Free Republic

What percentage were bought using credit cards in the past?M

I do not know, and agree it would be very significant if we knew.

The whining tone of the article made me believe the merchants really missed that Spend-Lure though.

A dozen or so Gurkha's would probably suffice.

Gives one pleasant visions of overkill. Por encourage les autres. The shippers and their insurers apparently think that paying an occasional ransom is cheaper than the costs and risks associated with armed guards.

A dozen or so Gurkha's would probably suffice.

mark for later: Craigslist shopping?

Grappling hooks. The pirates approach from the stern in fast boats and catch the gunnels with grappling hooks and shimmy aboard. Large merchantmen are sparsely crewed so no one is likely to detect them, especially at night.

The IMO recommends standing a vigilant radar watch and playing fire hoses and spot lights off the stern, which might discourage them. Nothing would discourage them as much as armed guards.

I looked into it but they don’t even have a Casual Friday. Suits and ties all the damn time.

Being a Somali Pirate is starting to look quite lucrative. Where can one apply? What skill set should one posess?
Is there a health and dental plan? What about a 401K?

"I say burn it.

Preferably in the pirate’s port.

See how they enjoy that."

I very much agree.

Ahhhhh Kenya...it's given us so much in the past year...pirates, obama...I mean who knows what's next? /sarc

I would think if a company can afford one of those great big boats, they could afford a little security on board...rag-tag pirates taking over super-tankers in rowboats...please......

I’m not getting this either. How does a 20’ boat loaded with morons take down a super tanker? There shouldn’t be a ship in that area that doesn’t have weapons on board. A couple AR’s and you could keep these idiots away.

They are being persecuted based on the moozie's "sworn statement"
They were offered non-judicial (i.e. career ending) punishment
They chose to be judged by a jury of their peers. Courts-martial will clear them and they don't lose their rank and America gets to keep three well-trained, highly-motivated ass-kickers.

Uncle Jimbo and Deebow, (both SO) have some thoughts over at blackfive.net

FINALLY! A reason to invade Somalia. /s

I say burn it.

Preferably in the pirate’s port.

See how they enjoy that.

It will be published by all of the major market publications this morning, so it appears that we’ll also see more interesting news about oil and the dollar soon enough.

It really floors me sometimes what the mods think passes for breaking news around this place...

Some how this story is not breaking news (was removed by mods) yet how Nancy Pelosi’s health care bill is gonna regulate vending machines is breaking news...

I give.

Does this mean we’re going to see a fifty cent increase at the pump tomorrow?

Maybe Nicholas Cage can help(sarcasm)

Didnt he go visit the pirates recently?

How does one climb up the side of a super tanker in order to take it over?

Plus, it’s 800 miles to port. Nobody can intercept in the time it would take to get to said port?

Socialism is failing world wide.

That is what these jackasses don't seem to understand.

The American consumer held these societies up for the last 50 years. If we go down their path and destroy the American consumer, we usher in a new dark ages for everyone.

Soon, there would be no one to compare to or to remember that bread lines are not normal or necessary and that store shelves weren't always empty.

Excellent! I worked at that place for a total of 6 years +/-. You’re right on the pulse of the economy there. That was the one thing that made the abusive toiling at least somewhat interesting (I was both part time and mgmt).

Projected volume was 66,000. I won't find out the actual volume until Tuesday night. I am on a one night layoff for Monday. The projected volume will be low tomorrow so they told me not come in. I am a newbie (since early Oct). I also worked there PT from 1997 to 2001.

It is a physically demanding job, I'm 51 and could still hack it. I picked and loaded 3 large containers(the big ones that you roll onto a trailer) tonight and was drenched in sweat. Lost about 4 pounds in 5 hours.

The big 21 year old football lineman next to me had to pick the same load. He could only fill one container in the 3 and a half hour sort. He is twice my weight. Strong as an ox, but slow as a turtle. I spent the last hour and a half ground handling, pushing all the loaded containers into trailers.

It seems like they are pushing doorbusters almost every day. They’ve been doing it on every weekend in November and every day including Thanksgiving.

If you can afford it and it’s something you have to have then I would pay cash/ no credit for it. But if not avoid the stores and hunker down.

Dubai is another bad sign on top of 10.2% unemployment and rising, sinking dollar, gold run. Deficit for FY10 was $150 Billion for first month.

Russian military analysts? This sounds like shit-stirring to me.

Maybe we should.

Greece is an example of how the European Union will pauperise the outlying countries like Greece, which has no natural resources, but is saddled with double transport costs to market of its manufactured goods. Result, permanent higher unemployment or lower wages.

WHOA!!!

And to Obama’s “last ditch gambit”, these reports continue, he is to announce in a nationwide address to his people this coming week that he is going to expand the level of US Military Forces in Afghanistan by tens of thousands of troops, while at the same time using the deployment of these soldiers as a “cover” for returning to the United States over 200,000 additional American soldiers from the over 800 bases in over 39 countries they have stationed around the Globe bringing the level of these forces in America to over 1 million, a number the US Military believes will be able to contain the “explosion of violence” expected to roil these peoples when they learn their economy has been bankrupted.

I did the same thing when I started my business. I got some really nice (albeit a little worn) furniture at a fraction of the price I would have paid for new but inferior merchandise at the local office supply store. And the selection was big enough that all the stuff I got matches.

ROTFLOL! Then I guessed correctly, but I had to be sure.

should give me a medal for contributing to energy independence!

Ha! Perhaps that is why they are working so hard to keep us all ticked off everyday in everyway...we produce steam!

Don’t know your area, but here in the Atlanta, Ga. region, you could get better deals on better quality items from used/surplus dealers.
The economy hasn’t given anyone a break, and businesses are still closing down in large numbers.
One of my neighbors is a roll off driver for Waste Mgmt. He only services commercial accounts. They’ve cut him to around 34 hours a week now. He’s number 3 in seniority, and usually max’s out on his allowable driving hours, 60 per week.

Buying and spending are capitalist America ideas. Obama/Reid/Pelosi have changed all that for the time being.

Join me as I hunker down with my buried bags of gold waiting for 2012.

Yes. Most of the time they have pictures too which saves you driving around. I am sure you probably can find free and cheap deals too.

Good blog, LikeLight -- and great work! As noted on your blog, all the perspective we should should need on this matter is found in Psalm 37:21: "The wicked borrow and do not repay." Who am I to add or detract from the clear Word of God?

I’ve always wanted to run an experiment when I move out (like this would happen if my mother got wind but...) I would love to take nothing more than my stuffed cow, clothes, cooking wear and small fridge and a blanket and see how much I could furnish my first apartment with found free on Craigslist. It would be a fun experiment :D. But yeah, you can get some amazing stuff on there!

My wife works in retail. Over last year Friday sales were down from $36,000 to $31,000. She didn’t recall the Saturday numbers. All in all, sales through the week leading up to Black Friday were up, so they evened out. She works for a large hobby store that offers nothing in the way of essentials to the consumer.

Dubai Crisis May End in ‘Major’ Default, BofA Says (Update3)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8RD8uqjoLCQ&pos=2

I shop at the thrift stores quite a bit - usually a coat, flannel shirt, gym bag, etc. It either goes in the freezer for a few days or right in the wash after I read something about the “new” bed bug problem. They sound nasty to try to get rid of.

Make sure that you don’t get used wooden furniture that comes with the added gift of a few live bedbugs.

Ah! The gift that keeps giving!

Thanks for that reminder.

"A socks and underwear kind of Christmas."

More of a guns & ammo kind of Christmas at my homestead.

I got my shopping done. Stocking stuffers to go with the card and check for all the young people.

Goodwill
Salvation Army

:-)
Good deals!

See, this is where us honest FReeper types miss the boat. If we were in the Obama groove, we’d write a grant request to study the reproductive habits of those bedbugs, get a few million dollars worth of Porkulus grant money, spend it all on big salaries and lawyers to sue the makers of the wooden furniture, then take our settlement money and move to someplace warm.

“One might have thought that, with all of the “All is well!” rhetoric”

Who is saying “all is well”? All is not well and even our Pres knows it, hence the jobs summit.

Many libraries have used books for sale at $1-$2. Also 1/2 price used book stores often have a wide selection. Amazon has used books for sale, but dicey if they have what you want or how reliable the seller is.

http://www.eutimes.net/2009/11/obama-orders-1-million-us-troops-to-prepare-for-civil-war/