Free Republic

Buy one home, get one free: US agents try to beat property slump By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles Last Updated: 10:03PM BST 03/06/2008 A California developer has devised a radical sales pitch to shift new homes amid the current property slump – buy one house, get another one free. Sales of new homes have plummeted by more than 40 percent across the US since their peak almost three years ago "Don't miss this incredible investment opportunity! It's never been done before and may never be done again!" reads the advert promoting the two-for-one offer from Michael Crews Development. The...

(IsraelNN.com) El Al Airlines said it is negotiating with Boeing on the purchase of four new 777-220 jets, with delivery beginning in 2012. The airline said no final agreement is expected after several weeks and is subject to approval of the executive board, Reuters News Agency reported. All of El Al's planes are made by Boeing, and it would have the option to convert its purchase to 777-300 jets by the end of this year. El Al recently bought two 777 planes for its routes to the United States and Asia and said additional planes are needed to meet a...

Buy — Buy — Buy! Max Whitmore Friday, Aug. 24, 2007 Last Friday at about 8:15 am, the stock markets of the world were hit by a lighting bolt! The Fed lowered the discount rate without warning. The S&P, trading on the Globex markets (a 24 hour market) went straight up 72 points in less than 1 minute! Is that unusual you ask? Well, in all my 40 years in this business, I have never seen ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING like it!! I do remember in 2003 when the Fed intervened (of course they denied it, but the charts...

I don't like Hillary Clinton. But I also don't dislike Hillary Clinton. I just find her a little annoying. I do think she is definitely someone who makes the run for the 2008 Elections more fun to watch and follow. A friend of mine mentioned recently that she liked Hillary because she's not someone you can buy. Well, I was not convinced that was true... so I did a little research. My meticulous research leads me to conclude that Hillary Clinton can easily be bought and frankly, bought for very cheap. I am sure many will try to argue that...

No schedules. No mandatory meetings. Inside Best Buy's radical reshaping of the workplace --- At most companies, going AWOL during daylight hours would be grounds for a pink slip. Not at Best Buy. The nation's leading electronics retailer has embarked on a radical--if risky--experiment to transform a culture once known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses. The endeavor, called ROWE, for "results-only work environment," seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours. Hence workers pulling into the company's amenity-packed headquarters at 2...

'First of All, I'm an Honest Guy' Jack Bogle's advice: Buy the market. Hold for the long term. Keep costs low. Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, has earned his fame as the man who taught the small investor how to make the stock market work for him. He'll also be remembered as the guy who left $20 billion on the table. The story has been told of how, as the young president of Wellington Management Co., he lost a power struggle and was relegated to running the back end of one of the early mutual fund companies. It was ordained...

The $100,000 note that won't buy a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 07/06/2006) The 100,000 Zimbabwean dollar note which went into circulation this week was officially worth just over 50p. Yesterday on Zimbabwe's burgeoning black markets it was valued at about 16p. In a country stricken by 1,000 per cent inflation, the world's worst, the new note will not even buy a loaf of bread. Just four months ago, a loaf of bread cost $45,000 Hours after the national mint started printing the notes, the price of bread shot up by more 40 per...

'Gang plotted to buy a radioactive bomb from Russia and attack shopping centre' By John Steele, Crime Correspondent (Filed: 23/03/2006) Terrorists linked to an alleged al-Qa'eda gang which plotted a bombing campaign in Britain tried to buy a radioactive bomb from the Russian mafia, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. The gang was also said to have discussed attacking the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, a London nightclub, and gas and electricity facilities The Bluewater shopping centre in Kent A Luton taxi driver who is said to be a member of the alleged gang was given information while in Pakistan...

(IsraelNN.com) Maariv daily reports that a millionaire businessman from Ra'anana has offered to donate $20,000 to Land of Israel protestors in order to purchase equipment, including helmets, batons and shields for use in defending themselves during the next expulsion attempt. "When I saw what happened at Amona, that the balance of power was unequal, I didn't see police, I saw masked faces with shields and helmets and I want the settlers to have them too," the man told Maariv. "I don't want the settlers to attack the expellers, I want them to be able to defend themselves," he emphasized. The...

Experts sceptical as thousands rush to buy anti-bird flu kits By Adam Lusher (Filed: 22/01/2006) Scientists describe them as "a total waste of time and money" but that does not appear to have dissuaded thousands of Britons from rushing to stockpile biohazard suits and surgical masks to protect against bird flu. Suppliers claim that they have been inundated since the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus spread through Turkey. An Anti-bird flu suit is modelled in Redditch They are offering everything from 14p surgical masks to £493 "ultimate family packs", complete with hooded chemical and biological boiler suits, matching protective...

Congress Drops 'Buy America' for Tankers Tuesday January 3, 2006 9:47 PM By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A defense bill approved by Congress would allow open competition for a multibillion-dollar contract to supply refueling tankers for the Air Force. President Bush is expected to sign the measure, squelching an earlier House-approved bill that would have helped The Boeing Co. by keeping the Pentagon from buying military equipment from the parent company of European jet maker Airbus SAS. Boeing lost the lucrative tanker contract in 2004 amid an ethics scandal. ``Buy America'' language had been inserted by...

For her 17th wedding anniversary, Jeanette Yarborough wanted to do something special for her husband. In addition to planning a hotel getaway for the weekend, Ms. Yarborough paid a surgeon $5,000 to reattach her hymen, making her appear to be a virgin again. "It's the ultimate gift for the man who has everything," says Ms. Yarborough, 40 years old, a medical assistant from San Antonio. Hymenoplasty, a controversial medical procedure known mostly for its prevalence in the Middle East and Latin America, is becoming popular in the U.S.

Signs point to a strong economy By LARRY KUDLOW Columnist Posted on Thu, Dec. 01, 2005 Here are a few things IÂ’ve learned recently: â–  The boat-building business is booming, with big backlogs for orders in the $80,000 to $300,000 price range. Why is this important? Prosperity. People buy luxury items when theyÂ’ve got the money to do so. This is a very positive economic-growth indicator. â–  A midsized U.S. insurance company has been issuing a record number of group employee-benefit packages for disability, accident and other coverage to small companies. This is a sign of new- and small-business formation,...

I need help to find out if there is a way of testing toys/clothes/ect. for hazardous residue,chemicals,meth,how do i know if its safe to buy or sell used items?Or how do you clean?Then are they safe?who knows where it came from?Goodwill,sale,or,a tweaker,garbage,store?how do i know its safe? help me?Im in recovery,Life getting better I hope!

Lawyers representing a co-defendant of indicted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay have sent a letter to the makers of a new film about the DeLay investigation, saying they will seek a subpoena that would order the filmmakers to turn over a copy of the film and all unused footage from the project. The Big Buy chronicles Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle as he pursued the investigation that led to DeLay's indictment on conspiracy charges last week and on money-laundering charges yesterday. Filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck describe the film as "a Texas noir political detective story" about the...

London 26.08.05 | One of the perks of having acquaintances in London's oil trading circles is that one can check whether the BS spitted by the MSM has got any relation with reality. As it often happens nowadays with issues such as oil, Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, PDVSA, China and so on the findings are shocking. Venezuela is reportedly selling 68.000 BPD to China -or a 2.000.000 barrels-tanker/month, however the Bolivarian revolutionaries fail to say that the cargos aren't reaching China but the Gulf Coast. Hugo Chavez offered Ecuador, illegally as ever, some 500.000 barrels of Boscan oil. However the Ecuadorans,...

SIERRA VISTA - The president of the Fort Huachuca 50 handed over six checks totaling $2,100 to the organizer of an effort providing water misters to Fort Huachuca soldiers heading to Iraq. Jana Proctor accepted the checks - one for $1,600 from the organization and five other personal checks of $100 each from the group's board members. With temperatures in Iraq still in the 110-degree and above range, soldiers seek ways to keep cool in what is physically and emotionally hot conditions. In presenting the checks, Fort Huachuca 50 President Tom Finnegan said that when he served in the Army...

Sorry for the vanity, but I do respect the opinions of the posters on this board, who also possess a great wealth of information. With that said, I am in the process of buying a car, and wanted your advice. Here is the deal. I am a young attorney at a large corporate law firm. I have about $40,000 to spend. I need something that I can drive clients around in, yet hopefully is fun to drive, reliable, and that my estemeed colleagues will not view with disdain. I am not opposed to buying a used car, and would prefer...

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A vote buying scandal in Brazil's Congress was financed by state and private companies, a Brazilian lawmaker alleged in an interview published Saturday. Rep. Roberto Jefferson said the money was collected from the private and public companies by a man who works with Delubio Soares, the Workers Party treasurer accused of making the reported payoffs. Last week Jefferson claimed that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Workers Party made monthly payments of about $12,000 to lawmakers in exchange for votes. In the exclusive interview with the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, Jefferson did not name the...

US Navy to order unique aircraft in Saratov 13:12 2004-04-23 The US Navy Department intends to subsidize the development of an advanced Russian aircraft, which will eventually be extinguishing forest fires on US territory. This UFO-shaped flying machine is currently being designed by the Saratov aviation concern. The Saratov aircraft enterprise, which is located in Russia's Volga region, started assembling UFO-shaped flying machines in the 1990s; however, this R&D project was then moth-balled because of financial snags. Many aircraft companies all over the world did their best to design similar flying machines. However, Saratov's aircraft designers managed to come with...

OSTON, Jan. 15 - In Boston, a witness to a shooting by a member of a street gang recently found copies of his grand jury testimony taped to all the doors in the housing project where he lives. In Baltimore, Rickey Prince, a 17-year-old who witnessed a gang murder and agreed to testify against the killer, was shot in the back of the head a few days after a prosecutor read Mr. Prince's name aloud in a packed courtroom. And in each city, CD's and DVD's titled "Stop Snitching" have surfaced, naming some people street gangs suspect of being witnesses...

If you consider yourself even remotely taken by capitalism, you've got to love online auction house eBay. It's a free market proponent's dream, placing every possible sort of item, from the ridiculous (like a vintage 1996 McDonald's Happy Meal Rapunzel Barbie) to the sublime (Waterford crystal toasting flutes), in the hands of the person (or should I say bidder) who values it most. I've always thought the Left must dislike eBay because it collapses so many of their myths. For example, the Left's (and particularly the Ralph Nader Left's) favorite chorus is that we need more laws to protect consumers...

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson started doing something last year that we don't hear much about in corporate America. He donated his allotment of 200,000 stock options to line employees. The options were given to him by the board of the directors as part of his 2003 compensation package. The option grant has a potential value of $7.5 million, the way these things are computed.

Yellowcake: Joe Wilson Skating on Thin Ice By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 14, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Remember President Bush’s State of the Union Address in 2003? During his speech, Bush spoke of Iraqi attempts to buy uranium oxide -- now infamously known as “yellowcake” -- from Niger. The President’s assertion about a Nigerian uranium connection was attributed to British, not American, intelligence. Now, do you remember Joseph C. Wilson IV, the one-time CIA operative in Niger? He told the Washington Post that President Bush ignored his warning that it was “highly unlikely” that Iraq tried to buy yellowcake from Niger....

OPERATION AC A non-profit Delaware company operating on donations only, sends 110v single phase ice machines to our troops in Iraq as well as various basic items the soldiers request and desperately need. "It is my hope that we make their existence in Iraq during their deployment as safe and as easy on them as possible given the job they are there to do. Rested Soldiers are more alert and able to perform their duty SAFELY!" Frankie Mayo / OperationAC Important Notice YOU CAN STILL CALL THE GLASGOW HOME DEPOT TO BUY ACs TO DONATE TO THE MISSISSIPPI NATIONAL GUARD...

Would like to know where I can purchase a video of this past week of the remembrance of and all the memorials of Ronald Reagan.

YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE ... Paying for drinks with wave of the hand Club-goers in Spain get implanted chips for ID, payment purposes Posted: April 14, 2004 5:00 p.m. Eastern By Sherrie Gossett © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Being recognized has never been easier for VIP patrons of the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain. Like a scene out of a science-fiction movie, all it takes is a syringe-injected microchip implant for the beautiful men and women of the nightclub scene to breeze past a "reader" that recognizes their identity, credit balance and even automatically opens doors to exclusive areas of the club...

Buy a Presidential Vote? on eBay...!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3178507298 Is this legal? "Shipping is free; starting price will be $5.15, the Federal Minimum Wage for MY HOUR of time." That line cracked me up - lol

TOP NEWS Monday, November 24, 2003 Polls: Mass. residents support court ruling on gay marriage The Associated Press BOSTON -- Two new polls released Sunday show Massachusetts lawmakers could be bucking public opinion if they try to thwart the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling last week that found the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. Fifty percent of Massachusetts residents surveyed for a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll said they agreed with the ruling, while 38 percent opposed it. A separate Boston Sunday Herald poll found 49 percent said they support legalizing gay marriage, while 38 percent oppose it. Both polls, conducted after...

Please excuse the vanity, but I wonder if anyone has a spare I could buy, or knows where I can purchase a Rush Limbaugh Vast Right-wing Conspiracy mug on the net? I was bidding on one I saw on Ebay, and when I came back from the weekend and there were a dozen or more bids, with someone finally getting it for like 15-20 dollars. Since then, I have been trying to find one anywhere on the net, and of course on RushLimbaugh.com. Nothing!I figure by the amount of bids on Ebay that they are a pretty hot item, but...

This french boycott is too negative and not inclusive enough. What we need is a new Buy American program. I know these campaigns have never worked in the past, least of all with me. I have actually been kind of proud of my attitude that I buy the best value where ever it comes from. The country, the world, and I have changed. I would now love to be able to look for a sticker that I could trust that would tell me the product was (mostly) made by Americans. I would now pay a premium for that product. I...

Local conservatives are taking a page from the anti-war movement by putting out a television ad supporting American troops and the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Frustrated by pro-peace commercials featuring the likes of actors Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon, Seattle talk-radio station KVI-AM (570) ponied up $5,700 and then raised more than $100,000 through a 10-hour radiothon Thursday for the TV-ad campaign. "The phones exploded," host John Carlson said moments before going on the air yesterday afternoon. "In less than 48 hours, we raised upwards of $118,000. We think we're going to go well beyond that because more than $100,000...

Threats won't buy aid, Bush warns N Korea By David Rennie (Filed: 14/12/2002) President George W Bush yesterday warned that North Korea should not expect its latest nuclear threats to be followed by concessions from the West - a pattern he dismissed as "business as usual". The Bush administration struggled to keep a lid on the latest crisis to be triggered by North Korea - the most secretive and probably best-armed member of the "axis of evil" - and urged the Stalinist regime to back down from a high-stakes threat to remove international seals and monitoring equipment from a cache...