Add me to mailing list    |           |      Search

Advertising | All Lists | Archives | Classified Ads | This Day In American History


   

 

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Boxer Oscar De La Hoya, nicknamed "The Golden Boy," born February 4, 1973, Los Angeles, California. He has generated more money than any other boxer in the history of the sport. De La Hoya has defeated seventeen world champions and has won ten world titles in six different weight classes.
http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/fighters/oscar.php

Headlines---

Archives—Feb. 3, 2006
Steve Chriest predicts subprime mortgage crisis/bad times
    Classified Ads---Legal
        GE Slogan Contest Winners
            New Wrinkle in Leasing---45 day approvals
    Classified Ads---Help Wanted
Sales makes it Happen—by Scott Wheeler
"Bridges Over These Troubled Waters"
Mark to Market Explained
by Shawn Halladay, The Alta Group
    Nassau Expands Collection Division
        Shades of Royal Link/NorVergence
101 Funny Things about Global Warming
    Classified ads—Attorneys
        Leasing News Banner ads—#1
After Uproar, Wells Fargo Calls Off Trip to Las Vegas
    Bank Rescue Would Entail Triage for Troubled Assets
    FDIC: Estimate cost of bank failures $40B Billion +
    PNC Financial to cut 5,800 jobs
    Former LaSalle exec out as BofA eliminates his job
    AIG, Greenberg face off $300 MM Dispute
    Auto Sales Plummeted To 27-Year Low in Jan.
    Chevron Year-End $23.9B Exxon $42.2B Net Profit
    GMAC Posts a Profit for Fourth Quarter
    IRS raids Vegas casino re: former Fry's executive
    Chicago Law Firm lays off 60 attorneys, 89 staffers
    '94 military report panned Humvee as 'deathtrap'
News Briefs---
    You May have Missed---
        California Nuts Brief---
    Sports Briefs---
"Gimme that Wine"
    Today's Top Event in History
        This Day in American History
SuDoku
    Daily Puzzle
        GasBuddy
Weather, USA or specific area
    Traffic Live----

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Archives—Feb. 3, 2006
Steve Chriest predicts subprime mortgage crisis/bad times

“With the large number of interest only, adjustable rate, no money down, no income verification, and no credit required loans written over the past few years, and the reality of stagnant or declining house values, it seems inevitable that the housing industry will contribute mightily to the bad moon rising.”
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/February%202006/02-03-06.htm#moon

Steve was ahead of his time, and his lectures on sales grew his company to the point he was writing for his own corporate customers not in the leasing business, but among the Fortune 100.
He is the founder of Selling UpTM (www.selling-up.com), a sales consulting firm specializing in sales improvement for organizations of all types and sizes in a variety of industries. He is also the author of Selling The E-Suite, The Proven System for Reaching and Selling Senior Executives and Five Minute Financial Analyst, Basic CREDIT & Analysis Tools for Non-Accountants. You can reach Steve at schriest@selling-up.com.

He writes for “Sales make it Happen” on a regular basis from time to time, as well as Gerry Egan, Linda P. Kester, Adrian Miller, Bob Teichman, Scott Wheeler, and Terry Winders, CLP.

“Selling Up” Articles for Leasing News by Steve Chriest:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Selling_Up/index.htm

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Classified Ads---Legal

San Diego , CA
Experienced in-house corporate, equipment leasing and financial services attorney seeks position as managing or transactional counsel. Willing to relocate.
Cell Phone: 760-533-4058;
Email: sandidq@msn.com
Resume

For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

To place a free “job wanted” Leasing News ad:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

ELFA Career Center: Job Seekers (free):
http://careers.elfaonline.org/search.cfm

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

GE Slogan Contest Winners

FIRST PLACE

Winner of 2000 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot


(Photo is 2005 merlot, but actual bottle 2000)

Rob Milhouse

Second, Third, and Fourth Place winners

receive


South San Francisco See's Milk Chocolates-- 2lbs

This traditional assortment includes one of almost every milk chocolate covered center we make including Cocoanut, Chocolate Butter, Vanilla Nut Cream, BordeauxTM, Almond Square, Mocha, Caramel and more.

SECOND PLACE

GE--Miracles Can Happen – Right?

David Maslyk
Bank of the West

THIRD PLACE

GE--Where imagination left us

Jerry Christensen
Primo Capital

FOURTH PLACE

"GEE" --- imagine - we are still employed!

Donna Spiegel
Nyack, NY

SPECIAL MENTION



Winner of South San Francisco See's Chocolate Nuts & Chews-- 2 lbs

This traditional See's chocolate assortment is packed with top-quality peanuts, California-grown English walnuts, almonds, chewy Caramel, honey Scotchmallow®, Rum Nougat and more - all coated with milk and dark chocolate.

Tom Reihle
Financing for Business and Professionals

THE FOLLOWING ARE RUNNERS UP

GE - Imagine (if we could fund)

Stan Prokop
Park Avenue Financial

GE-Imagination (but few others left)

John Meredith
City National Bank
Equipment Leasing/Aircraft Finance

GE---Imagine you are at work

David Salome
Brandywine Capital Associates, Inc.

GE--imagine you’re at work.”

Tim Taylor
Dumac Leasing

GE--Imagination NOT at work

Robert Searcy
firstfinancialleasing

GE--Imagine "you’re not really getting laid off" at work

Greg VanDeWalker
GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation

GE---admire, acquire, fire and end up with a shrinking empire….

Greg Pinkerton, Vice President
Bank of America Practice Solutions

GE--"IMAGINE IT DOES WORK” ...
Connie S. York - Business Manager
Hunter Keystone Peterbilt LP

GE - We bring Iranian things to life

Bruce Zwillinger
BSB Leasing

GE--Illuminating your Future

Melanie Carroll
Direct Capital Corporation

GE--We bring good things by Flight (from market)
Brian Carey
Innovative Capital Resources NC, Inc

GE..Worked there...done that....
Craig Kinsel
“I'm a 16 year veteran of the leasing industry looking for a job!  Was most recently at The CIT Group!  So, no company but looking!  If anyone has a job in the upper-Midwest, please let me know!!”
(vendor leasing)
craig@kinselbiz.com

GE--Driving The GEneration of Innovation

Bob Steward
ACG Equipment Finance

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

New Wrinkle in Leasing---45 day approvals

Where this is the start of a trend, it does give further indication
to change and tending of credit decisions.

From TimePayment:

“Good Morning:

“Effective today February 3, 2009 applications will now be approved for 45 days. It is our belief that lessee credits will change more rapidly due to the current economic conditions.

“For any application approved prior to February 3, 2009 we will honor the previous 90 day application approval.

“Thank you,

“Jillian Boynton
Channel Manager
866-994-7756
jillian.boynton@timepaymentcorp.com”

(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Leasing Industry Help Wanted


Commercial Sales Associate

Looking for Sales Associate with a following.  Your area of expertise should be with any titled rolling stock;  New or Used Ambulances, Trucks, Street Sweepers,Tow Trucks, Buses,  any commercial vehicle.  National Scope.  Hi Commission with benefits. 

Curt Webster, CVLE  516 922-7447

We are an independent automobile, truck, and commercial equipment leasing company with over 36 years serving the best customers in the United States.

carleaseusa.com

sales


VENDOR SALES SPECIALISTS
LEASING SALES PROFESSIONALS

Like selling vendor programs and large transactions?
Enjoy international financing programs?
Prefer the advantages of a commission only environment with the security of health and welfare benefits?

CLICK HERE to find out how to have fun again.

Please see our Job Wanted section for possible new employees.

[headlines]

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sales Make it Happen --- by Scott Wheeler

With over twenty-six years of leasing experience and an Executive Masters in Business Administration, Scott is an accomplished senior leasing executive with leadership qualities in marketing and operations. His extensive experience will benefit organizations looking to reach a higher level of profitability and corporate development.

Bridges Over These Troubled Waters

“Isolation is not a prudent choice in today's market”.

Our industry is currently navigating through rough financial waters. Funding sources are pulling back, credit criteria are tightening, an approval is being pulled, portfolio quality is deteriorating and on and on and on. Some are asking if it's even worth building a bridge over these troubled times and they are exiting the industry all together.

The problem appears to be that there is no game book for these times. Uncertainty by the funding sources, lessors, brokers and lessees is at an all time high. The troubled waters of uncertainty are rising with each news release, and watching of the evening news. Who is on first, second and third and what are the rules? Where are we headed? What will the landscape look like when the waters recede? Who will be left and will they be wearing any clothes? Many on a macro and micro level are hunkering down, disengaging from the market and waiting for the stormy waters to pass before they make their next move. The troubled waters may be with us for some time and there will be the need to have a strong bridge in order to cross over these rough waters into the future.

The bridge for most will be made with strong interwoven relationships with both past and new business partners. The need for a strong network is more important today then ever. The network needs to be both wide and deep. Networking is not accomplished by pulling back and hunkering down but rather by engaging with others on many different levels. In difficult times it is often natural to talk to your old acquaintances more regularly, to stay in your comfort zones and to hope that better days will be right around the corner. However, this new bridge will need to be built with new relationships, new business partners, and with new leasing tools. The bridges will have multiple names like creativity and flexibility.

As true leasing entrepreneurs we will need to read the flowing waters below even though we will have little control over what is formulating around us. The financial markets are turning different colors every day with major changes involving our banks, insurance companies, investing firms and more. The small and middle size business will be affected in many different ways by these market influences depending upon industry, size and ability to react. However, it is with certainty that these businesses will need cash in order to innovate, to retool and to survive. The small and medium size business will need to build their bridges with financial partners who are able to supply innovative funds. These alternative funds have been traditionally supplied by third party independent lessors and financial firms; and there is no doubt that our industry will again supply the needed funds for capitalistic businesses with an opportunistic spirit.

I am personally hopeful that the free market will dominate the flow of water. The market needs the time to react to an almost constant injection of new rules and regulations. The market needs to create its own game book based upon the facts of what has occurred in the recent past. The leasing professional needs to be well versed on what is flowing around us to study the cause and effects of each new change. As entrepreneurs, we need to take a big picture approach to our marketing strategy and business planning. Isolation is not a prudent choice in today's market.

In order to personally react to the market, we each need to engage in the process, engage with our associations, engage with our lessees, engage with our funding sources, and engage with our investors. Now is not the time to hunker down into a hole, but rather to actively pursue building many different bridges toward the future. I challenge each of us to commit to our entrepreneurial spirits and to build better bridges with all of our business partners. Building meaningful long lasting bridges is not easy, it is not a quick process, but it is important and future leasing generations will appreciate our efforts.

Please let me know your thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com or 410-877-0428.

Sales Makes it Happen articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Legacy/index.html


 

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Scott Wheeler.)

[headlines]

-------------------------------------------------------------

Mark to Market Explained

by Shawn Halladay, The Alta Group

(the above graph is better viewed as a pdf:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/shrinkingbanks.pdf )

"Market cap" is the value of all the company's shares at the current price in the stock market. How accounting has effecting bank stock, as well as companies such as Allied Capital, investor in Financial Pacific, or Resource America, parent of LEAF Corporation, is perhaps the most important event that is happening to Wall Street and many companies in the world.

Leasing News has asked well-known author and accounting expert, managing principal, the Alta Group, Shawn Halladay, to explain this complicated accounting phenomena in terms Leasing News readers may learn the serious significance of “Mark to Market.”


Shawn Halladay

There has been much discussion regarding the impact of the fair value accounting rules on bank balance sheets. FAS 157 established the framework for measuring fair value, although actual disclosures and adjustments to financial instruments are governed by FAS 107, 114, and 115. The purpose of FAS 157 was to increase consistency in measurement of fair value and to reduce the number of measurements being used.

The changes brought about by FAS 157 include a new definition of fair value and how to measure fair value. Under these rules, fair value is now defined as exit value and is market-based and not entity-specific, i.e., what the asset could be sold in an open and active market. The standard establishes a hierarchy of measurable inputs, foremost of which are those observable in the current marketplace. Inputs developed from internal company data are now far down the list of allowable factors to consider in determining fair value.

Subprime mortgages provide a good example of how this might work. In the past, valuation of these mortgages would be made from an internal perspective by primarily considering historical default rates, collateral disposition statistics, and in place credit default swaps, to name but a few. These inputs would be tempered, but not driven, by a consideration of external market factors. If a present value approach was employed, it might have been based on using current market mortgage rates to discount the payment streams. Based on these variables, the financial institution would establish what it considered to be fair value.

Under the rules of 157, however, the fair value of the subprime mortgages/securities is determined by the exit value of the financial instruments - that is, what the market is paying today. This valuation methodology moves away from entity-specific measurements and focuses on market reality. In the case of the subprime instruments, the market considered the inherent weakness of the obligors, the collapse of the housing bubble, the inability of guarantors to make good on defaults, etc., and priced them accordingly - at a very steep discount.

The result was huge losses in value for the banks and other investors. Was all that value really lost in the long run?  It can be debated, of course, but the crux of fair value measurement is the value of the instruments in the active market today, as if they had to be liquidated. This measure uses much broader inputs, and is considered by the FASB to be a more relevant picture of the worth of the assets at the time of measurement.

Shawn D. Halladay
Managing Principal
124 South 400 East Suite 310
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-2135
Phone: (801) 322-4499
Fax: (801) 322-5454
E-mail: shalladay@thealtagroup.com

Shawn Halladay Biography:
http://www.thealtagroup.com/bios-halladay.php

[headlines]

-------------------------------------------------------------

Nassau Expands Collection Division

The economy has brought more business for Nassau Asset Management, specializing in lease collections, repossessions, and asset liquidations, appraisals. April, 2005, the company relocated its corporate headquarters to Westbury, NY. The address was about five miles from the previous Roslyn Heights location, also on New York's Long Island. Shortly thereafter, June, 2005, Peter Castagna, Chairman of Nassau Asset Management, the company's founder and CEO, announced that his son Edward is now the president “...in recognition of his strong leadership within the company.” Ed Castagna joined Nassau in 1991 after college, working his way up the ladder, following in his father's footsteps.

The collection department has grown so much that Nassau announces it has moved its collection division to a new facility. The new office is located at 100 Stonewall Boulevard, Suite 105A, Wrentham, MA, 02093.


Ed Castagna, President

"This move emphasizes Nassau's commitment to the collections sector of the industry, as well as our determination to be a true, full-service company," Ed Castagna said. "By being proficient in all phases of asset management, including collections, Nassau is able to work seamlessly with our clients to achieve their goals in a timely fashion, which is especially important in these challenging times."


Dan Potts, Vice-President

Dan Potts, vice president of receivables management. "Our mission remains focused on providing an efficient collection process that is transparent to our clients, resulting in cost effective recovery solutions and exceptional results. Our new office will allow for resource growth, and enable us to build upon our successful operational design."

The phone number for the collections office remains 508-384-1500.

http://www.nasset.com

Prior to joining Nassau Asset Management, Dan Potts held a variety of collection management positions including 3 years with Credit Clearing House out of New York, and 9 years with AT&T Capital Leasing Services in Westboro, Mass. During his last three years at AT&T Capital, Potts served as AVP of Portfolio Management and Recoveries. He directed operational efforts for a $100 million bad-debt collection portfolio, including collection agency and legal charged-off account outsourcing. Prior to his employment at AT&T Capital, Potts worked for Data General Corporation in Westboro, Mass.

(It should be noted that Ed Castagna is a member of the Leasing News Advisory Board, plus is also on the Board of Directors of Equipment Leasing and Financing Association.)

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Mr. Terry Winders, CLP)

[headlines]

-------------------------------------------------------------

Shades of Royal Link/NorVergence

A new scam surfaces involving churches this time. The NorVergence telecom scandal is winding up, and the dispute has basically been settled with seven leasing companies and hundreds of golf courses regarding advertising on wine-beer golf “caddies” written on private label lease contracts with the name of lessor as Royal Links USA, Holland, Ohio, and now leases with several leasing companies, according to the Detroit Free Press, with over 200 churches involved.

It may be many more churches, even synagogues. The gimmick a free large TV in a wooden kiosk with religious sermons and entertainment including infomercials where the church would get a fee or have their own infomercial. It hit the pulpit when no fees were received. The pastors claim when the sets were delivered, they thought they were signing documents that they received the equipment, but in effect, were signing leases of up to $40,000 for 48 months. And the collateral allegedly worth $1700.

Here are copyrighted stories:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902010371
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/38258664.html

[headlines]

-------------------------------------------------------------

101 Funny Things about Global Warming

Click on the book to order. Sidney Harris cartoons appear in Leasing News. Here he and his cartoonist colleagues comment on "101 Funny Things About Global Warming" features never-before-seen work from New Yorker contributors. The collection points out how far we've come, and how far we have to go in protecting the environment.

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------

Classified ads—Attorneys

Birmingham, Alabama
The lawyers of Marks & Weinberg, P.C. have over 30 years experience in dealing with virtually every type of equipment financing and are recognized throughout the industry for prompt, practical solutions and exemplary service. They offer cost-conscious, effective lease enforcement and good counsel.
Email: Barry@leaselawyer.com
Website: www.leaselawyers.com
California, National: city: Riverside
Ellen Stern - get results, reasonable pricing; numerous industry contacts, nearly 30 yrs exp.in SoCal, 20 yrs equip.: CFL license specialist, documentation, work-outs, litigated collections, recoveries; deal-maker.
Email: leaselaw@msn.com

Kenneth C. Greene
California & Nevada
Hamrick & Evans, LLP, Universal City , LA; San Francisco Bay
Area, No.Calif. & Nevada. Call for free consultation (828)763-5292 or (415) 806-2254,
kgreene@hamricklaw.com
Connecticut, Southern New England:
EVANS, FELDMAN & BOYER, LLC Collections, litigation, documentation, portfolio sales and financing, bankruptcy. We represent many of the national and local leasing companies doing business in this state. Past chairman EAEL legal committee. Competitive rates.
email: rcfeldman@snet.net  
Los Angeles, Southern CA
Seasoned attorney representing secured creditors in auto finance and truck/equipment lease industry.  Bankruptcy and State Court litigation.   Vincent V. Frounjian (818) 990-0605 or email: vvf@pacbell.net.

Encino, California: Statewide “ELFA”
Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP 30 yr excellent reputation Lessor representation commercial litigation, debt collection, and bankruptcy.
Call Stephen E. Jenkins Esq (818) 501-3800

Los Angeles, Statewide: CA.     "ELFA" Aggressive creditors rights law firm specializing in equipment leasing handling collection matters on a contingency, fixed fee or hourly cbasis. email:RGarwacki@prodigy.net

Los Angeles -statewide: CA      "ELFA"
Practice limited to collections, bankruptcy and problem accounts resolution. Decades of experience. 10-lawyer firm dedicated to serving you. Call Ronald Cohn, Esq. (818)591-2121 or email. Email: rrcohn@aol.com   

Long Beach, CA
Wagner & Zielinski,  successfully representing lessees/ lessors.  Not a member of any leasing organization, therefore not beholden to special interests.  Richard Wagner
(562) 216-2952 www.wzlawyers.com

Long Beach CA.
Paul Bent -- 30 years experience in all forms of equipment leasing, secured lending, and asset based transactions, from analysis and deal structuring to contract negotiations to closing to private dispute resolution. (562) 426-1000
www.paulbent.com

Law Firm - Service, Dallas, TX. "ELFA"
Mayer regularly practices in leasing, secured financing, project development and finance and corporate finance.
email: dmayer@pattonboggs.com
Website:
www.pattonboggs.com

National: Coston & Rademacher: Business attorneys serving the lease-finance industry since 1980. Transactional, documentation, corporate/finance, workouts, litigation, bankruptcy, portfolio management. Chicago-based national practice. Jim Coston, CLP (Members: ELFA, NEFA).
email: Jcoston@costonlaw.com
Website:www.costonlaw.com

St. Louis County , MO. - statewide:
Schultz & Associates LLP., collections, negotiation, and litigation. Also register and pursue recovery on foreign judgments. Contingency and reasonable hourly rates.
Ronald J. Eisenberg, Esq. (636) 537-4645 x108
reisenberg@sl-lawyers.com
www.sl-lawyers.com
Westport, CT: We represent finance companies, banks, lessors, etc., in replevins/seizures, collections and bankruptcy matters in Connecticut and New York. Flat fee, contingency and hourly rates.
Email: rchinitz@replevinlawyer.com

How to join the “free” classified ad—Attorneys:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Attorney/Attorney-post.htm

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------

Banner Advertising

The editor tries to place banner ads where they will be read by those the advertisers want to reach, rather than placed at random. News stories that will have an “ill” effect are avoided as best as possible. Often it is the position of the banner ad that attracts more response. This is at the sole discretion of the editor.

Banner ads may appear under the headlines at the choice of the editor, but are not guaranteed. An attempt is made to share them on a rotation basis with other banner advertisers.

Pricing Information
Price
Ad Size
Pixels Size
Term
$395.00
6.5W X 1.5 H
468W X 180H
21 days
$595.00
6.5W X 2.5 H
468W X 180H
21 days
$750.00
6.5W X 4" H
468W X 288H
21 days

21 Days on the Leasing News web site ( holidays not included.)  They are placed by the editor in an appropriate position near a story that may be more compatible to their ad. They also appear under the headlines in each News Edition on a rotation basis instead of being placed by a news story.

  Banner Ad "contracts"

$595---six months $500 month/12 months $475
$750---six months $640 month/12 months $600
$395 Special--Three months in a row  $1,000
($595/$750 monthly billing, $395 special: $1,000 in advance)

Combination discounts are further available with   Help Ad "contracts."

Two month, three month, six month and one year contracts are available with a discount. Ads for employment should be placed in the classified ad section, where it is possible to also appear at the top of the headlines.

Article: How Advertising works at Leasing News

Email: Kitmenkin@leasingnews.org

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Scott Wheeler.)

News Briefs----

After Uproar, Wells Fargo Calls Off Trip to Las Vegas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123371136824046167.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bank Rescue Would Entail Triage for Troubled Assets
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303782.html

FDIC: Estimate for cost of bank failures to be more than $40B
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-02-03-fdic-estimate-
bank-failure-costs_N.htm

PNC Financial to cut 5,800 jobs
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/02/03/PNC_Financial_to_cut_5800_jobs
/UPI-14081233691840/

Former LaSalle exec out as Bank of America eliminates his job
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-lasalle-rudis-bofa-feb03,0,1559323.story

AIG, Greenberg face off $300 MM Dispute
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02032009/business/greenberg__aig_face_off_in_300m
_starr_wa_153342.htm

Auto Sales Plummeted To 27-Year Low in Jan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303635.html

Chevron Year-End $23.9B Exxon $42.2B Net Profit
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/2/business/3174015&sec=business

GMAC Posts a Profit for Fourth Quarter
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/business/04gmac.html

IRS raids Vegas casino as part of investigation into former Fry's executive
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11611329

McDermott Will & Emery lays off 60 attorneys, 89 staffers
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mcdermott-layoffs-feb03,0,5227088.story

'94 military report panned Humvee as 'deathtrap'
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-02-03-humvee_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------

You May have Missed---

Late Show with David Letterman
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich Clip (4:30)
http://www.cbs.com/late_show/video/video.php?cid=446418043&pid=mIiTcdoem0JnQlQ9
wBXNa4x20dT0P6fv&play=true&cc=1

[headlines]

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sports Briefs----

Cable to be named Raiders head coach
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_11619085?nclick_check=1

Jets OC Schottenheimer would welcome Favre back
http://www.theredzone.org/absolutenm/templates/template.asp?articleid=1060&zoneid=1

[headlines]

----------------------------------------------------------------

California Nuts Briefs---

S&P cuts California credit rating/worst rating of 50 states
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/02/03/SP_cuts_California_credit_rating/
UPI-70751233713502/

Chiang asks judge to clarify furlough order
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1596151.html

[headlines]

----------------------------------------------------------------

“Gimme that Wine”

Drought likely to hit grape growers first
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090202/ARTICLES/902020251/1349?Title=
Drought_likely_to_hit_grape_growers_first

In bloom and on edge
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090203/ARTICLES/902030190/
1349?Title=In_bloom_and_on_edge

Economy's woes hit vineyard workers
http://sonomanews.com/articles/2009/02/02/news/doc4987a3e799aa8223479231.txt

Kendall-Jackson parent said to lay off 170
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/02/02/daily9.html

Flavor Profiles from Santa Cruz Mountains
http://winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=61920&htitle=Flavor%
20Profiles%20From%20Santa%20Cruz

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas
Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm
The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex) is an electronic exchange for fine wine.
http://www.liv-ex.com/

[headlines]

----------------------------------------------------------------

Today's Top Event in History

1933 -- Angered by increasing farm foreclosures, members of Iowa's Farmers Holiday Association threaten to lynch banking representatives and law officials who institute foreclosure proceedings for the duration of the Depression. In April at Primghar, 600 farmers battle the sheriff and his deputies to prevent a foreclosure. During the battle many farmers take a beating. A group of them then turn up at the courthouse, drag a district judge from his chair, put a rope around his neck, & threaten to hang him unless he promises not to issue any more eviction notices. That same month, when state officers in Crawford County are beaten and driven off, the Iowa governor put three counties under martial law, and the National Guard starts rounding up farmers who are fighting foreclosures. Farmers outside Sioux City did not cooperate with the association, selling produce at the best price they could, in addition, President Roosevelt promised farmers change and help. The crisis here also helps Roosevelt defeat Hoover.
http://www.hooverassociation.org/arhell.htm
http://www.sos.state.ia.us/publications/redbook/history/7-1.html

[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------

This Day in American History

    1746- Birthday of Thaddeus Kosciusko, Polish patriot and American Revolutionary War figure. Born at Lithuania , he died at Solothurn , Switzerland , Oct 15, 1817.
http://www.polskiinternet.com/english/info/thadeuskosciuszko.html
    1779 - John Paul Jones takes command of Bonhomme Richard.
    1787 - In an attack on Shays’ insurgents at Petersham, Massachusetts, General Benjamin Lincoln captures 150 rebels and forces Shays to flee for Vermont. By the end of the month, the uprising has been completely suppressed. In March the Massachusetts legislature offers a pardon to all except Shays, Luke Day and two other leaders. Shays will be pardoned on 13 June, 1788. This rebellion has the effect of causing the state legislature to avoid direct taxation, to lower court costs, and to exempt household necessities and workmen’s tools from the debt process. Shays’ Rebellion is also an important factor in influencing the creation of a new federal constitution, since the states have seen how essentially powerless they are to prevent such incidents of violence.
    1789- The only president to receive the unanimous vote of the presidential electors was George Washington of Mount Vernon , Virginia , who received all of the 69 votes cast by the lection from the 10 states that voted this day. A nearly unanimous vote took place in November 1816, when James Monroe of Virginia received 231 of the 232 votes casts by the electors from 24 states. The dissenting vote was cast by William Plumer of New Hampshire . Presidential electors met and chose George Washington as America 's first president. The Federalist Parry was formed by those who had supported ratification of the Constitution. Its first candidate was Washington . As president, Washington guided the new government as it moved from the concepts expressed in the Constitution into a functioning federal republic, and he firmly established many traditions and precedents which still guide how we as a nation view the presidency. After serving two terms in that office, he refused to seek a third one, believing that two terms were the most that any president should serve. The Federalist, considered pro-English, enjoyed considerable success until 1800, when Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, defeated John Adams for the presidency. Eventually the party lost its supporters and ceased to exist about 1820. Alexander Hamilton was one of the party's founders and foremost leaders. As a point of history, by April 6 the first Congress was formally organized. by its end in 1791 the first Congress consisted of 26 senators of whom 17 supported the Washington administration and 9 were generally in opposition. In the House the division was 38 and 26. Senators were chosen by each of the state's legislators until the 20th century by the 17th amendment.
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/
Direct_Election_Senators.htm

    1810- The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in Tennessee as an outgrowth of the Great Revival of 1800. Standing between Calvinism and Arminianism, the denomination holds a "medium theology" which affirms unlimited atonement, universal grace, conditional election, eternal security of the believer and salvation of all children dying in infancy.
    1822 - Free American Blacks settled Liberia, West Africa. The first group of colonists landed in Liberia and founded Monrovia, the colony's capital city, named in honor of President James Monroe.
    1826- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fennimore Cooper is published. One of the earliest distinctive American novels, the book is the second of the five-novel series called the "Leather-stocking Tales." He continued to write about the American frontier in his third book, The Pioneer, which featured backcountry scout Natty Bumppo, known in this book as "Leather-stocking." The character, representing goodness, purity, and simplicity, became tremendously popular, and reappeared, by popular demand, in five more novels, known collectively as the "Leather-stocking Tales." The second book in the series, The Last of the Mohicans, is still widely read today. The five books span Bumppo's life, from coming of age through approaching death.
    1841-Plagued by poor investment decisions and an uncertain economic climate, the Bank of the United States was forced to call it quits on February 4, 1841. It was a painful end for an institution that had suffered through one of the more contentious episodes in the nation's early financial history. Indeed, the Bank was the direct product of President Alexander Hamilton's controversial push for a national banking system. Despite the staunch objections of Thomas Jefferson, the federal government chartered the first Bank of the United States in 1791. However, Jefferson kept up his attack, and in 1811, led his supporters in Congress in a successful attempt to block the renewal of the bank's charter. Buoyed by a confluence of conditions, including state banks' recent run of woes and political shifts in the House, pro-bank forces forged a new charter in 1816. Under the charge of Nicholas Biddle, the revived Bank of the U.S. enjoyed some healthy years. However, before long, the Bank faced another round of opposition, this time led by President Andrew Jackson, who fiercely opposed the notion of a central bank system. A nasty and protracted political battle ensued, as the president attempted to use his executive power to do away with the bank. Jackson eventually won out, and when the bank's charter expired in 1836, Biddle shifted course and reestablished the Bank of the United States as a state institution based in Pennsylvania . Biddle's bank limped on for a few more years before being finally shut down on February 4, 1841.
    1847- Magnetic Telegraph of Maryland opened four offices in New York City for $250 a year, Philadelphia for$ !50, in Baltimore for $150, and Washington , DC for $50 a year to become the first Telegraph company. At first, messages were sent by pigeons across the Hudson River from Jersey City , NJ to New York City . Later, a lead pipe enclosing a covered wire saturated with pitch was laid under the river. The rates from Baltimore to Washington were e1`0 cents for the first 10 words an 1 cent for each additional minute. The rates form New York to Washington were 50 cents for the first 10 words and 5 cents for each additional word.
    1861- The Apache Wars: The period of conflict known as the Apache Wars began at Apache Pass , AZ , when Army Lieutenant George Bascom arrested Apache Chief Cochise for raiding a ranch. Cochise escaped and declared war. The wars lasted 25 years under the leadership of Cochise and, later, Geronimo.
    1861- the first Confederate congressional session took place, lasting until March 16. Its official title was Congress of the Confederate States. The president of the Senate was Alexander Hamilton Stephens of Georgia, the president pro tempore was Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia , and the secretary of the Senate was James H. Nash of South Carolina . The House of Representatives under the permanent constitution met in Richmond , VA , on February 18, 1861. Emmet Dixon of Georgia was elected clerk and Thomas Salem Bocock of Virginia was elected speaker. The session adjourned on April 21, 1862. The first order of business was drafting a constitution. They used the U.S. Constitution as a model, and most of it was taken verbatim. It took just four days to hammer out a tentative document to govern the new nation. The president was limited to one six-year term. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the word "slave" was used and the institution protected in all states and any territories to be added later. Importation of slaves was prohibited, as this would alienate European nations and would detract from the profitable "internal slave trade" in the South. Other components of the constitution were designed to enhance the power of the states--governmental money for internal improvements was banned and the president was given a line-item veto on appropriations bills. The Congress then turned its attention to selecting a president. The delegates settled on Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate who was the U.S. Secretary of War in the 1850s and a senator from Mississippi . It was emphatic that the purpose of the confederacy was to preserve slavery. There were many rich slave owners in the south and the loss of their property would mean not only substantial loss of their assets, but future income as they would have to pay for work on their farms and other businesses. ( an irony of the times, there were Negroes who were also “slave owners” At the turn of the century, there were slaves also owned in the North.)
Here is one county, Lowndes District in the County of Lowndes , State of Alabama , to give you an idea of the division of “property.”
http://www.ccharity.com/census/1850lowndes.htm
This will substantiate that there were “free Blacks” who also owned “Black slaves.”
http://americancivilwar.com/authors/black_slaveowners.htm
Slave Census of Connecticut and Washington , 1790. It is also correct many of the Northern states began to outlaw slavery in their state after the ratification of the constitution.
http://www.ctnow.com/extras/html/slaveowners.htm
But make it clear, the purpose of the Confederate States of America was to preserve slavery and was so stated in their constitution.
    1873- Birth of George Bennard, American Methodist evangelist. He penned over 300 Gospel songs during his lifetime, but is primarily remembered today for one: "The Old Rugged Cross."
    1895 - In Chicago , Illinois , the Van Buren Street Bridge opened. It was the first rolling lift bridge. It consisted of two arms meeting at the center of the river. The bridge was operated by two 50horsepower electric motors on each side of the bridge.
http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/ruin/pic0093.html
http://www.deldot.net/static/projects/archaeology/
historic_pres/delaware_bridge_book/PAGE_162.PDF
http://tigger.cc.uic.edu/depts/ahaa/imagebase/
intranet/chiviews/page177.html
    1902-Birthday of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American aviator, nick named
“Lucky Lindy,” was the first to fly solo and nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean, New York to Paris , May 20-21, 1927. He became a Nazi sympathizer, accepting awards from Adoph Hitler and after the war, efforts were made to downplay his lobbying for the Nazi regime. Born at Detroit , MI ; died at Kipahula, Maui , HI , Aug 27,1974.
    1904 – Birthday of MacKinlay Kantor, novelist ( Andersonville ) , born Webster City, Iowa. died on October 11, 1977 His best seller was a story about the infamous Andersonville prison of Civil War fame, into which tens of thousands of Northerners were inhumanely confined under obscene conditions.
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/MSC/IaAuthor/Kantor/kantor.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452269563/inktomi-bkasin-20/
002-1958450-0644835/
    1908-Birthday of trumpet player Mannie Klein , New York City
http://www.trumpetjazz.com/artists.cgi?name=Manny+Klein&x=5&y=9
http://www.jazzoracle.com/reviews/
http://ms.cc.sunysb.edu/~alhaim/recordingsanalysis.htm
http://user.tninet.se/~npt755v/bosw2.htm
    1913- birthday of Rosa Lee Parks, civil rights leader who refused to give up the seat on the bus, Tuskegee , AL .
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html
http://www.rosaparks.org/
    1913--add after this on line (birthday of Rosa Lee Parks, civil rights leader who refused to give up the seat on the bus, Tuskegee, AL.) Born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Al, Rosa Parks was a seamstress who was active with the NAACP. On a fateful day in Montgomery, Al, in 1955, a time when African Americans were obligated by law to ride in the back of a bus, she refused to give up her seat to a white man during a ride home from work. Parks was subsequently arrested, found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined $14. This simple act sparked the modern civil rights movement, leasing to a 381 day boycott of the Montgomery bus system Lawsuits and an eventual Supreme Court decision decreeing segregation to be unconstitutional. A hero to blacks and whites alike, Parks continued work on civil rights until her death on October 25, 2005, at Detroit, MI. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, and she is the only American woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Many municipalities consider Dec. 1, the day of her arrest in 1955, a holiday: Rose Parks Day.
    1914—Pellagra is caused by a deficiency of the B vitamin niacin. Dr. Joseph/Goldberger of the U.S. Public Health Service at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, eight miles east of Jackson , MS , began the first public finding. Twelve convicts agreed to submit to a restricted-diet test in exchange for an offer of pardon made by Governor Earl LeRoy Brewer. The test was held from February 4, 1915 to April 19,1915. Six of the 11 convicts ( one was excused) developed pellagra, confirming suspicions that pellagra is caused by a deficiency of the B Vitamin niacin. Pellagra was common, particularly in the South, until news of this experiment became known by newspapers of the time.
     1917 - Downtown Miami, FL, reported an all-time record low of 27 degrees.
     1921- birthday of author Betty Freidan, Peoria , IL , founder of the National Organization for Women ( NOW, author of the “Feminine Mystique.”
    1928- Regal Theater opens in Chicago , great jazz venue during the 1930's,1940's.
http://www.suba.com/~scottn/explore/sites/theaters/regal.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/regalthe/
http://jazzinstituteofchicago.org/index.asp?target=/jazzgram/
bronzeville/bronzeville47.asp
1930-The first mosaic pavement similar to the mosaics of the ancient world was laid on Canal Street , New Orleans , LA. The mosaic effect was secured by mixing chipped meteorite, crown point spar, and mica with the cement, then pouring the mixture into diamond-shaped brass stripped forms, sanding it down and polishing it. It was part of the project referred to as the ‘Beautification of Canal Street.”
http://theoldentimes.com/canal_st.html
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/dpc/cityscapes/charles.asp
    1932- the third Winter Olympics opened at Lake Placid, NY, with 32 women and 274 men athletes representing 17 nations. This was the only edition of the Winter games in which athletes form the US won more medals ( six gold, four silver and two bronze) than athletes form any other country. The games closed on February 15th.]
    1933 -- Angered by increasing farm foreclosures, members of Iowa's Farmers Holiday Association threaten to lynch banking representatives and law officials who institute foreclosure proceedings for the duration of the Depression. In April at Primghar, 600 farmers battle the sheriff and his deputies to prevent a foreclosure. During the battle many farmers take a beating. A group of them then turn up at the courthouse, drag a district judge from his chair, put a rope around his neck, & threaten to hang him unless he promises not to issue any more eviction notices. That same month, when state officers in Crawford County are beaten and driven off, the Iowa governor put three counties under martial law, and the National Guard starts rounding up farmers who are fighting foreclosures. Farmers outside Sioux City did not cooperate with the association, selling produce at the best price they could, in addition, President Roosevelt promised farmers change and help. The crisis here also help Roosevelt defeat Hoover.
http://www.hooverassociation.org/arhell.htm
http://www.sos.state.ia.us/publications/redbook/history/7-1.html
    1934-Birthday of piano player Wade Legge, Huntington, WA
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JA8W
inktomi-musicasin-20/002-1958450-0644835
    1937-Glen Gray and Casa Loma Band record LarryCliniton's “Study in Brown.”
    1938 - Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town", opened in New York City at the Henry Miller Theatre. The play won the writer a Pulitzer prize.
    1938 –Guitarist/vocalist Joe Beard Birthday
http://www.jazznow.com/1001NS/NSJBeard.html
http://www.audioquest-music.com/catalog/1039.html
    1939 - World mile record-holder, Glenn Cunningham, said in a newspaper, "running a four-minute mile is beyond human effort," adding that the best mile run will always be 4:01.66. That mark has been since been broken several times. Jim Ryun did it on several occasions; and more recently a time of 3:44:39 was set by Noureddine Morceli from Algeria.
    1941- USO founded' provides support worldwide for US service people and their families. The United Service Organizations (USO) centers have served as a home away from home for hundreds of thousands of Americans.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb04.html
    1944 - President Roosevelt authorized the Bronze Star Medal by Executive Order 9419 dated 4 February 1944, retroactive to 7 December 1941. This authorization was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 3, dated 10 February 1944. The Executive Order was amended by President Kennedy, per Executive Order 11046 dated 24 August 1962, to expand the authorization to include those serving with friendly forces.
    1945-Birthday of tenor sax player John Stubblefield IV, Little Rock AR
http://www.russpix.co.uk/stubb.html
http://www.arjazz.org/artists/hof/1998/98_stubblefield.html
    1947—Top Hits
For Sentimental Reasons - Nat King Cole
A Gal in Calico - Johnny Mercer
Oh, But I Do - Margaret Whiting
Rainbow at Midnight - Ernest Tubb
    1948- Vincent Fournier, better known as Alice Cooper, was born in Detroit. His rock 'n' roll horror show in the 1970's featured chicken-killing and snake-fondling while singing such songs as "Refrigerator Heaven" and "I'm Eighteen." Cooper went into semi-retirement in 1977, when alcohol problems forced him to undergo hospital treatment. He later returned to performing.
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3246/
http://www.alicecoopershow.co.uk/portal.htm
    1951-ADAMS, STANLEY T. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant (then Sfc.), U.S. Army, Company A, 19th Infantry Regiment. Place and date: Near Sesim-ni, Korea, 4 February 1951. Entered service at: Olathe, Kans. Born: 9 May 1922, DeSoto, Kans. G.O. No.: 66, 2 August 1951. Citation: M/Sgt. Adams, Company A, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy. At approximately 0100 hours, M/Sgt. Adams' platoon, holding an outpost some 200 yards ahead of his company, came under a determined attack by an estimated 250 enemy troops. Intense small-arms, machine gun, and mortar fire from 3 sides pressed the platoon back against the main line of resistance. Observing approximately 150 hostile troops silhouetted against the skyline advancing against his platoon, M/Sgt. Adams leaped to his feet, urged his men to fix bayonets, and he, with 13 members of his platoon, charged this hostile force with indomitable courage. Within 50 yards of the enemy M/Sgt. Adams was knocked to the ground when pierced in the leg by an enemy bullet. He jumped to his feet and, ignoring his wound, continued on to close with the enemy when he was knocked down 4 times from the concussion of grenades which had bounced off his body. Shouting orders he charged the enemy positions and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat where man after man fell before his terrific onslaught with bayonet and rifle butt. After nearly an hour of vicious action M/Sgt. Adams and his comrades routed the fanatical foe, killing over 50 and forcing the remainder to withdraw. Upon receiving orders that his battalion was moving back he provided cover fire while his men withdrew. M/Sgt. Adams' superb leadership, incredible courage, and consummate devotion to duty so inspired his comrades that the enemy attack was completely thwarted, saving his battalion from possible disaster. His sustained personal bravery and indomitable fighting spirit against overwhelming odds reflect the utmost glory upon himself and uphold the finest traditions of the infantry and the military service.
    1952 - Former baseball great, Jackie Robinson, was named Director of Communication for NBC, becoming the first black executive of a major radio-TV network.
    1953 - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis took a dramatic turn when they starred in the film, "The Stooge", premiering at the Paramount Theatre in New York City.
    1955—Top Hits
Sincerely - McGuire Sisters
Hearts of Stone - Fontane Sisters
Melody of Love - Billy Vaughn
Let Me Go, Lover! - Hank Snow
    1955--The Blue Moon Boys, consisting of Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black and DJ Fontana, headline at an amusement park in New Orleans.
    1956-James Brown and The Famous Flames record "Please, Please, Please" at King Studios in Cincinnati. The single would go on to become a Billboard #5 R&B hit, selling over a million copies, but nine subsequent releases would fail to live up to the success of their debut. It would take over two years for the group to return to the charts with the #1 R&B hit, "Try Me".
    1957 - New York's Smith-Corona Manufacturing Inc. began to sell portable electric typewriters. The first "portable" machine weighed 19 pounds! Soon, other manufacturers began offering similar models that were made of lighter weight plastics.
    1962- birthday of country singer Clint Black, born Katy, LA.
http://www.countrystars.com/index.html?/artists/clint.html
http://clintblack.com/bios.html
    1962-The first U.S. helicopter is shot down in Vietnam. It was one of 15 helicopters ferrying South Vietnamese Army troops into battle near the village of Hong My in the Mekong Delta. The first U.S. helicopter unit had arrived in South Vietnam aboard the ferry carrier USNS Core on December 11, 1961. This contingent included 33 Vertol H-21C Shawnee helicopters and 400 air and ground crewmen to operate and maintain them. Their assignment was to airlift South Vietnamese Army troops into combat.
    1963—Top Hits
Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers
Hey Paula - Paul & Paula
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes - Bobby Vee
The Ballad of Jed Clampett - Flatt & Scruggs
    1964- The federal government put an end to one of the nation's more shameful bits of legislation by authorizing the Twenty-fourth Amendment, which effectively outlawed the poll tax. The tax stemmed back to the 1880s, when members of the burgeoning Populist party began to build a potentially potent coalition of African American and lower class white voters in the South. Across the region, planters, merchants, and industrialists moved to preserve their power and pushed for the passage of a deliberately prohibitive poll tax. The legislation, adopted by a host of Southern states, proved all too effective, as scores of African-Americans, as well as the "poorer sort" of whites, simply could not afford to pay the tax and thus lost the right to vote. However, thanks in large part to the efforts of Senator Spessard L. Holland of Florida, the once recalcitrant Congress slowly came around to the cause of outlawing the tax and passed the Twenty-fourth Amendment. On January 23, 1964, the amended was ratified by the South Dakota legislature, giving it the three-fourth majority necessary to make it the law of the land.
    1964 - United States weekly publication Newsweek was the first American magazine to carry a cover story on the Beatles.
    1965-Martin Luther King Jr. and 770 other protesters arrested in Selma, Alabama for picketing county courthouse to end discrim voting rights
    1966 -- Bill Graham's first non-benefit show. Also, about this time, author Ken Kesey disappears (to Mexico). Graham presents The Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Street, in San Francisco, California.
http://www.winelady.com/records/bgposters.html
    1969 - 33-year-old John Madden became head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders. In his first season Madden took the Raiders to a 12-1-1 record and earned them a spot in the AFC Conference Championship Game. Madden went on to become the youngest head coach in the modern NFL era to win 100 games in his first ten seasons.
    1969- owners of the 24 major league baseball clubs elected attorney Bowie Kuhn commissioner for a one-year term at a salary of $100,000. Kuhn, who succeeded William D. Eckert, became baseball's fifth commissioner. He served until 1984 when he was replaced by Peter Ueberroth.
    1971—Top Hits
Knock Three Times - Dawn
Lonely Days - Bee Gees
Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
Flesh and Blood - Johnny Cash
    1971-- The Osmonds' "One Bad Apple" album is certified gold
    1973-Birthday of boxer Oscar de La Hoya, Los Angeles, CA, Feb 4, 1973.
    1974 - Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of publishing billionaire William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her Berkeley, California, apartment. Stephen Weed, Hearst's fiancé‚, was beaten unconscious by the two abductors. Soon, a ransom demand came from the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a radical activist group led by Donald DeFreeze. DeFreeze had formed the SLA in 1973 after he escaped from prison. On November 6, 1973, the SLA shot and killed Marcus Foster, Oakland's superintendent of schools, with bullets laced with cyanide. Less than a month before Hearst's kidnapping, an SLA bomb-making factory was discovered by the police. The SLA instructed William Hearst to distribute $70 million in food to the poor in Oakland to have Patty released. The Black Muslims, Malcolm X's former organization, were chosen to manage the food distribution, which turned into a riot when more than 10,000 people showed up and fought for the food. However, DeFreeze and the SLA did not release Patty. The Hearst story took a strange and unexpected turn two months after the abduction, when the SLA robbed the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco. The surveillance cameras clearly showed that Patty Hearst was one of the machine gun-toting robbers. Soon after followed a taped message from the SLA in which Hearst claimed that she had voluntarily joined the SLA and was now to be known as "Tania." On May 17, 1974, police were tipped that the SLA leaders were at a Los Angeles home. With 400 police and FBI agents outside the house, a tremendous gun battle broke out. The overwhelming firepower of the police eventually caused a fire to break out. DeFreeze and five other SLA members died in the fire. However, Hearst was not inside the house. She was not found until September 1975. Patty Hearst was put on trial for armed robbery and convicted, despite her claim that she had been coerced, through repeated rape, isolation, and brainwashing, into joining the SLA. Prosecutors believed that she actually orchestrated her own kidnapping because of her prior involvement with one of the SLA members. Despite any real proof of this theory, she was convicted and sent to prison. President Carter commuted Hearst's sentence after she had served two years. Hearst is currently seeking a pardon.
    1976- US District Court Judge John W.Olvier upheld the ruling of a baseball arbitrator Peter Seitz that had declared pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to be free agents. The two had refused to sign contracts for 1974 as a test case and had argued that baseball's hallowed reserved clause bound them to their respective clubs, not in perpetuity but for only one year beyond the expiration of their last signed contract.
    1976 – A US Senate subcommittee reveals Lockheed Aircraft Corporation made payments abroad of $22 million in bribes to sell planes. Lockheed admits payments in Japan, Turkey, Italy and Holland.
    1977-1977-"American Bandstand" celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with an ABC-TV special hosted by Dick Clark. An incredible "all-star band" made up by Chuck Berry, Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels, Doc Severenson, Les McCann, Donald Byrd, Chuck Mangione and three quarters of Booker T and the MGs. They join and jam together for a rendition of "Roll Over Beethoven."
    1977--One of the best selling albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac's, "Rumors" was released. The LP spent 31 weeks at the top of the US album chart on the strength of the singles, "Go Your Own Way", "Dreams", "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun", all of which hit the top 10. The album eventually sold over 18 million copies.
    1978-With movie theater promos showing John Travolta's character, Tony Manero walking down the street to the beat of The Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive", the tune shot to the top of the Billboard Pop chart.
    1979—Top Hits
Le Freak - Chic
Y.M.C.A. - Village People
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart
Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For - Crystal Gayle
    1983 - Singer Karen Carpenter died of heart failure due to anorexia nervosa at age 33, at her parents' home in Downey , California . The singer, who had performed with her brother, Richard, would be best-remembered for her songs (They Long to Be) Close to You and We've Only Just Begun, which dominated the songs of choice for weddings throughout the '70s and '80s. The untimely death of the young, velvet-throated Grammy Award winner saddened and shocked the world. Her death shed new light on the devastating consequences of anorexia, an eating disorder brought on by compulsive dieting. At one low point in Carpenter's career, she was forced to cancel a command performance before Queen Elizabeth II of England , and a concert tour of Europe and the Orient, due to the illness. Standing five feet, four inches, she had dieted down to 90 pounds.
    1987—Top Hits
At This Moment - Billy Vera & The Beaters
Open Your Heart - Madonna
Land of Confusion - Genesis
You Still Move Me - Dan Seals
    1987 -Sacramento Kings score only 4 points 1st quarter against the Lakers; fewest in a period since introduction of 24 second shot-clock in 1954
    1987- “Stars & Stripes”, skippered by Dennis Connor, defeated the Australian boat “Kookaburra III” for the fourth straight time to sweep the America 's Cup challenge and return the prized trophy to the US . This was the last Cup defense to be contested by 12-meter yachts. It came four years after Australia II with John Bertrand as skipper wrested the Cup from the US for the first time ever.
    1987 - Flamboyant pianist Liberace died at age 67 in his block-long palace in Palms Springs , California , officially of a brain disease, although it was a complication of AIDs. At one time, the entertainer was the highest-paid performer in Las Vegas .
    1989 - A winter storm brought heavy snow and high winds to the western U.S. Up to three feet of snow blanketed the Sierra Nevada of California, and buried parts of northeastern Washington State under three feet of snow in five days. High winds across Washington State reached 75 mph, with gusts to 105 mph.
    1996 - NBC aired the first of two parts of the mini-series Gulliver's Travels, starring Ted Danson as the title character. The venture, with its huge financial investment, had the potential for being a giant flop, but it was a gamble that paid off. The show was NBC's highest-rated miniseries in four years, and most critics praised its faithfulness to the Jonathan Swift tale. 
    1997 –Simpson Guilty!!! A civil jury in Santa Monica , California found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. The jury awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Goldman's parents. A few days later, the jury added $25 million in punitive damages to go to Nicole Brown Simpson's estate and Goldman's father. Simpson was later ordered to give up his Heisman Trophy and nearly $500,000 in valuables, including his golf clubs, to help satisfy the judgment.
    1997- Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored into an empty net to become the seventh member of the NHL's t00-goal club.  Pittsburgh beat the Vancouver Canuks, 6-4. Players who previously scored 600 goals are Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Mike Gartner and Wayne Gretzky, who got his 600th goal in his 720th game, one more than Lemieux required.
    1998-Microsoft founder/multi-billionaire Bill Gates gets a pie thrown in his face in Brussels Belgium .
http://www.zpub.com/un/bill/pie.html
http://home.epix.net/%7Etjwagner/gates.html
http://www.bitstorm.org/gates
    2002-- On the occasion of civil-rights activist Rosa Parks' 89th birthday, Stevie Wonder sings his song "Happy Birthday" to her at the premiere of her TV-movie biography The Rosa Parks Story. The song had originally been written by Wonder to help bring about a national Martin Luther King holiday.
    2007--The Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 at Dolphin Stadium in Super Bowl XLI. Colts QB Peyton Manning was named MVP. For the first time in Super Bowl history, the game was played in the rain, which was continuous throughout the game.
    2007--Billy Joel sang the United States National Anthem during the Super Bowl XLI (41) pre-game show and Prince performed during the halftime festivities.

Super Bowl Champions

    2007---Indianapolis Colts

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

SuDoku

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Daily Puzzle

How to play:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

Refresh for current date:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.gasbuddy.com/
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Mobile_Instructions.aspx

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Weather

See USA map, click to specific area, no commercials

http://www.weather.gov/

[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Traffic Live---

Real Time Traffic Information

You can save up to 20 different routes and check them out with one click,
or type in a new route to learn the traffic live.

--------------------------------

[headlines]

Independent, unbiased and fair news about the Leasing Industry.
Ten Top Stories each week chosen by readers (click here)
Features


Bank Beat
Cartoons
Computer Tips
Fernando's Review
Leasing 102
Online Newspapers
Placards
Sales Make it Happen
To Tell the Truth
 

Editorials (click here)