| If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
The puppies are usually Yorkshire terrier or English bulldog breed, normally costing between $1,000 and $3,000, but are being offered for free. The scammer claims they don't care about the money but just want to find a good home for the "beloved puppies."According to Angie Barnett of the bureau, the fees for shipping the pet mount up and the consumer can lose hundreds of dollars before realizing they've been conned and will never get the puppy.The second scam involves the Geiko Financial and Trust Co.Beginning last July, the bureau was hit with a wave of inquiries and complaints about this company. It seems the company offered consumer loans and required an advance fee prior to payment of the "approved" loan. If the name sounds familiar .... The company imposed on the identity of GEICO, a reputable insurance company, by using a play-off on its company name and even using the popular advertising icon, the gecko, on its Web site.Similar advance fee loan scams apparently poured into the state this year with many companies claiming Maryland addresses exploiting names and advertising likened to those of established firms.They lured high risk consumers with the bait of guaranteed loans ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.
Neal's blog
Assuming the reindeer Santa employs are ten times stronger than any know reindeer species the job would require more than 200,000 animals in all. 10. The weight of the payload and reindeer (over 350,000 tons) traveling at 650 miles per second creates unimaginable air resistance. This will heat the reindeer the same way a spaceship re-entering the earths atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14 quintillion joules of energy per second. Each. 11. The huge amount of energy absorbed will create deafening sonic booms and cause the entire team to be vaporized almost instantly. 12. Santa would be subjected to centrifugal forces more than 17,500 times greater than gravity. The only conclusion one can reach from the above is that if Santa ever tried to deliver presents in this manner, the attempt killed him.
Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time
Much was made of Illinois Senator Barack Obama's superb speech to a huge crowd of Iowa Democrats at the mid-November Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines. Without a doubt, it helped to propel Obama ahead of New York Senator Hillary Clinton in polls conducted in the weeks after the event. But Obama's speech in November may not turn out to be the definitional statement of the fight for Iowa. What could turn out to be the most critical comment of the campaign came from John Edwards in the last debate between the Democratic contenders — and the former senator from North Carolina may well claim the caucus-night victory that is the reward for delivering the right message at the right time. It wasn't a great rhetorical flourish. It wasn't even a new statement.
|
