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This is awesome!! Turn your speakers on for the full effect... Painting of Jesus, This artist is awesome...watch what he does! http://vimeo.com/23864881 |
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Painting of Jesus
Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
Published October 20, 2011
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Economists insist that the housing industry will not normalize and recover until most of the foreclosures work their way through the system — a process that will likely last several more years.
Shadow inventory can be broken into three categories:
Shadow inventory can be broken into three categories:
• Properties lenders have repossessed, but have not put up for sale. These homes are referred to as real-estate owned, or REOs.
• Properties caught up in the clogged foreclosure process.
• Properties that are severely delinquent in loan payments — almost certainly headed for foreclosure — but have not yet entered the process.
Calculating the size of the shadow market has proven difficult, and estimates range from 1.6 million to seven million homes. The Herald analysis, using data from several mortgage research firms, real estate trade group figures and public records, found the following shadow inventory in South Florida:
• 40,000 houses already owned by lenders but not yet for sale.
• 124,000 units whose owners have received an initial foreclosure notice, or notice of default, but have not yet been foreclosed upon.
• 37,000 properties whose owners are 90 days or more behind on their payments but have not yet been served with a foreclosure notice.
For hard-hit housing markets like South Florida, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Cleveland, The Herald culled thousands of property records for lender-owned homes, and checked whether those homes were being listed on the open market. In a large number of cases, they were not.
TALE OF ONE HOME
Bank of America has owned the small two-bedroom at 1711 NW 80th Street in Miami-Dade County since August 2008, when it repossessed the home from the estate of Lucile Moore (who died in 2007 after nearly 30 years in the house). Three years later, the property is not listed for sale on the open market, and is part of the bank’s growing collection of unlisted properties. Bank of America did not respond to a request to comment about this property.
In the aftermath of the largest home repossession campaign in history, mortgage lenders are holding properties off the market as a matter of strategy. Flooding the fragile housing market with an additional 500,000 to 1.1 million homes — many of them deteriorating and selling at deep discounts — would cause already weak prices to fall further.
Mortgage lenders have shown no indication they are planning to ramp up foreclosure sales, and a growing number of vacant homes have idled on banks’ balance sheets for several years.
According to data firm CoreLogic, which has one of the more conservative estimates of shadow inventory, the current mortgage debt outstanding in the shadow inventory is about $336 billion. Liquidating REO homes through the sales process usually leads to significant write-downs on bank balance sheets. Wary of seeing such large losses appear in earnest on their books, lenders have been reluctant to deal with bad loans head-on, said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
“They’re afraid,” he said. “They don’t want to take those paper losses. Their books show that they have these assets that are worth x amount of money. But those values are not real.”
In Maricopa County, Ariz., public records show that Bank of America owns about 1,300 properties, clustered in cities like Phoenix and Mesa. Most of those homes are not being marketed for sale on the lender’s designated website for bank-owned properties, where only 440 Phoenix-area homes are for sale. In many parts of the country, the federal government is the largest institutional property owner, as government-run Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration hold about 250,000 homes.
While at least 100,000 of those are not yet on the market, a review of public records in several states showed that Fannie and Freddie were more likely than other lenders to quickly liquidate foreclosed homes.
“We don’t have a shadow inventory because our inventory consists of homes that are on the market and homes that we’re bringing to market,” said Fannie Mae spokesperson Andrew Wilson. “Our goal is to sell as quickly as possible.”
The outlook for shadow inventory has worsened considerably over the last year because of lender paperwork problems that have gummed up the foreclosure system.
A year ago, major mortgage servicers discovered that employees were systematically cutting corners in the foreclosure process, often signing thousands of false or incomplete legal documents each day.
Chae duPont, a Miami foreclosure defense attorney, said a growing number of her clients are opting to voluntarily default on underwater mortgages if they are unable to get a satisfactory loan modification.
“They’re making a decision to continue living in the property for 18 to 36 months and then they negotiate a short sale,” she said. “It’s not an easy decision, but sometimes it’s the only thing that makes financial sense.”
Beverly Birge of Cooper City said many financial advisors told her to strategically default on her three-bedroom home in 2009 as her mortgage payments started going up right before she was to retire from her job as a teacher. Instead, she spent two years trying to do a mortgage modification, a process she said was hampered by lost documents and misinformation. The bank later agreed to accept a short sale, and Birge, 70, has been trying to sell the home since August.
“We haven’t paid [the mortgage] since about April or May,” she said. “Instead, we’ve taken that money and put it in a savings account, so that we will be able to rent when this is all over.”
ALTERNATIVES
Nationwide, 2.5 million homeowners are 30 to 60 days behind on payments, a sign that the stagnant economy and tepid housing market continue to push more people into the foreclosure pipeline.
Given the grim outlook, lenders have begun to consider new alternatives to foreclosure. Short sales have increased this year, and real estate agents say the once-onerous process of selling a home for less than what’s owed on it has become more streamlined.
Banks are also cutting deals with homeowners who agree to hand over the keys to a house, rather than go through a legal battle. In some cases, lenders are forking over wads of cash to convince troubled borrowers to leave their homes amicably.
“We have been making enhanced financial relocation offers — primarily in states where the foreclosure timelines are extended,” said Jason D. Menke, spokesman for Wells Fargo. “We’ve been offering as much as $10,000 or $20,000 to borrowers who are willing to do a deed-in-lieu or a short sale.”
Birge said she is expecting to receive a $3,000 check when her short sale is completed.
A group of attorneys general has spent the past year trying to negotiate a settlement with major U.S. banks accused of wrongfully foreclosing on homeowners.
The process has been slow, as the banks have rejected calls for widespread principal reductions and public officials have called for steep penalties. California Attorney General Kamala Harris pulled out of the negotiations last month, saying the proposed agreement was “inadequate.”
McCabe, the Deerfield Beach consultant, said it’s in lenders’ best interest to keep hundreds of thousands of struggling borrowers from entering the foreclosure pipeline, even if it means writing down principal balances for underwater homeowners.
“Unless they agree to do principal reductions coupled with mortgage modifications, these delinquent properties will eventually have to be sold,” he said. “Which means more banks will fold, because they can’t stomach those losses.”
• Properties caught up in the clogged foreclosure process.
• Properties that are severely delinquent in loan payments — almost certainly headed for foreclosure — but have not yet entered the process.
Calculating the size of the shadow market has proven difficult, and estimates range from 1.6 million to seven million homes. The Herald analysis, using data from several mortgage research firms, real estate trade group figures and public records, found the following shadow inventory in South Florida:
• 40,000 houses already owned by lenders but not yet for sale.
• 124,000 units whose owners have received an initial foreclosure notice, or notice of default, but have not yet been foreclosed upon.
• 37,000 properties whose owners are 90 days or more behind on their payments but have not yet been served with a foreclosure notice.
For hard-hit housing markets like South Florida, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Cleveland, The Herald culled thousands of property records for lender-owned homes, and checked whether those homes were being listed on the open market. In a large number of cases, they were not.
TALE OF ONE HOME
Bank of America has owned the small two-bedroom at 1711 NW 80th Street in Miami-Dade County since August 2008, when it repossessed the home from the estate of Lucile Moore (who died in 2007 after nearly 30 years in the house). Three years later, the property is not listed for sale on the open market, and is part of the bank’s growing collection of unlisted properties. Bank of America did not respond to a request to comment about this property.
In the aftermath of the largest home repossession campaign in history, mortgage lenders are holding properties off the market as a matter of strategy. Flooding the fragile housing market with an additional 500,000 to 1.1 million homes — many of them deteriorating and selling at deep discounts — would cause already weak prices to fall further.
Mortgage lenders have shown no indication they are planning to ramp up foreclosure sales, and a growing number of vacant homes have idled on banks’ balance sheets for several years.
According to data firm CoreLogic, which has one of the more conservative estimates of shadow inventory, the current mortgage debt outstanding in the shadow inventory is about $336 billion. Liquidating REO homes through the sales process usually leads to significant write-downs on bank balance sheets. Wary of seeing such large losses appear in earnest on their books, lenders have been reluctant to deal with bad loans head-on, said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
“They’re afraid,” he said. “They don’t want to take those paper losses. Their books show that they have these assets that are worth x amount of money. But those values are not real.”
In Maricopa County, Ariz., public records show that Bank of America owns about 1,300 properties, clustered in cities like Phoenix and Mesa. Most of those homes are not being marketed for sale on the lender’s designated website for bank-owned properties, where only 440 Phoenix-area homes are for sale. In many parts of the country, the federal government is the largest institutional property owner, as government-run Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration hold about 250,000 homes.
While at least 100,000 of those are not yet on the market, a review of public records in several states showed that Fannie and Freddie were more likely than other lenders to quickly liquidate foreclosed homes.
“We don’t have a shadow inventory because our inventory consists of homes that are on the market and homes that we’re bringing to market,” said Fannie Mae spokesperson Andrew Wilson. “Our goal is to sell as quickly as possible.”
The outlook for shadow inventory has worsened considerably over the last year because of lender paperwork problems that have gummed up the foreclosure system.
A year ago, major mortgage servicers discovered that employees were systematically cutting corners in the foreclosure process, often signing thousands of false or incomplete legal documents each day.
Chae duPont, a Miami foreclosure defense attorney, said a growing number of her clients are opting to voluntarily default on underwater mortgages if they are unable to get a satisfactory loan modification.
“They’re making a decision to continue living in the property for 18 to 36 months and then they negotiate a short sale,” she said. “It’s not an easy decision, but sometimes it’s the only thing that makes financial sense.”
Beverly Birge of Cooper City said many financial advisors told her to strategically default on her three-bedroom home in 2009 as her mortgage payments started going up right before she was to retire from her job as a teacher. Instead, she spent two years trying to do a mortgage modification, a process she said was hampered by lost documents and misinformation. The bank later agreed to accept a short sale, and Birge, 70, has been trying to sell the home since August.
“We haven’t paid [the mortgage] since about April or May,” she said. “Instead, we’ve taken that money and put it in a savings account, so that we will be able to rent when this is all over.”
ALTERNATIVES
Nationwide, 2.5 million homeowners are 30 to 60 days behind on payments, a sign that the stagnant economy and tepid housing market continue to push more people into the foreclosure pipeline.
Given the grim outlook, lenders have begun to consider new alternatives to foreclosure. Short sales have increased this year, and real estate agents say the once-onerous process of selling a home for less than what’s owed on it has become more streamlined.
Banks are also cutting deals with homeowners who agree to hand over the keys to a house, rather than go through a legal battle. In some cases, lenders are forking over wads of cash to convince troubled borrowers to leave their homes amicably.
“We have been making enhanced financial relocation offers — primarily in states where the foreclosure timelines are extended,” said Jason D. Menke, spokesman for Wells Fargo. “We’ve been offering as much as $10,000 or $20,000 to borrowers who are willing to do a deed-in-lieu or a short sale.”
Birge said she is expecting to receive a $3,000 check when her short sale is completed.
A group of attorneys general has spent the past year trying to negotiate a settlement with major U.S. banks accused of wrongfully foreclosing on homeowners.
The process has been slow, as the banks have rejected calls for widespread principal reductions and public officials have called for steep penalties. California Attorney General Kamala Harris pulled out of the negotiations last month, saying the proposed agreement was “inadequate.”
McCabe, the Deerfield Beach consultant, said it’s in lenders’ best interest to keep hundreds of thousands of struggling borrowers from entering the foreclosure pipeline, even if it means writing down principal balances for underwater homeowners.
“Unless they agree to do principal reductions coupled with mortgage modifications, these delinquent properties will eventually have to be sold,” he said. “Which means more banks will fold, because they can’t stomach those losses.”
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
America's Emptiest Cities, 2011
October 12, 2011
Provided by:
One of the unfortunate results of a bad housing market is an increase in vacant homes, which has grown by 43.8 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Homes can be vacant for various reasons, but they are defined as both rental inventory that are unoccupied and “for rent,” as well as homes that are unoccupied and up for sale. As of the 2010 Census, there were approximately 15 million vacant housing units in the country, with an 11.4 percent gross vacancy rate nationwide.
Much like the range of diversity in home values from city to city, homeowner and rental vacancy rates vary dramatically depending on where you live. Every quarter, the Census publishes data on homeowner and rental vacancies in the 75 largest U.S. cities that reveal which metro areas have the highest number of empty homes. The cities listed here are ranked by CNBC.com according to equal-weighted rankings in both rental and homeowner vacancies, which reveal the most significant outliers in both categories relative to other major U.S. cities.
Here are the five emptiest major U.S. cities:
5. Atlanta, Georgia
Rental vacancy rate: 11.8%
Homeowner vacancy rate: 5.4%
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| Atlanta's homeowner vacancy rate shot up in 2011. Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images |
4. Memphis, Tennessee
Rental vacancy rate: 13.5%
Homeowner vacancy rate: 4.0%
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| Memphis ranks ninth for homeowner vacancy. Photo: Getty Images |
3. Toledo, Ohio
Rental vacancy rate: 19.3%
Homeowner vacancy rate: 3.6%
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| Toledo has the highest rental vacancy rate. Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images |
2. Indianapolis, Indiana
Rental vacancy rate: 13.5%
Homeowner vacancy rate: 5.2%
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| Indiana's capital is vacant all around. Photo: Gary Cralle/The Image Bank/Getty Images |
1. Tucson, Arizona
Rental vacancy rate: 15.9%
Homeowner vacancy rate: 6.8%
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| The most vacant city for homeowners is Tucson. Photo: VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm/Photodisc/Getty Images |
10 million could pay more Social Security tax
, On Wednesday October 19, 2011, 12:53 pm EDT
Seniors got good news on Wednesday: Their Social Security checks will go up 3.6% next year because of a cost-of-living increase.That also means an estimated 10 million high-income workers may be paying a bigger tax bill.
That's because the inflation that justifies the benefit increase also will raise the amount of income subject to the portion of the payroll tax supporting Social Security.
Currently workers pay the tax on the first $106,800 of income. Starting next year, they will pay it on the first $110,100.
Normally the tax rate is 6.2% for workers and 6.2% for employers. Those who are self-employed pay the full 12.4%.
But this year workers have only paid 4.2% thanks to a temporary payroll tax holiday that Congress passed last December.
Social Security checks to rise 3.6%
It's not clear yet what the rate for 2012 will be. If President Obama has his way, it will be temporarily cut even further -- to 3.1%. Otherwise it may be maintained at 4.2% or revert to 6.2% as it is scheduled to under current law.
This year, people making $110,100 are paying $4,486 into Social Security.
Next year, if the rate reverts to 6.2%, they'd pay $2,341 more.
If the rate stays at 4.2%, they'd pay $139 more.
And if it's reduced to 3.1%, they'd pay $1,073 less.
Proponents who support an extended payroll tax holiday say letting it expire would hurt the economy.
Opponents say the idea is not very effective as economic stimulus.
To help close Social Security's long-term financing shortfall, budget experts have recommended increasing the amount of income subject to the payroll tax.
One proposal is to raise the cap to a level where the payroll tax is covering 90% of wages earned in the country, as it used to for years.
To accomplish this, Obama's fiscal commission proposed raising the cap gradually so that it covers 90% of wages by 2050. Under that proposal the taxable maximum would be $190,000 in 2020, up from the $168,000 currently projected.
Retiring Baby Boomers give Florida a cold shoulder
Florida just isn't what it used to be for retirees.
Article Courtesy of Reuters
By Michael Connor
By Michael Connor
Published October 19, 2011
Miami -- Meet Patti Keagy, an American Baby Boomer, who is looking at other possible retirement destinations.
"My mother says her generation and other people that she knew made a mistake. They sold everything and they moved down to Florida," said Keagy, a resident of a Boston suburb."And then they realized, 'We're down here, we're on our own, we're by ourselves, and it's boring or lonely.' And they didn't want to be away from family," added Keagy, who is 60.
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"A lot of states view that segment favorably and want to attract retirees," said Stan Smith, a specialist in population studies at the University of Florida. "There're lots of places in North Carolina, Louisiana and Georgia with golf communities. Those places are trying to attract retirees."
The stakes are high for state economies.
Florida, whose economy is reliant on newcomers of all ages, was stung early and severely by the recession. The unemployment rate in Florida peaked at 12 percent last year and now stands at 10.7 percent, compared with the national jobless rate of 9.1 percent.
The slowdown in retiree migration, as well as an overall drop in population growth, suggests Florida may take longer than other states in getting its economic footing back.
Between 2000 and 2009, New Yorkers migrating to the Sunshine State delivered $11 billion of new net income to Florida, according to an analysis of federal tax filings by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.
During 2009, 19,909 people with average adjusted gross incomes of $33,351 moved from Florida to New York, but the 23,654 New Yorkers migrating to Florida had average incomes of $58,622, according to the Albany think tank's study.
BOOMER FINANCES NOT ALL SUNNY
The retirement outlook is now clouded, at best, for many of the 79 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. With few holding traditional employer pensions, Baby Boomers are much more reliant than their parents on savings and home values that shrank by $7.8 trillion in the Great Recession.
The oldest Boomers lost an estimated $1 trillion in savings between the 2007 market peak and the lows of 2009, according to a Boston College study of 401(k) accounts.
The study by Alicia Munnell, director of the college's Center for Retirement Research, and researcher Jean-Pierre Aubry, said much of the losses of Boomers born in the late 1940s and early 1950s were recovered in 2010.
But younger Boomers and workers born in 1965 or later -- who missed the U.S. stock market run-ups of the 1980s and 1990s -- will need decades of very fat investment returns or will have to save much more aggressively than older Boomers.
LOWER HOME VALUES SHRINK HORIZONS
Wealth advisers typically tell Boomers to work longer, save more and reduce planned spending to offset the shrunken savings that many had hoped would carry them to Florida.
"They aren't going anywhere," former Illinois school administrator Maura West, 65, said of friends near retirement. "I think the economy has a lot to do with it. There is a tremendous amount of fear of uprooting and maybe not getting the value out of your home that you thought you would have gotten. I think that has impacted people's mobility."
West said contemporaries in the Chicago suburbs vaguely discuss possible retirement in Arizona or California. But she will remain in Illinois's Will County. She may take holidays in Europe and a side trip or two to Florida.
Florida, which was for at least six decades a champion in luring retirees, is now only a second choice for migrating New Yorkers, according to the Empire Center study.
"Florida accounted for 35 percent of New York's net migration loss in 2005, but by 2009, its share had dropped to 11 percent," the Empire Center said. "That year, for the first time on record, New York lost more residents to North Carolina than to Florida."
The tax data reflect the slowdown, with Florida's added income flows from migrating New Yorkers peaking in 2005 and declining in the years afterward. The state does not collect a personal income tax.
Next week, Florida finance officials and policy-makers are expected to report that state revenues in the next fiscal year will be substantially more than $1 billion below forecast.
"The slowdown in Florida is the result of the national recession," UF's Smith told Reuters. "Florida, more than other states, overbuilt. It slowed down a great deal over the last three or four years, particularly from 2008 to 2010. Those were some the worst growth years since the 1940s."
The stakes are high for state economies.
Florida, whose economy is reliant on newcomers of all ages, was stung early and severely by the recession. The unemployment rate in Florida peaked at 12 percent last year and now stands at 10.7 percent, compared with the national jobless rate of 9.1 percent.
The slowdown in retiree migration, as well as an overall drop in population growth, suggests Florida may take longer than other states in getting its economic footing back.
Between 2000 and 2009, New Yorkers migrating to the Sunshine State delivered $11 billion of new net income to Florida, according to an analysis of federal tax filings by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.
During 2009, 19,909 people with average adjusted gross incomes of $33,351 moved from Florida to New York, but the 23,654 New Yorkers migrating to Florida had average incomes of $58,622, according to the Albany think tank's study.
BOOMER FINANCES NOT ALL SUNNY
The retirement outlook is now clouded, at best, for many of the 79 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. With few holding traditional employer pensions, Baby Boomers are much more reliant than their parents on savings and home values that shrank by $7.8 trillion in the Great Recession.
The oldest Boomers lost an estimated $1 trillion in savings between the 2007 market peak and the lows of 2009, according to a Boston College study of 401(k) accounts.
The study by Alicia Munnell, director of the college's Center for Retirement Research, and researcher Jean-Pierre Aubry, said much of the losses of Boomers born in the late 1940s and early 1950s were recovered in 2010.
But younger Boomers and workers born in 1965 or later -- who missed the U.S. stock market run-ups of the 1980s and 1990s -- will need decades of very fat investment returns or will have to save much more aggressively than older Boomers.
LOWER HOME VALUES SHRINK HORIZONS
Wealth advisers typically tell Boomers to work longer, save more and reduce planned spending to offset the shrunken savings that many had hoped would carry them to Florida.
"They aren't going anywhere," former Illinois school administrator Maura West, 65, said of friends near retirement. "I think the economy has a lot to do with it. There is a tremendous amount of fear of uprooting and maybe not getting the value out of your home that you thought you would have gotten. I think that has impacted people's mobility."
West said contemporaries in the Chicago suburbs vaguely discuss possible retirement in Arizona or California. But she will remain in Illinois's Will County. She may take holidays in Europe and a side trip or two to Florida.
Florida, which was for at least six decades a champion in luring retirees, is now only a second choice for migrating New Yorkers, according to the Empire Center study.
"Florida accounted for 35 percent of New York's net migration loss in 2005, but by 2009, its share had dropped to 11 percent," the Empire Center said. "That year, for the first time on record, New York lost more residents to North Carolina than to Florida."
The tax data reflect the slowdown, with Florida's added income flows from migrating New Yorkers peaking in 2005 and declining in the years afterward. The state does not collect a personal income tax.
Next week, Florida finance officials and policy-makers are expected to report that state revenues in the next fiscal year will be substantially more than $1 billion below forecast.
"The slowdown in Florida is the result of the national recession," UF's Smith told Reuters. "Florida, more than other states, overbuilt. It slowed down a great deal over the last three or four years, particularly from 2008 to 2010. Those were some the worst growth years since the 1940s."
VIDEO FROM PARIS THAT HAS NOT BEEN SHOWN IN THE U.S.A. YET
CLICK BELOW
Remember this headlines
Prominent Lakeland-Based Developer Files for Bankruptcy
Century Realty Funds seeks Chapter 11 protection for affiliated companies.
Larry Maxwell
Published: Friday, August 6, 2010 at 5:38 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 6, 2010 at 5:38 p.m.
LAKELAND | A prominent Lakeland-based development firm has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its affiliated companies, saying a bad economy and inflexible banks are to blame.
Officials with Century Realty Funds filed the documents in Tampa earlier this week, seeking protection for the firm's Odyssey Properties affiliate and associated commercial real estate ventures. The affiliated companies owe investors and creditors more than $30 million, according to the documents. But company officials say the bankruptcy filings stem from more than $61 million in outstanding loans on commercial projects with BB&T and Wells Fargo banks.
"Both of those banks have refused to extend mortgages," said Ron Clark of Lakeland, lawyer for Century Realty, which is headed by businessman Larry Maxwell. "These are all keeper properties. They have value, they're cash-flowing, and they're properties we think will be good values into the future, but unfortunately these two lenders have refused to work with us."
Bob Madden, chief executive of Century affiliate Odyssey Diversified Properties, said occupancy and rental rates of commercial properties have been "significantly affected" by the recession. And ongoing trouble in credit markets has made it difficult to work out loan extensions with lenders, Madden said.
"The vast majority of our banks have been extremely cooperative and have renewed, restructured or extended our loans," Madden said in a prepared statement. But with BB&T and Wells Fargo refusing to negotiate, Odyssey wants to use Chapter 11 protection to reorganize and save its commercial properties from foreclosure, Madden said.
Georgia
The owner of a golf course in Georgia was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help.
He called her into his office and said, "Y'all graduated from the University of Georgia and I need some help. If I wuz to give yew $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?"
The secretary thought a moment, and then replied, "Everthang but my earrings."
Louisiana
A senior citizen in Louisiana was overheard saying ... "When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Louisiana .."
When asked why, he replied, "I'd rather be in Louisiana 'cause everythang happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the world."
Mississippi
The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, "Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!"
Bubba replied, "Did y'all see who it was?"
The young man answered, "I couldn't tell, but I got the license number."
North Carolina
A man in North Carolina had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it. Then he got back in the car to wait.
A passerby studied the scene as he drove by, and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the fellow what the problem was.
The man replied, "I got a flat tahr."
The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?"
The man responded, "When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back. I never did understand it neither."
Tennessee
A Tennessee State trooper pulled over a pickup on I-65. The trooper asked, "Got any ID?"
The driver replied, "Bout whut?"
Texas
The Sheriff pulled up next to the guy unloading garbage out of his pick-up into the ditch. The Sheriff asked, "Why are you dumping garbage in the ditch? Don't you see that sign right over your head."
"Yep," he replied. "That's why I'm dumpin' it here, 'cause it says: 'Fine For Dumping Garbage.' "
***
Y'all kin say whut y'all want 'about the South, but y'all never heard o' nobody retirin' an' movin' North.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Subject: WAGES
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7
P
At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
At 16, entered theCollege of William and Mary.
At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
At 23, started his own law practice.
At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America " and retired from his law practice.
At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence .
At 33, took three years to revise Virginia ’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
At 40, served in Congress for two years.
At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben
Franklin and John Adams.
At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .
At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.
At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
At 65, retired to Monticello .
At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence .
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
>>> Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
>>> Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive
the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.
I wish we could get this out to everyone!!!
I'm doing my part. Please do yours......
Monday, October 17, 2011
Shell Oil Comments - Could save your life PLEASE READ
>
>
> Shell Oil Comments - A MUST READ!
>
> Safety Alert!
> Here are some reasons why we don't allow cell phones in operating areas, propylene oxide handling and storage area, propane, gas and diesel refueling areas.
>
> The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fueling operations
>
> In the first case , the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during fueling; it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline pump.
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> In the second , an individual suffered severe burns to their face when fumes ignited as they answered a call while refueling their car!
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> And in the third , an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in their pocket, rang while they were fueling their car.
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> You should know that: Mobile Phones can ignite fuel or fumes
>
> Mobile phones that light up when switched on or when they ring release enough energy to provide a spark for ignition
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> Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations, or when fueling lawn mowers, boat, etc.
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> Mobile phones should not be used, or should be turned off, around other materials that generate flammable or explosive fumes or dust, (I.e., solvents, chemicals, gases, grain dust, etc...)
>
> TO sum it up, here are the Four Rules for Safe Refueling:
>
> 1) Turn off engine
> 2) Don't smoke
> 3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off
> 4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling .
>
> Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of 'static electricity' at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires.
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> His results were very surprising:
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> 1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
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> 2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas. When finished, they went back to pull the nozzle out and the fire started, as a result of static.
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> 3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
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> 4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished. This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
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> 5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas
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> 6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when connected with static charges.
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> 7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was re-entered and the nozzle was touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulted in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.
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> 8) Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the gas cap was removed and before fueling began.
>
> Mr. Renkes stresses to NEVER get back into your vehicle while filling it with gas.
> If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.
>
> As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this danger.
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> I ask you to please send this information to ALL your family and friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the children out in time.
> This is a message that should be passed along.
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