31 Dec 2009, on PBS's "Newhour" program, Paul Solman asks why most economists missed our recent near-Super Crash,,,It's obviously the rich potential

profiting with little risk. That is the what super-rich, very well educated, 'privileged' , ambitious and very well off have done for themselves and against society and the less fortunate since history began. The Greeks, the Romans, the French, the British colonialists, even the smart, wise, should ethically act better and should have better control of their greed and selfish avarice Americans. It is all about 'me', me, me,,, and not about democracy or the declining middle class needing a pay raise or being willing to pay your fair share of taxes.

Let's make more fun of,,,for instance ,,,Donald Trump. He thinks he is a big success. We laugh at his funny comb-over hair. But isn't his selfish super-wealthy out-of-control ambition more of a cautionary tale ? Some less wise may still want to be just as super-rich and ambitious like him and others,,,

T.S.A. has been a joke for years,,,so why do we put any trust in them!?

December 2009,,,I worked the first week of the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002,,,and left on a new Southwest Airlines plane, after going thru TSA inspection that involved my baggage going inside a machine the size of a house's kitchen,,, with the solo operator, a woman , reading a romance novel !! This was an event that the Feds promised would have "maximum security". What a farce.

When you rent a "beach house" in California, Beware of the fine print that might say "leave as clean as you found it,or lose all security deposit"

December 2009,,,Our family rented a new, huge 'beach house' in Southern California for the Christmas holiday week. It even had wi-fi and was right on the beach !!

The week went by so fast , with walks on the beach, dining at delicious local fresh and new to us restaurants, and having time together to relax and read our books or Kindles. But then the last day came and we read the 'fine print' check out proceedure: we would lose all of our security deposit unless we left it as clean as we found it, unlike a 4 star hotel room.

That meant that on our very expensive rental house Christmas vacation,,,we were ,,,sweeping and mopping the floors,,,,putting all the dishes through the dishwasher and shelving them,,,washing all the bedding sheets for a huge house and making all the beds,,,(is this normal??!!),,,and vacuuming the carpets and rag dusting all the hardwood floors,,,We even Windex-ed all the inside windows for fear of losing any or all of our large security deposit !!

Why have a "property manager" that we talked to as an owner,,,if you are going to piss-off all the renters with a too strict cleaning policy? We are civilized, all college educated, and would not think of trashing or damaging someone else's home we were guests in. But to not leave it undamaged but uncleaned like a 4 star hotel room was a SHOCK!! we definitely will watch out for on our next luxury expensive vacation home rental experience inside the USA.

BEWARE,,,

Beware of "Corelle" brand of white dishware,,,they carry dirt/stains from dishwashing to dishwashing

My 90 yr old parents thought it would be a good idea to get rid of the white plastic plates they had used for years and the shine had worn off, so they bought a cheap set of "Corelle" that was very white and very shiny, thinking it would be low maintenance and easy to clean.

Instead, the backs of alot of the dinner plates have this grey haze that you can not scrub off with a kitchen sink scrub sponge and dish soap !! So they went back to the store and bought some "Corelle" polishing cream,,,for every day dishes !!??!! But it does not work very well or at all. This is crazy,,,

They are very weak and like the light weight of such dinnerware and dishes,,,were i have glazed ceramic plates that are much easier to clean, and look cleaner, but are much heavier, tho cheap.

I voted for Obama and "Change",,,but after almost a year all i see is "small change"

The first crisis of President Obama's term was of course the neglect and incompetence and "Deregulation" of almost everything by the Republicans that almost financially and economically crashed us all back to a 1929 Great Depression. Instead of kicking the fat cats out of banking and finance and the govt agencies full of do-corporations-bidding deregulators, President Obama hired Mr. s Paulson and Bernacke and the other guy. Why a bunch of guys who profited extremely off the losses of the USA and advocated for decades in the past more of the same stupid failed "deregulation" policy that favors bankers way above consumers? Why not a more balanced ,fair-minded person like Mr. Volker ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then the President Obama who said he would be more honest and lead us in fairness allowed the huge bank bailout to be misnamed and misdirected as "TARP" for toxic assets, when it made the bankers rich enough to buy other banks and still have the U.S. economy on the cliff with too big to fail attitudes and policies. The toxic assets are still there and not devalued as much as they should , even tho we common Americans have paid and paid with tax dollars at low interest for bankers in the first years to score record profits and pay their secretaries at firms like Goldman Sacks $500,000.oo, for a secretary !!

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then there was the threat, still there now in Dec 2009, of the 'swine flu' or asian H1N1 flu, and the regular flu. Did the new President use the most advanced technology that had been proven for years of growing vaccines in cells versus the old slow method of growing them in eggs ? No. Remember the utter failure of Chiron? And the regular flu vaccine was at least a month late this year 2009. And most of us can not get the H1N1 swine flu deadly-threat vaccination. It is late December, 2009.

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Then there was the long and strong campaign promise by the new President Obama and the now majority Democrats to do a major positive overhaul of the nation's medical care, that failed so easily in 1993-94 under President Clinton. Why all this talk about Mecicare for all, when we could have V.A. care for all, or the better Senator-Federal Health Care for all,an option, who wanted to pay for it ?? You could see Congress delaying and talking this to death, to avoid their responsibility to the public citizen electorate and instead do what the fat-cat lobbyists from the banking and insurance and medical industries. This was a central campaign promise, and the Democrats were assuming ,as usual, we got elected and the public will forget. So wrong. I am on the verge of registering as a Green Party voter!!

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democratic Party.

We still are suffering in California under a total fiscal failure state government, bankrupt, with no hope in sight from the Federal Government or Republican (failure) Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger . And the masses are frustrated enough to vote ,they say, for more do-nothing-beneficial Republicans !!

The environment is still just as much in peril as under the Republicans, with the Pebble Mine in Alaska going forward.

The cellphone market is so unfair and dishonest, unlike more civilized Europe, and where is any signifigant 'change' ?

Many thousands have lost jobs,,,and there in no massive public works program to rebuild our decades of neglect national infrastructure from roads and highways, to bridges, railroads, gps digitize airports vs inept radarmen, radio, and traditions,,,

I was surprised and a little disappointed in new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

The Republicans still think they are in charge, since 1980, back in Washington, D.C.,,,and the Democrats are letting them get away with anything and almost everything,,,with no hope in sight. Were is the public-voter-citizen march on Washington in strong protest peacefully ? Will we have to have a Constitutional Amendment making "money not equal to a vote",as the current Supreme Court says,,, and banning lobbyist money from all federal and state elections and using public free radio and free tv time and public funding instead ??!!

The T.S.A. is a total failure, proven again this Christmas Day by a known terrorist being allowed to land in Detroit with a bomb, but Congress is still one-issue delay at a time doing little or nothing about all our many backlogged problems federally and in each state.

The President has failed to live up to his campaign and lead the American people and instead has made deals with the drug industry and the medical insurance industry, behind closed doors, as historically usual. What did we vote for in this "Change" ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in the new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

And the President promised to wind down the Iraq war, but is now increasing the Afgan war, when we do not have the American blood or taxes to pay for it. The corrupt cockeyed Republican tax cut for the rich is still in effect, making an elite class of super-rich who can not be hurt by the bad economy, massive foreclosures, job loses, and terrible state of the nation in general. I did not vote for more unaccountable Generals -from- the- Pentagon wars. Where are all the peace marches that were so effective in the last major war folly, VietNam ?

I was surprised and a little disappointed in the new President Obama and the Democrat Party.

Senator Pelosi 's office is not powerful enough to do it all,,, and lead us. Currently we have a distinct critical failure in leadership. The new President is new, and tho a lawyer, must step up to his office, his campaign, and this moment in history. We are still waiting,,,

Christmas Day!! 25 Dec 2009, and a Nigerian 'known' terrorist is allowed on a plane landing in Detroit,,,with a BOMB !!(T.S.A. is a FAILURE !! )

When will President Obama and the Congress wake up to the fact that TSA is a total strategic failure ? That harassing every American, especially war decorated American veterans , with shoe and belt removal and their current slow security checks, is just bad failed policy ??

When will the American public that flies say 'Enough is enough!" with TSA and demand that the Administrator be fired and a new computer-based, intelligence-based strategy is used instead ?

I will not choose to fly,,,but will drive,,,as much as i can, until the idiots at TSA, the the sleeping lazy Congress fix this !!

Stupid, stupid stupid Alaska, like California is dependent on tourism, now has a 2 King/yr limit for visitors and NOW a 1 halibut vs 2 /day limit for

non-residents !! And you, stupid Alaska, think i am going to pay airfare on the lost-luggage experts airline Alaska,,,pay for a fishing lodge or waterside hotel,,,and a rental car,,,to only fish and possibly keep one halibut a day ?! Dumb dumb dumb as your last Governor,,,

I elected President Obama thinking he was more 'dove' than 'hawk',,,my mistake ??

I / we wanted out of Iraq,,,and we don't have it yet. Now the new President is going to yield to the corrupt , lying (Still about friendly fire, the Generals, in the football player-Ranger soldier cover-up !!,,,) Pentagon and Miltary Industrial Congress Complex / MICC that President Eisenhower warned us against as he left office, a great service for a President greater than Truman, the atom bomb tempermentalist.

So now we are stuck,,,bleeding,,,dying,,,maiming in Afghanistan, such a hell hole of corruption and primitive politics unready for any kind of democracy,,loosing soldiers, wasting billions and $ trillions ,we do not have to waste,,,

Hopefully there are some peace advocates left in Congress among all the re-election campaign , lobbyist sellouts of the voters representation and respect. But doubt it,,,

So sad,,,our military keeps getting us in these fraudulent , no chance whatsoever of 'victory' foreign battle conflicts,,,So sad,,,

"Dancing with the Stars" ,,,so disappointed in pro.judges soft scores,,,should be called "Voting for your star with a little Dancing"

There is no way Donnie Osmond is a better dancer than Mya, and deserves a "30" vs her "28". Such soft 'high school ' grading is called 'social promotion' and a sin, that allowed such low effort and low talent to last so long, and be overwhelmed by popular voting. Can we just have one voter per viewer?!!

I will miss you, Edyta,,,and the young blonde,,,

But i have had it with the Pro. Judges brown-nosing and soft-grading of mediocre talent, like the snowboarder and football player and Kelly, who tried,,, but not as hard or well as Mya.

I will no longer watch, so there commercial sponsors !!

California is sooo "BROKE AND BUSTED",,,the press and media are afraid to talk about it,,,so are the STATE UNIVERSITIES !!

In the late 1930s my Mom paid $26/semester ,,,or $52/yr for tuition at UCLA,,,That is $108 in tuition for four years of the highest education in California at the time. Books were additional , but her family lumber yard business meant they did not suffer in the Depression, unlike her husband's family farm repossessed by Bank of America.

My lazy blonde sister went to UCBerkeley in the 1970s and paid $125 /quarter . That would be $375 tuition for 3 quarters, with the summer off to go to Europe.

In 1966-1970 I paid $50/semester or $400 for 4 years tuition at the average education institution of San Jose State College(now "university",which it is not,such a joke,,,a pig is still a pig,,,even if you call it a 'sow',,,). Books were much much more expensive ,since we were annually ripped off by the private company of 'Roberts Books'. SJSU still,,,in Silicon Valley,,,does not have a big eTextbook program run by the U. or Student Union...

What does all this mean, now that UCBerkeley is charging $10,000/yr and wants to charge more ? The Republicans have won and 'pubic education' sells to the highest bidder, there is little regard for the pubic good in a well-educated electorate, and we can refuse California residents who qualify in favor of foreigners and out-of-staters who can be charged more,,,

"Market economy" and Market State Legislature,,,we let the state lawmakers sell themselves to the highest bidder,,,and now we the public, the residents, the voters are reaping the destruction of that stupid idea.

California is broke, our State government is busted, and there is not rescue or hope on the horizon,,,The Feds won't save us,,,The Democrats and the no-plan just obstruct and lie Republicans certainly won't save us,,,Maybe the Green Party should formulate and discuss publically a plan. Otherwise California will continue to be the laughing stock of the US of A for public stupidity in Deregulating home energy with Republican Governor Grey Davis(we did at least kick his sorry-ass out of office!!), the then self-inflicted Enron debacle that CalPers was stupid enough to invest in and lost the State Pension millions, and the voters wisely took away the corrupting gerrymandering of guaranteed districts drawn by legislators only to have the State Government drive the State Budget over a cliff and Bankrupt the State of California.

Could it get any worse in California? Oh, we could elect another Republican Governor who is primarily concerned with 'helping businesses in the state' ,,,versus helping all of us in the state,,,

If MSN Hotmail has put you on the "suspected blogger list" with not 300 sendable emails, but less than 50, because you have large family and friends

,,,you share with, I recommend Google Chrome and Google Gmail . Just because i send something to 10-20 friends and family does not mean i am a "spammer", tho that is the way Microsoft has labeled me. And they have basically little or no customer service for this, so it has been months of confirming ,,,waste of time !!,,,every email !!

I am so DONE with Microsoft and their lack of or shoddy customer service !!

If you are thinking of buying a home in San Jose, you had better look at CrimeReport.com's map of crimes ,,,SHOCKING !!

It is amazing how many Burglaries and Vehicle Thefts and Assault-Battery happen in the "Willow Glen" Greater Neighborhood !!

Evogear.com in Seattle has r.e.d. Avid ski helmets for $68 total ,,,versus REI at $79 plus shipping and tax !!

Website malfunctioned twice, but i phoned and was so easy to buy and ship from EVOGEAR.COM !! ,,,1-866-386-1590

Have been web shopping for weeks,,,No joy with Amazon,,,No joy with most major ski websites,,,Burton was sold out already of the matt black XXL,,,Great design and fab prices,,,!!

Beware of another tourist scam, in Rome Italy at the Train Station; Beware of the men in "Official Turismo White Suits"

My girlfriend , very hot, and i flew into Milan and took the train to Rome. It was a beautiful day,afternoon, in the big open space/ plaza in front of the train station, and we were talking about what we should do next and decided to start looking for one of the recommended hotels from our two guide books, Rick Steve's and Harvard's LetsGo.

Then this very handsome guy in a white suit walks up to us and introduces himself as "an official tourism guide of Rome" and welcomes us. He asks if we are looking for a restaurant or hotel and "can he be of service". We were your typical trusting Americans, my 4th time in Europe and her first, so we said 'yes, thank you!!' (What suckers we were,,,!!)

He lead us a few blocks to an old building after asking us what our budget was, and we walked into what looked like a 4 STAR HOTEL LOBBY !! The men and women behind the reception desk were dressed to the 9s, and we told him we did not think we could afford "a place as super fancy as this". He reassured us he knew the owners 'personally' and would get us a very good rate. (Could we have been more gullible ?!!)

He talked in Italian to the staff and they offered us a room. Now i know and usually do the smart European thing of ASKING TO SEE THE ROOM FIRST BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING or paying anything,,,but i was with the hot love of my life, at the time, and this guy was in his official white fancy suit with the badges and emblems,,,so we did not PREVIEW THE ROOM,,,We paid by cash,oops, instead of Master Card or AX, oops, and thanked the White Suit Tourist Official who was quickly out the door.

We then asked for directions to our room with key in hand. It was "just around the corner and upstairs,,," big cheesy smile,,, As we rounded the corner of the Lobby, the decor suddenly became very plain,,,and then very ugly and unkept/dirty !! We walked by the bath/toilet area and both of us GASPED is was so ugly and unclean,,,When we got to the room , we carefully opened the door, fearing a swarm of cockroaches like on Barbados the previous year,,, It was HORRIBLE, THE MOST UNATTRACTIVE UGLY BARE SHABBY UNCLEAN ROOM YOU MIGHT IMAGINE !! My girl started crying "i can't sleep HERE !! i can't shower in THERE !!"

So brave foolish me goes down to the front desk and asks for a different, better room. "No have." Went back upstairs and talked to my then HOT girlfriend, and we decided that we would just stay one night instead of the 3 we had planned, versus loose all our money for that night. Maybe we should have just packed up and left,,,

It was one of the worst rooms, and i have been in cheap shabby 'closet' rooms in Paris,,,and attic bare sad rooms in Britain,,,but this room and scam WAS THE WORST !!

The lesson is, do what the wise Europeans do, EVERY TIME AS IT IS NORMAL AND EXPECTED, IN PREVIEWING YOUR ROOM ,,,BEFORE YOU PAY.

And watchout for the scam in Rome of men in fancy white "official turismo" white suits !!

The Republicans, when they failed at being in power federally, GAVE Pakistan over A BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR,,,FOR 6 LONG YEARS,,,What a waste !!

Pakistan and Afghanistan are famous for corruption and political primitivism,,,so what did we taxpayers "get" for over $6 BILLION DOLLARS given to the super-corrupt Pakistanis ? More terrorist, and more anti-American enemies. What a waste !!

Afghanistan was just voted the "most corrupt country in the world, after Somalia" !! Holy Crap, and our Federal Government is planning on staying longer than the 8 years of bloodied American soldiers, amputated arms and legs American soldiers, profligate waste by the Pentagon in substandard weaponry like the unprotected from 'ied' Humvee loser of a vehicle,,,?!! Britain lost its 'Great' pissing away a nations fortune in stature, power and wealth by colony fiddling in such places as India, the middle east, and Afghanistan,,,and we can not learn from that recent lesson ?!! Holy crap,,,are we ever in trouble.

Nov. 2009, I do not recommend AT & T cellphone service

When i turn on my 5 year old AT&T cellphone, it says "Cingular", but when i go into "Cingular" stores they say they can not help me and i need to find an "AT&T"store !!

Now, i am told my 32-bit SIM card chip is "too old" and i need to pick up a free 64-bit SIM card chip at an "AT&T" store, which i did. But it does not work in my "too old" 5 year old phone, so AT&T says i have to sign a new contract and get a new phone that will work with the 64-bit SIM. I have a great contract that AT&T will not offer again to me , nor anything close, so why would i voluntarily sign again for "2 years" to a poor value new contract with AT&T ?!!

I bought a PDA that will accept the 64-bit and it works, i can dial phone numbers with it,,,but AT&T is still telling me that i "must sign a new contract" , even tho i have an AT&T approved newer PDA that works with the new 64-bit SIM !!

And forget the Feds and the FCC, as i am told by my Senator's office "you know that cellphones are a deregulated market and there is very little we can do?" !!

We might as well have the good for nothing Republicans back in (corrupt) power !!

Nov.2009, Shame on the Department of Agriculture and the FDA for the expose' by USAToday of unfit food in our public school lunch programs !!

For profit and the sloppiness of govt bureaus , we have failed to keep even the food for our non-voting and non-speaking out children safe enough to eat in our public school lunch programs. Every arrival and shipment of food should be tested, because our food is so manipulated and over processed. Samples of food that caused the school sickness should have been saved and tested, if the principals had done their jobs properly. We must be the laughing stock of the entire world right now, sloppy profiting for years off making our tiny school children sick !!

But then, maybe most Americans are too busy with work and family or social lives to care,,,

What has happened to Public Education in California!!? Over decades, administrators and the PTA and School Boards have 'cared less',,,,

The huge decline in the quality of public education in the State of California certainly did not happen over night. It has taken years and decades of misdirection and lousy leadership, and failed unpopular programs like the current classroom lockstep of "no child left behind" idiocy.

When i was in high school, Willow Glen, in San Jose, Ca. back in the 60s even, we had teachers that were so 'under performing' as to yearly just read the biology text book to the class, and that was the extent of that professional educator and employee of the State of California's "educating",,,just reading every page of the text book. I bet the overpaid Principal at Willow Glen knew this teacher was slacking off and getting away with doing less than needed. Even the PTA must have know about this lazy terrible teacher of neglect. And the School Board. And the Teacher's Union. So there is lots of blame to go around.

But talking to my mother who graduated from UCLA, in the late 1930s just before WW2, she also tells me that she had along with her classmates a teacher at one of our 'most respected' public state universities, UCLA !!, do nothing more for the class than read from the textbook !! And do you really believe that the Head of UCLA did not know about this travesty of public education !? Please.

So California institutions, from its Teachers to its Principals, PTAs to School Boards, state public universities like UCLA to Governors and Superintendents of Public Education,,,all the way down to the voters who may want 'the best public education money can buy' but certainly have been short changed over decades and decades in California, all these entities are not able in their turf wars and infighting to get the main job done of educating our children to the highest standards.

In spite of all the press and verbage, what they say, they have all failed the children who could not vote or voice even. Our future of success and health and security was at stake.

How to improve on "Cherries Garcia" ?,,,Coffee ice cream "Cherries Garcia" !!

Add a little coffee to your's ,,,try it, you may like it !!

This is the time for TSA to give our Veterans, all Veterans, a first class airport security pass for life,,,But that honor will never happen,,,

The Congress and especially the Republicans will continue to give lip-service to our returning wounded dismembered bleeding veterans, instead of honor. They will suffer in second rate or third rate VA hospitals, while the D.C. politicians continue to dine with the weapons lobbyists . This hypocrisy of the Oliver North's and all the Pentagon drum-beaters has been a persistent shame on our Nation, like the shame of the Bush Administration that will go down in forever history for allowing and promoting torture of our enemies ,against the basic ethics of our Founding Fathers.

The Pentagon and Congress will continue to buy gold-plated lesser weapons like the Humvee and the Tomcat, and neglect the American citizens who shed blood on foreign soil in their place. The shame of this can not be seen it is so terrible.

the State of California is "dead in the water" financially, politically, environmentally,,,So go ahead and get your state a Republican Governor too !!

Governor Grey Davis,,,what a loser. But then we are now a "deregulated" state, and the businesses, corporations, and multinationals are having a Republican field day,,,while most middle and lower income people suffer. So who was hurt more by electing a Republican Governor like Grey Davis or Arnold S., neither of which can balance a state budget ?

We took away their Gerrymandering corrupt powers,,,And the State Legislature body slammed the voters by driving us off the cliff of state bankruptcy !!

So go ahead, New Jersey and Virginia, elect a Republican Governor ,,,and roll the dice,,,play russian roulette with your states future.

Olympic Swimmer Natalie Coughlin,,,was in the Top 3 of DANCING WITH THE STARS,,,

Natalie,,,Natalie,,,Natalie,,,

I voted for you 3 ways: by cell phone, by land line , and by pc,,,

You had a "cute couple" very talented male partner and correographer ,,,

And you definitely had the BOD,,,

You learned the foot and body moves very well,,,

even if you forgot to breathe.

But if you had only ,,,smiled and flirted more with your dance partner for more chemistry,,,he was handsome enough wasn't he,,,maybe you were just too nervous,,,

All you had to do to win/place in the top 3 or 2 was to smile and show you were enjoying it ,,,more than the frozen expression you gave,,,

You really could have won,,,and we were pulling for you,,,but now Mya and Joanna will probably battle it out ,,,

We miss you,,,you left way way way before your time,,,for the talent and determination you showed,,,but that has happened before on DWTS,,,

The judges told you to get in the mood of each of the dances, right ? Hopefully you don't quit dancing and learn to use your face for expression...

Best Wishes, Natalie Coughlin,,,!!

People love to see a happy couple, either on the street or faking it, acting on the dance floor,,,

Nice lawns ,,, turn to dead brown mat,,,How do Bank's get away with leaving FORECLOSED HOMES LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS !!

We have to suffer, while the new owner, the bank, lets the lawn die and go from green to weeds and dead brown grass. The neighborhood in San Jose suffers, but the bankers are not held accountable,,,as usual. One house was obviously vacant and thus an opportunity for vandalizing,,, Why do we allow bankers to blight our neighborhoods, especially when they are so profitable ,with out tax dollar bail outs ??

Why is it so difficult ,,,to go Online and Find a,,,Consumer Item Locator Service ?

This seems like a no-brainer,,,

You have a rut of familiar stores,,,but you are looking for the competition,,,or just looking for a consumer item, model, size, color,,,but you don't know where to find it,,,maybe you are traveling thru the area ,,,or visiting ,,,or don't bother reading all the ads,,,

So , how , in this supposed digital age, since the product is tracked downstream,,,does a consumer track a product, upstream and find it maybe in many local stores ,,,at many different prices ?

Ebay and Amazon list very very little that is for normal retail sale in the USA. So where is our web product search engine that finds specific items as well as Google finds specific words ?

Let's compare ski helmets: r.e.d. by Burton's adj. vented Skycap 2008-09 at $80 retail,,,vs ,,,Giro's G10 or Ski Patrol at $120 retail

For 63cm/2X size ,,,r.e.d. by Burton wins !! By 2000' vertical or a day of skiing pass cost !!

But Burton is not making the Skycap any more,,,

Bummer,,,

Let's compare SKI GEAR websites: skisite.com vs skicentral.com vs skis.com

First to skisite.com,,,a lot of ski stores listed do not have their phone numbers,,,you can not search by distance from your location,,,they do not separate the tiny local ski stores from the mega mega stores,,,and it is finally very hard to find a specific product availability.

Next to skicentral.com,,,they recommend ski.com ,often, in searches on their website,,,so let's go there next,,,

Lastly to ,,,skis.com,,,and we are looking for a specific product, last season or this season,,,better but not great.

Results,,,good luck trying to find a specific skiing or snowboarding product in the size and model you want, whether new or used, this years or just last years left over inventory ,,,

Angie's List,,,is located in,,,Indianapolis, INDIANA !!,,,not "local"

So that is why their customer service is so slow,,,

And one of their silly rules is,,,your report will be verified by them talking to the business you rate, natch, but you can not compare and mention another business, say you had 5 estimates, in your one business review. Silly,,,

Skype ,,,see USAToday article,,,has TERRIBLE customer service !!

I have downloaded Skype,,,and used it a couple times to contact a Skype fanatic in Seattle who is bored with Hotmail email,,,but now i log-in and can not get a "Contacts" button or find my personal page !!

And there is no live-chat help,,,no "feedback" even,,,no "email us",,,hell, how do these people expect to grow with such a lousy, Microsoft-like, poor customer service attitude ??

We, the electorate of California, MUST terminate CalTrans after the latest fiasco of the cable breaking on the Bay Bridge

Caltrans, the DMV (hire contractors instead,,,), and (please oh please,,,) most imcompetent, under-performing State of California civil 'servant' employees !!

Intel, the famous computer chip mfg. with the chorus of employees ad, did not have a live person at Corp. HQ to answer the phones today,just a machine

Spend all that money on an expensive and attractive ad campaign, and then Intel does not have a pleasant-voiced person to answer its phone at Corporate Headquarters,,,,

strange. The local phone number is 408-765-8080 in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley, California.

26 Oxt 2009, Beware of "Bambino's Plumbing Service" in San Jose, Ca.,,,as the State says his state license is "suspended" for non-payment of judgement

"state license 704469", according to the State of California, is SUSPENDED,,,!!

Beware,,,Beware,,,,Beware !!

Congressman Paul Brown called today with the RNC's pitch of "Obama's SOCIALIST BLACK HOLE", "UNION POWER GRAB", and more Republican Stupid Stuff ,,,

October 2009, and the Republicans think they can scare us more with words like "Socialist Obama" and "Union Power Grab",,,when we have the reality ,still , of their 8+ years of failed rule and near destroyed, Reality not words, of Maddoff and Abramoff and the stealing and skimming Wall Streeters even when they do lousy they get $M's in 'bonuses' !! How stupid are the Republicans,,,and how stupid do they think you are, voters ??

So does this mean the Republicans are not on the side of union workers, and other workers, but just ,,,still ?!,,,on the side of sick and incompetent and overpaid Management ? Oh, and calling our President a "Socialist" is such a smear,,,compared to the Real Harm done to the USA by the deregulating and unethical Republicans. Words,,,versus recent, still stinging weak economy and over 100 failed closed banks and unemployed and lost pension and lost half my 401K Republican-rule reality of failure,,,Gee, that is a tough choice, if you are brain-dead !!

the Chinese,,,and probably other Foreigners,,,think our American TV shows are REALISTIC, instead of FANTASY and IDEALISTIC !!

Please,,, Huell Howser of "California Gold" talks 'funny', not California-speak, because he is from Tennessee, far far far away. He sounds completely different from how we talk in California, if you were raised here. Completely different. He does have a college degree. But he speaks simply like the uneducated and uninformed, maybe as part of his tv acting. This is not a much-admired style of speech in California, the Tennessee-accent, tho we tolerate and accept all those that try to speak English, where ever they come from. We make fun of the New York and New Jersey accents as well. And Boston. And Chicago accents.

So for those of you from far far far away , who have never been to the USA or to California, our tv shows are mostly fantasy and not very realistic. Our lawyers, police and cops are mostly incapable of arresting most of the criminals, let alone write a traffic ticket. Our doctors are not all smart and handsome and competent as on tv, in fact many are mainly just doing it for the big paycheck, and badly. And most of our real nurses are not at all like the young beautiful and smart nurses you see on tv. Can you spell 'overworked' and 'overweight' and 'ugly',,, and 'unpleasant' ?

Beware of new "disappearing ink" receipts !! Make a copy on your printer ASAP !!

I have a months old gas receipt ,,,for work,,,for $40,,,and you can not read it any more !!

Who thought up such a lousy receipt idea,,,as "disappearing ink" ??!!

I just bought an expensive tv,,,with all kinds of important numbers on the receipt,,,so before it fades and all the ink disappears in a couple months,,,i have made a copy of it ,,,for my PERMANENT RECORDS !!

BEWARE,,,BEWARE,,,BEWARE,,,,

It costs about $2000 to termite tent an average house in California, killing all the old termites, but not preventing a new colony next week !!

So what is the point of having a wooden house ?!

You pay $2000 to have your house tented with all food ,plants and pets removed,,,

And next week or next month the termites move back !!

So you pay $2000 "every 10 yrs is the average" to very toxic poison your house to kill all the old termites,,,

And next week or next month the termites move back !!

So you pay $2000 to have your wooden house termite tented, after taking out all the plants, food, and pets,,,

And next week or next month the termites move back and continue eating your wooden house !!

So you look into orange oil treatment, also at $2000, and you learn it is spotty and not guaranteed to last very long,,,and you have little drilled holes all over your house from the orange oil treatment,,,

And next week or next month the termites move back !!

Why do we in the USA still allow shoe manufactureers to LIE ABOUT THE TRUE WIDTH OF SHOES ?

Shoemall.com does not have free returns,,,

Shoes.com also will not guarantee and tell you the actual measured width of all the shoe brands they middleman sell,,,

And Zappos.com is the only one i have found that will actually measure ,in understandable and standard inches or centimeters, the inside length and inside width of a shoe you select,,,and get back to you with the real actual verified standardized measurements "in 72 hours". That is something,,,when i certainly don't trust shoe manufacturers who label their shoes in 9 wides, from E to 9E, when i will bet those are all the same shoe with different labels !!

Why do we allow such widespread FRAUD and MISREPRESENTATION !!?

China-US relations are like buying "4E" wide shoes from big Cabela's,,,but they are mediums, not even close to being wide shoes

If Cabela's can't get the Chinese to make what they order and then sell to us in the USA as a narrow shoe marked "wide" or "extra-wide", then how far can you trust the Chinese ?

Amazon's search engine is so weak,,i typed in Metal Ladders and got Metal Chairs !!,,,and no 'live chat' customer service ,,,or even an AmazonFeedback

Hugely successful,,,yet so little customer service, like MSN.

One consumer's opinion: Florida Natural with pulp OJ versus Minute Maid's low pulp premium Original,,,I think Florida Natural wins by a mile !!

On appearance in a glass, Florida Natural looks ,,,more like OJ . And Minute Maid looks a little green. So Florida Natural wins on "looks".

Then on smell, Florida Natural smells good. But Minute Maid smells old or sour,,,not good. So Florida Natural wins on "smell".

On "taste", Florida Natural 'not from concentrate' wins by a mile , as Minute Maid tastes sour or "from concentrate" not good.

I did this taste test on Saturday 3 oct 2009 with the Florida Natural "best if used by date of nov 18 o9,,,22:14 17 8". And the Minute Maid date on top is "nov 23 o9 SI 16:52 A ". Try your own side by side taste test. These two were priced 2 for $6 and 2 for $5 at Nob Hill Market, in Capitola ,Ca.

Walgreen's for $25 had the 2009 flu vaccine available on 1 Sept 2009,,,but Kaiser WAS A FULL MONTH LATE with 3 OCTOBER !!

What gives ?!

If Walgreen's can do it by 1Sept, then Kaiser should too.

How many lives were needlessly put at risk by Kaiser??

Grand Canyon National Park,,,is STILL hiding from the public,,,the Dangerous Exotic Plant there "poison oak" !!

I just checked the NPS-GCNP website and searched for "poison oak" and came up with a non-vascular plant list,which is totally irrelevant, from 2000. Then went to "Hiking FAQs" and under "Dangers" they talk about rattlesnakes and scorpions, but not the introduced non-native and PAINFUL RASH of poison oak, whether in the old Rhus genus or the newer Toxo. genus. So checked the 2007 most recent GCNP "Exotic Plant Species List" and ,,,oops,,,no listing of POISON OAK !!

I was there for a 2 week raft trip a few years back,,,in summer along the C. river it was over 120F in the SHADE, and 36F in the river below the first dam,,,and i got a super duper bad rash case for the full two weeks on the first day. Neither the espensive outfitter "we don't want to scare people away" nor the NPS warned me in advance, so i could have brought some TECNU white liquid soap from home to wash with daily and prevent a trip of a lifetime from being the most miserable physically painful "vacation" i had ever taken !!

PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE RED RASH AND BLISTERS FOR 2-3WEEKS AND LEARN WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ,,,BEFORE YOU GO TO ANY NATIONAL PARK, ESPECIALLY "GRAND CANYON NATION PARK",,,AND IF YOU WANT TO BE SAFE AND PROTECTED IF YOU DO ACCIDENTALLY TOUCH THE PLANT AND CONTAMINATE YOUR DELICATE SKIN AREAS, AHEM, WITH THE OIL,,,THEN BUY SOME "TECNU" ,,,BEFORE ,,,AND USE IT EVERY DAY WITH JUST A FEW DROPS ON A SOAPY WASH CLOTH.

HAPPY HIKING !!

Sept.2009 and American Banks are STILL TOO POWERFUL,,,and DANGEROUSLY TOO BIG TO FAIL !!

American Banks expect to fleece about $38.5 BILLION in excessive and predatory "OVERDRAFT FEES". And if the Democrats had balls, they would stop such super-abuse last month.

Are you also FRUSTRATED and DISAPPOINTED at the GLACIAL PACE of 'CHANGE",,,after electing the first Black American President and Democratic Majority ?

I am so anxious for the new and improved SEC, FCC, EPA, AND FDA to actually start doing some good,,,instead of hiring government workers at huge expense to do little or nothing under the Republican wretched Rule of the past.

Wouldn't it be funny ,,,if years later,,we discover,,that the Democrats NEVER INTENDED TO PASS either 'Single Payer" or 'Public Option" improved

national health care. That all this sound and fury was just 'for show',,,'a circus for the masses',,,and that the fix was in from the start=More and More and More Corporate Profits, and More and More Lobbyists Money.

That would be so sad. Totally discounting the Republican Party as a bunch of bad sore losers, (Abramoff) unethical and greedy and un-Principled (the female reporter leak case) to the core.

Costco 100 % silk short sleeve shirts,,,the buttons ALWAYS FALL OFF

I like the comfort/feel of these cheap ,about $20, all silk shirts,,,but you would think by now,,,Sept.2009, someone at Costco would notice,,,that the buttons fall off right away ,before the first wash !! I must own 10 different ones; The yellow, the red, and the blue are my favorite. But every time i buy a new color, i have to sewing-rip tool the label off the sensitive neck, and sew all the front buttons on all over again.

Costco member-consumer food review: spare ribs, Curley's versus Niman Ranch,,,and Curley's WINS !!

We cut open the plastic bag and cooked the Niman ranch ribs first. The sauce was ok, and just a little heat, but the rib meat tho lean was too tough for this non-denture crowd.

The Curley's brand ribs were tasty and much more tender off the bones.

Sept.2009, It appears the Cal. State Legislature did not like the voters taking away GERRYMANDERING thier own safe districts, so they BANKRUPTED us

for REVENGE !!

Maybe it is time to vote "Green" Party, and vote out ALL INCUMBENTS, especially those that have been late with the budget for 20 years,,,and deregulated home energy resulting in 3br2ba homes paying $400-500/month in A/C summer cooling costs for electricity,,,

"Flush Sac.!!"

"Boycott Hertz" !! Care to join us in teaching them a civics lesson?

My 90 year old mother, a UCLA graduate and living on one state teachers pension with her 90 year old husband, was recently cheated by Hertz when they took her credit card and FAILED AT FULL DISCLOSURE to tell her that even tho she had been hit at a stop sign from the rear, the fully guilty driver was not going to pay the insurance on the rental car for her wrecked car,,,BUT HERTZ WAS GOING TO STICK THE " AGE DISCRIMINATION" nice old lady will the bill !! The car was in the shop for a long full 3 weeks,,,

"BOYCOTT HERTZ"

"Union Square West Hotel" ,,,BEWARE,,,is travel industry lie for "the infamous TENDERLOIN scary neighborhood"

Don't fall for this one. Even on many San Francisco maps, the "TENDERLOIN" neighborhood NAME is omitted , because most locals know how drug-dealer and prostitute and drunks peeing on the sidewalk SCARY this area, west of Union Square to the Civic Center and on both sides of Market Street, is !!

I just ,Sept 2009, checked one of the major travel websites ,,,and they are still using this DECEPTION.

BEWARE,,,,BEWARE,,,BEWARE,,,,

I do not recommend "La Crosse Technology" battery wall clocks, as my DuraCells AA leaked inside

It is about a foot square, with LARGE NUMBERS , which i like tho they could be darker and wider. But the clock caused the Duracells to leak and ruin the Costco purchase. The mfg was not supportive in this one person's opinion.

13 Sept 2009; "60 Minutes" tv new show; Hey, Steve Kroft !! you need to do your homework on "TORT REFORM", talk to some high quality MDs who are

paper-error, NOT patient-error, FINED by state governments like California to the tune of $25,000.oo to $250,000.00 EACH, for a PAPER mistake !! This is not traditional ,conventional , surgeon - patient "MEDICAL MALPRACTICE" that most of us think of, but this IS a failure of state government from the Governors to the State Legislature of California and probably other gouging misrun states, looking for easy marks , professionals who are very respected and do a very high standard of medical work, but ocassionally make a paperwork mistake with a sizeable staff of from 10 employees to over 20 per doctor, any of which employees could make such a paper filing mistake. No one is 100% perfect, so do we expect our State of California sorry-ass excuse for a government to be so unreasonable and unfair and impractical, with rampant greed, that scares away MDs and potential MDs from ever practicing in California or other incompetent state governments , when we have an aging baby boom population and the "Public Option" tettering because of a few million loser wacko fiscally-incompetent and debt tsunami-wave riding Republicans ?

So let me educate you, Steve Kroft. I talked to one of the most famous surgeons in California today. We have been friends for 50 years. And tho i am not in medicine as a career, i have heard him complain before about the low and late repayment of Medical work, for instance. But today at breakfast, he told me something that most of the public has not been told i believe, that the State of California is looking for any ,ANY, paperwork mistake, such as "sending the x-rays to the wrong insurance company" is an "AUTOMATIC $25,000.00 FINE THAT THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAYS THE DOCTOR MUST ASSESS IMMEDIATELY ON HIS BUSINESS, WITH NO POSSIBLE REFUND". Steve Kroft, are you following this ? This is NOT what most people think about when they hear your cutting question of " TORT REFORM " to President Obama, big words , but there is so much more to this story. This is THE REAL CRIME OF MEDICAL MIS-REGULATION BY THE STATES.

Another paper error cost $250,000.00 ; yes, that is correct Two Hundred and Fifty THOUSAND Dollars. And that normal , understandable , no harm done cost must be passed on to patients like us. And it is not just the most competent but not perfect doctors, it is the highly respected and very professional dentists, such as mine in Cupertino who is "fine raided by the State of California regularly and fined for such silliness as wearing cotton instead of (cotton/polyester or polyester?) uniforms !! This same highly professional dentist recently had his office building bought by some Chinese who lowered the rents of the Chinese tenants,,,and raised it on the non-Chinese Caucasian tenants !!

This is ridiculous and unfair, when computer companies in Silicon Valley making $$$$$ millions have their property taxes reduced or waved by San Jose , because the city is rightly afraid of losing big employers due to incompetent city government. In California you can only sue a doctor or hospital in the first year, that is if you can find an attorney qualified to represent the patient's side !!

So Steve Kroft, please don't swing at our President with a loaded phrase like "TORT REFORM" in an accusing tone, until you have done your homework and presented it as a current issue re-examination on the once respected and once rightly famous for doing its homework "60 Minutes".

Why is it that garden hose reels with spool and handle are no longer avialable in long-lasting metal, just flimsy expensive plastic???

We had a metal garden hose reel with spool and handle for at least 20 years. It broke, and now all we can find is this $40-125 PLASTIC hose reels that cost more than they are worth, don't last, and are plastic so hard to fully recycle and not just dump in a landfill !! What is going on ??

Someone can make a $$$$$ MILLION DOLLARS, inventing/manufacturing a simple-design, reliable METAL garden hose reel with spool and handle !!

Sept.2009 and shopping for a new Refrigerator; Notice most brands STILL have 'hot' incandescent light bulbs, in stead of leds

The Japanese and the Germans and the Scandanavians would not buy this ATIQUATED JUNK they still push at us in the USA, from low tech engines in our cars, to refrigerators, or even computer 'high speed' internet connections that internationally are not 'high' at all. Yet we keep buying this schlock,,,

In California, for off-work injuries, YOU MUST APPLY FOR "SDI" BETWEEN 9-49 DAYS, or risk FORFEITING your legal claim !!

It is terrible what has happened to California in the last 40-50 years of decline. But now ,when California residents are really hurting in this near total fiscal and financial economic collapse in the USA caused by 8 miserable lying years of Republican rule in Washington,D.C., the state's EDD department tries to hide and confuse this basic fact, to cheat you out of your own payroll deduction insurance !! I have been contributing to SDI for decades, and now the State of California, with the Governators full knowledge, is trying to cheat me out of my proper and legal pre-paid insurance !!

SHAME ,SHAME, SHAME ON CALIFORNIA AND THE STATE EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT !!

Republicans, as pointed out in the recent "Newsweek" article, are OK with anti-American and UN-American DISCRIMINATION, as in allowing the status quo

in American health care. It is OK with the RNC that private medical insurance companies ,every day, and to thousands of born-in-the-USA Americans, deny paid for coverage to sick and UN-rich Americans. It is OK with the Republicans that thousands loose their medical insurance, not just every month or week, but daily. It seems to be OK with the Republican Party that more than half of the personal bankruptcies in the USA are caused by private medical insurance rising costs. Who are these extremist, greedy, selfish, uncaring ,uncivilized and unpatriotic Americans that call themselves Republicans like it was some badge of honor, instead of failure, shame, and dishonor? That is for-profit private discrimination, after the Civil War ,the Emancipation of slaves and women (and not just property owners voting rights like in the ancient days), the VietNam 'conflict' protests and the successful Civil Rights Movement and laws. But the Republicans are not in the 21st Century,,,or even the 20th Century,,, but way back in the American primitive days where money was king, just money ruled, only money mattered. And way back then who cared about DISCRIMINATION and if black men women and children were sold like cattle, raped /killed. And with that backward attitude, white women could not vote and thus had few rights, so where would former quiter Alaska Governor Sarah Palin be with such a double standard.

Remember , it is Republican rule by President Bush for 2 terms and 8 years that got us in this near total financial collapse and terrible deep debt and recession/depression, wasting money on the military and deregulating industries like home electricity prices that should have stayed regulated,,,like banking,,,and trucking with all the underpaid and incompetent heavy vehicle commercial incompetent drivers now unleashed on the roadways with us in our puny cars. The Republican Party will never 'man up' or 'stand up' to the national failure it put us in,,,so we must vote them out of power, and find more responsible and responsive Representatives and Senators. Maybe not just Democrats, but Greens with college degrees and real life experiences to help all of us.

Obviously NOT the Republican Party, that is so confortable with DISCRIMINATION, that is so UN-American !!

the once-famous "AT&T YELLOW PAGES" no longer have a green pages INDEX ,CROSS REFERENCE,,,and at+t does not seem to care

Talk about terrible, TERRIBLE, customer service,,,and using the old name of "at&t" ? The printed Yellow Pages are becoming less and less useful ,,,in this supposedly and much hyped 'digital' age.

BAD,,,BAD,,,BAD,,,"AT&T" !!

Sharp tv "Aquos Advantage" ,,,warranty program,,,grade of "F", a consumer's opinion

This so-called "digital" tv was purchased from a tv shopping channel in January, shipped in a double lined box, and took 3-5 minutes to turn on. The tv shopping channel technical support people told me this was "normal" for a digital tv and that the common misconception about digital was that it was fast to turn on and off and change channels, "when in fact it is much slower".Or so they told me.

It took only a couple months to figure out this was 'bull' ,,,and now , will the much touted Sharp Aquos Advantage warrranty program help me get a 42" tv box to send this defective junk back ,,,"no".

RECOMMEND YOU "AVOID SHARP TVs LIKE THE PLAGUE, AND ESPECIALLY THEIR AQUOS ADVANTAGE WARRANTY PROGRAM".

Look at Samsung or another brand instead.

UPS wants to charge over $660.00 to double box and send a 42" flat tv from California to N. Carolina !!

Did you save your digital flat screen tv box ?? You better. Mine was defective from day one, in January of 2009, and it took this long for the TV SHOPPING CHANNEL NAMELESS and the Sharp tv manufacturer to agree with me that it was an "out of the box defective" tv. Can you imagine, the Burlingame UPS store quoting such a ridiculous price to double wall box a tv and ship it from the west to the east coast in a week ??!!

OUTRAGEOUS PRICES !!,,,,,UPS !!

"sTATE FARM" car insurance is probably unnecessarily EXPENSIVE, because,,,

from personal experience recently, they don't seem to care how long a body shop has a car in for covered repairs.

Our family car recently had a dented rear fender from hitting a pole in a parking lot, so we took it in to a famous local body shop and they did a fabulous job in one week. Within a few months, an old lady ran into the same bumper, and "State Farm" told us to wait for permission before going back to the same excellent body shop-WHAT?!-and also tried to steer us to other "recommended " body shops that we did not want to go to-WHAT?!-and let us use an expensive rental car for 3 FULL WEEKS to do pretty much the same work that we had just done in a week-WHAT?!. They said the part was not available locally, and it would take more than 2 weeks. So i phoned around and found at least 2 of the same identical rear bumpers less than a mile away.

So if you have "State Farm" , you are paying for this longer repair time with larger bill for rental car. And if you get hit, at no fault of your own, by someone with "State Farm", well, expect a lot of nonsense like "permission" to have your car taken immediately to where you want to go instead of their "approved list",,,and then weeks and weeks, in this case 2 extra unnecessary weeks, in a much lower quality rental car not of your choice.

"CONSUMER REPORTS.ORG" website is removing the product evaluation publish dates from its online version. The public and other members need to tell CR

to "do it right", and put the date of the product evaluation report online ,,,just as they do in their magazine. Thank you.

What i hope will happen in September 2009:President Obama will show LEADERSHIP,having given the loser Republicans enough time for "bipartisan coop."

President Obama will make a good "9-11" speech, but then will make a Great Speech on moving America forward with medical reform-public option and lots of other needs after decades of Republican-rule "deregulation" failure, bringing back memories of Kennedy's speech on "to the Moon!" and Eisenhower in and after ww2 and FDR in the Great Depression. This speech will let his slacker Democrats know who was elected President and put the loser Republicans in their proper place. It will be strong, eloquent, and unequivocal in its Presidential Leadership. It will be quoted and remembered for decades, and centuries, as the turning point for the USA from the steady national decline with "less govt. ,less taxes, and more debt for your grandchildren" total failure of federal government.

There is so little hope out there. What's left is like Southern fireflys ,,or the stars over LA on a typical summer smoggy night, that are barely visible. Just us little people out here,,,hanging on by hope. Hope President Obama will not just be famous for being the first black American President. What a waste of opportunity that would be !! His campaign was so brave to talk about the need for single payer/universal government health care, and already the Democrats have easily rolled over and now even tiny token of a public option is in peril due to the lack of strong leadership, like Reagan, even tho that was in the wrong direction. And during the campaign there was talk and promises about getting our bloody and amputee military out of Iraq,,,and now those forces are just moving next door to an even worse military situation of Afganistan. Before the election, the free marketeers and deregulators like Greenspan ran the Federal banking and (not) regulating,,,and now we have more of the same with Mr. Bernake, who is greatly profiting the banks who said they did not want and did not need Fed stimulus money ,,,even tho they are failing by the score/dozen,,,while all the little people lose their jobs, go into foreclosure when FannieMae and FreddieMac should be bailing each one out with 3%fixed loans for 30 years, and there is still no windfall profit tax as our debt and deficit skyrocket.

So little hope for the USA,,,

Silicon Valley's computer speed average is about 2-12 Mbps,,,and Japan is 50 Mbps,,,isn't there somethiing baskassward therer??

Silicon Valley in California is the supposed birthplace/original factories for many computer parts,,,yet the computer and cellphone-monopoly standards are so very low,,,The former center of tech has certainly slipped,,,oh, and the car traffic design and planning really stink !!

"Make it Happen"movie review: Mary Eliz. Winstead can Dance! and carry a movie lead, so why butcher-edit her final dance scene?

Very attractive actress, great dancer, beautiful face and super fit body, very photogenic, and great smile,,,so good luck in the future , and hopefully the director and or producer will not butcher-edit your good work ! This could have been another popular dance flick, like #5 "Step Up",$65M,,,easily,,,or #3 "Save the Last Dance",$91M,,,easy,,,and maybe #2 "Flashdance",(fav.)$92M,,,if not #1,"SNF",$94M,,,and #4,"Footloose",$80M (my fav.).

Movies are a group effort and often the lead or star gets way way too much of the blame. Wake up!!, movie reviewers !!

Is it just common sense to me ?,,,if they have the film , why not do a second version, less Botched edit ?? So many films could be improved on instead of acetate left "in concrete",,,

"9-11" September 11th is near and almost time to honor our dead

Remember how workers were told to go back to their offices, after the terrorist plane crash?

Remember how airlines spent so little on basic common sense safety that the airplane doors were ,,,not secure?

Remember,,,how the flight attendants did not organize the passengers to take away just knives not guns,,,from the terrorists,,,and just let people sit,,,crash,,,and die in jet fuel burning flames on crashing?

Remember,,,how Shocked!!,,, and Angry!!,,,and Upset!!,,,and Hurt!!,,,and even Crying!!,,,on being told the news,,, President Bush was ,,,on national tv ?

Remember how little information was given to the victim's families about this terrorist multiple attack,,,even the planes are barely visible thru the security-degraded digital cameras?

Remember,,,how badly our current air traffic system worked,,,with air traffic controllers not knowing or guessing why a commercial passenger jet was off course? And how little we have progressed since then, not even gps on every airplane ?

Remember,,,how lousy the military response was, scrambled fighter jets arriving too late,,,no comprehension of how wide a terrorist threat this was?

Remember,,,how badly the FBI and the CIA and the other national and state law enforcement agencies failed ,,,at sharing information,,,that could have stopped this at the flight schools,,,and instead the whistleblowers were crucified, as usual ?

Remember,,,how these terrorist plane attacks targeting the World Trade Center again,,,we the excuse President Bush needed to get us knee-deep in American blood , Trillions of $ of taxpayer money wasted, and lots of new enemies created in the Middle East 'conflicts' since they are not official 'wars' ?

Remember,,,how many husbands and wives and children ,,,are never going to see their family members,,,ever again?