Don't Feed the Animals..unless their Good

Once upon a time an old Indian Chief was talking with his grandson. In their discussion, the grandson asked the wise old Chief “Grandfather, what is the meaning of life”? The wise Chief sat back and said, “Why do you ask Grandson”? The Grandson replied, “Because I want to do good but sometimes I am confused.” The Chief said, “Son, inside of every person are two wolves. Each wolf is fighting for control. One wolf represents all of your good qualities, like compassion, mercy, peace, understanding, and love for your family and friends. The other wolf represents all of your bad qualities, like strife, lust, envy, greed.” The grandson thought for a minute and sat back and said, “Grandfather, which one wins?” The wise Chief said without hesitation, “The one you feed”.

The story shares a good message about choice. We have a choice on the type of thoughts that we hold in our minds. It really makes you think about which wolf you’re “feeding” and realize that it’s up to you to take control of your life and not feed the “bad” wolf. The wolf we cultivate is the one that is predominant. Knowing that we have a choice can be empowering and life transforming. This story reminds us that even though each person is free to choose to feed whichever wolf they want, it is only us who can deside which wolf we feed. Make sure to give all of your precious resources to feed the wolf that allows you to do the good you want to do, so that good will show in you.

Pro-Choice Without A Choice

As a male, I will never have to make the tough choice of whether are not to have an abortion. The final decision will always fall in the woman’s hands. Legal or Illegal abortions will continue to take place as they have for decades. The advantage of legal abortions is that it takes place in a sanitized medical facility with sterilized equipment and educated medical physicians. When making this tough the decision the religious ideas of a lawmaker play relatively no important compared to the ideas of the troubled pregnant woman. By taking away the legal option it only leaves the dangerous illegal option but does not stop the abortion. I have no idea why I am blogging about this but as stated in my sub-heading, “it’s just my thoughts…how I was feeling at the time” and apparently I am thinking about the legality of abortions. Don’t get me wrong, I am not Pro-Abortion, but I am Pro-Choice. I would never recommend anyone to have an abortion especially someone bearing a child I was involved in creating. That is just my opinion and I have no right to enforce my belief on anyone. The choice still has to be made. For example, Alcohol is legal and has been legal my entire life, since the choice to drink alcohol is my choice whether or not to drink alcohol. Which I have chosen not to do, but I my opinion about alcohol should not stop someone else who enjoys drinking alcohol. The same option should be given to troubled pregnant woman. If you don’t want an abortion, then don’t have one, if you want an abortion have one, either way you will have to live with your choice.

Swine Flu Q&A

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about Swine Flu from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

What is swine flu?

Swine flu is a respiratory disease normally found in pigs and caused by type A influenza viruses. While outbreaks of this type of flu are common in pigs, human cases of swine flu do happen. In the past, reports of human swine flu have been rare—approximately one infection every one to two years in the U.S. From December 2005 through February 2009, only 12 cases of human infection were documented.

How is it spread?

Humans with direct exposure to pigs are those most commonly infected with swine flu. Yet, human-to-human spread of swine flu viruses have been documented, however it's not known how easily the spread occurs. Just as the common flu is passed along, swine flu is thought to be spread by coughing, sneezing, or touching something with the viruses on it.

If infected, a person may be able to infect another person one day before symptoms develop and up to seven or more days after becoming sick. Thus, a person is able to pass the flu on before they know they are sick. Those with swine flu should be considered potentially contagious as long as they are demonstrating symptoms and up to seven days longer from the onset of their illness. Children might be contagious for longer periods of time.

Can I catch swine flu from eating pork?

No. The CDC says that swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food. Properly cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills all bacteria and viruses.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

Symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of a regular flu: fever and chills, sore throat, cough, headache, body aches, and fatigue. Diarrhea and vomiting can also be present. Without a specific lab test, it is impossible to know whether you may be suffering from swine flu or another flu strain.

What precautionary measures should I take?

The same everyday precautions that you take to prevent other contagious viruses should be used to protect yourself against swine flu. "The best current advice is for individuals to practice good hand hygiene. Periodic hand washing with soap and water, or the use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when hand washing is not possible, is a good preventive measure. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth, as germs can more easily gain entrance into your body through those areas," suggests medical authorities. Covering your mouth with a disposable tissue when you cough and sneeze is also a good practice.

The CDC recommends avoiding contact with sick people and keeping your own good health in check with adequate sleep, exercise, and a nutritious diet.

What should you do if you think you are sick with swine flu?

Contact your health care professional, inform them of your symptoms, and ask whether you should be tested for swine flu. Be prepared to give details on how long you've been feeling ill and about any recent travels. Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing or treatment is needed. If you feel sick, but are not sure what illness you may have, stay home until you have been diagnosed properly to avoid spreading any infection.

Watch for these symptoms in children. Seek emergency medical care if your child experiences any of the following warning signs:
• Fever with a rash
• Dehydration
• Fast breathing
• Bluish skin coloration
• Slow to wake or sluggish interaction
• Flu-like symptoms improve, but then return and cough worsens
• Severe irritability

For adults, emergency medical care is needed if you experience these warning signs:
• Difficulty breathing
• Dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Pain/pressure in the chest or stomach

Remember that the symptoms for swine flu are almost identical to those you might experience with the regular flu. Only your doctor can give you the correct diagnosis.

Are there medicines effective in treating swine flu in humans?
The swine flu responds to the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for those infected. For treatment, these antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms).

For more information check out the following sites
• CDC's Swine Flu web site
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Infectious Diseases: How they spread and how to stop them

Do you celebrate Jesus or the Easter Bunny?

Easter is Sunday. Easter is the name for the day when Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion. It is celebrated two days after Good Friday. The date of Easter is not fixed to a numerical calendar date. Easter falls at some point between March and April each year according to the cycle of the Moon. Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first moon whose 14th day is on or after March 21. For the non-astrologist, it’s written on the calendar.

The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries. The egg is seen as symbolic of the grave and life renewed or resurrected by breaking out of it. The egg is symbolic of Jesus’ resurrection, while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it. Traditionally, Easter eggs were dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed Tomb of Christ. Cracking the egg symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The Easter Bunny has no symbolic meaning in reference to Easter. It is just a stretch of the imagination that makes the holiday appealing to children and non-Christians. Like many holidays and ceremonies, the true meaning is often lost or stretched out of content. There is nothing evil about painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. The important thing is that we focus on Jesus Christ and not the eggs, our children will understand that the eggs are just a game as long as the true meaning of the day is explained and emphasized.As for me and my family, on Easter we will be celebrating the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected on the third day after his death. Thank You, Jesus.

U'll never leave where U R Are until U Decide Where U'd Rather B

I was walking around one day at work and I walked past a bulletin board with the following quote written on it; “You’ll Never Leave Where You Are Until You Decide Where You’d Rather Be”. It made me think for a minute about how truthful this quote is. Since that day the quote has remained in my mind sort of like a post it note, to come back and reflect on. The quote simply means you will always be in the same situation until you decide to change to another situation. For example, you will always live in the same house until you decide to move to another house or work in the same job until you decide on another job. Once you decide “where you’d rather be” than you will plan on steps to make the move from the old situation to the new situation. The point is the change will never happen until you decide to make it happen. That is the hard part! Deciding what situation you would rather be in than the one you are in. I can’t help you with that decision, nor can you help me decide. The decision has to be yours as you are the only one who can decide which situation is better for you and when you are ready to leave your current situation. Until that choice is made you will continue to be where you are at now.

Don't Get Fooled!

The new storm worm has an April Fool's Day theme. Victims will receive e-mail messages that contain links that direct users to Web sites that contain malware.
Once the files are downloaded and executed on the computer it sets a firewall exception rule and then attempts to 'phone home' using various outgoing ports , The packer and major sections of executable code have changed significantly, indicating that it could be another variant and AV detection for this threat is close to nonexistent.

Currently, this variant of the Storm Worm Trojan is being observed as having the following file names:
• aromis.exe
• foolsday.exe
• funny.exe
• kickme.exe

Subject lines can change at any time, but the following are currently being seen:
• All Fools' Day
• Doh! All's Fool, Doh! April's Fool
• Gotcha!, Gotcha! All Fool!, Gotcha! April Fool!
• Happy All Fool's Day, Happy All Fools Day!, Happy All Fools!
• Happy April Fool's Day, Happy April Fools Day!, Happy Fools Day!
• I am a Fool for your Love
• Join the Laugh-A-Lot!
• Just You
• One who is sportively imposed upon by others on the first day of April
• Surprise!, Surprise! The joke's on you
• Today You Can Officially Act Foolish
• Today's Joke!

The most effective way users can protect against these new threats is with anti-malware products that use behavioral technology. Traditional Anti-virus products, which use signature detection are simply not equipped with this behavioral technology and the threat is currently evading those users' defenses.

As always exercise caution when opening emails and surfing the internet. Don't just click on random links sent to your account via e-mail. Exercise even more caution when that random link is attempting to download a file to your system.

To protect your home Microsoft windows computer you should always practice the following:
• Enable windows update and apply all patches
• Install anti-virus software and keep virus signature files up-to-date.
• Do not open unsolicited email.
• Do not follow unsolicited links.

If you receive this type of e-mail, you should immediately delete it.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander

Contrarily to popular belief, a gander is not a group of geese, that's a gaggle. A gander is male goose. A female goose is simply called a goose while baby geese are called goslings. Now that that’s cleared up, what is does this saying mean? It is usually used when talking about a relationship between people. It means that what is acceptable for one member of the relationship is acceptable for the others, preventing a double standard. Double standards are when certain applications may be acceptable to one group, but seen as taboo to another. If a goose says for the gander not to do something on Monday, and then on Friday she turns around and does the exact same thing, that technology is not a double standard. That’s a hypocrite. There is a distinction to be made between double standards and hypocrisy, which implies the acceptance of a single standard a person claims to hold himself or herself accountable to, but which in practice may be ignoreded. The difference is in the action, in this example, the goose condemned the gander’s intended activity then on Friday she actually participated in the activity. It’s a slight difference but hypocrisy and double standards are basically the same idea. Both violate the principle of fairness, which is based on the assumption that the same standards should be applied to all people, without discrepancy. Holding different people accountable according to different standards is wrong and unjust. All people should be treated fairly and when in the same predicament, the same rules should apply. What is good for a man is equally good for a woman; or, what a man can have or do, so can a woman have or do. Practice what you preach and always preach the same sermon.