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What is going on that I can get a 5% rebate on credit card purchases for gas, grocery and restuarants? I thought the fees charged to vendors was only 3-4%. There is a scam in here some place can anyone explain to me how the deal works.

Have any of you had experience with video conferencing using MSN Messenger. I have tried this a few times this summer with DSL on both ends and it was pretty amazing. Videocam and headset cost about $70. With the cost of energy and travel going up will we be using more of this? I would rather sit in my home office in my underwear and do business than get in the car to go visit someone. When it first came out it didn't work very well but it seems like the techology has finally caught up to the times. I...

StocksAtBottom.com Sitting Around the Table DJIA 10577 NASDAQ 2147 S&P 1227 August 12, 2005 Oil at the Margin Okay, here's where we are at. Interest rates are low, there is still a financial wind at our backs that is pushing us forward. Unemployment is also low, and the American economy is in an expansionary mode. The equity markets are doing well, and only narrow sectors like energy and natural resource commodities have truly outperformed. Based on all of the above, our first advice to you is NO MARGIN. Don't be strung out on debt in this environment. In our opinion...

The Founding of the Associated Press Ten men, representing the six most important New York newspapers at the time, sat around a table in the office of the New York Sun one day early in May, 1848. They had been in session for more than an hour and all that time they had been in stubborn argument. Some of them were belligerent, some were conciliatory, some were unconcerned, some were worried. They were the autocrats of the city's newspaper world and one room never had been big enough before to hold them. James Gordon Bennett was there with his assistant,...

Overview of the USF Program The federal universal service program embodies the national policy goal of affordable telephone service for all Americans. A regulatory "universal service fund" was first established in 1983 to help keep telephone rates affordable in high cost areas of the United States. Between 1983 and 1996, the fund, administered by the FCC, subsidized basic telephone service provided by incumbent local exchange carriers to low income consumers and high-cost areas. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) greatly expanded the scope of the federal universal service program to include subsidies for new services and new classes of...

StocksAtBottom.com Sitting Around the Table DJIA 10640 NASDAQ 2170 S&P 1229 July 19, 2005 The Macro Picture at mid-year By the time this year is over, America's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should grow by about 3.5%. There was good growth in the first half and we should get a slow-down (oil induced) by the end of the second half. If you look around the world, most major countries are starting to slow down. By year-end Asia will have experienced the greatest degree of growth for the year. The United States will be second and Europe will follow in third place....

Just had someone I recently me take through a 10 minute phone call. Phone call was 10 mintues of recorded testimonials of all the good things it did but never told me what the product was except that it was a BENEFITS PACKAGE. Next on the list was for me to view a 30 minute video. Pretty slick sales approach. Told him I was not a candidate for them. Anybody else have any experience with this Team National? I have run across this before but think it was a different name then. Google search shows nothing on Team National. I...

Forget the distractions at home or work. Come Saturday morning, 130,000 hunters have pheasants on their minds as they wade into chest high switchgrass or high-step over corn stubble in pursuit of Iowa's favorite game bird. Even though ill-timed rains washed out a good share of this spring's nesting, wildlife officials still expect a decent season. "Our summer roadside counts were down 34 percent from last year; mostly due to the heavy rain in late May," notes Department of Natural Resources upland game biologist Todd Bogenschutz. "Hunters should still harvest 800 to 900,000 pheasants, though. It's still going to be...

I don't believe we can post from the Ames Tribune but thought you would find this article interesting. Note that there is nothing of substance in the article. Be sure to read the reader comment after the article.

John Kerry's Final Mission in Vietnam John Kerry's last mission in Vietnam was a deadly Swift boat patrol up the Bay Hap River where everything was ventured but nothing gained -- except another medal and more horrific memories. By Douglas Brinkley March 13, 1969, would prove among the worst and best days John Kerry spent in Vietnam. Three years earlier, with the main thrust of the antiwar movement yet to come, Kerry had graduated from Yale University, delivering his class oration. Although he had just signed up with the U.S. Navy, in that address he questioned U.S. involvement in Southeast...

stocksatbottom Closed Out Positions 2003 Stock Date Written-Up Price Date Sold Price AT Deletion Best Buy (BBY) 10/22/02 21.60 02/06/03 27.24 Covad (COVD) 12/17/01 1.44 02/21/03 0.76 Black & Decker (BDK) 03/31/03 34.60 04/23/03 37.85 Rite Aid 07/31/03 2.18 05/14/03 3.55 American Express(AXP)03/14/03 31.49 05/29/03 41.69 Cendant (CD) 12/16/02 11.60 05/29/03 16.55 Tyco (TYC) 07/15/02 13.96 05/29/03 18.13 Foot Locker (FL) 09/13/02 10.09 05/29/03 12.98 AdvMicro Devices(AMD)11/25/02 7.48 06/03/03 7.08 Tenet Healthcare(THC)05/29/03 17.36 06/09/03 16.04 Merck (MRK) 03/17/03 50.70 06/11/03 59.51 Merck (MRK) 12/19/01 59.79 06/11/03 59.51 BJ'S Wholesale (BJ) 09/24/02 20.03 06/12/03 15.32 BJ'S Wholesale (BJ) 02/03/03 14.90 06/12/03...

A New Creation...by Cedric Hunt In the life of IFI member, Clint Price,the power of God's Word has cut away the filthy garments of what was once a desired homosexual lifestyle. He's been changed from a queen to a king. Transformed from a lifetime of deceptive lies of believing he was a woman into a son of the Most High God. Kingship! “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” 2 Cor 5:17 (KJV) Clint claims this verse daily as he walks in the newness...

NEWS For Immediate Release July 25, 2003 Contact: Mark Gould, PIO Director312-280-5042 CIPA Decision/Response: A statement from ALA President Carla D. Hayden and the ALA Executive Board July 25, 2003 The American Library Association (ALA) has a long-standing commitment to ensuring access to information for all. It advocates for a free and open information society and for equitable access to knowledge and information resources in all formats for all people. In December 2000, Congress passed an appropriations bill that included a requirement that any library receiving federal E-Rate or Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds would be required to...

Some people bluntly say they don't read. Others offer an excuse: They would read if only they had the time. I will also be blunt: People who don't read cheat themselves. By not reading, they limit what they can achieve, make mistakes they could avoid, and miss opportunities that could improve their lives. Finally, as the gaps in their knowledge become apparent, they must reconcile themselves to not being taken seriously. Before going any further, I must make clear that I do not urge you to spend the rest of your days nestled in a cozy spot at the local...

No activist can work in the public policy process for long without running across one or more conspiracy theories. Since at least 1960, conspiracy theories which relate to politics have circulated widely. Such theories trap many otherwise smart people into years of inactivity, pessimism, and despair. The phenomenon is so common that it should be understood because it affects so many people who have leadership potential. A conspiracy theory often is presented with a chart or diagram listing many different people and different organizations. Then lines are drawn which link the people and organizations. Common organizational affiliations link different people....

HHV has been serving American veterans and the military community for 32 years by providing therapeutic Arts and Crafts Kits, free of charge, to hospitalized veterans. Since its inception in 1971, HHV has delivered over $200 million worth of kits to more than 300 hosptials throughout the world.

The Story behind the National Anthem By an unknown speaker As heard on Jan Mickelson’s show on WHO Radio There was a lawyer once. His name was Francis Scott Key. He penned a song that I'm sure you're aware of. You've seen it; it's in most hymnals throughout our churches. It's called the National Anthem. It is our song as an American. We go, however, to a ballgame; we stand in our church services and we sing the words to that song and they float over our minds and our lips and we don't even realize what we're singing. Most...

Five Year Anniversary! This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Safe Zone project at Iowa State. Since its inception in November of 1997, over 5,000 Safe Zone stickers and window clings and 1,000 Safe Zone key chains have been distributed on campus. Read more to find out how you can get involved. The Project The "Safe Zone" sticker, seen on hundreds of college campuses, sends an important message to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, colleagues, and their allies. This message is one of understanding, non-judgment, and knowledge of LGBT persons' needs and concerns. It is symbolic of...

<p>Twenty-five years ago, Charles Cleveland, then a Drake University professor, captured attention with a computer program designed to identify people's attitudes based on what they said or wrote.</p> <p>A 1978 Des Moines Register story about the project stirred up a hornets' nest. Privacy advocates worried that government agencies would use the program to develop psychological profiles that would lead to the dark futures portrayed by novelists George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.</p>

<p>Iowa City, Ia. - Amber Haugen, having just come from Quinton's Bar, flops into one of the lawn chairs set up inside the circle of tents.</p> <p>The 18-year-old tucks her feet under her and snacks from a bag of Doritos as Christine Wilson, one of the camp's regulars, explains how her father fought during the first Gulf War. Next to them, "Froggy" - a barefoot twenty-something who won't give his real name - is crocheting as he listens.</p>