Woodward Publishes New Expos?: Names Secret Source Deep Tragedy

Bob Woodward, the columnist for The Washington Post who famously wrote, with fellow journalist Carl Bernstein, an expos? on Watergate, for which the source of secret info became known as Deep Throat, has just published a new expos? on administration missteps in Iraq. Appropriately enough, the new source is labeled Deep Tragedy.

While Deep Throat eventually revealed his identity, as S. Mark Felt, a highly placed official at the FBI, the identity of Deep Tragedy has already been revealed as S. Common Knowledge.

The book, State of Denial, includes such tidbits as Bush saying, in November of 2003, I don't want anyone in the cabinet to say it is an insurgency. I don't think we are there yet. He may not even think we're there now.

In a promo interview on 60 Minutes, Woodward states that Henry Kissinger is advising the White House, which is common knowledge among the residents who live near the former secretary's home and deal with the regular roar of entering and exiting helicopters.

He says Kissinger has advised Bush and Cheney that in Iraq Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy. Woodward goes on to infer that Kissinger is trapped in the past, which, it seems to us, offers little escape for anyone. This is so fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam War again because, in his view, the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will.

The book contains numerous other revelations of uncertainty and infighting in the Bush administration. Apparently, even George Bush's dad was losing sleep, worrying about the invasion.

Yet it's a bit late in the game for more finger-pointing. There's just too much hindsight at play to lend much originality to even the most intrepid effort to get at the truth.

What is really needed is not stirring anew the pot of common knowledge but uncommon insight. Not continuing denial, but decisive acceptance. We must either convince the insurgents that their murderous tactics cannot win by decisive action against them or we should begin a well-gauged departure and leave them to bewail the state of their own self-maimed country.
About the Author

Tom Attea, humorist and creator of NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing for the theater delightfully funny, witty, with great humor and good, genuine laughs.

Read More

Hand Over The Console: The Fake PS3 Theft And Other Crimes

When the new Play Station 3 came out, people were doing anything they could to get a unit for themselves. People were camping out all night, pre-ordering, looking online for deals, absolutely anything. They'd stop at nothing to lay their hands on a PS3 gaming console. Some have been known to resort to illegal means.

Take the case of two 19-year-old employees at a Gamestop in Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento, California. They grabbed four machines and then told the management that armed robbers had busted in and taken them. Of course they were caught, and now they are facing some serious charges: embezzlement, burglary, conspiracy and filing a false police report. Those turned out to be pretty expensive gaming consoles.

Here's how it went down. The day before the PS3's were to be released, the Gamestop employees called the police, saying that they'd been held up at gunpoint, and the robbers took the four coveted gaming consoles. The police won't divulge any particular details, but someone tipped them off that the robbery was a conspiracy of some sort. Also, there was evidence that wasn't consistent with their stories, indicating that they hadn't planned things out as well as maybe they should have.

At first, the police suspected the guys knew the masked gunmen. Then, they figured out that there weren't ever any masked gunmen at all, and that the two had simply taken the machines. They were arrested within a few days, but that didn't stop all the game stores in the metro area and even beyond from hiring extra security to keep tabs on things.

What happened to the machines? They were probably sold on eBay. Nobody knows, actually, and probably nobody will ever know. They were gone instantly, and the perpetrators used the money to get themselves out on bail.

This isn't the only PS3 theft. Here are some of the other stories of desperate people taking the law into their own hands, risking their freedom and livelihoods to get a free video game console:

-In Hawaii, a man in an SUV pulled up, got out, and hit a total stranger with a baseball bat, demanding that he turn over his PS3. The attack was unsuccessful, so the man got into his SUV and drove off.

-An 18-year-old in North Carolina stole two PS3's from another student, and when confronted by the police, they shot and killed him! According to the official reports, the police shot his dog, too.

-In December 2006, robbers stole 180 PS3's out of a warehouse in Nakashi, Japan. The theft occurred in the middle of the morning sometime and will cost Sony more than $80,000. The Japanese police are now investigating the theft, and trying to determine if it might have been an inside job.

-After a woman in Florida got her brand new PS3, a man followed she and her brother to her home and held them at gunpoint, demanding she hand over the console. She did what any reasonable person would do - she handed it over.

-Some hardcore thieves actually came into a gaming store by burrowing in the back way, and stole 13 consoles that turned out to be just display boxes. When they realized they had ripped off a bunch of empty boxes, they went back and grabbed some XBox 360's.

In addition to these stories, there have been reports of muggings and robberies as people camped out to get their brand new PS3 units. The PS3 is expensive and a bit tough to get your hands on, but is it really worth the risk?

Marcus Creyton writes on game console systems. He is a PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii enthusiast. For information, guides, cheats on PS3, Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 go here: http://gameconsolekingdom.com

Read More

Difference Between Annual and Perennial Flowers

So you're looking to plant some flowers to brighten up your landscape.

Should you choose annuals or perennials?

Much depends on how much work you want to do. Annuals, as their name implies, only last for a year. You plant them in the spring, they flower in the summer and by fall that's it. They're over and you need to repeat the process next year. Sometimes they will seed themselves and you'll see a similar plant the next year. But a lot of annuals are hybrids, so it won't be the exact same plant if it does appear.

In contrast, perennials last for several years. Typically somewhere between two and five seasons. The flowering part of a perennial dies off at the end of the season and then, when spring comes round again, it grows again.

So you'll have less work to do if you plant perennials. But when it comes to planting your garden, you'll get more variety of color if you mix annuals and perennials.

While some plants, such as trees and shrubs, are obviously perennials, you should check out the version of some other plants you buy. Some flowers, such as sunflowers, come in both annual and perennial versions.

And just to confuse the issue further, some perennials only flower once. If you're not sure about the ones you're buying, ask your garden center or look up details on the internet before committing yourself. It won't take long and it will save you from making a mistake.

Learn more about annuals and perennials and get tips and tricks to keep your garden looking vibrant.




By Carl Walker

Read More

Valentine's Day Around The World

Whether in the United States of America or in Europe, in the Northern Hemisphere or in the Southern Hemisphere, when it's Valentine's Day, the love quotient will most assumingly be high all over ! Around the world, Valentine's Day is celebrated with a lot of merrymaking and good cheer. However the Valentine's Day customs and traditions vary in different parts of the world and it's really interesting to see how Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world and with what variations.

In America, the custom of giving gifts and cards on Valentine's Day is very popular. From children to adults, siblings to lovers, everyone exchanges gifts and wishes of love on Valentine's Day. Apart from gifts, it is even common to have Valentine's Day parties. These parties generally see a lot of dancing and singing. Romantic dinners, picnics and get-togethers are also common on Valentine's Day in the United States of America.

In England, special Valentine's Day songs are sung by kids and they receive gifts of chocolates, fruits or sometimes even cash gifts. In some parts of England, folks make buns with dry fruits like raisins on Valentine's Day. It is also a popular custom in England to write love poems. These poems are written to honor the patron of love, St. Valentine. Tabloids and magazines overflow with love verses on Valentine's Day in England.

Italians have a custom of getting engaged on Valentine's Day. Some women in Italy also believe that the first man they see on Valentine's Day will be their future husband and so they stand near the window on Valentine's Day morning to see their life-partner walk past in all glory. These apart, on Valentine's Day, shops in Italy sell candies in china jars, tied with red ribbons. These make for favorite Valentine's Day gifts on February 14.

In Denmark, gaekkebrevs (joking letters) are sent out on Valentine's Day in which the senders write light poems and sign their names only in dots. The person receiving the gaekkebrev has to guess who sent it and if it is guessed correctly, then he or she will get an Easter egg from the sender on Easter.

Like the Americans, people in Germany and Austria and also give out Valentine's Day gifts, flowers, cards and chocolates to their wives on Valentine's Day. However in Spain, the tradition is a little different and here, the wives give the presents to their husbands and the husbands give flowers to their wives.

In Scotland, there is a festival on Valentine's Day where young men and women write their names on pieces of paper and put them into separate hats, one for men and one for women. Names are drawn out by both parties, but the men, irrespective of the names they have drawn, have to dance with the women who pick them. And a world of dancing and merrymaking follow.

In Australia, the Valentine's Day celebrations resemble those of America. Gifts and flowers are given out to loved ones. It is a heavily publicized event and the shopping malls are decorated and attract a lot of visitors on this day. However, it is not too much of a festival in Australia.

In Japan, there is a unique tradition. Women buy a particular type of candy called hon-mei and gift it to the person they are romantically attached to. It can be a crush, boyfriend, fianc? or husband. Then after one month, on March 14 (also known as White Day), the men return the favor by sending candies to all the women who remembered them on Valentine's Day. The candies sent out by the men are generally white because of the name of the day.

In Brazil, there is no such thing as Valentine's Day. However, something like Valentine's Day, Dia dos Namorados is celebrated on June 12. On this day lovers gift each other candies, flowers, cards and other love presents.

The Chinese celebrate Valentine's Day on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Contrary to the Western custom of giving gifts to the beloved, the young girls make artistic items and offer them to Zhi Nu, the weaving maiden, in prayer for better needlework skills and also for loving husbands.

The language of love is universal and no matter where in the world you are in, Valentine's Day is celebrated all around with equal joy and affection. So wherever you are in the world, make sure you're near to your world of joy, your beloved and celebrate hand in hand to bring a world of happiness to him/ her.

About the Author

Sean Carter writes on holidays, Valentine's Day and world events. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry and writes for 123greetings.com. He is an
active blogger at Valentines Day Blog.

Read More

How to Use Maximum Leverage to Get Rich Fast

Alone you have NO leverage. Alone, you have only YOUR money, YOUR experiences, YOUR time, and YOUR work efforts.

We all have limitations. Unfortunately, too many real estate investors just starting out never learn how to get beyond their limitations by exploiting the power of leverage. No matter how hard they work and how smart they are, they are destined to fail from the get go. You see, people rarely get rich based solely on their own efforts.

But don?t let this happen to you.

Leverage remains a secret to so many investors not because successful real estate investors keep it a secret, but because too many investor wannabees truly don?t understand the power of leverage. Or if they understand the principles of leverage, they fail to properly apply them in their real estate business.

And just to make sure you don?t become another has-been investor, let?s be clear about what leverage is so you can truly harness its power to empower you to get rich fast.

Leverage is anything you can use to multiply your efforts as an investor. When you have leverage, you have the power to control a lot with only a little. You can do more with less effort. This is one of the most important aspects on your path to riches and financial freedom.

There are essentially four ?golden principles that govern the application of maximum leverage in your business as a real estate investor.

1. The leverage of Other People?s Money (OPM).
Even if you?re brand new to real estate investing, you have probably heard about this financial principle before. Using other people's money - borrowing - is one of the most common forms of applying leverage.

But why it?s popularity?

In real estate, when you buy a property for nothing down, you are able to pay nothing (or use none of your money) and LEVERAGE 100% control of the property.

Not a bad deal! But it gets even better because leverage gives you the ability to magnify the return on your investment. Here?s a simplified illustration of how it can truly propel your real estate investing business to an incredibly higher level and get rich fast.

Just think about what?s happened! You can use your $50,000 (in cash) to buy a single house to earn a 20,000 profit from the sale of the property. Or you can choose to take advantage of the remarkable power of leverage by using the same $50,000 to buy 20 houses by paying $2,500 down on each of 20 properties. Imagine what your bank account would be like if you made the same $20,000 profit on the sale of each of the 20 houses?

Can you do the numbers in your mind?

It was Napoleon Hill who said ?If you don?t see great riches in your imagination you will never see them in your bank balance.?

Successful real estate investors make it happen repeatedly and it can happen to you if you apply maximum leverage.

2. The leverage of Other People?s Experience (OPE).
It takes too long to learn everything on your own so borrow from others what they have learned. The best way to be successful in your real estate investing business is to find someone who has already achieved success and then learn from them what they did to get to that point.

It's not rocket science!

You can accomplish this task in many ways:
a. Get a mentor
b. Read books by successful investors
c. Attend investment seminars

3. The leverage of Other People?s Time (OPT).
There is a set amount of hours you can work each day. Even if you could do without sleeping or eating, still you would have only 24 hours each day like everybody else. There is only so much time that you personally have to get all the things done that you need to do.

So you must create a duplicable system that is essentially usable by anyone. A duplicable system will help you advance faster and increase your profits while reducing your work.

Your system must be so simple that you could literally teach it to anyone of average intelligence, but yet so effective that once you have taught that someone to use your system, it operates efficiently without you.

4. The leverage of Other People?s Work (OPW).
You can use other people's labor by outsourcing all of your rehabbing tasks. You must assemble a team to include a plumber, an electrician, an HVAC technician, a foundation specialist, a roofer, a flooring specialist, and a rehab specialist. And don?t forget to include a CPA, a real estate attorney, an escrow officer, and a realtor that specializes in foreclosures.

Here, leverage really starts to kick in because with your team you'll get a lot more done a lot quicker than you could ever do alone. Assemble several teams simultaneously and you will be on fast-forward in your journey to achieve financial freedom.

Find a way to take advantage of other people?s work to accelerate your real estate success... Just do it!

If you do it all on your own, or said another way, if all the money you receive is directly proportional to the efforts that you make, then you are not using leverage. In fact, the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad believes that If you're working hard physically and not getting ahead financially, then you're probably someone else's leverage!

As one shrewd observer put it, Wealth is when small efforts produce large results. Poverty is when large efforts produce small results. Some people predominantly produce a lot of hard work and effort that doesn't accomplish much. Others do some relatively simple things that make much bigger things happen. That is maximum leverage?

To become financially free through your real estate business, you must master each of the four principles that control the use of maximum leverage.

Lee Salinas, CPA, MBA became a corporate refugee when he was blind-sided by a layoff in 2002. But Lee discovered life outside the corporate rat-race when he became a real estate investor. In four years, Lee has purchased over 180 properties. Additionally, Lee has created a real estate business plan that helps investors get all the private money they need to fund their deals. Lee?s business plan is available at http://www.realestatebizplan.com.

Read More