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POPSBig Brother Listening in on Personal Phone Calls If these allegations turn out to be true, it will only be further proof that this administration refuses to follow the letter of the law. There are clear stipulations concerning when eavesdropping without a court order can be used and, of course, the NSA claims it operates in “strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations”. What else are they going to say? It is despicable that our government has turned itself into such a distrusting caretaker. The flip side to this story is that the two individuals could have made this up for the purpose of having contributed to a book that author Jim Bamford is writing. This could also be a stunt to get his name in front of the public and increase sales. See what we have become? It is now so easy to believe that everyone is capable of lying to satisfy some ulterior motive that no news item can be taken at face value. This country is in serious need of an ethical makeover.
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POPSAlan Greenspan's Culpability: From Keating to the 2008 Economic Crisis In 1985, Keating hired Alan Greenspan as an economic consultant, in an unsuccessful effort to convince an oversight agency to exempt Lincoln Savings from certain regulations. Greenspan delivered a favorable report, writing that Lincoln Savings was “a financially strong institution that presents no foreseeable risk to depositors or the government.” (Greenspan produced similar favorable reports on numerous other banks that also failed soon after).
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POPSEasy ways to increase website traffic Traffic Assistant will carry out all the functional tasks associated with building web site traffic and website promotion. He will work on Improving On-page and Off-page factors for your website.
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POPS It's Good To Be A New York Congressman!
Rep. Charles Rangel has been using a House of Representatives parking garage for years as free storage space for his old Mercedes-Benz - a violation of congressional rules and a potential new tax woe for the embattled lawmaker... House rules forbid use of the garage for long-term storage more than 45 days - and congressional aides told The Post that Rangel's car has been sitting there for years... A House Web site on parking regulations informs anyone with a space that, under IRS regulations, the benefit of the free parking is considered 'imputed income' and must be declared to the government. The spaces are valued by the House at $290 per month... In addition to the storage issue, the vehicle... runs afoul of other rules set forth on the House Web site because it does not have license plates and does not display a current House parking permit. Rangel, a Congressman for a mere four decades, is as an effective an argument for term limits as Robert Byrd's life support system.
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POPSCaribbean tax haven for the rich The scandal with Rep. Charles Rangel, D.-N.Y., chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, reminded me of a report about tax havens for the rich in the Caribbean.
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POPSMedia / Editorial Backgrounders Backgrounders are sometimes referred to as "editorial backgrounders," since these documents often simply go to the editor of a newspaper to be held in a subject file for future reference. When the newspaper wants to run an editorial about a topic, editors peruse the subject file for relevant facts and figures which help shape their understanding of and opinion about the topic at hand. The source of the backgrounder may or may not be referenced publicly by the newspaper. One more thing: It must pass the "Who cares?" test. Any information you offer the media should be interesting, newsworthy, and useful to their readers, listeners, or viewers.
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POPSWhen Google Owns You So, what happens now? What does Nick do? He’s sent a bunch of emails. But now what? Locked out of ALL of Google’s apps, the apps that I praise daily, the apps where Julien Smith and I are writing a book. Should we be doing that? I didn’t see a problem until this. What if we’re the next Nick? What’s your take? And what do you think of hands off customer service in this case?
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POPSHomosexual behavior due to genetics and environmental factors “Overall, genetics accounted for around 35 per cent of the differences between men in homosexual behavior and other individual-specific environmental factors (that is, not societal attitudes, family or parenting which are shared by twins) accounted for around 64 per cent. In other words, men become gay or straight because of different developmental pathways, not just one pathway.” For women, genetics explained roughly 18 per cent of the variation in same-sex behavior, non-shared environment roughly 64 per cent and shared factors, or the family environment, explained 16 per cent. The study shows that genetic influences are important but modest, and that non-shared environmental factors, which may include factors operating during fetal development, dominate.
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POPSThe Surge is....oh no, not again! "And the GAO report finds just that, that the Bush administration has no plan for what to do next. With the 18-month surge coming to an end in July, the report says that the administration has not set out "strategic goals and objectives in Iraq for the phase after July 2008 or how it intends to achieve them" and "an updated strategy is needed for how the United States will help Iraq achieve key security, legislative, and economic goals." The report acknowledged that violence was down in May (after rising in March and April) and attributed the reduction to three factors: "1) the increase in U.S. combat forces, 2) the creation of nongovernmental security forces such as the Sons of Iraq, and 3) the Mahdi Army's declaration of a cease fire." What do these three conditions have in common? They are all temporary and unlikely to continue in the future.
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POPSGod Bless Little Children
5) POLICE # 1 While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, ‘Are you a cop?’ ‘Yes,’ I answered and continued writing the report. ‘My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?’ ‘Yes, that’s right,’ I told her. ‘Well, then,’ she said as she extended her foot toward me, ‘would you please tie my shoe? ‘ (Don’t ya love that??????) 9) DEATH While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister’s son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his fa
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POPSMedia Ignores Kucinich Impeachment Push The piece goes on: Kucinich support John Kusumi responded angrily at OpEdNews, writing, "The most important thing going happened on Monday night. An event that matters greatly to the course of history and to all Americans. Did you hear about it? Did ABC, CBS, and NBC break into normal programming with special coverage? Are there special alerts and bulletins on the cable news networks, where people can see them? No, no, and no!" I just checked CNN's front page -- no mention of Kucinich. I did learn that more people are sleeping at work . CNN; news you can't possibly use.
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POPSEarth's poles long overdue for reversal I've been following this for at least the last 20 years when I first discovered this phenomenon in Junior High. This is nothing new. The science journals have been writing about this for at least 3 decades. There is a cycle to this, it's not a matter of if but of when.
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POPSWriting Book Reports A lot of students face problems when they are asked to write a book report. Our book report writing guide and articles help you understand the basics of report writing.
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POPSDOD's Defense University: Iraq a "major debacle" "the war in Iraq is a classic case of failure" - from former senior Pentagon official who served under Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, writing report for the Department of Defense's elite school of national defense. Puts McCain and Lieberman at odds with professional military eval of the war.
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