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TELECOM Digest     Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:15:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 577

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    As Decency Issue Boils, Comcast Sets a Family Tier (Monty Solomon)
    Another Claim of Phone Scams, Excess Billings and, Terrorists (D. Burstein)
    Cellular-News for Friday 23rd December 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Old Western Union Building Becomes a Condo (Lisa Hancock)
    BT Takes Aim at Skype (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Re: Cell Phone Extenders? (Rik)
    Re: Using Two ADSL Internet Connections Simultaneously (James Carlson)
    Re: NYC Transit Strike (Henry)
    Re: NYC Transit Strike Midst Cold Weather and Christmas (John Levine)
    Re: Cold Weather and Christmas (Henry)
    Re: Sun Sets on Transit Strike (Lena)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote.  By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.

               ===========================

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

               ===========================

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:37:40 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: As Decency Issue Boils, Comcast Sets a Family Tier


By Keith Reed, Globe Staff 

Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable provider, said yesterday it
will offer a package of family-friendly channels in 2006, following
increasing pressure on the industry from legislators and regulators to
curb access to violent and sexually explicit content.

The family tier will be composed of 16 children's, news and other
networks including the Disney Channel, CNN Headline News, Nickelodeon
and the Food Network, but must be bought along with Comcast's basic
package of about 30 local broadcast, Spanish-language and public
access channels. It will also require a $4.50 per-month digital
set-top box rental. In total, the package will cost roughly $29.45 per
month in Massachusetts and will allow subscribers now taking more
expensive Comcast packages to pay less and take fewer channels.

It might also help the cable industry stave off proposals to force it
to offer a la carte pricing, which it has resisted, and could help
Comcast and Time Warner Corp. complete a major deal that needs the
approval of the Federal Communications Commission, analysts said.
Together the companies have bid $17.6 billion for the assets of
Adelphia Communications, in a deal that if approved could see
one-tenth of the cable subscribers in the country get new providers.

Time Warner's cable unit said earlier this month that it would offer a
family tier of its own.

"That's why the family tier is suddenly being announced by those two 
companies. This is a good way to get some brownie points" with 
regulators, said Adi Kishore, director of media research at Boston 
consultancy the Yankee Group.

Media companies broadly have faced a crackdown on sexual and violent
content, led by conservative legislators and regulators, since singer
Janet Jackson's breast was infamously exposed for a fraction of a
second on live, prime-time television during the 2004 Super Bowl
halftime performance.

The FCC has leveled stiff obscenity fines against TV and radio
broadcasters who use public airwaves, but doesn't have the same
authority over how cable companies package content for consumers.

That hasn't stopped its chairman, Kevin Martin, and some conservative
senators, notably powerful Alaska Republican Ted Stevens, from
suggesting legislation that would impose indecency standards or even a
la carte on the industry if it did not address their concerns.  Cable
companies have scrambled to mount a response since a Nov. 29 hearing
before the Senate Commerce Committee, which Stevens chairs.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/23/as_decency_issue_boils_comcast_sets_a_family_tier/

------------------------------

From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: Another Claim of Phone Scams, Excess Billings and Terrorists
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 06:57:18 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC


[ note the source, Michelle Malkin. She's very biased about this sort
of thing, but is usually (usually...)  correct when dealing with
factual matters. ]

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004123.htm

(referring to [watch for line wrap]:

http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/19/terrorists-clone-phones-but-customers-expected-to-foot-the-bill/

HEZBOLLAH'S CANADIAN PHONE SCAM

By Michelle Malkin    December 21, 2005 04:04 PM

Via Engadget:

Canadian telecom service provider Rogers Communications has been the
victim of numerous number-cloning operations by the terrorist group
Hezbollah in which even the phone number of CEO Ted Rogers was
'borrowed' but steadfastly refused to address consumer complaints about
the problem, insisting that customers were liable for outsized bills.

However, all that changed after aggrieved consumer (and law professor)
Susan Drummond who was stuck with a bill for over $10,000 for calls to
countries such as Libya, Pakistan, Russia and Syria recorded comments
made by a Rogers security exec, who admitted that the company had suffered
cloning problems at the hands of Hezbollah going back as far as 1997 ...

Wonder if this is going on here, too.
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

dannyb@panix.com [To foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

------------------------------

Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 23rd December 2005
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 07:37:04 -0600
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com>


Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com

Seasonal Break

Cellular-news is taking a holiday break next week and will not send
out the daily newsletters. News will still be updated on the website
as it occurs, and a single update will be sent out next Friday.

We will return to full service on January 2nd.

Happy Holidays

[[ 3G ]]

Tests Achieve 3.6 Megabits per Second Call With HSDPA Datacard
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15375.php

Option and Nortel have completed the industry's first successful
demonstration of live HSDPA data card calls reaching a wireless
transmission rate of 3.6Mbps -- faster than the majority of current
broadband connections. The test calls were carried out...

[[ Financial ]]

RIM Co-CEO:Seeing Strong Growth In Subscribers Outside USA
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15360.php

Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) are up after hours Wednesday,
as the BlackBerry maker's third-quarter earnings exceeded
expectations. ...

France Telecom To Cut Fixed To Mobile Tariffs
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15362.php

France Telecom said late Wednesday it will cut tariffs for calls from
fixed lines to mobile phones for residential clients starting
Jan. 2. ...

EU Clears Telenor To Purchase Vodafone Sverige
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15364.php

The European Commission Thursday cleared Norwegian telecommunications
company Telenor ASA to purchase Swedish telecommunications company
Vodafone Sverige from Vodafone Group PLC. ...

EBRD, banks to lend $100 mln to Kazakhstan's KaR-Tel
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15365.php

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a
syndicate of commercial banks jointly led by the EBRD and Citigroup,
are to lend U.S. $100 million to the second largest GSM mobile phone
network operator in Kazakhstan KaR-Tel, the EB...

Medion, Aldi Mobile Discount Offer Exceeds Expectations
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15366.php

German telecommunications company Medion AG said Thursday it sold
300,000 starter packs during its 14-day mobile phone offer with
discount retailer Aldi, exceeding the company's expectations. ...

Lucent Accelerates Poison Pill Expiration To Dec 31
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15368.php

Lucent Technologies will end its "poison pill" three months before the
planned expiration date of March 31, 2006, the company disclosed
Thursday. ...

Orascom Buys Stake in Hutchison Telecom
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15374.php

Egypt's Orascom Telecom has purchased a 19.3% interest in Hutchison
Telecom from its parent company, Hutchison Whampoa for a total
purchase price of US$1.3 Billion. The two companies have also signed a
co-operation agreement to align their respective...

[[ Handsets ]]

Russia's VimpelCom grants Tsifrograd national dealer status 
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15369.php

Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom and have signed an
agreement granting handset retail chain Tsifrograd national dealer
status, VimpelCom said Thursday. ...

Big Threat To Chinese Handset Vendors
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15371.php

Analysys International recently predicted that 30% of China's handset
makers will be washed out by the end of year 2006 due to the
segmentation and centralization of China's handset market in its
recently released report. Analysis International also ...

[[ Legal ]]

Lucent: Sees $300 Million Charge After Losing Winstar Ruling
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15367.php

Lucent Technologies plans to take a fiscal first-quarter charge of
$300 million after a federal bankruptcy court ruled against the
company in a suit brought in 2001 by Winstar Communications. ...

[[ Mobile Content ]]

KDDI, Qualcomm Plan JV To Map Out New Cellphone Service
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15361.php

Japan's KDDI Corp. said Thursday it is planning to launch a joint
venture later this month with U.S. wireless communications giant
Qualcomm Inc. to map out a broadcasting service for cellphone
users. ...

[[ Network Contracts ]]

Nokia Gets Networks Order From Hutchison 3G Austria
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15363.php

Finland's Nokia Thursday said it received an order to supply its
mobile softswitch solution for optimizing Hutchison 3G Austria's
mobile network. ...

Upgrading Regional Operator Billing Platform
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15372.php

Comptel says that it is delivering its mediation and provisioning
solutions to Easterbrooke Cellular Corporation, a mobile service
provider in West Virginia, USA. According to the agreement, Comptel is
delivering its Comptel EventLink solution for ev...

[[ Offbeat ]]

Nazi Ringtone Leads to Jail Sentence
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15370.php

A 20 year old man in Austria has been found guilty of breaking a law
against displaying Nazi Propaganda when he used a Nazi salute as a
ring tone on his mobile phone. Police came across the ringtone purely
by accident after they called him into a pol...

Tegic Reveals the Year's Most Buzzworthy Additions to T9 Dictionary
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15373.php

Did you know that a Puggle is a new breed of dog crossed between a Pug
and a Beagle? Or that Vlogs (video blogs) are the latest rage?
Language is constantly evolving, with new words becoming part of our
culture every day. These and other words have b...

[[ Regulatory ]]

New Zealand Watchdog Keeps Regulation View On Mobile Phone Charges
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15359.php

Competition watchdog New Zealand Commerce Commission said Thursday it
still wants mobile phone termination rates to be regulated, following
a request by the country's government to reconsider its stance. ...

Bahrain Confirms Base Station Emission Within Limits
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15376.php

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has confirmed that
the radiation from antennas used by telecommunications companies for
mobile telephony in the Kingdom of Bahrain is in compliance with
internationally accepted standards for electrom...

------------------------------

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Old Western Union Building Becomes a Condo
Date: 23 Dec 2005 09:15:37 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


A former Western Union Telegraph Co building in center city
Philadelphia has been converted into luxury condos (per Real Estate
section, Phila Inquirer, 12/23/05).  It was built in the 1920s and
used until the late 1960s.  Sale prices range from $346k to $2.6
million.

http://www.westernunionbuilding.com

A number of old industrial and commercial buildings in downtown
Philadelphia are being converted into residences.  A former major Bell
Telephone building at 1835 Arch St was sold, and I believe the former
1960's Bell of Pa headquarters at One Parkway was sold too.  (I always
thought One Parkway was an ugly example of 1960's style.)

Good thing for them I'm not living there.  I'd get on the Condo Board
and make it "authentic" Western Union, with Teletypewriters in each
unit and maybe even a Morse code key/sounder.  Imagine the residents
when they discover their 1920s style telephone set is not for
decoration but rather the phone they have to use, and their Internet*
access is by Model 28 Teletype at 75 baud.

Seriously, I have mixed feelings about all these building conversions.
On the one hand it is good because otherwise empty buildings are being
put to good use and the people buying them are affluent and the city
desperately needs them.  But on the other hand I'd rather see these
buildings used for their original purpose -- to create wealth.
Economic wealth is created when we take raw materials and convert them
into a useable finished product.  Merely moving finished goods and
money from one place to another doesn't create anything.  Where do the
goods that were once made in these buildings now come from?  This is a
factor our foreign balance of trade deficit is so high -- we have
outsiders do our manufacturing for us.

* As an aside, is "Internet" properly capitalized or not?  I'm not
sure how the word usage falls into the rules of grammar.  When we
speak of something generically, as in 'I'm taking the train to work
today", we use lower case for train.  But if speaking of a specific
brand, "I'm taking the Santa Fe Railroad to work today", the word
"Railroad" is capitalized because it is part of the Santa Fe name.  We
don't capitalize computer as in "I'm working on the computer".  But
should we capitalize the internet ("I'm working on the Internet)?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The same thing happened in Chicago. The
old Illinois Bell headquarters building at 225 West Randolph and 212
West Washington Street (different sides to the same block-wide building)
I am told was converted to condominiums. I do not know, having not
been in downtown Chicago since 1999 except for one occassion in late
2001 when I went to the 'sing-along Messiah' at Orchestra Hall that
Christmas. I did not stick around afterward, just went and got my
bus at Greyhound to come back to Independence.

And you asked how to properly case the word 'internet'. Actually Lisa,
there are two different words, each spelled the same way and
pronounced the same way, but different. There is upper-case /I/
Internet and lower-case /i/ internet. Originally, upper-case Internet
was the connecting mechanism between sites in the network of sites
which formed the Internet, a collection of ARPA sites and (what we
now refer to as EDUcational ('.edu') sites but they were not called
'whatever.edu' in those days; just 'whatever'. So 'whatever' and
'whatever else' and 'somewhere else' were connected to other places in
the MILitary network ('.mil) and GOVernment networks ('.gov') [but
they did not call those '.mil' or '.gov' either in those days; they
were part of the {A}dvanced {R}esearch -- ARPA thing.] ARPA and those
universities connected through the upper-case Internet. There was also
BITnet ([B]ecause [I]'s [T]ime Network which was another bunch of
of schools. BITnet did not interconnect with Internet except through a
few 'gateway' locations. That was late 1970's through middle 1980's.

To get this Digest out each day, I did it on a machine called 'eecs at
nwu' which was Northwestern University in Evanston, IL because
Evanston was within my unlimited calling package from Illinois Bell.
 From eecs I could 'rlogin' to the predessor of massis which was a 
machine called 'xx' as I recall. But I had to have an entry on my
mailing list called 'telecom at nwu.bitnet' so that the BITnet 
subscribers could get their copies. Many _very major_ corporations 
(such as IBM) also were on BITnet. All the above comprised the
upper case /I/nternet.

Around 1993-94 when the guy passed on who was more or less the
coordinator for the whole thing, VP Al ('the bore') Gore invented the
lower case /i/ internet which was to interconnect with the upper case
/I/ Internet and anything else which came along down the stream. The
original ARPA had an Acceptable Spam -- err, Use Policy which dictated
what people could and could not do on ARPA sites, and by extension,
the Internet. All that fell by the wayside once the guy was dead and
out of the way; Al Gore and his bastard child ICANN took over the
newly created lower case /i/ internet. Once the lawyers in that firm
in Washington, DC gave birth to ICANN, the rule was changed to
'anything goes' on internet, since as any right-thinking person would
explain to you, 'we cannot dictate what anyone does on their site'.
There was no more room to have an AUP because that would involve
dictating what people were 'allowed to do.'

So the short answer to your question is that 'Internet' was the older,
and original interconnection between sites, and 'internet' is what we
are stuck with now. Both casings of the word are acceptable, IMO. PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:19:26 EST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: BT Takes Aim at Skype


USTelecom dailyLead
December 23, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/AFBoatagCDdqyVwJqg

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* BT takes aim at Skype
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Bain invests $6.5M in Skyhook
* Lucent ordered to pay Winstar creditors
* Year in review: The broadband revolution
* Comcast to offer family tier
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* VoIP now available on demand!
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* EVDO poised to break out at CES
* Nortel demonstrates Super 3G in France
VOIP DOWNLOAD
* Covad bets on VoIP
* Santa Cruz Networks links Skype, Google Talk
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* FCC chief to look at a number of issues for 2006
* Senate confirms Tate for FCC, ends Democratic majority
* China takes another step toward 3G
EDITOR'S NOTE
* The dailyLead will not be published Monday

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/AFBoatagCDdqyVwJqg

------------------------------

From: Rik <hrasmussen@nc.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Cell Phone Extenders?
Date: 23 Dec 2005 06:26:48 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


These devices are illegal to install and operate. Only a licensee is
authorized by the FCC to install these devices. The fact that they are
easily purchased does not make them legal to use.

They are frequently the source of interference to commercial wireless
systems and more importantly, they are frequently the source of
interference to Public Safety radio systems.

There have been recent instances of law enforcement showing up at a
location where one of these devices is in use and demanding it be
disabled to stop interference to their radio system.

------------------------------

From: James Carlson <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Subject: Re: Using Two ADSL Internet Connections Simultaneously
Date: 23 Dec 2005 13:56:04 -0500
Organization:  Sun Microsystems


bonomi@host122.r-bonomni.com (Robert Bonomi) writes:

> The rest of the problem description that you chose not to quote gave a
> concrete example of the problem -- using a first user with a streaming
> audio stream, and a bunch of other people then doing something as
> simple as having multiple HTTP requests ("keepalive" protocol option)

Of course there are pathological cases.  That wasn't at issue.  Here's
the original question, in full:

> I have two telephone lines. I want to make both of these lines ADSL
> connections to the internet and use these connections to provide
> internet access to several wireless laptop computers. A maximum of
> about 20 laptops would be connected to the system at once. I would
> like the laptops to be able to use both lines simultaneously so that I
> don't have one line overloaded and one underloaded (ie: I want to
> balance the traffic on the lines at any given time).
  
> Anyone have any suggestions on how to set up something like this?

The answer is yes, you can do that.  In fact, there are commercial
products designed to solve exactly this problem.  E.g.:

http://www.xrio.co.uk/product-c800.asp

Unsplittable flows are certainly a hazard with *any* network layer
load balancing scheme, including one like this.  There's nothing much
you can do about it as long as the links are independent.

If you want to avoid that problem, you'll need to use an L2 mechanism
that fragments datagrams across multiple links, such as MP (RFC 1990)
or IMA.  Doing this requires cooperation with your ISP and you
certainly can't do it across two separate ISPs.


James Carlson, KISS Network                    <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive         71.232W   Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757   42.496N   Fax +1 781 442 1677

------------------------------

From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry)
Subject: Re: NYC Transit Strike
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:32:24 +0200
Organization: Elisa Internet customer


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 

> The court reconsidered its imposition of a fine, and forgave the whole
> debt, and the workers went back to work the same day. Read the court
> transcripts from the strike 25 years ago. I think this time around will
> be a lot the same way.

Well, it seems that the times they have a-changed.

> New York's 3-Day Transit Strike Ends
> Friday December 23, 2005 4:46 AM

> By DEEPTI HAJELA
> Associated Press Writer

> NEW YORK (AP) - Faced with mounting fines and the rising wrath of
> millions of commuters, the city transit union sent its members back to
> work without a new contract Thursday and ended a crippling, three-day
> strike...


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, but read the part of the story 
where it says "futher court proceedings [i.e. discussion of fines and
punishments] have been adjourned until January 20, 2006." That is 
when they will meet to to decide what to do about the whole mess. My
thinking is at that point they will all be friends again and any
discussion of fines and punishments will be forgotten about. No doubt
that little fact will be reported in a paragraph on page 79 of the 
next day's newspaper. PAT]

------------------------------

Date: 23 Dec 2005 18:58:08 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: NYC Transit Strike Midst Cold Weather and Christmas
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> And yes, I _know_ the one is a state agency and the other is a
> municipal government ... duh!  But you should know that when
> Bloomberg says 'jump' everyone asks 'how high?', etc. Things like the
> difference between a 'state agency' and a 'municipal government' in
> this instance is just thinly veilled bullshit, just as with Chicago
> Transit Authority.

Ah, Pat, I think it would be a good idea to stop speculating here
about areas that are unrelated to Telecom and about which you know
nothing.  New York is not Illinois, the relationship between NYC and
NYS is not the same as that between Chicago and Illinois, and NYC most
definitely does not control the MTA.

> Obviously you did _not_ do your homework assignment yesterday (read
> the transcripts of the 1960's court proceeding when the union was
> last on strike.) At that point in time, the reason the strike lasted
> eleven days instead of only two or three was because the judge was a
> total blowhard, a real jerk with his fines and punishments, etc.

Well, actually, the last strike was in 1980, but why should we let
facts get in our way?  In the 1960s strike, union leader Mike Quill
had heart failure and was negotiating from his hospital bed by waving
fingers.  That kind of slowed things down.

R's,

John


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Please forgive my typo. On the one
hand I said 'twenty-five years ago' which would be 1980 _which is
what I meant_ and on the other hand a reference to '1960s'. Please
go by what I meant, not what slipped out in the typing.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry)
Subject: Re: Cold Weather and Christmas
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:32:24 +0200
Organization: Elisa Internet customer


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:

> And the education of children; we have been brainwashed into thinking
> that public schools serve a good community purpose; no one wants a
> bunch of ignorant children; after all those children will be our
> country in a few years; so we have to have public schools to insure
> a good education. Are the public schools in New York any different
> than those in Chicago? Somehow I doubt it. So just imagine if our
> overall tax payments were about two percent of what they are now (let's
> refer to it as the 'adminstrative fee' to run what the government 
> has the legitimate right to run) and with the rest of the money we
> educated our own children ...

> Would things be any better or worse than they are now,...?

Just because things _are_ the way they are doesn't mean that they
_have to be_ the way they are.

For a counter-example to your pessimism, take a look at Finland, one
of the infamous high-tax (boo! hiss!) 'Nordic welfare states' so
cavalierly disparaged by the wingnuts. Except that ... erm ... Finland
just happens to have the BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD, far far  better
than those in the US.

This article from last May by Robert Kaiser of the _Washington Post_

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/23/AR200505
2301622_pf.html

provides a glimpse into how it can be done.

It's not (only) a question of money (but of course it takes money). It's
primarily a question of attitude. And, when it comes to spending money
on something they cannot eat, drink or otherwise immediately consume,
Americans have a very bad attitude. (Before you newbies get on your
high-horse ... I can say this because, as Pat and long-time readers here
know, I am an American -- although I have been living in Finland for a
good few years now.)

Americans don't like to pay taxes and I think it is basically because
they get so little to show for their money. It costs 87 gazillion
dollars for one BX hyper-bomber and when it falls out of the sky no
one gets any benefit except Grumman-Northrup and their political
friends.  Certainly not the working people who paid for it.

A man-in-the-street poll here asked the following question:

In order for us to have lower taxes, the government needs to spend
less money. In what area(s) could and should the government spend
less?

Many people were hard pressed to think of an answer and a fair
proportion (I don't remember exactly but I believe it was something
like 1 in 3 or 1 in 4) said 'If the government spends less, then we
get less.  So I'm happy paying the taxes that I do'.

Like I said, it's the attitude.

Cheers,

Henry  

------------------------------

From: Lena <lenagainster@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Sun Sets on Transit Strike
Date: 23 Dec 2005 03:57:57 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


What it boils down to is that Toussaint is all mouth and no mettle,
and didn't want to park his butt in jail for the benefit of the
transit workers from whom he extorts dues.

Lena

------------------------------


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Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
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The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
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Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #577
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