Derek Jeter's 2007 Topps baseball card includes the New York star in full swing at the plate but [if you look closely] you will also notice President Bush in the stands and Mickey Mantle looked on from the dugout. "Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company -- and we won't name names -- thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle," said Clay Luraschi, a spokesman for Topps.
I think this kind of "visual gag" would make baseball card colleting fun again. Maybe Topp's is on to something? Find Barney Stinson in the crowd on a players card and, wait for it, win a walk on role on a CBS sitcom. The cross promotional combinations are endless.
The Internal Revenue Service is putting a full court press on eBay to disclose the names of those who are making taxable income from the auction service. The IRS wants to put eBay into the same class as Sotheby’s and have them report any customer that carries out more than 100 transactions a year worth at least $5,000. The Treasury expects to collect $2 billion in extra taxes in 2008 from currently unreported earnings from sites such as eBay.
eBay says they are not a "broker" but rather offers an "auction-style" service but it is their solid business structures and dominating market presence that has helped attract the unwelcome attentions of the taxman.
Ebay already tracks the volume and value of its customers’ transactions, notifying them when they reach key milestones and soliciting them with customized services and the Treasury proposal would open the way for the financially stretched IRS to piggyback on the company’s systems by requiring eBay to report to authorities when customers hit milestones.
Elena Neitlich, who runs a highly successful online store from home called Moms on Edge, says eBay appointed a special adviser to coach her almost daily on every nuance of her auctions from catering to different time zones to the optimal names for potty training toys but the award-winning eBay seller says she cannot recall ever being reminded of her tax liabilities. "I don’t remember anyone saying to me that now we needed to go through the tax issues. No, that didn’t happen," she says. The eBay spokesperson says: "We believe that it is the seller’s responsibility." Typical corporate response but seriously, Elena, don't be so naive.
Although you may not like it, the IRS will continue to find ways to make sure each and every citizen pays taxes on earned income no matter what the source. It may take a few years for them to catch up with changing markets and emerging technologies but they always come around. This should not a surprise to anyone "doing business" on eBay. As one eBay user said "What I do is just like any other small business, so I should pay tax". Yes you should Ben.
The full length Simpson's Movie trailer is now online. Does the big screen debut of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie mark the beginning of the end of the 18 year-old tv show or the beginning of a run of feature length films? I think it's the swan song for the show which looks to run through the 20th season and then will probably call it a day. By the way, if you ever wondered who the guy is that does the voice over work on nearly all of the movie trailers, it's this guy and yeah it might make my life seem more exciting if he was narrating it.
The powerhouse that is American Idol is off and running with the top 24 contestants now trying to reach the next level - the top 12, the big stage, live audience, national tour and a shot at being the next american idol [in my best Ryan "Seacrest Out" Seacrest voice]. Given not much more than a brief viewing in the city and hollywood auditions, here are my top 3 men and women this year:
Alaina Alexander Melinda Doolittle Sabrina Sloan
Jared Cotter Blake Lewis Nicholas Pedro
To read a weekly wrap-up of the show check out J-Man's Morning After blog. It is sure to be entertaining to read his thoughts on each show and I look forward to adding my own comments. Thanks for creating a place for friendly debate over AI.
According to the Boston Globe, Governor Deval Patrick spent more than $10,000 on damask drapes for his State House office as part of a $27,387 makeover that also included a new desk, settee, and other furnishings and selected the lease of the $46,000 Cadillac DTS because it was one of two cars the State Police said he could have. After a few days of public outcry and much of the wrong kind of publicity, Deval today announced he would pay for his own office remodeling and kick in $543 a month for his leased car. Since he is asking agency leaders to bridge a deficit of at least $1 billion, Deval stated he "cannot in good conscience ask the agencies to make those choices without being willing to make them myself". What happened to the grassroots movement and the promise of a new way of doing things on Beacon Hill?
His next PR nightmare in the making is his hiring of a $72,000 aide assigned to handle scheduling and interview requests for Patrick's wife, Diane, a lawyer at Ropes & Gray. Does the Governor's wife really need a state appointed aide to help with scheduling? No one is busier [work, school and socially] then my wife and if anyone needs help it's us. [Just kidding Honey] No governor's spouse has had a staff member assigned as an assistant since Michael S. Dukakis hired an aide for his wife, Kitty.
Deval has been in office for less than 2 months and has made several missteps already. I hope he has learned just how observant the citizens of the commonwealth are and he returns to his platform for change and a new way of running our state government. If not, he might just be looking for a new job [and a new lease] when election time rolls around again.
This weekend we tried snowboarding for the first time over at Wachusett Mountain. It was funny to see a group of 8 people who are in there late 20's/early 30's waiting for Beginner Snowboarding lessons on one side of the sign and a group of 4 and 5 year olds waiting for the same lesson. We spent the next 2 and a half hours learning to make heal and front side J turns with our instructors [note they were 15 year old - made me feel a bit old]. We spent more time learning how to fall and sitting on our buts in the snow. Overall, the lesson was pretty good and it definitely helped get us more comfortable on a board. After our lesson, we took several runs on Easy Rider, using the Magic Carpet to get back up the slope. It was a bit crowded in this area of the mountain with other lessons but it was a good next step learning area.
After a few runs down this part of the hill, I was able to actually stay on the board and not fall down [which I did many times already]. Now I was ready for the lift and trying a little longer trail, named Sundowner. This was much longer but had much less traffic than Easy Rider. The first time down I dumped out a couple of times but was doing better. The next two runs went great and I didn't fall once. Feeling confident, I went for one more run and fell pretty good - a reminder that I'm not that good on a snowboard. Trying to do a heal side turn, I clipped the toe side edge and went flying head first. Landed on my shoulder and chest and that left me very sore. Oh well, that's the side effects of picking up a sport like snowboarding at my age.
Overall, it was a fantastic day with perfect weather for snowboarding. I would do it again, just with ski pants this time and maybe one less run. Thanks to everyone who went - it was a blast.
After waiting the 48 hours FTD said it would take to look into my order situation and the arrival of the less than great bouquet of flowers they shipped I decided to see if I could call them now. They are now finally accepting calls again and after waiting 33 minutes on hold I final got through to a representative. I was trying to keep my cool and just get a refund but that was really challenging, especially when the representative told me she could see that I had emailed them several times. She asked if I would like a replacement order and I responded with an abrupt Absolutely Not. Then she finally asked if I wanted a refund which I told her Absolutely. Note if she had just read either of my last two emails she would have already know that answer. Anyway, I hung up and about 2 minutes later I got this email:
Thank you for your recent purchase from FTD.COM for Lisa L.
Despite our best efforts to schedule your delivery as you requested, due to weather conditions out of our control, we were unable to deliver your order on the date requested. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. A refund in the amount of $55.98 has been posted to your credit card.
If you are interested in rescheduling a delivery for after Valentine's Day, we would be happy to assist you. If you choose to do so, you will be entitled to receive$15.00 off on all orders placed with FTD.com through 2-28-2007 by clicking through on the following link http://www.ftd.com/love.
Thanks Carol, I think I'll be passing on this type of service from now on since your "best efforts" is a delayed shipment, a bad product, worse customer service and a complete lack of ability to communicate with your customers. Maybe the downturn of their stock on Friday is a sign of things to come for FTD.com
So like many men, I bought flowers for my wife and had them sent to her office for the big VDay. Unfortunately for me they did not arrive and I was left with nothing while my loving wife gave me some nice soap for my new bathroom, massage oil for - well massages, and wine bottle neck sleeves to catch the drips. All very thoughtful gifts and what did I have last night - NOTHING! Thanks FTD.
So I checked into the situation yesterday afternoon and I got this email from their service department:
Thank you for contacting us regarding your recent order. We are always happy to hear from our customers and enjoy assisting you.
We are so sorry to hear that there are questions surrounding the delivery of your order. We will contact the florist immediately regarding the details of the delivery. Our goal is to respond to you within 24 hours.
I checked back with them today since DHL still shows my package in Wilmington, OH and I got this reply [note their reply was almost 24 hours from the one above]:
I particularly like that this service representative added the shop link because I am so happy with the service so far. Now I thought I should call them and really give them a piece of my mind and here is what you get when you call 800-SHOP-FTD and select #3 for customer service:
You've reached the FTD customer service hotline. For quality assurance, this call maybe monitored. Please have your order number available to assist us in handling your call. Please hold while we connect your call.
RING.
Thank you for calling FTD.com. Due to the holiday rush we are experiencing extraordinarily high call volume and are temporally unable to take your call.
Please be advised, that if your call is regarding a delivery confirmation we regret that we are unable to confirm deliveries scheduled for today's date.
We apologize for any inconvenience and ask that you try your call again later.
CLICK.
Now there's a new level of customer service. Take the customers money, don't deliver as you planned and now make it impossible for them to reach you. Sounds like one of those internet scams you read about in the paper and say, that's would never happen to me.
The thing I really find odd about this is, was it really unexpected? I mean first off it's Valentines Day. One of the 3 biggest flower giving holiday's of the year. Second, the storm that hit the northeast on the big day slide across the entire country so it was a pretty well known meteorological phenomenon. So what was it that FTD and it's "approximately 20,000 North American retail florists" were not ready for? Plus Valentines Day does occur in the winter ever year, has it not ever snowed before?
Well the end of the story is they will probably get back to me after my half-dead flowers finally arrive on Friday just in time for the big, big holiday known as "2 days after Valentines Day". A heart felt thanks for nothing to f'in FTD.
finetune is a website created by survivors of the original Napster, Gigabeat, and Listen.com and it has a comprehensive music library with almost 2 million tracks and growing. Using finetune you can create your own playlists finetune is new kind of online music service with a unique combination of features: Enter an artist name, listen to a playlist of related artists personalized for you, Create your own playlist from our library, listen, share with others! Currently they have almost 100 million listener hours in 20,000 user-created playlists.
Big 80's: 0ver 300 tracks from the great decade that defined my generation. Since this playlist features only 1 track from a given artist that means there are 300 artist in the list too. If I added the allowed 3 tracks per artist, this list would grow to well over 700 songs you would remember.
New England Baked Music: 57 songs from artist who hail from the New England region. Some of the artist are well known locals [Boston, The Cars, Aerosmith] others might suprise you that they are the hood [John Cafferty, Liz Phair, Moby].
The Train Kept A' Rockin: 45 tracks that will rock your socks off. It's what I call "Angry White Guy Music".
Enjoy the music and keep listening, or reading, as the case maybe.
Last week saw the untimely passing of former playboy playmate, reality tv star and trimspa spokeswoman Anna Nicole Smith. Based on her tv show and lifestyle, most of us have become used to her erratic and often very odd behavior and it seems the most outrageous things she has ever done maybe unraveled post mortem - namely who is the father of her 5-month old daughter Dannielynn?
After the birth and before her death there was much debate whether the father was her recently husband Howard K. Stern [who claims to be the father] or former boyfriend Larry Birkhead [who also claims to be the father and has the backing of Smith's mother Vergie Arthur, who believes he is the true father of the child].
Another possibility is that perhaps Smith had been artificially inseminated with frozen, umm well you know, from her former [and now diseased] husband oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall. Given the legal status of his then $1.6 billion dollar estate, it’s plausible.
Frederick Prinz von Anhalt, current husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, recently announced that he had a decade-long affair with Smith and he may be the father. Wonder if this will cause Zsa Zsa to look for husband #10?
Pictures of Smith and Bahamian immigration minister Shane Gibson, who approved her application for permanent residency, lying in bed fully clothed in a romantic embrace were published this week. This raises more questions not only about how she received permanent residency in the Bahamas but also her relationship with Gibson.
Alexander Denk, who had worked as a bodyguard for Smith, told the television newsmagazine Extra that he had an affair with Smith, and that it's possible he is the father. Is there anyone she didn't have an affair with?
Lastly there is new rumors swirling about that the child may not be Smith's or perhaps the identity of the real father is too shocking even for her crazy lifestyle.
Two things are for sure: 1. Something is not right with the whole Dannielynn situation. If the child is truly Smith/Stern's then a simple paternity test would prove it and the issue could have been put to rest months ago. Something is being kept from the public and given how much publicity this whole thing is getting, I'm guessing it won't be long before the truth is given or leaked to the press. 2. The victim in this whole matter is Dannielynn and I hope the Smith estate has a huge endowment fund for counseling because this little girl is going to need tons of it before her life is over.
The top ten things that you missed at this year's Grammys:
10. Lionel Richie summed up the appeal of the swag suite stating "Free! Free, free, free!". Richie picked out a $260 pair of Gucci sunglasses while Rihanna tried on a pair of Chinese Laundry shoes but didn't take the free shoes because they didn't match her outfit. 9. By giving a "shout-out" to Oprah Winfry, Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges is now posed to get his new book "2 Fast 2 Furious [2 DVD]: From the set of one of the worst sequels, ever!" in her book club. 8. Tony Bennett stated "I wish these big corporations, instead of telling the audience what they should have, would listen". He also went on to say he wishes the audience would listen to him too. 7. Not only did they share the stage but fellow Grammy winners John Legend and John Mayer both agreed digital rights management does not belong in modern music, as long as you don't bit torrent their latest albums. 6. Their were two ties this year: spoken-word and latin pop album. Taking the NHL style of tie-breaking, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee outspoke Jimmy Carter 2 to 1 while Arjona and Julieta Venegas are still doing the lambda mano-a-mano and we are awaiting a winner. 5. Randy Jackson defended American Idol pointing to Carrie Underwood's Grammy for best new artist. He immediately wished her luck breaking the best new artist curse and walked off cursing himself for not pushing harder for former contestant turned Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award nominated singer/actress Jennifer Hudson. 4. Guinness Book of World records has certified that the 55 people thanked in Mary J. Blige's award speech is the most ever for a televised award show. 3. Mark Lee of the award winning Christian rockers Third Day was visibly absent when the group was awarded the Grammy for best pop-contemporary gospel album. It was speculated that he was just running late but it seems he may have had a wardrobe malfunction and was in the men's room at the time of the award. 2. Justine Timberlake but his junk in a box. 1. When asked about his relationship with Jessica Simpson, John Mayer answered in Japanese. Because of the daylight savings time computer bug, this was improperly translated into "I [heart] Daisuke Matsuzaka" and he really said "She is very beautiful and you are the last to know".
The Boston Wine Expo is the largest wine event in the US and each year I try to find a few new wines to enjoy and share with friends and family. This year we spent a good deal of time in the South Africa, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Australia areas of the grand tasting. Here are the golden nuggets found at this year’s big event:
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve - I like this big red blend with 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Malbec. It's really nice to find a smooth heavy red that uses some of the lesser known [or used] grapes like Cabernet Franc and Malbec.
Juno Cabernet Merlot - An easy drinking red which is sure to be a hit at your next party but what is really amazing is the art work on the label. I'm not usually drawn into the whole label thing but Tertia du Toit's art work is truly amazing. Besides their wine, you can also buy calendars, prints, t-shirts and aprons with her work on it online.
La MotteMusique - Another well balanced blended red which was not as bold as the Groot but very enjoyable. This is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (37%), Merlot (35%), Cab Franc (20%) and Malbec (8%).
Palandri Cabernet/Merlot - Another blended red, although only with two grape varieties, which is pretty easy on the taste buds and is most likely the least expensive of the red group. This easy drinking red is sure to go great with your next meal and fit nicely into your budget at the same time.
Rolling Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon - A soft wine blend that will be perfect for a warm summer afternoon on the back deck. The semillon flavor tones down the sauvignon blanc's natural tendency to be fruity and/or grassy is nature. Looking forward to rolling some croquet while Rolling some wine.
Sebeka Wines - This brand will be available in March in the US and they have a standard fleet of wines [Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Shiraz] as well as a couple of localized blends [Cape Blend: Shiraz-Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon-Pinotage] to choose from. The wines taste good and I did like the blended reds and what will make this wine popular is the pretty cheetah label and a catchy marketing slogan [currently they are using Introducing Sebeka Wines from the Western Cape of South Africa - where the cheetah hunts.]. Look out Yellow Tail.
Sella & Mesco La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna D.O.C. - A dry, light white with some fruit taste and just a hint of sweetness made from Vermentino grape. Sella & Mesco is located on Sardinia, which is an Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. This might be one of those winery's just have to see to really appreciate the beauty of a grape field in the mists of a picturesque body of water.
You’re evil, a villain – the bad, horrible ones you see in all those scary movies. So we have to ask: Which movie villain are you? By answering these 12 easy questions you can determine in fact which movie villian you are. As for me, well....
Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability.
Do you like STP, Weezer, Nickelback, Offspring or Rage Against The Machine? Do you have an internet connection? Would you like to have some control over your streaming radio station? Well then XRM Radio is the place for you.
I discovered XRM the other day looking for an internet radio station to listen to at work. There are thousands of ShoutCast stations to listen to but what set this one apart from the others is their play list and community. They have a pretty good list of alternative tracks that they play and it looks like it is continually expanding but the real power of this "station" is the user driven content. As a registered member you can request songs which are typically played within the next few songs depending on traffic. They have cleverly limited each user to 2 requests per hour and 10 per day to eliminate a single user from controlling the music and they also have a suggestion area where you can add the songs you would like them to add to the play list as well as vote on other's suggestions.
This type of setup seems like the natural evolution of the so-called Audit Hits format [also know as Mike, Jack or Max]. Wouldn't it be great to drop a few requests online just before you head out the door to drive home and hear your songs along the way? It could just be the unlimited capacity iPod the world is searching for. In the meantime, fire up Winamp and listen to XRM online.
Recently there has been increased tension between the states of Connecticut and Texas over the birthplace of the hamburger. Louis' Lunch of New Haven, Connecticut claims to have invented the hamburger when they invented the quick businessman's meal which consisted of a broiled beef patty between two pieces of white toast for a busy office worker in 1900. McDonald's historians have researched the problem and claim the inventor was an unknown food vendor at the St. Louis Fair in 1904." This food vendor is most likely Fletcher Davis (1864-1941), also known as "Old Dave" or "Uncle Fletch". Fletcher operated a café at 115 Tyler Street on the north side of the courthouse square in Athens, Texas in the late 1880s.
Two other locations are staking some claim to the origin's of the modern hamburger. Hamburg, New York, also claims credit for the invention of the hamburger. This village celebrates a "Burgerfest" every summer, held to mark the anniversary of the hamburger's creation at the Erie County Fair in 1885 by the Menches brothers. The other claim comes from Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin. In 1885, he tried selling fried meatballs at the Outagamie County fair, but customers found them hard to eat while walking around the fair, so Nagreen flattened it and made it into a sandwich he called the "hamburger".
The word "Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, Germany when it was common to put a piece of roast pork into a roll, called Rundstück warm. The origin of the modern hamburger is theorized to be based on the meatscraps, similar to modern ground beef that were served on a Brötchen - a round bun-shaped piece of bread. It is said that German immigrants then took the Hamburger to the United States, where the bun was added, creating the modern Hamburger.
If one was to base the description of a hamburger on ground beef on a bun, as the German's did, then maybe the invention of the modern bun could be the true origin of our beloved hamburger. The hamburger bun is said to have been invented in 1916 by Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, who went on to co-found White Castle in 1921.
Well to who ever invented the hamburger, I say thank you [and don't forget the French Fries whose history is about as clear as the hamburger].
The most unknown group Gym Class Heroes creates the kind of music that blurs the lines between rock, pop and hip-hop. Their first release from the new album, As Cruel As School Children, is called Cupid's Chokehold features hip-hop lyrics, a soft pop riff and a Supertramp chorus. That's a pretty eclectic mix of elements. According an Editor at Amazon "This upstate NY 4-piece hip-hop band fuse crisp guitar rhythms, deep melodic bass lines, head cracking beats, and conscious lyrics to create a sound truly their own. Their debut full-length, "The Papercut Chronicles", has sold over 32,000 copies, converting anyone within ear shot into fans. This, their follow-up, is surely going to launch the band to the next level." Well I'm not sure if anyone who listens will run out and purchase their new album but I have to say they defiantly have a unique sound and I am going to give their new album a listen. If anyone is interested, they are stopping in Boston on February 17th at the Avalon Ballroom. Check it out.
Prince was the halftime entertainment and he did not disappoint – especially to the Prince fans around the world. They lead into his performance with a We will rock you sort of remix or something. Thought that was an odd choice to lead into Prince but ok. Prince opened with his classic rock anthem Let’s go crazy. One question, when they did a stadium wide shot, was that lightning? Maybe it was just added as an effect for the at-home audience. Anyway, it was nice to hear Prince rock a solid guitar solo before sliding into Baby I'm A Star, a more pop centric and lesser known track from the Purple Rain Soundtrack. Next he got into what I would call an easy to consume pop/rock medley including Proud Mary, All Along The Watchtower, and The Best of You while being backed by the Florida A & M band. Prince final song was, of course, Purple Rain which was ironic given the weather and really brought down the house. The only thing that seemed off was the end of his performance where his guitar seemed it was no longer electric. Since the sound is lost or muted it maybe the [purple] rain actually shorted his Artist Formerly Known As axe. You can watch the whole performance here and here is the promo which has some pretty funny play-on-the-title-of-your-song ideas.
Advertising during the Super Bowl has become, to some, more exciting and entertaining then the game itself. When slapping down a minimum of $2.6 million for 30 seconds of airtime and a very attentive audience of 90.7 million viewers, you better put your best effort into marketing. Here are my picks from SBXLI:
Winners - or the best of the best:
Budweiser/Bud Light bring it home [again]! Rock, Paper, Scissors game for beer, Immigrants learn to ask for Bud Light, Slapping replaces fist bumping, Wedding shortened by auctioneer and Crabs worship Bud ice chest were all really good.
Coca-Cola produced a couple high-end cgi spots. Inside a Coke vending machine and Video game guy does good deeds were visually stimulating.
Toyota gave us one super realistic view of the Tacoma's capabilities in Tundra accelerates, stops at cliff. I never thought for a moment that it would fall off the cliff but ti was very cleverly designed and filmed.
Fan Driven - Something new this year, web 2.0 or users driven advertising, made it's debut and we got a couple good ads:
Doritos top submitted ad called Guy in car, girl show Doritos qualities was a clever use of their "chip slogans" in a 30 second ad. It's really not bad for amateurs.
NFL showed the Fans mourn end of season developed by a "local" boy out of New Hampshire. Again this was a good spot and was heart felt by many football cities this fall/winter.
Losers - this is just the list of ads I have no interest in seeing again:
Salesgenie.com - Salesgenie.com helps sales success, Garmin - GPS navigator vs. paper map monster, GoDaddy.com - GoDaddy marketing department parties, Chevrolet - Bare-chested guys wash HHR, CareerBuilder.com - Fight for promotion in office jungle and King Pharma. - Guy in heart suit attacked by risks. These lacked imagination and laughs. Hope they got 2.6 million worth of sales from their investment. [Also I find it amazing the film industry would also buy advertising time during the big game especially for films such as Wild Hogs, Meet the Robinsons, Pride and Hannibal Rising.]
Well there you have it and if you want to watch any of the ad's from yesterday's game again, slide on over to USA Today which has each ad posted as well as their annual ad meter which results on likeability of each ad.
Congratulations to former Patriot's Dan Kleco and Adam Vinatieri who now have 3 and 4 Super Bowl rings respectively. Everyone knows about how clutch Vinatieri was here in New England and all of the records he has set but here's one more odd stat to add to his growing list: the first kicker ever to play in five Super Bowls and win four Super Bowl rings. Other suberbowl facts and oddities:
Both the Colts and Bears scored exactly the same amount of points this season: 427 This was the first time # 18 was worn by a starting quarterback. First Super Bowl to start with a kick return for a touchdown. It was the first Super Bowl won by an African American head coach, Tony Dungy, and the first to have both teams head coached by African Americans. The first Super Bowl to have rain. The first time a team which finished the regular season ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed won.
Here's a tough but heartwarming story and a picture of a CMSgt John Gebhardt in Iraq passed on to me by email from my wife.
This little girl's entire family was executed. They intended to execute her also and shot her in the head, but they failed to kill her. She was cared for by John's hospital and healing, but has been crying and moaning.
The nurses said John is the only one she seems to calm down with, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both sleep in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing. Hard to tell all that's going through her poor little innocent mind.
John is a real "star" of the war, and he is representative of what America is trying to do there..... but, stories like this don't make the evening news.
Ford posted a $12.7 billion loss in 2006 [$5.8 billion in the last three months of 2006 alone, mainly as a result of downsizing costs and the continuing fall in sales of its sport utility vehicles and light trucks] so who is selling vehicles these days? 2006 saw a total sales dropped of 2.6 percent however the mix of cars and trucks has changed. Full-size pickups continue to be the most popular vehicles with U.S. buyers even though their sales are down 6.7 percent compared to sales in 2005. Here is the top 10 Best-Selling Vehicles of 2006:
1. Ford F-Series - 796,039 2. Chevrolet Silverado - 636,069 3. Toyota Camry - 448,445 4. Dodge Ram - 364,177 5. Honda Accord - 354,441 6. Honda Civic - 316,638 7. Chevrolet Impala - 289,868 8. Toyota Corolla - 272,327 9. Nissan Altima - 232,457 10. Chevrolet Cobalt - 211,449
There is no change to the vehicles in the top 6 but only Toyota Camry and Honda Civic sold more units in 2006 than in 2005, 3.3 and 2.6% growth respectively. The other 4 [which only the Accord is a car] lost a total of 9.5% of their market share since 2005. Looks like the high gas prices are really hitting the Full-Size Truck and SUV market right where it hurts.
Lost from last years top 10 are the Chevrolet Malibu and TrailBlazer however don't feel too bad for GM, the Impala was the biggest gainer in the top 10 posting a 17.5% growth since 2005 and moving from number 8 to number 7. Maybe this is the return of the Impala to the top of the automotive market, just like it was back in the 1960's setting an all-time sails record of over 1 million units sold in 1965 which to date has not yet been reached again.
Here's a tough but heartwarming story and a picture of a CMSgt John Gebhardt in Iraq passed on to me by email from my wife.
