Latest News From Around The World

Lisa Rinna appears on the May issue of Playboy magazine, 11 years since her last nude pictorial.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Lisa Rinna had no problem baring it all for next month's issue of Playboy.

The 45 year-old mother of two bares it all for the May issue of Playboy magazine, 11 years since her last nude pictorial.

Speaking about her fabulous body, Lisa said, "I’m 45 years old. I look good right now. Why not? Why not celebrate the beauty of the female body?"

She added, “Dancing with the Stars changed my body and I never let it go back. I got that body and was like, ‘I like this. I’m going to keep it.’”

What does her husband, actor Harry Hamlin think about the new Playboy photos? "They're awesome," Hamlin said. "They're amazing. I mean, look at who the subject was!"

How did Lisa Rinna prep for her May issue of Playboy?

By not working out.

Rinna, 45, tells Usmagazine.com that photographer Deborah Anderson gave her the specific order.

"She knows that I'm a workout fiend and she said, 'Lisa, I don't want you to work out, and I don't want you to starve yourself before the shoot, because I know you will,'" Rinna tells Us.

Can you believe these stars are in their 40s?

When she agreed to bare all, Rinna says she thought, "'OK, I've really got to limit my food intake and be really good. I've got to workout everyday, twice a day, like crazy.'"

Can you guess whose abs these are?

But Anderson told her she didn't want her "muscular, hard, sinewy." She needed to look "soft and beautiful," Rinna recalls.

Says the star, "At first I was like, 'Oh, forget it!' But then I listened to her and said, 'You know what? I've got to trust her. She's an amazing photographer.'"

See Us' Weight Winners of 2008

It wasn't easy.

"I had to really remind myself every time, and go, 'It's OK to eat!'" Rinna tells Us. "She would email me constantly, 'Are you starving yourself?' and I would email back, 'No.'"

See stars who have gotten scary skinny

Rinna tells Us she stopped working out "for three weeks, which is unheard of for me because I'm a fiend."

In the end, Rinna says, "I felt great -- and I looked great! I'm really pleased with how my body looked in Playboy."

You can check out the behind the scenes footage of the shoot on Extra.com. Lisa’s issue of Playboy hits newsstands on April 17, will you be picking up a copy?

as appeared at http://www.usmagazine.com/news/lisa-rinna-forced-to-stop-working-out-for-racy-shoot-2009174 and http://www.hollyscoop.com/lisa-rinna/lisa-rinna-strips-down-for-playboy_19924.aspx

Playright Melissa Nicholson Brings Fairy Tales To Life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:16:00 +0000

By Jennie Adams

If you ever walk into Gamut Classic Theatre on a Saturday afternoon, (and if you are ever in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at around that time, you will want to), you might see forty or so children seated on the floor in front of a tiny stage, watching as a fairy tale or nursery rhyme is brought to life before their eyes. Actors are singing, dancing, and entertaining their way through some of our most beloved classic tales. The children are helping, of course. They might be waving their arms back and forth like tree branches, creating an ambiance for Little Red Riding Hood’s journey through the forest to Grandma’s House. Or they may be shouting, “Pick me! Pick me!” for a chance to join the Players on stage to play a fairy in Sleeping Beauty.

For seventeen years, the Popcorn Hat Player’s Children’s Theatre, led by Melissa Nicholson and husband Clark, have brought classic children’s stories to life for thousands of our youngest audience members.

Melissa wears many hats for her theatre: co-founder, Executive Director, Actor, Director, and Playwright. She has written over thirty original adaptations of classic stories that are performed on her stage by resident actors.

(Photo from The Three Little Pigs)

WOW: Thank you, Melissa, for joining WOW! to talk about this interesting children’s writing niche. Where did your love of writing begin and how did you discover your talent?

MELISSA: I have loved writing short stories and poems since elementary school. In college—Susquehanna University, 1989—I minored in Writing with a major in Communications/Theatre Arts.

WOW: Why children's playwriting? Why did you settle into this genre?

MELISSA: I have 14 nieces and nephews—I am the youngest of six children. I used to make up stories with the older six from the time I was in my late teens/early 20's. I found I had a knack for it—especially with modernizing classic fairy tales and making them entertaining. I was also a camp counselor from age 16 to 19 and worked with a lot of different kinds of children. I worked at a children's theatre for a year before creating Popcorn Hat Players with my husband Clark. I found the plays at that theatre to be far too serious for young ones. I wanted to make our audiences laugh, a lot like I did when I entertained my nieces, nephews, and camp kids.

WOW: Your theatre company revisits your scripts every few seasons. Do you ever make changes when directing them again?

MELISSA: I revisit them before we remount the shows and see what contemporary references need to change. I also rely heavily on the input of our actors who are very adept at improvising. The basic comedy style, though, is timeless, and I use many techniques that worked for The Marx Brothers as well as current comedy presenters.

“I make an outline of the plot points to hit and then I just start writing as if I'm speaking on stage.”

WOW: Walk us through how you take a story from a book and reinvent it for the stage.

MELISSA: I read the story and see what plot points I want to keep and how to end the story effectively. A lot of fairy tales have strange endings, but all Popcorn Hat shows end "happily ever after," so I sometimes need to change the ending a bit.

When I wrote The Three Little Pigs, I tried to think of someway to modernize the characters. Many times the circumstances of production will dictate some of the writing. For example, I knew that we had four actors to be in that show (three women and one man). So I knew that the pigs would need to be girls. I also knew that the three actresses in the show were pretty good singers, so I decided that the three pigs would be a Motown Girls Group from the ’60s. The rest sort of fell into place. I make an outline of the plot points to hit and then I just start writing as if I'm speaking on stage. The second draft is going back and tightening up the language or fleshing out scenes.

In Three Little Pigs, the wolf becomes the manager of the girls group instead of dying in the pot of boiling water, because that's an unexpected and happy ending. When I came up with that ending, I went back and made references throughout the play that the girls needed a manager but didn't have one.

WOW: Have you ever put anything into a play such as a joke or an action that you expected to work for an audience and didn't? Anything surprisingly successful?

MELISSA: I often have jokes I think are hilarious that don't always go over well or that I can't get the actor to understand why it's funny. In those cases, we usually end up cutting that bit. I have a good feel for what will work. It has to make me laugh, and I'm fairly critical. I am writing for parents as well as adults.

Three Little Pigs was very surprisingly successful. I copied that general format for Hansel and Gretel and made the title characters Jitterbug dancers—that was also highly successful.

WOW: Jitterbug dancers! I can see why your characters entertain children and their parents, which is probably good for a children’s playwright to keep in mind. Why do you feel these classic stories are important to reinvent and retell for children today?

MELISSA: Many children don't know these stories. When we first created the company 17 years ago, most kids knew most of the fairy tales, now many of the children don't know the stories unless there was a movie made of it. These stories are part of our history and help influence who we are as people. Many of them have a moral to them—great for kids!

(Photo from Little Red Riding Hood)

WOW: How do you find those morals and present them to your audiences?

MELISSA: I try to find modern morals to go along with the classic stories. For example, the moral in Little Red Riding Hood is “Don’t talk to strangers.” The moral in Pinocchio is “Don’t tell lies.”

The Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales are a little harder to find the morals. He didn't really write any into them. His stories are epic adventures that are difficult to translate on to our stage, like Snow Queen and Thumbelina. In those cases, I make up something. For example, our Snow Queen is not "evil," she's just misunderstood. In the end, she ends up being really nice, and our moral is that you can't judge people just by the rumors you hear about them. That's not an Andersen moral, that's a Nicholson moral, you know what I mean?

WOW: Your productions are a great way to introduce children to the live theatre experience. Beyond that, how does live theatre itself benefit children?

MELISSA: They get to interact with other children and adults in a safe, fun way. Plus, it brings the characters alive in a way that is more visceral than passive entertainment like movies and television.

WOW: Your plays succeed in keeping young children entertained and interested. How do you manage to keep even your youngest audience members (toddlers!) so engaged?

MELISSA: We use a lot of physical comedy and non‑threatening characters and we keep the plays short—40 minutes, max.

WOW: How did you settle on that time length for your plays?

MELISSA: Years of performing for children, before I ever wrote my own script! It's about as long as they can handle!

(Photo from Pinocchio)

WOW: Besides length of course, what are some aspects of children's theatre that are different from adult theatre?

MELISSA: Speaking directly to the audience a good deal of the time, although Shakespeare uses that device as well! Keeping it light and fun. Making very presentational choices and broad character choices.

WOW: Compare children's playwriting to writing books for children. What challenges are presented in children's playwriting that may differ from writing children's books?

MELISSA: I would think that a good children's book would rely a lot on great illustrations—those are the books that my daughter liked the best when she was younger. In children's theatre, we rely on the actors to portray those images. The challenge is to find the right kind of actors to present the story.

WOW: Some classic stories you have adapted, in their original form hundreds of years ago, have some grim events and outcomes. For instance, you mentioned the wolf in Three Little Pigs gets boiled alive. Naturally, this episode was left out of the Popcorn Hat version. How do you deal with these details while still keeping true to the original stories? Is there an example of how this has posed a problem for you in the past?

MELISSA: Sometimes we acknowledge these original "grim" events. For example, in Rapunzel, the device is that the actors are reading from a story book and then acting out portions of the story. So after one of the actors reads a certain narration, the other actor responds with:

Actor 1: So you're telling me that when the peasant man and his wife finally do have a child, the witch makes them give it up to her just because they stole a little lettuce?

Actor 2: That's what the story says, yes.

Actor 1: That seems pretty harsh.

Actor 2: It does, but if that's what the story says then that's what we have to do.

In that same story, the Prince blinds himself when he falls out of the tower. My version just has him losing his memory: "Who am I? Where am I? (pats pockets frantically) Where are my car keys?!"

In our version of Rapunzel, the witch becomes good at the end and becomes Rapunzel's fairy godmother, so we can create that happy ending.

“Fifteen minutes of online research can save you a lot of time and money. ”

WOW: What advice do you have for writers interested in exploring this genre of children's writing? What is a good first step for someone who has written a children's play and is interested in having it produced by a theatre?

MELISSA: I would say that you have to love children and understand what makes them tick and what makes them laugh. I was writing for children long before I had a child of my own, but I had the experience of taking care of my nieces and nephews and camp students to remind me of what they enjoy.

If you are interested in getting your play produced by a theatre, I would make sure you understand what kind of work each particular theatre produces. We often have unsolicited scripts sent to us that just don't fit what we are doing here. Plays with large casts, weighty subject matter... Fifteen minutes of online research can save you a lot of time and money.

WOW: For writers, is there something you can pinpoint that you would consider the most important element to include in any children's play?

MELISSA: Number one: interesting characters that will hold the child's attention.

WOW: Any final advice for writers interested in pursuing this genre of children’s writing?

MELISSA: I write comedies for children, but I don't feel that's the only way to engage children on stage, it's just what has worked best for me and my theatre company. Many of my answers focus on the importance of the comedy, but I'm not making any kind of judgment about writers of children's plays that do not use this device.

You should write what you are most comfortable with and know well. I always enjoyed creating camp skits, watching sketch comedy and classic comic movies and cartoons. My writing for children definitely reflects those influences.

WOW: Thank you, Melissa, for joining the WOW community to talk about your experience as a children’s playwright.

Ladies, you can find information for the Popcorn Hat Players and its sister company the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival, both founded by Melissa and Clark, at www.gamutplays.org.

***

as appeared at http://wow-womenonwriting.com/27-Inspiration.html

Jennie Adams is a writer and actor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She lives with her actor/director husband Sean and their two daughters, who are Popcorn Hat kids for life.

Science News - Will The World Really End On December 21st 2012? If Not, What Will Really Happen?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:53:00 +0000

The Meaning of the December 21 End Date

There is a battle going on. Scholar against Scholar, Scientists against Scientists, Religions vs Religions - and of course, the ever present Government cover ups. What is all the fuss about? A round, huge, red dust cloud heading towards our solar system.

The ongoing debate over this phenominal planet heading our way goes way back to ancient civilizations. One of the major contributors is the Mayan belief system and how the Mayan calendar forecasts the "end" of Earth. Date and Time? December 21, 2012. Calendar wars have existed since the days of the early Egyptians and continue to exist today between the Maya themselves, religious scholars and western mathematicians. The Egyptian God Thoth was banished from Egypt because he was insistent on using a calendar aligned with the star system Sirius while the other Gods wanted to use calendars that aligned with their own respective star systems and power bases. According to Sitchin, Thoth relocated to Central and South America and helped build the Mayan civilization as Quetzalcoatl. The Haab calendar is actually the solar Sirian calendar that Thoth introduced to the Mayas. Whichever calendar was established as the primary calendar during the various eras and cultures provided that particular God or institution the ultimate power to control the masses.

The key element of interest in regard to the end-date interpretation of the Mayan long count calendar is that it converges with all the other Mayan calendars on December 21, 2012 and heralds a solstice/galactic center alignment that last took place some 13,000 odd years ago. It also is indicative of a time and space shift as we know it, as we pass through he photon belt over the galactic plane, into the galaxy's right hemisphere. It additionally represents a cyclical and geologically predictable period of major Earth changes, which are already coming to pass. The Earth will not change in a flash such as in a specific date as December 21, 2012. While the changes will continue to be turbulent, they will be gradual, unless the powers that be create a nuclear holocaust first, which is always a possibility, (given their own self-fulfilling Armageddon prophecies). The endtime prophecy and 2012 date do relate to the final passage over the galactic lane; one that started, and has been taking place, since the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, which began more or less in the 1960s although Neptune entered Aquarius in 1998 and transformed the dream. But the Age of Aquarius does not really have a specific start date; the transformation is evolving and has more or less been targeted as manifesting after 2024, when Pluto moves into Aquarius. The renown astrologer Dane Mudhyar gave an estimate of the year 2060. Thus, the December 21, 2012 endtime date serves as the middle doorway in a tunnel or wormhole through multidimensional time and space.

Here is what happened during the last significant alignment, 13,000 years ago, when the summer solstice was aligned with the galactic center and we moved through the galactic plane to the left hemisphere of our galaxy. We had the birth of a new civilization; as evidenced by the Sphinx and Great Pyramid. We had Gods interfacing with humans as evidenced by Egyptian hieroglyphics, with the creation of new technology and architecture, and a booming and fertile civilization arising in the Middle East. Sometime before that, there were major upheavals that appeared to have been Earth changes; thus, the rise of this new civilization seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. While our western history books tend to date the rise of civilization more recently, science -- the antithesis of religion and his story-- has proven that our modern calendars and dating systems are wrong. And while this new civilization was born 3,000 years ago, not all was peaceful and harmonic during that particular transformation as the books of Zecharia Sitchin (Earth Chronicles) will attest to.

However, what the upcoming 2012 shift is all about is a new paradigm; one that is meant to move us out of the Wars of Gods and Men (Sitchin) which have had a debilitating effect on the planet as a result of the power structure that evolved nearly 3,000 years ago, and which grew to favor left-brained male consciousness over right brained female consciousness. The 2012 shift is meant to transform human conscious into one that is more equitable and balanced, and one that will birth a new consciousness in regard to the Earth and life. In essence, we will be moving into a consciousness of universal life, and out of the morbid obsessive consciousness of universal death. This will allow us to finally reconnect with the cosmic life force because we will, once again, be able to recognize it for what it is. This will also provide an opportunity, once again, to be good neighbors to our galactic community, instead of engaging in star wars such as in the past, when opposing forces took refuge on our planet and other planets, and continued their totalitarian wars, including calendar wars, under the guise of governments, religions, and fraternal organizations. These events were all designed to manipulate and control the cycles of consciousness.

The transformation of consciousness is a birthing process. In human life, a birth takes nine months. In cosmic life, it can take decades and even hundreds or thousands of years. Solar calendars do not account for the natural birth and death cycles of the cosmos and planet. They are typically and solely used to repress our innate ability to synchronize with the subtle energies. When you are out-of-sync with the natural cycles, the birthing process can be painful. If you resist, the pain is even greater. Many on our planet are testing this transformation, particularly institutions, government structure. We will see many destructive reactions to the natural cyclical changes as a result. On the other hand, the birthing process -- when one is in tune with one's body, the Earth's cycles, and the cosmos -- can be beautiful and awesome. We can then experience the natural death of old life as it makes way for the new, with minimal discomfort. But it means being attuned to the natural cycles to do so. Women are more in tuned with these cycles than men because of menses (moon cycles) and the birthing process. Solar calendars are not based on birthing cycles. The solar cycle is strictly electrical and when untempered by a magnetic force, will wreak havoc on the planet. However, the Mayan calendars are designed around many cycles and that is why there are so many of them; to account for the many overlapping subtle energies that are meant to keep things in a constant state of balance. They are also three-dimensional since the Mayas walk between worlds. But taking the Mayan calendars literally, one-by-one, is as dangerous as fundamentalists taking the bible literally. You must be able to understand all the cycles and their overlapping implications, and piece them together as you would a puzzle, to interpret the whole message. Both the geometry and hidden intent are sacred and important to interpreting and predicting the events of the past, present and future. Jesus spoke in parables to his 12 disciplines, and created a geometric set of events that transcended a literal timeline. His words, deeds, and actions were purposely veiled so that only true seekers, those who paid attention to the world and cosmic cycles around them, would be able to tune into the subtle meanings and discover the underlying truths that transcended yesterday, today and tomorrow. Some scholars and sects think that he did not actually exist in the flesh at the time of his discipleship, bridging time and space to appear when he did. To cover this up and confuse the masses about his appearance and intent, the calendars of that day were changed to suppress the cyclical and multidimensional evidence and events.

We are now being given our chance to transcend time and space; the very message that Jesus appeared to tell us about. To make the 2012 transition, it is important to keep an open mind and not attach yourself to literal outcomes such as dates of events and linear timelines. Many people in the past have predicted the end of the world and the second coming of the Messiah and have been proven wrong time-and-time again. The mystery of birth, death, and all cosmic cycles is within you. You are one with all of humanity and all of the cosmos and are the past, present, and future. You are the one. The December 21, 2012 end date is only one key to understanding your multidimensional capabilities and learning how to use them. The physical world itself will not end for many; either by choice or by karma. What will end, hopefully, is a long and violent cycle if terrorism, war, death, destruction, desecration, mass manipulation and cover-up; which will allow us to reclaim and nurture the natural cycles of the cosmos, the Earth, and the goddess within us all. That will give way to a new heaven on Earth, and for those that "get it, it will reintroduce the ability to communicate with the multidimensional Gods once more.

Last, it is worth noting that these Gods are no more sacred than we. We, too, will awaken to our multidimensionality, heralding the second coming of the Messiah. All in all, we are all one. The outcome of the upcoming 2012 transformation is to reconnect us to our cosmic origins and the divine, which are both within us and around us. All that the December 21, 2012 endtime date does is provide us with a point of reference. For those who make it that far, the path home will be less strenuous. For those who have resisted the natural cycles and subtle energies by subscribing to a linear and superficial history and timeline, the 2012 endtime date and the ensuing outcome will be their Armageddon.

As appeared at http://beyondthetenth.com/December212012.html

Society News -Australian Channeller Blossom Goodchild Predicted Mass UFO Sighting On October 14th 2008. Scam Or Truth?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:52:00 +0000

By Stephane Wuttunee

On October 14th, 2008, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will train their eyes to the skies in the hopes of seeing whether or not Australian channeler Blossom Goodchild made good on her prediction: that a massive Extraterrestrial spacecraft and its occupants would visit planet Earth and allow their presence to be known internationally for a minimum of three days.

Goodchild went public with her message from The Federation of Light on August 22nd of this year, in the form of a simple e-mail sent to 125 of her contacts. The announcement spread quickly (without her knowledge and help for the most part) via You Tube videos as well as blogs and web sites. In fact, the topic is so hot that in online forums dedicated to UFOlogy or the paranormal, it is the only thing many members can talk (and argue) about.

Since August, Blossom herself has appeared on several Internet Radio shows and with hosts such as; Mike Quinsey, Lia Ramses (Underworld), Captain Jack (Paranormal Radio), and others to help promote the message. The mainstream media of course, have chosen to leave the topic alone, save for a few local and regional outlets such as; NewsBlaze.com, The Independent Online, The Clanton Advertiser, and Waaytv.com.

So, what differentiates Goodchild from cult leaders and frauds? For one, in contrast to groups and societies where adepts are expected to cough up hundreds if not thousands of dollars (or in some cases, their testes, identities, and hair) to rise up the ranks, Goodchild herself is not asking for people to show up on her doorstep and swear their allegiance. Most all of the information is made public and given freely on her website. In fact, she seems to prefer that they simply stay where they are and just look upward on the fourteenth, saying that this event involves a spiritual awakening for all rather than focus upon one person. Also, her prediction was made public so close to the date on which the phenomenon is slated to take place that it essentially crippled her chances of benefiting financially by means of media exposure as well as e-Book and CD sales. With October 14th being so near, most reasonable people will simply not bother purchasing any of her products and services. They will wait until after mid-October instead. Lastly, the main factor setting Goodchild apart is that judging from her radio interviews and videos, she seems just so…well, nice. It almost feels as though an aunt is relaying the message rather than someone who calls themselves a medium or channeler.

What are some of the possible consequences of this prediction coming to pass, then? Globally speaking, the timeline for Disclosure by governments worldwide would certainly accelerate to breakneck speed. Rather than expect Disclosure in months or years, it might come in mere days or weeks following such an event. With the Million Fax on Washington event looming, having ET show up could only help. Also, for the first time in human history, a whole new paradigm shift within our consciousness would undoubtedly take place and people would begin asking themselves questions by looking within rather than simply trusting worldly bodies.

For Blossom on the other hand, it is safe to say that in case this happens on the fourteenth, her private life would be severely disturbed by all types of people and expectations for many months to come. She could safely expect a constant barrage of phone calls and pleas by people in states of emotional distress to lead them out of the darkness. Offsetting that however of course, would be a dramatic increase in book sales and worldwide recognition by the media - and perhaps a few visits by shadowy military and intelligence types.

And if it doesn't come to pass, well…no big deal. Goodchild will be bombarded with an onslaught of hate mail and derisive remarks for a short while and will simply resume with her life. The incident would have at least created a stir within the UFOlogy community and made people come together to discuss whether or not mediumship is a valid source of information. With science being mostly a male dominated field, it would be nice for a more intuitive and less purely rational form of intelligence gathering to take its place as well.

Unfortunately, seeing this prediction fail also means that similar predictions made by other mediums in the future will be encountered by much fiercer resistance and ridicule: and yet perhaps that is a good thing.

When objectively analyzing the world situation, one cannot help but realize how stellar and perfect some form of benevolent outside intervention would be right now (whether or not such intervention would be welcomed by us is another story). To put it bluntly, the world is a mess. A disaster even. Sure, humans have a track record of pulling together in a crisis and getting themselves out of trouble, but such acts always took place on a stage that wasn't falling apart at the seams. The immediate threats of global economic collapse and wars both pale in comparison to the oncoming juggernaut of environmental catastrophe. We need help - preferably in the form of inspiration, mentorship, and guidance rather than saviorship. The good kind of big brother (and sister). Can Goodchild's prediction be the winning ticket to that kind of turnaround?

Eyes to the skies!

news source: http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1008/showtime.html

Spirituality News - If You Met A Shy, Kind & Loving Woman Would You Believe She Can Talk With Angels?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:39:00 +0000

By Sue Leonard

Monday June 16 2008

If you met a woman who said that she talked to angels every day, you might be forgiven for raising a discreetly cynical eyebrow. But somehow Lorna Byrne is different. Thousands of people say that she has changed their lives for the better, and a hard-headed publisher believed in her story enough to get her to write a book -- and that book is now right up there near the top of the Irish best-sellers list.

I went to meet her with a typical journalist's scepticism -- and came away feeling strangely energised. But let's start at the beginning, with the basic outline of Lorna's life.

When she was a child, Lorna was considered retarded. Unable to learn at school, she had few friends, and seemed always to live in another world.

Bought up in near poverty, Lorna left school early, and worked in her father's garage. There she met Joe, her first boyfriend, and the man she went on to marry. Life was tough. Joe suffered from a type of diabetes that could not be controlled. He had to give up work and, after a series of small strokes and seizures, died in his forties. They had four children. Three are now grown. Lorna lives with the youngest, who is 12, dividing her time between Kilkennyand Maynooth, in houses that have been loaned to her.

In her autobiography, Angels in my Hair, Lorna tells the reader that she sees angels and spirits; that they are her constant companions.

These include an Archangel, Michael, and the prophet Elijah. It was he, she tells us, who showed her Joe in a vision when she was a child. And he told her that she would marry Joe; that they would be happy, but that he would die early.

The increasing number of Irish people who ask questions of angels, and who attend mystics will have no problem believing Lorna. The sick and troubled she has prayed for and helped certainly believe in her.

Jim Corr, Daniel O'Donnell and Coronation Street's William Roche have all given her glowing testimonials.

I didn't know what to expect when I went to meet Lorna at a Dublin hotel. Was she a fraud, or worse, could she be deranged? I was disarmed by the gentleness of the women who greeted me with a shy smile. Soft spoken, Lorna looks much younger than her 54 years. There's a serenity about her, and an innocence.

"I don't like to call myself a psychic; I hate that word," she says. "I am afraid to say I am a healer, but I do help people physically and emotionally. A lot of people have got well."

This 'healing' is often emotional. Lorna sees things about someone's life, and in explaining, helps the person come to terms with it. She can tell, too, when someone is sick and why, often before the condition becomes known by medical tests.

"I won't tell fortunes," she says. "Often people ask me to, but I feel that is dangerous. It's hard, when a beautiful young man comes to see me, and he knows he is unwell. I am told by the angels, 'yes, he is terminal, but the doctors can't find it'.

"I keep sending him back to the doctors, and eventually, when it shows up I know it is too late. I have to help the family through it."

Lorna keeps smiling. She tells me that she can see angels, right now, right here in the room; as clearly as she can see me.

"They are coming and going and messing around with a pen and a pad. They are great mimics. One of them is even wearing a sun hat. They cheer me up."

I listen, keeping an open mind.

"When I was a child I'd play with this little boy Christopher," she says. "He'd drift in and out of my life. When I touched him, he sparked. That was when I realised he was not flesh and blood. Later, my mother told me that Christopher had been born before me, but had died at 10 weeks old."

Lorna says she has been chosen by the angels to spread a message: "I hate saying it, yet I know I was. I feel privileged that the angels enabled me to see them so clearly. They are there and they have taught me everything." That, she says, is why she had such severe learning difficulties.

"The angels kept me away from people and from other children too. They said they didn't want me contaminated by human contact. And that wasn't hard. I had the angels.

"I would wander off somewhere; to my room or to the bottom of the garden. If I was with a group they would talk to me without words. They were my friends. My best companions."

Being close to them is also a burden, she says. "Sometimes I give out to God and the angels. I say: 'you put too much on my shoulders'." And that, she agrees, includes knowing that Joe would die young. "That hurt. It blew me apart. I never told Joe I knew that. How could I?"

It was to be many years before she told him about her gifts. "When I told him it made sense to him. He said, 'I knew you were different. That is why I picked you'."

Lorna charges the three people a week she agrees to see. Most pay e50-100 and stay for an hour and a half. But it's not a commercial enterprise. They keep in touch, ringing her, sometimes for years afterwards, and rarely offer to pay for her wisdom.

Lorna has always known that she would, one day, write a book. "The angels told me so when I was quite young," she says. How though, was that possible, when Lorna can barely write? When I ask her to sign the book she has enormous difficulties. She writes awkwardly, and has to ask me to spell even the simplest of words.

"People have been put into my life to make it possible," she says. "One person just bought me a laptop and a 'speak easy'. You just talk into it. Someone else set it up for me."

The book has reached number three in the Irish best seller lists. How though, did such an 'alternative' book get published, and with such a prestigious publisher as Random House?

Lorna's PA, Jean Callanan, helped with that one. Jean was Marketing Director for Waterford Crystal when she first encountered Lorna. Impressed by the mystic, she was, nevertheless sceptical when Lorna informed her she would, one day, help her to write a book.

When it was time, Jean took the Artists and Writer's yearbook to Lorna. Lorna opened it randomly, pointed to Random House and said, "they are going to publish it". Jean just laughed.

"I thought, 'how am I going to manage that one'," she says, when we talk, later, on the phone. But three months later, she met an agent at a dinner party and mentioned the book.

"He said his friend Mark Booth ran Century -- part of Random House and that I should try him," says Jean. "He's a serious commercial publisher, producing three top 10 best sellers every year. He met Lorna, was impressed by her, and agreed to publish at once."

Everyone has spiritual gifts, Lorna believes. "We all have that experience when we know we should have gone to someone or rung them. We should ask questions of angels and listen. We should make contact, even if you had a row years ago. That phone call might stop someone jumping off a cliff."

Lorna has had a near death experience. She has seen heaven, she says, many times. She has seen souls, and knows that our souls separate from our bodies at death. Therefore, she says, at that moment of death, everyone is at peace.

"I always pray that someone will have a peaceful death, but I do that for the sake of the family. I know the dying person will be all right."

Lorna, meanwhile, is lonely. She would love someone special in her life. In fact, she says she gives out to the angels about it; all the time.

" I say, 'please give me someone who would share openly with me and understand,' and they don't say yes or no. They just smile."

Lorna knows she can't 'prove' her story. She does meet with cynicism, but this doesn't worry her. "When people talk to me they seem to get filled with light. I change things for them. They change. They send a text saying, 'something is happening. You have helped me'."

And Lorna is extraordinary. Whether or not her angels are real, I left her feeling recharged. It was like an experience I had, several years ago when a Glenstal Monk showed me the Icon Chapel. I walked out buzzing with energy, yet at peace.

Angels in my Hair by Lorna Byrne is published by Century, from e10.99

As appeared on http://www.independent.ie

Business News - Is Network Marketing The Winning Formula For A Home Based Business?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:03:00 +0000

(openPR) - A lot of people ask that question when approached with a network marketing business - especially with all the hype and different network marketing companies out there, along with the questionable past reputation of Amway.Contrary to what some think, network marketing is becoming very popular to those entrepreneurs looking to create a passive, residual income.

So popular, celebrities and business tycoons such as Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki, a best-selling author of the books 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad,' the 'Cash Flow Quadrant' and 'The Business School for People Who Like Helping People,' are giving their endorsements to the network marketing industry.

In the summer of 1998, Trump made an appearance on the David Letterman show and was asked by Letterman what he would do if he lost everything and had to start over from scratch. Without hesitating, Trump said "I would find a good network marketing company and get to work." The audience started to shout and boo him. Trump looked out at the audience with his dead-panned response and said "that's why I'm sitting up here and you are all sitting out there!"

Trump and Kiyosaki co-authored the book 'Why We Want You To Be Rich: Two Men, One Message.' In the book, the two listed network marketing as one of the best ways, for the average person, to gain financial freedom."If you can change your outlook, change your values, and change your rules, you'll find there's a whole other set of rules out there that are more conducive to those who want to be rich," says Kiyosaki. "One of the reasons I consider a network marketing business a perfect business is simply because companies will work with you to get the business skills that makes you rich. Always remember, it's not the money that makes you rich, its business skills."

Another advantage to network marketing is its low start-up cost, especially in comparison to traditional business start up costs. "That's the beauty of network marketing companies," he said. "They allow you the time at a low cost and will work with you to make the transition," Kiyosaki said.A network marketing business is just that - a business. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme. Trump, Kiyosaki and many others will agree it takes work, time and persistence."This is a passive income," Kiyosaki said. "You work hard for a few years and income keeps flowing to you - possibly for the rest of your life. It's not a get-rich-quick formula. You don't just do it overnight, It takes time."

According to the Direct Selling Association, more than 32 billion dollars is generated for the direct selling/network marketing industry in the U.S. and more than 100 billion dollars world-wide. The people generating this revenue include more than 15 million distributors in the U.S. and 50 million world-wide.The DSA's research shows some of the most popular reasons people choose direct selling is because it's a good way to meet and socialize with people, earn extra income, and to own a business. It also allows flexible work schedules and earnings in proportion to efforts.There are no required levels of education, experience, financial resources or physical condition. People of all ages and from all backgrounds have succeeded in network marketing.

According to recent DSA surveys, 74 percent of Americans have purchased goods or services through direct sales/network marketing. That's more than the number who have purchased through television shopping and on-line computer services combined. People value the products available through direct selling and 45 percent of Americans want to buy from direct sellers.Dr. Charles King, University of Illinois Professor of Marketing and a graduate of the Harvard Business School, said network marketing is growing beyond traditional retail sales methods."Network marketing is the most powerful channel of distribution in all the marketing disciplines," Dr. King said. "It gets products to consumers more efficiently than traditional wholesale to retail programming."Dr. King is a network marketing expert who has been researching the industry for more than 17 years. He is often called upon by network marketing companies around the world as an expert witness."The fact is network marketing has been proven by traditional marketers to be a successful program in building distribution along side the traditional channels of marketing," Dr. King said. "This is a unique channel that adds a whole new unique dimension."Network marketing is so popular, companies like AT&T, Sprint, Proctor & Gamble and General Foods have been involved.

Network marketing is a sub-category of direct sales. The difference is when a salesmen makes a sale in direct selling alone, the salesman makes a commission and it's all over. In network marketing, the salesmen continue to get paid over and over from sales and from the sales his associates make.This passive, residual income model of network marketing allows businessmen to work smarter instead of harder."I would rather have 1 percent of the efforts of 100 people, than 100 percent of my own efforts" said John Paul Getty, America's first billionaire.It appears the truth is getting out about network marketing and it's becoming more and more appealing.As Kiyosaki says, it could be "the perfect business" for the right person with the right work ethics and persistence to become financially independent.

It's recommended to research the industry, a potential product or service, the company, and the compensation plan before getting involved. If someone has the right attitude and work ethic, a great product or service that a lot of people want and need, with the right pay plan, he can make as much money as he wants to make.

Source News at http://www.openpr.com/news/41113/Network-Marketing-Is-It-Just-Another-One-Of-Those-Deals.html

Health News - Can We Really Heal Ourself With Sunlight?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:18:00 +0000

By Andreas Moritz,
Author of Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation

The time when one’s immediate natural impulse on the first sunny spring day was to get outside and enjoy it is long gone. Only the very courageous or “careless” who defy the grim warnings from medical mandarins and cancer specialists, wholeheartedly endorsed by the sunscreen industry, dare to venture forth into the “dangerous” sun.
Unless they are covered head to toe with sun protection factor (SPF) 60, they gamble with their lives, or so they are made to believe, by those who serve their own vested interests.
Fortunately, this view is beginning to crumble in the blatant absence of scientific proof that sunlight causes disease. What is being discovered instead is that lack of sun exposure is one of the greatest risk factors for disease.
Very few people know that not getting enough sun kills 50,000 people from cancer deaths every year in the US alone. As shown later, these are deaths that are easily preventable through the Vitamin D produced by the body in response to regular sun exposure.
Unfortunately, it is the ultraviolet portion of sunlight that is the most easily eliminated by windows, houses, spectacles, sunglasses, sun lotions, and clothing.
Before antibiotic drugs were discovered in the 1930s – penicillin having been the first one – the healing power of sunlight was favored by the medical community, at least in Europe.

Sunlight therapy, called heliotherapy, was indeed considered to be the most successful treatment for infectious diseases from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Studies revealed that exposing patients to controlled amounts of sunlight dramatically lowered elevated blood pressure (up to 40 mm Hg drop), decreased cholesterol in the bloodstream, lowered abnormally high blood sugar in diabetics, and increased the number of white blood cells, which people need to help resist disease. Patients suffering from gout, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, arteriosclerosis, anemia, cystitis, eczema, acne, psoriasis, herpes, lupus, sciatica, kidney problems, asthma, and even burns, have all received great benefits from the healing rays of the sun.
The medical doctor and author, Dr. Auguste Rollier, was the most famous heliotherapist of his day. At his peak, he operated 36 clinics with over 1,000 beds in Leysin, Switzerland. His clinics were situated 5,000 feet above sea level, the high altitude allowing his patients to catch a lot more UV light than was possible at the lower levels of the atmosphere. Dr. Rollier used the UV rays of sunlight to treat diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), rickets, smallpox, lupus vulgaris (skin tuberculosis), and wounds. He followed in the footsteps of Danish physician Dr. Niels Finsen, who won a Nobel Prize in 1903 for his treatment of TB using ultraviolet light. Rollier found that sunbathing early in the morning, in conjunction with a nutritious diet, produced the best effects.

The miraculous complete cures of tuberculosis and other diseases facilitated by these doctors made headlines at the time. What surprised the medical community most was the fact that the sun’s healing rays remained ineffective if the patients wore sunglasses. [Sunglasses block out important rays of the light spectrum which the body requires for essential biological functions.] Note: your eyes receive these rays even if you are in the shade.
By the year 1933, there were over 165 different diseases for which sunlight proved to be a beneficial treatment. However, with the death of Rollier in 1954 and the growing power of the pharmaceutical industry, heliotherapy fell into disuse.
By the 1960s, man-made “miracle drugs” had replaced medicine’s fascination with the sun’s healing powers, and by the 1980s the public was increasingly being bombarded with warnings about sunbathing and the risks of skin cancer.
Today, the sun is considered the main culprit for causing skin cancer, certain cataracts leading to blindness, and aging of the skin. Only those who take the “risk” of exposing themselves to sunlight find that the sun makes them feel better, provided they don’t use sunscreens or burn their skin.

The UV-rays in sunlight actually stimulate the thyroid gland to increase hormone production, which in turn increases the body’s basal metabolic rate. This assists both in weight loss and improved muscle development. Farm animals fatten much faster when kept indoors, and so do people who stay out of the sun.
Therefore, if you want to lose weight or increase your muscle tone, expose your body to the sun on a regular basis.
The use of antibiotics, which has practically replaced heliotherapy, has in recent years led to the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria, which defy any treatment other than the balanced use of sun, water, air, and food. Cutting out or substantially reducing any of these four essential constituents of life, results in disease.
Any person who misses out on sunlight becomes weak and suffers mental and physical problems as a result. His vital energy diminishes in due time, which is reflected in his quality of life. The populations in Northern European countries like Norway and Finland, which experience months of darkness every year, have a higher incidence of irritability, fatigue, illness, insomnia, depression, alcoholism, and suicide than those living in the sunny parts of the world. Their skin cancer rates are higher, too. For example, the incidence of melanoma (skin cancer) on the Orkney and Shetland Isles, north of Scotland, is 10 times that of Mediterranean islands.

UV light is known to activate an important skin hormone called solitrol. Solitrol influences our immune system and many of our body’s regulatory centers, and, in conjunction with the pineal hormone melatonin, causes changes in mood and daily biological rhythms. The hemoglobin in our red blood cells requires ultraviolet (UV) light to bind to the oxygen needed for all cellular functions. Lack of sunlight can, therefore, be held co-responsible for almost any kind of illness, including skin cancer and other forms of cancer. As you are about to find out, it may be highly detrimental to your health to miss out on sunlight.

Can UV-Radiation Prevent and Cure Skin Cancer?

A major concern of our scientists today is the dramatic increase of skin cancers around the world. There are three main types of skin cancer, two of which, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma (non-melanomas), are increasingly prevalent, whereas the third, malignant melanoma, is much rarer but far more lethal. The most pressing question is why would the sun suddenly become so vicious and try to kill scores of people after thousands of years of harmlessness?
The medical community claims that ultraviolet light (UV) is the major cause of skin cancers. This theory is based on the assumption that our thinning ozone layer permits too much of the germicidal UV to penetrate to the surface of the earth and causes destruction of all kinds, including damage to our skin and eye cells. Yet the theory has major flaws and no scientific backing. Contrary to general belief, there is no evidence that reduction in the ozone layer, observed at the poles, has caused any increase in melanomas.

The germicidal frequency of UV is destroyed or is filtered out by the ozone layer in the Earth’s stratosphere, and only small amounts—necessary to purify the air we breathe and the water we drink— actually reach the surface of the earth. To that effect, a study of Punta Arenas, the largest South American city close to the Antarctic ozone hole, showed no increase in health problems related to depleted ozone.
In fact, UV measures were too small to have any noticeable effect. Actual measurements taken in the United States since 1974 show that the amount of UV radiation reaching the surface of the earth is decreasing and continues to decrease slightly each year. This research was conducted to detect the frequency of UV radiation that causes sunburn. UV radiation had dropped an average of 0.7 percent per year over the period from 1974 to 1985 and continued to do so afterwards.
The fact that the number of skin cancers in the United States had doubled within this period of 11 years contradicts the theory that UV light is the reason behind the skin cancer epidemic. The number of malignant skin cancers (melanomas) discovered in 1980 in the United States was 8,000, and eight years later it had increased by 350 percent to 28,000. In 1930, the expectancy of developing melanoma was as low as 1 in 1,300 people. Since 2003, 45,000 to 50,000 new cases are diagnosed every year in the United States. Melanomas, which account for 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths, make up only 5 percent of all reported skin cancers. The most striking fact about this lethal form of cancer is that it can occur in parts of the body that are not necessarily exposed to the sun such as the eye, the rectum, vulva, vagina, mouth, respiratory tract, GI tract and urinary bladder.
Overall, since the beginning of the new millennium, each year one million Americans are being diagnosed with some form of skin cancer. There are millions of sufferers now, all of whom have been made to believe that the sun is the culprit for their skin diseases. But since UV radiation is decreasing every year and skin cancers were extremely rare 100 years ago when UV intensity was much higher and people spent much more time outdoors, what other factor could be held responsible for causing skin cancer?

The More UV, the Less Cancer

Even if UV penetration to the surface of the Earth did actually increase by, for example, one percent each year (which is not the case), such slight increases would still be hundreds, if not thousands, of times less than the normal variations which people experience because of differences in geography.
Let’s assume that you move from an area near either one of the Polar Regions, e.g. Iceland or Finland, toward the equator, e.g. Kenya or Uganda in East Africa. By the time you reach the equator, you will have increased your body’s exposure to UV light by a whooping 5,000 percent! If you live in England and decide to move to Northern Australia you will increase your exposure by 600 percent! Calculations show that for every six miles you move closer to the equator, you increase your exposure to UV light by one percent.
Today, millions of people around the world travel from low exposure places to areas of high exposure near the equator. Many thousands of tourists travel to areas that are located at much higher altitudes than where they normally live. For every 100 feet of elevation there is a significant increase in UV radiation. But this does not prevent people from climbing mountains or living in countries like Switzerland or at the high altitudes of the Himalayan Mountains.
According to the UV/cancer theory, most Kenyan, Tibetan, or Swiss residents should be afflicted with skin cancer today. Yet this is not the case at all. The fact is that those who reside at high altitudes or near the equator where UV radiation is the most concentrated are virtually free of all cancers, not just skin cancers! This shows that UV radiation does not cause cancer; in fact, it can even prevent it.
The human body has a unique ability to become accustomed to all kinds of variations in the environment. It is equipped with perfect self-regulating mechanisms that protect it against damage from the natural elements.

Overexposure to swimming in the sea or in a lake can lead to extensive skin swelling, shivering, and circulatory problems. Our body will let us know when it is time to get out of the water. Getting too close to a fire will heat us up and encourage us to move away from it. Rainwater is natural, but standing in the rain for too long can drain our immune system and make us susceptible to catching a cold. Eating sustains our lives, but overeating can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Sleeping recharges our “batteries” and revitalizes the body and mind, yet too much of it makes us sluggish, depressed, and ill. Likewise, sunlight has healing properties unless we use it to burn holes into our skin. Why should any of these natural elements or processes cause us harm unless we abuse or overuse them?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to say that a preference for unnatural things like junk food, stimulants, alcohol, drugs, medical intervention (unless it is for an emergency), as well as pollution, irregular sleeping and eating habits, stress, excessive greed for money and power, and the lack of contact with nature, are more likely to cause such diseases as skin cancer and cataracts than natural phenomena that have ensured continued growth and evolution on the planet throughout the ages?
It is very encouraging to see that new treatments using light are increasingly being recognized as breakthrough methods for cancer and many other diseases. The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved “light therapy” to fight advanced esophageal cancer and early lung cancer—with fewer risks than are found with the use of surgery and chemotherapy.

Although it has been known for over 100 years that light can kill diseased cells, it is only since a number of convincing research studies have been conducted that there has been a sudden resurgence of interest in light therapy. There is promising success with bladder cancer, infertility-causing endometriosis, advanced lung and esophageal cancers, skin cancer, and diseases leading to blindness, psoriasis, and autoimmune disorders. In one study, light therapy eliminated 79 percent of early lung cancers. Regular exposure to sunlight still seems to be one of the best measures one can take to prevent cancer, including cancers of the skin.

Now Even Doctors And Scientists Say, “It’s Not True!”

Like myself, there have always been some health practitioners who didn’t buy into the theory that the sun causes deadly diseases. It warms my heart to hear that now even some of the top authorities in the field are standing up for the truth, despite intense criticism from their colleagues.
In an article written in the New York Times in August 2004, a high-profile dermatologist, Dr. Bernard Ackerman (a recent winner of the American Academy of Dermatology's prestigious, once-yearly Master Award), publicly questioned the commonly accepted assumption about the sunlight/melanoma link.
According to Dr. Ackerman, who in 1999 founded the world's largest center for dermatopathology training, there is no proof whatsoever that sun exposure causes melanoma. To substantiate his arguments, he cites a recently published article in the Archives of Dermatology concluding that no evidence exists supporting the notion that sunscreen prevents melanoma, a claim the mega-million dollar sunscreen industry and those in the medical mainstream have falsely made for decades.

Dr. Ackerman didn’t stop at exposing this decades-long deception of the masses; he also cast doubt on the increase in the incidence of melanoma cases medical mainstream doctors insist is happening. He found that an expansion of the diagnostic definition of “melanoma” has allowed a much broader array of symptoms to be classified as the deadly disease compared to just 30 years ago. Melanoma has to a large extent “grown” to epidemic proportions because of statistical manipulations. In other words, if the same diagnostic definition applied 30 years ago were applied today, melanomas would have increased only insignificantly.
Furthermore, this respected physician challenged the medical mainstream to explain why nearly all cases of melanoma among certain races (black African, Asian and South American) occur in areas of the body that are almost never exposed to sunlight—places like the palms, soles of the feet, and mucous membranes. Should it not raise doubts among physicians and patients alike when even among pale-faces, the most common sites for melanoma (legs in women, torso in men) get significantly less sunlight exposure than other parts of the body?

To make a point, based on this and other evidence, our best chance of avoiding melanoma is to move to areas of higher UV-concentration, such as mountainous regions or the equatorial tropics and become a nudist! Since sunlight boosts the immune system, you may find that such a move would also help with many other health issues from which you may be suffering. Naturally, all this data raises the question, what actually causes skin cancer? The answer may surprise us greatly.

Andreas Moritz is a medical intuitive; a practitioner of Ayurveda, iridology, shiatsu, and vibrational medicine; a writer; and an artist. He is the author of The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush, Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation, Lifting the Veil of Duality, Cancer Is Not a Disease, It's Time to Come Alive, Heart Disease No More, Diabetes No More, Simple Steps to Total Health, Diabetes -- No More, Ending the AIDS Myth and Heal Yourself with Sunlight.

Source news: http://www.mindpowernews.com/HealingSunlight.htm

Technology News - Should we install Windows XP on ASUS Eee PC?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:32:00 +0000

When ASUS first developed their now legendary Eee PC, they designed it for a target market far different to that of the regular business PC: they designed it as a PC perfect for children and education. So it was with great surprise that the Eee PC became such a hit with the general public, stunned as we all were with not only the incredibly affordable price point, but the elegance of a consumer friendly Linux operating system pre-loaded with just about all the software most people would ever need, without the hassles and worry of Windows malware.

Despite all the Ubuntus and Linspires of the world, and previous attempts at loading Linux onto a consumer PC sold through the WalMarts of the world and elsewhere, the Eee PC, in my mind at least, is the first true commercially successful computer with a flavour of Linux pre-loaded and sold almost as widely as any brand name Windows based PC that you can name. ASUS knew that just loading Linux onto a computer was not enough, especially given that most of us aren’t Linux pros, ready to delve into the command line to type in arcane text commands.

So, aside from throwing in a few educational programs for kids, ASUS importantly decided to pre-load some free and/or open source favourites: Firefox, Open Office and the commercial (but free) Skype, among others. Unlike the MacBook Air, ASUS also wisely decided to include several USB ports, an SD high capacity memory card socket and a standard VGA video port, instantly making the ASUS easily expandable and connectable to equipment plenty of people would simply have spare at home, such as external keyboards, mice and monitors. The SD card even allows an incredible simple internal storage upgrade option, with 2GB and 4GB SD cards widely and cheaply available from any computer store. All of this, and more, makes the ASUS Eee PC an incredible Linux computer, coming with just about everything the everyday computer user would be happy to use in the course of a regular day.

Despite Linux’s growing maturity, the fact is that most of us still live in a Windows world, where most hardware and software has been designed to work with Windows first, and other operating systems second. The order is usually Windows, followed by Mac OS X, and then Linux – if we’re lucky. Of course, this is changing as Linux becomes ever more popular. But as already noted, and as you already know, no matter what computer and OS you are currently using to read this article, it’s a Windows world we live in, for better or worse.

The fact that even before a Windows Eee PC has been released outside of Japan, some east Asian markets are selling the ASUS Eee running doctored versions of XP, showing that the demand is strong. In Thailand, I hear tell they’re selling the Asus Eee PC loaded with Windows 2006!But it’s because of Windows’ popularity that ASUS have made it easy for anyone wanting to run Windows XP on their Eee PC to do so. They’ve made a disc of XP drivers available to download from their website to download and burn onto a CD. As you probably already know, the Eee PC doesn’t come with a CD or DVD burner, but these are less than $100 to buy in stores and easily connects via USB, and this is the easiest way to install Windows XP onto the Eee and install the drivers. ASUS have also made allowances for the fact that the Eee’s screen resolution is 800x480 by offering an 800x600 mode that shrinks the screen to fit in the 800x480 dimensions. This is very handy if you have boxes on screen which normally stretch beyond the 480 lines on screen, as is common with most programs today.

Installing XP onto the Eee makes sense for those that must use specific Windows software, or hardware that only has Windows drivers, or better drivers under Windows than Linux. But installing XP then means your computer is much more vulnerable to Windows threats. Installing an anti-virus package, a good firewall, anti-malware software and more is essential. Thankfully there are versions of all of these programs that are available to download free of charge and don’t place an enormous overhead onto your computer, such as AVG’s free anti-virus software, the free Zonealarm firewall and anti-malware software such as Spybot’s Search and Destroy 1.5. I’m not saying that you don’t need these types of programs for Linux too, but the number of viruses, malware and attacks against Linux machines are far fewer than the typical Windows PC will experience on a daily basis.

Given that the Eee PC comes pre-loaded with Xandros Linux and a suite of excellent software, unless you really want one of the smallest and cheapest Windows XP computers around, there really is no need to burden the Eee with XP. And unless you happen to have a spare, licensed copy of XP laying around, the fact is that you’ll need to buy it, adding at least $100 to the cost of your Eee PC. Sure, you can download Skype, Firefox and Open Office onto XP, effectively replicating the software suite the Eee already comes with, free of charge (aside from whatever it costs you to have an Internet connection each month with whatever download limit you’re on). But ASUS have done an incredible job with the Eee as it is. Leave Linux on the Eee, if you buy one, and try using it. Chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sure, you can run Windows on the Eee PC, but if you’re going to do that, and don’t particularly need a portable computer that’s as small as the Eee, the cost of Windows based notebook computers from major vendors is rapidly approaching the Eee’s price point in retail stores (albeit often with a ‘cashback’ system that requires the buyer to send in the barcode and proof of purchase to receive the money back). These cheap Windows notebooks naturally come with Windows XP (or Vista) pre-loaded, come with a full size keyboard, a much larger screen, multiple ports and an inbuilt optical drive. So, unless you must simply have one of the smallest usable computers that can still be touch typed on with Windows XP loaded onto it (unlike other smaller and much more expensive portable PCs like the OQO series), why bother loading XP onto the world’s most popular Linux based PC? The Eee PC. It’s the computer that doesn’t need Windows, and in many ways that makes it even more perfect than it already is.

Source news: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16565/1103/

World Politics News - September 11th, 2001: 53 Americans of 100 don't believe to the official version

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:23:00 +0000

United States - The majority of adult U.S. population believe the Bush Government has partially or interely hidden the truth on Sept 9/11: 53% for being correct, according to a New York Times-Cbs opinion survey. And more, 28% of population is convinced the Governement told lies about what happened that day. There's a 16% anyway keeping believe the official version.

It's an impressioning fall, if we think that in the far 2003, as Bush proclamed war to Saddam, 86 U.S. citizens of 100 supported him in the "war against global terrorism". In 2002, the same opinion survey with the same question found that 21% of population believed at the 9/11 official version, more than today's 16%. Then, 63% was convinced that the U.S. Administration could "cover something up", against today's 53%. This is because the U.S population believing in a "big lie" have gone up from 8% to 28%.

An essay written by Philip Senon, famous NY Times's writer who followed the works of Parliament Commission on 9/11, can cause the number of doubting people increase. The work, titled «The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation», is centerd upon the caracter of Philip Zelikow, elected (from White House) as executive director of 9/11 Commission, to be the head of investigations.

Zelikow could select testimonials to admit, materials to bring as proofs, and filter the entire documents collection upon the case. Now, the news is what all the big news media networks already kewn: Zelikow had on his head an incredible quantity of interests' conflicts. Personal friend of Condoleezza Rice, (they worked together in the National Security Council during Bush Sr. administration, Zelikow was in charge of the «transition team» for Bush Jr., that is the group who assured the transition from outgoing president (Clinton) to the newcomer one. A work that required a very close presidential trust. Trust confirmed just a month after 9/11 of 2001, as George Bush jr. appointed Zelikow as Head of President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB).

As the most of you already know, the PFIAB is a very riserved office used as interface between the president and the various U.S. intelligence's agencies: CIA, DIA, National Security Agency and FBI. His sixteen members has the role to check the ultra-reserved informations coming from these agencies, to value their validity and to bodily refer those to the president. For this very delicate task, Zelikow could completely access to the most kept secret sources of spying and counterspy.

With this kind of "investigator" in charge of the Parliament Commission's probes, every criticism to the White House for the plain inability (or worse?) to prevent the mega-assassination attempt made by the so-called Bin Laden, has been obviously neutralized. All this was already know to media companies before.

The detail going to be revealed now could really let someone say "no, I can't read this anymore". An Italian writer, Maurizio Blondet (http://www.effedieffe.com/) referred something hot in one of his book (Israle, USA e il terrorismo islamico. EFFEDIEFFE, 2005, p.159). Philip Zelikow, while speaking to a few political analysts selected at Virginia University on 9/10/2002, declared to them that Iraq didn't have atomic bombs and was not preparing to use them against USA, as Bush was repeating those days. He confided: «Why should Iraq use nuclears weapons against us? I tell you what real danger it represents, being so since 90's: he's a threat for Israel». But this reason cannot be let know, he said more, «because it's a kind of governing not so popular». Namely, helping Israel to get rid of its enemies.

The news is not in what Shenon reveals. Instead, the fact that a writer of NY Times, the most ufficious of great news media companies, does report those facts today. Suspicion and incredulity toward the official version is going up from the «marginal conspiracy theorists» to the influencing medias. Anyway, if this could be considered a concret threat for the official version and for Bush itself, it's still not clear.

Source news: http://www.effedieffe.com/interventizeta.php?id=2622&parametro=esteri

Sports News - Ashton relying on England players' dented pride to revive Six Nations campaign against Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:44:00 +0000

LONDON: England attempts to rebuild its shattered Six Nations campaign at Italy on Sunday, relying on the players who buckled in last week's opener.
While tournament favorite France hosts Ireland and Scotland is at Wales, much attention will be on whether England can rebound from its shock loss to Wales last week.
Having been forced into four changes because of injury, coach Brian Ashton expects the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Iain Balshaw to recover from the 26-19 defeat with an improved display against the powerful Italian pack.
Ashton made just one switch through choice, dropping No. 8 Luke Narraway to the bench in place of the fit-again Nick Easter, and wants the players' dented pride to spur them to victory.

"There's one or two angry men in our squad, quite rightly," Ashton said.
England was leading Wales 19-6 just after halftime in its first match since losing the World Cup final in October, but seemingly panicked under pressure against a side it had dominated.
Even the usually reliable Wilkinson, who needs four more points to become just the second player after Wales' Neil Jenkins to score 1,000 for their country, missed kicks and threw a pass to no one as Wales won at Twickenham for the first time in 20 years.
Wilkinson's place was already under pressure from the emergence of Danny Cipriani and Sunday's match at Stadio Flaminio in Rome could be his last for a while if he cannot help engineer a recovery.
But the 28-year-old flyhalf, the Six Nations' highest ever points scorer, doesn't need anyone to tell him that.
"I don't want to be here if I'm not the right person for the job or if I can't help the team," Wilkinson said. "I'm not anxious about selection because I'm doing the best I can and if there's someone better, then it's not fair that that person isn't here.

"The thing that makes me anxious nowadays is watching videos and thinking I'll see something on the field that I should have done better."
Loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan was ruled out because of an abscess near his Achilles tendon, while tighthead prop and captain Phil Vickery injured his right calf at training Thursday and is in doubt.
Bristol's Jason Hobson has been called up to England's squad as cover for Vickery.
Sheridan joined center Mike Tindall, winger David Strettle and flanker Lewis Moody out injured, with Tim Payne, Jamie Noon, Tongan-born Lesley Vainikolo and Michael Lipman replacing them.
Vainikolo, a former New Zealand rugby league international, made his debut as a replacement against Wales and set up England's only try when he grabbed Wilkinson's cross-field kick from the air and slipped an inside pass to Toby Flood, who touched down.

His power on the left could be crucial against a burly Italy team that troubled Ireland but has never beaten England in the teams' previous seven tournament meetings.
France beat Scotland 27-6 last week and would have made six changes for the Ireland game but Vincent Clerc was retained on the left wing when Julien Malzieu withdrew injured.
Hooker Dimitri Szarzewski, prop Nicolas Mas, lock Arnaud Mela and No. 8 Julien Bonnaire are drafted into the pack, while Aurelien Rougerie comes in on the right wing and David Skrela at flyhalf.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan made six changes to his team, but three were positional as he opted to tweak rather than overhaul his lineup for the trip to Paris.

Ronan O'Gara and Eoin Reddan are retained as the halves after engineering Ireland's most promising moments in the disappointing 16-11 win over Italy. But O'Sullivan had to reshuffle the backs because of an injury to inside center Gordon D'Arcy.
Rob Kearney comes in for D'Arcy, as he did Saturday, and will play on the left wing. Geordan Murphy switches to the right wing in place of Andrew Trimble, who joins captain Brian O'Driscoll in midfield.
"Kearney's inclusion is a reward for his display against Italy," O'Sullivan said. "He came off the bench and did really well."
Bernard Jackman comes in for Rory Best at hooker, while Denis Leamy switches to blindside flanker to accommodate Jamie Heaslip at No. 8 after the Leinster backrower was drafted in to replace the dropped Simon Easterby.

Source news: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/07/sports/EU-SPT-RUGU-Six-Nations-Preview.php

Society News - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's soul, who taught Beatles and The Rolling Stones meditation, lefts his body

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:55:00 +0000

By MIKE CORDER

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to transcendental meditation, died Tuesday at his home in the Dutch town of Vlodrop, a spokesman said. He was thought to be 91 years old.
"He died peacefully at about 7 p.m.," said Bob Roth, a spokesman for the Transcendental Meditation movement that the Maharishi founded. He said his death appeared to be due to "natural causes, his age."

Once dismissed as hippie mysticism, the Hindu practice of mind control that Maharishi taught, called transcendental meditation, gradually gained medical respectability.

He began teaching TM in 1955 and brought the technique to the United States in 1959. But the movement really took off after the Beatles visited his ashram in India in 1968, although he had a famous falling out with the rock stars when he discovered them using drugs at his Himalayan retreat.

Here's the video of The Beatles and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh (1968)

With the help of celebrity endorsements, Maharishi -- a Hindi-language title for Great Seer -- parlayed his interpretations of ancient scripture into a multi-million-dollar global empire.

After 50 years of teaching, Maharishi turned to larger themes, with grand designs to harness the power of group meditation to create world peace and to mobilize his devotees to banish poverty from the earth.
Maharishi's roster of famous meditators ran from The Rolling Stones to Clint Eastwood and new age preacher Deepak Chopra.
Director David Lynch, creator of dark and violent films, lectured at college campuses about the "ocean of tranquility" he found in more than 30 years of practicing transcendental meditation.

Some 5 million people devoted 20 minutes every morning and evening reciting a simple sound, or mantra, and delving into their consciousness.
"Don't fight darkness. Bring the light, and darkness will disappear," Maharishi said in a 2006 interview, repeating one of his own mantras.
Donations and the $2,500 fee to learn TM financed the construction of Peace Palaces, or meditation centers, in dozens of cities around the world. It paid for hundreds of new schools in India.

In 1971, Maharishi founded a university in Fairfield, Iowa, that taught meditation alongside the arts and sciences to 700 students and served organic vegetarian food in its cafeterias.
Supporters pointed to hundreds of scientific studies showing that meditation reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, improves concentration and raises results for students and businessmen.

Skeptics ridiculed his plan to raise $10 trillion to end poverty by sponsoring organic farming in the world's poorest countries. They scoffed at his notion that meditation groups, acting like psychic shock troops, can end conflict.
"To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach," he said.
In 1986, two groups founded by his organization were sued in the U.S. by former disciples who accused it of fraud, negligence and intentionally inflicting emotional damage. A jury, however, refused to award punitive damages.
Over the years, Maharishi also was accused of fraud by former pupils who claim he failed to teach them to fly. "Yogic flying," showcased as the ultimate level of transcendence, was never witnessed as anything more than TM followers sitting in the cross-legged lotus position and bouncing across spongy mats.
Maharishi was born Mahesh Srivastava in central India, reportedly on Jan. 12, 1917 -- though he refused to confirm the date or discuss his early life.

He studied physics at Allahabad University before becoming secretary to a well known Hindu holy man. After the death of his teacher, Maharishi went into a nomadic two-year retreat of silence in the Himalayan foothills of northern India.
With his background in physics, he brought his message to the West in a language that mixed the occult and science that became the buzz of college campuses. He described TM as "the unified field of all the laws of nature."
Maharishi's trademark flowing beard and long, graying hair appeared on the cover of the leading news magazines of the day.
But aides say Maharishi became disillusioned that TM had become identified with the counterculture, and he spent more time at his ashram in Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills to run his global affairs.

In 1990 he moved onto the wooded grounds of a historic Franciscan monastery in the southern Dutch village of Vlodrop, about 125 miles southeast of Amsterdam.
Concerned about his fragile health, he secluded himself in two rooms of the wooden pavilion he built on the compound, speaking only by video to aides around the world and even to his closest advisers in the same building.
John Hagelin, a theoretical physicist who ran for the U.S. presidency three times on the Maharishi-backed Natural Law Party, said that from the Dutch location Maharishi had daylong access to followers in India, Europe and the Americas.
"He runs several shifts of us into the ground," said Hagelin, Maharishi's closest aid, speaking in Vlodrop about his then-89-year-old mentor. "He is a fountainhead of innovation and new ideas -- far too many than you can ever follow up."

Source news: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-obit-maharishi-mahesh-yogi,1,1118067.story

Society News - French President Sarkozy Marries Former Model Bruni

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:34:00 +0000

By Rudy Ruitenberg

Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy married Italian model-turned-singer Carla Bruni in a ceremony at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris today.

The couple ``married this morning in the presence of their families in the strictest of intimacy,'' the president's office said in an e-mailed statement.

The wedding lasted about 20 minutes and was attended by close family and friends, said Francois Lebel, the mayor of Paris's 8th arrondissement, who oversaw the formalities this morning. He spoke in an interview on Europe 1 radio.

``The bride was in white, she was thrilling as usual, but the groom wasn't bad either,'' Lebel said. ``It's the first time in the history of the republic that a president has married in office.''

Sarkozy's marriage comes amid a drop in popularity, in part as the French say their president publicizes his private life too much. His approval rating fell 8 points to 41 percent in a Jan. 31 TNS-Sofres poll, below his ``disapproval'' rating for the first time since he took office in May.

Nicolas Bazire, the head of French billionaire Bernard Arnault's private investment company, was the witness for Sarkozy, while Mathilde Agostinelli, head of communications for Prada France, was the witness for Bruni, RTL radio reported on its Web site.

``There were about 20 people, the close family and some friends,'' Lebel said. ``I wished them a lot of happiness.''

Popularity Rating

Media coverage of the divorced president's Christmas trip to Egypt with Bruni aboard the private jet of French financier Vincent Bollore, along with concern over accelerating inflation, contributed to Sarkozy's declining approval rating.

In a January poll by LH2, 63 percent of the French said Sarkozy was publicizing his private life too much. In the same poll, the president's overall popularity dropped two percentage points from a month earlier to 54 percent.

Bruni, 40 and Sarkozy, 53, were first photographed together Dec. 17, taking her son to Disneyland Paris. Since then, they traveled together to Jordan after the Egypt trip. Bruni didn't accompany him in December to her native Italy, where Sarkozy met Pope Benedict XVI.

In the TNS-Sofres poll, conducted on Jan. 23 and 24 and published last week, those who don't have confidence in Sarkozy rose to 55 percent from 48 percent.

Music Albums

Bruni, who was born in Turin, Italy, has lived most of her life in France. After a successful career as a model in the 1990s, she turned to music and has released two albums. She said in a newspaper interview last year that she planned to vote for Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate that Sarkozy defeated in last May's presidential election.

Sarkozy divorced his second wife Cecilia in October. He has one son with her and two from his first marriage. Bruni has a son from a relationship with philosopher Raphael Enthoven. She's also been linked to Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, guitarist Eric Clapton and real estate developer Donald Trump, according to whosdatedwho.com, a Web site about celebrity relationships.

Source news: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aShY6itwDXBI&refer=home

Movies News - Wonderful actress Eva Mendes in rehab: reports

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:32:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Hollywood actress Eva Mendes has entered a rehabilitation center to tackle substance-abuse problems, celebrity magazine People reported on its website Friday.
The 33-year-old star of "Hitch" and "We Own the Night," has been undergoing treatment at Utah's Cirque Lodge center for several weeks, the report said.
"Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support," a representative for Mendes told People. "Out of respect for Eva's privacy, we do not wish to discuss further details."
Cirque Lodge was in the headlines last year after actress Lindsay Lohan checked into the facility following dual arrests for drink-driving.
Mendes, who is of Cuban-American background, is one of the best known Latino actresses in Hollywood, having risen to prominence after landing a role with Denzel Washington in 2001 hit "Training Day."
She has starred alongside Will Smith in the romantic comedy "Hitch" and Nicolas Cage in last year's "Ghost Rider."
Later this year she will appear in a remake of "The Women," starring alongside Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Bette Midler.

Source News: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZfs4MLVm8I7BAPVwrZzrL_dbL_Q

Society News - Vet Assistant has College Degree - At Age 10

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:33:00 +0000

By Keith Eldridge, reporter

Veterinarians at a Washington State vet clinic are amazed that one of their assistants can do the work she's doing, given her unique situation.
Here is a story about a very special young lady that knows exactly what she will be doing for the rest of her life.

Time for surgery at the South Bay Veterinary Hospital in Olympia.
Dr. Michelle Shoemaker is being assisted by Courtney Oliver, a certified veterinary assistant who just completed her college coursework.
It's hard to tell which ones which with their masks on.

But part way through the surgery it's clear who's who.

The really tiny one is Courtney.
At 10-years-old, she is still elementary school-aged, and has a college degree.
A 10-year-old with an on-line certification as a veterinarian assistant.
And in eight months Courtney had the same certification as her adult co-workers.
Courtney says she knew early in life this is what she wanted to do.
Dr. Shoemaker has been Courtney's mentor.
"She's amazing," exclaimed Dr. Shoemaker.
"She's a wonderful girl. Always been so bright, very very smart actually."
"Dr. Shoemaker and I are like twins," said Courtney.
"We just love animals. We just wanted to do this because this is our thing."
Despite all of her qualifications and despite her college degree, Courtney can't be here by herself. State law says that she's just too young.
But don't tell Courtney, this 10-year-old is too busy tending to the needs of these veterinary patients.

Source news: http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/15068661.html#

Science News - Research: Asteroids Pose Greater Danger For Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:06:00 +0000

By SUE MAJOR HOLMES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An asteroid that exploded over Siberia a century ago, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown down trees, wasn't nearly as large as previously thought, a researcher concludes, suggesting a greater danger for Earth.
According to supercomputer simulations by Sandia National Laboratories physicist Mark Boslough, the asteroid that destroyed the forest at Tunguska in Siberia in June 1908 had a blast force equivalent to one-quarter to one-third of the 10- to 20-megaton range scientists previously estimated.
Better understanding of what happened at Tunguska will allow for better estimates of risk that would allow policymakers to decide whether to try to deflect an asteroid or evacuate people in its path, he said.
"It's not clear whether a 10-megaton asteroid is more damaging than a Hurricane Katrina," Boslough said. "We can more accurately predict the location of an impact and its time better than we can a hurricane, so you really could get people out of there if it's below a certain threshold."
On Tuesday, an asteroid at least 800 feet long was making a rare close pass by Earth, but scientists said there was no chance of an impact. The closest approach of 2007 TU24 will be 334,000 miles — about 1.4 times the distance of Earth to the moon. An actual collision of a similar-sized object with Earth occurs on average every 37,000 years.
Although the computer simulation shows the Tunguska asteroid was smaller, its physical size isn't known. That would depend on such factors as speed, shape, how dense or porous it was and what it was made of, Boslough said.

Smaller asteroids approach Earth about three times more frequently than large ones. So if large asteroids approach about every 1,000 years, a smaller one would be about every 300 years, Boslough said.
"Of course there's huge uncertainties," he said.
The three-dimensional computer simulations were done last summer. Boslough presented the findings at scientific meetings in September and December. A paper on the phenomenon, co-authored by Sandia researcher Dave Crawford, has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Impact Engineering.
The simulation, which better matches what's known of Tunguska than earlier models did, shows that the center of the asteroid's mass exploded above the ground, taking the form of a fireball blasting downward faster than the speed of sound.
But the fireball did not reach the ground, so while miles of trees outside the epicenter were flattened, those at the epicenter remained standing — scorched, with their branches stripped off.
Boslough said they were likened to telegraph poles by the first Russian expedition to Tunguska — an expedition that didn't arrive until 1927 because of the distance, primitive travel conditions and turbulent times in Russia.
If the asteroid had been as large as previously thought, "it would have had really different effects on the ground," Boslough said.
"It wouldn't have just blown over trees. There would have been a zone of completely scorched earth for several miles," he said. "That fireball would have come all the way down to the surface and everything it came in contact with would have basically just vaporized."
Alan Harris, a planetary scientist at Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., said he's been following Boslough's work on Tunguska for several years "and I think the idea that he has there seemed very sound."
"A meteorite or asteroid coming into Earth's atmosphere has a lot of momentum," he said. "The idea that it would push down into the atmosphere seems very plausible."
"The bottom line is it takes a lot less energy, a small explosion, to create ground damage" such as that at Tunguska, said Harris, who studies the frequency of such impacts to assess hazards.
In the future, he said, he'll take Boslough's work into account and revise estimates of damage from impacts by smaller objects.

News source: Associate Press - Google News

Sports News - Fans flock to see Mavericks daredevil surfers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:53:00 +0000

By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

HALF MOON BAY -- Thousands of big-wave surfing fans straggled onto a small beach north of Half Moon Bay this morning to watch - or try to watch - the greatest surfers in the world battle the worst that the Pacific Ocean can throw at them.

Watching the fabled Mavericks contest from the beach seemed nearly as challenging as riding the waves themselves, as close-in waves blocked the view of the waves that the competitors were riding about a half-mile offshore.

But the fans, many of them tugging on beers as they scrambled for position before sunrise, didn't care.

"This is world renowned, everybody wants to be a part of it," said Bryan Moore, 28, a teacher from San Leandro who arrived at 6:15 a.m. to stake out his spot. "If you watch this on television, you don't get to smell the air and feel the cold. It's not as real."

Other surf fans gathered in the third deck at AT&T Park to watch the contest on the stadium's giant monitor. Tickets were selling for $25, with beer flowing at ballpark rates.

At Half Moon Bay, some fans watched on another giant video monitor that had been erected on the beach, near the judges' and announcers' booth. Some watched through binoculars or telephoto camera lenses. Some scrambled up an environmentally fragile hillside, even though contest organizers were trying to discourage that. Some stood on tiptoes.

Fans with $275 in cash boarded a small flotilla of tour boats and watched the contest from up close. The boat captains reminded passengers that the ride would be bumpy and there were no refunds for the seasick.

Watch below the 2006 Mavericks Champion, Grant "Twiggy" Bake

The competitors, in groups of six, caught rides to the big waves on jet skis, then paddled out on their boards and waited for just the right moment to stand up and defy nature. The morning waves were 20 feet tall, and the ones in the afternoon were expected to be bigger.

Rounds last from 45 minutes to one hour. During each round, surfers may attempt to ride as many as 10 waves and are judged on their best two. The top three surfers in each group of six get to advance to the semi-finals.

In the first round, surfers Greg Long, Shawn Rhodes and Jamie Sterling advanced. In the second group, surfers Grant Washburn, Dave Wassel and Matt Ambrose advanced.

And in the opening rounds, one surfer broke his board in two. The pieces flew up in the air like a waterspout.

At midday, the tide came in and the height of the waves diminished. In the first semi-final round, the waves were far tamer than they had been during the opening heats.

"I didn't even get a wave," said Ambrose, 36, of Pacifica, on his return to the beach after being knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals. "In the first heat, the waves were epic. In the semi-finals, they were sleigh-ride waves."

Sterling, Long and Washburn advanced from to the finals.

Fans shouted, hooted, screamed - or watched in respectful silence.

"This is something that a lot of people want to do but they don't have the ability," said Debbie Hahn of Half Moon Bay, who was watching with her husband, Greg, and daughter, Shawnee.

"I'd love to do that, but I have a family and someone has to make them lunch."

Just then, one of the competitors got knocked off his board by a 20-foot wave and was flung underwater.

"There he goes," said Greg. "Did he eat it? Yeah. He went under. There's a sense of the morbid out here. It's like a hockey game - people go hoping a fight will break out."

The annual contest, which began in 1999, attracts the top big-wave surfers from around the world. Organizers are able to give competitors only about two days advance notice of the contest, which is held when weather and ocean conditions are optimal. Typically, the competitors drop everything and dash from all parts of the globe.

Only the most skilled and the most daredevil surfers are willing to challenge the up-to-50-foot-high waves, the jagged rocks, the shallow reefs and the frigid water at Mavericks, which was named for the daring dog of one of the beach's earliest surfers.

At AT&T park, about 620 fans were watching the event on the big screen and on TVs near the stadium concession stands. For those passionate about the sport, early morning is not too soon for $8 beer and $6.25 nachos.

"It's cheaper to be here than to spend $275 to go out on the boat," said Lauren Dunne of San Mateo. "The surfers just blow me away, they're so talented and courageous and maybe a little bit insane."

Jared Stivers, a San Francisco surfer, was watching the contest with his 15-month-old daughter,Alma.

"The best was to see Mavericks is on TV," he said. "At the beach it just looks like a little wave and a trail of white. You can't even see the surfers."

Watching online was even more reasonably priced. A free live online broadcast is available here.

News source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/12/BA6UUEE3B.DTL

Society News - What to Expect in 2008? Work, Work, Work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:09:00 +0000

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer

If you've resolved to work less or cut stress in 2008, expect to break your resolution. A surprisingly large segment of the global workforce spends long hours on the job, despite all the time-saving promises of technology.

In fact, technology simply brings more work for many, as modern communication devices erase boundaries between work and home.

And with overwork comes stress, and stress begets disease and other myriad effects on family life.

By the numbers, more than 600 million people around the world put in 48-hour-plus workweeks, according to the most recent report by the International Labor Organization. Americans, it turns out, are not the hardest workers. Indonesia and Peru top the list, both reporting that more than half of their workforces log 48-plus weekly hours compared with 18 percent of Americans.

"The good news is that progress has been made in regulating normal working hours in developing and transition countries, but overall the findings of this study are definitely worrying, especially the prevalence of excessively long hours," said co-author of the study Jon Messenger, senior research officer for the ILO's Conditions of Work and Employment Program.

Who works more?

The ILO study examined working hours in more than 50 countries.

Developed countries with workers logging more than 48 weekly hours for 2004 to 2005 included:

United Kingdom: 26 percent
Israel: 26 percent
Australia: 20 percent
Switzerland: 19 percent
United States: 18 percent

Developing countries with workers logging more than 48 weekly hours for 2004 to 2005 included:

Indonesia: 51 percent
Peru: 51 percent
Republic of Korea: 50 percent
Thailand: 47 percent (data from 2000)
Pakistan: 44 percent

Overall, men tended to work longer average hours than women worldwide, with women working shorter hours on the job in almost every country studied. The report concludes that this is likely due to their bearing the primary responsibility for "unpaid" work in households and providing care for family members.

Family time

After spending so much time bringing home the bacon, many U.S. parents are balls of stress. Home lives tend to get the short shrift.

The work-family balance has recently re-emerged as a political issue. Last fall, Sen. Hillary Clinton announced an agenda to help parents balance work and family.

"Too many Americans feel trapped between being a good parent and being a good worker," Clinton said in a prepared statement. "It's about time we stopped just talking about family values and started pursuing policies that truly value families. All Americans who are working hard and taking responsibility deserve the chance to do right by their children."

Clinton says the work-family plan would work in partnership with America's businesses to ensure that pro-family work policies and increasing workplace flexibility help improve American competitiveness and economic growth.

Policy-makers may want to take note of one ironic barrier to work-family balance: the technological communications revolution.

"Working people who use technologies like cell phones and pagers, these communication technologies, they are experiencing a blurring of boundaries between work and home," said Noelle Chesley, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Her research has suggested such "digital leashes" make it that much easier for work to spill over into family life. These technologies, she said, "make life more stressful." In one study, Chesley found regular users of cell phones and other electronic links to work reported a decline in family satisfaction.

Historical perspective

Compare these seeming overworked employees with our agrarian ancestors who didn't clock in and out at the office. Entire families worked more or less all the time in an effort to have enough goods to consume or sell to subsist and/or support personal needs.

"When we had an agrarian society, making ends meet was sort of a family endeavor," Chesley told LiveScience. "They never would've thought of it as being work and family. It was just 'we have to grow our crops and we're going to keep some of them and we're going to sell some of them.'"

The concept of separating work from family happened with industrialization in the 19th century in this country.

"Back when everyone was on the farm we didn't talk about boundaries between work and family," Chesley said.

News source: http://www.livescience.com/health/080102-work-hours.html

Society News - Ruin Romo: Fans to wear Jessica Simpson mask

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:25:00 +0000

How can you ruin Romo? Panthers fans to wear Jessica Simpson mask on Saturday.

Ruin Romo? Thousands of Carolina Panthers fans are being urged to wear a "Jessica Simpson mask" in order to distract the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. A website, RuinRomo.com, is urging the fans to print the Jessica Simpson mask and wear it during the Saturday NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys ( the 'Boys remain -11 spread favorite at Bodog Sports).

The whole Simpson-Romo ordeal started last week during the game between the Cowboys and the Eagles, when the quarterback had the worst game in his career - while his girlfriend Jessica Simpson was cheering him up from the stands, wearing the No.9 jersey. Many believe that the poor performance of Tony Romo last week was due entirely to the fact that Jessica Simpson was there. And now the Panthers fans will try to shake up the Cowboys quarterback by wearing the Jessica Simpson mask. Even if it doesn't work - it will make for one fun evening. Check your local listings and watch the game - can the fans ruin Romo?

Here are the instructions to "ruin Romo" as posted on the website:

Follow these simple steps:

1) Buy Tickets to the next Dallas Game.

2) Print out this picture in Full Color.

3) Cut out eyes and head.

4) Paste or tape to a heavy piece of paper or cardboard.

5) Paste popsicle stick to bottom for easy handling.

6) Bring it to the game and let Tony know Jessica is there for him!

7) Celebrate after your team wins!

News source: http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-01488.html

Science News - Russian scientists claim if asteroid hits Mars, Earth unaffected. Should we believe them?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:55:00 +0000

December 21st, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG, (RIA Novosti) - An asteroid, which is believed to be on a collision course with Mars, will not affect the Earth if it hits the ‘Red’ planet in January 2008, a Russian Academy of Science spokesman said on Friday.

Sergei Smirnov said the asteroid, which is traveling at 8 miles per second, was discovered in November by American scientists.

He said the explosion could be on a scale equal to the Tunguska event, when a meteorite, which crashed into central Siberia in 1908 caused destruction on a nuclear scale. The enigma still thrills scientists all over the world.

“It will not influence the Earth in any way,” Smirnov said.

The scientist said that if the collision takes place, it will not be visible without high-definition telescopes, but would still provide valuable scientific data: “The object is sure to change its flight path, and this will considerably enrich our knowledge of the mass and density of asteroids.”

He also said a large asteroid was expected to pass near Earth in 2028 which could cause a major disaster if it collides with the planet.

News source: http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=4057

picture from www.occultopedia.com

Sports News - Rachel Blount: Hooton still hopes son's suicide spurs sports to sober up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:57:00 +0000

A grieving father keeps trying to strike nerves only nicked by the arrows of the Mitchell Report.

By Rachel Blount, Star Tribune.com

If you watched the 2005 congressional hearings on steroids in baseball, you might remember Don Hooton. In a room full of glamorous frauds and executive-level deniers, he stood out as the ordinary guy who had the guts to tell the truth.

And what a painful truth it was. The grieving father cut through all the obfuscation of those hearings with his tearful tale of how steroids tore a hole through his Texas family. His 17-year-old son Taylor, a high school pitcher, made a noose from a belt and hung himself from his bedroom door while trapped in a depression related to steroids use.

Don Hooton stood among the Major League Baseball glitterati and Washington power brokers again last week for the unveiling of the Mitchell Report. While most discussion of the report centers on two kinds of stars -- those whose names showed up in its pages and those that might be placed next to tainted records -- Hooton continues to make the case that it's really about the messages we're sending to the next generation.

"I don't think most players have heard stories like Taylor's," said Hooton, who created the Taylor Hooton Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. "They need to look into the face of a dad who lost his kid and realize they have a responsibility as role models to kids.

"I'm very pleased Senator Mitchell understands what's really at stake here. He thinks the situation with kids is at least as important, if not more important, than worrying about putting an asterisk next to a record."

There remains a major disconnect in this country when it comes to the intersection of kids, athletes and behavior. Athletes say they shouldn't be role models, even though their sports are marketed to children who inevitably look up to them. Parents tout the values of sportsmanship and fair play, then take their kids to games to cheer stars who use drugs or abuse their spouses.

Such mixed messages have helped performance-enhancing drug use trickle down from pro clubhouses to high school locker rooms. The Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly 5 percent of high school students surveyed in 2005 said they had used steroids. In the 2006 Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1.8 percent of high-school sophomores and 2.7 percent of seniors admitted trying steroids.

About two months ago, Hooton met with Mitchell. The father told the former senator how steroids destroyed his son and others; Hooton said that widened Mitchell's focus and drove home the message that baseball's problem is actually everyone's problem.

Commissioner Bud Selig also met with Hooton last week and assured him he is serious about cleaning up the game. Though Mitchell urged Selig not to punish the named players, Hooton said that public consequences for stars -- and testing for steroids among a significant number of high school athletes -- can have an impact.

"If kids see Barry Bonds go to jail, if they see Marion Jones give back her medals, if they see Major League Baseball implement real testing and have real punishment to go with it, we could see some effect," he said. "And if they think there's a reasonable chance they'll get caught with a random test at school, we might have a chance of licking this problem."

Hooton is skeptical of last week's Monitoring the Future numbers that showed a 33 percent drop since 2001 in the number of 12- to 17-year-olds who said they had used steroids in the past month. The survey relies on teens to be honest, and he knows from his own son's endless denials that steroids use is highly secretive.

He does believe it can be combated with the bright light of truth. Hooton devotes dozens of hours per week to the cause, developing anti-steroids programs, updating his website (www.taylorhooton.org) and speaking to anyone who will listen.

Now that the initial focus on the names is quieting, Hooton expects Mitchell's report to be yet another step in eroding our collective apathy about drugs in sport. He didn't read the signs of his own son's downward spiral until it was too late. With baseball traveling the same path of ruin, he hopes Mitchell's call to action will provide the game with the lifeline Taylor never grasped.

"Every wave brings us closer to dealing with this problem," he said. "I've got to be optimistic."

News source: http://www.startribune.com/sports/12616906.html

Industry News - GM's Latest - The 2009 Corvette ZR1 Supercharged LS9 Small-Block V-8.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:18:00 +0000

The 2009 Corvette ZR1 will be moved by the most powerful production engine ever built by GM.

When it arrives next summer, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be themost powerful and fastest production car ever produced by GeneralMotors, with performance enabled by a new, supercharged 6.2L LS9small-block V-8 engine. Incorporating the engineering experience already found in the CorvetteZ06's LS7 engine and the new-for-2008 6.2L LS3 of the Corvette, GMPowertain is targeting 100 horsepower per liter for the LS9, or 620horsepower (462 kW), and approximately 595 lb.-ft. of torque (807 Nm);final SAE-certified power levels will be available in early March 2008. It is, indeed, the ultimate small-block engine for the ultimateCorvette.

"When you experience the LS9 in the Corvette ZR1, the terms performanceand refinement take on a new meaning," said Tom Stephens, group vicepresident for GM Powertrain and Quality. "The LS9 demonstrates anoutstanding performance range, with smooth driveability at low speeds,and surprisingly fierce performance when the customer wants more power."

The enabler of the LS9's performance is a new, largepositive-displacement Roots-type supercharger - with a unique four-lobedesign - developed for the engine by Eaton. It is teamed with anintegrated charge cooling system that reduces inlet air temperature formaximum performance. The LS9 represents the first of several new,supercharged small-block engines that will be introduced in GM vehiclesin the near future, each using superchargers of similar design. "The small-block V-8 once again demonstrates it boundless horsepowerpotential, versatile design and an architecture with proven quality,durability and reliability," said Stephens. "We haven't yet realized thesmall-block's performance potential."

Performance range

More than just its tremendous peak horsepower and torque numbers, thesupercharged LS9 makes big power at lower rpm and carries it in a widearc to 6,600 rpm. GM Powertrain testing shows the engine makesapproximately 300 horsepower (224 kW) at 3,000 rpm and nearly 320lb.-ft. of torque (434 Nm) at only 1,000 rpm. Torque tops 585 lb.-ft.(793 Nm) at about the 4,000-rpm mark, while horsepower peaks at 6,500rpm. The engine produces 90 percent of peak torque from 2,600 rpm to6,000 rpm. Heavy-duty and lightweight reciprocating components enable the engine'sconfident high-rpm performance, while the large-displacement Eatonsupercharger pushes enough air to help the engine maintain power throughthe upper levels of the rpm band. "The sixth-generation design of the supercharger expands the 'sweetzone' of the compressor's effectiveness, broadening it to help makepower lower in the rpm band," said Ron Meegan, assistant chief engineer."To put it simply, the low-end torque is amazing." The LS9 is assembled by hand at GM's Performance Build Center, a unique,small-volume engine production facility in Wixom, Mich., that alsobuilds the Corvette Z06's LS7 engine and other high-performance GMproduction engines.

Cylinder block and reciprocating assembly details

The LS9's aluminum cylinder block features steel, six-bolt main bearingcaps, with enlarged vent windows in the second and third bulkheads forenhanced bay to bay breathing. Cast iron cylinder liners - measuring4.06 inches (103.25 mm) in bore diameter - are inserted in the aluminumblock and they are finish-bored and honed with a deck plate installed.The deck plate simulates the pressure and minute dimensional variancesapplied to the block when the cylinder heads are installed, ensuring ahigher degree of accuracy that promotes maximum cylinder head sealing,piston ring fit and overall engine performance. Nestled inside the cylinder block is a forged steel crankshaft thatdelivers the LS9's 3.62-inch (92 mm) stroke. It features asmaller-diameter ignition-triggering reluctor wheel and a nine-boltflange - the outer face of the crankshaft on which the flywheel ismounted - that provides more clamping strength. Other non-supercharged6.2L engines, such as the base Corvette's LS3, have a six-bolt flange. Atorsional damper mounted to the front of the crankshaft features akeyway and friction washer, which also is designed to support theengine's high loads. Attached to the crankshaft is a set of titanium connecting rods andforged aluminum pistons, which, when combined with the cylinder heads,delivers a 9.1:1 compression ratio. This combination is extremelydurable and lightweight, enabling the LS9's high-rpm capability. [...]

Source news:http://www.corvettefever.com

For the rest of the story, click here

Society News - Jews Who Speak Up for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:41:00 +0000

Sharon Hughes - 12/16/2007

Once terribly divided, Jews and Christians are finding a new unity as the walls between them are coming down. Why is this happening? Primarily for two reasons. Number one because Christians seem to be the only ones standing with Israel these days. As Avi Lipkin says, “Jews are finding that Christians are our only friends.” Number two because of the mutually held concern over the violation of religious freedom that is increasing in America, Jews are standing with Christians over the assault against Christmas, and the rise of discrimination against Christianity — something they understand well.

Rabbi Aryeh Spero of Caucus for America has talked on our show about what’s at stake in the battle over Christmas, and why Jews need to speak up for Christmas. His articles on the subject are worthy reads, such as This Christmas Don’t Let Them Turn Off the Lights, Once Upon a Time When Americans Had Christmas and Our Battle for the Soul of America. Ted Belman, Editor of Israpundit, is another Jew who is speaking up for Christmas. See Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Barry Farber’s article Jews for Christmas had a surprising effect on me. He is so bold in his advocacy for “a vigorous movement of American Jews rising up to make sure nobody pushes around those Christians whose ancestors decided, for the first time in history, to make a unique wonderland like America, where nobody gets pushed around…” and it made me realize, that not only has it become open season on Christians, but that we have been standing alone…until recently. Farber goes on to write, “Never in history, not until America, did a people overwhelmingly of one religion ever conquer a continent and then turn around and invite the world to ‘Come on over and help us make this place great!’ And while they were at it, they made sure every newcomer was free to worship God in his chosen way. If the emcee at a brotherhood banquet said that and then said, ‘Let’s hear it for those Christians who started this particular America!’ would you fail to applaud?” That’s a powerful question. In a growing supposedly ‘tolerance-led’ society, people are concerned about offending everyone from homosexuals to illegal aliens. But how many are concerned about offending Christians? And for those who aren’t, why not? Increasingly, Americans and Christians are portrayed as the cause of much of the world’s ills, both here at home and abroad. Happily, Christians have found an ally in a growing number of Jews, such as Don Feder, President of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, who said,

“We understand that Christians are the last remaining obstacle to the moral deconstruction of America. Christians are under assault because of the values they embrace. But the morality of Christianity is also the morality of Judaism. By maintaining their loyalty to the eternal values revealed at Sinai, Christians have become pariahs in the eyes of the establishment, but heroes in our eyes.”

Heroes? Wow. When was the last time you read or heard something like that? Christmas for Christians is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, “who has broken down every wall” so that peace on earth and goodwill to all men may become a reality. Now, what can be so offensive about that?

News source: http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3880&cid=1&sid=104

Sharon Hughes is Founder and President of The Center for Changing Worldviews and a radio talk show host on KDIA in San Francisco, NPLR, RIGHTALK.com, and online at Salem Web Network’s Oneplace.com. Her articles appear in many recognized news sites and publications, including FRONTPAGEMAG. She also writes for NewsBusters.org, a division of The Media Research Center, and has appeared on FOX News and other national radio programs. For further information visit her Websites www.changingworldviews.com, WOMANTalk.us, and Blog http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com

World Politics News - Assassination attempt “expected” for The Time’s Person of the Year 2007: Vladimir Putin

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:07:00 +0000

Read this article and you won’t believe to obscure and unknown spy-story’s scenarios and to unbelievable coincidences linking the Time’s Person of the Year 2007 to the assassination of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, happened on late ‘70s.

By Maurizio Blondet, http://www.effedieffe.com/

"The United States still does not exclude a global conflict and directed against Russia" said Yuri Baluievsky, the chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces. That is the meaning that the General gives of the American obstinacy in wanting the installation of the anti-missile shield (ABM) in Poland. This weapon system, he pointed out, at any time can cause a Russian reaction "by mistake".

An American missile interceptor departing from

Poland

, "perhaps to stop the Iranian missile, can trigger the automatic response of Russian missile systems designed to respond to a ballistic missile proceding towards Russian territory. "Who will then lead the responsibility?" the general said. "I do not want to frighten, but the thing frightens by itself. It is a technical detail which may upset the military stability of the world.

As you know, the White House has decided to proceed by placing in Poland at least ten intercepting systems, and the relative guiding radar in Czech Republic, within 2012, with the excuse of having to save a possible ballistic attack from Tehran against Europe. Moscow has consistently argued that such a risk does not exist, that the Polish system is directed against Russia, and therefore Russia will take its countermeasures. The general is aware of other disturbing signs that support his fears. As the strange "scenario" prepared by the CSIS of Washington (Center for Strategic and International Studies, a private think-tank close to intelligence circles) which forecasts an attack to Putin for the Orthodox Christmas, January 7, 2008.

According to this prophecy, internal national-bolscevik environments would kill Putin, and not to transform the country into an accomplished democracy West-style, but to establish a dictatorship that will get rid of that few of Russian representative institutions.

But this possibility does not worry the CSIS, quite the contrary: the new dictator will be a better friend for the West than Putin, and will be allowed to militarily expand in Central Asia again, becoming a useful force for containing the Islamic world, with a too exuberant demographics . In return, the new Russia will be allowed to become "the dominator of energetic market"; at that point the Russian resources but will be back under the control of Anglo-American oil companies, thanks to the openings ofa friend-dictator. Instructive detail here: CSIS forecasts that, as Putin falls, the new group at the power will unleash an anti-corruption campaign to discredit and eliminate that part of the system still loyal to Putin. This method has already been applied by the United States and has worked in several countries (in Italy with the opertaion called "Mani pulite"/Clean Hands) to destroy the previous ruling classes.

Although we are unable to verify the credibility of such a prediction, such a detail suggests that some prophecies born in the USA tend to come true. The CSIS is, after all, the central in charge for implementing the new strategy contrary to Bush's war methods that caused disasters: the 'smart power' .

It is interesting to note that during the recent Russian elections, the Economist (the magazine of Rostchild) commented that the effort made by Putin to collect on his person as many votes as possible, even with unscrupulous methods, did not was an anti-western meaning, but rather an attempt to strengthen himself inside his group against the group of power on his side. The Economist says, or knows, that this group, which apparently supports Putin, is making him an underground frond; and this is a group that has "power and huge financial resources", collected in the recent years.

The Economist also states that Putin may become a victim of this group. And here comes the unbelievable coincidence: the Economist predicted that the Italian prime minister assassinated Aldo Moro was going to be liquidated (with a cover caricature of Aldo Moro and the caption: "Comedy is over") a few weeks before the kidnapping by the Red Brigades. Nowadays, Putin has been just nominated the Time's Person of the Year, and earned all the cover of the magazine. Only coincidences? We hope so.

Anyway, these scenarios may be a sign of desperation of the West, which is unable to prevent the resurrection of Moscow as a global political actor; and it can be an act of psychological war, perhaps for embitter suspects and fractures into the group of Putin's power . But this can be a project being implemented.

It is more than likely that the central policy of 'smart power' feel it is urgent to do something to counter the new activism in Moscow on the scene, especially in the Mediterranean. Recently Russia has started the move to a navy port in two Syrians. Now, we add another novelty: Greece, a NATO member, has decided to buy from Moscow well 415 armored porta-truppe BMP-3 an important committed by more than 1.2 billion euros. The same Novosti wonders how Washington will react to this intrusion in the market for American arms. A protected market: NATO from Brussels controls the appropriateness el'intercambiabilità materials for all war allies, and that means that the weapons are, at least for design, made in the USA and corresponding to specific concepts and American tactics (which are bankruptcy revealed in Iraq).

But this is not the first time that Athens is given in Moscow. Practically his entire defense anti-aerea consists of Russian missiles from portable IGLA, the weapon systems in the short or medium-haul Osa-AKM, Tor-M1 and Buk M1-1, the missiles off raggion S-300 PMU-1. Without counting anticarri Russian Kornet and Fagot, and means by landing air cushion Zubr (purchased from Ukraine). Even then Madeleine Albright had harsh pressure on the Greeks against such purchases, in turn, pressed by Turkey, just glad to see his enemy traditional form of such armaments. Athens could somehow convince the Americans, perahps indicatin that Turkey, the traditional eney and member of Nato, knew too well the arms NATO can be required to respect.
But this time is different. The Greece, which already at the time of Kosovo was openly on the side of Belgrade, took note-better than most other Europeans servant - that the nature of NATO has changed, that the old notion of "friend" not attaglia more to the USA, and that the international framework is radically changed. The reappearance forces in Russian ships in the eastern Mediterranean may be trying to position themselves Athens port where its culture and tradition, Orthodox and filo-slava. Riemergono ancient solidarity and strength reflect the national destiny posters. Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis is the official visit to Moscow for three days (2)

This article appeared on http://www.effedieffe.com/rx.php?id=2504%20&chiave=putin

Notes
1) Andrew Kuchins, «Alternative futures for Russia to 2017», CSIS: www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Politics
"A scenario from the report".
Another scenario projects the emergence of a KGB-driven nationalist dictatorship after Putin is assassinated on Christmas night, Jan. 7, 2008. Sechin, Patrushev and Viktor Ivanov take over the country's leadership as the caretaker, President Zubkov, virtually disappears from the scene. The siloviki, never quite happy entirely with Putin's Plan for Russia, put forward Vladimir Yakunin who takes leadership of the United Russia Party (which is renamed Glory to Russia) and easily wins the presidential election.
Yakunin's rule is heavy on Chinese-style anti-corruption measures that visibly shake up the Russian elites after Moscow's former mayor Yury Luzhkov is found guilty of corruption and sentenced to death. Following an increase in nationalist rhetoric, drastic anti-immigrant measures are implemented and guest workers from Central Asia and China are strictly quarantined and are not allowed to hold ownership in any business.
Having dismantled most of what remained of Russia's democratic institutions, Yakunin, however, maintains much of the liberal economic policies instituted under Putin and welcomes increasing flows of foreign investment. The economic and political system he develops is modeled on Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, and it is quite successful in ensuring Russia's rapid economic growth. By 2017, Russia is a $6 trillion economy and the ruble is traded at 10 for the euro.
Despite the nationalist rhetoric Russia's foreign policy does not turn anti-Western, but rather acquires a brutally pragmatic character that seeks to maximize Russia's self-interest. Yakunin consolidates the post-Soviet space by driving Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan into a confederation with Russia, with Belarus falling into Russia's fold even earlier. The new confederation becomes a market maker in international energy markets competing and cooperating with OPEC.
Moscow's ties with Washington actually strengthen as successive U.S. administrations welcomed increased stability and improved business environment due to anti-corruption measures while recognizing Russia's role in containing the political instability and rising radical Islam in Central Asia. Washington resigns itself to the failure of its previous policies to block Russian reconsolidation of the former Soviet Union.
With Russia's economy roaring, incomes rising rapidly and political opponents purged, Yakunin lengthens the presidential term to seven years and is reelected with 95 percent of popular the vote in 2015.'
2) «Les armes russes et la position de la Grèce», dedefensa, 15 dicembre 2007.

Do you want to bring Free Huge Traffic to your Blog/Website, and Earn while doing it? Great news: the Best Kept Ever Internet Secret finally Revealed!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:47:00 +0000

Dear Friend,

this is something that every website owner or blog lover should look upon. Read the facts below and if you want let me know what you think. I've just bought this guide and I wanna share my ideas with those who will do the same. Hope to talk to you soon! (Angelo)

A gentleman from New York discovered what he calls an "oversight" on the part of 99.9% of all marketers that allows him to get otherwise paid-for advertising at Google as well as all other search engines that allow sponsored ads.
And no, nothing about his "secret" is illegal - nor does it require that you know someone on the "inside" at Google, Yahoo, MSN, Overture and others.
Instead, the New Yorker boasts proudly "...this is something that I caught onto just before 2000 when there was so much search engine craze running around, and started doing small just to test things at first ... but which I later expanded on after getting the hang of it."
This same fellow went on to start and operate sixteen separate online companies selling everything from pet food, DVDs, children's toys & games, books, software, and sold not only his own manufactured products but became an affiliate for other web businesses - all the while applying his mastermind secret.
Over the course of nearly eight years the New Englander confesses "I've actually gotten over $87 million in advertising that using my secret I never had to pay for ... and the largest share of which was more recently in Google pay-per-clicks as well as other forms of pad advertising at search engines ... all of which I got for free ..."
So powerful is his secret that he's able to monopolize any niche online, and can always secure the top premium spots just above the usual organic results featured at most search engines.
He still has to set up an account with the search engines - but after applying his secret he is removed from having to pay for all the costs otherwise involved.Again, nothing about his secret is either illegal or robs from the search engines.
One spokesperson from one of the most popular search engines said chuckling after being made privy to this amazing secret "Wow! Ha! This is really unique ... and in my expert opinion it would only serve to enhance and bring more business to us at [name of search engine withheld for legal & confidentiality reasons] and not cause us to lose business in the slightest. Amazing!"
The northerner revealed that in this nearly eight years' period of time since applying his secret he's done well over $300 million in sales revenue with a most diverse line of products, and most recently in the last two years netted nearly $166 million after really "buckling down and pressing my secret to its fullest potential."
Now to everyone else's fortune, the city slicker is releasing his secret for getting an unlimited amount of pay-per-click ads to the general public. But he's not promising any of us for how long.
A bit of an eccentric, the gentleman says "We'll see just how long I can make it available before it saturates things."
One famous public web guru pointed out that although this man may gain economically more so as a result of the publication of his secret "he's already so amazingly rich that whether he continues or discontinues its sale will neither make nor break the man, but not grabbing it for yourself while it's still available could prove disastrous for you as you may only have one chance, and a very limited one at that, to get this."
It is currently available at:

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...so you may want to head on over there now and get it.
It's in a very easily readable format and is quickly and readily understood and mastered by anyone with even a 4th grade reading level.
While you're there, why not scroll down and review for yourself the huge successes others are now having with this incredible breakthrough in targeted advertising now made freely available to the rest of us?

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Technology News - Apple's iPhone takes center stage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:21:00 +0000

Apple took several bold steps this year, proving that it's one of the most influential companies in the technology and media worlds.

By Tom Krazit

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Presumably you've heard of the iPhone. Apple's first attempt at cracking the mobile phone market was received with almost unprecedented coverage from both the technology and mainstream media. The iPhone was first introduced in January at Macworld, and made its debut on a balmy June night to lines of customers all over the country. We, along with hundreds of our colleagues, were there as iPhone madness swept the country for a day.

As the year progressed, Apple sold 1.4 million iPhones by the end of September and rolled the device out to customers in the U.K., Germany, and France.

Not everything went as smoothly as planned, as controversies over the $200 cut in the price of the iPhone just months after it arrived, as well as the retaliatory steps Apple took to relock hacked iPhones, rankled some early adopters. But without a doubt, the iPhone made the mobile phone industry sit up and realize that Apple had made a breakthrough with average consumers in terms of design and user interface, and that it would have to come up with an answer.

Watch the video for a closer look a the iPhone

This year was not just about the iPhone, however. Apple totally redesigned its iPod lineup in September, bringing the iPhone's interface over to the iPod Touch, and tweaking the iPod Nano in a more video-friendly manner. Six years after it was first introduced, the iPod continued its run as Apple's single most successful product ever, and shipments during this holiday season are expected to top last year's 21 million units.

Apple also saw a great deal of momentum around the Mac. The company continued to benefit from the PC industry's overall move toward notebooks, but didn't do much with the basic MacBook Pro and MacBook design during 2007. It did launch the all-in-one iMac in August with the titanium-gray color scheme used on the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro.

And although it had to be delayed four months to make sure the iPhone launched on time, Mac OS X Leopard, the sixth version of the company's operating system, sold 2 million copies the first weekend it went on sale. That was about 9 percent of the total Mac installed base, an astonishing number for a major operating-system upgrade. Although some complained about problems with the first version of Leopard, those seemed to subside following the release of Mac OS X 10.5.1.

As the year closes, however, perhaps the most turbulent area of Apple's business is the iTunes Store, which is facing competition like never before. Amazon launched its own music store this year, and television networks like NBC have signaled they want to take the online distribution of their shows back into their control. The iTunes Store is still the preeminent place to find (legally available) music and TV shows on the Internet. But as we turn the clock to 2008, this is one area that will bear watching: can these new competitors catch up to Apple's online juggernaut?