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Corporate and Commercial Leasing Specialist, Alabama

5 years experience sales and credit
Great opportunity.
Click here for more information.



Friday, June 15, 2007


(It was 103 in Saratoga, California today. 94 when I drove home
at 6pm. So into the swimming pool went I.)

Headlines---

Classified Ads---Asset Management
    Archives---June 15, 2004— Greene Lease Agreement
        Marlin Appoints New Chief Marketing Officer
        (Not a joke)
Interest rates are going up
    Leasing company stocks hover
        Institutional Fraud More Widespread
            Beige reports “Bank loans are flat”
                Economy cruising up the river
                    Classified Ads---Help Wanted
“Too Tell the Truth”—by Barry Marks & Ken Weinberg
GUARANTIES: For Your Consideration
    Ruth looking for sponsors
        Cartoon---June 15th
FTC Senior Attorney Randy Brook speaker for the fleet
    Microfinancial Announces $0.05 Cash Dividend
        Susquehanna Hires New Account Executives
FTC finds Mortgage Disclosure Forms a Problem
    Freddie Mac reports first-quarter loss of $211 MM
        More Trouble in Subprime Mortgages
    Fed may step in as subprime delinquencies
Demand boosts Boeing forecast
    China lets five banks start leasing business
        News Briefs---
You May have Missed---
    Sports Briefs---
        "Gimme that Wine"
Calendar Events
    Snapple Real Facts
        Today's Top Event in History
This Day in American History
    Baseball Poem
        SuDoku
            Daily Puzzle

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

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

Classified Ads---Asset Management

Boston MA
18 years of general equipment asset management experience from commercial aircraft to furniture and fixtures. End of lease equipment disposition, mid-term residual analysis, residual forecasting
Email: sblaspina@comcast.net

New York, NY
10+ years in equipment leasing/secured lending. Skilled in management & training, documentation, policy and procedure development & implementation, portfolio reporting. Strong work ethic.
Email: dln1031@nyc.rr.com

Seattle, WA
20 years combined experience in Asset Management and Collections. History of successfully maximizing the residual position through superior negotiation skills and remarketing.
E-mail: gcsprings@comcast.net

To place a free “job wanted” ad here, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

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

[headlines]

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

Archives---June 15, 2004— Greene Lease Agreement


Kenneth C. Greene, Email: kenlaw100@aol.com

Ten sponsors paid $200 each to employ attorney Ken Greene to create a letter which basically spells out what can be kept if a lease application does not move forward and fund.

schriest@sbcglobal.net
Steve Chriest
Diablo Capital
1710 Les Trampas Rd.
Alamo, California 94507
925-570-5459

bcarlile@allegiant-partners.com
Ben Carlile
Allegiant Partners Incorporate
999 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300
San Rafael, Ca 94901
(415)257-4200

pateb@balboacapital.com
Patrick Byrne
Balboa Capital
2010 Main Street 11th Floor
Irvine, Ca. 92614
949.756.0800

Whawkins@bancpartners.com
Warren Hawkins
Bank Partners
2496 Rocky Ridge Road
Box 43738
Alabama, Ca. 35243
800-456-6639

gsaulter@chaseindustries.com
Gary Saulter
Chase Industries 109 Ottawa Ave.
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 459-6800

gtrebels@ifccredit.com
Gary Trebels, CLP
8700 Waukegan Road
Suite 100
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2103
(847) 663-6700

tkabot@lease-it.com
Theresa Kabot
Kabot Commercial Leasing
7043 - 12th Ave., N.W.
Seattle, WA 98117
206) 301-9960

clester@lpifinancial.com
Charlie Lester
LPI Financial Services
3535 Roswell Road Suite 62
Marietta, GA 30062
800-573-7796

blarsen@leasingpartnerscapital.com
Bruce Larsen
Leasing Partners Capital
1211 Hamburg Turnpike
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
(973)709-01181

mwatkins@gogenevacapital.com
Mark Watkins
Geneva Capital LLC
522 1/2 Broadway Street
Alexandria, MN 56308
800.408.9352

The instructions to Ken were to basically make it “simple” and keep to one page. It is a template format to join the other Letters of Engagement section on Leasing News.

The agreement was not only reviewed by the sponsors, but by approximately thirty attorneys, mostly who specialized in leasing, and two California superior court judges. It took some time for the review, to say the least.

Greene Agreement to Keep Expenses

THIS AGREEMENT is executed on __________________, between

____________(APPLICANT”) and YOUR COMPANY NAME.WHERAS the

APPLICANT desires and YOUR COMPANY NAME agrees to seek lease financing for certain personal property selected by APPLICANT:

1.    APPLICANT, as an inducement to YOUR COMPANY NAME to seek lease financing on its behalf, shall submit documents and other information to enable YOUR COMPANY NAME to procure or provide said financing.

2.    APPLICANT, in consideration of the promises of YOUR COMPANY NAME herein, shall pay to YOUR COMPANY NAME the sum of $_____________ together with the execution of this agreement. All or part of this payment shall be retained by YOUR COMPANY NAME, whether or not such financing is provided or procured, as compensation for its out of pocket costs including, without limitation, the following estimated charges;

ADMINISTRATION,FEES $

CREDIT COSTS $

DELIVERY/UPS/FEDX $

DOCUMENTATION $

DUN AND BRADSTREET $

TIME AND EFFORT: $

3.    [OPTIONAL] Should YOUR COMPANY NAME provide or procure lease financing for APPLICANT, the fee referenced herein shall be applied towards any advance payments required pursuant to the contract or contracts selling forth the terms of said lease financing.

4,    In the event of a dispute pertaining to or arising out of this agreement, APPLICANT and YOUR COMPANY NAME agree that the matter will be submitted to binding arbitration utilizing the services of a neutral and competent arbitrator agreed to by both parties. In the event the parties are unable to agree upon an arbitrator, any claim or dispute hereunder shall be resolved in YOUR STATE in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association before a panel of three (3) arbitrators, one appointed by APPLICANT, one appointed by YOUR COMPANY NAME, and the third appointed by said Association The decision or award of the agreed upon arbitrator, or in the case of a three arbitrator panel, the majority of the arbitrators, shall be final and binding upon the parties and may be entered as a judgment or order in any court of competent jurisdiction.

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] [ APPLICANT ]

By: By:

Name: Name:

Title: Title:

Engagement Letter Agreements

http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Engagement_letters.htm

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------
### Press Release ###########################

(This is NOT a gag. We did not make this up. No laughing, this is serious. It is a press release with
Dan Dyer’s telephone number to call, too. Editor)

Marlin Appoints New Chief Marketing Officer

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., -- Marlin Business Services Corp. (Nasdaq:MRLN) is pleased to announce the appointment of Philip Bruno to the role of Chief Marketing Officer. Phil joins Marlin from First National of Nebraska, where he held the position of Marketing and Product Director. His previous work experience includes senior marketing roles at FleetBoston/Bank of America, where he was responsible for new customer acquisition marketing, and Chase Manhattan Bank in the role of new account database marketing for the credit card services unit.

"We are very excited to have Phil join our team," said Daniel P. Dyer, Marlin's CEO. "Phil's wealth of knowledge and 20 plus years of broad based financial services marketing experience will be a tremendous asset to the Company as we move forward with our business."

About Marlin Business Services Corp.

Marlin Business Services Corp. is a nationwide provider of equipment leasing and working capital solutions primarily to small businesses. The Company's principal operating subsidiary, Marlin Leasing Corporation, finances over 70 equipment categories in a segment of the market generally referred to as "small-ticket" leasing (i.e. leasing transactions less than $250,000). The Company was founded in 1997 and completed its initial public offering of common stock on November 12, 2003.

In addition to its executive offices in Mount Laurel, NJ, Marlin has regional offices in or near Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia & Salt Lake City. For more information, visit http://www.marlincorp.com or call toll-free at (888) 479-9111.

CONTACT: Marlin Business Services Corp.Dan Dyer, CEO
(888) 479-9111 x4110

(other Marlin stories:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Marlin_1st_qtr.htm )

 

[headlines]

### Press Release ###########################
--------------------------------------------------------------

Interest rates are going up

by Christopher “Kit” Menkin

Several leasing funders have informed their discounters that buy rates are going up. "This increase will be .25% across-the-board and become effective...as a reminder, our buy rates are locked for 60 days from the date of approval and revert to the prevailing published rate."

Typical best buy rates under $50,000 range from 9% to 11%; $50,000 to $99,000, 8.75% to 11%, and over $100 from 8.50% to 10.25%. Worse is the tightening of credit.

"C" and "D" credits are still a low of 18% to 42%, not including any residuals, with the main reality will the deal get approved. There are still many investors who are backing subprime leasing, taking extra collateral as precaution, the old AVCO and Budget Finance way.

As we move closer to the week of July, the entire marketplace may come to a halt on Friday, June 29th as July 4th is Wednesday, the middle of the week. Look for many to try and beat the traffic on
the road or at the airports. In fact, there will be those leaving Thursday and perhaps the day before, too. The week to next ten days will be “dead” for leasing business. Wait until the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association MFL-25 report comes out, probably the end of August or September, which will prove the forecast correct.

As if this rate increase by many leasing funders and lull was not bad enough, the 30 year mortgage rates hit their highest raise in one week, going from 6.53 to 6.74. This five consecutive increases is the level since they were at 6.80 percent for the week ending July 20, 2006.

The percentage of payments that were 30 or more days past due for "subprime" adjustable-rate home mortgages jumped to 15.75 percent in the January-to-March quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced yesterday.

Borrowers with adjustable rates are getting clobbered, and the investors who were buying homes and then flipping them for a good profit, are caught, too. While in many area home prices have not gone down dramatically, the days on the market have increased dramatically, as well as new buyers having difficulty in qualifying for a home loan.

It appears California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona are reporting the highest first-quarter's increase in new foreclosures, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Meanwhile, construction is not doing as badly as some predicted.
While new home construction is down, apartment rental and other such projects are still on the rise. Try to get a contractor for work around your house, especially when they are complaining
they can’t get any inexpensive labor to help them. It’s definitely going to be a long, hot summer.

[headlines]

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

Leasing company stocks hover

by Christopher Menkin

While the Dow Jones was up 71.37 and NASDAQ up 17.10 yesterday, the leasing company stocks seem to hover like a helicopter that can’t take off. Perhaps the glamour is gone from leasing and bank stocks, too, as when investors think leasing, they think “fraud.” From Allserve, CyberNet, the Days, LeNature, NorVergence, Sterling Financial, Lancaster, PA. (EFI), the banking and lease finance community has been getting hit on a too regular basis with fraud that make the front page headlines.


CIT Financial
Tuesday close: 57.76/Thursday close 58.17

Key Corp/Parent of

Tuesday close: 35.79/Thursday Close 15.11


Marlin Tuesday Close 19.4/Thursday Close 19.53

MicroFinancial

The report that follows this stock report finds:
“Executives seeking personal gain was identified as another major cause of fraud (71 percent), followed by the mentality that they won’t get caught (41 percent) and the delusion that they do not consider their actions fraudulent (40 percent).”

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------
### Press Release ###########################

Institutional Fraud More Widespread than Five Years ago
According to Oversight Systems Annual Corporate Fraud Survey

Despite SOX and a heightened push for institutional integrity and fraud prevention, 76 percent of certified fraud examiners feel corporate deception has increased since 2002

ATLANTA - Oversight Systems, the leading provider of automated continuous monitoring solutions, released the results of its annual report on corporate fraud. Although the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act took effect five years ago, three out of four survey respondents feel institutional fraud is more prevalent today than it was in 2002. In addition, an eye-opening 56 percent of respondents said they have personally observed financial misconduct in the past year.

The 2007 fraud report also revealed double-digit percentage increases in incidents of expense and reimbursement schemes (41 percent), and bribery/economic extortion (35 percent) over 2005. In response to these issues, the SEC announced a new audit standard (AS 5) which will incorporate a more principles-based approach

"This survey indicates the checklist approach to compliance is not effectively reducing fraud," said Patrick Taylor, CEO of Oversight Systems. "By revising their guidance, the SEC is driving companies to address fraud based on risk, the greatest of which is management override of controls. Financial professionals will be able to evaluate their vulnerability and focus the full power of their monitoring and auditing capabilities on preventing the fraud that could cripple their business."

The State of Fraud Prevention
In the wake of several corporate misdeeds and accounting scandals, Congress passed the historic SOX corporate reform act in 2002. In spite of increased legislation, close to half of the fraud examiners indicated corporate vigilance and executive interest has already started to fade. With the announcement of AS 5, the SEC is guiding companies towards a risk based approach to financial controls. If implemented correctly, these changes will enhance financial reporting integrity while decreasing overall compliance costs.

Fraud Motivations
Participants were asked to select the three main reasons institutional fraud occurs. Four out of five certified fraud examiners chose the pressure to do whatever it takes to meet goals. Executives seeking personal gain was identified as another major cause of fraud (71 percent), followed by the mentality that they won’t get caught (41 percent) and the delusion that they do not consider their actions fraudulent (40 percent).

"Culture is everything when it comes to fraud and fraud prevention," said Dana Hermanson, Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Private Enterprise at Kennesaw State University. "If there is a culture of never missing targets, some people will cheat to make the numbers. Their rationalization is that they are just doing what the top people want them to do. Directors and executives need to clearly communicate that ethics come before making targets. If this message is not consistently communicated, then the organization is headed for trouble."

Stopping Institutional Fraud
Following lengthy and high-profile court cases of several corporate executives during the past five years, fraud examiners favor more stringent punishments. Four out of five of respondents felt corporate fraud would decrease if white-collar criminals were prosecuted and sentenced in the same manner as violent offenders.

When asked which crime deserves a stricter punishment – an executive defrauding shareholders through stock-options fraud or a middle manager defrauding a company through accounts payable manipulation – the majority of examiners (58 percent) said they should be punished equally. All other respondents indicated the executive should receive the harsher penalty. When asked to identify the measure most effective in preventing institutional fraud, 43 percent of the professional examiners cited the need for a strong tone from the top of the organization.

For more information, please visit: www.oversightsystems.com. All Oversight research reports can be downloaded for free at: www.oversightsystems.com/survey.

About Oversight Systems, Inc.
Oversight takes continuous monitoring to the next level by combining an audit data warehouse, advanced analytics and workflow into a single, integrated, application. By inspecting each step of individual transactions across systems, Oversight identifies errors, control violations and fraud to drive higher levels of performance and compliance. Oversight's platform automates the entire life cycle finding problems in business processes, fixing those problems and proving the problems were resolved. Oversight is the solution of choice for those CFO's, CIO's and CISO's serious about compliance and enhancing their financial performance. For more information, visit www.oversightsystems.com.

[headlines]

### Press Release ###########################
--------------------------------------------------------------

Beige reports “Bank loans are flat”

"Half the Districts reported little or no change in overall loan demand: New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City. Philadelphia noted that loans were increasing at a steady pace, and San Francisco reported further growth in loan demand. There was more strength in commercial lending than in consumer lending. About half the Districts noted increases in commercial lending, and growth in commercial lending was reported to be solid or strong in Philadelphia, Richmond, and Dallas. Kansas City, on the other hand, experienced an easing of C&I loans except for commercial real estate. Consumer lending increased at a steady pace in Philadelphia, and lending for autos and marine equipment was up in Cleveland. But Dallas saw a decline in lending for autos.

"Residential mortgage lending was either declining or flat in all the Districts reporting except New York, where there was a pickup in mortgage lending. New York, Atlanta, and Chicago mentioned higher mortgage delinquencies. In Philadelphia and Cleveland lenders have little or no expectation of a pickup in mortgage lending through the rest of this year. Credit standards are mostly unchanged, except for home mortgages in New York and commercial real estate in St. Louis."

The best is to review what is happening in your "district."

http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/FRB.htm

[headlines]

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

Economy cruising up the river

Jeff Fuhrer, Executive Vice President and Director of Research of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, gave the keynote address at the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (EFLA) annual Credit & Collections Management Conference and Exhibit at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston.

Jeff Fuhrer is Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Mr. Fuhrer had been Vice President and Economist at the Bank and the head of the Open Economy Macro/International Section since 1995. Mr. Fuhrer served as an Economist at the Bank from 1992 to 1995. From 1985 to 1992, he was a Senior Economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.

A full report is expected for Monday, but here are some highlights from the power point presentation:

"Weak capital spending is a bit of a puzzle, as underlying supports for investment still appear solid

"Possible explanation for slowing capital spending:

Capital spending shifting overseas
Capital spending is slow in sectors with slow employment growth (doesn’t seem to explain much)
Capital spending was associated with a one-time improvement in technology

        The boom is over now?"

Power Point Presentation (depending on speed, may take 30 seconds for download)
It is definitely worth your time as you can get the graphic highlights of Mr. Fuhrer thoughts about what is happening in the US business economy:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/Equipment%20Leasing%20and%20Finance%
20Association%2012jun07.ppt

Photograph by Edward Castagna, Nassau Asset Management, who is also a member of the Leasing News Advisory Board taken from the ship as ELFA Member Companies cruised along the Boston Harbor on the first night of the conference.

[headlines]

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

Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Corporate and Commercial Leasing Specialist


Corporate and Commercial Leasing Specialist, Alabama

5 years experience sales and credit
Great opportunity.
Click here for more information.


[headlines]

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

GUARANTIES: For Your Consideration

by
Barry Marks & Ken Weinberg
Marks & Weinberg, P.C.
www.leaselawyer.com

It is not unfair to say that courts are not kind to guaranties. Important as they are to credit decisions, particularly in small business transactions, guaranties have been subjected to more judicially-created defenses than any other leasing document. Judges have required a variety of notices to guarantors, permitted guarantors to wriggle out of their obligations due to changes in the underlying transaction, required lawsuits be maintained against the primary obligor first and thrown up a fusillade of assorted hoary-headed legal requirements from Dickensian England and earlier.

One particularly nasty defense, however, is something that any lessor should be able to avoid and one for which we can only blame ourselves if it trips us up: consideration. Every lawyer and most leasing professionals are well aware that a binding contract requires consideration, value to the obligor.

What is the consideration for a guaranty? In the classic "downstream" guaranty where a parent guaranties the obligations of its subsidiaries or an owner guaranties the obligations of his or her corporation or other business entity, the consideration is obvious: the value of the stock or interest of the parent/owner is increased by the credit infusion.

In an “upstream guaranty”, on the other hand, a subsidiary is guarantying the obligations of its parent. When the leasing company tries to enforce the guaranty, the guarantor may argue that the lease with the parent does not directly benefit the subsidiary and that the guarantor is therefore unenforceable for lack of consideration.

A smart lessor will try to mitigate the risk of losing to such a defense by the guarantor by documenting the consideration that the guarantor receives. For example, if the guarantor receives the right to use the equipment or the parent's use of the equipment will somehow result in increased revenues to the subsidiary, the lessor can describe those benefits in the guaranty. At the very least, a memorandum should be placed in the file explaining how the guarantor benefits.

If the guaranty is particularly important to the credit decision and it is difficult to show the guarantor as receiving any significant benefit, the lessor may want to require the lessee to pay a "guaranty fee" to the guarantor in consideration for its providing the guaranty. How much depends on the circumstances, but it must be enough to be meaningful in light of the risk and not a mere token payment. More on this later.

Another type of guaranty is the "cross-stream" guaranty in which a brother-sister company relationship exists, such as two corporations owned by the same parent or individual. There is a similar question of consideration and a similar lack of a clear answer. Again, the lessor should be prepared to show how the guarantor benefits from the lease to the lessee or may choose to use a guaranty fee. While these guaranties are less clearly defective than upstreams, they are subject to attack and far from safe.

Many clients ask how much value must be given to the guarantor to establish adequate consideration. Clearly, a token payment or insignificant benefit is not enough. Generally, however, the value does not have to equal or even closely approximate the potential loss if the guaranty must be paid. There is, however, one major exception:

Where the guarantor is insolvent as an accounting matter, such as where the book value of its assets is so low that the contingent liability of the guaranty or other obligations can cause it to be technically insolvent, the consideration must be “reasonably equivalent value” or the transaction will be deemed a “fraudulent transfer” under most states’ laws. This situation should be unusual in leasing transactions but subleases and guaranties executed in connection with stock sales can result in surprise fraudulent transfers.

What to do? In addition to documenting value to the guarantor or requiring the lessee to pay a guarantor fee, sometimes it makes sense to lease to the subsidiary and let it sublease to the parent. Consider whether a pledge of stock or membership interests by the parent will give the practical benefits of the guaranty by the subsidiary. Sometimes multiple parties can join in the lease as lessee or establish that all will have access to the equipment from time to time.

This last suggestion requires care and raises its own issues as joint lessees and pooling arrangements must be considered a last-ditch means to avoid upstream or cross stream guaranties. All such arrangements must include agreements by the lessees that only one of them is required to execute any amendment or consent and that a default by any one terminates the others rights, especially any right of quiet enjoyment.

Given the importance of guaranties in many transactions, it never hurts to pay attention to these details.

BARRY S. MARKS
MARKS & WEINBERG, P.C.
Suite 525, 2001 Park Place North
Birmingham, Alabama 35202
P. O. Box 11386
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
bmarks@marksweinberg.com
www.leaselawyer.com
205.251.8303
fax 251.8305

Barry S. Marks concentrates his practice in the areas of equipment leasing, commercial lending and finance. He has significant experience negotiating, drafting and providing legal counsel with respect to a large variety of finance transactions. Barry is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, is a Director Emeritas - National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers, is a Past Member of Legal Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, is currently on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Equipment Lease and Financing and Leader's Equipment Leasing Newsletter and was the first attorney to obtain the designation of a Certified Lease Professional. Barry is also co-editor of , a recipient of the Bill Granieri Award for Education in Equipment Leasing, National Association of Equipment Lessors (1999) and a frequent lecturer on business and commercial law issues. He has co-authored three books and chapters in two legal treatises.

Ken Weinberg, Esq.
MARKS & WEINBERG, P.C.
Suite 525, 2001 Park Place North
Birmingham, Alabama 35202
P. O. Box 11386
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
Phone: 205.251.8307
Fax: 205.251.8305
kweinberg@marksweinberg.com
ken@leaselawyer.com

Ken Weinberg, founding shareholder, concentrates his practice in the areas of equipment leasing, commercial lending and finance and general business law.
He created a monthly column entitled “Dispatches from the Trenches” for the nation's largest equipment leasing publication, Monitor Leasing and Financial Services (since 2002). For access to a searchable database of the 40-plus articles, visit the Cases and Articles section of the our website. Co-Editor - www.leaselawyer.com
Frequent lecturer on Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code and on equipment leasing generally. He is a member of the - Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers, UCC Subcommittees on Leasing and Secured Transactions, American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 1999, cum laude, Executive Articles Editor of Journal of Intellectual Property Law. Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1996, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Special Honors in the College of Arts and Science

"To Tell the Truth" articles, please go here.

[headlines]

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Ruth looking for sponsors

Ruth Schultz and she is a credit to our industry. Not only is she a consistent top producer, she upholds the highest amounts of professionalism and integrity.



On 5/7/07 her husband's grandfather passed from leukemia, Ruth wanted to do something to not only honor his memory, but play a role it helping prevent this disease. So, she decided to run in the San Francisco Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

As many of your readers know, the daily grind of a leasing salesperson is a difficult one and it's no different for Ruth. Finding time to train is tough, but that is compounded by the fact that she just gave birth to her first child, Madison Schultz on 3/10/07. She has been finding the time to train, before she starts her cold calling in the morning and after she finishes the baby's night-time feeding.

If you could please post this link to your website, I would appreciate it. Any donation will help even if it's just few dollars. Ruth needs to raise $4,000.00 in order to compete.

Thank you.
Tom Whalen
tomwhal@yahoo.com

To help sponsor, please go here:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntrm/tntrmRSchultz

[headlines]

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[headlines]

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FTC Senior Attorney Randy Brook speaker for the fleet

Randy Brook on 9-day sea kayak expedition in Southeast Alaska,
back in Seattle, Washington on June 27.

http://www.seattlekayak.org/contacts.htm

[headlines]

---------------------------------------------------------------
### Press Release ###########################

MicroFinancial Announces $0.05 Cash Dividend –

WOBURN, Mass.----MicroFinancial Incorporated (AMEX-MFI) announced today that the Board of Directors of MicroFinancial Incorporated declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per common share payable on July 13, 2007, to holders of record of MFI common stock at the close of business on June 29, 2007. This dividend represents the same amount per common share as the last dividend paid by MFI, in April 2007.

Future dividend payments will be subject to an ongoing evaluation and approval by the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. The decision as to the amount and timing of future dividends paid by MFI, if any, will be made by its Board of Directors in light of MFI's financial condition, capital requirements and growth plans, as well as its external financing arrangements and other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant, and there can be no assurance as to the amount and timing of payment of future dividends.

About MicroFinancial

MicroFinancial Inc. (AMEX:MFI), headquartered in Woburn, MA, is a financial intermediary specializing in leasing and financing for products in the $400 to $15,000 range. The company has been in operation since 1986.

(other stories regarding MicroFinancial available here:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/micro_leasecomm.htm )

[headlines]

### Press Release ###########################

Susquehanna Commercial Finance Inc. Hires New Account Executives
For Construction, Technology and Medical Industries

POTTSTOWN, Pa., — Susquehanna Commercial Finance, Inc., recently hired several Senior Account Executives who bring specialized expertise to enhance the firm’s work in providing financing in the construction, technology and medical industries.

Matthew Banister was hired as a Senior Account Executive specializing in the construction and transportation industries. He formerly worked as an account executive at CoActiv Capital Partners (formerly Partners Equity Capital Company) in Horsham, Pa. Banister has six years of experience in the leasing and finance industry. A resident of Malvern, Pa., he holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University.

Rachel Knieriem joined Susquehanna Commercial Finance as a Senior Account Executive with a focus in the medical, dental and veterinary industries. She formerly worked for five years as a Sales Representative at De Lage Landen, a leasing and financing company in Wayne, Pa. Knieriem earned a bachelor’s degree in health and exercise sciences/fitness management from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in health education from Arcadia University. She lives in Jeffersonville, Pa.

Brian Zamrowski was hired as a Senior Account Executive, focusing on the office technology industry. He formerly worked as an Account Executive at CitiCorp Vendor Finance in West Chester, Pa., and as Marketing Director at New England Financial Group in Wayne. He graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Zamrowski lives in Springfield, Pa.

“Each of these new account executives brings specific industry expertise to benefit our customers and vendors, and we are pleased to welcome them to our team,” said Donna Wesemann, Vice President of Sales at Susquehanna Commercial Finance. “With the knowledge of financing options that they offer, our representatives can serve as key partners to our clients, helping them find the best solutions to grow their businesses efficiently.”

Susquehanna Commercial Finance provides leasing and financing solutions to businesses and other organizations nationwide, specializing in transactions for commercial-use equipment and software. The company is a subsidiary of Susquehanna Patriot Bank/Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. For additional information, please visit www.susquehanna.net/scf.

Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. is a financial services holding company with assets of $8.2 billion. It includes three commercial banks that provide financial services at 163 branch locations in the mid-Atlantic region. Through Susquehanna Wealth Management, the company offers investment, fiduciary, brokerage, insurance, retirement planning, and private banking services. Susquehanna also operates an insurance and employee benefits company and a vehicle leasing company.

[headlines]

### Press Release ###########################

FTC finds Mortgage Disclosure Forms a Problem

The Federal Trade Commission today released a Bureau of Economics report presenting the results of a study that found that mortgage disclosure forms fail to convey key mortgage costs and terms to many consumers. The study also concluded that better disclosures can be created to help consumers understand the costs and terms of mortgages to enable them to make informed decisions about mortgage products.

“Mortgage disclosures designed more than 30 years ago can be confusing even for simple loans, and they do not address the variety and complexity of today’s mortgage products,” FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said. “Although mortgage disclosures, alone, will not prevent deceptive lending practices, consumers who understand mortgage terms and choices are less likely to fall victim to these practices.”

The study examines how consumers search for mortgages, how well consumers understand mortgage costs disclosures and the terms of their own recently obtained loans, and whether better disclosures can help consumers understand mortgage costs, shop for mortgage loans, and avoid deceptive lending practices.

The study’s key findings include:

Current disclosures failed to convey key mortgage costs to many consumers, and better disclosures significantly improved this deficiency.

With current disclosures, both prime and subprime borrowers misunderstood key loan terms, and both groups benefitted from better disclosures.

For complex loans, where prime and subprime borrowers had the most difficulty understanding loan terms, better disclosures provided the greatest benefit.

The study was based on 36 in-depth interviews with recent mortgage customers and testing of disclosure forms with 819 mortgage customers. The potential for improving consumer understanding of mortgage costs was tested using prototype disclosures developed for fixed-rate loans, including those with interest-only and balloon payments. According to the report’s authors*, the prototype disclosures in the study could be extended to incorporate the key features of adjustable-rate, hybrid, and payment option loans.

Improving Consumer Mortgage Disclosures: An Empirical Assessment of Current and Prototype Disclosure Forms: A Bureau of Economics Staff Report (June 2007)

Executive Summary
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/MortgageDisclosure.pdf
Full Test of Report by James M. Lacko and Janis K. Pappalardo, Federal Trade Commission,
Bureau of Economics
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/MortgageDisclosureReport.pdf

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News Briefs----

Freddie Mac reports first-quarter loss of $211 million vs. $2 billion profit a year ago
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070614-1356-earns-freddiemac.html

More Trouble in Subprime Mortgages
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/business/15mortgage.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Fed may step in as subprime deliquencies hit all-time high
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070614mortgage,0,7653886.story?
coll=chi-business-hed

Demand boosts Boeing forecast
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/
2003747005_boeforecast14.html

China lets five banks start leasing business
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070614/3/33cu1.html

Assisting the Good Life in Oregon
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/business/15subsidy.html

Clarkson pulls plug on tour, management
http://www.myajc.com/post/idolblog/615_clarkson_pulls_plug_on_tour_management.html

[headlines]

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You May have Missed---

States Finding Fiscal Surprise: A Cash Surplus
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/us/11legislature.html

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Sports Briefs----

Spurs sweep Cavaliers to claim third title in five years
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2007-06-14-spurs-cavs-game4_N.htm

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“Gimme that Wine”

Williams is only fourth http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070613/NEWS/70613030
1/-1/SPECIAL&THEMES=FOODWINEwinemaker in 25 years at Spottswoode Estate

JetBlue's Wine Program
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/DailyNewsArticle.cfm?dataid=48757

Blues Brother says opening Niagara region winery is 'a dream'
http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=b18f9ff1-1c19-42ed-9ed2-49
f91a9b56d6&k=96249

North Texas vintners form wine trail
http://www.countryworldnews.com/Editorial/ETX/2007/et0614wine.html

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/

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Calendar Events This Day

A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed Day

Arkansas: Admission Day:
Anniversary – Became 25th state in 1836.

Electricity day

Fly a Kite Day
http://homeschooling.about.com/library/blmay12a.htm

Native American Citizenship Day –
Commemorates the day in 1924 when the US Congress passed legislation recognizing the
citizenship of Native Americans.

Nature Photography Day –
A day to promote the art and science of nature photography as a medium of communication, inspiration, nature appreciation and environmental protection. Annually, June 15.

Smile Power Day
http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/June/smilepowerday.htm
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/holidays/p/spring012.htm

Steal a Kiss Day

Saint feast Days

http://www.catholic.org/saints/f_day/jun.php

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The tongue is the fastest healing part of a human body.

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Today's Top Event in History

1846 - Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, which settles a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory. The treaty established the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia as the boundary between the United States and British Canada. The United States gained formal control over the future states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and the British retained Vancouver Island and navigation rights to part of the Columbia River.
After 1838, the issue of who possessed Oregon became increasingly controversial, especially when mass American migration along the Oregon Trail began in the early 1840s. American expansionists urged seizure of Oregon, and in 1844 Democrat James K. Polk successfully ran for president under the platform "Fifty-four forty or fight," which referred to his hope of bringing a sizable portion of present-day Vancouver and Alberta into the United States. However, neither President Polk nor the British government wanted a third Anglo-American war, and on June 15, 1846, the Oregon Treaty, a compromise, was signed. By the terms of the agreement, the U.S. and Canadian border was extended west along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, just short of the Pacific Ocean

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This Day in American History

    1215-King John officially “sealed the Magna Carta “in the meadow called Ronimed between Staines. This document is the first charter of English liberties and one of the most important documents in the history of human freedom. Four original copies of the 1215 charter survive.
    1607 - Colonists in North America completed James Fort in Jamestown.
    1686 -In Boston, the King's Chapel was organized. It was the first Anglican church established in colonial New England.
http://www.kings-chapel.org/
http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/freedomtrail/kingschapel.asp
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-1245504-king_s_chapel_boston-i
http://www.centaurgalleries.com/Main/Item.cfm?ItemNo=03946
    1752 - Benjamin Franklin affixed an iron wire to a kite and proceeded to fly it from a long piece of twine tied to a silk ribbon. Where the twine met the silk, Franklin attached a metal key. His thesis was any overhead electricity would be attracted to the wire at the top of the kite. As it began to lightning, he placed his hand near the key and sparks shot out; proving his experiment a success. Franklin used this discovery to start a new business selling and making lightning rods. The rods were attached to the tops of buildings. A wire ran down the side of the structure to the ground. When lightning struck the top of the rod, it ran down the wire and safely to ground without doing damage to the building. His letter to Peter Collison dated October 19,1752, describing his experiments was read before the Royal Society of London in December, 1752.
    1775- The Second Continental Congress chose George Washington commander in chief of the Continental Army. He declined to accept pay for his services, but in 1783, after eight years of war, submitted records of his expenses totaling 24,700 pounds, roughly over $125,000, $15,625 to feed, clothe, and provide food and transportation for his army of men.
[detail of 1780 portrait by Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827)
http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/history/h4jun/15gwpeal.jpg
    1779 - General Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point, New York, from the British. "I'll storm the Gates of Hell if you will but plan the attack," Wayne told Gen. Washington.
    1789- Josiah Henson, abolitionist, author born in Charles County, Maryland. His autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson (1849) was read by Harriet Beecher Stowe and inspired her best-selling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAShenson.htm
http://authors.aalbc.com/josiah.htm
http://www.msdmv.k12.in.us/mvjhs/staff/Teacher's%20Web%20Sites/Orisky/third.html
    1804- the 12th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It changed the method of electing the president and vice president after a tie in the Electoral College during the election of 1800. Rather than each elector voting for two candidates with the candidate receiving the most votes elected president and the second-place candidate elected vice president, each elector was now required to designate his choice for president and vice president, respectively.
    1835-Adah Isaacs Menken - U.S. poet and one of the most notorious actresses on the international stage. The part that made her (in) famous was when she was bound, nearly naked, to the back of a horse that galloped about the stage. She fascinated a number of famous men including Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.
“Life in the mining towns of the far West was boisterous and extravagant in 1867. The height of fun and games was achieved in Virginia City, Nevada, site of the fabulous Comstock Lode, in the period from 1860 to 1880. The town had more than 100 saloons, five legitimate theaters, six variety houses, and other establishments such as dance halls. The single most popular performer was Adah Isaacs Menken, known for performing while clad only in a flimsy gown.” The actress and equestrienne Adah Menken was a brilliant self-publicist, and though her fame didn't last, she was very well known in her day. She shocked the public in the 1860s with her short hair, short skirts and decadence. She once gave a press conference lying in a short skirt on a tiger-skin, sipping champagne and smoking a cigarette (smoking was still considered rather daring for a woman). Adah Menken was quick to see the promotional potential of photographs in her campaign to make herself famous. She distributed a prolific number of publicity portraits such as this one. She was particularly keen to get herself photographed with famous men of the day, and managed to persuade the novelist Alexander Dumas and the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne to pose with her. The picture of herself and Swinburne, taken at an informal meeting, was then rushed off to a photographic studio so that it could be reproduced and sold in the street. Swinburne was reportedly furious.
http://www.judaicacollection.com/images/menken.jpg
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/AMenken.html
http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/painting/baker2.htm
http://www.cadytech.com/dumas/related/la_belle_menk
http://www.peopleplayuk.org/collections/object.php?search_result=true&object_id=318&
back=%2Fcollections%2Fdefault.php%3Fsearch_name%3Dobject_category_search%26a
mp%3Brun_search%3Dtrue%26amp%3Bcobject_type%3D33%26amp%3Bctab%3D
17 en_by_stoddard.php

http://www.gabrielleray.150m.com/ArchivePressText/20021207.html
    1836- Arkansas became the 25th state this day in 1836. The Land of Opportunity as Arkansas is called, was founded in the late 17th century by Frenchman Henri de Tonti. His interpretation of Quapaw, the Indian tribe that lived in the area, was Arkansas. Little Rock, the state’s largest city is also its capital. The state bird and the state flower are the mockingbird and apple blossom, respectively.
    1844 - Inventor Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanizing rubber. Prior to this no one knew how to keep natural rubber from melting in the summer and hardening in the winter. Reputedly Goodyear discovered the process by accident, after years of experimentation, when he dropped some rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove. The resulting substance resembled charred leather, but was still resilient and elastic. Goodyear called the process "vulcanization," after the Roman God of Fire, Vulcan. He had received a previous patent on June 17, 1837, for a method of destroying the adhesive properties of rubber by applying bismuth, nitric acid with copper or other materials.
    1846-The Oregon Treaty with Great Britain was signed. It established the 49th parallel as the boundary between the U.S. and the British Northwest territory. Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and part of Montana became undisputed U.S. territory. This was a compromise from the campaign slogan of Polk in 1844: “Fifty-four Forty or Fight.” Canada was granted navigation rights to part of the Columbia River, south of the 49th parallel.
    1846 - Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, which settles a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory. The treaty established the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia as the boundary between the United States and British Canada. The United States gained formal control over the future states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and the British retained Vancouver Island and navigation rights to part of the Columbia River.
After 1838, the issue of who possessed Oregon became increasingly controversial, especially when mass American migration along the Oregon Trail began in the early 1840s. American expansionists urged seizure of Oregon, and in 1844 Democrat James K. Polk successfully ran for president under the platform "Fifty-four forty or fight," which referred to his hope of bringing a sizable portion of present-day Vancouver and Alberta into the United States. However, neither President Polk nor the British government wanted a third Anglo-American war, and on June 15, 1846, the Oregon Treaty, a compromise, was signed. By the terms of the agreement, the U.S. and Canadian border was extended west along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, just short of the Pacific Ocean.
    1863 - President Abraham Lincoln calls for help in protecting the capital. Throughout June, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was on the move. He had pulled his army from its position along the Rappahannock River around Fredericksburg and set it on the road to Pennsylvania. Lee and the Confederate leadership decided to try a second invasion of the North to take pressure off Virginia and to seize the initiative against the Army of the Potomac. The first invasion, in September 1862, failed when the Federals fought Lee's army to a standstill at Antietam. Lee later divided his army and sent the regiments toward the Shenandoah Valley, using the Blue Ridge Mountains as a screen. After the Confederates took Winchester, Virginia, on June 14, they were situated on the Potomac River, seemingly in a position to move on Washington, D.C. Lincoln did not know it, but Lee had no intention of attacking Washington. All Lincoln knew was that the Rebel army was moving en masse and that Union troops could not be certain as to the Confederates' location. On June 15, Lincoln put out an emergency call for 100,000 troops from the state militias of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia. Although the troops were not needed, and the call could not be fulfilled in such a short time, it was an indication of how little the Union authorities knew of Lee's movements and how vulnerable they thought the Federal capital was.
    1864-During the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia collide for the last time when the first wave of Union troops attack Petersburg, a vital Southern rail center thirty-seven kilometers south of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. The two massive armies would not become disentangled until April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered and his men went home.
    1877- Henry Ossian Flipper, born a slave in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1856, becomes the first African-American cadet to graduate from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. Flipper, who was never spoken to by a white cadet during his four years at West Point, is appointed a second lieutenant in the all-African-American 10th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Sill in Indian Territory.
    1880-Birthday of blind singer/violinist Alfred Reed, Floyd City, VA
http://ubl.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,483645,00.html?artist=Blind+Alfred+Reed
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/explo.html
http://www.camsco.com/artists/reed.html
http://www.earfloss.com/page12_2459_a.html
    1885-Birthday of Malvina Cornell Hoffman - U.S.sculptor. Internationally admired, MCH received the largest sculptural commission ever given to man (or woman). It consisted of 110 life-sized bronze statues for the Hall of Man, Field Museum, Chicago. She studied with Rodin in Paris (after being turned away five times) and made a series of sculptures interpreting dance. Her forte was portraiture busts. Her mother was a talented amateur pianist.
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/finding_aids/hoffman_m4.html
http://www.nationalacademy.org/perm/hoffman2.html
http://www.sandycline.com/sculpture/malvhoff4.html
    1887-Henry O Flippea became the first Black graduate of West Point.
    1896 - The temperature at Fort Mojave, CA, soared to 127 degrees, the hottest reading of record for June for the U.S. The low that day was 97 degrees. Morning lows of 100 degrees were reported on the 12th, 14th and 16th of the month.
    1898-Annexation of Hawaii was approved in a joint resoultion adopted by teh House of Representaives, and by the Senate on June 17. It was signed by President McKinley on July 7.
    1901—Birthday of co-founder of Decca records Jack Kapp, one of the first to record Black music, including Jazz artists. Died March 25,1949.
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/biology/lewis/crosby/jackapp.htm
    1909- Benjamin F. Shibe of Bala, PA, obtained a patent for a baseball with a cork center. It was first manufactured by A.G. Spalding and Brothers, Chicago, IL, and was used in occasional league games in 1909 and in regular play in 1910. The ball was first used in a World Series game on October, 20, 1910, in Chicago, IL. Sorry, don’t know who was playing whom. If you find out, please let me know with a footnote to authenticate your source. 1934-Great Smoky Mountains National Park established. Area along southern section of Tennessee—North Carolina boundary was authorized May 22,1926, established for administration and protection only Feb. 6,1930, and finally established for full development as a national park in 1934.
    1917—The first army training camp for African-American officers was established at Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, IA, and was known as the 17th Provisional Training Regiment. On October 15, 1917, the first commissions were granted, with 106 African-Americans commissioned as second lieutenants.
    1917 - Congress passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Espionage Act, authorizing the Treasury Secretary to assume control of U.S. ports, control ship movements, establish anchorages and supervise the loading and storage of explosive cargoes. The authority was immediately delegated to the Coast Guard and formed the basis for the formation of the Coast Guard's Captain of the Ports and the Port Security Program.
    1920- Canadian record retailer Sam Sniderman was born in Toronto. Sniderman began selling records in his family's radio store in 1937. He opened a second Toronto outlet in a furniture store in 1959. Two years later, Sniderman opened the now-famous Sam the Record Man store on Yonge Street. The store once claimed the largest selection of retail records in the world. A Sam the Record Man franchise chain was established in 1969, and the stores now are a familiar sight across Canada.
    1921—Errol Garner born, Pittsburgh, Pa. I believe I have every album he recorded, and two copies of several as I play them at my office and home all the time. He, Oscar Peterson, Fats Waller, and James Johnson as well as classical piano and clavichord music are played often in my office. “Concert by the Sea” is his best selling album. Died Jan. 2, 1977.
http://www.erroll-garner-archives.com/
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1774
    1921- Bessie Coleman becomes the first Black woman to earn a aviation pilot's license in the world - and the first woman to earn an international aviation license from the from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. A native of Texas, she went to France to get her pilot's license because of the bigotry of those in U.S. aviation who opposed her training because she was a woman and because she was black. No black U.S. aviator would train her either. A native of Texas, BC learned to speak French and saved enough money to go to France. It was not simple but BC got through it and fulfilled her dream of flying. On her return to the U.S. she taught other black women to fly as well as doing the usual (for the time) barnstorming in air circuses to keep flying. "Queen Bessie," as she was known was a highly popular draw for the next 15 years. However, on 04-30-1936, while practicing for a show in Orlando, Fla., a loose wrench fell into the engine and she did not have a parachute or seat belts and actually fell out of the plane to her death.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/fcobq.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/peopleevents/pandeAMEX02.html
http://www.ninety-nines.org/coleman.html
    1924- Ford Motor Company manufactures its 10 millionth automobile. It would eventually build and sell 15 million models of this vehicle.
http://www.ford.com/en/heritage/history/default.htm
http://www.modelt.org/
    1928 -- Republicans, convening in Kansas City, name Herbert Hoover their candidate for President and Charles Curtis of Kansas for the vice-president.
    1937-Jimm ie Lunceford records his them “For Dancers Only,” Decca 1340.
    1937— Waylon Jennings, a leader of the outlaw country movement of the 1970's, was born in Littlefield, Texas. Jennings, along with Willie Nelson, spearheaded the movement away from heavy orchestral backing, opting for a leaner, harder sound which edged close to rock. Jennings met Buddy Holly in 1958, and ended up touring as Holly's bass player. When Holly's plane crashed in February 1959, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, it was Jennings who had given up his seat to the Bopper. Jennings signed with RCA in 1965, but by 1970 he was becoming disenchanted with not being able choose his own material, musicians and production. On the 1972 album, "Ladies Love Outlaws," he was at last able to use his own band, the Waylons, and to record current material, such as the Three Dog Night hit, "Never Been to Spain." The following year, the album "Honky Tonk Heroes" solidified his reputation as a country outlaw. In 1976, the album "Wanted - the Outlaws," featuring Jennings, his wife, Jessi Colter, Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser became the first country LP to be certified platinum - one million copies sold.
    1941 - Singer Nilsson (Harry Edward Nelson III) is born in Brooklyn, N.Y. His biggest hit is the million-selling No. 1 single ``Without You.'' He scores the film ``Skidoo'' and the TV show ``The Courtship of Eddie's Father.''
    1942- Congress of racial Equality (CORE), founded as the Committee of Racial Equality by an interracial group of students in Chicago. Many of these students were members of the Chicago branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a pacifist organization seeking to change racist attitudes. The founders of CORE were deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's teachings of nonviolent resistance. CORE started as a nonhierarchical, decentralized organization funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of its members. The organization was initially co-led by white University of Chicago student George Houser and black student James Farmer. In 1942, CORE began protests against segregation in public accommodations by organizing sit-ins. It was also in 1942 that CORE expanded nationally. James Farmer traveled the country with Bayard Rustin, a field secretary with FOR, and recruited activists at FOR meetings. CORE's early growth consisted almost entirely of white middle-class college students from the Midwest. CORE pioneered the strategy of nonviolent direct action, especially the tactics of sit-ins, jail-ins, and freedom rides.
http://www.core-online.org/features/what%20is%20core%20frame.htm
http://www.interchange.org/jfarmer.html
http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?docid=1P1:22137547
James Farmer’s father
http://www.cets.sfasu.edu/Harrison/Farmer/ETHA.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhouser.htm
http://www.afsc.org/about/gunnarjahnspeech.htm
    1941- Singer and songwriter Harry Nilsson was born in Brooklyn, New York. His breakthrough came in 1968 with the album "Aerial Ballet," which contained the hit single, "Everybody's Talkin'." It stayed in the top ten for much of 1969 and was the theme from the film "Midnight Cowboy." Nilsson's 1970 LP, "Nilsson Schmilsson," sold a million copies. From it came the chart-topping single, "Without You." Harry Nilsson held the distinction of never performing in public. And he only rarely appeared on TV. Nilsson died at his Los Angeles-area home on January 15th, 1994, 11 months after suffering a serious heart attack.
    1944- In a continued effort to penetrate the Japanese inner defenses, US amphibious forces invaded the Mariana Islands. A huge fleet, as documented in "Victory at Sea", of 800 ships from Guadalcanal and Hawaii carried the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions, consisting of 162,000 men. By the end of the day, 20,000 of these men had established a 5 ½ mile-long beachhead on the island of Saipan. Though the American forces suffered heavy losses during an overnight counterattack, on the morning of June 16 the Marines still held the area they had taken the day before. A huge victory for the U.S. Marines.
    1944—Birthday of guitarist, pianist, songwriter Eddie Hinton
Died July 28, 1995.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hinton?cdbaby=b5516bd0b7d346eb4d2acb6f324352de
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004WHRS/026-7205197-9822825
    1948—Football Coach Mike Holmgren birthday, born San Francisco, CA.
    1949—Baseball coach, manger and form player Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker, Jr. born Riverside, Ca.
    1949 - Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply is born in Melbourne, Australia. The group has three million-selling singles, including the No. 1 hit ``The One That You Love.''
    1950---Top Hits
My Foolish Heart - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Eileen Wilson)
Bewitched - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Mary Lou Williams)
The Third Man Theme - Alton Karas
Why Don’t You Love Me - Hank Williams
    1952 - U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant James F. Low, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, became the 17th ace of the Korean War with his fifth MiG kill. The most junior in grade ace of the war, Low had been in combat for only six days.
    1952 - Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, was published on this date in the United States. It contained the memoirs of Dutch-Jewish teenager Anne Frank and her time spent with her family and others in hiding during World War II. She later died in a Nazi concentration camp, and many years later, her father, the only surviving member of her family, found her diary.
    1952—“My Little Margie” premieres on TV. A very popular show in its day, "My Little Margie" was a half-hour sitcom about a "womanizing widower and his meddlesome daughter." Margie was played by Gale Storm and Charles Farrell played her father, Vern Albright.
    1953 - The USS Princeton launched 184 sorties and established a single-day Korean War record for offensive sorties flown from the deck of a carrier.
    1954-Courtney Cox Arquette birthday, ("Family Ties," "Friends"), born Birmingham, AL.
    1954- Blind country singer Terri Gibbs birthday born Miami, Florida.
http://augusta.com/leaders/slideshow_national/slide22.html
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/gibbs_terri/bio.jhtml
http://biologybooks.net/search_Terri_Gibbs/searchBy_Author.html
    1957 - East Saint Louis was deluged with 16.54 inches of rain in 24 hours, a record for the state of Illinois.
    1958---Top Hits
The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
Do You Want to Dance - Bobby Freeman
Yakety Yak - The Coasters
All I Have to Do is Dream - The Everly Brothers
    1958-The Platters sing "Twilight Time" on Ed Sullivan.
    1961 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: ``Moody River,'' Pat Boone.
    1963—Actress Helen Hunt’s birthday, ("Mad About You," Peggy Sue Got Married, Twister), born Los Angeles, CA.
    1963 – Seattle, Washington first civil rights march:
More than 700 people attended a "freedom march" protesting racial discrimination in Seattle. The marchers, many of whom were white, walked in silence but carried signs. The Rev. Mance Jackson announced that the Bon Marché promised 30 new jobs for African Americans in its downtown & Northgate stores.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/59696_blackhistory26.shtml
    1963----Jan & Dean's "Surf City" is released.
    1963 - Singer Kyu (pronounced "cue") Sakamoto from Kawasaki, Japan, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on the United States pop music charts with "Sukiyaki" on this day. The song gained many American fans and lasted 3 weeks at the top of Billboard's pop chart. In Japan, where Sakamoto was enormously popular, "Sukiyaki" was known as "Ue O Muite Aruko" or "I Look Up When I Walk." Unfortunately, the entertainer met an untimely death in 1985 when he was one of 520 people that perished in the crash of a Japan Air Lines flight near Tokyo. Kyu was only 43 years old.
    1965- Bob Dylan recorded "Like a Rolling Stone," the first of his recordings to feature electric instruments. Dylan's emerging rock 'n' roll leanings proved popular - "Like A Rolling Stone" reached number two on the Billboard chart.
    1965 - Elvis Presley film ``Tickle Me'' premieres.
    1966---Top Hits
Paint It, Black - The Rolling Stones
Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? - The Lovin’ Spoonful
I Am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
Distant Drums - Jim Reeves
    1966-- The Beatles album, "Yesterday & Today" is released by Capitol in the controversial "butcher" sleeve, with the Beatles smiling amongst a group of decapitated baby dolls. The original photo quickly became a problem for Capitol, so it was pulled and replaced by a more conventional cover. Could not find it for sale on eBay.
June 15-18- 1967, the first rock musical festival was held in Monterey, CA. I was there. It was a mad house. Promoter Alan Pariser and booking agent Ben Shapiro assembled the largest roster of rock and soul acts up to that time, including the Who, the Grateful Dead, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, and the Jimi Henrix Experience. More than 50,000 fans attended the non-profit event, which inaugurated a decade of ever-larger rock festivals.
    1969-KELLEY, THOMAS G. “Medal of Honor”
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, River Assault Division 152. place and date: Ong Muong Canal, Kien Hoa province, Republic of Vietnam, 15 June 1969. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Born: 13 May 1939, Boston, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in the afternoon while serving as commander of River Assault Division 152 during combat operations against enemy aggressor forces. Lt. Comdr. (then Lt.) Kelley was in charge of a column of 8 river assault craft which were extracting 1 company of U.S. Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muong Canal in Kien Hoa province, when 1 of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp. At approximately the same time, Viet Cong forces opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually, and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Lt. Comdr. Kelley realizing the extreme danger to his column and its inability to clear the ambush site until the crippled unit was repaired, boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon in direct line with the enemy's fire, and ordered the monitor to commence firing. Suddenly, an enemy rocket scored a direct hit on the coxswain's flat, the shell penetrating the thick armor plate, and the explosion spraying shrapnel in all directions. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast, which hurled him to the deck of the monitor, Lt. Cmdr. Kelley disregarded his severe injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. Although unable to move from the deck or to speak clearly into the radio, he succeeded in relaying his commands through 1 of his men until the enemy attack was silenced and the boats were able to move to an area of safety. Lt. Comdr. Kelley's brilliant leadership, bold initiative, and resolute determination served to inspire his men and provide the impetus needed to carry out the mission after he was medically evacuated by helicopter. His extraordinary courage under fire, and his selfless devotion to duty sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
    1969—“Hee Haw” TV premiere. The show has been described as a country-western version of "Laugh-In," composed of fast-paced sketches, silly jokes and songs. Though critics didn't like it, it had popular appeal and did well as a syndicated show. It was co hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, alternating with guest hosts. Regular performers included Louis M. "Grandpa" Jones, Junior Samples, Jeannine Riley, Lulu Roman, David "Stringbean" Akeman, Sherry Miles, Lisa Todd, Minnie Pearl and Gordie Tapp.
    1970- Jimi Hendrix records his first session at his Electric Ladyland Studio in New York City. It was the guitarist's state of the art "dream" studio.
    1971-The Guess Who's "Best of the Guess Who" LP goes gold.
    1974---Top Hits
Billy, Don’t Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics
Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
I Don’t See Me in Your Eyes Anymore - Charlie Rich
    1976-“Rain in” at the Astrodome. A 10-inche rainstorm caused the postponement of a regular season baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, a domed stadium. The rain caused flash floods that prevented everyone except members of both teams form getting to the ballpark.
    1980---Jack Nicklaus won his fourth US Open, shooting a record score of 272 at Baltusrol Golf Club. The previous record score for the Open was 275, held by Nickalus (1967) and Lee Tevino(1968.)
    1982---Top Hits
Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder
Don’t Talk to Strangers - Rick Springfield
Don’t You Want Me - The Human League
For All the Wrong Reasons - The Bellamy Brothers
    1988 - Severe thunderstorms in the Central High Plains Region spawned five tornadoes around Denver, CO, in just one hour. A strong (F-3) tornado in southern Denver injured seven persons and caused ten million dollars damage. Twenty-six cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. The high of 97 degrees at Portland ME was a record for June.
    1989 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather over the Southern and Middle Atlantic Coast States. The thunderstorms spawned eight tornadoes, including strong (F-3) tornadoes which injured three persons at Mountville PA and four persons at Columbia, PA. There were 111 reports of large hail and damaging winds, including wind gusts to 80 mph at Norfolk, VA, and Hogback Mountain, SC.
    1990---Top Hits
Hold On - Wilson Phillips
Poison - Bell Biv DeVoe
It Must Have Been Love - Roxette
Love Without End, Amen - George Strait
    1992-The second largest two-day tornado outbreak in U.S. history commenced as a developing cumulus cloud broke through the cap in north central Kansas and exploded into a huge supercell thunderstorm. Between 4:15 and 8:35 pm cdt, this supercell produced 39 tornadoes in north central Kansas, including 12 in Mitchell County and 9 in Osborne County. A farmer living south of Cawker City reported going to the basement in his farm home 5 different times and each time he came out of the basement, his farm had additional damage. He also reported that at one time, he counted 3 tornadoes on the ground and 4 funnels in the air. Damage to property in Mitchell County exceeded $12 million.
    1999- Oriole Will Clark gets his 2,000th career hit in the 10-inning victory over the Royals, 6-5.
    2001---The Los Angeles Lakers take their second in a row NBA Championship
beating the Philadelphia 76ers in game 5.
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2001/2001/0615/1214516.html
    2003---The Los Angeles Lakers take their third in a row NBA Championship.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/finals_index.html
    2004—Detroit Pistons play as a team and dominated the Los Angeles Lakers, who’s players are charged as being “old and slow” by the sports press.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/pistons/0406/15/index.htm
    2005--- Joining Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, and team officials, George Steinbrenner announces plans for new ballpark in the Bronx. The Yankee-financed $800 million facility, which will be built north of the current stadium in Macombs Dam Park, will seat at least 51,800 and will mirror the ‘The House that Ruth Built’ including limestone walls and the familiar copper frieze.

Stanley Cup Champions This Day

    1998 Detroit Red Wings

NBA Champions This Day

    2001---Los Angeles Lakers

games MVP

    2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 Shaquille O'Neal, L.A..
    2002---Los Angeles Lakers

    2002-03 San Antonio Spurs New Jersey Nets 4-2 Tim Duncan, San Antonio

    2003-- Detroit Pistons/Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 Chauncey Billups, Detroit

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Baseball Poem

Baseball Cards

Our sons shake their heads
They don't understand
How we could have lost
Those Mantle rookies
Early Aarons
And sophomore Stargells
Not just a single star
But whole galaxies
Swallowed up in black holes
Long gone

Of course if our generation
Had hung on
Those cardboard rectangles
Would not be worth all that much today
To our collecting sons
Would they?
Can't have it both ways

Worth
Is in the eye of the kid
Beholding a likeness he sees
In his favorite team's colors
At the ballpark or on TV—
Paper companion to
An autographed plastic & foam seat cushion
Or a newspaper clipping from that day
He became the batting champ
Of one lad's heart

Even as we stuck the cards in bike wheels
Or flipped and pitched them
Snapping them fiercely against concrete
Even then some were special

Would we sell them today?
What would it profit us
To gain transitory bucks
But lose reminders
Of the way we were?

That much?
Well, that's different

Yet no one can purchase memories
Connections with first heroes
Access to the seasons of our
Infatuation

Written by Gene Carney
“Romancing the Horsehide,”
Baseball Poems on Players and
the game. Published by McFarland
and Company.

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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]

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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

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