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SurivivingThe Holidays With The Relatives

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:20:50 -0600

The holidays are coming that means one thing, spending time with the family.

Now unless you have the family from hell, most holiday get-togethers are not that bad. For the most part, you get to catch up with friends and relatives, eat, drink and be merry.

However, for those situations where you are spending time with in-laws or family members that you have little in common or simply do not like, a holiday get-together might feel longer than Quentin Tarantino's “Grind House”.

No worries, here are few ideas that might help you get through the holidays. Some are serious, others are tongue-in-cheek, but they are all helpful hints to make your holiday stress-free.

1. Control the conversation

Everything should not be about you, but during the holidays, maybe it should be. While you are spending time with the family, do not let Uncle Bob dominate the conversation talking about the virtues of trout fishing. Be the captain of this ship and focus on things that you like (i.e. movies, TV shows, etc). For example say something like “Did you get a chance to see “the Hangover?” or “Have you seen that show Glee...?” Do not hog the whole conversation, be courteous and ask them what they have seen or read, etc. but do not give them time to ramble. By controlling the conversation, your holiday experience will go a whole lot faster.

2. Make small talk and move on

One good way to bide your time is make small talk with family members. Try not to get into long winded talks with them because the next thing you know your mom's new boyfriend is telling you how he recently passed a kidney stone. Ask them things like work, school, hobbies, etc. By doing this, you are showing interest, when you are really not. This is should take no more than 10-15 minutes. If you find a conversation that seems interesting stay, if not, move on to the next person or group. Do this until you circled the room, then you can either repeat or find the Man Cave.

Read on how to find the Man Cave and more holiday survival tips at http://www.ehow.com/how_5671297_surive-holidays-relatives.html

Thank You, Jean Claude

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:23:27 -0600

I had the honor to work as an installer on the Gates Project in February 2005. It was a transformational moment for me and the City that I love. There is something magical about spending an entire week in Central Park, especially in the frost of winter, surrounded by nature and sky, laboring to raise a work of art. Jean Claude was everywhere that week. Greeting us for breakfast in the Boat House, touring the installation site in a donated Maybach limousine, selflessly sharing her moment and vision, posing for the camera, scolding us for sneaking our children into the lunch room. No matter, that we had to get up at 5:30AM to arrive at ‘work’ on time.

At the coffee urn one morning the New York City Police Chief assigned to Central Park, turned to me and said, “This is okay. I was skeptical, but this is okay.” Jean Claude and Christo could melt the hardest of hearts with their senseless acts of communal joy.

We installers, total strangers at the beginning of week, became fast friends that week. We shared the wonder of Central Park changing into something new and different. The Gates directed the eye to all the beauty of Olmstead’s manmade creation, highlighting its details by wrapping it in waves of saffron. On the first day, there was anxiety that we won’t get finished in time as 450 novices strained to build and raise 7,500 Gates in a single week. On days two and three, the whole Park felt like a field day at summer camp with each team striving to make and then exceed its quota. Swiftly we learned and mastered the techniques of kitting, moving, assembling, leveling, securing and lifting the orange Plexiglas, aluminum and nylon structures. Our crew working to the west of the Bethesda Fountain started at Cherry Hill and then pushed north on Central Park Drive framing the Lake to the border of the Rambles. Working together like commoners raising a barn, we lifted 107 Gates that week. By the morning of the fourth day, Thursday, an order filtered down from Jean Claude and Christo for us to slow down and relish the moment. At lunch, all of us confessed to having had a secret moment of awe, that rarest of human emotions, overwhelmed by the joy and beauty of the event. That afternoon, we were instructed to stop working and walk the Park and take in the project in the state of becoming. We nicknamed it the “100 Block Walk”. I took that walk five times that week in sun, snow, slush and darkness.

With the leaves gone in late February, Central Park becomes a series of sweeping vistas. Christo and Jean Claude picked February because the sun is bright but cold and the weather shifts rapidly from sun to rain to snow. Under the late winter sun, Central Park turns into a string of large venues under a big sky framed by the City. On Saturday, February 12, 2005, the park filled with civilians and the media. It was the moment of the unfurling. Armed with grappling hocks we waited for the signal to unwrap the saffron curtains. When the moment arrived, the first Gate opened with a crash as the cardboard tube in the middle of the fabric smashed to the ground. My son rushed to pick up the tube and stack it on a hand truck. Everyone was smiling and exactly in that moment.

As the Gates billowed in the cold wind, he said, “This is the best day of my life”. I turned to him looking at the throng of people who had come to see the spectacle and said, “911 is finally over, New York can go back to living.”

Thank you, Jean Claude Denat de Guillebon.

Hackett Research: 300,000 IT Jobs Gone in 2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:46:29 -0600

According to the Hackett Group about 300,000 IT jobs have been deleted this year. This increase in job losses will acout for almost 2 million tech positions from 2000-2014, reports ZDNet.

Hackett reports that IT is one sector that is taking the hit for firms cutting back on back-office jobs outsourced to countries like India, Philippines, China, Vietnam and Eastern Europe.This year alone about 630,000 back office positions will be swiped in some of the biggest companies in the world. In general, the research group says there is an "extended jobless recovery" within industries like finance, procurement, HR, IT among other general and administrative (G&A) areas.

Hackett states, "Longer-term, Hackett’s research estimates that nearly 3.6 million G&A jobs in North America and Europe will have been eliminated between 2000 and 2014. More than half of these losses, or nearly 2 million of these jobs, are in IT, making it the largest back office area to be hit by a wide margin," in an online report by ZDNET.com

The company came up with the figures after looking at 4,000 companies around the world, capping $1 billion in income. Hackett says the causes of job losses are relatively easy to decipher as firms are seeking to improve profit losses and there is more offshoring, and outsourcing going on.

Walk Raises $58,000 to Fight Lupus

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:49:48 -0600

By Chaneé Patterson

RICHMOND, Va. – Pouring rain didn’t discourage hundreds of walkers who came out recently to Richmond International Raceway to raise money and awareness for lupus patients.

Lupus is an immune-system disease that attacks the skin, joints and major organs. An estimated 1.5 million Americans, including 40,000 Virginians, have a form of lupus.

The Richmond Walk for Lupus Now ’09 did more than educate people about the disease. It also raised more than $58,375 in donations – surpassing the goal of $50,000. The event, one of 50 walks sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America, was held Oct. 31.

The top fundraiser at the Richmond walk was Tamara Williams, who collected almost $3,150.

At about 10:30 a.m., lupus patients began the four-lap walk around the racetrack as hundreds of others tagged along. People were given nutrition bars and bottles of water to help stay energized.

“I want to thank you guys so much for coming out today to support this great cause,” said Edwin Thomas, who served as emcee for the walk.

“We have a lot of people to thank for putting this event together. Is everyone enjoying the music and prepared to begin the walk?”

Hundreds of people walked four laps as others rested under the tents protecting them from the rain.

“I felt really good after the walk,” said Akiah Brown, one of the participants.

“I did this for a good cause to help raise awareness for those affected with lupus. Seeing so many people here for the same cause is touching because I never knew that people actually cared. Seeing young children to elderly adults to handicaps walking and raising money to help awareness lupus made my day.”

The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the walker or the volunteers. Several organizations from Virginia Commonwealth University helped with the event, including the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta sororities.

New-Found Treatment

The day after the lupus awareness walk at Richmond International Raceway, participants received an e-mail with groundbreaking news – about a new drug for treating lupus.

The drug is called BENLYSTA. If endorsed by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration, it would be the first drug ever developed and approved specifically for the treatment of lupus.

Human Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline are conducting clinical trials with BENLYSTA and have found that it reduces disease activity.

“Individuals with lupus and their families have waited more than 50 years to hear that it is possible to develop therapies that control the disease,” said Sandra Raymond, president of the Lupus Foundation of America.

“We believe that this is a significant first step in developing the full arsenal of therapies and personalized treatment lupus requires.”

Frequently Asked Questions about Lupus

Q: What is lupus?

A: Lupus is a rare form of tuberculosis of the skin, characterized by brownish tubercles that often heal slowly and leave scars. If you have lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system and it attacks healthy cells and tissues. This can damage joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels and brain.

Q: Who gets lupus?

A: Anyone can get lupus. It is more common in African-Americans than in whites.

Q: What are some symptoms of lupus?

A: Symptoms include muscle pains, swollen glands, sensitivity to the sun and hair loss.

Source: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

States Announce Increases In College Tuition Rates

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:06:04 -0600

Incredible though it may seem, even after the massive amounts of "stimulus" monies that were supposedly earmarked for higher education at state and public universities throughout the nation, a great many are now announcing that they will be raising the costs of tuition (which was one of those "hooks" designed to manipulate the public pulse once again in order to further devalue our dollar and encourage more and more foreign ownership of American assets at this point).

I don't believe there was any "payback" or "loan" terms attached to those monies, if I am not mistaken. So the colleges which are already receiving funds from the state citizens through both property taxes and sales taxes apparently are going to hit up the state citizens once again for more and more bite of their hard earned cash.

The costs now for most four year public universities rivals that of most privately supported ones at this point in our history. In fact, the costs have almost exceeded those bogus CPI figures compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor by about 10 times their actual reporting figures and the true costs.

Of course, those figures are about as accurate as the bookkeeping and sums that were missing and have been unaccounted for by AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

They bear no true relevance to the cost of living in this country whatsoever, and as one who worked within the corporate law area for many years also know that they are kept artificially low because most union contracts (and divorce decrees also) are based upon those figures for annual "salary" or child support costs.

Which explains also why there are so many single women on welfare when their increases for the costs for the care and education of even one child exceeds those support checks (even at public schools which now surprise parents with the costs for $200 calculators and computers once they reach high school).

Hit a mom with a $200 bill who is receiving $500 per month for child support and over a third is gone to your local Comp USA store.

The quality of our education now is more directed in most areas due to also federal agendas in turning out "science based technology" majors, and it appears even a Harvard education isn't worth the sheepskin it is printed on since it is clear that most of the law schools also are teaching "foreign" and international law as binding in this country.

Such as that which is "regulated" by the American Bar Association, a British carryover actually that only came into power over the legal education in America at the start of last century.

And have "regressively" started reinstituting "global" primarily British and "government as sovereign" law now through the graduates in their curriculum and then issued court decisions ever since all the way up to many recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Many of whom's undergraduate educations were either at Cambridge in Great Britain for their undergraduate course study, or graduated from East Coast "Ivy League" schools that have switched from teaching our Constitution and true Constitutional law based on res ipsa loquitor (the Constitution as it is written and was "intended" by those founders absent lawful and legal amendments per the 9th and 10th) to British based "monarchial" type law with the federal government somehow "sovereign" over both the states, and the citizens rather than merely a "shell" with enumerated powers and duties.

It would appear those Moms that are now home schooling certainly know what they are doing, and have seen that the best education actually is one in which a child's natural interests are pursued rather than governmental agendas.

And quite unbelievable, actually, the nerve of some of these state legislatures and universities with such announcements.

The President of Arizona State University, for instance, now earns over $700,000 per year PLUS benefits that are quite generous in their provision given the state of Arizona's economic situation due to our open borders and "outsourcing "global" and regional employers - which even though the perks aren't quite as good, and our President and Congressional members clearly way overpaid for what they are actually worth at this point, is more than the salary of the President of the United States and exceeds that CPI by about 500 percent or more, actually.

With the recuiting that most of these publicly funded unversities do out of the country actually to foreigners for those extra "out of state" tuition rates (really, out of the States), it would seem that the costs for state residents would be going down and they would at the very least be getting a break in their child's further education as the ones bearing the burden really of its existence.

In fact, Arizona has a Constitutional provision that any and all higher education would remain as "free as possible."

And at over now $7,000 per semester for just tuition alone, $14,000 per year is quite a chunk even for those Joe the Plumbers making less than $50,000 per year - which is actually more than the median wage in this country.

Not having to take a second mortgage out on their now depressed homes in order to afford to send their child for his four year bachelor's degree.

Those banks and European bankers are sure bankrupt with all this American debt they are creating for the "global" market and their own wealth and prosperity, it would appear - now quite blatantly at the American people's expense both in lives, and livelihoods.

And then after that expensive graduation party, watch him wait tables for the global visitors that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agendas in their "See America" programs have also made sure they have a steady and cheap labor force continuing for generations to come to entertain them, including some of those potential terrorists, because all those "science based" technology jobs are going to the foreigners.

Oh, this little blurb had to do with the University of California and was actually reported by the AP underneath an article about the two year old in Mississippi that helped her mother give birth. Under the REALLY big news.

The AP it appears, is now hiring many of either those foreign British based journalists, or has been bought out by the National Enquirer (I believe which is also owned by the British media consortium now buying up much of the U.S. media and internet based news sources).