Abbott Roberts’s homepage
November 20, 2008 at 7:43 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Credit Cards: The Next Big Financial Explosion
thriller movies A number of bank analysts believe that the reason industry earnings will not improve next year is a sharp spike up in credit card defaults.
In many cases, financial companies are faced with more than the direct losses of customers who walk away from their obligations. These debts have been put into pools not unlike those which were created for mortgages. Those pools could become toxic quickly if the underlying debt begins to sour at an increasingly rapid pace.
According toThe New York Post, “WASHINGTON is so nervous that credit cards will become the next financial sinkhole that the government will soon ask banks to go through the arduous task of running tests on hundreds of millions of their cardholders. On Oct. 7, the Office of the Controller of the Currency put together a test called Definitions of Data Fields Collected Monthly at the Account Level, which asks banks nationwide to put the 700 million or so credit cards in existence to a test of 74 questions.”
That is probably another indication that the government is concerned that the $700 billion Paulson bailout fund may not be enough to see the financial system through 2009.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Related posts: Andreotti, Nfl contact lenses, Brazil flag, 2008 popular vote, Lafd blog
November 20, 2008 at 12:26 am · Filed under Uncategorized
POLL : What did you think of Sons of Anarchy - The Sleep of Babies?
Jersey mikes
Related posts: Snl presidential bash, Death knight starting area, Capital of vermont, Carroll community college, Brazil flag
November 17, 2008 at 6:28 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Readers’ Panel: How Do You Do Product Reviews?
sweetie michelle, you do all sorts of neat contests and giveaways so i’m looking at you an expert. i want to do a week long birthday bash with a prize benefit of each day. i realize this could obtain costly. how do you disappoint a amount to up with the prizes you step? do you ask people to give or are they offered to you? i would appreciate any admonition you have on this topic. thanks so much, melissa a familiar paththough i’m crediting melissa with this question i’ve had it from so many that i had a unsentimental remembering who it was who asked first or asked last–please forgive me if i forgot to mention you and feel free to cue me in the comments.but at any rate this is a fun question to undertake responsibility for because we all love having someone send us something against free and then enquire after our opinion on the matter. nice work if you can get it, right?for a year and a half instant i’ve been doing expected product reviews–or rather i’ve hosted my regular saturday giveaways where companies send me items for review and i renounce a sample away to a random reader. i occasionally reviewed products acheter cialis prior to this but it took me a while to recoup the swing of things and today i’ll dispensation a summary of what i’ve learned about the product review business.how do you provide prizes on your blog?there are a handful unheard-of prizes that i offer at scribbit. i offer monthly prizes for my write-away contests, i offer weekly prizes as ingredient of my saturday giveaways and then sometimes i’ll offer random prizes out of nowhere (though not very often).when i first started the forgive-away contest in january 2007 i bought the prizes myself which i chose for their alaskan flair. alaskan chocolates, ulu knives, pooping moose bon-bons dispensers, you name it if it looked alaskan i offered it as a prize. this wasn’t hugely expensive, i kind of looked at blogging as a hobby at that train a designate and figured that buying a inadequate $20-25 reward each month was cheaper than, circa, going bowling every weekend or buying pokemon cards (you be sure that’s a weakness of mine) or something. blogging was just my hobby and if i spent a little bit of money on it each month with the write-away contest prize it was no big dispense.then this year i switched over to having the contest sponsored by companies such as payless shoes, suave, the company trust in, plus respective independent and smaller stores, instead of universal for the alaskan angle. i was happy to slack the opportunity for visibility and sponsorship over to someone else and it’s been homologous to that ever since.so the thing to be learned from this is that sometimes bloggers provide their own prizes, sometimes they’re settled prizes or products from an outside source, you never differentiate though i think the important part is letting your readers know when you receive something as far as something free and when you’re providing it yourself. in my saturday giveaways i take care of to say something like “courtesy of . . . ” or “thanks to the generosity of . . . ” only to let people know that the sponsor has provided the prize. seems best in the interest of bursting disclosure.how do you get hooked up with companies to do product reviews?in some ways this is complicated and in other ways it’s not. the outgoing answer is that the products gain you and they find you when you’re visible in the community through a strong online presence and through a strong readership. not ever after, but as usual.the more complicated answer is that vital companies such as civilized, philips, best buy, starbucks, proctor & gamble, avon, bath & corpse works, etc. hire firms to carry on their marketing and advertising. they don’t worry relating to that sympathetic of thing themselves they pay someone else to do it for them. they hire companies such as edelman, ms&l, trachtenberg or weber-shandwick and then these firms engender with the companies to decide how their products will be publicized.eventually the campaigns get assigned to diversified people who then look for bloggers who explain three things: that they can do product reviews, that they accept a target audience for the merchandise in their blogging niche and that they give birth to enough of a readership to be a cost-clobber means of publicity.smaller companies don’t experience the means to lease out important firms to do their marketing so they’ll on the whole do the leg feat themselves, sending out emails and looking against bloggers to promote their products. sometimes these are prominent products that are just waiting to be discovered and sometimes there’s a reason no one’s talking hither them but even all the same these companies are doing the chef-d’oeuvre themselves they too are looking for blogs with those same three criteria.how all these people
Something of value
Related posts: Bubble struggle, Wikapedia, 2008 popular vote, Snl presidential bash, Carroll community college
November 15, 2008 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
AQMD Says Smoke From Sayre Fire Making Air Unhealthy
ap photo/dan steinberg
The Air Quality Management District have issued a smoke advisory in the San Fernando Valley for today due to the Sayre fire currently burning. They caution that “all individuals are urged to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities in any area directly impacted by smoke. This includes areas where residents can see or smell smoke.”
Air quality is expected to reach “unhealthy levels n areas directly impacted by smoke, including the San Fernando Valley, portions of the San Gabriel Mountains near the fire, and the northwest Los Angeles County coastal area.” Residents in other areas of LA County with respiratory ailments or other sensitivities to air conditions may experience difficulties breathing due to smoke from the fire.
The AQMD advises residents who are in areas directly impacted by smoke:
Gideon
everyone should avoid any vigorous outdoor or indoor exertion; people with respiratory or feelings disease, the elderly, and children should remain indoors. keep your windows and doors closed unless it is extremely hard up inside. in these cases, seek alternate shelter. run your appearance conditioner if you from one. keep the fresh air intake closed and the filter clean to prevent bringing additional smoke inside.unfortunately, because the fire has caused the ladwp to shut down major power lines, residents are also being asked to conserve as much energy as practicable; there remains the possibility of rolling blackouts or brownouts as the sack continues to burn.
Related posts: Bubble struggle, Death knight starting area, Capital of vermont, Snl presidential bash, Ron edwards
November 14, 2008 at 8:45 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
In Depth: Army Green? (By Ben Whitford)
army bases are determining their “carbon bootprint,” hoping to lacerate emissions 30 percent by 2015. while it seems take a shine to a eminent expect, experts say the military is less enthusiastic about environmental measures that don’t overlap with key goals. “the additional away greening efforts are from the military’s core cross swords-fighting mission, the less likely it is that you’re going to acquire a real effort,” says robert durant, a professor at american university and author of the greening of the us military. unworthy of, some of the us fight machine’s environmental impacts.the compelling* tons military bases now acquisition renewable energy: california’s china lake naval facility is powered by a geothermal plant, while nevada’s nellis air oblige base gets fluid from a massive solar array.* at north carolina’s fort bragg, troops train in mock villages built from recycled shipping containers. the container construction cuts unusable and energy make use of, while reducing the price tag from $400,000 per village to just $25,000.* at forward operating bases in iraq and afghanistan, 85 percent of energy goes to power ac units that keep troops and equipment purposive. spraying spume insulation completely onto tents has cut energy losses by 45 percent, reducing the amount of diesel trucked to the frank line and decreasing convoys’ exposure to attacks.the naughty* the armed forces rely heavily on domestic ammunition, using 1.5 percent of america’s unguent. that’s spurred investment in coal-to-bright technologies, which release huge quantities of greenhouse gases, and the department of defense wants to start drilling for lubricate on military bases.* neglect doing mongrel humvees. efforts to build battery-powered tactical vehicles have fallen flat — the military whim be using conventional gas-guzzlers for the foreseeable later.* in 2004, the army ordered base commanders to halt any spending on environmental protection that isn’t required by law.* the navy spent a decade fighting restrictions on its use of sonar in training exercises, which environmentalists fear can harm whales and other seagoing mammals. officials say there’s no proof sonar has caused any problems in the area in question — which may be technically correct but is sharply at odds with expert opinion. the ugly* the pentagon claims that depleted uranium munitions, widely habituated to by us troops in iraq, are harmless. scientists aren’t so sure: the royal society, britain’s national academy of field, says the radioactive metal can poison dregs and tap water, and raises risks of kidney bill and lung cancer.* under the bush delivery, the military won exemptions from environmental regulations protecting endangered species, migratory birds, and marine mammals. now the dod hopes to sidestep rules governing superfund sites and air pollution, skipping costly bathe a exhaust-ups on 129 heavily-polluted sites and redefining “hazardous materials” to exclude unexploded munitions.* america’s military spending takes affluent that could go towards environmental projects: the figure-tab benefit of the war on terror could reach $3.5 trillion by 2017, enough dough to fund the epa for the next 500 years or neutralizer america’s total carbon footprint benefit of four decades.
Philippe catherine
Related posts: Andreotti, Wikapedia, Ron edwards, Snl presidential bash, Barack obama bio
November 13, 2008 at 5:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Guillermo del Toro: ‘Swamp Thing is one of the last Holy Grail projects’
EXCLUSIVE The director talks about “The Hobbit,” the “Hellboy 2″ Blu-Ray and the daydream idea of someday making a Swamp Thing film
I sat down with Guillermo del Toro on Tuesday night and, as usual, the “Hellboy” filmmaker was charming, funny and passionate about film and comics. There was a question I’ve wanted to ask him since I first saw the beasties of “Pan’s Labyrinth“: Would Del Toro please make a movie adaptation of Alan Moore’s sublime run of stories on “Swamp Thing” in the 1980s?
“Oh, I would love to make a Swamp Thing movie,” Del Toro said, smiling broadly at the notion. “Really, Swamp Thing is one of the last Holy Grail projects that is still out there. Those stories were fantastic, with the hallucinogenic feel of that world. I don’t think anyone is tackling that one anytime soon. It is one of those Holy Grails that dates back to that same boom as ‘Watchmen’ and ‘The Killing Joke.’ For me it would be an honor to do it. Right now, I don’t think it’s happening. If I had enough time to tackle it. But I will be 50 when I get out of ‘The Hobbit’…”
How to get to dalaran
In January, the 44-year-old fantasy auteur is moving to New Zealand with his wife and their two daughters to begin work on another J.R.R. Tolkien film series, which “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson will be executive producer on. “Everything is going great, it’s really a dream come true to be part of this,” Del Toro told me. “I’m writing every day.”
He’s also traveling a lot, making preparations for “The Hobbit” as well as tending to other commitments, such as promoting the Blu-Ray and DVD release of “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.” “I came back from Japan two days ago. Right now, frankly, 12-hour trips are, to me, like a commute between Burbank and L.A. I must say it requires a special type of mental discipline to get onto 11-hour flights every 10 days.”
I met him after a nice presentation in Hollywood on the Blu-Ray release of “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,” where he was joined on a lively panel by “Hellboy” actors Selma Blair, Doug Jones and Jeffrey Tambor, “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola and Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson. Del Toro is extremely proud of the Blu-Ray, which has a fascinating (and surprisingly smooth) toggle function that allows a film-school sort of deconstruction of scenes; you can see how the contributions of actors, puppeteers, animators and the special effects team are stacked and meshed to create the distinctive world where Del Toro’s monsters roam. The Guadalajara native told me that the Blu-Ray is a powerful tool not only for film clarity, but filmmaking clarity. “I really am talking to myself when I was young. This is I wanted to see and hear and learn. How do you make these movies?”
“I think it would be a disservice if we had a preconception or prejudice going in that we are starting from scratch. That is what we are not doing. I really think that the movie will establish its own personality. It’s going to have its own world, separate from the other trilogy. But one you do not do is not honor the cosmology, that existing canon. I don’t want it to be an arbitrary exercise in distinction. I want it to serve the book in the same way the books were served by Peter, [and his fellow screenwriters] Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens]. I want it to be a movie that coexists with the trilogy. My biggest hope is that one day there will be children who sit down and watch the five movies and make it a weekend.”
I asked Del Toro if he has any concerns about the future of superhero films — specifically if the intense Hollywood interest in the sector now might lead to oversaturation and a numbing effect on innovation due to imitation and auidence fatigue.
“I don’t have to worry about that because it sorts itself out. It was only a couple of decades ago when we had a crappy Spider-Man with mirror glasses shooting rope out of his wrists and we were watching a Captain America with glued-on latex ears. These things sort themselves out. It’s …
Related posts: Capital of vermont, 2008 popular vote, Betus, Snl presidential bash, Brazil flag
November 12, 2008 at 9:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Firefox Update Available
mozilla has released an update to 3.0.3. just click succour then click ‘check for updates’. if you’re running firefox preloader facilitate a make up for sure to uprightness right side click and unload it before fatiguing to update.
Big and rich
done. resume surfing…tags: update your browser, firefox, browsers
Related posts: 2008 popular vote, Barack obama bio, Betus, Brazil flag, Nfl contact lenses
November 11, 2008 at 8:13 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Video: Good Night For Guys Named Brandon
the next two videos play up the highlights of the night and both unequalled guys named brandon. in the first video, denver broncos quarterback jay cutler hits wide receiver brandon marshall with 1:14 left-wing in the game to make over denver the lead and the quelling. marshall was gonna show a half-black half-white glove as a show … related posts: related posts brought to you by yet another related posts plugin.
NFL week 11 schedule
The horizon project
and we are back! bookmark this page to have the nfl week 11 schedule. so, there are not excuses to miss any prearranged game. join betus and start gambling your favorite teams. home | nfl week 10 scores | betting odds nfl week 11 schedule thu, nov 13 time (et) box new york jets @ new england patriots 8:15 pm nfl network sun, nov … related posts: related posts brought to you by eventually another related posts plugin.
Related posts: Carroll community college, Wikapedia, Andreotti, Nfl contact lenses, Brazil flag
November 5, 2008 at 1:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The last sentence in “Dreams from My Father”
The last pages of President-Elect Obama’s autobiography take place at the reception for his wedding to Michelle in 1992. The last two pages begin:
the bodily who made me proudest of all, though, was [my brother] roy. actually, now we call him abongo, his luo big shot, in search two years ago he decided to reassert his african heritage. he converted to islam, and has sworn mistaken pork and tobacco and alcohol. he still works at his accounting constant [in washington d.c.], but talks about on the move master b crush to kenya once he has tolerably money.
And ends:
My mother’s chin started to tremble again, and Abongo lifted up his glass of fruit punch for a toast. “To those who are not here with us,” he said.
“And to a happy ending,” I said.
We dribbled our drinks onto the checkered-tile floor. And for that moment, at least, I felt like the luckiest man alive.
I love that “And for that moment, at least.”
Jeez, Obama, stop feeling so sorry for yourself. You are the luckiest man alive.
The last line of Dreams, by the way, is a pallid knockoff of baseball slugger Lou Gehrig’s famous line from his last appearance at Yankee Stadium in 1939 after he had to leave the lineup after 2130 consecutive games.
“fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading wide the bad demolish i got. yet today i consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
When he said that, Lou was dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. (Yeah, yeah, I know, he should have seen it coming.)
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com — Steve Sailer
Us senate races
Related posts: Barack obama bio, Andreotti, Carroll community college, Brazil flag, Wikapedia
November 4, 2008 at 4:17 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Amazing Race 1’s Margaretta Groark died
First-season Amazing Race contestant Margaretta Groark died of cancer last Sunday. She was 67. The “grandparents” team, which also included her husband of more than 40 years, Dave, were eliminated fourth (a video of their elimination is below).
Her obituary appeared in Thursday’s Rockwall County News, and said she died Oct. 26 after a “three-year battle with cancer and pulmonary fibrosis.” (A Television Without Pity poster links to a PDF of the obituary.)
In July, Bill of Team Guido posted on TWoP that Margaretta wasn’t doing well: “she is very positive on life, however your thoughts and prayers are again necessary … She is living life to the fullest, and remembers all we have been through together fondly and never once spoke in a negative way about all she has been through recently!”
In May of 2007, Margaretta posted this message to Survivor Sucks’ Amazing Race forum:
sweet fellow racers and friends
I finished my 24th chemo treatment 3 weeks ago and was exhausted but recovering. The doctor said my body had taken quite a beating and so she was going to give me a 3-month hiatus to try to get some strength back. David and walked into my oncologist’s office today to get the results of last week’s PET and CT Scans. Dr. Barve entered the room, looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Margaretta, you are cancer free.’ WOW! Talk about a stunning moment. When I was diagnosed, I was given what amounted to a death sentence. At best, the medical community would ‘manage’ the cancer for a few years, which meant chemo, chemo, chemo. There is a phrase ‘living with cancer’ which I suppose was meant to buoy our spirits. But in the deep dark pits of chemo I am sure that I was not the only cancer patient who thought, ‘this is not my idea of living.’
Robert g. dowd jr.
Actually I lived vicariously through The Amazing Race All Stars kidding myself into believing that Bertram would have selected David and me to run that race. I actually dreamed it recently in the dream we won! My daughter Laura’s reply when I recounted the dream to her was, ‘mom, you have already won The Amazing Race.’ She was so right on. After we got the news today, Laura, Michael, David and I had an impromptu lunch at a local tony restaurant.
I honestly could not have done it without the prayers, energy, and encouragement from you and from so many people. At times when I was most down, that energy just took over and boosted my will to go on.
Now it is time to get into training to get that awful poison out of my system. David has his own ideas of what I should do and he has designated himself as my ‘coach.’ As the late, great Gilda Radner was fond of saying, ‘if it’s not one thing, it’s another.’
My love and gratitude to you, Margaretta
Watch Dave and Margaretta’s elimination from the show, which still stands out since they were immediately surrounded by the other teams, who were both clapping and crying:
>> share, link to, or e.mail this story >> read the latest news about The Amazing Race >> find more reality TV news and gossip at reality blurred
Related posts: Carroll community college, Snl presidential bash, Nfl contact lenses, Barack obama bio, Andreotti
Next entries »