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HERMANN MISSOURI OKTOBERFEST 2010
HERMANN MISSOURI OKTOBERFEST 2010 - CLICK ON PHOTO FOR THIS YEARS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
BARRY WILNER,AP Pro Football Writer www.STLtoday.comFriday, February 4, 2011
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DALLAS - Top draft choice, top rookie. St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford won The Associated Press 2010 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award on Friday. The first overall selection in last year's draft, Bradford guided the Rams from the embarrassment of a 1-15 record to a 7-9 mark. In the weak NFC West, that was good enough to contend for the division title; St. Louis lost out on a tiebreaker to Seattle. "I think the more I'm out there, the more comfortable I become," Bradford said. "It's been like that all year. There's been some ups, there's been some downs, but I feel like for the most part I've learned from my mistakes each week. I think the game's stating to slow down a little bit, but I really still have a long way to go before I'm as comfortable as I want to be." The voters certainly were comfortable with Bradford's passing and leadership. He earned 44 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Only two other rookies received votes: Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Williams earned four, and Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey had two. Bradford is the fourth quarterback since 2004 to win the award. Before that, no quarterbacks had won it. He won the 2008 Heisman Trophy as a redshirt sophomore, when the Sooners lost to Florida for the national championship, then decided to stay at Oklahoma another season. It was cut short by an early shoulder injury and he barely played in 2009. Still, Bradford so impressed pro scouts in postseason workouts that he was a consensus No. 1 pick. The questions about his durability remained, and he answered them by taking every snap this season. He threw 590 passes, completing 60 percent for 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
At 64.2%, the labor force participation rate (as a percentage of the total civilian noninstitutional population) is now at a fresh 26 year low, the lowest since March 1984, and is the only reason why the unemployment rate dropped to 9% (labor force declined from 153,690 to 153,186). Those not in the Labor Force has increased from 83.9 million to 86.2 million, or 2.2 million in one year! As for the numerator in the fraction, the number of unemployed, it has plunged from 15 million to 13.9 million in two months! The only reason for this is due to the increasing disenchantment of those who completely fall off the BLS rolls and no longer even try to look for a job. Lastly, we won't even show what the labor force is as a percentage of total population. It is a vertical plunge. . Click Here to Read More.
Freshly emboldened by their mid-term congressional wins, establishment Republicans are set to extend the unconstitutional police state Patriot Act. It is set to expire in three weeks and Republicans are eager to make sections of the legislation permanent.
Rep. Ron Paul is one of a small number of members of Congress who do not support the unconstitutionalPATRIOT Act. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote to continue and extend the law. “Having this debate year after year offers little certainty to agents utilizing these provisions to keep the nation safe,” said ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
“Short-term reauthorizations lead to operational uncertainty and compliance and reporting problems if the reauthorization occurs too close to expiration,” Grassley continued. “If these provisions are necessary, we should provide more certainty rather than simply revisiting the law year after year given the indefinite threat we face from acts of terrorism, and that looks like decades ahead. We should permanently reauthorize the three expiring provisions.” Grassley, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Intelligence Committee Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., will introduce legislation to make the measures permanent. The Senate leadership has initiated procedures for a vote on the legislation. “These are going to expire in a couple weeks so I would hope that all senators in both parties who have interest in that will meet with me and Sen. Grassley. None of us want to play politics on national security and we should get moving on this,” said committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. Leahy introduced a reauthorization of the unconstitutional act last week that would extend and reform some provisions set to expire on February 28. Leahy’s reforms, known as the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011, would limit the government’s power in gathering intelligence on individuals in the United States.
Many observers, including the ACLU and the American Library Association, say the reforms do not go far enough. The ACLU has called the legislation unconstitutional. . Click Here to Read More.
A hockey ref tried to stop a fight, but ended up skating into the net.The ref lost his balance and slid feet first into the net and knocked it out of place. Seems unhurt!!!
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Historic tax credit awards fall sharply in Missouri
By TIM LOGAN www.STLtoday.com Friday, February 4, 2011
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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon looks to be gaining little traction in his bid to get lawmakers to cut spending on the state's Historic Tax Credit program. But between the slow economy and, some allege, an administrative slowdown, he appears to be achieving the desired result anyway. In the first six months of the fiscal year - July 1 through Dec. 31 - the state authorized just $32.6 million worth of historic credits, according to new numbers from the Missouri Department of Revenue. That's less than half of the $86.1 million authorized in the same period last year, and barely one-fourth the $124 million in the first half of fiscal 2009. It's also on pace to fall well below the $75 million annual cap recommended by the Governor's Tax Credit Review Commission in November - a figure that has met with stiff opposition from the St. Louis historic rehab community. The credits - which reimburse a developer one-fourth the cost of rehabbing a historic building and which, on large projects, are often paired with a 20 percent federal tax credit - have been the lifeblood of rehabilitation in downtown St. Louis over the last decade. They've been used, too, to rebuild single-family homes and small commercial buildings in neighborhoods around the city. But they've come at a hefty cost to the state treasury - $186 million in 2009, for instance - prompting Nixon and some budget hawks in the Legislature to try and rein the program in. Last year, for the first time, historic credits were capped at $140 million annually, and there are still many pushing for an even tighter cap, though none has been formally proposed in the Legislature yet this year. Either way, the credits authorized fell well short of the new cap in fiscal 2010, and appear likely to do so again this year. Credit supporters point to that when they argue that Nixon's concerns will take care of themselves - that while a weaker economy means less money in state coffers, it also means less demand for tax credit-funded real estate projects. But some tax credit supporters contend that the slowdown isn't entirely market-driven. They point to new rules around the historic program, which are dramatically slowing the administrative process, leading to fewer awards. State officials have said the new rules improve oversight, but that they'll work to ensure they don't needlessly slow things down.
Friday, February 4, 2011
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BY Kayla Alewel http://www.columbiamissourian.com COLUMBIA — Missouri will receive emergency aid from the federal government after enduring a severe winter storm. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Missouri on Thursday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency began to provide assistance.
Bob Josephson, external affairs officer for FEMA Region VII, said it is still working with the state government to do preliminary damage assessments and determine what the need will be. Federal Coordinating Officer Elizabeth Turner will head recovery operations in the affected area. The last time Missouri received federal emergency aid for a winter storm was Jan. 30 2009.
FEBRUARY 3--Mistakenly believing that a middle school classmate had caused the arrest of a friend, a quartet of Florida teenagers exchanged Facebook messages discussing the killing of the suspected “snitch,” according to police. The students--three 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old--were arrested yesterday at school and charged with aggravated stalking, a felony.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office investigators allege that the death threats were spurred by the arrest of Nicholas Gonzalez, 13, who was nabbed for possession of a firearm on the campus of the North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts. According to a sheriff’s report, immediately after Gonzalez’s January 27 collar, the four students arrested yesterday began exchanging Facebook messages about the bust. In communications posted to 13-year-old Nichole Cruz’s Facebook page, the students threatened the life of a boy who was suspected of notifying police about Gonzalez carrying a weapon. The boy, whose name police redacted from the probable cause statement, had “no involvement” in Gonzalez’s bust and “in no way participated with law enforcement regarding that incident,” according to investigators. In light of the Facebook threats (which were discovered by the boy’s mother), the “emotionally distraught” victim told deputies that he was “very afraid to return to school for fear someone would kill him…He stated if one student had already brought a gun to school, what would keep another from bringing a gun to school to kill him.”
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A hydrologist for the National Weather Service warned Thursday that towns along the upper part of the Mississippi River could be in for significant flooding this spring. The Weather Service’s St. Louis office released its Spring Flood Outlook last week, and the report was ominous. Tributaries are already running high, soil in northern states is saturated, and cold weather has kept snow from melting. Meanwhile, precipitation is expected to be above normal for February. The report came out before this week’s blizzard that dumped 2 feet of snow on parts of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, only adding to concerns. “It appears likely we’ll get moderate to major levels of flooding on the Mississippi,” hydrologist Mark Fuchs said. Fuchs said this week’s storm doesn’t help but shouldn’t make a significant difference. Two feet of snow translates only to about an inch of precipitation. Weather Service river watchers say the probability of major flooding is as high as 80 percent at a few spots in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, and nearly as high in parts of northeast Missouri. Among the towns in the 80 percent-plus range is Red Wing, Minn., a scenic community of 16,000 residents 50 miles south of the Twin Cities. Emergency director Roger Hand said he was aware of the flood forecast but not too worried about it, especially since few homes are in the floodplain. “We’re pretty well used to it here,” Hand said. “We’re not going to do anything until we see the water come up.” Forecasting is more difficult below where the Missouri and Mississippi converge near St. Louis, but flood concerns aren’t as high below St. Louis because southeast Missouri and southern Illinois experienced drought conditions through 2010. Flooding was also possible along the Missouri and Illinois rivers, according to the Weather Service outlook, but the prospects of serious flooding aren’t as great but about the same as in 2010. High water is common in the spring, even expected. But Fuchs said computer models show the greatest flood risk in eight years along the Mississippi. That period includes 2008, when some areas of the Midwest had record floods. Fuchs described “moderate” flooding as impacting people — water over roads and highways, into utility buildings. “Major” flooding indicates bigger concerns — water inside homes and businesses and over significant roadways, for example. George Stringham of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said levees are mostly ready for the spring. Two levees along the Mississippi still need minor repairs from damage during floods last summer. Both are in Missouri — one in Pike County, one in Lincoln County. Stringham said the corps keeps a close eye on the river and flood predictions. A series of flood preparedness meetings with emergency workers along the Mississippi is planned. And the corps reduces the pool of its reservoirs in the winter, in anticipation of spring rains and runoff.
How does a unknown dating site, with the absurd intention of destroying Facebook, launch with 250,000 member profiles on the first day? Simple. You scrape data from Facebook. At least, that’s the approach taken by two provocateurs who launched Lovely-Faces.com this week, with profiles — names, locations and photos — scraped from publicly accessible Facebook pages. The site categorizes these unwitting volunteers into personality types, using a facial recognition algorithm, so you can search for someone in your general area who is “easy going,” “smug” or “sly.” Or you can just search on people’s real names. The duo behind the site say it’s art, not commerce. In what seems to be liberal-arts-grad-schoolese, Paolo Cirio, a media artist, and Alessandro Ludovico, media critic and editor in chief of Neural magazine, explain why they made the site. “Facebook, an endlessly cool place for so many people, becomes at the same time a goldmine for identity theft and dating — unfortunately, without the user’s control,” the two explain. “But that’s the very nature of Facebook and social media in general. If we start to play with the concepts of identity theft and dating, we should be able to unveil how fragile a virtual identity given to a proprietary platform can be.” And, the duo speculate, if people pull hard enough on that bothersome thread, Facebook’s $50 billion valuation will unravel. Facebook, as you might expect, is not amused. “Scraping people’s information violates our terms,” said Barry Schnitt, Facebook’s director of policy communications. “We have taken, and will continue to take, aggressive legal action against organizations that violate these terms. We’re investigating this site and will take appropriate action.” Facebook’s terms of service require those who want to collect data from its pages to apply for permission, which Cirio and Ludovic did not do when they pulled down publicly available profile information on a million Facebook users. (They aren’t the first to scrape a million Facebook profiles.) Cirio and Ludovic say they will take down a user’s profile, if a person asks and the site doesn’t have any indication they are actually trying to make any money. Instead, it’s part of a series of prank sites, the first two of which aimed at Google and Amazon, intended to make people think more about data in the age of internet behemoths. Moreover, it’s a bit funny hearing Facebook complain about scraping of personal data that is quasi-public. Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder, made his name at Harvard in 2003 by scraping the names and photos of fellow classmates off school servers to feed a system called FaceMash. With the photos, Zuckerberg created a controversial system that pitted one co-ed against another, by allowing others to vote on which one was better looking. So even if Facebook’s anticipated legal nasty gram makes its way to the duo, who seem to be based somewhere in Europe, they’ll have an excellent defense. “I learned it by watching you, Zuck.”
Associated PressFriday, February 4, 2011
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The unemployment rate is sinking at the fastest pace in half a century because a surprisingly large number of people say they're finding work. It conflicts with a business payroll survey last month that showed relatively weak job growth. But that survey doesn't count the self-employed and likely undercounts the nation's smallest businesses. Also, harsh weather disrupted business payrolls in January. The unemployment rate dropped sharply last month to 9 percent, based on a government survey that found that more than a half-million people found work. A separate Labor Department survey of company payrolls showed 36,000 net jobs created _ barely a quarter of the number needed to keep pace with population growth. The government's survey of households is used to calculate the unemployment rate. That measures the self-employed, farm workers and household employees. They are not included in the payroll survey. Many economists also say the household survey includes more people who work at small companies. The number of people who called themselves self-employed rose by 165,000 to 9.7 million in January, the report said. That's the highest total since last May. . Click Here to Read More.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The U.S. Small Business Administration has set up centers in St. Louis County and Franklin County so victims of the New Year's Eve storms can apply for low-interest loans to repair their homes and businesses. Interest rates can be as low as 2.25 percent for homeowners and renters, 3 percent for private, non-profit organizations, and 4 percent for businesses, with terms up to 30 years. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged personal property. Businesses and non-profits could borrow up to $2 million to make repairs or replace damaged equipment. And the economic injury loans would help them "meet their ordinary and necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster." Tornadoes and storms moved through parts of Missouri on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31. The U.S. Small Business Administration has made a disaster declaration for Franklin County and neighboring counties of Crawford, Gasconade, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren and Washington. There are two deadlines for applicants. Those with property damage must return the loan applicationby March 29. Those who are applying for loans to cover "economy injury" must send the application in by Oct. 28. People can apply in person at one of the centers. No apointment is needed. They can also apply by calling 1-800-659-2955 or on the Small Business Administration website at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Centers where applicants can get help in person are in Sunset Hills and Robertsville, said Michael Flores, a public information officer for the Small Business Administration. The addresses are:
SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center
Sunset Hills City Hall
3939 S. Lindbergh Boulevard
Sunset Hills, MO 63127
and
Pacific Fire Protection District #2
7376 Highway O
Robertsville, MO 63072
The offices opened Tuesday and will close on Feb. 17. The hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The SBA disaster declaration came on the heels of the Federal Emergency Management Agency deciding not to provide individual assistance from the federal government. Click Here to Read More.
February 4, 2011
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Snow is falling across North Texas once again. Three to four inches of snow came down on the Metroplex starting at about midnight. By 3:00 a.m. Friday, more than an inch had fallen in most cities. A few areas are seeing as much as five inches of snow. A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect for the entire Metroplex and many areas of Texas. A heavy band of snow still sits right over Dallas County and Collin County. Flurries are even being reported in Waco and San Antonio. There is already more than an inch of snow on the ground in Temple, and Port Arthur has closed all bridges and overpasses because of freezing rain. Another couple of inches appear likely for parts of Dallas County and Collin County. Fort Worth has already seen two inches of snow, and areas east of Dallas will most likely see the most, with localized parts coming in at six or eight inches of snow.
Fury as hospitals hit with outages while post-industrial collapse of America accelerates
Alex Jones & Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The rolling blackouts now being implemented in Texas and across the country as record cold weather grips the United States are a direct consequence of the Obama administration’s agenda to lay siege to the coal industry, launch a takeover of infrastructure under the contrived global warming scam, and help usher in the post-industrial collapse of America.
Planned power outages conducted by utility companies have caused outrage amongst officials at four major hospitals in Texas, at Parkland, Baylor, Methodist and Presbyterian Dallas. “Because of the sensitive life-saving equipment, hospitals are considered “critical care facilities,” and supposed to be exempt from rolling blackouts,” reports CBS 11. “That’s exactly what Presbyterian Dallas was led to believe. “We were of the understanding that hospitals and other critical-care providers were not supposed to be affected by planned outages,” said hospital spokesman Stephen O’Brien.” As well as hospitals, nursing homes, fire stations, police stations, other emergency response facilities have also been hit with outages as demand soars due to freezing temperatures. Many places in Texas now rely on Mexico to supply their power. “Mexico’s state electricity company on Wednesday started supplying electricity to the US state of Texas, where demand shot up amid unusually cold temperatures and caused power outages,” reports AFP. Hospitals are supposed to be exempt from the blackouts which hit yesterday, with power company Oncor attributing the outages to a “mistake,” but there were no such mistakes when it came to supplying power to Cowboys Stadium. The government has ensured that the blackouts will not affect Super Bowl venues, a decision that has left residents furious. Street lights and traffic lights have also been hit by the outages, causing traffic build-ups and other hazards more typically associated with a decrepit underdeveloped country, and not with the supposed leading light of the prosperous first world.
The inability of power companies to meet demand is almost exclusively a consequence of the Obama administration’s publicly stated goal to bankrupt the coal industry and in turn ram through the de-industrialization of America under the guise of the phony global warming mantra.Even as China and Mexico are allowed to build dozens of new power plants every year, the United States is barely permitted to construct a handful, as the Environmental Protection Agency takes control of refineries and power plants under the completely fraudulent pretext of preventing global warming even as the country experiences some of the coldest weather seen for decades. Texas has been the epicenter in a battle over the Obama administration’s drive to have the EPA regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Texas is the only state that has refused to implement a permit process. “Austin said it would not establish such a scheme for greenhouse gas emissions because the US Environmental Protection Agency had no authority to regulate them as of January 2,” reported the Financial Times. “Twelve other states are mounting a legal challenge to the federal government’s authority but they, unlike Texas, are implementing the new measures while the dispute makes its way through the courts.” Local environmental officials in Texas were again involved in a fight with the EPA after the, “Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last week approved an air permit for the $3.2 billion Las Brisas Energy Center despite a formal EPA request that the commission delay issuing the permit until EPA’s concerns about the plant’s emissions impacts are fully addressed.”
The Obama administration is conducting industrial warfare against the United States. Obama’s 2008 promise to “bankrupt” the coal industry by placing suffocating restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions even as China and other countries are given free reign to pollute at will is now coming to fruition. This is all part of the “post-industrial revolution” that the global elite have promised to enforce as a means of turning the United States into a decaying banana republic. It’s also about the federal government’s drive to seize infrastructure and sell it to the highest foreign bidder by gradually squeezing the ability of local independent utility companies to meet demand in American communities. The shortage of power plants to meet the demands of Texans and other Americans in areas across the country is down to the EPA holding local utility companies hostage and blocking them from building desperately needed new power plants. Obama’s January greenhouse gas rules restricted the amount of emissions allowable for new power plants, while giving an exemption to General Electric, an intimate administration insider. Although local coal companies are the ones suffering, the transnational power giants are in on the scam. Knowing that they can move production offshore and produce energy with far fewer costs and restrictions in places like Mexico and China, huge oil companies are constantly contriving artificial scarcity as a means of driving up prices and eliminating competition from smaller utility companies.
Annie, better know as Fatcat has first attempt to get in the pot and failed. As a kitten she enjoyed playing in pots but doesn't seem to realise she has got to big!
They got Annie from the cat rescue mission as a kitten. She liked to play in a pot. Trouble was she got fat as she got older but still likes to try and get in the pot
Collector and trader Levi Tarr aimed to find the right rifle for his collection at the gun show exhibit at the NEMO Fairgrounds on Jan. 29, and he hit the bull's-eye. Tarr found a rare Springfield Trapdoor Rifle .50-70, which might have been made as early as 1866. Tarr said he has been collecting and trading locally for 15 years. After 32 years of service in the Navy, he said he retired and really got into this hobby. Tarr said he has picked up a lot of information throughout the years about a variety of different firearms. "You pick a rifle and I can tell you the history and the wars it fought in," Tarr said. "I'm kind of a military historian, but it's just a hobby for me." Other customers searched the vendor tables for their next recreation gun, collector's item, knife and other accessories. Stories circulated about finding hidden treasures, making and finding deals and defending their right as U.S. citizens to possess a firearm.
Vendor Bob Hofmeister of Xtreme Outdoors hobby shop in Hermann, Mo., said he and his co-workers were there to promote the store. Hofmeister said the firearms they brought to the show were store inventory and he hopes that will bring customers to his store. Hofmeister said that recently the biggest sellers have been concealable hand guns. People cannot carry a concealed firearm without a permit to do so or without a concealed carry endorsement, according to Missouri gun laws. However, they can have possession of one in their "dwelling, while hunting or while traveling in a continuous journey through the state," according to information from the National Rifle Association - Institute for Legislative Action. Hofmeister said there are strict regulations to deal with when selling firearms from a company. He said buyers do not need to have a license to own a firearm, but they need identification and a clean background check. Individual sales are different, Hofmeister said. He warns against individuals' sales because there usually are no transfer of ownership documents. He said it is important to know who you sell firearms to and have proof in case a situation arises that traces ownership back to the seller. Companies have more protection in the sales business because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives runs the background checks and approves, delays or denies the sale of the firearm to an individual. Hofmeister said in cases of delay at gun shows, the individual might not get to purchase the item, depending on the length of the delay.
