The Events 24/7

Marijuana Legalization Billboard Greets 1-5 drivers in Washington

2010-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

The group Sensible Washington, which is working to legalize marijuana for adults in Washington state, became a lot more visible on Saturday.

Specifically, the group's huge pro-legalization billboard went up in Fife, Washington, on Interstate 5 North and South, entering and leaving Seattle. The group said the billboard would remain up through the November 2011 election.

"Because drug dealers don't ID. Legalize In 2011" the bright yellow billboard reads.

According to Gotcha Covered Media, 288,000 vehicles a day will pass under the billboard on I-5, and it will also be visible from Highway 99, which isn't included in that vehicle count.

That's a lot of cars, with a lot of potential impressions on voters -- more than 2 million vehicles a week, or 8,640,000 a month.

"Thanks to generous donations from two Sensible Washington volunteers and support and cooperation of the billboard company, Gotcha Covered Media (thank you!), we now have North- and South-facing billboards at this location through the November 2011 election," Sensible Washington said on its website.

Jury Pool in Marijuana Case Stages Mutiny

2010-12-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

In what could grow into something much bigger in future cases, potential jurors in Missoula County District Court staged a revolt Thursday, taking the law into their own hands and making it clear they would not convict anybody for having less than 2 grams of marijuana.

The tiny amount of marijuana police found in Touray Cornell's Missoula, Montana home on April 23 became a big point of contention for some members of the jury panel, reports Gwen Florio of The Missoulian. One juror after another said there was no way they would convict somebody for having 1/16 of an ounce of pot.

One juror wondered aloud why the county was wasting time and money prosecuting the case at all, according to a "flummoxed" Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul, who called it "a mutiny," Florio reports.

Entire Family Arrested in Illinois Pot Bust

2010-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

An Illinois family is accused of running a million-dollar "designer marijuana" grow operation from their home.

John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted the grow op in the 7,000-square-foot home in an unincorporated area near Tinley Park, according to Cook County Sheriff's officials, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.

Sheriff's detectives said they began investigating the family earlier this month after intercepting a package of marijuana buds addressed to the home.

L-R: John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted a "sophisticated" pot growing operation
John and Christopher Gecan were arrested Tuesday after they received the shipment of marijuana. During the arrest, detectives claimed they smelled a "strong odor of pot" coming from the house and saw "drug paraphernalia," including cannabis pipes and a grinder, "in plain view" in the garage, officials said.

Dozens of marijuana plants and a sophisticated marijuana cultivation operation were found inside the home, according to detectives. Police removed 97 plants, 2,960 grams (almost six pounds) of marijuana, and $7,511 in cash, along with a "small amount" of cocaine, police claimed.

Police claimed the street value of the marijuana is "more than $1 million," saying the Gecans cultivated "an unusually high quality product."

According to officials, a large section of the home's basement was occupied by the marijuana growing operation.

A "dummy wall" concealed several rooms where family members divided up different stages of the cultivation process. The rooms were set up with insulation, automatic temperature control, dehumidifiers and an elaborate ventilation system with air filtration, according to officials.

Some of the plants were as much as six feet tall. Police claimed the family used charters and computers to track production, harvesting and pricing, with prices ranging from $40 for a quarter ounce of "regular" marijuana to $4,409 for a pound of "primo" cannabis.

Police also seized lighting fixtures, irrigation tables, fertilizer and indoor hydroponic equipment.

John and Christopher Gecan and Osmolski had bails set at $50,000 each, while Darlene Gecan had bail set at $25,000. All were charged with marijuana possession and with intent to deliver.

John and Darlene Gecan were released on bond Thursday afternoon, while young Christopher Gecan and Osmolski were still in Cook County Jail, according to the sheriff's office.

11 Tons of Marijuana Found in Railroad Cars

2010-12-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Seven people were arrested after almost 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad boxcars from Mexico in what is being called possibly the largest pot bust in Chicago-area history.

The cannabis was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which claimed the pot was worth $22 million, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.

The warehouse raid came after Customs agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, came across a Union Pacific train headed for Chicago Heights carrying about 21,800 pounds of suspected marijuana, the office said.

Agents "observed a number of large bundled packages, referred to as 'super sacks,' in six cars on the train," the office said.

Richard-Daley-1.jpeg
Photo: Prime Juice Media
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley: "Every day there's pot coming to Chicago. America loves pot"
The agents looked inside one of the sacks and saw "13 cubic bundles, which were encrusted in a thick layer of fine red masonry pigment dust." Tests showed all the packages contained marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Shipping documents said the sacks contained titanium ore sent by Comercializadora De Minerale, a company in Jalisco, Mexico, and were bound for Earth Minerals Corp. in Rockdale, just south of Joliet, Illinois.

The packages were then resealed and the railroad delivered them to a warehouse in Chicago Heights, according the the U.S. Attorney's Office.

One of the suspects, Carlos Osvaldo Quintero, spoke to a Union Pacific employee "several times" about the delivery, according to the office. From December 6 through December 10, the rail cars were unloaded by forklifts to a storage facility next to the warehouse, the office said.

Agents said they did not see any marijuana being removed from the storage facility before the arrests -- but if some of the pot made it onto the street, I don't imagine they'd rush to admit that.

Charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana were Quintero, also known as "Carlos Gomez" and "Miguel Dominguez," 31; his father, Martin Quintero, 63; Felipe de Jesus Magana-Campos, also known as "Padrino," 47; Eduardo Angel Zalayaran-Ruiz, also known as "Other Inge," 54; Javier Vera, also known as "Ducky," 24; Christian Gonzalez, 24; and Miguel Cordova, 20.

The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life imprisonment and a $4 million fine.

Even large marijuana busts like this and the family bust in Tinley Park won't make a noticeable difference in Chicago's cannabis supply, admitted a surprisingly frank Mayor Richard Daly.

"Every day there's pot coming to Chicago," Daley said. "America loves pot, they love guns. Every day, you could write headlines every day. And every day Chicago police make an arrest, in a home, in a car."

Wow, that's pretty poetic, for a mayor. Hey Mayor Daley, did you ever consider a career as a slam poet?

"There's so much coming in," Daley said. "Both we have homegrown pot, and we have pot from foreign countries."

Purple Kush

2010-12-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

This pure indica medicinal strain comes from California. In that state's medical community she is considered an "elite clone", meaning that she is only available as a cutting. Not to worry if you are a medical merijuana patient in California - this strain can be found at various despensaries throughout the state. Purple Kush is especially popular at the SR-71 dispensary in "Oaksterdam", the section of downtown Oakland that tolerates medical marijuana providers. Patients there praise this Purple Kush's deep body stone as a treatment for pain and depression.

This lady forms a short squat bush with very dense intermodes and huge fan leaves, staying in the 2-3 foot height range indoors. With topping or pinching she will be at least as wide as she is tall. Purple Kush's foliage exhibits a classic indica growth pattern: a sturdy bush with dark green hues and hints of purple toward ripeness.

Purple Kush is versatile, performing well for both indoor and outdoor growers. She does very well in a screen of green (SCROG) setup. Purple Kush buds form tight chunky nuggets with hints of purple in the tips of the calyxes, as well as the soft pine bouquet and a sweet, grapey taste on an earthy foundation. her very frosty veneer of glands will please both the connoisseur of indica potency and the hashish fan. The Purple Kush high is strong, deep stone delivers when it comes to treating chronic pains and inflamations, among other conditions.

Tangerine Kush

2010-12-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

Strain Name: Tangerine Kush

Grade: A+

Type: Indica

Looks: Rich green dense buds with a bit of leaf and bright dark orange / red hairs. (9/10)

Smell: It smells like kush and unburnt diesel fuel. When it’s ground up it gets a really strong smell of kush, unburnt diesel fuel and skunk. The smell when its ground up reminds me of a spare rib, it has this twang to it. Some of the strongest smelling medicine EVER. A small bud will reak up the WHOLE house when the jar is cracked. This is the stuff you smell before you even see it. If you’re trying to be discrete with the smell, look for another strain. (10/10)

Taste: Super heavy kush taste. With hints of a fresh pine tree forest. The kush taste is so overpowering, that I have to change the volcano bag afterwards or every other bag until it is changed tastes like kush regardless of the strain. (9/10)

Effects: Night time use only. Strong indica effects. Provided a calming, anti-anxiety happy feeling. Noticed although I was in floating haze I was still fully functional and had lots of energy to get stuff done. Too much in one sitting is instant nap time. Works great for high tolerances. Made me really hungry too! (9/10)

Potency: Very Strong (9/10)

Marijuana Zoning Regulations

2010-12-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Chandler City Council took a first step Monday night to write restrictive zoning regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Council voted unanimously to start work on zoning code amendments that limit the locations of dispensaries beyond those in a new state law.

Exactly what those restrictions will be is uncertain, but the council will discuss them at a Dec. 16 subcommittee meeting, bring them to public hearings in January and adopt them in February.

Several council members said the potential for marijuana theft and the anticipated cultivation of medical marijuana in city limits are reasons Chandler should adopt zoning restrictions.

Municipalities across the state have been scrambling to write ordinances for medical-marijuana dispensaries since Proposition 203 was officially approved by voters last month.

Planning Director Jeff Kurtz said cities can limit medical marijuana dispensaries to specific zoning districts, require special use permits and set maximum square footage for the operations. If Chandler doesn't change its zoning code, the dispensaries would be allowed in most areas that permit retail commerce, he said.

Mayor Boyd Dunn, a member of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns executive committee, said the state law is so vague that the regional group drafted a model ordinance for municipalities. Arizona Department of Health Services is expected to start reviewing applications from people who want to operate a dispensary or use medical marijuana by April. Under state law, no more than 124 dispensaries can open across Arizona. At least one has to open in each county.

According to league records, no Valley city has yet adopted zoning changes that regulate medical marijuana dispensaries but Tempe and Scottsdale have held public discussions of proposed restrictions and Peoria has a draft ordinance set for a vote next month. Four cities outside of Maricopa County, including Tucson, have adopted medical marijuana zoning laws.

Rainbows in the Sky Making you Sick?

2010-12-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

If you’ve been paying attention to chemtrails, you may have observed rainbow smearing (diffraction) of light reflected off them. Dark sunglasses can bring the subtle rainbows into the dynamic range of the human eye. Chembows are often visible when the sunlight reflects at approximately 45• angle to the chemtrail.

In the past, high altitude jet contrails dissipated quickly, and didn't form persistent horizon-to-horizon trails that later spread out into a blanket of silvery haze. How many days have you watched clear skies turned solid gray by chemtrails? Global dimming has been proven and is highly associated with chemtrails.

By whatever means the chemicals are being dispersed, whether as a fuel additive or spraying, and for whatever purpose(s), it's safe to say at this point that a semi-secret aerosol dispersal program exists, and a number of different chemicals are being released into the air using jet aircraft (including barium, aluminum, polymer fibers, and microorganisms). High altitude ice crystal formation increases around these nucleation sites, often resulting in stunning rainbows (chembows and sun dogs) of diffracted/refracted light, and pink and green dichroism.

The program is global in scope and is causing untold harm to our environment. It's time to recognize the mangnitude of this threat, and conduct some real diligent science and intelligence gathering that identifies conclusively the source and composition and impact of the release of this aerosol.

Marijuana Daily News

2010-12-07T07:48:00.001-08:00

Flagstaff City Council members sent staff back to the drawing board to come up with less restrictive zoning for medical marijuana businesses noting that strip clubs faced less restrictive zoning in the initial plan.

Medical Marijuana Clinics and Dispensaries Arizona
The federal marijuana enforcement policy declares federal authorities will no longer be raiding state licensed medical marijuana dispensaries and clinics that are in compliance with their own state laws and regulations concerning the medical use and safe access to marijuana. Under current federal law however, the use, sale or possession of marijuana, whether medically prescribed or not, is still unlawful and carries significant criminal penalties.

Zero tolerance of drug use is the workplace norm in Arizona, but the medical-marijuana law that takes effect next year will cloud what had been a clear-cut issue for workers and employers.

If a supervisor suspects that using marijuana for medical reasons affects the quality of an employee's work, how should the supervisor respond?

If employees who were prescribed medical marijuana are injured in an accident on the job, are they eligible for workers' compensation?

What happens if a legal user of marijuana fails a company's drug test when applying for a job?

The new law bars employers from discriminating against medical-marijuana users; but, employment attorneys say, it does allow employers to terminate or take action against employees who use medical marijuana on the job or whose work is impaired by the drug.

The issue is likely to be tested in Arizona's workplaces. The law specifies that medical marijuana is for grave illnesses - such as cancer, HIV and glaucoma - but it's increasingly common for employees with serious illnesses to continue to work long after their diagnosis.

Because there is no standard for being under the influence of marijuana, defining what it means to be impaired by the drug on the job is more difficult. In general, employment law allows termination for poor work performance.

Issues not directly related to job performance also are expected to crop up for employers. Because a medical-marijuana user could fail a drug test even if he or she is not under the influence, patients who use the drug legally could still run afoul of their employers' drug-testing policies.

The result is widespread uncertainty among employers. In the months before the program launches, companies and their attorneys will be scrambling to review their drug-testing policies and scrutinize employee rules to comply with the new law.

Many states with existing medical-marijuana laws are still struggling with many of the same issues. Many may have to be resolved in court.

However, because states have separate statutes and judicial systems, decisions in one state may not carry weight in another.

Workplace issues have arisen frequently, said Mike Meno, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. His organization backed the successful November ballot initiative that made medical-marijuana use legal in Arizona.

Although there are 15 states that allow patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, Arizona is one of a handful of states that spell out protections for employees who use medical marijuana.

So what's your opinion.....we want to know...

Prop 203 Arizona's Medical Marijuana Law

2010-12-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Voters in Arizona strongly support allowing for medical marijuana in the state. According to a Rocky Mountain poll, 54 percent of likely voters in Arizona plan to vote yes on Proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Only 32 percent of voters claim they plan to oppose the measure.
The committed yes vote is slightly over 50 percent and is 22 points higher than the no vote. Overall, this is a fairly strong position for a ballot measure roughly three weeks before the election, and indicate the proposition is likely to pass.

Not surprisingly, the poll shows a large age divide on the issue. While voters under 35 overwhelmingly support Prop 203 by a margin of 61 to 21 percent, voters over 55 slightly oppose it 41 to 43. As long as younger voters turn out in reasonable numbers, the proposition should be on track to passage.

If the voters of Arizona approve of Prop 203, it will become the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana.

Chemtrails Killed the Honey Bees – Secret NATO and UN operation

2010-03-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

So I am sure you have been wondering for some time now what has happened to the Honey Bee. Well watch this video and you will have the answers.

Kraft Foods to cut salt in its North American foods

2010-03-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

PORTLAND, Ore. – Kraft Foods Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut the salt in its products that are sold in North America by an average of 10 percent over the next two years to appeal to health-conscious consumers.

The changes at Kraft, the largest U.S. food maker, will affect more than 1,000 products and eliminate more than 10 million pounds of salt over the two-year period, the company said.

Kraft and other food makers have cut their use of sodium in recent years. Among other cuts, the company said this latest move will cut the salt in Oscar Mayer Bologna by 17 percent, Easy Mac Cups by 20 percent and Velveeta by 10 percent.

"We are reducing sodium because it's good for consumers and, if done properly, it's good for business," Rhonda Jordan, president of health & wellness at Kraft Foods, said in a statement. "A growing number of consumers are concerned about their sodium intake, and we want to help them translate their intentions into actions."

Health experts generally agree Americans eat too much salt and the vast majority of it comes from processed food. The excess is dangerous because salt contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke, kidney disease, heart disease or heart failure.

Many health leaders have urged food makers to reformulate their products to reduce salt.

Dietary guidelines generally limit healthy adults to about a teaspoon, or 2,300 milligrams of sodium, a day. People who are most sensitive to salt — African Americans, people with high blood pressure and others — should limit their daily intake to 1500 milligrams, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Kraft, which is based in Northfield, Ill., offers more than 100 products with no sodium or what it calls low or reduced levels. But a 2.05-ounce, single-serving Easy Mac Cup, for example, has 700 milligrams of sodium — about 30 percent of the recommended average daily intake.

Kraft said it also is reformulating some items for international markets, including cheese products in the UK. But the bulk of the company's business is in North America.

Among other companies aiming to cut sodium is ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Chef Boyardee and Hebrew National. ConAgra announced in October that it would will cut sodium 20 percent in the next five years.

Campbell Soup Co. has cut the sodium in more than 100 of its products — including V8 juices, Prego sauces, Pepperidge Farm breads and some of its namesake soups — by 25 percent to 50 percent over the past four years. Campbell announced in December that it would cut the sodium in its SpaghettiOs canned pasta by up to 35 percent.

Source:AP

Lost Boys' actor Corey Haim dead in Burbank at 38

2010-03-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

BURBANK, Calif. – The Los Angeles coroner's office says "The Lost Boys" actor Corey Haim is dead at 38.

Coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said Wednesday that Haim died at 2:15 a.m. at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. She said an autopsy will determine the cause of death and there are no other details.

Canadian-born Haim became a teen heartthrob with the 1986 film "Lucas" and 1987's "The Lost Boys."

His first role was in the 1984 hit "Firstborn," in which he played a young child caught up in a family war. He then appeared in the 1985 television movie "A Time to Live."

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons.

Source: AP

John McCain in the News

2010-03-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's recent endorsement of Arizona Sen. John McCain's re-election was widely viewed as another sign of how far the relationship between the two fierce rivals from the 2008 Republican presidential primaries has evolved.

More cynical observers noted that Romney, a leading GOP 2012 White House prospect, likely wants to remain on the good side of McCain, his party's 2008 nominee.

But to some in the camp of Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth, Romney's embrace of McCain came as a personal blow.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, perhaps Hayworth's highest-profile ally in the state, previously was Romney's honorary Arizona campaign chairman, going so far as to stump for Romney and against McCain in the key early presidential-race states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Arpaio said Romney's decision to back McCain won't diminish his respect for him.

"If he runs again, I'm sure he would like to have McCain support him," Arpaio said. "Is that how politics operates? One day you're on one side, and the next day you're on the other side?"

Jason Rose, Hayworth's campaign spokesman and political consultant, was Romney's state director during the 2008 race.

"Governor Romney is a good man who would make a great president," Rose said in an e-mail when asked about Romney's choice of McCain over Hayworth.

Meanwhile, a Facebook group called "Mitt Romney Supporters for J.D. Hayworth" as of late Friday had 137 members, including Hayworth himself.

In other developments:

• Local "tea party" activists apparently aren't totally sold on Hayworth as a conservative alternative to the more moderate McCain. Organizers of four tea-party groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Mohave County issued a joint statement Monday saying they are declining to endorse in the GOP Senate primary.

"The Tea Party is a non-partisan, grass-roots movement that stands for limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility," Tucson Tea Party co-founder Robert Mayer said in a written statement. "Both McCain and Hayworth's records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired on these issues."

But Hayworth still can point to local tea-party support - many in attendance at his Feb. 15 campaign kickoff identified themselves with the movement - and he recently did secure the endorsement of the national group TaxDay TeaParty.com.

• Rep. Charles Rangel's ethics troubles have prompted three House Democrats from Arizona to jettison campaign cash linked to the embattled New York Democrat.

Rep. Harry Mitchell returned $28,000 and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords donated $21,000 to veterans groups, aides confirmed. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick relinquished $14,000, the Associated Press reported.

Rangel, under fire for multiple ethics issues, on Wednesday said he was stepping aside as chairman of the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.

How to Keep your Eyes Healthy

2010-03-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

Eyes are literally our windows to the world, but few people take the time to care for the body part that imparts the precious gift of sight. There are many easy ways to treat your eyes with the respect they deserve. Dr. Scott Greenstein, an ophthalmologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, offers these suggestions to keep your eyes healthy:
1) Get an Eye Exam, No Matter Your Age
Seeing an ophthalmologist is not just for people who already have glasses. Greenstein recommends all children get a full eye exam before beginning kindergarten and every few years after.
Adults also should get their eyes checked, even if there is not an obvious problem.
"There are many people that think if they can see reasonably well, that’s the end of the story," he says. "They may have some ophthalmic condition that’s undiagnosed." Other conditions, such as headaches, may be due to a vision impairment that is forcing the eye to strain.
And while eye damage has many causes, Greenstein says, computer screens are not one of them. "There is no evidence that you can over use your eyes," he says. Eyestrain from staring at a screen is not a disorder that causes any anatomical or structural damage; however, eyestrain may be due to other problems, so if there is any change in vision or change to the eye, he recommends seeing an ophthalmologist.

2) Wear Sunglasses
It may seem obvious, but "if you spend any time outdoors, you should wear a hat and sunglasses," Greenstein says. This is not just an issue of comfort.
Studies have shown that repeated sun exposure could increase incidence of cataracts, which cause cloudy vision as well as macular degeneration, a condition that reduces vision in the central part of the retina.
Obviously, the bigger the lens, the more of the eye is protected, but any style with ultra violet protection is sufficient. For those looking for maximum protection, Greenstein noted yellow and orange tinted lenses have been shown in some studies to absorb the wavelength of light that increases the risk for cataracts and macular degeneration.
But if the idea of a lemon-tinted world turns you green, that’s fine, he says. The best protection from sunglasses comes from having a pair you will want to wear for any and all sun exposure.
3) Manage Your Diabetes
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition where high blood sugar damages blood vessels behind the retina. That blood then can leak out into the retina, causing vision problems. Anyone with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should receive an annual eye exam. "Poor [blood sugar] control increases your risk, and better control lowers your risk," Greenstein explained. Even so, diabetics who are controlling their blood sugar still can develop eye problems.
4) Eye Protection: Not Just for Welders
Many high-risk occupations, such as welding, require eye protection because the cornea can be severely burned from a stray spark. Greenstein says he also has seen that same degree of damage from skiers who were not wearing goggles.
Besides skiing, the backyard can be a potential danger zone for eyes. Weed whackers and lawnmowers can send debris flying, and even raking or pruning can shoot a stray branch into the cornea. Not only should goggles be worn for a range of gardening activities, Greenstein says, but also for racquetball, squash and even basketball, which can produce many fingers straight into the eye.
5) Carrots Are Not Enough
Despite dinner time advice dished out by parents, eating fruits and vegetables will not save or enhance your vision, according to Greenstein. For some people with unhealthy optic nerves or a very dry cornea, diet can make a difference, but those cases are rare.
That does not mean that a balanced and varied diet of fruits and vegetables will not contribute to eye and overall health. A balanced diet, for instance, is key to controlling diabetes, which can cause eye damage.
For certain macular degeneration patients, vitamins A, C, E and zinc have been shown to reduce the risk and severity of this condition. But for the majority of macular degeneration patients, Greenstein cautioned, a supplement of these vitamins will not cause any harm — but will also not improve vision.
More important than diet, he says, is to stop smoking, which increases the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.
6) Take Your Contacts Out
Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves some contacts for "extended wear," that is not a free pass to leave them in as long as you want, Greenstein says. Leaving contacts in too long, especially overnight, can lead to infection. "Even if it is approved for extended wear," he says, "I do not recommend it."
7) Check Your Medication
Flomax, a medication for male urinary symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, can complicate cataract surgery, Greenstein noted, and men should consider whether they are going to need cataract surgery before beginning this medication.
Prednisone, a synthetic corticosteroid drug used to treat a range of autoimmune diseases, also has been shown to increase the risk for glaucoma and cataracts when taken for long periods of time. It is best to tell your ophthalmologist about any medications you are taking at each visit.
8) Do Not Wait to Get Cataract Surgery
Greenstein says many patients who have a cataract wait years after an initial diagnosis to get surgery because they are waiting for the cataract to be "ripe," but "The longer you wait, the higher the risk to get it out," he says. "The eye is not a piece of fruit."
Cataract surgery has a very low complication rate, and anyone with this condition should discuss whether surgery is an appropriate option with his or her ophthalmologist.

Einstein the Talking Parrot

2010-03-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Being a parrot owner myself, I am not surprised at the talent they have. But Einstein is so smart she has a vocabulary of more than 200 words and sounds; she can perform nearly half on a cue from her trainer, Stephanie White. She can also impersonate a spaceship, a monkey and even a skunk.

Do you have a talented pet? We would like to hear from you.

Enjoy the video!

Jamaican Paradise

2010-03-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Jamaica, which was originally claimed for Spain in 1494, has a history that has been greatly affected by slavery and the slave trade. The island was taken from Spain in 1655 when British Admiral William Penn and General Venables seized the island. Jamaica for almost two centuries was the world's largest sugar exporter, which was achieved through the use of imported slave labour, resulting in the island's large Black population. Jamaica also has a sizeable minority of East Indians, and varying numbers of Whites, Afro-Chinese, and persons of Syrian/Lebanese decent, many of which have intermixed throughout the generations. Individuals on the island seldom belong to one racial group; the genetic roots of many people can be traced to origins that are not necessarily physically apparent.

Christianity is the major religion in the island (It is estimated that about 80% of the island's 2.5 million inhabitants are Christians).

Jamaica's resources include coffee, papaya, bauxite, gypsum, limestone and sugar cane. If you’ve never had Jamaican coffee your missing out on the best morning wake up.

Most Jamaicans speak Jamaican Creole, also known locally as Patois (Patwa). Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are significantly different from English, despite heavy usage of English words or derivatives. Jamaican Creole is almost exclusively used when Jamaicans speak between one another. In all other cases (especially around tourists) English is used.
Although all Jamaicans can speak English, Westerners may have trouble understanding them. It's English, but a heavily accented version. Even the billboards use the Jamaican phoenetic slang, like "Ebery 'ting is ah right" to mean "Everything is alright." Some Jamaicans speak a little bit of the other popular languages, like Spanish.
You may hear some Jamaicans say "Waah gwan?", "Waah appen?" or "what tah gwan", which is the patois variation of "What's up?" or "What's going on?". More formal greetings are usually "Good morning", or "Good evening".

Visit Nine Mile where Bob Marley was born and now buried. The journey up into the mountains lets you experience the heart of the country. Spend a day at Negril 7 mile beach and finish off at Rick's Cafe for a spectacular sunset and watch even more fantastic cliff diving.

Jamaican food is a mixture of Caribbean dishes with local dishes. Although Jamaican food gets a reputation for being spicy, local trends lean towards more versatile food variety. Some of the Caribbean dishes that you'll see in other countries around the region are rice and peas (which is cooked with coconut milk) and patties (which are called empanadas in spanish speaking countries). The national dish is Ackee and saltfish, and MUST be tried by anyone visiting the island. It is made with the local fruit called Ackee, which looks like scrambled eggs, but has a unique taste of its own and dried codfish mixed with onions and tomatoes. You probably won't get a chance to try this food anywhere else, and if you really want to say that you did something uniquely Jamaican, then this is your chance. Freshly picked and prepared ackee is 100 times better than tinned ackee, but must be harvested only when the ackee fruits have ripened and their pods opened naturally on the large evergreen tree on which they grow: unripe ackee contains a potent toxin (hypoglycin A) which causes vomiting and hypoglycemia . Another local food is called bammy, which was actually invented by the Arawak (Taino) Indians. It is a flat floury cassava pancake normally eaten during breakfast hours that kind of tastes like corn bread. There is also hard-dough bread (locally called hard dough bread), which comes in both sliced and unsliced varieties. Try toasting it, for when it is toasted, it tastes better than most bread you'll ever eat. If you are looking for dishes with more meat in them, you can try the jerk flavoured foods. The most popular is jerk chicken, although jerk pork and jerk conch are also common. The jerk seasoning is a spice that is spread on the meat on the grill like barbeque sauce. Keep in mind that most Jamaicans eat their food well done, so expect the food to be a bit drier than you are accustomed to. There are also curries such as curried chicken and curried goat which are very popular in Jamaica. The best curried goat is made with male goats and if you see a menu with curried fish, try it.
You may even want to pick up a piece of sugar cane, slice off some pieces and suck on them.
Fruit and vegetables in Jamaica are plentiful. Many of the local varieties are unknown to visitors. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are inexpensive. Visitors may well find that imported produce tends to be more expensive than in their home country. Grapes in particular tend to be very expensive on the island.
Chinese food is available in many places from Chinese takeout stores and has a distant Jamaican taste.
It is recommended to sample the local fruit and vegetables. If unfamiliar with a particular fruit it can pay to ask a local about which parts can be eaten. Local and imported fruits are available from road-side vendors. If the fruit is to be eaten immediately the vendors can generally wash the fruit for you on request.
Finally, there is the category of "ital" food. Ital food is completely vegetarian and generally consists of a vegetable stew. Ital food is not generally on the printed menus in the upscale tourist restaurants and can only be found by going to smaller places (often just somebody's house.) Rastafarians are often vegetarians and eat (and serve) ital food.
So next time your looking for a vacation spot, remember Jamaica. This will be one of the best trips you’ll take. Let us know what you think of Jamaica.

3.1 Million Customers without Broadcast on Oscar Night

2010-03-07T06:21:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK – Millions of cable subscribers faced the prospect of Oscar night without the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday after ABC's parent company switched off its signal to Cablevision customers and the two companies blasted each other for failing to reach a deal in a dispute over fees.
In dueling statements dispatched early Sunday, the two companies traded blame for the stalemate ahead of one of the most-watched nights of television.
"Cablevision has once again betrayed its subscribers," said Charissa Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the Walt Disney Co. and ABC Television Group, in a statement. "Cablevision pocketed almost $8 billion last year, and now customers aren't getting what they pay for ... again."
Cablevision Systems Corp. said the stall in negotiations should be blamed on Disney CEO Bob Iger. "It is now painfully clear to millions of New York area households that Disney CEO Bob Iger will hold his own ABC viewers hostage in order to extract $40 million in new fees from Cablevision," said Charles Schueler, a Cablevision executive vice president, in a statement.
The signal can still be pulled from the air for free with an antenna and a new TV or digital converter box.
Cablevision has argued that Disney is seeking an additional $40 million a year in new fees, even though the company pays more than $200 million a year to Disney.
Disney counters by arguing that Cablevision charges customers $18 per month for basic broadcast signals but does not pass on any payment for ABC to Disney.
The dispute is similar to a standoff at the end of last year between News Corp. and Time Warner Cable over how much Fox television station signals were worth. That tussle, which threatened the college football bowl season and new episodes of "The Simpsons," was resolved without a signal interruption.
Cablevision also feuded with Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. in a January dispute that temporarily forced the Food Network and HGTV off the service. Neither side provided terms of an agreement that restored the channels after three weeks.
Disney and Cablevision have been airing dueling advertisements about the ongoing dispute for the past week. Also, lawmakers in Washington have chimed in, suggesting the Federal Communications Commission step in.
The company's previous contract with Cablevision expired more than two years ago, but it was extended month by month as talks continued.
Under previous arrangements, Disney was paid for cable channels such as ESPN and Disney Channel, but gave its ABC broadcast signal away for free, a situation that most broadcasters are now trying to change.
"We can no longer sit back and allow Cablevision to use our shows for free while they continue to charge their customers for them," WABC-TV president and general manager Rebecca Campbell said in a statement.
Schueler suggested that disgruntled viewers should blame Disney's top executive if the station goes dark.
"There is one man who is going to decide whether New York gets to see the Oscars, and that's Disney President and CEO Bob Iger," he said in a statement late Friday. "We call on Bob Iger to stop holding his own viewers hostage, end his threats to pull the plug on ABC at midnight and instead work with us to reach a fair agreement."

Source:AP/Yahoo News

Chile the aftermath from the quake

2010-03-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Has Haarp struck again? Or is this really Mother Nature at work. The earthquake that devastated Chile has yet another problem emerging, looting. The Chilean police have now arrested dozens of people for violating curfews after looters took almost everything from markets in this city hardest hit by the earthquake. The president of Chile has promised food, water and shelter for thousands living on the streets.
Some coastal towns just to the north of Concepcion were almost obliterated, first shaken by the quake, then slammed by a tsunami that lifted whole houses and carried them inland and that reduced others to piles of sticks.
In Concepcion itself, firefighters were seeking survivors in a toppled apartment building, a day after they had to pause because of tear gas fired at looters who wheeled away everything from microwave ovens to canned milk at a damaged supermarket across the street.
Ingenious looters used long tubes of bamboo and plastic to siphon gasoline from underground tanks at a closed gasoline station.
So are you prepared if something like this happens to you? I think most of us are not.

Whale drags trainer off platform in fatal attack

2010-02-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. – A veteran SeaWorld trainer was rubbing a killer whale from a poolside platform when the 12,000-pound creature reached up, grabbed her ponytail in its mouth and dragged her underwater. Despite workers rushing to help, the trainer was killed.
Horrified visitors who had stuck around after a noontime show watched the animal charge through the pool with the trainer in its jaws. Workers used nets as an alarm sounded, but it was too late. Dawn Brancheau had drowned. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.
The whale, named Tilikum, apparently grabbed Brancheau by her long ponytail, according to the head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks, Chuck Tompkins. He told ABC's "Good Morning America" that her ponytail swung out in front of the whale.
"That's when the trainer next to him (Tilikum) said that he grabbed the hair, pulled her under water. And of course, held her under water," Tompkins said.
SeaWorld's Web site said the park would be open Thursday but that killer whale shows were suspended for the time being at its Orlando and San Diego parks. Its third location in San Antonio is not yet open for the season.
Brancheau's interaction with the whale appeared leisurely and informal at first to audience member Eldon Skaggs. But then, the whale "pulled her under and started swimming around with her," Skaggs told The Associated Press.
Some workers hustled the audience out of the stadium while the others tried to save Brancheau, 40.
Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.
But Tompkins said the whale had performed well in the show and that Dawn was rubbing him down as a reward for doing a good job.
"There wasn't anything to indicate to us that there was a problem," Tompkins told the CBS "Early Show."
Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off."
Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park's 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most. She was one of the park's most experienced trainers overall.
"We recognized he was different," said Tompkins. He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transferring him to another facility. SeaWorld has also suspended the killer whale shows at all of its parks, which also include locations in San Diego and San Antonio, to review procedures.
A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.
Steve Huxter, who was head of Sealand's animal care and training department then, said Wednesday he's surprised it happened again. He says Tilikum was a well-behaved, balanced animal.
Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.
Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer wouldn't want anything done to the whale because she loved the animals like children. The trainer was married and didn't have children.
"She loved the whales like her children, she loved all of them," said Gross, of Schererville, Ind. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days."
Gross said the family viewed her sister's death as an unfortunate accident, adding: "It just hasn't sunk in yet."
Dawn was the youngest of six children who grew up near Cedar Lake, Indiana. Her passion for marine life began at the age of nine, Gross said, on a family trip to Sea World.
According to a profile of Brancheau in the Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando's leading trainers. Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.
She also addressed the dangers of the job.
"You can't put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you," Brancheau said.
Billy Hurley, chief animal officer at the Georgia Aquarium_ the world's largest — said there are inherent dangers to working with orcas, just as there are with driving race cars or piloting jets.
"In the case of a killer whale, if they want your attention or if they're frustrated by something or if they're confused by something, there's only a few ways of handling that," he said. "If you're right near pool's edge and they decide they want a closer interaction during this, certainly they can grab you."
And, he added: "At 12,000 pounds there's not a lot of resisting you're going to do."
Mike Wald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Atlanta, said his agency had dispatched an investigator from Tampa.
Wednesday's death was not the first attack on whale trainers at SeaWorld parks.
In November 2006, a trainer was bitten and held underwater several times by a killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park.
The trainer, Kenneth Peters, escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot orca that attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego's seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.
In 2004, another whale at the company's San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped.
Wednesday's attack was the second time in two months that an orca trainer was killed at a marine park. On Dec. 24, 29-year-old Alexis Martinez Hernandez fell from a whale and crushed his ribcage at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Park communications director Patricia Delponti said the whale, a 14-year-old named Keto, came from SeaWorld but is not a son of Tilikum.

Source: AP

Americans charged with kidnapping in Haiti

2010-02-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Six U.S.-bound orphans seized by Haitian officials as they prepared to board a flight to Miami were to resume their journey to American homes on Wednesday after being handed over to the U.S. Embassy.
Jan Bonnema, the Minnesota-based founder of the Cap-Haitien orphanage where the children lived, said the orphans were to fly to Miami in the afternoon on a charter and their adoptive parents will be able to take their children home on Thursday.
Sara Vanzee and her husband, Tim, are waiting for their 13-month-old son, Albert, to arrive. The couple says the situation has been stressful even though they understand the suspicions surrounding adoptions given recent cases in Haiti.
"Our hope is that they're OK with it, that they can see that we absolutely love these children and that we want to provide for them," Vanzee, who is from the U.S. Midwest, told The Associated Press.
The case of the six orphans seized Saturday at the Port-au-Prince airport echoed that of 10 Americans caught last month trying to take youngsters out of the earthquake-ravaged nation. But this time things turned out differently, with the six children being handed over to the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.
The two cases highlight the perils of trying to remove youngsters from this desperate country.
At the very moment when Haiti's impoverished children are in greatest need — and well-meaning foreigners are most willing to help — fears of child trafficking are making it harder than ever for them to leave the Western Hemisphere's poorest land.
Fears were exacerbated by the case of 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries who were stopped in late January trying to take a busload of 33 children to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation.
Thousands of desperate Haitian parents, unable to care for their own children, have shown themselves eager to give the youngsters away in hopes of giving them a better life. But they are terrified they will be tricked by predators who will enslave or sexually abuse the children.
Haiti's government immediately halted new adoptions in the chaos that followed the Jan. 12 quake, allowing only those already approved to move forward.
That chill hardened into a freeze after Saturday's incident. A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity, said the latest drama held up the departure of 50 orphans approved for U.S. adoption.
It took the U.S. ambassador and Haiti's prime minister to iron out on Tuesday what turned out to be an ugly misunderstanding.
Four women including an adoptive mother from Minnesota arrived at the airport with six children ages 1 to 5 from the Cap-Haitien orphanage. The U.S. Embassy official carrying the documents needed to usher them through immigration was running late.

Suddenly, a group of 20 men rushed to block them, cursing them and screaming "'You can't take our children!'"
The women were briefly detained, but the children wound up spending three days sleeping on the ground in a tent-city social services home, according to their escorts from the Children of The Promise orphanage.
Still in detention were two of the 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries. Their eight associates were released last week and flew back to the United States.

Source: AP

Comprehensive health bill may be no go

2010-02-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON – Democratic congressional leaders confronted the reality Tuesday that they may not be able to pass the comprehensive health care overhaul sought by President Barack Obama. Republican leaders prepared to do everything in their power to make sure they can't.
Democrats saw the sweeping health bill that Obama unveiled ahead of a bipartisan health care summit Thursday as their last, best chance at a top-to-bottom remake of the nation's health care system that would usher in near-universal health coverage. But some were clear-eyed about the difficulties after a year of corrosive debate and the loss of their filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said comprehensive reform would be best but it's not all or nothing.
"We may not be able to do all. I hope we can do all, a comprehensive piece of legislation that will provide affordable, accessible, quality health care to all Americans," Hoyer said at his weekly media briefing. "But having said that, if we can't, then you know me — if you can't do a whole, doing part is also good. I mean there are a number of things I think we can agree on."
The areas of disagreement have been more obvious. Senate Republicans on Tuesday rejected the White House plea for a simple up-or-down vote on Obama's health care plan, indicating they would offer hundreds of amendments to stop the legislation.
"Our constituents don't want the Senate to just wave the same thing through just because it has a new name and even more spending," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Insurance market reforms like barring insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions would be difficult or impossible to pull off without a large risk pool achieved by a requiring nearly everyone to be insured. Smaller measures could be done individually, such as money for insurance pools to provide coverage to people with health problems.
Two days before Obama's televised health summit with Republicans and Democrats, the prospects for any bipartisan deal dimmed as the administration set the stage for pushing ahead with only Democratic support, a risky move that would require the president's political capital and elusive unity from a fractious party.
Obama's new plan used legislation already passed by the Senate as its starting point, making changes designed to appeal to House Democrats. He unveiled it Monday almost exactly a year after calling on Congress to act to reform the nation's costly an inefficient health care system. Majority Democrats were on the verge of meeting the challenge before Republican Scott Brown's upset win in a Massachusetts Senate seat last month.
Brown's win underscored the perilous political environment for Democrats in an election year, but Obama didn't scale back his ambitions, opting for one last attempt at full-scale legislation. It costs around $1 trillion over a decade, requires nearly everyone to be insured or pay a fine, and puts new requirements on insurance companies, including — in a new twist responding to recent rate hikes — giving the federal government authority to block big premium increases.
If Obama fails on a comprehensive health care overhaul where Bill Clinton and other presidents failed before him, the chance won't come around again anytime soon.
The whole endeavor will now rise or fall on Obama's ability to sell his plan at the summit Thursday, and the reaction from lawmakers and the public in the days ahead.
Some rank-and-file Democrats were openly skeptical that the White House and congressional leaders could pull it off. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., a moderate who opposed the health legislation when it passed the House, questioned whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi could hang on to the votes that allowed her to get the bill through 220-215 in November. Since then a couple of Democrats have left the House, and Pelosi may also lose votes from anti-abortion Democrats who oppose the less restrictive abortion language in the Senate bill, which Obama kept in his plan.
"Is she going to be able to hold everybody that was for it before?" Altmire asked. "What about the marginal members in the middle who got hammered over this vote and would love a second chance to perhaps go against it?"
Only 32 percent of Americans say Congress should move soon to pass a comprehensive bill, embodied in the House and Senate Democratic legislation and Obama's new plan. That was the finding of a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Americans were evenly divided on the legislation, in a 43-43 percent split.
Most still want Congress to pass something this year, and 58 percent say they'll be disappointed or angry if that doesn't happen. But 20 percent say lawmakers should pass a scaled-back bill, and 22 percent say it would be a good idea to call a time-out on health care and come back later in the year.
Obama's plan does not include the government insurance option sought by liberals and it dramatically scales back a tax on high-value insurance plans from the Senate bill that was opposed in the House. It eliminates a controversial Medicaid deal for Nebraska, offers all states more help with Medicaid funding, and beefs up subsidies to help lower-income people buy care, all changes that won praise from House Democrats. It also closes the so-called "doughnut hole" in Medicare's prescription drug coverage.
Individuals and small businesses would shop for insurance in regulated state-based marketplaces called exchanges.

Source: whitehouse.gov

Breast Cancer in Women

2010-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Many women are fearful of breast cancer. One reason is that breast cancer is personal. Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women during their lives, and many of us know someone — a mother, sister, friend — who has had it. Another reason is that breast cancer is a real threat to women. It is the second leading cancer killer of women in the United States, next to lung cancer. It also can affect our sexual health, overall health, and emotional health. The good news is that most women who get breast cancer survive it. Thanks to screening, breast cancer often can be found early, when it’s easiest to treat. In fact, many women are even cured of the disease.

Cancer is a disease in which cells become abnormal and form more cells in an uncontrolled way. With breast cancer, the cancer begins in the tissues that make up the breasts. The cancer cells may form a mass called a tumor. (Note: Not all tumors are cancer.) Cancer that invades nearby tissue is called invasive. The most common types of breast cancer are:
• Invasive (or infiltrating) lobular carcinoma (LAH-byuh-luhr KAR-sih-NOH-muh) – Cancer that begins in lobules and grows into surrounding tissues. About 1 in 10 invasive breast cancers are this type.
• Invasive (or infiltrating) ductal carcinoma – Cancer that begins in the ducts and grows into surrounding tissues. About 8 in 10 invasive breast cancers are this type.
Cancer cells also can enter the lymph vessels in the breast and spread to the lymph nodes. Breast cancer can spread to other parts of the body. With routine screening, breast cancer often can be found at an early stage, before the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body.
Symptoms
Thanks to screening, breast cancer often is found before a woman has any physical symptoms. Yet a woman should know how her breasts normally look and feel so that she can report any unusual changes to her doctor. Reasons to call your doctor include:
• A lump in or near your breast or under your arm
• Thick or firm tissue in or near your breast or under your arm
• A change in the size or shape of your breast
• Nipple discharge (fluid that is not breast milk)
• Nipple changes, such as a nipple that points or faces inward (inverted) into the breast
• Changes to your breast skin, areola, or nipple, such as itching, redness, scaling, dimples, or puckers
Keep in mind that most breast changes are not cancer. For instance, nipple discharge can be caused by birth control pills, some medicines, and infections. Or, a breast lump could be a cyst, which is a fluid-filled lump that is not cancer. Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Still, any breast changes or pain should be checked out by a doctor. If you notice a change in your breast, call your doctor and schedule a visit. Don’t wait until your "next checkup."
Source: womanshealth.gov

Tillman the Skate Boarding Dog

2010-02-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

SKATEBOARDING BULLDOG

The first time I saw this amazing bulldog I was amazed. Let’s face it this bulldog has a lot of talent. Tillman rides everywhere from the Santa Monica Pier to Dodger Stadium and everywhere in between. He goes down stairs, visits skateboarding shops and speeds down hills and through puddles all on his old school skateboard.

SNOWBOARDING

Now if you think his owner Ron Davis stopped at skateboarding, think again. Tillman has now learned how to snowboard. One summer it was just to hot for him to skate says owner Ton Davis so he took Tillman skim boarding and surfing. And then came winter.
So off they go to learn snowboarding and yes he loves all these sports.

A TRUE CHAMPION

Now that is one talented Bulldog. Do you have a talented Pet? Let us Know..

WATCH THE VIDEO!

Travel to Peru

2010-02-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

MACHU PICCHU

If you are going to travel to Peru, Machu Picchu is a must stop travel spot. It is South America’s most popular tourist attraction and was recently designated one of the world’s new seven wonders. Machu Picchu’s journey starts in the former seat of the Incan empire, Cusco with its historical buildings, before heading through the geographically and archeologically rich sacred valley.

LAKE TITICACA

Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake at 3810 meters and one of the largest at 10,000 kilometers in volume its sapphire blue waters are known as the birthplace of the Incan gods and home to per Incan civilizations such as the Aymaras living on the man made Uros Islets that have changed little over the millenniums.

NASCA LINES

Another must see are the Nasca Lines. It was lost to the world until it surprised pilots in 1921 when they flew over this flat and desolate region of southern Peru. They looked down and saw lines and carvings extending as wide as 65 kilometers featuring such forms as a monkey, a spider, a pelican, hummingbirds, a whale, a dog and perhaps even an astronaut or space alien. Archeologist are still debating the what, how and why of these fascinating tokens of a lost civilization.

AREQUIPA COLCA CANYON

On your journey in Peru visit the Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Arequipa and the Colca Canyon represent the urban and rural southern Peru at its best. Arequipa is the “white city” so named because so much of its extensive and exquisite architecture has been carved out of ashen volcanic rock. The pristine Colca Canyon offers opportunities for whitewater rafting, rock climbing, hiking, encounters with communities unchanged by colonization and even dinosaur tracks.

HUARAZ

And then there is Huaraz perched at 3028 meters Huaraz has always been a Mecca and magnet for rogue adventures ready to risk everything scaling a rock or a flakier. Forget about Huaraz as a city still barely recovered from a devastating earthquake over thirty years ago. This area made famous by the film Touching the Void also offers some of the greatest opportunities for mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, bird watching, paragliding, skiing and spectacular sightseeing.

IQUITOS

And last but not least on your journey in Peru is Iquitos. For many Iquitos is a gateway to Paradise. Here you will encounter Monkeys, Macawa, Herons, Hawks, Turtles to Toucans which overwhelm any visitor.

Charted boats provide the opportunity to see many of these creatures as well as the eye opening foliage and flowers which serves as their home. Iquitos is home to the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, home to 100 species of mammals, 500 species of birds and 250 species of fish. There are also local museums and opportunities for shopping.

If you have already had the opportunity to visit this magnificent land please tell us about your adventure.

Toyota Sienna for 2011

2010-02-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Toyota Sienna for 2011 may be the Japanese automaker’s third generation minivan, but Toyota emphasizes that the new Toyota Sienna for 2011 is becoming more car like than ever. The Sienna gets smart updates to its drive trains and to its interior package for 2011 but not to its seating configurations, which still lag the class leading Dodge Grand Caravan and Nissan Quest in flexibility. The sienna is offered in a broad model range and continues to be the only minivan with an all wheel drive option. Toyota says the base price of the 2011 Sienna will come in below the current vehicles $25,000 price point. Available in front or all wheel drive versions with either a four or six cylinder engine and in seven or eight passenger versions the new Sienna will go on sale February 2010.

For more information visit Toyota.com
This is one awesome minivan!

Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan's Beloved Pit Bull

2010-02-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Daddy, Cesar Millan's inseparable partner and beloved pet died peacefully surrounded by family at the age of 16. In honor of Daddy's legacy, an Emergency Animal Rescue Fund has been established by the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation.
Daddy, often referred to as America's pit bull ambassador because of his gentle disposition and intelligence, lived with the Millans from the age of four months. He stood as a champion for calm-submissive pit bulls everywhere, and was instrumental in helping to repair their image as violent and uncontrollable.

As fans of Millan's hit National Geographic Channel television series Dog Whisperer know, Daddy was a key fixture in more than 50 episodes, often assisting Millan with his toughest cases, bravely interacting with and calming the most unmanageable dogs with his natural balanced energy. Daddy helped shape the behavior of entire generations of dogs by showing them the way to balance.

Cesar states: "I've always seen Daddy as my teacher of life. He brought my family and me so much joy over the years. Personally, he represented what my grandfather taught me, never work against Mother Nature. He will be greatly missed, but his spirit lives on."

Daddy's Emergency Animal Rescue Fund will provide funding and assistance for dogs who are victims in large-scale disasters (hurricanes, fires, and other natural catastrophes), man-made disasters (hoarder and puppy mill rescues), and one animal victims of abuse or violence.

An initial contribution by the Millans and the Dog Whisperer team has established the fund in Daddy's honor.

If you would like to honor Daddy's memory and the contributions he made to improving the lives of animals, you can make a donation by visiting www.millanfoundation.org/daddyfund.

In Daddy's memory, National Geographic Channel has a photo gallery posted at natgeotv.com/dogwhisperer.

SOURCE Cesar Millan

Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

2010-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

This Panasonic Viera S1 Series was designed for people looking for a mid range TV with a medium sized budget. The Panasonic Viera S1 Series is the 32” LCD HDTV from the S1 series with a built in HDTV tuner, 1080p native resolution, 15,000:1 contrast tatio, 16:9 aspect Ratio, 60 Hz refresh frequency and 1920X1080 resolution.

The Panasonic TC-L32S1 is featured with technologies that support improved resolution during the fast-moving scenes. Generally, it is difficult for LCD HDTV’s to maintain high resolution for fast on-screen motions. Panasonic has introduced focus technology with its S1 series that concentrates on areas of the screen with scrolling text or significant motion. The technology provides enhanced moving resolution and the user can enjoy great picture with the Panasonic TC-L32S1. The IPS Alpha Panel feature of the models from the S1 series is designed to show clear and beautiful images from virtually any angle. With 178 degrees Vertical, 178 degrees Horizontal viewing angle, the viewer can view perfect image on the screen from wide angles.
The Panasonic TC-L32S1 also allows you to view digital photos and videos straight from your camera to the large screen. This model features VIERA image viewer technology that provides convenience while sharing your digital pictures. The user needs to insert the SD card of the digital camera into the slot of the LCD HDTV and instantly view the digital photos.

Order Yours Today!

Energy Drinks and Your Health

2010-02-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever asked yourself what is in those pretty little cans? You‘ve seem them in just about every store you go into these days. They can be found everywhere from health food stores to your supermarket. The claims associated with these energy drinks range from the sublime to the preposterous yet millions of you are buying these high powered drinks on a regular basis without giving even a single thought to how good or bad these energy drinks really are for your health. The truth is not all energy drinks are the same while many of the ingredients are common among them each drink has its own little twist to it. For the average consumer reading the labels of these drinks isn’t going to help if you don’t know what to look for.
While most of the common ingredients in energy drinks is caffeine, this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as problems go. Yes caffeine in large quantities is dangerous as it will raise your blood pressure not to mention other problems associated with the use of caffeine.

Other ingredients such as guarana, is very popular in these drinks and is a central nervous system stimulant. If you consume these drinks and then mix them with drinks containing ephedrine or diet pills they can become very dangerous. Another popular ingredient is taurine, which is actually something that we naturally get from foods that contain vitamin B6. We normally get more than enough taurine in our diet and the extra amount from these energy drinks can become toxic in our systems. But even worse than that what we know about the ingredients in these drinks that can be harmful, especially if mixed with other items is what we don’t know. The FDA has all but admitted that many of the ingredients in most popular energy drinks have not been fully tested as to their degree of safeness. This is not to say that these ingredients are good or bad just simply do not know enough about them.

Drink in Moderation...

Georgia Guidestones 500 Million

2010-02-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
Limiting the population of the earth to 500 million will require the extermination of nine tenths of the world’s people. The American Stonehenge’s reference to establishing a world court foreshadows the current move to create an International Criminal court and a world government. The Georgia Guidestones emphasis on preserving nature anticipates the environmental movement of the 1990’s and the reference to “seeking harmony with the infinite” reflects the current effort to replace Judeo-Christian beliefs with a new spirituality.
1. Maintain humanity under 500 Million in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.

The message of the American Stonehenge also foreshadowed the current drive for sustainable development. Anytime you hear the phrase “Sustainable Development” used you should substitute the term with “socialism” to be able to understand what is intended.
Certainly the group that commissioned the Georgia guidestones is on of many similar groups working together toward a New World Order, a new world economic system, and a new world spirituality. Behind those groups, however, are dark spiritual forces. Without understanding the nature of those dark forces it is impossible to understand the unfolding of world events.

Look at the events around us at present then you decide. Comments welcome

Maalox Total Relief Health Alert

2010-02-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

FDA has a health alert and notified consumers and healthcare professionals about reports of serious medication errors involving consumers who used Maalox Total Relief when they intended to use a Maalox liquid antacid product. This health alert is regarding the product Maalox Total Relief and the traditional Maalox products are both liquid medications available without a prescription, but are not interchangeable and are intended to treat different medical conditions. Maalox Total Relief is an upset stomach reliever and anti-diarrhea medication while traditional Maalox liquid products Maalox Advanced Regular Strength and Maalox Advanced Maximum Strength are antacids.

The Drug Safety Communication contains additional information for consumers and healthcare professionals, as well as product label photos.

Cockatoos Funniest Bird

2010-02-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Cockatoos are one of the funniest birds you ever want to be around. They are very comical birds with an array of talent making them the funniest birds ever. Cockatoos are not known to be the best of talkers but I assure you they can develop quite a large vocabulary. Known for their beautiful white feathers and large blue/black eyes these are among the most favored pet of choice. They are also known as the Velcro birds and yes this term fits them appropriately because they want to cling to their owner 24/7. They are the funniest birds you will ever encounter doing a number of tricks and dances. They love to please their owners. But a word of caution, this bird usually will deal with one person at a time and have been know to act out or even bite when displeased. They love to cuddle and demand this from their owners. If a Cockatoo is deprived of affection they will become depressed or exhibit neurotic behaviors. They are very intelligent, mischievous and most of all can be exceptionally loud.
Watch the video and see for yourself how smart they are. Enjoy!

Joesph Stack Manifesto and THE FIRST AMENDMENT

2010-02-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

The first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
So you are probably asking why the FBI has chosen not to allow Mr. Joe Stack this right. Well you might also be asking why this information has also been taken away from the media as well. Is it because Mr. Joe Stack spoke the truth about our government? Probably. Was Mr. Joe Stack right in the way he chose to handle his grievances? Not in my opinion. But his first amendment right was taken away in a matter of minutes and that is not right.
Wake up America, we are all in the same boat and our oars are being taken away day by day.

Below is a copy of Joe Stacks Manifesto

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

• "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

• "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

• "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

Plane Crashes Into Building In Austin

2010-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Austin Texas a small plane crashed into the building where the Internal Revenue Service resides in Austin Thursday February 18,2010. This was a lone pilot with what seems to be a lot of problems. This link is a manifest from Joe Stack http://embeddedart.com/ which explains how he came to today and his actions. The link has now been pulled by the FBI.
The crash sent workers fleeing from the flying glass and the ceilings falling down upon them. Thick black smoke was coming out of the second and third stories of the building as fire crews used ladder trucks to battle the blaze.
Federal Aviation said Mr. Stack did not file a flight plan. As more information becomes available we will provide it for you.

Manifesto from Joe Stack

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

· "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

· "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

· "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

How to Keep Your Heart Healthy

2010-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

5 medication-free strategies to help prevent heart disease.
You can prevent heart disease by following a heart-healthy lifestyle. Here are five strategies to help you protect your heart. Heart disease may be the leading cause of death for both men and women, but that doesn't mean you have to accept it as your fate. There are many ways to keep your heart healthy. Although you lack the power to change some risk factors — such as family history or age — there are some key heart disease prevention steps you can take.
Take steps to avoid heart disease — don't smoke, get regular exercise and eat healthy foods. Avoid heart problems in the future by adopting a healthy lifestyle today. Here are five heart disease prevention tips to get you started.

1 Don't Smoke or use Tobacco Products

Smoking or using other tobacco products is one of the most significant risk factors for developing heart disease. When it comes to heart disease prevention, no amount of smoking is safe. Smokeless tobacco and low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes also are risky, as is exposure to secondhand smoke.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,800 chemicals. Many of these can damage your heart and blood vessels, making them more vulnerable to narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis can ultimately lead to a heart attack.
In addition, the nicotine in cigarette smoke makes your heart work harder by narrowing your blood vessels and increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke replaces some of the oxygen in your blood. This increases your blood pressure by forcing your heart to work harder to supply enough oxygen. Even so-called "social smoking" — only smoking while at a bar or restaurant with friends — is dangerous and increases the risk of heart disease.
Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke than are those who don't do either. Worse, this risk increases with age, especially over 35.
The good news, though, is that when you quit smoking, your risk of heart disease drops dramatically within just one year. And no matter how long or how much you smoked, you'll start reaping rewards as soon as you quit.

2 Get Active...

Regularly participating in moderately vigorous physical activity can reduce your risk of fatal heart disease. And when you combine physical activity with other lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the payoff is even greater.
Physical activity helps you control your weight and can reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. It also reduces stress, which may also be a factor in heart disease.
Guidelines recommend that you get at least 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense physical activity most days of the week. However, even shorter amounts of exercise offer heart benefits, so if you can't meet those guidelines, don't give up. You can even break up your workout time into 10-minute sessions and still get the same benefits.
And remember that things like gardening, housekeeping, taking the stairs and walking the dog all count toward your total. You don't have to exercise strenuously to achieve benefits, but you can see bigger benefits by increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of your workouts.

3 Eat a Heart healthy Diet

Eating a special diet called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan also can help protect your heart. Following the DASH diet means eating foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and salt. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that can help protect your heart. Legumes, low-fat sources of protein and certain types of fish also can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Limiting certain fats you eat also is important. Of the types of fat — saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fat — saturated fat and trans fat increase the risk of coronary artery disease by raising blood cholesterol levels. Major sources of saturated fat include beef, butter, cheese, milk, and coconut and palm oils. There's growing evidence that trans fat may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, it both raises your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad," cholesterol, and lowers your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol. Sources of trans fat include some deep-fried fast foods, bakery products, packaged snack foods, margarines and crackers. Look at the label for the term "partially hydrogenated" to avoid trans fat.
Heart-healthy eating isn't all about cutting back, though. Most people, for instance, need to add more fruits and vegetables to their diet — with a goal of five to 10 servings a day. Eating that many fruits and vegetables can not only help prevent heart disease but also may help prevent cancer.
Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, may decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Some fish are a good natural source of omega-3s. However, pregnant women and women of childbearing age should avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish because they contain levels of mercury high enough to pose a danger to a developing fetus. But for most others, the health benefits of fish outweigh any risks associated with mercury. Omega-3s are present in smaller amounts in flaxseed oil, walnut oil, soybean oil and canola oil, and they can also be found in supplements.
Following a heart-healthy diet also means drinking alcohol only in moderation — no more than two drinks a day for men, one a day for women. At that moderate level, alcohol can have a protective effect on your heart. Above that, it becomes a health hazard.

4 Maintain a Healthy Weight

As you put on weight in adulthood, your weight gain is mostly fat rather than muscle. This excess weight can lead to conditions that increase your chances of heart disease — high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
One way to see if your weight is healthy is to calculate your body mass index (BMI), which considers your height and weight in determining whether you have a healthy or unhealthy percentage of body fat.
BMI numbers 25 and higher are associated with higher blood fats, higher blood pressure, and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
The BMI is a good but imperfect guide. Muscle weighs more than fat, for instance, and women and men who are very muscular and physically fit can have high BMIs without added health risks. Because of that, waist circumference is also a useful tool to measure how much abdominal fat you have. In general, men are considered overweight if their waist measurement is greater than 40 inches (101.6 centimeters, or cm). And women, in general, are overweight if their waist measurement is greater than 35 inches (88.9 cm).
Even small reductions in weight can be beneficial. Reducing your weight by just 10 percent can decrease your blood pressure, lower your blood cholesterol level and reduce your risk of diabetes.

5 Get Regular Health Screenings

High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your heart and blood vessels. But without testing for them, you probably won't know whether you have these conditions. Regular screening can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action.
• Blood pressure. Regular blood pressure screenings start in childhood. Adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every two years. You may need more frequent checks if your numbers aren't optimal or if you have other risk factors for heart disease. Optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury.
• Cholesterol levels. Adults should have their cholesterol measured at least once every five years. You may need more frequent testing if your numbers aren't optimal or if you have other risk factors for heart disease. Some children may need their blood cholesterol tested if they have a strong family history of heart disease.
Prevention pays
Heart disease is often avoidable. Following a heart-healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be complicated. Find ways to include heart-healthy habits into your lifestyle — and you may well enjoy a healthier life for years to come.
Content by: Mayo Clinic staff

Human Health and Antibiotic Resistance

2010-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

We would all like to think that the milk we drink comes from cows raised in beautiful green pastures but the truth is the milk we drink is coming from facilities where cows are being fed antibiotics along with other chemicals. Human health is being compromised by taking antibiotics with out our knowledge. This will lead to antibiotic resistance over time so when we become sick and should be taking antibiotics they will no longer work. Human health is at stake here and building an antibiotic resistance is a growing reality. It’s not like we are taking antibiotics because we choose, it’s in just about everything these days.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue that has gotten a lot of press in recent years. Basically, bacteria are mutating and outsmarting the antibiotics, making them ineffective. (The same phenomenon is occurring on farms where bugs are mutating to withstand pesticide applications.) We criticize medical doctors for over-prescribing antibiotics, but that is only part of the problem. Not only are antibiotics overused in this country, but they are also over-consumed. People are unknowingly consuming more antibiotics than they are actually taking by choice. Due to the heavy doses of antibiotics used on factory farmed animals, your steaks, hamburgers, chicken, and hotdogs are all laced with antibiotics. Milk alone contains traces of up to 80 different antibiotics.
My thought is go organic. What is your thought...

18 Kids and counting Duggar Family baby Josie

2010-02-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

18 Kids and counting with the Duggar family has their 19 child Josie. Even though little Josie was born nearly four months premature, she is making progress in her recovery. The Duggar family has now relocated to Little Rock to remain close to baby Josie which is one mile from the families new home. When you have a family of 18 Kids and counting, you need a lot of room so the Duggars are staying in historic Quapaw quarter of Little Rock. Bringing only their necessities for school and sleeping they are settling in. The two oldest boys stayed behind at the family home in Springdale.

Sony VAIO E Series

2010-02-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for a middle of the road notebook, well Sony has just launched the Sony VAIO E series line of notebooks and it’s 15.5 inch stand out from the rest of the pack offering extremely customizable design. This notebook is being offered in colors such as Caribbean Green, Hibiscus Pink and a few others along with keyboard skins that will allow you to create some great color combinations. You are currently able to pre-order your Sony VAIO E series but shipping will begin in March.
The price is around $800.00 dollars and you will get the following specs:
2.13 GHz Core i3
Intel integrated graphics
4GB RAM
DVD Burner
500 GB Hard Drive
I think this is a great buy. Let us know what you think.

Did Haarp Cause Haiti Earthquake

2010-02-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

So did Haarp cause the Haiti earthquake? Much speculation is pointing in the direction that Haarp (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is responsible for the devastating earthquake that happened in Haiti according to Hugo Chavez. One would think that this can not be possible that our own government could be involved in such a major disaster of this magnitude. And now Hugo Chavez Venezuelan strongman's state mouthpiece ViVe TV shot out a press release saying the 7.0 magnitude Haiti quake was caused by a U.S. test of an experimental shockwave system that can also create "weather anomalies to cause floods, droughts and hurricanes." This leaves thousands wondering did harp cause the Haiti earthquake. So is Hugo Chavez right?
The ultimate goal of the test attack in Haiti, the report reads, is the United States' "planned destruction of Iran through a series of earthquakes designed to topple the current Islamic regime."

Is our Country responsible for this disaster? Please let us know what you think.

Best New Car Values 2010: Best Resale Value

2010-02-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

An important measure of a vehicle’s value -- and appeal -- is what it’s resale value is expected to be worth three and five years down the road. These figures, supplied by Kelley Blue Book, are the estimated price a dealer would pay if you traded in the vehicle, expressed as a percentage of original sticker price.

To win best-resale value plaudits, the model must first be selected as one of the top 25 vehicles in its category. Then we pick the vehicle with the highest three-year resale value.

Among Kiplinger’s Best in Class and Best New winners are several Toyota models that have been recalled because of sticking gas pedals and/or floor mats that can trap the accelerator. In addition, the Toyota Prius, a Best Resale Value winner, has been cited for problems with its anti-lock brake system. Kelley Blue Book, which supplies our resale values, has not yet adjusted the three-year values we use as a factor in our rankings (although it has dropped values on used Toyotas by as much as 3%). Almost certainly there will be a dip in long-term values of new vehicles as the market reacts to the recalls. But Kiplinger believes that resale values on affected Toyotas will eventually rebound.

Best Resale Value: Under $20,000

2010 Scion xB
Sticker price: $16,420 (manual)
Dealer cost: $15,632
New Car Blue Book Value: $16,420
Five-year service cost: $3,058
One-year insurance cost: $961
Resale value after three years: 60% -- five years: 42%
City: 22 mpg -- Highway: 28 mpg

The Scion xB’s rep as an edgy, hip vehicle that also offers scads of utility boosts its three-year resale value (and it doesn’t hurt that Scion is a Toyota nameplate). The xB offers a capacious 22 cubic feet of cargo space and optional features, such as touch-screen navigation and a DVD entertainment system.

Best Resale Value: $20,000-$25,000

2010 Mini Cooper S
Sticker price: $23,000 (manual)
Dealer cost: $20,770
New Car Blue Book Value: NA
Five-year service cost: $6,990
One-year insurance cost: $1,094
Resale value after three years: 68% -- five years: 47%
City: 26 mpg -- Highway: 34 mpg

With astronomical resale values -- the highest of any vehicle in Kiplinger’s listings -- the Mini Cooper S easily takes top honors in its category. Its 2.6-liter turbocharged engine makes acceleration effortless, but the Mini still sips gas politely.

Best Resale Value: $25,000-$30,000

2010 Toyota Prius IV
Sticker price: $26,950
Dealer cost: $25,140
New Car Blue Book Value: $26,950
Five-year service cost: $3,142
One-year insurance cost: $1,139
Resale value after three years: 61% -- five years: 44%
City: 51 mpg -- Highway: 48 mpg

Move up the trim levels of the third-generation Prius (which takes top honors in the $20,000 to $25,000 category as Best New Car) to the Prius IV and you get a premium audio system, Bluetooth phone connection and heated leather seats. Resale value after three years is 61%.

Best Resale Value: $30,000-$45,000

2010 Audi A5 2.0T Quattro AWD Premium
Sticker price: $36,825 (manual)
Dealer cost: $34,305
New Car Blue Book Value: $36,825
Five-year service cost: $5,415
One-year insurance cost: $1,638
Resale value after three years: 63% -- five years: 43%
City: 22 mpg -- Highway: 30 mpg

This full-size coupe shares the fuel-thrifty, 2.0-liter turbocharged engine of the A4 and bests all the entry-luxury competitors on resale value by a couple of percentage points. Resale value is a stellar 63% after three years and 43% after five. A convertible version was added to the A5 lineup for 2010.

Best Resale Value: Over $45,000

2010 Lexus LS 460
Sticker price: $65,555
Dealer cost: $58,438
New Car Blue Book Value: $65,555
Five-year service cost: $5,156
One-year insurance cost: $2,102
Resale value after three years: 59% -- five years: 39%
City: 16 mpg -- Highway: 24 mpg

A perennial favorite, the LS 460 is also Best in Class. High resale values are part of what gets it there; no other car in this class even comes close to the LS 460’s resale value of 59% after three years.

Best Resale Value: Sports

2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
Sticker price: $31,595 (1SS manual)
Dealer cost: $30,365
New Car Blue Book Value: $32,543
Five-year service cost: $3,900
One-year insurance cost: $1,225
Resale value after three years: 62% -- five years: 44%
City: 16 mpg -- Highway: 24mpg

Also capturing the nod for Best New Car, the highly anticipated Camaro SS features a growling V8 that puts out 426 horses and a retro design inside and out. Not surprisingly, this beast is expected to be in demand on the used market as well, with resale values of 62% after three years and 44% after five.

Best Resale Value: Small Crossovers

2010 Honda CR-V EX AWD
Sticker price: $25,805
Dealer cost: $24,058
New Car Blue Book Value: $25,805
Five-year service cost: $2,997
One-year insurance cost: $1,017
Resale value after three years: 64% -- five years: 45%
City: 21 mpg -- Highway: 27 mpg

On the resale front, Honda’s small crossover benefits from the brand’s reputation for reliability. Resale value on the top-of-the-line EX trim with all-wheel drive is 64% after three years. The CR-V EX also earns a win as Best in Class.

Best Resale Value: Large and Midsize Crossovers

Tie: 2010 BMW X5 35d AWD
Sticker price: $52,025
Dealer cost: $47,930
New Car Blue Book Value: $52,025
Five-year service cost: $4,099
One-year insurance cost: $2,050
Resale value after three years: 64% -- five years: 42%
City: 19 mpg -- Highway: 26 mpg

The ultimate suburban status symbol got a clean diesel engine last year, making it all the more desirable. The X5 is on our top-ten list of fast-selling vehicles, and resale value on the diesel version is 64% after three years. It ties with BMW’s X6 35i.

Best Resale Value: Large and Midsize Crossovers

Tie: 2010 BMW X6 35i AWD
Sticker price: $57,125
Dealer cost: $52,620
New Car Blue Book Value: $57,125
Five-year service cost: $3,605
One-year insurance cost: $2,069
Resale value after three years: 64% -- five years: 42%
City: 15 mpg -- Highway: 21 mpg

A new intro for BMW last year, the X6 is part SUV, part wagon, and all fun to drive. This unique four-seater ties sibling X5 35d for Best Resale, posting values of 64% after three years and 42% after five.

Best Resale Value: Truck-based SUVs

2010 Jeep Wrangler Sport AWD
Sticker price: $21,915 (manual)
Dealer cost: $21,377
New Car Blue Book Value: $21,915
Five-year service cost: $3,975
One-year insurance cost: $1,090
Resale value after three years: 64% -- five years: 46%
City: 15 mpg -- Highway: 19 mpg

Jeep’s classic off-roading drop-top has several feathers in its cap -- low insurance costs, a friendly starting price and plenty of legroom for a small SUV. Resale values are pumped up by the Wrangler’s popularity and Jeep’s loyal buyer base.

Best Resale Value: Minivans

2010 Honda Odyssey EX
Sticker price: $30,615
Dealer cost: $27,808
New Car Blue Book Value: NA
Five-year service cost: $3,601
One-year insurance cost: $1,002
Resale value after three years: 59% -- five years: 40%
City: 16 mpg -- Highway: 23 mpg

Honda reliability and five-star safety help boost the Odyssey's long-term value. Resale value after three years is 59% for the EX. The up-to-eight-passenger people mover also has scads of storage.

Best Resale Value: Wagons

2010 Toyota Matrix S
Sticker price: $20,400 (manual)
Dealer cost: $18,729
New Car Blue Book Value: $20,400
Five-year service cost: $3,098
One-year insurance cost: $1,127
Resale value after three years: 62% -- five years: 44%
City: 21 mpg -- Highway: 29 mpg

Redesigned last year, Toyota’s wagon boasts an impressive mix of economy, utility and safety. Low annual fuel costs and an ergonomic instrument panel accompany a resale value of 62% after three years.

Source by:Kiplinger

So What car will you buy this year? Let us know.

Manchurian Candidate Conspiracy Theory

2010-02-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

In this episode of Conspiracy Theory on Manchurian Candidate Jesse meets with Duncan O'Finioan, "Super Soldier". An MRI after a car accident caused the compartmentalization to break down so he began to remember. "Don't be surprised if some of you Navy Seals were some of us," he says to Jesse. Episode 6 premiered on January 6, 2010

In Episode 6 of his "Conspiracy Theory" series, movie star, professional wrestler, former Navy SEAL and former Minnesota governor, Jesse Ventura, takes on the subject of mind control, more commonly known as the Manchurian Candidate phenomenon – a government (MKUltra/CIA/NSA, etc) program to turn ordinary citizens into programmed killers: "Plucked from the crowd, subjected to mind control, tortured, and turned into ticking time bombs to kill on command."
"You can take over someone's mind to the point that they essentially are your robot." -- Alan Scheflin, legal scholar and mind control expert
The program asserts that such "robots" don't know when they'll strike; and when they do, they won't remember a thing. In this episode, Jesse Ventura and his conspiracy team infiltrate the government's hair-trigger conspiracy; and Jesse goes face-to-face with one of the killers. They call them "Manchurian Candidates", super soldiers, the government's real-life predators.
A Manchurian Candidate is "an artificially created multiple personality, where there's another identity inside which is given the mission parameters, carries out the mission. The idea is that if they are caught and interrogated, the front person has no memory of the mission; so it keeps the information secure." – Colin A. Ross, M.D., Psychiatrist & lecturer.

Watch the Video...

Big Brother is Watching

2010-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

So Who is Big Brother?
Big Brother is watching and it’s not who you think. Jesse Ventura’s investigation of government surveillance on its citizens tears the lid off a nationwide program called Infragard that is thought to turn local businessmen and office workers into spies, snooping on their neighbors and ratting on their friends in exchange for information and special privileges from the FBI- including, some charge, a “license to kill.”
Infragard is a citizen spy network, a partnership between ‘big business and the FBI.

So Just who is Infragard? Most of these systems and services are owned and operated by private industry. Therefore, the protection of our nation’s infrastructure cannot be accomplished by the federal government alone. It requires coordinated action from numerous stakeholders – including government, the private sector, law enforcement and concerned citizens. Sounds like Martial Law to me.

The FBI has created a private sector which is authorized to shoot to kill during martial law. We were assured that if we were forced to kill someone to protect our infrastructure, there would be no repercussions, the whistleblower says.
As of 2009 there were over 34,000 members of Infragard.

So what do you think? Let us know, your opinion matters.

iPhone 3 GS Fastest Phone Ever

2010-02-12T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is truly the fastest phone on the market today the new iPhone 3GS and you will be surprised how quickly you can launch all the applications. When surfing the net web pages render in a fraction of the time and you can view email attachments quicker. The improved and updated 3D graphics are incredible. It is 2X faster than the iPhone 3G.

You can now shoot video, edit and share it all from the new iPhone 3GS. High quality VGA video and trim your footage by adjusting start and end points then share in an email or even publish to YouTube.

With the new 3 megapixel camera you can take great still photos also with built in autofocus.

The new voice control recognizes the names in your contacts and also the music on your iPod so whether you want to place a call or play songs just ask.

In the new iPhone 3GS there is a built in digital compass. It automatically reorients maps to match the direction you are facing.

To find out more please visit the Apple website

The Micropreemie Josie Duggar Update

2010-02-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

The latest update on little baby Josie Duggar at the end of January states that she is gaining weight and doing better.The micropreemie Josie Duggar was rushed from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Ark., the hospital where she was born, to Arkansas Children's Hospital, her parents at her side.
Josie Duggar developed a spontaneous bowel perforation," explains her physician, Dr. Robert Arrington, co-director of the neonatal intensive care unit. "She responded to placement of an abdominal drain, plus antibiotics, and did not require an open operation." It was wonderful news for her frightened parents that their tiniest baby would not require surgery. "Dr. Arrington knows how to think outside the box and come up with different creative solutions," says a grateful Jim Bob, 44. "Josie is walking a daily tightrope to keep her vitals stable and the nurses and the whole team here has been wonderful."
Our prayers are with the family and Josie.

East Coast Digging Out...

2010-02-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

PHILADELPHIA – Utility crews rumbled along icy roads working to restore power to more than 100,000 customers from Virginia to New Jersey and snowbound airports resumed limited operations Thursday, a day after a powerful storm disrupted the lives of 50 million people from the southern plains up through the East Coast. Many schools systems in the path of the storm remained closed for a second day, including in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., although New York City school children headed back to class after only their third snow day in six years.
In Washington, the federal government was closed for a fourth straight day. The nation's capital joined Philadelphia and Baltimore in logging their snowiest winters in history.
Paul Kocin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Washington, D.C., said the storm compares to some of the greatest ever largely because of its timing. He estimated 50 million people were affected.
"The big difference is that it occurred within a week and a half of three other storms," Kocin said. "The combination of storms is almost unprecedented — the amount of snow, the amount of impact."
The latest storm dumped nearly 16 inches in Philadelphia and about 20 inches in central New Jersey. Totals ranged from 10 to 16 inches around New York City.
Yue-Chung Siu, 25, got up early to be at work at his family's bagel store in Philadelphia by 5:30 a.m. Thursday. He said his normal 30 minute commute from Bensalem turned into an hour and 45 minutes because of detours and poorly plowed roads. He recalled the record-breaking blizzard of January 1996. "I was a little kid, so I had a lot of fun," Siu said. "Now, it's like half-fun, half-hassle."
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said it would take another 24 hours to see a lot of normal government operations.
"Then we have a nice, long weekend and the city should be back on its feet by Tuesday," he told CBS' "The Early Show."
He said the city has spent at least double its normal budget on snow removal and expects to ask the federal government for help.
The storm had halted flights throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, but by Thursday morning flights began to arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Both of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's two main runways reopened, but officials warned that flight cancellations would continue because of the storm.
One primary runway was open at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday morning and a second should open by 9 a.m., said airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica.
All three New York area airports were back in service, although many flights still remained canceled.
In Philadelphia, road crews worked to clear Interstate 76 and I-676, which closed Wednesday to leave the city of 1.5 million residents with only one usable major artery. Authorities reopened the two routes Thursday morning.
The D.C. Department of Transportation urged motorists to stay off city streets Thursday morning to keep them clear for emergency response, tree and road crews.
Emergency officials in eastern Pennsylvania reported more than 200 vehicles, mostly trucks, were stranded Wednesday along I-78. Officials said gasoline, food and water were delivered to the stranded drivers before plows could clear paths for them by midnight, but the roadway remained closed on Thursday.
In northeast Maryland, staffers at the Harford County Emergency Operations Center fielded several calls per minute from residents struggling to meet the financial demands of a second snowstorm just days after the first. One woman called to say she couldn't afford to stay at her motel another night and was about to be evicted. Homeless shelters were full, forcing the county to pay for motel rooms for some people.
"We really can't have people pushed out into the snow," said Scott Gibson, the county's director of human resources. "The motels are our second line of defense."
For many families, the first storm was a fun weekend diversion. People even went skiing past Washington's monuments. But Wednesday's blizzard quickly became a serious safety concern. The Pennsylvania governor shut down some highways and warned that people who drove were risking their lives.
As of Wednesday, Baltimore had 72.3 inches so far this winter, the Washington area had 54.9 inches and Philadelphia had 70.3 inches. The previous records for snowiest winters were 62.5 inches in Baltimore in 1995-96; 54.4 inches in Washington in 1898-99; and 65.5 inches in Philadelphia in 1995-96.
Electric crews in New Jersey were working to restore power to about 46,000 homes and businesses that lost electricity.
More than 70,000 utility customers in Pennsylvania were without power. Some never got it back after the last storm. More than 11,000 customers in Virginia were still in the dark. In New York, Consolidated Edision reported over 700 outages Thursday morning, with the majority in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.
In West Virginia, 800 National Guardsmen were helping to clean up after the state's latest winter storm.
But the news wasn't all bad. Washington has not had a homicide in a week. Ski areas were doing brisk business, when people could get to them. And private contractors were making money plowing driveways and parking lots.
Report by AP

Best and Worst 2010 Cars

2010-02-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

2010s You Should Buy
Hyundai Genesis Coupe
A newcomer to the class of affordable sports cars, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe provides real rear-wheel-drive sports performance for a fraction of the price. Shoppers can choose between a 210-horsepower turbo I4 engine and a 306-horsepower V6. Plus it features a sleek exterior design, an accommodating four-passenger cabin and good scores in federal government crash tests. Not surprisingly, it debuts near the top of its class.

MSRP: $22,000 - $31,000
Ford Transit Connect

The all-new Ford Transit Connect may be the best thing that’s happened to small businesses since QuickBooks. This workman’s van provides a whopping 135 cubic feet of cargo space, an impressive city/highway fuel economy of 22/25 mpg, and loads of business-friendly features. These include an available in-car computer system that uses 2G and 3G networks to access records and track fleet activity. The Transit Connect is so well-liked that it was recently voted North American Truck of the Year.

MSRP: $20,780 - $22,350

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Redesigned for 2010, the E-Class is an all-around better car than the model it replaces. It provides sportier handling dynamics, an elegant exterior design, a lavish cabin and an old-world feel that few luxury large cars can match. It also features revolutionary safety systems like Attention Assist, which utilizes behavioral detection technology to alarm drowsy drivers -- and comes standard. Best of all, the new E-Class is cheaper than last year’s model.

MSRP: $48,600 - $58,800

GMC Terrain

The newly-introduced GMC Terrain adds one heck of a value package to the class of affordable compact SUVs. It shares its mechanical elements with the Chevrolet Equinox, but provides a bolder exterior design and loads of snazzy yet practical interior features. Among them is a standard rearview camera, an iPod interface and a sliding rear seat. Best of all, the Terrain affords excellent fuel economy and even leads its class with a highway fuel economy rating of 32 mpg.

MSRP: $24,250 - $31,000

Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

For 2010, Cadillac set out to create a vehicle that combines the sporty driving dynamics of its CTS sedan with the utility of a station wagon -- and that’s exactly what it did. The CTS Sport Wagon leaves critics impressed with its superb performance abilities and stylish design, inside and out. Among its many selling points, the CTS Sport Wagon is available with either rear-wheel or all-wheel drivetrains. It also features a five-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, which is the longest in its class.

MSRP: $39,830 - $53,620
2010s You Should Think Twice About
Honda Accord Crosstour

Given the popularity of its coupe and sedan siblings, much was expected of the new Accord Crosstour, an affordable midsize SUV. Sadly, it doesn’t match the hype. It’s luxurious and is backed by Honda’s superb history of reliability, but commands an expensive price tag. Plus, with only 25.7 to 51.3 cubic feet of cargo space, it doesn’t provide much utility. Critics are also split over its odd exterior styling. Because of these cons, the Accord Crosstour ranks near the bottom of its class.

MSRP: $29,670 - $36,220

Dodge Caliber

Despite receiving a mild refresh, the 2010 Caliber still trails behind in the class of affordable compact wagons. It looks bold and provides a respectable 18.5 to 48 cubic feet of cargo room, but is marked by subpar interior materials, underpowered engine options and sloppy handling. For 2010, Dodge has discontinued the relatively sporty SRT trim and no longer offers a lifetime powertrain warranty. With such cutbacks, it’s difficult to justify buying the 2010 Caliber.

MSRP: $17,090 - $20,925

Lexus HS Hybrid

Drivers don’t know what to make of the Lexus HS -- the first luxury car to emphasize fuel economy over all else. Its interior comes jam-packed with loads of easy-to-use convenience and safety features, but doesn’t meet typical high levels of Lexus quality. And while its combined 35 mpg fuel economy is great for an entry-level luxury car, it’s nowhere near as impressive as the 50-mpg Prius. As such, it doesn’t excel as either a Lexus or a hybrid. The all-new HS ranks at the bottom of the Upscale Midsize Car class. On top of everything else, the HS has also been included in a global safety recall, along with the Prius, due to a defect with the cars' braking systems.

MSRP: $34,200 - $36,970

Chrysler Sebring

Don’t be fooled by the elimination of its hood strafes -- which most reviewers found hideous -- the 2010 Sebring is the same bad investment as it ever was. While its lower trim engine options are underpowered, its strongest engine features dismal fuel economy. Reviewers also complain that its cabin features low-quality materials and not much cargo room. The Sebring’s long-term cost of ownership is also a cause of concern, especially now that Chrysler is no longer offering a lifetime powertrain warranty. Not surprisingly, the Sebring ranks near the bottom of the Affordable Midsize Car class.

MSRP: $22,115 - $34,705

Land Rover LR4

Last year’s LR3 is redesigned for 2010 to provide greater on-road performance and more intuitive controls. However, auto writers point out that the LR4's lackluster city/highway fuel economy (12/17 mpg), Land Rover's poor reputation for reliability and high sticker price significantly detract from its overall value. And while it’s a superior off-road performer, it’s highly unlikely that anyone would take an SUV this expensive and luxurious over rough terrain. The LR4 ranks near the bottom of the Luxury Midsize SUV class.

MSRP: $47,250 - $47,250
provided by US News

Career Monkey

2010-02-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

All this guy wants is a job but in today's economy it is impossible....

New Credit Card Law

2010-02-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

Report from/Yahoo News...
With new regulations starting in less than a month, you may need to take stock of your credit card portfolio to determine which cards' terms are changing to your benefit and which feature changes that can hit you in the wallet. The most important thing to do, says Lauren Bowne, staff attorney at San Francisco-based Consumers Union, is be aware of your credit card terms. So much has changed in recent months that consumers need to pay attention to what is and isn't featured in the credit card. Even if you're the person who pays off your balance and doesn't even have any credit card debt," says Bowne. "They might get a notice that says they're getting a $100 annual fee. Even people with stellar credit and stellar credit payment histories need to pay attention."

Here are five smart credit card moves to make before Feb. 22:

1. Consider waiting to get new credit cards until after Feb. 22 because new accounts are protected from interest rate increases for the first year. As issuers compete for new customers in the new reform law landscape, there may be good deals and offers for people with good credit. 2. For existing accounts, consider doing a balance transfer from higher interest rate cards to accounts with lower APRs. Some issuers are offering good customers balance transfers of at least a year. Remember that there is a cost of 3 percent or 4 percent of the amount transferred, so weigh that decision carefully. Also, take note of what the new interest rate will be AFTER the promotional period ends. If it's higher than the rate on the old card or only a few points lower, it may not be worth it to switch.

3. Have a Plan B backup card or two. Issuers can still lower your credit limit and close your account without advance notice. Make sure you have more than one card as a backup in case this happens to you and you need a credit card for emergencies.

4. Charge a small amount on those other cards every other month and pay it off in full when the bill comes. This avoids any dormancy fee that may be assessed and may prevent the company from closing the account for inactivity. Some issuers require a minimum amount of charging to avoid inactivity fees, so check your terms.

5. Young adults' access to credit will be restricted by the new law. For college students or anyone under 21 who is responsible with credit, the best move could be to get a credit card now while you still can on your own. After Feb. 22, you will have to get an adult (over 21) co-signer and may be asked to show proof you have the ability to pay.

Some Advice Doesn't Change

In addition to the moves to make before the law takes effect, good credit card habits remain important, some of them even more so.

Don't go overboard. Making too many changes within a short period -- as in opening or closing several accounts at once -- can hurt your credit score. If you're closing or adding new accounts and about to apply for a loan, it may be better to keep the cards you currently have -- even if the terms are worse. Closing an account that you've had for a long time can negatively impact the portion of your credit score related to credit utilization ratio.

Pay your bills on time. Even though the credit card law gives you a 60-day window for late payments before banks can impose penalty interest rates on existing balances, payments not received by the due date will show up as bad marks on your credit report.

Pay more than the minimum amount due. It will help you pay your credit card debt off faster. The new law mandates that your billing statement include a prominent notice of how long it will take you to pay off your debt. For many, that could be a wake-up call.

If you're having trouble paying your bills, get help from an accredited nonprofit credit counselor. Your monthly credit card statement will feature a toll-free number to call for help. The credit card reform law requires that issuers prominently display a toll-free number that consumers can call to get the names of at least three consumer credit counseling agencies that have been approved by the U.S. bankruptcy courts for credit and debt management counseling.

Stay on top of your mail. The new law requires that credit card issuers notify you of changes to your account. That means you can't leave that mail unopened on the table for a week. Some changes are likely to have deadlines and time elements that can hurt you financially if you don't act quickly.

Bowne, from the consumer group, recommends consumers create a list of their credit card accounts that includes key terms (i.e., the interest rates for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances, fees, due dates and grace period). She recommends marking your calendar to remind yourself when promotional rates end so that you can be sure to pay off the balance before higher interest rates begin on those accounts.

"It requires a lot of organization and a lot of time," Bowne says. "The more credit cards you have, the more things you've got to juggle and the more things you've got to know."

She adds: "At least now, luckily, your credit card due date will be on the same day each month.

Blizzards Mid-Atlantic to New York

2010-02-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

Report from AP...
WASHINGTON – Snow, wind and slush hounded eastern commuters Wednesday as blizzard warnings from Baltimore to New York City heralded the second major storm in a region already blanketed by historic weekend snowfalls. The blizzard left more than 10 inches of new snow fell before dawn in parts of Maryland that had received up to 30 inches just a few days earlier. Plows and salt spreaders fought heavy snow in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the flakes briefly turned to rain to make a slushy mix.
The manager of a Staten Island 7-Eleven, Yagnesh Patel, had a slippery drive to work ahead of the plows. "It's going to be a tough day ahead," Patel said.
The wind started blowing in gusts from 25 to 45 mph in and around snowbound Washington, whipping fresh powder and making driving treacherous as visibility was only about a block in many places. Driving conditions got so bad that officials in Washington and some nearby suburbs pulled plows off the roads.

Heavy snow collapsed part of the roof and a wall at a Smithsonian Institution storage building in Suitland, Md. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said they don't believe there was any damage to artifacts from the National Air and Space Museum, but officials were unable to go inside because the building is unstable.

Chris Matherne, a Washington property manager, was walking to work to ensure shoveling got done. Matherne had only walked a few blocks, but his clothes and even his eyebrows were already covered in snow.

Antibiotics in our Food Supply

2010-02-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

Health officials are concerned if workers who handle animals are getting sick - what about the rest of us? Drug resistant infections have sky-rocketed over the last several decades, killing and estimated 70,000 Americans last year. It's an "emerging health crisis" that scientists say is caused not only by the overuse of antibiotics in humans, but also in livestock.There are a lot of concerns about antibiotics being added to feeds and things of that nature that may be contributing to MRSA as well as other antibiotic resistance. Certainly the more bacteria are exposed to antibiotics in any shape or form, the more tendency there is for resistance.
There are different types of drug-resistant bacteria. Some, like e coli and salmonella, can be passed on to people by consuming undercooked meat and poultry. Now, scientists are worried that Americans may be acquiring drug-resistant MRSA - not from eating, but from handling tainted meat from animals that were given antibiotics.

Toyota Recalls Prius

2010-02-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

Toyota is recalling 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems — the latest embarrassing safety lapse at the world's largest automaker.

In the U.S., Toyota will recall 133,000 Prius cars and 14,500 Lexus HS250h vehicles. Nearly 53,000 Priuses are also being recalled in Europe. Toyota is suspending production of the Sai and Lexus HS250h in Japan until the updated software for those models is ready.

If drivers experience a delayed reaction when depressing the brakes in any of these models, they should keep pressing, according to Toyota and the transport ministry. The Prius repairs will start in Japan on Wednesday. U.S. owners will start receiving letters about the recall next week.

Do You Know What's in Your Food?

2010-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you looked at the labels on the food you buy. If you have, you probably have noticed all of the approved unnecessary additives such as Aspartame, Monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial colorings and flavorings, BHA, BHT, yeast, yeast extract, caseinate, hydrogenised ingredients, L-cysteine, proteins, seasonings, spices, cottonseed oil, canola oil and the list goes on. These are all approved by the FDA which if you don’t already know is a government agency.
So you might be asking what is wrong with these items listed above. Well when you hear the term seasonings and spices you wouldn’t think anything would be wrong but think again, these are cover words for MSG which by the way paves the way to Alzheimer’s disease. MSG does permanent brain damage. If these were truly spices they would be listed as such ie; salt, ginger, cinnamon and so forth. Aspartame is Nutra Sweet and also causes brain dysfunction. Aspartame is in just about everything including a stick of gum. Then you have the waste products known as cottonseed oil and canola oil none of are meant for human consumption. They are cheap and that’s why they use them but they are very dangerous. They can cause strokes and heart attacks. They clog the arteries with a sticky substance. It’s like putting glue into your cars engine instead of clean motor oil.

Why would the government want to do this, you ask? Simple - money and control! Plus there's a not-so-well-known agency within the government that was started way back in the early 1900's by the Rockefellers. It is called the "Population Control" Agency and its meaning is exactly as it sounds! It's not just by chance that we have a 'different flu epidemic' every year and exactly at the same time every year. Why we even have the Agenda Media having you expecting it each year and now even have a season name for it! - - the "Flu Season." You never heard this term 35-40 years ago.
Oh yes, the main-stream agenda (gov't) media spoon feeds us exactly what the government elite want us to feed on, and exactly when, where, and how too! Fifty years ago there was no "flu season" -- in fact, flu was rare; it certainly did not have a yearly visit as it has now for the past 20 years.
It's no secret anymore that our government has used its' citizens as experimental guinea pigs for many, many years, and still does. Everything from radiation experiments to biological experiments. Just as the Gulf War Syndrome was created in the Maryland government lab and deliberately injected and put into the food of our soldiers (they were also given pills). Yes - they were guinea pigs! It was NOT Saddam Hussein, as crazy as he is, that did it to our soldiers, it was our own government !!
And even after the Gulf War Syndrome was found to be contagious, our government refused to help our people - when the treatment was as simple as the use of a common and safe drug 'Doxysycline' that's been around for ages! No! Our wonderful government just kept denying the existence of the illness because their experiment was not finished yet !!!
Our government (elite) used biological weapons against our own people! Thank you, George Bush! Hope you're proud of yourself! [Or have you forgotten that deal that the government and media quickly swept under the rug, and we never heard of it again!? Cover-up!! One of many !] There was even a song written and recorded about all this - "Where Are The Voices That Care?"
To get back to the subject of our "doctored up" foods with the big stamp of approval by our FDA (Food and Drug Administration) - It is virtually impossible to go to the food stores today and find any food pure without some additives added. Why, try a can of Tapioca pudding ready-to-eat, then make some the old fashioned way with the real tapioca and milk (fresh goat milk, NOT cows milk) and then compare the taste. The can stuff is so loaded with "flavorings, enhancers" that it doesn't taste at all like real tapioca pudding. My son loves tapioca pudding -- but he's only had the government's version, which is so loaded with MSG flavoring enhancers that it's like eating candy. When I gave him a taste of the real thing (which is a very healthy food) --- he darn near choked on it! It's bland next to the overly 'flavored enhanced' and artificially sweetened government version.
What has happened is, kids are raised from young on, on these government controlled 'foods' and their taste buds on their tongue and the connections in the brain have become "programmed" as to what something is suppose to taste like, even if it is fake, (and toxic!).
This has been a progressive procedure by our government -- all leading to one thing -- full control of the people. Just think about it --- if you control the health of the people, then you control THEM. Simple really. And it has worked! The U.S. is the UNhealthiest nation in the civilized world.
Try to find a young person today that knows what TRUE FOODS and their REAL TASTE are. You can't. They have all been "programmed" from young on, and that includes the young parents of today, who think a 'meal' is running to McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, or Burger King.
These are not only unhealthy 'foods' but dangerous as well! Look at all the heart attacks that are now happening to the young people -- 17 year old boys dropping dead on the school basketball court! Teens' blood pressure today are that of 80 year olds! I heard a doctor in Tampa, Fla. report on his radio show that he is seeing so many of these now. And it's all due to our American diet of fast foods. No one knows what a home made dinner is anymore! No one cooks anymore! And it's killing us.
Even canned vegetables are "flavor enhanced" and nothing can change those "programmed" taste buds, once they're formed. It begins with the first 'people foods' that are given to babies -- and that ungodly concoction called 'soda.' I could scream every time I see a young child being given a drink of soda. That stuff (except for ginger ale) can kill you! If you could only see what it does to your insides, you'd never touch this poison again !
But what can you expect?! These new young parents today are a product of government foods and chemicals. That's why it's called - "The Chemical Generation."
All this is leading to the ultimate government U.N. One World Order control. It will be a snap for them now that they have the peoples' very lives in the palm of their hand. If they have your health -- they have YOU! Remember that!
I'll bet you don't know that the human chip implant is already being used, do you? Don't expect the government to allow you to know it either. Not until they are ready to. These chips will not only carry your life story and information in them, but they are secretly designed to "eliminate" you at a set time! Also, these chips are being implanted into your children without your knowledge via the now 'mandatory' government vaccinations! Also in some hospitals, newborns are being implanted! Don't expect the government to own up to this, but it is happening. This was reported by an ex-government man who worked for the CIA. And that's not all! Some vaccinations are deliberately tainted with the Aids virus ( also made in that government lab). Yes, Aids was also a man-made biological weapon made by our own government! (Yes, I have proof by the government's own documents, and I also met a man who worked in the lab that worked on it way back then, and he confirmed it also.) But the government convinced YOU that it was a monkey's fault! Not so!
People need food -- and the government controls it all! Think about that! They have control on what you put into your body. They control how foods should taste to you. They have you fully programmed just the way they want, and you don't even know it. And remember, sick people are money makers for everybody concerned with the government: the doctors, the drug companies, the thousands of health organizations (bet you didn't know the gov't has its fingers in all of these, did you!). Weak and sickly people are easier to control. Healthy people can fight back, and the government does not want that.
Keep in mind that the American government that we have now, is NOT the same one that was formed in 1776. This is another subject and is covered in another page. So, do you still trust the government's FDA with your life ?

Fema Coffins are Here!

2010-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

These coffins are stacked on pallets, upside down on each other about 17 per pallet. Apparently the Government is expecting a half million people to die relatively soon and the Atlanta airport is a major airline traffic hub, probably the biggest in the country which means Georgia is a prime base to conduct military operations and coordination. It is also the home of the CDC the Center for Disease Control. I don’t want to alarm anyone but usually you don’t buy 500,000 plastic coffins just in case something happens, you buy them because you know something is going to happen.

Chem Trails The Chemical No One Wants to Talk About

2010-02-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

You've seen them..The trails in the skys over most major cities..Chem Trails as they are called. And just what are chem trails? The answer might just scare you to death....
Barium is just as dangerous as arsenic, mercury and lead and it shows up regularly in public water supplies. Barium is a major component of chemtrails. When it falls to earth it also contaminates our water supplies.

Exposure to small amounts of barium, dissolved in water, may cause a person to experience these problems:
1. Breathing difficulties
2. Increased blood pressure
3. Heart rhythm changes
4. Stomach irritation
5. Muscle weakness
6. Alterations in nerve reflexes
7. Damage to your brain, liver, kidney and heart

Conspiracy Theory Apocalypse 2012, Including

2010-02-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

On Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, it was purported that the government is preparing for Apocalypse 2012 by building lots and lots of bunkers for the powerful, the rich, and other elite people. The rest of us peons will be left to fend for ourselves allegedly. The former pro wrestler was featured on 9NEWS in Denver to discuss alleged conspiracies centering around Denver International Airport. Strange murals painted on the walls at the Denver International Airport seem to tell a story of what is to come… Whether Apocalypse 2012 as highlighted on Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura actually does come about, there is one thing that is apparent in early 2010. There's people telling the masses that the world is going to end in 2012 who are drawing attention to themselves and trying to make a fast buck off of Doomsday. Those people who are making names for themselves and selling books and DVDs and movie scripts about the world ending in 2012 are going to be saying the same dang thing about a "miscalculation" if Apocalypse 2012 comes and goes without any real major Doomsday incident nor Denver International Airport being used for other than flights.

HAARP consists of phased array

2010-02-06T07:02:00.000-08:00

HAARP consists of phased array. Only partially finished the entire array will consist of 180 antennas and will be more power full than all other antenna array for ionosphere heating ever built. Ionosphere heaters simply use radio waves to heat a portion of the ionosphere which surrounds the earth, many already exist, but this is the largest ever.
The purpose of HAARP is to analyze the behavior of the ionosphere which is the part of the atmosphere that extends from approximately 70km up to as much as 1500km. This is done by transmitting a focused beam of radio frequency energy, at between 2.8 and 10MHz, directly at a point in the ionosphere between 100 and 350 km in altitude, basically within the "E" layer.
Haarp is 72,000 times more powerful than the U.S.'s most powerful radio station. HAARP can focus all its radio waves into a single beam in the sky, which effectively exceeds its 3.6 Million watt power status. With this enormous power, the possibilities for use of HAARP are endless. Of course activists, conspiricists, and environmentalists all have different ideas for applications of this weapon / utility, both good and bad.