Panda Cloud Antivirus is a Lightweight, Constantly Updated Virus Killer

Windows only: Panda Cloud Antivirus uses the power of cloud computing to scan and eliminate viruses from your PC that can identify new malware in almost real time.

Traditional anti-virus applications simply download an update from the servers on a periodic basis to keep your virus definitions scanning for the latest viruses—Cloud Antivirus uses their cloud system to do the work of classifying and scanning for new viruses, and is constantly updated with the latest virus information based on information from every other PC running the software.

The client is lightweight, taking a mere 16mb of RAM on our test system—and while it caches a copy of the definitions for offline use, it doesn't seem to take much drive space either. We've not had a chance to test the software against real malware—in our testing it quickly found and eliminated a bunch of spy cookies, but it's refreshing to see new innovation in the boring world of virus killing.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is a free download for 32-bit Windows only, and according to CNET will stay free for personal use even after it is released from beta.

More Government Idiocy

Once Again, Pat Condell Reads My Mind

Avatar - eRa & Enya

The Pizza Box of the Future Has Arrived

Don't you love when something so right is also ingeniously simple? Then you'll love this pizza box

Hannity Volunteers to be Waterboarded - Don't Hold Your Breath

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tony Danza Makes Himself Look Foolish - Open Mic

Well, I'M Convinced.

Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Stand By Me"

This cover of Stand By Me was recorded by completely unknown artists in a street virtual studio all around the world. It all started with a base track—vocals and guitar—recorded on the streets of Santa Monica, California, by a street musician called Roger Ridley. The base track was then taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, where Grandpa Elliott—a blind singer from the French Quarter—added vocals and harmonica while listening to Ridley's base track on headphones. In the same city, Washboard Chaz's added some metal percussion to it.

And from there, it just gets rock 'n' rolling bananas: The producers took the resulting mix all through Europe, Africa, and South America, adding new tracks with multiple instruments and vocals that were assembled in the final version you are seeing in this video. All done with a simple laptop and some microphones.

People Reacting to That Idiotic 747 Flying Over NYC on April 27Th

I Wonder if They Come in Garlic Flavor?

Actress Bea Arthur, Star of TV's Golden Girls, Dies at 86

LOS ANGELES — Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.

Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.

"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."

Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashio' "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." One of his Tony nominations was for "Mame."

In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me the outrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ('Threepenny Opera' star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught me economy."

In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization.

Arthur is survived by her sons and two granddaughters. No funeral services are planned.

1000 Frames Per Second

Denise Richards' Funbags

What Were the Friggin' Morons at Apple Thinking?

As Long As We're At It - One of My Favorite Smothers Brothers Skits

WomansDay.com Celebrates National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month - 10 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Creations EVER!

WomansDay.com Celebrates National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month - 10 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich Creations EVER!

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10 Latin Phrases You Pretend to Understand

1. Caveat Emptor
(KAV-ee-OT emp-TOR): “Let the buyer beware”

Before money-back guarantees and 20-year warranties, caveat emptor was indispensable advice for the consumer. These days, it’d be more fitting to have it tattooed on the foreheads of used-car salesmen, infomercial actors, and prostitutes. For extra credit points, remember that caveat often makes solo appearances at cocktail parties as a fancy term for a warning or caution. Oh, and just so you know, caveat lector means “let the reader beware.”

2. Persona Non Grata
(puhr-SOH-nah non GRAH-tah): “An unacceptable person”

Remember your old college buddy, the one everybody called Chugger? Now picture him at a debutante ball, and you’ll start to get a sense of someone with persona non grata status. The term is most commonly used in diplomatic circles to indicate that a person is unwelcome due to ideological differences or a breach of trust. Sometimes, the tag refers to a pariah, a ne’er-do-well, a killjoy, or an interloper, but it’s always subjective. Back in 2004, Michael Moore was treated as a persona non grata at the Republican National Convention. Bill O’Reilly would experience the same at Burning Man.

3. Habeas Corpus
(HAY-bee-as KOR-pus): “You have the body”

When you wake up in the New Orleans Parish Prison after a foggy night at Mardi Gras, remember this one. In a nutshell, habeas corpus is what separates us from savages. It’s the legal principle that guarantees an inmate the right to appear before a judge in court, so it can be determined whether or not that person is being lawfully imprisoned. It’s also one of the cornerstones of the American and British legal systems. Without it, tyrannical and unjust imprisonments would be possible. In situations where national security is at risk, however, habeas corpus can be suspended.

4. Cogito Ergo Sum
(CO-gee-toe ER-go SOME): “I think, therefore I am”

When all those spirited mental wrestling matches you have about existentialism start growing old (yeah, right!), you can always put an end to the debate with cogito ergo sum. René Descartes, the 17th-century French philosopher, coined the phrase as a means of justifying reality. According to him, nothing in life could be proven except one’s thoughts. Well, so he thought, anyway.

5. E Pluribus Unum
(EE PLUR-uh-buhs OOH-nuhm): “Out of many, one”

Less unique than it sounds, America’s original national motto, e pluribus unum, was plagiarized from an ancient recipe for salad dressing. In the 18th century, haughty intellectuals were fond of this phrase. It was the kind of thing gentlemen’s magazines would use to describe their year-end editions. But the term made its first appearance in Virgil’s poem “Moretum” to describe salad dressing. The ingredients, he wrote, would surrender their individual aesthetic when mixed with others to form one unique, homogenous, harmonious, and tasty concoction. As a slogan, it really nailed that whole cultural melting pot thing we were going for. And while it continues to appear on U.S. coins, “In God We Trust” came along later (officially in 1956) to share the motto spotlight.

6. Quid Pro Quo
(kwid proh KWOH): “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”

Given that quid pro quo refers to a deal or trade, it’s no wonder the Brits nicknamed their almighty pound the “quid.” And if you give someone some quid, you’re going to expect some quo. The phrase often lives in the courtroom, where guilt and innocence are the currency. It’s the oil that lubricates our legal system. Something of a quantified value is traded for something of equal value; elements are parted and parceled off until quid pro quo is achieved.

7. Ad Hominem
(ad HAH-mi-nem): “To attack the man”

In the world of public discourse, ad hominem is a means of attacking one’s rhetorical opponent by questioning his or her reputation or expertise rather than sticking to the issue at hand. Translation: Politicians are really good at it. People who resort to ad hominem techniques are usually derided as having a diluted argument or lack of discipline. If pressed, they’ll brandish it like a saber and refuse to get back to the heart of the matter. Who said the debate team doesn’t have sex appeal?

8. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
(ad-MA-yor-em DAY-ee GLOR-ee-um): “All for the Greater Glory of God”

Ad majorem dei gloriam is often shortened to AMDG. In other words, it’s the WWJD of the Jesuits, who’ve been drilling the mantra into their followers since (Saint) Ignatius of Loyola founded the Catholic Order in 1534. They believe all actions, big or small, should be done with AMDG in mind. Remind your Jesuit-educated buddies of this when they seem to be straying from the path. (Best used with a wink and a hint of irony.)

9. Memento Mori
(meh-MEN-toh MOR-ee): “Remember, you must die”

Carpe diem is so 20th century. If you’re going to suck the marrow out of life, trying doing it with the honest, irrefutable, and no less inspiring memento mori. You can interpret the phrase in two ways: Eat, drink, and party down. Or, less hedonistically, be good so you can get past the pearly gates. Naturally, the latter was the one preferred by the early Christian Church, which would use macabre art—including dancing skeletons and snuffed-out candles—to remind the faithful to forgo temporal pleasures in favor of eternal bliss in heaven. The phrase also served to prevent swelling heads. Some historians say that victorious, parading Roman generals would have servants stand behind them and whisper “memento mori” in their ears to keep their egos in check.

10. Sui Generis
(SOO-ee JEN-er-is): “Of its own genus,” or “Unique and unable to classify”

Frank Zappa, the VW Beetle, cheese in a can: Sui generis refers to something that’s so new, so bizarre, or so rare that it defies categorization. Granted, labeling something “sui generis” is really just classifying the unclassifiable. But let’s not over-think it. Use it at a dinner party to describe Andy Kaufman, and you impress your friends. Use it too often, and you just sound pretentious.

Recipe Puppy Chooses Meals Based on the Ingredients You Have

Recipe search engine Recipe Puppy finds meals by a list of ingredients or keywords, searching through more than 500,000 recipes across dozens of web sites.

http://www.recipepuppy.com/

DANGER: High Fructose Corn Syrup

The consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup has increased 10,673% in the past 35 years.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is almost all made from genetically modified corn which has its own health problem side-effects. Genetically modified corn increases the risk of developing corn allergies - even to healthful organically grown corn. Food and drink manufacturers switched to HFCS in the early 70s because it is cheap and much sweeter, 20 times sweeter. Four companies control 85% of the $2.6 billion business - Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Staley Mfg and CPC International. 16 plants in our corn belt manufacture the stuff, huge vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking.

The number one source of calories in America is from HFCS in soda pop. Studies have shown these high calorie drinks are causing Americans to gain large amounts of body fat. One study eliminated HFCS drinks and the subjects lost weight. No other diet item eliminated made ANY difference. 35 years ago, American soda’s were made with sugar, just like Mexican Coke is today. 35 years ago our obesity problem began growing out of control.

Consumption of HFCS is not only making us fat, it also damages organs like the liver and pancreas, leads to bone loss, anemia and heart problems. Diabetes has increased 90% in the past ten years. High blood sugar now affects one in four of us. HFCS is not just used to sweeten pop, it’s now used in punch, fruit juices, processed pre-packaged foods (which account for 90% of the dollars we spend on meals). It is also now found in cereals, salad dressings, cheese spreads, yogurt, jam, peanut butter, crackers, ketchup and ice cream, to name a few. Most people get MOST of their calories now from HFCS, mostly from soft drinks. Drinking only one soda a day adds up to 15 pounds a year.

HFCS creates insulin resistance. Low insulin levels are a co-generator of most diseases, including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and premature aging. The liver does not process HFCS like ordinary sugars. Most fats are made in the liver. When sugar enters the liver it can store it, burn it or turn it into body fat. HFCS bypasses this process and goes directly to fat. There is strong evidence indicating that HFCS does not become blood glucose. Consumption of the stuff leads to decreased signals to our central nervous system from leptin and insulin. Leptin and insulin help regulate how much food we eat. Without healthful levels, we increase food intake and of course, get fatter.

HFCS contains high levels of reactive compounds that trigger cell damage. Natural sugar does not contain reactive compounds. Triglycerides, the chemical form of fat found in foods and in our bodies increases dramatically when we eat or drink HFCS. Bad cholesterol increases as well. This increases the risk of heart disease. HFCS can interfere with the heart’s use of minerals like magnesium, copper and chromium. HFCS does not contain any enzymes, vitamins or minerals. It actually leaches nutrients from the body. A study with two groups of rats, one given large amounts of sugar, the other large amounts of HFCS turned out badly for the one group. The high sugar group was unaffected. The HFCS group male rats did not survive to adulthood, suffering from anemia and high cholesterol, their hearts enlarging until they actually exploded. Their testicles also did not develop normally which was the least of their problems. The females were not so physically affected but none could bear live young. The livers of the rats on the HFCS diet looked like the livers of alcoholics.

Don’t get confused about “fructose.” Fruit contains natural fructose. Fruit also contains minerals and vitamins. Eat a wide variety of fruits, especially berries. They are loaded with antioxidants.

Soloflex owns the trademark on the slogan “Exercise and Eat Right.” Part of our due diligence is to inform our customers about both. Start reading the labels on pre-packaged foods and drinks. If they contain HFCS don’t buy them and complain to your grocer. You needn’t be polite about it either. This is serious stuff.

Jesus Camp- Total Child Abuse

How to Pick a Lock

Penn Says: Knowing There's No God

Famous Photographs - Music by eRa

A Group That I Recently Discovered

Era is a New Age music project by French composer Eric Lévi. Era mixes Gregorian chants with contemporary electronic arrangements and is reminiscent to the Enigma music project. The band has sold more than 10 million albums.

Most of Era lyrics are written in Pseudo-Latin and based on beliefs of the XIII century French christian sect, the Cathars. Era's live shows and music videos often feature vocalists dressed in medieval or traditional clothes and armor.

In 1998 Era caused a sensation that has not been forgotten. It pointed at a trend towards spiritual and mystical music - music that could be and should be interpreted by everyone in his own way.

Opinions about Era are very different. Everyone has his own feelings and sensibility and not everyone could let this music come into his heart. Most people look at connections with music such as Enigma, Gregorian etc. and do not see the magic world Era leads in.

'In Plain Sight' Returns - Season 2 Episode 1 : 'Gilted Lily'

Back to the tube tonight is USA’s In Plain Sight, which kicks off its second season. If you’re not familiar with the show, IPS is all about the Witness Protection Program and follows Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), who is tasked with helping people find new identities.

The show is somewhat off the same template as fellow USA drama Burn Notice, serving up great procedural action and smart jocularity. And it’s worth mentioning that IPS was the number one new original cable series of 2008.

IPS owes all its ability to captivate to the strength of McCormack in the role. The stark contrast between her zest for her job and the dysfunction of her family makes for a good tug of war for viewers to watch. And fittingly, this double-life serves as the perfect metaphor of the lives of those she’s protecting.

The new season on In Plain Sight premieres tonight at 10/9c on USA Network.

The Best U.S. Cities For Jobs

The top of the complete ranking -- which, for ease, we have broken down into the two smaller lists, of the best big and small cities for jobs -- is dominated by one state: Texas. The Lone Star State may have lost a powerful advocate in Washington, but it's home to a remarkable eight of the top 20 cities on our list -- including No. 1-ranked Odessa, a small city in the state's northwestern region. Further, the top five large metropolitan areas for job growth -- Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas--are all in Texas' "urban triangle."

The reasons for the state's relative success are varied. A healthy energy industry is certainly one cause. Many Texas high-fliers, including Odessa, Longview, Dallas and Houston, are home to energy companies that employ hordes of people -- and usually at fairly high salaries for both blue- and white-collar workers. In some places, these spurts represent a huge reversal from the late 1990s. Take Odessa's remarkable 5.5 percent job growth in 2008, which followed a period of growth well under 1 percent from 1998 to 2002.

Judges Apologize To Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle's fame is spreading, and her talent even has two people who sat in judgment of her apologizing to her.

The middle-aged Scottish volunteer church worker. who literally raised eyebrows as she wowed everyone with her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" in a prelim round of the TV competition, "Britain's Got Talent," has paparazzi at her door and fan mail piling up, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer -- not to mention millions upon millions of hits on the YouTube clip of her performance

Redmond O'Neal: Farrah Fawcett Weighs Just 86 Pounds

If O'Neal's statement about his mother's weight is true, it could be a very bad sign, says FOX News contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel.

O'Neal, 24, made the announcement when he asked for leniency in sentencing for a violation of his parole stemming from drug charges, according to RadarOnline.com.

He told the judge, "I want to be there for my mom. My mom only weighs 86 pounds right now and I'm sorry your honor."

"Accompanied with anorexia and weight loss, this [could] possibly indicate further spread of the cancer," Siegel told FOXNews.com. The anorexia could also be a side effect from her chemotherapy, he said, which may be causing her to vomit.

After a week-long stay, Fawcett was released from the hospital last Thursday, where she was being treated for conditions related to her anal cancer, which had reportedly spread to her liver.

FOXNews.com - Brown University Should Consider Name Change Due to Slave Ties, Critics Say - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

FOXNews.com - Brown University Should Consider Name Change Due to Slave Ties, Critics Say - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

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Some Rants About Annoying Children

While Dining
This woman had a baby that just kept on screaming. And she just kind of sat there and did nothing. Just because you're not annoyed by the shrieking of your child and your child ruins your breakfast, doesn't mean that my meal should be ruined too. Here's a hint, if you child is screaming and yelling for more than a minute, take your child out of the restaurant and control him or just don't go out to eat. Not all of us find a screaming child a pleasant dining experience.
So for all you parents out there, if you can't control your kids, don't take them out. Or if you have to take them out, just because your time is ruined doesn't give you the right to ruin my time too.

Nitwit Parents
Parents have taken to PC parenting, which includes downplaying or ignoring problems for the immediate satisfaction of feeling you've done your job as a parent correctly and your children are delightful to the world at large. Therefore choosing complete denial or ignorant bliss when your child makes excess noise, can't sit still, disturbs or destroys their immediate vicinity, or harasses passersby.

If you have a younger child and you participate in group public activities like dining out and going to movies, then you are responsible for monitoring, disciplining, and addressing your child's behavior. Kids cry, act up and throw fits only to get a reaction from their parents or to get their way. They test you and push your buttons. And if by the age of 2 they don't know who's boss and are still throwing fits when they don't get a toy at the store...well, who's to blame there?

The supermarket that I go to seems to have an abundance of screaming kids whose parents pretty much ignore them. No one wants to hear, under ANY circumstances, a high-pitched squeal that would drown out most fire sirens. Teach your damn kids some manners BEFORE they are beyond having it sink in!

Gah!

Nutcase Female Driver Tries to Elude Police

Religious Semantics

False Advertising? Indeed.

Have you ever seen a McDonald’s or Wendy’s advertisement and really appreciated how delicious a sandwich or burger looked. You were so impressed that you went to said fast food restaurant and ordered yourself one.

You fork over your hard earned white collar cash expecting to receive the same beautiful masterpiece shown in the ads just to be let down by a sloppy disgusting looking sandwich that was probably made by an ex inmate.

Sure, you can’t expect that much for a burger that is delivered in less than three minutes but give me a break people, false advertisement is false advertisement. If you are going to advertise sexy full figured burgers don’t give me a squashed beef patty with some sort of material that is supposed to pass as cheese.

Think I’m just trash talking fast food restaurants? Naaa, I can appreciate a two cheeseburger meal from McDonald’s when nursing a hangover as much as the next guy, but seriously, quit advertising your food as designer foods and start advertising it like it is. Cheap, fast and greasy.

Here are 14 wonderful fast food vs reality examples.

14. Arby’s Beef ‘n’ Cheddar Sandwhich

VS.

13. McDonald’s Sausage Breakfast Burrito

VS

12. Subway six-inch turkey breast and ham sub sandwich

Vs

11. Wendy’s Southwest Taco Salad

Vs

10. Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande

Vs

9. Burger King sausage, egg, and cheese croissant

Vs

8. KFC Famous Bowl

Vs

7. McDonald’s McSkillet burrito

Vs

6. McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin

Vs

5. McDonald’s Big Mac

Vs

4. Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich

Vs

3. McDonald’s Filet O Fish Sandwich

Vs

2. Burger King Whopper

Vs

1. Wendy’s Chicken Club

Vs

What If god Smoked Cannabis?

If god had long hair and a goatee
And if his eyes were pretty glazed
If he looked spaced out
Would you buy his story
Would you believe he had an eye infection?

And yeah yeah god looks baked
Yeah yeah god smells good
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
What if god smoked cannabis?
Hit the bong like some of us
Drove a tie-dyed microbus
And he subscribes to rolling stone

If god made this place, in the beginning
Did he plant any seeds?
Or did he put them there for Adam and Eve
So they'd be hungry for the apple
That the snake was always offering

And yeah yeah god rolls great
Yeah yeah god smells good
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
What if god smoked cannabis?
Do you suppose he had a buzz?
When he made the platypus
When he created earth our home
Does he like pearl jam or the stones?

And do you think he rolls his own
Up there in heaven on the throne
And when the saints go marching home
Maybe he sits and smokes a bowl.

Phil Spector's Mugshot

Spector is pictured below in a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department mug shot taken yesterday.

Teabagging?

tea-bag
	Dipping your testicles into the open mouth of another person. Kind of like dipping a tea bag in and out of a cup of water.

Jury Finds Phil Spector Guilty of Murder

LOS ANGELES - Rock music producer Phil Spector was convicted Monday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion six years ago.

A Superior Court jury returned the verdict after an estimated 29 to 30 hours of deliberations. The jury had the option of choosing involuntary manslaughter, but did not do so.

Spector's young wife, Rachelle, sobbed as the decision was announced.

The 40-year-old Clarkson, star of the 1985 cult film "Barbarian Queen," died of a gunshot fired in her mouth as she sat in the foyer of Spector's mansion in 2003. She met Spector only hours earlier at her job as a nightclub hostess.

Prosecutors argued Spector had a history of threatening women with guns when they tried to leave his presence.

The defense claimed she killed herself.

It was Spector's second trial. His first jury deadlocked 10-2, favoring conviction in 2007.

Older Generations Join Social Networks - Facebook

(CNN) -- Penny Ireland's family is so scattered around the world that Facebook, the popular social networking site, has become the family's No. 1 way to communicate.

"We call it our living room," the 56-year-old mother said by phone from her home in Houston, Texas. "Everybody can tell what everybody else is doing."

"Everybody" includes Ireland's five kids and her 83-year-old mother, who has a Facebook profile she accesses daily, Ireland said.

While online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are known hang-outs for younger adults and teenagers, older generations in recent months have been taking to the medium at a faster rate than any other age group, according to industry reports.

Many of these older folks use social networks to keep tabs on younger family members and they often find fruitful connections with their peers after they've friended all of their kids and grandkids, according to an informal survey by Stanford University professor BJ Fogg.

The trend is still relatively confined. Only about 7 percent of people older than 65 have online social-networking profiles, according to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

But Facebook's popularity is growing most quickly among women older than 55, according to a site called Inside Facebook, which tracks Facebook's growth.

There are now about 1.5 million female users older than 55 on the site, the group says -- roughly a 550 percent increase over six months ago. By comparison, membership among people younger than 25 grew by less than 20 percent over the same period, Inside Facebook says.

Diabetics Risking Life and Limb Amid Recession

Diabetics are increasingly risking life and limb by cutting back on — or even going without — doctor visits, insulin, medicines and blood-sugar testing as they lose income and health insurance in the recession, an Associated Press analysis has found.

Doctors have seen a drop in regular appointments with diabetic patients, if they come back at all. Patients more often seek tax-subsidized or charity care. And they end up in emergency rooms more often, patients and physicians said in interviews.

Sales of top-selling drugs and other products used to treat and monitor the disease have dropped since the economic crisis accelerated last fall, the AP analysis found. There are even signs that some patients are choosing less-expensive insulin injections over pricier pills to save money.

Meanwhile, the number of people with the disease keeps growing — another 1.6 million Americans were diagnosed in 2007 alone.

Risking dire complications
People with other health problems also are cutting back on care amid the recession, but diabetics who don't closely monitor and control the chronic disease risk particularly dire complications: amputations, vision loss, stroke — even death.

Patients' frugality comes at a tremendous cost to the already-strained health care system. The typical monthly bill to treat diabetes runs $350 to $900 for those without insurance, a price tag that's risen as newer, more expensive medicines have hit the market. Emergency care and a short hospitalization can easily top $10,000, and long-term complications can cost far more.

Diabetes occurs when the body doesn't make enough insulin or doesn't efficiently use the hormone, which helps turn sugar from food into energy. The disease can be kept under control by monitoring blood sugar as well as exercising, improved diet, medications, testing and regular checkups.

Uncontrolled diabetes can cause fatigue, blurry vision, excessive urination, gum problems, infections and wounds that don't heal. Damage to the kidneys, liver, heart and eyes follow. Often, much of that damage isn't apparent until a stroke or heart attack strikes.

Sales of diabetes testing supplies and drugs indicate how many Americans have moved beyond scrimping and are cutting vital expenses. Several doctors said they began noticing a shift in August or September, when the financial markets melted down and layoffs accelerated.

Sales have dipped for pricey brand-name diabetes pills, blood glucose monitors and even test strips, based on industry sales figures and interviews with the top two makers of testing supplies. The strips generally cost $1 or more each; patients using insulin are supposed to test at least two to four times a day to be sure their blood sugar is in a safe range.

Sales down as cases grow
Johnson & Johnson, a maker of top-selling OneTouch blood sugar meters, testing strips and insulin pumps, reported a 2 percent fourth-quarter drop in U.S. sales for the category compared with the same period a year earlier, a large drop considering quarterly sales up to then had been rising at around 10 percent.

Long-term consequences
Getting patients to stick to their treatment has long been tough. But rising unemployment has made things worse.

At a family clinic in impoverished Newark, N.J., so many patients simply stopped showing up after losing health insurance that doctors posted notices asking clients with financial troubles to speak up so staff can try to help.

"Sometimes you don't see (diabetes) patients for several months," said Dr. Cynthia Paige, medical director of the New Jersey Family Practice Center. They "don't understand what a nightmare uncontrolled diabetes is and how it's ravaging your body," she said.

Emergency rooms increasingly are treating diabetics who haven't been taking medicines, according to doctors at several hospitals nationwide and the professional group for ER doctors. Many of the patients have blood sugar so high they are hospitalized for days. Free clinics also are getting a surge of diabetes patients desperate for help.

"There's an increase in just overall consequences of diabetes: losing a foot, losing a kidney, bad eyesight. At least six people come to mind over the last six months ... most because of the recession," said Dr. Nicholas Vasquez, who works in one of the country's biggest ERs, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix.

Vasquez and his colleagues view the desperate patients in their ER as harbingers of what's to come if the recession deepens.

"What we're seeing mostly is the first steps of people not taking care of their diabetes and starting to have consequences," he said.

FOXNews.com - Ship Captain Rescued From Somali Pirates - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

FOXNews.com - Ship Captain Rescued From Somali Pirates - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

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Happy Easter, Kids!

My Favorite Jesus Movie

This excellent biblical epic was produced by the legendary Samuel Bronston and directed with a skillful mix of spiritual reverence and cinematic imagination by Nicholas Ray. The film covers the 33 years from Jesus Christ's birth in Bethlehem through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Included are His relationship with John, the 40 days in the desert, the choosing of the Apostles, the Sermon on the Mount, and Judas's betrayal at the Passover seder that was Jesus's Last Supper.

Although Ray Bradbury is not credited, he reportedly wrote the narration spoken by Orson Welles, whose incredible voice and delivery would add dignity and import to dirty limericks. Jeffrey Hunter, not really a major actor, is much more effective than one would expect as Jesus, and Robert Ryan is excellent as John. Hurd Hatfield, though, who sadly never recovered from his initial amazing impression in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, goes a bit over the top as Pilate. Other outstanding performances are contributed by Royal Dano, Harry Guardino, Viveca Lindfors and Rip Torn.

KING OF KINGS is an epic of considerable scope, filled with broad vistas, yet there are enough intimate moments to give the audience a chance to engage with the characters rather than just admire their pontificating. This is a film where people sweat and labor, and the film, though hardly great, is much better for it. Credit reasonable and restrained writing by Yordan and Ray's sense of judgment for this one.

This Blog's Visitors

Local Morning News Pranked With X-Rated Birthday Names

The Latest Internet Sensation

Gmail Adds Inline Image Embedding

Once you enable the "Inserting Images" feature in your "Labs" list and make sure you have "rich formatting mode" chosen in your composition settings, you'll see a new image button on the toolbar, and you'll have the option to upload a file from your system or grab one off the web to plant right where your cursor was when you hit the button.

Communities Print Own Currencies to Keep Money Local

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — It looks like Monopoly money, but the colorful currency created by collaborators in the western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington is legal tender.

The creative cash is called "BerkShares," a play on words, referring to the mountainous region called the Berkshires, where businesses and citizens have come together to support each other in these tough economic times.

Asa Hardcastle, the president of BerkShares Inc., says the unique bills can be picked up at local banks. For every 95 cents, consumers get a dollar's worth of BerkShares, which can be used to purchase goods and services at participating local shops. So far, 400 businesses have signed up.

"Local currency helps to keep the money flowing between friends and neighbors, local businesses, which helps everybody to have a better life," Hardcastle said, sipping on a cup of joe bought with BerkShares.

They're not alone. From Detroit to North Carolina to upstate New York, at least a dozen communities are trying to encourage people to buy locally, creating their own currencies.

In the Berkshires, the bills are printed on the same paper as U.S. currency and by the same company — Crane & Co., based in the Berkshires town of Dalton, Mass. They feature local artists, heroes and historical figures and come complete with individual serial numbers, making them a tough target for counterfeiters. The program is made possible through private grant funding.

Roughly 2.3 million minted BerkShares have circulated through the community since the program's launch in 2006.

Matt Rubiner, owner of Rubiner's Cheesemongers & Grocers, stands behind the local currency.

"Philosophically, it's very much along the lines of the foundations that we set up our store under. Supporting local, sustainable producers. Keeping the community local wherever possible and so, when the BerkShares came along, that was right up our alley. We really embraced it," Rubiner said.

His shop takes special effort to buy local products and support local dairy farmers.

"We begin to feel we can take care of ourselves maybe a little bit better," he said "Maybe it does bind us a little more closely."

Customer Heather Fisch stopped by Rubiner's to try a slice-of-the-day, saying she's a big supporter of BerkShares.

"I think it's nice to have a constant little reminder that we're a community and we're in it together," Fisch said. "It's kind of like a Great Barrington pride moment. I'm a citizen of Great Barrington. Here's my BerkShare."

Historically, it's not a new phenomenon. Local communities printed their own currency during past recessions, as recently as the 1980s. During the 1860s, local banks printed money. New England's mills often paid their employees in scrip, a system of payment that could only be used at a company store or in the local town.

Robert Bench, a senior fellow at Boston University and former National Bank supervisor, says local currency efforts have proved successful in the past, helping to encourage consumers spend close to home.

"I think it brings out the community spirit that's in everybody's self conscience," he said.

What Does the Bible Say About Long Hair?

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? (1 Corinthians 11: 14-15, KJV)

Weight Watchers Baked Sweet Potato Chips Recipe - 1 Point

This Weight Watchers Sweet Potato Chips Recipe is the perfect, low calorie snack for anyone following the Weight Watchers program, or anyone just trying to eat better. Sweet Potatoes are much higher in fiber, vitamins and antioxidants than regular potatoes, and lower in calories and carbohydrates.

So by giving this fabulous Weight Watcher Recipe a try and baking these tasty Sweet Potato Chips yourself, you are still able to enjoy the feeling of chomping down on some tasty potato chips, but you are really having quite a healthy, low calorie snack!

And this Baked Potato Chips Recipe is so easy to make, you’ll use it time and time again. It also makes a great healthy snack recipe to serve the kids, and is sure to liven up all of your parties and get-togethers.

Ingredients:

- 1 large sweet potatoes, peeled
- Non-fat Olive Oil Cooking Spray
- 1/8 tsp Kosher salt, or to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
Thinly slice potatoes in a food processor or by hand; they should be no more than 1/8-inch thick. The thinner the better (it gives you more chips for the same amount of Weight Watchers Points!!!)
Arrange slices on baking sheets so they don’t overlap. Spray with a bit more oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake chips until they begin to lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve. Recipe makes 4 servings.

*TIP: If leftover chips become soggy, put them back in a hot oven for a few minutes to crisp them up.

Serving size is 1/4th of recipe
Each serving = 1 Weight Watchers Point

Gets 'Em Every Time

Kal Penn on his shocking exit from ‘House’

DEFCON 1 spoiler alert! If you haven't seen Monday night's “House,” stop reading now. Everyone else, onward and downward!

Here are the six things you need to know up-front about last night's “House”:

• Yes, Kutner was the subject of my "suicide" blind item.
• No, his death wasn't a figment of House's Vicodin-impaired imagination.
• Yes, Kal Penn has left the show for good.
• No, he wasn't fired. He asked to go. (And man, wait 'till you find out where he's going.)
• Yes, this was the "cataclysmic" event that Hugh Laurie has been teasing all year.
• Yes, the trio at the center of this grim turn of events — exec producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs, as well Kal Penn himself — spoke to me exclusively about the surprising story behind Penn's exit, the decision to have the seemingly well-adjusted Kutner take his own life, and whether the tragedy will drive House-Cuddy and Cameron-Chase closer together or further apart...

Part I: Kal Penn

I understand it was your decision to leave House. True?

KAL PENN: Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I'm going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign.

Will you actually be working in the White House?

PENN: This particular office is in the executive building. The White House has two buildings: the actual White House and an old Navy building called the Old Executive Office.

Are you there as long as Obama's in office?

PENN: A lot of that stuff is up in the air. This is a relatively recent development.

Safe to say you're taking a huge pay cut?

PENN: Oh, yeah. There's not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. But, obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor.

How long has this been in the works?

PENN: I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I went to a performing arts high school, but I still took a bunch of those dorky political science classes. It's probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more. And in '06 I started this international studies program at Stanford, where they actually let you do most of the course work online. So it was something I could do while I was acting. And I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else. The ultimate irony, of course, is that I love being on House. There's not a smarter group of people that I've been surrounded by in television. So I thought about it for a very long time before I went and talked to David and Katie.

What was that conversation like?

PENN: We had a very long discussion. And I remember David saying, "Are you telling me that you're unhappy with the show and that you want to leave so you can go off and do a different show?" And I was like, "Not at all. I'm actually saying the exact opposite, which is I'm having an incredible time, but there's something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while." And with their blessing, we were able to work it out.

Are you retiring from acting?

PENN: Not necessarily. Who's to say where any path leads? I still have a passion for it. But for the time being, I won't be acting.

How did you react when you found out how they were writing Kutner out?

PENN: One of the things I love about our show is you never know what's going to happen. So that news struck me in the same way we hope it strikes the audience: there was a little bit of anger and some depression. You really go through those emotions, especially when somebody dies in that fashion. Ultimately, it was a really interesting choice for them to make. We don't really know why he did it, unless it's resolved in the episodes after [I left], which, of course, I'm not privy to anymore. At least in [Monday night's] episode, we don't really know why he did it. There's no note. There's no explanation. And as a testament to David and Katie, that's a huge risk. 'Cause it is going to make people upset, and it is going to piss off some of the audience. And, ultimately, in my opinion, that's what art really is — when you can conjure up those kinds of emotions. And it's rare nowadays to be able to do that on network television, but they managed to.

Were you disappointed that you didn't get to shoot the requisite good-bye scenes with your co-stars?

PENN: From my selfish perspective, you want one last scene with Hugh, you want one awesome bantering scene with Peter, you want something where you and Olivia [Wilde] are doing a diagnostic together. But I had known a couple weeks beforehand [that Kutner would just abruptly commit suicide], so I was conscious in previous episodes of, 'Okay, this is probably the last time I'm going to get to do a scene with Peter, and this is the last time I'm going to be on screen with Robert.' And, of course, we're all still really close friends, so I've seen them a ton of times since I stopped shooting.

What were your emotions like on your last day?

PENN: It's always emotional when something incredible comes to an end. The feeling would have been very different if I was not enjoying myself, and if I didn't love the job. But because I loved the job and the character and the people I'm working with, I think bittersweet is the probably the best way to describe it. The contrast of knowing that I want to move on and do something completely different, with the incredibly violent and incredibly depressing thing that happens to my character... I think bittersweet is the only way to describe it.

Are you bummed you won't be around to experience firsthand the fallout from Cuddy and House having sex?

PENN: Do they really?

That's the buzz.

PENN: See, I didn't even know that. If that's the case, yeah, it's a bummer to not be involved in an episode like that. It's the emotional stuff that really gets the characters riled up, so if that's actually happening, it would be neat to see. [Pauses] Well, not see. To be part of scenes like that. [Laughs]

HOUSE- In Loving Memory: Lawrence Kutner

That's Just Great...Bow Down to the Saudis

Hypnotize Yourself Using the Best Me Technique

The "Best Me Technique" is a form of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, which involves your whole person in the content of a suggested event. Every letter in "Best Me" corresponds with an element of suggestion, and these elements can be applied in a variety of ways: to place yourself into self-hypnosis, to pre-experience the accomplishment of a goal, and to end your self-hypnosis session. It's the versatility and the thoroughness of these elements that makes the "Best Me Technique" of self-hypnosis distinct from meditation and visualization exercises. Instead of merely picturing something in the mind’s eye, the Best Me Technique enables us to paint upon the canvas of experience almost any masterpiece we may desire. This article will show you how to use "Best Me" suggestions to pre-experience the rewards of future goals now, at full strength in the present when they are most needed for motivation, reducing or eliminating the need for will power. (It's also a great way to relax and fall asleep or take a power nap!)

Steps

1. Unless you actually intend to do so, choose a time when you are not too sleepy or tired, so that you are not likely to doze off.
2. Find a quiet place with subdued lighting, where you are not likely to be disturbed for at least half an hour.
3. Turn off your cell phone or pager, if you have one, and take the telephone off the hook or put it on answer mode with the ringer turned off.
4. Sit down or lie down in a position which will enable you to relax deeply. If you should find yourself becoming uncomfortable during the session, it should not disturb you to gently adjust your position in order to keep yourself as comfortable as possible.
5. Guide yourself through the elements of the Best Me Technique. After reading over the following script a couple of times to get the idea, go through the steps of the Best Me Technique yourself, using words and images with which you feel most comfortable, and at a pace which allows you to get the most out of the experience. Just as we combine words and pictures on wikiHow pages in order to communicate more effectively, we often pair words and images together in hypnosis in order to strengthen the effect of our suggestions. The present example uses imagery of a boat rocking you gently back and forth to help you relax as you go through the elements of the Best Me Technique in your mind, but not everyone responds equally well to the same images. Regardless of the words and images you actually use (see suggestions in the Tips section below) Your purpose is not to achieve a trance (which only a few people actually do), but to put yourself into a relaxed and pleasant frame of mind where your imagination can operate more effectively.
   
   
   • Belief systems: Imagine that it’s a warm summer afternoon, and that you’re lying on the deck of a small boat which is safely tethered at the edge of a shallow bay, about a hundred feet from shore. If you accept, believe each detail of the scene as you describe it to yourself, without trying to think critically, your imagination will allow you to experience the situation just as if you were really there.
   • Emotions: Let your body absorb the peacefulness which is all around you, as the boat rocks you gently back and forth and the sun shines warmly down, driving out all of your worry, all of your tension, and all of your care, and leaving you filled with perfect, infinite, boundless peace, calm, and tranquility.
   • Sensations and physical perceptions: Feel the cool breeze upon your skin, and savor the freshness of the pure, salt air. Listen to the cries of the birds in the distance, and the sound of the water quietly splashing against the side of your boat as it rocks you gently back and forth, and that warm, golden glow of the sunlight relaxes you completely from head to toe.
   • Thoughts and images: It’s so calm, and so peaceful there on the deck of the boat, that all you want to do is keep drifting, and dreaming, and floating on, and on. Then, you can just drift on into, peaceful, state of self-hypnosis by silently counting from one to ten, repeating the following thoughts in time with your breathing after each count: "Sinking down, and shutting down, sinking down, and shutting down, sinking down, and shutting down, shutting down completely. And the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes." And so on, up to the count of ten.
   • Motives: At this point, you can either keep repeating these suggestions to yourself until you drift off to sleep, or you can use the building blocks of the Best Me Technique to pre-experience the rewards of a future goal. If you are a student enrolled in a degree program, for example, you might proceed somewhat as illustrated in the breakdown which follows this section, using words of your own choosing to provide the greatest meaning. As you proceed through each step, take a moment to clarify and intensify it in your mind, so that you feel each portion of the experience as strongly as possible.
   • Expectations: As you go through each step, believe it will happen, expect it to happen, and feel it happening, just as strongly as if you were willing it into being at that very moment. The exact number of repetitions is not as important as the clarity and conviction with which you feel like you are willing your convictions into existence.
6. If you are inclined to doubt whether or not you have achieved self-hypnosis after a few minutes, you probably have.
   
   
   • Decades of research have shown that people vary considerably in their responses to hypnosis. For many people, there is no such thing as a "hypnotized" feeling.
   • An induction procedure is like the theme music to a motion picture or a television drama. It allows us to shift our thinking from a strictly logical mode of thought to a more flexible, more imaginative way of looking at the world. And we can all do that!

Digitally remastered Beatles coming in September

The Fab Four will be made even more so when the remastered Beatles catalogue is released in September.

Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have announced that as the date for the release of the entire original Beatles catalogue, digitally remastered.

That includes all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK. The package will also contain the LP version of "Magical Mystery Tour" (initially released as a double-EP in Britain, though available on CD since 1987) and the collections "Past Masters Vol. I and II" combined as one title.

The release marks the first time that the first four Beatles albums are being made available in their entirety on compact disc, and it also coincides with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game.

Robert Levine, executive editor for Billboard, said the timing is genius in terms of marketing.

"Most bands, when they do a big project like this they pay for publicity," Levine said. "The Beatles got paid for 'Rock Band' and then they are using that for publicity to rerelease a catalogue. It's pretty amazing." Blog: A Beatles fan reflects on the news

Levine pointed out that media have evolved tremendously since 1964, when the band first burst onto the American scene with an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Back then, there were only three major television networks, and engineering of albums was much less sophisticated, Levine noted. Previous rereleases have sold well in the past -- indeed, Beatles albums have sold steadily for decades -- and Levine said he expects this one to do even better.

"I think if you were to look at pure catalogue, old bands selling old albums, the Beatles are the kings -- commercially as well as artistically," Levine said. "A lot of [music] has been remastered better in the past 22 years, and remastering technology has come a long way."

Piers Hemmingsen, the author of two books on Beatles music and head of the Web site Capitol6000.com, said there has long been a clamor among fans for good, high-quality versions of Beatles songs.

"The technology that was available back then was very limited, and with the newer technology they are able to do far more with what they have than they have ever been able to do before," he said. "For people who are plugged into iPods and the whole digital music scene, it's going to be a lot better for them."

In acknowledgment of the more technologically advanced listeners, each CD will contain, for a limited time, an embedded brief documentary film about the album.

The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-released studio chat from the Beatles.

The remastering project was four years in the making. Engineers used de-noising technology and cleaned up glitches like electrical clicks and microphone vocal pops, so long as it didn't affect the original integrity of the songs.

They also slightly boosted the volume levels. Andrew Croft, publisher of Beatlology Magazine, said the announcement of the release of the remastered recordings "is long overdue in the Beatles community and for music fans alike."

He also said the quest to improve the original recordings is not new.

Croft said bootleg releases over the years used rare and obscure vinyl pressings from countries like Japan and Germany to compile the best of the best recordings of The Beatles songs, presenting to the public a better sound that Apple could not offer prior to the remastering.

"While the new remasterings will replace a library full of bootlegs of their commercial releases, there remains a massive market for their more obscure tracks, outtakes and live performances," Croft said.

The 14 remastered albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set.

A second boxed set, "The Beatles in Mono," includes all of the Beatles recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It will contain 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes, plus two additional discs of mono masters (covering similar ground to the stereo tracks on "Past Masters").

The mono "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all of the original inserts and label designs.

Even with the release date, what is old has become new.

Diehard Beatle-ologists may take note that the release date could be viewed as a nod to the Beatles track "One After 909" from the "Let It Be" album -- or a reference to the White Album's "Revolution 9." (John Lennon, who was born on October 9, occasionally talked about his fondness for the number 9.)

Hemmingsen said making the music more accessible and attractive to a younger audience helps spread Beatlemania to a new generation.

"Their music is catchy, memorable, interesting and listenable," said Hemmingsen, who was a youngster in England when the Beatles hit the scene and has been a fan ever since. "The time that they evolved their music was an interesting time and their music reflected that time."

Levine said the band has always captured fans from across generations.

"The songs have lasted for a long time because they are great songs," he said. "It's just that simple. Those are amazing, amazing albums."

Italy muzzled scientist who foresaw quake

By Gavin Jones ROME, April 6

(Reuters) - An Italian scientist predicted a major earthquake around L'Aquila weeks before disaster struck the city on Monday, killing dozens of people, but was reported to authorities for spreading panic among the population.

The first tremors in the region were felt in mid-January and continued at regular intervals, creating mounting alarm in the medieval city, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome. Vans with loudspeakers had driven around the town a month ago telling locals to evacuate their houses after seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani predicted a large quake was on the way, prompting the mayor's anger.

Giuliani, who based his forecast on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas, was reported to police for "spreading alarm" and was forced to remove his findings from the Internet. Italy's Civil Protection agency held a meeting of the Major Risks Committee, grouping scientists charged with assessing such risks, in L'Aquila on March 31 to reassure the townspeople. "The tremors being felt by the population are part of a typical sequence ... (which is) absolutely normal in a seismic area like the one around L'Aquila," the civil protection agency said in a statement on the eve of that meeting. "It is useful to underline that it is not in any way possible to predict an earthquake," it said, adding that the agency saw no reason for alarm but was nonetheless effecting "continuous monitoring and attention".

As the media asked questions about the authorities' alleged failure to safeguard the population ahead of the quake, the head of the National Geophysics Institute dismissed Giuliani's predictions. "Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it," he said. "As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes."

Enzo Boschi said the real problem for Italy was a long-standing failure to take proper precautions despite a history of tragic quakes. "We have earthquakes but then we forget and do nothing. It's not in our culture to take precautions or build in an appropriate way in areas where there could be strong earthquakes," he said.

It Has Been 17 Years Since Isaac Asimov Merged With the Universe

Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992; originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов), was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards. His works have been published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (the sole exception being the 100s; philosophy and psychology).

Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He penned numerous short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time, an accolade that many still find persuasive. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.

Obama to Turkey: We are not a Christian or Jewish or Muslim nation

Obama told reporters in Turkey that America is not defined by any one religion. "I've said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is, although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values," said the president.

====================
Ha! Try telling the Xtians that. They think that they own this country.

His Dream Came True - But at What Price?

Farrah Fawcett Reportedly Hospitalized

Farrah Fawcett has been hospitalized and is in bad shape, sources close to family and friends tell RadarOnline.com exclusively.

She has been battling cancer for three years and recently returned from Germany, where she had experimental stem-cell treatment. Sources told RadarOnline.com that she is critical but stable in a Los Angeles-area hospital. They also say she is unconscious and has been hospitalized for days.

Long-time love Ryan O’Neal has been by Farrah’s bedside, as has troubled son Redmond, who bolted from rehab earlier this week.

Farrah, 62, was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006 and later pronounced cancer free at a press conference.

It is not known whether she will survive.

====================
Craig Nevius told People magazine that the 62-year-old “Charlie’s Angels” star was hospitalized because of a blood clot that was likely a side effect of treatment she recently had in Germany.

One of Fawcett’s doctors, Lawrence Piro, told People that Fawcett had abdominal bleeding and a hematoma while undergoing aggressive alternative cancer treatments in Germany.

The Voca People - No Instruments, Just A Cappella

Another Heart Attack Recipe for Your Perusal

The TRUE Origin of Easter

Easter is derived from the name Eastre (Eostre), who is the Teutonic Goddess of Spring. Her sacred animal is a hare.

Using eggs as part of the Easter celebration comes from something even more ancient than the name. Eggs have been symbols of rebirth and fertility for so long the roots of the tradition are now unknown. Some say it dates back to the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance. Eggs were solar symbols and figured in festivals of numerous resurrected Gods.

Pagan fertility festivals during the Spring equinox were common. The hare is often associated with the moon goddesses, the egg and hare together represent the God and Goddess respectively.

So how did these Pagan symbols become entwined with the Christian holiday of Easter? When the Christian Church was first trying to convert the Pagans to Christianity, they ran into problems. The Pagans did not want to give up their festivals as well as their gods, so the Christians simply incorporated some Pagan practices into the Christian festivals. This made Christianity more palatable to the Pagan people who were reluctant to give up their festivals for the more sombre Christian practices.

But how did the rabbit who lays eggs come into practice you ask? 1500 years or so after the incorporation, the Germans had a tradition of their own. A rabbit, called Oschter Haws, layed colored eggs in nests and delighted children who then got to 'find' the eggs. This was introduced to America by German settlers in Pennsylvania.

Blast From the Past

Um...Mow the Lawn?

Orange you glad you weren't Valentino's date to his premiere last night?!

Adoption: Are Celebrities Overlooking American Children?

And it's not like there is a lack of domestic supply.

The process of adopting a child from Africa involves significant wait time, international scrutiny and significant cost. So it raises the question: Why doesn't Madonna — as well as many other celebrities who have gone abroad to adopt — look a little closer to home for her new family members?

Stars including Sheryl Crow, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Rosie O'Donnell and Calista Flockhart have all adopted domestically. But, in addition to Madonna, celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Mia Farrow, Julie Andrews and Meg Ryan have all adopted children from foreign countries. And while last year saw a slight decline, international adoptions overall have nearly tripled since 1992.

According to the Dave Thomas Foundation, 129,000 American children are currently awaiting adoption. And while 79,000 children were approved for adoption last year, only 51,000 found homes through the foster care system, leaving 28,000 American children without adoptive families last year alone.

“My concern is that when these 129,000 children see so many Americans stepping over them to go abroad, they will feel a sense of not being good enough,” Rita Soronen, executive director for the Dave Thomas Foundation, told FOXNews.com.

Soronen believes that misconceptions about the well-being of the children, and the time and cost involved in domestic adoptions, may lead prospective parents to look overseas first.

According to Adoptive Families magazine, the estimated cost to adopt a child in China is $20,000-$25,000. The estimated cost for a Guatemalan adoption is $25,000-$30,000, and adopting a Russian child is estimated at $30,000-$40,000. According to the National Council for Adoption, domestic costs range from $8,000-$40,000, with the typical price falling between $15,000-$25,000. So adopting overseas has no real cost benefit.

International adoptions are also not necessarily faster than U.S adoptions. According to statistics provided by the American Adoptions agency, the wait time is similar, with international adoption processes averaging between 10-12 months, and domestic waits taking between one and 28 months. New laws and tighter international restrictions have also slowed the process substantially in once-popular countries like China and Guatemala.

As for the well-being of American kids versus their foreign counterparts? “There is an idea that because these kids come from unfortunate circumstances, that they are juvenile delinquents – this couldn’t be further from the truth, they are just as viable as any other child,” Soronen said.

Another Way to Play the Kazoo

I Hate April Fools Day

And there you have it. Not only is there a possibility that anything you read or hear is a total load of crap, but you have every idiot in the world pulling idiotic pranks that THEY think are funny, but are not.

I wonder if there are any statistics of the negative effects that this moronic 'holiday' causes each year.

Carmageddon 09 - Lemon Aid

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Carmageddon '09 - Lemon Aid
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