Land give-away in Beatrice, Nebraska

Giving away land without cost will perk the public interest. Or at least that’s the hope. Ever since the Homestead Act of 1862, Beatrice, Neb., has provided land to farmers planning to scratch out a living. That was during very different economic times for America. Today, town officials have drawn up their own Homestead Act of 2010 within the hopes that giving away essentially free land will generate real estate tax revenues to bolster the town’s money reserves. The New York Times reports that towns like Beatrice, Neb., can no longer make any open public land a part; they need tax revenue. Resource for this article – Beatrice, Nebraska, giving away land to generate revenue by Personal Money Store.

Beatrice has inspired numerous small towns to follow

Budget deficits that hamstring the largest cities are deadly to smaller towns like Beatrice, Neb. Dayton, Ohio and Grafton, Ill., are currently on that wavelength, writes the Times. If a traditionally well-off small town like Boca Raton is hurting, you know things are bad. Such small towns are giving away land for a nominal fee or even free of charge, hoping that will bolster the city tax register and remove the burden of lawn maintenance from the town and place it upon the shoulders of private owners. More residents would mean greater cost to extend services, but the hope is how the property tax revenue will make up for that.

Is taxing the non-profits next?

Places like Manchester, N.H., and Concord, Mass., are wondering whether all non-profits should be exempt from taxes. The spending budget shortfall has to be made up in some way. The costs Concord could make up if perhaps a portion of the 15 percent of their total real estate that is tax free changed sides would be tremendous. At what point will organizations that benefit society have to do more in order to keep their communities afloat? Private schools, churches and numerous other organizations could come into question. More and better sources than the New York Times have inveighed long and hard for this to happen.

Beatrice was the home of the original Homestead Act

Perhaps it is appropriate the Nebraska town is drawing attention to the property tax issue. There needs to be a driver of this tax revenue movement, particularly if the National League of Cities’ recent study is as grim as it sounds. According to that organization, “Between now and 2012, America’s cities are likely to experience shortfalls totaling $ 55 billion to $ 85 billion”. Such shortages will demand action. The tax benefit is there if more people are brought in, and building new and improved homes would also raise property values.

Making sense of the dollars

Vocal critics wonder if a city should have the power to give out free land to any “non-taxpaying outsider who asks”. ”What is the value of a lot to us if it is empty?” is what one concerned town mayor asked the Times during their report The harsh reality may revolve around simple dollars and cents.

Additional reading

nytimes.com/2010/07/26/us/26revenue.html?_r=2 and amp;hp

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New Colorado loan company laws to go into effect

You will find new regulations on short term money loans in Colorado that will go into effect very soon. In August of this year, Colorado payday loan direct lenders can have the interest rates and repayment terms of their products capped. The bill is very centrist, weaker than some legislators had hoped for but stronger than industry lobbyists had pulled for.

Keeping the interest rates limited

The interest rates of personal debt loans in Colorado will now be limited to 45 percent annual interest. The term of loans are often much less than a full year, but interest rates are calculated annually. The current loan limits in Colorado are set at 300 percent annual interest. Some lenders said that a 36 percent rate cap was good, but lenders argued that high administration costs and default rates make that rate practically extremely hard to operate under.

Extending the term of the loans

The term on short term installment loans in Colorado is generally set at two weeks or less. When the new legislation goes into effect in August, that term will be extended. There will be a minimum term of six months or longer on all these loans. The lenders are also required to offer the ability to repay the loan in less than six months.

Fees for carrying and originating the loan

The borrowers who offer these loans in Colorado can be allowed to charge fees for originating and carrying the loan. The lender will be able to charge $ 75 to originate the loan.

The payday loan debate in Colorado

On the Senate floor and in the Governor’s office, the debate over instant money loans has been heavy. Some legislators call for payday advance industry businesses to be banned. Just one vote made the main difference in passing the Colorado bill. In the end, payday loans continue to be a controversial issue, and also the state legislature is sure to revisit the issue again.

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Safety first with auto glass repair

Even the best windshield will crack, given time. Left unchecked, those spider webs in glass can lead to shattering. This is, of course, a severe safety issue, as an airbag won’t protect you from flying glass if the windshield breaks when you are driving (for instance during a collision). You certainly can’t go without a windshield, for reasons of safety and garnering the attention of authorities. Thus, knowing a couple of auto glass repair tips can come in handy.

Auto glass repair – know the standards

Auto glass repair is a job that is worth doing right, rather than easily and cheaply. According to Automotive Troubleshooting Secrets , it is highly inadvisable to compromise your safety within the interest of saving money. For one thing, you need for making certain the safety glass being installed is certified by the Federal Motor Car Safety Standards (FMVSS). The urethane adhesive they use should also be certified by the Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standard (AGRSS). That adhesive should be within the bounds of its expiration date, as well. If the product has expired, don’t use it. It should also be compliant with your automaker’s factory rating and by airbag-rated if your car has airbags. Priming materials should also meet AGRSS standards and not have reached expiration.

Know what to search for with certified installers?

If you are using a tech to fix the glass, make sure they’re National Glass Association-documented so that these questions will all check out:

• Make sure the windshield is centered perfectly
• Does the molding fit perfectly and sit flat around the windshield circumference?
• Is the windshield flush to the frame?
• Does the windshield wiper motor nevertheless work?

Don’t forget that FMVSS certification

Many auto glass repair shops want your business, but not all of them will offer the FMVSS mark of certification. When they do a job, the official FMVSS sticker is attached to the new windshield. It is a mark of quality, a sign that this work has been done well. Accepting anything less is unsafe and unwise.

Additional reading

automotivetroubleshootingsecrets.com/auto%20glass%20repair.htm

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Starcraft II- Reviews, release and torrent info

”Starcraft II- Wings of Liberty” is the game being released July 27 for gamers looking for a new game. A single or multiplayer game designed and released by the Activision-Blizzard partnership, “Starcraft II” managed to outsell “Halo Reach” before it was even released. The game has extensive system needs, so if you’re waiting for the release of “Starcraft II,” it might be a good time to make sure your system is up to the task.

'Starcraft II’ being reviewed

Unusually for Activision-Blizzard, you will find no “Starcraft II” reviews legitimately accessible before the release date. No pre-release copies were provided to journalists. ”Starcraft II” reviews found are likely to be from the beta version. ”Starcraft II” could be played by everybody at the same time. “Starcraft II” reviews that are most likely to be honest will come first out of countries that hit midnight earliest — Russia, South Korea and Japan.

The release of ‘Starcraft II’

The original “Starcraft”, which was released in 1998, originally sold 11 million copies. ”Starcraft II” will likely sell a lot considering 800,000 copies have already been pre-ordered. The illegal downloading of “Starcraft II” is likely to be popular as well although it is highly discouraged. Before picking up their “Starcraft II” copy, many people may search for a “Starcraft II” torrent to try out for a bit.

‘Starcraft II’ system needs

”Starcraft II” could be played on PC computers also as on Mac. This is what you’ll need for a PC:

• Windows XP, Vista or 7 with service pack updates
• 2.6 GHz Pentium or AMD processor
• 128 MB PCIe GeForce 6600 GT video card
• Your hard drive needs 12 GB available space
• You need 1.5 GB RAM
• You need a DVD-ROM Drive
• Working broadband Internet (for multiplayer)
• A 1024 x 720 display at the very least

Your Mac will need:

• Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.5.6 or better
• An Intel processor can be needed
• A video card with NVIDA GeForce 8600m GT
• 12 GB hard drive space
• 2 GB RAM accessible
• DVD-ROM drive
• Play multiplayer with broadband internet
• 1024 x 720 or higher display

Find more details on this subject

Web Game Development
securenext.com/

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Clinton wedding bill could be $ 2 million

On July 31, Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton can be exchanging vows. Chelsea Clinton’s wedding is making headlines around the country, not only because of the large names, but because of the estimated $ 2 million price tag. The ultra-secretive wedding is rumored to be prepared for Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, New York.

The small information of the Clinton wedding

The Clinton wedding is sure to be a large deal, given the belief that there will be 500 people or more in attendance. The information of the wedding are being kept very secret. You will find a couple of details that have been discovered, though. Hillary Clinton has revealed she will be wearing Oscar de la Renta. The wedding gown will be made by Vera Wang. The guest list includes friends of the family for instance former British prime ministers and Oprah.

The cost of the Clinton wedding

The cost of the Clinton wedding is one of the biggest part of the news. The wedding will probably cost around $ 2 million. Just the wedding venue is estimated at $ 400,000. Catering from “a wide collection of blue-ribbon area restaurants” is estimated to cost about $ 1,500 per person. Floral arrangements will cost $ 250,000 or so. A less glamorous price tag is the security — expected to run between a quarter and a half of a million dollars. Previous President Bill Clinton has said that his job is to “pick up the bill and lose 15 pounds.”

Conspicuous consumption or doing as expected?

Some people are already calling the Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mazvinsky wedding nothing more than conspicuous consumption. The true question is if Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mazvinsky are just showing off their family’s wealth, or if they’re being reserved. For comparison, Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher spent half a million on their wedding. Kate Middleton and Prince William will probably spend $ 5 million or more on their wedding.

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Racism even with Shirley Sherrod’s resignation from USDA

USDA official Shirley Sherrod has become one of the first targets of right wing news pundits after accusations of Tea Party racism. After Tea Party Express racist Mark Williams went too far and got himself and his group kicked out of the Tea Party, right wing bloggers started digging for a liberal to stick with the racist label. They found a video of Sherrod, who is black, describing an encounter with a white farmer back in the 1980s. A segment of the video was used out of context to portray Sherrod as not giving 100 percent to help the farmer facing bankruptcy.

Republican commentators discuss Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod, the USDA’s Georgia State Director of Rural Development, has resigned after remarks she made on video about race. Because Tea Party Express racist Mark Williams was left out, republican bloggers put the video up on display. Fox News picked up the story. It was shown by CBS News that the video was of a speech Sherrod made at the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet that was in Douglas, GA on March 27. The story talks about a man who was white and needed help with Chapter 12 bankruptcy. She said she struggled with the task because so many black individuals had lost their farms, and she was faced with having to help a white person conserve his land. She ended up referring him to a white lawyer.

Video gets in news- Sherrod quits

Shortly after Fox News and right wing pundits such as Tea Party Express fan Sean Hannity aired the video, the USDA announced that Sherrod had resigned. “There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA, and I strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement. “We have been working hard through the past 18 months to reverse the checkered civil rights history at the department and take the issue of fairness and equality very seriously.”

Sherrod with facts not in video

Sherrod argues the video clip is not in context of the whole situation. She argues, as outlined by CNN, that this video was way before she worked for the USDA. In 1985, Sherrod, who has a master’s degree in community development, served as Director of the Georgia State Office for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which works to help family farmers retain and develop their property. She was only telling the story so people could see how she had moved on and to encourage them to move past race also. She “had to frantically find a lawyer who would file a Chapter 11 to stop the foreclosure,” since the white lawyer did nothing for this farmer. The family of the farmer became family friends of hers throughout the process.

More information available at these websites

CBS News
cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20011026-503544.html
Sean Hannity
americanprogress.org/issues/kfiles/b91585.html
CNN
edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/20/agriculture.employee.naacp/#fbid=w2XX2duDWrt

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90,000 pounds of chicken nuggets recalled by Wal-Mart

In Wal-Mart stores around the country, Great Value brand chicken nuggets are recalled. The Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall affects one pound, 13 ounce bags of nuggets labeled with the Great Value brand. Blue plastic has been found within the nuggets manufactured by Perdue Farms. Article source – Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall affects 90,000 pounds by Personal Money Store.

The recall of Wal-Mart chicken nuggets

On July 21, Perdue Farms and also the USDA announced the Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall. Chunks of blue plastic were found within the nuggets and packages. The chicken nuggets included in the recall are identified by:

• Bags with one pound and 13 ounces of nuggets
• Great Value labeled packaging
• Establishment code number P-33944
• Identified with case code 89008 A0160

Return the nuggets to the store where they were purchased in order to get a refund. The cost of the recall will probably be around a half of a million dollars.

Blue plastic causes recall

The Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall is considered a “Class II” recall. This means that there have been no injuries and there is little to no risk of “adverse health consequences. Perdue Farms has said that it expects that a “small plastic ring” was mixed in with the raw meat.

Making your own chicken nuggets

If you really love chicken nuggets but want to keep away from the Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall, you are able to. Making your own chicken nuggets is quick, cheap, and healthy. All the ingredients for chicken nuggets will cost about $ 15, but will make three to four pounds — 12 to 16 servings. Start by chopping boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders into chunks. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and seasonings like basil together. Dunk the chicken in milk, egg or melted butter, then to the bread crumb mixture. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes. If you need a true fast food taste, deep-fat fry them at 450 for 3 to five minutes.

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New payday lenders limits in Canadian provinces

October 18th, a new law about limits on payday advance cash charges will be applied in Manitoba, Canada. The government finally set the date after two years. Payday cash loan already have limits this ads to in other provinces. Source of article – New personal loan companies limits in Canadian provinces by Personal Money Store.

Manitoba’s new paydayloans limit

$ 17 per $ 100 is the limit on quick cash today. The rate was recommended by the Public Utilities Board in Manitoba. The rules are only allowed to be enforced by the government especially following the PUB tried to do it alone. Payday loans in Manitoba are also limited to 30 percent of a person’s average paycheck amount. This $ 17 must consist of all fees and charges.

Questioning who’s in charge?

It took the federal government a long time to finally discuss Manitoba’s new regulations. This two-year lag was in part because of The Cash Store. The limits created shouldn’t have been created by the Public Utilities Board according to the company. To settle the suit, the government instituted the limits, using the recommendations of the board.

Canadian limits elsewhere

The federal government in Canada given provinces the right to regulate payday loan products in 2006. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia all set their maximum limits already. These limits on charges range between $ 21 and $ 31 per $ 100 lent.

Canadian businesses with paydayloans reaction

The Canadian Payday loan Association has already reacted to the new limits in Manitoba. Recent studies in Canada show that the average cost of offering a $ 100 payday loan in Canada is $ 26. The high rate of defaults combined with short terms of the loan mean the lenders face difficulty in making a consistent profit.

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Top Secret America by the Washington Post calls efficacy of intelligence services into question

Monday, July 19, saw the release of an investigative report by The Washington Post which concerns the health of the intelligence services of the US Government. The report is titled Top Secret America, and it has created a huge stir. The findings of the report are already being contested by big players in the intelligence field. The Intelligence Community, which evidently is a proper noun, is painted in a fairly negative light by Top Secret America. Source of article – Top Secret America by the Washington Post causes intelligence row by Personal Money Store.

The portrait Top Secret America paints is not the greatest

Top Secret America took two years for The Washington Post to put together. The amount of agencies, bureaus and contractors working on intelligence has grown exponentially since September 2001. The intelligence field is about secrecy, and the total cost and activities of all these groups may not be knowable. The report also claims the intelligence community is not well suited to efficiency, consensus, and lacks enough focus to be truly effictive. The piece contains references to a recent interview with Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, who bemoans the lack of focus and clear info from the intelligence field.

Intelligence Community fires back

There was a response issued soon after the report from the intelligence field. The national Director of Intelligence, David Gompert, easily issued a press release that condemned the report for not being truly reflective of the Intelligence Community, and the community itself was constantly working on improving itself.

What effect the report can have

It is hard to know what effect, if any, the report could have. The nature of the intelligence business is that it is clandestine. If a spy operation goes well, the success of the mission might never see the light of day. However, the U.S. Intelligence Community has had some spectacular failures. For instance, there was the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and also the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Christmas bomber nearly pulled his plot off, and authorities were tipped off about him. The Fort Hood shooter, a U.S. Army Major, had been communicating with anti-American groups. The intelligence field may have some very visible blemishes, but it is hard to keep faith when you can’t see the successes.

Citations

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/ (PDF)

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No iPhone recall, says Jobs at Apple press conference

In the wake of turmoil over a possibly faulty antenna on the iPhone 4.0, an Apple Press Conference was scheduled. An iPhone recall won’t be happening. iPhone 4.0 owners can sign up to get a free case for their iPhones to fix the antenna problem. Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed the antenna as well as some other issues at the Apple press conference.

It’s called Antennagate

A partial transcript is accessible on the Wall Street Journal website. Steve Jobs started the Apple press conference by referring to the issue as Antennagate and saying the issue is common to all smartphones, not just the iPhone 4.0. He pointed out that other smartphones, like the Blackberry, have the same problem. Jobs did confess the iPhone 4.0 did drop less than one more call per 100 calls than the iPhone 3GS.

What will Apple do about it?

There are bumpers you are able to buy, but not enough of them. So Apple is giving a free case for any person who bought the iPhone 4.0. You can get the free case until Sept 30, and you also can get a refund if you bought the bumpers. Those who bough 3rd party cases for their iPhone 4.0 are out of luck. For the next 30 days, people who nevertheless aren’t happy with the iPhone 4.0 can get their money back.

What set off Antennagate

What Antennagate is about is a common failing of smartphones was found in the iPhone 4.0. It drops an almost negligent amount of calls more than the iPhone 3GS. About one half of one percent of the individuals who bought the iPhone observed it, and freaked out. The media then exploited it.

Rest assured, Apple is working on it, as they spent $ 100 million designing the antenna to start with. AT and T reported fewer than 2 percent of iPhone 4.0 buyers have returned their phones, in contrast to 6 percent of iPhone 3GS buyers.

More information on this topic

blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/16/live-blogging-apples-press-conference/

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