New sex term named after hypocrite Christian pastor

It has been pointed out that the January 24 issue of the Economist magazine pays homage to one of our favorite journalists, Dan Savage, in the form of a story about coining an appropriate definition for the term saddlebacking. To saddleback, thanks to the good work of Mr. Savage and his readers, is now defined as the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities.

The term is named after the Christianist church of pastor Rick Warren, who was unfortunately chosen to say a prayer during the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama.

We applaud Mr. Savage and his "Savage Love" column for outstanding work in making public the hypocracy of contemporary Christianist practices such as teenagers risking contracting sexually transmitted diseases in the mistaken belief that anal intercourse is permissible and virginity is admirable. Thank you, Dan.

Oprah and "The Secret" Teacher to Lead Spiritual Cruise

One of the featured teachers in "The Secret", Dr. Michael Beckwith, is going to be in the spotlight during the third annual Ocean of Gratitude Cruise, departing from Ft. Lauderdale on March 14 for 8 days of soul-stirring presentations and amazing spiritual awakenings punctuated by inspirational songs, spontaneous dances, and powerful practices.

The cruise visits the ports of Cozumel, Mexico where participants can zip through the jungle, snorkel in the ocean, or visit Mayan ruins; Limon, Costa Rica for kayaking in the rainforest or visiting a coffee, banana or pineapple plantation; and Colon, Panama and a trip to an indigenous Indian tribe, a mountain bike ride in the Panamanian forest, or an opportunity to join a peacekeeping native drum circle (facilitated by Christine Stevens, Ocean of Gratitude presenter).

Dr. Beckwith has been a guest of Larry King, and is the founder of the 10,000 member Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles. He will be joined by his wife, Rickie Byars Beckwith, the spirit-sparking singer, songwriter & composer. The couple is famous for making beautiful music together, lifting up the soul and inspiring potent possibilities through music, meditation, movement and their own personal magic.

This year's cruise sets sail on the Carnival Freedom, aptly named for the life-freeing messages that attendees will hear from some of today's finest spiritual and self-growth teachers:

One of its goals is to break through the barriers of self-sabotage and reach full potential with Dr. Sue Morter referred to as "today's messenger with tomorrow's message," who will take the participants through her amazing process of Bio-Energetic Synchronization.

Another object of the cruise is to awaken the power of dancing to one's own music with Tama J. Kieves author of 'This Time I Dance' and creator of 'Awakening Artistry', a practice of learning to live without limits in work, life and love.
Conference co-creators and sisters, Karol Avalon and Marybeth Grant of Avalon Productions, share a commitment to empowering people and communities to increase their potential, awaken their spiritual consciousness and develop into the best possible partners in the new paradigm of the our world. Past participants in the Ocean of Gratitude have called the experience "Mind-blowing and fantastic," "A gift from the Universe", "A week of good food, good friends, love" and "An extraordinary journey filled with infinite love and gratitude."

2009 ushers in an exciting time of renewed hope and expansion for our world as our new President Barack Obama urges us to join together in hope, humility, service and gratitude. The Ocean of Gratitude Cruise 415-302-5529, March 14-22, 2009, lights the way to "explore gratefulness in a magical way on a mystical voyage to peace, prosperity and happiness."

It has been recently revealed "The Secret" only glossed over many important universal laws that may be applied to gain prosperity, self-actualization and personal fulfillment. To learn what was left out of "The Secret" and discover a better way to use the Law of Attraction to gain wealth and happiness, why not check out The 11 Forgotten Laws.

Harvard Health is Fighting Stress

Harvard Health Publications, the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, today announced the creation of its online Stress Resource Center at www.health.harvard.edu/stress. The Stress Resource Center was unveiled by Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of Harvard Health Publications' Harvard Mental Health Letter, in his appearance today on the Martha Stewart Show, in a segment titled "Stress Less with Dr. Michael C. Miller."
Harvard Health Publications' Stress Resource Center offers a variety of tools, including:
• How Stress Affects Your Body: An interactive illustration showing how stress triggers physical changes in the body
• Q & A -- The Impact of Stress: Answers to five common questions about how stress affects your health
The Stress Resource Center also provides links to stress-related articles from other Harvard Health Publications newsletters and special health reports, including the Harvard Mental Health Letter, Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Heart Letter, Harvard Men's Health Letter, and Harvard Women's Health Letter. • Resilience: Remaining mentally strong and healthy during times of stress
• Caregiver Stress: When helpers need help
• Sing Along for Health: Singing to boost mood, relieve stress, promote relaxation, and enhance the immune system
• Optimism and Your Health
As part of Dr. Miller's appearance on the Martha Stewart Show, Harvard Health Publications distributed to the studio audience 200 free copies of its special health report Stress Management: Approaches for preventing and reducing stress. This report helps readers identify stress warning signs and provides information on how to better manage stressful situations.

www.health.harvard.edu features additional health resources, diagnostic tools, and customer reviews of products.

Don't let emotions ruin your forex trading profits

The majority of websites offering tips on how to make money with forex trading all agree that one of the greatest obstacles you encounter isn't the market itself, but instead it is your own emotions. This holds true in just about any activity that involves financial risk. It is truly not very different from the strategies involved with playing poker. If you go into it afraid of losing, then most likely you will lose. It is widely held that most human beings have an innate desire to prosper. This desire is what makes failure so frightening.

Regardless of how you make your decisions you need to proceed with confidence tempered with caution. Whether you use technical analysis or fundamental analysis or flip a coin, it really doesn't matter as much as developing your own investment strategy, and proceeding with it until you are sure it is working or failing. Do not take council of your fears, and bounce around with no pattern, overreacting to every setback. Nor should you grow overconfident and let a small temporary success lead you into foolishness. Remain constant and stick with your plan.

The Forex market has some peculiar emotional landmines that you need to be aware of, and need to avoid. You are dealing with the currency of foreign countries and how they are going to be valued against the currency of other countries, one of which is your own country. It is important to keep things in perspective. If you find yourself rooting for the USA and booing Japan like they are your college's football team and its biggest rival, then you should not be investing in this market.

Investment of any kind takes self control, and emotional stability, and Forex is no exception.

Click here to learn an amazing breakthrough system that can skyrocket your trading profits.

Has Cellulite Cure Been Found?

Findings from a new study published in the November/December 2008 issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal suggest that a combination treatment using laser energy and fat transplantation shows promise in significantly improving cellulite. Cellulite is a common condition that gives the appearance of lumpiness and dimpling across the skin and is most prevalent in the thigh, hip, and buttock areas.

"Cellulite is caused by bands of fibrous tissue that connect the muscle to the skin," says Alan Gold, MD, President of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). "If these bands are tight and the fat between the muscle and the skin bulges out between them, there will be dimpling over each of those bands. There is nothing otherwise special or unique about the fat itself in those areas." Almost all women (and some men) have cellulite, stemming from genetic predisposition, hormonal changes and weight gain.

The treatment presented in the ASJ study first uses 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser energy conducted underneath the skin to stimulate collagen formation, skin tightening and, on a deeper level, to reduce fatty tissue. Laser treatment is followed by injections of the patient's own fat to fill in the depressed areas. Along with visible improvement, there are very few adverse effects, most of which are mild and temporary.

"The search for the cause of cellulite and effective treatments is ongoing, however, the combination of a minimally-invasive pulsed laser treatment and autologous fat transplantation represents a viable option for women who have severe cases of cellulite," says Robert Gotkin, MD, a plastic surgeon in New York, NY and one of the authors of the study. "All treatments have limitations and since cellulite is a chronic condition, the patient must understand that there are no miracle procedures and multiple treatments may be necessary."

The doctors treated 52 women between the ages of 18-47 with severe cases of cellulite who had not undergone previous surgical treatments such as lipoplasty or subcision (cutting scar tissue just below the surface of the skin). After the laser tightening and fat injections, patients received a massage to evenly distribute the fat and returned the next day for physiotherapeutic postoperative treatments. The follow-up period ranged from a year to almost 3 years, and nearly 85% of the patients rated their results as "good" or "excellent".

Various methods of treating cellulite have been proposed including:

• Liposuction

• Fat Injections

• Lower Body Lift

• Endermologie

• Injection lipolysis

• Herbal and dietary supplements

• Creams and lotions

While some of these procedures, such as fat injections and lower body lift, have been shown to be beneficial in appropriately selected patients, others such as injection lipolysis and lotions do not have any scientific data supporting their efficacy. Liposuction, while highly effective in reducing fat deposits and improving contour, sometimes makes cellulite appear worse.

Commodity risk management gets automated

It was very interesting to us this morning when we saw that an automated system has been developed to manage risk in commodities. This is something similar to what has been happening recently in consumer-oriented investment products. But first...

Yates Petroleum Corporation, a New Mexico-based petroleum exploration and production company, has implemented SunGard's Kiodex Risk Workbench for commodity risk management (http://www.sungard.com) and hedging. Yates is using Kiodex to produce an independent mark-to-market valuation of hedges in order to better understand and manage its exposure to volatile energy prices.

A Web-based commodity risk management solution delivered as a Software-as-a-Service* (SaaS), SunGard's Kiodex integrates trade capture, valuation models, risk measurement, financial reporting and independent market data. Kiodex's risk analysis tools, market data and Value at Risk (VaR) capabilities will help Yates to better recognize and predict margining and cash requirements from counterparties. Providing an automated, Web-based environment, Kiodex's SaaS delivery model will help Yates to simplify implementation, accelerate time-to-market, and reduce ongoing maintenance and support costs.

JB Smith, marketing manager at Yates Petroleum Corporation, said, "We chose SunGard's Kiodex to help us achieve desired rates of return on petroleum drilling and acquisition targets. Kiodex helps us to better define, execute and manage our hedging objectives, as well as to save on trade execution costs and gain improved visibility into our exposure and possible hedging alternatives."

Ben Jackson, chief operating officer of SunGard's Kiodex business unit, said, "With increased volatility in petroleum markets, companies active in energy production require a comprehensive risk tool to accurately capture price fluctuations and support decision making on their hedging programs. SunGard's Kiodex helps these organizations increase their hedging activities while managing larger exposures through greater risk controls."

*SunGard Financial Systems is pursuing a visionary initiative to transform some of the key functionality of its core systems into components to form a new software development and on-demand delivery environment called Infinity. Infinity enables financial institutions to develop and deploy custom applications, integrating SunGard components with their own proprietary or third party components. Infinity uses SunGard's Common Services Architecture (CSA), a service-oriented architecture (SOA) development framework, offering business process management (BPM) and a virtualized, software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructure.

We have recently been noticing how there is a proliferation of products for sale to consumers to assist them in investing in, for example, penny stocks or forex trading that are based on the artificial intelligence of computerized robots. A refer to such products as Doubling Stocks and Forex Ambush. Now it is interesting to see these programs moving into the more professional realm.

72% of Americans are too fat

There are alarming statistics that came across our desk this morning revealing that more than 72% of all Americans are overweight and need to lose weight. The way to do that, it was suggested, is to drink more water. Hmm. I think that's ok as long as they drink less sugar-laden soda pop as a result.

Statistics from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) indicate that 34% of Americans are obese, just under 6% are extremely or morbidly obese, and another 32.7% are considered overweight, according to data from a report released January 9, 2009, by CDCP’s National Center for Health Statistics in Rockville, MD. The International Bottled Water Association (www.bottledwater.org) would therefore remind Americans that drinking water -– be it bottled or tap –- is an important part of a healthy diet.

The data in the report indicates almost three-quarters (or 72.7%) of all Americans weigh more than is healthy for their individual body types. According to the CDCH, “The prevalence of obesity in America has doubled in the past two decades.” As the CDCH report further notes: “A high prevalence of overweight and obesity is of great public health concern because excess body fat leads to a higher risk for premature death, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, respiratory dysfunction, gout, osteoarthritis, and certain kinds of cancers.”

“Good hydration -– with plenty of calorie-free water –- has got to part of the solution to this alarming and preventable problem,” said IBWA President and CEO Joe Doss. “We recommend that everyone drink more water every day. And bottled water is a safe, healthy beverage choice, whether at home or office or on the go. During emergencies, we see how critical bottled water is for disaster-stricken communities and the importance of a coordinated, effective response to get drinking water to people in need. Obesity is now a public health emergency, but for this problem, tap water has as large a role to play as bottled water. ”

Water is an excellent choice for consumers who wish to avoid or moderate calories, caffeine, sugar or the various ingredients found in other beverages. “Any actions by legislators or activist groups that would discourage the consumption of water because it happens to be a container (as nearly all beverages are) are not in the public’s best interest,” said Doss. “We should all work together to encourage consumption of water.”

In order to help individuals determine their personal hydration goals, IBWA features Hydration Calculator (http://www.bottledwater.org/public/hydratio_main.htm) on its website. It is an interactive tool based on expert resources and the most current findings of the National Academy of Sciences, as reported in its February 2004 report, "Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate.” IBWA’s Hydration Calculator provides helpful suggestions about an individual’s total fluid intake derived from both beverages and food, and other information about water's vital role in refreshment, health and hydration.

Market Investing Can Be Hard or Easy

It seems to us there are two ways to invest in markets: the hard way and the easy way. The hard way involves doing a lot of research, or studying research done by others. Here is an example...

Futures Research Corp. today announced the launch of their new subscription based research service for futures traders and other futures market participants. Specializing in seasonal and historical research tools, the site is designed for both the novice and experienced futures trader. The service can be accessed at http://www.FuturesResearchCorp.com .

For traders, the site targets those looking for trading ideas and those looking to further validate trades from their existing trading program. Traders with their own trading system can plug their trades into FRC's seasonal analysis tool to determine past performance, maximum risk and profit points and many other metrics. Futures Research Corp also offers their output in a variety of formats that Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) and other brokers can re-brand and offer to their clients. "Our charts and market analysis should not only encourage additional client trading activity, but the professional quality trade reports and charts also provide a great prospecting tool for attracting new clients," states Kelly. Many of the most successful traders believe the greatest success in trading markets is achieved by analyzing markets from both a technical and fundamental perspective. FRC provides fundamental analysis through a centralized access point for industry reports, weather analysis for determining impacts to the agricultural and energy markets, and charting of all varieties of fundamental information such as supply and demand data for many of the major futures contracts.

For additional information, please contact Michael Kelly or visit the website at http://www.FuturesResearchCorp.com. Futures Research Corp. is a web-based research firm dedicated to providing futures traders with the information and tools they need to improve their trading decisions and increase the success of their trading program.

The easy way of investing requires more faith than knowledge. What you do is find a program or system that does all the work for you and then follow the directions. One good example of this is Doubling Stocks. It's a stock picking system that is based on artificial intelligence. In essence, a robot that picks which stocks are going to double in value. The promoters of Doubling Stocks say that subscribers to their newsletter regularly earn thousands of dollars per month, and that if someone had invested $5,000 four months ago, they would now have $387,684 in clear profit in their bank account.

So, which kind of an investor are you? One who wants to work hard, or one who wants to follow the easy route?

Surviving the Economic Downturn

As the global economy swings wildly and federal bailouts seek their mark, some communities are propounding their own solution: Buy local.

One community in Idaho has turned this message into an aggressive campaign, with radio, newspaper and TV ads urging residents to not only buy local, but to keep investing in infrastructure and training, and to "keep swinging."

"The news is all about the economic downturn - we want people to focus on the inevitable up-turn," said Jan Rogers, who heads SIEDO (http://www.southernidaho.org/main.asp), an economic development organization in the Twin Falls region of Idaho. "By keeping our eye on the end game, we will be better positioned for that up-turn."

Twin Falls, a city with a population of about 40,000, grew rapidly over the past decade as a variety of businesses expanded and moved in to take advantage of affordable land and a strong workforce. With agriculture and food processing industries serving as its stable economic backbone, the community has weathered the downturn much better than many areas of the country.

Rogers says that 'buy local' campaigns don't go far enough. That is why her organization - the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization - teamed up with the College of Southern Idaho to urge community leaders to invest now, both in site development and workforce training.

"Buy local" campaigns are springing up everywhere, with smaller communities more likely to succeed by supporting "mom and pop" stores and locally owned dealerships owned by people they know. Boise, Idaho - the state's capitol - also launched a "buy local" initiative, with newspaper ads running through the summer. Eagle (http://www.cityofeagle.com/), Idaho - a tiny suburb of Boise (http://www.bvep.org/) - started a smaller campaign that consists of banners and sandwich board signs encouraging residents to spend their dollars close to home.

Twin Falls' campaign is called "Preparing for the swing," and shows a child swinging high in the air. "To keep the swing moving, you had to lean back, pump your feet and hold on for dear life," the ad copy goes. "During an economic downturn, you have to lean back a little farther, pump a little harder and hold on a little tighter. It's the only way you can ride it back to the top."

The campaign will run on local TV, radio and newspaper as a positive reinforcement to help its communities understand that a local plan is in place to help stabilize the economy and offer alternative and additional training for future business expansion and recruitment.

"When this recession ends, we're going to see a significant increase in businesses coming here looking for a business-friendly environment and strong workforce," said Rogers. "It's not going to be a trickle…it's going to be a fire hydrant. And we'll be ready."

Another way that Americans (and folks from Australia, Canada and Europe) are helping keep themselves "recession proof" is to become more self reliant and less dependent on employment from others for earning a living. For example, there are some new "artificial intelligence" software programs now available to give investors an unfair advantage over other traders in the worlds of both Forex and stock market day trading. One of these systems, Fap Turbo, has been generating some very impressive results, even for people with no previous Forex trading experience. The other, Forex Killer, is superficially similar, but is exciting in how it just about totally eliminates the steep learning curve that used to be a prerequisite for the very lucrative foreign exchange currency trading arena.

Both Fap Turbo and Forex Killer have been reviewed online recently at the Learn Forex Online website.

Hybrid RVs Now Available

We were wondering how the high cost of fuel and the concurrent economic crisis would effect the Recreational Vehicle industry. Now we see that hybrid RVs are here.

As the Fleetwood Enterprises RV Group presented its Hybrid motorhome on December 26, 2008, Pedata RV Center and other dealers across the nation took notice. The introduction of new technologies advantageous in today's economy and environment make looking towards the future with a bright outlook that much easier.

Amid the many negative news items, the countless dealers struggling under the weight of the current economical gloom, and the recent loss of not only financing options for consumers, but financing options for the dealers themselves…the Fleetwood's Hybrid RV was a welcome, and hopeful, respite. Clint Ethington of Pedata RV Center labeled the Fleetwood RV "my new symbol of hope for the industry. I love when new technology offers new possibilities to RVers and when it can happen at a time when many are down on the industry it's even better. And when it can happen when consumers are down on EVERYTHING across industry lines…it's amazing."

The Fleetwood Hybrid (http://www.fleetwood.com/) Details:

* ecoFRED hybrid electric power chassis by Freightliner Custom Chassis

* increased fuel economy up to 42%

* easy refueling at any diesel fuel station

* zero compromise in payload capacity

* internal combustion diesel engine/electric motor driven by lithium-ion batteries

* Eaton 6-speed, automated-manual transmission

* Towing capacity of 37,000 lbs.

* Lithium-ion batteries recharged through operation of diesel

We have recently been seeing information on the Water for Fuel website about how people can convert their cars and trucks to run on water for fuel. We wonder whether that same technology could be applied to RVs to avoid the expense of having to purchase a new hybrid recreational vehicle.

One way to beat the recession

2008 was a pretty bad year and, unless Barack Obama turns out to be a miracle worker, there are not a lot of signs that things are going to turn around very quickly. People are getting laid off right and left, and homes are being foreclosed at the drop of a hat. The prices on everything is going up, from kleenex to airline tickets.

Families are being swallowed in debt like quicksand and to add insult to injury they are being turfed out of their homes. Experts are arguing whether it is a recession or a depression the way theologians used to argue about how many angels could stand on the head of a pin.

And the thing is, even the rich people are hurting, more or less, and there are darned few people who know how to fix things up.

The thing I hear people saying most is that they need some cash in a hurry today, and a more secure future tomorrow. What they are looking for is not necessarily a job, but some kind of a system for putting more money into their pockets in a dependable way.

Well, if you are looking for a sustainable system and not some fly by night scheme that is going to give you the cash you are looking for today and for tomorrows to come, then you may be interested to hear about the system I recently learned about.

Its promoters say it will perform for you automatically, without you needing to put in very much, well, input. Instead, you can pretty much relax and enjoy watching the results as they are being accumulated. They say it is a crash-proof, shock-proof, depression proof way of making money that happens steadily and grows the way you want it to.

It is Forex Ambush 2.0, a unique system that works with 100% accurate Forex signals gained through artificial intelligence. It's a robot, a computer program, and it is said to produce returns in excess of 20,000 per-cent per year.

Think for a moment what a 20,000% annual return rate actually means. It means 500 becomes 100,000 and 5,000 transforms into 2,000,000. Even while you take out your profits on each trade.

My advice to you is to learn more about how Forex Ambush 2.0 gifts you with spot-on Forex signals that can earn you $1,000's each and every month, thanks to its powerful engine driven by artificial intelligence.

If you want to watch your bank account swell up like a big balloon, then Forex Ambush 2.0 provides a pretty easy way for anyone to start profiting from the lucrative Forex market.

It sounds to me like a wonderful way to beat the depressing news of this recession is to start diving through a huge pool full of silver dollars just like Scrooge McDuck used to do.

May Forex Ambush 2.0 be your key to a very wealthy future...