easy

I woke up this morning thinking about Iraq. Last night I learned President Bush has asked for another 50 billion dollars to cover the cost of the Iraq war. Some news agencies report the cost of the war is now at 3 billion dollars a week.
How much more suffering can be inflicted on the Iraqi people for another 50 billion? How many more American soldiers will be killed while spending that 50 billion? Who is going to get that 50 billion dollars? What is not being done in this country because another 50 billion is going to someone waiting in Iraq?
Do some reading online and you can find reports of the dismal conditions in Iraq. The infrastructure is so poor that in Baghdad the electricity is on about 8 hours per day. That is the capitol city and is the most developed city in the country. Other places are even worse with sewage in the streets and no drinking water. Forget about electricity.
Are we to disbelieve these reports are just liberal carping and fixation on the problems in Iraq? Or can we look at this and realize money is just being shoveled down a black hole? Companies have been paid billions for reconstruction work on infrastructure and the situation is still abysmal. About 20 billion dollars appropriated by Congress four years ago for reconstruction has been spent.
Take Bechtel for example. This company has been paid 1.3 billion dollars for sewer project work. Less than half of the projects have been completed. About 40 percent of their bills for work have been for “support” costs. Nearly 250 million dollars has been billed under the category “Other”. I am sure this pattern is repeated over and over again with these “no bid contracts”.
I was looking at a list of the top 200 contractors for the Federal Government. KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, is number 6 on the list, you will recall the Vice President’s relationship to Halliburton. Almost 6 billion dollars for KBR from the Department of Defense. The top 5 are a who’s who of arms makers.
Verizon received over 200 million in Defense Contracts from the Department of Defense.And there is old Blackwater USA, the private mercenary contractor at just below 600 million dollars. Blackwater is the employer of former military people, White South African military, South American thugs, and Central American death squad members. Read Jeremy Scahill’s book about Blackwater USA.
This is all published information and probably legal. But, it is interesting who gets what from the government. A tragic outcome, and also a pattern in the Bush Administration is, people who have blown the whistle on corruption in Iraq have actually been punished. For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.
Vance made his report to the FBI office in Chicago because there was no one in Iraq he could trust. He revealed an arms selling operation that was selling anything to anyone who had the money. These were the arms intended for use by the US military being sold to insurgents. Vance tried to expose it and wound up in prison being tortured.
Apparently, the unspoken word in Iraq is don’t say anything about corruption or wrong doing because you will be destroyed for doing so. A very neat arrangement for any corporation who wants to make a buck.

....................................................................................................

You say, you want to help the Palestinians, but most of them still struggle in poverty. How are you helping anyone?
Having been born into a privileged life, you use your wealth toward death, destruction, division, and sorrow.
Here is an old saying for you to ponder: “Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.” How are you helping the people of the Middle East, learn how to help themselves, with your millions of dollars?
You have wasted your money, and time, on a message of hate. It is easy to incite young people with the message of intolerance and violence. What a shame, when you think of all the people you could have helped.
You could have helped the Palestinian Red Crescent or Iraqi Red Crescent. God knows, they need all the help they can get. By the way, God and Allah are the same Supreme Being.
Who is Isa Al-Masih? You are an educated man, and you know the answer. You are killing your “cousins.” The Christians are not your enemy, and we should put the past behind us, for the mutual benefit of mankind. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have sacred ties, so why keep the fires of hate going?
You have personally supervised the killing of Iraqi children by suicide bombers and car bombs. What have these
Moslem children ever done to you?
Granted you and I are not the same religion, but why do fundamentalists, of all kinds, try to destroy everything, they don’t understand? A religious fundamentalist is the same, whether he is a Christian, a Moslem, or a Jew, all of them drink from the same “fountain of hate.”
As for the presence of Western soldiers in “your lands.” By your actions, you have provoked them, when, by your life of privilege, you were in a key position to negotiate. Now, you cannot raise your head from your cave without thinking about assassins, around every corner. You must live your life as an outcast.
It is too late for you to personally negotiate for peace, but you are still in a position to stop the violence now. You should declare an end to hostilities, and disband your cause, for the benefit of all mankind.
In the words of John Lennon, ” Give peace a chance.” You cannot undo what you have done, and you will be pursued for the rest of your life, but Allah may forgive you, if you set the wheels in motion - toward world peace.

....................................................................................................

Microsoft frontpage is one of the most recent versions of the popular all in one professional web design tool kit. Till recent times setting up a web site required not only internet connection, but some pretty specialized knowledge about how the web sites are built and maintained including the ability to create pages of the web site using a language called hyper text markup language. Not only everyone who wanted a web site had the ability, time or desires to acquire that knowledge. This is where frontpage comes in as a solution for all those who wanted to create a web site without a prior knowledge of Hyper Text Markup Language.
Frontpage is actually a member of the Microsoft Office family of products and shares many of the features of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel such as the Microsoft Clipart Gallery, global spell checking and thesaurus and easy table editing which are helpful in professional web design. It also manages hyperlinks created in Microsoft Office documents. It is an integrated site development environment which includes a web creation and maintenance package called Front Page Explorer; a FrontPage Editor which is what you see is what you get web page editor and a fully functioning Personal Web Server that turns a personal computer into a web host machine. With FrontPage one can create a complete Web Site on the personal computer to the World Wide Web and internet. It is not a pre requisite to know Hyper Text Markup Language as FrontPage Editor Works like a word processor. Page can even be groomed in whatever required format.
The software also takes care of generating the Hyper Text Markup Language code together and provides the user with the ability to put together Web Pages that include elements which formerly demanded knowledge of programming. Microsoft Front Page contains three major components namely FrontPage Explorer, FrontPage Editor and Microsoft Personal Web Server that can be used for professional web design. The Microsoft Front Page Explorer is a tool for creating, organizing, administering and publishing Front Page webs. Using the Front Page Explorer one can create the structure or layout of the web site from scratch as it gives wizards and templates to take from no site at all to a site. It also arranges files and folders, imports and export pages and files, tests and repairs hyperlinks, administers, access privileges and launches the Front Page Editor to design and edit the contents of the web pages. Front Page can also be used to publish completed Front Page webs on the computer or on the organization’s intranet or on the World Wide Web. In short a Front page is a collection of HTML pages, images, documents and other files and folders that make up a web site in professional web design.

....................................................................................................

Many people take advantage from the equity earned from their home ownership to borrow money for vacations, remodeling or major purchases. Others have found they can use that equity to help build residual income.
The home equity is calculated based on the difference in what the home is worth and how much is owed to pay off the mortgage. Typically, a lender will allow a homeowner to borrow up to 80 percent of the equity in the home, while a few will go higher.
While borrowing money to invest is not usually advised, since a sudden swing in the market in which you invest could leave you holding the second mortgage with no return to show, planning to enter the market on a long-term investment may provide you with some residual income from your home’s value.
For example, if you are able to borrow on the equity of your house at an annual percentage rate of five percent and can invest with a guaranteed return of seven percent, the rate you earn will generate more income than the cost of the capital invested. However, keep in mind that market fluctuations may result in a lowered return as the risk of investment rises.
You are still going to pay the first and second mortgages at the rate upon which you agreed to with the lender. Your investment, if in stocks, could take a nose-dive and is why it is not recommended. However, having an opportunity to purchase stocks at a vastly reduced rate, such as exercising the purchase of previously acquire options, with no hold limits on the stock, it may prove a good move to build residual income.
Theoretically, if you have options to buy stock at 50 percent of their current value, and no hold restrictions attached to exercising those options, receiving a short-term low-interest loan to purchase them and immediately selling them at the current rate to pay off the loan could realize a decent gain, once the cost of the loan is deducted.
The profit from the sale can then be placed in a more conservative investment in order to build residual income for the future. In this scenario, borrowing to build residual income from your home equity may be a sensible move.
For those looking for a more lucrative return on their investment may choose a riskier opportunity, as long as they realize that the higher the desired residual income, the higher the risk involved and that ratio has to be factored in to the potential return.
Everything associated with building residual income has a certain degree of risk to be factored in, as well as the cost of each transaction made. However, if all those risks and costs are factored in to the formula, investments can reasonably be expected to help generate residual income.

....................................................................................................

A mass air flow meter is usually used for measuring the flow rate or quantity of a moving gas. This mass air meter, which is also sometimes known as mass flow sensor, responds to the amount of the gas flowing through a specified chamber. Usually this meter or sensor is not influenced by the density of the gas, but merely the quantity only.
Commercially found around the country, this meter comes in four basic categories of devices. This would include differential pressure, positive displacement, velocity, and true mass. These four categories of meters have different method or mechanism or working, but as a whole, they all are intended for one function; measure the quantity of moving gas.
The Different Types
Differential pressure meters basically work by obtaining pressure differential in the movement and extracting the square root. This type of mass air meter would include cone-type devices, elbow tap meters, nozzles, laminar elements, orifice plates, Pitot tubes, rotameters, target meters, variable area meters, Venturi tubes, and others.
Positive displacement meter is the second type of meter. This flow meter works by dividing the air or specifically gas into specific increment. This would be then counted by means of mechanical or electronic calculation methods. Some of this type of mass air meter would include nutating disc devices, oval gear meters, piston-based designs, and others.
Velocity meters basically works in line with the flow rate. There is no square-root relationship involved here, so usually this type of meter is more commonly found everywhere in the country. Some common ones that can be found would include electromagnetic meters, paddlewheels, sonar-based devices, turbine meters, ultrasonic meters, vortex or shedding meters, and many more.
True mass meters, as the name suggests, is a type of mass air flow meter which is used to directly measure the mass rate of the flow. The technique used is very simple, so it’s pretty much easy to understand. Some common ones under this type would include thermal meters, Coriolis meters, and others.
A common mass air flow meter under any of these categories does not go beyond $500, and most of them are made in China. You can basically order from anywhere around the country, and they would be delivered to your house direct by the sellers. Most of them are made for multi purpose usage, although commonly meant for automobile use primarily.
More information on this topic can be found in a number of different locations:
1) The Internet - A favorite search engine can be a very helpful tool
2) A Bookstore - Don’t forget books; and bookstores are full of them
3) A Library - Yet another location for books; and the nice thing about the library is that they are free

....................................................................................................

A visit to Wallowa Lake Tramway in Oregon is an experience you will never forget. That’s because the views are incredible and the ascent is so amazing that you will always have this memory guarded in your mind’s eye. In 1970 the gondola ride opened in Wallowa County and it became the attraction that was most popular. Since then tourists who ride the tram up the 3700 feet to Mt. Howard’s summit report back that it is an experience of a lifetime and one that will never be forgotten. In fact, many tourists come back time and time again to bring family members and friends or to experience the wonder of this trip one more time.
If you are wondering what the Wallowa Lake Tramway is all about just imagine sliding into a gondola and have it take you up 3700 feet to the summit of a mountain. Imagine the beautiful views you will encounter along the way and the joy you will experience from the bird’s eye view.
Some of the things you will see as you are ascending to the summit include the blue waters of Wallowa Lake as well as the rugged peaks that stick out from the Eagle Cap Wilderness area. The ride up is amazing, but when you reach the summit you will have a new experience that won’t be soon forgotten as well. At the summit you will encounter temperatures that are a bit cooler not to mention beautiful plants and vegetation. Most of the plants and vegetation only grow in alpine areas so you may not be familiar with all the plants.
There are lots of trails you can walk along as well to learn a little bit more about the area. There are signs that tell you the names of plants as well as any other important information you might need to know. So, as you are walking all your questions will be answered and you will learn quite a lot about the area. If you don’t want to walk down a path then you might enjoy hanging out at the Summit Grill and Alpine patio. There you can enjoy anything from a nice beverage to a full meal while basking in the beautiful views that will literally take your breath away.
Once you see this kind of beauty you will always remember it and may even want to return for family reunions, weddings, picnics, or any other outing.
There is a website that has great information on USA Vacations and Unique Travel Spots Listed State By State and Season, the website is called: Seasonal Vacation Spots, and can be found at this url:
http://www.seasonalvacationspots.com
By Robert W. Benjamin
Copyright © 2007
You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

....................................................................................................

You may be a candidate for ear pinning (otoplasty) if you have ears that stick out too far from the side of the head. You may also want to have an otoplasty procedure if your ears have an unusual or undesirable shape.
The goal is to create ears that have normal folds and shape with a normal level protrusion from the side of the head.
Otoplasty is usually performed on an outpatient basis under sedation and local or general anesthesia. The ears are usually bandaged with a head band type dressing for several days. Initial mild postoperative discomfort is easily controlled with oral medication.
The procedure is appropriate beginning at age 5 or 6 or at any time thereafter. The ears usually look “normal” within 10-20 days. Usually, a head band is worn 2-3 weeks to protect the ears. Contact sports should be avoided for about a month.
Any facial procedure that is desired or appropriate would enhance the result.
This procedure is considered to be cosmetic and so is usually not covered by insurance. The specific risks and the suitability of this procedure for a given individual can be determined only at the time of consultation.
All surgical procedures have some degree of risk. Minor complications that do not affect the outcome occur occasionally. Major complications are unusual.
The surgery usually takes two or three hours, the technique depends on the problem. In one of the more common techniques, the surgeon makes a small incision in the back of the car to expose the car cartilage. Then the surgeon will sculpt the cartilage and bend it back towards the head.
The stitches which are non removable may be used to help maintain the new shape. Some times as large piece of the cartilage is removed to give a more natural looking fold, when the surgery is complete. In another technique, a similar incision is made in the back of the ear.
Skin is removed and stitches are used to fold the cartilage back on itself to reshape the ear without removing cartilage. The surgery will leave a faint sear in the back of the ear, which will fade with time.
The patients is usually up and around within a few hours of surgery. If you prefer you may stay overnight in the hospital until all the effects of general anesthesia wear off. To promote best molding and healing, the patients head is wrapped in a bulky bondage.
The pain in the ear can be relived by medication. Within a few days the bulky bandage will be replaced by a lighter dressing similar to a headband. The dressing should be worn day and night stitches will be removed or will dissolve in about a week. For about a month, avoid any activity which will make your ear bend.
Adults can go back o work five days. Children can go back to school after a week. Most patients are satisfied with the results of ear surgery. Be realistic in your goals and don’t expect a perfect symmetric in both ears. The goal of the surgery is improvement not perfection.

....................................................................................................

Ingredients to serve six
350g of high cocoa content chocolate - Lindt 99% excellence chocolate bar
100g of good quality butter, chopped into small pieces
500ml of double cream
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons of Blue Curacao - Bright blue liqueur with a strong citrus orange flavor
6 tablespoons of honey
Although this recipe has a small quantity of ingredients, I have found the best results come from making it in three steps
First step
Put the chocolate and butter into a bowl over simmering water, slowly melt the two together then remove from the heat and leave to stand
Second step
Whip the cream gently in a separate bowl, you do not want to fully whip this cream the ideal is nice and soft, not to stiff
Third step
Whisk the eggs and honey together in a third large bowl until fluffy. Then gently add the blue caracao, chocolate mix and cream. Pour this into six glasses and pop in the fridge for about an hour. You can now serve this delicious mousse, enjoy
This article is free to distribute or copy as long as it is in full and includes the hyperlink

....................................................................................................

Most everyone belongs to some kind of a club or group. Perhaps it is a civic group, or a service club, or a church group, or even a family group. How often have you attended a meeting of your group, and not spent any time getting to know the people in the group? Too often groups are only concerned with agendas, reports, useless chitchat and weather reports, or getting business done. Life is too short to miss the opportunities to get to know people better and foster meaningful relationships.
People love to talk about themselves, their interests, their families and their life experiences. And, if you listen carefully, you can learn a lot about them as they share these things. The problem is that unless they are asked, they probably won’t tell. Then there is the additional issue of limited time in most club or group meetings. Good news… it can be done, if done briefly and regularly.
One president of a Kiwanis club (a community service club) uses a very effective exercise in the beginning of the clubs meeting. To officially start the meeting, the members are asked to all stand, do the pledge to the flag, have a brief prayer (some clubs follow with a song), then sit down and proceed with the meeting. But, before letting the members sit down, this leader had them ask one or two people a specific question, or had them tell someone a certain something about themselves. And, low and behold, the members started learning things about one another… and relationships started developing.
So, here are some suggestions for the types of directives and questions to use.
Things related to certain times and seasons:
What was your most memorable Christmas?
What was your most embarrassing birthday surprise?
What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?
Where were you on 9/11?
Tell someone your favorite summer vacation.
Tell someone about the hottest day you remember - where you were and the temperature.
Tell some one your favorite time of year, and why.
Things related to people and places:
What is your favorite color, and why?
What is your favorite food?
Who are you most like… your mom or dad?
Where did you meet your spouse?
Who is your “hero” and why?
If you could be someone from the past, who and why?
Tell the funniest statement you’ve heard from a child (maybe it was you).
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If you could fix or change one thing in the world today, what would it be?
Tell someone your middle name, and why it was given to you.
Tell the funniest joke (keep it clean) you can think of.
Using these to get you thinking, and a little creativity, you can come up with many more. Think about the things you would like to know about those with whom you associate. Think about what you would like to tell others, if they would only listen… then start asking and telling.

....................................................................................................

Perhaps in your thinking of losing weight, you have come across several probable methods. Aside from proper exercise techniques that require quite some time and effort, you may have encountered several diets which would seem beneficial but hard to do. Because of these difficulties, maybe the only option for you is to resort to crash dieting.
What is crash dieting?
Crash dieting is basically a quick solution many people come up with to lose weight. People may look at a mirror and notice their unwanted figure, so they think that by not eating literally starving themselves, they will lose the extra pounds. It’s a quick solution because it usually occurs for only a few days (usually less than a week), afterwards it’s back to regular meals.
Difference from other diets
The main difference between crash dieting and other forms of diet (e.g. Atkins, South Beach, etc.) is that crash diets are usually short-term. Most diets are programs that are designed to help you lose weight and keep it off, encouraging you to make that particular diet a lifestyle instead of simply a weight loss method. If in crash dieting you are avoiding food (or eating very little), diet programs have specific foods to eat and to avoid, which you are expected to act on for the duration of the program, normally for the rest of your life.
Is it a healthy way to lose weight?
If you’re asking yourself this same question, the answer is a flat-out NO. There are many different reasons why crash dieting is unhealthy, while there are few to no experts who believe that there are health benefits. Basically, if you are looking to lose weight, crash dieting is not a good way to do it, and here are several reasons why.
One, by not eating, or drastically cutting down on your food intake, you deprive your own body of natural nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, etc. We all know what will happen when the human body lacks nutrients, the risks of getting ill are higher. This is aside from generally feeling weak throughout the crash diet period.
Two, in crash dieting, you are slowing down your body metabolism, which is what allows you to burn fat and calories effectively and efficiently. You are doing the exact opposite of what you set out to do. You may not be gaining weight, but you aren’t burning fat and calories either. When you eat normally again, you will most probably gain some weight since your metabolism is already slow.
Third, you might notice that you are becoming skinnier as the time passes in your crash diet period, but don’t take it as burning fat, you are actually losing some muscle mass. This is not a good thing as this is what makes your body a fat burning machine.
Because you lost muscle mass, the next time you eat is going to be worse, you will gain back the weight plus more pounds.
To sum it up, crash dieting will make you lose some pounds, but not those unwanted ones, which are excess fat and calories. It’s an unhealthy way of losing weight and is the start of the “yo-yo” process (lose weight, gain more, lose again, and so on). For the benefit of your health, crash dieting should not be taken into consideration.
What are the alternatives to lose weight?
The best possible way to lose weight, as suggested by both nutritionists and fitness experts, is a combination of a healthy diet and exercise. Exercising while not having the proper diet will lead to inefficiency in weight loss, while diet without exercise will prevent you from gaining weight, but will not do as much in terms of losing it. By integrating the benefits of both a healthy diet and exercise into your lifestyle, you will turn your body into a fat burning machine, allowing you to lose weight and keep it off.
The next time you take a look at the mirror and frown at what you see, don’t worry too much, there are various ways to beat the battle of the bulge. Crash dieting is certainly not one of them, as this presents more potential risks than benefits. A healthy, proper diet, combined with exercise is the best way to go about it.

....................................................................................................