Lofty Matters

If this is your first visit, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed. That way you'll be sure not to miss a thing!

This beluga whale is entertaining onlookers by blowing bubbles of air underwater. The whales were taught the impressive trick by scuba divers in a pool. They are given a breath from the diver’s regulator to give them enough air to blow the big bubbles. After a clap from their instructor they exhale the air toward a glass wall. They sometimes blow a bubble right at the audience standing by the glass.

It’s time for a proper and formal introduction to a very beneficial website that anyone who is trying to promote and grow a business really needs to know about. By way of making sure that business owners get all of the pertinent information about network solutions, Network Solutions has created a website that is dedicated to answering all the questions you may have about how they can help you achieve your business goals.

I spent some time looking around at their site and it is absolutely full of useful and innovative tools that can help small businesses learn how to manage their domains, solve problems pertaining to selling and marketing online, receive guidance for creating a Web presence, and help businesses learn how to use security certificates to protect customer information and to guard against fraud.

They even have webinars that provide training in search engine optimization and pay-per-click. In addition to their webinar selection, they also have downloadable PDF guides for lots of great subjects pertaining to online business development.

Network Solutions is all about helping small businesses start and market their businesses online. They have extensive experience and can provide an affordable, yet complete, service to anyone seeking to promote an internet business. The site they have created for introducing their services is a complete and informative way to find out exactly what services they offer and how you can utilize these services for your unique needs.

Is a deliberate contamination of our nation’s food supply a serious threat?

In January 2004 the Bush administration released a Homeland Security Presidential Directive entitled “Fixing Food Safety: Protecting America’s Food Supply From Farm-to-Fork.”

The directive outlines a coordinated national approach to handling threats to the food supply. The directive tasked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with taking charge of the national food defense efforts while working in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Despite increased responsibility and concern, the FDA has not received any additional funding to support food-related anti-terrorism activities. The USDA has received an additional $150 million.

One tool used by the FDA and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is a computer program. It examines and analyzes the vulnerabilities within supply systems and infrastructure. Once these vulnerabilities are identified, food growers, producers and manufacturers can focus on protecting the most susceptible areas in their systems.

One problem seems to be that there are no means to ensure that farmers and manufacturers implement any such measures to protect the food supply.

The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 includes a number of provisions designed to improve the food safety efforts of the FDA in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This includes new authority to protect the food supply against terrorist acts and other threats.

Love freebies? I do! What with pinching pennies to death lately, finding freebies here and there is a good way to help the finances. I have some great freebies for you today!

VistaPrint is having a very Special Sale right now that they call their “Free Everything Sale.” Sound interesting? Just listen…

1. Free business cards and a holder
2. A free rubber stamp
3. 25 free business card magnets
4. 100 free postcards
5. A free T-shirt
6. 10 free invitations
7. 140 return address labels
8. One month free website service

I’d be interested in just about everything on that list…but if I had to choose, I guess I’d go for the T-shirt. You can fully customize it on their website…that’s cool! I think I might just like to fool around with that on their website for a while…I love stuff like that. Next on my list would be the business cards and holder. This would be a useful item any business-person.

If this sounds like something you’re interested, be sure to act quickly, because this is a limited time offer. Definitely worth checking out though! These are great freebies!

Finally! Due to the rising cost of outsourcing, some US companies are starting to look back to within our borders for their manufacturing needs. The comparison between the cost to produce goods in the United States or to produce them abroad has narrowed. For this we can thank a decrease in China’s competitive advantage.

The Chinese yuan has appreciated 18 percent against the dollar in the past three years. This meas that exports are now more expensive and less competitive. Chinese wages have also more than doubled over the past five years and the Chinese government has either lowered or eliminated tax breaks on exports.

Another factor is that oil prices have skyrocketed from $25 a barrel in 2002 to more than $125 today. This expense discourages American businesses from shipping manufacturing operations overseas.

Hard data documenting a shift homeward is not yet available, but a second-quarter survey of 314 member companies showed that 59 percent of respondents have seen “increased costs of materials and supplies imported from abroad” and 30 percent are purchasing more supplies from US sources.

Economic forces make it more attractive for an increasing number of manufacturers to move toward more domestic production. These factories won’t be built overnight, but increases in oil prices and shipping costs are making this much more cost effective.

U.S. production costs are also increasing along with China’s. The study said 79 percent of manufacturers report increased costs for domestically produced goods. Some businesses are finding that reducing costs by cutting overseas shipments sweetens the incentive to manufacture here at home.

Bottom Line…if given the choice, businesses will likely agree that American workers are better than anywhere else. There is a pride in workmanship that is missing in products produced in other places. This is just one of many advantages to producing in the USA.

Who couldn’t use a makeover? We all get tired and a little rough around the edges and freshening things up is just exactly what it takes to breathe new life into us right?

A website is no different. If your website could use a little oomph, then what you need is to take a look at the brand new offerings and website of Split5’s Web Design Portfolio. This is the place to go when you want a little pizzazz for your website.

Time for more good news! Hope this sets the theme for your weekend and you have a great one!

Jerry Dimick and a companion were traveling Route 307 near Clarks Summit on Wednesday when they saw a peacock standing on the edge of the road.

Dimick reports that he stopped and “went ’smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch’ and the bird came over.” At that point he reached out and grabbed him.

It gets even better! There was no room in the back of his pickup truck so Dimick put the peacock in the front seat! Apparently, the bird was sitting comfortably between the two of them.

Dimick drove the bird to his home in Taylor and is now trying to find a safe place for it to live. He’s having some trouble so far, however. He has had no luck with the Game Commission, animal control, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or even the local zoo.

A pet rabbit has been named a hero because it saved a couple from a fire that swept through their home in the city of Melbourne, Australia.

Apparently, the husband returned home from a night shift early Thursday and heard the pet (named “Rabbit”) scratching at the couple’s bedroom door about a half an hour after he had gone to bed.

The husband got up and then discovered a fire in a back room and smoke spreading quickly through the house. He and his wife were both able to escape without injury.

The blaze caused substantial damage to the house before it was put out by four crews of firefighters.

Bystanders rushed to help a 70-year-old man after he stumbled while leaving a Southern California bank. His stumble sent thousands of dollars scattering into the wind.

Ludwig Geier says literally hundreds of bills were “gone in no time.” They went flying through the air and littered the First National Bank’s parking lot Monday.

Almost immediately those nearby rushed to help. Geier reports that about 96% of the money was found.

Geier says he’s going to pray for those good Samaritans and adds: “If I could get them together, I’d buy them dinner and drinks.”

This is how Bush explained the current economic downturn to a private fundraiser last week.

“There’s no question about it,” Bush said. “Wall Street got drunk, that’s one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras. It got drunk and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.”

The remark was made at a closed-door fund raiser for Republican Pete Olson. No cameras were allowed in but an ABC affiliate in Houston somehow acquired the video and posted it on YouTube.

Ironically, just last week Bush voiced fears about YouTube moments such as this making it to the internet. After asking a room of 400 supporters gathered for a fund raiser in Tucson, Arizona to turn off their recording devices Bush said, “I don’t know a lot about technology, but I do know about YouTube.”

Paintball is one sport that my family has yet to try, though my teens would really love to have a go at this. I have heard an awful lot about this exciting activity through my son-in-law’s love for the game. One of the last times he was visiting, he brought his new gun to try to get the boys enthused about this game. It wasn’t hard to do this at all.

For those who are already Paintball enthusiasts, Ultimate Paintball is a great source for all of your paintball needs. They sell Tippmann, Spyder, Smart Parts, Dye, Empire, and Draxxus paintball gear as well as BT Paintball and many other brands too.

Their site is full of great accessories as well too like playing apparel, masks, hoppers, barrels, air systems, and much more.

For anyone new to the game or a seasoned expert, this site is a great source for all of your paintball needs. Ultimate Paintball has amazing prices and free shipping too - definitely a site to check out.

Dolly spun into a hurricane Tuesday and is heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border and the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley. Officials are fearing heavy rains may cause massive flooding and also levee breaks.

Dolly was upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday afternoon and has sustained winds near 75 mph. Some strengthening is forecast to occur before landfall Wednesday.