"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
It seems our little feline friends have been around much longer than we originally thought - they broke off over 100k years ago and all our modern housecats descended from 5 original females in the Middle East.
Ebay Suspensions reportedly in the thousands - hit small good sellers hard
Topic: Miscellaneous
12:14 am EDT, Jun 29, 2007
Ebay, in an attempt to reduce fraud, enacted suspensions based on what appears to be a questionable 2% across the board unsatisfaction rate - some mathmatical formula performed via shell script most likely - catching many good, but low volume sellers in the net. All over the boards and seller sites, sellers with high numbers and ratings over 99.5 have been suspended or limited. As usual, what were they thinking? If a seller has a huge number of feedbacks, they could ambush a competitor quickly and easily, and they have no recourse. Vendetta suspensions are also highly probably with the new system. All anyone would need to shut down a small time seller they didn't like was to numerous IDs, then bid on a seller's auctions, win them, leave negs and *poof* they are history and the 'buyers' would not even need to worry about pay.
In the meantime, thousands of eBay sellers are very nervous, and openng all the spoof emails taking advantage of the new policy.
And eBay could possibly say their earnings - if down- are because they have been 'culling' the fraud from their site, instead of the normal lull in summer listings or the recent problems with Google's listings.
I believe in the possibility of life out there - but I don't for the life of me know why people think THEY might be so loving - I'd be scared we'd contact them only to be enslaved or.......eaten.
Insurance Industry Experts agree that Sicko Accurately Depicts A System Gone Wrong
Topic: Medicine
7:22 pm EDT, Jun 28, 2007
"Bob Scott, an attorney with the Advocate Law Group, is an insurance industry expert who has been fighting for consumer rights for over 30 years. He thinks Sicko is a very accurate and an all too sad depiction of the healthcare insurance crisis in America today and explained, “Sicko tells only a fraction of the stories out there – it barely scratches the surface of abuses that occur every day. The truth is that consumers rarely have a fighting chance against giant corporate insurers who will do anything to deny valid claims. I’ve seen this happen for decades and it continues to get worse each year. These abuses are rampant and we see them every day at Advocate Law Group.”
I dunno - I only know that we pay 400.00 a month for insurance...and WITH the insurance, my medication was 250.00 this month - and I didn't even have one 60.00 prescription filled. Then I had surgery that my doctor said I needed 3 years ago, but I had to go through "conservative treatment" that didn't work FIRST - during which time I developed fibromyalgia, which I probably wouldn't have GOT if I had been able to have the surgery when the pain first started.......and so they have refused to pay for my surgery now - which they DID approve, so on the phone I will go tomorrow.....and we really don't have much choice, unless my husband quits and finds a new job with new insurance. :( There. That is my reality. When I will get the needed surgery on my second foot - I dunno - but I bet they will make sure it isn't THIS year. (ThinK Deductible met.)
Shortly after 9/11, Senator Bob Graham, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for “a symbiotic relationship between the intelligence community and the private sector.” They say you should be careful what you wish for.
... As it happened, the dot-com bubble had burst shortly before 9/11, cutting loose a generation of technology entrepreneurs who, when the government came calling, were only too happy to start developing new data-mining algorithms and biometric identification programs.
There is nothing inherently wrong with all this.
The problem is that the “symbiotic relationship” has turned decidedly dysfunctional, if not downright exploitative.
I admit it, I love make up. I have since I was a young girl. I have never saw makeup as covering up my flaws, rather, having fun painting myself. I once dated a man that asked me not to wear lipstick anymore. I promptly dumped him.
Luckily, my husband, like my father, adores makeup, and bright pink, and bright red lips. I'm so glad. :)
Anyway, this is a site that lists product reviews and even before and after pictures of REAL people. Is that 149.00 mascara that lengthens and thickens your lashes really worth it? Or, are you better off with the 5.00 pink tube that stays on through anything?
"Sir Salman Rushdie celebrates his 60th birthday today in familiar circumstances: he is once again the subject of death threats across the Islamic world. .....
The Organisation to Commemorate Martyrs of the Muslim World, a fringe hardline group, offered a reward of $150,000 (£75,000) to any successful assassin. "
