Tap in to big savings by switching from bottled water

Tap in to big savings by switching from bottled water
BY JOSHUA CINELLI DAILY NEWS WRITER
Wednesday, June 18th 2008, 10:52 AM

Drinking water from the tap costs pennies a year vs. thousands for the bottled variety.
Gasoline isn't the only liquid draining New Yorkers' budgets - water can cost plenty for those who insist on drinking the bottled variety.
Last year, U.S. consumers purchased $16.8 billion of bottled water. The cost of drinking the recommended 64 ounces of water a day from bottles could total thousands of dollars for one person. By contrast, drinking a healthy supply from the tap costs just 51 cents a year, according to The Associated Press.
"In New York City, the water is the best," said Andre Aubry, a 61-year-old construction worker from Bedford Park in the Bronx. "I'm not going to pay anything for water."
Aubry, who fills up a cooler every night from the tap, said there's another good reason to avoid drinking from plastic bottles.
"All bottled water is doing is creating more garbage," he said.
Environmentalists have railed against bottled water for years based on the estimated 17 million barrels of oil used every year to make the bottles, and the fact that they don't break down in landfills. Other efforts such as the Tappening Project and Think Outside the Bottle have urged Americans to choose reusable containers.
In the city, Mayor Bloomberg is an ardent advocate of tap water, drinking it at home and in restaurants. This weekend, Bloomberg will co-sponsor a resolution in Miami at the U.SConference of Mayors to prohibit city spending on bottled water.
The City Council has stopped buying bottled water, joining 30 other cities nationwide. Instead, it has begun to provide water coolers that use filtered tap water. Last year, the Council's downtown offices went through 6,000 bottles of water.
Still, some say bottled water is all they drink.
"All that's in the fridge is bottled water," said Joseph Acquah of Flatbush, Brooklyn

Grocers with beef sue union butchers

Grocers with beef sue union butchers
BY JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, June 8th 2008, 4:00 AM

Three supermarket chains want millions in damages from a union they say ordered butchers to urge customers to buy fresh hamburger patties instead of frozen meat.

Lawyers for Pathmark, Waldbaum and The Food Emporium have responded aggressively to what they called a Memorial Day weekend scare campaign in which brochures distributed outside their stores suggested frozen meat may have been lying around warehouses for years.

"The statement that by buying fresh meat, 'customers never have to wonder how old fresh meat and hamburger patties are,' is a clear reference that customers should worry that frozen patties are old," says the suit, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Further, the handbill is "defamatory and libelous" because it suggests the supermarkets were selling outdated meat.

Leaflets were distributed outside stores in New York City and Long Island from May 23 to May 26.

The union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342, contends the leafleting was simply an attempt to drum up business because meat department workers' hours have been curtailed.

Several union members were disciplined or suspended for handing out the leaflets, union lawyer Ira Wincott said.

"We weren't telling customers not to buy anything, and we believe their sales actually increased that weekend over last year's sales, which we attribute to the handbill," Wincott said.

A copy of the handbill, attached to the suit, asks: "Why buy frozen patties shipped in from who knows where? Who knows how long they have been laying around a warehouse? Frozen meat may have been frozen for years
From ----newyorkdailynews.com 6-8-2008 p 15

Weak Economy Boosts Sales of T.V. Picture-Tubes

Weak Economy Boosts Sales of Picture-Tube TVs
By Eric A. Taub
The slowing American economy has had an unexpected effect on the television business: a resurgence in the popularity of the standard picture-tube TV.
According to new sales figures from the DisplaySearch research firm, tube TVs edged out plasma models to become the second-most-popular technology during the first quarter of this year. In the fourth quarter of 2007, it was plasma that enjoyed the number-two spot, after LCD.
The reasons are simple, according to Paul Gagnon, the company’s director of North American TV research. It all has to do with price sensitivity and the sense among consumers that they should purchase a cheap digital-capable set before the nation switches to all-digital broadcasting next year.
Enjoying the boom in picture-tube TV sales are the low-cost mass marketers like Wal-Mart. Tube sets have all but disappeared from big-box consumer electronics retailers, such as Best Buy, Circuit City and even Costco. In terms of revenue, the venerable RCA brand, owned by China’s TCL, has captured a 46 percent market share, putting it in first place.

And while picture-tube TVs may be hard to find here, that’s not the case in the rest of the world. Tube TVs still outsell LCD sets worldwide, although the two technologies are now neck and neck. In the first quarter of this year, 22.1 million tube TVs were sold worldwide, compared with 21.1 million LCD sets.
For those who still want to buy a flat-panel TV, the economy has also caused consumers to rethink their need for the biggest and best.
TV sales normally fall after the holiday buying boom, and this year was no exception. But unit sales of sets 40 inches and larger dropped by a larger-than-expected 36 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the last quarter of 2007. Meanwhile, sales of sets smaller than 40 inches in size decreased only 33 percent. “With the Super Bowl in January, typically sales of larger sets do well in the first quarter,” Mr. Gagnon said. “Sales of TVs in the 30- to 37-inch size were stronger than expected.” Smaller sets mean lower revenues for the manufacturers.
On the plasma front, Panasonic remained the sales leader, even though plasma now accounts for just 6 percent of worldwide TV sales. And in the United States, Vizio, the low-cost manufacturer, has seen its plasma market share almost double from the fourth quarter of last year, from 5.7 percent to 10 percent. (Panasonic’s first-place share of the U.S. plasma business dropped from 38 to 35 percent.)
One bright spot for the industry: sales of still-pricey TVs 50 inches and larger “was stronger than expected,” Mr. Gagnon said. If the rich do not always get richer, so far at least many seem to have retained their ability to buy big TVs. http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/ 5-23-2008

Obama poised to gain a majority of pledged delegates in Oregon

CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama is expected to take a majority of the pledged delegates in the Democratic race after primary voters weigh in Tuesday in Kentucky and Oregon.

Sen. Barack Obama campaigns Monday in Montana, while Sen. Hillary Clinton seeks votes in Kentucky.

Obama's campaign sees the two contests as a milestone in the protracted fight for the Democratic presidential nomination with Sen. Hillary Clinton, who continues to campaign hard.
There are 3,253 pledged delegates, and Obama, even with a poor showing Tuesday, should easily top the 1,627 delegates needed to gain a majority.
A candidate needs 2,026 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. Going into Tuesday races, Obama has 1,909 delegates, while Clinton has 1,718.
The Kentucky and Oregon primaries hold 103 delegates combined. Obama needs 15 more to achieve a majority of the pledged delegates -- the delegates won either in state caucuses or primaries.
Clinton appears to be the overwhelming favorite in Kentucky. CNN's "poll of polls," which averages the latest public opinion surveys in the state, suggests the senator from New York leads Obama by 30 percentage points. The last polls in Kentucky close at 7 p.m. ET.
Obama is the favorite in Oregon, where a CNN poll of polls indicates he has a lead of 10 percentage points. Oregon's primary is a mail-in only contest, which means voters must mail in or hand in their ballots in person by 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET
Both Kentucky and Oregon's primaries are closed, so only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic contests. http://harlemblogosphere.blogspot.com 5-20-2008

IRS: Some stimulus checks sent to wrong accounts

IRS: Some stimulus checks sent to wrong accounts
BY CAROL POLSKY
Through the wonders of modern technology, some of those federal economic stimulus checks are being deposited directly into recipients' bank accounts.But some are not - and are instead winding up in the bank accounts of complete strangers."We do know of instances of problems; we've hMay 15, 2008

eard of situations where stimulus checks have gone to the wrong people's bank accounts," conceded Kevin McKeon, the Internal Revenue Service spokesman for the New York region. "We're getting a lot of calls to the toll-free number."One local taxpayer, who asked not to be identified, reported that he had discovered an unexpected deposit of $1,800 in his bank account. He said a review of his bank records revealed that it was a deposit from the IRS bearing another taxpayer's Social Security number. He said he contacted the IRS and was told by an agent that the deposit was one of 15,000 misrouted checks sent out incorrectly as a result of a computer programming glitch.
Adapted from ---nynewsday---5-15-2008--posted by davidsradiotv2000

Rev. Al: Cut off cop cash

Google Blogs Alert for: davidsradiotv2000
Rev. Al: Cut off cop cashBy David'sRadioTV2000(A Blogger) ... Nicole Paultre Bell, and his friend Joseph Guzman attended the hearing, but made only brief remarks urging the panel to make changes to prevent another such shooting. --------nydailynews.com--posted by davidsradiotv2000 5-13-2008.The Harlem Blogosphere - http://harlemblogosphere.blogspot.com/

Hillary Tweaks Her Golden Goose

HILLARY TWEAKS HER GOLDEN GOOSE

May 6, 2008 -- 'Why don't we hold these Wall Street money-brokers responsible for their role in this recession?" So asked Sen. Hillary Clinton in Indiana over the weekend, sneeringly.

Pretty harsh words.

Could she be referring to the "money-brokers" who are directly responsible for nearly a third of all wages earned in New York City in any given year?

Or the folks who generate more than 20 percent of Albany's tax revenue?

On a more personal level, was Sen. Clinton talking about her friends at Goldman Sachs - you know, the ones who have kicked $445,350 into her campaign kitty so far this election cycle?

Or the combined personal contributions from Citigroup ($406,752), Morgan Stanley ($482,845) and Lehman Brothers ($269,560) - among many others?

Those money-brokers?

How about this: If money "brokered" on Wall Street so profoundly offends the senator, why doesn't she just give it all back?

Albany and City Hall don't have that luxury. Things are tough, and likely to get much worse - and maybe even worse than that if Sen. Clinton keeps it up with the condescending rhetoric.

She should be ashamed
From newyorkpost.com 5-6-2008 p28

It's our duty to protest Bell decision

People should not have to paralyze the city to make everyone see that police actions in the Bell case - whether viewed as a crime or horrible blunder - cannot be excused as "just one of those things."
IN THIS CASE,
We have not heard Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Raymond Kelly or anyone else lay out a clear, convincing, detailed plan for ensuring there will be no more situations in which undercover officers rush on innocent people and unleash deadly force as if they're in a war zone. -----From the nydailynews.com ---and Errol Louis Opinions 4-26-2008 See http://harlemblogosphere.blogspot.com

Flaw in TV converters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, April 24th 2008, 4:00 AM
Did my TV screen just shrink?
That's the question a lot of people will be asking after installing one of the converter boxes that will keep older TV sets tuned into over-the-air broadcasts after Feb. 17, when most stations will switch to digital transmission from analog.
The National Association of Broadcasters estimates that 70 million sets nationwide are in danger of losing their picture. The A ssociated Press tested two boxes - the Digital Stream DTX9900 and Insignia NS-DXA1. Each costs $59.99, which can be partly defrayed by a $40 coupon available from the government at www.dtv2009.gov.
They come with a peculiar problem: Unless users manually change settings from show to show, the picture from many stations either won't fill the screen, or it will be so big that parts the picture are cut off by the edges of the screen.
Both boxes, with some programs, produced "windowboxing" or "the postage-stamp effect." This occurs because the digital broadcasts of network stations are in most cases formatted for widescreen HDTVs. The image will be "letterboxed" with black bars above and below.
The solution is to press the "Zoom" button on the remote that comes with the converter box. But that will have to be done for every show. Adapted from nydailynews 4-24-2008 P61
Posted by -----davidsradiotv2000

Cops may finally compute evidence

DESPITE A budget crunch, the NYPD hopes to get $25 million to fund an urgent need -- a computer program to track millions of pieces of evidence. For more than a decade, the NYPD has tried to get a computerized system in place for it's evidence collection process. Fomer Commissioner Howard Safir pulled the plug on one such attempt in 1998, after the department invested $7 million over seven years with series of computer companies with no results, records showed.
If it doesn't get additional money for the project, the NYPD may have to shift other funds to pay for the new technology, such as $50 million earmarked to rehab the Central Park Precinct, sources said. The property clerk division processes 1.6 million invoices a year and has more than 10 million pieces of property in storage, NYPD documents show. The collection includes evidence from crime, stolen property, contraband, vehicles and prisoners' property.
Capgemini, a technology and consulting firm headquartered in Manhattan, is in negotiations with NYPD for this latest attempt, sources said. Capgemini referred questions to the NYPD.
It was unclear how much of the evidence backlog would be inventoried, a key demand from defense lawyers.
Human rights advocates argued the lack of a tracking system has kept at lest one innocent man in jail when the NYPD could not find key evidence.

Alan Newton spent 21 years in prison after a wrongful 1984 conviction for rape and robbery in the Bronx. According to the Innocence Project, the NYPD said for years that it could not locate evidence for forensic testing in Newton's case.

Twelve years after Newton's first motion for DNA testing was denied, the evidence was found in the bin at Pearson Place warehouse in Long Island City, where it was supposed to be all along.
The evidence was located only after a Bronx assistant district attorney asked Pearson Place supervisors to look for it. From nydnews 3-19-2008 -p26 by davidsradiotv2000

TEXTERS, BEWARE

Gadget lets snoopers peek at erased messages
Cheating spouses and wayward teens,you are SO busted! -A new device allows anyone to spy on the text messages on your cellphone --including deleted ones you thought were gone for good. The sneaky gadget can read a cellphone's SIM card--a portable memory chip that stores a user's personal information--and allows snoopers to save any data from it onto their own computers. The device is made by the New York firm of BrickHouse Security.
The device costs $149 and fits in your hand. BrickHouse President Todd Morris said many people find out their worst fears are justified when they snoop.
HOW IT WORKS: Remove the SIM card from the cellphone. Put card into SIM card reader --Plug card reader into computer to transfer data. Kids trying to hide things from their parents should also be worried about the SIM card reader. It is legal for bosses to check up on workers cellphones. " An employer who hands out phones for bussiness use can check if they're being used for personal calls " Bierce said. Bill Bierce is a data -protection lawyer as he told the Post. --- However, it breaks several laws for a stranger to steal the data from the phone.---From N.Y.Post 2-27-2008 P3

Rebate checks in sight

President George W. Bush has pledged to sign the rebate bill next week. Most households will get another $300 for each child. Here are some questions and answers about the checks.
Who gets a rebate?
Anyone who pays taxes or earns at least $3,000, including those who receive Social Security or veterans disability benefits. Higher earners get partial rebates.
Who won't get a rebate ?
People who earn less than $3,000, illegal immigrants, anyone who does not file a tax return, singles earning more than $87,000 and couples earning more than $174,000.The caps rise $6,000 per child.
How much is the rebate ?
Single taxpayers get at least $300, couples at least $600. The rebate will be equal to the taxes they paid, up to $600 for singles and $1,200 for couples,plus an additional $300 per child.That amount will be reduced by $50 for every $1,000 above the income limits of $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples. People who earn too little to pay taxes but earn or receive benefits of at least $3,000 will get $300 if single or $600 if a couple. ---------When will the rebates arrive?------Beginning in May
Will the rebates be deducted from taxpayer' regular tax returns ?-----No, the rebates are on top of any tax refund. ----From the Associated Press nydailynews 2-9-2008

Senate: Check's in the mail

WASHINGTON--The Senate yesterday passed an economic rescue plan that would speed $600 to $1,200 in rebates to most taxpayers and $300 checks to the disabled, the elderly, and low-income Americans. The 81-16 vote capped more than a week of political maneuvering that ended only when the majority Democrats dropped a demand to offer jobless benefits, heating aid for the poor, and tax breaks for certain industries. The Republicans agreed to add the rebates for older people and disabled veterans to a $161 billion measure passed lasted month by the House.---The bill now goes to President Bush. nydailynews ----AP 2-5-2008

MoveOn Endorses Obama

MoveOn the online network that connects more than 3 million progressives nationwide has Officially Endorsed Barack Obama.
If there is value for Obama in the endorsement, it's that it reinforces his efforts to highlight Clinton's vote for the Iraq war in 2002, and her sometimes akward efforts during this campaign to explain it away.
The Politiker----2-1-2008

Hear the new Obama song
"Yes We Can"

Obama wins South Carolina

Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary in a jaw-dropping landslide yesterday, handing a humiliating defeat to two Clintons- Hillary and Bill.

Obama won 55% of the vote, Clinton 27% and John Edwards 18% in nearly complete reterns.

The secret weapon's a fired-up army of youth ---by ERROL LOUIS
nydailynews 1-27-2008 p-6

Kennedy's daughter sees dad in Obama

City's hunger crisis grows

Food pantries can't keep up as demand soars

An alarming number of food pantries and soup kitchens in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx are being forced to turn people away hungry, a new survey shows. Demand for food pantries and soup kitchens has skyrocketed throughout New York City--growing by an estimated 20% this year, combined with an estimated 11% last year, according to an analysis conducted by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. Presently, 1.3 million New Yorkers --one in every six residents--cannot afford an adequate and consistent food supply and must rely on pantries and shelters,statistics show. For it's annual hunger survey, released this week, the nonprofit coalition polled 265 of the more than 1,200 charitable feeding agencies in the city.The survey found 76% of responing agencies in Queens said they didn't have enough food to meet the rapidly increasing demand , and the case was the same for 67% in Brooklyn and 65% in the Bronx. By contrast, that figure was 36% in Manhattan and 29% on Staten Island.
When the economy gets a cold , lowerincome people get pneumonia,"Berg added . Adapted from the new york daily news metro news 11-23-07 p-cn 1

How a blood clot can prove to be deadly

HILLARY CLINTON'S 1998 health scare came from a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT)--in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in the legs.In severe cases, a clot can break loose and travel to the lungs. A pulmanary (lung embolism) can cause death. DVT's causes include prolonged sitting or an inherited blood-clotting disorder. Older people physically inactive for long periods are top candidates. Signs and symptoms can include swelling in ankles and/or feet. Doctors suggest getting up to walk every hour when traveling long distances on a plane or in a car, elevateing your legs when watching TV reading , and wearing support stockings to improve circulation.

N.Y.D.news
10 25 2007 p 7

The Digital Television Transition--What is it ?

The DTV transition refers to switch from analog to digital television. Digital technology will provide improved picture quality and sound quality like that experienced at the movies.Congress set the deadline of February 17, 2009 for the DTV transition. This means that on that date all U.S. television stations will stop broadcasting in analog format as they do now, and will transmit only in digital instead.

What Consumers who are Considering the Purchase of a TV Set Should Know

When buying television sets and other equipment such as DVD players, consumers should know whether or not the equipment includes a digital tuner.( TV equipment that includes a digital tuner is sometimes referred to as a "digital receiver." ) Digital tuners are needed to watch local broadcast stations that will be sent in digital format after February 17, 2007 must either purchase a TV set equipped with a digital tuner or purchase a digital-to-analog converter box that will convert those over-the-air digital signals into analog so that they can be displayed on an analog device. Analog -only TVs should continue to work as before with cable and satellite TV services.

Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program

Between January 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons,worth $ 40 each, to be used towards the purchase of digital -to-analog converter boxes. As described above these converter boxes are designed to make over-the-air digital television signals viewable on analog -only TVs, and thus are not intended analog-only TVs hooked up to cable or satellite service. The National Telecommunications and information Administration ( NTIA) is running the coupon program. For more information, visit the NTIA website at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/

To Mrs. Florence M. Rice of Harlem Consumer Education Council Chair

THE FCC COMES TO HARLEM ---THURSDAY , OCTOBER 4, 2007--6 TO 9 PM

AT THE ADAM CLAYTON POWELL NEW YORK STATE OFFICE BUILDING-

( At 125th Street and Malcolm X Blvd N.Y. City )

The new location of Harlem Drummers in Marcus Garvey Park

TROOP PULLBACK OK, SEZ TOP BRASS

WASHINGTON--Gen. David Petraeus signed off yesterday on a long,slow U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq designed to allow President Bush to claim a measure of success before turning the war over to a successor. Petraeus in a much-anticipated hearing before Congress, recommended that the California-based 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit of about 2,000 leathernecks come out on schedule this month, to be followed by an as yet unspecified Army brigade of 3,500 to 4,000 troops by christmas.Speaking for the more than 170,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq, Petraeus said: " We all want to come home, but what we want to do is come home the right way." 9-11-07 nydailynews.com