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The Manhattan Supreme Court has required Google, the host of the blog “Skanks in NYC”, to release the personal information of the blogger behind the blog to Liskula Cohen. Cohen is a fashion model who was referred to in the blog with the line “How old is this skank? 40 something? She’s a psychotic, lying, whoring, still going to clubs at her age, skank”. At best this is needlessly offensive and at worst slanderous.
But is the court justified in forcing the identity of the formerly anonymous blogger to become public knowledge? Absolutely! While being able to be hidden behind blogs and posts has encouraged people to express themselves to a far greater degree than anything else in modern times, these people do need to take responsibility and be held accountable for what they say. If you craft your words you can avoid civil penalties and still make your point, no matter how offensive.
Freedom of speech should in no way be confused with a freedom to remain anonymous.
The Acts:
Friday, August 15
Saturday, August 16
Sunday August 17
 Why is civility and decorum being abandoned at the town hall meetings? On the surface it is definitely genuine and sincere opposition to President Obama’s health care reform initiative. However, digging deeper into the motives of the protesters shows that the frustration comes from multiple sources, only one of which is the healthcare issue.
According to AP, the protesters are “white, conservative and working class. But they ranged in age and their concerns went beyond health care to deficit spending, taxes, government growth and other issues.” The issues began rearing their head with George W. Bush abandoning of fiscal conservatism and disregard for personal liberties post 9/11. The ball was then rolling downhill. Increased Federal spending, the Iraq war, the near collapse of the financial system, and the massive government bailouts and buyouts of our large private institutions have pushed many people to the point where it was time to begin complaining and being vocal.
Healthcare reform was just the last straw. As proposed, it is an awful idea that would cause our current system to suffer, and degrade the services available. And it is virtually guaranteed to cause far more people to be unsatisfied with the health system than are now.
These protesters are frustrated and screaming out to put a brake on government expansion in general. We still live in the greatest and most free country in the world and these people are screaming out to keep it that way.
 Bear the Dog The most important thing to know about barking is that it is a normal dog behavior. At appropriate times and levels, barking is even considered to be a useful behavior. Many people get dogs because they want them to bark when someone is either coming to the door or prowling around at night. But when barking becomes excessive, the noise can be a real headache for owners and their long-suffering neighbors. According to the Cornell Animal Behavior Clinic, up to one-third of behavioral complaints involve nuisance, inappropriate, or excessive barking.
Before things get out of hand, take steps to teach your dog when it’s okay to bark and when she should stop or remain quiet. If you want her to bark when people approach the house, enlist your kids, spouse, or a neighbor to help with the training. Ask the helper to come to the door and knock or ring the doorbell. If your dog doesn’t bark at the noise, encourage her by excitedly asking, “Who’s there? Is someone at the door?” Praise your dog when she barks at the sound.
Once your dog is barking to alert you, the next step is to teach her when to stop. After she has given a couple of barks, hold up your hand and say a code word or command, such as enough or quiet. Give the command in a firm, quiet tone of voice. If you yell, your dog will simply think you’re barking back at her, and she’ll just bark more. If your dog stops barking, praise her¡ª”good quiet!”¡ªand pop a treat into her mouth. Be sure you give the praise and treat only when the dog is quiet.
Often, showing the dog a treat may be distraction enough to stop the barking. Say, “quiet,” and give her the treat after several seconds of silence. As your dog starts to learn what the word quiet means, extend the amount of time between saying the command and giving the reward.
Some trainers recommend wrapping your hand around your barking dog’s muzzle, or snout, and saying, “quiet” or “no bark.” That works sometimes, but you have to be careful when trying that technique. If your dog is barking frenziedly, she may accidentally bite you when you try to wrap your hand around her muzzle.
A safer way to get this effect is to keep a halter collar on your dog while you’re at home. This type of collar has a loop that wraps around your dog’s muzzle. When your dog barks more than once or twice, give a quick pull on the lead to tighten the loop around the muzzle. As soon as the dog is quiet, say, “good no bark” or “good quiet,” and reward her with a treat.
Another way to stop the barking is to call your dog to you or give her a down command. Calling your dog to you usually interrupts barking. And a dog hardly ever barks when lying down. Choose a command such as come or down and use the same one every time. Offer praise for silence and then reward your dog with a treat.
Be sure you don’t unintentionally reward your dog for barking by hugging her or saying soothingly, “It’s okay, Sweetie.” When you do that, the dog thinks she must have been right to bark. This simply encourages her to bark more the next time a similar situation occurs.
Here’s just a quick look at two sites that I have used recently to look up some old acquaintances. The first is Classmates.com. This is a fairly comprehensive service geared mostly to school based lookups. The value of the information you get will only be as good as the profiles the members have filled out. I would recommend signing up for their free trial (you can do that here  ) before using their paid subscription service.
The other is a pay-only service called US Search. This is good for a background check type of search. For $1.95 you only get the persons last known address, but for $19.95 you can get quite a bit of information about the person. You can try them out Here if you’re interested.
 How can we nurture habits of serious, critical thought in our children? How do we help them sharpen their minds for a highly competitive future? The answer is to stretch the mind beyond the obvious. Experts say that the only route to that would be to develop a “thinking environment” in our home.
Children’s understanding and potential may be defined largely by the age group they belong to, yet a broad set of do’s and don’ts may be all we need to help them make competitive thinkers and well rounded humans as a whole. Here is a “crash course list” of some of those:
The starting step would be first and foremost to examine our own “thinking about thinking”. Deep thinkers may not always be best scholars or the most intelligent kids. The reason behind this may be that while an intelligent person may be able to give quick (read lazy) answers, on the other hand, a daydreamer may often provide deep insights.
Start early. Even as a 5 year old, an early start may give the child a much needed head start as well as an ingrained sense of really thinking about things.
Give them something to think about. Taking the kids to excursions, museums, sharing TV time with them and then discussing about what they have just experienced, challenge their imaginations. Like it may be thought provoking for them if after a tour of the museum you ask them “What might the earth be like if the dinosaurs come back?”
Involve the whole family. Dinner time conversation or small harmless talks at gatherings can go a long way in developing the thinking habit as it will develop the tendency to give and take ideas and sense of sharing thoughts and experiences.
Find patterns. Teach the child to relate new information with the old one. Once the child recognizes patterns of sorts, the decision making and understanding of choices are easier done. What factors determine the purchase or rejection of a certain toy today, may go further and help them decide whether or not a certain bicycle is worth buying or not.
Say what you mean. Be articulate so as to give clear ideas and signals to the child. Asking the child to daily relate certain story or to describe a picture in detail and then discuss the same with them. This will teach them to understand and relate their own experiences in clear words.
Urge them to wear the other person’s shoes, make them understand how others think and feel. Often putting oneself in the other person’s place can drastically alter our perception of the situation.
Teach them to take responsibility for their own expenses in an interesting way. Each time we pass a toy shop, how often have we heard “I want this …” or “buy me this”? This situation presents us with an opportunity to teach another important lesson about personal finance and savings and to make the kids understand that people often save their money for things they want to buy.
This may be done by introducing the concept of piggy bank or earnings through household chores.
Thinking is not a substitute to studies. Thinking and education can not be substitutes for each other, both are necessary for intellectual development.
Thinking takes practice so keep at it! Young people do not develop the habit of logical thought over the night. But if you keep at it then like any well learned skill, it is worth it.
The key here is to follow our hearts. Keep the malleability of their little minds in consideration while trying to instill any values in the children, and what is most important … treat them and their decisions with respect. That way they will also come to respect your decisions and aspirations for them.
Obama promises an overhaul of the healthcare system with or without the support of the Republican Party. According to to an AP article The President and Democratic congressmen are remaining open to working on a bipartisan solution – for now. But this manufactured “crisis” must be resolved by the end of the year in order to help “stabilize the nation’s fiscal health”. So come September, despite the protests against, and without Republican support, watch for this to be forced through with all of the might the Dems can muster. Because it is their “sacred duty to the American people” -Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-WV.
 Vitamins The wife recently found out that she is deficient in vitamin K so since I have the research done, I’ll share it with you.
Vitamin K is one of the lesser-known vitamins, yet it is very important in ensuring that our body functions properly.
Vitamin K is responsible for helping the blood to make the specialized proteins that are found in blood plasma, that is, the clear fluid in the blood. One of these proteins is prothrombin, and this ensures that our blood clots. If this was not present, then it is likely we would bleed to death if we cut ourselves. Hemophiliacs are usually unable to make enough vitamin K by themselves, and so need supplements.
Vitamin K also helps the body to maintain and make kidney and bone tissue. Along with vitamin D, it is essential in the maintenance of healthy bones. Vitamin K ensures that proteins that are essential for bone cell production are activated. Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium that is also needed for healthy bones.
The US Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for an Adequate Intake (AI) of vitamin K for a 25-year old male is 120 micrograms/day. The Adequate Intake of this vitamin for adult women is 90 micrograms/day, for infants is 10-20 micrograms/day, for children and adolescents 15-100 micrograms/day. However most people get all the vitamin K they need from their diet. Vitamin K is made in the large intestine, with the help of “friendly bacteria”. Newborn babies may not have enough of these bacteria in their gut to make vitamin K, and so an injection of synthetic vitamin K may be given to them, until they are able to make their own.
Vitamin K is found in liver, cheese, fruits, cereals and dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli.
Deficiency in vitamin K is rare, and supplements are not generally necessary. As with all things medical, consult a doctor if you need more advice.
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