5 Banks put foreclosures on hold

Bogus, another fraud.

Hi American people! Politicians and bankersters are married, are going to steal your money again, we are expecting more bailout type of rescues, not you but the bankersters in your name, vote them all out if we can, even S. Palin could be ok for me...It sucks..

S1: when he said "shame on you", the 800 billion went to bankerster's pocket
S2: when he said "care behind the numbers". it means give more money to bankersters, the only ones who can save you the voters
S3: I don't believe him anymore
S4: Americans awake

Politicians: Those who are doing their own favors in voters' name

Politicians: Those who are doing their own favors in voters' name, those who are good actors/actresses, those who are saying one thing that means something others, for example, Obama gave money to bankersters while he cursed the bankersters' unethical behaves, he is a typical politician.

This is silly

This is silly.
The SEC did not do its job, contributing to our problems.
The Fed messed up horribly in setting interest rates way too low in the early 2000′s.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became the backstops, the ultimate guarantees for banks to issue mortgages that were certain to end in foreclosure.
Congress was warned as early as 2004 that Fannie Mae was in big trouble but Congress, esp. Massachusetts’s own Mr. Frank resisted facing this truth.
And the community reinvestment act demanded the issuance of mortgages, whether this was wise or not to people living in areas that it was claimed had been redlined or denied credit previously.

When you put it all together, one must certainly concede that there were massive counterproductive government policies that contributed to the problem. To call the present situation “unfettered” capitalism is to utterly misrepresent things.

Unions

Lending Brokers, Realtors, NAR, CAR, Real estate brokers are all unions, are worse than unions, they are organized crime to grab people's hard earned money... I still can not imagine why "Realtors" deserve 6% of your house. Can we eliminate them from the system?

Tax uncle sam

There is more to life then taxes uncle sam.

Sales Tax
Hotel Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Car Rental Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service FeeTax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Capital Gains Tax
Ticket Tax, you know the one you go to court for not using turn signals Ect...
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. We also were A Common Law Country!

I have set up a place that the poor and middle class in the country can start to get some of this tax money back. It is our turn to have a piece of the action.

Just googl THE```CASH`'`TEACHER hit the top site. The best thing is the PENNY STOCK section they have. Huge money that the rich keep from us.

From M. Oba

For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242 thousand dollars plus additional expenses for my vacation in Spain . My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time. Honestly, you just haven't lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel. We only booked 70 rooms for our friends, staff and family. Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.

Air Force 2 only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. It costs only $11,500 per hour to operate Air Force 2 and each additional plane for the other members of our party group. These are only rough estimates, but they are close (who's counting?). That's quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and drive less too, so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.

I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table and trying to make ends meet. I do appreciate your sacrifice and do hope you find work soon. I was really exhausted after Barack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days. Will write more from Martha's Vineyard where we will spend our sixth vacation this year with more of our family and friends.

Cordially,

M. Obama

buy house

Don't buy when builders trash you like:
1). You don't deserve a drive way
2). You don't deserve privacy, you have to live with someone else on upstairs
3). You have to pay half million to buy a den
4). You don't deserve a decent yard, your yard is small as your floor
5). You don't deserve a guest room
6). You don't deserve bathroom for your guest
7). You don't deserve better building materials but plastic counter
8). You have to pay merirose for nothing and HOA $400
9). You have to live in a gated community (Prison)
10). ..............

something is wrong

When we were young in our 20's &30's, no one was there to give us a loan to buy a house we couldn't afford to pay for. And when we lost our job and unemployment ran out you got up off your duff and found ANY job for ANY wage, so you could eat, and pay your rent, and get on with your life. I mean any jobs like yard work, babysitting, busboy, waitress, file clerk, receptionist, house cleaning, cook, whatever. That is what we had to do when we were down on our luck and broke. Now a days we have all these lazy slackers who collect rent vouchers , food stamps, gov't cks. and lay around all day and have babies they can't afford to raise so we have to pay for that also. Let's help the sick, the diabled, those in accidents, mental traumas, or temporary bad situations, Definitely. But not able bodied men and women who just don't want to get up in the morning like the rest of us , get out there and do something with their lives other than watch Jerry Springer, and Soaps, all day, or stay loaded up on drugs and alcohol. Obama's redistribution of wealth has already happened, and it started before he was even in office. It just has been getting worse and worse as these poiticians all pander to that large 50% group who are on the dole and or pay no taxes. And the rest of us have to pay for it ALL. Something is just not right about this picture. Only way to change it is to Only let Taxpayers vote. If you are on the gov't dole, you are being cared for like children, and just like children you shouldn't be allowed to vote, until you "grow up" and can take care of yourselves. Period. Then and only then will you see society chang for the better, instead of sliding into the ravine like it is today.

Obama doesn't know

Don't make me laugh. People who are stupid like me know what is happening, our president doesn't. No he did it on purpose: bail out = giving poor's money to rich. It works no one can stop them

Y-N chinese says

中国文化。。。有时候就是搞不懂！

1、俗話說：兔子不吃窩邊草；可俗話又說：近水樓台先得月!
2、俗話說：宰相肚裡能撐船；可俗話又說：有仇不報非君子!
3、俗話說：人不犯我，我不犯人；可俗話又說：先下手為強，後下手遭殃!
4、俗話說：男子漢大丈夫，寧死不屈；可俗話又說：男子漢大丈夫，能屈能伸!
5、俗話說：打狗還得看主人；可俗話又說：殺雞給猴看!
6、俗話說：知無不言，言無不盡；可俗話又說：交淺勿言深，沉默是金!
7、俗話說：車到山前必有路；可俗話又說：不撞南牆不回頭!
8、俗話說：條條大路通羅馬；可俗話又說：一條道走到黑!
9、俗話說：禮輕情誼重；可俗話又說：禮多人不怪!
10、俗話說：人多力量大；可俗話又說：人多嘴雜!
11、俗話說：買賣不成仁義在；可俗話又說：親兄弟，明算帳 !
12、俗話說：一個好漢三個幫；可俗話又說：靠人不如靠己!
13、俗話說：人往高處走；可俗話又說：爬得高，摔得重!
14、俗話說：一口唾沫一個釘；可俗話又說：人嘴兩張皮，咋說咋有理!
15、俗話說：知識要有產權；俗話又說：不分享心裡不安!
16、俗話說：亡羊補牢，未為遲也；可俗話又說：亡羊補牢，為時已晚！
17、俗話說：瘦死的駱駝比馬大；可俗話又說：拔了毛的鳳凰不如雞！
18、俗話說：寧可玉碎，不能瓦全；可俗話又說：留得青山在，不怕沒柴燒！
19、俗話說：人不可貌相，海水不可斗量；可俗話又說：人靠衣裳馬靠鞍！
20、俗話說：浪子回頭金不換；可俗話又說：狗改不了吃屎！
21、俗話說：苦海無邊，回頭是岸；可俗話又說：開弓沒有回頭箭！
22、俗話說：退一步海闊天空；可俗話又說：狹路相逢勇者勝！
23、俗話說：三百六十行，行行出狀元；可俗話又說：萬般皆下品，唯有讀書高！
24、俗話說：書到用時方恨少；可俗話又說：百無一用是書生！
25、俗話說：金錢不是萬能的；可俗話又說：有錢能使鬼推磨！
26、俗話說：天無絕人之路；可俗話又說：天網恢恢，疏而不漏！
27、俗話說：出淤泥而不染；可俗話又說：近朱者赤，近墨者黑！
28、俗話說：捉賊捉贓，捉姦捉雙；可俗話又說：欲加之罪，何患無辭！
29、俗話說：貧賤不能移！可俗話又說：人貧志短，馬瘦毛長！
30、俗話說：青取之於藍而勝於藍；可俗話又說：薑還是老的辣！
31、俗話說：後生可畏；可俗話又說：嘴上無毛、辦事不牢！
32、俗話說：有緣千里來相會；可俗話又說：不是冤家不聚頭！
33、俗話說：在天願作比翼鳥，在地願為連理枝；可俗話又說：夫妻本是同林鳥，大難來時各自飛！
34、俗話說：得饒人處且饒人；可俗話又說：縱虎歸山，後患無窮！
35、俗話說：善有善報，惡有惡報；話又說：人善被人欺，馬善被人騎！
36、俗話說：一分耕耘、一分收穫；可俗話又說：人無橫財不富、馬無夜草不肥！
37、俗話說：小心駛得萬年船；可俗話又說：撐死膽大的，餓死膽小的！
38、俗話說：量小非君子；可俗話又說：無毒不丈夫！
39、俗話說：一寸光陰一寸金；可俗話又說：寸金難買寸光陰！
40、俗話說：日久見人心；可俗話又說：人心隔肚皮！
41、俗話說：光陰似箭；可俗話又說：度日如年！
42、俗話說：己所不欲，勿施於人；可俗話又說：順我者昌，逆我者亡！
43、俗話說：邪不壓正；可俗話又說：道高一尺，魔高一丈！
44、俗話說：小不忍則亂大謀；可俗話又說：不蒸饅頭蒸(爭)口氣！
45、俗話說：人人為我，我為人人；可俗話又說：人不為己，天誅地滅！
46、俗話說：不怕人不敬，就怕己不正；可俗話又說：眾口爍金，積毀銷骨！
47、俗話說：三個臭皮匠，勝過諸葛亮；可俗話又說：一個和尚挑水喝，兩個和尚抬水喝，三個和尚沒水喝！
48、俗話說：不入虎穴，焉得虎子；可俗話又說：老虎屁股摸不得！
49、俗話說：百事孝為先；可俗話又說：忠孝不能兩全！
50、俗話說：人無遠慮，必有近憂；可俗話又說：今朝有酒今朝醉！
51、俗話說：家事國事天下事，事事關心；可俗話又說：老婆孩子熱炕頭！
52、俗話說：人定勝天；可俗話又說：天意難違！
53、俗話說：愚公移山；可俗話又說：胳膊擰不過大腿！
54、俗話說：哪裡跌倒哪裡爬起；可俗話又說：一失足成千古恨！
55、俗話說：路不平有人鏟，事不平有人管；可俗話又說：自家掃取門前雪，莫管他人屋上霜！
56、俗話說：滴水之恩當湧泉相報！可俗話又說：過河拆橋、卸磨殺驢、兔死狗烹、鳥盡弓藏！
57、俗話說：雙喜臨門；可俗話又說：福無雙進，禍不單行！
58、俗話說：人挪活，樹挪死；可俗話又說：滾石不生苔，轉業不生財！
59、俗話說：嫁雞隨雞，嫁狗隨狗；可俗話又說：男怕選錯行，女怕嫁錯郎！
60、俗話說：明人不做暗事；可俗話又說：兵不厭詐！

Politics

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'


Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:I am the head of the family, so call me The President.

Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call
her theGovernment.We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.And your baby brother, we will call him the Future. Now think about thatand see if it makes sense.'So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to checkon him.He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother asleep.Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the doorlocked,he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father,'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.' The father says,'Good, son,tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.'The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Classwhile the Government is sound asleep.The People are being ignoredand the Future is in deep sh*t.'

788 billion vs 295 billion

It is rediculous when you spent 788 billion on Bankerster only 295 billion on over 44 million poor people as medicare, then you understand how our gov works, is there anyone who cares

How gov works

1. giving money to bank the rich in name of saving people the poor.
2. blocking competitors by holding the too big to fail alive.
3. we are elected by you, we do things for you even it is wrong doing.
4. gov is gov, DEM or ROP, who cares when gov is bad itself.
5. come out people to vote them out who are cheating you, come out to resume your right to limit gov's activities even it wastes your money, however, it is your money, you spend it what you want other than entrust gov to use to sue AZ or Clinton.

google attacked

when you click google search results, you will be linked to somewhere inrelevant, it is wiered..

neither a borrower nor a lender be

tell my son

innovation quote

I can not understand why companies such as Yahoo or Google would have a higher stock price than Dell or Microsoft or SUN. What is the true economic value of a search engine? We need to focus on true value, not perceived or "pretend" value.

The Future World

God is smart than human: when you are worried about energy shrtage, the internet grows dramatically. Imagine we don't have traffic because no one needs to go to office, everybody has their own home office where you have all the means to work or communicate, all you need is a real time screen, micphone, head set, a controller, you only go out when you want to travel, so the traffic headache go away for a while

Volunteer for June 8 primary

Serious matter to vote as americans: Eslate: $40000, JBC $5000, other Materials like posters, signs, maching storages & maintenance, freight, etc.. pretty expensive

AM radio on cellphone

Cellphone has only FM, why, because Americans don't need to listen to AM that comes with more commercials or Americans only need to listen musics that comes on almost all FM..or AM has more "money making" potentials that greedy corp-s have not figured out how to lock you on so they are promoting CC /HD radio that you need carriers "service" to listen........or whatever I don't need to find out...................

Dow 10500

someone predicted in March that Dow will collapse at 10500, first to 6470 --> 4123, then 2450. If it goes to 4123, I should be rush in no matter what

Chinese-Indian

The survey says: Chinese won't to be chinese if they have next life but indians want to be indian

Economy to cure

Wound needs to be cleaned totally before you are on way to recover, covered uncleaned wound could be getting worse, that is why TARP hasn't worked so far

Arizona anti-immigration law

Is America becoming a policy country? No, Arizonans, you should not do that. The illegal problem could have solutions but your way.

TARP or money laundry

The too-big-to-be-fail-s are returning TARP money to Gov. who should give it back to tax payers, who will spend it to do something else, wow..this is typical money laundry...............gov. steals money with banks' assitstance.

Successful politician

Successful politician is those who say what poor people want to hear do what rich people expect them to do

Check List

1). payoff anytime without penalty, refinance with other lenders without penalty.
2). interest rate is fixed for 30 years, ask how 15-year mortgage looks
3). insured items list
4). scope of purchased
5). appliance list (model #,profiled)
6). deposit turns to morgage,
7). incentives list and check, closing fee, upgrade, appliance, how pay?
8) Waster M?
9) total mortgage tells the cost and what interest rate you get and which loan is the best deal
10) fixed rate vs fixed amount mortgage pay
11) refi when APR is down?
12) paying point to get?
13). inspect/week, check before flooring
14) less pay, lower rate, high amount pay when rate is up
15) every month payment check.
16). who owns land?
17). Builder pays 3rd party
18). to know neighbour,
19). HOA fixed terms
20). Broker's charge a Yield Spread Premium (YSP) whereas most banks do not. Most banks don't allow overage or a YSP. Overage and YSP are pure profit for brokers and/or banks and usually increase the fixed margin on adjustable rate mortgages.
21). Request Mortgage calculators disclsoure
22). What is the total charge of transaction, total charge of ownership, total charges to be paid to lender?
23). Is mortgage rate at 6~7%?
24). Are we free to refinance with other lender in the future? Or do you lender restrain us from refinance with other lenders in the future when we can have better deal than what you can offer
25). Loan provided by builder may be higher if you don't do shopping around, there are more lenders in the market place.
26) 1-Keep in mind the smaller costs and fees: before and after sale; 2-Always read any paperwork you must sign; 3-Check everything in the house carefully; Make sure to hire a qualified inspector;4-Don’t get caught up in the sales trap:This includes your realtor, the sellers realtor, the inspector, the lawyer, the mortgage lender – everyone involved has their own interests to watch out for first;5-Get professional help:
27). Trend 2010: Walk-in closets in the master bedroom; Laundry rooms; Insulated front doors; Great rooms; Energy-efficient windows;Linen closets;Programmable thermostats;Energy-efficient appliances and lighting; Separate shower and tub in master bathrooms; Nine-foot ceilings on the first floor;;; Outdoor kitchens;Outdoor fireplaces;Sunrooms;Butler's pantries;Media rooms;Desks in kitchens;Two-story foyers;Eight foot ceilings on the first floor;Multiple shower heads in the master bath;Smaller kitchens
28). To determine the house price: $2,250 x 12 months x 10 = $270,000, where $2250 is monly rent, $270000 should be selling price.
29). Bag of Chips
30). Time to go shopping when Price goes down to 60% of the peak in 2007 ~2008

Health Insurance

You don't spend insurance company's money when you are young and pay the premium, which are gone when you need it, insurance companies still increase your pay when you are older or lost job or get illed, it means, you throw your money away when you are young or in good health like feeding dogs.

Does it make any sense?

Political Stability Force - Senate

You will see so many old senators in the USA, this is the secret of American polical stability, those 100 old men plus the 9 justice overwatch the moving of america who moves per its beautiful constitutions. President can be replaced soon, and the congress men but our senators. It looks like there is similariry in China politics, the older men stay on top pick the qualified young people, then transfer the power gradually

iPad, Laptop, Smartphone

Good point. I did think to have an iPhone lask year when I renew my cell phone contract, at last, I got the Moto Zine5, the 5 Megapix camera drew me to the decision. You have seen all the quality pictures I took with this phone like all those Jordan shoes, the Swiss watches, Ipod-s..I still think this camera is superb. Other than that, I loaded hundereds Chinese songs, it comes with FM radio, the added E_E and E_C dictionary helps me some time too.
Actually, what really came to my mind was a question that I asked myself "Do I need Phone internet?", the answer is no. I can have free internet access at any McDonald or Burger King thru my laptop that I still think is the first choice for me talking about IPAD, Tablet or Smartphone or Blabkberry..
I take iPad as kind of toy or Kindle, or it is a large version of iPhone, practically, I will go laptop. The concern for me is I want it to sit on a table or my knees, iPad or Kindle are out of my view. Nice talking to you my son.
Dad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

The 7 Habits
Dependence to Independence
Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Vision
Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Integrity & Execution
Independence to Interdependence
Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Mutual Benefit
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Mutual Understanding
Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Cooperation
Continual Improvement
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

Capitalism, A Love Story

Where China is going while American rethink what capitalism really means.
"I can not do this any more, I can not live in a country like this, but I am going nowhere..."
Capitalism not = Democracy
We want Democracy, vote that scares those capitalists......
"capitalist is evil"
This is America

Banker?? no banking

Banks make money by using your money, they earn you lose, it says money managing.
No, you are investors who should get profit as they got and take the risk when they fail, so you have the right to fire them when they screw up and you have the right to say how much they can take from your profit, meaning the bonus of exec..
Bankers are devils, banks should be eliminated from earth

Amazing! believe it

it amazed me that how $1 + $2 billions worked for clunkers or people, but $800 billion didn't work for corp-s. can Obama use $800 to do similiar job as clunker's? they know it won't do it because they have no reason to save you people but the executives.......sigh! what a game

Healthcare

8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage

Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.

Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.

Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.

Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive. Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick. Learn more and get details: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/health-insurance-consumer-protections/


8 common myths about health insurance reform

Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It’s a myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

We can’t afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It’s a myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.

Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions.

Vets' health care is safe and sound: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans.

Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.

Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It’s myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare "doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.

You can keep your own insurance: It’s myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts. Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose. Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all other electronic payments that people make.

Learn more and get details: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck/faq


8 Reasons We Need Health Insurance Reform Now

Coverage Denied to Millions: A recent national survey estimated that 12.6 million non-elderly adults – 36 percent of those who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years or dropped from coverage when they became seriously ill. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html

Less Care for More Costs: With each passing year, Americans are paying more for health care coverage. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job. Americans pay more than ever for health insurance, but get less coverage. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hiddencosts/index.html

Roadblocks to Care for Women: Women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly pap smears, mammograms, and obstetric care. Women are also more likely to report fair or poor health than men (9.5% versus 9.0%). While rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are similar to men, women are twice as likely to suffer from headaches and are more likely to experience joint, back or neck pain. These chronic conditions often require regular and frequent treatment and follow-up care. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html

Hard Times in the Heartland: Throughout rural America, there are nearly 50 million people who face challenges in accessing health care. The past several decades have consistently shown higher rates of poverty, mortality, uninsurance, and limited access to a primary health care provider in rural areas. With the recent economic downturn, there is potential for an increase in many of the health disparities and access concerns that are already elevated in rural communities. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes

Small Businesses Struggle to Provide Health Coverage: Nearly one-third of the uninsured – 13 million people – are employees of firms with less than 100 workers. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. Much of this decline stems from small business. The percentage of small businesses offering coverage dropped from 68% to 59%, while large firms held stable at 99%. About a third of such workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees obtain insurance through a spouse. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline

The Tragedies are Personal: Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partly the result of medical expenses. The typical elderly couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not covered by Medicare alone. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction

Diminishing Access to Care: From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. An estimated 87 million people - one in every three Americans under the age of 65 - were uninsured at some point in 2007 and 2008. More than 80% of the uninsured are in working families. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/diminishing/index.html

The Trends are Troubling: Without reform, health care costs will continue to skyrocket unabated, putting unbearable strain on families, businesses, and state and federal government budgets. Perhaps the most visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million Americans currently without health insurance - projections suggest that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence of reform. Learn more: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf

What a 90er knows

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I ' ve ever written.My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn ' t fair, but it ' s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
4. Your job won ' t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don ' t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It ' s more healing than crying alone.
8. It ' s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won ' t screw up the present.
12. It ' s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don ' t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn ' t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don ' t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn ' t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn ' t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It ' s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don ' t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don ' t save it for a special occasion, Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don ' t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ' In five years, will this matter? '
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don ' t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn ' t do.
35. Don ' t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else ' s, we ' d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn ' t tied with a bow, but it ' s still a gift.

"It ' s estimated that 93% of people who receive this email won ' t forward it. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title ' 7% ' . I ' m in the 7%. Remember, friends are the family we choose for ourselves Have a good day

Who is telling the truth

GOP: CIA lied for several years to congress, W has nothing to do with bad decisions.
DEM: CIA lied for several years to congress, Pelosi doesn't know waterboarding.
ha.

Estimate, Forecast

Mangement asks sales to do accurate forecast, LA estimated $4m for MJ on 7/7/2009, actually it went to $1.4m, this is an example how accurate an estimate or forecast could be...
31 mil people watched MJ Memorial
32 mil people for Princess Diana
38 mil people for President Obama

Housing price meets value where bottom comes up

The signs of housing bottom:

- Your friends stop telling you it is time to invest. No, it is your debt lender's investment.
- The mortgage rate goes up to 7% for 30 years fixed loan.
- No one is concerned about housing price no matter it is going up or down, people show no interest.
- Public is saying housing price instead of housing value.
- NAR stops commenting on housing price.
- Media stops mentioning housing value for good or bad.
- Meloroose goes away.
- There are no open house signs around corner.
- Banks offer loans to you if you have savings with the bank, don't talk to you if you have no savings.
- Agents don't ask you how much you are going to pay but what house you are looking at and propose several options with detailed history and comp..
- Agents send you detailed reports to the options they give, provide inventory numbers and prices in neighboring cities.
- Always remember: House is lender's investment not yours, you are debtor to lender before you pay off, then debtor to IRS.
- Government stops giving money to first house buyer
- Those who say bottom are not from housing or related industry
- House is a house not home

oil. gold . usd

Original here: http://life.lege.net/viewtopic.php?p=296#296 Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, Sheehan, the Bushies, the Falkland Islands and oil, oil, oil... 2006-02-18 13:40:39 -0800 updated 2006-02-24 01:10:00 +0200 by Mitch Elder I just thought I'd take the opportunity to share some points of fact that might illuminate our current global situation. The last 25 years of history has been distorted by the corporate media conglomerates and government and most people really don't know the true reasons for "The War on Terror" the Bush Administration's hatred of Hugo Chavez and Iran, and of course, the Iraq war. So a little history please... In 1971 Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard. He did this by Executive Order, which technically, was unconstitutional since the Constitution specifically demands the dollar be based on silver (gold has always been considered an acceptable substitute) but that's a story for another time. The point is, we had incurred a significant federal debt as a result of the Vietnam war and foreign countries who had bought Federal Reserve Bonds had been cashing them in for gold. Our strategic gold reserves had been cut in half and were on the verge of depletion. So Nixon severed the dollar/gold connection so he could repay our debts with worthless paper (fiat currency) which we still have today. Since then, incidentally, the value of the dollar has dropped (creating inflation) by over 300%. Taking us off the gold standard set the stage for everything that has transpired since. With no solid basis of value for the dollar, the US economy would have imploded, but fortunately there was a de-facto standard waiting in the wings: oil. Prior to severing the gold connection, Kissinger negotiated an agreement with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to accept only US dollars for oil. This placed the US dollar on an oil standard even though we didn't produce that oil and forced the rest of the world to continue complying with the Breton Woods Agreement which called for the US dollar to be the global reserve currency. Everyone on the planet was effectively forced to store US dollars in order to conduct business. This arrangement was held in place by various political factors and relationships: 1) Saudi Arabia was, and is, the 900 pound gorilla of OPEC; 2) We held the Shah of Iran by the balls by virtue of our military presence on his soil; 3) the British played along; 4) There were (and still are) only two commodities exchanges on the planet where crude oil can be transacted: New York and London. This meant that regardless whether you were selling or buying, if you transacted oil, you had to do it in the New York Mercantile Exchange or the International Petroleum Exchange in London. And they don't take American Express - only dollars. Now the stage was set for the oil embargo of the 70's, the hostage crises, the Falkland Islands war, the Gulf War, the Balkans War, the Iraq invasion, the rise of the neocons and a great many other things. Now, hold that thought while I diverge for a moment. Islamic law dictates that only gold is to be used as money. It forbids the use of fiat currency. When the US dollar was taken off the gold standard, the acceptance of US dollars for oil violated Islamic law and this really pissed off the Muslim oil producing countries. So, meanwhile back at the ranch... The other OPEC countries of Muslim persuasion ganged up on the 900 pound gorilla and refused to play along with production quotas. This led to the oil embargo of the 1970s which the Carter Administration inherited from Nixon. With the fall of the Shah of Iran, Arab hatred for US meddling, and our support for Israel, the whole thing boiled over and led to the hostage crisis. This just further complicated the oil production problems emanating from the Middle East. It would have gotten a whole lot worse (if you can imagine that) were it not for our own oil production from the north slope which hit its peak in the late 70's. When the Reaganites hit Washington, they brought with them several key oil industry players, most of whom were, and still are, voting members of the Carlisle Group, a US/Saudi consortium of energy investors including George H. W. Bush, James Baker and Frank Carlucci. They were instrumental in convincing the Saudis to ignore the other members of OPEC and increase their own production to meet demand. In addition, the CIA instigated a war between Iraq and Iran who are well known in the region for having historical/cultural differences. This broke the embargo and the oil started flowing again. With the price of crude coming down, the 80's were a great big party for Wall Street. It had nothing to do with Reaganomics. The 80's heyday stock market was also, more than likely, heavily influenced by the changing of the guard at the Federal Reserve Board in 1982, when Alan Greenspan took over for Paul Volcker. Volcker had notoriously continued to raise interest rates throughout the oil embargo, placing an internal stranglehold on the economy in order to discredit the Carter Administration and launch the conservatives to power. It worked. Within a couple of years after Reagan took office, Greenspan began running the printing presses night and day and flooded the market with cheap money built on cheap oil. The 80's saw several world events that would have a lasting effect on the oil economy. These were: 1) The fall of the Soviet Empire which led to the opening of Eastern Europe and set the stage for the construction of a pipeline to Western Europe through the Balkans and access to oil fields in the Caspian Sea. Thus, our military intervention in the former Yugoslavia. 2) The Iraq/Iran war lasted for ten years thus occupying the attention of Middle Eastern countries like Libya who would otherwise have had more incentive to attempt a disruption of the US economy through the oil flow. But fears of US military intervention in the region along side the ongoing Iran/Iraq war, all of which, might have resulted in a "spilling over" of the fighting into neighboring countries, led Middle Eastern leaders, especially the Fahd regime, to put a lid on Qaddafi. Our military bombing of Tripoli was simply used to send a message on behalf of King Fahd: Mohammar needed to sit down and shut up before everybody started losing money. 3) The Falkland Islands war. Y'ever wondered why in the hell the UK would be interested in a couple of barren rocks half-way around the world? Easy. Venezuela is a major oil producer and a member of OPEC. When Argentina attempted to take over the Falklands, it was a military attack on a strategic naval base location. Incidentally, the same holds true for Somalia. Look at where Somalia is in relation to the Persian Gulf. Only the US and British Navies are allowed to occupy such a key choke point on the shipping lanes. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll get to Venezuela in a minute. The 90's brought an end to the Iraq/Iran war. Iran was beaten badly and Iraq was in debt. It needed to pay that debt off and like the US, it wanted to pay it off using someone else's resources. Kuwait was an easy target. Hussein didn't count on the resolve of the American and British commercial interests in the region. In fact, the whole world took notice of this one and moved to keep Hussein from controlling that much of the world economy. If you think the Gulf War was to liberate Kuwait, I've got some great beach front property in Kingman Arizona I'll let you have cheap. Americans love their consumption lifestyle, but we can't really bear to look the true cost of it in the face. The Gulf War was just too ugly and G. H. W. Bush lost to Clinton as a result of that war, even though it was an economic necessity. An avoidable one, true, but necessary nonetheless. Had we followed the Carter plan for energy independence, we would not be where we are today. But the doves lost the propaganda war with the rise of Reagan and the puppet masters behind Washington have been pulling the strings ever since. The economic boom of the 90's was not a result of Clintonomics. I hate to tell you folks, but the reality is no president has any real control over the economy. Even their influence on tax policy has little if any lasting effect. The Wizard of Oz was an illusion created by a man behind the curtain. And that man (or men) is the Federal Reserve Board. Clinton inherited Alan Greenspan, a magician whose greatest trick is creating money out of thin air. Let me diverge again for a moment for a short economics lesson. The Federal Reserve Bank is neither federal nor a bank. It is a consortium of the nations largest banks - banks so large they must go direct to the federal government to borrow money. These banks, banks like Citibank and JP Morgan Chase, send a representative to the Federal Reserve Board meeting a few times a year and they decide among themselves what the interest rate will be for money they loan each other on a short-term basis using money they first borrow from the US Mint. This is called the Prime Rate. So, wrap your mind around this logic. The nation's largest banks get together and decide how much money they want and what they are willing to pay for it. Then, they send the Chairman to Congress to make their demands. The US Mint creates the amount demanded, out of thin air, (remember, our money is based on nothing) and these banks then lend this money out to the rest of us for a profit, which they pocket. Now, just to make things even more twisted, these same banks will also lend this created money they get for free, back to the government for a profit by buying US Treasury Bonds. And we get to pay the interest on this debt with our taxes. And that's the scam. Greenspan ramped up the printing presses and lowered interest rates to ridiculously low levels, allowing anyone to borrow money, including many people who shouldn't have. This caused people to turn their homes into ATMs and led to real estate speculation and real estate prices that have gone through the roof. The US economy is like a bicycle: if it stops moving, it falls. This elaborate house of cards is solely dependent on consumption. If people stop spending money, the economy implodes. And since people don't make any money to start with, they must borrow it to spend it. You see, since the rise of the conservative movement and deregulation, the US has exported its manufacturing jobs. Our economy is now 80% service industry. Service jobs create nothing. Only manufacturing jobs create real wealth by creating things that people need and buy based on need. But since we are all service workers, everything we buy is now made overseas and we are nothing but consumers. Under this scenario, credit must be made cheap and easy in order to give people something to spend. The housing bubble created during the 90's with cheap credit provided that flow of easy money. But it's over now, so look out. Okay, back to oil and dollars. Something must keep the US economy afloat. The real estate bubble followed on the heels of the Stock Market bubble which followed on the heels of the S&L junk bond bubble. We no longer have a bubble of artificially synthesized equity to create. In the absence of the creation of any real wealth, we are out of options and the only thing holding the US economy together is the fact that dollars must be used to buy oil. This fundamental requirement demands then, that all nations hoard US dollars for use to drive their own economies. To get these dollars, they buy bonds - IOUs issued by the federal government which then pays an interest. This causes them to invest in our debt. Thus the rising federal debt levels. This house of cards was holding until something went very, very wrong... Saddam Hussein decided in late 2001 (note the date folks) that he would sell his oil (oil for food program) for Euros instead of dollars. His decision was, to hell with everyone else, don't go to New York or London, come straight to Baghdad and I'll sell you my oil for Euros direct and we'll cut out the middle man. Other countries caught wind of this idea and liked it. It represents autonomy from US control and for Muslim nations, a chance to comply with Islamic law and sell oil for gold. But abandonment of the dollar standard would cause the collapse of the US economy by pulling the value rug out from underneath the dollar. The oil industry was not going to let this happen. A message had to be sent to the world: stop buying our dollars and debt, and we'll kick your ass. The problem was, how to sell it to the public. There had to be a reason that the average schmuck could get behind. And then, something wonderful happened. A major terrorist organization was planning a big hit on US soil. This was the Pearl Harbor the neocons had been dreaming of. A full report even hit the president's desk a month prior. The front page read: "Bin Laden plans major attack on US." What a deal. All that needed to happen was a major attack on our land and blame could be placed on Iraq. So the necons just got out of the way and let it happen. And the Iraq invasion was on. Iran - and this is getting absolutely no mainstream, corporate news coverage but is all over the financial networks on the Internet - is in the process of setting up in international commodities exchange in Tehran where they will sell oil for Euros. They plan on bringing this on line next month. Their "nuclear program" is almost nonexistent. They don't have the money for a nuclear program. The REAL nuclear threat to the US is the severing of the dollar/oil connection. And guess who else wants to sell oil for Euros? That's right, Hugo Chavez. But there is one thing that no one on the planet can avoid and that, is Peak Oil. All of the war, the scams, the shredding of the Bill of Rights, the corporate take over of America is, in the end, the fits and gasps of a dying Empire that was built on a diet of crude oil and is now starving to death. In Summary: 1970's:
Gold standard abolished, oil standard established.
Nixon, the first, conservative Imperial President falls under the weight of scandal.
Carter is elected in the wake of the scandal.
Middle Eastern OPEC nations rebel against the dollar standard and create an embargo by refusing to bow to Saudi Arabia's production quota demands.
The Shah of Iran falls and the US loses Iran as an oil producing puppet state.
Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Fed and a member of the neocon inner circle, places additional pressure on the US economy by restricting liquidity through high interest rates knowing that the presidency will take the political blame.
Carter prepares and implements a 30-year plan to remove the US from foreign oil dependency.1980's:
Reagan and the conservatives rise to power on the sad health of the economy.
The Carter energy plan is immediately abandoned by the Reagan White House.
James Baker and George H. W. Bush negotiate an agreement with King Fahd to ignore other OPEC members and increase production which, they agree to.
North Sea oil fields are opened by British Petroleum.
Iraq/Iran war begins and along with increased production from the North Sea, the Alaskan North Slope and Saudi Arabia, crude prices drop.
The new Chairman of the Fed, Alan Greenspan takes control in 1982 and abandons the Volcker choke hold on liquidity.
Cheap, plentiful and easy fiat currency through the Federal Reserve and Central Bank lending, along with relaxed controls on the financial community enacted by the conservatives, fuels the economy by allowing more and larger risky leveraged speculation investment.
Speculatory, leveraged investments on Wall Street lead to the Savings and Loan collapse (the first artificial bubble to be inflated for profit and then allowed to crash leaving naive investors holding the bag).
Soviet Empire crumbles on the worthless Ruble and the Eastern Bloc is opened to the West for petroleum exploitation.1990's:
Iran/Iraq war ends and Iraq invades Kuwait to rob its oil wealth.
Gulf War begins.
Balkans War begins.
Greenspan continues easy lending practices and the second artificial bubble is created, this time in the general stock market which reaches artificial and ultimately unsustainable highs during the Clinton years.
Stock market crashes in the later part of the decade. The hardest hit are tech stocks. It goes down in history as "The Dot Com" bubble.
Housing market bubble begins to inflate on the heels of the stock market crash.
The Clinton financial house of cards is better built than the house that Reagan built and the federal debt owed to Central Banks and foreign interests is paid down significantly. Incidentally, Katherine Austin Fitts (www.solari.com) once Assistant Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the first Bush and Clinton, points out that one of the things that the Clintons did to really piss off the neocons was to play the game better than they did. Clinton was, after all, an economics major.2000 and beyond:
Having lost an election to both Carter and then Clinton, the neocons vow to never let something as trivial as a national election get in their way again and George W. Bush is appointed by the Supreme Court to the White House.
Already having personal reasons to hate Iraq (and then of course there IS all that oil, after all) the Bushies are itching to open up a can of whoopass on Saddam Hussein.
Hussein gives them another excuse by attempting abandon the dollar standard. For that transgression against The Empire, he pays dearly.
The neocons are handed a golden opportunity (or helped to create it, according to some) when the towers are attacked. Every flimsy excuse under the sun is used to justify the invasion, but never the truth.
Peak Oil threatens to unravel the entire ruse by eliminating the sole source of wealth for the planet. The neocons have now, apparently decided to turn back to a time tested wealth building strategy: indentured servitude.And now you know the rest of the story. Mitch Elder (Posted with permission)

10 words

OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CREED
The 10 most important words:
“We are here to help you, whatever your requirements are.”
Be a one-stop solution for all customer requirements regarding engineering, testing, test equipment and technical services.
The 9 most important words:
"Thank you for your business. Please come back again.”
Always respect and value our Customers.
Thank our Customers for choosing Dayton T. Brown, Inc.
The 8 most important words:
“I’m not sure, but I will find out.”
Respond and act promptly on ALL Customer requests and meet the Customer’s deadlines.
The 7 most important words:
“What else can I do for you?”
Ask questions, and not make assumptions.
Be committed to providing the highest level of integrity to our Customers.
The 6 most important words:
"What is most convenient for you?”
Embrace new ways of doing things and challenge new ideas. Never maintain the status quo. Be flexible.
The 5 most important words:
"How may I serve you?”
Do not keep customers waiting.
Do not wait for Customers to call back, but return calls as soon as possible, and on the same day we receive them.
The 4 most important words:
"How did we do?”
Report all Customer feedback to our supervisors, and respond to our Customers quickly if a complaint was reported.
The 3 most important words:
"Glad you’re here!”
The 2 most important words:
"Thank you.”
The most important word:
"Yes.”
With honesty and integrity.

Family Photos

By Alice Zhao ‘12, Contributing ColumnistPublished on Thursday, October 16, 2008
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I began laughing the moment I opened the thin, innocent-looking envelope. Someone, or perhaps more than one person, had anonymously mailed me a photo of an inside joke from my DOC Trip, scrawling various one-liners on the outside of the envelope. A melange of memories accompanied the photo — not showering for five days, awkward moments from living in the wilderness, and how five days in the New Hampshire-Vermont forests transformed a group of nine strangers into a family unit.
“Family?” I asked myself, clutching my photo, wandering around the Hop. When did I begin thinking of nine people who I never met before, in a place I never set foot in as my new family? I spent the first night of my DOC Trip crying in my sleeping bag, bitterly wishing I had never signed up to spend my first days as a college student in the middle of nowhere — miles and miles away from my real parents.
The wood walls of the cabin around me lacked the photo collages of my suburban Kansas bedroom. I had developed little rapport with the people sleeping around me through a few formulaic exchanges, and, not suprisingly, our early conversations fell somewhere between blatantly awkward and glaringly absent.
Like Emily Johnson (“At Home In Hanover,” Oct. 6), I quickly drew the line between my old and new homes. As I longed for the memories, people and friendships enshrined in my photo collage at home, the strangers whom I was forced to coexist with on my DOC trip made the bareness of the cabin walls around me painfully obvious.
Somehow the line between my old and new family blurred during the five days in the wilderness as we nicknamed our Trip leaders “Mom” and “Dad.” Between cooking, hiking and getting to know each other through conversation, I began to draw parallels between my family life in Kansas and my new makeshift family unit in New Hampshire.
Trip expectations for my cooking mirrored my parents’ goals — no fires, no deaths, quasi-edible food equal success. The hiking trip dialogues resembled car talk on my family road trips to Disneyland: various chimes of “Are we there yet?,” increasingly exasperated replies of “Not yet” from “Mom” and “Dad,” and, finally, various word games designed to entertain and distract the trippee “children.”
The familial theme continued when I returned to Hanover. While portions of my Trip family still live near me, my family unit expanded to include dorm mates.
In the dorm, I bonded with my floormates as we butchered our laundry together — putting detergent in the bleach slot and mistaking the dryer for the washer. Consequently, I gained a sense of family with my floormates as we shared giggles after a dormmate shrunk his bedsheets to a small swatch of fabric.
Cooking in my dorm was another reminder of expectations from home. Group ‘schombbing to the Hop was even reminiscent of family road trips with more siblings, random bits of conversation, and, of course, the occasional “Are we there yet?”
Despite these parallels between my old and new families, I didn’t officially link them until, coincidentally, my parents mailed an album full of childhood memories, leaving empty slots for photos of my Dartmouth family. I added group photos from my Trip between snapshots of my nine-year-old self, gleefully placing rabbit years on my parents’ heads at Disneyland. Snapshots of scenic views seen on the trail went between road-trip highlights. Each photo in my album represents a snapshot of the family I love or the family I have come to love at Dartmouth. Empty spaces remain for future additons.
I deliberately excluded the Trip photo that appeared in my Hinman Box from my album, opting to hang it up instead as part of the new photo collage that I’m assembling on the wall of my dorm room.
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Touch The Candidate!

By Alice Zhao ‘12, Contributing ColumnistPublished on Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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I touched the fire. Well, sort of.
Consistent chants of “Touch the fire!” hurtled by thousands of upperclassmen slowly dulled my judgment until I quasi-intuitively gravitated toward the bonfire. The crowd’s enthusiasm enveloped me until I could almost envision my hands caressing the flames. Mob mentality clouded my personal judgment until I finally realized that deciding not to cremate my hands was smarter than following the crowd’s advice.
In his recent column, Peter Blair ‘12 asserts that our generation displays a similar tendency to mindlessly embrace Barack Obama and Sarah Palin’s campaigns for the upcoming election (“Informed Enthusiasm,” Oct. 19). According to Blair, youth support for both candidates is based on messianic overtures and not on the candidates’ platforms or qualifications. Blair equates our generation’s shared enthusiasm and endorsement for a candidate with running around his or her political bonfire with little or no justification beyond an idealistic desire to change the world.
I disagree, however, that young voters view either Obama or Palin as political bonfires to run around and touch in the next election. While voters from various ideologies and age groups gravitate toward candidates based on hype and imagery, few voters continue to support candidates on hype alone. Messianic imagery may initially lure most voters to a political bandwagon, but I — and most young voters that I’ve spoken to — justify continued support based on campaign stances, platforms and ideology. Realistically, we do not expect that a savior will miraculously fix the U.S. health-care system by building a political bonfire, nor do we expect that running around it with our endorsement will accomplish that same goal.
Instead, I support Obama for his plan to reform, expand and make health care more affordable. Sure, his charisma, youth and intelligence appeal to me, but my peers and I cite his platforms, and not solely his personal appeal, as the primary reasons for our support. Some listed their views on health care, economic policy and reproductive rights in supporting Obama. A few called Obama “our generation’s candidate,” pointing out his willingness to reach across party lines and his ability to appeal to the public as a whole.
The situation is similar for my conservative peers. In their decisions to support McCain, some cited his relatively longer experience in the Senate. A few mentioned social issues. One noted his economically conservative background, while another criticized liberal ideology as a whole.
In short, none of the 25 or so peers I polled justified their candidate choices on hype. Granted, I encountered more liberal leaning voters than conservative ones, but I didn’t detect a running-around-the-bonfire-esque collective mentality from either party’s supporters. When prodded, most people justified their decisions with concrete policy or personal ideology.
Despite the messianic imagery touted by some, most young voters support a candidate based on the soundness of his proposed policies, not an idealistic visions of him as a savior. While some people’s decisions are made on savior-like imagery, most voters realize a crowd’s endorsement doesn’t necessarily make a candidate’s policies any better — just like thousands of people chanting “Touch the fire” doesn’t make touching it any better of an idea. Most freshmen realized, as I did, that the throng of people supporting the idea had little bearing on its merit, just like a messianic bandwagon surrounding a candidate does not necessarily yield a better nominee.
Youthful enthusiasm does not automatically mean blindly following a candidate. Similiarly, voters who support a candidate weigh his platforms and policies against their own and don’t blindly accept him as political gospel. The majority of youth voters do not display a “touch the fire” mentality in supporting a candidate. My peers and I vote in the same way we “touched” the fire — on our own accord after it collapsed, not on the crowd’s accord while it was still burning.
« Previous article in Opinion (1/2) Blitz Goggles

Red States, Blue States

By Alice Zhao ‘12, Contributing ColumnistPublished on Friday, November 14, 2008
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“We’re immigrating to America?”
I equated moving to the United States with moving to a different universe. At age nine, I resisted leaving my friends, my house and the Chinese newspapers on the kitchen table for a new world. In my childish mind, America equaled space stations, aliens and foreign printed materials — not the familiar comforts of home. I welcomed dinnertime conversations about the move about as much as the mysteriously limp vegetables on my plate. What bothered me most, however, was being excluded from the after-dinner political discussions, especially after one of the adults caught my friends and me eavesdropping.
Shortly after the move, I realized my new American home and friends weren’t as foreign as I had first expected. But the first newspaper I opened was just as alien as I imagined. The opinion pages condemned, criticized and satirized politicians and policies — content that I didn’t remember from those Chinese newspapers on the kitchen table. The Chinese opinion pages lacked the sheer derision their American counterparts had for many candidates and policies. Whereas the U.S. pages ranged from scathing to quasi-complimentary, the Chinese ones nine years ago ranged from loosely critical to sycophantic.
The disparity between the Chinese and American print media underscores theunderlying tone of political discourse in the two countries. The American system featured — and still features — door-to-door canvassing efforts, negative political advertisements and lively lunchtime conversations about Sarah Palin. In contrast, the Chinese system featured fewer political volunteers and public political discussions, as well as less critical writing and reporting. Although tolerance for political expression has increased in recent years in China, differences between the U.S. and Chinese systems persist.
The two presidential campaigns I’ve witnessed since the move reflect these disparities. The recent swath of canvassing volunteers contrasts sharply with the dearth of door-to-door campaigners in my childhood. I don’t recall strangers knocking on my door with political agendas and shiny stickers — U.S.-style political campaigners didn’t exist in my neighborhood.
In contrast,several partisan and non-partisan Dartmouth volunteers grilled me on my political leanings before the recent election. When I told them I couldn’t vote, they produced an impressive collection of posters and buttons for “other methods of participation.” Thus armed, my friends and I took full advantage of the American political system to express our views. We were the random strangers dispensing campaign paraphernalia at people’s doors. We plastered the aforementioned collection on windows, doors and bulletins, bathing our dorms. We subtly and not so subtly worked our policy preferences into everyday conversations.
The election atmosphere across campus seemed utterly alien compared to the less politically open one of my childhood. Most adults held political conversations at home, with friends and eavesdropping children, not with strangers at public dining halls. The idea of campaign paraphernalia was ludicrous in itself, as was the display of political stickers in public areas.
Now, my favorite sticker to display is the one for which my dormmates dragged me out of bed on Election Day. They saved an “I voted” sticker from their early morning trek to Hanover High, a symbolic gesture I appreciated when I picked up The Dartmouth that day. This very Opinion page reflected the diversity of political ideologies, which — like the sticker — symbolized a degree of political expression I hope my childhood friends will attain as different political opinions become more and more acceptable at home in China.
Granted, freedom of speech was not a top priority when I was nine. Nine years later, however, it defines my role as an Opinion columnist. Printed conversations should further political discussions, offering a repertoire of viewpoints instead of merely reflecting a fraction of them. Self-expression should only be edited for clarity, style and good taste so readers can “vote” on its merit, not its ideology.
Indeed, the ideas for this column first crossed my mind on election night. Sandwiched between liberal and conservative friends, I realized I didn’t even dream of writing a politicallyoriented column nine years ago, let alone seeing it in print. That was the America my parents spoke of around the dinner table.
« Previous article in Opinion (1/2) Verbum Ultimum: Tightening Our Belts

The Polka-Dot Umbrella Plan

By Alice Zhao ‘12, Contributing ColumnistPublished on Monday, December 01, 2008
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When I was younger, I dreamt of becoming a polka-dot umbrella. While my peers fixated on occupations in banking, archeology, and other fields, I aspired to “protect people from the rain” professionally. My parents and teachers temporarily indulged this umbrella fantasy, before explaining that future jobs should a) posses a decent outlook, b) provide reasonable returns on the financial investment of a college education and c) be physically possible.
In other words, becoming a polka-dot umbrella was not a viable option. My underlying “protect people from the rain” mentality, however, gradually matured into ambitions of a career in public service.
According to an article in USA Today earlier this month, public service industries will soon experience severe staff shortages: Federal and university projections predict a shortage of 2 million public school teachers and 500,000 nurses in the next two decades and 200,000 government positions in the next two years (“Programs help with tuition in exchange for public service,” Nov. 18).
For many students, however, a career in public service is a difficult choice considering the financial investment in their education. Indeed, one friend recently abandoned his passion for public service in favor of a more “practical” field because of “strains” on his family’s finances.
The average new college graduate owes almost $22,000 in student loans, making starting salaries a key deterrent from a career in public service. Monthly loan payments of $600 spur graduates such as my friend to abandon their dreams for financial stability. It comes as no surprise that, according to the USA Today article, financial implications are “a major barrier” in attracting young, talented graduates to public service, compounding the field’s increasing staff shortage.
But in light of current and projected job deficits across the country, various universities have created new initiatives to nudge otherwise reluctant or financially wary graduates into public service. Such programs assist students financially in exchange for public service work after graduation.
This fall, Princeton began offering free masters degrees for students who pursue two-year federal government jobs after graduation. Starting in 2010, Harvard Law School will waive the $41,500 third-year student tuition for students willing to commit five years to a government or non-profit field after graduation. Tufts currently offers loan payment assistance to all graduates in exchange for public service work.
I commend these new initiatives because they help attract and retain innovative, talented students such as my friend who would otherwise abandon or overlook public service jobs because of financial constraints.
Princeton recently hosted an institutional conference of 24 other colleges and universities in the hopes of expanding these programs. Congress is even considering a public service equivalent of the ROTC, to be known as the “Roosevelt Scholars” program, which would provide graduates with full tuition, room and board, and spending stipends for completing a federal agency internship and three years in some government agency after graduation.
Passing the Roosevelt Scholars program bill and expanding institutional incentives for students pursuing public service is crucial to expanding the pool of potential public servants. Governmental and institutional incentives will allow graduates to indulge their “protect people from the rain” passions while shielding their families from current and future economic storms.
« Previous article in Opinion (1/2) Show Me The Money!

Warren Buffett, the man

Warren Buffett (born 1930) made his billions (and became the second richest man in the world after Bill Gates) from the success of the companies held by his investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, a publicly quoted company. He has described the extent of his involvement in these companies as being limited to the allocation of capital and people. “Charles T. Munger, Berkshire Hathaway’s vice-chairman, and I really have only two jobs,” he once said (Charles T. Munger being his long-time closest associate). “One is to attract and keep outstanding managers to run our various operations. The other is capital allocation.” That includes setting the compensation of the chief executive.

American lives vs others

It Seems To Be: While The USA has spent about half trillion dollars and lost about more than 4000+ lives to hope for bringing democracy and liberty for Iraq! In the return, Iraq has offered USA with a pair of shoes hurling toward a leader of a nation recently! and willing to send all US soldiers home without a word of appreciation! In summary,it seems to be this is a big waste of lives and money to give to these thankless folks! And sadly, the heart-breaking videos have shown countless Americans have suffered at home! lost of houses and being kicked out of apartments due to they lost their only job to pay rents and morgages! IT IS VERY SAD TO ALL AMERICANS WHO HAVE TO FACE THE UNKNOWN FUTURE AT HOME! THE USA MUST THINK TWICE TO GO OUT TO HELP THE REST OF THE WORLD WHILE AMERICANS ARE LEFT ALONE IN THE COLD! AND THESE CITIZENS WHOM WHO ARE THE TAX-CONTRIBUTORS TO THE NATION! THE WORLD ALWAYS HAVE ZILLIONS OF PROBLEMS TO BE ASSISTED AND NO ANY NATION CAN HELP THEM ALL!!!

THIS/HOME country, children's belief

I love THIS country, I am able to give what learned from my HOME country, I love my HOME country who has been giving me and trained me to be who I am today to contribute to THIS country. Children tend to believe everything in the world is related to them, this may also be a measure to tell how mature an adult is..

Auto bail out, Gay marriage

Give me a break.
To buy the junk car is the only way tax payer can do to save auto industry, no we don't need that cars, if GM and F fails, Toyota will go up, is it good for the industry. Give me a break, don't do that Nancy P., do you know you are doing an emotinal decision to buy. OMG, let us pray.

You will see what happens, GM and F still don't sell, what you do? more injections...endless

Imagine one day that 50% couples are gay married, probably we don't have to do birth control in China, is it God's hand to help. I don't know.

we knew it was bad, but we did not know it was that bad.........

Witness the historic moment: US President Elected

10 seconds right after poll closing in PT zone, the breaking news comes out: OB is elected president of the USA.
I love this country, you can be what you want to be, every child here could be next president of the United States of America, this is democracy, liberty, freedom, very importantly opportunity land, thanks to the founding fathers of the country, European can not do this, Asian can not, or African, it is the only place where you want to live it is American who you want to become...
This is real Americans' dreams that come to true not only African Americans',