Cousins Reunite

Guest post by Homer Nielsen

My mom’s cousin lives in Torrance, California, a city in Los Angeles County, south of the city of Los Angeles. It is a beautiful small town with gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. My mom had not seen her cousin in more than forty years when I decided it was way past time. Mom was reluctant to board a plane since she had not flown but once in the last forty years and that was with me and other females in our family when we took a girl trip to Chicago, Illinois ten years ago. She was nervous then too and swore she would never fly again. But she flew again and it was fine. She and her cousin, Nancy, hugged and cried for thirty minutes. When we finally settled and started talking, she indicated that she wanted to change television service providers but had not had anyone to discuss it with and she could not call because she could not hear very well. I picked up the phone and calledTVByDirectand got all her questions answered and placed the order for her and it was all taken care of before my mom and I left town.

Downtown Magazine Lists Hundreds of Playboy and other magazines on eBay

We've put up a number of attractive auctions for Playboy, Sports Illustrated and other magazines on eBay this week, with most of them ending on Sunday, February 12 or Tuesday, February 14.

We list under two separate IDs on eBay, but you can find all of the auctions under either idle-assets or magsmedia.

Among the auctions listed is the highly-sought-after May 1974 Playboy issue with centerfold favorite, Marilyn Lange, along with many anniversary issues and an assortment of Newsstand Specials and Special Editions.

There are currently over 200 auctions listed, though due to time restraints, some of the auctions are not ready for sale just yet. Information on these "placeholders" will be added over the next few days, so make sure to check back for items that just might help fill out your collection.

Will NY AG Eric Schneiderman Fight or Fold?

With 40 states' Attorneys General already signed onto a deal with the nation's largest banks over mortgage and foreclosure fruad, there are still a few holdouts, including the AGs of Delaware, California and New York's eric Schneiderman.

There was speculation that Schneiderman was going to join in the settlement, worth somewhere in the area of $25 billion, but, late Tuesday, moments before the Attorney General's previously-announced 6:00 pm statement was to be made, press agencies were advised that the press conference was "postponed indefinitely."

The sudden cancellation of the highly-anticipated statement leaves the settlement still up in the air, especially for those states which have not signed on.

Schneiderman is in a unique position, having been named lead investigator on the Justice department's national task force to look into banking irregularities surrounding sub-prime mortgages, robo-signing and the financial collapse of 2008.

The AG also recently filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, alleging various abuses of the judicial system and fraud in mortgage and foreclosure dealings. Also named as a defendant in the suit was MERS, the Mortgage Electronic Registry System, which was set up by the nation's largest banks designed to circumvent the standard county-by-county recording of deeds, mortgages and assignments.

Filed in Kings County on Friday, February 3rd, the suit seeks civil remedies and damages.

In the aftermath of Schneiderman's scuttled press conference, the burning question is whether the AG will continue in his efforts to bring the major banks which were largely the cause of the nation's financial woes to justice or will he drop the lawsuit and join the fold of his fellow Attorneys General in what many have called a "stealth bailout" for the banks?

Schneiderman is under a great deal of pressure from all sides, including from the President, who announced the task force during his State of the Union message.

Harmed homeowners and many in the legal system hope that the AG sticks to his guns and continues to pursue the banks through the courts. The bankers, meanwhile, are probably using scare tactics along the lines of former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who threatened Senators and members of the House with cries of "martial law" and other inflammatory remarks along the lines of financial armageddon to pass the $700 billion TARP legislation that was passed along to the criminal bankers.

House at last

Written by Sonny Quinn

Having a house is a really great feeling, almost as good as finally being married! I love Rick so much and I’m so happy to finally be his wife and since we didn’t want to live together before we got married so I actually just moved in the weekend after we got back from our honeymoon. I love that there are so many things we get just for being married (wedding presents!) and I’m full steam ahead when it comes to making the house a home, I’m on it! I’ve been looking into internet service providers and talking to contractors about redoing the small bathroom and I’ve even been looking into paint for all the walls. I love that we own this place together and you know, at the end of the day I think Rick’s going to like living with me, too. He’s going to be happy when I start cooking dinnerand doing his laundry for him – I love that part of being a domestic goddess! It’s what I’m good at.

Term Life Insurance a Wise Choice for Families

Life insurance isn't for everybody, though for single parents or couples with children, it's almost a necessity, especially since savings over the past decade for most people has been near zero.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, whole life policies were the rage, but times have changed, and most individuals don't see insurance as an investment, but rather part of a safety net for one's family, so the wisest option is usually term life, which is normally a set amount of coverage with a fixed premium and a set length of time, or term, thus the product is known as "term life insurance."

The reason for the popularity of term life insurance is the fixed price aspect, generally easy qualifications and a guaranteed payout upon death. Some other ideas are to take out a term policy for yourself and your spouse over a time period that would cover both of you in case of death until your kids are out of college. Depending on their ages, this could be anywhere from five to twenty years.

There are many companies offering all kinds of insurance products, such as TransAmerica, Prudential, Mass Mutual, Northwestern and many others, so it pays to find a place to compare term life insurance rates.

One should consider how much insurance is needed in comparison to current income, investments, death costs (funeral, debt repayment, probate) and accumulated assets. This can be accomplished using a good life insurance calculator that allows one to enter a variety of data and then calculates an insurance amount based upon present conditions and future needs.

The cost of a policy is always a consideration, but there are many options available to help keep your family safe in case of a tragedy and give you peace of mind throughout your life.

It's worth remembering that while death is a certainty for all of us, it's the timing that is unknowable.

Fashion Comes to Medical Staffs

Continuing to redefine hospital fashion with its innovate line of scrubs for man and women, Blue Sky Scrubs sets itself apart from other manufacturers of caregiver garb with its line of affordably cheap nursing scrubs and all the accessories and other wearables that comprise the working uniforms of most medical staffs.

A complete line of custom scrubs in a dazzling variety of colors and designs are available online with free shipping on orders of over $155, an easy price point to achieve if one is seeking more than just the basics. Blue Sky Scrubs offers lab coats, hats, jackets and shirts with a distinctive look and feel, with free returns and exchanges on all orders.

By following this link - http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/Original-Scrubs/ - you can browse the original scrubs for women by color - red, blue, purple, green, grey, black, pink and brown - whether you're looking for scrub sets, tops or pants.

Hospital and medical office work is rewarding and demanding. There's no need to feel uncomfortable or confined by the clothing choices, now that there are fashionable options available to everyone.

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

The holidays are almost upon us, and soon some of us will be fretting over what to get for a person or couple of particular and refined taste that will both satisfy the giving and thoughtful sides of our personality while not breaking the family's holiday budget.

Here are a few ideas on holiday gifts for discerning individuals.

Rare books or culturally-significant magazines are a good choice for a unique gift, especially if you're aware of the recipient's favorite authors or interests. While a lot of people are using high tech readers like the Kindle and other devices, emailing a gift coupon code as a Christmas gift isn't exactly a tradition and could be considered somewhat cheesy as a giving option. A better option is to find a quality copy of a good used book or periodical from a local rare book dealer or find what you're looking for online. There are thousands of web-based book, paper and ephemera dealers, but prices and delivery times vary widely, so discretion is encouraged.

Just about everybody has a weakness for vino, or wine, so a thoughtful gift might be one of a rare wine from a reputable dealer or distributor. There are good wine companies online as well as in your own neighborhood, and the selection of gift packages this holiday season is exceptional.

Whether you're looking for a robust Bordeaux or a delicate Chablis, the offerings around the web are as numerous as the number of snowflakes on a crisp winter evening.

It pays to be creative when considering gift alternatives, and nothing says creative more than an offering of fine art, whether it be sculpture, painting or craft. One of the offsets from the sluggish economy is the unanticipated explosion of craft and artisan wares proffered at local shows and on various internet sites.

One of the nice side-effects of searching, finding and buying unique gifts this holiday season is that not only may you satisfy someone's fancy, but you'll likely be supporting a small merchant, the backbone of the American economy.

And that should put a glow in everyone's heart.

Best Sites for Financial Commentary

Over the past three to four years the United States, and later, Europe, has had its share of financial shock and awe, so it pays to be aware of what's going on in the so-called macro environment, where money is counted in billions and trillions, doled out to save banks, insurance companies and even entire nations, such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

While Downtown Magazine maintains its popular Money Daily blog, reporting on the financial crisis - or lack thereof - every business day, there are others that qualify as nearly required reading to stay abreast of the current financial climate.

One of the best is known as Zero Hedge, based loosely on the movie, Fight Club, and with an attitude to match. Posts are authored by a character named after the Brad Pitt role in the film, Tyler Durden, though there must be a team of writers, as nobody could possibly put up the volume of well-researched work that Zero Hedge produces daily.

Articles range from humorous to in-depth breakdowns of Fed movements, government failings, crashing bond yields and more heady exposes of companies and the inner workings of Wall Street. Some of the language is for economics majors only, so be prepared to question everything and perform even more research unless you've been following along diligently for months or years.

Another fine site is Yxes Smith's Naked Capitalism, written in a more prosaic style than most financial blogs, though the focus remains on the US and European debt crises mixed in with plenty of political postings.

Smith's site may be more genteel than Zero Hedge, but it still packs plenty of economic information, uncovering the dark underside of the global financial process.

Both are highly recommended, and Naked Capitalism also includes links to even more economic and financial blogs.