Ok...California isn't in the lead on this. New York is. There was litigation in the NY Courts that led to what is known as their "Amazon Law" that lets NY force Amazon to collect NY sales tax by virtue of NY based third-party sellers having partnership agreements with Amazon. VT, MA, RI, IL, CO, GA, CT and now CA have since filed legislation to mimic what NY did. THIS DOESN'T mean the states can now compel remote sellers to collect their tax! It only applies where that seller has a partnership agreement with an in-state business pushing sales through their website. THAT said, we all owe the USE TAX. It's the law. I find it interesting that many of the same folks who rail about Democrats trying to raise taxes (which happens to be factually inaccurate) don't seem to care about breaking the law, resulting in budget deficits that leave states short of operating revenue that lead to discussions of the need to raise taxes! You can't complain about your kids getting a crappy education, the roads being bad, bridges failing, etc. if you don't pay the taxes you lawfully owe! That's as unpatriotic as you get. I find it hard to understand how the masses on the right fall for the complete ruse that they will somehow benefit from the Gov't giving tax breaks to the uber-wealthy and to Corporations who are buying those tax breaks with lobbying dollars. It's been proven to be bull time and again. Oil companies are reaping record profits while enjoying ridiculous tax breaks and shifting the burden of the shortfall to the rest of us! PLUS, we now have the privilege of perpetuating their ownership of the U.S. Government by our paying them $5.00/gallon! If you understand anything about investigative tactics in police work..."follow-the-money" almost always leads you back to the perpetrator. While there's plenty of blame to dole out on both sides of the aisle, it doesn't take a genius to figure out which major party is the prime offender. What can be said about this but wake up America! What happened to government for the people, by the people? The Constitution says "people" not "corporations!" As for the uncollected sales tax issue, there is an effort called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project aimed at encouraging Congress to lift the Supreme Court restrictions on requiring remote sellers to collect tax for the states in exchange for the states simplifying and making their laws more uniform so that it doesn't cost businesses so much to comply! Unsurprisingly, the bill continues to stall due to opposition by the majority of Republicans who don't want to be "perceived" as levying new taxes even though the taxes are already legally due and are just being criminally ignored. Thankfully this year there is some Republican support. Rep. Senator Mike Enzi of WY is cosponsoring the bill this session with Senator Richard Durbin of IL. Until REAL campaign finance reform is adopted and publicly funded political campaigns are MANDATORY and Corporate lobbying $ prohibited, this country will NOT be truly free.

Before you go spending money, let's try a few things. When you took your router to default, everything worked fine. When you use a pass phrase, you get to the internet but web sites don't load. I have a copy of your router manual in front of me so let's try a few steps. 1------Log onto your router 2------Under the wireless setup make sure the SSID reads NETGEAR 3------Make sure the operating channel for the wireless mode.is Auto. 4------ Leave the wireless mode set to the default setting of Up to 145Mbps for 2.4GHz. 5------ Select security options for the 2.4GHz wireless network.The wireless Security Options are set to None by default. 6-----use WPA2-PSK as your security option. 7----- enter the following as your passphrase wndr3400 make all letters lower case. Select APPLY at the bottom of the screen. Under DIAGNOSTICS, select the REBOOT option. Once the router reboots, close out all your screens and reboot you computer. When prompted for a passphrase enter wndr3400 all letters must be lower case. Please post back and let us know if that did the trick.

"Well, I had my internet access, cable and phone turned off -I could not pay the bill." Check out the many, many FREE ISPs that are out there. Some limit the number of hours you get, but you can at least check your email to see if your boss sent something important and then still use the library for recreational internet use, like accessing GW here. Some give you unlimited usage but you have to sit through annoying banner ads - but it is FREE. http://www.all-free-isp.com/arizona-providers.php Cable is a waste of money for any one on a tight budget. It is a luxury item. I don't have it. I don't need it. Even if I made more money I probably would not get it since it offers so little. Now about your phone. I am assuming you are talking about your landline and not your cell phone. Most people do not need BOTH. But, your state may have the program where you can get assistance to pay your landline phone if you have low income and a medical condition where you need the phone available for medical emergencies. Some phone companies in some states offer this with their own program too and you could check this out for yourself. You would get almost free access but have to pay for each call you make. The national assistance program is called LifeLine and I believe is for those living on public assistance but states have their own related programs with names like LifeLink for landlines. There is even free cell phone service called SafeLink good for up to a year for those temporarily disabled and low income. SafeLink Wireless is a federal government supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime each month for income-eligible customers. You may need to take advantage of these government programs until you get back on your feet. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx "My son is going to help me pay my rent so that is good." You say your "rent" is $800/mo and you could save HUNDREDS of dollars per month by getting a one bedroom place instead of living in a three bedroom since you are living alone. Consider renting out the extra rooms or getting a roommate. I know people who have do this and never had a big problem. I have considered doing this myself. Look at the *big picture*. Trying to save pennies by burning up gas to drive miles, to save 6 cents per gallon on gas at some far flung service station, negates any savings. There are oodles of *money saving tips* websites on the internet that offer good sound advice. I know. I read them. I live frugally. Start with this one that has advice on banking with low/no service fees: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/06/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/ There are plenty of places that offer FREE financial counseling and job search help. They even have free computers. A financial counselor can put a person on the right track and help formulate a budget that is living within your means. Women's centers have these resources so do the senior centers. http://www.wehelpwomen.com/jobs/index.html http://phoenix.jobing.com/blog_post.asp?post=19861 Here is a link that might be useful: Fresh Start Women's Center Phoenix

loves2cook, I'm far from self sufficient as far as food goes. I still buy cheese, butter, milk, but I get them from a locally owned hormone and antibiotic free certified dairy. I do buy some imported produce, although I try to buy what's closest in terms of having it shipped because the quality is so much better. I made some mango/lime sorbet for Easter dessert and neither of those things are grown anywhere near here, although I did use Pioneer sugar from here in Michigan. I refuse to buy store tomatoes anymore since reading the latest article in Gourmet (or was it Bon Appetit?) about the slave labor used in the tomato industry. However, if I only bought what was grown locally I'd never have a salad from September to May unless I build myself a greenhouse. Hmmmm.......anyway, I digress. I don't grow dried beans or lentils, they are too labor intensive for the crop I get. I haven't yet grown my own grains for grinding into flour and nearly all my mustard comes from Canada (thanks, Chase!). However, I dn't expect the government to keep me safe and I don't believe in better living through chemicals. I do what it's possible for me to do, take a little extra time and effort, and I have a lot more control over what I'm eating and what I'm feeding to my grandkids. Lou, don't worry about having the thread pulled, I don't think anyone minds at all. That's why we all jumped in on this. As for China, if I pick anything up on the shelf, from a bowl to a bottle of honey, and look at the label and it's from China, I put it back. I've saved a lot of money and found that I don't really need a lot of the things I've considered buying! So, in the end, that's a good thing. (grin) Annie