To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth  II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.  A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.'  Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters,  and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.'  Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels.  (look up 'vocabulary').

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

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S . English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.  The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of  '-ize.'

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

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists.  The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent.  Guns should only be used for shooting grouse.  If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

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

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler.  Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect.  At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.   Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon.  Get used to it.

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

8. You will learn to make real chips.  Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps.  Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all.  Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of  known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager.  South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer.  They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.  American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys.  Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters.  Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed  with a cheese grater.

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

11. You will cease playing American football.  There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer.  Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). 

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12. Further, you will stop playing baseball.  It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America.  Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.  You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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13. You must tell us who killed JFK.  It's been driving us mad.

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14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream)  when in season.

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God Save the Queen!

 

So here is a truly radical idea, 'presented for your consideration...'

Who is this guy, I like how he thinks outside of the box.

 

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan 

 

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to  America in a 'We Deserve It Dividend'.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bon-a-fide  U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+  into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a 'We Deserve It Dividend'.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.  So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.  That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.  A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car - create jobs

Invest in the market - capital drives growth

Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+  including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ('vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG -

liquidate it.

Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.

Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

 

Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

 

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion 'We Deserve It Dividend' more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in  Washington  DC .

 

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

 

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

 

Kindest personal regards,

Birk

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

  PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!

In preparation for her debate with Sen. Joe Biden next week, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin met with seasoned statesman and Nobel Peace Prize–winner Henry Kissinger yesterday to take advantage of his extensive foreign policy knowledge and expertise in carpet-bombing innocent civilians in nations with which the U.S. is not officially at war.

"Dr. Kissinger has given Gov. Palin thorough instructions for launching deadly covert military operations in tiny Southeast Asian countries in blatant disregard for human life and international law," said McCain campaign spokesperson Tracey Schmitt of Palin's brief consultation with the Nixon and Ford administrations' former secretary of state and national security adviser. "In addition, the governor now feels completely confident that, if she is ever required to step in for Sen. McCain to mastermind the toppling of a democratically elected but left-leaning South American government without congressional consent, she will be fully prepared."

Sources close to the campaign said that Palin's meeting with Vice President Cheney about how to claim executive supremacy for the purpose of bypassing constitutional limits on torture has been canceled since advisers feel she already has enough personal experience with the subject.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/kissinger_instructs_palin

It's been 8 years since my departure from Aqualung USA where I was Sales Manager for the Aquasphere Division, and today, I received this note:

I recall enjoying our relationship with Aqualung most during your time there - I think your name is the only one I can recall off the top of my head for Aqualung . It was a very exciting time, with the introduction of the new swimming goggles. I think we just "ran" with the odd goggles that the customers gradually warmed-up to and eventually became our best selling line.
Jon Nahm, President/Triathlete Zombies

Of all my achievements, what I am the most proud of are the business relationships I have built, the relationships that withstood the test of time, the  customer, the colleague, the supplier who remember me after in this case 8 years.  These achievements are truly priceless.

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 the
Government.

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 that and 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
check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So
the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep.
Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door
locked, 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 Class
while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and
the Future is in deep sh*t."

If you've traveled lately, you know the sensation of being nickel-and-dimed. Faced with skyrocketing operations costs, the hospitality and airline industries are struggling to squeeze every last cent out of their customers. You've certainly experienced it at the airport, where redeeming frequent flyer miles, changing your ticket and even checking your luggage are now transactions that incur additional fees.

This a la carte onslaught continues when you arrive at some hotels, a place where hospitality is being quickly replaced by obsessive bean counting. If you're not careful, you may not even realize you've been slapped with one or more fees until it's too late. As you dash through the hotel lobby on your way to check-out, all you’re thinking about is the taxi and your boarding pass. The clerk prints out your bill, you shove it into your bag, sign the credit card slip—and you’re on your way. You may never even look at the bill, and that's precisely what the hotel is counting on.

Ten years ago, this article would have been titled “the most annoying hidden hotel telephone fees,” but with cell phones now ubiquitous among travelers, hotels must find creative new ways to perk up their bottom lines. Brace yourself for the towel fee and the groundskeeping fee, and beware the magic minibar trap. PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that hotels charged nearly $2 billion in hidden fees and surcharges in 2007, up from $1.6 billion in 2006 and $550 million just five years ago. As one chastened former hotel manager revealed, “These fees are added to increase the bottom line, plain and simple. Hotels care about their guests, but they also care a great deal about revenues.”

As travel guru and Forbes Traveler contributor Peter Greenberg says, "In many cases, this short-term-profit mentality is forcing hoteliers out of the hospitality business and into supervising what revenue managers define as an underperforming asset. In the short term, they drive revenue. In the long term, they drive us away.”

Greenberg himself has been subjected to a $9.95 hospitality fee, a $13 resort fee and a $10 mandatory bellman fee in his travels. You may also run into mandatory valet parking fees, Ethernet cable fees and a fee for the in-room safe—even if you don’t use it. And you know that “free” breakfast buffet? Watch out when the waiter comes around with a pitcher of orange juice, which may not be as freshly squeezed as you could be: Beverages may be extra.

“Resorts tend to include energy surcharges, resort fees and workout room fees on guest bills even if the services aren’t used,” said the hotel manager. “It's not fair, and if they’re disclosed, it’s usually written in fine print on the reservation confirmation, which no one ever reads.”

These days, lawyers are looking at that fine print. In Maulding v. Hilton Hotels, Hilton was forced to settle a class-action suit relating to hidden resort fees at 11 of its resort properties. Wyndham Hotels paid $2.3 million to settle with the state of Florida in 2006 after a five-year investigation showed that it had not adequately disclosed hidden fees. Today, Wyndham discloses all fees nationwide and requires online resellers do the same. Still pending is a lawsuit by James Shulevitz against Arizona’s Phoenician resort. Shulevitz was forced to pay undisclosed housekeeper and bellman gratuities that, the hotel claims, were appropriate to the guest's group rate.

Scott Booker, chief hotel expert at Hotels.com, says that hotels are getting better at disclosing fees upfront. He credits the internet, where disgruntled travelers are sharing their stories. “If people are unhappy," he says, "they won’t want to return, and they’ll talk about it.” Third-party sites, such as Hotels.com, sometimes do a better job of outlining unexpected fees. “Our hotel inspectors keep track of all the fees and write about them in our hotel descriptions,” says Booker. Some resorts now roll up their hidden fees into a single "resort fee." At the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, for example, the $25 resort fee includes 14 very specific services, including internet access, newspapers, pool and beach towels and fitness classes. If more hotels follow this example, maybe they can undo the damage and ill will of recent years.

How can you avoid being gouged? Here are a few tips:

1. Check third-party reservation sites for fee information, even if you eventually book through a hotel’s own Web site. The third parties are more likely to come up with accurate “total costs.” When a hotel’s reservation page says something like “additional fees imposed by the hotel may apply in addition to those shown above,” be very wary.

2. Try haggling upon check in. If you think you’re going to get hit with hidden fees, try grouping, say, all your telecom fees or fitness needs into a single rate. If you’re a repeat visitor or a business traveler, you stand a good chance of success.

3. Keep asking questions about fees during your stay. Ask at the buffet. Ask at the entrance to the gym. Ask before the pool boy gives you an extra towel. Ask before you use the safe or borrow a phone recharger.

4. Leave enough time to review your bill when you’re checking out. You’ll need a few minutes if you want to dispute anything. Hotel.com’s Booker says to avoid confrontation and try for a sympathetic reaction by playing dumb instead. “Keep saying that you’re having trouble understanding. Ask if a manager can explain what the fees mean.”

5. Don’t forget about taxes. New York City has an 8.25 percent sales tax plus a whopping 13.5 percent hotel tax. In San Francisco it’s 14 percent; in Phoenix, 12 percent. There’s no way to avoid it; you’re going to pay more than you anticipated even if you do a good job of avoiding hidden fees.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26761129/

 

Your office or bedroom holds telltale signs of whether you are a conservative or a liberal, finds a new study. While political conservatives tend to keep a tidy, organized office, political liberals favor colorful, more stylish but cluttered spaces.

A person may hide their political ideology from others, including from pollsters, but the researchers were delighted to learn that a peek into subjects' living quarters or even workspaces could give that away.

Conservatives and liberals leave behind distinct "behavioral residue" that can be picked up by savvy scientists and possibly other observers, according to the study by New York University psychologist John Jost and his colleagues. The results are set for publication in a forthcoming issue of the journal Political Psychology.

Office snoops

The researchers took inventory of five office locations - a commercial real estate agency, an advertising agency, a business school, an architectural firm and a retail bank - all in a large U.S. city. They had observers check out the workspaces of 94 male and female employees. The subjects' average age was 37. The snoopers had no idea of the workers' political orientation.

Political orientation was measured with survey questions.

Liberals' offices were judged as significantly more distinctive, comfortable, stylish, modern, and colorful and as less conventional and ordinary, in comparison with conservatives' offices, Jost said.

The researchers also sent snoopers into the living spaces of 76 undergraduates at the University of California, Berkeley, arriving at similar results.

"Conservative rooms tended to be cleaner, more brightly lit, better organized, less cluttered, and also more conventional and ordinary in terms of decoration," Jost said during a panel discussion on "The Neuroscience of Elections and Human Decision-Making" at NYU, adding: "Conservatives' rooms were rated by independent raters as better organized and tidier in general."

Specifically, individuals who reported a more conservative ideology also had bedrooms that contained more organizational and cleaning supplies, including calendars, postage stamps, ironing boards and laundry baskets.

Liberals' rooms on the other hand were marked by more clutter, including more CDs, a greater variety of CDs, a greater variety of books and more color in the room in general.

Political personalities

The findings agreed with a link found by Jost's team between two personality traits and political ideology. In personality tests of thousands of college students, Jost found that liberals tended to score higher than conservatives on one key measure called openness to experiences, which includes holding wide interests, and being imaginative and insightful.

Conservatives showed higher scores for conscientiousness, which measures a person's need for order, discipline, achievement striving and rule following.

"I think it's a truly fascinating possibility that the left-right distinction, which emerged over 200 years ago in response to the French Revolution and continues to be the single best way of understanding ideological differences today, may be rooted in fundamental human needs for stability vs. change, order vs. complexity, familiarity vs. novelty, conformity vs. creativity, and loyalty vs. rebellion," Jost told LiveScience.

(The terms of left-right political leanings was originally based on the seating arrangement of those in the French parliament during the time of the French Revolution.)

He added, "It may be that conflicting tendencies in human nature play themselves out in the political sphere as the struggle between right and left."

But for a self-proclaimed conservative or liberal whose office conditions do not match these findings, say a conservative living in a cluttered room, Jost said, that's to be expected.

"What we have observed are just differences on average between liberals and conservatives, and the variability around these averages is considerable," he said, giving the example that while on average men are taller than women, plenty of tall women and short men are walking around.

He added, "But I do wonder whether conservatives with messy rooms feel worse about the mess than do liberals with messy rooms, again, on average. For conservatives, it may be more likely that they are failing to live up to their own norms with regard to conscientiousness."

Humans: The Strangest Species 10 Things You Didn't Know About You 5 Ways to Survive Political Discussions at Work Original Story: Conservative or Liberal? Workspace Reveals All LiveScience.com chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology. We take on the misconceptions that often pop up around scientific discoveries and deliver short, provocative explanations with a certain wit and style. Check out our science videos, Trivia & Quizzes and Top 10s. Join our community to debate hot-button issues like stem cells, climate change and evolution. You can also sign up for free newsletters, register for RSS feeds and get cool gadgets at the LiveScience Store.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080925/sc_livescience/conservativeorliberalworkspacerevealsall

Secretary of the Navy, Dr. Donald C. Winter, announced the naming of the seventh Military Sealift Command ships of the Lewis and Clark-class Auxiliary Dry Cargo ships (T-AKE) as Carl Brashear.

The selection of Carl Brashear, designated T-AKE 7, honors Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (Master Diver) Carl M. Brashear, who joined the United States Navy in 1948. He was a pioneer in the Navy as the first black deep-sea diver, the first black Master Diver and the first U.S. Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation. After 31 years of service, Brashear officially retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979. Brashear was the subject of the 2000 movie "Men of Honor" starring Cuba Gooding Jr. The ship's design is 689 feet in length, has an overall beam of 106 feet, a navigational draft of 30 feet, and displaces approximately 42,000 tons. Powered by a single-shaft diesel-electric propulsion system, the ship can reach a speed of 20 knots. As part of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, the ship will be designated USNS. The term stands for United States Naval Ship. Unlike their United States Ship (USS) counterparts, USNS vessels are manned primarily by civil service and civilian mariners working for the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command

If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it, Master Chief Carl Brashear is a living example of living your dreams and never gave up, in spite of all the attempts to force him out of the Navy Diving program, he was the first black to become Navy Diver and to become Master Chief.  He did not even give up when his leg had to be amputated.  His courage, his perseverance, his tenacity allowed him to go back to diving duty, the first amputee to do so.

He could be the poster boy to illustrate the concept that if you want something bad enough, everything is possible.

Carl Brashear left us July 25 2006 but his legacy still lives on

http://www.carlbrashear.org/memorial.html
http://www.blackmilitaryworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68
http://www.carlbrashear.org/index.html

Sign our letter to the Fisheries Service. Urge the Service to stand up to overfishing and issue strong guidelines to save and protect our nation's fisheries.

In too many of our nation’s fisheries - like Atlantic cod in New England and grouper in the Gulf of Mexico - we’re taking fish out of the ocean faster than they replace themselves. This practice - called “overfishing” - jeopardizes the health of our ocean and threatens fisheries and seafood resources across the nation. Right now, the federal agency that manages our fisheries is crafting guidelines that could tackle this persistent problem and create abundant fisheries.

Sign our letter to the Fisheries Service. Urge them to stand up to overfishing and issue strong guidelines to save and protect our nation’s fisheries!

Tell the Fisheries Service to issue guidelines that:

• Require science-based catch limits for all fisheries
• Hold managers and fishermen accountable when limits are exceeded
• Err on the side of caution when information is uncertain.

Ending overfishing will not only help improve the health of our oceans but also ensure sustainable catches and fishing opportunities for generations to come. Sign our letter to the Fisheries Service now.

For more information on overfishing and these guidelines visit our website.

Let’s start a sea change!

Sincerely,

Chris Dorsett
Vice President for Fishery Conservation and Management
Ocean Conservancy

Not!!!  This is another one of these "do not want to go away" Urban Myth. 

Contrary to all the emails circulating, cell phones numbers will not be made public and are still off limit to telemarketers.  The whole story comes out of a misinterpretation of a directory of cell phones numbers wireless companies wanted to compile.  The reason was simple, more and more people get rid of their land line and switch to wireless numbers.  this directory was to be made available to 411 companies (companies you call to find out someone's phone number).  This directoty however is OPT IN ONLY, meaning that if you do not tell them to include your cell phone number, your number will not be included. 

Since then, there have been wild rumors and deadlines spreading around the internet.  Why people do not do their own research, I don't know, sometimes it's easier to believe what you hear or read on emails than actually do your own homework.  Personally, I do not like to spread rumors around and I systematically check the rumors before forwarding information or disinformation

So, here it goes, here is the link to the FTC website with the real information

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dnc.shtm

Cell phone numbers going public tomorrow!!
REMINDER....all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing
companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.
....YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:
888-382-1222.
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your
time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell
phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different
phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
It take about 20 seconds.

Since early 2005, land records containing the Social Security numbers of thousands of Iowans have been posted and made publicly accessible on a Web site maintained by the Iowa County Recorders Association. That practice, which came to light this week, is similar to what has been done on many other county government Web sites that provide online access to public records such as property, tax and court documents.

The online records, which often are easily accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, may also contain other types of personal data, including birth dates and bank account, credit card and driver's license numbers. Privacy advocates have warned that the presence of such information on government Web sites has made them an online treasure trove for identity thieves and other fraudsters.

What do you need to know about all this? Read on for more information about what's being posted online and what you might be able to do about it.

What kind of public records are showing up on government Web sites? The list of documents you can find online includes property and tax records -- for example, filings related to mortgages and liens. Also on that list are motor vehicle documents; divorce, family and juvenile court records, as well as filings about consent decrees; wills and probate records; and documents relating to military discharges. Typically, such documents are maintained by county clerks or recorders.

And do all of those documents contain Social Security numbers? No. Only a small fraction of the millions of public records maintained by county and state governments are believed to include SSNs. And most public records filed over the past few years don't list them, thanks to state laws prohibiting the practice. But many older records do, especially documents that were filed prior to the mid-1990s. As a result, an individual Web site still might harbor tens or even hundreds of thousands of documents containing personal data.

What other personal info can someone find online? Depending on the type of document it is, it can also include birth dates, addresses, bank account data, information about debts, driver's license and vehicle registration numbers, the height and race of individuals, the names and birth dates of minor children, child custody details and even medical records.

So who can see these records? By definition, public records are open to anybody. In the pre-Internet past, people typically had to county offices to view them. Now, though, county and state governments are posting documents online in order to broaden access and make it easier to retrieve the information. In doing so, they have removed much of the "practical obscurity" that previously shrouded public records. Some governments charge for online access to documents, and others require users to register -- but many simply allow unfettered access to everything on their sites.

Wait a minute. Does that mean my neighbor can snoop on me? Probably. And not just your neighbor, but a cybercrook in some far-away country as well. To help them in their snooping, most county Web sites offer user-friendly interfaces and drop-down menus that let people search for public records by last name, document type, date range and so on. On the plus side, some sites restrict searches to an index of documents. But others allow users to search the images of actual records.

What's being done about this? Privacy advocates such as Betty "BJ" Ostergren, who runs a Web site called The Virginia Watchdog, have been calling attention to the issue for the past few years. And their campaign has had an impact. Dozens of county governments around the U.S. have redacted Social Security numbers and some other types of personal data from online images of public records, or are working to do so. States such as Florida and California have enacted laws mandating such redactions. However, the redaction efforts only involve truly sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and credit card or bank account data. Other types of information remain part of the public record.

How can I tell if my Social Security number is on a public record that's accessible online? Check the Web site of your county recorder or county clerk to see if public records are posted online and whether there is just an index of documents or full document images. If public records are available in image form, you can usually search for ones that mention you by choosing the type of documents you want to look for and entering your name and or address.

I just found a public record that does contain my Social Security number. What can I do now? Many counties redact personal data from public records upon request, if you can point them to the document containing the offending information. But others say that they're prohibited by state laws from altering public records in any way, and thus may refuse to redact information. In such cases, there's little that can be done, other than trying to put pressure on local and state officials to change laws regarding the inclusion of personal data in online records. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150762/article.html?tk=nl_spxnws

Debt-strapped consumers vent their frustration with banks as they root for new rules to rein in card rates and fees

David Giantomasi says he vigilantly paid his credit-card bills each month. Even if he could only make the minimum payment, he made sure to get all his monthly payments squared away. So he was shocked when the interest rate on his Chase credit card suddenly jumped to 19.99% from 7.99%. When Giantomasi called the card issuer to demand an explanation, he was enraged. He was told that overall turmoil in the credit markets meant higher rates for a number of customers.

Chase won't comment on individual cardholder accounts. "I felt completely helpless," Giantomasi recalls. "These credit-card companies are beyond the law and should be more tightly regulated."

Giantomasi isn't alone in his desire to see the credit-card industry reined in. Lured by bank come-ons that sold a debt-fueled lifestyle of lavish vacations, sumptuous restaurant meals, and carefree shopping sprees, consumers piled up unprecedented debt during the credit boom: Consumer credit-card debt has skyrocketed to almost $1 trillion, double what it was in 1996. Unpaid credit-card debt is on the rise, too, up 22% in June from a year earlier, according to reports by the major credit-card issuers, American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Capital One Financial (COF), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Discover (DFS). But when the housing bubble popped and the economy slammed on its brakes, suddenly many free-spending consumers were left holding the bag.

Now those same cardholders are rushing in to support rule changes proposed by the Federal Reserve Board back in May, to limit unfair or deceptive credit-card practices.

New Rules on Rates

The proposed rules, which could be implemented as early as yearend, would represent the first time in over 20 years that a government agency has recommended banning certain credit-card industry practices. Regulation has been left largely to the card issuers, and the Fed and other banking regulators tended to stick to forcing card companies to disclose terms and conditions clearly to customers.

Under the proposed rules, though, banks would no longer be able to hike up interest rates on existing debt, as Giantomasi experienced. Card companies would have to split required monthly payments evenly between the high- and low-rate balances on a card. (Currently, card companies allocate payments to the lowest interest-rate balance first, which leaves a lot of cardholders unable to make a dent in balances at higher interest rates. That's a recipe for rapidly accruing interest and a feeling of helplessness about managing debt, say cardholders.) And consumers would get a longer grace period before they're slammed with penalty fees.

Many consumers say it's about time. The rules were proposed just as the U.S. economy started to tank, when many card holders were falling further behind on their payments at the same time home equity lines of credit were drying up and jobs were disappearing. Regulatory agencies came under fire to act, and Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) held hearings this spring to examine card company billing practices.

The proposed regulations generated more than 56,000 comments from individuals, banks, credit unions, and industry associations. That's a record number of submissions, says the Fed, beating the previous record of 45,000 submissions for a proposal that would have let financial firms assume the role of real estate brokers.

Venting Rage

"Something needs to be changed to keep credit-card companies from taking advantage of people," consumer Paul Wolcott posted to the Fed comment board. Another cardholder, Cleve Prince, wrote that his credit-card debt drove him to the brink: "Credit-card companies had increased my interest rates on each one of my cards so that my only recourse was to file for bankruptcy."

Consumer advocacy organizations encouraged their members to use the public comment period as a forum to air their grievances and push for change. Consumers Union, a nonprofit consumer-rights organization, encouraged its members to write in. The group set a goal of generating 10,000 comments. "Look how many people agree," says Mark Hickney, a small business owner from Dallas.

Of course, not everyone agrees. The five largest credit-card issuing banks say that as much as consumer may enjoy lashing out, they're likely to regret the end result of the rule changes. The new regulations will curtail their ability to "price for risk," the banks say: By being able to change the rates they charge cardholders based on payment history, outstanding debt, and credit score, banks can price in the risk that each individual consumer won't be able to pay off his debt. The alternative is to cut back on low-interest offers for all cardholders, the banks say.

Banks Call Rules Misguided

"We have very real concerns that the proposal will result in higher costs for cardholders across the board," says Peter Garuccio, a spokesman for the American Bankers Assn. (ABA). If the Fed rules rob them of the right to price for risk, all consumers will suffer with higher rates overall and worse teaser rates.

In a response posted to the Fed's Web site, Bank of America, the nation's largest credit-card issuing company, summarized the industry's attitude toward the new rules: "We believe the practices the agencies are mandating are far from ideal, from the perspective of consumers, banks, and the financial system as a whole." Bank representatives held a series of private meetings with the Fed and the ABA. According to notes from the meeting on the Fed site, industry officials reiterated that risk-based pricing actually keeps rates down overall for the majority of consumers.

Consumer groups counter that the rule changes are fairly minor compared with the reforms they would like to see.

Once the 75-day comment period ends, the Fed will decide what rules to approve. Sandra F. Braunstein, who heads the Fed's consumer and community affairs division, told congressional lawmakers in April that she thought the proposal would be hammered out and finalized by the end of the year. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2008/db20080826_832238.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

Report casts new light on reliability woes

Has your Xbox 360 ever failed unexpectedly? If it has, you're in good company -- in February, warranty company SquareTrade pegged the console's failure rate at a shocking 16%. But a stunning new expose claims that Microsoft knew over two-thirds of the consoles produced by its contracted factories in the run-up to the Xbox 360's November 2005 launch date were faulty, and opted to push the machine out to consumers in spite of its problems.

The report, published this week in VentureBeat and written by technology journalist Dean Takahashi -- author of the critically acclaimed The Xbox 360 Uncloaked -- blames numerous factors for the now-infamous "Red Ring of Death" failures, including a rushed design process, the machine's groundbreaking complexity, and cost-cutting initiatives that hamstrung quality assurance tests.

As one anonymous source told Takahashi, "There were so many problems, you didn't know what was wrong. The [test engineers] didn't have enough time to get up and running." Even though Microsoft eventually extended the Xbox 360's warranty program in an effort to reassure consumers, incurring an estimated $1 billion bill in the process, public confidence in the Xbox 360 was harmed immeasurably. Many online reports indicated purchasers had to go through four or more replacement machines before receiving one that worked, and Microsoft amassed a "bone yard" of 500,000 broken consoles in the process, Takahashi claims.

  

Says McCain fans will hate it

Controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore will be releasing his newest film exclusively online beginning September 23.

The documentary "Slacker Uprising" follows Moore's 62-city tour of the swing states during the 2004 Presidential election as he rallies young voters to show up at the polls.

The 97-minute film will be available in high-resolution, free download in North America. Those who are interested in watching the film can visit the Web site SlackerUprising.com to sign up for the download in advance of its September 23 online release.

Moore said he is doing the online giveaway for personal reasons. "I realized that in a few months it will be the 20th anniversary of my first film, 'Roger & Me'," he said.

"I've been very blessed and fortunate to have so many people come to my movies over these two decades, I decided the way to say thanks was to make one that the fans can have for free, as a show of my profound appreciation of their support."

The download is being distributed by Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films and it is being offered by BlipTV.

Moore says none of the parties involved will make any money from the film, which had a budget of just over $2 million. "This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans," said Moore. "The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November."

The download will be available for three weeks and will be released on DVD on October 7.

The film features appearances or performances by Eddie Vedder, Roseanne Barr, Joan Baez, Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine), REM, Steve Earle, and Viggo Mortensen.

"In the interest of fair warning, people who are not fans of mine will not like this movie," Moore states cautiously.

"This movie has way too much of me in it, and way too many tens of thousands of people liking what I'm saying. If you're a McCain fan, this film should probably be rated X." http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/09/05/moore-to-release-election-film-online-for-free

Microsoft attempt at trying trying to outdo and counter Apple's ads criticizing Windows Vista is as lame as Windows Vista itself.  Microsoft must be desperate, the net is full of comments on bulletin boards criticizing Vista and describing Vista as the worst piece of junk Microsoft put out since Windows ME (my opinion). 
This time however, Microsoft is not giving up, despite the petitions and widespread criticisms, the lack of adoption by corporations and the demands from educated consumers for PCs with XP instead of Vista and those who would rather downgrade than keep using Vista (my case too). 
Microsoft has a lot riding on Vista financially, since with Vista you will have to upgrade most of your Microsoft applications, a huge opportunity for Microsoft to boost sale of its other software like the Office suite. 
In addition, Photoshop and other Adobe graphic software users have to upgrade to CS3 since even CS2 is not compatible.  All in all, a great opportunity for software manufacturers to force users to upgrade.

  

Never mind creating a password with at least eight characters, two of which are numbers, one of which is a capital letter, and one of which is a symbol like (*&^%$). The easiest way for a hacker to weasel into your account is likely the "Forgot your password?" link.

"Forgot your password?" features are older than the Internet, providing businesses and site owners a simple way to let a user reset a forgotten password, provided he can verify his credentials by asking a few personal questions that only the rightful user should know.

For years the archetypical question was, of course, the "Mother's maiden name" challenge. In recent years, additional challenges have emerged, such as asking the street you grew up on, your favorite pet, and grandparents' first names.

Is all of this stuff really secure? More than one researcher is sounding the alarm over these tools, noting that while this data may have been private a decade ago, in an era of personal blogs, online resumes, and rampant social networking services, "personal" information drawn from your past is now widely available for public consumption. According to a researcher at PARC, you can even buy black market directories of personal information "like dog's names," for about $15 per batch. It's certainly a lot easier than guessing passwords like AHFplug41*.

Think this doesn't happen? There aren't any statistics available, but these hacks are widely suspected in myriad cases where accounts have been compromised. (Even Paris Hilton is said to have fallen prey to the "what is your dog's name?" password reset hack. It doesn't help to have one of the most infamous dogs in America...) But if you need more proof, check out this "how I did it" step by step guide to hacking a password from one writer at Scientific American. In about an hour, it seems, our researcher managed to compromise one (willing) victim's life entirely through password reset links.

MSNBC has an exhaustive amount of additional information on the issue, but the takeaway is clear: If you provide information for password reset systems, don't use data (like other people's names and addresses) that can be easily discovered or guessed. Better yet, consider creating a second tier of passwords you use for questions like these, and keep them written down and locked in a safe if you must. In other words: Your mother's maiden name may really be Jones, but that you can't pretend it wasn't Mxlpxlxl!7631 http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/104079