The Real Meaning of the Fourth of July
---By Jacob G. Hornberger

1. that the federal government, not some foreign entity, constitutes the greatest threat to the rights and liberties of the American people; and
2. that the enumeration of specific rights and liberties, both substantive and procedural, would better ensure their protection from federal infringement.

What happens if a government that people have established becomes a destroyer, rather than a protector, of their rights? The Declaration provides the answer: It is the right of the people to alter or even abolish their government and establish a new government whose purpose is the protection, not the destruction, of people's rights and freedoms.

This practice is called the "universal default" clause and increasingly is becoming a standard clause in credit card agreements. According to credit card executives, the logic behind universal default is that the bank is not being unreasonable in raising rates when it has reason to believe that the risk of being repaid by the customer has increased.

One false move could be fatal. "These default clauses are getting scarier by the minute. If a credit card offer includes a universal default clause, you need to know what you're being set up for. If you're one day late on any payment to any creditor, you could be subject to a default rate as high as 29.99 percent on many others."

It doesn't necessarily take being late on big-ticket items such as a car or a mortgage payment to trigger the default clause, Richard explains. "It could be for something as innocuous as an overlooked $30 phone bill or a forgotten $20 book club subscription."

"It's one of those new ironclad rules that does not allow much leeway for talking or negotiation. They periodically check your credit file and if you're late paying any other bills, not just theirs, they slam you. Low interest rates enjoyed at the beginning of a credit relationship could, in many cases, double or triple."

You can head off any problems simply by meeting all your monthly obligations not just on time, but at least a week or more ahead of the payment due date. Some counselors advise getting into the habit of paying bills when you receive them.

Fixing the problem to prevent it from recurring is not so easy. Once a negative hits a credit report, the damage is done.

To get it removed, a consumer must convince the creditor the problems lie elsewhere and that the consumer is not at fault for a payment being recorded as late. Usually consumers lose this argument, unless they send their payments certified mail and can actually track the date of receipt.

Most Americans don't know what their credit score is, nor how it's computed and with whom it's shared. Your credit score is usually determined by five factors, with the most important being the amount you currently owe and your payment history on large debts.

Credit scores are calculated by using scoring models and mathematical tables that assign points for different pieces of information which best predict future credit performance. Developing these models involves studying how thousands, even millions, of people have used credit. Score-model developers find predictive factors in the data that have proven to indicate future credit performance. Models can be developed from different sources of data. Credit-bureau models are developed from information in consumer credit-bureau reports.

Credit scores analyze a borrower's credit history considering numerous factors such as:

• Late payments



• The amount of time credit has been established



• The amount of credit used versus the amount of credit available



• Length of time at present residence



• Negative credit information such as bankruptcies, charge-offs, collections, etc.

There are really three FICO scores computed by data provided by each of the three bureaus––Experian, Trans _Union and Equifax. Some lenders use one of these three scores, while other lenders may use the middle score.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can I increase my score? While it is difficult to increase your score over the short run, here are some tips to increase your score over a period of time.

• Pay your bills on time. Late payments and collections can have a serious impact on your score.



• Do not apply for credit frequently. Having a large number of inquiries on your credit report can worsen your score.



• Reduce your credit-card balances. If you are "maxed" out on your credit cards, this will affect your credit score negatively.



• If you have limited credit, obtain additional credit. Not having sufficient credit can negatively impact your score.

What if there is an error on my credit report? If you see an error on your report, report it to the credit bureau. The three major bureaus in the U.S., Equifax (1-800-685-1111), Trans _Union (1-800-916-8800) and Experian (1-888-397-3742) all have procedures for correcting information promptly. Alternatively, your mortgage company may help you correct this problem as well.

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
---Mark Twain

Is Obama devotee of monkey-god idol?

A group of Hindus in India have presented Sen. Barack Obama's campaign with a two-foot Hindu monkey-god idol after hearing the candidate carries a smaller version of the Lord Hanuman good-luck charm with him as he vies for the presidency....

"Obama has deep faith in Lord Hanuman, and that is why we are presenting an idol of Hanuman to him," said Bhama.

Accepting the souvenir, Sauvage-Mar, chairwoman of Democrats Abroad-India, said, "Obama has extended his thanks for the support."

The idol will be kept at the temple for 11 days and then sent to the U.S. It will reach Obama by Aug. 24 – a day before the Democratic National Convention opens in Denver.

The idea of sending an idol of Hanuman dawned on Bhama after friends in the U.S. mentioned a "prominent American politician who carried a miniature Hanuman idol in his pocket for luck."

More than five years after the invasion of Iraq -- just in case you were still waiting -- the oil giants finally hit the front page...

Any Western oil official who comes to Iraq would require heavy security, exposing the companies to all the same logistical nightmares that have hampered previous attempts, often undertaken at huge cost, to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure.

And work in the deserts and swamps that contain much of Iraq’s oil reserves would be virtually impossible unless carried out solely by Iraqi subcontractors, who would likely be threatened by insurgents for cooperating with Western companies. …

The no-bid deals are structured as service contracts. The companies will be paid for their work, rather than offered a license to the oil deposits. As such, they do not require the passage of an oil law setting out terms for competitive bidding. The legislation has been stalled by disputes among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties over revenue sharing and other conditions.

A clause in the draft contracts would allow the companies to match bids from competing companies to retain the work once it is opened to bidding, according to the Iraq country manager for a major oil company who did not consent to be cited publicly discussing the terms.

While the current contracts are unrelated to the companies’ previous work in Iraq, in a twist of corporate history for some of the world’s largest companies, all four oil majors that had lost their concessions in Iraq are now back.

And I say illegal for both Iraq and the United States. For Iraq, it's a non-valid agreement since it will be contracted under duress from an occupier's demands, whatever excuses are brought forward to obtain legitimacy. For the US, it's also an invalid pact unless it is subsequently ratified by the US Senate. We are told that the wording in this strategic alliance has been crafted so as to "avoid such ratification." Nonsense, if the provisions in such agreement or alliance have the underlying intent of a treaty, it is a treaty; and as a treaty, constitutionally, it must be ratified.

True that the American Executive Branch has been operating for decades outside of the Constitution in taking the nation to war (undeclared war) and entering into treaties (or agreements) thanks to a spineless Senate and the de-facto consent of Americans, who really care little, or are brainwashed by the White House, unless the conflict turns sour.

It is remarkable that the two senators who will be contending for the highest office in the land next November, McCain and Obama, aren't exercising their duty as senators, making this issue one of national concern, one to be handled with both transparency and care. Malfeasance in office by members of the Senate made Bush's invasion of Iraq fait accompli; once again, it will be malfeasance if the senate remains blind, deaf and mute to this travesty.

Iraq does not appear to be willing to have the UN mandate extended beyond its current expiration date, at the end of this year; and the US really doesn't care whether its effective control is through a mandate granted by the UN or an agreement with a government which may not be of unity or consensus. The US must have a tacit control of Iraq's oil while maintaining a solid military presence in that part of the world to counter not just Iran and its nuclear aspirations, but any "problems" that may emerge anywhere in Southwest Asia.

Although the hush-hush negotiations on the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) had reached an impasse by the second week in June -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki referring the deadlock on what his government felt were critical sovereignty issues -- both Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad (US) appear confident that an agreement will soon be reached since both countries are committed to a joint security pact. Yes, we will have two caliphates out of Baghdad; one ran locally by Iraqis, the other ran by Americans as part of the Empire.

With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flashes.

Male menopause - you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.
---Rita Rudner

A federal jury has ruled in favor of a Little Rock woman who accused Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of negligence when she got breast cancer after taking the company’s hormone replacement therapy.

Jurors, who began deliberating last week, said on Monday that Wyeth inadequately warned Donna Scroggin that its drugs Premarin and Prempro carried an increased risk of breast cancer. The lawsuit, in Federal District Court in Little Rock, also named Upjohn, the maker of Provera. Jurors recommended that Ms. Scroggin receive $2.75 million. The punitive phase of the trial is to begin March 3.

Lawsuits against Wyeth have had mixed results. A Little Rock woman, Helene Rush, lost her case against the company last year. A federal appeals court upheld that decision earlier this month.

An Ohio woman was initially awarded $3 million in a case in Pennsylvania, though a judge later overturned the award.

In Reno, Nev., last year, jurors awarded $134 million to three Nevada women who sued over the hormone therapy. But a judge earlier this month cut that amount to about $58 million total — $23 million in compensatory and $35 million in punitive damages.

The Nevada judgment is the largest award to date against the company, based in Madison, N.J., which faces about 5,300 similar lawsuits across the country in state and federal courts.

All the cases involve the drugs Premarin, an estrogen replacement, and Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin. Both drugs remain on the market and carry the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, and both continue to be prescribed annually to hundreds of thousands of women to ease symptoms of menopause.