How did this happen?

WASHINGTON – A reality TV hopeful and her husband who crashed a presidential dinner met President Barack Obama in the receiving line, the White House said Friday, as a "deeply concerned and embarrassed" Secret Service acknowledged its officers failed to check whether the couple was on the guest list.

The White House released a photo showing Michaele and Tareq Salahi in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and Michaele Salahi, a candidate for Bravo's "The Real Housewives of D.C.," are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is standing to the Obama's left.

The Secret Service earlier this week had said the president was not in danger because the Virginia couple — like others at the dinner — had gone through magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such claim was made Friday.

The Salahis were not on the guest list and should have been prohibited from entering last Tuesday's dinner on the White House South Lawn for the prime minister of India, said Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.

On Friday, Sullivan was apologetic in a written statement, saying the agency that protects the president is "deeply concerned and embarrassed" that procedures were not followed.

"As our investigation continues, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure this is not repeated," Sullivan said.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said officers at the checkpoint had a clipboard with names of the invited guests. Even though the Salahis names weren't on it, they were allowed to proceed. The officers should have called either someone on the White House staff or Secret Service personnel before allowing them past the checkpoint, Mackin said.

Earlier, Mackin said the Secret Service may pursue a criminal investigation of the Salahis.

Sullivan said, "The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list.

"Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours," he said.

Sullivan said it wasn't good enough that his agency screened more than 1.2 million visitors last year to the White House complex and protected more than 10,000 sites for the president, vice president and others.

"Even with these successes, we need to be right 100 percent of the time," he said. "While we have protocols in place to address these situations, we must ensure that they are followed each and every time."

It is unclear what the couple told officers at the checkpoint that allowed them to go through the security screening. Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly and willfully falsify statements on matters within the federal government's jurisdiction.

"As this moves closer to a criminal investigation there's less that we can say," Mackin said. "I don't want to jeopardize what could be a criminal investigation. We're not leaving any option off the table at this point."

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the Secret Service will take appropriate action once the review is completed.

"The men and women of the Secret Service put their lives on the line everyday to protect us. They are heroes and they have the full confidence of the president of the United States," Shapiro said.

The Salahis lawyer, Paul Gardner, posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, "My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there." He said more information would be forthcoming.

Several messages left at Gardner's law firm on Friday were not immediately returned.

Bravo Media has confirmed that Michaele Salahi is being considered as a participant in the upcoming "The Real Housewives of D.C." program and on the day of the dinner was being filmed around Washington by Half Yard Productions, the producer of the program.

"Half Yard Productions was told by Michaele and Tareq Salahi that they had been invited to the State Dinner. We took them at their word and filmed their preparations for the event. Half Yard Productions had no part in planning their presence at the event," said Abby Greensfelder of Half Yard Productions.

Photos on the couple's Facebook page they previously had gotten close to Obama. One photo, apparently taken in the days before Obama took the oath of office, shows the Salahis in a group shot with Obama and some of the musicians who performed at an inaugural concert.

Other photos show the Salahis in the empty, glass-enclosed box from which the Obamas watched the concert and, according to the caption, "backstage with the Secret Service at the Lincoln Memorial during the Presidential Inauguration."

Shaquille O' Neal paid for funneral of Shaniya Davis

Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal has paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl whose kidnapping and slaying received national news coverage.

The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina reported Thursday that the Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the case of Shaniya Davis.



More than 2,000 people attended her funeral Sunday. The girl's body was found Nov. 10 beside a rural road.

Her mother, Antionette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Mario McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping.

I am so impressed with O' Neal for the effort to help the family after the mother allowed this to happen to her daughter. You have to wonder what was going through the mothers head to allow such an action to take place? but then what about this sick jerk who committed this action. He deserves the death penalty, yesterday!

They called it justice

They called this justice when the Child Support Court sent me a court date that I never received and imposed $700 dollars a month in child support payment. Please understand that my life was forever altered by Tennessee disregard for me being able to support myself. The first time that I received a rude awakening from the Child Support Court; is when they automatically assumed that because I did not show up for my court date that, I did not want to be there! It is funny that if a man does not show up to Court that he automatically elected not to come to Court... Although if a woman does not show up to court she did not receive the paper work and they must refile that court date. That is the crap that they call justice.

I suppose my justice would have been different if I did not have children by two different women in two different states. So imagine my surprise when one judge said that because Tennessee filed first, that the child had first position on taxing my income. Then imagine Indiana saying that because the children were born first, that they had first position on taxing my income. Now my issue is that they both called that justice when they taxed my income without any acknowledgment of each other! As a matter of fact they between the two states they took all of my income left me with a check for $2.45 after I had made $1600 dollars for that two week period.

I did however have the opportunity to go back to Court only for the judges in both situations lower payment to 500 dollars each. While both judges said that I needed to work a second job, so that I could pay my bills. Although years later the Courts ruled that it was unconstitutional to take all of a person pay check and not leave him anything to live on! What a strange coincidence that the judges call that justice!

Are you frusrated with trying to make money on the internet?

Well let me being with I have made some money on the net but nothing to write home and tell anyone about. The ins and outs of the Internet and how you market yourself and or your product just blows me away. You see everyone has to give you the illusion of how easy it is, so that you will buy what they they are pitching, but what I have figured out is that the program that they are selling is not the program that they are using now!

My visions of grander has not even remotely began to materialize. I started working on the Internet to get a residual or passive income coming in. I never knew that there was alot more to this puzzle that I knew absolutely nothing about... I soon figured out that you need to be informed before you go jumping off the deep end. Working the Internet as a network marker puts you in line with several million people just like you who are trying to make an unlimited income too. The reason that I got involved with sales and the internet, was for that reason; that I wanted to make more money than I ever dreamed of. That has been my fuel that keeps me believing that it will happen soon.

The problem that I have found with working the Internet is, that their is no new thoughts or ideals... You just refined the old one's to fit who you are. I have seen several internet millionaires and I figure if they can do it, then I can do it. Lets face it, you need to learn the in's and outs of the business so that you can prosper. This information that I am going to share is worth its weight in gold!

First you need to learn all that you can, read as much material on what ever you are trying to learn.

Second listen to seminars, webinars and become a sponge.

Third find you a mentor, pay him if you have to. I promise it will be worth every dime that you invest in him or her.

With all these tools in your arsenal this increases your opportunity to chase your dream of becoming a internet millionaire!!!

FaceBook finally turning a profit

Face book, the world’s largest social network on the Internet, is finally turning a profit, the privately held company said.

The Silicon Valley, California, company, which was started six years ago by a student at Harvard University, said late Tuesday that it had reached a positive cash flow for the first time and also passed the 300-million user mark.

The stratospheric growth in the site’s user base from 150 million at the start of the year, allowed the company to turn a profit earlier than the 2010 date it had previously predicted.

‘This is important to us because it sets Face book up to be a strong independent service for the long term,’ said Face book founder Mark Zuckerberg in a blog posting.

‘We are succeeding at building Face book in a sustainable way,’ he wrote. ‘We are just getting started on our goal of connecting everyone. We face a lot of fun and important challenges that require rethinking the current systems for enabling information flow across the web.’

The company has close to 1,000 employees and has received $600 million in financing. According to recent web figures, it is the fourth most-visited website in the US.

I never had an opportunity to be a part of Yahoo, Google, My Space, Face book or Twitter. These are Internet juggernauts and they have corner their portion of the internet. Now comes a new kid on the block, People String. So, what exactly is People String? It is a new social media site launched on September 23, 2009. They are making a bold attempt to compete with giants like Facebook by paying anyone and everyone to recruit members and grow its ranks.

People String is also working with companies who want to bypass the advertising giants and pay people directly for looking at their products/services. Quite a novel approach! The more people participate, the more companies will see this as a viable alternative to reaching their target audience.

It can potentially be quite lucrative, for those willing to recruit new members. They will earn a commissions for every person they recruit, get paid per item of advertising they look at, thus getting a percentage of revenues from everyone they recruit for life! For those not interested in recruiting others, the remaining income streams may be more to their liking and more are to be added over time.

Those who are interested can click HERE if they wish to take this company up on their offer.

The site is still at the "nuts and bolts stage" right now, but company representatives have assured me that the "lab rats" (as they are affectionately called) are hard at work to turn People String into a popular and fun social media site as membership grows.

This is the most important thing to remember People String Cost nothing to join and you can start earning instantly! Go to the site click here and try it out, the worst thing that could happen is you make some money, that not so bad is it?

Philip Morris ordered to pay $300 million to smoker

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Florida jury on Thursday ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

The Broward Circuit Court jury assessed $56.6 million in past and future medical expenses against the company, part of Altria Group Inc, as well as $244 million in punitive damages.

The case is one of 8,000 lawsuits filed against tobacco companies by Florida smokers and their families.

Attorneys for Naugle, the sister of a former Fort Lauderdale mayor, said it's the largest Florida tobacco verdict to date.

"The jury saw her condition," Todd Falzone, who also represented Naugle, said in a statement. "We think that they felt it. She needed to rest for five minutes to catch her breath after making the 7 step walk to the witness stand."

Naugle started smoking in 1968 when she was 20 because she thought they "made her look older." After several attempts to quit, she stopped smoking in 1993 with the aid of a nicotine patch.

She requires 24-hour oxygen and must travel in a wheelchair because walking leaves her exhausted, her attorneys said.

I am not sure what to feel for this woman considering that her life has been restricted to a wheelchair. Now she was the one who put the cigarette to her lips and keep puffing on those death sticks. When did reality kick in 10, 20, or 3o years later? Don't get me wrong, the company should not have put nicotine in the cigarette to keep that level of addiction to the product. Although since they created that monster and now they have to pay the piper. I have a problem with a person getting hooked on a product and then wants someone to pay for their mistake... She created this issue in 1968 when she wanted to look older, now years later she wants someone to pay for her trying to look cute. I am sorry but my compassion level is low for one simple reason, she created her own monster. If second hand smoke was the cause tax the company and make them pay!

I found that these food help to suppress hunger?

How to Suppress Hunger By Eating Five Foods

Uncontrolled hunger and overeating can make even the best weight loss plans go awry. One way to reduce the risk of overeating and help keep hunger at bay is to eat frequent, small, meals throughout the day. This not only keeps the metabolism primed, but also reduces hunger that can lead to poor food choices. One option to reduce the risk of overeating is to eat foods that suppress hunger naturally. When it comes to controlling appetite, eating certain foods can help to reduce hunger cravings so that fewer overall calories are consumed throughout the day. What are some of these foods that suppress hunger naturally?

Almonds

To suppress hunger naturally, avoid high carb treats and snack on a handful of almonds instead. A study published in the journal Obesity showed that overweight women who ate two servings of almonds a day ended up consuming fewer overall calories. Although almonds are high in calories and fat, they’re also a good source of protein and fiber which helps to naturally suppress hunger. It’s also thought that some of the fat in almonds is not absorbed by the body, so the calories may not be completely utilized

Apples

Another way to get full without overloading on calories is to snack on an apple. A medium-sized apple has only seventy calories, and is a rich source of fiber. Apples are also a good source of pectin, an indigestible fiber that slows down the rate of stomach emptying – leading to a greater sense of satiety. To get the hunger suppressing benefit of an apple, eat it whole rather than as a juice so you can get less calories and more fiber.

Pine Nuts

Pine nuts are a good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids which cause secretion of two hormones that suppress hunger naturally – CCK and glucagons-like peptide. One study showed that women who ate pine nuts experienced twenty-nine percent less hunger. Because this effect lasted for up to four hours, these women took in fewer calories overall throughout the day.

Oatmeal

Eating a healthy breakfast is important for weight control and one of the best breakfast foods for naturally suppressing appetite is oatmeal. Oatmeal is fiber-rich and a good source of complex carbohydrates which help to stabilize insulin levels.Fiber-rich foods like oatmeal are slowly digested which means they reduce hunger cravings for longer periods of time. For greater benefits, choose old-fashioned oats or steel oats and avoid packets of instant oatmeal that are often loaded with sugar and calories.

Eggs

An egg has only sixty calories and its high protein content makes it a natural appetite suppressant. Studies have shown that people who eat eggs for breakfast, take in fewer overall calories. High protein foods such as eggs increase secretion of a peptide known as PYY which helps to suppress hunger naturally. Whether they’re scrambled, boiled, or poached, eggs are a good choice for breakfast or even a mid-day snack.The bottom line: add some of these foods to your daily diet and you’ll take in fewer calories overall, while still feeling full and satisfied.

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