DENVER, C0 (IFS) Why is it so hard to get a simple answer to a simple question for this governor? Charles Gibson asked Gov. Palin, just to give a simple answer to the question, if she endorsed President Bush's policies on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan? She never answered the question. However, she is good at tap dancing on a razor blade and killing time. God, that "whinning voice" just gets to me! I now just turn her off, when ever she is on the tube repeating those same old tired lines from the GOP convention.
Friday, September 12, 2008
DENVER, C0 (IFS) Why is it so hard to get a simple answer to a simple question for this governor? Charles Gibson asked Gov. Palin, just to give a simple answer to the question, if she endorsed President Bush's policies on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan? She never answered the question. However, she is good at tap dancing on a razor blade and killing time. God, that "whinning voice" just gets to me! I now just turn her off, when ever she is on the tube repeating those same old tired lines from the GOP convention.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Soaring Over Poverty and Prejudice
by Kenny Smith
KITTY HAWK, NC (IFS) At the Wright Brothers Air museum, on the east wall of fame, is the first lady pilot of color to take to the skies. At age 29, Bessie Coleman was the first black woman to receive her pilot's license and the first woman to receive an international pilot's license. Bessie learned French as she had to go to France for lessons because no one would teach her in the US. Wanting to share her success and help other women and African Americans overcome poverty, prejudice and injustice she had faced she worked to open a flight school for African Americans. She believed they needed to take their place in the skies, too.
The doll comes dressed in her flight uniform designed by her when she got her license. The uniform has leather trim on her jacket, a hat with an embroidered eagle and leather boots.
Bessie comes with a small "Pilot's Log" journal for you to record your dreams and her biography. The biography is suitable for 8 years and up. The book is 119 pages with black and white photos.
by Kenny Smith
KITTY HAWK, NC (IFS) At the Wright Brothers Air museum, on the east wall of fame, is the first lady pilot of color to take to the skies. At age 29, Bessie Coleman was the first black woman to receive her pilot's license and the first woman to receive an international pilot's license. Bessie learned French as she had to go to France for lessons because no one would teach her in the US. Wanting to share her success and help other women and African Americans overcome poverty, prejudice and injustice she had faced she worked to open a flight school for African Americans. She believed they needed to take their place in the skies, too.
The doll comes dressed in her flight uniform designed by her when she got her license. The uniform has leather trim on her jacket, a hat with an embroidered eagle and leather boots.
Bessie comes with a small "Pilot's Log" journal for you to record your dreams and her biography. The biography is suitable for 8 years and up. The book is 119 pages with black and white photos.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Upon leaving Elizabeth, Colorado on Monday afternoon, the gasoline prices skyrocketed. It took me $256 in gas to travel 589 miles in twelve hours. And this is only one third of the way, stopping in Salt Lake City to visit the brothers.
At this rate, it's going to cost $750 plus to go to Long Beach from Salt Lake City. Then return to Elizabeth. CO. The roads are very empty. I've driven these roads for over twenty-five years now. On a major interstate, this is very rare indeed.
Had Clyde and Ted look over my vehicle. They both agree that it's time to get small in care size and trade up and out.
While researching the city of Salt Lake City, I had a chance to visit many of the neighborhoods. One day a year, the city allows its citizens to place their spring cleaning castoffs in a pile in front of their homes, and the garage cleaning is a treasure hunters paradise. You can fine anything and everything. You really need a truck and a place to store all of the "things" you happen upon.
Do to my total mis-calculations in the gas price and mechanical difficulties, Keith, I just want to let you know, what a wonderful life you will have with the one you have chosen. Your parents are very proud of you as the other family members are.
So now, I going out to find me a vehicle to return back home. There is news of a large car pile up in Watkins, Colorado and it's very bad. That's on my route returning home.
At this rate, it's going to cost $750 plus to go to Long Beach from Salt Lake City. Then return to Elizabeth. CO. The roads are very empty. I've driven these roads for over twenty-five years now. On a major interstate, this is very rare indeed.
Had Clyde and Ted look over my vehicle. They both agree that it's time to get small in care size and trade up and out.
While researching the city of Salt Lake City, I had a chance to visit many of the neighborhoods. One day a year, the city allows its citizens to place their spring cleaning castoffs in a pile in front of their homes, and the garage cleaning is a treasure hunters paradise. You can fine anything and everything. You really need a truck and a place to store all of the "things" you happen upon.
Do to my total mis-calculations in the gas price and mechanical difficulties, Keith, I just want to let you know, what a wonderful life you will have with the one you have chosen. Your parents are very proud of you as the other family members are.
So now, I going out to find me a vehicle to return back home. There is news of a large car pile up in Watkins, Colorado and it's very bad. That's on my route returning home.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Panic over rice prices hits home in capital
Fearing shortages, Asian market shoppers in south area buy up supplies.
By Jim Downing - jdowning@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 19, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
As word of food riots and export shutdowns in Asia reached California in recent weeks, worried shoppers have been buying up hundreds of pounds of rice at a time from the Asian supermarkets that line Stockton Boulevard, looking for security against rising prices.
"When people saw the price jump $2 or $3, they started buying like crazy – 10 bags, 15 bags," said Cu Van, a floor manager at Goldstar Supermarket. Each bag weighs 50 pounds.
In recent weeks, the retail price for a 50-pound sack of Thai jasmine rice, the prized variety served steamed in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, has risen from roughly $20 to $40, straining budgets for families and restaurants.
The spike in the cost of Thai rice is one of the most extreme examples of a trend that is pushing up prices for all the major globally traded food commodities – rice, wheat, corn, soy and dairy products. Experts say the increases largely have been driven by demand from booming Asian economies combined with poor harvests in key export countries like Australia. The demand for corn and soy to make ethanol and biodiesel also has boosted food prices, though economists disagree on how much.
Rice markets in particular have been jolted as a number of rice-exporting countries have restricted international sales in order to reduce prices for their own citizens.
State rice farmers thriving
For California rice farmers, though, the high rice prices are a boon. Even though the short- and medium-grain varieties grown here are sold into different markets than Thai jasmine rice, which has seen the steepest increases, spot-market prices for bulk California rice are up 50 percent since February, to about $20 for 100 pounds.
"We're kind of riding the coattails," said Pat Daddow, who runs the California Rice Exchange in Yuba City.
Domestic varieties of rice – long-grain from Texas, for instance – sell in some of the Stockton Boulevard markets for less than half the price of Thai jasmine rice. But grocers, shoppers and restaurateurs said the cheaper domestic long-grain varieties are suitable only for fried rice: Only Thai jasmine delivers the softness and aroma for proper steamed rice.
Still, Van said, some of her customers have begun to try other varieties. One morning last week,she pointed to a single bag of California medium-grain rice – typically used for sushi – lying askew on a pallet. It was all that was left of a one-ton shipment that arrived two days earlier.
But Paula Duong, manager at King Palace Seafood Restaurant on Stockton Boulevard, which goes through more than 300 pounds of dry rice a week, is still buying Thai rice. Her customers would notice any change, she said. She hasn't stockpiled, but is instead buying sacks as needed and hoping the cost will drop within a few months. She hasn't raised menu prices, citing the need to stay competitive.
Duong said that as soon as prices of Thai rice began to climb, she bought 10 sacks for her home. That 500-pound order will last her extended family of seven about eight months, she said.
"Every meal, there's rice," she said.
Importers in bidding wars
Nathan Childs, an expert on global rice markets with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, tied the jump in the price of Thai rice to a cascade of events touched off by attempts by several rice-growing nations to combat food inflation within their own borders.
Last fall India and Vietnam, both of which typically export several million tons of rice annually, announced they would be reducing rice exports in order to drive down domestic prices. China, Egypt and Cambodia followed suit, further restricting the amount of rice on the global market.
Rice-importing nations around the world then began scrambling to secure supplies, driving up the price for what rice remained available on global markets.
Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, is reporting record harvests this year. But the increase in supply hasn't been nearly enough to offset global demand, Childs said, and the price of bulk Thai jasmine rice has nearly doubled since December.
With California rice prices at the highest levels since 1980, Sacramento Valley farmers are expanding planting this year – but only by about 3 percent, according to USDA surveys. Rice needs certain clay soils, which limits expansion. In addition, the cost to grow it has been especially impacted by the high price of oil, so some farmers are choosing to switch some of their land to other crops.
"They can make as much, if not more, on wheat or corn," said Don Bransford, a prominent rice grower in Colusa.
Tight global supplies and the run on Thai rice in specialty supermarkets have forced U.S. importers into bidding wars to fill their orders, said Pete Lee, who owns Southern California-based Sun Lee Inc., a major rice distributor.
Lee said he sold nearly his entire inventory of Thai rice in the last two weeks – but he worries that a big slowdown is in store for the summer.
"The panic just drained our stocks so quick," he said. "The thing is, everyone's buying future inventory. And if they buy everything now, we won't have anything to do two or three months from now."
Prices may have stabilized
Lee said he's guessing prices will stay at their current levels, or rise a bit, until at least the next Thai jasmine harvest, which begins in October. But there are too many variables in global rice trade to know for sure, he said.
"Whoever can predict that would be quite rich," he said.
Ronnie Duong (no relation to Paula Duong), who owns New Asia Supermarket on Stockton Boulevard, worries that high rice prices will eat into his profits. He makes the same margin on a sack of Thai rice whether it's priced at $20 or $40, he said – but his customers have a limited food budget.
"If they spend so much on rice, they don't have money to spend on other items in my store," he said.
Van, the Goldstar Supermarket manager, said as far as she can tell, the peak of the local rice panic has passed. Prices have stabilized, at least for now, and those customers who do buy rice get only a bag or two. Plenty, she reckons, won't need to restock for quite some time.
"Everybody's home has so much rice already," she said.
Fearing shortages, Asian market shoppers in south area buy up supplies.
By Jim Downing - jdowning@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 19, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
As word of food riots and export shutdowns in Asia reached California in recent weeks, worried shoppers have been buying up hundreds of pounds of rice at a time from the Asian supermarkets that line Stockton Boulevard, looking for security against rising prices.
"When people saw the price jump $2 or $3, they started buying like crazy – 10 bags, 15 bags," said Cu Van, a floor manager at Goldstar Supermarket. Each bag weighs 50 pounds.
In recent weeks, the retail price for a 50-pound sack of Thai jasmine rice, the prized variety served steamed in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, has risen from roughly $20 to $40, straining budgets for families and restaurants.
The spike in the cost of Thai rice is one of the most extreme examples of a trend that is pushing up prices for all the major globally traded food commodities – rice, wheat, corn, soy and dairy products. Experts say the increases largely have been driven by demand from booming Asian economies combined with poor harvests in key export countries like Australia. The demand for corn and soy to make ethanol and biodiesel also has boosted food prices, though economists disagree on how much.
Rice markets in particular have been jolted as a number of rice-exporting countries have restricted international sales in order to reduce prices for their own citizens.
State rice farmers thriving
For California rice farmers, though, the high rice prices are a boon. Even though the short- and medium-grain varieties grown here are sold into different markets than Thai jasmine rice, which has seen the steepest increases, spot-market prices for bulk California rice are up 50 percent since February, to about $20 for 100 pounds.
"We're kind of riding the coattails," said Pat Daddow, who runs the California Rice Exchange in Yuba City.
Domestic varieties of rice – long-grain from Texas, for instance – sell in some of the Stockton Boulevard markets for less than half the price of Thai jasmine rice. But grocers, shoppers and restaurateurs said the cheaper domestic long-grain varieties are suitable only for fried rice: Only Thai jasmine delivers the softness and aroma for proper steamed rice.
Still, Van said, some of her customers have begun to try other varieties. One morning last week,she pointed to a single bag of California medium-grain rice – typically used for sushi – lying askew on a pallet. It was all that was left of a one-ton shipment that arrived two days earlier.
But Paula Duong, manager at King Palace Seafood Restaurant on Stockton Boulevard, which goes through more than 300 pounds of dry rice a week, is still buying Thai rice. Her customers would notice any change, she said. She hasn't stockpiled, but is instead buying sacks as needed and hoping the cost will drop within a few months. She hasn't raised menu prices, citing the need to stay competitive.
Duong said that as soon as prices of Thai rice began to climb, she bought 10 sacks for her home. That 500-pound order will last her extended family of seven about eight months, she said.
"Every meal, there's rice," she said.
Importers in bidding wars
Nathan Childs, an expert on global rice markets with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, tied the jump in the price of Thai rice to a cascade of events touched off by attempts by several rice-growing nations to combat food inflation within their own borders.
Last fall India and Vietnam, both of which typically export several million tons of rice annually, announced they would be reducing rice exports in order to drive down domestic prices. China, Egypt and Cambodia followed suit, further restricting the amount of rice on the global market.
Rice-importing nations around the world then began scrambling to secure supplies, driving up the price for what rice remained available on global markets.
Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, is reporting record harvests this year. But the increase in supply hasn't been nearly enough to offset global demand, Childs said, and the price of bulk Thai jasmine rice has nearly doubled since December.
With California rice prices at the highest levels since 1980, Sacramento Valley farmers are expanding planting this year – but only by about 3 percent, according to USDA surveys. Rice needs certain clay soils, which limits expansion. In addition, the cost to grow it has been especially impacted by the high price of oil, so some farmers are choosing to switch some of their land to other crops.
"They can make as much, if not more, on wheat or corn," said Don Bransford, a prominent rice grower in Colusa.
Tight global supplies and the run on Thai rice in specialty supermarkets have forced U.S. importers into bidding wars to fill their orders, said Pete Lee, who owns Southern California-based Sun Lee Inc., a major rice distributor.
Lee said he sold nearly his entire inventory of Thai rice in the last two weeks – but he worries that a big slowdown is in store for the summer.
"The panic just drained our stocks so quick," he said. "The thing is, everyone's buying future inventory. And if they buy everything now, we won't have anything to do two or three months from now."
Prices may have stabilized
Lee said he's guessing prices will stay at their current levels, or rise a bit, until at least the next Thai jasmine harvest, which begins in October. But there are too many variables in global rice trade to know for sure, he said.
"Whoever can predict that would be quite rich," he said.
Ronnie Duong (no relation to Paula Duong), who owns New Asia Supermarket on Stockton Boulevard, worries that high rice prices will eat into his profits. He makes the same margin on a sack of Thai rice whether it's priced at $20 or $40, he said – but his customers have a limited food budget.
"If they spend so much on rice, they don't have money to spend on other items in my store," he said.
Van, the Goldstar Supermarket manager, said as far as she can tell, the peak of the local rice panic has passed. Prices have stabilized, at least for now, and those customers who do buy rice get only a bag or two. Plenty, she reckons, won't need to restock for quite some time.
"Everybody's home has so much rice already," she said.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Clock ticks down to Microsoft deadline, For Yahoo
Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:57am EDT
By Eric Auchard - Analysis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) faces a critical week that could decide whether the pioneering Web company can remain independent or must surrender to an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
Yahoo is racing to forge a credible alternative that lets it stay independent or at least forces Microsoft to raise its $31 a share cash-and-stock bid, now valued at $42.8 billion.
"Yahoo is willing to try things at the 11th hour, that it never felt the urgency to try," Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay said. "Shareholders win, either way."
"They are coming up with some of their best stuff now," he added. "We just wish they had done these things last year."
When it reports first-quarter results on Tuesday, Yahoo has perhaps a last chance to demonstrate some financial strength and progress it has made in stabilizing the company's Internet media and advertising business after two years of decline.
Mid-week, Yahoo is set to complete a test with Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on whether Google should run a piece of its Web search ad sales, a move sources familiar with the talks say is part of a plan to merge with Time Warner's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) AOL and fend off Microsoft.
Time runs out by Saturday, the date Microsoft has set for Yahoo to accept the deal or face a drawn-out proxy battle by Microsoft to unseat Yahoo's board. Two weeks ago the software giant threatened to lower its offer if Yahoo did not conclude friendly merger talks with Microsoft by April 26th.
Yahoo's chief technology officer will use a speech on Thursday at the Web 2.0 Expo industry show to spell out a strategy to open up Yahoo services such as e-mail, news, sports and advertising to make them more relevant across the Web, not just for users drawn inside its own sites.
That same day, Microsoft reports its own quarterly results. The software giant is expected to show strong underlying fundamentals across its range of businesses.
DEADLINE? WHAT DEADLINE?
But despite mounting time pressures -- and veiled threats by Microsoft to walk away from the deal if it drags on -- Wall Street analysts say they expect neither side to blink.
Microsoft sees the massive merger as necessary for both to effectively compete with mutual arch-rival Google. But Yahoo has impressed many analysts by managing to cobble together a scenario where it might just drive off much-feared Microsoft.
Some analysts argue Microsoft's pressure tactics could backfire and spoil hope of Yahoo's board agreeing to a deal.
"You don't win by dragging a company to the altar," Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis said. "If you are going to pick a partner, treat them nice. Make them feel pretty."
Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen gives Microsoft more credit for how it has played the courtship game. Imposing a deadline was Microsoft's way of enticing Yahoo to talk: "Why else would Microsoft set a three-week deadline?"
But if the two do not reach a deal this week, the stand-off could drag on for months. Yahoo has until mid-July to hold its annual shareholder meeting -- where Microsoft could propose its own slate of directors.
"We do think the two sides will go up to the limit on the timing," Lindsay said. "Microsoft will most likely have to initiate a hostile bid."
Once Microsoft sets in motion a campaign to go directly to shareholders, Yahoo's response would be to come forward with its own plan to merge with AOL and turn over search ad sales to Google, arguing this has more long-term value, Lindsay said.
Youssef Squali of Jefferies & Co disagrees. Going hostile would alienate Yahoo employees and spoil the deal. Cutting the deal's price would lead to a protracted battle. Instead, he sees Microsoft sweetening its bid with an all-cash $31 offer.
Some analysts don't see how Yahoo can make the economics of an alternate deal work. Internet stock valuations have suffered from a weak economy this year and Yahoo share's price, currently above $28, could fall below its $19 level of late January without the support of Microsoft's standing offer, they argue.
But Squali says if Yahoo does a half decent job in its quarterly results, it could support a share price in the upper $20s. "All of a sudden Microsoft isn't offering a 60 percent more for Yahoo, but more like a 20 percent premium."
A side deal in which Google would sell ads alongside Yahoo Web search services could push Yahoo shares into the low $30s, forcing Microsoft to raise its offer or walk away, he said.
FEW SURPRISES LEFT
On January 29 -- the day before Microsoft presented Yahoo's board with an unsolicited takeover bid -- Yahoo warned it had a tough year ahead as it cut jobs and spent more to shore up its advertising business, sending its shares to four-year lows.
In mid-March, Yahoo reaffirmed its income from operations should be line with its lowered outlook of $100 million-$110 million. Excluded from that is a $450 million to $550 million one-time investment gain on China's Alibaba.com (1688.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).
That narrows the debate to whether profits will be near the top or bottom of a range of from 6 cents to 13 cents per share. On average, Wall Street expects 9 cents, down from 10 cents a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.
"Expectations are sooooo L-O-W," Gillis said.
Google shares soared 20 percent last week after the Internet leader reported strong results and swore off any economic weakness in its business, but analysts see little chance of a similar reaction for Yahoo.
"Maybe Yahoo won't miss their quarter. But they can't say anything bullish that people will believe," Pyykkonen said. "Investors will discount any upbeat comments, saying 'Oh yeah, Yahoo is just trying to get a higher price."
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:57am EDT
By Eric Auchard - Analysis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) faces a critical week that could decide whether the pioneering Web company can remain independent or must surrender to an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
Yahoo is racing to forge a credible alternative that lets it stay independent or at least forces Microsoft to raise its $31 a share cash-and-stock bid, now valued at $42.8 billion.
"Yahoo is willing to try things at the 11th hour, that it never felt the urgency to try," Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay said. "Shareholders win, either way."
"They are coming up with some of their best stuff now," he added. "We just wish they had done these things last year."
When it reports first-quarter results on Tuesday, Yahoo has perhaps a last chance to demonstrate some financial strength and progress it has made in stabilizing the company's Internet media and advertising business after two years of decline.
Mid-week, Yahoo is set to complete a test with Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on whether Google should run a piece of its Web search ad sales, a move sources familiar with the talks say is part of a plan to merge with Time Warner's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) AOL and fend off Microsoft.
Time runs out by Saturday, the date Microsoft has set for Yahoo to accept the deal or face a drawn-out proxy battle by Microsoft to unseat Yahoo's board. Two weeks ago the software giant threatened to lower its offer if Yahoo did not conclude friendly merger talks with Microsoft by April 26th.
Yahoo's chief technology officer will use a speech on Thursday at the Web 2.0 Expo industry show to spell out a strategy to open up Yahoo services such as e-mail, news, sports and advertising to make them more relevant across the Web, not just for users drawn inside its own sites.
That same day, Microsoft reports its own quarterly results. The software giant is expected to show strong underlying fundamentals across its range of businesses.
DEADLINE? WHAT DEADLINE?
But despite mounting time pressures -- and veiled threats by Microsoft to walk away from the deal if it drags on -- Wall Street analysts say they expect neither side to blink.
Microsoft sees the massive merger as necessary for both to effectively compete with mutual arch-rival Google. But Yahoo has impressed many analysts by managing to cobble together a scenario where it might just drive off much-feared Microsoft.
Some analysts argue Microsoft's pressure tactics could backfire and spoil hope of Yahoo's board agreeing to a deal.
"You don't win by dragging a company to the altar," Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis said. "If you are going to pick a partner, treat them nice. Make them feel pretty."
Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen gives Microsoft more credit for how it has played the courtship game. Imposing a deadline was Microsoft's way of enticing Yahoo to talk: "Why else would Microsoft set a three-week deadline?"
But if the two do not reach a deal this week, the stand-off could drag on for months. Yahoo has until mid-July to hold its annual shareholder meeting -- where Microsoft could propose its own slate of directors.
"We do think the two sides will go up to the limit on the timing," Lindsay said. "Microsoft will most likely have to initiate a hostile bid."
Once Microsoft sets in motion a campaign to go directly to shareholders, Yahoo's response would be to come forward with its own plan to merge with AOL and turn over search ad sales to Google, arguing this has more long-term value, Lindsay said.
Youssef Squali of Jefferies & Co disagrees. Going hostile would alienate Yahoo employees and spoil the deal. Cutting the deal's price would lead to a protracted battle. Instead, he sees Microsoft sweetening its bid with an all-cash $31 offer.
Some analysts don't see how Yahoo can make the economics of an alternate deal work. Internet stock valuations have suffered from a weak economy this year and Yahoo share's price, currently above $28, could fall below its $19 level of late January without the support of Microsoft's standing offer, they argue.
But Squali says if Yahoo does a half decent job in its quarterly results, it could support a share price in the upper $20s. "All of a sudden Microsoft isn't offering a 60 percent more for Yahoo, but more like a 20 percent premium."
A side deal in which Google would sell ads alongside Yahoo Web search services could push Yahoo shares into the low $30s, forcing Microsoft to raise its offer or walk away, he said.
FEW SURPRISES LEFT
On January 29 -- the day before Microsoft presented Yahoo's board with an unsolicited takeover bid -- Yahoo warned it had a tough year ahead as it cut jobs and spent more to shore up its advertising business, sending its shares to four-year lows.
In mid-March, Yahoo reaffirmed its income from operations should be line with its lowered outlook of $100 million-$110 million. Excluded from that is a $450 million to $550 million one-time investment gain on China's Alibaba.com (1688.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).
That narrows the debate to whether profits will be near the top or bottom of a range of from 6 cents to 13 cents per share. On average, Wall Street expects 9 cents, down from 10 cents a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.
"Expectations are sooooo L-O-W," Gillis said.
Google shares soared 20 percent last week after the Internet leader reported strong results and swore off any economic weakness in its business, but analysts see little chance of a similar reaction for Yahoo.
"Maybe Yahoo won't miss their quarter. But they can't say anything bullish that people will believe," Pyykkonen said. "Investors will discount any upbeat comments, saying 'Oh yeah, Yahoo is just trying to get a higher price."
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
PRELUDE TO WAR: THE COURT-MARITAL OF SHORT AND KIMBLE
ROSAMOND, CA - (IFS) - As kids growing up in Rosamond, California at Avenue "A" and 60th Street, I attended the the Del Sur Elementary School in Lancaster, about 1957-58. As we would walk to the bus stop, I remember passing by a pink four bedroom home where an American Japanese family lived. The two kids were the same ages as we were. The oldest boy was named Kenneth Samiguci and his pretty sister was named Susan.
We only talked and visited with them only at the bus stop during the week. We never saw them ever after school. We never played together. We never socialized at all. After a couple of years of this. Then one day, as I passed by their house, all the curtains were down, and the house was empty. They were gone. I personally always felt that I did something to them. Something that really offended them, but I never could remember anything. I was always polite and on my best behavior. I remember once, seeing their mother looking out of the front window - from a distance. And as soon as I would see her, I would wave my hand, but she would disappear behind the window curtain. That family has always been a mystery to me. I only remember Kenneth telling me about his parents were placed in a "war camp" and they had lost everything, their farm and home.
While talking with my friend, Tom, we came upon the question as to the court-martial of Short and Kimble, the airbase and naval commanders, whom that horrible burden fell upon their shoulders.
". . . In the 1930s, U.S. industry was free to sell the Germans and the Japanese whatever they'd buy, including weapons. Not to lose out, the British and French sold tanks and bombers to Hitler. Calls by Joseph Tenenbaum of the American Jewish Congress to boycott Germany were ignored. There was no attempt to contain, isolate, hinder or overthrow Hitler -- not because of naiveté but because of commerce. It was the Depression. There were Germans trying to overthrow Hitler, but the U.S. and Britain and their industries were obstructing that effort.
Baker shows that the Japanese, as early as 1934, were complaining that Roosevelt was deliberately provoking them. In January 1941, Japan protested the U.S. military buildup in Hawaii. Joseph Grew, our ambassador to Japan, reported rumors that the Japanese response would be a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet according to World War II mythology, America was blissfully sleeping, unprepared for war, when caught by surprise by the dastardly "sneak attack." (Isn't it curious that Asians carry out "sneak attacks," whereas Westerners launch "preemptive strikes"?) A year earlier, Baker shows, Roosevelt began planning the bombing of Japan -- which had invaded China, but with which we were not at war -- from Chinese air bases with American planes and, when necessary, American pilots. Pearl Harbor was a purely military target, but Roosevelt wanted to bomb Japanese cities with incendiary bombs; he'd been assured that their cities would burn fast, being made largely of wood and paper.
Roosevelt evinced no desire to negotiate. In fact, Baker writes, in October he "began leaking the news of his new war plan," with $100 billion earmarked for airplanes alone. Grew again warned Roosevelt that he was pushing Japan toward armed conflict with the United States, but the president continued his war preparations. Finally, the night before the Japanese attack, Roosevelt sent a message to Emperor Hirohito calling for talks. He read it to the Chinese ambassador, remarking that he thought the message would "be fine for the record."
People are going to get really angry at Baker for criticizing their favorite war. But he hasn't fashioned his tale from gossip. It is documented, with copious notes and attributions. The grace of these well-ordered snapshots is that there is no diatribe; you are left to put things together yourself. Read "Human Smoke." It may be one of the most important books you will ever read. It could help the world to understand that there is no Just War, there is just war -- and that wars are not caused by isolationists and peaceniks but by the promoters of warfare.
- Mark Kurlansky Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times [See the Fair Use Notice, below.] (via Lew Rockwell)
ROSAMOND, CA - (IFS) - As kids growing up in Rosamond, California at Avenue "A" and 60th Street, I attended the the Del Sur Elementary School in Lancaster, about 1957-58. As we would walk to the bus stop, I remember passing by a pink four bedroom home where an American Japanese family lived. The two kids were the same ages as we were. The oldest boy was named Kenneth Samiguci and his pretty sister was named Susan.
We only talked and visited with them only at the bus stop during the week. We never saw them ever after school. We never played together. We never socialized at all. After a couple of years of this. Then one day, as I passed by their house, all the curtains were down, and the house was empty. They were gone. I personally always felt that I did something to them. Something that really offended them, but I never could remember anything. I was always polite and on my best behavior. I remember once, seeing their mother looking out of the front window - from a distance. And as soon as I would see her, I would wave my hand, but she would disappear behind the window curtain. That family has always been a mystery to me. I only remember Kenneth telling me about his parents were placed in a "war camp" and they had lost everything, their farm and home.
While talking with my friend, Tom, we came upon the question as to the court-martial of Short and Kimble, the airbase and naval commanders, whom that horrible burden fell upon their shoulders.
". . . In the 1930s, U.S. industry was free to sell the Germans and the Japanese whatever they'd buy, including weapons. Not to lose out, the British and French sold tanks and bombers to Hitler. Calls by Joseph Tenenbaum of the American Jewish Congress to boycott Germany were ignored. There was no attempt to contain, isolate, hinder or overthrow Hitler -- not because of naiveté but because of commerce. It was the Depression. There were Germans trying to overthrow Hitler, but the U.S. and Britain and their industries were obstructing that effort.
Baker shows that the Japanese, as early as 1934, were complaining that Roosevelt was deliberately provoking them. In January 1941, Japan protested the U.S. military buildup in Hawaii. Joseph Grew, our ambassador to Japan, reported rumors that the Japanese response would be a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet according to World War II mythology, America was blissfully sleeping, unprepared for war, when caught by surprise by the dastardly "sneak attack." (Isn't it curious that Asians carry out "sneak attacks," whereas Westerners launch "preemptive strikes"?) A year earlier, Baker shows, Roosevelt began planning the bombing of Japan -- which had invaded China, but with which we were not at war -- from Chinese air bases with American planes and, when necessary, American pilots. Pearl Harbor was a purely military target, but Roosevelt wanted to bomb Japanese cities with incendiary bombs; he'd been assured that their cities would burn fast, being made largely of wood and paper.
Roosevelt evinced no desire to negotiate. In fact, Baker writes, in October he "began leaking the news of his new war plan," with $100 billion earmarked for airplanes alone. Grew again warned Roosevelt that he was pushing Japan toward armed conflict with the United States, but the president continued his war preparations. Finally, the night before the Japanese attack, Roosevelt sent a message to Emperor Hirohito calling for talks. He read it to the Chinese ambassador, remarking that he thought the message would "be fine for the record."
People are going to get really angry at Baker for criticizing their favorite war. But he hasn't fashioned his tale from gossip. It is documented, with copious notes and attributions. The grace of these well-ordered snapshots is that there is no diatribe; you are left to put things together yourself. Read "Human Smoke." It may be one of the most important books you will ever read. It could help the world to understand that there is no Just War, there is just war -- and that wars are not caused by isolationists and peaceniks but by the promoters of warfare.
- Mark Kurlansky Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times [See the Fair Use Notice, below.] (via Lew Rockwell)
Labels: "Human Smoke", Mark Kurlansky, Nicholson Baker
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
As a Precinct Secretary and Co-Chairman here in Colorado,
I found Senator Obama's speech to be refreshing and straight
forward. A President must be concerned for all Americans and
must argue both sides of the question. I am very proud of the
fact that his issue has come full circle and to the forfront. At the
same time, it's very sad that race has to rear its ugly head to
deny the American people of a true leader. I pray that my
generation has grown up.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Denver (IFS) If you may ask if President Bush's "Wiretapping" program is working, just ask Governor Eliot Spitzer. If you wonder if the program is real and is the NSA using it? Your telephone and banking account again proves that these items will get you put in prison. The government was inquiring as to what was going on. Was it "blackmail" of a government official, or was this official making payoffs to "others" for "dirty deeds done dirt cheap". Can you believe it? Another government official self-destructs right in front of your eyes. The old sayings are truer than ever. Beware of the one that "protests" to greatly.
Rumour has it, that the governor gave more sweetheart deals for his friends and like a bad bacteria that multiples in sewer water, created more corruption than he stomped out. Governor Eliot Spitzer's enormous failure is not political, nor personal.
It's called the "Right" syndrome. He was always right, no matter what. When guys like these fall on the sword and become a victim of their own "rightfulness", it usually leds to suicide. He talked a good game but, against all odds, he actually made the New York State capitol much worse.
Oh, but let's not judge him harshly. He gave no mercy to the people he sent to jail.
In rapid fashion, he spawned a cottage industry of state investigations, with rumors of indictments of one or more of his top aides rampant.
His own role in "Troopergate", where his office used the state police to destroy a political rival, has not been resolved. He achieved no reforms of substance or process.
He was so distrusted by his colleagues that he had ceased to be taken seriously.
They had concluded that, in Spitzer's world, the rules were only for others.
Rumour has it, that the governor gave more sweetheart deals for his friends and like a bad bacteria that multiples in sewer water, created more corruption than he stomped out. Governor Eliot Spitzer's enormous failure is not political, nor personal.
It's called the "Right" syndrome. He was always right, no matter what. When guys like these fall on the sword and become a victim of their own "rightfulness", it usually leds to suicide. He talked a good game but, against all odds, he actually made the New York State capitol much worse.
Oh, but let's not judge him harshly. He gave no mercy to the people he sent to jail.
In rapid fashion, he spawned a cottage industry of state investigations, with rumors of indictments of one or more of his top aides rampant.
His own role in "Troopergate", where his office used the state police to destroy a political rival, has not been resolved. He achieved no reforms of substance or process.
He was so distrusted by his colleagues that he had ceased to be taken seriously.
They had concluded that, in Spitzer's world, the rules were only for others.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Elbert County Democrats Caucus Meeting
Elizabeth, CO - (IFS) What a wonderful day today. This writer got a chance to meet neighbors, the City of Centennial's Mayor Pro-Tem, along with State House of Representatives Debbie Stafford, Colorado Board of Regents' Candidate, AJ Clemmons. It was standing room only as Democrats from all over the county gathered to discuss various articles and proposals to the State Convention.
Rep. Stafford did point out her position on the "Superslab Project" that impacts 5,000 families and $1.6 Billion in property.
Nominations for Commissioners for Districts 1, 2 & 3. The theme is transparency and opening up the books to the public.
Elizabeth, CO - (IFS) What a wonderful day today. This writer got a chance to meet neighbors, the City of Centennial's Mayor Pro-Tem, along with State House of Representatives Debbie Stafford, Colorado Board of Regents' Candidate, AJ Clemmons. It was standing room only as Democrats from all over the county gathered to discuss various articles and proposals to the State Convention.
Rep. Stafford did point out her position on the "Superslab Project" that impacts 5,000 families and $1.6 Billion in property.
Nominations for Commissioners for Districts 1, 2 & 3. The theme is transparency and opening up the books to the public.
..Sex
When I sit and talk to my friends, I am sometimes amazed to hear them complain their husband is always after them for sex. I would think being wanted would be a wonderful thing. I understand sometimes women are so tired and men can insist on it, and at times they need to be more understanding, as do women when their man is tired.
I also have friends that complain he doesn't make any moves toward them, and I wonder why they just don't put the moves on him, especially in a loving relationship. I know my husband finds it a turn on when I am the one putting the moves on him. I also know exactly when he will never say no! The secret: I know he is easy to arouse very early on a Saturday morning after he's been asleep a few hours and if I play my cards right, he even thinks it was all his idea!! LOL
Here are ten secrets from other women who love sex:
"I can switch on my sex drive."
"My body is my pleasure palace."
"I know I'm a sex goddess."
"I speak up for myself in the sack."
"It's not if I have an orgasm — it's how."
"I've mastered one signature sex move."
"I get to know his secret desires."
"I never let sex get stale."
"I'm passionate 24-7."
"Sex is at the top of my to-do list."
Click HERE to read more secrets about women who love sex from cosmopolitan.com and then come back and share some of your secrets with us. How do you stay interested in sex with your spouse or significant other?
Debbie
Women’s Forum
When I sit and talk to my friends, I am sometimes amazed to hear them complain their husband is always after them for sex. I would think being wanted would be a wonderful thing. I understand sometimes women are so tired and men can insist on it, and at times they need to be more understanding, as do women when their man is tired.
I also have friends that complain he doesn't make any moves toward them, and I wonder why they just don't put the moves on him, especially in a loving relationship. I know my husband finds it a turn on when I am the one putting the moves on him. I also know exactly when he will never say no! The secret: I know he is easy to arouse very early on a Saturday morning after he's been asleep a few hours and if I play my cards right, he even thinks it was all his idea!! LOL
Here are ten secrets from other women who love sex:
"I can switch on my sex drive."
"My body is my pleasure palace."
"I know I'm a sex goddess."
"I speak up for myself in the sack."
"It's not if I have an orgasm — it's how."
"I've mastered one signature sex move."
"I get to know his secret desires."
"I never let sex get stale."
"I'm passionate 24-7."
"Sex is at the top of my to-do list."
Click HERE to read more secrets about women who love sex from cosmopolitan.com and then come back and share some of your secrets with us. How do you stay interested in sex with your spouse or significant other?
Debbie
Women’s Forum
Monday, February 25, 2008
* 17:55 18 February 2008 * NewScientist.com news service * By Jason PalmerA solar cell that mimics photosynthesis has been used to make hydrogen directly from water. The prototype is inefficient, but the researchers who built it believe they can boost its efficiency, perhaps leading to a viable source of hydrogen to fuel cars and other vehicles.The device, built by Thomas Mallouk of Pennsylvania State University and colleagues, works much like a solar cell called a Grätzel cell, using sunlight to knock electrons off dye molecules. But instead of being used to create a current, as in the Grätzel cell, the electrons are shuttled away from the dye and into a catalyst, where they split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen ions in a reaction similar to one stage of natural photosynthesis.Other dye-based approaches to splitting water haven't worked very well because the electrons often recombine with the dye before they can be used. Mallouk says that the problem was a matter of arranging the molecular circuitry to channel the electrons effectively, avoiding such “short circuits”.His solution is to attach ruthenium-based dye molecules to a catalyst particle, clinging so closely that any electrons knocked out of the dye are directed into the catalyst. "The key thing is to get everything small and individually packaged," Mallouk told New Scientist.In the new device, water is split a thousand times faster than in other dye-based cells.Elegant and original“The attractive feature of the work is that the dye is wrapped around the iridium oxide nanoparticles. This is a very elegant and original approach,” says Michael Grätzel of the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, inventor of the Grätzel cell.The approach may also be more promising than semiconductor approaches, which are incredibly complex, says James Durrant of Imperial College, London, UK.Mallouk admits that so far the cell is very inefficient, as only around 1% of the light energy falling on it goes into splitting water, but he says that with some optimisation of the geometry and the molecules the efficiency could rise to 10% per cent. “Because we understand the relationship between intermolecular distances and electron transfer rates, we can in principle improve our system by changing the linking groups between molecules.”Mallouk presented the work at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston last Sunday.Energy and Fuels - Learn more about the looming energy crisis in our comprehensive special report.
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