According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Chief Mike Chitwood says Garvin recently failed a polygraph test that he insisted on taking.
The coffeehouse's employees claim that since June 2007, Garvin had visited the store as many as six times a night while on duty. Besides demanding free drinks, workers complained that Garvin also cut in front of paying customers.
A telephone listing for Garvin could not be found.
Record 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. last year ....
The largest percentage were from Illegals!
White friends vs. White Trash friend.
White friends have cable
White Trash friend want to borrow cables (Jumper that is) because their piece of shit doesn't run right
White friends come over for dinner
White Trash friend eat cum for dinner
White friends have 2 kids and a dog
White Trash friend have 9 kids on welfare who act like dogs
White friends clean their house
White Trash friend clean out your house
White friends respect you
White Trash friend don't even respect themselves (much less anybody else)
White friends will stick up for you
White Trash friend will stick you up
White friends go home at a reasonable hour
White Trash friend go back to their trailer trash home.
White friends have homes
White Trash friends are homeless
You hostile bastards., you wouldn't think twice about stuffing a blind man's guide dog and putting roller skates on it but you want my willie on a fish hook for laughing at a couple of gimps like Obama and McCain !!!!!
I was over looking to buy a horse on the craigslist (CL) Farm and garden board in Phoenix Arizona and found this ad, thought I'd share it with you for an Saturday morning funny ...
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Free Rattlesnake Removal, only venomous snakes please
Free Rattlesnake removal and relocation. The snakes will be unharmed and relocated to a safe habitat. Serving Desert Hills, North Phoenix, North Scottsdale, North Glendale, North Peoria, Anthem, New River, Cave Creek
480-437-4334
==========
My take is - If I see one they are dead. Screw that animal rights relocation bullshit. Exterminate these deadly critters.
Just ask Barack Hussein Obama if he agrees ...
Why do blacks have flat noses?
That's where god put his feet when he was pulling off their tails.
Did you hear about the new Black Barbie?
It comes with 12 kids, AIDS and a welfare check.
What can a pizza do that a black can't?
Feed a family of four.
Why do blacks walk the way they do?
Because they spent the first nine months of their lives dodging a coat hanger.
This is why you can't send a woman to Home Depot!!!
Charlie was fixing a door and found that he needed a new hinge, so he sent his wife Mary to Home Depot.
At Home Depot, Mary saw a beautiful Bathroom faucet while she was waiting for Walt, the manager, to finish waiting on a customer. When Walt was finished, Mary asked 'How much for that faucet?' Walt replied, 'That's pewter and it costs $300.'
'My goodness that sure is a lot of money!' Mary exclaimed. Then she proceeded to describe the hinge that Charlie had sent her to buy, and Walt went to the back room to find it.
From the back room Walt yelled, 'Mary, you wanna screw for that hinge?'
Mary replied, 'No, but I will for the faucet.'
This is why you can't send a woman to Home Depot!!!
One evening a husband, thinking he was being funny, said to his wife 'Perhaps we should start washing your clothes in Slim Fast. Maybe it would take a few inches off of your butt!'
His wife was not amused, and decided that she simply couldn't let such a comment go unrewarded.
The next morning the husband took a pair of underwear out of his drawer. 'What the Hell is this??' he said to himself as a little 'dust' cloud appeared when he shook them out.
'April,' he hollered into the bathroom, 'why did you put talcum powder in my underwear?'
She replied ...'It's not talcum powder..... It's 'Miracle Grow'
ADULT:
A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOR:
A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL:
Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS:
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE:
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST:
Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST:
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF:
Cold Storage.
INFLATION:
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO:
An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN:
Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET:
Something you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON:
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.
TOOTHACHE:
The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW:
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.
YAWN:
An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES:
Something other people have,
similar to my character lines.
I want to suck on a womans breast who is lactating
Any takers?
The Mexican Invasion
La Raza and MEcha are racist terrorist front groups. Their aim is to ethnically cleanse the American Southwest of all Whites, Blacks, and anyone else who is not Hispanic.
They have stated that violence against all Whites is coming and it's coming soon. This is what they teach their children. Google: Raza Studies Programs
Boblubane has been deracinized, feminized and demoralized. He is unable and unwilling to defend himself or his Country. He is a traitor and a subversive. The day is coming when Boblubane and his comrades will be personally held accountable for their treason. Justice will be swift and there will be no mercy.
Dead Beat Dads and Child Support
Bull shit! Whores CAN NOT GET PREGNANT IF THEY KEEP THEIR LEGS CLOSED..............FACT
You whores get abortions when you don't want the responsibility, so why can the guy walk away?
If you whores don't spred your legs before you're married you would keep the man. You woman are fucking hypocrites, that's why men treat you the way they do...they treat you like the whore you are. Don't sped your legs or get on all fours and you can not get pregnant.
re, Dead Beat Dads and Child Support
Ok...you say entrapment? Interesting...I say if the father doesn't want the kid...feels as though its just a burden or whatever...give up the rights to the kid... Sign off that you want nothing to do with them....
But I have to say...if you aren't ready to face the facts and deal with the consequences of your actions..don't put your junk somewhere it might give you some responsibility for the next 18 years...if a rubber is too much or other means of ensuring you won't impregnate whomever you are with, honestly, you shouldn't be doing it.
Tired of seeing professionals on the street carrying envelopes full of their resume looking for work....
Then elect someone who will keep the money and the jobs in the country - and that wont be either a Democrat or a Republican.
Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix AZ RECALL Petition....
Where is the petition again? I really want to add my name to this effort. Everytjing I see about that sniveling coward makes me eager to help boot him out of office!
re,re, Dead Beat Dads and Child Support
It is natural for PEOPLE to have sex without thinking that a baby is going to be made.
Men can wear condoms and women can take their own precautions, shit happens, mistakes happen and the bottom line is still that the woman is ultimately the one that has the final say so in whether or not to bring a kid into the world.
Sorry but if the woman wants it and the man doesn't, then that is entrapment and the woman shouldn't expect shit from the man!
re, re, re: Dead Beat Dads and Child Support.........
If life was only this easy. This is how animals in the wild think. Good luck to you.
INTERESTING DATA ON TAXES
Proposed changes in taxes after the 2008 General election:
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales
How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN 15% (no change)
OBAMA 39.6%
How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.'
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX< /U>
MCCAIN 0% (No chan ge, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.
New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....
New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!
Analyst: Federal rescue of Fannie, Freddie could cost $25 billion......
More wasted taxpayer money where the rich keep getting richer and if they screw up the get rewarded by the government when they should be put in prison.
But you frigging idiot voters just keep on putting these asshole Democrats and Republicans in office.
Foreign News Report
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.
(Note: the following item, though not news originating from Mexico, is reported because of its degree of relevance. The item received wide coverage throughout Mexico today but originated with the paper below.)
El Universal (Mexico City) 7/17/08
- This paper accessed “restricted circulation” reports of the DEA which show that the Sinaloa and Gulf narcotraffic cartels have contacted extremist groups in Iran to send “elite” thugs, mainly ex-military, to that country to receive training in weapons and explosives and that these contacts go back to 2005. Reportedly, they travel to Iran via flights from Venezuela. In Iran, the Revolutionary Guard furnishes advanced training in command, control, rockets, automatic weapons, sniper rifles and explosives.
The Juarez cartel reportedly gets its training from Colombia’s FARC. Further, that some terrorist group members have married Mexican women and have changed their Arabic names to Hispanic ones which has allowed them to enter the United States.
- In Sinaloa, two car bombs were turned over to the “PGR” (Mex. Dep’t. of Justice) by the army. One had three gas cylinders of ten kilos each; the other had two gallons of gasoline.
———-
Cuarto Poder (Tuxtla, Chiapas) 7/17/08
The “PGR” disclosed that narcotraffic has caused the death of four thousand 313 persons in the country during the last nineteen months up to June 5 of this year. (Note: this corresponds to the time since Pres. Calderon took office, 12/1/06. The June 5 date is because of the timing of the particular request for this information.)
The figure for 2007 was 2,712 deaths, while from January 1st to June 5 of this year it reaches 1,529.
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El Diario de Coahuila (Saltillo, Coahuila) 7/17/08 ( plus also in a good number of other papers )
Thanks to “national and international intelligence information” the Mexican navy was able for the first time in history to intercept a mini-submarine in Mexican waters; the craft was first detected sailing north some 120 kms. S.W. of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. The craft, 10 meters long by 2.5 meters wide, was boarded in a surprise maneuver when it surfaced. The crew, believed to be Colombians, was arrested.
( Reports of the cocaine being transported vary from one ton, to four, to seven, depending on which paper you read )
The craft is being taken to Santa Cruz Huatulco and is expected to arrive there early Friday morning.
(The area involved is to the west of the southern end of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrow neck of land in S.E. Mexico)
(Note: the leftist Mexico City paper La Jornada was the only one that omitted the international intelligence information which brought about the interception and seizure. Instead, it reported on a praiseful declaration to the Mexican navy by a Mexican congressman)
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El Financiero (Mexico City) 7/17/08
Three armed kidnappers who at first claimed to be “ministerial” police were arrested by local police in Tultepec. With them they also found a kidnap victim, a man from the Dominican Republic. Shortly afterward, the local chief of police started to receive threatening calls on his cellular phone and soon after that some twenty armed men mounted a gunfire assault on the police facility and rescued the three kidnappers. Three police officers were wounded in the attack; now Mex. army personnel are guarding the facility. (Tultepec, state of Mexico, is some 18 mi. no. of Mexico City)
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El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 7/17/08
A survey by Mexico’s Dep’t. of Public Education shows that in Sonora, Baja Calif. and the Distrito Federal half of secondary school students have seen their schoolmates carrying weapons in school. The nationwide survey of more than 13 thousand secondary school students also found that in Mexico City half of them have seen some type of drug being sold around the classrooms. Violence and criminality have also fostered gang membership, which reaches 91.4% in the Distrito Federal and 80% in Baja Calif. & Nayarit.
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El Informador (Guadalajara, Jalisco) 7/17/08
A new wave of violence in Culiacan, Navolato and Guasave caused the deaths of six persons in less than 20 hours in the state of Sinaloa. The victim in Guasave was forcibly taken away from his home by black clad, hooded men. He was later found elsewhere, shot to death.
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a.m. (Leon, Guanajuato) 7/17/08
The body of a man was found dumped by the side of the road near El Paraiso, Guanajuato. His hands and feet were tied with “grey industrial tape” and he was gagged with the same. One of his arms was burned and his head was inside a plastic bag. (Note: there were several other reports of homicide victims in other publications around the country.)
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La Voz de la Frontera (Mexicali, Baja Calif.) 7/17/08
In Calexico, Border Patrol Agents responded with pepper gas grenades after a group of smugglers kept throwing rocks at them from Mexicali. The most affected turned out to be the Aguilar family, who live at #1731 Avenida Internacional, and who had one of the gas grenades land in front of their home. One of the grenades failed to activate and was later retrieved by Mex. army personnel. The rock throwing “polleros” avoided arrest by Mexicali police.
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Novedades de Quintana Roo (Cancun, Q.R.) 7/17/08
The offices of the Mex. Immigr. Dep’t. (”INM”) were broken into and robbed Wednesday morning. Items taken : an unknown quantity of blank FM2 & FM3 forms, which are issued by the “INM” and used as evidence of legal status by foreigners in Mexico. (Reports in other papers mentioned that “official stamps” had also been taken.)
Found this on craigslist FREE Section, proof that people will give ANYTHING away!
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Free bungalow/house/cabin/hovel Cordes Junction Arizona
Recently we purchased a tiny dwelling (aka hovel) in the Verde Valley. At the time of purchase there were tenants on site from the previous owner. We decided to buy this house/land despite not seeing the interior of the structure. We liked the property and felt we would try to renovate the structures if that was reasonable. The tenants have since vacated the premises and we have had an opportunity to get in and determine the extent and nature of this atrocity.
What we encountered was a level osf squalor that defies belief. After a significant number of man hours, we have completed an initial stripping of the superficial layer of filth that envelopes this dwelling and have determined that even if we were able to recover this house to an acceptable state we would be reluctant to live in it.
THIS IS NOT a prize. There are roaches, packrats and in all likelihood other life forms (quite possibly of a virulent microscopic nature) still in evidence. Previous domestic animals (besides, but not necessarily excluding the tenants) have also left an indelible mark on this bungalow.
I have no idea if this place is salvageable, and I possess neither the desire nor the ability to remedy this condition any further.
This being said... It DOES have a bizarre kind of charm. This home was built circa 1920 and moved to its current location in the 1960's. It is less than 800 square feet. The walls seem solid and the outside is stucco. There are three small bedrooms and one bathroom, as well as a kitchen and living room. The structure itself sits on blocks and has a crawlspace beneath it. I cannot in all honesty say if the structure is sound, but since this house was moved once, I am assuming that it might be possible again. I am listing this in hopes that someone with the necessary skills might in fact find some use for it.
If you are still reading this... If you have the wherewithal to actually move this building... If you have a peculiar nature and would like to interrupt the natural destiny and spare this building from its ultimate demolition...then we would gladly let you remove this building at no charge (and at your convenience).
So it comes down to this... this little house is destined to be destroyed unless for some reason somebody intervenes... I have done my best not to gloss over anything. This would most certainly be a challenge to anyone brave/foolish enough to undertake it...
But Craigslist being what it is... this is the only venue I could think of to present it.
And then my mom said "Why not see if somebody wants it for free?" (I try to pay attention to what she says because she is a very sharp lady.)
Thanks for checking this out. I know this is bizarre and I apologize that it borders on ludicrous. I would appreciate that contact be limited to people that have both the interest and means to carry this off.
Researcher says Gulf dead zone bigger than ever......
HOUSTON Texas - A "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned.
"It's definitely the worst we've seen in the last five years," said Steve DiMarco, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography who for 16 years has studied the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, so named because the oxygen-depleted water can kill marine life.
The phenomenon is caused when salt water loses large amounts of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia that is typically associated with an area off the Louisiana coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The fresh water and salt water don't mix well, keeping oxygen from filtering through to the sea bottom, which causes problems for fish, shrimp, crabs and clams.
This year's dead zone has been aggravated by flood runoff from heavy spring rains and additional runoff moving into the Gulf from record floods along the Mississippi.
DiMarco, joined by researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Georgia, just returned from an examination of 74 sites between Terrebonne and Cameron, La. He said the most severe hypoxia levels were recorded in the mid-range depths, between 20 and 30 feet, as well as near the bottom of the sea floor at about 60 feet.
Some of the worst hypoxic levels occurred in the western Gulf toward the state line.
"We saw quite a few areas that had little or no oxygen at all at that site," DiMarco said Tuesday. "This dead zone area is the strongest we've seen since 2004, and it's very likely the worst may be still to come.
"Since most of the water from the Midwest is still making its way down to the Gulf, we believe that wide area of hypoxia will persist through August and likely until September, when it normally ends."
Last year, DiMarco discovered a similar dead zone off the Texas coast where the rain-swollen Brazos River emptied into the Gulf.
The zone off Louisiana reached a record 7,900 square miles in 2002. A recent estimate from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Louisiana State University shows the zone, which has been monitored for about 25 years, could exceed 8,800 square miles this year, an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
DiMarco said a tropical storm or hurricane likely would have no impact on this year's zone, believed to be caused by nutrient pollution from fertilizers that empty into rivers and eventually reach the Gulf.
I want to have my dog stuffed
Crazy? Yes. Funny? Hell yes. My dog is getting old. And he is the best dog I have ever had. He may have a few years left, but when he goes I want to get him stuffed. He is a Wiemer and is 85lbs-90lbs. Does anyone know how much it will cost me in Phoenix Arizona?
Any woman that cannot wear a cami without a bra
Any woman that cannot show her midriff without getting "Ew" looks
Any woman that has the "church-woman's" arm when they wave
Any woman that has stretch marks
Any woman that weighs more than the man
Any woman whose belly sticks out farther than her breats
Any woman that has thighs that touch
Definitely any woman that wears more than a single digit size
Any woman whose chin goes directly into her shoulders
Any woman that has a muffin-top
Any woman who cannot comfortably wear a thong
Any woman that cannot hike, run, cycle, swim
Any woman that needs an extension belt on the airplane
The two-faced Obama is running around the world playing the role. He tells everyone what they want to hear. What a flipping useless liar this ass clown is.
Going broke
I have 14$ in my checking account, I have less than half a gallon of gas in my car, I work 33 miles from home, and I haven't eaten since monday afternoon. I dont get paid until the 31st. This is going to be a rough week.
I'm not asking for a handout or anything, I just needed a place to vent.
re, going broke ...
If we dont get real government in office soon, and I dont mean these IDIOTS called Republicans or Democrats this will be common place within 12-months in America.
Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do.......
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.
Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.
I won't vote for ether of these leaders from the evil empire.
When the winner wins, all that means is that Half the country didn't vote for the winner. No matter who wins that party will participate in the destruction of our country. It's all big business now and has been for a long time.
To even hear the public cry for ether of these two is scary to me. Knowing you like one of them. To bad the the '40s and '50s generations was fooled about their liberties and rights. Then the Practitioners of diversity let our government rule our life and tell us how to raise our own families. To me personally Obama's not even an option. McCain, or Mcsame as some put it, is not even close to a good politician. He won't do crap to help this country, he still feels in the back of his mind that this country left him to die for six years. And the Obama camp just has scary intent, hidden agendas if you will.
I will know on the day of inauguration, that I had no part in the chipping away of our great country.
My friends a great depression looms over this land.
Playstation 2 component incites African war........
Console war reaches past the couch and into the Congo, claims report.
Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond?
According to a report by activist site Toward Freedom, for the past decade the search for a rare metal necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console has fueled a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the center of the conflict is the unrefined metallic ore, coltan. After processing, coltan turns into a powder called tantalum, which is used extensively in a wealth of western electronic devices including cell phones, computers and, of course, game consoles.
Allegedly, the demand for coltan prompted Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to plunder hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and even children to work in the country's coltan mines.
"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms," said Ex-British Parliament Member Oona King.
So where's the connection to Sony? According to Toward Freedom, during the 2000 launch of the PS2, the electronics giant was having trouble meeting consumer demand. To pump out more units, Sony required a significant increase in the production of electric capacitors, which are primarily made with tantalum. This helped drive the world price of the powder from $49/pound to a whopping $275/pound, resulting in the frenzied scouring of the Congolese hills known for being ripe with coltan.
Sony has since sworn off using tantalum acquired from the Congo, claiming that current builds of the PS2, PSP and PS3 consoles are sourced from a variety of mines in several different countries.
But according to researcher David Barouski, they're hardly off the hook.
"SONY's PlayStation 2 launch...was a big part of the huge increase in demand for coltan that began in early 1999," he explained. "SONY and other companies like it, have the benefit of plausible deniability, because the coltan ore trades hands so many times from when it is mined to when SONY gets a processed product, that a company often has no idea where the original coltan ore came from, and frankly don't care to know. But statistical analysis shows it to be nearly inconceivable that SONY made all its PlayStations without using Congolese coltan."
Currently, the Playstation 2 is the best-selling video game console of all-time, having sold through over 140 million units.
Air Force missile launch crew fell asleep:
WASHINGTON DC - Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.
The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny.
"This was just a procedural violation that we investigated," said Air Force Col. Dewey Ford, a spokesman at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. "We determined that there was no compromise."
The lapse, which involved a crew based at Minot Air Force Base, was serious enough, however, to prompt an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, in conjunction with codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency.
And it delivers another blow to the beleaguered Air Force.
Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a sweeping shake-up of the Air Force leadership, blaming them for failing to fully address a series of nuclear-related mishaps.
At the time, Gates said his decisions to sack the Air Force secretary and chief of staff were based mainly on the blistering conclusions of an internal report on the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four Air Force fusing devices for ballistic missile nuclear warheads.
He also linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to the August incident in which a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown from Minot Air Force Base to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
No one has been punished yet in the latest Minot incident involving sleeping crew members. A continuing review by Minot commanders will determine what, if any, actions will be taken against them.
Ford and other Air Force officials said the Minot-based crew had code devices that were no longer usable, since new codes had been installed in the missiles.
The three crew members, who are in the 91st Missile Wing, were in the missile alert facility about 70 miles from Minot. That facility includes crew rest areas and sits above the underground control center where the actual keys can be turned to launch the ballistic missiles.
Officials said the three officers were behind locked doors and had with them the old code components, which are large classified devices that allow the crew to communicate with the missiles. Launch codes are part of the component, and the devices were described as large, metal boxes.
Ford said they were waiting to get back to base "and they fell asleep."
It is not clear how long they were asleep.
There are periodic, regularly scheduled code changes, and there was a crew of four on duty. One of the crew members was not in the room with the other three at the time they fell asleep, the Air Force said.
The investigation concluded that the codes had remained secured in their containers, which have combination locks that can only be opened by the crew. The containers remained with the crew at all time, and the facility is guarded by armed security forces.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called the series of nuclear missteps involving Minot Air Force Base disappointing and unfortunate.
"This appears to me to be an incident in which codes were not compromised but some rules were broken, and those broken rules were reported," Dorgan said. "This does not appear to me to be equal to flying an airplane loaded with nuclear weapons halfway across the county that was extraordinarily serious.
"I don't think this is an issue about the base I think it's an issue about personnel," Dorgan said. "There have obviously been management and command problems at this base and the Air Force has made some command changes to respond to it."
Col. Bruce Emig was ousted following the August flight of the B-52 bomber.
"The violation was reported and it required reporting, and the airmen did their duty to report it," Dorgan said, referring to the latest incident.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, who spoke with Air Force officials Thursday about the matter, said the Minot base is getting extra scrutiny because of its embarrassing mistakes.
"They told me procedural violations do occur periodically," he said.
But Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the incident very troubling. "The new Air Force leadership, when confirmed, must take decisive and urgent steps to restore the culture of respect that our strategic weapons deserve and our national security demands," said Skelton.
Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, has been nominated to be the next Air Force chief of staff, and Michael Donley, for secretary. During their Senate confirmation hearing this week both men vowed to work to restore trust and confidence in the service.
The 91st missile wing has control of several facilities, including 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Secret Service wants more money for candidates, i.e The Muslim and the Old Fart.
WASHINGTON DC - The Secret Service has asked for an extra $9.5 million to cover unexpected costs of protecting the presidential candidates during what has turned into an historic year for the agency's campaign security job.
Among other things, the extra money would be used for the added costs for the candidates' international travel and a late-in-the-game decision by Barack Obama to accept the Democratic nomination at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High an open-air, 76,000-seat stadium instead of the 20,000-seat Pepsi Center, which is the site of the party's national convention.
Presidential candidates are traveling overseas with Secret Service protection more than ever before.
Obama is on a six-day trip to Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain. Before that he was on a three-day congressionally sponsored trip to Afghanistan and Iraq. Republican candidate John McCain has traveled to Canada, Colombia and Mexico under the agency's protection.
The 2008 presidential campaign cycle is the longest in Secret Service history by about five months. The Secret Service budgeted $106.65 million for the 2008 campaign cycle, compared to $73.3 million in 2004.
"I thought we had a very, very good plan in place for the campaign," Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this week. "If past history was any type of an indicator, we anticipated picking up protection somewhere in January, February, March of 2008."
"But the campaigns are different now," Sullivan said.
Obama received Secret Service protection on May 3, 2007 — the earliest the agency has ever stepped in to protect a candidate. Obama, who frequently draws crowds in the thousands at campaign stops, requested the protection. At the time, the Secret Service and Homeland Security officials said they were not aware of any threats to the senator.
McCain picked up protection on April 27 of this year.
During the 2008 campaign, the agency has protected candidates on about 1,500 trips; and each trip has included three to eight stops. To secure the candidates on these trips, the Secret Service has used about 2,200 magnetometers to screen about 1.5 million people.
The crowds have also been larger than expected. For instance, on May 18, in Portland, Ore., an Obama event was expected to draw 20,000. But instead, 75,000 showed, the Secret Service said. And Thursday, in Berlin, Germany, Obama drew a crowd of about 200,000, according to local law enforcement.
These are not the first candidates to travel internationally. In 1984, then-Democratic hopeful Jesse Jackson traveled to three countries in Latin America, the Secret Service said.
"One of the things I've been most proud of is our work force, because it has been a long campaign, but they have been incredible, enthusiastic and just done a terrific job with the campaign," Sullivan said.
Congress is currently considering the request for additional funds, which was made earlier this summer. The money would be drawn from other programs within the Homeland Security Department, the Secret Service's parent agency.
The Secret Service was formed in 1865 to investigate counterfeit currency. It started protecting major presidential candidates in 1968.
An email from Scotland to all of their brethren in the States...
a point to ponder despite your political affiliation:
"We, in Scotland, can't figure out why you people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States.
On one side, you had a pants wearing female lawyer, married to another lawyer who can't seem to keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a lawyer, who goes to the wrong church, who is married to yet another lawyer!
Now... On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate 'Mc' terminology, married to a good looking younger woman who owns a BEER distributorship!!
What in God's name are ya lads thinkin over in the colonies?????"
Partisan dispute divides Congress over energy legislation....
WASHINGTON DC - Congress is locked in a partisan dispute over energy legislation that has produced plenty of combustible debate but is unlikely to produce a bill to help lower gas prices anytime soon.
The fight moved to the House of Representatives on Thursday when Democrats introduced legislation that would have required President Bush to release 70 million barrels of oil from the 700-million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The president objects to the plan, saying this oil should be used during a national security crisis.
The House voted 268-157 for the bill, but Republicans were able to defeat the legislation because it failed to achieve the two-thirds vote required by House rules to proceed.
Republicans said the plan would not significantly lower prices and argued that Congress instead needs to approve new offshore drilling, something most Democrats oppose.
"Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama refuse to allow a vote because they worship at the alter of radical environmentalism," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, referring to the House speaker, the Senate leader and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
In the Senate, a bill meant to crack down on oil speculation has stalled due to a partisan procedural fight. Republicans want to offer up to 28 amendments on a range of energy issues, including an expansion of offshore drilling, but Democrats want to limit them to two, saying there is not enough time to consider more.
Republicans said they want an open debate and the opportunity to vote on a wide range of issues. They accused Democrats of trying to limit amendments to avoid a vote on offshore drilling an assertion the Democrats deny.
Democrats counter that Republicans simply want an endless debate and are looking for an excuse to defeat the bill if they don't get everything they want.
Top Senate Democrats also charge that Republicans are more interested in helping oil companies than finding solutions to high gas prices.
"Now they want to give them [the oil companies] a big, fat, sloppy smooch as they leave office by extending millions of acres for drilling across the United States and the outer continental shelf," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democratic whip. "It isn't going to happen."
As the legislative process breaks down, lawmakers from both parties are arming themselves with policy and polling data aimed at pinning the blame for the gridlock on the other side and boosting their re-election chances in November.
On the policy front, the main difference between the parties is whether to allow new offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf. Republicans argue that boosting domestic production would help wean the United States from foreign oil and that lifting a ban on offshore drilling would have an immediate impact on the price of oil in the futures markets.
Democrats counter that oil companies should explore in the millions of acres already approved for drilling before being allowed to drill off the coast, where reserves are limited and environmental risks are higher. They also argue that drilling will have little impact on oil prices in the near future.
"This is a deadly serious issue within the economic life of America's families," Pelosi said Thursday. "And to suggest that drilling offshore is going to make a difference to them, paycheck to paycheck now, is a frivolous contention, and the president has even admitted that."
On the political front, lawmakers of both parties point to divergent polls that show the majority of Americans back their approaches.
"We know that over 70 percent of the American public believes that we ought to expand domestic production of oil and gas, both onshore and offshore," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said this week.
Republican candidates will highlight that poll finding in their campaigns in the months ahead, GOP aides said this week.
Democrats said the public blames the Bush administration for high gas prices.
"Yes, we think energy is going to be a big issue in the fall," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "We think the American people side with us on getting independent of oil rather than trying to drill your way out of the problem."
Analyst Stuart Rothenberg of The Rothenberg Political Report said both sides are unlikely to capitulate because "neither party believes that a compromise is in its best interest, so that it has to compromise."
"The Republicans believe that energy is their winning issue," Rothenberg said, noting that the GOP has major weaknesses when it comes to the economy and the war in Iraq. "They've decided that this is the issue that they can portray the Democrats as not really interested in lowering energy prices, getting more energy into the system.
"Democrats on the other hand don't see it as a fundamental weakness," he said. "They don't think it's a big loser for them. They think the election is about other things, and they believe they have neutralized the Republican attacks by portraying the Republicans as being in the pocket of Big Oil."
But Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst, said that the intransigence could backfire on both parties.
"This is what enrages voters about Washington. Voters say, 'Do something, anything that will solve the problem,' " Schneider said. "But each side insists that the other side's solution won't really solve the problem. So they block it. And nothing happens.
"Politicians only care about which side gets more of the blame: 'We had a solution, but they blocked it. So it's their fault,' " Schneider said.
DENTON — Investigators are looking into how a young boy managed to slip out of a Denton day care center unnoticed, then cross two busy roads and end up a half-mile away at a Hooters restaurant on Tuesday afternoon.
The five-year-old boy walked out of the Imagination Station child care center in the 2300 block of San Jacinto Boulevard near Golden Triangle Mall.
He then crossed busy Dallas Drive to go to a RaceTrac gas station to purchase a soft drink and snacks.
After leaving the station, he ended up in the Hooters parking lot about a half-mile away.
The restaurant's general manager Brian Mason and his employees spotted the child shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
"I was pretty impressed that he made it that way without getting hurt," Mason said. "He let us know that he looked both ways before crossing the road, stopped in the middle and then crossed again."
With no chaperone for the boy in sight, Mason called police.
"We kept him in the back coloring and kept him pretty occupied until the police showed up," he said.
Deborah Pugh, the day care owner, said the boy had asked to go to the bathroom before he disappeared. When his father arrived minutes later to pick up the child, workers said they realized the boy was missing.
Pugh said she believes he got out through a fire exit, which, by law, must remain unlocked.
"We are looking into the timeline," said Denton police spokesman Jim Bryan, "but I think the greater concern is the distance that this child went and the timeframe that he was not in the day care."
Despite what happened, some parents told News 8 they still trust the Imagination Station.
"She [Pugh] is a caring woman and I like how she takes the children," said Grace Shotayo, one of the parents. "She really cares for them."
Imagination Station is subject to state inspection every three to five months. According to records, the day care has been cited for at least eight violations since 2006. Two of the citations were for improper supervision; the most recent one was issued in April.
Pugh said this is the first time a child has disappeared while in her care since she opened Imagination Station 13 years ago. She said she plans to install an alarm at the emergency exit, and is now escorting all children to the bathroom.
The five-year-old has not been back to the day care since the incident.
State child care licensing workers and police investigators are looking into the case to determine whether they will take action against the center and its owner.
Watch out for the 'free' stuff
Donna and David Sloat love to travel. When they got a postcard that claimed they could get 50 percent off the price of cruises and 75 percent off condo vacations, they were intrigued.
The California couple went to a meeting to find out more. While they were there, the vacation travel club offered something they thought they couldn't refuse a complimentary cruise and two nights' stay at a hotel.
The Sloats became members.
As it turns out, the "complimentary cruise" cost the couple nearly $600. And that free two-night hotel stay? It never happened. There was an administrative error, Donna said.
But they were still hopeful about the club's prospects. "We decided to go ahead and pay for the cruise ... we bit the bullet," she said.
But the perks didn't get better. Three times throughout the year, Donna and David tried to take advantage of travel plans through the group. But each time, rates were the same or lower at other places that are open to the public.
"We enjoy traveling very much," Donna said. "So I'm always trying to get as good a deal as I can. When you're expecting to spend money and you get what you pay for, it's not a problem. But when you're promised a discount and you don't get it that's a problem."
The saying goes "There's no such thing as a free lunch." But what happens when that "free lunch" costs $7,500?
Stephen and Jean Liang of Kansas City, Missouri, were on a weekend getaway trip to Branson, Missouri. While picking up a map, the couple was persuaded to attend a presentation on joining a travel club.
"They told us we could get $90 if we would sit for a 45-minute presentation," Jean said.
During the presentation, Stephen and Jean were told they could get discounted condo rates and other travel benefits around the world. They decided to join for $7,500. Jean said they were assured they could cancel within three days.
Before Stephen and Jean even left, they were offered a discount coupon for Red Lobster.
"We really enjoy Red Lobster," Jean said. "We thought it was a bonus for joining."
They were asked to sign a piece of paper after they received the card. The Liangs didn't think much about it.
"We thought we needed to sign it to show we'd gotten the card," Jean said.
But, unfortunately, Stephen and Jean didn't realize that by accepting the Red Lobster card, they had used the services of the travel club. And by signing that piece of paper, they were waiving their right to cancel their membership.
But the couple soon found out the next day when they tried to cancel.
Jean said they felt deceived. "This is really, really wrong. A person's word is what they are." The couple found out the hard way that it doesn't always work that way.
For the record, Red Lobster has no affiliation with the travel club.
Thousands of complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau about travel clubs in the last three years.
All these complaints tell a similar story of being lured either in person, over the phone or through the mail -- to a high-pressure sales presentation with the promise of receiving free airline tickets, gas cards, or tickets to shows.
Promises of free vacation tickets or maybe a free TV if you sit in on a time-share sales pitch are common. Although attendees may or may not get the item they were promised, one thing is sure they're a captive audience for some hard selling.
"They'll tell you the deal is only good for today; that you'll miss out on the opportunity," said Alison Preszler of the Better Business Bureau. "They want you to sign on the bottom line. They may make promises that aren't in the contract."
That's where the fine print comes in. In most cases, the offer is spelled out somewhere in the advertisement, according to Ed Dworsky of Mouseprint.org, a consumer advocacy Web site. But just don't expect it in the big print.
"You may you win a stay at a resort," Dworsky said. "But they don't pay your way to a resort."
The trouble with almost anything advertised as free are the catches. "It could be that you're signing up for a year of something," Dworsky said. "They get you in the door with the low price."
Take car rentals, for example. Mouseprint.org highlights the case of a car that was advertised at just $8.95 a day. But once you read the fine print and add on all the fees and taxes, that car costs more like $26.88 a day.
It's especially important to look past the large print when buying a car. It may seem like a great deal but it can be a ruse to get you into that dealership.
Financing tactics are one of them. Zero percent financing is a great thing, but only if you qualify. In fact, only about a quarter of folks do, according to Philip Reed of Edmunds.com, an auto information Web site. "You need to have gold or platinum credit," he said.
Rock-bottom lease prices are another common tactic. Those low prices usually don't include tax and license fees or may apply to cars with the fewest options, like side airbags. That "low" lease offer could easily be 25 percent higher, Reed said.
And when scam artists get involved, free could be really expensive.
Beginning next February, televisions will switch from analog to digital signals. Consumers will need a digital TV or a converter box to get that signal.
A recent investigation by the Better Business Bureau found one company that was offering a "free" DTV converter box but you had to pay for a five-year warranty that was $59, plus shipping and handling. All told, the cost of the "free" box was about $100.
The travel club that the Sloats joined is still operating, but under a different name. It maintains an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau. The travel club that duped the Liangs is still operating, but also under a different name.
So before you join or take advantage of deals, check out companies you're considering at the Better Business Bureau Internet site.
Rely on word-of-mouth to help you steer clear of bogus deals. Consumer Web sites such as fatwallet.com and epinions.com allow you to read customer reviews and post your own assessments.
Remember, there are some legit deals and freebies out there. But make sure you understand exactly what you're getting into
The biggest thing now that invades your privacy and exposes your personal information is that your employer is probably getting a copy of your medical records.
They argue that since they co-pay the premium cost they are entitles to know if their employees are healthy or not.
Some employers are now making employees go on diets, exercise programs, etc. or face termination.
dealing with drug dealers the old fashioned way
since i'm sure cyber cops would rather bust me than real criminals i admit no participation in the following activies. if you aren't afraid to confront these people the largest rechargable spotlight you can find usually gets them to scatter like roaches. a less than legal way to discourage drug dealers is to pick up a wrist rocket(sling shot) and practice your aim on them and thier customers without being heard or seen. a high powered air rifle(min.1000fps) is much more effective because of accuracy and your ability to shoot through the side walls of car tires(the tires usually take several minutes to go completely flat). i would suggest taking long breaks between shots because the sound will give you away and you dont want to be the one going to jail. i suggest you to keep a large can of pepper spray handy during your harassment of these people. they are generally not armed because they probably have priors and they understand the additional penalties of being caught with drugs and guns. you should keep a fire arm handy just in case but if your smart the criminals and police wont know who to thank for thier uncomfortable situation.
How is it that ILLEGAL immigrants can work at federally contracted jobsites?
Meanwhile, our vastly under-reported unemployment statistics continue to climb?!
This is an outrage! The people responsible for employing these ILLEGAL ALIENS should be locked up and put to hard labor! (let the punishment fit the crime)
Gone are the days when knowledge of right & wrong was just plain common sense.
Welcome to 'Politically Correct Commie World!'
The apathy regarding adherence to the letter of the law has successfully 'trickled down' to the masses! ("oh it's ok if they break the law, they're politicians! [or not U.S. citizens])
Remember that the vast majority of our ancestors who immigrated here did so LEGALLY!!!
I would like to know how Illegal; Mexicans / Hispanic get into Hawaii ???
WTF is this shit ?????
Homeland Security, Customs, and ICE suck!
Liberals say Iraq is another Vietnam; conservatives say Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter redux. ABBA's a mega-hit and Elton John's going to be performing at Madison Square Garden. Had enough of these '70s flashbacks? Brace yourself for another: the return of the national speed limit, courtesy of one of the country's most venerable politicians.
Senator John Warner (R-VA) - elected in 1978 - recently expressed interest in the idea of a national speed limit to conserve gasoline. Warner, who is not running for re-election this year, wrote to U.S. Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman, asking "at what speed is the typical vehicle traveling on America's highways today most fuel efficient?"
Warner told TIME his concern is for "the many millions and millions [of Americans] of limited means, sitting around their kitchen table trying to figure out how to make ends meet." Unlike long-term alternative energy sources, Warner says, a speed limit would work to bring down gas prices immediately. "Maybe some guy's got a better idea," he says. "But I haven't seen it."
The National Maximum Speed Limit of 55 mph was created in 1974, when Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Energy Highway Conservation Act. Prior to that, states had been free to set their own speed limits, but the new law threatened to strip Federal highway funding from any state straying above the national standard. The ostensible purpose of this limit was to keep down gas prices, which had been driven through the roof by an OPEC embargo touched off by the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. And with gas-prices once again sky-high, Warner isn't alone in talking up a cap on speeding.
Jackie Speier, a first-term Democratic congresswoman from California, is already on the case. Earlier this month, she introduced a bill that would cap highway speed limits at 60 mph - 65 in rural areas. It's currently awaiting a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation. Warner says he hasn't contacted Speier, but adds that he'd be willing to "stroll out on the floor" in favor of a speed-limit bill. He has yet to propose a similar bill in the Senate.
The thinking behind Warner and Speier's speed-limit proposals is simple. At a certain speed, a car's gas mileage begins to drop; the faster you go, the more fuel your burn. Ergo, slow down and save gas. According to fueleconomy.gov, a website run by the Department of Energy, "each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.30 per gallon for gas." Warner approvingly cites a congressional study showing that "the law resulted in reduced consumption of 167,000 barrels of petroleum a day." With millions of more cars on the road now than there were in 1974, the volume saved could be even greater.
Then there's the issue of safety. Tim Castleman, founder of the pro-limit group Drive 55 Conservation Groups, notes: "When they instituted [a national speed limit] in 1974, it was a one-year deal, but after one year they found highway deaths had dropped by 4,000." This unexpected side benefit, Castleman says, led Congress to make what had been a temporary measure permanent.
Some opponents of the speed limit question the numbers tossed around by Warner, Castleman, and others. Indeed, the safety argument looks a bit flimsy on closer examination. Since the 55-mph limit was repealed in 1995, the number of fatal motor vehicle crashes has increased by little more than 1,000, while deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers dipped over the same period.
In a 1999 study for the libertarian Cato institute, economist Stephen Moore noted that the number of auto crashes actually fell by 66,000 after the 55 mph limit was lifted. Moore also points out that a lower speed limit means more time wasted idling in traffic: "The most valuable resource on this earth is not oil, its human time."
A law only works when it's obeyed - and it's an open question how many motorists would comply. The 1974 law was considered a joke by the many drivers, who violated it with impunity. "Real compliance out on the interstate was somewhere around twenty percent," says Jim Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association. "Eighty percent of the population was exceeding the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit!"
Some groups would meet the return of the speed limit with a yawn rather than a groan. Instead of waiting for the government to step in, they've chosen to self-regulate. A number of trucking companies have mandated that their fleets stay at or below 65 mph. Douglas Stotlar, CEO of Con-way Inc., says his company's decision to lower their limit to 62 was driven both by environmental concerns and because "fuel prices were going to unprecedented levels." Exactly, say foes of a national speed limit; people can be trusted to slow down and conserve gas without the government leaning over their shoulder.
But Warner insists the government has got to do something, and do it now. Though he favors drilling offshore, he also says "That's five, six, seven years out. The pain is tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after that. I'm just sensitive to people's pain. Who's got the courage to do something like this?" Warner, who arrived on the national political scene in the oil-starved '70s, thinks that era might just hold the solution to our current energy crisis.
Buried loot a mystery for authorities....
WASHINGTON DC - The businessman arrived at the Treasury Department carrying a suitcase stuffed with about $5.2 million. The bills were decomposing, nearly unrecognizable, and he asked to swap them for a cashier's check. He said the money came from Mexico.
Money like this normally arrives in an armored truck or insured shipping container after a bank burns or a vault floods. It doesn't just show up at the visitor's entrance on a Tuesday morning. But the banking habits of Franz Felhaber had stopped making sense to the government long ago.
For the past few years, authorities say, he and his family have popped in and out of U.S. banks, looking to change about $20 million in buried treasure for clean cash.
The money is always the same — decaying $100 bills from the 1970s and 1980s.
It's the story that keeps changing:
_It was an inheritance.
_Somebody dug up a tree and there it was.
_It was found in a suitcase buried in an alfalfa field.
_A relative found a treasure map.
No matter where it came from or who found it, that buried treasure stands to make someone rich.
It could also send someone to jail.
___
Felhaber is a customs broker, a middleman.
His company, F.C. Felhaber & Co., is just minutes away from the bridge between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Tens of billions of dollars of Mexican goods cross that bridge each year, aided by people such as Felhaber who navigate the customs bureaucracy.
Customs brokers don't own the stuff that comes into the United States. They just make sure it gets here.
So it is with the $20 million. Felhaber says the money is not his. A Mexican relative, Francisco Javier Ramos Saenz-Pardo, merely sought help exchanging money that had been buried for decades, Felhaber says.
"To be very clear on this matter: In the beginning, I was not told what it was."
Money petrifies after sitting underground that long and Felhaber said it looked like a brick of adobe. The Treasury will exchange even badly damaged money, but Felhaber said Saenz-Pardo did not want to handle the process himself.
"Imagine a Mexican family bringing money that is damaged and the government calling it a drug deal," Felhaber said.
If the goal were to avoid unwarranted attention, he went about it all wrong. Rather than making a simple albeit large exchange at the Treasury, Felhaber allegedly began trying to exchange smaller amounts at El Paso-area banks, raising suspicion every time.
The first stop was the Federal Reserve Bank in El Paso, where authorities say Felhaber appeared with an uncle, Jose, and an aunt, Esther. In her purse, Esther carried $120,000. She told bank officials there were millions more, discovered while digging to expand a building in Juarez, according to U.S. court records filed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Banks normally refer such requests to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, an arm of the Treasury. But employees worried that, with so much cash, the three might be robbed on their way home. So, the bank accepted the money and wired $120,000 to an account in his uncle's name, Jose Carrillo-Valles, according to a government affidavit.
Felhaber was back at it again weeks later, this time at a Bank of America branch. Customs officials say he unsuccessfully tried to persuade a bank vice president to dispatch an armored truck to the Mexican border to pick up millions of dollars.
Felhaber denies that conversation took place. But he is tough to pin down on details. At times he seems specific on a point ("There is a $20 million inheritance,") only to contradict himself minutes later, saying the amount is "nowhere near that" and he has no idea where the money came from.
Soon after the Bank of America visit, a man bearing a striking resemblance to Felhaber walked into a Bank of the West branch. This time, however, authorities say the customer identified himself as Ken Motley and said he discovered millions while excavating a tree in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Bank employees refused to exchange any money, despite two follow-up phone calls once with a Spanish accent, once without try to set up an exchange.
The mysterious Ken Motley also appeared at the First National Bank, telling employees that a friend had discovered $20 million buried in an alfalfa field, investigators say.
Felhaber says he is not Ken Motley.
Customs investigators say a Bank of the West employee identified Felhaber's picture as that of Ken Motley.
"That's an absolute lie," Felhaber said. "That would be a horrendous miscarriage of justice."
It's unclear which transaction caught investigators' attention. Most of the tens of thousands of exchanges of mutilated money each year are routine. Natural disasters create a lot of inquiries. Children of the Depression have kept money out of banks, only to see it eaten by rodents in their attics or destroyed in fires. A surprising number of people accidentally shred greeting cards with money inside.
But authorities say there are warning signs that trigger investigations. Making a series of small exchanges is one. Bringing mutilated money from abroad is another.
"That is one of the things we are extra concerned about: This process being used to launder money from illegal activities," said Leonard R. Olijar, the chief financial officer of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. "That's one of our factors that we use to make a case suspicious."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents questioned Felhaber in October 2005. According to a government summary of that interview, Felhaber said he believed the money was the result of a 1970s Mexican land deal. The money was buried in a coffin, he said, until Saenz-Pardo the relative who brought him the money in the first place discovered a map leading him to the buried treasure.
Felhaber said he didn't want to do anything illegal and was merely getting a cut of whatever he exchanged.
He now says he was mistaken in his interviews with investigators.
"I told them, 'I suspect this is where it's from but I didn't know,'" he said. "They take you to your word like you're supposed to remember every single thing every single time."
___
Maybe it was the visit from investigators or maybe someone realized the bank visits weren't working, but Felhaber apparently changed strategies.
In January 2006, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing received a package containing about $136,000 from Jose Carrillo-Valles, Felhaber's uncle. Felhaber's business was listed as the return address. The letter explained the money had been stored in a basement for 22 years.
Though customs officials were suspicious by then, there was no clear evidence of a crime, just a lot of unanswered questions. So, two months later, the Treasury mailed a check, which was deposited into Carrillo-Valles' account.
Following the money, investigators interviewed Carrillo-Valles and his wife. Each denied ever sending or receiving the money, according to a government affidavit.
As for the $120,000 wired to Jose's account from the Federal Reserve a year earlier, they allegedly said it was an inheritance. Esther said Jose's mother had recently died.
Authorities don't believe the inheritance story. For starters, they say Jose's mother was still alive when the $120,000 was exchanged. They also traced a wire transfer from Jose's account to someone named Saenz-Pardo shortly after it was deposited.
Customs investigators now believed Carrillo-Valles was acting as an intermediary, taking a cut of the money and sending the rest to Saenz-Pardo or someone else in Mexico.
Twice, reporters called Carrillo-Valles on his cell phone to ask about the arrangement and confirm his discussions with investigators. First, he said he did not speak English. When a Spanish-speaking reporter called back, he said he could not hear her, and hung up.
In April 2007, the case moved from being suspicious to becoming a criminal investigation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials called the Justice Department, saying Felhaber had just arrived in person at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing with about $1.2 million.
It's not illegal to find money. Depending on where it's found, there might be a bureaucratic process to follow or taxes to be paid, but the discovery itself is not a crime.
There are strict rules, however, about bringing money into the United States. Import documents identified the $1.2 million as belonging to Jose Carrillo-Valles. Based on their investigation so far, authorities believe that was a lie a violation that carries up to five years in prison.
But Washington federal prosecutor William Cowden decided to wait. Maybe Felhaber would return with even more.
It paid off. This April, Felhaber was back at the Treasury, this time with a suitcase containing $5.2 million. Investigators say they have found no import documents filed for this deal, a violation of cash smuggling laws that also carries up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors moved in. Felhaber's two Treasury visits gave them probable cause to seize the money both the $1.2 million and the $5.2 million.
They told a federal magistrate in June that they suspected it was all drug money that had been buried or hidden inside a wall for decades.
"Given that the money is coming north from Mexico, that both conflicting and cockamamie stories have been told about its origins, and that all the stories of how it got to be found are fantastical, I strongly suspect that the Felhaber currency is the proceeds of illegal bulk narcotics sales," ICE investigator Stephen A. Schneider told the magistrate.
___
Felhaber says he's still not sure what all the fuss is about. At times he says he has no idea where the money came from, but he is always certain it has nothing to do with drugs.
None of the documents filed in federal court accuses Felhaber or his relatives of being involved in drugs. They leave open the possibility that somebody merely came across a cache of drug money, forgotten or abandoned in the Mexican desert.
In the coming weeks, the Justice Department plans to seek criminal forfeiture of the seized $6.4 million. That means Felhaber and his family will have the opportunity to come to Washington to ask for their money back.
If they do, they'll have to explain where it came from. And they'll have to sort through some of the inconsistent stories for a federal judge. Felhaber bristles at the suggestion there have been inconsistencies.
"The story has never changed," he said. "I don't know how it's changed."
Cowden, the federal prosecutor, said he doesn't know what to expect.
"Some of these cases, nobody ever comes forward," he said.
If so, the buried treasure will become government property.
Or at least some of it. Perhaps there is another $14 million out there, muddy and waiting to be exchanged.
Does Felhaber know if there's any money left?
On that, it's hard to get a straight answer.
Scorpion Sting in Arizona -
I treat Scorpions like I do Illegals, I put my boot up their ass before I smush em.
Dump the HHH into the ocean!
Fat nasty horny hungry hippos that call themselves BBW's! They are a waste of life and are responsible for climate change with all their fat nasty farts!
Maybe we should melt them down and burn them up like gas in our car, frigging fat ass lard ass. Frigging lard ass bitch's think they have special rights and being a fat ass should qualify them for government assistance go on a goddamn diet you frigging shamu's!
re, Dump the HHH into the ocean!...
I concur
kill them all
they suck the oxygen out of the air for the rest of us
re-re, Dump the HHH into the ocean! - -
That was really funny
great post
I also agree
Did you hear about the fire in the three family walk up in Calif.?
A black family of six lived on the first floor. They all perished in the fire.
A Mexican family of eight lived on the second floor. They also perished.
A white couple lived on the third floor. They survived.
Jesse Jackson demanded to know why the whites survived when the others didn't.
The fire chief said the answer was simple. The white couple were at work when the fire broke out.
Advice to ALL Canadians in the USA who might face deportation ......
Just forget the legalities. Change your name to Juan Jose' Gonzales and you will be able to stay without fear. Or you can stay and keep your name. If you are bothered, file a reverse discrimination lawsuit. Just file it under-----"because my skin is not brown and I don't speak Spanish, I have to leave". You could also have a sex change, drop a baby and you could stay because "WE" don't want to tear families apart. Not that over 5,000 of our men and women soldiers have been forced from their families, FOREVER!!!!!!
Former Googleers unveil Cuil, a new search engine.......
MENLO PARK, California - A start-up led by former star Google engineers on Sunday unveiled a new Web search service that aims to outdo the Internet search leader in size, but faces an uphill battle changing Web surfing habits.
Cuil Inc (pronounced "cool") is offering a new search service at http://www.cuil.com that the company claims can index, faster and more cheaply, a far larger portion of the Web than Google, which boasts the largest online index.
The would-be Google rival says its service goes beyond prevailing search techniques that focus on Web links and audience traffic patterns and instead analyzes the context of each page and the concepts behind each user search request.
"Our significant breakthroughs in search technology have enabled us to index much more of the Internet, placing nearly the entire Web at the fingertips of every user," Tom Costello, Cuil co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Danny Sullivan, a Web search analyst and editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, said Cuil can try to exploit complaints consumers may have with Google namely, that it tries to do too much, that its results favor already popular sites, and that it leans heavily on certain authoritative sites such as Wikipedia.
"The time may be right for a challenger," Sullivan says, but adds quickly: "Competing with Google is still a very daunting task, as Microsoft will tell you."
Microsoft Corp, the No. 3 U.S. player in Web search has been seeking in vain, so far, to join forces with No. 2 Yahoo Inc to battle Google.
Cuil was founded by a group of search pioneers, including Costello, who built a prototype of Web Fountain, IBM's Web search analytics tool, and his wife, Anna Patterson, the architect of Google Inc's massive TeraGoogle index of Web pages. Patterson also designed the search system for global corporate document storage company Recall, a unit of Australia's Brambles Ltd
The two are joined by two former Google colleagues, Russell Power and Louis Monier. Previously, Monier led the redesign of ecommerce leader eBay Inc's search engine and was the founding chief technology officer of two 1990s Web milestones, AltaVista and BabelFish, the first language translation site.
"They do have the talent that is used to building large, industrial-strength search engines," Sullivan says of Cuil.
Cuil clusters the results of each Web search performed on the service into groups of related Web pages. It sorts these by categories and offers various organizing features to help identify topics and allow the user to quickly refine searches.
User privacy is another appeal of its approach, Cuil says. Because the service focuses on the content of the pages rather than click history, the company has no need to store users' personal information or their search histories, it says.
"We are all about pattern analysis," Patterson says. "We go over the corpus (Web pages) 12 times before we even index it."
DOES SIZE MATTER, ONCE AGAIN?
Cuil has indexed a whopping 120 billion Web pages, three times more than what they say Google now indexes, Patterson said, adding the company has spent just $5 million,
Google itself preemptively responded to Cuil's arrival with a blog post on Friday boasting of the growing scale of its own Web search operations.
Sullivan said he puts no stock in either company's boasts about the size of their indexes, since it has only an indirect effect on the ultimate success Web surfers have in searching. And Cuil's privacy virtues are exaggerated, he adds.
Founded in late 2006, the Menlo Park, California-based Cuil has raised $33 million in two separate rounds: The first, for $8 million from Greylock and Tugboat Ventures, and the second for $25 million by Madrone Capital Partners.
Initially, Cuil is optimized for American English. Later this year, the company plans to enable Cuil users to perform searches in major European languages, Patterson said. Eventually, Cuil plans to make money by running ads alongside search results, she said, but provided no further details.
Cuil is one of a number of start-ups that are looking to introduce new technology that can change the competitive dynamics of the Web search market that Google dominates.
Earlier in July, Microsoft bought Powerset, a San Francisco-based search start-up that enables consumers to use semantic techniques conversational phrasing instead of keywords to search the Web.
JOHN McCAIN'S VIETNAM EXPERIENCE
He got screwed in the poop chute, repeatedly by numerous Viet Cong water buffalo while being held in the Hanoi Hilton!
Why Lie?
I am not a BBW!
I am a Horny Hungry Hippo! Feed me and you can have some of this booty and call me shamu while you spank me!!
Diamonds May Have Jump-Started Life on Earth.......
One of the greatest mysteries in science is how life began. Now one group of researchers says diamonds may have been life's best friend.
Scientists have long theorized that life on Earth got going in a primordial soup of precursor chemicals. But nobody knows how these simple amino acids, known to be the building blocks of life, were assembled into complex polymers needed as a platform for genesis.
Diamonds are crystallized forms of carbon that predate the oldest known life on the planet. In lab experiments aimed to confirm work done more than three decades ago, researchers found that when treated with hydrogen, natural diamonds formed crystalline layers of water on the surface.
Water is essential for life as we know it. Also, the tests found electrical conductivity that could have been key to forcing chemical reactions needed to generate the first birth.
When primitive molecules landed on the surface of these hydrogenated diamonds in the atmosphere of early Earth, a few billion years ago, the resulting reaction may have been sufficient enough to generate more complex organic molecules that eventually gave rise to life, the researchers say.
lol funny posting on another forum
I think women as a whole are just asking for rape. They flaunt around everything they've got attempting to awake a mans primal side. You are so picky yet you hold sex above a mans head like a carrot on a stick. So the man you meet isn't perfect, is it fun leading him on? Do you enjoy wasting his time on dates knowing that you'll never commit to any kind of relationship with him? How about taking two bites of a $50 meal and guzzling martinis on his dime all night? I can't imagine what dating would be like if rape didn't happen, the average single woman has so little to lose as it is. The bmw you squeezed out of your 6 month marriage? Your GED? The promotion you got from sucking your bosses dick? Or wait, your 2 wonderful kids who's father pays your rent.
Remember this shit next time you're alone in a dark parking lot with a man who spent a thousand dollars on you last week that still hasn't gotten laid.
MEXICANS
ARE LIVING PROOF THAT INDIANS FUCKED BUFFALO
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