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OK, it's a vanity thread, but one with a purpose, IMHO. Please bear with me... The current situation in Russia presents the United States with a major opportunity. Over the next twenty or thirty years, the great geopolitical struggles will be over living space and mineral resources. These items will become increasingly scarce and expensive. China, in particular, will be in a position where they desperately need land for their growing population and raw materials to feed their industrial growth. Where will they go to get what they need? The obvious answer is Eastern Russia. Russia is in the middle...

I am a US citizen & my British husband is a lawful, DOCUMENTED, permanent resident (he has to wait another 17 months before he can become a citizen). We want to buy a handgun, for personal safety in our home. Does anyone know; would the fact that he is not yet a citizen effect us getting a gun? I have a CRAZY relative (brother), who has sworn to kill me (he attacked me at Christmas, breaking 2 of my fingers, giving me a fat lip & black eye - yet, believe it or not, when Police arrived, I WAS ARRESTED,...

Two days before it is scheduled to complete a $95 million deal to preserve the scenic Hearst Ranch, the Schwarzenegger administration still has not made public its estimates about how much the landmark purchase will cost taxpayers for new park rangers, maintenance and other expenses. --snip-- If Schwarzenegger officials stick with a rule they approved earlier this year aimed at curbing costs for new state parks, they would have to reject the Hearst deal because of its operating expenses. Or they could accept the deal, and keep costs down by closing Hearst's beaches to the public, which would be unpopular....

Editor's note: Readers may be interested in two related stories: "Invested in Terrorism" and "BBC: U.S. Damned if it does and damned if it doesn't". -ALJ Douglas Farah uncovered the story of al-Qaeda's involvement in West Africa's diamond smuggling while reporting on Africa for the Washington Post, which he described in Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror (New York: Broadway, 2004). Mr. Farah, now a consultant, freelance writer on terror finance and national security matters, and a senior fellow at the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, addressed the Middle East Forum in New York City on...

On Monday, December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law a Medicare prescription drug benefits package designed to help American seniors pay for their medications. This month, the Kerry campaign released a TV ad attacking President Bush’s Medicare record stating, “The very next day George Bush imposes the biggest Medicare premium increase in history while prescription drug costs still skyrocket.” There are several problems with this ad, namely that fact that 1) Kerry skipped the December 8 vote and 2) Kerry voted to support the increase in Medicare premiums that he now criticizes. The Kerry campaign offers no specifics on...

Share-cropping became common in the United States after the Civil War. Back then, many Southern plantations had ample land, but little money to pay wages. At the same time, a large segment of the population was left impoverished, with little prospect of earning an adequate living. So, it was little surprise that the landed people -- those with the means of producing a product -- contracted with the poor, who had labor to offer, to produce a product from which both might profit. Share croppers normally received a home, the necessary tools, farm animals, and sometimes even some education, for...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal grand jury has opened an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District's purchase of its $74.5 million downtown headquarters. LAUSD Inspector General Don Mullinax disclosed the investigation Thursday in a memo to school district officials. "I am writing to inform you that at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, the Office of the Inspector General is providing assistance in a federal grand jury investigation regarding the purchase of the Beaudry building," Mullinax wrote. Board member David Tokofsky, who cast the only vote against the purchase of the building,...

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....

<p>Last week Buy.com tried to take a bite out of Apple's successful iTunes Music Store by rolling out a low-priced song-download service said to be simple and reliable. But in an example of the technological trickiness involved in offering users the freedom they desire while giving music labels the protections they demand, early customers have found they can't transfer the tunes they buy on BuyMusic.com to digital portables.</p>

Recently I have been pricing Land Rovers (used of course), and I know there are a lot of car experts on here. My question, are they known for going for tons of miles, as long as they are maintained well? I have heard stories about Volvos and other cars going for 200-300 thousand miles, and other brands doing that as well, I just didnt know if Land Rover was the same way.The reason I ask is because I am coming across some in my price range that say "low miles" and they have anywhere between 70,000 and 95,000 miles on...

Surrealist's collection to be sold despite outcry 02 Apr 2003 12:02 By Caroline Brothers PARIS (Reuters) - Some 5,500 objects considered talismans of the French Surrealist movement from Breton to Magritte will go on sale in Paris this month despite an outcry from artists opposed to splitting up the works. The entire contents of poet Andre Breton's 70-square-metre workshop, except for a wall of "primitive" art objects which has been donated to Paris's Pompidou Centre, are going under the hammer because his descendants can no longer manage the legacy. The sale at famed auction house Drouot is expected to fetch...

Woman uses card to buy crack, fibs when bill comes, police say By Scott Parrott DAILY Staff Writer sparrott@decaturdaily.com A Decatur woman bought crack cocaine with her husband's company credit card, then lied to him and police as they searched for an explanation to the $7,500 bill, authorities said. It was the second time the woman was accused of giving false information to police to cover a drug deal, records show. Richard Albano found unauthorized charges last week that included steak meals, hotel rooms and a rental car on his credit card bill. He notified police, who launched an investigation....

NATIONAL Air Force, Army chastised for princely spending By LISA HOFFMANScripps Howard News ServiceMay 29, 2002WASHINGTON - A $24,000 sofa and armchair; an $1,800 pillow; and $45,800 in silver and china - such accoutrements would cause little surprise if found in the abodes of the wealthy and well-known. But government auditors discovered these pricey items - and many more - not in a mansion but at Air Force and Army bases in Saudi Arabia, the rest of the Persian Gulf, Europe and the Balkans. In a just-released report, the General Accounting Office informed Congress that its auditors found a number...

Last year's National Firearm Purchase Day was a great success. We had many FReepers post the guns that they had bought, all in response to the UN's declaration of July 9, 2001 as Gun Burning Day at the UN. While they set to destroy hundreds of firearms, FReepers were responsible for giving hundreds of new firearms happy homes. We'd like to do it again! Last year July 9 fell on a Monday. Although we are normally closed Mondays, we opened our doors and had 4 times as many customers as any regular Tuesday. We are thankful to those who traveled...