Frugal Living: 25 new messages in 12 topics

Saturday, December 22, 2007

25 new messages in 12 topics - digest

misc.consumers.frugal-living
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living?hl=en

misc.consumers.frugal-living@googlegroups.com

Today's topics:

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Attractive American woman gang-raped by Halliburton thugs in 'safe'
Iraqi Green Zone testifies before Congress.
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/227d8c83f28b86cb?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:00 am
From: Joe

See it via

http://muvy.org/new.php?entity=kbr

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Yet another Best Buy consumer horror story -- woman tasered by cop.
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/8fc4714b1a22ea0e?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:05 am
From: Joe

While my local Best Buy is wonderful, for some reason
others are not.

http://muvy.org/new.php?entity=bestbuy

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:45 am
From: "Rod Speed"

Joe <useful_infos@yahoo.com> wrote:

> While my local Best Buy is wonderful, for some reason others are not.

> http://muvy.org/new.php?entity=bestbuy

If you're actually stupid enough to behave like that, you can expect to get what you deserve.

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:15 pm
From: Larry Bud

On Dec 22, 2:45 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Joe <useful_in...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > While my local Best Buy is wonderful, for some reason others are not.
> >http://muvy.org/new.php?entity=bestbuy
>
> If you're actually stupid enough to behave like that, you can expect to get what you deserve.

If I was a cop, I'd taser every asshole that behaved like this. It's
probably the safest method of subduing someone.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01122007.htm

Note, this whole story has nothing to do with Best Buy, other than the
woman was going nuts inside a Best Buy store.

== 4 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 5:16 pm
From: JL

> If I was a cop, I'd taser every asshole that behaved like this. It's
> probably the safest method of subduing someone.
>
> http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01122007.htm
>
> Note, this whole story has nothing to do with Best Buy, other than the
> woman was going nuts inside a Best Buy store.

Yeah it's easy to second guess when a cop uses force against someone.
But in the moment, the officer has to protect himself and others. If
she would have cooperated nothing would have happened to her.

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:54 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

Larry Bud <larrybud2002@yahoo.com> wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
>> Joe <useful_in...@yahoo.com> wrote

>>> While my local Best Buy is wonderful, for some reason others are not.
>>> http://muvy.org/new.php?entity=bestbuy

>> If you're actually stupid enough to behave like that,
>> you can expect to get what you deserve.

> If I was a cop, I'd taser every asshole that behaved like this.

Me too, and thats essentially what I meant in my previous.

> It's probably the safest method of subduing someone.

And the best way to discourage others from behaving like that too.

> http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01122007.htm

> Note, this whole story has nothing to do with Best Buy,
> other than the woman was going nuts inside a Best Buy store.

Precisely.

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:56 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

JL <noone@nowheresville.biz> wrote

>> If I was a cop, I'd taser every asshole that behaved like this. It's probably the safest method of subduing someone.

>> http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01122007.htm

>> Note, this whole story has nothing to do with Best Buy, other than
>> the woman was going nuts inside a Best Buy store.

> Yeah it's easy to second guess when a cop uses force against someone.
> But in the moment, the officer has to protect himself and others.

And that is the best way to stop that stupid woman behaving like that.

> If she would have cooperated nothing would have happened to her.

And if she had behaved herself in the first place, it wouldnt have either.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Debit card article in Reader's Digest
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/30646f032f4ff9e6?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:08 am
From: "Rod Speed"

val189 <gwehrenb@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> On Dec 19, 10:20 am, "rick++" <rick...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> The other safety technique I employ
>> is a special "gatewayaccount", i.e. one exposed to
>> the outside world, with very limited funding.
>> Its tied to checks, bill pay, and debit card.
>> In general it always has less than $1000,
>> except for the moment bills are paid.
>> The deposit and billpays are scheduled to
>> be simulataneous so no large amount exists
>> for long.

> Where do you park the rest of your funds?

Wherever that produces the best return currently. That tends to vary.

> In a related savings or MM account?

Usually the later, but not always, sometimes CDs etc produce a better return.

> Same bank?

Normally not, deliberately, so they cant choose to loot my
other accounts if someone manages to loot the 'gateway'
account, even if they legally arent allowed to do that.

Lot easier to make an obscene gesture in their general
direction if they decide that I was the one that looted the
'gateway' account deliberately in an attempt to scam them etc.

> Do you have another checking account with a different bank?

Yes, at least one other credit card too, just for convenience if the brown
stuff hits the fan with main 'gateway' account when I am out of town or
in hospital etc and it isnt convenient to fix the problem quickly etc.

> Mail checks from one to the other?

Nope, always do electronic transfers, try to avoid receiving any checks too,
just because they are less convenient to deal with than electronic transfers.
I even do that with stuff like the payments I make for others while they are out
of town for the winter etc, when they pay me for what I have paid for them etc.

> Just curious how the funds flow into your gateway chkg. acct.

Always electronically from the account with the money in it.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Frugal living in the Philadelphia region
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/bdb24219631c9f7a?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:16 am
From: Joe

http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/frugal-philly.html

==============================================================================
TOPIC: More Selective reporting from Limbaugh
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/306db91f018962b9?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 11:45 am
From: jl

jdoe wrote:
> On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:57:28 -0500, jl <jl@nowhereszville.biz> wrote:
>
>> Limbaugh is a total blithering idiot. He never analyzes an issue
>> completely. It's all just one sided.
> since you know that already why do you listen to his show? I know that
> the NY Times is a slanted leftist propaganda tool, I don't read it.

I don't listen to his show. But I have heard enough of it to realize
that most of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is bullshit. About
the only person on regular radio worth listening to is Phil Hendrie.
But I mostly listen to podcasts downloaded from iTunes.

Most of the talk show hosts are full of shit and are too far to the
right or to the left and none of them consider the whole picture. They
instead see things through their particular lens.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 1:27 pm
From: ""

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:34:29 -0800, SMS ???* ? <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
wrote:

>jl wrote:
>> Limbaugh is a total blithering idiot. He never analyzes an issue
>> completely. It's all just one sided.
>
>Hey, he got very rich by conning enough right-wing wackos into actually
>believing anything he says. Remember, he's an entertainer, not a news
>person.

Think of Rush as;
"Your daily dose of Whine and Cheese"

r
<rj>

==============================================================================
TOPIC: RodSpeed, do you think major inflation is imminent globally?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/07987411c86cacd3?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 12:00 pm
From: Quality_is_job_one

On Dec 21, 1:44 pm, "** Frank **" <noem...@xyz.net> wrote:
> CNBC has been talking about China, Russia and India - Brazil is doing pretty
> good too. But I feel more comfortable with US companies with foreign
> components.
>

BRIC?
Wasn't there a time when Japan was on top?
I agree, I feel more comfortable with US companies for conservative
growth as they will be transnational anyway as long as our government
can see to it.

Rodspeed, how is Australia? Is there a real estate bubble there or
inflation?

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 12:15 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

Quality_is_job_one <kwokx2@hotmail.com> wrote
> ** Frank **" <noem...@xyz.net> wrote

>> CNBC has been talking about China, Russia and India - Brazil is doing pretty good too.
>> But I feel more comfortable with US companies with foreign components.

> BRIC?
> Wasn't there a time when Japan was on top?

Yep, and then the world moved on.

> I agree, I feel more comfortable with US companies for conservative growth
> as they will be transnational anyway as long as our government can see to it.

> Rodspeed, how is Australia?

Doing very well supplying China and Japan. We have had a positive
balance of trade in our favor for a long time with Japan and now with
China, something that the US, Canada and the EU has never managed.

> Is there a real estate bubble there

Nope, tho prices are getting high enough so that its hard for
first home buyers to get into the market in the capital citys.

> or inflation?

Nope, its low and unemployment rates have returned to what we last saw 30+ years ago now.

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 1:02 pm
From: Quality_is_job_one

On Dec 22, 3:15 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Quality_is_job_one <kwo...@hotmail.com> wrote
>
> > ** Frank **" <noem...@xyz.net> wrote
> >> CNBC has been talking about China, Russia and India - Brazil is doing pretty good too.
> >> But I feel more comfortable with US companies with foreign components.
> > BRIC?
> > Wasn't there a time when Japan was on top?
>
> Yep, and then the world moved on.
>
> > I agree, I feel more comfortable with US companies for conservative growth
> > as they will be transnational anyway as long as our government can see to it.
> > Rodspeed, how is Australia?
>
> Doing very well supplying China and Japan. We have had a positive
> balance of trade in our favor for a long time with Japan and now with
> China, something that the US, Canada and the EU has never managed.
>
> > Is there a real estate bubble there
>
> Nope, tho prices are getting high enough so that its hard for
> first home buyers to get into the market in the capital citys.
>
> > or inflation?
>
> Nope, its low and unemployment rates have returned to what we last saw 30+ years ago now.

I am gonna keep an eye on Australia. I believe many who visit there
would want to live there. Bodes well for long run. So far I can invest
in them with the EWA exchange traded fund. I am interested in their
resources too. Copper a big thing in Australia?

== 4 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 1:22 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

Quality_is_job_one <kwokx2@hotmail.com> wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
>> Quality_is_job_one <kwo...@hotmail.com> wrote
>>> ** Frank **" <noem...@xyz.net> wrote

>>>> CNBC has been talking about China, Russia and India - Brazil is
>>>> doing pretty good too. But I feel more comfortable with US
>>>> companies with foreign components.

>>> BRIC?
>>> Wasn't there a time when Japan was on top?

>> Yep, and then the world moved on.

>>> I agree, I feel more comfortable with US companies for conservative
>>> growth as they will be transnational anyway as long as our
>>> government can see to it. Rodspeed, how is Australia?

>> Doing very well supplying China and Japan. We have had a positive
>> balance of trade in our favor for a long time with Japan and now with
>> China, something that the US, Canada and the EU has never managed.

>>> Is there a real estate bubble there

>> Nope, tho prices are getting high enough so that its hard for
>> first home buyers to get into the market in the capital citys.

>>> or inflation?

>> Nope, its low and unemployment rates have
>> returned to what we last saw 30+ years ago now.

> I am gonna keep an eye on Australia. I believe many who
> visit there would want to live there. Bodes well for long run.

Sure.

> So far I can invest in them with the EWA exchange traded fund.

You can invest in most of the stocks directly too if you want.

> I am interested in their resources too. Copper a big thing in Australia?

Sure. But that varys over time.

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:53 pm
From: Quality_is_job_one

On Dec 22, 4:22 pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> You can invest in most of the stocks directly too if you want.

Individual stocks have greater volatility on a risk basis than an
exchange traded fund. That and I am mired in US stocks right now as
they have dividends that are approaching the same yield as bonds (~
5%).

> > I am interested in their resources too. Copper a big thing in Australia?
>
> Sure. But that varys over time.

I heard many rare-earth metals are in a bull market too. Heck, most
any resource has been driven up in price. Makes you wonder if China
and the other countries are a great long term investment scheme. Think
growing populations that want things made from resources. Other than
cheap labor and the lure of tourism, how can they jumpstart themselves
into the realm of a major economy? I am asking whether people will
stop trying to immigrate to the US and head to BRIC lands to make
their fortunes.

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 3:04 pm
From: "Rod Speed"

Quality_is_job_one <kwokx2@hotmail.com> wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote

>> You can invest in most of the stocks directly too if you want.

> Individual stocks have greater volatility on a risk basis than an
> exchange traded fund. That and I am mired in US stocks right now as
> they have dividends that are approaching the same yield as bonds (~ 5%).

>>> I am interested in their resources too. Copper a big thing in Australia?

>> Sure. But that varys over time.

> I heard many rare-earth metals are in a bull market too. Heck, most
> any resource has been driven up in price. Makes you wonder if China
> and the other countries are a great long term investment scheme.

The main problem with direct investments in those is that they dont
have anything like the investor protection that we have come to expect.

> Think growing populations that want things made from resources.
> Other than cheap labor and the lure of tourism, how can they
> jumpstart themselves into the realm of a major economy?

The way china has done it.

> I am asking whether people will stop trying to immigrate to the US

Nope.

> and head to BRIC lands to make their fortunes.

Quite a few chinese who left china in the past have chosen to return there now.

You dont see as much of that with India.

Bugger all with Russia and Brazil.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: buy cheap shoes (www.shoes-ec.com)
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/804d231d5db5f4d5?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 12:38 pm
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==============================================================================
TOPIC: Free Medicine Assistance
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/3397cfe18b32ccc6?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 1:22 pm
From: rvz1fqp4

Here is another site that I came across by American Consultants Rx
that really helped me and my family deal with the high cost of
prescription drugs at http://www.rxassistanceforfree.com .

==============================================================================
TOPIC: We Want Illegal Aliens Out of NY Out of USA!!!!!!!
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/96493c5f219e2cd7?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:20 pm
From: Louie

Mira amigos! Hay noticias.

Despues de un dia Louie goes bak to Puerto Rico. My wife me echa de
menos so much & I miss to her allso. Now I am finish with visit to my
daughter in NY hasta que el ano que viene. I doesnt have computer en
mi casa y por eso no voy a escribir nada en los grupos por un rato por
lo menos. Quiza I make visit to San Juan I use to computer de nuevo
pero no se cuando voy alli.

Les prometo que despues de un ano mejore de escribir ingles much! I
hopes to every body think I make help for deport to illegals. I hopes
to here ICE make deport to Psycho Illegal Uliana Abramova they are
take to long. No body can be save mientras ella esta en USA!!!

I try allways for be useful man. I hope to make succeed of this.

Saludos hasta luego,
Louie
(I am Puerto Rican American Patriot & Family Man)

==============================================================================
TOPIC: So quiet in here. Everyone Chrismas shopping?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/14ff3a2698c21c95?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:21 pm
From: Jon v Leipzig

Mike M. wrote:
> Haven't been reading/posting to the group all that frequently in recent
> months. But even considering the time of year, it still seems awfully quiet
> in here.
>
> Hell, I didn't even notice any posts from happy-go-lucky Rod. Something is
> definitely wrong. Nothing to read aside from spam/cross-posted messages.
>
> I downloaded 1,000 headers from my Outlook reader, but almost no poster
> names looked familiar. Same thing when I clicked the next 1,000 - nothing
> but spam and rambling, nonsensical cross-posted messages (appear to be a LOT
> more whackos cross-posting than normally the case.)
>
> Anyway, to keep things on topic, I'm saving money on Christmas expenses this
> year - and contributing to the "Green" movement at the same time - by
> cutting back on two things: no outside Christmas lights (or inside for that
> matter) and no Christmas tree. Just my small part/sacrifice, in the name of
> saving our planet...
>

I got my Frugal tree last summer. A small plastic tree was leftover from
a moving sale.

Might as well shop till ya drop...this "trends researcher" thinks this
xmas shopping season might be our last hurrah.
This dude correctly predicted the crash of '87, the dotcom boom/bust,
and the housing bubble. Gets favorable reviews from WSJ, Bizzweek,
msnbc, and others.

http://tinyurl.com/2p7k5a

Forecast: U.S. dollar could plunge 90 pct

- A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall
of as much as 90 percent and gold soaring to $2,000 an ounce, a trends
researcher said.

[ .........]

A result will be a drop in holiday spending a year from now, followed by
a permanent end of the "retail holiday frenzy" that has driven the U.S.
economy since the 1940s, he said.

----------

Those who take their predictions seriously ... consider the Trends
Research Institute. -- The Wall Street Journal

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 3:45 pm
From: clams_casino

Marsha wrote:

>>
>> --
>
>
> I'll admit my thinking processes are not normal, but if more people
> want live trees than what are planted, won't the demand eventually
> exceed supply? For example, if you have a tree farm with 100 trees
> and 50 people take trees, you re-plant 50 trees. The next year, you
> only have 50 trees to offer because it's going to take years for your
> newly-planted trees to develop, but 50 or more people want your trees,
> well you eventually won't have any trees ready. I'm really trying to
> understand this processs, honestly.
>
> Marsha/Ohio
>
OK - Some Facts per This Week (Dec28-Jan11)

Two out of three homes in US will have a real tree (29M in 2007 / $1.2B)
which will be cut in a five week season

15k commercial tree growers plant 73M trees/yr on 450k acres across
every state

It takes 6-10 years for a tree to reach a saleable condition (about
2k/acre) - where many die along the way

Most popular - Scotch pine (40%), Douglas Fir (35%) with noble fir,
white pine, balsam fir & white spruce at about 15% each

2007 - 9.3M artificial trees sold averaging $68 mostly imported from
China (up from 2M just five years ago) vs. $40 for a cut tree

Artificial trees are made from polyvinyl chloride which lasts for
centuries when discarded into landfills

Researchers estimate it takes five times more energy to make and ship a
fake vs. cut tree

Downside to cut trees is that each requires about 0.5 oz of pesticides

Each acre of a typical tree farm produces enough O2 to sustain 18 people
which also absorbs the CO2 produced by two cars for one year (26K miles)

==============================================================================
TOPIC: bought stocks in 2007?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/b830423e6d61b3ab?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:34 pm
From: Quality_is_job_one

For 2007, the maximum long-term capital gains rate is 15 percent for
taxpayers in the 25 percent or higher tax bracket. The tax will be
only 5 percent if you are in a lower bracket. In 2008, taxpayers in
the 15 percent federal bracket or below will pay no capital gains
taxes.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 2:57 pm
From: Quality_is_job_one

A better explanation of capital gain tax levies for 2007 and onward:

http://www.americanfunds.com/resources/tax/tax-cuts.htm

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Did hot air popcorn machines go extinct?
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.frugal-living/browse_thread/thread/1cd18f9995361a81?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Dec 22 2007 4:10 pm
From: clams_casino

hchickpea@hotmail.com wrote:

>>splitpea34On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:45:43 -0400, Rick <rickajho@rcn.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>But shocked I am to find out that
>>popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
>>
>>
>
>
>Why? They proved themselves to be the idiotic idea that they were.
>Hot air poppers produce popcorn that is worthy of use in the national
>sawdust eating competiton as an extra points category.
>

I prefer styrofoam peanuts. They taste just like air-popped with the
added advantage of reduced calories.

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Frugal Living

Blog Archive

Saturday, December 22, 2007

25 new messages in 12 topics - digest

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