Loftin's World

Jimel Derby RIP 09/28/82-08/30/08

2008-09-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Kayce and I just returned from our vacation. I was trying to get ahold of Jimel since I'd been out of the country for a week to see how things were going and if he wanted to do something last night.

He didn't respond to my text immediately which is no worry I figure he's busy. I get an email from another co-worker to my phone saying he just heard the news and was hoping I was handeling everything ok and that he was a good friend. So I start to call Dave to see what he's talking about not realizing he's out of country for our job right now. I'm worried cuz the way Dave said this sounds like someone died and he only knows 3 guys i call friends since they are all from work. One is Jimel, the others are Mike and Dax.

A couple hours later I get a call from Jimel but I can't answer cuz I'm driving so I decide to wait till I get to the store. I figure he's calling, he's fine. We finally get close to our house and stop at the store. So I reply to the text I got from Jimel after the call and explain I was driving but wanted to see how he's doing. A few minutes later he calls back...

It turns out its his sister...She's calling to tell me he died a week before...drowning...first time he ever went hiking and camping...25 years old...bright future...great guy...Kayce and I wanted to ask him to be the best man at our wedding...now he can't be...and he'll never get married himself...or have kids...why does this have to happen? In the last month and a half I've lost and uncle and aunt (both the parents of the same cousin) and now my best man...he was just a kid...He was such a great guy. He even took me in when I was trying to buy a house and let me room with him in his when we barely knew each other. I wound up staying there for 4 months and he never once complained I was in the way. His family flew out from NY and CA to stay for the weekend and he didn't ask me to take off he wanted me to meet them they wanted me to join them when they did things. Including his Grandma who wound up passing away around the same time I lost my aunt Pam. He was a great friend and I just wish I could attend the services but they'll be in NY...The good die young...God that's messed up...Jimel, you are missed so much, please watch over us all...

7 die in shooting at Jerusalem seminary

2008-03-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

JERUSALEM - Two gunmen infiltrated a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire in a library Thursday night, killing at least seven people, police and rescue workers said.
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Channel 2 TV said police special forces killed the two infiltrators. Rescue workers said at least 10 people were wounded although Israeli media reported a larger number hurt.
Yitzhak Dadon, a student, said he was armed with a rifle and waited on the roof of a nearby building.
"He came out of the library spraying automatic fire. ... The terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head," he said.
Medic Yaron Tzuker said he arrived as the gunfire was still going on.
"They were still shooting when we got here," he told Channel 10 TV. "We took cover and the ambulance was hit. It's horrible inside — dead bodies and wounded — it's horrific."
Another witness told Israel TV that he heard both single shots and automatic gunfire from inside the building, and it lasted for about 10 minutes.
The attack came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice persuaded moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel and on the same day Egyptian officials were trying to mediate a truce between Gaza militants and Israel.
Abbas suspended the talks after Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. Palestinian officials say more than 120 were killed in Gaza during the week-long operation. Four Israelis were also killed.
Earlier Thursday, Palestinian militants in Gaza set off a bomb on the Gaza border, blowing up an Israeli army jeep and killing a soldier.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said one of the gunmen who attacked the seminary was wearing what at first appeared to be an explosives vest but turned out to be a belt holding extra ammunition.
"One or two terrorists infiltrated the Mercaz Harav seminary and opened fire in all directions," the police spokesman said. "One terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire, and apparently he had an explosives belt."
Hundreds of police surrounded the area and searched the campus as ambulances raced to the scene. Scores of seminary students spilled out onto the sidewalk and street outside after they were evacuated.
"There are at least seven killed and 10 people wounded," said Eli Dein, director of Israel's rescue service.
An hour after the attack, medics began removing the dead from the building, taking them away in ambulances.
The seminar is the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe quarter at the entrance of Jerusalem, a well-known center of Jewish studies identified with the leadership of the Jewish settlement movement in the West Bank.
There were no attacks by Palestinian militants in Jerusalem during 2007, though police and the military claimed to have foiled many attempts. Between 2001 and 2004, at the height of Palestinian-Israeli fighting, Jerusalem was a frequent target of Palestinian attacks, including suicide bombings on buses.
"It's very sad tonight in Jerusalem. Many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem," Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski.
In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the seminary.

Favre set to retire

2008-03-06T12:29:00.001-08:00

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Sitting by himself on an airplane ride up to Green Bay on Thursday morning, Brett Favre struggled to find a sincere and graceful way to say he was finished with football. In the end, his tears told the story. "I know I can play but I don't think I want to," Favre said, choking with emotion in a news conference at Lambeau Field two days after he announced his retirement. "It's been a great career for me, but it's over."
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Wearing an untucked collared shirt, blue jeans and several days' worth of stubble, Favre said he was convinced he could still play on Sundays, but had lost his passion to practice and prepare the way he would need to lead the Packers to another Super Bowl.
Given that fact, he could draw only one conclusion: It was over.
"As they say, all good things must come to an end," Favre said. "I look forward to whatever the future may hold for me."
After a farewell news conference that lasted just over an hour, Favre put his arm around his tearful wife, Deanna, and left the stage — presumably for good.
He takes with him a Super Bowl victory, virtually every quarterback record worth having and the widespread admiration of his peers and fans.
The 38-year-old Favre also leaves with graying hair and a deliberate gait — signs that the years were quietly taking a toll on the man who was celebrated for playing a serious and precise game with the carefree joy of a little boy.
He cried Thursday as he discussed his decision.
"I promised I wouldn't get emotional," he said. But as the tears flowed, he added, "I've watched hundreds of players retire and you wonder what that would be like. You think you're prepared ..."
Favre thanked the Green Bay Packers for letting him play.
"I hope that with every penny they've spent on me, they know it was money well spent," he said. "It wasn't about the money or fame or records. I hear people talk about your accomplishments and things. It was never my accomplishments, it was our accomplishments."
Favre is the NFL's only three-time MVP, and leads the league with 442 touchdown passes, 61,655 yards passing and 160 career victories. He started 253 consecutive regular-season games, more than any other quarterback in history.
Favre also holds the more dubious mark of 288 interceptions — an indication of the wild streak that only made him more human to the fans who adored him.
The same was true of Favre's highly publicized struggles with an addiction to prescription painkillers, his support of his wife through a battle with breast cancer, and a memorable Monday night game against Oakland after he lost his father.
Favre's exit comes after a remarkable 2007 season, but his final pass was one to forget: An interception in overtime of the NFC championship game, a mistake that set up the New York Giants' field goal that sent the Packers home instead of to the Super Bowl.
Most folks figured Favre couldn't exit that way, especially when he had at least one more good year left in him.
But barring a change of heart in the upcoming weeks, months or years, the final chapter in his storied football career began Monday night.
Favre called Packers coach Mike McCarthy and told him he planned to retire, then finalized his decision in a conversation with Packers general manager Ted Thompson on Tuesday morning.
But until the news conference, Favre hadn't explained his decision to his fans. He said Thursday there was nothing left to prove.
"I'm going out on top," he said. "Believe me, I could care less what other people think. It's what I think, and I'm going out on top."
Favre's retirement came as a surprise to Packers executives, coaches and teammates, virtually all of whom expected him to return. And it was a shock to fans who sat patiently, year after year, while Favre flirted openly with retirement — because, of course, he never really meant it.
To a generation of fans who watched Favre start every game since taking over as the Packers' starting quarterback during the 1992 season, it didn't make sense. He wouldn't just decide he was too tired to play and walk away.
Would he?
Recent comments by Favre's agent, Bus Cook, stirred suspicions about the "real" reason Favre was retiring.
Had the Packers' front office not done enough to talk him into coming back?
Was Favre's retirement a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that wide receiver Randy Moss, a player Favre lobbied the Packers to sign a year ago, had re-signed with the New England Patriots without an apparent effort from the Packers?
Favre's comments Thursday indicated the decision was much simpler.
"I did it, but it got hard," he said. "I don't think it would get easier next year or the following year. It hasn't up until this point. It's only gotten tougher and something told me 'You know it's gotten too hard for you.' I could probably come back and do it. Suck it up. But what kind of a toll would that take on me, my family or my teammates? At some point it would affect one of those if not all of them. Maybe it has already. I don't know."
Some who know Favre have doubts that he will be able to spend Sundays on the couch when he still has the ability to play.
A bearded Favre said Thursday he had no definite plans for the future and did not know whether he would be involved in football or with the Packers.
"I don't even want to think about next year," he said. "Will I watch games? I'm sure I will. Will I be involved? I always made the joke I'd be here for an honorary coin toss. Well, that time may come, so I may be back for something like that. But as far as giving advice, I don't think that will happen."

more of vegas

2008-03-01T10:50:00.000-08:00

I took Vegas to my sister's house. This was the first time I saw her around kids. My nephews and neice loved her and she seemed happy :)

Just me playing with Vegas while packing for the move.

baby vegas

2008-02-28T21:10:00.001-08:00

lol my baby girl wouldn't let daddy go to the bathroom, i just came back from a 3 week business trip she missed me i guess lol

i'm movin and she loves boxes lol

Warming Could Help Pythons Grow in US

2008-02-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

As climate change warms the nation, giant Burmese pythons could colonize one-third of the USA, from San Francisco across the Southwest, Texas and the South and up north along the Virginia coast, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps released Wednesday.

Photo Gallery
Robert Sullivan, AFP / Getty Images
Non-Native SnakesInvade America
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Burmese pythons, which can be 20 feet long and weigh 250 pounds, could colonize a third of the U.S. as global warming makes the climate more habitable for them, a study found. The non-poisonous snakes came to the U.S. as part of the pet trade and began appearing in the wild in the mid-1990s as owners released them. They are legal to keep.
The pythons can be 20 feet long and 250 pounds. They are highly adaptable to new environments.Two federal agencies - the USGS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - are investigating the range of nine invasive snakes in Florida, concerned about the danger they now pose to endangered species. The agencies are collecting data to aid in the control of these populations.They examined Burmese pythons first and, based on where they live in Asia, estimated where they might live here. One map shows where the pythons could live today, an area that expands when scientists use global warming models for 2100."We were surprised by the map. It was bigger than we thought it was going to be," says Gordon Rodda, zoologist and lead project researcher. "They are moving northward, there's no question."

Burmese pythons were introduced to the USA as part of the pet trade. The first specimens in the wild were discovered in the mid-1990s in the Florida Everglades, released by owners who no longer wanted them, says Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist with the National Parks Service in the Everglades.By 2003, there was evidence the snakes had established breeding colonies in the wild. Florida began regulating their sale and ownership Jan. 1.If federal officials had to worry only about Florida, it would be "decades" before the pythons move into other states, Rodda says. But people keep dumping pythons they don't want into the wild. "We just learned about some that had been released in Arkansas," he says.The Burmese python is not poisonous and not considered a danger to humans. Attacks on humans have involved pet owners who mishandle and misfeed the snakes, Snow says. In Florida, they eat bobcats, deer, alligators, raccoons, cats, rats, rabbits, muskrats, possum, mice, ducks, egrets, herons and song birds. They grab with their mouth to anchor the prey, then coil around the animal and crush it to death before eating it whole.If you see one, don't attempt to engage it. Leave the area, note the location and notify the authorities.

Barack Obama Hillary Clinton - Umbrella

2008-02-20T18:57:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama Hillary Clinton - Umbrella

Americalien

2008-02-18T17:55:00.001-08:00

Lol this is Kayce's retaliation...I call her a Canalien so she needed to make sure to have me be an Americalien :)

Canalien

2008-02-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

lol my fiancee is canadian i'm american so i always call her canalien (canadian alien lol)

random

2008-02-16T17:48:00.001-08:00

Valentine's

2008-02-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

here are some pics of my baby, the flowers i got her and the painting she got with our names carved into the tree :)

US to try to shoot down spy satellite

2008-02-14T20:10:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON - Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the Pentagon said Thursday it will try to shoot down a dying, bus-size U.S. spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel on a collision course with the Earth.
The military hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week — just before it enters Earth's atmosphere — with a single missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The dramatic maneuver may well trigger international concerns, and U.S. officials have begun notifying other countries of the plan — stressing that it does not signal the start of a new American anti-satellite weapons program.
Military and administration officials said the satellite is carrying fuel called hydrazine that could injure or even kill people who are near it when it hits the ground. That reason alone, they said, persuaded President Bush to order the shoot-down.
"That is the only thing that breaks it out, that is worthy of taking extraordinary measures," said Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Pentagon briefing.
He predicted a fairly high chance — as much as 80 percent — of hitting the satellite, which will be about 150 miles up when the shot is fired. The window of opportunity for taking the satellite down, Cartwright said, opens in three or four days and lasts for about seven or eight days.
"We'll take one shot and assess," he said. "This is the first time we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft."
Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey discounted comparisons to an anti-satellite test conducted by the Chinese last year that triggered criticism from the U.S. and other countries.
"This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings," Jeffrey said. "Specifically, there was enough of a risk for the president to be quite concerned about human life."
There might also be unstated military aims, some outside the administration suggested.
Similar spacecraft re-enter the atmosphere regularly and break up into pieces, said Ivan Oelrich, vice president for strategic security programs at the Federation of American Scientists. He said, "One could be forgiven for asking if this is just an excuse to test an anti-satellite weapon."
A key issue when China shot down its defunct weather satellite was that it created an enormous amount of space debris.
"All of the debris from this encounter, as carefully designed as it is, will be down at most within weeks, and most of it will be down within the first couple of orbits afterward," said Jeffrey. "There's an enormous difference to spacefaring nations in ... those two things."
He and others dismissed suggestions that this was simply an attempt by the U.S. to flex its muscles, and that officials were overstating the toxic fuel threat.
Left alone, the satellite would be expected to hit Earth during the first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft would be expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and would scatter debris over several hundred miles.
If the missile shot is successful, officials said, much of the debris would burn up as it fell. They said they could not estimate how much would make it through the atmosphere. They said the largest piece that would survive re-entry would be the spherical fuel tank, which is about 40 inches wide — assuming it is not hit directly by the missile.
The goal, however, is to hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth, Cartwright said.
A Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired at the spy satellite in an attempt to intercept it just before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, he said.
Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.
Software associated with the Standard Missile 3 has been modified to enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the satellite is its target. The missile's designed mission is to shoot down ballistic missiles, not satellites. Other officials said the missile's maximum range, while a classified figure, is not great enough to hit a satellite operating in normal orbits.
"It's a one-time deal," Cartwright said when asked whether the modified Standard Missile 3 should be considered a new U.S. anti-satellite technology.
He said that if an initial shoot-down attempt fails, the military would have about two days to reassess and decide whether to take a second shot.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told reporters that analysis shows the hydrazine tank would survive a fall to Earth under normal circumstances, much as one did when the Space Shuttle Columbia crashed.
"The hydrazine which is in it is frozen solid, as it is now. Not all of it will melt," he said. If the tank hits the ground it will have been breached because the fuel lines will have broken off and hydrazine will vent out, he said.
Jeffrey said members of Congress were briefed on the plan earlier Thursday and that diplomatic notifications to other countries were being made by the end of the day.
"It should be understood by all, at home and abroad, that this is an exceptional circumstance and should not be perceived as the standard U.S. policy for dealing with errant satellites," said House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton.
___

Hubble Telescope Spies Ancient Galaxy

2008-02-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

Astronomers have glimpsed what may be the farthest galaxy we've ever seen, providing a picture of a baby galaxy born soon after the beginning of the universe.

Space Telescope Science Institute / Imaginova
This artist's rendition depicts what the A1689-zD1 galaxy may have looked like. The first galaxies to form as the universe's "dark age" ended bore little resemblance to the majestic spiral and elliptical galaxies that are the near neighbors of our own Milky Way.
Images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed the galaxy at almost 13 billion light-years away, making it the strongest candidate for the most distant galaxy ever seen, said European Southern Observatory astronomer Piero Rosati, who helped make the discovery.

Since the galaxy is so far away, its light took ages to reach us, so what we see now is a snapshot of how this galaxy looked 13 billion years ago. At that point in time, the galaxy would have been newly formed, so the new observations provide a baby picture."We certainly were surprised to find such a bright young galaxy 13 billion years in the past," said astronomer Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a member of the research team. "This is the most detailed look to date at an object so far back in time."The young galaxy, called A1689-zD1, was born about 700 million years after the Big Bang that scientists think created the universe. For most of its early life, the universe languished in "dark ages" when matter in the expanding universe cooled and formed clouds of hydrogen. Eventually matter began to clump into stars and galaxies that radiated light, heating up the universe and clearing the fog.

House Hunting

2008-02-04T19:23:00.001-08:00

$150,000 this is the one i want :)

$129,900

$138,900

$144,900

new year's

2008-01-03T13:14:00.001-08:00

new year's deer

new year's

2008-01-03T13:13:00.003-08:00

new year's deer

new year's

2008-01-03T13:13:00.001-08:00

new year's deer

new year's deer

2008-01-03T13:12:00.001-08:00

new year's deer

new year's deer

2008-01-03T13:11:00.003-08:00

new year's deer

new year's deer

2008-01-03T13:11:00.001-08:00

new year's deer

Nelly-grillz

2007-11-20T04:19:00.001-08:00

Nelly-grillz

Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous

2007-11-20T04:15:00.001-08:00

Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous

Nelly - hot in herr

2007-11-20T04:05:00.001-08:00

Nelly - hot in herr

Bathroom Break

2007-11-20T03:32:00.001-08:00

Bathroom Break

strip tetris

2007-11-20T03:31:00.001-08:00

strip tetris

Selena - Amor Prohibido

2007-11-20T02:38:00.001-08:00

Selena - Amor Prohibido

sweetest girl

2007-11-20T02:17:00.001-08:00

OFFICIAL sweetest girl by wyclef jeans with lil wa

Akon assaults a fan ON STAGE!

2007-11-20T01:52:00.001-08:00

Akon assaults a fan ON STAGE!

chamillionaire - ridin' dirty

2007-11-20T01:47:00.001-08:00

chamillionaire - ridin' dirty

Akon & Snoop Dogg - I wanna Love You

2007-11-20T01:41:00.001-08:00

Akon & Snoop Dogg - I wanna Love You

Smack That

2007-11-20T01:38:00.001-08:00

Smack That

Bone Thugs N Harmony The Crossroads

2007-11-20T01:36:00.001-08:00

Bone Thugs N Harmony The Crossroads

jessica alba

2007-11-20T01:35:00.001-08:00

Jessica Alba

Bone Thugs N Harmony - I Tried ft Akon

2007-11-20T01:34:00.001-08:00

Bone Thugs N Harmony - I Tried ft Akon OFFICIAL MU

mixed shar pei

2007-11-19T01:35:00.001-08:00

mixed shar pei

me and kayce again

2007-11-19T01:34:00.001-08:00

me and kayce again

me and kayce as south park characters

2007-11-18T22:09:00.001-08:00

me and kayce as south park characters

i asked kayce to marry me in cabo on aug. 27th 2007

2007-11-18T19:31:00.001-08:00

the surprise question

3 shar pei's

2007-11-18T14:36:00.001-08:00

sharpei

shar pei

2007-11-18T14:35:00.001-08:00

sharpei

Bangladeshi cyclone kills at least 1,723

2007-11-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Hundreds of thousands of survivors were stuck Saturday behind roads blocked by fallen trees, iron roofs and thick sludge as rescue workers fought to reach towns along Bangladesh's coast that were ravaged by a powerful cyclone that killed at least 1,723 people.
Tropical Cyclone Sidr, the deadliest storm to hit the country in a decade, destroyed tens of thousands of homes in southwest Bangladesh on Thursday and ruined much-needed crops just before harvest season in this impoverished, low-lying South Asian country. More than a million coastal villagers were forced to evacuate to government shelters.
The official death toll rose to 1,723 and authorities feared the figure could rise further as the country works to recover.
The government scrambled Saturday to join international agencies and local officials in the rescue mission, deploying military helicopters, thousands of troops and naval ships.
Rescuers trying to get food and water to people stranded by flooding struggled to clear roads that were so bad they said they'll have to return on bicycles.
"We will try again tomorrow on bicycles, and hire local country boats," M. Shakil Anwar of CARE said from the city of Khulna.
Along the coast, 150 mph winds flung small ferries ashore like toy boats, cutting off migrant fishing communities who live on and around hundreds of tiny islands across the area's web of river channels.
Many of the evacuees who managed to return home Saturday found their straw and bamboo huts had been flattened by the storm.
"We survived, but what we need now is help to rebuild our homes," Chand Miah, a resident of Maran Char, a small island in Khulna district, told The Associated Press.
Bodies were found among muddy paddy fields and along river channels, said Bishnu Prashad Chakravorty, a local journalist who visited the hard-hit coastal area of Bagerhat.
"Advance warnings from the weather office helped us take shelter, but still, the damage is colossal," said Abu Hanif, 60, a Bagerhat resident.
The government has allocated $5.2 million in emergency aid for rebuilding houses in the cyclone-affected areas, a government statement said.
The German government offered $731,345 while the European Union released $2.2 million in relief aid. The World Food Program was rushing food to the country.
Bangladesh's interim government head, Fakhruddin Ahmed, visited some of the affected areas Friday and Saturday and assured cyclone victims of government assistance.
Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed, meanwhile, was expected to visit some of the worst-hit areas in coming days.
Aid organizations feared that food shortages and contaminated water could lead to widespread problems if people remain stranded.
Television images showed crowds of people scrambling beneath military helicopters as troops dropped food packages through open hatches.
At least 1.5 million coastal villagers had fled to shelters where they were given emergency rations, said senior government official Ali Imam Majumder in Dhaka.
Many parts of Dhaka, the biggest city in this poor, desperately crowded nation of 150 million people, remained without power or water Saturday. The storm killed at least four people in Dhaka.
More than 4,000 people were injured, military spokesman Lt. Col. Moyeenullah Chowdhury said. Army medical teams were working in the affected area.
An estimated 2.7 million people were affected and 773,000 houses were damaged, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management. Roughly 250,000 head of cattle and poultry perished, and crops were destroyed on nearly 77,450 acres of land.
But the full picture of the devastation remained unclear as the storm wreaked havoc on the country's electricity and telephone lines, affecting even areas that were spared a direct hit.
Sidr spawned a 4-foot storm surge that swept through low-lying areas and some offshore islands, leaving them under water, said Nahid Sultana, an official of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.
CARE's Anwar said many surviving families were living under makeshift tents or sheds made out of the remnants of their straw and bamboo homes, while many others had to go back to the official shelters.
Bangladesh is prone to cyclones and floods that cause huge losses of life and property. The most recent deadly storm was a tornado that leveled 80 villages in northern Bangladesh in 1996, killing 621 people.

UFO's?

2007-11-18T07:27:00.001-08:00

UFOÂ´s on Haiti, 12.08.07

tupac - hit 'em up (uncensored)

2007-11-17T16:20:00.001-08:00

2Pac - Hit Em Up (Uncensored)

you don't know - eminem

2007-11-17T15:27:00.001-08:00

Eminem Feat 50cent, Cashis, and Lloyd Banks - You

High School Cheerleaders Suspended for Flashing

2007-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

RIPON, Calif. — Six of eight Ripon High School cheerleaders won't get the chance to perform "one more time" after school officials booted them from the football field and suspended them for two days for lifting their skirts during a Britney Spears routine.
Click here to watch a video of the cheerleader's risque routine in the Modesto Bee.
The girls told the Modesto Bee that they wanted to end the season on a high note, and decided — with parental urging — to end what they called "an awful season" with a provocative cheer routine capped off with a flash of their derrieres and spell out the school's nickname, "Indians."
District Superintendent Leo Zuber told the Bee that he couldn't discuss the issue because of confidentiality requirements on disciplinary matters.
Parents can appeal suspensions, and Zuber acknowledged he has received one. He said he will investigate whether proper procedures were followed and whether suspensions were warranted.

towelee

2007-11-14T20:15:00.001-08:00

Towelie

no, you're a towel!

2007-11-14T20:10:00.001-08:00

No you are a Towel!

Smurfs' - The Dark-Ness Monster (Full Episode)

2007-11-14T20:07:00.001-08:00

Smurfs' - The Dark-Ness Monster (Full Episode)

statue of liberty

2007-11-14T19:53:00.001-08:00

human statue of liberty

Barbosa's career-high 39 send Suns past Magic

2007-11-12T02:52:00.002-08:00

ORLANDO (AP) — Grant Hill isn't used to being the bad guy. He inherited the role Saturday against his former team.
The All-Star shrugged off relentless boos from his former fans for 14 points and eight rebounds as the Phoenix Suns beat the Orlando Magic 106-96 Saturday night. While the crowd focused on Hill, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and all five Suns starters cracked double figures to break the Magic's four-game winning streak.

BOX SCORE: Phoenix 106, Orlando 96

"That's what fans are supposed to do — they're supposed to boo opposing teams," Hill said. "When I used to watch ball back in the day, the 80s, Maurice Cheeks went into the Garden and he didn't get cheered, he got booed.
"We're trying to win a championship, and in order to do that we have to go on the road against other teams," Hill said. "You're going to get booed, you're going to get called all types of names — you've got to be really strong."
The Suns withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard, partly by keeping him at the foul line. Howard was 7-of-16 on free throws and missed four straight late in the third quarter as Orlando fell behind 23 points. Besides two attempts in the second quarter by Hedo Turkoglu and one late by Trevor Ariza, no Orlando player but Howard even tried a free throw.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: National Basketball Association Steve Nash Phoenix Suns Orlando Magic Shawn Marion Dwight Howard Grant Hill Trevor Ariza
Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
The teams entered the game first and second in the NBA in three-point attempts — 27.7 a game for Phoenix and 25.7 for the Magic. Orlando went the whole first quarter without trying a three, falling behind 34-27 before eventually shooting 8-for-19.
"I thought they did a pretty good job switching pick and rolls and stuff," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Their energy level was very high, and I thought they did a very good job of closing out and getting to our three-point shooters."
Barbosa started in place of Raja Bell, who didn't dress after spraining an ankle late in the fourth quarter Friday against Miami. He scored 16 in the first quarter and missed only two shots in the period — one of them a 39-footer just before the buzzer that nearly went in.
"As quick as Nash is, he can't even match Barbosa's quickness," Van Gundy said. "Leandro Barbosa is the fastest man in the NBA."
Barbosa made 15-of-26 shots, including 8-for-13 from three-point range.
"Coach always tells me to keep shooting," he said. "He says if you are open to shoot it. Today I was feeling great — maybe I am not struggling anymore. You have to be patient when you are struggling."
Carlos Arroyo had 13 points and eight assists for Orlando, Keyon Dooling scored 10 and Turkoglu and Ariza each added 11. Rashard Lewis struggled from the field with 3-of-14 shooting and finished with seven.
"I think they stayed a little closer to me out on the wings when they were rotating on the double team on Dwight," Lewis said. "They made sure they paid a lot of attention to me. But at the same time I missed a lot of easy shots — just couldn't get into a rhythm all night."
Both teams were playing their fourth game in five days. Orlando was 2-2 after playing the night before, while the Suns were 0-2.
Notes: Tiger Woods, who lives in area, watched from courtside. ... Both teams shot 47% from the field, but Phoenix attempted nine more shots. ... Nash was 9-of-13, one night after scoring 11 points in a row against the Heat.

Pakistan opposition blast election plans

2007-11-12T02:52:00.001-08:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition called on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to lift a state of emergency, saying Monday that upcoming parliamentary elections would be a sham unless citizens' rights were fully restored. Several parties were mulling a boycott.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, meanwhile, prepared to launch a cross-country caravan to protest military rule. Police ramped up security for her, saying they had received intelligence that a suicide bomber was planning to attack her in the eastern city of Lahore.
Bhutto was targeted in an Oct. 18 suicide attack during her homecoming from exile. The attack in the southern city of Karachi killed 145 other people.
On Sunday, Musharraf said he would stick to a January schedule for the polls but set no time limit on emergency rule, which has resulted in the arrests of thousands of his critics, a ban on rallies and the blacking out of independent TV networks.
The measures, he argued, were necessary to ensure "absolutely fair and transparent elections" and to step up the fight against Islamic militants threatening Pakistan.
Bhutto welcomed his Jan. 9 cut-off date for the vote but said campaigning would be "difficult."
Other opposition parties were more strident.
Raja Zafarul Haq, chairman of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, demanded restoration of the constitution which was suspended under the emergency, reinstatement of top judges purged by Musharraf and the release of detainees — as well as Sharif's return from exile.
"Under the current circumstances it is very difficult to expect there would be fair elections in the country," he told Associated Press Television News. "Within the next week there will be meetings and we will finally decide whether to go for elections or agitation."
Liaqat Baloch, secretary general of Pakistan's most popular Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said they were strongly considering boycotting the elections. "If there is an emergency and no constitution, it is impossible to have free and fair elections," he told The Associated Press.
In Lahore, about 200 police were guarding the house where Bhutto was staying, with snipers on surrounding rooftops, ahead of her planned 185-mile protest caravan to Islamabad. The access road was blocked by steel barricades.
When she ventured outside into the city, dozens of police vehicles escorted her.
The rally, due to start on Tuesday, is intended to pressure Musharraf to end the emergency and give up his position as army chief. Thousands of Bhutto's supporters are expected to join her on the journey, likely to take about three days.
Ayaz Salim, a top police official, said police had stepped up security after receiving intelligence that a suicide bomber planning to kill Bhutto was staying in a Lahore hotel. He said police searched all the city's hotels but did not find the suspect.
Farzana Raja, a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, or PPP, vowed its supporters would fight any attempt by authorities to block her "freedom march" — which would appear to violate the current ban on rallies.
"If police try to stop us, in every town and district of Punjab, there will be a battlefield between PPP activists and police," he said.
Speaking Sunday, Musharraf appeared defiant but bitter at growing criticism of his decision to suspend the constitution just over a week ago, a step he says was necessary to combat rising Islamic militancy that had sown "turmoil, shock and confusion" in Pakistan.
His defense was unlikely to dispel the notion shared by many in Pakistan that the emergency — launched ahead of a Supreme Court ruling that could have nixed his plans to serve another five-year term — was motivated by his own determination to stay in power.
Adding to their concerns was an announcement by the attorney-general Sunday that military courts could now try civilians on charges ranging from treason to inciting public unrest. That could, in theory, include those who organize protests against Musharraf's military-led government.
The United States and other Western allies have urged Musharraf to hold crucial parliamentary polls on schedule, and said they were pleased at news they would not be delayed. Earlier, the government said the vote could be pushed back by up to a year.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern that Musharraf — considered a close U.S. ally in the war on terror — had not set a time limit for restoring citizens' rights.
"It's not a perfect situation," she said.
Two Democratic presidential hopefuls were more forceful.
Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said elections would be a "sham" without an end to the state of emergency. His rival, Bill Richardson, U.N. ambassador in the Clinton administration, said "you can't have democracy halfway."

It’s All About The Traffic!

2007-11-12T02:51:00.000-08:00

Greetings. As the President and CEO I have the honor of kicking off this blog with an inaugural posting. It seems to me that although this blog will cover a variety of topics from experts both from within InfoSearch Media and from elsewhere, what I should be articulating is the central insight which has lead to InfoSearch Media value proposition. Though it took the hard work of many people here at the Company to finally figure it all out, the concept is really very simple. In the on-line world, no matter what kind of content is needed for a website – text, images or video – everyone is simultaneously thinking about website traffic!
This, of course, makes perfect sense. In fact, for most of our eBusiness clients, it is ALL about the traffic. In the past year or so, people have gotten smart about what their business needs. They don’t care about where they “rank” – pretty much everyone has realized that appearing on the first page of search results for a keyword that is never used will not deliver Web traffic (customers) to their business. It is all about the traffic. How much traffic should a customer expect? We decided to aim high. We should be able to deliver better Web traffic results than our customers receive from Google — the accepted gold standard of pay-per-click.
That bold thought triggered a good deal of research around here. At the risk of over-simplifying, we learned that if your site has a Page Rank of 3 or higher and you are paying an average of $0.55 or more per click, then we can deliver traffic more cheaply than Google. And unlike the vague promises often made by SEO companies, we believe we had to develop ways to measure and report exactly how much website traffic we are delivering – just like Google. Then we built an entire product line around that concept – text products that deliver traffic, online video products that deliver traffic – you get the idea. Finally, all we needed was a name for these products. An employee suggested “TrafficBuilder” and we thought that name pretty well summed it all up.
We recognize that each business’ website has different Web traffic requirements and ISHM has created packages to reflect those unique needs. For publishers and certain types of businesses where the written and video content needs to closely follow brand guidelines, Web traffic is accordingly emphasized somewhat less. Again, we will work to match our client’s needs.
As more and more business is done on the Web, businesses are getting smarter about what it takes to win. Makes perfect sense to us at InfoSearch Media.
In the end, most traffic still comes from organic search results, not from advertising. And according to IAB, March 2007, “Consumers are 9 times more likely to click on an organic link.”
In more than 80% of searches, users go directly to the organic search results, bypassing sponsored links completely. While pay-per-click campaigns offer quick traffic, organic listings deliver long-term results and higher amounts of traffic.
80% of Internet users utilize the search engines and directories to find products, services and information.
Out of which, 90% of all search engines users click results within the first 3 pages.
62% of these users click only on the first few results, hence the first 2 pages.
Only 20% of search engine users click on the sponsored advertisements.
If your business is experiencing the pain of poor quality website traffic, it’s time to consider quality web content, online video and text to lower your marketing costs. Why rent website traffic when you can own it?
With that, I have hereby inaugurated this blog. Stay tuned for expert tips and insights.

Businesses Lose Web Traffic

2007-11-12T02:49:00.000-08:00

Online marketers continue to lose ground in local search results and lost Web traffic as the savvy consumer searches for products and services on a local level in Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The consumers are looking to organic search engine placements to find what they want, and marketers continue to play catch up as a result of ignoring local search results in the organic search engine listing. Some of the highest valued keywords are local geo-targeted keywords, like “Data Recovery Services Los Angeles” with a pay per click value of $51.18, “Austin Texas DUI Lawyer” at $50.03, and “Mesothelioma Attorneys San Diego” at $50.78. With pay per click values climbing, marketers need to look at geo-targeting and optimizing on a local level with good content to guide the consumer.
Companies are clamoring to join the PPC bandwagon while ignoring the local geo-targeted keywords in the natural search. Everyday I find myself in a conversation convincing Marketing Directors, advertising execs, and small- to medium-sized advertising agencies of the value of localized search keywords, and nearly every time they reply, “I don’t search like that. “I’m not typing in my city (or zip code) when performing a search.”
Many companies are missing the boat everyday. Thousands of searches are performed on a local geo-targeted level, looking for products and services many companies are missing out on the traffic streams in the natural organic search listings, due to the lack of high-quality optimized Web content.
I’m finding that small business owners are grasping the importance of this and are optimizing for local geo-targeted keywords while more regional and national companies are completely ignoring the local search in the organics, but are paying massive amounts of dollars in pay per click and even on banner ads in a quick rush to tap into local markets to show that they are marketing on a local level.
I’ve been listening to new buzzwords from local online media outlets like hyper-local banner networks and such. Consumers are tired of clicking on geo-targeted PPC ads, and even banner ads since they are being directed away from valuable information, and instead to a shopping cart or some lead generation form at the first click, when the reality is the consumer is in a different mindset or simply not at that part of the buying cycle. They simply are not ready to make a purchase and they don’t want to put personal information into a form that in their minds could lead to more junk mail, spam or worse, the dreaded telemarketing call during dinner.
Marketers need to get back to basics when it comes to Internet marketing otherwise they are in for a long painful journey of spending massive amounts of money for no return or very little results. Marketing Directors need to realize the importance of localized organic search and make it a part of their Internet marketing Strategy.
The savvy consumers are looking for the credible source, an informative resource, or some authority on a product or service. They want to read useful information before making a purchasing decision. These searchers are drilling down in the organic search even if it takes them to page eleven of the search results to find the authority in their area.
Marketers need to be patient and consider adding informative content to attract the savvy searcher and most importantly to improve search engine visibility to increase website traffic. This needs to be done in a strategic manner to generate ROI and increase sales. Companies need to look at other outlets specializing in Web content solutions, and not take a quick cut and paste content approach to their Web content, which search engines penalize as duplicate content, and which many others view as plagiarism.