Cathyslife, why don't you take your conspiracy theory nonsense elsewhere and leave the discussion to the adults?  Believing "testimonials" from uneducated idiots, publicity hounds and hucksters on internet chat rooms will lead you down the wrong path every time.  If you don't believe the Mayo Clinic then you probably don't believe in vaccines either.  Sorry to be so blunt, but I get really annoyed by people parroting pseudoscientific nonsense based on superficial internet "research".  Try to chill out, have a glass of wine and relax and maybe you will enjoy life more.  You seem to be full of anger - that is much worse for you than taking statins.

Back to the OP: Yes, it is becoming more and more obvious that Trump is completely in Putin's pocket.  Whether this is part of some brilliant long-term plan or merely a pathetic attempt to save his own skin we don't yet know for certain but I strongly suspect the latter.  What we do know for certain is that Trump is one of the biggest liars ever, especially about his sexual infidelities.  Why he is allowed to continue when others are being fired or resigning their positions for even a hint of sexual impropriety is truly disgusting.

You would argue I was wrong no matter what I showed you.

That's a strange comment from someone who knows nothing about me.  I'll happily agree with you if you show me some convincing support for your opinions.

Do your own research. I have, since Feb. 2017.  Here are some people to read if you are really interested...Dr. David Diamond, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, Dr. Barbara Roberts, Dr. Stephen Sinatra.

Interesting if you call that research.  None of those people has done any research on the effects of statins, they mainly seem to promote diet as the cure and and the current fad of sugar as the main problem.  Certainly diet is important and too much sugar is a problem, but if you actually did any research about studies on diet you would find that they are even more contradictory than the research on statins.
 Diamond is a professor of psychology so is out of his element, the others at least are cardiologists.  You think research paid for by companies that produce statins are a problem, but apparently it doesn't bother you that all of the people you cite above are publicity hounds pushing their own agendas.  Roberts is trying to sell a book where she has to make dramatic statements to make sales, Sinatra seems like more of a huckster than a cardiologist.  It doesn't make you wonder when someone is promoting a book or their own health products?  Diamond is a psychiatrist and I'm not sure about Malhotra.  Those people all are pushing the Mediterranean diet and lower sugar.  Recent studies have shown that people living in the Mediterranean get more exercise and have strong community connections and that those might be more important than diet for heart disease.  If the sum total of your research is looking things up on the internet then you have a long way to go.  I think you are experiencing confirmation bias by finding people who are peddling what you want to buy.

Whatever is wrong with Trump is speculation on both our parts. My guess is just as legit as yours.

Certainly neither of us knows what is wrong with Trump for sure, but he definitely exhibits all of the early signs of dementia as they are listed according to the Mayo Clinic, so my opinion is more than speculation.  If you look at videos of Trump from just a few years ago (which I am not recommending) and compare them to today you can see a marked deterioration - this has been noted by many others besides me.  People who worked on his campaign have also allegedly said he has early dementia.  If I am correct it will become painfully obvious in the future, but I think it is pretty obvious already.  I don't think he is bad enough yet, but at some point Congress should invoke the 25th amendment and demand an independent mental and neurological exam instead of the sham exams by joke doctors we have had previously.

The seeming simplemindedness of some of his speeches is aimed at his followers. "I love the uneducated," as he's said. He does it purposely...saying pretty much nothing by rambling incoherently. And they eat it up and think he's saying something meaningful.

Yes, I agree, the simplemindedness is often intentional and directed at his followers, but the incoherence, repetitiveness, forgetfulness and difficulty walking are more likely early symptoms of dementia.  Due to family history I am acutely aware of the symptoms of dementia and Trump is definitely showing them.

The Russians have been cultivating Trump as an asset for more than 20 years.  It makes you wonder what they have on him that he would debase himself so much - proof of his money laundering most likely, but who knows what else.  Of course he will trust Putin and disparage US intelligence - Mueller's investigation points to the collusion that got him "elected" in the first place.  We have been in a de facto cyber war against Russia (or at least they are against us - not sure if we are fighting back).  Colluding with an enemy during wartime is the definition of treason.  Trump is a traitor and should be impeached immediately as he obviously is not serving the interests of the US.

The most disgusting thing is not Trump, it is his Republican enablers who allow this travesty to continue.  If a Democrat had pulled any of the nonsense Trump does on a daily basis the Republicans and their Fox propaganda outlet would be calling for impeachment immediately - and rightly so.  Yet Trump continues to destroy everything about the US and the Republicans do nothing.  They are still planning congressional races based on who is the biggest Trump supporter.  Trump's base appears to be a bunch of brain-dead morons who will support him no matter what.  This is the biggest threat to the US in my lifetime and when you look at similar phenomena worldwide makes me wonder whether democracy is a tenable form of government over the long term.  I hope the Democrats can get their act together and come up with a strategy for helping the country before it is too late.

Did you make sure there are no bank names, Coke signs or anything like that on the buildings?  I had some rejected once for the same thing and when I looked carefully found I had missed an NBC logo on one of the buildings in the background - they went through once that was removed.  Either that or they have some new inspectors as others suggested.

Just got mine, too.  Goodbye Stockxpert.

I had not been paying attention, but I just checked and through March I was getting lots of SODs every month and starting in April they dropped off to about 20% of what they were before.  I hadn't noticed because until this month I was getting enough high-value SODs ($40-$75 range) to keep the money in there.  This month is terrible, but June is usually a bad month so not too surprising.  July is usually my second-worst month so not looking forward to that.

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on June 04, 2018, 11:59

SnapVillage (Corbis) - although its nickname of CrapHamlet (don't know who coined that, but kudos) is almost worth it

Was it Corbis that paid per upload to contribute for a few months? I remember enjoying that little chunk of change.

I think that was the Veer "Dash for cash" or something like that.

May ended up being OK - at my target earnings amount, no complaints.  It was due to more ELs than usual, clip sales, and a $75 SOD on SS that topped it off.  BME on FT thanks to a rare EL there as well.  Canva good, DT hanging in there - I have been getting downloads of multiple images in the same series there for the past year or so, good thing they dropped their well intentioned but ultimately wrong similars policy.  Other sites mostly dead.  Had two 10-cent sales on DP that I have written to ask about.  Have been hanging in there overall and especially at SS for the past six months or more by rare high-value sales - the bottom will fall out without those as sales volume on all sites except FT is lower than in the past.  I should start uploading again to a few of the sites at least.

I just had a nine-center too.  Too lazy to write them - will wait a few days to see if they auto-correct.  Will be interesting to see if they let it slide if you don't write them.

Quote from: Shelma1 on January 26, 2018, 09:53

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 22, 2018, 11:02

Quote from: Shelma1

Cultural differences my behind. Black people were forced here (the U.S.) as slaves and have been purposely under educated and locked up in for profit prisons for minor offenses because if slavery can't be legal, then you can at least make laws to target them pretty specifically, red line districts to keep them from living in better neighborhoods with better schools, and keep as many as possible locked up and out of the workforce and the voting booths (where they'd vote for liberals).

When you say "we," who are you referring to, exactly? You write as if you live in the U.S., but you actually live in Canada, a country with a much, much lower incarceration rate.

Valid points Shelma, but you make it sound like a conspiracy.
I don't think that the system has been purposely designed to oppress minorities.
Instead, the majority wants politicians to be "tough on crime" and the consequence is a system with outrageous fines and prison sentences for minor offences.
Personally, I had to pay $85 for running in the park after sunset. It's not an issue for me, but people close to the poverty line might have real trouble paying it. As seen in the stories I provided links for, there are cases where fines are significantly higher, also for minor offences. Failure to pay those fines can lead to jail.
Maybe the reasons behind the "tough on crime" expectations for our politicians derive from the general feel of not being safe Americans have. Maybe it is linked to the wide availability of guns, maybe it is linked to the exacerbated discourse related to terrorism, etc.
So it is not really a conspiracy, but rather a logical consequence of deeper flaws in our system.

I used to feel that way. Then I did some reading and found it actually is a conspiracy, unfortunately. The U.S. government has absolutely been involved in efforts over the centuries to purposely keep black people from being properly educated; has given only white G.I.s loans and access to decent housing after they return from war; has crafted laws and longer prison sentences that target specific forms of drugs (crack cocaine rather than powdered, for example, because blacks used more crack and whites more powder); has redlined housing districts to exclude blacks from decent neighborhoods, basically forcing them into ghettos where they are surrounded by crime and receive sub par education.

Studies have consistently shown that blacks (and women) receive worse health care than white men. Black people are arrested more often than white people for drug offenses, even though whites are more likely to use drugs. They receive longer prison terms for the same crimes. They're shot to death by police for all kinds of nonsense. Banks purposely charge them outlandish fees while giving white people free banking. Basically, the white establishment does everything it can to keep black people down. It's purposeful, 100%.

I don't deny the existence of racism in America. It is very much present, no doubt about this. But I am very certain that racism is present in many other countries, where it is not acknowledged. Anti-Gypsy racism in Eastern Europe comes to mind, as an example. Islamophobia (although this is not racism, in theory) is pretty much present throughout Western Europe and beyond.
Some might not even realise the level of the racism in their countries, because they never had the chance to meet and interact with people of a different race.

Yet, most of this countries point fingers towards American racism, a lot being oblivious to what's going on under their nose. This is because racism in America is constantly and openly debated, in the news, in politics, etc.

Having said that, I rather believe that we deal with a vicious circle, where poverty leads to more poverty, because of a broken system. A system where we allow government too much power, power to setup stupid, arbitrary laws, excessive fines and a plethora of economical barriers impacting mainly the poor, preventing them to express their true potential and to grow out of poverty.

I wish you two were in office rather than the ignorant bozos we have instead.

You've answered your own question!

Click on upper left.  Go to Account settings, then Admin, then View portfolio.  Might take a week or two for them to show up.  Good luck!