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An actual letter from home from a marine with the multinational force in
Bosnia:
Dear Dad:
A funny thing happened to me yesterday at Camp Bondsteel (Bosnia): A French
army officer walked up to me in the PX, and told me he thought we
(Americans) were a bunch of cowboys and were going to provoke a war in
Iraq. He said if such a thing happens, we wouldn't be able to count on the
support of France. I told him that it didn't surprise me. Since we had come
to France's rescue in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War,
their ingratitude and jealousy was due to surface (again) at some point in
the near future anyway.
I also told him that is why France is a third-rate military power with a
socialist economy and a bunch of pansies for soldiers. I additionally told
him that America, being a nation of deeds and action, not words, would do
whatever it had to do, and France's support, if it ever came, was only for
show anyway. Just like in All NATO exercises, the US would shoulder 85% of
the burden, and provide 85% of the support, as evidenced by the fact that
this French officer was shopping in the American PX, and not the other way
around.
He began to get belligerent at that point, and I told him if he would like
to, I would meet him outside in front of the Burger King and whip his ass
in front of the entire Multinational Brigade East, thus demonstrating that
even the smallest American had more fight than the average Frenchman. With
friends like these, who needs enemies?
Dad, tell Mom I love her. Your loving daughter Mary Beth Johnson LtCol.,
USMC.
Broadband to drive Internet growth
From the International Desk
Published 3/4/2003 10:57 PM
View printer-friendly version
SINGAPORE, March 5 (UPI) -- The volume of Internet traffic generated by end users worldwide will nearly double annually over the next 5 years, increasing from 180 petabits per day in 2002 to 5,175 petabits per day by the end of 2007, the market intelligence firm IDC predicted Wednesday.
To put these figures into perspective, the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress amounts to only 10 terabytes of information. By 2007, IDC expects Internet users will access, download, and share the information equivalent of the entire Library of Congress more than 64,000 times over, every day.
"Some industry observers have speculated that slowing growth in Internet traffic is at the root of the current telecom malaise, but IDC research shows that not only is Internet traffic growth strong, but it will continue at near triple digit rates over the next five years," said Sterling Perrin, senior research analyst, Optical Networks, at IDC.
This has some interesting implications for telecommunications equipment suppliers, particularly in the optical market.
"As long as the total amount of voice and data traffic on the network continues to increase, then the need will arise for carriers to buy equipment, such as next-generation optical," said Perrin.
The IDC study finds that though growth in the number of Internet users will continue to be an important traffic driver, the migration of those Internet users to bigger access pipes will be even more significant.
In particular, broadband adoption by consumers around the world will make this the fastest growing and largest segment in terms of Internet traffic volume generated. By 2007, IDC believes consumers will account for 60 percent of all Internet traffic generated, versus roughly 40 percent for business users. Mobile Internet users are expected to have only a minimal impact on overall traffic volume during the forecast period.
Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030304-104616-3971r
This Letter excites me! It brings me back to the days of when we said, " Disruptive Technology!!!! "
This letter is written to not let the cat out of the sack. We know what we have, just hold tight and it will arrive :)
Thanks Brad for the great letter!
Al
AKA,
The Angry American
This is from a hard copy my neighbor gave me saying it's her philosophy. I'm in total agreement.
Achieving inner peace, I'm passing this along to you, because it's definitely working for me.
I think I have found inner peace. I recently read an article that said the best way to achieve inner peace is to FINISH things I had started.
So, today I finished two large bags of potato chips, a chocolate pie, a fifth of Jack Daniel's, a small box of chocolate candy, and I slapped the living cr*p out of someone I have never liked. I feel better already.
God save us all! lol
oh, wait what is God spelled backwards? doG
He is going to save us!! lol
Subject:: A Brief History of Germany
> >
> >
> > 1871 - Bismark founds modern Germany.
> > 1890 - Bismark sacked, warmonger Wilhelm II takes direct control.
> > 1914 - Germany starts World War I
> > 1914-1918 - Germany kills millions upon millions of people.
> > 1917 - Germany force peace loving Americans to enter war.
> > 1918 - Germany loses World War I.
> > 1920's - Germans try democracy.
> > 1933 - Germans reject democracy, allow Hitler to take power.
> > 1939 - Germany starts World War II.
> > 1939-1945 - Germany kills millions upon millions of people.
> > 1941 - Germany force peace loving Americans to enter war.
> > 1945 - Germany loses World War II.
> > 1946 - Germans whine about lack of food, America gives billions
> > in
> food aid
> > to feed them.
> >
> > 1947 - Germans whine about crappy economy, America gives
> billions in
> > Marshall Plan aid to rebuild German economy.
> >
> > 1948-1949 - America puts ass on line and risks WW3 to save a
> > few
> Berliners
> > from Soviet hordes.
> >
> > 1949 - Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) established
> > 1950's - America spends billions to defend West Germany from
> > Soviet
> hordes.
> > 1950's - German 'economic miracle' occurs while America
> > keeps
> watch on
> > Soviet hordes.
> >
> > 1955 - NATO formed to protect West Germany from Soviet hordes.
> > 1960's - America spends billions to defend West Germany from
> > Soviet
> hordes.
> > 1960's - German students protest war in Vietnam and American
> > civil
> rights.
> > 1963 - American President John Kennedy makes "Ich bin ein
> > Berliner"
> speech.
> > 1970's - America spends billions to defend West Germany from
> > Soviet
> hordes.
> > 1970's - Germans form the marxist terrorist group Red Army
> > Faction
> (RAF).
> > 1970's - Leftist German guerrillas burn, loot, and plunder
> > much
> of West
> > Germany.
> >
> > 1980's - America spends tens of billions to defend West Germany
from
> Soviet
> > hordes.
> >
> > 1980's - German leftists bitch about Pershing II missiles.
> > 1987 - American President Ronald Reagan makes "Mr.
> > Gorbachev,
> tear down
> > this wall" speech.
> >
> > 1989 - Gorbachev tears down Berlin Wall.
> > 1990 - German Reunification.
> > 1990's - America spends tens of billions to defend Germany
> > from
> Islamic
> > hordes.
> >
> > 1990's - Germany stands by as ethnic cleansing occurs in Balkans.
> > 1993 - Germany joins European Union.
> > 1995 - Americans send troops to Bosnia as Germans watch from the
> sidelines.
> > 1997 - Germans finally send troops to Bosnia.
> > 1998 - Hardline, left-of-left socialists come to power
> > under
> Gerhard
> > Schroeder.
> >
> > 1999 - Americans lead air war to save Kosovo as Germans
> > watch
> from the
> > sidelines.
> >
> > 2001 - Schroeder offers solidarity to America after 9/11 attacks.
> > 2002 - Schroeder bashes America to distract voters during
> > election
> campaign.
> > 2003 - Germany sees rise in anti-Americanism after several
> > decades
> of poor
> > treatment from America.
> >
> >
> >
> > AND YOU THOUGHT THE FRENCH WERE A BUNCH OF UNGRATEFUL BASTARDS?
Smile!
Its not that bad.......lol
France announced today that it plans to permanently ban fireworks at Euro Disney, following last night's fireworks display that caused soldiers at a nearby French army garrison to surrender.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 2) - California officials will submit evidence that many public and private energy companies systematically withheld electricity during the state's energy crisis, driving up prices.
The evidence that California is submitting to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday will remain confidential, but a summary will be made public. Names of the companies won't be released unless FERC decides to overturn a protective order.
California wants FERC to order $8.9 billion in refunds for 2000 and 2001, when power prices soared in the state's newly deregulated market and the state faced energy shortages and rolling blackouts.
A draft of the summary says the generating companies engaged in systematic withholding, according to a source who had seen the document.
It says the evidence shows that manipulating the California power market and withholding electricity was the rule, not the exception, in 2000 and 2001, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A FERC administrative law judge found in December that California should get $1.8 billion in refunds, but also determined that energy companies were owed $3 billion from unpaid bills for power delivered to the state.
Wholesale prices in California shot up in May 2000, but the judge's findings, based on complex formulas, covered power transactions from October 2000 to June 2001. Those findings didn't take into account evidence of market manipulation.
California appealed and FERC gave the state 100 more days to compile evidence.
The state's evidence was culled from ``literally millions of pages of documents,'' said Eric Saltmarsh, general counsel for the Electricity Oversight Board, one of the state agencies involved in the FERC case.
``It is representative, not exhaustive,'' Saltmarsh said. ``We had 100 days and more than 100 companies to look at. We do not pretend for a moment that we have dragged the net through the entire world.''
Energy companies have largely denied wrongdoing.
Reliant Energy agreed in January to refund $13.8 million to settle claims that employees withheld power for two days to drive up prices. Houston-based Reliant admitted no wrongdoing, saying the June 2000 actions were ``an isolated situation.''
Some of the evidence the state will produce will include documents already made public, such as the Enron memos that outlined market manipulation strategies with colorful names like ``Get Shorty,'' ``Ricochet'' and ``Fat Boy,'' Saltmarsh said.
The Enron memos indicated that other companies had similar strategies, but provided no details.
03/02/03 10:10 EST
Coming Soon to an Electrical Outlet Near You: Powerline Broadband
Author: HOLLY J. WAGNER
hwagner@advanstar.com
Posted: March 2, 2003
With broadband household penetration in the United States hovering at about 20 percent, providers are battling for the hearts and eyes of consumers.
So far, broadband access has been limited to telecommunications companies providing digital subscriber lines (DSL) or satellite and cable connections. But another industry -- electric utility companies -- has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to offer broadband access to homes.
“Something like a powerline carrier could blow the doors off the provision of broadband,” FCC chairman Michael Powell said at an open commission meeting in January.
Informa Media Group projects nearly 500,000 powerline communications (PLC) subscribers worldwide by the end of 2003, rising to 1.8 million in 2006.
The technology that turns ordinary electrical outlets into Internet connections is little known to American consumers, but at least two industry groups -- the United Powerline Council and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance -- want to change that.
The groups were formed to develop and lobby for PLC. The technology could be a boon to consumers for several reasons. For one, since most homes in the United States are already wired for electricity, the infrastructure already exists. That means no “last mile” issues like the telcos face. PLC lines operate at speeds of about 20 times faster than a dial-up connection. Utility companies contend they could offer the service cheaper than their fiberoptic and satellite competitors, which dispute the claim.
Part of the powerline advocates’ task is to wrest control of Internet access from the companies that have traditionally provided it to consumers. In an extremely competitive market, they are not eager to have another contender on the field. It also won’t be easy for newcomers to challenge established providers.
“Basically, powerline technology needs to move quickly in 2003 or it will be too late.
Cable and DSL in the U.S. is now well-entrenched,” said eMarketer analyst Ben Macklin.
“Powerline is still untested commercially. The technology works, but it is unclear if the business model is sound,” he continued. “Do consumers want to mix their electricity and telecom services? Maybe they do, but they need to be convinced that they do -- and that usually takes time.”
A company called Powerline Technologies has recently completed field tests it claims prove the technology can be deployed cost- effectively. Trials were conducted on underground and overhead power lines, said VP Sean Collins.
The technology works similarly to DSL. The current carrying the Internet signal runs parallel to, but not on the same frequency as, the voice or electrical line.
“Digital powerline uses a network, known as a high-frequency conditioned power network (HFCPN), to transmit data and electrical signals. An HFCPN uses a series of conditioning units (CUs) to filter those separate signals,” scholars Scott Baugh and Maciej Matyjas wrote in an analysis for Carnegie Mellon University. “The CU sends electricity to the outlets in the home and data signals to a communication module or ‘service unit.’ The service unit provides multiple channels for data, voice, etc.”
The technology has had a few bugs on its way to market. During early testing in the U.K., some radio frequencies in the test areas were jammed.
“By pure chance, British light poles were the perfect size and shape to broadcast Digital PowerLine signals,” Baugh and Matyjas wrote. “The situation posed problems not just because of the frequencies involved, but also because anyone could listen in on the traffic.”
Among opponents of PLC in the United States is the National Association of Broadcasters, which fears the technology will generate interference on AM radio and other established frequencies.
But utility companies are anxious to surmount such problems, partly because increasing deregulation of electrical power has them looking for a source of income to replace what will be lost to anticipated power rates.
Powerline Internet access is commercially available in Germany, Spain, France and Italy.
“In Germany, for example, which could be regarded as one of the more advanced PLC markets in the world, most of the cable infrastructure is unsuitable for high-speed Internet,” Macklin said. “This gives Powerline technology an opportunity to fill the gap, and it is expected that there will be tens of thousands of PLC subscribers in Germany by the end of 2003.”
http://www.videostoremag.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&article_ID=4516
I fully agree about starting with the media first. During W.W.II there were German spies lurking around our waterfronts collecting info about our War ships such as, how big, how many and what time they left port. These spies would scurry back to their radio layer in the basement of a neighborhood operative business or home, and relay that information back to Berlin. But today we have CNN to do all the work for the enemy.
Loose lips sink ships!
Time to Arrest the Leaders of the Anti-War Movement
16 May, 1918
The U.S. Sedition Act
United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, pp 553 ff. A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917.SECTION 3.
Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....
Tough times like these some people could use a little coaching :)
check out this link I got from an Email shesh!
glad I live 38 miles from Boston, Who would bomb Boston anyway lol
look around the site it has some cool info where the Nuke plants are and about Nuke blasts.
http://www.85rj5r6vvlpe5p@www.modernherbals.com/
Keep you hands off my WAG!!!
888,000
What are you going to do when this takes off?
1/2 a mill, shesh should have held IMHO
July of 00 for me, have not sold a share.
This stock is so predictable that many could make $$$$$ buying and selling, im sure some people have that we all know.
The U.S. Sedition Act
16 May, 1918
United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, pp 553 ff. A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917.SECTION 3.
Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Feb. 27) - State Farm, the nation's largest auto and residential insurer, is changing its car insurance policies to clearly exclude claims stemming from nuclear explosions or radioactive fallout.
The Bloomington-based insurer is mailing notices to 40 million auto policyholders that says nuclear blasts or radioactive damage are not normal road hazards, whether the incidents are accidental or intentional.
State Farm spokesman Joe Johnson said the company reviewed policies in the wake of heightened awareness over terrorism and realized there was no specific language regarding nuclear-related claims.
``Basically, a nuclear event is the type of situation that could threaten an insurance company's solvency,'' Johnson said.
Most insurers' auto and homeowners policies contain a similar exclusion, said Loretta Worters, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute. State Farm already excludes nuclear-related claims in its homeowners policies.
The nuclear exclusion will be added to automobile policies up for renewal beginning Dec. 1, and should be included in all State Farm auto policies by June 1, 2004, Johnson said.
Notices are being mailed to auto policyholders in states that have approved the exclusion, State Farm spokesman Dick Luedke said. The company is still awaiting approval from insurance regulators in eight to 10 states, he said.
State Farm paid out $20.3 million in auto, fire and life insurance claims stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Johnson said. The company's biggest previous payout was $3.7 billion for Hurricane Andrew.
02/26/03 17:48 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
PITTSBURGH (Feb. 27) - Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions of children to be his neighbor as host of the public television show ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' for more than 30 years, died of cancer early Thursday. He was 74.
Rogers died at his Pittsburgh home, said family spokesman David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show. Rogers had been diagnosed with stomach cancer sometime after the holidays, Newell said.
``He was so genuinely, genuinely kind, a wonderful person,'' Newell said. ``His mission was to work with families and children for television. ... That was his passion, his mission, and he did it from day one.''
From 1968 to 2000, Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the show at Pittsburgh public television station WQED. The final new episode, which was taped in December 2000, aired in August 2001, though PBS affiliates continued to air back episodes.
Rogers composed his own songs for the show and began each episode in a set made to look like a comfortable living room, singing ``It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,'' as he donned sneakers and a zip-up cardigan.
``I have really never considered myself a TV star,'' Rogers said in a 1995 interview. ``I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit.''
His message remained simple: telling his viewers to love themselves and others. On each show, he would take his audience on a magical trolley ride into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where his puppet creations would interact with each other and adults.
Rogers did much of the puppet work and voices himself. He also studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh and consulted with an expert there over the years.
``He was certainly a perfectionist. There was a lot more to Fred than I think many of us saw,'' said Joe Negri, a guitarist who on the show played the royal handyman in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and owner of ``Negri's Music Shop.''
Negri said Rogers refused to accept shoddy ad-libbing by guests who may have thought they could slack off during a kid's show.
But Rogers could also enjoy taping as if he were a child himself, Negri recalled. Once, he said, the two of them fell into laughter because of the difficulty they had putting up a tent on the show.
Rogers taught children how to share, deal with anger and even why they shouldn't fear the bathtub by assuring them they'll never go down the drain.
During the Persian Gulf War, Rogers told youngsters that ``all children shall be well taken care of in this neighborhood and beyond - in times of war and in times of peace,'' and he asked parents to promise their children they would always be safe.
``We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility,'' he said in 1994. ``It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.'
``Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.''
Rogers came out of broadcasting retirement last year to record public service announcements for the Public Broadcasting Service telling parents how to help their children deal with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
``If they see the tragedy replayed on television, they might think it's happening at that moment,'' he said.
Rogers' show won four Emmy Awards, plus one for lifetime achievement. He was given a George Foster Peabody Award in 1993, ``in recognition of 25 years of beautiful days in the neighborhood.''
At a ceremony marking the show's 25th anniversary that year, Rogers said, ``It's not the honors and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It's what resides inside.''
The show's ratings peaked in 1985-86 when about 8 percent of all U.S. households with televisions tuned in. By the 1999-2000 season, viewership had dropped to about 2.7 percent, or 3.6 million people.
As other children's programming opted for slick action cartoons, Rogers stayed the same and stuck to his soothing message.
Off the set, Rogers was much like his television persona. He swam daily, read voraciously and listened to Beethoven. He once volunteered at a state prison in Pittsburgh and helped set up a playroom there for children visiting their parents.
One of Rogers' red sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.
Rogers was born in Latrobe, 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Early in his career, Rogers was an unseen puppeteer in ``The Children's Corner,'' a local show he helped launch at WQED in 1954. In seven years of unscripted, live television, he developed many of the puppets used in his later show, including King Friday XIII and Curious X the Owl.
He was ordained in 1963 with a charge to continue his work with children and families through television. That same year, Rogers accepted an offer to develop ``Misterogers,'' his own 15-minute show, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
He brought the show back to Pittsburgh in 1966, incorporating segments of the CBC show into a new series distributed by the Eastern Educational Network to cities including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.
In 1968, ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' began distribution across the country through National Educational Television, which later became the Public Broadcasting Service.
Rogers' gentle manner was the butt of some comedians. Eddie Murphy parodied him on ``Saturday Night Live'' in the 1980s with his ``Mister Robinson's Neighborhood,'' a routine Rogers found funny and affectionate.
Rogers is survived by his wife, Joanne, a concert pianist; two sons; and two grandsons.
02/27/03 09:14 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Fibre-to-the-home should be Germany’s broadband solution
26/02/2003 Editor: Neal S. Lachman
Broadband availability in Germany is unlikely to happen in the near term, according to a recent survey of the broadband sector by Deutsche Bank Research. However, researchers often make the mistake of looking at existing, legacy system operators, such as CATV (cable) and telephone (DSL) operators, for broadband solutions. This is a wrong approach, based on outdated way of thinking.
Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), is the only solution for a future-proof, high-capacity, and superior-quality transmission system. CATV and Telco operators can only deliver semi-broadband access, simply because these systems are not built for the high-throughput two-way/bi-directional traffic. No matter how often and what upgrades the systems will go through, FTTH is the only economical and future-proof solution to provide traffic at true broadband speeds, which can be defined as speeds of 10 Mbps and higher, up to 100 Mbps.
FTTH is a brand-new industry, based on fairly new technologies, but it will be able to deliver us the same services as we know and use today. Better, besides delivering Internet Access speeds of up to 100 Megabits per second, FTTH operators can also provide higher quality telephone services, and broadcast many more TV networks to your TV than a cable or satellite operator can dream of. All this, plus true Interactive services and programming, real-time on-demand programs and movies or DVDs to your TV and computers.
But how can German households and (small) businesses get access to true broadband services? The answer is that only FTTH system operators will be able and willing to do something in the near future, at costs that everybody can afford.
First we need to understand that start-up FTTH operators, that enter the market as new players, without a legacy system, can be more successful and dedicated to build true-broadband infrastructures. This is because CATV or telcos don‘t feel the need to cannibalise their current revenues. The main issue is that FTTH infrastructures are not based on the legacy CATV and telco infrastructures. It must be built completely from scratch, ‘overbuilding’ as the industry calls it. On the economical side, legacy system operators have debts for hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions. They have invested that money in building the legacy systems, thus their return on investment, or break-even-point, has still to be achieved. FTTH operators will start with zero debts, zero liabilities, just with some very smart investors who buy shares in their companies.
Secondly, given the geographic spread of cities in Germany, traditional broadband technologies won’t be sufficient. There is no need to wait for the CATV and telcos to deliver broadband services. By stimulating FTTH operators, German citizens and businesses, can bypass the semi-broadband market and go for true broadband at once. There are no technical or economic hurdles for FTTH operators. They just need to be stimulated, given the chance to get going. An appropriate technical approach for FTTH operators in Germany is, most likely, to connect to existing fibre networks for the metro-networks, use high-capacity fixed wireless technologies for the middle mile, to be inventive in laying the last mile, and wiring the building and then the homes with fibre.
In May 2002, Senator Joseph Lieberman of the United States published a report on true-broadband infrastructures. In it, he clearly recommends the United States adopt a national policy on high-speed broadband infrastructures, because it will be a goldmine, for the country, as productivity will grow. Politicians and investors in Germany - or from the whole world for that matter - should know that FTTH is a goldmine for the country.
http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=15121
New long range broadband service is not far off
Home
BT has revealed it is developing a new longer-range product, which it has claimed, will reduce the number of areas that cannot currently receive the service.
The ‘extended reach’ ASDL line is being trialed by just ten people at present but a larger test is expected to commence late next month.
BT hopes that by increasing the distance over which broadband will work, areas which are unable to access the service, because they live too far away from their nearest exchange, will be able to get connected.
Up to six per cent of premises in broadband-enabled areas suffer from this problem but, according to BT, their new extended reach service will halve the number of places where the length of telephone line means they cannot get receive a faster internet connection.
And BT has hit out at claims that, because of the length of cable involved, the new product would suffer from bandwidth problems and said it would be just as fast as existing broadband services.
Britain currently lags behind many other European countries in the adoption of high speed internet services, and BT has received much of the blame for this – the Federation of Small Businesses has recently attacked the company for refusing to upgrade rural exchanges unless a certain number of customers signed up in advance.
And earlier in the year a report by the Institute of Directors revealed that only ten per cent of small firms were happy with their current bandwidth provision and 78 per cent of business bosses that a lack of broadband infrastructure was holding back the service.
However its new service would be welcome news for many small business, particularly those in rural areas, who have long complained about the problems of connecting to broadband.
Tell us what you think on our interactive FORUM or email the editor, matthewt@crimsonpublishing.co.uk
http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?j62137089
First successes in broadband contest
26 February 2003
BILL WOODCOCK, EDP BUSINESS EDITOR
East Anglia's regional development agency has identified Diss as one of the first sites to qualify for high-speed broadband internet services under its Demand Broadband Campaign.
Companies supplying broadband services will be invited through the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to apply to provide the service, which provides fast internet connections to businesses.
Firms and individuals in six Eastern counties were invited to register their interest on a broadband brokerage website run by EEDA.
Mason Communications, the telecom-munications adviser running the service for EEDA, said Diss and Felaw Maltings – a business start-up centre in Ipswich – were the first clusters of demand to be identified in the region.
Diss mixes both business and residential broadband demand while Felaw Maltings, with more than 60 businesses in one building, serves the need of the resident companies.
EEDA said that with more than 8000 registrations so far, the website was providing information to potential broadband suppliers on areas of demand across the region.
The agency provides the figures to network providers who can then decide whether to make a bid to supply broadband.
Alongside its website, EEDA is also running a "connecting communities" competition which gives businesses and communities the chance to bid for part of a £3m fund to get broadband supplied to them.
Stuart Cowie, of Mason Communications, said: "The information provided via the competition and the broadband brokerage is essential in judging the viability of supplying a service in a particular area."
Mason Communications has a long list of suppliers ready to meet demand.
E-commerce minister Stephen Timms said: "The number of registrations on the Demand Broadband site shows the level of enthusiasm for these technologies among both businesses and consumers. The more this demand is demonstrated, the further broadband will spread, opening up access to everyone in every part of the UK."
Mr Timms added that with providers being given the chance to bid for ready-made markets, EEDA's project was also driving forward broadband in the UK.
Yesterday, major broadband companies joined smaller suppliers to hear about opport-unities to provide their services in the region.
Broadband supply organisations can join EEDA's brokerage service by contacting Mason Communications on 0161 772 8161 or by e-mail: broadbandbrokerage@mason.biz
As soon as new clusters of demand are identified, information will be passed to all those suppliers registered with Masons.
To enter the competition or to register demand for broadband, log on to www.demandbroadband.com or call the EEDA broadband helpline on 0845 601 8824.
Aylsham businesses who want broadband internet access are being urged to attend a meeting tonight.
David Higgins, consultant for the Aylsham bidding group, is giving a free presentation at the Town Hall from 5.30pm to 7pm. He will explain how broadband access will be achieved and take a question and answer session. E-mail contact david@buckbrigg.co.uk
http://business.edp24.co.uk/content/news/?tbrand=bizonline&tCategory=homePage&category=Busin...
Apocalypse Now was one of my favorite movies, now, I cant watch it the same since Sheen is leading the War protest ;(
Kerts would still be alive with that attitude !
Signed,
The Angry American
[Suppressed Sound Link]
I don't want to recommend a good porn site to feds, I think they should find them on their own lol
No really, I can check an enemy web site ( http://www.hillary.org ) to find out what they are up to and I would get a cookie for going there. If you visit web sites they can read your cookies and see where you been, so if they see an enemy cookie on my computer they might think im the enemy.
Make sure you delete your cookies and temp files before you go the the site lol
Helpful tips
Excel-ent!
Pepsi has a new patriotic can coming out with pictures of the Empire
State Building and the Pledge of Allegiance on them.
But Pepsi forgot two little words on the pledge, "Under God."
Pepsi said they did not want to offend anyone. If this is true then we
do not want to offend anyone at the Pepsi corporate office. If we do
not buy any Pepsi products then they will not receive any of our
monies. Our money, after all, does have the words "Under God" on it.
If you agree with this policy, please pass this word to everyone you
know. Pepsi doesn't have the right to rewrite the Pledge Of
Allegiance!!
SOMETHING TO OFFEND DAMN NEAR EVERYBODY
1. What's the Cuban national anthem?
"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
2. Where does an Irish family go on vacation?
A different bar.
3. Did you hear about the Chinese couple that had a retarded baby?
They named him "Sum Ting Wong.
4. What would you call it when an Italian has one arm shorter than the other?
A speech impediment.
5. What does it mean when the flag at the Post Office is flying at half-mast?
They're hiring.
6. Why aren't there any Puerto Ricans on Star Trek?
Because they're not going to work in the future either.
7. What do you call an Arkansas farmer with a sheep under each arm?
A pimp.
8. Why do drivers' education classes in Redneck schools use the car only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays?
Because on Tuesday and Thursday, the Sex Ed class uses it.
9. What's the difference between a southern zoo and a northern zoo?
A southern zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage, along with a recipe.
10. How do you get a sweet little 80-year-old lady to say the F word?
Get another sweet little 80-year-old lady to yell *BINGO*!
11. What's the difference between a northern fairytale and a southern fairytale?
A northern fairytale begins "Once upon a time..." A southern fairytale begins "Y'all ain't gonna believe this shit..." I love this one!
12. Why is there no Disneyland in China?
No one's tall enough to go on the good rides!
13. And my, my, how time have changed:
Years ago when 100 white men chased 1 black man, we called it the Ku Klux Klan. Today they call it the PGA TOUR.
Here is a start
http://www.paulreveresociety.com/frontpage.html
Michael Savage founded The Paul Revere Society (PRS). With a crisis of leadership threatening the United States, PRS stands for the reassertion of our borders, our language, and our culture.
Some say that the borders are arbitrary, English is only one of many languages in our new "Multicultural America," and that we share no common history or values. We believe in the Sovereignty of our Nation. That English is our national "glue." And that we all do share in the pillars of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These documents and what they stand for are our common cultural heritage.
The Paul Revere Society (PRS) will assert the values inherent in these pillars of freedom. We will seek to educate the citizenry about our nation's freedoms.
and
http://www.goal.org
and
http://www.debka.com
Could it be? Osama Bin the race car driver?
Osama Bin Drivin?
Not sure if he turned the car on or not.
http://www.00fun.com/insanity.shtml
Here is a link of the Station that went up in flames killing over 86 last night.
http://www.believerusa.com/pics1.html
http://www.believerusa.com/Images/pics/04.05.02-TheStation/micky%26john2.JPG
This pick you can see in the background the soundproofing that is in question. Very eerie and sad, You see some people with skelliton shirts and of death and that is what some of them became last night. Happened Very fast, shocking, unexpected and sad.
The victims and families are in my prayers.
Al
Looks neat but Ill stick to my .50 AE
http://www.geocities.com/guntotingozzie/DEVIDS.html
cool vids
Dr. Steven Greer's exciting announcement of the development of a new zero point energy apparatus. "It appears we have found a Holy Grail type device," Greer said. He's set up a company called Space Energy Access Systems to promote such innovations. "This is the most astounding…object I've ever seen in my life," he exclaimed, saying that the plan was to test and then make a prototype of it, before it was introduced to the public at large. The device which collects its own energy could fully power cars, homes and industries. Greer said that one reason he made this announcement on Coast was to prevent this amazing development from being suppressed or eliminated, as has often happened with energy advancements in the past.
http://www.seaspower.com/
www.cseti.org
www.disclosureproject.org
www.drgreer.com
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A Japanese tourist was arrested after carrying a canister of gasoline and a barbecue grill through Miami International Airport, police said.
Atsushi Ishiguro, 45, was charged Friday with creating a potential safety hazard and a violation of airport security directives, police said. He was released on $1,000 bail Monday.
Ishiguro was traveling on American Eagle Airlines from Jamaica to the Bahamas when airport security stopped him on a layover in Miami.
During a security screening, authorities questioned Ishiguro about the liquid in his 11-ounce metal canister. He told them it was gasoline.
Ishiguro was taken into custody when he refused to give up the canister. Two boxes of matches and a barbecue grill were also found in his possession.
Authorities became more suspicious after examining Ishiguro's passport which included stamps from Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.
The FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service are reviewing his case.
Did the cops "Grill" him when that got him down to the station? lol
Fortune-teller fight
Some say city licensing process discriminates
By Donovan Slack, Globe Correspondent, 2/18/2003
On a wintry evening last December, Boston police came to The Psychic Eye, a downtown fortune-telling parlor run by a young woman who goes by the name Mitchell. She was ticketed and ordered to appear before the city's licensing board. Her offense: claiming to divine the future without a license.
''I cannot conduct business anymore?'' Mitchell said at her hearing a month later.
''Not until licensing,'' said board chairman Daniel F. Pokaski, slapping her file shut and calling the next case.
The Boston Licensing Board regularly nabs people who say they have psychic powers for violating state and city laws against fortune-telling without regulatory clearance. But many of the fortune-tellers in Boston - most of whom say they are Gypsies - say that the licensing process is unfair, even a form of discrimination.
''Every other business they really don't care unless it's tobacco or alcohol,'' said Costello, a fortune-teller who, like Mitchell, goes by only one name in accordance with Gypsy tradition. ''You're a Gypsy, we want to watch you. Doesn't the city have someone better to watch? Shouldn't they use their energy to get crack dealers or people who shoot babies on the train?''
The city says the fortune-telling license requirements, which have been in place since 1963, are not discriminatory against Gypsies, but are designed to root out frauds and con artists.
''The unscrupulous ones prey upon the very vulnerable people who would come in there and believe,'' said Pokaski.
The licensing board commissioner once fielded a complaint from a customer who said a psychic told her that her living room set was cursed, and that she should bring the new furniture to the fortune-teller's office at once so the curse could be removed. Pokaski said the customer never saw her couch or loveseat again.
''Sometimes they can be real nuisances to neighborhoods,'' he said.
About a dozen alleged future-seers in Boston are licensed. Pokaski suspects many more may be operating outside the law.
''Our job is to balance the needs of the business community with the needs of the residents,'' Pokaski said. ''We like to know who does what where so we can have some control.''
Gypsies in New England say they've been fighting discrimination in Massachusetts licensing for years. They have had some support in the courts. After a fortune-teller sued Provincetown for not granting her a license in 1983, US District Court Judge David Mazzone wrote that a residency requirement in the state's law was unconstitutional and ''obvious discrimination and unequal treatment.''
After learning of the 1983 ruling about three years ago, Boston eliminated the residency rule, which required fortune-tellers to live in the city for at least a year before becoming eligible for a license.
''Basically, it was an anti-Gypsy statute,'' said Alfred Farese Jr., a Boston attorney who said Gypsies tend to be nomadic, moving from city to city.
Some now say the application process itself is flawed. Like other people seeking to do business in the city, applicants for a fortune-telling license must fill out a detailed, four-page form seeking information about the applicant's background and business plans.
After completing that paperwork, Mitchell faced the three members of the licensing board in a windowless room deep inside City Hall.
''Now, you must post prices so the public can see exactly what they're going to have to pay,'' Pokaski said. ''You can't say, `OK, there's a curse on you so it's going to cost another $20 to take it off.'''
''Exactly what will you be doing?'' another board member, Joseph Mulligan, cut in.
''Palm-reading, tarot-card reading or psychic reading, which is both,'' Mitchell said, her voice quavering.
''Do you use a crystal ball and all that stuff?'' Mulligan said.
''No.''
''Will you be doing any seances? Do you do that?'' Mulligan asked.
''No, no, I don't like to do that,'' she said.
Mitchell, who was ultimately granted a license for her Kingston Street business, declined to be interviewed. But Costello, whose family operates a half-dozen fortune-telling businesses in the Boston area, said questioning of the kind Mitchell faced is degrading and fueled by ignorance and prejudice.
''We are Gypsies and we are proud of what we do,'' he said. ''It's our inheritance. It's 2003. Enough is enough.''
But Pokaski and his board members say they have reasons to be tough - and that they do not discriminate. In December 1998, a Boston-based fortune-teller was sentenced to more than a year in prison for swindling a longtime client out of nearly $200,000 in inheritance money. She claimed the money was evil and had to be cleansed - out of state. Federal agents later arrested the woman in New York City.
In Arlington early last year, police said a Cambridge man gave a fortune-teller $12,000 and a sterling silver napkin ring so she could ''cleanse'' the money and the ring of a ''curse.''
She told the man that the money, which he had inherited, was the root of his problems. When the man later was unable to retrieve his property, he contacted local authorities.
When a Boston High School student paid a visit in May 2000 to a fortune-teller in Bay Village, police said the 16-year-old was told that if she handed over nine $20 bills and nine flowers, she would get back together with her boyfriend. The high school student paid $40, planning to return with more. But her mother learned of her daughter's activities and alerted police.
Costello insists that a few bad apples have poisoned the pool of opinion.
''We don't stand on the street and drag people in by a rope,'' he said. ''They walk in on their own. I put my sign out, my door is open for business - just like anyone else.''
Plane wreck found after 27 years
From correspondents in Quito
February 18, 2003
THE wreckage of an Ecuadoran passenger plane lost in 1976 with 59 people on board has been found, a group of mountain climbers has announced.
The plane, a four-engine Vickers Viscount belonging to Saeta Airlines, vanished on August 15, 1976 as it flew from the Andean city of Cuenca to Quito.
The climbers said they discovered the wreckage in a remote site near the top of Mount Chimborazo.
The volcano, which has a perpetual snow cap, is 6310 metres (20,702 feet) high and the country's highest peak.
Mount Chimborazo is some 130 kms south of Quito.
The widow of Marcelo Aleman, the plane's captain, told reporters that Defence Minister Nelson Herrera had told her of the discovery.
The climbers brought back indentification documents belonging to one of the crew members as proof of the find.
They also recovered newspapers from the day of the crash, according to local new reports.
The plane was reportedly found in a hard to reach area at a height of 5100 metres.
The wreckage was said to be spread over a 600 metre radius