Ranked #25 in the world...

This war/strategy game allows me to play against people all over the world. I come accross folks from locations like the U.K.,Ireland,Denmark,Singapore,Germany,Canada, Brazil and others....Happy Holidays to all the commanders out their from Cappicard........

Merry Christmas...and Happy Holidays To All

Generations X and Y suffer boomer-angst

CHICAGO :Abby Lovett's friends would die laughing if they heard her. Here she is in her office at a Chicago advertising agency, the place she spends many a night and weekend, loudly proclaiming that people in her generation need to work less than their baby boomer parents have. Sure, she's putting in more than 50 hours a week to establish her career. But in her heart, Miss Lovett knows she'll end up miserable if she doesn't eventually find a little balance. To her and many other young adults, "having it all" quickly is becoming a myth, not the mantra it was for boomers who left behind their protest signs and tie dye to climb the corporate ladder."No one is happy. Everyone is overworked, overstressed. No one's spending the kind of time that they want with their kids or their spouses or partners. And I think part of that can be attributed to the boomers," says Miss Lovett, 27. You could call it "boomer backlash," or just high anxiety. But as the first of the baby boomers turn 60 next year, it's one of many ways that young adults are feeling conflicted about their graying elders. They both love boomers and love to hate them. They see a talented, successful and outspoken generation that also can be hopelessly dismissive and self-absorbed.They are awed and sometimes intimidated by baby boomers' accomplishments and a generation so larger than life that some of its most famous members are known by only one name,Madonna, Oprah, Bono or nicknames such as "W" and "The Donald." .......

Jail inspection finds number of problems

Bush notes Iraqi sacrifices as early voting begins

Inspectors found "a number of problems" at a jail housing Iraqi detainees, the nation's Human Rights Ministry said Monday, while a report surfaced of possible torture of some of the inmates.
It's the second allegation in a month of abuses at an Iraqi government jail, and it came to light as prisoners, soldiers and hospital patients began casting early ballots in Thursday's national election for a permanent parliament.
Also Monday, President Bush praised the election and acknowledged that Iraqis have paid a heavy price for the U.S. led war."I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis," Bush said during a speech in Pennsylvania.
"Knowing what I know today, I'd make the decision again," Bush said. "Removing Saddam Hussein makes this world a better place and America a safer country."

Hmmmmmmm...

Judge orders extension of Katrina hotel program= : )

FEMA pays for 41,000 rooms in 47 states and D.C.

A program that put Hurricane Katrina evacuees in hotels must be extended until February 7, a month beyond the deadline set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval's temporary restraining order is part of a class-action lawsuit filed in November by advocates for hurricane victims.
Attorneys pressing the lawsuit said FEMA should not be allowed to end the hotel program because it has failed to provide other housing aid, such as rental assistance checks, to many victims who qualify for it.
Also, information on how to apply for the aid has been slow to reach those who need it most, the attorneys said.
FEMA continues to pay for an estimated 41,000 hotel rooms in 47 states and the District of Columbia at an estimated cost so far of about $350 million.

Transcript of Bush's speech on Iraq

President delivers key address to Philadelphia World Affairs Council

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Thank you. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thank you for the chance to come and speak to the Philadelphia World Affairs Council. This is an important organization that since 1949 has provided a forum for debate and discussion on important issues.
I've come to discuss an issue that's really important, and that is victory in the war on terror. And that war started on September the 11th, 2001, when our nation awoke to a sudden attack..................................

Click title for link to speech.

Seniors Charged With Selling Prescriptions

n Appalachia, Senior Citizens Charged With Selling Their Prescription Drugs

Dottie Neeley, 87, was fingerprinted, photographed and thrown in jail, imprisoned as much by the tubing from her oxygen tank as by the concrete and steel around her.
The woman who spent two days in jail after her arrest last December is among a growing number of Kentucky senior citizens charged in a crackdown on a crime authorities say is rampant in Appalachia: Elderly people are reselling their painkillers and other medications to addicts.
"When a person is on Social Security, drawing $500 a month, and they can sell their pain pills for $10 apiece, they'll take half of them for themselves and sell the other half to pay their electric bills or buy groceries," Floyd County jailer Roger Webb said.Since April 2004, Operation UNITE, a Kentucky anti-drug task force created largely in response to rampant abuse of the powerful and sometimes lethal painkiller OxyContin, has charged more than 40 people 60 or older with selling primarily prescription drugs in the mountains.....

Anti-Syrian legislator killed by Beirut car bomb

BEIRUT:A car bomb killed Lebanese newspaper magnate and anti-Syrian legislator Gebran Tueni in Beirut on Monday, less than 24 hours after he returned from Paris where he lived for several months fearing assassination.Several politicians blamed Syria and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would ask the U.N. Security Council to investigate a series of attacks that have rocked Lebanon since the February 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri ....

U.N. diplomats getting fewer tickets, paying faster

For years, United Nations diplomats were notorious for running up millions of dollars in parking tickets, then just laughing at the city's attempts to collect. Diplomatic immunity meant there was little U.S. courts could do about it.
But the city's thousands of foreign officials have largely changed their ways since a threatened crackdown three years ago.
According to New York's finance department, diplomats have gotten 90% fewer tickets since late 2002, when the U.S. threatened to revoke the plates of scofflaws and subtract however much they owed in fines from the foreign aid their countries received....

Louisiana governor postpones N.O. vote

Gov. Kathleen Blanco postponed the New Orleans mayoral election indefinitely on Monday, setting up a legal battle with voters who filed a lawsuit seeking to ensure the election is held as scheduled.
Blanco's executive order cites the recommendation of Secretary of State Al Ater, the state's top elections official, who has said the city is incapable of holding elections in February because Hurricane Katrina caused so much damage to polling sites and voting machines. The postponement would affect the mayor's race as well as scheduled elections for sheriff and city council seats.

Smoke cloud drifts from Britain to France

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, England : Firefighters used chemical foam to extinguish part of the inferno raging Monday after explosions at a fuel depot north of London, while a huge oily smoke cloud from the blaze drifted over northern France and headed toward Spain.The blasts Sunday, which injured 43 people, sent balls of fire into the sky and blew the doors off nearby houses, also contributed to a surge in oil prices to above $60 Monday....The explosions came just four days after an al-Qaeda videotape appeared on the Internet calling for attacks on facilities carrying oil that it claims has been stolen from Muslims in the Middle East, but police said they believed the blasts were accidental.

Legendary Chicago News Service Closes Shop

City News Service That Boasts Vonnegut, Royko As Alums Closes Doors After 115 Years in Chicago

This may be the quintessential City News story: An editor orders a reporter to find a way into the house of a missing girl and says he doesn't care if the guy has to set the place on fire to do it. A few minutes later, the reporter rushes in behind firefighters after a pile of newspapers mysteriously catches fire on the porch.
Or maybe it is the story about the reporter who was on a police station phone with an editor when he was shoved up against a wall by a gunman who had stormed the place. After the cops killed the gunman, the reporter resumed his conversation with, "Now, as I was saying before the interruption"
At the end of this month, the news service that spawned those stories and countless others not to mention the axiom "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out" is set to shut down....

U.S. Activists Fast Outside Guantanamo

U.S. Activists Camping Out Near Guantanamo Begin Water-Only Fast to Protest Treatment of Detainees

American activists camping out at a Cuban military checkpoint outside the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay started their first day of a water-only fast Monday to protest the treatment of suspected terrorists detained at the base.
Members of the largely Christian group Witness Against Torture are demanding access to the prisoner camp to meet with inmates. The activists arrived late Sunday at the checkpoint, which is about five miles from the U.S. base, after a five-day march from the eastern Cuban city of Santiago.
"We can see the windmills of the U.S. base, we can see some lights off in the distance," Frida Berrigan, 31, said on her cell phone....

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Arrive Alive Into The Future....2006

This young woman didn't die in the alcohol-related car accident, but probably wishes she had. This is but one horrific tragedy, one of the millions of victims who DIDN'T die but will suffer for the rest of their lives because of alcohol.

100,000 People die every year in America as a result of Alcohol......that breaks down to about 277 people a day...Someone dies every 30 minutes in an alcohol related traffic crash.....I could go on and on........ Click title for more info

&.......

MADD launches a 24-Hour Live Helpline....., emotional support, guidance, and referrals are now available to victims/survivors of drunk driving, as well as friends and families, around the clock through a toll-free helpline.
If you are a victim of drunk driving in need of assistance, please call MADD's toll-free help line at 1-877-MADD-HELP to speak with a counselor who is ready to help you.....

To estimate your alcohol concentration, match the number of drinks consumed to your body weight. Estimated weight should not include excess body fat, so subtract any "extra" pounds before figuring. Also subtract .015 for each hour since drinking began.
Biological response to alcohol varies from person to person and from time to time in the same person. A person who chooses to drink may wish to consider several biological and interaction factors when deciding how much or it to drink on a given day:
Food. A person who drinks on an empty stomach will experience greater impairment from alcohol than if his or her stomach were full. The presence of food in the stomach slows absorption. Foods high in protein tend to stay in the stomach longest, thus it is best to eat food such as meats, fish, eggs or cheese before and during drinking.
Medication. Drinking alcohol together with sleeping pills, other medications (such as aspirin, antihistamines, prescription drugs), or illicit drugs can have unintended and dangerous consequences. Certain combinations can be fatal.. At best, alcohol can block the curative action of medication, rendering the drug ineffective. If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medications it is best to call the Health Center to check with a doctor or nurse before drinking. Sleep or Illness. If you are sick or just getting well, you are likely to experience greater impairment from alcohol. This increased impairment is also a risk for people who are tired. In certain cases of chronic illness any use of alcohol is high risk.
Age. In general, adolescents and elderly people experience greater impairment from alcohol than young adults and middle-aged people.
Body Size. Body size refers to lean mass, not fat. (Alcohol is water, not fat, soluble.) A smaller person generally will experience greater impairment from alcohol than a large person would from the same amount of alcohol. This seems to be true for two reasons: larger people may metabolize alcohol more quickly (they may have a larger liver capacity) and larger people have more body fluid to dilute the alcohol.
Gender. Women typically become more impaired from the same amount of alcohol than men of the same size. This may be because women tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than men. In addition, 1-3 days before menstruation, a woman may become more intoxicated and stay intoxicated longer than usual. This may be due to hormonal changes occurring at that time.
.....and something I found out recently...........drinking liquor with soda...i.e Rum n Coke....will enhance the effects......however drinking liqour with Perrier etc won't get you "wasted" as fast........choose your poison.

Best Wishes throughout the holidays for all....Be Safe.......Cyaaaaaaaaaaaa