Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a group of conditions which is inflicted onto an infant from alcohol use during pregnancy. FASD can cause problems with mental and physical growth and development. Children born from mothers who drank alcohol may develop learning disabilities while growing up. FASD includes conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), […]

 There is nothing in this world that can bring us greater joy and peace than to draw near to our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist.  As Fr. John Hardon explains in the Modern Catholic Dictionary, “all miracles are gifts from God to witness to some truth […]

According to the U.S. Department of State and its 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, the major forms human trafficking occurring around the world includes the categories of forced labor, bonded labor, debt bondage among migrant laborers, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor, child soldiers, sex trafficking, and child sex trafficking. The United States is a […]

Sacramento was again in 2010 identified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) as an “asthma hot spot” or one of “the most challenging places to live with asthma. ” It ranked as the 81st worst asthma hot spot of 320 metropolitan areas of 100,000 or more people in the United States. Asthma […]

You walk into the interviewer’s lair, exchange greetings, and start the sifting interview process. The first thing he asks is “Tell me about yourself.” This is a seemingly innocent question yet it can be loaded and must be answered carefully. Here’s what you might (and shouldn’t) say: “I am married and have two kids. I […]

One native San Diegan’s World Cup dreams are over. Another will have to wait four more years, while one received his ticket Tuesday to compete for a roster spot. Steve Cherundolo, the Mt. Carmel High alum who currently plays for Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga, was named to the United States’ preliminary 30-man roster. Cherundolo—who […]

A longstanding ban on military abortions is in jeopardy as Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) seeks to overturn the law through an amendment conveniently added to a military funding bill. The Defense Authorization bill has key funding initiatives, and now this controversial amendment that may pass in order to fulfill the big picture element. The Don’t Ask, Don’t […]

It’s always fantastic to hear from my readers.  Now and again, former students of mine reach out, and look for continued advice.  Each time someone looks for advice,  I am more then happy to take some time to share my thoughts.  After all, teaching at the university level means always being able to share your opinions with others.  […]

Are you having marriage issues? Did your spouse drop the divorce bomb and you need crisis control on your relationship? Save your marriage thanks to a divorce-busting coach. Chicago Marriage Examiner chatted with Michele Weiner-Davis, an internationally renowned relationship expert, best-selling author, marriage therapist and professional speaker, to learn how strained couples can improve their […]

This time it wasn’t an early red card, or a goalkeeper error, or a handball that cost the Philadelphia Union a win. Last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, the Union were simply outclassed in a 1-3 beating at the hands of Los Angeles. The Galaxy set the tone in the first […]

Imagine a fragrance that blooms with floral notes, layered with the dramatic aroma of tuberose, jasmine, and a rich blending of floral lily of the valley, jasmine, rose, burnished woods, and soft mosses. The new ZEN Eau de Parfum Limited Edition adds a new aspect of parfums. Shiseido’s  Limited Edition Summer scent reflects this vibrant combination, […]

Yes, it’s true. The Pill is celebrating a birthday. 50 years to be exact. And in those 50 years a lot has changed. We have become better educated on the risks and the benefits of using oral birth control. As well as how one small pill has changed the dynamics of being female and taking charge […]

What happens when the people you love and trust fail you and those you “shouldn’t bother with” become the force that grounds you?  Diane Court, played by Ione Skye, finds her life turned upside down by the entrance of one man and the exit of another in the chick flick classic, Say Anything. The film […]

Head on down to the Salt Lake Equestrian Park on Friday or Saturday this week (May 21 -22) and take advantage of a great opportunity to learn a little more about the unlimited abilities of Utah’s wild horses. The BLM hosts its 12th Annual Wild Horse and Burro Festival at the equestrian park, located at […]

An unfortunate truth in every phase of food production is that for many producers to make a profit, and not just break even, there must be a disaster of some sort in another region producing the same product. This is not exactly the case for the Texas gulf shrimp industry. Shrimp harvesting is a delicate […]

Silence is something that is much overlooked.  It is something that many of us never even think about,  yet it is so necessary and should be part of our lives every day. To live life fully, completely, there must be balance.  Balance between the busyness of all that we do and think against the quietness […]

There is a new place in Orlando if you are looking for a Magical experience. A place where you can do spells, enter a magical realm, and see an author’s work come to life, soon at Universal Studios. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set to open on June 18, 2010. It will be located […]

Jenny Blake (author of Life After College) and Lindsey Pollak (a career and workplace blogger) discussed work-life balance in a recent podcast. My favorite tidbit was the idea that your work may only fill up some of your tank and that it’s okay if your job doesn’t satisfy all of your needs as a person. […]

I recently had the opportunity to interview Paula Jurko owner of Footprints to Wellness, a BodyTalk System, Reiki, and Reflexology center in downtown Powell, Here are the answers she gave to my questions. What is your background and what lead you to this business? When I was a child my mother took me to a […]

California’s primary election has resulted in what is being described as an “epic” general election pitting state Attorney General Jerry Brown against mega-billionaire Meg Whitman. The polls had barely closed on Tuesday when Steve Poizner, Whitman’s opponent for the Republican nomination, provided a concession speech to a room of about 150 supporters and essentially launching […]

THE DIRTY DOZEN!! (12 sure fire ways to sabotage your career goals) Part I “I told you so!” Have you ever heard that before? I’ve never been a proponent of that statement but I can attest to family members, teachers and colleagues who have. Typically, I’ve found the genesis of such statements centers around “sabotage.” […]

     Making effective changes in one’s life is not a matter of trying to control behaviors. Behaviors are the external manifestations or symptoms, if you will, of the deeper issue: Thought. All behavior stems from our thoughts about ourselves, about the world, and about ourselves in the world. As we move through our daily lives […]

It’s obvious to anyone who has been paying attention over the past few decades that the direction of our overall health in the United States is rapidly DECLINING with seemingly no end in sight. Obesity, diabetes, cancer, and death are all increasing at astronomical rates that make you wonder what in the world is going […]

Get ready for another cozy evening at Gabe and Karen’s.  They’re cooking up recipes they got to try on their gastronomic tour of Europe and opening some of the fine wines they brought back. The kids can all stay in the TV room and eat some home made mac and cheese. Except that tonight, they’ll […]

By now, the charm of the rabbits added to the family for Easter is wearing off. Those who’ve discovered that a bunny is perhaps more care than they expected or that their bunny has developed a bad habit are getting frustrated. All too often, this can mean rabbits being abandoned by a roadside, let loose […]

In 2007 I was like millions of Americans, working hard trying to support my family, pay my bills and while our country was fighting two different wars I felt confident, perhaps ignorantly so, that our government had things under control.  I knew Bush wasn’t as popular as he once was but I respected his ability […]

  The Indian Ocean city of Durban’s World Cup 2010 slogan is “the warmest place to be for 2010.” Sunny, subtropical, and a multi-cultural melting-pot city with a strong Zulu flavor, a rich Indian heritage, and British-European undertones, Durban’s mild winters and hot summers make it “the city for all seasons.” Don’t miss our great […]

Here we are, it’s June, and flea season is upon us. After the wet spring we had, this may be a bad year. At this time of year, the fleas are born pregnant, so to speak, so as not to waste time, and the whole hatching cycle can take place in the space of two […]

Delvin “Lionheart The Rebel” Thomas, is a poet that is second to none. With a loving heart and defiant personality he seeks to change the world through his art. Giving everything he is for the love of people and poetic truth, This man is the epitome of a Good Samaritan, a counselor and gift to […]

There have been an infinite number of studies performed that claim to link rock music with mischievous acts such as vandalism and theft.  There have even been reports insinuating that rock music’s “suggestive” connotations can or have led to more violent tendencies, like murder or suicide, and the debate has been an ongoing issue for […]

With all the headlines this year of all these celebrities being caught cheating on their wives with random mistresses (ahem… Tiger Woods and Jesse James) a lot of women are wondering if they should stay with their cheating husbands and boyfriends. As soon as Sandra Bullock found out that Jesse James was cheating on her […]

In Part 1 of this article, we heard a satirical song about George Rekers, the religious conservative and anti-gay activist who took a vacation with a “rent boy” he hired from a site with that name. We also learned a little about other prominent conservatives with similar anti-gay leanings who were involved in similar sexcapades in just the last 5-6 years […]

Dr. Douglas Aspros of Bond Animal Hospital in White Plains, New York was kind enough to take time from his schedule to provide the following information about the dangers of Xylitol, an artificial sweetener found in many food products and hazardous to dogs. Below is the information he shared during our interview. cakechow.com: “What is […]

It’s National Dry Martini Day and the biggest question, right after how do you make the perfect dry martini, is what would be good to eat with a perfect dry martini? According to three food and beverage experts interviewed by Food Arts, the most popular dish is salmon and in particular, salmon tartare. “Salmon is a […]

“Everything will be fresh. Boys you’ve never seen in the Castro; new models, new gogo boys. You won’t feel like you’ve been to this party before” is how promoter / photographer Locoya Hill has explained the latest installment of his HAUTE party. What started as a simple birthday party / fashion show in November has […]

No one wants to have to get the attention of John Walsh from ‘America’s Most Wanted’, but when your child is missing, you would pound down his door if it meant he would showcase your story. It took less than 2 weeks from the time 7-year-old Kyron Horman went missing from Skyline Elementary School for […]

No, not the one you are thinking of right now. Remember when once upon a few short years ago, when your now tween wanted to help you do everything? Remember, after a while of being “helped” by this child, having to make them leave the kitchen or room you were cleaning, just so you could […]

“Truck freight in California is expected to double in the next 25 years, from the current 1.2 billion tons annually to about 3 billion tons,” was the one of introductory points of a video with narrative and dubbed in background music, opening this weekend’s installment of the show “Great Valley,” which aired Fri., Apr. 30th […]

In these hard economic times, colleges and universities are eagerly seeking donors to help stay afloat financially. The College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, is a good example. Although it is a state supported school, state assistance provides only 20% of the annual operating budget. The rest comes from generous alumni and donors. Looking […]

Here’s a wild idea, buy low and sell high.  Yes I know it sounds simple and clichéd, but very few ever follow this one simple and critical market rule. Here I will test you. For the last 30 days or so a truly horrible ecological event has been unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico as […]

Talk about getting a gift for your child that crashed and burned, and in this case we’re not talking that it wasn’t a success. About 46,000 remote controlled helicopters, sold mostly at school book fairs, are the latest toy on the recall list. The manufacturer got complaints that the engines were overheating and in a few cases flames actually […]

Have you ever met one of those classically nice guys? You know the guy who picks you up, takes you out on a real date, opens doors for you, actually listens to what you are saying, and doesn’t try to get into your pants too soon? They are so hard to come by now. In […]

The United Kingdom has seen numerous Internet casinos and online texas hold em websites such as Ladbrokes and Victor Chandler leave Britain in search of more favorable taxation.  Many of these companies have fled to Gibraltar, Costa Rica, and Malta since they are taxed less, or not at all in some cases.  So the UK […]

The Indiana General Assembly this year enacted two new updates to Family, Civil and Criminal legislature, without much fan fare from local media outlets or attention from local news. Sections SB163 and SB178, deal with the continued policy from Indiana concerning parenting time and child support. SB 163 enactment in general terms, and in addition […]

No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Somehow, private property has come to mean large tracts of land such as those owned by ranchers here in Brewster County. Our vast […]

Global warming is very weird. Not the physical phenomenon–it’s easy to understand and extremely normal. What’s weird is where people’s political opinion actually takes them. We have conservatives arguing against conservation and liberal democrats arguing against liberal democracy. Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) was an English economist who believed that the ability of populations to increase would […]

Do you have a marketing plan for yourself? Not to market something else, but to market you? Maybe you think if you work hard and long and smart enough, you’ll be rewarded because you deserve it. But maybe not. Surely you’ve noticed those colleagues who are infinitely less worthy than you are getting high-visibility projects […]

The Gulf oil spill disaster continues to seemingly last forever as BP struggles with plugging the leak and containing the spill.  Yesterday some good news emerged as BP succeeded in cutting the defective riser and placing a top hat over the leak.  Still, more bad news also came out as the spill continued to damage […]

“Bantaba is a Mandinka term, and the Mandinka are from West Africa,” said Kwame Steve Cobb. “And the term Bantaba [is used] to speak about a circle. And in that circle, important things happen. And so they do the Bantaba, generally there’s drums and there’s dancing and someone is singing or reciting poetry or giving […]

The hits keep getting bigger for Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) newest and biggest ship to date, the Norwegian Epic. Legendary entertainer Reba McEntire will christen the vessel during a christening ceremony to take place on July 2, 2010 at 2pm in New York City. Ms. McEntire, who recently hosted the 45th Annual Academy of Country […]

I’ve just traveled through KL International Airport (known as KLIA) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the fourth time in a couple of years. Unlike some other airports in the south east Asia region, traveling through KLIA is a dream. From efficient staff to excellent restaurants, a relaxed atmosphere and free airport-wide Wi-Fi internet, it couldn’t […]

Joanne Marcus, MSW offers valuable information about setting up a Special Needs Trust. Joanne Marcus, MSW is executive director of the Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT). CCT, a nonprofit organization established in 1990, was formed by concerned citizens and parents of children with disabilities to provide an effective and affordable administration of either a Special Needs […]

Today, Hartford Books Examiner is in the company of Eliot Schrefer. A resident of New York City, Schrefer is a graduate of Harvard College. His first novel, Glamorous Disasters, was an international bestseller, and his second, The New Kid, was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award. Also the author of the non-fiction work Hack the […]

Mormonism’s Eliza R. Snow continues to impress.  The Mormon History Association announced that a compilation of her poetry shares the award for “Best Documentary” in 2009.  More than 150 years have passed since she published her first volume of poetry, Snow was told in a patriarchal blessing that songs “dictated by [her] pen” would be […]

On Saturday evening a SUV filled with explosives was found in Times Square. Hundreds of people were evacuated from area. The bomb was discovered in a green Nissan Pathfinder on 45th Street when a t-shirt vendor noticed smoke coming from the abandoned vehicle. When police arrived they noticed the smell of gunpowder. Police cleared the […]

Many people ask us, “What’s the best way to start the charcoal?” There are many ways this can be accomplished. My dad used to dump the good ole Kingsford Briquettes into the Weber, then soak it with 2 bottles of lighter fluid, then stand back!! BOOM!!! The fire ball above the grill rivaled that of […]

US Ski Team’s versatile sweetheart and Vancouver Olympic double medalist, Julia Mancuso, has just announced her new contracts with three of the biggest names in alpine skiing. At the recent Vancouver Olympics, “Jules,” as she is known to insiders, brought home the “crown jewels” of the Vancouver Games, in the form of two Olympic medals, […]

Summer is right around the corner on the calendar but right here and now on the thermometer. A summer day can often be even better if you are cool enough to enjoy it. These tips should help keep you keep your cool without increasing your energy bill. Change out your wardrobe. Most synthetic garments are […]

What is the greatest gift that God could give to humankind? Many would say that it is money; some say it is knowledge, and for others it is just happiness. With billions of people on the planet, there are probably just as many views as to what is the greatest gift God can give to […]

[You can read the abridged version of this article here.] The World of Color takes it’s name from Walt Disney’s weekly television program the, Wonderful World of Color, celebrating all things Disney in vivid and new color broadcasting. The new water and light show at Disney California Adventure is the long awaited and widely hyped […]