|
|
| Do you get serious E-Mails ??? |
| All the time... |
|
28% |
[ 2 ] |
| Sometimes... |
|
57% |
[ 4 ] |
| Never, but I wanna check some !!! |
|
14% |
[ 1 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:32 pm
****************************
Did you get an e-mail about a serious subject
that you think others would be interested in ?
Copy and paste it here. Remember, graphics,
photos and animations usually don't
copy and paste to well, if at all...
~sloweiser~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:37 pm
Food Safety: What You Need to Know Wouldn't it be great if the foods we eat were safe, healthy, and free from pesticides? There is a lot of confusion about what is safe to eat for our own health and longevity, as well as for our planet. There are no easy answers, but here are some basic guidelines for finding foods that will nurture you and the planet. Say No to GMOs Genetically Modified Foods (GMO) foods - including plants and animals - have been genetically manipulated to make the plant more productive, more resistant to pests, or contain higher amounts of a certain nutrient. When these foods are made to be more productive, it is no different than using growth hormones to make a chicken lay more eggs or a cow fatten up more rapidly. In fact, it is similar to an athlete taking steroids. They promote extremely rapid growth but have side effects down the road. It is still too early to know what the effects of GMOs; it will take several generations to see if they have harmful effects on the human body. In the meantime, request your local supermarket carry natural and organic foods. Demand that their growers and distributors label foods that have been genetically modified. Subtract Packaged Food's Additives Avoid highly processed and refined foods - they're stripped of critical nutrients and then the nutrients are added back into the food after processing. Sulfites, nitrates, and MSG (monosodium glutamate) are the three most common additives used in packaged foods to preserve color, prevent spoilage, and enhance flavor. Sulfites can give rise to severe allergic reactions like asthma. Nitrates combine with amines in foods to form nitrosamines, which can lead to neurological damage or cancer. Headaches are often associated with MSG. Other additives, including artificial colors and flavors, have been found to cause cancer in animals and cause hyperactivity in children. Shopping the perimeters of your local supermarket is your best bet to avoid packaged foods and ensure a selection of healthy, simple whole foods. Produce Pointers Years of shopping in over-stocked supermarkets has disconnected us from our food and its origins. Much of the produce at your supermarket has been picked weeks - or even months - before it makes its way onto the shelf. These items are preserved by nitrogen or other artificial means that make them appear fresh; however, these foods have a low nutritional value. Farm-fresh produce comes directly from the source to your table, leaving little time in between for nutrients to be lost. So shop at local farms stands, buying fresh, in-season organic produce. By eating locally produced foods you are lessening global warming by not buying foods that have been transported hundreds or thousands of miles to get to your dinner table. When produce isn't organic, soak it in a large pot of cold water for five minutes, add a tablespoon of sea salt and one tablespoon of vinegar, then rinse thoroughly. You can also peel the pesticides off the outer layer of fruits and vegetables; however, keep in mind that you will lose some of the valuable nutrients in the skin. Produce with the highest amounts of pesticide residue levels include cucumbers, peaches, and zucchini - all of which can be peeled. Some produce is best eaten only when it is organic, such as celery, cherries, grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes. Meat Management Conventional meat, poultry, and dairy products contain sizable amounts of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotic drugs that are harmful to your health. In addition, commercial feed for animals is full of growth-stimulating hormones, drugs, coloring agents, and pesticides. And consider this: nearly 140,000 tons of poultry are condemned annually as unfit to eat, usually due to cancer, and yet a substantial amount is processed into animal feed. More than 40 percent of antibiotics produced in the United States are used as animal-feed additives. The ecological result, after the animals and humans urinate and defecate the antibiotics, is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains that are very dangerous to our health. For your health and well-being, only buy organic and free-range animals whenever possible. I hope you find safe, healthy foods that will nurture you in the many years to come. I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me. May you stay healthy, live long, and live happy! -Dr. Mao
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:44 pm
AP probe finds drugs in drinking water
********************************
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
"We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
_Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
_Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
_A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.
_The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
_Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City.
The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in New Orleans said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a Tulane University researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va.; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kan., refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
The Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.
He suspects it escapes from failed septic tanks, maybe with other drugs. "Septic systems are essentially small treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to fail," Aufdenkampe said.
Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.
Contamination is not confined to the United States. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe — even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.
For example, in Canada, a study of 20 Ontario drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking water at seven different sites.
In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.
Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.
Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.
One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made drinkable.
Another issue: There's evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.
Human waste isn't the only source of contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right through the animals.
Water sampled downstream of a Nebraska feedlot had steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small heads.
Other veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute.
Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no. "Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby — director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. — said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."
Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.
Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting.
"It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along."
With limited research funds, said Shane Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in water.
"I think it's a shame that so much money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to just accept that these things are everywhere — every chemical and pharmaceutical could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental."
To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater. "We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more."
While Grumbles said the EPA had analyzed 287 pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said only one, nitroglycerin, was on the list. Nitroglycerin can be used as a drug for heart problems, but the key reason it's being considered is its widespread use in making explosives.
So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. Confidence about human safety is based largely on studies that poison lab animals with much higher amounts.
There's growing concern in the scientific community, meanwhile, that certain drugs — or combinations of drugs — may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day.
Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive.
Many concerns about chronic low-level exposure focus on certain drug classes: chemotherapy that can act as a powerful poison; hormones that can hamper reproduction or development; medicines for depression and epilepsy that can damage the brain or change behavior; antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms; pain relievers and blood-pressure diuretics.
For several decades, federal environmental officials and nonprofit watchdog environmental groups have focused on regulated contaminants — pesticides, lead, PCBs — which are present in higher concentrations and clearly pose a health risk.
However, some experts say medications may pose a unique danger because, unlike most pollutants, they were crafted to act on the human body.
"These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London, who has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs.
And while drugs are tested to be safe for humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime. Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at normal medical doses. That's why — aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride injected into potable water supplies — pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water.
"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:48 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:31 am
thx 4 the info! cause i wanna know wat i eat and drink!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:33 am
************************************************* This much is true: It really is possible to love your country and value your freedoms and still believe the government is full of fools and prevaricators and BS artists and d**k Cheney. Really. It is still possible to feel warmly patriotic and personal in important ways and yet believe the military and the generals and the politicians and the war machine do not have your best interests at heart and really couldn't care less what those interests are anyway but thank you for sharing now please sit down and do as we tell you and by the way, thanks for all the flags and the money. And it is still possible to feel unified and spiritually connected to all that is good and righteous about your generally nonviolent Americanism you know, wine, beer, and sex and good music, literature and clean water and tongue kissing in the streets - - and still be depressed when our famously nonintellectual president talks to the country like we're all five years old and heavily dosed on Ritalin. When Bushie employs phrases like "bring the evildoers to justice" over and over, 17 times in one speech alone, and he furrows his brow like a serious Muppet and offers carefully scripted reassurances deliberately lacking in polysyllables and detailed explanation because that would be, you know, complicated. When he repeats primitive little maxims like "There are no negotiations" and responds to press-conference questions about the vitriolic anti-US hatred that has blossomed around the globe by saying "I'm amazed. I just can't believe it because I know how good we are," thus causing a giant global spasm of multinational cringing and openly insulting the intelligence of anyone who can walk and breathe at the same time When he delivers very earnest speeches he had no part in writing, and when he is forced to speak extemporaneously, sans script or TelePromTer, and is reduced to simplistic good-guy/bad-guy platitudes and flustered , rapid blinking, and who cannot for the life of him articulate a complex idea, some sort of nuanced elucidation of our nation' motives and positioning, that contains more than one possible level of meaning. But perhaps that's too harsh. He's the president after all. He's a good man. He's doing the best he can. He's our leader right now. He's all we've got. There, that should be our motto and rallying cry. He's all we've got. There's your bumper sticker. But you're not supposed to criticize the president. Not supposed to feel strangely leaderless and adrift, not permitted to look upon the events of the past few years with much wariness or bitterness or a disquieting sense that we're setting things in motion that have no predictable outcome - - ugly, subterranean, hateful things that could last years and will surely cost billions (actually a trillion) and will deeply entrench the nation in a bizarre and poisonous shell game with shadowy opponents of largely unknown capability and do you hear that? That soft roaring? That's the sound of the GOP - stoked military machine, (and John McCain quietly cheering). Never mind the staggering multibillion-dollar political mess in Saudi Arabia that fueled bin Laden's network for years, or the enormous oil fields that are desperately vulnerable to terrorist attack at any moment. Never mind the US government's outright rejection of new advancements in alternative fuels to get us away from oil and out of the Gulf entirely. Instead we get: Evildoers. Air strikes. Hundreds of dead civilians. Denials. And Bush, squinting, saying things only small children and GasMaskExpress.com shoppers find comforting and manly. It is, Bush tells us, a war on terrorism. We will eradicate terrorism through largely violent and aggressive means, because that is what we must do and what we always do and everything else takes too damn long. We have to do something. This is the common wisdom. Bush said so. Rumsfeld told him so, with his black and shiny hawk eyes all a-glimmer. Disagree? You traitorous whiner. This war will be just like the War on Drugs. It will be potent and effective and our objectives will be clear. The nation had a nasty drug problem and we declared a war on drugs and spent billions over many years and now you can't buy drugs anymore (really?). It will be just like that. There is more than one way to respond to the horror of September 11, and there is more than one kind of patriotism. We forget this. You do not have to rally around Bush and tolerate Cheney's creepiness and wave a frantic flag and believe every scripted half-truth that drizzles out of the Pentagon, applaud the nonstop attacks on an already demolished nation. Pro-America does not mean pro-war. Or pro-Bush. Or anti-Afghanistan. Or pro-little-flags-on-SUV-antennas. It means thinking independently and getting better informed and filtering your news very carefully and realizing that just because one version of the American aggro attitude is currently being ramrodded down society's throat doesn't mean you have to swallow. It doesn't mean that those millions of Europeans and Egyptians and world citizens protesting the US foreign policy must be commie jerks, or feel sad and morally depleted when you can't seem to draw any intellectual nourishment whatsoever when Bushie declaims, "Terrorists want us to stop our lives, stop our flying, stop our buying. But this nation will not be intimidated by "evildoers." You don't have to buy into that infantile hokum for a moment. After all, this is America. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 6:07 pm
****************************************************
You can check this out on Snopes.com under "The Story of Two Houses"
>
> ( I checked snopes.com, its status is: TRUE... ~sloweiser~ )
>
>
>House #1 A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural
>gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all
>heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the
>average American household does in a year. The average bill for
>electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this
>property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American
>home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt"
>area. It's in the South.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>House #2
>
> Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national
>university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home
>construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms )
>and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central
>closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water
>through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.
>
> The water (usually 67 degrees F. ) heats the house in the winter and
>cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or
>natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a
>conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected
>and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from
>showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then
>into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding
>the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the
>property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.
>
>~~~~~
>HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of
>the "environmentalist" Al Gore.
>
>HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford,
>Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States,
>George W. Bush.
>
>An "inconvenient truth".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:08 pm
****************************************************
"Who in their right mind would ever need more than 640k of ram!?" -- Bill
Gates, 1981
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." -- Popular
Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- Thomas
Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the
best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't
last out the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice
Hall, 1957
"But what ... is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken
Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." --
Western Union internal memo, 1876.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better
than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management
professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight
delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:45 pm
****************************************************
> This pilot hit the nail on the head in his open letter He needs to be
>awarded a Medal for having the TESTICULAR FORTITUDE to say all this in a
>very profound way! The paper stated today that some Muslim doctor is saying
>we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting
>on an airplane.
>
>The following is a letter from a pilot. This well-spoken man, who is a
>pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart, beautifully. Read,
>absorb and pass this on.
>
>"YOU WORRY ME!"
>By American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco
>
>I've been trying to say this since 9-11, but you worry me. I wish you
>didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love,
>that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human
>landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I
>notice you, and it worries me.
>
>I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands,
>professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow
>citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully
>understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify
>the inhumanity of their attacks.
>
>On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my
>country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally
>stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them
>into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise
>grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless
>public servants, and children's mothers.
>
>The Palestinians Celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the
>Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want
>to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has destroyed
>the soul of these terrorists. But, I need your help. As a rational
>American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and
>unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the
>Arab/Muslim terrorist.
>
> How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim- Americans and the
>Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools,
>enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of
>OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter these
>same good neighbors and children?
>
>The events of September 11th changed the answer. It is not my
>responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with
>ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its
>faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it
>for me.
>
>I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know, whether or
>not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly
>display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many
>daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation, that He will protect and
>prosper it? Or, do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your
>Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords? A
>freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots
>who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this
>freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America? If this
>is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
>
>Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this
>time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as
>a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America.
>Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent
>because I worry about who you regard as innocent. No more benign overtures
>of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is
>unprovoked to you I am not interested in any more sympathy. I am only
>interested in action. What will you do for America - our great country - at
>this time of crisis, at this time of war?
>
>I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want
>to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America." I want to see young Arab/Muslim
>men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time,
>and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a
>whole.
>
>The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the
>WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim
>communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us,
>now! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I
>have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You
>have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at
>your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for
>protection from reprisals.
>
>The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media
>were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making
>sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking
>action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims
>from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than
>they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi,
>Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.
>
>If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for
>all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements
>from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings
>in the Koran are good, and pure, and true, when your "leaders" are teaching
>fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little
>how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world's Muslims interpret
>the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of
>the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again.
>A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and
>suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the
>world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day
>after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets
>around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American
>flag, shooting weapons
> into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only
>to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of
>their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling
>members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the
>name of Islam.
>
>We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that
>matter, to take away that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the
>greatest constitution in the world.
>
>I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think
>it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to
>demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and
>sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you
>and your family. I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as
>my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American.
>
>But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and
>it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, "YOU WORRY ME!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:50 pm
****************************************************
Unbelievable but true!!!!!!!!
>A conversation between a Customer and Bank of America
>
>Bank: This is the Bank of America, can I help you?
>
>
>Customer: Yes, I want to cancel my account. I don't want to do business
>with you any longer.
>
>
>Bank: Why?
>
>
>Customer: You're giving credit to illegal immigrants and I don't think it's
>right. I'm taking my business elsewhere.
>
>
>Bank: Well, Mr. Customer, we don't want to see you do that, but we can't
>stop you. I'll help you close the account.
>
>What is your account number?
>
>Customer: (gives account number)
>
>
>Bank: For security purposes and for your protection,
>
>can you please give me the last four digits of your social security number?
>
>Customer: No.
>
>Bank: Mr. Customer, I need to verify your information, but in order to help
>you, I'll need verification of who you are.
>
>
>Customer: Why should I give you my social security number? The reason I'm
>closing my account is that your
>bank is issuing credit cards to illegal immigrants who don't have social
>security numbers. You are targeting that audience and want their
>business. Let's say I'm an illegal immigrant and you've given me a credit
>card. I have a question about it and call for assistance. You wouldn't be
>asking me for a Social Security number, would you?
>
>Bank: No sir, I wouldn't.
>
>Customer: Why not?
>
>Bank: Because you would have pressed '2' to speak in Spanish. We don't ask
>for that information when calling in on the Spanish line.
>
>CHECK THIS OUT ON SNOPES! IT'S TRUE!
>
>http://www.snopes. com/politics/ immigration/ bankofamerica. asp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:59 pm
****************************************************
*33 Names of Things You Never Knew had Names*
> 1. AGLET - The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
> 2. ARMSAYE - The armhole in clothing.
> 3. CHANKING - Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
> 4. COLUMELLA NASI - The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
> 5. DRAGÉES - Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured,
> used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
> 6. FEAT - A dangling curl of hair.
> 7. FERRULE - The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
> 8. HARP - The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
> 9. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and
> a 16th note is a semiquaver.)
> 10. JARNS,
> 11. NITTLES,
> 12. GRAWLIX,
> 13. and QUIMP - Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
> 14. KEEPER - The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it
> has passed through the buckle.
> 15. KICK or PUNT - The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles.
> It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.
> 16. LIRIPIPE - The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.
> 17. MINIMUS - The little finger or toe.
> 18. NEF - An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.
> 19. OBDORMITION - The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a
> limb is 'asleep'.
> 20. OCTOTHORPE - The symbol '#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs'
> engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining
> octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes,
> 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.
> 21. OPHRYON - The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of
> the eye sockets.
> 22. PEEN - The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.
> 23. PHOSPHENES - The lights you see when you close your eyes hard.
> Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the
> retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.
> 24. PURLICUE - The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.
> 25. RASCETA - Creases on the inside of the wrist.
> 26. ROWEL - The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.
> 27. SADDLE - The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.
> 28. SCROOP - The rustle of silk.
> 29. SNORKEL BOX - A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people
> to deposit mail without leaving their cars.
> 30. SPRAINTS - Otter dung.
> 31. TANG - The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.
> 32. WAMBLE - Stomach rumbling.
> 33. ZARF - A holder for a handleless coffee cup.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 8:40 am
****************************************************
Probably true!!
The smoke detector industry is covering up research showing more people are
injured every year falling from ladders and stepstools while trying to
replace smoke detector batteries than are injured in house fires.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 8:41 am
****************************************************
33 Names of Things You Never Knew had Names
1. AGLET - The plain or ornamental covering on the end of a shoelace.
2. ARMSAYE - The armhole in clothing.
3. CHANKING - Spat-out food, such as rinds or pits.
4. COLUMELLA NASI - The bottom part of the nose between the nostrils.
5. DRAGÉES - Small beadlike pieces of candy, usually silver-coloured, used for decorating cookies, cakes and sundaes.
6. FEAT - A dangling curl of hair.
7. FERRULE - The metal band on a pencil that holds the eraser in place.
8. HARP - The small metal hoop that supports a lampshade.
9. HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - A 64th note. (A 32nd is a demisemiquaver, and a 16th note is a semiquaver.)
10. JARNS,
11. NITTLES,
12. GRAWLIX,
13. and QUIMP - Various squiggles used to denote cussing in comic books.
14. KEEPER - The loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.
15. KICK or PUNT - The indentation at the bottom of some wine bottles. It gives added strength to the bottle but lessens its holding capacity.
16. LIRIPIPE - The long tail on a graduate's academic hood.
17. MINIMUS - The little finger or toe.
18. NEF - An ornamental stand in the shape of a ship.
19. OBDORMITION - The numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is 'asleep'.
20. OCTOTHORPE - The symbol '#' on a telephone handset. Bell Labs' engineer Don Macpherson created the word in the 1960s by combining octo-, as in eight, with the name of one of his favourite athletes, 1912 Olympic decathlon champion Jim Thorpe.
21. OPHRYON - The space between the eyebrows on a line with the top of the eye sockets.
22. PEEN - The end of a hammer head opposite the striking face.
23. PHOSPHENES - The lights you see when you close your eyes hard. Technically the luminous impressions are due to the excitation of the retina caused by pressure on the eyeball.
24. PURLICUE - The space between the thumb and extended forefinger.
25. RASCETA - Creases on the inside of the wrist.
26. ROWEL - The revolving star on the back of a cowboy's spurs.
27. SADDLE - The rounded part on the top of a matchbook.
28. SCROOP - The rustle of silk.
29. SNORKEL BOX - A mailbox with a protruding receiver to allow people to deposit mail without leaving their cars.
30. SPRAINTS - Otter dung.
31. TANG - The projecting prong on a tool or instrument.
32. WAMBLE - Stomach rumbling.
33. ZARF - A holder for a handleless coffee cup.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 8:43 am
****************************************************
Your Attitude Is Your Choice
Few people believe that their attitude is their own choice. For most people,
their attitude depends upon people and circumstances. If people are nice to
them, then they have a good attitude. If circumstances are favorable, they
are in a good mood.
On the other hand, if someone treats them unfairly, then they have a bad
attitude. If the circumstances are not favorable, they are in a bad mood.
Most people fail to realize that their attitude and their mood are really
their own choice. Let me give you a silly example.
Awhile back, someone sent the following to me in an email.
A little old lady went to the mirror one morning and noticed that she had
only three hairs on her head. As she looked into the mirror, she said, "I
think I'll braid my hair today." That's exactly what she did. And, she had a
great day.
The next morning, at the mirror once again, the little old lady noticed that
she only had two hairs on her head. Looking herself right in the eye, she
said, "Today, I think I'll part my hair down the middle." That's exactly
what she did. And, she had a great day.
The next day, as the little old lady looked into the mirror, there was only
one hair on her head. She looked at that one lonely hair and said, "Today I
think I'll wear my hair in a pony tail." That's exactly what she did. And
she had a great day.
The following morning the little old lady looked into the mirror and there
wasn't a single hair on her head. Her eyes lit up, and she said, "Yeah! I
don't have to fix my hair today!"
In this silly illustration about the woman, she could have had one lousy day
after another watching her each hair disappear just as easily. She could
have spent her days depressed. She could have spent her time being angry.
Instead, she looked for something to be positive about, even in the middle
of a lousy situation. She chose to deal with her situation in a positive
way, and as a result she had a great day.
Your attitude is your choice.
We can blame circumstances for our attitude. We can blame the actions of
others for our attitude. We can even blame the dog. But the truth is, we
decide, we choose and we determine our attitude at any given moment.
The attitude that you have right now, at this very moment, is the one you
have chosen to carry around. It is determined by your thoughts.
There will certainly be days with circumstances that we are not able to
change. There may be people we deal with that act like jerks. But,
regardless of what we are faced with each day, we can choose to let it
affect our attitude, or we can choose to not let it affect our attitude.
A chaplain was speaking to a soldier on a cot in a hospital. "You have lost
an arm in the great cause," he said. "No," said the soldier with a smile. "I
didn't lose it--I gave it."
Attitude is a choice. Choose to have a great day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
