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This is a Great deal at a great magazine.
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I subscribe you should too.

Phew !!! Obama is the MAN.....

what a relief!
Obama's JOB NOW

his first hundred days should be.... In My Humble Opinion

• date to be out of IRAQ
• stop all foreclosures and adjust mortgages to keep families in homes
  
• prosecute wall street executives for fraud
• stop drug advertising and have Medicaid bid out for lowest price on drugs including from Canada
  
• line item veto for all earmarks till USA has a surplus again
• reduce military spending 10% per year for 5 years
• National service for education payment
• National infrastructure improvement
• energy policy to reduce oil use
• add to list and send back

My LibraryThing

My library of books I have read and a image of all the Authors.
Michael Crichton passed away today. He was a great story teller. [Jurassic Park series etc]

I read all or most of his books. I will miss his ability to predict future possibilities and write a great book.

International Medical Procedures Price List

Common Sense Medical Treatment.

So,
If you are sick,some companies are willing to pay you your salary to travel to another country for a medical procedure,pay for your travel and pay for a vacation to recover, and still save money. Whats wrong with that picture?

My Pandora Radio list of Stations

My Convoluted Pandora Radio list of Stations I listen to and I subscribe to..makes for continuous easy listening.
[click on image to see exploded view]

The Pyramids The Capunist are Building

There are "one million" millions in one trillion!!!
Now we are talking serious cake.

With the Meltdown on Wall Street.
[otherwise used only pertaining to Nuclear]

The Banks did what all Banks do. Aggressively,Make a Profit!

They Shorted the cash their customers gave them, then loaned out long term loans.[Mortgages]
Unfortunately, instead of lending $9 for every dollar on their books,which has long been accepted practice.
After de-regulating all common sense out of a true capitalism.They lent out $99 for every dollar the customer gave them in good faith.
Like a gambler at a roulette table the house always wins in the end....
But this is how the bank loses,
it loses your cash not its' own.

From Truthout.com
For example, in 2006, Goldman Sachs had a banner profit year and the average bonus for its 25,000 employees was $650,000. But most of this money was paid to those at the top, with key traders taking home $50 million. Everyone knew that such risk-taking would eventually lead to disaster when markets turned down, but they would not have to give back the big bonuses from the boom.

So when just 5% of the loans got in trouble, the banks cannot cover the loss, and do the Americian thing, go bankrupt, and start over.
We no longer have a Market Capitalism working within and for a Democracy in this Country.
With Globalization we have entities that have no respect or regard for the government or responsibility to anyone but the top tier of companies seeking power and money.

The End Justifies the Means to a larger profit.[Sound Familiar?]

Your basic crony capitalism that we use to see in Latin America, Africa and communist nation where the rulers and rule makers greatly favor the company's with biggest pocketbook
[ Chinese Milk products found in OREO filling cookies! Kidney Stones for All.].

Well the pyramid scam, that has so clogged up our In-boxes have come to roost on Wall Street.
Heads-They Win, Tails You Lose.
$700 billion up to $1.2 trillion.
The 7 Yr IRAQ War hasn't blown that kind of cake ,Yet.

It will take a plague to bring The Pharaohs down to their Knees...

Advice to Young Men from an Old Man

as seen on best of craiglist.com

---

Date: 2007-02-15, 9:08AM PST

Advice to Young Men from an Old Man

1. Don’t pick on the weak. It’s immoral. Don’t antagonize the strong without cause, its stupid.

2. Don’t hate women. It’s a waste of time

3. Invest in yourself. Material things come to those that have self actualized.

4. Get in a fistfight, even if you are going to lose.

5. As a former Marine, take it from me. Don’t join the military, unless you want to risk getting your balls blown off to secure other people’s economic or political interests.

6. If something has a direct benefit to an individual or a class of people, and a theoretical, abstract, or amorphous benefit to everybody else, realize that the proponent’s intentions are to benefit the former, not the latter, no matter what bullshit they try to feed you.

7. Don’t be a Republican. They are self-dealing crooks with no sense of honor or patriotism to their fellow citizens. If you must be a Republican, don’t be a “conservative.” They are whining, bitching, complaining, simple-minded self-righteous idiots who think they’re perpetual victims. Listen to talk radio for a while, you’ll see what I mean.

8. Don’t take proffered advice without a critical analysis. 90% of all advice is intended to benefit the proponent, not the recipient. Actually, the number is probably closer to 97%, but I don’t want to come off as cynical.

9. You’ll spend your entire life listening to people tell you how much you owe them. You don’t owe the vast majority of people shit.

10. Don’t undermine your fellow young men. Mentor the young men that come after you. Society recognizes that you have the potential to be the most power force in society. It scares them. Society does not find young men sympathetic. They are afraid of you, both individually and collectively. Law enforcement’s primary purpose is to suppress you.

11. As a young man, you’re on your own. Society divides and conquers. Unlike women who have advocates looking out for them (NOW, Women’s Study Departments, government, non-profit organizations, political advocacy groups) almost no one is looking out for you.

12. Young men provide the genius and muscle by which our society thrives. Look at the Silicone Valley. By in large, it was not old men or women that created the revolution we live. Realize that society steals your contributions, secures it with our intellectual property laws, and then takes credit and the rewards where none is due.

13. Know that few people have your best interests at heart. Your mother does. Your father probably does (if he stuck around). Your siblings are on your side. Everybody else worries about themselves.

14. Don’t be afraid to tell people to “Fuck off” when need be. It is an important skill to acquire. As they say, speak your piece, even if your voice shakes.

15. Acquire empathy, good interpersonal skills, and confidence. Learn to read body language and non-verbal communication. Don’t just concentrate on your vocational or technical skills, or you’ll find your wife fucking somebody else.

16. Keep fit.

17. Don’t speak ill of your wife/girlfriend. Back her up against the world, even if she’s wrong. She should know that you have her back. When she needs your help, give it. She should know that you’ll take her part.

18. Don’t cheat on your wife/girlfriend. If you must cheat, don’t humiliate her. Don’t risk having your transgressions come back to her or her friends. Don’t do it where you live. Don’t do it with people in your social circle. Don’t shit in your own back yard.

19. If your girlfriend doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and bring joy to your life, fire her. That’s what girlfriends are for.

20. Don’t bother with “emotional affairs.” They are just a vehicle for women to flirt and have someone make them feel good about themselves. That’s the part of a relationship they want. For you it is a lot of work and investment in time. If they are having an emotional affair with you, they’re probably fucking someone else.

21. Becoming a woman’s friend and confidant is not going to get you into an intimate relationship. If you haven’t gotten the girl within a reasonably short period of time, chances are you won’t ever get her. She’ll end up confiding to you about the sexual adventures she’s having with someone else.

22. Have and nurture friendships with women.

23. Realize that love is a numbers game. Guys fall in love easily. You’re going to see some girl and feel like you’ll die if you don’t get her. If she rejects you, move on to the next one. It’s her loss.

24. Don’t be an internet troll. Got out and live life. There is not a cadre of beautiful women advertising on Craigslist to have NSA sex with you. Beautiful women don’t need to advertise. The websites that advertise with attractive women’s photos and claims of loneliness are baloney. All they want is your money and your personal information so that they can market to you. The posts on Craigslist by young “women” seeking NSA sex, and asking for a picture are just a bunch of gay troll pic collectors. This is especially true if the post uses common gay lexicon like “hole” as in “fuck my hole” or seeks “masculine” men, or uses the word cock (except in the context of “Don’t send a cock shot.”) There are women on Craigslist. They are easily recognizable by their 2-5 paragraph postings. Most are in their 30's or older.

25. When you become a man in full, know that people will get in your way. People who are attracted to you will somehow manage to step in your path. Gay guys will give you “the look.” Old people will somehow stumble in front of you at the worst time. Don’t get frustrated. Just step aside and go about your business. Know that these are passive aggressive methods to get you to acknowledge their existence.

26. Don’t gay bash. Don’t mentally or physically abuse people because of who they are, or how they present themselves. It’s none of your business to try to intimidate people into conformity.

27. If your gay, admit it to yourself, your parents, your friends and society at large. Be prepared to get harassed. See rule 14. If someone threatens you or assaults you, call the cops. Have them arrested. You have no obligation to self sacrifice because of who you are. As a gay person, you’ll have more social freedom than straight men. Use it to protect yourself. Be prepared to get out of Dodge if your orientation makes your life unbearable. Move to San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, or New Orleans. You’ll find a welcoming community there.

28. Don’t be a poser. Avoid being one of those dudes who puts a surfboard on top of their car, but never surfs, or a dude with a powder coated fixed gear bike and a messenger bag, but was never a messenger. Live the life. Earn your bona fides.

29. Don’t believe the crap about the patriarchy. More women are accepted and attend college. More degrees are awarded to women than men. Women outlive men. More men commit suicide. Men are twice as likely to be victims of violence, including murder. If you consider sexual assaults in prisons, twice as many men are raped as women (society thinks prison rape is funny). The streets are littered with homeless men, sprinkled with a few homeless women. Statically, women are happier than men. The myth that girls are being cheated by are educational system is belied by the fact that schools are bastions of femininity, mostly run by and taught by women. Girls outperform boys in school. It is the boys in school getting fucked over, and prescribed ritalin for being boys. Real wages for men are falling, while real wages for women are rising. Just because someone says something enough times, doesn’t make it true. You have nothing to feel guilty about.

30. Remember, 97% of all advice is worthless. Take what you can use, and trash the rest.

vicioustwist
san francisco
02-15-07

3 Hr Refrigerator Pickles

We are being over-run with Cucumbers this year.

[ 2 plants have yield 35 and counting very nice cukes!!!]

This recipe created some very tasty pickles.

Three Hour Pickles

6 lbs cuccumbers
4 onions
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar [ I used apple vingear, because thats what I had]
1/2 cup salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon mustard
[ I used pickling spices from my sister Sue] worked great!!

Slice the cukes 1/4 "
Slice onions thin 1/8".
combine and stir- all ingredients and pour over veggies in non-metallic container.
store in glass jars.
Ready in 3 hrs.
Whole process took about an hour to throw together.
Well worth the effort!
Store for up to 3 months in Frig.
I bet they don't last that long.
Great snacking while watching the Red Sox and a Cold Beer.

Save Gas, $30,000, Learn to Drive a Stick Shift

August 6, 2008 at 1:09PM
by Jeff Yeager

Learning to drive a car with a manual transmission might not only
save you some major embarrassment in life, but it can also save you gas
and some serious money.

Consumer Reports found that cars with manual transmissions
get two to four miles per gallon more than the same models with
automatic transmissions. If you drive, say, 15,000 miles per year,
that's going to save you about $350 annually at today's gas prices.

But that's only the beginning of the savings. New cars with manual
transmissions generally cost about $800 less than those with automatic
transmissions, and a manual transmission is less expensive to repair or
replace when the time comes. Plus, because you're using the car's
engine to help you decelerate, manual transmissions are easier on the
brakes, which means added savings on brake maintenance and repairs.

All told, you'll probably save about 5,000 gallons of gas and
$30,000 or more by only driving cars with manual transmissions over the
course of your lifetime. And with a little practice, driving a stick is
easy, fun, and oh sooo cool.

Iraq’s $79-Billion Windfall

Posted on Aug 5, 2008

A congressional report has found that the Iraqi government will soon havea $79-billion surplus, thanks to the record price of oil. It’s a figure

that will surely raise eyebrows as the U.S. shells out an additional
$48 billion for reconstruction, but the situation, like all things
involving billions and bombs, is a lot more complicated.

For one thing, it’s a bit rude to shock and awe
a country, funnel billions in reconstruction funds to corporate cronies
that suck at reconstructing things, and then demand that those ingrates
we’ve occupied start paying their share.

New York Times:
The soaring price of oil will leave the Iraqi government with a
cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year’s end an
American federal oversight agency has concluded in an analysis released
on Tuesday.

The unspent windfall, which covers
surpluses from oil sales from 2005 through 2008, appears likely to put
an uncomfortable new focus on the approximately $48 billion in American
taxpayer money devoted to rebuilding Iraq since the American-led
invasion.

Over all, the report from the Government
Accountability Office estimates, Iraqi oil revenue from 2005 through
the end of this year will amount to at least $156 billion. And in an
odd financial twist, large amounts of the surplus money is sitting in
an American bank in New York—nearly $10 billion at the end of 2007,
with more expected this year, when the accountability office estimates
a skyrocketing surplus.

North Shore Weather Event

This Thunder Storm blew up and roared thru Cape Ann Sat Aug 2/08
It was a real boomer with a couple lightning strike with in couple hundred yards....

Blogging As Therapy

Blogging As Therapy

Andrew Sullivan
TheAtlantic.com

"Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off.

Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits
of writing about personal experiences,
thoughts and feelings.
But
besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing
produces many physiological benefits.
Research shows that it improves
memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in
AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery.
A study in the
February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who
engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly
better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not."

Collected Web Shots -March 2008

Man of the Mountain
Loon,N.H. No longer there...

What's in a Laptop, anyway?

Route of Ideas

Whale O' a Photo

Increases in the National Debt

Democrats v.s. Republican Debt Trends....

CHANGE CONGRESS

Change Congress is a movement to build support for basic reform in how our government functions.
Using our tools, both candidates and citizens can pledge their support for basic changes to reduce the distorting influence of money in Washington.
Our community will link candidates committed to a reform with volunteers and contributors who support it.

Think about joining now.

How Bad Will It Get ????

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008
by Janet Morrissey
time.com

Sorry we asked.

A number of economists and banking industry experts believe the subprime crisis could metamorphose into the biggest debacle to hit the sector since the savings and loan catastrophe of the 1980s, which caused some $500 billion in losses to the banking industry.

And that means the future of a couple of name-brand financial institutions could be in jeopardy.

Much will depend on how far home prices tumble over the next few quarters,

how high unemployment climbs,

how many homeowners are pushed into foreclosure from rate resets, and, most importantly,

how far the crisis spills into the conventional mortgage market and other parts of the credit sector.

"The impact here could be far larger [than the S&L crisis] in terms of the dollar amount and the spillover effects into other parts of the economy, particularly the consumer," said Merrill Lynch economist Kathy Bostjancic.

Home prices fell about 6% in 2007 and are expected to tumble another 15% in 2008, 10% in 2009 and 5% in 2010,

said Bostjancic.

Unemployment, which climbed to its highest level in two years in December at 5%, will hit 5.8% by year end and 6% in 2009, predicts Bostjancic. As this happens, she said, the crunch will likely expand into prime mortgages, home equity loans and credit cards, making it the worst consumer recession since 1980.

The buildup of credit was "unprecedented" and is now unwinding, she said.

The Bush Administration's rate-freeze program for certain subprime homeowners and the recently passed stimulus/rebate package, along with the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate cuts, offer short-term fixes. But it won't stop the carnage. "The principal concern of the current credit crisis lies in the possibility that banks will eventually run out of capital," said Doug Duncan, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, in his updated 2008 forecast.

Many believe the government will ultimately step in with a housing industry bailout to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars before it would allow a major bank to collapse.

Subprime horror stories have been making headlines for much of the past year as falling home prices, a pullback in housing demand, overbuilding, interest rate resets, growing defaults and tightening lending standards played havoc in the residential market. A flurry of mortgage companies, including American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., New Century Financial Corp. and Delta Financial Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Big banks took large write-downs, and chief executives from three of them — Citigroup's Charles Prince, Bear Stearns' James Cayne and Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neil — resigned. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch shook the market when Citigroup posted an $18.1 billion write-down, $9.8 billion loss, and 41% dividend cut, and Merrill Lynch posted its largest loss in the firm's 94-year history in the fourth quarter. Both warned of more write-downs ahead. "Who would have guessed the banks would have incurred the losses they've incurred already, especially on triple A investments," said Chip MacDonald, partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day.

Experts fear this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are $1 trillion in outstanding subprime mortgages, with potential losses estimated at about $250 billion, said Bose George, an equity analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. Columbia University professor Charles Calomiris pegs the losses even higher — at between $300 and $400 billion.

All of this comes as a large wave of ARM and hybrid mortgages are poised to reset this year — an event that could push the crisis into the conventional mortgage and credit markets. Once this happens, "it's almost impossible to imagine any bank or financial institution going unscathed and I would be very surprised if at least some aren't threatened," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank. He believes the losses will easily exceed that of the S&L debacle.

Subprime borrowers, who had eye-poppingly low teaser rates of 7% to 8%, will see rates jump as high as 11% when they reset. Even conventional borrowers with ARM and hybrid mortgages could face a crunch, especially those who stretched their finances to buy a home, those who took advantage of loose lending standards by taking out big loans without showing documented proof they could afford it, and those whose home values have plummeted below the mortgage amount.

Merrill Lynch's Bostjancic said the biggest impact of rate resets, from a dollar perspective, will come in the third quarter of 2008. She sees losses from all loan defaults exceeding $500 billion in 2008.

There are already signs the turmoil is creeping into the conventional mortgage market and other credit areas. Indeed, 5.6% of all loans were at least 30 days overdue in the third quarter — the highest rate in 20 years , according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mark Greene, chief executive of credit analysis firm Fair Isaac Corp., warns that "losses on prime mortgages can easily be two to three times what they were on subprime mortgages." Delinquencies are also ticking up among credit cards and home equity loans, said Dennis Moroney, an analyst with TowerGroup Research.

"It kind of reminds me of the old cartoon of the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke, and while he's trying to plug up the subprime hole, there are leaks sprouting all around him," said Mark Fitzgibbon, director of equity research at Sandler O'Neill & Partners. "Subprime is just one small piece of of it."

Bostjancic said the credit crunch is already affecting consumer spending as U.S. retailers experienced the worst holiday sales season since 2001, and consumer confidence hit its lowest level in 20 years. "The amount of debt that's likely to go bad is virtually certain to be in the high hundreds of billions of dollars, and it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up crossing a trillion," said Baker.

Steve Persky, managing partner and chief executive of Dalton Investments LLC, believes the federal government would step in with a heavy-handed bailout before allowing a major bank to blow up. "I don't think the Fed will let a major bank fail," he said.

Still, some industry analysts and investors see opportunity in the beaten-down financial stocks and battered mortgage-backed securities market. "There are double-A and triple-A subprime-backed securities that have a 25% or 30% collateral cushion below them that are trading at 50 cents on the dollar," Persky said. "This presents one of the best distressed opportunities I've seen in years."

Sharon Haas, managing director of Fitch Ratings, admits investors "started to panic" and randomly slashed values on virtually all mortgage-backed securities, even those that aren't at risk. "The market just doesn't know how to value those securities," she said. It had better learn soon, or the price of that education will become astronomical.

OBAMA OBAMA

GO TO THIS SITE....NOW!!!

DIPDIVE.COM







The Yes We Can Song
by will.i.am


I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I’m still not big on politics...
but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry...
And we supported Kerry with all our might...
We performed and performed and performed for the DNC...
doing all we could do to get the youth involved...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it’s not that simple...
our choices aren’t as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it’s not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I’m not talking about a "black thing"
I’m talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends sarah pantera, mike jurkovac, fred goldring, and jesse dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It’s all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn’t stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that’s all...



Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

18 -ONO

PATRIOTS LOSE TO THE GIANTS !!

NOTHING MORE TO SAY........

WHOLE SEASON DOWN THE TUBE....

MAN DID THAT SUCK....

Patriots reach 4th Super Bowl in 7 years

By BEN WALKER, AP National Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Perfection comes down to one game now. Despite a shaky Tom Brady, the New England Patriots were still too much for the banged-up San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship game Sunday, pulling out a 21-12 victory that sent them back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in seven seasons.

I think there will be a time to sit back and reflect," Patriots coach
Bill Belichick said. "We'll certainly enjoy this for a few days."

Brady made several stunningly poor throws that fluttered in the
chilly wind, Randy Moss was a non-factor for the second straight game
and the highest-scoring team in NFL history sputtered all afternoon.
Instead, the Patriots (18-0) relied on Laurence Maroney's spins, cuts
and helmet-rattling runs.

With injured Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson reduced to mostly watching in a parka, the Patriots moved on to a Feb. 3 matchup in Glendale, Ariz., against the winner of the NFC title game between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.

"Now we're going someplace warm, because I'm freezing my you-know-what off," Brady said.

Yet for all the Brady Bunch
has accomplished — they're the only team in NFL history to start out
with 18 straight victories — the Patriots are well aware they must win
that final game to avoid being relegated to a footnote.

No matter, New England
took care of the nuts and Bolts. The sellout crowd at Gillette Stadium
chanted "Super Bowl! Super Bowl!" in the closing minutes, anticipating
the Pats' first appearance in the big game since the 2004 season.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Patriots v.s. Jaguars

With Bill B, and Tom B with their heads together, will come up with an attack the Jags simply cannot answer. I'd have to agree, the Pat's Defense will play tough,score two times in a mismatch, and skate the second half.
I hope the Chargers beat the Colts, the only team that can give the Pat's fits.

Idio Magazine

FYI => Hit the ||-Pause button in FineTune Module to just listen to Idio Daily magazine,otherwise they both start playing. Idio plays one or two songs per day so come back and listen daily.

Hard-Wired

Here is an article a friend wrote about his experiences with and about dogs and people.
I think it is well worth a read. enjoy.




HARD-WIRED

How many children must be mauled & scarred by dogs before we understand this: we don't understand. We think that correct rearing & training is everything, that we can repair & control anything about a dog. Unfortunately even most dog trainers and supposed canine experts subscribe to this belief, the very people we look to for advice and knowledge about these animals.

Let me illustrate some things I know, by telling a couple of stories.

Story #1: A New York City apartment dweller decides to get a dog, and chooses a Border Collie, because he heard they are smart, and athletic. (Ordinarily I would comment on the lack of wisdom in this choice, but that’s not what this story is about.) He raises the dog, cares for it, walks it, plays with it, trains it in obedience. He is a responsible dog owner. But the dog never sees anything but pavement and tall buildings for 5 or 6 years, aside from an occasional leash walk in the park. The owner is kept very busy with his job and his life, and is pretty much city-bound, but loves his dog and gives the dog every minute he can spare.

There comes a day when his friend up in New Hampshire invites him up to visit for a long weekend, and he goes. His friend has a small farm, and the first thing they do is take a walking tour of the acreage. The Border Collie is off-leash and has a chance to run free in tall grass and smell the country for the first time in its life. As they take their walking tour, they go through the gate into the sheep pasture, where the man's friend keeps a small flock, to cut across to the barn. Suddenly the Border Collie is all business, it goes into a low creep, eyes riveted on the flock at the other end of the pasture. The man & his friend are talking, not paying much attention, and the next thing they know, the flock of sheep are in front of them, clustered together. The Border Collie is in a lie-down, on balance, 180º opposite the men, on the other side of the flock. Before they even realize what's happening or can say anything, one of the sheep begins to leave the flock, and the Border Collie has cut it off and returned it where it belongs, and gone into another lie down. The dog’s owner is still speechless.

Where does this come from? This dog has never seen anything but the depths of a huge city; never seen another animal except other dogs and maybe cats & rats & pigeons. Yet there it lies, the flock gathered & brought, contained, and the dog is waiting for the next thing we want the sheep to do. How is this possible?

Hard-wiring. It can't help itself. We bred for this specific purpose for hundreds of years in this dog, as we have bred other dogs for other purposes. Hard-wiring doesn't just go away. It isn't something you can train out of an animal. It goes much deeper than environment and training. All canines have hard-wiring of a less specific nature also, things that apply to dogs in general.

This brings me to story #2: You decide to get 2 puppies, and raise them together. What breed they are is not important in this story, pick any you want. You are a responsible, dedicated dog owner, you train them and care for them, and they are a joy in your life. They are also the best of pals with each other, playing, walking, whatever. And in any situation that ever arises, they have each other's back. They are pack-mates.

One day you are at an off-leash dog park, dogs of all kinds are running and playing and chasing, typical dog park activity. You are chatting with other dog owners while the dogs run and play, when suddenly you hear loud growling and the sounds of a dog fight. You look, and several dogs have begun attacking one of your dogs. You see your other dog heading in the direction of the commotion as you start running that way too, and you feel comforted knowing that your dog that's under attack will soon have the support of his pal. But when your other dog arrives at the scene of the fight, to your complete dismay, it joins the other dogs in the attack of its pal, instead of trying to help it.

I have seen this happen many times. Not with my dogs, because I know pack behavior, I know what potentials exist within canines, and I avoid or pre-empt these situations. In fact, I avoid dog parks precisely because people don't pay attention to what's going on while they chat, and because they don't understand dogs in general, and because they don't control their own dogs well enough to suit me.

I will never spend a lot of time saying that some people simply should not own dogs, it’s time wasted. It will never change. People will never stop getting that cute little furry puppy so their kids can have a cute furry thing, then throw it away like a used-up doll when it grows up and becomes too much responsibility, when it becomes “inconvenient”. It's not cute anymore, the kids have lost interest, so just get rid of it.

No, I'm simply asking, again -- how many children, and adults, must be mauled by dogs before we realize that we don't understand all we should about canines? I haven't counted, but I know I am shocked at the number of articles about dog attacks I have seen over the past 10 or 15 years. What will it take to change this? The first step is admitting our ignorance.

Other than the general things that apply to all dogs, what specific hard-wiring might have come with the dog you have, or the one you are considering? What types of situations or stimuli might trigger the potential behavior that lies within your dog? Do you understand the prey drive, and what factors can trigger that? Do you have an understanding of pack behaviors & protocols? Will you concentrate and pay close attention at all times in situations where your dog will interact with humans, or other dogs?

If you are unwilling or unable to consider these questions, and do your best to answer them, then I would recommend you stick with pet rodents, or something else kept in a cage. Dogs are advanced pet ownership.

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you know what it’s like to be a dog. It doesn’t matter what breed we’re talking about, this is wolf DNA. The wolf – left in a natural state, one of the most intelligent and successful carnivorous predators on the planet. See that. Know that. Respect that in your pet wolf. That would be a good place to start.

G. Davis
Phoenix, AZ

What I'm Reading => Motion Mountain

This is a FREE e-book I stumbled upon. The author has an incredible way to discuss complex ideas. This, I guess is intended for students, but if you have any interest in your physical world around you and discovery and expanding your mind, download this book and give it a try.
Motion Mountain
I highly recommend it.
Here is a snippet , to wet your whistle;

How Many of Me

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 26 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Shit Happens - or the Art of Caring Less

Sometimes there are just days when you wake up and realize that the headache you have been having recently is due to the fact that you worry too much about stuff that you can't do anything about.
The best thing is to drift more and care less and face up to the fact that sometimes shit just happens.
Here's how a number of world religions and political movements state that fact:

TAOISM: Shit happens.

CONFUCIANISM: Confucius say, "Shit happens".

ZEN: (What is the sound of shit happening?)

JESUIT-ISM: If shit happens and when nobody is watching, is it really shit?

ISLAM: Shit happens if it is the will of Allah.

COMMUNISM: Equal shit happens to all people.

CATHOLICISM: Shit happens because you are bad.

PSYCHOANALYSIS: Shit happens because of your toilet training.

SCIENTOLOGY: Shit happens if you're on our shit list.

ZOROASTRIANISM: Bad shit happens, and good shit happens.

UNITARIANISM: Maybe shit happens. Let's have coffee and donuts.

RIGHT-WING PROTESTANTISM: Let this shit happen to someone else.

JUDAISM: Why does shit always happen to US?

REFORM JUDAISM: Got any Kaopectate?

MYSTICISM: What weird shit!

AGNOSTICISM: What is this shit?

ATHEISM: I don't believe this shit!

NIHILISM: Who needs this shit?

AZTEC: Cut out this shit!

QUAKER: Let's not fight over this shit.

FORTEANISM: No shit??

12-STEP: I am powerless to cut the shit.

VOODOO: Hey, that shit looks just like you!

NEW-AGE: Visualise shit not happening.

DEISM: Shit just happens.

EXISTENTIALISM: Shit doesn't happen; shit is.

SECULAR HUMANISM: Shit evolves.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Shit is in your mind.

BUDDHISM: Shit happens, but pay no mind.

SHINTOISM: Shit is everywhere.

HINDUISM: This shit has happened before.

WICCA: Mix this shit together and make it happen!

HASIDISM: Shit never happens the same way twice.

THEOSOPHY: You don't know half of the shit that happens.

DIANETICS: Your mother gave you shit before your were born.

SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST: No shit on Saturdays.

Jehovah's WITNESSES: No shit happens until Armageddon.

MOONIES: Only happy shit really happens.

HOPI: Corn fertiliser happens.

BAHA'I: It's all the same shit.

STOICISM: This shit is good for me.

OBJECTIVISM: Our shit is good for you.

EST: If my shit bothers you, that's your fault.

REAGANISM: Don't move; the shit will trickle down.

FASCISM: Shit makes the trains run on time.

CARGO CULT: A barge will come and take all the shit away.

EMACS: Hold down Control-Meta-Shit.

DISCORDIANISM: Some funny shit happened to me today.

RASTAFARIANISM: Let's smoke this shit.

CHARISMATIC: This is not shit and it doesn't smell bad.

MASONIC: Shit happens, but we can't discuss it during Lodge.

RED CROSS: Shit happens - send money.

Make a little Book for your Pocket

This is so geek....
If you go to PocketMod.com
You will find many free templates that you can have in your little book.
I find they are great to collect to-do list, links to visit, phone #, and many other useful tidbits of info to put in your pocket rather than clog your brain.

What's the difference between a million, a billion and a trillion?

A million seconds is 13 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

Bill Gates has 806 years worth of you know what!

A million minutes ago was – 1 year, 329 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes ago.

A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.

Bushs' Iraq War spends back 2.2 billion a Month !
11 Million an Hour!

A million hours ago was in 1885.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.

A million dollars ago was five (5) seconds ago at the U.S. Treasury.
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday afternoon at the U.S. Treasury.

1.2 Trillion Dollar budget 2007
Thank You Congress!

A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation… probably because they
seldom think about what they are really saying. I’ve read that
mathematicians do not even use the term trillion!
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:

Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.

The country has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years – Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.

Million: 1,000,000
Billion: 1,000,000,000
Trillion: 1,000,000,000,000
Quintillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
Sextillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Nonillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Centillion: 1 followed by 303 zeros

I bet it only takes you seconds to draw conclusions.
Real numbers..

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Housing Summary by Calculated Risk/ Politics & Economics

By CalculatedRisk

What is that pig? It's from Tanta's Excel Art. A Mortgage Pig™ exclusive.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Pig Warning: this is a large (2 MB) Excel File.

And yes, the Mortgage Pig™ is wearing lipstick.

Happy New Year to All!

The following are some excerpts (with graphs) from a few housing posts in December. Follow the link for the entire post.

From Homeowners With Negative Equity

The
following graph shows the number of homeowners with no or negative
equity, using the most recent First American data, with several
different price declines.

Click on graph for larger image.

At
the end of 2006, there were approximately 3.5 million U.S. homeowners
with no or negative equity. (approximately 7% of the 51 million
household with mortgages).

By the end of 2007, the number will have risen to about 5.6 million.

If prices decline an additional 10% in 2008, the number of homeowners with no equity will rise to 10.7 million.

The last two categories are based on a 20%, and 30%, peak to trough declines.

From: Home Builders and Homeownership Rates

From 1995 to 2005, the U.S. homeownership rate climbed from 64% to 69%, or about 0.5% per year.

The graph shows the homeownership rate since 1965. Note the scale starts at 60% to better show the recent change.

The reasons for the change in homeownership rate will be discussed [see here],
but here are two key points: 1) The change in the homeownership rate
added about half a million new homeowners per year, as compared to a
steady homeownership rate, 2) the rate (red arrow is trend) appears to
be heading down.

From: MBA Mortgage Delinquency Graph

Here is a graph of the MBA mortgage delinquency rate since 1979.

This
is the overall delinquency rate, and it is at the highest rates since
1986. As noted earlier this morning, delinquencies are getting worse in
every category - including prime fixed rate mortgages - and getting
worse at a faster rate in every category.

NOTE on 12/31/2007: See: Defaults on Insured Mortgages Reach Record



From: Housing Inventory and Rental Units


Renting is a substitute for owning, and to understand the current
excess housing inventory, we also need to consider rental units.

This graph shows the number of occupied (blue) and vacant (red) rental units in the U.S. (all data from the Census Bureau).



From: Downey Financial Non-Performing Assets

From the Downey Financial 8-K released on Dec 14th.

This would be a nice looking chart, except those are the percent non-performing assets by month.





From: NAHB: Builder Confidence Unchanged at Record Low

The NAHB reports that builder confidence was unchanged at a record low 19 in December.

NAHB: Builder Confidence Remains Unchanged For Third Consecutive Month

Builder
confidence in the market for new single-family homes remained unchanged
for a third consecutive month in December as problems in the mortgage
market and excess inventory issues continued, according to the latest
NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI
held even at 19 this month, its lowest reading since the series began
in January 1985.

From: Single Family Starts Fall to Lowest Level Since April 1991

Here is a long term graph of starts and completions. Completions follow starts by about 6 to 7 months.

Look
at what is about to happen to completions: Completions were at a 1,344
million rate in November, but are about to follow starts to below the
1.2 million level. I'd expect completions to fall rapidly over the next
few months, impacting residential construction employment.

From: November New Home Sales

According to the Census Bureau report,
New Home Sales in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
647 thousand. Sales for October were revised down to 711 thousand, from
728 thousand. Numbers for August and September were also revised down.

	Sales of new one-family houses in November 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000 ... This is 9.0 percent below the revised October rate of 711,000 and is 34.4 percent below the November 2006 estimate of 987,000.
	The Not Seasonally Adjusted monthly rate was 46,000 New Homes sold. There were 71,000 New Homes sold in November 2006. November '07 sales were the lowest November since 1995 (46,000).

From: More on New Home Sales

This
graph shows New Home Sales vs. Recession for the last 35 years. New
Home sales were falling prior to every recession, with the exception of
the business investment led recession of 2001.

This is what we call Cliff Diving!

And this shows why so many economists are concerned about a possible consumer led recession - possibly starting right now.

From: November Existing Home Sales


The graph shows the Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) sales per month for
the last 3 years. Note that on an NSA basis, November sales were
slightly below October.

The impact of the credit crunch is
obvious as sales in September, October and November declined sharply
from earlier in the year.

For existing homes, sales are reported
at the close of escrow. So November sales were for contracts signed in
September and October.

From: More on November Existing Home Sales

Click on graph for larger image.

This
graph shows the seasonally adjusted annual rate of reported new and
existing home sales since 1994. Since sales peaked in the summer of
2005, both new and existing home sales have fallen sharply.

Ignoring the occasional month to month increases, it is clear that sales of both new and existing homes are in free fall.

The
second graph shows the annual sales and year end inventory since 1982
(sales since 1969), normalized by the number of owner occupied units.
This shows the annual variability in the turnover of existing homes,
with a median of 6% of owner occupied units selling per year.

Currently
6% of owner occupied units would be about 4.6 million existing home
sales per year. This indicates that the turnover of existing homes -
November sales were at a 5.0 million Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate
(SAAR) - is still above the historical median.

This suggests sales will fall much further in 2008.

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