Happy Birthday to me!

I found this cool article on check cashing places and banks. I was just doing a Google search, because I am frustrated because I see these 'check cashing' places cropping up, and they usually do just right before the Holidays:Finance on the Fringe
America's check cashers don't exploit the poor; they serve them.

Michael W. Lynch | April 2002 Print Edition

That Anna has a problem becomes clear shortly after I sidle up next to her on the cold stone steps of the First Union Bank in downtown New Haven on a chilly fall afternoon. In fact, the 56-year-old woman has many problems -- including, she's quick to point out, more than a few missing teeth. But the problem I'm interested in today is unrelated to dentistry. It's Anna's supposed lack of access to the insides of the very building on whose steps she sits. She is, you see, one of the "unbanked," a clumsy word that rose to some prominence inside the do-gooder wonk circles that swirled in and around the Clinton administration.

Like many Americans who don't purchase financial services from traditional banks, Anna used to do things the conventional way. "I just stopped putting it in," she says of a former savings account. For the last four years, Anna, who earns her living working temporary jobs, has cashed her paychecks at one of New Haven's 10 check cashing stores, such as X-Bankers, which sits half a block away. She purchases money orders to pay her bills and stashes her savings in a cookie jar. When it comes to large purchases, "I just save up for it," says Anna.

She's not alone in declining to purchase financial services from a bank. Sitting next to Anna on the bank steps is her 34-year-old daughter Alvina, who also chooses not to have a bank account. Anna and Alvina are joined by nearly 10 million American families -- 9.5 percent of households in 1998 -- and millions more in countries as diverse as England, Hungary, and South Africa, all of which have recently been reported to have problems with the unbanked.

Not that Anna thinks it's a problem. If she did, she'd empty her cookie jar and march into First Union and open a no-minimum checking account for $5.50 a month. If she wanted to park $100 in the account indefinitely, the fee would drop to zero.

For $2 a month, she could purchase a savings account, which would pay her 0.5 percent interest. If she left at least $200 in the account, she'd pay nothing. But she prefers to use check cashing joints. "They make it easy," says Anna, "and we don't get no lip from nobody."

Whatever Anna believes, plenty of other people think she has a problem -- and that she's either in denial or isn't sophisticated enough to recognize her real financial interests. Academics, consumer activists, and government officials conduct studies and write books exploring why so many Americans don't frequent banks. They propose ways for the government and nonprofit groups to coax the unbanked into the system. Exactly who and what are to blame for Anna's condition -- and the growth of the industry that serves her -- are common topics. How governments ought to regulate the industry to ensure that it doesn't take advantage of the Annas of the world is never far down the agenda.

At their best, the critics are motivated by a wonkism that earnestly wants to pull a few policy levers and convince poor people to save. At their worst, which is much of the time, they are driven by a do-gooder-knows-best mentality that can't conceive of anyone not longing for the middle-class institutions they themselves cherish. Their worldview is governed by a series of related and reinforcing assumptions: Greedy and powerful corporations systematically take advantage of folks who are incapable of managing their own lives; markets are inherently exploitative; and poor people shouldn't have to pay for the financial services they consume.

Poor Habits
Here's the irony: Markets are actually succeeding quite well in serving the financial service needs of Americans with low and moderate incomes. Such people have far more options and choices than they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago. To be sure, the steel bars and Plexiglas that cover the teller windows at check cashing outlets may not be pretty or genteel, especially when compared to the marbled lobbies and high ceilings of conventional banks. They may offend bourgeois sensibilities and notions of what's just. But they also undeniably provide a unique and valuable service to their customers. Contrary to the opinions of critics who would regulate or legislate "fringe banking" out of business, the booming check cashing industry represents a market success worthy of celebration, not a market failure that demands more regulation.

For the critics, the key issue is that saving habits are statistically linked to bank accounts. People who purchase bank accounts are more likely than those who don't to save in ways the government can easily measure. People who save are less likely, over time, to be poor.

"If you go to a check casher instead of opening a bank account, you are never going to get ahead," says Edmund Mierzwinski, a consumer advocate at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG). The Progressive Policy Institute's Anne Kim writes in an August 2001 study of the unbanked, "A bank account is the first step toward giving low-income Americans access to the mainstream tools for wealth creation now taken for granted by the middle-class."

Some of the facts that activists use to build their case are obvious. The unbanked tend to be poor. Eight out of 10 unbanked families earn less than $25,000 a year, one learns from Kim's study. Four out of 10 pull in less than $10,000 in on-the-books income. Yet the study overlooks other equally obvious points. For instance, to a family earning $10,000 a year, where to park their savings might not be a top financial concern.

Consumer activists have created a fantasy world in which greed and racism have conspired to deny the poor traditional banking services. The story line depicts a glorious past when everyone conducted business at community banks, which didn't charge the neediest for the services they provided. Partial banking deregulation in 1980, according to this tale, caused banks to merge, become huge, and pull out of unprofitable areas. Greedy check cashers and payday lenders rushed in to fill the void.

"The reasons check cashers exist in these communities is because banks don't," says Arthi Varma, a policy activist at the California Reinvestment Committee, a consortium of nonprofits that pressures banks to serve low-income communities. Other activists blame bankers for being rotten businessmen, neglecting millions in profits that would come from reaching out to potential customers with moderate and low incomes. "Banks are bad marketers," asserts U.S. PIRG's Mierzwinski. "That's a problem check cashers have taken advantage of."

This story contains some truth. Banking deregulation, for example, did cause banks to rethink, retarget, and reprice products. (The result, however, has been more, not fewer, financial options.) But the critics' larger narrative is flat-out wrong. Check cashers and other low-end financial service providers don't exist because of some market failure, or because poor people suffer from false financial consciousness. Check cashers didn't move en masse into the buildings abandoned by banks. The industry has existed since employers first started paying with checks in the 1930s and owners of stores and bars figured they could make money cashing payroll checks. It is thriving today because it serves people's needs.

The roughly 11,000 check cashing outlets in the U.S. have evolved into financial portals where lower-income Americans cash $55 billion worth of checks each year. (By contrast, banks clear $48 trillion in check payments annually.) The stores offer a range of services, few of which are offered by banks -- and none of which banks can offer at competitive prices. Some banks are slowly moving into the market niche. But if they are going to succeed, they'll end up looking and acting more like check cashers than banks.

Check Out the Choices
Consider the block where Anna sits in downtown New Haven. A diverse ecology of financial services flourishes on the street, with banks and check cashers both present. That same proliferation of options is also evident a mile and a half west on Whalley Avenue, a bustling, albeit low-end, New Haven artery that's packed with dollar stores, pharmacies, fast food franchises, auto repair shops, antique stores, banks, and yes, check cashers. Shaw's Supermarket, which opened in 1998, anchors a new shopping center complex, a 10-minute walk from the center of the Yale campus. A Hollywood Video, Rentown, and laundromat share the large parking lot and serve the low-income neighborhoods along this section of Whalley Avenue.

Check King sits across the street from Shaw's, which houses a Fleet Bank with extended hours. Shaw's operates its own check cashing outlet as well, for those who have successfully cleared two checks at the store and have a Shaw's discount card. It charges nothing to cash patrons' checks and sells money orders, lottery tickets, prepaid phone cards, and Western Union wire transfers. If you wanted to cash checks on the cheap -- combine the best of banks and check cashers, getting immediate access to your money without a fee -- Shaw's could be a one-stop shop.

If lack of access to banking services is what drives people through the doors of check cashers, then the one-two punch of Shaw's check cashing outlet and its Fleet Bank branch should have knocked Check King out of business a long time ago. Or, at the very least, bruised it. Yet according to Jim Consiglio, who has owned and operated Check King for the last 11 years, he hasn't been touched. Nor have the banks that sit just a few blocks away from Check King affected Consiglio's business, which is a family affair. (His parents and three sons help him shovel cash under a Plexiglas partition to Check King's customers.)

"I am not in competition with banks at all," explains Consiglio, an energetic 50-year-old who sports a diamond earring and tightly trimmed goatee. "They don't do what we do. They're in the lending business and the savings business. Cashing checks costs them money."

It's hard for some people to accept, but Consiglio is right: While some services overlap, the core businesses of banks and check cashers are distinct. Check cashers advance people -- pretty much anybody -- money for checks, a service for which they charge a fee. Banks, in general, give their customers access to their own money. While some banks may immediately cash some government checks and many will cash checks drawn on their own accounts, they are not in the check cashing business. If a bank customer shows up on Friday with a $500 paycheck and $50 in her account, she'll get $50. If she shows up at Check King, she'll get $490. "We put our own money on the counter every day," says Consiglio. "We take risks that banks don't."

Selling Quick Cash
This immediate access to cash -- the storeowner's cash -- explains why many people who have bank accounts also use check cashers. "It's easier -- you're in and out in a hurry," says 30-year-old Nancy, as she leaves X-Bankers with cash in hand. She's headed next door to get her nails done. She has a checking account that she sometimes uses to pay rent. Other times, she uses money orders.


The difference between conventional banking and check cashing explains why a Fleet Bank opening across the street didn't cut into Consiglio's business. It also explains why Consiglio felt it when Connecticut State Check Cashing Services, a privately held chain that operates 19 stores, opened a store a half-mile west of Check King. "There's no way around it," he says. "A lot of people live up there."

Check King, like other check cashers, is a combination of many familiar businesses: bank, Mail Boxes Etc., corner store and video arcade. Consiglio sells smokes at $4 a pack, buys gold and diamonds, and dispenses candy and sodas from machines. Like the check casher up the street, he'll wire in customers' utility payments for free and sell them envelopes, stamps, and money orders to pay other bills. He rents mailboxes and sells phone cards. While we talk for nearly an hour on Christmas Eve, three men come in to play his Ms. Pac-Man. Others purchase Lotto tickets.

Protesting Profits
Cashing checks accounts for 65 percent of Consiglio's cash flow, and it's the core service that brings in customers, who cash a total of around $500,000 a week. He charges 2 percent of the face value of payroll checks, 1 percent for government checks. Like other check cashers in Connecticut, where fees are capped by the state at 2 percent, he won't cash personal checks. He relies on the telephone and on an eye trained by expensive experience to ferret out bad checks. Any check not generated by a computer is suspicious, as is a low number on a check. (The latter indicates a fresh company whose payroll account may or may not be funded.) For suspicious checks, he'll call the issuing bank or company. But he's open long after banks are closed, so he often has to make snap judgments. He says fewer than one in 1,000 checks bounce. He's come by his skill the hard way -- from a pile of bad checks in the back office.

While Consiglio's Check King has never been picketed by protesters, he's aware of the gripes against his sort of business. "We are the black sheep of the financial service industry, no doubt about it," he says with a smile. "I'm not standing on a soapbox saying I'm doing anyone a favor. I'm making money. Activists can yell all they want."

And yell they do, if not at Consiglio personally, then at his fellow check cashers. Or at banks for not operating as check cashers and, in some cases, for operating as check cashers. Or at anyone else who provides financial services in the low-income market. (See "Legal Loan Sharking or Essential Service?," page 38.)

"You don't have to be too smart to open up a check cashing store," says U.S. PIRG's Edmund Mierzwinski, who calls banks "greedy" and doesn't believe that banks and check cashers operate different businesses. "There are tremendous opportunities at the margins that banks have left for these guys to make a lot of money preying on the poor."

Testifying last June before the House Committee on Financial Services, Margot Saunders, managing attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, pulled out all the rhetorical stops. She was inveighing against allowing check cashers to participate in the Treasury Department's Electronic Funds Transfer program, which seeks to provide direct deposit accounts for federal employees and benefit recipients. Saunders talked of how "unbanked individuals have been sucked into the underworld of check cashers," and of "captive customers" who are "unsophisticated, often illiterate." She decried "financial apartheid."

"Already," she said, "upper- and middle-income Americans enjoy the safety and convenience of a highly regulated banking industry that provides competitive prices and is closely supervised to limit improper activities....Many poor people, on the other hand, are relegated to fringe bankers who are unregulated, unsupervised, and routinely charge exorbitant rates in the uncompetitive financial services market that exists in the low-income community."

This view is common, self-contradictory, and belied by reality. The financial service arena isn't segregated; it's richly diverse. Banks may be safe and convenient for upper- and middle-income Americans, who get paid regularly with direct deposit, pay their bills with checks, and move infrequently. But that doesn't mean banks are convenient for everyone, especially folks who work odd hours, have erratic incomes, and need access to their money as soon as they earn it.

In any case, even middle- and upper-income Americans have been purchasing financial services at places other than banks for years. "When the Community Reinvestment Act took effect [in the late 1970s], roughly two-thirds of Americans' long term savings were in CRA-covered institutions [i.e., banks or savings and loans]," notes Michael A. Stegman in his 1999 book Savings for the Poor: The Hidden Benefits of Electronic Banking. "Today," says Stegman, a former Clinton administration official who heads the Center for Community Capitalism in the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina, "less than 30 percent are, and the migration from the conventional banking system to mutual funds, money market accounts, and other savings vehicles outside of CRA continues un-abated."

In other words, it's not just people who don't earn a lot of money who are purchasing financial services more tailored to their needs. Swarthmore economist John P. Caskey, who coined the term "fringe banks," notes that upscale private banking, personalized financial advice and execution for the wealthy, boomed in the 1980s along with check cashers. "Just as people at the high end of the income distribution have financial needs that banks find better to meet in a specialized office or branch of the bank, people at the low end have specialized needs," says Caskey, author of the 1994 book Fringe Banking: Check-Cashing Outlets, Pawnshops, and the Poor. "You can think of check cashing outlets as tailoring services to meet those needs."

Bank Failure
So why don't low-income people choose to purchase their services from conventional banks?

They aren't physically excluded from banks. Nor are branch offices hard to find, as many charge. Every non-agenda-driven study on the issue shows that most check cashers operate close to banks. According to the Federal Reserve Board in its most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, a mere 1.2 percent of the unbanked say that lack of convenient hours or locations is what keeps them from opening a checking account. A 1999 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found that in New England banks outnumber check cashers in the areas they both serve. A 1998 Federal Reserve Bank of New York study of New York City found that 71 percent of check cashers share a zip code with at least one bank and 19 percent coexist with more than 10 bank branches. "You could put 1,000 bank branches in low-income areas, and check cashers would still thrive," says Swarthmore's Caskey.

Clearly, it's not because check cashers don't face competition. Rather, their customers conclude that they not only are more convenient and offer more services but are less expensive to boot. This must surely come as a surprise to activists, who often paint check cashers as just one notch up from loan sharks.

Reform-minded studies of what it costs to be unbanked are typically abstract accounting exercises that conflate being unbanked with being dependent on check cashers -- and being "banked" with paying only the minimum monthly fees with no bounced-check or ATM fees (an unrealistic assumption, even for the middle class). For example, a 2001 Fannie Mae Foundation study claims that "fringe services for cash conversion and bill paying would cost an average $20,000-income household between $86 and $500 a year, while the same services at a bank would cost only $30 to $60." A 1997 study by the Consumer Federation of America, which works closely with U.S. PIRG and the National Consumer Law Center, found that the annual cost of cashing a $320 weekly paycheck ranged from $160 to $960. And a 1999 report by the Massachusetts Division of Banks claims that individuals pay 3.3 to 40.8 times as much to turn checks into cash at a check casher than they would at a bank offering low-cost checking accounts.

But when less myopic researchers actually talk to the people who don't purchase any financial services from banks, they find that the unbanked spend very little to turn their checks into cash. Constance R. Dunham, a senior economist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal bank regulator, conducted two massive field studies of New York City and Los Angeles. To her surprise, Dunham found that two out of three unbanked individuals paid nothing to get cash. They either had no income, were paid in cash, cashed their checks for free at a supermarket or at the bank that issued the check, or had a friend or relative cash their checks. A mere 11 percent of the unbanked spent more than $100 a year to cash checks. Add in costs for money orders and bill payments -- the other service a checking account provides -- and a whopping 17 percent of the unbanked spend more than $100 a year on financial services.

Given that the break-even point for banks is roughly $100 a year per account, it's hardly a mystery that banks don't aggressively market to the small percentage of Americans who don't already buy their services. "The survey suggests that many people may be unbanked, not because they face barriers to obtaining bank accounts," concludes Dunham, "but because they can better economize on the costs of financial services without having a bank account."

First Bank of Sisyphus
This point hasn't fully sunk in with policy advocates, who work D.C. hours to bring "universal" banking to America. They have wielded a variety of policy tools over the years, none with much success. The big club on the supply side is the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, which compels federally insured banks to operate in unprofitable low-income neighborhoods. But physical access just isn't a problem.

There are no federal requirements that banks actually offer low-cost accounts, a fact that causes much pain among the advocates. But it wouldn't matter if there were. Most banks already offer low-cost accounts, and so long as an individual hasn't abused a checking account by chronically bouncing checks, he is free to sign up. Seven states regulate where the feds don't, mandating low-cost "lifeline accounts." These laws have had little effect. Many banks voluntarily offer products that are even less expensive than the government-designed accounts.

In the latter years of the Clinton administration, Congress gave the Treasury Department $30 million to develop a program called "First Accounts." This effort, still in the works, will funnel taxpayer money to credit unions, community groups, Indian tribes, and even labor unions. In turn, these groups will do such innovative things as provide financial education, engage in advocacy research on why even more money is needed, and offer low-cost accounts and no-fee ATMs.

The most ambitious effort to increase bank use, Electronic Funds Transfer 1999 (EFT '99), came from Robert Rubin's Treasury Department. EFT '99 was prompted by a 1996 law that encouraged the Treasury Department to pay federal wages and benefits by direct deposit.

"Millions of low-income, 'bankless' Americans may soon become part of the financial mainstream, thanks to the recent amendment of an obscure law, advances in banking technology, and proposals to use supplemental savings programs to strengthen social security," predicted UNC's Michael Stegman, who wrote a book on the effort. Rubin said the accounts "could have significant economic and social effects."

Then again, maybe not. In fact, the accounts have had no economic or social effects, something Rubin should have foreseen. Here's how the product designed by the Treasury Department works: The federal government sends banks a one-time setup subsidy of $12.60 for every account they open. Banks can charge customers up to $3 a month and must provide at least four withdrawals and four balance inquiries per month, either at ATMs or at teller windows. These accounts don't offer checking services, which means that bill paying must be done with cash or money orders. Given that most banks charge between $3 and $6 each for money orders, the total could really add up.

Such accounts are really good for only two groups: people who can't get a traditional bank account due to a history of bounced checks, balance problems, and the like; and suckers willing to overpay for minimal services. There appears to be little interest among either group. By last spring, just over 11,000 people nationwide had purchased these accounts.

Market Response
While federal efforts to meet the needs of low-income Americans continue to fail, entrepreneurs continue to experiment with services that people may actually use. 7-Eleven is trying out automated check cashing machines in a few of its stores. Other companies offer payroll debit cards for people who don't purchase financial services from banks. The highest-profile entry into this market is Visa, which rolled out a payroll card last July in a joint effort with some of the nation's largest banks.

A few banks and credit unions are dipping their toes into the check cashing business. Liberty Bank has operated a check cashing store in Middletown, Connecticut, since 1994. In New York City, Bethex Federal Credit Union, a small operation designed for low-income customers, partnered with RiteCheck Cashing in 2001. A bigger experiment is under way in Southern California, where Union Bank of California is operating 12 of its own check cashing outlets, known as Cash & Save, and partnering with Nix Check Cashing to offer banking products in Nix's 47 branches. At least for the time being, these new, hybrid models are the cutting edge of innovative financial services geared to low-income Americans. Which also explains why they've proven controversial among consumer advocates, who retreat to their check-cashers-exist-because-banks-abandoned-the-poor fantasy and decry the new hybrids.

"The need for check cashers arose when banks left inner-city neighborhoods," says Shelley Curran, a policy analyst at the West Coast regional office of Consumers Union. "It's a little ironic that this market was created because banks fled -- and now they are coming back in an entirely different fashion."

The California Reinvestment Committee opposed the Union Bank of California and Nix Check Cashing partnership. "If a bank is coming into a low-income community, it should come in as a bank, not a check casher, which often provides substandard services in terms of getting into mainstream banking, building assets, building wealth, those types of things," says the committee's Arthi Varma. She is especially concerned that Nix's customers won't be able to figure out the difference between banking and check cashing services. Says Varma: "People go to check cashers to conduct their financial transactions. At a typical check cashing store there's not a banking window. People are not going to have the propensity to walk toward that window and ask the questions and find out what's going on."

Tennessee Valley Banking Authority
Here's a question with a definite answer: What do consumer advocates really want? The fundamental reality is that financial services, for rich and poor alike, cost money. What activists really want is for banks to make their wealthier customers subsidize the poor even more than they already do under the Community Reinvestment Act. "The point is that banks don't offer services at low enough prices, and we are trying to encourage them to do so," says U.S. PIRG's Mierzwinski. "I think banks should be treated somewhat as if they are public utilities, because banks are in fact recipients of tremendous government benefits."

That's not going to happen. Banks operate in a world of diverse choices, and their customers will quit buying their services if they are priced too high for some consumers in order to subsidize others. Indeed, this has already happened, as the massive flow of money from traditional bank accounts into money markets and mutual funds attests. As important, banks are not seen as public utilities, and it's unlikely they ever will be viewed as such. Most of all, though, consumers, even low-income ones, are not idiots. All evidence suggests that people do know what's good for them and seek out the financial services that best meet their needs. That entrepreneurs like Check King's Jim Consiglio earn a living from meeting those needs is a sign that markets are working -- not just for the Consiglios of the world but for the low-income folks who fill his store every week.

Yet even as markets become more sophisticated and entrepreneurs develop more-nuanced products to meet the financial service needs of the poor, there will be plenty of people in Washington wanting to do something about it. That is something you can take to the bank.

Just don't expect to see Anna, the 56-year-old temp worker in New Haven, waiting in line. Like thousands of other people of very modest means, she prefers to spend her financial service dollars at check cashers. I ask her why.

"To save us from the agony of going to a bank, we go to cash and check," she says. "It's cheaper. It saves us aggravation. I'd rather go to cash and check and keep steppin'."

Printer Friendly Send to a Friend More Articles by Michael W. Lynch
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The Day

Well, tomorrow is the day. 38 years old. LOL. I don't feel that old. I feel like I am twenty something. I have mentioned that I was born on Thanksgiving Day of 1968. I guess that a lot of things were going on in the world on the day I was born. Right smack dab in the middle of the Vietnam War. Johnson was President. Scary when I think that I am almost 40 years old!

Here is what wikipedia says

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George Russell Weller
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George Russell Weller (born December 7, 1916) is a retired salesman from Santa Monica, California, who gained notoriety as the motorist in a fatal car accident, fueling a national debate on safety risks posed by elderly drivers. On October 20, 2006, Weller was found guilty of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter. The following month, the judge sentenced him to five years' felony probation, saying that Weller deserved to go prison but at nearly 90 years of age and suffering from heart disease, he would simply be a burden to taxpayers. He was also ordered to pay about $107,100 in fines and restitution.


[edit] Santa Monica Farmer's Market massacre
At 1:47 p.m. on July 16, 2003, Weller, then age 86, drove his red 1992 Buick Le Sabre westbound down Arizona Ave. towards the popular Third Street Promenade. The last few blocks of the street before the ocean had been closed for the weekly farmers' market. Weller struck a car from behind, then accelerated around a road closure sign, crashed through wooden sawhorses, and plowed into the busy crowd, driving nearly 1,000 feet (305 meters) at speeds between 40 and 60 mph (65 and 95 km/h). The entire sequence of collisions took at least 10 seconds. The car was eventually brought to a halt by the body of a victim trapped underneath. Ten people were killed, and 63 were injured. Weller told investigators he had accidentally put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, then tried to brake but could not stop. Days after the crash, Weller issued a statement saying he was distraught and heartbroken, and his attorney called it an accident.

Some observers questioned Weller's account, noting that witnesses reported:

Seeing no brake lights on Weller's car;
That Weller stared straight ahead as he drove through the crowd, victims flying over his windshield;
That Weller avoided parked cars to the side of the road, steering instead directly down the middle of the crowded street; and
That upon exiting his car, cane in hand, Weller casually asked how many people he had hit.
Weller's supporters argue that:

Weller suffered from arthritis, nausea as a side-effect of medication, and reduced mobility from a hip replacement.
Weller had a relatively clean driving record at the DMV, with one minor accident and no violations. Weller had passed a vision test and written test on renewing his driver's license in November 2000.
Since the tragedy resulted from a "misapplication" of the pedal, Weller had committed an accident, not a crime. "Pedal error cannot constitute negligence," stated Mark Overland, an attorney for Weller.

[edit] Aftermath timeline
On July 16, 2003 footage of a previous accident Weller had been in ten years earlier surfaced. While that accident was not fatal, he had driven his car off the road in much the same fashion as the Promenade accident and the footage was nearly identical in that it showed a confused Weller wandering around his crashed car in a heavily populated, public area. This further sparked debate surrounding what warning signs authorities should examine when dealing with driving privileges and the elderly.

On July 24, 2003, it was reported that state officials revoked Weller's driver's license.

On January 5, 2004, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged George Russell Weller with ten counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, carrying a penalty of up to 18 years in prison. Weller's attorneys were ordered to surrender their client within 24 hours.

On January 6, 2004, Weller pleaded not guilty to the charges before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paula Adele Mabrey and was released on his own recognizance.

On January 14, 2004, victims and relatives filed suit against the City of Santa Monica and Bayside District Corp., organizers of the Santa Monica farmers' market, alleging that the accident could have been prevented by the installation of metal barriers. Attorney Geoff Wells, representing victims and their relatives, remarked that "[The defendants] failed to take any reasonable steps to provide protection for the patrons at the farmer's market."

On October 25, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader convened a preliminary hearing to determine whether Weller would stand trial.

On November 3, 2004, Weller was ordered to stand trial, and his arraignment was scheduled for November 17.

On December 8, 2004, after a delay due to poor health, Weller was arraigned, again pleaded not guilty to the charges, and waived his right to a speedy trial.

On March 18, 2005, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Neill denied a motion by Weller's attorneys to dismiss the manslaughter charges, remarking that "hitting the accelerator instead of the brake seems to me to be a clearly negligent act."

On October 20, 2006, by a unanimous verdict, jurors found Weller guilty on all charges, convicting him of vehicular manslaughter for killing 10 pedestrians. The sentence was to be decided by the Court, with a maximum penalty of 18 years.

On November 20, 2006, Weller received probation on all counts after a judge determined that Weller was too ill to go to prison, where he would likely be a burden on prison authorities and taxpayers. Weller was a month short of his 90th birthday. He was also ordered to pay more than $100,000 in fines and restitution to the victims' families.


[edit] References

How should he be punished? From the National

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20 — An aged man who killed 10 people when his car plowed into a crowded farmers’ market was sentenced Monday to five years’ probation by a judge who cited the defendant’s failing health in not imposing a prison sentence.

The driver, George R. Weller, now 89, deserves to be behind bars both for the magnitude of what occurred and for his lack of public remorse since, said the judge, Michael M. Johnson of Los Angeles County Superior Court. But imprisoning Mr. Weller, who is bedridden and under 24-hour nursing care, “wouldn’t do anybody any good” and would burden taxpayers with the cost of his medical care, the judge said.

As at most of his trial, the defendant was not in court Monday, because he has a heart ailment and other medical problems. He was convicted last month of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and could have been sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.

Mr. Weller was 86 on July 16, 2003, when he turned his 1992 Buick LeSabre into the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market and kept pressing on the accelerator even as his car smashed into a crowd of shoppers. In addition to those killed — nine adults and a 2-year-old — more than 70 people were injured.

Mr. Weller’s lawyers said he had confused the brake with the accelerator, and the incident brought a national debate about whether stricter measures should be adopted to ensure that the elderly are competent to drive.

Judge Johnson handed down the sentence despite prosecutors’ efforts to have the proceedings delayed so that the district attorney’s office could obtain an evaluation of Mr. Weller’s medical condition from doctors at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

“Our office felt we didn’t have the medical and psychiatric information necessary to make a reasoned decision” on a sentencing recommendation, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman, “and that’s why we asked for further testing.”

Mr. Weller’s apparent lack of remorse has been a central issue for the families of the dead. In issuing the sentence, which also requires the defendant to pay restitution to the families, Judge Johnson said he would “never understand Mr. Weller’s indifference to the victims in this case” or his “bullheaded refusal to accept responsibility.”

Testifying at the hearing, the family of Lynne Ann Weaver, one of those killed, condemned Mr. Weller’s frequent absence from court and his failure to offer an apology.

Ms. Weaver was 47 and the mother of a teenage daughter when she was struck. A sister of hers, Gretchen Haug, told the court Monday: “I should not be here today, or ever at all. I’m very angry. There’s no excuse for what Mr. Weller has done.”

Still, another sister, Erin Villalobos, said after the hearing that she was satisfied with the sentence and that “I believe he’s serving time in his own prison.”

Dr. Robert Bone, a nephew of Mr. Weller, testified that the defendant had spent much of his time volunteering with civic organizations after retiring as a supermarket supplier. Ever since that day at the farmers’ market, Dr. Bone said, his uncle has led a life “dominated by guilt and depression” and asks him to offer a blessing for the victims at every family holiday gathering.

Mr. Weller’s lawyers say they are appealing his conviction on grounds of possible jury misconduct. One accusation is that a juror spoke to his minister about the case before the verdicts were reached.

As for the sentence, “I think the judge did the right thing,” said one of the defense lawyers, Mark E. Overland. “Also, we’re talking here about an individual who did not commit an offense that was intentional” and who “except for 20 seconds, lived a life that all of us can envy.”

More Articles in National »

Happy Days are here!

Well, it is getting close to Thanksgiving Day, and it has been a while since my last post here, so I had figured that I had better get to it.! The highlights of my week: Tomorrow, tomorrow, I am so ready for tomorrow. I leave work early , so I can go get rid of this mop I have and get a perm and get colored so I can finally get RID of all this grey hair! It will take about 2 and a half hours, and cost me a pretty penny, but it will be worth it. I will only work until about 2:15 pm. Then I get to take my favourite GSD home for a few days(until this Sunday) then I get my mop taken care of( sorry no pics until I get my digital camera) . Wednesday, I will work until 4 pm. Come home, relax, enjoy some quite time with my pooch until Thanksgiving afternoon. I then head on over to my brothers house for a Thanksgiving get together with my father, brother, sister in law, and some friends and cousins. Then feed the security, then head home. The only thing wrong is that my sis and mother will not be there. My sister lives in Ark and cannot come up because of work, and my mother has to go down to tend to her God mother in Tyler, Texas. I do not envy her. Tyler, Texas is a looong ways away from Topeka, Kansas.

What time is it?

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Never been there but I hear it is nice

You Belong in Brooklyn

Down to earth and hard working, you're a true New Yorker. And although you may be turning into a yuppie, you never forget your roots.

Where Should Your Inner New Yorker Live?

Property Taxes

I just recieved in the mail my property tax statement for this coming December and for this coming May. In Kansas, the first half of property taxes is due by December 20th of this year. Lets say that your property taxes total 3 thousand dollars. Fifteen hundred is due on or by December 20th 2006 and fifteen hundred is due by May 10th, 2007. You can also choose to pay the entire amount of three thousand on or by December 20th 2006. Got it? Ok. When your statement is mailed to you, the county that you reside in, or the county that you have your business in, gives you a breakdown of how much money that you have paid in property taxes, how much you spent( for instance, you paid the county library 250 dollars in taxes) and will compare what you paid this year to what you paid last year. It is very convenient, and easy to understand. Looking at my statement, I see that my property taxes have slightly increased, by about 60 or 70 dollars. I won't tell you how much I owe, but I will say this: I have known people that have had to pay more. I hate paying taxes, but it has to be done. The government needs me. Rather, the government needs my money! I guess that paying taxes is a price to pay for living in the good ole US of A. And I am forever learning: I finally learned(shoot it is on the back of my statement!) what a mill levy is!

She's baaaaaaack

I, SunflowerKansas3, The WORD WHOMP QUEEN, has returned! Check me out at pogogames.com. Just don't challenge me: YOU WILL GO DOWN!

She's baaaaaaack

I, SunflowerKansas3, The WORD WHOMP QUEEN, has returned! Check me out at pogogames.com. Just don't challenge me: YOU WILL GO DOWN!

I am glad

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad that the elections are finally over. !!!

Not just in America!

EU warns of obesity crisis and hails retailers who commit to healthier food

The Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Commission on Thursday hailed several food and beverage multinationals — often seen as culprits in obesity — for pledging to help fight the flab in Europe.

EU Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou praised, among others, Unilever NV, PepsiCo, The Coca Cola Company, McDonald's Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. for committing to voluntary steps to reverse Europe's widening girth and promote physical fitness at a time when the number of overweight children in the EU is rising by 400,000 a year.

At a press conference with top executives of these companies, he said it was crucial food and drink companies cooperate in the fight against flab because the EU cannot legislate against products that are not dangerous.

If Europe wants to curb overweight, "we have to form public-private partnerships. We are all part of the problem — industry, parents, consumers, the authorities, doctors — and will have to be part of the solution."

Kyprianou said the European Commission has reaped 146 commitments from makers of soft drinks and fast food to reformulate their products by cutting sugar, fat and salt levels, make labels clearer, agree on common advertising norms and promote healthy lifestyles.

EU soft drink makers, for instance, have agreed not to advertise their products to children under 12 and to provide consumers with more information on the calorie content of their products.

"These commitments are good examples of concrete and verifiable action undertaken by industry to tackle obesity and overweight," said Kyprianou. He called on others to follow suit.

Kyprianou cited World Health Organization data showing that 20 percent of European children are overweight and that there ranks swell by 400,000 a year.

Obesity is more prevalent in southern Europe where traditional Mediterranean diets are giving way to more processed foods rich in fat, sugar and salt.

The WHO estimates that in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta more than 30 percent of children aged 7 to 11 are obese, compared to over 20 percent in Britain, Ireland, Cyprus and Sweden and between 10 to 20 percent in France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bulgaria.

ext week, the WHO and the EU jointly host a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to place obesity high on European governments' agendas.

The European Commission released the findings of a Eurobarometer survey that said most Europeans consider themselves to be in good health, but that 38 percent feel they are overweight.

It said the vast majority believe "obesity in children has increased over the last five years" and that food advertising and promotion influences children's eating habits.

Approximately one in five respondents declared he or she had dieted over the last 12 months, either voluntarily or on their doctors advice.The survey's margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.

On the Net:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph—publication/eurobarometers—en.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph—determinants/life—style/nutrition/nutrit

ion—en.htm

http://www.euro.who.int/obesity/conference2006

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

School money scam. News from Cjonline

USD 501 Check Scam -- Whose fault?

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
By The Capital-Journal editorial board
Remember that $515,000 that Topeka Unified School District 501 lost to an international check fraud operation?

Fortunately, the school district hasn't forgotten it. It is still trying to recover as much of it as it can from those they believe have some responsibility for the loss.

The school district is suing US Bank, alleging that the bank should have noticed the discrepancies in checks cashed by the scammers and put a stop to it.

On Friday, the bank asked Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis to dismiss the school district's case or issue a summary judgment.

Theis listened to oral arguments for 90 minutes, then told attorneys not to expect a ruling until the first of next year.

That means the issue is still alive, for now, and gives USD 501 taxpayers some hope that at least some of the money might be recovered.

Not that we're prejudging the case and assuming the bank was at fault. But it will be nice to know how much of the fault should be assigned to whom, and getting the tax relief will be nice if the school district is right.

Plastic surgery

I am watching one of those Learning/Health channels on televison about people going through plastic surgery. Unless I am in an accident and need corrective surgery, I WILL NEVER GET PLASTIC SURGERY. EVER.Personally I cannot really understand why women get breast augmentation or face lifts. I mean, if thats what they want, then I won't get in their way if they want it done. But I won't do it.Never. To me, it looks phony and fake.In my opinion, it is not attractive at all!

Can Republicans keep taking hits like this? Yet another scandal

From AOL News:Haggard, who as president of the National Association of Evangelicals wielded influence on Capitol Hill and condemned both gay marriage and homosexuality, resigned on Thursday after a Denver man named Mike Jones claimed that he had many drug-fueled trysts with Haggard.

On Friday, Haggard said he that received a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel, and that he bought meth for himself from the man.

But Haggard said he never had sex with Jones. And as for the drugs, "I was tempted, but I never used it," the 50-year-old Haggard told reporters from his vehicle while leaving his home with his wife and three of his five children.

Jones, 49, denied selling meth to Haggard. "Never," he told MSNBC. Haggard "met someone else that I had hooked him up with to buy it."


'Tis the Season...
For political scandal. Hard to deny, it's been one nasty election. Keep up with the latest buzz.
· Comment on the Elections Blog

Jones also scoffed at the idea that a hotel would have sent Haggard to him.

"No concierge in Denver would have referred me," he said. He said he had advertised himself as an escort only in gay publications or on gay Web sites.

Jones did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press on Friday.

In addition to resigning his post at the NAE, which claims 30 million members, Haggard stepped aside as leader of his 14,000-member New Life Church pending a church investigation. In a TV interview earlier this week, he said: "Never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife."

The NAE's executive committee issued a statement Friday praising Haggard's service but saying "it is especially serious when a pastor and prominent Christian leader deliberately violates God's standards of conduct."

The statement did not mention the allegations against Haggard but noted he had admitted to "some indiscretions."

"Due to the seriousness of Rev. Haggard's misconduct while in the leadership roles he held, we anticipate that an extended period of recovery will be appropriate," the statement said.

In Denver, where Jones said his encounters with Haggard took place, police said in a statement they were "watching this situation unfold and plan on reaching out to the involved parties for information on crimes that may have been committed."

The statement did not say whether an active investigation was under way, and police spokeswoman Virginia Quinones did not immediately return a call.

District attorney's spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said a public admission isn't enough by itself to bring a case, but "if we can prove criminal conduct, we will" file charges.

Jones claims Haggard paid him for sex nearly every month for three years until August. He said Haggard identified himself as "Art." Jones said that he learned who Haggard really was when he saw the evangelical leader on television.

Jones said he went public with the allegations because Haggard has supported a measure on Tuesday's ballot that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage. Jones said he was also angry that Haggard in public condemned gay sex.

Haggard, who had been president since 2003 of the NAE, has participated in conservative Christian leaders' conference calls with White House staffers and lobbied members of Congress last year on U.S. Supreme Court nominees.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto said Friday Haggard had visited the White House once or twice and had participated in some of the conference calls, but he did not have exact numbers.


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He declined to comment further, calling the matter a personal issue for Haggard. Fratto said he did not believe the allegations would discourage conservative Christians from voting Tuesday.

Corwin Smidt, a political scientist at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., and director of the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics there, said Haggard's role with the association gave him some political clout, but the group's focus is more on religion than political activism.

"It isn't necessarily that all evangelicals are paying close attention to what he's saying and doing, but he is an important leader," Smidt said.

James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, an influential conservative Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs, said he was "heartsick" over the allegations. He described Haggard as his close friend and colleague.

Aaron Stern, another pastor at New Life, told AP Television News on Friday that Haggard is a man of integrity and that church members don't know which of the allegations to believe.

Stern said has been telling church members seeking his advice that "People fail us. ... People do things we don't expect them to do, but in the midst of all of that our god is faithful, our god is strong."

Jones took a polygraph test Friday, and his answers to questions about whether he had sexual contact with Haggard "indicated deception," said John Kresnick, who administered the test.

Jones told reporters afterward he was disappointed by the results. "I am confused why I failed that, other than the fact that I'm totally exhausted," he said.

Kresnick, who said he administered the test for free at the request of KHOW radio in Denver, said exhaustion could have been a factor in the results.

"There's a possibility that his being mentally and physically exhausted could have caused him some problems," he said. Kresnick, who said he had 25 years' experience as a polygraph tester.

James Earle of Colorado Springs, a retired FBI polygraph tester, questioned whether fatigue could affect Jones' results.

"I don't think that just lack of sleep would cause a person to go truthful or deceptive, one way or the other," he said. Earle said he could not comment on the specifics of Jones' test without seeing the questions and the test charts.

Associated Press Writers Robert Weller

Bad News from my hometown newspaper

Attorney foresees clinic raids

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The Associated Press
A day after Attorney General Phill Kline confirmed receiving patient records from two abortion clinics, attorney Pedro Irigonegaray said Wednesday that he fears Kline will raid those clinics to create potential "photo opportunities."

Kline called those statements "reckless and knowingly false."

The Republican attorney general began a new television ad Tuesday night defending his two-year pursuit of the records of 90 patients as necessary to investigate rapes of children and potentially illegal late-term abortions.

Democratic challenger Paul Morrison continued to criticize Kline's efforts to obtain the records as invading patients' privacy. But Mark Simpson, Morrison's campaign manager, wouldn't predict what the Democrat would do with the records if he is elected, saying only, "He'll evaluate the situation."

Kline also faced criticism over his activities involving churches, with Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a July presentation by Kline at a Topeka church and the church's subsequent $1,339 donation to SWT Communications, a company run by Kline's wife.

The race remained intense and bitter with less than a week before the Nov. 7 election.

Seriously, what is wrong with these assholes?

What is wrong with these asshole pedophiles??? Holy shit:Ex-coach sentenced in child porn case

Breaking News Video

See More Breaking Videos A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The former football coach at the University of St. Mary was sentenced today to 13 years in federal prison for trafficking in child pornography.

Scott Frear, 43, of Leavenworth, was sentenced during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil. He pleaded guilty in June, admitting he sent sexual images of himself and others to someone he thought to be a 14-year-old New Hampshire boy. The teen was actually a New Hampshire detective who was investigating computer sex crimes.

Frear, who sent the images in July 2005, was indicted by a federal grand jury in January.

Frear began coaching at St. Mary in 2002 and was the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference coach of the year that season. He previously was offensive coordinator at Avila University in Kansas City, Mo.

He resigned Aug. 16 from St. Mary, hours after university officials learned that he was being investigated.

Back to posting

Well, I am sorry that I have been kinda lax in posting here and this time, I have no excuse: I only worked about 42 hours this week. I usually work more. I was sick on Friday(yuck)which was yesterday, and that costs me money. YUCK. I am still posting on the Glenn Beck forums (as SunflowerKs40) and I post on the AOL boards as RedstateKansan39. I enjoy em both, but the AOL boards are the wildest , and IMHO, the funnier of the two. I post from the ProChoice position. I enjoy debates, I can be very stubborn and argumentative sometimes. Not always a bad thing. Maybe I was a lawyer in a former life? Ha ha ha.I will post some more news articles, I like the ones that I get from my hometown newspaper, esp the strange news. Church tomorrow at 9 am!

Do NOT piss this man off

Angry shopkeeper uses forklift to lift parked car that blocked access to storage container

The Associated Press
MAHOPAC, N.Y. — A shopkeeper got so angry about the way a man had parked his car that he climbed into a forklift, placed the fork under the car and lifted it off the ground, police said Wednesday.

Wasek Safrah, 51, of Ossining, also punched out both the offending car and the man who parked it, said Lt. Brian Karst of the Carmel police. He was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and assault.

Karst said the episode began at about 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at a strip mall on Route 6 in Mahopac. Safrah felt the car, though legally parked, was blocking his access to a storage container or trash bin and got into a heated argument with the driver, who was an employee of another store and was no longer in the car. Police did not release that man's name.

The police report, issued Tuesday night, says Safrah then punched the side of the vehicle, denting it. Then he took the controls of a forklift in the parking lot, maneuvered its lifting mechanism under the car and lifted it upward. The car was not moved out of the parking spot, however.

"We don't know what his intention was," Karst said.

Karst said he did not know who owned the forklift, but it probably belonged to another of the businesses.

After lifting the car, Safrah allegedly punched the driver in the mouth. The victim was injured but not seriously, Karst said.

The car was eventually lowered from the forklift.

Safrah was released pending an appearance in Carmel Town Court, still to be scheduled. Neither the police nor the court had information on who might represent him. There was no phone listing under his name in Ossining.

Copyright 2006 The Associated

Signs.. and prolife child exploitation???

As I was driving home my regular route on the avenue this evening, I noticed a sign that had a picture of the cutest little baby girl on it. The backdrop was pink. The little girl was smiling with a frock of dark brown hair on her head. She had the cutest little pumpkin face that I have ever seen. Then I read what the sign says: 'God made me. My parents adopted me.' Then there was a phone number for some right to life agency and an adoption agency. While I have issues with the right to life arguments, I have no issues with adoption. Then I think further: Clearly these two groups are exploiting this child, exploiting her 'cuteness' to garner the 'oohhs and ahhhs' of people, using this child to get their point across. Has anyone else thought of this when you see those cutesy so called 'prolife'pics? Your thoughts, please.

YouTube

I am trying to somehow link youtube to this blog- so be patient with me, I am not as technologically advanced as some. My computer still keeps freezing up on me. And I have got this irritating skin tag that I am getting rid of tomorrow. Whimper whimper whine whine LOL

A joke from my email inbox!

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night, when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...
He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping.
Bumping and clapping toward him.
The man screams and reaches for something, anything,
but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup! Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...

and,

(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)


The coffin stops

Amish Paradise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TchgzU2kfd0

Debate and forums

hey looks like I need to update here! Well I have been sorta busy. Now I am waiting for my car to be thoroughly fixed(That will be sometime next week) Have the dent fixed and then have a new blower fan installed. Tell me about it. The automoblie fix it industry is very lucrative here in Kansas. Thankfully, most of the mechanics are honest, decent people. On to the Debate and forums. I post quite a bit on the AOL abortion boards. The abortion boards are sort of on the wain , or at least have been for the past month or so. When the trolls get to be too much(happens on occassion) I have to take a break for a while. My iggy box gets a good work out. I won't name names. The trolls know who they are. I am currently posting on other boards that seem to have less trolls and more debate and friendly banter. In fact currently I am in a pretty good debate on the GB forum and the subject is pornography. You have to be a member of the Glenn Beck Insider program to contribute, (i.e. monthly fees attached) so that eliminates the trolls. Glenn Beck has a radio program which is funny as hell. He has a tv show on Headline News, it is good but the radio program is much better. He is a recovering addict, former disc jockey, former Liberal, is now a Mormon, now a Libertarian.. well you get the idea. You really have to watch and listen to him to understand. Well, now I am off to the auto shop. I get my car back ina few days, then it goes back into the shop again::sigh::

I hate stupid people

Sometimes, I just hate people. Rather, I hate stupid people. I hate stupid people ESPECIALLY when it comes to animals. I have 2 examples: The first example is the lovely couple that gets a dog. Ok, so far so good. they take care of the dog. Dog becomes attached to couple. A few years later, said couple has a child. Dog gets jealous of child and nips at child. Then stupid couple take dog to the pound because they are afraid dog will hurt kid. Does this idiot couple really bother to work with child and dog? NO. Furthermore, why does stupid couple get the dog first before having the kid? Why can't they get their lives in better shape before having kids? Ok, second scenario: Unmarried college age couple move into apartment together. They work part time. They are college students and really have no money. A friend offers them two puppies. Do they accept? OF COURSE!. They will readily accept with out a brain in their heads. After all, they are just cute little puppies, and what brainless, broke, apartment dwelling, college duo could resist? Of course the best place for these cute little pups to stay is in the bathroom! Why not? The last place that a landlord will look is in the bathroom. Thankfully the bathroom floor is tiled, otherwise the cute widdle pups will have already started in on their fun with destroying things.And , this idiot duo surmises, pups DO grow, but these labs will not get THAT big. And they can be taught not to bark. Besides, we won't get caught. We won't get evicted and thrown back on the streets only to go crawling back to our parents to live with them again.. and nawwwwww the pups won't end up in the pound.. our lives together.. we will eventually get married and we wont be broke and we will eventually have kids togther... like I said sometimes I HATE PEOPLE.

This Afternoon and my dream(open to interpretation)

I had the day off from work today. Yes, occassionally I do take days off. Well, I did accomplish a few things today. Did a little cleaning, and finally got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed. They needed it because I had not had it done in a few months and I was getting kind of hairy , heh. Well, I came home, had lunch then emailed a few friends, posted on my favourite boards, then decided to take a nap. What was supposed to be a nap turned into a full fledged sleep, and I dreamt about. I dreamt that I was at an Elvis Presley concert , and I bumped into Johnny Cash. Talk about fun. I encourged him to get up on stage with Elvis and sing some songs. I must have been singing and dancing in my sleep and everything seemed so real! I also remember the feeling sort of like I was floating in and out of reality, completely painless, and laughing a lot.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My computer keeps freezing up on me. Pages take forever to load. I cannot play my games on pogo.com because my screen freezes up there and I have to reboot! Fuck!!!!!!!!!!Yes, I have a great antivirus program updated every day. Pages are slow to load, and I have to reboot often. Any suggestions would be great.

Borrowed from somewhere on the net

Ok, I know that this article is dated August 2006, but that is still fairly recent. What do you folks think? The 1,800-Fold Price HikeA maker of the pill sticks it to family-planning clinics.By Amanda Schaffer
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006, at 1:12 PM ET
No one much noticed, but thousands of family-planning clinics across the country went into a tailspin last month. They were reacting to a drastic price increase by Ortho-McNeil, a major supplier of birth-control pills and maker of the popular contraceptive patch. The company used to charge publicly funded clinics as little as a penny a pack for the pills. Then, as of July 1, the price of some pills jumped to more than $18 a pack. Ortho's move was apparently legal under federal pricing rules. But it's anybody's guess as to why the company chose to do this now, without giving the clinics any real notice.

As a result of the price hike, publicly funded clinics from Maine to New Mexico are running short on popular contraception products, scrambling to find reasonably priced generics, and scaling back on the choices they offer low-income women. Chronically underfunded, the clinics are in no shape to absorb this blow, especially now. The number of women in need of subsidized contraception is rising, while new and expensive advances in screening and prevention, like the HPV vaccine, are coming on line. Yet the national press has ignored the story of the Ortho price hike, which the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia broke in late July.

Ortho-McNeil has historically offered birth control to public clinics at a far lower price than it retails to women with private insurance, allowing the clinics to offer free or low-cost pills to many patients. The company's low prices—pennies for a month's worth of birth-control pills, $10 to $12 for the popular one-month contraceptive patch Ortho Evra—came through the federal program 340B. Using a complex formula, 340B sets upper limits on what companies can charge to clinics that receive funding from Title X, the federal family-planning initiative. There are about 4,500 Title X clinics serving around 5 million patients. The current funding is $283 million a year—an amount that's supposed to cover not only birth control but also treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, screening for breast and cervical cancer, pregnancy tests, and counseling. (Title X funds may not be used for abortions.


Ok, Just my humble opinion here, I could afford the price hike, but some poor woman without insurance may not. Moment of clarity: Even with the price hike, it is still cheaper than an abortion or gestating a pregnancy then giving birth.

Guilty Pleasures

Dennis has been one of my guilty pleasures. He is big in every sense of the word:). However, I have not seen or heard from him lately. Personally I think he is kinda pissed because I won't come over and drop his drawers whenever he wishes me to. I would like to, but I cannot do it at 11 pm when I have to work in the morning!LOL. Yes, I have not heard from him in about a month and a half.. oh well, life goes on. Looks like I will have to find another guy.. right now another guilty pleasure of mine is the Comedy Central tv show South Park. I love it. They insult EVERYBODY.

Thanks, Glenn Beck! This is sweet, so I just had to add it here

Focusing on Our Kids

It has been a tough week and its only Wednesday. And yes, while all
weeks seem pretty tough these days, this one has seen kids suffering the
most. Thankfully that predator Mark Foley is finally out of
commission, but we didnt catch another dangerous nut soon enough before his
senseless attack on an Amish schoolhouse left us all devastated, none more
so than those little girls' parents. Of course, I have lots of thoughts
on these two stories and youve been hearing them on the radio and TV
shows, so Id like to make a different point here. If youre lucky enough
to have children of your own, you know what a profound blessing that
is. If you dont have kids, I pray you still have your parents with you
and know how fortunate they feel to have you in their lives. To have or
be a happy and healthy child is something to celebrate and never take
for granted. I hope youll join me in taking that to heart.

Were all busylife is complicated and time is the one thing there never
seems to be enough of. But when you really think about it, what could
be more worth making time for than our children? I love my kids more
than words could ever say, and one of the ways I especially feel that is
when I read to my son Raphe. Hes 2 years old and while he especially
loves Green Eggs and Ham, I think hed be just as happy if I read to him
from the phone book. Its not what I read to him, but that I read to
him. Its time we spend together, just us. I draw strength for my day
from those nighttime moments that we share. Even though my life and
schedule are more hectic now than theyve ever been, I know I must never
forget whats really importantwhats essential for me as a dad and him as my
son.

We should remind ourselves not just how much we love our kids, but how
much we really like them. And if you dont have kids of your own, call
your folks and tell them what they mean to youwhat its meant to you to
have been their child. Try to keep that feeling with you all the time.
Im going to, and Im sure itll make the tough weeks just a little
easier.

See you tonight, Raphe. Sam I am

-glenn

Foley

Foley is a sick asshole for doing what he did to that Page. I hope that he goes to prison for a long time. I guess now he is in seclusion somewhere getting 'treatment' for alcoholism. Bullshit. Let him go to prison, where he will find a 'husband', to take care of him.I saw the picture of him along with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted. I kinda feel sorry for Walsh, now that his image is probably tarnished by being seen with asshole Foley.To think, Foley was a huge backer of some sort of legislation to stop cp. I hate him. I know that it is really not constructive to hate, but this guy has violated the trust of so many that he deserves to be hated. Everyone is right. He is an asshole douchebag pig.

Lola!

She is ADORABLE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTDQDFLUgc8

Southpark

I love Southpark! And the new tv episodes are supposed to come out today. Life is sweet.

From Comedy Central

A blonde walked into a gas station and said to the manager, ''I locked my keys in my car. Do you have a coat hanger or something I can stick through the window to unlock the door?''
''Why sure,'' said the manager, ''we have something that works especially well for that.''

A couple minutes later, the manager walked outside to see how the blonde was doing and he heard another voice. ''No, no! A little to the left,'' said the other blonde inside the car.

Joke

Homer, a handsome dude, walked into a sports bar around 9:58pm. He sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV. The 10:00 news was now on. The news crew was covering a story of a man on a ledge of a tall building preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Homer and said, "Do you think he'll jump?"

Homer said, "You know, I bet he'll jump."

The blonde replied, "Well, I bet he won't."

Homer placed 20 dollars on the bar and said, "You're on!"

Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy did a swan dive off of the building, falling to his death. The blonde was very upset and handed her 20 dollars to Homer, saying, "Fair is fair. Here's your money."

Homer replied, "I can't take your money, I saw this earlier on the 5 o'clock news and knew he would jump."

The blonde replied, "I did too, but I didn't think he'd do it again"

Homer took the money.



________

More video

Tomorrow Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow, I get to take my car in for an estimate for a traffic accident that I was involved in last Thursday. Not at all my fault, so my insurance does not have to pay anything. Once everything is in order, I will probably have to wait to get the parts in for them to start fixing it. I hate the wait. It usually is not too long, still it is a bit of an inconvenience. It scared the crap outta me when the woman hit me. She swerved over into my lane, like she didn't even see me. I did not say too much, but I was polite when we pulled over. She was very young, looked to be in her early twenties, so I just remained in my car and waited for the cop to show up to take the report. He was a cute cop:).

Les Miserabe

Still miserable today with this cold. My eyes, which have been draining a ton along with my nose. Tis the season. I started taking something called azithromycin today which seems to help, because I am actually feeling better since I took the pills. If you are a diabetic, then a cold can sometimes do wonders for your bloodsugars(not in a good way). To change the subject a little, I don't think that I will hear from Dennis again. I think that he is still traveling alot these days, with the shows and the group he performs with. If I do hear from him, or I don't, it is no skin off my nose. Its not like I am waiting to hear from him LOL. Oh well, on to much needed sleep

Today I feel miserable.

Sore throat. Congestion. Watery eyes. Drowsiness. Irritability. Sneezing. Chills.Yep, I have got it all. I believe that what I have is what is known as the common cold. YUCK. I believe that I contracted it sometime last week, because that is when I had a mild sore throat. I became sicker today at work, and was congested for most of the day. Can't call in sick tomorrow, as tomorrow is payday, and I work the payroll! Adding to my frustrations , I was involved in a minor traffic accident Friday and now I have got to hassle with an insurance company. We all know how much fun that is, HA!. Well, at least the accident was not my fault, and I did not get cited for anything. Right now, I am waiting for my binky to get done in the dryer, so after my shower I can wrap it around me to keep me warm. My mother has gone to Tyler , Texas to visit her Godmother who is in the hospital, and will be home tomorrow. I hope that she gets home ok.

Sad news:(

This is coming from my local newspaper. Very sad and depressing.: Second-grader liked soccer, library, brother

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
By Hal Lockard and Barbara Hollingsworth
The Capital-Journal
Noah Garey and his brother, Chandler, were discussing their reading homework and who was going to read to whom Tuesday night as they sat in their father's car at a stop light at S.E. 29th and West Edge Road.

They hadn't reached an agreement before tragedy struck from behind, sending Noah to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died Thursday at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

Mark Garey said Friday that he and his sons were returning from Lake Shawnee, where Garey coached Chandler's soccer team practices twice a week. Noah, also a soccer player, attended the practices.

"He liked to play soccer, to play with his cars and he liked to be around his big brother," Mark said of Noah.

And that was why he tagged along on those cross-city excursions to Chandler's practices. It was a drive the three had made "a couple times a week" for a long time, Mark said.





Submitted
Noah Garey
Click here to check for reprint availability.Noah was born June 6, 1999, in Grand Junction, Colo. The family moved to Topeka six years ago. The children attended Indian Hills Elementary School, Noah, 7, in second grade and Chandler, 9, in third grade.
Mark said Noah enjoyed mathematics and going to the library, "and he liked being around his friends."

"We've heard from many of them already," the father said.

The accident Tuesday occurred at about dusk when a pickup truck struck the Garey car from behind, according to the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office. The wreck left the Garey's Geo Prizm crumpled alongside westbound S.E. 29th Street. Passers-by slowed to near stops, looking curiously at the wreckage while firefighters had to exert authority to keep traffic moving.

Mark recalled the moment, saying he sensed the gravity of Noah's injuries.

"I pulled him from the car. I knew what the injuries were," he said.

He said his wife, Heather, was doing "as well as can be expected," leaning on the strength of their Christian faith.

The Gareys are members of Light of the World Christian Center, and Noah had early in his life expressed interest in becoming a minister.

"He wanted to be a minister because he loved Jesus that much," Mark said.

News that a classmate had died was spread in a short statement Thursday afternoon at Indian Hills Elementary School.

"We have some sad news to share with you," began the statement that was to be read simultaneously in second- through sixth-grade classrooms throughout the 575-student building.

"It's like losing a part of your family," principal George Huckabee said in an interview Friday. "There were tears, and that's OK."

Letters also went home with students Thursday afternoon warning parents that their children might respond in different ways. They could become clingy, sad, angry and even feel guilty. Their heads might hurt and their stomachs might ache, the principal wrote.

Parents, he said, should reassure children that they are safe as are others important to them. They should help children understand that it is OK to be sad and have all sorts of feelings about Noah's death. And Huckabee urged parents to maintain normal routines and spend time with children.

A school counselor and psychologist were on hand to work with students Thursday and Friday. If more assistance is needed, the district can draw from its larger pool of school psychologists and counselors, said Martin Weishaar, communications coordinator for Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437.

"It's a difficult time at the school," Weishaar said, passing along comments from Huckabee. "Of course, the family is in their thoughts. They are doing everything to maintain to keep things normal."

Information about services for Noah weren't available Friday.

A Noah Garey Memorial Fund has been established at Commerce Bank & Trust, 3035 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Topeka, Kan. 66611.

Barbara Hollingsworth can be

From wikipedia

Car accident
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Fender bender)
Jump to: navigation, search
The result of excessive speed, this cement truck rolls over into the front garden of a house. There were no injuries, but significant damage was caused.A car accident is a incident whereas an automobile either departs from regular pathway into a ditch, or collides with anything that causes damage to the automobile, including other automobiles, telephone poles, buildings, and trees. Sometimes a car accident may also refer to an automobile striking a human or animal. Car accidents — also called traffic collisions, auto accidents, road accidents, personal injury collisions, motor vehicle accidents, and (particularly by American radio traffic reporters) crashes — kill an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number (WHO, 2004). The term "accident" is considered an inappropriate word by some, as reliable sources estimate that upwards of 90% are the result of driver negligence. In the UK the Department of Transport publish road deaths in each type of car. These statistics are available as "Risk of injury measured by percentage of drivers injured in a two car injury accident."

These statistics show a ten to one ratio of in-vehicle accident deaths between the least safe and most safe models of car.

A vehicular collision in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. The car failed to stop when the truck stopped at a roundabout. The car's bonnet can be seen deep under the rear of the truck. There were no injuries.The statistics show that for popular, lightly built cars, occupants have a 6%-8% chance of death in a two car accident. (e.g. BMW 3 series 6%, Subaru Impreza 8%, Honda Accord 6%). Traditional "safety cars" such as the Volvos halve that chance (Volvo 700 4% incidence of death, Volvo 900 3%).

SUVs are better for their occupants in two-vehicle crashes than 'safety cars', with the Jeep Cherokee and Toyota Land Cruiser giving 2% incidence of occupant death in actual crashes. However, in multiple-vehicle crashes SUVs are probably between three (Bicycle Safety Almanac) and six (International Injury & Fatality Statistics) times more likely to kill the occupant of the other vehicle (car, cyclist, or pedestrian) than cars.

Overall the four best vehicles to be in are the Jaguar XJ series 1%, Mercedes-Benz S-Class / SEC 1%, Land Rover Defender 1% and Land Rover Discovery 1%.

Motorcyclist deaths within England and Wales stand at 53% of the annual road death statistics. Scooters/mopeds up to 50cc only account for 3% of those deaths. 2% of the scooter deaths were 16-19 year olds who had not taken CBT (Compulsory Basic Training). Studies show that the #1 cause of car accidents in North America is automobiles.

(Statistics taken from 2004/2005 DSA annual road deaths percentages)

Contents [hide]
1 First fatality
2 Responsibility of car manufacturers
3 Trends in collision statistics
4 Types of collisions
5 Legal consequences
6 Rubbernecking
7 Backup accidents
8 Collision prevention
9 See also
10 External links



[edit]
First fatality
The first fatality in a steam-driven vehicle may have been Mary Ward who on 31 August 1869 fell under a steam car in Ireland.

In the UK, the first person to die in a petrol-driven car collision was a pedestrian, Bridget Driscoll, in 1896. The first driver/passenger deaths occurred on 25 February 1899. A 6 HP Daimler, driven by 31-year-old engineer Edwin Sewell, crashed on Grove Hill, a steeply graded road on the northern slope of Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, now in north-west London. A rear wheel collapsed after breaking its rim and the car hit a sturdy brick wall. Sewell was killed immediately when he and his passenger, a Major Richer, were thrown from the vehicle. Richer died 3 days later in hospital. The spot is now marked with a commemorative plaque.

[edit]
Responsibility of car manufacturers
Car makers have been both accused of making cars that go too fast, and praised for the safety measures (such as ABS) found in new models.

A number of books have critically analysed the responsibility of car makers for safety. The most famous is probably Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, and more recently Keith Bradsher's High and Mighty: the dangerous rise of SUVs (in Europe subtitled the world's most dangerous vehicles and how they got that way) has discussed popular concerns with the rise in popularity of the SUV.

[edit]
Trends in collision statistics
Road toll figures show that car collision fatalities have declined since 1980, with most countries showing a reduction of roughly 50%. This drop appears to confirm the efficacy of safety measures introduced thereafter, assuming that driver behaviour has not changed significantly.

In the United States, fatalities have increased slightly from 40,716 in 1994 to 42,643 in 2003. However, in terms of fatalities per 100 million miles driven, the fatality rate has dropped 16% between 1995 and 2005. Injuries dropped 37% over the same period. (National Traffic Safety Administration, 2006)

It has been noted that road fatality trends closely follow the so-called "Smeed's law" (after RJ Smeed, its author), an empirical rule relating injury rates to the two-thirds power of car ownership levels. Others claim that road safety improvements, not Smeed's law, are the dominant cause of lives saved. An analysis by John Adams can be found here.

[edit]
Types of collisions
A rollover in Sydney, Australia on Christmas day, 2001.Car accidents fall into several major categories (whose names are self-explanatory):

Head-on collisions
Rear-end collisions
Side collisions
Rollovers
Single-vehicle collisions
Multi-vehicle collisions
Backup accidents
Level crossing accidents
Suicide
Collisions can occur with other automobiles, other vehicles such as bicycles or trucks, with pedestrians or large animals (such as moose), and with stationary structures or objects, such as trees or road signs.

The result of a side collision; most cars are not as structurally sound side-to-side as they are front-to-back and damage can be more severe to the vehicle and the occupant than at the same speed in a rear-end collision.In a collision between two cars, the occupants of a car with the lower mass will likely suffer the greater consequences. See: crash incompatibility.

[edit]
Legal consequences

Pogo

Pogo.com I AM THE WORD WHOMP QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNN!

Life is good 2

I am back. Have not heard from Dennis in a while. Kinda frustrating because I am feeling kinda horny LOL. Maybe tomorrow night I will try IMing him. Meanwhile I must sleep. Zucker was driving me crazy tonight with her little squeak toy. Now she is calm.I MUST sleep. Cannot miss tomorrow.

Thank You, Mr Simon

For writing and playing this song. Great childhood memories I have of my mother playing that song! Late In The Evening

The first thing I remember
I was lying in my bed
I couldn’t of been no more
Than one or two
I remember there’s a radio
Comin’ from the room next door
And my mother laughed
The way some ladies do
When it’s late in the evening
And the music’s seeping through

The next thing I remember
I am walking down the street
I’m feeling all right
I’m with my boys
I’m with my troops, yeah
And down along the avenue
Some guys were shootin’ pool
And I heard the sound of a cappella groups, yeah
Singing late in the evening
And all the girls out on the stoops, yeah

Then I learned to play some lead guitar
I was underage in this funky bar
And I stepped outside to smoke myself a “J”
And when I came back to the room
Everybody just seemed to move
And I turned my amp up loud and began to play
And it was late in the evening
And I blew that room away

The first thing I remember
When you came into my life
I said I’m gonna get that girl
No matter what I do
Well I guess I’d been in love before
And once or twice been on the floor
But I never loved no one
The way I loved you
And it was late in the evening
And all the music seeping through

KState!

K-State Wildcats beat Marshall. Final score was 15(I think. I left just right when the final quarter had started because hey, it is a long assed walk back to the car)to Marshall's 7. It was a good game. I promised myself that I would go to one football game this year, and yesterday, I kept that promise. Yesterday after we got home, I was exhausted! I must have walked at least 3 miles. Ok, that may not be a lot for some, but it is a lot for my father and I! And today I am very RED. Why, you ask? Because yours truly, yes ME, forgot to bring sunscreen. Now I am paying for it. My neck is so red and splotchy now that it ain't funny!

Thanks, Mpoconnor7! You know who you are:)

There are a lot of people out there who think we can be everybody's friend, that if we sat down with Osama Bin Laden that we could understand them and they wouldn't want to harm us any more. They think everything can be solved with diplomacy, that the entire human race should be able to get along together like the humans do on Star Trek. I am not one of these people.

There are a lot of people out there who see a conspiracy everywhere they look, when things done work out the way the would like, it means it was part of a master plan to scheme and deceive. Gore or Kerry doesn't win the election, it must be a conspiracy because it was the will of the people that the Democrats win. 9/11 was tailor-made to these conspiracy theorists who think Bush just wants to take over the world's oil supply to satisfy his buddies in Texas, no matter how many millions of American lives it may cost. I am not one of these people.

There are alot of people out there who hate America because they somehow think it is so unfair that we are so technologically advanced and well fed and other parts of the world are not. It absolutely irritates these people in what we have accomplished in building this nation and everything in it from nothing in 230 years while places like the Middle East and Africa have had thousands of years to create a civilization and have failed to do so, and to these people it means that we must have exploited the rest of the world, and they are ashamed of our success. I am not one of these people.

There are a lot of people out there who believe the US should never go to war, and should scrap their military altogether. Even if we get attacked first, we should turn the other cheek and not fight back because our army is so much larger than the other sides army, and it would not be a fair fight because we have jets and missiles and tanks and they live in caves. They think that if we laid down our arms and abolished gun ownership in the US and recalled all the troops overseas and all our navy ships and planes from foreign lands that other nations would do the same and we could all live in happiness. I am not one of these people.

There are many people out there who live in a delusional fantasy-land where there should be no evil, and if there is evil out there, that the US is the source of said evil. I am not one of these people.
_________________
This is a reply to my post on a GB message board. My original post is the same as the entry I made before here. I thought that this was a great answer from the poster known as MPoconnor7! I did not get their permission to repost their answer here(Though I tried to) so I hope they don't mind. MP if you are reading this, just wanna say that I agree completely, this is what I wanted to say but you have stated it so much more eloquently than I could.

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one that is absolutely SICK of all the political infighting that is going on in America? For instance, everytime I read a Yahoo newsstory, and go down to reading the messages , some idiots always have to start bashing Bush or blaming the Liberals, Conservatives, etc. I think that our political infighting makes us look weak to Osama bin laden and his ilk, and only encourage him to attack us more. I have heard people say'Bring our troops home now' and I disagree with that statement. I say bring them home when they get the job done, and not a day sooner.

Love Ya Glenn! From Glenn Beck

I Feel Pretty

This week I had a strange realization—I wear make up a lot more often than I ever thought I would. Let me also say that wearing make up at all is a lot more often than I ever thought I would. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
See, at heart I’m a radio guy. I love being on the radio for a bunch of reasons, but one of my absolute favorites is that nobody can see me work. For years I wore all manner of torn, stained and ill-fitting garments…concert t-shirts, promotional baseball hats, and sweatpants with yards and yards of elastic to keep them snugly on my gelatinous torso. And nobody was the wiser. Heck, for all anybody knew, I could have been in a tuxedo or completely nude (though my lawyer has advised me not to tell that story…something about the sight of my belly having created a “hostile” environment).

But like I said, now I have a webcam chronicling my every extra pound and fashion-forward outfit, so those days are over. Plus, I also have a TV show where people are subjected to my appearance as well as my point of view, and whether or not you agree with my opinion you can’t say that I don’t try to look pretty for you. And part of that is wearing make up. Ladies (and the guy who tried to buy me a soda at the cafeteria yesterday), I don’t know how you do it. It’s like walking around with a thin layer of pudding on your face all day. Wait a minute—that would actually be kind of awesome. Let’s change that to walking around with a thin layer of peanut butter on your face. Wait—that’s still awesome. Suffice it to say it feels weird. Look, I appreciate the effort and my wife looks extra easy on the eyes when she’s all painted up, but it just feels so foreign to such a rugged, masculine guy like myself. But it’s the sacrifice I make for you.

Every afternoon I go down to a special room where these perfectly lovely women apply what seems like gallons of foundation to my face…with an airbrush. Yes, they need to spray paint my face in order to get the proper “coverage.” Then I walk around until it’s time to tape my show, all the while wearing more makeup than any three of my female staffers. Granted, it does even out my skin tone and make me less the excruciatingly white man than I am, but still—I’m wearing frickin’ make up for you people!

So, the next time you’re watching me on TV and you’re thinking about what a uninformed dork I sound like, take a moment to notice my healthy pink glow. And realize that I’m slathered with “Dusty Rose #47” especially for you. You’re welcome…

-glenn

More from Yahoo! And since I love computers

The Hard Drive Turns 50 Melissa J. Perenson, PC World
Wed Sep 13, 3:00 AM ET



Today, the hard drive is found everywhere--from the PCs we use daily to MP3 players and memory keys so small you can toss them in your pocket and forget you're carrying around a hard drive. But when the hard drive was first introduced on September 13, 1956, it required a humongous housing and 50 24-inch platters to store 1/2400 as much data as can be fit on today's largest capacity 1-inch hard drives.

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Back then, the small team at IBM's San Jose-based lab was seeking a way to replace tape with a storage mechanism that allowed for more-efficient random access to data. The question was, how to bring random-access storage to business computing?

Enter the RAMAC, 1956



IBM's answer to this quandary was the Random Access Method of Accounting and Control, dubbed the RAMAC for expediency. The device's name is a direct reflection of the need for such capabilities in the enterprise. Led by project leader Rey Johnson, IBM's San Jose lab brought the RAMAC 305 to market.


Recalls Al Shugart, who worked as a field engineer at IBM before joining the RAMAC project and went on to later found Seagate Technology: "They were starting from scratch in the lab. The RAMAC was not just a disk drive, it was a whole system. Nobody had made disk drives before."


The approach IBM's engineers came up with represented a clean approach to random data access, notes Shugart: "The concept of the whole disk drive was random access." To achieve random access, the device would have to move its read/write heads around to different data tracks. "The easiest way to do that," he says, "was a stack of disks."


The integrated RAMAC was about two refrigerators in width and not quite as tall, and it literally weighed a ton. Its 50 24-inch platters were in a stack inside the unit, in an assembly that spun at 1200 revolutions per minute. The unit used two magnetic recording heads. The RAMAC could hold 5MB--about the storage that today is needed for one 5-minute MP3 encoded at 128 kilobits per second.


In order to read and write the data, the RAMAC heads moved across a series of circular tracks on each disk surface. Albert Hoagland, who helped build the first drive and is working to preserve the history of magnetic disk technology as executive director of the Magnetic Disk Heritage Center, elaborates: "A shaft ran the length of the disk stack, with a horizontal arm that moved in and out; that arm, which weighed three pounds, had to get to another track in less than a second."


"The disks' surfaces were covered with a paint that had magnetic properties--very similar to the paint used on the Golden Gate Bridge," says Bill Healy, senior vice president at Hitachi (which bought IBM's storage division in 2003). "They needed a disk with magnetic properties, so it would be magnetically susceptible to recording 1s and 0s; and they needed a read element, such as a disk head, to detect, read, and write that data," he explains.


The initial prototype, remembers Shugart, "was a relay machine, it wasn't even a vacuum tube machine. They ended up building 12 of them. From there on, we would design a system for production, including a disk drive. The production [version] was a vacuum tube machine, and I was in charge of designing the computer system for the vacuum tube machine."


Although the RAMAC shares only passing characteristics with today's hard drives, it is the drive that launched the industry. "The [technology] industry reinvented itself as the applications for the hard drive changed," says Healy. "In the fifties and sixties, these devices were made for large corporations, government--the enterprise. The 24-inch diameter platter reduced in size in time. As the devices got smaller over that time, they were mainly aimed at the enterprise environment," he continues. Disk capacity doubled every two years, a 40 percent compound growth rate.


Adds storage industry analyst Tom Coughlin of Coughlin Associates: "Many companies started to make hard drives for computers, because it was a relatively inexpensive, high-performance way to make mass storage."


From the late fifties to the early seventies, hard drives were largely used in mainframe computer systems, the kinds found in large corporations and government. The rise of personal computers in the late seventies and early eighties opened the door of opportunity for hard drives--and in turn dramatically influenced where computer technology could go. "With the introduction of hard disk drives," notes Coughlin, "you had large amounts of storage that were always attached to the computer, and that enabled personal computers to achieve the levels of success they had. A hard drive allowed you to create higher-performance computers with more features because you could have a richer operating system running off the hard drive."

Related Stories
Track milestones in hard drive history on "Timeline: 50 Years of Hard Drives."
Learn about the underlying technology in "How It Works: Hard Drives."
Read buying tips in "How to Buy a Hard Drive."
Fast Forward: 50 Years Later



The disk drive has come amazingly far since its introduction: "Today, on 2.5-inch platters we have 15,000 times the capacity of the original IBM RAMAC," says Seagate Technology Chief Operating Officer Dave Wickersham.


Wickersham notes that the advancement is startling when compared to the pace of other industries: "In the auto industry, to keep that same pace, they'd have gone from fitting five people in the car in 1956, to fitting 160,000 people in that car; or, from getting 25 miles per gallon to 62,500 miles per gallon."


Today we have drives that cover a range of sizes (the smallest is Toshiba's 0.85-inch drive, initially introduced in 2GB and 4GB capacities) and specialties. Vendors offer drives optimized for uses in servers, desktops, notebooks, digital video recorders, music players, and more; and you'll find hard drives in cars, planes, and a wealth of other commercial and military applications.


Prices have dropped dramatically. The RAMAC 305's cost per megabyte was approximately $10,000--that's about $70,000 in today's value. Today, a typical desktop hard drive can deliver that same megabyte for 3/100 of a cent.

Over time, the core recording technology--longitudinal magnetic recording--has remained the same, but the way drives are designed and built has changed. Coughlin reflects: "Heads have gone from the original metal cores, to harder ferrite cores, then to thin-film inductive heads; magneto-resistive heads; and then giant magneto-resistive heads. Now we're moving to tunneling magneto-resistive heads. They're now using complex nanotechnologies in magnetic recording heads."

The media has changed, too. "In the beginning, they used iron-oxide particles dispersed in a plastic binder; then they transitioned in the early eighties to the development of the initial thin-film disks," continues Coughlin. "By the nineties, thin film disks were the standard, and since then they've become more complex, with multiple layers of thin films performing different functions. At the same time, the heads are flying increasingly closer to the disk's surface," he explains. The closer the heads fly to the surface, the more data can be stored in a given area--and the drives have become quicker and more accurate. "Increasing electronic integration over the years has led to impressive improvements in head positioning in the detection and decoding of very small signals, and in the correction of errors," he says.

After 50 years of relying on longitudinal magnetic recording, the industry is shifting production to perpendicular magnetic recording. (For details on these technologies, read "How It Works: Hard Drives.") The technology was initially explored decades ago, but is only now being used in drive production. Toshiba was the first out the gate in 2005, with its 1.8-inch 40GB mobile hard drive. Seagate was next to the party, with the release of the first 2.5-inch 160GB notebook hard drive and the 3.5-inch 750GB hard drive earlier this year.

Wickersham elaborates: "From an areal density perspective, perpendicular has changed the industry. For a while, areal density was growing at north of 100 percent per year. Then that came down to 10 to 20 percent a year--demonstrating that longitudinal was out of gas. Perpendicular got us back to this 40 percent per year areal density growth; with it, you can quadruple your capacity every four years."

In our storage-hungry universe of digital downloads and digital photography, increased capacity is a good thing. "There's up to 60 percent per year growth in storage demand, for the next five years," continues Wickersham. "The demand for storage is greater than the ability to grow areal density," he says.

Hard Drives: Future Watch
Hard drives have been indispensable to our computer use for about the last 20 years. Today, hard drives are increasingly indispensable in other ways. "The whole lifestyle has changed--content is king, and we're carrying data wherever we go. The hard disk drive is the enabler of this," says Seagate's Wickersham. "We have 20 disk drives in our home--and there are four of us," he continues.


Hard drives are in everything from cell phones and digital audio players to set-top box video recorders. That trend will grow, according to industry experts--and provide a fertile new opportunity for the proliferation of high-capacity, hard drive-based storage.

Hitachi's Healy suggests that the beginning of what he thinks of as the "consumer era of hard drives" can be traced back to 1998, with the introduction of the 1-inch IBM Microdrive. At the time, it stored 340MB in a space just a bit thicker than a standard CompactFlash card.

"A tech-savvy home could easily generate 5 terabytes of cumulative data from 2002 to 2010," estimates Coughlin. He elaborates: "About half of that would be personal content and half of that would be commercial content. I'm projecting that by the next decade, as consumers become creators of content--a camera on your cell phone is just the beginning--the demand for storage will mushroom, and the line between what's commercial and what's personal will be blurred. Personal content will significantly overwhelm commercial content for the people who are comfortable with the technology--especially the younger generation."

Universally, industry experts expect the cost per gigabyte to continue to fall and capacity to continue its march onward and upward. Estimates Gartner Research Vice President John Monroe, by the end of 2006 you'll see 80GB to 160GB 3.5-inch drives sell for less than $50. By 2010, Monroe predicts that you'll pay that same price for 750GB to 1TB drives. The pace of areal density boosts, he notes, won't be quite as rapid as they have been in the past decade, but they will continue.

Wickersham outlines what he expects for 3.5-inch drives: "In 2005, for a three-platter drive, 500GB was standard. By 2009, that will be a 2TB drive. And if we continue for 2013, using Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording technology, we'll have 8TB drives." Wickersham throws out similar numbers for 1-inch drives: From a standard of 8GB in 2005, he expects we'll see 30GB in 2009, and 100GB in 2013.

We can also expect to see hybrid hard drives that integrate flash memory to take advantage of Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system. In addition, server technologies such as faster rotational speeds and more robust design should trickle down into standard desktop drives--that's something, says Wickersham, "that's closer to [happening in] 2007 to 2013. I think it will be sooner than anyone realizes."

In the near term, one potential technology tweak could be a shift to using what's called long data block. In long data block, you'll move from 512 bytes to 4 kilobytes--a change that requires operating system support. This could boost a drive's capacity and efficiency during video streaming.

Looking ahead, other technologies that will help keep the areal density race on include patterned magnetic media and Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording, also known as HAMR.

Patterned magnetic media is a less random and more structured recording process in which the bits of info are akin to small islands of magnetic material.

In HAMR, the drive will have a heating element, perhaps even a laser, to heat tiny bits of information and change the state of the material, as the data is written; the changed state will allow data to be recorded. "It's quite an integration challenge, integrating a laser into the disk drive," says Wickersham.

As these future technologies show, magnetic disk recording has plenty of innovation ahead. "The technology can be re-engineered and reinvented and extended for at least another couple of decades," Hitachi's Healy enthuses. Engineering roadmaps extend another two decades, at this point--although the sharpest engineers can't completely anticipate where storage is going. Back in 1956, after all, a storage scientist's wildest dreams would not have foreseen the developments we take for granted today.

Melissa J. Perenson is a senior associate editor for

September 11, 2006

Today is the 5th year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in NYC. What a horrible day that was. Do you remember where you were on those days? I remember I was at work, I remember thinking at first when the first plane hit'Oh this is such a terrible accident'. Then minutes later a second hit, and then I knew it was on purpose.I remember driving from one work spot to another, and both places had their televisions on. Everyone was in a tense, uneasy mood. I have never been to NYC, and I did not know anyone that was killed that day, but my heart goes out to hteir families and the rescue workers as well.

Don't know who wrote it

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let me love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try, baby
And have a little faith in me
So

Chorus:
Have a little faith in me (4 x)

When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darlin'
From a whisper start
Have a little faith in me
And when your back's against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
That I will catch, I will catch you when you fall baby
Have a little faith in me
So

- Chorus -

Well I've been loving you for such a long time baby
expecting nothing in return
just for you have a little faith in me
You see time, time is a friend
'cause for us there is no end
And all you gotta do is have a little bit faith in me

I said I will hold you up
Yeah I will hold you up
'cause your love will give me strenght enough
and have a little faith in me


Its a good song. Been around for a while, too

Fashion Show Follies from AOL

Borrowed from a joke site!

Jackass



In case your frustration level rises today, this is for everyone who occasionally has a really bad day when you just need to take it out on someone:

I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a telephone call that I had to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered nicely saying, "Hello?"

I politely said, "This is Patrick Hanifin and may I please speak to Robin Carter?" Suddenly the phone was slammed down on me! I couldn't believe that anyone could be that rude. I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. She had transposed the last two digits.

After I hung up with Robin, I spotted the wrong number still laying on my desk. I decided to call it again. When the same person once more answered, I yelled, "You're a jackass!" and hung up. Next to his phone number I wrote the word "jackass" and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up. He would answer and I'd yell, "You're a jackass!" It always cheered me up.

Later in the year the phone company introduced caller ID. This was a real disappointment for me. I would have to stop calling the jackass. Then one day I had an idea. I dialed his number and heard his voice. "Hello?"

I made up a name. "Hi. This is the sales office of the telephone company and I'm just calling to see if you're familiar with our new caller ID program." He answered, "No!" and slammed down the receiver. I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're a jackass!"

The reason I'm taking the time to tell you this story is to show you how if there's ever anything bothering you, you can do something about it. Just dial 555-1212.

(Keep reading, it gets better.)

One day an old lady at the mall was really taking her time pulling out of her parking space. I didn't think she was ever going to leave. Finally, her car began to move ever so slowly and she began backing out. I backed up a little more to give her plenty of room. Great, I thought, she's finally leaving. All of a sudden this black Camero came flying up the parking aisle in the wrong direction and pulled into her space. I started honking my horn and yelling, "You can't do that, buddy! I was here first!"

The guy got out of his Camero completely ignoring me. He walked toward the mall as if he didn't even hear me. I thought to myself, this guy is a jackass. There sure are a lot of jackasses in this world. I noticed he had a "For Sale" sign in the back window of his car. I wrote down the number. Then I hunted for another place to park.

The next day I was at home sitting at my desk. I had just gotten off the phone after calling 555-1212 and yelling, "You're a jackass!" (It's really easy to call him now since I have his number on speed dial.) Then I noticed the phone number of the guy with the black Camaro and decided to call him too. After a couple of rings someone answered the phone. I asked, "Are you the man with the black Camaro for sale?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me where I can see it?"

"Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house and the car is parked right out front."

I asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Don Hansen."

"When's a good time to catch you, Don?"

"I'm home in the evenings."

"Listen, Don, can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Don, you're a jackass!" And I slammed the phone down.

After I hung up I added Don's number to my speed dialer. Now I had two jackasses to call whenever I had a bad day. However this wasn't as much fun as it used to be. So I thought about it and came up with a solution.

First, I had my phone dial jackass #1. The man answered nicely and I yelled, "You're a jackass!" But I didn't hang up.

The jackass said, "Are you still there?"

I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Stop calling me."

I said, "No!"

He said, "What's your name, pal?"

I said, "Don Hansen."

He said, "Where do you live?"

"1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house and my black Camaro is parked out front."

"I'm coming over right now, Don. You'd better start saying your prayers."

"Yeah, like I'm really scared, Jackass!" And I hung up.

Then I called Jackass #2. He answered, "Hello."

I said, "Hello, jackass!"

He said, "If I ever find out who you are..."

"You'll what?"

"I'll kick your butt."

"Well, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now, jackass!"

And I hung up. Then I picked up the phone and called the police. I told them I was at 1802 West 34th Street and that I was going to kill my gay lover as soon as he got home. Another quick call to Channel 13 news about the gang war going down on West 34th Street. After that I climbed into my car and headed over to 34th Street to watch the whole thing. Glorious!

I watched two jackasses kicking the crap out of each other in front of 6 squad cars and a police helicopter I also taped it off the evening news!

Here she is again

Here is my girl Schatzi. She wouldn't hold still!

More from Yahoo News

Reuters - eWEEK
Tue Sep 5, 2:25 AM ET



SYDNEY (Reuters) - In death as in life, iconic TV naturalist Steve Irwin captivated millions worldwide and clogged the Internet as fans from Guam to Glasgow reacted with disbelief to news "The Crocodile Hunter" was dead.

ADVERTISEMENT

Some Web sites groaned to a halt within hours of the first reports on Monday that Irwin had been killed by a stingray's barb through his chest in a freak diving accident off Australia's northeast coast.

Web measurement company Hitwise said Irwin's death was the biggest news event read by Australians on the Internet since two Australian miners were trapped by a mine collapse in southern Tasmania state in late April.

"We noticed that the Web site www.crocodilehunter.com increased in popularity quite substantially. It became the number one entertainment personality Web site in Australia yesterday and in the United States it also became the third most popular," Hitwise Asia-Pacific marketing director James Borg told Reuters.

Australian news Web sites struggled to keep up with demand.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s site (www.abc.com.au) had to temporarily shut down, posting a notice on Monday that it was experiencing higher than normal traffic.

It resumed soon after in a low-bandwidth format to cope with hundreds of thousands of hits.

Newspaper Web sites also wobbled but kept up with demand.

A spokesman for The Sydney Morning Herald's site, www.smh.com.au, said it had experienced a "huge" 40 percent spike in page impressions compared with the previous week's average weekday number of about 500,000.

There was also a 70 percent jump in visitors to its pages, the spokesman said.

That pattern was mirrored around the world, with Irwin's death leading major news Web sites such as CNN and U.S. and British newspaper Web sites, as well as swamping their most viewed and most emailed categories.

Web logs and Internet feedback pages were also awash with postings from shocked readers from around the world, many of them from Americans charmed by Irwin's quirky style and his typically Australian catchphrase of "crikey".

Irwin first found fame in the United States before his "Crocodile Hunter" documentaries on U.S.-based television company Discovery Communications' Animal Planet attracted a global audience of 200 million—10 times Australia's population.

"Crikey, I miss him so much," Tina Treece from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, posted on a CNN feedback page. The site had contributions from readers in Guam, Romania, Thailand, France, Scotland, India, New Zealand, Canada, Brunei, Britain, Malaysia, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Many faced the problem of explaining to their children how one of their favorite TV characters had died.

"Why did it have to be Steve Irwin?" 11-year-old Daniel told Australian Associated Press.

More

When I was a kid, there were no pcs or laptops . Nowadays I still have to use pen and paper because there are no computers in the office where I work.My family owns a business, and they do have a computer at one site, but the main office where I work at has none. My father does not really believe in computers. He has used pencil and paper all his life, and in all honesty, he is almost 70 years old, set in his ways, and a computer would just confuse him. He has no desire to learn how to use one, anyway! and I learn on a somewhat sadder note : the 18 year old kid that I was telling you about in earlier posts, the one that filled out the credit card ap has put in his 2 week notice. He is headed for a financial brick wall, and nobody can really stop him. Its sad

Just in time for Halloween

More video

Teenagers+no jobs+boredom=videos

Katie's Opinion

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NBEJmwKLNj8

Spanking

I do not fully understand what all the controversy is about parents spanking their kids. I do not have any kids myself, but I can speak from experience as being a kid. I did get spanked(on occassion- I know, theres a SHOCK, haha) but it did not happen that often, and I did learn not to do what I did to get the spanking. Mention it nowadays and some folks think that it is abuse. I think that there is a big difference between giving a kid a swat on the fanny, and tying a kid up to a radiator and punching him. When the subject of spanking is brought up, someone always brings up some statistic about how kids who were spanked when they were younger grow up to be serial killers. To that I say, my brother, sister and I all got spanked a few times in our lives, and so did every kid in the rest of our family, plus friends did by their parents and none of us have grown up to be killers. We were also brought up to respect authority, even if we did not agree(and lets face it, a little bit of fear does not hurt) We were afraid to go to the Principal's office, police, teachers. This does not mean that we were little automatons. In fact, quite the opposite. These days , one of the reasons that I refuse to go to Wal-mart is because of bratty little kids that run up and down the aisles screaming and hitting each other. We(my sibs and I ) did NOT behave that way when we were kids. I have come to the conclusion-no matter how unpopular this opinion may be, that some kids these days are just plain BRATS, and need a good spanking.