My personal journey working towards a more "Balanced Life"..... Focusing on the (5) pillars of Personal Balance....Health, Finance, Relationships, Intellect, and Spiritual........ A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for......... Kaizen..... Namste
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Vegas - March 2007
Global Warming - Celebrity Bullshit
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His serious aviation habit means he is hardly the best person to lecture others on the environment. But John Travolta went ahead and did it anyway.
The 53-year-old actor, a passionate pilot, encouraged his fans to "do their bit" to tackle global warming.
Clocking up at least 30,000 flying miles in the past 12 months means he has produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions – nearly 100 times the average Briton's tally. Travolta made his comments this week at the British premiere of his movie, Wild Hogs. He spoke of the importance of helping the environment by using "alternative methods of fuel" – after driving down the red carpet on a Harley Davidson.
Travolta, a Scientologist, claimed the solution to global warming could be found in outer space and blamed his hefty flying mileage on the nature of the movie business. But his appointment as a "serving ambassador" for the Australian airline Qantas doesn't seem to have much to do with the movies. Nor does a recent, two-month round-the-world flying trip.
"It [global warming] is a very valid issue," Travolta declared. "I'm wondering if we need to think about other planets and dome cities. "Everyone can do their bit. But I don't know if it's not too late already. We have to think about alternative methods of fuel.
"I'm probably not the best candidate to ask about global warming because I fly jets. "I use them as a business tool though, as others do. I think it's part of this industry – otherwise I couldn't be here doing this and I wouldn't be here now."
Travolta's five private planes – a customised £2million Boeing 707, three Gulfstream jets and a Lear jet – are kept at the bottom of his garden in the US next to a private runway. Indeed, such is his enthusiasm for flying, he persuaded his wife, actress Kelly Preston, to name their son Jett when he was born 14 years ago.
Five years ago he piloted his own Boeing 707 on a 13- city "Spirit of Friendship Tour" for Qantas, taking in Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Paris and New York and amassing over 35,000 flying miles. More recently, a gruelling promotional schedule for his two latest projects, Hairspray and Wild Hogs, has seen him fly extensively over the past year.
Such prolific mileage means that, over the past 12 months, he has accumulated around 800 tonnes of carbon emissions. According to a recent study by the government-funded Carbon Trust, this means he boasts a carbon "footprint" nearly 100 times that of the average Briton, who is responsible for 10.92 tons of Co2, from his flights alone.
One of the world's leading climate change businesses, the Carbon Neutral Company, has written to Travolta, suggesting ways he could reduce these alarming levels. He has yet to respond to their advice. Environmental groups were quick to criticise Travolta for "discrediting the cause".
John Buckley, managing director-of CarbonFootprint.com, said: "John Travolta has such a high-profile celebrity status, so what he says carries an extraordinary amount of weight.
"So it is such a shame when someone of his standing is so outspoken about green issues, yet fails to practise what he preaches. "Unfortunately someone of his standing ends up discrediting the cause itself, because he is saying people should protect the environment on one hand, yet travelling on a private plane on the other.
"Green issues are serious and should be treated as such. "It is vital for celebrities to toe the line when they speak out in support of it."
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I warned them!!!!
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Too bad this guy didn't hear my advice......
A Swiss man was jailed for 10 years Thursday for insulting Thailand's revered king by vandalising his portraits during a drunken spree.
Oliver Jufer, 57, had pleaded guilty to five counts of lese majeste -- the crime of offending the dignity of a sovereign -- for defacing several portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej with spray paint in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
He had faced up to 75 years in prison, but the court sentenced him to 20 years and then halved the term because Jufer had confessed.
"The court has punished him for insulting the king. This is a serious crime," judge Pitsanu Tanbuakli said. "Because he confessed, the court has reduced his sentence to 10 years." Jufer can appeal the ruling, but his court-appointed lawyer did not attend the sentencing. Jufer said nothing as he entered or left the court.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the case due to the sensitivities of speaking about Thailand's king. In Geneva, a foreign ministry spokesman said the Swiss government would not seek Jufer's release, saying the jail term had been applied according to Thai law.
"The Swiss government does not intervene with authorities in cases where the procedure followed conformed to basic judicial principles," spokesman Jean Philippe Jeannerat told AFP.
Jufer is from Zurich but has lived mainly in Thailand for the last 10 years and has married a Thai woman, according to Thai authorities.
Security cameras videotaped him defacing the king's portraits on December 5, which is the king's birthday and a time of national celebration.
Thailand has been swept up in royal fever since the king's 60th anniversary on the throne in June last year. The palace also became more prominent in Thai political life with a military coup in September, which was conducted with the king's apparent blessing.
The generals who staged the coup have repeatedly said that one of the reasons for ousting elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was because he had been "impolite" to the monarch.
Prosecutors are investigating three claims of lese majeste against Thaksin. A fourth charge, accusing Thaksin of praying inside a temple reserved for royals, has already been dropped.
Prison sentences for lese majeste are unusual. Those convicted are frequently given royal pardons, but analysts said that with Thaksin facing similar charges, authorities could not go easy on Jufer.
"With the charges against Thaksin, they cannot be seen to be lenient on lese majeste," political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said.
"At the same time, (Jufer's) case is an aberration," he added, explaining that acts of vandalism against the king are rare and would deeply offend most Thais.
Thailand's king is the world's longest-reigning monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that prohibit any insult to the royal family. Thai law allows anyone to file a lese majeste complaint with the police, which makes people reluctant to engage in any sort of public conversation about the king or his family.
Portraits of the monarch, who will be 80 this December, hang in every public building and shrines to him dot the sidewalks in major cities. Although the trial has attracted international attention, Thai media have hardly mentioned it due to the difficulty of reporting about the king without committing lese majeste in the process. However, the king himself has indicated that he is willing to allow greater public discussion and even criticism.
"I can be criticised that sometimes I might be wrong, so that I will know I am wrong," he said in a speech for his birthday in 2005. Nonetheless, the nation's censors routinely block websites that contain foreign news reports or online discussions about the monarchy. Foreign books and movies about the king are also banned here.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
How big is your dream?
A MAN SETS OUT TO BE THE YOUNGEST EVER TO FLY AROUND THE WORLD
BY ROBERT SAMUELS, Miami Herald
Barrington Irving stood silently in front of the cheering crowd. It was all for him, this mass of thousands eager to see him start his historic journey around the Earth. "Please forgive me,'' Irving said Friday at Opa-locka Executive Airport. ``I just need to soak it all in.''
Irving was still wondering about it all. Just a few years ago, people mocked the 23-year-old's desire to become the youngest person -- and first black -- to fly solo around the world.
Now, he was about to do it. Schoolchildren smiled in front of him. His parents and politicians sobbed behind him.
Somehow, Irving, a Northwestern high school graduate still working toward a college degree, got them all to believe in his dream.
He left Friday on a speedy single-engine plane, ''Inspiration.'' He'll fly 25,600 miles. He'll return the end of April, after stopping to see places he never thought he'd see: Athens, Rome, Dubai, Bangkok, even Cleveland.
For so long, Irving said, he has wanted to fly away from the violence around him. His family came to Florida from Jamaica's violent capital, Kingston. They moved to Miami Gardens, he played school football in Liberty City -- but still found violence. He wasn't sure how to escape.
Aboard Inspiration, Irving said he wants to jet past the negativity he's seen all his life.
'If I saw a pilot who looked like me when I was a little boy, I would have said `No way,' '' said Irving, whose parents owned a small bookstore in Pembroke Pines. ``Men who live around me never had careers like that.''
Then he met Gary Robinson, a Jamaican-born pilot who became his mentor. Irving, all of 15, became fascinated with flying.
At 19, he got his pilot's license. He's majoring in aerospace at nearby Florida Memorial University, where he also became a member of the ROTC program. His dream came up one day about three years ago when he and fellow ROTC cadets were traveling to the University of Miami for a training exercise. They were discussing what they wanted to do after college, recalled Curtis Major, FMU's transportation manager.
A wide-eyed Irving told Major and the others, ``I am going to fly around the world.''
''They all looked at me like I was kind of crazy,'' Irving recalled. ``They all wanted to know why I wanted to even bother.''
He told them he wanted to see the wonders of the world -- and to be the type of role model for children that he didn't have. All he needed was the money and the plane, so he sought sponsors. At first, they all gave him the same look as the ROTC students.
He tore his rejection letters in frustration. Then he began saving others in boxes. He has more than 50. Fabio Alexander V, chief executive of Miami Executive Aviation, was the first willing sponsor. He pledged $100,000.
''I really tried to test his will and spirt,'' Alexander said. ``Why would a football player want to fly planes? But he was so determined. I couldn't say no. ''Irving traveled the country to get more support. He also gave speeches to children from North Carolina to Mississippi and opened a flight learning center at the Opa-locka airport for local children.
In all, more than 40 sponsors have contributed $600,000 worth of donations.
Preparing for the flight, he tried to keep his blood pressure down by trying not to worry. He's been drinking 80 ounces of water a day to keep hydrated -- and 16 ounces of energy drinks to keep awake. He's done light weights and has jogged at least a half-hour a day. He has prayed for safety.
His cockpit is tiny, about 7 feet tall and 10 feet wide and holds only a few things: two Red Bull cartons, a carton of bottled water, a new Bible, thank-you notes from children, that box of rejection letters.
''People refer to me as a prodigy,'' Irving told Friday's crowd. ``But I'm not. I'm just an ordinary person, surrounded by extraordinary people, empowered by an extraordinary guy. ''Then he climbed into Inspiration. He circled the airport four times, then flew off. His parents, Clovalyn and Barrington Irving Sr., watched, their eyes filling with tears, as their son disappeared into the sky.
A black woman and her son walked and tapped them on their shoulders. ''I just wanted to introduce my son to you,'' said Denise Johnson, in the company of her 12-year-old, Albert Porter. ``He wants to be the next great pilot.''
Friday, March 23, 2007
Rotting in Jail
Imprisoned ex-CEO speaks
Dennis Kozlowski, the imprisoned former CEO of Tyco International, said many of his friends abandoned him since his fraud conviction, according to excerpts of a 60 Minutes interview set to air Sunday.
Kozlowski, jailed for looting Tyco and defrauding shareholders, said in the interview the jury at his trial was prejudiced by his pay package. As CEO, he made $300 million between 1998 and 2002.
'I was a guy sitting in a courtroom making $100 million a year. And I think a juror sitting there just would have to say, `All that money? He must have done something wrong.' ''
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Larry "Bud" Melvin - RIP
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Letterman Regular 'Bud' Melman Dies
NEW YORK (AP) - Calvert DeForest, the white-haired, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows, has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, Letterman's "Late Show" announced Wednesday.
He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."
The gnomish DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center when show producers, who had seen him in a New York University student's film, came calling.
He was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."
"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.
DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1993, though DeForest had to use his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property."
Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.
DeForest often drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.
His last appearance on "Late Show," celebrating his 81st birthday, came in 2002.
DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.
At his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Wrestlers on Steroids - No kidding!
Documents: 'Edge,' 'Hurricane' allegedly ordered HGH
Posted: Monday March 19, 2007 5:33PM; Updated: Monday March 19, 2007 5:43PM
Eddie Guerrero died of heart disease, with his enlarged heart (linked to his past anabolic steroid use) being a contributing factor.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
Inside The Steroid Sting
From SI.com
Also in this column:
• Orton allegedly ordered drugs from same doctors as Matthews Jr.Since last summer Sports Illustrated reporters Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim have been investigating an alleged illegal steroid distribution network that has implicated numerous pro athletes. On Feb. 27 the two SI writers accompanied federal and state drug enforcement agents on a raid of a Jupiter, Fla., anti-aging clinic that investigators allege conspired to fraudulently prescribe steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs over the Internet.
SI.com: What's the latest?
Llosa/Wertheim: Investigators in Albany and Orlando continue to go through the material from last month's seizures. This means everything from testing drugs found in desk drawers to cross-referencing names that, we're told, include athletes of all levels.
SI.com: Any sense when these names will be made public?
Llosa/Wertheim: No. Obviously the "big names" are what have made this investigation a national concern. And, in all candor, it's the main reason news organizations -- including Sports Illustrated -- are pursuing the story. But investigators insist that athletes are really ancillary to their investigation. They're much more interested in breaking up the distribution pipeline which, they allege, is a marriage of fraudulent anti-aging clinics, complicit compounding pharmacies and doctors who rubber-stamp prescriptions for human growth hormone (HGH), testosterone, steroids, etc., often without examining the patients.
For example, David Wilbirt, an Arizona doctor, was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency from 2001 to 2005 for allegedly writing 3,879 prescriptions between November 2004 and April 2005, all for "patients" who had requested drugs over the Internet. Though that was two years ago, his name has surfaced several times in the official documents we reviewed from the "Operation Netroids" investigation.
SI.com: Do investigators believe any of Wilbirt's "patients" were athletes?
Llosa/Wertheim: Yes. We'd already seen his name come up in conjunction with Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning freestyle wrestler and now a star professional wrestler who allegedly received two prescriptions for trenbolone and one for nandrolone between October 2004 and February '05. It turns out Angle isn't the only pro wrestler alleged to have received prescriptions from Wilbirt. According to the official documents we reviewed, Wilbirt was billed for HCG and the steroid stanozolol that were sent to WWE star Eddie Guerrero in early 2005. (Guerrero died on Nov. 13, 2005, in a Minneapolis hotel room due to what a coroner later ruled as heart disease, complicated by an enlarged heart resulting from a history of anabolic steroid use.) Wilbirt also allegedly issued prescriptions for the steroids nandrolone and stanozolol to Oscar Gutierrez, whose stage name is Rey Mysterio. (Through the WWE, Gutierrez declined comment.)
When reached at his home Wilbirt spoke with us briefly, asserting, "I'm not even practicing medicine now, so... I don't remember doing half the stuff you're talking about." (The Arizona Medical Board confirms that his license is currently suspended.) Asked specifically about the professional wrestlers, Wilbirt remarked: "I'll tell you one thing and then this conversation is going to end. They had done blood work and had laboratory work done and they had come to see me." Wilbirt obviously remains a "person of interest" for the investigators.
In total, there were 11 professional wrestlers listed in the documents that we saw. Some of these wrestlers are working as independents; some are out of the business entirely; others are first-tier stars. Consider Randy Orton, who allegedly received eight prescriptions for six different drugs -- stanozolol, nandrolone, anastrozole, Clomiphene citrate, oxandrolone and testosterone -- between March 2004 and August 2004. (Through the WWE, Orton declined comment.) Interestingly, according to the documents, Orton's prescriptions came from the same two doctors whose names appeared on the prescriptions in major league outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.'s file.
SI.com: Most of the athletes named in your previous stories were allegedly receiving human growth hormone. It sounds as though the professional wrestlers were allegedly mostly receiving steroids.
Llosa/Wertheim: Right. At some level this stands to reason: The skill-set required for pro wrestling is obviously different from that of most other competitive sports. According to the documents two prominent wrestlers, Adam Copeland, a.k.a. Edge, and Shane Helms, a.k.a. The Hurricane, received HGH. (Through the WWE, Copeland and Helms didn't respond to a request for comment.) But virtually all the others allegedly received a wide variety of anabolic steroids. In each case these were supplied by Applied, the Mobile, Ala., compounding pharmacy that was raided last fall.
SI.com: Does the WWE have a drug policy?
Llosa/Wertheim:Gary Davis, a WWE spokesman, pointed us to a Talent Wellness Program instituted in February 2006. As to whether anabolic steroids and HGH are banned, Davis sent us an email quoting the policy: "The WWE policy prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."
Citing privacy issues, Davis declined to say whether WWE wrestlers have tested positive for banned substances since the policy was implemented.
Monday, March 19, 2007
2007 Travel Plans
Killer Heat Wave in Europe
Tsunami in Thailand
It has been really amazing over the past few years whenever I travel somewhere ...something realy bad happens.
April....Hong Kong / New Zealand / Australia .....CANCELLED
May......Thailand ........Postponed
June.....Seattle / Vancouver ............Pending???
November.......Thailand
New Zealand volcano spews mudflow
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Civil defense authorities in New Zealand have activated an emergency response plan after the volcanic crater lake at Mt. Ruapehu burst its banks sending a mudflow down the mountain, Australian media reported on Sunday.
There were no reports of injuries or damage associated with the natural phenomenon known as a "lahar," Australian Broadcasting Corp. said on its Web site.
Mt. Ruapehu is one of the most active crater lake volcanoes in the world and scientists have been expecting a significant lahar for the past few months.
The 9,175-feet mountain also was the location of Middle Earth in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy of films.
Reports and the first pictures from the scene describe a flash flood of water, mud and volcanic debris sweeping down the southern side of the mountain towards Tangiwai, scene of the 1953 rail disaster that claimed 151 lives when a lahar swept away a bridge, the broadcaster said.
Hundreds of travelers have been stranded by road closures in the central north island of New Zealand, with bad weather hampering efforts for an aerial inspection of the volcano, it said.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Priceless
Sir Oliver Humperdink
Thursday, March 08, 2007
I have filled (2) passports
Here is my personal travel map.....If we were playing "Risk", I would be kicking ass!
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
Australia and New Zealand is next......and to answer the question...I have no desire to travel to Africa for a Safari....I hate bugs, snakes, and wild game...
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
King of South Beach?
Based on a true story, this is the wild and sexy tale of Miami's charismatic "It Boy"-- Chris Troiano--and his dangerous secrets.
Troiano founded South Beach's most glittering nightclubs, frequented by the likes of Madonna and Kate Moss. But when Chris, with the help of his mysterious best friend, Andy Burnett, opens up one of the most sizzling night spots ever to hit Miami, the secret lives led by both Chris and Andy collide in a whirlwind of mobsters, money, and murder.
Stars Donnie Wahlberg, Jason Gedrick, Nadine Velazquez, and Ricardo Chavira, and written by Nick Pileggi, writer of GoodFellas and Casino.Air Dates:Monday, March 12 @ 9pm/8CTuesday, March 13 @ 1am/12CTuesday, March 13 @ 10pm/9CWednesday, March 14 @ 2am/1C
Sunday, March 04, 2007
It's already 2007.....time is flying!
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
14. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.