Occupy Wall Street

I first heard about what was going on in New York from a friend, who found it in an off topic WoW forum. I was incrediably surprised to see how little informatiopn was out there about the violence of the protest other than what Occupy Wall Street was posting on it's website. It made me start to think about all of the ways things get kept out of the media and why they are kept from public consumption. Media blackouts have been occurring for at least 100 years. Famously during WWII and the attacks by the Japanese on american soil. While the US government in this case figured that with the Japanese not knowing how damaging their fireballs were, would eventually stop sending them. While this did work over time, I think more lives could have been saved by letting the public be aware of the attacks so they could better prepare themselves. Just my opinion. So feeling this way I decided to make a Squidoo lens on the topic of media blackouts. Check it out if you don't believe that media blackouts are still occurring each and every day around the world. See my Squidoo Lens here. Btw this is not just a third world or communist country thing. Media blackouts are happening in the US and Canada as well as Europe. Everything from court trials to sporting events gets affected by gags in the media. These days it's harder to keep control though with Fabebook and Twitter and YouTube allowing anyone at all the chance to speak their piece. How much would we be hearing from main stream media about the violence the police in New York are perpetrating if it wasn't for these social media networks?

Pictures

I've decided to share more of the pictures I have taken. Yep I know my camera isn't the greatest but I think I get some good photos anywway. I started by adding some more pictures to my Flickr account.

I have a few sets there now. My favourite are the bugs and insects though, so I wrote about them on Squidoo. Not that I gave seriously detailed information but I did cover the basics of taking insect photos. At least how I manage to take mine. I may think about posting some more of my pics on istock or a similar website, but I'm just not sure yet. I may wait for this step until I've gotten myself a good DSLR (I want the Canon for sure).

I added some pics of myself to Picasa...not sure how I go about sharing those yet on here though. I think my profile pictures are available though. I know I have been asked to see my smiling face. For now...that is me. Oh well, hope you enjoy the pics...and please share with me your pics too. I don't just enjoy taking them I also like looking at them.

Upcoming Election 2011

I admit to following politics somewhat. I know the platforms for each party that runs in my riding and I decide ahead of time who to vote for. I believe everyone has a responsibility to vote as long as they are competent and of age. Here's a quick overview of each party's platform for the upcoming election October 6th and links to each party's website for more information. I will be voting Green again this year, but how you vote is entirely up to you, as long as you get out there and do it!

The Green Party of Canada has Strong Economy, Strong Communities and True Democracy on their platform. Check out their website for a detailed platform.

The Conservatives have Ecomomic Recovery and Growth as the main stay of their platform. See their website for more information.

The Liberal Party website doesn't have alot of information about thier current platform. Most is about their new leader Bob Rae. Since Bob Rae actually was Premier of Ontario under the NDP, and he really didn't do a great job of it, well I know he won't get my vote in any way shape or form. Make up your own mind though.

The NDP has also lost it's leader Jack Layton this year. The are the current official opposition in Canada. The most up to date platform information was supplied by Layton and the basics are in the image above. Check out their website for more party information.

Go to the Elections Canada website for any other election information you may want or need. For more information on and links to the 17 registered Political Parties in Canada check out this article.

Natural Hair Care

We all put our hair through alot each and every day. Whether like me you don't use a lot of products but live in a humid summer and dry winter area, or you are the type who fully styles your hair daily. Weather, heat, styling products, blowdrying, pollution and more all can cause havoc with your hair. So why would you use anything that is full of chemicals on your hair? Your revitalizing daily shampoo might have been formulated to add volume and shine, but consumer watchdogs say the scads of chemicals used in cosmetics aren't adequately assessed for safety by either the federal government or the manufacturers. Similar health concerns were echoed in a study presented Sunday by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine neurobiologists at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington, D.C. In tests on rats' brains, Pitt researchers have found that prolonged exposure to low levels of a common shampoo ingredient called methylisothiazolinone (pronounced METHYL-lie-so-THY-a-zole-a-nohn) dramatically restricts the growth of neurons. Methylisothiazolinone -- shortened to MIT for obvious reasons -- is often added to water-based shampoos and hand lotions to prevent bacteria growth, said Pitt neurobiologist Elias Aizenman, the study's senior author. The chemical also is used widely as an antimicrobial agent to kill germs in industrial water storage tanks and cooling units. Read more about chemicals in your shampoo including information that they may contribute to Parkinson's Disease as well as Alzheimer's on ewg.org . "The good news is: Hair-care products are better than ever before," says Paula Begoun, a former makeup artist who writes extensively about the cosmetics industry. "It's really hard to buy a bad product, but you can get conned by products that are overpriced or bad for your hair." There are many unrecognizable ingredients on a shampoo bottle label. Propylene glycol (which inhibits freezing). Ethylparaben (a preservative that prevents bacterial growth). Cyclopentasiloxane (smooths the hair). It's hard for a curly haired girl to figure out whether the ingredients back up what's promised on the label and support the $25 price tag. Basically, all shampoos have the same recipe. Lathering agents. Cleansers. Preservatives. And fragrances. So do all conditioners. OK, maybe most of them don't have butane, a pressurizing agent that helps force the mousse out of the can. (It doesn't harm people, just the environment, Begoun says.) So if it's harming us or the environment, what is the difference? There is no real safety check on ingredients in personal care products including make up, shampoos, conditioners and all of the styling products we use everyday. "The key for consumers is to look at the ingredient list, because the first is what's most in the product, and clearly whatever comes at the end, there's not much of it in the product," says Marie-Pierre Stark-Flora, assistant vice president for global product development at Kiehl's. (see ewg.org for full article) The best way to see what is in your hair product is to find out the ingredients yourself. Use natural and organic hair care products as much as possible to avoid having extra chemical buildup in your system. Also stick to mineral makeup (about my favourite brand)so more chemicals do not get into your bloodstream through your face. If you have long hair then this article on long hair care may be a big help too.

Traffic

Ok so I have now tried a few different things to send traffic to my business websites. The first was Squidoo and then this Blog. After that came Twitter and now Technorati. I'm not totally sure how Technorati works yet, but so far I have made a claim on this blog and they have asked me to put a verify code on it. 6HUTKHB5XSHV seems like an odd way to verify ownership of a blog as I could easily put that into the comments section on anyone's blog. Of course to be fair why would I try to index someone else's blog when I could just tweet it. Well I'll try to keep track of how all of this does for building business online and share what does seem to work. Yeah another odd code...This time from pinging. hostgator promotional codes Added some of my links to ASR Search Engine. I figure it can't hurt. Adding 247 backlinks to my usage as of September 30th. It gave me 1000 free backlinks to start so I put up a chrity lens to start, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation lens. We'll see how that goes. This week I also added YourProspex.com for information. Want to follow how I'm doing with it? Check out my lens Prospex on what I'm getting and not getting for free. I am updating as often as I try something or see a result from it. It's now October 1st 2011 and I have added ViralURL to my traffic generators. It came recommened on YourProspex but it seems more difficult to use than ListJoe that I also signed up for. Taking it one day at a time and only going to stick out with what actually seems to work.

Weather

Wow...Looks like summer is done now. It's very chilly out today. Not quite cold enough to close the windows (I hate having no air flow in the house)but definately chilly enough to say Fall is on it's way.
I have to take down another oak tree in my yard soon. It has to be done before winter hits as I'm worried it could fall on the house otherwise. It really kinda sucks because that is the last really big tree in the yard. But like the other oak I had, it's dying off so there is no choice. Maybe I'll plan a barbeque and bonfire for when we take it down. That way my friends who are coming to help will get a treat out of the deal too. Good thing I still have some of the beer and wine I made at Jakes for people. I highly recommend them if you are in the Windsor area.
As to meeting my goals. Yesterday I completed three new lenses on Squidoo. All about the Vada skin care lines. Balancing, Clarifying and Moisturizing. They aren't ranked too high yet, but that will come with time. I know I took the time to include more information than just the products themselves. Not sure if I'll have internet on Saturday so I have only today and early tomorrow to write a few more to stay on top of the goals I set.

Halloween is Coming Fast

Have you already figured out your costume for this year? I have. My daughter and I will be dressing alike as usual and Vampire is the word this year. Simply for us really.
If you need some help getting ready for Halloween or just want some things to do in the Windsor area check out the following information links.
Shopping for Halloween Costumes in Windsor
Where to Buy Halloween Costumes in Windsor
Halloween for Dogs
Nerd Costumes
Mom and Daughter Vampire Costumes
Nut Free Halloween Treats
Halloween Family Movies
Haunted Houses in Essex County
Stay at Home Halloween Ideas
5 Things that May help You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
Spooky Snacks
A Gold Canyon Halloween
Costume ideas and shopping places as well as snacks for at home and home decor thoughts are all covered. Give them a look to get your creative juices flowing and make Halloween 2011 something to remember! Yeah my Halloween for Dogs lens is featured under costumes in the new Happy Halloween magazine! Check otu all of the cool Halloween lenses.