• 16 pound turkey:  $19.09 (increase of $1.46)
• Cube stuffing, 14 oz:  $2.57 (increase of $.17)
• 30 ounces of pumpkin pie mix:  $2.34 (increase of $.21)
• Two pie shells:  $2.26 (increase of $.18)
• Three pounds of sweet potatoes:  $3.12 (increase of $.04)
• A dozen dinner rolls:  $2.20 (increase of $.31)
• One pound of green peas:  $1.58 (increase of $.12)
• One pound relish tray of carrots and celery:  $.82 (increase of $.16)
• One gallon of whole milk:  $3.78 (decrease of $.10)
• Fresh cranberries, 12 ounces:  $2.46 (increase of $.26)
• Half pint of cream:  $1.70 (increase of $.14)
• Miscellaneous ingredients like onions, eggs, sugar, flour:  $2.69 (decrease of $.60)

Total:  $44.61 (increase of $2.35 from 2007)

See the Red Rocks Data Center’s Green Page for some impressive details. They have installed a cooling unit that uses outside mountain air to cool their facility when the temperature drops below 72 degrees.

Read their press release below for complete details.

Press Release:

Contact: Tom Nats
Managing Partner
Phone: 303-558-2155 x201
866-528-5111 toll free
PO Box 803
Morrison CO
80465

Red Rocks Data Center Installs Energy Efficient Cooling System

“A state-of-the-art ‘air economizer’ system further reduces Red Rocks Data Center operational costs and environmental impact.”

Morrison, Colorado - November 17, 2008: Red Rocks Data Center (RRDC), striving to become one of
the nation’s “greenest” data centers, recently installed an environmentally responsible cooling system. They chose a Trane Voyager (http://trane.com) unit which incorporates an outdoor air economizer that uses free
mountain air to cool the data center.

Installation of this cutting edge cooling system has cut RRDC’s cooling costs to one-sixth that of their previous, conventional air conditioning system. “By cutting our consumption of green house gas emitting, coal-fired electricity, we have put our money where our mouth is in regards to becoming one of Colorado’s greenest data centers while passing the cost savings onto our customers”, remarked RRDC’s managing partner, Tom Nats. RRDC was recently awarded the Bronze level in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s “Environmental Leadership Awards” for their energy efficiency. In addition, RRDC is working with the Colorado School of Mines to design a data center expansion area in the most environmentally-friendly means possible.

RRDC is hidden behind the “hog back” in Morrison, Colorado in a “frost hollow” that has abundant cool air. Housed in a former NASA satellite uplink facility, the center now draws cool, filtered mountain air into the building throughout the year, virtually eliminating the need for expensive air conditioning. Tom adds, “We will also be adding duct work to capture hot server air and use it to heat our office space during the winter months. This allows us to virtually eliminate our heating costs.” Mr. Nats adds “We also offer discounts to ‘green’ groups and nonprofits.”

Home Page: http://www.redrocksdatacenter.com
Green page: http://redrocksdatacenter.com/green

Here is your weekly dose of GOOD NEWS. Nice to focus on some good for a change. Sorely needed these days. Enjoy!

Extra Cash? Turn in Your Techno-Junk for Money

Brandon Mendelson is a struggling grad student at SUNY Albany.

Last week, he began using his Facebook page to advertise for empty ink cartridges and old cell phones from friends, fellow students and other people who are too busy to properly dispose of them. He plans to stockpile the donated items in a cardboard box and recycle the material with a few of the rising number of companies that offer dollars for e-waste.

As the economy tightens, more consumers are scrounging their junk drawers and bedroom closets in search of recyclable objects…including: desktop computers, digital cameras, gaming consoles, and cell phones.

RadioShack recently began an electronics trade-in program that enables consumers to use an online calculator to estimate the value of their aging electronics, including GPS devices, MP3 players, wireless phones, notebook computers and tech products. If the consumer agrees with assessed prices they see for their entered gadgets, they can ship them to the company for free. RadioShack will then send them a company gift card.

How much is the financial crunch spurring a an electronic recycling boom? Between 1999 and 2005, Americans recycled about 15 percent of their outdated or broken digital items. In 2007, Americans recycled 18 percent of their old items. This past July and August alone, Toshiba paid its e-recycling users $8,448 for their unwanted items and the company says 90 percent of the people who use the program are seeking cash.

Music to Your Ears and Music For Your Heart, Too

Songs that make our hearts soar can make them stronger too. When people listen to their favorite music, their blood vessels dilate in a similar way to when laughing, or taking blood medications.

Blood vessels opened up significantly and can be compared to how the vessels open with other activities like exercise. A similar effect has been observed with drugs such as statins and ACE inhibitors.

When blood vessels open more blood flows more smoothly and is less likely to form the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Elastic vessels also resist the hardening activity of atherosclerosis.

Elementary Students Join in Pennies for Peace Program

Students at Franklin Township Elementary School are learning the power of a single penny.

They are participating in the Pennies for Peace program and have been collecting pennies to provide schooling to children in remote mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The pennies being raised are going to be able to make a remarkable difference because in these two countries a single penny can purchase a pencil and $1 will pay for a day of school for one child. $12 will cover one year of education for one student.

Pennies for Peace is a program of Central Asia Institute and was founded by Greg Mortensen in 1996.

This is the sale not to miss…the Big One Day sale, with exciting doorbusters from 7:00 a.m. to noon only! These doorbuster items will be at their lowest prices of the season. Even look for some Black Friday special deals that morning also!

Time to head out and save some serious money. It’s a great time to do it too…before all the hustle and bustle begins a little later this month. I definitely prefer to shop without crazy crowds and the earlier the better. These early-bird sales work very well for me.

You can’t go wrong with some of the items they are offering at reduced prices for this sale. Some deals to note:

• Nextar 7 digital photo frame at $39.99
• Canon Powershot 8.0 megapixel 4X optical digital zoom camera ($149.99 before $30 instant rebate)
• $159.99 for a KitchenAid 4.5 qt bowl lift stand mixer (this is a great price!)

Photo Caption: Influenza victims crowd into an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, KS in this 1918 file photo. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed at least 20 million people worldwide. Officials say that if the next pandemic resembles the 1918 Spanish flu up to 1.9 million Americans could die.

I’m talking about the next pandemic and one study from Harvard University estimates that the next pandemic will kill somewhere between 51 million and 81 million people - mostly in developing countries.

Organizations and institutions around the world are developing plans for dealing with this expected pandemic. Some people will be more important than others when fighting the disease and many will be left to fend for themselves.

WHO IS ‘ESSENTIAL’?

Doctors and nurses will be vital. Others essential to public health and safety will also be vital…but after that it gets tough.

We need to consider that the secondary effects of a severe pandemic influenza could be greater than deaths and illness from influenza itself. A pandemic could create a societal collapse on many levels.

So it is important to consider that people who might have been thought of as nonessential will be extremely essential if society is to keep functioning. Truck drivers fall into this category.

THE TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT

There will likely be a presidential decree to designate broadly who gets preferential treatment in response to the disaster. Who will make the decision on a community level?

People will likely be told to stay home from nonessential jobs because a pandemic is marked by the ease and speed that a misunderstood virus can spread from one person to another. Isolation reduces the chance of exposure. How will families survive without a paycheck, though?

Also of note…all of this would be occurring at a time of great confusion.

THE MOST VULNERABLE

Young children and older adults are the most vulnerable in an influenza pandemic. However, records show that healthy young adults were most likely to die during an epidemic.

A study out of Johns Hopkins recently showed that half of the public health employees in Maryland stated they would stay away from work instead of risking their families to the virus. Physicians and nurses were more likely to show up than support personnel. Two-thirds of the public health employees in that study said their role was not important in combating a pandemic so they were less likely to report to work.

If essential workers fail to work, the entire structure of a society will begin to fall apart. So you can see why the aftermath of a pandemic could claim more lives than the virus itself.

So many people underestimate the seriousness of an influenza pandemic. We all struggle with the flu from time to time…how can this really be life threatening? In the US an average of 36,000 people die every year from influenza and 200,000 are hospitalized.

Big numbers… but they dwarfed by comparisons to projections for a global pandemic. The Harvard University study did something interesting. They extrapolated the number of deaths during the 1918-20 pandemic to the worldwide population in 2004. It’s estimated that 62 million people would die each year from the pandemic (96 % in developing countries).

Don’t be tempted to rest on the assurances of technology and advancement…for time is on the side of any virus.

Softline Solutions has created a tool for small businesses to come alive on the internet. In today’s market, small business owners need to have a presence on the web and Softline has made this easy, quick, and affordable.

The economic condition just seems to get more and more grim. 760,000 positions have been eliminated in the last nine months. In September one in 475 homes in the US received a foreclosure notice. Pensions lost approximately $1 trillion (USD) from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008.

No one knows exactly what will happen next and the constant bad news is taking its toll. The American Psychological Association recently conducted two online surveys of over 2,500 people . They found that respondents’ stress levels spiked in September. In April, 66% reported that the economy was a source of stress. In September, 80% reported the same.

It’s normal to feel stressed during turbulent times, however, some health professionals have concerns that the size of this current crisis will affect the coping abilities of those who are being affected the most. There are ways to effectively manage stress. It would be a good idea to start monitoring these warning signs and think about strategies for relieving anxiety and depression.

People who are prone to anxiety, depression or substance abuse may already be feeling overwhelmed. Substance abuse or thoughts of suicide are important red flags. There are other warning signs of depression that should be taken seriously as well, though. There are both physical and mental symptoms of stress. These include fatigue, muscular tension, erectile dysfunction, lack of motivation, dizziness, headaches, upset stomach, increased irritability, anger, teeth grinding, and nervousness. When viewed individually, these symptoms may seem insignificant. However, when these symptoms affect someone who is dealing with a layoff, a foreclosure or another form of financial stress, a serious anxiety or depression can be the result.

Here are some coping strategies:

• Develop a “pause but not panic” approach to decision-making - We often want to react immediately to bad news but this can often make a problem worse.

• Eliminate negative habits like gambling, substance abuse or overeating - Instead engage in activities like exercise, meditation and hobbies.

• Consider counseling if symptoms persist - You may find useful tools for sorting through emotions and options.

• View these challenges as opportunities for growth - Look for ways to improve your professional skills, consider volunteering for work projects, and reevaluate your planned career path.

Here is a site that is invaluable if you are in the process of choosing a web host for your website(s). This is the site that is full of reviews, ratings, and awards for all of the different web hosts that you should evaluate before you make a final choice. It’s all right here in this website…all of the information you need to make an informed decision that you won’t regret.

The site is organized in a very simple to use format that gives you the information you need quickly and easily. Check out the Best Blog Web Hosts for 2008! If write a blog, this is the information you need to make sure that your blog(s) will have the best presence possible on the internet.

They also have some very valuable reviews where you can read what others have to say about the various hosts as well. This is a great way to make sure that you get what you need in a web host. This is a great site for anyone who is shopping for a new or replacement web host.

These hearings were apparently triggered by the financial crisis of the past two months. The purpose is to reduce the losses incurred by workers and retirees whose account balances have been shrinking.

The committee is blaming Wall Street for the financial crisis and is striving to “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans.” The Democratic Congress has pledged to continue to conduct this supervision for Americans.

As it is now, 401(k) plans allow Americans to invest pretax money and their employers a defined percentage. This increases the workers’ retirement savings and also reduces income taxes. The balances are inheritable and are subject to income tax. This means that workers can pass on their wealth to their heirs — unlike Social Security. In addition, even if a worker leaves one employer and switches to one that doesn’t offer a 401(k) or pension the worker can transfer any balance to a qualified IRA.

Apparently “wealth inequalities” are the root of their concern. The current retirement system is said to “exacerbate income and wealth inequalities” because tax breaks for voluntary retirement accounts are “skewed to the wealthy because it is easier for them to save, and because they receive bigger tax breaks when they do.” They are concerned because savings incentives are unequal for rich and poor families.

Instead of tax breaks workers currently receive for contributions (and so a lower tax rate) workers would receive $600 per year from the government (adjusted for inflation). For lower income workers who have annual contributions less than $600, the government would deposit the amount it would take to equal the minimum $600 for all participants.

Their spin is that they are just “rearranging the tax breaks that are available now for 401(k)s and spreading the wealth.”

All workers would have 5 percent of their annual pay deducted from their paychecks and deposited into the GRA. On top of this they would still be paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, as would their employers. The GRA contribution would be split equally between the worker and the employee. Employers also would no longer be able to write off their contributions.

Something else to consider…with a GRA, workers could bequeath only half of their account balances to heirs. With 401(k)s and IRAs, they are able to bequeath full balances. Workers who die after retiring could bequeath just their own contributions plus any interest — NO benefits received and NO employer contributions.

A recent survey reports that 33 % of Americans want the government to “enforce additional private savings.”  Democrats seem to have taken this bit of information and turned it into a request for a mandatory government-run savings.

Congressional Democrats intend to address income and wealth inequality through redistribution in the near future as well.

The idea is that even people who don’t pay taxes should get money from the government, paid for by people who do have an income.

In a recent interview, Obama said, “The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society.” The Constitution says only what “the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you.”

In 2001, Obama said he was not “optimistic about bringing major redistributive change through the courts.” As president, he will likely have the chance to appoint at least one Supreme Court justice.