http://www.intheav.com/My Blognointheav.comintheav.com RSS-generatorhttp://www.intheav.com/blogs/marino/2008/05/16/new-amnesty-bill-stop-it-now-make-a-simple-call-it-only-takes-a-minuteNumbersUSA.com, immigrationcounters.com, AVIMM.com Fri, 16 May 2008 10:13:45 -0700http://www.intheav.com/blogs/marino/2007/07/17/i-m-not-signing-any-petitionBut thanks for the offer. If a blogger(s) has a problem with another blogger(s), then send Ray C. a msg and he will decide what to do with them as he has in the past. Often he will give them a warning if it's warranted. I am not forwarding the petition site to the blogger(s) they'd like removed as it contains names. I don't like the gang mentality. I take this petition sent to me as an insult. Unintentional. There are bloggers on this site that I would definately Not consider the type I'd like to "hang out" with. But I would Never sign any petition to have them removed. Unless they new where I lived and threatened to come over and blow my head off. Sticks and stones folks. Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:58:15 -0700http://www.intheav.com/blogs/marino/2006/12/21/iraq-s-economy-is-boomingSilvia Spring-Newsweek International Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue It may sound unreal, given the daily images of carnage and chaos. But for a certain plucky breed of bussinessmen, there's good money to be made in Iraq. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006. Iraq is a crippled nation growing on the financial equivalent of steroids, with money pouring in from abroad. Salaries have gone up more than 100 percent since the fall of Saddam, and incometax cuts (from 45 percent to just 15 percent) have put more cash in Iraqi pockets. Roadside bombs account for fewer backups than the sheer number of secondhand cars that have crowded onto the nations roads-five times as many in Baghdad as before the war. Cheap Chinese goods overflow from shop shelves, and store owners report quick turnover. Real-estate prices have risen several hundred percent, suggesting that Iraqis are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are. In a business climate that is inhospitable, to say the least, companies are thriving. The withdrawal of a certain great power could drastically reduce the foreign money flow, and knock the crippled economy flat.Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:14:46 -0800