Reality Check

Visiting the coast this weekend included spending time with my aunt and uncle, an eclectic couple of intellectuals who hail from a small town in Eastern Oregon. Over the years, their activism has brought them to places like Central America and to points beyond. In between protesting the war, doing social work and standing up to evil corporations, my uncle occasionally publishes poetry and in fact,

Last Time we did a fair bit of number crunching to find that SIP is not a Magic Tool after allSo this is time to find out if SIP's not such a great tool -- then why are people recommending it, one thing u and me hav to accept is they are recommending and not investing so there's no monetary loss from them. SIP is being projected as the next big thing for responsibility like saving ur money regula

Recently I saw a Lot of articles like how to become a crorepati (Refer Moneycontrol, .....)Whenever the market Falls the Technical Analysts( Thos guys u find on cnbc with coats on even in blazing heat) find SIP a really easy product to refer. 99.9% websites say that SIP is the Ultimate route to heaven (for whom)So a Reality Check was done on the sensex being the Index with assumptions like conside

Reality check for 99-year lease top-up assumption - Singapore Recent decisions show such extensions not a given as govt retains planning flexibility By KALPANA RASHIWALA   (SINGAPORE) The market used to assume that the government would top up leases for sites to 99 years as they came up for redevelopment. A series of recent decisions - in which the [...]

By David deLeon As if Live Nation weren’t bad enough, here’s a concert series sponsored by Starbucks. This is horrifying in such a mundane way that it becomes that much more horrifying. It’s almost too mundane to make fun of, and you know they’ve won when it’s not even worth making fun of. With one fell [...]

Rosie O’Donnell’s outlandish claim that radical Christianity is just as much a threat as radical Islam drew a pointed response from one British columnist. “While evangelists may say that gay people are wicked, damned to hellfire or the like, I don’t know of any internationally renowned Christian leaders who are calling for

The Heys – Young, Bored & BrokeBuy On:Picture Radiohead meets the Strokes, and you’ve got the fuzzy and up-beat, yet emotional British sound of The Heys. It’s hard to reinvent the wheel, but this band has managed to do just that with “Young, Bored & Broke.”We caught up with Tom from The Heys, fresh on the heels of one of the best albums to come out of the U.K. this year, he had a

CWG: How did you all come together as a band?Ian and Mark started a band with another friend of theirs when we were 16 and I was asked to join as a keyboardist. Soon after, I picked up a microphone, ditched the idea of playing keyboards live and taught myself how to play the guitar. After a couple of years we ended up as a 3-piece and things have stayed that way ever since.CWG: In an indie rock ba

We caught up with Andre Mistier from the innovative new NY outfit, ISM:CWG: Your new album, "Urgency," due out on August 5th features the single "Sacred Cows"… What's the song about?The song is a call to arms for all of us to acknowledge what is unique and important about each of us, and to use that to give meaning and purpose to our activities rather than just passing time in a daze waiting for

If high prices have been holding you from buying your dream house all these years, here’s something to cheer about. In the first quarter of this year, there has been a 15-20% price correction in markets across the country, especially in the residential segment. In fact, in many markets, the level of transactions have gone down drastically, which has resulted in this dip. This is also because

Reality Check: Battle of the Davids on 'Idol'FOXNews - 52 minutes agoBy Anna David If it were up to the judges, at this point we could surely declare David Archuleta the winner of "American Idol." I mean, we're at Top 4 time ...

Nick Diaz of Cesar Gracie JiuJitsu faces Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk of Minnesota Martial Arts Academy @ UFC 59 - Reality Check in April ‘06. Diaz is set to face Katsuya Inoue @ Dream 3 for the Welterweight title. * Update - Nick Diaz has been pulled from the Dream 3 show by Elite XC * [...]

Five Finger Death Punch - "The Way Of The Fist"Label: The FirmRating: 4 GunsBuy On:You know that annoying hefty dude that used to be a VJ for MTV2? The one that used to go “Metaaaaaaal” in a high-pitched voice? Yes…. The sheer heaviness of America’s new favorite Metal band, 5 Finger Death Punch, makes you want to throw your devil horns in the air, and do just that. “Metaaaaaal!”5FDP’s album “The Way Of The Fist” has been steadily climbing Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart, and their video for “The Bleeding” (posted below) has been in heavy rotation on the likes of MTV2. (I know…. I stayed up until 1 in the morning to catch “Head-banger’s Ball.”)Roaringly heavy, and infectiously catchy, “The Way Of The Fist” is a must-have if you’re into what we call Nu-Nu-M

Radars To The Sky - The Big Bang EPWhen Andrew Spitser quit his job, broke up with his girlfriend, and moved back in with his parents to go to law school, he thought he was done playing music. But somewhere along the way, those plans changed.First, he found himself in the possession of some home recording equipment. Next, he found himself alone, late at night in the bathroom of his childhood home, cigarette dangling on the edge of the sink, singing a new batch of songs quietly into a makeshift reverb chamber (the shower).Then he met the woman he'd soon marry. Kate was not only a classical pianist but had the voice of an angel. So when Kenny Kupers showed up in the same law school class, it was already done. They were a band. They called up bassist Martin Avelar, who'd met Andrew as a stude

You're in for a treat, ladies and gentlemen!Chicks With Guns Magazine's very own staff writer, Mario R. Martin, spills his guts. (He had quite the career before making millions of dollars writing for us). In addition to the interview, he's been hard at work for May's edition of "The Death of Modern Rock." In a stunningly beautiful fight to the death, Oasis and Echo & the Bunnymen go head to head.Both articles are included below... enjoy!____________________________________________________Celebrity publicist, Mario Martin has been around the block and back, but never fails to ask for more. Hyperactive as he is creative, Mario spends his time as a freelance writer, professional press-acquirer, and entrepreneur. An avid music lover, Mario lives/breathes/bleeds music.Mario got his start in

This from the Palm Beach Post: Lower prices can put ‘real’ in real estate Could reality, at last, be setting in among Florida home sellers? Given how things have gone since late 2006, last month’s area real-estate numbers didn’t so much contain positives as they contained fewer negatives. Prices went down again, but sales went up a little, [...]

It seems I have been encountering an awful lot of doctrine at webmaster forums recently about the high value of one-way links or the low value of link exchanges.  This is a myth, based on those people who engage in what the search engines view as “unnatural” linking patters.  If most of your links come [...]

From the Rumor Mill on ESPN -According to the East Valley Tribune, Orlando Hudson, a free agent at the end of the 2008 season, will be looking for a contract that would pay him close to $15 million per year. The Diamondbacks have been trying to work out a possible extension with Hudson's camp since late in 2007, but the sides remain too far apart to suggest that a deal between the two can be reached.(emphasis added)That's Orlando Hudson - he of the 60 home runs and 331 RBI in his 6 year CAREER before 2008. The same Orlando Hudson who has never hit .300, has an OBP of .342 and slugging percentage of .430 over 6 seasons.I really hope this is a typo and Hudson is looking for $15mm over 3-5 years. If not that guy is in for a rude awakening!

Before we start the interview, our good friends at Big Machine have informed us that:*The Midnight to Twelve album has been switched to self-titled *Their self-titled album's release date is now 7/22.We caught up with Al Baca of Midnight to Twelve.....CWG: How did the deal with Koch come about?We had been on the road for the past 3 1/2 years touring all over. Our management had submitted us to a few labels and JKH/Koch was a label that we had heard of and were excited to speak with.They seemed like they would be a great home for us. They believed in our music and knew we had the work ethic to follow it up. We as a band knew that they had the ability to get us into the marketplace so in the end it was just a perfect fit. They are working just as hard as we are so everyone should see the eff

There have been many in the medical blogosphere who have (correctly) predicted the soon-to-be disaster of a shortage of primary care physicians. I, of course, agree with my primary care and family physician brethren on this point. Well, now, there is new data from the University of Washington stating that General Surgery as a specialty is soon going to be in a world of hurt because - frankly, there are no medical students going into it. Obviously, this is part of the super-specialty revolution where generalists - whether they be general medicine physicians or general surgery physicians - are going to be more rare.I find it ironically funny (in some strange way) that the quote below used to describe the shortage for general surgeons is vaguely familiar and kind of deja vu like when I rememb

We all know that parents who give their kids fast food are going to hell in a hand-basket, right? Sometimes you just don’t feel like making them lunch - again. Maybe, you’re craving one of those $6 burgers, yourself. There are many reasons we use to convince ourselves that it’s okay to splurge every [...]

source: The Hindu. CHENNAI: As rentals soar in south Chennai, property owners in the western localities such as Anna Nagar and K.K. Nagar are also... [[ This is just a summary . Click on the headline for full story . Thank you - admin@masalapost.com]]

My son had a project this week regarding courage. His task was to bring something to school that, to him, signified courage. He and my wife scoured the Internet, read books, and taxed their brains for something that struck his fancy. Harriet Tubman’s name was mentioned, as was a book entitled " Follow the drinking gourd", [...]

Sitting only 3 rows behind the Celtic bench, I was extremely pumped for this game.  I was hoping the Sixers could continue their winning ways and take another step toward becoming the team we all want them to be.  Unfortunately it would not be.  From the opening tap you couldn’t tell which team was scratching [...]

Here is a great joke my Dad emailed to me a few days ago. I decided it needed to see the light of day on our blog. I'd love to hear what people have to say about it. Its about a cute father/daughter talk:A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should

So you’ve decided it’s time your family had a dog. Your kids have bugged you for months and after seeing how happy your neighbors seem with their wonderful pet you’ve given in and you’re ready to go dog shopping. Perhaps you had a dog as a child, so you know how much fun

I got a great reality check and am very grateful to a team leader. I joined Traffic Era when they launched and promoted it. I also upgraded to platinum.I started a group and a team based around I felt like I was the only one surfing so I handed over the team leader to Danny and quit. A couple of teams sent me invitations and they all were minimal so I opted out.Then one offered me an invitation and it was one of the top 5 programs. I was really excited! Here we go I am going to get real points for my effort. I signed on and started surfing. I earned 13 Clocks the first day and 7 the second. This morning I logged in and bought a 30% upgrade to my surfing and started surfing for the team. I got up made Clayton and myself lunch. I came back to start clicking again. I was no longer on any team

Are you ready?Ghetto - Mountain (From FOS) Straight DownloadThey say grime won't give man a mortgage (wheeel up)For all you readers that are unaware of this release, Freedom Of Speech is a CD solely produced by Lewi White and Smasher with a good few features, but not over board (big up Goldie Hawn - big film) on them this guy can actually spit for 3 minutes and entertain you in the process. Many have critised his last release, Ghetto Gospel, for being a bit to 'out there', soft and you wanted the real angry Ghetto back (even though you moaned because you said all he was, was an angry mc but yeah anyway). He is back and he has definitely found that stable balance between both Ghetto and Justin Clarke. "The CD has the raw energy of 2000 and Life and the mature lyricism of the Ghetto Gospel..

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this picture was Mike Huckabee. After all, he's the candidate who's closest to Jesus. I like to think that Jesus is over my shoulder watching me and... for more see...

"2008 may yet provide Iran with an opportunity to relentless pursue its enrichment program while the world focuses on the U.S. Presidential race. As important as the next U.S. President may be, we cannot afford to allow the race to dim our view ... obscure our judgment. "Before we consider the opinions of the many who have drawn the same conclusion, know this first:Iran has no need for nuclear energy because of its immense oil and natural gas reserves which are equivalent to 9.3 percent of the world's reserves. In fact, Iran has 73,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, an amount second only to the natural gas reserves of Russia.Iran remains the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism and is on the Department of State's list of countries that provide support for acts of interna

Not As Pure As Freshly Driven SnowInsights On Taxes, Immigration and Crime... The first troubling discovery is that, as governor, Huckabee was a tax-raiser to put Bill Clinton to shame. Worse than that, now he tries to tell audiences the courts and legislature twisted his arm to sign that tax hike. But there is just no evidence to support that interesting revisionist view of reality.The second troubling finding is his support (there is really no other word for it) for illegal immigration. As governor, he helped Arkansas serve as a magnet for illegal immigrants who wanted jobs in the Tyson chicken plants or in-state tuition rates unavailable to American citizens from neighboring states or a Mexican consulate generously offered up to the Mexican government for free.Read Article... Huckabee Commuted Rapist Wayne DumondParoled Dumond Later Commits Rape and MurderArkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee made a rare personal appeal to release a convicted rapist from prison, a former top aide to the GOP

Did you ever imagine you’d wear an owl on your shoes(TM) The Reality Check sneaker by Skechers is full of fun details such as plaid fabric and embroidered flora and fauna –- including an adorable owl. What a hoot!Woven plaid fabric upper with leather overlays, crisscross strap with hook-and-loop closure, embroidery and metal stud detailLined and cushioned insoleTwo-tone rubber midsole and grippy rubber bottom

Professional Wrestling is now one of the most popular, exciting, and highest paying sports in the world today. And with that popularity and high pay, there is a whole new generation of aspiring young people who are seriously interested in one day becoming a Professional Wrestling Superstar. Wrestlers are some of the most famous celebrities in the world, and they do make tons of money, and their lives are pretty exciting. But most aspiring wrestlers do not realize that the life of a pro wrestler involves tremendous work, dedication, constantly traveling, and frequent painful injuries. Being a pro wrestler may seem glamorous, but it’s anything but.Most people only see wrestlers once or twice a week on television and think that’s all they do. What these people don’t get to see are all practices and rehearsals that are not televised. During these rehearsals and practice a wrestler is in the ring every day for hours at a time. And if you thing that’s not hard work, go to a wrestling

Article Title: Dog Owner Reality Check List: What To KnowBefore You Get A DogAuthor: Sherry Frewerd So you've decided it's time your family had a dog. Your kidshave bugged you for months and after seeing how happy yourneighbors seem with their wonderful pet you've given in andyou're ready to go dog shopping. Perhaps you had a dog as achild, so you know how much fun dogs can be – right? Well mostlikely what you've forgotten though is that your mom or dad werethe ones actually caring for the dog. You have lovely warm fuzzymemories of romps in the front yard on sunny afternoons with theRover of your childhood. Ask your parents to go down memory lanewith you and what you may find out is how much trouble old Roverreally was and that mom had to continually clean the dog doo offyour feet during those afternoon romps in the yard. As an adult with a family now, you should take a few minutes tolearn some of the important aspects of real dog ownership beforeyou commit to you

The hysteria among molecular biologists about our old friend ethidium bromide has long been an irritation to me. Researchers are rightly wary of this potential carcinogen. More recently this wariness has been whipped up into a witch hunt by companies touting “safer” alternatives and disposal methods. While I don’t for a minute think that we should all throw our gloves away and bathe in the stuff, I think that it’s time for an informed reality check about the dangers, and the myths about ethidium bromide. (more…)

News on the foreclosure front doesn't seem to be getting much better for most of the country, and with continued rumblings about it possibly getting worse. With a couple of million homeowners looking at further ARM adjustments and increased payments in the near future, things could get even tighter as lenders disregard common sense in self-destructively digging every last dime from the shattered

It’s always heart rending to experience sorrow – be it your own or that of someone else. Celina recently spent a weekend with her brother (who is an army officer) and his unit in the Jammu border area. When she came back, however, she heard about the ambush and the tragic death of her brother's friend at the hands of terrorists just three days after she had met them. The fact that the young officer has a beautiful young wife, and a daughter who will never see her father ever is a heart breaking story in itself. Celina says that these army men who sacrifice their lives for our safety are the real heroes and we must never forget their contribution to our well being. Well said, Celina!

Los Angeles-based field reporter Jonathan Trimm attended the "Reality Check" event and sends us this great story. Thanks again, Jonathan.On Friday night, reality stars gathered together at MJ's Nightclub in Silverlake California, to help raise funds for the Trevor Project, and to kick off Pride Week. Two of our favorite PR contestants, and one very memorable model were on hand to support this event and the amazing organization. Nick Verreos was on hand greeting the crowd and talking to other reality stars and fans alike. He was there with David Paul, and excited about the new things happening in his life. With his GenArts work, he has travelled all over the US, including: Chicago, Phoenix, and many other cities. Andrae Gonzalo was also on hand and extremely excited to support the event and the work it is doing to help the homosexual community and especially the youth. Andrae is still teaching at FIDM, and designing for private clients. When asked about the possibility of working with

All the ‘news’ dominated by Theirry Henry, to the extent that even the Government has an opinion on it. Gordon Brown reportedly told Sports Journalists that he believes Henry will stay at Arsenal, having met Le Captain at some function or other. Meanwhile, Johan Djourou hits the nail smack, firmly and squarely on the head, It must be a worrying time for the fans because you never know what is going to happen this summer. Thierry has said before that he wants to stay. Now I don’t know if he is sure or not. We will see soon but I hope he decides quickly. He is a great player and you could see we missed him, especially as he is captain as well. But the team has come on quite a bit and next season I think our team will be very good. I think this coming season is the one where we have to win something. This is going to be a big year for us It’s an interesting choice of words - we have to win something - that at once puts pressure on themselves and raises expectatio

A couple of months ago, some folks showed up in my MySpace group (The Jesus Lovin’ Church) and began speaking of the effects of a mysterious book that they had “discovered”. They claimed the book contained life-changing spiritual truths, many of which had been hidden by the church and other power structures. They claimed that the book revealed to them the true nature of Jesus, which “church agents” like me have attempted to suppress. When these fans of Unlock Reality (”UR” as they call it) were asked to explain the book or give a summary of it, they refused and / or were incapable. Anyone wanting to know more was pointed towards a link where you could buy this life-changing book as an E-book. Now normally, I am not one to go out and pick a bone with other religious views. The way I figure it, there are far more pressing matters than wrestling with another deeply religious person’s entrenched ideology. Things like compassion, mercy, an

(Archived in: Social Design Sovereign Rights)It's a sad commentary and I do not need to say much more, except you wonder how this lunacy can continue unchecked.I read this article at a well known blog some time ago and finally decided it's time to make some noise about it. Such thoughts on our diminishing freedoms are always under reported by the mainstream media. I wonder when the sheeples will wake up!Does the description below fit any nation-state you are familiar with today? This checklist below is quoted from an article in Robin Good's blog . The entire text and references can be found in the article at Master Mind Media.Check and decide for yourself: Here are the common traits of popular totalitarian states drawn from the past governments of Germany (under the Nazis), Italy (under Mussolini), Spain (Franco), Indonesia (Suharto) and of some Latin American countries: Powerful and continuing nationalism: Totalitarian regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans

Tonyaa Weathersbee's column titled "Medical students turning to Cuba for education" was filled with admiration for President Fidel Castro's doings but sadly lacking in factual information. There are now, in fact, two medical schools in Havana: the one that has existed since the 19th century, open to Cuban and foreign students (not mentioned) and the Latin America School of Medicine created by Castro exclusively for foreign students. I am a graduate of the first one (1956), and tuition then was only nominal, at a time when the per capita income in Cuba was one of the highest in Latin America. Today, Cuba has become the poorest country in Latin America, except for Haiti. The government doesn't charge tuition for medical school. However, many natives who want to become physicians are denied entrance to their own university if they do not fulfill the government's ideological requirements. They are not free to choose their "free" education. In addition, upon graduation, Castro

Nous vous rassurons tout de suite: cet article n’a pas pour but d’essayer de trouver des failles dans le “méga-sondage” publié hier. Alors que les commanditaires s’intéressaient surtout aux luttes serrées que laissaient entrevoir les résultats régionaux, nous allons comparer les résultats des sous-échantillons régionaux avec les résultats de la dernière élection générale. Bref, c’est le “swing vote” potentiel qui nous intéresse ici. Nous avertissons d’entrée de jeu: avec une marge d’erreur allant de 4 à 7% selon la région, l’exercice doit être pris avec un grain de sel. De plus, le territoire des circonscriptions électorales ne coïncide pas nécessairement partout avec celui des régions administratives, ce qui vient apporter un bémol supplémentaire aux résultats qui suivent (sans compter qu’il n’existe aucun élément dans le sondage qui nous indique à quelle région est rattachée l

Well I finally got hooked up to the internet (and got SportsCenter back).Sorry for the delay to all 2 of my readers, but I plan to resume posting.The photo is of the mighty San Juan River in Bluff, Utah. I'll takethe chocolate milk of the Juan over my cubicle anyday. They tell mepatience is a virtue, but this recent river trip did little for my careerdevelopment. Office vs. paradise? Tough call.

You may not want to hear this, but most new business are far too optimistic about their prospects: 'Interesting new research from Gavin Cassar at Wharton, shows that entrepreneurs are overly optimistic when they launch their ventures. In a study that covered 5 years, entrepreneurs were followed to see if their business ideas became real companies, and whether or not their initial expectations

Elijah... I LOVE your smile!!! I've talked before about how Tim and I are both the oldest children… and that in our marriage there is a lot of "iron sharpening iron" - and what I mean by that is we BOTH always think we are right. Fun. Here's what I think… and you may find this to be controversial. Marriage is a perfect opportunity to burst one another's bubble. Why would I say a thing like that??? Well… let me tell you… PRIDE LOVES TO HIDE IN SILENCE!! Instead of pulling your spouses' feet back down to the ground when their heads begin to swell… do you stay silent? Instead of staying silent… pull out a nice long and very sharp pin. Proverbs 27:17 (my favorite verse) says: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another I am grateful I married someone as headstrong as I am. Here's the thing… spiritual & marital intimacy cannot be separated from character development. A husband & wife can help one ano

Talk show host & media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, is looking to take over primetime TV with two new reality series. One of which will feature the diva herself at least according to ABC producers. Both shows are described as combining elements of wish fulfillment and charity, which are of course favorite themes of her long time running daytime show. The shows are tentatively titled "Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give" and "Your Money or Your Life"."Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give," presents 10 people with large sums of money and other resources and challenges them to find "the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others."The contestants will gradually be narrowed as the group confronts a "big catch" each week complicating their efforts, with the winner getting his or her "wildest dream come true.""Your Money or Your Life," will dispatch an "expert action team" each week to help a family overcome a crisis through a "total money and life makeover."A Harpo spokeswoma

My brother has spent the last few days in Nicaragua, with a group from church on a medical mission trip. He's no doctor, but he can sort medicine and help guide patients, and so that is what he has been doing. His last e-mail update (on Superbowl Sunday) contained the following reality checks:There are many casinos here. There are a few that advertise Texas Hold'em.Some of the women here cary things on their head. We saw a women this morning carrying a 5 gallon bucket of tamales on her head buffeted by a small rolled up towell.The pet dogs here roam the street. They are so, so skinny. Its hard for me to believe they are alive. You can count every bone from 20 yards away.It is common to be driving through Managua, the capital over over 1 million people, and see a horse pulling a cart. On the way to Masatepe, I saw oxen pulling carts on the road. These are the skinniest horses I`ve ever seen.Remember the kids playing with the live flare in the street I mentioned yesterday? We drove pas

This is just sick. I am going to have to extend my plea to stop all sports, not just in Europe, but apparently in South America as well. A player in Uruguay didn't like a referee's call, so he decked him. And almost killed the guy. Ridiculous. At least they didn't fiddle-fart around like we do up here. They banned the player for life. (The Tip: Busted Play)

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