I am thoroughly disgusted by what happened to Angel Arce Torresa You should be to. This elderly man hit by a car and no one did anything. How many people that passed this man go to church? How many people passed this man call themselves Christians, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other religion? Every single one of you should be thoroughly disgusted with yourself. Leaving an injured person on the side of the road like that. have you no conscience. Have you no compassion. I hope just one of those passerby’s reads this and realizes how thoroughly horrendous they are.

We call ourselves a loving Christian society, but we won’t even help someone hit by a car. Are you kidding me? The way I feel cannot be put into word. I am simply disgusted to be an American today. No one did anything to help Angel Arce Torresa a 78 your old man hit by not just one car but two cars.

What if Angel Torresa was your father, grand father, or great grand father, would you have helped him then? Every single resident of Hartford should be disgusted with themselves for what happened to Angel Torresa. What is even worse is the Hartford city counsel is now trying to play down the incident; by saying that more help was given than was seen on the video. Are you kidding me? Not one person bent a knee to help this man. Not one! Not one person bent a knee to comfort this man. Not one!

Have I said already that I am ashamed to be an American today. We Americans have gotten so self centered that we cannot even help a 78 year old man like Angel Torresa. We should all be ashamed. We should all be ashamed that we do not teach our children better. We should all be ashamed that we do not hold our friends to higher standards. We should all be ashamed that we do not hold our fellow citizens to a higher standard. We should be ashamed that we do not hold our family members to higher standards. Angel Torresa deserved better than to have people gawk at him like a dead dog in the street. Angel Toressa deserved better than to be surrounded by people in his time of need and not helped.

Hartford, you should be disgusted with yourself. You should be disgusted with your fellow citizens.

If you are not disgusted by what happened by Angel Torresa then you are not American. We should all cry out against what happened to Angel Torresa. What if it was your child that got hit by a car laying there in the street and not a man hit by a car? How would you feel then? If it was my daughter and no one helped her, in her time of dire need, I don’t know what I would do. I would probably loose my mind.

Many childhood star like Jodie Sweetin seek refuge in ritzy Hollywood drug rehab centers. But, few kick the habit before their careers are ruined. Fortunately for Jodie Sweetin she found motherhood. It appears that, at least for Jodie Sweetin motherhood was the driving force behind her being able to kick the partying lifestyle. Sometimes life changes are more potent than a drug rehad center could ever be.

Although Jodie Sweetin was able to find solace in motherhood and kick meth not everyone can have such fortitude. Meth addiction has spread across the country like aplague. Drug rehab centers, public and private, are over run with meth addicts. Unfortunately, it takes years of counseling for meth addicts to truly break the habit. And even then they can never consider themselves truly whole again.

Addiction to methamphetamine (meth) is described as being worse than addiction to crack cocaine. Addicts are hard pressed to find resources available for their rehabilitation. Few math addicts have the resources of a child star, so cannot afford better rehab programs that may make rehabilitation easier and potentially more successful. As the meth epidemic has spread across the country funding for public rehabilitation centers has decreased. If a meth addict is lucky the have family and friends that can help them a long through either interventions or helping to pay for private drug rehab.

Hats off to Jodie Sweetin for being able to kick her addiction to math for motherhood. Unfortunately, for so many other Americans caught in the insidious trap of meth have not found the life changing event to help them kick the habit. Sometimes drug rehab is not the answer. Sometimes its just the unwavering love of a newborn child.

As an annual holiday, National Donut Day started in 1938 by the Salvation Army and is on the first Friday June. The original purpose for National Donut Day was to raise funds during the Great Depression by honoring the WWI Lassies who had originally started cooking donuts. National Donut Day is now used by the Salvation Army as an annual fund raising event. This fundraising effort is usually funneled through local donut shops. Local donut shops give away free donuts soliciting a donation for the Salvation Army.

Donuts in one shape or another have been enjoyed by cultures throughout history. They have not always been they sweet ringed morsels that we think of today. They have also been used to hold meats or other foods. In the mid-1840s the donut as we know it began to be mass marketed. It would not be until the 1920’s that donuts as we know them would be produced on a mass scale. The donut as we know it today has changed very little. While the type and flavors of donuts have grown on a grand scale. So, as you celebrate National Donut Holiday say thanks to those WWI lassies that can be given the lions share of the credit for making them as popular as they are today.

As the star of The Bachelor he chose Jennifer Schefft and proposed to her during the season’s finale. However after a tumultuous relationship that outlasted several separations over several years the two called it quits. After the separation Scheft went on to star in ABC’s offshoot of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette.

Having grown up on a vineyard he has a strong passion for wine. After graduating from the University of San Diego with a degree in business administration Andrew leveraged his degree to become the general manager of Firestone Vineyards. He has further displayed his passion for wine through a recently released DVD on the subject.

It seems that for a member of the billionaires club, admittedly a junior member, he has really leveraged his degree in business administration to stand out on his own as a successful entrepreneur. Let’s hope his recent engagement will last for him.

You would think that with all of the bad press that MySpace has received recently about young users, pornography and the like that it would be more aware of the impact of possible breaches in security like this. But, these types of breaches do not seem to phase the social site. There are a lot of predators on the Internet. There are a lot of children that are members of the social site. What is to stop a predator from using one of these security flaws to prey on a child. The question becomes, what is more important data portability or user security.

The idea of data portability, as it is marketed to the public, is that it will allow users to easily traverse different sites. But, the reality of it is that data portability creates an old boy network. What I mean is that users are more likely to stick with social sites that they can use to meet with a majority of friends. If you are a new social site you will more than likely be shut out of the good old boy network. Data portability is nothing more than a marketing gimmick intended to shut out the competition from new and upcoming social networks.

So, I ask the question again what is more important data portability or user security. Obviously, to the user centric sites like Yahoo and MySpace it is less important to protect the user than it is to protect their bottom line. Data portability, is nothing more than a marketing ploy and is flawed at a conceptual level. Until these sites start being concerned more about their users security and privacy than protecting their subscriber base there will be more security breaches and more private data will be made public.

I am not saying don’t use these sites. I am saying these sites do not always have your best interest at hand. So do not trust your truly private information to them.

Whatever the case may be, it seems that he has found himself in the same financial position that many Americans are in today. Either in a mortgage they cannot affor or in a mortgage they cannot refinance. It is a shame to see a celebrity icon such as Ed McMahon in such dire financial circumstances.

One would wonder why he even had a mortgage. More often than not celebrities do not carry mortgages on their homes. They normally pay cash for their mansions. Why? When you are talking about financing a multi million dollar home the interest expense is huge. For instance, McMahon’s 5.75 million dollar mortgage would cost him about $35,000 per month. That does not include any other expenses and is calculates at the rock bottom interest rate of 5.75 percent fixed for thirty years. So, you see it makes no sense for mansions to be bought with a mortgage. It is generally just too expensive

The credit crunch and mortgage crisis has only begun. Refinancing of troubled loans has always been difficult. But, this story only highlights how difficult it has become for mortgage holders to refinance their loans with payments they can afford. More and more mortgages are going into default. That is not to say they are going into foreclosure.

A Notice of Default on a mortgage is only the beginning of the foreclosure process. In essence a Notice of Default is tantamount to a bill collector knocking on your door telling you to pay up or else. It signals the intent of the mortgage holder to file a foreclosure lawsuit, also known as a lis pendens; Nothing more nothing less.

Unfortunately, more and more Americans are finding themselves in the same situation as McMahon; financially ruined either due to health issues or because of the downturn in the economy. With the tightening of the credit markets, it was only a matter of time before celebrities living above their means start defaulting on their mortgages as well.

Facestat.com Down with 505 Errors

The 505 error showing on Facestat’s front page breifly changed to a 403 error page. Then an hour later a message from Facestat staff replaced the 403 error with a breif message expalining they plan to be back online in a couple of hours or after they are removed from Yahoo’s front page.

What Is Facestat

Facestat bills itself as market research for the individual. The site is the next generation, Web 2.0 version, of the well known HotOrNot.com website.

Facestat.com goes well beyond the 1-10 point system for looks of hotornot.com. Users are asked to answer a series of questions about a person based solely on a picture of that person. The questions presented to the users being polled cover a wide array of topics; such as, the persons age? How intelligent do you think the person is. Are they in a relationship? Are they wealthy? What do you think the persons political affiliation is?

Some people think that the questions asked about users and the way some users answer the questions are cruel. But, I think the premise for the site is actually very fascinating. Facestat.com gets to the heart of one question we all ask ourselves how do other people perceive us?

It goes beyond whether or not someone is truly good looking or not. It tries to answer other questions. Like, how do people view who we are? And, do we present the persona to the world that we think we do?

I think that there is another truly intriguing aspect to facestat.com. Is your perception of the person in the picture correct? Are you really as perceptive as you think you are? Are you as good a judge of character as you think you are?

What Is FaceStat’s Future?

It seems that a recent uptick in user traffic has pushed the facestat.com website to go down. How long it will be off line is anyone’s guess. Being on Yahoo’s front page must have a similar affect of being on Digg’s front page. You have to be prepared for the extra traffic. How long it will take FaceStat’s staff to recover the downed servers and clear the errors is anyone’s guess.

Clinton captured 67% of the vote to Obamas 33%. She gained 20 of the West Virginia’s 28 delegates. In her speech last night she likened her win to a referendum to continue her campaign. One wonders of she is living in a fantasy world. To just tie Obama she would have to win 172 of the remaining 189 available delegates in the remaining primaries. Plus she would have to woo over to her side 80% of the remaining Super Delegates. Although it is theoretically possible for her to do both it is very unlikely to happen.

Clinton keeps pressing her message that she is etermined to campaign until everyone has had their voices heard. But, the reality is that she is out of money and has a rising debt load. The reality is barring some big scandal Obama has won the nomination. Why Clinton keeps pushing her message of let the voices be heard is that she is hoping for a big scandal to bump Obama off his campaign.

Mean while Obama is acting more like the presumptive nominee campaigning in states that will be battle grounds this coming November. Is this a tactical error on his part? Mathematically speaking I don’t think so. But, strategically, he should be maneuvering for the knock out. So why doesn’t he? It’s a balancing game. The Clinton’s are very powerful political family, millions of democrats feel just as strongly for Hillary Clinton as they do for Barack Obama. Obama is giving Clinton space to maneuver an exit strategy that is good for her and the democratic party.

Will Hillary Clinton be on the ticket as VP? Many of the pundits say no. I say it would be unwise for Obama not to consider her on his short list. Although many people have strong negative feelings towards her she is a strong campaigners that brings a large number of fervent supporters.

Will having Clinton on the ticket energize the conservatives of the Republican party. This is definitely possible. But, I don’t think so. Most of the conservative base is disillusioned with the republican leaders who have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar so to speak. Moreover, john McCain is not an inspiring figure.

So look to see an Obama/Clinton ticket. Obama would be crazy to not have her and she would be crazy not to go down in the history books as the first female VP. Either way the only way for her to not become a footnote in history, like Geraldine Ferraro is to be on the ticket with Obama and not work against him.

Towns close to the epicenter have reported to have been nearly leveled. As more relief and aid workers get closure to the hardest hit areas near the epicenter the death toll is expected to rise even further.

Although this is one of the worst earthquakes to hit China in nearly 50 years, it is not the worst. The worst earthquake to hit China occurred in 1976 in the city of Tangshan, near Beijing, killing nearly 250,000 people. Aftershocks rating 5.8 on the richter scale were recently reported.

Unlike other natural disasters that have recently affected China, the government quickly swung into action sending about 100,000 relief workers and soldiers to the earthquake devastated area.

The Chinese army has begun to air drop relief supplies in many of the affected areas. Other relief efforts have been hampered by bad weather.

The bombings seem to have been designed to inflame already aggravated tensions between Hindus and Muslims. In an attempt to thwart the prospect of Hindu-Muslim tensions authorities placed the city under a day long curfew. Authorities cleared the streets and restricted tourists to their hotels.

Similar terrorist attacks over the past few years were also aimed at inflaming Hindi-Muslim relations. But, those attacks were never unsuccessful at setting off sectarian violence.

Investigations into the well coordinated blasts show that bombs were attached to bicycles. These bicycles were then placed near some of the cities most popular areas. A candy store, two temples and ancient fortress favored by tourists were the primary targets. Authorities have detained about 12 people, several of which were themselves injured in the blasts.

Authorities believe that the types of explosives used indicate that Harkat-ul-Jehadi, an extremist Islamic group, based in Bangladesh, may be responsible. Extremist groups in based in Pakistan and Bangladesh are normally attributed for terrorist attacks by Indian investigators.

Some believe that the blasts are linked to a recent shootout between Indian and Pakistani troops along their disputed border area. Moreover the Indian foreign moinister.