Kevin Covais, the self proclaimed “nerdy kid”, has been voted off the hit show American Idol. Kevin rocketed to popularity when host Ryan Seacrest pointed out his strong resemblance to Disney’s latest animated character, Chicken Little. Seacrest was also fond of teasing the teen about his newly found sex symbol status.

From the first audition to his swan song, his pure and controlled voice never seemed to match the child’s body that went with it. Judge Simon Cowell repeatedly told the New York teenager that he didn’t have the look to be a star, but America felt differently and managed to keep him in the competition much longer than odds makers expected.

He stirred up a lot of controversy when an anti-Idol website, called Vote For The Worst, encouraged its visitors to vote for Kevin, keeping him in the competition as long as possible just for the fun of seeing him eat up the attention he was getting from fans and the female contestants. The website claims that it has the ability to taint the competition by influencing votes and getting people kicked off the show prematurely, but with Kevin’s departure their claims to power hold very little weight. Fox, the station that carries American Idol, has been very outspoken in its complaints about the website.

This week Kevin chose to sing the song, “When I Fall in Love” and while judges Randy and Paula fell in love with Kevin’s performance, Simon reserved his love only for Kevin. Saying that he liked the boy, he went on to point out that the song choices Kevin was making and his level of talent set him up to find his biggest fan base in the grandmother set. Perhaps Simon was right, and Kevin was voted off the show because his fans are of an age where they just don’t like to put down their knitting needles and power vote.

American Idol is not new to controversy. Remember Corey Clark’s claim of an affair with judge Paula Abdul and Frenchie Davis’ dismissal when topless pictures surfaced. Unforgettable moments were also provided by UC Berkeley’s William Hung’s rendition of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs”. Hung has gone on to sign a record deal, record three albums, appear in numerous TV shows and commercials, and feature in both documentaries and movies. Not bad for someone who didn’t even make it through auditions.

American Idol is in its fifth season. Past winners include Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, and Carrie Underwood.

Salim Jordan is Editor and Publisher of www.MoreThanLinks.com He regulary writes on entertainment. Visit http://buzz.morethanlinks.com

“Rejoice! You have won the jackpot!” Here you are, not knowing where your next meal is coming from, totally exhausted physically and emotionally. Then the phone rings and in an instant you’re up, running and screaming, laughing and crying all at the same time. Your downcast attitude has instantly turned to joy. Your fatigue….. What fatigue? You remember it no more because an outside force has swept you literally off your feet and changed your whole life around.

What happened from one moment to the next? An influx of adrenalin set your feet a-tapping and your circumstances are remembered no more. “Yeah,” I can almost hear you saying, “I would be happy, too, if only I won the jackpot!” If only… then! Are you one of those “if only” people? Is your happiness and joy dependent on external stimuli? Then come along with me and let’s see what David did whenever he was surrounded by all his enemies.

David, probably more than any person in the Bible, really knew and loved the Lord. He had come to know the meaning of the Lord’s lovingkindness; His unconditional love poured out on the cross to buy back the debt you could never pay. David walked and talked with God in total trust. In the Psalms we notice that every time he cries out to the Lord, he ends up praising Him for His goodness and mercy!

In Psalm 35:1-8 he begs the Lord to plead his cause and to stand up for him as if in battle. Then, sure that the Lord will do what he had just asked of Him, he exclaims: “my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?” Then he promises the Lord that when - not if - he is delivered from his troubles, “I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.” (v. 27) and finishes his song of praise (psalm) with: “Let them shout for joy, and be glad..; yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.”

Start praising Him in the middle of your difficulties. Then shift your focus from the trouble and the negative, whining, nagging voices in your head to the Solution. The devil will try to have you focus on the problem and magnify it out of proportion. Put all your energy onto the author and finisher of your faith. He alone has the solution! Trust Him and, like David did, thank Him for the outcome. Have the vision before you of more than what you want the outcome to be. Why? Because He is the God of more than enough. He supplies all of your needs according to His riches in glory. (Phil. 4:19) Then choose to forget your problems and call them – yes speak to them – a thing of the past, and wait expectantly for the solution which He has in store for you. Believe me, His blessings are far better than any temporary jackpot euphoria! While you are speaking your blessings and awaiting your miracle, He will shower you with His Peace.

“How excellent is they lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalm 37:7-9) Now go on, put on some praise music and get your feet a-tapping. Sow the seed of praise and reap your harvest of blessings!

Before I begin to describe how we prepared for and then went on our first gambling vacation, there are few details you need to know.

We are not wealthy!

We do not have rich parents to call for money! In fact we don’t have anyone we can call for money!

If we screw-up, we are on our own!

When we started discussing a weekend at the casino, it really scared us to think we could spend more than a hundred dollars at a casino.

Sure we had blown more than that during a day at the casino, but we are now talking about spending all day and all night at the casino.

How would we act?

This is like going to Vegas without all the shows and other sights to break the gambling.

We could spend all our savings in several days at the casino and this would definitely be a major screw-up.

Planning For The Trip

When we decided it was a go, my wife automatically started to plan our clothing for the trip. She always handles the packing and she is very good about taking extra clothing in case we decide to dress up one evening or have an emergency such as me pouring a drink in my lap.

My job is making sure our car is in top shape. I check the tires and change everything that needs changing or will need changing before we return.

Another of my jobs is checking our credit cards. I need to know how much cash is available on each card and the charges for getting that money. Different credit cards charge different fees for getting cash advances. I also had to call the bank to see how much cash we had available and if there were any charges on their end (there was) to access the funds using our cash card.

Next we called the casino (or casinos in case we wanted to stay at more than one) to see what comps or program specials they were offering. As it turned out we were able to get our room paid for the whole weekend because we had been playing on our comp card on previous day trips. The casino also told us if we gambled with our card in which ever game we played or if we would advise the pit boss at the table game we were playing at, we would probably not have to pay for any of our meals (don’t depend on this).

Pleased be advised if you are planning a gambling vacation to research the comp program of the casino where you plan to stay. They vary greatly and can be a major impact on your vacation.
For instance; the casino where we were planning on staying does not allow you to cash out when you end play.

If you do not know what I am talking about, the amount of money you wager is kept up with by the casino computer and using a formula unique to the casino they calculate the number of comp points you earn by playing. These comp points have a cash value. You have the option of taking that cash value in cash or gifts. The hotel stay is paid for by these comp points as well as the meals referred to earlier. The amount of money you wager directly effects this total. This is a very important part of any gambling vacation and I cannot tell you too many times to research this.

We have decided on the time and the place. Reservations are made and a credit card will hold the room. I ask if the credit card will be charged and the hotel informs me it will not unless there are other charges to the room.

The Start Of The Gambling Vacation

OK! We have called all the kids and told those who should know we are leaving this Friday morning and may not be back till the following weekend.

The car is gassed up and all levels have been checked and rechecked.

I have loaded the suitcases and placed our clothes on the rack in the back seat.

I always forget my shoes or boots so my wife makes me double check to see if I have the ones I want.

Everything is loaded and double checked. We are ready to go.

I have already pre-selected the route we will be taking and since the casino hotel is within one days driving distance we will probably arrive at the hotel about six or seven in the evening. Meals are selected from the cafe’s along the road. This is a no frills vacation.

Upon arrival at the casino hotel we are impressed by the service we receive and the VIP treatment we receive. Our bags are placed on a gold trimmed cart and we are escorted to a private check-in lobby for VIPs. This is first class treatment and we have not spent a dime….yet!

Our room is very clean and nice. A suite of sorts with a living area separated from the sleeping area. There is a huge piece of furniture in the middle of the room that sort of divides the two sections of the room and I soon find it houses a 35 inch television. We locate a small refrigerator in a small room just outside the bathroom in which we placed the sodas and bottled water we had brought with us. We always bring bottled water with us for health reasons.

The cloths are in the closet and our bags are unpacked, it is time to find the casino.

Getting Our Feet Wet

It is not hard to find the casino as all signs point us toward it. Down the elevator, across the lobby, past the VIP Lounge and down the tunnel to the riverboat. It really was a long walk but it went quickly as our excitement began to mount. We looked around first at the various banks of machine and there appeared to be a lot of action on a group of slots just inside the door to the right. My wife checked them out while I stood in a long line to see which coupons I had were good and to get whatever cash I could for them. It took about ten minutes for me to finish my adventure and I soon joined the wife.

We had agreed on a set amount of money we would spend on any given day. The idea was not to allow ourselves to overspend and have to sell the farm to get home. Our combined limit was $600. One hour and forty five minutes after arriving at the casino we were over our limit.

The television worked fine. There was ice just down the hall and the air conditioner had cooled the room down to our comfort level. I watched a movie while my wife cried.
The next day we did a little better but not much. We decided about noon to head to town and see some sights. We bored with that in about an hour and headed to a neighboring casino. About ten minutes after we arrived my wife hit a nickel machine for $600 and this definitely made us feel better.

We arrived back at our hotel around five PM and checked to see if we had enough comps for dinner. We did and soon we were enjoying a very delicious meal.

Our next venture into the casino was much more cautious. I spent a lot of time walking around before I committed to any serious gambling. I was looking for any type of trend I could find. There was not anyone in the casino doing anything except losing.

The television worked fine. There was ice just down the hall and the air conditioner had kept the room cool. I watched a movie while the wife sulked.

I guess it was about midnight when we decided to return to the casino. We had been at the hotel now for about 30 hours and we were something like $350 down (only because we had won at the other casino). We again approached the casino with caution. Walking and looking at who was doing what for almost 30 minutes before settling on a game to play. I played the $5 Double Diamond and began to win. Slowly I won until I was about $2000 ahead. I played the $10 Double Diamond some but was unable to gain anything. The wife was in shock because we had never played more than the dollar machines and here I was spinning the wheel for $20 a pop.

Just as suddenly as the machine started to pay, they stopped. I may have been more than $2500 ahead but before I realized the run had ended I had lost several hundred dollars. We played the dollar machines for a little while, but I don’t like to just give money away and we could not find a machine that would even pay enough to let us play.

The television work fine. There was ice just down the hall and the room was cold. I watched a movie and my wife counted our money.

We returned to the casino the next day but we saw no change and we were tired anyway so we decided to go home. Our first gambling vacation was successful if you counted the money but it was unsuccessful if you counted the entertainment. We wanted to gamble. Put our money in the machines and play. We did not want to just throw our money away on tight machines. It turned out OK! I guess.

Going Home

The drive home was almost uneventful. I got a ticket in one of those speed trap small towns in Louisiana which cost me $115. Oh Well!

Gamble responsibly.

Dr. D

Gambling and Dr. D. are a natural fit. As a business owner who risks his hard earned money daily, Dr. D. believes in the American dream and the people who live it.

Preaching has been integral to Christian life and practice for centuries. Preachers, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox have been in many ways God’s heating instruments to warm up people to God and to God’s mission in the world. The greatest preachers in Church history have always been convinced that preaching is more than public speaking or inspirational rhetoric but that preaching is a means by which people are literally transformed from a spiritual state of darkness to light through Jesus Christ.

If preaching is truly a way in which the divine life of God spills through one human being into the hearts of others than those that preach must be careful to keep their own spirituality active and healthy. Jesus Himself provides contemporary preachers with the best model for a spirituality of preaching

1. Jesus lived His life rooted in His identity as the Son of God. Preachers must root their own lives in a personal identity as a son or daughter of God. No other identity will stand the test of illness, ministry failures, and painful life seasons. If a preacher isn’t fire and foremost a son or daughter of God by grace than they will never be able to be a truly great preacher of the God of grace.

2. Jesus was not constantly on the go. He didn’t fill up His day planner with endless appointments, meetings, and ministry opportunities. His life was rooted in a cycle of renewal and mission. Through the pages of the New Testament Jesus would preach, teach, and heal the sick and then retreat to a quiet place with his inner circle of friends. At other times Jesus would minister and then go to a quiet place to pray by himself. Contemporary preachers place themselves in danger of becoming spiritually toxic if they believe they can continually give without finding time for rest and renewal.

3. In His earthly ministry Jesus did not attempt to save, heal, or teach every single human being on the planet. He had a tight ministry focus on the people of Israel and further refined most of His work to the rural villages of the Galilee. Contemporary preachers must set their mission focus realistically and not believe the lie that ministry success is always defined by the size of their church or the recognition they receive from the wider Christian world. Success in the preaching life is defined by faithfulness to God’s truth.

For preaching to remain rooted in God’s transformational truth requires preachers to be rooted in the Scriptures. Taking time for Scripture, besides that required for sermon preparation, requires that the preacher find time for rest and renewal. Taking time for holy resting is a commandment of one the One God and without it preachers will find themselves becoming spirituality toxic. They key to a healthy spirituality of preaching is life seasonally from times of renewal to times of mission activity.

Fr. Kevin Goodrich O.P. is an Anglican Dominican Priest who travels as a teacher of Christian spirituality and living. He is the author of the book, “Cell Phone Spirituality: What your cell phone can teach you about Life and God.” Visit Father Kevin’s blog at http://dailyspirituality.com/.

A colleague of mine sent me a troubling question: “Dave, I recently submitted an
article to a magazine I’ve worked with for a few years, and they accepted it without
comment. A month passes and they’ve paid me 1/3 of the agreed upon fee,
claiming that their staff had to completely rewrite it prior to publication and that
cost came out of my recompense. That seems really unfair: is there anything I can
do about it?”

To clarify the issue, I asked my colleague to send me a copy of the article
assignment letter, which is basically a contract between the author and the
publisher that should - one hopes - detail exactly what’s to be delivered and all the
possible contingencies, including receiving a manuscript that isn’t publishable.

Before we look at the contract wording, though, what’s odd about this situation is
that the author never had an opportunity to fix the article or even any feedback
saying that there were problems at all. Seems kind of fishy…

So far, that’s pretty typical. Notice that there’s no mention of the possible cost of
adaptation or editing in this clause of the contract. Let’s continue…

Again, that’s pretty straightforward. The question is, what’s actually written in
Exhibit B and what kind of “kill fee” is detailed, if any. And here’s the final clause, in
Exhibit B, that punctures a hole in any sort of argument that the publisher may have
with the author:

My reading of this is that it’s an all-or-nothing contract. There’s no legal provision
that gives them the right to withhold partial payment for any reason: either the
terms of the contribution are met as detailed in the Exhibit, or they’re not, in which
case “the contributor shall not be entitled to payment.”

If the difference is more than a miniscule amount I would suggest that you call up
the publisher and say that upon further reading of your contract, you do not see
that they have any basis for withholding 2/3 of your payment and that you’d like to
see a check issued for the balance of the article payment immediately.

And I’d consider finding a new publisher for your articles too.

Dave Taylor is a professional writer who has been publishing since 1982. He’s written sixteen books, including the best-selling Wicked Cool Shell Scritps, and Creating Cool Web Sites.

His latest projects are startup 101 and Ask Dave Taylor, where he’s happy to take questions from writers about contracts and publishing.

Bottles, may it be of glass or plastic, are seen to be the best means to store products that exist in liquid form such as oil. Valuable and costly oils like essential oils are also stored in bottles but not any bottle can be used.

Essential oil bottle is not similar to other oil bottles. Essential oil is costly and needs to be stored with utmost care. To save essential oil from deteriorating and to retain its aromatic properties, they should ideally be kept in either amber or cobalt blue bottles. These are particularly used to keep essential oils because they are dark glass that stops sunlight from penetrating.

Glass amber and glass cobalt blue bottles are commonly used to store essential oil. Cobalt blue bottles are more expensive than amber colored bottle. Don’t go for clear glass bottles when you are searching for essential oil. You may find some lenders selling essential oil in aluminum bottles; they are also suitable if the interior of the bottle is lined.

Essential oil bottles are available in different sizes to meet the desired needs and requirements of the people. They usually come in 5ml, 10ml as well as 15ml. But, expensive essential oils are available in size as little as 2ml. Keeping essential oil bottle openly is risky as they may fall and break down. In such cases, wooden boxes are the best to store essential oils.

People put essential oil at work for different personal purposes. Essential oils are quite easy to use and have therapeutically benefits. They are commonly used for easy inhalation, steam inhalation that can help with cold and influenza, massage that helps in toning the body and activating dead cells, room freshening or bath.
Things you need to remember: -
 Essential oils should also be stored in a cool, dark place.
 Avoid buying essential oils in plastic bottles as the essential oil can dissolve the plastic
 Avoid buying essential oils that have a rubber eyedropper bulb in the top
 Wooden boxes can be used to store essential oils
 Avoid oils that are sold in clear glass bottles as the clear glass can allow light that can damage the essential oils.
 Read the safety data for the essential oils you desire to use
Make sure to keep all the above-mentioned points in mind when you shop for essential oil bottles next time. If you are looking to buy wooden box for the essential oil bottles you have, you can buy suitable boxes economically from many craft stores. But, in case you don’t want to get into the trouble of going out of home. You can look for online lenders, just insert “essential oil bottle” in any of the search engine it could be goggle or yahoo and you can access infinite number of online lenders and then can choose the appropriate essential oil and can order for it, that too online.

Bryan Josling is working with the Horticultural Research Station in Adelaide. He has also been involved with research on plants. To find Aromatherapy essential oils, essential massage oils, essential oils wholesale visit www.ndaroma.com

Many years ago a nifty little device came out called the Crock Pot. You could cut up a bunch of veggies, meat, and spices, dump them in the pot, and it did all the hard work. You came home at the end of the day and Presto you had a nice hearty meal. Add a salad and some bread/rolls and you were set.

As I visit numerous on line boards and web groups/forums I see more and more people mentioning how they made their meal in the crock pot. I am happy to see it is making a comeback. With all the press which the obesity crisis and how bad we all eat is getting, it gives me hope for many Americans. Now we just have to worry about how to get the rest of them to eat healthier.

I am so tired of hearing from people they don’t have the time for home cooked meals. I work, I have the kids, yada, yada, yada. Everyone has some kind of excuse. However, if you ask these same people if they saw Survivor, Amazing Race or any number of other reality shows, they can recite the show from beginning to end. Well, how about using your hands for something other than stuffing your face while you are watching television. Cut up some meat and vegetables. If you really don’t have the time it will take to cook up the meat (anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the meat and how you like it) then buy pre-cooked meat.

If you take time each night you can cut up enough veggies and meat for meals all week. For lunch make it the night before. Buy yogurt on sale and take it to work. Or do what I did for years, I made my sandwich the night before. One slice of bread with chicken, turkey, tuna, egg salad with a piece of fruit. Not only will you eat better but you will save money too!

Breakfast, get up 15-30 minutes early and take the time for a glass of juice with a multi-vitamin and a bowl of cereal, oatmeal, eggs, etc. Be calorie conscious with the cereal, stay away from those high in sugar and calories. However, remember eating a good breakfast is of utmost importance. Research has shown that this is the most important meal of the day. It is the meal that is going to give you the energy to get through the day!

So start eating healthier today, you no longer have any excuses!

Copyright 2005, DeFiore Enterprises

About the Author

Introducing Keep Kids Fit: How To Help Kids For Fun And Profit! Solutions for parents who want healthy children in body and mind!Our motto, “Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Help Keep Kids Fit” Keep Kids Fit asks the question: Do You Want To Help Foster A Healthy Lifestyle For Your Child! Visit our website today at: http://www.keepkidsfit.com

LV series oil purifier(oil purifier,oil purification,oil
filtration,oil filter,oil treatment,oil recycling,oil
regeneration,oil filtering, oil reclaim plant,oil recovery,waste
managment,oil disposal,oil reclamation.oil restoration )are
suitable especially for purifying and restoring hydraulic oil,
machine oil, coolant oil and various other lubrication oil. The
most breakdown of machinery which has lubrication oil system
results from contaminated lubrication in which has water, gas,
impurities etc. LV series can rapidly remove water, gas,
particulate matters and impurities from lubrication oil and
improve properties of lubricating oil so as to greatly extend
lifetime of machinery which has lubrication system.

It’s the time of year when many of you stay inside, and have
more time for special household projects you seldom get around
to otherwise — like cleaning your jewelry, and implementing
better maintenance and storage techniques that will last
throughout the year. Consider these tips on your J&M Jewelry
Designs sterling silver jewelry:

Dish soap and even toothpaste are common household substances
used for jewelry cleaning, but experts recommend confining them
to sinks and mouths. These products are not designed for
jewelry, and can be too rough on the metals. Skip the
toothbrushes, too.

If you’ve ever had an ugly gray residue around your neck, wrists
or fingers, you’ve experienced the effects of tarnished silver.
Because of its vulnerability to tarnishing, sterling silver
needs special care.

Oxygen — which produces tarnish — is silver’s worst enemy, so
always tuck away your silver jewelry pieces in places like
drawers, plastic bags or velvet pouches instead of leaving them
out in the open. To add extra protection, put paper anti-tarnish
strips — available at many jewelry stores — inside the
containers.

Usually, wiping well-kept silver with a jewelry cloth will
suffice for maintenance, unless tarnish already has appeared. If
you want to clean the jewelry further, use a solution
specifically made for silver. Do not use silver cleaning
solutions on other jewelry — they can damage other types of
metals and gemstones. A thick, homemade paste — made out of
baking soda and a few drops of water — also can clean silver
well. Rinse and dry the piece after using the paste.

Pearls are among the most delicate jewels and require special
care. Wipe pearls off with a damp soft cloth after each wearing
because sweat, body oil and cosmetic products can erode the
pearls. Keep your pearls away from hard or sharp jewelry items
that could scratch them. Pearls are best stored in a soft cloth
pouch, or a separately lined segment of a jewelry box.

If you use an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, don’t use it for
porous and fragile turquoise, for pearls or other organic
materials, which can be damaged by the device.

Store your jewelry carefully; don’t just toss it in a jewelry
box. The silver, gemstones and other materials can get
scratched, especially if they are softer gemstones. Wrap pieces
individually in tissue paper or velvet, or arrange them
carefully in a jewelry box so that they do not touch each other.

When getting dressed, try to apply perfumes and hair sprays and
let them dry before putting on your jewelry, so that it doesn’t
develop a residue; this especially applies to pearls. Also, make
sure all body lotion has absorbed into the skin before putting
on jewelry.

Do not wear your jewelry — particularly rings or bracelets –
while doing any household cleaning, gardening, or other dirty
work. Over time, the household soaps can cause stress and
fatigue in the metals.

Our jewelry is a piece of art, if it is well looked after, its
beauty will be enhanced with age.

A simple way to take personal responsibility for your life and live it from a field of all possibilities, a look at empowering yourself through the concept of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a wonderful gift that we have been given to re-centre our energies within our Selves. For as long as we project our power to another and blame them for our current situation we are dis-empowering ourselves.

Forgiveness is a state of mind: We can choose to forgive someone at any time just by saying the words – “I forgive you” and say the persons name if you know it. Quite often you feel the release as you do this and feel your energy coming back home to yourself.

You can also forgive yourself for all the people you may have wronged or hurt. Self-forgiveness is even more important than forgiving other. This is because we find it difficult to love ourselves if we are blaming ourselves for some event that may have happened in our lives.

This process is all about putting you back in the driving seat of your life. Re-centring your energies in the Now moment. That means not thinking about the past or future but being aware in this moment, knowing that all possibilities are open to you within this moment.

It is also about being the creator of your life and choosing your mood and direction. If you centre your energies on your heart and come from the area of love that is within your heart. You will feel the direction to take.

Know also that you are not separate from this world, it is all a part of your Self and on some level within you, you know of this connection. Therefore give out what you would like to receive.

If you would like to read more about Healing and forgiveness visit HealerGeorge’s web site below:

Message channelled by George Lockett (C) Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved. Read HealerGeorge’s Blog: Journey into the Self
Yes, I can send you absent/distant healing: this will really help. Just follow the instructions on the home page of my web site at: HealerGeorge Web Site and Distant Healing

As you make your donation you will get the opportunity to put in your personal details, so I can focus the healing directly to you.
Or ask at question at: Ask HealerGeorge