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» Home Security Systems Make Parenting Easier

By China at 1:42 PM

Little children are curious and older children tend to try and sneak out of the house when you are sleeping at night. Let's face it; you can't watch them 24 hours a day. You have to sleep. That is why one of the most important things to own as a parent is a home security system. A home security system provides you with the peace of mind you need as a parent. Whether you have a little one and want to go take a shower or a teen that wants to go out and hang with their friends at night.

Home security systems are designed so that every time a door or window is opened or broken the alarm will sound alerting everyone in the neighborhood. Now many people think that these systems are only designed to keep intruders out, but they also do an excellent job of keeping your children in the house.

No more worrying about leaving the children playing in the den in sight of the pool. If the alarm system is set you know that you will be alerted if your child gets out of the house and into potential danger. Having that kind of peace of mind is more valuable than even knowing if someone has come into your house. And if you are having trouble managing your teenager, alarm systems allow you to keep them put for a while and can even help enforce groundings while you are at work or school. It is a big deterrent that the alarm system will sound if they try to leave or try to have one of their friend's in

Parents of today need to be prepared for anything and that is why a home security system is so important. It not only keeps intruders out, but it keeps your children in the house and safe from harm and that is really what makes them an invaluable parenting tool.

» FREEDOMS MOST AMERICANS TAKE FORGRANTED

By China at 12:19 PM

Three young Americans on a school sponsored trip to the Republic of China were recently quarantined while the government tried to determine if they had acquired H1N1 or what is better known as the swine flu, after they had shared a flight with a fellow passenger who displayed a temperature in the thermal screening process upon reentering the communist country.

While on a group outing the day after they arrived the three siblings and several other students and one of the teachers in their group who were seated within 10 rows of this passenger with the fever were abruptly asked to immediately return to their hotel and upon returning, their passports were promptly confiscated and they were ushered by armed guards and taken to another hotel for the duration of their quarantine. Quarantine in what would be called less than ideal conditions; no air conditioning in temperatures that were in the high 80's and even reaching above 90 degrees with sealed windows in the rooms and in complete isolation, having contact only with the contamination suit garbed health attendants who would take their temperature twice daily.

After the abject terror of not knowing what was going to happen to them had worn off and battling the oppressive heat and boredom they spent much of their time reflecting on not their plight, because it would be coming to an end eventually as they were not sick, but that of the hotel management and staff who also now were quarantined as well.

As of May 1st the Chinese government declared the hotel a quarantine zone and everyone who had originally been working there were under armed guard enforced quarantine, they too would not be able to leave even to see their families, indefinitely. Because the Chinese government was now using the hotel to house possible swine flu carriers these hotel employees were needed to continue with their job functions, making their stay more of an indefinite one.

Upon the students release after 7 days of forced quarantine, the three teens finished their tour of China with the rest of their group and returned to the United States grateful to be back in their own country where citizens have rights and freedom of choice. In reflection they felt miserable for complaining about the conditions of their detention for 7 days, primarily because it came to an end and they would be returning to their family, but for the Chinese people there is no end in a country where people do not have civil rights or freedom of choice, speech, or liberty.

When these children from a rather privileged background spoke to these hotel employees and inquired what would become of them now, their response was as if they were reading from a script, as they all politely stated that it was an honor to serve the great leader and the Republic of China and would say no more and simply smile politely.

The experience had given these young people an adult education in real time and a very new realization and profound gratitude for having been fortunate enough to simply be born in the United States. An education all of their previous history teachers had tried to instill in them over the years of their education all the while they recited the pledge allegiance to the flag, but could never really meaningfully accomplish the way this personal experience had done.

The trip was meant to be a goodwill exchange, a student ambassador trip to communist China, a cultural experience. Instead what the trip turned out to be thanks to their brief detention, was an invaluable lesson in life and the constitution, one they had never learned in school, but will not soon forget, the lesson being … a deeper understanding and gratitude for the civil rights most Americans take for granted.

We are fortunate to live in a country where the citizens decide who will represent and govern its people, for the people by the people, one in which there is liberty and justice for all, those great ideals our forefathers put down for us. Our society although imperfect is the greatest industrialized nation in the world with the rights and freedoms no other country than America provides to its citizens.

There are many wonderful places in the world to visit, with wonderful cultures and beautiful places to see, but I have to say that I am always happy to come back to the United States of America when I have been abroad, where I know we are truly free. We have laws, as other countries do that we all must abide by, but we also have rights as citizens that many people from other countries do not have; such as freedom of speech and religion and one other very important freedom, one that inspired the Declaration of Independence, no taxation without representation. We truly are fortunate to be born American.

I have lived part time (3 months of the year) in foreign countries for 15 years, for the splendor of their culture, people, vistas and cuisine, but still at the end of the day was happy to be coming home, year after year to the United States, my country and home.

By living abroad for 3 months at a time you get to know what it is to really live in that country more like a citizen and not just simply as a tourist. Some of the things you find about living abroad can be shocking to an American and some seem inane or just amusingly annoying such as; in Italy where during peak summer months you can only drive your car on odd or even days, which is determined by your car's license plate number in order to reduce traffic and the amount of smog during their peak tourist season. But how do you get to work I asked, only to be told oh, somehow or another (wink wink), but still in a very resigned way. Or, the tax you must pay every year for having a cigarette lighter in your car, but don't ask me the reason for that one, no one knew. Americans are becoming outraged over some of the new administrations proposals for increased taxes. If most of us only knew how well we have it. The tax code in some countries (not socialist either) call for those earning the most to pay more than 70% of their income in taxes. Imagine the outrage in this country if we asked our citizens to pay that kind of income tax. Tax relief wouldn't even be the term for the help people would be seeking. It would be more in line with extreme tax help.

The last year I lived there they were discussing a new tax to be levied on any person who made burial plot arrangements for a spouse or family member (the majority of the population is Catholic which requires burial), in which the person who arranged the burial would have to pay a land tax for the plot of the deceased every year. I jokingly asked if they didn't pay do they foreclose on your burial plot and dig you up. Italians mostly laughed and made jokes about who it was that came up with the crazy ideas for the particular and often times peculiar taxes they had to pay or reduction of their freedoms, but that was where the laughter ended. As they said they really had no say in the matter, but simply had to obey and pay them because that was the ways of socialism and other recourse did they have?

I came home that year and for the first time was happy to pay my taxes with certitude for the fact that I had some input and recourse where my taxes were concerned, and grateful knowing that we do not have taxation without representation as in other countries. Glad that Washington politicians could not arbitrarily make up imagined taxation and stay in office or even get the legislation passed.

Another great example would be Dubai; it is a fabulous getaway for the seasoned traveler with its spectacular and plush surroundings, accommodations and shopping. You can find every imaginable luxury there and many Americans and other foreign workers have taken up residence due to the many lucrative employment opportunities that exist there.

However, since the recent global recession tourism is down in Dubai and as in most countries it is often the foreign workers who are hit the hardest when it comes to the inevitable downsizing and Dubai is no different than the United States in that respect, but that is where the similarity ends.

At the airport long term parking garage in Dubai on any day you go there you will find a large number of abandoned new vehicles. Every day there are more and more, and 8 out of 10 of those cars belong to foreign nationals. The reason for that is due to the recession thousands of foreign workers have been fleeing the country for fear of being imprisoned. In Dubai they have debtors prison, so if you fall behind on your home mortgage or car payment because you lost your job they not only come and take your car away, they take you too. There's no option for debt consolidation or even a debt consolidation loan in countries like these. We have it so good and we don't even know it.

So many people are booking a permanent vacation out of Dubai that the airport garage looks more like an upscale used car lot. Citizens of the beautiful country don't have that luxury of escape and are often left imprisoned for an indeterminate sentence because it's nearly impossible to make money while in prison to repay the delinquent debt, and unless a family member or friend is willing to repay your debt you will likely languish in prison.

In order to successfully get out of the country without arising suspicion and being arrested one must book a roundtrip ticket for a supposed holiday and leave everything you own behind other than what you can reasonably take for a vacation, including money. Hence, you have many foreigners leaving on flights out everyday, as if they were returning, but in actuality are simply abandoning all their personal possessions and the car they could no longer afford the payment on at the airport garage.

Once again, I came home happy to pay my taxes and grateful for credit counseling agencies that will help restructure my debt management plan if I fall behind on my credit card bill or car payment. Grateful that if I have really gotten in a deep financial mess that same non profit and reputable credit counseling agency will see me through and help me to determine if I simply need to restructure my debt management plan, need to consolidate my debt or take debt settlement steps. I know that I will not go to jail because I lost my job, or was taken in a Ponzi scheme and have been left with nothing in savings or my retirement account and now cannot pay my debts or remain retired or retire in the near future. I know that I can seek the help of that credit counselor that will help me weed through the financial dilemma I find myself in and be able to make sense of my fiscal life again and go on to rebuild it.

I also know that my government is on my side to help me stay in my home, and that there is a program in place to assist me in the renegotiation of my flawed sub prime Fannie May or Freddie Mac mortgage that has been repackaged with the balloon payment or interest rate I can no longer afford, and that my government does not instead want to provide me with another home consisting of a 4 by 10 cell.

That if, although I have engaged a reputable non profit credit counseling agency to help me with my debt management, as is now required before filing for bankruptcy, and I have taken steps to pursue debt settlement or debt consolidation to no avail, that I can in fact file for bankruptcy and begin the long and painful road to rebuilding my credit, not to be working on the road or highway on the prison work crew. I am truly thankful to be an American with those debt management options.

The recession is having a global effect on people all over the world and the suffering we have seen brought on by the lax banking regulations and Wall Street greed which in turn resulted in the greatly increased number of foreclosures and bankruptcies' being filed here in the United States is a palpable pain. But, even in our suffering we are fortunate to be suffering here rather than abroad where things are much worse with fewer resources in most instances. It was not their ponzified paper and mortgages that were being bundled and packaged and re-packaged, sold and resold just to make the broker fees, it was ours. As indignant as we feel about what has transpired here in our financial markets, imagine what it must be like in other countries around the world where they were completely innocent of the entire process and yet are paying the price.

For the majority of Americans this recession combined with the meltdown of Wall Street and resulting burst of the inflated real estate bubble has made all of us rethink our priorities and debt to income ratios. Thinking, that used to determine how much money we spent and on what, had to be revised as families and single people alike began dealing with a reduction of benefits, hours, or mandatory unpaid leave of absence which has negatively affected their income.

Prior to this recession; which officially began in the U.S in December 2007 with a very slight drop in the gross national product (GNP) as the very first indicator of a decline in the economy, and which gradually made a steady minimal decline in the following months only to show signs of real trouble beginning after the first quarter of 2008. Statistics indicate that 72% of workers in the United States spent $1.15 for every dollar they earned, and 67% carried a credit card balance in excess of $6,000.00 dollars with 42% carrying a balance of as much on an average of $26,000.00 dollars in credit card debt or student loans alone.

The rampant disposition of buy now pay later is quickly becoming a thing of the past as consumers have had to at least minimally cut their spending, revamp their budgets and get their debt management habits in order. An emergency savings account may as well have been in a foreign language to the average household and a reserve account to cover your monthly bills for six months also non-existent in most cases. Credit counseling, debt management, debt settlement or debt consolidation … Latin to most of us. All of the pre-recession mind set of debt management has been replaced with new thinking ala recession shock treatment and the Oprah Winfrey shows featuring economic/money management guru Suzy Orman and the like, who most people had never heard of before the recession hit.

In a way it is the wake up call we have all needed though. We are surviving this struggling economy and according to the Associated Press' latest GfK poll, debt related stress is down 12% in contrast to statistics from the same period in 2008. Research psychologist and AP consultant Paul J. Lavrakas concluded that, “People now have some optimism that the worst is behind them.” Another source, associate professor of sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who studies debt related stress, Patricia Drentea said, “People are doing things that make them feel like they are taking charge of their lives again.” In other words that would mean we as a nation are practicing better debt and money management, seeking the assistance of reputable non profit credit counseling when we can't rein it in on our own and hopefully making a lifetime practice of prudent debt management and remembering to live with-in our means.

As an aside, I must state that the poll indicated there was a vast difference in the polls findings among Democrats and Republicans. Republicans stated their debt anxiety had increased sharply with the new administrations 1 trillion dollar deficit spending and talk of yet another stimulus plan, while Democrats reported a big drop in their debt related stress with a new administration and after 8 years of Republican George Bush.

» GET A WORLD OF WARCRAFT ACCOUNT TODAY

By China at 2:43 PM

I found this great site that lets you buy wow accounts. I didn't even know that was possible, but when my roommate told me I was really excited about it. A friend had introduced me and had let me play on her wow account but it is really not the same as having your own world of warcraft account. I mean you have to be really careful when you are using someone else's account because you could really ruin their online reputation, but I really felt this was the only way to get to understand the game better. I was going to open my own account, but when I found this site that offered you to buy characters with good reputations who were already established, I couldn't resist, because this way I could get in and play with my friends, several of whom have been playing for years.

Online gaming is a great way to meet people and to spend your free time. Once classes end, I find myself in a lull looking for a way to fill my time when I am not working. I think this is because when you are in school, if you aren't in class there is always something going on either on campus or you have other work that needs to be done, or even projects to work on. This really keeps you hopping. Then when classes first end it is like complete freedom but then you find yourself extremely bored.

This is what I love about World of Warcraft. No matter when you have time to play, there is always someone online playing with you. Never a lull, which in my mind is good. Sometimes I play for hours at a time, that is when I am really into it. Other times I just go on and check my food and stuff and make sure I am doing okay. I got a character with a pretty good reputation, so I don't have to work too hard, but I know that I must maintain her for the best possible outcome, and that makes it a lot of fun. I love wow and would recommend it to anyone who finds themselves with a bit of down time this summer. Once you start playing, you won't want to stop!