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Mover Mike

Mike is a retired stock broker, and now supports his wife's furniture business. He is her warehouseman, deluxer, and marketing guru. In addition, he writes poetry and finds abundance, health and joy in the world around him while pondering life's little mysteries

Friday, February 29, 2008

Door-To-Door Sales
One of my pet peeves: I'm watching something very interesting on the nightly news when Ralph the dog goes nuts barking, meaning there's someone at the front door. Ralph is insistent as I, too, hear a rapping at my household door. Who's that rapping at my night-draped door.

I leave the TV, turn on the porch light, grab Ralph and open the door. Here's some hippie child holding a clip board asking me to support her particular liberal interest. Won't you sign my petition? Won't you contribute $100? How about $50? Even $10 would help us achieve success?

Now, if the U.S. is anything like the UK, we can expect to hear more tapping at our doors. Reuters' Jennifer Hill writes in Credit crunch spells Avon lady revival - or bankruptcy, because of the ongoing liquidity crisis,

Consumers are, perhaps unsurprisingly, seeking new ways to earn extra cash. The Direct Selling Association is predicting a 10 percent increase in the number of direct sellers in 2008, boosting the UK’s 400,000-strong direct seller workforce. People can each as much as 50,000 pounds per year selling goods directly to family, friends and neighbours, it says.

The trend has also been seen by Avon, the world’s biggest direct seller of cosmetics, which sells more lipstick, skincare and nail polish than any other brand in the UK. It reports a 25 percent year-on-year increase in new recruits. Based on this, they expect to enlist almost 4,000 new representatives this year.

Great! Now we will have to put up with Avon Calling, magazine sellers, pots and pan salespeople, and kids selling all sorts of candy, cookies and flowers. I would get one of those signs that say, "No Solicitors", but I think the sign would merely identify me as weak-willed consumer with no "NO!" button.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Quakes Quiet In Oregon
It's been quiet in Oregon. Here are the most recent jiggles:

map 2.0 2008/02/26 13:04:43 45.080N 122.341W 14.5 20 km (13 mi) ESE of Molalla, OR

map 1.8 2008/02/25 11:21:10 43.655N 122.255W 0.0 20 km (12 mi) ESE of Oakridge, OR

map 1.5 2008/02/22 16:26:49 45.084N 122.596W 11.3 7 km ( 5 mi) NE of Scotts Mills, OR

map 1.9 2008/02/22 09:40:21 44.827N 117.130W 10.9 6 km ( 4 mi) SSW of Halfway, OR

map 1.8 2008/02/19 17:12:44 44.238N 118.214W 0.0 23 km (15 mi) S of Unity, OR

Monday, February 25, 2008

McCall, Idaho - Chapter Nine Bankruptcy???
I was born in Boise, Idaho. My relatives lived in Boise, Meridian and Nampa. Each year as a kid, my family would take our vacation on mom's parents' farm and visit the relatives. One year we stayed at Shore Lodge on Payette Lake near McCall, Idaho. The Lodge was managed by my uncle Perry Bruce, who had managed the old Boise Hotel. Payette Lake is where I first went horse back riding and where I caught my first fish.

Imagine my surprise when I read, City of McCall could declare bankruptcy today.

In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered McCall to stop dumping treated wastewater into the Payette River.

The city hired a contractor to build storage ponds to remedy environmental concerns.

That ultimately lead to years of lawsuits -- with McCall claiming the work wasn't done properly and the contractor demanding payment.

McCall owes the contractor $6.5 Million and the contractor is suing to get paid before anyone else, thus the possibility of filing "Chapter Nine Bankruptcy". "...it buys time and allows the city to determine just how it will pay the millions it owes."

Maybe, bankruptcy is a national fever, like the flu. I hope there is a vaccine.

100% Preventable!
U.S. immigration officials say today they've determined the identity of the 24-year-old woman who drove a van into a school bus, killing four children last week in southwestern Minnesota.

The driver has been identified as Olga Marina Franco and she's from Guatemala, according to Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago.

Franco has been charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide stemming from the Feb. 19 crash near Cottonwood. Witnesses say she blew through a stop sign, jumped over some railroad tracks and hit the rear of the bus, which tipped over and collided with a pickup truck.

The woman initially said her name was Alianiss Nunez Morales, but ICE officials said she was using a fake name and was here illegally.

It's 100% preventable. Olga Marina Franco should not have been in this country. If the U.S. Government was doing its job, four children might be alive today.

Update:

Friday (2/29/08) Olga Marina Franco del Cid was charged with federal identity theft and social security charges. In a release from the United States Attorney's office in Minnesota, Franco del Cid told investigators shortly after the crash she was Alianiss Morales, but when federal agents tracked down the real Morales, she told authorities her purse and identification documents were stolen six months ago while she was living in Puerto Rico. The U.S. Attorney's office says Franco del Cid allegedly used those documents to apply for jobs in Minnesota and also used Morales's social security card to get a Minnesota state I.D. card.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst
In this weeks edition:

Does America "owe" the citizens of foreign nations jobs and money? And...NAFTA, was it really a bad thing?

Plus, our interview with Phyllis Schlafly

100% Preventable! American citizens continue to suffer and die due to open borders! When will the madness end?

Download for your Ipod here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

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Update:

The Oscars
Well, the Academy Awards were a delicious waste of four hours.

I wasn't impressed with Jon Stewart as host. He was a little too casual, really not funny. My main prediction back in December was Sweeney Todd would win best picture. Wrong! It wasn't even nominated.

My ballot tonight was pretty sparse for wins. Out of 28 categories, I was correct on 11. Biggest surprise to me was Best Actress - Marion Cotillard. I picked Julie Christie. I picked Cate Blanchett for best supporting actress and Tilda Swinton won.

Some observations:
When Amy Adams was singing the Happy Working song, I noticed that her shoes were ill fitting. You could see the inside of her pumps and in HD, she appeared to have a bruise on the inside of her left arm. Very distracting. In fact a lot of the women, in HD, had a lot of wrinkles and crows feet. Helen Mirren was one of the worst. Julie Christie's cleavage looked creapy. Catty, catty. I sound like an old queen.
Javier Barden's mom had too many rings.
Renee Zellwenger looked very HOT as did Cameron Diaz. Very nice chi chis.
Finally, John Travolta did not look good. Was that his real hair and is he gay?

My wife and I love the movies, and every weekend we see the best rated movie. We miss very few of the good ones. I am very happy to have picked more correctly than my wife, even if it was just by one.

Atta Boy, Bob!
General Motors Corp Vice Chairman Bob Lutz dismisses global warming as a "total crock of s---,"

Say what you mean and mean what you say. Can we get Bob Lutz to run for President?

I'M OUTRAGED.
THE OUTRIGHT FREAKING NERVE!

First the financial industry has lobbied congress over the years to rid the nation of restrictions on the banks ability to make money. We've done away with all the laws that derived from mistakes leading up to the Great Depression. Now, the mortgage mess that was created by the FED, Congress, the SEC and the banks, is threatening the economic well being of the nation and Bank of America wants Congress' help.

A confidential proposal that Bank of America (BAC) circulated to members of Congress this month ...

...warns that up to $739 billion in mortgages are at “moderate to high risk” of defaulting over the next five years and that millions of families could lose their homes.

To prevent that, Bank of America suggested creating a Federal Homeowner Preservation Corporation that would buy up billions of dollars in troubled mortgages at a deep discount, forgive debt above the current market value of the homes and use federal loan guarantees to refinance the borrowers at lower rates.

WHO BENEFITS FROM SUCH CRAZINESS? THE BANKS!

There's no help for the mortgagees. Not that they should have any. There's just a relief from the consequences of the banks' risk taking.

Update:

In a piece in the Washington Post by David Ignatius, Wall Street Bank Run, he seems to be arguing for just what (BAC) is angling for, a federal bailout:
The answer to Wall Street's bank run may be a version of what saved Main Street banks during the Great Depression. President Franklin Roosevelt created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 to reassure the public that there was an insurer of last resort for the banks -- and that people's money was safe even if they couldn't see it or touch it or put it under a mattress.
ONLY THIS TIME IT WOULD REASSURE THE BANKS THAT THEIR MONEY IS SAFE!

Ignatius does one good thing. He calls "Hillary Clinton's proposed moratorium on home foreclosures...one of the truly bad ideas of our time.

Bitches Get Things Done!
Tine Fey endorses Hillary:

Update:

NBC has pulled its show from YouTube, so we have the NBC version:

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Keyless Remotes, Not Working!
Interesting item from Bremerton, WA.

Something has caused almost all the keyless remotes to stop working in Bremerton.

No one so far has been able to explain why the remote keyless entry systems on nearly every vehicle in the Bremerton-Port Orchard suddenly stopped functioning at about the same time Wednesday afternoon and hasn't worked since. “It's strange,” DeCamp said. “A lot of people are really upset.”

[...]

...remote keyless entry devices use a radio signal in the 300- to 500-megahertz range. When the “lock” or “unlock” button is pushed on a handheld device, it transmits a signal to a receiver in the car that locks or unlocks the doors.

[...]

The problem started at almost exactly the same time the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was returning home to Bremerton from seven weeks at sea, causing service managers at some car dealerships to suspect radio emissions from the ship are somehow to blame.

I recall, when I was a lustful high school student, wishing for a remote device that would unlock bra straps with a flick of a button just as present day keyless remotes unlock a car door. My best designs failed, however, when all I could open were garage doors. Seems, then like now, we had to go back to relearning how to use our hands and car keys.
Advice to Sen. John McCain
Never get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. The NYT is reporting on the strange threats from Sen. McCain to the FCC over one of Vicki Iseman's clients.

McCain's got himself into a peck of trouble. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Who Pays Taxes?
This really bugs me, every time I hear it from Obama and Clinton. The mantra goes something like this. "If I'm elected president, I will roll back the Bush tax cuts and cut taxes on the middle-class." I'm really wondering if they are a stalking horse for themselves and for their rich pals.

In 1999 the Top 1% with Adjusted Gross incomes (AGI) of $293,415 or higher paid 36.18% of all taxes. The Top 5% with AGI of $120,846 or higher paid 55.45% of all taxes.

In 2005, after the Bush tax cuts, the Top 1% with AGI of $364,657 or higher paid 39.38% of all taxes. The Top 5% with AGI of $145,283 or higher paid 59.67% of all taxes.

Bottom line: You had to make more money to get into the Top 1% or Top 5% and your percent of total taxes raised was higher by 3.2% to 4.2%. Now it seems to me that if those tax cuts were repealed, it would only benefit the rich.

Here's another point that Rush Limbaugh pointed out:

In 1999 the Top 1% paid nine (9) times as much as the bottom 50%. In 2005 the Top 1% paid almost 13 times as much taxes as the bottom 50%. What's wrong with that?

Here's the lie or half-truth that keeps getting repeated from the NYT, no less:

The New York Times reported recently that the average family in America with an income of $10 million or more received a half-million-dollar tax cut, while the middle class got crumbs (less than $100 shaved off their tax bill).
However, in the story by The American, Guess Who Really Pays the Taxes
When we compare the taxes paid under the old system with those paid after the Bush tax cuts, the rich are now actually paying a higher proportion of income taxes. The latest IRS data show an increase of more than $100 billion in tax payments from the wealthy by 2005 alone. The number of tax filers who claimed taxable income of more than $1 million increased from approximately 180,000 in 2003 to over 300,000 in 2005. The total taxes paid by these millionaire households rose by about 80 percent in two years, from $132 billion to $236 billion.
Have you had enough? I'm not in the Top 5% of AGI yet, and I'd like to be. What other country in the world gives you the freedom to move up into the higher tax brackets and the "privilege" of paying more taxes as a price of your success. Don't be fooled. The Democrats want to spend more money and collect more money from everybody AND IT SEEMS REWARD THEIR CRONIES!

Clintons, Bad For The Party
Wow! Bob Herbert writing in the NY Times acknowledges something that Republicans have known for years, that Rush Limbaugh has hammered on for years. The Clintons have not been good for the Democratic Party. Wow!

It was an article of faith that Senator Clinton’s campaign had a built-in advantage: her husband was the smartest Democrat of them all. But when you think about it, Bill Clinton was never much of a benefactor for others in his party.

When he took office in January 1993, Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. Less than two years into his presidency, the Republicans swept to majorities in both houses, putting Newt Gingrich in line to become speaker.

When Mr. Clinton left office in 2001, the Republicans were still in control of Congress, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment had opened the door to the era of George W. Bush.

The former president’s less-than-magic touch in Senator Clinton’s presidential campaign contributed to her devastating defeat in the South Carolina primary. He’s been kept more or less under control since then.

Was there ever a candidate that Bill Clinton campaigned for that ever won? With all the Hillary talk about balancing the budget, did it help Al Gore become president? Many complain campaign contributions were diverted from the Party to Hillary's senatorial campaign to the detriment of Gore.

For years Democrats have been sold a lie about the Clintons, how smart they are, for example. For years, it has been just the Clintons for the Clintons. The Party will be better off with them swept off the stage like so much detritus left on the streets after the parade goes by. Good riddance!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Does Sen. John McCain protest too much?
John McCain according to Newsweek, issued a point by point rebuttal to the NYT's lobbyist story Just hours after the Times's story was posted,
...that depicted the letters as routine correspondence handled by his staff—and insisted that McCain had never even spoken with anybody from Paxson or Alcalde & Fay about the matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC," the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.
Yet, he contradicted his rebuttal, when in Sept. 25, 2002, he said,
"I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue. He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."
McCain:
"I'm sure I spoke to [Paxson]." McCain agreed that his letters on behalf of Paxson, a campaign contributor, could "possibly be an appearance of corruption"—even though McCain denied doing anything improper.
Which is it Senator? I did not have an affair with that woman, Vicki Iseman or I did speak to Mr. Paxson and tried to do for him what I was accused of doing for Keating and the Lincoln Saving and Loan?

What an election for America! We have the wife of Sen. Obama who says, "This is the first time I've ever been proud to be an American! And now we have Sen. McCain caught lying. How about we just stick with what we have for four more years and revisit the issue then?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sharper Image files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Reuters reports that Sharper Image has filed Chapter 11, "citing declining sales, three straight years of losses and litigation involving its Ionic Breeze air purifiers."

The company deals with about 650 vendors and suppliers on a credit basis, many of whom began to request cash upon delivery, according to court papers.
"Sharper Image is in a severe liquidity crisis," Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Roedell said in a separate filing.

Sites of stores in U.S.

UPDATE:

Federal law allows a company to stop honoring store gift cards when it files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that's exactly what's happening at San Francisco-based Sharper Image. Sales clerks are telling customers they can no longer accept the plastic cards as payment, and the cards are no longer accepted when customers try to use them online.

Sharper Image could be sitting on as much as $25 million dollars in gift card money, according to an estimate by Brian Riley, a senior analyst with the Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup, a research and advisory services firm. Riley follows Sharper Image.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Music From the Mac Ad
Watching the American Idol show tonight, I was intrigued by the song in the Mac ad. "New Soul" is sung by Yael Naim.
Yael Naim was born in Paris in 1978 to Sephardi-Jewish parents. At the age of four, she moved with her family to Ramat HaSharon, Israel, where she spent her childhood and learned how to speak Hebrew. She served in Israel Defence Forces as a soloist in the Israel Air Force Orchestra. She began her singing career with a part in the musical "Les Dix Commandements" and her first solo album, In a Man's Womb, was released in 2001. She also sang the song "You Disappear" by Bruno Coulais for the film Harrison's Flowers directed by Elie Chouraqui. For her early work she was credited simply as Yaël.


Song lyrics | New Soul lyrics
BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
The Beat goes on!

MAP 3.0 2008/02/20 00:30:02 32.438 -115.318 0.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.9 2008/02/20 00:15:50 32.446 -115.320 1.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/19 23:53:18 32.424 -115.294 25.4 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 2008/02/19 23:50:44 32.423 -115.313 35.2 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 2008/02/19 23:22:11 32.410 -115.303 3.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.1 2008/02/19 23:00:35 32.430 -115.291 6.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.2 2008/02/19 22:51:08 32.429 -115.318 6.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.4 2008/02/19 22:47:32 32.395 -115.292 6.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 5.0 2008/02/19 22:41:29 32.432 -115.313 6.0 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Cerro Prieto Volcano
I posted about the series of earthquakes near Mexicali before I left on vacation. Since then there have been at least an additional 50 more quakes in the same area. Mitch Battros of Earth Changes Media wrote
A swarm of quakes continues today and is surrounding what has been a dormant volcano. The "Cerro Prieto" sits at the exact coordinates of the over 100 hundred quakes measuring as high as 5.1 magnitude. The previously dormant volcano is located at the northern tip of the Baja Peninsula also known as the 'Sea of Cortez' or Gulf of California.

Digging a little deeper, the Cerro Prieto volcano,

15 miles south of Mexicali, is a rhyolite dome that is the product of a single eruptive cycle in the late Pleistocene. The marked lack of erosion of the cone attests to its youthful age. Young volcanoes at Cerro Prieto are apparently part of the same suite of volcanic activity, all being associated with the East Pacific Rise.

[...]

The entire trough, including the Gulf is an extension of the East Pacific Rise, a zone of separation in Earth's crust. The axis of the Rise, hence of the Salton Valley as well, is a great transform fault that is having the effect of separating an enormous slab of North America, consisting of the Baja Peninsula and coastal California away from the mainland, with movement to the northwest and out to sea as a terranne.

I have always monitored this very active geological area, wondering if, in our lifetime, we will see the Gulf of California join the Salton Sea.

The Conservative Majority Project
There's a new group of conservatives in Oregon. They call themselves:

They say:

All candidates that we support, with the help of Oregonians like you, must be:

* Dedicated to improving educational quality through school choice. A strong belief that parents know how to make the best decisions for their children, instead of bureaucrats and unions is essential.
* Dedicated to limited government. One of the first questions in any elected officials decision-making process should be, "Can this problem be solved in the free market?"
* Dedicated to lowering taxes and cutting government waste. We recognize that your money is a reflection of your time and creative energy. Every elected official should treat all fiscal decisions with this principle as a guidepost.
* Dedicated to preserving Oregonians First and Second Amendment Rights. The right to keep and bear arms is essential to the survival of any republic.
* Dedicated to preserving and protecting traditional family values. The family unit is the core of our society. It must be preserved.
* Dedicated to stopping illegal immigration. The Oregon worker has been immeasurably harmed by a system that allows those who are in this state illegally to drive down wages. This problem places a growing burden on schools, and hospitals, transportation, police, and fire departments.
* Dedicated to protecting private property rights. The right to control your own property is a fundamental pillar in a free society. You have worked hard to call your property your own. You should not be forced to fight with state and local governments who look for reasons to devalue your property.
* Dedicated to protecting your civil liberties and your initiative freedoms. State politicians, public employee unions, and bureaucrats have been waging a 15-year war against the initiative process. Whether it is by limiting your ability to petition your government, or by circumventing laws that the people of Oregon have voted on, this is an issue that can no longer be over looked.

Our candidates are not "anti-government" candidates, but rather candidates who believe that government's primary role should be to protect the liberties of its citizens

Count me in!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst For 2/18
In this weeks edition: The Merida Initiative: heard of it?

A "wave of hate?" Sure, but it's not who you think it is!

100% Preventable! Two illegal alien criminals -- 39 crimes! When will the madness end!

You can download the show for your Ipod here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

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Happy Valentine's Day From UBS
While I was sojourning in Mazatlan, UBS announced a fine Valentine's present for shareholders by losing more than $11 Billion in the fourth quarter and announcing its first full-year net loss in a decade. There may be more bad news to come.
Switzerland's No. 1 bank said it still holds $27.59 billion in securities linked to U.S. subprime residential mortgages, down from $38.77 billion in September.

UBS also disclosed further exposure of $11.4 billion in leveraged finance and $26.6 billion in alt-A mortgages.

Here's the PS on that card:
UBS also said it got a Wells Notice last week from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to a municipal bond probe.
Isn't this a lovely chart?

The New Mexico
Interesting article in last Monday's USA Today, In Mexico, an energized economy raises hopes.
...many Mexicans say their future looks brighter than it has in generations.

The economy is growing steadily, and poverty rates are declining significantly. Crime is down, public health and education levels are improving, and Mexico's democracy is more robust than at any time in its history.

An improving economy is encouraging many Mexicans to stay home.
The brighter economic outlook in Mexico is one reason the number of migrants caught by U.S. border agents has declined 20% during the past year or so, although tighter border enforcement and the slowing U.S. economy also are factors...
Other factors helping Mexicans: NAFTA. Didn't Democrats oppose NAFTA?
The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement opened a huge market for Mexican-made goods, spurring the construction of factories along the U.S. border.
Curbing spending:
...a new generation of government technocrats, many of them Ivy League graduates, began to tame the runaway public spending and inflation that had locked the Mexican economy in bust-and-boom cycles for generations.
Election of conservatives:
In 2000, the conservative Vicente Fox became the first president from outside the PRI in seven decades. Under Fox and his successor, Felipe Calderón, inflation has averaged about 4% a year with no major financial meltdowns.
One thing is becoming obvious, the quality of life is improving.

Mexicans are living longer 75 years vs 78 in the U.S.
Infant mortality is falling, 15.7 deaths per thousand vs 6.37 in the U.S.
Extreme poverty is falling to 3.0%
Earnings have risen in last ten years. GDP per capita has risen from $3,084 to $8,190
Car and light truck sales are rising
University enrollment is rising.

Obviously, many Mexicans have found the U.S. attractive from a wage standpoint. Many Americans find Mexico attractive for its cheaper housing and lower food prices. You can also hire a maid, a cook and a gardener, all for a total of $30 a month. For a retiree that's music to one's ears.

Do We Ever Learn?
The headline above the fold says, "Schools cut secret deals with abusive teachers"
It would take months for the agency that licenses Oregon teachers to discipline a Salem-area teacher for inappropriately touching at least eight girls.

To get Kenneth John Cushing, then 44, away from Claggett Creek Middle School students immediately, administrators cut him a deal: If Cushing resigned, they would conceal his alleged conduct — clutching students’ waists, touching their buttocks and massaging their shoulders — from the public.

Isn't this the same thing the Catholic Church did to miscreant priests?

Vacation to Mazatlan
So how was Mazatlan?

We talked to many Americans while there on vacation who have been coming to Mazatlan for years. This was my first time and I had to ask myself, "Where have I been all my life to miss this place?" I fell in love with the city and the people.

I was told that Mazatlan is today where the U.S. was in the 1940s. The city sits on the Sea of Cortez, almost directly across from Cabo San Lucas, but it is Mexican, while Cabo is tourism.

The city wraps its arms around the sea. It could easily be any Mediterranean city. We had drinks atop the Freeman Hotel within blocks of the historic section, watched the sunset and had a 360 degree view of the city.

We stayed at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay, a short 20-minute shuttle ride into the city. This has to be one of the finest resorts I've ever stayed. We have been through many timeshare presentations at resorts we've visited from Marriott on Kauai, to Fiesta Americana at Cabo and always turned them down, but this time...

we bought a week in a junior suite for 30 years. A week we can use anytime and on any seven day period; Sunday to Sunday or Monday to Monday or Saturday to Saturday, etc.. When I turn 65, we can accelerate the weeks and use two weeks a year. It will cost us an average of $800 a year, including annual maintenance, in a resort that rents for at least $250 a day and will only go higher.

If, I were a contractor, I would think seriously about building high-rise condos along that sea front strip to allow as many people as possible to spend each evening watching the sun go down.

We've booked a week for next March 8th of 2009!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst
We didn't plan on another 100% 100& Preventable week so soon, but there were so many stories this week that will be ignored by the media we felt we had to.  So without further ado we give you 100% 100% Preventable week!



You can download the show for your Ipod here.

Here is the donation info for the Clark family:

Donations may be made at Washington Mutual Bank, 699 Trancas St., Napa, CA, 94558. The account is under the name Lilian Clark and Children.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.


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Saturday, February 9, 2008

82 Degrees And Sunny!
We are heading for Mazatlan in the morning, 82 and sunny, and Mexico starts shaking like a bowl of jello on the way to the refrigerator.

MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 22:24:07 32.409 -115.291 8.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 20:43:48 32.409 -115.308 12.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 20:32:22 32.446 -115.292 30.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/09 20:31:31 32.435 -115.273 8.3 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 20:20:31 32.472 -115.309 0.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 20:04:44 32.421 -115.311 5.9 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.6 2008/02/09 19:29:43 16.434 -98.564 14.8 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/09 18:51:17 32.451 -115.277 4.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 2008/02/09 17:48:04 32.412 -115.312 31.3 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 2008/02/09 17:26:26 32.408 -115.313 3.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 16:56:23 32.419 -115.280 3.4 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 16:46:58 32.406 -115.272 8.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.1 2008/02/09 15:29:10 32.172 -115.426 11.4 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 2008/02/09 14:32:27 32.436 -115.322 24.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/09 14:16:02 32.428 -115.332 2.2 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 13:33:23 32.377 -115.304 4.3 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 12:41:23 32.394 -115.308 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 12:32:29 32.398 -115.329 1.9 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 12:21:46 32.430 -115.297 5.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/09 10:36:57 32.355 -115.329 0.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 2008/02/09 09:55:33 32.412 -115.258 25.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 2008/02/09 08:32:36 32.419 -115.324 24.2 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.6 2008/02/09 07:43:27 32.440 -115.277 7.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 2008/02/09 07:42:59 32.401 -115.310 0.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 2008/02/09 07:37:05 32.422 -115.299 2.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.8 2008/02/09 07:28:42 32.441 -115.286 6.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 5.1 2008/02/09 07:12:06 32.406 -115.293 29.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Wells Notices Received
Dexia SA DEXI.BR (Brussels) and Bank of America Corp (BAC) received a Wells Notice from the SEC following a probe of municipal guaranteed investment contracts (GICs). The Wells Notice indicates that the SEC staff intends to recommend filing civil charges against the companies but also gives each time to respond.
Both companies were among about 30 firms subpoenaed in November 2006 in a federal price-fixing probe related to the bidding of guaranteed investment contracts, which state and local governments use to park proceeds of municipal bond sales.

[...]

The SEC, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Justice Department in November 2006 started an industry-wide investigation of how municipal bond proceeds are invested.

As I understand these things, when a bond is floated the money has to be put somewhere until it's used for the municipal purpose. Reserves and other funds are set up to make sure that the bondholders get paid. Sometimes the money isn't used. Bloomberg notes a CDR Financial that
...had a secret agreement with the provider of a guaranteed investment contract for bonds issued in 1999 by an authority in Gulf Breeze, Florida, The deal allowed CDR to increase its fees if none of $220 million in bond proceeds was used for its intended purpose -- affordable housing.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Mac Makes Nice With CPAC
John McCain hit all the right buttons at CPAC vowing to:

make the Bush tax cuts permanent,
abolish the Alternative Minimum Tax,
and protect second-amendment rights
vowed to lower taxes, in particular corporate taxes
As for the size of government McCain said, “I intend to reduce it!”
on the subject of illegal immigration, he said he now pledged to make it “the highest priority to secure our borders first”
“I will not sign a bill with earmarks in it — any earmarks.”
“I will tell Iran that the United States will not permit a government that makes the destruction of Israel its fondest wish.”

So that's it then. Romney is out, Mike Huckabee will fight on and it's McCain's to lose at this point. I said I will never vote for McCain. I'm tempted to sit out the whole thing this year. We'll see!

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Mac Makes Nice With CPAC
  2. Super Tuesday

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Super Tuesday
Thoughts or impressions:

Unless some extraneous event happens or some credible information about the fitness of a candidate surfaces, it appears it will be McCain vs Clinton.

The turnout and enthusiasm for the Dems' candidates is incredible. The look of the young lady standing behind Obama wiping tears was priceless. There appeared to be a young man on Obama's right that was equally affected. Best line in the speech: "We are the ones we've been waiting for!" He does use words that affect ones emotions, like JFK, but there is no "there" there, meaning he seems naive about the way our government works.

If the election were held today, the Dems would win in a land slide!

When we vote in the general election, count on the Reps to say about Iraq and Islamofascism, we are in it to win it no matter the sacrifice. We do this to keep our enemy over there and we will prevail. Count on the Dems to say get out now. Reps win hands down.

How does the economy help or hurt? I would expect it to hurt Reps.

A Clinton/Obama ticket or an Obama/Clinton ticket would be historic and a mighty draw.

America has never elected a liberal or progressive. Obama and Clinton are definately socialists, more left than Mondale, McGovern, Dukakis, Kerry or Humphrey. A big negative.

The one big issue deviding McCain from conservatives is his immigration policy. It just may work in his favor. He needs a majority of the men, independents and Hispanics. He actually could split the Hispanic vote by his favoring amnesty.

In the end Reps will vote for McCain against Clinton/Obama.

Our enemies in the mid-east should be very worried!

One footnote, I watched only FOX tonight and noticed Martha McCallum has really blossomed.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Mac Makes Nice With CPAC
  2. Super Tuesday
Updaate on Domain
Domain Home was started in 1985 by Judy George and as I posted here filed for Chapter 11.
Domain Home will come to auction this week with liquidator Great American Group as the stalking horse bidder with a plan to liquidate all 27 stores. (emphasis added)

[...]

Great American would pay Domain 64 cents on the dollar cost value of the inventory, which is estimated at just under $10 million.

Monday, February 4, 2008

China Is Really Suffering!
I have been watching with interest the severe weather taking place in China. This note finally caused me to post something:
The freak weather has even carpeted the arid Taklamakan desert in far-western China with snow. 'NEVER BEFORE had the whole desert been covered.
How bad is it in China?
More snow and sleet were forecast across the south, where three weeks of storms have destroyed crops, damaged electricity lines and disrupted the transport system. Severe weather conditions have been forecast to continue nationwide until February 8th or 9th. Much needed warmer temperatures are unlikely even after the snowfall ends. UNUSUAL blizzards, rain and harsh weather have thrown the rail and road traffic into a tailspin, with millions of passengers stranded. The cold spell has caused a loss of 7.5 billion dollars. Disruption in rail and road traffic has affected the supplies of coal to power plants whose stocks are depleting fast, adding to the worries of authorities. In central province of Zhejiang, a snowstorm lasted 30 hours, causing snow accumulations of RECORD DEPTHS. 19 provincial regions were hit, affecting nearly 78 million people as of January 28. For the FIRST TIME IN 135 YEARS the economic hub of Shanghai posted a yellow snowstorm alert on Saturday and by this morning, it had received 15 cm of snow. The Shanghai port at the mouth of the Yangtze river was closed as of 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, which stranded more than 1,000 ships and cancelled the departures of 200.
Boy, don't you wish for some of that Global Warming?
Denver at the Half 50 to 44!
Man oh man. The Blazers were awful in the first half scoring only 14 points, I'd say half of those came from the foul line!

Then, Allen Iverson goes out for a rest, ahead by 17, and our Blazers start hitting shots, playing defense and suddenly are down only by two. The half comes to an end with our boys trailing by six, but there is hope in the hearts of Portland.

Update:

Portland should have won the game. It was 100 to 100 and on to OT. Nobody could make a shot. Tied at 103. Denver lets AI do his thing and Denver by two. Portland still has a chance with 0.9 ticks on the clock. Final score 105 to 103 Denver. Great game. It should have gone our way. Too many mistakes.
It Was A Bug!
With the kind of BUG I suffered the last four days, I would have beaten everyone at Camden Middle School and been kicked out of school. Thank God, I wasn't driving the school bus.
Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst
In this weeks edition...

Does Mexico exert 'undue influence' inside America? We take a look.

Sanctuary II: In the 'proud' footsteps of Elvira Arellano the same church offers 'sanctuary' to yet another illegal alien. We're on the scene.

100% Preventable! More Americans suffer for open borders!

You can download the show for your Ipod here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy.

If you’d like to join find out how right here.

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Chapter 11 Strikes Two Furniture Companies, Today
It didn't take a month!

I posted on January 8th that Wickes was seeking help from vendors"

Wickes Furniture is asking suppliers to sign an agreement that would postpone the retailer’s payment of its past-due debt until July 2009.
Apparently, they didn't get the needed response for today Wickes has filed Chapter 11.
Wickes Holdings, parent company of Wickes Furniture, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing assets of $10 million to $50 million and debts of more than $50 million.
The second major Chapter 11 filing was done for Fortunoff:

Fortunoff, a shopping institution on Long Island for decades, said Monday it has filed for bankruptcy protection and agreed to be acquired for $100 million by the owners of Lord & Taylor, the second change in ownership for the Westbury-based home furnishing and jewelry chain in the past two years.
Some say Fortunoff was getting squeezed, others blame the economy and the subprime mess on Long Island.
...several factors had led to Fortunuff's decline in recent years, including a failure to expand and competition from outlets like Bed Bath & Beyond, and even Wal-Mart, which sells jewelry.
Now, what generally happens is the filers' debt gets wiped out, they lower their costs to be competitive and that puts others on the edge who must seek chapter 11 to wipe out debt.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Chapter 11 Strikes Two Furniture Companies, Today
  2. Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse To Liquidate
Instapundit's New Poll
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins Are You?

Avarice -- Greedy greedy greedy. You're never content with what you have.
Take this quiz!

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Sunday, February 3, 2008

3.3 In Maupin Area
MAP 3.3 2008/02/03 18:15:53 45.129N 120.943W 19.4 12 km ( 7 mi) ESE of Maupin, OR

map 2.6 2008/02/03 15:36:04 46.547N 119.187W 22.0 6 km ( 4 mi) SSW of Basin City, WA

HOW THE CLINTONS WILL DESTROY JOHN MCCAIN
This is the weekend prior to Super Tuesday and McCain says "Super Tuesday may end the GOP race." I'm reprinting Dr. Jack Wheeler's article, because I do not believe John McCain is the right man to lead this country.
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 31 January 2008

The number of fellow Senators who think John McCain is psychologically unstable is large. Some will admit it publicly, like Thad Cochran who says, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine."

Others relate times when McCain screamed four-letter obscenities right in their faces in the Senate cloak room, like Dick Shelby, Rick Santorum, or Jim Inhofe. "The man is unhinged," one Senator told me. "He is frighteningly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief."

That John McCain is clinically nuts is scary enough. What worries a small group of GOP Senators and Congressmen even more is a deep and dark skeletal secret in McCain's glorified past to which they are privy, and which the Clintons will use to blackmail him.

They have been having discussions with a Russian whom we'll call "T" for Translator. T's father was the Soviet military intelligence officer who ran the "Hanoi Hilton" prison holding captured Americans during the Vietnam War. One of those prisoners was John McCain.

The GRU -- Glavnoje Razvedyvatel'noje Upravlenije or Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet (now Russian) Armed Forces - operated the entire North Vietnamese prison system holding American prisoners of war. GRU officers, all of whom were Russians, oversaw the interrogation of every American POW.

The interrogations themselves were conducted by Vietnamese who spoke some English. After each interrogation session, which could often include torturing the prisoners at the direction of the GRU officers, the Vietnamese interrogator would write a report of the session - in Vietnamese.

These reports had to be translated into Russian. T, a bright teenager living in the GRU compound in Hanoi, had become fluent in Vietnamese, and ended up translating many of the reports and interrogators' notes.

John McCain, flying his A-4 Skyhawk, was shot down over Hanoi on October 26, 1967. Badly injured from the ejection, he was beaten and abused by his captors. In July, 1968, his father, US Navy Admiral J. S. McCain, was made CINCPAC, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command, commander of all US military forces in the Vietnam theatre. Upon learning this, the Vietnamese offered - according to McCain - to release him.

McCain claims he refused, because he demanded all American POWs captured before him be released as well. He thus remained a prisoner when he could have gone home, and was subjected to constant brutal beatings and torture for years: that is the source of the "war-hero" saga making McCain a greater war-hero than any other American POW.

Yet the offer of release would had to have been approved by the GRU overseers of the North Vietnamese - and T does not recall any such offer being made. T admits, however, that this took place before McCain was transferred to Hoa Loa prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by the POWs. T had only direct knowledge of what happened at Hoa Loa, and not the other prisons, where T's father was in charge.

McCain was kept at the Hanoi Hilton from December 1969 until his release, along with all the remaining POWs, in March of 1973. During this time, T translated all the Vietnamese interrogators' notes and reports regarding John McCain.

According to T, they reveal that McCain had made an "accommodation" with his captors, and in exchange, T's father saw that he was provided with an apartment in Hanoi and the services of two prostitutes. Upon returning to his prison cell, he would say he had been held in solitary confinement. That may be why so many of his fellow prisoners said later they saw so little of him at Hoa Loa.

The notes and reports written in Vietnamese were sent to Moscow, where T was a now a college student, for T's translation into Russian, then placed into GRU archives. That's where they stayed until 1991. Late that year, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the CIA and the GRU made a deal for a document swap.

All of what it involved, T doesn't know. What T's father, by now retired but still with substantial contacts within the GRU, did learn (and thus T learned) was that the swap included all of T's translations.

In other words, the CIA has in its possession the notes and reports of John McCain's interrogators at the Hanoi Hilton, in both the original Vietnamese and translated Russian, showing collaboration with his Communist captors.

Allegations of this nature have been made over the years, many by Vietnam veterans. There is an even an organization, Vietnam Veterans Against McCain. But they are based on suspicions and circumstantial claims. There has never been any hard direct evidence.

What T says the CIA has is such evidence. Its release would destroy McCain. The threat of its release could force McCain to take a fall, blow the election and lose on purpose. And just who do you suppose would know what the CIA has and work with them to release it?

Someone who has been a CIA asset since he was recruited by London station chief Cord Meyer while a student at Oxford in 1968?

(Back in the 90s years after he retired, if Cord drank a little too much Scotch, he would laugh derisively at those conspiratorialists who accused Bill Clinton of being connected with the KGB.

"They all darkly point to Bill's participation in anti-war peace conferences in Stockholm and Oslo, and his trip to Leningrad, Moscow, and Prague while he was at Oxford. ‘Who could have paid for this?', they ask. ‘It had to be the KGB!' they claim." Cord would shake his head. "What rot - we paid for it. We recruited Bill the first week he was at Oxford. Bill's been an asset of The Three Bad Words ever since." Cord passed on in 2001.)

The small group of Senators and Congressmen who have been briefed by T have been unable to confirm with the CIA any details of its document swap with the GRU beyond an admission that such a swap "may have happened." They are very nervous about pursuing the matter any further.

The Clintons are not nervous. They are utterly ruthless, and have buddies at Langley all too happy to help them.

It has been noted many times here in To The Point that while most folks think the CIA is a right-wing outfit, it is not. The CIA has been dominated by left-wing hyper-liberals for years.

The CIA is a left-wing, liberal outfit, and its main job for some time now is not attacking America's enemies but conservatives in general and George W. Bush in particular. The story is best told by friend, Ken Timmerman in his new book Shadow Warriors.

When the time is right, the Clintons will see to the leaking of the GRU archives on McCain to the media. Bet on it, just as you can bet they'll follow it up with media disclosures of the lady lobbyists in Washington having adulterous affairs with McCain. (There are at least three of them; I know the name of one but I'm not going to put it in writing.)

Maybe McCain will try to fight back by confirming Hillary's well-known bisexuality and her lesbian affair with her beautiful assistant, Huma Abedin. Google "Hillary" and "Huma Abedin" and you'll get almost 6,000 hits. Turns out Huma is a Moslem who grew up in Saudi Arabia and is strongly suspected of working for Saudi intelligence.

Or maybe he'll capitulate to Clinton blackmail. You never can tell what a psychologically unstable guy will do.

And that last point is why - be prepared for this, folks - I would not in any circumstances vote for John McCain, not if either Hillary or Obama were the alternative. Evil is safer than crazy. Leftie amateur inexperience is safer than crazy. So I agree with Ann Coulter who says:

"I'd rather deal with President Hillary than with President McCain. With Hillary, we'll get the same ruinous liberal policies with none of the responsibility."

How in the world can the Republican Party get saddled with a nutcase whack-job who knows nothing about economics, is so anti-capitalist he uses "profit" as a term of derision, has never run a business or had any job outside of government, will raise taxes, is so stupid that he believes "stopping global warming" is worth destroying the American economy, won't drill ANWR, won't appoint strict constructionist justices, won't protect marriage, will give amnesty to 20 million illegal aliens, is beloved by the New York Times, and lives in a delusionary world of vanity and rage?

Rush is right. A McCain presidency will be the destruction of the Republican Party. It needs to be rebuilt, not wiped out with the field clear for the fascists of the left to consolidate power and eliminate freedom.

And maybe the only way to rebuild it is in dedicated impassioned opposition to a Clinton White House. That should be the subject of Ann Coulter's next book. I've already got the title for her. Her last book was If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans.

Ann needs to now write this book: If Republicans Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans.

[A Yogi Berra note. There still is a chance for Romney, the last remaining hope. If he can win enough delegates on Super Tuesday next week, combined with Huckabee winning Georgia and other southern states, it may still be possible for McCain to end up with only a plurality of delegates, not a majority, at the end of primary season. An open convention is still possible, during which Republicans could come to their senses. It's not over until it's over.]

It's not too late to nominate the man who has fine family values and business experience, Mitt Romney!