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Ask the Readers: Should You Carry a Loan When You Can Afford Not To?
Published on - July 6th, 2007 (by J.D. Roth)
Monday's collection of car links sparked more discussion than any link dump I've ever posted. A lot of you have strong opinions on the subject. Katie writes that all the talk about cars made her think about her own situation.
My husband and I have both saved enough money to cover the price of the new car that we want (plus taxes and fees) and have a comfortable amount left over — at least three months' living expenses plus a good cushion in savings. We're also at least five years away from buying a house, due to the transience of early jobs in academia.
A good friend of mine — also a grad student some years away from home ownership — recently bought a car, and her bank recommended that she take out a loan even though she could pay for the vehicle up front. The bank's logic was that regularly paying off a car loan would build her credit rating, and thus leave her in a better position to buy a house down the road. I'm a bit skeptical about this logic, though — is it really worth negotiating for years of car payments that aren't even necessary, just for the sake of possibly boosting my perfectly OK credit rating?
My gut response is that the bank is just pulling a boondoggle. Of course they're going to recommend a loan — they don't make any money when people pay cash! On the other hand, it is true that carrying a car loan can help build your credit rating. But if you already have good credit — as Katie does — then the benefits seem minimal (or non-existent).
Have you ever financed a purchase when you could have paid cash? Would you do so if you could? Wouldn't it eat you up inside to pay interest when you know you didn't have to?
This article is about Ask the Readers, Cars, Choices, Debt
Can you invest the money at a better rate than the car loan?
If you can do that, and make the payments on time, then why not take advantage?
The only time I have ever financed something when I could pay cash is if I had a 0% interest offer – then I paid it off before the interest kicked in.
I can also see financing if you have the cash to cover the cost, but it leaves you with little savings. But then I would only finance a portion of the purchase to keep my payments smaller and get it paid off sooner.
If you can negotiate a loan rate less than the rate you're earning in savings, perhaps one of these 1.9% car loans vs the 5% for online savings accounts, then you're making money on the loan.
If the car costs $20,000 and I have $25,000 in the bank saved up, then I would take the loan.
While the bank is correct that making the monthly payments can have a positive effect on your credit score, it's definitely not worth it.
A car is usually your second most expensive purchase. Use online calculators and figure out how much that car will actually cost you. Unless your money is making more than the interest you'll be paying, it's not going to be worth it.4 year loan @ 7% on 25k will cost you around $3800 in interest.
I'd look for a 0% loan from the dealer if available. That way you can just pay it off whenever while still taking advantage of your money drawing interest.
One area where I carry debt is my student loans. I took out almost $48K for grad school & I am paying it back over 25 years, interest rate 3%. The real rate is even lower when you factor in the tax deduction for interest & also the effects of inflation. Now I do have that amount to pay it back, but choose to leave it invested b/c I make more than 3% on my investments.
I bought my first car with cash (that I got from a windfall), instead of financing at 0% interest, and I do not regret it in the least. As someone who does not manage her money well, not having to worry about a monthly car payment has been a big relief.
My instincts here would be to finance the car, keep your cash in a CD that will pay near the interest you are paying and then in a year or so pay it off. This will drive your credit score up enough that when you buy your house you ought to qualify for a better interest rate.
Think of it as investing in a lower interest rate for your future self.
Having a lower rate on a 15 or 20 year mortgage will reap more money for you over your lifetime than not paying some interest now.
Her bank pulled a fast one on her. She can accomplish the exact same thing by actively using a credit card and paying if off in full every month.
I'd say go to the bank TODAY and pay that loan off in full.
The only exception would be if it's a 0-4% interest rate loan, which I doubt.
Take out a loan, and immediately pay it back as soon as the 0% interest period ends.
It builds a little bit of credit history. (not as much as monthly payments), and you suffer 0 interest.
Not having a car payment is a wonderful thing.
It will help your credit rating, which could in turn help you negotiate a better rate when financing a house. When a mortgage company looks at you, they like to see a nice debt to income ratio. However, they also like to see responsibility when it comes to credit, and a structured loan like a car is a good way to show this.
Ultimately, if it makes sense will depend on a few things:
1) How much more will it cost you to finance as opposed to paying cash. If you can get a finance rate of say 4%, and you're money resides in an account earning 5%, you will earn more money than it costs.
2) If it's about the same to pay cash or finance (or if financing costs a minimal amount more), you should look at your credit history (not just your score). Do you a decent amount of credit history (i.e. credit card payments, structured loans, etc…)? Mortgage companies look at this too, not just your score.
Play around w/the finance terms. Perhaps see if you can get a 1 or 2 year loan. That will help keep the cost of financing down, while still adding history for a structured loan.
In the end, you have to look at all possible situations, and see which one makes the most sense for you.
One place to look for information is fool.com. They have some calculators (http://www.fool.com/calcs/calculators.htm?source=LN)
including one for "should I finance or pay cash for a car".
Ask for a line of credit instead. Use it to buy the car. Pay off in three monthly installments. You should thus have an excellent credit rating for a total cost of $450, based on $20k at 9%. Alternatively, pay mostly cash and borrow $5k on the LOC. Now your cost is $113.
However, I'm not sure it's all that necessary. What kind of credit rating do you have now? How high are your incomes? My husband and I had only ever had lines of credit and credit cards, which we paid off monthly before interest accrued, and we had no trouble getting a mortgage at a preferred interest rate.
Try to find a credit card that has a line of credit attached. That's what I have. I can buy something on the card, get 1% back in rebates, and then pay it off before the interest grace period ends. As a result, I actually make money while building a great credit rating. (I'm not sure, but I suspect a line of credit is rated differently than a regular credit card. Not sure, though.)
If you had a line of credit attached to a credit card and it was a rewards card, you could get 1 or 2% back on your purchase. That's $200 on $20k. You could use that to cover the interest for paying just a portion the first month. Or you could just pay it all off, keep your $200 and have your credit rating build anyway. That's what I did/do.
Katie and her friend need to learn not to take financial advice from bankers. Especially about credit! Talk about conflicts of interest!!!
"Mr Barber, do you think I need a haircut?"
Putting aside the fact that people tend to be way more focused on their credit scores than is justified, there are only three ways a car loan can help them: consistent payment history, utilization percentage, and variety of debt.
When you look at the FICO breakdown that they choose to share (the specifics are a trade secret) you see that 65% of a score comes from simple history & total debt, neither of which REQUIRE a car loan. You can have a history free of blemishes and with the 10-30% utilization that is considered best having never taken a car loan.
Another 25% has to do with how long a history you have and how much you've gotten recently. If the car loan isn't the first credit someone gets then it's not going to help with length of history in any way. It can, however, HURT if it's credit someone gets within a short period of time before they want that home loan.
So in a nutshell, the bank is suggesting that auto loan – which has the potential to hurt if it goofs up their utilization or they make a late payment or it's still 'fresh' when they try for another loan – for the sake of improving 10% of their FICO score, a total of 85 points.
Even if we claimed that without that auto loan they wouldn't get -any- of those 85 points, which is not true, that makes 850 – 85, or 765 – still within the highest category they break out on this page. The reality is that even lacking that one kind of credit it's likely a person with otherwise good history will still get a decent percentage of those points.
All that said, if they really want to get one more type of loan under their belt then they should just pay 75% of the car in cash and finance a few thousand dollars. 7 to 10% on a $4,000 loan isn't peanuts but it is a small amount compared to the possible savings if you get a 0.5% improvement on a home loan. There's also nothing stopping them from increasing the amounts of some of their early payments when the interest calculated is highest, provided their safety cushion allows it.
i'm usually just a lurker, but reading the comments to this post just about made my head explode.
wow, the bank recommended getting a loan? stunning, just stunning.
not as much as someone AGREEING with that strategy, but pretty stunning.
honestly, if this isn't a perfect illustration of how far off the beam we are in this country…first of all, no new car is worth it. ever. katie should get a two-year-old model of the same exact car for a huge discount. pay cash. put the rest into a cd, or your retirement, or college fund, or an eel farm. whatever. then drive her used car with pride and laugh her ass off at the morons in new vehicles – they want you to look at them, after all…that's why they bought them.
and secondly – on WHAT PLANET is it worth it to PAY someone to improve a credit score? anyone with the discipline to save the money for a new car is 99.99% likely to have a good credit rating.
rant over.
Run the numbers.
If you can negotiate with the car dealer when paying cash, take that into account. If you can make higher interest in a safe way than the loan interest, take that into account.
And: let the bank people expain to you in which way taking out a loan would increase your credit score. Make them commit to it: "if you do X now to build your credibility, you will save Y% on your mortgage". Make them sign it.
Oftentimes, banks are unspecific and/or won't commit to what they say – because they can get away with it.
Some people say that if you can invest and get a better return than the rate on the loan then do it, but I personally don't agree. This is a personal decision, but my thought is buy a 1-2 year old car for cash. Save yourself the 40% depreciation in the first 2 years, the interest on the loan, and the hassle of having a loan.
Think about how each choice will affect you, motivate you, cause worry, etc…
It *is* true that having installment loans on your record will improve your credit rating. This a different type of debt than credit cards (revolving vs installment), and I think will boost your credit score in a way a card can't, especially if you've never had an installment loan. (you should research this, as I'm not 100% sure)
But is it worth it? MAYBE, if you ensure there are no pre-payment penalties, and pay it off very quickly, within a year (or less!). I would also pay most of it as a downpayment, and finance only a fraction of the car, reducing your cost even further. If it actually does reduce your mortgage rate by any ammount, it might save you a lot of money in the long run.
Also…. 0% financing isn't a free deal–the cost of that is built into the price of the car you are buying!
S jean – yes the 0% interest isn't "free" on the macro level, but unless you can swap it for a deduction in price, it is "free" on the individual/micro level.
My advice would be not to buy a "new" car at all. Cars now are well built, and a 2-3 year old car will have take the depreciation and still run well. There are exceptions of course, but to not consider this would be foolish.
I bought a 6 yr old luxury car for 21% of its original MSRP. Now, 2 years later, and only $500 in maintainence, i can sell it for just a few hundred less than I bought it for.
I think given the transient nature of academia, and the potential that there may not be the work that you would like, I would say invest in the car and get it over with. That way, if hard times fall later on and you may not have a job, you have your means of finding a new one without having to worry about monthly payments. When the time comes when you do buy a house, I would think that having one less payment to worry about would be beneficial.
I'm surprised that no one has talked about the value and depreciation of buying a new vehicle as well – if we are really looking at the best bang for your buck, I would think that buying a brand new car off the lot, where it will depreciate immediately at what 25%, is not the wisest decision… buying a newly off-lease car or a newer car where someone else has taken that depreciation hit might be a better idea? You save a bit more money, insurance will probably be less, and you can get a good car that will be just as reliable.
And then that left over money you can use towards the new house… or a vacation someplace!!
(ha ha, as I was drafting up this post, the fella above me did talk of the car depreciation!! great minds, hey?)
I would take the loan, but pay double payments every month. This will help you save money for your emergency fund (if you don't have one)
I wasn't going to comment on the new vs used car since both my cars (the daily driver and the hauler) are now old enough to be in high school and graduation is imminent for one. However anyone pondering the matter who isn't dead-set on a new vehicle should buy and read Tom and Ray's booklet "Should I buy, lease, or steal my next car?"
If you're too cheap to pay I'll tell you what their conclusion was: that between buying new, 3 year old or 7 years old, the most economical choice is to buy a three-year old vehicle. The cheapest is actually to buy a reliable old car and only spend money on the necessities vs cosmetic and luxury fixes but they recognize that's not for everyone.
I believe the debt of the car loan itself would lower the maximum mortgage you are eligible for. AFAIK, this goes for any debt, whether it's credit card, school loans or a car loan.
Make it simple. I would look at the sum of the interest over the life of the loan v. interest made at reasonably liquid market rates (3 or 6 mo CD?) But the term debt will improve your credit score much better than increasing limits on your credit cards or getting other forms of revolving credit.
I do like what Dave Ramsey says when people ask him these questions "Would ever borrow money to invest it?" That is essentially what is going when the bank proposes that. Kinda silly. If you can pay cash PAY CASH!
The bank makes money either way, having $25K in a bank account instead of investing it lets them lend it to others instead of you.
The only time it makes sense to get a loan is if it's an appreciating asset or if it's tax deductible. Otherwise, just pay cash.
The governing principle in my financial life is that debt is bad, and should be avoided if at all possible. If you have the money to pay cash for the car without putting any financial strain on yourself then that is what I would recommend, and what I did myself.
Others have brought up 0% or very low percentage car loans. If you can get that while at the same time getting a great price on the car, then that is an option worth considering. However, if you have to pay full list just to get a low finance rate then the cheaper option will probably be to pay cash.
Once you get the car I would start making "car payments" into an investment account. I bought my current car for $18,000.00 and made $20,000.00 of car payments into a treasury fund. With reinvesting the dividends I will have cash on hand when it comes time to replace it. If you plan on buying a house in 5 years I would also start making "house payments" as well. Not having a car payment may, in some small way, lower your credit score. I think that would be offset by coming in with a very large down payment.
Others have brought up the option of saving money by getting a used, but recent, car. If you think that you will want to be replace the car in several years, then a used car is the best choice. I buy new cars and run them into the ground. I'm 45 and have only ever owned 4 cars.
Ignore for a moment the issue of pay cash or take a loan.
The best financial advice anyone could offer Katie is to not buy the car new in the first place – buy one that is a year or two old. Suddenly there are no fees and someone else has paid the depreciation. Even if she pays cash, she pays less and has more left in savings for the house in 5 years.
I would definitely recommend not doing this, especially on a car. If you feel the need to get a loan for something you can buy, don't do it on something that loses value.
I'd take a smaller loan to cover part of the car. Why? Using the above example:
$20,000 for the car with $25,000 in savings – expenses can creep up (hence, the unexpected nature, and the need to have savings). this is a drastic example (maximum effectiveness!) but let's say you're left with $5,000 in savings. Suddenly, you wreck it. You need $5,000 to cover repairs. Or Medical expenses, whatever. Point is, you know may need to start borrowing money.
Same situation, but you have $10,000 left in savings. Now, after your wreck/whatever, you still have $4,000 JUST IN CASE.
Your mileage may vary, but it'd be nice to have a little bit more of a back-up.
I have about a year worth of payments left on my car, but if I had the ability to pay in full, I would've done it.
One thing to consider is car insurance. My loan requires me to carry full coverage, and while it's always good to have full coverage, for a male in his early twenties, it's definitely not cheap. When I first got the car at age 20, my car insurance was nearly $1600 for a six month policy. Now, at 23, I'm paying just over $900 (which I consider a steal) with $1000 deductables at the cheapest insurance company I could find. Keep in mind I have a clean driving record.
We are in almost the same exact situation. We've decided to go ahead and get the loan, we got .7% at 36 months from the dealership. I put the numbers into the fool.com calculator recommended above (there's a "Should I finance or pay cash for a vehicle?" calculator) and it says, and I quote, "Paying cash for a vehicle will _cost_ you $464 more than financing over 36 months." Good link–thank you!
So I guess we made the right decision. Well, maybe not according to the people who think buying a new car is silly. But here are our reasons:
1. We can't buy a 3 year old car that is as fuel efficient as this one for the same price. We will save significant money in gas every month. More as gas prices continue to rise (see #3).
2. We are tired of shelling out money every year for repairs on a 6-year-old car, and even more to get it fit to meet inspections every year. With a new car instead of a 3yr old one, we will have three more years theoretically before we have to start spending money on this sort of maintenance.
2.5. We don't do car maintenance ourselves, and don't intend to learn how. This is a choice and an assessment of our abilities, we do better with books than cars and know that others are much handier than we are; it makes more sense to pay more for a car that won't need as much maintenance for the first few years of ownership, paying more upfront and less for maintenance.
3. We plan to own the car for 8-10+ years. I have a car that is 13 years old. It was in a whole lot better condition three years ago than it is now. Those three years do make a difference in the long run, and I sunk too much money into that car the last three years than I should have, it would have been better to part with it sooner. It was also worth 2-3 times more at 10yrs old.
4. The new car will fulfill the needs that are currently filled by both our cars. (Enough space to carry large loads, skis, and to travel–my car–and good gas mileage and reliability–my husband's car.) By buying this car (which is a new model, we couldn't buy a 3yr old one b/c they weren't made three years ago) we will only be paying one insurance bill, one state inspection, one license renewal, etc…
Maybe all these factors don't add up to saving the difference in price between a new and 3yr old car, but I'd bet they come pretty close.
I'll have to say that I did the same as what the bank recommended.
I really didn't have credit at all. I had paid off my student loans but those surprisingly have basically no bearing on your credit rating, at least for me. Taking the loan that I did for 2500 (had to have a cosigner for example). Helped my credit rating a ton. I was able to get a credit card at that point that I used for gas..and that was basically it.
Between those two I was able to build up a nice credit score over the last 4-5 years of responsible credit use, Paying the car off directly from my account each month..I never had to look at it, it just was directly taken, and paying off the credit card every month.
I would take it just simply for the fact that it'll do a big help to your credit rating which will help when you go to buy that house. You can do Payments for 1 year and then pay the rest off as a lump sum. It still helps your credit.
im probably asking for it, but
if you are looking to buy a car and a new one is say 20k, and a used, couple years old model is 17k with 50 thousand miles, does it make more sense to buy the new one?
A couple of points.
First, it is true that your score can increase. Somebody above already mentioned it and even quantified it (up to 85 points).
Banks don't look only at 1 number (the FICO score) they look at the whole credit history. So it is true that even though your score might not go up by a lot it might still make a difference in the interest you get for your house.
On a 200K loan even a 0.1 interest difference on a 30 year loan is the equivalent of saving $4680. I live in the bay area where loans can be easily 500 to 600K, that's $12000 in savings from a interest difference of 0.1%.
As for the car loan, the best suggestion I've seen is pay something up front, finance the rest. Maybe half and half. Get a 2 year loan and pay it off in a year.
For those worried about the payments, remember that they have the money in the bank, they shouldn't have trouble paying the loan. The cost of the loan itself will be minimal given that they can earn interest on what they have in the bank.
Say a 6% interest on 10K will be $600 for financing (on a 1 year loan), if you can invest your money at 5% you'll make $500 and the real cost is $100 for a possible savings of over $4K for every 0.1 you reduce your interest by. Hey, even a 0.01% reduction in interest will be worth $431 (30yrs 200K).
Now on the subject of cars, not all cars depreciate fast. The first thing to note is that MSRP is not the real cost of the car, no wonder they depreciate "fast". The price of a new car is Dealer invoice.
The Dealer gets the car for 20K, sells it to you for 25K, so when you drive out, the car drops in price 5K (20%). Only fools pay MSRP. Do some research, get the consumer reports car report (with all prices, kickbacks, promotions, etc) for the car in question, then negotiate with the dealers (multiple dealers).
2 years ago we bought a 2005 Accord, sold it last year for a bit more than we paid for it. Yes, we're good negotiating, and yes, we did "lose" the taxes, but hey, we had a new car for a year, cheaper than leasing.
You can buy a 25K MSRP car for 22K easy. Remember to bring your own financing to the dealer, don't let them fool you into negotiating financing and the price of the car at the same time.
That is hilarious. Talk about letting the fox guard the hen house!
I'm ALMOST DONE paying for my car! My gut says to pay it off right way, but if you can leverage a good interest rate and and put it in a 5% online savings account, you can't really loose.
Wohoo! I'm almost done paying for my car!!!
It can be worth it to "buy" a credit rating. Lots of savings may not mean much to lenders. When I applied for my first credit card, the bank didn't want to give one to me, because I didn't have a high paying job or any credit history. I pointed out that I had $10k in my savings account and that I doubted many 18-year-olds had accomplished that after paying their way through first-year university. No dice. But then they relented and offered me a secured credit card (I had to put down $600 for my $500 limit.) I've never carried a balance on anything — not even a line of credit — and I had no trouble getting a mortgage. Still, if you have no history, sometimes you have to do things to get that first loan/card.
If you can earn more in interest at the bank than the loan costs, then you have a logical argument for taking the loan.
That said, I REALLY LOVE having paid for cars. They are MINE. There is no monthly deduction from my account. This is an emotional decision that could cost me a couple of hundred bucks over the life of a car loan but for me the peace of mind is worth it.
Same for the house.
One idea I haven't seen mentioned is what my credit union calls a "share-secured" loan. They'll give me a loan at 3% over whatever interest I'm earning on the account that secures the loan. As academics, you should have access to some sort of credit union through the school. Check and see what they'll do for you. My CU also used to charge just simple, not compound, interest. This may no longer be true, but check into it.
Nacho – I think you pointed out the exceptions I was talking about. It seems like on moderately high demand cars, such as the accord, odyssey, mini, xb etc there is not nearly as much depreciation.
Again, buy smart. My first 10 years of car ownership I bought a different car every 6 months ( I had 2 at atime for most). Only 1 time did I spend more than 100-125 a month in depreciation and maintenance (my first self purchase an s-10 blazer that needed an engine rebuild, ac rebuild etc). About 1/3 the cars I MADE money on.
I'm not a super wheeler dealer type. I just did the following
1) Researched the cars – for most cars today there is an enthusiast website – ask there for what to look for
2) Be Flexible – on my last car i was looking for a sporty/luxury car in reasonable good shape in any color except maroon. Be willing to look outside the box. Ie you may not have looked at an Isuzu trooper new, but now that they have taken the depreciation hit, you can get a deal.
3) Look towards resale – try and find low mileage clean looking vehicle.
4)Buy cheap! There is a lot more elasticity of demand for $5k cars than $15k cars. If you buy it for $5k, you can sell it for close to that.
BUt getting back on topic – make sure you pull your credit score first to see if it is worth it. Also, a bonus to buying used is that you establish payment history, but pay less interest because you borrow less.
One person above claimed that paying off your credit card balance every month raises your credit score. This is actually not true. Carrying a balance each month actually increases your credit score (assuming that you always pay the minimum on time). Since I don't want to carry a balance, what I do is once in a while pay everything but a few dollars (since the interest on a few dollars is so insignificant). This way I can increase my credit score without increasing my debt.
But back to the topic at hand – I'm in a similar situation, on the verge of a job in academia, and I'm so glad to not have a car payment. I have never had a car loan or any other type of loan (other than student loans), and I managed to have great credit that enabled me to buy a house last month with a decent 30 yr fixed interest rate. Don't listen to the car salesman.
if you had the cash, couldn't you take out the loan, put the cash into a savings account with a higher yield than the loan's APR, and simply make automatic payments from your savings to your loan? You'd be paying interest, yes.. but you'd also be earning interest.
//For those worried about the payments, remember that they have the money in the bank, they shouldn't have trouble paying the loan.//
//I would take the loan, but pay double payments every month. This will help you save money for your emergency fund (if you don't have one)//
I would hope that if someone has enough cash to pay for a car,they've already secured an emergency fund for themselves… that would be my hope at least.
But this whole take the loan thing, I believe, is the kind of thinking that *can* get some people into trouble with money. Thinking they are making big money or cheating the system by trying to work this bank against another…. I honestly don't think the average person will win that game. The only way to win is to get out while the money is good, own some assets, and have some emergency funds in place if something awful, God forbid, were to happen.
I don't disagree that when you have money, you should apply for some credit that you'll never use "just in case" something dire should come up… but I think that should be in the form of a line of credit that is a bit more flexible than a fixed-term loan. Plus if you have that asset that you own outright, as another reader pointed out, the balance of that loan won't become a liability.
I think it is a matter of personal preference, and it is a bit scary loading that much cash into an asset, but if you are a buying a $20K car, you are buying that car… it is a big amount of money. I think what the loans are good for is easing people into the idea of spending that much on one thing. $300 a month doesn't seem like much at all… and can be justified. $20K in one lump for a car is a HUGE sum, at which I would be thinking is there another way I could spend this money? Which I also think is the whole point of paying in cash, you have a better idea of where your money is going.
This is hilarious — especially that so many people are taking it seriously. "Uh, yeah, I'd finance when I could pay cash…"
It's just astonishing how many people are not just wrong about how a credit score is computed but so sure in their misconception.
Paying or not paying your balance every month on a credit card may or may not raise your credit score. What you're talking about is total utilization. Your score suffers hugely if you're using almost all your available credit. Your score suffers a little if you're using NONE of your available credit. Best is somewhere in the 10-30% total usage but if you had to pick an extreme you're way better off at the 0% used.
Jill said: "Carrying a balance each month actually increases your credit score (assuming that you always pay the minimum on time). Since I don't want to carry a balance, what I do is once in a while pay everything but a few dollars (since the interest on a few dollars is so insignificant)." Please check this very carefully. Credit card companies are not known for their generosity and caring. I believe that if you do not pay off the entire balance, you pay interest on the entire balance, not just the remaining balance. Someone who knows better can correct me, but here's what I believe: (simple example, interest 1%/month for simplicity's sake) you charge $100 this month and pay $99, leaving a balance of $1. Jill thinks you pay only $1.01 next month to zero out. I think that since you didn't pay the balance in full, they charge you interest on the entire $100 and next month you have to pay $2.01 to get back to zero ($100 x 1%, plus $1 x 1%) With a small enough balance, it may not make any significant difference, but it could add up for a larger initial balance. If you plan to do this, it might make more sense to pick some month when you have a very small balance to not pay the card in full.
I agree with Jay and the other posters who recommend buying a used car for cash. A couple of years ago my spouse took a job that reimbursed for mileage, averaging about $6500/year. Rather than running out to purchase an over-priced luxury car like many of his peers, he paid cash for a 1998 Subaru. Yes, it was a little banged up, but he's not overly concerned about appearances, and the large trunk is great for hauling around the computer equipment he needs as an IT consultant. Plus, we don't have to worry about the kids scratching the paint when getting their bikes out of the garage. Even better, thanks to his employer's generosity, we're left with a nice tax-free chunk of cash at the end of every month (after paying his gas & maintenance bill).
BTW, of course the bank is going to recommend that you take the loan! They'd rather you pay them interest than vice versa.


text:
Walt Disney World via Todd Hurley (Todd_H)
Happy New Year everyone! May 2013 bring you peace, happiness, luck, & wealth.
Love love love
collages are cool.
Ditch the crummy looking safe, flip the chairs around and add some shiny metal somewhere and we have a big winner!!!
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Anil Rajvanshi
- Phaltan
- India
This conversation is closed.
Debate: Is corruption a moral or a legal issue?
Too often the corruption debate and discussions all over the world are focused on how somebody broke a law. By that definition Mahatma Gandhi was the most corrupt man since he periodically broke British laws!
By dictionary definition corruption relates to doing things which are not ethical.
Hence how should the corruption be defined and fought for greater good?
Topics: Ethical Greed Legal cooruption moral issue society
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
Nov 4 2012: By your Gandhi example, clearly it's a moral issue, but with moral laws it would seem to become both. My question is if the environment you're in is corrupt to the point that corruption is systemic and includes the front lines of communications (phone answering and mail sorting, etc.), how can you get relevant information you may have - and I do have - to the appropriate authorities. And is there an email address to someone interested that I can send info to if I can't get it to the right people in Canada? TIA.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.


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Data types
Analysis of data management technology optimized for specific datatypes, such as text, geospatial, object, RDF, or XML. Related subjects include:
- Any subcategory
- Database diversity
Libraries in Teradata Aster
I recently wrote (emphasis added):
My clients at Teradata Aster probably see things differently, but I don't think their library of pre-built analytic packages has been a big success. The same goes for other analytic platform vendors who have done similar (generally lesser) things. I believe that this is because such limited libraries don't do enough of what users want.
The bolded part has been, shall we say, confirmed. As Randy Lea tells it, Teradata Aster sales qualification includes the determination that at least one SQL-MR operator — be relevant to the use case. ("Operator" seems to be the word now, rather than "function".) Randy agreed that some users prefer hand-coding, but believes a large majority would like to push work to data analysts/business analysts who might have strong SQL skills, but be less adept at general mathematical programming.
This phrasing will all be less accurate after the release of Aster 6, which extends Aster's capabilities beyond the trinity of SQL, the SQL-MR library, and Aster-supported hand-coding.
Randy also said:
- A typical Teradata Aster production customer uses 8-12 of the prebuilt functions (but now they seem to be called operators).
- nPath is used in almost every Aster account. (And by now nPath has morphed into a family of about 5 different things.)
- The Aster collaborative filtering operator is used in almost every account.
- Ditto a/the text operator.
- Several business intelligence vendors are partnering for direct access to selected Teradata Aster operators — mentioned were Tableau, TIBCO Spotfire, and Alteryx.
- I don't know whether this is on the strength of a specific operator or not, but Aster is used to help with predictive parts failure applications in multiple industries.
And Randy seemed to agree when I put words in his mouth to the effect that the prebuilt operators save users months of development time.
Meanwhile, Teradata Aster has started a whole new library for relationship analytics.
|Categories: Application areas, Aster Data, Data warehousing, Predictive modeling and advanced analytics, Teradata, Text
|1 Comment
JSON in DB2
There's a growing trend for DBMS to beef up their support for multiple data manipulation languages (DMLs) or APIs — and there's a special boom in JSON support, MongoDB-compatible or otherwise. So I talked earlier tonight with IBM's Bobbie Cochrane about how JSON is managed in DB2.
For starters, let's note that there are at least four strategies IBM could have used.
- Store JSON in a BLOB (Binary Large OBject) or similar existing datatype. That's what IBM actually chose.
- Store JSON in a custom datatype, using the datatype extensibility features DB2 has had since the 1990s. IBM is not doing this, and doesn't see a need to at this time.
- Use DB2 pureXML, along with some kind of JSON/XML translator. DB2 managed JSON this way in the past, via UDFs (User-Defined Functions), but that implementation is superseded by the new BLOB-based approach, which offers better performance in ingest and query alike.
- Shred — to use a term from XML days — JSON into a bunch of relational columns. IBM experimented with this approach, but ultimately rejected it. In dismissing shredding, Bobbie also disdained any immediate support for schema-on-need.
IBM's technology choices are of course influenced by its use case focus. It's reasonable to divide MongoDB use cases into two large buckets:
- Hardcore internet and/or machine-generated data, for example from a website.
- Enterprise data aggregation, for example a "360-degree customer view."
IBM's DB2 JSON features are targeted at the latter bucket. Also, I suspect that IBM is generally looking for a way to please users who enjoy working on and with their MongoDB skills. Read more
|Categories: Data models and architecture, IBM and DB2, MongoDB and 10gen, NoSQL, pureXML, Structured documents
|2 Comments
Two years ago I wrote about how Zynga managed analytic data:
Data is divided into two parts. One part has a pretty ordinary schema; the other is just stored as a huge list of name-value pairs. (This is much like eBay's approach with its Teradata-based Singularity, except that eBay puts the name-value pairs into long character strings.) … Zynga adds data into the real schema when it's clear it will be needed for a while.
What was then the province of a few huge web companies is now poised to be a broader trend. Specifically:
- Relational DBMS are adding or enhancing their support for complex datatypes, to accommodate various kinds of machine-generated data.
- MongoDB-compatible JSON is the flavor of the day on the short-request side, but alternatives include other JSON, XML, other key-value, or text strings.
- It is often possible to index on individual attributes inside the complex datatype.
- The individual attributes inside the complex datatypes amount to virtual columns, which can play similar roles in SQL statements as physical columns do.
- Over time, the DBA may choose to materialize virtual columns as additional physical columns, to boost query performance.
That migration from virtual to physical columns is what I'm calling "schema-on-need". Thus, schema-on-need is what you invoke when schema-on-read no longer gets the job done.
|Categories: Data models and architecture, Data warehousing, MongoDB and 10gen, PostgreSQL, Schema on need, Structured documents
|8 Comments
Layering of database technology & DBMS with multiple DMLs
Two subjects in one post, because they were too hard to separate from each other
Any sufficiently complex software is developed in modules and subsystems. DBMS are no exception; the core trinity of parser, optimizer/planner, and execution engine merely starts the discussion. But increasingly, database technology is layered in a more fundamental way as well, to the extent that different parts of what would seem to be an integrated DBMS can sometimes be developed by separate vendors.
Major examples of this trend — where by "major" I mean "spanning a lot of different vendors or projects" — include:
- The object/relational, aka universal, extensibility features developed in the 1990s for Oracle, DB2, Informix, Illustra, and Postgres. The most successful extensions probably have been:
- Geospatial indexing via ESRI.
- Full-text indexing, notwithstanding questionable features and performance.
- MySQL storage engines.
- MPP (Massively Parallel Processing) analytic RDBMS relying on single-node PostgreSQL, Ingres, and/or Microsoft SQL Server — e.g. Greenplum (especially early on), Aster (ditto), DATAllegro, DATAllegro's offspring Microsoft PDW (Parallel Data Warehouse), or Hadapt.
- Splits in which a DBMS has serious processing both in a "database" layer and in a predicate-pushdown "storage" layer — most famously Oracle Exadata, but also MarkLogic, InfiniDB, and others.
- SQL-on-HDFS — Hive, Impala, Stinger, Shark and so on (including Hadapt).
Other examples on my mind include:
- Data manipulation APIs being added to key-value stores such as Couchbase and Aerospike.
- TokuMX, the Tokutek/MongoDB hybrid I just blogged about.
- NuoDB's willing reliance on third-party key-value stores (or HDFS in the role of one).
- FoundationDB's strategy, and specifically its acquisition of Akiban.
And there are several others I hope to blog about soon, e.g. current-day PostgreSQL.
In an overlapping trend, DBMS increasingly have multiple data manipulation APIs. Examples include: Read more
The Hemisphere program
Another surveillance slide deck has emerged, as reported by the New York Times and other media outlets. This one is for the Hemisphere program, which apparently:
- Stores CDRs (Call Detail Records), many or all of which are collected via …
- … some kind of back door into the AT&T switches that many carriers use. (See Slide 2.)
- Has also included "subscriber information" for AT&T phones since July, 2012.
- Contains "long distance and international" CDRs back to 1987.
- Currently adds 4 billion CDRs per day.
- Is administered by a Federal drug-related law enforcement agency but …
- … is used to combat many non-drug-related crimes as well. (See Slides 21-26.)
Other notes include:
- The agencies specifically mentioned on Slide 16 as making numerous Hemisphere requests are the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and DHS (Department of Homeland Security).
- "Roaming" data giving city/state is mentioned in the deck, but more precise geo-targeting is not.
I've never gotten a single consistent figure, but typical CDR size seems to be in the 100s of bytes range. So I conjecture that Project Hemisphere spawned one of the first petabyte-scale databases ever.
Hemisphere Project unknowns start: Read more
|Categories: Data warehousing, GIS and geospatial, Petabyte-scale data management, Specific users, Surveillance and privacy, Telecommunications
|Leave a Comment
Cloudera Hadoop strategy and usage notes
When we scheduled a call to talk about Sentry, Cloudera's Charles Zedlewski and I found time to discuss other stuff as well. One interesting part of our discussion was around the processing "frameworks" Cloudera sees as most important.
- The four biggies are:
- MapReduce. Duh.
- SQL, specifically Impala. This is as opposed to the uneasy Hive/MapReduce layering.
- Search.
- "Math" , which seems to mainly be through partnerships with SAS and Revolution Analytics. I don't know a lot about how these work, but I presume they bypass MapReduce, in which case I could imagine them greatly outperforming Mahout.
- Stream processing (Storm) is next in line.
- Graph — e.g. Giraph — rises to at least the proof-of-concept level. Again, the hope would be that this well outperforms graph-on-MapReduce.
- Charles is also seeing at least POC interest in Spark.
- But MPI (Message Passing Interface) on Hadoop isn't going anywhere fast, except to the extent it's baked into SAS or other "math" frameworks. Generic MPI use cases evidently turn out to be a bad fit for Hadoop, due to factors such as:
- Low data volumes.
- Latencies in various parts of the system
HBase was artificially omitted from this "frameworks" discussion because Cloudera sees it as a little bit more of a "storage" system than a processing one.
Another good subject was offloading work to Hadoop, in a couple different senses of "offload": Read more
|Categories: Cloudera, Complex event processing (CEP), Databricks, Spark and BDAS, Endeca, Hadoop, HP and Neoview, MapReduce, Predictive modeling and advanced analytics, RDF and graphs, Revolution Analytics, SAS Institute, Teradata
|22 Comments
Hortonworks business notes
Hortonworks did a business-oriented round of outreach, talking with at least Derrick Harris and me. Notes from my call — for which Rob Bearden* didn't bother showing up — include, in no particular order:
- Hortonworks denies advanced acquisition discussions with either Microsoft and Intel. Of course, that doesn't exactly contradict the widespread story of Intel having made an acquisition offer.
- As vendors usually do, Hortonworks denies the extreme forms of Cloudera's suggestion that Hortonworks competitive wins relate to price slashing. But Hortonworks does believe that its license fees often wind up being lower than Cloudera's, due especially to Hortonworks offering few extra-charge items than Cloudera.
- Hortonworks used a figure of ~75 subscription customers. This does not include OEM sales through, for example, Teradata, Microsoft Azure, or Rackspace. However, that does include …
- … a small number of installations hosted in the cloud — e.g. ~2 on Amazon Web Services — or otherwise remotely. Also, testing in the cloud seems to be fairly frequent, and the cloud can also be a source of data ingested into Hadoop.
- Since Hortonworks a couple of times made it seem that Rackspace was an important partner, behind only Teradata and Microsoft, I finally asked why. Answers boiled down to a Rackspace Hadoop-as-a-service offering, plus joint work to improve Hadoop-on-OpenStack.
- Other Hortonworks reseller partners seem more important in terms of helping customers consumer HDP (Hortonworks Data Platform), rather than for actually doing Hortonworks' selling for it. (This is unsurprising — channel sales rarely are a path to success for a product that is also appropriately sold by a direct force.)
- Hortonworks listed its major industry sectors as:
- Web and retailing, which it identifies as one thing.
- Media.
- Telecommunications.
- Health care (various subsectors).
- Financial services, which it called "competitive" in the kind of tone that usually signifies "we lose a lot more than we win, and would love to change that".
*Speaking of CEO Bearden, an interesting note from Derrick's piece is that Bearden is quoted as saying "I started this company from day one …", notwithstanding that the now-departed Eric Baldeschwieler was founding CEO.
In Hortonworks' view, Hadoop adopters typically start with a specific use case around a new type of data, such as clickstream, sensor, server log, geolocation, or social. Read more
Data model churn
Perhaps we should remind ourselves of the many ways data models can be caused to churn. Here are some examples that are top-of-mind for me. They do overlap a lot — and the whole discussion overlaps with my post about schema complexity last January, and more generally with what I've written about dynamic schemas for the past several years..
Just to confuse things further — some of these examples show the importance of RDBMS, while others highlight the relational model's limitations.
The old standbys
Product and service changes. Simple changes to your product line many not require any changes to the databases recording their production and sale. More complex product changes, however, probably will.
A big help in MCI's rise in the 1980s was its new Friends and Family service offering. AT&T couldn't respond quickly, because it couldn't get the programming done, where by "programming" I mainly mean database integration and design. If all that was before your time, this link seems like a fairly contemporaneous case study.
Organizational changes. A common source of hassle, especially around databases that support business intelligence or planning/budgeting, is organizational change. Kalido's whole business was based on accommodating that, last I checked, as were a lot of BI consultants'. Read more
|Categories: Data warehousing, Derived data, Kalido, Log analysis, Software as a Service (SaaS), Specific users, Text, Web analytics
|2 Comments
How is the surveillance data used?
Over the past week, discussion has exploded about US government surveillance. After summarizing, as best I could, what data the government appears to collect, now I 'd like to consider what they actually do with it. More precisely, I'd like to focus on the data's use(s) in combating US-soil terrorism. In a nutshell:
- Reporting is persuasive that electronic surveillance data is helpful in following up on leads and tips obtained by other means.
- Reporting is not persuasive that electronic surveillance data on its own uncovers or averts many terrorist plots.
- With limited exceptions, neither evidence nor logic suggests that data mining or predictive modeling does much to prevent domestic terrorist attacks.
Consider the example of Tamerlan Tsarnaev:
In response to this 2011 request, the FBI checked U.S. government databases and other information to look for such things as derogatory telephone communications, possible use of online sites associated with the promotion of radical activity, associations with other persons of interest, travel history and plans, and education history.
While that response was unsuccessful in preventing a dramatic act of terrorism, at least they tried.
As for actual success stories — well, that's a bit tough. In general, there are few known examples of terrorist plots being disrupted by law enforcement in the United States, except for fake plots engineered to draw terrorist-leaning individuals into committing actual crimes. One of those examples, that of Najibullah Zazi, was indeed based on an intercepted email — but the email address itself was uncovered through more ordinary anti-terrorism efforts.
As for machine learning/data mining/predictive modeling, I've never seen much of a hint of it being used in anti-terrorism efforts, whether in the news or in my own discussions inside the tech industry. And I think there's a great reason for that — what would they use for a training set? Here's what I mean. Read more
|Categories: Application areas, Predictive modeling and advanced analytics, RDF and graphs, Surveillance and privacy, Text
|9 Comments
Where things stand in US government surveillance
Edit: Please see the comment thread below for updates. Please also see a follow-on post about how the surveillance data is actually used.
US government surveillance has exploded into public consciousness since last Thursday. With one major exception, the news has just confirmed what was already thought or known. So where do we stand?
My views about domestic data collection start:
- I've long believed that the Feds — specifically the NSA (National Security Agency) — are storing metadata/traffic data on every telephone call and email in the US. The recent news, for example Senator Feinstein's responses to the Verizon disclosure, just confirms it. That the Feds sometimes claim this has to be "foreign" data or they won't look at it hardly undermines my opinion.
- Even private enterprises can more or less straightforwardly buy information about every credit card purchase we make. So of course the Feds can get that as well, as the Wall Street Journal seems to have noticed. More generally, I'd assume the Feds have all the financial data they want, via the IRS if nothing else.
- Similarly, many kinds of social media postings are aggregated for anybody to purchase, or can be scraped by anybody who invests in the equipment and bandwidth. Attensity's service is just one example.
- I'm guessing that web use data (http requests, search terms, etc.) is not yet routinely harvested by the US government.* Ditto deanonymization of same. I guess that way basically because I've heard few rumblings to the contrary. Further, the consumer psychographic profiles that are so valuable to online retailers might be of little help to national security analysts anyway.
- Video surveillance seems likely to grow, from fixed cameras perhaps to drones; note for example the various officials who called for more public cameras after that Boston Marathon bombing. But for the present discussion, that's of lesser concern to me, simply because it's done less secretively than other kinds of surveillance. If there's a camera that can see us, often we can see it too.
*Recall that these comments are US-specific. Data retention legislation has been proposed or passed in multiple countries to require recording of, among other things, all URL requests, with the stated goal of fighting either digital piracy or child pornography.
As for foreign data: Read more
|Categories: Hadoop, HP and Neoview, Petabyte-scale data management, Pricing, Surveillance and privacy, Telecommunications, Text, Vertica Systems, Web analytics
|10 Comments


text:
Embry Prada | Bio | Biography History
Real Name / Alias:Embry Prada / Embry Prada, Place of Birth:Bellflower California, Born / Date of Birth:June 28, 1986, Age / Zodiac Sign:28, Cancer, Occupation:Model
Extras at Glance
June 28, 1986 ( age 28 )
Real Name:
Embry Prada
Known / Aliases:
Embry, Embry Prada, Cameron Dee, Embry Karups,
Born Place / Hometown:
Bellflower, California
Bellflower, California
United States
Hair Length:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Skin Color:
5' 7" ( 67 inches) / 170 cm
136 lbs / 62 kg
Shoe Size:
8.5 US / 6.0 UK / 39 Euro
34C-24-36 [ Bust (Cup Size) / Waist / Hips ]
Career History:
Actress, Glamour Model, Adult Model, Dancer,
Credits / Association:
BangBros Network, ATK Premium, Fucked Hard 18, Teen Fidelity, Night Behind The Scenes, Disgraced 18, Spankbang, Porn Pros, Submissive Love, Passion HD, Planet Suzy,
Bound, Gagged and Looking for Rescue, Distressed and Undressed, Costumed Ladies Learn a Lesson, Topless Bondage Struggles, FM Concepts, ATK Fan, Babes, Karupsha,
Big Mouth Fuls, TugJobs, 18 Years Old, Cruelty Party, ATKingdom, AMKingdom, Passion HD, Pure Home Cams,
Mofos Network, Brazzers Network, Team Skeet, FTV Girls, Backroom Facials, Big Mouthfuls, Party of Three,
FB pages:
Jun 28 1986
June 28, 1986
Welcome to Star No Stars Embry Prada biography profile. Embry Prada is a Model from Bellflower California United States. Embry Prada is 28 years old, born on June 28, 1986. Interested in Embry Prada horoscope zodiac and numerology info? Read all about Embry Prada spirituality and personality characteristics by visiting her astrology numerology pages. Review and rate Embry Prada by visiting her voting page. Star no stars celebrity bio profile helps millions of people find REAL time live statistic's for your favorite celebrity and the chance to give them a vote to help them climb up the celebrity popularity charts. Whether or not Embry Prada received awards for her achievements and talents, your vote for them here will help visitors from around the world get accurate and up to date celebrity popularity statistics. You can find more celebrities born the same day as Embry Prada by going to Star no stars celebrity birthdays page. To see who the current top celebrities from United States are, you can visit Star no stars celebrity top charts page. If you are interested in reading more about your favorite celebrities and stars from around the world, easily search for them by using our celebirty search bar. Discover new celebrities and stars by viewing our latest celebrities page. You can bookmark, save, facebook like, google gplus+ and share Embry Prada biography page by using the social buttons.


text:
Blogs in 'Tech Trends and Commentaries'
It's important for content producers to protect their rights, but in this case, 20th Century Fox, in its attempt to hunt down sites that are offering free screenings of Prometheus (the movie), gets the wrong guy involved. In this case, a small Portuguese watch company?
The AppleCare Protection Plan extends the warranty of your beloved Apple product by an additional two years, but they don't come cheap. But do you really need it? I share my thoughts.
The television industry is transiting into a peculiar phase. It's a time where 4K LCD TVs and the soon-to-arrive OLED displays are beginning to emerge in tandem. Assuming you have the money, would you rather spend the precious dough on an OLED TV or a 4K UHD display? Feel free to share your thoughts with me.
Why the mirrorless system camera revolution hasn't really taken off - and what camera companies can (but probably won't) do to rock the boat.
The human ear is not as sensitive as we'd like to think and our hearing deteriorates with age. Yet, a handful of people still believe they have golden ears.


text:
10 advantages Windows 8 tablets have over the iPad and Android
Summary: Windows 8 tablets may be behind the iPad and Android tablets in market share but they have significant advantages over the competition. Here are 10 of them.
5 of 11Image
Use any peripherals
The Windows ecosystem of third party peripherals is huge, and that extends onto the tablet. Peripherals that work aren't restricted to the multiple monitors indicated on the previous slide, virtually any type of hardware that connects with standard connectors can be used with tablets.
Scenario: It is easy to connect a 1TB portable hard drive for handling lots of large files on the go. Not everyone will need such storage capacity on their tablet but audio and video professionals might find that pretty handy.
Snap view rocks!
Microsoft built the ability to run and display two apps side-by-side, a feature called snap view. This is a very useful way to work with two programs together. Snap view in Windows 8 is nice enough and improvements in the upcoming Windows 8.1 make it even better.
Some Samsung Galaxy Android tablets have this capability (called multiview) but it is more limited than the Windows 8 snap view. Any two apps can be snapped together in Windows 8, even the legacy desktop, while Samsung's method only works with certain apps.
Full-blown file manager
The Windows File Manager has long been a fixture on desktops because it is as good a file handler as that on any platform. The ability to perform any file function is a powerful feature on a tablet.
There are third party file managers for the iPad and Android tablets, but few of those are as powerful as the Windows manager. Windows 8 includes it in the box so tablet owners have it at their beck and call.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.


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Cubs by position - Catcher
Going into the next few years, I was hoping to take a look at the team's options by position. I wanted to start with catcher. Please chime in with other ideas if you have them.
First I wanted to start with catcher. My view is that catcher is a position that should be relatively stable for the next 3 years or so. Here are some of the options in the system:
Major League Level: Geovanny Soto (age 27). Soto is under the control of the Cubs until 2013 when he will be 30. I don't know what you guys think but as good as Soto seems right now, he doesn't seem like the type of player who will age well past the age of 30. I think the Cubs should ride him out until he's 30 and then let him go. He's a seriously net positive for the team, especially when he's walking like Eddie Stanky. I also believe he's underrated by the organization defensively. He's pretty much an average player on defense.
Major League Level:Koyie Hill (age 31). I love backup catchers and Hill is a perfect one. He's gritty, he does pretty well with the glove. He can switch hit so he sucks with the bat from both sides of the plate. Thing is, he's played way too much this year. He's hitting .221/.259/.273. That's an OPS of .532. His OPS+ is just 39 (100 being average). He is awful and it wouldn't hurt the Cubs on the field if he is replaced. I see him as a future manager but my God, Lou! Stop playing this guy.
AAA: Wellington Castillo (age 23). Castillo feels like a pretty good backup to me. He's only 23 so he could get better but his overall minor league triple slash line is .259/.315/.404. He's been a generally decent defensive catcher in the minors and he's slugging over .500 this year in Triple A but he rarely walks and usually doesn't hit for much power either. He's ok. If the Cubs didn't have Soto, I could see Castillo being the Cubs place holder at this position. If the Cubs were in contention this year, he'd be awesome trade bait.
AA: Robinson Chirinos (age 26). Chirinos has been in the minor leagues now for 10 years and has yet to play above AA. I think that's about to change but his upside isn't even as high as Castillo who I could see being a possible starter in the majors. Chirinos is only a starter on a team that is terrible and has seen everything else fail at this position. He's a backup at best. He's hitting the crap out of the ball in Double A at .325/.399/.556 but don't be fooled. He's almost the same age as Soto and he's not an option.
High A: Michael Brenly (age 23). Brenly was a 36th round draft pick by the Cubs and he has turned into an organizational player. Of course, none of this is surprising considering his bloodlines but not being able to hit in the Florida State League at the age of 23 is a sign of a player with little or no future. Sorry Bob, your boy is a future high school baseball coach!
High A: Mark Reed (age 24). Reed was once a pretty decent prospect. He was a 3rd round draft pick back in 2004 so he has a pedigree but I'm not kidding when I say he is a worse hitter than Michael Brenly even though he's a year older and has even spent a little time in Double A. Reed has no chance to be a big leaguer.
Low A: Mario Mercedes (age 23). 854 plate appearances in the minors. 2 HR. Yeah. and he's not an especially good hitter for average either. He's a place holder.
Low A: Jonathon Mota (age 23): Yeah, also not really a prospect. He spent an entire year in AA and then got demoted back down to the Midwest league this year. Not good. Can't hit. Ok defensively. That's about it.
Short Season A: Jose Guevara (age 22). Yeah, he's also a non prospect who hasn't shown the ability to hit enough to get out of A ball. At 22, he's rather old for the Northwest League. Notice a trend. This is why I was hoping the Cubs would draft a catcher. They did, btw.
Rookie League: Sergio Burruel (age 18). Here's the first real prospect since Castillo on this list. Burruel was a 19th round draft pick and is interesting enough that he bears keeping an eye on. It's early in the AZL season but after 4 games he is hitting .467, so who knows?
2010 Draft: Micah Gibbs (age 21). Gibbs is a switch hitter who was one of the most highly sought after catchers out of college in 2010 draft and was the Cubs' third round draft pick. He hasn't played a game of professional baseball yet but it's not hard to imagine Gibbs being the man who replaces Soto in about 2014. Here is a good scouting report I found on the 5'11" Gibbs.
Conclusion: Thankfully, the Cubs have Geovany Soto because the rest of the system is bad shape at the position of catcher. Castillo is pretty good and should probably take Hill's place in 2011. Chirinos is another candidate to be the backup catcher in 2011 but will probably be the placeholder at Iowa. Burruel is very young and bears watching and Gibbs looks like he's already the best catching prospect in the organization.
Good stuff, Sayers. I look
Good stuff, Sayers. I look forward to the rest of the series.
All good, except...
...I'm not sure if you're implying that the Florida State League is a hitter's league, but it definitely is not.
And speaking of 23 year olds who couldn't hit in Daytona, check out this line:
32 games, 129 PA, 1 HR, .250/.326/.357
That's Tyler Colvin at age 23. I suppose part of that has to do with his rehab, but be careful before you write guys off completely.
Having said that, I agree that Soto is The Guy at catcher at least through his arbitration seasons.
Just a couple of points
1) Tyler Colvin was rehabbing and had a pedigree. He was a first round draft pick and I wouldn't have counted him out even after that season. Michael Brenly has no pedigree. Typically, if you are 23 and can't hit in High A, even in a pitcher's league like the FSL, that is a very bad sign.
2) I'm still not completely sold on Colvin's future stardom as you and others are. I see him as a .325/.345 OBP player and a .440/.470 SLG player. That's a pretty mediocre corner outfielder. I hope I'm wrong.
For comparison's sake,
For comparison's sake, Alfonso Soriano's career line is .279/.327/.511.
More importantly, Colvin can play D. You're right, his value isn't as great in RF as it would be in CF, but even a slightly-above-average bat with a plus glove could be worth 2-3 wins, no? A $10 million dollar player who won't really make any money before 2013?
Not sure what you're basing your "OK Defensively" remark on, but he just converted to catcher this year so a review of "OK" would be premature. It's a massive work in progress still. He's the slightest bit intriguing if the defense takes - at least to me.


text:
Twitter Can Predict Who's Winning the GOP Presidential Race [STUDY]
Political candidates do better in the polls when they gain more Twitter followers, new research reveals. National polls happen all the time but it's possible to predict when certain candidates will climb in the rankings based the rate they are followed. Zach Green, CEO of Twitter election researcher 140elect, wrote in a blog post Friday that he anticipated this trend, but now has the stats to prove it.


text:
RORY: You know what just occurred to me? That we are very fortunate to have good teeth.
JESS: Yes, very fortunate.
RORY: Can you imagine if braces were involved in this interaction?
JESS: It'd be a bloodbath.
RORY: I can't catch my breath.
JESS: You're not supposed to.
Jess was the best.


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Rental Home Description
Second floor unit with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. Large kitchen with plenty of cabinet space and inside laundry area. Master bedroom sliders lead to screened porch. Close to parks w/ playground, ball fields, tennis courts, exercise course and picnic areas.
Rental Home Details
$725 Rent
2 Bedrooms
1 Full Bathrooms
1 Half Bathrooms
830 SqFt Square Footage
Rental Home Features
- Disposal
- Refrigerator
- Washer/Dryer Inc.: Clothes Washer
- Cooling System: Central Air Conditioning
- Heating System: Electric Heat
- Roof: Asphalt Shingle Roof
- Dwelling Faces: Western Exposure
- Home Owner Asso.: Fee Incl. Real Estate Tax
- Pool
- Exterior Construction: Porch
- Parking: Assigned Parking, Open Parking Spaces
- Pool: Inground Pool
- Porch/Deck: Porch
- Floors: Carpeting, Vinyl Flooring
- Interior Construction: Ceiling Fan(s), Open Floorplan
- MLS Area: 214 - Rockledge
- View: Wooded View
- Water Utilities: City Water


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Discover Adionomy, Your Online Radio Advertising Campaign, Fast, Easy and Custom-Made!
Stan Getz (Stanley Gayetzky, February 2, 1927 Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 Malibu, California) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. His parents were Ukrainian Jews who immigrated from Kiev city, Ukraine in 1903. The family later moved to New York City for better jobs.
35 played on Radionomy
Sweet Rain
Getz/Gilberto #2
Stan Getz: The Bossa Nova Albums
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Blue Skies
Soul Eyes
Jazz Samba
The Song is You
Stan Getz Plays
Complete Roost Sessions
Big Band Bossa Nova
Bossas and Ballads: The Lost Sessions
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Stan Getz
The Very Best Of Stan Getz
Getz Plays Jobim: The Girl from Ipanema
Getz For Lovers
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The Steamer
West Coast Jazz
The Complete Roost Recordings
Bossa Nova
Jazz Masters 8
Jazz Samba Encore!
The Essential Stan Getz
Compact Jazz
Stan Getz & Bill Evans
Getz Au Go Go


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Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top Plimsolls - White
- In Stock
226 reviews
- Delivery
- Next day delivery available
Chuck Taylor All Star Hi-top Plimsolls
These Chuck Taylor hi top plimsolls by Converse are a true American classic that have changed very little since they first hit the market.
Chuck Taylor trainers are chic, stylish and simple - the perfect versatile shoe for any adventure. Chuck Taylor hi top plimsolls boast a strong canvas upper which bears the original Chuck Taylor patch logo to the inside. Two perforated holes help to circulate air inside the shoe. These Chuck Taylor Converse plimsolls are available in a range of funky colours including white, red, navy and black.
Pair these Chuck Taylor plimsolls with jeans or a skirt and leggings. Add a retro inspired blazer for a vintage twist or keep it casual with your favourite All Star branded T-shirt or hoody.
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- Chuck Taylor All Star hi-top plimsolls
- Strong canvas upper with logo detail
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Converse Tribal Print Chuck Patch T-shirt
- Low stock, selling fast
1 review
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Converse Tribal Print Chuck Patch T-shirt.Colour: White. Cotton. Machine washable.
Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Ox Plimsolls
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35 reviews
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Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Ox Trainers
With their trademark effortlessly easy, casual appearance, the Converse All Star has established a reputation amongst the elite of world footwear.
This Ox version of the Chuck Taylor plimsoll features a low cut and an easy lace fastening. A woven tab to the tongue and All Star branding to the heel accompany a traditional toffee bottom sole whilst a half rubber toecap delivers further protection from bumps and bangs.
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Useful info:
- Ox plimsolls by Converse
- Chuck Taylor All Stars
- Lace up fastening
- Off white canvas upper
- Woven tab to tongue
- All Star branding to heel
- Half rubber toecap
- Contrast trim to midsole
- Toffee bottom sole


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Outing Chat / Re: new fishing guide« on: September 08, 2014, 03:35:33 PM »
I find it ironic that all of these Texas guides are now fishing Louisiana especially during the winter ("Big Bull) months. Something I am sure hasn't gone unnoticed by the LA guides. Bet the temporary license fees go up as well as guide certification costs. Let's see how many Texas guides will take their clients over there during the off months (April - September)...er none! Even the south Texas guides are jumping on the band wagon. Why not easier to catch a big dumb bull than a smart-ass trout!
I have already heard of a few Texas guide trucks getting "sweetened" last year at the ramps. BORDER WARS!
Depends on where in LA they go I guess. There's really only a handful of guides over there who target reds on the fly and they seem clustered around Hopedale. Scott Null works out of Port Fourchon/Grand Isle and in my 2 days over there this past February we saw one other boat on the water and the only time we were within shouting distance from them was when we were leaving the ramp & running out the ICW.
And the only thing those coon-ass folk get mad about us fishing for reds is the fact we don't keep them. They hate reds, they'd rather catch 20 12" trout than a 40# bull red.


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Q is the legendary monthly magazine celebrating everything that's great in rock and roll. With world-beating exclusives, amazing photography and an inimitable sense of humour, Q tells the stories behind the music that matters. Subscribe today… because music sounds better with Q.


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Indoor Living
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Fireplace Vacuum Attachment 2 2
It's just okay. I bought this from Improvements last year. It worked adequately for about half the season. It tends to clog easily if you vacuum anything other than fine ash. Then I needed to replace the Hepa filter and the cloth filter. Very few sites carry them and the cost is quite high. Including shipping, the filters are about 60% of the price I paid for the attachment itself. I've gone back to the broom and shovel. December 15, 2013
Such a find! Because I wanted a way to clean ashes from my fireplace at a lower price than the usual shop vacuums, I was pleased to find this item in your catalog. Not only does it work both easily and exacty the way you promised, but I have found other uses for it! I needed a railing so I was safer descending wood steps leading to my patio, and the "fence man" removed some boards so he knew how to brace it. Spiders and leaves were below those boards - he used this vacuum to clean everything up, then emptied the "bucket" out by the back fence. I had to laugh about using it this way - who knows where I'll find another unusual use for it before I actually need to clean the fireplace this winter! October 24, 2011
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Product:359759-Fireplace Vacuum Attachment


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Fegefeuer An Altar – Nicola Samorì
(via 0therness)
Benjamin Laukis
holy shit.
"Der Nachtmahr", by Johann Heinrich Füssli.
(via 0therness)
Hussein Chalayan S/S 2010
(via deadvibe)
When I bought this I didn't realize I could change her face too! Ohhhh yesss! 🎀💕 #toyaddict
Let me eat your brains. 💀😬🍴
Let me be your mr. 🎩🌹
Let me be your mr. 🎩🌹


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Diving In after Divorce
Guest blogger Hayley Krischer: When everything else seemed uncertain, it seemed like surfing gave me an anchor.
In the middle of my painful divorce, my father suggested that my 2-year-old son, Jake, and I join him on his already-planned vacation to Maui. I went with the notion that there was no better time than during a messy divorce to learn how to surf. This trip would not only prove that I could manage a toddler on a 10-hour plane ride, but that I could holler back to Destiny's Child's rally call, "All the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me!"
My fixation with surfing had started 20 years earlier. My first major crush was a blond, 15-year-old surfer who serenaded me with the Beach Boys' mushy "Surfer Girl." In my junior-high yearbook, he wrote, "I'll call you when I'm down the shore. Bye, surfer girl." Swooning was inevitable.
I pursued more surfers as the years went by. There was Dean, with the shoulder-length hair and sky-blue eyes. He was saving up for a surf trip to Mexico. There was Todd, who tied his board to the roof of my car. I moved from New Jersey to San Francisco and spent hours watching the surfers navigate the icy Pacific. I saw the ocean as a giant, moving monster, never imagining that I myself would ever surf.
During a weekend in Santa Cruz with some friends, though, my surfer-friend Dave (who I secretly wished was my boyfriend) dared me to stop gawking from the shore. He gave me a few instructions. I practiced a couple of times on land, then plunged into the cold water.
I bobbed with ease on the board, lifting my chest as each wave rose. I can do this, I thought. Then I turned my head and saw Dave waving his arms in an upward motion. Oh Jesus, he's signaling me to stand! I imagined myself falling off the board, the board smacking me in the head and me drowning while unconscious. I rode the wave back to land -- on my belly.
"What happened?" Dave asked. "You were about to get up."
"I'm too scared," I said, and plodded back to my towel.
After that humiliation, I was done fantasizing about surfers and surfing. I missed my family and moved back to New Jersey. There, I met a man who liked land, hated the word "dude" and ridiculed the skate park opening in our small suburban town. "Where do they think we are, Southern California?" he asked. Yes, I had given myself a powerful surfer exorcism.
Even with our differences, we got married. Soon after, we had Jake. Once a child was in the picture, our disagreements became more polarizing. We'd even argue about our son's wardrobe: I'd buy him little board shorts, puka necklaces and flip-flops; my husband wanted him in argyles and sailor outfits. There's never one reason a marriage breaks down. While I was far from perfect, let's just say my husband had far worse compulsions than argyle.
When we separated, the Jersey Shore became my comforter. I'd park myself in the sand, feeling a rush of adrenaline as I watched surfers race to the dark water. Soon enough, my surfing jones was reignited. It was exciting and depressing all at once; it had been 20 years since my intro to surfing, and I still didn't know how. So when my father suggested that I meet him in Maui, my response was: "I'm going to surf when I get there."
He paused for a second, then said, "Go get 'em, tiger."
It took an entire week for the "tiger" to set herself free. But on the last day of our trip, I rented a car and signed up for surfing lessons.
My instructor, Twolia, was a beautiful Asian woman with a tight wetsuit top and tiny bikini bottoms (not that I needed any more reason to feel intimidated). Holding a board on her head, she walked toward me with her seven-year-old son in tow (he also held a surfboard on his head).
"Do you surf with your son?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah," she said. "He taught himself to surf when he was four."
It was one of those moments when you pretend to be impressed while, inside, you're screaming at yourself for your pathetic shortcomings because a seven-year-old has surpassed you. I thought about Jake. One day he would be four, and he would need a surfer mama to look up to. So when Twolia told me to pick up my board and follow her, I did. The horizon was filled with surfers. I was excited, ready. It was thrilling to paddle out.
"See the shadow in the distance?" Twolia asked. "That's your wave coming."
I dug my hands ferociously into the water as she directed. Just as the wave propelled me ahead, Twolia yelled, "Stand up!"
I jumped to a squatting position, then pushed myself up using all the might in my legs. And there I stood, semi-awkwardly, as the wave drove ahead. I caught a glimpse of the mountainous landscape that circled the beach. I remained upright until the wave dropped out and I slowly sank into the water.
I thought of the surfer boys from my past. I thought of the nameless sunstreaked dudes in California. I even thought of my non-surfing ex-husband. None of them would have believed this.
Back on the mainland, it was clear what had finally pushed me onto that surfboard: It was a moment in time where everything in my life felt uncertain -- marriage, love, how I'd cope with being a single mother. Surfing was one tiny aspect of my life that I could control.
The next summer at the Jersey Shore, I surprised myself by signing up for more surfing lessons with a few of my teenage cousins. My body seemed to remember Twolia's instruction, and I got up quickly. "You're good for a mom," my 18-year-old instructor said.
Later that summer, I met the man who is now my new husband. Ironically enough, he grew up near the beach but had never surfed.
"I tried surfing once in Santa Barbara, but it was an utter failure," he said. "You've never seen a man so ungraceful."
I laughed, because I always laughed when I was with him.
"I'd love to try again," he said. "I'm always up for a challenge."
"I could probably teach you," I said. "You know, I'm pretty good."
I love that story. It's never too late to reinvent yourself, even if you missed the boat (or the board) the first time.
Great Story…I loved it! Really touching and passionate!


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The Senate's Republican leader said Sunday he would oppose a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, damaging prospects for President Barack Obama's foreign policy priority in the final days of the postelection Congress. Top Democrats still expressed confidence the Senate would ratify the accord by year's end.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the treaty's verification system and expressed concern that the pact would limit U.S. missile defense options even though Obama insisted Saturday that the treaty imposes no restrictions on missile defense.
"Rushing it right before Christmas strikes me as trying to jam us," McConnell said on CNN's "State of the Union" a few hours before debate on the treaty resumed Sunday, the fifth day of consideration of the pact. "I think that was not the best way to get the support of people like me."
While McConnell's opposition did not come as a surprise, proponents of the pact worried Sunday about how hard he would work to defeat the accord. Treaties require a two-thirds majority of those voting in the Senate, and Republican votes are critical to Obama's success in getting the landmark agreement.
In response, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said, "We respect Senator McConnell's view, but we were not surprised by it, and certainly were not counting on his support to achieve Senate approval."
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expressed disappointment with McConnell's opposition, but he suggested in a statement that several Senate Republicans "share the belief that this treaty is too critical to our national security to delay, and I look forward to strong bipartisan support to pass this treaty before we end this session of Congress."
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Democrats' No. 2 leader in the Senate, and John Kerry, D-Mass., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in news show appearances that they believe they have the votes to ratify the treaty.
After several hours of debate Sunday, Democrats turned back an amendment by Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho that would have altered the treaty, effectively killing it. By a vote of 60-32, the Senate rejected the measure to add language on tactical nuclear weapons to the preamble of the treaty. Such a move would have forced it back to negotiations, dooming the accord.
It marked the second time in two days that Democrats had stopped GOP amendments, largely along party-line votes.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the accord — it is known as New START — in April. It would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current ceiling of 2,200. It would also establish a system for monitoring and verification. U.S. weapons inspections ended a year ago with the expiration of a 1991 treaty.
Republicans have argued that the treaty's preamble would allow Russia to withdraw from the pact if the U.S. develops a missile defense system in Europe. Democrats argued that the preamble reference to missile defense systems was nonbinding and had no legal authority.
"This treaty needs to be fixed," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. "And we are not going to have the time to do that in the bifurcated way or trifurcated way that we're dealing with it here, with other issues being parachuted in all the time."
While Kyl did not predict whether the treaty would be rejected or ratified, he said gaining the two-thirds vote would depend upon whether senators would be able to consider the amendments Republicans wanted to offer.
"I predicted a couple of weeks ago that we would not have time to do this adequately, and I think my prediction's coming true," he said.
Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and one who supports ratification, said more amendments to the treaty needed to be heard.
"Several Republicans will support it, and I join the chairman in believing that there are the votes there. The problem is really getting to that final vote," Lugar said.
On Saturday, Senate Democrats deflected an initiative by Republicans that would have forced U.S. and Russian negotiators to reopen talks. The 59-37 vote against the amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., indicated the difficulty Obama is having in trying to win ratification of the treaty before a new, more Republican Senate assumes power in January.
Led by McCain, Obama's GOP opponent in the 2008 presidential election, Republicans tried to strike words from the treaty's preamble that they say would allow Russia to withdraw from the pact if the U.S. develops a missile defense system in Europe. Democrats said a reference in the treaty's preamble on missile defense systems is nonbinding and has no legal authority.
Durbin and Kyl spoke on "Fox News Sunday" while Kerry and Lugar appeared on ABC's "This Week." McConnell spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press
One Response to "McConnell: We don't need no stinkin' Russian nuclear treaty"
I don't care for Mitch McConnell because of his involvement in so many political shenanigans, but he's right on this one.
Screw the ruskies, these treaties are all a sham anyways. Nuclear war is total war and no treaty on earth is going hold them back when it comes to them looking out for numero uno; ie, Russia's interests.
"Democrats said a reference in the treaty's preamble on missile defense systems is nonbinding and has no legal authority." …extract from article
So why is it in the treaty to being with? Are these people dolts, traitors or both as I believe them to be? I'm not for building a missile defense system either. They are ineffective against strategic MIRV'd warheads; ie., those containing a number of separate targetable weapons as a payload. Even if only fraction of these monster megaton ruskie warheads get throug the shields, its' still 'curtains' for Europe and U.S. A hundred missiles are launched each with 8-10 warheads. That's one thousand initial possible targets. If only 30% get through then that still a couple of hundred plus on target hits which consume most major cities and manufacturing centers on the European continent as well as the U.S. The numbers of initial missiles launched will be far greater though, so the scenario is even worse concerning outcomes; ie., unthinkable nuclear holocaust…Armageddon!
The anti-missile shield is just another MIC friendly boondoggle. They have their place to counteract single warhead short to medium range missiles, but not that of the aforedescribed kind; ie., of the MIRV'd strategic variety.
The only countermeasure will be reincarnation… : |
Carl Nemo **==
Comments are closed.


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How Government Destroys Our Wealth
November 24, 2008 | Filed Under 00Publius Contributor, Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Media Bias, News, Socialism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment
-By Warner Todd Huston
Want to know why our economy is foundering? Blame government spending.
Government spends $57,000 per family of 4 per year. Pure waste. The median household income of Americans is only around $45,000, so the people aren't even making as much as the government wastes on them. This is unsustainable.
Here is a great slide show by Rich Sokol to help illustrate the issue of government spending policy.
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men's News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book "Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture" which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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Whitney Purvis and her boyfriend/baby daddy Weston Gosa -- stars of MTV's "16 & Pregnant" -- were arrested in Georgia this week after allegedly smashing the hell out of some electronics ... TMZ has learned.
The Floyd County Sheriff's Dept. tells us ... 21-year-old Whitney and 23-year-old Weston were arrested on December 12th ... after someone filed a complaint accusing the two of smashing a laptop and a cell phone.
We're told a warrant was issued for their arrests ... so cops went to their home and arrested the reality stars for criminal trespassing.
Both Whitney and Weston were taken to the station where they were booked. They were each released on $1,300 bond.
It's unclear who was watching their child during the arrest.
hmmmm...and I am guilty of watching this show, I remember her she had the most annoying voice ever!
Ghetto is in its purest form.
This show should just be called 16 and a slut. I call Teen Mom Teen Slut. These girls are just so dumb or they wouldnt be having sex that young and getting knocked up.
I think we should not pretend to be surprised. These kids were on a show because they were making bad choices already. The surprise would be to see kids from the show that were able to overcome and succeed. Which is possible just rare.
since when it is illegal to destroy something that belongs to you??
That was the first thing I said to myself also.lol
Man that's too bad, the baby daddy used to be really good looking! Don't do drugs kids.
WTF with her eyebrows?
They should just yank all these girls off the show and cancel it or put more respectable girls on tv. This show will these girls is bad for publicity and no one cares about these girls and their selfish, stupid opinions. Obviously, their children are not the priority here. And that is what the show is supposed to be about. 16 And Pregnant. Not I'm messing my life up!! REDICULOUS!!!
Squeeeee..... you got a purty mouth.... hyuk hyuk
You know these two low-lives are rolling in their pig **** in excitement to be on TMZ
Just for the people saying this was going to happen and that's what happens when you have a baby at 16 your wrong I am living proof that not all teen parents turn bad I was 15 yes 15 when I fell pregnant with my son I had him when I was 16 his dad was the first person I had been with and I am still with him 7 years later we have just had another baby aswell my son is now 6. I am 23 we have our own home own successful business and two cars on the drive. Not everyone ends up bad
@SeeSomething: It's Rome, GA. I live there. It's really no surprise to anyone around here. He comes from a nice, sweet family. I know them. I don't know what went wrong. I can't speak for her because I don't know her family, but from what I could tell on the show her family is a real pleasant treat to be around (sarcasm noted.) I wish they had never been on the show. They give our town a terrible name.
Sweet Cruela DeVille eyebrows...


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CANFIELD, Ohio – The Canfield Key Club has raised over $1,000 for a Valley organization dedicated to the rescue of abandoned, abused and injured animals.
The Key Club will present a check to Falcon Animal Rescue at the grand opening of the organizations new animal rescue facility on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown on Saturday, December 14th.
The Key Club raised the money by selling pumpkin rolls for Thanksgiving.
The Key Club, which has over 75 students, is a student-led group whose goal is to teach leadership through helping.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
While I see your points about why the hardest-of-hardcore raiders provide some value to the game, I'm very glad that Blizzard has made their needs a much lower priority than in years past.
Losing the top 0.1% of players to boredom with the game's difficulty is much better than losing the interest of masses of people who really wish to experience raiding content at the much smaller/more casual pace that Wrath has enabled.
tatarynowicz said...
Bump. I don't really care if 25thNov beats all the content in the game in a week, or in a year. What's important for me is if my casual guild will be able to raid all the raids in game and have fun while doing that. If the answer is 'yes', Blizzard has done a great job with the expansion.
This is comming from someone who has cleared ZA only after the nerfs. I've never seen the inside of MH nor BT, let alone Sunwell (I've seen the inside of The Eye solo on my rogue ^^).
I want to be able to enjoy all the game's content. Thank you Blizzard for making it possible.
While I agree with the casual guilds being able to see all the content is a good thing, I also think that making it "too easy" is going to remove that feeling of accomplishment for the guilds that go through "progression" and not steamrolling. Before the pre-wrath nerf patch my guild was just at the start of Hyjal/BT. Being able to go into those places made it feel like we were doing something right. The content felt "epic". Downing a boss after several wipes felt like a great accomplishment. We weren't a top guild. Maybe top 30% on the server at most. Most of the hardcore guilds were already farming sunwell. But it still felt epic to us. Even going in after the nerf patch and taking down Kalecgos felt great, because it takes extreme coordination and Sunwell was famous for being difficult. It just feels like the current content won't have that "epic" feel to it. But who knows. I may be wrong. I'll find out this weekend if we steamroll the content or if we spend most of our time wiping. I just hope it doesnt turn out like Kara was post 3-patch. That was like being showered in purples for under an hours worth the work.


text:
Note: If you are looking for the main contact information for JJKane Home Office, click here. For the appraisal team, please see below:
Our appraisers have reached the highest level of accreditation through membership and continuous training with the American Society of Appraiser International Society and Equipment Appraisers Association of North America. All appraisals conform to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP) as set forth by the Appraisal Foundation.
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Construction, Mining, Transportation, Material Production, Lifting & Rigging – 29 Years Experience
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Our values drive the approach we take towards our business. Let us prove it to you. Learn More...


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Using Fresh & Dried Herbs
Herbs help transform your favorite foods into delicious meals and offer tons of health benefits,...Read More
Achiote Grilled Fish Tacos
Our achiote marinade gives these tasty grilled fish tacos a warm, earthy flavor. Dressed in...Read More
Grilled & Spiced Peaches
Peaches have no better home than on the grill. Tossing them over the flame intensifies...Read More
Blueberry Crumble
Nothing says summer like blueberry crumble. Our version is gluten-free, comes together with minimal effort...Read More