Open letter to the person who tried to rob my house...

Just wanted to sound off at the person who tried to rob my house last night at around 1:00am.

Bet your ass was rather surprised that after all that work that you put into getting into the house or staking it out
that when you did get entrance, the interior alarms did indeed work and you were left to just ruffle through the
night stand and dresser but SURPRISE, there was NOTHING in the dresser or night stand!

You dumb ass! Get a job you loser and stop trying to take things from hard working people like myself.

If you are caught, be sure that I will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. May what you've try to do
come back to you 6 x's 66 x's so that you can see how it feels to have someone try to take from what you've
worked for.

Oh wait, you probably don't work since you try to break into a person's house at such an ungodly hour of the
day.

Were the Mel Gibson tapes tampered with?

This is something I have been saying from day one and now others seem to be questioning their authenticity as well.

$34 Million in OT pay to Union for being on VACATION!?! WTF!

This is one of the main reasons why I feel that we need to abolish unions in the United States in favor of a federal governmental system. I mean unions existed initially to make sure its members were treated fairly by business owners. Today they have run amuck and have cost us dearly. The MTA is just one example of how a union is bleeding the rest of us dry while massive layoff to occur within their own ranks.

For some MTA workers, relaxing on the beach comes with a delicious perk: overtime.

The agency is spending $34 million this year on “phantom” overtime paid to workers on vacation, out sick or on holiday, according to documents obtained by amNewYork. Workers on the bus division alone are benefiting from a $22 million windfall this year, MTA estimates show.

"That’s horrible,” said rider Vinny Basdeo, 33, of Queens. “I have to work extra to earn overtime pay, and it should be the same for bus drivers.”

The MTA is making an issue of the sweet deal as it scrambles to close a more than $800 million deficit without resorting to additional service cuts or a fare increase beyond 7.5 percent in January.

“We are looking to control unnecessary overtime as part of overhauling how the MTA does business,” agency spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.

Transit workers typically earn time and a half after eight hours of work in a day. Nearly 1,300 bus operators always work more than eight hours because they cover the morning and afternoon shifts on a route, with a gap in the middle of several hours. Additionally, some train operators earn overtime daily because their routes take more than eight hours to navigate.

Since the 1990s, the transit union was able to negotiate contracts that allowed some bus operators to earn their extra pay even when they are not working. The benefit has gradually extended to some subway, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North workers.

Union leaders stand by their contract benefit.

“When you go on vacation, why should your money be reduced by 15 to 20 percent?” said Jim Gannon, a spokesman for the Transport Workers Union Local 100.

At least one New Yorker sided with the union.

“Honestly with all the stuff they put up with, I think it’s reasonable,” said Dani Weishoff, 19, of the Upper East Side.

What $34 million could mean to the MTA:

- Keep 202 station agents: $17.4 million

- Bring back the V train. $4 million

- Resurrect the W train. $3.4 million

- Run more frequent service on seven subway lines during off-peak hours. $3.1 million

- Save six express bus routes: $2.7 million

- Hire back 25 cleaners: $1.6 million

- Keep the G running 13 more stops into Queens. $1.5 million

Undercover Karaoke with Jewel

Undercover Karaoke with Jewel from Jewel

'The Hills' Fake Finale Ending a Shocker!

There is no doubt that 'The Hills' has come under scrutiny for whether or not the drama is "real." Well, during the show's series finale, star Kristen Cavallari said her final goodbye to Brody Jenner, as the cameras slowly panned out to show all the cameras, mics and crew it takes to shoot one scene of the MTV reality show. After 102 installments, 'The Hills' faded into the sunset and said goodbye in 'Truman Show' style -- showing it takes a lot of work to make reality.

Whoppi Defends Mel Gibson & Get's Bad Press

Whoopi Goldberg has come under fire for remarks she made in defense of Mel Gibson after several of his obscene, racially-charged rants leaked online.

"There has been a lot of hassle ... in the media recently about moi because I had the audacity to say that I had some personal time with Mel that goes over years and years and said that I did not think of him as a racist," Whoopi began on 'The View' today.

"If you had actually watched the show, you would have heard us say, and you would have heard me specifically say, 'I don't condone this. I don't think this is right, I don't think this is smart. But here's the piece of information that I have. My experience tells me that this is not a racist,'" she continued.

"Being a black woman, you'd think you would give me a little bit of leeway to have some feelings if I was around a racist."

"People called my office and went off on the young lady that works there. You're going to call because you think that I'm doing something wrong. And you do the same thing to this young lady that you don't even know that Mel Gibson supposedly did? Who are you?" she says, making a spitting noise. "You can kiss my behind."

Should You Lend Money To A Family Member?

Jeanne Fleming and Leonard Schwarz @ Forbes.com

Mixing relatives and money often forces lenders to forgive or foreclose.

Question: My recently divorced brother has asked to borrow $85,000 so he can buy a townhouse that's in foreclosure. It's an all-cash deal and Matt would be putting in $240,000 of his own money. He's offered my husband and me 5% interest on a 15-year first mortgage. While we want to help Matt out, we're a little worried that he can't afford this place. He says he needs it so his son and daughter can each have their own room when they stay with him. What should we do?

Answer: What? They don't have three-bedroom apartments where Matt lives? Seriously, it's not as if your brother needs to ransom his children from Somali pirates or pay for medical treatments not covered by his insurance. It's not, in short, as if he's facing an emergency here. So unless you've left something out--say, that Matt once lent you a lot of money--you are under no obligation to make this loan. Indeed, if buying the townhouse would put your brother in the hole, the right thing to do is to discourage him.

Let's say, though, that Matt persuades you he can afford it, and you and your husband continue to want to help. Before going any further, you need ask yourselves this: What will you do if you lend your brother the money and he fails to repay you? Are you prepared to have your loan turn into a gift? Or, alternatively, are you prepared to take possession of the townhouse if Matt defaults on the note?

If you're not willing to either walk away from your 85 grand or foreclose on your brother, you shouldn't lend him the dough. Why? Because no matter how good Matt's heart is, there's always a chance he'll fall behind on his payments (he could, for example, lose his job). If that happens, you can play the amend-extend-and-pretend game with the mortgage for a while. But ultimately your options are likely to boil down to forgiveness or foreclosure.

Sound harsh? Research shows that more than 40% of Americans were not repaid in full for the largest loan they ever made to friends or relatives, and more than 25% never got a cent back from their largest loan. So in deciding whether to lend Matt the money, you need to assume there's a reasonable probability he won't pay you back.

If you can live with that happening, go ahead and help him out. But if you can't, there's no reason why Matt can't rent an apartment large enough to accommodate his kids until he finds a home he can comfortably finance and a bank that's willing to take the risk associated with helping him buy it.

Got a question about money and family--or anything else? Write the authors atFlemingandSchwarz@MoneyandEthics.net.