Worried about the US Government
Current mood: worried

The FBI is now working out of Nigeria and they're forced to use gmail addresses.  Shocking!

Federal Bureau of Investigation wrote:

ATTENTION:

This is to officially inform you that it has come to our notice, the Federal Bureau Investigation ( FBI ), that the sum of $8.3 Million U.S Dollars contained is here in the United State Of America in your name. That is why we have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this fund, because the above mentioned amount is a huge amount of money, that is why we want to make sure that money you are about to receive is legal and we need to verify that you are not involved in any terrorist movement and money laundry. it has already been confirmed in your name, but funds are right now in our custody waiting to be released to you,we have verified and investigated that you are the right beneficiary to claim the funds, all we need from you is verification and proof due to the huge amount of money involved.

As a matter of national security, we are to serve and to protect the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The only advice we can give to you as at this time is to try your best to provide the required document so that your funds will be release to you in your favor, this funds are rightfully yours. You can obtain the document from the FBI in NIGERIA where the fund was transfered from, using the following information:

Agent Robin Scott
Tel:+234-806-830-3318
E-mail: robin.scott15@gmail.com

We have done our verification on your FBI Identification Record and checked your criminal records, the only document remaining now is the Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) to satisfy us that the money you are about to receive is free from Terrorism and Money Laundry act. You are to forward the documents to us immediately if you have it with you, but if you don't have it, you can get it from the country where the fund was transfered from, you are to contact the Federal Bureau Of Investigation Nigeria to obtain the above required
document&183;

Furthermore, be advice that according to the United State Laws and also the FBI rules and regulations, you are to obtain the document from the FBI in Nigeria where the fund was transferred from. Also Note that you are to take care of the Document to be issued to you right away, because due to how important and secured the document is, it is not issued just like that.

An FBI Identification Record and Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.

If the fingerprints are related to an arrest, the Identification Record includes name of the agency that submitted the fingerprints to the FBI, the date of arrest, the arrest charge, and the disposition of the arrest, if known to the FBI.

All arrest data included in an Identification Record is obtained from fingerprint submissions, disposition reports and other reports submitted by agencies having criminal justice responsibilities.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division processes these requests.

An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the Record. Other reasons an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a foreign country ( i.e., Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer, letter of good conduct, criminal history background, etc.)

On October 9, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact) Act of 1998, establishing an infrastructure by which states can exchange criminal records for no criminal justice purposes according to the laws of the requesting state, and provide reciprocity among the states to share records without charging each other for the information.

The Compact became effective April 28, 1999, after Montana and Georgia became the first two states to ratify it, respectively. To date, 27 states have ratified the Compact.

The Compact Council as a national independent authority, works in partnership with criminal history record custodians, end users, and policy makers to regulate and facilitate the sharing the complete, accurate, and timely criminal history record information to no criminal justice users in order to enhance public safety, welfare and
security of Society while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights.

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for no criminal justice purposes.

You are here by advice to Contact the Fbi in Nigeria, through the email address above to enquire from them on how you are going to get the required document&183; Note that you are to do this immediately if you really want your fund to be released to you and also if you don't want any legal action to be taken on you. We have already informed the FBI in Nigeria about the present situation, so go ahead and contact them immediately.

Your fund is now in our custody and will only be released to you upon the confirmation of the required document, After that the fund will be released to you immediately without any delay.

FORWARD THE DOCUMENT AND OTHER CORRESPONDENCES TO US VIA EMAIL ATTACHEMENT AS SOON AS YOU OBTAIN IT USING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

PATRICK WHYTE
FBI FIELD AGENT
E-MAIL: fbi@investigationunit.info
Phone: 503-213-3206


We currently have jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal law. So you can see that we can track you down through Investigative programs. We have your address and the evidence and status of your wired funds, so we can arrest you anytime anywhere.

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for no criminal justice purposes.

WARNING: If you failure to produce the above requirement in the next 48 hours, legal action will be taken immediately by
arresting and detaining you, justificated and if found guilty, you will be jailed. As terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering is a serious problem in our community today. The F.B.I will not stop at any length in tracking down and persecuting any criminal who indulge in this criminal act. FORWARD THE DOCUMENT TO US VIA EMAIL ATTACHEMENT AS SOON AS YOU OBTAIN IT.

For: FBI Director
FBI FIELD AGENT
HEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS
AGENT PATRICK WHYTE

11:41 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

An open letter to my "representatives"

Six of Washington State's super-delegates have announced support for Clinton even though 2/3rds of Washington State's Democrats support Obama.

At least according to this, http://sharoncobb.blogspot.com/2008/02/here-is-list-of-super-delegates-and-who.html, they are:

Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA)
Sen. Patty Murray (WA)
Rep. Jay Inslee (WA)
Former Speaker Tom Foley (WA)
DNC Ron Sims (WA)
Rep. Norm Dicks (WA)

Maria, Patty, Jay and Ron are actually people I can legitimately spam, being their constituent and all.  Oddly enough, they're the same ones I was able to find email addresses for or use a web-based email-your-senator thing.  Here's an example of the little form letter I sent them...

Subject: Hope
 
Dear Mr. Sims,
 
I hope you join the clear majority of Democrats in our state in supporting Senator Obama for president.
 
Thank you very much.
 
Gordon Ludlow
Shoreline, WA

10:25 PM - 5 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

I’m a delegate!!!
Current mood: patriotic

So, gldngrrl and I went to check out the democratic party caucus for our precinct.  She to register to vote and I to cast my vote.  Turns out she can register to vote and cast a vote all in one fell swoop.  And before the day was over, we both became delegates for Barack at the legislative district caucus.  Our precinct (an 8 block area) has 7 delegates to send to the legislative district caucus and we split the room 5 for Barrack and 2 for Hillary, so most of us had to pick 5 delegates.  She raised her hand as someone who was willing to go so I did to.  That made 4.  The other two people interested raced to get permission from their wives (who weren't there, oddly enough) on their cell phones.
I went fairly skeptical of the whole caucus system.  I cast my vote for KOOKanich in the primary (in Washington state, presidential primary votes don't count at all for democrats) and that was my efficient thumb-my-nose-at-the-establishment vote.  I was going to vote for Dennis at the caucus too, but he dropped out in time.  So I went to vote for Barack.  But the whole caucus thing is so horribly old fashioned, out dated and inefficient (I thought walking in there).  I couldn't just use my absentee ballot and mail in my vote.  I had to go to this crowded school gym with people from a dozen precincts and wait around for the hundreds of people to file in and find their precinct.
After it all, I'm a huge fan of the caucus system.  After our precinct found quiet in the teacher's lounge, there was a lively (well, very polite and Seattle reserved) debate about the relative merits of Barrack and Hillary.  The undecides were eventually pulled into one camp or another (mostly into the majority Barrack camp).  And the whole process seemed very much more like the democracy our founding fathers envisioned than my usual experience of picking between libertarian and green candidates in my bath robe.  To hear the old lesbians talk about how vital it is to have a woman president now.  To hear the gay baptist minister's gay baptist partner talk about  the importance of understanding muslims.  These are the things I've been missing in my isolationist voting.  I want caucuses for every election.  How can I decide if car tabs are too expensive or if we should rebuild a bridge without discussion with my neighbors?  There isn't the Norman Rockwell polital discussion in front of the drug store anymore.  It's a rare treat to get in a conversation with a neighbor when the line is too slow at the grocery store.  Most of my political conversations are with my coworkers and friends, hardly a grassroots community.  Thank god for the caucus!
So now I get to go cast my vote, on behalf of others in my 8 block precinct, for Barrack Hussein Obama, at the LD caucus *AND* I get to go to the county convention to debate platform issues.  If we play our cards right, we can go to the state convention.  Denver here we come!!!

11:45 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

Questions about the stock market

There's a few things I've been wondering about the stock market and the economy.

1. How much of the money invested in the stock market is in retirement funds, either managed pension plans or individual 401k and IRAS?
2. How many retirees invest in the stock market? I've heard of retirees buying stocks and writing covered calls on them - living on the proceeds from the option sales and hoping that the stock doesn't go up enough for the option to get exercised. I once met a retiree who was living on the dividend payments from her blue chip stocks. Are these isolated incidents or common place?
3. When the boomers start retiring and cashing in their 401ks is that going to be a massive sell off of stocks that results in plummeting stock value?



4. If you bought 100 shares in each of the 12 companies that comprised the original Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, what would that investment be worth today?
5. Does the stock market really outperform all other asset classes over the long term if you consider buying and holding individual stocks or does that analysis "cheat" by considering the value of the total market (and not consider the losses of stocks that go to zero in the meantime)?
6. Are index funds "cheating" the market? If you buy QQQQ or SPDR, hold it for 10 years and then sell it, the underlying portfolio of stocks won't be the same as it was when you bought it.
7. If the stock market is zero-sum, who pays when an individual investor holds an index fund long enough that bad stocks are dropped from it and good stocks added?



8. Back when Volker was the Federal Reserve chairman and he "tightened the money supply" does that mean that the Fed loaned less money to banks? Did they say no to banks seeking loans?
9. Does the Fed only buy and sell treasure bonds and change the rate it loans money to banks at or does it control how much money is actually printed?
10. Doesn't the Treasury print the money and determine how much to print? How does the Treasury get money into circulation?
11. Are loans from the Federal Reserve to banks the only way that money gets added to the economy?

9:54 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

But how many pounds is that?
Current mood: strong

This is what I work out on:

Precor S3.45

This morning I was able to do a lat pull down with 16 weight units.  The 16 is bigger than the 15.  The 6 is bigger than the 5.  I guess I'll have to email Precor to find out what the numbers mean.  I'd like to be able to lat pull down my weight because then I could do a pull up (not a chin up, those are easy).

10:37 AM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

95% fat free
Current mood: cantankerous

I'm shooting for a high protein diet.  So instead of 60-20-20 where 60% of the calories are carbs and 20% each are fat and protein, I'd like to skew it more toward the protein (but still low fat).

This brings me to a 95% fat free lunch meat that I picked up at the grocery store Monday.  It's Oscar Meyer Smoked White Turkey.  The nutrition label on the package is NOT the same as the one on their web site. On the web site, they claim a gram of fat per serving and on the package, it's a gram and a half.  I'll believe the package.

The front of the package is the same as depicted on the web.  It boldly proclaims 95% fat free.  Of the 30 calories, 15 are fat calories.  Wouldn't that be 50% fat?  50% is a little different than 5%!!!

OK... let's assume that they're claiming that it's 95% fat free by weight rather than by calories (I think that's the way it really works in the world of food packaging).  There's 4 grams of protein, less than 1 gram of carbs and 1.5 grams of fat per serving.  Wait a minute!!!   1.5 grams of fat in 6.5 grams is 23% fat.  Oh... but the serving size is 28 grams.  21.5 grams is water and/or non-food turkey parts.  1.5 grams of 28 grams is 5.36% so the product really is 94.6% fat free which is 95% give or take a percent.  (probably close enough in the world of food packaging)

But, it really isn't a high protein, low fat food.  It's got the same number of calories from both.  So, 95% fat free isn't all it's cracked up to be.

11:10 AM - 11 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

Losing weight in ’08
Current mood: hopeful

My New Year's resolutions this year are:

1. Get the debt under control
2. Get in shape

I've been better about not spending money quite so far beyond my means for almost a year, but slipped over the holiday season. Last Spring, I started an Excel spreadsheet to track the balances of my dozen or so credit cards. The line graph of total debt is encouraging when it's dipping and motivating when it's not. Before that I mostly lacked the discipline to restrain myself from buying whatever I wanted at the moment. And when I was good, there wasn't any feedback. Tracking does wonders.

In 2006, I got serious about weight loss (again). When I went in for my physical, the doc pointed out that I was up to 200 lbs from 185 the previous year. So, I started working out 90 minutes day. 30 on the elliptical, 30 on weights, and another 30 on the elliptical. And I watched what I ate. I was crunching a lot at that time, so I was eating dinner at the office. Instead of the usual pasta and giant Claim Jumper entrees and such, I'd just have a salad or an appetizer for dinner. Between the diet and exercise, I was down to 175 for my physical in 2007.

Over the holidays, I got lazy about that as well. From a low of 165 lbs, I'm back up to 185. I can't really work out for more than an hour a day these days. There just isn't enough time. But I'm going to really start hitting the weights and switch my diet to high protein, low fat, low carbs. I'm going to build as much muscle as I can and lose as much fat as I can. My goal is to be back into 32 jeans, where I was in my skinny high school days. Last year I was down to 33, so that's a completely reasonable goal. (Now, the 34s are a bit tight so I'm back in the 36s.) In my high school days, I weighted 145 lbs, but I had no muscle mass at all - just skin and bones. So I think my goal weight is going to be somewhere around 165.

So... no beer for me! It works against both goals - frugality and slenderness.  Wish me luck!

1:09 PM - 6 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Macy’s Gift Card

Yes, please post a comment on my profile about how I can get a free Macy's gift card.  And while you're there, tell me that size really does matter.

kthxbai

5:55 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Betray us?

Has anybody else noticed that on npr, they pronounce General David Petraeus's name as if it were General David Betray Us?

7:25 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Triple Capricorn

I think I have Mars in Capricorn too.  Oh, and the spam email started about 5 minutes after I generated this, so you probably don't want to do it.

	Sun Sign: Capricorn Sun 1° Capricorn 23'	Capricorn Horoscope for today »
	Moon Sign: Scorpio Moon 23° Scorpio 27'	Scorpio Horoscope for today »
	Rising Sign: Capricorn Ascendant 12° Capricorn 52'	Capricorn Horoscope for today »
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10:57 PM - 8 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment