Good morning!

My New Warning: Avoid THESE Medical Treatments Whenever Possible

By Dr. Mercola

In 2008, U.S. health care expenditures continued to skyrocket, growing at an annual rate of 4.4 percent for the year, slower than some recent years, yet still outpacing inflation and the growth of national income.

The total spending was about $7,681 per American and accounted for 16.2 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest of any industrialized country.

Medically unnecessary procedures, hospitalizations and prescription drugs all contributed to this figure of almost $8,000 per person living in the US.

So, what exactly are we getting for our money?

The Medical Paradigm Today: Promoting Profits over Prevention

Currently, the U.S. spends more on health care than any other country in the world. According to the Kaiser Foundation, health care costs in 2008 in the U.S. were over $2.3 trillion. That’s more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 1980. With these continually rising costs of healthcare in the US, you would think the quality of medical care would be the best on the planet.

The question is this – what are we buying with all this money?

Authentic health?

Or is this money just fueling a booming profit center for the corporations supplying us with a commodity that they are marketing as “health care”?

Are Americans Actually Living in a “Sick” Care Model?

Americans’ overall (declining) health and their access to state-of-the-art medical facilities factor into these exorbitant yearly health care expenditures. But a majority of these costs, when put under the microscope, clearly have more to do with promoting ever increasing corporate profits than with making Americans healthier. From government agencies like the FDA to the insurance empire, to health care providers and big pharma, the new primary goal of health care industry in the US has transformed into making money off of sick people.

The drug industry in particular is now primarily focused on treating illness, not promoting health, and has an industry market outlook projection of over $880 billion in sales in 2011. That’s equal to one-third of TOTAL health care expenditures in 2008!

And guess what?

Top selling drugs have nothing to do with preventive health either physical or mental! The vast majority of them are sold to you based on their ability to lower or reduce isolated symptoms coming from an underlying imbalance in your body.

The more imbalance inside you, the more symptoms, and the more symptoms the more drugs you need.

That’s what the drug companies have been telling America for the better part of two centuries, starting with the “patent medicines” formulations from yesteryear. It seems to me that the drug companies have now taken patent medicines to their ultimate pinnacle: a pill for every symptom needed every day.

Is this not a phenomenal business model?

The only thing they need to keep raking in their billions in profits is an endless supply of symptoms, which precludes allowing you to regain your optimal health, because that would drive you out of their business model. An optimally healthy American does NOT fit in their business model.

The sooner you realize this, the sooner you and your family can “opt out” of the health industry’s current “sick care” model and truly begin to regain your health.

Drug Companies are NOT the Only Profit Center in the “Sick Care” Business Model

What may shock you — it’s not just the drug industry that looks at sickness as a Wall Street commodity. Hospitals, surgeons, anesthesiologists – even medical schools – make costly treatments the primary tenets of their health care goals, rather than stressing far more cost effective preventive care.

For years the business of putting people in the hospital was so great that in 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started a campaign to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations.

As an example of the cost of these unnecessary admissions, the state of Texas determined it could save $13.5 million a year by preventing just one unnecessary hospitalization in every health agency in the state! Multiply that by every state in the union, and that would equall hundreds of millions of dollars in savings each year.

Hospitals aren’t alone in cashing in on your continuing sickness. Surgeons, for example, are always looking for ways to maximize their profits. The online Becker’s Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) Review even tells surgeons how to add to their bottom line by increasing outpatient services:

• Ear, nose and throat specialists (ENTs) are advised to put tubes in children’s ears (myringotomies), and to perform tonsillectomies, corrective surgeries on noses, and endoscopic procedures which take very little time but add to the coffers. It takes 15 to 30 minutes to do a septoplasty (nose reconstruction) and insurance companies pay an average of $1,600, the Review advises the ENTs. Endoscopy can take 30 minutes to two hours and pays up to $10,000.
• Orthopedic and spinal surgeons are encouraged to pad their paychecks by adding ancillary services such as physical therapy, performing MRI/Imaging and electromyography nerve testing (EMGs), selling durable medical equipment for use in a patient’s home, and to invest in their own private ambulatory surgery center, if they haven’t already.
• Urologists are told to consider doing endoscopic procedures on the urethra, prostate, and bladder, and to perform a variety of incontinence procedures for both men and women.
• They also can add to their income by using a neurostimulating device with patients with overactive bladder – a procedure that typically brings in $15,000 per patient – and by performing kidney and urethral stone removals, penile implants, and vasectomy reversals. The penile implants can be done on patients as young as 19 or as old as 90, the Review says, to the tune of $9,000 to $10,000 per patient.

While I would hope none of these procedures are ever done unnecessarily, how can you tell what’s necessary and what’s frivolous?

You can’t.

The Mental Health Industry-The Most Absurd of All

Surgeons aren’t the only specialists padding their paychecks. The mental health industry, for example, is so eager to find something new to treat that they are constantly updating their psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Their manual has been controversial in the past, but the latest version, DSM-V, has to be regarded as the most questionable ever devised because they’ve now listed people with a variety of previously ordinary conditions as suddenly having a treatable mental illness, such as children who struggle with math problems or kids who can’t easily master writing skills!

If you think that’s crazy, then know that one disorder that didn’t make the manual was something they were planning to dub “psychosis risk syndrome.” Had it been approved, “PRS” would have “identified” treatable children by predicting they would get a mental illness as early as at birth, which could then be treated before it occurred.

I’m not making this up.

Psychiatrists actually supported this lame-brained idea. Luckily, the former chair of a previous DSM task force, Allen Frances, had enough ethics to stop that one, stating that this “syndrome” stood out as:

“…the most ill-conceived and potentially harmful” diagnosis they’d ever contrived, and that it would “misidentify many teenagers who are not really at risk for psychosis.” He also said “the treatment they would most often receive (atypical antipsychotic medication) has no proven efficacy.”

Allen then added that such a “diagnosis” would encourage more drug marketing (surprise, surprise!), as well as influence parents and clinicians to use this contrived new “disorder” to treat children. I agree – particularly since we already know that drug prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have nearly tripled in the past 15 years, with unprecedented numbers of children under age 18 taking them.

In fact, according to Medscape.com, the number of children on Medicaid (an entity the government can easily track) who were prescribed antipsychotics doubled (twice as many profit centers for big pharma) between 2001 and 2005.

In four years the number of Medicaid children on antipsychotics doubled, is this not cause for serious alarm? Why haven’t you heard about this in the mainstream media, if indeed the number of psychotic children in the Medicaid population has doubled so rapidly?

And there’s more, a whopping 41.3 percent of these “psychotic” children have no identifiable reason to support taking these mind-altering drugs!

The Wall Street Journal added that between 2002 and 2007, antipsychotic prescriptions for children increased by a staggering 44.6 percent – making up a now incredible 15 percent of TOTAL antipsychotic drug sales. Is this merely a newly identified market for these legal drug pushers to infiltrate? Or have our children suddenly all become “unhinged” at once?

And if the latter is truly the case, why aren’t alarm bells going off at government agencies if 15 percent America’s TOTAL diagnosed psychotic population is now under 18 years of age?

Isn’t this a pretty profound statistic about the future of the US?

Ironically, this takes us back to where we started – the overprescribing of prescription drugs. When you consider that health officials say that many other drugs like cholesterol medicines and antibiotics are also overprescribed, it’s easy see why our drug-based health care costs are skyrocketing.

Newer Technology Means Higher Bills but Few Additional Benefits

Another factor in escalating medical costs in the U.S. is the ever-increasing use of new technology – again, often when it’s not indicated or needed. Hospitals claim their largest expense is connected to wages and labor-related benefits, but the Kaiser Foundation reports that the development and use of new medical technology may account for one-half or more of long-term medical cost growth.

In simple language that means that hospitals are acquiring and using the latest new equipment. That is supposed to mean better outcomes for patients – but as bnet.com points out, it also raises questions about whether all that new equipment really is necessary? A 2009 study found that Americans spent $85.9 billion each year for imaging, surgery, drugs, and doctors’ visits for lower-back pain-most of it for no benefit.

According to Ray Baker, president of the North American Spine Society, in Newsweek Magazine in March 2010:

“The use of MRI within six weeks of the start of lower-back pain is not only not useful, but it increases the number of surgeries, treatments, and costs.”

It’s no secret that the U.S. is the world’s No. 1 user of MRI scans. But did you know that orthopedic surgeons are notorious for padding their pockets by ordering them, and then performing them in their own offices? This is a concern because it’s estimated that the U.S. spends $700 billion every year on all kinds of unnecessary medical tests that do not benefit patients. Again, that would be nearly ONE-THIRD of what the US spent on total health care in 2008!

That means prescriptions drugs and unnecessary medical tests equals TWO-THIRDS of all health care expenditures in 2008 dollars! Now I hope you are beginning to understand where this staggering amount of money the US spends on “health care” is actually going.

These unnecessary tests include:

• Routine CT scans in the ER.
• Antibiotics for cold viruses that are not even treatable with antibiotics.
• Pap tests for women who don’t have a cervix.

Sadly, unnecessary screenings and treatments in themselves are also part of the “sick care” model that are particularly dangerous – 30,000 Americans covered by Medicare are killed every year by unnecessary medical procedures, according to Dr. Elliott Fisher of Dartmouth Medical School.

Do you see the FDA moving to warn Americans to be wary or unnecessary medical procedures? It’s a rhetorical question, because the FDA now views the drug and medical industries as their “partner” and “client”, not as industries that the public needs to be protected against!

And while this information may not sit well with orthopedic and spine surgeons who were hoping they could increase the number of spinal procedures this year, the truth is that ineffectual spinal fusions surgeries could be adding as much as $11.1 billion to the annual cost of medical care in America. As reported in an April 2010 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers concluded that patients who had a complex – and expensive – spinal fusion were nearly three times as likely to develop a life-threatening complication and the surgeries didn’t result in dramatically better outcomes.

Even Conventional Medicine Questions these Practices

This above referenced JAMA article questioned why these types of operations had increased 15-fold in just six years (surprise!)while the hospital charges increased 40 percent (surprise!).

The authors’ answer:

“The introduction and marketing of new surgical devices and the influence of key opinion leaders may stimulate more invasive surgery, even in the absence of new indications.”…Financial incentives to hospitals and surgeons for more complex procedures may (also) play a role as may desires of surgeons to be local innovators.”

What more can I say?

The author is outright admitting that one reason medical care is so expensive in the U.S. is because of financial incentives and themarketing of new devices. And surgeons who are “local innovators” are innovating what, exactly?

Better marketing techniques for expensive procedures?

Remember, according to the same article, the patients who received these new procedures did not have dramatically better outcomes. Did I mention that the article also points out that life-threatening complications from these unnecessary surgeries nearly TRIPLED, and that hospital stays also increased – making the average cost for one of these procedures balloon from an average of $23,724 to $80,888?

Profits promoted over preventative care. Is this not a fitting picture of exactly what’s wrong with health care in America?

Female Patients Translate into Huge Possibilities for the Bottom Line

Women stand the greatest risk of receiving an unnecessary medical procedure. If you are a female living in the US, when it comes to healthcare, you might as well have a target on your back.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one-third of American women have had a hysterectomy by age 60; and half of them have had one by age 65. Yet 85 percent of these surgeries are unnecessary, according to Ernst Bartsich, a clinical associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.

This adds up to more than $17 billion a year on direct doctor and hospital charges for hysterectomies.

If you’ve had a complete hysterectomy, meaning you’ve also had your ovaries and cervix removed, you don’t need a Pap test, which examines cells scraped from your cervix. Yet, a study in 2004 showed that 10 million women a year who don’t have a cervix are still getting Pap tests consisting of a scraping of cells from their vaginal walls – when no professional organization recommends this screening for women without a cervix!

For younger women who are in their child-bearing years, the health profession has found a different way to make money off you, to the tune of an extra $3 billion a year.

Spontaneous deliveries – waiting for a baby to come on its own – can be time-consuming for modern doctors, and can test your patience if you’re the mom-to-be. That’s why today 32 percent of American births today are through Caesarean sections (C-sections).

According to Intermountain Healthcare, C-sections are costly in more ways than one:

• They are the most common surgical procedure performed in America, increasing more than 50 percent since the 1990s.
• They cost an average of $16,671, compared to $9,428 for a vaginal delivery.
• Many are being done after a pre-term, elective induction that hasn’t proceeded quickly enough.

Additionally, a New England Journal of Medicine study showed women have up to four times the risk of complications with a C-section than a vaginal birth, ranging between $2,000 and $200,000 in additional costs.

And the complications can be serious, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, putting the babies at increased risk of brain, liver, and lung development problems. Caesarean-delivered babies are also more likely to need CPR, and to have significantly higher rates of respiratory distress, sepsis and hypoglycemia.

So why are C-sections so prevalent?

It’s largely a desire for control on the part of families, physicians and hospitals, the WSJ reported.

And according to USA Today, there’s another reason: “economic incentives” for doctors and hospitals to use these procedures,including bonuses for labor inductions which add costs and increase the risks for C-sections (surprise!).

So there you have it: for the sake of economic incentives, convenience, and control over what day and even time of day the birth occurs, babies’ lives are being put in danger – at an additional annual cost of $3 billion to the U.S. health care system.

From birth through teenage years, our current health care system has a goal of maximizing each new little profit center we usher into their business model. Because that’s what the system is designed to do, put profits first at the expense of everything else, including the health of our babies.

What chance do YOU have against this system?

Educating yourself and your family to their business model and their seemingly endless tricks to maximize profits. Because an educated and healthy consumer is the worst enemy of our current “sick care” model that passes for health care in the US.

Wait a Minute, Isn’t This Outrageous?

The drug and medical industry’s mounting greed IS outrageous, especially when you consider in this specific instance of C-sections the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that 33 to 75 percent of C-sections are totally unnecessary! What’s really maddening is that a study done between 2005 and 2006 showed that the cost of hospital charges for maternal and newborn care rose from $79 billion to $86 billion in just one year, with $2.5 billion of it as a result of unnecessary C-sections. In fact, delivering babies is the #1 profit center in hospitals, and rising every year.

Some points to ponder:

• In 2008 (latest data available) facility charges billed for “mother’s pregnancy and delivery ” and “newborn infants” ($98 billion) far exceeded charges for any other hospital condition in the United States.
• “Mother’s pregnancy and delivery” and “newborn infants” were the two most expensive conditions billed to Medicaid in 2008, involving 26 percent of hospital charges to Medicaid, or $46 billion.
• Nineteen other countries in the world have lower C-section rates than the U.S.; 29 nations have lower maternal mortality rates; 35 have lower early neonatal mortality rates; and 33 have lower neonatal mortality rates.

This last statistic is particularly concerning, because despite outspending every nation on the planet on healthcare, there are 29 or more countries ahead of the US in key childbirth related mortality rates. Simply stated, the US spends more money to have more mothers and both pre-term and full-term children die than just about 30 other nations.

But I’d venture a guess that our profit margins for corporations contributing to these staggeringly bad mortality numbers is NOT below those in the other 30 nations that are safer places to have a baby.

And if there were stockholders who held shares in something called the “public health” corporation, they would be in absolute revolt over these numbers and boards of directors of this corporation would be under pressure to resign. Wait a minute, isn’t the US Government the head of something much akin to a “public health” corporation?

So where is the outrage in the shareholders (you)?

Some Top-Selling Drugs Cause More Harm than Good

I don’t even need to say the word Vioxx to explain how some drugs do more harm than good. From anti-psychotics to pain-killers, cancer drugs and statins, many top-selling drugs are nothing more than ways to make drug companies and drug prescribers simply richer.

As an example, I’m offering this short list of drugs that, like Vioxx, have shown they can cause harm. But be aware: This is just a sampling. The list of all the drugs that belong in this category is so long it’s not possible to include them all here:

• Avandia, the diabetes drug for which its maker, GlaxoSmithKline, has agreed to pay $250 million to settle 5,500 claims, can cause heart attacks and kill users. GSK said in January it planned to set aside $6.4 billion for costs relating to litigation on this drug. LINE BREAK Avandia was recently pulled off the market in Europe due to its health risks. A 2007 study linked it to a 43 percent increased risk of heart attack and a 64 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death than patients treated with other methods. More than 80,000 diabetics have suffered lethal heart attacks from this dangerous drug.
• 11 cholesterol drugs, commonly known as statins, are linked with serious side effects. Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, acting by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase). The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established-there are now 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk
• The birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin were touted to be safer than any other pill on the market when they first came out. But it wasn’t long before a flurry of lawsuits began claiming that they cause numerous health problems including deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the deep veins), strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease.
• Levaquin, a powerful antibiotic, has been linked to tendon ruptures of the Achilles, shoulders, biceps, hands and thumb, and is the target of multiple lawsuits.
• Accutane, a drug that was used to treat acne for many years, is also the center of multiple lawsuits. It was pulled off the market in 2009 after users reported side effects that included severe gastrointestinal problems including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Elevated risk of birth defects in the children of pregnant women also were reported.

Other dangerous drugs that have either been pulled off the market or are the center of lawsuits (even as they are still sold) include the smoking cessation drug Chantix, the pain killer Darvocet, the “bone-strengthening” drug Fosamax, which is made up of bisphosphonate compounds that have been found to actually contribute to bone death, the statin drug Crestor, the serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug Paxil, which has been linked to suicides and suicidal thoughts, and many, many others.

At this point I would be remiss not to mention vaccines, which can wreak havoc on your immune system.

The truth is vaccines are just another way that Big Pharma makes money by selling something that might make you sick – or sicker. Just one example is the flu vaccine: officials now know that the seasonal flu vaccine in 2008-2009 did absolutely nothing to prevent flu in children – and actually increased their risk of getting H1N1!

Yet, with the help of the rulings by the World Health Organization (WHO), the CDC, the FDA and individual states’ mandated vaccination schedules, vaccine makers have a guaranteed bank roll in the form of your children.

In stark contrast to times past when vaccines weren’t such an attractive market, they’re now such a guaranteed profit center that Wall Street investors are being told to bank, bank, bank on vaccines.

Take Control of Your Own Health

We know nearly 26 million Americans now have diabetes, and over one in four of all Americans have either diabetes or pre-diabetes. We know the cost to treat heart disease in the U.S. is expected to triple by 2030, and that high blood pressure and cholesterol are “out of control” in the U.S.

We know the U.S. is the most obese country in the world, which has contributed to skyrocketing rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

We also know the U.S. spends more on health care than any other industrialized country. Yet, despite all this spending, the U.S.ranks 14^th in mortality rates worldwide – meaning 13 other countries have a lower preventable death rate than the U.S. despite spending less money on health care, and two of these countries are the now nearly bankrupt nations of Greece and Ireland!

But the question is — why?

Some analysts say this poor showing is linked to declining rates of insured persons in the U.S. Others claim the figures are just plain skewed. But I suspect the high U.S. mortality rates have more to do with our obesity rates, lifestyle patterns, and our seriously flawed health care paradigm (“sick care”) than it has to do with insurance coverage or skewed numbers.

The current US “healthcare” paradigm is the one that defines preventive care as ingesting drugs to treat symptoms, not addressing lifestyle changes that can actually create wellness.

It’s a paradigm that’s being perpetuated today, even as our federal health officials tout prevention measures.

Don’t believe me? Look at the Surgeon General’s current “preventive” health plan, Healthy People 2020. While the goals of Healthy People are stated as reduced illness, disability, and death, what the plan actually stresses are assessments, diagnostic criteria, disease monitoring, and data collection.

The plan acknowledges behavior modification with dietary and lifestyle changes are important to reaching the Healthy People goals, but aside from a few sample awareness programs, the main “preventive” strategies are screening, screening, and more screening for diseases and illnesses you already have.

A “blueprint” for reformed health care compiled by the Center for American Progress and the Institute on Medicine as a Profession also has ideas for improving health care but doesn’t mention promoting wellness. The fact is no one seems to be discussingchanging the paradigm of “managing sickness” that the U.S. is currently stuck in.

No one, that is, except the U.S. military.

The U.S. Military is Seeing the Light…

In a just-released, 132-page report, “Total Force Fitness for the 21^st Century: A New Paradigm,” our military is advocating a holistic mind, body and spirit approach to getting and staying fit.

That’s right. The U.S. military is advocating a new paradigm in health that not only includes a whole-life, holistic approach, but true preventive health care that goes beyond simple physical performance and emphasizes maintaining health before illness occurs.

For the military, this new paradigm will stress maintaining a healthy weight, with positive lifestyle programs that include proper nutrition and physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. That way, instead of treating disease, military personnel can learn ways to just stay healthy, the publication says.

Just imagine what would happen if everyone, and not just the military, focused on prevention rather than treatment!

It may sound impossible. But it’s not.

I’ve written countless articles as well as a book on how you can take control of your health, and I can assure you that youabsolutely can get an edge on changing the treatment paradigm for yourself - and your children – by adopting a healthier lifestyle, even if it’s just one step at a time.

We need to eliminate the use of all sodas, especially diet sodas which are nothing more than neurotoxic poisons, and concentrate on drinking fresh, pure water and eating more, organic, fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. Adding an exercise program to your day, even if it’s only 15 minutes, is also a step you can take immediately towards taking control of your health.

Have trouble sleeping? Instead of taking drugs, try different combinations of these proven methods to help you get a good night’s rest.

Also, help yourself achieve the goal of optimal wellness by finding a physician who embraces a holistic lifestyle paradigm. Not one who prescribes you an increasing list of pharmaceutical drugs to “manage” your increasing sickness.

It’s not too late. I promise; not only for you, but for your children and future generations. But you have to embrace taking control of your health today.

*************

Padma: Thanks for the addition to the article that I blogged. I learned something yesterday from your post.  I had no idea. Thanks for clueing me in. And I agree with Robert…you are a most welcomed addition. :)

And Robert: Thanks too for your additional comments. In case you didn’t know, and perhaps I’ve never told you, but I’m really glad you’re here too. You’ve been a regular for 2+ years now. Thank you.

Readers: Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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Every year Memorial Day comes around and I want to say something, but I feel such a loss of words. I peruse the net and read, and all I read about is loss, and the honoring of those that we have lost in the job of protecting our country, and others.

What is there to say? On the one hand, I want to say, “Thank you for putting your life on the line to ensure my safety. Thank you for risking your safety…your life so that others can live theirs.” And I mean it. I don’t like war…I wish that we didn’t engage in it. I wish we didn’t have to. But I also know there are cruel forces out there, everywhere, that need to be stopped and put down.

And on the other hand I ask the question, “Why is it that we as a world perpetuate this evil in the actions and decisions that we make?” When we decide that money is most important, and human life is expendable, war is inevitable. And until we value all human life no matter what race, or sex, more than we value power, control, and these coveted pieces of paper, we will continue to kill and be killed.

I look forward to the day when Memorial day will be a day of true celebration. A day where we will honor the brave men and women who died in past wars and celebrate that we no longer need war… a day where we celebrate that we have finally evolved into beings that honor, love, and respect each other equally no matter what race or sex.

A day when Memorial Day will be an international holiday, celebrated throughout the world, to remind us how many lives were sacrificed for a future that has finally come. We are joined together as citizens of the world, who accept our differences by showing love, honor and appreciation.

Am I a dreamer? Maybe. But I can’t give up HOPE that this vision I have is attainable.

Until then here’s a few ideas that you can do today to honor brave women and men:

Memorial Day 2011: How To Honor Soldiers

As many of us excitedly look forward to gathering with friends and family and enjoying the long weekend, it’s easy to lose sight of the significance of Memorial Day.

But for military families across the U.S., especially those of the estimated 5,885 American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 10 years of war, it’s a day to remember and honor those who have given their lives for our country.

For anyone in need of a refresher, Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery to honor their sacrifices. In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all who had died in American wars.

Today, many cities celebrate Memorial Day with parades, speeches and the decoration of graves. At Arlington National Cemetery, an American flag is placed on each grave, and it’s tradition for the president or vice president to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

As you make preparations for your weekend barbecues or camping trips, consider how you can do something for the soldiers who have done so much for our country — whether by honoring a fallen soldier, supporting a military family or brightening the day of one currently serving.

• Honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day by observing the National Moment of Remembrance. The National Moment of Remembrance, endorsed by President Clinton in 2000, takes place every Memorial Day at 3:00 p.m. local time. At that time, all Americans are urged to observe a moment of silence or to listen to “Taps,” in tribute to those who died for our country.

Prompted by a group of school children who didn’t understand that the holiday had significance beyond being a day off from school, the moment of remembrance is intended to remind Americans of the true meaning of the holiday and “unite the nation in acknowledging the contributions made by the men and women who gave their lives for our country’s freedom.”

Readers: Want to know what else you can do to honor soldiers, click here. Enjoy your day whatever you do.

Bob: :) I liked this one.

Jackie: You and I are thinking the same thoughts.

George: Yes women do need men but not how you think. Women need men to care and to be there for them. Men create wars, and they fight their wars for themselves, and their needs. They certainly aren’t fighting their wars for women. Don’t you know that if it weren’t for men, we most likely would have no wars? I needn’t say anymore on this. I think Doug said it best. Read his comment.

Anonz: Good luck in accomplishing your mission in Darfur. May the Gods watch over and protect you and your men.

Peace & Love: “Live it, Give it”

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Readers: It’s been a crazy morning already, and it isn’t even 10:00 AM yet. So, Here’s today’s post. It’s kind of sucky if you live in one of these states, and have to put up with these fees. Another way the big banks rip us off.

States Shortchange The Unemployed With Junk Debit Card Fees: Study

WASHINGTON — Many states shortchange the jobless by distributing unemployment benefits on debit cards loaded with obnoxious fees, according to a new study by the National Consumer Law Center.

Of the 40 states that have switched from paper checks to prepaid debit cards, 22 states’ cards charge ATM fees, 24 charge balance inquiry fees, and 28 charge inactivity fees. The cards in Arkansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Ohio, and Oregon come with overdraft fees ranging from $10 to $20.

And in Connecticut, Iowa, Rhode Island, and Tennessee, cardholders “must pay for every ATM inquiry or pay a denied transaction fee if they request cash when their balance is insufficient,” the study says.

Tennessee stands out for having the card with the most “junk fees,” the study says. Tennessee’s card, provided by JPMorgan Chase, charges $1 for initial ATM withdrawals, 40 cents for balance inquiries, and 25 cents whenever someone swipes the card at checkout. It’s one of just four states that doesn’t provide even one free ATM withdrawal per deposit.

Tennessee doesn’t think its card’s fees are junk.

“I’m not sure calling them ‘junk fees’ is a fair statement,” said Jeff Hentschell, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Workforce Development, which distributes Tennessee Automated Payment cards for jobless benefits. “When you look at the context of where we were and where we are today, the fees are actually minimal compared to where people were going to cash paper checks before.”

Indeed: The NCLC study itself points out that for people without bank accounts, “getting cash from a UC prepaid card will usually be cheaper than paying a check casher to cash a paper check.”

Hentschell added his department has a handy website that lays out the fees.

As for Chase, the bank says it’s giving states a good deal on a valuable service.

“Each state negotiates its own contract and fee structure from numerous bidders,” a Chase spokeswoman said in an email. “To date, states have chosen card solutions that cost government nothing and save taxpayer dollars, selecting their card provider based on the best mix of fees and services to the consumer.”

The NCLC study says the Bank of America-issued cards in California and New Jersey are the best, since they offer “free and ample access to cash and transactions with no penalty fees.” The study says close runners-up are Chase’s card in Arizona and Citibank’s in Maryland.

*********

This is it for me today. Enjoy your Saturday!

xoxo

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“

Good morning!

Is Your Cell Phone Violating Your Rights?

To say that cell phones are widely used in the U.S. is a gross understatement.

According to CTIA – The Wireless Association, an organization representing the interests of the wireless communications industry, cell phones were used by 96% of the U.S. and territorial population (including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) in December 2010.

A recent Nielsen survey reported that almost one third of U.S. cell phone users are utilizing smartphones. While the growing adoption of smartphones is good news for phone manufacturers, the advanced computing capabilities and wireless connectivity of smartphones raise new concerns regarding privacy rights.

Smartphones provide users continuous mobile access to the Internet. As a result, smartphones contain a treasure trove of personal information, including banking information, travel plans and family photos. However, while use of advanced security software is commonplace on our computers, many of us are not safeguarding the personal information stored on and transmitted through our smartphones. While there is security software for smartphones including anti-virus and encryption software, it is not available for all models of cell phones and has not been widely adopted.

A recent study conducted by mobile security company AdaptiveMobile discloses that 2010 saw the highest number of Smartphone malware (short for malicious software) infections, up 33% from 2009. AdaptiveMobile expects to see an exponential increase in such attacks in the next year as the adoption of smartphones becomes more widespread. In a society well aware of computer viruses and identity theft, why are we not protecting our smartphones from such attacks?

It is not only hackers and cyber criminals who may be interested in the information stored on our cell phones. It was recently revealed to the public that Apple iPhones and Google Android smartphones are regularly tracking our locations and recording this information in a hidden file stored on our phones. Anyone able to access our phones can use the stored locational information to reconstruct our daily travels and routine. Access to such information could be of great interest to the police and the government or even an employer or suspicious spouse. Police use of such information may be of particular concern in light of the recent accusations that police officers in Michigan are using data extracting devices to secretly obtain information from cell phones during routine traffic stops.

In addition to being stored on our smartphones, this locational information is being transmitted back to Google and Apple. It is currently unclear what these companies are using this information for, although the companies have stated that this information is transmitted anonymously and that the tracking and ability to opt out by disabling location services is disclosed in the privacy policies agreed to by the users. Such policies, however, are often lengthy and confusing and it is common for users to agree to such privacy policies without actually reading them. Furthermore, a recent test conducted byThe Wall Street Journal revealed that locational data continued to be collected and stored on Apple’s iPhone even when the location services were turned off.

The news of smartphone tracking activity and data collection has raised a number of privacy concerns. These concerns have lead U.S. and foreign lawmakers to request further details from Apple and Google regarding these practices. In addition, representatives from both Apple and Google have been summoned to participate in a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. The hearing is to be held in May and will be focused on mobile device privacy.

While many are concerned over the implications of such locational tracking on privacy rights, others note that tracking a person’s location through their cell phone is nothing new. Some smartphone users state that they are not concerned because they have nothing to hide and note that such tracking is required for many of the useful programs on their smartphones to function. Numerous smartphone apps, such as those that can recommend a nearby restaurant, locate the nearest Starbucks or allow a user to map out travel routes, require tracking the location of the smartphone user.

Amongst the continued confusion over what information is being tracked by our cell phones and the debate over whether this tracking is helpful or harmful, what remains clear is that many of us are largely uninformed when it comes to the information that is being stored on our cell phones.

In addition to failing to protect personal information stored on cellphones from access by others, many smartphone users are also unwittingly broadcasting their personal information to the world. Geotagging is the addition of geographical information to media such as photographs or video. If geotagging is enabled on your smartphone, uploading media to the Internet simultaneously uploads your location. By uploading geotagged images you may be sharing your home address, details of your daily routine or the fact that your house is empty while you are out of town. It is easy to see how this information can be used and misused for everything from targeted marketing to targeted crime.

Most troubling is that many users have no idea that geotagging is occurring on their phone. Many smartphones come with geotagging automatically enabled. As geotags are generally invisible unless specific software is downloaded to enable visualization of the tags, many users are completely unaware that they are sharing more than pictures and videos when they upload media files to the Internet.

Even with the emerging security and privacy concerns, our cell phone usage continues to grow. Cell phones have become an integral part of everyday life and for many of us, not having a cell phone would render us incompetent employees and social pariahs. As cell phone technology continues to evolve, our reliance on these devices continues to grow.

Will our growing cell phone dependence make us even more vulnerable to potential privacy violations or will it drive us to demand more transparency, protection and control when it comes to our cell phones?

The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology will be hosting a free public forum on May 4 at 5:30 p.m. to further discuss cell phones and issues arising from our society’s increasing dependency on this technology.

Margaret Ng Thow Hing is an intellectual property attorney residing in Pacific Beach and writes as a member of the San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology.

***********

Readers: This article is a few weeks old, and  the first hearing was on May 10th. From what I’ve read Apple and Google got grilled. I don’t have the most recent news, so I’m not sure where we’re at with this. And quite frankly this write is strictly posted for all of you smartphone users.

I have to say, I like my phone as antiquated as it is. It serves the purpose I use it for: to talk.  And I will use it until it no longer works. It is not a smartphone. I don’t have apps and I don’t want any. I spend enough time on my computer. The last thing I want to do is stare into my cell phone for hours on end. I simply use my phone for talking only, and for that simple fact I am grateful.

Say I am behind the times…Say I’m not hip. I don’t care. I have never been one to follow the pack.  In fact I can be quite the rebel when I am pushed by society to conform to what it wants me to do, feel, buy etc. When it comes to my life, I make my own decisions based on what is best for me, as long as my decisions don’t affect the livelihood of anyone else. And buying a smartphone certainly does. As we all know, and I have written about it many times, buying a new cell phone every time the latest one hits the stores does affect people…it does affect their livelihood. In fact it can be the difference between life and death for many people.

Be kind and be smart.

It’s Friday…start flapping your lips. Blog me.

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

First, I want to make a few comments to address some blog business:

Trish: That’s just not happening. You made a typo, and you thought that you wrote “woman” when you really wrote “would”. Believe me, I barely have time to edit my writes let alone check what my readers write, and edit theirs for them.  You’re on your own on this one. Next time check your spelling before you click, whatever it is you click to post.

Anonymous, Imahottie, and anyone else questioning whether I censor my blog: Listen, people are jamming my blog all the time – there’s nothing I can do. Got it? If you want to do something, write your congressmen – write Obama – tell them to leave this blog the fuck alone.

And I would appreciate it if people would give me the benefit of the doubt and not blame me for everything that happens. “Michelle, are you censoring your blog?” “Michelle, did you edit my post? “Michelle , why can’t I post?” “Michelle, why do I keep getting the same message that I posted already?” NO and I DON’T KNOW. As I said, people are fucking with my blog all the time. Ask your government. Bitch if you must, but stop blaming me.

Now…that I have vented, I just want to say that I can understand the newbies questioning me because the newbies…well…they don’t know jack shit – they don’t know the fuck about anything. But my regulars, my loyal fans – where the fuck are you? Back me up.  Can someone get my back, besides my husband Doug, and yes, thank you Robert.

But let’s not threaten each other on the blog. It’s an open forum meant to give everyone an opportunity to vent, me included as you have just witnessed.  The operative word here is “vent”. That should mean for those of you that don’t understand  the word “vent”, it means you can talk about the things that bother you, express them with as much vitriol as you wish, but absolutely no physical violence to be threatened or carried out.  That’s the purpose of the blog: To allow you to “vent”. So go at it – “VENT!”

And since I believe in practicing what I preach, George I will respond vocally when I feel like it, but right now I’m gonna let you slide. Oh…but with a nod to Doug, “Go take your meds”.

Okay…Now…that blog biz is done, onto the write for today. This was sent to me by one of my readers in Guam, to post for all of you:

Problems Without Passports: Scientific Research Diving at USC Dornsife–Why Guam?

On Saturday morning we fly to Guam, an island about one fifth the size of Rhode Island. Guam is part of the United States, although as a territory it lacks voting representation in Congress or a say in presidential elections. Location is primary in real estate speculation, but it is also central to military strategy and ecosystem management.

Above: Endangered hawksbill sea turtle photographed on Western Shoals Reef, Apra Harbor, Guam on August 5, 2010. Photo by USC DSO Gerry Smith

Guam is the only patch of truly U.S. soil in the western Pacific and it has one of the finest deepwater anchorages in that part of the world — Apra Harbor. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has been planning a massive military buildup of Guam, including the relocation of U.S. Marines and their dependants from foreign soil (the Japanese island of Okinawa), and provisions for more frequent berthing of aircraft carriers in Apra Harbor. This buildup will significantly increase the population of 180,000 currently on this island and greatly stress its already deficient infrastructure.

The most productive ecosystems in the world are coral reefs, and those in Guam are threatened. The number of people per unit area of reef is already much higher than in other parts of Micronesia, such as Palau. While coral reefs are frequently harmed indirectly by human activity such as agricultural runoff, some of the reefs on Guam will be destroyed entirely in the course of dredging Apra Harbor for naval vessels. The DOD was required to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed buildup, and comparing that document to the “boots-on-the-ground” reality we will observe in Guam is a big part of the reason we are going there rather than another exotic location imperiled by climate change or overfishing.

Above: Map of Guam. Courtesy of the CIA World Factbook.

Above: Image of aircraft carrier berthing alternatives in Apra Harbor. Image from U.S. Department of Defense Environmental Impact Statement “Guam and CNMI Military Relocation,” July 2010.

The natural environment of Guam, both marine and terrestrial, is threatened, and this is especially so as Guam becomes of increasing strategic importance to the U.S. military. We are a day or two from putting USC Dornsife students into this environment. After we answer the question “Why Palau?” you will start hearing from these students.

Editor’s note: Scientific Research Diving at USC Dornsife is offered as part of an experiential summer program offered to undergraduate students of the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. This four-week course takes place on location at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island and throughout Micronesia. Students investigate important environmental issues such as ecologically sustainable development, fisheries management, protected-area planning and assessment, and human health issues. During the course of the program, the 24-student team will dive and collect data to support conservation and management strategies to protect the fragile coral reefs of Guam, Palau and other Micronesian islands.

Instructors for the course include Jim Haw, Director of the Environmental Studies Program in USC Dornsife, Environmental Studies Lecturer Dave Ginsburg, SCUBA instructor and volunteer in the USC Scientific Diving Program Tom Carr and USC Dive Safety Officer Gerry Smith of the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

About the Author: Dr. Jim Haw is Ray R. Irani Professor of Chemistry and director of the Environmental Studies Program in the USC Dana and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He is also a scientific, technical and recreational diver.

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

**********

Readers: That’s it for me today. Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"