QUICK STAT:

EMINENT DOMAIN needs some congressional oversight. This is a fight that is going on in Brooklyn right now. It's important to have the law for PUBLIC INTERREST not to make you or me wealthy.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

I just got this email and need to get this post up cause I'm going to start packing my bags.

FREELOTTO® P.O.BOX 42 PETERBOROUGH PE3 8XH UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services) Ref: AFSL/HTF/12-F892697954, Batch: 74-263-BBN

RE :WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw (#996) of the FREELOTTO®, online Sweepstakes International program held on 9th December, 2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:7-20-22-23-34-37 -38, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £900,000.00 (Nine Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of £9,009,105 shared amongst the (15) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly.

Please, note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £900,000.00 (Nine Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.

Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. To claim your prize, you will have to complete a Claim Form from and send to our fiduciary agent and give proof of your identity(a copy of your international passport or driver's licence) and also you are to make a payment of Six Hundred and Eighty Five British Pounds Sterling( £685.00 ). This serves as administrative/handling cost.

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Mr. Anthony Gerrard White Alphaconsult Ltd London United Kingdom

WOW!!! for the low, low price of Five British Pounds Sterling( £685.00 ). I can win a 1.5 million dollars. Such a deal.

What I don't get is if they are going to give me a million buck you would think they could come up with the $1000.00 bucks( £685.00 ) they seem to need up front.

I think I'll pass on this one. How about you?

SUPPORT THE TROOPS, OPPOSE THE WAR

Regarding the Dec. 25 "Litmus Test for Troop Support" article:

I would like to refute the notion that one cannot be supportive of our troops while also being anti-war. Let me first enumerate ways in which I lend my support to our soldiers:

• Via tax dollars, a sizable portion of which contributes directly to the defense department budget.
• By staying informed and involved in our government's policies.
• Most importantly, by my desire not to place our citizens in harm's way for a fabricated purpose.

Like Vietnam, our involvement in Iraq has resulted in loss of life with no resolution to the initial motivations for conflict. Add to this the ever-changing justifications for our presence in Iraq, and one is compelled to take issue with quoted veteran Dave Allfrey's echoing of the administration's "stay the course" mantra. And his contention that war protesters serve to encourage al-Qaida and "terrorist insurgents" is ludicrous - I would argue that the war itself is more than sufficient provocation for their aggression!

Kudos to Reps. Norm Dicks and John Murtha who have the strength to admit that they erred in their initial support of the war and are now demanding withdrawal of our troops. As Mark Twain observed: "An inglorious peace is better than a dishonorable war".

I saw this letter to the editor in the 12/29/5 issue of the Kitsap Sun. It's in response to the 12/25/5 article, in which it was suggested that if you don't support the war you can't support the Troops. To which I say BULLSHIT.

The purpose of decent is to provide some checks and balance and it has nothing to do with supporting the Troops. It has everything to do with keeping our public officials honest and hold them responsible for there actions and decisions.

I use The Charge Of The Light Brigade as an example of why decent is needed. Had there been any decent back then maybe this tragedy could have been averted. It may not be a great analogy but I think you can see my meaning.

SBA FINDS 9/11 LOAN RECIPIENTS INELIGIBLE

In a program to help businesses after Sept. 11, a high percentage of government-backed loans went to recipients who appeared to be unqualified - some of them unaware they were receiving terrorism-recovery money, investigators report.

The Small Business Administration's inspector general said Wednesday that agency officials were at fault for telling lenders in the program that their determinations would not be questioned.

The inspector general concluded that only nine loan recipients in the 59 cases sampled appeared to be qualified for disaster loans.

Lenders who handed out billions of dollars in loans failed - 85 percent of the time - to document that recipients were actually hurt by the terrorism attacks and therefore eligible for the aid under the law, the report found.

_Only two of 42 borrowers interviewed were aware they had obtained a STAR loan.

_In cases where eligibility could not be established, 25 of 34 borrowers interviewed said they were not adversely affected by the terrorist attacks.

_Thirty-six of 42 borrowers questioned said they were not asked, or could not recall if they were asked, about the impact of the attacks on their businesses.

Meanwhile, small businesses near Ground Zero in New York couldn't get the assistance they desperately sought.

UPDATE ON MY SOCKS

I had another Dr. appoint today this time it was with a foot Dr. that my Primary Dr. had me go to.

I mentioned the problem I had getting the socks that my Primary Dr had prescribed for me on my 12/28/5 post.

Well I talked to the Dr at today's appointment and told him the problem I ran into with the $65.00 price on these socks. He suggested I check his price and I might be surprised.

Well I did and he had the exact sock that my Dr. had prescribed and at a price that was fair $20.00. So I save myself $45.00 bucks.

It pays to shop around.

NO WORDS NEEDED

Where have I heared that before.

PRETTY GOOD JOKE

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

* What we need is a rebirth of satire, of dissent, of irreverence, of an uncompromising insistence that phoniness is phony and platitudes are platitudinous.

25 THINGS I'M GLAD I DIDN'T SAY

24) "If I would do another 'Terminator' movie I would have Terminator travel back in time and tell Arnold not to have a special election." --California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after all four of his ballot initiatives were roundly defeated in the special election he called, Nov. 10, 2005

WORKS FOR ME!!!

Lawyer: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning?

Witness: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"

Lawyer: And why did that upset you?

Witness: My name is Susan.