Ebbers

from the AP:

Appeals Court Upholds Ebbers Conviction
Friday July 28, 3:10 pm ET
By David B. Caruso, Associated Press Writer
Conviction of Former WorldCom CEO Ebbers Upheld; Could Clear Way for Jail Term
NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of former WorldCom Inc. Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers on charges related to a multibillion dollar accounting fraud. The ruling by the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could clear the way for Ebbers to begin serving a 25-year prison sentence for his actions as head of the telecommunications company.
Convicted in 2005, Ebbers had argued on appeal that he had been denied a fair trial and that his lengthy prison sentence was unreasonable.

there is more of the article, its easy to find on yahoo. i know its not exactly fresh off the wire, but i thought i had to post in homage to Cramer the wise.

good day!

I’m new here, i don't know which category i'm going to post. i'm shopping around for insurance and hoping I can get opinions from everybody here about which ones to avoid and which ones you have had a good experience with. your suggestions will help me more to have an idea and choice to compare with...
thank you so much...

Another week of learning about the stock market and moi is kinda, sorta, well, tired of learning and would like to be a Cramer Caller telling him, “Thank you for all the money you’ve made me—booyah!” I think one thing is for certain if the stock market ever gets back good, I sure ought to be one of those callers ‘cause I am ‘bout OD’d on learning ‘bout the negatives of the stock market—it is more “geez” than a “booyah!”

Staying for a while in a fancy hotel for a conference on “Becoming a TV Evangelist…”Fancy” in hotelspeak is based on the price outrageousness of what they charge you to use or to consume or to satisfy one of your sense organs with a service or provision…This hotel is thus fancy, because in case of fire you have to pay $9.95 to exit (You have to swoop your room key-card through the exit lock)…I don’t think I would argue about this charge if there was a fire or a terrorist attack, as I would ‘bout being charged for breaking the seal on a $6 one liter bottle of water to douse on meself in case of Spontaneous Human Combustion, which I have to watch out for these days, since I am studying to become a high income—sorry, strike that—high powered TV evangelist under the tutelage of the most imminent world-renown Video Professor, and failing…I have screamed and gnashed my teeth and smacked the TV screen showing CNBC and still I cannot seem to raise the stock market from dead…It is horrible to be awful now both in the stock and high income—sorry, high powered—TV evangelism markets…

Sad to say, but I, well, cheat…I slip away to a Waffle House—but I remember Master Cramer loves Best of Breed and “branded” products, so I proudly slink off to the nearby WH for some real food with grease, salt, sugar, and caffeine…I think buying Brand is why my Dollar General Disposal Razor is still going strong—booyah! DG’s version of WD-40 keeps its blade sharp and ready—another booyah!

Today, at our final conference we get to buy titles…I am going for “Bishop” I think and may well also buy a “Doctor”…My feeling is if one brand name is good, then obviously two would be better—booyah! I kinda like imagine my first TV show with my title: “And now-w, Bishop Doctor Zyzzyva…” I am thinking I will burst forth screaming, “BOOYAH!! I CAN’T HEAR YOU-U!! BOO-YAH!!” I am thinking viewers of TBN don’t watch “CNBC” and vice-versa…I am thinking “borrowing” booyah in this instance ain’t exactly plagiarism in the strictest sense, which is majordomo big in TV Evangelism, where, because of tax issues, we have to be careful—we don’t like, shall I say, render unto Caesar anything…

Kind Reader, I bless you and leave you with this stock tip: Monday (6/24), from my titanium cathedral that has began with one small chip for man, I shall attempt to raise the stock market from the dead, so if you have faith in your Bishop Doctor of Wall Street, get ready to buy, or if ye is of so little faith, short, but to one and all, booyah!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science...t_x.htm?csp=34

He screws up with everything he gets his hands on (e.g., 9-11, Iraq, Israel, and now stem cell research). He has got to be the worst president in the United States' history. Is he trying to push us back into another dark ages? We can save some aborted fetuses from saving millions of lives through stem cell research. Instead of using them for science, we'll just cremate them. The conservatives that buy this line of crap are so incredibly ignorant!

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These posts are tracked by IP address, and after banning the user, complaints are sent to the email provider, the ISP, the upstream provider (the BIG ISP that supplies the little guys) and any other email addresses or websites mentioned in the spam.

Air, ground and naval units from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt have been seen massing for battle. Large fleets representing the combined navies of several countries steam toward the Israeli coast and the Straights of Hormuz. Representatives of the Arab league vow to stand united against the Israeli aggressors.

When Chickens have lips.

Israel pounds Lebanese territory effectively isolating country, Lebanese President whines, Arab world remains with finger in A**.
Mahmoud you have permission to make me another felafel

What hits par first? Oil or CVX?
Allah Akhbar

Strange, 69 ppl viewing this site at 18:29 on 7/20/06 yet only 8 members signed in (madcowdisease, Thierry Martin, Katibel, mlegha1, aiki14, roy, Will, Lou). Think somebody is gathering ideas?

http://www.changingworldtech.com/

I was first introduced to this co. and similar technology via an article in Motor Trend - Aug 2006, Vol. 58, No. 8. The article is Car Cannibalism by Frank Markus (technologue).

This is a new issue and to be fair to subscribers like myself, the article is not yet released online. Give it a few weeks and it will be available for everyone here: http://www.motortrend.com/features/editorial/

But, to wet your appetite Frank makes a sound argument for this technology, granted I haven't done the research yet. But, if these co.s could get the volume needed to make this process profitable we could see a real, viable alternative energy. As I understand it this process is already more net energy efficient than ethanol since it uses 15-20% of the fuel it makes to run the process; so we can see it's self-sustainable.



For a sample of this guy's writing click here:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/e..._fuel_economy/

PS: you will find the co. above is privately held but we can always hope they go public to raise money. I will be looking for more co.s in this sector and hopefully one is publicly traded.

Oprah / PayPal Money Maker:

All you need is:
1) An email address
2) A PayPal account
3) $6.00

Ever since the internet became popular, the word "scam" has become a daily
term. I have never once tried any money making "system" outside of this because
of that very reason. However, after reading reports on the validity and
reputation of this money making system (seen on Oprah, CNN, and other
media forums) I decided to give this one a shot... Especially since the so-called
"risk" is only $6.00. I mean, for the chance, what a joke right? Anyway, only
hours after implementing this exact system I about fell out of my chair as money
ACTUALLY started rolling in. I couldn't believe it and for that reason, I wrote
this intro and became a believer in this system.

WHAT IS IT?

The idea is that of a system that takes advantage of the power of compounding.
And in a big way, let me tell you. First and foremost understand that there are
countless spin-offs of this system that try to make a "quick buck" off of people.
Long lists, the 5 & 10 dollar trees, the birthday systems, etc...
Those spin-offs do make money because of the ease of implementation of this
idea, but they do NOT use the compounding advantage. This system is THE
legit and profitable one. Here is how it works... There is a list of 6 email
addresses (you'll see it as you read further). Each of these people have already
taken part in this system. When someone new comes along (such as yourself)
he/she removes #1 off of the list, moves the other five email addresses up one
position (i.e. #6 goes to #5, #5 to #4, etc.), and places their PayPal email
address in the #6 position. This process is what develops the power of
compounding. The bottom line is this... Honesty and Integrity creates
Profitability. Following this EXACT process is what creates the money, and
that is why this system has been raved about in the media. Altering the system
creates weak results. The legality of this system comes from the idea that you
are of course creating a mailing list, and a "service" is being provided (more on
that later.) Now on to how your $6.00 creates BIG money...

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1:

The first thing to do is highlight and SAVE this entire post in word or notepad
on your computer so you can come back to it later.

After that, if you are not already a PayPal user you need to go to the PayPal
website at www.paypal.com and SIGN UP. If you want to be able to receive
credit card payments from other people then you will need to sign up for a
PREMIER or BUSINESS account (not just a PERSONAL account). Paypal is 100% secure and is used
by millions of people worldwide.

STEP 2:

Here is where the action occurs. The first thing to do is to send a $1.00
payment to each of the 6 email addresses on the current list from your PayPal
account. To do this quickly and successfully, follow these simple steps:

1. Login to PayPal and click on the "Send Money" tab near the top of the screen

2. In the "Recipient's Email" field enter the email address

3. In the "Amount" field enter "1" (This is your $1.00 payment)

4. In the "Category" field select "Service" (Keeping it legal)

Cubs or Pork Chops

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother.

The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only "orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of wiener pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops? Take a look........ You won't believe your eyes!

I figured we needed one of these. Especially when the market gets this ugly what else is there but the triviality of sports to entertain us. If there is a barrage of responses to this thread perhaps it will necessitate the creation of sport specific threads (e.g baseball, football, or MLB, NFL, etc) but for now lets all lump them in this one.

So who follows what? Anyone excited for the post season in the MLB or the start of traingin camp in the NFL?

Personally my teams on the professional level are the Reds and Bengals. The Reds recently made some trades, though controversial, that hopefully will help them sure up the wild card or even better overtake the Cards in the NL Central.

And what can I say about the Bengalis? After a decade of disgrace they are a contender this yr. after winning the division last yr. Too bad my poor ass can't afford decent tickets. Damn seat licenses and ticket brokers!

So what'cha go?

Could it be that we are returning to seasonal norms ?

This time last year 5 named storms had already made landfall.

6/29 Bret
7/05 Cindy
7/10 Dennis
7/11 Arlene
7/18 Emily

and I suffer from a lack of understanding or maybe basic economic education but it has always been my thought that the markets were the engine that drove the economy.
The Fed, on the otherhand has said time and time again that they give no thought or consideration to the marketplace which flies in the face of Greenspan's stupid remark about irrational exhuberance.
Bernanke repeated the remark that they (the Feds) give no consideration to the market which is readily apparent. He denied that the Fed's actions were responsible for the market's plunge. Is this totally disengenuous or what ?
I get so damned tired of the government's attempts to micro manage each facet of our lives and the economy. If I could sell my house, I would be long gone.
Anyone want to live in beautiful, overcrowded California where mortgage defaults are on the rise ??

bread $3.50
catfish 6.99 lb.
gas 3.29 gal.

Price of pre owned homes....plummeting

Sure glad they have a handle of inflation and are managing this economy so well !

Well, I took the plunge and am trying his FREE sampler "TV Evangelism"

The Professor starts with the basics of being a good evangelist using "Revelation" and working out from there...The Prof stresses often "Motivate by Fear!"...(Tip of his to the Wise: "It is 'Revelation' and not 'RevelationS', hmmm..."

"Prayer offering are important in this field--Not donation$!..Filthy lucre is merely the means to the end of ultimately having a mega "tent"--size in this business does count, he says at one time, with that winsome "I know" TV grin of his...

The Video Professor, using your computer, works through the Bible to build your TV ministry on:

He is no fan of "Leviticus"--"It is like preaching from a law book," he says...

"Ezekiel," he explains is always good, because the Professor says, the book is one of the few books people have heard of and this book hints at flying saucers as well as the food sections are good (e.g., 4:12-15)

"Song of Solomon," he shyly grins, "is for those quiet, reflective moments with a member or two of the flock who need one-on-one help and along with Ezekiel 16:17 may help some between visits..."

And so on through the Bible...

For homework he has you watch a lot of TBN to see how the pros do it (I am starting small with raising the dead by trying to raise the stock market, so pray for me, because it is tough...I get the market up and she dies again--not good for the donations--oops, sorry, Professor, I, of course, meant Prayer Offerings!)

For lab, he sends you to the woods to scream at trees--I got arrested by a forest ranger, incidently, and am now on the U.S. Forest Service's "Arbor Offender" list! I am not allowed within 300-feet of a national forest tree! Geez!

All in all, thumb up on the Video Professor--I want to try his eBay CD to augment my income until I can raise the stock market!

that is missing an idiot.
George, appearing with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg made what is quite possibly the most ridiculous of his many ridiculous statements.
He said that Russia would do well to pattern it's government after the current government in Iraq. This drew enough laughter from the attending press corps that I am amazed that he didn't say ..."just kidding".
Vladimir, to his credit, didn't laugh in Bush's face but he DID chuckle and say that he didn't really think that was such a good idea.
Bush is an embarrassment. Clinton lied but no one died. Too bad the same can't be said about Bush !

I am sad to report your favorite movie star may have had to take a pay cut

Yes, dear friends, your favorite star may well have to make do on ten million dollars per picture!

Your favorite star works hard for six weeks to be a part of the movie you so enjoy

It is hard sitting in a one million dollar trailer waiting a lot of these days for a close up--Stunt people and stand ins can only do so much to aid your star

I propose you support your favorite star's latest movie by seeing it at the theatre at least three times per day on each of the opening weekend days to juice up the super critical box office Opening Weekend Take to show the Hollywood Powers to Be our Star is a star that does not need to starve

The telethon will be you bring at least one friend and s/he will bring a friend--Issue challenges of what organization can support your star the most

For example, have your local Illuminati chapter challenge another Illuminati chapter on who can get the most support for your favorite star..."Suggest" to neighbors your Illuminati chapter is not to be trifled with by getting their attention with a brisk slap on the noggin with a copy of "The DeVinci Code"

Every ten dollars count, kind friends of CramerLand...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...cle1180235.ece

You're tooling around in your Nash Rambler in the south and need gps to find, say, the location of the nearest lottery dealer...Advice: stop at the nearest Waffle House if you are in the south...A WH is always on the right of the morning traffic. Its employees are the kindest folks around. I also like to find the Major Food Group of Red Necks (grease, salt, sugar, and caffein) economically priced. (If I do not have chest pains and arm numbness, I personally do not trust the eatery!)

Get ready for some major changes in the next 48 hours. Israel has taken the task of starting WW3 to the Lebanese by bombing their airport, blockading their ports, and killing innocent women and children.

Don't be surprised when Hezbollah and Lebanon, Palestine and Iran decide to exact justice on the Israeli terrorists.

Millenia of oppression against the Palestinians is coming to a head and will culminate within the next month. Mark my words. Since the inception and formation of an illegal state in 1948 they have raped and tortured Palestinians, stole their land, destroyed their houses and markets. Not to mention picking war after war with several nations, then running and hiding behind the US to protect and defend it.

Enough is enough. Mahmoud, you have permission to fire

As you have probably heard, Mr. Warren Buffet has made the largest donation to a charity by giving $37 BILLION to the Gates foundation.

One thing that I respect is that he believes that money should not be inherited. That is one reason why he is donating all his money after his death. What you guys think about that? No spoiled bratts in that family.

Syd Barrett died on the 7th, just released.

http://www.sydbarrett.net/

.. maybe all the bulls are on vacation... the festival started friday if i remember correctly..

This piece will be in mondays Barrons. It's by Al Abelson

Get Shorty
IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. All that fuss and furor between North Korea and the U.S. Sure, they're light years apart in almost every important way. But, it's because of, not despite, those very striking differences that we feel amity, not enmity, should define relations between the two nations.

For some of the best marriages we know are between people who spend most of their time thousands of miles from each other, don't speak the same language (the wife may talk Dixie and the husband Brahmin Boston), have widely disparate passions (he's crazy about gin, she's strictly a vodka person) and habits (she bathes every morning, he only on special occasions -- which don't come very often). But, they're as lovey-dovey a couple as you're likely to come across (granted, it's hard to actually come across them, since they're so rarely together).

So here's the U.S. and North Korea, even though they meet all the criteria for unstinting cordiality toward each other, cussing and threatening the other with mortal injury and going to great pains to ensure that the whole world hears their bellicose verbal blasts. Part of the problem, we suspect, is that the North Koreans don't have much of a sense of humor. When President Bush, obviously seeking to defuse the tension with a chuckle, jovially remarks on the abbreviated stature of North Korea's No. 1, Kim Jong Il, by endowing him, as is Dubya's wont, with a cute nickname -- "Midget" -- Mr. Kim takes umbrage. Hey, we mean, the guy is a shorty, so what's to get so hot and bothered about?

By the same token, in an attempt to be chummy, North Korea decides to celebrate, American-style, the Fourth of July by setting off rockets, handmade by local pyrotechnicrats. But instead of hearing "Way to go!" from Washington, its reward for this extraordinary show of comradeship is a barrage of warnings of annihilation and worse. (What's worse than annihilation? We don't know, but Dick Cheney's working on it.)

The launching of one missile in particular, an intercontinental ballistic number, affectionately known in North Korea as Taepodong 2, got everybody in the world excited. None of the missiles were aloft more than 42 seconds and they all took a quick nose-dive into the Sea of Japan. But that was by design: Mr. Kim was determined they make a big splash. President Bush, still trying to get a smile out of the little fellah while, at the same time, subtly reassuring Americans whatever their height, noted with a sly smile that "the rockets didn't stay up very long."

We hesitate to disabuse anyone of any solace he or she may have drawn from the quick fizzling of the rockets, but we hear from unimpeachable sources (they're not in the employ of the federal government, which is why they're unimpeachable) that the North Koreans, undaunted by their temporary setback, are ready to unveil a newer, bigger and better ICBM that makes the Taepodong 2 look like a sparkler. It's called Dingdong 1.

Markets as well as homo sapiens the planet over were discombobulated by the evidence that North Korea had developed a long-range missile to go with its nukes and only partly comforted by the evidence that it hadn't quite got the hang yet of making one that really works. The key word in that excessively long sentence is, of course, "yet."

Still, even mushroom clouds aren't a universally depressing sight these days: The news sent gold back over $600 an ounce and pumped oil up to a new all-time peak above $75 a barrel. Actually, Mr. Kim can't claim all the credit for the spirited action in both those elite commodities. As Rhonda Brammer made clear in her piece on Newmont Mining last week, everything is breaking right for gold, from supply-demand (tight and due to get tighter) to our deficits with the rest of the world (wretched and likely to get more so). In like vein, demand for crude keeps surging (think China), supply is a bit thin and more than a bit vulnerable, and even a modest interruption of global production or distribution could further fuel petro prices.

We feel obliged to make mention of the favorable response of gold and oil to the provocative missile test-firing by North Korea that triggered tremors on bourses everywhere as our contribution to help calm such widespread investor jitters. Who knows? The whole business may have been nothing more than a charade devised because Mr. Kim was short stocks (we trust he understands that conjecture is nothing personal, that you don't have to be vertically challenged to be short stocks). And if by chance last week's events turn out to be the beginning of the end of the world, it's nice to reflect that those investors who bought gold and oil will have the wherewithal to enjoy what comes next.

HAS KARL ROVE LOST his touch? Is he still, perhaps, a little happily delirious at having escaped being indicted and possibly ending up in the hoosegow? Is he suffering from early pre-election depression brought on by the latest icky poll numbers, not only for his boss but for his party's chosen representatives in Congress as well? Is he disturbed that Tom DeLay just won't go away and hide? Or, is it simply that one of his shiny-faced gofers screwed up?

For Mr. Rove has an eminently deserved reputation as a slick political operator, arguably the slickest around, a Prussian for detail and blessed with an infallible instinct for putting on just the right show at the right time and in the right place to wow the voters. So why in the world would he schedule a full-dress press conference in Chicago on Friday for the president to crow about the economy -- the very day June's abysmal employment report was slated to be released? Or did he neglect -- and this is truly inexcusable -- to get the essence of the survey leaked...sorry, make that conveyed...in advance to his people?

The Karl Rove we all knew and loved, well, anyway knew, the Karl Rove who maneuvered George Bush into the White House in 2000 and got his lease renewed four years later, would never, ever have committed so flagrant a goof. That's what got us worrying about Mr. Rove and wondering if he has lost it just a teeny bit.

There may be a gentler, kinder explanation. Mr. Rove wears specs. Conceivably, what with court appearances and having to work virtually around the clock on damage control (somehow, the Republicans have been catching a lot of bad publicity lately, and not only in the New York Times), he may have forgotten to visit his ophthalmologist for his annual checkup and so misread the numbers. Instead of the 121,000 new jobs that were, in fact, added last month, Mr. Rove blurrily saw 221,000. Kind of thing that could happen to anyone.