quote:

Originally posted by davdah:
Ok, Exactly what does two guys wearing dresses and a machine gun wielding blond have to do with anything? MIR, would it kill you to type un-coded sentence, LOL.

Certain posters Appear To Understand. American Understanding!!! Not Intentional. Nothing Personal. A Connection, A Common understanding, Without Words. (Inside Understanding, A Character, A Humor With Substance, a Lifestyle relationship, ESP) Many Understand, You Mean You Cannot Understand???? I am sorry you are having Difficulty.

C R A P!!! LOL. I Thought that was Koller. DAVDAH????? You Still Do Not Know Me???

Maybe Checkmate??? LOL!!!

I think I do. But the necessity of disguising messages has outlived it's usefulness. Dive in the fray. Swim in one direction or the other. To sit on the sidelines or allow yourself to drift in the direction chosen by someone else is of no benefit to anyone. Especially when oars and rudders exist to change course.

quote:

Originally posted by davdah:
I think I do. But the necessity of disguising messages has outlived it's usefulness. Dive in the fray. Swim in one direction or the other. To sit on the sidelines or allow yourself to drift in the direction chosen by someone else is of no benefit to anyone. Especially when oars and rudders exist to change course.

Actually You Have My other oar!!! .
On Track!!! You are 99%, Yet Within a commonwealth, These Truths Are just a Dream!!!

usnews
America's Most Endangered Malls

* By Rick Newman
* On Friday June 26, 2009, 1:58 pm ED

Birmingham's Century Plaza mall was a consumer mecca when it opened in 1971, drawing shoppers from outlying suburbs and even from other states. Over the years, however, people moved outward from central Birmingham, and new shopping centers sprouted around them. Sales at Century Plaza declined. Three of the mall's four big "anchor" tenants eventually left, and smaller retailers followed. By 2008, Century Plaza was a shadowy hulk with more shuttered stores than open ones. Then the last anchor tenant, Sears, announced it was leaving. The mall finally closed for good in early June.

[Slideshow: America's Most Endangered Malls]

Malls have a natural lifespan, as population centers shift, architecture evolves, and shopping habits change. But a sharp recession is clearly accelerating the demise of vulnerable retailers--and some of the shopping centers they inhabit. Plunging sales are one obvious reason. Many retailers are also saddled with heavy debt taken on in recent years to fund aggressive growth. And the credit crunch has made cash scarce for firms that need it most.

Those tough conditions have already driven retailers like Circuit City, Linens 'N Things, and Steve & Barry's out of business. Other chains are closing stores and slashing costs as they fight to survive. General Growth Properties, a Chicago firm that operates more than 200 malls--and owns the remnants of Century Plaza--declared bankruptcy in April and is working on a restructuring plan.

[See America's most profitable malls.]

The churn is transforming America's retail landscape. "During times like this, good malls tend to get better and bad malls tend to get worse," says Steve Sterrett, chief financial officer of Simon Property Group, the nation's largest mall operator. The first sign of trouble is often the departure of department stores and other anchor tenants, especially if those spaces stay vacant. High-quality, name-brand merchants often follow, with discounters--or nobody--replacing them. Shoppers sense the ennui, and gravitate toward malls that feel more vibrant, which only deepens the distress at troubled properties. By some estimates, about 10 percent of the America's malls could close within the next few years.

To gauge which malls are in trouble, U.S. News analyzed data from Green Street Advisors, an investment research firm in Newport Beach, Calif., that specializes in publicly owned real estate companies. Their data includes occupancy rates, sales per square foot, and quality grades for about 650 of America's biggest shopping centers. The average property in the data set has sales of about $420 per square foot and an occupancy rate of 92 percent, good for an A- grade.

[See how to tell if a mall is in trouble.]

The malls at the bottom of the list earn grades of C- or D, with falling sales at many stores and a high proportion of discount retailers that tend to draw the least lucrative consumers. As a rule of thumb, malls with sales of $250 per square foot or lower are struggling. "It's hard for many retailers to be profitable at $250," says Jim Sullivan of Green Street. And nine out of 10 malls at the bottom of Green Street's list have sales at or below that threshold.

The data we used doesn't cover strip malls and other shopping centers owned by private firms, which tend to be smaller, less profitable, and more vulnerable to a bad economy than regional malls. But the following 10 malls still represent bleak snapshots of some of the weakest spots in the nation's retail economy.

Century III Mall, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Occupancy rate: 70 percent; sales per square foot: $200*). About 30 of the 120 stores at this suburban Pittsburgh mall have closed recently, including anchor tenant Steve & Barry's and KB Toys (both of which have declared bankruptcy), Old Navy, Ruby Tuesday's, and Macy's Furniture Outlet. The 30-year-old complex targets value shoppers but competes with nearby discounters like Wal-Mart and Kohl's. Other area malls with more upscale stores are doing better. Century's owner, Simon Property Group, may be looking to sell Century III.

Chambersburg Mall, Chambersburg, Pa. (62 percent; $234). Sales have held steady over the past year, but a bucolic location 60 miles southwest of Harrisburg makes this sleepy mall a perennial underperformer. K.B. Toys, Value City, and B. Moss closed their stores after declaring bankruptcy. Newcomers include discounters like Bolton's and Burlington Coat Factory, which are likely to generate little excitement.

[See some restaurants that are on the ropes.]

Crossroads Mall, Omaha, Neb. (68 percent; $200*). Shoppers are fleeing this 50-year-old mall in central Omaha for suburban shopping centers that feel safer and more vibrant. The departure of Dillard's in 2008 left one of three anchor slots vacant. The Zales and Gordon's jewelry chains are also gone, along with Gap and most of the mall's food-court restaurants. According to press reports, owner Simon Property Group recently put the property up for sale. A buyer could try to resuscitate the mall or convert it to a different kind of retail or commercial complex.

Hickory Hollow Mall, Nashville, Tenn. (82 percent; $187). Dillard's has left, and other departed tenants include Linens 'N Things and Steve & Barry's, two of the biggest casualties of the recession. Two of four anchor slots are vacant, and the theater recently switched from first-run movies to late-run discount flicks. With a lack of retailers, the mall may convert some of its space to office use. One new tenant: the local police, who recently opened a recruiting station at the mall.

Highland Mall, Austin, Tex. (61 percent; $150*). While gleaming new stores have been springing up in some parts of Austin, this 38-year-old mall along I-35 has struggled to keep stores open--and avoid embarrassing controversies. Anchor JCPenney left in 2006, and this year Dillard's sued the mall's owners, claiming they let the mall become a "ghost town." The owners countersued, claiming that the suit is part of a scheme to help Dillard's get out of its lease early.

Palm Beach Mall, West Palm Beach, Fla. (82 percent; $250*). A year ago, the plan was to renovate this fading 42-year-old property. But that changed with the recession. Anchor tenants Dillard's and Macy's bolted within the last year, and in April, the mall's owners defaulted on a big bank payment, triggering a foreclosure lawsuit that could force the sale of the property. The power company even threatened to shut off the mall's electricity, but the bill was paid at the last minute. While remaining tenants like Sears and JC Penney await the outcome of litigation, other nearby malls are adding space and gaining customers.

[See why more companies are likely to fail this year.]

SouthPark Mall, Moline, Ill. (84 percent; $225). The owners spent a couple of years trying to sell this Quad Cities landmark, built in 1974, but they finally gave up late last year. Local officials would like to see the aging property converted to a more modern "lifestyle mall" with boutiques, lounging areas, and an upscale ambience. But modest local incomes probably can't support the major investment that would require. For now, the only upgrades at SouthPark are the construction of a few strip centers on "outlots" surrounding the mall, to be occupied by cheap restaurants and local service businesses.

Southridge Mall, Des Moines, Iowa. (84 percent; $168). The 2007 arrival of Steve & Barry's was supposed to mark a revival for this 34-year-old complex on Des Moines's South Side, which has been losing shoppers to more gentrified suburban malls. Then the discounter went bankrupt and closed its stores. The mall's owners have been trying to sell the property, and city officials have been working on ways to revitalize the entire area. They better hurry: At $168 per square foot, Southridge's sales are among the lowest for big malls.

Towne Mall, Franklin, Ohio. (49 percent; $207). This aging structure between Cincinnati and Dayton has been troubled for years, as the owner, CBL & Associates, and local officials have deliberated over whether to tear it down and build something more modern. Towne Mall has one of the highest vacancy rates of any operating mall, with more closed stores than open ones. A decision on the mall's fate is supposed to come soon.

Washington Crown Center, Washington, Pa. (70 percent; $265). Three of its biggest retailers--Macy's, Bon-Ton, and Gander Mountain--have suffered deep losses as consumers have cut spending. The mall's owner, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, is revamping some of its properties--but not Washington Crown Centre, one of the weakest malls in its portfolio. PREIT could end up selling some of its subpar properties, which leaves this mall vulnerable.

Virginia Has VERY large malls. FAILING!!! Not in the statistics. Springfield Mall = HISTORY!!! 250 Merchants Down to 20!!! Potomac Mills, Fair Oaks, Tysons, At Best 50% occupancy left!!! Not in the list????Silly Me All within or close to the Commonwealth!!!! Statistically out of bounds!!!

Homer And Bart are In Serious trouble!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MakeItRight!,

Critics Cringe at Ad for Burger King's Latest Sandwich

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By Joshua Rhett Miller


A print advertisement in Singapore boasts that Burger King's latest sandwich will "blow your mind away."

An advertisement for Burger King's latest sandwich leaves little to the imagination and should be discontinued due to "distasteful" and unappetizing references to **** ***, advertising experts told FOXNews.com.

The print ad for the "BK Super Seven Incher" — a limited time promotion in Singapore, a society known around the world for its strict government controls of social conduct — shows the "mind-blowing" sandwich near the open mouth of a wide-eyed, red-lipsticked woman accompanied by the suggestive tagline: "It'll blow your mind away."

"Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled," the ad continues. . .

Full Story

I can see davdah already booking his flight to Singapore

The ad is probably available on the internet somewhere. I just can't find it. It will pop up on You Tube soon, lol. No need to take any trips to China. Btw, is that Super Seven Incher sandwich available in the US yet? I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

quote:

I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

Allegedly

quote:

Originally posted by Brit4064:

quote:

I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

Allegedly

I will be going To Bk Now!!!! 2 Of Those whopper Eaters please!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Brit4064:

quote:

I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

Allegedly

Lol, nope - I quit BK years ago. They can keep their 7 inches as far as I'm concerned.

quote:

Originally posted by ProudUSC:

quote:

Originally posted by Brit4064:

quote:

I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

Allegedly

Lol, nope - I quit BK years ago. They can keep their 7 inches as far as I'm concerned.

Psssst....! I hear mcdonalds Got a New 9" Special limited time Only Dollar menu Chicken NUGGET In the works!!!

quote:

Originally posted by MakeItRight!:

quote:

Originally posted by ProudUSC:

quote:

Originally posted by Brit4064:

quote:

I don't go to BK, so I wouldn't know.

Allegedly

Lol, nope - I quit BK years ago. They can keep their 7 inches as far as I'm concerned.

Psssst....! I hear mcdonalds Got a New 9" Special limited time Only Dollar menu Chicken NUGGET In the works!!!

9 inch at McD's? Not interested - lol! My least favorite fast food place.

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...ran/?test=latestnews

FBI Interviews: Hussein Lied About WMD Out of Fear of Iran

In interviews with the FBI before his death, the former Iraqi dictator said he was more afraid of Iran than the U.S. and denounced Usama bin Laden as "a zealot."

Times of London

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Saddam Hussein let the world believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction because he did not want to appear weak to Iran, according to the Washington Post.

In interviews with the FBI before he was hanged, the former Iraqi president also denounced Usama bin Laden as "a zealot" and said the United States was not Iraq's enemy, the Post reports.

In fact, he claimed, he felt so vulnerable to the threat from "fanatic" leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a "security agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region," according to declassified accounts of the interviews released on Wednesday and published in the Washington Post

George W. Bush, supported by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ordered the invasion of Iraq six years ago on the grounds that Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite the failure of U.N. weapons inspectors to uncover any such weapons.

During his interviews -- 20 formal interrogations and five "casual conversations" which were carried out in 2004, Hussein admitted that he should have allowed the United Nations to witness the destruction of his country's weapons stockpile after the 1991 Gulf War.

The FBI summaries of the interviews were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute, and posted on its Web site on Wednesday. The last formal interview, held on May 1 was completely redacted but the others had few deletions, the Washington Post reports.

The formal interviews, held from Feb. 7 to May 1, covered Hussein's rise to power, the Kuwait invasion, and the crackdown on the Shiite uprising in extensive detail, while the subject of the weapons of mass destruction and Al Qaeda were raised in the casual conversations, held after the formal interviews from May 10 to June 28.

George Piro, the agent who conducted the interviews, raised Iraq's alleged links with Al Qaeda in his last conversation with Hussein but Hussein's replies negated the Bush administration's efforts to link him with Usama bin Laden.

Hussein told Piro that he had never met bin Laden and that the two men did not share "the same belief or vision."

He said that "he was a believer in God but was not a zealot . . . that religion and government should not mix."

When the FBI agent said there were reasons why Hussein and Al Qaeda should have cooperated, as they had the same enemies in the United States and Saudi Arabia, Hussein replied that the United States was not Iraq's enemy, and that he simply opposed its policies.

He also made it clear that he considered Iran a greater threat than the United States, saying that he was convinced Iran was trying to annex the largely Shiite southern Iraq.

"The threat from Iran was the major factor as to why he did not allow the return of U.N. inspectors," Piro wrote. "Hussein stated he was more concerned about Iran discovering Iraq's weaknesses and vulnerabilities than the repercussions of the United States for his refusal to allow U.N. inspectors back into Iraq."

Hussein was later transferred to Iraqi custody, and he was hanged in December 2006.

Air New Zealand has found a new way to keep the attention of passengers during the safety drill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Mq9HAE62Y

Pushy French are world's worst tourists: study


Penny-pinching, rude and terrible at foreign languages: French people are the world's worst tourists according to a study of the global hotel industry released on Thursday.

Carried out last month by TNS Infratest, the study asked 40,000 hotels worldwide to rank tourists from 27 countries based on nine criteria, from their politeness to their willingness to tip.

Clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining, Japanese tourists came top of the crop for the third year running.

At the other end of the spectrum, French holidaymakers and business travellers were the least generous or ready to tip, and ranked next-to-last for their overall behaviour and politeness.

Pushy French travellers made amends on elegance -- classed third -- as well as for their discretion and cleanliness.

But the French were the least ready to try a new language, unlike US tourists who were most likely to swallow their pride and order a pizza, baguette or a paella in the local lingo.

US tourists also got top marks for generosity -- as the biggest spenders and tippers -- but fell short on other counts as the least tidy, the loudest, the worst complainers, and the most badly dressed.

Despite cliches about beer-guzzling hordes descending on Mediterranean resorts each summer, Britons came a surprise second for their overall behaviour, politeness, quietness and even elegance -- second for dress sense only to the Italians.

But the model Japanese were followed by Canadians as the least likely to whinge when a trip goes wrong.

France's rivals for the "worst tourist" tag, Spaniards and Greeks came near the bottom of the pack in almost every category.

source

Posted On: July 3, 2009 by Jeff Lowe
Dangerous Dog Attack Kills Three-Year-Old Southern Illinois Boy

Attacks from at least one of the family’s three dogs killed a three-year-old Johnston City boy, The Southern reported June 29. Gabiral Mandrell was found about 200 feet from his home around 8 p.m. and taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead from blood loss at 8:50 p.m. All three of the mixed-breed dogs were taken to the Williamson County Animal Control Center, where they will be held during an investigation.

According to the newspaper, Mandrell’s family thought he was sleeping on Saturday evening, when he apparently opened the screen on his bedroom window and escaped into the yard. Three dogs were loose in the yard -- two pit bull mixes and a collie mix. Authorities aren’t sure how many of the dogs were involved in the attack. Mandrell was bitten numerous times, but the bite that killed him was to a major blood vessel. The Williamson County Coroner declined to be more specific. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the death.

Not every family realizes it, but dogs can be dangerous around young children. One study of fatal dog attacks by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 80% of dog bite fatalities were to children under 12 -- and three were babies less than a month old. As a Missouri dog attack lawyer, I have encountered multiple explanations for this. Young children who don’t have experience with dogs may not understand the difference between playing and provoking a dog. Their small size and short stature also places their heads and necks closer to the ground, where dogs can do a lot of harm. And because of children’s size and quick movements, dogs may instinctively see them as prey, or sometimes as pack members to be dominated.

Unfortunately, the consequences of this can be devastating. Because the head and neck are the most likely targets in dog attacks, children attacked by dogs can sustain very serious injuries, including severe blood loss, nerve damage, organ damage and serious infections. They also frequently come away with disfiguring facial scars, sometimes requiring years of reconstructive surgery. In addition to the physical consequences, this can be very difficult emotionally and socially for a child.

Dogs that attack in Missouri and Illinois frequently face impoundment and euthanasia as public threats. But for families traumatized by a dog attack and facing mounting medical bills, that may not be enough. When dogs that should have been leashed or controlled attack human beings, victims have the right to hold their owners legally liable with a St. Louis dog bite lawsuit. Generally speaking, these claims are covered by the dog owner’s homeowner’s insurance, or sometimes by a landlord’s insurance -- so victims are really suing an insurance company

SEOUL, South Korea -

Cyber attacks that caused a wave of Web site outages in the U.S. and South Korea used 86 IP addresses in 16 countries, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Friday, amid suspicions North Korea was behind the effort.

The countries include South Korea, the United States, Japan and Guatemala, Chung Chin-sup, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters.

He spoke after being briefed by the National Intelligence Service, or NIS, on preliminary investigations of the IP addresses — the Internet equivalent of a street address or phone number.

The assaults on Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea have been described as so-called denial of service attacks in which floods of computers try to connect to a single site at the same time, overwhelming the server.

The NIS also briefed lawmakers on circumstantial and technical reasons for believing that North Korea could be behind the attacks, Chung said without elaborating.

But the spy agency cautioned it was too early to conclude that North Korea was responsible as the investigations were still under way, according to Park Young-sun, another member of the intelligence committee.

"So far, North Korea was not included among the 16 countries' IP addresses," she told reporters.

U.S. authorities also eyed North Korea as the origin of the trouble, though they warned it would be difficult to identify the attackers quickly.

Three U.S. officials said this week while Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved Kim Jong Il's government in Pyongyang. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

It follows a turbulent few months in which secretive North Korea has engaged in a series of threats and provocative actions widely condemned by the international community, including a nuclear test and missile launches.

North Korea has not responded to the allegations of its involvement in the Web site outages.

On Thursday, seven South Korean Web sites — one belonging to the government and the others to private entities — were attacked in the third round of cyber assaults, said Ku Kyo-young, an official from the state-run Korea Communications Commission, but most were back up and running quickly.

As previously, it was caused by so-called denial of service attacks, Ku said, adding that attacks were continuing on the seven sites Friday, but they were still accessible.

Some 50 cases of problems regarding computer hard disks or data were reported Friday morning in South Korea, the commission said, without giving details.

Park, the South Korean lawmaker, said Thursday that a senior intelligence official told her the NIS suspects the North because the country earlier warned it won't tolerate what it claimed were South Korean moves to participate in a U.S.-led cyber warfare exercise, according to a statement from the opposition Democratic Party.

South Korean media reported in May that North Korea was running a cyber warfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service.

Japan was also being extra vigilant against possible cyber attacks, although there was no sign it had been targeted, officials said.

Japan has a "cyber clean center," set up in 2006, to protect its government computers from attacks, including a decoy computer to analyze possible viruses, Kazuaki Nakakoshi, an information security official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said Friday.

"No attacks targeting Japan have been confirmed," he said in a telephone interview

Hmmmm, what are they looking at? LMAO!!!

He, he...the Germans report that she was the only one wearing a sheer dress and sandals in a setting where everyone wore business attire. She wanted it....!

Meanwhile, I am so glad that POTUS is a man!

If you look closely, there is a piece of paper on the ground. Maybe there were looking at that - lol!!! And the girl is only 16!!!!!