Today's News At The Speed Of Type

Four men arrested over NFL murder

2007-12-02T02:19:00.000-08:00

Four people have been arrested over the murder of NFL star Sean Taylor, who died on Tuesday after being shot by intruders in his Florida home.

Miami police say they have more than one confession from the group - all males aged between 17 and 20 years old.

Detectives say Mr Taylor, a defensive player for the Washington Redskins, was killed in what appeared to have been a robbery which went wrong.

Mr Taylor, aged 24, was shot in the groin, severing his femoral artery.

Police arrested Eric Rivera, 17, Charles Wardlow, 18, Jason Mitchell, 19, and Venjahk Hunte, 20, in south-west Florida, about 160km (100 miles) from Miami.

Police Director Robert Parker said detectives are confident that the case against the four arrested was strong.

"We do have more than one confession," he said. "We're pretty certain we do have the gun."

Previous burglary

Mr Parker said the suspects had broken into the house in the belief that it would be empty, but Mr Taylor was off work with an injured knee and at home with his girlfriend Jackie Garcia and 18-month daughter.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone. They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive," Mr Parker said.

"Their motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house."

Police are trying to establish if the burglary was linked to another break-in on 17 November at Mr Taylor's home and if more individuals are involved.

"We're looking into whether or not one or more of the individuals had been at the residence before," Mr Parker said.

Successful season

Mr Taylor, a college star with the University of Miami, was the fifth pick of the 2004 NFL Draft and was enjoying a successful season until a knee injury sidelined him for the past two games.

Mr Taylor, who played as a safety for Washington, had a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

"I just take this job very seriously," he said in an interview during training camp.

"It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that'."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7122468.stm

Venezuelans vote on constitution

2007-12-02T02:17:00.001-08:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is facing his toughest challenge in years as voters decide whether to approve constitutional changes in a referendum.

The raft of reforms includes allowing abolishing presidential term limits and ending the Central Bank's autonomy.

Mr Chavez says the proposed changes would return power to the people, but opponents accuse him of a power grab.

On Saturday, President Chavez repeated a threat to stop oil supplies to the US if it tried to disrupt the ballot.

Mr Chavez has warned that his opponents could try to sabotage the vote, with backing from Washington, through violent protests.

At a news conference, he said: "In the case of an aggression by the US government, we wouldn't send any more oil to that country. Forget about our oil."

Opec member Venezuela currently exports about 60% of its oil to the United States - a trade worth an estimated $37bn (£18.5bn) a year.

Mr Chavez has accused Washington of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. US officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

On Sunday, voters will decide whether they agree with a package of constitutional reforms, which Mr Chavez says are necessary to "construct a new socialist economy".

Mr Chavez has proposed 33 changes, and the National Assembly, which is composed of his supporters, put forward a further 36 amendments.

His opponents have called for close monitoring of the ballot. Opinion polls have suggested that the result could be close, although surveys in the past have tended to underestimate the level of support Mr Chavez enjoys.

The BBC's Americas editor, Emilio San Pedro, says the elections are expected to be as free and fair as all previous ones since Mr Chavez came to power in 1998.

Working week

One proposal is to allow the president to stand for re-election an indefinite number of times.

The opposition camp has mounted a vocal campaign

Speaking on Friday, Mr Chavez said: "If God gives me life and help, I will be at the head of the government until 2050." He would be 95 years old.

Under the current constitution, Mr Chavez would have to stand down when his term expires at the end of 2012.

Other changes up for approval include giving the president control over the central bank, the creation of new provinces governed by centrally-appointed officials, and a reduction in the voting age from 18 to 16.

There are also proposals to expand presidential powers during natural disasters or political "emergencies".

On the social front, changes include establishing a maximum six-hour working day and 36-hour working week, and widening social security benefit to workers in the informal economy.

A number of defections from the president's camp have encouraged opponents, but Mr Chavez has dismissed these one-time allies as traitors.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7123365.stm

Surprise! Jesus is Coming

2007-12-02T02:14:00.000-08:00

Can you recall a time when you were surprised? Perhaps by something totally unexpected? Were you caught completely off guard? Maybe you thought afterward, "if only I had known," or "I wish I had been prepared!"

Getting ready... being prepared. Well, the Advent season is your chance! Advent starts a new year in the life of the church! A time to get ready for God's wonderful surprise - the birth of the Savior, God's beloved Son. The word "advent" is derived from a Latin term that means "coming" and the Advent season begins four Sundays before Christmas. It is a time that invites us to wait for the coming of Jesus and to prepare for the celebration of Jesus' birth. It is truly a time of hopeful expectation.

As we wait with hope, Matthew 24:36-44 reminds us of Jesus' coming in power and glory at the close of the age. While many may wonder when that will be, Jesus tells us that "no one knows the day or hour... only the Father knows" (Matthew 24:36, CEV). And we are admonished by Jesus to "be ready" since we don't know when he will come (verse 44).

All around us it seems that the commercial world is urging us, with increased intensity, to get ready for Christmas - window decorations begin appearing as early as October; our mailboxes are flooded with holiday circulars and catalogs; stores open the day after Thanksgiving at 4:00 and 5:00 a.m., seeking to lure buyers with special sales and other shopping incentives. How easy, and perhaps tempting, to get caught up in the frenzied pace of the pre-Christmas season. Are we any different from the unprepared people in Noah's day who "were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came" (Matthew 24:38, CEV)? Think how surprised they must have been when God acted! To be so preoccupied can cause us to lose sight of and miss what God has in store.

Yes, the Advent season bids us pause, reflect, and prepare for God's amazing surprise. We are invited to prepare our hearts so that we will be ready to receive God's gift of love, God's own Son. When Jesus was born, no one expected the Messiah to come as a baby. Surprise...! God's gift of love came to us in an unexpected and joyful way. With the birth of Jesus, God broke into human history to dwell among us. God's sending the Holy Spirit empowers us to be prepared for the unexpected hour when Christ will come again. The apostle Paul warns us to "wake up" and to "live properly" because "the day when we will be saved is nearer now" (Romans 13:11, CEV) than ever before.

Living "in between Advents," we prepare for the birth of Jesus - Emmanuel, God with us - and we joyfully await his coming again. In the days of Advent, be open to God's surprises in your life as you prepare your heart to welcome and receive the Savior. As in Noah's time, God will act when we least expect it. Are you ready?

This Reflection is drawn from the Bible Resource Center's e-Bulletin Series - an online ministry of the American Bible Society. The Bible Resource Center houses a rich collection of Advent and Christmas Resources for Churches.

Barbara Bernstengel

Hermeneutics - A Primer On Bible Study Methods

2007-12-02T02:13:00.000-08:00

Primer On the Historical-Grammatical Bible Interpretation Method
How to become proficient in Bible Interpretation
(EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW HEBREW OR GREEK)

This is an article about the history of Bible Interpretation. It will be primarily for the average person who may or may not have the responsibility of teaching a class or instructing others in the Scriptures but who has a desire to be proficient in Bible Interpretation for himself/herself. It is written on the premise that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, commonly known as the Bible, are the very words of God. I believe that in the original manuscripts, the words of God were recorded exactly as God would have them written, and the human authors were kept from all error.

To the young preacher Timothy the Apostle Paul said these words:

"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." KJV 2 Timothy 3:14

In the phrase "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God..." the word "inspiration" literally means "God breathed." God actually exhaled all Scripture. That is the biblical claim and I accept that at face value. I say that so there will be no mis-understanding as we learn how to interpret the Bible.

Bible Interpretation has been a mystery for most laymen for a many years. This is so even though there are many good books available on the subject. I think there are several reasons for this situation. Through the years a professional church mentality has tended to leave the understanding of the Bible up to those who are seen as professional teachers. The seminaries and Bible schools cater to those whose life calling is teaching and preaching the Bible (and so they should). There also seems to be the mentality among some "professionals" that they are the only ones who should be trained in Scripture interpretation. I beg to differ. It is obvious to me that a biblically astute laity is needed if there are to be godly homes and spiritual churches. Godly men and women grow spiritually as they learn to feed on the Scriptures. It is my prayer that many who have been mystified by much of what the Bible says will read the words in this little article, and be invigorated to study the Bible anew, and will be equipped to do it with a great degree of satisfaction.

An important part of Bible interpretation is understanding a little about the history of the discipline.

The first professional masters of Bible Interpretation were Jewish scribes. They arose in the days of Ezra and were determined to give the truth of the Scriptures they had. They gave the sense of the written Scriptures so that the common people could understand their meaning.1 A document called The Midrash housed the interpretations of the rabbis, the teachers to Israel. The scribes put the first Misrash together in the 4th century B.C.2 The term 'midrash' comes from a Hebrew root which means 'to explain, deduce, ferret out.'3

Some of the early scribes and rabbis thought that the Scriptures had a deeper meaning that was not obvious on the surface. It was a deeper and mystical meaning. One writer quotes Rabbi Akiba, who was a leader of a school for rabbis at Jaffa, Palestine as saying , ". . . every repetition, figure, parallelism, synonyme [sic], word, letter, particle, pleonasm, na, the very shape of a letter, had a recondite meaning, just as every fiber of fly's wing or an ant's foot has its particular significance."4

This philosophy carried over into the early Christian church. According to Roy Zuck, Origen, an early church father, believed that "Noah's ark pictured the church and Noah represented Christ. Rebekah's drawing water at the well for Abraham's servant means we must daily come to the Scriptures to meet Christ. In Jesus triumphal entry the donkey represented the Old Testament, its colt depicted the New Testament and the two apostles pictured the moral and mystical senses of the Scriptures."5 This kind of interpretation nearly ignored the literal meaning the authors of Scripture had in mind. Because of this disregard for the literal meaning of the Scriptures in Alexandrian Church Fathers, several leaders in Antioch of Syria put their emphasis on the historical, literal interpretation. "They stressed the study of the Bible's original languages (Hebrew and Greek) and they wrote commentaries on the Scriptures." " For them, literal interpretation included figurative language."6

The trend to allegorize and give fanciful meanings to the Scripture continued in the Western church however. Interpreters left the historical, literal and contextual meanings of the Scriptures and developed all kinds of unwarranted interpretations. McQuay says: "Collections of allegorical interpretations showed, for example that the word sea could mean a gathering of water, Scripture, the present age, the human heart, the active life, heathen or baptism.7 For a thousand years the allegorical method of interpretation of the Bible held sway. I do not think it is a coincidence that this is the period of time dubbed the dark ages by the historians.

The Protestant Reformation beginning in the 16th century saw the move back to the literal interpretation of Scripture. The Reformation established two main principles that led in this return. The first one was called "the analogy of Scripture" and simply said that all Scripture must be interpreted by other Scripture. It denied the right of the Catholic Church, the pope or any other human institution to lock in any particular Scripture interpretation. The second principle was the principle of literal sense. The Bible was to be interpreted literally where possible. This eliminated the whole system of allegorical interpretation that had held sway during the dark ages. Men began to exegete the Scriptures on a new plane and the original languages were used to find the first author's literal meaning.8 This method of interpretation came to be known as the Grammatical-Historical method of interpretation.

A group of critics that were very destructive appeared in the 19th century. These men were controlled by naturalistic pre-suppositions that denied anything that could not be empirically proven. The super-natural was simply dis-believed. This has led to much confusion concerning true biblical interpretation. My answer is that we need to go back to the simple principles of the analogy of faith and a literal interpretation. If God is super-natural then we should not limit Him to acting in only natural, humanly explainable ways.

Neo-orthodoxy arose in the latter 19th century to combat the liberalism spawned by the higher critics mentioned above. It was a way of trying to interpret the Scriptures as God's word while holding on to the naturalistic pre-suppositions of the liberal higher critics. It failed miserably.

In the early 20th century a movement arose that was known as "Fundamentalism." It was characterized by men who believed the Bible, super-natural events and all, and who said that the Scriptures should be interpreted literally and in their historical context. Conservatism, the step-child of fundamentalism holds, for the most part, to the position of a literal interpretation of the Scriptures but does not embrace the legalistic tendencies of many of the early fundamentalist leaders. The Pentecostal and Charismatic movements seem to hold to a literal and historical interpretation of Scripture but with the danger of going beyond Scripture and confusing the teaching of certain men with the teaching of Scripture. We will deal with this phenomenon more at length later.

That is a very abbreviated overview of the history of Bible interpretation. If the student is interested whole books have been written on each aspect of that history and it would be well worth the work to investigate each period in depth. In our next article we will go on to an explanation of the Grammatical- Historical approach to Bible interpretation.

1 1Norman Geisler and William Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), 52.

2 2James I. Packer. Merrill C. Tenny, and William White, Jr. Eds., The Bible Almanac (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980), 502

3 3Concept Midrash Internet Source (USA Jewish Theological Seminary of America 1997), 1.

4Roy B. Zuck. Basic Bible Interpretation (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991), 28.

5Zuck, 36.

6Zuck. 37.

7Earl P. McQuay. Keys To Understanding the Bible, (Nashville: Broadman, 1993)18.

8J. Barton Payne. The Theology of the Older Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962), 26.

Michael Morrow has been pastor of the Union Baptist Church since June of 2000. He has preached and taught in Bible conferences and revival efforts across thirteen different states and five countries, including six trips to Romania. His ministry includes adjunct professor at Mid-Continent College in Mayfield, Kentucky for six years. He presently teaches Comparative Religions for Madisonville Community College. Dr. Morrow is a 1999 graduate of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Susan and they have three children. He has recently become a proud grandfather. His desire is to live out the rest of his life serving Christ in every way possible. To check out his new book "How To Study The Bible (Even though you don't know Hebrew or Greek)" go to http://www.The-Christian-Resource-Page.Com

Letters To Mankind - Us And Them

2007-12-02T02:12:00.001-08:00

My Dear Fellowman

Today I am writing you about our differences. They are many. Nature seems to have a gift for variety. We all adapt to our respective climates, both social and environmental. There appears to be a gradation of talents and deficits distributed between us to varying degrees, as well as the natural resources at our disposal. We all fall somewhere along the spectrum of enlightenment, evolution, and progress. Our points of origin are spattered, giving rise to many often conflicting vantage points. Tension and competition exists between all living things, even those of the same species, same family. I think it is unrealistic, naive perhaps, to believe that complete harmony is achievable as long as nature sees fit to use conflict as a means of improving upon her creation.

Though your unique experience is largely foreign to me, and mine to you, I have grown to respect your will to live, your tenacious hold on your values, your devotion to your family, and your passion for self expression. Though I have the deepest disdain for some of your beliefs and customs, I have the utmost respect for your right to believe as you wish. Though the means by which we govern our own is mutually exclusive, it is incumbent upon all to protect human life and dignity everywhere. And though I lay claim to the land in which I dwell and all it's resources, as do you with yours, surely there is something we can barter, buy and sell to our mutual benefit. And sooner or later we will be compelled to relax our borders and explore the world together. We both realize that our greatest resource is knowledge, which is also our greatest defense and offense when necessary, but belongs to no one and everyone. With that in mind, we have only our mutual promise not to harm each other without provocation or withhold from each other the knowledge necessary to survive.

It has become clear to me that as we both evolve and expand our horizons and strive to meet our respective needs, we cannot ignore each other, nor extinguish each other's rights. So in the interest of self-preservation and well-being, our least common denominator, the best way to protect our rights, our property, our loved ones, and our posterity, is to be invested in each other's preservation and well being. We do that by relying on each other's word, integrating our communities, and helping to solve each other's problems. For there is no benefit in malice.

Yours Truly
Sef

Sef is publisher and writer of the blog The Velvet Spot: http://www.velvetspot.com This article and a variety of others can be found on the blog.

Pornography, Dietary Supplements and the First Amendment

2007-12-02T02:10:00.002-08:00

"...in 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that large sections of the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act, including the depiction of virtual child porn, were overly broad and unconstitutional. Free speech advocates and pornographers had challenged the legality of the act, and six of the nine justices sided with them..."

Today pornographers have free reign. The federal courts routinely strike down any attempt to stop even the most vial pornography sites under the auspices of free speech.

The intent of this short article is to contrast the unrestricted free speech of pornographers shown by the above quote with the lack of free speech of millions of Americans are now denied because of the pharmaceutical medical monopoly that exists which aggressively restricts the right of Americans to have access to knowledge about the benefits of nutritional supplements.

On one hand, pornographers have unlimited free speech and on the other hand, millions of Americans and entrepreneurs have suffered the loss of basic 1st Amendment freedom and even physical raids by armed "jack booted thugs" from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).This is egregious state of affairs should make the average American's blood boil.

Just who supports the FDA in their ongoing attack against Americans 1st Amendment freedom? The Pharmaceutical companies, medical associations, doctors, medical journals, hospitals and numerous corrupt Congress creatures do so by supporting the FDA's blatant disregard for federal court decisions and the 1st Amendment. They condone the use of terrorism against the American people and, ultimately, support the continued use of police state tactics against innocent Americans who simply want truthful information about dietary supplement and the freedom to use supplements if they do desire.

A little history:

One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a doctor, educator and politician. Dr. Rush was a member of the Continental Congress and was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention that ratified the US Constitution. He became a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and was a founder of the first American Antislavery society. Rush Medical College in Chicago is named after him.

In addition to Dr. Rush's amazing career in medicine he had one very significant idea that he wanted added to the Constitution's Bill of Rights. Dr. Rush believed that the right to Medical Freedom should be imprinted into the Bill of Rights and was just as important as the right to Freedom of Speech and Religion. His thoughts were incredibly accurate given today's political climate. The following is a quote from Dr. Rush's argument before the American Continental Congress:

"Unless we put Medical Freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship....to restrict the art of healing to one class of men, and deny equal privilege to others, will be to constitute the Bastille of Medical Science. All such laws are un-American and despotic, and have no place in a Republic...The Constitution of this Republic should make special privilege for Medical Freedom as well as Religious Freedom."

Unfortunately, the right to medical freedom was not added to the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, and now we have the government, medical and pharmaceutical groups working together to limit our health choices. In short, we have a monstrous medical monopoly enforced by the increasingly compromised and corrupt FDA along with the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) which routinely censors truthful health claims.

Free Speech and Dietary Supplements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Health Freedom Protection Act. This bill restores the First Amendment rights of consumers to receive truthful information regarding the benefits of foods and dietary supplements by codifying the First Amendment standards used by federal courts to strike down the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts to censor truthful health claims. The Health Freedom Protection Act also stops the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) from censoring truthful health care claims.

The American people have made it clear they do not want the federal government to interfere with their access to dietary supplements, yet the FDA and the FTC continue to engage in heavy-handed attempts to restrict such access. The FDA continues to frustrate consumers' efforts to learn how they can improve their health even after Congress, responding to a record number of constituents' comments, passed the Dietary Supplement and Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). FDA bureaucrats are so determined to frustrate consumer access to truthful information that they are even evading their duty to comply with four federal court decisions vindicating consumers' First Amendment rights to discover the health benefits of foods and dietary supplements.

FDA bureaucrats have even refused to abide by the DSHEA section allowing the public to have access to scientific articles and publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against diseases by claiming that every article concerning this topic is evidence of intent to sell a drug..... This edited version is from the speech of the HON. Ron Paul of Texas before the US House of Representatives in 2005.

Collusion and Corruption at the FDA

"According to a USA Today study, more than half of the experts hired to advise the government on the safety and effectiveness of medicine have financial relationships with the pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decisions. These experts are hired to advise the Food and Drug Administration on which medicines should be approved for sale, what the warning labels should say and how studies of drugs should be designed. The experts are supposed to be independent, but USA TODAY found that 54% of the time, they have a direct financial interest in the drug or topic they are asked to evaluate. These conflicts include helping a pharmaceutical company develop a medicine, then serving on an FDA advisory committee that judges the drug.

The conflicts typically include stock ownership, consulting fees or research grants. Federal law generally prohibits the FDA from using experts with financial conflicts of interest, but according to the article, the FDA has waived the restriction more than 800 times since 1998." Note: An article by Dennis Cauchon, the USA TODAY Newspaper, Sept. 25, 2000 More heavy handed tactics and outrages, brought to you by the FDA

When it comes to health freedom, a new FDA document recently published on the FDA's website reveals plans to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as regulated drugs. Who gave these unelected tyrannical bureaucrats the mandate to do this? How can they justify their efforts when in reality they are misleading and directly harming the public by refusing us our 1st Amendment freedom of speech related to dietary supplements that even Congress has stated in DSHEA that there is scientific evidence of a correlation between ingesting certain dietary supplement and improved health? How many millions of Americans have suffered from being kept in the dark about dietary supplements that could possibly improve someone's quality of life?

In addition, the FDA is protecting their pals at Big Pharma by the new preemption policy that bans private lawsuits against drug companies in state courts once a drug and its label have been approved by the FDA. This looks like a protection racket for their financiers at big Parma! This is simply outrageous!

The Solution

The HON. Ron Paul of Texas has said: Americans are justifiably concerned over the government's escalating intervention into their freedom to choose what they eat and how they take care of their health.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in order to comply with standards dictated by supra-national organizations such as the UN's World Food Code (CODEX), NAFTA, and CAFTA, has been assuming greater control over nutrients, vitamins and natural health care providers to restrict your right to choose the manner in which you manage your health and nutritional needs.

I have been the national leader in preserving Health Freedom.

I have introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2117, to ensure Americans can receive truthful health information about supplements and natural remedies.

I support the Access to Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 2717, which expands the ability of Americans to use alternative medicine and new treatments.

I oppose legislation that increases the FDA's legal powers. FDA has consistently failed to protect the public from dangerous drugs, genetically modified foods, dangerous pesticides and other chemicals in the food supply. Meanwhile they waste public funds attacking safe, healthy foods and dietary supplements

I also opposed the Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which, in section 304, authorizes the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations.

In Conclusion:

Who has more freedom of speech, pornographers or everyday Americans who want to access scientific knowledge about the benefits of dietary supplements? This outrage cannot continue to stand. Congress should immediately de-fund the FDA leviathan.

On the one hand, dietary supplements have millions of advocates who claim to have had an improved quality of life, while on the other hand, millions of Americans have been damaged by pornography along with the thousands of documented cases of rapes and murder tied to the use of pornography.

Congress creatures do not see the light until they feel the heat. Let's raise our collective voices and demand the passage of the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2117.

If follows from what has been said above that consumers of dietary supplements and the manufactures of supplements should have the same free speech protections that the pornographers have. Demand it!

See my article titled the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel and the FDA for more information.

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 25 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Mr. Kettler can be reached through his business site at: http://www.internationalhomebusinessonline.com Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Have We Achieved Our Objectives in Iraq?

2007-12-02T02:10:00.001-08:00

Exactly where are we in this conflict? It's difficult to cut through to the truth with so much hot air coming from all sides. I decided to go back and read the Joint Resolution approved October 2002 by the President and the Senate authorizing the invasion or liberation (take your pick) of Iraq.

It begins with a bunch of whereas clauses summarizing the then current situation: Iraq had been kicked out of Kuwait and had agreed not to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and Iraq would not support terrorism; weapons inspectors had been forced to withdraw in 1998 and Congress had declared that Iraq's continued development of weapons of mass destruction threatened world peace; the Iraqi regime continued to brutalize its civilian population; Iraq showed its hostility toward the United States by attempting to assassinate Bush 41 and shoot at US planes enforcing the no-fly zone; members of al Qaida are known to be in Iraq; the regime continues to harbor other terrorist organizations; Iraq might launch a surprise attack on the US or provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.

Therefore, the Joint Resolution authorized the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to: (1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.

A review of this document indicates the US had several objectives, at least initially, in the war against the Iraqi regime.

+ To eliminate weapons of mass destruction stockpiled or under development by Iraq as called for by various UN resolutions.
+ To implement democracy within Iraq and eventually throughout much of the Middle East.
+ To free the people of Iraq from a brutal dictatorship.
+ To eliminate a dangerous enemy.
+ To prevent Saddam Hussein from working with international terrorist groups that might threaten the US.

Although not specified in the Iraq War Resolution, it seems clear to me that the US was intent on making sure that control of Iraqi oil was taken from Saddam and turned over to a friendly Iraqi government. Removing Saddam also eliminated his threat to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other oil rich Middle East nations.

As everyone knows, we did not discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Although there are rumors that these weapons were shipped out of Iraq shortly before the invasion, no hard evidence supports this theory. Therefore, we must conclude that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during the days leading up to the war. It appears there was a massive intelligence failure not only in the US, but in many other nations as well. Some have claimed that the Bush administration knew all along that there were no such weapons in Iraq, but this claim isn't justified with evidence. Basically, it was a screw-up of massive proportions.

Iraq does have a democratic government, a parliamentary system where the people vote for their representatives, who join together in political parties and elect a Prime Minister. As described in Wikipedia, a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly was selected in a general election in December 2005, initiating the formation of a new government. The Prime Minister of Iraq is Nouri al-Maliki, who holds most of the executive authority and appoints the cabinet. The current President of Iraq is Jalal Talabani, who serves largely as a figurehead, with few powers. The vice presidents are Tariq al-Hashimi and Adel Abdul Mehdi, deputy leader of SCIRI, the largest party in the Iraqi National Assembly.

Although the government at times seems ineffective, it is an honest democracy. It remains to be seen if additional democracies will be established across the Middel East.

The US-led coalition has freed the people of Iraq from Saddam's brutal dictatorship, and the new government is not oppressive. However, a violent Sunni/al Qaida insurgency has continued to murder thousands in an effort to plunge the nation into chaos and civil war. The US-led Surge, actually an increase in troops and a change in strategy, has splintered the insurgency and reduced the violence. Although the war is moving in the right direction, Iraq is still a dangerous country, both for the Iraqis and US troops.

The elimination of Saddam's regime removed a dangerous enemy without question. However, the insurgency is equally dangerous. If our enemies are able to win in Iraq, they may be able to spread their hatred of the US beyond the borders of Iraq and across the region.

There is no hard evidence that Saddam was working with international terrorist groups. There appears to be some contact between al Qaida and Saddam's regime, but no evidence of any type of alliance. It may be that the US was concerned about the potential for an alliance, given that both Saddam and al Qaida hate us.

Iraqi oil production is about 2.5 million bpd, about where it was before the war. However, the oil is being sold by a friendly government, so we don't have to worry it will be used as a weapon.

To summarize, we have removed the yoke of dictatorship from the people of Iraq and implemented a democratic, if somewhat ineffective, national government. After years of warfare with extremists, the Surge seems to be leading to a better life for Iraqis. We have also removed an enemy from Iraq, and secured a supply of oil. All good things, clearly. On the other hand, no weapons of mass destruction were found, and the ties between Saddam and terrorists were not threatening. And we paid a heavy price in blood and national treasure.

Was it worth it? Each of us will have to make that assessment.

If you would like to learn more about my ideas, please visit my website. It's informative and entertaining. Order Unholy Domain or PeaceMaker at Amazon.

Dan Ronco is a writer of technology thrillers and near future science fiction. PeaceMaker, his first novel, was published in 2004 and his second, Unholy Domain, will be released March, 2008. Learn more about Dan at http://www.danronco.com

Military Benefits for Modern Vets - How Times Have Changed

2007-12-02T02:09:00.000-08:00

After World War II, returning GI's were offered a series of benefits designed to make them a functional part of the US economy. Among the most important benefits of the GI Bill were funding for:

a full college education for returning vets
and zero down payment home loans for vets and their widowed dependents

With 16 million military personnel deployed, and with so many taking advantage of these benefits, there may be more than strong family values and hard work to explain why the folks that fought in WWII are called the "greatest generation". Those benefits, so widely distributed and so tightly targeted at the age group that has always been the "engine" of an economy, set the stage for some long term prosperity.

Benefits provided to vets after military deployment have declined over the years. The more than one million military men and women who have been deployed since 9/11 do receive some benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill, but they are far less comprehensive than what WWII vets received.

Active Duty service members who give up $100 a month for their first year of deployment can receive a flat payment of up to $1101 a month for college for 36 months under the MGIB-AD program. Educational benefits for on the job training or apprenticeship programs are less. Qualifying for full benefits under this program requires that the vet have met a significant number of service and requirements. Selected reserve and national guard, though they may also have seen long deployments, are not guaranteed the same benefits.

The VA still guarantees loans for vets, allowing banks to make some loans available for now down payment. But "regular military" professionals must meet several eligibility requirements related to their length of active duty service in order to receive ACE certification. Selected Reserve and National Guard may be eligible for these benefits if they have complete six years of service or were discharged with a service-connected disability.

There are, as there always have been, additional benefits Vets can receive. The Small Business Administration's Patriot Express makes it easier for vets to get a loan to start a new business. States sometimes provide business loans, unemployment and insurance benefits to vets. But these benefits are no replacement for the holistic support originally provided to vets under the GI bill.

The VA estimates that more than 200,000 vets are homeless on any given night, and 400,000 experience homelessness over the course of a year. These vets have served in every war, but the majority have come from Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. 47% of homeless vets are estimated to be from the Vietnam era.

Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan are already appearing on US streets. In some cases they are victims of slow or inadequate treatment for injuries (mental and physical) sustained in the war zone. In other cases they are simply unable to find employment which makes exercising home loan benefits or taking real advantage of piecemeal educational benefits unfeasible.

After World War II, a four year war, the US faced the problem of how to reintegrate military professionals into the economy head on. They developed the GI bill to support their educational and financial requirements soon after their return. The result was a generation of vets who were able to contribute to our society in almost every capacity.

Failure to meet the needs of vets returning from subsequent wars has resulted in an increasingly ill and desperate population of homeless vets. Perhaps the smartest investment we can make in the military is to remake the GI Bill for a new generation. It is the best way to insure, as the "Greatest Generation"would have wished, that this generation is "Greater Still".

Nancy Fulton is a writer, publisher and filmmaker. You can find more about her work by visiting http://www.author-published.com and http://www.nobetterfriendmovie.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Fulton

Gen X - Bridging the Gap

2007-12-02T02:08:00.000-08:00

Being part of Generation X, I often feel like a bridge between two different dimensions. (Boomers and Millennials.) Gen Xer's possess traits of both Baby Boomers and Gen Y.

We are a small group sandwiched between two huge and socially impactful groups. We are often the Baby Boomers kids and we are in many cases the parents of Gen Y. We are in our late 20's to early 40's and make up about 30% of the workforce. Being a bridge between these two groups is greatly beneficial to me as a recruiter because I relate comfortably with both the Boomer and the Millennial candidates. I can also connect the two groups as well.

I have become a "go to" person for instructions to find things on the internet, attach documents to email and reading things with small printing often for Boomers professionally and personally.

Boomers have a comfort level to ask me internet related questions without feeling out of touch. Asking "What is an avatar?" is not a silly question. It is valid to me but probably not to a millennial. To them it is obvious because I believe they were born with one assigned to them. Gen Y's look at me as old enough to have a clue but more for validation or praise but definitely not about the technology.

Gen Y'ers (AKA Millennials) live in the 2.0 world. They don't know life without cel phone, personal computers, the internet and information at your fingertips for all.

Baby Boomers have computer and do use them effectively but can live without them because they had a life before them.

Boomers can type well because they were required to take classes in high school to learn. Gen Y can type, but with whatever method they choose and holy cow can they text! Boomers can text but many are like my mom, taking 30 minutes to write "Thanks." (10 minutes to find her glasses, 10 minutes to figure out how to get to the messaging feature on her phone and 10 more to actually type the response.) I have watched her do this process and although she is proud of her accomplishment, it is exhausting to watch. It is just as tiring as watching a Gen Yer maintain 5 different text conversations while eating lunch, browsing MySpace and driving their environmentally friendly car. I can text but prefer email or phone because I want the details. (Gen X trait)

As I stated in my previous article, Gen X are the next leaders of the free world. From this post I realize that we have also become the bridge in the generation gap. I guess from my clearly bias, amusing and condescending accurate view, Gen X, holds it altogether.

Nikki Gordon

History Of The Stock Market

2007-12-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

While some historians believe that the roots of the modern stock market go back as far as 11th century Egypt, most focus their study on European markets in the 12th - 14th centuries. From the first debt brokers in France through the commodity and government security traders of Italy, various models of investment trading flourished. It was the Dutch who first started joint stock companies, allowing shareholders to invest in exchange for a share of the profits. This culminated with the first offering of shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1602.

American Stock Markets

Alexander Hamilton, first US Secretary of the Treasury, facilitated the development of the American stock market. After studying British exchanges, he promoted security trading in New York in the government's formative years. The corner of Wall Street & Broad Street in what was then the US capital city was the center of trading which quickly expanded from government securities to stocks.

In 1792 the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) began with an agreement of 24 men to sell shares in companies, charging commissions to outsiders in order to trade on their behalf. In 1817, the New York Stock & Exchange Board was organized, moving into a building at 40 Wall Street. NYSE is the world's largest exchange, trading $7.3 trillion in 1998 and has been in near continuous operation since its inception.

During the Industrial Revolution of the 1900s, investors wanted a way to trade shares of companies not included in the NYSE. These stocks ended up traded outdoors and coined the name "curb trading." In 1842 the New York Curb Exchange was founded to formalize trading of curb stocks. This eventually became the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). They remained outdoors, where the shouting of brokers reached such levels that a system of hand signals had to be developed to allow facilitate trading. Even after the move indoors in 1921, the hand signals remained in use for several decades.

Stock Market Crashes

Certainly the most famous American stock market crash came in 1929. While known as "the Crash of '29," the collapse was a series of crashes that began on Black Thursday (October 24th) with a significant drop and peaked on Black Tuesday (October 29th) with the disastrous crash that led to widespread panic and a collapse that lasted a month. In one week, the market lost $30 billion in value, tens times more than the annual budget of the US.

More recently, the Black Monday Crash of October 1987 saw the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history. In 2001, another large decline occurred when the markets reopened on September 17th (the first day of trading after the September 11th terrorist attacks).

Stock Markets in the Computer Age

In 1971, NASDAQ became the world's first electronic stock market. Originally a simple computer bulletin board system, it grew to include trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. After the 1987 Black Monday crash, when many brokers refused to answer their phones, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was created to provide electronic submission of trades.

In 1992 NASDAQ formed the first intercontinental securities market, linking with the London Stock Exchange. Then in 1998, it merged with the American Stock Exchange to become the NASDAQ-Amex Market Group. By the early 21st century, it was largest electronic stock market in the US in share volume as well as dollar value.

With the advent of personal computing combined with electronic markets such as NASDAQ, trading has evolved from the physical transaction of brokers yelling on street corners. Both NYSE and NASDAQ began allowing after-hours trading in 1999. Day trading developed as technology created opportunities for numerous computer trades to occur in a single day with large cumulative gains and losses.

Computers also allow for trading across international markets and for the performance of markets in one country to significantly affect those in others. Additionally, online trading software and the availability of market research online, provides opportunities for investors to take increasing control of their portfolios and stock activities.

Gorilla Trades, incorporated in 1999, offers a risk-controlled, market tested, proprietary system which generates a menu of stock ideas that have consistently proven to identify stock trades with explosive price appreciation potential.

Paul S. Allen

Natural Alternatives for Diabetes Management

2007-12-02T02:04:00.002-08:00

Cinnamon

During the early stages of testing a new chromium supplement, Agricultural Research Service chemist Richard A. Anderson, Ph.D. and his colleagues were attempting to disrupt some volunteers' blood sugar control by feeding them a low chromium diet that included apple pie. Surprisingly, these volunteers' blood sugar remained under control. Subsequent test-tube studies showed that cinnamon in the pie was boosting insulin activity, as chromium does, and thus controlling blood glucose. The spice turned out to be the "best thing we ever tested" for that purpose, Anderson says. (Science News Online 1/5/2004; Vol. 165, No. 18).

Since then Dr. Anderson and colleagues have confirmed the blood sugar lowering properties of cinnamon and its ability to lower triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol in test tube and animal studies as well as in a number of human trials. Details of these studies and human trials are outside the scope of this article.

Richard A. Anderson said: "If you can improve insulin function the cholesterol goes down, triglycerides go down, glucose goes down, and all this goes towards the alleviation of type 2 diabetes," He cautioned, however, that consumers should not simply start dousing their food with cloves and cinnamon [at high doses]. He noted, for example, that cinnamon in powder form is rendered ineffective by contact with saliva, and its lack of solubility in water can result in an unwanted build up of the spice in the body. (HealthDay News 5/4/06).

There are some simple ways around this including buying cinnamon capsules.

Cloves

Dr. Alam Khan, Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan, a former postdoctoral student and Fulbright Fellow in the Anderson laboratory, reported on the first study of the effect of cloves on insulin function in humans at the Experimental Biology 2006 meeting, in San Francisco. (Medical News Today 9/4/2006).

At the end of the study, regardless of the amount of cloves consumed, all those who ingested cloves showed a drop in glucose, triglycerides and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. Blood levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol were not affected among the clove eaters. Those who did not ingest cloves experienced no changes. (HealthDay News 5/4/2006). More details of this study can be found at the author's website.

Gymnema

Studies show that Gymnema sylvestre helps control both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Gymnema is a well-proven treatment for diabetes, and it has been used for this purpose for over 2,000 years and has proved to be very effective in type 1 diabetes.

It is best known for its apparent ability to lower blood sugar levels. Results from case reports and studies in humans and animals suggest that it may work in several ways to help control both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It is possible that gymnema sylvestre may even prompt the pancreas to develop more beta cells - the source of insulin. It may also make body cells more responsive to the insulin that is available. (DrugDigest).

The first scientific confirmation of the effects of gymnema on glucose in human diabetics was in 1926 when it was demonstrated that the leaves of Gymnema reduced urinary glucose. (K.G. Gharpurey, Indian Medical Gazette 1926; 61: 155).

A number of trials have been carried out demonstrating the properties of Gymnema sylvestre, the details of which are beyond the scope of this article.

Chromiun

Scientists believe that insulin uses chromium as an assistant (technically, a cofactor) to "unlock the door" to the cell membrane, thereby allowing glucose to enter the cell.

More than 15 scientific studies support the safety and role of chromium in improving insulin function and glucose metabolism in people with type 2 diabetes and related conditions. "There is strong scientific evidence to suggest that supplemental chromium picolinate may improve insulin sensitivity, blood glucose control, and cardiovascular risk factors in adults with type 2 diabetes," according to Dr. Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association and specialist in pediatric endocrinology. (PRNewswire-FirstCall 15/2/2005). Details of these studies are outside the scope of this article.

Science News Online reported in April 2005 that Robert DiSilvestro and Emily Dy of Ohio State University showed data at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting in San Diego indicating that only the picolinate form of chromium is absorbed well by the body. The report stated that according to Robert DiSilvestro about 40 percent of chromium picolinate was absorbed by people taking chromium supplements in one experiment. DiSilvestro added that absorption of other forms of the mineral in supplements ran as low as 1 percent and only about 10 percent of any form of chromium in foods is typically absorbed. (Science News Online 16/4/2005; Vol. 167, No. 16).

Additionally, an animal study conducted at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that chromium picolinate was better absorbed by the tissues (e.g., liver and muscle) than chromium nicotinate and chromium chloride. Absorption into the tissue is important because for a mineral to be beneficial, it must survive the digestive tract and reach the bloodstream. Otherwise, minerals pass through the body, leaving it void of necessary nutrients. (Medical News Today 7/2/2007).

If this article is reproduced please ensure the link to my website is kept live. If you can't see the links hover your mouse over the words in the bio box.

For articles about Diabetes visit Diabetes Articles and News

Kevin Flatt is a Freelance Journalist specialising in Alternative Medicine. He is also the publisher of Natural Health Articles and News. If you are searching for information on improving your health with less drugs and more natural therapy, then this website is for you. http://www.kflatthealthnews.com

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book Review

2007-12-02T02:04:00.001-08:00

It's the FINAL BOOK, folks! After ten years, we finally come to the grand extravaganza that is The Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling and boy! was it a ride and then some. Harry is now set to hunt for the Horcruxes and goes with his best friends Ron and Hermione. However, the sudden knowledge of something called 'The Deathly Hallows' causes our hero to re-think Dumbledore's plans on defeating Voldermort. But hold on! What's this about Dumbledore not being all that he's claimed to be? There's a new book out that purports our favorite headmaster as a man with a lot of secrets. Not only that, Professor Snape has even more of a back-story that's bound to shock the reader. In the end, the great battle is fought, all our favorite characters make their return - lives are lost, new ones begin and by the time you're through, you feel you've been there with these characters from the beginning!

I especially liked Harry's development in this book. He's definitely matured (even though there are moments of childish whims) but one can see that he has made an effort to become a better young man. I also liked his relationships with Ron and Hermione and a few other characters in the book. My absolute favorites were the final battle scenes. J.K Rowling did a wonderful job!

I didn't like the sudden deaths of Lupin, Tonks and Fred (well his death was expected but it came as a shock to me all the same). I also didn't like the character development of Ginny Weasley. Her characterization and mannerisms were quite unlike the Ginny we've come to know and seemed quite out of place. Also, the epilogue, I could have done without. I did not see the need for it, and even if J.K Rowling had to use it, I'm sure she could have written it in a much better way. It was quite confusing and made no sense to me as the sudden appearances of new characters created a chaotic finale.

However, I recommend this book because it is a finale that was just about done right...there are a few questions that were still left, but J.K Rowling has promised an encyclopedia of sorts to answer them. That I have to pick up once it comes out.

Last but not least, with all the hoopla made about this, all things considered it was a good book and a good way to end things for Harry and his friends. I would have liked to see a few things changed around, but that's just me. Definitely a must read for all Potter fans who have grown up with him over the years!

KiyaSama is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.

Could Loss Mitigation Be The Career For You?

2007-12-02T02:02:00.000-08:00

When considering the opportunities that have presented themselves in the past couple of years with the real estate market, foreclosures seem to be the hot topic. Even with all the foreclosures on the market today there are really only two areas in which one can really get involved at a business level. There are those that need to save their homes from foreclosure and stay. Then there are those that know they have gotten in way over their heads and are trying to get out from underneath a mortgage that is worth more than their home. The latter of the two is primarily for investors and is a very difficult market to tap into without prior real estate or mortgage experience. This is referred to as the Short Sale market. However, one very appealing venture is helping a homeowner save their home.

This is referred to as Loss Mitigation. Loss Mitigation is a technique whereby a third party will work with a lender of the particular homeowner or client and negotiate a more affordable deal for the homeowner than what they could have hoped to accomplish on their own. There are a couple of reasons why this service works. First and foremost, a professional does not respond with emotion but rather facts and figures and will get much more accomplished than the average homeowner just on that premise alone. The other is the knowledge of all the different programs available by each and every lender and all of the lenders' qualifying criteria.

Now there are a several things to consider when looking at Loss Mitigation as a business venture. You should align yourself or your business with a company that can provide this service for your clients. This company would resemble something similar to an outsourcing company. Loss Mitigation, though rewarding, is a very tedious service and also carries a heavy weight of liability and uncertainty. That being said, using a company that can responsibly and effectively provide the service to your clients can not only help you but most importantly your clients.

The first reason behind this is the knowledge in this ever changing industry that the company you select should possess. Right now lenders are changing their rules on a regular basis with the increasing foreclosures and the increasing programs and solutions available. A company that has this knowledge and these connections already in place will serve your clients much better than you could at the infancy stage of this business. Remember that you are working with clients that are facing foreclosure and their home is at stake. This is not a risk you want to put yourself on the front lines of without the full knowledge and experience.

The second reason for using an outsourcing type company is credibility. Now you should be very careful when investigating in a company that provides Loss Mitigation services and scrutinize their time in business. Any company that started after 2005 in this market only recently got involved due to the increasing number of foreclosures and therefore the prospect of money. A company that established themselves prior to the surge was in it for the homeowners and to truly help save American families from foreclosure.

The third reason would boil down to the company's ability to actually get a deal done and their proven track record. Check to see if that company has actual recorded testimonials from clients. Though it can be fabricated, recorded testimonials are much more costly to falsely produce than say a few typed words. If their client testimonials are audio recordings than the probability that these are actual clients that are happy about the service are MUCH higher.

The fourth and most important reason is liability. Not all companies are structured the same so please be very careful when researching this side of the coin. Most will have you set up trust accounts or escrow accounts and some even have you set up an LLC. The reasoning for this is that you will be collecting client fees. If you are going to avoid liability than you would need to go with a company that collects fees directly from the client and the clients are signing contracts with that company as the service provider. You would simply be an independent contractor for that company and hence the liability ultimately falls on them as the service provider if something does go wrong.

There are still several things to consider like the support structure of the company, the personability of the staff, the web presence, training provided, marketing and ultimate tools they will give you to help get you going. Any company that is evenly remotely legitimate will charge between $1,500 and $3,500 to get you started. This is expected and is very reasonable if you are selecting the right company for you and your clients.

So to recap what we have covered when looking into the Loss Mitigation field you will want to find a company that can provide training, support and services for your clients. You want to find a company that is affordable to your clients and can provide quality services. The company you select should have a proven track record and handle the collection of fees and service providing including the contracting and paperwork. Remember all of these very important tips as each one can be crucial in the process of business and helping families.

This can be a very lucrative business but you should put a good amount of thought and research into your decision not only for your best interests but for those families you intend on helping.

The only company I have found that fulfills all of the requirements above is Freedom Foreclosure Prevention Services. Learn more about this dynamic, growing company at their corporate website.

William D. Cobb

Is Your Healthy Dog At Risk For Nutrition-Related Diseases?

2007-12-02T02:01:00.000-08:00

Do you think dog food manufacturers are taking all steps necessary to ensure your healthy dog gets only the best, most nutritious food? It might surprise you to know that this is not necessarily the case.

Not long ago, the dog owner community was shocked by reports that the food they were feeding their pets was causing deaths. These were healthy dogs that were fed store-bought dog food that owners trusted. As it turned out, there were ingredients in the food mixture that was killing otherwise healthy dogs. Gluten.

Gluten is a protein mixture that can be found in grass-related grains, especially wheat, rye and barley. It is an important source of nutritional protein and is sometimes added to foods that are low in protein. It is used in human food as well as dog food either to boost the protein levels or as a meat substitute.

Know what's in your dog food. Read the label. Even a healthy dog will have a shortened life if he doesn't get only the proper and safe food.

Corn, wheat and soy are cereal grains that should never be in your pet food because they are highly indigestible protein sources. They cause undue stress on the kidneys of healthy dogs and result in kidney problems. They are also allergens for dogs, especially corn. Meat should be the #1 ingredient for optimum health.

Watch for by-products, which can contain diseased and contaminated slaughterhouse meats. Dead animals, road kill and euthanized animals can end up in your dog food disguised as meat.

Meat from animals that have been drugged and chemical preservatives are also dangerous for your dog. Some are known to cause life-threatening diseases including cancer, liver and heart diseases.

Find out whether the food was manufactured in smaller quantities to ensure freshness and determine how long the food has been sitting in the pet store, which can be as much as a year. The longer the food sits, the less nutritious it will be.

Healthy dogs have a life-expectancy of 20+ years, yet the majority only survive 10-15 years. There are steps you can take to ensure your dog lives out his full life and is not short-changed by preventable diseases such as these:

Allergies & Skin problems: triggered by certain chemical additives in dog food such as preservatives and gluten.

Arthritis: attributable to a build up of artificial calcium deposits in the dog's body

Cancer: one of the leading causes of dog death each year.

Bladder problems: caused by a build-up of toxicity from certain dog food ingredients and chemical additives.

Dental problems: often caused by improper nutrition and soft food diets

Diarrhea: usually associated with toxins from food passing through the intestines

Diabetes: directly related to sugar in pet foods

Digestive problems: contributable to the dog eating high amounts of wheat, corn and soy, foreign matter and diseased or contaminated ingredients in dog food.

Kidney problems: from ingesting artificial phosphorus and proteins (gluten) in commercial dog food Liver problems: caused as the liver struggles to detoxify the dog's body of the artificial chemicals, drugged or contaminated meats and other undesirable ingredients in poor quality dog food.

Obesity: directly related to sugar and carbohydrate levels that are in store-bought dog foods

Educate yourself on what constitutes a nutritious diet for your dog to ensure he or she lives out a full and healthy life.

Read labels on your pet's food and know what to look for. Choose foods that do not contain any of the potentially hazardous ingredients such as diseased and drugged meat and cast off slaughterhouse body parts disguised as meat byproducts.

Buy only top quality dog food that has meat as its main ingredient, along with other nutritious foods including chicken meal, carrots, apples, brown rice and flax seed, plus vitamins, minerals and antioxidant additives.

By paying attention to the diet you feed your healthy dog you can help ensure he lives a long, full life.

Discover the nutritional secrets that can make the difference in how healthy your dog stays. The "Healthy Dog Nutrition Secrets" package, just released by Sylvia Dickens, explains all about the dangers certain foods pose for your dog, includes delicious dog food recipes you can make yourself, dog care, puppy training and much more. Find out more by Clicking Here. Visit Sylvia's Ebook Website for more topics, including dog training, wealth building, stop smoking, business tips, travel and more.

by Sylvia Dickens

Vehicle Safety and Airbags To Protect Lives

2007-12-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

Airbags were invented and patented in the 1950s to cushion the impact and prevent or lessen injuries sustained in auto accidents. Studies show that thousands of lives have been saved by air bags, with fatalities reduced by up to 46 percent in airbag-equipped vehicles, but it is difficult to determine an exact number.

Airbags help prevent an occupant's head from striking some part of the inside of the vehicle, and help distribute crash forces more evenly across the victim's body. However, their rapid deployment can cause injuries or death.

After an impact, it takes only 1/20 of a second for an airbag to inflate and each bag is filled with gas. The first crash-sensing detector was introduced in the late 1960s, leading to airbag systems where the sensor or accelerometer triggers ignition of a gas generator to rapidly inflate the bag. The bag then absorbs some of the deceleration forces experienced when the occupant collides with and collapses it while the gas escapes through small vent holes during the next 3/10 of a second.

In the 1970s, Ford, GM and Chrysler offered airbags in select cars as a seatbelt replacement, and they became more common in the 1980s. In 1984, the U.S. government required all cars produced after April 1, 1989 to have driver's side air bags, and in 1998, dual front airbags were mandated (1999 for light trucks). De-powered, second-generation airbags were required, because first-generation airbags designed for occupants not wearing seatbelts were causing injuries. Advances continue to improve airbag performance.

Today, many cars have additional airbags designed to protect occupants' heads, protect from side impact, and protect passengers in the back seat. Various manufacturers have called their products Supplementary/Secondary Restraint Systems (SRS), Air Cushion Restraint Systems (ACRS) or Supplemental Inflatable Restraints (SIR).

Why wear a safety belt? It's important to wear a safety belt, even when in a vehicle equipped with air bags. Those not wearing seatbelts may slide or be thrown forward against the airbag module, and be seriously injured or killed if the airbag deploys. Most air bags only inflate once, and do not provide protection past an initial impact. Standard front-impact air bags do not deploy for side or rear impact crashes, or rollovers. In addition to airbags, one of the most important safety precautions in a vehicle is the seat belt, which when worn properly will prevent harmful injuries that can be caused by the airbag as well as from the collision of a car itself. What other airbag safety factors exist? Injuries and deaths associated with airbag deployment follow several trends. First is the presence of first-generation airbags. Later-generation, multi-stage bags deploy more slowly, and with less force, and better respond to crash forces and occupant size. Improved technology and education helped reduce airbag-related fatalities from 1996 to 2000 by more than 90 percent for children and by 60 percent for adults.

Still, people suffer abrasions, hearing damage from the explosive deployment, head injuries, eye damage (while wearing glasses), and broken noses, fingers, hands or arms. Additionally, items protruding from the mouth can cause harm including food items and smoking tobacco products. ' can cause additional injury, as can anything loose in the car in contact with the airbag module.

Airbags can present a serious danger to infants, small children and small adults. To protect drivers and passengers from any harmful outcomes when an airbag is deployed, seats should be as far away from the airbag as possible, but within a comfortable and safe distance for the drive in order to drive the automobile. Individuals are advised to sit 10 inches away from the airbag and all the way back in their seats. Those with asthma should be aware that powders (cornstarch or talcum powder) used to lubricate the airbag as it deploys may trigger an asthma attack. Seek treatment after an accident involving airbag deployment.

Infants and children under 12 should never ride in the front passenger seat, even in a child safety seat or booster chair. Manufacturers of pickup trucks and other vehicles with no back seat have begun including a switch to allow drivers to disable the passenger air bag when a child must ride in the passenger seat.

For vehicles without such switches, they can be installed to accommodate people with medical conditions or who can't sit far enough back to stay 10 inches away from the airbag, or for those who need to transport infants or children and have no back seat or a back seat too small to fit a child seat.

Even after an accident when the airbags have not deployed, victims and rescue personnel must be cautious. Airbags can deploy some time after the initial impact, causing injury and death.

Airbags that have never been deployed from an accident should actually be replaced as a car begins to age in order to offer drivers and passengers the safest driving experience. Timing varies, but a 14-year life for an un-deployed airbag is typical. Airbags typically run a self-test when the vehicle is started, and a dashboard indicator lights up when there is a problem.

If you have suffered injury from improper airbag deployment or a car crash, you may wish to consult with an experienced auto accident or personal injury attorney about your case. Your personal injury attorney may be able to help you receive compensation for your injuries, lost wages, and/or future medical care.

Alan Haburchak

The Scare Of ED Drugs Usage in Rapes Catching On!

2007-12-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

Rape is a crime that has now come to be recognized as a crime that is as grave as any other crime that receives capital punishment. There were many countries where people and even the law did not recognize this horrendous crime against women as a crime that is worthy of being awarded capital punishment. But now times have changed. With the changing times today women are also getting bold and are coming out in the open. They are no longer ashamed of the fact they have been raped. They have come to accept that their real respect and dignity is in their being and in their soul. Women now understand that getting raped is not their fault at all. It is a crime and like all the other crimes rape also needs to be stood against. Without a stand it would have continued the way it was earlier. Getting rape recognized as a grave crime was necessary to uphold the existence and respect of women in the society so that nobody messes with her or her dignity.

Unfortunately, there are still certain countries that do not exercise law for actions and acts done against women. Though there are rules and punishments for the crimes against women they are more on the paper. In certain countries of Asia like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Middle East, women are still treated as objects of desire and lust. And after use they are thrown away humiliated and wounded. There are many instances where the rapists in these countries go away without a scratch even when all the evidences are against them. Some of the most ghastly crimes against women are committed in these countries. Social prejudices and stigmas are also abundant in these countries. To site an example take the case of an eighteen year old girl, Mukhtar Mai, who was gang raped and made to walk naked in front of hundreds of villagers in rural Pakistan, because her brother had an affair with a girl of the higher caste. And this punishment was meted out to the girl by the local law body or the panchayat. This is just one incidence. There are many other instances of molestation, rape and gang rape, incest in these countries. Even the minors and infants are not free from such crimes.

Deviating from the topic a bit, I would like to bring your focus on another related context. It has been found that in most of the rape cases people are using erectile dysfunction medicines as sex enhancers, they are abusing these drugs for an act which is not only lawfully wrong but a heinous crime in itself. Please note that ED drugs have not been made to increase crimes but have been made to provide relief to the suffering people, so they should not be abused under any circumstances.

Besides drugs like cialis online are easily available and people can buy cialis or procure similar medicines easily from the internet. But what they do not know is that most of these medicines sold online are either the generic versions or duplicates and hence can cause serious side effects.

Its necessary that the world is cleansed of all the crimes and dirt and made a place where everyone can live peacefully, so stopping the abuse of medicines is the last thing that we can do towards this goal!

by Victor Jones

Dancing with the Stars: New Ventures for Pro Dancers

2007-12-02T01:52:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 30, 2007

This past season of Dancing with the Stars was another popular entry into the series continued strong showing. With the most recent season of Dancing with the Stars now wrapped, what's in store for some of the professional dancers from the series?

For one, it's a branching out into another career path beyond dancing. For another, it might be a move entirely away from the Dancing with the Stars franchise.

Julianne Hough is not entirely new to the singing world – she released her first single last May on iTunes. The song was called “Will You Dance with Me” and peaked at 100 on the Billboard's Pop 100 singles chart.

After her recent win, though, she's ready to take another step in that career.

"I just signed with Universal Records, so I'm going to be singing! I have my first album out in April, and my first single's out in January. I'm excited!"

She'll be recording the album in Nashville throughout December and will be traveling quite a bit to keep up with her commitments. "I'm going to be back and forth between Nashville and L.A. all the time…Maybe New York too!"

Meanwhile, a less-cheerful runner-up Maksim Chmerkovskiy is not quite as filled with chipper enthusiasm, and he is looking to possibly move on from the show that has not yet brought him a win.

"If this is the limit of where I can get in the show, well then let it be," he told Extra. "I'm satisfied and moving on…I've already been asked to choreograph other huge projects in Germany and in China and Macau.”

He also told OK! Magazine, "I don't want to look back 10 years from now and see my life as a failure.”

One can understand his disappointment, but maybe he will soften his stance with the passing of time and possibly return to the Dancing with the Stars stage again.

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: RealityTVWorld.com

People Search by SSN - Search For a Person by Social Security Number

2007-12-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

People Search by SSN (Social Security Number) is a search for someone by Social Security Number. It is very easy and quick to do on the Internet. All you have to do is to subscribe to a website that offers people search by Social Security Number.

There are two ways of people searches by SSN. One way is to type any details that you know about the person in the search box and get the name, address, phone number and Social Security Number. The other way to do is to type the Social Security Number and get all the details about the person. This may seem unethical or illegal to invade into the privacy of others on the Internet. This is not illegal nor is it unethical at all as the Social Security Number of any person is public information. It is government issued number to the people.

The United States of America makes all the civil information on birth records, marriage records, divorce records, bankruptcy records, real estate records, traffic records and criminal records available for anyone on the Internet to be searched at any time.

These details about a person can be accessed by anyone. Previously it was thought that only the government officials, private investigators and law enforcement agencies can access the information. This is not so like that now. They are available for search by anyone. With the advancement of technology and Internet, many governments have made their information available for companies and for people to search.

There are many reasons people go to do searches or confirm a social security number online. The reason to search people by Social Security Number can be personal or for business purpose. In businesses, you have the need to check a potential employee especially if you have a suspicion on his record. Also you can check a potential tenant if they are renting a house. The benefits of doing a people search by Social Security Number is very different and you have to invest a reasonable amount to do so.

The reasons to do a searches are that it is mostly used as a record keeping number in United States. Social Security Numbers are used for employee files, health insurance records, medical records, and University IDs and banking accounts. So using a Social Security Number to search people is the most important check for clarification purposes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Dean

Online Shopping Boom

2007-12-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

By Celeste Yates

ComScore has just announced that US shoppers have broken the record for online shopping. The Monday after the US Thanksgiving holiday has come to be known as "Cyber Monday", as online shoppers cash in on holiday specials. This year UK shoppers spent over $733 million in 24 hours. It was appropriately named report, "Holiday Season e-Commerce" has announced that since the 1st of November, 2007, over 10.7 billion dollars have been spent online.

The day was named "Cyber Monday" as it previously been recorded as the day when most US residents start doing their Christmas shopping. With the benefits of buying online, citizens have turned to the Internet to order their gifts online rather than going to the mall. ComScore, an online tracker company, estimates that the shopping craze will continue for the next few weeks, up until Christmas. There are expectations that expenditure will reach 800 million dollars on some days.

Cyber Monday's online spending went up by 21% this year, beating last year's record. The day is the most significant spike in all holiday spending. The number of online buyers grew by a total of 38% from the previous record. However the average amount a person spent online dropped by 12%.

It has been reported that the decrease in spending could be attributed to companies offering discounts and becoming more "internet savvy" with their advertisements and sales. A fair amount of the large companies in the US had Cyber Monday sales online for the new trend of online shopping.

The report showed that 6% of US internet users made online purchases on the Monday, with 60% of them coming from work computers. A few retail websites went down on the day, as the traffic surge caused technical problems with their sites. Error messages popped up on users' screens instead of completed transaction notices. Yahoo reported that the traffic on their Yahoo! Merchant Solutions caused smaller retail companies' websites to black out for several hours.

However, larger retail sites, such as Wal-Mart, Dell, Best Buy, Circuit City and Overstock.com jumped up their traffic scale by 100%. There was a 261% increase reported on the MSN Shopping site operated by Microsoft. However, it is not only websites that are finding the boom in traffic stressful; credit and house markets are also being buffeted by the extra strain.

The Friday after Thanks Giving is known as Black Friday. The National Retail Federation showed that, according to their survey, more than 147 million shoppers went online on Black Friday. This is up from last year, by 4.8%. Overall there's been more than a 4% rise in holiday spending this year.

Black Friday was originally named due to the amount of high traffic on the day. Although it is not an official holiday, most UK citizens take the day off for a long weekend. Because it is also the start of Christmas shopping season, there is a large amount of traffic on the roads. As online shopping becomes popular, traffic on the roads is moving over to traffic on websites for the shopping.

With delivery times taken into consideration, online sales should relax and calm down as the festive season declines. However, sales at shops and malls should slowly pick up with Christmas now only a mere month away.

Long working hours and traffic cause stress

2007-12-02T01:46:00.002-08:00

By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Fuad Ali, Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporters
Published: December 02, 2007, 01:07

Dubai/Fujairah/Abu Dhabi: The pressure of doing a good job at work has taken its toll on residents who not only have to face the daily chores of setting up business meetings and satisfying customers, but the daily grind of heavy traffic jams as well.

In a recent Gulf News online poll, 85 per cent responded that it is possible to work fewer hours a week and still be efficient.

City Talk took to the streets for residents' views on whether their stress levels could be reduced by having fewer hours at work, and effects of stress on their lives.

Ahmad Rabe'e, 23, a cashier from Egypt, said as an expatriate labourer he is expected to work long, hard hours because after all, the reason he came to the UAE was to earn a living.

"In the fast food business, we work long hours and only have half a day off if you're lucky. However, I don't see why we should be treated differently from other employees."

He said he would be a lot more motivated if he could get at least one day off a week, as he currently does not have much time to socialise and barely enough time to sleep.

Egyptian fashion designer Abdul Aziz Jad, 25, is satisfied with his job and said that he is always keen on working the extra hours and does not mind staying in the office until 10pm if it is necessary to do so.

"The work does not stress me out, but the traffic in Dubai does. I actually prefer doing my job late in the evenings because I do not get customers, and at the same time I do not get stuck in traffic jams."

Fast food deliverer Mahmoud Abdul Rahman, 30, from Egypt, said he was stressed from working 12 hours a day with an afternoon break, with only half a day off a week.

"I have no time for socialising or taking time off for myself. The weather is too hot and I'm usually too tired to do anything, so I find that I have little else to do apart from just working and sleeping."

Marissa Sarmiento, a sales representative from the Philippines, said she does not feel overworked due to the friendly atmos-phere of her work environment. However, she noted that she gets frustrated on a daily basis because of the traffic while commuting on the bus.

"I live in Bur Dubai and getting to Shaikh Zayed Road first thing in the morning is terrible because of all the traffic. I get stressed getting stuck for so long in the middle of all the cars, and am grateful that my job is not stressful."

Egyptian car rental agent Ebrahim Quwayes, 27, said that he often works more than 10 hours a day while dealing with customers and the work becomes too stressful at times.

"I make an effort to go out with friends every night after work to relieve some of the job stress, even if it costs me sleeping hours, because I don't want to live in a cycle of just work and sleep."

He said he would still be able to do the same job if working hours were reduced and that the office would perform just as well, "and it would make me fresher and more socially active".

Surej Kumar, a 34-year-old Indian network engineer, said the stress caused by his workload does affect his social life because he is often too tired to go out.

"It ultimately affects my social life because I spend all my energy focusing on work. I do not have time to do anything and spend most of my leisure indoors."

Sales executive Arman Ahmad Khan, 25, from Pakistan, said that he was upset that his work load does not allow him time to get required amount of sleep, or time to eat or exercise.

"I try to ease the stress caused by work, but I can't manage it. I joined a gym recently but after two classes I stopped going because I didn't have the energy, even though I paid for a month's membership."

Belgian division manager Frank Javaux, 41, said he feels he is overworked like many others in this country. "But I'm working in a good environment surrounded by nice, professional people. I enjoy it so it is quite easy to handle time and stress. Working fewer hours is not a major concern to me."

Christian Albert, 53, senior electrical engineer from France, said the key to relieving one's stress is to organise and delegate. "Entertainment, music and reading could also help ease the burden. A working day is done within the first four to five hours in the morning so 35 hours per week is enough to get work done."

Indian senior executive Shaheer Moudu Rawther, 35, said even though he enjoys his job he does feel the stress at times because he needs to catch up with the fast pace of the city.

"Working fewer hours wouldn't be helpful because even though this could be enough to get actual work done, people would still need time to socialise ... at the office. Networking is an important part of any job these days."

Skin Cells: A new age of medicine

2007-12-02T01:46:00.001-08:00

By Tina Hesman Saey

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

12/02/2007

There are breakthroughs, and then there are breakthroughs.

This one could be the medical equivalent of fire and the invention of the wheel.

Scientists are giddy about the news that researchers have learned how to reprogram skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells.

The cells could be some of the greatest tools modern medical science has ever devised.

Many people imagine they will provide replacement parts for damaged or injured organs.

Someday they might. But not soon.

Before paraplegics walk with regenerated spinal cords and diabetics get fresh-from-the-petri-dish pancreases, the stem cells will advance medicine in immediate ways.

They can:

— Show scientists what goes wrong with cancer cells and how to stop them.

— Replace animal models for diseases with human tissues grown in the lab.

— Cut years off drug development.

— Open research to more scientists because these stem cells do not involve human embryos.

"We're on the way now," said Dr. Michael Creer, director of laboratory medicine at St. Louis University and former director of the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank. "The opportunities are expanding enormously. What we think might work today could well change in the next few months … We still don't fully understand or appreciate what is possible."

When researchers in Wisconsin and Japan announced last month that they had independently engineered skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, the achievement seemed to be the pinnacle of stem cell science. Until then, human embryonic stem cells could be produced only by destroying embryos.

But no one knows how long it might be before stem cells can be used to replace or repair organs.

"People have to understand that we're not 'there' yet," said Dr. Steve Teitelbaum, a Washington University pathologist.

Jim Huettner, a cell biologist at Washington University, is one of the few people with firsthand knowledge of what human embryonic stem cells can and can't do. Huettner runs the only laboratory in St. Louis currently conducting research with human embryonic stem cells.

Researchers in his lab transform the stem cells into nerve cells to learn more about how nerves develop and which conditions lead a cell to become a certain kind of nerve — for example, one that will make muscles contract or the variety that gathers light, such as those in the retina. The research lays the foundation for the day when doctors might create nerves from stem cells to help patients walk or see again.

The new technique that can convert human skin cells into stem cells means that Huettner isn't likely to be alone in working with human stem cells for long.

Teitelbaum studies bone diseases in his laboratory. He and his colleagues have coaxed embryonic stem cells from mice to make a type of cell that breaks down bones. They plan to use the mouse cells to mimic human bone diseases. But the mouse cells are still only a model.

Teitelbaum is excited about the prospect of being able to take skin biopsies from children with crippling inherited bone diseases, make stem cells from their skin and then create bone-remodeling cells in the lab. Armed with those tools, Teitelbaum and his colleagues should be able to figure out exactly how the bone-building process goes awry in each patient. The cells also could be used to screen for drugs that will control bone-making.

Alzheimer's disease, and many other diseases also could be modeled in the lab and used for drug screening, Teitelbaum said. What isn't likely to happen soon is for stem cells to be grown into replacement parts, he said.

Adult stem cells in the form of bone marrow transplants, including umbilical cord blood transplants, have been used clinically for decades. Some other types of adult stem cell therapies are now in clinical trial, but results have been mixed and none are used routinely yet.

While the pace at which stem cell science is progressing may seem like a crawl, Huettner says the research has been speedy. After all, it took decades of trial and error to get bone marrow transplants to work and decades after that before they became routine, he said.

Human embryonic stem cells were first isolated in 1998.

"It's not unreasonable that it's taking this amount of time," Huettner said.

Existing embryonic stem cells probably won't be used in people because they are contaminated with animal sugars that would cause the human immune system to reject them. President George W. Bush's 2001 executive order bars federally funded researchers from working with newly developed stem cells that are harvested from embryos.

The new technique bypasses the need to create an embryo so it doesn't fall under Bush's ban, but cells made this way probably won't make it to the clinic anytime soon either.

That's because they are created by inserting four genes into the skin cell's DNA using a retrovirus. Sometimes those insertions can disrupt healthy genes and turn a cell cancerous. Most scientists agree that researchers will need to learn to reprogram the cells without using the viruses before they will be used in any sort of treatment.

Stem cells themselves have the power to become any type of cell in the body. If they are injected into the body, they will do just that, forming a benign tumor called a teratoma — a jumble of hair, teeth, skin, bone and other types of tissue. That's one of the ways the two groups tested whether their reprogrammed skin cells really were stem cells.

To avoid tumors from stem cells run amok, doctors must be sure that all of the cells they intend to transplant into a patient have converted into mature cells of the type that interests them — a spinal cord neuron, for instance. Now, about 90 percent of the stem cells in Huettner's petri dishes can be coaxed into becoming a nerve cell of some variety, he said. Scientists are learning to purify raw stem cells from the mature cells they want with mouse cells, but will need to repeat the work with human cells, Huettner said.

Even with pristine cultures of nerves or other replacement cells, the challenges of healing disease are enormous. While stem cells have been touted as a possible cure for Alzheimer's disease or spinal cord injuries, it's unlikely that a new neuron could wire into the brain or spinal cord in exactly the same way the damaged cell did, Creer said.

"The current idea that you can just throw a stem cell in and it will develop the way we want it to and find a happy place to live is a little bit naïve," Creer said.

But stem cell technology could help researchers learn to how to coax the brain to repair itself. And replacement brain cells and spinal cord cells can form entirely new connections. That means a person would need to learn to walk again the way a baby does and would have to relearn things Alzheimer's disease robbed from their memory.

With new stem cells in hand, the sky is the limit in terms of the medical accomplishments researchers can hope to make.

"Every time we think of an obstacle, we can think of an equally imaginative solution," Creer said.

Others recognize the hurdles too but share his optimism.

"There are challenges that will take a reasonable period of time to overcome," Teitelbaum said. "The yield is phenomenal if we can get this to work."

tsaey@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8325

Evel Knievel, legendary daredevil, dies

2007-12-02T01:41:00.002-08:00

CNN) -- Evel Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil whose stunts -- including an attempted leap over Idaho's Snake River Canyon -- made him a popular cultural figure, is dead, according to his Web site, evelknievel.com. He was 69.

Evel Knievel was known for his daredevil stunts.

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more photos »

Over his career, Knievel was said to have broken practically every bone in his body -- some multiple times. With his red-white-and-blue jumpsuits, shock of hair and stone-faced mein, he was a fixture on ABC's program "Wide World of Sports" in the 1970s, his stunts perennial ratings-grabbers.

Knievel's most famous stunt was probably an attempt to jump the quarter-mile wide Snake River Canyon in 1974 on his rocket-powered "Sky-Cycle." (He had hoped to jump the Grand Canyon, but couldn't get permission.) The attempt failed, but the publicity was priceless. See photos of the motorcycle daredevil »

His fame even spawned a movie, "Viva Knievel!" in 1977.

Robert Craig Knievel was born October 17, 1938, in Butte, Montana.

Earlier this week, Knievel amicably settled a lawsuit with rap star Kanye West over West's use of a persona called "Evel Kanyevel" in his video for "Touch the Sky."

"I was very satisfied and so was he," Knievel told The Associated Press. E-mail to a friend

A darker view of 'The Wizard of Oz'

2007-12-02T01:41:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- No dancing down the yellow brick road for Zooey Deschanel, star of Sci Fi Channel's new Emerald City adaptation, "Tin Man." And no warbling "Over the Rainbow" a la Judy Garland, either.

"Tin Man" offers a different vision of the "Wizard of Oz" crew.

"It's postmodern, more like Indiana Jones than a fairy tale," said Deschanel, whose Dorothy -- the role immortalized by Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" -- is a disaffected, motorcycle-riding waitress called DG.

Based on L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," which inspired the 1939 film classic, Sci Fi's six-hour "Tin Man" is not a musical but a brooding, special effects-driven fantasy.

"The book was written in 1900 and its story still lives," said Robert Halmi Sr., one the executive producers.

"It's a coming-of-age story," Deschanel said of the miniseries airing December 2 through December 4.

"Here's DG acting out in a teenage way before she gets swept up by the storm," the actress said of her character's ride to the alternate universe of the O.Z., or Outer Zone, on the tail of a Kansas tornado. "Then she's forced to grow up a little bit and find out how brave she is and how smart she is. On this journey, she becomes an adult."

Along the way DG meets creatures and crises that never crossed Garland's path.

Still, fans of the 1939 film will recognize the classic scarecrow in zipper-headed Glitch (Alan Cumming), the cowardly lion in the wolverine-human psychic, Raw (Raoul Trujillo), and Dorothy's little dog in the shape-shifter, Toto (Blu Mankuma).

There's a wizard of sorts in Richard Dreyfuss' vapor-sniffing Mystic Man.

There's also a yellow brick road, although -- in keeping with the O.Z.'s shadowy, retro-futuristic look -- it barely glimmers.

And the title character, ex-cop Wyatt Cain (Neal McDonough), called a tin man for his tin badge, is a far more embittered type than Jack Haley's metal man was in the movie musical.

Yes, Halmi said, "Tin Man" is a "bit darker. To make a classic understood by young people today you have to talk an entirely different language."

That language includes a wickedly witchy twist on family ties that "Oz" creator Baum never conjured.

And the evil sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) gets far more screen time than her predecessor, Margaret Hamilton's cackling Wicked Witch of the West, did in the Garland film.

"It's a very daunting prospect when you're asked to play one of the most iconic film villainesses in history," Robertson said. "As opposed to playing Azkadellia archetypal and loud, I played her internal and psychological. She's narcissistic. She has every personality disorder that you can figure."

Although "Tin Man" is loaded with computer-generated creatures and settings, "most of the sets in Azkadellia's world were real," Robertson said.

"I didn't do a lot of green screen," she said of acting in front of plain backgrounds that are digitally completed in post-production. "I didn't have to imagine what her world was like."

Robertson also snagged the most glamorous wardrobe in "Tin Man," a clutch of sharply cut gowns with sinuous curves. Her necklines plunge to reveal chest tattoos that morph into flying Mobats, or monkey bats, which do Azkadellia's bidding.

"You can't be in those costumes and speak casually," Robertson said. "Something our director, Nick Willing, told us was that in the massive, epic world of 'Tin Man,' you can't be quiet and small. There has to be ferocity or you'll disappear.

"So I deepened my voice a little. My performance was slightly stylized and elevated. Whereas Zooey's character is the opposite. She's the one character in the piece where you think, 'Oh, that could be me.' "

It was this normal aura that clinched Deschanel's casting as DG. "I couldn't find anybody else who's so innocent, with eyes so wide open," Halmi said.

Wide-eyed or no, Deschanel didn't want to reprise Garland's pigtailed Dorothy in "Tin Man."

"That was such an incredible performance that there's no need to repeat it," she said. "I wanted to make this role my own." E-mail to a friend

Hostage suspect sued in 2002, saying priest raped him

2007-12-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- The man who held hostages Friday at a New Hampshire campaign office of Sen. Hillary Clinton alleged in a 2002 lawsuit that he was raped by a parish priest.

Leeland Eisenberg, shown in this booking photo, complained to police that he couldn't get mental health care.

more photos »

On Friday, 46-year-old Leeland Eisenberg walked into the office with what he said was a bomb strapped to his chest. It turned out to be road flares held with duct tape, police said.

Five people inside the office, including a small child, were eventually released unharmed by the time the incident ended more than five hours later.

Before Eisenberg, of Somersworth, New Hampshire, surrendered to police, he complained about his inability to get mental health treatment. Watch the suspect kneel in the street »

Eisenberg filed the lawsuit in September 2002 against the Boston Archdiocese, naming then-Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law as a defendant.

Law resigned that year amid public outrage after court documents showed he moved priests from parish to parish without disclosing sexual-abuse allegations against them.

According to the lawsuit, Eisenberg was about 21, homeless and living in abandoned cars in a junkyard in Ayer, Massachusetts, when he went to the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Westford, looking for housing and support. Watch a report on the lawsuit »

He told the senior priest at the parish about his homelessness, "the loss of his mother and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his violent, alcoholic father," the lawsuit says.

A legal source involved with the case told CNN that Eisenberg also was addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Eisenberg was hired as a painter and given room and board until he could be on his own. According to the lawsuit, a priest at the parish would show Eisenberg pornographic materials, then molest him.

One night, after Eisenberg got drunk at a club, the priest picked him up in a car. On the ride home, Eisenberg passed out, and when he awakened, he found himself being raped in the driveway of the parish, the lawsuit says.

The document says that one week after the alleged incident, Eisenberg tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge in Ayer. Afterward, he went to a psychiatric facility for observation and treatment.

The disposition of the lawsuit was not immediately available.

St. Catherine's current pastor, the Rev. Peter Quinn, told CNN he has been in the parish only about two years, and didn't know Eisenberg.

The Rev. Daniel Cronin, now retired, was pastor in 2002 but is not the target of the lawsuit. He didn't recall Eisenberg by name and didn't recognize him on TV news reports, said Quinn, who spoke to Cronin by telephone Saturday morning.

Cronin did remember that a young man came to the parish, was hired to paint and stayed about three weeks.

Clinton, who was in Washington at the time of the hostage incident, traveled to New Hampshire on Friday night to meet with the hostages and their families. At a news conference afterward, she said her campaign had no previous contact with Eisenberg.

"It appears that he is someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," she said.

During the standoff, Eisenberg had three conversations with CNN staffers in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, during which he said he had mental health problems and could not get the help he needed. He also said he wanted to speak with Clinton. See photos of the hostage situation »

While negotiating with police, Eisenberg also asked to speak with Clinton, but Rochester Police Chief David Dubois said the request was denied.

"As a tactical standpoint, that would not have been wise for us to do that" because it would have reduced negotiators' bargaining leverage, he said.

Eisenberg faces state charges of four counts of kidnapping, one count of criminal threatening and one count of false use of an explosive device, Rochester police Capt. Paul Callaghan told CNN. Authorities have said he also could face federal charges. He was being held in a local jail. Clinton resumed her campaign schedule in Iowa on Saturday.

The first tests of presidential candidates in the 2008 campaign are the Iowa caucuses on January 3 and the New Hampshire primary on January 8. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Jason Caroll and Susan Chun contributed to this report.

What it feels like to be a baby

2007-12-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

As she picks him up, he's flooded with her scent and a dim memory of his other world -- the place where his body floated and he first recognized the scent that's hers alone. But now, two weeks after birth, he's in a vast, dry place called home. She brings him close to nurse and he roots with his mouth, guided in part by the smell of colostrum and the smell from the scent glands on her nipples. Her scent links him to everything he craves: food, warmth, touch. He latches on and the sweetness of the liquid is vaguely reminiscent of the smell and taste of amniotic fluid -- both are affected by his mother's diet. Already, sweet is his favorite taste.

At 6 months, a baby begins to truly long for Mom preferring her to all others.

After nursing, he presses his tongue in and out of his lips, inadvertently learning about the shape of his mouth and the coolness of the air. Touch is how he learns about the world, and it is one of his most well-developed senses, far more sensitive than his vision. But being touched is just as important -- when his mother holds him in her arms, she is stimulating the production of his growth and digestive hormones.

As she snuggles with him, his mother instinctively raises the pitch of her voice and says "Hell-o," then lowers her pitch to say "my ba-by boy." This is just one clue of many that will eventually teach him that strings of sounds are made up of individual words, that "hello" is not part of "my." Now, the words come to him like music.

His eyelids flutter drowsily. Lowering him onto a blanket, she swaddles his arms against his chest, the way he rested in the womb. He hears a made-up tune she first sang to him in utero: "You're my baby, my baby, my baby baby boy." He opens his eyes for a moment, recognizing the sounds. He'll never consciously recall it, but it's a sensory memory that stays with him. His eyelids flutter again and he's asleep. His brain is not yet capable of organizing and making sense of all the things he sees, hears, feels, and does, and won't keep the details of this day in long-term storage. The morning drifts away in what's known as infantile amnesia. Parenting.com: Three new-baby surprises

Something wet and warm presses against his skin, activating nerves that send a signal to his brain that, at first, he ignores as he sleeps -- not unusual because when babies are in a deep phase of sleep all sensory stimulation is muffled. The message that his diaper is wet continues for 20 minutes until he moves into a lighter phase of sleep. Now the message penetrates and he experiences the wet diaper for the soggy irritant it is.

He cries a high-pitched call for help. As he cries, cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and other hormones, like adrenaline, spread through his body, slightly increasing his temperature and heart rate. His mother lifts him from his crib and encircles him in her warm, familiar arms, and his cries immediately lessen.

As she changes his diaper, he's calmed, but only briefly. Now the muscles of his stomach contract in a pang of hunger and he starts to cry again. Once more he nurses, until his belly is full.

From his mother's arms, he looks at the bright red of a nearby lamp shade. His color vision is weak, and only rich, bold colors like this one register. Also interesting to him is the sharp contrast of black and white in the mobile to the side of his crib. As his mother taps the mobile, the shapes begin to move and he studies them. He hasn't yet learned to focus, so objects are still blurry. And he doesn't have depth perception, so the black-and-white cubes look flat.

She holds him in front of her and he looks in her direction, but not squarely into her eyes. Parenting.com: Your newborn explained

With vision of roughly 20/300 -- about 15 times worse than normal adult vision -- he sees her as though looking through the thick, curvy glass of a vintage Coke bottle. Even up close, she's slightly blurry: His eye muscles aren't able to provide consistent focus. Intuitively, she holds him about a foot away, where his vision is clearest. Even then, what he sees in the blur are movement and contrast, the way her mouth moves to say "Hello" and the way her teeth flash from between her darker lips.

Perhaps it's for the best that he has limited vision. Perhaps it keeps him from being overwhelmed by seeing every detail of faces, hands, tables, and lamps for the very first time. His eyesight seems to provide just the right amount of stimulation for his developing visual cortex, which takes the images he sees and tries to make sense of them. In the meantime, he is able to see (fairly well) what's most important in his world: his parents' faces, his mother's nipple.

2 to 3 months: Beginning to engage

He's 2 months old, sitting in a bouncy seat, watching his mother sponge the kitchen counters, enjoying himself. This strange world that he was born into is starting to make more sense. She opens the refrigerator and he turns his head toward the kiss of the door's suction; he's now able to identify what he's hearing and has enough coordination to turn his body toward the sound. She pours herself a glass of orange juice and he notes the color. His vision is now 20/125 to 20/120.

Banging his hands up and down, he lets loose a shriek of joy. Development in his brain's circuitry now allows him to coo and squeak. Yesterday, when his grandmother spoke to him in Chinese, he detected subtle nuances in the sounds far better than his non-Chinese-speaking mother. By 6 months, he will start to ignore the nuances of this language he hears less frequently as he develops his skill for the one he needs to pay attention to most: English.

"What will you wear today?" his mother asks.

"Eeeeeeeee."

Drool drips onto his chin, but he doesn't feel it; his excitement at making sounds overrides the fact that his salivary glands are pumping out more fluid than he knows how to swallow. He doesn't even know that swallowing will prevent the drooling.

"Eeeeeeeee. That sounds good," she says, pulling back her lips.

Watching her, he begins to understand that that's how his lips look when he makes that sound.

"Eeeeeeeee," he repeats, mimicking her face.

When his mother turns on the radio and then answers the phone, he continues to follow her voice. His hearing is sophisticated enough to pluck out his mother's voice from the music on the radio; recognizing his mother's voice is a skill a baby is born with. But if there are too many background noises that are similar in tone, they blur together, making it harder for him to hear the differences. Parenting.com: Ten essential baby milestones

To occupy him while she's on the phone, his mother rolls a ball by his bouncy seat. In his first weeks of life, his eyes would occasionally wander, but now they move in tandem more smoothly. His eyes follow the ball until it disappears behind the bookcase. It doesn't come back out. Gone. Out of sight, out of mind.

4 to 5 months: Grab that ring

Lying on the floor beneath his baby gym, he looks up at the yellow plastic ring and for the first time sees the inner surface of the ring's curve. Because his eyes move together now with more consistency, he has new depth perception. Swinging his arm up, he wraps his fingers around the hard plastic. Victory! He shrieks with excitement. All his weeks of practice have strengthened the neural pathways that direct his muscles to grab successfully.

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He's also been practicing babbling. Now he's able to repeat many of the vowel sounds he hears when his mom talks to him, as well as mimic the way her mouth moves.

In the afternoon, his mom places him on his stomach on the floor. Pressing his arms into the carpet, he hoists up his head, neck, and trunk in a mini-push-up. In one quick turn, he rolls from his tummy to his back, a complex achievement of muscle and the stirrings of a new desire to move.

6 months: Starting to move

He coos, hoping his mom will look at him. He smiles, hoping to beguile her. She walks by and he cranes his neck to keep her in sight as long as possible. While he long ago "bonded" with her, he's just starting to truly long for her, preferring her above all others. His emotional life has taken a leap. Deep structures in his brain called the limbic system are now better able to connect his actions with specific feelings. He's not cooing for the fun of it, he's cooing because she makes him happy.

She rolls a ball across the room. The game is more interesting to him now that his vision is at least 20/80 to 20/100. The ball disappears behind the bookcase, but now he looks to the other end, confident it will reappear. His brain can retain the visual image of the ball even when it's not in sight, and he understands that it still exists and is still moving. Parenting.com: Building a strong baby bond

His mother leaves the room to make a cup of tea and he watches her until he can't see her anymore. As with the ball, he knows that she continues to exist, even though he can't see her. But that's no comfort -- he wants her.

He balls his fists, brings them to his mouth, and cries out in frustration. Blood rushes to his face. He has no understanding of time, doesn't know how long she'll be gone or why she left. All he knows is that she's gone.

He bends his right leg, trying to will his body into crawling, moving toward her. It feels like he could, but he doesn't really know how. He works and works at it. He's not ready yet but will be soon.

She returns, scoops him up, and his cries subside as he squirms with happiness. All is well.

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Don Imus' return to radio sparks protest, curiosity

2007-12-02T01:31:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK (AP) -- Will Don Imus be defiant or contrite? Will he mock his skeptics while making his triumphant return to radio Monday.

MSNBC and CBS Radio fired Don Imus after he made racially charged comments during a broadcast in April.

Or will he muzzle his mouth?

"That question is part of the drama of his re-emergence," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, an industry trade journal. "Imus faces some choices."

Imus isn't talking, yet, but it's safe to say radio's best-known curmudgeon will have lots to say when his show kicks off at 6 a.m. ET Monday on WABC-AM and other Citadel Broadcasting Corp. stations around the country, ending his nearly eight-month banishment from the air.

The morning show will be simulcast on cable's RFD-TV, owned by the Rural Media Group Inc., and rebroadcast on radio in the evenings.

Monday's four-hour premiere will be broadcast from Town Hall in Times Square, where $100 tickets were sold to benefit the Imus Ranch for Kids With Cancer.

After its debut, the Imus spectacle will be on 6-9 a.m. weekdays, from a studio across the street from Madison Square Garden.

Not much is known about the show's format, other than at least one black person will participate regularly, along with longtime newsreader Charles McCord. Imus, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

Whether this will temper his staunchest critics, like Rev. Al Sharpton, is unclear. Sharpton's spokeswoman said the civil rights leader wasn't commenting. In Boston on Friday, a group of black community leaders protested a local station's plan to air the Imus program.

MSNBC and then CBS Radio jettisoned Imus in April after he called the Rutgers University women's basketball players "nappy-headed hos."

Imus' nemesis, Howard Stern, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that his acerbic competitor's career had peaked.

"At this point, I don't think he's very relevant," Stern said. "People will tune out within a week. I defy you to listen. It's like a rodeo -- you know, see how long you can ride a bull? See how long you can keep listening to Imus."

The people who helped orchestrate the Imus comeback believe he'll succeed and say he's learned his lesson since the Rutgers debacle.

"I don't have any doubt on his future," said Phil Boyce, WABC-AM program director. "He'll obviously be wiser, smarter and a bit more careful. He's learned from this. I'm not concerned that he'll have a repeat."

"Obviously we are doing this because we think we can make more money," Boyce said. "There's an opportunity to charge more for our advertising rates. I am not ashamed of saying it is about the money. We are running a business."

RFD reaches nearly 30 million homes, but with Imus on board the 24-hour cable network hopes to boost that number to 50 million over the next two years.

Rural Media Group Inc., which caters to a rural audience, hopes to crack urban markets with the mass appeal of Imus. Love him or hate him, people will tune into Imus, said Patrick Gottsch, founder and president.

"There is a real void in the morning with Don Imus not on the air," Gottsch said. "He's apologized heavily for the comments. He knew he made a mistake. You learn, you move on and I think most folks already have forgiven him."

Neither Boyce nor Gottsch would reveal how much money Imus is getting.

"It's the biggest deal by far we've ever done," Gottsch said. Imus signed a five-year agreement with RFD.

Boyce said he's paying to get the real Imus, and expects that to be the personality that emerges Monday.

"I'm not too worried that we're not gonna get the real deal," Boyce said.

But listeners might experience a different Imus, the same one who has morphed over the years, according to Harrison.

"Imus is just an interesting character," Harrison said. "I don't think that he is premeditated. I think he is a creature of the moment. He's a spontaneous human being. This is what he is. He has evolved over the years. Imus has been never stagnant. The tenets of his performances changed over there years by reinventing himself as the times demanded."

"If they're expecting him to stumble, they're going to have to wait for a long time," Harrison said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Deadly storm triggers travel nightmares in the Midwest

2007-12-02T01:29:00.000-08:00

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Snow and ice plastered a wide area of the Midwest on Saturday, interrupting campaigning by presidential hopefuls, disrupting airport and highway traffic and killing at least two people

The National Weather Service posted winter storm and ice warnings across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the eastern Dakotas, Illinois and northern Michigan, although some warnings were lifted by midday.

Six to 16 inches of snow was forecast in parts of Minnesota.

Much of Iowa was hit by snow, sleet and freezing rain.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at airports in Des Moines, Chicago and Milwaukee.

Officials decided to close Des Moines International Airport for several hours after a United Airlines plane slid off a taxiway as it was heading to a runway for a flight to Chicago's O'Hare, said airport spokesman Roy Criss.

He said none of the 44 passengers was injured and the airport reopened by mid-afternoon.

At Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin, an incoming Mesa Airlines regional jet flying for United Express slid off the pavement after failing to make a turn onto a taxiway, but no injuries were reported among the 25 passengers, said United Airlines spokesman Jeff Vick.

Madison was expecting three inches of snow and overnight wind gusts of up to 30 mph, an outlook so bleak that even meteorologists were postponing their own events.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences department postponed its annual Solstice Party, which was set for Saturday, until February.

"This is the most treacherous kind of weather that the weather can deliver," said department chairman Jonathan Martin. CNN's Reynolds Wolf has forecast »

The storm also complicated plans for some presidential hopefuls drumming up support for the January 3 caucuses that kick off the nomination process.

Republican Mitt Romney canceled three campaign stops planned Saturday in southern Iowa, and former President Clinton canceled a rally for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, scheduled Saturday afternoon outside Des Moines.

In the mountains of western Colorado, the storm dumped up to two feet of snow, bringing moisture to a region that had been thirsting for it.

A half foot of snow in Beaver Creek forced organizers to postpone a men's World Cup super-G skiing event from Saturday to Monday.

Heavy ice accumulations on power lines blacked out more than 14,000 customers scattered around Iowa, said representatives of for Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy. Thousands more were without power near Galesburg, Illinois, Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said.

A man died when his Jeep hit a semitrailer on a highway north of Madison, Wisconsin, authorities said. Vehicles had been slowing after another semitrailer tipped on its side as the driver tried to exit the highway.

On an icy interstate near Wellington, Colorado, a van slid off the road, rolled and struck a fence. One passenger was thrown from the vehicle and died, while the driver and two other passengers were injured, police said.

Numerous accidents were reported on Iowa highways, said Transportation Department spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher.

Many travelers checked into motels to wait out the storm in the northern Iowa city of Clear Lake, but Lake Country Inn manager Linda Lorenz said she was surprised by the numbers of vehicles that stayed on the highways.

"They're still going," Lorenz said. "I don't know why they aren't home, I'm not leaving."

Freezing rain coated Illinois highways with ice, causing spinouts and accidents, weather officials said. Ice was about a quarter-inch thick in parts of central Illinois, said weather service meteorologist Dan Kelly.

More than 400 flights were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and 25 were reported at Midway International Airport, said Gregg Cunningham, a spokesman for Chicago's Department of Aviation. Flights at O'Hare were delayed 40 to 60 minutes, with times expected to increase.

"The snow has turned over more to freezing rain, so the weather and low visibility is causing those delays," Cunningham said.

Many parts of Minnesota reported difficult driving conditions by early afternoon, the state Department of Transportation reported. Snow mixed with sleet along the Interstate 90 corridor across the southern edge of the state and visibility was down a quarter-mile in places.

Snow with wind of 20 to 25 mph reduced visibility in southeastern South Dakota and brought cancellations of regular weekend activities such as YMCA basketball, church practices, high school athletics and community events. One Sioux Falls television station had posted 43 event cancellations and postponements on its Web site by noon.

In North Dakota, snowy conditions caused numerous accidents, among them a crash on Interstate 94 in Fargo that involved a dozen vehicles including a passenger bus, Highway Patrol Capt. Jim Prochniak said.

Vehicles are "bumping into one another like pingpong balls out there," he said.

The weather also caused the search for two missing Illinois women to be called off after four hours of searching Saturday.

More than 200 people scoured parts of Romeoville for Stacy Peterson, 23, who disappeared over a month ago from her Bolingbrook home, and 38-year-old Lisa Stebic, of Plainfield, who was reported missing in April.

Access Hollywood | Pamela Anderson: Leaving Las Vegas For Canada (In 5 Years) | Celebrity and Hollywood News Access Hollywood

2007-12-02T01:23:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (November 29, 2007) – Pamela Anderson may be thrilling audiences in her skimpy, sparkling stage costumes alongside magician Hans Klok in Vegas, but like Celine Dion, her tenure on the strip has an expiration date.

“Five more years of [T&A], and I’ll go back to Canada,” Pam told USA Today in a new interview. “I’ve got some land. It’ll be time.”

So far, the blonde bombshell said she has been enjoying her latest career venture so much that she’s been turning down deals from Hollywood.

“I get offers to do movies and TV all the time. I say no to everything. Drives my agent crazy,” she laughed. “But I’m lazy. I don’t want to work. I want to be with my kids. So I just fly in from LA, do a few days of shows and go back home.”

Another reason things in Las Vegas have been so fab for Anderson? She found a husband.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. We’re good for each other,” Anderson said of her marriage to Rick Salomon. “We’re in every night. Having sex.”

Anderson said she had no regrets about the quick nuptials to Salomon (of Paris Hilton sex-tape fame) in October.

“I make all of my decisions in about five minutes,” she said.

The lovers spend plenty of time together and Anderson’s dressing room reportedly even has “Rick & Pam” spray-painted on the wall, according to USA Today.

As for her exes, the father of her two sons – rocker Tommy Lee, and Kid Rock, Anderson had little to say.

“Look, I wish them all well. I’m moving forward with my life,” she said.

50 Cent Uses MTV's 'Cribs' To Help Sell His Mansion

2007-12-02T01:22:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK, NY (November 29, 2007) – 50 Cent is using MTV to help sell his mansion.

Tonight on MTV’s “Cribs,” 50 will show off the 48,000-square foot property he’s hoping to sell for $18.5 million, according to the Associated Press.

50 bought the mansion three years ago. It was previously owned by boxing legend Mike Tyson, who apparently kept things somewhat old-school.

“It kind of had a `Miami Vice’ feel. It was like turquoise blue on the floor and purple,” the rapper told the AP. “It was crazy looking when I got there.”

During his stay at the house, 50 brought the home up to date by installing a nightclub, a basement studio and a swing, which hangs from a ceiling in the property. The home also offers so much space, 50has spent plenty of time in peace, away from houseguests.

“I’ll let them stay on the other side of the house and not actually see them for a day or so, because the house is broken up in three sections — the east side, the west side and then the center of the home,” he said.

So why is he selling?

50 told the AP he’s hoping to downsize. “It might be a lot smaller,” he said of his future digs. “The basics — maybe four or five bedrooms.”

Ellen DeGeneres Apologizes to 'Bachelor' Brad Womack On Show

2007-12-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (November 30, 2007) – Ellen DeGeneres continues to try and make nice with “The Bachelor” Brad Womack.

After the talk show host called Brad a “jerk” on her show Wednesday for not picking either girl in the shocking season finale of the hit ABC show, Ellen met with Brad face-to-face to apologize.

Brad told his side of the shocking conclusion that left DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft Bachelor-less. He stressed his decision was extremely difficult and made out of respect for the two contestants.

“I did not take the easy way out,” he told Ellen. “In fact, I took the tough way out in order to show these women respect, in my opinion. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.”

The biggest question of the hour was why Brad told DeAnna the finale would be “a good day” for her. Ellen asked if he regretted telling DeAnna this misleading information.

“I definitely regret that,” Womack told Ellen. “I don’t know if I got caught up in the moment. I don’t know if I was trying to comfort her. I bear the full brunt of responsibility for saying that. I do. She deserves someone to be straightforward and honest, which I thought I was. That’s one very, very bad decision of mine that I made.”

Though Brad regrets what he told DeAnna, he told Ellen he never asked that Pappas’ father be flown out. The arrival of Pappas’ father created false hope for DeAnna.

“What I did say is a proposal was such a big deal to me that a phone call was not sufficient, if and when that proposal would happen,” he said. “When it got to that day, I was informed that DeAnna’s father was flown out. I never one time asked for DeAnna’s father to be flown out. Never one single time.”

Ellen thanked Brad for coming on her show and sharing his side of the story.

“I really appreciate you coming here. I’m so sorry that I judged you because I didn’t know the full story,” she concluded.