The Sassy Water Recipe is by far the best thing I’ve heard about the Flat Belly Diet. Sassy water gets its name from from Prevention magazine nutrition director Cynthia Sass. She’s the one that came up with the Sassy Water recipe originally. Read the full story

Rebecca Gayheart Video – The latest celebrity to have a tape, although I’m pretty sure it’s digital footage, after all, who actually uses tape these days, is Rebecca Gayheart and her husband Eric Dane and a VERY close friend, the stunning Kari Ann Peniche. Why we as a society, are so fascinated with celebrity sex scandals, speaks volumes about the puritanical mindset that still pervades this nation. Of course, why people who should know better, are recording themselves in the first place, is another question.

Now there is some confusion as to whether the tape can even be considered a “sex” tape since no actual sex occurs on the footage. Rebecca and her husband are seen cavorting naked with Kari Ann Peniche, another amazing beauty.

Now I’m not saying that I wouldn’t enjoy watching Rebecca Gayheart in the buff, after all, she is after all a stunningly beautiful woman, but let’s face it folks, after a while, these “sex scandals” get kinda boring, don’t you think?

In addition to Eric Dane and his lovely wife Rebecca Gayheart, the video footage also includes former beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche. The three of them appear in their birthday suits and during the video, it becomes apparent that they are all three in various states of intoxication.

Eric Dane is the one of the stars of the very popular TV show, Gray’s Anatomy in which he plays the role of Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a. “McSteamy”, not to be confused with “McDreamy” who is played by Patrick Dempsey in his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd.

Rebecca Gayheart is a stunningly beautiful Television and film actress who’s TV credits include such hit shows as Nip/Tuck, Medium and Ugly Betty. She also has a recurring role on Beverly Hills 90210.

Kari Ann Peniche is a a former beauty queen from Oregan. She once held the Miss Teen United States title and competed for the title of Miss Teen USA before being stripped of her title after appearing on the pages of Playboy in the November 2004 issue.

So while the the story os being touted as another “Sex Tape Scandal”, it really amounts to three friends enjoying a little naked time. Los Angeles Police where investigating but found no evidence that an actual crime had been committed.

The video has made it’s way onto the internet already although the parties involved have threatened all sorts of lawsuits if anyone has the cojones to actually post the video. According to reports, Gawker.com has released a version of the tape where the obscure all the participants lower bodies but be warned that if you find the video, Mr. Danes wife and friend are topless.

Call me when they find the real sex tape, will ya!

When Chicago shuts down to save money then you know that things must be really bad for the windy city but is closing down the whole city of Chicago in order to save money really a good solution or just a short term, non-effective desperate measure. One could also ask whether the fact that Chicago shuts down to save money will turn into a regular trend for the city and if it is accepted perhaps will become a national trend.

When Chicago shuts down to save money today, which will mean almost a total 24 hour standstill of public services, it is estimated that the city will alleviate it’s somewhat gigantic $ 300 million budget shortfall. When Chicago shuts down to save money it will mean that all non-essential services such as trash collection, libraries, libraries etc. will all be closed in the first of three scheduled service reduction days. City authorities hope that when Chicago shuts down to save money it will save an estimated $8.3 million dollars which barely scratches the surface of the current deficit. This measure also calls for workers to take unpaid vacation in order to show support for this drastic measure. Chicago’s Mayor Richard M Daley said he greatly appreciated the sacrifice being made and that every dollar saved will lead to job creation for folks today and the future generations of Chicago. He also stated the steps require most folks to accept some form of cuts in order to deal with the current budget crisis.

Two more such days have already been planned in the “Chicago shuts down to save money” scheme which may have drastic results during the holiday period. The next such day is planned for 27th of November the day after Thanksgiving day and the final is planned for 24th of December Christmas eve. During these two following “shut down” days workers have been asked to take some unpaid days off and accept vacation without salary.

Chicago isn’t alone when it comes to tightening the belt as states throughout the U.S. follow suit in a bid to reduce costs and curb outlandish budget shortages.California, for example has declared a monetary emergency enforcing a three day a month public sector stste offices closure and Michigan plans to withhold public sector pay from it’s employees for the last week in September.

It looks like the “season of joy” could be anything but merry for a lot of folks across the U.S. this coming holiday season.

The definition of nugatory is something that has little or no value. It has come to my attention that there might be a nugatory sale at either Linder’s Furniture store, Ashley Furniture Canada, or Lee Furniture. While I’ve checked some of their websites for a sale, and couldn’t find any out in the open, that does mean there isn’t a sale. Since the fall season is approaching, that means Labor Day holiday is coming soon (in about 2 weeks to be precise) and these stores need to clear inventory to have their labor day sale. Why it’s call a nugatory sale I’m not too sure but it’s a strange word indeed. It’s probably a good idea to search out other furniture outlets that also might have such sales going on because the Labor Day sale is always a big occasion in the United States, especially because of the profits these furniture stores will book when they sell their sofas, tables, chairs, and such.

“Seen the squirrel photo? Couple tells us it’s real.” How do we know that this is a genuine photo, not a fake or a setup, not a publicity stunt?

Maybe it’s a fake, but I doubt it. Maybe they had a pet squirrel with them. I doubt it. Maybe they had a stuffed squirrel with them.

No, it’s got to be a real squirrel, who could get a stuffed squirrel to look as good as a real one like that?

And even if they had a pet squirrel with them have a look at how far away they are sitting. You’ve got to have a pretty tame pet squirrel to sit right up there in front of the camera like that and not move.

But what I wanted to talk about wasn’t about the squirrel photo, couple or not behind it. What I wanted to point out was the marvels of modern cameras.

Have a good look at the squirrel photo, couple behind, squirrel in front. What do you see?

Well if you’re not a photographer you might just see a squirrel photo, nothing more. But I immediately noticed something.

See how perfectly the squirrel is in focus? You couldn’t ask for a better focus than that. Now of course you could assume that the photo was a fake and the reason the squirrel is in such good focus proves the photo is a fake.

But no, you’d probably be wrong. I’ll bet this was what happened with the squirrel photo.

The couple set the camera on auto timer so they could set it up, and have time to sit down a little distance away and get composed before the camera went off.

Then just before it was due to take the shot the squirrel jumped in front and hey presto, you’ve got the perfect squirrel photo, couple behind, squirrel, in focus, in front.

That’s not proof that it’s a fake squirrel photo, that’s testament to the power of modern cameras to refocus in an instant. It didn’t quite get the depth of field, the couple are a little out of focus, but the camera did a pretty good job of taking a great photo, all by itself.

Hurricane Bill projected path is so far still forming but early guesses indicate that it may hit the U.S. Virgin Islands by the end of this week. With the world environment changing or out of whack, the hurricane season has started much later than usual. Hurricanes Ana, Guillermo, and Claudette are so far weakening or are in the process of just being a tropical storm. With this side of the world being pretty fortunate in terms of hurricanes, Hurricane Bill is the first serious storm that could damage homes and threaten lives, and we’ve been lucky to not have been hit by anything major the past couple of months. The good news is that it is still too early to tell where Bill is going to go but at minimum residents on the eastern coast of Canada and the United States have more than enough time to prepare. Hurricane Bill currently is clocking in speeds of up to 75ish miles per hour and even though it will likely gain in strength over the coming days, weather experts say there is a good chance that Bill will not hit land. May become a level 3 hurricane in 2 to 3 days and is currently 1140 miles east of Lesser Antilles.

Hurricane Bill’s projected path is west or northwest-ish but the storm is still pretty far from any major land and it could dissipate by the time it reaches land, if it does.

Traffic tickets… here is today’s traffic advisory. A traffic ticket is not our favorite thing to get, or to be given. In fact, you know it’s a sign of a bad day when you get a ticket on the way in to work.

Given the harsh realities of budget deficits for cities and towns everywhere these days, one way a clever municipality could collect more revenue is by intensifying law enforcement.

These might be the infringements of the ordinances that once were overlooked, but now they could mean big bucks for a township (if you want to look at things that way).

Yes, you could go to court and try to argue your way out of a ticket, but the easier thing to do is not to get a traffic violation in the first place.

Besides what a traffic fine might cost you, think about your vehicle insurance. It could skyrocket.

Not to mention that if you really messed up on the road and the cops were on the scene, you might be looking at some serious jail time in addition to fines and your lawyer bills.

If a traffic violation involves alcohol (like a DUI or DWI), I”ll tell you what, you are in deep trouble.

Avoid breaking the law when driving.

The single biggest thing to be watching out for today is school zones. The permissible speed can be decreased massively and quickly.

If you miss seeing the school zone sign it could cost you.

School zones have a variety of different speed limits, depending upon where you live.

Watch out for school zones.

Study the signs.

When you see a school, slow down.

Right now back to school season has begun. Some schools are already in session.

Others don’t begin til September.

When school is in session, children are about.

That’s why the speed limits exist. That’s why the speed limits are low.

Sometimes fines are even doubled for speeding in places like construction zones or school zones. Slow down.

You do not want a ticket.

You do not want you money to be paid out for a traffic fine, when you could have avoided it.

Most important, you do not want to injure a child with your car or motorcycle.

And oh my gosh, you do not want to kill a child and live with that guilt in jail for the rest of your life.

So have I made my case?

Back to school means back to tickets for anyone speeding in a school zone.

If you speed in a school zone, do not be surprised when you see the flashing lights in your rear view mirror.

Traffic tickets can be avoided if you drive smart. Avoid traffic tickets. Respect school zones. Speeding in a school zone is the quick way to get a ticket, have a bad day, risk arrest, or even to end up in jail.

Costco, well-regarded warehouse store chain, has reportedly pulled a controversial product from the market.

Could all this be true?

The big hubbub going around is that Costco had a boxed dark-skinned baby doll in the store, that came with an adorable stuffed monkey. On the baby doll’s cap were the words Lil Monkey.

That’s it.

That’s racism?

Has the age of political correctness just hit its proper stride, or, in the contrarian view, are we getting too terribly politically correct for our own good?

If you were Costco, what would you have done?

Do the people on Twitter and the web now have so much power that the nation’s retailers will let them decide store inventory?

Some people ARE really offended by this, apparently.

Other people consider the whole fight fest to be of laughable import.

Maybe it’s just that we don’t have enough good old-fashioned controvery these days– we now have to invent stories to keep us entertained. Is that it?

Or perhaps this is just the tip of the iceberg in a racist society and people have had enough.

Or maybe both sides in this controversy have valid points.

So if this story is true, and if Costco pulled the item, what should Costco do next? Should they let the Lil Monkey story die along with their inventory item Cuddle Baby #404860? Or, is Costco now obligated to keep the conversation going and should they do some kind of community service to regain stature in the eyes of customers?

The Gina Carano Vs Cris Cyborg fight was one of the most anticipated bout in MMA history, or at least in women’s MMA history. Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg are the two highest profile women MMA athletes and it was only a matter of time before the two faced off in a fight to see who is queen of the women MMA world.

The American Gina Carano is a crowd’s favorite, at least in North America: she is beautiful and deadly at the same time. Gina Carano’s weigh in was an event onto itself and had the crowd roaring. She might be beautiful but she is also a very accomplished MMA athlete with convincing wins over some of the best fighters in women MMA. The Carano Cyborg fight set the record straight as to who is the best current MMA fighter.

The Brazilian Cris Cyborg had plans of her own to foil the meteoric rise of Gina Carano to the top of the women MMA rooster. An incredibly aggressive striker, Cris Cyborg has bullied her way to the top of the league, stringing impressive wins one over the other. To many, in this fight she was the favorite to win over Carano, who fought for the first time in her career as the underdog.

My prediction for the Gina Carano Cris Cyborg fight was that if Gina can weather the first round flurry of Cris Cyborg she would eventually get the better of the Brazilian. Cris has never faced a tough opponent like Gina whose striking is also world class and who will not stand there and take it without retaliating with a few shots of her own. That plus the fact that Cris cardio has shown signs of weaknesses before would mean that if the fight reaches the latter rounds things might sway in the favor of Gina as times goes on. Not to underestimate Cris Cyborg though, she is a real wrecking machine with real knock out power.

So was I right or way off with my prediction? On to the Gina Carano Cris Cyborg fight proper:
Round 1: Cris Cyborg dominating, landing more shots and scoring more take downs. It looks like Gina Carano is having trouble coping with the strength and aggressivity of Cris Cyborg Santos. Near the end of the round Cris scores the take down and grounds and pounds Carano to take the victory.

Gina Carano Vs Cris Cyborg fight result: Cris Cyborg wins the fight by GNP round 1.

US sugar supplies ‘running out’ because of the import limits being imposed on manufacturers by the American government. These curbs are causing a scare among makers of sugar based products who say that if the current rules stay in place that it could lead to a scarcity in US sugar supplies. Read the full story

Today is the 64th anniversary of VJ Day: on the 14th August 1945 Japan surrendered and the war in the Pacific was over, America and the allies had won. For those of us who lived in the Pacific it was a much more important moment than the VE day which was the end of the war in Europe when Berlin fell in May 1945.

Not that I recall it – I am not that old! But I do remember my mother talking about VJ day from the point of view of New Zealander. Japan was seen as a much scarier enemy than Hitler ever was. Australia had serious bombing damage to Darwin and other northern towns. A Japanese submarine was sunk in Sydney’s harbour.

Particularly New Zealand, but to a lesser extend Australia – the price of sending troop to support Churchill and the British saw their own countries basically undefended. If the Japanese hadn’t bombed Pearl Harbor and therefore involved the US in the Pacific War it could well have been that certainly Australia would have fallen to the Japanese well-organised forces.

VJ day was a huge relief – we debate the ethics of dropping not one but two nuclear bombs on Japan – the reality is that otherwise World War 2 could have dragged on for many more years.

The PC police have been having a go at VJ day as well – there is move to rename Victory against Japan to Victory in the Pacific – so as not to pick on the Japanese I guess. Well tell that to the thousands of civilians and POW’s who died of starvation or worse in the death camps, the death railways and the general cruelty which really was at totally different level to that which happened in Europe.

It wasn’t just the well known stories of the Burmese railway and the Bridge over the River Kwai deaths. There was the Australian nurses who having survived their ship being torpedoed were then hearded up on the beach – walked into the water and shot in the back of the head, along with their injured patients.

I know it was all long time ago – but there are still a few of that generation who will never be able to forgive the Japanese military for what happened during WWII and they will certainly be celebrating 14 August as VJ day – Victory against Japan day!

It was with sadness that I discovered that pilot involved in tragic mid-air collision between a light aircraft and a sightseeing helicopter was in fact ex-pat Kiwi, Jeremy Clarke. In total all nine passengers and crew on the two vehicles were killed when they collided mid-air above the Hudson River. The single-engine Piper light plane had three on-board when it collided with a Clarke’s chopper which was owned by Liberty Helicopters and had been chartered by five Italian tourists.

The air corridor above the Hudson and particularly near the Statue of Liberty can get very busy on a fine day. Helicopters are not under aircraft control – so long as they stay below 350 meters and don’t get too near to the Manhattan skyscrapers.

I am not at all surprised that a New Zealander was at the controls of the tourist’s helicopter. For a country of only 4 million people we export a great deal of talent and we also have a very high percentage of qualified pilots – really! Between the top-dressing industry, deer shooting and tourism we have a lot of New Zealanders with pilot licences.

The thing is that ultimately flying in small planes, and more particularly helicopters is intrinsically dangerous. I always think its quite funny when I travel that most people worry about crossing the road or eating bad food, or being mugged. But the real risks aren’t any of those things – instead its flying in small planes and even catching a tourist bus in many countries.

So yes its a tragedy that has occurred in NYC and I really hope that there were no issues with air traffic control as is being reported today. But at the end of the day I think that New Zealand pilot was probably living his dream – and I can imagine that the Italian tourists were having a great time seeing the highlights of Manhattan including a close-up view of the famous New York icon: the Statue of New York.

The question that does appear to being asked is what, if any role did air traffic controllers, who have now been suspended, have on that fateful day over the Hudson River which ended in tragedy.

PGA Championship 2009 looks set to be a most interesting event this year as the general consensus appears to have swayed concerning a likely victor for this years tournament. Normally the name Tiger Woods would be quoted as the untouchable probable champion and most folks would take it for granted that this would probably be the outcome but this year brings an interesting wind of change. PGA Championship 2009 sees Padraig Harrington the Irishman take equal prominence in the pre-competition hullabaloo and viewers are beginning to doubt Tiger Woods as a given trophy holder. Read the full story

The Lockheed fire is terrible! The folks of Santa Cruz, California are in grave danger as brave fire crews are right now evacuating the residents of this county and battle the ferocious flames that threaten to burn down homes and forests alike. California is known for its propensity to have disasters, such as fires, wild fires, earthquakes, scandals of corrupt officials, and of course O.J. Simpson. Read the full story