Man ignites Koran near Ground Zero, apparently prompted by Florida Pastor Terry Jones

DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Originally Published:Saturday, September 11th 2010, 12:56 PM
Updated: Saturday, September 11th 2010, 3:57 P.M.

Smith for News

An unidentified man walks through lower
Manhattan after ripping and burning pages from the Koran on the 9th
Anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11.

Smith for News

The unidentified man said 'America should never be afraid to give their opinion

A man ripped pages from a Koran and lit them aflame at a
protest near the proposed site of a community center and mosque near
Ground Zero on Saturday.

"If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran," shouted the unidentified man. "America should never be afraid to give their opinion."

The man was led away by police but did not appear to be arrested.

The display - apparently prompted by Florida Pastor Terry Jones' plan to
burn the holy books - occurred as families who lost loved ones during
the attacks commemorated the ninth anniversary at Ground Zero.

Hours earlier, Jones told NBC's "Today" that he would not burn Korans and instead wanted to meet with the imam from Park51.

Official demonstrations - sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots
and Stop Islamization of America - were slated to start following the
Ground Zero ceremony. But protestors on both sides of the controversy
arrived mid-morning.

Many held American flags and signs reading "Honor the Fallen. Honor Our Freedoms."

"Muslim and democracy are irreconcilable," said Lance Corey, 61, a retired history teacher from the Bronx. "I have a problem with fundamentalists."

"Muhammad is very intolerant. There's a dark side to Islam. I cannot tolerate intolerance," he said.

Counter protestors also filled the streets near Ground Zero to stand up for the Park51 project.

"This is our country too. We are as much a victim as everyone else," said Mosad Almontaser, 55, of Brooklyn Heights. The school teacher said he moved to the U.S. 40 years ago from Yemen.

"It's very hurtful that a couple of nuts ruined how people see us. We have nothing to do with 9/11," he said.

In Kabul, more than 10,000 Afghans set fire to tires in the streets and shouted
"Death to America" for a second day in a row, also prompted by Jones'
calls to burn the Islamic holy book.

RJM Acquisitions/ING (Island National Group)

I am a former employee of RJM Acquisitions/ING (Island National Group). The physical address and actual location of the offices are

575 Underhill Blvd
Suite 224
Syosset, NY 11791

RJM is an acquisition company they purchase the debt they attempt to collect from you for PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR, they own the accounts and have the legal right to collect it. However what they dont want you to know is that they NEED to collect money on those accounts or else they are worth nothing.

If you have a fingerhut account they claim to own, or if you have a Doubleday book club account/black expressions book club/Doubleday Large Print book club account or anything similar, DISPUTE the authenticity of the account say you never had the account never purchased or recieved any of the items they claim that you had purchased and there is an almost 100% gurantee they will close the account. I would do this for a job every day answering hundreds of in coming calls from debtors and i closed more accounts than i had actually recieved payment on. Most of those accounts are fraudulantly opened in your name in the first place therefore you should not pay and they will gladly close the accounts. They have ZERO leverage over you regarding Fingerhut or Bookclub accounts. Demand it be removed from your credit report because the account was not yours and it will be. NEVER PAY ! ! !

In regards to having an outstanding debt with a bank such as wachovia, wells fargo, compass bank, washington mutual, am south, fifth third, citizens, bank of america, citibank etc. If the balance is anything lower than $300.00, you should simply dispute the account say you will NEVER pay the account and they will remove it from your credit report, this however will not be removed from chex systems. If you need to have the account removed from chex systems so you can open a new bank account or if your account has been frozen, you most likely need to pay or wait 5 years for the bank to remove you. If you choose to pay offer them something EXTREMELY cheap such as paying only 20-30% of what the origional balance was. They would rather take 30 dollars out of 100.00 then having to take nothing and eat what they paid for the account. NEVER PAY THE PRINCIPAL BALANCE. DEMAND Documentation of the account having had been paid off, a SIF (settled in full letter). After 30 days of having had paid off the acount request a second letter, the clause on the bottom of the letter will indicate that if the funds are returned unpaid the letter is null and void. So you want the letter without that clause incase they re-sell the account to another debt collector.

If you mention Attourney General, they most likely will be willing to make almost any deal; they get scared when you threaten them with lawsuit.

[COLOR="Purple"][Defamatory statements removed. Please do not use this board to further a revenge agenda. Thank you. --Mod][/COLOR]

I only had the job to pay the bills for graduate school and I luckily was laid off. I hope my information serves you well.

new world order is comeing look out america

The summer movie season came to a typically quiet close over the weekend. The American led the way with a standard-issue George Clooney debut, Machete had an average late summer action movie launch, while Going the Distance stalled. Overall business, though, was up five percent from the same timeframe last year.

The American earned an estimated $13 million at 2,823 locations for a $16.1 million tally since opening Wednesday. That was much more than recent Labor Day adult thrillers The Constant Gardener and Traitor, though the movie's attendance was mid-pack among assasssin-themed pictures. Most of Geroge Clooney's recent vehicles have opened in the same range as The American, including The Men Who Stare at Goats, Leatherheads, Michael Clayton and Syriana. As quiet as The American may seem, it's on track to having one of the biggest Labor Day openings ever. Distributor Focus Features reported that The American's audience was primarily aged 35 years and older and that there was a near even male/female split.

Last weekend's top draw, Takers, came in second with an estimated $11.5 million. It was down a normal 44 percent, and its cumulative take grew to $37.9 million in ten days.

Though it was first on Friday, Machete lost steam faster than the other titles and wound up in third with an estimated $11.3 million at 2,670 locations. It had a stronger start than Gamer from the same weekend last year, and it wasn't far behind its source, the box office bust Grindhouse. However, it did less than half the business of director Robert Rodriguez last straight-forward action picture, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Distributor 20th Century Fox's research showed that 55 percent of Machete's audience was male, 55 percent was 25 years and older, and 60 percent was Latino.

The Last Exorcism was cast aside in its second weekend, falling harder than average for a supernatural horror movie. It was off 62 percent to an estimated $7.6 million, and its total rose to $32.5 million in ten days. The percentage drop was close to The Fourth Kind and Exorcist: The Beginning.

With an estimated $6.9 million start at 3,030 locations, Going the Distance isn't in it for the long haul. The romantic comedy had one of the weakest debuts on record for its genre, especially considering the size of its release. Even smaller releases like The Switch and Love Happens made more. Going the Distance's audience was 66 percent female and 77 percent over 25 years and older (and 52 percent over 35 years old), according to distributor Warner Bros.

For more analysis on The American, Machete and Going the Distance analysis, click here to read the Weekend Briefing.

Full four-day Labor Day weekend estimates will be reported here Monday morning.

Related Story
• Weekend Briefing: 'Machete,' 'American' Hack Into Labor Day

Last Weekend
• 'Takers,' 'Exorcism' Possess Top Two Spots

This Timeframe in Past Years:
• 2009 - 'Final Destination' Clings to Labor Day Lead
• 2008 - 'Bangkok Dangerous' Tops Weekend with Small Opening
• 2007 - '3:10 to Yuma' Arrives at Top Spot
• 2006 - 'Covenant' Hovers Over Weak Weekend
• 2005 - 'Exorcism' Torments Top Spot, Sticks It to 'The Man'

Related Charts
• Weekend Box Office Results
• 2010 Grosses

Texas probing Google over search results

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The attorney general of the US state of Texas has opened an inquiry into whether Internet giant Google manipulates search results.

Google disclosed the antitrust probe in a blog post late Friday following a report by technology website SearchEngineLand.com on the investigation by the Texas authorities.

"We recognize that as Google grows, we're going to face more questions about how our business works," Google's deputy general counsel Don Harrison said.

"As Search Engine Land first reported, we've recently been approached by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office, which is conducting an antitrust review of Google," Harrison said.

"We look forward to answering their questions because we're confident that Google operates in the best interests of our users," he said.

According to Search Engine Land, Abbott has been investigating since July whether Google is "manipulating its paid and editorial results in a way that violates antitrust laws."

The probe stems from complaints by three rival search companies -- Foundem, a British price comparison site; New York-based SourceTool, a website run by parent company TradeComet; and Ohio-based myTriggers.

"They claim that Google's algorithms demote their site because they are a direct competitor to our search engine," Harrison said. "The reality is that we don't discriminate against competitors."

He said that "given that not every website can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it's unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality websites will be unhappy with their ranking."

European regulators opened an informal investigation in February into similar allegations from three Web companies including Foundem.

Harrison suggested Google rival Microsoft was behind the various complaints.

He said Foundem was backed by an organization funded largely by Microsoft and that both TradeComet and myTriggers were represented by Microsoft antitrust attorneys.

The Google counsel also noted that a federal judge earlier this year dismissed a private antitrust lawsuit against Google filed by TradeComet.

Microsoft and Yahoo! teamed up last year in a bid to rival Google in search but have made only slight inroads against the Mountain View, California-based company which controls around 65 percent of the US search market.

Obama calling for more infrastructure spending

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and runways that would cost at least $50 billion.

The infrastructure investments are one part of a package of targeted proposals the White House is expected to announce in hopes of jump-starting the economy ahead of the November election. Obama will outline the infrastructure proposal Monday at a Labor Day event in Milwaukee.

While the proposal calls for investments over six years, the White House said spending would be front-loaded with an initial $50 billion to help create jobs in the near future.

The goals of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, enough to go coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of airport runways, while also installing a new air navigation system designed to reduce travel times and delays.

Obama will also call for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects.

Administration officials wouldn't say what the total cost of the infrastructure investments would be, but did say the initial $50 billion represents a significant percentage. Officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal.

Obama made infrastructure investments a central part of the $814 billion stimulus Congress passed last year, but with that spending winding down, the economy's growth has slowed. Officials said this infrastructure package differs from the stimulus because it's aimed at long-term growth, while still focusing on creating jobs in the short-term.

In a Labor Day interview on CBS'"Early Show," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the plan Obama was to unveil Monday would "put construction workers, welders, electricians back to work ... folks that have been unemployed for a long time."

With the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.6 percent, and polls showing the midterm elections could be dismal for Democrats, the president has promised to unveil a series of new measures on the economy.

In addition to Monday's announcement in Milwaukee, Obama will travel to Cleveland Wednesday to pitch a $100 billion proposal to increase and make permanent research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said.

While the idea is popular in Congress, coming up with offsetting tax increases or spending cuts has been a stumbling block. Similar to his proposal to pay for the infrastructure investments, Obama will ask lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations to pay for the plan.

Other stimulus measures the administration is considering include extending a law passed in March that exempts companies that hire unemployed workers from paying Social Security taxes on those workers through December. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed extending the exemption an additional six months.

Obama is also continuing to prod the Senate to pass the small business bill that calls for about $12 billion in tax breaks and a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending. Republicans have likened the bill to the unpopular bailout of the financial industry. And the president wants to make permanent the portion of George W. Bush's tax cuts affecting the middle class.

Wary of the public's concern over rising deficits, the administration insists a second stimulus plan, similar to last year's $814 billion bill, is not in the works.

Food expiration dates: What do they really mean?

Are you one of those people who pour the milk down the drain on the expiration date?

Expiration dates on food products can protect consumer health, but those dates are really more about quality than safety, and if not properly understood, they can also encourage consumers to discard food that is perfectly safe to eat.

A recent poll of more than 2,000 adults showed that most of us discard food we believe is unsafe to eat, which is a good thing, of course, but it is important that we understand what food expiration dates mean before we dump our food -- and our money -- down the drain or into the garbage. On average, in the U.S. we waste about 14% of the food we buy each year. The average American family of four throws out around $600 worth of groceries every year.

Which five foods are most often feared as being unsafe after the printed date? According to ShelfLifeAdvice.com, we are most wary of milk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, and eggs, and the site offers these helpful explanations:

• Milk: If properly refrigerated, milk will remain safe, nutritious, and tasty for about a week after the sell-by date and will probably be safe to drink longer than that, though there’s a decline in nutritional value and taste.

• Cottage cheese: Pasteurized cottage cheese lasts for 10-14 days after the date on the carton.

• Mayonnaise: Unopened, refrigerated Kraft mayonnaise can be kept for 30 days after its expiration date or 3-4 months after opening, the company told ShelfLifeAdvice.

• Yogurt: Yogurt will remain good 7-10 days after its sell-by date.

• Eggs: Properly refrigerated eggs should last at least 3-5 weeks after the sell-by date, according to Professor Joe Regenstein, a food scientist at Cornell University. Note: Use of either a sell-by or expiration (EXP) date is not federally required, but may be state required, as defined by the egg laws in the state where the eggs are marketed.

The “Use-By” Date

The “use-by” or “best if used-by” date indicates the last day that the item is at its best quality as far as taste, texture, appearance, odor, and nutritional value. The decline after that is gradual. The use-by date refers to product that has not yet been opened.

The “Sell By” Date

The “sell by” date is not really a matter of food safety, but a notice to stores that the product should be taken off the shelf because it will begin to decline in quality after that date.

The Law

From the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): “Product dating is not generally required by federal regulations. However, if a calendar date is used, it must express both the month and day of the month (and the year, in the case of shelf-stable and frozen products). If a calendar date is shown, immediately adjacent to the date must be a phrase explaining the meaning of that date such as "sell-by" or "use before."

There is no uniform or universally accepted system used for food dating in the United States. Although dating of some foods is required by more than 20 states, there are areas of the country where much of the food supply has some type of open date and other areas where almost no food is dated.”

Food-Borne Illness

Cross-contamination and unsanitary conditions are a primary cause of food-related illnesses, whether it occurs in the home or in a restaurant, and this is independent of any expiration date. The leading culprits are:

• Improper hand-washing prior to food preparation.

• Storing food at the wrong temperature.

• Cooking food to an inadequate temperature.

• Cross-contamination (raw meats that come into contact with salads, for instance).

• Improper washing of fresh produce.

The Yuck Factor: Common Sense Approach to Food Safety

Aside from any expiration date or lack thereof, if a food item is moldy or if it smells and looks spoiled, err on the side of caution. If it makes you say, “yuck,” throw it away.

More from Care2

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Pre-Crime Technology To Be Used In Washington D.C.

Law enforcement agencies in Washington D.C. have begun to use technology that they say can predict when crimes will be committed and who will commit them, before they actually happen.

The Minority Report like pre-crime software has been developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Previous incarnations of the software, already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia were limited to predictions of murders by and among parolees and offenders on probation.

According to a report by ABC News, however, the latest version, to be implemented in Washington D.C., can predict other future crimes as well.

“When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is ‘what level of supervision do you provide?’” Berk told ABC News, intimating that the program could have a bearing on the length of sentences and/or bail amounts.

The technology sifts through a database of thousands of crimes and uses algorithms and different variables, such as geographical location, criminal records and ages of previous offenders, to come up with predictions of where, when, and how a crime could possibly be committed and by who.

The program operates without any direct evidence that a crime will be committed, it simply takes datasets and computes possibilities.

“People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” Berk also states, “But what really matters is what that person did as a young individual. If they committed armed robbery at age 14 that’s a good predictor. If they committed the same crime at age 30, that doesn’t predict very much.”

Critics have urged that the program encourages categorizing individuals on a risk scale via computer mathematics, rather than on real life, and that monitoring those people based on such a premise is antithetic to a justice system founded on the premise of the presumption of innocence.

Having A Supply Of Healthy Foods That Last Just Makes Sense (Ad)

Other police departments and law agencies across the country have begun to look into and use similar predictive technologies. The Memphis Police Department, for example uses a program called Operation Blue CRUSH, which uses predictive analytics developed by IBM.

Other forms of pre-crime technology in use or under development include surveillance cameras that can predict when a crime is about to occur and alert police, and even neurological brain scanners that can read people’s intentions before they act, thus
detecting whether or not a person has “hostile intent”.

It is not too far fetched to imagine all these forms of the technology being used together in the future by law enforcement bodies.

The British government has previously debated introducing pre-crime laws in the name of fighting terrorism. The idea was that suspects would be put on trial using MI5 or MI6 intelligence of an expected terror attack. This would be enough to convict if found to be true “on the balance of probabilities”, rather than “beyond reasonable doubt”.

The government even has plans to collect lifelong records on all residents starting at the age of five, in order to screen for those who might be more likely to commit crimes in the future.

Another disturbing possibility for such technology comes in the form of a financial alliance of sorts between Internet search engine giant Google and the investment arm of the CIA and the wider U.S. intelligence network.

Google and In-Q-Tel have recently injected a sum of up to $10 million each into a company called Recorded Future, which uses analytics to scour Twitter accounts, blogs and websites for all sorts of information, which is used to “assemble actual real-time dossiers on people.”

The company describes its analytics as “the ultimate tool for open-source intelligence” and says it can also “predict the future”.

Recorded Future takes in vast amounts of personal information such as employment changes, personal education and family relations. Promotional material also shows categories covering pretty much everything else, including entertainment, music and movie releases, as well as other innocuous things like patent filings and product recalls.

Those detached from any kind of moral reality will say “If you’ve got nothing to hide then what is the problem with being scanned for pre-crime? If it keeps us all safe from murderers, rapists and terrorists I’m all for it”.

How far towards a literal technological big brother police state will we slip before people wake up to the fact?