HOLY CRAP! A TAX BITES THE DUST!

Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Something worth calling home about

Consumers can claim a standard $30 to $60 refund next year for a tax on long-distance telephone calls that the government has declared invalid, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.

Telephone customers had been paying the 3 percent federal excise tax on local and long-distance service. The government last month stopped collecting the tax on long-distance calls after businesses repeatedly fought the tax in court and won.

Next year, consumers can use their 2006 tax returns to claim a refund on long-distance telephone taxes paid since March 2003. The standard refund starts at $30 and increases by $10 for each additional exemption claimed on a tax return, up to $60. A married couple with two dependent children, for example, could claim a $60 refund.

The IRS will add a line to the 2006 tax returns, enabling individuals to claim the refund. There will also be a form for people not otherwise required to file tax returns, so they can request their money back.

"These amounts save taxpayers from locating 41 months of old phone bills and analyzing these bills to determine the taxes paid," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson.

The IRS said that it based the refund amounts on telephone usage data, and that the figures reflect averages for households of different sizes.
Individuals do not have to use the standard amount. Consumers can instead add up the taxes they paid between March 2003 and July 2006 and apply for a refund.

I KNEW I should have kept those phone bills!

In recent years, multiple businesses successfully challenged the tax because it applied to long-distance calls billed according to time and distance, a billing formula mostly replaced by flat-rate calling plans.

The Treasury Department has said it expects to return $13 billion to phone customers, including businesses and other organizations.

Golly, I wonder if that means we'll have to cut back on the number of rubbers we're shipping to Africa?

Betrayed by your old cell phone!

Times-Reporter: Think you deleted your personal information? Think again

Don’t tell your cell phone any secrets. It might not keep them.

Secondhand phones purchased over the Internet surrendered credit card numbers, banking passwords, business secrets and even evidence of adultery.

One married man’s girlfriend sent a text message to his cell phone: His wife was getting suspicious. Perhaps they should cool it for a few days.

“So,” she wrote, “I’ll talk to u next week.”

“You want a break from me? Then fine,” he wrote back.

Later, the married man bought a new phone. He sold his old one on eBay for $290.

The guys who bought it now know his secret.

Ouch!

The married man had followed the directions in his phone’s manual to erase all his information, including lurid exchanges with his lover. But it wasn’t enough.

Selling your old phone once you upgrade to a fancier model can be like handing over your diaries. All sorts of sensitive information pile up inside our cell phones, and deleting it may be more difficult than you think.

A popular practice among sellers, resetting the phone, often means sensitive information appears to have been erased. But it can be resurrected using specialized yet inexpensive software found on the Internet.

A company, Trust Digital of McLean, Va., bought 10 phones on eBay this summer to test phone-security tools it sells for businesses. The phones all were fairly sophisticated models capable of working with corporate e-mail systems.

Curious software experts at Trust Digital resurrected information on nearly all the used phones, including the racy exchanges between guarded lovers.

The other phones contained:

– One company’s plans to win a multimillion-dollar federal transportation contract.

– E-mails about another firm’s $50,000 payment for a software license.

– Bank accounts and passwords.

– Details of prescriptions and receipts for one worker’s utility payments.
The recovered information was equal to 27,000 pages – a stack of printouts 8 feet high.

“We found just a mountain of personal and corporate data,” said Nick Magliato, Trust Digital’s chief executive.

Shhhhh! Don't trust the machines.

Many of the phones were owned personally by the sellers but crammed with sensitive corporate information, underscoring the blurring of work and home. “They don’t come with a warning label that says, ’Be careful.’ The data on these phones is very important,” Magliato said.

One phone surrendered the secrets of a chief executive at a small technology company in Silicon Valley. It included details of a pending deal with Adobe Systems Inc. and e-mail proposals from a potential Japanese partner:

“If we want to be exclusive distributor in Japan, what kind of business terms you want?” asked the executive in Japan.

Trust Digital surmised that the U.S. chief executive gave his old phone to a former roommate, who used it briefly then sold it for $400 on eBay. Researchers found e-mails covering different periods for both men, who used the same address until recently.

Experts said giving away an old phone is commonplace. Consumers upgrade their cell phones on average about every 18 months.

“Most people toss their phones after they’re done; a lot of them give their old phones to family members or friends,” said Miro Kazakoff, a researcher at Compete Inc. of Boston who follows mobile phone sales and trends. He said selling a used phone – which sometimes can fetch hundreds of dollars – is increasingly popular.

The 10 phones Trust Digital studied represented popular models from leading manufacturers. All the phones stored information on flash memory chips, the same technology found in digital cameras and some music players.

Flash memory is inexpensive and durable. It is slow to erase information in ways that make it impossible to recover, so manufacturers compensate with methods that erase data less completely but don’t make a phone seem sluggish.

Phone manufacturers usually provide instructions for safely deleting a customer’s information, but it’s not always convenient or easy to find. Research in Motion Ltd. has built into newer Blackberry phones an easy-to-use wipe program.

Palm Inc., which makes the popular Treo phones, puts directions deep within its Web site for what it calls a “zero out reset.” It involves holding down three buttons simultaneously while pressing a fourth tiny button on the back of the phone.

That sounds like fun. Kind of like Twister.

But it’s so awkward to do that even Palm says it may take two people. A Palm executive, Joe Fabris, said the company made the process deliberately clumsy because it doesn’t want customers accidentally erasing their information.

Nice.

Trust Digital resurrected erased e-mails and other information from a used Treo phone provided by the Associated Press after it was reset and appeared empty. The AP ordinarily purges its phones the correct way, but for demonstration purposes turned over a reporter’s phone that had been simply reset to see whether Trust Digital could recover the information. It did.

Once the AP phone was properly wiped using Palm’s awkward zero-out technique, no information could be recovered.

“The tools are out there” for hackers and thieves to rummage through deleted data on used phones, Trust Digital’s chief technology officer, Norm Laudermilch, said. “It definitely does not take a Ph.D.”

Fabris, Palm’s director of wireless solutions, said after AP’s inquiries that the company may warn customers in an upcoming newsletter about the risks of selling their used phones. “It might behoove us to raise this issue,” Fabris said.

Dean Olmstead of Fresno, Calif., sold his Treo phone on eBay after using it six months. He didn’t know about Palm’s instructions to delete safely all his personal information. Now he’s worried.

“I probably should have done that,” Olmstead said. “Folks need to know this. I’m hoping my phone goes to a nice person.”

Uh...Huh?

Guy Martin of Albuquerque, N.M., wasn’t as concerned someone will snoop on his secrets. He also sold his Treo phone on eBay and didn’t delete his information completely.

“I’m not that kind of valuable person, so I’m not really worried,” said Martin, who runs the http://www.imusteat.com/ Web site. “I guarantee that three-quarters of the people who buy these phones don’t think about this.”

Guy, a 25% bad guy rate can due a heck of a lot of damage. And work on that self-image, will ya?

Trust Digital found no evidence that thieves or corporate spies are routinely buying used phones to mine them for secrets, Magliato said. “I don’t think the bad guys have figured this out yet.”

They have now.

President Bush’s former cybersecurity adviser, Howard Schmidt, carried up to four phones and e-mail devices – and said he was always careful with them. To sanitize his older Blackberry devices, Schmidt deliberately would type his password incorrectly 11 times, which caused data on them to self-destruct.

Cool. Just like on Mission:Impossible. (Not the creepy Tom Cruise M:I movies. The real one with Peter Graves, Martin Landau, and Greg Morris.)

“People are just not aware how much they’re exposing themselves,” Schmidt said. “This is more than something you pick up and talk on. This is your identity. There are people really looking to exploit this.”

Executives at Trust Digital agreed to review with the AP the information extracted from the used phones on the condition the AP would not identify the sellers or their employers. They also showed the AP receipts from the Internet auctions in which they bought the 10 phones over the summer for $192 to $400 each.

Trust Digital said it intends to return all the phones to their original owners and said it kept the recovered personal information on a single computer under lock and disconnected from its corporate network at its headquarters in northern Virginia.

Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a computer security expert, said phone owners should decide whether to auction their used equipment for a few hundred dollars – and risk revealing their secrets – or effectively toss their old phones under a large truck to dispose of them.

What about a case like the Lothario whose affair Trust Digital discovered?

“I’d run over the phone,” Zatko said. “Maybe give it an acid bath.”

Not to mention the fact we haven't finished off the bad guys yet.

The Olympian: Soldiers re-enlisting for bonuses and pride

Staff Sgt. Michael Obleton has already done two tours in Iraq.

He might even return to the front again - a possibility that never occurred to him when he first joined the active Army in 1997, long before the 2003 Iraq invasion.

But Obleton is determined to continue the fight. Today, he will raise his right hand and swear once again to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies."

Bless and protect him and all our troops, Lord.

As he recites his oath of service, Obleton will become the 64,200th Army soldier to re-enlist this year - allowing both the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve to meet their retention goals early this year.

While the Army struggled last year to meet recruitment goals, it has been able to keep soldiers in the service by using a growing list of incentives and escalating bonuses.

"The bonuses have a lot to do with it, along with a feeling of accomplishment that comes with doing their mission," said Army spokesman Henry Minitrez.

Here's another reason not to tailgate.

How about a rolling meth lab in that Maxima ahead of you?

The Denver Channel: Mobile Meth Lab Found In Car Driven By Wanted Man

A mobile meth lab was found in the trunk of a car driven by a man who was wanted on a felony drug warrant for manufacturing meth, police said Thursday.

Investigators said they spotted John Paul Roper, 38, of Aurora driving a Nissan Maxima on East Colfax Avenue near Peoria Street Wednesday afternoon.

Police pulled Roper over and arrested him in connection with felony drug charges.

During a search of the vehicle, investigators said they found in the trunk what is commonly referred to as a box laboratory, or "box lab."

The mobile lab had highly dangerous items used to make methamphetamine, police said, and together they amounted to hazardous waste. Police said the materials could have exploded if not handled properly.

Police said they also found meth in its finished state in the car.

Roper is alleged to have been involved in several storage locker burglaries throughout the Denver Metro area, some of which were turned into clandestine meth labs, police said.

In 2003, Roper was arrested on charges of possession of felony drugs, marijuana and narcotics equipment, police said. He has an arrest record that extends to other agencies in the Denver Metro area.

Roper is being held on a $250,000 bond.

Behold the health care system second only to Cuba's!

If any of you Canucks are planning to get sick, you better get down here before we close our borders. Or you run out of doctors.

Vancouver Province: Doctor shortage to increase by 2015 without foreign-trained physicians: study

CALGARY - The government should stop regulating who gets into Canadian medical schools and consider allowing qualified potential physicians to foot their own training costs, says a new study from the Fraser Institute.

Witness. LeBronze.

I, for one, am not stunned.

ESPN: Upset special: Greece stuns U.S. in FIBA semis

Greece used a sizzling stretch of shooting across the middle two quarters to turn a 12-point deficit into a 14-point lead, and beat the Americans 101-95 Friday in the semifinals of the FIBA World Championship.

When will we realize the NBA does not play basketball and has not played it for decades? The NBA plays StarBall. Nobody in the Association plays the team game. A group of superstars will always lose to a good team.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Beatrice da Silva Meneses, foundress of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.


Today's reading is 1 Corinthians 1:17-25.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 10, 11.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 25:1-13.


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from Christ's side, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; O good Jesus, hear me; Within Thy wounds hide me; Suffer me not to be separated from Thee; From the malicious enemy defend me; In the hour of my death call me; And bid me come unto Thee; That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever. Amen.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.


Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Prayer For Vocations

Send forth your Spirit, Lord, into the hearts of your faithful people, that we may be conscious of our vocation to holiness and sevice to others. Grant that many of us may dedicate ourselves to You through the priesthood and the religious life.We pray especially for the needs of our own parish and diocese. Grant that we may always have sufficient good and holy priests, and dedicated Sisters to serve our commumities.We pray, too, for religious orders; that generous men may join them to become zealous missionaries in preaching the Gospel in word and action, especially to the poor and abandoned.We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.


Prayer Before The Crucifix

Behold, O kind and gentle Jesus, I kneel before Thee and pray that Thou would impress upon my heart the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment. At the same time, with sorrow I meditate on Thy five precious wounds, having in mind the words which David spoke in prophecy: "They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones."

Sad But Not Surprising Headline of the Day.

Please, please, please, kiddies, remember Mike Tyson in your prayers.

Canada.com: Mike Tyson becomes just another freak show on the Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Some crowded around the ring with cell phone cameras in hand. Others sat at a bar not 6 metres away drinking beer. Still others ignored it all and smoked cigarettes and played slot machines.

Mike Tyson used to put on displays. On this day, he was just on display. Down the street, tourists watched lions and dolphins between breaks at the slot machines. In the Aladdin hotel, they didn't need to move from their seats at the bar to see another curiosity in a makeshift ring.

The former baddest man on the planet has been reduced to this - just another freak show on the Las Vegas Strip.

The signs said he was in training, and that was enough to lure a few hundred people to the makeshift ring set up just outside the casino's buffet restaurant. Training for what was a question better left unanswered.
Tyson once made $35 million US for one fight and more than $300 million in his career before blowing it all. Now he's a casino sideshow, trying to make a few bucks the only way he knows how in a sport he no longer can stand.

"I truly hate fighting," Tyson said. "I've got a bad taste in my mouth."

On this day, Tyson is contrite, seemingly embarrassed his life has been reduced to this. He says he's uncomfortable going out in front of people masquerading as the fighter he once was when he knows it's all really a charade.

But he owes his creditors millions, needs the money desperately and took up the casino on its offer to make some.

So he gets into the ring to throw a few punches at the mitts of trainer Jeff Fenech as tourists take pictures.

"I'm looking to make a buck like anyone else," says Tyson.

There's talk of a series of three-round exhibition fights to earn that buck.
It's a time-honoured tradition in boxing, where no one gets hurt and the former champ who is down on his luck gets a small taste of the money he used to make.

Tyson is 40, but he's an old 40. Look past the bizarre tattoo that stretches across the left side of his face, and there's a weariness on his face that comes with years of hard fighting and even harder living.

It's been 20 years since Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever by knocking out Trevor Berbick. I remember watching him that night and later seeing him walk around the Las Vegas Hilton with the WBC title belt wrapped proudly around his waist.

His world quickly became filled with riches, women and fame in such abundance that the one-time street tough from New York had no chance of handling it all. He went to prison for rape only to come out bigger than ever, but his new life spiraled out of control almost as quickly.

He doesn't want anybody's sympathy, isn't even sure why they still care.
They do, though, because they remember what he once was.

"I had a great life. I had 20 lives. No way should they be sympathetic to me," Tyson said. "Unfortunately I'm not a wealthy person."

There! Right there! The most interesting thing about Tyson has always been the occasional bursts of intelligence, decency, and common sense he displays. That is why I still wish him well.

He still manages to drive a BMW, though he's quick to say that in the day he would drive Ferraris and Bentleys. The problem was he would buy several and give them away to the hangers-on that were always around in his prime but were nowhere to be seen on this day.

He owned mansions, too, and not just one. When you're heavyweight champion of the world, you think the money will never stop flowing.

"I blank all that out of my mind," Tyson said. "If I think or dwell on that I can't be the person I want to be in life."

Which is?

"A simple guy."

Unfortunately, nothing will ever be simple for Tyson. He's always been tormented by demons he's been either unable or unwilling to control, and he seems as confused over his future as he was in his past.

He was embarrassed by his knockout loss to an Irish stiff named Kevin McBride the last time he got into the ring 14 months ago, and vows never to fight for real again. But here he is training next to a bank of slot machines trying to get in some kind of shape so he can make a few bucks off of his name.

It's sad, but that's the way it is. When I look at Tyson it's all I can do not to picture him ending up like Joe Louis, who worked as a casino greeter and often was brought out drooling in his wheelchair to ringside so high rollers could say they saw the Brown Bomber.

May God have mercy on his brave soul.

People loved Louis. For some reason, they're still fascinated with Tyson.

"People truly believe and support me," he said. "I realized that over time. I don't know if it's for sympathetic reasons or just something that they can relate to me in life."

Tyson seems happy to be talking about it, happy somebody still cares. He doesn't really want to be doing this, but the offer of a free hotel suite and some cash brought him up from Phoenix, where he spends most of his time.

Now it's showtime, time to walk into the casino and go to work.

"Life," he says, "has changed so much."

Bless and protect him and all the fighters the world over, Lord.

This is a good time for the NCAA to make an exception to its rules.

NCAA gives bureaucracy a bad name
By Ken Burger of Charleston, South Carolina's The Post and Courier

This is the kind of thing that gives pompous, overbearing, out-of-touch bureaucracies a bad name.

Here is a Clemson football player, Ray Ray McElrathbey, trying to do the right thing by gaining custody of his 11-year-old brother to rescue him from an undeserved fate in the hands of a mother battling drug addiction.

Bless and protect them, Lord.

Here is an athlete, willing to take in his kid brother and give him a place to live and let him go to school and grow up in civilized surroundings.

Here is a kid, just 19 years old himself, showing the world what it means to be a man and stand up for everything adults often say this generation isn't.

Here is a college student, giving up his freedom to take responsibility for someone less fortunate who needs a helping hand.

Here is an example of all the things we say we want our sons and daughters to learn to be in college.

Here are scores of people from all walks of life, different school loyalties, responding to the story, wanting to help McElrathbey do the right thing to help his kid brother.

But what do the powers-that-be in college athletics say when asked if we can help him along the way?

Not just no, but hell no.

Appalling audacity

That's the unfortunate sound of hypocrisy that's coming from the NCAA and the ACC when folks in the Clemson athletic department asked if people could raise some money and somehow help Ray Ray McElrathbey raise his little brother.

That's the word we hear from this billion-dollar entertainment/athletic industry that exploits young athletes for money in the name of higher education.

That's the kind of answer that literally drives rational people up the wall.
People who read in The Post and Courier nearly two weeks ago about McElrathbey's attemps to save his little brother from who knows what on the streets of Atlanta.

People who want to donate money to help these two brothers find housing and food and clothing.

People who are Tigers fans and Gamecocks fans and people who are simply fans of fairness and compassion and humankind.

All these people are infuriated by the response of the governing bodies.
The audacity of organizations such as these is appalling.

The outrage is palpable.

Surely there is something that can be done.

Common sense

The NCAA and its member conferences have reams of rules about what athletes and coaches and fans can and cannot do in the name of fairness.

They believe that to allow people the opportunity to reach out and help these unfortunate kids would be in violation of all things they hold sacred.

What they don't have, apparently, is a single paragraph somewhere in their tomes that relates to reality.

They have already warned coaches they can't give this kid a ride to school and wagged a finger at any efforts by individuals who want to set aside some kind of trust fund that would help Ray Ray and his brother, Fahmarr, get through this difficult time of their lives.

Unfortunately, while these bureaucracies are busy trying to rename school mascots in the name of political correctness and denying this makeshift family a chance to survive, we all see major crimes being committed by big-money football and basketball factories that go virtually ignored.

All people want from institutions like the NCAA and the ACC is a modicum of compassion and common sense.

If these high-and-mighty regulators had any of that rare commodity they would see that this is a perfect opportunity for them to step up, make the right decision and take credit for it.

With a simple change of attitude, they could turn a public relations disaster into a human interest story the world would embrace.

But apparently they don't see what we see.

Which is the problem with pompous, overbearing, out-of-touch bureaucracies.

Amen to all that, Brother.

I don't care how pretty she is, I want her to lose.

I don't even care whom she is dating. I want Maria Sharapova out of the US Open NOW because I cannot stand to hear her scream like she is being poked with a sharp stick every time she swings at a ball.

From The Old Gray Whore:

Maria Sharapova walked purposefully onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court in an elegant black Audrey Hepburn cocktail dress adorned with shiny crystal beads. Where was the party?

Andy Roddick wore a black collared shirt when he followed her onto the showcase court a little more than an hour later.

They say that after a while, couples tend to look alike. But Sharapova and Roddick would first have to consider themselves a couple. They denied that they were any more than friends who happen to travel in the same tennis circles.

But last night they were in the same place at the same time, playing very much alike — that is to say, fiercely and efficiently, blistering a combined 31 aces past their flat-footed opponents.

In her first-round match at the United States Open — moved from Tuesday night because of rain — the third-seeded Sharapova dispatched 17-year-old Michaella Krajicek, 6-3, 6-0, in 59 minutes. In his second-round match, the ninth-seeded Roddick eliminated Kristian Pless, a qualifier from Denmark, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in 91 minutes.

Perhaps they had somewhere better to be. It was, after all, Roddick’s 24th birthday.

“Is it his birthday?” Sharapova said after her match. “I had no idea.”

She left the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center before Roddick’s match ended, but not before responding to a direct question about whether she and Roddick were dating.

“You know what, I really don’t talk about my personal life,” she said. “When two tennis players know each other and are friends, and are known around the world, people are going to talk. That’s exactly what’s happening.”

RadioShack's crackup continues apace.

It used to be a fine company and a good stock to hold.

Not anymore.

Chicago Tribune/AP: RadioShack Uses E-Mail to Fire Employees

FORT WORTH, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts.

Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."

Company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically, spokeswoman Kay Jackson said. She said employees were invited to ask questions before Tuesday's notification on a company intranet site.

Derrick D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, said he had never heard of such a large number of terminated employees being notified electronically. He said it could be seen as dehumanizing to employees.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I'd say, 'Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me?'" D'Souza said.

Laid-off workers got one to three weeks pay for each year of service, up to 16 weeks for hourly employees and 36 weeks for those with base bay of at least $90,000, the company said.

The company announced Aug. 10 that it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters, to cut expenses and "improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace." RadioShack has closed nearly 500 stores, consolidated distribution centers and liquidated slow-moving merchandise in an effort to shake out of a sales slump.

Shares of RadioShack rose 29 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close at $18.21 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

I am no fan of the Russian Orthodox church, but...

...considering the horrors of the last century, it probably is not the worst of ideas...

Then again, the Russian state church must share some of the blame for communism's temporary but ultra-bloody victory...

BBC News: Religion Enters Russian Schools

The Orthodox Christian religion is being made a compulsory school subject in four of Russia's regions.

Pupils in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Smolensk regions will be taught the basics of Orthodox Christianity.

It will also be included as an optional subject in the school curriculum in 11 other regions across the country.

Supporters say the move will help protect traditional spiritual values in Russia. Critics say it violates the constitution of the secular state.

In the Soviet Union the teaching of religion was strictly outlawed in schools and elsewhere.

Orthodox Christianity is Russia's main religion, but the country's Muslim community makes up more than 10% of the total population. There are 86 regions and republics in the Russian Federation.

Religion of Forced Conversion and Copyright Violation Update. (Oh, yeah. Peace, too. I forgot they're all about peace, too.)

London Telegraph: Pinocchio and Friends Converted to Islam

Pinocchio, Tom Sawyer and other characters have been converted to Islam in new versions of 100 classic stories on the Turkish school curriculum.

"Give me some bread, for Allah's sake," Pinocchio says to Geppetto, his maker, in a book stamped with the crest of the ministry of education.
"Thanks be to Allah," the puppet says later.

Oy vey!

Wait. It gets much worse.

In The Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan is told that he cannot visit Aramis. The reason would surprise the author, Alexandre Dumas.

An old woman explains: "He is surrounded by men of religion. He converted to Islam after his illness."

Tom Sawyer may always have shirked his homework, but he is more conscientious in learning his Islamic prayers. He is given a "special treat" for learning the Arabic words.

Pollyanna, seen by some as the embodiment of Christian forgiveness, says that she believes in the end of the world as predicted in the Koran.

Heehee!

Heidi, the Swiss orphan girl in the tale by Johanna Spyri, is told that praying to Allah will help her to relax.

I wonder if that's the line Clinton uses on fat chicks of the mohammedan persuasion with low self-esteem?

Several more books have been altered, including La Fontaine's fables and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.

The clumsy insertions by Islamic publishing houses have caused controversy in Turkey, which has been a strongly secular state since the 1920s.

So, you think Christian "book burners" are the real threat to our civilization...

Other books contain insults, slang and rude rhymes which mock the president and the prime minister.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is Turkey's first Islamic premier, has called for swift action to be taken against the publishers.

I wonder how long that backbone of his will hold up?

The education ministry has threatened to take legal action against any publisher which continues to issue such books.

Huseyin Celik, the education minister, said: "If there are slang and swear words, we will sue them for using the ministry logo."

Think of her as the British equivalent of Paris Hilton, only not as rich. (The Last)

From the pages of The King Abdullah Gazette:

Think of her as the British equivalent of Paris Hilton, only not as rich. (Part One)

From the pages of The King Abdullah Gazette:

This is Lady Victoria Frederica Isabella Hervey and she is certified British nobility. She is not as hot as the other babes that grace the pages of my idiot blog, but her title is worth three bonus points to Americans who hate aristocracy but are fascinated by aristocrats. How else can you explain why people stand in front of the monkey cage while feces are being hurled at them? Or the success of the Kennedys?

From Wikipedia:

The Lady Victoria Frederica Isabella Hervey (born 3 October 1976), is an English socialite and one-time "It girl" (later corrupted to "Twit Girl" in much of the media), is the elder daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol and his third wife Yvonne Sutton. She is the older sister of the 8th Marquess of Bristol and of Lady Isabella Hervey, and her older half-brothers were the 7th Marquess of Bristol and Lord Nicholas Hervey, both deceased.

WTF??? MSNBC: "Democrats take fire at Rumsfeld"

Once you finish snickering at the stupidity of the headline writers from MSNBC and AP, (Take aim? Fire at?) notice how the America Last crowd rises up as one and takes some pot shots at Rummy. It is obvious the SecDef hit the America Lasters where they live when he compared them to 1930's appeasers of Hitler.

WASHINGTON - Democrats chastised Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld Wednesday for questioning the historical grasp of Bush administration war critics, accusing him of engaging in "dangerous business."

Oooooooh!

Several members of Congress had been urging Rumsfeld's resignation before he asserted to the American Legion that opponents displayed the kind of thinking that delayed military action against Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

They got off light. I would compare them to Hitler himself.

Rumsfeld said the world faces "a new type of fascism." And he warned against repeating the pre-World War II mistake of appeasement.

Actually, we face old-fashioned mohammedism, which has been an enemy of Christendom and Western Civilization since its inception. I suspect Mr. Rumsfeld knows this but cannot say it in public for political reasons.

Rumsfeld's speech in Salt Lake City Tuesday, in which he also said that administration critics suffered from "moral confusion," prompted angry reactions from Democrats hoping to win back the majority in Congress.

Moral confusion from The Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion? Nope. They detest morals and hate those who have them.

Respect or vilification

"It is a dangerous business to accuse those who disagree with you of moral and intellectual confusion," said Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. "Debate in our democracy is based upon respect, not vilification."

Unless those who disagree with you are left-fascist totalitarian thugs with no morals, Ike.

Said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi: "If Mr. Rumsfeld is so concerned with comparisons to World War II, he should explain why our troops have now been fighting in Iraq longer than it took our forces to defeat the Nazis in Europe."

Because of ignorant cows like you, Nancy.

Rumsfeld said it "was apparent that many have still not learned history's lessons." Aides later said he was not accusing the administration's critics of trying to appease the terrorists but was cautioning against a repeat of errors made in earlier eras.

Fighting words

Nevertheless, Rumsfeld's remarks were seen by many Democrats in Congress as fighting words.

I am sure Rumsfeld could take out any Democrass America Laster in a fair fight.

Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Rumsfeld has been "substituting sloganing for strategy" and delivered a "calculated political argument" to make people believe that to support a war against terror requires support of the administration's policies.

What would you do to defeat the enemy we face in this war, Jack? I must have missed the numberless tomes you have written on the subject.

"I think the analogy is very, very weak," Reed, D-R.I., said of Rumsfeld's comparison of Iraq to World War II.

Wake up, numbskull. Even Neville Chamberlain did. Eventually.

Rumsfeld resignation sought

It is time Rumsfeld "should be departing" the Pentagon, Reed added. Reed, Pelosi and other Democrats have been calling for the defense secretary's resignation for more than a year.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York called Rumsfeld's portrayal of Democrats a "strawman" and said Americans need answers on how to deal with a looming civil war in Iraq.

The Real Junior Senator From New York does know straw. It is what is between his ears.

Also Wednesday, a New York Democratic House candidate accused Rumsfeld of lying about progress in Iraq.

"After 21 months of trying to find something I can agree with Secretary Rumsfeld on, it is true: the American people are being lied to and I totally agree with Secretary Rumsfeld," Eric Massa, a Navy veteran, said in a conference call with reporters.

Who?

"What I disagree with is the fact that he's the one doing the lying," he said.

Massa, who is challenging one-term Republican Rep. Randy Kuhl, said he was outraged by Rumsfeld's comments and faulted him for blaming the media for his own misstatements and missteps. He (? - F.G.) said the Bush administration has no effective plan to secure the country.

"This thing has disintegrated," Walz said of Iraq. "On the macro level, there's an absolute failure."

Ooooooh! The "macro level"! Let's confuse the masses with something that sounds scientific. Let's use phrases that cannot be penetrated because they have no meaning!

Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said the Democratic candidates' strategy is to criticize Republican efforts to win the war on terror, while elected Democrats are "committed to a strategy that will weaken our ability to defend America and make us less safe at home and abroad."

Perfidious Persians Update.

Ol' Hungadunga may not be running that hellhole, but he dances to the tune played by the "men of God" who are.

ABC News/AP: Iran's President Defies UN on Deadline

Washington Times: US Military Sees Iran's Nuke Bomb 5 Years Away

Wow. Those Australians really are inhuman monsters.

Freed Australian Terror Suspect Banned From Contacting Bin Laden

(CNSNews.com) - An Australian terror suspect and convert to Islam has been ordered by the government not to contact al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but a federal magistrate said Thursday that the order was "farcical." Full Story

Double doy.

Did you know the government's "poverty level" has remained between 12% and 14% of the population since the 1960's despite the untold billions spent to "eradicate" it?

'Throwing Money' at Poverty Won't Solve Problem, Expert Says

(CNSNews.com) - Touting the decline in poverty in the 1990s, policy experts used 2005 poverty data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau to bolster their argument that the stagnation of poverty levels needs to be addressed by social programs. A libertarian think tank, however, said "throwing money" at the problem will not solve anything. Full Story

Oh, he believes Jesus is God. He has no rights.

Minneapolis Police Suspend Christian Psychologist

(CNSNews.com) - Pro-family groups are defending a psychologist who screens potential officers for the Minneapolis Police Department after he was suspended because of his past affiliation with an Illinois group that opposes special legal recognition for homosexuals. Full Story