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So uh... what's going on here? I must've been inside way too much lately trying to keep cool cause all of a sudden our roads are turning to gravel. Anyone know why they went this route? Money I'm sure, but after paying some company to come in and fix a ton of pot holes throughout the town...??

These are rather large pictures so if you have a slow connection it might take a while.

http://www.machzracing.com/pictures/No%20Trespass%201.jpg

http://www.machzracing.com/pictures/No%20Trespass%202.jpg

Oh, and these will be posted up on some property within Howard for certain city officials that apparently don't have a clue.

Was bored one weekend as there was nothing on TV so decided to look online and see if there was anything new out to watch and happened upon this documentary. I wasn't sure about it at first and it was a bit slow but it kept getting more and more interesting as it went on and turned out to be awesome. I think it is a must watch documentary, especially if you've seen Super Size Me.

It starts off as a sort of follow up to Super Size Me but instead he sees if he can actually lose weight eating only fast food. As he does more research it opens up to a very interesting look at our entire diet. Basically how what we've been told about how we should eat by the government and a few "scientists" is completely wrong.

You can watch it online at Hulu here http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head and I think it is also available on Netflix online if you have that.

[INSANITY]

I just have no words for how horrendous this is. This... INSANITY... MUST be stopped.

http://www.infowars.com/government-seizes-newborn-baby-over-political-beliefs-of-parents/


Here's his profile page on Son's of Liberty Riders: http://americanlibertyriders.ning.com/profile/JohnCIrish?xg_source=activity

I truly never thought I would see this here, in such a small town, but I guess no place is immune to such fraud. Its a sad day when politicians are getting votes from Howard by a...











Trashcan!!






Ok... that's my humor for the day.

Pretty amazing video to watch... http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/44372/

[each]

So I just found out recently, the very hard way, the big banks like Bank of America are using a very nasty practice with their debit cards to maximize their profits and wanted to let everyone know so they can keep an eye out for it and avoid it.

They push their debit card service, saying it is more convenient and easier to use than checks... which, it really is. They're great. You can use them just like a credit card or as a debit card anywhere your type of card is accepted (Visa, Master Card, etc.). What they don't tell you and put in the fine print is that they process your transactions a little differently than one would think, which I'll cover below.

First of all, they say you automatically get overdraft protection for free when you get the card. Since I had never had one before I thought that meant it would keep me from overdrafting my account should I lose track of how much money I have... well, it was completely the opposite. Overdraft protection actually lets you overdraft your card to basically give you credit with the bank. They charge a $35 fee for each overdraft and allow the payment to go through. In some cases, that can actually be pretty nice. Say for instance you remember at the end of the day you need to make a car payment and know you don't quite have enough money but since they allow you to overdraft for a $35 fee you can make the payment, pay the fee, and not have to worry about being late on your payment. Once you get your statement, and the little notice they send you letting you know you overdraft your account, you find out that is most definitely not the case.

Through your day's transactions they process your most expensive purchase first down to the least expensive, regardless of the actual time of day of the purchase. They do this claiming that it allows for your more important purchases to go through, like house or car payments as they tend to be the more expensive purchases. Well, that right there is actually a farce in itself considering they allow the payments to go through in the first place with their "overdraft protection". What does this do, you might ask... Depending on the number of purchases you made throughout the day, it can turn what you thought was one overdraft charge of $35 dollars into numerous $35 overdraft charges.

Say you have $500 in your bank account.
- You start your day by getting some breakfast for $5.00
- You decide to go shopping for some clothes and spend $65.00
- You get some lunch while shopping for $10.00
- You need some groceries for the week and spend $200.00
- You grab some dinner before heading home for $10.00
- You realize before heading home you need to make a car payment so drop off your $250 car payment, knowing that would put you over the limit but knowing you would only be charged a $35 fee for this.

That's not how the bank sees it, sadly. Here is how your transactions actually get processed and removed from you account:
1st charge: $250 car payment
2nd: $200 groceries
3rd: $65 clothes (now you are over your limit and have just been charged an overdraft fee of $35 dollars)
4th: $10 dinner (overdraft, $35 fee)
5th: $10 lunch (overdraft, $35 fee)
6th: $5 breakfast (overdraft, $35 fee)

What you thought was a single $35 fee turned in to $140 worth of fees... and there's nothing you can do about it. Its completely legal. I took Bank of America to small claims court over this unbelievable policy but since it was not illegal could not get the money I lost due to this. What's worse... you don't even have to overdraft your account, to get hit with these fees. If you transfer or deposit money after usually 3 pm, it won't show up into your account till the next day so if you spend money thinking the money is there, you'll be hit with the fees.

Here's the kicked to all of it. The big banks like Bank of America are making... BILLIONS a year off of this. BILLIONS of dollars of hard earned money is being sucked from the honest worker every year due to their unbelievable practice. I've seen reports that banks like Bank of America are making nearly $2 BILLION each. That's nearly $2 BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR that Bank of America, by itself, made from this practice.

What's sick is with the current technology, using a debit card, they know exactly the moment you buy something. They instantly know the amount that was charged (except for in some cases using pre-pay at a gas pump) so they could easily avoid overdraft fees by not allowing the card to be charged when the amount will put you over the limit. I know they can do this... because our very own Howard State Bank does this. These big banks do this to make unbelievable profits from us.

On the gas pump thing, certain places do the card differently. Generally the system only checks if your card has any money then allows you pump the gas. Some check to see if you have at least $50 while some I've heard only check if you have $1. In those cases I could see the potential of overdrafting or causing problems as it only checks if some money is there then charges after you fill up, but I'm not positive.

Anyway... just be careful. If you have a debit card with a big bank like Bank of America, check their policies and make sure you aren't getting screwed. Something seriously needs to be done about this and congress actually has a bill in to stop this, but that bill was started a couple years ago at least and it seems they are more worried about taking over health care than saving Americans billions of dollars a year in ridiculous fees.

Kind of bored today and this is something that always bugs me being a car guy. I hate leather seats in cars (actually don't even really like it in the house either to be honest). Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, unless you get some really nice ones they aren't often that comfortable, and when it comes to support they tend to not keep you in place like cloth seats. Unless you take good care of them they tend to wear much faster than cloth, getting hard, cracking, even tearing rather easily.

What is weird to me is it seems like leather is the preferred option, even in sports vehicles which just absolutely baffles me (in the sport vehicle scenario).

But anyway... what is your option and opinion?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27207215/

Basically... MSNBC is attacking "Joe the Plumber" because he doesn't have a plumbers license. Joe claims he doesn't need one since he's just a worker - others claim he does... - WHO CARES?!?!?! Why are they attacking this random plumber because he has no license, you may ask? Because he asked Obama about his tax plan, how Obama would raise the taxes and Joe would have to pay more since the business he is wanting to buy makes over $250,000 a year. Obama, in a nutshell, started talking about redistribution of wealth... taking from the successful, giving to the poor (many of whom don't work and aren't even taxed mind you).

This is so unbelievably pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets attack a man for actually getting Obama to expose his true colors in plain, clear words. Its like they're trying to discredit this guy in an attempt to hurt McCain... which is absolutely pointless because this guy has absolutely no ties to McCain and has only got Obama to expose himself. The damage is done. Obama said the words. Joe didn't do anything but ask a question. Why? WHY? This is completely WORTHLESS reporting... I'm just glad MSNBC has absolutely horrible ratings and hopefully they'll continue to drop till they are no longer in existence.

Alright... rant off.

This is simply unbelievable... and unacceptable.

These are some questions posted by a friend of mine at another forum.

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1. In 1981, Obama was at Occidental and was transferring to Columbia. In between the two he went on a 3-week trip to Pakistan with Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, two wealthy Pakistanis he met in school. He has never written about this trip in his books and the only mention of it was during a private San Fran fundraiser in which he stated it "enhanced his foreign policy qualifications". What did he do while there and how did it enhance his foreign policy qualifications? I've visited other countries on vacation and I sure don't feel that I'm more qualified for doing so. What went on?

2. After graduating from Columbia, Obama joined ACORN in order to work with poverty-stricken areas of Chicago as a Community Organizer. Per Obama himself, his role was to go into the areas and stir up the residents concerning a particular issue in order to get them to vote a certain way or to support a select issue. Did he actually do anything else other than try to influence people to support ACORNs select issues?

3. Obama entered Harvard in 1988. He was able to get into the school via the help of Dr. Khalid al-Mansour (AKA: Don Warden) who made some calls and pulled some strings and he helped pay for his Harvard education as well. Regardless, how did Obama get associated with this guy to the point that he received favors from him? FWIW, al-Mansour himself is a lawyer, an orthodox Muslim, a black nationalist, an educator, an outspoken enemy of Israel, alleged that the United States was plotting genocide against black Americans in his book "The Lost Books of Africa Rediscovered", is a mentor to Black Panther Party founder Huey Newton and also Bobby Seale, used his influence in representing the Royal Saudi family, etc.etc.etc... Where did he meet this guy and why has this person gone so far out of his way to ensure that Obama went through Harvard? al-Mansour has also given over $100k to the Obama campaign. What's the story?

4. What is the real connection between Obama and Bill Ayers? For those who don't know who Ayers is, Bill co-founded the militant organization "Weatherman" in 1969. He was responsible for blowing up statues, planting numerous bombs including a Pentagon explosion that impacted missions in Vietnam, bombing of the NY police department and the capitol building, among others. Their motto was "Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, Kill your parents." For some reason, Bill was never convicted of his involvement with the crimes even though he was a fugitive for 10 years with his wife, he told the New York Times in September 2001, "I don't regret setting bombs...I feel we didn't do enough."

The earliest contact I can find between Obama and Ayers was that they were on the board of the Woods Fund together from 1999-2002 (8-person board) although I do see than Ayers hosted a "meet and greet" for Obama at his house in the mid-90's. Obama announced his bid for Senator while at Ayers home as well. They are neighbors and both serve on their community board together.

So, what is the real connection? Initially Obamas campaign claimed they barely knew each other but Ayres seemed to know Obama before they were both on the Woods Fund board as he had hosted a party for Obama prior to that time. What is the truth and why is Obama associating himself with another militant?

5. The Rev Wright issue. Why did Obama feel it necessary to initially lie about hearing Rev Wright, who he had on numerous occasions stated him as his mentor? He was 20 years in that church and was fine proclaiming his closeness to Wright until the news media actually brought it to light, at which time all mention of his association was initially removed off the official Obama website (and at which time the link to the Black Panthers was removed).


6. What was the real point of pretty much calling his grandmother a racist and why did he continually state that he was brought up in a poor household? Street cred for his Senate bid? If that's the case, who else is he willing to sacrifice or should I consider that a 1-time deal?

7. Where are the details of his recent trip to the middle east? It seems he had a conversation with the Iraq Gov head in order to get them to stall a troop negotiation with the current US Administration, which is against the law, but what other promises and discussions did he have with leaders there?

8. Being the candidate of CHANGE, why are all of his financial advisers from failed companies that pressed forth sub-prime loans? Seems to be more to it than simply trying to get people with knowledge into his side of the ropes while blaming the Bush Admin for the whole mess. Seems he would have new people in his corner in order to actually inject change instead of the "same ole people" who have gotten us where we are today. Is there something I am missing here and can you explain it to me?

9. Why did he vote "present" over 100 times while in the Illinois State Senate? Did he not understand that "yes or no" were selections?

10. Why won't he admit that the McCain suggested "surge" in Iraq has worked? Why has he changed his stance on immediately pulling out all troops, thus ignoring the generals on the ground, to saying he would not necessarily pull the troops out initially (see question 7 as well in which he tried to stop troop movement negotiations)? He slams McCain for "100 years" remark yet his current plan is to keep troops over there on a US base which is the same thing McCain has been saying all along, what is the point of this?

11. What is his real stance on oil? He has stated that he is not necessarily interested in lowering the cost of gas as it stops people from driving and was totally against drilling. He has since changed his stance of the subject and is for drilling as long as it is 50+ miles outside US which is not where there is any oil, so where does he really stand on the issue? He also proposes windfall taxes on oil companies, won't that further punish US citizens who are already in a money crunch due to gas prices? What is the real point of his multiple stances?

12. How much does he really plan on increasing capital gains taxes and the like? He wants to take away the Bush tax cuts but then makes statements that he would not do so initially upon being President because it would hurt the fragile economy. If that is the case, won't it hurt the economy regardless or is this simply a "tax the rich" initiative because the "rich" deserve to be punished? Explain his real thoughts on this because he seems all over the board.

13. Where is he going to get the money to support the rest of his healthcare and welfare initiatives? Explain how much I will be liable for and exactly how it will help the people and the economy as a whole.

14. How is he going to give the UN billions upon billions of dollars for Global Poverty, any limitations on what the UN does with it? Any US oversight? Where does that money come from and why should we not use it to fix our own issues first? What coffer does it come from that is not hit via #13?

15. How is he going to fix the current financial institution problem we have concerning sub-prime loans and companies going under? I understand he has a number of the instigators on his staff so should I assume they know a way out of it just as they knew how to get us in this mess?

Obama says he wants to lower taxes for working Americans meaning payroll taxes. Only those making 200,000 to 250,000 will see an increase in their income tax rates. Of course, Obama also intends to restore capital gains taxes to a 28% rate from the current 15%, so that's an 87% increase for any family who holds mutual funds, and that's about half of all US families.

Biden is essentially calling me and many other citizens un-American because we oppose tax increases...

In a Good Morning America interview today, Biden stated that, in his words, "it's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."

"We should try to correct the problems that caused this. And what's caused this? The profligate tax cuts to the very, very wealthy that John wants to continue. What's caused this is the failure to have regulation so that, in fact — John talks about these CEOs getting these big bailout packages."


Also, if you think the Bush tax cuts only helped the rich... here's an interesting article for you: http://www.slate.com/id/2108201

Found here: http://www.patriotfiles.com/fo...71127

Good and funny read.

-----------------------------

1. Banning guns works, which is why New York, DC, and Chicago cops need guns.

2. Washington DC's low murder rate of 69 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Indianapolis' high murder rate of 9 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control.

3. Statistics showing high murder rates justify gun control but statistics showing increasing murder rates after gun control are "just statistics."

4. The Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban, both of which went into effect in 1994, are responsible for the decrease in violent crime rates, which have been declining since 1991.

5. We must get rid of guns because a deranged lunatic may go on a shooting spree at any time and anyone who would own a gun out of fear of such a lunatic is paranoid.

6. The more helpless you are, the safer you are from criminals.

7. An intruder will be incapacitated by tear gas or oven spray, but if shot with a .357 Magnum will get angry and kill you.

8. A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.

9. When confronted by violent criminals, you should "put up no defense — give them what they want, or run" (Handgun Control Inc. Chairman Pete Shields, Guns Don't Die - People Do, 1981, p. 125).

10. The New England Journal of Medicine is filled with expert advice about guns; just like Guns and Ammo has some excellent articles on heart surgery.

11. One should consult an automotive engineer for safer seatbelts, a civil engineer for a better bridge, a surgeon for spinal paralysis, a computer programmer for Y2K problems, and Sarah Brady for firearms expertise.

12. The 2nd Amendment, ratified in 1787, refers to the National Guard, which was created 130 years later by an act of Congress in 1917.

13. The National Guard, funded by the federal government, occupying property leased to the federal government, using weapons owned by the federal government, punishing trespassers under federal law, is a "state militia".

14. These phrases,"right of the people peaceably to assemble," "right of the people to be secure in their homes," "enumeration's herein of certain rights shall not be construed to disparage others retained by the people," and "The powers not delegated herein are reserved to the states respectively, and to the people," all refer to individuals, but "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" refers to the state.

15. We don't need guns against an oppressive government, because the Constitution has internal safeguards, but we should ban and seize all guns, thereby violating the 2nd, 4th, and 5th amendments to that Constitution.

16. Rifles and handguns aren't necessary to national defense, which is why police departments, federal enforcement agencies, the armed forces, and the US Coast guard have millions of them.

17. Private citizens shouldn't have handguns, because they serve no military purpose, and private citizens shouldn't have "assault rifles," because they are military weapons.

18. The ready availability of guns today, with waiting periods, background checks, fingerprinting, government forms, et cetera, is responsible for recent school shootings, compared to the lack of school shootings in the 40's, 50's and 60's, which resulted from the availability of guns at hardware stores, surplus stores, gas stations, variety stores, mail order, et cetera.

19. The NRA's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign about kids handling guns is propaganda, and the anti-gun lobby's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign is responsible social activity.

20. Guns are so complex that special training is necessary to use them properly, and so simple to use that they make murder easy.

21. A handgun, with up to 4 controls, is far too complex for the typical adult to learn to use, as opposed to an automobile that only has 20.

22. Women are just as intelligent and capable as men but a woman with a gun is "an accident waiting to happen" and gun makers' advertisements aimed at women are "preying on their fears."

23. Ordinary people in the presence of guns turn into slaughtering butchers but revert to normal when the weapon is removed.

24. Guns cause violence, which is why there are so many mass killings at gun shows.

25. A majority of the population supports gun control, just like a majority of the population supported owning slaves.

26. A self-loading small arm can legitimately be considered to be a "weapon of mass destruction" or an "assault weapon."

27. Most people can't be trusted, so we should have laws against guns, which most people will abide by because they can be trusted.

28. The right of online pornographers to exist cannot be questioned because it is constitutionally protected by the Bill of Rights, but the use of handguns for self defense is not really protected by the Bill of Rights.

29. Free speech entitles one to own newspapers, transmitters, computers, and typewriters, but self-defense only justifies bare hands.

30. The ACLU is good because it uncompromisingly defends certain parts of the Constitution, and the NRA is bad, because it uncompromisingly defends other parts of the Constitution.

31. Charlton Heston, as former president of the NRA, is a shill who should be ignored, but Michael Douglas, as a representative of Handgun Control, Inc., is an ambassador for peace who is entitled to an audience at the UN arms control summit.

32. Police operate with backup within groups, which is why they need larger capacity pistol magazines than do "civilians" who must face criminals alone and therefore need less ammunition.

33. We should ban "Saturday Night Specials" and other inexpensive guns because it's not fair that poor people have access to guns too.

34. Police officers, who qualify with their duty weapons once or twice a year, have some special Jedi-like mastery over handguns that private citizens can never hope to obtain.

35. Private citizens don't need a gun for self-protection because the police are there to protect them even though the Supreme Court says the police are not responsible for their protection.

36. Citizens don't need to carry a gun for personal protection but police chiefs, who are desk-bound administrators that work in a building full of cops, DO need a gun.

37. "Assault weapons" have no purpose other than to kill large numbers of people. The police need assault weapons. You do not.

38. When Microsoft pressures its distributors to give Microsoft preferential promotion, that's bad; but when the Federal government pressures cities to buy guns only from Smith & Wesson, that's good.

39. Trigger locks do not interfere with the ability to use a gun for defensive purposes, which is why you see police officers with one on their duty weapon.

40. Handgun Control, Inc., says they want to "keep guns out of the wrong hands". Guess what? You've got the wrong hands.

Edit: As advised below I removed my post but I am saving it for a later time. Bites that you can't even talk about the truth without the chance of getting in trouble these days.

I'll be sure to post about it as soon as it is all over.

One of my best friends since about he 6th grade is in the army and has been over in Iraq for about 6-7 months now and is getting some well deserved leave. He's flying back to the states right now and will be visiting Howard again this week. I definitely need to take him around bar hopping or something to get him some stress relief after being over there for a while.

I've definitely been anxious waiting for him to get back so I'll likely be gone for a little while going around drinking and such with him while he's here.

Its a bit slow in here... I think everyone must be enjoying the nice new weather outside. Minus all of the sweat and bugs I'm enjoying it a bit. I can finally drive with the top down all day woohoo (can't forget the sunscreen when doing that though lol)

What's everyones plans for the summer?

http://www.acurrentaffair.com/funny/faiting_goats_small.wmv

If a high tax on cigarettes is to discourage smoking... what is a high tax on income for?

Found this site that has more cool information about the county's past.

http://www.kshs.org/genealogists/places/counties.php?county=EK

hopefully these projections are correct, i'll be one happy camper tomorrow if they are.