Where do i get the forms to sign someone up?

Yes, Wednesday is still literary links day. So...

- Paying for blurbs. Presumably the main news is the openness: I am one of the world's least-connected hubs for literary gossip, and even I've heard specific allegations. (NB: I am not going to name names here.) (via)

- "More spines than a porcupine orgy." The Londonist blog gets a tour of one of the British Library's five-level basement book storage. I am envious.

- Nick Hornby reconsiders his romantic view of the Sixties.

- Would Max Beerbohm have done well as a blogger? (via) Well, he really did do well as a Daily Mail columnist, so you never know.

- The thinking browser's questions to ask about ebooks, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (via). Also, the proprietor of the Complete Review has his doubts about those rumoured Kindle sales figures.

- Another online tipping experiment, with cold water supplied by Scott Pack.

- Dovegreyreader celebrates the arrival of a proper Penelope Fitzgerald website.

- Uncertainty as the essence of the essay.

- The great library fines debate.

- A reviewer reviewed, brutally.

- How indexes are born. (Warning: involves lots of Post-It notes.)

- Some of the best books are found in skips.

- Several dozen jokes about not reading pop-economics books, all seeded from one very good one (click through for the comments thread). Truly, crowds are wise, although they don't always give you what you were asking for.

- "The water polo took place at the Yingdong Natatorium, which cries out to be modified, once the Games are over, into a global forum for nonsense verse." Anthony Lane attends the Beijing Olympics. Nothing particularly literary about the subject matter; it just happens to be extremely funny.

A man who says he got a 9-foot tapeworm after eating undercooked fish is suing Shaw's Crab House.

 In a lawsuit filed on August 18th (Monday), Anthony Franz said he ordered salmon salad for lunch in 2006 and fell violently ill.

He later passed the Giant Parasite, which a pathologist determined came from undercooked fish.

Franz is seeking $100,000 from the restaurant and its parent company.

Franz's lawsuit seeks $100,000 from Shaw's and its parent company.

connie and i walked to the store last night, i needed chocolate, and i was disgusted with my current food situation. it was nice, onyx hasnt been walked in forever, partly because of cornbread, now that cornbread has died i can safely walk onyx through there again. she pulled quite a bit but i suspect she will slow down tonight when we do it again. connie said she was glad she didnt have to walk to school anymore, that bothered me a bit. i see that if im not diligent connie will be lazy like kent. she is fighting me about schoolwork, and fighting me about wanting to eat all the time, and doesnt want to go outside and play. i decided last night that she and i will walk daily, rain or shine. 

there is a nice breeze this morning, i think ill spend the better part of today messing around outside. kent and i got into a tussle on the phone last night, i ended up hanging up on him. im not sure how i feel about him today, he hasnt woken up yet and really, neither have i. i was conned into opening my eyes at 0625, text messages from cece. *sigh* she really took my sarcasm to heart about walking at 7am. i guess i need to lay some law down with her, i dont do any exercise before 3 pm, unless it involves me and a pool of water. im so serious about not getting up to an alarm that im thinking about unplugging our alarm clocks to save electricity. she was actually out front, in her truck, texting me. i had told her we would talk about it, but she is gung ho. and shes beginning to feel needy to me. needy people make me weary and wary. im not needy, although im sure there are some days when my husband might argue that point. needy people, or people so desperate for friendship they will do things outside of their comfort zone, make me insane. shes always giving me gifts, and while i know shes good a got nature and is just truly generous, too many gifts make me suspicious. i texted her back and told her id had a rough night, and wed start tomorrow, ill see her later (of this im positive) and then we will talk about doing an evening walk. i also feel like i need to prepare heavily for when she is going to arrive. not physically but mentally. yesterday i felt trapped with her, and while i definitely consider her a friend, i am having to bite my tongue, and that doesnt bode well for me. i realize her fragility and there are levels there that i need to address, and im not going to jeopardize her mental health, so for now, ill keep my mouth shut.

my daughter began a journal last night, she had found a blank folder on her computer that i put there, i had renamed it, 'whatever i want' and she inquired about it. i showed her how to get to textedit and she was in there while i was on the phone with charles typing away. she didnt want me to see it, no problem there, but if that gets her motivated to write, go for it. i also showed her how to save pics from the web to the folder too, first up was the jonas brothers *sigh*

im hoping that today nothing else crops up financially for me to deal with; but come on, im a realist, im sure something will.  

i also hope the nice breeze holds out, it seems to be calling me...........

Well, I took my test yesterday afternoon and passed. I only missed 4 questions, which was less than my husband missed. I hate taking tests, so I am happy to only have to do it once. Now all I have to do is wait 3 weeks to get my Minnesota License in the mail.  Bye, Bye Iowa license.

Full coverage of UK politics
The rumours last week that former Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish might stand for Labour at the Glenrothes by-election will not be coming to fruition.


This contest is not comparable to the one Tony Blair won in 1982

Acording to the Herald, the man who used to represent the area at Westminster when it was the Central Fife constituency was "extremely tempted" but has opted against throwing his hat in the ring.

So Labour now needs to find a brave candidate to fight the contest which they are widely tipped to lose - in fact bookmaker Paddy Power currently makes Labour a 11/4 chance, with the SNP installed as 2/9 favourites to repeat the recent swing in Glasgow East and take the seat.

The Herald report goes on to cite several others who might have been expected to run for Labour ruling themselves out as well, which means a sacrificial lamb is yet to be found.

It's one thing for an ambitious party loyalist to earn their spurs in a seat their party has never won (think Tony Blair in Beaconsfield in 1982) but quite different to stand in a seat your party currently holds and then lose it. I doubt there will be a deluge of applications.

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America and Poland have now signed the deal to install a US missile silo 100 miles or so from Kaliningrad, Russia's Baltic outlet.


Shoulder to shoulder: Condoleezza Rice and Radek Sikorski

The irony of the deal is that it was held up by Poland's desire to have US patriot missile batteries installed on Polish soil.

In other words, Warsaw wanted a US-run missile shield, to protect it from the added risk it faced from installing the US-run missile shield.

Whereas the US missile silo is designed to intercept long range missiles from Iran or North Korea however, the US patriot batteries are very clearly a measure against what Warsaw considers its own "rogue state" - Russia.

Neither silo nor patriot battery could withstand, repel or otherwise interfere with a major Russian attack, of course. But for Poland, the crucial issue is that a major American military presence on Polish soil ties its fate to the global superpower.

As far as Warsaw is concerned, as long as the missile shield and the patriot batteries are in place, it will never have to face the fate of Georgia - strong US ally, but nothing worth risking a nuclear confrontation with Moscow over.

As Radek Sikorski, Poland's FM who signed the deal with Condi Rice, told me last week, it's all about US "boots on the ground".

Here's a transcript of some of the other things he had to say about the shield and Russia in the rest of the chat I had with him.


ON THE GEORGIA WAR

"Georgia allowed itself to be provoked, but the Russian response has been disproportionate. Bombing all over Georgia is unacceptable and reminiscent of things we hoped belonged to the past."

ON AGREEING THE DEAL IN THE MIDST OF THE GEORGIA CONFLICT

“It’s a coincidence. We'd been planning this negotiation session way before the Georgian crisis. The realities of the Polish media are that once we made a deal it’s impossible to keep a secret so we announced it. Georgia made a dramatic backdrop to it, but the timing had nothing to do with Georgia."

ON RUSSIAN REACTION

“For technical reasons the interceptors cannot affect Russian missiles on this side of the Urals, and we have offered Russia the right to inspect at any time and even industrial monitoring of this site so she could be reassured that there are no modifications to the base and it only has the capabilities we say it does, which is to say, nothing to do with Russia."

ON RUSSIAN MILITARY RETALIATION

“Well we hope it doesn’t come to that, but we are a member of NATO and the American facility increases NATO security from ballistic missiles, and, we hope that this time our allies help us to even out the risks.

“That is why accompanying the US missile deal we also have the introduction of US military assets on the ground in Poland. There are two US guarantees – one to manage the missile site, and one to maintain to provide for the deployment of a US patriot battery.

“The British didn’t come though in 1939. You declared war but you didn’t go to war.

“That’s why we’re demanding capabilities, "boots on the ground", not just parchment.

“We are a neighbour of Russia and we hoped Russia would be a good neighbour. It’s up to Russia to define its role in international relations. The overreaction to what happened in Ossetia, and the scenes of devastation in Georgia obviously would make anybody anxious - and a neighbour of Russia in particular."

Danity Kane launched their new denim collection at the Dollhouse Showroom in New York City Monday night.

It's only fitting that the group with the cd titled "Welcome To The Dollhouse", would team with Dollhouse Jeans for a new denim collection!  Now I guess the question is...Did the album title come first, or the deal with the denim company?!  Cuz that worked out awfully perfectly for Danity Kane, don't you think?  I'm just sayin'!  ;-)  More belows below...

Not convinced here that the breakup will result in either better service or increased competition: all we would need to say further is that NuLabour is totally to blame and that the environment would be protected and enhanced and all four in-vogue populist reasons would be out in front, unproven and totally supported by the lemming-like public. Better solution: airports are part of transportation infrastructure and should be owned and operated accordingly: privatisation is not the miracle solution that so many claim it to be, nor is nationalisation but there are constructive middle grounds.

Muchas personas tienen el mito de que cuando la gasolina esta mas cara los duenos de gasolinera ganan mas, Y no hay nada mas lejos de la realidad, Ya que la gasolina mas cara reduce el margen de ganancias de las gasolineras y hasta puede provocar perdidas importantes, en estos momentos las gasolineras en NY y Miami Y California estan ganado 0% en la venta de la gasolina y estan sobreviviendo o ganando dinero de los food shops que tienen.. Si la gasolina empieza a dejar perdidas entonces de esas ganancias en los foodshops hay que sacar plata para la compra del combustible... El caso de las gasolineras independiente es algo diferente porque pueden comprar combustible a cualquier distribuidor.

... Yo he explicado esto en varios posts en el pasado, pero hoy salio un articulo en republica dominicana que detalla la situacion similar que viven los duenos de gasolineras en DR.. (el dollar vs el peso dominicano esta en $34 pesos por $1 dollar)

espero que disfruten.

SANTO DOMINGO.- El negocio de la venta al detalle de combustibles no es tan bueno como aparenta. Se trata de una actividad comercial limitada seriamente por los controles en los precios máximos de venta a los consumidores y escasos márgenes de comercialización.

Esta situación empeora para los propietarios y arrendatarios de estaciones de combustibles con el aumento en los precios internacionales del petróleo, que hace subir el valor de la gasolina y el gasoil en proporciones mucho más elevadas que los márgenes asignados a los detallistas. Para poner un ejemplo basta con observar que hace justamente dos años el precio promedio de los combustibles era menos de la mitad de su valor actual y que el margen de los detallistas era el mismo que recibían hasta la semana pasada, cuando la Secretaría de Industria y Comercio le hizo un ajuste de 5%.

En la medida en que el precio de paridad de importación de los combustibles aumenta, los detallistas necesitan más capital para financiar la compra de esos combustibles y si su margen de comercialización se mantiene invariable, entonces automáticamente están ganando menos en comparación con la inversión de capital.

Inversión y operatividad Hay dos procedimientos para adquirir una estación de combustibles: comprando una ya existente o arrendando una que sea propiedad de una empresa distribuidora y de un propietario independiente.

En el primer caso, la Asociación de Detallistas de Combustibles (Anadegas) estima que una estación buena, es decir, con buen nivel de rentabilidad, es la que vende en promedio 100,000 galones mensual y su valor como empresa anda por el orden de los RD$150 millones. Si la estación es propiedad de un distribuidor, entonces el interesado debe pagar un aporte inicial por su adjudicación por el orden de los RD$40 millones y en forma adicional aportar una cuota que generalmente equivale al 25% del margen de comercialización del detallistas en cada galón.

Por ejemplo, el margen actual del detallista en la gasolina premium es de RD$13.92 por galón. De esa cantidad, el arrendatario debe pagarle por lo menos RD$3.25 al propietario de la estación. Lo mismo ocurre con los demás combustibles. Pero ocurre que la mayoría de las estaciones de combustibles del país tienen ventas promedio de 40,000 galones mensual, lo cual quiere decir que la rentabilidad es más baja.

En el caso de una estación de ese tamaño, se deben agregar los costos operativos que se detallan en unos RD$65,000 mensual para el pago de la electricidad, una nómina de al menos 20 empleados para los que hay que destinar unos RD$168,000 por mes, RD$25,000 para el mantenimiento, RD$4,000 de servicio de agua y RD$8,000 en tecnología. Esos gastos de cada mes no incluyen el cargo de 0.15% en las operaciones de pagos con cheques, los impuestos sobre las ganancias ni los imprevistos que se presentan en toda empresa.

Todos esos gastos deben salir de un margen bruto de RD$13.92 por cada galón de gasolina premium, RD$12.71 de la gasolina regular, RD$9.71 del gasoil regular y RD$10 del gasoil premium. Distribuidor y detallista Cuando la estación de combustible es propiedad de la empresa distribuidora, entonces el negocio ofrece mucho más rentabilidad, pues además del margen del detallista se obtiene el margen del distribuidor de entre RD$3.00 y RD$4.25 por galón.

En forma adicional, el distribuidor se ahorra la pérdida por temperatura, ya que importa, distribuye y despacha su propio combustible y evita costos adicionales fuera de control. Los detallistas de combustibles han planteado a las autoridades de Industria y Comercio el establecimiento de un mecanismo mediante el cual puedan recibir la compensación por la pérdida que se produce cuando el combustible está a una alta temperatura y aumenta su volumen al momento de ser recibido por parte del distribuidor y que luego se coloca en su volumen real en horas de la mañana cuando regresa a su temperatura normal.

En ese cambio de volumen se estima una pérdida por el orden de 3.8% en el caso de las gasolinas premium y regular, y de alrededor de 3% en el gasoil de sus dos tipos. Por esa razón los consumidores tienen más ventaja cuando se abastecen de combustibles temprano en horas de la mañana, pues en ese momento el carburante está en un volumen normal y ofrece mayor rendimiento. Si compra el combustible en una tarde soleada el volumen está alterado y recibirá menos combustible del que realmente está comprando.

.:Bigfoot Was A Hoax
I knew it the entire time, but Sarah and Samy denied me!!

.:Night Nannies Are Genius
This way you can get your Zzzz's and never have to worry about the baby once the sun goes down

.:Yoda The 4 Eared Cat
And just so you know all 4 ears work perfectly...see it here

.:Sexual Dryspells Are Good And Bad
The longer you go the more intense your orgasm...but something bad can happen as well

.:Kite Surfing During A Hurricane Is Stupid
And if you don't think so, than maybe you should watch this video

.:Man Was In Hospital For A Month Before Family Was Notified
This is horriffic story to hear and did I mention it was local

.:Is An Online Wife Cheating??
I don't know if I 100% agree with this but I do get it

.:Colleges Want To Lower The Drinking Age
Why couldn't this have been debated before I came to college and became of age?????

.:Ninja's Rob Convenient Store In Iowa
I mean after a title like that do you even really need to read the story...

.:He's Not Dead!!!
He's actually on vacation and didn't tell anyone...ooops my bad

.:Polygamy Is Key To Long Life
Ummm...but I wouldn't consider 30 women wanting to kill you a long life

.:Mom And Daughter Fist Fight
Is this really what we pay the police to deal with??

.:Dead Man Stands For Wake!!
This is the creepiest/weirdest thing in history (at least it's close)

.:Reporter Gets Owned...By A Zorb?!?!
When you see it you'll know what I'm talking about, but it's still funny

.:Cafe Dupri Rips Off It's Employees
Yes, that's the cafe owned by producer Jermaine Dupri

.:GPS Social Network??
I don't get it, but Garmin is hitting the stage with it soon

.:Man Arrested For Stealing Pot
Ohhh and they also arrested the guy who called in the missing pot, bc it's illegal

.:Are Women Attracted To Men With Money??
This is the dumbest question ever, bc we all know the answer is YES!!!!!!!

.:Pig Attacks Man
This is what we call the worst luck in the world...hahahaha

.:Man Hides $30k In Trash
And now he's curious to how it went missing

.:Woman Bites Neighbor
This is like the second biting story I've read today...read it here

.:16 Year Old Drops Out Of School To Play Guitar Hero
It's not like he quit just to play for fun...he's going PRO baby!!!!

Top 10 Worst Celeb Body Parts
I think I agree with almost everything on this list...see it here

Do you ever ask where the money goes ?

For those who did not see Newsnight last evening, please see this clip, the activities of 'radicals Islamists ' [?]  have far reaching tentacles.

I shall let you judge for yourselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7571463.stm

Here are the Shelley's Trivia question and answer for 8/20/08:

(Q) This past Monday, which group held a press conference at the Dollhouse Showroom here in New York City to debut their new collection of denim jeans?

(A) Danity Kane!  It's only fitting that the group with the cd titled "Welcome To The Dollhouse", would team with Dollhouse Jeans for a new denim collection!  Now I guess the question is...Did the album title come first, or the deal with the denim company?!  Cuz that worked out awfully perfectly for Danity Kane, don't you think?  I'm just sayin'!  ;-)  More belows below...

My post about the criminal Muslim family of Aabid Khan, his father and cousin, entitled "a nest of Islamic vipers" has been removed. I bet the complainer wishes they could get me "removed" as well. It's never going to happen. untill the day I die I will continue to expose the rotten structure that is Islam and the criminal, perverts who use it as an excuse to attempt to destroy GB. So do your worst, I will write them and you can keep getting them removed. Everyone you do, proves my point. Islam can not stand the light of day.

Full coverage of UK Politics
Arguably the greatest social reformer of the 20^th Century - and a good friend - has died.  Leo Abse, who was 91, set a standard of parliamentary activism that has no equal in modern times.


Leo Abse at his home in Chiswick, London

He had no ambition to hold ministerial office, to climb the greasy pole. He went to Westminster - as the Labour MP for Pontypool - to get things done.  And he did.

This restless, brilliant lawyer with a burning sense of social justice leaves three massive legislative monuments. He was responsible for the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967; he played the leading role in the reform of the divorce laws in 1969; and he helped create the modern structure of adoption in the 1975 Children Act.

It is an extraordinary record of achievement, an object lesson in how a backbench MP can use Parliament to achieve profound changes - provided you have the wit, the energy and the tenacity. James Callaghan was spot on when he said that Abse had done "much more good in terms of human happiness than 90 per cent of the work done in Parliament on what is called ‘political issues'."

He was a trouble-maker of the best kind, a man who would worry away at an issue if it offended his sense of justice or fairness until he righted it.

There'll never be another Abse. We live now in the era of the professional political, the Westminster careerists who know no life outside the political bubble. Our political life is so much the poorer for it.

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