Mitchell Report Links 80 MLB Players to Illegal Steroid Use

On Thursday December 13, 2007, former Sen. George Mitchell said in a repot that illegal performance enhancing steroids have been in widespread use in Major League Baseball for more than a decade. Mitchell said between five and seven percent of players who participated in a 2003 survey tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Names of 86 Major League Baseball players and personnel appeared in the Mitchell Report.

• List of 64 Players connected to steroids through use or possession
  
• List of 14 Players cited under "Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball"
  
• List of 8 Players linked through Balco

Key Mitchel Report Quotes

Happy Eid-al-Adha or "Day of Sacrifice"

December 20, 2007 is "Eid-al-Adha" or "Day of Sacrifice" an Islamic holiday. Another translation is "Festival of Sacrifice."

In these modern days, the holiday celebrates commitment, obedience and self-sacrifice in the name of Allah. All followers of Islam who can afford it should kill an animal as a symbol of Ibrahim's sacrifice. The meat should then be equally distributed among family, friends and the poor.

From "Over 2 million pilgrims complete their hajj in Mecca"

20/12/2007 17:06 ABU DHABI, December 20: Almost 2.5 million pilgrims are completing their hajj in Mecca, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Thursday.

According to the country's statistics, over 1.7 million foreigners, including 26,000 Russians, and 700,000 Saudis performed the hajj this year. Saudi Arabian nationals are allowed to participate in the world's largest annual religious gathering once every five years. The quota was introduced to allow more foreigners to visit the country.

In the past 60 years the number of pilgrims has grown 25-fold.

On Thursday pilgrims and Muslims from all around the world are celebrating the second day of Eid ul-Adha, Festival of Sacrifice, or Kurban Bajram, as it is called by Russian and Central Asian Muslims.

The Festival of Sacrifice is a four-day holiday in commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's readiness to sacrifice his first born son Ishmael on Allah's orders.

Holiday Lists:

• List of Religious Holidays
• List of Secular Holidays

Article: How to Brew Great Coffee

Where to Find the Elusive Nintendo Wii?

The San Jose Mercury News called Nintendo's Wii "The Elusive White Whale of Holiday Gifts."

Since launching the Wii in 2006, Nintendo has ramped production from one million units a month to 1.8 million per month yet demand continues to exceed supply as we enter the 2007 holiday season. The Wii is popular because its $250 retail price for the console is the lowest of the three and the games are more "family friendly' than the typical "shoot-em up" games of its competitors. The Wii also has two unique features "built-in Wi-Fi access, supported by a new online gaming service, and Wii's intuitive, wireless, motion-sensitive game controller."

Amazon.com currently lets shoppers order a maximum of three per month to limit customers reselling them but they also allow people to sell resell them here where the cheapest is more than twice the list price!

The three most popular video game consoless are the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft XBox and the Sony Playstation. For Information to help you select the best video game console for your needs, read the article:

• "How to Select the Best Video Game for You"

Good luck and happy holidays!

List of Toys Made in the USA

With the problems of lead paint and many other unsafe problems with Toys from China, shoppers have turned to giving books, CDs, DVDs and video games for children on their gift lists. There are also many hand made toys made in the USA that are back in fashion. Some of the wooden ones are beautiful pieces of art that also make great toys and family heirlooms.

I'd like to compile a list of your favorite toys made in the USA in the comments section here.

My favorite is an education toy called K'Nex:

From the company website: "K'NEX is the next generation of construction sets. It inspires creativity, builds self-confidence and encourages interaction among children and parents. The possibilities are endless! K'NEX Brands, L.P. is a privately held company, with the headquarters and manufacturing facility located in Hatfield, Pennsylvania."

• See a full list of K'Nex Products

Amazon.com's list of Toys Made the in USA

Also see "Toys Made in the America" and "Toys Made in the USA"

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How to Brew The Best Tasting Coffee

You don't have to go to Starbucks, Peet's or Tully's to get a good cup of coffee. With the proper tools and recipe, you can brew coffee that tastes great in your own home. Brewing great coffee is part art and part science.

Excerpts from "How to Brew Great Tasting Coffee."

Key Items for Great Tasting Coffee include:

Coffee:

• Use FRESH Beans!
• Limit exposure to oxygen, light, heat and mositure.
• Buy only as much coffee as you’ll need in a week
• Grind just before brewing
• Store beans in an airtight container kept in a cool, dark, dry place.

Equipment: Clean and Calibrated

• Recommended Coffee making Tools

Grind:

• FRESH! Grind beans just before brewing
• Use a fine grind for short brewing processes (drip)
• Use a coarse grind for long processes such as percolated (not recommended)

Storage:

• Brewed coffee should be used right away or transfered to an airtight thermal carafe
• "Cooking" the brewed coffee on a hot plate to keep it warm in an open glass container should be avoided.. This rules out most low cost coffee makers.

Water:

• Use fresh, impurity-free water (filtered) water
• Heat water temperature to just off a boil (195°-205° F)
• If the water is too hot, then bitter oils are extracted from the bean.
• If the water is too cold, then not enough of the good oils are extracted from the beans.

FRESH!

• Did I mention using FRESH beans ground just before use?

More at "How to Brew Great Tasting Coffee"

New World Order: School1977 vs. SCHOOL 2007

Times have surely changed and if you didn't live back in the sixties and seventies you missed a lot of good living!

SCHOOL 1977 vs. SCHOOL 2007

Scenario: Jack goes duck hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1977 - Vice principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his own shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lockdown, the Feds and ATF are called, Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in to assist traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1977 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007- Police are called, SWAT team arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. They are charged with assault and both are expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1977 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given a good paddling. Re turns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra district funding because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1977 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some Aspirin to school.
1977 - Mark shares Aspirin with the school principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high-school English.
1977 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that making English a requirement for graduation is racist. Lawyers file class action lawsuit against the public school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover 4th of July firecrackers, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.
1977 - Ants die.
2007 – FBI are called and Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. They investigate his parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls during recess and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.
1977 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in federal prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

So The Next Time You Hear Those 3 Little Words "New World Order" Remember Then and Now !

30 years from Now who Knows what it will be like ???

(I found this unattributed piece on an internet message board. If you know who wrote it, then please post that in the comments.)

World's 50 Richest Men & Women for 2007

It takes 17 billion dollars to make the top ten wealthiest men list this year. This list ranks the top 50 of the World's Billionaires by net worth.

The three richest women are Wal-Mart heirs Christy and Alice Walton at $16.3 billion and $16.1 billion respectively with Abigail Johnson from Fidelity at $15.0 billion for third place.

The top 10 richest men are

• 1 William Gates III $59.0B 51 Medina, WA
  2 Warren Buffett $52.0B 77 Omaha, NE
  3 Sheldon Adelson $28.0B 74 Las Vegas, NV
  4 Lawrence Ellison $26.0B 63 Redwood City, CA
  5 Sergey Brin $18.5B 34 Palo Alto, CA
  5 Larry Page $18.5B 34 San Francisco, CA
  7 Kirk Kerkorian $18.0B 90 Los Angeles, CA
  8 Michael Dell $17.2B 42 Austin, TX
  9 Charles Koch $17.0B 71 Wichita, KS
  9 David Koch $17.0B 67 New York, NY

Full Lists:

• The World's 50 Richest Men(& women) for 2007
  and
• The World's 50 Richest Men(& women) for 2006

Notable:

• Tied for #5 this year at $18.5B, Sergey Brin and Larry Page were tied for number 26 last year at $16.6B.
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Time's 50 Worst Cars of All Time

50 worst cars of all time. A list compiled automotive critic Dan Neil, asyndicated Los Angeles Times columnist, and TIME Magazine to celebrate 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel

1899-1939

1899 Horsey Horseless
1909 Ford Model T
1911 Overland OctoAuto
1913 Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo
1920 Briggs and Stratton Flyer
1933 Fuller Dymaxion
1934 Chrysler/Desoto Airflow

1940-1959

1949 Crosley Hotshot
1956 Renault Dauphine
1957 King Midget Model III
1957 Waterman Aerobile
1958 Ford Edsel
1958 Lotus Elite
1958 MGA Twin Cam
1958 Zunndapp Janus

1960-1974

1961 Amphicar
1961 Corvair
1966 Peel Trident
1970 AMC Gremlin
1970 Triumph Stag
1971 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron Two-Door Hardtop
1971 Ford Pinto
1974 Jaguar XK-E V12 Series III

1975-1989

1975 Bricklin SV1
1975 Morgan Plus 8 Propane
1975 Triumph TR7
1975 Trabant
1976 Aston Martin Lagonda
1976 Chevy Chevette
1978 AMC Pacer
1980 Corvette 305 "California"
1980 Ferrari Mondial 8
1981 Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4
1981 De Lorean DMC-12
1982 Cadillac Cimarron
1982 Camaro Iron Duke
1984 Maserati Biturbo
1985 Mosler Consulier GTP
1985 Yugo GV
1986 Lamborghini LM002

1990-Present

1995 Ford Explorer
1997 GM EV1
1997 Plymouth Prowler
1998 Fiat Multipla
2000 Ford Excursion
2001 Jaguar X-Type
2001 Pontiac Aztek
2002 BMW 7-series
2003 Hummer H2
2004 Chevy SSR


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Dan Neil's article