My nephew is about to start law school. I was worried that this would be too tough for him, but he keeps telling me that law school is not that difficult from what he’s heard. How can that be? I thought that law school was the most difficult type of school there is, next to medical school maybe? Looking at the top law schools, none of them seem easy to me! So I looked around for some articles. Here are some bits and pieces from what I found:
This is law school and law school is hard, son. Sit down and enjoy the tour of our library because we only have an hour for this tour which is not nearly enough time to fully explain the journey you are about to begin. The next day I told a classmate that one of the new admits asked this question and my classmate responded with laughter. Ahhh, ignorance is bliss.
I was 27 when I started law school (I am now in my third year) and went from making about $45k a year (but saving absolutely nothing) to living on the $14k annually in “living expenses” student loan money that my particular school has determined is sufficient. Basically, each school decides on an amount of money that you can borrow (not from them, from lending institutions like Access Group which is really popular among law students) for living expenses based on the cost of living where the school is located. I really wanted to be an injury attorney, but the money crunch was tough! However, there is no way that I could have managed the last few years without my parents’ financial support for the big bills and the unexpected stuff like my car dying and my cat getting sick (huge vet bills). Make sure you have the support of your family. If you have to rely on credit cards, don’t get out of control with them – part of the determination of whether you will be admitted to the bar exam is often your credit history.
Now we know that you don’t have to be the smartest person in law school, but you do have to commit yourself to it. I can also add that law school itself is nothing compared to raising a family. The complexities involved in raising your children and providing for your spouse are much more difficult than law school. Why? Because you can read a book for the right answers on any legal question. I have yet to find a book that can tell me the right answers on being a good father.
SO what do you think? Is law school difficult?
Hurricane Gustav has this football weekend in Louisiana all messed up. Now I’m wondering if the LSU vs. Appalachian State game will be canceled or played this weekend? Here’s what I found on it:
LSU’s game against Appalachian State on Saturday is still slated to kickoff at 4 p.m. Central time. Although there has been no change in the scheduled start time for LSU’s football season opener sports event on Saturday, no football-related activities will be held in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on that day as the facility is being prepared for use as a medical special needs shelter associated with the anticipated impact of Tropical Storm Gustav.
How will this storm effect the score of the game, if it is played? Will anyone even show up?
Filed under: Uncategorized
Just how is it made? I was wondering what goes into making perfume. How do they make it smell a certain way? What makes it the worst, or the best perfume? Here’s a little bit that I found on perfume:
Perfume comes from the Latin “per” meaning “through” and “fumum,” or “smoke.” Many ancient perfumes were made by extracting natural oils from plants through pressing and steaming. The oil was then burned to scent the air. Today, most perfume is used to scent bar soaps. Some products are even perfumed with industrial odorants to mask unpleasant smells or to appear “unscented.”
Natural ingredients—flowers, grasses, spices, fruit, wood, roots, resins, balsams, leaves, gums, and animal secretions—as well as resources like alcohol, petrochemicals, coal, and coal tars are used in the manufacture of perfumes. Some plants, such as lily of the valley, do not produce oils naturally. In fact, only about 2,000 of the 250,000 known flowering plant species contain these essential oils. Therefore, synthetic chemicals must be used to re-create the smells of non-oily substances. Synthetics also create original scents not found in nature.
Once the oils have been extracted from the ingredients, they are blended together. Once blended, they are mixed with alcohol. The ratio of alcohol to oils varies depending on if a full perfume is being made or if a variation, such as a cologne or toilet water, is being made. Most full perfumes are made of 10-20 percent oil whereas toilet water only has two percent oil.
What kind of perfume do you like? This is a neat article that tells you how to make perfume.
I’ve been reading a lot about Canada’s healthcare system. It’s basically free for everyone to get healthcare in Canada. But I have also read about Canadians coming to the US because they can’t get good medical service in Canada. So which is it? Is Canada’s free public healthcare better, or the US private healthcare? I don;t know. Here’s 2 short articles that argue both ways.
Doctors in Canada do make less than their US counterparts. But they also have lower overhead, and usually much better working conditions. A few reasons for this:
First, as noted, they don’t have to charge higher fees to cover the salary of a full-time staffer to deal with over a hundred different insurers, all of whom are bent on denying care whenever possible. In fact, most Canadian doctors get by quite nicely with just one assistant, who cheerfully handles the phones, mail, scheduling, patient reception, stocking, filing, and billing all by herself in the course of a standard workday
Second, they don’t have to spend several hours every day on the phone cajoling insurance company bean counters into doing the right thing by their patients. My doctor in California worked a 70-hour week: 35 hours seeing patients, and another 35 hours on the phone arguing with insurance companies. My Canadian doctor, on the other hand, works a 35-hour week, period. She files her invoices online, and the vast majority are simply paid — quietly, quickly, and without hassle. There is no runaround. There are no fights. Appointments aren’t interrupted by vexing phone calls. Care is seldom denied (because everybody knows the rules). She gets her checks on time, sees her patients on schedule, takes Thursdays off, and gets home in time for dinner.
The Canadian business sector and sections of its political establishment have readily adopted marketplace ideology. As in Australia there has been sustained and deliberate underfunding of the health system in some provinces. At the federal level and replicated at the provincial level, segments of health care have been contracted out to big corporations. Whole sectors of the system have been colonized by the private sector, such as rehab and laboratory medicine. Hospitals have been closed. In Alberta a perfectly good hospital has even been pulled down.
Professor Donna Wilson from the faculty of nursing at the University of Alberta has performed an analysis of the threat to the Canadian Health System and looked at the evidence.
I’m serious. Our house has turned into a zoo! It’s really getting out of control. We now have 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 bird, 12 fish, 1 ferret, 2 bunnies, and 1 turtle. Is that too much? Yes! Especially when the kids aren’t helping me feed and take care of them anymore. I really think my home is turning into Noah’s Ark or something!
Here are some neat reads I found about each of our pets. I think I would rather just read about them than take care of all of these. lol
Dogs- Both of our dogs are boxers. The Boxer has a powerful, stocky body with compact muscles and square-shaped proportions. They have round, brawny necks that are well-muscled and do not possess any dewlap. Their front limbs are straight and parallel and their tails are carried high. The tails of this breed are usually docked, and the heads of this breed are proportioned to the size of the dog’s body. Their lower jaw curves upward and extends beneath their upper jaw, and neither teeth nor tongue are visible when the mouth is closed. Their large noses are dark in color and feature a pair of wide, open nostrils. The Boxer’s glossy, close-fitting, short-haired coat exists in a number of colors including fawn, brindle, red, and white. White markings may be present. puppy dog food
Cats- Our cats are of an unknown breed. Many people either are confused or simply can’t accept the fact that most cats do not fit within a “breed.” Mixed breed and “domestic cats” constitute the greater percentage of catdom. From your description, I’d say your kitty is a “red tabby DLH,” which is not a breed but a color pattern description. (DLH stands for “domestic longhair.”) She could be a mixed breed too. We try to feed them raw cat food, but it can be tough. Cat food out the bag is so much easier.
Fish- We have a lot of different type of fish. We have a big saltwater tank. Along with monitoring ammonia and nitrites, you should keep a careful eye on the pH (you should always watch the pH, not just during the cycling process). The pH will tend to fall over time and needs to raised. The easiest way to raise the pH is through additions of sodium bicarbonate (i.e., baking soda). Mix a tablespoon or so of baking soda in a cup of dechlorinated water and slowly add it to the tank. Slowly means over the course of an hour or two. Baking soda will cause a short term drop in the pH, but will bring the pH to 8.2 over time. Keeping up with your fish aquarium supply can be tough, but the key is to be persistent.
Bird- We have a crazy old parakeet. The budgie is often refered to as a ‘parakeet’. The normal budgie has a bright green plumage on the chest. The wings are a mix of green with black. The heads of the budgie has black lines covering a yellow head. There are several variations to this basic budgerigar, including yellow, blue (cobalt), violet, and albino. Some budgies have been bred down in size but with a greater number of color mixes. They are generally “aviary bred” in groups, and are referred to as American Budgies. Others have been selectively chosen and bred up, with a more pronounced forehead and larger overall size. These birds are referred to as English Budgies. Both American and English budgies are the same birds, but bred differently for different purposes.
Ferret- Our silly ferret is hilarious, but he stinks so bad. Good grooming practices will also help with odor problems. Weekly to monthly bathings (not more frequently than once a week) will help decrease the ferret’s body odor and will benefit the skin and coat. Be sure to use a mild ferret specific shampoo and crème rinse so as to not strip the essential oils and dry out the skin. They usually have a fresh smelling residual scent to help with the odor. There are several spray conditioners that also have a pleasant scent for use in between bathings. Even regular brushing will help control odor by removing the loose and dead hair and will also help prevent hairballs.
I’ll add some info about the other animals later. I’m tired. lol
Filed under: health | Tags: antibiotics, artificial heart, history, medicine
What is the greatest medical discovery of all times? My wife and I were having this debate last night. I argued that the greatest discovery was an artificial heart. My wife believes that the discovery of antibiotics is the biggest medical discovery in history. Which one of us is right?
We both agreed that an artificial heart is truly amazing. You know it wasn’t long ago when people thought that our souls were contained in the heart. We now know for a fact that you keep on being you, even when your heart is made out of plastic and metal. An artificial heart is really amazing to me.
But then my wife pointed out how millions of people are alive today because of antibiotics. She argued that maybe a few hundred people have been saved by artificial hearts, but many million lived longer than they should have because of antibiotics.
My wife is right. Antibiotics are the greatest discovery in medical history. Here’s a nice little story I found on that:
Originally noticed by a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, in 1896. Penicillin was re-discovered by bacteriologist Alexander Fleming working at St. Mary’s Hospital in London in 1928. He observed that a plate culture of Staphylococcus had been contaminated by a blue-green mold and that colonies of bacteria adjacent to the mold were being dissolved. Curious, Alexander Fleming grew the mold in a pure culture and found that it produced a substance that killed a number of disease-causing bacteria. Naming the substance penicillin, Dr. Fleming in 1929 published the results of his investigations, noting that his discovery might have therapeutic value if it could be produced in quantity.
In recent years, resistance to antibiotics has become a real threat to human health. This is because the increasing number of microorganisms that have become resistant to antibiotics are violent and untreatable.
Overuse of a class of antibiotics has led to the development of resistant bacteria. Many strains of bacteria have become resistant to most of the available drugs meant to destroy them. Much of this resistance is due to overuse of antibiotics. About a third of the 150 million antibiotic prescriptions written each year are inappropriate. One study found that as many as 70% of patients with colds and upper respiratory tract infections and other ailments most often caused by viruses (which can’t be treated with antibiotics), were prescribed antibiotics anyway. Some experts in the CDC suggest that eventually, so many bacteria will develop resistance that antibiotics won’t work and hospitals will be filled with people dying from infections, as they were in the 1920s.
I had to bring an old friend to the doctor today. he has been having really bad headaches, so the doctor prescribed him some medicine for his migraines. We then took the order to Wal Mart to get it filled. Of course the doctor said no generics, but we weren’t worried because we didn’t expect the 9 pills to cost any more than $30 or so at worst. Well, guess how much it cost my friend? Yep, $280!! $280 for 9 pills? You have to be kidding me, right? Nope. We were just sick. Of course my friend didn’t have enough, I felt bad for him, so I coughed up just over $100. It really disgusted us.
So why does medicine cost so much? How can you justify 9 pills for headaches costing $280?? I found this article that tries to make sense of it, but I think it’s a bunch of crap really!
We all know that in order to survive in the world of free-market capitalism you have to make a profit– a bottom line. With that in mind, you can see where this is all leading. One drug is developed as a pioneer of a “new class” of drugs and then other pharmaceutical drug companies add their own molecular side-chain to the basic molecular structure and then patent that molecule and call it “their own”. Thus, with the rights to that particular molecular structure, they can market it without much competition; that is, until their patent runs out and the molecular structure can then be copied; in essence, making the drug a “generic”. If pharmaceutical industry personnel claim their drug is really the “best on the market” then why do they make it nearly impossible for people to get it–i.e. why do they make their consumers go “bankrupt” in the process?
What do you think??
Filed under: celebrities | Tags: angelina jolie, beautiful, celebrities, cosmetic surgery, jolie, plastic surgery
It’s widely known that Angelina Jolie is the most beautiful woman in the world. Heck, even my wife agrees. But my wife was telling me that part of her beauty comes from all of her plastic surgeries. I knew that Angelina had probably had a surgery or two, and I could really care less, but I wasn’t aware of how many she had. Now in my opinion Angelina Jolie could have a million surgeries and I wouldn’t care, but I can see how it would matter to some people. Here are some stories I read about her celebrity surgeries:
I think the magazine is wrong though. They always put before and after photos of Hollywood stars regarding plastic surgery. However, after a month or so, they post phiotos of some of the artists remarking how they never changed. Angelina is the kind of woman you love to hate. She is successful in everything she does. She is intelligent, gorgeous, and successful, with plenty of celebrities surgeries. On top of that she flies a plane, rides a motorcycle and goesaround doing charity all around the world and adopting orphan kids(hello I think enough is enough, I would love for her to stop, not good for the rest of the female population. Nothing wrong with plastic surgery, but I would never let anyone play with my body especially after watching Nip and Tuck. Different angles can make your nose look different but it is clear her nose is not only smaller but more shaped. Just look at the picture above of the face plastic surgeries. People are naive to think she didn’t have a nose job. I also think her upper lip is injected with collagen from time to time.’
Angelina Jolie has had a nice rhinoplasty. The tip is refined and the work is not obvious without looking at pre-op images. CityRag blogs on this today. When this was done is a mystery. Rhinoplasty is the correct name for a plastic surgery known as nose job, not Botax. “Rhinos” in Greek meaning “nose” and “plastikos” – “changing form”. Rhinoplasty is considered the most ancient and most challenging plastic surgery. In well-trained hands it can dramatically improve your looks, add softness and harmony to your face, not mentioning that rhinoplasty can substantially improve nasal breathing. Jolie is the gold standard of beauty among women seeking cosmetic surgery and that’s not about to change, a leading Hollywood surgeon has told Australian specialists. The US movie star has the most requested look – exaggerated, almost cartoonish lips, eyes and cheek bones – desired by American women wanting a nip and tuck, Professor Ava Shamban said. The Los Angeles-based cosmetic dermatologist told a gathering of 400 fellow Australian specialists that demand for this brand of exotic look is here to stay. Just be careful with nose surgery is the best advice.
“Angelina Jolie, with her exquisite looks, is the current gold standard of beauty in the states and in the West in general right now,” said Prof Shamban, who has appeared on the chat show Oprah and the reality TV series Extreme Makeover. “And that’s not about to change. With rising tummy tuck costs, who knows? The exotic look, like (actresses) Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz, is here to stay, and Angelina is the ultimate embodiment of that.” The UCLA academic and practising specialist made the claim during a presentation on the benefits of beauty at a national cosmetic medicine conference in Melbourne today. Good-looking people marry more, marry better, earn more and are assisted more readily by strangers, and studies have shown that even babies prefer to look at attractive faces, she said.
We went to gun training, which is actually one of the most dangerous things two actors can do… You had to trust each other to cross under or over and only move when the other person moves, so the trust, when somebody’s got a loaded gun at your back… It made us trust each other quickly, you know?
After getting bummed out last night writing on mesothelioma and my grandpa, I decided to share something light. Let’s talk about some xbox cheats. The following xbox cheats are my favorites right now. What are yours? call of duty cheats Successfully complete the game under the easy difficulty setting to unlock the “Big Head”, “Ricochet”, “Head Shot“, and “Ricochet All” cheat options. The remaining cheat options can be unlocked by completing the game under the other difficulty settings. Cheat Ammo: Create a profile named 2ndsquad for no limit ammo. (Unverified)
Gltich: Infinite Emplace Weapon Ammo: This glitch only works with the guns you can set up on walls. You also need at least one hand grenade to follow-through this glitch. Set up the stationary gun and once it’s ready, ready a grenade and use the gun. When you leave the gun emplacement, the grenade you prepared will still be expended. Awesome trick to use with xbox mods. Invincibility: Go to Chapter Select, hold the left and right trigger and press the following: Y X B A Y X B A. Level select: In the Chapter Selection Screen, hold L + R and press Up(2), Down(2), Left(2), Right(2), X, Right, X, Right, X. Machine guns: When manning a machine gun, shoot in short six or seven round bursts against enemies. If a lot of enemies get close, lie prone and throw a grenade at them. Then, quickly get back on the machine gun.
Vehicles Supermarine Spitfire: You must defeat Oran on the map. Constatine Cheats Throughout the game you can either pause it (by pressing START) for menu options or you can go into your journal (by pressing BACK). Once you are in the journal, you can enter the cheat codes for the dating sites. The screen will flash when you have successfully entered the code. The directions are done on the D-pad. * Big Weapon Mode: LEFT, X, X, X, Y, Y, Y * Infinite Spell Soul Energy: LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, Y, Y * Big Demon Heads: BLACK, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, BLACK * Rapid Fire Shotgun: WHITE, LEFT, BLACK, LEFT, Y, X, Y, X * Explosive Holy Bombs: RIGHT, LEFT, X, Y, X,Y, LEFT, RIGHT * Shoot Large Fireballs: Y, Y, Y, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT
Cheat Infinite Ammo: Throughout the game you can either pause it (by pressing START) for menu options or you can go into your journal (by pressing BACK). Once you are in the journal, you can enter the cheat codes. The screen will flash when you have successfully entered the code. The directions are done on the D-pad. Enter LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, X, Y, X, X, Y, Y, X, Y, X, X, Y, Y.
Hint: Puzzle on the Journey to Papa Midnight: At the end of level 7 (Journey To Papa Midnights) Constantine goes into a warehouse with four colored lights on the floor. Use “True Sight” to work out the combination needed to transport out. The following is the correct combination: Y Y B A A A X X
Hint: Hells Temple: In level 11 (Hell’s Temple) Constantine is put through an electric chair trial. The hardest is the trial of temptation. Once you get out of the chair and start the trail, walk forward and jump down off the small ledge. You will now need to turn left, kill the demon on the ceiling, and crawl through a small gap on your right. Continue forward and right down the passage until you reach a switch, pull it. Once the room spins 180 degrees, follow the passage around. Go left at the crossroads followed by a right to collect the keys on the table. Go back to the crossroads and make a left where you will end up with another switch. Once you pull the switch again and the room spins, walk to the crossroads again and make a left to climb up the ledge. Walk to the door and unlock it with the key you found earlier. Collect the tumbler on the desk, exit the room and turn left. Follow the passage around to pull the switch once more. Walk back to the electric chair and activate it. Crazy Taxi Cheats Master Cheat: Go to the character selection screen and HOLD all these buttons together on controllers #1 and # 4: L + R + Left Analog-stick + Right Analog-stick + X + Y Get Expert Mode: Go to the character selection screen and HOLD Black + White and press A. If done correctly it will say ‘expert’ in the lower left of the screen. In this mode no arrows or stop indicators are on screen Disable Arrows: Go to the character selection screen and HOLD White and press A. If done correctly it will say ‘no arrows’ in the lower left of the screen.
Disable Destination Indicator: Go to the character selection screen and HOLD Black and press A. If done correctly it will say ‘no destination mark’ in the lower left of the screen. Get Another Day Mode: Finish level 3 using Crazy X mode to unlock Another Day Mode
Get All Drivers: Use Crazy X mode and finish level S-S
Get West Coast, Small Apple & Glitter Oasis Maps: Use Crazy X mode and finish Level 1 Get More Vehicles: Use Crazy X mode to finish Level 2 and you get a stroller, bike and carriage
Surviving the crazy-x football: To help you beat the Crazy X football part jump over the big semi’s and the big crowd of small cars. after you avoid the semi’s it’s just crusin’ for you. (Jump is the Y button)
The Lochness Monster: This isn’t really a cheat just something to do to find nessi go to the ocean at glitter oasis go in the water just drive until you see a giant bulge and that should be it. (P.S. i suggest you put it on ten minutes so you can look and drive around) Pool Paradise Cheats Shop Items: Spend the indicated ammount of money at the shop: Darts mini-game – ,000 Stuffed Dodo – ,500 Coconut Shy mini-game – ,000 Laser Sight – 0 HUD Goggles – ,000 Skeepool mini-game – ,000 Hidden Cave mini-game – ,000 Dropzone mini-game – ,000
My grandfather passed away from mesothelioma a few years ago, but to be honest I really don’t know what it is. I mean I know that it’s some form of rare cancer associated with asbestos exposure, but that’s about it. So I decided to look around for some answers. Maybe what I found will help someone else that is wondering the same thing?
The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures. Mesothelioma cancer involves this membrane.
Individuals with a history of extended asbestos exposure are at the highest risk for developing malignant mesothelioma. Even a small exposure to this cancer-causing material can result in malignant mesothelioma. However, mesothelioma has a latency of up to thirty-forty years, and many individuals previously exposed to asbestos are now displaying symptoms. This means the average age of mesothelioma patients is between 50 and 70 years. Men are typically affected more, due to the common presence of asbestos in industrial settings. There are three major types of malignant mesothelioma . epithelial, sarcomatoid, and mixed. Epithelial mesothelioma is most common. Cancer centers have been crucial in understanding the disease. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to respiratory distress, a lasting cough, and pneumonia. In addition, symptoms are often mistaken for less serious ailments, and many patients do not show any signs at all.
Despite growing numbers of asbestos-related illness among those who have never worked with asbestos, the majority of people diagnosed with an asbestos-induced disease received exposure in an occupational setting. This is largely due to the likelihood of repeated exposures, as well as elevated levels of exposure, that occur throughout a range of joba, industries, and jobsites.
For those diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer of the lining of the lung (pleura) or the lining of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum), finding a credible source of information about the disease itself and the medical options available, is of the highest priority, along with finding a mesothelioma lawyer that can assist you.
