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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070505/music_nm/used_dc;_ylt=AoaBAHbUZbH47MwLfwtOT8dxFb8C New laws create second-hand woes for CD retailers Independent merchants selling and buying used CDs across the United States say they are alarmed by stepped-up pawn-broker-related laws recently enacted in Florida and Utah and pending in Rhode Island and Wisconsin. In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit and file security in the form of a $10,000 bond with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In addition, stores would be required to thumb-print customers selling used CDs, and acquire a copy of state-issued identity documents such as a driver's license. Furthermore, stores could issue only store credit -- not cash -- in exchange for traded CDs, and would be required to hold discs for 30 days before reselling them. At least one Florida town has enforced the law, resulting in the cited merchant pulling used CDs from its store. The law in Utah and the legislation pending in Wisconsin and Rhode Island are also harsher than typical pawn-shop laws, according to John Mitchell, outside counsel for NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers). Brian Faber, director of operations for the eight-store, Phoenix-based Zia chain, says that while the rules sound onerous and could devalue the used-CD market, "we would comply and the market would ultimately adjust itself." Faber says about 40 percent of his chain's volume comes from used-CD sales, paying out 80 percent cash and 20 percent store credit. If retailers could only pay out credit, he says, it could negatively affect product flow. The used-CD business' low pricing, he adds, is already being devalued by falling prices of new CDs. Meanwhile, NARM says it will try to help shape the pending legislation. In Florida, retailers selling previously owned videos and videogames managed to carve out a partial exemption from the law so that they do not need a permit and have to wait only 15 days before reselling the merchandise.
GINGRICH ACKNOWLEDGES AFFAIR DURING CLINTON IMPEACHMENT WASHINGTON (AP) (March 9, 2007)-- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group. "The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

Private # 014773216

Today's Times reports that greater numbers of convicted felons are being accepted into the armed forces: Army Giving More Waivers in Recruiting Predictably, this has spawned outrage from all quarters, including those who say this will weaken the caliber of our services and opponents of the patently absurd "don't ask, don't tell" policy. A few positive points, though:
  • They will enter the armed forces with better survival skills than your average high school graduate
  • Blame for any “misbehavior” can be immediately shifted from their commanders to the recruiters
  • They can be treated as poorly as possible because they lack the legal right to vote out the politicians that put them there
  • Ability to fashion a shiv from Spam Loaf obviates need to provide basic weaponry
  • Less civilian outrage if they are killed
  • They have already been indoctrinated into racial supremacist organizations, gangs, or other affinity groups, saving valuable resources that would otherwise be spent on orientation materials such as glossy brochures and Power Point presentations
  • Cigarette-based payroll system is economical, frees up white collar personnel for other tasks, and provides jobs for American farmers
Love makes people do strange things … but diapers? CNN story Astronaut to face attempted murder charge ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- A NASA astronaut charged with pepper-spraying and trying to kidnap a romantic rival was granted bail Tuesday, but her release was delayed after police announced they were filing an attempted murder charge against her, a corrections department spokesman said. Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak had already paid her bail on three other charges when she learned that she would not be released because Orlando police were planning to add attempted murder to the list, said Allen Moore, a spokesman for the Orange County Corrections Department. Nowak will remain in protective custody until her first appearance on the new charge, which will likely come Wednesday morning, Moore said. The additional charge is likely to be filed Tuesday afternoon, Moore added. One legal analyst said police and prosecutors likely added the new charge because they were miffed the judge granted Nowak bail when they requested she be held without bond. "What had to have happened is that prosecutors and police were really frosted when the judge, despite what they considered to be some pretty serious charges already -- including attempted kidnapping -- basically gave her a get-out-of-jail-free-for-now pass in exchange for a $15,500 bond and a GPS monitor," said CNN legal consultant Kendall Coffey. In granting her bail on the original charges, the judge warned that Nowak is to have no contact with engineer Colleen Shipman and must wear a GPS, or global positioning satellite device, to ensure she does not travel east of Orange County, where Shipman lives. The charges against Nowak stem from an alleged love triangle in which Nowak and Shipman were competing for the affections of astronaut Bill Oefelein, police said. (Watch a shackled Nowak bow her head as attorneys discuss her bail with the judge ) The judge emphasized to Nowak that she could not have any contact with Shipman, good or bad. The judge told her she couldn't even send flowers to apologize. Col. Steve Lindsey, Nowak's superior and commander of her space shuttle mission last July, testified that Nowak had no reason to have any contact with Shipman and said the GPS device would not hamper Nowak's work. Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, told the judge that his client has an "exemplary record of commitment" and should be released without bond. "At times like this, judge, one's good works must count for something," Lykkebak said. The judge ordered bail set at $15,500 on three counts. A future court date was not set. Nowak, 43, a married mother of three, has been charged with battery, attempted kidnapping and attempted vehicle burglary with battery. She also was initially charged with destruction of evidence, but the judge said he found no probable cause for that charge. Nowak's cuffed hands were shackled to her waist as she stood before the judge. She looked down and remained still during most of the hearing but shook her head when prosecutors said she planned to kidnap and harm Shipman. Nowak, who flew her first shuttle mission as a mission specialist aboard Discovery in July, and Shipman were both reported to be "in a relationship" with Oefelein, a Navy commander, according to a police report of the incident. Nowak drove almost 1,000 miles from Houston, Texas, to Orlando on Monday to confront Shipman about her alleged relationship with Oefelein, according to a police report. Shipman, an Air Force captain and engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, was flying the same route, the report said. (Watch how police say a NASA love triangle went awry ) Nowak wore a diaper during the 14-hour drive so that she wouldn't have to stop for bathroom breaks, the report said. Astronauts wear what NASA calls maximum-absorbency garments to collect their waste during space travel. Shipman told police she arrived at the Orlando International Airport about 1 a.m. and had to wait two hours for her luggage. As Shipman walked to her car she noticed a woman in a trench coat who appeared to be following her, the police report said. She quickly jumped into her car and heard "running footsteps" behind her, Shipman told police. (Charging affidavit -- PDF) Nowak slapped the window of the car as Shipman locked it, the report said. Nowak then tried to open the car door, saying that her ride had not arrived. Shipman told Nowak she would send for help, but when Nowak said she couldn't hear her and started to cry, Shipman cracked her window, the report said. The 2-inch space in the window was all Nowak needed to send pepper spray into the car, police said. Her eyes burning, Shipman drove to a tollbooth and reported the incident. When an officer found Nowak at a bus stop, she was wearing a different coat, and the officer observed her putting items in a trash can, the police report said. The officer retrieved a wig and a BB gun from the trash can, the report said. Police found in Nowak's bag a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 3 to 4 feet of rubber tubing, large plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash, the report said. Nowak acknowledged details of Shipman's allegations, according to police, and allowed officers to search her car. There, police found diapers, six latex gloves, directions from Houston to Orlando International Airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, a letter indicating how much she loved Oefelein and directions to Shipman's home address in Florida, the report said. Nowak told police she didn't intend to harm Shipman and "that she only wanted to scare Ms. Shipman into talking with her," a police report said. Asked about the BB gun, Nowak told police it "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her," the report said. According to the report, she told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." Nowak has been an astronaut since 1996. Oefelein, 41, was the pilot of the last shuttle mission, also aboard Discovery, which flew in December. Oefelein would not make any comments through NASA at this time, Johnson Space Center spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said. Lindsey and Navy Capt. Chris Ferguson went to Florida to establish contact with Nowak, Hawley said, adding that her status as an active-duty astronaut remains unchanged. Lindsey said he came to support Nowak "like we would any employee at NASA if they were to get into this situation." "We're a close family, and we try to take care of our own," he added. Lindsey would not comment on whether NASA will take any disciplinary actions against Nowak, saying, "Those are ongoing things, and we'll let the process work in those areas."
Earlier this week, a 21-year-old Florida woman who had been raped was arrested by the police to whom she was reporting the assault, denied bail, and jailed for two days, on the basis of an outstanding warrant for a juevenile offense. While in custody, she was prevented from taking a legal, FDA-approved morning-after pill because that conflicted with a jail medical supervisor's personal religious beliefs. The nature of the outstanding warrant? Failure to pay a fine, which the woman's lawyer says she had, in fact, paid. Any comment I could make here would be superfluous. St. Petersburg Times story

They Decide, They Report

On Fox News this morning, anchor Gretchen Carlson called Ted Kennedy a "hostile enemy" of the United States because he wants to put the troop increase to a congressional vote! To put into perspective just how beyond the pale that is, her guest, White House counselor Dan Bartlett, actually defended Kennedy in a fashion. Why god why does not the earth not open up and swallow these people?

To the losers the spoiled

Think the Republicans have the perspective to regret the way they're behaved while they were the majority? Or the fact that they pointedly failed to even respond to Pelosi's proposal that they now quote from? Nah, me either. Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I swear...!

Why does the right wing have no confidence in the enduring ideals of America and our way of life? Radio host Dennis Prager wrote a column earlier this week claiming that Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress, had “announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.” Prager not only compared it to being sworn in with a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” but wrote that the act is "damaging to the fabric of American civilization." Just how flimsy is this fabric, anyway? Is it really always on the verge of shredding apart like the right seems to think? "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned" Prager argued, "America is interested in only one book, the Bible." Well if that weren't ridiculous enough on its face, the fact is that NO BOOK is actually used in the taking the oath of office. Some members of the House choose to have a Bible with them, but it actually is not a part of ceremonial swearing in -- the member simply raises his hand and takes the oath, he doesn't place it on any book, be it the Bible, Koran, or the Idiot's Guide to Congress.
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