Facebook | Photos from You are important to me; that is why I am placing this Note on my FB Page; PLEASE read!

Facebook | Photos from You are important to me; that is why I am placing this Note on my FB Page; PLEASE read!

Facebook | Bob Lewis: PRIVATE VS GOVERNMENT SUCCESS!

Facebook | Bob Lewis: PRIVATE VS GOVERNMENT SUCCESS!

Facebook May Share User Data With External Sites Automatically

Facebook May Share User Data With External Sites Automatically

AT&T Taking $1B Charge to Cover Costs of New Health-Care Legislation - FOXBusiness.com

AT&T Taking $1B Charge to Cover Costs of New Health-Care Legislation - FOXBusiness.com

Make-A-Wish Foundation : About Us : The First Wish

Make-A-Wish Foundation



: About Us



: The First Wish

AMAZING SIGHT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

AMAZING SIGHT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

The yacht 'Maiken' was traveling in the south Pacific when the crew came across a weird sight.
It was sand in the water, and the sand was floating ON TOP of the waves...
Look at these photos and try to imagine the feeling, the thrill of experiencing this phenomenon close-up.




This is not a beach, it is volcanic stones floating on the water. 





The trail left by the yacht... through the sand
And then this was spotted ... just behind them... ash and steam rising from the ocean...

And, while they were watching...



A plume of black ash...







A brand new island formed...




Awesome!
Can you imagine the thrill of being the first & only people to see a new island being created ... where there was nothing before?

 Then, can you imagine thinking -- "Gee if I been a few
  minutes later, I might have gone up in that explosion     of black volcanic ash when the eruption occurred"

Gmail 'geolocation' aims to stop scams

By Chris Foresman

March 25, 2010 12:52 p.m. EDT

Gmail unveiled a new feature this week that aims to prevent e-mail hacking.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Gmail added a new security feature this week
• The e-mail system identifies users' locations and raises flags if the location changes
• The new feature hopes to notify Gmail users if their e-mail is being hacked

RELATED TOPICS

• Google Gmail
• Hacking
• Google Inc.

(Ars Technica) -- Google has added an additional security measure to Gmail that can help alert you to hackers potentially hijacking your e-mail account and using it for nefarious ends.

Augmenting a previous enhancement that allows you to track your logins from various IP addresses, Gmail will attempt to resolve the IP address to a geographic location.

If recent logins happen from disparate areas within a short timeframe, a prominent red banner will be displayed in Gmail's Web interface. You can then check the details of the login attempts to either verify them as accurate -- say, in the event of travel -- or to catch them as a legitimate hack.

Google then offers a link to change your password on the spot.

Pavni Diwanji, engineering director at Google, detailed a common scam that hackers use after breaking in to a Gmail account. He said that he had recently gotten an e-mail from a friend traveling in London, saying that he lost his wallet and in need of some emergency cash. Turns out, someone had hijacked his account and tried to use it to score a quick buck.

"By reading his email, the scammer had figured out my friend's whereabouts and was e-mailing all of his contacts," Diwanji said.

The alert isn't meant to be a replacement for standard security practices, but it can notify you when someone accesses your account without your knowledge.

The service now works for individual Gmail users, but will be rolled out to Google Apps customers in the near future.

COPYRIGHT 2010 ARSTECHNICA.COM

The Top 5 Disasters In the Democrats' Reconciliation Bill

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The Top 5 Disasters In the Democrats' Reconciliation Bill

By Phil Kerpen - FOXNews.com

Don't be fooled. The bill before the Senate today does not clean up or complete the new health care law.

The Reconciliation Act of 2010 is a disastrous, anti-growth tax hike bill. If this were any other year, it would be by far the year's worst piece of legislation. This bill is once-a-decade bad, but unfortunately overshadowed by the all-time bad affront to personal freedom and fiscal sanity the president signed into law yesterday.

First and worst, the bill hikes the investment tax on capital gains and dividends. That’s the most anti-growth tax hike possible. The Reconciliation Act creates a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on single filers over $200,000 and married filers over $250,000. The rich? Not quite. This slams business owners and makes it harder for them to raise capital for needed equipment purchases, expansion, and job creation. And there is no inflation indexing, so it will directly hit more and more taxpayers over time.

Investment taxes are especially inappropriate as a “pay-for”; that’s because every capital gains hike has actually lowered revenues due to the economic damage and behavioral changes it caused.

Second, the reconciliation bill makes the business assault of the new health care law much worse. It raises the penalty on employers from $750 per uncovered employee to $2,000.

Third, the bill takes over the private aspects of the student loan industry, putting tens of thousands out of work in the private sector while building up a big new student loan bureaucracy. And this is supposed to happen by next semester, so you can expect lots of headaches for students in the short term as well the long-term costs of bigger government.


Fourth, the "fix" to the Cadillac tax actually makes it worse. Under current law the exemption amount is indexed to CPI plus 1 percent. That’s is already not a high enough inflation bar to keep up with medical costs. The reconciliation bill delays the start of the tax by five years, from 2013 to 2018, but it cuts the inflation adjustment to plain CPI. The lower inflation adjustment means this tax will hit more people faster.

Finally, the Nebraska "fix" (the only one of the infamous and corrupt deals Obama signed into law yesterday that’s actually revisited in the reconciliation) is now a much worse deal for taxpayers. Nebraska no longer gets special treatment, but the new Medicaid funding formula puts federal taxpayers on the hook for 90 percent of the cost of expansion for all states, with special funding increases for 17 states and the District of Columbia. This is welfare reform in reverse; we should be building on the AFDC block-grant model of state control and innovation that worked so well in the 1990s, not federalizing Medicaid.

The bottom line: the bill does not clean up or complete the new health care law. It should be judged on its own extremely dubious merits and the Senate should vote no.

Mr. Kerpen is vice president for policy at Americans for Prosperity. He can be reached on Twitter, Facebook, and through www.PhilKerpen.com.

Updated March 25, 2010

U.S. Softens Sanction Plan Against Iran

The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. has backed away from pursuing tough sanctions against Iran in order to win support from Russia and China for a U.N. resolution.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad answers questions during a meeting at his hotel in Copenhagen Dec. 18. (Reuters Photo)

VIENNA -- The U.S. has backed away from pursuing a number of tough measures against Iran in order to win support from Russia and China for a new United Nations Security Council resolution on sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.

Among provisions removed from the original draft resolution the U.S. sent to key allies last month were sanctions aimed at choking off Tehran's access to international banking services and capital markets, and closing international airspace and waters to Iran's national air cargo and shipping lines, according to the people.

The U.S. and allies are trying to force Iran to rein in a nuclear program that they worry is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear activities are peaceful. The U.K. and Germany, concerned that Russia and China would reject the resolution outright and preferring to turn up pressure on Iran gradually, persuaded U.S. officials to drop or soften several elements, including some of the document's harshest provisions, the people said.

U.S. officials said they wouldn't comment on the day-by-day negotiations taking place among the Security Council members. But they stressed that the Obama administration is seeking the toughest measures possible against Tehran while maintaining unity among the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, which are drafting the sanctions.

"We are seeking an appropriate resolution that puts significant pressure on the government," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday. "We continue to consult with various countries, and it's our desire to maintain unanimity. It will be a strong united statement that Iran will have to pay attention to."

The disclosure of weakened proposals came as U.S. officials sought to persuade Russia and China to back measures against Iran in a conference call on Wednesday among the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, the first such meeting including China since mid-January.

How Passionate Is Our Love for the Lord?

How Passionate Is Our Love for the Lord? Devotional thought from the messages of Adrian Rogers

BIBLE MEDITATION: Revelation 2:4 - “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: In Revelation 2:1-7, we read about the Lord’s charge that the church at Ephesus had left their first love. It wasn’t that they didn’t love the Lord Jesus. It was that they didn’t love Him like they used to. If there ever was a time when you loved Jesus more than you do at this moment, then you’re backslidden. G. Campbell Morgan said that lukewarmness is the worst form of blasphemy. I believe he’s right. Lukewarmness is a way of saying, “God, I believe in You, but You just don’t excite me.” Oh, how we ought to stay in love with the Lord Jesus Christ! ACTION POINT: Have you left your first love? Has your love for Jesus become lukewarm? If so, pray Psalm 51:10-12 and seek His face.

Google turns off Chinese Web Site!

Google turns off Chinese Web Site!

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Google Turns Off Chinese Web Site

FOXNews.com

After a months-long battle between the world's most powerful Internet company and the world's most populous country, Google takes its site off the mainland in an effort to skirt Chinese censorship, but remain present in the world's biggest Internet market.


AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan

Workers repair a partially broken marble tablet which bears Google's logo in front of Google China's headquarters building in Beijing, China.

After a months-long battle between the world's most powerful Internet company and the world's most populous country, Google is taking its site off the mainland in an effort to skirt Chinese censorship, but remain present in the world's biggest Internet market.

Visitors to the site are redirected to Google's page for Hong Kong visitors instead, Google.com.hk -- an end run around around Chinese Web censorship. But even as Google shifts its search engine for China off the mainland, the company aims to maintain operations in the country.

It's an attempt to balance the company's anti-censorship stance with its desire to profit from an explosively growing Internet market.

The compromise announced Monday resolves a 2 1/2-month impasse pitting the world's most powerful Internet company against the government of the world's most populous country.

But even as it maintains a presence in China, Google is still taking a risk that it will be less able to take advantage of opportunities in the market. A posting to the company's blog, where Google has announced most important changes to policy, details the company's plans.


"Earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong," explained David Drummond, the company's chief legal officer.

"We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China."

China is accusing the company of violating written promises.

The statement Tuesday on the official Xinhua News Agency quoted an official at the Internet bureau under the State Council Information Office as saying "Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks."

The official continued: "This is totally wrong. We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts."

Google has also made available a page that details which services are available in China. According to the page, Google's Web search engine, news service, and Gmail are available, while the blogging platform and YouTube are blocked.There are partial blocks on other sites such as Google Docs and Picasa.

The company plans to retain certain operations in China, however, explaining that "in terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk."

The U.S. State Department had indicated earlier Monday "strong indications" that Google would close its business in China and was on the verge of announcing its plans.

"As we have said throughout this process, this is a decision for Google to make," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday afternoon.

Another State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid, said later Monday that the United States supports Google's decision.

But National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer voiced disappointment that Google and China weren't able to "reach an agreement that would allow Google to continue operating its search services in China on its google.cn Web site."

"We believe that freedom of expression and unfettered access to information are internationally recognized rights," Hammer said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This Will Not Stand: Newt on the passage of Obamacare!

This Will Not Stand: Newt on the passage of Obamacare
Please leave your feedback below on what you think we can do to repeal this bill.  We will share with Newt and create a plan of action as a result. by Newt Gingrich This will not stand. No one should be confused about the outcome of Sunday's vote This is not the end of the fight it is the beginning of the fight. The American people spoke decisively against a big government, high tax, Washington knows best, pro trial lawyer centralized bureaucratic health system In every recent poll the vast majority of Americans opposed this monstrosity Speaker Pelosi knew the country was against the bill. That is why she kept her members trapped in Washington and forced a vote on Sunday. She knew if she let the members go home their constituents would convince them to vote no. The Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine combined the radicalism of Alinsky, the corruption of Springfield and the machine power politics of Chicago. Sunday was a pressured, bought, intimidated vote worthy of Hugo Chavez but unworthy of the United States of America. It is hard to imagine how much pressure they brought to bear on congressman Stupak to get him to accept a cynical, phony clearly illegal and unconstitutional executive order on abortion. The ruthlessness and inhumanity of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine was most clearly on display in their public humiliation of Stupak. The real principles of the machine were articulated by Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings who was impeached and removed from the bench as a federal judge, before being elected to the House when he said ""There ain't no rules here, we're trying to accomplish something. . . .All this talk about rules. . . .When the deal goes down . . . we make 'em up as we go along." It is hard for the American people to believe their leaders on the left are this bad. They are. The American people will not allow a corrupt machine to dictate their future. Together we will pledge to repeal this bill and start over Together we will prove that this will not stand 2010 and 2012 will be among the most important elections in American history These elections will allow us to save America from a leftwing machine of unparalleled corruption arrogance and cynicism Sunday was one more step in the fight against a "Washington knows best" and "Washington should run everything" attitude. Let us turn now to the Senate to continue this fight for real reform, for real self government, and for policies that create jobs, improve health outcomes, and increase freedom.