Don't be a Victim......thanks Bump

Surviving

Some people refer to us as victims of our problems, but we should not accept such labeling. A better term for us is survivors. Working in step with our Higher Power, we should view ourselves as capable of rising above all the challenges and conditions that confront us. If we call ourselves victims, we'll soon be inviting more people and situations to victimize us. As survivors, however, we will always learn to sail through the roughest storms. Looking at the general world situation, it does seem realistic to say that lots of people are victims. But we must always take into account the vast power that resides in every human soul. People have tremendous power to change their conditions, and when word of this finally gets around, we'll see a worldwide spiritual awakening that will change everything for the better.

I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money. - Pablo Picasso

Some of us were taught not to place a lot of value on money. After all, it's only money, and money can't buy happiness. True enough. While many of us don't place much value on money, we manage to value the possessions that money can buy. The result is that we treat money frivolously and spend it recklessly.
We know it's true that love and the quality of our relationships are far more valuable than money. We also know we can't put a price tag on good health. We begin, however, to appreciate and to value money for what it is -- a means to an end and a responsibility. When we value money, we're less likely to spend it carelessly or frivolously. We're more likely to save it and to put it to good use

Help stop summer gas price gouging

Can you face another summer where a day trip to the lake or the beach costs you an arm and a leg? It's shaping up to be just that if we don't ask Congress to stand up to Big Oil now.

But there is a bill in the House this week that could make gas price gouging a federal crime, so we don't pay more while the oil companies rake in record profits. I signed a petition to urge my representative to pass this bill this week -- can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/

Nancy Grace is back!

Fresh off Nancy Grace's announcement that she's leaving Court TV - and her appearance in last night's LAW & ORDER: SVU finale -and still fighting off rumors of a View contract, Nancy Grace gets back to what she does best: raising awareness of crime victims. The Nancy Grace special "SNATCHED: PROTECTING YOUR KIDS" premieres tonight at 8 on Headline News, to highlight National Missing Children's Day on May 25. Nancy will be joined by parents of missing kids throughout the country, as they recount their stories of heartbreak and offer viewers insights into preventing similar tragedies. Nancy will also present a $25,000 check to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an organization Nancy and her show have long supported.

Universal sign for gasoline

NEW 7 Wonders of the World

Stonehenge
Manchu Picchu
Neuschwanstein Castle
You can go to this site http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=315 and vote for seven NEW wonders of the world.

Georgia wildfire

Georgia wildfire 2007
A fire truck heads south on U.S. 1 near the southern edge of a wildfire burning near Waycross, Ga. Several rural homes were evacuated after spot fires ignited across a highway from the massive wildfire, and firefighters fought the smaller blazes before they could spread to the tinder-dry forest beyond, authorities said.
Smoke from wildfires surrounds Interstate 10, Saturday, May 12, 2007, in Lake City, Fla. Officials closed a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 from the Georgia-Florida state line to Lake City, as well as a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 10, from U.S. 90 to U.S. 129, as a gigantic wildfire approached them Saturday. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Don Burk)
Officials close a portion of a road near Keystone Heights, Fla., Thursday, May 10, 2007. because of dense smoke from wildfires. Calmer wind and a sprinkling of rain helped firefighters make gains Thursday on the massive wildfires that have forced hundreds of people to evacuate homes in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Bruce Lipsky)
This handout photo supplied by NASA shows smoke from the Georgia and Florida wildfires from NASA's Terra satellite on Friday, May11, 2007. Georgia and Florida have been battling wildfires for weeks, with nearly 300 square miles charred as severe drought conditions have left both states tinder-dry. NASA says the fires have created a tremendous amount of smoke. Also visible is what's left of subtropical depression Andrea which has been downgraded. (AP Photo/NASA)

Hello friends!

Please make sure you stop by my other blog where I've posted some awesome photos. HERE

A camera crew will follow Prince Harry during his tour of duty in Iraq

MoD's latest propaganda weapon ... Harry, the war movie
By MARK NICHOL
Last updated at 00:51am on 13th May 2007

Defence chiefs are planning to let a camera crew follow Prince Harry during his tour of duty in Iraq.

The Ministry of Defence crew will film him while on operations, with footage being released to television channels and on the internet.

Harry's commanders hope the film, being dubbed Desert Prince, will inflict a propaganda defeat upon insurgent groups which have been using videos of hostages and wreckages of British aircraft to publicise their causes.

The MoD will scrutinise its coverage for any information which could be used by insurgents to locate Prince Harry - one group has already threatened to kidnap him and cut off his ears.

News of the film follows the delay of Prince Harry's deployment to Iraq. The Prince, 22, was held back from the recent handover between units as it was feared his arrival would be too disruptive.

Most members of his Household Cavalry Regiment are already in Basra on a six-month tour of duty.

The Prince is now expected to be given a role in Iraq which would rarely involve him leaving the confines of British bases.

He is no longer going to be utilised as a reconnaissance troop commander - the job he trained for - as this is now considered too dangerous.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We need to consider how we are going to handle the huge interest in Prince Harry. Operational security remains of paramount importance."

The former Conservative Homeland Security spokesman, Patrick Mercer, said: "They will have to be very careful not to give away Prince Harry's general location. If this goes wrong, it will come back to haunt them.

"That said, it's a bold move and a very positive piece of propaganda."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=454456&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source

Woman Gets Prison for Caging Grandson

May 12, 3:30 AM (ET)

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) - A 62-year-old woman was sentenced to three years in prison for locking her grandson inside a dog kennel every night for three years while she went to work as a jail counselor.

Under a plea bargain, June Candelario was also sentenced Friday to one year of probation.

"I cannot imagine any society that would say it is just and fair to inflict this harm on a child that cannot protect himself," Adams County District Court Judge Harlan Bockman said.

Candelario, a former state trooper, put the boy in a 4 foot by 3 foot kennel each day at 4 p.m. and let him out hours later when she returned from work, authorities said.

She pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit child abuse that resulted in bodily harm and a misdemeanor count of child abuse.

The boy was 10 when the abuse began and 13 when Candelario was arrested last May.

"I felt like I was in a prison in my home," said a letter from the boy, which was read in court. "When I was in the cage, I felt scared and lonely and that I was not loved by my grandma."

The boy's foster mother said the boy refused to attend sentencing because he remains afraid of Candelario.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070512/D8P2MQNG2.html

Happy Mother's Day

ODE TO MOTHERS

Mothers cannot do it all
But surely do they try.
Mothers hear the angel's call,
To comfort all who cry.
Mothers for themselves may fall,
For others they will fly.
Mother's bear the weight of all,
For their children, they would die.
A Mother's gift extends beyond
All bounds of time and space.
Her lovingness and nurturing
Make Earth a peaceful place.

Today in history

This Day in History

Antoine Lavoisier Tried, Convicted, and Guillotined (1794)
Lavoisier was a French nobleman known today as the "father of modern chemistry." He stated the first version of the Law of Conservation of Matter, co-discovered and named oxygen, developed the first periodic table of elements, and introduced the metric system. He was also chairman of the board of the Discount Bank. He was beheaded during the Reign of Terror because, as one of the farmers general, one of his duties was to do what?MORE




Today's Birthday

Harry S. Truman (1884)
Truman was the 33rd president of the US who is remembered for his decision to drop the Atomic Bomb and for his opposition to Communism. A Democrat who largely accepted the New Deal tradition, he presided over victory in WWII and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe. His administration also oversaw the beginning of the Cold War, the 2nd Red Scare, and the desegregation of the armed forces. What American sayings did he popularize?MORE

The 7th day of May in history

This Day in History

Lusitania Sunk by German U-Boat (1915)
The Lusitania was an ocean liner that was sunk off the Irish coast by a German submarine, killing 1,198 people, including almost 100 children. Although the crisis subsided, the event played a role in the US's entry into WWI, with recruitment posters urging potential enlistees to "Remember the Lusitania!" In July 1920, a life jacket bearing the name 'Lusitania' was found washed up in Philadelphia's Delaware River. Are any of the survivors of the sinking still alive today?MORE



Today's Birthday

Eva Peron (1919)
Eva Peron was an actress who became a political and cultural icon as the wife of President Juan Peron and had an enormous impact on the life of Argentina during the 1940s-50s. Commonly known by the affectionate diminutive Evita, she presided over the creation of the Eva Peron Foundation, a charitable organization that built homes and schools for women and the poor and ensured that all citizens had equal access to healthcare. What sector of government blocked her 1951 bid for vice president?MORE

This day in History

This Day in History

Coco Chanel Introduces Chanel No. 5 (1921)
Chanel No. 5 is the first fragrance from Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, and the first perfume to heavily rely on synthetic floral aldehydes as a top note. Its name supposedly derives from the fact that multiple perfume samples, labeled No. 1, No. 2, etc., were mixed for Coco's approval, and it was bottle No. 5 that met with her liking. What artist sealed Chanel No. 5's status as a cultural icon when he made 9 silkscreens of the perfume?MORE

Today's Birthday

Soren Kierkegaard (1813)
Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher and theologian who is often recognized as the first existentialist philosopher. The dominant theme of his writings is that "truth is subjectivity." In his aesthetic works, he develops an "existential dialectic" in opposition to the Hegelian dialectic, and in his religious writings, he deals with issues such as the nature of faith and the institution of the Christian church. Why did Kierkegaard publish many of his earlier works under pseudonyms?MORE

Today In History

Today's Birthday

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469)
Machiavelli was a Florentine author and statesman, and one of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance. He became acquainted with politics through his important diplomatic missions. His best-known work, The Prince (1532), describes the means by which a prince may gain and maintain power. The adjective "Machiavellian" has come to be a synonym for amoral cunning and for justification by power, but Machiavelli placed a number of restrictions on evil actions; what were they?MORE

This Day in History

Post-War Japanese Constitution Goes into Effect (1947)
The constitution of Japan was drawn up under the Allied occupation that followed World War II. It was intended to replace Japan's previous imperial system with a form of liberal democracy, which provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. Under its terms, the right to wage war is renounced, and the Emperor of Japan exercises a purely ceremonial role. What, if any, amendments have been made to this constitution since its adoption.MORE

This Day In History

Today's Birthday

Theodor Herzl (1860)
Herzl was the founder of modern Zionism. A journalist, he was sent to Paris to report on the Dreyfus Affair and was appalled by the vicious anti-Semitism he observed. He decided that Jewish assimilation in Europe was impossible and that the only solution to the Jewish problem was the establishment of a Jewish national state. He expressed his ideas in his famous pamphlet, Der Judenstaat, and organized the first Zionist World Congress, serving as its first president. Where is he buried? MORE

This Day in History

King Hussein of Jordan Enthroned (1953)
King Hussein reigned from the early 1950s to 1999. He ascended the throne after his father, King Talal, was declared mentally unfit to rule. Hussein generally espoused a pro-Western policy that brought him into conflict with Arab leftist leaders and Palestinians in Jordan. In 1991, he refused to join the forces against Iraq in Gulf War I, but he later encouraged peace negotiations and signed a peace treaty with what country? MORE

Cardinals fan sues St. Louis parlor over botched Series tattoo

What In The Worlb?

MAY 1--The day after the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the 2006 World Series, fan Jason Harris went to a local tattoo parlor to permanently memorialize the team's tenth championship. Harris, a 20-year-old college student who had never previously gotten a tattoo, headed for The House of Ink in St. Louis, where he wanted the words "St. Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions, 2006" inked on his back. However, according to a negligence lawsuit Harris just filed, the resulting fist-sized tattoo was marred by errors for which he now wants in excess of $25,000 in damages. Harris's Circuit Court complaint notes that an unnamed tattoo artist "incorrectly spelled words and put the wrong year on Plaintiff's person causing severe damage." In an interview, Harris told TSG that instead of "2006," the year 2000 was inked between his shoulder blades (the New York Yankees won the World Series that year). And the word "World" was misspelled as "Worlb." Additionally, the word "Champions" was reduced to "Champs" (though that seems minor compared to the other two mistakes). Harris said he learned of the errors in the $190 tattoo the following day when he showed it to his mother. When he went back to the parlor to complain, a worker proposed to correct the mistakes, an offer Harris said he declined. He is now considering having the Cardinals tattoo removed entirely, since obscuring it would require him being inked with an even larger tattoo. Thomas Baxter, the House of Ink owner, was unaware of the lawsuit when contacted by a TSG and would not comment beyond saying that he "needs to research the situation and find out what's going on."

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0501072cards1.html

Arctic ice cap melting 30 years ahead of forecast

By Deborah Zabarenko,
Environment Correspondent
Tue May 1, 2:59 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said on Tuesday.

This means the ocean at the top of the world could be free or nearly free of summer ice by 2020, three decades sooner than the global panel's gloomiest forecast of 2050.

No ice on the Arctic Ocean during summer would be a major spur to global warming, said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Center in Colorado.

"Right now ... the Arctic helps keep the Earth cool," Scambos said in a telephone interview. "Without that Arctic ice, or with much less of it, the Earth will warm much faster."

That is because the ice reflects light and heat; when it is gone, the much darker land or sea will absorb more light and heat, making it more difficult for the planet to cool down, even in winter, he said.

Scambos and co-authors of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used satellite data and visual confirmation of Arctic ice to reach their conclusions, a far different picture than that obtained from computer models used by the scientists of the intergovernmental panel.

"The IPCC report was very careful, very thorough and cautious, so they erred on the side of what would certainly occur as opposed to what might occur," Scambos said in a telephone interview.

ICE-FREE SUMMER

The wide possibility of what might occur included a much later melt up north, or a much earlier one, Scambos said.

"It appears we're on pace about 30 years earlier than expected to reach a state where we don't have sea ice or at least not very much in late summer in the Arctic Ocean," he said.

He discounted the notion that the sharp warming trend in the Arctic might be due to natural climate cycles. "There aren't many periods in history that are this dramatic in terms of natural variability," Scambos said.

He said he had no doubt that this was caused in large part by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which he said was the only thing capable of changing Earth on such a large scale over so many latitudes.

Asked what could fix the problem -- the topic of a new report by the intergovernmental panel to be released on Friday in Bangkok -- Scambos said a large volcanic eruption might hold Arctic ice melting at bay for a few years.

But he saw a continued warm-up as inevitable in the coming decades.

"Long-term and for the next 50 years, I think even the new report will agree that we're in for quite a bit of warming," Scambos said.

"We just barely now, I think, have enough time and enough collective will to be able to get through this century in good shape, but it means we have to start acting now and in a big way."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070501/sc_nm/globalwarming_ice_dc;_ylt=AsdkzNJsah4.2yU32UV7kgkPLBIF

Jesse Jackson to target oil companies on diversity

HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. activist Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday said his organization will target top energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips in a push to create more jobs for women and minorities in the industry.

Jackson said members of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition plan to buy stock in 20 of the world's largest energy companies. As investors, the group will seek change by attending annual meetings, calling for talks with the companies' chief executives and pressing for fairness hearings at the state level.

"We intend to inject ourselves into the struggle for fair access to energy," Jackson told a news conference. "Historically, we've not had that access."

Minorities have been underrepresented in all parts of the energy sector in the United States and are largely relegated to the role of consumer, Jackson said.

He did not offer statistics but described minority representation in the industry as "very low."

As part of its efforts, Rainbow PUSH will examine the racial make-up of a company's board of directors, its suppliers, its consultants, its contractors and its outside legal firms, Jackson said.

Representatives for Exxon and ConocoPhillips did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

On Monday, Jackson said he met with John Hofmeister, president of Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Shell Oil Co. U.S. unit, and described the meeting as very good.

Jackson's comments on diversity come as the energy industry is gathered in Houston for the 65,000-person Offshore Technology Conference

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070501/us_nm/energy_diversity_dc;_ylt=Ak2ozGcran9fTO.z0pQKDqgPLBIF