Miles for Nothing: How the Government Helped Frequent Fliers Make a Mint

Enthusiasts of frequent-flier mileage have all kinds of crazy strategies for racking up credits, but few have been as quick and easy as turning coins into miles.

At least several hundred mile-junkies discovered that a free shipping offer on presidential and Native American $1 coins, sold at face value by the U.S. Mint, amounted to printing free frequent-flier miles. Mileage lovers ordered more than $1 million in coins until the Mint started identifying them and cutting them off.

Coin buyers charged the purchases, sold in boxes of 250 coins, to a credit card that offers frequent-flier mile awards, then took the shipments straight to the bank. They then used the coins they deposited to pay their credit-card bills. Their only cost: the car trip to make the deposit.

Full WSJ Article

(Hat tip, Moldy)

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About to Lose His Eyesight, Cancer Survivor Jake Olson, 12, Gets Support From His Favorite Team

A kid has cancerous tumors in both eyes, one eye was removed and the other eye was saved through treatment.

Cancer reappears eigtht times, and he is able to beat it.

Cancer comes back yet again, and he must have his only functioning eye removed.

His favorite football team is the USC Trojans, and head coach Pete Carroll gave the 12-year-old a chance to see everything he wanted about the program before losing his vision for ever.

He even got to meet his favorite player . . . a lineman.

Read/watch the segment here, you’ll be amazed by his attitude.

Posted in Sports, Touching | 1 Comment

Pastor Offers Sex Offenders A ‘Miracle’: A New Start

On a recent Sunday morning, a few dozen men and just a few women gather at a little country church near Pahokee, Fla. They sing, pray and stand up to testify about the importance of God in their lives.

About the only sign that there’s something unusual about this church comes when it’s time for communion. Many of the men making their way to the altar are wearing ankle bracelets and electronic monitors on their belts.

This is the church at Miracle Park, a community mostly made up of sex offenders. Dick Witherow is their pastor.

Full Article

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Winter Olympic Tourch Relay

Boston.com’s The Big Picture provides a lot of interesting pictures of the travel of the Olympic Torch.

Here are two that caught my eye.

This is how it all starts, in Greece with use of a solar reflector.

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And this is how the flame travels on an aircraft, in several miners’ lanterns.

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Posted in Interesting, Pop Culture | 1 Comment