Often, Foster Children Linger in Anonymity only because their Relatives never Knew

Police personnel often find themselves exposed to the trauma that young teenagers experience in the foster care system. Children who have been abused at home by dysfunctional parents are placed by the authorities with foster parents who are often not so nurturing themselves. It wouldn't be that hard to find foster children who are with their tenth or twelfth foster family in as many years. And so, police departments in some counties in the country, are being roped in for a new government plan for foster care: finding out if any foster children have estranged, extended family members out there somewhere. And then finding out if they will be willing to take in one of their own.

Finding a relative for a teen foster child is not an easy matter. The relatives would be perfect strangers for all practical purposes, and usually, no one wants to take in a child that is so battered with years of trauma. The only thing they would be guaranteed of would be a lot of emotional heartache, and quite a drain on their resources. It is just a shift in the way the government sees the whole foster care issue. The government has begun to pay for full-time investigators, looking hard on the Internet, through the public records, who get flyers distributed, and pound on doors, all with the aim of locating family members, to help take in a child that would otherwise languish in foster care. And they come by quite a bit of success too. In general, the investigators find several relatives for any child they start to investigate, and often many of them express a willingness to take the child in - their long-lost grandchildren, nieces, cousins and so on - ones they have never laid eyes on before. And it is a wonder that the system all these years put these children through so much pain, just because they never thought that the children would be welcome in their relatives' homes.

When they are contacted, many times, the relatives are quite startled to begin with, to have to be reminded of some ugly piece of their family history. But you would be surprised how often, they come through with kindness and strength, able to set aside old rancor they may have felt with the parents, for the good of the blameless child. And foster children for their part, are often deeply, deeply grateful to know and to be in touch with some of their roots. Maybe it is hard to believe this, but most children in foster care feel like outcasts; to have no family often feels like the strangest thing to most people who take a family for granted.

But not all foster home scenarios are like something from Dickens that children would want to run away from. Many foster parents happen to be truly caring people, who raise their foster children like their own. When a relative turns up, the foster parents can be heartbroken at losing a child to the family, whom they have grown deeply attached to over the years. Not infrequently, when children in foster care are informed of how their family members have been located, they say only that they don't need a real family, that their foster family treats them as their own.

Approaching your College Application Form When You are Homeschooled

Children who have had homeschooling their whole lives are often terribly anxious filling out a college application form;homeschooled children often don't have access to certain kinds of classes - AP, labs and so on, and their transcripts don't always have regular-looking courses on them either; there is a prevalent idea abroad that this makes homeschoolers look less qualified during the admissions process for this reason.

To begin with, homeschooling is not the curiosity that it once was. The millions of homeschooled children there are now, lend legitimacy to the enterprise. Colleges have no choice but to give homeschooled children a fair shake now. They do need to make sure that the applicant is mentally prepared for the challenges of college life, academic and social and basically, they are going to be doubtful the moment they receive a college application form from a homeschooled child. Since admissions departments at colleges are aware of how they can stand accused of giving homeschooled kids the short end of the stick, they take more trouble evaluating the college application form of homeschooled student than they do with a regular student usually. And the fact that parents involved in homeschooling their children get together with other parents to offer their children the best possible exposure to the sciences these days strengthens their case even further.

But there are certain areas where homeschooled applicants can put in a little extra effort to make their case. For instance, to make up for the fact that their transcripts and credentials aren't exactly totally regular, homeschooled applicants can demonstrate their ability in other ways. For instance, one can put a great deal of thought into one's admission essay. One can also show submit SAT results in a great number of subjects to prove that one is capable in those areas. Some might show their original writings in the subjects they are particularly good at.

It is inescapable - homeschooled children really are seen with a bit of skepticism. And they always need to go the extra mile to prove their worth in the admissions process. While the ideas above do often work for students, it might be a good idea to have other approaches in mind as well. Since homeschooling transcripts are prepared by the parents of the child, the aren't really going to carry that much weight. What they can do to make up for this is to do exceedingly well with articulating everything they have learned. If the college application form doesn't really ask for SAT subject tests, they can offer the test results anyway. If the college only expects, say, three SAT subjects, they could give them five. If they don't ask for an interview, they could ask for one themselves. They really look for third-party certification in the homeschooled child sometimes. A few college-level courses might be the thing to seal the deal.

Do those Ads that Promise to Show you how to get Out of Credit Card Debt Mean Anything?

When you see those ads that scream for your attention you want to just go out and at least try them. When they say to you that you just need to give them a chance and they'll show you how President Obama made provisions in his stimulus plan to help you settle your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar that the banks want to keep from you, could it really hurt to go try them out? People want to not believe in a con; not even in the privacy of their own minds, not even for a second. And still, there is the wistful hope that there might be something here. If only someone could show them how to get out of credit card debt for free; if only there were something the government could do to wipe the slate clean, and give them a fresh start. People usually only tend to regret the mountains of debt they amassed depending on a job they lost or something, once they are over a barrel. The need to believe that there could be something that could wipe the slate clean can be overpowering.

Straightaway, it's easy to set the record straight right now - there is no "get out of debt for free" ticket. Life never does throw us a line like that. So are those ads just plain lying? Isn't there a grain of truth even to them? Well, no. Why should creditors even want to do something like forgive your debt for pennies to the dollar? What people imagine is going on around here is that the creditors know that they're dealing with deadbeats, and they know that there isn't any money. So they would rather collect 10 cents to the dollar, than no cents to the dollar. Well, there's just one little wrinkle to the situation. Creditors don't look at your situation satisfied that you can't pay, until you're living on the street with nothing more than a newspaper between you and the snow. These aren't reasonable people, and they aren't going to accept anything less than full payment until they're sure you have absolutely nothing. If it wasn't like this, everybody would know how to get out of credit card debt.

So what is it that they're offering in those ads? What they're offering most of the time it is merely debt settlement. The settlement company enters into a deal with you, so that you pay a certain small amount once a month or so under contract. Once your monthly deposits add up to maybe three-quarters of the credit card debt you have, they go and give it to your credit card company. However, even this is a little too optimistic picture of the situation. The debt settlement company doesn't do this for free, you know. They charge a nice healthy fee for their "services" showing you how to get out of credit card debt that they take out of your deposits. And while they are taking their fees, and you are taking your time building that deposit up until it is large enough, the credit card company isn't quite willing to give up just yet. They won't be satisfied that you can't pay, until they pound you with nasty letters and summons for at least six months. Getting settlement, isn't really a final heave-ho to the old credit card company. And while they tell you how to get out of credit card debt in this way, they aren't really caring about what all of this is doing to your credit rating.

The whole six months or so you take building up your lump sum with a debt settlement company, the credit card company is busy tearing your credit score to shreds reporting everywhere they can think of. And that's not all either - let's say that you have $1000 forgiven in the whole debt settlement process. The IRS now will knock on your door, and say that they believe that you just made $1000 for free, and they will want their cut. The debt settlement industry isn't a well-regulated one yet. Finding one that really works for you, is easier said than done.

Skills for Web Site Designers

The world is evolving rapidly and those who make it need to be flexible and adapt to the changing environment. Web site designers are probably some of the people that need to be as flexible as their environment because the truth is, they will either become obsolete or lead the way into the future of the web. Web site designers cannot afford to be content with the basic training they received in college. Truth is, some new technology has evolved since the last time they left college. What is more, the new technologies are getting adapted as quickly as they come out. What are some of these recent technologies that all web site designers need to have on their fingertips?

One of these is CSS. CSS stands for cascading style sheets and basically what this does is to change the look of a website using an external file that links to the website. CSS is also compatible with literally all web browsers. This ensures that once you design your web pages using CSS, you can rest assured that it will not have browser incompatibility issues. What is more CSS is not hard and you can have a site running with CSS in no time.

JavaScript is another must have skill. This language works together with HTML and can be used to do a bunch of things on the browser window. For example, with JavaScript, you can validating user input right on the browser before even sending it to the server and ensure the correct data and format is correct, making the processing work of a server much easier. JavaScript is also used to bring up pop-up windows right on the browser. Its apparent complexity should however not put you off. JavaScript is a powerful language that brings web pages to life.

Learning at least one server-side scripting language for web site designers is also a necessity if you are to design database-driven websites. A common server-side language is PHP. If you want to create a website that keeps information about customers, visitors, products and offers login capabilities, then learning PHP will prove to be an invaluable tool. When you are part of the large web site designers community or just starting out, the above skills will be necessary to keep you on the job. As a web site designer, improving and increasing your skills will keep you as valuable as when you left college.

Safety Gates For Stairs

When you were a child, your parents probably taught you from a very young age to stay away from the stairs until you were old enough to learn to go up and down them safely and on your own. Today, more and more moms have to work outside the home, and those safety issues are a bit harder to teach, due to a lack of time. Teaching your child to avoid problems is the best way to go, but at times you have to make sure they are safe because you have so much to do. This is when safety gates for stairs and other areas of your home can be life savers.

Instead of baby proofing your entire home, you may want to make sure dangerous things like chemicals or knives are secured, but otherwise, you are going to want to teach them to look but not touch. It can be trying, but it works better in the long run. Stairs are one of those things that is right on the edge of dangerous but teachable. However, when you are cooking dinner, checking homework for two other kids, trying to fold laundry, and answering the phone, you may want to have some help from safety gates for stairs.

Just like you should never leave your baby alone in the tub, you should never leave them alone when they could stumble upon an open set of stairs. It really only takes a moment for the worst to happen. Safety gates for stairs that are installed and used properly are going to be very helpful when you have to turn your back for just a moment. The trick is to use them right and to make sure that everyone else in your home knows how to use them the right way as well.

Safety gates for stairs must be closed at all times. Some are short enough to be stepped over if you were to place them in a doorway, but that is not really possible on stairs, unless you want to chance breaking your own neck. Do not get the gates that do not latch, but rather stretch across the opening. These are best for the doorways in your home that do not open up to stairs. Get the gates that latch so they can swing open when you need to walk back and forth. You also have to make sure everyone else in your home knows to keep these shut at all times.

If you are not sure that you can install safety gates for stairs and doorways the right way, have someone come in to do it for you. Gates that are not installed or used correctly are more dangerous than having nothing there at all. You won't watch as carefully if you think things are secure. Don't forget that though these are usually made for babies and toddlers, these safety gates for kids can be used to keep smaller pets off of the stairs as well. Larger pets will jump right over them, but smaller ones will stay put.

Adolescent Suicide

Adolescent suicide is one of the worst disasters that can befall a family. The real tragedy of teenage suicide is that, were the teen to wait a few years and to suffer through the depression, things would probably get better. Most adolescent suicides don't realize that they're going through the toughest time in their life. Being a teenager means having to deal with identity crisis, peer pressure, depression, moodiness, and all the rest. We have a society that glorifies adolescence constantly, so we don't usually see the darker side. This just contributes further to the trend towards adolescent suicide. Teenagers believe that everyone else is having fun but them, and this makes their bleak depression that much worse.

The good news is that most attempts at adolescent suicide prevention help. You see, adolescent suicides rarely actually intend to kill themselves. This may seem strange, but it is the truth. In general, a suicide gesture or attempt is more of a cry for help. The adolescent suicide doesn't expect it to work. He or she does it because he or she needs some kind of intervention. The problem is that sometimes the adolescent suicide attempts do work. Teenagers who think that taking too many pills will just land them in the hospital where they can get help sometimes overdose on something so dangerous that it results in almost instantaneous death.

This is why you have to be there for your teenager. A lot of families buy into the stereotype of sullen, withdrawn teens, but teens don't get withdrawn in families that provide the right sort of support. If you're continuously active in your teenager's life, you can stop him or her from straying from the path. You can talk about thoughts of suicide, depression, peer pressure, and all the other issues that teenagers have to go through. Adolescence is the time when you have to relax your hold as a parent, but that doesn't mean you should relax your vigilance. You teenager will need you less as a role model and more as a friend.

Of course, having adolescent suicide resources outside the family is also really important. Suicide helplines have helped plenty of teenagers avoid making a mistake that will destroy them and their friends and families. A lot of schools make suicide help lines available to teens, making it much easier for them to get the help they need. Even if your school doesn't publish the information, you can easily find it in the phone book. A lot of these help lines are national, so you can call from anywhere in the country. They're also anonymous – something which is crucial for teenagers who are afraid to ask for help publicly.

And Now, HP Printers come with an App Store

HP has been hard at work at its printer division, with all kinds of innovations. Consider their latest - the HP all-in-one Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web (what a long name that one is). To begin with, it's an inkjet printer, not a laser. And so, you know it's going to be affordable. The great thing about it is, that it is practically a mini computer - it is WiFi enabled, it can connect directly to the Internet without a separate computer, and it comes with its own tiny 4.3" LCD screen for previews. So what does it do connecting to the web? It actually uses printer apps, to help you decide more often that hitting the Print button would be a good idea. It would be wonderful if these apps wouldwork on all existing HP printers; maybe they will one day. As of now, it's just this one HP printer that does it.

So what do the apps do? The apps are made by companies like Google, USA Today, and DreamWorks; and they are meant to help you print things like coupons, photos or Google maps and webpages much better. And if you get the Disney app from HP's app store, you can knock yourself out printing great coloring books for your children. Or, if you want to consider your next technology purchase with all the CNet reviews printed and laid out before you, you must consider the CNet app. The best part is, that these apps that go with web-compatible HP printers are totally free. If you have a great app idea in mind, HP even has a software developer kit in place that will help you program it too.

Everyone knows that the printer companies make a lot more money on ink sales, then they do selling you a $250 printer. When you have apps that make it much easier for you to print everything, there's sure to be a great deal for HP's bottom line. So what is it like using this innovative printer? To begin with, its wireless connection is rock solid. You just power it up, go through the motions on the built-in LCD screen to find an available WiFi network, he used the virtual keyboard on the touchscreen to type in your password, and you are good to go. The printer is quite intelligent; if you load in the paper the wrong way, for instance, or if you load the photo paper into the regular tray or the other way around, it will warn you.

You can get your pictures to the printer in a number of ways, and one of the best ones is using its card reader. The printer still takes about two minutes to print a full size photo that is 8" x 11", which while slow, is still okay, considering how great the picture quality is. If you have pictures stored on your iPhone, you're in luck there, because there is an iPhone app for this printer. And of course, all HP printers are great at document printing. It even automatically prints on both sides of every sheet. Maybe you think that at $250 it's a bit expensive, but for something as full-featured as this, with an app store to boot, surely you could stretch to that much?

Tips on How to Save Money

With the economy in the doldrums, many people are being forced to cut back on spending in nearly every area of their lives. It's not just extra expenses like entertainment or clothing that folks are worried about; the budgetary restrictions extend to groceries, gasoline, and utilities as well. So now it's more important than ever to learn how to save money and build up an emergency fund that can tide you over should you run into a financial catastrophe.

You're probably wondering if it's even possible to build up your savings account when you're already barely scraping by as it is. Well, the answer is yes -- but you will definitely have to make sacrifices along the way. In the long run, however, these lifestyle changes will be worth it, as you discover the peace of mind that comes with having cash in the bank.

Before you can learn how to save money, the first thing you have to do is find out exactly where you're spending it. Keep meticulous records that show every penny you earn and spend for at least a month, and then put your findings into a spreadsheet. From there, you can figure out which expenses are fixed (like your mortgage or car loan) and which are variable (like food, cable, or your cell phone plan). Once you've identified the variable expenses, try to cut them down by at least 10 percent, either by buying fewer potato chips and soda or by going with basic cable instead of premium. Sacrifices, remember? Then, go out and deposit that savings into your bank account.

Another basic tip for those learning how to save money is to take something out of every paycheck. Most experts recommend that you immediately put 10 percent of your check into the bank without touching it, but that might not be possible for some people. If you're having trouble making ends meet or if you have a mountain of high-interest credit card debt, then obviously you'll have to adjust these numbers accordingly. Most books that talk about how to save money make it sound like this "pay yourself first" rule is the cornerstone of budgeting, but it rarely works that way in the real world. Just put away as much as you can from each paycheck, even if it's as little as $25. That sum could still come in handy at some point.

Those who have mastered the art of how to save money will tell you that setting specific goals and limits is the key to success. Don't just say that you're not going to go out to eat "as much". Instead, say that you will only go out once a month. Don't say that you'll "spend less" on clothes. Instead, give yourself an exact limit, such as $50 per month. Knowing precisely what your goals are will give you less wiggle room to fudge the numbers or make excuses when the going gets tough.

Now that you've got some ideas for how to save money, the next thing to do is get started. Don't keep putting it off, because financial security is worth a lot more than that leather jacket or hot pair of pumps!

Choosing Safe Baby Bottles For Your Infant

If you pay attention to the news and recalls, you will notice that most of the items that are subject to recalls are baby products. This is because people keep a closer eye on things for babies because infants are generally helpless and it is easy for them to get hurt or even worse. Cribs are always being recalled, and so are other sleeping items that come and go on the market. If you want to stay safe with a baby, you have to pay attention to these and discontinue using anything that has been recalled. You also have to make sure you shop right, and always get your infant safe baby bottles to use from day one.

Most of the time, safe baby bottles are the norm. There are very few kinds that have been recalled, if any, but that does not mean you can totally relax. Babies are not only helpless, they also don't understand what is safe and what can hurt them. If you have ever seen a toddler run headlong for a busy parking lot or road, you know how true this is. They won't know if you have gotten safe bottles for them or not. They just want to eat. It is up to you to make sure they are eating safely.

The one rule you should remember when trying to choose safe baby bottles is that anything that is golf ball size or smaller can be a choking hazard for your baby. Though most bottles come with parts (like rings and nipples) that can be hazardous, these are secured before baby eats, and as long as you are putting the bottle together correctly, that alone is not a hazard for your baby. Some bottles, like Dr. Browns, come with more parts, but again, put together correctly these are as safe as the next.

What you do with your bottles is what is going to keep them safe for your baby. You are in charge of making sure you have safe baby bottles in your home. For one, never buy the cheapest bottles and nipples that you can find. This goes for pacifiers as well. Those are the ones that are going to fail the soonest and the ones that could harm your baby. Buy quality bottles. Not only are they safer, they are also going to last longer. Some are designed to lower the amount of air your baby swallows. They are more expensive, and also much safer.

You have to check to make sure you have safe baby bottles. Each and every time you wash them, you have to check things out. Inspect the rings to make sure they have not cracked. If so, toss them out immediately. You should also make sure the bottles are not cracked or chipped if you are using glass. Put your thumb and pointer finger on either side of the top of the nipple, grip tightly, and yank on them. This is to make sure the nipples are not deteriorating. If they fall apart while baby is feeding, they will choke. Tugging firmly on the nipples at each cleaning tells you if they are safe or not. Your pacifiers should pass the same test once a day as well.

Google Translations - Closer than ever to Real Intelligence

Google's problems with Buzz haven't really gone down well. Lots of people who have been resentful of the way Google has gone from strength to strength, threw themselves like a sumo wrestler on this slip Google made. But surely that kind of haste in trashing Google is not called for - Google is still a company that is tremendously innovative - as seen even recently in its approach to one of the most confounding problems people have ever faced: getting machines to understand human language well enough to translate from one to another. Enter Google translations.

The thing is, the translation challenge is something tailor-made for Google's particular strengths - enormous computing power, and enormous insights into specific ways in which language is used to mean one thing or another in its searches. If you haven't tried translating anything expressive from one language to another and wrestled with how truly challenging it can be to get the exact sense to go over well, you may find it difficult to understand the formidable feats involved in getting a machine to do the same. Why don't you just try any average translation service out there, and see how it goes? Even with something simple like "She is pretty", choosing a pretty good translation service like Babel Fish, you can come out with something no better than"Isn't it lovely?". And in such a world, GoogleTranslations has somehow got a leg up on the competition, with some truly impressive computing power pulling for it.

Google Translations does something no one else has been able to do so far - take something you say in one language in a sense a native speaker would mean it, and make it out in another language, in a roughly analogous sense in a way that a native speaker of that other language would take it. This is not to say that it sounds entirely natural what Google Translations achieves. It just means that the meaning and the sense become clear; there is still lots of rough edges to smooth out. But still, for millions of language students, travelers and businessmen around the world, it does get things done well enough that it should become an integral part of the world we know now, just like Google search has.

Anyone who has watched any documentary on the history of computers on the Discovery Channel or anywhere else, should be familiar with what they call the Turing test. Dr.Alan Turing was a computer scientist in Britain, who tried to devise a test for computers to judge how close to human intelligence they were. Google Translations actually bring computers closer to passing that test, than any other attempt has. The thing is, you can teach computers to analyze and make sense of grammar, words, and even many idioms. But the sense and the emotional context of anything, is far beyond the capacity of any computer. Just take a simple three line story that would make any human feel a little catch in the throat: "Little Sally danced happily along with her new yellow balloon. A gust of wind took it out of her little hand and the balloon popped on a tree branch. Little Sally wept and wept". No computer can actually make any sense of why "her little hand" is supposed to be important in helping you feel the "wept and wept".

What Google Translations achieves though, is done by having their computer network (and what a vast network that is) fed with billions of sentences taken from normal human speech, to try to make sense of it all. And this is what Google is past master at - taking unmanageable amounts of information, and storing, and analyzing it. Google Translations allows you and you to perform some pretty hysterical tricks. Let's say you are walking down the street, and a Chinese tourist wants to know how to go to Hollywood. You just take out your smartphone, and ask her to speak into it. Send it over to Google Translations, and you should get an English translation in seconds.

For everyone who would like to write Google off after its troubles with Buzz and Nexus One, Google Translations should be a little reminder, that Google is really second to none in getting exciting things done first.

A Career in Computer Maintenance - Where to get Started

At one time, long before personal computers came to exist or became affordable and ubiquitous, General Electric designed a huge "mainframe" that they deployed in Boston. At the time, they believed that the entire city of Boston, all of its government offices, all its universities, its scientists, could easily be served by that one computer - all they would need would be to connect to it for a server at home. Routine computer maintenance shuts down servers and nodes on a regular basis these days; the GE mainframe was designed to never need any computer maintenance whatsoever - no software updates, no hardware upgrades. Thankfully for anyone who hopes to get into computer maintenance for a career, this isn't the way things are done anymore. Because for people who have a technical bent of mind, and who love solving complicated tech problems, the computer maintenance niche is a godsend - it pays extremely well (starting salaries hover around $60,000), it comes with a good deal of respect, and it can be very satisfying to those who care.

The kind of training you need to get into computer support actually begins right at home - driven by a strong interest in learning about how machines work. As in most areas of problem solving, you don't necessarily need to know everything to become an expert; you just need to know where you need to go to consistently find the answers. Put that together with a good deal of hands-on experience fixing your friends' computer problems, and you're off to a good start. Your formal training to become a computer maintenance technician starts in high school. Certification training courses exist in many high schools that count as credit towards a college degree or associate's degree. Once you graduate from high school, you can run for a two-year or four-year graduation course, or you could attend community college that will send you out into the real world for hands-on experience. Certification though, is what will truly set you on your path.

A computer maintenance technician requires the certification of a competent authority in the field to be accepted at any business as an IT maintenance expert. Where you go for your certificates depends of course on the area of hardware that interests you. Basically, if working on hardware from a specific vendor is what really does it for you, you will of course need to apply for certification by that company. Several major vendors offer their specialized certifications - Novell, Microsoft MCSE., Apple and Cisco are just a couple of the most famous names. If your interests run more widely than the narrow focus of a single vendor, vendor neutral certifications should be your thing. The Computer Technology Industry Association Certification would be your goal here. An A+ certification from these people allows you to accept work in computer installation, preventive maintenance, basic networking, and computer security. If you go to a high school where they offer you classes to prepare for these certification exams, you could be in luck.

When you finally do qualify and get into the biz, make sure that you keep on learning. The computer industry is all about innovation and advancement. Nothing impresses your client like a little obscure program you can tip them off to that can solve a problem of theirs. However, if at any time, you should find out that you don't have the answer to a problem, make sure that you admits as much up front, and make sure you know where to go to look for an answer. Too much damage is done to careers when people don't have the stomach to admit that they don't know.

Latin American History Has a Long and Rich Heritage

When I was in the seventh grade, part of our course on Texas history was on the history of Mexico and Latin America, and when I got into world history in high school, we learned even more. What I discovered very early on is that Latin American history is rich and goes back a long, long way.

One of the most fascinating things that I remember reading about Latin American history is that of the Mayan ruins in Mexico. The story that I read said that some archaeologists theorize that these ruins pre-date the pyramids in Egypt. Most of us assume that the ancient cultures of the world were centered in Africa, Asia and Europe, but there was obviously a thriving civilization in Central Mexico at the time of the pharaohs in Egypt.

I have always found this to be so interesting, because the Americas have so often been referred to as the New World, and you start to realize that it may not be so new after all. If you look at the Mayan calender, after all, you realize that the Central American civilization understood astronomy and the solar system in ways that had to be considered very sophisticated at the time.

One of the things I loved studying the most about Latin American History was the Aztec civilization, and Montezuma. I loved learning about the city the Aztecs created on the land which is today Mexico City, and all of the sophisticated engineering the city had, even back in the 1500's.

Moving forward several hundred years, as a Texan, I always remember studying about the Texas Revolution and the Republic of Texas, when the state claimed its independence and defeated an army led by the Mexican President Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto. This, of course, was one of those occasions where Latin American history and U.S. history intertwined.

Texas gained its independence in 1836, and 10 years later, the United States and Mexico were at war over the U.S.'s annexation of Texas, where the United States won a decisive victory and claimed a large portion of Mexico's territory, making it part of the United States.

While I always felt I received great exposure to Latin American history, I always felt like there could have been a lot more that was taught. I am a great lover of history, and while we seem to study European, Asian and African history to a pretty good extent, it does not seem like the history of Latin America is covered as completely as it should be.

This is our part of the world, and there is a rich history in Mexico and most of the countries of Central America. I really feel that we as Americans should do more to preserve that history.

We will make a great profit on it some day

My husband and I are fortunate enough to live in a recreational area. We are both still working; however we purchased our retirement home early. We have talked about wanting to retire by a lake ever since we were married. A few years ago we happened upon our present home by accident. After discussing the pros and cons of moving further away from our jobs, we decided that having a lake home on the weekends would be worth the sacrifice of spending additional time on the road during the week. It was the best decision we ever made. The price of lake properties has steadily increased since that time. We could no longer afford to buy our home if we had waited. We will make a great profit on it some day.

Being in a recreation area means that there are festivals, fairs, small town celebrations and other events happening throughout the year. There are several very nice arts fairs that are held annually. One of my sisters loves country folk art. She has a large older home in the country, so she has if decorated with country folk art. Each year when this festival is held she comes over to my house and we go exploring the arts fair together. We have gone often enough that we are able to distinguish authentic pieces from those that are duplicates. This year my sister told me that she wanted to drive when we went to the country folk art festival because she was looking for a large piece of art to place in her yard. She borrowed her husband’s truck so we could haul a larger piece if she found one. One of the things we did not take into account when she brought the larger vehicle was the parking situation. This festival is held in a lakeside park. The park is long and narrow and extends for several blocks. There are usually many people at the event and parking is difficult. My sister is not used to driving the large truck so we spent a great deal of time finding a place that was big enough for her to maneuver the truck into.

Once we finally parked we had to walk several blocks to get to the park. By time we arrived I told my sister that I hoped she did not find anything because it would be a long way to carry items back to the vehicle. As we were looking at the different pieces on display we came across some wooden sculptures that were treated to be outdoors. They were beautiful, and exactly what my sister was looking for. She picked out the one she wanted. The artist helped us get her new piece of country folk art into the vehicle.

Are Safe Investing Guarantees on your Investments a Good Deal?

All you ever wanted, was a safe place to park what little money you've been able to eke out. You have your child's education, and your retirement think about, and you have nothing altogether adventurous in mind for your money. All you want are some safe investing opportunities, and to get by. Well, as people who've been tossed about like a cork on stormy seas by the Great Recession, and who have seen their portfolios drop by maybe 6% in value in the process recently, finding out exactly what it takes to be immune to these market swings, has become quite an obsession. What they're discovering now, is that safe investing is possible, but only at a price.

Not to blame the companies that offer these; any kind of income guarantee or downside protection in this market with poor interest rates and unpredictability to boot, becomes really expensive for them to support. And anyway, it's like getting blood out of a rock getting Wall Street agree to these safe investing opportunities in the first place. If they do it at all, they are going to get you to accept lower returns for the privilege. So what is an ordinary family investor to do? Short-term money market funds just became virtually unprofitable. You'd be lucky if you could get 1% on a CD you left with them for six months.

So, safe investing enthusiasts look to Variable Annuities. You know what those are, don't you? They are just your average bonds and stock, but they insure them for you to make sure they don't fall in value. These are not as good a deal as they used to be. The insurance companies used to offer really generous insurance guarantees before, and did they ever regret it when the markets went belly up. Another option is the mutual fund market, but it comes with guarantees, not unlike what you see in those annuities. You just pay them a fee (not a cheap one), and they guarantee you a certain income for life. You could also try the stable-value funds. These are the best for a place to park your 401(k) money. They guarantee that you will keep your capital, and over a long period time, you get steady raises in value.

The thing is, people are so sick of seeing their money disappear before their very eyes, that there is such demand now for these safe investing opportunities. With so much demand, it's no longer a buyers market though. Just last year alone, investors threw nearly a half-trillion dollars at these conservative investment products. Why would Wall Street even want to make things more profitable for you? People can't have enough of these, even when they get these terrible deals on them.

Making Bank With Stay at Home Jobs

It sounds like a dream job. Go to work in your pajamas. Work only a few hours a day. Make a killing. However, as anyone who has looked for home based employment will tell you, many offers are scams. For this reason, the work at home market has gained a bad reputation, and may people have assumed that there are no legitimate professional opportunities in that realm. This could not be further from the truth. While there may not be a wide variety of six figure work at home jobs out there, there are plenty that can help you make ends meet.

Freelance writer- This is one of those work at home jobs that has a large amount of variety within the field. You can work as a journalist, blogger or hired gun, providing unique web content on demand or for larger companies. With some employers, you get handed quotas for accomplishment in a given time span, or individual assignments. In other cases, you will be hired on for one project at a time. Other websites, such as http://www.demandstudios.com, will list a variety of assignments that you can claim and make money off of. Others, such as http://www.suite101.com, allow you to write about whatever you want, and people looking for web content will buy the rights to your material. As far as work at home jobs go, this is one with lots of opportunity and a great deal of flexibility.

Medical Transcriptionist- While some work at home jobs don't require much training, but this is the exception to the rule. If you are a medical transcriptionist, you will have to listen to audio of a medical chart's dictation, and type it verbatim. It requires an ability to type very quickly, and the use of a specialized pedal to start and stop the audio while you type. It may require some initial investment, but this is one of the few work at home jobs that will actually be able to financially support you all on its own. The pay for a medical transcriptionist makes the extra work worth it.

Survey Taker- This may seem like one of the more sketchy options available, but if you have some flexible capital, this can work for you. This is one of those work at home jobs where you sign up with a website who will direct you to surveys to take and emails to read. You will be reimbursed for each objective you complete. You can even get paid for signing up for free trials! In other cases, you need to sign up for services, which will cost some money. However, with some of these services, you can cancel after a month or so, and the fees for signing up are low. The trade off can be a lucrative one for you if you do it the right way, but this process can often be time consuming. This is one of those work at home jobs that would be a good fit for a stay at home mom trying to bring in some extra money.

Organic Gardening Fertilizer

If you have a garden at home, you may be growing your own vegetables because you are concerned about the freshness and also the safeness of the ones that you can get at your local store. It should not come as a surprise that chemicals are used on fruits and vegetables that you may not think are safe for your family. Some brands and types are safe because they do not soak into the produce, but you can not always count on that for sure. You can grow your own vegetables, but you may need help with growth. In that case, to stay safe, you can use organic gardening fertilizer. There are a few ways you can go about this.

There are some commercially made types of organic gardening fertilizer out there that you can try. You have to be your own health advocate in this case though, as the word 'organic' is not really regulated in any way. What one company may call organic is not what you would think of as safe for your family to ingest. Therefore, before you buy an organic fertilizer of this type, read the instructions for use and make a full list of the ingredients so you can check them out before you use them in your home garden. Be your own detective before you buy.

You certainly have the option of coming up with your own organic gardening fertilizer if you wish, or getting more simpler things that you can buy that may do the same job. Animal waste is one of the best fertilizers out there. This is why dairy farmers tend to spread cow manure on their own fields rather than disposing of it. Not only does this recycle the manure, it helps the crops that will be grown in the field to be fertilized cheaply, quickly, and safely. They have been doing it for hundreds of years and so can you.

You can buy this type of organic gardening fertilizer in many places, though your best sources may be local farmers who sell it. They may have it mixed with something like mulch that will also help you keep the weeds out of your organic garden. There are different animal waste types that each farmer may sell, but most should do the job. Just make sure you are handling it correctly. The last thing you want to do is to bring traces of it into your home. It is best used before anything shoots up and fruits. After that, you want to use something else. Always clean your home grown vegetables very well before eating, cooking, or canning them.

Some people find that they think organic gardening fertilizer does not work as well as some of the other types of fertilizers on the market, but that point is not to have the largest tomatoes on the block. The point is to have a safe source of vegetables that you feel good serving to your family. You may not get quite the yield, but the health benefits far outweigh having to plant a few more plants to get the same amount. Chemicals are great for some things, but they are best left out of your dinner plans.

Juvenile Boot Camps

Sending a child to juvenile boot camp is never an easy decision. After all, juvenile boot camps don't just whip your kid into shape. They actually change every aspect of his or her personality. At least that is the stated goal. A boot camp for juvenile offenders is meant as a way to intercede before things get too bad. It reaches out to troubled teens and gives them a whole new way of seeing the world. They come out of the experience viewing discipline as the finest quality, and having a renewed respect for authority.

In the case of my family, it wasn't a choice I made. I would never have sent my child to a boot camp for juvenile offenders at the time, but it was that or juvenile hall. I knew how juvie worked. I had worked with juvenile offenders before, and I knew that my son would come out tougher and angrier than before. Naturally, when the judge offered juvenile boot camps as an alternative, I jumped at the chance. It is much better than turning my kid into a hardened criminal in his early teens.

There are many different juvenile boot camps out there, but usually when your child is ordered to go to one by a court you don't have much of a choice. Fortunately, the program that my kid went to was pretty highly regarded. The counselors have a military background like in most of these camps, but they also have psychological knowledge. In my opinion, a knowledge of psychology is crucial for juvenile boot camps. Discipline is not the only thing that matters. Children need tough love, but they also need love. If they are only treated like soldiers, they will emerge more alienated than before.

I was amazed by how much different my kid was when he came out of the juvenile boot camp. The changes were like night and day. He practically saluted us when he met us. The feeling of respect was palpable. He didn't mouth off anymore, didn't waste all his time playing guitar or writing poetry, kept getting good grades, and even took up sports. Needless to say, he stayed away from the teen drug use that had gotten him into trouble in the first place. Now he is thinking of going to a military academy, and I have juvenile boot camp to thank for it. A parent couldn't be prouder.

Grilled Seafood Recipes

Fish is one of the healthiest foods in existence and a valuable part of a low fat and low calorie lifestyle. There are more than 20,000 species to choose from, so there is bound to be something to like. Grilled seafood recipes make for tasty meals, especially if cooked on an outdoors grill. Summer barbecues don't have to involve burgers and sausages. The aroma of fish cooked over hot coals cannot be beaten.

Fish can be wrapped in aluminum foil or the low tech way in banana or grape leaves. Prawns, shrimp, oysters and scallops all benefit from grilling and herbs and marinades help to enhance the flavor. Plank Grilling is an option. A traditional method in the Pacific Northwest, it involves racks of wooden planks, preferably untreated cedar, alder, maple or hickory. The result is a wonderful smoky flavor; Western Alder is particular good with salmon and other delicate fish. It's fun to experiment with grilled seafood recipes but there are some books on the market, written by experts on the subject.

Fish and Shellfish, Grilled and Smoked is by Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig. The book contains 300 grilled seafood recipes including marinades, sauces, rubs and side dishes. There are sections on Fish Facts, the history of recipes and a list of fresh fish suppliers.

Fish: Grilled and Smoked by John Manikowski is a collection of 150 recipes suitable for cooking on the backyard grill, by the stream where the fish has been caught, and in the home smoker. The author brings his knowledge to bear from his career as a master fisherman and as a chef. He lists which species benefit most from smoking, a list that includes herring, chub, and lake trout. Manikowski has developed his own smoking method called soft smoke, which uses dried corn to bring out the sweetness of the grilled seafood recipe and it's suitable for any outdoor grill. The book also contains ideas for side dishes, sauces, salsas and desserts. There is also a section on which wine or beer is the best accompaniment to the recipe.

Preparing fish and shellfish dishes need not be time consuming. Ask the local fishmonger to bone the fish and select the fillets. Most grilled seafood recipes are quick and easy to follow. Marinades can be made in advance to save time. Fish is a popular option at barbecue get togethers and is a perfect choice for pescetarians (people who don't eat meat but do eat fish).

Grilled Bass is delicious when prepared with red onion, green onion, white or lemon pepper paprika and almonds. Grill 'Em Florida Soft Shell Blue Crabs is a delicacy, enhanced by the nutmeg, parsley, hot pepper sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Grilled Fish in Foil works with most fish. A blend of lemon juice, parsley, dill weed, paprika and onion is poured over the fish and then the fish is wrapped tightly in the foil.

Smoking Withdrawal Symptoms are a Small Price to Pay

Doctors all around the world agree on one thing: the sooner you quit smoking the better your chances of not getting lung cancer and dying. It is a fact that smoking has killed millions and millions of people around the world and the Surgeon General’s 1982 announcement was that “"Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States." This remains true today although smoking-related deaths have gone down in 2009 according to the latest figures. This is due to more people stopping smoking and is a trend that is expected to continue. Young people are getting the word out because of school programs like DARE.

For most heavy smokers quitting cold turkey is not an appealing or realistic way to stop smoking. Smoking withdrawal symptoms are much worse when you quit all at once as opposed to a gradual quit smoking program. Many experts however will tell you that it is just like getting into a cold pool. You are better off just jumping in getting it over with. Even when you use the patch or nicotine gum or one of the newest designer drugs, you will still have smoking withdrawal symptoms, just not as pronounced.

We all know that going cold turkey will make you feel the smoking withdrawal symptoms stronger but what we are not told is that the symptoms will last for a much shorter period of time, just like jumping into the cold pool. If you can stand the smoking withdrawal symptoms then you can make a clean break.

Each year thousands of people quit smoking and a lot of them just go cold turkey. Most of these people succeed in cutting tobacco and cigarettes out of their lives for good. It is not because they have any special secret it is just that they are mentally tougher and able to withstand the smoking withdrawal symptoms without giving in.

Smoking withdrawal symptoms can vary from individual to individual but usually they are jittery nerves, hunger, and of course, a powerful craving to smoke. In a way you can really compare these smoking withdrawal symptoms to food withdrawal when you go on a diet. If you are eating a lot and then go on a drastic caloric reduction program you will feel headaches, irritation, weakness, light headedness, and other symptoms. But if you stick to the diet and don’t cheat you will get past the symptoms in two or three days. Smoking withdrawal symptoms may last a good while longer but one thing is for certain: the longer you go without smoking, the easier it gets to stop smoking.

You can do it. The health benefits of stopping smoking are many. Better heart health, circulation, blood pressure, digestion, you name it, stopping smoking will make it better. You will want to exercise more and you will have a tremendous surge in energy and mental acumen. So do yourself a favor. Whether it is with a patch or a supplement or just plain cold turkey, quit smoking today and start living again.

The Health Reform law promises affordable health insurance to all Americans!

For the vast majority of Americans, affordable health insurance is made possible through their employers. 98 percent of all companies with 200 employees or more provide health insurance to their employees. By 2019, another 9 million with employer-provided insurance will join their ranks. People employed by large companies, companies having 200 or more employees are fortunate, in that their employer is able to provide health insurance at a discount. The number of people enrolled gives them this leverage. Up until recently, if you weren't employed by a large company, health insurance was too expensive to obtain. That is now slated for change, big time!

The medically uninsured are so either because they are too poor and unemployed to purchase health insurance, or they are too poor, employed by a small business that can't afford to provide health insurance without severely impacting their bottom line, or are self-employed individuals who don't make enough money to purchase affordable basic health insurance.

Aside from being able to receive treatment for an illness when it occurs, those with medical insurance are able to get essential, early preventative treatment. Those who don't have medical insurance will wait until the illness is critical and then go with their crisis to a hospital emergency ward. Much of the high cost of health care is precisely because of this practice. Emergency room care is the most expensive treatment you can get. If these people, waiting until their disease is an emergency, had affordable health insurance, instead of lifting the cost of health care to all time highs, they can go to a physician while the condition is still easily, and relatively inexpensively, manageable. With health insurance, they can receive the many benefits of preventative medicine.

In addition to the practical consequences of not having affordable health insurance, there is the moral shame that so many people - 25 million at least - must suffer with no help from their communities or their country. Life takes second place to money, and when life is viewed as cheap, the moral integrity of a country sinks. Bitterness, hatred and envy rise. The security of a nation can be threatened when too many of its people are so alienated. More than once has a crime been committed to get funds to pay for a sick child that health insurance coverage could have paid. For a safer, more caring society, affordable health insurance is a must.

To take care of this problem, the people of the United States have just enacted a law, enabling all of its citizens to receive health insurance. $350 billion has been allocated to subsidize the poor who cannot afford health insurance. Self-employed people and small businesses are also being given an opportunity to obtain affordable health insurance, through the creation of health insurance exchanges. Using the power of numbers to bring quantity to health insurers, exchanges will be able to offer small businesses and self-employed individuals medical insurance at somewhat the same rate charged employees of large corporations. Provisions are also being made to help Medicare patients weather the ups and downs inherit in the various Medicare plans. One of the most admirable provisions of the new law prevents insurers from dropping a sick person and prevents refusals to sell a policy to those with pre-existing conditions. Rates for the sick will not be any greater than for the well. The new Health Reform Law has made the United States a more humane nation.

So available will health insurance be, the law is requiring all its citizens to be insured by the end of 2014 (with government subsidies for the poor), or pay a penalty if they are not. With such an opportunity, who wouldn't want affordable health insurance? Start looking into it today and keep abreast of the progress of the Health Reform Law. It is, after all, a matter for you of life and health, or illness or death. Live well, in this new era of affordable health insurance!

A Deep Tissue Massage Really Works

I was fortunate enough in my younger years to date a massage therapist, and used to get a free deep tissue massage once a week. I had always been fairly healthy and felt pretty good most of the time, but I had no idea about how much better I could feel by getting that kind of a massage.

When my girlfriend first approached me about the idea of a massage, I was a bit skeptical, because I had never really been into that sort of thing, and I really didn't feel any aches or pains. She said that I should just try it and see how I felt, so I did, and I did feel pretty good afterwards.

She then suggested a deep tissue massage to really work out some kinks, and because I had felt better after the first massage and because she seemed so convinced that it would really help, I went ahead and went through with it. It was quite the experience.

When she first started, a have to admit that I felt a bit of pain, and thought that I would end up feeling worse by the time it was over. I did not really know exactly what deep tissue massage meant at the time, but I could definitely feel the massage pretty deep.

After a few minutes, the pain went away, and I started to really relax and enjoy the massage. What impressed me the most about it is that my girlfriend could tell immediately when I had relaxed and told me she could tell that I was starting to feel the effects.

The deep tissue massage lasted for about an hour, and when I was finished, I just felt great. My body felt much more limber and flexible, and even the next day, when I first woke up and would normally feel a bit of lower back stiffness, I did not feel any sort of discomfort at all.

I started to have a deep tissue massage once a week, and I found that I felt better and more relaxed. I could also work out longer than I had been able to before, and little things that would bother me from time to time, like sore joints, had completely ceased.

I also used to have really bad leg cramps in my calves, but when I started getting the massages, I stopped having them nearly as frequently as I once did. I also noticed the severity was not nearly as intense as it used to be when I did have leg cramps.

I don't know if a deep tissue massage will have the same kind of impact on other people's lives that it had on mine, but I am glad I decided to go through with it, because the helped me in many ways.

Invention Help to Make It Happen-for Scientists with a Bright Spark and Little Else

You have heard of that old proverb that goes, "For want of a nail the kingdom was lost", haven't you? You could have the whole kingdom all perfectly functioning and being heaven on earth; and something insignificant and as small as a naill could scupper the whole deal. There are wonderful ideas for scientific inventions stuck in scientific laboratories out there that we never get to hear about, all because those scientists haven't a clue how to go about getting their ideas out of the lab, and into the market. Innovative scientific imagination is about the greatest faculty humans are capable of; but all that is routinely wasted for want of something as small as help from people who know business. This is the most valuable kind of invention help scientists can have today - help rarely found, that can show them a way to exploit their knowledge.

This kind of cooperation is somewhat rare. But there have been some major successes that have come by Internet innovators who have been armed with nothing bigger than an idea over the past ten years though, and these encouraging stories are beginning to breathe new life into a support system that exists to deliver the greatest ideas locked up in our laboratories from obscurity. What kind of support system is it though that inventors blessed with an idea can approach for invention help?

While venture capitalists do exist for this kind of thing , the largest and most cutting edge invention help comes from several of the top universities of the country. The main difference between these places and business incubators or venture capitalists, is that the universities will take on an idea long before it is ever ready for the market. Venture capitalists and business investigators typically need a company that's almost up and running. These new places though involve themselves with these innovative people right time there academics - long before they actually become inventors.

The very best ones are the MIT, and the University of California in San Diego. Is there a specific name for the kind of invention help universities provide in this way? They call it centers for proof of concept. Their aim is to keep tiny little pieces of brilliance alive, to find investors who are capable of seeing and holding a vision, and to help academics navigate the world of business. There have been some great success stories that they've launched too - a pioneering video technology company, a company that makes innovative medical scanners and so on.

The example that these two superstars in the world of proof of concept have set is now followed by several others -the University of Kansas, Georgia Tech and others. The challenge they have on their hands isn't an easy one. They need to find investors who have a vision big enough, that they can invest a quarter million dollars in an idea.

Most of the innovation that has driven Silicon Valley over the decades has come from the universities of the area. And President Obama loves the whole concept so much, he is putting millions of dollars into proof of concept centers. If you are an inventor, these are exciting times to live in. There are ideas on their way to the market now in robotic toys, drug testing devices, and cheaper computers. For scientists who have languished without invention help for decades, people who always felt that there were few people out there who could recognize a good idea, these new developments make for really good news.

Looking for affordable web hosting? Do your research. The lowest price isn't the only consideration.

Unless you have considerable expertise in website design, or have previously set up and managed another website, when you're looking for affordable web hosting plans, you'll want to do some research to determine what features you need for your specific web hosting requirements. If you think that a low price is your only criteria, you may end up signing on to a deal which doesn't fulfill your needs. Once you set up your site, you might well find that your affordable web hosting doesn't provide what you need to conduct business, run certain programs, capture data in a suitable database format, or adequately track statistics which are essential to your success.

You may have an excellent business model and marketing strategy, but if that affordable web hosting provider doesn't perform, you'll eventually find that you're forced to change to another provider, which can have you back at square one as far as your marketing strategies, links, advertising and traffic are concerned. This is why you want to do your homework before you set out to find affordable web hosting that has what it takes to launch your site successfully the first time.

Here are the steps you need to take before signing up with a web hosting service.

1.If you're starting a blog, search out some of the blogging expert's sites. These are chock full of articles that give you tips on every aspect of blogging, from the types of postings you should develop, how to attract readers – and retain them – to setting up a blog and choosing blogging software. You'll learn what makes a successful blog, as well as some of the pitfalls, from someone who's been there, done that. Download a blogging tutorial to familiarize yourself with the terminology and installation of the software and widgets.

2.If you're setting up a product and/or service related website, you'd do well to look at the W3C website for guidance on design, features and software which best suit your purpose. The W3C site also has online classes and tutorials to get you up to speed on some tasks you may want to manage yourself, as well as HTML, XML and a number of other web page coding devices.

Again, bloggers whose area of expertise is in web page design can be invaluable resources, with tips and tricks to help you succeed in finding an affordable web hosting provider which gives you what you need for a smooth site launch. Compare the advantages of C-panel in a hosting plan. Look into RSS feeds and podcasting, if the suit your objectives and marketing strategies.

3.Once you feel you've got a handle on what your site requires, you may want to contact a web designer for advice on your specific plan. Let the designer know what you've assessed to be the necessities, plus any bells and whistles you'd like to add. (Take a look at the designer's portfolio to be sure you've found a good match.) If you can afford to hire a web designer to make it all happen, this may be the best way to go. There's a lot that goes into a good website design and if the response to your initial query seems well thought out – which you'll be able to ascertain from having done your homework – it may be cost effective to hire that designer. The process will go more smoothly when you can speak the same 'language'.

4.Ask the web designer for recommendations of affordable web hosting services that meet your criteria. While some web designers offer free consultations, remember that they are trying to make a living too. If you're now tech-savvy enough on the logistics and artistically inclined, you may want to do the site yourself. However, it's just good business to offer to pay for their advice if they respond with solid information and leads.

5. Now you're ready to compare prices of different hosting services. If a designer or web page blogging expert has made suggestions, check all of them out. You've now got the knowledge to make an intelligent decision on a truly affordable web hosting provider with which you'll be happy over the long haul. Go for it! To your success!

Financial accounting is a snapshot of the state of your business for your use and for possible lenders, so get it right

Financial accounting is the single most critical information system your business will require. Financial accounting aims to produce two basic financial reports, the balance sheet and the profit and loss statements. Traditional software systems uses a ledger of accounts to categorize financial activities of your company. Typically, the ledger is divided into two major portions, the assets portion, usually envisioned as being on the left side of the ledger, and the liabilities and equity portion, that being on the right side. Under assets you will have such accounts as the cash account, accounts receivables, and fixed assets, including inventory, buildings owned, and office equipment and other assets for which you paid money. Each account is also split into two parts, the left side being the debits side and the right side being the credits side. Now, the ledger should be balanced such that the assets side debit sum of all assets accounts is equal to the sum of all liabilities and equity on the credit side of the ledger.

Common practice has devised the double entry method for maintaining balances between assets on the one side and liabilities and equity on the other side. For instance, if you start a business with $1000, you would enter $1000 in the equity account on the right side as a credit and a $1000 debit on the assets side in the cash account. The ledger remains balanced.

In financial accounting you create your two pertinent reports from your general ledger. Your profit and loss statement reports ordinary income/expense, the cost of goods sold being subtracted from total income to derive gross profit. Your profit and loss statement will also report expenses. Subtracting total expense from gross profit will render your net ordinary income. You will also account for other income and add it to net ordinary income to derive you net income, the end point of this financial accounting report.

The principal financial accounting report, the one you often submit to lenders, is the balance sheet. This summarizes your entire ledger. It will first show current assets, starting with cash, including undeposited funds, checking and saving, all added together to render total cash. Next, you will show total accounts receivable and then other current assets, such as owner loans receivable and prepaid insurance. The other current assets are added together with total cash and total accounts receivable to get your total current assets. Next, still on you assets side, you will show fixed assets, such as furniture, vehicles, the amount of depreciation to be subtracted from these fixed assets to obtain your total fixed assets. Finally, you add total fixed assets with total current assets to obtain you total assets.

Your financial accounting balance sheet isn't complete until you've shown your liabilities and equity portion of the general ledger. You will show current liabilities, including accounts payable and credit card amounts owed, as well as other current liabilities such as payroll. These added together give you your total current liabilities, but you still have to show your long term liabilities, such as notes payable, tax payable and other payroll liabilities. Adding together you total current liabilities and long term liabilities gives you your total liabilities. Finally, you have to account for equity, the amount of money invested by owners and shareholders. Total liabilities are added to total equity to obtain the end result, total liabilities and equity.

If you've done your accounting properly, total assets will equal total liabilities and equity - balanced. Your finance accounting reports are now available for you and your lender to measure the health, value, and profitability of your company.

Total Fitness and Weight Loss

The average American diet consists of processed fast foods and starchy things like French fries, pasta, and cheeseburgers. No wonder we are the most overweight country in the world and getting bigger by the minute. Adult and childhood obesity are rampant in the U.S. and account for more health problems than all other factors combined. Obesity causes or is linked directly to hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, bone problems, and many other ailments. We need to get off our collective rear ends and start working on fitness and weight loss as parts of our daily lives, not just when we get too heavy to fit into our jeans.

It is not as difficult as it first seems to achieve total fitness and weight loss if you approach it from a holistic point of view. You need to see the big picture and part of that is to examine how being overweight affects our daily lives. Think about it, what could you accomplish if you were at your ideal weight today? How would you life change if you could fit into that size four dress and feel confident every time you went out for a job interview or to meet with clients? If you were not so heavy would your knees, hips and back hurt so much after every workout or could you be pain free and consequently run more miles (or even one) and lose weight even faster? Staying fit or getting in shape is not easy and no one is claiming to have a panacea but you can definitely get a kick start if you follow some easy suggestions.

The first thing you need to do is to write down everything that you eat all day. Fitness and weight loss experts agree that documenting your daily caloric intake is vital to making your plan work. How can you know what to avoid if you don’t know what you are putting into your mouth? Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers both emphasize this part of their program and give you little food diaries where you write down everything you eat during the day and also what kind of exercise you did that day. You can even write down your daily weight but I don’t particularly recommend that part of it.

Many experts agree that looking at the scale every day can lead you to sabotage your fitness and weight loss goals. This is due to the fact that most weight loss occurs several days after one exercises and diets and not on the same day. If you weigh yourself after you work out you are really only seeing water weight loss and not fat weight loss. If you exercise several days in a row you will not see less water weight loss or sometimes none at all. This is discouraging and even more discouraging is when you diet and exercise and you still seem to gain a pound or two. That is the main reason to put away your scale for at least one week while you begin your fitness and weight loss program. This is the way that Jenny Craig does it and they weigh you on their accurate scales once a week when you come in for your weekly consultation and to buy the week’s worth of food.

Although Jenny Craig seems expensive and food costs can exceed $100 per week per person, it really saves you money. If you count up how much food you buy in an average week of going to the supermarket and eating out at restaurants you will find that you are actually spending a lot more on your own. Take the plunge. Sign up with Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers and begin that fitness and weight loss plan you have been meaning to start. You will thank yourself once you get to that ideal weight and everyone is giving you complimentary remarks.

Use secured credit cards for bad credit to rebuild your credit rating!

Oh, are there still any people out there with an excellent credit rating? Yes, there are, but the majority of the consuming public has at least a few dings in their credit rating. If you've got bad credit, you've still got credit possibilities. Those bankers are so creative! However, secured credit cards for bad credit gives you a chance to start rebuilding your credit rating. Everyone needs to use credit at some point, if only for the convenience. You don't have to carry large amounts of cash while shopping, or hope a vendor will accept an out of town/area check. If you pay the credit card off each month, the interest is kept to a minimum and your credit rating improves, month by month.

Secured credit cards for bad credit risks are designed to keep you on the straight and narrow as you rebuild a good credit rating. Yes, it will cost you in terms of interest, but not so much as to make this proposition a bad deal. Here's how it works: you apply for the secured credit card and deposit any amount you wish – that amount becomes your line of credit. Think of it as a savings account from which you can only withdraw by paying interest. You can get cash advances and use the card at any retailer that accepts credit cards. There's no 'scarlet letter' emblazoned on the card, marking you as having bad credit. In other words, secured credit cards for bad credit work and look just like any other credit card, with the exception that it's not the bank's money you're using – it's your own money!

With that caveat, you need to understand that there's no wiggle room when it comes to going over your limit. Keep close track of your purchases and remaining funds. If you try to exceed your limit, the transaction will be declined and you'll be penalized with an immediate rise of your APR, which, with secured credit cards for bad credit, are typically healthy enough without you making it worse! Keep in mind, too, that you really don't want to spend all of your money on a shopping spree. Be prudent and reserve some of those funds for emergency use. Although cash advances cost you, it may be a better strategy to take a cash advance amount against the possibility of an emergency situation and use your remaining funds for everyday purchases, such as gas for your car, kid's school clothes and the like. For the maximum beneficial financial effect, you want to approach the maximum amount on your secured credit card, without going over! If you breeze through the month with no emergency money requirement, use the cash to help pay off the balance on your monthly statement. You then start fresh with a new month of full credit.

Most secured credit cards for bad credit come with the proviso that responsible use will generate a review of your 'credit line' within 3-6 months. The issuing company may raise your limit, with no additional deposit required. If you've been judicious and prudent in using your card, you might ask if you can get a reduction in your APR as well.

Naturally, the card issuer is in business to make money, but they also want long-term good customers. Typically, after a year of timely payments and no over-the-limit transactions, the card issuer will give you a true line of credit, with a higher limit.

So now you see how to make the best use of secured credit cards for bad credit. All you have to do is be responsible and patient. Good luck!

Can't find a job? How to conduct a successful job search

There's no denying that unemployment is rising dramatically. If you've been laid off, you may be eligible to collect unemployment benefits, but everyone knows that unemployment benefits amount to just a fraction of what your income was while working. If you can't find a job, perhaps you need a new strategy.

While you may be applying for every job opportunity, you may be wasting much of your time applying for jobs for which you are either overqualified or unqualified. If you can't find a job within a month of diligent searching, it's easy to become desperate. The stress and pressure of trying to meet financial obligations leads many people to discard a targeted job search strategy and apply for every job listed in the paper.

For example, if your usual employment is in accounting, but you can't find a job in your field, now is not the time to apply at gas stations or fast food places. The prospective employer will look at your resume and conclude that you won't stay with them long. As soon as you do find a job that matches your skill set, you'll be gone. Here we offer some suggestions on how to conduct a successful, targeted job search that gets you back in the work force in the least amount of time.

1. Get your resume in perfect condition. Using the accounting example, let's say you're proficient in most areas of accounting. While your resume should always be truthful in reflecting your knowledge and experience, you may want to create several resumes, each stressing a different facet of your skills. If an employer advertises for someone with heavy experience in accounts receivable, position your accounts receivable experience in the first line of each job description, placing a bit more emphasis on that phase of your previous jobs. This assumes you do know A/R inside and out. If you're sending your resume to an employer looking for a payroll position, modify your resume to detail that experience prominently.
2. Don't confine yourself to the local classifieds. If you can't find a job locally, post your resume on the online job boards. Depending on your line of work, DICE and craigslist may turn up some good leads. Search through job offers on craigslist and submit a posting in its 'services offered' category as well. If you're an accountant, post a listing for all of the services you're qualified to provide.
3. Network! Both social and business contacts can help spread the word. This can prove to be a fruitful strategy. People who know you personally are more likely to make a concerted effort to help you find a job.
4. Target successful online businesses which might make use of your job skills. While you may not get full time work, acquiring several online clients may result in a full time income. Tailor your query to each business on an individual basis. Just as in a face-to-face interview, your prospective client will appreciate the fact that you took the time to research their business and understand their objectives. If you can't find a job through any other avenue, this step can help you build a business that sustains you over the long term.
5. Use the services offered at your local Department of Employment. Some offer free or low cost training services to increase your chances of landing a job. The personnel can also offer valuable advice on how to leverage your skills and polish your resume.
6. Sign up with some of the temp agencies. Many employers use temp agencies to find permanent employees.

Finding a job can be a full time occupation in itself. If you can't find a job, it may be due to your strategy. Once you've got your resume in order, follow up on each of the remaining steps, aggressively and concurrently. Keep a positive attitude! Good luck!

Is it possible to logically and morally examine the pros and cons of abortion?

Ever since the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, the ethical issues of the pros and cons of abortion have raged throughout our society, becoming part of every political stance in every election since. It's almost a given that a politician running for office must make a statement, either for or against abortion. Over the years, the argument has taken on new monikers, 'pro life' or 'pro choice', eliminating the word 'abortion'. Entire political and religious groups have coalesced around one viewpoint or the other, seemingly without examining the gray areas of each. The issue of abortion is not one that is bantered about at dinner parties. However, strangely, every individual is 'expected' to be either pro life or pro choice.

Let's say you're trying to make a decision on whether you should adopt a child. It would be natural that a couple would discuss the pros and cons of adoption versus having a child of their own. For example, the point might be made that there are millions of orphans in need of parents and a home. Let's further say that the woman has been taking contraceptives up to this point. Might not contraceptives be considered a preemptive form of abortion? It could be argued that, by taking contraceptives and so avoiding a state of conceiving a child, abortion would have been the other alternative. This perspective also begs the question of family planning. However, can't it just as well be said that adopting one of millions of orphaned children would be a morally laudable action?

One of the darker sides of the pros and cons of abortion arguments is evidenced in the case of victims of incest and rape. Former Vice President Dan Quayle made it clear that, in his view, even in cases of incest and rape, abortion was not an option. Babies born of incest are often afflicted with terrible physical and mental deficiencies, with which that child must suffer all his life. What about the mother? Might the psychological trauma to her be so great that she could never bond with and love that child? The same may be said of children of rape. In the case of the conception of a child by either incest or rape, it can hardly be said this child was conceived by choice. In this case, it's hard to justify a birth of a child with a good chance of suffering throughout his or her life, with physical, emotional and social problems. The typical discussions on the pros and cons of abortion seldom consider these serious repercussions.

In considering the pros and cons of abortion, it also seems reasonable to assess cases in which a woman with mental problems may not be able to give the proper emotional and physical care to her own child. Both mother and child could suffer tremendous emotional damage as a result. For example, a schizophrenic or psychopathic woman might become pregnant. She, not being able to give her child a stable upbringing, might be forced to give her child up for adoption, for the sake of a pro life agenda.

Another of the seldom discussed pros and cons of abortion is the situation of a woman who suffers a spontaneous abortion. Whereas a medically induced abortion is said to be murder by some in the pro life camp, a spontaneous abortion is not.

The subject of abortion is complicated. The pros and cons of abortion are usually only considered from an agenda driven perspective, politically charged or religiously inspired by what a person's religious adviser deems to be the truth.

In the end, a woman who chooses to have an abortion must bear the consequences of that decision on her own. As an ethical dilemma, it is she who must ultimately answer to her Creator. If she does not subscribe to a religious view of any kind, should that negate her right to make such a choice? Should governments dictate this weighty decision affecting her, the father and the child? Has the government devised a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of abortion which covers every nuance of every circumstance? This would likely be impossible. What do you think?