Saturday, August 4, 2012

How to feel 18 years old again for men?

http://www.smarterlifestyles.com/2012/04/18/how-to-feel-18-years-old-again-men-only

I was reading the article from the above website and read:

The Alternative to Aging

New research from Cambridge shows that as a man’s body gets older, it produces less testosterone. It’s the loss of this essential hormone that makes men lose their edge and feel much older than they should. Until recently, the testosterone-boosting products on the market were unsafe, unproven, or too expensive for the average person to take them every day.

A new blend of natural ingredients has been formulated to increase testosterone levels, build muscle, and boost performance in men. This proprietary blend, called Test X180, includes fenugreek extract, ginseng, Tribulus terrestris, and cordyceps.



end quote from top website:

However, we all know that often these types of products promise more than they can actually deliver. However, I do remember my father drinking and giving to me Fenugreek tea and I remember the seeds that the tea is made from and I also remember eating Siberian and Korean ginseng. However, I just thought Fenugreek seeds and the roots that Korean and Siberian Ginseng are were something that improved one's immune system. So, after this maybe I will get some fenugreek seed and start making tea again and buying Siberian and Korean ginseng because I have drunk Fenugreek tea and eaten Siberian and Korean ginseng before. I think they might even make or once made a Ginseng Cola or other health food soft drink that I remember drinking before containing Ginseng.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia regarding the medicinal value of Fenugreek seeds:

Medicinal

A June 2011 study at the Australian Centre for Integrative Clinical and Molecular Medicine found that men aged 25 to 52 who took a fenugreek extract twice daily for six weeks scored 25% higher on tests gauging libido levels than those who took a placebo.[10][11]

Seeds

Dried fenugreek seed
Fenugreek seeds are a rich source of the polysaccharide galactomannan. They are also a source of saponins such as diosgenin, yamogenin, gitogenin, tigogenin, and neotigogens. Other bioactive constituents of fenugreek include mucilage, volatile oils, and alkaloids such as choline and trigonelline.
Fenugreek seeds are used as a medicinal in Traditional Chinese Medicine under the name Hu Lu Ba (Traditional Chinese: 胡蘆巴, Simplified Chinese: 胡芦巴, Pinyin: hú lú bā), where they are considered to warm and tonify kidneys, disperse cold and alleviate pain. Main indications are hernia, pain in the groin. They are used raw or toasted. In India about 2-3g of raw fenugreek seeds are swallowed early in the morning with warm water, before brushing the teeth and before drinking tea or coffee, where they are supposed to have a therapeutic and healing effect on joint pains, without any side effects.[citation needed]
In Persian cuisine Fenugreek leaves are used and called شنبلیله (shanbalile). In Arabic traditional medicine, it is known as حلبه (Helba or Hulba). Tea made from the seeds is used in the Near East to treat various kidney, heart, abdominal illnesses and Diabetes. Seeds are used by Bedouin women to strengthen pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Fenugreek is frequently used in the production of flavoring for artificial maple syrups. The taste of toasted fenugreek, like cumin, is additionally based on substituted pyrazines. By itself, fenugreek has a bitter taste.
Fenugreek seed is widely used as a galactagogue (milk producing agent) by nursing mothers to increase inadequate breast milk supply. Studies have shown that fenugreek is a potent stimulator of breast milk production and its use was associated with increases in milk production.[12] It can be found in capsule form in many health food stores.[13]
Several human intervention trials demonstrated that the antidiabetic effects of fenugreek seeds ameliorate most metabolic symptoms associated with type-1 and type-2 diabetes in both humans and relevant animal models by reducing serum glucose and improving glucose tolerance.[14] Fenugreek is currently available commercially in encapsulated forms and is being prescribed as dietary supplements for the control of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine.[citation needed]

 end quote from Wikipedia under the heading fenugreek seeds.

Here is something on Korean Ginseng from Wikipedia:

Traditional Usage

Korean ginseng is a medicinal plant reported to have wondrous palliative powers. Although it grows in other countries as well, it is wildly cultivated in Korea where the climate and soil produce the world's finest specimens. It is a perennial herb that belongs to the Araliaceae family. Scientifically, it is known as Panax schinseng Nees.

Appearance

A ginseng plant usually grows to be about 60 cm tall. The subterranean stem is short, and stands either straight or slightly tilted. The root looks similar to that of a Chinese bellflower, with a single stalk growing out the stem. Three or four leaves grow at the end of the stalk. Light-green flowers blossom in April. When the flowers wither away, they are replaced by round, reddish fruit.

end quote from Wikipedia under the heading Korean ginseng.

Here is something from Wikipedia about Siberian Ginseng:

Eleutherococcus senticosus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Siberian ginseng)
Jump to: navigation, search
Eleutherococcus senticosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Genus: Eleutherococcus
Species: E. senticosus
Binomial name
Eleutherococcus senticosus
(Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim.[1]
Synonyms
Eleutherococcus senticosus (synonym Acanthopanax senticosus) is a species of small, woody shrub in the family Araliaceae native to Northeastern Asia. It is often colloquially referred to as Siberian Ginseng, eleuthero or Ciwujia, and is sometimes shortened to E. senticosus in medical literature. E. senticosus has been studied as an adaptogen, and has a history of use in Chinese medicine, where it is known as cì wǔ jiā (刺五加).[1]
The herb grows in mixed and coniferous mountain forests, forming low undergrowth or is found in groups in thickets and edges. E. senticosus is sometimes found in oak groves at the foot of cliffs, very rarely in high forest riparian woodland. Its native habitat is East Asia, China, Japan, and Russia. E. senticosus is broadly tolerant of soils, growing in sandy, loamy, and heavy clay soils with acid, neutral, or alkaline chemistry and including soils of low nutritional value. It can tolerate sun or dappled shade and some degree of pollution. E. senticosus is a deciduous shrub growing to 2m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 3. It flowers in July in most habitats. The flowers are hermaphroditic and are pollinated by insects.[2]
E. senticosus is a new addition to Western natural medicine, but has quickly gained a reputation similar to that of the better known Chinese Ginseng. Though the chemical make-up of the two herbs differs, their effects seem to be similar.
The herb is an adaptogen, is anticholesteremic, is mildly anti-inflammatory, is antioxidant, is a nervine, and is an immune tonic[citation needed]. It is useful when the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) is depleted. Symptoms of this condition include fatigue, stress, neurasthenia, and sore muscles associated with the hypofunctioning of the endocrine system, and adrenal exhaustion indicated by a quivering tongue, dark circles under the eyes, and dilating/contracting pupils. Eleuthero may alleviate these symptoms.[3]

Contents

Synonyms

E. senticosus was previously marketed in the United States as Siberian Ginseng because it has similar herbal properties to those of Panax ginseng. However, it belongs to a different genus in the family Araliaceae, and it is currently illegal in the United States to market eleuthero as Siberian Ginseng, since the term "ginseng" is reserved for the Panax species.[3]

Ethnomedical use

Eleutherococcus senticosus leaves
E. senticosus is an adaptogen that has a wide range of health benefits attributed to its use.[4] Currently, most of the research to support the medicinal use of E. senticosus is in Russian or Korean.[citation needed] E. senticosus contains eleutherosides, triterpenoid saponins that are lipophilic and that can fit into hormone receptors.[citation needed] Extracts of E. senticosus have been shown to have a variety of biological effects in vitro or in animal models:
  • increased endurance/anti-fatigue [5]
  • memory/learning improvement[6]
  • anti-inflammatory [7]
  • immunogenic[8]
In Chinese herbology, Eleutherococcus senticosis is used to treat bone marrow suppression caused by chemotherapy or radiation, angina, hypercholesterolemia, and neurasthenia with headache, insomnia, and poor appetite.[9][10][11]

 


Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom is a delight of a movie. It took me back to the way people often were in the 1950s and very early 1960s in California until about 1963 or 64. Though it is set in 1965 on the East Coast somewhere on an island, it isn't hard for me having lived back then (I was 17 in 1965) to imagine this happening on a backward isle somewhere far removed from big city life.

Though the whole movie is sort of tongue in cheek in a way, people really actually were like this in many many ways. So, for those of us who lived back then it made it all the funnier and more endearing. I had no trouble at all imagining people like the boy and girl being just the way they were and even the girl stabbing someone with scissors was something that could have happened the way people were just wound so very tight in all ways back then.

So, if you lived back then or even if you didn't get ready from some real nostalgia set in a sort of fairy tale setting. It is really a wonderful wonderful movie you don't want to miss.

And Bill Murray and Bruce Willis and many other actors you will recognize must have loved being a part of this wonderful movie too.

Here is a button about it if you want to know more:
Moonrise Kingdom

Nature is Sacred

But religions are not necessarily so.

I was listening to a BBC commentator on World BBC News today who was obviously someone who had never been to anywhere very wild (unless you consider London to be wild and full of nature). And for someone like myself who mostly grew up in the State of Washington from birth and then California mostly since I was 4 I sort of could not believe what I was hearing. As he interviewed the veteran Nature photographer famous for incredible nature documentaries the last 60 years or so, maybe what I was hearing was a commentator trying to play the "Devil's Advocate" as reporters often do to make their guests who are being interviewed really open up. But, I realized after listening to what he had to say that I needed to blog about this from a life long nature lover's point of view.

First, he was saying that 50% of the people on earth now live in cities and many have never left these cities and don't know how to fully appreciate nature and I found myself being sort of horrified by this statement even when I realized it was really true. When I was a child (I'm 64) there were only 1 to 2 billion people on earth after World War II when I was born and at least 100 million people had died (mostly civilians) in that war worldwide. So, the first real nature video that I saw as a child was "Bambi" which Stephen King (the horror writer) said was the single scariest thing he ever saw as  child (because Bambi's mother is shot and dies during this movie). By the way "Bambi" actually created laws throughout the U.S. that you could only shoot bucks and not female deer. Because you only need a few bucks to propagate a herd of female deer. So, partly because of Bambi we still have a lot of deer of all sorts all across the U.S. still 60 years later.

So, my grandfather had 40 hound dogs at one time for hunting bears and likely shot one of the last Grizzly Bears in the state of Washington during the 1920s. (Though I'm not proud of this it also shows how much he loved to be out in nature too). In fact, at one point he went out into the Sawtooth wilderness area in Idaho between 1910 and 1920 and stayed by himself in the wilds during the winter and set up a trap line because he wanted to be alone in nature for several months. So, my grandfather even though he was a very successful Electrical Contractor loved nature this much. So, this was also instilled in my father and me. So, by the time I was 8 I could shoot accurately and had my own .22 rifle and could hit almost anything accurately up to about 100 yards away with my rifle.

But, nature was still sacred to me always and I always saw nature as God's church. In fact, I do not associate churches with God at all. If I want to see God I go watch a sunset on the ocean or go to Mt. Shasta, the Tetons, or Yosemite or Yellowstone National park because I associate cities mainly with mental illness which tends to prevail in most cities among large groups of people crammed too close together all the time.

Though, the other place I have found the most crazy people also is among people who live 20 miles from the nearest person. (And yes, that is still possible in parts of the U.S.) Even where I live on the Northern Calfornia Coast I can within one mile of where I live be one or more miles from the nearest person whenever I want to be. I don't have to see a car, a house or even a power line or anything other than a trail and trees and ferns and oaks, pines and redwood trees and birds if that is my wish. I might hear or see a plane but that is all of civilization that I see even one mile from my home. And this is why I choose to live where I do.

I used to live in Mt. Shasta at 4000 feet on the side of a 14,161 foot Mountain in an A-Frame I built for my family. But, I found that making a living in the country to support your family is difficult year after year. So, I came back to the coast and started to buy businesses here instead. But still, I visit (My spiritual home in Mt. Shasta whenever I can (about every 3 months or so especially when the snow skiing is good or it's warm and I can swim or kayak on Castle Lake at 6000 feet in elevation.

So, without enough nature you will start to see worldwide a whole lot more people like the one that just shot 70 or more people in Colorado recently. If you read studies on rats when there are just too many of them in a small space they rape, kill, torture and become cannibals. Nature will limit human population even if individual people don't one way or the other.

So, let's hear it for National Parks so people all don't become mass murderers by becoming insane without enough nature! This is something for all of us to think about! Without enough trees, oceans, lakes, nature, and nature's creatures none of us will be sane. We don't need anti-depressants. We need nature and trees to take our pain. If we are symbiotic with trees and nature we can be relatively happy all the time. Have you ever noticed that people take the most drugs both legal and illegal in the cities?

Without enough exposure to and appreciation of nature everyone goes nuts. It's just the way we were designed in the first place. Think about it.

Obama OKs Secret Backing for Syrian Rebels

Obama OKs Secret Backing for Syria Rebels

Signed order allows CIA to support rebels

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 2, 2012 12:58 AM CDT | Updated Aug 2, 2012 7:54 AM CDT
       
(Newser) – Syrian rebels have become much more organized and effective in recent weeks, and it appears the CIA deserves some of the credit. President Obama has signed a secret order, approved earlier this year, allowing the CIA and other American agencies to support rebels seeking to oust Bashar al-Assad, sources tell Reuters. It's not clear how much clandestine support the agencies are offering, but they have apparently stopped short of providing the rebels with lethal weapons.
Obama signed a similar order during the Libyan conflict allowing covert support for rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's regime. The State Department has authorized $25 million for "nonlethal" support for the rebels and another $64 million in humanitarian aid. Foreign policy experts told a Senate panel yesterday that the time has come for the US to start arming the rebels, CNN reports. "At this point, given the direction of the conflict, I think that what we need to do is assess which groups could we and should we arm at what point, and make that decision," an expert from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy testified. "I think that we're actually at that decision, given where the conflict is going."

end quote from:

Obama OKs Secret Backing for Syria Rebels

‎

Friday, August 3, 2012

113 degree temperatures as wildfires destroy dozens of homes in Oklahoma

Wind-whipped wildfires destroy dozens of homes in Oklahoma as ...

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Wind-whipped wildfires destroy dozens of homes in Oklahoma as temperatures hit 113 degrees

NOBLE, Okla. — Wildfires whipped by gusty, southerly winds swept through rural woodlands north and south of Oklahoma City on Friday, burning dozens of homes as firefighters struggled to contain some of the fires amid 113-degree heat.
Hundreds of people were told to leave their homes in at least four counties, while smoke and flames prompted authorities to close parts of Interstate 44, the main roadway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and two state highways.
“A man refused to leave. From what I know, he wanted to protect his property, but your life has to be more valuable than property,” Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said late Friday night.
The sheriff said at least 25 homes, a daycare center and numerous outbuildings had burned in a fire that may have been deliberately set near Luther, a town about 20 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
Deputies were looking into reports about someone in a pickup truck who was seen throwing out newspapers that had been set on fire. By Friday night, the blaze had spread across 80 square miles.
About 40 structures were destroyed by a blaze near Tulsa. And yet another blaze destroyed at least 25 structures, including a handful of homes, after starting near Noble, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City, and moving toward Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma.
“I loaded the kids up, grabbed my dogs, and it didn’t even look like I had time to load the livestock, so I just got out of there,” said Bo Ireland, who lives a few miles from where the Noble-area fire started. “It looked to me that, if the wind shifted even a little bit, I would be in the path of that fire. It was just too close.”
There were no immediate reports of injuries or livestock losses.
Dayle Bishop said he may not have made it out of his home had a woman not knocked on his door and woken him up. Standing in a convenience store parking lot about 2 miles away from his home, he was pessimistic about its chances.
“I know it’s gone,” said Bishop, who works nights as a nurse. “Didn’t even have time to get anything out.” But he noted, “it’s just stuff.”
Charles Wright was with his daughter, Christina, along with their cat, at a makeshift evacuation center doubling as a staging area for fire engines, ambulances and other emergency equipment. He said law enforcement ordered them to leave their home in Norman.
“Praying for miracles. Praying for the best, that’s all we can do,” said Wright, who managed to pack some clothes, jewelry and legal papers before fleeing.
Ruth Hood splashed water onto two Chihuahua puppies that she grabbed along with several other animals and her children, and left as flames burned in her neighbor’s yard. She said she couldn’t be sure her home would survive.
“No guarantee,” Hood said.
With the ongoing drought, high temperatures and gusty winds, it took little for fires to begin and spread — and there was little crews could do to fight them.
“It’s difficult for the firefighters to get into the area because it’s heavily wooded on either side of the smaller roads. When the winds are blowing 25 mph it just blows the embers and fireballs across the roads as if they weren’t even there,” said Jerry Lojka with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
At mid-afternoon Friday, the temperature in Norman hit 113 degrees, and winds were gusting at 24 mph. “I can tell you the temperatures and the wind are not helping the situation at all,” said Meghan McCormick, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland County Sheriff’s office.
Russell Moore, 53, who lives in the Noble area, said he was outside in his yard when a sheriff’s deputy drove down the road and told people to leave. He and his son went to a shelter set up at Noble City Hall.
“About all we saw was smoke and a little bit of ash raining down from the sky,” Moore said. “Everybody was piling into their vehicles and leaving as we were.”
Lojka said helicopters were helping ground crews with a fire near Mannford and Drumright in Creek County. Helicopters from the National Guard and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were fighting a fire in Creek County.
The state was monitoring 11 fires by Friday afternoon. Gov. Mary Fallin announced a statewide burn ban as the fire danger heightened. She previously had announced a state of emergency for all 77 counties due to the extreme drought.
___
Associated Press writers Rochelle Hines and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
end quote from:

Wind-whipped wildfires destroy dozens of homes in Oklahoma as ...

‎

Desertification of the U.S. ?

It may have finally come to this where the actual desertification of a lot of the  U.S. is beginning to actually happen. This is one of the many signs along with increasing velocity of winds that scientists have long predicted was one of the long term consequences of Global Warming and Global Climate change. It might also be important to note that scientists have also said that the average temperature at the north pole was once 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, that is the average temperature year around for every time of day so in actuality there could be a variation of 30 degree to 100 degrees or something like that year around. But imagine for example, the North Pole to be a similar climate to Hawaii and to realize this was a real thing!

So, with the news of a barge on the upper Mississippi River getting stuck yesterday because of not enough water to keep it afloat there is concern that the river will have to be closed to all barge traffic soon north to south.

Also, it is possible that the Colorado River Could dry up for a short time late this summer or fall. And I guess my question is: "Is this a sign of potential desertification of some of the more southern parts of the U.S. ? The answer is: "Maybe". However, one of the other strange things about Global Climate Change is that everything is in extremes like extreme droughts, extreme floods, extreme winds etc.

So, extreme everything is part of the proof that Global Warming is here and a growing concern to everyone. Some people don't believe it but then there were people who didn't believe we ever went to the moon or that planes could fly too. Some people just can't deal with change at all.

It is not our job to prove anything to them. It is our job to migrate and to survive even if they don't choose to. So, just make sure you survive all this even if the doubters don't.

Pineapple Lemon Juice

I have had 3 lemons standing next to my Breville juicer for the last couple of days. I had originally intended to make some kind of organic lemon juice and possibly sweeten it with maple syrup or something like that.

However, as I peeled the lemons so I wouldn't have to taste the rinds it occurred to me that I could take a large slice of organic pinapple and add it to the three peeled organic lemons and juice that instead and make a really wonderful morning wake-up drink. So, I did that this morning and it was wonderful. But I suppose you really have to like lemon mixed with pineapple to really get behind something like this. But, it is really wonderful to feel all the aliveness seeping into your bones so to speak. Aliveness from organic live vegetables and fruits juiced is something one has to experience to actually believe.

Later: next day. I think I'll have another.

If you haven't read about my losing 30 pounds in one week of a Vegan organic veggie and fruit juicing diet here is the first few things I wrote about it. Since I copied these word buttons from my June webpage they run bottom to top rather than top to bottom.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

1/2 of Counties in U.S. declared Disaster areas from Drought

Or "Grapes of Wrath"?

On NBC News tonight with Brian Williams it was declared that 1/2 of counties in U.S. are now disaster areas because of drought. This is a history making and crippling drought that reminds some of the "Dust Bowl" of the 1930s of Oklahoma. 1,452 counties have been declared disaster areas. Here are some of the states affected: Texas, Florida Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, California inland deserts, Oregon south Eastern, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and many more. The fear in Texas is wildfires where they have lost between 100 million and 500 million trees from the droughts this year and last. Minnesota has fish kills because of the high temperatures in 25 lakes. The price of corn set a new high this week and 37% of the soybean crop in the U.S. is considered Poor or very poor. 66% of U.S. hayfields are in drought as well as 73% of cattle grazing land in drought. Scientists are saying this might be the new normal in the United States. Scientists have been saying that desertification might happen to the lower half of the U.S. during global warming and global climate change.  Scientists say that in a changing climate droughts will be more frequent and more intense across the United States. This crisis may extend into fall.
All above facts from  NBC News with Brian Williams on this date.

 This reminds me a lot of the 2006 drought across Australia where farmers were commiting suicide a lot and the world grain output went from about 120% or 130% of global needs to about 100% of global needs. However, because of waste and grains being located in the wrong places worldwide this caused severe shortages because people in about half of the nations on earth could not afford the food at these prices. Some might say the present the 2008 recession was triggered by the worldwide food panic that this caused then in 2006 and 2007.

I think if this goes on for many years like this more people will begin to migrate northwards to areas with more rainfall and colder temperatures both in the U.S. and in Asia so they have enough food to eat and water to drink local to where they live.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

San Bernadino Files for Bankruptcy

San Bernardino, California, Files for Bankruptcy Protection


San Bernardino, California, Files for Bankruptcy Protection

San Bernardino, California, filed for municipal bankruptcy after disclosing a $46 million budget shortfall.
San Bernardino listed assets and debt of more than $1 billion in a filing today with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside, California. It’s the third California community to seek court protection from creditors in just over a month.
San Bernardino, a city of 209,000 about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, has reduced its workforce by 20 percent in the past four years and negotiated labor cuts valued at about $10 million annually, according to a June 26 budget analysis posted on its website. Photographer: Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg
City officials sped up the timing of the filing because they were concerned that some creditors may take legal action against the city, Mayor Patrick J. Morris said in a phone interview. Under Chapter 9, all court cases and other legal actions against the city will be halted until the bankruptcy case is over.
“All of our vital service bills will continue to be paid,” Morris said. “We are going to keep our city services running.”
San Bernardino, a city of 209,000 about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, has reduced its workforce by 20 percent in the past four years and negotiated labor cuts valued at about $10 million annually, according to a June 26 budget analysis posted on its website.
One of the main problems is the high cost of the city’s union contracts, particularly for police and fire service, city councilman Fred Shorett said in a telephone interview.

City Charter

Under the city charter, which is like a constitution for municipal governments, city officials must use a specific formula for determining wages and other benefits paid to its police and fire employees, Shorett said. That formula requires the city to set compensation by comparing employee pay in San Bernardino, which has one of the highest home foreclosure rates in California, with cities in the state that are about the same size and have much more money to spend, Shorett said.
“We are set up for failure,” he said.
Steve Turner, with the city’s police union, and Richard Moss, with the fire union, didn’t immediately return calls for comment.
The city faces also insolvency because of accounting errors, deficit spending, pension and debt costs, and lack of revenue growth, according to the June 26 report.

Property Values

As property values plunged as part of the housing crisis, the city’s tax revenue fell also. In 2008, the city’s general fund, which is used to pay for most of its basic services, like police and fire protection, peaked with $133 million in revenue. This fiscal year, which started July 1, the fund will bring in $120 million in revenue. The preliminary budget calls for spending of $166.2 million, leaving the city short by about $46 million, according to a July 23 budget document.
The past two fiscal years, city official reported having more money in their general fund than they actually had. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, city officials reported a balance of $2 million, when there was actually a deficit of $1.2 million, according to the report.
The San Bernardino County sheriff’s office announced a criminal investigation of the city on July 12, two days after the city council, which is separate from the county, voted to opt for bankruptcy.

‘Criminal Activity’

The sheriff’s announcement didn’t say whether the investigation was related to the city’s finances. It referred to “allegations of criminal activity within departments of the San Bernardino city government.”
Sheriff Rod Hoops has said in media interviews that he doesn’t know of any connection between the investigation and the city’s financial crisis, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said in a phone interview.
Stockton, California, a community of 292,000 east of San Francisco, on June 28 became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. Mammoth Lakes, a mountain resort of 8,200, sought protection from creditors on July 3, saying it couldn’t afford to pay a $43 million judgment.
San Bernardino officials asked the city council on July 24 to defer any debt payments due from July 1 to Sept. 30.
The city has about $55.9 million in bond debt tied to the general fund. The city also has unfunded liabilities of $296 million, including $195 million related to pensions and $61 million related to medical benefits for retired city workers.
Interim City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller proposed putting off $3.56 million in payments due pension bondholders and bank lenders and $2.22 million owed for retiree health care.
“Unfortunately these measures are intended to enable the city to meet its obligations over a three-month period and will not result in a sustainable, balanced budget,” Travis-Miller write in her memo to the city council.
She is preparing a longer-term budget that will be implemented while in bankruptcy that would cut spending by about 30 percent.
The case is In re San Bernardino, 12-28006, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California (Riverside).
To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware at schurch3@bloomberg.net; Dawn McCarty in Wilmington at dmccarty@bloomberg.net; Michael Bathon in Wilmington at mbathon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net

end quote from:
San Bernardino, California, Files for Bankruptcy Protection



 

1974 Honda XL 250

I was renting a power washer because some of the front higher eves of the house got missed because you can't really see them good without being on an extension ladder. So, my daughter's boyfriend who is down from Oregon to help me paint the front of my house and I were renting a pressure washer so he could climb the ladder and pressure wash my front eves. he mentioned a cool motorcycle there and when he talked about it the owner proudly told me that he had bought it for 1200 dollars. I was pretty amazed to see one in so pristine a condition. I had had a 1974 that I bought in 1975 and kept until the late 1980s which was probably the best off road motorcycle I have ever owned. So, it was nostalgic for me because it looked mechanically almost exactly like what I had. Only the paint job on the tank was different because I had the gold Honda wing painted on a silver tank and this one had the silver gas tank but it had red highlights. But still, I have really missed my motorcycle and it took me back to my 20s and 30s once again and to riding my favorite off road dualsport I ever owned.

I once jumped my 1974 8 feet in the air(the bottom of the rear tire was 8 feet off the ground) and this was before the new suspension on bikes that allowed them to jump about 25 feet in the air now (although I wouldn't do that at this age because I like my knees just the way they are). (I'm 64 now).

But seeing this 1972 XL250 motorcycle brought me back to running down desert washes or all over northern San Diego County on dirt roads before all the major housing developments were built in the 1970s.

I can remember one year I went back to a favorite dirt road of mine in San Diego County and there had been a really big rainstorm about a week before. So, as I went down this dirt road at between 35 and 50 miles per hour all of a sudden I realized that part of the road had washed out to my horror. So, all I could do was to lay the bike down at speed and hope the bike wouldn't skid over the now 6 foot high dirt cliff. Luckily, my left foot peg dug in enough to slow me so both my tires were within an inch or to of the edge as I stopped. I really loved my Honda XL250. I always felt safe on that bike in the dirt and always was.

If you don't deal with the news you become the news

Though I believe in positive thinking and all the good it can bring I'm also a very practical and pragmatic person. In other words as I grew up women more believed in fairy tales and men tried to be ultimately practical even though this stoic practical strategy also might be the death of them eventually.

As I grew up I noticed how cold and calculating most men had to be to survive and it really turned my stomach. So, as I entered manhood I kept trying to be more idealistic and only as pragmatic as I absolutely had to be to survive anything. But, eventually I learned like all adults who survive long enough do that unless you catch problems while they are still small they can become big and wreck or destroy your life or others.

So, sooner or later everyone has to either become very cold and calculating or live with someone who is cold and calculating or no one survives at all.

Then, if you take it to the next level of adulthood, if adults don't take responsibility for the world around them in every way, soon their lives and the lives of all their friends and relatives go away.

The U.S. didn't jsut suddenly appear like a fairy tale out of thin air. Just look at every traffic signal in your city for instance. Likely 1 to 30 to 50 people died for every traffic signal you see. If you want to you can even go back through microfiche or the internet in Newspaper archives to see how many were injured or died at that crossing to make it first a stop sign and then a traffic signal. Anything good we have in the U.S. came from someone's sacrifice. And often it is many people's lives that were sacrificed to make this country. Some died as police or firemen. Some died as soldiers protecting and defending it. Some died championing better beliefs and political freedoms. But mostly, people died making this country as good as it has always been.

So, if you don't deal with local, state, Federal and World News, you tend to become the news as you lose everything you care about one by one. Sounds a lot like the last 5 years doesn't it?

Grattitude is the Motor of Life

Or: Consciousness Creates Reality

There is a Japanese man that has done a lot of work in studying water crystals. He has found that the actual crystalline shapes that water takes when frozen changes as the consciousness he thinks about regarding water. So, for example, if he labels a glass of water "I Love You" this water responds to the "I love you" designation. But, the single most powerful thought feeling form appears to be grattitude. So, when he labels a glass of water: "Grattitude" it becomes the most amazing of all. And he says his favorite water on earth is from Mt. Shasta. And of all the water I have ever tasted it is my favorite too as it comes just naturally off the mountain from the snow and glaciers.

Since we are about 90% or more water as human beings, how we label ourselves or qualify ourselves or others will greatly affect how long we live, how happy we are ongoing, whether we will have good lives etc. So, remember as you qualify your body and the bodies of those around you, you are creating their reality with your every thought and feeling.

For me, my grattitude ongoing every single day looks a lot like this: "I am Grateful for God in my life and for a good family and for all my friends and how well God takes care of me in every way. I am grateful for my city, state and country and all the fine people that live here. I am grateful for the world and all the living people and things in it. I am grateful for our galaxy and all the  beings in it. I am grateful for the universe filled with life and amazingness. Thank you God!"

So, since whatever a being thinks and feels about water qualifies the water it is also true that whatever one thinks and feels about anyone or any being (since we are all about 90% water) also becomes true and lengthens or shortens people's lives according to our thoughts and feelings and also how the being feels about himself or herself.



Syria: After Assad

The likelihood of Syria having a stable government after Assad and the minority government falls is becoming more and more unlikely. Also, Russia's and Iran's interference in Syria also makes this unlikely. Another factor is Al Qaida and other Islamist groups moving into Syria from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and other places Islamist Jihadist groups have been staying. So, the end result likely will look a lot worse than what we see in Libya today with rebel groups jockeying for power. Libya is very stable compared to what Syria likely will look like after Assad.

The countries that are worrying about this outcome the most border Syria like Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran because it could destabilize their countries in the coming years. Syria could be a slow fuse that could blow up the entire middle east into something truly nightmarish. Israel likely will be forced to enter Syria in order to protect itself from Terrorists getting a hold of chemical weapons and using them in missiles sent into Israel.

Panetta: US force an option against Iran nukes

Panetta: US force an option against Iran nukes

Israeli Defense minister Ehud Barak, left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, right, meet in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. Israel's threats to attack Iran and the violence convulsing Syria top the agenda of Panetta's meetings Wednesday with Israeli government leaders. Israeli Defense minister Ehud Barak, left, and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, right, meet in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. Israel's threats to attack Iran and the violence convulsing Syria top the agenda of Panetta's meetings Wednesday with Israeli government leaders. (AP Photo/Gali Tibbon, Pool)
By Robert Burns AP National Security Writer / August 1, 2012
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ASHKELON, Israel—U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that Iran must either negotiate acceptable limits on its nuclear program or face the possibility of U.S. military action to stop it from getting the bomb.
Panetta made his remarks outside the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, with an "Iron Dome" anti-rocket defense system as a backdrop.
The Pentagon chief said repeatedly that "all options," including military force, are on the table to stop Iran, should sanctions and diplomacy -- the preferred means of persuasion -- ultimately fail.
He said he still hopes Iran will see that negotiations are the best way out of this crisis.
However, Panetta said, "If they continue and if they proceed with a nuclear weapon, ... we have options that we are prepared to implement to ensure that that does not happen."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, standing beside Panetta, said he sees an "extremely low" probability that sanctions will ever compel Iran to give up its nuclear activities.
Barak said Israel "has something to lose" by waiting for sanctions and diplomacy to run their course because Iran is continually accumulating enriched uranium as the key ingredient for a nuclear bomb.
Iran says its nuclear work is for civilian energy uses, but suspicions that the Islamic republic will use enriched uranium for nuclear weapons have resulted in international sanctions and saber-rattling from Israel, which perceives a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. The United States has discouraged Israel from a unilateral, pre-emptive military strike on Iran, but has said it would keep all options available.
The Panetta visit with his Israeli counterpart comes just days after U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney met with top Israeli officials about Iran and other issues. Romney has accused the Obama administration of being too soft on Iran and not providing sufficient support to Israel.
In greeting Panetta Wednesday at Israeli defense headquarters, Barak said, "The defense ties between Israel and the United States are stronger and tighter than they have ever been and the credit now has to go, most of it, to you, Leon."
Panetta responded: "We are a friend, we are a partner, we have, as the defense minister has pointed out, probably the strongest U.S.-Israel defense relationship that we have had in history. What we are doing, working together, is an indication not only of our friendship but of our alliance to work together to try to preserve peace in the future."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was scheduled to meet later Wednesday with Panetta, told Israeli Channel 2 TV on Tuesday that despite reservations about an Iranian attack among former Israeli security officials and Israel's current army chief, the country's political leadership would make the final decision on any attack.
"I see an ayatollah regime that declares what it has championed: to destroy us," Netanyahu said. "It's working to destroy us, it's preparing nuclear weapons to destroy us. ... If it is up to me, I won't let that happen."
With "matters that have to do with our destiny, with our very existence, we do not put our faith in the hands of others, even our best of friends," Netanyahu said, hinting that Israel might act alone despite American misgivings.
Netanyahu said both Romney and Obama have said "Israel has the right to defend itself."
The trip to Ashkelon on Wednesday gave Panetta a chance to inspect and get briefed on an Israeli air defense system known as Iron Dome. It is designed to shoot down short-range rockets and artillery shells such as those that have been fired into the Jewish state in recent years from Islamic militants linked to Iran and based in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Obama last week announced he was releasing an additional $70 million in military aid for Israel, a previously announced move that appeared timed to upstage Romney's trip to Israel. The stepped-up U.S. aid, first announced in May, will go to help Israel expand production of the Iron Dome system.
The Panetta visit to Israel comes at a critical time, with the U.S. considering more direct involvement in Syria's civil war and weighing its course on Iran.
Panetta acknowledged Monday that international sanctions have not pressured Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions. But the Obama administration thinks tougher sanctions eventually will compel Iran to submit and it doesn't want Israel to attack prematurely.
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Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Daniel Estrin in contributed to this report.

end quote from:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2012/08/01/iran_syria_top_panettas_agenda_in_israel/

Honey Badger Don't Care

My wife was asking my daughter's boyfriend and myself what was going on with all the T-Shirts in the stores now that say, "Honey Badger Don't Care". I said, "I don't know." And so my daughter's boyfriend simply pulled out a laptop and looked it up as a potential Youtube offering. Sure enough, there was the "Honey Badger don't Care Youtube video" with 48 million hits at the time we visited the site. I decided to share it with you because it is a real classic viral video and also true to life. In the last "The Gods Must Be Crazy" there is also a funny episode of a Honey Badger in Africa where a stranded airplane pilot has to give his boot to a Honey Badger because it won't let go of it.

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The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall ...