tominator89

Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes By The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 08/15/2007 12:42:25 AM MDT Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate. The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes. Ulyanovsk, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held similar contests since 2005. Since then, the number of competitors, and the number of babies born to them, has been on the rise. Russia, with one-seventh of Earth's land surface, has just 141.4 million citizens, making it one of the most sparsely settled countries in the world. With a low birth rate and a high death rate, the population has been shrinking since the early 1990s. In his state-of-the-nation address last year, President Vladimir Putin called the demographic crisis the most acute problem facing Russia and announced a broad effort to boost Russia's birth rate, including cash incentives to families that have more than one child. Ulyanovsk Gov. Sergei Morozov has added an element of fun to the national campaign. The 2007 grand prize went to Irina and Andrei Kartuzov, who received a UAZ-Patriot, a sport utility vehicle. Other contestants won video cameras, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6624865

Phil Rizzuto finally puts me on the board. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2974097

Redskins sign Todd Pinkston http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsins...ml?nav=rss_blog

Some dates have been added: http://www.van-halen.com/tour.html

Phillies/Braves game, probably.

Booker T

PayPal is nice to pay for items, but I did have a bad experience while selling. I sold a PS2 headset on eBay. The guy paid me right away and I mailed the item. A few days later I received an e-mail informing me that the customer filed a complaint. He charged me with fraud claiming that I took his money and never mailed his item. Another couple of days pass and he actually leaves me neutral feedback on eBay. He said the item was in good shape but the shipping time wasn't to his liking. I disagreed with his feedback, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway, I emailed PayPal's investigation department the link to the feedback. I told them that he left me feedback on the item which included him describing the condition of the item. I figured he must have received the item in order to make a comment on its condition. Apparently PayPal's investigation team does not understand this logic and they proceed to take the funds out of my account and reward him with a refund. This guy ended up getting the headset for free. It was less than $20, so it was no big loss, but the way PayPal refunded his money like that pissed me off. I even e-mailed the customer after he left the feedback and said "you can probably close the PayPal claim now." He did not and proved to me that it's rather easy to screw sellers who accept PayPal. Oh, and PayPal also charges a fee when accepting funds from others. It's not a big deal, but it can add up if you don't sell high ticket items.

I'll buy a ticket for that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2966170

He admitted to using "the clear" and "the cream"

He didn't fail a test because they didn't exist. There are documented physical changes in his body. How did they occur?

The fan should trade the ball for an autographed copy of Game of Shadows.

What would you do if you caught Barry Bonds' 756 home run baseball? Would you sell or keep it?

Arkansas couple welcomes 17th child By JILL ZEMAN, Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a girl — again — for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday. Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date. Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more. "We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace." Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled. The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old. "We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well." Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2. The family includes two sets of twins. Michelle Duggar said that Joshua, Janna, Jill and Jessa were at the hospital, but that the rest of the family planned to visit their new sister later Thursday. Michelle Duggar said she started feeling contractions Wednesday night and went to the hospital at about 5 a.m. Thursday. "It actually went fast," she said. "I guess once I started progressing, it went within 30 minutes." Jennifer was born via a VBAC — or vaginal birth after Caesarean, Jim Bob Duggar said. The Duggars have been featured on several programs on cable's Discovery Health Network. The next special, the Duggar Family Album, is scheduled to air next month, Jim Bob Duggar said. Among the "fun facts" listed on Discovery Health's Web page devoted to the Duggars: A baby has been born in every month except June; the Duggars have gone through an estimated 90,000 diapers, and Michelle, 40, has been pregnant for 126 months — or 10.5 years — of her life. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_fe_st/17_kids

I don't care if the rating is a 3.4 or 2.5, the shows are still boring.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rdv_aXYv0sE

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7077484

Don't get too excited about Walker. He'll go through periods were he plays very well and then completely disappear for a few weeks.

Hilarious, definitely worth seeing!

The Phillies needs to start Michael Bourn in the outfield everyday.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070726/D8QKIJIO0.html

Apparently, LeCharles Bentley passed a physical allowing him to resume football activities. That's incredible. Also, Keenan McCardell signed with the Texans.

Hank Aaron is not dead.