Whos Making Money

10 Questions Tea Partiers WON'T Answer: 1. Can you be against Big Government and not press for reductions in the vast military budgets, fraught with bureaucratic and large contractors' waste, fraud and abuse? Military spending now takes up half of the federal government's operating budgets. The libertarian Cato Institute believes that to cut deficits, we have to also cut the defense budget.



2. Can you believe in the free market and not condemn hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare-bailouts, subsidies, handouts, and giveaways?



3. Can you want to preserve the legitimate sovereignty of our country and not reject the trade agreements known as NAFTA and GATT (The World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland) that scholars have described as the greatest surrender of local, state and national sovereignty in our history?



4. Can you be for law and order and not support a bigger and faster crackdown on the corporate crime wave, that needs more prosecutors and larger enforcement budgets to stop the stealing of taxpayers and consumer dollars so widely reported in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week? Law enforcement officials estimate that for every dollar for prosecution, seventeen to twenty dollars are returned.



5. Can you be against invasions of privacy by government and business without rejecting the provisions of the Patriot Act that leave you defenseless to constant unlawful snooping, appropriation of personal information and even search of your home without notification until 72 hours later?



6. Can you be against regulation of serious medical malpractice (over 100,000 lives lost a year, according to a study by Harvard physicians), unsafe drugs that have serious side effects or cause the very injury/illness they were sold to prevent, motor vehicles with defective brakes, tires and throttles, contaminated food from China, Mexico and domestic processors?



7. Can you keep calling for Freedom and yet tolerate control of your credit and other economic rights by hidden and arbitrary credit ratings and credit scores? What Freedom do you have when you have to sign industry-wide fine print one-sided "contracts" with your banks, insurance companies, car dealers, and credit card companies? Many of these contracts even block your Constitutional access to the courthouse.



8. Can you be for a new, clean system of politics and elections and still accept the Republican and Democratic Two Party dictatorship that is propped up by complex state laws, frivolous litigation and harassment to exclude from the ballot third parties and independent candidates who want reform, accountability, and stronger voices for the voters?



9. If you want a return to our Constitution-its principles of limited and separation of power and its emphasis on "We the People" in its preamble-can you still support Washington's wars that have not been declared by Congress (Article I Section 8) or giving corporations equal rights with humans plus special privileges and immunities. The word "corporation" or "company" never appears in the Constitution. How can you support eminent domain powers given by governments to corporations over homeowners, or massive week-end bailouts by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department of businesses, even reckless foreign banks, without receiving the authority and the appropriations from the Congress, as the Constitution requires?



10. You want less taxation and lower deficits. How can you succeed unless you stop big corporations from escaping their fair share of taxes by manipulating foreign jurisdictions against our tax laws, for example, or by letting trillions of dollars of speculation on Wall Street go without any sales tax, while you pay six, seven or eight percent sales tax on the necessities you buy in stores?



http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/22-9

WINTER’S BONE

Winter’s Bone is a tense, dreary affair, consisting almost exclusively of characters devoid of vitality or a sense of humor. It’s a thriller, but not in the traditional sense; the thrill stems more from the grim, desperate atmosphere that pervades every frame than it does any acts of violence or terror. Thrust in the middle of this ordeal is the poor but resilient Ree Dolly, who at only 16, is already tasked with taking care of her two younger siblings and near vegetative mother. Her life gets considerably more complicated when she discovers that her criminal father, who’s nowhere to be found, put up their house as collateral for his bail. So off she goes, facing down the stoic yet threatening glares of her drug-addled rural community in hopes of finding her father and keeping her destitute family intact. Were it not for the film’s penchant for cultural authenticity, the story might not be as engaging as it is, but the neorealist approach allows the film to operate at a slow-burn pace without ever becoming boring. Unlike what you might expect from a more mainstream Hollywood effort, the conflict here isn’t simply solving the mystery of where the father is and why; it’s about hoping you can make it another day without going to bed hungry, if there’s even a bed left to go to at all.

Available on Blu-ray? Yes.

Notable Extras: DVD & Blu-ray – Director’s commentary, deleted scenes, and a making-of featurette.

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Juan Williams, Fox <b>News</b> Liberal

It's not totally clear what he means by that, but Williams does a pretty good job as a Fox News Liberal-- i.e., someone willing to attack left-liberal groups and leaders while doing very little to promote an actual left-leaning ...

Fantasy Football <b>News</b> Roundup, Week 8: Does Jon Kitna Have Value <b>...</b>

Checking in on the fantasy news of the day for Week 8.

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bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Juan Williams, Fox <b>News</b> Liberal

It's not totally clear what he means by that, but Williams does a pretty good job as a Fox News Liberal-- i.e., someone willing to attack left-liberal groups and leaders while doing very little to promote an actual left-leaning ...

Fantasy Football <b>News</b> Roundup, Week 8: Does Jon Kitna Have Value <b>...</b>

Checking in on the fantasy news of the day for Week 8.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

10 Questions Tea Partiers WON'T Answer: 1. Can you be against Big Government and not press for reductions in the vast military budgets, fraught with bureaucratic and large contractors' waste, fraud and abuse? Military spending now takes up half of the federal government's operating budgets. The libertarian Cato Institute believes that to cut deficits, we have to also cut the defense budget.



2. Can you believe in the free market and not condemn hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare-bailouts, subsidies, handouts, and giveaways?



3. Can you want to preserve the legitimate sovereignty of our country and not reject the trade agreements known as NAFTA and GATT (The World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland) that scholars have described as the greatest surrender of local, state and national sovereignty in our history?



4. Can you be for law and order and not support a bigger and faster crackdown on the corporate crime wave, that needs more prosecutors and larger enforcement budgets to stop the stealing of taxpayers and consumer dollars so widely reported in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week? Law enforcement officials estimate that for every dollar for prosecution, seventeen to twenty dollars are returned.



5. Can you be against invasions of privacy by government and business without rejecting the provisions of the Patriot Act that leave you defenseless to constant unlawful snooping, appropriation of personal information and even search of your home without notification until 72 hours later?



6. Can you be against regulation of serious medical malpractice (over 100,000 lives lost a year, according to a study by Harvard physicians), unsafe drugs that have serious side effects or cause the very injury/illness they were sold to prevent, motor vehicles with defective brakes, tires and throttles, contaminated food from China, Mexico and domestic processors?



7. Can you keep calling for Freedom and yet tolerate control of your credit and other economic rights by hidden and arbitrary credit ratings and credit scores? What Freedom do you have when you have to sign industry-wide fine print one-sided "contracts" with your banks, insurance companies, car dealers, and credit card companies? Many of these contracts even block your Constitutional access to the courthouse.



8. Can you be for a new, clean system of politics and elections and still accept the Republican and Democratic Two Party dictatorship that is propped up by complex state laws, frivolous litigation and harassment to exclude from the ballot third parties and independent candidates who want reform, accountability, and stronger voices for the voters?



9. If you want a return to our Constitution-its principles of limited and separation of power and its emphasis on "We the People" in its preamble-can you still support Washington's wars that have not been declared by Congress (Article I Section 8) or giving corporations equal rights with humans plus special privileges and immunities. The word "corporation" or "company" never appears in the Constitution. How can you support eminent domain powers given by governments to corporations over homeowners, or massive week-end bailouts by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department of businesses, even reckless foreign banks, without receiving the authority and the appropriations from the Congress, as the Constitution requires?



10. You want less taxation and lower deficits. How can you succeed unless you stop big corporations from escaping their fair share of taxes by manipulating foreign jurisdictions against our tax laws, for example, or by letting trillions of dollars of speculation on Wall Street go without any sales tax, while you pay six, seven or eight percent sales tax on the necessities you buy in stores?



http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/22-9

WINTER’S BONE

Winter’s Bone is a tense, dreary affair, consisting almost exclusively of characters devoid of vitality or a sense of humor. It’s a thriller, but not in the traditional sense; the thrill stems more from the grim, desperate atmosphere that pervades every frame than it does any acts of violence or terror. Thrust in the middle of this ordeal is the poor but resilient Ree Dolly, who at only 16, is already tasked with taking care of her two younger siblings and near vegetative mother. Her life gets considerably more complicated when she discovers that her criminal father, who’s nowhere to be found, put up their house as collateral for his bail. So off she goes, facing down the stoic yet threatening glares of her drug-addled rural community in hopes of finding her father and keeping her destitute family intact. Were it not for the film’s penchant for cultural authenticity, the story might not be as engaging as it is, but the neorealist approach allows the film to operate at a slow-burn pace without ever becoming boring. Unlike what you might expect from a more mainstream Hollywood effort, the conflict here isn’t simply solving the mystery of where the father is and why; it’s about hoping you can make it another day without going to bed hungry, if there’s even a bed left to go to at all.

Available on Blu-ray? Yes.

Notable Extras: DVD & Blu-ray – Director’s commentary, deleted scenes, and a making-of featurette.

bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Juan Williams, Fox <b>News</b> Liberal

It's not totally clear what he means by that, but Williams does a pretty good job as a Fox News Liberal-- i.e., someone willing to attack left-liberal groups and leaders while doing very little to promote an actual left-leaning ...

Fantasy Football <b>News</b> Roundup, Week 8: Does Jon Kitna Have Value <b>...</b>

Checking in on the fantasy news of the day for Week 8.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Juan Williams, Fox <b>News</b> Liberal

It's not totally clear what he means by that, but Williams does a pretty good job as a Fox News Liberal-- i.e., someone willing to attack left-liberal groups and leaders while doing very little to promote an actual left-leaning ...

Fantasy Football <b>News</b> Roundup, Week 8: Does Jon Kitna Have Value <b>...</b>

Checking in on the fantasy news of the day for Week 8.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Juan Williams, Fox <b>News</b> Liberal

It's not totally clear what he means by that, but Williams does a pretty good job as a Fox News Liberal-- i.e., someone willing to attack left-liberal groups and leaders while doing very little to promote an actual left-leaning ...

Fantasy Football <b>News</b> Roundup, Week 8: Does Jon Kitna Have Value <b>...</b>

Checking in on the fantasy news of the day for Week 8.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Affiliate Making Money

I live in North Carolina. It’s a pretty state. You get a taste of the winter months but you don’t get a lot of winter weather per se. Sure the summers are hot but that’s what air conditioning is for. Overall, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.

That is except for the state government and their attempts to collect taxes on online purchases made from Amazon. They have already pushed Amazon far enough that the online retailing giant ended its affiliate programs with North Carolina residents in 2009 thus depriving residents of the chance to bring money into the state that would be spent in the state and would give some ailing jobless folks a chance at survival. Nice move!

Apparently, Big Brother is alive and well in the Tar Heel state as well since the state government has been trying to get detailed purchase information from Amazon which would include names and addresses of those making purchases from 2003 to 2010. Fortunately, a federal judge has called the state on its draconian efforts and handed them a major setback in federal court yesterday. cnet reports:

In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.

The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers–and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and “runs afoul of the First Amendment.” She granted Amazon summary judgment.

The Tar Heel State’s tax collectors have “no legitimate need” for details about the literary, music, and film habits of so many Amazon customers,” Pechman wrote. “In spite of this, (North Carolina) refuses to give up the detailed information about Amazon’s customers’ purchases, while at the same time requesting the identities of the customers and, arguably, detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”

With privacy victories coming too few and far between these days at least we can feel like someone is paying attention and not letting the government run rough shod over privacy while squashing commerce in the process.

I suspect that the state feels they have good reasons for doing what they are doing. They will say that the taxes they want to collect will help the state. Pardon my cynicism, but if the affiliate money that was once coming onto the hands of the residents were turned back on that would REALLY help the state.

At the heart of this ruling though is privacy.

In addition, the ACLU intervened in the lawsuit asking for an even broader injunction against the tax collectors. They wanted Amazon to be prohibited from disclosing customer purchases without a subpoena, which the court did not grant.

In general, as Amazon stressed in its lawsuit, purchases of books, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other media enjoy special privacy protections.

So what is the North Carolina government trying to do here? At the core, it’s trying to collect taxes from both Amazon and its citizens because of online purchases. In the process, it is killing an avenue for commerce in the state and appearing as if it wants more data on its residents in a time when that is not considered such a good thing. I don’t get it.

In the end the state is only hurting itself though because as people learn about these attempts they will maybe stop short of saying they will set up a business in the Tar Heel state for fear of too much government intrusion. Sadly, no one wins in that scenario.

What’s your take on the idea of taxing online purchases? It’s an old story but one that will likely get more attention in these days of scarce money. Have you been impacted by rulings like this in any other states? What’s worse, more taxes or invasion of privacy to collect them?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

Modnique is offering a free $5 credit to everyone who signs up. Plus, they have a $10 coupon code which you can use. So, you can get a total of $15 off your order –  making the Kidorable Kid’s Boots as low as $4.95 shipped today!

Here’s how to get this deal:

::Sign up for a new account with Modnique. Your account should instantly be credited with $5.

::Look through the sales and choose something you’d like to order (shipping is usually around $7.95, so I’d recommend looking for something which is $12 or less).

::Add this item your cart and go to checkout. Type in coupon code star in the coupon code box to take $10 off your order.

::Then type in $5 in the credit box to apply your $5 store credit.

::This should take $15 total off your order — making it possible to get some items for just a few dollars shipped!

You can also earn a $15 store credit if you pass this offer onto your friends and they purchase. Plus, if they sign up their friends and they purchase, you’ll get $10 store credit. And if their friend’s friend purchases, you’ll get $5 store credit. (And yes, my affiliate link is in the post, but if you don’t feel comfortable ordering or signing up with my link, just go directly to Modnique.com to sign up.)

Thanks, EEEndeavors!

Google donates $5 million for <b>news</b> innovation to Knight Foundation <b>...</b>

Google and news organizations have had a rocky time of it. To overdramatize the situation only slightly: Google insists that it cares about journalism as a.

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Marketing Mambo

It's a dance step every small business must master and arguably the most important especially in the beginning of your small business. Marketing encompasses.

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bench craft company complaints

Google donates $5 million for <b>news</b> innovation to Knight Foundation <b>...</b>

Google and news organizations have had a rocky time of it. To overdramatize the situation only slightly: Google insists that it cares about journalism as a.

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Marketing Mambo

It's a dance step every small business must master and arguably the most important especially in the beginning of your small business. Marketing encompasses.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

I live in North Carolina. It’s a pretty state. You get a taste of the winter months but you don’t get a lot of winter weather per se. Sure the summers are hot but that’s what air conditioning is for. Overall, it’s a great place to live and raise a family.

That is except for the state government and their attempts to collect taxes on online purchases made from Amazon. They have already pushed Amazon far enough that the online retailing giant ended its affiliate programs with North Carolina residents in 2009 thus depriving residents of the chance to bring money into the state that would be spent in the state and would give some ailing jobless folks a chance at survival. Nice move!

Apparently, Big Brother is alive and well in the Tar Heel state as well since the state government has been trying to get detailed purchase information from Amazon which would include names and addresses of those making purchases from 2003 to 2010. Fortunately, a federal judge has called the state on its draconian efforts and handed them a major setback in federal court yesterday. cnet reports:

In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.

The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers–and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and “runs afoul of the First Amendment.” She granted Amazon summary judgment.

The Tar Heel State’s tax collectors have “no legitimate need” for details about the literary, music, and film habits of so many Amazon customers,” Pechman wrote. “In spite of this, (North Carolina) refuses to give up the detailed information about Amazon’s customers’ purchases, while at the same time requesting the identities of the customers and, arguably, detailed records of their purchases, including the expressive content.”

With privacy victories coming too few and far between these days at least we can feel like someone is paying attention and not letting the government run rough shod over privacy while squashing commerce in the process.

I suspect that the state feels they have good reasons for doing what they are doing. They will say that the taxes they want to collect will help the state. Pardon my cynicism, but if the affiliate money that was once coming onto the hands of the residents were turned back on that would REALLY help the state.

At the heart of this ruling though is privacy.

In addition, the ACLU intervened in the lawsuit asking for an even broader injunction against the tax collectors. They wanted Amazon to be prohibited from disclosing customer purchases without a subpoena, which the court did not grant.

In general, as Amazon stressed in its lawsuit, purchases of books, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other media enjoy special privacy protections.

So what is the North Carolina government trying to do here? At the core, it’s trying to collect taxes from both Amazon and its citizens because of online purchases. In the process, it is killing an avenue for commerce in the state and appearing as if it wants more data on its residents in a time when that is not considered such a good thing. I don’t get it.

In the end the state is only hurting itself though because as people learn about these attempts they will maybe stop short of saying they will set up a business in the Tar Heel state for fear of too much government intrusion. Sadly, no one wins in that scenario.

What’s your take on the idea of taxing online purchases? It’s an old story but one that will likely get more attention in these days of scarce money. Have you been impacted by rulings like this in any other states? What’s worse, more taxes or invasion of privacy to collect them?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

Modnique is offering a free $5 credit to everyone who signs up. Plus, they have a $10 coupon code which you can use. So, you can get a total of $15 off your order –  making the Kidorable Kid’s Boots as low as $4.95 shipped today!

Here’s how to get this deal:

::Sign up for a new account with Modnique. Your account should instantly be credited with $5.

::Look through the sales and choose something you’d like to order (shipping is usually around $7.95, so I’d recommend looking for something which is $12 or less).

::Add this item your cart and go to checkout. Type in coupon code star in the coupon code box to take $10 off your order.

::Then type in $5 in the credit box to apply your $5 store credit.

::This should take $15 total off your order — making it possible to get some items for just a few dollars shipped!

You can also earn a $15 store credit if you pass this offer onto your friends and they purchase. Plus, if they sign up their friends and they purchase, you’ll get $10 store credit. And if their friend’s friend purchases, you’ll get $5 store credit. (And yes, my affiliate link is in the post, but if you don’t feel comfortable ordering or signing up with my link, just go directly to Modnique.com to sign up.)

Thanks, EEEndeavors!

bench craft company complaints

Google donates $5 million for <b>news</b> innovation to Knight Foundation <b>...</b>

Google and news organizations have had a rocky time of it. To overdramatize the situation only slightly: Google insists that it cares about journalism as a.

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Marketing Mambo

It's a dance step every small business must master and arguably the most important especially in the beginning of your small business. Marketing encompasses.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Google donates $5 million for <b>news</b> innovation to Knight Foundation <b>...</b>

Google and news organizations have had a rocky time of it. To overdramatize the situation only slightly: Google insists that it cares about journalism as a.

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Marketing Mambo

It's a dance step every small business must master and arguably the most important especially in the beginning of your small business. Marketing encompasses.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Google donates $5 million for <b>news</b> innovation to Knight Foundation <b>...</b>

Google and news organizations have had a rocky time of it. To overdramatize the situation only slightly: Google insists that it cares about journalism as a.

Er, great <b>news</b>: George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars <b>...</b>

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let's pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Marketing Mambo

It's a dance step every small business must master and arguably the most important especially in the beginning of your small business. Marketing encompasses.

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Making Money Internet

What Internet activism looks like

Cory Doctorow at 1:21 PM Tuesday, Sep 28, 2010

Anil Dash hits one so far out of the park it attains orbit in this response to a silly Malcolm Gladwell column that decried Internet activism as incapable of achieving meaningful change. It's all must-read stuff, but here's the bit that made me want to stand up and salute:

Today, Dale Dougherty and the dozens of others who have led Maker Faire, and the culture of "making", are in front of a
movement of millions who are proactive about challenging the constrictions that law and corporations are trying to place on how they communicate, create and live. The lesson that simply making things is a radical political act has enormous precedence in political history; I learned it well as a child when my own family's conversation after a screening of Gandhi turned to the salt protests in India, which were first catalyzed in my family's home state of Orissa, and led to my great-grandfather walking alongside Gandhi and others in the salt marches to come. Today's American Tea Partiers see even the original "tea party" largely as a metaphor, but the salt marches were a declaration of self-determination as expressed through manufacturing that took the symbolism of the Boston Tea Party and made it part of everyday life.

To his last day, my great-grandfather wore khadi, the handspun clothing that didn't just represent independence from the British Raj in an abstract way, but made defiance of onerous British regulation as plain as the clothes on one's back. At Maker Faire this weekend, there were numerous examples of clothing that were made to defy laws about everything from spectrum to encryption law. It would have been only an afternoon's work to construct a t-shirt that broadcast CSS-descrambling code over unauthorized spectrum in defiance of the DMCA.

And if we put the making movement in the context of other social and political movements, it's had amazing success. In city after city, year after year, tens of thousands of people pay money to show up and learn about taking control of their media, learning, consumption and communications. In contrast to groups like the Tea Party, the crowd at Maker Faire is diverse, includes children and adults of all ages, and never finds itself in conflict with other groups based on identity or politics. More importantly, the jobs that many of us have in 2030 will be determined by young people who attended a Maker Faire, in industries that they've created. There is no other political movement in America today with a credible claim at creating the jobs of the future.

Make The Revolution

Roundup, Venture Capital, Innovation Economy

VCs Making Smaller Investments, V-Vehicle Restarting Under New CEO, Qualcomm Buys iSkoot, & More San Diego BizTech News

Bruce V. Bigelow 10/18/10

A common theme in last week’s technology news is how companies and entire industries continually remake their businesses, whether it’s the venture capital community, startup carmakers, or a San Diego company that specializes in data storage technology. Read on to see what I mean.

—As the venture capital survey data comes in from the three months that ended September 30, we’re seeing a nationwide rebound in first-time financings for startups. Data from CB Insights, the New York financial information firm, shows seed-stage deals increasing from 1 percent of the deals in the third quarter of 2009 to 11 percent of all deals during the third quarter.

—Venture capital surveys from CB Insights and the MoneyTree Report both show an increasing deal count, but a decline in the total amount of invested. In a year-over-year comparison, the MoneyTree Report showed a 7 percent decline in capital invested with a 9 percent increase in deal count during the third quarter, when venture firms invested $4.8 billion in 780 deals nationwide.

—V-Vehicle, the San Diego startup automaker, changed its name to Next Autoworks. The company, which has raised $87 million from investors that include Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and T. Boone Pickens, also hired industry veteran Kathleen Ligocki as CEO.

—Overland Storage (NASDAQ: OVRL), the San Diego data storage technology specialist, acquired Sunnyvale, CA-based MaxiScale, which provides data protection and data management technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

—San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) acquired San Francisco-based mobile social networks software developer iSkoot Technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

—Biz Stone, a Twitter co-founder and the San Francisco-based company’s creative director, told The San Diego Union-Tribune last week that a new-and-improved version of the micro-blogging service should improve service worldwide. “It was re-architected to actually be snappier, faster – to deal with information faster,” said Stone, who was in San Diego to speak at the 2010 Tijuana Innovadora conference on innovation across the border.

—Predixion Software, based just across the Orange County line in Aliso Viejo, CA, said it had closed on $5 million in Series A financing, led by DFJ Frontier. Predixion, which specializes in low-cost, self-service in the cloud predictive analytics software, said it will use the funds to expand product development,increase sales and marketing initiatives, and expand its sales channel programs and strategic partnership activities.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call 858-202-0492

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

World Rally Championship - <b>News</b> - SS5: Petter quickest - just

Post rally interview - Petter Solberg � Petter Solberg interview. Related News. SS2: Petter the pace-setter � Solberg aims to reign in Spain � Solberg continues charge for third in WRC � Rally Radio - Listen Live ...

Sharp to stop selling and manufacturing PCs from now on <b>...</b>

The good news however, is that Sharp will continue to provide ultra compact devices including their Netwalker series. Also, Sharp underline that this is just a “Strategic” move from now on and that the company may one day come back into ...

eric seiger eric seiger

What Internet activism looks like

Cory Doctorow at 1:21 PM Tuesday, Sep 28, 2010

Anil Dash hits one so far out of the park it attains orbit in this response to a silly Malcolm Gladwell column that decried Internet activism as incapable of achieving meaningful change. It's all must-read stuff, but here's the bit that made me want to stand up and salute:

Today, Dale Dougherty and the dozens of others who have led Maker Faire, and the culture of "making", are in front of a
movement of millions who are proactive about challenging the constrictions that law and corporations are trying to place on how they communicate, create and live. The lesson that simply making things is a radical political act has enormous precedence in political history; I learned it well as a child when my own family's conversation after a screening of Gandhi turned to the salt protests in India, which were first catalyzed in my family's home state of Orissa, and led to my great-grandfather walking alongside Gandhi and others in the salt marches to come. Today's American Tea Partiers see even the original "tea party" largely as a metaphor, but the salt marches were a declaration of self-determination as expressed through manufacturing that took the symbolism of the Boston Tea Party and made it part of everyday life.

To his last day, my great-grandfather wore khadi, the handspun clothing that didn't just represent independence from the British Raj in an abstract way, but made defiance of onerous British regulation as plain as the clothes on one's back. At Maker Faire this weekend, there were numerous examples of clothing that were made to defy laws about everything from spectrum to encryption law. It would have been only an afternoon's work to construct a t-shirt that broadcast CSS-descrambling code over unauthorized spectrum in defiance of the DMCA.

And if we put the making movement in the context of other social and political movements, it's had amazing success. In city after city, year after year, tens of thousands of people pay money to show up and learn about taking control of their media, learning, consumption and communications. In contrast to groups like the Tea Party, the crowd at Maker Faire is diverse, includes children and adults of all ages, and never finds itself in conflict with other groups based on identity or politics. More importantly, the jobs that many of us have in 2030 will be determined by young people who attended a Maker Faire, in industries that they've created. There is no other political movement in America today with a credible claim at creating the jobs of the future.

Make The Revolution

Roundup, Venture Capital, Innovation Economy

VCs Making Smaller Investments, V-Vehicle Restarting Under New CEO, Qualcomm Buys iSkoot, & More San Diego BizTech News

Bruce V. Bigelow 10/18/10

A common theme in last week’s technology news is how companies and entire industries continually remake their businesses, whether it’s the venture capital community, startup carmakers, or a San Diego company that specializes in data storage technology. Read on to see what I mean.

—As the venture capital survey data comes in from the three months that ended September 30, we’re seeing a nationwide rebound in first-time financings for startups. Data from CB Insights, the New York financial information firm, shows seed-stage deals increasing from 1 percent of the deals in the third quarter of 2009 to 11 percent of all deals during the third quarter.

—Venture capital surveys from CB Insights and the MoneyTree Report both show an increasing deal count, but a decline in the total amount of invested. In a year-over-year comparison, the MoneyTree Report showed a 7 percent decline in capital invested with a 9 percent increase in deal count during the third quarter, when venture firms invested $4.8 billion in 780 deals nationwide.

—V-Vehicle, the San Diego startup automaker, changed its name to Next Autoworks. The company, which has raised $87 million from investors that include Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and T. Boone Pickens, also hired industry veteran Kathleen Ligocki as CEO.

—Overland Storage (NASDAQ: OVRL), the San Diego data storage technology specialist, acquired Sunnyvale, CA-based MaxiScale, which provides data protection and data management technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

—San Diego’s Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) acquired San Francisco-based mobile social networks software developer iSkoot Technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

—Biz Stone, a Twitter co-founder and the San Francisco-based company’s creative director, told The San Diego Union-Tribune last week that a new-and-improved version of the micro-blogging service should improve service worldwide. “It was re-architected to actually be snappier, faster – to deal with information faster,” said Stone, who was in San Diego to speak at the 2010 Tijuana Innovadora conference on innovation across the border.

—Predixion Software, based just across the Orange County line in Aliso Viejo, CA, said it had closed on $5 million in Series A financing, led by DFJ Frontier. Predixion, which specializes in low-cost, self-service in the cloud predictive analytics software, said it will use the funds to expand product development,increase sales and marketing initiatives, and expand its sales channel programs and strategic partnership activities.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call 858-202-0492

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

World Rally Championship - <b>News</b> - SS5: Petter quickest - just

Post rally interview - Petter Solberg � Petter Solberg interview. Related News. SS2: Petter the pace-setter � Solberg aims to reign in Spain � Solberg continues charge for third in WRC � Rally Radio - Listen Live ...

Sharp to stop selling and manufacturing PCs from now on <b>...</b>

The good news however, is that Sharp will continue to provide ultra compact devices including their Netwalker series. Also, Sharp underline that this is just a “Strategic” move from now on and that the company may one day come back into ...

eric seiger eric seiger

Kids Making Money

Dowd has sacrificed her own womanhood on the devil's altar of the right of mothers to murder their own offspring and now stares horrified as traditional women, who dare to love their femininity and the children who go with it, have charged at the leftist feminist fortress with superlative success. Hating their womanhood has petered out for the embittered, we'll-get-even '70s crowd just as the rise of genuine feminism is latching onto a whole new generation of anything-but-misogynist women. While Dowd spurned marriage and opted instead for serial nothing-in-it-for-me affairs, traditional women proved beyond doubt that a truly competent female could have it all -- without using hubby's clout to get a Senate seat (Clinton) or leveraging hubby's millions to buy a house or Senate seat (Pelosi and Boxer) or sleeping one's way to a "respectable" column (Sally Quinn). 

Welcome to October! Before you know it, Christmas will be here.

Personally, I think that the better prepared you are for Christmas, the more likely you are to enjoy it. Over the last few years our family has developed some internal rules that help us make decisions regarding Christmas.

1. Give what you have, not what you will have or wish you had

Honestly, I cannot identify with people who buy all of their Christmas gifts on credit. For years and years, I've known of families who are trying to get out of credit card debt who continue to spend more than they can afford on Christmas gifts. This may make for a decent December, but a horrible January.

If you've ever read or watched a version of A Christmas Carol, then one of your greatest fears may be that people are going to look at you and think you are just like Scrooge. As a result, we give what we do not have and buy gifts on credit.

In your Christmas planning, you must establish boundaries.

1. Financial Boundaries (often called making a budget) — How much money do you have to spend on Christmas?


2. Scheduling boundaries — How many Christmas parties can you logically attend?


3. Hosting boundaries — How many people can you feasibly host?

As a result, 'no' must become a part of your Christmas vocabulary. For many, Christmas is about a time of over-commitment, so it is essential that we know our limits.

2. Giving a gift does not require buying a gift

You can communicate love for someone by giving them something that does not cost a penny. Somehow we've muddled love and spending together. As a result, we think those who spend money on us love us.

For the last few years my family (wife and the kids) have exchanged homemade Christmas gifts. Those gifts are some of the most valuable items in my office. Have you ever heard the question "What would you save if your house was burning down?" The things I'd try and get would include the silhouette of my kids, the hand-print card, and the "we love you daddy" scrapbook page.

3. You must make a list, but you might need to check it more than twice

When I've written about how to make a Christmas budget, I suggest that people write a long list of everyone they want to give a gift to.

robert shumake twitter

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake detroit
Dowd has sacrificed her own womanhood on the devil's altar of the right of mothers to murder their own offspring and now stares horrified as traditional women, who dare to love their femininity and the children who go with it, have charged at the leftist feminist fortress with superlative success. Hating their womanhood has petered out for the embittered, we'll-get-even '70s crowd just as the rise of genuine feminism is latching onto a whole new generation of anything-but-misogynist women. While Dowd spurned marriage and opted instead for serial nothing-in-it-for-me affairs, traditional women proved beyond doubt that a truly competent female could have it all -- without using hubby's clout to get a Senate seat (Clinton) or leveraging hubby's millions to buy a house or Senate seat (Pelosi and Boxer) or sleeping one's way to a "respectable" column (Sally Quinn). 

Welcome to October! Before you know it, Christmas will be here.

Personally, I think that the better prepared you are for Christmas, the more likely you are to enjoy it. Over the last few years our family has developed some internal rules that help us make decisions regarding Christmas.

1. Give what you have, not what you will have or wish you had

Honestly, I cannot identify with people who buy all of their Christmas gifts on credit. For years and years, I've known of families who are trying to get out of credit card debt who continue to spend more than they can afford on Christmas gifts. This may make for a decent December, but a horrible January.

If you've ever read or watched a version of A Christmas Carol, then one of your greatest fears may be that people are going to look at you and think you are just like Scrooge. As a result, we give what we do not have and buy gifts on credit.

In your Christmas planning, you must establish boundaries.

1. Financial Boundaries (often called making a budget) — How much money do you have to spend on Christmas?


2. Scheduling boundaries — How many Christmas parties can you logically attend?


3. Hosting boundaries — How many people can you feasibly host?

As a result, 'no' must become a part of your Christmas vocabulary. For many, Christmas is about a time of over-commitment, so it is essential that we know our limits.

2. Giving a gift does not require buying a gift

You can communicate love for someone by giving them something that does not cost a penny. Somehow we've muddled love and spending together. As a result, we think those who spend money on us love us.

For the last few years my family (wife and the kids) have exchanged homemade Christmas gifts. Those gifts are some of the most valuable items in my office. Have you ever heard the question "What would you save if your house was burning down?" The things I'd try and get would include the silhouette of my kids, the hand-print card, and the "we love you daddy" scrapbook page.

3. You must make a list, but you might need to check it more than twice

When I've written about how to make a Christmas budget, I suggest that people write a long list of everyone they want to give a gift to.

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Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake twitter

robert shumake hall of shame

robert shumake twitter

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake hall of shame
Dowd has sacrificed her own womanhood on the devil's altar of the right of mothers to murder their own offspring and now stares horrified as traditional women, who dare to love their femininity and the children who go with it, have charged at the leftist feminist fortress with superlative success. Hating their womanhood has petered out for the embittered, we'll-get-even '70s crowd just as the rise of genuine feminism is latching onto a whole new generation of anything-but-misogynist women. While Dowd spurned marriage and opted instead for serial nothing-in-it-for-me affairs, traditional women proved beyond doubt that a truly competent female could have it all -- without using hubby's clout to get a Senate seat (Clinton) or leveraging hubby's millions to buy a house or Senate seat (Pelosi and Boxer) or sleeping one's way to a "respectable" column (Sally Quinn). 

Welcome to October! Before you know it, Christmas will be here.

Personally, I think that the better prepared you are for Christmas, the more likely you are to enjoy it. Over the last few years our family has developed some internal rules that help us make decisions regarding Christmas.

1. Give what you have, not what you will have or wish you had

Honestly, I cannot identify with people who buy all of their Christmas gifts on credit. For years and years, I've known of families who are trying to get out of credit card debt who continue to spend more than they can afford on Christmas gifts. This may make for a decent December, but a horrible January.

If you've ever read or watched a version of A Christmas Carol, then one of your greatest fears may be that people are going to look at you and think you are just like Scrooge. As a result, we give what we do not have and buy gifts on credit.

In your Christmas planning, you must establish boundaries.

1. Financial Boundaries (often called making a budget) — How much money do you have to spend on Christmas?


2. Scheduling boundaries — How many Christmas parties can you logically attend?


3. Hosting boundaries — How many people can you feasibly host?

As a result, 'no' must become a part of your Christmas vocabulary. For many, Christmas is about a time of over-commitment, so it is essential that we know our limits.

2. Giving a gift does not require buying a gift

You can communicate love for someone by giving them something that does not cost a penny. Somehow we've muddled love and spending together. As a result, we think those who spend money on us love us.

For the last few years my family (wife and the kids) have exchanged homemade Christmas gifts. Those gifts are some of the most valuable items in my office. Have you ever heard the question "What would you save if your house was burning down?" The things I'd try and get would include the silhouette of my kids, the hand-print card, and the "we love you daddy" scrapbook page.

3. You must make a list, but you might need to check it more than twice

When I've written about how to make a Christmas budget, I suggest that people write a long list of everyone they want to give a gift to.

robert shumake hall of shame

robert shumake detroit

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake twitter

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake twitter

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake twitter

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

how to lose weight fast robert shumake twitter
robert shumake hall of shame

robert shumake hall of shame
robert shumake hall of shame

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake twitter

Ever watch Gone with the Wind? Remember that scene early on when Scarlett's dad-before his mind with the wind-tried to sell Scarlett on the importance of land? He didn't call his estate Tara for nothing. Scarlett eventually came around and learned the lesson of the value of owning land. What lesson? Barring some unfortunate events, it's the only thing that will always be here.

You can still make money in real estate speculation. For all the talk of keeping immigrants out, and telling people who don't believe like the President does that they should leave it, America is still overwhelming undeveloped. With bans on abortion and abortion pills around the corner, even if we do manage to keep the immigrants down in Mexico, there's still going to be an increase in population. Those people need real estate on which to live and on which to sell you things you don't need.

So how can you go about making money in real estate speculation? Here are a few suggestions that have worked well in the past.

BUY UNDEVELOPED LAND
Although the most risky technique, this can also provide the biggest payoff. The risks range from the possibility of the land dropping in value to the fact that you can't get any tax benefits from it. And, of course, undeveloped land won't provide you the income that developed land can. On the other hand, who hasn't driven past a booming neighborhood and heard their grandparents say something along the lines of "I had the chance to buy that at two dollars an acre, but I just didn't have the money back then." If you live near a big city and can get any kind of a good deal on land adjacent to it, then by all means do it; there's no better gamble to take when it comes to real estate speculation. For that matter, this kind of speculation even makes sense in small towns; it wasn't too long ago that many overcrowded, over franchised suburban areas used to be relatively isolated small towns. Heck, some of the most expensive real estate in the Atlanta area, for instance, didn't even have a single Walmart as recently as twenty years ago. Now those same rural areas that used to be dominated by long expanses of literally nothing are indistinguishable from any area inside the actual city limits.

But real estate speculation of this type doesn't mean you can just drive out somewhere, stop your car and hit on a goldmine. Don't choose just any parcel of land. Do your homework. Look over the town, city or county planning and zoning records to determine where the infrastructure is headed. If plans are already in place to lay down a four-lane highway somewhere where's nothing now, that might be a good place to speculate on. Determine where commercial development and residential development will be the densest in ten to fifteen years and shop accordingly. If you're young enough and willing to wait it out, plan ahead for twenty, thirty or even forty years. What you think is ridiculously expensive for an overgrown piece of forest right now may one day look as cheap as that two dollars an acre your grandfather passed over fifty years ago. Undeveloped land is also a terrific investment gift to pass on to your children or grandchildren; real estate speculation doesn't have to focus on your own bank account. In that way, you can try looking longer into the future and significantly increase your chances of finding something really cheap.

INVESTING IN SEIZED PROPERTY
Property is often sold for the price of the delinquent taxes owed; or auctioned off to the highest bidder. This kind of real estate speculation can present a real opportunity for making money, but you have to be careful. You really have to do your homework before attending one of these public sales. The most painful pitfall may be finding out that the tax bill is greater than the actual value of the property. In addition, unless you've researched it, your dreams of becoming a real estate mogul ala Donald Trump may come wind up leaving you with nothing but blueprints inside your head unless you make sure the site has been zoned for business or residential construction first. In addition, it is wise to consult your particular state and local laws regarding the rights that a previous owner has to property that has been seized from him. In many cases, he may still have the right to reclaim his property which can result in all kinds of legal entanglements. When bidding at an auction, make sure you've kept your intentions on the property to yourself. Don't do anything to invite an unnecessary bidding war. Remember, real estate speculation is a big game for those with lots of money.

FOLLOW THE CLOWN
If you notice a McDonald's popping up in an unexpected place, take notice. McDonald's hasn't been able to sell billions and billions of hamburgers by building their restaurants where the kids ain't. Neither have the managed to make billons and billions of dollars in profit by buying the most expensive property in town. Same thing goes for any other huge and profitable brand name consumer company, whether they be Subway, Holiday Inn, or Target. Although it's probably too late to cash in on bargain prices by the time you actually see one of these companies' instantly identifiable building, if you spend a little time looking through the public records you may get lucky enough to come across evidence of their own brand of real estate speculation. If you can get even luckier and come across the record of a franchise investing in a relatively undeveloped area that is the equivalent of striking gold. Think about how often you've seen a Burger King or Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere. Unless you're talking a strictly rural area, most often by the time the franchise goes up, there's already been some residential growth. Well, think about it: You don't make profit by buying land after it's already quadrupled in value, right? These big boys spend huge amounts of money conducting research into which underdeveloped areas are likely to grow and where they can find the best deal for land before the growth starts. What's more, you can also rest assured in the knowledge that they very rarely get their real estate speculation wrong. You want evidence: Franchises almost never sell off unused property at a loss. Take advantage of their resources and you may just find yourself benefiting by making money in real estate speculation.


robert shumake hall of shame

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

robert shumake detroit

Small Business <b>News</b>: BlogWorld Wrap Up

BlogWorld 2010 has come and gone with more than a few new revelations imperative to the small business community. This post will feature as kind of a wrap up of.

Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Watershed debuts Waterproof Bag for iPad. Find more iPad Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Making Money Work

The aptly named Dick Armey is a real piece of work. As Think Progress noted, the former Speaker of the House turned Freedom Works astroturf teabagger leader came on Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker's new show on CNN and lied about the state of Texas benefiting from federal funding for higher education.

Dick Armey Wants To Completely Eliminate Any Federal Funding For Higher Education:

At one point, Spitzer asked Armey a series of questions about what he thinks the government should and should not be involved in funding to try to “add texture” to what the FreedomWorks chairman believes. During this question period, the CNN host asked Armey if he would “have the federal government pay for higher education?” Armey bluntly responded, “No, I would not.” He then went on to say that the university system of his home state of Texas has “not been made any better by federal money involvement.

Armey’s claim that the “federal government’s involvement in education” hasn’t “benefited the students of America” is wildly false.

Texas students are major benificiaries of this spending. Students in the state actually utilize federal student loans at a level above that of the average U.S. student. During the 2006-2007 school year, 83 percent of Texans utilized federal student loans, compared to 71 percent of Americans.

Spitzer did a good job of getting Dick Armey to lay out just what programs he and his corporate funded "Tea Party" would like to eliminate or drastically cut from federal government funding. Naturally military spending wasn't on the list, but Social Security privatization among a lot of other cuts to social programs were. These people like Dick Armey and his ilk aren't going to be happy until they turn us into a third world country with nothing but rich and poor. It was nice to see him get forced to lay out some specifics instead of just platitudes for once as he was in this interview, not that he was short on his usual platitudes as well as he answered. Big 'gubmit is evil, unless of course you privatize everything so it's used to just funnel money to your corporate funders and we need the "freedom" to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

That works our pretty well for folks like Dick Armey who aren't living on a shoestring and have a lot of large corporate interests making sure he's never going to be hurting or worrying about how he's going to feed his family or pay his bills. For the rest of us, not so much. I wonder if Dick Armey knows what the minimum wage is? My bet is he either doesn't know, or doesn't care just like the rest of these Republicans who are trying to con the working class into thinking care about anything but the interests of big business. The only "freedoms" a Dick Armey cares about are the "freedoms" for corporations to force Americans to compete with slave wages overseas while funneling our tax dollars to the wealthiest among us who pay his bills to help spread their propaganda.

Transcript below the fold via CNN.

SPITZER: No, no, no, not the big words like that, but the specific policies you talk about. I want to see if we can get a better understanding of it and sort of see if we agree or disagree on some basic stuff.

You're talking about a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do. Fair to say?

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... about what government...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... to be...

ARMEY: Perhaps there was a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do a couple hundred years ago. They called it the Constitution of the United States

SPITZER: Right. OK.

ARMEY: And it was a Constitution that limited government out of deference to the rights of the individual to his liberty

What we're trying to do is restore government back to the vision of our nation that made us the greatest blessing in history of the world

SPITZER: I understand you see it that way. I'm not disagreeing with that. I just want to see if we can add texture to what this means

ARMEY: OK.

SPITZER: Because when I read -- and I have read a lot of the documents. Let me give you some specific programs and say, would you fund them, all right, things that people can relate to? Would you have had the federal government build the interstate highway system?

ARMEY: Absolutely. And you can find that in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."

SPITZER: OK. All right. OK. Would you have had -- would you have the federal government pay for higher education? You're a university professor.

ARMEY: No, I would not

SPITZER: You would not have any funding, no government funding?

ARMEY: No. I don't think the federal government's involvement in higher education has benefited the students of America

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Would you...

PARKER: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let him finish that thought, if you don't mind...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Well, the federal government has the military academies, and it's an important thing. They should continue to do that

But the education of our young people should be under the jurisdiction and under the auspices of the state governments. The state of Texas has a great university system that has not been made any better by federal government involvement

SPITZER: So, you would rip out all money that goes to the universities and say let the states increase their taxes to pay for it?

ARMEY: Let the states manage the education of their young people

SPITZER: Let's continue.

Centers for Disease Control to help make sure we...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Centers for Disease Control left in the hands of the scientists is probably a very important thing

SPITZER: So you would eliminate it, the Centers for Disease Control?

ARMEY: No, I did not. I would leave it in the hands of the scientists and I would tell the politicians to butt out. Let real who have real expertise make scientific decisions, medical decisions. Let's not have a bunch of political mandates issued by people who don't even understand..

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I don't think that is what CDC does.

OK, how about NIH, National Institutes for Health, does all the research?

ARMEY: I think again that is probably acceptable opportunity to do some good with the federal government's taxpayer dollars, if they have the discipline to leave the agency to do its job on a professional basis, rather than corrupting it.

SPITZER: How about NASA? You going to fund NASA?

ARMEY: Oh, absolutely I would fund NASA. And I sure as heck would keep it focused on its initial mission

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: Now, in your book, and in all the Tea Party stuff, they say we're not cutting defense

ARMEY: I think, again, you can rationalize every agency. There are efficiencies to be made in defense, as there...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: But you're saying we're not -- so, I'm just trying to figure out where you're cutting.

ARMEY: Defense is stipulated in the Constitution as a legitimate, necessary duty of the federal government

SPITZER: So, where are you cutting?

ARMEY: How about we cut out a lot of nonsense like National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts? And how about getting rid of AmeriCorps, which is just obnoxious?

SPITZER: AmeriCorps, OK.

ARMEY: Even intellectually, it's an insult to the American people

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: How about you get rid of the Corporation for National Broadcasting in that very nominal party of the budget which is called discretionary spending, which I would probably call indiscretionary spending?

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society transformed the budget of the United States government from 85 percent discretionary, 15 percent mandatory, to just the reverse. Now your ability to cut spending and to make the trims that are necessary to restore the government to service in the lives of the people is made very difficult because of the dominance of...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: One thing we should point out is that the congressman is also an economist. This is not just a political stump speech here.

ARMEY: This government cannot grow the private sector of the economy by itself, growing larger. It's like you have got a 200-pound jockey that thinks, if I just eat more and gain myself to 210, the horse will be able to win the race...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I like that metaphor...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: It seems pretty simple. I mean, we clearly can't afford everything we have got. We can't -- we have got to stop spending somewhere...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: I will tell you what. I will give today's retirees and today's working youth a more hard, fast commitment for Social Security.

I will say to every child in America, every working man and woman in this country, I will guarantee you, you will have Social Security just as you know it today, with the only change being a cost of living adjustment that is commensurate with the consumer price index for the rest of your life, if you choose to stay in it.

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: But I will also give you the right to choose to leave it.

SPITZER: But you're saying something very important that I don't think most people are picking up on. What you're doing is changing the escalator in Social Security in a way that many people agree with.

ARMEY: That's right. And I'll tell you what.

SPITZER: I happen to agree with that.

ARMEY: I'm going to just say to the American people, if you choose to...

SPITZER: You already said you're going to do one of them.

ARMEY: If you, as a free-born individual person, choose to say, I want to leave this mandatory government program, you're free to leave. You're free to say no to the government.

I have stopped playing Everquest when the level cap was 70.

Several years ago.

I had a level 70 Wizard & Beastlord. It took me 3 years to build these characters up, the leveling was so slow & I had only a limited amount of time in which to play, Family, Friends & work always came first.

I quit because I realised just how little I was getting from the game in terms of real life advantages in the real world.



I still have 1 friend who still plays it. His hours of play are about 5 YEARS out of the 8 or so EQ has been around.

No surprises then that hes single - no job, 37 & lives with his mum.



When I visit him he is always on a raid & has very little time for me while I'm there.



So I re-activated my account for a month just to see if the game still had any interest to me. My friend invited me into his guild which lead me to a raid that night.

I arrived at the raid meeting point then spent 3 hrs waiting on everyone showing up, getting ready etc...

I sat there numb watching everyone floating up & down in levitate spells. It all came back to me in a rush.



It was like watching a film you have seen a million times but never really liked. I found the blank wall next to my monitor more interesting to stare at.



Finally the raid got underway... 10mins later 60+ dead people & a promise of another 3 hr wait while everyone recovers....



I logged off. Deleted the EQ folder, snapped the disks & felt so much better for it.



Never ever ever ever again. NeverQuest.



Guild wars rocked as I could log in play a good game no matter what level I was, then not play it again for months without falling behind my friends so badly that it was a problem.



Guild wars 2 - promises a blend of the original GW & current style MMO's like WOW. Free to play - and most importantly no need to get 30hrs a week in just to be cool.

(reply to this)
(link to this) (view in thread)

benchcraft company portland or

Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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The aptly named Dick Armey is a real piece of work. As Think Progress noted, the former Speaker of the House turned Freedom Works astroturf teabagger leader came on Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker's new show on CNN and lied about the state of Texas benefiting from federal funding for higher education.

Dick Armey Wants To Completely Eliminate Any Federal Funding For Higher Education:

At one point, Spitzer asked Armey a series of questions about what he thinks the government should and should not be involved in funding to try to “add texture” to what the FreedomWorks chairman believes. During this question period, the CNN host asked Armey if he would “have the federal government pay for higher education?” Armey bluntly responded, “No, I would not.” He then went on to say that the university system of his home state of Texas has “not been made any better by federal money involvement.

Armey’s claim that the “federal government’s involvement in education” hasn’t “benefited the students of America” is wildly false.

Texas students are major benificiaries of this spending. Students in the state actually utilize federal student loans at a level above that of the average U.S. student. During the 2006-2007 school year, 83 percent of Texans utilized federal student loans, compared to 71 percent of Americans.

Spitzer did a good job of getting Dick Armey to lay out just what programs he and his corporate funded "Tea Party" would like to eliminate or drastically cut from federal government funding. Naturally military spending wasn't on the list, but Social Security privatization among a lot of other cuts to social programs were. These people like Dick Armey and his ilk aren't going to be happy until they turn us into a third world country with nothing but rich and poor. It was nice to see him get forced to lay out some specifics instead of just platitudes for once as he was in this interview, not that he was short on his usual platitudes as well as he answered. Big 'gubmit is evil, unless of course you privatize everything so it's used to just funnel money to your corporate funders and we need the "freedom" to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

That works our pretty well for folks like Dick Armey who aren't living on a shoestring and have a lot of large corporate interests making sure he's never going to be hurting or worrying about how he's going to feed his family or pay his bills. For the rest of us, not so much. I wonder if Dick Armey knows what the minimum wage is? My bet is he either doesn't know, or doesn't care just like the rest of these Republicans who are trying to con the working class into thinking care about anything but the interests of big business. The only "freedoms" a Dick Armey cares about are the "freedoms" for corporations to force Americans to compete with slave wages overseas while funneling our tax dollars to the wealthiest among us who pay his bills to help spread their propaganda.

Transcript below the fold via CNN.

SPITZER: No, no, no, not the big words like that, but the specific policies you talk about. I want to see if we can get a better understanding of it and sort of see if we agree or disagree on some basic stuff.

You're talking about a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do. Fair to say?

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... about what government...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... to be...

ARMEY: Perhaps there was a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do a couple hundred years ago. They called it the Constitution of the United States

SPITZER: Right. OK.

ARMEY: And it was a Constitution that limited government out of deference to the rights of the individual to his liberty

What we're trying to do is restore government back to the vision of our nation that made us the greatest blessing in history of the world

SPITZER: I understand you see it that way. I'm not disagreeing with that. I just want to see if we can add texture to what this means

ARMEY: OK.

SPITZER: Because when I read -- and I have read a lot of the documents. Let me give you some specific programs and say, would you fund them, all right, things that people can relate to? Would you have had the federal government build the interstate highway system?

ARMEY: Absolutely. And you can find that in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."

SPITZER: OK. All right. OK. Would you have had -- would you have the federal government pay for higher education? You're a university professor.

ARMEY: No, I would not

SPITZER: You would not have any funding, no government funding?

ARMEY: No. I don't think the federal government's involvement in higher education has benefited the students of America

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Would you...

PARKER: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let him finish that thought, if you don't mind...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Well, the federal government has the military academies, and it's an important thing. They should continue to do that

But the education of our young people should be under the jurisdiction and under the auspices of the state governments. The state of Texas has a great university system that has not been made any better by federal government involvement

SPITZER: So, you would rip out all money that goes to the universities and say let the states increase their taxes to pay for it?

ARMEY: Let the states manage the education of their young people

SPITZER: Let's continue.

Centers for Disease Control to help make sure we...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Centers for Disease Control left in the hands of the scientists is probably a very important thing

SPITZER: So you would eliminate it, the Centers for Disease Control?

ARMEY: No, I did not. I would leave it in the hands of the scientists and I would tell the politicians to butt out. Let real who have real expertise make scientific decisions, medical decisions. Let's not have a bunch of political mandates issued by people who don't even understand..

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I don't think that is what CDC does.

OK, how about NIH, National Institutes for Health, does all the research?

ARMEY: I think again that is probably acceptable opportunity to do some good with the federal government's taxpayer dollars, if they have the discipline to leave the agency to do its job on a professional basis, rather than corrupting it.

SPITZER: How about NASA? You going to fund NASA?

ARMEY: Oh, absolutely I would fund NASA. And I sure as heck would keep it focused on its initial mission

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: Now, in your book, and in all the Tea Party stuff, they say we're not cutting defense

ARMEY: I think, again, you can rationalize every agency. There are efficiencies to be made in defense, as there...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: But you're saying we're not -- so, I'm just trying to figure out where you're cutting.

ARMEY: Defense is stipulated in the Constitution as a legitimate, necessary duty of the federal government

SPITZER: So, where are you cutting?

ARMEY: How about we cut out a lot of nonsense like National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts? And how about getting rid of AmeriCorps, which is just obnoxious?

SPITZER: AmeriCorps, OK.

ARMEY: Even intellectually, it's an insult to the American people

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: How about you get rid of the Corporation for National Broadcasting in that very nominal party of the budget which is called discretionary spending, which I would probably call indiscretionary spending?

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society transformed the budget of the United States government from 85 percent discretionary, 15 percent mandatory, to just the reverse. Now your ability to cut spending and to make the trims that are necessary to restore the government to service in the lives of the people is made very difficult because of the dominance of...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: One thing we should point out is that the congressman is also an economist. This is not just a political stump speech here.

ARMEY: This government cannot grow the private sector of the economy by itself, growing larger. It's like you have got a 200-pound jockey that thinks, if I just eat more and gain myself to 210, the horse will be able to win the race...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I like that metaphor...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: It seems pretty simple. I mean, we clearly can't afford everything we have got. We can't -- we have got to stop spending somewhere...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: I will tell you what. I will give today's retirees and today's working youth a more hard, fast commitment for Social Security.

I will say to every child in America, every working man and woman in this country, I will guarantee you, you will have Social Security just as you know it today, with the only change being a cost of living adjustment that is commensurate with the consumer price index for the rest of your life, if you choose to stay in it.

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: But I will also give you the right to choose to leave it.

SPITZER: But you're saying something very important that I don't think most people are picking up on. What you're doing is changing the escalator in Social Security in a way that many people agree with.

ARMEY: That's right. And I'll tell you what.

SPITZER: I happen to agree with that.

ARMEY: I'm going to just say to the American people, if you choose to...

SPITZER: You already said you're going to do one of them.

ARMEY: If you, as a free-born individual person, choose to say, I want to leave this mandatory government program, you're free to leave. You're free to say no to the government.

I have stopped playing Everquest when the level cap was 70.

Several years ago.

I had a level 70 Wizard & Beastlord. It took me 3 years to build these characters up, the leveling was so slow & I had only a limited amount of time in which to play, Family, Friends & work always came first.

I quit because I realised just how little I was getting from the game in terms of real life advantages in the real world.



I still have 1 friend who still plays it. His hours of play are about 5 YEARS out of the 8 or so EQ has been around.

No surprises then that hes single - no job, 37 & lives with his mum.



When I visit him he is always on a raid & has very little time for me while I'm there.



So I re-activated my account for a month just to see if the game still had any interest to me. My friend invited me into his guild which lead me to a raid that night.

I arrived at the raid meeting point then spent 3 hrs waiting on everyone showing up, getting ready etc...

I sat there numb watching everyone floating up & down in levitate spells. It all came back to me in a rush.



It was like watching a film you have seen a million times but never really liked. I found the blank wall next to my monitor more interesting to stare at.



Finally the raid got underway... 10mins later 60+ dead people & a promise of another 3 hr wait while everyone recovers....



I logged off. Deleted the EQ folder, snapped the disks & felt so much better for it.



Never ever ever ever again. NeverQuest.



Guild wars rocked as I could log in play a good game no matter what level I was, then not play it again for months without falling behind my friends so badly that it was a problem.



Guild wars 2 - promises a blend of the original GW & current style MMO's like WOW. Free to play - and most importantly no need to get 30hrs a week in just to be cool.

(reply to this)
(link to this) (view in thread)

benchcraft company portland or

Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

benchcraft company portland or

bench craft company reviews

benchcraft company scam

Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

bench craft company reviews

The aptly named Dick Armey is a real piece of work. As Think Progress noted, the former Speaker of the House turned Freedom Works astroturf teabagger leader came on Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker's new show on CNN and lied about the state of Texas benefiting from federal funding for higher education.

Dick Armey Wants To Completely Eliminate Any Federal Funding For Higher Education:

At one point, Spitzer asked Armey a series of questions about what he thinks the government should and should not be involved in funding to try to “add texture” to what the FreedomWorks chairman believes. During this question period, the CNN host asked Armey if he would “have the federal government pay for higher education?” Armey bluntly responded, “No, I would not.” He then went on to say that the university system of his home state of Texas has “not been made any better by federal money involvement.

Armey’s claim that the “federal government’s involvement in education” hasn’t “benefited the students of America” is wildly false.

Texas students are major benificiaries of this spending. Students in the state actually utilize federal student loans at a level above that of the average U.S. student. During the 2006-2007 school year, 83 percent of Texans utilized federal student loans, compared to 71 percent of Americans.

Spitzer did a good job of getting Dick Armey to lay out just what programs he and his corporate funded "Tea Party" would like to eliminate or drastically cut from federal government funding. Naturally military spending wasn't on the list, but Social Security privatization among a lot of other cuts to social programs were. These people like Dick Armey and his ilk aren't going to be happy until they turn us into a third world country with nothing but rich and poor. It was nice to see him get forced to lay out some specifics instead of just platitudes for once as he was in this interview, not that he was short on his usual platitudes as well as he answered. Big 'gubmit is evil, unless of course you privatize everything so it's used to just funnel money to your corporate funders and we need the "freedom" to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

That works our pretty well for folks like Dick Armey who aren't living on a shoestring and have a lot of large corporate interests making sure he's never going to be hurting or worrying about how he's going to feed his family or pay his bills. For the rest of us, not so much. I wonder if Dick Armey knows what the minimum wage is? My bet is he either doesn't know, or doesn't care just like the rest of these Republicans who are trying to con the working class into thinking care about anything but the interests of big business. The only "freedoms" a Dick Armey cares about are the "freedoms" for corporations to force Americans to compete with slave wages overseas while funneling our tax dollars to the wealthiest among us who pay his bills to help spread their propaganda.

Transcript below the fold via CNN.

SPITZER: No, no, no, not the big words like that, but the specific policies you talk about. I want to see if we can get a better understanding of it and sort of see if we agree or disagree on some basic stuff.

You're talking about a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do. Fair to say?

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... about what government...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: ... to be...

ARMEY: Perhaps there was a radical redefinition of what government does and doesn't do a couple hundred years ago. They called it the Constitution of the United States

SPITZER: Right. OK.

ARMEY: And it was a Constitution that limited government out of deference to the rights of the individual to his liberty

What we're trying to do is restore government back to the vision of our nation that made us the greatest blessing in history of the world

SPITZER: I understand you see it that way. I'm not disagreeing with that. I just want to see if we can add texture to what this means

ARMEY: OK.

SPITZER: Because when I read -- and I have read a lot of the documents. Let me give you some specific programs and say, would you fund them, all right, things that people can relate to? Would you have had the federal government build the interstate highway system?

ARMEY: Absolutely. And you can find that in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."

SPITZER: OK. All right. OK. Would you have had -- would you have the federal government pay for higher education? You're a university professor.

ARMEY: No, I would not

SPITZER: You would not have any funding, no government funding?

ARMEY: No. I don't think the federal government's involvement in higher education has benefited the students of America

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Would you...

PARKER: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let him finish that thought, if you don't mind...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Well, the federal government has the military academies, and it's an important thing. They should continue to do that

But the education of our young people should be under the jurisdiction and under the auspices of the state governments. The state of Texas has a great university system that has not been made any better by federal government involvement

SPITZER: So, you would rip out all money that goes to the universities and say let the states increase their taxes to pay for it?

ARMEY: Let the states manage the education of their young people

SPITZER: Let's continue.

Centers for Disease Control to help make sure we...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: Centers for Disease Control left in the hands of the scientists is probably a very important thing

SPITZER: So you would eliminate it, the Centers for Disease Control?

ARMEY: No, I did not. I would leave it in the hands of the scientists and I would tell the politicians to butt out. Let real who have real expertise make scientific decisions, medical decisions. Let's not have a bunch of political mandates issued by people who don't even understand..

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I don't think that is what CDC does.

OK, how about NIH, National Institutes for Health, does all the research?

ARMEY: I think again that is probably acceptable opportunity to do some good with the federal government's taxpayer dollars, if they have the discipline to leave the agency to do its job on a professional basis, rather than corrupting it.

SPITZER: How about NASA? You going to fund NASA?

ARMEY: Oh, absolutely I would fund NASA. And I sure as heck would keep it focused on its initial mission

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: Now, in your book, and in all the Tea Party stuff, they say we're not cutting defense

ARMEY: I think, again, you can rationalize every agency. There are efficiencies to be made in defense, as there...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: But you're saying we're not -- so, I'm just trying to figure out where you're cutting.

ARMEY: Defense is stipulated in the Constitution as a legitimate, necessary duty of the federal government

SPITZER: So, where are you cutting?

ARMEY: How about we cut out a lot of nonsense like National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts? And how about getting rid of AmeriCorps, which is just obnoxious?

SPITZER: AmeriCorps, OK.

ARMEY: Even intellectually, it's an insult to the American people

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: How about you get rid of the Corporation for National Broadcasting in that very nominal party of the budget which is called discretionary spending, which I would probably call indiscretionary spending?

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society transformed the budget of the United States government from 85 percent discretionary, 15 percent mandatory, to just the reverse. Now your ability to cut spending and to make the trims that are necessary to restore the government to service in the lives of the people is made very difficult because of the dominance of...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: One thing we should point out is that the congressman is also an economist. This is not just a political stump speech here.

ARMEY: This government cannot grow the private sector of the economy by itself, growing larger. It's like you have got a 200-pound jockey that thinks, if I just eat more and gain myself to 210, the horse will be able to win the race...

(CROSSTALK)

SPITZER: I like that metaphor...

(CROSSTALK)

PARKER: It seems pretty simple. I mean, we clearly can't afford everything we have got. We can't -- we have got to stop spending somewhere...

(CROSSTALK)

ARMEY: I will tell you what. I will give today's retirees and today's working youth a more hard, fast commitment for Social Security.

I will say to every child in America, every working man and woman in this country, I will guarantee you, you will have Social Security just as you know it today, with the only change being a cost of living adjustment that is commensurate with the consumer price index for the rest of your life, if you choose to stay in it.

SPITZER: OK.

ARMEY: But I will also give you the right to choose to leave it.

SPITZER: But you're saying something very important that I don't think most people are picking up on. What you're doing is changing the escalator in Social Security in a way that many people agree with.

ARMEY: That's right. And I'll tell you what.

SPITZER: I happen to agree with that.

ARMEY: I'm going to just say to the American people, if you choose to...

SPITZER: You already said you're going to do one of them.

ARMEY: If you, as a free-born individual person, choose to say, I want to leave this mandatory government program, you're free to leave. You're free to say no to the government.

I have stopped playing Everquest when the level cap was 70.

Several years ago.

I had a level 70 Wizard & Beastlord. It took me 3 years to build these characters up, the leveling was so slow & I had only a limited amount of time in which to play, Family, Friends & work always came first.

I quit because I realised just how little I was getting from the game in terms of real life advantages in the real world.



I still have 1 friend who still plays it. His hours of play are about 5 YEARS out of the 8 or so EQ has been around.

No surprises then that hes single - no job, 37 & lives with his mum.



When I visit him he is always on a raid & has very little time for me while I'm there.



So I re-activated my account for a month just to see if the game still had any interest to me. My friend invited me into his guild which lead me to a raid that night.

I arrived at the raid meeting point then spent 3 hrs waiting on everyone showing up, getting ready etc...

I sat there numb watching everyone floating up & down in levitate spells. It all came back to me in a rush.



It was like watching a film you have seen a million times but never really liked. I found the blank wall next to my monitor more interesting to stare at.



Finally the raid got underway... 10mins later 60+ dead people & a promise of another 3 hr wait while everyone recovers....



I logged off. Deleted the EQ folder, snapped the disks & felt so much better for it.



Never ever ever ever again. NeverQuest.



Guild wars rocked as I could log in play a good game no matter what level I was, then not play it again for months without falling behind my friends so badly that it was a problem.



Guild wars 2 - promises a blend of the original GW & current style MMO's like WOW. Free to play - and most importantly no need to get 30hrs a week in just to be cool.

(reply to this)
(link to this) (view in thread)

bench craft company reviews

benchcraft company scam

Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

benchcraft company portland or

benchcraft company portland or

Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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Fox <b>News</b>&#39; Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim” « Oliver Willis

19 Responses to “Fox News' Brian Kilmeade: “All Terrorists Are Muslim””. Jay says: October 15, 2010 at 9:13 am. Of course, anybody with a rational mind could understand that Kilmeade was specifically talking about 9/11 and was saying ...

This Week in Credit Card <b>News</b> - MoneyBuilder - making sense of <b>...</b>

Discover Says US Antitrust Settlement Won't Help Consumers Discover says US consumers may not benefit from an antitrust settlement that lets merchants offer rewards and incentives to people who pay with lower-cost credit cards.

Mine Coverage Taxes BBC <b>News</b> Budget - NYTimes.com

The BBC will cut back on some of its coverage plans for the rest of the year because of the high cost of covering the mine rescue in Chile.

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