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sooner or later were going to see laws addressing these . mark my words .
NEW YORK -- Machine guns are illegal in the U.S. for most people, but one small company has found a way around that.
Slide Fire, based in Moran, Texas, plans to sell a semiautomatic rifle that mimics the rapid fire of a machine gun and is also fed bullets from a belt, which provides a huge capacity for ammunition -- potentially thousands of rounds.
Brandon Renner, sales and marketing manager for Slide Fire, says the belt-fed rifle, called the SFS BFR, will be available this fall and sell for $6,000.
"It sprays like a fire hose," said Renner. "We recommend no more than 30 rounds on the belt, but one person could make it as big as they want."
Can that be legal?
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says yes, since it's still technically a semiautomatic.
The key is that of the pieces that make up a gun, the ATF regulates only the "receiver." It's the only piece that has a serial number and the only one that requires a background check to purchase. Slide Fire modifies the trigger and the stock -- the butt of the gun that sits against the shooter's shoulder.
Slide Fire's technology uses the recoil of the rifle shot to "bump" the gun, speeding up the rate of fire without changing the gun's classification as a semiautomatic, which requires that only one round is fired each time the trigger is pulled.
In a 2010 letter posted on Slide Fire's website, the ATF wrote: "We find that the 'bump-stock' is a firearm part and is not regulated as firearm under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms act."
"I can confirm that ATF did approve the device referenced in the letter and that the Slide Fire is legal," said ATF spokesman Christopher Amon.
Slide Fire already sells bump-stocks for $370 that speed up the rate of fire for semiautomatics. The company also sells semiautomatic rifles that have already been accessorized for bump-fire, costing between $1,150 to $1,950. But these guns use magazines, not belts, and thus have limited ammo capacity.
A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart (WMT), one of the largest gun sellers in America, said the company does not sell Slide Fire products, and will not be offering the belt-fed rifle.
Another major dealer, Cabela's (CAB), did not return messages from CNNMoney about Slide Fire. But the company's website listed Slide Fire products for sale.
James Hill, owner of the Abilene Indoor Gun Range, located about 50 miles away from Slide Fire's headquarters, said he sells the company's bump-fire accessories and they're quite popular with his customers.
But Hill, who referred to the Slide Fire products as "a poor man's machine gun," doesn't plan to sell the belt-fed gun, because he doesn't believe there will be much of a demand for it.
He said the Slide Fire rifle is a bit more challenging to fire than a fully automatic weapon, but the "learning curve" can be corrected with a bit of practice.
"It's not as easy [as full auto], but it's fairly idiot proof," he said.
sooner or later were going to see laws addressing these . mark my words .
they already have ruled one maker's bump fire stock a NFA item.. it was that 10/22 stock.. it had a spring installed and ATF first said it was fine, then they changed their mind and said it was a MG... turn them in.. sad but true... B2B
B2B your talking about the Akin Accelerator
"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem" Ronald Reagan
News items like these with gun store morons stating "sprays like a firehose" doesn't help our cause much either. I guess "get em' while you can" if you want them. Besides, can "bumpfire" some of mine without a Slidefire anyway. Heck a rubberband wrapped around the mag and trigger works on some. A suppressor? Heck a plastic soda bottle, duck tape and loose cotton works as well. These NFA restrictions are kind of idiotic but that's life.
When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America , you get a front row seat. - George Carlin
sure shoot up that precious ammo at the wind in simulated full-auto!
make obama happy!
my guess is obongo is letting these things slide for now just to waste the ammo stockpile of the population.
you think ammo is expensive and hard to get now? obongo ain't out of office yet-- he has got plenty of time to put the screws to us-- and plenty more false-flags to spring on the sheeple!
he is going to do some shit that will cut of ALL ammo and imports from russia-- you see he has got a sore bumm and a hard-on for putin since that syria war didn't happen-- so he is going to try to get back at russia and the firearms people in the US at the same time.
Personal opinion. Seems like a waste of money. You would ONLY use this for novelty time at the range. No one would use this for "real" use since you are losing some control of your weapon. Meaning you are wasting you ammo. Ammo being so expensive these days, I would rather NOT do something like that. Only for fun time at the range... and nowadays it seems that is becoming cost prohibitive.
Gunco Member #10
The "original" Boltcutter Rivet Squeezers:
Project Pink - the Pink and Blue AK-74:
rubber bands are cheaper or follow dutigafs homemade design
build don't buy
sad to say Big Gun is probably right, this will be part of a long list of items in the next round of executive orders
Sprat and sprat1 are one and the same.
IMO ...big waste of ammo. need to stay in practice and try out the newly finished ones but blatant waste of ammo for a grin to me is a sin. we already cant put more than 7 in the mag (n.y. sucks) and how long would that last with a bumpfire???
Ite there slaes reps who go around saying it shoots like a bullet hose .
the videos only hurt us more .
just because its legal dosent make it a good idea .
sooner or later one of these will end up at homicide an Semi autos will get front page bad PR again .
The link is from a UK sight BTW


text:
Applications of data mining in web services
Nayak, Richi & Tong, Cindy M. (2004) Applications of data mining in web services. In 5th International Conferences on Web Information Systems, Brisbane, Australia.
|PDF (60kB)
The success of Web services in business relies on the discovery of Web services satisfying the needs of the service requester. In this paper we discuss the use of data mining in the service discovery process. We recommend a set of applications that can leverage problems concerned with the planning, development and maintenance of Web services.
Impact and interest:
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|Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES (080000) > INFORMATION SYSTEMS (080600)
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text:
The landlord does not accept the following in this place:
Since you're making plans to come to Valencia and your main goal is to stay in a well-located place, meaning you want to live close to where you'll be attending your classes, this apartment in the Benimaclet neighbourhood is a sharp choice!
Placed close to Universidad de Valencia and Universitat Politècnica de València - already the ideal pick since it's meeting your demands - this place will also allow to stay close to shops, restaurants and green areas so you can enjoy a stroll or a jog and more importantly, the city centre. The property itself will grant you with four airy and bright bedrooms with all the comfort you might need, a kitchen fitted with the main amenities and appliances for your cooking, an equally well-lit and spacious living room and lastly, two bathrooms. In a nutshell, a well-located place with everything you might need to feel like you never left home!
Looks like no one had the time to review this place yet!
These conditions were defined by the Provider and are subject to change.
We have verified this property. We are still working on having the Landlord's contacts and documents fully verified.
Getting Around
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BenimacletDiscover more about Benimaclet
Path to university
At Uniplaces we make the process of booking an apartment as easy as possible for both tenant and landlord.
That's why we have our own team of professional photographers that verify our properties and pick our landlords carefully in order to save time on viewings: we think it's old-fashioned and time-consuming.
You can look at forty different apartments on our platform in the same amount of time that it takes to see a room.
The pictures you see here haven't been photoshopped, so they'll be really accurate.
If you've still got any doubts, we'll keep the money that you transfer us until 24h after your move-in date.
If something's not exactly what you saw online, we'll help you move somewhere else and return your money.
We can only give you the contact details of your landlord after your booking is accepted. But we can guarantee that Uniplaces chooses the landlords it works with very carefully.
Besides, we've had students whose favourite part was living with a local!
Landlords and host families can be great city guides, help you out with translations and even become your friends.
As soon as your booking is accepted, you're given the landlord's contact details. Then, you can discuss all details directly with them, such as when you'll be moving-in.
Students move in and out at different times, so your flatmates might change during your stay.
It's a great opportunity to make new friends!
We personally speak to students who we place in Uniplaces apartments and are sure we will find the right place for you as well!
At the bottom of the property page, you have a calendar where you can see the availability of that room/apartment, according to the landlord.
But if you're still unsure about that we're happy to help.
Tell us your move-in and move-out dates and we will double-check if the place is available for you!
There are two different types of deposits: the Holding and Security deposits.
By clicking on "Deposit" at the bottom of the offer page you will get more information about each type of deposit.
In general, the deposit is paid to cover for any potential damages that may occur during your period of stay or will be used as rent compensation in case you leave earlier than originally planned.
If no damages occur and you leave on the agreed move-out date, your deposit should be refunded by the landlord in a way you both agree on.


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Following my post on data journalism teaching fellow trainer Peter Verweij got in touch to share a post which first appeared on his blog earlier this month. I'm reproducing it here with permission. A Dutch version is also available here. Continue reading
Tag Archives: tableau
Data visualisation training
If you're interested in data visualisation I'm delivering a training course on November 7 with the excellent Caroline Beavon. Here's what we're covering:
- Pick the right chart for your story – against a deadline
- Mapping tricks and techniques: using Fusion Tables and other tools to map Olympic torchbearers
- Picking the right data to visualise
- Visualisation tips for free chart tools
- Avoiding common visualisation mistakes
- Create an infographic with Tableau and Illustrator
- Making data interactive
More details here. Places can be booked here.
Data journalism pt4: visualising data – tools and publishing (comments wanted)
This is a draft from a book chapter on data journalism (here are parts 1; two; and three, which looks the charts side of visualisation). I'd really appreciate any additions or comments you can make – particularly around tips and tools.
UPDATE: It has now been published in The Online Journalism Handbook.
Visualisation tools
So if you want to visualise some data or text, how do you do it? Thankfully there are now dozens of free and cheap pieces of software that you can use to quickly turn your tables into charts, graphs and clouds.
The best-known tool for creating word clouds is Wordle (wordle.net). Simply paste a block of text into the site, or the address of an RSS feed, and the site will generate a word cloud whose fonts and colours you can change to your preferences. Similar tools include Tagxedo (tagxedo.com) and Wordlings (http://wordlin.gs), both of which allow you to put your word cloud into a particular shape.
ManyEyes (manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/) also allows you to create word clouds and tag clouds – as well as word trees and phrase nets that allow you to see common phrases. But it is perhaps most useful in allowing you to easily create scattergrams, bar charts, bubble charts and other forms. The site also contains a raft of existing data that you can play with to get a feel for the site. Similar tools that allow access to other data include Factual (factual.com), Swivel (swivel.com)[see comments], Socrata (socrata.com) and Verifiable.com (verifiable.com). And Google Fusion Tables (tables.googlelabs.com) is particularly useful if you want to collaborate on tables of data, as well as offering visualisation options.
More general visualisation tools include widgenie (widgenie.com), iCharts (icharts.net), ChartTool (onlinecharttool.com) and ChartGo (www.chartgo.com). FusionCharts is a piece of visualisation software with a Google Gadget service that publishers may find useful. You can find instructions on how to use it at www.fusioncharts.com/GG/Docs
If you want more control over your visualisation – or want it to update dynamically when the source information is updated, Google Chart Tools (code.google.com/apis/charttools) is worth exploring. This requires some technical knowledge, but there is a lot of guidance and help on the site to get you started quickly.
Tableau Public is a piece of free software you can download (tableausoftware.com/public) with some powerful visualisation options. You will also find visualisation options on spreadsheet applications such as Excel or the free Google Docs spreadsheet service. These are worth exploring as a way to quickly generate charts from your data on the fly.
Publishing your visualisation
There will come a point when you've visualised your data and need to publish it somehow. The simplest way to do this is to take an image (screengrab) of the chart or graph. This can be done with a web-based screencapture tool like Kwout (kwout.com), a free desktop application like Skitch (skitch.com) or Jing (jingproject.com), or by simply using the 'Print Screen' button on a PC keyboard (cmd+shift+3 on a Mac) and pasting the screengrab into a graphics package such as Photoshop.
The advantage of using a screengrab is that the image can be easily distributed on social networks, image sharing websites (such as Flickr), and blogs – driving traffic to the page on your site where it is explained.
If you are more technically minded, you can instead choose to embed your chart or graph. Many visualisation tools will give you a piece of code which you can copy and paste into the HTML of an article or blog post in the place you wish to display it (this will not work on most third party blog hosting services, such as WordPress.com). One particular advantage of this approach is that the visualisation can update itself if the source data is updated.
Alternatively, an understanding of Javascript can allow you to build 'progressively enhanced' charts which allow users to access the original data or see what happens when it is changed.
Showing your raw data
It is generally a good idea to give users access to your raw data alongside its visualisation. This not only allows them to check it against your visualisation but add insights you may not otherwise gain. It is relatively straightforward to publish a spreadsheet online using Google Docs (see the sidebar on publishing a spreadsheet)
SIDEBAR: How to: publish a spreadsheet online
Google Docs (docs.google.com) is a free website which allows you to create and share documents. You can share them via email, by publishing them as a webpage, or by embedding your document in another webpage, such as a blog post. This is how you share a spreadsheet:
- Open your spreadsheet in Google Docs. You can upload a spreadsheet into Google Docs if you've created it elsewhere – there is a size limit, however, so if you are told the file is too big try removing unnecessary sheets or columns.
- Look for the 'Share' button (currently in the top right corner) and click on it.
- A drop-down menu should appear. Click on 'Publish as a web page'
- A new window should appear asking which sheets you want to publish. Select the sheet you want to publish and click 'Start publishing' (you should also make sure 'Automatically republish when changes are made' is ticked if you want the public version of the spreadsheet to update with any data you add.)
- Now the bottom half of that window – 'Get a link to the published data' – should become active. In the bottom box should be a web address where you can now see the public version of your spreadsheet. If you want to share that, copy the address and test that it works in a web browser. You can now link to it from any webpage.
- Alternatively, you can embed your spreadsheet – or part of it – in another webpage. To do this click on the first drop-down menu in this area – it will currently say 'Web page' – and change it to 'HTML to embed in a page'. Now the bottom box on this window should show some HTML that begins with
- If you want to embed just part of a spreadsheet, in the box that currently says 'All cells' type the range of cells you wish to show. For example, typing A1:G10 will select all the cells in your spreadsheet from A1 (the first row of column A) to G10 (the 10th row of column G). Once again, the HTML below will change so that it only displays that section of your spreadsheet.
Once again, I'd welcome any comments on things I may have missed or tips you can add. Part 5, on mashups, is now available here.
Data journalism pt3: visualising data – charts and graphs (comments wanted)
This is a draft from a book chapter on data journalism (the first, on gathering data, is here; the section on interrogating data is here). I'd really appreciate any additions or comments you can make – particularly around considerations in visualisation. A further section on visualisation tools, can be found here.
UPDATE: It has now been published in The Online Journalism Handbook.
"At their best, graphics are instruments for reasoning about quantitative information. Often the most effective way to describe, explore, and summarize a set of numbers – even a very large set – is to look at pictures of those numbers." (Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2001)
Visualisation is the process of giving a graphic form to information which is often otherwise dry or impenetrable. Classic examples of visualisation include turning a table into a bar chart, or a series of percentage values into a pie chart – but the increasing power of both computer analysis and graphic design software have seen the craft of visualisation develop with increasing sophistication. In larger organisations the data journalist may work with a graphic artist to produce an infographic that visualises their story – but in smaller teams, in the initial stages of a story, or when speed is of the essence they are likely to need to use visualisation tools to give form to their data.
Broadly speaking there are two typical reasons for visualising data: to find a story; or to tell one. Quite often, it is both. Continue reading


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text:
Change is coming... the Microsoft Malware Protection Center is getting a new look and name very soon.
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This threat is a member of the Win32/Reveton family.
Windows Defender Antivirus detects and removes this threat.
This ransomware can stop you from using your PC or accessing your data. It might ask you to pay money to a malicious hacker.
Our ransomware page has more information on this type of threat.
There is no one-size-fits-all response if you have been victimized by ransomware. There is no guarantee that paying the ransom will give you access to your files.
If you've already paid, see our ransomware page for help on what to do now.
Use the following free Microsoft software to detect and remove this threat:
You should also run a full scan. A full scan might find other hidden malware.
To restore your PC, you might need to download and run Windows Defender Offline. See our advanced troubleshooting page for more help.
You can also ask for help from other PC users at the Microsoft virus and malware community.
If you're using Windows XP, see our Windows XP end of support page.
The summary tab has all the available details for this threat.
I want to...
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If you suspect that a file has been incorrectly identified as malware, you can submit the file for analysis.


text:
Welcome to Wonkbook, Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas's morning policy news primer. (Well, usually Ezra and Evan's. But Ezra is on vacation, so it's just Evan.) To subscribe by e-mail, click here. Send comments, criticism, or ideas to Wonkbook at Gmail dot com. To read more by Ezra and his team, go to Wonkblog.
Wonkbook's Number of the Day: 2015. That's when Obama said his administration will begin its metrics-based evaluations of college's return on students' tuition.
Wonkbook's Graph of the Day: Anyone who looks at the sticker price of tuition to measure college cost (as it is in the Consumer Price Index, notably) doesn't know what they're talking about. You have to look at net cost, as David Leonhardt shows here.
Wonkbook's Top 5 Stories: 1) why controlling the cost of college is hard; 2) the Jackson Hole conference; 3) the case against the surveillance state; 4) California at risk of big Obamacare delay; and 5) let's get fiscal, fiscal.
1) Top story: Can Obama control the cost of college?
Obama proposes college-rating system that could increase affordability. "For decades, magazines have rated colleges to help families navigate the higher education market. On Thursday, President Obama proposed that the federal government rate the nation's schools to hold them accountable for performance and help bring soaring tuition under control. By the 2015 school year, Obama said, his administration will begin evaluating colleges on measures such as the average tuition they charge, the share of low-income students they enroll and their effectiveness in ensuring students graduate without too much debt." Nick Anderson and Philip Rucker in The Washington Post.
Primary source: Obama's full plan to rein in higher ed costs. Brad Plumer in The Washington Post.
Explainer: Everything you need to know about Obama's higher ed plan. Dylan Matthews in The Washington Post.
Obama plans to tackle college costs, but options for controlling tuition are limited. "President Obama says he is on "a personal mission" to make higher education more affordable. But a key factor in rising college prices in recent years is a trend he has little power to reverse: a sharp decline in state funding for public colleges and universities...In the near term, you're not going to markedly improve college affordability for the vast majority of students without affecting the behavior of states," said Michael Dannenberg, a higher education policy analyst for the Education Trust...One effective way to cut costs, he and other analysts said, would be to ensure that more students get through college in four years or less, rather than taking a fifth or sixth year to graduate." Nick Anderson in The Washington Post.
@hillhulse: Is Pres Obama first president who had college loans of his own? Only finished paying them off before Senate election.
Here's how Obama can make his higher-ed plan work without Congress. "What's interesting about this plan, though, is that only half of it needs congressional approval — and it's the half that comes later, and that can be done quicker. The Obama administration doesn't need congressional approval to build the performance measures. That's something the Department of Education can do on its own...So what Obama is really promising to get done in his second term is to create the infrastructure necessary for a pay-for-performance system: the definition of performance and the routine collection of the underlying data. He doesn't need Congress for that. When that's are done, Obama can try to get legislation passed through Congress to tie them to financial aid by 2018. But even if he fails, he will have set the next president up to finish the job, as the technically hardest and most time-consuming task will be complete." Ezra Klein in The Washington Post.
Obama's backup plan on colleges. "Mr. Obama's first choice is that this data – on tuition, graduation and retention rates, student makeup and graduates' earnings – help determine how much federal money the colleges receive. The backup plan is that parents and students will be able to use the data to decide where to enroll and, in the process, reward top-performing colleges and punish laggards. The White House plans to publish ratings based on this data by 2015." David Leonhardt in The New York Times.
College costs: rising, but often exaggerated. "The cost of attending college has indeed increased more quickly than inflation in recent years, but it has not risen as fast as many people imagine. The main reason for the misunderstanding is the fact that the list price of college – especially the list price of elite private colleges – receives far more attention than the actual price. The list price is the one that colleges highlight in their brochures and that media accounts often mention; the actual price, which takes financial aid into account, reflects what families truly pay and, by any imaginable definition, matters more." David Leonhardt in The New York Times.
@markknoller: Tomorrow on Obama Bus Tour: a Town Hall at Binghamton Univ (1245pm); speeches with VP Biden at Lackawanna College in Scranton, PA (440pm).
Report: Long-term education investments lead to higher wages. "The report, composed for the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank, shows a strong correlation between a well-educated workforce, higher productivity and higher wages. States where higher percentages of the workforce have attained bachelor's degrees, like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, have much higher average hourly wages than states with fewer college graduates, like Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the study shows." Reid Wilson in The Washington Post.
@ianbremmer: Americans who believe college education is a good financial investment: 2008 - 81%. 2012 - 57%. 2013 - 50%.
KLEIN: When government says 'no' to rising costs. "You can't walk out on medical care for your spouse or education for your child. In the case of medical care, your spouse might die. In the case of college, you're just throwing away your kid's future (or so goes the conventional wisdom). Consequently, medical care and higher education are the two purchases that families will mortgage everything to make. They need to find a way to say "yes." In these markets, when push comes to shove, consumers meet the demands of producers. The result, in both cases, is similar: skyrocketing costs for a product of uncertain quality." Ezra Klein in Bloomberg.
BARRO: This is a move in exactly the right direction. "Simply publicizing this information may help students make smarter decisions about what degrees to get and where. But more importantly, the president wants to tie federal financial aid to performance on these metrics, so colleges have better incentives to provide a better product. We'll need to see how the rating systems work when the Department of Education releases them next year. But this is the right direction to be moving in. As with health care, third-party payment causes the education sector to focus too little on cost, and the government needs to make sure that tax dollars are spent efficiently. If we want to make college affordable, the government needs to bend the cost curve, not just write bigger checks." Josh Barro in Business Insider.
Music recommendations interlude: REM counts as college rock, so let's listen to "Radio Free Europe." But you should watch this just so you can laugh at how people dressed in 1983.
Top opinion
BERNSTEIN: No, really, the surge in part-time work isn't happening. "I built a simple statistical model of the relationship between the share of involuntary part-time work and the unemployment rate. I then ran the model through the first half of 2009, and predicted, using the actual unemployment rate, the shares of involuntary part-time work. If the law were keeping more than the usual number of full-time workers stuck in part-time jobs, then the predicted trend would be significantly below the actual one. In fact, the two trends hug each other quite tightly, further evidence that part-time employment is much where we would expect it to be at this stage of recovery, given the high level and slow decline in the jobless rate." Jared Bernstein in The New York Times.
SOLTAS: How economics can save the whales. "Without attracting much notice, one branch of the discipline has made a lot of progress in devising polices that command consensus: environmental economics...At the top of the list is a program that rations the right to fish, known as "catch share." It has proven shockingly successful in halting overfishing and ecological collapse -- the point at which stocks can no longer replenish themselves. A study of 11,135 fisheries showed that introducing catch share roughly halved the chance of collapse...Environmental economists have lately turned their attention to Atlantic bluefin tuna and whales. The National Marine Fisheries Service has just proposed new regulations that would for the first time establish a catch-share program for the endangered and lucrative bluefin. And a group of economists is pushing for a new international agreement on whaling." Evan Soltas in Bloomberg.
KRUGMAN: This age of bubbles. "Does this reversal of fortune pose a major threat to the world economy? I don't think so (he said with his fingers crossed behind his back). It's true that investor loss of confidence and the resulting currency plunges caused severe economic crises in much of Asia back in 1997-98. But the crucial point back then was that, in the crisis countries, many businesses had large debts in dollars, so that falling currencies effectively caused their debts to soar, creating widespread financial distress. That problem isn't completely absent this time around, but it looks much less serious." Paul Krugman in The New York Times.
STRASSEL: A new strategy to take on Obamacare. "A swelling coalition of conservative activists—card-carrying members of the "repeal ObamaCare" campaign—are lighting up the movement with a different approach. The plan aims to leverage public support, play on Democrat weaknesses, and, most notably, sidestep a shutdown fight that would damage the GOP even as it failed to kill the law. Meet the "Delay coalition." The political calculus is that delay, unlike defund, pushes Democrats to do something that many are already inclined to do." Kimberley A. Strassel in The Wall Street Journal.
BLOOMBERG: Why is Obama caving on tobacco? "[T]he Obama administration appears to be on the verge of bowing to pressure from a powerful special-interest group, the tobacco industry, in a move that would be a colossal public health mistake and potentially contribute to the deaths of tens of millions of people around the world...The early drafts of the agreement included a "safe harbor" provision protecting nations that have adopted regulations on tobacco — like package warnings and advertising and marketing restrictions — because of "the unique status of tobacco products from a health and regulatory perspective...This week, however, the Obama administration bowed to pressure from the tobacco industry and dumped the safe harbor provision from the trade compact." Michael R. Bloomberg in The New York Times.
COHN: What does Karl Rove know about health care? "Actually Rove is at least half-right. Republicans do have plenty of ideas. But they are not the kind of ideas that would come anywhere close to achieving universal coverage, at least in the way most people understand it. At best, Republican proposals would make insurance a bit cheaper, mostly for people who are healthy and need coverage the least. At worst, these ideas would make coverage less accessible for people with pre-existing conditions—and leave more of the insured exposed to crippling medical bills." Jonathan Cohn in The New Republic.
MCINTYRE AND FRAKT: Obamacare rate shock isn't what you think. "If the law's age-rating provisions aren't to blame for rate shock, what is? The truth is that premium increases for young adults will be driven by guaranteed-issue and community-rating protections -- in plain English, preventing insurers from denying coverage or basing premiums on health history. Thus, the health-care law's "rate shock" isn't a result of the young subsidizing the old. It's the result of reforming the system so it serves the needs of the sickest and most vulnerable -- something the current individual market fails to do. Guaranteed issue and community rating, as well as minimum benefits and caps on out-of-pocket spending, are not designed to benefit the healthy at any age. They are designed to protect the ill and injured at every age." Adrianna McIntyre and Austin Frakt in Bloomberg.
ROOSE: How many interns have to die before Wall Street changes its ways? "There's a game played among young Wall Street analysts, usually late at night after everyone but the janitors have gone home. It goes by various names, but the one I've heard most often is "Misery Poker." The rules are simple: If your workload is worse than your colleagues', you win. So "I'm staffed on two deals, and I haven't left before midnight in a week" might prompt a raise of "Oh, yeah? Well, I'm staffed on threedeals, and I stayed past 2 a.m. six nights out of the last eight."...[L]ast weekend, when a London-based Bank of America intern dropped dead, reportedly after pulling three all-nighters in a row, we learned what happens when a game of Misery Poker goes high-stakes." Kevin Roose in New York Magazine.
Handpicked by Wonkblog interlude: Seven minutes of pure, unadulterated otter.
2) And we're live from Jackson Hole, Wyo.
The world's top economic policymakers are meeting in Wyoming. Here's what to expect. "My sense is that the hubris of 2005 has been replaced with a wary reluctance. In each case, the central bank is doing what it thinks must be done not out of supreme confidence it will work, but out of confidence that not acting would be even worse. This next three days in Wyoming, then, will be about exploring what we know now about which of these strategies is helping and how much, what risks they're creating in the process, and what the toolbox for central banks should look like in the years ahead." Neil Irwin in The Washington Post.
A note from Wonkblog: Check back with us this weekend for close coverage of the Jackson Hole conference.
What's on the agenda for Jackson Hole? "[T]he conference — which kicks off tonight with a dinner hosted by Kansas City Fed President Esther George — will focus on the impact of the Fed's unconventional policies at home and beyond...On Saturday, the scope of the conference widens to the global impact of the Fed's policies, though a panel discussion Friday featuring the head of Bank of Mexico Gov. Augustin Carstens, a Chinese academic and a European Central Bank official is also likely to touch on that theme." Victoria McGrane in The Wall Street Journal.
Big NYT profile: Bernanke, the audacious pragmatist. "Mr. Bernanke's academic work, largely at Princeton, helped shape the conventional wisdom that central banks couldn't spot asset bubbles and shouldn't try to pop things that looked like bubbles. In his first speech as a Fed governor in 2002, he reiterated that trying to judge the sustainability of rapid increases in housing or stock prices was "neither desirable nor feasible."...It took a great recession to change his mind. The recession, prompted by the collapse of the housing bubble that Mr. Bernanke — and most other experts — failed to see coming, ended an era of minimalism in central banking. And there is no better marker than the views of Mr. Bernanke, the world's most influential central banker, who now argues that the Fed needs to consider a range of previously unthinkable actions, including trying to pop bubbles when necessary, because sometimes the cost of doing nothing is worse." Binyamin Appelbaum in The New York Times.
Fed debates whether purchases or promises work better. "Many academics and Fed officials believe that with short-term rates stuck as low as they can go, the more powerful of the two tools, and the one they know best how to use, is the vow to hold rates low far into the future, a tactic that has been copied recently by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. In Jackson Hole last year, Columbia University economist Michael Woodford made a much-discussed argument that the Fed should focus its efforts on making credible promises to keep rates low. And San Francisco Fed researchers Vasco Curdia and Andrea Ferrero concluded recently that bond buying has "at best moderate effects on economic growth and inflation," while communication about the future of short-term rates is the more powerful tool. Yet the verdict from markets looks different. Investors keep doubting the Fed's forward guidance, as it is known, and paying great attention to plans to scale back the pace of bond-buying." Jon Hilsenrath in The Wall Street Journal.
Good news that sounds like bad news: Moody's threatens to cut credit ratings of banks. "Believing that the government is now more likely to let large banks fail in a crisis, Moody's Investors Service threatened on Thursday to downgrade the credit ratings of several big financial firms. If it follows through, Moody's could reduce the ratings of Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase as much as two grades...Moody's thinks the efforts have credibility, in part because regulators have started to describe the exact steps they might take in a liquidation. Under the plans, the government would seize the parent company of a bank and turn its debt into equity capital to make it stronger financially." Peter Eavis in The New York Times.
Mortgage rates soar to two-year highs. "The 30-year fixed-rate average jumped to a two-year high of 4.58 percent...It was up from 4.4 percent a week ago and 3.66 percent a year ago." Kathy Orton in The Washington Post.
SEC is set to propose new rule on executive pay. "The requirement, a mandate of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, could put added pressure on corporate boards to slow pay increases for chief executives at companies with significant or growing gaps, proponents say. The rule, expected to be approved by the SEC as early as next month, has come under fire from corporations. But it is expected to be less onerous than what lawmakers originally ordered the SEC to adopt, according to people familiar with the proposal. Rather than surveying the entire workforce, the SEC is expected to allow companies to consider a fraction of their employees when calculating median pay. It isn't clear what percentage of the workforce would be included in the sample." Andrew Ackerman in The Wall Street Journal.
US jobless claims near 5-yr. low. "The number of U.S. workers seeking new unemployment benefits rose last week but remained near five-year lows, a sign of an improving labor market...The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths week-to-week volatility, fell by 2,250 to 330,500, the lowest level since November 2007." Jonathan House and Sarah Portlock in The Wall Street Journal.
...But unemployment benefits are vanishing faster than the job market is improving. "Why is that? Partly because people are finding work. But another big factor here, Portlock points out, is that people who have been unemployed for a long, long time (as in, a year or more) are now exhausting their benefits — even if they haven't found jobs. A third reason? Over the past year, both states and the federal government have been throttling back on the maximum length of time they'll offer unemployment insurance." Brad Plumer in The Washington Post.
Nasdaq resumes trading after technical glitch. "Trading in Nasdaq-listed stocks, including major companies such as Microsoft and Intel, halted for more than three hours Thursday after a technical glitch caused the exchange to shut down for most of the afternoon. Nasdaq's malfunction, coming on the heels of other recent technology mishaps on Wall Street, raised new questions about the stability of the vast machinery that makes modern stock trading possible. The once-simple act of buying and selling equity has turned into a web of software systems handling unprecedented levels of automation and complexity." Jia Lynn Yang and Danielle Douglas in The Washington Post.
California raised a bunch of taxes this year. Its economy hasn't collapsed. "California kept adding jobs, and at about the same rate as the nation overall. Private-sector employment rose by 0.8 percent in the Golden State from January through July. Across the country, it rose 0.9 percent...Eight months after raising sales and income taxes, California is still adding jobs on par with the rest of the nation, but not as fast as it added jobs up to this point a year ago." Jim Tankersley in The Washington Post.
Way more interesting than it should be interlude: Airline stewardess fashion in the 1960s and 1970s.
3) The case against the surveillance state winning converts
NSA surveillance disclosures embolden agency's critics. "The latest disclosures over government surveillance programs have emboldened their critics on Capitol Hill, ensuring that the debate over national security and privacy will remain intense when Congress returns this fall...Lawmakers said new reports detailing the surveillance programs' reach into U.S. Internet traffic warranted congressional reaction, but that its shape was still under discussion." Kristina Peterson and Siobhan Hughes in The Wall Street Journal.
Interview: Here's how privacy advocates shined light on the NSA's unconstitutional surveillance. Andrea Peterson in The Wall Street Journal.
Former U.S. officials to be named to surveillance panel. "President Obama is preparing to name four former senior American officials — including three who worked in his administration — to the review board he announced earlier this month to examine U.S. surveillance policies. The board members will include former CIA deputy director Michael Morell, onetime economic policy adviser Peter Swire, Obama's former "regulatory czar" Cass Sunstein, and Richard A. Clarke, a National Security Council staff member in previous Republican and Democratic administrations, according to a U.S. official familiar with the selections...He said the panel would comprise "a high-level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies" and provide a report no later than Dec. 15 assessing the right way to balance national security imperatives and privacy protections." Andrea Peterson and Scott Wilson in The Washington Post.
Obama can't get ahead of the surveillance story. "President Barack Obama has the surveillance leak response down pat: Wait a couple of days after a rough story, then tell reporters most of what they already know. What the White House hasn't done is get ahead of the story...That makes it difficult for the president to maintain credibility when telling the American people they have nothing to fear about the programs." Reid J. Epstein in Politico.
Manning wants hormone therapy in prison. Will it happen? "Army policy suggests there's a lot of space between requesting hormone therapy and actually receiving it. At the same time, recent case law might make Manning's argument a bit stronger, after other inmates have successfully petitioned their facilities for treatment...The United States Bureau of Prisons recently faced challenges to its policy of only providing hormone therapy to an inmate if that person had received such care prior to incarceration." Sarah Kliff in The Washington Post.
With Manning's move, transgender issues claim national spotlight. "Thursday's announcement that Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning wants to live as a woman thrust the issue of treatment of transgender Americans into the national spotlight...Manning's announcement, coming just a day after being sentenced to 35 years in military prison for giving classified documents to WikiLeaks, also comes at a moment when the treatment of transgender Americans in the workplace, schools and prison have become a more prominent part of the nation's political and legal debate." Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.
White House to hold closed-door session on bisexual issues next month. ""Participants and administration officials will discuss a range of topics including health, HIV/AIDS, domestic and intimate partner violence, mental health and bullying," Raghavan wrote. A White House confirmed Thursday the event will take place, but declined to elaborate." Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.
Oh my god this is so great interlude: Miniatur Wunderland, you have to check this out.
4) California at risk of big Obamacare delay
California health-insurance exchange may face online enrollment delay. "A spokesman for Covered California, the state agency creating the exchange, said the technology for its enrollment process is still being tested, and "we are fully planning on being fully functional on Oct. 1." But, he said, "we've communicated to the health plans that there's a possibility, depending on the success of the tests, that we would have an aided enrollment and work toward a self-enrollment shortly thereafter." Self-enrollment would allow consumers to sign up for health plans themselves through an online process, while "aided enrollment" would involve consumers getting help from counselors, on the phone or in person, who could sign them up for plans." Anna Wilde Mathews in The Wall Street Journal.
80 House GOPers urge John Boehner to defund Obamacare. "A North Carolina Republican and 79 colleagues sent a letter Wednesday to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) urging them to defund Obamacare as part of a government funding bill. Rep. Mark Meadows, who has spearheaded the effort, said in the letter that he and his colleagues "urge" the House GOP leadership to "affirmatively de-fund the implementation and enforcement of Obamacare in any relevant appropriations bill brought to the House floor in the 113th Congress, including any continuing appropriations bill."" Jake Sherman in Politico.
Local governments cutting part-timers' hours. "Many cash-strapped cities and counties, facing the prospect of shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in new health-care costs under the Affordable Care Act, are opting instead to reduce the number of hours their part-time employees work...The decisions to cut employee hours come 16 months before employers — including state and local governments — will be required to offer health-care coverage to employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Some local officials said the cuts are happening now either because of labor contracts that must be negotiated in advance or because the local governments worry that employees who work at least 30 hours in the months leading up to the January 2015 implementation date would need to be included in their health-care plans." Reid Wilson in The Washington Post.
Rick Perry loves the part of Obamacare Peggy Noonan hates. "Remember Peggy Noonan's "This is the reason many people don't like ObamaCare"? The "this" in question was the Community First Choice program, which helps Medicaid cover at-home care for the disabled rather than shunting them into institutions. The program is so irresistible that even Texas Gov. Rick Perry is asking if his state can be part of it. And you don't get Obamacare haters more diehard than Perry. But for that exact reason, his office is saying the program, which is literally part of the Affordable Care Act's statute and which would cease to exist if the entire law was repealed, "has nothing to do with Obamacare."" Ezra Klein in The Washington Post.
Woah interlude: Bayou Corne, Louisiana is being swallowed by a sinkhole.
5) Let's get fiscal, fiscal
GOP plans continuing resolution to avoid shutdown. "House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday GOP leaders were crafting a strategy that could avert a September showdown with Democrats over government funding levels by deferring the toughest budget issues to later in the fall, when lawmakers face a deadline to raise the debt ceiling. On a conference call Thursday evening with GOP lawmakers, Mr. Boehner said it was his "intent to move quickly" when lawmakers return to Washington in September to pass a short-term spending bill at current levels that keeps the government running for 60 to 75 days, which would last until early or mid-November, according to several lawmakers who were on the call." Corey Boles and Janet Hook in The Wall Street Journal.
Chances of a deficit deal are fading rapidly. "Budget talks between the White House and Senate Republicans have gone nowhere since Congress began its summer recess, increasing chances of a fiscal stalemate that could lead to a government shutdown in October or the threat of a government default later in the fall. Negotiators who had hoped for a summer breakthrough say the chances for a major deficit reduction deal are rapidly slipping away. While many members of both parties say they would like to avoid either a shuttering of the government as of Oct. 1 or a default caused by failing to increase the federal debt limit, no acceptable solution has emerged." Jonathan Weisman in The New York Times.
Welcome to the debt-ceiling drama show. "House Republicans have no idea how they're going to lift the debt ceiling this fall — top aides and lawmakers freely admit it. But Republicans say their best hope is to try to leverage Democrats' desire to blunt sequester cuts to get something in return for raising the nation's borrowing limit. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders think that if they are able to lump the sequester and debt ceiling into one legislative fight, they will be able to extract some changes to entitlement programs from President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats." Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan in Politico.
A government shutdown is the great Democratic hope. "They'd never say it publicly. But catch many Democrats in an honest moment and they would admit that a Republican-led government shut down this fall might be the best thing — perhaps the only thing — that could revive their fading hopes of capturing the House next year. As it stands now, the midterm is shaping up as a stale, status-quo election — with Democrats calling their counterparts right-wing extremists, Republicans attacking their rivals over Obamacare and neither side making much headway. That's good for Republicans, since the party out of power in the White House almost inevitably picks up House seats in the sixth year of the presidency. Heavily-gerrymandered districts provide the GOP an extra layer of protection." Alex Isenstadt in Politico.
Reading material interlude: The best sentences Wonkblog read today.
Wonkblog Roundup
Why do real estate agents still exist? Lydia DePillis.
You give religions more than $82.5 billion a year through tax privileges. Dylan Matthews.
Can Obama legalize 11 million immigrants on his own? Brad Plumer.
The world's top economic policymakers are meeting in Wyoming. Here's what to expect. Neil Irwin.
The NCAA is nuts. Johnny Manziel should be able to sell his own autograph. Neil Irwin.
Obama's full plan to rein in higher ed costs. Brad Plumer.
Obama's higher-ed plan can work without Congress. Ezra Klein.
Manning wants hormone therapy in prison. Will it happen? Sarah Kliff.
Everything you need to know about Obama's higher ed plan. Dylan Matthews.
California raised a bunch of taxes this year. Its economy hasn't collapsed. Jim Tankersley.
Unemployment benefits are vanishing faster than the job market is improving. Brad Plumer.
Et Cetera
Great news you wouldn't otherwise hear today: Workplace fatalities fell 7 percent in 2012. Melanie Trottman in The Wall Street Journal.
Justice Department sues Texas over voter ID law. Holly Yeager in The Washington Post.
Young immigrants protest deportation. Julia Preston in The New York Times.
What's changed for African Americans since 1963, by the numbers. Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.
Got tips, additions, or comments? E-mail me.
Wonkbook is produced with help from Michelle Williams.


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Jennifer Alden Makeup Artist
TashaModel Female Austin, Texas, US
My MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/TashaHundahl
Mayhem # 1448
About Me
At this time I'm really interested in doing more high concept darker images. I'm always up for bright colorful stuff too though. Basically I want my portfolio to be as diverse as possible but, with a hint of my own style in every photo. If you have some cool ideas and would like to work with me please shoot me a message. I'm very professional, punctual and easy to work with. I am more than happy to work TFP as long as you kick ass! I also have really reasonable rates. I am capable of doing my own hair and make-up but also love working with MUAs and hair stylists.
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Credit Notes
Tattoo Flash (cover)- 2001
Skin Art (cover/centerfold)- 2003
Tatu Arte (cover)- 2005
Rare (cover)- 2008
Nude Magazine (UK)- 2008 (Darla Teagarden interview)
Nikon D90 Digital Field Guide pg. 110 and 226
Magazines with random photos of me in it:
International Tattoo
Savage Tattoo
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Miami Ink Episode 36- 2006
Televison Ad for Diablo Rojo Tattoo and Piercing shops in Austin, Tx- 2006
Music Video:
The Summer Wardrobe- "Baby Let's Switch Graves"-2008 (still in production)
Promo stuff:
Poster girl for the 5th annual Alamo City Tattoo Convention
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Allen Falkner Photographer
DarlaTeaga... Photographer
George Diego Photo Photographer
Mother of London Clothing Designer
Chad Michael Ward Photographer
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I often fly with Delta and Air France. I've had quite a high number of bad experiences with both airlines and I am glad I can share a pleasant experience for once. I recently flew from Bangalore to Paris CDG, and then Paris CDG to Atlanta. I was originally in India for 10 days. But I caught typhoid fever and was unable to travel. After I was finally allowed by doctors to travel, but still on medication and exhausted from two weeks of disease, I decided to fly back home.
I get on the plane in Bangalore and as I am heading towards my seat a flight attendant asks me if I speak French. I tell her I do. She then answers in French "you'll be sitting soon and will be able to sleep and rest". I was surprised by her comment (I hadn't let the airline know about my being sick) and speechless. She then added "you just look so tired..." I let her know that indeed I am exhausted because I have been sick for two weeks and was supposed to fly back to the US much earlier. I then proceed to my seat.
5 minutes later the same flight attendant comes to me and asks me if I mind telling her what I have. I let her know I've had typhoid fever. After reassuring her that I was not presenting a risk to other passengers anymore she asks me what it is that I would need the most to make the flight as easy as possible on me. She offers me extra blankets and pillows.
She asks me if I need a lot of water (indeed I am supposed to drink liters and liters for my kidneys to properly function). She lets the rest of the crew know about my condition and they all came and checked on me during the flight. They gave me 1.5 liter bottles. They also moved the passenger next to me to another seat so I could lie down. When I was not drinking enough they would gently remind me that I needed to drink more.
I was extremely touched by their kindness. I was nervous to get on two flights for a total trip of 24 hours while still being very tired. They made it so much easier on me (without me mentioning anything about my condition or asking for anything, everything they did for me was their own initiative). Before landing in Paris they checked again on me and asked me to let the next crew know about my condition.
So when I arrived at my gate in Paris to board for Atlanta, I went to the Air France counter. Although I had a seat they couldn't change because I had purchased it with my miles, they still moved me so nobody would be sitting next to me. The crew also offered me bottles of water. They were all very nice.
Maybe not as sweet as the crew on the Bangalore-Paris flight who was as caring as my own mother, but still very nice. I have to say that after all the unfortunate experiences I've had with Air France for the past 20 years, I was very surprised and glad to be taken care of in such a sweet way by the Air France flight attendants.
On 5th August, we (my husband, 2 kittens and I) were traveling with your company from Sofia to Paris and from Paris to Montreal (details about the flight provided at the end of the letter). I'm glad to say that the flight from Sofia to Paris was pleasant and that the flight attendants were helpful and professional. However, we are very unhappy with the service we received from the Air France staff in Sofia, the place from where the tickets were purchased, as well as with the conditions during the flight from Paris to Montreal.
Even though the tickets were booked 2 months in advance, no one in the office in Sofia was able to inform me about the requirements concerning the transportation of pets in the cabin. Even after calling the main office three times, and once the office at the Sofia airport, I still couldn't receive reliable information.
For example, once I was told that if I take a pet I would not be able to have any hand luggage. This is a problem because if I follow all the instructions of the office staff, then on the day of the flight I might be surprised by new set of instructions known only to airport staff or vice versa and therefore would not be able to board the flight. I regret to say that the staff at the Sofia office and at the airport is poorly trained.
Additionally, we specifically requested to book seats at the back of the plane or in front (in our class), and were surprised when during both flights we were travelling in the middle of the plane. This was not a problem during the first flight (Sofia-Paris) because the seat next to us was available and we could put one of the cages there and the other on the floor.
However, during the second flight (Paris-Montreal) the plane was full and we were ordered by the flight attendant to put the cages below our seats. Even though, we followed all instructions as to the measurements of the cages, it was so tight between the front and our seats that we had to put our feet on the cages and stay like that for more than 7 hours. Given that my husband is 1.90 m, this was a very unpleasant experience.
Additionally, it was so tight that we couldn't check on the cats even once during the whole flight or add water. The flight attendants were extremely unhelpful and rude, and refused to provide any assistance. The only half joking reply I received was that the only place for the pets they could find was in the fridge.
We chose to have our little cats (both are around 3 kilos) with us in the cabin, because it causes less stress to the animal and the possibility of fatal accident is reduced. Due to the deplorable conditions in which your company transports pets in the cabin (I dare not think what the conditions in the luggage department are), I was not sure that they will survive the flight even though they were with us. I find your attitude towards animals horrific.
The fact that I paid EUR 300 to transport 2 cats and that there was no designated place for the cages is shocking. Following this experience, neither I nor a member of my family will ever use your services again, with or without pets. Also, we strongly discourage any of our friends to fly with Air France. I strongly believe you have to seriously revise your rules and procedures, and, above all, to train your staff.
5/31/08. 19:30. On Board Flight AF0025, late departure. Crew informs passengers this is due to a malfunction with the luggage loader. 6/1/08. 09:00. Arrive CDG, can not debark due to malfunctioning stairs. Watch as broken stairs are taken away and new ones replace
6/1/08. 09:30. Meet at bottom of stairs with AF Staff holding "Budapest" sign. Loaded into special van and escorted through customs to Air France Service Desk. 6/1/08. 09:45. Told that other flight was not held due to tickets being held by passengers on AF0025 being sold when AF was told of delay out of IAD. 6/1/08. 10:00. Told no flights were available out of CDG to BUD until 18:30 due to all flights being fully booked. Asked numerous times regarding other airlines and told all flights were booked.
6/1/08. 11:00. Receive vouchers for sandwich and drink, go through security to terminal. I research flights on internet and find several flights on SwissAir and Lufthansa. 6/1/08. 11:30. I go back to Air France Service Desk and speak with Supervisor and ask him about availability shown on internet. He informs me that he can not book on another airline if there is an AF or partner flight available on same day. He informs me that if I book the flight, Air France will reimburse me the cost of the ticket since our delay is over 6 hours. I clarify that AF will reimburse the cost of the ticket on the other airline in full and says yes. He gives me the AF mailing information for reimbursement.
6/10/08. Submit complaint on Air France website noting supervisor's name and description of ordeal. 6/11/08. Receive reply. 6/19/08. Call Air France because there has been no reply. 6/20/08. Receive reply with PDF letter asking me to supply documentation. Immediately comply and send scanned copies. (Do not notice the do not reply to this email message). 6/24/08. Call to assure all documents needs are received, told by AF representative that everything is in order and being processed. Approx 7/16 Call AF to check on Status, told documents have not been received, should never have replied to email which sent request. Instructed to mail documents.
7/22 Mail requested documents. 7/30 Rec'd email PDF document from AF agreeing to refund unused portion of flight $393.74 USD. 7/30 Called AF Customer Service. Spoke with **, told me I could speak with no one at AF, all correspondence had to be in writing, there is no email address available or name to address my correspondence.
That the flight crew did not have the correct information when we were delayed on the ground at IAD, that a set of working stairs would have been available if flight would have not been delayed out of IAD and that there is no way to pull up my original email and correspondence in which the name of the supervisor was noted. Told ** that even if US Govt was involved in the delay, I would have never spent $915.66 EUR without a clear understanding from the Air France Supervisor that I would be reimbursed. Told that I needed to resubmit information and it would be researched.
8/4 Retrieved information from home, realized in the course of 2 months ticket voucher which had supervisor's name had been misplaced, may be written on the back of tickets sent to AF on 7/22. Should this have to be such an arduous process from the customer's end? I look forward to your favorable reply of a full refund of $915.66 EUR. Thank you for your consideration and feel free to contact me via phone so we may have a person to person contact if there are additional matters to be discussed.
8/13 - Called to check on status of above and told file was closed with first offer and I have to wait 30 days before the file will be reviewed and reopened. Told Supervisor was not taking calls and did not have email. Transferred to Supervisors vm which stated she was out until 8/13. URGH - How do I get a response? It has been over 2 months and I am out $1500.00 USD!!!
SEATTLE -- I have had many VERY positive experiences with other airlines so I do not complain easily. But Air France is easily the most irresponsible and uncaring airline I have been involved with. My 14 year old disabled niece used them and we all had a terrible experience. First off, she can walk but in pain, so we arranged with **, their disabled service, for her to be picked up and taken to her connecting flight in Paris, where she had a scheduled transfer. No one was there to pick her up and nobody helped her. She had to make her own way (in pain mind you).
We specifically had reservations made understanding that they had an unattended minor service available, as this was our niece's first time traveling this way and this was an international connecting flight. We knew we would have to pay 90 Euros for the service which was not a problem. At the last minute we were refused this service because the arriving plane was 1 hour 10 minutes before the next departure and they have a minimum 1 hr 15 minutes. We were told we could always rebook. We did not need the transfer help because she is disabled and already supposedly had that service. We just wanted someone to look after her for goodness sake!
The worst: She goes missing and nobody seems to care. We wait, and wait, and wait, at the airport and she does not show up. 45 minutes after landing the flight crew came through and we spoke to them. Nobody had paid attention or could remember her despite the fact that notes were made to the attendants that she was on the flight. They then told us that everyone was through customs and they were the last and panicked us!
I went upstairs to let Air France know that our 14 year old niece did not arrive and we had heard nothing from her. The manager was extremely dismissal. Said that "she is probably still in customs" and then turned back to his work. I had already told him that his crew had told us that was not the case. As it turned out she was indeed stuck, with their darn own customer service as they had lost all of her luggage! Do you think he would call around and check?
Our niece is very confused when we finally find her. So I go back upstairs to what should be a fairly routine discussion about what the procedure and situation is with the luggage. Once again the manager was short and unhelpful. All I wanted to do was find out what was going on, how it would get to us, etc. But he said they "had already discussed it with our niece" (who was confused beyond reason) and was put off that we needed to discuss it further. He told me "It is not a big problem, this happens all the time!"
That was not the end of it either. Their baggage "customer service" is equally inattentive and on the edge of rude. My family often flies international and we have never experienced this kind of detached and unhelpful service in all of our travels. Worse even than third world airlines! My advice, unless you have a sadistic bent STAY AWAY from this airline! Awful.
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA -- Traveling by Air France is a nightmare since all planes land in Charles De Gaulle airport which is a maze of scenic fiction proportions, with no land crew help and very poor directions written or otherwise. Coming in you still have to stagger miles, go down stairs with hand luggage, catch shuttles, trains, escalators, then do the whole thing yet again, just to arrive after you are taken by bus through meadows, hills and vales, to your aircraft which is parked right next to the one you have arrived with.
If you are fortunate to see someone in uniform that should help you and ask them for information, you get the rudest way of telling you that may be you should go that way, meanwhile time is passing by and you might end up missing your connecting flight. Mind you this takes like 2 hours, and here you were thinking that may be you might have time to visit the restroom, have at least something to drink, since all water bottles and others are thrown away as soon as you hit one of the checking in points, thus you arrive panting to the aircraft, thirsty and sweating.
All this of course might sound like griping but it is not. I am diabetic and need to take medication at certain times, as soon as we boarded the plane which was idling for the longest time I asked for water to take my medication which is important as I do not want to faint or go into any kind of unfortunate situations where I might probably be kicked out of the aircraft with nary a glance. What I got was a frosty glare and "One Minute" as if I was a kid asking for candy, or something frivolous. So I had to go myself see the person in charge, explained my predicament, and got my water. I guess they are taught to treat us passengers one and all as recalcitrant kids to be disciplined firmly.
Another thing about which I have to complain is the food, I ask for vegetarian food on long trips, well the swill I got was non edible and when I asked for at least one more piece of bread again I got the inquisition about why I needed the bread until I made it clear that the food was totally non edible so I was trying to have something to eat for a trip which was to last 8 hours. I mean come on I have paid for my ticket and that is the least they can do. As for my request that they ask the kid sitting behind me who kept on kicking my seat repeatedly for 8 hours, all I got was "Madame, do you not have keeeds???" Yes I do but what has that to do with my case???
I did try to reason with the mother of said kid but I think she spoke no known language so I did try to make her understand by hand gestures to ask her kid to stop kicking and screeching at the top of his lungs, but to no avail, and when I asked the stewardess that was what I got, as though I had asked her for something unreasonable. Just a thought, a decade ago the airlines had smoking and non smoking sections, now that all flights are non smoking I would suggest they create a children, no children sections for all of us who have raised out kids, paid our dues and need to travel without going through all this every time we step on an aircraft.
This is all for now. Lesson to be learnt, courtesy is not a sign a weakness nor are we paying customers supposed to be treated like cattle just because we travel coach. After all as I mention we have paid for our tickets and this is the least we can expect.
PARIS -- On November 15, 2007 I was en-route to Cairo via Air France Flight 7351 from CDG to Milan, Malpensa then Al Italia flight 882. The problems started in Paris before we even left the ground. The plane was delayed over an hour on the tarmac by waiting for de-icing. The concern was that our connecting time in Milan was only 65 minutes. We had not exceeded that sitting on the ground.
Sitting one row in front of me and across the aisle was a man traveling with two children. The young girl looked about four and the boy must have been about six or seven. From the moment we got onto the bus from terminal to plane we knew the boy was a problem. He could/or would not behave. He was crawling all over everyone's baggage, running and pushing people inside the bus, and when we boarded the plane he continued with the same behavior. Never once did he sit down. Instead he crawled over his father into the aisle several time, crawled up the back of the chair and disturbed the people sitting behind him, etc. etc.
Prior to landing in Milan we were informed that we might just make our flight if we hurried. They said an agent would meet us at the door of the plane and take us directly to our next flight. We finally land, and the time is actually after our next flight should have departed, however we were advised again that someone was at the door of the plane.
Knowing this didn't matter because the flight attendants didn't help any of us off the plane. Instead of making an announcement for passengers to wait until we were off the plane, they said nothing and all the passengers in front of us crowded into the aisles. We were more than half way back in the plane and knew that it would take forever to get off.
Just as I began to make my way up the aisle to the door, the man with the children stepped in front of me blocking the aisle and now tried to get his children out of their seats. Unfortunately they were not moving. I asked if he would move aside since we had another plane to catch and were in a hurry. His reply was "No". He just stood there and tried to get his children to move again, while he blocked not only me, but the rest of the passengers behind me.
Once again I asked him to move out of the way or hurry his children. Once again he said no. At this point fearing that we would miss our plane,and if we did, the only options were to either stay the night in Milan or take a plane back to Paris and re-connect for another flight to Cairo, using a rather loud voice I instructed him to move aside. The result was that he turned around and struck me in across the face with a punch.
I was astonished as were those around me. I immediately called for security, flight attendants and/or pilot, but no one responded. I called out again and he hit me again, yet no one from the flight responded. Now the passengers behind me were yelling at the man to move and he refused. Finally a member of the flight crew came up the aisle and assisted the man and his children off the plane, while I was still trying to get someone from security to stop him.
Instead, I was met by the pilot who stopped me and informed me that I was causing a commotion. I informed him that the passenger they just helped off the plane had struck me. His arrogrant response was, "I don't think so". How dare he! Other passengers behind me were trying to tell him what had happened, but he would have none of it. He informed me that if I did not quiet down he would have me held by security. Can you believe it? I've been accosted and he's going to restrain me because I was calling for assistance.
We finally got off the plane and were met by the representative who was to take us to the next flight. However, she didn't have a cart, no, we had to "RUN" from one terminal to the other with our hand luggage. So we ran for 10 minutes to the next terminal for the flight. What began on the Air France Plane continued here on the ground, the same man was connecting to the same plane.
I suffer from a heart condition and should never incur such stress. The result was that while waiting to board the bus to the plane I began having a full blow stress attack. My heart began racing from all the excitement and running, I couldn't catch my breath, I began coughing and vomiting. This continued long into the flight and when it finally ceased, I was exhausted and left without a voice. Because of this my first two days in Cairo were spent resting. All of this resulted because the Air France flight crew would do nothing about the security of one of their passengers and instead harassed him as if he was the culprit.
I will do everything within my power to never fly Air France if I can prevent it. Just last week, instead of flying Air France to the United States, I flew to London, Heathrow and flew Virgin Atlantic to Miami. Their Upper Class is wonderful. Even though it took a few extra hours, it was worth it not having to fly Air France. I plan on filing complaints with Air France Management, but don't expect much in return. For those of you reading this review, if you can avoid Air France, please do so, also advise friends and family of the same.
I had checked in a bag (Baggage Tag No.: DL808436) on 26th October 2007 from San Diego to Chennai per the following routing: (i) SAN to ATL by DL0720 on 26 OCT 2007; (ii) ATL to CDG by DL0028 on 26 OCT 2007; (iii) CDG to MAA by AF0204 on 27 OCT 2007.
When I reached CDG on 27th October, 2007, I was informed of a strike by a section of Air France employees, because of which AF0204 was cancelled. I was rerouted to Mumbai by AF0134 that left CDG on 27th October. Upon my arrival in Mumbai, I noted that my baggage had not arrived. I filed a missing baggage complaint with Air France in Mumbai airport, and was provided with a copy of the Baggage Declaration Certificate.
After considerable communication with Air France and considerable hassle, my baggage finally arrived in Kolkata from Chennai on a Jet Airways flight (with Rush Tag No. **) on 5th November 2007 evening. Upon opening the suitcase, I found that the new Panasonic digital camera (Price: ~ USD 300; copy of receipt was sent to Air France) which was in its original packaging and kept inside the suitcase was missing.
Please note that (i) I had declared the camera in the customs declaration form that I had filled at the Air France counter upon my arrival in Mumbai airport; and (ii) I had listed this camera in the Inventory Form that I had filled and faxed to Air France offices in Delhi and Kolkata. I had called Air France's Delhi and Kolkata offices this morning and had informed them of this missing camera.
On November 6, 2007, I faxed a letter to Air France's Mumbai office. On November 28, 2007, I received a letter from Air France stating that the General Conditions of Carriage incorporated by reference on my ticket advices passengers not to include cameras in checked baggage; therefore, Air France cannot accede to my request for any compensation. I find this explanation wholly unacceptable for the following reasons:
(1) Just as a list of prohibited items in cabin baggage is explicitly provided on the ticket jacket, such a list should have also been provided on the ticket jacket with respect to checked baggage. Referring to your "General Conditions of Carriage" in fine print on the ticket jacket is tantamount to cheating your passengers.
(2) If a camera is disallowed in checked baggage, this should have been ascertained from me, even if verbally, at the time of checking in. This was not done.
(3) My checked baggage did not arrive upon my disembarkment in Delhi on your AF-134 flight, and remained undelivered for about 10 days, ostensibly because of a strike by a section of your employees. During this period, you were the custodian of my checked baggage. Since my suitcase in your custody was vulnerable to pilferage by your staff because it was lying in your baggage hold for an extended period of time due to the strike, I would like to know what additional precautionary measures Air France had taken to prevent theft from checked baggage of passengers during this period of the strike.
Air France ought to accept responsibility for theft of items from checked baggage of passengers and compensate passengers for their losses.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- This review is regarding the poor customer service of Air France. My parents-in-law travelled from Chennai to Seattle with Air France on Oct 26-27, 2007. Unfortunately because of the strike, their flight from Paris to Seattle got cancelled. They were stranded in LA airport for a night before they got the flight to Seattle. My mother-in-law could speak little English and that helped her in managing the situation. With all these delays and cancellations, to add to the agony all of their baggages were missing.
When they landed in Seattle, we wanted to file a baggage claim with AF. There were no one in the AF counter in Seattle. Then we finally filed a complaint with Alaska Airlines (the last airlines that my in-laws took) and returned home. My mother-in-law is not used to western clothes. She has been using the clothes (3 sets) that she brought with her in the carry on baggages. We have been washing these clothes every 3 days and using them. Obviously we cannot continue doing this for months to come.
We were calling the Air France and Alaska airlines every day. Their customer service representatives are really mean and rude. Fortunately, yesterday one lady gave me some information on the baggages. She was nice and so unlike the other staff members. She asked me to call Alaska airlines and request them to place an order with AF using reference numbers that she gave me. I then called Alaska airlines and conveyed the message. They told me that they would follow it up.
Today I called AF to check on the status. This time it was one of their rude staff. I explained her the situation and asked for the update. She bluntly told me that she did not have any information and we need to communicate with only Alaska Airlines and they have got nothing to do with it. I told her that the other lady could give me some useful information yesterday and why not her.
She replied back saying that the other lady should not have helped me at all. Above all, she was interested in getting that nice lady's name so that they can take action against her (Because she was nice and giving me the information). When I started asking her name, She was rude and started yelling at me. Then she hung up on me without even listening to me.
After this phone call, the AF customer service reached a new height. I tried to calling them again, hoping that I would get to talk to that nice lady again. This time the same rude lady picked up the phone. She told me that she would be happy to connect me to her supervisor, who was more rude than her. When I was requesting him to talk to me in a rather friendlier tone, he told me that it is his way of talking to people. He was extremely rude and he also hung up on me. No apologies, no explanation. I am wondering whether the rudeness and the poor customer service runs in each level of their hierarchy.
After all these phone calls and frustrations, I am giving up my hope of getting those baggages. I wish that I could alert every international traveller about Air France's poor customer service and ask them to avoid their service. Personally I will never fly Air France.
PHL, PENNSYLVANIA -- I lost one suitcase on October 25, 2007 (**) on flight from Paris to Philadelphia and all my luggage on December 20, 2007 (**). I had to buy clothes and medical supplies for my stay in the USA. I have submitted claims for my lost luggage to Air France and Delta but have not received acknowledgment from either organization. I want my luggage not compensation. I have X'mas presents and wine to celebrate the New Year in my luggage.
I have made several trips out to the Philadelphia Airport trying to recover my luggage without any tangible results. The people at Air France are not very helpful. They want me to go away and not to get angry with them. "If we do not find your luggage we will compensate you for your loss."
My luggage is only misplaced, they do not wish to spend the required man hours to find them. It is more cost effective to give you financial compensation rather than spend the required resources to find your missing luggage. Also they sell the missing luggage to an outside company which then opens, sorts, cleans, items in individual suitcases. There is no attempt at looking for ID information that may be located outside or inside the individual pieces of luggage.
Under current international agreements about lost luggage there is no incentive for airline companies to improve their baggage handling system. If penalties for lost luggage were increased to the extent that airlines bottom line were negatively impacted, this would motivate companies to provide necessary resources to do the job. This international agreement is designed to protect the airline companies because they provide jobs, pay taxes, buy items and services from other companies, the individual is left unprotected. On domestic flights in the USA the compensation for lost luggage cannot be less than $1,250.00.
119, AVENUE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSéES -- I flew to Barcelona via Paris CDG on the 25 Dec 2010, my suitcase never made it to Barcelona. I reported and received a PIR (**) and was informed that it would be delivered to my destination by 1300hrs on the 26 Dec 2010. It never arrived! I rang Barcelona airport on 28 Dec 2010 and they confirmed that they had the suitcase, it still did not arrive during my holiday.
I returned to Barcelona airport on the 04 Jan 2011 and spoke to the lost luggage counter. I was told that "yes, we have your case", then, "no we have not got you case", "yes we have", and finally, "no we have not got your case!" This was within the space of LESS than 5 minutes!
I returned to the UK and over the 5 months, I have rung, faxed & emailed Air France and received NO replies! After my first call to Air France I send a fax informing Air France what was in my suitcase, to help find it. I spoke to the Air France desk in Aberdeen airport during the week 31 Jan - 04 Feb 2011 and was informed that comments had been entered on my file, so I can only assume that they are my fax, email & phone calls for requested updates on my suitcase.
The main items, not including my everyday clothes etc, are skydiving clothing & equipment which consists of a helmet, jumpsuit, altimeter & gloves. To replace these alone will cost me about £1000.00. I had to borrow equipment in Spain, commercial DZ. Normally I would have to hire the missing items but because I am a regular jumper at the DZ, people lent me the items I required. How can you repay kindness?
I was informed on a call to an Air France baggage help desk number during the last 2 weeks in February 2011 that I was entitled to compensation, as Air France had not located my baggage within 3 weeks. What happened to Air France informing me when the 3 week period expired, which would mean I should have received a letter from Air France informing me of the fact that I'm entitled to compensation BY THE END OF JANUARY 2011. I have received a goodwill gesture of £344, took them about 3 months to receive it and recently been informed by e-mail, that they have LOST my suitcase. Big difference between £1200+ and £344!!!


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OK my first post so I hope I can give enough info for someone to be able to help. My friends 318 in his 1996 1500 locked up. So he bought a used 1996 1500 with a 360 in it and a bad transmission. Both are 2wd one bad engine one bad transmission. So here we start. We swapped over the 360 engine into the truck that had the 318.Everything went well and we even got the 360 to turn over and start but it will not stay running at idle we have to keep feathering the throttle to keep the engine running. The only change that was made was to the intake due to a sensor on the front of the 360 had 2 sensors and would not match up with the wiring harness on the truck that had a 318. The 318 intake only had one sensor position this sensor was located one the front of the intake. The intakes lined up perfectly as far as size and bolt pattern. We used the fuel rails and injectors off of the 360 and put them into the 318 intake. Question #1 We did not change out the computer or wiring harness does the 360 have to use the original computer and harness from the old truck to run properly? Question #2 Will the 360 block work with the 318 intake, and 360 fuel rails?Question #3 We tried to adjust the timing by turning the distributor cap but could not get rid of any of the problems. Do we have to disconnect the computer from the sytem in order to tune it with a timing light and the distributor cap.I hope I have explained the situation and the circumstances well enough to start a topic any and all help from someone who knows more than we do will be greatly appreciated.Oh and 1 more thing we replaced the balanced fly wheel off of the 360 and put in the 318 so it would not be out of balance or a a harmonics or vibration problems so we used the 318 sensor on this part as well.Summary Block 360 intake 318fuel rail and injectors 360computer 318wiring harness 318flywheel 318
First off welcome to the MMM forum, I think the biggest issue is the computer remove the computer from the other truck & install it, there is enough difference between the 2 engines to effect the timing & ignition all computer controlled, I'm not sure about the difference between fuel rails or intakes they should interchange, the injectors should be larger volume not in actual size in the 360, I do believe... If it's a manual trans you need the 360 flywheel, if it's a auto you need the 360 Torque converter, it's counter weighted for external balance, the 318 is internal balance... I would highly suggest by a "1996 Dodge Ram Factory Service Manual" for the specific year make & model, it will have a ton of info to help with the tuning, it's well worth the cash to have the information a hand... Good luck, Happy Moparing, Keep on trucken'
"Fill Your Library Before You Fill Your Garage" Good Luck "Budnicks"
Thank You for the quick response. I will start changing out the computer and wiring later today. But before I go that far do you think that I should try the fuel rails and injectors off of the 318 or just leave the 360 rails and injectors in the engine for now. As far as the trans would the balance and harmonics show when we start the engine or only show when the vehicle starts getting driven. The reason I ask is the engine did fire and we did not have any major shaking so we hoped since we used the 318 trans we should stick with the 318 flywheel. So is the 360 engine balanced by the counter weight or is the fly wheel counter balanced for the transmission and when does the vibrations show? Thanks again!!!!
notta_mech,Welcome to MMM, the problem you have with your timing cannot be solved only by adjusting your distributer cap. There should be a sensor somewhere on the timing cover that works off of a wheel connected to your crank under that cover. I believe it has to be timed off the computer and adjusted accordingly.
OK changed the computer. running better but i need the factory default setting for the timing. The distributor was moved and i need to reset it to factory settings. I am using a snap-on engine scanner and it shows that it is set at about 18%


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