Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Are artificial sweeteners a healthier option?

Are artificial sweeteners a healthier option?

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•by Dr. Ayala, on Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:43am PST
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The Internet is flooded with rumors that artificial sweeteners are dangerous to your health. Is there any truth to these rumors? Should you worry?

A short introduction to intense sweetness

Sweet tasting foods are rare in nature. Fruits and vegetables have some sweetness to them, but they’re also packed with lots of fiber, water, micronutrients and phytochemicals, and are nutritious and quite filling. Honey was hard to find for most of human history and even harder to harvest—it’s protected by an army of stinging warriors.
It’s only in our modern times that concentrated sweetness—in the form of table sugar—grew abundant, and with the invention of high-fructose corn syrup (made from subsidized corn) it became dirt cheap.
Who doesn’t love sweet tasting food? I’ll readily confess—I love chocolate and wish it was on the bottom, roomy part of the food pyramid.
Our preference for sweetness is most likely innate. Food marketers understood its seductive lure, so they started adding sugars to many foods and replaced plain water and milk with sweet drinks. And the consumption of refined sugar skyrocketed. Sweet foods sell!
Alas, too much sugar is a major factor underlying our obesity crisis. It can undermine normal satiety levels, motivating us to eat more than we need while stimulating food cravings. Too much sugar may also raise blood pressure and can elevate blood triglycerides levels (a risk factor for heart disease).
To our alleged rescue came artificial, non-caloric sweeteners, offering the same intense sweetness without the caloric price tag. There are several such products in the market, all FDA approved: Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), Sucralose (Splenda), Saccharin (Sweet'N Low) Acesulfame K (Sweet One) and Neotame.

Are artificial sweeteners a tool in fighting obesity?
This month, David Ludwig of Harvard and Children’s Hospital of Boston and one of America's foremost obesity experts published a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled: Artificially Sweetened Beverages, Cause for Concern. In this thoughtful commentary, Dr. Ludwig contemplates the potential downsides of replacing sugary drinks with the artificial stuff. Here are some of his main points:
On the up side:

• Short-term clinical trials show that artificial-sweetened beverages may produce short-term weight loss when they replace sugary drinks.
• Artificial sweeteners have been in use for a century, and although there are recurring questions about cancer risk related to their use, no such link has been found.
However:

• There are very few long-term studies looking at what artificially sweetened beverages do to weight, and since body weight regulation is super complex, it very well may be that over time the calories saved by moving to artificial sweeteners are replaced by other foods; in other words, diet drinks may not assist with weight loss. The two long-term studies cited in the paper, which should be interpreted cautiously, surprisingly showed a dose response correlation between consuming diet drinks and the development of obesity, and a correlation between the consumption of diet drinks and the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

• Artificially sweetened beverages habituate (or essentially train) our taste receptors to prefer intense sweetness, leading us to reject less-sweet foods (such as veggies and fruit) and “infantilizing” our taste buds to seek sweetness rather than to “grow up” and seek more complex flavors.
• Diet drinks dissociate between the signal and the outcome: Sweetness signifies to our body that energy and nutritious food are on the way, enacting hormonal and neurobehavioral pathways, yet with diet drinks no calories are actually consumed. The outcome of this disconnect isn’t yet clear, but it’s a concern.
• The popularity of artificially sweetened beverages is rising rapidly, and we’re ingesting very large amounts of these synthetic chemicals that are a relatively new addition to the human diet in what Dr. Ludwig calls “a massive, uncontrolled, and inadvertent public health experiment.”

Dr. Ludwig’s conclusion:
"Ultimately, high-quality, long-term clinical trials comparing all three beverage types are needed: sugar sweetened, artificially sweetened and unsweetened. Even if diet drinks produce long-term weight loss when substituted for sugar-sweetened beverages, they might cause weight gain when consumed instead of unsweetened drinks. For now, diet drinks may best be considered an aid in transitioning from high-calorie beverages to traditional, minimally sweetened beverages like water, mineral waters, teas, and coffee with no more than one gram of sugar per ounce (i.e., two teaspoons per eight-ounce cup).”
A perspective by two other eminent nutrition experts, Richard Mattes and Barry Popkin, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition came to similar conclusions, saying that: “There are long-standing and recent concerns that inclusion of NNS (nonnutritive sweeteners i.e. non-caloric sweeteners) in the diet promotes energy intake and contributes to obesity.”

Do you drink diet drinks? Have you used them as an aid in transitioning from regular soda to water? Have you turned away from them? Please share some of your personal experiences.
Dr. Ayala

Full disclosure: I’m vice president of product development for Herbal Water, where we make organic herb-infused waters that have zero calories and no sugar or artificial ingredients. I’m also a pediatrician and have been promoting good nutrition and healthy lifestyle for many years.
Read more from Dr. Ayala at http://herbalwater.typepad.com/
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Averting IRS Audits

Keep IRS auditors away: Earn under 200K & & IRS will ignore you 99% of the time
by Larry Margasak, Tuesday December 22, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Want to keep IRS auditors away? Keep your earnings under $200,000 and they won't bother you 99 percent of the time.

IRS enforcement numbers, released Tuesday, show that returns under that amount have a 1 percent chance of getting audited.

Returns showing income of $200,000 and above have a nearly 3 percent audit chance. The percentage jumps to more than 6 percent for returns showing earnings of $1 million or more.

The percentages apply to both individual and joint returns.

The number of audits jumped 11 percent from 2008 to 2009 for returns with earnings of $200,000 or more, but rose 30 percent for returns showing earnings of $1 million or more. For those under $200,000 the number of audits remained steady.

The IRS conducted 1.4 million audits of individual returns in the financial year ended Sept. 30, with more than 1 million conducted through correspondence with the taxpayer. The others were conducted through face-to-face meetings with IRS auditors.

The IRS does not do random audits, but does conduct "research audits" that will test compliance in business tax categories. In 2010, the target will be payroll taxes, according to Steve Miller, deputy commissioner for enforcement.

What happens if you're audited while unemployed? The IRS may give you a break.

"While our assessments were up, the ability to pay went down drastically" due to the economy, Miller said. "We have a series of tools. We can have them pay partially, over time. If the money is not collectible, it's treated as non-collectible. It's going to depend on each case.

"We have to ensure there's a balance between our responsibility to collect taxes with economic realities. We give people more time and determine how fast they can pay and whether they can pay."

The total revenue collected from IRS enforcement actions, $48.9 billion in 2009, is a drop from $56.4 billion in 2008 and $59.2 billion in 2007.

Miller said the higher numbers in 2007 and 2008 reflect collections from settlements of several major tax shelter cases and other enforcement actions.

In 2007, for example, the IRS resolved disputed tax issues with drug maker Merck & Co., Inc. and its subsidiaries. Merck has agreed to pay approximately $2.3 billion in federal tax, net interest and penalties to resolve issues that had been in dispute for tax years 1993-2001.

The resolution was one of the largest achieved in recent years by the IRS and a taxpayer through the examination process.

The IRS has stepped up its examination of tax-exempt organizations, checking the books of more than 10,000 groups in 2009 compared to 7,800 the previous year.

The number of business tax returns examined was down slightly in 2009 from the previous year.

Estate Taxes

Beating the Estate Tax to Death

Sponsored by by Eva Rosenberg

Wednesday, December 23, 2009provided by

With estate tax set to end this year, retroactive lawmaking in 2010 is likely
While the House recently passed a bill to reinstate the estate tax in 2010, last week the Senate rejected a measure to temporarily extend it. But the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 legislation will not be allowed to stand, says Larry Richman, chair of Chicago-based Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg's Private Wealth Services Practice Group.

Look for retroactive action
More from MarketWatch.com:

• DUI Driver Can Write Off Damage

• Heading for Higher Rates

• Tax Pitfalls of Charitable Donations

Richman is right. On Dec. 3, the House of Representatives voted to permanently extend the present 45% estate tax rate, and the $3.5 million, per person, exclusion from estate taxes. While everyone was expecting a one-year extension, no one was expecting any permanent legislation while Capitol Hill is embroiled in the health-care debate.

For a married couple, this means that up to $7 million worth of assets would be excluded from estate taxes. That excludes nearly 60% of all estates. Based on 2008 filings, 22,642 estates out of a total filed of 38,373 are under $3.5 million, according to IRS data.

This did not sit well with the Senate. Democrats and Republicans are at odds over the tax rate and the exclusion amount. Democrats in general are ready to approve the House version, while some Republicans prefer a lower tax rate of 35% and a higher exclusion of $5 million. The end result: The Senate did not pass an estate-tax extension.

Still, there is little doubt the Senate will tackle this in the beginning of 2010. Generally, when a law is passed, it becomes effective on the date of passage. However, this law will be an exception. In order to avoid a complete repeal of the estate tax in 2010, this law is expected to contain a provision making it retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, according to Wayne Otchis, a certified public accountant in San Diego. Otchis spoke at a Spidell Publishing Inc. (http://www.caltax.com/) tax update seminar in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Wednesday.
The end of the estate tax?

What if Congress does nothing and estate taxes really are repealed?
As we all know, nothing is certain except death and taxes. There is a chance that the Senate will debate this issue to death and no action will be taken at all. What then?

Bruno Graziano, a senior writer and analyst in the estate planning group of CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, explains the implications for estates originating in 2010. In other words, for folks who die in the coming year.
The good news is, if Congress doesn't act, there will be no federal estate taxes at all. Businesses, stocks, and other assets can be passed on to heirs without being hit with tax rates as high as 45%.

The bad news?

• There are still state estate taxes to consider.
• There will be only a limited step-up in basis. Under current federal estate tax laws, the assets of the deceased get a step-up in basis to the fair market value at date of death (or 6 months later). This eliminates capital gains taxes when heirs sell assets. In 2010, if the estate tax is repealed, the step-up in basis is limited to $1.3 million for the overall estate, plus $3 million for assets transferred to a surviving spouse.

• If Congress doesn't take any action at all, in 2011, the pre-EGTRRA levels return -- estate taxes on all estates over $1 million, with federal tax rates up to 55%.
What not to do this year:

Since there is still confusion about the state of the estate tax, MarketWatch asked Graziano for some guidance on how to avoid foolish actions in 2009. He said:

• Don't believe that the estate tax is going away permanently -- all indications are that it will remain in some form after 2009. Even if Congress does nothing before year-end and allows the repeal to occur, they could reinstate the tax retroactively during 2010 or just wait for the EGTRRA sunset to occur and let the pre-2001 law come back in 2011.

• Don't abandon existing gifting plans for family and charity on the assumption that the estate tax is going away.

• Even without an estate tax, don't forget about estate planning. Other issues such as asset protection, dysfunctional family situations, disposition of retirements assets, and business succession issues can be just as important, if not more so, than the traditional transfer tax issues.

What can you do in the meantime?

Larry Richman suggests this may be a good time to do some last-minute planning to lock in the $3.5 million exclusion while it's still available. Since there are only a few days left this year, if you're really concerned, bully your way into your estate tax professional's office and start asking about Q-TIP trusts (qualified terminable interest property), generation-skipping trusts, reverse Q-TIP elections, and so forth. You can find some pretty useful information, as a starting point, in an "Introduction to Estate Planning" by attorney Robert L. Sommers. See the article on FindLaw.com. Also, see this useful page on the New York State Society of CPAs site, about EGTRRA.

Or you could have faith, and believe that the Senate will hammer out permanent estate tax legislation that will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010. Do you believe?
Eva Rosenberg is the founder of TaxMama.com and an enrolled agent licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS. She is the author of the new e-book, "The 100% Home-Based Business Tax Solution." Reach her at taxwatch@gmail.com .

Copyrighted, MarketWatch. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MarketWatch content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of MarketWatch. MarketWatch shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Dave Barrie's Colonoscopy Journal

WARNING-DO NOT HAVE ANY LIQUIDS OR FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH OR NEARBY WHEN U READ THIS-IT'S BEYOND HILARIOUS!!IT BROUGHT ME TO TEARS & IT IS SOO TRUE.

This is from newshound, Dave Barry's colonoscopy journal:

I called my friend, Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon. It’s a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place. At one point passing- briefly through Minneapolis. Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring & patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but didn't -really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR REAR!'

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, & a prescription for a product called 'Movi Prep,’ which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave. I’ll discuss it in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around, nervously. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my prep. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day. All I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor. Then, in the evening, I took the Movi Prep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug. Then- fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because Movi Prep tastes-& here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit & urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great, sense of humor, state- after u drink- it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement- may result.' This is kind of like saying that after u jump off a roof, u may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here,
But have u ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the
MoviPrep experience with-u-as-the-shuttle. There are times when- u wish- the commode had a seat belt. You spend several-hours pretty much- confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. U -eliminate everything. And then, when u figure u must be totally empty, u have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future & start eliminating food u have not eaten yet.

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.


At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood
& totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led-me to a room full of other colonoscopy, people, where I went inside a little curtained, space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when u put it on, makes u feel even more naked than when u are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little, needle in a vein in my left-hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, & I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this is, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom. So you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand. There was music playing in the room, & I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen', by ABBA. I told Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.

'You want me to turn it up?' asked Andy, from somewhere behind me. 'Ha
ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more -than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea, really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me & asking how I felt. I was excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that it was all over, & my colon passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

On- the-subject-of-Colonoscopies... Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!
2. 'Find Amelia Earhart, yet?'
3. 'Can u hear me NOW?'
4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
5. 'You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married.'
6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
7. 'You put your left hand-in, u take your left hand out...'
8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!
10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'
11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'
And- the- best- one- of- all.
13. 'Can u write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

Santa's Jewish Side

'Twas the night before Christmas and down here in Boca,
I was sitting at Starbucks, drinking my mocha.

I know we're all Jewish, but was wondering still,
if Santa would come here and give us a thrill.

On my way home, no Christmas lights did I see,
on the houses, the windows, not even the trees.

What a strange feeling. Not a decoration in sight.
Was it really December or a warm summer's night?

I drove past the deli, there were lines out the door.
People were waiting for kishka and more.

The restaurants were busy, Christmas dinners not planned.
Never, not here we're in Boca Land.

At home all was quiet. I left out kosher wine,
In case Santa came to Boca for the very first time.

Snoozing came easy to me Christmas Eve.
I wasn't waiting for presents to be left under a tree.

I could hope all I want. I could fuss and then see,
if Santa would make time for little old me.

Then all of a sudden he pulled up in his Jag,
with a sack full of presents each sporting a tag.

Oh Bloomies, oh Saks a computer and more.
He knows where to shop, he frequents my stores!

He looked for the lox, the bagels and jelly.
He came to Boca first to fill up his belly!

"I have a long night ahead, I want you to know.
From Boca I leave for New York and the snow."

He stayed for a while, he chatted and ate.
Then he left in a flash before it got late.

What a great night I thought with a sigh.
That jolly old Santa is a really nice guy.

As I cleared off the table I heard with delight
"Shalom to you all, and OY, what a night!!"

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Nazis and Flouride and Complimentary Medicine...

Charles Perkin, a chemist, wrote the following to the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, Milwaukie, Wisconsin, on October 2nd 1954:

....In the 1930s, Hitler and the Nazis envisioned a world to be dominated and controlled by a Nazi Philosophy of Pan Germanism. The German Chemists worked out a very ingenious, far~reaching, plan of mass control, which was submitted to & adopted by the German general staff. This plan was to control the population in any given areas thru mass medication of drinking water. This could control the population in whole areas, reduce population by water medication that would induce sterility in women, etc. In this mass scheme of mass control sodium Fluoride occupied a prominent place....

------------------------------------------------
Check today's NY Times Science section. I wonder if Holistic Medicine & Gonzalez can help with Pancreatic Enzymes.
--------------------------------------------------------
My dentist said, "Many drs. can't see beyond their training because they weren't taught to think." He's right: it's not limited to drs: a pharmist runs a Holistic Pharmacy where Gonzalez shops. Yet when he got cancer he choose chemo.

When I told my dr. I was going Holistic he was aggitated. I said u must be open minded. He snapped, "Be careful u aren't too open minded! Your brain will fall out!"

Like all too many health care pros he's dogmatic, compounds & compensates ignorance with arrogance: doesn't know anything about it, yet doesn't believe in it because it doesn't work. He also employs a sanctimonous, witch dr. mentality.

Despite being good, pals with a Holistic dentist one of my drs. said H. Medicine's innevective because I needed radiation. Fortunately, I ask penetrating, insightful, questions: if I did chemo & needed radiation as part of a multi-prong, approach u'd accept that as standard treatment. Why is this different? Luckily, he's very nice & didn't get mad. I never heard another word about it.

I wrote a paper I entitled Holistic Medicine: Fact or Fiction when my ma got breast cancer. I synthesized it for lay people in part from a horrorifically, written Cancer Care phamplet geared for pros because u shouldn't have to be a pro to understand your health. If any of my students submitted anything so poorly I very strongly they drop my class.
It's on my Google Blog: mrmitch06

Never, ever even whisper I'm nice! This is the right thing. Any resemblance to kind or nice is an unfortunate, coindence!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Saving for Children's Education

Consider opening a tuition savings account in children's names. (Check out the "Tax

Benefits for Education: Information Center" at irs.gov); It's a great way to help

ensure a good education.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Aspirin May Save Diabetics' Sight

Reducing the risk of blindness caused by diabetes may be as simple as taking an aspirin every day, a study suggests.

Researchers looking into retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in the United States and a common complication of diabetes, say the condition appears to be caused in part by hundreds of microscopic blood clots that form in the eye.

Writing in this month's issue of the journal Diabetes, they said that aspirin, if taken early enough, might prevent the disease.

The report was prepared by Dr. Mara Lorenzi and colleagues at the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard.

Aspirin is already commonly recommended by doctors for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease because it can help prevent the clots that can lead to strokes

and heart attacks. The American Diabetes Association counsels diabetics to take it for that reason.

But with new research showing evidence that blood clots may also explain the blindness common among diabetics — as many as 24,000 cases a year, the researchers estimate — aspirin may have a new role to play.

The researchers said they had found four times as many blood clots in the eyes of diabetics as in people without the disease. As the number of clots increases, the researchers said, the clots block blood flow to the retina, setting into motion a series of changes in the eye that lead to the blindness.

For aspirin therapy to be effective, they said, it must begin in the early stages of the disease.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Does your writtng speak well of you?...

For Your Career Mobility :


DOES YOUR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SPEAK WELL OF YOU?

In reviewing and evaluating what you wrote down in our interactive discussions of provocative topics relevant to business and management and in your submitted written assignments and exams, I noticed some hard-to-ignore weaknesses in written communication. Unless these weaknesses are remediated, they will continue to show up under your signature. Like it or not, these weaknesses will most likely shape the image that your co-workers and supervisor will form of you. Some people think that written communication errors are not important because these are supposedly "minor" matters. These people think that what matters is what you "do" or "produce" on the job relative to your job responsibilities, NOT your written communication. But, they seem to forget that a significant part of what you "do" or "produce" at work is written. What you write down and transmit to co-workers and supervisor exhibits a number of things that will inevitably be noticed and reflect on you negatively, such as --

* Writing run-on sentences that confuse your reader ;

* Making statements that are hard to follow or understand because the reasoning is flawed and the language is murky, ungrammatical, and confusing;

* Using words you don't truly understand;

* Making errors in written English that should not be made by people who are
college educated such as (to cite only three examples) :

(1) interchanging "their" with "there" repeatedly;

(2) not knowing the difference between

"you're" (which is a contraction of "you are") and "your" (which indicates a "possessive pronoun")

(3) not differentiating "sell" (which is a verb) from "sale" (which is a noun).

Of course, you may decide to dismiss the above examples as "Unimportant Details" and offer the excuse that "It's nothing serious" because these are "just examples of poor spelling."

It's certainly your right to make that decision just as it's your right to go in a wrong direction.

In closing this "Winding Up" conference, allow me to ask just two questions --

1) Can you think without using language?

(Note: You may not wish to admit it, but it's clear you can't think without using language.)

2) If you are haphazard and careless in the use of language, what happens to your thinking?

I feel sure you KNOW the right answer. But there's no need to tell me. Telling yourself will be best... for you and your career.

By the way, the above advice is appropriate for some members of our class, and not
for others. Since your career is important to you, I feel confident that you know whether to take or leave this advice alone.

Regardless of your decision, I wish you the best in all your endeavors, academic and otherwise.

~ Bing Inocencio, Ph.D. -

Monday, December 7, 2009

TURKEY RECIPE

It sounds good! Here is a turkey recipe that includes popcorn as a stuffing ingredient -- imagine that. When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when turkey is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out. Give this a try.

8 - 15 lb. turkey
1 cup melted butter
1 cup stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is Good.)
1 cup unpopped popcorn (ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S LOW FAT IS BEST)
Salt/pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush turkey well with melted butter
salt, and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn. Place in
baking pan making sure the neck end is toward the back of the oven.
After about 4 hours listen for the popping sounds. When the turkey's
ass blows the oven door open and the bird flies across the room, it's done.

And, you thought I didn't cook ....

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Christmas...in Boca

'Twas the night before Christmas
and down here in Boca,
I was sitting at Starbucks,
drinking my mocha.


I know we're all Jewish,
but was wondering still,
if Santa would come here
and give us a thrill.


On my way home,
no Christmas lights did I see,
on the houses, the windows,
not even the trees.


What a strange feeling.
Not a decoration in sight.
Was it really December
or a warm summer's night?


I drove past Toojay's,
there were lines out the door.
People were waiting
for kishka and more.


The restaruants were busy,
Christmas dinners not planned.
Never, not here
we're in Boca Land.


At home all was quiet.
I left out Kosher wine,
In case Santa came to Boca
for the very first time.


Snoozing came easy
to me Christmas Eve.
I wasn't waiting for presents
to be left under a tree.


I could hope all I want.
I could fuss and then see,
if Santa would make time
for little old me.


Then all of a sudden
he pulled up in his Jag,
with a sack full of presents
each sporting a tag.


Oh Bloomies, oh Saks
Oh Nieman's and more.
He knows where to shop,
he frequents my stores!


He looked for the lox,
the bagels and deli.
He came to Boca first
to fill up his belly!


"I have a long night ahead,
I want you to know.
From Boca I leave
for New York and the snow."


He stayed for a while,
he chatted and ate.
Then he left in a flash
before it got late.


What a great night
I thought with a sigh.
That jolly old Santa
is a really nice guy.


As I cleared off the table
I heard with delight
"Shalom to you all,
and OY, what a night!!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

A Day I'll Never Forget

A Day I’ll Never Forget By M. Asinoff & Jack Simony 11/28/09 - His idea-95% me.

It was a Monday, like most others, I guess, except on this one the home for retarded adults I work in was going canoeing. Yes, retarded. So I'm politically incorrect. What can I say? Sue me.
Anyway, I was a bit worried because they can't swim. But I'll get back to that.
Meanwhile, we were deciding who'd drive when I got a brain-storm. (I get them sometimes. Unfortunately, they don't always work as well as they sound at first). But I bet my friend, Irene the guys would beat the girls there, anyway. She was reluctant. But I made her an offer she couldn't refuse.
It took two hours to get there. And hear they made it in one because she got directions. I knew I made a wrong turn 5 miles back…But I was too macho to stop for directions…So I followed my ego & drove around. (What can I say...? It’s a guy, thing).
Anyway, next thing I know I heard a big splash and someone scream, "Oh, my God...! Al fell in the water!!!..."
Instantly, my worst fears were reality…! My heart-was-racing…! I told my boss this was a bad idea.... But he wouldn’t listen.... He said I worry too much and laughed... I looked around. EVERYONE was frozen with fear & shock... I knew someone had to something.... FAST...! So I jumped in... I was TERRIFIED he'd drown…! It was ALL I could think of…! I don’t think I ever swam so hard in my life...Luckily, I was captain of my college swim-team for two years, or I probably would've been scared out of my mind...
My mom and coach will be so glad to hear they were right: all those laps really did pay-off. I'll have to call the coach... Call!...Yes!...I just remembered my cell phone's-in the car...

They can call 911 while I give him mouth-to-mouth, I thought... Lucky, I know CPR... God, I hope I reach him in time... I never thought I’d hate being so right before... It's so over rated sometimes.

Al’s family will sue... I read about something like this... The family sued for Millions & the home went under...
Many of the residents came here. I hope the same thing doesn't happen to us...It'd be a real shame... What would they do...? Where would they go...? God, I hope they won’t have to worry about that. I’ll reach Al in time.
Then finally...after a few minutes that seemed like eternity, I reached someone...I figured it was Al & was so relieved...I hope it’s him & I’m in time… I took a big, lunge forward, reached out & grabbed a foot…A foot…? Huh. That's weird…How’d I get a foot...?
Oh God...Oh, God…I hope he didn’t fall and hit his head on a rock…PLEASE, God..! Let it be Irene’s… PLEASE. God…! I’ll NEVER, EVER ask you for anything, again! I SWEAR! I know I said that before! But I mean it this time! I swear! I really mean it! I’ll never, ever ask -You, for anything again! Al’s a nice guy. He didn’t do anything wrong! He doesn’t deserve to die! You know that! Please, God! Please let it be Irene’s foot! Please let her have dived in after me & catching her breath while looking to see if he came up...I hope he doesn’t panic or cramp... He treads water a bit…I think…I hope! If he drowns I’ll never forgive myself for not trying to persuade the director harder...!

I’m out of breath, I must get some air or my lungs will burst & they'll be fishing me out too! That's all we need...I can see the headline now...councilor drowns trying to save retarded, adult... (They’ll say I was politically incorrect, too)!
I’m more out of shape than I realized…I just gotta quit smoking... I can’t believe I started again...I did it to look cool in front of Irene...I was so proud of myself for quitting “cold-turkey” a year ago...
Mom’s right: some guys will do anything to impress a babe... especially a “hot”, one, like Irene.... Mom was a gal once...before she married dad...That’s how she got him…She knows we jocks don’t think with our heads...
Hey, I’m a jock...That’s cool...We’re chick magnets... I don’t have to smoke to look cool for Irene...I can get any, girl I want... I can just hear mom saying I told you so... She loves being right... It's a mom, “thing”.
Plus cigarettes are $9 a pack, for Heaven’s sake..!. At least muggers use guns & knives, & don’t insult or try to play you with crap like it’s for your own good... I prefer a hug & kiss when getting it... I’m-”funny” that way...

O.k., that’s it...! I can’t hold my breath anymore... I swear my lungs will explode in a minute. I better surface... While I get some air I can see if whoever’s foot I grabbed found him...

So I surfaced.... You won’t believe whose foot it was... When I tell you you’ll swear I played you... I didn’t! I swear! I’d NEVER even think of it! When I surfaced & looked-up he was standing there...! That's right…! Standing…!

I just could not believe it…! I still swear it was all a bad dream, scene from a movie, or a commercial. I was bleary from oxygen depravation or something, I thought! It can’t be…! I must be hallucinating! The lack of oxygen & heat must be making me delirious! I rubbed my eyes again... when I opened them he was standing there… laughing, hysterically...!

So was everyone else...! Can u imagine the look on my face when I realized the water was five-feet...? Boy was I embarrassed… & soaked in mud.
Irene thought it was hysterical... So I chased her & tried to rub mud on her. She took photos & threatened to blackmail me by saying she’d post them on line... She said it’s -a “Jack Moment” come -back to “bite me in the ass”... It’s a line I coined... it's- “cousin” to the “Kodak Moment”... It’s when I make-someone... usually a chic... turn 3…or more… shades of magenta.... (3’s my lucky, #)...

I did it to an ex publicly... It was payback for leaving me before mid-terms & having my book. So I couldn’t study....We were debating about gays. I said they're sick. And any guy wanting to see all of me…desperately needs shock therapy...I don't even want to see it...I shower in the dark…
She laughed & said she didn't blame me...if she were me she would too...I'm not very pretty when dressed.

So I asked if she wanted to know a secret…just between us…Still laughing…rather, smugly…obviously quite, pleased with herself… she asked what?

I publicly, announced there was a time…not long ago… when you thought I was rather, pretty…enough to hug & kiss…amongst several other things... while wearing nothing...but contacts...!

Boy...that was a “Jack Moment”...! We'll never, ever forget it…as long as we live...! I had no clue a person could turn so many shades of magenta, pink & purple. She turned them all...three times! (I told you it’s my lucky, #).
Anyway, we split into couples & Irene rode back with me…We were laughing over my "rescue" & she said we had such fun & she didn't want it to end. I’m on a "lucky" streak…& should keep it going at Atlantic City. I agreed
So we went to my house. I showered & changed.

Irene wanted to drive. But proving once again macho’s incurable, & some guys never learn I drove. (Luckily, I knew the way this time). Hey, at least I have “stones” Many guys “swap” their jeans for a dress long before they say I do.
When dating their gals say jump & they do. After marriage guys ask how high & change their last names. Husbands go to baby showers, dept. stores & restaurants have diaper changing tables in the men’s room, for God’s sake! What the Hell’s the world coming to? Before you know we’ll pee sitting. Guys say they’re happy & omit that their wives telling them they are. And they better say so or what’s left of their manhood will hang- from their rear view mirrors. Then clipped to their wives’ key chains, taken to work to show all the girls and help groom the single ones for marriage.

“Luckily”, I have my kid, sister, Ann. She a typical woman: “little general”: suggests what & when I do, eat, feel, say, think & wear. Sometimes I salute her when she gives me orders. If she sees me on- line, late she says go to bed. She thinks she’s my big, sister. It’s a “miracle” I got this far without her. Lucky I have her to think for me now. It was a job & ½ backing her down from orders. I face “The Wrath of Khan”, for calling- her-a soccer-mom, asking her if she wants to carve a slot in back of my head for her hand, install a pull string for when she wants me to talk & writing-a hilarious, parody about her-suggestions. I posted on a Google Blog under a pen name: mrmitch06 She’s-not amused over it & denied trying to prep me for marriage & fix me. I asked if my girlfriends didn’t do it with love & sex how- will- she?

Anyway, we got to AC & strolled around. Irene's some dancer, so we whirled around the floor. Before we knew it two-hours "flew"-by & I felt like gambling. We're here already I told myself. How can you come here & not gamble, I asked her? Since we're by the roulette table it seemed like as good a place as any to start.
Before I knew it I blew 75 bucks!...I still had a $25 chip left…And was determined to go home either rich or –broke…nothing in between! No guts, no glory! It’s another single guy thing. To married men it’s a faint memory.

After seeing me lose 75 bucks and now about to blow my last 25…Irene said I'm a typical guy...with more macho than brains...Then she picked up the chip and walked away.

The casino was crowded. But I didn't care...I wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop me from hitting the jackpot. At that moment the wheel stopped...I won't say where...I'll let you guess.... I will say we hit my “Jack Pot” later…
And when all was said and done, it was a day we'll never forget...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

German Gov't. Unveils secret Nazi files to 60 Minutes

Whether you pass this on or not the youtube videos are fascinating.

This story was aired on CBS' "60 MINUTES" about a long-secret German archive that houses a treasure trove of information on victims of the Holocaust. The archive, located in the German town of Bad Arolsen, is massive (there are 16 miles of shelving containing 50 million pages of documents) and until recently, was off-limits to the public.

After the German government agreed earlier this year to open the archives, CBS News' Scott Pelley traveled there with three Jewish survivors who were able to see their own Holocaust records. It's an incredibly moving piece, all the more poignant in the wake of the meeting of Holocaust deniers.

Notwithstanding Iran and the other denial speeches in the UN, we're trying to get word out about the story to people who may have a special interest in this subject.
It is now more than 60 years after WWII in Europe ended.

This is a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russia peoples looking the other way! Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never, ever forgets.

A recreation of the CBS program can be found on You Tube. Here are the links to "CBS Holocaust, Parts 1 & 2"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9cet2_LoJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g63zTkDsxfM&feature=related

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Pop's Little Angels

My Pop: The Bird Whisperer and his Little Angels (updated) 11/11/09- By M. Asinoff
I teased my- pop about “suing” Hollywood for “royalties”: he “inspired” the movie “Grumpy Old Men”. He was grumpy “long” before he was old. I suspect he was “born grumpy”. Despite that he had a philosophy on the “joys” of children: “pity” our neighbor & others like them…they’re childless.
His “heart went out” to them, or so he said. I didn't believe him. He “pities” them because they looked so young & happy. They had no clue what they “missed” not having kids. There’s no “joy” like waiting for me to stroll- in…at 3 A.M.
Who needs a tan, or-vacation when you can spend your money & time on your kids, pop- half -jokingly, asked our neighbor. The “selfishness” of never having to sacrifice for the sake of the kids can be “heartbreak”. He had “no –clue” how they “endured” the “agony” of not having to worry about what the kids are doing to the house when they’re away. To him everyone deserves kids (I’ve -no- doubt misery -loves -company). They “must” experience the fights over disciplining, not to mention the “fun” of waiting for a baby sitter…who- never showed.
The early years were “pure joy”, he said. Being awoken at 2 a.m. by a crying baby or having to run to the E.R. is surely “Divine Retribution”. They’ll never know the “glimmering, glistening”-smile of me wearing two grand in braces. He “didn't really want “a new car. Walking is good for your health & the environment. Plus there’s nothing like-the sound of little "monsters" running & screaming at a party. “No” one should miss it.
Ma’s evening updates were “dinner conservation”. Indigestion: a “bonus.” I “saved him $ & calories on desert, helping earn my keep”. These are the “little joys” of parenthood. You’ve “no-clue” what you’re “missing”, pop told the young, happy, neighbor.
You should’ve seen the “tear well up in the corner of his eye & slowly run down his- cheek” as he told- them- the- ”joy” he felt when my evil, dense, brother, “Guido” married a childish, “cement head.” They were dumb & dumber. One- day they & pop were discussing her marriage troubles & he said “something's rotten in Denmark.” Guido responded with a blank stare, then- asked, "What’s Denmark have- to- do with- this?" I–nearly wet myself & LOL so hard I sobbed! You cannot make this stuff up. Truth’s funnier than fiction in both meanings!
Pop said with three boys, & a girl, the most joy by far he got was from beloved “Chickens” (Parakeets)! They’re his pals. He truly, loved them for a generation & often said they don’t open big mouths, like “Guido”& I.
His love for animals was innate: as a kid, Spot, the family dog instinctively knew pop would care for him. Pop said he awoke extra early to walk Spot, cut & washed Spot’s hair. After four years away in Europe & Africa in WW II, pop returned- home. Spot instantly recalled & greeted pop with love & affection.
When ma was dating pop Spot put his head on her knee @ dinner seeking food. She feared him, unfortunately.
Pop’s love of birds began in Sept, 1976 when our neighbor & family, friend, Danny moved to Florida & gave us his parakeet, Birdie. We called him Mr. Pitzy (Yiddish for little one). After a few months we got him a wife & named her Mrs. Pitzy. She soon became pop’s favorite “daughter / grand” bird & regularly got tummy rubs in exchange for a chirp. He loved it as much as her. The rest as they say is history.
Interestingly, opposites really do attract: ma disliked & feared animals. Yet in a rare moment she was talking to Little-Cousin when she jumped up on ma’s head & looked around, as if on top of the world. I ran for a camera and took a picture. It vanished. Luckily, it surfaced…after- ma passed. It’s a memory I’ll cherish for life. It, along-with–several-photos- are-on- Face book as it just “begs” to be shared with the world.
Pop loved them enough for him & ma. They brought out a softer side no-one-knew of. If one of the- family called pop he’d usually grumble what do you want? Don’t bother me. I mimic him for them & ask them can you say too?
A chirpy from his little angels was nature’s music & “magically and miraculously transformed” him from “Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll”. He was shy & quiet out of the house, aside from our best friends & next door neighbor, Al, RIP & his son, Mike (the fourth son my folks always wanted, but never had). Mike had me OTFLOL by recalling pop as a gentle, giant. Sharon, a dearly, departed, cousin & neighbor said pop was soft on the inside. I asked if she’s sane.
I “had to occasionally remind” - pop I'm his “favorite” son, but he still “forgot”. Every time I asked him who's- your- favorite son, his first response was always Fritzky. He was pop’s #1, favorite “son” partially because he was blue & a gift from Rob, a colleague who joined the Army. He truly loved & trained Fritzky. So ensuring he had a loving home was vital. I had no clue I’d have to “reminded” pop… daily…for years that I'm his “favorite” son, not Fritzky as I’m the youngest & he saved the “best“- for –last…
I told my eldest brother, Howard this & pop’s getting “Alzheimer’s”: I “must remind” him Fritzky’s gone. And I'm his “favorite son”. Howard griped, "What do I say? I'm on the bottom of the “totem –pole:” I compete with Fritzky, our evil, brother, “Guido”, a not so merry ex mailman & you. Be glad you're only third on the list. Don't complain until you had the very ‘distinct & unique pleasure of being last!” It just goes to show you, just when you think your life stinks, there is always someone just a bit worse –off.
Most birds are caged 24/7. That’s cruel: God gave them wings to fly. A cage’s a house, not a jail cell. Their house’s a Parrot Cage my sister, Adrienne gave us her with three birds, years ago. That made five. Pop had room in his heart for a dozen They-flew all over the level, called each other from various rooms & figured out to sneak-out between the bars on day one. He said they line up @ attention, little heads high & chests out waiting for him & breakfast like school kids. So I joked, Pitzy “Kindergarten 101”, with “Mr”. Pop. They looked & chirped as I said time for school: get dressed, wash your face, brush your teeth, comb your hair, tie-your shoes & take out your H.W. If you-didn’t- do-it you get a dunce cap. Save excuses like you lack arms, teeth, clothes, shoes, can’t read or write, etc. I added, today’s spelling word is pop & spelled it. Say it & you’ll be promoted, I whispered. They-looked, tilted their little, heads & chirped as if comprehending.
As usual pop grumbled: I’m wasting- my- breath, they’ll- never- say it. I replied you taught my evil, brother, “Guido”. Miracles happen. “Lightning- can- strike– twice”. I debated if Guido can read the letters, or sign his check. Everyone, except my folks, lol because blue was royal to them.
I meet many Born Again Christians who try me to “flip” me, say Jesus loves me & my pets. I suspect He just likes me a lot, tell all my birds He-loves them & they “…have a friend in Jesus…. “(Norm Rosenbaum) That’s - why- they have a long, “Life- of -Reilly.” On Fridays & Saturdays I say Shabbat Shalom (Hebrew for peaceful Sabbath). I also placed a Jewish calendar next to their coupe for fun to “teach” them the day, date & holidays. I review & spell the month, day & date for them daily. They chirp & watch me shave. I tell them they’re too young to. When they grow up I’ll teach them.
During a blizzard I teased pop they want to be snow birds & play in the snow. He laughed & said, “That’ll-be the end of them.” I told them put on a coat, hat & boots if they want to go out. They looked @ me & chirped as they did no matter what we said to them because they know they are absolutely, adored
Adrienne felt exempt because she’s the only gal and Fritzky was a boy. So since we were bird less one father’s day I got pop a girl and named her Little Buddy. I thought she was sleeping at first. For weeks she just ate and slept. Returning- her meant death. At first pop grumbled she’s sickly. Then God and pop’s love rejuvenated her to exceptional, energy and a great appetite. Soon she was pop’s sole joy. He adored her. She was his new “daughter / grand” bird and profoundly, pampered, parakeet like all the others before and after.
Buddy was smart too: gave the cage the “evil eye” & called us to open it. So she can eat, drink & kiss the-mirror. What lungs! We heard her loud & clear across the level & downstairs. If that didn’t wake me she grabbed banged a wood towel rack against the wall. She knew my room was next door & I’d open her coupe. So she often woke me.
They sat on pop’s finger as he lovingly spoke Yinglish. He swore they understood when they tilted- their heads & looked him in the eye. They were tucked in every night. When sick, they got a heat lamp & medicine. Blue Bell had the runs stuck to his feathers. So we cleaned him. Pop gave them fresh water & food daily. I joked- they & the seeds are “Kosher”. When- they passed we buried them in back. I still talk to them in Yinglish. Unfortunately they can’t chirp anymore.
Fritzky and Whitey had a summer and winter home. Pop made Buddy a “wading pool” (car wax cover) because they were his favorite “daughters/grand” birds, too. He’d remove his glasses & asked them if they know him. They looked intently because they know his voice, yet he was different. Fritzky flew to pop, climbed down his arm, looked up, tilted his head & chirped as pop talked to him. One time pop had coins in his hand & Fritzky began tossing them. It became a regular trick. He was nicknamed the “barber” because he sat on pop’s shoulder & pulled hair. When watching TV pop asked if he liked the show or, wanted a different channel, one- chirp- for- yes & two for- no. They looked @ pop & chirped because they knew he was lovingly, talking to them.
Feeding- them was joy for pop: he was greeted by a chorus of chirps …in stereo. They looked at him, he smiled & said, “Hi sweetie, yes- honey. Hello. Are-you- talking to me? Yes. What -are u trying to tell me? Ooh, you’re all excited. Yes, honey, talk-to-me, sweetheart.” Pop retired, and loved to talk to his “pals” a few times a day, every day. They were the only thing that made him smile.
Buddy kissed pop’s nose & “trained” him: heard him coming, chirped & flew to the hall like a child seeking dad’s attention. It worked every time! She relished pop’s love. To swim she looked at pop, chirped & flew to the counter. He filled her “wading pool”. She sat on the inner shower door, chirping for the echo, made us laugh by poking her head around the corner when pop called & enjoyed his door rides. She looked all around. One winter he heated a three story house for her. In summer she got cold, water 3X a day. He put fresh seeds atop a bed of shells. Buddy lived & played in a big, bathroom with a “see saw” (dr.’s scale). Pop asked how much she weighed. She chirped & flew to him for attention. One night Buddy wouldn’t go to bed. I told her in Yiddish I’d get-pop, he’d yell & spank her. She looked me in the eye, like a defiant kid. I called pop. She went in. We-LOL -the-next-day. He told her in Yinglish go to bed or else. His tone said he’s mad. She knew, chirped & flew-to his shoulder like a little girl “wrapping daddy around her- little-finger”, to avoid scolding. Buddy also laid many eggs. Despite begging in Yiddish to sit on them she would not sit on them. She- just chirped & flew to me. Adrienne joked, use French. It’s the language of love. Pop & I would’ve learned a few words if it would’ve helped.
Adrienne gave us a widower I named Sunny Boy. Pop hoped for “grand” birds for his and Buddy’s birthdays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any because he was neurotic from a “traumatic childhood”. It took years to get him from fear to indifference because no one ever loved him. All he got was food and water. Every living thing needs love.

Seeing pop, a grumpy, old, truck mechanic melt over a little bird was comical and cinematic. He was a bird “whisperer.” “Grand” birds would’ve done “mission impossible”: made pop truly, happy. He liked watching them play because they have personalities: Mr. & Mrs. Pitzy used to watch TV in the living room in the evening with pop. When they wanted to go to bed they flew to the bottom of the stairs, hovered and called for pop to put on the light. When he did, they flew up and hung on a door ledge till pop came up and put on a light in their room. Then they flew into their house. Since they’re small you often can’t see them when you pop in to check on them. Pop joked, a pet he must look for. I say calling all angels. In- summer: screens permit them to hear & “talk” to birds out side. Sometimes they hang on the screen & “chat” with “pals’ on the window ledge.

They- hang upside down, like Bats. Buddy crawled in the shower door track to peck @ reflections for hours and turned her body around. She was double jointed. When I called her she turned and looked @ me as if to say yes. Some sit on the edge of their house and look out like it’s a “front porch”, play, run and “Kamikaze” dive. They love the sound of running water. When I shower they run across the track chirping “up a storm”, looking at & talking to me.

Pop laughed when Houdini would swing because he poked Little Cousin in the head with his tail. I sing rock a bye (whichever angel we had @ the time)… They climbed, jumped & slid (sometimes involuntarily & slowly while looking around in bewilderment) like firemen, gymnasts & acrobats. Fritzky flew to and from the mirror on ma’s dresser to his room, next door & called his reflection. He thought it was another bird. It was always there, yet didn’t follow him. We lol when they run because it’s sideways.

We couldn’t think of a name for one bird. So we called her No Name. Her room was next to mine. So if I was on the computer or phone she’d hear me and chirp. If I called her she’d come in and sit on top of the computer, look @ me and chirp while I spoke to her in Yinglish. She loved the attention. If pop came in and called her she’d call him to let him know her local and go to him if he was in her room or walked into mine. He’d talk to her and she chirped away quite loudly and happily

Like Whitey, RIP, Sunny’s meek, whereas- Buddy’s- a- bully. They had a ritual: fly to opposite ends of the room and call each other. She chased / cornered him, he squawked and they kissed. It was like a movie. When she bullied him I exclaimed, Little Buddy Asinoff! She halted and looked at me. I added, I’m watching- u! So is pop! We love you. And want-you to behave or you’ll get potch in tuchas (spanking). Then I use the peace sign and motion from my eyes to her or wag my finger. Her look said she knew she must “chill” Sometimes I made her bust for biting: grounded: put in a small cage she can’t escape for a day. She lived and loved to run, jump and play, all day, every day. They all do to varying degrees.

The parts about Fritzky, Buddy and my kin are true. Pop said, “If-u knew Fritzky like I did you’d understand me.” I say if you knew pop like I did, you’d understand me. Sometimes pop and I were-watching TV and the public service announcement came on: it’s-10 pm. Do you know where your children are? I’d joke: we’ll do u know where your chickens are? He’d do something very rare: smile. Then say “fashlufen in huse” (asleep in their house).

Adrienne said they look like little angels. That’s when I suddenly realized what I’ve known for a generation: they’re –pop’s angels! I told Sunny in Yinglish, daily. I also tell them they’re angels because they have wings & “sing” nature’s music. And performed a miracle equal to Moses’: made pop happy…for a generation. If I wasn’t an eye & ear witness I’d never believe- it.







For music appreciation class I sing to them in English, The Beatles I love-you eight days a week, Love me too & Shake it up, baby, now. Twist & shout. & Good Day, Sunshine. We do The Penguins’ Earth Angel, Curtis Lee’s Pretty-Little-Angel-Eyes, Taveres’ Heaven must be missing an Angel cause- you’re here with me right now. When they zoom out of the coupe I say Meatloaf’s bat out of hell. They like …you’re once, twice, three times a lady… by The Commodores. Charlie Prides Did u see the most beautiful girl in the world...evokes chirps. When they move to music I say you should be dancing… (The Bee- Gees). If one’s scared I do War’s Why can’t we be friends. Sometimes I do Sister Sledge: We are family. Sing it to me… When they run I sing K.C & The Sunshine Band: Get down. Get down. Get down, tonight, baby… We appreciate The Partridge Family’s Oh, I think I love you. The Archies’ Sugar, Sugar is- good too. Debbie Boone’s a hit with U light up my life. We sing -The Doors’ Hello, I love you. Won’t -you tell me your name. When they chirp I-ask,-”Oh, who can it be now?... (Men @ Work. Since Jews are all about guilt if they misbehave I say don’t go breaking by Neil Sedaka. If they won’t sit on my finger I say don’t make a grown, man cry…by the Stones. If that’s futile I sing “Don’t you want me, baby?” by Human League. Sometimes I parody Mike Myers’ Saturday Night Live Coffee Talk & tell them talk amongst your selves. I’m all farclempt (choked up). G. Harrison’s good too: “Here comes the sun...” John Denver’s “Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy…” is a good way to start the day. If they’re chirping up a storm with the birds out side I sing the Pointer Sisters: “I’m so excited! I just can’t hide it! I’m about to lose control! And I think I like it...!” For religious instruction we sing The Byrds: “To everything there is a season. To everything there’s a purpose, a time to be born, a time to die. A time to laugh, a time to- cry. A time to love…” I like Kojak. So I ask who loves u, baby? Sometimes I bark, meow or chirp for them. They love it & chirp away.

Every - morning I open the coupe & say Juice Newton said u -are an Angel in the morning. Then I ring the “school” bell, say pledge allegiance to the flag & “sing” God bless America with Kate Smith, & I’m proud to be an American with Lee Greenwood. I do my Mr. Rogers’ impression too: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood….”
At Christmas we “sing” carols because we’re Jewish for kicks & to help them be multi cultural. So they know our culture we also do The Broflovski’s “Dreidel Dreidel, Dreidel. Stand -tall by Burton Cummings is well liked too. Since they- don’t have- hands. I say if you are happy & you know it make a chirpy. If you are happy & you know it & you really want to show it make a chirpy.
For cultural influence I play ma’s Jewish music: The Bowery Sisters, Mickey Kat’s (Joel Grey’s dad) parodies, hava nakela hava & My Yiddisha Mama, etc. It’s the only way they can get to know her a bit. I won’t tell them she didn’t love their ancestors as pop did.

When I called pop from work to check on him I always asked nu, vus halsta mit da pitzlah? (Well, how are the birds)? I could hear the joy in his voice when he said, good. After CSI became a hit I’d ask them who are you? When the phone rang pop joked, phone call for (whatever bird we had). Crazy little thing called love by Queen is good for dance class. Stevie Wonder said it all: “I just called to say I love you. They’re the 3 most beautiful words you’ll ever hear. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart… ” We also do Isn’t she lovely, by him. I‘d tell them that. They stare intently @ me when I do Brady Bunch Parodies. They chirp, joyfully…in stereo to John Mayer: Say what you need- to say. Luckily, they’re tone deaf & “sing” along. I tell them pop & all the Pitzy lovers in Heaven are listening & if they make pop a zati (grandpa) we’ll name it for him. They look at me & chirp, as usual.
Doubt anything? Want more detail or humor? Ask pop- yourself…when -you get -to Heaven. He’ll be in the animal lovers’ section. People say there’s no such thing. When I ask who told them they hush. Pop, his angels and all the pitzy lovers are smiling down upon me because I gave pop years of joy by bringing Fritzky & Little Buddy into his life & took such good care of pop & his little angels.

When you find it ask for Mr. Pop. Do not be surprised if he’s grumpy & says what do you want? Don’t bother me! Say you heard he’s Fritzky’s pop. That’ll flip his mood instantly & make him smile wider than the Jericho Mile (7 x 7).
I often asked him to ensure his coherence & give him joy. His response was always, instantly, Fritzky! We didn’t know @ the- time it was his last night, & his last words to me were Fritzky was his favorite son. He was grouchy in my dreams when he was here & hasn’t changed since leaving.
After pop went Buddy ran away. After searching the house & calling her she chirped. I found her sitting on pop’s desk, in the dark, staring at his chair, as if awaiting his return. She sensed the loss on some level as they were so close.
I put her to bed, & very sweetly, said pop loves you from Heaven, wants- you- to- behave & go-to-bed where it’s safe. She looked as if she understood, went to bed & stopped running away. I put his photo by the coupe for fun & said pop wants you to be gootinga clana madlle (good little gal) & is watching you from Heaven & earth, ok? She looked at me & chirped.
Some people say they talk. I never saw it. They’re messy. I told pop clana pitzlah, graca shmutz. (small, birds, big mess). He agreed, but didn’t mind because they were his little angels. And he really loved them from the bottom of his heart. I suggested getting a hunt (dog). Pop said he wouldn’t pick up after a dog. He changed diapers for four kids. That was it. He’s gone, but his legacy lives. I put an earlier copy of this & bird pictures on his heart as that’s where- his angels “live” forever. And swear he smiled when I said their names & tell Fritzky I said hi. If he could’ve pop would’ve made his angels heirs. Although we never discussed it I promised him I’d take good care of them because he loved them so.
So I tuck them in every night, say pop loves & you spend- a fortune keeping them warm in winter. After the last heating bill I lined their coupe with the help wanted ads. When a week passed it was apparent they didn’t get the message. So I said it’s time to start earning your keep. Seek a job acting or modeling. If you don’t find anything apply for unemployment. If denied apply for disability: you re too small to be a carrier pigeon. I asked my accountant about deducting them as dependents on my taxes. He -lol. My –reward for caring for them? Every day: they greet me with chirps…in stereo. I’ll name my next birds Prince, and Princess cause they they’re pampered like royalty.

Unfortunately shortly after pop went Buddy followed from complications due to a difficulty pregnancy. Sunny was very depressed for weeks. He wouldn’t come out, much less chirp. I talked to him daily to comfort. He just sat & looked at me. He was a widower twice.
So I adopted a young, girl & “sang” Cupid, draw back your bow with Sam Cooke. I then followed the Eastern, European, Jewish tradition of naming after dearly, departed. So I call her Baby Ida for my pop, Isidore & his ma, my beloved, Buby Ida. I was her favorite. And talk to her & pop’s photos & the birds whenever I’m on the computer. I took over pop’s desk & moved my computer down the hall to it. But still talk to the birds day & night…in Yinglish I like Groucho Marx, RIP. & “You Bet Your Life.” So- I say the secret word & split a treat. The word’s pop. They chirp.

Sunny is happy although Ida bullies him, as Buddy, RIP did. I beg & plead with them in Yinglish to say pop & make an old, grouch in Heaven happy with a baby Fritzky & 17 others, including a baby Isie. (18 = luck to Jews) They look as if they understand & chirp, but haven’t made any babies.
She chirps up a storm daily & Sunny Boy joins in. He’s so happy with his third wife & back to his old self. Unfortunately, she bullies him too. If I catch her I say Baby Ida Asinoff! I’m watching you! So is pop! Then I motion with my fingers to & from my eyes & add behave or you’ll get gahockta sorus (big trouble)! She halts & looks at me. She knows she’s bad & must “cool it.” Unfortunately, she caught some of Sunny Boy’s neurosis. I try easing her fears with love, daily although it seems futile.
Unfortunately, Sunny Boy passed unexpectedly & Baby Ida was depressed. I put pictures of pop & buby by her house for fun. Then told her who they are, I adopted & named her for them. She was sad so I adopted a boy. Howard & I named him Little Joe for pop’s dad. They’re more in love than any birds I had & cuddle all the time. Unfortunately, they’re also the dumbest & most neurotic. They don’t know how to sneak out between the bars & won’t give me a drop of attention or affection. I told them they must ga shlufen in huse when finsta, nit vana or cokteple (go home not the tub or bathroom when dark) & grounded them for a weekend. They got that message. I praise them for it every night when I tuck then in.

Joe sits on my finger for a second @ best, looks @ Ida & runs to her. They kiss, run, play, run, groom each other, stretch their wings, etc. daily. When they have lovers’ quarrel Ida sits @ opposite ends of the room & squawks. So- I “sing” “Oh, you’ve lost that loving feeling. Oh, it’s gone, gone, gone… ” I wink @ Ida & ask is Donna Summer’s right: Bad Girls….Then add The Star Land Vocal Band’s right: “Why wait until the middle of a cold, dark, night? Have some afternoon delight…” That’s compounded by The Carpenters: “”Rainy days a Monday always get me down… I ask Joe if Elvis is right: “She’s a hunk a hunk a burning love…” Chirping’s tiring. So they “nap” every afternoon like small kids.
I told him I want to be a fetta (uncle) to a baby Fritzky and Buddy. He just looks @ me. Every morning I greet & ask them to make pop a zati (grandpa) & bubby a great bubby in Heaven. Then I say school’s- in with Professor Mitch, your #1, favorite, brother & ask them to say / spell bubby, Heaven, Fritzky, Little Buddy, Houdini, Mr. & Mrs. Pitzie, pop, Little Cousin, Mitch, Blue Bell, Baby Ida, cloud, brother, bird, Life of Reilly, racketeer, earth, aristocrat, royalty, wings, America & love. When they sit on the scale I ask each how much they weigh. Then ask how much they are combined? How many ounces are in a pound? Then say deduct their individual & combined weight from a pound. On Tuesday they get a spelling pretest. Friday’s the exam. Pop’s always a word. They chirp & look me in the eye if they get it & are answering. Every mLook at Israel Exchange Traded Funds:orning I say get out your homework. I want to see it. If you didn’t do it you get a dunce cap. Every afternoon I say school’s- out, do your homework. I also talk to all my birds in Yinglish daily because I’m trying to make them truly multicultural, & I’m a bird “whisperer” too.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Best & Worst Used Cars

Tips & Advice
Provided by:
Best and worst used cars
March 2009

The most reliable models and the ones to avoid

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on Yahoo!.
Value-minded consumers know that buying a reliable used car is often the best choice but that finding one takes research. Here we identify the proven Best of the Best in nine categories. They're vehicles with multiple years of above-average reliability, covering 1999 through 2008, that scored well in our tests when new.

Toyota and Honda vehicles dominated the majority of the nine categories, demonstrating consistent reliability and performance. But some recent domestic models are also worthy choices, including the Buick Lucerne (V8), Ford Fusion, and Mercury Milan.

Reliability data are derived from our Annual Auto Survey, which generated responses about more than 1.4 million new and used vehicles. The Best of the best and Worst of the worst are based on our larger lists of Reliable used cars and Used cars to avoid (both available to subscribers). These comprehensive lists give you a rundown of all the models that were found, from our data, to be above or below average in reliability. Owners reported on any serious problems they had had with their cars, minivans, SUVs, and pickup trucks in the previous year. For advice on shopping for a used car, see our used car buying guide.

To minimize the risks, look for vehicles that have proved to be reliable. The following lists of models from 1999 through 2008 will steer you to the gems (and away from the duds) among the thousands of used vehicles on the market.

Honda Civic
Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is reliable, economical, and fun to drive. It grew with the 2001 redesign, and 2003 saw the introduction of the Hybrid model. The 2006 redesign included standard antilock brakes (ABS), curtain air bags, and a better ride. An alternative with more cargo room is the Scion xB, which also has standard electronic stability control.

Other good choices:
• Toyota Echo
• Scion xB
• Toyota Corolla
• Toyota Matrix
• Pontiac Vibe
• Mazda3
• Mazda Protege
• Subaru Impreza


Family cars
Honda Accord

The Accord has been a very reliable used-car choice. The 2003 redesign made it quieter and more agile, and it received standard ABS. Standard ESC arrived on V6 models in 2006 and on all models with the 2008 redesign. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan have very good reliability, tested well, and are very affordable.

Other good choices:
• Toyota Prius
• Ford Fusion
• Mercury Milan
• Toyota Camry (except '08 V6)
• Subaru Outback (6-cyl.)
• Nissan Altima

Upscale cars
Lexus ES

The ES has been very reliable through its many generations. This quiet and comfortable sedan was redesigned in 1997 and 2002 but got a stronger, more fuel-efficient engine in 2004. ESC became standard in 2007. The Acura TL and TSX are sportier alternatives.

Other good choices:
• Lexus IS
• Toyota Avalon
• Acura TSX
• Lincoln MKZ, Zephyr (FWD)
• Infiniti G20
• Acura TL
• Infiniti I30, I35
• Infiniti G35 (sedan)
• Volvo S60
• Buick Lucerne (V8)
• Nissan Maxima

Luxury cars
Infiniti M35

Since 2003 the M has been a reliable model, but the 2006 redesign made it comfortable when cruising the highway and on twisty roads. The V6 is strong, and the interior is well finished. The Lexus LS is a more luxurious choice.

Other good choices

• Lexus LS
• Lexus GS (6-cyl., RWD)
• Acura RL

Sports and sporty cars
Mazda Miata

The slick shifter, nimble handling, and good performance make the affordable and reliable Miata fun to drive. ABS became standard with the 2006 redesign; look for the optional ABS on older models. A practical alternative is the Subaru WRX, which gives great performance along with standard AWD and four doors.

Other good choices
• Lexus SC
• Honda S2000
• Toyota Camry Solara
• Acura RSX
• Toyota Celica
• Scion tC
• BMW Z3, Z4
• Acura Integra
• Porsche Boxster
• BMW M3
• Subaru Impreza WRX/STi
• Ford Mustang (V6)
• Nissan 350Z

Minivans
Toyota Sienna

Toyota's first-generation Sienna is refined, but the third-row accommodations are snug. In 2003 a redesigned Sienna went on sale. It is roomier and more powerful, and it's available with AWD. Reliability has been very good overall. The Honda Odyssey isn't as plush but has better handling.

Another good choice:
•Honda Odyssey
Small SUVs
Toyota RAV4

Introduced in 1996, the RAV4 was the first car-based SUV. It was agile and comfortable but small and underpowered. The 2001 redesign brought more power and a roomier interior. ESC arrived in 2004. For 2006 Toyota added an available third row. Throughout its life the RAV4 has had stellar reliability.

Other good choices:
• Honda CR-V
• Subaru Forester
• Mitsubishi Outlander

Midsized and large SUVs
Honda Pilot

Introduced in 2003, the Pilot is roomier than its MDX sibling and less expensive. It's roomy and refined, delivers good fuel economy, and has flexible seating for eight. Crash-test results are impressive, and reliability has been excellent. The Toyota Highlander is a good choice with an optional third-row seat.

Other good choices:
• Toyota Highlander
• Lexus RX
• Toyota Land Cruiser
• Toyota 4Runner
• Infiniti FX35
• Acura MDX
• Infiniti QX4
• Lexus GX
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Subaru Tribeca
• Nissan Xterra ('05-08)
• Toyota Sequoia

Pickup trucks
Honda Ridgeline

Honda's pickup rides and handles like a sedan but delivers the utility of a truck. The V6 engine is smooth and responsive, and the cabin is nicely detailed and easy to access. The in-bed, weather-tight, and lockable trunk is a plus. Opt for the Tundra if you need more towing or off-roading capability.
Other good choices:

• Toyota Tacoma ('05-08)
• Toyota Tundra
• Subaru Baja
• Nissan Frontier ('05-08)

Worst of the worst

These have multiple years of much-worse-than-average reliability among 1999 to 2008 models. Listed alphabetically.

Audi A6 Allroad
Audi A8
BMW X5 (V8)
Buick Rendezvous (AWD)
Cadillac SRX
Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet Colorado (4WD)
Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Chevrolet Uplander
Chevrolet Venture
Chrysler Pacifica
Chrysler Sebring convertible
Chrysler Town & Country (AWD)
Dodge Grand Caravan (AWD)
GMC Canyon (4WD)
GMC Jimmy
GMC S-15 Sonoma (4WD) Jeep Grand Cherokee
Kia Sedona
Land Rover Discovery, LR3
Mazda RX-8
Oldsmobile Bravada
Oldsmobile Silhouette
Pontiac Aztek
Pontiac G6 (V6)
Pontiac Montana, Montana SV6
Porsche Cayenne
Saturn Relay
Volkswagen Cabrio
Volkswagen Jetta (V6)
Volkswagen New Beetle (turbo)
Volkswagen Passat (V6, FWD)
Volkswagen Touareg
Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

How Cap and Trade will Work (or not).

In just a few minutes you'll clearly see the writing-on-the-wall as to how Cap-n-Trade will work (or not!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On October 31,2009, the once largest aluminum plant in the world will shut down. With it goes another American industry and more American jobs. The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in Montana will shut down its aluminum production because it cannot purchase the necessary electrical power to continue its operations.

How did this happen in America? America was once the envy of the world in its industrial capability. America's industrial capacity built America into the most productive nation the world had ever known. Its standard of living rose to levels never before accomplished. Its currency became valuable and powerful, allowing Americans to purchase imported goods at relatively cheap prices.

America grew because of innovation and hard work by the pioneers of the industrial revolution, and because America has vast natural resources. A great economy, as America once was, is founded on the ability to produce electrical energy at low cost. This ability has been extinguished. Why?

Columbia Falls Aluminum negotiated a contract with Bonneville Power Administration in 2006 for Bonneville to supply electrical power until September 30, 2011. But, responding to lawsuits, the 9th US Circuit Court ruled the contract was invalid because it was incompatible with the Northwest Power Act. Therefore, the combination of the Northwest Power Act and a US Circuit Court were the final villains that caused the shutdown of Columbia Falls Aluminum.

But the real reasons are much more complicated. Why was it not possible for Columbia Falls Aluminum to find sources of electricity other than Bonneville?

We need to look no further than the many environmental groups like the Sierra Club and to America's elected officials who turned their backs on American citizens and in essence themselves, for they too are citizens of this country. These officials bought into the green agenda promoted by the heavily funded environmental groups. Caving to pressure, they passed laws and the environmental groups filed lawsuits that began turning off the lights in America. The dominos started to fall.

They began stopping nuclear power plants in the 1970's. They locked up much of our coal and oil resources with land laws. They passed tax credits, which forces taxpayers to foot the bill for billionaire investors to save taxes by investing in less productive wind and solar energy projects.

In 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency called a meeting of atmospheric scientists and others with environmental interests. I remember well the meeting I attended in the San Francisco Bay Area. The meeting was in a theater-like lecture room with the seating curved to face the center stage and rising rapidly toward the back of the room. Attending were many atmospheric scientists whom I knew from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Stanford Research Institute and some local colleges.

The room became silent when a man walked up to the lectern. He told us that the next big national problem was global warming. He explained how human carbon dioxide emissions were trapping the earth's radiation like a greenhouse and causing the atmosphere to heat beyond its normal temperature. He said this will lead to environmental disasters. He finished by saying the EPA will now concentrate its research funding toward quantifying the disasters that would be caused by our carbon dioxide.

The room was silent. I was the first to raise my hand to ask a question, "How can you defend your global warming hypothesis when you have omitted the effects of clouds which affect heat balance far more than carbon dioxide, and when your hypothesis contradicts the paper by Lee * in the Journal of Applied Meteorology in 1973 that shows the atmosphere does not behave like a greenhouse?"

He answered me by saying, "You do not know what you are talking about. I know more about how the atmosphere works than you do."

Not being one to drop out of a fight, I responded, "I know many of the atmospheric scientists in this room, and many others who are not present but I do not know you. What is your background and what makes you know so much more than me?"

He answered, "I know more than you because I am a lawyer and I work for the EPA."

After the meeting, many of my atmospheric science friends who worked for public agencies thanked me for what I said, saying they would have liked to say the same thing but they feared for their jobs.

And that, my dear readers, is my recollection of that great day when a lawyer, acting as a scientist, working for the federal government, announced global warming.

Fast forward to today. The federal government is spending 1,000 times more money to promote the global warming charade than is available to those scientists who are arguing against it. Never before in history has it taken a massive publicity campaign to convince the public of a scientific truth. The only reason half the public thinks global warming may be true is the massive amount of money put into global warming propaganda.

The green eco-groups have their umbilical cords in the government's tax funds. Aside from a few honest but duped scientists living on government money, the majority of the alarms about global warming - now called "climate change" because it's no longer warming - come from those who have no professional training in atmospheric science. They are the environmentalists, the ecologists, the lawyers and the politicians. They are not the reliable atmospheric scientists whom I know.

Nevertheless, our politicians have passed laws stating that carbon dioxide is bad. See California's AB32 which is based upon science fiction. (For readers who take issue with me, I will be happy to destroy your arguments in another place. In this paper, we focus on the damage to America that is being caused by those promoting the global warming fraud.)

In the year 2000, America planned 150 new coal-electric power plants. These power plants would have been "clean" by real standards but the Greens managed to have carbon dioxide defined legally as "dirty" and this new definition makes all emitters of carbon dioxide, including you, a threat to the planet. Therefore, using legal illogic, the Sierra Club stopped 82 of these planned power plants under Bush II and they expect it will be a slam dunk to stop the rest under Obama.

And now you know the real reason the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company had to shut down. America stopped building new power plants a long time ago. There is now no other source where the company can buy energy. Our energy-producing capability is in a decline and it is taking America with it.

I used to belong to the Sierra Club in the 1960's. It used to be a nice hiking club. In the late 1960's the Sierra Club began turning its attention toward stopping nuclear power. Then I quit the Sierra Club. It continues to prosper from the many subscribers who think they are supporting a good cause. What they are really supporting is the destruction of America brick by brick. The Sierra Club and similar organizations are like watermelons - green on the outside, red on the inside. They are telling us we have no right to our own natural resources, and in doing so they are sinking America.

Inherent in ecology are three assumptions: "natural" conditions are optimal, climate is fragile, and human influences are bad. Physics makes no such assumptions. By assuming climate is fragile, the global warming supporters have assumed their conclusion. In fact, the climate is not fragile. It is stable. The non-adherence to physical logic in the global warming camp is what makes many physical scientists say that global warming is a religion.

So we have a new age religion promoted by environmentalists, incorporated into our laws and brainwashed into our people that is now destroying America from the inside.

Like a vast ship, America is taking a long time to sink but each day it sinks a little further. The fearsome day awaits, when America, if not quickly recovered by its real citizens, will tilt its nose into the water to begin a rapid and final descent into oblivion ... her many resources saved for whom?

--Edwin X Berry, PhD

References:

* R. Lee: "The 'greenhouse' effect" J. Appl. Meteor. 12, 556-557 (1973)

Gerhard Gerlich and Ralf D. Tscheuschner: "Falsification of the Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics," Version 4.0 (January 6, 2009)

International Journal of Modern Physics B, Vol. 23, No. 3 (2009) 275-364.

http://www.worldscinet.com/ijmpb/23/2303/S02179792092303.html

Page 37: "Lee's paper is a milestone marking the day after which every serious scientist or science educator is no longer allowed to compare the greenhouse with the atmosphere."

Bulgarian Jews Saved in WWII

A great many Jews know the story of how the Danes rescued 8K Jews from the Nazi's by smuggling them to Sweden in fishing boats.

Very few Jews, know the story of how all 50K Bulgarian Jews were saved.

Not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported to the death camps, due to the heroism of many Bulgarians of every walk of life, up to & including the King & the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

In 1999, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti Defamation League flew with a delegation to Sophia to meet the Bulgarian Prime Minister & gave him the first Bulgarian language copy of a remarkable book, "Beyond Hitler's Grasp," written in 1998, by Michael Bar Oar, a professor at Emory University. (A Bulgarian Jew who had migrated to Israel & then the US). This book documents the rescue effort in detail. The ADL paid for & shipped 30K copies to Bulgaria. So that the population could partake in the joy of learning about this heroic facet of their history.

This story is clearly the last great secret of the Holocaust era. The story was buried by the Bulgarian Communists, until their downfall in 1991.

All records were sealed, since they opposed glorifying the King, Church, or Communist parliamentarians, who at great personal risk, stood up to the Germans. And the Bulgarian Jewish Community, 45K of -whom went to Israel after the War, were- busy building new lives, & somehow the story remained untold.

Bulgaria is a small country & at the outset of the War they had 8 Million people.

They aligned themselves with the Nazi's in hopes of recapturing Macedonia from Yugoslavia & Thrace from Greece.

Both provinces were stripped from them after W.W.I. In late 1942 the Jews of Selonica were shipped north through Bulgaria, on the way to the death camps, in sealed box cars. The news of this inhumanity was a hot topic of conversation.

In early 1943, the pro Nazi Bulgarian government was informed that all 50,000 Bulgarian Jews would be deported in March. The Jews had been made to wear yellow stars & were highly visible. As the date for the deportation got closer, the agitation got greater.

43 ruling party members of Parliament walked out in protest. Newspapers denounced what was about to happen. In addition, the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Krill, threatened to lie down on the railroad tracks. Finally, King Boris III forbade the deportation.

Since Bulgaria was an ally of Germany, & the Germans were stretched militarily, they had to wrestle with the problem of how much pressure they could afford to apply. They decided to pass.

Several points are noteworthy: The Bulgarian Jews were relatively unreligious & did not stand apart from the local populace by virtue of garb, or rites.

They were relatively poor by comparison to Jews in other countries, & they lived in integrated neighborhoods. Additionally, the Bulgarians had many minorities, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, & Gypsies, in addition to Jews.

There was no concept of racism in that culture. The bottom line here is that Bulgarians saw Bulgarian-Jews as Bulgarians V. Jews. And, being a small country, like Denmark, where there was a closeness of community that is often missing in larger countries. So, here was a bright spot that we can point to as example of what should've been.

The most famous of those saved was a young graduate of the Bulgarian Military Academy. When he arrived in Israel, he changed his name...to Moshe Dayan.
What a great story to pass on....

A Military Can Do Wonders for an Economy

A Military Can Do Wonders for an Economy
Understanding Israel’s economic miracle.

Why is Israel so economically successful? Dan Senor and Saul Singer go beyond stereotypes and beyond the continuing Mideast conflict to analyze this question in their new book, Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. Senor, a former Bush-administration official in Iraq, took questions from National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez on what Israel’s done right, what stands in her way, and how we can learn a little from our ally.

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: What’s so special about Israel?
DAN SENOR: Israel represents the highest concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world today: the most start-ups per capita; the highest percentage of GDP invested in civilian R&D; more companies on NASDAQ than all of Europe, Korea, Japan, India, and China combined; and the biggest destination for global venture capital per capita. Israel raises 2.5 times as much global venture capital as the U.S., 30 times more than Europe, 80 times more than India, and 350 times more than China — and these numbers are from 2008, when the world was in the midst of an economic meltdown. Israel all but escaped the crisis that ripped through economies everywhere else.

LOPEZ: What makes Israel an economic miracle? What’s most impressive?
DAN SENOR: The jaw-dropping data above would be impressive for any country, but to accomplish all this while under a near-total regional economic boycott, under physical attack, and absorbing millions of refugees in a tiny country with no resources is hard to comprehend.

LOPEZ: What’s the secret of its success?
DAN SENOR: Our book dives into many interacting factors, but one of the most important is the training and battlefield experience that most Israelis receive in the military. The military is where many Israelis learn to lead and manage people, improvise, become mission-oriented, work in teams, and contribute to their country.

They tend to come out of their years of service (three for men, two for women) more mature and directed than their peers in other countries. They learn “the value of five minutes,” as one general told us. They even learn something more uniquely Israeli: to speak up — regardless of ranks and hierarchy — if they think things can be done better.

LOPEZ: Where has Israel fallen behind?
DAN SENOR: The non-tech portion of the economy is overconcentrated, overregulated, and overtaxed, and has consequently performed at a mediocre level. If the conditions that have allowed the high-tech sector to flourish were applied to the rest of the economy, Israel could grow even faster. If Israel also were to address the low labor-force-participation rates in certain demographics, we agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel could become one of the top ten largest economies in the world.

LOPEZ: Has this been an ethical success story?
DAN SENOR: We believe that the free-market system is progressively eliminating the extreme poverty that was the lot of the world throughout history. This process is largely driven by improvements in productivity, which are in part a result of advancements in technology, especially by small, scrappy start-ups. Also, Israel has specialized in life-enhancing and life-saving technologies like medical devices, water conservation, desalination, and irrigation, not to mention the information technology that is making the world smaller.
The great thing about innovation is that, unlike physical resources, ideas can be shared & duplicated by all without taking from anyone else.

LOPEZ: Is there something particularly Jewish about Israel’s success?
DAN SENOR: Many people conjecture that there is something specifically Jewish at work. The notion that Jews are “smart” has become deeply embedded in the Western psyche. We saw this ourselves; when we told people we were writing a book about why Israel is so innovative, many reacted by saying, “It’s simple — Jews are smart, so it’s no surprise that Israel is innovative.” But pinning Israel’s success on a stereotype obscures more than it reveals.

For starters, the idea of a unitary Jewishness — whether genetic or cultural — would seem to have little applicability to a nation that, though small, is among the most heterogeneous in the world. Israel’s tiny population is made up of some 70 different nationalities. A Jewish refugee from Iraq and one from Poland or Ethiopia did not share a language, education, culture, or history — at least not for the two previous millennia. As Irish economist David McWilliams explains, “Israel is quite the opposite of a uni-dimensional, Jewish country. . . . It is a monotheistic melting pot of a Diaspora that brought back with it the culture, language, and customs of the four corners of the earth.”

While a common prayer book and a shared legacy of persecution count for something, it was far from clear that this disparate group could form a functioning country at all, let alone one that would excel at — of all things — teamwork and innovation.
Indeed, Israel’s secret seems to lie in something more than just the talent of individuals. There are lots of places with talented people, certainly with many times the number of engineers that Israel has to offer. Singaporean students, for example, lead the world in science and mathematics test scores. Multinationals have set up shop in places like India and Ireland, too. “But we don’t set up our mission-critical work in those countries,” an American executive from eBay told us. “Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, e-Bay . . .the list goes on. The best-kept secret is that we all live and die by the work of our Israeli teams. It’s much more than just outsourcing call centers to India or setting up IT services in Ireland. What we do in Israel is unlike what we do anywhere else in the world.”
LOPEZ: What’s the Buffett test?

DAN SENOR: Without spoiling the surprise, let’s just say that Warren Buffett — the apostle of risk aversion — bought his first company overseas in 2006 while Hezbollah’s katusha rockets were landing near the company’s factories. This was his $4 billion acquisition of the manufacturing company Iscar, and the deal was being closed in the midst of the Lebanon War. Buffett didn’t blink. He went through with the deal. Even up against such geopolitical and security volatility, he bet on the Israelis, and in the book, we describe the test he used to justify that bet. It’s key to understanding why so many investors and multinational companies (Cisco has bought nine Israeli companies and is looking to buy more) are willing to take the risk to do business in Israel.

LOPEZ: Can we have an economic miracle too?
DAN SENOR: Yes! America has untapped “Israeli” potential in the tens of thousands of returning veterans whose leadership experience is not appreciated by the American corporate world.

U.S. vets coming out of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are better prepared than ever for the business world, whether building start-ups or helping lead larger companies through the current turbulent period. Yet the capacity of U.S. corporate recruiters and executives to make sense of combat experience and its value in the business world is limited. As Israeli entrepreneur Jon Medved explained, most American businesspeople simply do not know how to read a military résumé.

U.S. military career adviser Al Chase told us that many vets he’s worked with have walked a business interviewer through all their leadership experiences from the battlefield, including case studies in high-stakes decision making & management of large numbers of people & equipment in a war zone, & at the end of it the interviewer has said something along the lines of, “That’s very interesting, but have u ever had a real job?”

In Israel, it is the opposite. While Israeli businesses still look for private-sector experience, military service provides the critical standardized metric for employers — all of whom know what it means to be an officer or to have served in an elite unit. Our book explores ways in which the U.S. might close the cultural gap between the business world and the military communities in the U.S.
LOPEZ: Can economic miracles lead to peace?

DAN SENOR: Israel’s economic success has been a key component in convincing the Arab world that its existence is permanent in the region, which is the threshold incentive for the Arab world to end its attempts to destroy Israel. The moment the Arab world is ready for peace, the opportunities for economic cooperation are great, and Israel could play a pivotal role in helping regional economies advance.
LOPEZ: If Israel is so smart, why can’t it seem to fully outsmart its enemies?
DAN SENOR: Well, on the one hand, you have to be pretty deft and tenacious to be surrounded by enemies who’ve been at war with you since the dawn of your existence and still function like the Israelis do each day. On the other hand, it is remarkable that the Arab world has been attacking Israel incessantly yet has managed to paint Israel as the aggressor.

LOPEZ: Could Iran easily end all this success?
DAN SENOR: No, but if Iran goes nuclear, the possibilities for regional peace shrink to nil, and this is a great opportunity lost for Israel and the Arabs alike.
LOPEZ: What is the biggest threat facing Israel?

DAN SENOR: The threat of radical Islamists backed by an Iranian nuclear umbrella, but this is a threat that would cast a pall over global security and prosperity, not just Israel.
LOPEZ: What makes you two economists all of a sudden, by the way?
DAN SENOR: Aha, you have discovered that this is not a book about economics, really, but culture, history, and chutzpah. We came at this story with the tools of policy analysis, investment experience, and journalism, and tried to tell it for non-economists like ourselves.

LOPEZ: It’s hard not to notice the prominent “A Council on Foreign Relations Book.” When did Israel buy the Trilateral Commission?
DAN SENOR: You’ll have to read the book to find out; but we’re not sure that even we will be able to validate that conspiracy theory.— Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor-at-large of National Review Online.