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I'm seeking advice from Freepers who have used a debt settlement service. I've just received a financial windfall, and want to settle out over $30,000 in credit card debt (mostly from a family business that failed that ended up on my credit, unfortunately.) I don't want to do it on my own, as I want to make sure that all debt is settled and I don't have anything hanging over me, and it appears part of it went to court without service. Sorry for the vanity, but couldn't find another recent thread on the topic, and I'm sure that there's...

State politicians and media are suddenly abuzz with the concept of consolidating school districts. Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to spend $50 million to "incentivize" districts to merge, and she's getting air support from a new Michigan State University study claiming that $612 million could be saved by consolidating Michigan's 551 school districts into 83 single-county districts. Policymakers should approach this study with extreme caution. For one thing, the study appears to contain a significant amount of material plagiarized from other sources. MSU says it's investigating, but from a public policy perspective the more immediate issue is the study's fatally flawed...

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-at-182.html NOTE: The following text SNIPPET is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Department of Justice and USDA Workshops to Explore Competition and Regulatory Issues in the Agriculture Industry to Begin March 12 in Iowa Initial Workshop to Be Held in Ankeny, Iowa, at Des Moines Area Community College, FFA Enrichment Center WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the agenda and panelists for the first joint public workshop, which will be held on March 12, 2010, in Ankeny, Iowa, to explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture...

The executive board of the Service Employees International Union will take up a proposal Thursday to consolidate in a single local all long-term-care workers in California, despite the vehement protests of critics who say the change will weaken labor's hand. ... The idea is to move the 65,000 long-term-care workers of the 150,000 members of United Healthcare Workers-West in Oakland, San Jose's Local 521 and Los Angeles-based Local 6463 into a single group. Proponents say the concretion of wealth and globalizing corporate ownership requires unions to organize on a scale to compete with employers. Opponents, and in particular Sal Rosselli,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial firms face a "new world order" after a weekend fire sale of Bear Stearns and the Federal Reserve's first emergency weekend meeting since 1979, research firm CreditSights said in a report on Monday. More industry consolidation and acquisitions may follow after JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) on Sunday said it was buying Bear Stearns (BSC.N) for $236 million, or $2 a share, a deep discount from the $30 price on Friday and record share price of about $172 last year. "Last evening the Bear Stearns situation reached a crescendo, as JPMorgan agreed to acquire the...

She spent her life praising God at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church - but Carmen Gonzalez's funeral will be held on the sidewalk outside the East Harlem building today because the Archdiocese of New York shuttered it last winter. Gonzalez, 72, a nearly life-long Our Lady parishioner who died Monday after a bout with cancer, fought the closure until the end, leading loved ones to say that the unusual memorial would be most fitting. "I have mixed feelings about this, but on the other hand, I think my mom would be very happy and would approve," her son Alfred...

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ecuador's president toughened his stance against Congress on Saturday, saying that a special assembly elected to write a new constitution for the politically turbulent country should dissolve the lawmaking body. ``I thought the constituent assembly wouldn't have to dissolve Congress ... but with this kind of Congress we're not going to be able to do anything,'' Rafael Correa said in his weekly radio address. The assembly ``will have to dissolve Congress,'' he said. Earlier this year, Correa's insistence that the 130-member assembly, which Ecuadoreans are scheduled to elect on Sept. 30, have the power to dissolve...

Throughout most of history, humans lived in a state of extreme information poverty. News traveled slowly, field to field, village to village. Even with the printing press's advent, information spread at a snail's pace. Few knew how to find printed materials, assuming that they even knew how to read. Today, by contrast, we live in a world of unprecedented media abundance that once would have been the stuff of science-fiction novels. We can increasingly obtain and consume whatever media we want, wherever and whenever we want: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the bewildering variety of material available on the Internet....

New York — NASD today announced that its Board of Governors overwhelmingly approved by-law amendments that would implement governance changes to enable the recently announced consolidation of the member regulation units of NASD and NYSE Regulation into a new, independent self-regulatory organization (SRO). The by-law amendments will be voted on by the full membership of NASD before taking effect. "The vote today by the NASD Board recognizes the importance to the securities industry and investors of creating this single SRO," said Richard Brueckner, NASD's Presiding Governor and CEO of Pershing, LLC. "The greatly increased efficiency and cost savings brought about...

Aleksei Mordashov, the CEO of Russian Steel Co. Severstal says he is befuddled by his proposed $16.5 Billion deal with the steel giant Arcelor. "The deal would create the world's largest steel company with a 6% of global production," Mordashov says. It would also give him a 32% share of the new company his critics say. Arcelor, apparently is a national treasure in the European countries where it operates - Fance and Belgium. Another company, Mittal, wants to buy out Arcelor and the Arcelor board doesn't like that idea either. It sounds to me like they just don't want to...

Amnesty and Betrayal By William Norman Grigg The New American, Febuary 9, 2004 President Bush's proposed immigration reform package is a shocking betrayal of our nation's sovereignty, culture and economy. It must not be allowed to pass. Bill Clinton uttered countless deceptive words during his eight-year occupancy of the White House, but perhaps none captured the essence of his slippery dishonesty better than these:'It depends on what the meaning of the word ëis' is.î In defending his proposed amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, George W. Bush is striving to set a new record for brazen presidential dishonesty. ìThis plan...

A Better Approach to Government Consolidation Print E-mail By The Effort Staff Friday, 03 February 2006 By Jalexson HUTCHINSON, KS -- Current talk about government consolidation in Kansas is basically just a continuation of the ancient attempts of cities to control the surrounding countryside. Cities want to force rural residents to finance the services city residents receive and to obey city laws. There is a better approach to the issue than what city governments are suggesting. County governments are necessary because they are the administrative units of the state. City governments only exist because urban residents want more services or...

U.S. appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. (WHR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Sunday proposed to acquire smaller rival Maytag for $17 a share in a deal worth $2.3 billion, sparking a bidding war for the maker of Hoover vacuums. Maytag, whose products include Amana and Jenn-Air appliances, agreed in May to be acquired by Triton Acquisition Holding, an investment vehicle led by New York private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, for $14 a share. Maytag said on July 13 that the Triton deal was approved by the Federal Trade Commission, and set an Aug. 19 shareholder vote in Newton, Iowa, where it is...

Please call and/or e-mail today the list of people below, particularly Jones and Towns. (Wednesday is too late) and ask them to support HB 1983. Here's the background: The Special School District bill passed unanimously in the Senate but is due for a vote in the House tomorrow (Tuesday, May 17th). We MUST get this passed to get adequate funding our schools. In summary, this bill will be the first step to eliminating the possibility of CONSOLIDATION and it gives power to the local boards of education (with the limited fiscal authority) to establish a tax rate for education and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped a plan to eliminate or consolidate 88 state boards and commissions - a major setback to his reorganization of a bureaucracy that he's called a "mastodon frozen in time." The plan "will benefit from further review" and more consultation with state lawmakers, Schwarzenegger said Thursday in a letter to an agency that reviews state operations. The nonpartisan Little Hoover Commission was scheduled to review the plan next week. Last year, after comparing the state's executive branch to a huge, extinct animal, Schwarzenegger launched the California Performance Review, which resulted in more...

How do you staff 130 parishes with 55 priests, settle yet another round of clergy misconduct lawsuits and replace a retiring bishop? For Vermont's 148,000 Catholics, the new year promises historic challenges and change. Members of the state's largest religious group will start work Saturday on their chief concern when as many as 300 priests and parishioners meet privately to discuss how to consolidate churches to deal with a clergy shortage. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont projects the number of priests will drop by half in 10 years, leaving about 55 clergymen to minister to more than twice as...

London 22.12.04 | Many words have been uttered by Fidelito –a.k.a. Hugo Chavez- however his deeds have taken Venezuela off the democratic path. It is pointless to argue that a revived opposition, able to beat the neofascist dictator, will emerge in the coming years for one simple reason: Fidelito doesn’t play democratically but rather dictatorially. At that game no one in the opposition can outdo him. A referendum for congressmen is on the way, and we can be as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that they will indeed be recalled. 2005 will also bring fresh elections for Congressmen...

I am looking for anyone who can give some advice on this matter. We are located in a small community in Harlan County, Kentucky and total poulation of the area is somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000. Our local school board 3-2 voted to consolidate three county schools into one school. By Kentucky KERA guidelines they were suppose to get a two thirds vote by a local planning committee to approve this. They could not get the two thirds vote as the vot was 9-7 as many community leaders and citizens came out against this proposal. However, our local board of...

THE WAY THE MUSIC DIED PBS Airdate: Thursday, May 27, at 9 P.M., 60 minutes In the recording studios of Los Angeles and the boardrooms of New York, they say the record business has been hit by a perfect storm: a convergence of industry-wide consolidation, Internet theft, and artistic drought. The effect has been the loss of billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and that indefinable quality that once characterized American pop music. “It’s a classic example of art and commerce colliding and nobody wins,” says Nic Harcourt, music director at Los Angeles’s KCRW-FM. “It’s just a train wreck.” In...

Visitors to the noon Sunday Mass at Holy Trinity Church in Boston's South End might be forgiven for thinking time travel is possible. Women and girls wear mantillas -- a lightweight lace -- to cover their heads. Only men are allowed in the sanctuary, the area hard by the altar. The priest faces east, just as the worshipers do, so for much of the service only his back is visible as he quietly mouths ancient prayers in Latin. When the time comes for the homily, the priest climbs the steps into a pulpit -- rarely seen in Catholic churches today...

Simon Und Schuster Infomercial March 22, 2004 Richard Clarke's book is published by Simon & Schuster, which is Viacom, which is CBS. It's incestuous. Paul O'Neill's book was published by Simon & Schuster. He also got a big blurb on 60 Minutes, like Richard Clarke, and in a few weeks, Bob Woodward will have a new book looking at the Bush administration, called "Plan of Attack." It's also a Simon & Schuster/CBS/Viacom book. Will Bob Woodward go on 60 Minutes before he spends his requisite two weeks on Larry King talking about this book? This is a coordinated assault on...

Equipped with an abundant knowledge of history, Michael Tuggle has cast a discerning eye on the trends of the present. Not the 'trendy' trends but the real ones, those which can guide our steps into the future (as far as the future can be known to us mortals). The trends suggest to him something very hopeful - the probability and suitability of a change in the principle by which human affairs are governed. We have been living for a long time by the organising principle of command from the top down - something the American Founding Fathers decried as 'consolidation'-...

The winds of change are not always obvious. Analysts at the RAND Corporation lay out 10 international-security developments that aren't getting the attention they deserve in this month's issue of The Atlantic magazine: 1. The West Bank Wall 2. A Shrinking Russia 3. The Hindu-Muslim Divide 4. AIDS and African Armies 5. The Tehran-New Delhi Axis 6. Anti-Satellite Attack 7. Defense-Industry Goliaths 8. The Aircraft Carrier Shortage 9. The Indus Water Fight 10. Urban Warfare ...to which we add: 11. China's Race Into the Oil Market; and 12. Europe's looming pension crisis That's an even dozen via our blog post....

It is becoming increasingly clear that the mainstream press have become 'information brokers' who present very specific information in a manor which meets a very specific agenda. "Baghdad Bob" serves as an example even a casual viewer can understand of the crucial role control of the news media and the dissemination of propaganda plays in the ability to gain and maintain control of an entire nation. Yet here in the US, where we treasure our heritage of a free press, we've have hardly seemed to notice that ownership of vast media entities has been consolidated into the hands of just...

The Real Agenda Behind Consolidation      Mahoney Outsmarts Entire General Assembly                      Unless legislators who believe in freedom and local control start doing some research,  digging deep, and studying the various aspects of  the plan that has already been designed for a national, federalized educational plan as well as a micromanaged economy, the people of America are going to lose their freedom; and only the elite will have any control.  The outcry against consolidation is mild compared to what it would be if  the public knew what was really happening,  and the goal toward which we in Arkansas and other states...

I received this document attached to a letter from an Arkansas Public School Principal this morning. I have no comment, the letter speaks for itself. You Decide. REGIONAL COORDINATORS Your job as regional coordinator is to maintain weekly phone or e-mail contact with someone in each school in your region who will carry out ‘grass roots’ organizing and activities. This contact should be made Friday through Monday for the upcoming week. In your first conversation with the school contact, get an e-mail address, a home phone number, and a work phone number. Use e-mail if they check it often enough...

  School Consolidation: Power GrabDate Monday, February 03 @ 10:45:21 Topic Arkansas School Consolidation: Power GrabArkansas Constitution Party Mark Moore The school consolidation effort is an orchestrated power grab by an alliance of statists and huge commercial interests. Behind it is a push to implement ideas that have already failed in other countries. The one state in America which has implemented the ideas driving this plan, Kentucky, has seen hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted. Before I give details supporting these contentions, let me outline some key features of the plan...... 1. The number of school districts will...

Ever notice that no matter what format your favorite radio station plays --adult contemporary, classic rock, new rock alternative (a.k.a. we play the new Creed song every hour) -- you can find that station's doppelganger wherever you go across the country? For example, if you live in D.C. and travel to South Carolina, you'll see that, apart from a few more country tunes and fried chicken ads, South Carolina radio is stunningly similar to what you heard at home. As is California radio. And Illinois radio. And Florida radio, too. Fact is, no matter where you go across the nation...

Temp: 85 °FHi: 79 °FLo: 63 °F Advanced Search Home > News > Story NewsLocal News Past Week's NewsE ThePeopleSpecial Projects SportsBusiness NewsTechnologyWeatherObitsMarketplaceEmploymentCarsHomesApartmentsClassifiedsCity GuideCoupons PersonalsWeddings EntertainmentHighlightsMovies Nightlife & BandsFood & DrinkArts & CultureRecreationFun & GamesEvent Calendars Contact UsNewspaper InfoAdvertising InfoOnline InfoCity Cams Don't flinch at metro plan, says 'regional city' booster By Rick ArmonDemocrat and Chronicle CARLOS ORTIZ William Hudnut, former Indianapolis mayor, urged Rochester to see that central city, suburbs must work together. (April 17, 2002) &#8212 The Rochester community shouldn't fear having a discussion about consolidating its city and county governments, former Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut said...