Wire for 061608

On Father’s Day, Low Wages Hurting Single Dads
by James Parks, Jun 15, 2008 AFL-CIO Blog Now
On this Father’s Day, we’d like to wish all fathers a Happy Father’s Day. An official holiday to honor fathers was initially proposed in 1909 by the daughter of a widowed father. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, raised six children after his wife died in childbirth. Today, when we think of single parents, we almost always think of single mothers. But families headed by single fathers are one of the fastest-growing groups in our country. Read more @ http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/15/on-fathers-day-low-wages-hurting-single-dads/


Will You Be Paid for Sick Days?
By Matt Bushlow, PARADE Magazine
Nearly half of all Americans who work in the private sector-including more than 75% of low-wage workers-do not get a single paid sick day. Now the federal government and lawmakers in 14 states are proposing legislation that would require employers to provide paid sick days. Read more @ http://news.yahoo.com/page/parade/sickpay


Florida Legislature Downgraded by Biz
posted by John Kennedy on Jun 10, 2008 3:31:55 PM
The usually industry-friendly Republican-ruled Legislature earned lower marks from a leading business lobby for an election-year session marked by deep budget cuts.Associated Industries of Florida's post-session report card released Tuesday found the Legislature supported the organization's position on issues 85.5 percent of the time, a 3 percent decline from last year's legislative score Read more@ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/florida-legisla.html


FL Chamber: Fewer A-students in state Legislature
posted by Aaron Deslatte on Jun 13, 2008 2:59:44 PM Orlando Sentinel
Another Tallahassee business group has pronounced the 2008 Florida Legislature a less "business-friendly" environment.Well in time to make the first rounds of campaign mailers, the Florida Chamber of Commerce has judged that only 52 percent of lawmakers deserved an ‘A’ for supporting the business agenda in this spring’s 60-day lawmaking session, compared to 62 percent who voted the group’s way last year. Read more @ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/fl-chamber-fewe.html


Florida’s U.S. senators probably are richer than you
posted by Mark Matthews on Jun 13, 2008 1:35:33 PM Orlando Sentinel
WASHINGTON -- Life as a public servant isn’t half bad, especially if you’re a U.S. senator from Florida. Both U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez are millionaires, according to 2007 financial records released today. Read more @ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/floridas-us-sen.html


Senator Says Loan Favoritism Is Possible
Published: June 15, 2008 LESLIE WAYNE NY Times
Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, said Saturday that he would donate $10,500 to charity and refinance a property loan after suggestions that he and other prominent Washington figures received preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial Corporation. Read more @ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/15loans.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

How to Block Cellphone Spam
By DAVID POGUE , NY Times
If I told you that today's e-column would change your life, would you mind that it's sort of short?The story goes like this. A few weeks ago, in my blog (nytimes.com/pogue), I wrote this:"OK, now I'm really, REALLY annoyed. Within a week, my wife and I have both started getting spam text messages on our Verizon cellphones. I know that this is nothing new, but it's new for us, and it's apparently getting worse Read more @ http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/06/12/technology/circuitsemail/index.html?8cir&emc=cir

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS
From e-mail recieved by sharkeykevin@yahoo.com

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here inCalifornia we are paying up to $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. My line ofwork is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks toget more of your money's worth for every gallon: Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA ,we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru thepipeline. One day is diesel, the next day is jet fuel and gasoline,regular and premium grades. We have 34 storage tanks here with a totalcapacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember tha t all service stationshave their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground themore dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buyingin the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly agallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and thetemperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and otherpetroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. Butthe service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to afast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has 3 stages: low,middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizingthe vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at thepu m p have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some ofthe liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are beingsucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're gettingless worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank isHALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tankthe less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster thanyou can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof.This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere,so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where Iwork, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that everygallon is actually the exact amount. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into thestorage tanks wh en you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely thegasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and youmight pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. WHERE TO BUY USA GAS - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON: Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it.It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods.We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott theirGAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more moneyinto the coffers of Saudi Arabia . Just buy from gas companies thatdon't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time Ifill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying tokill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be int eresting for you to know which oilcompanies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies importMiddle Eastern oil. Companies that import Middle Eastern oil: Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels Citgo gas is from South America .
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these exports amount toover $18 BILLION! (Oil is now $100+ a barrel.
Companies that DO NOT import Middle Eastern oil: Sunoco...............0 barrels Conoco...............0 barrels Sinclair...............0 barrels BP/Phillips..........0 barrels Hess...................0 barrels ARC0..................0 barrels If you go to Sunoco.com , you will get a listof the station locations near you. All of this information is available from the Department of Energyand each is required to state where they get their oil and how much theyare importing. T o h ave an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gasbuyers. It's really simple to do. I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you sendit to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to atleast ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) and so on, by the time the messagereaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREEMILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and passthis on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have beencontacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREEHUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long wouldit take?