besides the obvious, i'm looking for a way to block excess to a particular website. or maybe a lock that site address.
Firefox 3
Microsoft Windows XP
Home edition
version 2002
servicepack 3

What actually goes on when someone gets power, do they send you to a special ( your above the law now school ) I can not understand why tax paying citizens are not arming themselves and shooting any one they see with authority. They seem to be the ones committing all the crimes. You can steal more money with a briefcase then you can with a gun. they should out law briefcases not guns.

Army major pleads guilty to $5.8M bribery deal charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army major pleaded guilty to bribery charges Wednesday and admitted he had a $5.8 million deal to steer military contracts for bottled water and other supplies to favored companies.

The guilty plea by Maj. James Momon Jr. is the latest development in one of the Justice Department's largest military contracting fraud investigations.

Momon served as a contracting officer at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait in 2005 and 2006. He succeeded Maj. John C. Cockerham, who pleaded guilty in January to money laundering as part of a $9 million bribery scheme involving bottled water contracts.

Cockerham has been cooperating with investigators. As part of his plea deal, Momon agreed to do the same.

Momon admitted Wednesday that he accepted $1.6 million in bribes and had a deal to accept a total of $5.8 million. He pleaded guilty to two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy. Bribery carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, conspiracy up to five years.

"Today's guilty plea should be a very clear message to all who seek to defraud the Army that we will catch you and we will bring you to justice," Brig. Gen. Rodney Johnson of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement. "When an individual or a company participates in this type of illegal activity, it's only a matter of time before our special agents track you down."

The Big Dogs are coming out to play now, Bush is probably counting the days on his calender till it's over and he can go home.

congress should have to rely on SS, that would fix SS

Perhaps it's ready to turn

Murphy showed up at Mass one Sunday and the priest almost fell down
when he saw him. Murphy had never been seen in church in his life.

After Mass, the priest caught up with Murphy and said, 'Murphy, I
am so glad ya decided to come to Mass. What made ya come?'

Murphy said, 'I got to be honest with ya, Father; awhile back I
misplaced me hat and I really, really love that hat. I know that McGlynn
had a hat just like me hat, and I knew that McGlynn came to church every
Sunday. I also knew that McGlynn had to take off his hat during Mass
and figured he would leave it in the back of the church.
So, I was going to leave after Communion and steal McGlynn's hat.'

The priest said, 'Well, Murphy, I notice that ya didn't steal
McGlynn's hat. What changed yur mind?'

Murphy said, 'Well, after I heard yur sermon on the 10 Commandments,
I decided that I didn't need to steal McGlynn's hat after all.'

The priest gave Murphy a big smile and said, 'After I talked about
'Thou Shalt Not Steal' ya decided ya would rather do without yur hat
than burn in Hell, right?'

Murphy shook his head and said, 'No, Father, after ya talked about
'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' I remembered where I left me hat.'

It's been going nice along with RGR

It is sad to think what position the republicans will put this country in, to help their party these next few months, without a care in the world for the people.

LOL I sent them to humor myself

That was so good I sent parts of that to Bush, my state Senators and Representative.

Things should be better by Friday.

LOL "Do you want to do that?"
I suppose if the people in charge hide far enough back in the crowd their conscience will not be effected.

I remember reading that article, I actually sent and E-Mail to CVS where I get my meds about the high mark ups. I got just what I expected for a reply, ( will look into that )

Classic

Prices for some drugs skyrocket

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
Drug companies are quietly pushing through price hikes of 100% — or even more than 1,000% — for a very small but growing number of prescription drugs, helping to drive up costs for insurers, patients and government programs.

The number of brand-name drugs with increases of 100% or more could double this year from four years ago, researchers from the University of Minnesota say. Many of the drugs are older products that treat fairly rare, but often serious or even life-threatening, conditions.

Among the examples: Questcor Pharmaceuticals last August raised the wholesale price on Acthar, which treats spasms in babies, from about $1,650 a vial to more than $23,000. Ovation raised the cost of Cosmegen, which treats a type of tumor, from $16.79 to $593.75 in January 2006.

The average wholesale price of 26 brand-name drugs jumped 100% or more in a single cost adjustment last year, up from 15 in 2004, the university study found. In the first half of this year, 17 drugs made the list.

"This does drive up the price of health care," says Alan Goldbloom, president of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. "Hospitals are either eating the cost or passing it along to insurers, so you and I are paying it in increased premiums."


Some of the drugs are administered in hospitals, which bill insurers, patients or government programs for them. Insured patients pay either a flat dollar amount, such as $20, or a percentage of the drug's cost.

Last year, prices rose about 7.4% on average for 1,344 brand-name drugs, according to Express Scripts, which manages drug benefits for large employers and insurers.

Reasons for the larger increases are varied, researchers say.

"There's no simple explanation," says Stephen Schondelmeyer, director of the PRIME Institute at the University of Minnesota, which studies drug industry economics. "Some companies seem to figure no one is watching so they can get away with it."

The price increases are drawing legal and political scrutiny:

• In a decision awaiting approval by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, drugmaker Abbott agreed last week to pay up to $27.5 million to settle a lawsuit over a 400% price increase on its HIV/AIDS drug Norvir. The price did not change.

• Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., asked the Government Accountability Office last week to investigate large price hikes. Klobuchar asked the Federal Trade Commission in April to investigate Ovation Pharmaceuticals, which raised prices on four drugs in 2006 by up to 3,437%.

Drug companies say the price hikes cover the costs of keeping the drugs on the market. They say the drugs are often less costly than alternative treatments, such as surgery or newer, high-tech medicines.

Questcor says on its website that it had to raise Acthar's price after struggling for years to "keep (it) financially viable."

Ovation says it needed to cover its 2005 purchase of the drugs and facility upgrades. "We feel we made an important investment in keeping these older products alive," says spokeswoman Sally Benjamin Young.

EXAMPLES OF RISING DRUG PRICES

Researchers found a growing number of drugs with one-time price increases of 100% or more. Some examples based on average wholesale prices:
Drug Condition Company Price before Price after % increase
Cosmegen Wilms' tumor Ovation $16.79 $593.75 3,436%
Indocin IV Heart problem in premature babies Ovation $136.10 $1,875 1,278%
Acthar Infantile spasms Questcor $1,650 $23,269 1,310%

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2008-08-07-costlydrugs_N.htm

Now there is a set up. Best thing is he's off the grid. Some day when technology condenses all that into a neat little package people will start going for it.

It's a start, Good stuff

Keeping on watch, this may be turning

Thank You Ken, Good day to you

Any thoughts on SWHC appears to be meeting some of the criteria for setup Thanks

"GAS PRICE SHOWDOWN"
Date: Performance: August 1, 2008
Extended engagement
Venue: Floor of U.S. House of Representatives

"Gas Price Showdown," a musical dramedy starring an talented ensemble of 24 rabidly right-wing members of the House of Representatives, might very well be this season's "August: Osage County." In one of the most avant-garde and minimalist productions I've seen all year, the Republicans begin their dazzling production with scant stagecraft: The stage is bathed in dim light while the actors' dialogue is carried only by the incredible strength of their vocal cords—no microphones or fancy technical wizardry here.

Newcomers John Shadegg, Mike Pense, Ted Poe, and Tom Price are wonderful playing uber-patriotic Americans, demanding that evil-doer Nancy Pelosi—who here exists only as a large cardboard cutout—return immediately to the Capitol to schedule a vote on offshore drilling.

But clearly the show belongs to conservative Southern congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. Dripping with a perverse brand of Republican sex appeal, the comely Tennessean steals the heart of every red-blooded man in the audience. Her complex, lengthy, thought-provoking and ultimately meaningless monologue about the misgivings of the "Democrat" Party is laced with a sexy Southern drawn and is about as seductive a soliloquy as we've ever encountered. Not surprisingly, by the end, Blackburn wins the heart of steely, macho Ohio Congressman John Boehner. Their chemistry on the House floor is electrifying and exhilarating—they have become perhaps the most memorable duo in theater history, recalling the giddy heyday of Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne.

"Gas Price Showdown" reignites my faith in the theater. Don't miss one of the year's most spectacularly acted shows. You'll leave the theater wanting to gut and kill a Democrat!
-------------------------------------------

What a circus we have
http://www.236.com/news/2008/08/05/house_republicans_star_in_gas_8118.php

It was a disaster after 9/11 that the world would never be the same, but that wasn't enough for Bush. He and his crew have turned this country into an old prostitute hanging on to make a living.

Classic, that's all they got, or that's all that will show their face

Iran Escalates Military Rhetoric


Article Tools Sponsored By
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: August 5, 2008

TEHRAN — Iran warned on Monday that it could easily close a critical Persian Gulf waterway for oil shipments and claimed possession of a new long-range naval weapon that could sink enemy ships nearly 200 miles away.

It was unclear what provoked the warning, made by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but it followed the weekend expiration of an informal deadline for Iran to respond to incentives from world powers to curb its uranium enrichment activities. The United States, which has warships deployed in the Persian Gulf, has said new sanctions should be imposed on Iran for failing to respond to the deadline.

The Iranian warning coincided with word that Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, spoke by phone on Monday with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. Mr. Solana was expected to report back on the conversation to the representatives of the six countries — the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — that are leading the demands that Iran stop enriching uranium, Agence France-Presse reported.

In comments carried by the semiofficial Iranian news agency Fars, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said that Iran was capable of imposing “unlimited controls” at the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, an important international oil route.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz for an unlimited period of time would be very easy,” he was quoted as saying.

General Jafari gave no details about the type of naval weapon involved in the recent test, but he said it was Iranian-built and “unique in the world.”

He said it would have the range to reach enemy warships in the Persian Gulf, an apparent reference to United States warships which have been conducting naval maneuvers in the Gulf.

“The Guards have recently tested a naval weapon which I can say with certainty that the enemy’s ships would not be safe within the range of 300 kilometers,” General Jafari was quoted as saying. “Without any doubt we will send them to the depths of the sea.”

Iran has made similar claims about its military capabilities but military analysts have treated them with caution. Early last month, Iran announced it had test-fired a number of missiles in war-game maneuvers, including at least one the government in Tehran described as having the range to reach Israel and another that it said was a relatively new torpedo called a Hoot missile, whose name means whale in Iranian. But military analysts said those war games featured more bluff and exaggeration than real displays of menacing new power and said the statements about the range of the largest missile were misleading.

General Jafari’s comments escalated the rhetorical exchange between Iran and the United States over Iran’s civilian nuclear program, which Washington and many Western governments have warned could be used to cloak the development of a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

The Bush administration has refused to rule out a military option, and in June Israel’s air force rehearsed what American intelligence officials described as a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Representatives of the six nations met with Iranian officials in Geneva on July 19, with a senior American official taking part for the first time. The talks seemed to produce no progress on the chief demand — that Iran stop uranium enrichment — but the six powers gave Iran two weeks to respond to their latest proposal before it would be withdrawn.

Specifically, the world powers wanted Iran to accept a formula known as freeze-for-freeze. Under this plan, Iran would not expand its nuclear program, and the United States and other powers would not seek new international sanctions for six weeks to pave the way for formal negotiations. The proposal, first offered last year, is intended to give Iran economic and political incentives to stop enriching uranium.

Iran dismissed the deadline and on Saturday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran would not move an inch on its nuclear rights, although he said it welcomed talks.

“We will take part in any negotiations and talk about any issue which consolidates our nuclear rights,” he said during a meeting with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, according to the Iranian presidency Web site.

After Iran’s failure to reply by the deadline, the United States on Sunday said that the United Nations Security Council now had no choice but to expand sanctions. The Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions since 2006.

“It is clear that the government of Iran has not complied with the international community’s demand to stop enriching uranium and isn’t even interested in trying,” said Richard Grenell, a spokesman for the United States mission to the United Nations, according to Reuters.

“They leave the Security Council no choice but to increase the sanctions, as called for in the last resolution passed,” he added.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Tower: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees." TWA 2341: "We are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?" Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

The horse got run over by a car. It's now in stable condition.

When a woman sees her first grey hair, she usually thinks she'll dye.

Her boyfriend had a wooden leg, until she broke it off.

He drove his expensive car into a tree and found out how the Mercedes Benz.

He wears glasses during math because it improves division.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U C L A.

It was an emotional wedding. Even the cake was in tiers.

When the waiter spilled a drink on his shirt, he said, "this one is on me."

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. The Russians used a pencil.

A man and a friend are playing golf one day. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. His friend says: "Wow! That is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You are truly a kind man."

The other man replies, "Yeah, well, we were married 35 years."

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other man pulls out his cell phone and calls emergency services.

He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator in a calm, soothing voice replies: "Take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard.

Back on the phone, the hunter says, "OK, now what?"

I don't think it had anything to do with who lives in New Orleans, and everything to do with are emergency response teams not being prepared.

He handled it too easily, without much thought and a very good response

My first thought was that Barrack planted that Heckler

He is right. Every time McCain talks he's telling us what Obama did or did not do. He reminds me of a sixth grader running for class President. This guy is a joke and embarrassment.

NOAH

In the year 2008, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said:
Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.

Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans.

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying: You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.


Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

Noah! He roared, I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?
Forgive me, Lord, begged Noah, 'but things have changed.

I needed a building permit.

I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system.

My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations.
We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.

Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines
and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea.
I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl.

I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no
go!
When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me.
They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will.
They argued the accommodations were too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane
to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.
I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew.

Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work.

The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.

To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark.

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.


Noah looked up in wonder and asked,
'You mean you're not going to destroy the world?'
'No,' said the Lord.
'The government beat me to it.

To all that are looking for the next big one, I'm creating a Web Site now that I will be taking public as soon as my Daughter, I mean my Public Relations Team comes up with a name I'll post the Ticker And we will all be rich.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Abraham Lincoln was accused of being two-faced he replied, "If I had two faces, do you think this is the one I’d be wearing?".

He did ok, I think he wants to tour with them LOL

Teach Your Children, Steven sang along dressed like Neil Young

Restaurant Chains Close as Diners Reduce Spending

Bennigan’s is among the chains squeezed by high food costs and a shift in consumer spending habits. Its closing will cost hundreds of jobs.


By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: July 30, 2008

Several national restaurant chains were shuttered on Tuesday, possibly offering an early taste of what’s in store this year for businesses that depend on free-spending consumers whose budgets are now being squeezed.

The parent company of Bennigan’s, an Irish-themed bar and grill with about 200 sites across the country, filed for bankruptcy, a move that will put hundreds of employees out of work and leave many landlords with empty retail space during a painful time in the real estate market.

A sister brand, Steak & Ale, will also close. Franchise units of Bennigan’s will remain open for now, a spokeswoman, Leah Templeton, wrote in an e-mail message.

The restaurants are the latest casualties in the so-called casual dining sector, considered a cut above fast food. Soaring food costs and a surfeit of locations have hurt the companies’ bottom lines just as Americans are choosing to take more meals at home.

The closings are “something we’re going to see more of over the next 6 to 12 months,” said Amy Greene, a director at Avondale Partners who tracks the restaurant industry.

“The companies have been getting squeezed from all directions,” Ms. Greene said. “You have had minimum wage go up again, commodity prices continue to go up. We’re in a softening consumer market where the consumer is less willing to accept the price increases than they might have been in the past. The companies are having to eat the cost difference.”

Trips to the mall or the local tavern — the casual outings that provide much of the business for midtier retailers — are falling by the wayside, analysts said, as gas prices reach record highs and Americans tighten their household budgets.

“Even folks for whom $3 gas is not necessarily a budget issue appear to be changing their behavior,” said Bryan C. Elliott, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates.

Another hurdle facing these restaurants is their copycat nature. Though Bennigan’s modeled itself as an Irish pub, its menu had Black Angus steaks, Southwestern-style appetizers and tempura shrimp, items that would not be unfamiliar to patrons of, say, T.G.I. Friday’s or Ruby Tuesday.

“All these bar and grill concepts are very, very similar,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, a restaurant industry consulting group. “They have the same kind of menu, décor, appeal,” which makes it more difficult to establish brand loyalty among customers.

The restaurant chains are owned by the Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, a unit of a business conglomerate owned by the billionaire John Kluge.

The Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants, which operate under another entity, Metromedia Steakhouses, were not covered in the bankruptcy.

The pain has already spread to other corners of the retail sector. On Tuesday, Mervyn’s, a midtier department store chain owned by a group of private equity firms, also filed for bankruptcy. The retailer, most of whose 176 stores were in California, had struggled for years, and the filing was widely expected this week.

Mervyn’s filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, allowing it to remain in business while it reorganizes. This month, Steve & Barry’s, a fashion retailer that started an ambitious expansion plan in recent years, also sought bankruptcy protection after finding itself in a credit squeeze after defaulting on a loan.

Other mall mainstays, like Linens ’n Things and Sharper Image, have also fallen victim to the economic pain, and retailers like Ann Taylor have said they will close hundreds of local stores.

The closings, especially of popular outlets that expanded quickly in the last few years, will leave commercial property owners in a tight spot, analysts said.

“It’s not going to be easy to replace a tenant at this time, given the status of the industry,” Mr. Goldin, of Technomic, said. “It’s much trickier when you have to retrofit the whole place to fit in another kind of retailer.”

And Ms. Greene, of Avondale Partners, said that financing was also starting to dry up for ailing restaurant chains. “Banks have become less willing to lend to restaurants and franchisees,” she said. “The business fundamentals just do not support it right now.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/business/30restaurant.html?em&ex=1217563200&en=b7d394b0ea95b564&ei=5087%0A

A Hidden Toll on Employment: Cut to Part Time

By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: July 31, 2008

The number of Americans who have seen their full-time jobs chopped to part time because of weak business has swelled to more than 3.7 million — the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.
Skip to next paragraph

The loss of pay has become a primary source of pain for millions of American families, reinforcing the downturn gripping the economy. Paychecks are shrinking just as home prices plunge and gas prices soar, furthering the austerity across the nation.

“I either stop eating, or stop using anything I can,” said Marvin L. Zinn, a clerk at a Walgreens drugstore in St. Joseph, Mich., who has seen his take-home pay drop to about $550 every two weeks from about $650, as his weekly hours have dropped to 37.5 from 44 in recent months.

Mr. Zinn has run up nearly $2,000 in credit card debt to buy food. He has put off dental work. He no longer attends church, he said, “because I can’t afford to drive.”

On the surface, the job market is weak but hardly desperate. Layoffs remain less frequent than in many economic downturns, and the unemployment rate is a relatively modest 5.5 percent. But that figure masks the strains of those who are losing hours or working part time because they cannot find full-time work — a stealth force that is eroding American spending power.

All told, people the government classifies as working part time involuntarily — predominantly those who have lost hours or cannot find full-time work — swelled to 5.3 million last month, a jump of greater than 1 million over the last year.

These workers now amount to 3.7 percent of all those employed, up from 3 percent a year ago, and the highest level since 1995.

“This increase is startling,” said Steve Hipple, an economist at the Labor Department.

The loss of hours has been affecting men in particular — and Hispanic men more so. Among those who were forced into part-time work from the spring of 2007 to the spring of 2008, 73 percent were men and 35 percent were Hispanic.

Some 28 percent of the jobs affected were in construction, 14 percent in retail and 13 percent in professional and business services, according an analysis by Mr. Hipple.

“The unemployment rate is giving you a misleading impression of some of the adjustments that are taking place,” said John E. Silvia, chief economist of Wachovia in Charlotte. “Hours cut is a big deal. People still have a job, but they are losing income.”

Many experts see the swift cutback in hours as a precursor of a more painful chapter to come: broader layoffs. Some struggling companies are holding on to workers and cutting shifts while hoping to ride out hard times. If business does not improve, more extreme measures could follow.

“The change in working hours is the canary in the coal mine,” said Susan J. Lambert of the University of Chicago, a professor of social service administration and an expert in low-wage employment. “First you see hours get short, and eventually more people will get laid off.”

For the last decade, Ron Temple has loaded and unloaded bags for United Airlines in Denver, earning more than $20 an hour, plus generous health and flight benefits. On July 6, as management grappled with the rising cost of fuel, Mr. Temple and 150 other people in Denver were offered an unpalatable set of options: they could transfer to another city, go on furlough without pay and hope to be rehired, or stay on at reduced hours.

Mr. Temple and his wife say they cannot envision living outside Colorado, and they probably could not sell their house. Similar homes are now selling for about $180,000, while they owe the bank $203,000.

So Mr. Temple took the third option. He reluctantly traded in his old shift — 3 p.m. to midnight — for a shorter stint from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. He gave up benefits like paid lunches and overtime. His take-home pay shrunk to $570 every two weeks from about $1,350, he said.

Mr. Temple’s wife, Ali, works as an aide at a cancer clinic, bringing home nearly $1,000 every two weeks, he said. But collectively, they earn less than half of what they did.

Suddenly, they are having trouble making their $1,753 monthly mortgage payment, he said. They are relying on credit cards to pay the bills, running up balances of $2,700 so far. Gone are their dinners at the Outback Steakhouse. Mr. Temple recently bought cheap, generic groceries from a church that sells them to people in need.

“That’s the first time in my life I’ve had to do that,” he said. “We are cutting back in every way.”

Mr. Temple has been searching for another job, applying for a cashier’s position at Safeway and a clerk’s job at Home Depot, among others. But the market is lean.

“I’ve applied more than 20 times, and I haven’t had a single call back,” he said.

His search is constrained by the high price of gas. “I can’t afford to go drive my truck around and look for a job,” he said.

So Mr. Temple has done his search online — until he fell behind on the bills, and the local telephone company cut off Internet service. On a recent day, he bicycled to a Starbucks coffee shop with his laptop for the free connection.

The growing ranks of involuntary part-timers reflect the sophisticated fashion through which many American employers have come to manage their payrolls, say experts.

In decades past, when business soured, companies tended to resort to mass layoffs, hiring people back when better times returned. But as high technology came to permeate American business, companies have grown reluctant to shed workers. Even the lowest-wage positions in retail, fast food, banking or manufacturing require computer skills and a grasp of a company’s systems. Several months of training may be needed to get a new employee up to speed.
Skip to next paragraph

“Companies today would rather not go through the process of dumping someone and hiring them back,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “Firms are going to short shifts rather than just laying people off.”

More part-time and fewer full-time workers also allows companies to save on health care costs. Only 16 percent of retail workers receive health insurance through their employer, while more than half of full-time workers are covered, according to an analysis by Ms. Lambert, the University of Chicago employment expert.

The trend toward cutting hours in a downturn lessens the pain for workers in one regard: it moderates layoffs. Many companies now strive to keep payrolls large enough to allow them to easily adjust to swings in demand, adding working hours without having to hire when business grows.

But that also sows vulnerability, heightening the possibility that hours are cut when the economy slows and demand for goods and services dries up.

“There’s a lot of people at risk in the economy when they keep the headcount high and they only have so many hours to distribute,” Ms. Lambert said. “It really is a trade-off for society.”

Goodyear Tire has in recent months idled work for a few days at a time at many of it factories, as the company adjusts to weakening demand. At one plant in Gadsden, Ala., workers expect they will soon lose a week’s wages to another slowdown — something Goodyear would neither confirm nor deny.

“People are scared,” said Dennis Battles, president of the local branch of the United Steelworkers union, which represents about 1,350 workers there. “The cost of gas, the cost of food and everything else is extremely high. It takes every penny you make. And once it starts, when’s it going to quit? What’s going to happen next month?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/economy/31jobs.html?pagewanted=2

Using the R.I.C.O. Act can't they just take Bush