Dollar Goes Down on Credit Market Losses
U.S. dollarThe U.S. dollar declined at a fastest pace in a month against the Japanese currency today as the credit market losses extended and the Federal Reserve probably won’t be able to raise the rates by the year’s end.
The dollar also fell against the euro and the Great Britain pound today as the previously expected rate difference decline became not so obvious to the Forex traders. Yen’s growth against the dollar was strong because the Japanese currency rose against other major currencies too as the carry trades unwound.
The concerns about the state of U.S. credit market turn investors to risk-aversion, thus stimulating conversion from USD to yen. According to some analysts dollar may drop to 1.5000 against the euro and 107.00 against the yen during the next trading week.
USD/JPY went down from 109.85 to 108.84 as of 7:46 GMT today — the fastest daily drop on this currency pair since July 15. EUR/USD rose from 1.4744 to 1.4796 with a daily high at 1.4833. GBP/USD gained from 1.8610 to 1.8661 with a daily maximum at 1.8702 so far.
If you would like to learn how to automate your forex trading and join the billion dollar forex market, click here to see how forex trading software can help.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Water Powered Car? Is it Possible?
Water Powered Cars or Hydrogen/Oxygen Powered Cars, using 100% water as fuel is real. By spiltting water by electrolysis and creating hydrogen/oxygen gas, you can replace gasoline. We have been taught this is impossible! Engineers, scientists and professors may in fact tell tell you you're crazy to believe such non sense. They will also set out to prove you wrong. They base their laws of physics form 1825 thinking. Faraday's laws. Did you know that the first ICE engine ran on hydrogen from water? BMW has them! Hyunda will be making them. Japan indorses them. Many patents, inventions have been bought and there project is shelved, yes it is true. Some of the stubborn inventors who don't sell out disappear. Yes that's right. It happens in the US, Aus, NZ, UK and India. We are in a crunch to find alternative fuels. The pressure is on. War for oil is not the way to go. Talking politics about a hydrogen future that never comes, is not going to help either. Arthur C. Clarke explained how there were four stages in the way scientists react to the development of anything of a revolutionary nature.
1) "It's nonsense,"
2) "It is not important,"
3) "I always said it was a good idea," and
4) "I thought of it first."
If all ICE motors (Internal Combustion Engines) were converted to burn hydrogen and oxygen in the water, as fuel to propel our cars, trucks, semi's etc., we would no longer need gas stations, oil tankers, refineries, SMOG and war. The only problem would be that the large Oil Corporations would go under and SMOG would leave the planet for good. The Ozone would get healed and we would survive. God will then once again smile down on the Earth, instead of letting the powers to be, destroy it. If we stopped producing SMOG, the ozone and global warming and greenhouse effects would go away. The present US administration and DOE (US Dept. of Energy) seems to not want this to happen, they make too much money selling you gas and feeding you the media. Only outlaws drive water powered cars, according to our present laws. Why there are not making any SMOG for us to breathe. Fighting for oil under the sand never made any sense to me. They feed us a conspiracy about 19 Arabs with box cutter knives, that took down the Twin Towers, when in fact, C4 explosives , a planned demo. took them down. A bomb went off in the basement, before the first plane struck the North Tower. Please read below.
For all the Red voters who back the War President, let me ask you 2 questions? Who Would Jesus Bomb? Who would Jesus kill? 650,000 Iraqis?, because of one set-up bad evil dictator & and a group of religious militants? Know that no terrorists took down our twin towers, bombs did! Judas Iscariot tried to get Jesus to kill all the Romans, but his plan failed. Under Iraq lies the richest, best untouched oil reserves in the world. Formally the location of the "Garden of Eden", underneath all that sand is the old Tigris / Euphrates River valleys, once lush green vegetation, now rich black oil. Who has WMD's? we do, and we use them! Depleted uranium that comes from blown exhausted charges is WMD. Their next strategic step is to take out Iran, because Iran has all the oil pipelines, that they need to finish the world oil conquest We don't need the stinking damn Oil we need Water as fuel & electric cars! Alternative Joe Cell devices, perpetual generators.
"The automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
(Scientific American January 2, 1909).
Also see WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Another Inconvenient Truth - FREE ENERGY
Beware inventors of Water Cars disappear, get sick or die. Alot of people don't believe this part. Most think your crazy for mentioning it. I'm not trying to scare you, or create fear, just stating fact is all. Go read these stories and you might change your mind. A guy named Bill recently (4/06) made a Joe Cell Replica in his Ford truck, he says ran like a hotrod, but was approached by 2 men who threatened him to stop his "Free Energy" experiments, otherwise lose your Grand children. So poor Bill stopped his progress. READ the LATEST NEWS
God Bless DishNetwork
for LINKTV.org
(news from the people, NOT from EXPERTS from Corporate America)
Why do you make light heartiness over such a
serious issue?
Only fools turn to
alternative energy.
Read about the Little
Dirty Hydrogen Future
Ain 't that so special!
After 4 years of research I gathered all the information I could to make these web pages. and I will continue to add more. Why you ask, because water powered cars can and will heal the planet. My intention is to inform everyone of alternative fuel is here, but not being used. Get it in your head you will not have to go to a gasoline station any longer and buy a glass of coke and hotdog while your at the fill up. The DOE and present administration's idea of a Hydrogen Future really stinks. They give 20 billions away into a Hydrogen Research in which only pads their wallets, not ours. Watch this quick video, notice how he laughs and chuckles about this issue. We need him to follow though with his words. Imagine Hydrogen Gas Stations of the future where you drive up to fill your car up with pressurized hydrogen (like LP propane fuel today, but more dangerous tanks) for how much a gallon? $10 a gallon? When you can make your own hydrogen real easy! Water is Free if you have a well, a river a lake on your property. Get into the bottled water business. Once Water takes over. The Oil Empire will shrink, so and that is why they fight so hard to keep us un-informed. But thanks to God and the Internet we can live better! I encourage everyone who reads this to build one yourself. I have not personally built one yet, but I'm presently working on one in my spare time. A lot of interest is sparking up and a wave of truth is coming to us all.
I made this site because the
people will parish without a
vision. No one seems to have
any courage, everyone is
comfortable, fat & complacent
and do nothing to help. Get off
your ass and do something.
"Son, , are going for your free
ride into Heaven?" Score big
time with the Creator, install a
hydro-booster today!
Who is stopping the Water
Powered Car? 20 billion dollars being spent to stop it.
See the video.
BMW's Hydrogen powered Car
News funded by Citizens
News they don't want you
to listen too. Know what
is really happening in the
world. High Dollar Cable
News will not set you FREE !!
You will get slowly brainwashed.
Free Speech & Link TV
Democracy Now
Now on Dish Network
& Direct TV!
Get the Real News, not
force feed news.
It is NOT who is left and
who is right? It is about
what is right & what is
wrong. Who would
Jesus bomb?
Spreading the Gospel
Contact WPC
New Zealanders have
Water Powered Cars
& Motorcycles! See
the videos now!!
®Meet the Sponsor! of the
Major Share Owner of
WPC Inc. un-LTD
Take a spin in the
right direction &
Commute Faster
I even made my own Hydrogen Booster for my Chevy Truck, you can too! Not that hard to do. I have links to all plans that I found. Cost me $100 to make. I get 15% better gas mileage! and my engine runs, better and cleaner. Equip a 4 cylinder motor and get up to 50-95% better MPG! Fran won a Mileage Car Rally in Maryland with his homemade HO fuel cells and gas vaporizer! He actually won but was given 2nd place, he beat all the new hybrid cars! Is his shop a SMOG factory like a Fuel Cell Factory has stacks with smoke of hydro carbons burning to make the cells that are not as efficient as homemade "On Board Hydrogen Electrolysis" Learn about this process in which is cleaner exhaust than straight hydrogen from a pressurized tank!
New Zealanders have Water Powered Cars & Motorcycles!
See the videos now!!
If Hydrogen Boosters are so great how come you cannot buy one from the Autozone? Good question? The DOE will not let you manufacture make them, they say they need to make them safe and that would take years of research.
You can make one yourself, you can buy a kit. This way the liability is your hands. I believe the DOE does not want technology that will bankrupt the owners ! That is the TRUTH! Amen. China will have Water Powered Cars before we will. Ford needs to make water cars to survive.
* Warning The Surgeon General has found that reading this web site will cause different thinking patterns. You will not forget what you just read. A gluey substance that sticks to the brain. May the simple, confuse the wise. Those who serve Money over Man shall perish. Live simple & remember some guy loves you! Make sure you Get Saved. Repent and follow your heart. His wonderful train is a coming get a ticket while there's still time.
We still have our FREEDOM let's use it! I'm not a terrorist, I'm a nice guy. Please leave me alone. I cause no harm. I want to help clean up our planet. No crime done, but why do I feel like an damn outlaw. I read Water powered Cars are outlawed. I seek the truth, not the chaff in the wind. Jesus is Lord over me and
all the Oil Corporations and the Energy Dept. (DOE) and GW. Speak freely while you still can. Don't vote, just make a web page. Diebold voting machines need to be dumped. Hand counted community voting is THE ONLY WAY TO VOTE!!!!!
Join this great group and learn for yourself! Download the files.
© Meet the Sponsor! of the Major Share Owner of WPC Inc. un-LTD
--------------------------------------------------------
In Memory of the Victims of 911 and their families.
We bow our hearts to the the soldiers and their familes.
The man who holds the Master Key about what really happened
on 911? He was there that day at 8:30 AM. He was the janitor
of the North Tower for 20 years. He saved about 150 people
that day, he opened up about 30 elevator doors that were
locked. He felt and witnessed a bomb go off in the basement before
the first plane hit the tower. He says he got saved that day.His name
is William Rodriguez. His testimony is here.The real truth lies
behind what this man witnessed. Every American should view
it, even the so called SAVED man. Building #7 down in 7 sec.s?
I'm sorry if I may have offended you, that is not my intention.
If we all sit back and do nothing, the Mark of the Beast will come
all too soon. We must fight for our Freedom. Today a true patriot
is a protester, not a paid employee that eaves drops on American
citizens. Our constitution is slowly being eradicated. Stand up.
CONTACT INFO
WaterPoweredCar.com is Sponsored by King of the Net
AddMe.com, Search Engine Marketing
Source: http://waterpoweredcar.com/
If you would like to see further reviews on how to run your car on water, just click here.
1) "It's nonsense,"
2) "It is not important,"
3) "I always said it was a good idea," and
4) "I thought of it first."
If all ICE motors (Internal Combustion Engines) were converted to burn hydrogen and oxygen in the water, as fuel to propel our cars, trucks, semi's etc., we would no longer need gas stations, oil tankers, refineries, SMOG and war. The only problem would be that the large Oil Corporations would go under and SMOG would leave the planet for good. The Ozone would get healed and we would survive. God will then once again smile down on the Earth, instead of letting the powers to be, destroy it. If we stopped producing SMOG, the ozone and global warming and greenhouse effects would go away. The present US administration and DOE (US Dept. of Energy) seems to not want this to happen, they make too much money selling you gas and feeding you the media. Only outlaws drive water powered cars, according to our present laws. Why there are not making any SMOG for us to breathe. Fighting for oil under the sand never made any sense to me. They feed us a conspiracy about 19 Arabs with box cutter knives, that took down the Twin Towers, when in fact, C4 explosives , a planned demo. took them down. A bomb went off in the basement, before the first plane struck the North Tower. Please read below.
For all the Red voters who back the War President, let me ask you 2 questions? Who Would Jesus Bomb? Who would Jesus kill? 650,000 Iraqis?, because of one set-up bad evil dictator & and a group of religious militants? Know that no terrorists took down our twin towers, bombs did! Judas Iscariot tried to get Jesus to kill all the Romans, but his plan failed. Under Iraq lies the richest, best untouched oil reserves in the world. Formally the location of the "Garden of Eden", underneath all that sand is the old Tigris / Euphrates River valleys, once lush green vegetation, now rich black oil. Who has WMD's? we do, and we use them! Depleted uranium that comes from blown exhausted charges is WMD. Their next strategic step is to take out Iran, because Iran has all the oil pipelines, that they need to finish the world oil conquest We don't need the stinking damn Oil we need Water as fuel & electric cars! Alternative Joe Cell devices, perpetual generators.
"The automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
(Scientific American January 2, 1909).
Also see WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Another Inconvenient Truth - FREE ENERGY
Beware inventors of Water Cars disappear, get sick or die. Alot of people don't believe this part. Most think your crazy for mentioning it. I'm not trying to scare you, or create fear, just stating fact is all. Go read these stories and you might change your mind. A guy named Bill recently (4/06) made a Joe Cell Replica in his Ford truck, he says ran like a hotrod, but was approached by 2 men who threatened him to stop his "Free Energy" experiments, otherwise lose your Grand children. So poor Bill stopped his progress. READ the LATEST NEWS
God Bless DishNetwork
for LINKTV.org
(news from the people, NOT from EXPERTS from Corporate America)
Why do you make light heartiness over such a
serious issue?
Only fools turn to
alternative energy.
Read about the Little
Dirty Hydrogen Future
Ain 't that so special!
After 4 years of research I gathered all the information I could to make these web pages. and I will continue to add more. Why you ask, because water powered cars can and will heal the planet. My intention is to inform everyone of alternative fuel is here, but not being used. Get it in your head you will not have to go to a gasoline station any longer and buy a glass of coke and hotdog while your at the fill up. The DOE and present administration's idea of a Hydrogen Future really stinks. They give 20 billions away into a Hydrogen Research in which only pads their wallets, not ours. Watch this quick video, notice how he laughs and chuckles about this issue. We need him to follow though with his words. Imagine Hydrogen Gas Stations of the future where you drive up to fill your car up with pressurized hydrogen (like LP propane fuel today, but more dangerous tanks) for how much a gallon? $10 a gallon? When you can make your own hydrogen real easy! Water is Free if you have a well, a river a lake on your property. Get into the bottled water business. Once Water takes over. The Oil Empire will shrink, so and that is why they fight so hard to keep us un-informed. But thanks to God and the Internet we can live better! I encourage everyone who reads this to build one yourself. I have not personally built one yet, but I'm presently working on one in my spare time. A lot of interest is sparking up and a wave of truth is coming to us all.
I made this site because the
people will parish without a
vision. No one seems to have
any courage, everyone is
comfortable, fat & complacent
and do nothing to help. Get off
your ass and do something.
"Son, , are going for your free
ride into Heaven?" Score big
time with the Creator, install a
hydro-booster today!
Who is stopping the Water
Powered Car? 20 billion dollars being spent to stop it.
See the video.
BMW's Hydrogen powered Car
News funded by Citizens
News they don't want you
to listen too. Know what
is really happening in the
world. High Dollar Cable
News will not set you FREE !!
You will get slowly brainwashed.
Free Speech & Link TV
Democracy Now
Now on Dish Network
& Direct TV!
Get the Real News, not
force feed news.
It is NOT who is left and
who is right? It is about
what is right & what is
wrong. Who would
Jesus bomb?
Spreading the Gospel
Contact WPC
New Zealanders have
Water Powered Cars
& Motorcycles! See
the videos now!!
®Meet the Sponsor! of the
Major Share Owner of
WPC Inc. un-LTD
Take a spin in the
right direction &
Commute Faster
I even made my own Hydrogen Booster for my Chevy Truck, you can too! Not that hard to do. I have links to all plans that I found. Cost me $100 to make. I get 15% better gas mileage! and my engine runs, better and cleaner. Equip a 4 cylinder motor and get up to 50-95% better MPG! Fran won a Mileage Car Rally in Maryland with his homemade HO fuel cells and gas vaporizer! He actually won but was given 2nd place, he beat all the new hybrid cars! Is his shop a SMOG factory like a Fuel Cell Factory has stacks with smoke of hydro carbons burning to make the cells that are not as efficient as homemade "On Board Hydrogen Electrolysis" Learn about this process in which is cleaner exhaust than straight hydrogen from a pressurized tank!
New Zealanders have Water Powered Cars & Motorcycles!
See the videos now!!
If Hydrogen Boosters are so great how come you cannot buy one from the Autozone? Good question? The DOE will not let you manufacture make them, they say they need to make them safe and that would take years of research.
You can make one yourself, you can buy a kit. This way the liability is your hands. I believe the DOE does not want technology that will bankrupt the owners ! That is the TRUTH! Amen. China will have Water Powered Cars before we will. Ford needs to make water cars to survive.
* Warning The Surgeon General has found that reading this web site will cause different thinking patterns. You will not forget what you just read. A gluey substance that sticks to the brain. May the simple, confuse the wise. Those who serve Money over Man shall perish. Live simple & remember some guy loves you! Make sure you Get Saved. Repent and follow your heart. His wonderful train is a coming get a ticket while there's still time.
We still have our FREEDOM let's use it! I'm not a terrorist, I'm a nice guy. Please leave me alone. I cause no harm. I want to help clean up our planet. No crime done, but why do I feel like an damn outlaw. I read Water powered Cars are outlawed. I seek the truth, not the chaff in the wind. Jesus is Lord over me and
all the Oil Corporations and the Energy Dept. (DOE) and GW. Speak freely while you still can. Don't vote, just make a web page. Diebold voting machines need to be dumped. Hand counted community voting is THE ONLY WAY TO VOTE!!!!!
Join this great group and learn for yourself! Download the files.
© Meet the Sponsor! of the Major Share Owner of WPC Inc. un-LTD
--------------------------------------------------------
In Memory of the Victims of 911 and their families.
We bow our hearts to the the soldiers and their familes.
The man who holds the Master Key about what really happened
on 911? He was there that day at 8:30 AM. He was the janitor
of the North Tower for 20 years. He saved about 150 people
that day, he opened up about 30 elevator doors that were
locked. He felt and witnessed a bomb go off in the basement before
the first plane hit the tower. He says he got saved that day.His name
is William Rodriguez. His testimony is here.The real truth lies
behind what this man witnessed. Every American should view
it, even the so called SAVED man. Building #7 down in 7 sec.s?
I'm sorry if I may have offended you, that is not my intention.
If we all sit back and do nothing, the Mark of the Beast will come
all too soon. We must fight for our Freedom. Today a true patriot
is a protester, not a paid employee that eaves drops on American
citizens. Our constitution is slowly being eradicated. Stand up.
CONTACT INFO
WaterPoweredCar.com is Sponsored by King of the Net
AddMe.com, Search Engine Marketing
Source: http://waterpoweredcar.com/
If you would like to see further reviews on how to run your car on water, just click here.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Did you Know about Unlimited Zune Downloads?
There are a lot of download sites on the internet. Some cater to general ipods, others for wii downloads, and others for other game console downloads. However, one that seems to be popping up left and right now are Zune downloads. I got looking into these sites and they really are great for the money, especially when you look at what itunes provides for its apple customers.....basically 99 cents per song, what a rip off!!
Some of the better sites only run at $34-$39 for a one time lifetime access fee and you can download as many songs, movies, games and much more. Talk about getting more than what you paid for. If you want to read an indepth comparison of each of these Zune download sites, you can check out this review site of the best Unlimited Zune Downloads sites at http://www.allcbreviews.com/music/zunedownloads.html .
There is also a review just on the Unlimited Zune Downloads site over at USFreeAds, which you can view here.
They are definitely worth checking out as you will get more than what you pay for with any of these sites and the customer service is excellent.
Until next time.
Some of the better sites only run at $34-$39 for a one time lifetime access fee and you can download as many songs, movies, games and much more. Talk about getting more than what you paid for. If you want to read an indepth comparison of each of these Zune download sites, you can check out this review site of the best Unlimited Zune Downloads sites at http://www.allcbreviews.com/music/zunedownloads.html .
There is also a review just on the Unlimited Zune Downloads site over at USFreeAds, which you can view here.
They are definitely worth checking out as you will get more than what you pay for with any of these sites and the customer service is excellent.
Until next time.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
OT: The Last Lecture
By: Ina Steiner
Tue Apr 8 2008 22:32:11
Last fall I read this Wall Street Journal article about Professor Randy Pausch and his last lecture, then watched most of the video. It was really inspirational and showcased the importance of dreams, of living in the moment and putting your family first. I highly recommend watching the video of Pausch's last lecture.
Diane Sawyer interviewed him for Good Morning America last month (I didn't see it) and will run a follow-up interview with him on Wednesday evening: "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life" (ABC Wednesday April 9, 2008, 10pm/9 CST).
source: http://blog.auctionbytes.com
Tue Apr 8 2008 22:32:11
Last fall I read this Wall Street Journal article about Professor Randy Pausch and his last lecture, then watched most of the video. It was really inspirational and showcased the importance of dreams, of living in the moment and putting your family first. I highly recommend watching the video of Pausch's last lecture.
Diane Sawyer interviewed him for Good Morning America last month (I didn't see it) and will run a follow-up interview with him on Wednesday evening: "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life" (ABC Wednesday April 9, 2008, 10pm/9 CST).
source: http://blog.auctionbytes.com
Movie: Amber Hagerman
MOVIES
Alert: The 2006 TV movie "Amber's Story" (9 p.m. Lifetime) tells the story of Amber Hagerman, whose abduction and murder led to the creation of the first Amber Alert system.
source: http://www.latimes.com
Alert: The 2006 TV movie "Amber's Story" (9 p.m. Lifetime) tells the story of Amber Hagerman, whose abduction and murder led to the creation of the first Amber Alert system.
source: http://www.latimes.com
Friday, March 28, 2008
OBAMA: CASEY ON BOARD
Posted: Friday, March 28, 2008 9:27 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Obama
A big superdelegate get for Obama, Bob Casey Jr., the frosh senator (and one-time RIVAL of Clinton's chief Pa. supporter, Ed Rendell). Casey who hails from the ultimate working class Dem stronghold of Scranton will campaign extensively for Obama during the candidate's bus tour of the state. Interestingly, Obama, while getting the support of Casey, needs to borrow from the Rendell '02 Dem GOV primary playbook, in order to win the primary, a race that Casey lost.
According to the Philly Inq: "The endorsement comes as something of a surprise. Casey, a deliberative and cautious politician, had been adamant about remaining neutral until after the April 22 primary.
“Casey was partially influenced by the enthusiasm of his four daughters for Obama. He is expected to help Obama make inroads with white working-class voters who are supportive on gun rights and abortion like the junior senator.”
By the way, isn't this what Casey's fellow Dem frosh Claire McCaskill said when she endorsed?
The Washington Post takes a closer look at the Obama online fundraising machine. "Obama's unprecedented online fundraising success is often depicted as a spontaneous reaction to a charismatic candidate, particularly by young, Internet-savvy supporters. But it is the result of an elaborate marketing effort that has left Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination, and Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, struggling to catch up.
Obama aides say their goal has been to "build an online relationship" with supporters who will not only give money but also knock on doors and help register voters for the candidate. To do so, they have spent heavily on Internet ads -- $2.6 million in February alone, more than 10 times as much as Clinton and more than 20 times as much as McCain."
The NYT covers Obama's econ speech from NYC yesterday and notes, "The speeches of the Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination served as a reminder of the thin wall that separates their policy views. (Mrs. Clinton gave a speech this week in Philadelphia on the housing crisis.) Both candidates have talked about spending billions to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure, and are moving so closely in step that their subordinates have shouted about stolen ideas.
“Both warned of a national credit crisis and advanced proposals to amend bankruptcy laws to aid those facing housing foreclosure. Each endorsed Democratic legislation -- sponsored by Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- to create a housing security program in the Federal Housing Administration that would provide incentives to refinance mortgages carrying onerously high interest rates.
“They are very close; they are pointing to very similar proposals,” said John Irons, research and policy director for the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented research center. “There are minor differences, but when you compare their proposals with McCain, that’s night and day. The Democrats are more like noon and 12:30.”
The RNC pounced on the portion of Obama's CNBC interview with Maria Bartiromo where he talked cap gains. "Obama yesterday said he'd raise the capital-gains tax as president -- but softened his estimate on how much it would go up. I haven't given a firm number," Obama told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, speaking of how much the levy would rise over the current rate of 15 percent. He "guessed" it would be "significantly lower than" the 28 percent it was under President Bill Clinton.
“Last year, when Obama proposed up to $85 billion annually in middle-class tax relief, he suggested paying for it in part by hiking the capital-gains tax to as much as 28 percent. Yesterday, he said, "We can't go back to some of the, you know, confiscatory rates that existed in the past that distorted sound economics.
"I think that we can have a capital-gains rate that is higher than 15 percent," he added, but noted people like investor Warren Buffett have said if the tax is "within that range" of 20 to 25 percent, it won't "distort . . . economic decision making."
L.A. Times coverage of the Obama-CNBC interview also focused on the tax front. "Obama went after the "We're not paying enough taxes to the government" vote today during a television interview in New York.
“First, he said the Bush tax cuts ought to die. He likes that top marginal rate of 39%. Although the non-partisan National Journal recently declared him the most liberal of the 100 senators, Obama denied being a "wild-eyed liberal," which wasn't what the Journal called him, but it sounds good on TV where everything moves by so quickly.
“Maria Bartiromo on CNBC's ‘Closing Bell’ asked, ‘Who should pay more and who should pay less?’ Predictably, the politician chose to talk about who would benefit from his higher tax plan, not who would get socked the hardest. But from his answers it sounds like the ‘wealthy’ in his mind are those making more than $75,000.
"I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to.... provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less,'' he said. "For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family.
"Senior citizens who are bringing in less than $50,000 a year in income, I don't want them to have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And as part of my overall approach to housing, I actually want to provide an additional 10 percent mortgage deduction, a credit, mortgage interest credit, for those who currently don't itemize."
source: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/28/831983.aspx
Filed Under: 2008, Obama
A big superdelegate get for Obama, Bob Casey Jr., the frosh senator (and one-time RIVAL of Clinton's chief Pa. supporter, Ed Rendell). Casey who hails from the ultimate working class Dem stronghold of Scranton will campaign extensively for Obama during the candidate's bus tour of the state. Interestingly, Obama, while getting the support of Casey, needs to borrow from the Rendell '02 Dem GOV primary playbook, in order to win the primary, a race that Casey lost.
According to the Philly Inq: "The endorsement comes as something of a surprise. Casey, a deliberative and cautious politician, had been adamant about remaining neutral until after the April 22 primary.
“Casey was partially influenced by the enthusiasm of his four daughters for Obama. He is expected to help Obama make inroads with white working-class voters who are supportive on gun rights and abortion like the junior senator.”
By the way, isn't this what Casey's fellow Dem frosh Claire McCaskill said when she endorsed?
The Washington Post takes a closer look at the Obama online fundraising machine. "Obama's unprecedented online fundraising success is often depicted as a spontaneous reaction to a charismatic candidate, particularly by young, Internet-savvy supporters. But it is the result of an elaborate marketing effort that has left Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination, and Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, struggling to catch up.
Obama aides say their goal has been to "build an online relationship" with supporters who will not only give money but also knock on doors and help register voters for the candidate. To do so, they have spent heavily on Internet ads -- $2.6 million in February alone, more than 10 times as much as Clinton and more than 20 times as much as McCain."
The NYT covers Obama's econ speech from NYC yesterday and notes, "The speeches of the Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination served as a reminder of the thin wall that separates their policy views. (Mrs. Clinton gave a speech this week in Philadelphia on the housing crisis.) Both candidates have talked about spending billions to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure, and are moving so closely in step that their subordinates have shouted about stolen ideas.
“Both warned of a national credit crisis and advanced proposals to amend bankruptcy laws to aid those facing housing foreclosure. Each endorsed Democratic legislation -- sponsored by Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- to create a housing security program in the Federal Housing Administration that would provide incentives to refinance mortgages carrying onerously high interest rates.
“They are very close; they are pointing to very similar proposals,” said John Irons, research and policy director for the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented research center. “There are minor differences, but when you compare their proposals with McCain, that’s night and day. The Democrats are more like noon and 12:30.”
The RNC pounced on the portion of Obama's CNBC interview with Maria Bartiromo where he talked cap gains. "Obama yesterday said he'd raise the capital-gains tax as president -- but softened his estimate on how much it would go up. I haven't given a firm number," Obama told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, speaking of how much the levy would rise over the current rate of 15 percent. He "guessed" it would be "significantly lower than" the 28 percent it was under President Bill Clinton.
“Last year, when Obama proposed up to $85 billion annually in middle-class tax relief, he suggested paying for it in part by hiking the capital-gains tax to as much as 28 percent. Yesterday, he said, "We can't go back to some of the, you know, confiscatory rates that existed in the past that distorted sound economics.
"I think that we can have a capital-gains rate that is higher than 15 percent," he added, but noted people like investor Warren Buffett have said if the tax is "within that range" of 20 to 25 percent, it won't "distort . . . economic decision making."
L.A. Times coverage of the Obama-CNBC interview also focused on the tax front. "Obama went after the "We're not paying enough taxes to the government" vote today during a television interview in New York.
“First, he said the Bush tax cuts ought to die. He likes that top marginal rate of 39%. Although the non-partisan National Journal recently declared him the most liberal of the 100 senators, Obama denied being a "wild-eyed liberal," which wasn't what the Journal called him, but it sounds good on TV where everything moves by so quickly.
“Maria Bartiromo on CNBC's ‘Closing Bell’ asked, ‘Who should pay more and who should pay less?’ Predictably, the politician chose to talk about who would benefit from his higher tax plan, not who would get socked the hardest. But from his answers it sounds like the ‘wealthy’ in his mind are those making more than $75,000.
"I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to.... provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less,'' he said. "For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family.
"Senior citizens who are bringing in less than $50,000 a year in income, I don't want them to have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And as part of my overall approach to housing, I actually want to provide an additional 10 percent mortgage deduction, a credit, mortgage interest credit, for those who currently don't itemize."
source: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/28/831983.aspx
Thursday, March 27, 2008
FDA looks into Singulair, risks of suicidal thoughts
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating anecdotal reports that people who use Singulair, the popular asthma and allergy drug, are at greater risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide.
Singulair is a pill prescribed to treat asthma and hay fever symptoms such as sneezing and a nose that is stuffy, runny or itchy. It blocks an inflammation pathway in the body that can cause both asthma and allergy symptoms.
BETTER LIFE: More of the latest health news
It was approved for treating asthma in 1998 and to treat seasonal allergy symptoms in 2003.
In the past year, drugmaker Merck (MRK) of Whitehouse Station, N.J., has added tremors, depression, suicidal thinking and behavior, and anxiety to the list of possible adverse side effects it gives doctors about the drug.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: New Jersey | Drug Administration | Food | Merck | Whitehouse Station | Singulair
Singulair had sales of $4.3 billion last year and has been used by "millions," says Merck's George Philip, who directs Singulair product development.
The FDA has asked Merck to look at Singulair study data for more information about reports of behavior and mood changes, suicidal thoughts and suicide in patients who took the drug. Because such reviews are very complex, the FDA says it may take nine months to complete its evaluation.
In the meantime, the agency is asking doctors and health care providers to carefully monitor their patients taking Singulair.
The FDA is not recommending that patients stop taking the drug, suggesting instead that they talk to their doctor if they have concerns.
Reports of possible links to suicidal thoughts have come to Merck "anecdotally from physicians, from patients and from parents or relatives," Philip says. But because the information the company receives can be "quite sketchy," Philip says it's not possible to definitively link the drug and these reported episodes.
The government agrees with that assessment. The FDA went public with its concerns about this drug as part of its ongoing safety reviews. But in a release, the agency said this "does not mean that FDA has concluded there is a causal relationship between the drug product and the emerging safety issue."
The FDA "is considering, but has not reached a conclusion" about whether it needs to further regulate the drug and will update the public as more information becomes available.
Singulair belongs to a class of drugs called leukotriene receptor antagonists. The FDA reports that it will investigate whether similar medications, such as Accolate, Zyflo and Zyflo CR, have negative effects on behavior and mood.
resource: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2008-03-27-suicide-link_N.htm
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating anecdotal reports that people who use Singulair, the popular asthma and allergy drug, are at greater risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide.
Singulair is a pill prescribed to treat asthma and hay fever symptoms such as sneezing and a nose that is stuffy, runny or itchy. It blocks an inflammation pathway in the body that can cause both asthma and allergy symptoms.
BETTER LIFE: More of the latest health news
It was approved for treating asthma in 1998 and to treat seasonal allergy symptoms in 2003.
In the past year, drugmaker Merck (MRK) of Whitehouse Station, N.J., has added tremors, depression, suicidal thinking and behavior, and anxiety to the list of possible adverse side effects it gives doctors about the drug.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: New Jersey | Drug Administration | Food | Merck | Whitehouse Station | Singulair
Singulair had sales of $4.3 billion last year and has been used by "millions," says Merck's George Philip, who directs Singulair product development.
The FDA has asked Merck to look at Singulair study data for more information about reports of behavior and mood changes, suicidal thoughts and suicide in patients who took the drug. Because such reviews are very complex, the FDA says it may take nine months to complete its evaluation.
In the meantime, the agency is asking doctors and health care providers to carefully monitor their patients taking Singulair.
The FDA is not recommending that patients stop taking the drug, suggesting instead that they talk to their doctor if they have concerns.
Reports of possible links to suicidal thoughts have come to Merck "anecdotally from physicians, from patients and from parents or relatives," Philip says. But because the information the company receives can be "quite sketchy," Philip says it's not possible to definitively link the drug and these reported episodes.
The government agrees with that assessment. The FDA went public with its concerns about this drug as part of its ongoing safety reviews. But in a release, the agency said this "does not mean that FDA has concluded there is a causal relationship between the drug product and the emerging safety issue."
The FDA "is considering, but has not reached a conclusion" about whether it needs to further regulate the drug and will update the public as more information becomes available.
Singulair belongs to a class of drugs called leukotriene receptor antagonists. The FDA reports that it will investigate whether similar medications, such as Accolate, Zyflo and Zyflo CR, have negative effects on behavior and mood.
resource: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2008-03-27-suicide-link_N.htm
Saturday, January 5, 2008
New Show Preview: Miss America Reality Check
This is seriously the best diet I've ever tried - and it only takes 10 days Click here to see what it is!
Just how real are the contestants of the Miss America pageant? Are most of them sugar and spice and everything nice? Are they really as bubbly as they make themselves out to be? Hopefully we'll find out in a new show that's debuting on TLC this Friday, January 4 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) called Miss America Reality Check.
For some reason, I'm beyond freakishly excited about this show. Would it be because the show is only four episodes long? Would it be because the host of the show is none other than Michael Urie (who plays Marc on Ugly Betty)? Would it be because we'll get to watch all 52 contestants live under one roof together and "participate in an intense set of events and challenges" in preparation for the Miss America pageant itself on January 26? Would it be because I'm hoping for some pageant drama? Seriously, it's a combination of all four!
And guess what? We, the viewing audience, will be able to begin voting after the show airs on January 4 for a surprise 16th finalist in the pageant itself! How's that for audience participation? Also, the show was shot in HD. So if you're an HD adopter and receive the TLC HD channel from your cable company, you can really check the ladies out. You might even see a pimple or two!
Don't worry if you miss one of the shows. TLC re-airs the episodes throughout the week to guarantee you won't have the chance to miss a thing.
Be sure to go to the show's official site and check out all of the videos. Besides the sneak peek video (which is hilarious!), you can also get to know all 52 of the girls a little better. If you don't watch them all, at least check out your state's contestant. BTW, I apologize to those of you in Oklahoma. I kid, I kid.
So don't forget to watch! I'll be recapping the episodes so be sure to join me back here where we can have some snarky fun together. In the meantime, make quick use of your mouse and click the links I've given you here so you'll be ready to go on Friday.
Oooh, I wonder if we'll see them without makeup and hair products? *evil laugh*
By HamsterDame
Source: http://www.film.com
Just how real are the contestants of the Miss America pageant? Are most of them sugar and spice and everything nice? Are they really as bubbly as they make themselves out to be? Hopefully we'll find out in a new show that's debuting on TLC this Friday, January 4 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) called Miss America Reality Check.For some reason, I'm beyond freakishly excited about this show. Would it be because the show is only four episodes long? Would it be because the host of the show is none other than Michael Urie (who plays Marc on Ugly Betty)? Would it be because we'll get to watch all 52 contestants live under one roof together and "participate in an intense set of events and challenges" in preparation for the Miss America pageant itself on January 26? Would it be because I'm hoping for some pageant drama? Seriously, it's a combination of all four!
And guess what? We, the viewing audience, will be able to begin voting after the show airs on January 4 for a surprise 16th finalist in the pageant itself! How's that for audience participation? Also, the show was shot in HD. So if you're an HD adopter and receive the TLC HD channel from your cable company, you can really check the ladies out. You might even see a pimple or two!
Don't worry if you miss one of the shows. TLC re-airs the episodes throughout the week to guarantee you won't have the chance to miss a thing.
Be sure to go to the show's official site and check out all of the videos. Besides the sneak peek video (which is hilarious!), you can also get to know all 52 of the girls a little better. If you don't watch them all, at least check out your state's contestant. BTW, I apologize to those of you in Oklahoma. I kid, I kid.
So don't forget to watch! I'll be recapping the episodes so be sure to join me back here where we can have some snarky fun together. In the meantime, make quick use of your mouse and click the links I've given you here so you'll be ready to go on Friday.
Oooh, I wonder if we'll see them without makeup and hair products? *evil laugh*
By HamsterDame
Source: http://www.film.com
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tila Tequila Takes a Shot at Love with Bobby Banhart
Atlanta, Ga. 12/19/2007 04:10 AM GMT (FINDITT)
The finale of MTV’s hit reality show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” was a bit of a shocker as it was the small town boy from Worchester, N.Y. that won the heart of Tila and ultimately earned a shot at love.
A stunned Dani sat bewildered at the end of the show, amazed that Tila sent her home while an even more stunned Bobby needed time to absorb the idea that the woman he had been vying for had chosen him.
For Dani Campbell the end was heartbreaking as she couldn’t make sense of what happened and when Tila jumped into Bobby’s arms the Fort Lauderdale, Florida firefighter walked away.
After starting the show with 16 men and 16 women all fighting for a shot at love with the self-proclaimed bi-sexual, Tila, the Internet star carefully whittled her options down to Dani and Bobby, setting the stage for her decision on Tuesday.
Source: www.transworldnews.com
The finale of MTV’s hit reality show, “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila,” was a bit of a shocker as it was the small town boy from Worchester, N.Y. that won the heart of Tila and ultimately earned a shot at love.
A stunned Dani sat bewildered at the end of the show, amazed that Tila sent her home while an even more stunned Bobby needed time to absorb the idea that the woman he had been vying for had chosen him.
For Dani Campbell the end was heartbreaking as she couldn’t make sense of what happened and when Tila jumped into Bobby’s arms the Fort Lauderdale, Florida firefighter walked away.
After starting the show with 16 men and 16 women all fighting for a shot at love with the self-proclaimed bi-sexual, Tila, the Internet star carefully whittled her options down to Dani and Bobby, setting the stage for her decision on Tuesday.
Source: www.transworldnews.com
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Jessica Alba Pregnant With First Child
Now we know the reason for that planned career break...
By: Cher Tippetts on Wednesday 12th Dec 2007
Photo: WENN
Jessica Alba is expecting her first child with boyfriend Cash Warren.
The 26-year-old Fantastic Four actress announced the happy news via her publicist.
Her rep Brad Cafarelli said: "I can confirm that Jessica and Cash are expecting a baby in late spring, early summer."
Jessica is reportedly "thrilled" with the news, and can't wait to be a mother.
A source close to the Latina actress said: "Jessica was really jealous that all her friends were settling down and getting pregnant, so she is thrilled she has joined the club now.
"She feels like she is ready to be a mom, and knows she and Cash will make great parents."
Jess and Cash met on the set of Fantastic Four in 2004 but reportedly split earlier this year.
They quickly rekindled their romance and have recently been indulging in public displays of affection.
Jessica recently said she was planning to take eight months off work, but didn't specify why.
She said: "I've worked the last two and a half years without stopping. This is the time to do it."
Source: www.entertainmentwise.com
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Rightful Miss California USA Finally Crowned
As the vote counting error was clarified, Christina Silva was stripped of her Miss California crown which was instead awarded to Raquel Beezley, organizers said Monday.
24-year-old Christina Silva was initially named Miss California a week ago but she was forced to relinquish the title to the second runner-up after organizers discovered an apparent accounting error that led to a shape up in the order, Keith Lewis, the pageant’s state director said.
The one who will be representing California at the Miss USA pageant in April next year is 21-year-old Raquel Beezley.
Lewis explained that several judges questioned the results the following day and the error was discovered after the ballots were opened and recounted, "It was a simple human error," he said.
The contestants were scored by five celebrity judges who independently ranked them. The mix-up occurred when the points were reversed, with the lowest point given to the winner and the highest to the fourth runner-up, Lewis said.
However, Silva, who was forced to step down, has hired an attorney and is currently looking into her legal options.
"I don't want the title. I want the truth," Silva, who was told she can keep the tiara and the sash, was quoted by ABC as saying.
Speaking exclusively to ABC’s "Good Morning America," Silva recalled the joy of winning and how she was announced for days later that she had to give up the title.
"Within 10 minutes he just said, 'I don't know how to say this to you but you are not the winner. Miss [Raquel] Beazley, the second runner-up, is the winner, and there was an accounting error,'" Silva said about the moment when Lewis broke the news to her.
"All he kept saying is, 'Christina, you can continue wearing the crown and the sash and go on to Miss USA, but if this leaks your integrity and your acting career could be jeopardized. And we know you're faith-based and a woman of integrity and we know you're going to do the right thing, right?'" she added.
© 2007 - eFluxMedia
Source: www.efluxmedia.com
24-year-old Christina Silva was initially named Miss California a week ago but she was forced to relinquish the title to the second runner-up after organizers discovered an apparent accounting error that led to a shape up in the order, Keith Lewis, the pageant’s state director said.
The one who will be representing California at the Miss USA pageant in April next year is 21-year-old Raquel Beezley.
Lewis explained that several judges questioned the results the following day and the error was discovered after the ballots were opened and recounted, "It was a simple human error," he said.
The contestants were scored by five celebrity judges who independently ranked them. The mix-up occurred when the points were reversed, with the lowest point given to the winner and the highest to the fourth runner-up, Lewis said.
However, Silva, who was forced to step down, has hired an attorney and is currently looking into her legal options.
"I don't want the title. I want the truth," Silva, who was told she can keep the tiara and the sash, was quoted by ABC as saying.
Speaking exclusively to ABC’s "Good Morning America," Silva recalled the joy of winning and how she was announced for days later that she had to give up the title.
"Within 10 minutes he just said, 'I don't know how to say this to you but you are not the winner. Miss [Raquel] Beazley, the second runner-up, is the winner, and there was an accounting error,'" Silva said about the moment when Lewis broke the news to her.
"All he kept saying is, 'Christina, you can continue wearing the crown and the sash and go on to Miss USA, but if this leaks your integrity and your acting career could be jeopardized. And we know you're faith-based and a woman of integrity and we know you're going to do the right thing, right?'" she added.
© 2007 - eFluxMedia
Source: www.efluxmedia.com
GE Microwave Recall Review
GE Profile and Kenmore brands microwave walls are recalled by GE due to fire hazard. GE announced on Wednesday that it recalls about 92,000 microwave walls due to fire hazart, reports CNN.
The problem of this microwaves is that the door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and should stop being used immediately. GE says people must stop using them immediately.
These recalled microwaves are not news. In fact, "The recalled units were sold from January 2000 to December 2003 and cost between $1,500 and $2,000, according to GE, which announced the recall with the Consumer Product Safety Commission," writes CNN in the report.
The GE recall information is not yet posted in GE's site.
"GE is offering a free repair on GE and GE Profile units or a rebate toward the purchase of a new product. Sears is doing the same for Kenmore units."
Source: www.huliq.com
The problem of this microwaves is that the door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and should stop being used immediately. GE says people must stop using them immediately.
These recalled microwaves are not news. In fact, "The recalled units were sold from January 2000 to December 2003 and cost between $1,500 and $2,000, according to GE, which announced the recall with the Consumer Product Safety Commission," writes CNN in the report.
The GE recall information is not yet posted in GE's site.
"GE is offering a free repair on GE and GE Profile units or a rebate toward the purchase of a new product. Sears is doing the same for Kenmore units."
Source: www.huliq.com
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Internet Saves a Life: Going Online Helped Nancy Makin Lose More Than 500 Pounds
Nancy Makin at 700 lbs (left). Makin at 170 lbs on GMA this week (right).
Dec. 3, 2007
Weighing 700 pounds, Nancy Makin had lost hope.
After 12 years of weight gain, Makin had spiraled into despair. The more food she ate, the more shame she felt, and nothing could stop the cycle.
Then one day her sister gave her a computer. Inspired by the friends she'd made online and no longer judged by how she looked, Makin finally took control of the situation.
"The anonymity of the computer gave me access to a world that would have just as well have left me alone, alone to die but I did not," Makin wrote in a letter describing her saga.
Today Makin weighs a healthy 170 pounds and hopes others will be inspired by her story to take back their own lives.
Out of Control
The weight gain started after a divorce and fear at her job. Makin began overeating to avoid her feelings and soon she just couldn't stop.
"My son would bring me 10 double cheeseburgers. So I'd eat four, put the rest in the fridge. And then they'd call to me during the night or whatever and you'd eat 'em cold. I could go in and overeat cold squash out of the fridge. It doesn't matter."
"You're stuffing your feelings. That's what people need to know. It's not just being a glutton."
Too humiliated to go out in public, Makin only allowed her family to see her, often sending her son to get her groceries. "I only regret that my son — that I hurt him, that I marred his childhood somehow, that it could have been more full."
Escape Online
It was the gift of getting online that ultimately let Makin escape her misery.
"Internet provided anonymity. And people who would have rejected me out of hand, based on appearance, got to see my insides."
Before she knew it, the political junkie was surfing through chat rooms and making friends, beginning to find value in herself again. "I was being loved and nurtured by faceless strangers. … Friends accepted who I was based on my mind and soul."
"I was so busy and happy to get up every morning that I like to say I lost weight in my fingers first."
Makin said the psychological transformation was so complete that she lost all that weight without diet pills, exercise or even a diet. She just stopped gorging.
"I achieved this on my own, in a natural way, with no surgical procedures having been performed. No particular 'diet' plan was followed; no pills, potions or ab-crunching exercises played a part in my recovery," she wrote in a congratulatory letter to herself.
Source: www.abcnews.go.com
Monday, December 3, 2007
Eye-Fi Points To The Future Of Web-Based Products
Posted by David DeJean, Nov 29, 2007 09:54 AM
The Eye Fi
Wireless SD card for digital cameras reduces a Wi-Fi card to fit on an SD flash storage card, with room left over for 2 Gbytes of storage. But amazing as that is, the most interesting thing about Eye Fi is the way it works the network.
I first saw the Eye Fi Wireless SD card at a trade show, and was so intrigued that I put the gizmo into InformationWeek.com's upcoming Holiday Gift Guide (look for it this weekend), and sought out Eye Fi CEO Jef Holove to ask him how it works.
The Eye Fi is intended to solve one of the major annoyances of digital cameras -- automatically transferring images from your camera to wherever you want to store your photos, whether that's on a local PC or Mac, or Web sites for photos, blogs or social-networking. Eye Fi currently works with 17 sites, including Facebook, Flickr, and TypePad.
The hardware form factor is plain vanilla SD -- it will fit in any camera that will accept an SD card (which is currently about 77% of the camera market, said Holove). But shrinking the radio and interface down to SD size weren't big problems. According to Holove, the two technical hurdles were tuning the antenna built into the card, and optimizing its power management.
The orientation of the card in the camera and the amount of metal that surround it both affect antenna performance in ways that had to be taken into account in the card's design. And while the card draws relatively little power, it has to function within the camera's overall power profile.
The card is actually powered down most of the time, said Holove. It knows if it's got new content and won't even try to transfer files if there's nothing to transfer. If it detects new data, it wakes up every minute or so and checks for networks it knows how to connect to. Eye Fi works only from a digital camera to a host computer -- it won't work on public Wi-Fi networks that require you to log in. So you're not going to send pictures to Shutterfly from the bottom of the Grand Canyon -- unless you live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It's strictly for cameras, too -- it works in one direction and sends only JPG files to the host (if you want to transfer RAW files, you'll have to do that some other way) -- so it's not going to magically make your PDA or media player with an SD slot into a wireless device.
The Eye Fi card packs an impressive amount of technology into a device the size of your thumbnail, but the other half of the product, the service half, is just as interesting. Like many new hardware and software products, the Eye Fi card is a one-time investment that buys you the promise of unlimited use of a Web-based service. When you choose to have the Eye Fi card send photos to your online site, the image files get there the way they always have. But instead of you transferring the files from camera to computer, logging into the service and uploading the files, an Eye Fi service handles all that -- and also does things like resizing the files if your destination site has limits.
This is a business model that used to have some risk attached: nothing is free, and what if the customers use more of the service than the provider can afford? Holove wasn't worried. The Eye Fi service is just servers and bandwidth, and both those things are getting cheaper over time. The company doesn't store the photos, it just proxies them from your PC to their final destination. That doesn't mean Eye-Fi isn't looking for ways to make a buck on its service, too. "We can introduce premium things people will want to pay for," said Holove. But the cost of servicing the device is so low, in comparison with the initial price, that the business model is a good one.
Source: www.informationweek.com
If you want more product details on the New Eye Fi, CLICK HERE
The Eye Fi
Wireless SD card for digital cameras reduces a Wi-Fi card to fit on an SD flash storage card, with room left over for 2 Gbytes of storage. But amazing as that is, the most interesting thing about Eye Fi is the way it works the network.I first saw the Eye Fi
Wireless SD card at a trade show, and was so intrigued that I put the gizmo into InformationWeek.com's upcoming Holiday Gift Guide (look for it this weekend), and sought out Eye Fi CEO Jef Holove to ask him how it works.The Eye Fi
is intended to solve one of the major annoyances of digital cameras -- automatically transferring images from your camera to wherever you want to store your photos, whether that's on a local PC or Mac, or Web sites for photos, blogs or social-networking. Eye Fi currently works with 17 sites, including Facebook, Flickr, and TypePad.The hardware form factor is plain vanilla SD -- it will fit in any camera that will accept an SD card (which is currently about 77% of the camera market, said Holove). But shrinking the radio and interface down to SD size weren't big problems. According to Holove, the two technical hurdles were tuning the antenna built into the card, and optimizing its power management.
The orientation of the card in the camera and the amount of metal that surround it both affect antenna performance in ways that had to be taken into account in the card's design. And while the card draws relatively little power, it has to function within the camera's overall power profile.
The card is actually powered down most of the time, said Holove. It knows if it's got new content and won't even try to transfer files if there's nothing to transfer. If it detects new data, it wakes up every minute or so and checks for networks it knows how to connect to. Eye Fi
works only from a digital camera to a host computer -- it won't work on public Wi-Fi networks that require you to log in. So you're not going to send pictures to Shutterfly from the bottom of the Grand Canyon -- unless you live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It's strictly for cameras, too -- it works in one direction and sends only JPG files to the host (if you want to transfer RAW files, you'll have to do that some other way) -- so it's not going to magically make your PDA or media player with an SD slot into a wireless device.The Eye Fi
card packs an impressive amount of technology into a device the size of your thumbnail, but the other half of the product, the service half, is just as interesting. Like many new hardware and software products, the Eye Fi card is a one-time investment that buys you the promise of unlimited use of a Web-based service. When you choose to have the Eye Fi card send photos to your online site, the image files get there the way they always have. But instead of you transferring the files from camera to computer, logging into the service and uploading the files, an Eye Fi service handles all that -- and also does things like resizing the files if your destination site has limits.This is a business model that used to have some risk attached: nothing is free, and what if the customers use more of the service than the provider can afford? Holove wasn't worried. The Eye Fi
service is just servers and bandwidth, and both those things are getting cheaper over time. The company doesn't store the photos, it just proxies them from your PC to their final destination. That doesn't mean Eye-Fi isn't looking for ways to make a buck on its service, too. "We can introduce premium things people will want to pay for," said Holove. But the cost of servicing the device is so low, in comparison with the initial price, that the business model is a good one.Source: www.informationweek.com
If you want more product details on the New Eye Fi, CLICK HERE
The Master Cleanse Diet Claims Outstanding Results
New diet plan called The Master Cleanse Diet says that its weight loss results are 'outstanding.' The Master Cleanse Diet is also known as Lemonade Diet. Below is the press release from the company presenting this diet plan.
The Master Cleanse Diet, which is also known as the Lemonade Diet or Master Cleanser Diet is making big waves in the health industry. It has become the latest rage from Health Gurus to Hollywood Actors and Actresses. But is the Master Cleanse Diet all its cracked up to be?
The diet is based off of a mixture of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup (grade b). This may sound like an odd compilation however the results have been most surprising. This particular mixture, master cleanser enthusiasts say, is the key to cleansing the body of long-term toxins and cleaning the blood, kidneys, liver and colon as well as the intestinal wall. In addition to this many experience vasts amounts of weight loss in addition to the cleanse. Reports have been done that claim people lose around 20 lbs in less than a week.
"I feel better than I have ever felt before" Says Jenny Smith of Portland Oregon,"and I've lost significant weight as a result."
There has been known cases of people continuing the Lemonade Diet for up to fourty days. The diet recommends however doing it a minimum of four.
"The main purpose is not to lose weight" says Jenny," It's about purifying your body and starting over with a diet that benefits you."
Many have also claimed that they do not gain their weight back after the cleanse, just a little bit of water weight. This is due to the persons lack of craving bad foods as a result of the cleanse. They often crave much healthier things like fruit and vegetables which provides much better long-term health benefits than the food they previously craved.
The concept of the Master Cleanse Diet derives from the fact that we live in a fairly polluted world. So polluted that our bodies cannot detoxify properly as a result. This build-up over time can produce long-term health problems including diabetes, cancers, acidity problems as well as many other health problems. This cleanse is supposed to level out the body while intensely detoxifying the system over a period of ten days. It has been said that we are what we eat as well as we are what we most commonly do. This is the stance that the Master Cleansers go by.
The Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet has even hit hollywood in a big way. Famous singer Beyonce Knowles is a large advocate of the master cleanse lemonade diet. It is recommended, however that people go through the diet using a fiber supplement, colon cleanser or natural laxative as the diet does not consist of any fiber.
For more information on the Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet visit www.master-cleanse-diet.net
Editor's note: eMaxHealth does not say this is a healthy diet plan, nor it endorses it. The point of this article is just to present a new diet plan for information purpose only.
Source: www.emaxhealth.com
The Master Cleanse Diet, which is also known as the Lemonade Diet or Master Cleanser Diet is making big waves in the health industry. It has become the latest rage from Health Gurus to Hollywood Actors and Actresses. But is the Master Cleanse Diet all its cracked up to be?
The diet is based off of a mixture of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup (grade b). This may sound like an odd compilation however the results have been most surprising. This particular mixture, master cleanser enthusiasts say, is the key to cleansing the body of long-term toxins and cleaning the blood, kidneys, liver and colon as well as the intestinal wall. In addition to this many experience vasts amounts of weight loss in addition to the cleanse. Reports have been done that claim people lose around 20 lbs in less than a week.
"I feel better than I have ever felt before" Says Jenny Smith of Portland Oregon,"and I've lost significant weight as a result."
There has been known cases of people continuing the Lemonade Diet for up to fourty days. The diet recommends however doing it a minimum of four.
"The main purpose is not to lose weight" says Jenny," It's about purifying your body and starting over with a diet that benefits you."
Many have also claimed that they do not gain their weight back after the cleanse, just a little bit of water weight. This is due to the persons lack of craving bad foods as a result of the cleanse. They often crave much healthier things like fruit and vegetables which provides much better long-term health benefits than the food they previously craved.
The concept of the Master Cleanse Diet derives from the fact that we live in a fairly polluted world. So polluted that our bodies cannot detoxify properly as a result. This build-up over time can produce long-term health problems including diabetes, cancers, acidity problems as well as many other health problems. This cleanse is supposed to level out the body while intensely detoxifying the system over a period of ten days. It has been said that we are what we eat as well as we are what we most commonly do. This is the stance that the Master Cleansers go by.
The Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet has even hit hollywood in a big way. Famous singer Beyonce Knowles is a large advocate of the master cleanse lemonade diet. It is recommended, however that people go through the diet using a fiber supplement, colon cleanser or natural laxative as the diet does not consist of any fiber.
For more information on the Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet visit www.master-cleanse-diet.net
Editor's note: eMaxHealth does not say this is a healthy diet plan, nor it endorses it. The point of this article is just to present a new diet plan for information purpose only.
Source: www.emaxhealth.com
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Larry Fitzgerald out for Cardinals
Fantasy Football Breaking News
Larry Fitzgerald - WR - ARZ - Dec. 2 - 2:49 pm et
Cardinals declared WR Larry Fitzgerald, QB Tim Hasselbeck, FB Tim Castille, FS Aaron Francisco, OL Elton Brown, WR Jerheme Urban, DE Bo Schobel and DT Ross Kolodziej inactive for Week 13 against the Browns.
Bryant Johnson will move into the starting lineup for Fitzgerald, who's out with a groin injury. Downgrade Kurt Warner some, although he remains a strong QB1 option. Dec. 2 - 2:49 pm et
Source: www.rotoworld.com
Larry Fitzgerald - WR - ARZ - Dec. 2 - 2:49 pm et
Cardinals declared WR Larry Fitzgerald, QB Tim Hasselbeck, FB Tim Castille, FS Aaron Francisco, OL Elton Brown, WR Jerheme Urban, DE Bo Schobel and DT Ross Kolodziej inactive for Week 13 against the Browns.
Bryant Johnson will move into the starting lineup for Fitzgerald, who's out with a groin injury. Downgrade Kurt Warner some, although he remains a strong QB1 option. Dec. 2 - 2:49 pm et
Source: www.rotoworld.com
Las Vegas Marathon 2007
Thousands of runners and walkers hit the pavement just after 6 a.m. on Sunday to take part in the Las Vegas Marathon 2007.
The race began with an explosion of fireworks as the runners and walkers took off from a parking lot near the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The marathon started at 6:07 a.m. under perfect weather conditions -- cold but not windy.
SLIDESHOW: See images from the Las Vegas Marathon 2007
A runner from Russia, Sylvia Skvortsova, won the Las Vegas Marathon 2007 with an unofficial finishing time of 2:29:02. The top men's finisher is Christopher Chebobibich from Kenya, who will take home $20,000. His unofficial finishing time was 2:16:49. The women are given an 18 minute lead in the race and this is the first time a woman has won the challenge. The top local winner, Abebe Yimer, a former Ethiopian, who now lives in Clark County will take home $10,000.
Numerous roads around the valley were closed, including the Las Vegas Strip, to accommodate the marathon participants.
Many of the runners in this year's Las Vegas Marathon have been in training since early summer. A large number of people just took part in the half-marathon. However, there was some confusion with some of the lead runners in the half-marathon making a wrong turn and ending up on the course for the 26.2 mile marathon.
Click here for Las Vegas Marathon 2007 results
This year's marathon drew nearly 17,000 participants and there were about 4,000 volunteers on hand to support the runners at the mile markers with water and food.
Entertainment, including a performance by the Blue Man Group, a Spamalot water station and a finish line performance by the Cirque du Soleil Jam Band greeted the marathon participants. There was also Run-Through Wedding Chapel for nearly 50 couples who were getting married or renewing their vows.
This year's runners will include runners from 42 countries including Russia, Kenya and Australia. Last year's two top finishers were from Kenya.
Josephe Kahugo of Kenya who won the 2006 marathon.
Source: www.lasvegasnow.com
The race began with an explosion of fireworks as the runners and walkers took off from a parking lot near the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The marathon started at 6:07 a.m. under perfect weather conditions -- cold but not windy.
SLIDESHOW: See images from the Las Vegas Marathon 2007
A runner from Russia, Sylvia Skvortsova, won the Las Vegas Marathon 2007 with an unofficial finishing time of 2:29:02. The top men's finisher is Christopher Chebobibich from Kenya, who will take home $20,000. His unofficial finishing time was 2:16:49. The women are given an 18 minute lead in the race and this is the first time a woman has won the challenge. The top local winner, Abebe Yimer, a former Ethiopian, who now lives in Clark County will take home $10,000.
Numerous roads around the valley were closed, including the Las Vegas Strip, to accommodate the marathon participants.
Many of the runners in this year's Las Vegas Marathon have been in training since early summer. A large number of people just took part in the half-marathon. However, there was some confusion with some of the lead runners in the half-marathon making a wrong turn and ending up on the course for the 26.2 mile marathon.
Click here for Las Vegas Marathon 2007 results
This year's marathon drew nearly 17,000 participants and there were about 4,000 volunteers on hand to support the runners at the mile markers with water and food.
Entertainment, including a performance by the Blue Man Group, a Spamalot water station and a finish line performance by the Cirque du Soleil Jam Band greeted the marathon participants. There was also Run-Through Wedding Chapel for nearly 50 couples who were getting married or renewing their vows.
This year's runners will include runners from 42 countries including Russia, Kenya and Australia. Last year's two top finishers were from Kenya.
Josephe Kahugo of Kenya who won the 2006 marathon.
Source: www.lasvegasnow.com
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Tradition surrounds Army-Navy game
Frederick N. Rasmussen | Back Story
December 1, 2007
In an article in yesterday's Sun, sports columnist Rick Maese recounted the age-old Army-Navy game tradition of West Point cadets slipping into Annapolis to capture a couple of the Naval Academy's mascot goats.
Today's Army-Navy clash at M&T Bank Stadium will be the fifth time the two military academies have played the game locally.
The first time was 1893, when they met in Annapolis, with Navy winning, 6-4. Thirty-one years later, when they took to the field at the old Municipal Stadium on 33rd Street in Baltimore; this time, Army trounced Navy, 12-0.
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who thought the game would give a war-weary nation a positive boost, linked it to a war bond drive. The 70,000 fans attending the game, again at Municipal Stadium, were required to purchase war bonds with their tickets.
After Army beat a powerful Navy team, 23-7, Gen. Douglas MacArthur cabled West Point head coach Col. Earl H. "Red" Blaik from his Pacific base: "WE HAVE STOPPED THE WAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS."
When the game was last played in Baltimore, in 2000 at what was then PSINet Stadium, Navy won, 30-28.
There is another tradition associated with the game that may or may not be as well-known as the kidnapping of Navy goats: the ringing of two bells on the steps of Bancroft Hall on the campus of the Naval Academy.
On the steps of Bancroft Hall is the ship's bell from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise - the "Big E," World War II's most decorated ship.
The carrier fought in the war from its beginning, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, to May 14, 1945, when a kamikaze attack off Japan destroyed its forward elevator and killed 14.
The extensive damage required the ship to withdraw from active duty and sail for Puget Sound Navy Yard for repairs. It was there when the war ended on Aug. 15, 1945. The carrier was decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1960.
The ship's bell arrived at the Naval Academy in 1950 and sits on a stand that was donated by the Class of 1921. It is rung continuously, beginning when the final score of the game is known until the team returns to Bancroft Hall.
The other bell that is also rung in the post-game ceremony - and it's rung only if Navy defeats Army - is the Japanese Bell.
The 1456 Japanese temple bell was presented to Commodore Matthew C. Perry by the regent of Lew Chew, now Okinawa, during his 1854 voyage to the Far East.
The tradition began in 1900, after Navy returned from Philadelphia, where it had beaten Army, 11-7. The team's jubilant captain bonged out the winning score on the Japanese Bell.
James W. Cheevers, senior curator of the Naval Academy Museum, said in an interview with The Trident, the academy's newspaper, that the original bell was returned to Okinawa in 1987, as part of an effort to restore to the island some of its cultural items, many of which were destroyed during World War II. The current Japanese Bell is a replica.
There is another tradition that held that Naval Academy football teams pulled down window shades as they traveled by train through Baltimore - to ward off bad luck - but it has fallen into disuse. If the teams travel through Baltimore nowadays, it's aboard a bus.
When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was filming Navy Blue and Gold, an eminently forgettable 1937 film starring Jimmy Stewart, Robert Young and Florence Rice, a scene in the movie portraying Baltimore in an unfavorable light came to the attention of G.H. Pouder, vice president of the Baltimore Association of Commerce.
The disputed scene, according to Pouder, showed the Naval Academy football team en route to battle Army passing through the city on board a train with all of the car's shades pulled down.
"The team doesn't do this. It's the regiment of midshipmen, and not the team, which pulls the shades down," reported The Evening Sun.
The scene continues with a Pullman porter informing the players they are missing the sights of Baltimore, and he begins raising the shades.
"Members grab him and tell him that it is bad luck to look at Baltimore on the way to an Army game. The porter, in order to give the city a break, tells them that may be so, but they are missing about the best-looking girls in the country," reported the newspaper.
When the Naval Academy, which was required to approve the scene, refused to do so until the city gave its approval, the cinematic contretemps dropped squarely into Pouder's lap.
After checking with academy officials regarding the superstition, Pouder told film officials that it was "still strong among the Navy boys," reported the newspaper.
Pouder said he didn't really mind the original scene after all, but MGM, in a public relations gesture, agreed to rewrite the lines describing the scene's action as "just an old Navy custom," which did not in any way reflect on the city.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com
more in /news/local
Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun
Source: www.baltimoresun.com
December 1, 2007
In an article in yesterday's Sun, sports columnist Rick Maese recounted the age-old Army-Navy game tradition of West Point cadets slipping into Annapolis to capture a couple of the Naval Academy's mascot goats.
Today's Army-Navy clash at M&T Bank Stadium will be the fifth time the two military academies have played the game locally.
The first time was 1893, when they met in Annapolis, with Navy winning, 6-4. Thirty-one years later, when they took to the field at the old Municipal Stadium on 33rd Street in Baltimore; this time, Army trounced Navy, 12-0.
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who thought the game would give a war-weary nation a positive boost, linked it to a war bond drive. The 70,000 fans attending the game, again at Municipal Stadium, were required to purchase war bonds with their tickets.
After Army beat a powerful Navy team, 23-7, Gen. Douglas MacArthur cabled West Point head coach Col. Earl H. "Red" Blaik from his Pacific base: "WE HAVE STOPPED THE WAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS."
When the game was last played in Baltimore, in 2000 at what was then PSINet Stadium, Navy won, 30-28.
There is another tradition associated with the game that may or may not be as well-known as the kidnapping of Navy goats: the ringing of two bells on the steps of Bancroft Hall on the campus of the Naval Academy.
On the steps of Bancroft Hall is the ship's bell from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise - the "Big E," World War II's most decorated ship.
The carrier fought in the war from its beginning, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, to May 14, 1945, when a kamikaze attack off Japan destroyed its forward elevator and killed 14.
The extensive damage required the ship to withdraw from active duty and sail for Puget Sound Navy Yard for repairs. It was there when the war ended on Aug. 15, 1945. The carrier was decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1960.
The ship's bell arrived at the Naval Academy in 1950 and sits on a stand that was donated by the Class of 1921. It is rung continuously, beginning when the final score of the game is known until the team returns to Bancroft Hall.
The other bell that is also rung in the post-game ceremony - and it's rung only if Navy defeats Army - is the Japanese Bell.
The 1456 Japanese temple bell was presented to Commodore Matthew C. Perry by the regent of Lew Chew, now Okinawa, during his 1854 voyage to the Far East.
The tradition began in 1900, after Navy returned from Philadelphia, where it had beaten Army, 11-7. The team's jubilant captain bonged out the winning score on the Japanese Bell.
James W. Cheevers, senior curator of the Naval Academy Museum, said in an interview with The Trident, the academy's newspaper, that the original bell was returned to Okinawa in 1987, as part of an effort to restore to the island some of its cultural items, many of which were destroyed during World War II. The current Japanese Bell is a replica.
There is another tradition that held that Naval Academy football teams pulled down window shades as they traveled by train through Baltimore - to ward off bad luck - but it has fallen into disuse. If the teams travel through Baltimore nowadays, it's aboard a bus.
When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was filming Navy Blue and Gold, an eminently forgettable 1937 film starring Jimmy Stewart, Robert Young and Florence Rice, a scene in the movie portraying Baltimore in an unfavorable light came to the attention of G.H. Pouder, vice president of the Baltimore Association of Commerce.
The disputed scene, according to Pouder, showed the Naval Academy football team en route to battle Army passing through the city on board a train with all of the car's shades pulled down.
"The team doesn't do this. It's the regiment of midshipmen, and not the team, which pulls the shades down," reported The Evening Sun.
The scene continues with a Pullman porter informing the players they are missing the sights of Baltimore, and he begins raising the shades.
"Members grab him and tell him that it is bad luck to look at Baltimore on the way to an Army game. The porter, in order to give the city a break, tells them that may be so, but they are missing about the best-looking girls in the country," reported the newspaper.
When the Naval Academy, which was required to approve the scene, refused to do so until the city gave its approval, the cinematic contretemps dropped squarely into Pouder's lap.
After checking with academy officials regarding the superstition, Pouder told film officials that it was "still strong among the Navy boys," reported the newspaper.
Pouder said he didn't really mind the original scene after all, but MGM, in a public relations gesture, agreed to rewrite the lines describing the scene's action as "just an old Navy custom," which did not in any way reflect on the city.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com
more in /news/local
Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun
Source: www.baltimoresun.com
Friday, November 30, 2007
Evel Knievel, iconic American daredevil, dies at 69
Evel Knievel, the flamboyant motorcycle stuntman whose thrilling triumphs and spectacular failures enshrined him as America's consummate daredevil, died today in Clearwater, Fla. He was 69.
Knievel, who survived at least 38 broken bones, multiple concussions and countless abrasions acquired in daring jumps that ended in unplanned crashes, had been in failing health for years, including suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.
Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel told the Associated Press today that Knievel had difficulty breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.
"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it," said Rundel. "Superman just doesn't die, right?"
Knievel died only three days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of the legendary daredevil's trademarked name and likeness in a popular West music video.
Many of Knievel's successes were remarkable -- riding fast motorcycles up steeply pitched approach ramps and vaulting through the air over as many as 20 cars or 14 Greyhound buses before landing safely on descent ramps as far as 150 feet from the takeoff point.
But it was some of his defeats that won him his greatest fame -- slamming to the pavement in a Caesars Palace crash that left him in a coma for a month and falling into an Idaho gorge in a failed attempt to leap across the 1,700-foot-wide Snake River Canyon on a specially designed "skycycle."
Despite repeated accidents that cost him a total of more than three years in hospitals, Knievel once told the Wall Street Journal that there was only one mishap that prompted him to drop a stunt from his repertoire.
He said he used to stand in front of a motorcycle speeding directly toward him, jumping spread-eagle at the last second as the cycle and its rider flashed beneath him.
In 1965, in Barstow, he didn't jump quite high enough. The motorcycle, going about 60 mph, hit him square in the groin.
"A highway patrolman covered my head with a blanket," Knievel said. "He thought I was dead. So did I."
Knievel was laid up for more than a month, but he came back for more. Glib, shrewd, arrogant and charming, he promoted himself and his dangerous pursuits so successfully that Evel Knievel emerged as a millionaire and a household name in the 1960s and '70s.
At a time when the nation was still struggling with the effects of the Vietnam War and Watergate, Knievel became an iconic American hero figure in his tight-fitting, red-white-and-blue jumpsuit. His image was used to market motorcycles, crash helmets, Halloween costumes and candy. Two movies and several television programs were based on his exploits.
"America was down on its ass when I came along, and it needed somebody who was truthful and honest, somebody who would spill blood and break bones and suffer brain concussions, someone who wasn't phony," he said without a trace of modesty.
Robert Craig Knievel was born to Ann Keaugh Knievel and her husband, car dealer Robert Edward Knievel, in Butte, Mont., on Oct. 17, 1938. His parents separated when he was 6, and he moved a few blocks to the home of his grandparents.
"When I was a kid, the main activity was to go up and throw rocks at the whores, bang on the doors and have the pimps chase us down the street," Knievel said in a New Yorker magazine interview. "When I was 8, I saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevils at Clark Park, in Butte. A guy jumped a motorcycle over a car. That night, I stole a motorcycle from a neighbor."
By the time he entered high school, Knievel was well known to Butte police.
"I got into a lot of trouble," he told Esquire magazine. "Probably it all started with stealing hubcaps, and then a little more trouble all the time until, pretty soon, you're snatching purses and robbin' places and doing things you shouldn't be doing."
Along the way, he picked up his nickname, Evel. There were conflicting accounts, even by him, of how that happened. But the bottom line is that someone, perhaps he, started calling him "Evil," and he changed the I to an E to make the whole thing more distinctive.
The trim, 180-pound 6-footer was a good athlete. After dropping out of school in 1956, he won a regional ski-jumping competition, pole-vaulted more than 14 feet during a short stint in the Army, played briefly with the Charlotte (N.C.) Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League and started, managed and starred on his own semi-pro hockey team in Butte.
Knievel married his high school sweetheart, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959.
He was employed for a while as a hunting guide and an insurance salesman. And by his own, unsubstantiated accounts, he also worked successfully as a con man, an armed robber, a car thief and a safe-cracker.
"I robbed so many safes in Oregon that one of the newspapers said it looked like somebody was dropping bombs through the roofs," he told Esquire.
If he did, he never got caught. And he said that after an armed robbery during which he beat a man, he had a change of heart.
"I got away with it, but it's not the right way of life," he said in a Sports Illustrated interview. "I want to be good to people."
Knievel opened a Honda motorcycle dealership in Moses Lake, Wash., in 1965, hyping sales by offering a $100 discount to anyone who could beat him at arm wrestling. That same year, he started Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils.
"We had a traveling show," he told the New Yorker. "I'd do five or six stunts -- ride through fire walls, jump over boxes of live rattlesnakes and land between two chained mountain lions, get towed down a drag strip at 200 mph."
Emboldened by his successes, he wrote Stuart Udall, then secretary of the Interior, asking for permission to leap the Grand Canyon on a winged, jet-powered motorcycle. Udall "did not share my enthusiasm, Knievel said.
Undaunted by the turndown, Knievel kept mounting high-powered motorcycles and jumping over things -- 10 cars, then 12, then 16. On Jan. 1, 1968, he attempted to leap 141 feet over the fountains in front of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The takeoff went all right and he cleared the fountains, but when he landed, the motorcycle skidded and he tumbled end over end across a parking lot, suffering multiple fractures of the hip, pelvis, legs and one arm. He didn't regain consciousness for 31 days.
"Broken legs and arms mean nothing to me anymore," he later told the Journal. "It only hurts for a while."
In February 1971, he jumped 19 cars and cleared 150 feet. Not long afterward, he jumped 20. Thousands paid to watch him do it.
"When you see me make the jump, you're just as scared as I am," he told Esquire. "When I make it, you're just as glad."
Between the jumps, personal appearances and product endorsements, Knievel was making pretty good money. His fingers were barnacled with diamonds. He drove around in a Rolls-Royce. He owned a Learjet. He lived, most of the time, in a gaudily painted tractor-trailer rig, complete with a bar, lounge, bedroom, dressing room and enough space in the back for his motorcycles and jumping ramps.
Life was good, but he still wanted to jump a canyon. And if officials wouldn't let him do it on public land, he'd do it on private land, where no one could stop him. To that end, he purchased some property along the 400-foot-deep Snake River Canyon, just outside Twin Falls, Idaho.
On Sept. 8, 1974, as about 40,000 spectators, who'd paid $25 apiece, looked on from a nearby bluff and thousands more watched on closed-circuit television in theaters across the nation, Knievel blasted off a 108-foot-long takeoff ramp on his steam-propelled Sky Cycle X-2.
"The witless Knievel is titillating a barbaric appetite for treating violent death as a spectator sport," columnist George F. Will wrote. "Like pornography, the event is brutalizing, antilife."
A parachute opened prematurely, slowing the cycle on takeoff, and Knievel made it less than halfway across the canyon.
Buoyed by the parachute, he and the cycle sank slowly down onto a brush-covered slope on the near shore. He suffered a few scratches, and the event didn't make as much money as he'd hoped, but newspapers and television stations around the world covered the jump. The publicity helped generate crowds for subsequent stunts.
In May 1975, he tried to leap over 13 double-decker buses at London's Wembley Stadium. He cleared the buses but crashed on landing, crushing his pelvis. Five months later, he cleared 14 Greyhound buses in Ontario, Canada.
In 1976, while practicing for a jump over a tank full of live sharks in Chicago, he crashed, suffering a concussion and breaking both arms. For the first time, a bystander was hurt, losing an eye. And for Knievel, that was the beginning of the end.
He made a few more jumps, but he was wearing out his welcome, and the public wasn't much interested.
In 1977, he served five months and 22 days in the Wayside Honor Rancho near Castaic for smashing the left arm of television executive Sheldon Saltman with a baseball bat. Knievel, utterly unrepentant, told the judge he did it because the uncomplimentary book Saltman had written about him was a "filthy lie."
By 1981, Knievel's son Robbie had taken over the daredevil act. Evel was drinking hard and suffering from depression. His wife divorced him. Saltman won a $12.75-million judgment against him, and most of Knievel's financial assets were gone.
"If God had wanted you to hang on to money, he'd have put handles on it, so you could carry it around like a suitcase," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Knievel bounced back in the 1990s, sobering up and finding work doing more advertising endorsements. Television rediscovered him, airing several whatever-happened-to pieces. In 2000, he was remarried, to Krystal Kennedy, a woman less than half his age.
But time was taking its toll. Hepatitis C, contracted from one of his many blood transfusions, claimed his liver, and he had a transplant. His frequently fractured legs led first to a cane, then to a walker. He came down with diabetes. He had a hip replacement and his spine was fused. His arms were so crippled that he needed help putting on a belt.
But Knievel was still thinking big. As late as 2003, at age 64, he was still talking about making another jump, "further than I jumped at Caesars Palace."
In July 2004, he told the San Antonio Express-News that he had no regrets about his life.
"If the world had more people like me, it would be a more interesting place," he said.
In addition to his partner, Krystal -- they were married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together -- and his son Robbie, Knievel is survived by another son, Kelly; two daughters, Tracey and Alicia; 10 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
By Eric Malnic, Special to The Times
3:33 PM PST, November 30, 2007
Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-me-knievel1dec01,1,7680364.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true&ctrack=1&cset=true
Movie Review : Aaja Nachle
How do you describe AAJA NACHLE? Good, bad, average?? It�s a difficult task. But there is that little extra something that has worked in the favour of this Anil Mehta directed, Yash Raj film. And that extra something happens to be Madhuri Dixit. Take off Madhuri and this movie falls flat. And the makers have exploited well her image of one living in the US of A, of a dancer, and of one making a comeback after marriage and motherhood. Madhuri, on her part, could not have asked for a better comeback film.
There is no genius in the script; you know what will unfold as the film progresses, but in the implementation of the age-old Laila Majnu kahani, Anil does the trick. Dia (Madhuri Dixit) vows never to return to her village Shamli, where she grew up, after she runs off with an American photographer she falls in love with. Meanwhile, her parents sell off their home and move away to someplace no one knows, ashamed of their daughter�s deed.
But fate has other things in store. A call informing Dia about her guruji�s ill health has her breaking her promise and coming to India with her daughter. Makarand, her dance guru played by Darshan Jariwala passes away before she can arrive leaving her a request to save Ajanta Theatre from getting into the hands of the builders. The same Ajanta Theatre where she grew up learning her dance moves.
Dia now has a tough task of proving to the powers that be that Ajanta should be left for the villagers to pursue the art of dancing and she has two months to prove this with the help of the very villagers who ridiculed her. You don�t need to be a genius to know what the end will be. But enter the Laila-Majnu twist and there is a whole new dimension to the movie.
The picturisation in the form of an Opera of the Laila-Majnu story is fantastic. In song and dance, the villagers, after many rehearsals, enact the story to a resounding applause. In one word, the execution of the whole Opera is brilliant. Never has the Laila-Majnu tale been told so convincingly and effectively.
Madhuri Dixit is not in her best of form, but she leaves her mark on the film. The years away from the camera have not dimmed her enthusiasm to perform and this can be seen from �Take One�. Her dancing, as usual, is superb. But for me it is Akshaye Khanna in his cameo, and Konkona Sen Sharma who excel. There�s also Jugal Hansraj who shows some fire, briefly, in his performance as Laila�s brother in the Opera. Ranvir Shorey still looks cock-eyed after his NO SMOKING role and surprisingly has the same body language. Irfan Khan, for his part, is caught in his �Hutch-recharge mode�. A waste of a brilliant actor. Thankfully, Vinay Pathak moves from his BHEJA FRY act after the first few scenes.
On the flip side, you see guruji flinging a slipper in jest at Dia while having his meal and the next moment he digs the same hand into his plate (yuck). A scene later, Dia tip-toes in home late with slippers in hand and immediately sits at the dinner table to eat with her father. Also, there is no attempt on Dia�s part to find out whether her parents are dead or alive, when she visits her village after 11 years. But yes, she wants to save Ajanta!
To go or not: For Madhuri Dixit fans, there is no holding back, they will find their seats any which way. To answer the first question, it�s not a great movie, but definitely worth a one-time watch!
Ratings : 2 / 5
By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network
Source: http://www.glamsham.com/movies/reviews/30-movie-review-aaja-nachle-110702.asp
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